Chapter 13: A Short Break

The steady thud of feet on packed dirt, the measured burn in her lungs, sweat and muscle burn, her aura thrumming in her blood, the wind rushing through her hair.

Ruby loved running.

And she loved the cliffs too, the wide expanse of the Emerald Forest far below, shining like its namesake in the late morning sun under the wild blue sky.

She pushed herself harder, breaking into a sprint just for the sake of it, grinning. Then, at the moment when it felt like her legs couldn't go any faster, she let her semblance free.

She'd never really been able to find the words for what it felt like. One moment she was there, and then she wasn't. The wind rushed through her, touching every part of her and none of them. It was pleasurable, in the way that drinking cold water on a hot day was pleasurable. Her perspective was broader, panoramic, as if she saw not with her eyes but with her soul itself. For all she knew, that was how it worked, but in the moment she didn't question it, simply enjoying the feeling of embracing the whole world.

She felt herself come apart further, splitting in two, then three, then four, as she went ever faster—and then, as her aura dipped low, she let it all go. She spun back together, a little harder than she meant to, and when her foot returned to the ground she couldn't quite land her weight on it right. She tripped, pinwheeling her arms frantically and letting out a startled squawk as she fell and rolled a few feet down the path.

Ow.

She sat up in the dirt, giggling and scratching her head sheepishly. Whoops. Got a little carried away again. Glad Weiss wasn't here to see that.

"Oh wow, you okay?"

Ruby looked up, face flushing as she realized she'd had an audience. She blinked, as two people approached her, both also dressed in running clothes. "Oh, hi Lucia! Hi Wister. I'm fine, just pushed my semblance a bit too far."

Wister smiled, and extended a hand to her. Ruby took it and popped her feet, crossing her hands nervously behind her back. "What brings you guys out here?"

"Just out for a jog," Lucia said, gesturing to the trail. "Same as you?"

"Yup!" Ruby beamed, swaying a little in the breeze. "It's just such a nice day, and my team's off in the woods for—" she took out her scroll, "—another fifteen minutes? I figured I'd meet them at the gates."

"Cool," Wister said. They stepped off the path, falling on their back in the grass. "I'm takin' a break, Luce!"

Lucia rolled her eyes with a tolerant grin, walking over and prodding her lanky teammate with her shoe. "Lazy." She bent down, planting a little kiss on their nose. "A break sounds nice though." She sat down, looking over at Ruby. "Care to join us?"

"Uh, sure!" Ruby joined them, setting Crescent Rose beside her and pulling her water bottle off her hip holster. She took a swig, her gaze drifting to the upperclassmen. If she was going to this party thing on Sunday, it made sense to get to know them, right?

Still, she wasn't quite sure where to start, until her eyes settled on the weapons at their hips. "Oh! Is that a collapsible bow staff?"

Lucia peered at her in surprise, before smiling and taking the weapon in hand. "Yup. This is Hawkwood," she said, and spun the baton-shaped device to unfold it into a staff taller than she was, with blades on either tip and a long steel string down one side. Lucia set it across her lap and invited Ruby to look.

Ruby nodded in admiration, shifting to look it over. "Wow, that's good metalwork," she said. "And I really like how the bowstring spools into the handle when you're not using it. What's that etching along the belly?"

"Runes," Lucia explained. "Blessings for battle."

Ruby nodded, understanding. It wasn't the first time she'd seen that sort of thing by any stretch. It was hard to spot if you weren't looking, but Jaune's Crocea Mors had similar markings carved down the fuller and along the back edge of the shield, and Nora's Magnhild was covered in intricate wards and symbols. "What about arrows?" she asked. "You don't have a quiver, do you?"

Lucia smiled, falling onto her back and pulling the bow to a half-draw as she aimed at the sky. Light flashed in her hands, revealing an arrow formed of deep blue aura, nocked and ready to launch.

Ruby's eyes widened in awe. "Woah. Your semblance?"

"I can make projectiles," Lucia said. Squinting, she drew her bowstring as far back as she could, and let the arrow fly with a twang like a guitar being strummed. There was a faint rush of wind, but Ruby could tell the arrow wasn't going nearly as far as it would if she'd been standing properly.

Ruby wiggled happily as Lucia collapsed Hawkwood down again. "That's so cool!" She turned her focus to Wister, grinning excitedly. "What about you? Show me, show me!"

Wister sat up with a relaxed sigh, taking a baton off their hip, much plainer-looking that Hawkwood had been. "Ain't nothin' much," they said, smiling sweetly. With a flick, they extended the baton out to about the length of their arm. They turned a little dial on the hilt and flicked a switch, and a hardlight axehead fizzled to life. They turned the dial again, and the baton lengthened further, the axhead reconfiguring into a spear point. ''Ain't got me semblance yet,'' Wister explained, "but ol' Bannockburn's kept me plenty safe these last few years."

Ruby grinned. New friends and new weapons! "Oh that's cool. How many modes does it have?"

Wister crossed their arms. "I'm nae tellin' ye that!" they declared with a smirk. "But it's more'n two."

"So what about you?" Lucia interjected with a wry smile. "We showed you ours, why not show us yours?"

Ruby giggled, not missing the innuendo. "Just a peek," she teased. She grabbed her baby and stood. "This is Crescent Rose!" she declared, spinning her dramatically out to her full unfolded state. The satisfying clank and glide of perfectly oiled machinery rang like music under her fingers. "High-caliber sniper-scythe, designed for all-range combat." She stabbed the butt-spike into the ground and leaned dramatically against it. "Made her myself. Absolutely one of a kind."

Wister whistled, clapping their hands. "Now that's a gun. See, Luce, why's it I cannae get a gun like that?"

Lucia jolted. "Oh, uh, we can get you one, probably," she said, blinking. "That's… quite a weapon, Ruby."

"Thanks!" Ruby said. She paused, noticing Lucia's eyes lingering on the blade. "Something wrong?"

"Not really," Lucia said. "Just never seen her quite so close up before. Say, where'd you get the idea? Scythes aren't all that common."

"Oh, I based it off the weapon my Uncle Qrow uses. He's a huntsman too."

Lucia's eyes widened. "Qrow Branwen's your uncle ?" she asked, sounding… stunned.

"Uh… yeah!" Ruby stared at her in shock. She'd met a few people over the years who knew her dad and her uncle, but none of them had been the same age as her. "How do you know him?"

''Oh! He's quite a big deal back in Mistral,'' Wister said. "So, Qrow Branwen taught'cha how to use that thing? No wonder you're so good with it!"

Ruby blushed and preened at the flattery, but… something felt off. Just like with Florence. Wister seemed trustworthy, but something about Lucia's expression bothered her, and she couldn't quite figure out what…

Before she could poke at it further though, she felt an unearthly chill run down her spine.

She had the strangest sense that something was wrong, that something very bad was coming up behind her and that the moment she turned around, it would happen.

She knew that if she didn't turn around, it would be worse.

She wrenched Crescent Rose out of the ground and whirled about to face the cliff. For a moment nothing looked amiss. The scene was peaceful, the breeze setting the grass asway, the sun shining down beautiful as ever, the smell of life and spring—

And then, out in the forest beyond, there was a color.

It rose into the sky slowly (or maybe the adrenaline and the aura rush made it seem that way), and then, at the apex of its trajectory, popped. A cloud of thick smoke drifted in the breeze. Bright, vivid purple.

The sound of the flare reached them, a high, keening wail, and all the blood drained from Ruby's fingers. She clutched Crescent Rose tight, staring at the smoke, willing herself to wake up.

Lucia's voice snapped her out of her daze, but the scene remained the same. "Is that… an S-Class signal?"

Ruby turned around, finding Wister and Lucia staring up at the sky in shock. Off in the distance, the distant sound of a Grimm Siren began to ring out from Beacon Tower.

"…Ruby?" Wister said.

She turned on them, her eyes wild. "My team is down there," she said, and from the looks on their faces, that was more than enough to get the point across.

"Need a little backup?" Lucia asked. She transformed her staff, jamming the bladed end into the ground to leverage herself to her feet.

Wister whipped off their shirt, revealing the scars on their chest and a wild mane of porcupine quills cascading all down their back. "We're on you, lassie," they said, and snapped Bannockburn in two to form a pair of hardlight shortswords. "Lead the way."

Ruby took a deep breath, and said "Thank you." She looked down and out at the forest, judging the distance to the flare.

Guess I'm gonna break that old promise, huh? Sorry, Yang.

"Follow as close as you can," she said, then flashed off the cliff and down into the trees below.

A/N:

Just a short one today! Sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger again, but y'know how it goes!

Thanks to FriendofYggdrasil, Sgt. Chrysalis for the beta! I think they're the only ones who looked this one over, actually, but thanks to Juniorthib and SoulStealer1987 for coming up with a sneaky little detail you probably missed. ;)

And thank you for reading! Next chapter's gonna be kind of a doozy. I'll see yinz soon.