Location: Steelethorne, Mistral
Date: Oct.16th
In time, your heart will open minds
A story will be told
And victory is in a simple soul
Your world needs a great defender
Your world's in the way of harm
You want a romantic life, a fairytale that's full of charm
Ruby remained awake all night to finish her weapon, playing with the design and reorganizing the parts until she was able to make a perfectly functional weapon. Her aura had slowly regenerated throughout the night and activated to heal her bruised shoulder, making it far easier for her to test the bow and arrow without the fear of aggravating the wound further.
She'd managed to complete it soon before the clock struck three in the morning. At last, it was fully finished and had been tested out, it worked perfectly . Now her priority was to get back to Weiss when she wasn't so exhausted .
After passing out on the couch, Ruby was able to get a few hours of sleep squeezed in. Her sleep was dreamless and almost restless, finding the couch to be quite uncomfortable and waking up every few minutes to change her position. Sleeping on the cold hard ground in the middle of a mission was more relaxing than whatever these cushions were made of!
A loud clap rips through Ruby's half-asleep-half-awake thoughts like a chilling shriek, every nerve in her body tensing as Ruby jolts awake.
Finding that she wasn't in danger, Ruby relaxes and turns her attention toward the source of the noise; she locates her father sitting in the recliner across from her, his eyes focused on the TV as he sips his cup of freshly brewed coffee.
Blue eyes glance in her direction, noticing the movement. His face lights up, "Oh, good morning!"
Ruby stares at him for a long second, "Uh-huh…" She murmurs before laying back to fix her gaze on the ceiling. Had she even slept?
"Sleep well, dear?" Holly's voice comes from behind her, Ruby tilts her head back to see the woman in the kitchen, the smell of breakfast suddenly embraces her.
"No," Ruby answers, "this couch doesn't sleep very well."
Well, it wasn't near as bad as the time her team spent the night inside an abandoned cargo train cart in the middle of Vacuo, having been separated from SSSN during a joint mission.
The four of them had gathered in the back of the freight with their sleeping bags, hiding behind the forgotten boxes for security. But, for precaution, Blake offered to sleep towards the front of the group as her hearing was superior compared to the other three; she'd remained on full alert, her ears twitching at every little noise and preparing to spring into action if necessary.
At first, everything seemed like it was going to be okay. They'd get a good night's rest.
Then, a particularly strong dust devil swept through unpredictably in the dead of the night, rocking the unstable freight. The ruckus had awoken all four of the girls, the high winds' strength had boxes rattling and toppling into the already rusted metal floor, forcing them to retreat to the safest corner.
Unfortunately, the extra weight on the side caused the whole freight to come decoupled from the rest of the train and crash into the thick sand, blocking their entrance out. They stayed where they were, grateful for the holes busted into the metal to provide fresh air so that they wouldn't suffocate.
Her father's voice pulls her out of her thoughts, her eyes open again and she glances over at the smirking man.
"Well, I think it's about time you got up for breakfast, hm?"
Ruby met his gaze blankly and tiredly, "Depends…" She answers sluggishly, "What time is it?"
"It's nearly seven in the morning," Holly answers as she walks by her, taking a seat on the sofa chair across from Tai, "your father and I start the morning at six-thirty, watch the morning news, drink some coffee, and open the store at eight."
She doesn't know if it's the tiredness from lack of sleep that has a tight grip on her body, or the fact Mistral's timezone is exactly three hours ahead of Vale, meaning it's barely even dawn back home and in Atlas.
"Ugh," Ruby grumbles, exhausted, "fuck timezones." It's difficult adjusting to the four time zones while she's out on a mission, she thanks the Gods if she's given a mission within Sanus or Solitas, as they share a timezone. Missions in Anima or Western Sanus were absolute hell.
Ruby sits up and swings her feet off the side of the couch, slipping back into her combat boots. "Well, I finished my weapon last night." She informs them, lacing her boots up and standing. Holly lifts her head and frowns as she walks by. "So, I'll be on my way."
Holly stops her, "Hang on!"
Irritation pricks at Ruby like a thin needle. She can't waste any more time, she's told them this. Her shoulder healed, she'd told them she'll be leaving first thing in the morning, what reason could they possibly have to keep her here?
"What?" Ruby asks, masking her annoyance.
"You haven't even had breakfast, dear, it's the most important meal of the day!" Her tone of voice resembles a mother reminding her stubborn child to eat, "You'll need something in you if you're going to be productive today. Here, sit down," Holly stands up and gestures towards the table as she approaches the kitchen, "I'll fix you a-"
Tai interrupts her, sounding alarmed. "Ruby, you might want to see something first…" Ruby looks over at him, noticing that he's paused the television and his eyes are wide. If he looks that serious, she could spare a few moments. He wouldn't stop her without good reason.
"Why would that concern Ruby?" Holly asks curiously, looking at the paused holograph as if she recognized it. "It sure doesn't concern us ."
Ruby can see her Dad sweetly smiling, his voice is soft and reassuring, "Dear, trust me, this will be important. Maybe not to you, but for Ruby."
Confused, Ruby sets her mission aside briefly, walking over from the front door as Holly nods and sits on the couch, focusing her attention on the TV. "What is it, Dad…?"
Tai clears his throat, shifting slightly in his recliner to look back at her as she approaches. "What was that you said about her father last night?"
Ruby lifts a brow, "The betrothal?"
Tai nods and picks the remote up, clicking the play button and gesturing to the TV with a nod of his head.
The man rewinds the recording and a familiar woman, Lisa Lavender, grabs Ruby's full attention, the annoyance inside of her quickly being replaced by dread. The recording starts to play, she scowls when Jacques appears on screen, the Schnee Manor positioned perfectly behind him like a portrait.
"Asshole," Ruby whispers beneath her breath.
Tai turns the sound up as people begin to talk, pointing a microphone towards the man. Camera flashes dance across the screen, and the man's lip curls up into a practiced smile of politeness. The interviewer's words fell deaf on Ruby's ears, focusing more on what the bastard on the television had to say.
"How do you feel about the uncertain future of the SDC?"
" Uncertain? Is that how the world views us nowadays? Well, we have splendid news for the future of the SDC ," the man starts with a joyful voice that makes Ruby grit her teeth in annoyance, " my daughter will be taking over in the next week, I do not doubt that she will keep the family's name just as strong as ever !"
Ruby knows Weiss' plans for the future of the company, and it sure as hell wasn't what he was describing. "It will be when you're out of the damn picture."
"Ruby," Tai warns.
" There's something else we would like to announce !" Jacques informs the watchers. Ruby can see the familiar darkness in his eyes. A young man, around Weiss' age, with green hair steps on screen to stand next to Jacques, who rests his hand tightly on his shoulder, " This is Liam Greer, son of the very family who builds the machines that keep this world standing !"
Oh no. He was the son of another wealthy family. Ruby's stomach grows cold, she can feel rage bubbling inside of her, like a volcano preparing to erupt. 'Don't you fucking say it.'
Jacques' next words were like poison. " My daughter has finally gotten engaged! I must say, when this young man came to me to request my blessing for her hand, I was quite surprised! "
The young man next to him suddenly tenses and his posture straightens, his expression is hard to read and his eyes darting nervously between the flashing cameras. He doesn't appear very comfortable, but his dress attire spoke volumes of his personality.
"Huh," Holly hums from the couch, "interesting, I didn't think that girl was ever going to get engaged." Ruby's blood slowly turns hot, "At least he seems nice, maybe he could-"
"He can be fucking eaten by a hoard of Grimm, that's what he can do!"
Holly's mouth clamps shut as a confused look forms on her face, she exchanges a glance with Tai, who makes a gesture saying he'll explain later. Bewildered, she shrugs and Ruby, whose every muscle was now strained in annoyance, looks back at the hologram. Her lip twitches, refraining a growl-like noise.
"Once they marry, the Schnee Company will be stronger than ever!" Of course, it was about the company! What else would it be? He never cares about Weiss' happiness.
" Where is Miss Schnee- "
Jacques' voice interrupts, "Here she comes, now." He sounds agitated behind his false cheerful attitude.
The camera turns to a young woman approaching the scene.
Time slows down, everything on the screen moves in slow motion, and Ruby's heart skips a whole three beats. She almost stops breathing at the sight; of her fiancée's long, luscious white hair undone and cascading down her back like a waterfall.
Weiss' dress was adorned with delicate, long sleeves reaching up the shoulders and embracing the neck with a revealing opening for the cleavage. It then stretches down and hugs her waist with elegant curvy points that make Ruby almost forget how to breathe.
The dark, midnight blue glamorously decorating the gown causes the color of her hair to pop beautifully. Upon closer inspection, Ruby notices the jagged scar across Weiss' left eye had been covered with concealer, made to look as though it'd never been there in the first place.
She was the picture of perfection.
As Weiss comes to stand next to her father, the dark-haired man, identified as Liam, gives a small and appearingly nervous wave.
Ruby's blood runs cold when a seemingly calm glance is sent toward the young man, but she can read the silent message. Weiss is tense. Ruby lets out a harsh laugh of familiarity, "Oh, well, one wrong move and he's dead."
Holly makes a confused noise, Tai lets out a snort and opens his mouth. "Ah, ah, ah," Ruby stops him, her focus locked on the TV, listening for the date of the wedding, "no speaking."
Holly doesn't seem to care, interpreting the request in a completely different manner, "How can you tell that? She seems calm to me."
A scoff escapes Ruby, silver eyes between the older woman and the TV with a look of incredulity. Tai pauses the TV when Ruby speaks, sitting back in his chair and watching her. "You can't see it?!"
Holly shakes her head.
Ruby moves out from behind Tai's chair and approaches the screen, moving to stand next to Weiss' image. "When she's calm, she has this... she has this relaxed posture, it's probably pretty easy to nudge her and she'd be off balance. But this?"
She makes a circular motion with her arm, "She's tensed, when the recording plays, you can see the evenly timed breaths, and if you know her as I do… You can see the fire in her eyes."
Holly raises a brow in bewilderment.
Ruby elaborates, her voice serious and informative; "What I'm saying is… This is the kind of posture you would have when on a stealth mission, and you're keeping an eye out for Grimm. One sound, one touch, you're ready to attack."
Holly is confused, "You can tell all that from just an expression…?"
Groaning, Ruby runs her hands through her dark bangs. She lets out a huff of exasperation, she can hear Tai clicking the play button and the recording continues as Ruby whispers, "I can tell a lot more than that… This is a Calm Before The Storm situation."
Suddenly, Jacques' voice rips through her thoughts. " For those of you wondering when the wedding will take place, I can expect to see you all on November 1st at-"
Ruby doesn't wait for him to finish. "Goddamn it!"
Ruby spins as quickly as she can, boiling rage coursing through her being like a wildfire. Activating her semblance, Ruby bolts out of the house quicker than the blink of an eye. The village moves like a white-hot blur around her.
Somewhere behind her, Holly and Tai exit the house and watch the dust settle back onto the streets, with no sign of Ruby anywhere.
"Shouldn't you go after her?" Holly murmurs, stunned.
Tai scoffs, "There's nothing to go after, she's gone." He turns to his girlfriend with a smile, "Well, since she didn't elaborate anything, I will do the introduction-"
Holly sends him a strange look. "Introduction?"
"My girls asked me to hold off on the introductions because I said something out of line with my last date, so to avoid misunderstandings, I agreed to allow them to do it." Tai shrugs, "To put it simply, Weiss Schnee is Ruby's partner and fiancee."
Ruby deactivates her semblance just as she exits the town's outskirts, stumbling to a stop as her feet skid rapidly in the dirt from the force of her semblance. She lets out a breath, her chest becoming tight upon the realization that she has no idea which direction Argus would be in. It would also be a problem getting to Atlas from Argus…
The brunette straightens her posture and turns around, breathing heavily as she locks her gaze on the small village of Steelethorne. She'd forgotten to grab her weapon when she bolted out the door… What's she supposed to do now? There's no way in hell she's turning back for it, she's already limited on time and has wasted three or four days.
What if Weiss believes she's never coming back for her…?
Okay, she has to figure out where she is, and how she'll get to Argus.
They'd come to Steelethorne from Vale, towards the southwest. So, that means she'll have to head northeast to reach Argus. The problem is that Steelethorne is so far from Argus that she would never make it there on time.
She should've asked Tai and Holly for help.
No, no. She couldn't do that either. They'd have to pack, shut down the shop, find someone to watch it during their absence, and then they'd have to travel to Haven and await a flight to Argus. That's as far as they'd be able to take her. One can't just fly up to Atlas…
Oh, fuck. She's screwed.
A train horn grabs her attention and Ruby's eyes dart towards the forest, pinpointing the sound as Steelethorne's cargo train station.
"That's new… Where's that train going?" Ruby asks, peering out the airship window, watching as the aircraft keeps speed with the train down below, dust flying up behind and in between the freights full of what appears to be coal.
The sound of Weiss' heels clacking against the floor approaches from behind, blue eyes glancing down in the direction Ruby is staring. "The Steelethorne train?" Weiss crosses her arms, "It heads straight to Argus and back to deliver coal to power machines that have not yet transferred to dust."
Ruby lifts a brow, "There are machines that aren't powered by dust and electricity? That's a little old-fashioned."
Weiss lets out an amused laugh, "Last time they tried to switch to dust, the whole factory almost exploded. Some things need to be old-fashioned, apparently."
The Steelethorne train heads to Argus… Here's her chance.
The second horn blasts into the air and Ruby takes in a deep breath, preparing her body for the harsh push she was about to force it to endure. Her being buzzes with electricity, she utilizes the newfound energy coursing through her and activates her semblance, bursting into a cloud of rose petals.
If she could catch this train, that would be one last worry off her mind. Once she reaches Argus, maybe she could get into contact with Winter somehow. She should be stationed in Atlas until Weiss' inheritance ceremony is over.
The world around her turns into a blur; trees rushing by faster than she can blink, her soul is as though she were on the fastest roller coaster on Remnant, lifting from her body with a thrilling feel of excitement. The forest slowly fades into a widespread, golden plain of tall grass.
Her adrenaline is starting to fade and her body burns with exhaustion.
Maybe she hadn't recovered as well as she had thought.
'Come on , she urges herself as the train comes closer, she can feel the wind from it as it starts to pick up speed, putting a strain on her aura, 'just a little farther…'
She pulls up, the petals behind her taking an abrupt change in direction and disappearing into the wind. Unable to hold it, her semblance self-deactivates and Ruby lets out a yelp, fully unprepared for the sudden drop.
Her eyes lock on the rumbling black coal beneath her, she braces for impact. Her hands hit the metal railing and a surge of almost overwhelming pain courses through her body, she lowers herself onto the metal plate attached to the freight and grimaces in agony, leaning against the rattling cart with her knees folded beneath her and shaking her throbbing hands to relieve the ache.
A heavy realization settles upon her shoulders, turning her body cold. Ruby sighs audibly and runs her hand, still trembling with numbness, through her dark and unruly hair.
"Fuck that man."