Dilemma

Years ago, in the realm of Darkness. A great battle had taken place. A battle between humanity and Grimm. inside a dark castle, two ancient enemies made their final confrontation.

"it's over, Salem, your reign of terrors ends now!" Ozpin shouted as he charged an attack. blueish orbs danced around him.

Salem scoffed, "do you think your measly army can defeat my Grimm!?" she then charged spell of her own, dark red orbs orbiting around her palm.

The two of them released their attack, but Salem's power proven to be stronger than Ozpin, he was slowly pushed away. But he won't yield, he charged another spell and combined it with his current one. Salem only flinched before she able to regain her footing, she sneered, "is this the best you could do, Husband?" she laughed, "you should've taken my offer many years ago and rule over remnant together!"

"And I already made my answer clear that day"

"You and your foolish love for mankind." Salem leapt away, Ozpin's magic beam rushes pass her, obliterating anything in its path. "The brother's goal is foolish, Oz—don't you realize it! mankind will never unite in Harmony. even when their doom is upon them." she released volleys of energy orbs at Ozpin.

Ozpin slammed his cane to the floor, shattering the ceramics. Blueish aura surrounds him and then formed into a humanoid figure. The figure deflected the orbs away with rush of punches. Explosions erupted around him, yet Ozpin was unharmed.

"Yes, I am aware that my task is a fool's errand" Ozpin admitted, pushing his glasses up, "but my goal isn't. SUMMER, RAVEN, NOW!"

Suddenly a crimson portal appeared behind Salem. She was about to dashes away, but the portal cracked and shattered in silver light, replacing it was a hole in space and time. Salem red orbs went wide at what on the other side; the Sun.

As soon as the hole opened, the vacuum of space instantly pulled everything. rubbles no matter how big was careening directly into the sun. Ozpin formed shackles on his feet, keeping him in place. Purely out of instinct, a pair of giant spider legs burst out of Salem's shoulder, piercing the floor.

Regaining her composure, Salem's gaze followed the portal's energy trail. Her red orbs laid on two figures hidden behind one of the room's many pillars. "Curse you!" she casted a torrent of black lightning upon them. but another torrent blocked its path!

"Nu-uh, we won't let you!" a new voice spoke. Salem turned to it. four women appeared behind Ozpin. Salem could feel magic coursing in their veins. "Alright, girls, as practiced!" one of them spoke and then blasted her with lightning.

Salem crossed her arms, a dark purple energy appeared on her front, shielding her from the lightning attack. she was pushed slightly—the combination of the attack and vacuum pulled her closer to the portal. sensing her dangerous position, Salem crawled forward using her spider legs. Slowly but surely, she crawled away from the portal, her spider legs piercing deeply into the floor.

She was nearly upon Ozpin, when one of her legs shattered like glass!

"What!?" instantly, she was pulled by the vacuum, her body flailing helplessly with only one leg to support her. More legs burst out of her back, but they too shatter as soon as they impact the floor. Salem finally noticed her spider limbs were turning blue, ice crystals creeping slowly on them. there was a sudden increase of energy on her front, she whipped her gaze forward.

Multicolored orbs were orbiting on Ozpin, he gracefully moved his hands, mouth chanting. Salem narrowed her eyes and hurled stream of fire towards him, Ozpin continued his chant and ignored the oncoming black flames.

But the flames suddenly fizzle out before it hits its target.

"Sorry, lady, but it's rude to interrupt someone!" one of the women spoke, her hand extended towards the flame. "Amber, bind her!" she suddenly shouted.

Amber—the youngest of the four, nodded. She moved her hands in sweeping motion. Salem instantly felt something binds her arm, it was accompanied by sizzle and burning feeling on her arm. Flame was coiled around her wrist, her gaze followed the flames, it was linked directly to the sun!

More flames coiled around her limbs before she could act. Salem gritted her teeth and used every ounce of her energy to break free. The flame was loosening, Amber gasped as she struggled to kept her contained. Salem managed to break one arm free, she instantly trained it towards Amber.

Ozpin suddenly appeared before her and for once in her infinite life Salem's blood run cold, He whipped his cane to her arm, severing it. before she could regenerate her limb, Ozpin hold her head firmly.

Red orbs meet green, locking into each other. "it's over, Salem. Your terror, trickery, deception…. suffering" Salem glared at his words, at his pitying gaze. "May you never awaken."

She jerked back as energy courses into her, myriad of colors slowly creeping up on her body, "Oz….ma…...!" she seethed one final time as her consciousness fades. the energy finally enveloped her body, locking her in a cocoon of colors. Ozpin could still saw her glare, but it was directionless.

The cocoon was then pulled by the flames, hurling into the sun. the portal then closes as Ozpin dropped to his knees. "Ozpin, sir!" Amber rushed to his aid, helping him stand.

"it's over…" he whispered, looking up to his approaching allies, "it's finally over…." He smiled weakly as the dark room filled with cheers.

Ruby was enjoying her Friday morning, blaring her collection of rock music as if there's no tomorrow as she racking up ideas on what to add on her darling baby—Crescent Rose. Then suddenly she was called to Headmaster's office. Now, standing alone in the moving lift, Ruby bit her lip.

'What did I do!?' was the question filled her mind. She has no recollection of doing anything wrong… at least not as far as she remembered. Maybe professor Port finally noticed that she sleeping on class, or maybe professor Oobleck heard she talking with Jaune during his. It could be one of the two—or BOTH!

"Argh, dang it, why I did all that!" Ruby ruffled hair out of frustration. Weiss already gave her the stink eye as soon as Ms. Glynda finished announcing her name, she must've seen this coming!

The lift dinged, rattling her out of her mini breakdown. She hid herself behind the lift's side as the door slid open, cold sweat trailing down her neck.

Someone—obviously headmaster, cleared his throat, "Ms. Rose…" he called. Ruby was petrified by his calm tone, usually his father uses that tone if there's something wrong.

Despite that, she got out of her hiding spot, "Y-y-y-yes Sir" she squawked and timidly walks towards his desk. She stopped behind a chair before the desk, her knees trembling.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow at her obvious distress, "please, have a seat." Ruby nodded shakily.

"o-o-of course, sir." She sat down. Ozpin frowned at the rattling sound from underneath her seat. He clasped his hands, leaning forward on his desk. He opens his mouth.

Ruby suddenly bowed down, "I-I-I'M SORRY SIR, IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN!" she suddenly screamed, startling the man.

"Pardon?"

She nodded frantically, "Y-Y-YES, SIR, I-I Will try to focus more in their class, Sir. Please don't expel me!" she begged.

Ozpin was clueless of what she referring to, Glynda hasn't reporting any misbehavior of Ms. Rose—only the fact there's a slight tension between her and Ms. Schnee. He cleared his throat, "are you sure?"

"AYE-AYE, SIR!"

Ozpin nodded, a bud of sweat on his forehead, "Good, I'll be sure to forward it to… them" whoever they are. He shook his head, "now then let's move on to the other things."

Ruby stiffened, what more misbehavior she done without noticing! She screamed in her head.

Ozpin ignore her paling skin and turns his rolling chair around, gazing on the large window that bathed the room with sunlight, "Ms. Rose, do you remember what I said during our first meet?"

Ruby looks up, confusion written in her eyes, "um…I think, it's about Crescent Rose, right… I heard you said, 'another troublesome scythe wielder'"

"No, the… other thing"

Ruby racking her brain. She then snapped her fingers, "Oh, you said my eyes was… silver? I don't know what so important about it, sir"

"it's more important than you can imagine, Ms. Rose." He rose up from his seat, "tell me, do you ever hear the fairy tale, 'Silver eyed Huntsman?'"

"Um… no, sir" Ruby was not an avid. The only books she'll read are comics and weapons magazine. but she never heard of this one. surely if she has laid her eyes on it, she'd take it in a heartbeat.

Ozpin chuckled, "I'd be surprised if you heard of it… that story has long been forgotten, only number of people remembered it." he then strolled towards the window," the silver eyed huntsman was a legendary huntsman in days of old—years before the great war. It is said that he can kill the strongest of Grimm, with mere a glance. Some said he was the God of Light, came down from his throne in heaven, to answers mortal's plight.

Ozpin turned around, "other said he was a warlock and has connection with the creatures of darkness." He sat back to his chair, facing his student, "regardless, he was blessed with tremendous power and proceed to carve his name as a legend.

He took a sip of his coffee, "unfortunately, the details of the story were blurry, not even I remember its exact details."

Ruby was in awe, "woah, really? Man, I wish I could read it." she muttered, but then tilted her head, "still, I… didn't understand what did this have to do with me. I mean, it's just a story, right?"

Ozpin smiled, "every story has their start, Ms. Rose."

Ruby looks down, eyebrows furrowed, "does… this have to do with 'killing Grimm with just a glance'?" Ozpin nodded.

"Indeed—although, for the record; 'a glance' was an exaggeration"

Ruby nodded, rummaging her brain for answers to the clue. When she got a possible answer, she cocked an eyebrow, "are you meant to say… I have some sort of power in my eyes?"

Ozpin Smiled brightly, "you're correct, Ms. Rose, you're quite intelligent."

Ruby blushed by the praise, "t-thanks!" rubbing the back of her head, but she suddenly looks down, "but..."

"what's the matter, Ms. Rose?"

"Are you sure I'm that special? I mean, dad or mom never told me anything about it." she muttered, "I was raised like any other kids, dad didn't give me any special training. The day I unlocked my Semblance, dad trained me just like he trained Yang. No mention of eye powers or other powers"

Ozpin sank on his seat, rubbing his chin, "I… don't know of your father's or mother's reasoning, but I can make some guess—if you want to hear it, that is…" Ruby nodded and focused on him, "my best guess, is that they wanted to protect you…"

"Protect me…?"

Ozpin nodded, "hunter's job is dangerous, from beast and men alike. No doubt this is what your parents had in mind."

"But, then why mom told me stories about her job? surely if they want to dissuade me from being huntress she won't do that"

"Your mother was an…. Eccentric individual. I can confidently say I knew of her well enough, but I cannot get a tight grasp on her motives." He paused, recalling any memories of Summer, "she's very unique, every people she met would have a completely different experience while interacting with her. With one person, she's caring and mellow, while later she became cheerful and spontaneous with another. It was as if… she was switching masks"

Ruby frowned, "you made her sounds like an unstable person…"

"Pardon me, but It wasn't my intention to insults her, it's merely my recollection of her early days." Ozpin resting his head on his hand, "though that seems to change on her later years, she still caring and protective as she always been, albeit a bit more reclusive and distant"

Now that he mentions it, there's particular change in her behavior months before her death. When Ruby sneaks out or going to bathroom, she'll notice her mother standing alone on the balcony, staring towards the night sky. Her expression was serene. When she asked Yang about it, her sister later said that mom never does that.

Then one day, she noticed that her mother always sees her with solemn—almost sad expression, then she instantly turned to her bright and caring self when Ruby turns to her.

Did she know? Did she aware that those are her last days with her family, or it was just a freak coincidence?

"I need to think" Ruby finally said. "This…. Eye thingy, I need to think about it."

Her mother, father and probably even uncle aware of her supposed 'talent', then there has to be a reason for them to hide it. she needs to know for sure why.

Ozpin nodded, "that's understandable, it's not a simple thing after all. But… there's something I need to ask of you, Ms. Rose" Ozpin leaned forward, his visage turned serious, "please, don't disclose this conversation with anyone—even your teammates"

This surprised Ruby, "what, why?" she asked

"It is a rather confidential topic only my most trusted collage aware of, and I intend to kept it that way. the only reason I disclose it to you because your life is directly intertwined with it." the headmaster then smiled a bit, "and I'm sure a discussion with not even a half part of the story would only stir discord among your peers, yes?" Ruby frowned, but nodded nonetheless. "Good, glad you could understand."

The man stood up, "Now, I'm sure it's nearly time for professor Penelope's class."

Ruby immediately shots up from her seat, "shoot, I haven't fin- I mean, Blake borrowed my biology note! Sorry, Sir, gotta go." she dashed out of the room. Ozpin could only sigh.

He turned around, clasping his hands on his back. he walked towards the glass window and set his gaze on the students that walked around the campus' courtyard, his hardened expression reflected on the glass pane.

After Ms. Penelope's class, Ruby walking down the hallway along with her teammates, team JNPR and Bifrost. Yang was complaining about how she was punished for not doing her homework, while Blake countered it with some solid arguments. But Ruby tuned out her sister's rambling.

Keeping secret to her teammates… isn't that, like bad? Friends shouldn't keep secret from each other, right?

As if her own worldview being twisted, she can't help but being uncomfortable to headmaster's Ozpin request. She had read in many comics, watched many movies and show. The characters are open to each other. Usually, when a character kept a secret, it'll became a ticking time bomb that'll become a problem for the protagonist and their friends.

But despite what she's feeling, she won't tell. Ruby already promised- No, she already AGREED to say nothing. She won't back down from her words. Never.

Yang waved her hands in front of her face, startling her. Her sister frowned, "you okay, Rubes? You seem quite out of it"

Ruby chuckled sheepishly, waving her hands, "nothing, don't worry! I'm just… thinking about my friends in Signal." Not quite true, but they do cross her mind sometimes.

Yang smiled sadly, "yeah, I forgot you got in two years early." She clasped a hand to her shoulder, "don't worry, though! why don't we invite them tonight for our Premiere Bonding Night?"

Weiss frowned, "Premiere... Bonding Night?"

"Yep, Premiere Bonding night. It's a night where we spent time together, or in other words bonding"

Blake raised an eyebrow, "didn't we do that every night?"

Yang rubbed her neck, "W-well, technically—BUT!" she hugged Weiss and Blake, "this time we're ACTUALLY bonding, like speaking with each other and stuff. You know, like friends actually do!"

Weiss rolled her eyes and pushed the blonde away, "there's better stuff we can actually spent our time with."

"Like monopoly?" Nora suddenly chimed in.

"No."

Blake sighed, "she probably going to say studying" Weiss snapped her finger and nodded.

"correct"

Yang sighed, "Jeez, what are you, sergeant No-fun? Come on, there's no need to study every single day, take a chill pill once in a while." She tried convince Weiss, but it seems the heiress not listening. She turned to Ruby, "Rubes, please help me convince your partner will ya?" but Ruby wasn't listening either, she had her gaze forward, unfocused.

Yang sighed and shook Ruby out of her reverie, meanwhile Weiss eyed her subtly.

The school hour was over. Ruby sat alone on the rooftop, a book and pencil in hand, rulers and other drawing tools scattered on the bench she was sitting on.

"let's see, if I add silencer to her, it'll help me in any possible recon mission in the future," she muttered to herself, eyeing the spherical sketch in her book, "but… in the other hand, I have to disassemble her and possibly need to rework her shifting mechanics" she then wrote in on her notebook.

She continued her work in silence, flipping pages after pages of weapon sketch. Then stopped at a sketch of a pair of swords. Her lips thinned, eyebrows folding.

"Varga and Vinter" she muttered its name.

Varga and Vinter—a simple dual blade with curved tips, like a pair of fangs. It was her mother's weapon, and the only memento she left.

She pulled her scroll, opens her contact. She swipes down her list until her finger hovered on her father's contact. She eyed the number, her thumb reaching down to pressed it. she needs to know, what the EXACT reason they never said anything about her eyes. Was she not special to them, despite their coddling and tease?

After few moments, Ruby sighed and pocket back her scroll. She flipped the book and opened a blank page.

"Maybe I'll sketch some weapon for Boboiboy while I'm here…"

She later spent her afternoon on the rooftop, until the sun setting. By then, she decided to return to dormitory. The dorm was surprisingly empty, windows were still opened, curtains still tucked on their sides. "Oh, nobody's here yet" she muttered.

She puts her equipment on the desk and closed the window, gazing outside for a moment before pulling the curtains. She fished her scroll from her pocket and played 'Made in Heaven' by an old band, Queen. Ruby plopped the scroll to her bed and went to the bathroom. She sang along with the song, its lyrics practically ingrained on her brain.

As the song reached its conclusion, so was her bath. as her scroll played the next song, she was finishing her attire. Combing her short hair, she glanced at her casual attire by the mirror. It was what she called her 'Slayer' attire—it was a combination of Light gray long sleeved shirt, black pinafore, red skirt and black tulle.

As she finished dressing, her team entered the dorm. Yang was glistening with sweat, her outfit drenched, the same can be said to Blake—who was panting. Weiss was carrying a stack of books under her arm, she's still in her school uniform.

"Oh, someone's eager" Yang noted, "well, I'm going straight to bathroom, cuz man I'm stink!" she sauntered to the bathroom. Blake decided to sit on her bed, pulling out a novel from under her pillow. Placing her borrowed books on the desk by the window, Weiss picked one and starts reading. Ruby finished her attire with her signature red cloak.

Ruby approached Weiss, "whatchu reading?" she asked, looking at the stack Weiss bring.

"Advanced Dust chemistry," Weiss answered simply.

Ruby peeked at the heiress' book, she perked up at the title, "oh, I know this book, got the third volume back home!"

Weiss turns to her, "you're kidding." She said flatly. Ruby shook her head.

"Nope, it mostly discussing about Dust appliance in Physics and weaponry." She chuckled sheepishly, "it's the only part I can understand—my mind went everywhere when reading the first two!"

Weiss raised an eyebrow, "really, you understand physic?"

Ruby puffed her cheeks, "well, I did say I'm not stupid. It's just most subject didn't interest me as much!"

Weiss looks at her partner silently, before scoffed, "truly? then recite newton's laws of motion—all three of them"

Ruby huffed, "easy!" Ruby then proceeds to recite all three, she even provided example and its formula. Weiss clapped slowly, "bravo!" she congratulated amusedly.

Weiss crossed her arms, "seems like you're not as hopeless as I thought, well done. Keep the good work"

"Well duh! to design weapons I need to understand math and physics, not to mention blacksmithing, and other science stuff!" Ruby crossed her arms. She then remembered something, "Oh! speaking of which, I have something to show you!"

Ruby then grabs her notebook and proceed to show it at Weiss. Blake glanced at them with little to no interest, she immediately went to the bathroom as soon as Yang finished.

It was 7:00 pm when they arrived at Vale via Bullhead. Yang immediately pointed them to a café not far from the landing zone. The café was bustling with people, form couples to group of friends. The blonde led them to a table, Ruby immediately dashes forward, arms spread open, "Yuzu, Luna, Luka!"

"Ruby!" they called back, welcoming her with a warm hug. They released their hug and proceed to do a handshake. Yang chuckled at the view. She picked a seat, followed by Weiss and Blake. Ruby and her friends sat in opposite side of the table, chattering about weapons and comic books.

Weiss sighed, "of course her circle of friends has similar taste" she muttered, Yang pinched her arm. "Ouch- What is your problem!" she glared at the blonde.

Yang looked at her firmly, "just shut up, Weiss" there's no mirth or her usual goof in her expression. Weiss blinked, then look away and nods.

"Alright, alright…"

Ruby stood up along with her friends, "Yang, we're going to the arcade!" her sister nodded.

"Sure, I'll text you when we're done!" Yang flashed a thumbs up, the red clad girl grinned.

"Let's go, friends of Justice, to Battle Station!" she led her friends, marching out of the café.

Weiss shook her head, "I can't believe she's just announced that loudly" secondhand embarrassment causing her to lower her posture.

Blake nodded, "they're weird" her comment gained a smack on her head by Yang. "Sorry, I mean eccentric."

"Goodness, you're being sensitive today" Weiss noted.

Yang huffed, "well, you all dissin' my sister's friend. What you're gonna do if I start dissin' your friends?"

"But they aren't your friends though" Blake pointed out.

"They are, by proxy." Yang sighed, "the point is, just give her some break for today, yeah? She has so much in her mind right now"

Blake picked up the café menu from the table, "such as?"

"that's the thing, she didn't tell me anything. But she's been out of her mind this whole day—heck she didn't even touched her cookie during lunch!"

Weiss turned at her, curiosity in her eyes, "so you noticed it too." She then called for the waiter.

"of course, I am—I'm her sister for god's sake! The fact she didn't tell me is bothering me." Yang's expression then turned somber, "am I not good enough of a sister, or did she think I'm too overbearing?"

Blake turned to her, "come on, don't be so negative, I'm sure it's just some minor things. I mean, if it was a big thing wouldn't she told you? you're her big sis, someone she looks up to."

Weiss nodded, "I'm with Blake in this, Yang, as a younger sister myself, I certainly not want to trifle anyone with minor things. Give it time, I'm sure it'll pass and she'll return to her old bumbling self"

Yang gave her a flat look, "that was sweet, until the last part"

Inside an arcade across the street, Ruby was having fun with her friends. They played almost every game in the building, spending most of their time beating each other in 'Cross Tag'.

"Come on, Yuzu, use your Astral Finish!" Ruby cheered, pumping her fist high in the air.

"don't let them have it, Luka!" a bespectacled girl, Luna, exclaimed beside Ruby.

It was an intense match. the two competing players maneuvered their characters with amazing displays of deft and expertise. Every blow their characters exchanged came in combos.

Yuzu—girl with orange hair and pink hoodie, deftly pressed a series of button and her character launched an attack. the screen flashed and her character sprite crouch down—as if it had a headache. Seeing the change, Luka— girl with red hair styled in twin tail, switch her character to defensive position.

"Don't do that, you can't block his Astral finish!" Luna warned her sister, but it was too late.

Yuzu smirked, "you fallen into my trap, since Adachi is a new character, the Nerf police hasn't got him yet!" she declared, pointing at her opponent, "I won this round Luka!"

Red pool suddenly appeared under Luka's character, a hand emerged from its depth, reaching for her character. "Eat this, YOMI DROP!"

But Luka smirked back, "the one who won this round is me!" she pressed a combination of button, her character suddenly glitched and entered a stack of TV, missing the hand completely!

"What!?"

"Impossible!"

"GO LUKA!"

Luka tapped her noggin, "you're careless, Yuzu. If you checked the internet, you should know why I picked Teddie."

Ruby fished her scroll and checked, her eyes went wide at what she saw, "N-no way, Teddie has invulnerability bug!"

Luka pointed at Yuzu, "Correctomundo! Since 1.5 update, Teddie become bugged and has been banned for tourneys. you can't touch him for exactly 10 frames, you have entered King Crimson's domain!"

Luka's character appeared behind Yuzu's character. With a wide grin, Luka launched her final attack. "With this, I'll finish this fight, Tomahawk!" her character then hurled a missile towards Yuzu's.

"Yuzu, Block it!" Ruby said, but Luna shook her head. "She can't" the bespectacled girl said, pushing her glasses up.

Ruby turned to her and she explained, "Tomahawk is a special move that does huge amount of damage." She pointed at Yuzu's side of screen, where her character's health bar already turned red, "even if she blocked it, Tomahawk will still chip a bit her health and reduced it to 0!"

"Oh no!"

Despite the audience distress, Yuzu was calm. Her eyes still locked at the screen, hands on joystick and buttons. Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, she acted.

Her character suddenly slid down and completely missed the missile!

"No way!" Luna was shocked by the turn of events, The same sentiment she shared with her sister.

"don't get too cocky, Luka…" Yuzu turned to her opponent, "just like you, I still have trick under my sleeve. Feast your eyes on my special move, Ghastly Wail!"

Her character grabs Luka's and slammed it to the arena floor, it then finished with a powerful stab and the screen flashed as the game declared Yuzu as the winner. Luka slumped on the arcade machine, while Yuzu rubbing her chin in satisfaction. "Another score for me."

"Even after cheating you still lost" Luna sighed, shaking her head. Luka responded with a muffled 'shut up'

Ruby giggled, "aw, don't worry, there's still like dozens of games left to play. It's still early too!" she patted Luka's back.

Yuzu points at a coin game, "yeah, just don't go play that one, you just won't stop after first coin."

"Or a claw machine, those things are rigged!" Luna chimed in.

"No, you just bad at it." Luka interjected, receiving a glare from her sister.

Ruby laughed, "come on, lets play…. Oh, how about some shooting!" Luka instantly brightened and practically sprint towards it.

"Hey, Rubes! wanna face off against the Gunslinging Queen?" she challenged, spinning the arcade gun as if she was an outlaw. Ruby grinned at the challenge.

"You bet I am, you're going to face off against the greatest markswoman in Patch!"

Their duel ended in stalemate. it was a really intense match, but they're having fun. And that's all matter. They decided to take some break while chatting and drinking some cola. the exchanged stories, they would tell them about Signal and she Beacon.

"Hey, Rubes, what was to be expected in initiation test?" Luka inquired, but before Ruby answered Luna smacked her arm, "ouch!"

"it's secret, you moron!" Luna chided, pushing her glasses up, "it's a tradition in beacon to not inform their new students of how the test works. Isn't that right, Ruby?"

Ruby placed a finger on her chin, "now that you mention it… my dad didn't say anything about it either."

"Told you!"

Yuzu puts down her drink, "well, whatever it is, I'm sure it connected to Grimm and stuff, yeah?"

Ruby nodded, "well, it certainly is"

Yuzu shrugged, "then I saw no problem with keeping it a secret, it's something that keep life interesting"

Now that caught her attention, "…keeping life interesting?"

The ginger nodded, slurping her cold cola, "yeah, if you always given something in your life without any effort in your part, everything will be boring and bland. Secret is what kept it interesting, when you're reading comics." She placed her drink, and continued

Let's say, an enemy surrendered and asked to join the hero's party, then the hero somehow accepted them, you might be wondering why did they do that? Are they did it out of good of their heart, or they already saw it coming and had planned accordingly." she pointed at Ruby, "and that what make it interesting, no?"

Ruby hummed, "maybe, but isn't keeping secret from friends a bad thing though?"

Yuzu shrugged, "it might be or might not, it's all depends on what secret is kept" Ruby bobbed her head, sipping on her cola.

Luka suddenly interjected, "Oh, speaking of secret." She turned to her sister, who nodded.

"we've working on something recently, something big." She reached under the table, where she put her bag. She then pulled out a lunch box with wires sticking out of its side.

"This is the High-Jack 1.0" Luna introduced, then continues in hushed tones, "it can snoop on radio signals and let us hear what's transmitted. We made it using broken scroll parts and a bit of scraps bought from the internet!"

Yuzu leaned forward, "dude, for real" she grinned.

"Does it work, though?" Ruby whispered, "not just that, isn't it illegal?"

Luka scoffed, "oh ye of little faith, of course it works, we tested it several times."

Luna nodded, "It works perfectly both in school and outside. As for legality…" she shrugged. It didn't strike confidence in Ruby.

"Come on, what're you waiting for, try it!" Yuzu grinned. Luka and Luna then started the small device, its small speakers buzzing to life.

"Keep in mind, it's not perfect yet and the quality is crappy" Luka reminded as Luna adjusted its dial. It's only produced white sounds for few minutes, until it picks up a faint signal.

The speaker whispered under the static, Luna adjusted the dial some more and the whisper become clearer albeit still faint. "All personnel…. Code: 486…. Repeat… 486…. Downtown…. Need back up!" it was constantly interrupted by statics, but it was unmistakably a distress call.

"486… let's see" Luka pulls out a small notebook out of her vest, skimmed its pages, "oh! Got it, its Police code for thievery!"

Ruby then realized, "it's around here!" Luna nodded and they continued to listen.

"…... the suspect … inside a bag …." The broadcast then stopped. Luka puts away the device and shrugged.

"Well, that's that" she then smirked, "what do you guys think?"

Ruby smiled, "it's totally cool, but certainly illegal!"

Yuzu nodded, "true, but it adds more interest into it, yes?"

"it's a mixed review then!" Luna giggled, "well, we can't impress them all, I guess!"

They decided to exit the arcade and return to the café, Ruby already pulled out her scroll—intending to notify her sister. then someone bumped off her. "Eeek!" she tumbled down to the pavement, landing on her rear.

"Ouch, that hurt" a familiar voice groaned. Ruby turned to the voice; it was Boboiboy. rubbing his bruised wrist, he suddenly winced when he saw her, "o-oh, Ruby! sorry, didn't see you there!"

"Boboiboy, why are you running?" the girl asked, helping said boy stands up. she felt how dirty his palm was, she looks down on his person. There are dirt spots in his pants, flecks of dust on his vest.

"Oh, uh… nothing, don't worry about it!" he waved off. Ruby pursed her lips, and asked what's the matter, but Fang suddenly called from across the street, cutting her words.

"Oh, looks like Fang's here, gotta go!" the boy then ran off before Ruby could say anything, "see you tomorrow, Ruby!"

"Ah-hm, take care" the girl waved, uncertain. Just what's he hiding, why he suddenly ran off—why did he run in the first place?

Looks like she's not the only one with secret to keep.

She sighed, "whatever…" probably its what her uncle usually called; boy's business. Nothing really dangerous, since he didn't say anything. If he's in danger he'll say it, right? that's what friends do, they're friend after all!

"Ruby!" she heard Yuzu called, "Coming!" she yelled back and ran towards her friend before the crossing light turned red.

To be continued

A/N: at first, I wanted to made team RWBY v Bifrost at the end, but then I realized it doesn't make any lick of sense and scratched it. and does anyone else remembered Ruby's friend from signal? I'd like to imagine if she has friends back in signal, it'll be anyone who had same interest (like weaponry, comics, etc.)

One thing that always bother me is why RoosterTeeth write Ruby as someone not too smart despite her achievement; creating Crescent Rose, one of the most dangerous weapons ever created (whatever that meant) she has to be REALLY smart to make her own scythe-sniper thingy.

Oh, and expect some tweaks in how Dust and Semblance works, overhaul on Maiden's power, and overall change on Relics powers in the future. (If I remembered, that is)

Anyway, thank you for reading, have a good day.