Chapter 12: I Am Not a Victim

Ruby Rose was having the worst day of her life.

And it started so well.

She woke up later than Yang, which virtually never happened, as it was usually her older sister that snored until late in the morning and Ruby the one doing the waking. It was nice being the lazy one for once. She even had a late breakfast with Dad and uncle Qrow, with an extra-large serving of cookies and everything!

They started the day with a sparring session, as they'd done almost every day since moving to Vale City at the start of the summer. Ruby came so close to getting Yang into the yellow, one good hit short, maybe two, that even Qrow looked grudgingly impressed, though her uncle would never have admitted that. Ruby wasn't nearly as good as her sister at interpreting social clues, but when it came to her uncle, she had little trouble seeing through his facade. It was even obvious to her that he liked the fact that she could read him like an open book.

Yang did make a point of crushing her mercilessly after that spar, easily tanking Ruby's long-range attacks while anticipating all of her Semblance's moves. But that was to be expected. Yang had always had a competitive streak, and now that her big sister would be finally going to Beacon, she would have plenty of opportunities to let that side of her shine. Ruby was so happy for her. And proud.

And a little bit jealous. Just a tiny bit.

But she really didn't have any reason to be. Ruby was doing well, academically, sort of professionally, maybe not socially, not without Yang around. Still, her life was going great by every metric that mattered.

So why did she struggle to fall asleep at night?

Since they'd moved to Vale City, leaving their comfortable residence on the island of Patch to help Yang get acclimated to life in the big city, Ruby had averaged three hours of sleep every night.

She had no idea what was wrong with her.

Ruby would toss and turn in bed, using every trick in the book to fall asleep but failing miserably. None of the visualization techniques she researched made any difference, and her mind insisted on picturing Crescent Rose anyway, significantly limiting the range of exercises she could do. At that point, she'd usually get out of bed and leave her room to prowl about the living room.

That was when the dreadful thoughts began to take hold, her mind going into overdrive. For some reason, Ruby was stressing about the past. Not the future, as one might have expected, but events she should have already put behind her. Her mind turned in circles, conjuring up the worst possible outcomes for each and every thing that had ever happened to her until she was shaky and out of breath.

One night, she decided she'd had enough and forced herself to go out for a walk. It was a little scary at first, a bit too intense for someone who'd spent most of her life on the peaceful island of Patch. The constant honking and the crowds of loud people rushing around her seemed to leave her breathless.

It took her about five days to develop a craving for that feeling.

When she was out in the city, she felt present, insignificant, completely in the now.

But it was even better to be somewhere else entirely, in a different world in which the rules were much simpler. It wouldn't come as a surprise then, that the moment she laid eyes on that lone comic book stand, she knew she'd go back to the quiet Dust store every night thereafter. Yang teased her incessantly, convinced that Ruby finally broke out of her shell and was secretly sneaking out to meet up with a boyfriend.

Ruby kind of liked being thought of as the sort of person who led a secret love life, which was why she avoided telling Yang the truth. Also, she didn't want to share her haven with anyone else.

That store had become her safe place.

The elderly owner didn't seem to mind the odd girl who dropped by at even odder hours. He didn't even reprimand her for reading his comic books while never making a purchase.

Ruby returned night after night, devouring every issue of Grimm Slayer that she could get her hands on. She appreciated the anonymous nature of the protagonist since it allowed her to imagine all kinds of fun background stories for his character. Maybe he was like her, a weapons enthusiast, and his mission was really all about live-testing his ever-expanding armory. Or maybe he was on a revenge quest, and his blank face was a metaphor for how the mission had reduced him to nothing but a killer.

But if she was being honest with herself, the main draw of those books was their simplicity. Unfortunately, life as a huntress was far more complicated than fiction, as Ruby had slowly come to realize over the years of training in Signal Academy.

The Grimm were easy. They presented a straightforward problem that called for a straightforward solution. It wasn't until Ruby started studying about the rules of urban warfare that the stark reality of a huntress career finally dawned on her. Suddenly it wasn't just about killing Grimm, but making sure that every action she took didn't put civilians in danger. And it turned out that every action was to be meant quite literally as every single action.

Normal civilians were a fragile bunch. Extremely fragile. They didn't have to do much to break a bone or collapse just like that. As a result, there were all kinds of rules and scenarios that students at Signal Academy needed to memorize and practice. A Huntress couldn't just catch a falling civilian, because doing so might be more dangerous than the alternative of letting them hit the ground. The trick was to gradually slow down their fall, but this wasn't always possible depending on the height of the fall and the type of Semblance the Huntress had access to.

Learning that it was sometimes preferable to let a civilian fall twenty feet to concrete rather than try to grab them was only the first of many unpleasant truths Ruby had to accept.

The concept of Aura States provided a general solution to such challenges.

Students were required to practice Aura shrouding at five different levels, from Aura State zero to Aura State four. The amount of power that a Huntress could access increased exponentially with the levels, with State zero capping the flow of Aura to a theoretical zero and State 4 allowing unrestricted flow. Apparently, only the first three levels were viable when operating in an urban setting. Any extra power was deemed too unsafe by the so-called experts.

Which was ridiculous. How was Ruby supposed to fight if she couldn't jump thirty feet into the air and max out her Semblance's moves? She hated going under Aura State 3. In fact, State 3 was the lowest she could tolerate without feeling as though she was suffocating. In that regard, Vale City's strict laws concerning the use of Aura in public definitely took some time to get used to.

Consequently, when courses started to focus more on defending civilians rather than eliminating the Grimm, Ruby began to fall behind her peers. All of a sudden, she wasn't just failing socially, but also professionally. Every additional test she failed, 'killing' an unacceptable number of civilians during simulations, the worse she felt about herself

She wasn't just failing herself, but also her family, and that was the absolute worst.

Ruby would always end up causing too much collateral damage, whether it be because of an overzealous use of Aura or just by miscalculating her own strength. As her teachers put it, she needed to develop a more 'surgical' approach.

It probably didn't help that Crescent Rose was designed to be the exact antithesis of 'surgical."

Admittedly, maybe she could have been a tiny bit more realistic when designing Cresent Rose. But, hey, the teachers advised them to get as involved as possible in the creation of their own weapons.

In fact, uncle Qrow's exact words were 'Go crazy, kid.'

Yep, he said it!

So how in the world did they expect Ruby to build anything other than a giant scythe that could transform into a high-caliber rifle?

Maybe those closest to her didn't truly know her all that well. Perhaps if they understood her a little better, just a little, or cared a little bit more, enough to ask her how she was really doing, she wouldn't be out alone at 3 am, browsing the pitiful comic book section of an empty Dust Store and rereading the same depressing book over and over again.

And maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't be lying on the ground right now at the feet of the man who was casually discussing her execution.

"Last chance to make yourself useful!" The criminal cried.

Ruby had fought exactly as she'd been taught. Staying at Aura State 2, observing her surroundings thrice before executing every move. To avoid the horrifying possibility of a collision with a civilian, she made sure to keep her Semblance under tight control, never crossing the threshold where changing course mid-flight would have been impossible. Not only that, but she also didn't dare use Crescent Rose's rifle mode, limiting herself to melee only.

But it wasn't enough. She wasn't enough.

That criminal, Roman, saw right through her. He somehow predicted her Semblance's maneuvers better than even Yang could, which was hardly a fair comparison, considering she and Yang had been training together for years and Ruby still managed to catch her sister off-guard sometimes with sudden bursts of speed.

According to Uncle Qrow, her Semblance functioned by rapidly creating stable Aura Weaves that greatly accelerated her speed and perception. In theory, any Huntress could generate a similar effect by copying the same Weaves, though the afterimages of rose petals were caused by a completely different phenomenon. As uncle Qrow had put it, her distinct style was hers alone.

Her Semblance was unlike regular Weaves, though, in that it was far more stable, responsive, and controlled. It reacted instantly, with total precision and without fail. As long as Ruby's Aura reserves weren't fully depleted, she would have access to her Semblance. Uncle Qrow called it Instinctual Weaving, which was the foundation for the vast majority of Semblances.

By studying those Weaves, and recognizing recurring patterns, one could predict the Semblance's moves of their opponent and gain a massive advantage in a fight. The fact that Roman was able to do that so fast, during such a short exchange…

Was he…was he playing with her, in that initial exchange? Or rather, studying her Semblance?

He'd fought defensively, forcing her to rely on her Semblance excessively, and then he remained outside the store instead of following her inside, letting her fight the blond boy with the scary eyes.

So he'd been watching her, analyzing her Weaves, and when he was ready for round two, he made his entrance, destroying her faster than Yang had ever managed. Almost as effortlessly as uncle Qrow could, on the rare occasions Ruby would get him to spar with her semi-seriously and only half drunk.

That criminal must have had a monstrous Aura Sense to pull something like that off. The moment he'd gotten the hang of predicting her Semblance's moves, it was over. Taking out her leg on top of that was just needlessly cruel. As was hitting her viciously long after she'd stopped moving.

That hurt.

Ruby lifted her arm, signaling her surrender.

But she wasn't in a spar. She was in Vale City, fighting… who was she fighting again?

"Last last chance kid!"

Oh right.

Even now, during her final moments, she was obsessing over the mistakes of the past. That was kind of pathetic.

Ruby blinked away tears.

Was she crying?

N-no!

She wouldn't cry. She was stronger than that… right?

She was!

"I must say that you've utterly disappointed me," Roman addressed the blond boy again. "I consider myself an adequate judge of character…" His eyes strayed to the man with the bashed skull and exposed brain matter. "…usually. I've made some mistakes in the past, I'll admit." Aura began to gather around his arms. "You, however, possess considerable potential. I'm even inclined to give you another last last chance. And this is truly your last last chance. I can do a second last last chance, but a third last last chance would really stretch my charitable nature. You have ten seconds to rise to the occasion. And I'm not going to count, so you might want to think fast."

That criminal didn't care. It was clearer to Ruby than anything else that had happened that night. She wasn't a person to him, she was garbage. She was going to end up like the man with the bashed-in skull.

A shudder went through her. It was probably going to hurt.

Her eyes squeezed shut, face scrunched up with fear

The cane was coming down. Ruby could tell by the motion of Aura in the criminal's arms.

Her entire body curled in on itself…

The cane stopped.

Several seconds passed before Ruby dared to open her eyes.

When she did, the sight that greeted her was more confusing than anything else.

The blond boy was standing over her, holding back Roman's cane with his right hand. The tatters of his shirt barely clung to his torso, exposing a muscular upper body caked with blood. His eyes were furious, his lips were pulled back in a snarl, and his coarse hair fell in blond strands across his forehead like a wild animal's mane.

Ruby couldn't believe she'd mistaken this boy for a normal civilian when he was clearly anything but. His Aura was unlocked, but now that she had scanned him thoroughly, it didn't feel shrouded. It felt dangerously drained. So much so that he shouldn't have even been conscious, let alone in a fighting shape.

He was obviously an amateur, the Weave around his right arm -if the mass of undirected Aura could even be called that- was out of control, producing barely enough power to hold back the cane. She didn't understand how he'd managed to tank the blow without shattering every bone in his arm.

"That's disappointing," Roman said. The Aura in his hands snapped into a stable configuration and he easily tore the cane out of the boy's grasp. "You're just full of surprises."

"Step back," the boy ordered.

"What is it then, a shroud? State zero?" Roman tapped his lips in thought. "No, you certainly don't look like the kind of moron who would bother with that crap."

"Don't make me ask again," the boy said, and despite everything pointing to the contrary, Ruby began to believe that he could actually follow through on the threat.

"Such a waste," Roman said, shaking his head as though he truly meant it. "I suppose I might as well get rid of you now- "

They all turned at once to the sudden roar of engines.

A Bullhead descended to hover above the street outside, its sleek body just narrow enough to fit in the space between the buildings. Headlights blared into the store, washing them in white light, and Ruby blinked to clear her vision as her eyes adjusted to the glare.

"Ah, my ride is here. Well, kids, it's been a pleasure. See you in the next life!"

"STEM, now!"

The boy's aura drained instantly and his right arm flopped uselessly at his side, just as Roman hammered down with the heel of his hand. It was a powerful strike that was meant to crack skulls and drop an opponent instantly… which the boy dodged as if he'd been waiting for that exact movement all along.

He also sidestepped the front kick, ducked below the swing of the cane, and leaned back just enough to stay out of reach of the punch aimed at his throat.

Throughout the rapid exchange, his raging eyes stayed fixed on Roman's, and his head had barely moved, as if disconnected from the rest of his body.

"You should leave now," the boy said, and the menacing warning in his voice made Ruby's skin crawl.

The light from behind Roman cast a shadow on his face, but Ruby could tell he'd lost some of his fake cheer. His dark-green eyes were calculating, focused, and entirely sane.

They stood silent like that for some time, Roman's Aura coiled tight and the blond boy somehow looking restless while remaining perfectly still. The prolonged stare-down provided enough of a break for Ruby to take stock of her situation and finally regain a coherent train of thought.

Her face reddened in shame.

Was she a Huntress or a victim? Would Yang have been lying on the ground right now if she had been there in Ruby's stead?

Yang wouldn't have. Her sister would have kept on fighting without Aura and with both of her legs shattered. She would have crawled to her weapon using only her teeth if she had to.

So why Ruby couldn't do the same?

…

…And who said she couldn't?

Ruby felt two sets of eyes staring at her as she rolled to her stomach and dragged her body across the floor.

The pain in her knee was so bad that it nearly knocked her unconscious.

But it didn't stop her.

She had no idea how long it took her to make it across the seemingly endless aisle to the opposite side of the store, but when her fingers at last came to rest on Crescent Rose's comforting grip, she realized the roar of the Bullhead's engines had stopped

From the corner of one eye, with her cheek flat against the floor, she saw a pair of shoes making their way down the aisle. The store was suddenly silent save for the footsteps crunching toward her through the wrecked merchandise. Her heavy breathing drowned out all other sounds.

The person came to a stop and bent down by her side.

"He's gone," the voice belonging to the blonde boy said, and Ruby released the pathetic Weave she'd formed with the last of her Aura. "It's over."

She struggled to her feet awkwardly, trying to keep her right leg straight to minimize the pain.

A hand reached out to steady her.

"Don't touch me!" The words came strained, hardly more than a whisper, but the agonized tone in her voice immediately stilled the hand.

"I'm sorry," the boy said, looking genuinely upset by the fright he'd caused.

She felt kind of bad.

"You just scare me, is all," Ruby piped. Grabbing a nearby shelf, she pushed her body up, stifling a pained groan when her knee twisted under the added weight.

"I apologize," the boy repeated, his voice weirdly stilted. He stood as motionless as a statue. With the crimson blood caked on his chest and the dirty, ripped clothes, he looked like the tragic artwork of some demented sculptor.

Ruby slumped back against a wall. "It's fine." One of the downed grunts shifted and groaned. "We should call for help."

"The police are already on their way," the boy said. He tilted his head as if listening to something. "They'll be here in-"

"My name's Ruby. What's yours?"

He seemed taken aback by the change of subject. "Er…" He paused again, distracted. "Jaune," he finally replied.

"Nice to meet you, Jaune."

"Right…"

"So that man just left?" Ruby asked.

"Yes," Jaune said and frowned. "Actually, he gave me his card," he held up a small business card that contained only a name and a scroll number, "I wonder if he really expected me to call once all of this is over."

Ruby's face screwed up in confusion. "As opposed to…?"

Jaune stared at her. "…As opposed to disclosing that information to the police. I wouldn't have shown you the card if I intended otherwise."

"Right!" Ruby shifted awkwardly. "Of course."

Jaune kept staring at her.

"Um, do you mind helping me get out of here?" she asked sheepishly.

"Yes. The exit is right there." Jaune pointed at the flimsy exit door that was now barely hanging on its hinges.

"I…I know where the exit is," Ruby said. "I just can't walk."

"Yes. Sorry. You sustained a lateral patellar dislocation." He spoke mechanically again, and Ruby had an irrational urge to poke him in the stomach and see if he was really made of granite.

"A what?"

"A lateral patellar dislocation."

Was he in some sort of shock? Ruby supposed it made sense, given what they'd just gone through.

"Just, give me a hand," Ruby said.

"I thought you told me not to touch you."

"I-I changed my mind, okay?!" Ruby felt her lips pucker into a pout. "Now help me out of here!"

"As you wish."

Her breath caught when he moved forward abruptly, like a statue that had regained conscious life and was now making its surprise attack.

The face of the man missing an eye rose unbidden in her mind.

"Stop!" Ruby yelled. His hands froze against her legs and lower back. "I didn't ask you to carry me!"

"I'm confused."

"Here," she pulled him up and put her arm on his shoulders. "Just need a little support."

"Alright."

As they staggered past Jaune's handiwork, over the sprawled bodies of the men he'd just brutalized, Ruby found herself shaking in disgust, struggling to ignore the smell of blood that clung to his warm body like a weaponized stench.

If she had only been faster, smarter, or…tougher, like Yang was, none of this would have happened. She shouldn't have gone after Roman so quickly, she should have gotten rid of his goons first thing, then-

No. What was she thinking?!

She shouldn't have gotten involved at all! She ended up doing far more harm than good anyway!

"Here is okay," she said when they put some distance between themselves and the entrance of the store. Jaune lowered her gently to the sidewalk, apologizing when she hissed in pain.

Ruby tried to ignore her own quite extensive handiwork; the shattered street poles, deep gashes in the road, and the car with its rear end destroyed. The passengers made it out safely -thank the gods- she'd already checked and double checked.

"Excuse me, do you know why there hasn't been a response from Vale Huntsmen yet? It's been…" He paused for no discernible reason. "…19 minutes since the fighting started, and this area is still deserted."

Ruby knew what he meant, but it still stung that he didn't think of her as the effective response. "That's easy," she replied, gingerly adjusting her injured leg to a more comfortable position. "It's been like that since the new law has passed."

"What law?"

Ruby was sort of happy to finally meet someone who seemed even more clueless than she was.

"The law that prohibits Huntsmen's response in the city limits and- "

"Wait." He lifted a hand, then a faraway expression came over his face. His eyes rolled back in his head, and just as Ruby was about ready to catch his falling form, he suddenly snapped out of it. "Yes, I remember now."

"Oh," Ruby said, deflating somewhat. "Do you want to sit? You look…" Horrible. "…slightly, drowsy."

"Drowsy?" He lifted an eyebrow.

"Just sit down," Ruby said, exasperated.

"Why?"

"Please just sit down."

"I am not drowsy."

Something in her broke, a dam that had been holding back her emotions, and the words burst out. "I lied! You look terrible, OKAY?! Stop standing over me like a creepy…hulking… brute! You're making me nervous!"

She instantly felt bad. Ruby hated conflict, especially when she was the clear instigator. She opened her mouth to apologize, but her mind had other plans. "Just go away! Get away from me! GET AWAY!"

Jaune hardly blinked, his face fixed in an inscrutable frown. "I am sorry."

He turned around and headed back to the store.

Ruby kept sitting there, half slumped over and completely worn out, watching the odd boy run back and forth, carrying the owner out to the street, then several of the grunts. He dragged some, lugged others on his back, and even lifted one in a bridal carry, placing them on their backs in a row near the middle of the road.

When he seemed to be finished with the hasty evacuation, Ruby couldn't help but notice that there were considerably more men inside the store than the few he'd dragged out. She hoped that meant most couldn't be relocated safely… and not that they were already dead.

Jaune knelt down next to one of the men, placed his hands on either side of the head, and lifted the angle of the jaw upwards. He then stopped, considering, before moving on to another grunt and performing what she recognized as a CPR procedure.

His motions were confident, but curiously unpracticed, as if he was listening to instructions while carefully experimenting with his own version of the standard steps.

Just who was he anyway? Clearly a strong fighter, yet staying at State zero while struggling for his life. Except his Aura felt drained, not shrouded.

He'd brutalized those men, and now he was giving them medical attention. He'd made it clear that he wanted to flee the scene, only to stay and save her.

None of it made any sense!

Ruby winced when she heard a ruckus from inside the store, fearing that the fighting had resumed. She couldn't take any more violence today, or maybe ever.

To her great relief, Jaune's head peeked out a moment later, hauling something behind him.

Crescent Rose.

She'd never had trouble bearing the weight of her weapon, so it was almost surreal seeing the hulking guy who had just fended off a powerful criminal struggling with it. Crescent Rose was heavier than the typical Huntsman's weapon, but if he still had that much Aura left to move about, he could have easily constructed a simple strength Weave. Besides, it didn't take much to cut Crescent Rose's weight in half by manipulating the Gravity Dust that coated all modern Huntsmen's weapons.

It was almost as if he was a complete amateur. One who had paid the sizeable sum to have his Aura unlocked but had received practically no instruction after that. Which would have been possible if he hadn't demonstrated those brutal combat skills.

The scythe screeched loudly against the road's asphalt surface, and when Jaune eventually came to a stop in front of her, the sudden silence that followed felt wrong.

Slightly puffing, he lifted Crescent Rose off the ground and held it out to her.

"Your weapon," Jaune said, his voice strained from the effort. "I thought you'd feel safer with it back in your hands."

The gesture may have seemed trivial, insignificant, but it meant the world to her.

"She's called Crescent Rose," Ruby said in a small voice.

"A named weapon," he muttered. His distant expression morphed into something that resembled a mixture of grief and regret. It felt out of place in his otherwise stern demeanor, but that new range of emotions seemed to crack the invisible wall between them.

He fought to hold up Crescent Rose, his entire body was shaking from the strain of keeping his arms locked out straight and the huge hunk of metal in the air.

Just before the tip of the scythe touched ground, Ruby reached out and laid her hand near his, on the handle of her weapon, bearing some of its weight with her far greater strength.

"Thank you."

"What for?" He asked, puzzled.

"For saving me back there," Ruby said, her voice trembling slightly. "I thought it was over for me. I was so scared I couldn't move." She lowered her head in defeat. Usually, she wouldn't admit her weaknesses out loud, but for some reason, she felt compelled to do so in front of this stranger. "I was only trying to stay alive."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," he said calmly. "It is natural for every biological entity to strive for survival at all costs."

"Huh?" she looked up at him, her face wrinkled in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing." He breathed a sigh of relief as if some great burden had just been lifted from his shoulders. "It means absolutely nothing at all."

Ruby pulled herself to her feet and Jaune let go of the handle. It was only then when they were standing so close together and facing each other, that she noticed the stark difference in their heights. Jaune towered head and shoulders above her.

"O-kay, so...do you- "

"You might want to close your eyes," he said.

"Why would I want to close my- "

'From Dust Till Dawn' exploded in a massive fireball that rose twenty feet in the air and painted the early morning sky with a ghastly display of blue and orange flames

"Unfortunately," Jaune said as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened, "it appears we have lost the footage from the security cameras." He put a hand on the small of her back and gently tugged her a step closer, close enough to avoid the piece of burning wood that crashed to the ground behind her. "I don't mean to burden you with my troubles on top of everything else, but… say, would you be willing to testify that I was only acting in self-defense?"