To all my terribly loyal and amzing followers. I am pleased to finally be announcing the 5th chapter of this long and tedious story(Tehe). I am soooooooo very sorry to all of you who have waited patiently and not so patiently for this chapter and i hope it lives up to your standards. It took 3 rewrites of just the first half of the chapter and another two of the second for this thing to finally be finished, so here it is guys.
Thank you all for all your support!
Word count: 10,383
Looking at all the very serious faces in the room, Ruby realised that she was very, very screwed.
"Cookies." Ruby swore to herself as she slumped a bit against the doorframe and looked to the ceiling. Grumbling to herself at herself, Ruby looked back at the others in the room when she heard a familiar laugh.
"However good it is to see you again Ruby, I would have to agree. You've managed to get yourself into quite the situation this time, haven't you?" General Ironwood chuckled, holding his hand up at about his shoulder waiting for their usual greeting.
Ruby sighed and stood up straight, nodding in reluctant agreement, before grinning and racing over to the holographic man. Leaping up, Ruby reached up and high-fived his waiting hand, spinning in the air before she landed and pulled out her Sai's, pointing them at the General as she fell. Landing on the ground with a slide, Ruby looked up to see he too had pulled out his Revolver and had it pointed at her in return, a matching grin on his face.
"James won again, Ruby. Although you were close." Ozpin announced from his seat at his desk, sipping his mug occasionally.
Ruby slumped forward in defeat, groaning. "Dang it, I really thought I had you that time, James."
The general just laughed and returned his weapon to its holster, watching Ruby do the same. "One of these days Ruby, I'm sure you'll beat me."
"Yeah, yeah. It's really nice to see you again, though. We haven't talked in ages." Ruby replied, walking back to the man to give him a regular high-five as she walked past to sit in the empty armchair facing Ozpin's desk.
Moving to stand at the side of the large desk, the General nodded in agreement. "No, we haven't, and with school starting back, I have a bunch of student field assignments that I could use some help analysing when you want. We have so many new teams that keeping on top of the more senior teams is becoming a bit of a handful."
"Isn't that what you have other teachers and secretaries for, James? What would your council do if they found out that you have been consulting with a first year from another academy? And a child no less, how could you?" Ruby mocked, grinning at the older man before shrugging. "Besides, now that I've started with Beacon and have a team and classes and because someone," Sending a quick glare at Ozpin, who just raised his mug in acknowledgement, "annoyingly appointed me team leader, I don't think I'm going to be having much free time on my hands for a while. Sorry."
"Not at all, though I guess now I will have to use those other teachers and secretaries you said. How annoying. On another note though, congratulations. I heard you got an early admittance, but nobody had told me you got named team leader. I'm certain you were the most experienced."
"By a long shot." Qrow added, cutting into the conversation as he leaned against the side of the desk. "But what I'm more interested in is how you two know each other."
"I would like to know that as well." Goodwitch added from the other side, glancing at the calmly seated man. "You didn't introduce them, did you?"
"Oh, Ruby and I have known each other for a few years now. I saw her hiding behind one of the pillars on one of my last in person visits here and because you didn't seem to notice, Goodwitch, and Ozpin clearly didn't seem to mind, I didn't say anything. I called her out after you left and was going to yell at her for listening in on the conversation when Ozpin asked her what she did wrong and moved on, not even batting an eye at her presence. She ended up just watching us as we worked and started asking questions, by the end of it she was pointing out different perspectives to some of our problems. Unofficially she's been helping me with academy related tasks during her spare time with me, and officially she's been the Atlas Special Forces Anonymous Handler for some of the smaller missions. I've only ever interrupted her normal schedule twice and those were emergencies, other than that, she's only ever worked during the holidays and on occasional weekends."
"And what, she's free labour or something?" Qrow asked, both impressed and annoyed at the new information he's received.
"Not at all. Ruby has been working and payed on commission for each mission she handles. It gets paid into an account made for her in Atlas."
"Wouldn't you need parental permission at the least for her to be working?" Goodwitch asked, annoyed at just how deeply misinformed she had been about the child.
"Yep, I told dad all about it and he said it was fine, so long as I wasn't actually in the field for any of the missions and that my name not be mentioned in case the teams make any enemies." Ruby cut in, bouncing a little on her chair. Qrow cut her a quick, questioning look before shrugging, knowing that was a blatant lie and would ask her later.
"And as interesting as all this is, that wasn't the reason we're all meeting up here so shall we move this along?" Ozpin added, catching the look and changing the subject.
"Right…. that." Ruby sighed, slumping back into the chair. "So, what do you know?"
"They don't know anything, Rubes. Only what they saw during the initiation, and they don't have to know everything, but you made a dangerous move today and it's gonna take some explaining." Qrow explained, his tone gentle but his lazed stance the same.
Ruby shrunk into herself a little as she thought over what she would say, and what she knew they needed to hear. "I'm not quite sure where to start, honestly."
Watching Ruby curl up on the chair, Ozpin pulled up the footage from when she ran into the fire and froze it on a shot of all three Dust Glyphs, some of the Grimm disintegrating in the background. "How about you start with this. What exactly were you doing in the fire?"
"And what exactly are those weapons you were using?" Goodwitch huffed, "They were not in your student file, as they should have been."
"Oh, that's easy. Those two are what I call RoseBud. They are transforming Sai blades, dual blades and connected, make a staff." Pulling out the weapons in question, Ruby flicked through the transformations for Goodwitch to see. "I've embedded Dust Crystals into the handles, 2 of each crystal type per handle, and I use them in tandem with the blades themselves. I have to order them special from the Dust shop we met at, because for them to work better, I need the crystals raw and unprocessed."
"I will be adding that to your student files after this." Goodwitch stated, making notes about them so she won't forget.
"No, you will not." Jumping from her seat, Ruby raced over and snatched the scroll out of the professor's hands, deleting all the information she had inputted as she raced back to her seat.
"How dare you? Give that back immediately!" Goodwitch shouted, stomping over to the girl. "You have no right to keep that information hidden from everyone here at the academy. That is there for all the other students to know just who and what they are going up against in their classes, and how their teammates work. You keeping information like that from them is unfair to everyone."
Vaulting over the back of her chair, Ruby backed away from the raging lady, deleting all she could find about herself of the lady's Scroll as she went, making sure that only the simplest of base information was available, making her on par with the rest of the first years. "No, it's not. Crescent Rose is my primary weapon for all my schooling, and that includes Beacon. I won't use RoseBud in classes or on field missions unless it is an emergency and we don't have another choice." Having made her way around the desk and just past Ozpin, she threw the Scroll to him as she finished and vaulted over his desk too, putting the furniture between her Goodwitch. "And I know just how many people would be able to get their hands on all my private information if I were to give it to you, and I know how easy it would be for any potential enemies to get that information too. You of all people should be able to understand having the upper hand on any potential enemies, so I'm not sorry if I don't feel like telling the world that I can wield a weapon other than a scythe, or that I am highly proficient in Dust or that I can harness my Silver eyed power in battles!"
Huffing a few breathes, Ruby sat back down on her chair with a slump, waiting for one of the others to say something. Realising that the only sound she could hear in the room was her own breathing, Ruby looked back up at the others, only to see their very shocked faces.
"Whelp, there it is. Good going Rubes." Qrow commented, breaking the silence and stretching his back over the desk.
Looking back at what she said, Ruby groaned and slid down the chair, her head tilted back to stare at the ceiling. "Sugar honey ice tea. Cookies. Cake Crumbs. Fudge Sticks. Crap….."
"And now she gets it."
"Not helping Qrow…"
"I know."
Looking back at Ozpin, Ruby groaned again, before shifting to sit cross legged in her chair. "Just ask it."
"Silver Eyed powers?" Ozpin croaked.
"Are you asking me what it is or what I know?"
"What you know."
"The silver eyed warriors were a legendary linage of warriors who possessed special abilities through their eyes. They were said to be from before even Huntsmen and the kingdoms, and were so fierce that they could strike a Grimm down with a single look. I'm assuming that was in reference to the strange powers that they possessed in their eyes. The only other silver eyed warrior I knew of was Summer Rose, my dead mother."
"And you possess these powers too? At such a young age?"
"You sound shocked. What exactly did you think was happening to the Grimm? They just fluttered away in the wind naturally?"
"Ruby." Qrow groaned, taking a swig from his flask.
"What? It was a stupid question. I'm allowed to answer stupid questions with stupid responses." Ruby responded, her tone getting higher as her hands started pulling at the end of her cape. "Plus, he was the first person to acknowledge my silver eyes, you'd think that he'd know what I was talking about. Even Mummy said that he would know. Why doesn't he sound like he knows? Qrow? Why is he so confused?! I should be the one confused! Not him! Mummy said he could help me! Why doesn't he sound like it?! Qrow-!"
Hearing Ruby build herself up into a nervous breakdown, Qrow leapt over to the crying girl, slamming into her chair and pulling her into his lap as he landed on the floor. Rocking them slightly, Qrow pulled Ruby in tight to his chest, leaning over and resting his cheek on her head. "It's okay Ruby. It's fine. He's not confused about that, it's just a surprise to know you can do so much. Remember when I first found out? I was really shocked too. It'll be fine. Oz's just being a bit of an idiot at the moment. He'll snap out of it soon, I promise."
Ozpin flinched back his desk at the harsh glare the other man sent him and the sound of being called an idiot. Nobody had called him an idiot in a long time, but this seemed to be an adequate situation to start again. Seeing James move to his side quietly, Ozpin tried to give the caped pair as much privacy as he could.
"I don't think I've ever seen her cry… I don't think I've ever seen her upset before actually." James quietly expressed, turning to face the seated man.
"Surely, you've seen her upset before, she's still just a child." Goodwitch hissed slightly, still annoyed at the girl for stealing her Scroll.
"No, he's right." Ozpin sighed, "I've only ever seen truly upset once and even then, she was silent. Ruby is surprisingly strong under stressful situations and such. This is the first time I've ever seen her actually cry… It's rather upsetting."
"Sometimes it's difficult to remember that she's only 15, with all the work that she's done." James sighed, looking back at the red caped pair.
Ozpin just hummed in agreement, and went back to watching the emotional moment on the floor, ignoring Glynda's huff. He still couldn't hear anything, but all three adults watched in confusion as Qrow gently shifted Ruby to sit on the floor, before carefully unclipping her cape and draping it across the chair behind them.
The hunter's confusion continued before Ozpin saw Qrow start to pull off his cape too. Instead of laying it on the chair though, he wrapped it around the girl's shoulders and clipped it on where hers had just come off.
"What is he-"
"Ruby finds a lot of comfort in Qrow cape, always has. Its why she wears a red one, to always fell like he's with her and to feel safe when he's away. I guess in a situation when she doesn't strictly feel safe or needs a lot of comfort, Qrow lets her wear his. He's told me about a few times he's done it, mostly around anxiety attacks like this one." Ozpin said, cutting off Goodwitch and whatever opinions she may have had about the situation.
"We let a student who has Anxiety into the academy? What if she freezes or has an attack in the field. This is a dangerous situation to be putting the other students in." Glynda hissed.
"You've seen how she reacts in the field, did any of it look she froze or had an attack? And what about when I just told you she's extremely responsive under stressful situations. She's been working for me for almost a year now Glynda and she's never had an attack as a Handler. Ruby is an amazing Huntress already, and she doesn't need your judgements or approval to make it as a fully qualified one either." James snapped back, careful to keep his voice down. Not caring for a response, James turned back to Ruby to see Qrow whisper something quietly to her before kissing her on the forehead.
Ruby had started to calm down after the first few minutes, the steady sound of Qrow's voice and the reassuring feeling of his arms comforting her. Having chosen to ignore the other three people in the room, Ruby shuffled deeper into Qrow's embrace, and mindlessly listened to his voice. She pulled back slightly when she felt him tap her arm, trying to get her attention.
"I know you don't want to do this, but you're gonna have to tell them what they need to know, and that may be everything." Qrow whispered into her hair, and winced slightly at the small whimper she released. "I know, I know… but it has to be done."
"Stay?" Looking up at him from his lap, Ruby tried to beg him with her eyes, a few tears building at the thought of being alone to face them all. "Please?"
Qrow sighed and nodded, knowing that he could never win when she was upset and giving the puppy eyes. "Alright, just put those away, they're an unfair advantage. I would have done it anyway."
Shifting her off his lap, Qrow was pleased when he reached around for her cape, to see a small smile on her lips, which only grew when she realised what he was doing. Unclipping her cape and placing it on the chair, Qrow unclipped his cape and wrapped it around her shoulders, replacing hers and tying it to her top. Giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, Qrow transformed into his bird form and hopped onto her shoulder, rubbing his head against her cheek.
Giggling slightly when he nipped at her ear, Ruby sighed, taking a deep breath before slowly standing and moving back into her chair. Looking up at each of the other adults, Ruby huffed at their horrendously obvious 'discreet' looks they were giving. "I…. I'm sorry for freaking out… I don't usually lose it like that anymore. In front of people at least." Looking down to Qrow in her lap, who nudged her slightly in encouragement, Ruby took another deep breath in before looking back up.
"I'm going to tell you everything you need to know…. And it's going to hurt. And it might take a little while but please don't interrupt me. I'd also like to ask that all the footage you have of my using my power to be deleted. I can't have that kind of stuff out there for people to access." Looking between the remaining three adults, Ruby looked to Ozpin, who nodded gently for her to continue.
"My name is Ruby Rose, and I am the last silver eyed warrior in the world that I know of. When I was 2 years of age, I had a nightmare in the middle of the night about a big bad man chasing my Mummy through a forest and went out to look for her. That night, I watched as the man named Hazel pinned my mother to a tree with a dagger before leaving her to die alone in the snow, presumably for her body to be torn up and eaten by Beowolves. In her last dying moments, Summer Rose gave me her Sai's and a message to never trust anyone but Qrow and Ozpin with the secret of my eyes. A secret I almost wish I didn't understand. That night, when I was crying over my dead mother, surrounded by a pack of Beowolves, I managed to simultaneously activate my Aura, Semblance and Silver eyed power where I froze the Grimm and raced home in a flurry of rose petals, before I passed out on the porch swing where I was found by Qrow. Nobody knew about any of that until quite a few years later when I got lost in the city and found myself at Beacon Academy where I met Ozpin and started sneaking away to each month. Somehow, I managed to convince Ozpin to teach me how to use RoseBud, when they were a much simpler version of themselves. Eventually the lessons moved on to other forms of training, like hand to hand and Aura manipulation. Unfortunately, Ozpin wouldn't teach me about Aura – the practical application anyway – until my Aura had manifested on its own. He didn't want to force it, which would have been fine if I wasn't an impatient child and didn't go straight home and start pestering Qrow until he agreed, which is where we realised that my Aura was already unlocked. My training from there progressed rather quickly, getting different lessons from both Ozpin and Qrow and applying them to the other one's lessons but thankfully, nobody noticed. It wasn't until I was 10 when anyone found out about the Sai's and my powers – which was an emotional time all around. From then on, Qrow has been helping me train with everything, teaching me about the Scythe and touching up and working through whatever Ozpin would have taught me in my latest visit. I went through all of my schooling only using Crescent Rose, and I will continue to do so without anyone else knowing that I have a secondary weapon." Ruby finished with a sigh, looking down at her lap, not wanting to see the others faces.
"Tha- that was a lot to take in…" James said, looking to the floor as he tried to process everything he just heard.
"If you want a summary: I am extremely good at what I do and have been doing it for years." Ruby grumbled, as she watched Goodwitch's face flick between disbelief, sadness and frustration. "Did you have any more questions?"
"I- I think that just about covers it…" Goodwitch breathed, her mind still going too fast to truly answer.
"I have one." Ozpin spoke, leaning forwards on his elbows over his desk slightly. "Summer said that you could trust only Qrow and I. Why did you tell Qrow and not me?"
"I didn't tell him, he found out. I didn't really have much of a choice after he caught me red handed with RoseBud one day."
"Okay, but why not tell me later? Why keep this such a secret from me?"
Looking up from her lap at his almost betrayed tone, Ruby couldn't hold back the hopeless look she wore, hoping to all hell that she wouldn't lose his friendship. "Because you were safe." Ruby tried to explain. At his confused face, she continued. "It was so nice to just come up and visit you, and leave behind all my problems at Patch. And the first time I wasn't even sure that you were who I thought you were, but then I thought that you would react like Dad did. I didn't want you to look at me and see the face of a dead woman; I didn't know how close you were to her and I didn't want to risk it. I didn't want that here. I wanted training and hugs and cookies and long talks about nothing."
"I wouldn't have said anything, or forced you to do anything, Ruby. I don't understand why you felt the need to hide from us here." The hurt in his voice coming though plainly now, and it hurt Ruby to hear.
"Do you have any idea how many times I almost got myself killed?" Ruby asked, looking straight into his eyes. "Do any of you?!"
Looking to the other two and seeing them avert their gaze, Ruby was starting to get angry. "The power of the Silver eyed warriors is activated and highly unstable when the holder is in an unstable emotional state. Do you have any idea how many times a child is emotionally unstable? A Lot! My powers would just come bursting out of eyes almost every other time I threw a tantrum! I was a toddler! I threw a lot of them, but I learnt very quickly how to not. Because I was far more scared of opening my eyes to the terrifying frozen sculptures of a horde of Grimm than I ever was upset at anything else." Huffing after her rant, Ruby slumped again at the shocked gazes set on her.
"Look, when I came to Beacon – to this very room – to visit you, the only thing that I ever had to worry about was having fun, and I couldn't do that if I was constantly worried about when you were going to turn around and see the face of a dead woman, or a little girl looking for some fun. Even if it was just once a month, just 12 days a year, they were some of the best 12 days I could have ever hoped for, and I wouldn't change a thing about it. Not now, not ever." Ruby practically begged the man to understand, because she really couldn't stand to lose him as her friend. Not right then, not when everything was changing so drastically.
"I… I guess I can understand that." Ozpin finally sighed after a minute of thinking, slumping slightly also. "It's just so shocking to think about a child – any child – having such an unstable power like that at such a young age…"
"Yeah, me too." Ruby mumbled, choosing to pet Qrow instead of looking up.
Clearing his throat lightly, Ozpin turned to face the General and Glynda. "As much as we still have much more to talk about, I do believe that it's getting late and Miss Rose has a team that she should be getting back to. James, a pleasure to see you as always."
The General nodded back and looked over to Ruby, waving slightly. "It was nice to see you again Ruby. Give me a call when you're free and we can go over those plans."
Ruby agreed and waved goodbye to the man as his hologram faded, leaving everyone looking at Goodwitch. Glynda huffed and nodded farewell to Ozpin, swiping her Scroll off the desk as she walked past to get to the elevators. "Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby called after the woman.
Turning at the sound of her name, Glynda looked back to see Ruby staring at her expectantly. "Yes?"
"The footage?" Ruby asked.
"What about it?"
"Id prefer it if you could delete it, thank you. That is dangerous footage to have around."
Goodwitch only harrumphed before snappily deleting the footage and showing them the screen before stalking onto the waiting elevator.
"Was she really gonna walk out of here and not delete it?" Ruby asked, as she turned back to Ozpin, both of them watching as Qrow hopped off her lap and turned back into his human form, leaning against the desk.
Ozpin hummed in response, but it was Qrow who spoke. "Probably. She doesn't much like me and with the lack of respect you've been showing her, I don't think she likes you too much either."
"Respect is earned. She has not in any way earned mine, I don't care if she's a teacher or not." Ruby huffed, slumping back into her chair and sliding down until she was practically falling off.
"Yeah, I know Rubes. No need to tell me, just keep an eye on her because she may try to make your life a little difficult." Qrow replied, leaning back on the desk and slumping into a similar position as the younger girl.
"If you two are just gonna flop all over my furniture you may want to try a bed, I hear it is much more comfortable." Ozpin said after a few moments of silence, having watched both of them practically turn into puddles on his furniture. He regretted his wording almost immediately when not just one, but two pairs of curious eyes turned lazily to face him, identical eyebrows raised on both.
"Are you offering yours, because I would love to." The surprisingly not Qrow sounding voice asked after a moment.
Ozpin turned a surprised look to the girl half off the chair with her eyes closed, shocked at the comment that sounded like it should have come from Qrow.
Not hearing a response after few seconds, Ruby opened her eyes to see Ozpins shocked face and Qrow wearing the same expression they both just pointed at the other man. It took a few more seconds for Ruby's face to suddenly turn red as she realised just what she said. "Not like that! I'm tired! I've had a long and tiring day and just want to go lie in a bed. Stop looking at me like that Qrow!"
Qrow just chuckled as her next sentence was cut off by a long yawn, a soft smile forming on his face as she slid even further down the chair, practically sitting on the floor by that point. "Yeah, maybe you need to be getting to bed. You think you can make it by yourself or do you want some help?"
"Help?" Ruby asked softly, as she shuffled her way across the floor to lean against his legs, her eyes falling closed again as his hand reached down and started petting her hair, her ultimate weakness.
Ozpin watched as Ruby practically fell asleep were she was sitting on the ground, leaning against his lovers' leg as he stroked her hair, a soft smile on his face. "It really has been a very long day, for everyone. Why don't you take her back to her dorm? Her scroll should have her room number and it's late enough for nobody else to be awake. I'll wait for you back here." Ozpin said, as he watched Qrow pick her up, one arm beneath her knees and the other under her neck. Picking up her Sai's and cape from the chair, Ozpin carried them back and placed them on her stomach and watched as she automatically clung to them in her sleep.
"This is going to be really hard for her, isn't it?" Ozpin asked, brushing a stray lock of hair away from her face as she turned and nuzzled into Qrow's chest.
Looking up from the girl, Qrow could only nod sadly in agreement, before pulling her even closer. "I know that she has always tried her best to look happy around others but it's a fact that she just doesn't know how to make friends." He admitted sadly. As much as she tried, Ruby never really had any close friends that she could hang out with on a regular basis and it really did affect her.
Both men just shared a look before Qrow made his way across the room to the elevator. It was late, and everyone had an exhausting day so the chances of anyone but the staff seeing was slim to none.
Making his way out of the elevator, Qrow nodded hello to Delilah as he passed before swiftly walking across the campus to the first-year dorms. It was a quick trip up the stairs, although it took a second to juggle Ruby around to get her Scroll, but it all turned out to be for nought as the door opened not a second after he arrived, to a tired but smiling Yang.
"Hey Firecracker, think you can help me out a little here?" He whispered, shifting past her quietly and turning to his niece.
Yang just smiled at the pair, before gently grabbing her sister like her uncle was and placing her on her bed. She had been waiting up for Ruby to come back, a little worried about how long she had been gone. Yang knew that she was with Ozpin though, so she wasn't too worried, but when the others were long since asleep and her eyes were drooping, she was glad to hear shuffling outside the door.
It was a surprise though, to see her Uncle Qrow standing there with a sleeping Ruby in his arms. They did make quite a cute image though, Qrow fumbling around for he Scroll while being as subtle as possible because he didn't want to wake the exhausted girl.
Yang put her sister in her bed before turning back to her Uncle, who had decided to lean against the doorway while she got Ruby under the covers. "I thought you'd be consoling Dad for a few more days."
"You and I both know that most of those tears was for Ruby's sake. As much as she doesn't like to see him cry and doesn't know how to deal with him, Tai knew that she wouldn't be as confident if it seemed like he was happy to be rid of her." Qrow responded quietly, turning to look at the sleeping girl with a sigh,
Yang could only agree, as even she knew that he got all his moping done in that week before they left. "Yeah, but still. Did you watch the initiation?"
"Yep, got there just in time to crash into Ruby – which hurt like a bitch by the way. That's what the talk was about, she pulled out RoseBud and used her eyes and got caught on tape. The footage is deleted and nobody but the important people know but it was an emotional conversation."
"I can imagine, if it was anything like the one that happened when we discovered them. Are you gonna be hanging around or are you set to take off soon?"
"I'm gonna be around for the next few days but you won't see me. So, this is actually goodbye for now. You should really be getting to bed too, I'll see you later, Firecracker." Qrow said, leaning down and kissing her forehead before slipping back out the door and down the hall.
"See ya, Uncle…" Yang replied to the empty doorway before turning back with a sigh and hopping back into bed, after closing the door. 'Such a looooooong day.'
Waking up the next morning still in her clothes and Qrow's cape, Ruby revelled in the warmth for a little while longer before getting up for the day. It was very early in the morning, the last of the dawn light filtering through the curtains and Ruby could still see her other three teammates still asleep. 'Probably a good thing too. Can't imagine what the Schnee would be like if she saw I fell asleep in my clothes.'
Shrugging off the thought, Ruby trudged her way to the shower to start getting ready for the day, wondering how she was going to return Qrow's cape to him.
Getting an early start to the day did wonders for Ruby. Although they were almost late to their first class, the day seemed to be moving on in a swift and enjoyable manner for the younger girl, until of course, Professor Port's class. Ruby had been warned by the majority of team CFVY that his classes were boring, but she didn't think they would be that bad, sitting in class though, changed her mind.
With his droning voice and lack of interesting topics, Ruby soon found herself fidgeting, tapping her fingers and doodling. Her fingers were just itching to grab RoseBud, but she knew she couldn't and Ruby had only brought one pen with her, it wasn't until Yang tossed her a couple of her spare pens over Weiss' head that she settled a little.
Weiss was not happy with her fidgeting partner and having her boisterous sister throwing pens over her head was making her down right angry. 'Honestly, if she can't sit still like an adult than she shouldn't be in a school to train adult huntsmen.'
It didn't get much better when her partner started to spin the silly pens in her hands, making them look almost like a propeller. 'And now she's playing with them?! How immature can she be?'
Entirely unimpressed with her so called team leader, Weiss jumped at the first chance she could to prove herself better than the younger girl, volunteering for an in-class demonstration. It didn't go nearly as well as she had hoped, having lost Myrtenaster halfway through the fight and her insufferable leader had actually decided to start paying attention, telling her how to fight the stupid Grimm. Having stabbed the Grimm through it's stomach, begrudgingly like her leader had said, she was exhausted and thoroughly annoyed at the girl, enough so to blow up at her in the hall.
"What's wrong with me?! What's wrong with you? You're supposed to be a leader and all you've been is a nuisance. You've done nothing to earn your position and now you think you can just sit there and fidget like a grade schooler? I've studied and trained, and quite frankly, I deserve better than to be in a team lead by you. Ozpin clearly made a mistake."
Turning away from the younger girl, Weiss didn't let her say a word before she stomped off down the hall to see Professor Port standing on one of the balconies. 'Finally, an adult I can talk to. Surely he'll agree that I'm a much better leader for the team.'
"Well that was rather harsh, wasn't it?" Ruby heard from behind her. Turning around, Ruby looked up to face Ozpin.
"It was, but maybe now that she's gotten it out, she'll calm down a bit?" Ruby shrugged, looking over to see that Weiss had found Professor Port and was likely saying much the same thing she just did to Ruby. "Or not…"
"At least you're not asking if she was right."
"You wouldn't have known if you'd made a mistake this early in the year, plus, you know what your doing when you appoint leaders. If you thought I was the best person to lead the team than maybe I am. I also think you appoint leaders based off need too, because I know that Jaune has no leadership skills in him at all, but you've appointed him. So maybe you see something in me that needs a role like leader to bring it out."
"I forget how perceptive you are sometimes, but you are right. It is too early, and I am hoping that you'll flourish in the leadership role you've got but only time will tell. Just remember that the role of a leader is not just a title you take into battle, but a badge you wear constantly." Ozpin warned, taking a sip from his mug.
Noticing the action, Ruby tried to see into it, asking with a grin. "So, what are you drinking today, Headmaster?"
"If you have to know, Miss Rose, it's coffee. Yesterday was a long day and the night being not much shorter. I thought a nice cup of coffee would do me well." Ozpin replied with barely a straight face.
"But headmaster, it's well into the afternoon. Surely your night wasn't so long that you still need coffee now." Ruby's grin growing wider by the second.
"Hush now Mis Rose, the duties of a Headmaster are long and tedious. I had much work to do last night. And this is only the second cup of coffee I've had thank you, I also happen to like the taste." Ozpin replied, his face of innocence perfectly formed while he took another sip of his drink.
"Oh, I'm sure they must be, Headmaster. Would you mind if I came up to your office this evening? I'm sure your long and tedious dutieswould like his cape back." Ruby's face morphing into one of innocence as she spoke, only to crack and bend over laughing as Ozpin chocked on his sip and started coughing.
"Ruby!" Ozpin managed to gasp out through his coughing fit, only to make the girl laugh even harder.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll stop now, I promise. I should go make a start on my homework though so I'll see you later. I am okay to come around this evening yes? I really would like to return his cape." Ruby giggled, calming down as his coughing fit ended.
After calming down and taking another sip to sooth his throat, Ozpin nodded and reminded her that it has to be before curfew. No special rules just because they are friends.
With a nod and a small playful salute, Ruby turned and wondered off down the hall, her quiet giggles echoing slightly in the halls as she made her way back to her dorm.
Shaking his head, Ozpin headed in the opposite direction, down to the courtyard where a certain Qrow flew down to join him.
"That girl is a menace to my health and so much less innocent than I remember. I'm glad she's doing okay though, I was worried about her after last night, but she seems fine. Did you see what happened with her partner? I didn't quite expect her to be so self-entitled, though I don't know why with her name."
Having transformed back, Qrow walked along side his lover through some of the more covered areas of the school. "Yeah. I know that Winter isn't exactly the nicest, but she still has respect for others. I didn't think her younger sister would turn out to be such a little spoiled brat though."
"Well, Ruby seems to be taking it better than most would, to be partnered with someone so against them as a teammate and team leader."
"Eh, she's used to it. She got it a lot at Signal, but she learnt that either people are going to accept that she is better, or they are going to waste their energy trying to prove her wrong, and neither really affects her. Although partnering up with a Schnee will definitely help build some sort of a back bone in her." Qrow shrugged, knowing that Ruby is most likely going to have to put up with it for most of her life.
"That is true. She also said that she'll be by this evening to drop off your cape if you didn't hear."
"Good, it feels almost weird to not be wearing it. And no, I didn't hear. I decided to follow the Schnee and see what she was doing. She tried sucking up to Port, thinking he'd agree with her about how she should be team leader. I think he put her place though, so Ruby shouldn't be getting too much trouble from her anymore."
"Well that is good to hear, maybe now she'll calm down and stop throwing small tantrums when she doesn't get her way. I should be getting back though, I do actually have duties to take care of as Headmaster." Ozpin sighed, changing direction to head back to his office.
"Yes, long and tedious duties that kept you up last night. I heard." Qrow laughed, before he transformed and flew off, likely to go looking for Ruby.
"Qrow!" Ozpin shouted as he flew away. "So that's were it came from… how annoying."
Having gone through the little homework that was set for them, Ruby started looking through the curriculum for the res of the semester, and got a head start on the studies needed for the classes. Looking over the assessments for the Grimm Studies class, Ruby sighed and started on the essay that wasn't due for another 6 weeks, picking the Grimm she wanted to write about and plotting out her essay structure and what she already knew.
She didn't realise how late it was getting until she heard Weiss clearing her throat at the side of her bed. "Wha- Weiss? What's the time?"
"It's too late, curfew is in half an hour though and you're still in your uniform?"
"I was studying and lost track of time, I'm sorry-" Ruby started to apologise when Weiss cut her off with a hand over her mouth. She would have tried struggling if it weren't for Weiss' next words.
"How do you take your coffee?"
Looking over to her empty and mug, Ruby sighed and shook her head. "I don't-"
"Just answer the question."
"Look, thanks but no thanks. It's getting late and need to do something before curfew so I won't be having another one."
"Fine, but don't you be making a lot of noise when you get back, I need sleep to be able to function properly. What are you doing anyway that can't wait until tomorrow? Making it back before the curfew isn't going to be easy."
"It probably won't be but I'm just returning something I borrowed, and they don't usually go long without it and I promised I'd give it back tonight. I'm fast though so I'll be fine. I'll make sure I'm super quiet, you won't even hear me come in." Ruby promised as she sat up and stretched, reaching back to pack away her books. She didn't expect anything else from the talk, so she hopped off her bed and made her way to the door, grabbing Qrows cape and making sure that her pyjama's were out so that she didn't have to do too much shuffling when she got back.
"Ruby." Weiss called lightly as she was opening the door.
"Yes Weiss."
"I- I think you have what it takes to be a god leader. Just know, that I am going to be the best team mate you will ever have." Weiss expressed, before turning back to get her own pyjama's.
Ruby smiled slightly, before nodding to herself. "Thanks Weiss. I know you don't think much of me but thank you for giving me a chance. I'll see you in the morning."
"Yeah, by the way. I always wanted bunk beds as a kid." Weiss admitted.
"Me too. Goodnight Weiss."
"Goodnight Ruby."
Closing the door behind her, Ruby smiled to herself before she took off in burst of rose petals down the hall and out the open window at the end before floating in the breeze all the way to the base of the tower.
Forming back and walking into the building, nobody else was around so she just took the main elevator up to Ozpins office, rolling forward and back on her feet as she waited for it to make the climb up.
The elevator doors opened to the large room, mostly empty except for the two figures standing by the large glass desk, a little too close to be appropriate in public – if they were in public. Ruby watched silently for a second as Ozpin leaned down to close the small height gap and kissed Qrow, placing his palms on his desk by his lovers' side, effectively trapping him there.
Coughing slightly, Ruby giggled slightly to herself when they both sprang apart with a shocked look on their face. "Looks like someone forgot about little old me." Ruby pouted, "It's not like the elevator doesn't make a ding, you know. You both should have totally heard me coming. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Some Hunters you two are." Ruby grinned, shaking her head sarcastically as she walked into the room. "Plus, it's not like I haven't seen you two kissing, it's nothing I haven't seen before."
"Ruby." Ozpin sighed "I'd apologise but you seem to be enjoying this far too much." Ozpin sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "And it was getting pretty late, I thought you had forgotten or fell asleep and would just bring it up tomorrow."
"You don't trust me? I'm heartbroken Ozpin, truly heartbroken." Ruby sassed as she swept into the office and hopped up on the desk, her legs hanging off the edge and swinging.
"Ruby." Qrow groaned, dragging a hand down his face, feeling immensely awkward having been caught by his not-niece.
"Fine, fine." She sighed, hopping off the desk and walking around to Ozpins chair where both men were standing near, climbing up to stand on the seat and motioned for him to stand in front of her.
"I just wanted to bring this back to you. Thank you for letting me borrow it yesterday, it always helps. I kind of thought you'd start to feel a little odd without it though, so I wanted to give it back today, but I got side tracked by homework." Ruby said as she unfolded the deep red fabric and pinned it back to his shirt, flattening over the edges and flaring out the bottom. "There, all better." She declared.
"Thanks Rubes. It was starting to feel very weird, not wearing it." Qrow replied, turning around and giving her a kiss on the forehead before lifting her off the chair and back onto the floor.
"It's your first day of classes, you shouldn't have much if any homework." Ozpin said, leaning against his desk a couple of feet away giving her pointed look. "You wouldn't have started on some of the other projects already, have you?"
"What? No… maybe. Just a couple!" Ruby replied, looking at her swinging legs. "I got bored. And its only the Grimm studies and Vehicle Combat and Maintenance…"
"Ruby, you haven't even been to the Vehicle Combat and Maintenance class yet. What were you working on? The research assignment?"
At Ruby's silence, Ozpin realised he was actually right. "Oh. You actually were. For some odd reason I thought that maybe you'd be okay with the pace Beacon does things but maybe we'll have to give you some other, extra credit assessments."
"No, it's fine. I just got side tracked with what I was doing, once I start combat training and organise a training schedule for the team I'm sure I'll have less time on my hands. Speaking of which, I was wondering what the policy was on going to into the Emerald Forest when not with a class or on assignment? I like to go and hunt sometimes, mostly to practice with RoseBud, but I wasn't sure about how to go about that up here."
Ozpin acknowledged the change in subject and chose not to comment. "Usually we don't let any students go hunting as none of them are experienced to go by themselves and we don't have enough teachers to supply one-on-one hunting sessions for those who are but in your case, I might just make an exception. You won't be able to go during the week much if at all, but the weekends should be free."
Looking up, Ruby was both pleased and surprised by his answer. She didn't actually think that he'd let her go, but that was sounding pretty good to her. "So, I can go… but only with a chaperon? Who would you send with me? Please don't say Goodwitch."
"Yes, with a chaperon. No, not with Goodwitch. If you'd be okay with it, I will take you out on your hunting missions. You could think of it as our lessons in a more practical application, which is why you won't be able to go out too often as I have many things to attend to as Headmaster."
"Oh yes, all those long and tedious Headmasterly duties." Ruby giggled as she hopped off the desk. "I should probably be heading back now, so I'll let you get back to your duties." Racing in, Ruby gave them both a hug and a kiss on the cheek before racing to the stairwell.
"I'll see you tomorrow or something. Have fun with your duties!" Ruby called as she opened the door and jumped down the gap in the stair well, transforming into her rose petals about halfway down. Floating down to the ground floor and transforming back, Ruby opened the door and crept out, racing through the foyer and into the fresh night air.
Ruby didn't even glance back as she made her way out into the courtyard, trying to ignore the way her heart hurt. As much as she loved both of the men she just walked away from, and she wanted to see them both happy, it still hurt a lot to see them together. It wasn't fair, that she had to be so young and such a child in their eyes. Why couldn't she have been a grown up. Or even just a normal child who didn't understand so much of the world so early in life. Maybe then she wouldn't have fallen in love them and wouldn't have to go through the pain of watching them be together.
Sighing at her utter misfortune in life, Ruby decided that a nice walk in the crisp air would do her well and made her way back to her dorm the slow way.
"Duties!" Qrow gasped out, laughing so hard he fell from his leaned perch on the edge of the desk. "God that girl is funny sometimes."
"Yeah, yeah laugh it up. Just wait until she turns on you, then we'll see who's laughing." Ozpin replied in a flat tone, turning to look out the windows and down onto the courtyard, waiting for Ruby's petals to make their appearance.
"Nah," Qrow said, casually leaning up against the same window. "She loves me too much to turn on me like that." He had meant it as a joke but both men knew that it hit to close to home for comfort.
"And just like that, it's suddenly not even something you can joke about." Ozpin sighed after a minute, still keeping an eye out for Ruby.
Qrow, having nothing he could say to that, turned to look out at the courtyard below and frowned at the sight of Ruby slowly walking across, having only just left the building. Glancing back to look at the time, Qrows frown deepened when he realised that she only had a couple of minutes before curfew.
Ozpin, having noticed Ruby's slow form too, glanced over at Qrow to see his frown. "She doesn't usually like to take walks, does she?"
"Not usually. Ruby finds a lot of freedom if in her Semblance so for her to be walking, she probably wants to think." Qrow replied, his voice deep in concern.
Due to the height of the tower, details were always a rather difficult thing to determine, but both men knew that they saw her turn to look back up at them, waving a tiny wave at them before she walked into her dorm building.
They were both silent for a minute, not really knowing what to say when Ozpin broke it once again. "Are we going to talk about how you said Ruby loves us or are we going to avoid it for another few days?"
"I don't really know what to say about it. Ruby's loved me for most of her life, and I think she fell in love with you the moment she met you." Qrow responded, moving back to lean against the desk, facing the windows.
"What does she even see in us as a potential love interest? What part of us is appealing to a child? And aren't we kind of old to be even considered?" Ozpin asked, also moving away from the window and to his chair, resting his elbows on the desk.
"Oh, I said that too once, and she knocked it down so fast. She said that you don't age and she found out the first day she met you and that I don't look much different than my team photo taken not long after we graduated so she's got us there." Qrow responded, glancing down at the other man. "And I asked her one time, when she first told me, what she saw in me. I think she said that with me, she feels safe, and cherished and supported and protected. She also said something about being kind and amazing but I'm passing that off as 10-year-old speak. I don't think anyone would classify me as kind."
"This is still sounding like a hero worship almost to me. How do you know it's not?"
"For one, Tai told me the same night Ruby did that he was fairly certain she loved me with all of her little heart, and on this one topic, I'm inclined to believe him." Qrow chuckled.
"And the other point?" Ozpin asked, noticing how he avoided the next point.
Qrow sighed and leaned his head back, choosing to watch the clockwork above them instead of his lover. "And two… If it were a hero worship at any point, then she would have snapped out of it very quickly…"
"Qrow...?"
"At some point in Ruby's life, she figured out that what I do, when I go out on missions, is not just kill Grimm. In fact, in the last couple of years, she's gotten to the point of knowing which ones were just a Grimm killing mission and which ones weren't. I don't know if she knows what it is exactly I do out on the other missions, but she knows it's not good." Qrow stated, trying to keep his emotions out of his voice.
"How does she know…?"
Qrow rolled his eyes at the silly question and stared at his lover from the corner of his eye. "She's perceptive, remember? And after some particularly bad missions, I'll have an occasional nightmare, and you know that sometimes I talk in my sleep."
"That really shouldn't be enough to give much away Qrow. What aren't you telling me?" Turning his chair to face the slouching man, Ozpin tried to catch his eye but failed.
Qrow sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face before answering. "Ever since Ruby was little, if she had a nightmare, I would let her sleep with me when I was home. At some point, Ruby had the thought that it must work both ways because sometimes I would wake up from a particularly bad dream and find her sitting right next to my head, singing whatever little lullaby was her favourite at the time and petting my hair. She'd be in her own bed by the morning we thought nothing of it until I caught her one time and told her off. She just ignored me though and kept on doing it."
Qrow still remembered the first few times she did it, he was too tired and emotional from the dream to really tell her off and just fell back asleep, but the next morning she would always be back in her own bed, so he thought it was just some kind of hallucination. That was until one time when she too had fallen asleep and he had woken up to her curled around his head, her hands still in his hair. He tried to tell her that she shouldn't do it because he could be dangerous when he had nightmares and don't want her to get hurt but she just nodded and left, pretending it didn't happen.
"It kind of then turned into something that would just always happen." Qrow shrugged.
"So, you never told her anything? How would she know what kind of missions you were going on then?"
"Ruby has her own kind of system for making sure I'm okay and has stuck to it pretty religiously for a few years now. It's kind of simple in her own Ruby way but it worked wonders for me. She managed to get me to do other stuff to stop me from drowning myself in alcohol."
It was almost entertaining, watching Ruby go through her process once he found out what it was. First was the tackle hug, to determine both his level of intoxication and if he had any major injuries. Next was the three-day shadowing assignment that she'd set herself to make sure that any injuries he did have were being taken care of properly and if not, she would just hand him the required bandages, creams or ice packs when she thought appropriate. She also used that time to do her own analysis of his mental health and gave him whatever space- or lack thereof - if she thought it was what he needed, and so far, she had always ben right.
"She almost doesn't sound like a child at all… in fact, I don't think I've ever met the young woman you seem to be describing." Ozpin sighed, looking back at his interactions with Ruby, she had always been in exactly the role he thought; smart as a prodigy by free like a child. He'd never encountered the level of maturity that Qrow was explaining. It was disappointing, almost, to still not know all there is about his youngest friend.
"You probably haven't, and most likely because of both need and want. Ruby has always found freedom in coming up here, letting herself be free to be the child she wanted to be. That and she never had the need to try and treat someone with the amount of care and attention that she thinks I require."
Sending a glance at the other man, Ozpin dryly retorted, "Only she thought you needed that?"
"So fine, maybe I knew that I needed it too, whatever." Qrow huffed at his lover's grin.
"You really do love her, don't you?" Ozpin asked, his voice gentle with a small smile as he watched Qrow smile also.
"Yeah, she's the light at the end of all my missions. She was practically the reason I go off to do the missions, knowing that when I get home, Ruby would be waiting for me…" Qrow trailed off, and at seeing Ozpins smile growing he visibly winced when he realised what he said. "Not like that, Oz. I love you, I always will. Ruby is like family to me, she's not… I'm not…"
"Yes, you are. You love her, Qrow, admit it. You may be able to lie to yourself, but you can't lie to me. You love her almost as much as you love me, I can see it." Ozpin smiled, not in the least bit upset with this revelation.
"Maybe, but I could never leave you, Ozpin-" Qrows almost begging tone was cut off as Ozpin stood up and kissed him square on the mouth, silencing the man in the most effective way.
Breaking the kiss slowly, Ozpin smiled down at his dazed looking Qrow, pecking him one more time before moving a step back, his arms still wrapped around the other mans waist. "I don't love you any less for acknowledging that you love Ruby more than the family title you've been trying to push her into, Qrow. And I'm not going to leave you, or make you leave because of it either."
Feeling Qrow start to relax a bit in his embrace, Ozpin continued. "You said that she loves me too?"
At the faint nod, Ozpin smiled again. "Then maybe over time, I too can grow to love our little rose, hmmm? I'll admit, I don't know her like you do but maybe over the next few months I'll get the chance to, we'll see."
"I didn't expect anything like this to happen tonight." Was Qrows only response as he leaned forward and kissed his lover again. "But I can't say that I'm entirely disappointed. Ruby's feelings for us has always been a rather odd topic for me. Especially because being with you has always broken her little heart."
"I can imagine it has, but maybe now that can stop. Not right now, though." Ozpin agreed before tugging Qrow back in for another kiss, this one much deeper than the last. "Right now, I have some long and tedious Headmasterly duties to attend to." Ozpin all but growled, pulling his lover to the elevator, only paying enough attention to press the number for the floor his room was on before pushing Qrow into the elevator wall, kissing down his neck. "Very tedious work."