And here's the next chapter! Sorry for the delay, this one... got pretty hard to write in some parts.
She fidgeted in the seat in front of him, sitting on her hands. He narrowed his eyes.
"And you're sure they were female?" he asked. She hesitated before nodding.
"I couldn't get a good look at them, but they looked like a girl, and they had bright orange eyes." Ruby looked away. "Those men… they're…they're really dead, aren't they?" Ironwood's face softened. He rested a hand on Ruby's shoulder, rubbing his thumb, trying to comfort her.
"They are. I'm sorry you had to see that, Ruby." Her gaze remained on the floor.
The door opened and Ironwood looked over, moving his hand back to his side. Glynda and Ozpin stood in the doorway, fury in Glynda's eyes. Glynda stormed into the room, crouching next to Ruby, resting her hand on Ruby's knee.
"Ruby, are you okay?" Ruby looked at her professor and nodded.
"I really want to go my dorm; I'm really tired." Glynda gave her a comforting smile, and stood up.
"I'll escort you back to the dorms." She glared at Ironwood, before giving a courteous nod to Ozpin. "General, Ozpin." She left the room, Ruby trailing her. Ozpin said nothing as he entered the room and closed the door. He took the seat, resting his came across his lap.
"Do you know what they were after?" Ironwood shook his head.
"I'm having the CCT's computers scanned and analyzed but we aren't detecting any viruses, and it doesn't look like anything outside of the cameras were tampered with." He rubbed his chin. "They clearly wanted something but I think Ms. Rose might have interrupted before they could accomplish their goals." Ozpin sighed.
"Do we know who to look for?" Ironwood crossed his arms.
"Based off Ms. Rose's testimony; female, orange eyes, more than likely a student or looks young enough to pass as one." Ozpin nodded.
"I'll have Glynda send any students who match that description to my office." Ozpin stood up, leaning on his cane, and walked over to the door, opening it.
"I plan on calling Winter. If this attack was meant for Salem to learn where Amber is, we need to hurry." The door closed. Ozpin looked back at him. "Unless you have another candidate in mind."
"I'll contact Qrow. We must agree on the next Maiden unanimously before we go through with anything," he said. Ironwood stepped forward.
"Ozpin we can't keep delaying this; Salem's agents attacked Beacon! My men are dead!"
"I'm aware, James!" Ozpin snapped. "We need to keep the Maidens out of her hands, but we can't just give that power to anyone. They have to be somebody worthy of that power and will do good, and not just be a pawn of ours." Ozpin turned back to the door, opening it. "But I will contact Qrow, and ask Glynda to compile a list of possible candidates. Hopefully Qrow can get here in a timely manner." He left the room and the door shut behind him.
Ironwood sighed and flexed his gloved hand as he stood in the dark room.
Ruby stopped in front of her dorm door, and turned to Glynda.
"Thank you, professor." Glynda gave her a warm smile.
"It's no problem, Ruby. The other professors and I are always here for you if you need to talk about what you saw tonight." Ruby looked down at her feet before embracing Glynda, hugging her tight. She felt Glynda return the hug, before letting go and ruffling her hair. Ruby stepped back, and sheepishly rubbed her arm.
"Sorry, professor. I just… needed to do that," she said. Glynda gave her another smile.
"I understand, Ruby. Get some rest, and if you need tomorrow off, just let me know." Ruby smiled back.
"Thank you, professor." She opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind her. She leaned back against the door as Penny, Yang, Weiss, and Blake all but appeared in front of her.
"Where have you been?"
"What happened?"
"Are you okay?"
"Why did you disappear like that?" Ruby rubbed her arm, and looked away from them.
"I stepped out for some air during the dance and I saw someone on the rooftops. I followed after them and got to the CCT, and…" She wrapped her arms around her torso "When I got there I found a soldier, a man, he was dead. I went in and the room was full of bodies and blood. The elevator was too. I got up to the top floor and got attacked by some woman with fire swords, and then she disappeared and then General Ironwood appeared and got interrogated by him." She looked up at them.
Penny looked shocked, her mouth agape slightly. Weiss had a hand over her mouth, her eyebrows raised in concern. Blake was frowning, and Yang-
She wheezed as her sister pulled her into a bear hug.
"You're okay, right?" Ruby wheezed and patted her sister on the back.
"Can't breathe," she said. Her sister released the death grip she had on her, and held onto her shoulders as she looked at her, concern on her face.
"You're not hurt are you?" Ruby shook her head.
"No, I- I think I'll be okay." She looked over at her friends. They all looked just as concerned as her sister. "I just want to shower and go to bed." Her sister hugged her again before letting her go.
"Okay, Ruby," she said.
She slipped past her sister and entered the bathroom. She exhaled, her shoulders sagging. She leaned against the door, and closed her eyes.
Blood
Charred organs
The smell of death
She lurched towards the sink, starting to vomit. Her body shook as the bile spewed out. She gasped for air, her eyes watering as she huddled over the sink. She spat, and looked up at her reflection.
Her heart dropped when she noticed the thin, coarse hair above her lip. She groaned, running a hand over the hair. Just what she needed.
She sighed, and went to the shower, turning it on, and letting the water warm up. She took off her dress, and felt disgust as she looked at her body.
Unable to stand looking at her body she entered the shower, the cold water sending a jolt down her spine. She stood under the shower head, the water beating down on her, running down her body.
Why did she have to be born this way?
She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on the tiles, the cold water running down her back. She felt warm water run down her cheeks.
She leaned back, and let the water run down her face. She started to wash, taking her time, rinsing the vomit taste from her mouth. With the last suds running down the drain she turned the water off, her body feeling a little less tense then when she stepped in. She dried off and grabbed her pajamas from the hamper, she could wear them a few more times before washing them.
She stepped out of the bathroom and saw Penny and her sister sitting on Weiss' bed, Weiss and Blake on Yang's bed. She cocked her head to the side in confusion as she looked at them.
"We know you said you wanted to go to bed but we need to ask some questions," Yang explained.
"Okay?" Ruby said, going over and taking a seat between her sister and girlfriend. Weiss held up a hand as she asked
"Could you make out any other details aside from it being woman?"
"Was it the White Fang?" Blake asked. Ruby shook her head.
"No, I don't think the mask she was wearing was a Grimm mask; it was black."
Burning orange, like a blazing fire.
Ruby scowled.
"She did have orange eyes though."
Orange eyes peering out from the shadows of a bulkhead.
Her scowl deepened.
"I've fought that woman before," she said. The bed squeaked as Yang shifted in her spot, looking at Ruby.
"How could you have done that?" she asked. Ruby rubbed her chin as she thought.
"That night I stopped Torchwick from robbing that Dust store, a woman with orange eyes was with him in the bulkhead he escaped in." She rested her hand on her knee. "Maybe she's the person who bought out the White Fang? And why Torchwick is working with them?" Blake crossed her arms.
"If she has Torchwick and the Fang under her thumb, why would she attack the CCT on her own?"
"I don't know." She turned to Penny. "Do you think she could be the woman you were built to fight?"
"Built?" Weiss asked. Ruby's eyes widened as she realized what she said. Penny's eyes widened as well and she looked over at Weiss and Blake. Ruby felt Penny grab her hand, and Ruby gave her a reassuring squeeze.
"I… I am a little different from the rest of you. I am a synthetic human; an android." Weiss' eyebrows shot up and her mouth fell open and Blake looked taken back. Yang laughed.
"Of course my sister would fall for a robot. You couldn't keep your hands off any mechanical thing we had growing up." Ruby's cheeks grew hot and she smacked her sister's side.
"Yang!" she exclaimed, as her sister continued to laugh.
"So, wait a minute, you mean you're a robot? Like, you are an actual, living, breathing machine?" Weiss asked.
"I am. I was built in Atlas and grew up on a military base with my father. He was very strict about what I was allowed to know of the outside world. Mr. Ironwood watched over me as well, he's like a second father to me. I remember my father and Mr. Ironwood telling me that I was destined to save Remnant, to help end a war with a woman called Salem."
"And you think that woman Ruby's fought could be her?" Blake asked. Penny shrugged.
"It is possible. I never met Salem so I do not know what she looks like." Weiss tapped her index finger on her chin.
"Now that I think about it, you being an android would explain a lot. You were pretty strange when we first met." Penny laughed.
"I was still learning how to behave like a proper person. It is thanks to Ruby and all of you that I am learning what it means to be a real girl." Ruby's face fell.
A real girl
"Ruby? Are you okay?" Weiss asked. Ruby looked over at her. Weiss looked concerned and Blake cocked her head to the side as she looked at Ruby.
"You're crying," Blake said. Ruby felt her cheeks, and held her hand out in front of her; there were tears on her fingers. She looked at Yang, fear in her eyes. Realization dawned on Yang's face and she wrapped an arm around Ruby.
"Are you sure, Ruby?" Ruby nodded, squeezing Penny's hand as her sister kept her in her embrace. Her stomach was in knots, she could feel herself shaking, her mouth was dry. She squeezed her eyes shut; she couldn't look at their faces when she told them.
"I… I'm trans," she said.
There was silence. She held her breath as she waited for them to respond. For them to yell. For them to call her a freak. For them to reject her. She heard Yang's bed squeak and then felt several people wrap their arms around her. She opened her eyes, releasing the breath she was holding.
Weiss and Blake were hugging her. They gave her reassuring smiles as she looked at them, her cheeks wet.
"And that's perfectly okay." Blake said. She felt her lip quiver and her vision started to get fuzzier.
"We all love you, Ruby. Just the way you are," Yang said, resting her head on top or Ruby's.
"You being trans is probably the least surprising thing we've learned in this room." Weiss said. "We love you the way you are, Ruby. We're not going to think less of you for who you are." She choked back a sob.
"Really?" she hiccupped. Weiss and Blake nodded, and Yang nuzzled her head.
"I wouldn't care if one of my sisters was trans, why would I care if you were, Ruby?" Weiss said. Ruby hiccupped, relief and happiness washing through her. She heard Penny clear her throat. She looked at Penny, who was still holding onto her hand, and looked confused.
"What is trans?" she asked.
"It just means that Ruby was born in the wrong body. And she takes medicine now and it helps her be who she was meant to be."
"Oh, okay." Penny squeezed her and gave her a smile.
"Do you remember what you told me back in that alley, Ruby?" Penny asked. She nodded. "You think being born in a certain body makes you any less real than me?" Penny asked. Ruby's lip quivered and she started to sob, her friends hugging her as the tears ran down her face.
"Thank you."
She paced the room nervously as the shower ran. Mercury sat on his bed reading, and Noe was on her bunk, doodling something or another. What if Ruby recognized her? What if Mercury didn't hack the cameras properly? What if the virus didn't go through? What if-
Her head snapped over to the bathroom door as she heard the water stop running. Cinder walked out a moment later, a towel draped around her body, her hair hanging limp and wet past her shoulders. She had on hazel contacts.
"Cinder! Do you know if it got through?" Cinder nodded, and let the towel fall. Emerald blushed and looked away; she hated when she did that. Mercury didn't even glance up from his book as he said.
"Just because you can make your clothes appear out of Dust, doesn't mean we want to see your ass all the time."
Speak for yourself
Cinder snapped her fingers, a red nightgown materializing on her skin. She went to her bed, and sat down. Emerald watched her, crossing her arms.
"You're positive it got through? We won't get another chance if it didn't."
"I'm positive." Cinder picked up her scroll from her bed. She smiled wickedly as she checked it. "And it's already spread begun to spread to the software in the Atlesian ships. Oh?" Her smile grew. "That will be useful." Emerald cocked her head to the side.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It seems General Ironwood's been keeping secrets. Very useful secrets."
"Secrets I'm sure you won't be sharing with us till you feel like it?" Mercury said. Cinder chortled.
"Of course," she said.
"What about Ruby? She saw you, should we kill her?" Cinder shook her head.
"She saw a shadow. And if she did notice any discernable features," she pointed at her eyes, at the new contacts, "I'm sure a simple disguise will be more than enough to keep that simpleton off our trail." Emerald shifted her feet, nervous.
"Still, wouldn't it be safer to just kill her? She's starting to become a problem. And when are we going to tell Adam we found her?" Cinder glared at her.
"Tell me Emerald, what do you think Ozpin would do if the only witness to the attack at his school, the last Silver Eyed Warrior no less, was found dead?"
"Um, I… I don't really know," she said.
"Beacon would go on lockdown, no one allowed in, no one allowed out. Everyone would be screened, and what do you think he would do when he cross checks the false student files we planted in his system and finds out we aren't really students?" She fidgeted under Cinder's glare.
"Hand us over to Ironwood?" she offered.
"Assuming he doesn't try and kill us himself. Do you understand now, Emerald?" She nodded. "Good," she said. Cinder stretched her arms. "And as for young Adam, I want to keep that little secret until the attack. I want him extra fired up during the fighting." She laid down on the bed, and Emerald blushed and looked away again.
Those legs
"Now do try and get some rest, Emerald. We have the long and tedious task of pretending to be students from here on out."
"Oh goodie," Mercury said flatly. Emerald sighed in annoyance, and shook her head.
She opened the door to his office and saw him sitting at his desk, a screen in front of him, his eyebrows knitted as he glared at the screen. Moonlight filtered through the green glass of the office, casting Ozpin in an odd light. She shut the door as she went to his desk.
"You wanted to speak with me, sir?" He didn't look at her as he scrolled down the page he was on.
"James is calling Winter here to get started with the transfer. I've notified Qrow and am waiting on his response." She frowned.
"He can't seriously expect us to be okay with that? He can't just bulldoze over our opinion of the matter."
"And I told him as much. But if the woman who attacked the CCT tonight is the same one who attacked Amber, then we are short on time, and we need to come to a decision soon." Ozpin closed the screen and rested his hands on his desk, his fingers interlocked. He looked up at her. "Have you given any further thought as to which student we could pick?" Her frown deepened.
"Sir, with all due respect, I don't think any of our students are ready for that kind of responsibility." He cocked an eyebrow.
"Glynda?" She took a breath.
"If you want to use one of our students for the transfer, you will have to decide on who without me. I will not force one of my children to have to go through that; to have to live with that burden. A Huntress we know could work just as fine." Ozpin stood up.
"Glynda, our options are limited. We have to pick someone we know, someone that we can trust to properly use that power. And one who is still young enough to be viable to become a Maiden."
"I understand, sir, but I refuse to do that to one of my daughters." He glared at her, anger boiling behind his eyes. He turned his back to her, his body covered in green shadows.
"I see. You are dismissed, Professor Goodwitch." She gave him a polite nod and left the room.
She knocked on the door, and rested her hands behind her back, swaying back and forth on her feet as she waited for the door to open. It opened up a crack, and Ironwood's weary face peeked out.
"Penny? What are you doing up this late?" Penny offered him a smile.
"I needed to talk with you, Mr. Ironwood." Ironwood's face disappeared and the door closed for a moment before it opened. Ironwood was in his pajamas, the linens ironed and crisp. He motioned for her to come in. She did, looking around the barren room as he closed the door. He went to his bed and sat down, while she remained standing in the center of the room.
"What is that you needed to discuss, Penny?" he asked.
"I would like to compete in the Vytal Tournament." He cocked an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Since leaving home I have learned a lot about the rest of the world, about what it means to be a real girl. I know that Father and his staff back in Atlas will be watching the Festival, and I would like to show them how much I have grown." He rested his fingers together.
"I could take you back home, Penny. You can show him in person." She shook her head. Father would not approve of her being in a relationship or having as many friends as she does now, and she could not go back to that kind of isolation, not after learning what she had been missing.
"I would rather stay here in Vale, Mr. Ironwood." He smiled.
"I assume, Ms. Ro- Ruby, has a part to play in that?" She nodded. He chuckled.
"I understand. I believe I may be able to pull some strings and scrounge up a team for you from Atlas." She squealed with delight and embraced him. He patted her on the back as she hugged him.
"Thank you, Mr. Ironwood! I promise to not let Atlas down!"
"I'm sure you'll make us proud." She broke the hug and stepped back, still giddy. He gave her a tired smile. "Now go get some rest." She gave him a salute and he chuckled at that.
"You as well, Mr. Ironwood." She said.
And that's it! Let me know what you think. Oh and check out the Vol4 soundtrack! This Life is Mine is my fave track so far.