A month later
Salem had gone out in the evening, to visit one of Vale's many streets alone. Well, alone. Miss Goodwitch was still not far away, really a Scroll call. She understood Ozpin not wanting to leave her alone, lest she lose her way and maybe need to call for help, but today? Today, young Salem simply wanted to see some of the city at night. It was, indeed, as beautiful as she had expected.
Ahead, she could see the shine of light through a window. She was still getting used to the idea of electricity and the likes, but so far, she'd gotten well acquainted with much of the technological marvels of this new world. The store, funnily named 'From Dust 'Till Dawn' sat at the T-intersection just ahead, between this little side street she was exploring and the Main Street. She had yet to ask Ozpin about the crystal she'd found, or meet with miss Peach as per miss Goodwitch's recommendations. She hoped to do so early tomorrow, after initiation.
She pushed the door open, greeting the old man behind the counter with a nod and a smile. She then went to the back of the store to browse. Neatly lined up on shelves, the myriad of colors of Dust crystals sat in reinforced boxes made of armored glass and heavy alloys and lined up neatly on the shelves. Beautifully carved, unlike much of the Schnee merchandise you'd see, they were beauties with deadly power inside. Sadly, Salem reminded herself, she had no way to buy them. She lacked a salary and she'd already taken enough of miss Goodwitch's.
She stopped, noticing a figure clad in a red hood, standing by a shelf of comic books and magazines. The young sorceress had gotten to read a few of those during her stay at Beacon, unsure of how to use what Ozpin had called a 'holovision'. Some of the newfangled technology beat even her, sadly, but she had promised herself to get used to it. She approached the young girl, over which she towered by at least a head, before taking a book off the shelf and opening it to find it be about articles of clothing.
She chuckled, then gazed over to the young maiden who was reading... A weapons catalogue? And smiling.
Huh.
She also had something covering her ears. 'Headphones' if Salem remembered the term correctly. Used to listen to music without bothering those around the listener, although, admittedly, the young girl's music was playing loud enough to be heard past the mufflers. She wanted to tell her off, but heard the sound of footsteps and a man calling out "Hey, kid! Lady! Hands where I can see them!"
She looked over, to see a man in a black suit, red tie and glasses and a bowler hat with similar colors. She looked to the girl, then hummed and offered, "Are you certain of that, young man?" before watching him draw his blade. She sighed, then placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, garnering her attention. Salem smiled at her, then tilted her head. Going by the strange, scarlet box-shaped device on her back... Perhaps this youngster was a student at a local combat school?
The girl with silver eyes took her headset off, then turned to the robber. She raised a brow, looked to the blonde woman and asked "Is he robbing us?"
"Yes!" The man growled.
The girl hummed, "Oooh." before her hand wrapped around the weapon on her back. Salem showed her to wait, before a ball of white energy formed in her hand. She mouthed a string of words unfamiliar to the girl and threw the man hard into the wall behind him with a gust of wind like that of Dust's. Ruby gasped, awed, before getting a look from the woman which said 'Your turn'. She beamed, the adorable girl, before surging forward in a swarm of rose petals, her steel-toed boots making contact with the man's chest, throwing him back toward the counter and clean through the window
Salem chuckled, then said "An amazing display." to the girl, turning to see the men sat in the store, pointing weapons at the poor old man at the counter. She scoffed, then looked to the girl, whose weapon was now extended into the form of a massive, heavy scythe. Her awe, however, could not take her attention from the threats, including the ginger man with make-up on his face and the white and black suit. She chuckled, smiling at him, then saying, "That shade most certainly does not suit you, my good man."
That got a chuckle out of the girl in red and a growl out of the bowler hat-wearing, cane twirling leader of the gang of thieves. He tilted his head toward the younger of the two, then took two guards and pushed them toward Salem. The first one to come into range raised his sword to strike at Salem. She caught his hand by the wrist and twisted it, before using a hint of fire magic to burn his Aura-a concept she had learned and read about with help from miss Goodwitch, but was still studying-and sending him into a wall.
She ducked under the other one's attack and, with a gust of wind magic, threw him toward his ward. The man slid to the side, raising his cane and firing at the woman. The whistle of a high-explosive shell echoed and Salem was barely able to stop it from nailing her right in the stomach as it exploded in front of her, halted by a wave of ice magic invoked with the help of her water bottle, which now lay crushed. She staggered as the explosion's powerful blast still sent her back a couple feet.
Her attention locked onto the girl, who had already knocked down her assailants just as the man approached her. The Sorceress hissed, running toward the door and looking to the old man. She smiled reassuringly to him, before appearing outside and throwing a fireball that struck him across the back and made him miss the shot from his aimed cane. He looked back, bringing the cane toward the woman's head, but she stopped it out of sheer instinct and luck with her vambrace.
"Who the hell even are you, lady?! You Red's mom or something?!" The man growled as he took a step back.
Salem looked to Ruby, then she shook her head and spoke "Just a stranger... Now, why will you not just give up without a fight?" as she readied another fireball in her hand. Her magic was still weak and she felt much of the reserves she had now being drained for this attack.
"Well, Lady, I really would love to humor you..." He sarcastically responded, before Salem felt the barrel of the cane placed upon her belly. He smirked, then said, "But I'm afraid I can't do that."
The red girl pounced on the guy fast, receiving a cane to the face for her troubles and staggering slightly. The man distanced himself from them, firing two shells from the cane which Salem barely stopped with a wave of fire. Gripping her side, she fell to the ground, panting, then looked to the girl. Despite a slight red bump on her forehead, she seemed fine.
"You mind if I go after him?" She asked both her and the shopkeeper. Salem grunted, trying to stand up, to which the redhead protested, "Woah, wait, you're hurt!"
"I'll be fine..." She murmured, "Let us pursue, young one." And she stood to her feet. The two ran, Salem in her dress, toward the ladder that the man now climbed. While she'd have loved to use her magic to climb, she only had one tiny bit of it left. She may well have needed it. The girl extended her hand to Salem, then yelled something about hanging on... Before Salem knew, the two flew up to the top after a loud crack escaped the end of the girl's transforming scythe.
As much as Salem had wanted to ask and ask again about the weapon's ability to transform and be slotted onto the girl's back like that, hunting this ruffian was more important at the very moment. Salem and the girl called out to him in unison "HEY!" as the Sorceress pooled energy into a simple ice spell to halt him. He stopped, growling something. And before the two could do anything, a Bullhead appeared ahead of them, its engines roaring as a beam of light locked onto them.
The man climbed aboard, turning to face them with a smile on his face as he called out "End of the line Red and Lady!"
A single red crystal flew at the girls' feet, followed by the blast of the man's cane. Salem ducked, wrapping her arms around the red girl to shield her from the explosion. Yet the blast never came, just a faint gust of wind, followed by a pair of high heels clacking against the concrete of the roof. Salem looked up and smiled, seeing the golden hair of her coworker and friend, as well as her own Magic. Her Semblance.
"Miss Goodwitch!" Smiled Salem.
"Are you well, ladies?" She asked.
"We are fine. That man, however?" Salem glared at the man. Glynda's eyes burned for a moment as they locked onto him. Following that, the woman's powers manifested fully, as tendrils of energy struck the aircraft, knocking it nearly out of the sky as the young lady and the Sorceress straightened up. While Glynda summoned a storm of ice above the ship, a woman in a scarlet dress appeared in the cargo bay and Salem felt a chill, followed by a familiar warmth as she stared at her. Two burning amber eyes glared back down at them.
Salem gasped as she saw a flame form in the woman's hand, the pattern on her right hand's sleeve burning a deep, hot amber. A wave of fire washed over the girls, though Glynda's shields held the burning magical power at bay. Despite the deflection, Salem saw below them a whirlwind of magical power form. She used a miniscule amount of her power to shield Glynda as an explosion roared below them. The shockwave nearly knocked the women off balance and tore bits of the roof out.
Bits which Glynda immediately took to utilizing as a spear to shoot down the ship. Despite the 'flak' of the other woman's magical powers, Glynda's attack slipped through, slamming into the ship and causing the girl ahead to nearly fall off-balance herself. Salem took this as an opening, raising her hand and casting a simple ice projectile spell, making sure not to consume too much of her power at once.
Even so, the minor icycle attack seemed to have caught the enemy magician by surprise, as her melting fire barely managed to hit the third of three projectiles aimed at her, the other two being narrow misses. Salem swallowed, then looked to Glynda and said "That woman is..." only to get a nod from her compatriot and a signal to keep quiet. She looked to the redhead on the roof with them, whose weapon folded in as she opened fire on the other Sorceress, though to no avail. Bullets simply seemed to ping off her hands.
Salem felt a massive magical surge below them. She yelled to Glynda, "Dodge!" and pulled Ruby toward her, before garnering the last of her power for the evening and launching a gravity spell toward the now-escaping ship. She missed, letting the spell dissipate and falling onto her knees. She felt pain surge through her side and was tended to by the red girl and, following her, Glynda.
Despite Salem's little wince, she chuckled at the next words coming out of the geeky redhead's mouth...
"You're Huntresses...! CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPHS!?"
... Even at the police station, Salem still chuckled, taking a sip of water from her glass as she watched the girl in red, Ruby Rose, she said she was called, sat there, having to explain herself. Funny, Salem could swear the name Rose was familiar. Glynda's berating was interesting to listen to. Almost like that of a stern mother talking to a misbehaving child.
Speaking of, Salem sighed, then said "Miss Goodwitch, sorry to intervene, but... She tried to help."
"Yeah!" Ruby started... Both garnered a glare from the woman, causing them to lean back into their chairs and quieten down. Okay, Glynda had a penchant for command. No wonder Ozm-. Ozpin. He had chosen her as his aide to train the students in Combat. A stern hand and a stern voice lead a long way to making great warriors, but if Salem recalled correctly, Glynda wasn't a correctional officer. Much more of people person too, always there for the children. At least so Ozpin said.
"Now." Glynda sighed, stepping up beside Salem, "If it were up to me, you would be sent home with a pat on the back..." and that got a hopeful smile out of the girl, before Glynda's riding crop landed on the table, just as she barked "And a slap on the wrist!" which got Salem's heart to jump a bit. Glynda continued, however, letting out a defeated sigh as she added "However, there's somebody who wishes to meet you..."
Indeed, even as Ozpin walked in, tray of chocolate chip cookies and coffee/hot chocolate(Frankly, Salem still was not sure what he was drinking) in hand, the Sorceress beamed at him. He smiled back, then looked to Ruby and called out, "Ruby Rose..." leaning in and proclaiming "You... Have silver eyes."
Even though Salem found that a tad odd, she let her beloved continue. He set the tray of cookies onto the table and the girl shyly started at them, first eating one, then two. Then almost a dozen in a minute. Salem chuckled at that. She was kind of adorable. He would, however, need to explain the 'Silver Eyes' bit. It was interesting to her too. Especially if could answer about the crystal...
"So!" Her beloved then started again, with all the glamour she would expect, "Where did you learn to do this?"
He motioned toward the Scroll Pad that showed the footage of Ruby utilizing her scythe almost professionally. Ruby sheepishly answered, "Uh... S-Signal academy?"
"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" He seemed fairly proud, rather than in disbelief.
"Well. One teacher in particular..." Ruby confessed.
"It's just that I've seen only one other scythe wielder of that caliber before. A dusty old crow." The old man quipped, smiling.
"Whawh's mwa uncwe." The girl tried to speak with her mouth full of cookies getting in the way, achieving yet another giggle out of Salem. She swallowed the sweets, then said shyly, "Sorry..." before proclaiming in a booming voice, "That's my uncle! Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing and now I'm all like..." as a few strange noises escaped her mouth, with the girl chopping at the air like some sort of hand-to-hand fighter.
"And what's an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?" He asked, sitting himself down beside Salem.
Ruby seemed even more shy as she answered "Well... I want to be a Huntress..."
"You want to slay monsters?" Ozpin raised a brow.
"Yeah!" She nodded, "I only have two more years of training left at Signal and then I'm going to apply to Beacon! Y'see, my sister is starting there this year and she's trying to become a Huntress and I'm trying become a huntress 'cause I wanna help people. My parents always taught us to help others and so, you know, I thought 'eh, why not make a career out of it'. I mean, the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and" as her voice pitch changed, Salem beamed brighter, listening on, "and really... Gosh, you know!?"
Despite Glynda's deadpan look, Salem found the girl's desires quite beautiful. If anything, it was how she had very often viewed Ozpin. Her Ozma. Even back in the day, he was like Ruby. Clearly, he thought the same as he asked, a partial smile on his face, "Do you know who I am?" which got a look of surprise out of Ruby. She nodded, looking around the room, before she looked back into Ozpin's amber eyes.
"... You're professor Ozpin. You're the Headmaster at Beacon." Ruby offered.
Ozpin chuckled, "Hello."
"Nice to meet you!" Ruby beamed like a bright ray of sunshine once more.
He looked Ruby straight in the eye and Salem knew what came next. The man asked "You want to come to my school?"
Without skipping a beat, Ruby answered "More than anything!" which got Ozpin to look to the two women beside him. Glynda hummed, looking away with arms crossed and Salem. Well, Salem couldn't deny such a wholesome little rose, could she? She gave Ozpin a nod of approval, before turning to the little red ridinghood reaper and listening in. Ozpin let out another chuckle.
"Well... Okay." He nodded.
And as Ruby's smile grew ever bigger, Salem barely restrained herself from smiling too. A single, pure soul in a sea of darkness could be like a beacon of light. That was what she felt in Ruby Rose, that burning spirit of help, of desire to protect those close to her. Again, her mind drew parallels to the man she once knew and whom she hoped she knew even today.
Ruby Rose would be a right fit at Beacon. Salem sensed it.