When Weiss accepted Ozpin's request to tutor Ruby, she wasn't entirely sure what to expect. When she first met the younger girl, She was closed off and quick to anger. If Weiss had met her before Pyrrha befriended her, She would have probably made Ruby public enemy number two, right after Yang Xaio Long.
Pyrrha was the only person who was willing to not judge Weiss off her appearance and attitude, Something Weiss didn't even know she needed at the time. Pyrrha made Weiss realize that she needed to change if she didn't want to be alone anymore.
So when Monday came around, Weiss saw Ruby's closed off and apathetic attitude as a challenge. Not only as a tutor, but also as a potential friend to make. Of course, Weiss had a rough start but somehow was still able to get Ruby to work with her on improving her grades. Weiss wasn't sure what made Ruby change her mind back then but Weiss didn't care, She was just happy that she was able to make progress.
Progress that seemed to be at a standstill for the rest of the week...
Tuesday, October 1st.
"Ruby, it's simple. All you have to do is figure out what X is...And stop eating in the library!"
"I can't help it, I'm hungry okay!" Ruby stuffed another cookie into her mouth with her right hand as she tried to answer the infernal math problem with her left hand.
Weiss was just seconds away from snatching Ruby's cookies away and throwing them into the nearest trash bin. Not only were they distracting but she was also actually wanting some cookies herself. "You're not suppose to eat in the library, it's against school rules."
"Screw the rules, I have cookies!" Ruby was just about to grab another cookie before Weiss grabbed the box away from her. "Hey! Give those back!
When Ruby tried to get her cookies back, Weiss stood from her chair and held the box of cookies above her head, completely out of reach from the wheelchair bound Ruby.
"This is such a dick move, Weiss! Give me back my cookies!" Ruby whined as she tried, uselessly tried I might add, to reach for her delicious chocolate chip cookies.
Weiss felt a little bad as she watched Ruby struggle. Well, only a little. "No, You need to follow the rules and...No, It's not gonna happen. Those puppy dog eyes won't work on me, Ruby Rose."
They worked, and Weiss hated it so much.
'Damn those puppy dog eyes, who taught Ruby how to use such a lethal weapon of mass destruction?' Weiss rested her chin on her palm as she watched Ruby eat her cookies while doing her math homework.
Ruby still struggled with learning the new formulas for Algebra and History was a bore for her, but at least she was a quick learner. At least, that's how Weiss looked at it. Ruby on the other hand seemed to think she wasn't learning it fast enough.
Wednesday, October 2nd.
"Ruby, I'm sure you know this already, but you can't rush this sort of thing. Besides, you should be glad Ozpin didn't give you a deadline for all the work you didn't do..."
The more Weiss knew about Ruby's second chance given by Ozpin, the more she was starting to suspect him of playing favorites. Then again, he always held Weiss in high regards as well, so maybe it was family ties that made Ozpin be so generous to Ruby?
"I don't care. The sooner I get this stupid work done, the better...I-I'll be right back, gonna go and use the rest room."
Weiss sighed and nodded her head, Watching Ruby roll herself towards the closest restroom. Once Weiss was alone, she looked over Ruby's currently finished history essay. About 8 minutes pass before she heard a buzzing sound coming from Ruby's side of the table. It was Ruby's phone.
Weiss, with nothing better to do, decided to see who was messaging Ruby. It was Yang, asking about dinner. However, what caught Weiss' eye was the number. It looked eerily familiar. Weiss took out her phone and scrolled through her texts to find the one from Monday that told her to meet someone in the library. When she found the text she was looking for, her eyes widened. The numbers were a match.
'How did Yang get my number, especially when Pyrrha said she was the one who...Pyrrha, of course...So now the question is, Why did Pyrrha get Yang involved?'
"is there a reason you're looking through my phone?" Weiss jumped out of her seat at the sound of Ruby's stern voice.
"I'm sorry, it was buzzing and I thought that it might have been important and, and...Here, I'm sorry..." Weiss gave up on making excuses and simply gave Ruby her phone back.
Ruby checked the message on her phone and chose to ignore it. She put her phone in her pocket and rolled back into her spot on her side of the table. "It's fine I guess... It's not like I have any secrets on it or anything."
"Right...Hey, Ruby. Do you mind if I ask you something kind of personal?"
Ruby looked up at Weiss, unsure of where she was going with the sudden question. "I-I guess?"
"I was wondering, what is it like having Yang as a sister?"
Ruby blinked a few times before placing her hand on her chin, thinking of how to answer.
"Hmm...W-Well, I guess she's okay. She's never really mean or anything and she probably cares a little too much when it comes to me and my health...b-but other than that, she's a great older sister." Ruby smiled to herself at the last part, but quickly turned to a frown.
Weiss noticed this and decided to change the subject. "Right, well...We should get back to work. We just need to complete this piece of English homework and then we can finally head home."
Weiss was going to talk about her own sister with Ruby in an attempt to maybe bond and get to know each other but upon seeing Ruby's frown, she didn't want to risk a repeat of what happened Monday.
That was the same reason why she didn't bother commenting on how tired Ruby was looking. Weiss was starting to get concerned that Ruby was pushing herself a little too hard on the first week. However, Weiss kept it to herself, until tomorrow that is...
Thursday October 3rd.
"Ruby, you look awful, did you get any sleep at all last night?"
"hmm?...O-Oh, right, yeah. I was just going over notes and lost track of time... I-I'm fine, really."
Weiss wasn't convinced, Ruby was starting to get bags under her eyes and had brought two boxes of cookies this time around. At first Weiss thought the second box was for her, but nope, they were all for Ruby. Weiss theorized that Ruby brought so many cookies in an attempt to hide her tiredness by masking it with her addiction to the delicious treats while simultaneously keeping herself awake with all the sugar. Sadly, Weiss had no idea how right she was.
Weiss really didn't want to start an argument but as her tutor, she had to put her foot down. "Forgive me for saying this, but I find that hard to believe."
"Seriously Weiss, I'm fine...I-I just skipped breakfast today and lunch wasn't exactly appetizing."
"Then explain how you got all these equations wrong, right after you insisted that you understood the formulas that I taught you just minutes beforehand?"
Ruby groaned, she really didn't want to deal with this right now, she just wanted to get this work done. "O-okay, fine I'm tired! So what!? As long as the work gets done, who cares?"
Weiss wasn't going to answer that, obviously she cared. And Ruby's family would also care but that's a given. "Do them again." Weiss commanded, handing over Ruby's homework.
Ruby begrudgingly took the paper and erased all her wrong answers, muttering to herself all the while.
Weiss simply sighed. She didn't want to be hard on the girl but this is ridiculous, Ruby really shouldn't be pushing herself this hard. But on the bright side, at least she seemed determined...maybe a little too determined.
Friday, October 4th.
"I have to admit that I'm impressed, I didn't expect you two to complete this much work in such a short amount of time." Miss Goodwitch was currently typing away at her computer, Weiss could only assume she was either documenting the meeting as it was happening or was probably emailing another school faculty member. "five English assignments, ten algebra assignments and a history report on George Washington all on the first week."
"Ruby has been insistent on getting as much work done as possible." Weiss assured, feeling a little proud of Ruby's progress. "Although, I think she's been taking it a bit too far..."
Glynda finally took her eyes off her computer screen, staring at the younger girl in question. "Well, At least she's working hard for once..."
Sitting in her wheelchair beside Weiss was Ruby, sleeping without a care in the world. Weiss couldn't believe Ruby had nodded off during their meeting with Glynda, but she couldn't really blame the poor girl either. The bags under her eyes seemed to have gotten worse as each day passed.
Weiss lightly shook Ruby's shoulder to wake her up. "Ruby, wake up, now is not the time for you to be sle-"
Ruby jolted awake, frantically waving her arms around as if she was in a fight. "B-Back off you stupid...butt ugly...Goblins?" Ruby glanced around the room, rubbing her tired eyes after she remembered where she was. "S-Sorry... W-What were we talking about again?"
Glynda raised an eyebrow at Ruby's usual childish antics. Seeing how exhausted Ruby looked, Glynda figured she had kept the two girls at school long enough. So she got up from her desk and opened her office door for the two students.
"Well, as much as I'd like to talk more about your progress, I think I've kept you two here long enough. I hope you two have a wonderful weekend. And Ruby, please get some sleep, you look awful."
Ruby simply groaned in response. 'Of course I look awful, that's what happens when you can't sleep because of nightmares and you have nothing better to do but either do homework all night or stare at a ceiling until the alarm goes off...'
"Thank you Miss Goodwitch, we will." Weiss left the Counselor's office with an exhausted looking Ruby in tow.
Ruby was propelling herself slower than usual as her body lacked the energy to keep up with Weiss' prideful stride. After a few seconds, Weiss took notice and slowed down so that she could walk beside Ruby.
"I hate to repeat Glynda but you really do look awful Ruby." Weiss stated as she looked at Ruby through the corner of her eye.
"I-I'm fine...really, I'm always tired by the end of the day. P-Pushing my chair all day is exhausting after all." Ruby lied, pushing her chair is as easy as walking for her...well, as easy as it is for other people.
Weiss rolled her eyes, she knew Ruby was lying but kept it to herself since pushing Ruby to tell the truth would just lead to nowhere good. "If you say so, just make sure to rest up over the weekend, okay?" Ruby simply hummed in response, signaling the end of their conversation.
As Weiss and Ruby made their way down the hall, Weiss began thinking about her relationship with Ruby. In the last couple of days since their little talk in the Library, Weiss had noticed that Ruby has become a bit less shy around her and has even been stuttering less often despite the fact that she was still distant and easily irritated.
However, Weiss still couldn't tell if Ruby considered her to be a friend or not. They haven't really done anything to warrant being called friends and they only really saw each other after school to study. Hell, they've only known each other for about five days. Regardless, Weiss was determined to try to become Ruby's friend.
'Maybe we could do an activity together, like...like...crap, I still don't know anything about her!'
Weiss tried her best to think of something, anything that may interest Ruby. everything she thought of was quickly shot down whenever she realized that they might be difficult for the wheelchair bound girl. However, Only one idea came to mind that actually might work and she didn't like it one bit. The only reason she was even considering the idea was because Weiss really wanted to break her record of only having one friend.
Weiss shook her head, it was too risky, what if Ruby declined? She'd probably laugh at her for having such a childish hobby, but then again, Ruby seemed to be a bit childish herself. Weiss frantically searched her memory for any moment where Ruby might have mentioned some small detail about herself that didn't involve school, but nothing came to mind.
Weiss cursed herself for not asking Ruby again about her interests or hobbies. She had plenty of opportunities to ask but after their argument Monday, Weiss decided that it might be best to not ask again until Ruby seemed more comfortable with her, especially since persistently asking was what seemed to have caused Ruby to get angry with her to begin with.
'Well, I don't think she could be any more comfortable than she is now…'Weiss thought to herself as she and Ruby reached the school's parking lot. Neither of their rides were here yet, so they waited.
Weiss bit her lower lip, bracing herself for the worst possible outcome. "Hey Ruby, do you by any chance like fantasy? Specifically fantasy themed games?"
Ruby raised an eyebrow, confused by Weiss' sudden question. "Fantasy?"
"Yeah, you know...umm, elves, swords, magic...that sort of stuff." Weiss twiddled with her thumbs, she tried not to look too nervous but she couldn't help it. She was risking a lot by asking this question, what if Ruby spread around a rumor about Weiss and her hobbies?
Ruby suddenly felt anxious, did Weiss somehow know her secret or was she just making small talk? "Oh, w-what about it?"
Weiss fumbled with her thoughts, unsure if she should go through with this. 'At least she isn't shrugging it off like last time...' Weiss cleared her throat, ready to speak. "Well, umm...I just...I was…" Weiss paused, taking a deep breath as she tried to collect her words properly.
Ruby silently tapped her finger on the armrest of her wheelchair as she sat beside Weiss and waited patiently as she watched her compose herself. It was actually kind of odd seeing the ever so proud and confident Weiss Schnee be so nervous and at a loss for words.
After a few seconds, Weiss finally collected her thoughts but still feared the answer Ruby might give. "I-I was wondering if you'd be interested in playing an online game with me, s-specifically Beacons of Remnant."
A thousand questions had suddenly bombarded Ruby's brain, the last thing she would have expected Weiss to be was a gamer.
'She's not talking about the same game, is she? Oh who am I kidding, there's only one virtual reality MMO at the moment, what other Beacons of Remnant could she possible be talking about... Wait, Weiss is friends with Pyrrha isn't she? so of course she plays Beacon of Remnants with her...hold on, if she plays with Pyrrha, than shouldn't I have met Weiss already and...wait a minute..."
Ruby blinked a few times as she continued to stare up at Weiss , her brain running through a series of theories and questions in her head. Each one making more sense the more she thought about them.
Weiss, however, couldn't help but feel impatient and a little creeped out as Ruby remained silent while staring up at her. The longer she waited the more anxious she became. "W-Well? Do you want to or not?"
'No, she's definitely not Myrtenaster...never, not in a million years...I don't care if their voices are alike, that would be way too weird and if it were true, then I made a fool of myself in front of Myrtenaster on Monday!'
Ruby quickly shook her head to rid herself of the horrifying thought of Weiss and Myrtenaster being one in the same. It was jut too weird and embarrassing for her.
Weiss, upon seeing Ruby shake her head, frowned at the sight as she mistaken it for Ruby's answer. "R-Right...I didn't think you would…"
Ruby looked back at Weiss, confused once again. "Excuse me?"
"Your answer, I understand if you don't want to play a game with me…"
"What? I didn't asnwer ye-ooohh! No no no, I wasn't shaking my head to say no, I was just...never mind that, I was just being weird. don't actually mind playing a game or something, I just, umm…" Ruby trailed off, she had no idea where she was going with her potentially endless rambling. She was too tired to think correctly.
Who knew getting only maybe four hours of sleep in three days could cause your brain to turn to mush.
However, Weiss suddenly came to a realization of her own after listening to Ruby's ramblings.
"Of course! I'm so stupid. You probably don't even have a FRVR system. I'm really sorry, I tend to forget how expensive some things are for other people... If that's the problem, I can easily buy you one, with no strings attached of course." Weiss smiled eagerly at Ruby, hoping Ruby wouldn't mind it if she gave her something so expensive. Well, expensive for Ruby, not herself.
"T-that's not really necessary…" Ruby muttered, she wasn't entirely hooked on the idea of playing a virtual reality game with Weiss. She's never even played one with someone she knew in the real world. Well, other than Pyrrha, Nora and Ren but those were different situations entirely, or at least that's what she tells herself.
On the other hand, it'd probably be kind of fun to play a game with someone else for a change. Weiss definitely wasn't Myrtenaster, so this was her chance to maybe make a new friend. Then again, the thought of Weiss being Myrtenaster lingered and nagged at her in the back of her mind and she really didn't know how to feel about that horrifying possibility.
"I-I mean...I-I kinda already have one. You don't have to go and buy one for me..."
Weiss was starting to get really confused by Ruby's sudden nervousness. "Really? Then what's the problem?"
Upon hearing the question, Ruby couldn't help but think that Weiss sounded like Myrtenaster for a moment.
"T-There is no problem, I-I wouldn't mind playing a game with you. In fact, I already own a copy of Beacon of Remnant..." Ruby trailed off, realizing what it was that she just said. She was only speaking out of instinct, just like how she did with her online friends. She wasn't planning to say yes. How did she get so comfortable that she let her guard down like that?
It was the lack of sleep, it had to be. The consequences of not sleeping for so long was finally catching up to her. Ruby cursed herself for being so reckless as she began panicking internally. However, before she could change her answer, Weiss was already writing something down on a piece of paper that she had ripped out of her notebook.
"Wonderful! Here, this is my character's name. Oh, I should probably give you my number too just in case." Weiss quickly wrote down her information on the paper and handed it to Ruby, who reluctantly accepted it.
Weiss did everything she could to keep herself under control. Truth be told, she was squealing like a schoolgirl on the inside. Pyrrha would be so proud to hear that she was able to invite Ruby to play with them.
"If you want, we can play tomorrow. Pyrrha would be thrilled to have another person to play with us too." Weiss's eyes drifted past Ruby and noticed her family's limo. "Oh, there's my ride. I'll see you later Ruby!"
Weiss couldn't stop smiling as she walked over to the limo. She was so proud of herself, it was an important milestone for her as she was finally able to get close enough to someone to ask them to hang out with her. She couldn't believe how happy she was, it took every fiber of her being to fight off the urge to skip in her 3-inch heels. And besides, a Schnee never skips.
Ruby however, was stuck staring at the paper she was just given. She kept reading it over and over again. She refused to believe it despite being right there in front of her face. On the paper, written in perfect cursive was the name "Myrtenaster", followed by Weiss' phone number.
Ruby hung her head back to stare up at the sky. A storm cloud was slowly forming over her, almost as if to mock the stress and chaos that found it's way into her life.
"You really like putting me into stressful situations, don't you?" she muttered to whatever being that seemed to toy with her very existence. Ruby closed her eyes as the whole week's exhaustion suddenly hit her like a truck. This week has been way too hectic for her, Ruby's brain was officially fried.
"Hey, Rubes. It's gonna rain soon, are you getting in the truck or what?"
Ruby didn't even notice Yang walking up to her. She was too busy trying to find some way out of the situation she found herself in regards to Weiss.
"Ruby, you okay?"
Ruby slowly looked at Yang, exhaustion consuming her. She slid the paper that Weiss gave her into her pocket. "Yeah, I'm fine...I think I'm gonna take a nap when we get home, I haven't been sleeping too well..."
Yang bent over to get a better look at Ruby's face. "Damn Rubes, you look like a zombie with all those bags under your eyes. Anyways, lets get going." Yang slowly walked behind Ruby to push her to the truck. However, she stopped just before she could grab the push handles. "S-Sorry, I was just-"
"Yang." Ruby said abruptly.
Yang winced, fearing that her sister would complain again. "yeah?"
Ruby could just barely keep her eyes open at this point. She remembered the conversation she had with her father Monday night. She really didn't want to give in and let Yang help her but Ruby didn't have a choice, she didn't even have the energy to complain at the moment.
"You can push me just this once...b-but only because I'm so exhausted, okay?"
"Really? Are you sure?" Yang hesitantly grabbed the push handles, expecting Ruby to change her mind.
Ruby let out an exasperated sigh, maybe she shouldn't have been so harsh on her sister for only trying to help. Swallowing her pride, she hung her head back to look up at her sister, giving her an upside down view of Yang's face.
"I'm positive."
Yang stared into Ruby's eyes, trying to find any hint of trickery. However, all she saw were bags under Ruby's eyes and the exhausted expression that she was wearing.
"Don't worry about a thing, Rubes. you can count on me!" Yang Chirped, happy to finally get the chance to help her baby sister. Yang eagerly pushed Ruby to her truck, humming her favorite song along the way.
Ruby lazily rolled her eyes, unable to hold back a smile. Yang was always so eager to help her, it almost made Ruby feel bad for pushing her away so often...well, almost. Ruby still desired nothing short of independence, she was just too exhausted to argue with her older sister at the moment.
"Okay Ruby, we're here!" Yang chirped as she parked her sister beside the passenger side door of her truck. However, Ruby was silent. "Ruby?"
Yang looked over her sister's shoulder, only to find Ruby's eyes closed and her head tilted downward. Ruby had fallen right to sleep with strands of her long black hair falling ever so slightly over her eyes. Ruby's childlike features showed on her sleeping face and her soft breathing made the world around her seem to stand still.
Yang smiled softly at the sight, she rarely got to see Ruby look so at peace with everything. After opening the passenger door, she lifted Ruby bridal style and gently set her into the passenger seat and strapped her in with the seat belt. Yang kissed the top of her sister's head before closing the passenger door.
"Sleep tight, Rubes."
Weiss felt absolutely ecstatic, she couldn't wait to tell Pyrrha her good news. The first thing she wanted to do when she got home was go straight to her room and log into Beacons of Remnant Online. However, the moment she walked through the front door of her home, she was stopped by her mother, Willow Schnee, who had just gotten off the phone when Weiss got home.
Willow had a bright smile when she saw Weiss walk through the door. "Weiss, you're finally home. I have some wonderf-"
"Not now, Mother. I'm in a hurry and I have some important things I need to take care of." Weiss walked as fast as she could past her mother and towards the stairs to the second floor, eager to get to her room.
"Weiss Schnee! You will stop and speak with your mother, right now." Willow's voice was stern and commanding, her subtle German accent slipping out and making every word twice as threatening.
Weiss froze on the spot, rolling her eyes before she turned around and made her way back to her mother. "Yes, mother?"
"I just got off the phone with your sister, Winter and I have some Wonderful news, your sister will be coming home from overseas."
"Weiss clasped her hands together in joy, its been several years since she last saw her older sister. "Really!? Oh I can't wait!"
"Yes, she said she should be here by the end of next week... I just hope your father doesn't get into an argument with her again..." Willow frowned as she recalled the last time Winter came back home.
Weiss held her mother's hands in her own in an attempt to cheer her up. "Don't worry, I'm sure father will hold his tongue after what happened last time."
Willow sighed, glad that Weiss was more optimistic than she was. "I suppose so...anyways, you can go ahead and do whatever it is that you need to do, just don't be late for dinner in a few hours."
"I won't." Weiss assured as she raced up the stairs to her room.
Willow watched her daughter run up the stairs and out of view. "I swear, that girl needs to find some friends to play with, she spends way too much time studying..."
The second Weiss entered her room she threw off her backpack and immediately got undressed and took the black Relaysuit out of her closet. Weiss slipped into the suit in front of her full-size mirror, checked herself over and was just about to head over to her bed, but a sudden thought crossed her mind.
She went back over to the mirror and began thinking about her avatar's hair style and seriously started pondering whether or not she should actually try it, without the light blue color of course. She certainly had the hair length to pull off such a pony tail. She began to run her hands through her hair, trying to style it into the off-center ponytail that her avatar had as she held it up with her hand.
"hmm, not bad...but simple scrunchies or hairbands isn't gonna cut it, I need something more stylish...hmm...Whatever, I'll deal with that later, right now I need to tell Pyrrha the good news!" Weiss practically squealed the latter half, she was just too excited.
After finally zipping up her suit, she strapped the helmet on and got into bed. "Game start." Weiss commanded and not a second sooner, her body was slowly consumed by numbness and found herself flung into the world of Beacon of Remnants where she spawned just outside the Inn that she and her friends frequently hang out at.
Weiss was just about to swipe her finger across the air to summon her friends list when someone snuck up behind her and lifted her into the air.
"Come on Myrtenaster, we need you're help!" It was Boop, already running with Weiss thrown over her shoulder like a child. Being so much shorter than the pink haired brute didn't help with Weiss' sudden embarrassment either.
"Boop!? Put me down this instant! I'm not some toy that you can run off and play with!" Weiss whined, flailing he legs and arms in the air, hitting Boop's back with her fists in the process.
Boop laughed as she ran through the streets of Vytal, carrying the flailing blue haired mage without a care in the world. "Well with your small size, you might as well be a toy anyway!"
"Hey! I'm not small!" Wiess pouted as she puffed out her cheeks. She really, really hated it when people took advantage of her size like this.
Boop giggled, she enjoyed teasing Myrtenaster for her size. The shorter girl's reactions were always priceless. "I'll admit, you're certainly not the smallest girl I've met, that honor goes to a little mute brat that I have the misery of knowing."
Weiss only felt a little better hearing that, but that didn't stop her from continuing to flail her legs and arms in an attempt to free herself. "Just put me down Boop or I'll make your life a living hell!"
Without a second thought, Boop finally dropped Weiss onto the ground with Weiss landing on her butt. Boop had already brought Weiss where she wanted to take her anyway, directly outside the city.
"Look who I found, Ren! With Myrtenaster here, there will be three of us! Now we should be able to get Crescent's costume in no time!"
Ren was leaning on a tree near the city's gate, waiting the entire time. "Boop..."
"yes Ren?" Boop respond innocently.
"I don't think one more person is gonna make that much of a difference."
Weiss got herself off the ground, dusting the rear of her mage robes off with her hands. "Okay, will someone please explain to me what is going on?"
"We're getting Crescent's costume! Don't you remember the bet she lost last week?"
Weiss simply stared at Boop, her expression was a mix of boredom and seriousness. "And why do you need my help, exactly?"
Ren walked up to the two girls and brought up a menu panel showing a series of event quests. "The costume Boop wants to get for Crescent is a prize for one of the Halloween events this year, we need to complete a series of quests where each quest gives a piece of the costume. There were other costumes that we could have just bought from the online store but Boop insisted on this one, which can only be acquired by doing these quests."
Boop wrapped her arm around Ren's shoulders, wearing the biggest grin she could possibly have. "C'mon, you know this costume is perfect for her, it practically screams Ru-I mean, Crescent! and besides, you know just as much as I do that she would absolutely love it despite how much she'll try to deny it." Boop glanced over at Weiss, hoping she didn't notice her near slip up.
Ren let out an exasperated sigh but smiled nonetheless. "Alright, are you in Myrtenaster?"
Weiss stared at Boop for a moment, wondering what she was about to call Crescent before stopping herself, but Weiss decided to ignore it and chalk it up to Boop's hyperactive personality. Weiss thought about the proposition for a moment, she opened her friends list to see who else is online but sadly, it was only her and the Stormflower couple for the time being. With an annoyed groan, she finally responded "Let me see the costume."
Ren passed the event panel over to Weiss. The moment Weiss saw the picture of the costume on the event page, she knew she had to see Crescent in it, no scratch that, she must see Crescent in the costume. A devious smile began to form as she imagined Crescent in it.
"Ren..."
"yes, Myrtenaster?"
We have to get this costume or we will die trying."
"A little over dramatic don't you think?" Ren asked.
Boop rolled her eyes. "oh Ren, you never underestimate the determination of a girl in love."
Weiss furrowed her brows and glared at Boop, trying her best to ignore the blush forming on her face "I am not in love with Crescent!"
"Keep telling yourself that~!" Boop sung as she began walking in the direction of the first quest with a nonchalant Ren in tow, followed by an annoyed Weiss who was grumbling to herself.
There were four quest total for the trio to complete, the first quest they decided to do seemed to be the easiest as well as the closest. When Weiss, Ren, and Boop got to the area that the first quest was in about a kilometer away from Vytal City, they were greeted by the sight of open farmland where dozens of players were running around, fighting 7 foot tall pumpkin monsters with bodies made of roots and vines. The farm itself seemed to be growing pumpkins and the farmhouse was decorated appropriately for Halloween.
"Don't you think this is a little too...on the nose?" Weiss asked to no one in particular.
"Don't be silly, it's a Halloween event. Halloween is always like this!" Boop chirped.
Weiss frowned, letting her shoulders fall as she realized she had quite the boring childhood. "I wouldn't know...I've never celebrated it."
Boop clasped her hands to her cheeks, her jaw dropping like a brick. "what!? You never celebrated Halloween before!? What rock have you been hiding under!?"
Weiss simply shrugged, she didn't really have much of an excuse other than her parents. "A have a pretty boring childhood with strict and busy parents. My family isn't exactly…fun, so to speak."
Ren placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder. "It's never too late to start celebrating."
"Yeah! Think of this as a trip to a great pumpkin patch!" Boop cheered as she unsheathed her hammer from her back, ready to start their quest. "Usually you go to one with your family, but I think Ren and I are old enough to be your guardians for a day!"
Weiss slowly shook her head and smiled, how did she ever become friends with such an eccentric couple? Weiss summoned her Snow Angel staff and readied herself to jump into action. "So, we just got to kill a hundred of these Pumpkin Gigas for the reward, right?"
"Technically, we just need to collect their heads and return them to the farm's owner. But yes, we need to kill them to collect their heads." Ren explained, flourishing his twin daggers.
"Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go wreck a pumpkin patch!" Boop wasted no time as she immediately charged into a crowed of six Pumpkin Gigas and began to agro them, luring them towards Weiss and Ren.
"Myrtenaster, you're up!" Boop Hollered as she smashed one of the monsters' head into the ground with her mighty hammer, leaving five to remain chasing her. The Pumpkin Gigas weren't too tough as Boop was able to take them out with a couple of swings of her hammer.
Weiss placed her staff into the ground, summoning a massive glyph that surrounded the agroed group of Pumpkin Gigas, freezing there legs to the ground. Ren then jumped in with his daggers along side Boop and the Stormflower couple slaughtered them as quickly as possible.
"That's six down, ninety-four to go." Ren said as he crouched down to collect the pumpkin heads. However, a light green glyph appeared on the ground below each head and sent the heads flying into the air in an arc.
The trio watched the pumpkin heads fly over to another female player. From the distance, Weiss couldn't see her face too well but could tell that her skin was the color of mocha and she had short jade colored hair. What irritated Weiss even more was the fact that, instead of a simple mage robe, She was wearing a light green and white robe that actually opened up at the lower half, revealing a short skirt and knee high boots. She wielded a wooden staff with a large emerald sitting at the top.
The girl quickly snatched up the pumpkins, sending them into her inventory. The girl wore a cocky smirk the entire time.
"Thanks for doing the hard work for me, losers!" the mysterious girl said as she then stuck out her tongue before running off to another male player with violet hair who was fighting several of the Pumpkin Gigas all by himself. "Hey Talaria! I got another five heads!"
Weiss was beyond furious as she pointed her staff at the mysterious girl. "What the hell was that!? Please don't tell me that she can actually do that!"
Boop walked up beside Weiss, looking just as mad as the blue haired mage. "Sadly, she can...the quest says you have to collect the heads, it doesn't state that it's required to kill them first..."
Weiss stomped her foot on the ground, fuming as she glared daggers at the mysterious girl in the distance. "Who the hell does she think she is?!"
Ren chimed in with an answer. "Morgiana, she's a level forty Illusionist Mage. She's also a member of a guild called Crimson Fall, we don't get along with them very well."
Weiss tilted her head, she's been playing this game for about a month and no one bothered telling her this? Well, to be fair, she may of known her friends for a month, but she spent even less time with them thanks to school. Regardless however, What is with this guild and not telling anyone anything? But more importantly...
"An Illusionist Mage? What's that?"
"It's one of the two advanced specialties to the default Mage role. The other being the Summoner Mage. You can choose a specialty once your level thirty." Ren explained.
Weiss' eyes widened. "thirty!? I won't reach that for another month or so with my current schedule..."
Boop suddenly began twirling her hammer as she started walking towards another group of Pumpkin Gigas "Come on guys! Less chit chat, more pumpkin smashing! We can still get the hundred heads in no time, we just gotta agro them like the last group. Piece of Cake!"
The trio began the process all over again with much more success of farming Pumpkin Heads this time around, although, the green haired mage, Morgiana, would steal some heads from them every now and then, always running off before they could confront her. It took about two hours just to collect all one hundred pumpkin heads, much longer than Weiss would have liked. All because of a dirty thief of a mage named Morgiana.
"Alright, lets go to the next quest!" Boop cheered as she waved around the quest reward, a neatly woven basket.
"As much as I'd like to continue, I have to join my family for dinner..." Weiss frowned at the thought of having to leave her friends after just the first quest.
"Hey, don't worry about it, we understand. Family comes first after all." Boop assured with a big smile as she rested her hammer on her shoulder.
"Right...family." Weiss muttered quietly to herself. "Well, I should be back on after dinner. See you guys later." Weiss waved the Stormflower couple goodbye before logging off.
Boop's smile quickly turned to a frown once Weiss was gone. "Hey Ren?"
"hmm?" Ren was currently looking at the map interface to find the next quest.
"Do you think that Myrtenaster may not like her family?"
"what makes you say that?" Ren finally found the next quest and placed a marker on the map.
"I don't know, she just seems sad whenever her family was mentioned. Only reason I didn't bring it up was because Pyrrha told me that Myrtenaster is the type of player who doesn't share their real life with others too easily."
Ren simply shrugged as he accepted the next quest and closed the interface panel. "I'm sure she's fine, everyone has family issues to some degree."
Once Weiss logged off and returned to the real world, she took a shower and changed into a formal dress. It wasn't really that she needed a shower, Weiss just didn't want to give her father any reason to complain. He always was a neat freak, sometimes it made Weiss wonder if he had some form of OCD or something, except it only seemed to apply to his children and nothing else.
When she got to the dining room, Weiss was glad to see that she wasn't late for dinner. So far, her little brother and her mother were the only ones in the room. At least her father wasn't here to complain that she was the last to show up. Again...
Weiss promptly sat in her seat next to her little brother, who was sipping away at a small cup of coffee while on his phone. Her mother on the other hand was drinking tea from an equally small cup.
"Weiss, it's nice for you to come to dinner early for once." Willow sipped her tea, looking as elegant as a queen.
"Sorry Mother, I've been really busy with studying all week, especially now that I'm tutoring someone again." Weiss set her hands on her lap, her body remembering years of social etiquette being drilled into her brain.
"Oh, that reminds me, I've been meaning to ask how the tutoring is going. The last time you tutored someone, you complained about it non-stop."
"Please, don't remind me of that rapscallion. He never took anything seriously."
Willow smirked behind her tea cup. "Well, what makes this current student different?'
"what makes her different? Umm...well, she's..." Weiss paused for a moment, it was at this moment that she realized she really, really didn't know anything about Ruby as a person. Sure she knew she was smart, has a sister like herself, is in a wheelchair...but what made Ruby, well, Ruby? What were her hobbies, favorite music, what about movies?
"She's...smart? She apparently skipped two grades before going to Beacon. In fact, now that I think about it, She and Whitley should be the same age."
"Oh? Skipping two grades is quite the achievement, why does she need a tutor if-"
"Sorry, I'm late. The meeting at the office took longer than anticipated." Weiss' father finally returned home and practically took full control of the room the moment he entered. After taking his seat, he looked around the table, wearing a casual smile. "Was I interrupting something?"
"Oh, We were just talking about the student Weiss is tutoring at school. Apparently she has skipped two grades before going to Vale Academy."
"Oh really? If she is so accomplished, why does she need help with her grades?" Jacques smile never faulted. But Weiss knew that smug tone anywhere, he was being cocky and, if Weiss' theory about her father is correct, possible jealous that one of his own children hadn't done the same and skipped a grade or two.
"I was just about to ask that myself, Dear. Well Weiss?" Both parents looked towards Weiss, causing her to want to sink into the floor and never return.
"W-Well...from what I understand, she had been neglecting her studies for some reason and Ozpin-"
"Ozpin, of course he's involved." Jacques scoffed at the name. "Let me guess, he felt bad for the poor girl and decided to get his best student to tutor her, does that sound about right?"
"Yes, father..." he maybe have been right, but Weiss had a feeling that the reason Ozpin was helping Ruby wasn't entirely because of pity.
Willow chimed in. "Jacques, Dear, don't you think you're being a bit harsh on the girl? You haven't even met her, I'm sure there's a reason that has caused, umm...Weiss, what was the girl's name again?"
Weiss froze for a moment, feeling a bit uncomfortable with sharing Ruby's name. "R-Ruby Rose..."
Whitley choked on his coffee, looking surprised at Weiss "You're tutoring Ruby Rose?!"
"Whitley, You know her?"
"Of course I know her, I had the misfortune of being in the same class as her in 5th and 6th grade in elementary school. She always had better grades than I did for those two years..." Whitley took a sip of his coffee and chuckled. "I was actually wondering if it was luck that got her out of my hair. Turns out it was her own luck though."
Weiss was about to argue with her brother but her father cut her off.
"I guess she ran out of luck then. Perhaps skipping two grades is too much for her."
The family went silent as the family butler, Klein, entered the room with a food cart carrying several trays of food, ranging from mashed potatoes, lobster, and even some wine for the eldest Schnees.
Luckily, the rest of dinner went by rather peacefully. Weiss' father asked about her and Whitley's grades as usual, he even asked if her tutoring was affecting her studying which she assured wasn't a problem. Weiss just hoped that a certain conversation between her parents didn't occur, one she knew her father wasn't going to be fond of having.
But alas, Weiss' home life never seems to go that smoothly for her.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Dear, Winter called earlier, she said she'll be returning home next weekend. We'll finally get to have a dinner with the whole family again." Willow sounded Eager, but Weiss knew that deep down her mother was just as nervous as she was. Hell, even Whitley was nervous.
Jacques was silent for a while before putting down his silverware. "I see. Did she say how long she'll be staying?"
"I'm afraid she doesn't know, you know how demanding her career in the military is...I really do hope she'll stay longer than a few days this time..." Willow solemnly stared at her food, she really missed her eldest daughter.
"Well, If you'll excuse me, I just remembered that I have some business to take care of before turning in for the night. " Jacques rose from his seat and walked over to his wife and kissed her on the cheek before leaving the room.
Once her husband was out of the room, Willow spoke up but remained quiet. "That went better than I thought it did..."
"I told you, father isn't gonna cause any problems when it comes to Winter." Weiss assured
Whitley however, wasn't as optimistic. "I suggest we wait and see when Winter actually does arrive, celebrating early could jinx it you know."
Everyone went silent for a moment before Weiss remembered that she told Ren and Boop that she'd be online after dinner.
"I'm going to head to bed early. There's some homework due next week that I'd like to get a head start on this weekend."
"Of course, sweetie." Willow wasn't one to question her children's decisions, they were all quite independent after all. Although it did take the joy out of raising them.
By the time Weiss got back to her room and logged into Beacons of remnant, it was already getting late. Dinner took longer than she had expected and so there was only an hour left to play before she should go to bed. Regardless, Weiss was determined to spend her last hour helping the Stormflower couple with whatever is left of their quest to get Crescent's costume.
When Weiss met up with Ren and Boop in Forever Fall Forest, slaying beowolves as part of another quest, she was surprised to see Pyrrha with them as well. Usually if Pyrrha wasn't online during the day, she wouldn't bother coming online later at night either. Regardless, It was the perfect moment to tell Pyrrha the good news about Ruby.
"Pyrrha! I'm so glad you're online. I have great news!" Weiss couldn't help but have a huge smile across her face as she ran up to the red haired elf.
Pyrrha sliced the head off a beowolf before greeting Weiss. "Well, that makes two of us."
"Really? You go first then."
"Alright, if you insist." Pyrrha sheathed her sword. "We'll be having a new player joining us tomorrow, which means we'll finally have the seven people needed to form a guild! Isn't that wonderful?"
"huh? I thought we were already a guild?"
"What? No. Didn't Crescent explain everything to you last month?"
It was at this moment, Weiss realized why she felt so out of the loop when it came to important information. Crescent didn't do her job right on the day they met. To say Weiss was annoyed with Crescent would be the understatement of the year.
Tomorrow couldn't arrive any sooner.