Soaked. That's all Robin felt as she ran through the hard rain that came upon the city of Atlas. There was no time to lose and she had to move quickly. Her heavily drenched bodysuit under the armored plates weighed her down even more, but she persisted. The exhaustion from running at top speed was starting to catch up, yet she had continued to push herself. She should've been there. She should've had his back when he needed her.
The memory of how it all started was foggy, almost a distant memory actually. All that was left was a circus. An abandoned circus that haunted her memories for the longest time. The place held all sorts of bad memories that had happened to both her and those she knows. Bruce, the commissioner, and even her own mother. All had their own reasons but the most common denominator between them would be one single source, that goddamn clown. He just keeps bringing them all back there. She wasn't sure if he did it because he knew of the horrors it caused them or just did it for his own motif. But none of that mattered at the moment, she needed to head for the big tent at the center of it all.
Robin wasn't sure for how long she had been running for. Her own legs ached and were starting to slow down from fatigue. The bird promptly fell to the ground, heaving heavily trying to catch her own breath. She wouldn't have to rest long, as she saw the colorful Big Top from a distance. Feeling the adrenaline kicking in, Robin picked herself back up and sprinted to the final stretch. She was close, very very close to her destination.
But she wasn't close enough. As she was at a short distance away from the entrance, the entire tent erupted in an internal explosion that reached the night sky.
The blast wave knocked the young vigilante high and far from the epicenter. She hadn't had time to activate her aura, so she felt both the heat of the blast and the impact as she fell to the ground. The suit was able to break her fault and protected her from the blast. However, pieces of the suit began falling off her. It was almost as if they witnessed all that had happened and were rejecting her. Although, her still aching body began to hurt a thousand times more now and she could barely hear anything as her ears were numb and ringing. She was too late. She couldn't make it in time. This was all her fault.
She had caused this. She WAS AT fault. SHE HAD CAUSED THIS. THIS WAS ALL YOUR FAULT.
YOU. ARE. NOT. ROBIN
Ruby jolted up from her own sleeping bag, drenched in both sweat and tears. She removed the headphones from her head and curled herself into a ball. Her grip around her legs tightened as more tears hell from her own eyes and memories began to resurface. Even though she was surrounded by peers and even her own sister, Ruby silently wept to herself.
She has always hated the way it made her feel helpless in her own mind and a slave to her own dreams. These dreams first started popping up during the first few months after the incident. They eventually died down and she almost forgot about them entirely. It was until the recent robbery that these dreams not only resurfaced but also became more frequent. She knew she had to talk to someone about this, but there weren't a lot of options on who to talk to. Either she had to tell someone her secret for them to understand or she had to face her own demons and talk to the few people who knew about her and the incident. But she wasn't ready to face anyone. Not yet anyway.
It took a few minutes, but Ruby was able to calm herself down and return to a sitting position on her sleeping bag. Checking her scroll, it showed that it was a couple of minutes before Four in the morning. Looking around her, it seemed that all the students in the ballroom were sleeping soundly, even Yang, who was sleeping next to her, and Jaune, who was wearing a funny onesie with Pumpkin Pete at the front. She started to remember what had happened the previous day.
After her confrontation with Ozpin, she met up with Yang and Jaune in the cafeteria. Not wanting to give a bad impression to her sister and friend, Ruby had used her aura to heal her wounds and covered her crying state. Long after that, the girl had fallen asleep listening to the news again. Well, that explains the recent dream.
Seeing as she was fully awake now and like hell was she gonna try going back to bed, the young huntress neatly wrapped her sleeping bag and packed up her surrounding items. Now here was her other predicament, the sleeping students. All the students were blocking most of the way to the exit of the ballroom. It would be extremely hard to walk over them without waking someone up.
Lucky for her, she needed to stretch her limbs a bit, and this was a good time to practice her reflexes and acrobatics. There should be minimum errors when doing this, or less she is going to have to explain to people why she fell on them. Strapping her sleeping bag and other items to her person, the young girl gave herself enough room for a running start.
She breathed in and out to relax before running to the edge and lunging off from her small space. Her reaction speed was quick before landing as she stretched her arms and boosted herself back into the air with her own momentum. With the same momentum and speed, she carefully continued to perform a couple of front and backflips after each brief landing. While in the air, the girl couldn't help but perform a side flip before landing softly back onto her feet in-between the sleeping bags of two students. Unfortunately, her momentum still pushed hers forward and caught her off balance, threatening to fall onto someone. With the weight on one hand and her back, Ruby attempted to regain her balance using her arms and legs and eventually succeeded. Too close for her comfort. Seeing that she was close to the end, Ruby decided to do something exciting and dangerous. So, she swiftly twirled herself forward before launching in the air. While airborne, her hips twisted around and moved her legs higher than the body before switching leg positions and landing safely, but quietly, back onto the ground.
Taking a deep breath, Ruby couldn't help herself but chuckle at her own performance. It had been a long since she had done a good trick move and she honestly enjoyed doing them outside of her previous 'night job'. With that, the young huntress left the ballroom and headed towards her locker to check her secret stash of snacks that she snuck in her main pack.
Little did she notice that a pair of glowing green eyes followed her out and had just witnessed Ruby's little 'show'.
After making a quick snack out of a granola bar from her bag and grabbing her weapon, the huntress-in-training went for the gym area of Beacon. It was the day of initiation. While she would want to disagree with the headmaster's assertions, he wasn't wrong that Ruby won't be throwing in the initiation test. Whether it be for family or her own pride, she couldn't deny the challenge.
It wasn't a surprise to find the place to be empty and barren at this hour. She'd prefer not to be watched when practicing with her weapon. Taking out Rose Thorn, the girl looked over the weapon to check for any part had been tampered with or required maintenance. With none found, she transformed her weapon to its spear form, having both ends of the stick extend outside of itself until the entire spear was the length of Ruby's body.
To start the practice, she needed to stretch her limbs properly with her weapon in hand. Using her right hand and thumb to lead, Ruby began turning Rose Thorn across her body and back before doing the same action again with her other hand. She wasn't sure why but her weapon felt almost off, which was odd. There was nothing wrong with it; nobody had tampered with it and it was still in good condition. Yet, she felt uncomfortable just holding her own weapon.
Having done with the simple stretch of the wrists and hands, it was time to do some basic attack exercises. As the huntress-in-training properly gripped Rose Thorn, she began practicing different thrusts, swipes, slashes, etc. Again, the moves felt foreign for her entire body. This was not the first time she had practiced or fought with Rose Thorn, but here she is moving with stiff arms and legs.
This entire thing felt wrong to her.
Having Rose Thorn retracted and placed aside, the young girl began to contemplate with herself. There was no problem with her knowledge and her limbs felt fine. Her body was capable of performing the moves, yet her mind told her otherwise. She had a strong suspicion on the cause of it, but was afraid to act on it. Should she? Nobody was watching her anyway. What was the harm in it?
With that, Ruby searched the entire gym for any practice equipment. Normally, Huntsman academies would carry sample weapons to have their students practice without causing extensive harm to others and themselves. It didn't take long for her to find where it was placed. She thoroughly searched the equipment until she found what she was looking for: a pair of wooden escrima sticks.
As she held the sticks in her hands, a wave of nostalgia and familiarity coursed through her body. She gave one a quick twirl around her fingers to get used to the wooden weight and it had felt perfect to her. Her body and mind had missed using these weapons. Hell, during the robbery, she felt joy fill within herself when her hands picked up the twin steel pipes. Maybe it was best to at least practice these weapons once in a while.
Once again, Ruby readied herself to practice her kali exercises. She positioned her right arm at an angle with the stick behind her neck while her left arm wrapped around her waist with the stick behind her back. Time to practice. In quick succession, she performed a bottom hand strike and followed with a quick top hand strike before having both sticks interchange positions on the opposite side of their original. With a smirk on her face, she continued this drill while continuously gaining speed then ended it with a double-handed strike.
For the first time since the robbery, Ruby had felt alive. Her muscles craved more.
She quickly brought herself back to a standing position then placed both arms at an angle with the sticks behind her neck. Again in quick succession, she performed simple single weaved strikes at a steady pace. As her pace sped up, her single weaved strikes became double and eventually became a variety of random but consecutive types of strikes. As her enjoyment continues, her adrenaline rises.
She wasn't practicing anymore. This wasn't a set of drills beginners follow to hone their craft. Every movement done was calm and smooth, almost water-like, yet, every swing held a fast and powerful blow. This was a presentation of hard-earned skill, long experience, and heavy passion with each strike done. And to finish it all off, she made a front flip, performed a cross-split attack towards the ground, then landed in a crouch position with her arms to the side and sticks pointed to the ground.
Ruby breathed heavily as her adrenaline wore off. Sweat profusely and continuously fell from her face, but her grin grew twice as wide.
Unfortunately, she was caught off guard when a clapping sound was made, which resulted in one of the escrima sticks being sent towards the source at a deadly speed.
Fortunately for her and the recipient, the stick narrowly missed the target's face.
Seeing that she nearly hit someone in the face with an escrima stick at blinding speed, Ruby immediately felt guilt was over herself. As the adrenaline was finally cooling off, she looked over who would've been the recipient of the projectile.
Obviously, it was another Huntress-in-training who had woken up early with her. She was surprisingly tall, even from a long distance. Her long hair was fiery red that was tied into a pony-tail. Lastly, her eyes were vivid green and she had a pale complexion. What surprised her was the girl's choice in clothing, which was a set of matching baggy pajama wear that hung from her frame. It was clear that she just got out of her sleeping bag, but for what reason?
The vivid green eyes of the girl widened and covered her mouth in worry. "Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have surprised you."
She nearly got hit by a high-speed projectile and she's the one apologizing?!
"No, No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have thrown that at you in the first place," Ruby rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I am normally used to something attacking me back after training."
The redhead was surprised at the reason. "Wow, it must've been some really intense training."
Ruby morbidly chuckled at the memory. Oh, you don't know half of it.
Sensing that the conversation was about to turn awkward real quick, the amazonian introduced herself.
"My name is Pyrrha."
"Ruby"
The amazonian gave a look of preparedness but was confused as the girl in question just stood there looking at her.
"You...don't know who I am?"
"Nope," Just by the introduction of the name, Ruby already knew who she was. She just preferred to know someone based on her own observations. Not only that, she didn't care about notoriety, only a person's capabilities and character. "Should I?"
A smile grew onto Pyrrha's face and a light shined into her eyes. "Nope. Not at all."
She must hate her notoriety, or at least dislike it. I wonder how often she meets genuine people.
"So, what were you doing? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it."
Crap, how long had she been watching me? "I was doing some Kali. It's an anima martial art that focuses on using sticks for striking and defense."
The redhead was intrigued by the girl. "Well, what you did was beautiful. I've never seen anybody move like that and I've participated in a lot of fights."
"Oh, that was nothing special. I was just….stretching my limbs." Ruby shyly chuckled.
Pyrrha was surprised at her passive nature. "If that was you stretching, I certainly can't wait to see you fight."
Wanting to drop the topic, the smaller of the two changed the subject. "So, I thought I was the only one awake. I don't mean to sound rude but, what are you doing here at this time?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I normally wake up at this time to train and prepare to do some...uh...Anyway, I would've slept in today to be rested for the initiation, but my body clock must've forced me to wake up. Then I saw you jump around the students with ease, so I decided to see what you were up to. Oh, and I'm sorry again for following you."
While Robin was an expert on stealth, Ruby Rose needed to improve her own spatial awareness next time. And Pyrrha Nikos needed to learn to not apologize for everything she does.
"Well, since you're awake now, would you like to train with me?"
Pyrrha smiled at the gesture. "I would love to."
After Pyrrha slipped into something more 'Gym-appropriate', she and Ruby trained with one another whilst also having some conversations about each other's life. Although, both did withhold certain information such as the extent of Ruby's training and Pyrrha's celebrity status. It wasn't until around 6 a.m did both hit the showers and went to the cafeteria for breakfast.
Once there, it appeared that while the breakfast for the students was ready, the entire cafeteria was almost empty, with the exception of one cat-eyed student who was silently reading a book.
Ruby immediately recognized her as the girl with the bow from the previous day. Both girls wondered what she was doing all by herself this early in the morning. Wanting to test her luck, after getting some food, the youngest girl decided to sit across from the black-haired girl, with Pyrrha in tow behind her.
As both girls sat down, the 'feline' girl lowered her book to view the two that sat in front of her.
"Hi," Ruby greeted, then waved. "I think you would remember me from yesterday?"
"Hello." Pyrrha cheerfully said.
They responded with a simple nod before the girl went back to her book, causing both girls to look at each other with uncertainty. Seeing that a normal gesture wouldn't work, Ruby attempted a different approach.
"What's it about?"
The hook. This attracted the girl's attention. "Excuse me?"
"Your book. I'm familiar with the works of Ursula Berpdioloo, but I don't believe I've read that book."
The line. The girl seemed surprised but continued. "Well, it's about 2 souls fighting for control over a body."
"Sounds interesting. If you want something similar, I'd recommend you check out 'Slave to the Sword'."
The girl smiled at Ruby's knowledge and recommendation. "Blake, Blake Belladonna"
And we got ourselves a sinker.
"Ruby Rose. My friend over here is Pyrrha."
"Hello again!"
As the three of them sat there, they continued to eat while conversing with one another. Blake and Ruby discussed different books and authors while Pyrrha was happy to just be a part of the conversation. Time had passed and more students began entering the cafeteria.
Now the three were discussing each other's favorite genre. The two red-themed girls loved genres of drama & adventure, but Blake favorited those that were a bit… 'saucy'. Pyrrha kept a hand to her mouth to cover her blushing face and giggle while Blake was buried in her book from embarrassment with Ruby looking at her aghast.
"Oh my oum, I'm friends with a-"
"A girl who is interested in a very particular genre" Blake defended, but that only caused Pyrrha to giggle even harder.
It all came to a halt when the three noticed almost everyone around staring at them, particularly at someone. Blake reburied herself into her book while Pyrrha kept her head down.
They must all be staring at Pyrrha. I oughta move her fast. Ruby quickly thought before gesturing to Blake who also noticed the center of attention.
"Psst Pyrrha," Ruby whispered, shifting the focus of the redhead towards her. "Why don't you and Blake head to the lockers to prepare for initiation. Don't mind the stares, I'll create a distraction."
Blake looked at Ruby with a doubtful look. "And what distraction would that be?"
At that exact moment, the front doors of the cafeteria burst open. There stood a hyper-active orange-haired girl who looked behind her and yelled "Ren! I found the pancakes!". The attention of the cafeteria shifted towards her as she sped towards the breakfast area and started stacking hefty loads of pancakes.
The three girls were stunned at the orange-haired girl's active behavior and sudden attention shift, but they wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth so they swiftly left. Blake and Pyrrha headed towards the locker room whilst Ruby went back to the ballroom to check on her sister.
Inside the locker area, Pyrrha waited patiently by her own locker as Blake went off somewhere to claim her stuff. Using that time, she reflected on what had recently happened and it was safe to say that she was absolutely happy about it. Saw a cute boy at initiation, obtained 2 new friends who saw her for her, and she was starting a new life and reputation at Beacon Academy. Pyrrha was honestly content with everything she has now.
She was broken out of her thoughts when cleared her throat next to her. Facing towards the source, there stood a familiar white-haired girl dressed in an elegant, but expensive white attire. Pyrrha had a sneaking suspicion about what she wanted and feared what was to come.
"Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to be the Mistral Regional Champion, Pyrrha Nikos, would you?"
She was hesitant to answer but obliged out of kindness. "Um...yes?"
The girl put out her hand, which Pyrrha politely shook. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company"
By the end of the introduction, an awkward silence grew between the two as Weiss just stood there while Pyrrha quickly opened her locker and removed her weapons.
"So, Pyrrha, I heard that there will be teams for the year. Have you given any thought to whose team you would like to be on?" The heiress started, before turning towards Pyrrha with a wicked smile. "I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual, such as yourself."
This caused Pyrrha to loathe her current situation. She knew this would've happened eventually, but that didn't stop her from hating to experience it. Was it too much to ask to be normal? But she kept the thought to herself and put on her own facade.
"Hmmm...I'm not quite sure," She lied through her teeth. "I was just planning on letting the chips fall where they may."
"Well, I was thinking maybe we should be on a team together."
Behind her facade, Pyrrha really wanted to politely say No. But, her appearance towards everyone would always get the better of her feelings. With a fake smile, she finished.
"That sounds grand"
This caused Weiss to smile in accomplishment and Pyrrha to loathe silently.
Almost like a Knight answering a call of aid, someone got between the two girls, and he wasn't staring facing the Mistrali Champion.
"You know what else is great? Me, Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."
"You again?!"
It was the cute boy Pyrrha noticed from the previous day. What excited her, even more, was that he didn't notice her, meaning he didn't know her. Testing her theory, the amazonian moved around him to properly greet herself.
"Nice to meet you Jaune."
Jaune merely just ignored her and moved out of the way to get back in front of Weiss. "Yeah, Yeah. So, Weiss…"
With that confirmation, her whole world lit up in fireworks at all the good things that happened, A new chance at life, a couple of close friends, and a brand new (boy)friend. And if she isn't mistaken…
"Actually, I think the teams are comprised of 4 students each, so-"
"-You don't say. Well, hot-stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team."
Pyrrha blushed at the response and was about to say something until Weiss interjected.
"-Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you are talking to?"
A sudden dread began filling within the redhead. Please no…
"Not the slightest, Snow Angel"
What?
"This is Pyrrha Nikos, she graduated top of her class at Sanctum"
Oh no, please don't-
"-Never heard of it"
Pyrrha was again gobsmacked at Jaune's response. Does he not know of other Huntsman academies?
"She won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row, a new record!"
"The what?"
Weiss fumed with anger, but Pyrrha was still surprised that he still didn't recognize her.
"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes Box!"
"That you!? They only do that for Star Athletes and cartoon characters!"
THAT'S what made her recognize me?! If they had met in a different situation, Pyrrha would've mistaken him for a civilian who lived outside of the kingdom.
"So, after hearing all of this, do you think you're in the position to ask her to be on your team?"
If the heiress wouldn't shut up within the next few seconds, Pyrrha might actually be willing to sacrifice her image just to put her into place.
Jaune looked down in shame. "I guess not...Sorry"
Not wanting to lose the chance to get a new (boy)friend, the redhead quickly stepped in and put her hand onto his shoulder. "Actually Jaune, I believe you'd make a great leader."
He couldn't help but smile at the compliment before turning back towards Weiss. "Sounds like Pyrrha's onboard for team Jaune. Spots are filling up quickly. Now I'm not supposed to, but maybe I could pull a few strings."
The Heiress gave him only one response and it certainly wasn't Yes.
Across the hall, Ruby and Yang were collecting all their gear for initiation. Yang was carefully combing her long blond mane whilst Ruby was attaching Rose Thorn to the back of her belt with a couple of other things such as throwing knives, a scroll, a couple of pellets, etc. The youngest also made sure that her equipment in her clothing was fully functional such as her gloves, belt, cape, and boots.
"So, you seem awfully chipper this morning." Yang turned towards Ruby, having finished combing her mane.
With the exception of the nightmare, I'm peachy. She kept the thought to herself. "Well, it is initiation day and for your information, I just made new friends today."
Yang raised her eyebrow at her sister, clearly not believing her. "You actually made more friends that weren't Jaune?"
At the mention of the boy, Ruby came to a realization: she hasn't seen the boy since yesterday. "Now that you mention it, where is Jau-"
At that moment, Jaune Arc was sent flying through the air by a glyph before hitting one of the lockers and falling to the ground next to the sisters.
Yang over Jaune and smirked. "So, how was your game, Lady Killer?"
The only response she got was a heavy groan coming from the fallen young man.
As all the first-year students arrived at the cliff that edged the Emerald Forest, the Headmaster and Headmistress stood there waiting for the students to quiet down. Once silence was met, Headmaster Ozpin started the introduction of the initiation.
"For years, you all have been trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
The Headmistress continued where he left off.
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion." Almost everyone perked up at the mention of it, eager to hear what she was going to say. "Each of you will be given teammates...Today."
The students murmured at that. Weiss and Pyrrha were anxious to see whom they would be paired up with. Ruby and Blake were indifferent to the decision. Yang and the orange-haired girl from earlier were just eager for a fight. The only one who was slightly scarred and confused was Jaune.
"These teammates would be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So, it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin said, worrying some of the students, specifically Weiss, Pyrrha, and Jaune. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
Now the students were worried. They had to be very careful with whom they were partnered. Yet, with all that said, there were still students who felt indifferent, especially Blake and Ruby.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not…"
Ruby blurred everything out for the moment as she tried to prep herself for what's ahead of them. They were fighting Grimm, so it was alright to not hold back. Once partnered up, she must do everything she can to be able to work with who she was paired with. For once within the last few months, she was okay with allowing Robin to slip out and help with initiation. North. Temple. Relic. Back here. Simple enough.
"Are there any questions?"
"Yeah..um Sir?"
"Good. Now, take your positions."
Almost everyone readied themselves for the upcoming launch. Everyone except Jaune, and that concerned Ruby. Jaune, what are you doing?
"Uh, sir? I got, um, a question" Weiss was launched into the air first.
As he was talking, more students were launched from their places. "So, this landing strategy thing, uh, w-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"
Her concern only grew with the question. Jaune, have you never been to a Huntsman academy?!
"No, you will be falling."
"Oh, I see. So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" The orange-haired girl was then launched.
With that, a sudden realization hit her. Oh my oum, please tell me you didn't forge your way into the academy.
"No, you will be using your own landing strategy"
"Um...yeah"
If Jaune did forge his way in, that means he might not have the proper training of using his weapon. That would mean he doesn't know how to fight Grim. It also means that he doesn't have an aura, meaning...Oh no.
As Yang was launched, Ruby was prepared to get launched to be the net to catch Jaune when he falls. After that, she and he will have a nice conversation about his stupidity of-
"What exactly is a landing strateGYYY"
To her surprise, Jaune was launched before her. Ruby looked down towards her launching mechanism before glaring at Ozpin.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Rose. It appears that your launchpad seems to be malfunctioning."
Hearing that, Ruby immediately pulled out her scroll and began tapping away.
"With that, I would like to apologize for what happened yesterday. It wasn't my intention to-"
He was cut off by the young huntress looking at him with her scroll raised. With a press of a button, she was launched after the students. The headmaster sighed as he took a sip from his coffee mug.
Ruby only had one mission in mind at the moment, and that mission was to save her idiotic friend before he fell to his death.
Author Note: Welp, I was a damn liar. I am a couple of days early and this chapter has to be the longest one I've ever written. I would still be posting the Omake that would involve Ruby's "Robin" days. It will be posted before the 30th of December because I will be taking a break for 3 days for personal reasons. I am unsure when Chapter 4 would be posted but I will automatically start working on it after the Omake is posted. Again, I am sorry for lying and wish you all enjoy your holidays. Merry Christmas!
I do not own any of the characters. All characters and names used are owned by either Rooster Teeth and Detective Comics (DC).