This is a story that has been through a multitude of different phases for years. At least on the conceptual level. I think I've got something good here.
Disclaimer: Obviously I own nothing about anything used in this story, and I also haven't watched Rwby since season 3. Not a fan of what I read about, and seen from the show recently, but that doesn't matter. This is fanfiction and an AU at that, so canon don't matter to me.
"Alright Ruby, tonight's the night! You're gonna get the woman of your dreams and make her the happiest in the world!" Ruby Rose, two years removed from graduating high school, got a cool gig being Patch's local Computer specialist. She was making good money, had a nice social life, a loving family, but was missing one thing. That one perfect something to tie her young life up with a pretty little bow. The woman of her dreams, Blake Belladonna.
Blake, and Ruby met in their freshman year of Beacon Academy. Ruby got in two years early at the age of twelve, after proving herself to be an exceptional all rounder when it came to every subject Signal could throw at her. Ruby will never forget the day. She remembers a young Blake, catching the eye of everybody she passed by. She only stopped when she approached Ruby, and her older half-sister, Yang, who was too busy chatting Ruby's ear up about this game where you can evolve monsters and fight with them. Yang's favorite being the orange fire breathing dragon. Ruby herself was taking out a book she had to do summer reading for. "The Man with Two Souls" was the name. The book had happened to catch the eye of the Faunus teenager, and she had stopped by to say a few words about how much she liked the book. Ruby can't remember a thing she said to this day. Yang never told her, and well… she was too busy staring at Blake's beautiful face. She's sure it wasn't super important.
After that day, many had tried and failed to win the heart of the girl who carried herself with suave. Ruby herself had waited. Waited as she watched the foolish boys and girls try every trick in the book to catch the eye of Blake. When all had given up hope, she took her chance. Sadly, she also failed, but Ruby would never tell you this. Every attempt at flirting, turning a simple friendly hangout into a date, study hall, you name it! Ruby swears on her own life that she felt a connection to Blake each time they bonded, and they did. Even in the midst of being smitten, Ruby saw Blake as someone she found to be a genuine friend. She decided to not use her friendship with Blake to take advantage of the Faunus. Ruby could never hurt someone like that. She didn't have it in her. However, she always made it clear that she was in fact, head over heels for the older girl. Blake always turned her down, but never without something akin to a smile on her face.
Ruby was not a quitter. She simply carefully played the hand she was dealt when it came to winning Blake's affections, and lucky, her deck did not run out of cards even two years after graduation. Tonight, she listened to the heart of the cards, and she drew up a plan as old as time, but one she had seen work a good number of times. She was going to place a ladder on the side of Blake's house where her room was, climb said ladder, and draw the attention of the sleeping beauty. She would then profess her love for the older woman while showing her she was willing to put herself in danger for her. Blake would swoon at the sweet gesture, and either invite Ruby in, or leave her with some hope in ways which only Blake could. If none of those things were to happen, Ruby would simply pick her battle, and choose the next appropriate time to make another move. No big deal.
Ruby climbed the ladder with a sense of purpose, reaching the top, and quickly knocking against the window. In her quest for glory, she noticed that Blake was startled by the noise.
"Crap, I forgot about that." Ruby cursed herself for momentarily forgetting that Blake was a Faunus.
Blake soon noticed Ruby by her window, and with an annoyed sigh, made her away around from the opposite side of the bed, furthest from the window, and swiftly opened it to greet Ruby.
"Hello my lovely." Ruby greeted with a wink as she rested her arms comfortably on the windowpane.
Blake breathed through her nose as her posture slumped. A sad looked donned her features, and Ruby began to worry.
"Is something wrong?"
"I… this isn't the right time for us to have this talk." Blake looked away.
"What do we need to talk about?" Ruby's left eyebrow rose as she continued looking at Blake.
The woman inside the house steeled herself, inhaling deeply before exhaling in a relaxed manner before gracing Ruby's silver eyes with contact from her own golden ones.
"It's about my family. I'll tell you tomorrow."
Ruby's mind instantly went into a state of panic. Did something happen to a relative in a different city, was her mother suddenly ill? Before she could question Blake, she felt the ladder shake. Steeling her grip, Ruby peered down to see her dog, Zwei, as aloof as ever, on his hindlegs shaking the ladder.
"Damn it, Zwei, bad dog!" Ruby scolded in a half whisper, being careful not to wake anybody in the neighborhood up.
Too bad Zwei didn't care for that. The dog immediately started to bark as he shook the ladder roughly.
"B-be careful Ruby!" Blake reached out to grab hold of her, but Ruby backed away from the window. The play was not to have Blake save her from injury, and she had to get down before anything bad happened.
"No need to worry, Blakey." Ruby took a hand off the ladder to wave at the woman. "I can handle Zwei-whoa-whoa-hold on Zwei!" Ruby was now shouting as the ladder tipped sideways away from Blake. Ruby had no time to react as she soon felt the sting of bush branches, and dirt underneath that barely broke her fall. A light on the first floor turned on and the voice of a much older woman called out.
"Blake?" It was Blake's mother, Kali. She also heard a window being shut.
Not wanting to risk explaining her actions to Blake's mother, who could easily take them differently, Ruby scrambled to her feet in spite of her aching side, and swiftly removed the ladder, and her meddling dog, while exiting the premises. As she came close to the house she shared with her sister, Ruby quickly placed the ladder back on the side of the house and lifted the dog in her other arm into the air.
"You're something else you know that?" Ruby huffed.
Zwei sensing that he did something wronged, squirmed and whined in Ruby's grasp. As she lowered him, Zwei gave her an affectionate face licking. Ruby covered her lips as the dog let her know he didn't mean it. She set him down, and quickly washed her face with the garden hose. After she was done, she returned her attention to Zwei.
"I can't stay mad at you. I love you too much." She said, offering the dog a tummy rub, which he happily obliged too. A thought couldn't escape Ruby's mind as she continued to shower Zwei with well-placed scratches.
"I hope Blake's family is alright."
"I'm leaving for Menagerie."
Ruby woke up the next day feeling great! Another day to live her budding life and give it some purpose. Part of that purpose was to find someone that she could share her world with, and without that one perfect something, her purpose would never be fulfilled. She would go through life never being able to experience the one thing she wanted more than anything, and that was romantic love.
Blake's news felt like she went full speed crashing into a brick wall, only for said wall to become sentient, grow two pairs of thick legs of solid brick, and stomp her lights out, laughing at her pain as it mangled her body.
Ruby didn't even know what to say, so the only thing she could ask was
"What?"
"My father resigned from his position as the White Fang's leader a few months ago. He felt like he was losing control of what he started. A group of Faunus fighting for true equity throughout the continent of Remnant." Blake gathered herself before continuing. "What started out as a grounded group of individuals has turned into one harboring more extremist views. He feels like he failed, and I have to go back to show him that his efforts were not in vain. You know how passionate I am about this."
Blake was right. Despite drawing the eye of most around her, it did not stop people from throwing her, and other Faunus in Patch looks, and mean remarks. Some of the younger kids had bullied others simply because they were Faunus. Ruby remembers sticking up for a rabbit Faunus named Velvet many times throughout the time she knew her in high school. Racism was a nasty ideology to teach to anybody, let alone young kids, so Ruby, along with other friends, took up the fight for equality alongside Blake. Ruby's own parents were adventurers, helping anybody no matter what they looked like. True paragons of good in the world. People like Blake's father, and her own parents inspired Ruby to try and make the world around her better.
That didn't mean that the news didn't sting. The thought of Blake leaving, and with the way things sounded, it felt almost like a goodbye. Blake would go on to take on a bigger role. A bigger purpose in her own life. Meanwhile, Ruby would continue to do good in her own hometown, and…not much else. And worse so, without Blake being there. Ruby knew she was being selfish, and the swirling emotions stung her eyes as her vision clouded. Blake rubbing her shoulder, with a sad smile.
"No, I get it," Ruby quickly tried to blink the tears way, but the wetness now made her eyes sting more as they felt cold. "You've got some big things to do, and I'm really proud of you. Sucks that I can't be there to help."
Blake's sad smile turned into a frown. "Oh Ruby, I know how you feel about me, but as you said, I've got a duty to fulfill. The Faunus are my people, and my family has been looked to for leadership in many troubled times. This is no different. I-I don't have time for love. I'm sorry."
The imaginary brick wall from before had now grown arms and hands. It began to thrust its fists into Ruby's chest relentlessly as her heart finally gave out, bursting from heartbreak. She caught tears freely flowing from her eyes as she came too. Just in time to hear Blake's words again.
"I'll make sure I come visit when I have time." She offered, but they both knew it meant nothing. None of the other times was Ruby rejected as harshly as this. It wasn't even from a place of malice. The world calls for people to carry out their purpose, and it was Blake's turn to answer.
"Y-yeah… at least I'll be able to see you again." Ruby spoke, but there was no happiness behind her words. Her voice had cracked, and her throat felt dry, so the words came out through a raspy voice.
Blake felt terrible for doing this to Ruby, but it had to be done. She could not afford anything distracting her. The final moment between the two was Blake hugging an almost lifeless Ruby Rose. The hug seemed to breathe life back into the young woman briefly, as she hugged Blake in return. The two shared tears, and it would be the last time, for a long time, that the two friends would see each other again.
Not gonna lie, writing that scene at the end was tough. That stinging feeling of rejection can hurt for anyone, but Ruby will bounce back. I just gotta make her suffer for a while as she's making the climb back up. Let me know what you guys think. This story is wildly different from what I wanted to write years ago. I won't reveal details about what changed as it's mostly spoilers but some stuff I can say is:
Ruby's family was going to be running their own detective agency in the large city of Vale. I haven't watched much crime shows or read any stories to get an idea of how a story centered around that would even go. It was designed to have many moving parts going on as the story progressed, and it became too much at some point so I had abandoned the project. I'm opting for something a little more personal, and less grandiose.
Welcome to the story of Finding Purpose. Hope you have a good time reading. See you next time for Chapter 2! I don't have a schedule so updates can range from every few days to months in between.