I do not own RWBY
They set out that morning with a clear goal in mind and determination in their stride. It was a beautiful day with clear weather so nice that a soft breeze had settled into effect. There were no grimm to worry about. No mass murderers following them around. All in all, they had an open path with no worries ahead of them; it was just a perfect day to be taking a road trip. Even the birds were fluttering on happy little wings while bunnies hopped through the undergrowth without a care in the world. Their trip was off to a wonderful start that honestly couldn't be more perfect. It was utterly boring.
Ruby had reduced herself to sparring with Vernal who despite being weaker than both Dakota and Adam was still better at hand to hand. At this point, she'd gotten so annoyed at having nothing to do the reaper had started trying to hug tackle the brunet who reacted more like a feral dog than anything else. There was even biting involved a few times not that either of the men cared; they were too busy debating the ethics of turning the Branwen tribe into a mercenary grimm slaughter force to pay attention to Vernal tossing Ruby into the tree line every hour or so.
The reaper was stubborn enough to be not only a Huntress but one of them. Raising an eyebrow as the girl went flying again, Adam smirked. His plans to take the White Fang were going well; Sienna was scheduled to reach Mistral only a week before he would arrive. That would give his people enough time to scope out her current mentality and power level. In truth, he hadn't decided if killing Sienna was for the best quite yet. It would solve the issue of her getting in his way, but might paint a target on his back due to her supporters. He would need someone to frame for her murder if he went with the option of killing her. Turning his attention back to Dakota he tried to put all thoughts of Sienna out of his mind.
"It would be good for the people."
"The tribe would still need to get paid."
"Being based out of Mistral would make recruitment easy."
"Lionheart won't agree."
"Killing him solves that," Dakota stated. The glance he earned from Adam was enough to make him smirk. They both knew in order to have the tribe become an approved grimm killing force they would need the council's permission. Given that Lionheart was the one in charge of Huntsman affairs in Mistral they would need him on their side or they would need to dispose of him. At the rate they were going it wasn't unlikely the second option was the most realistic.
"The White Fang cannot kill a Headmaster," Adam said although he would've rather agreed. With the current state of relations between the humans and faunus if he made a move to kill Lionheart, a defender of humanity, the entire world would turn against them. The ensuing war wouldn't be very pretty especially considering the amount of faunus centered on Menagerie; knowing the humans they would be the first target.
Shifting his pack on his shoulder he tried not to admit just how much the idea of taking over Mistral made him happy. The White Fang would shoulder the blame if he attacked but he hated the idea of one man getting in his way. There was far too much at stake for him to allow his personal feelings to interfere with his judgment. No matter how much he wanted to agree that killing was the best option they couldn't make a move this early in the game. Waiting was their only choice.
Breaking from the treeline for the fifth time in thirty minutes, Ruby moved to walk beside him instead of annoying Vernal into an early grave. Tilting her head to look up at him, she offered a wide grin that made him wonder if being tossed around was something she considered fun. The feather in her hair caught on the light for a moment but he was more focused on the amusement in her eyes. Did she ever take anything seriously? Even fighting for her life against Viper hadn't even made her flinch. He was starting to think she might be insane; strong too but mostly insane. It wasn't an insanity that he minded.
"Want me to do it," Ruby asked.
It took him a moment to realize that she was asking about Lionheart, then he couldn't stop the amusement from almost making him laugh. With her current level of power there was no way for her to beat him let alone Lionheart. That being said, she wasn't too far off from having the power she would need; at the moment she only needed a little push.
"Despite being a coward, Lionheart is not someone to be fought head-on," he said. The words left a horrible taste in his mouth. How someone as cowardly as Lionheart became a headmaster was something he would never understand.
"That wasn't a no," she announced with a grin he almost returned. Rolling his eyes instead he shook his head at her words. He was starting to get the feeling that she might be almost as bad as his own inner circle when it came to going off and causing trouble.
Speaking of his inner circle he needed to decide what to do about Nix. The girl was under Viper's care for the moment but she was an unknown; also he was a bit sure that no one deserved to be Viper's pet project. Although he supposed the girl would be fine until he could figure out where she came from since she was far to skittish to have been born and raised on Menagerie.
Raising an eyebrow as Vernal charged past them to drag Dakota into a race, Ruby hid a frown behind her careful smirk. She hadn't been bluffing when she offered to kill Lionheart; the fact Cinder's group were from Haven made him either complicit or a fool. The man would have to answer for his part in the fall of Beacon which might be hypocritical considering she'd stood by and let it happen. It wouldn't be wrong to say she was just as horrible as Ozpin except there was one huge difference between the two of them. While she might be a lying scheming psychopath she would never allow her people to be hurt like he'd done to Pyrrha; she wouldn't even give him a chance to defend himself until he got down on his knees and begged for her partners forgiveness. Given the fact he was so certain of his own goals and morality she doubted he would even think of the mere possibility he was wrong much less how he'd hurt her partner.
Glancing at the man beside her she tried to put Ozpin out of her mind, it wasn't as if the man was going to magically appear for her to scream at, so thinking about him really didn't help her. It was a bit strange to be this close to someone who Blake considered pure evil; she honestly didn't see anything worth calling evil. He was strong, determined, and he cared about the missing kids in Mistral. He was normal if a little more prone to violence than most people. Honestly, he wasn't that different from her classmates.
"Did you know, Cardin actually likes you well as much as he likes any faunus," she said. It wasn't a lie, her berserker might not like to admit it but he approved of the man beside her.
"Is that so?"
"He actually told me to drop Blake and become your ally," she admitted. She didn't like admitting it but she did understand why Cardin would rather Adam become her ally. There was no way she could beat him with her current skill level although she didn't mind trying.
"What could you offer as my ally," he asked. He wasn't foolish enough to trust her considering he did hurt her best friend and send Viper to test her. There was no way that she would honestly offer to work with him if Raven wasn't involved.
"Besides my amazing personality and charm," she teased. Scoffing Adam refused to let his lips curve into a grin no matter how amusing her wink was. She was almost the exact same as Viper; they were both horrible teases. Letting her smirk vanish she sighed before saying, "my loyalty."
"That means nothing to me until you prove it," he said. The blunt words did nothing to stop her from grinning up at him with thinly veiled amusement.
(Blake)
Digging her nails into her palms she stared at the wall. The only mercy she'd gotten from Cardin was him telling her Ruby would be alright. That was nothing compared to the pain from him ordering her never to come near the reaper again. She deserved that, but somehow that didn't make her heart ache any less. There must be something wrong with her if all she could think was how she longed to see her leader despite being the reason Ruby had gotten hurt.
She'd known that Ilia wouldn't stop, there was no missing the murderous intent in the chameleon's eyes. Yet she'd told Ruby to let go anyway without thinking of the consequences. That made her a fool, and a traitor. None of her friends would take her back now, she was sure of that. After all they'd choose Ruby over her in a heartbeat; she would choose Ruby over herself. There was no way they would understand her reasons or even give her a chance to explain. In fact, she was sort of shocked that Cardin had held back from attacking her; part of her wished that he hadn't. The only person who'd stayed with her was Sun, even her parents were disappointed in her.
Wincing as her nails tore through the skin on her hand, she unclenched her fist and winced at the bloody crescents. Flaring her aura to heal the injury, she pushed herself up. The heat of Sun's gaze on her back did nothing to make her feel better as she left the room. Ironwood had finally stopped demanding repercussions from Menagerie although she had no doubt he would never let this go. She'd never thought about how it would look if Ruby got hurt on her island as part of the Atlas delegation. If not for Ironwood's mercy, her family would be suffering right now.
Opening her door quietly, her eyes caught the dark dagger sitting on her dresser; the very one that Ruby had given to her. The heaviness in her bones was almost enough to make her crumble to the ground but she shoved it away. Moving slowly, she picked up the dagger. Closing her eyes tightly at the memories rushing through her mind she bit her lip to hold back a scream. All of this was her fault.
She hoped Ruby hated her even a fraction of how much she hated herself.
(Ruby)
Night air brushed against her skin as she danced around the clearing. The scythe in her hand moved as easily as her own arm despite weighing more than she did. Tipping her head back she stared at sky feeling the urge to count the stars as she moved. The others were asleep or at least pretending to be, she hadn't actually stopped to check before sneaking away. It was times like this she wondered if she was defective. There had to be a reason for the nightmares that wouldn't go away, then she remembered that dying usually meant a person stayed dead.
She might pretend to be okay with Adam's presence but he was still the man who hurt Cardin, she didn't trust him. That being said, she did like him; he was fun to fight. The only issue was that fighting was the only part of life no matter how often she ran out to find trouble. In the past she might've considered him her enemy if for no reason than because Blake did, but her kitten had decided to do her own thing thus Adam was no longer Ruby's enemy. She wasn't about to forget that he hurt her berserker.
Given that she didn't trust any of the three she was traveling with there was no way she would be able to sleep either. Oh well, it wasn't as if sleep was important for life. The bitter smile that crossed her lips vanished almost instantly as she turned on her heel to stab her scythe through the air. Death often used a scythe was that the reason she'd been drawn to this weapon or was there some of the real Ruby inside her.
Sliding to a stop, she ran a hand over the razor edge of her weapon. Part of her wondered if she'd killed the real Ruby by being born; after all the world would've been better off with the bright happy reaper instead of her. The thought crossed her mind most of the time when she was alone but there was nothing she could do about putting that question to rest. She was Ruby Rose and she'd changed some things for the better.
Tensing as low growls reached her ears, she twirled the weapon in her hand before offering the crimson eyes watching her a taunting smirk. Shifting her grip on her weapon she lunged without even bothering to use her semblance. Matching the feral growls with a snarl of her own she didn't notice the eyes on her back. Tilting his head the black cat judged her movements silently.
Hi guys, so it's going to be Christmas soon, should I do a Christmas chapter? Also what do you think of Adam and Ruby's interactions so far?
Stay safe and have a good day
-Shyla
