At least preparing for their imminent trip to Atlas is a nice distraction from thinking about the weird dream she had last night. Ruby does her best to push it out of her mind as she tracks down her things from where they're scattered around the house and listens to Weiss gush about how much they're going to love Atlas. The dream probably didn't mean anything. She's been pretty stressed, and stress has caused her to have odd dreams before. It's probably nothing.
But still, it didn't feel like any dream that Ruby has had before. And why had that girl she'd seen seemed so familiar?
It's nice, too, to take a break from training for a day (which is something that Ruby never thought she would ever say in her life). As much as Ruby loves being a huntress and practicing fighting with Crescent Rose, ever since she started training with her new maiden powers, training has been too stressful and frustrating to be much fun. Sitting around chatting with her teammates as they pack their things and speculate about what Atlas will be like, it's the most normal and like herself that Ruby has felt since the battle at Haven Academy. It feels like everyone has forgotten the elephant in the room that is Ruby being the Fall Maiden.
It's nice.
Her good mood seems to be contagious, and dinner that night is full of cheerful conversation and laughter. Ren's food is delicious as always, and it's easy to push the disturbing dream from her mind in the bright dining room while she's surrounded by her friends. Things are looking up. Tomorrow they'll leave for Atlas, and she's sure she can figure this Maiden stuff out with some time to herself to think about it.
Maybe a day or two off from training is just what she needs.
Although today has been pretty low-key compared to the past week of intense training, Ruby still turns in pretty early, exhausted from sleeping badly the previous night. Hopefully she can catch up on some Z's tonight, without interruptions from weird dreams. After all, traveling while tired sucks, even if all they're going to be doing is sitting on a train.
The next thing she knows, she's walking through an unfamiliar forest, tall trees surrounding both sides of the path she's on and blocking out most of the sunlight. It's beautiful, if a bit lonely, and Ruby takes a moment to admire the lush green of the plants before realizing that she isn't alone among the trees. Just ahead of her, following the same path, is a young woman, riding a horse.
It's hard to make out her features from a little ways behind, but Ruby can see that she doesn't seem to be familiar, and that her hair is long and brown. As she catches up with her, Ruby realizes that the woman looks pretty young, not much older than Yang or her other teammates. She's very pretty, and she seems kind, reaching over to pat her horse ever couple of minutes.
The forest they're in is peaceful and quiet. The only sounds Ruby can hear are the occasional chirps of birds, accompanied by footsteps from her and the horse. It should be a soothing place to be, and it is, but Ruby can't quite shake the feeling that there's someone out there watching them.
She wonders if the girl on the horse senses it too. If she does, she doesn't seem to show it.
It's at least a more restful dream than the night before, and when she wakes with her alarm, sunlight already streaming through the window, she doesn't feel quite so tired. But still, as she climbs out of bed and gets ready for the day, she still can't help but feel like she's still being watched. Just like she was in the forest in her dreams.
It's probably nothing. At least, she hopes it is.