"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them."
~ Aristotle
-0-
"Oh, err. Hi Dad!" Ruby nervously giggled as the flag pole dissolved into motes of light.
"What was that?" Tai-yang returns in reply with a stormy expression as he stared at the bisected bookcase.
"I discovered my semblance!" She squeaked as Qrow starts to laugh uproariously at the situation.
"A semblance of weapons, eh?" Tai says as his countenance slightly humors from Qrow's laugh, but his face is still set in a serious stock. He quickly walks forward to hug his daughter. Ruby dived away in a vain attempt to escape her father's grasp but ultimately failed.
"I already did this with Yang, but don't go outside after dark. It's… not smart." Tai yang fiercely hugged his daughter as she struggles to free herself.
"Fine! Fine!" Ruby started to struggle for air as her dad's hug began to tighten even more. He relaxed his hug and stepped away.
"Good. I just needed to impress on you about how much trouble you girls are in.' Tai frowned, "No cookies for a week."
"Noooooo!" came the squeaky cry as her dad moves to leave her room. Only for Qrow to interrupt.
"You know." Uncle Qrow took a swig from his flask, "That's a bit harsh. How about I take you and Yang under my wing and teach you how to kill monsters?"
"Really?" Ruby asked with wide eyes as she seems to look into her dad's own eyes. She knew that her father was the only obstacle between her and Qrow tutoring her. And so with that, the intensity of her eyes start to increases as her father's previously stern expression began to fade in chagrin.
"Fine." Tai responded after a brief thought "It's better to be prepared since you have always insisted on becoming a Huntsman. Qrow, only light practice, and practice with her Aura. Nothing else until Signal."
"Fiiiiine." Qrow groans as he takes Ruby's jittering shoulders.
"Yayy!" Ruby crows triumphantly, momentarily forgetting the cookies as she jumps up and down in excitement.
"Do you have any other weapons?' Qrow asks, "We should determine a fighting style that can also utilize these weapons. Besides, we would need to find a weapon for you to use. It wouldn't do to only rely on your Aura for fighting."
"No weapons." Tai's expression hardens at that. His little girls shouldn't cut themselves on the sharp blades.
"Fine... We'll just check Ruby's Semblance." Qrow groused before impatiently asking Ruby, "So, do you?"
"Do I?" Ruby asked her inner companions.
[I have one, La Pucelle, but I must forbid you from ever using it as it is lethal to the user.] Ruler explained after a moment's respite.
"Uncle Qrow, what's lethal?" Ruby asks as Qrow looks at his niece in shock.
"L-lethal?" Qrow asked, "It means that it will hurt someone badly. How is the weapon lethal?"
"Ruler said... to me?" Ruby responded, much to Qrow's and Tai's horror.
"To you?" Qrow questions with a serious expression on your face. "And what did this… Ruler say?"
"That I shouldn't use it." Ruby admits sheepishly, "But I want to."
[NO!] Ruler protested the young girl.
"NO!" Taiy Yang, Qrow, and Ruler all yelled out loud at Ruby, causing her to clasp her eyes in fright at their intense denial.
"Okay…." Ruby groaned before asking for more.
[You still have 7 more doors to open…. You have more weapons by your side.] Ruler tried to appease the young girl's insatiable lust for weapons.
[Ooh, Praetor! I have one, umu! It's a beautiful craft. Just say Aestus Estus: The Original Flame!] Saber joyfully exclaimed as she sticks her tongue out to Ruler's indignance, not that Ruby knew.
"Okay, Saber!" Ruby cheerfully rebounded at the mention of another sword, quickly forgetting about Ruler's sword.
"Aestus Estus: The Original Flame!" Ruby cries out as large sword appears in her grasp. The blade is made up of red iron of some sorts. "Oh, my Oum."
[Yep! Proudly designed by yours truly!] Saber explained with a loving tone in her voice.
"This is so cool!" Ruby gushed as she almost heard Saber beam within her mind.
"Hmmm, what an intriguing weapon." Qrow mused as he looked at it. To be honest, he doesn't know what will happen if he grabs it, after all, it is his niece's soul materialized. "Does it do anything?"
[It can go on fire!], Saber proudly answered.
"Awesome!" Ruby exclaimed, ignoring her uncle's questions by accident. "That's so cool!"
"Ruby… Whatever you're planning on doing, don't." Qrow warned, only to be ignored by Ruby's impulsive act.
"Très Fontaine Ardent: Fountain of the Blazing Saint" Ruby cried out as the blade catches on fire. Which Qrow and Tai started to panic over.
"Whoa! Whoa! Get out of the house!" They shoved both Ruby before she could swing and the fire hazard out of the highly flammable house, followed by an intrigued Yang
"It is a horrible idea to lit your blade ablaze inside of the house," Qrow remarked, "I may have my horrible ideas, but that is the first of yours." He ruffled the head of the nervously giggling Ruby, who just realized how bad it would have costed their family.
"Sorry….." she murmured.
"Now then…." he glared at Tai, who decided to re-enter the house, leaving only Ruby, Yang, and him standing in the field. "The first thing a huntsman must know is to run. So girls, get jogging!"
"What!?" Yang and Ruby incredulously shouted as they stared at their uncle. "But, Qrow!" One could hear the pleading tone of their voice. Unluckily for them, Qrow isn't one to be lenient with training. Especially with what just happened to Summer. In fact….
"No buts!" he barked, "You are going to be jogging around this field for at least an hour. So you should probably prepare yourselves. You have your Aura to keep you in good condition."
"Awwwww." The two groaned before starting to jog, closely followed by their uncle, keeping a stern eye on them.
"Well, for that," he said. The girls looked at him while still jogging with hope. "You'll be doing it for another hour after that. Now stop complaining and run."
The two continued while mock glaring at their uncle. They continued to do so childishly for an hour.
"Can you help me?" Ruby desperately asked her residents between pants.
[No, it is helpful for one to always jog. Especially for the battlefield where any encumberment is deadly.], Ruler chastised the poor girl. It's not like she's wrong. One's agility can mean their life or death.
[Nope! Normally, I can lay about. But I agree with Ruler that you should get more fit. Therefore, we can showcase more of your developing body!] Saber continued the discussion with a slightly lewd remark.
[Saber! You can't tell that to a young girl.] Ruler sputters as she hears Saber's statement.
Ruby's face contorts in confusion as she was forced to continue their exercise by their sadistic uncle. She tried to tune out the two's ever-increasingly noisy conversation before another voice cuts through.
[What an interesting realm that the Gate led me to.], a different voice causes Ruby to unconsciously jump.
"Huh, who are you?" Ruby asked along with the two other occupants of Ruby's mindscape.
[It appears… that I'm of Lancer class. But there's no Grail War? Intriguing. Maybe this can be a break from my monotone life, even if for an ephemeral moment.], Lancer comments to herself.
"Okay?" Ruby asked before she was forced to dodge a dust bullet. "What the? Uncle!?"
"Stop talking to yourself!" he barked as he started to shoot at the soil behind Ruby, causing her to dash even farther.
"How do you even know?" Ruby demanded as her pace starts to speed up as the bullets are starting to barely miss her heels.
"Your face looks like you're constipated when you're thinking too hard," Qrow replied as Yang started to laugh.
"HA!" she continued to laugh before she was forced to dodge a bullet with a yip and runs away.
[Now, you should do your exercise… Young child.], Lancer states as she "listens" to Ruby's mutterings about not wanting to jog.
"But I don't want to." Ruby whines, "We only did jogging. We've been doing it for forever."
[You've only been doing it for 2 hours, Ruby. You should thank God that Qrow is only making you jog. He can be doing a lot more strict regimes.], Ruler says, correcting Ruby's thoughts.
"Who's God?" Ruby asked.
[Ha! Where's your God now, Ruler! The Roman Empire is superior!], Saber triumphantly cries out.
"The what Empire?" Ruby questioned Saber's remark, "There are and have been four kingdoms though."
[Unbelievable! Are we in a different world?!], Saber cried out in astonishment.
[You haven't seen the shattered moon? I've only been here for a few minutes, and I noticed that first, even during the day it hangs silently.], Lancer said with a humored expression at the Roman Emperor.
[Oh, ermmm. Umu. I have no comeback, but I'll manage to craft one!], Saber sputtered for a bit before falling silent.
[Anyway, young child. Normally, I wouldn't offer this, but your future is quite intriguing. Thus, I'll offer you a trade. Can you listen to your uncle's words, then I'll train you in Runes.], Lancer said.
"Runes?" Ruby asked with a confused expression on her face.
[Aye, a certain type of magecraft that automatically realize mysteries accordingly with the meaning that they represent.], Lancer explained.
"Huh?" came the eloquent reply from the young girl.
[Right, a 5-year-old. Runes are drawing symbols and magic happening...], Lancer had paused at the realization that this isn't one of her more mature or at the very least, knowledgeable, students, yet, just a girl barely even ready for schooling. Therefore, she had to teach Ruby like a small child.
"That's so cool!" Ruby exclaims as she starts to jog even harder, invigorated by the promise to learn Runes.
[See? The child just needs the proper motivation.], Lancer privately remarks to Ruler, who was previously wondering how to get Ruby to do her exercises. Ruler had nothing to say about it. So she didn't. The three just watched through Ruby's eyes as she excitedly continued to run through the laps, wanting to learn about Runes.
-0-
Age 7:
"So this is Sowilo?" Ruby asked as she drew the rune for yet another time. She wasn't even allowed to activate yet, despite having learned to draw these runes for 2 years.
[Yes, child.], Lancer answered as she observed the now clean lines. About a year ago, those lines would have been so shaky that it may as well have been a child's scribble. To be fair, Ruby was a child, but messing up a rune can lead to dire consequences, [I believe that you are capable of activating it, albeit, you should learn to draw them faster. Also, you have to learn to write using your blood or maybe even your aura as you will not always have ink and brush at hand.]
"Really?", Ruby asked with shock, completely ignoring the latter points, "I can activate it? Finally! How do I do it? How?"
[Channel your aura into it. It should be analogous to prana from our dimension.], Lancer explained as Ruby cheerfully bobbed her head along with the explanation and hurriedly triggered her aura. A ruby red haze shrouded over her as Qrow, who was lying on the couch in boredom, watched Ruby's actions.
The moment Ruby's Aura trickled onto the rune, the paper that the rune was drawn on burst into flames, causing her to leap away in panic.
"Darn it!" Qrow roared as he rushes to the sink to grab a bowl of water and douse the table in it. "What did I tell you about fire hazards!"
"Don't..." Ruby murmured as she prodded her fingers together. It's not her fault that she forgot that…. Sowilo was used… to ignite stuff. Oh. "Right.."
[Maybe it's too soon for you to activate your runes if you forgot your definitions.], Lancer reprimanded Ruby as Qrow is dashing water across the oaken, now smoldering, table.
"Yeah, right." Qrow scowled before his face softened. "Ruby, what was that anyway?"
"Oh, you know when I was talking about Lancer!?" Ruby asked her uncle, who starts to snicker.
"You mean when you were talking about how drawing can cause magic?" he asked.
"Yeah, she taught me how to do it!" she responded.
"Well then," Qrow responded before he takes another swig of his beer. "Continue on."
-0-
Age 10:
It was dusk where Ruby was juggling apples.
"So, why do I have to juggle apples?" Ruby asked Lancer. Ruler and Saber were still off doing something else in her house. The two would still greet her when she sleeps, but Lancer takes up most of her time.
[This is so you can perform the Apple Feat, which helps you with swordplay. You did say that you want Crescent Rose to have a sword function.] Lancer replied simply. [Isn't that what has been on your blueprints.]
Ruby remembered when she first drew a blueprint of a weapon, imitating Qrow's own. He laughed at the ridiculous drawing but complimented her analysis of his weapon. So she felt happy.
"But apples." she moaned as yet another apple whacks her in the head as she messes up. She could hear a chortle from behind the kitchen window where Yang is hiding. Yang just decided to wear gauntlets. She already has a pair, given by Signal Academy.
[And?] Lancer replies, [We'll be doing the Salmon Leap next. It'll help you with your scythemanship.]
"Yay..." Ruby sighed as she trudged back indoors. "I just want to eat my cookies."
"DAD!" she cried out, "Are there cookies?"
"Yes dear," came the reply as a pack of cookies came flying at her. Ruby failed to catch it.
[Maybe we should practice the apple feat just a bit longer,] Lancer teased the grumbling girl as she goes to sit down on the couch, where Qrow was sitting down on.
"Don't you have work, uncle?" she asked the barely dozing man.
"Yes, Ruby." Qrow answered, "But I'm a Huntsman. I make my schedule. And my schedule says that I should go and watch TV."
[It is always good to know what's on the news.], Ruler said, [After all, there may be information that you can use.]
[Maybe a music channel?], Saber suggested.
Qrow turned on the TV to show the news channel. On it, Lisa Lavender, the popular news anchor for the VNN is reporting a shooting at a Faunus orphanage with a deadpan expression.
"Ummmm." Ruby points at the television screen, "Why is that happening?"
"Hmm," Qrow perked up to look at the screen before hurriedly turning it to an opera channel, "Nothing."
[Yes! Music!], Saber cheerfully said before Ruby heard her get punched in the head. [Hey!]
[That's not fair to the children.], came an unknown voice.
[Archer of Red.] Ruler blandly greeted the new arrival. Ruby wondered what the colors meant but ultimately decided to refer to Archer as Archer.
[Ruler], Archer retorted with an acerbic reply.
"Why are you guys fighting?" Ruby asked the two clashing voices as Saber is mumbling nonsense about her beautiful head broken.
[She,] came the bitter response, [Doesn't care about children.]
"She cares about me!" Ruby indignantly replied to Archer, who just scoffed at the statement.
[Then how come she never told you about Assassin of Black?] Archer responded brusquely.
"Who?", Ruby asked with confusion. She never heard Assassin. She never even saw her in her dreams.
[Jack the Ripper,] Archer responds, [Another victim of this cruel world.]
[Assassin of Black was a serial killer.] Ruler says, [It is my duty to end such foul existences.]
[No. Assassin wanted to be with her mother. She was just a child who knew nothing better.] Archer venomously replies.
"Should I be worried?" Ruby asks as the two dissolves into a bickering match. Well, one-sided, as Ruler is just deflecting Archer's accusations.
[Nah, Praetor. Everything is perfectly alright.] Saber says before loud explosions can be heard. [Oh no. I fear that it is my duty as Emperor to facilitate this fight! I want to see this death fight!]
[The two are just fighting their differences out.] Lancer says in Saber's absence. [Be patient, young one.]
"Okay." Ruby decided to leave it at that and hummed before leaving upstairs. It's time for her curfew after all. Her dad may get angry, seeing as he has been getting more and more stressed lately.
"Goodnight Uncle Qrow!" she waved at her dozing uncle and she walked towards her bedroom. She saw Yang already sleeping. Ruby was already tired from all the training during the day. She fell asleep to the sounds of explosions and screaming.
"Greetings." Lancer greeted the little girl as Ruby opened her eyes to Lancer looking down at her with a little girl sleeping by her. Who was this? Wait, Archer did mention Assassin.
"Is this Assassin?" Ruby asked as she poked the girl.
"Yes." Lancer merely replied, "That is the Assassin that Ruler and Archer are arguing about."
"How is she a serial killer?" Ruby asked, "She's just a little girl like me."
Ruby doesn't like being referred to a little girl, but looking at Assassin, she can't help but compare the girl to herself. It's just a little girl, albeit one with 4 knives, a scalpel, and a butcher's knife. But still…. Assassin starts to murmur as she looks at Ruby with wide and innocent eyes.
"Mommy?" she asked before snuggling Ruby's arm. Ruby looked at the white-haired girl who was nuzzling her. She hugged the adorable girl back. She could still hear explosions outside the house from where Archer and Ruler were fighting each other.
"Nope." Ruby said, "Assassin is safe in here with me. It's not like she can leave."
"We don't have to leave Mother's womb?" Assassin asked. Ruby sweatdropped as she looked at the little girl's confused expression.
"This is Ruby's soulscape." Lancer clarified before she lightly grinned, "You could very well say that it is, in your case, a womb to be sheltered in, seeing as it is home."
"Yay…." Assassin drifted to sleep as Ruby decided to cover the girl with her red cloak. She'll grow into it. But right now, it was still troublesome seeing as she would trip over it so many times. She's lucky that Yang prevented any bullying and Lancer was teaching her balance.
-0-
The other servants, excluding Avenger, will be introduced soon. But for now, I think I wrote too much (please refer to my other writings before commenting about other Fanfiction writers work schedule….), so yeah. I'll be leaving it here. Now, I have to work on Auburn Hair or I'll be sent to the stake to be burned. Not fun.
Tata!