Notice Me, Ruby!
Chapter 13: Team LION
Ruby followed Elaine, as the two girls went to where the third-year students' dorms were located. Once they had made their way to where the older students were located, the young redhead noticed how the students around her had begun to stare at her and whisper to each other. At first, Ruby thought that the students were saying all sorts of nasty things about her, as that's what the students in her year group would always do. However, she was very surprised, when she actually heard what they were saying.
"Hey, you think that's Ruby Rose?"
"You mean the one we have heard so much about? THAT Ruby Rose?"
"What could bring her here? And why is team LION's leader with her?"
"I'm guessing team LION got lucky, since it seems they got the best possible first-year for their first-year and third-year joint assignment."
"Man, I was hoping I could get her to join my team. Think it's possible to have her change teams?"
To say that Ruby was surprised would be a big understatement. Never before in her life had she experienced anything like this. Until now, all that she had heard other students whisper about her were nothing but nasty and mean things, such as her sneaking into Beacon illegally or bribing the staff through different ways, but these students were completely different. Not a single one of them was looking at her with a glare or saying anything bad about her. In fact, it was more like they were excited and happy to have her around, almost like she was someone they looked up to.
"See? I told you that people were talking about you and that you were a celebrity around here," Elaine said with a smirk, noticing how Ruby had heard the other students' whispers. "There's no need for you to be scared at all. Over here, we don't look down on people simply because of their age."
"I-It is nice to see that I'm liked, but it's a bit weird," the younger girl said nervously. "I've never experienced anything like this, so I'm not sure how to take this."
"Just relax and let them be. It's not like they're doing anything bad, right?" the older girl suggested. "If there's one thing you should take from this, it's that you should be proud of yourself and your achievements. The students around you are proof of that."
Ruby simply gave a nod in response and continued to follow Elaine. The two girls eventually made their way to where the third-year dorms were. The older of the two girls began to head towards one of the doors, which the younger redhead guessed was team LION's dorm, but a sudden loud noise from the room stopped them in their tracks.
"GODDAMMIT, NOT AGAIN!" yelled a rather angry female voice from behind the door.
"...W-What was that?" Ruby asked fearfully with wide eyes.
"If I were to guess, it's a certain teammate of mine playing video games again," Elaine answered with a frustrated sigh. "She's been having trouble with her game for the last three weeks, which has led to us having to hear her roar every now and then."
"Is it safe for us to go there?" the younger team leader asked. "I mean, if she is upset, it might not be best for me to come now."
"Oh, don't you worry about her! She is just upset at her game and nothing more. There's no reason to be afraid of her," the older team leader replied, not bothered by her teammate's antics at all. "Besides, if she is going to try and do anything to you, I'll handle her. I've done it before."
Despite still being somewhat scared for her safety, Ruby simply nodded and followed Elaine, as the two entered the dorm. The younger redhead looked around the room and saw that it was similar to the dorm rooms other teams had. The only big difference seemed to be that there were four bean bag chairs in the middle of the room, facing the TV.
Inside the dorm were two people, whom Ruby assumed were Elaine's teammates. One of them was a girl that was sitting on one of the bean bag chairs with a video game controller in her hands, while facing the TV that had the original Super Mario Bros. playing. The girl had dark skin and red eyes, along with pure white hair that was in a long and spiky mane that reached her lower back. She was wearing a long and loose, tan-colored robe, along with black shorts and white sandals.
The second person in the room was a boy, who was laying on one of the beds while reading a book. His appearance caused Ruby to go wide-eyed, as this boy was simply huge. He was easily much taller than Yatsuhashi or anyone else that the young redhead had ever seen. In all honesty, Ruby was surprised that this giant was able to fit in his bed, and that the bed didn't simply break under him. He had a messy mop of dark brown hair and black eyes. He was wearing a dark blue hoodie and dark gray cargo pants, along with black shoes and a white and blue striped chullo hat on his head.
"Hey, Ellie, who's the kid?" the girl playing video games asked with a smirk. "Did you perhaps decide to switch teams and leave Nilo to me?"
"Bite me, Issie," Elaine said with a glare at her teammate. "Besides, how could I leave Nilo to someone like you?"
"What's THAT supposed to mean!?" the other girl asked angrily.
"Just that you're not all that trustworthy," the redhead replied simply. "I mean, after three whole weeks, you can't even get past the first level of Super Mario Bros. I'm pretty sure that you're the only person in the whole world who can't do that."
"Why you-"
"Calm down, Isabella," the boy on the bed said without looking up from his book. "We have a visitor, so try your best to behave for once, okay?"
The girl named Isabella simply grumbled and went back to her game, hoping to ignore her teammates. Now that the white-haired girl was not causing trouble, Elaine walked up to her other teammate.
"Hey, Oliver, where's Nilo? I would like to introduce our guest to the whole team," the redhead asked.
"He suddenly dashed into the bathroom, before you two came," Oliver replied, still reading his book. "You know how he is. He must have sensed that you were bringing someone new, so he hid himself."
"Wait, why would he hide himself from me?" Ruby asked, completely confused. "Is he scared of me or something?"
"Don't take it the wrong way. He's just very shy and has been through a lot," Elaine explained. "Nilo's a real sweetheart, so I'm sure the two of you will become great friends before you even know it."
Suddenly, the door to the dorm's bathroom began to open. It moved very slowly at first, until it was flung open, as the person behind it seemed to trip and fall down, revealing themselves to everyone in the room.
As the person began to get up, Ruby's eyes went wide in surprise at what she saw. The person that had just appeared out of the bathroom was a young boy, who couldn't be any older than herself. In fact, judging by his height, he might have even been younger. He had black spiky hair that reached his shoulders and bright blue eyes. He was wearing a dark purple shirt with long sleeves, along with white baggy pants and black shoes. He also seemed to be very nervous, as his body was shaking lightly constantly.
"Nilo, what were you doing in the bathroom?" Elaine asked with a small smile. "You know there's no need to hide around here."
"I-I-I'm sorry, b-but I just s-sensed someone n-new and s-strong coming over here," the young boy stuttered nervously. "M-My body just m-moved on it's o-own."
"No need for apologies, pal. I just wish you would try to be a bit more brave, you know?" the redheaded team leader said as she walked up to the young boy and gave him a hug. "You're kind of required to meet people as a Huntsman, so you need to work on that shy nature of yours. Besides, our new friend here would never hurt you, okay?"
"O-Okay..."
"Uhhh... I don't mean to sound rude, but is he really a third-year student?" Ruby asked awkwardly. "It's just that he seems a bit too... young for that."
"Well, normally he would be too young, but he's a bit of a special case," Isabella answered while still playing her game. "Nilo didn't join Beacon the same way most students do, but was instead scouted by Ozpin himself. He would have normally been put in a team of first-year students, but there were no open spots for him. Luckily, our second-year team had an open spot after one of our teammates had quit, so he got placed with us. That way he actually skipped the first year of Beacon."
The young redhead was surprised to hear about another person joining Beacon early other than herself. From what she understood, it was such a special and unusual thing that she had never expected to meet another person who had skipped grades. Yet here she was, in the same room with a person that had actually managed to skip more than she herself did.
"I told you there was a special reason as to why we weren't bothered by those who skip grades," Elaine said with a grin, noticing Ruby's surprised expression. "This is what I was talking about."
"Anyways, who is your new friend, Ellie?" Isabella asked. "Is she part of some sort of a special assignment for us by one of the teachers?"
"Actually, she is," the redhead said and walked up to Ruby. She placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder and looked at her teammates. "Guys, this is Ruby Rose, who will be joining us for our history assignment. Ruby, these are my teammates, Isabella Irons, Oliver Dunston and Nilo Temor."
Upon hearing Ruby's name, all of Elaine's teammates went wide-eyed and stared at the young redhead. Isabella stopped playing her game and didn't even notice her character falling off a cliff. Oliver looked away from his book for the first time and Nilo's face seemed to turn a bit pale.
Meanwhile, Ruby herself was a bit disturbed by everyone's reactions and could only give a small wave of her hand at them.
"Well, this is certainly interesting," Oliver said with a small smile, as he put down his book, got off his bed and walked up to the young team leader. He then offered his hand to her. "Hello, Ruby. I'm Oliver, but you can call me Ollie. I hope we'll get along."
"Likewise," Ruby said as she took the giant's hand and shook it.
"Oh my God, THIS IS SO COOL!" Isabella yelled as she suddenly appeared next to the little redhead, scaring her. "Hi! I'm Isabella! You have no idea how excited I am about this! I have heard so many cool things about you!"
"Ummm... I'm glad to hear that," Ruby said, still a bit taken aback by the white-haired girl's sudden introduction.
"I-I-I-I'm N-N-N-Nilo. I-I-I'm h-happy to m-meet y-you," Nilo managed to say while offering a shaking hand to the scythe-wielder. "I-I-I h-hope that w-we can get a-along."
"Sure. I hope that, too," Ruby said and shook the nervous boy's hand.
While the members of team LION were introducing themselves to the young sniper, Elaine was watching them with a smile on her face. Ruby had been so nervous about meeting her teammates that it was great to see that all of her fears were unnecessary.
Now that their introductions were done, the three members of team LION were now surrounding the young newcomer, asking her all sorts of questions. It wouldn't have been all that bad, if Ruby wasn't still a nervous wreck, trying her best to come up with answers to all the things that were asked from her. Not to mention, Isabella was asking questions so rapidly that the younger girl was having trouble keeping up with what was asked of her.
Not wanting to see her new friend get brought down by her team's interrogation, Elaine decided to step in and save the younger redhead.
"Alright, I think that's enough questioning for now!" the older team leader said while stepping between Ruby and her teammates, separating them. "We don't want to scare our new teammate, now do we?"
"Oh, that's right. You said something about her joining us for our history assignment. What did you mean by that?" Oliver asked.
"Exactly what I said. Ruby here will be joining us as a fifth member for our history assignment," Elaine answered with a small grin. "She won't just be observing us, but she will actually take part in the actual work as well, while we are tasked with observing her and judging her skills. This was something that was decided by all of Beacon's teachers, so consider her the fifth member of team LION for now."
"You mean this famous prodigy is going to be working with us? That's great!" Isabella exclaimed happily and once again got very close to Ruby, which freaked her out. "I hope you'll be able to help me out in our work! I'm always having trouble with assignments that require more "intelligent" work, so-"
The white-haired girl's ramblings were cut off by her team leader pushing her away rather roughly, causing her to stumble backwards. She was NOT happy about this.
"HEY! What's the big deal, Ellie!?" Isabella asked angrily.
"You mean besides the fact that you're freaking Ruby out by getting too close? The fact that you're obviously trying to dump your work on her already," Elaine answered in an irritated voice, as she put an arm around Ruby's shoulders. "Each of us has to do our fair share of work, so don't try skipping it."
"Oh, come on! When have I ever done something like that!?" the dark-skinned girl demanded.
"Just last month! Remember how you persuaded Nilo into taking up your work in order to "help" you?" the redhead answered and put her other arm around her youngest teammate's shoulders. "This poor guy had to take on so much work that he almost had a nervous breakdown! Thankfully Ollie and I managed to talk him out of doing it!"
"Geh! Bring up past mistakes why don't you..." Isabella muttered in defeat.
"Ummm... Excuse me?" Ruby called out, getting the older team's attention. "Should I leave or something? I mean, I was brought here to be introduced to the rest of the team, which has been done now, so do you guys want me to give you some privacy?"
"But you can't just leave already, Ruby! The best part is yet to come!" Elaine said with a big smile and pulled the younger girl even closer. "While you may know our names and faces, you still don't really know us! Not to mention, you're not comfortable hanging out with any of us yet! We need to fix that, if you are going to be working with us from this point on!"
"Okay, but how de we do that?" the younger girl asked.
"That's simple! We are going to have you take part in one of our team activities!" the older girl replied and let go of the two younger students she had been holding. She walked up to a bookshelf that seemed to be full of DVDs. "We often like to do things as a team together. The things we do include movie nights, board games, video games and all sorts of other things. Since it's your first time hanging out with us, how about we simply watch movies together? Ever heard of Studio Ghibli?"
"Oh! It's that very famous animation studio from Mistral! I've seen a good amount of their films and loved ALL of them! I think Princess Mononoke is my favorite of the ones I've seen!" Ruby said happily, knowing what the older team leader was talking about.
Upon hearing the younger redhead say that she knew Studio Ghibli, a strange glint appeared in Elaine's eyes.
"Oh boy..." Oliver mumbled and shook his head.
"Here we go again!" Isabella said with a roll of her eyes.
Before Ruby could ask what the two older students were talking about, Elaine suddenly appeared right in front of her with several Studio Ghibli DVDs in her hands and a her eyes fully gleaming from excitement.
"I know, their stuff is awesome, right!? They're just the best!" the older redhead said happily. "While I love Princess Mononoke, my personal favorite has to Spirited Away! The animation is just incredible in that one, and the music is just amazing! However, one that I also really like is Porco Rosso, which doesn't get mentioned anywhere near the amount it should! The stuff by Studio Ghibli is so great because they make movies that are not only great for kids, but also feature themes suitable for adults as well! Like how Princess Mononoke has an environmental message in it and-!"
Elaine's crazed rant was ended by Oliver grabbing her by the back of her jacket and lifting her up in the air for a moment. The sudden elevation silenced the ranting girl immediately.
"Ellie, for the love of everything that is good and holy, could you tone down your geeky side at least a bit when we have guests?" the tall boy asked with a frustrated sigh. "We ALL know how much you like animation, especially Studio Ghibli. There's no need to freak out people over it."
"B-But she knows Studio Ghibli, Ollie! She has seen the light!" Elaine whined. "Do you know how hard it is to find a kindred spirit!? I finally found someone who knows what I'm talking about and-"
"I doubt she knows as much as you do about animation or Studio Ghibli. You just got way too excited by her saying that she had seen a few of their movies. Don't jump to conclusions," Oliver said in a stern tone. "Now, are you going to stop scaring the poor girl and behave yourself? Or do I have to make you sit in the corner again?"
The redhead's shoulders slumped down in defeat, showing that she had decided to do the smart thing and behave herself. Seeing as how his team leader had calmed down, the brown-haired boy put her down.
Meanwhile, the other people in the room were watching the whole thing with different reactions. Ruby was wide-eyed with surprise, having not expected to see what she had just witnessed. Isabella was snickering at what happened with Elaine, and Nilo was looking at his team leader with slight worry.
Without saying a word, Elaine went to set up the first movie, before taking a seat on one of the bean bag chairs. It was at this moment that Ruby realized how there were only four chairs, so one of them wouldn't have one.
"Excuse me, what are we going to do about seats?" the young redhead asked. "There are five of us, but only four seats. Do I sit on the floor or something?"
"Of course not! You are our guest, so we should treat you well, right?" the older redhead said with a grin, her happy mood having returned. "Just come over here and I'll show you how we'll make sure everyone has a seat!"
Ruby did as she was told and walked up to the older girl. As soon as she was within reach, Elaine grabbed her arm and pulled the younger girl into her lap. Ruby immediately turned bright red, while the older team leader kept grinning.
"See? Now we don't have to worry about the lack of seats!" Elaine said happily.
"W-Wait, what!?" Ruby managed to squeak out.
"And since Ellie will be sitting with Ruby, I'll be sitting with Nilo!" Isabella said happily, while she sat next to her teammate with her youngest teammate sitting on her lap.
"H-Hang on a second! Why are you doing this!?" Ruby asked.
"Because you're both so cute!" Elaine and Isabella said at the same time.
"Trust me. Just roll with it," Nilo told Ruby with a small sigh. "I go through this pretty much every day. Sometimes I even forget what it feels like to sit on a normal chair."
"Well, can you blame us!? You're both so adorable that we just want to hug and cuddle you!" Isabella said happily. "I can't see why there would be anything wrong with this!"
With the rest of the group seated, Oliver simply sat with them on one of the empty bean bag chairs. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the antics of his teammates, having witnessed them many times over the years.
Despite how odd this whole situation was, Ruby couldn't help but feel happy deep down. If she were completely honest, this was something she had wished from her own team. It was nice to experience it, even if it was through another team.
Now that the whole group was sitting, they all focused on the movie that was playing on the TV.
A few hours later, Ruby was still in the same "seat". They had watched a couple movies while making small talk with each other. The redhead was very surprised at how much she was enjoying herself. Even if there was a gap in terms of age and experience between herself and most of team LION's members, they were able to spend time together like they had been friends for a long time.
This was something Ruby had wanted ever since she became part of team RWBY. A group of great friends to hang out with and have fun. Too bad things hadn't turned out the way she had hoped.
Suddenly realizing how much time must have passed, Ruby quickly took out her Scroll to check out the time. Like she had feared, it was already 9:45 PM, meaning that she would have to hurry back to her own team's dorm.
"Is something wrong, Ruby?" Elaine asked, wondering why the younger girl seemed to be panicking.
"Not really. I just noticed how late it was," Ruby answered. "I need to get back to my dorm or my teammates might start wondering where I am."
"Do you really have to go? I mean, it's already pretty late, so why don't you just spend the night here?" the older redhead asked. "That way you don't have miss out on our movie marathon."
"Yeah, Ruby! Stay the night with us!" Isabella said excitedly. "Tomorrow is Saturday anyway, so there's no harm in staying with us! Besides, I'm sure your team can handle a night without you! If you want to stay at a friend's place, you have the right to do so!"
Ruby looked at Isabella, Oliver and Nilo, and saw that each one of them was giving her an approving smile. She then turned to look at Elaine and saw her giving the same look. All of them wanted her here, to spend time with them. For once, Ruby felt what it was like to have someone want her around.
The young redhead thought about her own team, who were probably wondering where she was right now. She also thought about all the times they had left her behind in order to go to Vale and hang around in clubs and other places, thinking that their team leader was too young to be with them. A lot of times they didn't even inform her about what they were doing. A small feeling of satisfaction made it's way to Ruby, as she thought about how the tables had turned between herself and her team.
"You know what? You're right. I'll stay here for the night," Ruby said with a smile, causing the members of team LION to cheer. "I see no harm in staying over at a friend's place. Besides, it helps me get to know you all, right?"
Just as the group was about to return to their film, the young redhead's Scroll began to ring. She took it out of her pocket and saw that Yang was calling her, most likely wondering where she was.
"Hello, Yang," Ruby answered the call. "What do you want?"
"What do I want!? Ruby, it's almost 10 PM! Where are you!?" Yang replied in a worried tone. "I haven't seen you at all since Professor Oobleck's class today! Where did you go and where have you been since then!?"
"Yang, I've been with Elaine the whole time. She invited me over to her dorm to meet her team, and we have been spending time together ever since," the young team leader explained. "There's no need to worry, as I'll be spending the night here, so you can go to sleep without any worries."
"Without any worries!? Ruby, you don't know those people at all! How can you be sure that they won't-!?" the blonde began to say, only to be cut off by the younger girl.
"They are trustworthy enough that the teachers of Beacon can entrust my life and safety to them. I think that is all I need to know," Ruby said somewhat sternly, not in the mood to be arguing with the older girl. "Now, I'll be spending the night here and I'll see you tomorrow. End of discussion."
Before Yang could argue anymore, the young team leader ended the call and put her Scroll away.
"Troubles with your team?" Elaine asked, concerned if her new friend had problems.
"Nothing big," Ruby answered calmly. "Just someone troublesome I need to deal with."
Back in team RWBY's dorm, Yang had an expression of shock on her face, as she lowered her Scroll from her ear. The blonde girl had been sitting on her bed, waiting for Ruby to come back, only for the redhead to not return at all. And now, that same girl had just told her that she wouldn't be coming back at all and would be staying at someone else's dorm.
"So, what did Ruby say?" Blake asked, already dressed in her sleepwear and ready to go to bed. "Is she going to come back here?"
"No, she won't be coming back," Yang answered in a somewhat saddened tone. "She said she will be spending the night at that Elaine girl's dorm."
"Well, everything is fine then, right?" Weiss asked from her bed. "You were worried that something bad had happened to her, but if she is simply going to be staying at a friend's dorm, then there's nothing to worry about."
"I wish it was that simple, but I'm not so sure," the brawler said with a small frown. "I mean, it just feels weird that she's not here, you know? It's almost like she has switched us for this new team."
"Yang, I'm sure you're worried over nothing," Blake said reassuringly. "Ruby is allowed to have friends other than us and spend time with them. Things will most likely return to normal once she is done with that assignment she's working on with that third-year team. Besides, it's probably a good idea for her to spend some time away from us. Remember that she wasn't all that happy with us not too long ago."
Yang gave a nod, but wasn't fully convinced. While thinking about it rationally, there was nothing wrong with what was happening right now. In fact, things were incredibly good, since Ruby was not only making new friends, but being recognized for her exceptional skills.
However, as the blonde girl looked at the redhead's empty bed, she couldn't help but feel that the dorm was somehow a lot lonelier and colder than before. It was like something very important was missing and there was no guarantee it was coming back.
Author's notes: I hope you all enjoyed these last few chapters that introduced team LION. I know they were a bit focused on the OCs, which I can understand people not liking all that much, but I felt it was necessary for building up this story. I'll try to focus more on Ruby and Yang from now on, though.
Anyways, I'll be working on Dead By Roselight a bit next, before coming back to this story. Hope you can wait until then.
Until next time.
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.