"Yes, home." The professor tapped her foot, while holding onto the door.
"Mommy!" Ruby Rose called from inside the building, rushing up to her mother's leg, giving it a tight hug. Rose petals blew everywhere, some trailing off outside, gently fluttering on the wind.
Immediately, the professor calmed down to give her daughter a few gentle head pats. "What did I say about semblances in the house?"
"No using semblances in the house… Sorry mommy," Ruby mumbled, gazing down sullenly at the floor. A moment later, her head sprung back up. "Oh, hi! You're Weiss!"
"That I am," Weiss stuttered out, coughing politely into a closed fist to shake out any last-minute jitters. "I was informed that should I need notes for Professor Oobleck's class, I should ask… Ruby… for them."
Ruby's mother rolled her eyes and tapped her foot, "of course that doctor would do that without informing me."
"O-oh! I can leave if you like. I am sorry for taking up your time with your… daughter." Weiss exclaimed, eyes wide.
"It is alright, miss Schnee." Professor Goodwitch said, gesturing for Weiss to come inside. "I should expect this by now. Ruby, are you free to help Weiss with her homework?"
Ruby beamed up at her mother, jutting out a raised thumb. "Yup!"
"Just don't forget about your own homework too. You know what Professor Peach said about your languages."
"But Mooom! I don't wanna practice!"
A raised eyebrow was all she needed to give her daughter before she gave in, grabbing Weiss's hand with both of her own and dragging the girl further into their home.
"Get off of me!" The heiress demanded, yanking her hands away from Ruby.
"But I gotta bring you to my study room," Ruby whined.
"Well, you don't need to be holding my hands to do that."
"Mommy says I don't need to eat a cookie after every meal, but I do that anyways, so there," Ruby huffed and crossed her arms, giving Weiss a glare that was eerily similar to her mother's.
Rolling her eyes, Weiss gestured for Ruby to continue, "whatever. Just take me to your study room."
Ruby's study room was a small room deep inside her house. Passed the kitchen and living room in which Ruby still had to clean up her toys and directly across from Ruby's bedroom. The room itself had a small table in the middle and three chairs. One wall held a window, bathing it in natural light, with a chalkboard across from it. The final two walls were covered with hand-drawn pictures in child-like scrawl. Ruby was very proud of her pictures. Her mother loved them enough to hang them up in her study room after all. But only the best ones. Mommy wouldn't want her to be embarrassed by having her new friends see anything but her best work.
"Cute," Weiss snorted, looking at her most recent work. A picture of her and mommy standing in front of Beacon, holding hands with great big smiles on their faces. They were so happy that even the sun was smiling too. But he was wearing sunglasses, because he was so bright and didn't want to hurt his eyes.
Ruby smiled at Weiss's compliment, "thank you!"
Taking a seat in her chair, she scooted it up to her table and pulled out a pad of paper. "So, what do you need help with?"
"Ahem," Weiss cleared her throat as she took a seat gracefully across from the young girl. "I believe that professor Oobleck-"
"-Doctor," came a mechanical noise from somewhere in the room, startling her.
"What was that?!" Weiss looked everywhere in the room, trying to find the source of that noise, only to have Ruby giggle at her struggle.
"Sorry. Uncle Oobleck and me made a machine that would correct people every time they say professor instead of doctor. He's very proud of his PPD."
"PhD," Weiss corrected.
"Ya," Ruby nodded, "that's what I said. He's super very happy about his PhD so he wants everyone to know. See that little bump in the corner of the wall over there? Just next to the ceiling? That's the machine we made. It's a little big. Next time I'm sure I can make it smaller."
"Okay…" Weiss said slowly, trying to find the machine where Ruby was pointing. Shaking her head, she returned to the topic at hand. "I believe that the professor-"
"-doctor-"
"Doctor Oobleck was starting the day's lesson with Auric Guilds?"
"And Auric Sages," Ruby confirmed, to Weiss's sigh of relief. "But he spent most of the time talking about ancient aura warriors. He usually has a few bonus questions on his tests and exams about them, so I always try to write down as much as I can. They're super interesting as well. Like, did you know that they used to go live in caves for a whole month, just to try and unlock their auras? Oh, oh! And did you know that they fought with bones of big animals because they thought it would let them harness the power of the animal's auras? But really, they were using the bones as a way to let their own auras flow over their weapons to make them stronger?"
"I did," Weiss said.
Ruby smiled with amazement. "You know so much!"
"It's quite basic knowledge. I learned about such things from my tutors when I was like ten."
"I'm ten!" Ruby cheered, throwing up her hands, leaving Weiss to eye roll once more.
"Is that information pertinent to the day's lesson?"
"Pernitent?"
"Pertinent," Weiss repeated slower. "It means important."
Ruby shook her head, "no. I just thought it was cool. Uncle Oobleck talked a lot about how ancient aura warriors used to all use a common aura activation saying as a form of rich-listic greeting. They didn't realize that it worked to help people activate their auras on their own when they stayed in caves. That, along with self-whipping, and fasting made it easier for them to unlock their auras. It's so much easier today though since every person has their own unlocking mantra. No need for hurting yourself or starving or anything anymore. And of course, the ancient aura warriors were the first to believe that training in buildings made of stone helped to keep Grimm away. It's not true, but most huntsmen schools are built out of stone because of that tradition."
Weiss could only stare at the little girl spouting knowledge in front of her. "I… I did not know about that."
"Well, duh! Uncle Oobleck talked about that all in class today. I knew it already, but that's because he told me that for bedtime stories. And I was in his class last year. He doesn't like changing up first year curiclums so much. Says everyone should start with the same information and things should change later on when new information becomes available and things become more or less important."
"Very intelligent of him."
"I know! He's so super smart. Almost as smart as Uncle Porty. He has the best stories, doesn't he?"
"They are… rather long. Erm, thank you Ruby for that. Did… Doctor Oobleck share more during this lesson by any chance?"
"Ya! Loads more!" With that, Ruby retrieved her history notebook and dropped it on the table. It landed with a loud but satisfying thump. "This notebook has all my notes from today's class. This part is all ancient aura warriors, and this is all Auric Sages, and this is all Auric Guilds. It's a little short, since he didn't finish what he planned to for today since he talked slower than usual."
"That is a lot," Weiss muttered. "And that's with him talking slower?"
"Ya, it's still a little fast. I'll try talking to him to slow down some more. But he's trying his best. You're the only one who came to ask for help so far. I think most people will only come before tests and the exam. I hope more people come. I like when the big kids visit."
"Do kids your own age come to visit?" Weiss asked, pulling Ruby's notebook to copy her words down on her own pages.
"Not really. They think I'm weird."
"You are weird," Weiss snorted.
"Oh," Ruby looked down at her lap. She knew she was weird. Someone, often someones, every year pointed it out to her. She should be used to it by now, but she really wasn't. Still, she tried to put on a strong smile as she looked back up at the new girl she was hoping would become a new friend. "Well, ready to get to work?"
"Don't mind me," Weiss said, not looking up from her note-copying. "I will just finish writing this down and be out of your hair in no time. I will just require a few moments of silence."
"Okay."
Ruby said there, twiddling her thumbs as only the sounds of pencil scratching on paper filled the small workspace. Weiss looked happy at least. Calmer than she had been when she arrived. Her mom did tend to scare the new kids, especially in the first few months before they got used to her. Watching Weiss work, she realized how much she was going to miss many of the people who had just recently graduated from Beacon Academy. So many of them wouldn't come back to visit. She knew that most of them were only friends with her because she was the cute little girl who just so happened to be there. That and because of who her mother was. Ruby still desperately wished to make friends of her own that were her age, or near to it, but they all did not seem to like her very much. Weiss called her weird, but it was different when a big kid called her a name than when someone her age did. Mommy always said that big kids were sometimes mean without realizing it. Kids her age could just be downright mean.
That's why she wanted to be the best huntress ever. Then everyone would want to be her friend. She had made up her mind on that from a very young age, even young than what she was then. If only she could have been allowed to just go to Beacon already. Or any combat school for that matter. But in Vale; as well as all kingdoms, nobody was allowed to attend the combat schools until they were at least twelve years old. Grandpa Ozpin and mommy had assured her that she would be allowed to attend Beacon early, but that was still many years away.
Many, many years.
Ruby was pulled out from her less than joyful thoughts by Weiss closing her own notebook and start putting it away. "Thank you for the assistance, Ruby."
"Oh, umm… no problem. Will you come visit again?"
Weiss stood, thinking for a moment. "I believe I will. For a child, your notes are… not half bad. If the good doctor continues to speak as fast as he does, I believe I will have need of your notes. And potentially some information into what my professors have in store for me further on in the year."
"Sounds great!"
As Ruby walked Weiss outside of her home, waving the white-haired girl off with a big, happy wave, she sighed. With Weiss out of her field of vision, she rubbed away at the tears forming in her eyes with her sleeve.
Just another lost opportunity at a friend. Weiss would never want to be her friend. Of course she was only going to use her for her notes and for hints to what's coming next in class. It was school stuff. Never friend stuff.
Not for her, at least.
A more somber chapter, but at least it's a long one! Had to really get into 10-year-old Ruby's head for this one. But don't worry. We'll get back to the happier vibes fairly soon.
merendinoemiliano - When the fights are central focus I will be sure to do so.
Therecklessone - I know, right?! It's right there on the first page of the website!
YuukiAsuna-Chan - Who wouldn't be scared of running into a surprise-Glynda?
ZapperFrost - I'm going with: Because of course Ozpin would know who all the silver-eyed warriors would be. If the students know or not, that's a different story. But good ol' Ozzy sure knows.
Dragonqueen1993 - Hopefully it was!
Darknight2124 - Oh most definitely. I bet Glynda wouldn't even try to hide it. Like (with a straight face), "oh whoops. It looks like part of the ceiling accidentally fell on his head. Guess that's a victory for Ruby."
See you all next time! :D