So, do you guys remember how I said I was going to wait to do a Ruby perspective in a couple chapters? Well, I lied and we're going to do one now.
"Ruby," a person called out to her. It was followed by a hand shaking the girl's shoulder.
The voice drew the Reaper from her slumber. Both of her eyes cracked open slightly before shutting not even a second later. The sleep pressure still held its iron grip on her and refused to let go. However, this angered the demon trying its damndest to get Ruby out of bed.
Had she been carrying Crescent Rose, the foul creature would not have been so bold. The scythe was a mighty thing to see being swung in your direction.
"WAKE UP, YOU DUNCE," the foul beast shouted, pulling the covers off with no mercy whatsoever for the poor girl underneath.
The feeling of the cold air striking the once warm body, made Ruby curl up and try to shield her limbs. Oh, how she longed for that blanket. It would surely be missed. However, the monster refused to take pity after wounding her so.
The beast grunted loudly, muttering something under her breath. A moment later, an extreme cold crept up from the base of her spine, spreading across Ruby's entire body. The bite of the frost made Ruby yowl, and she leapt up from her bed, smacking her head on the other above her.
"Oooooowwwwwwwwww," Ruby whined, grabbing the quickly forming bruise on the top of her head. She turned to the white-haired girl who stood a foot away and shot her an angry look.
Weiss sent an annoyed slash smug look back at her. The Heiress cocked her head slightly, gesturing to the ice magic dancing around in her hand. The blue and white flakes rose and fell on their own volition, however, Weiss was undoubtedly prepared to use them on Ruby again.
"Do you want me to continue?"
"No," Ruby squeaked, having had enough to the Princess' torture. Though the pain from smacking her head was still there, she adjusted her posture and sat on the edge of the bed.
Ruby's body felt sore. Her abs hurt the most, but the rest of her was feeling it enough to be uncomfortable. Having her Aura nearly get broken yesterday left some lasting effects that had yet to be ironed out. Luckily, she wasn't stuck with that debuff like Jaune had after the goblin quest.
Jaune could have probably tanked it.
For some reason, her friend was stupidly tough. In a way more reckless than even Yang was. Sure, when compared with each other, her sister would outlast the other, but Jaune was willing to throw any semblance of strategy out the window. If someone looked at it from an outside perspective, they'd probably think those two were insane or stupid.
Probably both, but it worked out in the end. At least Yang has some method to her madness.
"Here," Weiss said, holding out something wrapped up in a piece of brown paper. "You should probably eat something. You skipped dinner yesterday, and you need to get some food in your system."
Ruby grabbed the wrap and opened it up. Inside, there was a what looked to be some amalgamation of breakfast foods crammed inside of two slices of bread. Eggs, bacon, sausage slices, and a bunch of random vegetables with some spices were the main ingredients. It looked like a heart attack waiting to happen.
And it looked absolutely delicious.
"What is it?"
"Nora's been... experimenting," Weiss explained in a way that made Ruby grow slightly afraid. "It's actually very good. Though, I think she could make it healthier."
Okay...
Ruby took a bite from the sandwich and found her tastebuds set on fire. The appearance of the sandwich did not lie because it tasted amazing. The seasoning was a little strong for her preferences, but honestly, it was probably one of the best meals she'd had at Beacon. It gave Weiss' cooking a run for its money.
After the first few bites, Ruby realised that she'd been starving. Her stomach growled like a lion suddenly, and the hunger pangs came on strong. It didn't take very long before the entire portion of food was devoured, leaving only a few crumbs in the wrapping.
"So, how are you feeling now?"
"Aura's not all the way back up," Ruby answered, lifting up her shirt to show off the monster of a bruise on her stomach. Its black and blue discolouration followed the contour of her abs. "And, I'm a little sore..."
"I can see," Weiss said with a grimace. "But are you okay enough to come with us today? Jaune wants to leave as soon as possible."
Oh crap, the mining trip!
Ruby leapt up from the bunk and started scrambling for her stuff. The ache from her stomach was ignored in the girl's enthusiasm. She immediately dove into her lockbox at the base of the bed and pulled out some gear—a few ropes, bags, and fire-starting tools that could be useful during the journey.
Jaune had not told Ruby much about his plans except for the part where they were going to a mine. So, it was better to be safe than sorry in case they ran into anything along the way. The ropes came in handy when crossing a river, but they would be even more beneficial down in a cave. Carrying silver ore up a mineshaft on your back was a recipe for disaster, so using some containers and rope to haul it to the surface was the safest option.
That didn't even take into account the overall condition of the mine. If Jaune said they were looking for abandoned shafts, then Ruby expected there to be flooding, cave-ins, and all manner of other hazards. The deserted mines on Patch also had a bunch of monsters using them for lairs, so she expected there was going to be another unseen hazard.
"I'm going to take that as a yes," Weiss expressed, grabbing her own bag from an adjacent trunk. "Do you have everything, or should we grab something in the marketplace on the way out?"
"Nope," Ruby chirped, slinging her gear over her shoulder. The weight made for an uncomfortable pressure on her stomach, but the girl pushed through. "I picked up some stuff a few weeks ago after we hunted those wraiths! I didn't really know if any of this stuff would come in handy, but I wanted to be ready..."
It was a few hundred lien for everything, but most of the gear would last. Ruby didn't skimp out on the quality of the stuff, so it was higher than what other adventurers would pay. She would admit that she used Yang's charisma to get a better deal than what was initially priced. Ruby wasn't above taking advantage of her sister's gifts.
"Good, then we should go find Jaune, he's in the workshop, getting the rest of the gear prepared," Weiss said, taking the first steps towards the front door.
Ruby could see Jaune laying out a bunch of tools and weapons on some cloth. Everything was meticulously placed in small bunches and neatly segregated from the other gear. Not that he wasn't already like that. Jaune had a veritable bottomless bag that he somehow stuffed sixty pounds of materials inside of.
Jaune just took preparation to a whole nother level than his friends had. Ruby thought it was pretty cool how their little group was improvising and coming up with cool gadgets from all the stuff they had on hand. Between those dust crystals, and the silver flakes, the trio had completed two big quests netting them a crap ton of money.
Practice makes perfect...
With those bullets Jaune made, they could probably infuse them with magic to add an extra kick. Ruby knew there was some other stuff they might be able to cook up, but she needed more money before trying out any more ideas.
What if we used dust and those bullets? But how would that work?
Need to ask Weiss later...
...
"So, how did you guys find a silver mine," Ruby asked curiously.
The two were about a hundred or so feet away from the workshop. She could hear some hammer strikes coming from the inside, so Jaune was clearly hard at work on something. Whatever it was, Ruby hoped he wasn't using the enchanted hammer without her. She wanted to be there and make something with it when they tried it out.
"There's an entire map of them," Weiss replied plainly. "But it will be easier to show you inside."
Thought those would be harder to find...
I'm not complaining. We don't have to run around and search for one.
Weiss and Ruby wasted no time clearing the distance between them and the workshop. The Princess led the pair, opening the door and finding Jaune hard at work stamping a new knife into shape. Although, the blade looked more like a shortsword than a hunting knife. The steel curved forward, widening out towards the end third of the blade.
It looked a lot like the knife Jaune had before the battle at the front gate. The curved one, not the gutting knife in the sheath on Jaune's back. This one was bigger than the previous version, which was about the size of a dagger. Judging from the general shape, Ruby guessed it was more for chopping than thrusting like most daggers.
Could probably chop wood like an axe too...
Hearing the girl's entry, Jaune turned around and waved at the two.
"Sup', guys," he chirped, setting the hammer and half-made knife off to the side. "You ready to get going?"
The bruises on his face had almost healed by now. They were nasty-looking green splotches covering half of his left cheek. Compared to how they looked two days ago, Ruby didn't know if this was an improvement. Black and blue tended to give off a different impression.
"Yep," Ruby replied, setting her bag down next to the door. "What's the plan?! Weiss said you guys found a silver mine."
"I didn't say that," Weiss corrected, emphasising her point. "Only that we were leaving soon..."
"Same thing!"
"Okay-Okay," Jaune hopped in before the girls could start getting into it. "We did find one." He gestured over to a map laying on the table. "Take a look, there's a couple of spots that we can check out if this one doesn't pan out."
Ruby stood over the map, examining the layout of Vale. It showed the entire area surrounding the capital for at least three hundred miles. Ruby had seen this before since it was in the library on display as the most accurate map of Vale's territory. The land most heavily fortified and accounted for. There were small cities and villages all over the continent, but those were way out in the frontier lands. One could consider them their own miniature kingdoms had they not signed on with Vale for protection.
The best thing about this map was how detailed it was. It showed practically every major road and trail in the kingdom, aiding in navigation across the land. Ruby was kind of impressed at the amount of work that went into it. Guys probably had to ride down all of these trails and map them out by hand.
This version of the map had several locations circled with a small 'X' over the centre. Ruby suspected those were the mines in question.
"How did you guys find these," Ruby asked again.
Is there another map?
"Professor Ozpin has a list of abandoned mines all over Vale," Weiss explained. "We couldn't find anything definitive in the library, so we asked him. It just so happened that he wanted someone to check out a mine twenty miles outside of Vale."
"I think it was something he's been looking into, but we showed up and gave him an excuse," Jaune expressed, writing a note on the map.
"What's so special about this mine?"
Silver quality? Maybe there's something there Ozpin wants us to find?
Ruby even went so far as to entertain the idea of it being related to the curse. Ozpin would be the type of person to send a scouting party in first to assess the situation. The Reaper got that kind of vibe from him. He would have already predicted Jaune and Weiss would retreat if there was something too big for them to handle on their own.
"Most of these locations have been abandoned for around a couple decades now," Weiss revealed, packing some more gear into a satchel. "I did not wish to break the law by stealing silver out from under a noble's nose. However, each of these lies in unoccupied territory, so we're able to excavate without any worries."
That doesn't mean there's going to be any silver there...
"Yeah, and this one was an active mine until a plague wiped the town out a few years back," Jaune picked up from where Weiss left off. "Everybody who could run left. Without anybody to mine, Vale just abandoned the project."
"Oh, okay, so there's probably some silver veins they couldn't dig up," Ruby speculated, cupping her chin.
Free silver for the taking. Hopefully, it's metallic and not part of some other minerals.
Jaune would probably know how to get it out, but we'd have to pay someone to do it for us if he can't smelt it.
Ruby took another look at the map. The silver mine seemed to be about forty miles outside of Vale. The others were slightly farther away, but manageable if walking there. However, carrying silver on your back all the way there and returning to the Academy would probably cripple someone. So, that was a bad idea.
"I wish we could get some horses," Ruby muttered, thinking she was too quiet for the others to hear.
At least one to carry everything. That or a mule would work. We could just walk the rest of the way and be there by dark.
Should have brought my horse!
The group was still too poor to afford a horse for themselves. After blowing all of their money on spells or an enchanted hammer, there wasn't much left. Maybe a really sick horse on the verge of death was probably in their price range, but would never be worth it.
"Yeah, about that..."
"Huh?"
"Professor Ozpin decided to lend us some horses," Weiss shared unemotionally.
What?
"Since when could we borrow a horse?!"
Ruby was both confused and very angry. They could have avoided walking or paying for a carriage all this time! So many occasions where Ruby would not have to deal with sore feet and hours of boring walking could have been prevented!
"Usually never because of the Acadamy's pay your own way style," Jaune said with a tinge of annoyance. "But, Ozpin said we could take some..." He let out a heavy breath. "Except this won't count as a quest since we're doing this on our own. He just gave us permission to take whatever we need from the mine as long as we tell him what's there..."
"Ughhhhh," Ruby groaned loudly.
That's so stupid! Why not just let students rent them!
God, I wish Dad let me take my horse! But no! Dad said his parents made him go to Beacon with just his clothes and weapons, so we have to do the same!
"I know," Jaune agreed with a laugh. "But, come on, we have five quests down and two and a half months left to get the rest done! It shouldn't be that bad!"
Weiss gave him a dry stare. "You should never say that," she barked. "Given our record, we may run into a dragon or that Mistrali army trying to conquer Vale!"
Dragons would be soooo cool though! Nobody's seen them for like a hundred years!
"That would suck," Ruby said with a chuckle.
For the next several moments, there was an awkward silence between the three. Nobody else could come up with anything to say, stalling out right there. Unfortunately, they suffered from a peculiar fit of social awkwardness, which had long plagued them.
The social graces of Nora and Yang were unavailable to push the conversation any farther.
"So, we have everything?"
Ruby had her whetstone on her in case they needed it but doubted they would. The hammer was left in her trunk because it really wasn't going to be useful. Unless Jaune wanted to hammer something out, however, that would require a forge which they couldn't put together.
"Yeah... The horses are already saddled up, so we should probably get moving?"
...
The stables were on the backside of the Academy. It was obvious that they were such from the general smell; however, the stonework and construction made it seem more elaborate than it should. Honestly, a wooden structure made from vertical planks would have done it, but Beacon didn't desire to stray from grandiose architecture.
"Oh, Ruby," Jaune spoke up, digging into a bag. He pulled out two pairs of metal plates and tossed them to her. "Try these on! I forgot to tell you about them!"
Huh?
Ruby inspected the items, finding them to be a pair of vambraces and greaves. Each was made from solid steel a few millimetres thick-about the same proportions as knight's armour, but nowhere close to the thickness of Jaune's Eagle's Armour.
"NO WAY," Ruby squealed, jumping up and down excitedly. "Thank you-Thank you-Thank you!"
She slipped them on immediately, finding them to be about the right size. Jaune had included leather lacing away from the strike face of each piece to adjust, which Ruby did so. After a little tightening, they were perfect.
Yes-Yes-Yes!
"I told you she would like them," Jaune pointed out to Weiss. The smug look on his face was met with an eye roll.
Yes!
Just need to upgrade these once I get some money!
"When did you guys make these," Ruby asked out of curiosity. She was still gawking at the new armour she'd been given, hardly paying attention to whatever was around her. The girl's heart was racing, finally getting her first set of armour.
It was something she'd been considering for a while now. The idea hadn't popped into her head until she'd been inside Alexandre's shop, but once it crept in there, it wouldn't leave. Those pieces were so cool that Ruby drooled at the thought of them nearly a month later.
Maybe I should try drawing a set out? Jaune or Blake could probably help me out with the details.
"Last night," Weiss explained, leading the trio into the stables. "Jaune had to make some customisations to that armour you picked up from the pile, so it should better stand up to blunt force trauma."
"Couldn't get a breastplate hammered out though," Jaune mentioned, discouraged about the fact. "There were none around your size, so I chose to hold off... But, those pieces have leather and cloth under the plate, so you don't have to wear a gambeson!"
Ooooo!
"Should we try for a plate or something like Blake's armour," Ruby suggested, bouncing around the pair. She was about to begin darting about with her ability but held off. "Wait... The breastplate would be too stiff for me to use..."
Ruby couldn't swing around Cresent Rose in a breastplate as proficiently as she could now. Heck, it would be worse than when she started getting into puberty. Stupid hips and boobs were changing, so she had to compensate for the shift in her balance. The plate would restrict the ability to turn her shoulders as needed.
"I was thinking about lamellar, actually," Jaune hinted, pushing open the door to the stables. "Not as good as steel plate, but cheaper to make and more flexible. If you want to throw in some chain mail under that, it would fit you pretty nicely. Maybe in a few days, we'll try sizing you up for a set and get that ready?"
Even better! Totally like the hoplites from Mistral!
Throwing open the right door to the barn revealed dozens of horses on the inside. Ruby inspected those closest as they passed by, finding them all to be absolutely beautiful. She guessed most of these were owned by other students, which made the girl jealous.
"Here they are," Jaune announced, gesturing over to a pair of horses already saddled up.
One was a stallion and the other a mare. The male was black with several large white splotches on his legs and part of his torso—a long white mane adorning his neck. The mare was a chestnut brown with a black mane hanging off her. Their breeds were a mystery to Ruby, but she guessed they were mid-tier riding horses that merchant or middling-rank soldier would have been able to purchase.
Ruby moved to the front of the mare, observing her features. She was a pretty horse and didn't seem to mind the girl's presence either. The Reaper went to pet her muzzle, and she nudged the hand, allowing Ruby to stroke her head. Ruby's other hand went to grab some straw and held it up for the horse to eat, taking it gladly.
"Hey there..." She turned over to Jaune and Weiss. "I call this one!"
"Knock yourself out," Jaune replied, lifting some bags onto the mare. "She'll be the packhorse, so you can ride by yourself."
Makes sense, I'm the second lightest person here.
Jaune put one of his feet into a stirrup and heaved himself onto the stallion on a single motion. Ruby could tell from the way he moved, that the Paladin had some experience riding horses. It was only right given his statement about raising them in Bar.
Weiss... Not so much.
She tried using the stirrup, but couldn't lift herself any higher than the horse's knees. Ruby had to hold back her laughter as she watched the show, but couldn't help but find this hilarious. Jaune only ended her suffering as he grabbed her hand, practically one-arming the girl onto the saddle just behind him.
What Ruby saw next confused her slightly. Weiss' cheeks were bright red. She was blushing hard, not from embarrassment, but from something else. Unfortunately, that other reason was lost on Ruby. Maybe it was just from being sandwiched up against a boy?
Jaune wasn't a bad looking guy according to Yang and from her own observations, corroborated that. Weiss would be stupid if she didn't understand the fact. However, Ruby was getting some closeted, not used to boys vibes from Weiss. So, it was only logical that she was flushing over that.
Hope Yang doesn't see it... Weiss wouldn't ever be able to live that down.
Ruby had to instinctively check the area for her older sister. Knowing Yang, she was probably hiding somewhere in a bush or up in the rafters. She would lower herself down with one hand, appearing right behind them without saying a word. None would notice her until they decided to turn around and get the crap scared out of them.
"Remnant to Ruby," Jaune called out to her. "You ready to go?"
Gah! I wasn't paying attention!
Weiss and Jaune were staring at her, waiting for Ruby to hop up on the horse. Without a second wasted, Ruby heaved herself onto the saddle and urged the horse forward. She complied, and Ruby trotted out of the stables and into the courtyard. The combined weight of the girl and their gear didn't impact the mare much, but the rider kept the pace slow as to not injure the mount.
Ruby panned her head, looking out upon the crowd of students outside of Beacon. There, she saw Yang hanging out with Pyrrha and Blake. The blonde waved, hopping up and down on one of her feet to give extra bounce to her step. Ruby waved back, giving her sister one last goodbye before they set out.
[Three Hours Later]
"Here," Ruby spoke softly, leading the horses to a stream.
Both the mare and stallion began drinking their fill, so Ruby left them alone to take care of their business. She turned around and saw Weiss and Jaune working on the map. There looked to be a debate about the direction the group was heading in.
They had been careful about ensuring their travels stayed on the intended road, but Ruby knew their luck would have struck sometime. A minute of not checking the compass or overconfidence may have led the group to take a wrong turn. Which, was something Ruby really didn't want to have to deal with. The horses needed resting every so often, making the journey more difficult and time-scarce.
"How do we intend to find the mine once we reach the area," Weiss asked, taking a bite out of some bread.
Maybe there are some buildings around? The miners would have built some huts to refine ore or used them for their quarters.
Ruby moved back to the group, taking a seat on a log to rest her legs. Everything was feeling sore from riding those horses. Having not done any riding in the past month and a half reduced her tolerance to the stress. Had there been an opportunity to lay down and take a nap, Ruby would have taken it gladly.
Jaune stood up, backing a few feet away from the stump they were using as a table. He muttered something and a bright flash of light filled the air, nearly blinding the girls. Once it dissipated, Ruby saw what Jaune had conjured.
It was a massive hawk. The bird of prey was probably larger than anything she'd seen in her life. Ruby guessed it was almost three feet long with a wingspan of about twice Weiss' height! The hawk was also snow-white on everything except for the beak, feet, and its eyes. It bore a large crest of upturned feathers just behind its head as some kind of mating display. Both sets of talons comfortably wrapped around Jaune's arm, leaving some room left over to continue.
Ruby shot up and onto her feet, zooming over to inspect the summon. "What is that," she nearly shrieked, keeping her voice low as to not disturb the animal. "What kind of eagle is it?"
"I don't know," Jaune replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Birds aren't really my thing... It's the new ability I got after the battle. Haven't had the chance to try it out, but it says I can use him for scouting."
Jaune raised his other hand up to pet the hawk. It replied by pressing his head against the boy's hand like a dog or cat would. He went so far as to scratch its head with one of his fingers, which the hawk seemed to enjoy more.
"I think I'll name him Junior," Jaune said in a joking manner.
"Why that name?"
"He looks just like me, can't you tell," he continued, holding the bird to his side to examine the two at once. Neither of which looked remotely the same.
Weiss wasn't fooled by his sarcasm, scoffing and walking back to the horses. "Gods, you're so dumb..."
Jaune and Ruby started snickering as the Heiress left them. The Paladin tossed Junior up into the air, and he began circling overhead, following his master.
"Okay little birdie," Ruby said, staring up the hawk. "Let's see what you can do!"
Kinda wished I had something cool like that... I only got a ranged-energy attack for my scythe when I hit level twenty.
[Six Hours Later]
Dusk was starting to fall as the trio made rode into a what was left of a village. It reminded Ruby of the fort where they hunted those wraiths. Which, suddenly brought back memories of that quest. How it felt to stalk through an abandoned town with eyes on the back of your head at all times.
Ruby was prepared to jump off the horse and coat her scythe in some of that oil Jaune made for her. She needed to be able to get the jump on anything that decided it was time to charge out from inside a hut looking for a snack. That hunter would soon become the hunted as Ruby Rose turned the tables with only a single move.
"Have you guys come up with with any ideas for the next quest," Jaune asked, scanning the buildings for any sign of danger. "I think we should do some hunting? Maybe there's a werewolf or cockatrice contract back at the Questing House?"
That sounds like fun...
Ruby knew cockatrices were basically a wyvern with a rooster head. Essentially, a demonic chicken that had an appetite for livestock or the occasional drunk who wandered too far from town. They liked to hide in tall grass and ambush their prey before they had any chance to react.
There had been one on Patch a couple months before she'd left for Beacon. Ruby, Yang, and a couple of their friends went out to chase it down before it could cause any problems. The whole hunt ended up being an hour of running after it as the beast took to the air and none of them had a ranged weapon to take it down.
They eventually killed it, but the whole thing was really embarrassing because Uncle Qrow and her dad were watching from the sidelines. The pair were laughing their asses off at the teens every time the cockatrice dodged an attack, causing someone to slam into another or when Yang was smacked with a tail, sending her off into the trees.
"What if we brought some of our friends along," Ruby suggested, taking Crescent Rose off her back. "We could do some harder quests like a gryphon or fiend."
I think we should ask Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha if they want to come along. It would probably be a lot of fun...
"Any other ideas, Weiss," Ruby asked, turning to the Princess who was reading a map. The logistics of reading the sheet with sandwiched up against Jaune were challenging to manage, but she was using the boy as a makeshift table to plot out their path.
"Huh," she muttered, looking around to meet Ruby's eyes, clearly not paying attention previously. "Well, I did have an idea, but your guys' plans make mine seem less appealing now." Weiss looked around once more and checked the map. "Stop, we're here."
Jaune and Ruby pulled on the reins of their steeds, bringing them to an abrupt halt. Each looked towards the Mage for conformation to continue as she double-checked the map. Ruby then pulled up alongside the pair to look at the map over Weiss' shoulders.
The area looks right...
Too bad Ruby wasn't very experienced in orienteering, so she wasn't sure if this was the place. Had she been the one to navigate and become intimate with the map, then it might not be as up to the question.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Weiss confirmed, hopping off the horse. She drew her rapier and applied a dash of Jaune's oil to the blade.
"How do you know," Ruby asked, following Weiss' lead.
"There's a sign."
Ruby turned to where Weiss was pointing, finding a sign with the village's name on it. Honestly, the Reaper expected more nuanced reasoning behind it, but what was she going to complain about? They were here and just needed to find the mine.
"Oh..." Ruby looked over to Jaune. "Do you want to try using the hawk? We don't know what's going on in the village, so we need a spotter."
The last thing they needed was to run into a group of bandits holed up somewhere out of sight. A pair of eyes in the sky would even the odds enough so they could plan around any obstacles. If Jaune could spot the mine while he was at it, then their job would only be easier.
"Heh, finally I get to use this thing," Jaune said, looking at the bird. Some manner of unspoken communication went between them, and the hawk made a sharp turn towards the centre of town.
"What's it doing," Ruby asked, continuing to watch the hawk circle the town.
"It's weird," Jaune described, cupping his chin. "I'm getting a feel for what's on that side of the village. Something like a third eye, I guess, but it's not speaking to me in any way."
"Interesting," Weiss mused, inspecting a pile of debris. "Do you know what buildings are where, or is it similar to deja vu?"
"Yeah, there's a butcher's shop on the other side of that hut," Jaune explained, pointing to a half-collapsed building in front of them. "The lord's manor is about a mile away from here and looks like it was burnt to the ground."
"Any monsters, or baddies around?"
Most of the buildings are still standing, but they don't look lived in. Rotting wood and broken windows. Everything's still habitable. I don't see any smoke either, but they could have put out the fires during the day.
"Not that I see," Jaune replied, circling around two take in a full view of the area around them. "Place looks pretty deserted... But, I'm seeing some mining equipment outside of town, so we might want to check over there."
"We should go around the town," Ruby suggested immediately. "Even if we don't see anybody, they could be hiding in the buildings, so I don't want to get caught off-guard."
If there's an animal, it might spook the horses, leaving us without a ride.
"Good idea," Jaune chirped as he hopped back onto his horse. He pulled Weiss up onto the saddle and directed the hawk to fly off in the direction of the mining equipment. The bird swooped down just above them, scaring Weiss as it brushed right past their heads.
...
"This is the place," Ruby said, jumping off her horse once again. "Some sluice boxes and water wheels." She ran over to a piece of equipment that looked like a large hammer. "They use this to crush ore."
The tools and equipment were haphazardly scattered around the area. Most were in pretty bad shape, but Ruby surmised that some could still be used if a crew came in here and replaced the rotted wood. However, something Ruby remembered from Patch was how miners wouldn't bother building these if there was no ore to be found.
Everything led up to the side of a hill where there was nothing but overgrown vegetation. Luckily, this area had yet to be taken over by nature, so there was a decent trail of gravel. It all gave Ruby an idea.
"Jaune, give me one of those torches," she said, dropping her bags and scythe at her feet.
The boy complied, pulling some premade torches. He followed it up with taking out a metal can containing his linseed oil and dunking the cloth-covered portion into it. Weiss handed over a fire-starting kit they made a while back, and Ruby took out the flint and steel. One strike and the torch caught fire immediately.
Taking the torch with her, Ruby headed over to an overgrown portion of the hill. A lot of bushes were heavily clustered around a twelve-foot span, and the rest of the side was more sparse. It looked pretty suspicious from her perspective due to the contrast. The existing trail also led in this direction.
Okay, I know you're behind there...
She held the flame up to the vegetation, and they caught fire quickly. The dry conditions of the area made the bushes more like tinder. Soon all of the shrubs blocking Ruby's path were entirely engulfed in flame.
"Umm, are you going to do something about that," Jaune asked with a worried expression on his face. "I don't think a forest fire's what we want to deal with right now..."
Ruby activated her ability, and in a flash, a motion-blurred mass of red with a stream of rose petals following it wiped out the fire. The speed she moved at utterly blew out the flames like a one would a candle. What remained was a few husks that crumbled with Ruby's boot swiping at them.
"Aha," Ruby shouted, pointing into the cave. "Knew it was hiding!"
The opening to the cave was about six feet wide. Large enough for a mining cart to fit in the centre, but nothing too ginormous that you would have to perform some creative engineering to support it. Aside from that, it really looked like a standard mine shaft. Wooden beams were placed every few feet to give support, but nothing had collapsed yet.
"How did you know?"
"Look, Ruby began, gesturing to the line of bushes outside the entrance. "These are planted in a straight line around the front of the cave. Nature doesn't really do that. If it did, then we'd see a bunch more trees and stuff growing all around. Someone planted them on purpose. They're trying to hide the mine."
Maybe they were going to come back and get the silver but didn't get the chance. If there was a plague here, then they might have died leaving town.
"At least we don't have to dig for the entrance," Weiss said, dropping her stuff next to Ruby's.
"Yeah, that would suck..." Ruby expressed, going to grab her weapon. "But, how do we want to do this, guys? Jaune in front, me and Weiss covering you?"
"Don't fix what ain't broke," Jaune chirped, pulling out Crocea Mors mark-three. His lack of a new shield was made up with the torch Ruby gave him. "You guys carry the torches, and I'll light them as we go, so we can mark our path." Just as he was about to enter the cave, he stopped, turning to Weiss. "Hey, Weiss, why don't you use that magic light-ball thing?"
Huh?
Ruby hadn't seen that spell before. A lot of ice magic and that thing she does to get rid of pain, but nothing light related. It was probably something from before the whole group got together and started questing.
"I have to focus on keeping that magic up," Weiss explained, crossing her arms. "If something tries to attack us in there, I can't switch spells quickly enough to react."
"Oh..." Jaune's face scrunched up slightly, rethinking some strategy surely. "I guess we'll have to do without it then..."
Jaune led the way deeper into the cave. Eighty feet inside, the light from the tunnel was no longer visible. With only the torchlight guiding them, they could see about fifteen feet ahead clearly. Another ten or so feet was mainly shrouded in darkness, but the group could make out shapes.
Ruby was starting to get vibes from the goblin quest. Every shadow was where something could leap out without any warning at all. Luckily, the cave's tight corridors made it almost impossible for a creature to attack from the sides.
She and Weiss lit the second torch, dropping it on the path to ensure an easier time making it back. Ruby regretted leaving the bright spot of light for a slightly dimmer one. Her hairs were standing on end now, and her heart was getting ready to beat out of her chest. She could feel the rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins.
Every rock somebody kicked echoed throughout the entire tunnel. Ruby could feel the low rumble coming from the entrance where the wind funnelled inside. The sound made it slightly difficult to discern someone's breathing from the background noise.
What was that?
Just ahead, Ruby heard something. A slight shift in the gravel beneath their feet. She grabbed Jaune's shirt and pulled back on it, telling him to stop. He froze in place, holding his sword in a basic thrusting position incase something rushed out.
Another sound came from ahead. This one was deliberately quiet. The shuffle was less pronounced than the first but made the exact same noise. It was followed by one more immediately after.
The third, fourth, and fifth were an all-out sprint directly at them. Ruby shoved Jaune to the side of the cave as whatever was dashing towards them just emerged from the darkness. She swung her scythe upwards, minding the narrow confines of the shaft.
All she saw launch itself from the darkness was a face. It was a woman's. Her glowing red eyes shone brighter than even the torchlight. They stared directly into Ruby's own eyes with a pang of ravenous hunger behind them. The woman's grey-skinned face bore a snarl that showed off a set of extended fangs, signifying what beast this was.
The vampire tried to push forth; however, Ruby's scythe had impaled the woman through the centre of her torso. A sizzling noise emanated from the wound as the silver flakes coating Ruby's blade were burning the monster's flesh. She howled in pain and tried to pull away as the effect grew more pronounced.
Before she could make any headway, Jaune came in from behind and thrust his blade into the open maw of the vampire. The enchantment on Crocea Mors applied a coating of ice at the sight of the wound, with frost growing all over her head. Slowly, the combination of the magic and injury in her chest caused the vampire to die. She collapsed, falling off the scythe's blade and into her own blood.
What...
Ruby stared down at the corpse. All she could see was blood—a pool formed at the base of her feet. She took a step away, trying to get as far away as possible from the encroaching substance.
No-no-no-no...
Crescent Rose fell out of her hands, let go mindlessly as her focus shifted to the sight before her. The girl's hands were painted with a layer of blood. It brought back a tide of memories from only a few nights ago—the images of those men she had killed. Every motion she had made ingrained inside her head. How their last breaths sounded when Ruby cleaved through them with the scythe.
Ruby started feeling sick, turning and bolting out of the tunnel using her ability, the stream of rose petals were all that was left in her wake.
[Jaune]
"Weiss, go after her," he urged, not taking his eyes off the body or the shaft in front of them.
Her footsteps followed immediately upon his order, leaving him by himself. Jaune wanted to go check on the girl as much as the next guy, but he could not leave the body unattended. Nor did he know if more creatures were hoping to grant the trio a surprise. It would be irresponsible of him to abandon his post now.
Okay, need to burn the body soon...
Given a couple hours, the vampire might be able to get back up and start walking around. So, Jaune needed to act fast and dispose of her before that could happen. However, as he went to grab the arms, he heard another noise come from deeper in the tunnel.
Jaune leapt back, holding his sword in the plough guard stance, waiting for the creature to rush out at him like its friend. He could hear the sounds of nails clicking against the small stones littering the floor of this cave. This thing did not care to hide its presence.
Quickly grabbing the torch, Jaune decided to close the distance. He took a few steps before whatever was coming to him entered the light. As soon as the amorphous black shape entered his vision, the boy backed to the other side of the body as fast as he could.
"Who's there," Jaune asked, holding the torch out as far as he could. When he didn't get an answer, he took another step forth.
That's when Jaune realised what had approached him. Looking right at his eyes was a large black dog—a shepherd by the looks of it. The dog's hair was short but still voluminous, and his body appeared to be in good health.
A dog?
The hound slowly progressed, closing the distance between the two, but stopped right at the corpse. It whined and tried to push at the body using its paw. When that didn't work, it sat down next to the body and tried once more—the lack of desired results eliciting another whine from the pup.
"Hey, boy," Jaune greeted softly, setting the torch down next to him. "You two knew each other?"
The dog didn't answer, but by his body language, Jaune could tell it was saddened by its previous master's death. His ears folded against his head, showing that much. Jaune not an expert in dog language simply understood what it was feeling on a mammal to mammal basis.
"Sorry, buddy," Jaune apologised, petting the top of the dog's head. It accepted the hand, not lashing out at the boy who killed its owner. Jaune then stood and grabbed the corpse's arms to finally dispose of it. "Come on, buddy, let's get her taken care of, and we'll figure out what to do next."
All right, so Ruby just orphaned a Good Boy, so that's going to weigh on her conscience. But the dog is a german shepherd with short black hair. I didn't use the actual species name, but given that my Vale is combination of Germany/France, there has to be a german shepherd somewhere.
However, this is a light dive into the growingly complex character of the Ruby Rose I will feature in this fic. I will build on both her and Weiss as I go along with the story, giving each their own chapters or splitting them up.
Class: Paladin
"Gather 'round, Paladins!"
"There is a difference between the other classes and us! When those Knights and Chevaliers fled at first sight of monsters! You were the ones to take their place! You walked right up to those monsters and wrapped your hands around those fucker's necks! And you did not stop there! Killing everything in your way until there was nothing left!"
"That is the difference between them and us. Those bastards who were too busy keeping themselves in food and wool can keep all the glory and fame for themselves! Boasting about their deeds as if they sacrificed something!"
"We fight to keep the people safe! To keep the Drowners out of the latrines and Goblins from ploughing our milkmaids! Knowing that no other class has our virtue! Our dedication to our craft!"
Level Twenty Three
Strength 43 (+7)
Agility 23 (+4)
Defence 30 (+5)
Perception 35 (+6)
Constitution 42 (+7)
Intelligence 48 (+5)
Charisma 26 (+3)
Willpower 19 (+3)
...
Abilities
Arclight
A high-intensity explosion of light, equivalent to that of the sun. Burns the flesh of undead and magical entities. Momentarily blinds living and non-magical entities. Sudden magical intensity can cause affected to flee regardless of status.
Active Debuff:
Turn and Face The Sun!
Longinuslanze Testament
A most unholy weapon. Forged by our lord to answer to only one master. He who has the will to dominate such a blade.
It shall sunder any armour. It shall never miss its mark. It shall grow with your own strength. Its holy light searing all who stand to oppose it.
In turn, you shall become vulnerable to attacks whilst wielding this unholy relic. It shall challenge your mastery by forcing you to fight at your full strength.
Active Debuff:
Turn and Face The Sun!
White Hawk
This aethereal hawk shall be forever bound to you. As its master, only you may give direction to this bird of prey. Whether it be scouting the path ahead or distracting your enemies.
...
Passive: Magister's Lament
Your Passive is a double-edged sword. While you may proficiently cast magic beyond the limits of your Willpower. It is limited in other instances. Not being able to cast harmful offensive magic or any magic on yourself.
...
Miscellaneous Knowledge/Buffs/etc.
Monster Slayer
Spent years studying the various monsters of Remnant. Knows the different species and taxonomy of each known creature. Understands the weaknesses of most known monsters.
Armour and Weapons Smith
Worked a forge for his entire life. Jaune is able to judge the composition of metals, and know the condition of his weapons and armour.
...
Gear:
Jaune's Breastplate
Level Seventeen
Materials: 2% Silicon, 0.60% Carbon, Remainder is Steel and Leather
Minimum Stat Requirements:
Strength: 32
Agility: 16
Defence: 22
Constitution: 30
Eagle's Armour
Level Twenty Eight
Materials: Unknown Alloy Ratio of Enchanted Steel and Corundom, Carbon Steel, and Leather
Minimum Stat Requirements:
Strength: 57
Agility: 25
Defence: 30
Constitution: 39
Buffs:
This specific alloy of steel and corundom is less dense than normal steel while just as hard. It has a strength to weight ratio similar to menachanite allowing the user to build a thicker armour without sacrificing for weight.
This armour was also specially built for you. The measurements fit your body exactly, allowing it to be worn as a second skin granting a tremendous degree of flexibility.
Necklace of the Bulwark
+25% Bonus to Constitution