Chapter 19: The Day After
The day after he got back so far had been uneventful for Mori.
The only real thing of note was that Taiyang sent over Mori's greatest enemy.
No, it was not the Fox, the King, or any of the Gods.
It was that cursed dog known as Zwei.
From the moment he woke up on remnant Mori hated that thing and his feelings only seemed to be mutual from the beast's end.
Thankfully when he left for Beacon he didn't need to worry about the damn thing.
…But then Ruby invited him over for their semester break.
Those first few days were…eventful.
He couldn't stand being in the same room with Zwei and the dog felt the same.
But, after the first few fights, Ruby sat both him and Zwei down, scolded them for fighting, and made them promise to her that they would get along.
So that was the end of their fight…of the physical kind anyways.
The war now had become subtle.
Zwei would shit in his shoes, Mori would eat the dog's breakfast.
Zwei would tear up Mori's clothes, Mori "accidentally" shaved his back.
Each of them trying to find ways to one-up each other.
Mori was pretty sure he had the winning record by the time he returned to Beacon.
He hoped he would never see that damn mutt again.
Sadly, that did not happen as when he went to see Team RWBY off before they went on their first-year mission in Mt. Glenn, Taiyang sent Zwei in the mail, how that dog fit in a package Mori did not know. But that just confirmed to Mori that the dog was an unholy unnatural thing, Blake seemed to agree with him.
Other than that though, it had been a normal morning for Mori as he got caught up with the courses he was missing and was now sitting through Oz's Fairy tales and stories class.
Mori was not quite sure why this class was required.
It really had nothing to do with fighting Grimm.
All the class consisted of was stories.
No homework, no tests, Just Ozpin telling Stories to the class and asking questions about them.
That was fine with Mori as this was his best time to get mental training in.
Today, however, he decided to pay attention; while he had no real feelings for the class, Ruby, on the other hand, LOVED this class and asked him to pay attention for her.
The Warrior and The Apprentice was the name of today's story.
Apparently, this story was a really popular one in Remnant, especially among the boys as Jaune basically squeed when he heard Ozpin announce it.
Even Team CRDL was starting to pay attention.
The story started pretty basic as it began with a young boy leaving his village for a journey. Mori could only assume that this boy was the apprentice. He was a bit boring and sounded really whiney. However, when the Warrior part of the title made his appearance, Mori understood why the guys loved this story so much.
He was 100 percent awesome as the warrior was a certified badass who never lost a fight.
Saving the boy from a monster, the warrior took the boy in as an apprentice and trained him.
The story followed the adventures of the two as the warrior would defeat enemy after enemy.
The climax of the story included the Apprentice becoming a great warrior himself and the Warrior single-handedly destroying an enemy that was threatening their homeland and ended with the apprentice and the Warrior going their separate ways.
"So, what can we learn from this story?" Professor Ozpin asked as he started to wrap up the lesson, "Yes Mr. Arc."
"That the warrior is completely awesome!"
All the guys in the room nodded at that.
"Yes Mr. Arc, the warrior is awesome, however, is there anything else we can take." Professor Ozpin replied with a chuckle.
"That the Warriors strength was the reason why anything was done." One of the girls from Shade answered.
"That indeed is something else we can take, without the warrior's strength the story would have ended rather quickly."
Pyrrha then raised her hand.
"Miss Nikos?"
"I believe another thing we can take from this story is that one has to be tenacious for their goals."
"That's an interesting thought there Miss Nikos, is there anyone that could maybe elaborate on what she means.."
"Everyone loves the story for the warrior but the person who moves the story along is the young apprentice," Ren explained as he raised his hand, "if he didn't beg the warrior to take him under his wing than he wouldn't have become as great a warrior as he was at the end of the story and the warrior may not have been there at the end to save the day."
"Hmm that is an interesting thought Mr. Ren, so does that mean that it's actually the apprentice who is the hero of this story?
"I'd think both are heroes of the story Professor, the apprentice makes the story happen while the warrior is the one who solves every problem, the story doesn't have a happy ending without either." Nora spoke up, "The apprentice didn't really do much fighting himself and was really weak, but he still inspired the warrior to fight in the end."
Mori really liked Nora's answer, despite people thinking Nora was an airhead she really was good at understanding the deeper parts of these stories.
"That is quite the excellent analysis Miss Valkyrie," Ozpin said as he closed his book, "When most people hear the story of the warrior and the apprentice their thoughts go into the as Mr. Arc put it 'awesomeness' of the warrior, but not into how much the apprentice influenced his master to do his deeds."
"So the lesson of the story is…try?" Jaune asked with a confused look.
Ozpin chuckled at that.
"You are on the right track, Mr. Arc." Ozpin replied, "My students if I can have you gain anything from this story is that you must be tenacious in your goals, if you do, good things will come from them...either from yourself or someone you have influenced."
The professor dismissed the class as his eyes lingered on Mori.
Mori just ignored it as Ozpin had a habit of staring at him anyway.
Gathering his stuff, he left the room ready to do some more training.
"Well, that was a pretty cool lesson." A voice next to him commented as Mori made his way down the hallway.
It was a grey-haired teen around his age that was well built. If Mori recalled correctly it was one of the students from Haven Academy…what was his name Michael…Matthew…Mercedes…Merlin?
"The names Mercury," The boy replied as he seemed to figure out Mori was struggling with his name, "Mercury Black, and you are Jin Mori, right?"
Mori nodded.
"It was a very fun story," Mori replied as he commented on the boy's earlier statement, "I've never heard it before."
"Wait, really?" Mercury asked back, "Every boy knows about The Warrior and The Apprentice. The Warrior is like the go-to superhero growing up."
"My Grandfather had us mostly live in the mountains, and he wasn't much a story guy," Mori explained.
It technically was true; he did mostly live in the mountains while growing up…just not Remnants.
"Really?" Mercury asked with a shocked look, "isn't it pretty dangerous living in the wilderness on your own?"
"A little bit," Mori lied, "Thankfully, my grandfather taught me how to fight at a young age and for the most part we were able to take care of the Grimm."
He probably would have been fine even if they did live on Remnant.
"You use your legs right," Mercury asked, "That's cool I use my legs as well."
Mori looked over the boy…it made sense he had a strong core and…metal legs?
"Not many people do kicks as their main style," Mori replied, "At best it's mostly used as a secondary attack."
"Yeah, it's nice to see someone else who uses kicks."
"So, who taught you?" Mori asked.
A Tense silence seemed to fill the room before Mercury finally answered.
"My old man, I'm sort of like you in that I used to live in the wilderness as well."
Something about the way he responded made Mori feel like he shouldn't push further.
"…Well I have stuff to do, it's nice to meet you, Mercury," Mori said as he decided he'd rather train than deal with this awkward situation.
"…Yeah, it's nice to meet you, Mori," Mercury replied as his previous sour mood quickly disappeared, "You know, we should have a match sometime, just to see who's better at kicking."
And with that, the boy gave a small flick of the wrist and went on his way.
All Mori could do was think about the interaction he just had.
Mercury…was interesting, he seemed outgoing but at the same time withdrawn. It was cool to see another person who liked to use their feet. Like they talked about earlier, not many people used their feet and instead just used a weapon.
It would be interesting to fight against him one day…
Mori would definitely have to be careful fighting against him.
Mercury was hiding something, and that conversation seemed like it was more of a probing the enemy vs getting to know someone.
He would need to be cautious whenever he was around the guy now.
After all, letting down your guard around someone that was trained as an assassin was pretty stupid.
"Jaune, do you have a list of the things we need for our mission?" Pyrrha asked as they made their way downtown.
Jaune quickly checked his pockets making sure he didn't forget.
"Yup, I have it."
This time, Pyrrha insisted on going along with him to fetch their stuff.
It seemed like Mori had screwed up too many times to be trusted to.
"Do you remember where the dust shop that Nora likes is?" Jaune asked as he quickly looked over the list.
"I think so."
An awkward silence filled the streets between them as they made their way through downtown Vale.
Jaune really wished that Nora and Ren came along with him, but Ren said he had to finish some homework and Nora insisted she wanted to help him.
…which was weird cause Ren usually was on top of his schoolwork and Nora was the only one who usually got help from Ren.
It had only been a day since he kissed Pyrrha and the realization of what happened last night had hit him like a truck this morning.
He actually kissed a girl for the first time! And she liked him back!
The problem was…what now?
He wasn't quite sure how he should act around Pyrrha now and it seemed like Pyrrha felt the same.
Jaune could only curse his awkwardness, he had been raised around girls his entire life yet he didn't know how he should act around his…girlfriend?
Yeah, those words felt weird right now.
The only advice Jaune had ever gotten from Dad on how to deal with girls that weren't blood-related was how to woo them, he never told him the part of what to do after…well actually maybe his mother did and Jaune wasn't paying attention.
All-day he had been taking quick looks at his partner and just would ask himself…why him?
Jaune didn't consider himself that special, in fact out of his entire friend group Jaune considered himself the most normal one.
He wasn't a prodigy like Ruby, a thrillseeker like Yang, or a mysterious brooder like Blake.
He didn't really have Weiss's classiness, Ren's charm, Nora's energy, and he definitely did not have Mori's strength.
The possibility of Pyrrha liking him specifically had never really crossed his mind…now that he thought about it though a lot of her actions these past few months had made these past few months.
The blushing, her mannerisms when they were alone, the way she constantly supported him…HOW DID JAUNE MISS ALL THAT!
"Stupid, stupid," Jaune thought to himself, "I'm sorry mom, you raised an idiot."
It really was a wonder someone as amazing as Pyrrha liked someone as normal as him.
Was it his semblance? Did his semblance just cause girls that were out of his league to just fall for him…no that wasn't it, as his interactions with Weiss proved that he had no such power.
Pyrrha said part of the reason that she wanted him to be her partner was that he didn't know who she was... so was that just it?
No, that didn't make sense, Mori had no idea who she was either, but she didn't show any romantic attraction to him.
What could it be?
"Jaune, Jaune!"
"Wha—"
Pyrrha's voice suddenly cut into Jaune's internal debate.
"Are you ok Jaune?" The redhead asked in a concerned voice.
"Yeah, sorry about that Pyr Iwas just thinking about…stuff, what were you asking?"
"I was asking did you need to get maintenance on Crocea Mors?"
Jaune took a look over at the family heirloom, it was a bit beat up especially with all the training he was doing on it.
"Yeah it does, I think all the training sessions are starting to take a toll on it."
"I know a good weaponsmith," Pyrrha nodded as she made her way to the shop.
Jaune just followed, still unsure of how he should act.
…What could he say to her?
Agh he was so dumb, why was he so pathetic, there was him just being unsure about what to do and then there was Pyrrha confidently walking down the streets looking in to shop windows.
…Looking? …shop windows?
Jaune looked inside the windows of the shops that Pyrrha was looking in…they were all clothing shops and not like huntsman clothing just cute fashion designer stuff…wait.
"Hey, Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted out trying to get the girl's attention.
"Yes, Jaune?"
"…Do you want to check out some of these shops?"
"Jaune, we have to get our stuff…we don't have time for that," Pyrrha replied in an annoyed tone.
"Come on Pyr," Jaune argued, "We don't have our mission for a while and it's not like we have anything else we need to do today."
Pyrrha looked hesitant as it seemed her sense of duty was conflicted with her desire to try out cute clothes.
"…I guess we can…but only one shop, then we need to gather our mission materials."
Finding a new place, the two entered a local boutique as Pyrrha tried out the different dresses, Jaune had to admit...they all looked good on her.
"You are surprising use to this Jaune," Pyrrha commented as she finished trying on a new outfit.
"Ehh I'm used to it," Jaune replied with a shrug, "Remember the only boy with seven sisters…As long as you're not dressing me up, I will be fine."
"I don't know about Jaune, you did look good in that dress yesterday," Pyrrha teased, "I think this would fit you perfectly." She commented as she took out a blue dress.
"Eeh, even though the blue fits my eyes it doesn't mix as well with my blond hair as much you would think."
"…What?"
"Pyr I wasn't joking about dressing me up, I've tried that dress on before."
"Jaune, I'm so sorry" She replied as she covered her mouth trying to stifle a laugh.
"It's fine, is there anything else you want to try on?"
"…I should be fine," Pyrrha said as she changed back to her regular clothes, "We should probably get back to our errands."
Jaune nodded as he grabbed some clothes that Pyrrha bought.
*growl*
A noise rang out as the two exited the boutique.
It was Jaune's stomach.
"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked once again stifling a laugh, "Are you hungry?"
The boy nodded in embarrassment; he hadn't really eaten all day.
"Do you want to get something to eat?"
Jaune once again nodded yes.
"I know a good spot around here," Pyrrha commented.
"It's not the Little Shade is it?" Jaune asked in concern, he had heard the rumors about the place.
"No, it's not the Little Shade," Pyrrha replied in exasperation, "Who would be dumb enough to eat at the Little Shade before a mission?"
The place that Pyrrha took him too was a nice café around the street. It had all sorts of delicious-looking food that looked really fancy.
"This place is really nice," Jaune commented, "Where did you find it."
"It's a place that Weiss recommended," Pyrrha explained, "Me and Nora went here with Team RWBY a couple of weeks back, you know the boys aren't the only ones who are allowed to have fun."
"There was no such thing as a boy's night," Jaune replied on instinct, "I have no idea what you are talking about."
His response elicited another laugh from Pyrrha.
An hour passed as they ate their food and chatted about normal stuff, how they were doing in class, what the food was like back in mistral and he even learned more about Pyrrha's family.
Unlike him, she was an only child.
Jaune couldn't help but feel jealous, an only child… that meant she had her own bedroom to herself.
Once they were done Jaune paid the bill and they went on their way once again on their quest to get Nora's dust.
…or so they thought until they passed an arcade.
Jaune caught Pyrrha's eyes as she looked at the place.
"Do you want to go in there?"
Pyrrha quickly snapped her eyes back, in front of her.
"No, I've never really been in one of those before." The girl admitted, "I was just wondering what it was like."
Jaune could only gasp, Pyrrha had never been in an arcade?
He needed to rectify that.
"Come on," he said as he grabbed her hand, "Let's fix that problem."
"Jaune it's fine," Pyrrha whined, "It was just something I noticed, we need to get our stuff."
Jaune didn't care, there was a gross injustice that he needed to fix.
"…So how does this work Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she looked at the toy gun in her hand.
"It's simple you aim at the monsters at the scream and shoot." Jaune explained, "Like this."
He then showed her how the arcade game worked.
It took Pyrrha a while, but she suddenly got used to it. It wasn't too long before she started crushing Jaune in their game.
"I think that's enough," Jaune commented after his 6th straight loss, "Let's try something new.
The next game Jaune tried out with her was air hockey.
Once again, after a couple of rounds of getting used to the rules, Pyrrha started to crush him.
"Ok, let's try racing next!" Jaune said as he got skunked on their last game.
To no avail, Pyrrha started to crush him in that as well.
Aggh Jaune needed a way to salvage his pride, Pyrrha was kicking his butt in everything.
Taking a look around for something he found what he was looking for…it was a dance simulator. There was only one person who could rival Jaune in dance and he was finishing up homework…supposedly.
Surprisingly Pyrrha was keeping up with him on this one, Jaune gritted his teeth in determination, even though Pyrrha was the amazing invincible girl he would not lose in dance.
"Aggh so close," Pyrrha complained after their last round, "One more time."
Jaune was about to accept the challenger's futile attempts to unseat when all of a sudden voice spoke out.
"Hey, isn't that Pyrrha Nikos?"
"Wait, really where?"
"Do you think I can get an autograph from her?"
"Who's that guy with her?"
Jaune could feel all the attention in the arcade suddenly appear on the two of them...or more specifically on Pyrrha.
He could feel the walls on her suddenly start to build up.
"Come on," Jaune said as he grabbed her hand, "Let's go."
And with that, the two quickly ran out of the arcade before a large crowd could form.
A couple of minutes of them running passed when they finally lost the crowd.
"Sor-sorry about that," Jaune said after catching his breath.
"For what?" Pyrrha asked after she caught hers, "That was some of the most fun I've had in a long time."
"I know you mentioned how you don't like it how people worship you," He replied, "So I apologize for putting you in that spot."
"Jaune," Pyrrha replied with a sad smile, "I'm used to it, it's something I have had to deal with my entire life."
"Well you shouldn't"
Silence filled the air Jaune's bold declaration as Pyrrha started to blush once more.
Jaune couldn't help but feel she looked really cute while doing that.
Why oh why did a girl like her fall for him.
He needed to know.
"Hey, Pyrrha?"
"Yes, Jaune?"
"Why me?"
"…Jaune I told you already yesterday at the dance."
"No, what I mean is…why do you like me specifically?" Jaune clarified "Out of everyone I'm the most normal, the least talented…the weakest. I don't have anything that would make me stand out…and I know you said it's because you treat you normal and I didn't know who you were, but…Mori was in the same circumstances, and he is way more amazing than me."
Pyrrha was silent as she digested Jaune's words.
"It would make sense," Pyrrha replied, "The strongest invincible girl being paired with the unstoppable monster."
Jaune only nodded, they seemed like a good fit, Pyrrha was strong, Mori was strong, Pyrrha seemed to like a good fight, Mori liked to battle…why wouldn't they be a good fit?
"I'm going to be honest with you" Pyrrha said, "At the start of initiation there were only two people I wanted as my partner…you and Mori, for the reasons you said before."
Jaune could feel his heart drop, so…t was just luck that Pyrrha liked him over his friend…that was kind of dumb.
"Despite that," Pyrrha commented before Jaune could say a word, "I'd still probably love you even if I ended up as Mori's partner."
"Wha-why?" Jaune stammered, "That makes no sense."
"Mori is a good person and a good friend," Pyrrha clarified, "…But the good qualities he has…aren't something that attracts me."
"So, what do I have?" Jaune asked, "I'm just normal, not special Jaune."
"You act like normal is a bad thing," Pyrrha replied, "Jaune when you've been to the places I've been…you start to crave normal."
So, Pyrrha liked him because he was…normal?
"And I don't know what makes you say you aren't special."
"What do you mean by that?" Jaune asked, "compared to everyone else I'm useless, I wasn't even trained before Beacon."
"Exactly," Pyrrha said, "You were untrained, lacking skill and experience and the only way you were able to make it into Beacon was lying."
Jaune could only wince at his past actions.
"Yet, despite all that, you persevered, it didn't matter the challenge you faced, you continued to hit your challenges headlong with courage."
"You could call it stupidity."
Pyrrha laughed at that.
"Yes, you could call it stupidity, but I believe it was courage that allowed you to do those things," Pyrrha commented, "And that courage of yours comes from your good heart."
Jaune was speechless, he had never anyone compliment like this before.
"Jaune, you may consider yourself normal and boring…but the reason I love you is that I love how good of a person you are."
"I love how you are willing to learn even though you are so far behind."
"I love your kindness towards not only me but the rest of our friends."
"I love your courage in facing hard tasks.":
"I love your deep desire to help people."
"Pyrrha stop," Jaune said covering his face, "This is making me super-embarrassed, I don't think any of what you said actually applies to me."
Pyrrha suddenly brought his hands down.
"But what I am saying is true, you are all of those" She replied.
Then suddenly without notice, Pyrrha kissed him, like the day before it was one of the most amazing experiences Jaune had ever had.
Like before it felt like an eternity before they separated.
…it probably helped there was no brunette asshole who would interrupt them.
"Jaune Arc, I love you for you nothing else." She said as they separated, "Does that answer your question?"
Jaune nodded.
"…So, what should I do?" Jaune asked in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean since we are together together, what should I do?" Jaune clarified, "Do I need to open the door for you, make you breakfast in bed, call you m'lady?"
Pyrrha laughed at that.
"No, Jaune, all you need to do is just treat me like normal, like how you treated me today."
"Oh, like normal…easy enough."
"Yes, it is."
"…We should probably get back, it's getting late," Jaune commented as he looked at his scroll
"Yes we should," Pyrrha agreed.
As they started to make their way back, a thought came into Jaune's mind that he really wanted to do.
"Hey, Pyrrha?"
"Yes, Jaune?"
"I don't think I could treat you like totally normal."
"…what do you mean by that," Pyrrha asked in apprehension.
"I mean if I treated you like normal, I don't think I would be able to hold your hand," He commented as he grabbed her hand.
Pyrrha blushed from that.
"I guess that is true."
Walking back hand in hand with Pyrrha was up there in the best moments of Jaune's life.
Everything felt right in the world…though Jaune couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something.
"Hey, you guys are back," Nora commented as they entered the room, "Did you get my dust?"
Pyrrha groaned as Jaune hit his hand against his head.
They forgot the dust!
Ruby couldn't sleep, she had just finished her turn on night watch and was just laying in bed trying to get some rest.
Her first mission had so far been uneventful, they were investigating Mt. Glenn as it was a possible location of a White Fang base.
It really was a sad place to her, seeing all the abandoned buildings and thinking about the lives lost.
Dr. Oobleck's comments about why he was a huntsman really brought a new perspective on her teacher that she never thought of before.
She always thought he was a bit of a boring teacher, but his words on learning from the past to get stronger made a lot of sense.
Dr. Oobleck really showed his experience today, from his being able to analyze Grimm movements to showing his combat ability and also putting them in the best spots to succeed.
If it was Ruby herself she would have just destroyed all the Grimm and be done with it.
Despite his…eccentricities he was definitely a top huntsman.
This was a great opportunity to see a trained Huntsman in action and try to learn from.
A rustle suddenly interrupted Ruby's thoughts as she looked and realized Zwei was leaving all of a sudden.
"Zwei, where are you going?"
Ignoring her, the dog continued his journey outside.
Ruby quickly grabbed Crescent Rose and followed the dog outside.
Zwei technically wasn't supposed to be here with them…but what could Ruby do?
She couldn't leave him with JNPR because they were going on a mission soon.
She would have asked Mori to watch him but…to say those two didn't get along was an understatement.
She made them promise to each other not to fight anymore, but all that did was stop the physical fighting.
She knew about their cold war that was going on…After all, Zwei ate her homework on accident thinking it was Mori's and Mori hid Zwei's food in Ruby's closet once.
If she left those two alone, she'd come back to Mori needing a new wardrobe and Zwei looking like a Siamese cat.
So really the only sensible option was to bring him with her. After all, she couldn't leave the poor guy alone.
All she had to was make sure he did not get discovered…that attempt ended rather quickly once the mission began.
Surprisingly, Dr. Oobleck did not chew her out, instead, he praised her genius for bringing along the family pet.
That's right, Ruby Rose was a genius for bringing Zwei…she totally did that on purpose.
Her genius was being tested when she finally caught up to the dog urinating over a pillar.
"Really Zwei," Ruby whined, "You came all the way here to use the bathroom?"
"Arf!"
"What was that?"
A voice Ruby did not recognize suddenly broke through the dark.
Quickly grabbing her dog, Ruby immediately hid behind cover, trying to decide if the voice was a friend or foe.
"What was what?" Another voice Ruby did not recognize asked.
"…I thought I heard a Beowolf or something," The first voice responded.
"Hmph, let's just finish our patrol, this place gives me the creeps."
The unknown voices were White Fang members!
She had located their objective.
Zwei was such a good boy for finding them.
Should she apprehend them now?
No, attacking them now alone was reckless, and who knows how many other White Fang were out there right now.
Should she just go back and tell her team that she found them?
No, there was no guarantee that these guards would still here by the time she got her team...
Her best option for now was to follow them, like how Dr. Oobleck had them follow the Beowolves this morning, Ruby would follow these guards, and hopefully, they would lead her back to the base.
Time for stealth Ruby to make her an appearance.
Being as quiet as possible Ruby and Zwei slowly followed the White Fang guards on their patrol.
Her decision soon reaped its rewards as the guards finally stopped at a big metal door.
"Zwei, are they gone?" Ruby whispered, "Bark once if they are."
"Arf!"
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as she took a look around her surroundings.
Ok, now to get her team and storm the base.
Grabbing her scroll she immediately attempted to dial Yang's number for backup.
Too bad she was greeted to the sight of low service.
Ah, biscuits, she'd have to go grab them herself.
"Come on, Zwei!" Ruby said, "Let's go get the others."
Too bad that plan got derailed as all of sudden as she was running down the streets, the ruined city's infrastructure suddenly failed her as a giant hole formed from where she was standing.
Falling down, Ruby quickly grabbed a nearby ledge before she fell further while also catching Zwei as well.
"Whew," Ruby thought to herself, "That was a close one."
First throwing Zwei up to safety Ruby then prepared her own ascent up.
As if fate was screwing with her the ledge she was holding on to suddenly broke.
Activating her Aura Ruby braced herself for the fall.
*boom*
"Oww!" Ruby complained to herself.
Ruby took a look around, trying to assess her surroundings.
"Freeze!" A voice called out.
"Who are you and how did you get here!"
It was the White Fang guards that she was following earlier.
Ruby slowly started to back up.
"You are a long way from home little girl," The first guard commented.
Ruby reached behind her ready to activate Crescent Rose, ready for a battle.
…or she would have except it wasn't behind her.
Drat, it was still up on the surface.
"Now, we can do this easy way or the hard way."
She'd never been in a fight without Crescent Rose before, this was something that Ruby was not experienced with.
Should she just surrender or fight her way out to her team?
Taking a deep breath Ruby started to focus, making her decision on what to do.
"So, what will it be girly?"
Renewal Taekwondo: Round Kick
The basic kick of Renewal Taekwondo was Ruby's answer as she sent the guard careening into a wall.
Before the other guard could respond Ruby used the momentum of her first kick to then redirect herself as she threw a punch into the Faunus, sending him spewing onto the floor.
Immediately using her speed semblance Ruby started to run, trying to find an exit.
Alarms suddenly started blaring as the base was now aware of her intrusion.
"Where's the intruder!"
"There she is!"
Closing the distance with her speed she immediately used Renewal Baekdu kneeing one of the guards in the face.
Trying to counterattack the other guard immediately brought down his weapon in an attempt to knock Ruby out, Ruby dodged it with ease and hit the guard square in the head with another round kick.
Catching her breath Ruby took a look around her trying to find an exit from these long winding tunnels.
It was a good thing that she got Mori to teach her Renewal, she was useless in hand to hand combat before.
"I think she went this way!"
Whoops, looks like break time was over.
Looking around her, Ruby decided to go through the path that had some wind blowing through it.
Her choice had a mixed bag of results when she reached the end of the hallway, on one hand, she found the exit…on the other well… she was greeted to the sight of a room full of dust and white fang members.
"What are you doing here Red!" A voice cried out.
Finally, it was a familiar voice! ...too bad it wasn't friendly.
"Torchwick," Ruby responded with disdain.
"Of course, it's you," The villain complained, "For the last 10 minutes I've been getting reports of a little girl tearing up our base, and I think to myself, it couldn't be her… right? Turns out it is."
"I'm here to bring you in," Ruby declared, "And have you pay for your crimes."
"I'm sure you will," Torchwick sarcastically replied, "Boys, get her!"
The grunts in the room started to converge on Ruby, attempting to apprehend her.
Ruby started to worry, she had never fought this many people unarmed before.
Dang it, if she had Crescent Rose this would be so much easier.
"Never think about what you don't have during a fight."
Mori's voice suddenly started to ring in Ruby's head as if he was giving her advice during a training session.
"Focus on what you have and what you could do with it."
Ruby didn't have Crescent Rose, but she had her fists, her feet, her own training as a Huntress as well as Mori's hand-to-hand combat training, she could do it.
Backing herself to a wall, Ruby started to begin the fight of her life.
It would be a bad idea to charge straight into the enemy like Mori, she didn't have his skill or his awareness…instead, she would need them to come to her.
As one guard raised their weapon Ruby quickly dodged and knocked him out.
"When fighting against a large group, try to make it as close to a one on one as much as possible."
Continuing to position herself, Ruby fought off guard after guard with the punches and kicks she had learned.
"Be aware of your surroundings, use them to your advantage."
She needed to keep the right distance, too close and she'd get surrounded and subdued easily, too far and she'd be an easy target for their gun.
"I am getting some seriously bad déjà vu," Torchwick complained from the sideline.
Ruby ignored him as she continued to fight.
"You haven't learned how to blow up a harbor lately have you Red?"
The villain's quips had no effect on her as She continued to inch her way slowly to the exit.
She was close, so close to the exit, soon she'd be free and be able to run for back up.
"What is going on!" A voice shouted as the room suddenly froze.
Torchwick paled at the sight of the newcomer.
It was a red-haired man with horns wearing a white mask.
Every cell in Ruby's body screamed that this man was dangerous, that he was on a whole different level than the grunts she was fighting before.
"Nothing Adam, just dealing with a little rat." Torchwick quickly replied.
Ruby recognized that name, Adam Taurus, the feared enforcer of the White Fang!
"You've been dealing with a little rat for far too long," Adam replied, "I will deal with her."
A path opened up between them, as Adam walked towards her.
Ruby felt scared, even with Crescent Rose her instincts told her she would be outmatched, what should she do…what could she do. What would Yang do? …What would Mori do?
They would fight, they wouldn't care about the difference in strength, they would face their challenges bravely without fear…that's what she needed to.
Steeling herself Ruby took another deep breath, she needed to focus all her senses on this man.
Flying with her semblance she fired off a round kick, hoping to end the fight quickly before Adam could react.
Her attack did nothing as he blocked her kick with one hand.
Oh, biscuits she was in trouble.
In an instant, Ruby could suddenly feel her aura break as she went tumbling to the ground.
What was that? It was as if lightning struck her, he moved so fast she couldn't react.
Adam then started to walk towards her slowly pulling his blade out.
Ruby looked up in exhaustion, trembling at the figure before her.
There was such a vast difference between him and her… he treated her like she was just a fly on the wall, there was nothing she could do.
"I'm sorry Weiss, Blake, Jaune, Ren, Nora, Pyrrha…Mori"
The faces of her friends started to flash in her mind as she said her goodbye's to them in her heart.
"Dad, I'm sorry, Yang I'm sorry."
She didn't want to die, she wanted to see her friends one more time, spend one more minute with her family.
A white figure standing above a cliffside appeared in Ruby's mind.
"Mom…I did good…right?"
"Any last words?"
"…You will be stopped," Ruby defiantly replied, "I may not be able to stop you, but I know someone who will."
"…I look forward to meeting them then."
And with those words, Ruby closed her eyes ready to accept her fate.
"Wait!" A voice cried out just as she could feel the blade touch her skin.
"What!" Adam growled as he lifted his sword.
"We shouldn't kill her," Torchwck said as he rushed towards Ruby's side, "We already got her subdued and we can just throw her in the jail."
Ruby was stunned, why was Roman Torchwick of all people defending her?
He was like, the last person Ruby expected who would save her life.
"I see no reason why we should keep her alive."
"Well, see…" Torchwick started to stammer, "We could use her as bait!" He said as if the idea came to him.
"Bait?" Adam asked, "For what?"
"Bait for the problem you are here to deal with," Torchwick explained, "See, Red here is close to the pest you've been sent to eliminate, use her as bait to get the pest to come here instead of going to Vale and trying to find him."
Pest, what pest was Roman talking about?
She wasn't close to any pest.
"See she even has her, scroll," Roman said pulling Ruby's scroll from her pockets, "We give the pest a call and say we have his friend, and voila he's here!"
…Was Torchwick talking about Mori?
Adam thought about it before putting away his blade, "Fine, lock her up, but if she causes any problems it's your head."
Torchwick breathed a sigh of relief as soon as Adam left the room.
"Well," He said turning to a guard, "Tie her up."
The guard complied as he brought a rope to tie Ruby up with.
Ruby could only think in confusion of what just happened, Roman Torchwick of all people just saved her life.
"Why?" Ruby asked as the guard finished securing her.
"Hmm," Torchwick asked.
"Why did you save my life?" Ruby clarified, "We sort of are mortal enemies, you don't actually care…do you?"
"Oh Red," Torchwick laughed, "I couldn't give two shits about if you lived or died and in normal circumstances would be glad to see cow boy turn you into paste."
"So, why then?" Ruby challenged, "Why not just let me die?"
"Because Red," Torchwick responded as he put a cigar in his mouth lighting it, "There is one business I value keeping open at all times and that business is the business of staying alive and you being dead makes that business much, much harder."
"…What?"
Torchwick sighed, "Red, the only reason you are not dead is that I don't want that monster you call a boyfriend on my ass, if it wasn't for that, I'd be cleaning up your blood right now…happily."
"Ppfft, Mori?" Ruby asked incredulously, "You saved my life because you are scared of Mori?"
"Yes," Torchwick said without shame, "You may find it odd Red, but most people try to avoid pissing off the guy that blew up a harbor with a kick."
"Mori's really strong yeah, but he's a nice guy, he wouldn't kill you," Ruby said.
"…Are you sure about that Red?" Torchwick said as he took a huff of smoke, "I bet you see this knight in shining armor, who saves everyone and is a goody-two-shoes who can do no wrong?" He mockingly asked.
"Yes!"
"Of course, you do," Torchwick muttered, "Do you know what I see Red?" He asked turning towards her as he leaned on his cane.
Ruby tilted her head, waiting for Torchwick's answer.
"I see a killer, a person who can just end a life and not think twice about it,"
"I see a beast, covered in the blood of his enemies"
"I see a monster, disguised as a human…waiting to snap."
Ruby could feel her blood run cold from Torchwick's words.
"You know Red, he may be a heroic knight in shining armor to you,"
"But tell me, what do you think would happen if this knight in shining armor's princess got taken away from him?"
TMT here again hope you guys liked the latest chapter. As always I would love to hear your thoughts on how it went.
Khonkyazwa: Thank you, that was a fun scene to write. I like your ideas you mentioned, but for the most part, I do have a plan for the story.
alith2020: Yeah he just has the cross eyes, Ruby mentioned it once in chapter 1, but for the most part people ignore it.
Guest: Yeah from Mori's perspective Yang was a bit much, but her usually is.
Wizardwolf1020: Nah they won't stop it's too much fun raggin on Jaune. As for the bad future idea it was something I was once entertaining but working on it with my beta's we decided it wouldn't work out.
Dadragon562: I'm glad you like the story so far! It's always fun to get new readers and commentators.
DivineWhiskey: That is an option to give Mori a challenge.
Nox Deus: NAh it's not going to make him lose his drive, his friends were just hoping for more balance in life from him.
808joker808: In a way the last scene with Ruby was a dance, it was just different than usual ones.
DavidAlejandroGmezFernandez: Everyone is getting clues and hopefully ruby should be stronger.
Thelost501: I'm glad you liked it! We saw this chapter her doing it a little bit.
Luke: Yeah the reaction scene is something I'm looking forward to as well.
xxwolfsterxx644: I'm glad you liked the recent update, hope you liked this one as well.
Phantom0408: Thank you glad you liked it.
Fallenintodespair: You are correct, Mori has a very valid reason for going as hard onto training as he does. However to be fair to his friends, they don't know his backstory or the things out there, so to them it just looks like he's power-hungry at times.
Creus: I'm glad you liked it, yeah ffn has been...troublesome.
Guest1: I'm glad you liked it!
Guest2: Xuanghzhang's influence is definitely a part of Mori, if she's going to be in the story...it'll be hard cause she's well dead.
Guest3: That's just how Yang shows affection
Theory: In a way yes, she is in that her personality seems similar to Xuangzhang.
TomasDark: Glad you liked it.
Sir Jerington: For the broken Arm, Mori was restricted by MArrow's semblance, took a direct hit in the arm, and was sent flying through a building. I think it's reasonable enough to at least get a broken arm from that, but it is debatable. ButI'm glad you enjoy the story so far despite it's weaknesses.
Beta's
Eliad91
PatricianLurker
Woof28
