Coffee… The aroma filled her noise with its warm and robust scent, but there was something sweet to it. It was a scent she vividly recalled from her childhood. When her parents had gotten home from missions, Yang always had fresh cups waiting for them and Ruby had kept the tradition going when she or Uncle Qrow returned. Had they gotten home late last night and just not let Ruby know? A part of her got excited at the idea and she lifted herself, but there was something off.
The first thing she noticed was the jacket over her arms. It was unlike anything she or any of her friends owned. Sure, Coco had expensive tastes, but this was just a different level of expensive. The lining was almost silky against her skin and the outside was genuine leather, not that fake stuff that started cracking and looked really cheap.
"Win…ter…" A voice above her moaned out and Ruby jolted up. There it was - the metaphorical elephant in the room – and it hit her with an unforgiving Smite button. An extremely attractive girl was in bed with her and Ruby had apparently cuddled up to this girl in her sleep. The girl shifted uncomfortably in her sleep and her mouth twisted in a frown, giving Ruby the urge to touch her. After a moment, she gave in and touched the girl's arm and she seemed to relax. "…we…messed up…"
She was pale with long lashes and a faded indent sliced vertically across her left eye. Her ears were pierced with what looked to be stainless steel hoops that hugged closely to her ears and her features were fairly sharp and milky white. She definitely didn't seem to see much sunlight, though that was fairly common in Hunters that liked to give Freaks the home advantage.
Those types of Hunters were usually extremely confident – often overconfident – in their abilities and the Coven usually had it out for them. Ruby placed her weight on one arm and her finger ran into something that reminded her of the slick lining of the jacket she was wearing. She glimpsed down and stared in awe, as she brought her fingers up.
Long, dark strands formed a web between her fingers, fanning out beneath the both of them. She lifted her hand, bringing the silky strands with her and they slipped through her fingers in a fluid manner. She was definitely well-cared for and smelled heavily of the coffee scent that Ruby had woken up to… so it was her? She sniffed at the jacket and verified her suspicion. It was the same scent… Hooooolyyyyy shit!
Quickly, she brought out her phone and snapped a picture, making sure to include herself in the picture with the sleeping girl. She made a horrified expression and captioned it "WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT?! WHO IS THIS MAJESTIC MAIDEN?!" before she sent it to the other four girls she remembered had been at the bar with her. Moments later, the first response came back.
DING!... DING!... DING! DINGDING!... DINGDINGDING!...
BringOntheBanHammer: "majestic…"
"…maiden…"
"I FUCKING CALLED IT!"
"AND SHE'S WEARING HER JACKET!
"Smooth AF, Rubes!"
"Didn't think you had it in you!"
" CoCoBeanz"
" CoCoBeanz"
""... DING!.REATUREm across Snow'ding across her features to give away that she was flush red.
light in the room came from the mo CoCoBeanz"
The girl was relentless with her texts. Most people preferred to talk to Nora in person because oxygen had its own way of limiting how many words she could fit in a single breath. Unfortunately, Nora had the potential to be one of the most abusive serial spammers in texting history. If Ruby had to be honest, she was surprised Nora hadn't gotten herself banned from using Facebase – a badge she proudly displayed in the form of her screen name. Seriously, she was a giant ass red flag.
CoCoBeanz: "WHAT!"
BringOntheBanHammer: "I believe I am owed 10 Lux, madam!"
CoCoBeanz: "Are you fkn kiddin me? Wtf happened!"
Rubblez: "Like I frikin' know! That's why I'm asking you guys! The last thing I remember is a drink with strawberries and something called a Leeb… Is that like a pleb or something?"
BringOntheBanHammer: "OMFG, you got SOOOOOOOOOO SMASHED!"
CoCoBeanz: "Nora, no!"
"Ruby, I talked to her for a moment after you left. That girl is an Outsider. Unlike Elites, they aren't necessarily loyal to the Schnee, but they are just as capable. Plus, from what I gathered, she's a foreigner. I didn't see anyone else with her though, but it seems like she does have a mission."
Rubblez: "Er, was she nice?"
CoCoBeanz: "Do you want me to come over? Because I will come right now…"
Rubblez: "That doesn't answer my question…"
CoCoBeanz: "She… seemed nice, but she's Atlesian and you know how their tempers are... We didn't know Junior's was vamp-friendly, so she was trying to be friendly. Inhumans tend to steer clear of those they see as a threat."
Rubblez: "I see. I want to talk to her first… I'm in a lot of pain and I wanna' know what happened."
BringOntheBanHammer: "LOL our little Rubblez has her first hangover! 3 3 3"
Ruby rolled her eyes at the message. Of course her head hurt, but she was referring to the bruises on her knees and the torn stockings she could see on the ground. Coco was going to kill her when she found out, so there was no way she was letting her come over right now. Hopefully, the rest of the outfit was fine…
DING. Speaking of the empress of ensembles, Ruby looked at her phone and saw that Coco had messaged her outside of their group chat. That was weird. Coco wasn't really the type that just messaged her individually. The suave girl usually had no problem with saying whatever she needed to in front of everyone else.
CoCoBeanz: "Hey." Oh no! She used a period! This was something serious!
Rubblez: "What's up?"
CoCoBeanz: "You stormed out last night and Penny went after you. I didn't realize that Atlesian was going to wind up at home with you. The bartender mentioned a vampire to her and she stormed out of the bar. Did something happen?"
Suddenly, Ruby started to recall some of last night's events, but there was nothing about Penny. She held her head and groaned as her head throbbed with pain. She had definitely asked the girl to come inside with her and she remembered having a breakdown in front of her, but why? Did something happen?
Rubblez: "I don't remember anything about Penny after I left the bar. I asked this person to stay with me though."
CoCoBeanz: "I see. That's alright. I'm sure she's just still passed out at home still."
"That's awfully bold of you though. Inviting a stranger in."
Rubblez: "Yeah, but I think something happened. Maybe that was why? I'm not sure though."
CoCoBeanz: "Are you sure you don't want me to come over?"
Rubblez: "Yeah. Maybe later or we could meet up."
CoCoBeanz: "Definitely. I have a really weird feeling about her. The bartender said something that pissed her off and she flew out of the bar before Nora or I could ask. He wouldn't say shit about it either."
Rubblez: "O…kay?"
CoCoBeanz: "I'm just glad you made it home safe. I tried calling you a bunch, but you didn't answer. I did get a text back. It didn't sound like you though, so I was wondering who was with you."
A text? Ruby looked back at their chat and went over the messages. Sure enough it was there. "Home. Asleep. Will contact in morning." The tone didn't match Ruby's usual texting, so she knew it wasn't her. Then again, it wouldn't have surprised her if her friends had blown up her phone and the foreigner had eventually responded to calm them down.
CoCoBeanz: "Soooo? BD"
Rubblez: "?"
CoCoBeanz: "Did you guys fuck?"
Rubblez: "OMFG GO AWAY!"
CoCoBeanz: "That wasn't a nooo~"
Ruby smashed the phone into her face as if the force would erase the pixels on her phone from existence. Why were her friends so interested in her sex life?! She really wasn't actively looking for anything. She had other things to do with her life, like... well, she couldn't think anything right now, but still!
Looking up from her phone with a sigh, her eyes trailed up the girl's body… Her figure really was nice, and she really liked those crystal… blue… eyes… crystal blue eyes?! Oh shit!
"Ah!" Ruby fell back in surprise, earning a laugh from the girl. "H-how long have you been awake?" The stranger slowly sat up and smirked.
"Mal sehen… Long enough to know you took my picture and have been furiously texting someone," she smirked and raised an eyebrow at Ruby. "Did you think I took advantage of you?"
I'd prefer you were sober enough to remember me in the morning.
Ruby's face reddened as she recalled her own actions the night before. She'd all but thrown herself at a girl she'd just met, but that same girl had politely declined her. Which really said a lot about the kind of person she was, but… did that mean she had been interested in her?
"N-no," Ruby wished she could die at the moment. This person had witnessed a less than stellar moment for her. "I just… A stranger was in bed with me and I thought my friends might know about it! Y-you looked so peaceful and I didn't want to wake you!" Ruby clapped her hands together in an apology and partially bowed in apology. "But… I guess that kinda' didn't matter because you were apparently awake anyway and… we didn't… do anything, right?"
"Hahaha!" The dark girl burst out in laughter and wiped at her eye, before flashing her a seductive look. Deliberately slow, she climbed over Ruby and drew close to her. Hot breath heated her ears and she flushed at their close proximity, but she there was a playfulness to her actions that eased Ruby. "No, but you wanted to, Lieb." Ah, that's where that word came from.
"Macht nichts," she lifted herself up with a smug smile. "I'm above that sort of thing, especially with the state you were in. You seemed content with sleeping next to me though."
So she was an incredibly confident, good-looking foreign girl who took the moral high ground, even when presented with the opportunity? That was rare… or was it? Were foreign customs just that much more respectful? Between that and the wavering accent, it just made her even hotter than she already thought she was. Then again, she knew she'd have absolutely no chance with a girl like this. Crap, maybe her friends were right about her… wait… The way she phrased that was off.
"Especially, with the state I was in?" If it were possible, Ruby invented a new shade of red and her eyes bulged. "So what stopped you, other than my lack of sobriety?"
"Other than being a decent person?" The flirtatious girl lifted her eyebrow to emphasize the obvious and laughed. "You're straight! You were arguing with your friends about your preferences and I'd rather not celebrate my return to Vale by doing the walk of shame from a straight girl's house. Either way, it doesn't change that you are very cute!" Ruby's face puffed up and she pouted to herself.
"Aw!" The Outsider pinched her cheeks between her fingers. "You're like a little kid. I just wanna' pinch your cheeks!" Wait, did she mean cute as in like a kid sister?! Oh, come on! This was the kind of crap Yang did to her! Ruby batted her away and let out a defensive whine.
"Hahaha!" Ruby soaked in the angelic sound that came from the coffee-scented girl. The girl closed her eyes for a moment and brought her knee up to her head. Resting her head against her knee, she fell into a relaxed state and looked at Ruby with a mirthful expression. A stray portion of hair washed over her features and cascaded over her knee, revealing her neck.
"How are you feeling?" When she spoke this time, the whimsy in her voice had replaced itself with a much softer and caring tone.
"I," Ruby's breath hitched in her throat and she felt a nervous bubbling in her stomach. "Just have a headache."
"That's good," she smiled at her again and Ruby cursed the fluttering of her heart. Between that smile and those baby blue eyes, this girl was going to kill her. Suddenly, she was remembering things from last night – things that had drawn Ruby closer and closer to her. "Are you sure you're alright? You're zoning out on me, Lieb."
"Huh? Uh," Ruby tried to look around for anything else. Her walls were filled with posters of famous Hunters and weapon models that she had worked on, but no matter how hard she tried, her eyes kept coming back to what was quickly becoming her favorite thing to look at in her room. "It's just… can I be honest about something and it not be awkward?"
"Yes?" The Outsider smiled awkwardly in response and Ruby shut her eyes, hoping she didn't sound weird.
"You have really pretty eyes…" There was a long pause between them and Ruby slowly opened her eyes again. Hopefully, she hadn't just stuck her foot in her mouth.
The Outsider's raven hair had fallen over her face, but Ruby was fairly certain she could see traces of red beneath the long, silky strands. She'd gone stiff and the cool demeanor Ruby had become accustomed to vanished. To put it bluntly, she looked like her brain was lagging – a dilemma Ruby was all too familiar with.
"Miss?"
"Oh!" The girl shook her head and sat up straight, revealing her face to be equally as flushed as Ruby's. An awkward smile wormed its way across her face and her words were nervous. "Um, thank… you…" She rubbed the back of her head, avoiding eye contact with Ruby.
"Sorry, they just… drew me in," Ruby tried to explain. The Atlesian's reaction had been extremely unexpected. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"Nein!" The huntress turned and responded quickly, though she fumbled across the last half of her words. "You're not the first to say that. Just the first time that… never mind… es bedeutet mir etwas …"
"Do you get that a lot?" Ruby was starting to notice something about her. For an Atlesian, her English was very well-spoken… but she had a quirk that Ruby found extremely amusing.
Ruby had heard that people favored the culture and language they were raised with. Actually, Velvet had been similar when they'd first met her. The rabbit Faunus had come from a Vacuan kingdom east of Vale when she was very young. They spoke a heavily-accented form of Valean there, and it was rare now, but she did sometimes slip back into her native version of the language and used words associated strictly with home. That really only happened when something made her nostalgic… or nervous.
In the Atlesian's case, the fog was lifting from Ruby's mind and she began to recall the conversation with the bartender and something became extremely obvious between then and now. She was definitely the type that reverted back to her Atlesian roots when she lost control of the situation. Ruby smirked to herself and decided to test the waters a bit with that theory.
"It's because they're so blue," her Atlesian companion offered with a nod. "It's the first thing anyone notices about me."
"Oh," Ruby gave her a merciless smile. "The blue is pretty too!"
"Too?" She asked with a tilt of her head and Ruby could see the gears turning in her head. "You didn't mean the color? Was meinen Sie? Worum geht es dann?"
"Well, yeah," Ruby tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Mom used to always say that eyes are the windows to the soul. You can tell anything about a person by looking at their eyes…" She looked away for a moment. "Your eyes just feel familiar – like I've seen your soul before. Maybe I knew someone who was like you once... a long time ago…" The Outsider eyes softened as she let her words sink in.
"Ich glaube, ich verstehe," she sat back and placed her weight on both her hands. "Du denkst, ich ha- you think I have a beautiful soul." She stopped herself mid-sentence to correct herself and Ruby hid her smile.
"…yeah…" Ruby spoke softly. "That's what I meant."
"Relax," she nudged her with her foot as her whimsical nature gradually returned. "I'm glad you think that of me. Are you… enjoying my jacket?" Ruby's eyes went large and she was greeted with a merciless smirk.
"Ah, sorry!" Realizing she might want it back, Ruby began to slip it off. "I forgot I had it on!"
"Mach dir keine Sorgen, Liebe," she nudged her again. "You can't have it, but you can wear it for now. You seem to be much better since last night. I just noticed you hadn't tried to take it off at all. You even slept in it."
"Thank… you." Having barely removed it, she shrugged the jacket back over her shoulders and left it on. After all, she'd been given permission. "Just let me know when you want it back, I guess?"
"Do you remember my name?" The Outsider pointed to herself with a knowing smile and Ruby looked down in shame. "Aw, and I'm even letting you wear my necklace! I wouldn't give that to just anyone!" She fake-pouted for a moment, guilt-tripping Ruby even further. "It's alright though. You weren't in the best state of mind last night. I'm Snow."
"Um, well, thank you for helping me, Snow." Ruby fidgeted nervously. "But what happened last night? I mean, I remember inviting you in and being scared… but… why?"
"Oh, ich verstehe. You really don't remember much," Snow spoke to herself more than anything, but vaguely noticed Ruby rubbing at her sinuses. "Well, I'll explain things as best I can, but do you want to get something to eat? You need to get something in your stomach and drink some water. It'll help with your headache."
"You and your water," Ruby groaned and made a gagging sound. "Blegh!"
"I'm not budging on that…"
"Yes, Mom…" Ruby said sarcastically, earning another look of sheer displeasure. "Um, I can always make something," Ruby tried to change the subject. "For… both of us…" A bright smile rewarded her offer, causing her to swell. Crawling toward the edge of the bed, Ruby stood up and hissed in pain. "Ow!"
"Here," Snow stood next to her and offered her arm. "We'll also get some more ice for your knee."
Snow helped Ruby down the stairs, though it took more time than Ruby had wanted. She limped into the kitchen and told Snow to sit, though she remained standing and watched as Ruby continued to hobble around. After several minutes, Snow retrieved a bag from the same cabinet she'd found them in the night before. As Ruby continued to groan in pain from gathering the necessary items around the kitchen, Snow filled the bag of ice and set it on the table. The pain started to finally get to be too much for Ruby and she paused to take a moment to recover.
"Ruby," Snow came up behind her and placed her arms on her shoulders, causing the sore girl to turn her head in acknowledgement. The Atlesian turned her around and guided her to a seat that she had pulled out. She propped a leg up onto another chair, covered one of her knees with a kitchen towel, and sat the ice bag on top of it. "I'll take over. Just sit here."
"But I said that I'd-"
"Don't worry about it," Snow brushed a hand through Ruby's hair and she relaxed into the touch. The debate was over. "I can handle it. Trust me?"
As Snow began to work with everything, Ruby was left with her thoughts. Her knee ached, but the pain was the least important thing in her mind. Her mind was a mess trying to figure out how Snow held this kind of influence over her. The way she treated her felt so familiar, but she couldn't place it. She'd honestly never met someone who spoke Atlas' language around her, though Snow was by no means the first person of Atlesian descent she'd met. There were a few families in Vale, though they were all fairly prominent.
Several minutes went by as Snow went to work on their breakfast and Ruby watched her. Eventually, she brought over a large plate of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. After a moment, Snow sat the dreaded glass of water in front of her and she groaned… She was serious…
"You look like you like syrup," Snow said. "Where do you keep it?"
"Oh, um, the cabinet next to the fridge." Snow opened it and pulled it out.
"Ruby," Snow looked over the bottle. "This is open…"
"Yeah, it's not like it's gonna' kill me or anything." Snow frowned at Ruby's dismissal.
"Oh, mein Gott," the Atlesian mumbled under her breath. "You do know that you're supposed to refrigerate syrup, correct?"
"You are?" Ruby gasped in mock shock as she poured it over her pancakes. "But I mean, I only opened it a couple days ago."
"A couple days?" Snow eyed the half-consumed bottle. How much syrup did she use?! She watched as the thick liquid soaked into her pancakes and mentally gagged. Sugar was alright, but not that much. Besides, how could she just ruin the texture like that?! It was going to turn into a soggy mess of mush.
"I mean, breakfast places have theirs out all day and no one dies," Ruby cut into the stack and shoved it in her mouth. "Besides, id only lashts a few deijsh 'eer." Snow stared at her wide-eyed as she spoke with her mouth full.
"You shouldn't talk with your mouth full," Snow said in shock. "It's impolite."
"Whatever," Ruby laughed. "This is really good! It kinda' reminds me of…" Ruby zoned out as memories came flooding back to her. Breakfast used to be filled with happiness back then…
"Hey," Snow took her hand. "Don't think too much. Are you feeling better from earlier?" Ruby wiped at her eyes and nodded.
"Do you think you could tell me about last night?" Snow nodded and Ruby tried to finish her breakfast.
As Snow recalled the events of the night, the few blanks that were left began to fill in. Her heart sank to bottom of her already filled stomach and her hand came up to her throat. Everything was still sensitive and throbbed to the touch, bringing back mental images of what had happened. From the moment Ruby had stormed out of the bar, to the malice that saturated Weiss' voice, and the kindness Snow had shown her, she was finally able to remember everything. Something was nagging at her though.
"Why does Weiss want my blood?" Sure, she was a vampire and they hadn't gotten along in a very long time. Still, it seemed odd that Weiss was so fixated on it to the point of need. "She was oddly specific about it."
"…" Blue eyes watched her in surprise, trying to get a read on her. A few different emotions danced across Snow's face as she tried to decide what to say, but she ultimately found her words. "How much do you know about yourself?"
"Um, I'm Ruby Rose." The red tips of Ruby's bangs swayed a bit as she looked up in thought. "And I'm terrible at everything!"
"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Monotone was the best way Ruby could describe Snow's voice and her reaction was equally as exasperated. The legs of Snow's chair dragged lightly across the ground as she stood and gathered their used dishes.
"Oh, you don't have to do that! I'll…" A sharp look from her savior was all it took to silence her. She sighed at her utter uselessness and pouted as Snow took care of things. "Just sit here…"
"Ruby," Snow's voice was sweet as the syrup Ruby had just slathered her pancakes in. "You have bandages, correct?"
"Uh, y-yeah." Now that she thought about it, even the best hunters took on injuries from vampires. Even low level vamps were nothing to sneer at and even Ruby had been able to tell that Weiss wasn't some bottom tier Piress. The pressure of her Forge was on a completely different level than she'd experienced from other Darkforge beings. It almost radiated from her and created a sickening feeling inside Ruby, as if it were suffocating her on a spiritual level. "Downstairs bathroom under the stairs, in the cabinet under the sink."
A few moments later, Snow returned with two large compression bandages. Opening one at a time, she sat them on the table and removed the bag and towel from Ruby's leg. Snow reached toward the hem of the skirt Ruby wore and hesitated, looking to her for consent. When there was no resistance, she touched her fingers just barely firm enough to slide the fabric up her thigh.
"Let me know if it's too tight or not enough." Pale fingers set to work wrapping the dressing around her knee, just firmly enough to support it but not enough to restrict movement or blood flow. If she thought about it, Snow had probably done this many times for others.
From what she knew about Outsiders, they tended to live outside of the cities. Her own parents and uncle had been a team of Outsiders but they chose to live in Vale, so she had at least been familiar with the concept of who they were. They just didn't fit the standard – her family never did. They lived outside the norm.
"Your blood is very special, Ruby." Snow's voice interrupted her thoughts, earning her curiosity. Though Snow continued on, she remained focused on her task. "Haven't you always found it strange that they run an unusual amount of tests on you?"
"How do you know about that?" An uneasy feeling came over her and she leaned back, as if it would have actually put distance between them.
"You're a Rose," Snow finally met her eyes again. "The Schnee treat all Roses the same – even your mother. Are they really keeping you in the dark about yourself? Didn't Summer ever tell you anything?"
Seeing Snow's fist clench in her lap, she started to pick up on a strange sense of attachment. Was Snow getting upset over this? She vaguely remembered Snow being upset last night when the deaths of Ruby's parents had been brought up, but why?
"Snow?"
"Du erinnerst dich wirklich nicht an mich, oder?" The huntress murmured in a small voice. The confidence she'd regained drained from her voice and she wore an almost bittersweet expression. She almost seemed broken. "Well, only Roses can pass down their own teachings. No one else knows how to make you do exactly what you're able to… and if Summer's gone, then I guess there is no one else…"
"What don't I know?" It was starting to get on Ruby's nerves. All the years of being given weird tests and sometimes even being pulled out of classes for them had made Ruby think that something was genuinely wrong with her. Of course, Ruby had always thought that it was to figure out why she was apparently the only non-Holy human in the world that seemed to completely sabotage Lightforge.
"The Rose family is the only known family of Witches to exist in the New Age," Snow gently squeezed Ruby's calf. "You have Witch's blood flowing through your veins… and vampires would do anything for it."
"What?! Why?!" Ruby shouted, surprising Snow. She wasn't really upset with Snow, per se. Really, it was that Snow knew things about her and she was from an entirely different country. How many other people knew? Did her friends? "Does Uncle Qrow know?! Does everyone know?!" Snow shook her head in response.
"It's strictly need-to-know," Snow looked at her sincerely. "You need to have special access with Vale's upper levels. I'm unsure if your sister knows, but I do know that the ScareQrow was made aware at some point. He knew about your mother, so I'm sure that it speaks for itself with you."
"… Are you… a need-to-know person?" Was that really why she had been watching over her last night? And what about the wolf that had been watching her? Was that Weiss' partner?
"Hey, hey," Snow spoke in a comforting manner. "It's not like that. I haven't been home in years." Home? Waaaaait, she thought she was Atlesian. "They wouldn't give me clearance like that. I'm not even a licensed hunter."
"Wait, what?!" That made things even worse!
"Ah, no… Wait, let me try that again," Snow panicked as she tried to find the right words again. "I was in Vale's system as a student up through my elementary years. However, I was given an ultimatum early on and never even made it that far in school." Seeing that Ruby had relaxed, Snow began wrapping her other leg. "As a result of my decision, I was sent to live with my teacher's people. They live in the Outerlands – you know, the territories outside city limits." Ruby recalled that Jaune said that the Puritans were out that way, as well. Had she fled into the city with her teammates to avoid them?
"It's a rather lawless place out there. There is no licensing system, Lightforge Bearers, UV systems, Hunters, protections of any sort. All we have out there are ourselves," Snow moved on with her explanation. "I would have had to make it to at least my Junior year at Signal in order to take the licensing tests."
"So what about Atlas?"
"I never said I was from Atlas or even a citizen of the Atlesian Empire," Snow poked at her forehead. "You all assumed that yourselves." Ruby frowned at her in discontent.
"So you're just faking it?"
"Haha, no," the dark haired beauty grinned at her. "My upbringing was Atlesian, as is my family's heritage. Knowing that, the Master sent me to the area around Atlas as part of my training and I was assigned my first mission."
"Could you tell me about it?" Ruby's question was innocent, but Snow answered her with a tired smile.
"I'd prefer not to talk about it." Ah, she was right. First missions were usually rough and very negative experiences. Yang's definitely wasn't a happy occasion and a lot of other Hunters' weren't either. Why would an Outsider's experience be any different? Then again, maybe Ruby secretly hoped that being an Outsider would have made it different.
"Okay," Ruby considered the rest of their conversation and settled for returning to a previous subject. "You still seem knowledgeable about the things going on here." The statement was out of genuine curiosity. It wasn't meant to undermine her in anyway. Ruby was just completely puzzled as to why someone who had been outside the system would know so much.
"Oh… well," Snow averted her eyes. "My teacher is… a former Valean hunter that belonged to an outside faction. While she is still in the system, she isn't particularly loyal to the Schnee. She is still widely considered one of the best at acquiring information. All of my teachers were the best Vale had to offer. That's why I was able to exceed expectations…" Snow trailed off, losing herself in her thoughts. "Of that, I am certain…"
DING!
"Oh, crapbaskets!" Another message dinged on Ruby's phone, ruining the mood and she scrambled to grab it. "Coco wanted me to meet up with her at some point today."
"You really shouldn't be walking around like this." Bandages layered over her knees, Ruby's bottom half was vaguely reminiscent of a mummy. All she was missing was a tomb.
"I… can get a Swyft," Ruby offered with a cringe. She really didn't like getting into cars with strangers, but it was better than the constant pain.
"Or you could stay in and not make your injuries worse." The two locked into a staring contest where neither was willing to back down. A tune started to play on Ruby's phone and she answered, still locked in a battle of whose eyes would dry out first. Little did Snow know, Ruby's optical prowess had been honed by many years of standoffs with an overbearing older sister. She was dealing with a champion here!
"What's up, Coco?" Ruby said smugly.
"Du weißt es besser," Snow narrowed her eyes, who responded with an antagonizing smile. She didn't have to understand Atlesian to know a warning when she saw one.
"Sure!" Ruby chimed with false innocence. "I'll see you guys soon! Definitely!" After a moment, she went pale. "Uh, s-sure…" She hung up the phone and felt her soul leave her body.
"What?" Clearly displeased with Ruby, Snow snapped the word at her.
"Coco wants you to come too…"
ooOOoo
AN: So, current plans! Next chapter introduces Yang and sets her up to go looking for her Uncle, while Snow is grumpy that Ruby refuses to stay off her feet. I think I'm going to upload chapters in batches, rather than single ones. This will allow me to take more time to you guys something planned out a little better. This first upload is the first six chapters and I hope to give you guys a minimum of two chapters each time, though I'm shooting for three or four. I mentioned previously that there are five main arcs, but each one is divided into other sub-arcs.
Over the next few chapters, Yang, Blake, Qrow, and Raven will all be introduced. We'll also be working toward the conflicts between Snow/Winter/Ruby/Cinder. Penny has vanished, but Ruby's friends are kind of hiding it at the moment. You'll also find out where she it. (No surprise for those who have read the original.)
*-*THOSE WHO HAVE READ THE ORIGINAL*-*
Do you want to see Ironwood appear? I had plans for Ironwood originally, but then they became pointless as the story went on. If I do, he'd be more of a minor character that influences things occasionally – like a Quest Giving NPC that craps out weapon upgrades every time you complete a task. . Which I feel is essentially what he is in RWBY anyway.
German (Atlesian) to English:
"Mal sehen" = Let's see
"Macht nichts" = Don't worry
"es bedeutet mir etwas" = It means something to me
"Was meinen Sie? Worum geht es dann?" = What do you mean? What else is there?
"Ich glaube, ich verstehe" = I think I understand
"Mach dir keine Sorgen, Liebes" = Don't worry about it, love.
"ich verstehe" = I understand
"Du erinnerst dich wirklich nicht an mich, oder?" = You really don't remember me, do you?
"Du weißt es besser" = You know better
