Aaaand its finally done! This chapter was kinda difficult for me to write, hence why it took longer than the previous one to write... though technically I didn't miss the schedule by too much. Oh well, its here now!
This chapter is the start of the 'Badge and the Burden' arc, though i added a lot to it... so much so that i split it into two chapters. Anyways, onwards!
Edited for clarity and/or minor fixes on 2/25/19
Re-edited 4/19/19 because I, apparently, didn't do a good enough job the first time.
Chapter Three – Killing Machine?
/-\ Ruby Rose; Beacon Academy Dorms /-\
"Let's see here… 308… 310… ah here we are, room 312… heh…" I said as I pointed at each door, respectively.
Blake's eyebrow rose. "What's so funny?"
"Ah, it's nothing…" I said as I unlocked the door. "B-312 is my service number, so I thought it was funny that we got assigned to room 312 in dormitory B."
We stepped into the room and I went about stowing my weapons in the makeshift rack in one of the corners. "Are you sure this is the right dorm?" My partner asked, eyebrow raised. "It looks like someone has already moved in."
"Yep!" I responded. "Don't worry, Weiss, the scroll wouldn't've unlocked the door if it wasn't the right one… and as for the reason why it looks lived in… well… this is where I've been staying for the past week."
Everyone had a slight moment of confusion before they moved on to other things. Weiss moved over to inspect the boxed-up beds, Yang was subtly sneaking a few peaks at my weapons, and Blake was inspecting something in the corner. "What's this?" She asked.
We all looked over to her. "Oh, that's a basic armor rack that I built. Just put the finishing touches on it yesterday morning, actually."
She raised an eyebrow. "And why couldn't you just set it on a table or something?"
"Oh, because this suit would probably break the table. Also, it usually takes five hours to get out of this thing without any help." I said nonchalantly, as I finished storing all of my guns and ammo.
I removed my helmet and set it aside before stepping into the armor rack. "Alright, now if I'm right about this… all I need to do is concentrate…" I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and focused all my attention on my semblance. Instead of my armor, I willed only my body and the surrounding bodyglove to turn into rose petals. Slowly but surely, I felt myself slip out of the armor and I began to reassemble roughly two feet in front of the armor stand.
The last rose clicked into place on my forehead and my eyes shot open as I sucked in a deep breath. I looked down at myself, confirming that it had worked before turning back to my armor and seeing it held up in its stand. A smirk crossed my face as I turned back to my team to gauge their reactions. At first glance, Blake appeared to be neutral, but her slightly widened eyes told me that I had caught her off guard. Yang looked like she was just as surprised as Blake was, though she was much more obvious about it, her eyes darting between me and my armor. A blush started to form on my partner's face and she immediately turned towards the beds. By the looks of it, I was the only one that noticed her reaction, as the other two just went back to what they were doing beforehand.
I shrugged and joined my partner, to which my presence was noticed immediately. "Ruby, please put some clothes on." She almost demanded, though her tone was slightly weaker than usual.
I shrugged. "I have a bodyglove on. That's enough clothes for now." Her eye twitched, and I let out a short laugh. "Let's just get this bunkbed assembled, then we can get to sleep. I have a big day planned for us tomorrow."
She blinked. "Did you say this is a bunkbed?"
"Yep, I specifically requested them for their efficiency." I said absentmindedly, already paging through the instruction manual.
"U- Umm… Ruby?"
"Yeah, sis?"
"A- Are those… bloodstains on your legs?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Don't worry though, it was nothin' really." At their unconvinced expressions, I elaborated. "Seriously, it barely even registered as 1hp on my HUD… actually, how did that even happen? It was just a frag, not a sticky…" I hummed in thought before I tried to change the subject. "Oh! That reminds me, when we're in Vale this weekend, I need to restock my medkit." I responded nonchalantly as I went back to the instructions.
Yang crossed her arms. "So, it wasn't 'just nothin'." She said, throwing up a pair of air quotes. "We should get you to a doctor."
I waved her off. "Nah, I'm basically my own doctor at this point… plus, I already did the field surgery to-"
She gasped. "What do you mean field surgery?!"
"Well, I couldn't just leave grenade fragmentation in my legs, now could I?" They were shocked into silence at the implication that I performed surgery on myself in the middle of Grimm territory. "Now that I think about it, I should probably clean some of the stuff I used. Hey Blake, can ya toss me my medkit? It's the white box on my left leg."
She seemed hesitant at first, but eventually complied, and, after a second of fiddling, managed to get it free before handing it to me. I nodded in thanks and headed to the bathroom. "Let's see here… Didn't use the biofoam, or any wraps… ah yep, definitely used the tweezers," I thought out loud as I made a mental shopping list and washed everything down. "and the sutures… I'll need to buy more surgical thread later. OH! and gauze, can't forget that." A minute later, I exited the bathroom and stowed my medkit where it belonged.
An hour or so later, and more than one argument with Weiss about the bunk beds, and we had everything assembled. "Soooo, uh... how're we doing this?" My sister asked.
"I was thinking that we group up by partners, it doesn't really matter who gets the top bunk and who gets the bottom one, so you guys can sort that out." I turned to my partner, who I could tell was purposely keeping her eyes above my neck. "On the rare occasions when I've had the luxury of sleeping in a bed, I've usually had the top bunk. Is that alright with you?"
She nodded. "I prefer to be nearer to the ground anyway."
I nodded before turning to address the rest of my team. "Alright, I've already went over our schedule for tomorrow. Classes start at nine o'clock, breakfast runs from seven-thirty 'til eight-thirty. I'll wake everyone up at six for our daily wor-"
"What?!" My partner interrupted, throwing up a hand to silence me. "Did you say six o'clock?!" I nodded in affirmation. "What kind of... masochist would do that to themselves?! Much less others!"
I grinned. "Ah, great to have a volunteer for the FIVE o'clock work out. Thanks partner, it's always good to have a runnin' buddy."
"Wha- You insufferable little-" She shouted before cutting herself off.
My eyes narrowed. "Mind finishing that sentence? I can go days without sleep…" I got right up into her face. "I doubt a princess like you can even do without one." She stared for a moment before sighing and excusing herself to change in the attached bathroom.
Blake crossed her arms. "That was harsh."
I waved her off. "Nah, I wasn't actually going to make her go through with it… This time…" I walked over to my weapons rack and retrieved my sidearm. "I've met her type before, I just need to be a bit harsh in the beginning to get my point across." I slipped the magnum under my pillow and climbed into bed. "Offer stands, though, I'm getting up at oh-five-hundred for a pre-workout." I said, accidentally slipping back into military time.
"I'll pass."
"S- Sure…" My sister responded. "If I'm up, that is." She quickly amended.
I shrugged. "Alright, suit yourselves. I'm gonna get some sleep."
/-\ Yang Xiao Long; Location Unknown /-\
I stood in the middle of a grassy field, a place I didn't recognize.
Looking around, I noticed the area was completely flat, and that I was completely alone.
Looking up, I saw three moons; but thought nothing of it.
Suddenly, the green grass turned blood red and the sky dulled into a shade of grey.
My little sister appeared in front of me… but not as I know her now. Instead, she was as I saw her before her 'death'.
A shadow loomed over me and I turned to face it.
Before me was my 'little' sister; the one I know now.
"You abandoned me."
My breath hitched, and a rancid smell hit my nostrils.
I gaged when I saw that I was now in a field of corpses. Human corpses.
"YOU LET ME TURN INTO A MONSTER!"
She lunged at me, her hands wrapping around my neck.
I shot out of my bed and landed on the floor with a loud thunk. I sat up and looked around the dark room, seeing that both my and my sister's partners were still asleep. My sister, though, was sat in a chair putting some shoes on. She nodded to me before motioning that I follow her out of the room.
The door clicked behind me. "Wanna talk about it?" She quietly asked.
I put on an unconvincing smile. "T- Talk about what? I'm fine… hehe…"
"You had a nightmare, and a bad one if your reaction was anything to go by. It's fine if you don't want to, but just know that…" She put her hand on my shoulder. "…I'm here if you need me, okay?" I nodded, and she started to turn away, but paused before she could get far. "It's a little after five right now, if you need to clear your head a little bit, you're free to join me in working out."
I hummed. "A- Actually, I think that sounds good." I let out a forced laugh. "Its not like I'll be getting any more sleep, anyway…"
She gave me a warm smile before nodding. "Great, I'll wait for you in the courtyard by the statue." With that, she departed with a wave, and I re-entered the room to get dressed.
About ten minutes later, my hair was bound in a messy ponytail and I had thrown on some workout gear, namely sweatpants and a tank top. I entered Beacon's courtyard half expecting for no one to be in sight, and initially, I was right… …until I looked to the side. Hanging from one of the streetlights, clad in her school shoes and what she called a 'bodyglove', was my sister; arm flexing as she did one-armed pullups.
She shot me a wave with her unused hand. "Hey sis, I'm juuuust aboooout… done!" she said as she did a backflip and landed perfectly on the ground. "So, whaddaya wanna do first?"
I blinked. "I thought you already had something planned?"
She shrugged. "To be honest, I was just gonna run the entire time."
"Well, let's do that for a bit then." We jogged in silence for several minutes while we found our pace. She stuck by me for every second, though I could easily tell that she was barely exerting herself. "Soooo…" I started. "Y- you didn't get a chance to tell me where you've… uhh… been, all these years…"
"Heh… I guess I didn't…" She paused for a moment. "Well… I could just say 'its classified' and leave it at that…" I gave her a glance before re-focusing on my running. "…But I'll just leave out the location names; you wouldn't know them anyway." She paused again. "So, I'll just say that I've been off-world this entire time."
I blinked, nearly tripping over a root that I failed to see in the darkness and eliciting a laugh from my sister. "U- uhh… what?" She just grinned at me. "…I didn't even think that was possible…" She shrugged, the grin still plastered on her face. "Wait, does that mean you met aliens?" I asked, earnestly.
Her grin dropped. "…Yes."
I immediately caught her meaning. "I- I'm guessing they don't come in peace…"
"No." She sighed. "Look, can we just… not talk about that part of space?"
I nodded. "Alright." I hummed in thought. "Well… how's about other planets?"
"What about 'em?" She asked.
"Well… what're they like?"
"Depends on the planet." She started. "The UEG terraformed a lot of planets to be more Earth-like… or I guess Remnant-like, depends on your perspective. Most planets are just airless rocks floating through space. Some worlds are covered in ice, others in lava, with a few just being rocky and even fewer being only desert or a planet-wide ocean."
I stayed silent for a minute, just trying to imagine walking on another world, as she had done. Its not that the idea never crossed my mind, I just never thought that I would actually meet anyone who had done it before… and my sister no less! Just then, I felt a tug on my leg and I fell face-first into onto the dusty trail. "Owwww…"
My sister laughed before offering me a hand. "C'mon, we're not done yet." She said, flashing me a grin.
An idea popped into my head. "So, are there like, space Grimm out there? Like in Nova Wars?"
She gave me an amused look. "Heh, funny you should mention that… Grimm are a Remnant-specific thing."
My eyes widened, and I skidded to a halt. "Waitwaitwaitwait… So, you're telling me that literal demons only exist on Remnant."
"Ayup."
I just gawked at her for a minute. "Okay, on one hand we have air, water, plants, dust, and whatever else I'm missing..." She nodded. "…but on the other… we have grimm…"
"Heh, well when you put it like that… it does sound kinda… bad… but that's not to say that the next planet over will be any better." I raised an eyebrow. "Sure, I might have made it sound like habitable planets are a dime-a-dozen, buuuut they kinda… aren't…" I sighed, and she continued. "Even if you could find a way to make dust work in space-"
"Well, they did, didn't they?" I interrupted.
"Yea… uhh… they didn't… Dust is another Remnant-specific thing."
I blinked for the i-don't-even-know-th time this morning. "You know what… let's just… save this for later…"
"Agreed." She said. Several more minutes went by and we ran in silence some more. She was no more exhausted than she was when we started, though I was starting to feel the burn. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" she asked.
"Uhh, sure, what is it?"
"Its something that I've been wondering for a while but… how old am i?"
I skidded to a stop for the second time this run. "W- What? How do you not know how old you are?"
She shrugged. "I really don't remember much from before I disappeared… Docs on O-" She cut herself off. "The docs said that I hit my head when I landed…" She sighed. "I've got permanent memory loss from it…"
My eyes widened. "W- How much do you remember?"
Her head sank as she sighed. "Almost nothing… I remember you as a kid, though I could have sworn your eyes were purple." I shifted at her statement. "A muscular, middle-aged blonde man, probably dad, a log cabin in a red forest, and… mom's cookies… That's about it, though…" She sighed again. "I didn't even remember anyone's names..."
I stared at her for a few seconds before I embraced her. "Fifteen."
"Wha-"
"You turned fifteen a day before I got to Beacon… so… three days ago now…" I said, solemnly.
She pulled away from me, though I could tell that it was not out of any malicious intent. "That… doesn't make any sense… I've been in UNSC space for seventeen years." She had a look of confusion about her. "How many days are in a Remnant year?"
I raised my eyebrow. "About three-hundred-sixty-five, why?"
She sighed again. "Okay… something weird is goin' on here, well, more weird than dying twice and getting a third go at life…" she let out a chuckle. "I guess… how old was I when I… uhh… died?"
"Five… you've been gone about ten years now… well… from my point of view, I guess…"
She hummed. "So that would make me… twenty-two… heh, guess I'm the same age as…" She let her statement trail on as her small grin dropped. She paused before motioning me onwards. "C'mon, we're burning daylight." She said in an almost robotic tone.
I couldn't help but worry about her… I know that I haven't been the happiest since her 'death', as she put it, but something is obviously wrong with her too. However, another, less serious, train of thought existed in my head alongside the first one: 'Which one of us is actually the big sister?'
I stood beside a bleary-eyed Blake, having been woken up by myself a scant fifteen minutes ago. "Alright team," Ruby addressed. "today I'm gonna see where everyone is in terms of fitness." I practically heard my partner's eyes widen. "First on the test is pullups, then situps, pushups, and finally a mile run. Partners will count for each other. For the first three tests, you will get one minute to do as many of the exercise as you can. The mile, however, is timed…" She giggled. "Word of advice: don't be last… Any questions?"
"Why do we have to do this, again?"
"Ah, I'm glad you asked, Princess." Weiss's eye twitched. "Tell me, what're you training to be?"
She raised an eyebrow. "…A huntress?"
"Correct! Follow up question: What is your enemy?"
Her face twisted into one of complete confusion. "The Grimm, now where are you going with this?"
"Ah, just one more question:" She said with a smirk. "Do you think they'll care if you're too weak to fight them?"
Her confusion morphed into horror, which was mirrored by both me and, to a lesser extent, Blake. "I…" Her head dropped. "No… When do we start?"
"Right now," She gestured to one of the nearby streetlights. "Weiss, Blake, your up. Once you both are ready, I'll start the timer. Yang, count for your partner."
I was sprawled out on a nearby bench, my water bottle in hand, as a certain heiress crossed the finish line drenched in sweat. "9:42… You'd make the Corps with that time, but its not good enough for a huntress." My sister said as she tossed a water bottle to the now-collapsed Weiss. "Heh, maybe next time try running in something other than heels."
Weiss ignored her comment as my partner eyed her curiously. "Uuuugggghhh how do you do this?!" she groaned in despair. "Seriously, you did everything with us… and did it like ten times better!"
Ruby shot her a grin. "Lots of practice." She giggled again. "Alright, five-minute break… then we start part two." She pulled up her scroll. "While Yang was slower than Blake with 9:23, she outclassed her in every other category, so she will go last for our next activity. Blake will go second because of her time of 9:16." She looked at her partner's sprawled form. "And that leaves Weiss to go first with a time of 9:42." She giggled again. "I suggest you enjoy your time resting, you have about… hmm… two minutes left…"
Weiss audibly groaned. "What are we even doing anyway?"
Ruby smirked. "Aura exhaustion training."
I blinked. "But… you can't prevent that! It just happens…"
"Nope! But you can work through it." She jabbed a thumb at herself. "I'm living proof."
Weiss groaned again. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"Nope!" She said, popping the 'P'. "How it works is that we need to deplete your aura and then have you continue to do exercises… Which means that you will each fight me until your aura breaks."
We all paled at the prospect of fighting her, given that we witnessed just how brutal of a fighter she is during initiation. "Wha- That's insane!" Weiss yelled.
"Lemmie put it this way: I'm training you now so that if your aura breaks on the battlefield, you can still defend yourself." She cracked her knuckles. "Break's over, by the way." Weiss sighed and turned towards the school. "Where are you going?"
She turned around and raised an eyebrow. "To get my weapon."
Ruby shook her head. "I already know how you fight with that… I'm also evaluating your unarmed skills. OH! That reminds me, we're all going into Vale this weekend to get you secondary weapons and armor if I can afford it."
Weiss, again, spoke up. "Why would we need either of those? We already have our weapons and aura negates the need for armor."
Ruby facepalmed and muttered something under her breath. "What if you lost your first weapon? What if your aura broke? I'm literally training you for that right now! You can't rely on any one thing to save you every time." Her serious tone adopted a grin. "Now, I believe Weiss owes me a spar…"
"Monsters! Deeeeeemons! Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names. But I merely refer to them as prey, ha HA!" Our new professor, Port if I recall correctly, joked… poorly… "Uhh, and you shall too upon graduating from this prestigious academy. Now as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world." Ruby snorted but remained quiet when the professor glared at her. "Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces. And that's where we come in… huntsmen… huntresses…" he said as he pointed at me and gave a creepy eyebrow-raise. "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves… From what you ask? Why, the very world!"
A student in the back of the class shouted something and we all looked at him.
"That is what you are training to become… But first, a story… A tale of a young, handsome man… me. When I was a boy-" I tuned out the rest of his story, merely daydreaming. Though I was pulled out of it when he suddenly took a bow. "-The moral of the story? A true huntsman must be honorable." Ruby gave out a loud 'HA!'. "A true huntsman must be dependable." I looked to my sister, who seemed to nod. "A true huntsman must be strategic, well educated, and wise." She nodded at all three of his statements. "So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of this traits?"
Weiss's hand shot up. "I do, Sir!"
Ruby snorted. "Truly the humblest of them all, Princess…"
She glared at my sister. "How dare you! I swear I'll-"
"Quiet!" The professor commanded and they both obeyed. Weiss's eyes were wide, showing her panic, whereas Ruby was completely calm. "I was only going to have one person fight a Grimm today, but it seems that I have two volunteers! Miss Schnee, Miss Rose, please gather your combat gear… Your opponents await."
Weiss stood up to go change whereas Ruby produced her two knives and a pistol, setting them down in front of her. The entire class gave her a confused expression. "You forgot one thing, Professor."
"Oh really? Do share, Miss Rose…"
She grinned. "A true huntsman is always ready for combat."
"Right you are, now go change and-"
"No."
He was taken aback, and the door clicked shut in the background. "Excuse me, Miss Rose?"
She pointed at the door. "If the Grimm were to come through that door right now, do you think it would allow me to change into my armor?"
He put his hand up to his chin. "Hmm… I suppose not."
She nodded in affirmation. "I'll fight it right now, regardless of dress or armament."
He motioned to a cage that had just been revealed from behind a wall. "Very well, step forward and face your opponent."
She grabbed her weapons and stowed them all, adopting an unarmed combat stance facing the cage before nodding to the professor.
"Alright, let the match… BEGIN!" he said as he cut open the lock to the cage.
A Boarbatusk immediately charged out of the cage towards my sister. My eyes widened as she seemed to not move a muscle, save for the growing smirk on her face. A split second before they would collide, she spun out of the way and countered with a kick to its side, toppling it over. She wasted no time and immediately grabbed the grimm by its tusks. It tried to struggle, but moments later, a loud cracking sound echoed through the room. The Boarbatusk instantly stopped moving, not even squealing.
Everyone sat in silence as my sister walked back to her seat, barely acknowledging that anything had ever happened. Before anyone could speak, Weiss opened the classroom door, now clad in her combat skirt and wielding her rapier. The professor immediately took the opportunity to break the silence. "Well, it would seem that our second volunteer has arrived." He motioned to the cage. "Don't be shy now, step forward."
She nodded and stood opposite the cage before Port opened it, again using his axe. Behaving exactly like its fallen brethren, this Boarbatusk charged out from its cage straight at Weiss. She seemed tense, a lot more so than my sister, as she dodged the attack, meanwhile taking a swipe of her own at the grimm.
It was completely ineffective...
"Ha-ha, wasn't expecting that, were you?" Port commented, distracting my teammate for a split second.
They both charged each other, the Boarbatusk hitting her with its tusks and flinging her about, accidentally getting a grip on her rapier. They engaged in a battle of pure strength… one that I knew our Princess would lose. After a second or two of struggling, the Grimm wrenched the rapier free of her hands and flung it across the room.
I shot a glance at my sister and saw that her face was… oddly neutral… "Oh-ho, now what will you do without your weapon?" Port interjected. Back to the fight, the Grimm had charged Weiss once more, though she dodged with a roll to the side. She quickly ran to her weapon, sliding down to meet it before popping up again.
"Princess! The belly's unarmored!" My sister yelled.
She shot a glare towards my sister. "STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!"
Ruby raised an eyebrow but bit down any retort she likely had brewing, knowing that this was not the time to address anything. The Boarbatusk charged up for a spinning attack and Weiss created a barrier glyph just in time to stop it. The Grimm landed on its back and my teammate leaped off of a repulsion glyph before skewering it in the belly.
Right where my sister had told her to strike.
She stayed on the floor for a moment, catching her breath, while Port congratulated her on her win, calling her a 'true Huntress in training'. The bell rung seconds later, and she stormed out the door, my sister not far behind. I hesitantly followed them out, but they had run off to somewhere I didn't see. As I turned around to find my own partner, I nearly ran head-first into Professor Ozpin.
"Ah, Miss Xiao Long, just the young woman I was looking for."
I blinked. "Y- You wanted to see me, Professor?"
"Yes, I did." He took a sip of his coffee. "Please, follow me to my office."
"Am… Am I in trouble?" I sheepishly asked.
"No, Miss Xiao Long." He took another sip of his coffee. "On the contrary, I have a task for you."
I blinked. "Uh-umm…"
He put his hand up. "But first, there are two videos that you must see."
A screen flashed up on his desk, showing the interior of a dust shop. Suddenly, five men walked in. Four of them were dressed in black suits while the other one was…
"Roman Torchwick?" I asked, causing him to nod.
Two of his goons split off while the other three held up the shopkeeper… …that was until my sister walked in. Suddenly, one of the goons rushed her. My eyes widened as he fell to the ground, gasping for air, after she hit him in the throat. She took his sword and threw it into the other guy's chest, killing him.
Roman now stepped forward and punched her after a failed strike with his cane… it didn't go well, and he wound up on the floor. The other two goons attacked her from behind, but she either dodged or parried their strikes before retaliating with her pistol. Both fell to the ground, lifeless, one died from Roman's cane hitting him in the head, the other had three bullet wounds in his face.
Roman had gotten back up at this point and decided to tackle Ruby. Needless to say, it was unsuccessful, and he ended up in a submission hold.
Ozpin ended the video there. "Thoughts?"
…
"Miss Xiao Long?"
"…I…" I took a deep breath. "B- Blake said that she had killed before… but seeing it happen… its…" I trailed off.
"Brutal? Disturbing?" I nodded. "There is still one more video that I have for you to watch, then we will get to the purpose of this meeting."
I nodded as the screen reappeared. "This is in the Vale Police Department headquarters, shortly after the events of the previous recording."
Ruby stood against a wall near a table, a partially crumpled chair off to the side and a rough looking officer sat at her opposite. "State your name for the record."
She answered in a robotic tone. "Spartan B-312."
"That's not a name…" The officer deadpanned.
"There are many like it, but this one is mine."
I paused the video. "D- Does she mean that… there are others like her?"
Ozpin gave a chuckle. "That is what she implied, yes. Other… spartans, I do believe she called herself."
He resumed the video and the officer sighed. "Kingdom of origin?"
"Classified."
They stared at each other for a few seconds, the officer had a deadpan look on his face whereas my sister was oddly still. "I'll just put you down as being an Atlesian, then…" He wrote a few things down on his scroll tablet. "You killed four men tonight, why?"
"They were hostile."
"So was Torchwick."
"White suit guy?" The officer nodded. "He looked important."
The officer nearly dropped his scroll. "You mean that the only reason you didn't kill one of the most wanted criminals on Remnant… was because he looked important?"
She shrugged. "Important people know things."
He sat, silent, for the better part of a minute before speaking up again. "…Why did you kill them?"
"I already said-"
"That's not what I meant, and you know it!" He sighed. "Why was your first reaction to kill them?"
"They attacked me, why shouldn't it be?" She asked, earnestly.
The officer shot up and slammed his hands down on the table. "BECAUSE THAT'S NOT HOW JUSTICE WORKS!" He reached for a pair of aura-suppressing handcuffs. "By the order of the Vale Police Department, I am-"
Suddenly, the door swung open and Professor Goodwitch walked in. "Officer Brown?"
"What?!" The officer responded.
"You are relieved, I'll take over the interrogation from here." He mumbled something almost inaudible.
I sat in shocked silence as the video ended. 'My sister really is a monster…' I thought to myself before shaking them away. 'No… she just needs help. I… I can fix this! I have to fix this! Ruby needs her sister…'
"As you can see, Miss Xiao Long, Miss Rose is quite dangerous-"
"She would never hurt me."
Ozpin gave a chuckle. "That is not what I am worried about, for you are correct… However, the same cannot be said for the rest of the student body."
"And how could we stop her?!" I took a deep breath. "We trained with her this morning… and I doubt we would even be a speed bump to her if she went berserk."
He again took a sip of his coffee. "The task I called you here for does not involve fighting her, Miss Xiao Long, for I fear that you are correct." He took a deep breath. "At first, I assumed her to be a sociopath with great fighting skill… However, her actions during the initiation this year have proven that there is more to her than what she has so far told us. Miss Xiao Long-"
"You want me to spy on her..." I deadpanned, putting the pieces together.
He hummed. "To put it bluntly, yes." He took another sip of his coffee. "Know that I would have asked you to 'spy on her', as you put it, regardless of her actions yesterday. They merely showed me that there is more to her than meets the eye."
I paused for a second. "…Why did you even invite her here?"
"As I said before, she is a dangerous woman… And it is far better to keep dangerous people where I can see them, as opposed to where I cannot." I nodded before getting up from my seat. "Miss Xiao Long-"
"I'm not doing this for you…" I said, walking away. "…I'm doing this for her…" Thankfully, he was unable to see the single tear that rolled down my cheek.
(A/N) And that's it for this chapter! Hope everyone enjoyed!
I think this one came out better than the last chapter, given that there wasn't anything that i was iffy about including... though i admit that i didn't really know how to write the last scene. Hopefully i did alright.
As for how Ruby changed out of her armor at the beginning, its more of me building on an idea in another fic, namely 'RWBY's Bizarre Adventures: Remnant Roses'. In which, Ruby can willfully turn any part of her body into rose petals and manipulate it in virtually any way she wants. Since clothes are obviously not a part of the human body (Or Crescent Rose, no matter how much Ruby denies it) I figure that she can also choose to turn anything that she touches as well. The question then becomes 'Can she choose to not include some of her clothing?'. I think the answer is yes, buuut having a naked Ruby running around is a bit weird... even if I aged her up. Thus, i gave her a bodyglove (the black suit you see under the white plates in stormtrooper or clone trooper armor) to run around in. Idk if something like that is already cannon in Halo, so i'm just saying that its what a Spartan typically wears underneath all the standard MJOLNIR armor. Also, i couldn't find how long it actually takes to change in and out of a suit of MJOLNIR, but another fic (I can't remember which one) used the five hour figure and I liked it.
Anyways, on to the reviews!
seraphimnight - Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. And yea, changing perspectives in first person can be a little weird, though i try to clue everyone in as to who's thoughts you're hearing as soon as possible.
evevee - Yea, it is a bit weird that Ozpin instantly dismissed her as dead. Though this chapter may shed some light as to why. Also, any normal initiate would have something like a 99% mortality rate from what she went through, so it was pretty easy for him to just write her off to both Yang and Blake. As for the armor... yea... my bad. I got an idea in my head that she should do a grenade jump and, in game, that would hurt you. So i just made her take a tiny bit of damage without looking up how strong MJOLNIR is cannonically. I might come up with some BS reason that that particular grenade managed to punch a hole or two in the weaker sections of the armor, idk.
Soundwave's Cassette Store - Thanks! And i certainly plan on it.
Guest 001 - Huh, forgot about that little tidbit. I guess the name of the medal fits even more than i intended it to. Based on damage dealt in the Halo games and also the damage Ruby does to the unarmored grimm(?) in the Red Trailer, i would say that dust-based weapons are superior in terms of power, though not working out of atmo is a huuuuuuuge drawback. For balance purposes, though, i'll probably make UNSC weapons superior to their Remnant equivalents. As for Ruby's weapon situation specifically... that'll be addressed in two chapters time.
Guest 002 - Yep! More is on the way!
I Drink Diesel - Yea... that is definitely a plot point in this arc... actually it'll get addressed next chapter.
- Yea, i could've dragged it on a bit longer... but i couldn't figure out how to do it without it devolving into a Q and A session. It might be just me, but i kinda hate those. Also, i thought it would work better if i dragged it out to be an always-present side-plot in the story. Thus, their initial reunion needed to be Yang spilling out all the tears that she's held for the decade or so that Ruby's been gone.
Mecharic - Blake's behavior in chapter 1 was due to a few things imo: 1) Ruby just admitted to killing potentially more people than Blake ever met, given that she's an introvert. 2) Blake is in a very emotional state after just leaving Adam like, an hour ago? a little more? either way, she's not really... there at the moment... case in point, she literally asks Ruby why she trusts her. 3) Remnant's population is very small for a civilized society, i'd estimate anywhere from 50-200 million based on the fact that there are only four proper cities on the entire planet. Thus, while killing a single person carries about the same punishment as anywhere else, the threshold between mass-murder and something like genocide is much lower in the minds of the people... and Ruby probably crossed it... Now, the only reason Blake acted the way she did in ch2 was because it was literally the only thing i could think of... and i toned down her meltdown... (It was a mistake in the first place)
Well, that's all! See ya in the next chapter titled '...Or Human Being?'
