Sunday, August 9
POV: Ruby
Ruby stared out her dorm window at the courtyard below, waiting for Yang's signal. They were waiting for the courtyard to be clear, and it being around midnight the day before exams started, it would not be much longer.
Ruby heard Cerise quietly rumble behind her. She turned around to look at her now large dragon. Cerise had grown to the size of a large dog in only a week. They just couldn't store the amount of food to feed Cerise in their small food ran out two days before, and team RWBY had to continually sneak large portions of food from the cafeteria. The floor continually creaked beneath her now considerable weight. Spikes started growing all the way along her spine except for one spot just behind her shoulders. Her scales were no longer soft to rub, they were sharp and easily cut skin. Claws that couldn't scratch the floor now gouged large chunks in the floor with every step. Yet despite all her physical changes, Cerise retained the personality she had when she first hatched.
"Cerise, you have to keep quiet," Ruby whispered. "People are sleeping, and we don't want to wake them up. Especially tonight." Cerise walked up to Ruby and nuzzled her.
Weiss shifted uncomfortably in her bed. "What's taking Yang so long? We should have had Cerise out of here twenty minutes ago."
"Weiss, she's making sure the coast is clear. It's not like she can clear the courtyard without attracting attention." Ruby looked back outside to find Yang. Thankfully she walked to their pre-arranged place and held up the palm of her hand with three fingers up. Ruby looked back at Blake, who had all four of her ears trained on the door and hallway beyond. The Faunus just nodded. The team leader locked eyes with Cerise. "Okay, let's get you outside."
Weiss and Ruby opened the window as far as it could go and carefully removed the screen. Ruby made a last minute once over of the courtyard and decided there wouldn't be a better time. She waved Cerise over. The dragon slowly walked over to the open window and poked her head out. She looked at Ruby as if to ask permission to fly out. "Fly to the forest, I'll meet you there." The dragon nodded and jumped outside for the first time.
Back in the dorm room, Ruby felt her dragon's elation about being airborne. She wanted nothing more than to be up in the air with her, but Cerise couldn't carry Ruby's weight on the ground, much less the air. Ruby jumped out the window herself and followed her dragon on the ground. Yang gave her a thumbs up as passed by.
Cerise flew high over Beacon as planned then angled toward the Emerald Forest at full speed. Ruby had to activate her semblance in order to keep up. Even though it was the dragon's first time flying, she seemed to be doing a decent job at staying straight and keeping level, that is until a gust of wind blew her off balance. Cerise recovered quickly, but dropped to only a few dozen feet above the ground.
The pair entered the forest and Ruby took out her Scroll. Ozpin had located a safe cave in the forest relatively close to Beacon, but didn't have much student or Grimm traffic. Cerise would stay there until Ozpin had a place on campus cleared out for Cerise. A stream also passed nearby, so water wouldn't be a problem. Several animals also used the stream as a water source, so that took care of the food issue. At Cerise' current size, the only predator in the area she had to worry about was Grimm, and they only attacked humans and Faunus...unless otherwise threatened.
Even though the area was safe, Ruby still worried for Cerise. This was her first time out of the dorm room, and it was in Grimm territory. There was also the distinct possibility that someone could find her and blow the whole secret, despite Ozpin's claims otherwise. It's not that she wanted to keep her dragon a hidden, but she didn't know what kind of crowd a dragon could attract. For all she knew, dragon scales could be extremely valuable like some of those books said, and they could attract some less than friendly people.
Cerise started angling toward the cave and landed as Ruby entered the clearing before it. The dragon looked into the cave and sniffed inside. She turned to look Ruby in the eyes. "I know it's not as comfortable as in the room, but I believe this is where dragons usually live," she wrapped her arms around Cerise' neck. "We both know you were outgrowing the room and you were eating absolutely everything. You just couldn't stay in there.
"Out here though you don't have to worry about breaking anything. You can eat as much as you want, drink as much as you want, pretty much do anything you want." Ruby pulled back to look her dragon in the eyes. They were filled with sadness, the first time that emotion was ever seen there. "This is only temporary. From the sound of it you'll be back on campus before next semester. I won't be far away. If you need me you just have to ask. Just, please don't walk up to anybody that isn't me, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Ozpin, or Professor Goodwitch. I don't want anything to happen to you."
Cerise' sadness rolled off her in waves, destroying Ruby's resolve. She broke and pulled her dragon close again. They stood together for several minutes before Ruby came to her senses. "That's not fair," she croaked as she pulled away. "Sending be your sadness, I don't know how to control it." The red dragon chuckled then walked alone into the cave. Ruby turned back to Beacon and didn't look back; she knew she'd either spend the night in the cave or take her dragon back with her.
POV: Aaron
Aaron lay under Nalia's wing and stared up at the cracked moon. At least he could say with certainty they were not in Alagaësia. They were in a land called Remnant in the kingdom of Vale. In the many history books Aaron read, there were no mentions of magic, dragons, urgals, dwarves, or elves. This place did however contain Faunus, almost human people with animalistic features, and the creatures of Grimm. Both had been at war with humans at some point in history, but only the war with the Grimm still lived.
The Rider sighed. Humans always seemed to make another race mad. "What do you think of all this?" he asked Nalia.
She huffed a plume of smoke into the air. Not much different from the last time you asked. I don't know who we can trust, and I have no idea who down there would take the egg.
Aaron thought back to the 'newspaper' he read back in the city. "It could be this 'White Fang' criminal group."
No, they're too focused on whatever this Dust is. They wouldn't worry about something that looks like a shiny rock.
"Rubies are just shiny rocks, though the egg is way bigger than a regular ruby." Aaron felt his dragon's opinion change instantly. Nalia rumbled behind him "Now you want me to go investigate them?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
Yes. Even if they don't have the egg, they're still criminals. Take what you can from them and use it for our advantage.
Aaron released a humorless chuckle. "Should I leave anything for the locals to use against them?"
If it doesn't endanger us, yes. We should at least be friendly if we're staying here.
"Even if they would shoot us out of the sky?"
If we give them reason not to, they won't.
"You have more faith in these people than I do." Aaron sighed. "Alright, I'll start looking into the them in the morning. Until then, let's get some sleep. No reason to stay up any longer."
At least you've gotten sleep. Nalia rumbled sadly as she settled down for the night. I haven't been able to since the egg disappeared.
"Don't give up hope. It could very well be in good hands."
Friday, August 14
POV: Ruby
"It's feels so good to be done!" Ruby yelled while walking and punching her fists into the air.
"Yeah, one down, seven more to go!" Yang cheered.
"And the moment's gone." Ruby let her arms fall. She felt Cerise' amusement even from three miles away. In only a couple weeks, the pair was able to feel each other's minds over an incredible distance. They hadn't been out of the other's head for three days. Though Ruby welcomed the company, it did get awkward at times.
Team RWBY walked down the road to the city to celebrate the semester's end. The only thing they really had planned was to go get something to eat. Weiss insisted that it was her treat, and no one argued. After lunch, though, they just wanted to walk the city and do whatever peaked their interest.
The walk to the city was nothing special, except for the fact that there were more students on the road, and Percy could be seen chasing his team and cussing them out, while his team was keeping something, likely his sword/pen, Riptide, from him. Everyone had their own end of semester plans and most of them involved something in the city. It would mean the streets would be packed, but people tended to be more relaxed after exams than before.
"When we're done in the city, you guys want to take a hike in the forest?" Ruby asked, knowing her friends would get her meaning.
"Might as well," Weiss said, trying and failing to hide a smile.
"We haven't gone out there in a while. I think it would be refreshing," Blake replied.
"You know my answer sis," Yang slapped Ruby's shoulder. "I'm always up for a jaunt out there."
Ruby felt Cerise' happiness roll off her. She hadn't seen the rest of the team since she left for the cave. It was so infectious Ruby's already wide grin grew even more. "Sounds like a plan! I already have—"
A building a few blocks away interrupted Ruby by exploding. Smoke quickly rose into the air. No debris seemed to be heading toward team RWBY, but they dove for cover just in case. The four teammates locked eyes with each other, reading their expressions. They nodded in unison and ran to the remains of the building. Though they wouldn't be able to do much against any fire the explosion caused, they would be able to get people out if there were any.
The four reached the building as several people were stumbling out. People already lined the street across from the building. No police or firemen were in the crowd though. Weiss ran up to someone who came out of the building. "Is there anyone still in there?" she asked calmly.
The man shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I just got out of there as quick as I could."
Ruby looked at the burning building. She couldn't decide if it was worth the risk running in there if there were no people inside. Blake walked over her and whispered in her ear, "You can do some weird things with your mind now. You think you can tell if anyone's in the building?"
"But that's only with Cerise. Who says that it will work here?"
"You did something with us last week. You could do it again."
Ruby shivered at the thought. She still felt overwhelmed from when she accidentally broadcast her thoughts into her teammate's heads. Still, it was the fastest way to tell if someone was inside. Ruby concentrated her thoughts and extended her mind out like she did with Cerise. She felt the people around her first, then the area she could feel expanded. There were so many people around her, almost all of them were either scared or held a morbid fascination in the fire. The only three in the crowd that were determined more than anything came with Ruby from Beacon. All the feelings almost overwhelmed her, but she pressed forward to the building.
Eventually her mind's radius met the building. At first Ruby felt nothing inside. She was about to pull back when she felt three people in the building. One of them seemed to notice her, recoiled, and did something with his mind that made it impossible to read him. Ruby pulled back into herself and gasped. She didn't realize she was off balance until Blake grabbed her shoulders. "There are three people still inside," she managed to say. "They're on their way out already."
Sure enough, two people stumbled out of the building, the guy with a little girl over his shoulder. They made their way across the street to the crowd who started clapping for them. The guy set the girl down and looked her in the eyes and said something to her. Ruby belatedly realized that the guy was the one who ran her over a few weeks ago. He stood up and started walking away from the explosion site, and his route carried him right past Ruby.
She couldn't believe it. This guy saved two lives and he just walked away like it was nothing. She couldn't contain herself anymore. "You are so cool!"
POV: Aaron
Aaron jumped and looked at the source of the praise. The same girl he knocked over his first day in town was beaming up at him. Her black-haired friend though looked more embarrassed than anything. "Umm, excuse me?" A cry of 'Get the fuck back here!' could be heard in the background, as a guy with black hair and sea green eyes chased a group of people who were tossing something between each other.
"You just carried a girl out of a burning building like you do it every day!" The girl in red was practically jumping up and down with excitement while the black-haired girl frantically gestured to two other people in the crowd.
Nalia, Aaron called out, a little help please?
I think not, she mentally chuckled. I want to see how this plays out.
Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile. Aaron returned his attention to the excited girl in front of him while trying to think of a convincing lie. "Well, I grew up around smoke and fire. I've learned the way the smoke spread to find where the fire is. When I heard voices inside after the explosion, I couldn't just sit out here and do nothing."
Aaron immediately regretted his choice of words. "Wow! You grew up doing that? How many times have you done it?" The red girl's eyes sparkled with curiosity and awe. They practically radiated off of her. It took Aaron a few seconds to realize it actually did. He immediately sealed his mind to the onslaught.
Nalia, I think I've found our lone magician. About a week earlier, Aaron felt a magician's mind running through the forest late at night. He immediately sealed his mind off and hid in case he or she was hostile. Looking at the girl now proved she wasn't an enemy.
The red girl's four friends looked at her with concern. The blonde girl placed a hand on the red's shoulder. "Calm down Ruby, no need to get too excited." The girl now identified as Ruby looked at the yellow haired girl in shock, then visibly calmed down.
Sirens sounded over the commotion, signaling the arrival of emergency services. "I should probably get out of here before the cameras show up," Aaron said.
"And why do you need to do that?" the white-haired girl asked. Aaron racked his brain to remember her name…Weiss.
"I don't need them to make a hero out of me. The last thing I need is public attention." Aaron took off down a side alley, out of sight of the police that pulled up to the scene. He looked back to see Ruby and her group walking after him. The Rider scowled. How do I get rid of them?
Maybe you shouldn't, Nalia broke in. They could very well be friendly. You have said we need to make connections while here, and you haven't made any yet.
They're young. From what I've seen here, that might not mean much, but they can't be very skilled.
Nalia mentally huffed. We have already seen more than they are likely to in a lifetime, and I believe you are younger than three of them. I don't believe either of us look like we have that kind of experience.
Aaron sighed and waited for the girls to catch up. "I'm not going to get rid of you four, am I?" he asked as they reached him.
"Nah," the blonde girl said. "I get the feeling interesting things follow you wherever you go. I'm Yang by the way." She stuck out a hand. A cry of 'YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!' came from the voice of the black-haired guy from earlier.
After a second's hesitation, Aaron shook it. "I'm Aaron." The official introductions made the rounds, with Blake being the only one he still didn't know the name of. "Well now that that's out of the way, we should get going. Someone in that crowd is going to talk and they'll be looking for me."
The group left the alley through the other side and blended into the foot traffic. The chance of being recognized decreased by the minute. Aaron forced himself to calm down. He still couldn't believe he fell into that trap the White Fang set up for him. Just as he thought he was onto something, the criminal organization obviously found him out and planned to kill him, and other humans in the process. Maybe he shouldn't have been investigating on location and instead searched with his mind. At least they couldn't detect that.
"So," Ruby broke the silence, "we were on our way to go get something to eat. You want to join us?" She got an icy glare from Weiss, but Ruby either didn't notice or ignored it.
Aaron shrugged. "Might as well, my other plans for the day kind of fell apart with the media circus back there." He was still getting used to some of the phrases used in Vale. He hoped he didn't speak out of place.
"Yes!" Ruby said while pumping a fist. She was extremely energetic, even for someone as young as her. Aaron threw a questioning glance at Blake, hoping she knew what it meant. She just shrugged. Weiss' glare now rested on Aaron. He didn't need to be in her head to know that she wasn't paying for him. The Rider simply tapped a pocket where his wallet rested. It appeared some stares were the same whether here or Alagaësia.
The group reached the restaurant shortly after. Aaron asked where each of the girls were from and they answered politely enough. Weiss still glared at him occasionally, for what Aaron couldn't even guess. Probably something in Aaron's word choice. When the waitress came to take their orders, Ruby quickly looked over her shoulder. A good portion of her normal good cheer disappeared.
As the conversation drew on, he found out that Ruby and Yang were sisters and they were all on the same team from Beacon Academy. Ruby lead team 'RWBY' and she was the youngest student at Beacon. Even though Aaron didn't know the customs of Remnant as well he wanted to, he still knew that the accomplishment was no small feat. She was a team leader, a good fighter going off what her friends said, and was apparently the only person in Vale able to expand her mind.
The last part made Aaron pause. Of the many thousands of people in the city, she was the only one able to spread her mind outside of her own head. She also wore gloves while at the table, like him. Aaron previously observed people with gloves taking them off while eating, presumably not to get them dirty. Ruby did not seem like the kind of person to wear gloves in public though. Weiss fit that position better than anyone at the table and her hands were bare from the beginning. Could she be…?
"So Aaron, where are you from?" Blake interrupted Aaron's thoughts.
"I'm from Vacuo," Aaron began reciting the lie he and Nalia came up with to help him fit in. "I'm in town to visit some family, and to help in a house search here. The place that blew up was one of the ideas."
The girls looked at him in shock. "You weren't in there when it happened were you?" Ruby asked.
"I was just down the street," Aaron lied. In reality, he accidentally triggered the bomb and barely shielded himself from the explosion. "Well, at least I can check one place of the list."
"You're taking this awfully well." Weiss narrowed her eyes. "And why would you be searching for a home by yourself without your parents?"
Aaron chuckled without humor, and it probably sounded forced. He didn't expect that last question. "When you have the life I've had, you learn to make the best of a bad situation. To answer your second question, my parents thought it would be a better idea to split up and cover more ground." Just then the food arrived, and everyone's mood improved, especially Aaron's. Even though he illegitimately acquired a large sum of Lien, he mainly stuck to eating with Nalia back in their cave. He hadn't had an actual cooked meal of decent quality in over a year.
Ruby's normal good mood came back for a second, then she whipped her head around again. The table turned quiet, even taking into account they were all eating. Yang discretely took a look at her sister. Ruby slightly shook her head. Aaron recognized the look on her face, he wore it for most of the past three years. She felt she was being hunted. Aaron tried his best not to act like he saw the difference in the team leader, but after a third violent time of looking over her shoulder, he spoke up. "Ruby," she snapped around to face Aaron, trying to mask the anxiety on her face, "is everything alright?"
She threw on a fake smile and tried to shrug off the question. "Everything's fine. It's just-" Ruby's face contorted in agony and she gripped her left arm tightly. Everyone else at the table jumped out of their chairs and Yang ran to her sister's side. Ruby opened her eyes, and Aaron saw the pure panic in them. "Cerise," she mumbled. Then she bolted for the door. Once outside, she vanished in a red blur, leaving rose petals in her wake.
The rest of team RWBY looked at each other, as if debating what to do. "We have to go after her," Yang announced. Weiss dropped a bunch of Lien cards on the table then followed the other two out.
Aaron stood by the table trying to figure out what just happened. Ruby grabbed her arm as if it was cut, but there wasn't a drop of blood by the table or on the way to the door. She kept looking over her shoulder, like she was afraid of something, then she sped off in that direction. The panic in her eyes was genuine, but it wasn't for herself. Add to that the observations he made earlier. Lastly, the word, no, name she said. "Cerise," Aaron whispered to himself.
It finally dawned on Aaron. He finally realized what was so special about Ruby the day they met. Nalia, he called. I don't think we have to look for the egg anymore.