Notice Me, Ruby!
Chapter 18: Mission Start
The Bullhead transporting Ruby and team LION had landed on a spot that was close to the area of their assignment. They couldn't be taken straight to the ruins they were going to inspect, as the area was very dangerous due to the numerous Grimm there. There was also the problem of finding a proper place to land, so it was for the best to simply land nearby and walk the rest of the way there.
The group kept walking at a steady pace, making good progress on their journey. However, they had to stop and prepare a camp, as the sun was setting down and the journey would be extremely dangerous in the dark.
Once the camp was all set up, the group had to decide upon who would keep watch during the night. At first, the members of team LION felt like Ruby didn't need to keep watch, but the redhead insisted that she would also take part, as she was supposed to be equal with the others. In the end, Elaine prepared five pieces of paper with a different turn of the watch written on them.
"Okay, everybody ready?" the third-year leader asked, getting nods from the group. "Now, no one is allowed to complain no matter what watch they get, okay? I'm looking at you, Isabella."
"Bite me, Ellie!" the dark-skinned girl yelled back at her team leader.
"Umm... If your watch ends up bad for you, I could switch-" Ruby started to suggest, only to get cut off by Elaine.
"Ruby, that's very sweet of you, but we all need to accept what we get like adults," the older team leader said. "You can't always expect there to be someone to give you pity."
The scythe-wielder gave a nod at Elaine's explanation and waited in silence, as the older redhead put all the paper pieces she had prepared into her hat and offered it to everyone. Ruby and the other members of team LION each pulled out one of the pieces of paper and looked at which watch turns they got.
"Seems like I got first watch," Ruby said as she read her paper.
"Same here!" Isabella yelled in excitement, as she put her arm around the younger girl's shoulders and pulled her close. "Looks like we are going to be partners on the watch! Please treat me well!"
"Uhh... Sure," Ruby said with an embarrassed blush on her face.
"It seems like I got second watch," Oliver stated, before looking at his youngest teammate. "What about you, Nilo?"
"S-Same. It seems we'll be partners," the shy boy answered.
"HUH!?" Elaine exclaimed in a somewhat upset tone. "B-But then that means that the third watch...!"
With shaking fingers, the third-year leader pulled the last piece of paper from her hat and looked at it. Her face turned pale as she saw that the dreaded third watch had fallen on her.
The thing about keeping watch was that the earlier you had your turn, the better it was. The first watch was obviously best, as you only had to stay up a bit longer, before you were allowed to rest without any interruptions afterwards. The second watch wasn't as likable, as you would get woken up from your sleep, but you would still have at least a decent amount of time to rest, once your turn was over.
However, the third watch was easily the worst, as you hadn't been able to rest properly before getting woken up. After that, you were forced to stay up all the way to the sunrise. In other words, it wasn't exactly a position anybody wanted.
"I-I can take the third watch, if it's that bad!" Ruby quickly suggested, noticing how Elaine had reacted to the watch that had fallen on her. "I mean, I'm just an extra member anyways, so I should do all I can to-"
"Ruby, I appreciate the thought, but I have to decline," Elaine said and took a deep breath. "I even said it myself. We all need to accept things like adults, so I can't simply push it onto you."
"Yeah, Rubes! Let Ellie be the big, responsible leader she's supposed to be!" Isabella said with a giggle. "I mean, what kind of a leader would simply push the tougher jobs on others, so she could have it easier? Not one you should look up to, that's what!"
The dark-skinned girl's comment earned her a glare from the team leader, but Elaine didn't say or do anything else, having accepted her fate. However, Ruby still wasn't sure if she was alright with how things were and hoped to at least help her friend out a bit.
With the everybody's turns on the watch settled, most of the group went to rest up, before it was their turn, leaving only Ruby and Isabella up. The older of the two girls was grinning widely over the fact that she not only got the best turn on the watch, but the fact that she would get to hang out with her new friend as well.
The two girls were sitting around a campfire, while the others were sleeping in their tents. Isabella decided that it would be a good time to strike up a conversation with the younger girl.
"So, Ruby, how does it feel to work on third-year level stuff?" the white-haired girl asked. "Must be different from what you're used to."
"It sure is. Until now, the only assignments that I've done that have required me to go to the field like this have all been to the Emerald Forest or Forever Fall," the younger girl answered. "I can't say much yet, since we haven't really started the actual work yet, but I'm honestly kind of excited."
"Heh! You must be the only one I've heard about that's been excited to get tougher work thrust upon them," Isabella said with a small grin. "Guess you really enjoy the dangerous life of a Huntress, huh?"
"Well, it's not exactly like that. I mean, I do want to become a Huntress, but there's another reason as to why I'm excited," the redhead explained. "I feel like this will be a great chance to prove myself."
"Prove yourself?" the dark-skinned girl asked. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that I want to prove everyone who has ever doubted me that I do have the skills required to be in Beacon," Ruby answered with a slightly sad look on her face. "Every time I walk around the school, can hear people whispering about me. They talk about all these crazy theories as to how I was accepted, and how I became a team leader. And those things are not nice. It's even tougher when my own team does the same thing. I know I should just ignore them and everything, but it's... really hard sometimes. I just want to show them all that I didn't "cheat" or "trick" my way into Beacon, like many believe."
Isabella frowned at how sad the redhead had suddenly become. She had just wanted to have a good time with a friend, not make her sad. The white-haired girl did know about all the tough things Ruby had to go through, but she hadn't meant to remind her of them.
Getting up from the spot she was sitting at, Isabella went to sit next to Ruby. She also placed a comforting hand on the younger girl's shoulder.
"Ruby, you shouldn't feel the need to prove yourself to anyone. Not even your team," the dark-skinned girl said in a gentle tone. "Believe me when I say that the people doubting you are idiots. There's no way you could have gotten into Beacon through any sort of trickery, as Ozpin himself would have noticed something was wrong. You would need to be an expert at forging documents and manipulating data in order to do that."
Somewhere in Beacon, a certain blonde knight and a group of secret villains all sneezed at the same time.
"What I'm trying to tell you is that the only thing that got you into Beacon was your own skills and nothing else. So you shouldn't doubt yourself or worry about the opinions of others. Just focus on doing your best and you'll be fine. I promise," Isabella finished her little talk.
"Thanks, Isabella," Ruby said gratefully with a smile, as she wiped a couple of tears that had fallen from her eyes. "It really means a lot to me, when someone as great as you say things like that to me."
"You bet I'm great!" the white-haired girl said with a big grin, earning herself a giggle from the younger girl. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something. Now that you've gotten to know us all, which one of us is-"
Isabella didn't get to finish her question, as Ruby suddenly raised her hand, signaling for the older girl to be quiet, and started to look around themselves.
"What's wrong?" Isabella asked.
"I think I heard something," Ruby answered quietly. "We might have some company."
"How many and from what direction?"
"A lot. And from all around us."
"Go wake up the others."
With the use of her Semblance, Ruby had quickly woken up the other members of their group. In a couple of seconds, they were all standing around the campfire, armed and ready.
"Well, this is a nice welcome," Elaine said sarcastically. "Couldn't they have waited until the morning?"
"Grimm don't really play by any sort of rules," Oliver said with a small smirk.
"Smart ass..."
"So, how are we going to do this?" Ruby asked, holding her weapon in it's sniper form. "Do we take certain positions or do we all just charge them together?"
"Charging blindly could get us into trouble. It's better for us to do this the way my team usually does," Elaine answered. "Isabella, Nilo, go take them on! Ollie, stay here for now, until the heavy hitters appear! Ruby, stay here with me and give support for the others!"
With their orders received, each member of the group went to perform their tasks. With great speed, Isabella ran to the horde of Grimm appearing from the woods with her metal claws at the ready. As soon as she reached the monsters, she began to wildly slash apart the Grimm, while also dodging any attack that came towards her with ease.
However, Ruby noticed that someone from their group was missing, as Nilo was nowhere to be seen. The redhead looked around frantically for the shy boy, but was unable to find him anywhere.
"Something wrong, Ruby?" Elaine asked, while giving Isabella support with her rifle.
"I can't see Nilo anywhere!" Ruby said in a panicked voice. "Where did he go!? Don't tell me that he got taken by the Grimm!"
"Don't worry about him, Rubes. He can take care of himself," the older team leader answered with a smirk. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that you'll see what he's doing any second now."
Before the younger team leader could ask what Elaine was talking about, a sudden explosion appeared among the Grimm. At first, Ruby thought that Isabella had been behind it, but noticed that the dark-skinned girl was too far away from the blast in order to be the one who caused it. As the scythe-wielder looked towards where the explosion had happened, another one soon appeared, followed by many more.
"Is... Is that caused by Nilo?" Ruby asked, while staring at the combat with wide eyes. "I can't see him anywhere. Does his Semblance turn him invisible?"
"Correct," Elaine answered. "Nilo has the ability to turn his whole body completely invisible, allowing him to sneak around enemies undetected. In situations like this, we often have him sneak into the enemy groups, where he will then start to throw explosives at them."
"That's amazing... But isn't that rather risky?" the younger redhead asked. "He's currently surrounded by Grimm, so isn't he in great danger right now?"
"Don't worry. If anything happens, Isabella will be able to handle it," the older redhead said confidently.
Almost as on cue, Nilo lost his invisibility from bumping into one of the Beowolves they were facing. His Semblance's effect would turn off the moment he made physical contact with somebody, so he was completely visible right now.
However, despite the Beowolves lunging at the young Huntsman, their claws and fangs didn't get to hit their target, as Isabella managed to pick up her small teammate and take him away. Ruby watched in awe, as the white-haired girl seemed to run on air itself somehow.
"What the-!? How is she able to-!?" the young team leader said in amazement, but then her eyes noticed something appearing underneath Isabella's feet every time she took a step on air. "Incredible! She's able to manipulate water around her in order to make steps for her to use! I've never seen anything like that before!"
"You sure have sharp eyes, Ruby," Elaine said with a smirk, feeling pride for her young friend. "You're correct on Isabella's Semblance. She can manipulate the water around her for all sorts of things, such as to make the steps you've just seen."
"Wow... Your teammates have such incredible abilities," Ruby said in amazement, watching as Nilo turned invisible again and Isabella used the water to create a whip. "I can't help but hope to see what kind of abilities you and Oliver use."
"Well, I think you're about to witness what I can do," the older team leader said, as she noticed more Grimm appearing. It seemed like a group of Ursa had decided to join the Beowolves. "Watch closely, as I show what the leader of team LION can do."
Ruby's eyes went wide as she watched Elaine activate her ability. The older redhead took aim with her rifle, as bright green Aura began to flow from her body and into the rifle, causing the weapon to glow. Elaine fired a round into the Ursa that had just arrived, and the brightly shining bullet tore through the Grimm like they were paper.
"There! That's what I can do!" Elaine said with a grin, as the Ursa that were destroyed by her bullet began to disappear. "Can you guess what my ability is?"
"Y-You can charge objects, such as your weapons, with you Aura, giving them more power," Ruby answered with wide eyes. "In other words, you can give a simple bullet the destructive power of a cannon ball."
"Correct again! However, my power doesn't work on just weapons and other inanimate objects. I can charge up people as well," the older team leader explained happily, before a group of very large Deathstalkers appeared on the opposite side of the forest and began to make their way towards the students. "Allow me to demonstrate."
Elaine walked up to Oliver, who was calmly looking at the advancing scorpion-Grimm. These weren't even your usual Deathstalkers either, as they were at least three times larger than any Deathstalkers Ruby had ever seen. Even their armor seemed to be much thicker than normal.
"So, is it my turn to act?" Oliver asked his team leader.
"It sure is," Elaine answered with a grin, as she put a hand on her teammate's shoulder. It didn't take long until the green Aura started to flow from her body into Oliver, giving him the green glow her bullet had earlier. "Go wild."
Once he had been given the permission to attack, Oliver started to run towards the Deathstalkers. As he was running, something suddenly changed in him, as his skin turned bright red, his hair became more unruly and his eyes turned completely yellow. The large boy's face was twisted into a feral snarl, as he suddenly let out a loud roar, almost like a wild beast. Before the Deathstalkers could do anything, Oliver was on top of them, crushing and tearing them apart with his bare hands.
"Oliver just changed into a completely different person!" Ruby said as she stared at the large boy tearing apart Grimm. "Is his Semblance some sort of a berserker transformation!?"
"And you get it correct once again! You really are good at analyzing the abilities of others," Elaine said proudly. "Oliver's Semblance sends him into an uncontrollable rage, which gives a huge increase to his physical abilities, especially his strength. Once he enters that state, he's practically unstoppable. The only problem is that he might attack his allies as well, so it's best to not get close to him during this."
"Incredible... You all have such amazing abilities," the younger redhead said in amazement. "I feel like I was an unnecessary addition to the team."
"Hey now, don't start talking like that! The battle isn't over yet, so anything can really happen!" the older girl said, hoping to cheer up her young friend. "Besides, this is only one part of our assignment. We are most likely going to need you during the actual inspection of the ruins."
The battle went on without any trouble for team LION. Thanks to their experience and skills they were able to destroy all the Grimm that had come to attack them. Soon after the monsters had been taken care of, both Isabella and Nilo walked up to Elaine and Ruby.
"Good work out there, you two," the team leader said to her two teammates. "The Grimm didn't stand a chance."
"You guys aren't wounded, are you?" Ruby asked, worried over the well-being of her friends.
"No need to worry, Ruby! Those dumb animals weren't able to even put a scratch on us!" Isabella boasted. "However, where's Ollie? Hasn't he come back from his side of the battlefield?"
Realizing that the tall boy had not returned yet, Ruby and Elaine turned to look where they had last seen their friend. Much to their shock, Oliver was still in his berserker rage, even though all the Grimm around him had been taken down. Right now, the gentle giant was just mindlessly attacking his surroundings, while roaring like a wild animal.
"Shit! His rage has taken over him!" Elaine cursed.
"Taken over him? What's going on!? What is wrong with Ollie!?" Ruby asked, frightened over what was happening to her friend.
"S-Sometimes when Oliver uses his Semblance, he has trouble s-snapping out of it!" Nilo explained with a pale face. "D-During this time, we c-can't go near him or he might attack us!"
"Is there anything we can do!?" the young redhead asked, hoping that she could help the rampaging boy. "Can we perhaps calm him down in some way in order to get him to snap out of his rage!?"
"I'm afraid there isn't a single thing we can do, Rubes," Isabella answered with a grim look on her face. "All we can do is try our best to avoid him, until his rage burns out."
Ruby looked back at Oliver, who was still rampaging like a wild animal. Despite what the other third-years had said, she couldn't just stand still and do nothing, while her friend was in trouble. Not only was there the possibility that Oliver could injure himself while in his berserker mode, the scythe-wielder could see that the tall boy's Semblance was actually causing harm on him. Ruby could see that Oliver was starting to be visibly pained by his movements the longer his Semblance was activated, as well as that it seemed to consume a lot of energy, as he was starting to breathe heavily.
Before the other third-years could stop her, Ruby ran to Oliver, hoping to help her friend. Even as Elaine, Isabella and Nilo all yelled after her and told her to come back, the young redhead didn't listen. All she knew was that there was someone in need of help and that she, as a Huntress, was supposed to help him.
"OLLIE!" Ruby yelled, catching the rampaging boy's attention, who turned to look at her with fury in his eyes. "It's over, Ollie. You've done your part. You can relax already."
Isabella and Nilo were about to run after the young scythe-wielder, hoping to save her from being crushed by Oliver. However, Elaine managed to stop them in their tracks. For some reason, the third-year team leader felt like they should trust the younger student for now.
"It's okay, Ollie. No one is going to hurt you," Ruby said as she offered her hand up to her friend. "We are all safe now. There's no need to fight."
Oliver was still under the effects of his Semblance, but seemed to be somehow calmer. He had stopped growling angrily and his expression had softened. It seemed like whatever the young team leader was doing was actually working.
The other members of team LION watched in awe and fascination, as their raging teammate was being calmed down by the younger student. Ruby even began to sing a lullaby that she remembered her mother singing to her, when she was only a small child. The song seemed to be the thing that finally fully calmed down Oliver, as his skin, hair and eyes changed back to normal.
"Ruby... What were you thinking?" Oliver asked, despite being amazed by what the younger student had just managed to do. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that little stunt of yours was? I could have killed you."
"I don't think you could have even harmed me. Despite what your Semblance may be, you're still the Oliver I know. The kind and calm guy, who is looking out for everyone he cares about. You could never kill one of your friends, no matter what," Ruby answered with a smile. "Besides, I'm supposed to be a Huntress. How could I simply watch, while my friend was suffering?"
"Heh. I thought we were supposed to be looking after you. Not the other way around," the tall boy said with a smile.
"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Isabella cheered loudly, as she ran up to Ruby and pulled her into a tight hug. "I was so scared over what might happen to you, but you completely took control of the whole thing! I have never seen anyone do anything that awesome in real life before!"
While the rest of her team were surrounding the young scythe-wielder and giving her praise, Elaine stood back and stared at Ruby with a feeling of great pride in her. The older team leader could see why the younger girl had been made the leader of team RWBY, despite being younger than the others. The girl was a natural at reaching others in an emotional manner and was able to get them on her side, something a real leader needed.
'To think that someone would be able to actually reach to Oliver, while he was still taken over by his Semblance. That is something none of us have been able to do at all!' Elaine thought to herself with a smile. 'It's obvious why this girl was accepted into Beacon earlier than normal. Ozpin didn't want talent of this level to be taken by any of the other schools.'
Suddenly, there was some rustling in the nearby woods, but the third-year leader didn't see anything there, so she ignored it. This turned out to be a mistake, as a very large Alpha Beowolf soon made it's way out of the forest and lunged towards her. Elaine was so unprepared for the attack that she wouldn't be able to defend herself at all.
However, when the third-year leader closed her eyes and prepared herself for the pain to come, nothing happened. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the Alpha Beowolf dead on the ground with it's head cut off. Before Elaine could ask what had happened, she noticed red rose petals gently falling to the ground.
"I guess we got a bit too careless. There's more of them in the woods," Ruby said, getting the older team leader's attention. The younger girl was standing next to her with her scythe drawn out and ready for a fight. "However, the good news is that there aren't as many of them as there were before, so we should be able to take them on, even if most of us are tired from the earlier battle. I ask that you let me join the fight this time, though."
For a moment, Elaine could only stare at Ruby with wide eyes. Before she or her teammates had managed to react, the young redhead had noticed the danger the older team leader had been in and had taken it down with ease. Not only was Ruby a natural leader, but she was obviously a very skilled fighter, too.
"Now this is embarrassing. I thought we were supposed to look after you," Elaine said with a small smile. "Maybe I should stay behind you instead."
"Yeah, maybe you should," Isabella said as she ran up to her team leader and Ruby. "While we're at it, we should probably have her become our new team leader as well. I mean, what kind of a skilled leader lets themselves get jumped on like that?"
"HEY!"
"I hate to break your little conversation, but I think we have bigger issues to think about!" Ruby quickly yelled and pointed at the large group of Grimm heading towards them. "Could we please leave our arguments for later!?"
"Fine..." both of the older girls said at the same time.
With the added help of Ruby, the five students were able to easily take out the remaining Grimm. After killing the monsters, their camp ground was safe again, allowing them to get back to resting.
However, even if they had defeated the Grimm, there was still the possibility of more coming up, so someone still needed to stay up for the watch. The group decided to go with the shifts they had decided upon earlier, as they felt that was fair.
Eventually, it was Elaine's turn on the third watch and she was not all that happy. Due to the adrenaline she had built up from the battle and knowing about her upcoming watch, the third-year student had been unable to get any proper sleep at all. Right now, she was just struggling to stay awake.
"Stupid third shift... Should call it turd shift... A lot more fitting name..." Elaine mumbled to herself, as she tried to keep her eyes open. She suddenly heard something approach her from behind and almost grabbed her rifle, only to see Ruby walking up to her. "Huh!? Ruby!? Aren't you supposed to be asleep!?"
"Well, I tried to sleep, but I couldn't really do it," the younger redhead explained. "After everything that has been happening, I just couldn't fall asleep no matter what I did. So I decided to come here and keep you company."
"That's very kind of you, but you shouldn't do that," the older girl said. "We still have a long day ahead of ourselves tomorrow, so you should really get some rest."
"I already said I tried, didn't I?" Ruby asked playfully with a big smile on her face, as she took a seat next to Elaine near the campfire. "I guess we are both going to be sleepy and cranky tomorrow, huh?"
Despite wanting to tell the younger girl to go back into her tent, Elaine couldn't do it. Usually when she had her turn on a watch, she would have one of her other teammates there to keep her company. Right now, she was on her own and didn't really like it. In all honesty, Ruby's company was very welcome right now.
"Alright, you win," Elaine said with a small smile, before pulling something out of her backpack. "Come a bit closer."
Ruby did as the older team leader instructed and sat a bit closer to her. Once she did so, Elaine put a blanket around both of them to provide some extra warmth.
"Guess this isn't so bad after all," the younger redhead said with a small giggle. "I'm very warm and snug right now."
The older redhead could just smile at Ruby. The girl was honestly too good to be true. Not only was she kind, respectful and fun to be around, she was one of the best teammates one could ever hope to get. Not only was Ruby an extremely skilled fighter, but she was also a natural leader. It was no wonder she got accepted to Beacon two years earlier.
'Ruby is honestly amazing. Back there, she wasn't just assisting us in battle, she was actually able to keep up with us!' Elaine thought to herself happily. 'To be perfectly honest, I don't see why she should be stuck with the first-years. They should just let her join us third-'
The redheaded team leader's eyes went wide, as she realized something. This whole test that they were doing with Ruby was so sudden and strange that it was completely unusual. She had never heard about a first-year student being tasked with a third-year level assignment before. Normally the first and second-years would do just slightly tougher missions with their fellow third and fourth-years, but certainly nothing like this.
So why this sudden change? What were the teachers at Beacon testing? They would have to wait and see, but Elaine felt like she had a pretty good idea about what the goal was.
Author's notes: Sorry for taking so long with this. I was originally supposed to get this finished last week, but I had some personal stuff to deal with that prevented that.
Also, I should tell you guys that my summer break is now over, which means I'm back in school. Because of this, I won't be able to update as much as I was not too long ago. Hope you all understand.
Anyways, I'll try to get this whole assignment thing with team LION that Ruby is on wrapped up with the next chapter. This chapter was meant to show how the group acts in a combat situation. I also tried to have Ruby show off her abilities by first deducing the Semblances of team LION through simple observation, as well as getting to save one of them. The next chapter will be about them doing their actual assignment work at the ruins.
Until next time.
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.