The ride back in the Bullhead was... awkward in more ways than one.
The others could do or say nothing but stare with varying degrees of shock and surprise while watching the two interact with each other. Scarlet, in a sense, was acting as a sort of twin to Ruby with her being the complete opposite of Ruby in terms of personality and mannerism.
The introduction was crazy enough, but as they returned to Beacon the questions began pouring out from her friends again. Scarlet had decided to rest and let Ruby do the actual explaining to Ruby's ultimate chagrin. Being thrust into the spot light was never something she liked.
As they made they way back to their rooms, they stopped and pondered together. The curiosity of their friends new skills was too tantalizing to let go of, the only person who didn't seem so enthusiastic was Jaune. He was more than happy to wave them all off and head back to JNPR's dorm alone, clear exhaustion painfully visible in his hunched walk.
Understandable, considering how his day's been until now. The poor boy's been dragged halfway across Vale, completely not of his own doing and made to feel completely uncomfortable for the entire occasion. It was safe to say, he wanted no part in anything else related to Ruby's Semblance, and as they collectively heard the JNPR dorm door slam shut they all made the decision to leave him be.
So instead of immediately going to their separate dorms the collect, the trio piled into team RWBY's room instead. Once inside, a collective sigh came from them all in unison.
Today has been completely draining, in more ways than one. If they had known that it was going to be so hectic, they probably never would've left the campus grounds.
Now, the unpack the mental hurdle that was Ruby and her "new" Semblance... and friend that came with it.
Knowing now that they're essentially two beings in one was very jarring and Weiss was the first of course due to her insistence on knowing how her Semblance was even capable of such a thing. However, in her defense, she's right to be curious as sentience within a Semblance was and somewhat is unheard of.
"Ruby, I demand to know exactly how this happened and don't leave out any details!" She was becoming increasingly insistent, even by Ruby's standards. She sighed in defeat as Weiss stood steadfast in her desire to completely understand her partner's new abilities.
"Come on Weiss, I already told you..."
Tapping her foot on the floor impatiently, the Ice Queen stared expectantly at Ruby. Another sigh left the Red Reapers mouth before she began to recount the tale.
Ruby wasn't lying when she said she'd already explained herself, she spoke at great length about everything on the Bullhead. However, Weiss was trying to analyze any minute detail she could find in Ruby's own awakening that help her with unlocking of the Schnee special ability of her semblance.
"It all started with that fight I had with Cardin... when he caught me by surprise. It wasn't like Scarlet just started going wild or something like that, I just remember really wanting my semblance to help me."
She could easily remember how suddenly she was caught off-guard and how helpless she felt in that moment. It surprised her even now just how much she relied on her weapon and Semblance without ever actually training her body. Fighting, brawling was never her forte, that was her sister's arena and area of expertise. That's not to say she didn't try, but when her uncle introduced her to the scythe... it was love at first sight.
"I felt so... helpless, and then I felt everything around me in an instant. When I turned into the petals, I could feel everything through the wind and air around the classroom. I could see through every petal, at every angle and it wasn't overwhelming at all..." She let go of a long, drawn-out sigh as soon as she finished speaking, ready and waiting for a barrage of questions from her partner and teammates.
The new tidbit of information given didn't do much to help solve the mystery unfortunately, even Weiss could only push so far, which she acknowledged.
"This is just too crazy for me...," chirped a dead-tired Yang from her bed. She was exhausted without question and she didn't much care who was in her room at this point. Having dived into her bed moments prior, she was determined to not get back up.
"How does using your Semblance feel now? Is it any different from before?" Ren curiously asked with a raised hand as he too was quite intrigued on the topic. He wondered if this was the reason she asked for his help a few weeks ago.
"It's... so natural to me now, I can control the petals in a much more advanced way. I can feel each of them, and I can move them any way I want." As Ruby spoke, she summoned a dozen or so of her petals in her hand, swirling them around in her range of control. She moved her arm in different directions to emphasize her point.
"That, I can work with. My own semblance is similar in that regard as well, my sigils and spell crests feel like extensions of my self."
Weiss nodded to herself in understanding as she spoke to her partner, finally they were making progress with her new semblance. With any luck, maybe helping Ruby with her semblance would help her unlock the potential of her own...!
The resident Ice Queen was now somewhat fired up. She'll do her best to make sure that the two of them improve, even if she has to drag Ruby along the entire way to do so. "Ruby, starting tomorrow you and I will come up with training regiment. We're going to work on any and every possible angle of our Semblances together," she so triumphantly announced to the room.
"But we've already got combat class first thing in morning..!" Ruby whined, not liking the idea of stacking training exercises right after Ms. Goodwitch's classes. Knowing her partner, she was probably going to be put through the ringer and she was silently dreading it.
Yang, however was quick to interject into her plans. "What's got you so amped? A few minutes ago you were pissy because of Scarlet absolutely dismissing you..."
"And now...! I want to help my partner with her troubles!... Which will also help me in the process."
At this point, even Blake chimed in, "That didn't at all sound disingenuous...," she sarcastically drawled out much to Weiss's red-faced shock.
"W-wha... I would never-!" The Ice Queen tried and failed to defend her stance as Yang swiftly interjected her own two-cents.
"I don't recall Ruby even asking for help to begin with..." Scarlet momentarily re-emerged as a much much smaller copy of Ruby. She sat on Ruby's shoulder with the grace of a pixie and spoke through the errant petals in the room.
"Woah! She can do that??" Yang, shocked at hearing the extra Ruby voice from the other side of the room. To which, Scarlet just smiled serenely and waved at her amazed expression. Weiss looked completely red and flabbergasted at this point, "Well I don't recall us even asking for your opinion, Scarlet!"
That got Ruby to quickly want to interject, throwing her hands up as she let out an exhausted breath. "Ok ok, Weiss... no more teasing. Think we all should try to get some kind of rest after today's escapades."
"Hmph, fine. We will be training tomorrow however Ruby, it's been a while and we do need to work our form."
"Gotcha loud and clear Weiss Cream~"
Both teams agreed overwhelmingly as they exchanged nods and similar yawns. Ruby was more than over the conversation at that point and just as effortlessly began to float onto her bed. Scarlet vanished as quickly as she appeared and after saying their goodbyes, the rest of JNPR returned to their own dorm too.
The room quickly grew quiet as the four of them found their ways into their respective beds. Once they gained full privacy, they all almost instantly fell asleep. The exhaustion of the day having caught up to them.
[FB]
Morning came and went as any day would. With that, came another day of almost every student's favorite class.
Too bad team RWBY was running late again by about five minutes. The four of them sliding and slamming through the arena/classroom doors, screaming at each other about who's fault was whom. Clearly, someone missed their alarm clock today but Ms. Goodwitch was not having any of it.
"Hurry to your seats, ladies. You've interrupted the class for long enough." She said with a tone of finality that left no questions of her desires.
Team RWBY sped into their seats like the wind itself, finding themselves next to their sister team as usual. It was Pyrrha who broke the silence if only for a moment. "Alarm clock, again," Ruby nodded.
Turning back to her desk, she looked into the arena to catch the latest fight. Coco Adel and Neptune Vasilias were squaring off with each other with Coco pressing the offensive. Her heavy-machine gun/ anti-personnel handheld Gianduja, was doing wonders for keeping Neptune at bay. With no cover however, this won't last long
She was really hoping that she'd get a chance to show off a little bit. "Oh yea~, we're definitely combat ready." Scarlet quietly chimed in from the deeper spaces of her mind.
'Exactly! I've improved so much and I have you now, too! At the very least, we'll give the class a good show!' Ruby had successfully managed to pump herself up with her self-pep talk, now she was just hoping to raise her hand fast enough to be chosen.
Just in time it seems, as Coco is just about to put an end to the fight. Neptune somehow managed to slide around and under her bullet trail, but he sadly wasn't fast enough to avoid the Aura-charged heel slamming down onto his own foot. Inches away from striking, he was suddenly stopped by searing pain shooting up from his left leg and although he tried desperately to not avert his eye from the target, he couldn't help but to look down and see his own demise staring back.
Gianduja, now a thick, black purse was on the upswing and headed for a nasty collision with his face.
His face would not be spared, and as he was sent hurdling through the air out of the ring, his last moments of consciousness for the time would be spent thinking about the damages to his face and how the ladies will never give him the time of day now.
"The winner is Coco Adel, well done. Could someone from his team please take him to the Infirmary?" Ms. Goodwitch turned to see Sun Wukong quickly hefting his partner over his shoulder before making a quick dash out of the door.
The established teacher cleared her throat, regaining the attention of the classroom. There was a lesson to be learned from this exchange.
"Ok class, so who can tell me what Mr. Vasilias did wrong?"
To which Velvet Scarlatina, Coco's partner arose from her seat. "H-he wasn't paying enough attention to his opponent, he was entirely too focused on avoiding her bullets and he didn't see Gianduja changing back into its original form. He also didn't take proper advantage of his own long-ranged options." She finished with a small smile and nod.
'Ahh~ a diligent and dutiful student,' Glynda smiled inwardly at the second year students intellect. "That's correct, Miss. Scarlatina. Let that be a lesson to everyone about being aware of your surroundings. Ok, I think we've enough got time for one more... would anyone like to volunteer?"
'This is it...!' Ruby sprung out of her seat with break-neck speed, her right hand pointing straight to the ceiling.
"I'll volunteer!"
"I'd like to volunteer!"
'...huh? That sounded like Weiss.' Standing right next to her, Weiss had her own hand raised high in the air. She looked at Ruby with an slightly surprised expression, it quickly changed into a light smile upon further inspection.
'Because it is Weiss. Probably intending to use this as an impromptu practice run for her own Semblance...,' Scarlet mused. While she didn't generally dislike Wiess... she wasn't exactly a fan of her high society personality, especially now when it seems like she's merely using them for her own gain.
Ms. Goodwitch saw no reason to not accept them, sometimes it does partners well to go head to head. To see where one another stands and to test themselves against someone they respect.
This could be a potentially great learning experience.
"Very well. Both of you, please make your way to the arena." With that, it was set in stone and the two huntresses in training took to their respective sides and preparation rooms.
After a few moments, both girls returned to the arena, weapons in hand.
"I hope you'll take this seriously, Ruby because I intend to." The ice queen announced somewhat triumphantly as she flourished her Myrtenaster in her opponent's direction. Ruby, good sport that she was, just nodded in agreement with her trademark smile. Crescent Rose twirled in her hands quite easily as she locked eyes with her partner.
"The floor's all yours Ruby, she them how far you've progressed." Scarlet cheered mentally for her host, she was just as invested after all.
Goodwitch raised her hand, silencing the entire class...
"Ready...? Begin!"
As soon as her hand dropped, Ruby took the initiative via completely turning into her petals and spreading across battlefield in a misty-red flurry.
Weiss wasn't about to wait around for the first strike to come her way however, with quick flick of her rapier, a spiraling, glowing white glyph formed below her. Upon its activation, she was aptly launched into the air and above the rose mist by a few inches.
She surveyed the area before preparing another Spell crest powered with Ice dust. If she couldn't pinpoint Ruby's general location, flushing her out was the next best option.
Until she heard what sounded like a soft giggle directly behind her.
Abruptly, she turned to find nothing, swearing under her breath as she regretted falling for Ruby's games. However, just as she turned around to re-focus herself, she was suddenly caught in the the headlights of a speeding and violently spinning Crescent Rose. It shot out of the red leaf cloud like a bullet with her name on it and with only seconds to spare, she leapt away from the attack.
Her glyph was destroyed in the process as Crescent Rose shattered it.
From the stands and seats, the other students whispered amongst themselves about who they thought would win. Their friends had different opinions on the fight, however.
Blake was the first to vocalize her thoughts, "Ruby's really going for it, huh? I've never seen her like this before. She looks so..."
"Focused." Yang finished the sentence for her.
Pyrrha couldn't help but notice the subtle differences in how Ruby fought before and after her improved Semblance. Her honed instincts were sending all the necessary feedback for her to come up with her own ideas. One of which being how Ruby and Scarlet have completely different styles of combat, she recalled the chase in Vale and the subsequent small skirmish and the difference was night and day.
Where Ruby was direct and straightforward, Scarlet ebbed and flowed like liquid. But this... this was Ruby taking advantage of both her own and Scarlets style.
Pyrrha really wanted to fight Ruby now.
The ice queen recovered quickly enough before landing back onto the floor, once again caught inside of Ruby's red bubble with no idea where she was.
"Teeheehee..."
Another giggle at her back made her hairs slightly stand up, but she kept her ground and immediately let a blast of Aura empowered air spew from the tip of Myrtenaster. From the blade came a rather powerful gust of wind that overtook the arena and scattering the petals.
The red fog was lifted. Ruby however was still nowhere to be seen... That is... until...
"Ehehe... nice try Weiss...," suddenly rings out from above.
A split second, that was all the time Weiss had to acknowledge the location of the sound before she slid out from her position. Just narrowly avoiding Crescent Rose, this time with a wild Ruby attached, coming down on her head. With heavy thud, Ruby hit the floor, driving the edge of Crescent Rose blade into the ground. She quickly freed it before turning around, winking at her partner and brandishing her scythe again.
[FB]
This was not was Ms. Goodwitch was expecting at all.
She expected Weiss to be the calculating and methodical one, but seeing Ruby actively plot and set traps was something else as well. She had been effectively keeping her opponent on their heels, quite literally speaking in this case.
The Schnee heiress was still doing quite well however, considering both of the two have nearly the same amount stored Aura. She was wise to hold off on using more advanced glyphs before she had a better grasp of what her opponent was capable of.
All in all, this was shaping up to a very rememberable fight.
Clearly Miss Rose hasn't been slacking off lately, seeing as how she's monumentally improved by leaps and bounds, and thats not to say that she wasn't a top contender to begin with. Her speed, verticality and technicality all are a force to be reckoned with already but now it was like a switch was flipped. She still made great use of her speed, but her Semblance has definitely changed.
'I'm guessing that her Semblance must've... evolved at some point. I'm sure Ozpin will want to see this,' she thought with a fair level of personal curiosity as she made sure to record the fight before her.
Though, she was sure that he was already watching.
Meanwhile
In the very back of the classroom, a certain silver-haired legless chap, a darker-skinned, emerald-haired woman and a picturesque definition of deathly and sultry sat quietly and observed.
"Wow, she's really getting good.~ It's no wonder she almost kicked your ass Merc." Emerald made sure to take a jab at her nearby associate. From the looks of their relationship, the jabs were quite mutual, though it certainly seems like she usually has the high ground.
"Piss off...," Mercury was as perpetually ticked off as usual.
"Now, now you too..." The 'leader' spoke.
She twirled her hair lightly as she watched the fight. "She most certainly has improved, that much is certain but this recent development will require a more... thorough investigation." Her voice oozed a smug, self-satisfaction that was easily palpable just by the look of her eyes alone.
"I agree, Cinder. She's definitely get in out way if we don't do something..." Emerald nodded and bowed her head in total agreement and servitude.
"Who knows, she may prove more of a threat than our 'Goddess of Victory,' over there."
With that Mercury perked up.
"And if she is...?" He silently asked, hoping to hear the only answer that mattered to him.
"Mhmhmhmhm~ We deal with her accordingly..."
Words from the Author:
Back at it with another one! Hot n fresh!~
Things are heating up and I can't wait reveal more, next chapter is gonna be fiya!!!
Another Omega chapter is on the way, then a Really Big DIOB chapter coming after that.
Stay tuned friends~