Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions
Co-Authored with ToxicExotic
Back to Basics
The loud horn of the harboured ship caused Blake to flinch as she waited for her teammates. The loud noises of trade and laughter filled every inch of the port, and Blake couldn't help but notice a stark difference from when she had arrived. Compared to two weeks ago, when the place had been more silent and peaceful with people simply trying to get their business done, the residents of Patch seemed to actually be loitering. A few stalls that had not been there previously had been erected, and people surrounded them to talk happily to each other. The dock was even packed to the point where Blake was beginning to wish Patch had adopted Menageries wider roads.
Weiss sat at her side, her legs and arms crossed while she watched the sisters talk excitedly to Tai. Though she was trying to play it off as impatience, Blake could see a hint of curiosity behind those piercing blue eyes. She didn't dare mention what she saw of course, since the both of them shared the same touchiness regarding family, but Blake definitely knew the heiress was thinking about something.
"The ship is gonna take off without us if they don't hurry." Coco grumbled as her and her team returned from their excursion to a nearby clothing stall. "Should have just stayed in bed at this rate."
"How are you not used to early mornings yet?" Weiss asked, her eyes finally breaking away from the family.
"She misses having Yang in the b…" Fox's thoughts were cut off as Coco punched him in the arm.
"Coco has been like this ever since we met," Yatsu said as he sat down on the ground with crossed legs and laid his greatsword, Fulcrum, next to him. "Velvet is the only one of us allowed to wake her up."
"That's because Fox dumped a bottle of water on her. And you let him."
Blake let out a small chuckle and Weiss raised an eyebrow as a remorseful look passed over Yatsu's face for a second. But it passed quickly. Anyone who knew Team CFVY knew that it wasn't just Velvet and Coco who were close, but all four of them were. It wasn't uncommon to see Fox getting Yatsuhashi into some sort of trouble, or for Coco and Fox to be giggling about people. Velvet had even confided in Blake that Yatsu had asked her lessons on how not to offend Faunus. The man still had some ways to go, but it was always clear he never meant to do it and was making a genuine effort to change.
That's more than can be said for a lot of people. Blake thought to herself as she reached up to adjust her ribbon. It felt weird to be wearing it again after two weeks without it.
"Here they come." Weiss sighed and stood up. "Finally."
Blake looked back over to her girlfriend and partner to see them hugging their dad, before pulling away with a wave. He had mentioned having to patrol the west with a small recon team that the council had sent, but he'd put aside just enough time to see them to the docks. But it appeared that time was up, since he quickly took off at a sprint into the woods while the other two girls began to slowly make their way over.
"Hey, all good?" Blake asked as Ruby sat down in the spot that had been saved for her.
"Yup," The leader replied with a sheepish smile. "It's good to see this place so busy again."
"Well, that's all because of you four," Coco said with a grin as she leaned against Yang. "As stupid a plan as it was, it worked. You should've seen the people in town yesterday. Looked like a festival was about to break out. Right, Velvs?"
"Yeah," The Faunus said with a wide smile as she too pressed up against Yang's arm. "You four are heroes of Patch."
"Heh," Yang snorted and reached up to scratch her head. "Not real..." Velvet reached up to place a kiss on the blonde's cheek as her hand slipped into Yang's. "Okay, kind of a big deal. That definitely deserves more rewards."
Blake shook her head and gave a chuckle as Coco leaned in to give Yang exactly that. Instead, she looked at Ruby and gave her a small smile. From the slightly downcast look, she knew Coco's comment about it being a stupid plan had definitely struck the girl; but from what Yang had said, Ruby wanted the truth. And Blake could hardly argue with Coco.
She was always willing to follow Ruby, and let the girl order her around, but even she had to admit that the correct course of action would have been to run. They were already too low on aura, and it had been sheer luck that they had survived. Had Tai and CFVY taken any longer to get to the cave, then they definitely wouldn't have. However, she had agreed to the plan too. Not just because Ruby wholeheartedly believed in that moment that the plan would work, but because she did too. As stupid as it was, Ruby couldn't have known that the Hellk could survive being buried by a small mountain. None of them could.
"How's the arm?" Blake whispered, since everyone else was in conversation.
"Better," Ruby said dully and shifted the arm which rested in a sling. "Still hurts a little, but at least I can move it now."
"Hmm," Blake hummed thoughtfully, really not keen on seeing a normally happy look so down. "Enough for me to not do this?"
She reached her arm around the girl's waist and slipped her hand into her girlfriend's. Almost immediately, the thin digits closed over the back of her hand and Blake couldn't help but be glad by how strong Ruby's grip was. She was also happy at the fact that a small smile had begun to pull at the reaper's lips.
"That's fine."
"Good." Blake grinned back and flicked her book open so that Ruby could read it.
"What's this one abo…"
"Hey, nuh uh," Coco said and snapped her fingers. "No cuddling. You can do that when we get on the ship. Which is gunna take off soon."
"Alright," Blake sighed and took note of the page for later as she closed the book.
"You don't sound so excited about going back to school?" Ruby remarked as they stood, Blake's arms still around her girlfriend's waist.
"I dunno," Blake shrugged as they made their way after the others towards the boat. "It's been nice being able to just be… myself for a few weeks."
She didn't need to say it because Ruby's eyes flicked up to the bow and a small scowl settled on her face.
"I definitely prefer you without the bow." Ruby said with a downcast look, though she quickly looked back up with a hopeful expression. "But maybe, one day, you won't have to wear it?"
"Maybe," Blake replied noncommittally. She didn't technically have to wear it, but it certainly made things easier. "Definitely not today though."
"Okay, Ruby smiled as she squeezed her hand tighter. "No pressure."
Blake gave the girl a warm smile as they stepped onto the ramp to board the ship. She really liked that Ruby thought her ears were cute. Normally it felt weird, like the people saying it felt the need to point out that they weren't bothered by it, and that in and of itself had a tendency to get tiring. But with Ruby, the comment didn't feel directed to her ear at all. It felt to Blake like the girl was just talking about hiding a part of her in general.
With that knowledge in mind, she made a mental note to take the bow off a little more when she was in their dorm room, and continued her way up the ramp. However, as they were halfway up, she heard hurried footsteps behind her that were quickly followed by a loud shout.
"Hey, Ruby, Yang. Wait!"
All eight of them turned to see a middle-aged woman with forest green hair jogging towards them with a large basket in her hand. The woman was either not used to running, or had run a long way; but since the main town was not too far away, Blake had to assume the former. As she approached though, she slowed down slightly until she reached the ramp, where she stopped to catch her breath.
"Kelly?" Yang asked and made her way back, an impatience groan coming from Coco who was quickly tapped by Velvet. "What're you doing here?"
"I wan… to ca… before…"
"Why don't you catch your breath first?" Ruby said kindly and took a step forward.
Kelly gave a small nod and placed a hand on her hip as she did what Ruby said. After almost a minute, during which the captain shouted for them to hurry up, the woman finally appeared to have recovered enough to speak.
"I wanted to catch you before you left," The store owner said in what was still a tired voice. "To bring you these."
The green-haired woman held out the basket, and Yang quickly reached out to grab it. She pulled back the lid to reveal a massive supply of cookies and cakes that would easily keep the sisters happy for a couple of days. Ruby's eyes lit up immediately as she spotted what was clearly a trove of treasure for the young reaper.
"My store was the first place your mother would stop by whenever she returned from a mission, and I would always let her take whatever she wanted." Kelly explained with a fond smile. "I figured it was only right that I do the same for her daughters. Especially after what you have done for us."
"That's…" Ruby looked away from the baked goods and looked at the smiling woman. "That's really not necessary. It was out j..."
"Yes, Yes. It was just your job." Kelly laughed and gave a dismissive wave. "Summer used to say that every time too. But me and Beryll want to show just how grateful we are for you doing that job. People like you," she turned to motion to both teams. "All of you, you give people like us hope. And everyone on patch is eternally grateful for that."
Ruby and Yang simply stood there. However, both of their reactions were different. Yang's was one of awkwardness as she sheepishly scratched her head, while Ruby looked like someone had punched her in the face. Her mouth hung slightly open and her silver eyes were wide as she surveyed the woman. However, before she could recover properly, the captain called again and Weiss let out a loud, exasperated sigh.
"Then it would be rude of us not to accept your thanks, Mrs Viirdian," The girl said and plucked the basket from Yang's hand. "But it is just enough to know that we helped people. Right, Ruby?"
"Oh, yes," The leader said as she snapped to attention. "We are just happy to help."
"Well help is certainly what you did." Kelly smiled happily. "The people of Patch will rest easier now that horrid beast has gone. But, I should let you go before that captain brings a whole new evil our way. Have fun at Beacon, girls."
With those final words, the woman gave another friendly wave and moved away from the ship. Just in time too, since the captain had clearly had enough
"OI! I don't care if you are huntresses, you either get on the fucking ship now, or I raise this ramp and you swim your asses to Vale. Your choice."
"Alright!" Yang shouted back and stomped up the ramp. "Grouchy asshole. Come on you two, let's go sail the high Schnees."
Weiss let out an audible groan at the awful pun, and as they made their way back onto the ship, Blake noticed that Ruby was still a little dumbfounded by what had happened. So with a wide grin of her own, she bumped her girlfriend's shoulder and stuck out her tongue. When they finally did make it to the ship however, she pulled a cookie from the basket and handed it to the younger girl.
"A reward you definitely earned." She said kindly.
It took Ruby a second, but as the ramp finally began to rise, she reached out and took the baked good with a small smile that felt genuine enough to raise Blake's spirits too.
Blake was already missing the quiet solitude of Patch as she dropped out of the bulkhead onto Beacon's landing pad. The sound of excitable students filled the air as people milled around the courtyard catching up. She could hear friends happy to see each other again, weapons being cleaned and loaded, people exchanging gifts, even a few rivalries resuming in the distance that would inevitably lead to a scrap on the grass. Such things were not uncommon at Beacon.
She could also see a few teachers sitting at a table a fair distance from the rest of the students. They seemed to be going over paperwork, but there was so much noise that Blake was unable to hear what they were working on.
"Ahhh! It's so good to be back." Ruby said happily and bounced to the front of the group. It was amazing what some double chocolate cookies could do to the girl's mood after a day of rest. "I missed it so much. Look at the…"
"You have seen all the weapons before, Sis." Yang chuckled from above, but quickly jumped down from the bulkhead.
"But they are never all out together," Ruby said happily. "Everyone keeps them in their locker. But they are all out, and clean, and gorgeous."
"The things you consider gorgeous worry me." Weiss sighed as she descended her stairway of glyphs.
"I'll try not to take that too personally." Blake scowled at her friend, who simply gave a shrug.
"You're not my type."
"But she is mine," Ruby said happily and bounced back to take her hand. "And the only weapon here more beautiful than you is Crescent Rose."
It was rare for Ruby to be so forward with her compliments, especially in front of others, so Blake felt her cheeks warm slightly as a smile pulled at her lips.
"Thanks," Blake grinned back and leaned down to give her a kiss, before putting on a sultry voice and reciting a line from a novel she'd read recently. "But my beauty pales in comparison to the wonder of the world before me."
The loud sound of Yang retching behind her caused a massive smile to appear on her face, but she could hardly argue that the line was exceptionally cheesy. However, as cheesy as it was, it caused Ruby's cheeks to burn red and her hand to flap wildly in front of her face.
"Oh sto…"
"You have got to be joking!"
Weiss' frustrated voice cut off Ruby's chuckled response and earned the attention of everyone. The girl had her head buried in her hands, her fingers only slightly parted to see ahead of her. Looking over Ruby's head to whatever the heiress was hiding from, it didn't take long to see what had caused the girl such clear distress.
"HEY, BLAKE!" Even Blake let out a groan at the voice. As did Yang. Rolling towards them with a rainbow trailing behind her and an enormous grin on her face, was Neon Katt. "Guess who transferred to Beacon? Me. Isn't that awesome?"
"I… Why?" She said, unable to say more, though quickly received a poke from Ruby. "I mean… Sure?"
Though she didn't particularly dislike Neon, the girl did have a tendency to get on her nerves with just how peppy and loud she could be. That, along with her narrow views on how faunus were treated, made her feel a lot more tired about the fact she would likely have to deal with the girl more in the future.
"Atlas never really felt right for us." Said another voice, this time a male one. Another groan sounded from Weiss as Flynt stepped out from behind a group of nearby students. "Too many white collars and whatnot. Vale's a lot freer, ya catch my drift?"
Blake certainly felt like she caught his drift, from the way his eyes flicked to his partner, but with how Weiss was pointedly turning her nose up at the boy and Yang was trying to make herself look busy by talking to Velvet, she was sure they missed it.
"Yeah, Vale is super fun." Ruby said happily. Clearly she missed the meaning too. "It's cool you guys have transferred here though. So how was your break?"
"Awful!" Neon said, her colours dampening considerably. "There was this crazy big Grimm attack our first week back, and look what they did to my poor, beautiful tail."
The rainbow girl's tail came swinging around and hung in front of Blake's face. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking at for a couple of seconds, but then she saw it. Neon usually kept the end neatly organised with rings, but it was fluffy and frayed while the hair was slightly discoloured. She recognised it immediately as scar tissue. Furthermore, as she followed the appendage down, she noticed that it was definitely shorter than when they'd last seen each other. It appeared that a chuck had definitely been taken out of it, and knowing how much Neon loved her tail, Blake actually felt bad for the girl.
"Four inches!" The girl said incredulously. "Four whole inches of perfection, gone!"
"I'm sorry to hear th…"
"Wait." Weiss interrupted and stepped forward to squint at the girl. "I was in Atlas the first week of break. I heard nothing about a Grimm invasion."
"Of course you didn't, Girlie," said Ivori, the third member of Team FNKI who liked to wear tight fitting, white and beige suits that showed off a large portion of his chest. His grey hair hung just over his eyes, and flamboyance radiated from every cell of the boy's body. Next to him stood Kobalt, his blue-haired partner, who preferred to wear a plain light blue shirt, and darker jeans. Two pauldrons covered his shoulders, and a single gauntlet covered his left forearm. "Since when have Atlesians ever bothered to pay attention to Mantle's issues?"
"Excuse me!" Weiss said testily and took a step towards the boy, but Ruby cut her off.
"Ivori, cool it." Flynt said quickly too, earning a small shrug from his teammate.
Blake didn't know too much about Ivori or Kobalt. She knew they had been best friends since they were kids growing up in Mantle, and that Ivori was dating Kobalt's sister; but apart from that, she had never really interacted with them much. Nevertheless, both him and Weiss glared at each other with disdain.
"Aaaaanyways," Neon said and dropped her tail as her colours returned. "How was your break? Have you been talking to Sun?" She turned to Ruby. "And what happened to your arm?"
"Kind of a long story." Ruby said meekly.
Not wanting a topic that brought down Ruby's mood to be brought up again, Blake answered the other question.
"Sun messaged a few times, but you know how he is." She said to the colourful Faunus. "Always disappearing, but always there when you need him. How about you?"
"Yup." The girl said cheerfully. "He calls most nights."
Blake gave her a small smile. She knew most people would be annoyed that their friend didn't reach out more, but it didn't bother her too much. She wasn't particularly the best at extended conversations with most people, and Sun liked to do his own thing, which often meant disappearing for days on end. But just as she said, Blake knew the boy would be there if she ever needed him.
"That's good then."
"For you maybe," Flynt scoffed and crossed his arms. "You ain't gotta hear them talking all night."
"Trust me," Weiss scowled and motioned towards Blake, and behind her to Yang. "I hear more than I would like."
"Hey!" Ruby pouted towards her best friend as Flynt gave a small, amused laugh.
However just as he opened his mouth to say something, the sound of heels clicking against stone approached, and they all turned to see Glynda Goodwitch stalking towards them. She wore her usual white blouse and purple skirt, and in her hand was a large Scroll tablet that she was poking at.
"Mr Coal," She said sternly as she arrived at their small gathering. "You were supposed to report to Professor Port five minutes ago. I advise you and your team get a move on."
"Gotcha." Glynda raised a disapproving eyebrow at Flynt, and he quickly course-corrected. "I mean, yes Professor. Come on, team."
"'Kay. See you around, Blake?" Neon said cheerfully and rolled backwards. "We are definitely hanging out sometime."
Yaaay, Blake breathed inwardly. Though her mood quickly lifted as Ruby pressed into her. Unfortunately, the affection could only last so long as Glynda turned on them and tapped something on her Scroll.
"Miss Rose. You and your team are to report to the headmaster's office right away. Professor Ozpin would like a word with you all."
Blake felt the reaper tense in her arms.
"And Miss Xiao Long, Miss Adel." Due to the annoyance in the teacher's tone, Blake turned to look at her partner and saw that she had practically pinned Coco to a wall and the two were clearly passionately making out before the interruption. Velvet stood nearby talking to Fox and smirking as she cast them sidelong glances. "Continue to use this courtyard as your own personal bedroom, and you will find yourself in detention for the rest of the semester."
"Sorry, Professor." Coco said immediately as she slipped out of Yang's arms and stood up straight. For as cocky and confident as the woman was, Blake always admired just how respectful she could be to people she looked up to.
The teacher's eyes narrowed to slits though, and she turned to stalk away. Once she was gone, Blake looked down at the girl in her own arms and saw that Ruby's face had once again fallen.
"We should get going." Weiss sighed after a quick look at her partner. "I would rather avoid getting in more trouble than we could already be in by keeping Professor Ozpin waiting."
The heiress didn't bother to wait, and walked down the path at what was clearly a purposely slow pace.
"I'm sure it's nothing." Blake said kindly, and slipped her hand into Ruby's as the leader pulled away and slowly made her way after Weiss. "He probably just wants to debrief us."
"Yeah," Yang added. "He does coordinate all the huntsmen and missions and stuff."
"I know." The girl said dully. "We did collapse a landmark though."
Blake could hardly argue with that, and clearly neither could Yang. So she simply settled for squeezing her girlfriend's hand a little tighter as they caught up with Weiss.
A small amount of tension filled the inside of the elevator as it slowly ascended to the top of the tower, and though most of it was coming from Ruby and Weiss, Blake felt some emanating from herself too. The fact that they could actually be in trouble was actually encroaching on her. Though Ozpin did take an active role in teaching the students, he often left debriefing of missions to other teachers who headed up that year. Normally it should be Glynda who talked to them after missions and such, even ones such that weren't official and things they just happened upon.
The only time Ozpin had taken the lead on their debriefing was when Blake had run away after revealing she was a Faunus to her team. She had somehow stumbled into a dust heist at the docks, and after seeing a few White Fang members, tried to stop it. Unfortunately, while she managed to keep the dust safe, the main culprit had got away. Ozpin had seemed really interested back then, and questioned her for almost thirty minutes before letting her go. So for him to take the lead against did cause her a little concern.
However, she didn't have much time to ponder just how much trouble they were in, if any at all, since the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Very slowly, all four of them stepped out.
The office itself was actually rather sparse. The only thing that it held was a single desk near the far window, its green glass showing gears beneath that turned slowly. Gears were the running theme through the office though. The patterning of the plain green floor was one giant cog, and numerous heavy, metal gears turned and clicked in the ceiling above them. She had no idea how Ozpin could stand to have the room as his office, as more than an hour of listening to those cogs turn would drive her insane.
The man in question sat behind his desk, surveying them over templed fingers as they slowly walked into the office. It was quite hard to believe the man was in his fifties. Apart from the grey hair, which she was certain was natural anyway, he still looked like he could easily pass as a man in his early thirties. That was helped of course by the crisp black and green suits he always wore.
"Thank you for coming." The man said kindly and motioned for them to stand in front of his desk. "I understand it has been a busy two weeks for the four of you, and you likely want to rest, so I won't keep you too long."
"Bit of an understatement." Yang quipped as they all stood in front of the desk, but Blake gave her a small tap. Ozpin didn't seem to care though, since he let out a small chuckle.
"I suppose it is." the man said in a friendly voice as he sat back, though Blake couldn't shake the odd feeling that rushed through her at his gaze. Like he was seeing something that no-one else could. "Island patrol, two unauthorized missions, and fighting an ancient Grimm is quite a lot to do in two weeks." The whole team shifted uncomfortable, and the headmaster definitely saw it as an amused smile stretched across his lips. "You can relax. You are not in trouble."
"We're… We're not?" Ruby said, the confusion in her voice obvious enough to raise Ozpin's eyebrow.
"Why would you be?" The question was rhetorical. "You were accompanied by a licensed Huntsmen for the semi-official mission, and students are not barred from patrols or freelance investigations into Grimm activity. However, while I think you did an excellent job with each of those from the reports that were submitted, they are not the incidents I wish to discuss with you today."
"Oh." Ruby was just as shocked as when Kelly had thanked her earlier, though she recovered quicker and gave the teacher a nervous look. "The Hellk?"
Ozpin gave a slow nod.
"That Grimm has stalked the island of Patch for over a century now. It has survived many battles, and killed many Huntsmen and Huntresses who have dared to take it on." Ozpin started and rested his hands on the armrests of his chair. "In fact, it has been on the bounty board since before even I was appointed headmaster. But now, thanks to you and your team, Miss Rose, we can finally remove it."
He waved his hand over his desk to produce a list of available missions, and very near the top was the mission in question.
4* MISSION
EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
FIND AND ELIMINATE THE HELLK RESIDING ON THE ISLAND OF PATCH
Report to Huntsman Relay Office for further information
As they looked at it, Ozpin tapped a few keys on a projected keyboard and the entire box turned red, and the words 'Cleared by Team RWBY of Beacon Academy' appeared before vanishing entirely.
"That felt… oddly satisfying." Weiss hummed, and Blake had to suppress a smile.
"It certainly did." Ozpin said happily as he collapsed the mission list again. "There is one more thing to deal with though. The reward."
The whole team looked at each other. None of them had expected anything for clearing the mission, especially since they hadn't actually accepted any mission. But Ozpin continued anyway.
"Now, normally you would not receive it since you did not technically accept the mission, but I discussed it with the council due to the nature of the situation, and they have seen fit to award half of the mission's reward. Which is still a pretty large amount if I say so myself. 69,000 Lien has been permitted."
Everyone looked at each other yet again, and even Yang was taken aback by the headmaster's revelation. But again, Ozpin continued.
"However, I would not be right for me to acknowledge the participation of only one team, while ignoring the contributions of another. Therefore, that money is not entirely yours. Miss Adel and her team will be awarded 11,500 Lien to share between them for their efforts in extracting you, and Mr Xiao Long will be receiving the same. The other 46,000 Lien, is to be split evenly between you."
They were all silent for a moment, taking in what had been said. From the look on all their faces, except Weiss' who seemed unfazed, to have been awarded at all, let alone with such a large amount. After a couple of seconds though, it was Yang who finally recovered first.
"Holy sh…"
"As much as I am grateful, Professor Ozpin," Weiss cut off Yang with a pointed look and stepped forward. "I really have no such need for that money. Would it be possible…"
"I'm afraid not, Miss Schnee," Ozpin said and held up his hand. "The money is to go directly to you. With the exception of the ten percent taken from Miss Belladonna's share as per her tuition agreement, I have no say over anything else. What you do after you receive it however, is up to you."
Weiss gave an understanding nod and stepped back. As did Blake. When she had left Menagerie, she had done so without taking any of her family's money. As such, the school had generously offered her financial aid during her tutelage. The only real conditions were that she had to keep good grades, and that part of the reward for any mission undertaken while attending Beacon was given to the school. The percentage taken depended on what she earned, and she would have to give back more for higher paying missions. When she graduated though, the percentage would become a static five percent per mission until she had paid everything back. It was a rather generous agreement in Blake's opinion, and what had just been taken would cover everything she had received from Beacon so far, and probably even handle the rest of the semester.
"Once again, I want to press just how proud you should be of this accomplishment." He said with a smile and sat back. "But that will be all. I'm sure you all want to get back to your dorms and lie down. I see you still have a little bit of recovery to go, but you still have lessons starting tomorrow."
"Yes, Professor." They all said as the man pulled out a slip of paper and a pen.
It was clearly a sign that he had work to do, and one they all recognised since Glynda did the exact same thing with her Scroll. So with nothing more than a nod, they all began to walk back to the elevator. However, Blake quickly noted that Ruby was barely with them. She had taken two steps before she slowed. Once again, the girl's face was a little downcast, and Blake held out a hand to take hers, only for it to be pulled away slightly.
"You okay?" She asked quietly as they both came to a stop.
"Yeah," Ruby replied with no small amount of uncertainty. "You go on ahead. I'll meet you in the dorm."
Blake looked back at Ozpin, whose pen was scratching across the paper, but she knew he was paying attention.
"Are you sure?" Ruby looked up at her and gave a small nod. "Okay." Blake agreed.
She leaned down to press a brief, reassuring kiss onto her girlfriend's lips, and was happy to feel the pressure returned. As she pulled away, she gave her leader a smile before walking into the elevator to stand next to Weiss and Yang. She knew exactly what Ruby was doing, and hoped she got the answer she wanted as the elevator doors shut and blocked the reaper from view.
As she watched the doors close, Ruby played with the hem of her combat skirt. For almost ten minutes she had listened to Ozpin praise her for her actions. Congratulating her for finally taking out a Grimm that had been making life on Patch rather difficult for over a century. And while she couldn't argue that it being gone was a good thing, she still felt like she didn't deserve the praise.
She was trying to be positive. Trying to look on the bright side. Even trying to be happy. But she had still screwed up. Yang and Coco had correctly called her out on it, admitted she had made a mistake, and even Blake had scolded her for one of them. But everyone else kept praising her. Even Weiss, who would normally not hesitate to berate her for something, had said nothing about her decision to stay and fight. And all of it was starting to bug her.
"Is something wrong, Miss Rose?"
His voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she quickly turned around. Ozpin was staring at her intently with his pen unmoving. Knowing the man was busy, she tried not to take too long and gave a simple nod.
"I…" She let out a deep breath and let her one good arm fall. "I don't think I deserve the praise you've given me. Or the reward."
"Mmm," The man hummed and sat back in his chair. "I disagree, but you are welcome to try and change my mind."
Ruby looked at the man as he smiled kindly at her. There was no condescension there, only genuine intrigue.
"I almost got my friends killed." She muttered. "I didn't think about what would happen if we failed, and when we did, I panicked. We didn't win because we were strong, or because we were smarter. We got lucky."
"Hmm." Ozpin's smile fell and he stood up. "None of that is untrue."
Her head hung at the acknowledgement. It may be what she wanted to hear, but that didn't make her failure any less painful.
"But I feel you are missing something important, Ruby Rose." She looked up to see the man staring out the window. "Do you know why this school is called Beacon? Why it is that all the combat schools in each kingdom share a common theme regarding their names?"
"I uhhh…" Ruby had no idea what that had to do with her mission, but Ozpin usually had a roundabout way of getting to things. "No?"
"Then let me give you a quick lesson." He motioned to his side and Ruby quickly walked up to join him.
The man said nothing for almost a minute, just stood there looking out the window towards Vale in the distance. But finally, just as Ruby stopped looking at him, but towards the city, the man began.
"Nearly eighty years ago, the world was in turmoil." He said with a hint of sadness to his voice, like he was actually remembering it. "Kingdoms burned, Grimm flooded our streets, and people died. War ravaged every continent, every city, every town… every household. It was a time where mistrust was sown amongst everything. Allies turned on allies, friends turned on friends. Even today, we call it humanity's darkest time."
"But when it all ended, peace began. And from that peace, this very school, and all the others, was born. And names were decided for each. Names to remind people what was truly important. Atlas was named so to represent the world we inhabit, that Huntsmen and huntresses work to keep safe. Shade was named so to remind people that those same people are looking over them. Haven was named as such so that everyone who looked upon the schools would be reminded that there was safety in this world. But Beacon was named specially. It was named after the one thing that is more important than any other. Hope."
"Beacon was a name given to remind people that even in the darkest of times, no matter how bleak things may seem, there will always be light. There will always be hope."
He turned to look at her, and Ruby saw that the earlier smile had returned to his face.
"And in all my years of teaching here, I have never met a student who embodies that quality better than you, Miss Rose. Be it with Miss Belladonna, who is considerably different from when I last talked to her, or those who do not give you the easiest time here at school, you inspire them to hope. And just how much hope do you think you have given to Patch with your actions in these past weeks? It really is quite admirable, if you ask me."
Ruby thought back to when she was leaving her home. The people had definitely been happier. She hadn't seen markets at the docks in years, hadn't seen people gathering en masse for longer than she could remember. While always friendly, the worry of the Grimm always made them keep their heads down and try their best not to attract much attention. But it had been so different when she left. Even Kelly had mentioned just how grateful she was.
"But that wasn't me." She breathed.
"You made those calls, and just because you got lucky, Miss Rose, that doesn't mean it wasn't you." Ozpin chuckled. "Huntsmen get lucky all the time. We are frequently caught up in situations where skill is not enough, against new Grimm we have never fought, and it is never bad to have luck on our side. But I would advise against relying on it. Luck is a fickle thing after all."
"So if you truly feel you do not deserve this praise, that your abilities were not enough, then you are in the perfect position to change that. Practice, focus on your lessons and your teamwork so that the next time you are in such a situation, you can walk away proudly knowing that luck played no part in your victory."
With those words, he placed a hand comfortingly on her shoulder and walked back to his desk. As he sat down, Ruby continued to stare out of the window. For some reason, Ozpin's words seem to linger despite him being gone. She had frequently questioned why she had been allowed into Beacon early despite not even being the best of her year. Why she had been made leader. But was the answer really so simple? Was it really as Blake had said? That she inspired people to hope?
But had Ozpin not just said as such? His speeches to the students often revolved around hope, so it wasn't hard for Ruby to accept that it could really be as simple as that. But the other piece of advice was something she definitely appreciated. Ozpin was right. She was in the perfect place to make sure luck was never the reason for her success again. If she really was going to be Beacon's example, really was going to inspire hope, then it was time she buckled down.
So with a deep breath and a new purpose, she turned and made her way back to the elevator, only pausing briefly to give her professor a quiet thank you.
Raalm's Note
Hello everyone, just me today. I hope you enjoyed what is pretty much the bridge between the last arc and the next. It mainly served to show what the coming arc will focus around. And as you can probably tell, that will be improvement. We really want to show that they are learning from their encounters and that they are working towards being the best huntresses they can be, so the coming arc is going to revolve a lot around them taking of new things that they think will help them improve. There will also be a lot of fluff too though, so look forward to that :P
I will say though that the last arc went on way longer than we anticipated and really slowed the story down. It was fine because the were out of school and there was always something new to explore, but in school there is only so much new stuff you can write while keeping it interesting. Nobody want to just read about them doing schoolwork for 3 chapters in a row after all :P So expect the following arc to be a little more loose, with a few days between the chapters. Don't worry though, nothing important happens off page, and stuff will always be referenced.
But that is it from me. I hope you all enjoyed, and are looking forward to the next chapter, which will be up on the 27th :)
Special Treat
Not many of you may know this, but May 9th is actually when Toxic came on as my editor for my Freezerburn story. As, to mark a year of working together and being friends, we are currently writing something new. It's only a one-shot, and its a ship that neither of us have ever seen, but if you enjoy our works then here is a small hint as to what it will be.
"If umm... If anybody was looking for some stuff, then all they'd have to do would be to..."