Hello everyone! I just want to say thank you to everyone that has followed and favourited this story; it is getting so much more love than I had ever hoped. I do apologise for the delay in the posting, and I cannot promise that I will post regularly but I can promise that I will put all my effort into it - outside of my studies. So without further adue - Ruby meets Ozpin!
Dust Till Dawn was a small company, with only a few stores around Vale, which sold a variety of products, from magazines to ammunition for the variety of weapons that Hunters carry. It also happened to be Ruby's favourite store from which she sourced all her Dust.
Ruby preferred the smaller Dust companies like Dust Till Dawn in comparison to the larger corporations like the Schnee Dust Company because of both their slave labour and their questionable at best business partners, but also because the bigger companies process and handle the Dust too much before it gets to the store and is far weaker and lower quality product than what Ruby needs.
Dust Till Dawn is a more local company with its own smaller mine which, at a higher price and by special request, supplies Ruby with raw Dust crystals straight from the earth. It took her a few years to realise, but she learnt that the less a crystal is handled, the better it reacts with her silver eye power – both being raw and purely natural power that Ruby can control and use.
It was getting late one night and coming back from spending the day with Team CFVY, when Ruby decided that she would stop off quickly to stock up on her Dust Crystals and Powders. Although she uses pure crystals for her Sai's, Crescent Rose only required the appropriate magazine to fit her sniper compartment, which she was not so slowly using up with all the spare time she'd been having lately.
After requesting her usual amount of raw crystals from the owner, Ruby made her way to the back of the store, knowing from experience that he had to take his time and be careful with them, the crystals being highly sensitive and sometimes volatile. It usually takes the man about 15 minutes to gather them all and package them right for travelling, so Ruby just liked to browse the shelves and read through the new magazines he had. It was there, in the back of her favourite store with her headphones on and reading the newest edition of Weapon's Weekly that the poor unfortunate thug tried to rob her.
Feeling a harsh tap on her shoulder, Ruby turns slightly from her magazine to see some tall guy in a black suit and red tie gesturing to his head. Pulling her headphones off, Ruby quickly takes in the long-bladed weapon in his other hand.
"Yes?"
"I said, put your hands in the air. Now."
"Are you... robbing me?"
"Yes!"
"Ahhhh." Ruby nodded in understanding and not a moment later, roundhouse kicked him in the side, sending the thug flying into the adjacent shelf. Seeing the thug get back up again, Ruby kicked him straight in the chest, sending him down the aisle. Seeing another thug coming at her with a gun, Ruby pulls out Crescent Rose and swings its compact form up between his legs before using her Aura to leap off the floor and tackle him, sending them both through the front window of the store.
Realising that one wouldn't rob a store with only two men, Ruby stood and let her scythe unfold. Reaching out with her Aura to check how many men she would have to deal with, she also felt the somewhat familiar Aura of one Glynda Goodwitch just around the corner. Although she had never met the woman, she did know that she was Ozpins right hand woman and if she got her attention then maybe she could wiggle her way into Beacon; she just had to show what she was capable of.
With that thought in mind, Ruby quickly planted the tip in the road and put away her headphones; they were a gift from Coco and she really liked them. Looking into the store, Ruby recognised Roman Torchwick from the news and Juniors men from when she met with Yang in the City the week before. 'Three men, single weapons and not the best thugs. Roman Torchwick, known criminal, unknown weapon though.'
Suddenly her thoughts her interrupted by all three men coming at her together, and knowing that they aren't the greatest fighters, built to scare not kill, Ruby made sure that while her movements were showy, they wouldn't harm the men too badly. An unkind, double legged kick to the face for one, the blunt side of Crescent Rose to the stomach for another and after getting shot at by the last one, a leaping whack from the blunt end again to the head took them all out.
After landing steadily on her feet, Ruby looked up to see Torchwick stomping out his cigar with his cane. Litterer.
"You were worth every cent, truly. Well Red, I think we can all say that this has been an eventful evening, but as much as I'd like to stick around this is where we part ways."
Realising what was going to happen as he raised his cane, Ruby aim below her and shot, jumping just above the explosion as he shot at her. 'You have a shotgun in a cane, how cute.' Not seeing him when she landed, Ruby looked around and spotted him climbing the fire escape of a nearby building. Checking on the store owner quickly and promising to be back, Ruby chased the slightly famous criminal onto the roof.
"Hey!" Ruby called, gaining his attention and at the annoyingly grumbled, "Persistent." Ruby grinned. "Among other things." She agreed. Her grin fell slightly at the familiar sound of a Bullhead and they both watched as it rose from between the buildings. Frowning as he jumped up onto the platform, Ruby aimed her scythe for his leg, the shot just missing as the Bullhead tilted.
"End of the line, Red!" Ruby just rolled her eyes at the frankly terrible pun as he held up the red Burn crystal, throwing it down at her and aiming his cane at it. Realising what he was about to do and knowing that Goodwitch would intervein, Ruby reached forward and grabbed the crystal just as he shot. Feeling the shockwave of his shot hitting a barrier, Ruby grinned and pocketed the crystal, listening as his excited shout cut off. Ruby watched as Goodwitch sent purple orbs of energy at the Bullhead, each hitting but not damaging it.
As the Bullhead started to drift away, Ruby watched as the Huntress sent another wave of magic, this time using Ice Dust as a hail storm formed below a magic circle in the sky, shards of ice shooting down and piercing the ship.
Ruby thought they would leave as Torchwick ran into the cockpit but was surprised when a woman came out and started attacking, her clothes lighting up with Dust as she shot some kind of lava looking liquid at them, the splatters exploding once they touched the ground. She could only watch though as a massive arrow shape was formed out of the rubble and shot at the ship, shifting and changing shape as it would get shot at by the mystery woman. Thinking they were finally getting somewhere when the ship was tilting and getting constantly attacked, they were both surprised when the mystery woman let out a burst of energy, magic circles wrapping around her and destroying the connection Goodwitch had with the rubble.
Realising they were running out of options, Ruby started to shoot at the ship, though her bullets weren't doing much against the metal and all her shots at the woman were being somehow absorbed into her hand. Seeing the small circles of heat forming on the ground surrounding them, Ruby leapt out of the way just in time, though she could feel Goodwitch's semblance helping her away, sending her off balance and crashing into the ground. Climbing to her feet, Ruby could only watch as the Bull head closed and flew off.
Not even glancing at the older woman, Ruby turned around and jumped back down the building, letting her Aura take most of the impact from landing and walking back to the shop owner, returning the only stolen Dust crystal.
"I'm sorry for breaking your window, I got a bit carried away." Ruby apologised as she handed back the crystal and helped move the thugs all into one area so the police could get them.
"It's alright, I'm just glad they didn't manage to take anything which would be all thanks to you. And this is the order you asked for, I put in a couple of extra's and it's all free."
"Oh no-"
"Take it, it's a thank you for not letting me be robbed. Plus, you're such a wonderful customer and sweet girl anyway, you deserve a treat." The old man said, cutting her of and practically shoving the package into her arms.
Ruby rushed forwards to give the old man a quick hug. "Thank you very much, and it really was no problem. This is my favourite store, I can't imagine what I'd do if you closed because you got robbed."
"Well, I shouldn't be closed too long and hopefully I'll be back before you need any more Dust. Now I think that Huntress lady wants to talk to you, she's been frowning at you this whole time." A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed his statement. Glynda Goodwitch was getting ignored and she wasn't happy.
Another quick thank you and goodbye to the store owner and Ruby was making her way across the store and out the door to face the unhappy Huntress. As soon as she was close enough, Goodwitch snatched her package out of her hands. "I am confiscating this and taking you into the police station. You have some questions to answer."
Not at all impressed with the snatching and rude behaviour from the woman, Ruby crossed her arms and huffed, warning the Huntress to be careful with them as they were volatile and that she wanted them back, before following her into the car and down to the police station.
Ruby was again unimpressed to learn that she would also have to hand over any weapons she had on her, and because they didn't know about RoseBud, she kept them hidden in her pockets and signed over her scythe and Dust package, again warning people that it was volatile.
Sitting in a chair in the interrogation room and hearing the door slam, Ruby jumped slightly. The adrenalin from the fight and confidence she had, quickly leaving her.
"I hope you realise that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady." Glynda said, pacing back and forth across the room. "You put yourself and others in great danger."
"They started it." Ruby defended, and she wasn't wrong.
"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home… with a pat on the back, and a slap on the wrist." Goodwitch said, watching as Ruby looked hopeful for a second before flinching away as the riding crop hit the table in a quick slap. "But, there is someone here that would like to meet you."
Ruby was confused for a second before she saw a very familiar silhouette approach the table. 'Oh no…' Ruby frantically tried to think of anything to try and cover her face but gave up in seconds, knowing that there was no getting out of Ozpin finally seeing her eyes.
Ozpin, for his part, was both excited and concerned about finally see Ruby's whole face as all Glynda told him was that she had been involved in a robbery. Stepping into the room, Ozpin first saw her eyes, which were anything but a normal colour.
"Ruby Rose, you… have silver eyes."
Not quite sure what he was doing, Ruby leaned away slightly from his very close face and tried to look at anything but him. "U-umm-"
"So, where did you learn to do this?" Ozpin cut her off, nodding to the footage Glynda was playing from her Scroll.
Very confused about Ozpin was playing at, figuring that the cat was out of the bag and Goodwitch was going to find out about her visits to the academy, Ruby stuttered out her response, not once taking her eyes off her other favourite person. "S-signal Academy."
"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons every designed?"
Still not sure what Ozpin was doing but playing along anyway, Ruby answered. "Well, one teacher in particular."
"I see." Ozpin said, placing down the plate of chocolate chip cookies, the kind that she taught him how to make as a kid because they were her favourite and wanted them at the time. Ruby cautiously reached for one, eating it in one go, before quickly stuffing a small hand full in her mouth. "It's just that I've only seen one other scythe wielder of that skill before. A dusty old Qrow…"
Ruby almost choked on a cookie as she heard that, laughing to herself at the prospect of calling that to his face. Choosing to stick with the annoying plan, Ruby cleared her throat before responding. "Sorry. That's my Uncle Qrow, he's a teacher at Signal. I basically begged him to teach me because it's just soooooooo cool and now I totally kick butt and look amazing too."
"So I've noticed. And what is an adorable girl like you doing at a school to designed to train warriors?"
Ruby had to fight back the blush she could feel rising when he called her adorable, focusing instead on answering the question. "Well, I want to be a Huntress."
"You want to slay monsters."
"If that's what we're calling them, then yeah. I want to apply for Beacon soon, you see, my sister is starting there this year and she's trying to become a Huntress and I'm trying to become a Huntress because I want to help people. I mean, the police are alright but not for what I want to do with my future and nowhere near as exciting, you know?"
"Do you know who I am?" 'Is that a stupid question? Yes. What are you playing at Ozpin?'
"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the Headmaster at Beacon."
"Hello."
"Nice to meet you."
"You want to come to my school?"
"More than anything." And she meant it, training at Bacon would be invaluable. And it would mean that she wouldn't have to wait around for a year to apply. Watching as he glanced up at Goodwitch as she scoffed, Ruby's hopes were rising quickly.
"Well, okay."
Although Qrow can't respond to messages while he's on a mission, Taiyang, and sometimes Ruby, would send him some. While Ruby just liked to send him adorable messages wishing him luck and telling him that he's loved, – those always somehow manage to come right when he's at his lowest and needs them the most – Tai sends him updates on the major events at home, or sometimes just likes to rant about Yang getting in trouble again.
He was just arriving back in Vale City again when he got one such message, though this one was much more worrying. 'Ruby's at the Police Station.' Reading the message quickly, Qrow immediately took off for the main police station in the city, hoping that she was okay, especially with her track record for having never gotten in trouble.
Arriving at the police station, Qrow perched himself on a branch outside the interrogation room he found them all in, sighing in relief at the sight of Ruby unharmed; and apparently getting herself into Beacon. Seeing that she was okay, and leaving the room, Qrow slumped down onto the branch in exhaustion, having flown the whole way back himself.
Ruby bounced down the hallway of the station, signing to get her package and Crescent Rose back before continuing on her way out, happily humming at the thought of her new school. 'Beacon! Finally. And I'm going to be with Yang, oh all the trouble we'll be able to get into together!' Stepping out into the fresh night air of Vale City, Ruby took a deep breath in, checking her scroll to see that it was getting super late, and huffed at how much her father was going to worry and freak out, certain that he had already been informed that she was at the station. Just as the thought of calling him crossed her mind, her scroll rang, her father's face on the screen.
"Hi Daddy."
"Ruby, are you okay? They said you were let out. What the hell did you do?"
"Nothing! Well, kind of something but it wasn't bad, I was in my favourite shop when it was getting robbed and kicked their butts, I just happened to catch the eye of one Glynda Goodwitch."
"Ruuuuby…" Hearing her father groan, Ruby just grinned, knowing that while he didn't approve, her Qrow certainly would.
"Yes Daddy?"
"Just come home already, it's almost 11 o'clock. Do you need me to pick you up?"
"No, I'm okay. I'll see you soon."
"Okay, I'll see you soon. Try to not start any fights on the way."
"Yeah, yeah. Bye Daddy."
"Bye Ruby, be home soon."
Chuckling to herself, Ruby put her scroll away and closed her eyes, stretching her arms above her head to release all the tension that had built throughout the night. Hearing something shuffling around in the tree beside her, she reached out with her Aura to see what it was, only to find her favourite person jumping around the branches as a bird. Opening her eyes quickly, Ruby looked up and smiled up at her Qrow. Seeing his exhausted form slump back down on a branch though, her smile faded into a worried frown but a quick glance behind her to see Ozpin waiting by the doors eased her worries, knowing that he'll be with him soon and that Ozpin would surely take care of him. Looking back up, Ruby smiled softly at him and held out her arm, hoping that he'll let her do at least that for him.
Having seen and heard her conversation with Taiyang, Qrow started to get up, readying himself for the flight up to the academy when he saw her smiling up at him. Knowing he was caught, Qrow just slumped back down on the branch, too tired to bother trying to fly away quickly. Watching her hold out her arm for him after glancing back at Ozpin, Qrow knew what she was going to do and couldn't think of a reason not to let her and so, he jumped off his branch and gently floated down to land on her wrist, careful not to scratch her.
Silently very pleased that he decided to let her help, Ruby pulled him close for a quick second, kissing him on the head before making her way back to Ozpin. Ruby giggled lightly at his shocked expression when she held her wrist up to his shoulder, allowing Qrow to jump across with minimal effort. Running a light finger down his head, Ruby quietly told him that she'd see him tomorrow before turning around and skipping off down the road.
Both men watched as she skipped off as if nothing happened before looking to each other. Feeling Qrow just shrug at him, Ozpin sighed and started making his way back up to his office, letting Qrow rest on his shoulder all the while, knowing that he must be extremely tired if he hadn't moved himself.
Finally back on campus and in his office, Ozpin watched as Qrow hoped off his shoulder to float over to the sofa in the corner of his office, turning back into a man just in time to face plant to cushions with a long groan.
"Are you okay Qrow?" Concern painted Ozpins voice as he made his way across the room, quickly placing his jacket, mug and cane at his desk before making his way to the sofas. Hearing a muffled response from the man on his sofa, Ozpin gently nudged his lover over, moving to sit at the end with his head in his lap. "Qrow, are you hurt?"
"No… Just tired." Qrow mumbled out from his now very comfortable position, curled around the very familiar and warm lap, nuzzling closer.
Hearing that, Ozpin let out a relieved breath and started running his fingers through the almost feather like locks in his lap. "I didn't expect to see you at the station, thought you'd just come up here and sleep first."
"Tai sends me messages to update me, on my missions. I never respond but it's nice to know what happening if it's not too serious a mission. The last one just said that Ruby was at the police station, I was very worried."
"I was too when I heard she was at the station, Glynda called me."
Rolling slightly to look up at his lover, Qrow frowned in thought. "Yeah how did that happen anyway?"
"Apparently Glynda was in the area when she noticed the commotion and had to save Ruby from getting blown up by a burn crystal."
Rolling back to rest his nose against Ozpins hip, Qrow was steadily falling asleep but the thought of Ruby messing up with Dust just didn't make any sense. "That doesn't sound right, Ruby's amazing with Dust… maybe I should watch the footage… you do have that right?"
Listening to his lovers' sleepy mumblings, Ozpin chuckled and agreed before telling him that perhaps tomorrow would be a better time to watch it. "Come on you, let's go to bed. You need some sleep."
"Lots of sleep."
"Yes, lots of sleep. Come now…"
After basically carrying the man down to his rooms and putting him to bed, Ozpin was quietly sitting beside his now sleeping lover, lost in thought. 'Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose, of course she has silver eyes.' Realising that he couldn't do anything about it, Ozpin finally lied down, wrapping his arms around Qrow before drifting off to sleep.
After sleeping for almost 12 hours, Qrow woke up to an otherwise empty bed and a note on the other pillow, instructing him to meet up in Ozpins office when he finally wakes.
"Stupid, dominating asshole. Where else was I gonna go, the beach?" He grumbled to himself, slowly getting out of the amazingly comfortable bed and shuffling towards the connected bathroom, choosing to have a nice long shower before putting up with Glynda as she was most definitely going to be there.
It wasn't until an hour later that the elevator doors opened to the freshly showered Qrow, lazily slumped against the back wall. Casually walking out into the massive room, Qrow was surprised to see that Ozpin was alone but shrugged and made his way over to the desk, perching himself on the edge, next to the chair.
"Good afternoon Qrow, did you have a good rest?" Ozpin asked mildly, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye before going back to his paperwork.
"Perfect. It was long and undisturbed."
"That's good. Glynda isn't here at the moment so we will have to debrief a little later but for the meantime, would you like to explain to me why you never told me Ruby has Silver eyes?"
Realising that Ozpin may be a bit upset at him for withholding something like that, Qrow rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly before admitting the truth, "At first I figured that if she hadn't taken her hood off with you yet, maybe she didn't want you to know but then some things came up and she made me promise. Also, have you got that footage of her fight? I think I asked for it last night but that's all kind of fuzzy and I want to check something quickly."
A small 'hmmm' in acknowledgement of the answer and confirmation, Ozpin reached over and handed Qrow his scroll, opening the footage and letting it play, watching as his lover starts chuckling at the very beginning of it.
"I knew it didn't sound right, Ruby is basically a master with Dust by now, there is no way that she would let herself be blown up by a crystal of all things. She knew Glynda was watching, and dumbed herself down, majorly. That and, if you watch to right before they get in the car, Ruby gave that Crystal back. She grabbed it before it could get shot."
"What?" Pulling his attention away from the frankly boring paperwork, Ozpin leaned over to re-watch the footage, looking closely for what might give away that she noticed the Huntress. "The only thing I see is right at the beginning before she turns her headphones off…"
Chuckling, Qrow hands back the scroll as his now confused lover watches and re-watches it again, listening to the random mumblings he makes to himself. "She played you both like a fiddle. All of that is her showing off. You know that I taught her to be a bit of a show off, but you taught her to be quick and efficient. She could have ended it the moment it started but noticed Goodwitch and decided to play around a bit. You taught her well, but that other lady at the end was an unexpected twist…"
Taking back his scroll and placing it on the desk, he agrees. "Yes, we aren't quite sure who she is or what she can do…" Still hung up on the fact that Ruby didn't want him to know about her eyes, Ozpin turned to look up at his partner, hurt eyes searching for an answer. "Does she not trust me…?"
Realising that they weren't talking about the mystery woman anymore, Qrow just sighs and looks out the massive windows. "It's not that she doesn't trust you, Ozpin – a lot of stuff came up a few years ago – it's just that she didn't want you to change. She loves you, you know."
"What? I thought she had a crush on you, when did I come into this?"
"Sometime before she turned 10."
"Again, what?"
"I caught her training with her Sai's one time when she was about 10 – and thanks for that – and we had a talk. Apparently she saw us one time when she was younger and it turned out that she loves the both of us. How do you not notice these things, I thought you were the smart one?"
"I haven't been able to see half her face since I met her Qrow, but is that how she knew that you would be going with me last night?"
"Yeah, she knows that I always spend my first day back with you before heading home, she just saw that I was really tired last night otherwise she wouldn't have said anything. Secrets are her most powerful weapon."
Ozpin sighed in disappointment, knowing that she was only 15 and was already wary of the world. "You said she didn't me to change, why would I change?"
"Ruby really liked what you two had together and if you knew what I know, you would have changed, seen her in a very different light and that I can guarantee. We all changed, how we saw her and how we saw what she can do, it really does make things different and she didn't want that with you. She was scared, but she's older now, and maybe if you ask she'll tell you. So much is changing now anyway, what's a little more?"
Ozpin was silent for a few moments, his thoughts trying to straighten themselves out but there was a very a large hole in them, a blank space of knowledge that he didn't know about. Knowing he won't like the answer, Ozpin quietly enquired, "You're not just talking about her eyes anymore, are you?"
Qrow just sighed and looked back down into the eyes of his lover. "No, I never was. Ruby's been through and seen far too much of the world – more bad than good – and she grew up too quickly. She's so much more mature now, too much for a 15year old girl."
"But she's so innocent with me, always happy and smiling or grumbling about school and stupid boys and going shopping with Team CFVY. She's so normal up here…"
"And that would probably be why she never told you. This is her escape, her safe space to be whoever she wants to be. She knows that when she's with you she is safe and she can just enjoy her time. When she's at home, she's training and studying and focusing because if she doesn't, she will lose and losing for her is not an option."
"I can understand that, I guess, but can you answer me this; does she know what her eyes mean?"
Qrow just shook his head and sighed, "I can't tell you that either, I promised her but I won't lie. But you already know what that means."
"Yes, I do. I understand that you can't tell me, I would not be able to break her trust either…"
"Thank you for understanding. I-" Hearing the elevator ding in warning, Qrow cuts himself off and stands, walking to lean casually on a pillar just as the doors open.
"Ah Qrow, how nice of you to finally join us." Glynda blandly stated as she walked out of the elevator, not even turning in his direction to greet him.
"Glynda, good day to you too. So nice to see you this fine morning."
"It's afternoon."
Pretending to check a wristwatch he doesn't wear, he agrees. "So it is."
Choosing to ignore him, Glynda stood before Ozpins desk and briefly went over the tests that their new student would have to take so that she could determine what level of schooling she was at and how much work she would have to do. She also suggested to send some basic study packs for the level she should be moving into, to get her started early on all the catch-up work she would have to do.
Qrow, having flopped himself onto the sofa in the corner again, listened as she listed off subjects and tests that Ruby would have to do. "And here I thought that you knew everything, Goodwitch."
Sighing in frustration at being cut off, Glynda turned to face the surprisingly not drunk, drunkard in the room. "Oh?"
"She's already done those subjects, and the year above too I think. Do you know nothing of the girl you just let into the academy?"
"I've requested the information from Signal but it's the holidays so they haven't gotten back to me yet. I am just preparing her for Beacon according to her age, but if you know so much 'Uncle Qrow' then what should I be putting in here?" Glynda questioned, already tired of his know-it-all grin.
"Nothing."
"Excuse me?"
"I mean, besides the usual information package that her sister already has, nothing. Ozpin didn't just let her in because she's good and has potential – although with the training she's had, that would certainly be enough too – Ruby is academically at the level of the incoming first years. She started a year early at Signal and has been doing a year ahead of that too the whole way through her schooling. Her acceptance into Beacon is actually solving their main issue, as Ruby has already gone through all that Signal can offer. This way, she can graduate and keep going, rather than graduate and wait a year to be allowed in as usually academies don't allow early entrances." Qrow explained, flopping onto his back and closing his eyes, not needing to see the gaping fish face that Glynda would surely be wearing.
"But- what? Why have I not heard of her before? Surely such a prodigy would have been flaunted around-"
"Ruby doesn't like the attention she brings. She never participated in competition's or anything so there really isn't much of a reason for many to know – except for those who went to Signal, but they don't actually know her name."
"I- how would I not know about her? How did you know about her?" Glynda turned to face Ozpin who up until then, had been silent.
Ozpin was about to answer when his scroll started ringing, Peach's face appearing on the screen. "Professor Peach, what can I do for you?"
"I heard that Ruby was coming to Beacon with the new fist years, I wanted to make sure that it was true or if people were just spreading rumours."
"You have heard correctly, though I'm not sure how, as I accepted her last night. But yes, Ruby will be starting with all the other first years coming in this year." Ozpin answered with a small smile, and watched as the normally very subdued professor started to jump around in excitement.
Spinning in excited glee, Peach grinned when she caught Qrows lazy figure in the background of the screen. "Oi Qrow! Nice to see you're back in town again. Can you tell Ruby for me that I'll be taking her out for lunch this week instead of our usual picnic? She deserves a treat, and tell her I'll pick her up from the landing docks."
"Or you could tell her yourself Peach."
"Thanks Qrow." With a quick glance to make sure that he agreed, Peach quickly said goodbye, saying that she left some of the machinery on in the workshop and just wanted to make sure that she heard right when the whispers started.
And just like that, the cat was out of the bag. Glynda just stood in front of the desk, stumped at both the discovery of someone else knowing about this child and at being ignored. "How does she know who Ruby is?"
"Peach and Ruby are actually very close, practically family at this point. They go out for lunch every other week if they aren't looking over weapon designs in the workshop." Ozpin casually informed the now growling woman.
"She's been on the campus?" Glynda was seething. How dare they keep something like this from her?
"Many times."
"And she just walks in whenever she wants?"
"Effectively."
"And somehow nobody knows?"
"Well Delilah knows, she was the first to meet her as a child."
"Then how did she meet Professor Peach?"
"I introduced them; Ruby was very interested in weapons so I took her to the workshop. Peach took quite a liking to her and took her in – she's almost like a mother to the girl now."
"And how long have you known the girl?"
"Since she was about six."
"And nobody thought to tell there was a child just wandering around."
"Considering you never managed to notice the child in a massive red cape, I'd say that was your own damn fault."
"Qrow, butt out of it."
"Just saying."
"I think it was something of a game to start with and then turned into more of a test to see how good her skills were at being undetected. I think she did a marvellous job, we've had many conversations with her hiding around the room."
"WHAT?!"
"Ah yes, but never mind that now. We should just get that information packet ready and Qrow can take it back with him tonight. Now, onto other things, with the inclusion of Miss Rose we now have an even number of students that can be split into teams of four which is very helpful…"
Huffing in boredom at the change of topic, Qrow dozed on the sofa for the rest of the day listening to the other two try and organise an entire school. After debriefing when they finally pause in their organising in the afternoon and realising that he wasn't going to get anymore alone time with Ozpin, Qrow decided to start heading back to Patch, glad to be heading home, finally.
"Qrow!" Preparing to be pounced on, Qrow was confused and surprised when Ruby fell on him from above, rather than the usual sideways attack attempts. "What the-"
Looking down from her position on his shoulders, Ruby leaned over to look him in the eye. "Hi."
"Hi. Where did you come from?"
"I jumped off the roof. I learnt a new trick with my semblance and it turns out that I can fly with it."
"You can what now?"
"Yep. I haven't had much time to play it yet but when I turn into the petals, I always thought that they were limited to what I as a human could physically do but then I was thinking about the fact that my human body can do a lot more than just a bunch of controlled petals, soooooooo what if my controlled bunch of petals can do more than what my measly human body can?"
"That's one hell of a thought you've been thinking there Rubes."
"I know, but besides that. Hi!"
"Hi. Again. And congratulations on getting into Beacon, Peach says that she's taking you out for lunch this week to celebrate instead of the picnic and that she'll pick you up from the landing pads."
"Ooooh lunch. And thank you. I mean, it wasn't how I imagined getting in but yay!"
"Yeah, yeah, come on. I have your very own intro to Beacon package to go through."
"Okay!" Floating down around her love like scattering rose petals, Ruby fully formed just ahead of him and started skipping back to the house, immensely pleased with her new discovery and excited to see what life at Beacon was going to be like.
The week leading up to their first day was a mess of emotions and kind of just a mess in general. With both girls madly packing and trying to figure out what they would need and Taiyang almost sulking in the lounge as he watches both of his little girls getting ready to leave, Qrow spent most of the week being the help; making sure that the girls were packed and ready and just refilling the glass of occasional alcohol for his depressed friend.
Ruby, having been friends with Team CFVY was extremely helpful in the preparing, making lists of everything they would need and racing around the house in a ball of happiness and petals.
"Ruby, you need to slow down before you destroy the house." Qrow called from the backyard as he saw her blur past him and into the house, all the furniture swaying as she passed it.
"It's fine-" CRASH "Oops."
Qrow just chuckled and went back to his weapon maintenance; it had been a habit since they started school to make sure that the whole weapon was clean right before and after a mission. Something he was highly grateful for as many Huntsmen had failed missions because something was stuck in their weapons and they didn't clean it. Although cleaning through the whole of 'Solas', which is what Ruby liked to call it, is a long process that included pulling apart the inner clockwork mechanics.
Feeling the wind of Ruby rushing past him again, Qrow just sighed and finished with his cleaning, packing away his gear before reaching out and catching Ruby around her middle as she tried to speed past for the third time.
"You seriously need to calm down a bit kiddo. There isn't going to be anything left in the house at the rate you're going."
"I can't, I'm too excited to just sit still and do nothing, I've already packed mine and Yang's bags and cleaned Crescent Rose and RoseBud and read through everything and I don't know what else to do."
"Why don't we go for a hunt? Never hurts to practice and if we get lucky, you can use the last of your Dust in RoseBud and can start the school year with fresh Dust." He said, jumping up from the ground and letting her go, watching as she pulled out the two handles and checks the Dust crystals and powder capsules, nodding in agreement.
Through the years of training with RoseBud and planning with Peach, the traditional fold out Sai's had turned into so much more. The outside of the handle had been split into eight sections on each side, each section holding a small but powerful dust Crystal or capsule of Powder, one of each type on either side of the handle. They had to make the handle longer to fit them all on and to accommodate the extra metal that was added for the Dual Blades that they extend out into and the staff that they also form when connected at the base, the polished metal automatically forming a cylindrical shape when they were. Once the handles were finished, they reached to be the whole length of her forearm, and with the Dust in them, they looked like beautiful jewelled hand grips, and nobody was ever any wiser about them.
"If we get a good hoard of them it should use up the last of them. But it'll have to be big, I'm low on all of them but that's still a lot of power to try and use."
"Sweet. Do you want to just use them or take Crescent Rose too?"
"RoseBud should be enough, I need to practice with my close range more anyway."
"Alright, you tell Tai and I'll tell the Hunters to bugger off."
With a quick nod the two separated, Ruby going inside to tell her father that she was going hunting for a few hours and Qrow calling the Hunters Guild to tell them that the forest was going to be theirs for the rest of the day and to keep Hunters out of it. They mostly do it to keep anyone from seeing Ruby using her Silver eye power but it also means that there is more Grimm for them to hunt down. Not ten minutes later did they get confirmation that the forest was theirs for the day and the pair took off, one racing through the forest and the other flying above.
As usual, Qrow scouted ahead, keeping an eye on Ruby but mostly looking out or the larger packs while she would handle the smaller groups she would run into, slicing through them with barely a lag in her momentum.
Taking off from the house, Ruby extended her handles as far as they go, the long edge quickly shifting out into twin blades, the silver blades shining softly in the sunlight as she raced through the trees, slicing straight through the necks of the few Beowolves that she came across, her Dual Blades slicing clean through the flesh as she ran under them with a quick flick of her arm before taking off again. Making sure to keep Qrow within her sight, she ran slightly to the side as she heard a couple more smaller groups of Grimm, Ruby quickly deterred form the main path she was running to slice through the centre of an Ursa, quickly glancing at the remining three before bouncing off the fading Grimm and stabbing the closest one through its head, pulling the blade down to slice open its head. Quickly transforming RoseBud into Sai's, she threw each one at the last two, hitting both perfectly through one of the eyes and into the skull, killing them instantly.
Quickly retrieving her weapons, she sent a burst of Aura into the Wind crystal, a white glyph appearing just above her head which she jumped up onto and once activated, shot into the air. Once up, Ruby spun quickly to see where Qrow was and promptly used another Wind glyph to send her flying in his direction, turning into her petals and spiralling through the air, the wind carrying her along above the forest.
Flying along, Qrow lost sight of Ruby but was certain that she would catch up soon and not a minute later, a speeding bundle of petals flew past him and dropped back into the forest below, Ruby quickly transforming before she hit the ground and took off running. Gawking slightly in his head, Qrow just chuckled to himself at the fact that she could actually fly before swooping down to run along her when he landed.
"I haven't seen anything big yet but we still have a lot of space to cover. And good job on the flying thing, how do you do it?"
"I used a bit of Wind Dust but it was mostly just floating on the air currents. And I've already run into a few small groups but I haven't heard anything big either so I'll just keep going like I have been."
"Okay kiddo, I'll go back up again, talk to you if I have anything."
Keeping her pace, Ruby closed her eyes and continued to run through the forest blind; making sure that all her senses were still sharp. Hearing a faint scream from her left, Ruby used her Wind Dust again to shoot up into the air, looking to Qrow who had too stopped and they both took off in the direction they heard the scream come from, Ruby again using the Dust to shoot off and turning into her petals to float the rest of the way.
As they got closer to the sound, smoke started to float up from the small village close to the water's edge. Once they were above the town and could see what they had to work with, Ruby turned back and with a quick nod to Qrow to tell him that she will need him, dropped down into the centre of the town. Seeing that half the problem was the fires, Ruby trusted that Qrow would take care of the Grimm and activated the Water Dust crystal from both Sai's and made each of the glyphs appear above the two worst buildings, letting the water rain down on the buildings in harsh torrents. As those two fires went out, Ruby shifted them around the town, letting the water rain down on everything and just to make sure that she didn't miss anything, expanded and combined the glyphs to cover the whole town, everyone and thing getting soaked.
A quick nod from Ruby was all it took for Qrow to understand that she needed him, and it made him proud to know that she understood that some situations called for help and not to be a show off. Scouting below, Qrow found the largest group of Grimm attacking a house and flew right for it, turning back in time to land on the roof, turning his sword into its shotgun and shooting all the Creeps below. Jumping from the roof, Qrow practically danced through the small town as he cut through the Grimm, heads and limbs flying around as he passed by. Qrow was just finishing with the last one when apparently the sky opened above them, drenching him from head to toe.
"Ruby! Why am I soaked?!" Qrow yelled out when the water stopped, looking for the girl to blame.
"Because the whole town was on fire and I had to put it out, would you have preferred to burn?" Ruby replied from behind him, also soaked.
"Maybe, this is uncomfortable."
"Jeez, you big baby, suck it up. Plus, you'll dry in the air. I put all the fires out and nobody seems to be too hurt, I think everyone was just scared."
"Yeah, doesn't seem too bad. I'm sure they've already called the authorities so we should just get out of here."
"Good idea, which direction are we headed? I still have a fair few dust crystals and powders to go through."
"Let's head north then, less towns and more chance of a hoard."
"Sweet, let's go." And with that, both caped saviours took off into the forest, leaving the people of the town sighing in gratitude as the Grimm Reaper and her mentor took off.
It was relatively calm for the rest of the trip, no big hoards were left on the island as all the other Hunters had gotten to them first, but that didn't mean Ruby didn't get a good few hours of practice in, using up the power in both the crystals and powder capsules of Dust before heading home, happily exhausted and in need of a shower.
After getting back to the house and having a nice long shower, both of them flopped down onto the sofas and dosed, waiting for the last two members of their family to come home from their apparent shopping trip. Thinking about what her life was gonna be like at Beacon, Ruby sighed in disappointment at the realisation that the hunting trip they just got back from was going to be their last for a while. Qrow's most likely going to take the long missions again with both girls going to Beacon and might not be back for the holidays anymore.
"Hey Qrow?" Ruby quietly called out, hoping that he was still awake even though she too wanted to just fall asleep.
"What's up Rubes?"
"You're gonna be starting those really long missions for Ozpin again, aren't you?"
Sighing, Qrow rolled over until he was facing her, looking her in the eye. "Yeah Rubes, I will be. I already have one set up for the end of next week, enough time to make sure that your dads okay before taking off again."
"Oh." Ruby said, she hadn't quite realised that he was going to be leaving so soon after they did. "That's really soon…"
Sitting up, Qrow motioned for her to come sit with him, knowing that she needed some comfort. Ruby had always been surrounded by people she knew, they may not have been friends or anything but she still knew them and was familiar with them. Beacon was going to be entirely different, with all new teachers and only Yang and her few friends there to rely on, it must only then be sinking in that she was going to be in a very different space.
Seeing the invitation, Ruby quickly shuffled over, snuggling into his side as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a half hug. Hiding her face in his side, Ruby's eyes started tearing up at the thought of being alone in her new school. She wouldn't be able to just go home at the end of the day and talk to her dad or annoy Qrow to train. She wouldn't even be able to study with her friends as she wasn't going to be in that same grade anymore, her being a level above them. She won't even be able to call Qrow when she wants to either, as he's going to be on important missions and isn't allowed to talk to anyone outside of them.
Feeling her start to shudder, Qrow pulled her closer, shifting her around so that she was sitting on his lap sideways, hugging her close. "I know it's scary now, but you're going to make some amazing friends at Beacon. And it's not like you're going to be alone, you'll still have Yang and Team CFVY and even Ozpin and Peach I'm sure that they would both love it if you went to them, Peach loves you like one of her own and Ozpin always loves having you around. Just because you won't have me and your dad doesn't mean it'll be bad, it's just a chance for you to make some new memories."
Even though she understood what he was saying, Ruby still silently cried into his chest. There was still the chance that she wasn't going to be on a team with Yang and everyone else she knew was going too busy with school that she probably wasn't going to have much time to spend with them. And making new friends really wasn't her area of expertise, knowing that her age is going to be her main problem with most people.
Choosing not to say anything else, knowing that she just needed someone to hold her, Qrow leaned back against the sofa, slowly drifting off to sleep while holding the not so little girl in his arms. Feeling his breath even out beneath her head, Ruby just closed her eyes and followed his lead, quickly falling asleep in the familiar arms of one of her loves.
After Ruby and Qrow had taken off into the forest, Yang decided to go for a walk around, taking her father with her, knowing that he needed to get out of the house. They mostly spent the time in silence, both just appreciating the time they have together.
They spent most of the afternoon out, listening to the chatter of the island, both picking up on the tale of the Grimm Reaper and her Mentor saving one of the sea side towns from both a fire and a Grimm attack. They came swooping in from the sky, one almost dancing through the Grimm while the other used her expert knowledge and abilities with Dust to put out the fires. Not a moment after they were done did they leave, racing off into the forest again to hunt down more Grimm.
Both blondes just laughed at the story, knowing that it was most likely very true and of course they would go out hunting and save a town. Chuckling to each other, they decided to make their way back home and were silently pleased at the sight of the famous duo on the sofa, asleep and cuddling even though it was evident that Ruby had been crying.
Nobody really talked about how Ruby had been crying when the pair woke up to the smell of food, and the whole family spent the beautiful night eating dinner outside under the stars, laughing and retelling the story they heard from town. They all laughed even more as Ruby turned as red as her cape when they called her their saviour. It was that night that they all silently agreed to make the best of their last few days together before the girls had to leave, all of them knowing that it might be a while before they get to have all four of them together for so long.