Friday, August 21
POV: Ruby
Ruby stared down at the nondescript red car a few hundred feet beneath her. From the outside, it was no different than any other car on the road. Somewhere inside though, a little girl was scared for her life. Ruby, Aaron, and their dragons had followed the car for several blocks, looking for a safe place to stop the vehicle. So far, every street was packed with people and other vehicles.
Cerise tensed up beneath her Rider. This is taking too long, she growled. We should go now before they go another block.
Patience Cerise, Nalia snarled. If we take him down now, civilians could be endangered just by us landing. Anyway, this bastard isn't going to get away. I doubt one of those vehicles could out speed a dragon.
You'd be surprised, Ruby said. Soon, the car on the ground turned down a side street with minimal foot traffic. Ruby tightened her grip on a fully extended Crescent Rose. I think this is our chance.
Across the sky, Aaron nodded and grasped his V4. Let's do this. Cerise, land behind the car. We'll take front. With that, Nalia folded her wings and dove for the ground at incredible speed. Cerise followed suit at a slightly different angle. Ruby closed her eyes tightly to keep them from tearing up. If it came to a fight, she had to be ready.
Nalia landed in front of the car and immediately blocked the road with her body. She snarled at the driver, showing a rare event of true anger. Cerise landed hard behind the vehicle, jarring Ruby. She recovered quickly and jumped out of the saddle, the rifle end of Crescent Rose pointing at the car.
Aaron dismounted Nalia and aimed his own weapon at the driver. "Step out of the vehicle now, and you will not be harmed," he yelled. Nalia growled and curled her claws to accent the statement. Ruby saw the driver look in his side view mirror, most likely to look for an escape route. Unfortunately for him, he would have to go through both an angry Huntress and dragon.
After what felt like several minutes of waiting, the driver's side door opened and the kidnapper stepped out with his hands in the air. Aaron cautiously stepped forward with his weapon still raised. Still, there was some uncertainty in his eyes. Ruby, he asked mentally without changing his face, what exactly is acceptable for your police to do in this situation?
If the situation was different, Ruby would have laughed. Tell him to get face first on the ground and spread out his hands. Aaron blinked, the only sign he heard Ruby. The older Rider did what she said though, and the kidnapper dropped to his knees, and then to his stomach.
Aaron lowered his weapon and approached the criminal. "Ruby, get the girl," he ordered. Ruby closed Crescent Rose and searched the car with her mind. She located the poor girl in the trunk and ran over to the car. The young Rider cast a spell to unlock the trunk.
Ruby opened the trunk and gasped. She knew that there was a girl in there, but she didn't know her condition. Her wrists and ankles were bound together and her mouth gagged. Bloody scratches ran along her face and arms. Only one dog ear stuck out of her hair, blood oozing from where the other should have been. Her whole body was shaking from fear and pain. This was the worst case of Faunus abuse Ruby had ever seen in person, or heard of for that matter.
"Come on, let's get you out of there." Ruby stuck an empty hand out to use cast a spell to break her bonds, but the girl's fear spiked and wormed her way to the back of the trunk, where she shook even more. Ruby quickly brought her hand back, shocked herself. She expected the girl to be happy to see her to get her out of the trunk. How did people do this? Ruby searched through her training to find the right words to hopefully calm her down. She knew they were there somewhere. She put on the warmest smile she could when she found them. "Eka aí fricai un Shur'tugal." I am a Rider and a friend. Ruby put some energy into the words so the girl would hopefully understand.
Thankfully, the girl stopped shaking and her breathing slowed. Tears started streaming down her face. Ruby stuck her hand out again and cast the spell. The bonds around the girl's wrists and ankles ripped and fell away. She tore at the cloth in her mouth and ripped it off. She took a few deep breaths, then looked back at Ruby who still held her hand out. The girl hesitantly took the Rider's hand.
Ruby helped the Faunus girl out of the trunk and on to the ground. She nearly collapsed as she put her weight on her right foot, so Ruby carried her over to the curb. The Rider sat the girl down on the curb. "I'm going to do what I can to treat your injuries," she said. "This may itch a little, but you'll feel better when it's done." First Ruby stopped the bleeding from the stump that used to be an ear. Ruby checked the Faunus' right leg and found out that it was broken. She bit her lip. Aaron had only touched on that once before, but he was occupied. With Cerise' help. Ruby repaired the damage to the leg. The girl squirmed while the bone reset itself, but gave a sigh of relief when it returned to its normal condition. The only remaining visual injuries were the cuts. They were numerous, but thankfully not deep. Ruby sealed them all with a few more spells. She tried to keep her exhaustion from showing. That took more out of her than she thought it would.
When all the cuts disappeared, the Faunus girl ran her hands over arms and legs. Her face slowly turned from one of fear to amazement. She moved a hand up to her ear stump and her spirits fell again. "Can—can you fix my ear?" she asked.
Ruby frowned and thought it over. As far as she knew, it was possible regrow it, but she wasn't nearly that far in training. She looked over at Aaron, who had the kidnapper folded over the hood of the car. He stared into the back of the criminal's head like he was trying to get some information out of the criminal. Aaron, Ruby hesitantly called.
What? came the quick and short response.
Can you do anything about her ear? Aaron looked over for the first time at the girl from the trunk. His face was one of confusion mixed with anger. He looked her over several times trying to figure out which ear, then he focused his eyes on the remaining dog ear. His face cleared in realization.
He turned to Nalia and jerked his head at the kidnapper. She nodded then growled at the criminal. Aaron walked quickly to the two sitting on the curb. The girl squeaked then grabbed onto Ruby's arm. She looked back and forth between Cerise and Nalia rapidly. "What are they?" she whispered.
Ruby placed a hand on the girl's. "They aren't Grimm. They're dragons, and they're very friendly." She gestured over at Cerise to come closer. The dragon came, though slightly confused. The younger Rider scratched behind her dragon's ear, her favorite spot. Cerise leaned into it and started humming.
The girl stopped gripping Ruby's arm so tightly. "Like a big kitty."
Ruby nodded and smiled. "Like a big kitty." She had the same thought many times before.
Aaron knelt down in front of the girl and looked her in the eyes. "May I take a look at your ear?" he asked.
The girl hesitated, then nodded. Aaron sat down on the curb and placed a hand a few inches of the girl's head. She squirmed a little, but otherwise didn't move. Ruby decided it was probably time to break the ice a little and calm the girl down. "So, what's your name?" she asked.
The girl paused for a second before answering. "Violet Calrow."
"Hi Violet. I'm Ruby, this is Aaron, that is Cerise, and over there is Nalia." Ruby gestured at each person and dragon in turn. "We're students at Beacon academy."
Violet nodded, then seemed to realize something. She looked around frantically, tightening her grip on Ruby's arm again. Tears started to flow again. "Where am I? Where's my mommy?"
Ruby hesitated. She had a feeling that was coming. "We're on the northeastern side of Vale. Where were you when you got…separated from your mommy?"
The girl stayed silent for several seconds. "We were walking home from a movie. I saw a Lien card on the ground, then…" Violet closed her eyes and started sobbing. Ruby wrapped her arms around the girl. That was probably the wrong question to ask, but at least she had a rough idea of where Violet's mom was. There were several movie theaters on this side of the city, but only one of them in the direction the kidnapper drove from.
Police sirens finally could be heard over the noise of the city. Ruby looked in their direction and saw three police cruisers a few blocks down. They sped down the street and screeched to a stop a couple dozen feet in front of Cerise. The officers exited their vehicles, and several of them pointed their weapons at the red dragon in front of them.
Ruby and Cerise tensed up. They saved a little girl from a kidnapper and now they were being targeted? It wasn't right. Thankfully, one officer grabbed the gun of another and pointed it at the ground. "You heard the chief," he yelled to all the officers. "They're from Beacon. They aren't hostile." The police lowered their weapons, but several kept their weapons ready. The red dragon and Rider released some of their tension as the officer in charge walked up to them.
Aaron sighed and stood up. "I'm sorry Violet. There's nothing I can do at the moment." He moved to meet the police officer on the other side of Cerise. They exchanged a few words and Aaron pointed at the kidnapper who was being held in place by Nalia's glare.
Cerise gave off a strange feeling as she looked Violet in the eyes. I think I may be able to help, she said.
Violet blinked several times. "You can talk?"
The red dragon hummed her confirmation. I can do much more than that. She moved her head in close to Violet's. The Faunus girl froze in fear. Ruby knew Cerise wouldn't do anything harmful, but she still had no idea what her dragon was doing besides scaring the life out of Violet.
Cerise touched her snout to the girl's forehead, then quickly took a few steps back. She lowered her head to the ground, and took on the face of a dog asking for forgiveness. Ruby stared at her dragon for a few seconds, then turned to apologize to Violet for the confrontation.
Before Ruby could speak, she noticed two dog ears sticking out of Violet's hair. The one that was only a stump seconds before stood out, though without any hair of its own. Violet hesitantly reached up and rubbed the spot where Cerise touched her forehead. Her hand traveled up and bumped the tip of her new ear. She gasped, then ran her hand up and down her ear and tugged it a few times to make sure it was real.
Ruby looked at Cerise in disbelief. "How did you do that?" she asked out loud.
Cerise just shrugged, still keeping her head low. I felt like I had to.
Violet looked at Cerise with an expression Ruby couldn't read. The girl got up and slowly walked over to the red dragon. Cerise slightly lifted her head off the road. Violet stopped right by the dragon's head, then wrapped her arms around Cerise' snout. "Thank you," she whispered. Cerise hummed and slowly blinked her eyes.
Ruby was so focused on the sight in front of her, she didn't see Aaron walking up to her. "The police have this criminal, and now we need to go," he said. "There's more of them out there."
The younger Rider looked up at her teacher as she stood up. "More of who?"
Aaron grimaced. "More kidnapped Faunus. It seems there's an organization in the city involved in their sale."
Ruby froze. "Sale?" She looked down at Violet and Cerise. Who would do such a thing to anyone? She turned back to Aaron. "Where?"
"2187 South Fifth Street. The police are heading there now, but if Violet's condition is anything to go by, they'll need us there." Aaron turned around and walked back to Nalia.
Ruby gulped, then placed a hand on Violet's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but we have to leave now."
Violet looked up at Ruby, fear creeping back into her eyes. "Why?" she asked with a tremble in her voice.
The young Rider knelt down to look Violet in the eyes. "That bad man has done the same thing to many others. The police will need our help to find and heal them. There are many officers here to watch you until your mommy comes to get you." Violet hesitated, then nodded. She removed her arms from around Cerise and took a few steps back.
Ruby stood up and waved an officer over. He was a little hesitant to approach Cerise, but he did make it over. "What can I do for you ma'am?" he asked.
"Violet needs someone to look after her until her mommy gets here. Would you be able to do that," Ruby took a quick look at the officer's name-tag, "Officer Bradburn?"
Bradburn took a quick look down at the Faunus girl and put on a genuine smile. "I think I can do that." He got down on one knee and started talking to Violet, trying to calm her down and to get to know her. Ruby meanwhile jumped into Cerise' saddle and strapped in. She looked over at Aaron who was already in position on his dragon's back. He nodded, then Nalia jumped into the air. Cerise followed the larger dragon immediately.
The two dragons flew with all possible speed toward the place where the Faunus were being held against their will. Ruby tried not to think about what she'd see inside. She knew she'd remember how Violet looked when she opened the trunk for the rest of her life. If her condition was any indication of how the others would be… Ruby shuddered at the thought.
On the flight over there, an image suddenly popped into Ruby's head. It was of eight Faunus chained to the floor and walls of a room. They all had similar injuries to Violet; cuts on their arms, legs and faces and either an ear, antler, or part of a tail cut off. Just as suddenly, it was gone, leaving Ruby confused before she shook the confusion out of her head. She needed to focus.
They reached the building just as a SWAT team arrived. The dragons hovered above the building, unsure if the roof could hold their considerable weight. Ruby and Aaron jumped off their dragons and drew their respective weapons. Aaron decided to go with his shield and Redemption. "Ruby, search the building," he ordered.
Ruby stretched out her mind to the building below. "I'm counting seven Faunus on the floor below us, and eight men on the ground ready to take on the SWAT team."
Aaron moved to the edge of the roof and waved at the police on the ground, then he moved toward the only door on the roof. "You ever clear a building before?" he asked.
"Never. I've only seen it done on TV."
The older Rider used a spell to unlock the door. "My only advice, make sure you know who you are attacking beforehand." Aaron opened the door and ran inside. Ruby followed as fast as she could, Crescent Rose wasn't exactly designed for tight spaces.
Aaron kept his shield in front while going down the stairs. The sound of gunshots started coming from the floor below. The two Riders picked up their pace until they came to another door. Throwing their stealth out the window, Aaron charged his shield into it and splintered the door.
The smell hit Ruby like a truck as she entered the large room. It could only be described as a sewer. She resisted the urge to cover her nose as she scanned the room. It was dark, the only light coming from gaps in the boards covering the windows. Even so, Ruby could tell the only other one standing in the room was Aaron. She lowered her weapon and closed her eyes tightly to adjust them to the dark.
Ruby opened her eyes and looked around. She stood in the center of what might as well have been a medieval prison. Eight Faunus sat chained to the floors and walls. They all had similar injuries to Violet; cuts on their arms, legs and faces and either an ear, antler, or part of a tail cut off. Judging by the smell, they all had to relieve themselves while chained up.
Dread overtook Ruby. If there were eight Faunus chained up, why could she only count seven minds? She looked around one more time and nearly lost her lunch. A cat Faunus girl lay slumped against the wall, with a large cut in her throat. She couldn't have been older than ten.
A hand grabbed Ruby's shoulder and spun her around. She found herself looking at Aaron's concerned face. "Ruby, there's nothing you can do for her now, but we can help everyone else." Ruby nodded absentmindedly, then turned back to look at the body. She was too late to save that girl, she wouldn't be late for anyone else. Then something hit her. Had she seen a glimpse of the future?
Before she could focus on it too much, the SWAT team burst into the room. The flashlights on their rifles swept the room searching for more targets. They paused on the two Riders for only a moment before moving on. "Clear!" one of them eventually shouted. The officers lowered their weapons and took in the scene for what it was.
"What kind of monster would do this?" one officer asked.
"The kind that are laying on the ground dead downstairs," the first officer said. "Cut these Faunus loose and get them to the ambulances outside." The officers split up, one heading to each prisoner. By now, all those chained up were aware that the newcomers were there to get the out. One girl sobbed uncontrollably.
"Got some thick chains here," an officer called out. "Need some bolt cutters."
Ruby walked over to one of the prisoners. She pointed a hand at the chains binding the boy's hands and said, "Jierda." The chains broke and fell away. Ruby did the same for the leg bindings. The officer looked at Ruby, then picked the kid up off the floor. Across the room Aaron did the same for another prisoner. The two Riders continued the process for all other Faunus. Thankfully, Aaron freed the one who died so Ruby didn't have to go near her.
All but one of the officers grabbed a now free prisoner. The remaining one started talking to Aaron about something Ruby couldn't hear. After a few seconds Aaron nodded, and the officer moved to follow his team. The older Rider slowly approached the younger. "We're free to go," he said. "Cerise and Nalia are waiting for us where they dropped us off."
Ruby blinked a few times. "We can't leave yet, those Faunus need our help!"
Aaron scoffed. "The police have requested that we leave the healing to the medical teams outside. Apparently your work on Violet 'tampered with the evidence.' When did someone's word stop meaning anything here?"
Ruby sighed. "It stopped when chivalry started to die." She glanced over at a pool of dried blood. "Let's get out of here," she said as she started walking toward the door Aaron busted down.
"Ruby," Aaron said forcefully, "are you going to be okay?"
Without so much as a backwards glance, Ruby said almost under her breath, "Ask me again in a week." She continued to the roof without slowing down. The two dragons flew just over the roof with news vehicles above them by a few dozen feet. Ruby jumped up onto Cerise' saddle and strapped in. A few seconds later Aaron did the same.
Cerise looked back at her Rider, concern flowing off her like a river. Are you going to be okay? she asked.
Ruby sighed and closed her eyes. I really don't know. Cerise reluctantly faced forward again and started her flight back to Beacon.
POV: Aaron
Aaron looked over his shoulder at Ruby. On the outside, she was holding up fine. How she was holding up on the inside though was anyone's guess. She was so happy go lucky before going into that warehouse. That could very well change after everything she saw during the day. Hopefully she handles this better than I did, Aaron thought to Nalia.
The green dragon hummed sadly. Honestly, that's not hard. Aaron could tell she wanted to say something else, but she held back.
By that point, the four had flown into Beacon airspace. Nalia angled for the Dragonhouse with Cerise right on her tail. There was a small crowd outside the building, giving just enough space for the dragons to land. As they did, people started clapping and cheering. As Aaron dismounted, he noticed most of the people in the crowd were Faunus. The news must have run their story already.
Ruby wasn't taking the attention well. She hung her head and stood on the side of Cerise where the least amount of people would see her. Cerise nudged her Rider with her snout. That got a small smile out of Ruby and she put a hand on her dragon's snout. Still, she put her hood up before walking to the Dragonhouse. Aaron didn't know if she was acting like that because she didn't like attention, or she just wanted to be alone.
The main door to the Dragonhouse opened and the dragons and Riders walked in. The rest of team RWBY was already there while team Gray was absent. Yang looked up at her sister and her smile lit up the room. "There's my hero sister!" she yelled. The blonde jumped up and charged her sister. Yang brought Ruby into one of her crushing hugs. "I'm so proud of you. You got your first bad guy and you helped rescue so many people."
For the first time that Aaron knew of, Ruby pushed back on her sister. "Yang, please, not now."
Yang released her sister, her smile gone. "Ruby, what's wrong? I thought you'd be ecstatic."
Ruby looked down at the floor. "There was one I couldn't help."
Yang blinked several times, then scratched the back of her neck. "Oh, they haven't said that part on the news yet."
"They're getting into that now," Weiss called from her place by where the two eggs hid. She and Blake were watching the news on one of their Scrolls. Both wore unreadable expressions. "They didn't want to confirm it until the girl's parents were contacted."
Ruby sighed. "I was too late. I was too late to save that girl." She bunched her fists and closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them, they shown with a new determination. "Never again."
Of all the things Aaron expected, that was one of the farthest down on the list. He honestly expected Ruby to just break down. Aaron was proud of the young Rider. She was growing fast. Whether he would ever admit it to anyone but Nalia, Ruby actually surpassed him in this matter.
Blake stood up from her spot and walked over to Ruby. She surprised everyone in the room by hugging her teammate. "Thank you for putting yourself out there," she said.
Ruby hesitantly returned the hug. "You didn't know anybody in there, did you?"
The Faunus of the team shook her head and pulled away. "No. It's just that that I can't stand people treating Faunus that way. It's despicable." Weiss, still sitting by the eggs, turned away slightly. Aaron knew about her father's company and its reputation. He also knew that Weiss hated the labor policies of the company.
"Well, I'll do what I can," Ruby said rather cheerfully. "I just hope I never have to raid a slave house again."
"I think that makes all of us, Ruby," Aaron said. He turned to look at Yang. "So, anything new with the eggs?"
Yang sighed. "Not so much as a peep." She looked longingly at the spot where the eggs were hidden. "How much more time do we have?"
"Another week and it will be past the normal time frame." Aaron looked at the unbonded girls in turn. Blake and Weiss looked disappointed, while Yang was downright dejected. "It is possible for an egg to hatch past the two weeks, but it is extremely unlikely as time goes on."
After a few seconds Yang switched back to her normal personality. "Well, where were we in Galaxy Trek?"
"New Generation, season two, episode three," Weiss said confidently.
"No stardate this time?" Ruby teased, but she lacked her usual enthusiasm.
"I don't know them all!" Weiss said exasperated. "Not yet."
As Weiss connected her Scroll the projector Yang set up a few days ago, Aaron took another look at Ruby. He thought over how quickly she turned around from bordering depression to determination. The question was, did she really feel that way, or was it a mask?
And yet again, I can't find much to really change. I could have put my OCs in the last scene, but it didn't feel right.