Training was not quite as easy as Ruby expected it to be. It wasn't like she was cocky about her abilities, but she had more than held her own against the Grimm when she and Yang were traversing the kingdoms. She wasn't afraid of them. Those Grimm were definitely not Pyrrha, however. Unlike those black masses of monstrosity, with no thought other than the urge to feast on despair, Pyrrha was a fully trained huntress with a brain and incredible reflexes. She had the upper arm strength to hold Crescent Rose with ease, but that meant nothing when it came to Milo and Akouo, Pyrrha's sword and shield.
"Oof!" A well-timed kick sent her off-balance, and she ended up flat on her butt, Crescent Rose skidding away from her. She fell onto her back, staring up at the ceiling and groaning. The two of them had been practicing for over an hour in the training facility housed within Sanctum Academy, which Professor Ozpin had been able to clear out for them to use. However, she had done poorly, to say the least. She hadn't even been able to get a hit on Pyrrha, while her own aura was being busted on the regular. A seed of doubt was trying to plant itself inside her brain, which she was desperately trying to fight off. "Ughhh, I can't seem to hit you at all!"
"Most people can't," Professor Ozpin chuckled, coming over to the two as Pyrrha offered her hand to Ruby. She took it and let herself be lifted up with a groan. Her body was starting to become sore from all the abuse she was taking. "Miss Nikos's semblance is polarity. She can control objects via magnetism." He went over and lifted up Crescent Rose, handing it over to Ruby. "Just like your weapon here." Ruby stared at the scythe in her hand, then at Pyrrha. That explained so much. No wonder she was so amazing. Anything metal that came near her stood no chance of hitting. She had been doomed from the start. "What about your semblance, Miss Rose?"
"Huh?" She looked at Ozpin, tilting her head.
"Pyrrha uses her semblance to great effect on the field of battle. What about your semblance? You haven't used it once in your training." It was like a light had been switched on in her head. Of course, her semblance! She hadn't even thought to use it, believing the two of them to be sparring normally. Since semblances were in play... She grinned, gripping Crescent Rose tightly as she took her battle stance again. "Well, looks like Miss Rose is ready for another round." Ozpin stepped back, allowing the two ladies to prepare to spar once more.
"Woo, let's go Ruby!" Yang cheered from the sidelines, clapping her hands excitedly. Getting to watch her little sister train with the Pyrrha Nikos was incredible. She was basically living vicariously through her. "This is so cool, right?" She turned to Blake, who had agreed to tag along just so she didn't have to be alone in Pyrrha's house. Wearing Yang's clothes made her seem out of place, but everybody decided to say nothing about it.
"Well, it is interesting to watch Pyrrha fight. She's just as amazing as everyone said she was." For once, the news hadn't inflated the truth: Pyrrha was no doubt the best young huntress in any kingdom on Remnant. The fact that Ruby couldn't even touch her wasn't an indictment of the girl as much as a tour du force from Pyrrha. "Ruby's not so bad herself. I can't believe she made that weapon all on her own."
"Yeah, she's really amazing, huh? She's got hella biceps lugging that thing around. Not as good as mine, but not everyone can." She flexed her arms, getting an eyeroll from Blake. So this was what Ruby meant when she said her sister could be annoying. Turning away from Yang, who let out an 'aww' of disappointed, she saw Ruby and Pyrrha resume sparring. At first, it appeared to be going the same as all the other times had been, but then Ruby disappeared. One second she was in front of Pyrrha, deflecting her sword, and then she was behind her, swinging her scythe down.
"What in the world?!"
"Hyaaah!" Ruby screamed as she brought her scythe down, but Pyrrha's shield whipped around her back, blocking the attack. Then she rolled and stabbed out at Ruby, which she barely dodged, her footwork messy from her landing. However, she was able to use her semblance again, a dusting of red petals where she had previously been standing. It left Pyrrha swinging at air, which is when Ruby attacked again. This time, she actually, finally got a hit in, ramming her scythe into Pyrrha's side.
"Good job, Ruby," Pyrrha praised, jumping back to avoid an up-slash. "Your semblance must be quite useful for you in battle." Ruby was panting, multiple uses of her semblance taking something out of her after over an hour of combat practice. However, she couldn't keep from smiling, elated to hear praise coming from someone as amazing as Pyrrha. She had done it! She had gotten a hit on Pyrrha! It was just one hit, but she was going to take her victories where she could get them. Not many people could say they had any luck against her. "Let us rest for now. It is important to rest your muscles before you strain them."
"I can still go," Ruby argued as she used Crescent Rose for balance. "I want to be able to get a hit on you three times in a row!" The chances of that happening were not likely, even with her semblance, and especially in the state she was in. Yang had to come over and lead her over to the benches against the wall, sitting her down and waiting for her to agree. "Okay fine, but just a five minute break, alright?" Chuckling, Yang nodded, knowing that she'd be able to coax Ruby into a longer break. It was for her own good.
Combat training, as difficult as it was, was nothing compared to maiden training. She understood it from a conceptual standpoint. Ozpin had already explained the origin of the maiden powers, and he told her about what she could expect to be able to do with them. It all sounded super cool, honestly! Unfortunately, drawing powers from within that she didn't know existed was difficult to say the least. She would do what Ozpin instructed, calming her mind and centering her soul. Or at least she was trying to do that. Trying to make her mind stand still was like trying to catch the wind. She kept trying and trying, but nothing would happen. Ozpin told her that was to be expected, but she still ended up frustrated after a day of no progress.
Worse than that were the nightmares. According to Yang, she'd had nightmares as a child, but she couldn't remember any of them. If they were anything like what she was experiencing now, she felt sorry for her younger self. She would find herself in the family house, but whenever she would open the door to her room, she'd find herself back in the hallway. Running down the hall and opening the next door just left more doors for her to open. She would get lost in the maze her house had become, and she would call out for Yang or her dad, hoping that they would hear her and help.
Neither of them would appear, though. Instead, she would run into her mom. She would always be standing in the center of the kitchen with a warm smile on her face. That smile would stay frozen even as her body began to become incased in a horrid black goo. She would scream, begging the inorganic muck to release her mom, but it never would. Her mind would race, trying to reach for Crescent Rose, but it was never on her person. She was frozen as well anyway, unable to move her arms to help. All she could do was scream and scream until she woke up in a cold sweat, her pajamas sticking to her skin.
She ended up getting out of bed and quietly heading downstairs, slipping into the backyard for a breath of fresh air. However, it turned out she wasn't alone. "Blake?" She had already begun to turn around as Ruby called her, as if she had been aware her nighttime solitude was at an end. "What are you doing out here?"
"Just getting some air." Wow, what a coincidence. "I suppose you are as well?" She nodded, coming out to stand a bit closer to Blake. "There's just... a lot on my mind right now, and being outside helps me feel a bit more at ease."
"Yeah, I'm starting to feel that too." She took in a deep breath, the briskness of the late night chill feeling good on her sweat-drenched skin. "It's like, everything made sense before Yang and I came here, you know? Now there are so many new things and I can't figure out which to focus on first. It's all super important, but it's... hard to manage." She didn't like to admit that she was feeling lost. She was supposed to be the cheery, optomistic one, but that wasn't always easy to maintain. Sometimes she just needed help, but she didn't know how to ask for it.
"Those are difficult feelings," Blake agreed, rubbing her hands together for a bit of warmth. Yang's clothes weren't exactly made for cold weather. "Sometimes I feel lost too. If only we could know what our decisions meant before we made them." Ruby frowned slightly, having a feeling that Blake was dealing with something serious. Maybe it was about her ex, since she had been running away from them. The guy seemed like a big jerk, at least in her opinion. Seeing Blake standing there looking off into the sky, seemingly lost in that moment, made her feel a strange surge of confidence. She was always at her best when she was helping others.
"It'll be okay, Blake. We can get through this! Whatever this is, anyway." She put a hand on Blake's shoulder, making her jump slightly. "Whoops, uh, sorry," she laughed awkwardly, taking a couple steps back. "I, uh, didn't mean to freak you out." Ugh, she was being weird again. She never knew what was too much or what was too little when it came to human interaction. That must've been too much.
"It's fine. You didn't do anything wrong." Blake rubbed her shoulder, her expression difficult to read under the moonlight. "I, uh, just have a thing about people touching me. It wasn't anything about you specifically, I promise." There was definitely something more to that. Ruby could just feel it in the tone of Blake's voice. She could also tell that it was something personal, and that it was best to not ask. At least she hadn't been the one to cause everything to become awkward. It was definitely a first. "I think I'll go inside now. Are you going to come in?"
"Nah, I think I'll stay a little longer." Nodding, Blake returned to the house, leaving Ruby alone with her thoughts. There was a bench swing near the fence, which she hadn't noticed when she initially came outside. She went over to it and sat down, letting the motion gently rock the bench. Pressing her bare feet into the grass, she pushed off, letting herself swing up and down as she let her mind drift. Salem wanted to bring the end of the world, and she had the maiden powers to stop it. She couldn't even access those powers, though, and if she couldn't beat Pyrrha in a sparring match, what good would she be against a woman who couldn't die?
"I'm out of my depth," she whispered, her words unanswered. "How am I supposed to do this?" She didn't want Ozpin or Pyrrha, who had put all their faith in her, to realize that her resolve was faltering. This was something she had agreed to, even after knowing the seemingly insurmountable challenges that laid ahead. Going back on her word wasn't something she did. That didn't mean she wasn't concerned, or that she wasn't doubting herself. She was just a weird girl from Patch. Having this power and being some sort of savior was too much for her to believe, even now. It was too much for her to handle, really. She was going to fail, and she would let everyone down.
"No, stop that! Buck up, Ruby Rose!" She slapped her cheeks, whimpering at the sting. It wasn't time to give up. She could do anything she put her mind to. If that meant dealing with nightmares in order to access her powers, than she would go through that. It was up to her to save the world: her! That was exciting, and she needed to take it seriously. So no giving up, and no letting herself get down in the dumps. She was going to put on a determined smile and she wasn't going to quit until the world was saved. Salem better watch out for her!
Ruby was concentrating as hard as she could. She and Yang were about to take Blake to the docks so she could head off to some mysterious location. With about an hour until they needed to be there, she decided to go to Sanctum's practice room and try to activate the maiden powers within her. While she still wasn't sure how to get to what she was looking for, she knew that she needed to try. Yang and Blake were in the bleachers, and she did her best to ignore their presence and focus on her inner soul. Where were these powers? How was she supposed to activate them? Slow, deep breaths... She felt for a tingling sensation deep within her core, having this feeling that if she accessed it, it would lead to something happening.
"Holy shit!" She heard Yang yelling, which forced her eyes open. Her palms were held out, and there was a ball of bright yellow light hovering in each one. She screamed, her body reacting to the strange occurence, which made them disappear. "What was that?!" Yang had run over to her, and both of them were staring at her palms. She could feel a tingling sensation of warmth, both brushing across her palms and deep within her being. What was that, exactly?
"I... I think it was my powers," she whispered, unable to look away from her hands. Creating balls of light seemed rather tame, lame even. However, she felt like there was more to it. There was more she could do as a maiden: she just had to unlock it. She began to smile, her face soon beaming as much as the light in her hands had. "It was my powers, Yang! I was able to access them! I mean, it was kinda lame, but I did it!" She pumped her fists excitedly, then fistbumped Yang.
"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about! That's my sister!" Yang's shock quickly turned into celebration, giving her sister a bear hug and lifting her off the ground. "You must have a shit-ton of powers locked up in that tiny body of yours! I bet you'll be shooting laser beams out of your eyes before long!"
"Come on, Yang, that's ridiculous," Blake chimed in, coming up to the celebrating sisters. "Nobody can shoot lasers out of their eyes. Are you two ready to go? We don't want to miss the boat." Ruby and Yang disengaged from each other, nodding as they all filed out of Sanctum Academy. If it was just the two of them, they could've ridden Yang's motorcycle to the docks. It wasn't going to fit all three of them, though, so they were forced to walk. Neither Ruby nor Yang minded, though. It allowed them to chat with each other and spend some quality time together. Blake was much more visibly nervous, but they did their best to make her feel more at ease.
"Well, good look on your travels." Yang offered up a high five to Blake, who looked at her hand curiously. "Maybe we'll see each other again someday. We'll buy you a new wardrobe, okay?" That made Blake laugh, finally loosening up enough to high five Yang. "And hey, we didn't see your crazy ex here, so it looks like things went okay!"
"R-Ruby?" As she said that, a scratchy voice came from behind them, calling Ruby's name. Immediately Ruby and Yang were on high alert, considering what Ozpin had said about Salem wanting to take the maiden powers from Ruby. However, when they saw who it was, all three of their jaws dropped. Stumbling towards them, pale-faced with torn clothes, was Weiss.
"Weiss!" Ruby shouted in alarm, getting the attention of a few people as she ran towards Weiss. It was at that moment where Weiss nearly fell to her knees, though Ruby put on a burst of speed to catch her. Her own face paled at the sight of Weiss. Up close, she could see cuts and scrapes, as well as dried blood on her arm and neck. "Are you okay?! What happened?!" Weiss's lips started to move, as if trying to explain what had happened, but all she let out was a low groan as she fell unconscious in Ruby's arms. "Oh no, Weiss! Weiss!"
"Well," Yang muttered, hurrying over to shield Ruby and Weiss from the commotion that was starting to gather. "I guess I spoke too soon."