Chapter 7 Trials and training (Part 1)

Key

"Character speaking"

'Character thinking'

Purifier Pov

"Well here we are your new training area." She cheerily told Ruby.

"Where are we, it looks kind of like southern Mistral jugging from all of the plants." Ruby correctly guessed.

"You would be correct, we're currently in the middle of nowhere Mistral, next to the Greater smaller lake."

"Wow really, I've heard that only the best martial artists in the world can train here, because in order to cross the narrow strip of land that connects both sides you have to move with the waves. Is that why you brought me here." Ruby ecstatically asked.

"What no, I brought you here because there's a Mirror Cave right in front of us. What was all that stuff about great martial artists from?" She pointed towards the small cave that rose from the shore of the lake.

"Oh, nothing that's just from action movies I watch all the time with my sister." Ruby sheepishly answered.

"Kay, are they enjoyable?"

"No not really, their really cheesy."

"Anyway, until you conquer that cave you and I will be training together, For as long as necessary." The contempt that was evident in her voice from the last few words did not escape Ruby.

'If I'm lucky she'll unlock those eye powers of hers right away. But if she doesn't then it could drag out this training, great.'

"So first things first, I want you to hit me with your hardest punch, after that I'll figure something out."

"You want me to punch you?" Ruby hesitantly asked.

"Why yes I do, why is there a problem with that?"

"Nnn-no it's just that I'm really not that good with hand to hand combat so it probably won't be that strong." Ruby rambled on.

"Just. Punch. ME." Purifier angrily commanded.

She noted that Ruby tried to put everything into her punch, and accidentally punched her in the face. Ruby froze in terror at the thought of making her angrier. Purifier meanwhile wasn't very impressed with Ruby's pitiful punch, it had very little power behind it, the way Ruby was punching would be prone to causing hand cramps, and it didn't leave much of an impact. If it weren't for the fact that Purifier was paying attention she doubted she would have felt it at all.

"I-iii'm sorry I didn't mean to punch you in the face." She profusely apologized.

"Is that the best punch you could really muster?" She dreadfully asked.

"Uh y-yes." Ruby shamefully admitted.

"Then it looks like we'll be here for a lot "Longer" than I anticipated." She wanted to emphasize the word longer to really drive home to Ruby either get better or your not going home.

"Well I'll make sure to get even stronger, but I have a few questions." Ruby admitted.

"Sure fire away."

"Why'd you ask me if I knew how to forge or not?"

"Because I'm going to have you upgrade your scythe after you clear the Mirror Cave."

"What's a mirror cave?"

"It's a cave that's created by my little sister to test if someone is worthy enough to obtain a wisdom cube."

"What's a wisdom cube." Ruby gleefully asked.

"This is the second to last question, also the wisdom cube was made by again my little sister, their little blue cubes that once they are grabbed by someone who wasn't created by one, will summon forth the dreams and desires from the individual and revive the soul of a warship from our universe that shares the similar ideals and or desire's. Like for instance when you grabbed ahold of it and summoned Texas, she probably shares similar ideals to you. Or like the person who summoned Yamato wished for nothing but raw power, despite the fact that Yamato doesn't share the same philosophy she does when it comes to. A Lot of things."

"Alright then final question, why is it that you guys are even doing this? Don't get me wrong I'm glad that you guys are because I got to meet someone who despite only knowing her for a "Very short" amount of time, I'd still consider her my friend.

She knew the perfect lie to tell Ruby after all it was so close to the truth that they were almost one the same.

"Hm, well that's an easy one, you see my two sister's and I are called sirens, and our goal in life is to help advance humanity and Faunus kind to the become the best possible versions of themselves. You know kind of like what you want little Rose."

"But if that's true why did that monster Yamato attack Texas, couldn't you guys have intervened and prevented Texas from getting hurt?"

"But we can't, once a ship is summoned by a wisdom cube they can't be affected by us. Plus Ruby just because I can throw a punch doesn't mean I can take on a battleship." She lied to Ruby.

"But still why'd you let who ever it was that summoned Yamato to, well summon her?"

"Whatever happened to only one more question, since your asking I'll answer but just so you know no more questions after this got it!"

"Yes I promise this'll be the last one."

"Very well, I'd like to answer your question with one of my own with one for you. Is it right to deny Yamato being reborn and getting a chance to meet her sisters again? Or is it more right to deny her and let her sit in a state of perpetual torment?"

"Well when you put it like that..." Ruby paused.

"That's precisely the point Ruby, even though we have the best of intentions it still doesn't mean we should change how someone thinks, just to fulfill our desire of wanting a perfect world for everyone, it's simply put wrong."

"Yes, but even then the very first thing Yamato did was vengeance, why didn't you, I don't know try to at least convince her to not try and kill Texas?"

"Well since you keep on ignoring my rule when it comes to only one more question how about this. I'll answer any of your questions if you exceed my expectations, does that work?" She inquired from Ruby.

"Sure thing I accept your challenge." Ruby determinately shot back at Purifier.

'Hmm now what should be the first thing I do? Considering how pathetic that punch was I doubt she'd be able to improve much in that department in any meaningful amount of time. Maybe I should focus on her strengths. If what Tester told me about her is true she's not very patient, nor is she a quitter. Then there's the matter of her silver eyes. The book claimed that the training to unlock them isn't hard if the person doing the training accidentally activated them during a time of extreme stress, yet she failed to activate them when she witnessed Texas's near demise. I suppose since she barely knew Texas she didn't react the same as if say a friend who she had known for awhile had died in front of her. These silver eye might be more trouble then their worth, since they Exclusively harm Grimm or people who contain Grimm.' Purifier frustratingly thought to herself.

"Hey Ruby could you please tell me what your good at, so I can help you improve." She cheerily inquired.

"Oh I'm good with using sniper rifles, scythe weapons, oh right and I'm really good at running really fast." She listed off.

Purifier needed time to formulate the plan necessary for training Ruby. Especially since Ruby from the sounds of it preferred to stay out of reach of an opponent, while also relying on her speed to make sure that an enemy couldn't close the distance. On top of the fact that she hadn't done watched her anywhere near as closely as she had done with Cinder. Then there was again the matter of unlocking her silver eye's which requires either a traumatic experience, or years of training and meditating. Considering the fact that she needed to complete this training in roughly three months, the former was preferred over the latter. Luckily for her she knew someone who could help her with the former. Now she just needed an excuse to leave Ruby. Coincidentally it was turning dusk.

"Augh it's already dusk, great you just wasted so much precious time on nothing more than questions. I'll make sure tomorrows training's even harder than what it would've been for doing that." And with that she promptly stormed off and left Ruby to her devices.

Ruby Pov

"Well since it's late I think I should let Yang know I'm okay." Ruby said to no one.

"Hm, it seems like I've already gotten some texts, alright let's see who it is. Dad says that he wants me to let him know how I am everyday, Yang said dear sis if you pull this stunt again you'll have worse things than broken bones. And finally uncle Qrow says that he'll be seeing me really soon." She was really glad that she had brought her scroll this time especially since now her family wouldn't be as worried as the were before.

'Now that she thought about it Purifier had just abandoned her in the middle of nowhere, without alluding to making sure that she would guard her while she slept, like uncle Qrow would do while they camped.

'If I worry about nothing then it'll just end up attracting Grimm to me anyway.' Ruby ultimately concluded.

There was just one little problem though, and that was that Ruby couldn't sleep. No matter what position she took, no matter what she slept on, and no matter what she did she just couldn't sleep. The culprit as to why, was literally right in front of her.

The Mirror cave as Purifier called them, seemed to exude a negative aura, whenever she tried to sleep. What's more she also didn't get what Purifier meant by from another universe, did that mean that both she and Texas were aliens? If so then why travel across universes just to help the people here? Was there something wrong in theirs? Most importantly, would they let her see thier world? Ruby had so many questions yet so little answers, it was infuriating.

'I want, nay need to know more, yet all I had currently to go off of was that. (A) Purifier could teleport, has somewhat of a short temper, and has a little sister that could create wisdom cubes, and Mirror caves. (B) Purifier, her sisters, Texas, and Yamato all originate from another dimension. And finally (C) I'm was going to be here a lot longer than either of us expected.'

'If I'm here for longer than three months then that mean...' She quickly tried to change topics.

"I wonder if I can complete the Mirror cave right now?" She blurted aloud.

Purifier didn't say that she couldn't complete the cave here and now, though she also didn't say that she could either. Ruby knew she might get in trouble if she were to complete it, alternatively there was also a chance that Purifier might congratulate her if she did complete it. Ruby just had too many unanswered questions about, well everything.

She was almost done falling asleep from exhaustion when she heard the cries of beowolves, and they sounded close by. She quickly grabbed Crescent Rose and prepared for the inevitable attack from the monstrous Grimm.

'I guess that answers the question of whether she's guarding me in my sleep or not' Ruby thought to herself.

She scanned the tree line for anything, and found two cold blood red eye's staring back at her from some bushes. They were the tell tale signs of a Grimm along with their black fur and white armor. Strangely though it was just starring back at her and not charging her, as Beowolves typically would upon making eye contact with their target. It appeared to be observing her, taking advantage of it's lack of action she turned Crescent Rose into a sniper rifle and shot it between the eyes.

Before the shot made contact with the Beowolf, the entire pack started charging at her. She rapidly picked off their pack members one by one with the sniper rifle, however they eventually got through and tried to rush her with their vicious claws. Luckily her semblance helped her dodge the thrashing from their claws. Now having the opportunity to do so she turned her weapon into a scythe, while the large pack of Grimm charged towards her yet again.

'I might need to conserve ammo incase Purifier won't give me more.' She thought to herself.

She did Not want to potentially run out of ammo then have an Ursa major show up. Instead she cleaved through each wolf with extreme precision. However even with her consevation of ammo led to her recieving a multitude of attacks from the vicious beasts. Eventually she slashed her way through all of her opponents and stood victorius over her disintegrating foes. She collapsed from exhaustion and fell soundly asleep.

The next day

"Wake up." Ruby heard someone shout gruffly.

She recognized the voice as being similar to that of the evil bandit guy from an old western movie she used to watch, she never could remember his name. Ruby chocked it up to her just dreaming due too her lack of sleep, so she tried her best to ignore him.

"I said..." He began while preparing his right leg.

"Wake Up!" He kicked Ruby into the stomach with such intensity that she was launched into the air briefly.

With a startled yelp Ruby violently landed on the ground, right onto her back. When Ruby opened her eyes she quickly noticed that she was surrounded by a cavalcade of bandits, all of whom seemed to have their eyes squarely fixed on her, analyzing her every move. They all appeared to be the most generic western bandits to ever exist, they wore brown leggings with brown boots that all had silver stars on the ankle, they all wore various ammunition belts. That varied from going around their waist, chest shoulder and even their arms and legs. Additionally five of them wore black shirts and jackets, the only exception being the bandit who kicked her, he wore a red shirt and wore a blue jacket with a red bandana around his neck, as well as a plack cowboy hat on his head. His eyes were a shade of yellow, and hair was white.

"I'm so glad you could finally wake up to join us, after all we've only been wait'n for Four hours for you to wake up! Now that your all nice and up I'd like to tell ya that we're gonna be "borrowing" your little bag of goodies and be taking off. But now I think we'll be taking of with something else, ain't that right boys?" The leader of the bandits questioned his men.

"Ya like yer head!" One of the bandits shouted before charging at Ruby with a battle axe.

'This isn't good I don't have Crescent Rose, and she's in my bag. If I can get to my bag then I can get her and probably take out these guys.' She quickly percived the situation before her.

The bandit who was charging at her, took a swing at her with his great battle axe that barely missed it's mark. He then started swinging the blade like a mad man, which Ruby guessed he was. A few of his swing mearly grazed her and proceeded to take out huge chunks of her aura. Ruby didn't know what to do, she wasn't able to get an opportunity to get out of his attacks to try and get Crescent Rose. He kept on pushing her further and further back towards the forest, she doubted she could really get an opportunity to land a single punch on him with the way he was currently attacking her. Then as if to make things even worse she tripped, this would prove to be a blessing in disguise, because he then telegraphed his next attack when he raised his terrible axe into the air.

"Dis time yo can't run girl!" He shouted as he brought the weapon down.

Ruby (thanks to how obvious it was) dodged the killing blow and in turn his axe managed to get stuck in the ground. Getting up Ruby started trying to imitate her sister's fighting style, but she lacked Yang's power and technique. Thankfully though it was now a much more even fight, which was something Ruby still didn't want. Because if this fight was even then all of the subsequent fights would be even harder, that is if she won this one. Both of them exchanged blows with one another, however she started to notice something odd about this guy. He had no aura yet he was still taking her (admittedly weak) punches like a champ, while his punches were slower, and packed more punch behind them.

He then punched Ruby in the chin with a right hook, she was sent yet again tumbling to the floor. Only now she realized that she was next to his battle axe, which gave her an idea.

"Hhhh-hhey I bet that your not strong enough take me on even if I had your battle axe." She challenged him hoping he'd be stupid enough to take her bait.

"Oh really ya tink your stronga den me. I'm gonna make you regret those words." He then yet again charged at Ruby with his small brown hat falling off revealing bison horns.

'Huh so he's a bison faunas, go figure.' Ruby thought to herself.

She then grabbed a hold of the axe and started trying to pull the handle back more vertically. She'd somewhat succeeded and managed to make it stick up more, her train of thought was either (A) he brakes his own weapon and runs into a tree, or (B) he lodges the weapon free which should allow her to pick it up. Either way it's a win, win for her. Much to Ruby's amazement her plan actually worked and the axe flew out of the ground from the impact of the blow, and he managed to get stuck in the tree behind the axe. Now came the hardest part of her plan getting Crescent Rose from them, she didn't worry about Mr Bison (who was still stuck in the tree), but instead she focused on the other bandit's who all appeared to be carrying firearms, and various swords.

"Well I've got to say I'm impressed..." The leader began.

"But I think your overestimating yourself if you really thing you can take us all on." He declared while extending his arms out towards his four other companions emphasizing his point.

Ruby was somewhat shaking. She wasn't skilled with an axe like she was with Crescent Rose, this was on top of the damage the bison guy already did to her. Ruby just had a thought cross her mind, where's Purifier? Did they do something to her, or was she waiting to see if Ruby could handle them or not?

'Charging at them won't help, cause it'll just get me hurt for no reason. I can't wait for them to go on the offensive because then they'll just overwhelm me. I also don't even know if I can swing this axe at them because the other guy lacked aura, and if it turns out they don't then...' She pondered the predicament she was in.

However, her choice was taken from her when the bandits charged her down. Instead of simply rushing towards them, or waiting for them to come to her, Ruby instead sprinted for the tree line. The bandits were still on her heels, when Yang suddenly jumped out of the forest.

"What the, Yang how'd you get here?" The bewildered Ruby inquired.

"Oh, you see that Purifier lady sent me over here. You know to help you with the training, and to help you beat up these guys." Yang quickly responded while activating Ember Celica.

Now that Yang was here Ruby knew that this fight was over. After all Yang's here and with her expertise in close quarters combat, this fight was in the bag; and after the fight she could ask Yang how exactly she was going to help with her training.

With one blast from Ember Celica three of the four goons were knocked out, the fourth one Ruby disarmed with her newly acquired axe. Instead of fighting her he ran away into the underbrush. Leaving just the leader to deal with.

"Well, well, well, I've got to give you credit for defeating my lackeys, but I'm afraid that this is where your little story ends." He declared while clapping his hands

A bright yellow light glowed around him briefly blinding Ruby, and when she looked again she quickly saw that the bandit's leader now had a purple cybernetic eye patch that glowed yellow. Around him as a terrifying assortment of what Ruby assumed to be guns, they all looked kinda alien to her. The two giant cannons above his head Ruby guessed to be his deadliest assets, each of his cannons seamed to have a yellow glow come out of them. Though much to Ruby's dismay he was still holding onto her bag of stuff.

"Yang we need to get my bag out of his hands so I can use Crescent Rose, then we can dismantle that equipment easily. Does that sound good to you?" Ruby strategized to her sister.

"Sure thing sis, I've got it." Yang assured to Ruby with a thumbs up.

She then charged foward at the Gun man.

"Wait Yang I didn't me-." She was rude fully cut off when the faunas guy chucked a tree at her.

"Do you realize how hard it is to get a tree out of your horns!" He furiously shouted.

"You are trying to kill me!" Ruby shouted at him.

"Ya, well ugh, maybe don't make it so easy." he shot back, before charging at her again.

This time Ruby attempted to sidestep him, however he anticipated her doing this so he extended his arms out and successfully grabbed a hold of her. He then started headbutting her repeatedly.

'How on remnant am I supposed to get out of this, and where's Purifier and d-, did she set this up?

He shattered what remained of her aura, all the while the exhausted and beaten Ruby couldn't do anything to stop him from squeezing her a little, cracking her still healing bones. In fact she could even hear them snap. She couldn't even screem in pain due to her voice being hoarse.

Suddenly he flipped her around so she could watch Yang's fight with the head hancho guy. Yang much to Ruby's surprise was struggling against what appeared to just be some goon guy with cannons on his back, she'd seen Yang take down brutes like these guys before. Were they really that ridiculously strong.

"Ha, would you look at that your o so strong older sister is struggling against some thug, yet hear you are unable to help her. Though if you were only the slightest bit stronger you could've saved her..." Ruby zoned everything out when she saw it.

The bull guy seemed to stop, no the whole world seemed to stop when she saw a lazer go straight through Yang. The thung became a blur, when tears started coming out of her eyes. She didn't even have the strength to yell out Yang's name.

'No this can't be happening I refuse to believe it.' She thought to herself

Her eye's started glowing white before they burst with an explosion of silver that "leapt" forth, blinding everyone and knocking Ruby unconscious.

"Well I think I call that a success if I've ever seen one, and all we had to do was kill a fake Yang." Observer announced to the level 3 Smasher model.

After morphing her body into it's original form, and letting Ruby go limp on the ground.

"I think you might've gone a little overboard, she is a human after all it's not like we're dealing with Enterprise." Tester told Observer.

"What do you mean? How did I go too "overboard"?"

"Well for starters, maybe just, maybe wait a little while longer before giving her two traumatic experiences within the span of three days."

"Ya, but we needed to have the silver eye thing unlocked or her training would've taken even longer." Purifier complained,

"You have three whole months to work with you can afford to take a week!"

"But, it would've been sooo boring, plus it's not like I wasn't going to tell her that, that wasn't the real Yang."

"That doesn't make things better you know."

"Well whatever for now we just have to wait for her to wake up, it won't be take that long"

I hope this Chapter was worth the wait, because surprisingly it was harder to make than the two previous chapters despite only being 4k ish words. Ah well I hope everyone sincerely enjoys it none the less.

Q&A time:

Zenko13: Will big sister Amagi make an appearance?

Answer: Yes, but not in the same way that Texas and Yamato did. I've been planning to include the insane fox ships from the Sakura Empire I'm just not there yet in the story.

Shiloh 1990: Will any of the other girls get ships or is it just Ruby and Cinder?

Answer: At least two other people will get one (after all there isn't something stopping anyone from finding one it's just a matter of beating it).

Any how that's all of the questions that I haven't answered through PM's, so good bye for now.

(P.S. this is my first fan fiction so any and all criticism is welcomed)