Notice Me, Ruby!

Chapter 21: Back To Beacon

It had been almost a week since Ruby had gone with team LION on their history assignment and Yang had become a worried wreck in that time. While she knew that Ruby was being accompanied by a team of much more experienced students, she couldn't help but worry over what could happen to the young redhead. After all, she had been told just how dangerous the work of third-years could be, so she had a good reason to be worried.

It didn't help that Oobleck had refused to tell the blonde and her other teammates just where their team leader had gone. While it was most likely that the professor had done it in order to prevent the WBY from going after their team leader, the lack of knowledge did not help how Yang was feeling.

While Weiss and Blake were doing better than their blonde teammate, they were also very worried over Ruby. They knew that the scythe-wielder was a skilled fighter and that the people she would be traveling with were also strong, but that did little to change the way they felt about this whole thing. No matter how they looked at it, Ruby was currently in some dangerous mission, where anything could happen to her and they wouldn't be able to help at all. The only thing they could do was hope that their team leader would return safely.

The WBY were sitting in the cafeteria, trying to eat lunch, but their worry over Ruby had taken away their appetites. Weiss and Blake had only managed to take small bites out of their own meals, while Yang's food remained completely untouched.

"Yang, you really should eat," Blake said to her partner, worried over her lack of an appetite that had been going on ever since Ruby left. "It's not good for you to go hungry."

"I'm not all that hungry," Yang said and pushed her tray of food away from herself. "You guys can have it, if you want."

"Not only do I doubt that I would ever enjoy your "meal", but I can't take it when you need it," Weiss said with slight disgust in her voice while looking at the brawler's bacon sandwich. "As a Huntress, you should always be making sure your body is as healthy as possible. Otherwise, you won't be able to fulfill your duty properly."

"I couldn't care less about my "duty" even if I tried," Yang said with a glare directed at the heiress. "Do you really think something like that really matters to me when I have no idea how Ruby's doing? She could be being chased by Grimm right now for all we know!"

"Yang, stop that. Getting moody isn't going to help anyone at all, especially yourself," Blake said sternly, not liking the tone her partner had just used. "Believe me when I say that we are just as worried as you are, but there's nothing we can do. We just have to trust team LION in keeping Ruby safe."

Yang was about to respond to the cat faunus' words, but she noticed something from the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw a large amount of third and fourth-year students running to the front door of the school. It was almost like there was some sort of a bog celebrity arriving there and everyone was now hurrying to see them.

The blonde looked around a bit and saw that some of the first and second-year students had noticed the rush their upperclassmen were in and they seemed just as confused as she was. It was certainly odd to see so many people acting in such a way, especially when they were the more experienced students around.

"That's weird. What could possibly be happening to get them all so excited like that?" Weiss wondered.

"Only one way to really find out," Yang said and got up from her seat. She ran up to one of the third-year students in the hopes of getting some answers. "Excuse me, but what's going on? Why are so many people running outside?"

"Oh, you guys haven't probably heard, since you're still first-years. Well, we just heard that team LION and Ruby Rose are returning from their assignment," the third-year girl answered. "We heard some crazy things happened on their mission, so we all want to go see them, especially Ruby."

"Hang on, what do you mean by crazy things?" the blonde asked with wide eyes and a pale face.

"From what I heard, they went to an area that was infamous for a very large and dangerous Grimm that was living there. Because of it, no one has been able to properly investigate the place they were at. But now thanks to them, that Grimm has been defeated!" the older student explained excitedly. "Now, I need to go, before all I miss my chance to meet the whole group."

The WBY watched as the third-year girl ran off and joined with her own teammates, leaving behind the three first-years who were quite shocked by what they had just heard.

"Ruby faced something that dangerous?" Weiss asked. "What happened on that assignment?"

"I don't know, but we are definitely going to find out," Blake replied. "Once Ruby's here, we are going to have her tell us every detail of what she went through with team LION. Agreed?"

While the heiress agreed with her faunus teammate, Yang remained completely silent. The way she saw it, her worst fears had come true with Ruby. The little redhead had gone somewhere too dangerous and had almost lost her life. And to make the whole thing worse, she had been unable to help at all.

Without saying even a word, the blonde started to run to the direction all the older students were going, with Weiss and Blake soon following after her. She needed to see Ruby and she needed to do it now.

Once the WBY made it out to Beacon's front yard, they saw a large crowd of people that was mostly made up of third and fourth-years. The crowd seemed to be gathered around something, which the three girls assumed was Ruby and team LION.

The trio began to push into the mass of people, hoping to be able to see their team leader at some point. After pushing through the older students for some time, the WBY were able to get deep enough into the crowd to see Ruby, as well as the members of team LION. A lot of people in the crowd were asking questions from the other team in the hopes of getting details about the assignment they had been on.

"Did you guys really go to an extremely dangerous are!?"

"How big was the Grimm you guys faced there!?"

"What kind of abilities did it have!?"

After a moment of having questions thrown at them, Elaine decided to finally take a step forward. She held up her hands and motioned for everyone around them to calm down, which they did. Once the noise had died down enough, the third-year leader began to speak.

"Okay, I'm aware that you all must have heard about the assignment that we were on," Elaine began. "It is true that the place we went to was an area that was actually restricted due to it's danger. It is also true that we faced a Grimm there that had not been met before in any other place, as far as we know. And our victory over said Grimm is true as well. However, there is one thing that my teammates and I believe needs to be told more than anything else regarding what happened there."

The crowd went almost completely silent with only a couple of people whispering to each other. They were all wondering about just what the leader of team LION wanted to say.

"While we might have won against the Grimm you've heard about, it was no easy task. The creature was old and smart, making it a very dangerous opponent. At one point, we were all on our last legs, as we had been exhausted from the long and tough battle, with our enemy still full of strength and energy," Elaine began to tell her tale. "Eventually, the Grimm managed to beat us down, leaving us at it's mercy. My whole team was about to become it's next meal."

Everyone in the crowd was now listening intently to what the redhead was telling them, not wanting to miss a single detail. The WBY were also listening to the story with wide eyes, thinking about just what Ruby must have been going through.

"However, thanks to one brave Huntress in our group, we were all saved from certain death!" Elaine declared proudly with a big smile on her face, before she and Isabella took hold of Ruby and lifted her up in the air. "This here is the one who saved us! The brave Huntress who risked her life and body to save us all! Our own hero, RUBY ROSE!"

Ruby herself was awestruck by what she was experiencing. She had not expected the older team leader to tell about their mission in such a way, let alone call her a hero of all things. To the scythe-wielder's further shock, the crowd around had begun cheering and chanting her name, like she was actually a hero of some kind.

For as long as she could remember, Ruby had dreamed of becoming a hero, like the ones she read about in books. Was this what it was like?

The WBY stood in stunned silence, as they saw just how much all the third and fourth year students were praising Ruby. They knew that their team leader was skilled and that the older students seemed to hold her in high regard, but this was completely unbelievable to them.

Even Weiss had to admit that she herself had never had anything like this directed at herself. While she did do her occasional singing performances to many nobles and other such influential people of Atlas, the heiress always felt that the praise she received was not out of admiration, but due to her family. Those who praised her greatly were always looking towards to benefiting through her, but what her partner was currently receiving was completely different. If Weiss were to describe it with a word, it would be genuine.

Yang finally decided to go and confront their team leader, as she had enough of simply standing in the crowd and staring at Ruby. With a bit of effort, the blonde pushed through the last few people in her way and finally managed to make it to Ruby and team LION, with Weiss and Blake quickly following behind her.

With the appearance of the WBY in the middle of the crowd, the cheering seemed to die down, as everyone was now staring at the new arrivals. The members of team LION put Ruby down upon seeing the young redhead's teammates appear, and the scythe-wielder herself was staring at the three older girls with slightly widened eyes.

"Yang? Weiss? Blake?" Ruby called out to her teammates in confusion. "What brought you guys here all of a sudden?"

"Ruby, what-" Yang began to say as she took a step towards the younger girl, only for the members of team LION to get in the way.

The third-year students formed a sort of a protective barricade around Ruby, as if to shield her from her teammates. The WBY were taken aback by not only this sudden obstruction, but by the looks on team LION's faces. Every member of the team was glaring at the three older members of team RWBY, like they were their sworn enemies. Even the normally shy and scared Nilo took a stance to shield Ruby and to glare at the WBY.

The reason for team LION acting like this was because of what Ruby had told them about her teammates not too long ago. Once they had learned just how badly their friend had been treated by her own teammates, the third-years had been become quite hateful towards the WBY. Because of this, they had all decided to do their best in order to protect their new friend from her teammates no matter what.

Ruby realized what was going on between her friends and her teammates, and decided to step up in order to prevent a fight from breaking out. It wouldn't help anyone, if third-years got into a fight with some first-years.

"Guys, it's okay. I'll be fine," the scythe-wielder said calmly to the members of team LION while walking past them towards her own teammates. "I'm their team leader, so I was going to have to go meet up with them eventually. Better get to it than try to pointlessly avoid it, okay?"

"Are you sure, Ruby?" Elaine asked, not feeling alright with the idea of leaving the younger girl with her teammates. "At least one of us could go with you, if you-"

"There's no need for that. Trust me on this," Ruby answered before the third-year leader managed to finish her suggestion. "Besides, you should know that I'll be able to handle this."

"...Alright, if you say so, Ruby," the older redhead said with a small frown. "But if anything happens, I want you to call one of us with your Scroll or come to our dorm, okay?"

The scythe-wielder gave a nod and went with her teammates, leaving behind a crowd of disappointed third and fourth-years, who had wanted to talk with the famous prodigy.

"You sure this is a good idea, Ellie?" Isabella asked while watching Ruby walk away with the WBY. "I mean, you know how bad her teammates are, right? Should we really be doing this?"

"Believe me, I am not okay with this, but you heard what she said. Not only did she say that she'll be fine, but she's right about having to face her team eventually," Elaine answered. "No matter how much we dislike it, Ruby is still the team leader of team RWBY, so she has to interact with her own teammates."

"I guess you're right... I still don't like the idea of them being around her," the dark-skinned girl said with clear disgust in her voice. "Ruby deserves better."

"You and I both agree on that," the redhead said before she started to walk away from her team. "I need to go see Professor Oobleck. There's something I need to discuss with him. I'll see you guys back at the dorm."

Isabella stared after Elaine in confusion, wondering what she meant by needing to see their teacher. If it was about their assignment, Oobleck would surely let them rest before making their report. Not to mention, if it was about something concerning their whole team, why would only Elaine go talk to the green-haired teacher?

A sudden tap on her shoulder brought Isabella out of her thoughts. She turned around and saw Oliver staring down at her.

"As strange as Ellie's behavior might be, could you let it be for now? I think we're going to need your help over here," the tall boy said with a hint of irritation in his voice while pointing at the crowd of third and fourth-year students still gathered around them, waiting to hear about their mission.

Back with team RWBY, the four girls were walking towards their dorm in silence. The WBY had a ton of questions they wanted to ask from their young leader, but were just unable to get the words out. Something felt different about Ruby, like she wasn't the same person they used to know. There was a strange aura surrounding the younger girl, which made her feel like a completely new being altogether.

As they were getting closer to the dorm, Ruby stumbled on her feet, almost falling to the floor. The three older girls immediately rushed to the redhead's side, hoping to help her in any way they could. However, once Yang touched Ruby, the scythe-wielder let out a pained wince. The blonde still held onto Ruby, but did her best to be as gentle as possible, not wanting to hurt her anymore.

"Thanks, Yang," Ruby said with a small smile, as the brawler helped her stand up. "I'll be okay, so you don't need to keep holding me."

"You're NOT okay, Ruby!" Yang argued with worry in her voice. "I have never seen you almost fall down like this while simply walking! What happened to you on that assignment!? You're not badly hurt, are you!?"

"It's nothing to worry about, okay? My body's just a bit worn out from exhaustion, that's all," the redhead replied as she continued to walk. "I was forced to push my Semblance past my body's limits, which backfired on me a bit. I should be okay with a bit of rest."

"Ruby, when you push your body so far that THIS happens, it means that you almost died from exhaustion!" Blake argued in a worried tone. "What in the world could have happened that would push you that far!?"

"Didn't you hear? We faced off against a really strong Grimm that almost killed us," Ruby answered with a frustrated sigh. She was honestly still tired from the whole mission and just wanted to rest, but her teammates didn't seem like they would allow it. "I had no choice but to do what I did in order to save everyone. Seeing as how we all were able to get back alive, I'd say that I did the right thing."

"Now, don't you take that tone with us, Ruby! Do you understand how worried we have been over you!? Not only were you sent on a mission that was way above your level of skill, but you come back as a complete wreck!" Weiss scolded her partner, not realizing that she only angered the young redhead. "To make matters worse, those third-years should have been able to protect you, yet they-"

"ENOUGH!" Ruby suddenly yelled, causing the WBY to freeze from shock. The scythe-wielder took a deep breath before continuing, "I will not have any of you badmouth a single member of team LION. They could have just abandoned me and saved themselves, yet they risked their lives to come and save me. Not to mention, it's thanks to them carrying me once I was unconscious that I came back alive at all. If any of you so much as say one single bad thing about them, I will personally make you regret it. Understood?"

The WBY could only nod in response, as they were honestly afraid of upsetting Ruby any further. The four girls made the rest of their way to their dorm in complete silence, as no one really felt like speaking up.

Once they were in their dorm, Ruby surprised the three older girls by suddenly starting to undress. Weiss' face turned completely red and she turned away from her partner. Bake also looked the other way, but kept glancing at the direction of her team leader.

Yang, not liking the idea of Ruby essentially stripping in front of their team, moved in to stop the younger girl. However, the blonde stopped in her tracks when Ruby removed her shirt. While the redhead still had a T-shirt on, Yang could see just how much Ruby had changed.

The muscles in the scythe-wielder's arms had developed quite a bit as a result of her increased training, to the point that even Yang was almost left second when it came to muscular strength. But the results of Ruby's training weren't the only things showing on her body, but also the wounds and bruises she had sustained from pushing her body too far. Scars and old bruises could be seen all over her arms that were a proof of the young team leader's hard work.

The WBY could only stare at Ruby with wide eyes over what they saw. Their team leader had always seemed like such an innocent girl that they could have never imagined such marks to be on her body.

There was even a large, fresh bruise on Ruby's back that almost reached the back of her neck. The injury was only barely visible, as most of it was covered by the redhead's shirt.

Yang instinctively reached her hand out to touch the large bruise, only for Ruby to wince from pain and fall to her knees. The blonde immediately stepped back from shock, having not expected the injury to still hurt so much.

"Could you please not touch that?" Ruby asked in a pained voice. "I got smashed against a wall by a Grimm and I haven't fully recovered from it."

"I'm sorry, Ruby. But... are you sure you're okay?" Yang asked, worried over the scythe-wielder's condition. "I have never seen anyone beaten this badly. Don't you think you should go to the infirmary?"

"There's no need for that, Yang. My Aura managed to save me from most of the damage, so I'm not in too bad shape. I still have some painful injuries and my Aura is going to take some time to recover, but overall it's not that bad," Ruby explained as she got up. By this point, she was wearing only her T-shirt and underwear, as she climbed into her bed. "Elaine and Oliver told me that I would be okay, as long as I take it easy for some time. I just need to rest a bit for my Aura to come back fully and it will take care of the rest."

"That might be so, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm still worried," the brawler said. "Not only did you go on a very dangerous mission without any of us, but then you come back all beaten up and exhausted. You have to understand that we can't help but worry about you."

"Thanks for the concern, but like I said, I'll be fine. I just need my rest," the scythe-wielder said as she laid down on her bed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm kind of tired and in the need of some sleep. That mission drained more out of me than I thought."

Yang was about to say something, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked behind her and saw Blake lightly shake her head, telling the blonde to let things be for now. The WBY decided to let their team leader rest and started to leave, but Yang still had one more thing to ask.

"Before we go, I'd like to ask one more thing, Ruby," the brawler said, getting the redhead's attention. "This whole thing with team LION... Do you know what's the goal behind it?"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Well, I kind of heard this rumor that you might get placed on a third-year team or something like that," Yang explained nervously. Just talking about the idea of Ruby leaving their team was difficult for her. "I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

For a short moment, Ruby simply stared at Yang with wide eyes, before bursting out into laughter. The WBY were surprised by this reaction from their team leader and waited for an explanation.

"Yang, you can't be serious!" Ruby said while still laughing. "There's no way that rumor is true!"

"W-Wait... What?" was all Yang managed to say, having not expected the redhead's response at all.

"Did you really believe that a student could skip years like that here?" Ruby continued while still chuckling a bit. "I might have managed to get here two years early, but there's no way that Ozpin would allow me to skip more years. The level of work that is expected from third-years is far more demanding and dangerous than ours, so I doubt the professors would even consider placing me in a third-year team for good. That's not even mentioning the trouble of finding me a suitable team, since they are most likely all full."

"But why did they have you go on a third-year assignment then?" the brawler asked. "It wasn't even on the level that you were supposed to be on, but an actual third-year level assignment. Why would they place you in such a dangerous situation, if nothing was going to happen from it?"

"First of all, I had one of the best third-year teams with me, so the whole thing probably wasn't meant to be all that dangerous anyways. While we did face a really threatening Grimm on that mission, it was mostly due to us accidentally wandering close to it. We wouldn't have normally even seen it, had we been following our instructions properly," the scythe-wielder explained. "Second, you do know that not every reward is something I get to enjoy immediately? I'm willing to be that all this gets me is a glowing recommendation from our school, when I'm looking for Huntress work after graduation. That's all there is to it."

Yang was left completely silent for a moment, as her mind processed what she had just heard. For the last couple of days, the blonde had been a nervous wreck, not just from Ruby being away on her mission, but also from the possibility of the young team leader leaving team RWBY entirely. To hear that Ruby wouldn't be leaving at all made Yang feel like a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"So... You won't be leaving our team?" the brawler asked nervously, hoping to confirm what she had just learned. "You will still be part of team RWBY?"

"Pretty much," Ruby answered. "Where did you even get the idea that I would be put among the third-years anyway?"

"Oh! It was just some weird rumor I heard and nothing more!" Yang quickly said, before she went to the door and left. "See you later!"

As the door closed behind the WBY, Ruby stared after them for a moment, before laying back down.

"Good to see she's still as weird as always," the scythe-wielder muttered and rolled her eyes. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep afterwards.

While Ruby was resting in team RWBY's dorm, the three older girls of the team were walking down the hallway, thinking about their team leader. Weiss and Blake were both wondering about how much the younger girl had changed, as she was completely different from the way they thought about her.

However, Yang wasn't bothered by the changes in Ruby at all. Even though she had been surprised by the changes in the redhead, her mind was too occupied with the fact that Ruby wasn't going to leave their team after all. A rather big smile had made it's way to the brawler's face, as one of her biggest fears had just been taken care of.

The way Yang saw it, Ruby was going to still be part of team RWBY and that things would turn for the better.

During team RWBY's reunion, Elaine from team LION had gone to Oobleck's office to talk about something rather important. There was a question the third-year team leader needed to have answered.

"So, what was it that you needed to talk to me about, Ms. Lambert?" Oobleck asked as he took a sip from his cup of coffee. "Did something happen during your assignment that needs to be addressed right away?"

"Oh, nothing like that, Professor. Although we did encounter something we weren't prepared for, the way I see it, everything went fine," Elaine quickly replied. "However, there is something that I need to ask you about and it's connected to our assignment."

"Really now? And what might that be?" the green-haired man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's about Ruby and why she's doing this," the student began to explain. "No matter how you look at this whole thing, it's very strange. While it's true that the older students take younger ones under their wings in order to provide experience for both of them, this isn't the way it's normally done. Not only did Ruby go along with us without any of her own teammates, but the level of work she had placed upon her should have been considered too dangerous."

"That's quite observant of you, Ms. Lambert," Oobleck said with a small smirk on his face. "I suppose that you have come to some sort of a conclusion from all of this, correct?"

"You're not simply testing her abilities in order to give her a better reputation or anything like that. You're actually thinking of having her skip grades again," Elaine said with small grin. "Her skills are far above those of your regular first-year or even second-year students. Having her stay on the grade she's currently in would be just a waste of her time, as she can already take on our level of work. Am I at least somewhat correct with my assumption?"

"I have to say that you've really impressed me. To be able to see through our intentions like that is quite remarkable," the history professor said and finished his cup of coffee. "You are indeed correct. Ms. Rose's skills have risen far above any of our expectations, so we decided to see just how good she truly is. Not only was she able to defeat Ms. Nikos of all people in a match, but she also managed to raise the scores of her own teammates in their next test as well. Once she had shown us her level of skill on a first-year standard, we decided to see how well she would do with much more demanding work."

"And what do you think of her skills so far?" the redheaded girl asked with a small smirk, already knowing the answer. "Personally, I'd say that she has passed with flying colors, but I think it's necessary to hear it from an actual teacher."

"While I cannot speak for the other teachers completely, I'm pretty much certain that Ms. Rose has passed her test," Oobleck answered. "I personally see no reason as to why she can't be moved up to the third-years, and I'm willing to be that my colleagues will feel the same way about this. This is going to take some time and possibly a bit more testing, but if Ms. Rose keeps up the good work, she should become a third-year student very soon."

"That's good to hear. I believe Ruby deserves it as well," Elaine said before turning around and heading to the door of the office. When she was about to walk out, she stopped to ask one more question. "By the way, in case she becomes a third-year, what team will she join? I'm pretty sure all teams are full with four members at the moment."

"Well, nothing has really been decided on that front yet, but I'm sure she'll be more than welcome to join one of the existing teams," the green-haired man replied. "We can make an exception when it comes to the size of a team, so having a fifth member on one of the teams isn't that big of a problem. As for which team it's going to be, I'd have to say that your team seems to be the best pick for that. Not only have you shown that your members work very well with Ms. Rose, but you have also shown to be very accepting of special cases, like with Mr. Temor. It's the main reason your team was chosen for this to begin with."

A rather big smile made its way to the third-year team leader's face upon hearing this.

"I'm glad to hear that."

Author's notes: Sorry for taking so long on this chapter. I've been a bit busy lately and I have also been having trouble with getting into writing lately. I'll try to do my best to get to work on the next chapter, but it is going to take some time. I'll be taking a break from this story for a while in order to think of how I'm going to continue. While I have an idea for the next chapter, I want to think it thoroughly and also think of where to go from that point.

There are also a couple of things I feel need to be discussed here. A guest on this site was a bit "passionate" about my decision not to go with Ruby/Yang/Elaine as the pairing, so I feel this and my decision for the Yang/Ruby pairing remaining should be explained here.

First of all, the reason I suggested adding Elaine was mostly out of curiosity, as I had seen some of my readers like her quite a bit. Because of this, I wanted to see how much they would like the idea of adding her to the pairing. Had the support been greater, I could have gone with it, but since the reaction I got was a bit more mixed, I decided not to do it. This was helped by the fact that some of the people against it gave actual reasons as to why I shouldn't do it, along with my own problems with adding an OC in the pairing.

So once again, I'm sorry if I left some of you disappointed, but I felt that this was the better choice. That's why I didn't add Elaine in the pairing.

As for my choice of making this Yang/Ruby, I do know that most of my stories have that pairing and that they are related in the canon. I also know that despite me making them non-related in this story, some of you can't see them that way, which is something I can't help with. However, I came to this site to make the stories I wanted to make and I refuse to change things in such a way that it's no longer the story I wanted to make.

I also know that the relationship between Yang and Ruby is currently bad in this story and realistically would probably not lead to romance. However, the thing is that I want there to be a challenge for Yang. I kind of dislike how a lot of stories simply have the characters of a pairing like each other, but the drama comes from neither one having the courage to tell the other about their feelings. I feel that there should be an actual challenge and a struggle. Yang's whole thing is to face terrible odds due to her own mistakes in order to redeem herself and achieve her goal.

Anyways, that's all I'll say for now, as I think this is getting too long. Thank you all for checking out my story and I hope you continue to do so.

Until next time.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.