RUBY ROSE

Chapter 1 - Seed of Friendship

I swing my practice scythe over and over again, getting more and more annoyed by the fact that I can't swing it without nearly falling over. If Uncle Qrow didn't just disappear again he'd be here right now showing me the right way to do it. He's always promising to teach me but then going off on some mission. I mean I know his work is important but still...

That's when I hear what sounds like two people talking, slowly walking up the path that leads to our house. I quickly ran down the path to see Uncle Qrow and Dad. I drop my scythe to the ground and immediately bolt towards them.

I throw myself into Uncle Qrow's arms, shooting him the biggest pouty face that I can muster, hoping to make him feel super guilty for not keeping his promise again. "UNCLE QROW!"

"Oh uh..hey there kiddo." he stops talking to Dad and looks at me like he's confused why I'm upset but I know he knows. "What's up?"

"Don't what's up me!" I glare at him before turning away in a huff. "You said you'd train me but then you disappeared for weeks."

"Oh yeah, I guess I did say that." He nervously scratches his cheek.

"Yeah you did, I only have a couple of years before I can apply to attend Signal and the test is hard, I need to be ready." I lower my voice a little but don't let up on the pout. I know full well he is powerless against it.

"Your Uncle Qrow was busy sweetheart, our old friend sent him on a mission to clear out some Grimm near the border." Dad tries to calm me down. "The Grimm have been oddly restless lately."

"Yeah I know...it's just-" I start to say but then Uncle Qrow cuts me off by ruffling my hair.

"Don't worry squirt, I promised I'd train you and I'm going to, I just need some time to talk to your old man and we'll get right on it." he smiles at me, looking super cool as always and finally I decide to let him off the hook. "In the meantime how about you patrol the perimeter of the house for me, that should be good practice."

"Sure Uncle Qrow." I hugged him tight. "I missed you by the way."

"I didn't miss you." he ruffles my hair as we both laugh. "Now go on, I'll be out in a little bit kiddo."

"Okay!" I turn around and run off toward the tree line. I wonder what Dad and Qrow are talking about that's so important? Adult stuff I guess.

I walk around a half hour or so into the woods around our house, my practice scythe in hand. I know that Uncle Qrow only does this to make me feel like I'm really helping out but I do it anyway because it makes him happy to think I don't know better. Besides it's something to do until he gets done talking to Dad and who knows how long that will take. It must have been super important based on the serious looks on their faces before I interrupted.

Anyway we hardly have any Grimm here on Patch and they never come this close to the house when we do. Eventually I realized I had to have been walking for at least an hour, guess I got lost in my own head there. I look around to figure out which direction the house is in, I have explored these woods enough I know them like the back of my hand. Just as I get my bearings and I'm about to walk back to the house I hear what sounds like terrified screaming off in the distance making me freeze in place.

What in the heck could that be, it sounds like a girl? A girl around my age too. I mean sure other people live on the island but I don't remember any of our nearby neighbors having daughters. On top of that, what could be making them scream like that? I feel my heartbeat start to increase and my breathing becomes faster as I think about whether I should try to help or run to get Qrow. It would take a long time to get back to the house even if I run. On the other hand the girl sounded fairly close but even if I went to help what could I do?

"HELP!" I heard the voice scream in desperation right as I was about to turn back toward the house . In that moment though my body reacts before I even have time to think about it further and I sprint full force in the direction of the voice. My heart is racing and my palms are sweaty but I can't stop myself from charging toward the source of the sound, scythe in hand. In the back of my mind I can't help but think this is crazy but I keep running regardless.

Finally I find the source of the screaming. It's a girl around my age, maybe a little older, with snow white hair and icy blue eyes. Her hair was full of leaves, she was missing a shoe and her clothes were torn almost as if something with claws had attempted to take a swipe at her and only just missed. I run over to her and as I get closer I can see she is breathing heavily and is clearly terrified.

"Are you okay, what happened?" I ask soothingly, trying to calm her down despite how freaked out I am. She seems surprised at first but she quickly grabs my hand.

"It's coming, we need to get help!" she screams. Her whole body is trembling and she is clearly panicked.

"Wh-Whats coming?" I ask only to immediately get my answer. I hear a low vicious growling off to my side. I turn to see a pair of burning red eyes, staring at us from behind some bushes. My body starts trembling and I find it hard to breathe. The monster walks slowly toward us and as it steps out of the bush I can tell it's a Beowulf. I have only seen a couple in person before but that was when I was with Dad or Uncle Qrow, staring one down on my own, it sent a chill down my spine.

My entire body is trembling and my gaze is fixated on the monster in front of me. Everything in my mind is telling me that I am about to die. Running isn't an option at this point and I'm not exactly a Huntress...I start to fear that I might never be one now. I swallow and take a deep breath in that moment I make a choice. I grab a hold of the girl and put her behind me, getting into a fighting stance. Firmly planting myself and holding my scythe out in front of me. I try my best to desperately remember everything Uncle Qrow taught me, even if it wasn't much.

"What are you doing?" the girl asks in a shaky whispered tone. "I don't have my weapon and you're just a kid."

"Honestly? I have no idea." I answer honestly. My brain is screaming at me that I'm crazy, that there is no way I can fight this thing but at the same time I know if I don't we are for sure going to die. I'm still trembling but I'm determined to stand my ground.

"We have to run." she tugs gently on my sweatshirt with a trembling hand. "We don't stand a chance."

"It won't matter, we aren't fast enough to outrun it for long, just stay back okay?" I say, trying to muster the most reassuring tone I can. She slowly backs away and hides behind a nearby tree. I assumed she would take advantage of the opportunity and run but guess she can't bring herself to leave me here. I ready myself for the monster's attack.

After what felt like hours but was probably only actually a few seconds, the Beowulf lunges at me, at the last possible second I dodge but still get a scratch on my leg. I wince but despite it stinging really bad it wasn't a deep cut.

If I had control of my aura I could've absorbed it but it takes such intense concentration I literally can't be doing anything else. At least I made sure to pay it back though and take a swipe at it's leg, leaving an even bigger cut.

That only seemed to piss it off though because it immediately turns and takes a swipe at me, I manage to take a step back and avoid getting a deep cut but it does scratch my stomach which again hurts bad but it's not serious, at least I hope not. It readies itself to take another lunge at me and I prepare for the worst but just as it does a big rock hits it in the back of the head. Surprising me as much as the Beowulf.

"Leave her alone you beast!" The girl has come out from her hiding spot and is chucking big rocks at the Beowulf. It turns and focuses its attention on her, I think as fast as I can to keep it from hurting her. The only idea I could come up with was to jump up and hook my scythe blade around its neck, pulling as hard as my arms will let me.

I use all of my strength to hold the blade in place and keep the Beowulf from pulling the blade away from its neck. It's digging in but not enough to kill it, I desperately try to pull harder but it's not enough, I'm just not strong enough. As I am about to give up hope I suddenly feel it becoming slightly easier to pull, I turn to see the girl behind me pulling as hard as she can.

At first I'm just surprised, this girl really is braver than she first led me to believe. My surprise quickly gives way to a burst of resolve and I once again put my all into it.

We keep pulling relentlessly, the beast fighting back against us but just when we think we'll never be able to kill it, we feel all resistance from the monster stop at once. We both look to see it falling to the ground and turning into dust quickly after.

After staring for a bit we both fall to our knees as a wave of relief washes over us. I turn towards the girl, to ask if she is okay but before I can say anything the girl clings onto me and starts crying, shocking me at first. Eventually I just hugged her back, unable to stop myself from crying right along with her. We literally just met but in that moment I almost felt like we were best friends. Silly I know but when you nearly die with someone it has a real effect.

"Um…" I'm not sure what to say, I mean we basically just shared a life or death experience together and we don't even know each other's names. I guess that'd be a good place to start. "My name is Ruby, Ruby Rose."

"I'm.." she sniffles as she slowly starts to calm down. "I'm Weiss, Weiss Schnee...that was really dumb you know."

"Yeah but it made the most sense at the moment."

"I don't know in what world it made sense for an unarmed teenager and a kid to fight a monster."

"Hey I'm barely a kid you know, you don't seem that much older, besides it worked out."

"Yeah barely…regardless…thank you."

"No biggie… besides I couldn't have pulled it off without your help."

"Yeah but you wouldn't have been out here if I hadn't been dumb and wandered away from my Grandpa's house without knowing the area." she says, slowly getting to her feet.

"Did you just move here?" I ask, deciding to change the subject. As I do, I get to my feet and offer her my hand which she takes, I decide it'd be best to take her back to my house. She isn't familiar with the area and probably couldn't find her way back to her Gramps' house so I figure Dad or Uncle Qrow could help.

"Yeah you could say that, I have visited here a few times since I was a kid but this time I'm gonna be here for a long while…it's a bit of a long story."

"Well we should probably head to my house to get help and it'll be a decent walk so…we've got time." I say and she lightly rolls her eyes.

On the way back to the house she explains she really wants to go to primary combat school so she can become a Huntress. Her Gramps talked her Dad into letting her come here to Vale to attend Signal but didn't exactly explain why, in any case that's why she came here to live with her Grandpa for four years while she attends combat school here instead of Atlas. She says after she finishes at Signal she wants to attend Beacon but it'll be even harder to convince her Dad to let her do that.

Once we make it back to the house I am immediately rushed by Dad, who was apparently worried sick, not that I can blame him. As he briefly scolds me, he starts to tend to my wounds while I explain the situation to him. Luckily he knew who her Grandpa was and he called him up, letting him know that Weiss was here and safe. Dad and Uncle Qrow were super surprised to see her here, the Schnees are apparently kind of a big deal.

I led her up to my room so we could talk privately for a bit while Dad made us some dinner.

"Thanks again..you know for the backup back there, even if it was reckless." She looks around my room nervously.

"Like I said, don't mention it, what else was I supposed to do?" I sit on the edge of my bed and motion for her to sit in the chair to my desk.

"You say that but a lot of people...most people would have just run the other way...I'm sorry you got hurt, if I hadn't wandered off without my weapon...even then I'm not sure how much I could have done, I clearly still have a ways to go." she looks at her feet in embarrassment.

"Hey it's okay, you did plenty tonight, I'm sure with enough training you'll be an amazing Huntress!" I say with a confident smile.

She offers a small smile but I can tell it's not entirely real. I get a sort of...sad vibe from her I can't really explain. I meant it though, she seems super smart and she's a lot stronger and more brave than she gives herself credit for.

"Thank you Ruby." her cheeks turn a tint of red. "I'd be willing to wager that you'll be pretty amazing yourself someday, I mean your logic skills could clearly use some work but you've definitely got the bravery down."

Dad eventually calls us down, unfortunately her Gramps showed up before she could join us for dinner or meet Yang. As she was leaving I waved goodbye and smiled only for her to hug me again. I was a little surprised but I hugged her back which seemed to surprise her for some reason, almost like she was used to not being hugged back.

"Let's hang out again sometime." I said.

"Yeah..sounds good" she says slowly breaking the hug. "and Ruby...thank you again, I promise I'll repay you, I can't be indebted to you forever after all."

"Sure thing, so long as you don't make me save you again it shouldn't be a problem."

"Oh ha-ha" she puffs out her cheeks a bit and crosses her arms which causes me to laugh. She responds with a small giggle of her own.

After that her Grandfather thanked me too, shaking my hand, a little to hard honestly. He is a really bulky guy, in that old man way that looks like he was super tough in his younger years. We both wave goodbye one last time and they head home.

"Well I'd wager that was probably enough excitement for one day, how about we just get in some training tomorrow kiddo?" Uncle Qrow plops down on the couch and offers me a game controller. "We've got enough time before dinner to get in a quick game or two."

"Yeah besides I think that more or less counts as training." I chuckle and plop down next to him, taking the controller.

"True but uh..try not to make a habit of it, your Dad is playing it cool but I don't think he's stopped freaking out yet." he says, clearly trying to hide the fact that he was super worried too.

"Don't worry I don't plan to." I say smiling at him.

"Good." he says while smirking which confused me until I heard the game announcer shout 'Round 2!'

"You cheater, distracting me!" I shout, focusing intensely on the game.

We sat and played until it was time to eat dinner which was around the time Yang came home from combat school. She comes bursting through the front door, full of energy as usual. Most people would be exhausted after being gone all day but not her.

"I'm home, dinner smells amazing Dad!" she shouts cheerily, putting her bag down by the door.

"Welcome home Yang!" I run up and hug her like I always do.

"Hey there Rubes." She goes to hug me back but hesitates. She puts her hands on my arms and holds me back, looking me over closely. "Why are you covered in bandages, did something happen?!"

"She's fine Yang, she is a bit banged up but she'll live." Qrow tries to reassure her.

"How do you know, should she go to a doctor?" she asks, officially in full on worried big sister mode. She's always been like this, especially after Mom died. She can be a bit overprotective but I know it's only because she cares.

"Yang, I'm okay really, a little sore but it's not too bad." I smile at her trying my best to calm her down.

"How did you get hurt anyway?" she asks, a little more calm but still worked up.

"Well…" I hesitate to tell her because I'm worried she'll be mad at me.

"Ruby, tell me." she says with her patented big sister voice, she knows it breaks me every time.

"I...I was patrolling near the house and I heard a girl screaming for help...so I ran to help her and it turns out she was being attacked by a Beowulf, that's how I got hurt." I look at the ground hoping she doesn't get too angry.

"You were attacked by a Beowulf?!" she shouts causing me to flinch, which I think she notices because she lowers her voice quite a bit.

"Why didn't you run for help instead of trying to handle it yourself?" She asks. "You barely have any training and you have practically no aura control."

"I wanted to but I was scared that if I didn't do something as fast as possible the girl could've been hurt really badly or even...killed" I gave her a determined look. "Besides, it's what you would have done and I don't regret it."

"Ruby…" she sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. "So did Uncle Qrow find you and save you guys or what?"

"Nope, the credit belongs entirely to her and that girl, they took it down all by themselves." Uncle Qrow chimes in.

"What?" Yang looks at me with a very surprised expression. "You...You took down a Beowulf?"

"Yeah kinda...the other girl helped though, her name is Weiss."

"Wow...that's pretty cool, my little sis took down a Beowulf!" She smiles and hugs me.

"So...you're not mad?" I ask, hugging her back.

"Well I still don't like that you charged off on your own but I know you were just doing what you thought was right and the important thing is you aren't hurt too bad, just don't make a habit of it okay?" she chuckles lightly and I chuckle in response as she reuses Uncle Qrow's words.

"Sure thing." I smile at her and give her a hug of my own.

Yang can be a bit much sometimes but I couldn't ask for a better big sis. She's always there for me when I need her, always looking out for me. I don't know what I'd do without her.

Dad pops out of the kitchen to tell us to come and get dinner before it gets cold, which we do happily.

We all sat down and enjoyed the big meal that Dad made, it was delicious and exactly what I needed. After dinner I assure everyone I'm okay one last time before heading upstairs to get some sleep, exhausted from the day I had.

The scratches from the Beowulf still hurt somewhat but not too bad, especially after Dad patched me up, apparently he got a lot of practice patching up both mine and Yang's Mom all the time back in the day. I guess Mom was pretty reckless too, like Mother like Daughter I suppose. I lie down on my bed and try to get comfortable.

As I drift closer and closer to sleep, all I can think about is Weiss. At first she seems a bit uptight, almost like a princess. She also seems kinda harsh and blunt at times but…when you actually sit and talk with her she's super fun to be around. There is something else about her, something I can't quite place but it seems almost sad. As I slowly drift off to sleep I find myself hoping that she and I get to be really good friends.