Ruby swallowed down a lump in her throat, eyes locked intently on Cinder. Her heart was thundering in her chest, but she forced herself to ignore it, focusing all her senses instead on the maiden, waiting for even the slightest hint of movement.

Cinder, meanwhile, was watching her with just as much focus from a scant few metres away. That lone, golden eye stared unblinking, even as the maiden ever so slowly raised her sword up, till the tip was pointing right at Ruby's heart.

A lone bead of sweat trailed down the side of Ruby's face as she tightened her grip on her scythe. This wasn't looking good. Even without her maiden magic, Cinder was a terrifying opponent to face in a fight. At first, Ruby had been counting on using her semblance to outpace Cinder, and making use of the other woman's blind spot to score hits that she wouldn't see coming, but that hadn't exactly been working out. Cinder had an uncanny combat sense, dodging and parrying almost all of Ruby's attacks with seeming ease. It hadn't been a total wash, but the few blows Ruby actually landed were far eclipsed by the vicious counters that Cinder had been hitting her with in return.

To make matters worse, Ruby's aura was now running low. She couldn't rely on her semblance to give her a speed advantage for much longer. In that case, she mused, better make the little she had left count. She dug her feet into the ground and hefted her scythe up, bringing it behind her in preparation for a wide horizontal slash.

Cinder's eyebrow raised just a touch, clearly trying to divine why Ruby would so clearly telegraph her attack like that. Nevertheless, she refused to be scared by the challenge Ruby was offering her. With a snarl of, "This is the end!" she launched herself forward, racing directly towards the huntress, sword at the ready.

Ruby held her ground, grunting with exertion as she swung her scythe forward with all the force she could muster, aiming to catch Cinder in the middle of her charge. It would never work, of course, Cinder was far too good to be hit by such an obvious attack, but then Ruby never intended to actually hit her just like that. Little by little, the distance between the two shrank, the scythe whistled forward through the air, Cinder moved her sword into position to parry the incoming attack, and then right as the two weapons were about to clash Ruby dissolved herself into a cloud of petals.

In this state, she raced past Cinder, reforming behind the maiden with her scythe still mid-swing. Already fully committed to the parry, Cinder had no hope of avoiding the hit. Or at least, that was what Ruby assumed. Cinder, meanwhile, clearly had other ideas. The maiden must've realised what Ruby was attempting as soon as she activated her semblance, because without a second thought she instantly dove down to the ground. While it wasn't enough to completely evade the scythe, this maneuver did mean that Ruby only scraped across her back rather than catching her fully in the side.

Surprised by Cinder's quick reaction, Ruby was left a little off balance as her scythe swung through the empty air. Normally this wouldn't have been too much of a problem, but even as Cinder hit the ground she lashed out with a savage kick that caught Ruby in the knee. The sheer force, combined with Ruby's not entirely steady footing, meant that the huntress got fully knocked over by the blow, collapsing painfully down onto the dirt and losing hold of her weapon in the process.

She scrambled to get back up, pushing herself up onto her hands and knees, when another heavy kick crashed into her side and knocked her right back down. Now having landed on her back, she got a prime view of Cinder looming over her. The woman looked especially menacing, her eye practically seeming to glow even as the afternoon sun behind her cast her face in shadows. Slowly, she brought her sword up to Ruby's chin, the tip gently resting against her skin. Ruby's aura was almost entirely depleted at this point, and she knew full well that if Cinder thrust that sword down it would shatter immediately, leaving her very very dead.

"Any final words?" Cinder hissed, her expression full of smug satisfaction as she looked down at the defeated huntress.

"Hm…" Ruby cracked a smile, "Guess we'll call that your win?"

There was silence for a beat. "I guess so," Cinder replied coolly. Another beat, and then she slowly pulled her sword away. Then, ruining the cool persona she was trying to project, Cinder spent a moment seemingly trying to decide what to do with said sword before awkwardly just kinda tossing it to the side and extending her hand down toward Ruby.

Ruby was actually a little surprised at that, but eagerly accepted and allowed herself to be helped to her feet all the same. As soon as Ruby was standing, Cinder quickly snatched her hand away, and then retreated over to sit in the shade of a nearby tree. Ruby, meanwhile, set about brushing the dirt off of herself.

It'd been a couple of weeks now since the pair had departed from the town of Kawagoe, but at the very least this leg of the journey had been an easy one so far. Between no longer having to deal with constant grimm attacks, and actually having decent supplies, Ruby could honestly say that it had overall been a pretty pleasant time. Reminded her of some of the happier parts of her last trek through Mistral, though as soon as those thoughts came into her mind she did her best to banish them. She'd been trying to think about her friends and teammates as little as possible, recently.

"I didn't hit you too hard, did I?" Cinder's low voice carried across the clearing the pair were camping in.

Ruby turned to her, giving a warm smile. "Well, you definitely didn't hold back," she laughed a little, "But I'm all fine, trust me, I've been beaten up way worse than that."

"Alright, though I still don't really see the point of us sparring like that. We both already know how to fight."

"I mean yeah, but we can always get better!" Ruby replied cheerfully. She didn't add the fact that she wanted to gauge how well Cinder was handling having to fight with only one arm. The woman probably already knew, though. "Besides, after everything I would've thought you'd be happy to have the chance to beat me up."

Cinder cracked a smile at that. Not the superior smirk that Ruby had seen plenty of times before, but a real, genuine smile. "Well, you've got that right."

It honestly really made Ruby happy to see that Cinder was warming up to her, even if it was just through little things like that smile. And… that was also exactly why she'd been trying to avoid thinking about her teammates.

She strolled over to the little campsite they'd set up at the edge of this clearing, busying herself with figuring out what they'd have for dinner tonight while she thought to herself. This journey with Cinder might've only started because Ruby thought the woman deserved someone to help her, but along the way she'd actually started to enjoy her company. Cinder kept pretty significant walls up around herself, of course, but all the same Ruby found that she enjoyed travelling with her, wanted to get closer to her, wanted to learn more about her. Even just in the limited time they'd already spent together, Ruby could tell that there was a whole lot more to Cinder than she'd ever realised before.

And because of all that, she found that she had a legitimate desire to help the maiden that went beyond just thinking that it was the right thing to do, or that it was her duty, or anything like that. She wanted to help Cinder simply because she wanted Cinder to have the chance to get better. Because she wanted to prove to Cinder that the world wasn't as dark and hopeless as she seemed to believe. Because she wanted Cinder to realise that good things could happen to her, that she could have real friendship and joy in her life.

Because… she wanted Cinder to be happier, to show her more of those small smiles.

Ruby sighed lightly. She could go on like that all day, if she put her mind to it. But that didn't really address the issue that arose from all that desire. She'd meant what she said back in that inn room, she really did believe that it was possible for Cinder to change, that it was possible for Cinder to get better and be happier and all of that. But… she already knew that her helping Cinder was going to be a hard pill to swallow for most of her team. But Ruby actually being her friend? That would be a whole lot more difficult for them to accept.

Her teammates. Her friends. Her family. There was a very real possibility that by going through with this, she was driving a wedge between her and all of them. It made her think back to Atlas, to the argument in the Happy Huntresses' little hideout. When their group split in two, unable to agree on the best way to save the kingdom.

That little spat ended up blowing over without too much trouble, thankfully, but still. In the moment when it happened, Ruby felt like her whole world was falling apart. Because Yang had been right, she'd tried her hardest to do what she thought was right, and everything had crumbled right in front of her eyes.

She kept telling herself that it was unfair to lay the blame for all that squarely at her feet. She wasn't responsible for everything Salem and her lackeys had done, Cinder included. Wasn't responsible for Ironwood and his… everything. Still, it didn't stop those thoughts from flitting into her mind, from making her wonder whether she could have solved everything if she'd just been a little smarter, a little faster, a little better. As much as she tried to stay strong, to be positive, sometimes it felt like she had the weight of the world bearing down on her and she just… couldn't.

And it didn't stop her from worrying that she was right in the middle of another situation just like that. That she was going to ruin everything somehow, going to split her team apart in a much more permanent fashion to how she had before.

"Is everything okay?" Cinder's voice caught Ruby's attention. It almost sounded like there was genuine concern layered in there, but that might have just been wishful thinking on Ruby's part.

She looked up to where Cinder was sitting, still leaning up against the same tree she'd gone to when they finished their sparring match, forcing a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about what we can do for dinner."

Cinder frowned a little at that, then slowly opened her mouth as if to say something. Ultimately though, she seemed to change her mind, instead just shrugging and looking away from Ruby, back to a lump of molten glass she was playing around with as she rested.

Ruby let the smile fall away, turning back to the bag of supplies that she'd been mindlessly rummaging through as she stressed over everything. Now that she was no longer distracted by her train of thoughts, she was a lot more aware of how sore she was after her earlier ass kicking. She spent some time properly going over their food, actually paying attention this time around, but it did little to take her mind off things. A small sigh drifted from her lips. Maybe it'd be better to just focus on something else for a while.

She stood up, trying to stretch out a little, her back popping uncomfortably as she did. Her aura had managed to recover a little by now, and so she let it wash over her body, the comforting red embrace working overtime to soothe her various aches and pains as she ambled over to where Cinder was sitting.

Cinder's attention seemed to have become fully focused on the coin-sized lump of glass that she was messing around with. As Ruby watched on, stopping a short distance away, Cinder's brow furrowed deep. And then, slowly but surely, the lump seemed to bloom. Wafer thin petals fanned out one by one under the Maiden's commanding stare, until it came to resemble a flower, looking like some kind of fine glass brooch that Ruby might expect to find at a jewelry store.

It was a level of fine control that Ruby never realised Cinder had with her semblance, and the end result was nothing short of beautiful. "Wow," she breathed out, watching Cinder slowly turn the flower round, gradually making tiny alterations to its shape, "That's incredible."

Cinder, who apparently was very much not aware of the fact that Ruby was watching her, yelped in surprise (a cute noise that Ruby wouldn't have expected to ever hear from the maiden), the flower immediately being reduced down to a molten puddle by a sudden burst of heat. "Ruby! Don't sneak up on me like that." Cinder spluttered, her cheeks turning slightly red, presumably from the heat.

"Sorry, sorry," Ruby held her hands up placatingly, "I thought you knew I was there."

Cinder took a second to calm herself down before replying. It seemed she'd been really surprised by that, for whatever reason. "It's fine. Did you want something?"

"Just to chat, if that's okay." When Cinder gave a small nod, Ruby sat herself down next to the maiden, immediately feeling some relief at being off her feet. "So… you totally kicked my ass, huh? You're a really good fighter."

"I guess," Cinder gave a small shrug. "Fight for long enough, and it happens."

"Well, that's definitely true," Ruby laughed a little, "I started when I was still a kid, took me a lot of practice to get to where I am now. You must've been going for just as long, I'd guess."

Cinder looked at her for a few moments. "I was… pretty young when I started too."

"Oooh, how old were you?"

"I…" Cinder's voice trailed off, and Ruby noticed her ever so slightly curl in on herself. "I was 10 years old when I first started to properly train."

Ruby hummed softly. It was clear that Cinder wasn't too comfortable discussing this, and so she decided not to prod deeper, despite her curiosity. "I was around the same age, I think, although I was basically just messing around at first, and even when I started trying to be serious I was total garbage for a while. My uncle Qrow ended up taking pity on me, he had to give me a lot of tutoring to get my skills up to par when I enrolled at Signal."

Cinder relaxed a little, clearly happy to have the topic not be on her. "Is that right? For some reason I always assumed you were just effortlessly really talented, never thought you struggled so much starting out."

"What gave you that impression?"

There was a small shrug of Cinder's shoulders. "Back when we first met, at Beacon, I'd heard stories of silver-eyed people being legendary warriors, and given how you'd been pushed forward two years I guess I just thought you were," she gestured vaguely, "Super talented. Just born an amazing fighter without having to work for it."

Ruby snorted a little at that. "Ugh, I wish, but no. Guess it just doesn't work like that. I had to go through the blood, sweat, and tears, just like everyone else."

"Hm," Cinder leaned back a little, idly looking up into the sky, "I appreciate that."

"Why's that?"

"I guess I've just never liked the idea of people being born with everything, never having to work or struggle."

Ruby's eyes slowly trailed across Cinder's face. Even in the time they'd spent together, it was rare for the two of them to be so close, and the few times it had happened were more due to necessity than by choice, like when Cinder had to carry her back in Atlas, or conversely Ruby carrying Cinder after they'd destroyed the grimm arm. It was… nice, to be like this with her. "Does it seem unfair to you?"

Cinder thought for a short time, still staring up at the clouds that blew by. "Yeah, I guess that's it."

"I think I can understand that. I know that everyone has their own struggles, but still, sometimes it's so easy to look at someone and just feel like," vague memories of Summer Rose flashed involuntarily into Ruby's mind. Her emotions immediately started to drop, and a slight burning sensation built at the back of her eyes. It was hard to remember much of someone who left when she was so young, but there was still a little here and there. Like the memory of her mother walking out of their house that final time, after quietly promising to come back. "Like, why didn't they have to go through what I did?" Ruby could feel herself starting to choke up, but did her best to force it down, "But, I guess there's not much point in dwelling on it."

Cinder looked down at Ruby, a hint of curiosity in that golden eye. Clearly she hadn't been expecting something like that to come from Ruby, but at the same time didn't feel comfortable pushing for more. Even as Ruby did her best to cover it up, she could tell that Cinder had recognised exactly how she was feeling. The maiden glanced away for a moment, probably trying to think of something to say, before looking back and clearing her throat, "Did you want to talk about the sparring match some more?"

A small smile settled on Ruby's face, forced though it may have been. Mentally she was still kicking herself for thinking about her mother at a time like this. For feeling that pain again when Cinder was right there, needing her to be strong. Still, it was nice of Cinder to try and make things easier, if nothing else. "Sure, if you've got any pointers or anything for me, I'm all ears."

"Well," Cinder took another moment to think, "I don't know much about fighting with scythes, so I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I think you could tighten up your footwork a little. There's definitely some wasted movement there. It's not a massive weakness, but it's slowing you down just a little. And when you're throwing out flurries of attacks, you should work on varying the way you're attacking. There's a few set patterns that you tend to default to, and that makes you predictable after a while. I also think, just in general, your style seems a lot more suited to taking on grimm than people. Obviously I can see why that's useful as a huntress, but it does put yourself at a disadvantage when it comes time to fight someone like me."

"Wow, you're good at this! Ever thought about becoming a teacher?" Ruby interjected. She could feel that bout of pain that came with thinking about her mother starting to pass as Cinder spoke. Fighting had always been one of her favourite distractions, right up there with obsessing over weaponry.

Cinder rolled her eye and gave Ruby a playful flick. That was a first. "Not my fault you have so much to improve on. There's probably more that I could point out in the moment, but those are the things that really stood out to me. Next time I'll be sure to mention things as we go."

The smile that Ruby held grew a little more genuine. She tried to force herself to focus on the now, follow her own advice and not dwell on the past. And, if she was trying to distract herself, she had at least one good idea that might work. "Thanks, Cinder. Y'know, it's really nice of you to agree to help me out like this, you don't have to keep going if you'd rather not."

"It's not me being nice, just a way to pass the time." Cinder waved her hand dismissively.

"Well, if we are going to keep training together, there was actually something more I was wanting to ask about."

A lone eyebrow quirked. "What's that?"

Ruby could feel excitement building in her chest. She'd been thinking about this for a while now, and if it worked out she could just tell it was going to be incredibly cool. "Do you think you could teach me to fight with two weapons? Dual-wielding, I mean?"

"I…" Cinder seemed more than a little surprised. "I don't think you'd really be able to do that with a big scythe like you use."

"Oh, no," Ruby giggled, "Not like that, two smaller weapons."

"Any particular reason? You've always seemed to enjoy your scythe."

She shrugged lightly, "I guess it's just, Crescent Rose is gone. And, sad as that is, it means I'm gonna have the chance to build a new weapon soon. This seems like the perfect time to try to pick up some new skills, to get stronger, and to build an even better weapon that can incorporate all those new techniques, along with the old."

"Well," Cinder scratched at the back of her head a little awkwardly, "I guess if you really want it, I can teach you."

"Yes!" Ruby fist pumped, then hopped excitedly up to her feet, "Fair warning, I'm definitely going to be absolute garbage when we start out." She turned and extended a hand down to Cinder.

Cinder smiled up at her. "Just don't expect me to go easy on you." She accepted the hand letting Ruby pull her up to her feet. The two just looked at each other for a moment, each with a small smile that not so long ago neither could have imagined giving to the other. And then, Cinder spoke again. "We've got plenty of time before nightfall, what do you say we get started?"

Ruby only smiled wider.