The following day, Ruby was glad she hadn't told Qrow about Neo the night before. Not just because Qrow was deadly poisoned and so Neo wouldn't have any problem killing him, but also because, after their talk, she wasn't so sure she wanted to.
Sure, Neo was bad, and she was threatening to murder everyone the moment she told them she was here, but Ruby didn't think that she was an enemy anymore. She wasn't a friend either, that Ruby was acutely aware of, considering that even when they almost died fighting that grimm back in Kuroyuri she hadn't stepped in to help in any way, but at least she wasn't a foe.
So maybe, just maybe, she should wait. Wait and see what Neo had in store for Cinder. It wouldn't be much, compared to the real threat that was Salem, but at least it'd weaken them, maybe.
And hopefully, once Cinder was gone, Neo would help them further than that.
Safe inside a hotel in Mistral, thinking back over the journey they had to get here, Ruby wrote her sister a letter. She wouldn't be able to say much, but there was so many things she wanted to get off her chest, and tell her big sister about.
Hey sis, I hope my letters have been reaching you and Dad. Hand-written stuff's never been super reliable, but I guess it's all we got these days. Anyway, in case you haven't been getting them, I want to say I'm sorry for leaving the way I did. I know you told me it was a reckless idea, and after everything I've been through, I can definitely say you were right. It's been hard, on all of us, and I'm not just talking about the monsters we fought out there.
She remembered about Jaune, training every night to Pyrrha's recordings. About Qrow, who hid from them during most of the trip.
Every step we made took us further and further from the things we knew. And every morning we woke up wondering, if just over the next hill would be something good or something terrible. It's scary not knowing what's going to happen next. And the things we do know now – just how bad it can get – it almost makes it all worse.
She thought about how motivated they were to go on this trip to save the world, only to realize through Neo and Tyrian just how out of their depth they were. Or how they now knew that the all terrifying Cinder was just a servant of something far worse.
You told me once that bad things just happen. You were angry when you said it, and I didn't want to listen. But you were right, bad things do happen, all the time, every day. Which is why I'm out there, to do whatever I can, wherever I can, and hopefully do some good. We've all lost something, and I've seen what loss can do to people.
Yang, Jaune, ever herself... and Neo... they all stopped living, in some way, after what happened at Beacon. That needed to change.
But if we gave up every time we lost, then we'd never be able to move forward. We'd never have the chance to see what beautiful things the future might have waiting for us. We'd never have the strength to change; whether it's ourselves, or the world around us.
She had moved on, as much as she could, so she may be able to help people. She understood now that she wasn't ready for this, that she needed more training, more experience, more... everything, in order to have even the slightest chance of stopping Salem. That's why she trusted Qrow to guide them, now, and she hoped to help her friends move on just as well.
And we'd never be there for people who might one day be lost without us. This is what we were training for, Yang, to become Huntresses, to be the ones to stand up and do something about all the bad in the world. Because there are plenty of people out there who are still lost and even more who will try to gain everything they can from their sorrow. Believe me when I say, I know it can feel impossible, like every single day is a struggle against some unstoppable monster we can never hope to beat.
Because it was. Or at the very least, she could never hope to beat them. Not yet.
But we have to try, if not for us, then for the people we haven't lost yet.
I miss you so much. I miss Weiss and Blake too. But I think you'd all be proud to know that I made it to Mistral. All of us did, and we even ran into Uncle Qrow along the way. He's going to take us to see Professor Lionheart, the Headmaster of Haven Academy. And he told us some things that you're gonna wanna hear, things I can't trust will make it to you in this letter. But maybe, if you join us, he could tell you himself.
With Beacon gone they'll need Dad at Signal more than ever, and I know you need to focus on yourself before I can expect you to come out with me. But it sure would be great to get team RWBY back together again.
Until next time, your loving sister, Ruby Rose.
PS. I'll be sure to give you the adress of where we're staying in Mistral. I'd love to hear back from you and Dad, and I can't wait to fill you in on whatever's going to happen next. Now that we've made it across Anima I really think things are gonna start going our way.
Neo was really curious about this Lionheart headmaster. Was he that incompetent that he didn't react when Cinder passed off as one of his students, or was there something more ?
She couldn't wait to find out the answer, so she discreetly followed Ruby and Qrow as they went to meet him.
She was surprised to see the school so empty. She had spent several years coming and going at Beacon, and she had never seen it as deserted as Haven was. Not even once. If that, or the way Lionheart was scared upon seeing Qrow, wasn't enough to tell something was wrong, then her observation was more than enough.
Name : Leonardo Lionheart
Age : 48
Level : 20 (100%)
Class : Dustomancer [Your expertise of Dust allows you to combine them to create almost any kind of attack you can imagine]
Path : Compromise [You focus on maintaining the status quo, always ensuring you aim towards the outcome with the least conflict.]
Title : Fallen Knight
HP : 12/12
AP : 86/86
STR : 12
CON : 12
DEX : 14
INT : 23
WIS : 17
CHA : 14
Semblance : [You can approximately feel how stronger or weaker than you someone is. The weaker, the more confident you will feel, the stronger, the more dread you will feel]
Status effects :
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]
Defenses :
AC : 26
For : 22
Ref : 27
Will : 26
His title, Fallen Knight, was a dead giveaway. All of Ozpin's allies had titles like White Rook, like Theodore and Glynda, White Bishop, like Qrow and Rumpole, or White Knight, like that other headmaster was. That this one kept the piece name but lost the White part meant something was very wrong, although it wasn't as bad as if he had became a Black piece.
Qrow seemed to understand something was wrong, but somehow still trusted the man enough to tell him the location of the Spring maiden.
Neo frowned a bit at that. Here's hoping it wouldn't come to bite them all in the back.
With everyone back in top shape, including Qrow, who had gone out to drink, Neo was surprised to see that Ruby had done nothing to tell him about her. She had even stayed for longer than she should have, trying to make sense of it while watching if the red-hooded girl wasn't just pulling off some trick, somehow.
Night came by, and Neo figured it was about time she left. She did need to find a place to sleep, although she was sure Malachite would allow her to rest under her roof again, and tomorrow she would have to stock up on Dust. All this following around while invisible had drained her reserves.
It was at this moment that she saw Qrow come back to the hotel, with a young teenager guiding his drunked ass. Qrow kept repeating that he found him, which got Neo curious enough to observe the otherwise unimportant kid.
Name : Oscar Pine/Ozpin
Age : 14/Unquantifiable
Level : 0 (0%)/30 (100 %)
Class : Farmhand/Wizard
Path : None/Unknown
Title : None/The White King
HP : 12/12
AP : 6/6
STR : 12
CON : 12
DEX : 13
INT : 10/26
WIS : 11/20
CHA : 12
Semblance : None/Unknown
Status effects :
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]
Merging souls [Two souls aren't supposed to share the same body. Over time, they will merge into a single being]
Unknown
Defenses :
AC : 11/33
For : 13/27
Ref : 13/35
Will : 13/34
Hmm... Maybe she should stay for a bit longer.
Watching Ruby and Ozpin's reincarnation spar was hilarious. The two were definitely a match in hand to hand combat, and not in a good way. Oh, Neo was just missing a bit of pop-corn to make this perfect.
Then after Ozpin took over it became even better. Such a one-sided beating, oh she could watch it all day. Too bad Oscar's body couldn't hold the pace.
Still, while Ozpin was a great teacher, instilling them with knowledge of basic hand to hand combat, it was clear that he wasn't expecting them to use it outside of exceptional situations. Everything was way too basic to be properly fitting for every one of them.
Ruby, for example, was specialized in speed. Her semblance told as such. Being grounded was all well and good, but it wasn't using any of Ruby's strengths. It would certainly serve in a situation where she cannot easily move around, but that's about it.
Such a fighting style would be more efficient on Jaune and Oscar, who were grounded in their way of fighting, and even Nora, who had so much brute strength. But for Ren and Ruby, it wouldn't help much. Not that Ren needed any help in that department, he already knew enough techniques to give a good fight.
Well, it's not like Neo cared how good the five of them would become. You could only make so much improvement in a single month. All she needed, was for them not to instantly die when they fought Cinder when she came to attack.
That should be within their capabilities.
I'm not one to copy part of the show, as I usually prefer to mention things that happen within it in passing, but with the things that happened in the couple chapters before, I feel like Ruby's letter hits far better now.
Yes, the basics are important in hand to hand combat, no matter the fighting style you end up with, and that's what Ozpin's teaching, but Neo isn't a teacher (for a reason x).
Also, I believe we can all agree that Lionheart's real class is Duelist XD.
To be continued on September 4th
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 17
Level : 18 (09%)
Class : Illusionist [You add both your Intelligence and Dexterity modifiers to your AC and to Dexterity or Intelligence based attacks as long as you can still cast illusions]
Path : Me, myself and I [You live for yourself first and foremost, no matter what pain you might cause others]
Title : The Gamer
HP : 10/10
AP : 95/95
STR : 11
CON : 10
DEX : 19
INT : 22
WIS : 12
CHA : 16
Semblance : The Gamer
Status effects :
Gamer's body [Your body follows game-like mechanics. You can restore 1/4th of your total HP (rounded down) by resting 15 minutes. You can only die if your HP reach 0 and you fail your last breath]
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]
Words that shouldn't be said [Your last words almost caused you to lose your life. You cannot talk until you overcome your trauma]
Defenses :
AC : 27(31)
For : 20
Ref : 26
Will : 24