The Cat's Playful Rose, a RWBY story

(For the purposes of this story, it is set during the Beacon arc. Early days)

Note - I do not own RWBY.

Opposites attract, don't they? Well, that was certainly the case between Blake Belladonna and Ruby Rose. Their only visible similarities could be traced back to their appearance, both donned black clothes, and both had black hair. Even in these resemblances, there was uniqueness, true to them both, Blake wore black on her vest and tights, and her long hair. Ruby wore black on her skirt, and her shorter hair accented with dark reds. In other criteria, they failed. Ruby was Human, Blake a Faunus. Ruby was eccentric, Blake reserved. Ruby liked weapons, Blake liked books.

In Ruby's reach, she believed it to be a miracle that she and Yang managed to have even the smallest conversation with the Cat Faunus, in reference to the three's first night at Beacon Academy. They could tell just by how Blake talked, that she was of the introverted archetype. The scythe-wielder took quite an interest in Blake, she found her so mysterious, so entrancing! What was her weapon like? Does she have a Semblance just like me? These general questions rattled around in Ruby's mind like molecules in a gas. She was determined to get to know the Cat, no matter how reserved she may be.

On the other hand, Blake wasn't infatuated with Ruby to the degree that the younger girl was with her, but was most definitely intrigued. She quickly took notice that Ruby was younger than her, and really, everyone at Beacon. Did she sneak in, or did she get an early invitation from the headmaster? These questions, as elucidating as they were, did not rattle around like with Ruby. Rather, they moved slowly, back and forth, like a slow rhythm, picking up and dropping off sporadically. Blake reminisced on what the girl actually looked like. The emblems she wore on her clothes, the crosses and the rose. Her lovely black blouse and matching skirt…

"Why did I refer to her clothes as "lovely"? Get your mind together, girl!"

After dealing with that momentary internal conflict, Blake continued observing Ruby, utilizing her greatest tool, her memory. The red cloak, that was nice, Blake told herself. Her boots? Black with red laces...

"Blake, you wear boots. Nothing to be that excited about."

"Why am I observing so many minor details of her outfit?"

Blake squashed this rematch with her consciousness by immediately focusing on another one of Ruby's details. That is, her eyes. They were...gray? No, they had a certain quality to them that ruled out that possibility. They...shone, almost sparkled. Silver! Blake congratulated herself in her mind for deducing a simple puzzle, but was trumped on another one not even three seconds after. Why? She had never seen someone with that eye color. Blake ran through a list in her head. Her parents? She had gotten her eyes from both of them, a deep amber. Adam? Shuddering as memories of her past threatened to surface, she promptly focused on what his eyes were. She drew a blank. She had always seen him with his trademark Grimm mask on…

Carrying on, the Cat thought of her old friend, Ilia Amitola. Her eyes were the closest she'd ever seen to silver. Gray, with blue tints. Blake sighed, partly because her list had run completely dry of people she knew, and second, because the memories were starting to push their way through her mind. She resumed her novel in that instant, hoping to drown her mind in a pool of whimsical settings and plots.

The next morning had the new first years at Beacon lined up on a cliff, overlooking a large, dense forest. Blake listened to the man in the black and green suit give his welcoming speech or whatever. Truth be told, she was only half-listening. The other half of her attention span was laser-focused on who else but Ruby Rose. Her giddiness to start hunting Grimm was the most obvious trait she exhibited if anyone were to glance at her at that moment. Blake found it odd, but also kind of...something. She hadn't figured out the precise word to use yet. In any case, she fully tuned back into the headmaster speaking. As it turns out, she had missed absolutely nothing. All he had been talking about was of nothing significant. Just him meandering around poetic, delicate words that probably tied into some moral lesson that no one, especially Blake, cared about in any capacity. The suit-clad man introduced himself as Professor Ozpin, and he gave them a speedy run down of what exactly they would be doing. Blake caught all details that she thought were important enough and condense it down into a simple summary for her own convenience. "Okay, just gotta land in the forest, find some "relic" and bring it back. Seems easy enough. Although that whole "first person you see is your partner." might not be the best. I prefer to be alone." Blake heaved a quiet sigh, as to keep any and all attention away from herself. "Well, I suppose having Ruby as a partner wouldn't be so bad…" The Cat overheard a blonde boy who donned armor and a sword ask Ozpin to specify what a "landing strategy" was. Blake chuckled to herself. "What an idiot…" Without another word, all the students were launched in the air. Some were exceedingly ecstatic, like Ruby and her half sister Yang. Some were patently terrified, like the blonde knight. Blake was neither. She simply remained focused on landing properly.

Landing properly she did. Gambol Shroud's sword shot out, given such momentum by the cable built into the weapon extending outwards. The whole thing hooked around a tree, to which Blake swung under and stylishly flipped for no real reason, confident she would land upright, on her feet. That much was true, she was a Cat Faunus after all. Seeing the pointlessness in standing around, she began running. Those "relics" weren't going to find themselves. Where could they be though? Everything in this forest looked the same. Blake's thoughts jumbled slightly, but still kept a slow rhythm.

The Cat Faunus could hear the two Beowolves lurking near her, with an absence of effort. Being a Faunus with ears as a trait had certain advantages like that. Swiftly switching Gambol Shroud to its sword form, she approached the first Grimm with a flaccid expression. It sounded its hellish roar, and attempted to jump at Blake, swiping its claws. The Cat evaded the attack, as it was rather easy considering how slow the Beowolf really was. Blake shot out the sword, a similar tactic to the one she used for her landing strategy. It hooked onto the Grimm's neck, or the area where it would have been. Blake knew how to kill Grimm, she didn't care to learn about its anatomy. She used her whip-sword to swing up into the air, forcing the weapon out of the Grimm. Switching to its gun mode, Blake fired off multiple rounds of Dust at the Beowolf. The damage was certainly visible, however it was not enough to do the Grimm in. That is why she aimed herself towards a tree. Blake pressed her feet against it, and this enabled her to bound off it at a blistering speed. She switched back to using the sword on Gambol Shroud, and jammed it into the Grimm's mouth. The other one watched as its brethren withered away into a cloud of black smoke. The Creatures of Grimm felt no emotion, so it merely refocused itself on its endeavor to try and pounce on the Cat, the Huntress in training. Blake, similarly, displayed no emotion, simply readying her weapon in its gun form again, consciously deciding to fight exclusively at long range. Before she could pull the trigger, both she and the Beowolf noted a peculiar sight. A bullet that appeared to be enhanced with some kind of Dust, the blue and yellow sparks emanating from it telling Blake that the specific Dust was of the Electric kind. It whizzed by Blake. It could not have been more than a few inches away from her face. The bullet continued its journey to hit the Beowolf, and in that, it succeeded. It connected straight on the thing's face, causing it to stumble considerably. In a flash, Ruby, with the recoil momentum of Crescent Rose on her side, came flying right at the Grimm. Her scythe's blade was large enough that it managed to cover the Beowolf's back entirely. Slamming the blade down with an extraordinary amount of force, the thing was split, completely in two. Ruby pumped her fist in the air, to celebrate the first victim of her hunt throughout the Emerald Forest, as their new headmaster dubbed it. Hunting for both Grimm and these so-called "relics". And evidently, a partner. In her celebration, she had been standing on the Beowolf's body as it disintegrated. She lost her balance and took a humiliating fall, Crescent Rose's fall being muffled by the grass, still a tad wet from the morning dew.

"Ah man, if only I landed properly...Would've been so much cooler...Oh! Uh, hi, Blake!"

"Hi, Ruby."

Sparkling silver eyes met flat amber ones. It was set in stone. Blake Belladonna and Ruby Rose were to be partners for all four years at Beacon Academy. Ruby was the first to acknowledge this, albeit in an awkward manner.

"So...I guess this makes us partners Blake."

"Yes, I know."

Ruby squealed in ecstasy. Not one trace of any negative emotion could be detected on her at that moment. Any Grimm would instinctively feel a sense of repulsion if they got close.

"Oh, that's amazing, Blake! This'll be so much fun! Say, what's that weapon you've got there? What does it do?"

The Cat Faunus couldn't help but stifle a brief laugh at the younger girl's hyperactivity.

"I call it Gambol Shroud. It's mainly a katana, but it also has a gun, and it can double as a grappling hook."

Blake placed her palms outwards, the aforementioned weapon resting on them, letting Ruby admire it.

"Blake, that's just so awesome! What a name too, Gambol Shroud! I call my weapon Crescent Rose! It's a scythe that transforms into a rifle! It's my baby! I do maintenance on it every day! Three hours, at least!"

It was a struggle for Blake to suppress her urge to burst out laughing. Three hours of routine weapon maintenance? Now that, she had to admit, was something she never thought she would hear in her years on Remnant.

Wait, at least? That meant that some days Ruby spent even more time on her weapon! Blake was patently astounded. She only had to do repairs and whatnot on her weapon every once and a while. Why was her new partner so infatuated with something as mundane as maintenance? Blake arrived at two possible conclusions. One, Ruby was just very reckless with her weapon, and obstructions and what have you appeared on a regular basis. Or, the second hypothesis, weaponry was a field that Ruby was incredibly animated and passionate about.

Blake selected the second theory. It seemed the most plausible. She had known Ruby for no more than five minutes and already picked up on her mannerisms, specifically how she handled herself in conversation. Once the Cat composed herself, she steered the conversation back to the task at hand.

"So, I suppose we should carry on and try and find these relics, right?"

"Yeah, now that I think about it, we should probably focus on that. Still, this is gonna be a blast!"

Blake stared at Ruby for a moment, before shifting her gaze up to the sky. It was still morning. Thus, the moon had not yet disappeared from view, only massively overshadowed by the brilliant sun. The Cat focused intently on the almost flawless circular geometry of said moon. Of course, the entire right side was shattered, for a reason that Blake didn't know. It still had such an alluring aesthetic to it, even with its c;ear-cut imperfection. The rhythm of Blake's mind now only accompanied one thought.

"Yes, it will be a blast, Ruby. yes, it will."

…

This is meant to be a Ladybug fic (ship between Blake and Ruby). In some ways, it's a Volume 1 rewrite, (with Blake and Ruby being partners during the initiation). The recap will most likely last for the next chapter, and it may spill over into the third, but from then on, it will be all my imagination in crafting fun scenarios for these two goofballs.