Just a follow up I decided to post at the suggestion of a few friends. There'll be follow up pieces, but they won't be part of Dorks of a Feather.
The past week had been, in a word, stressful. After orientation day, the last person Ruby wanted to deal with was Weiss, so, of course, just her luck that she would end up partnered with the snow haired girlwho was definitely shorter than Ruby when she wasn't wearing lady stilts!It was nice to have Yang and Blake on her team, but in all honesty, the thought of leading them was still daunting, even after Ozpin had tried to encourage her on their first proper day of classes.
Weiss might be doing better than she had, but there was still a thick layer of haughtiness around her and there was no way that Ruby could ask her partner to accompany her to feed chickens. A rich girl like that doing something so "uncouth?" Yeah right. She might've asked Yang or Blake, but she couldn't find either of them right now, it was the weirdest thing, and so here she was all alone at the farm again.
Twilight had just begun, the sky a beautiful shade of reds, yellows and oranges that reminded Ruby a little of the few memories she had of visiting the Forever Fall with her mother as a child. She couldn't recall exactly what they did there, but it was important. As she sat down on the familiar bench, a soft smile graced Ruby's face, the teen looking out at the chickens that began to gather near her. She still wasn't sure why they seemed so at ease with her, but they certainly were eager to be fed now, and she wasn't going to complain.
Yes, it was technically the time just after classes had ended when it would be best to go to the cafeteria, but she didn't want to deal with Cardin again. The brutish jerk kept doing little things, like shoving ahead in line, and it was starting to really annoy Ruby. It certainly hadn't helped that she was struggling to wrangle her team together to eat at the same time, and if she wasn't with them, the crowds of people in the cafeteria started to get to Ruby. She always felt like they were whispering just out of earshot, judging and doubting her. A rational part of her knew that wasn't true, but she just couldn't shake the feeling.
Ruby readjusted her smile, which had slowly faded to a frown as her anxieties began to surface, shaking her head as she brushed her thumb against the scattering rose broach her mother had left her, her other hand reaching into the bag of feed and tossing some out to the crowd of birds. A few minutes passed by, Ruby occasionally tossing out food, sticking her thumb at the notches in her broach, breathing softly as she did her best to keep a clear mind.
Was the reason Cardin always shoved her the same as why Weiss never wanted to listen to anything Ruby suggested? Was she not really good enough for this- too young and inexperienced to play in the field of adults. It certainly felt that whenever she entered Doctor Oobleck's class, or Professor Peach's, or anything other than maybe Grimm Studies. It was easy to forget that she'd skipped two years ahead and now she found things rather intimidating. Teachers expected more, tolerated less. Maybe it would have been better if she'd turned down Ozpin when he-
"Hey, Ruby!"
The girl jumped, startled as her train of thought was emptied, almost as surprised by the sound of Jaune's voice as she was by the dampness she now realized was on her cheeks. "Huh?" She looked over to him, sure to rub her face clean with her sleeve as she did so. It wouldn't do to bring the mood down just because she was having trouble adjusting to life at Beacon, especially when Jaune's team had been so much better than hers when it came to listening. The few times she had relented and eaten in the cafeteria when her team wasn't joining her, she always sat with Team JNPR, and none of them seemed to mind her presence. "Hi there, Jaune. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"Ah, yeah, well, Nora noticed you were walking this way all on your own." Jaune explained, scratching at the back of his neck again as he offered a sheepish grin. "I figured that maybe we could feed the chickens for a bit again, and then we'd all get food again."
"Oh! Sure!" Ruby's expression brightened as she scooted aside, happy to have some company again as she lingered at the farms. Her free hand hovered over her mother's broach for a moment, before shifting away from it, resting on the bench as she reached in the bag for more feed, tossing it out to the chickens before nudging it Jaune's way.
"So, where is everyone?" Jaune inquired, Ruby flinching a little as he unintentionally struck a raw nerve. He didn't seem to notice as she retreated a little further into her cloak, instead gathering more feed, leaning down as he held a full hand out to a few chicks that had squirmed their way forward.
"Oh." She hadn't meant for her voice to crack, but it did, and she felt his eyes boring into her in curiosity as she pulled her hood up. "They- they had other things they wanted to do. More important things, I guess."
"More important than spending time with you?" Jaune sounded a bit offended at that, much to Ruby's surprise. "That's just stupid! Why wouldn't they want to spend time with you?"
"Because I'm me!" Ruby's cheeks flared with embarrassment as soon as she blurted that out, frustrated tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm dorky, worthless Ruby who no one ever likes to hang out with, unless it'll get them an in with her sister! No one ever wants to talk to me, or hang out! I say I have friends at Signal but they don't even write back! I-"
"Ruby!" She stopped abruptly, mouth shutting as she looked up at Jaune, her cheeks damp again with tears, struggling to keep from losing further control. He gave her a warm smile as she hiccuped, ruffling the top of her hood. "I don't know about all those lousy people at Signal, but I do know about you, and I'd say you're pretty cool."
"Really?" Her voice felt so quiet, she hated it, that twisting feeling of shame in her gut whenever she acted this way. That's why she tried to avoid thinking about it, it was just better that way.
"Of course," the sincerity in his voice was unexpected, but after years of people sending buttered words to try and get close to her sister through her, it was a welcome change. "Ruby, you're here two years earlier than everyone else, and yet you still fight like one of the top huntresses our year. You came up with a plan to kill that Nevermore and the whole school saw it."
"But Weiss was-"
"Weiss wasn't the one who came up with the plan or got three other girls to follow her," Jaune's voice was resolute as he gave Ruby a poke on the forehead. "You were. You managed to get them to work together and you slew an Elder Nevermore. You were personally selected by Professor Ozpin, not only to move ahead two years, but to lead a team of Huntresses. Of course you're cool!"
Ruby felt her cheeks warming at the praise, a bit embarrassed and unused to the sort of support from someone outside her family. "Thanks, Jaune." She mumbled with a small sniffle, rubbing her nose before giving a wide smile. "Do you want to stay here a little longer before we go to the cafeteria?"
"Yeah, sure, if you want." The way he spoke was like it wasn't even a question to him, and Ruby didn't really understand. Had she really been so devoid of proper friends that she didn't recognize how they acted? Or was he unusual among friends? "Hey, do you want to hear a story? I can… I can kind of relate to feeling like I'm not good enough, and when those feelings got bad, my big sister Saphron would always try to cheer me up with a story."
"I don't mind, if you don't." Ruby mumbled, offering some chicken feed to the impatient birds, the Huntress and Huntsman trainees having forgotten their little charges as her anxiety had boiled over. A soft smile grew across her face as she carefully fluffed the feathers of one of the chickens eating from her hand.
"Well, the story starts about 100 years ago, in the decade before the great war," Jaune started, relaxing a little into his spot on the bench. "My great-great-grandfather, Caius Arc, was a humble farmer when he met a beautiful young woman at the river beside his home. He told her his name, and asked if she needed anything of him.
"She declined, though she was glad he did not press on from that, instead telling him to call her "Gwyn" before leaving. He thought nothing of it, until again, one week later, he came across her again. For week on week for near a year, he met her once a week, and though she came to know much about him, he never learned much of her, not even her full name.
"One autumn day, when Caius turned 16, he returned to the river to find the woman he had grown so used to speaking to, and instead, he was met by a regal woman of certain nobility. Only after some minutes did Caius realize that he was looking at Gwen, shock painting his face. 'My love,' she spoke to him, his heart breaking as he heard those words, 'I fear this may be the last time we meet. My father has fallen ill, and I must take my place in court.' As she spoke, the two found themselves crying, and met for a first and last embrace.
"Caius was shocked to find that the woman he had been spending his days with was none other than the Crown Princess Gwendolen of Vale. Determined to see her again, he gathered his things, said goodbye to his parents, and set off for the Kingdom's capital, that he might become a Knight of the Crown, and have the chance to see her once again.
"It was grueling work, but Caius didn't give up, and in five years, he found himself no longer some meager guard, but instead vying in a grand tourney, the winner of which would be granted a chance at Knighthood. He fought tirelessly and found himself in the final bout, yet before the battle began, the Queen-to-be stepped forward, beside an unfamiliar man, and announced her engagement to him. Caius was heartbroken, and as the bout started, he barely had the will to fight back.
"He was thrown to his knee, struggling to stand against his foe, when he caught glimpse of Gwendolen, and looking into his eyes, she smiled: so invigorated by this show of her support, my great-great-grandfather struck true against his foe, shattering both his foe's weapon and his own. As all were shocked by the show of strength, he charged forward and wrestled his opponent to the ground and was declared champion. He received his knighthood and when the war between kingdoms began, he fought at the king's side."
"So what's the point?" Ruby asked, blinking as her head tilted slightly to the left, a few strands of her bangs falling before her left eye. "He didn't get to marry Gwendolen in the end, right? So what was the point? If you don't mind me asking! It's okay if you do!"
"Well," Jaune chuckled, ruffling Ruby's hair. "I suppose, it's that even if you lose your first chance at love, you can still live a long and proud life. He became a hero, and I'm here, so I'd assume he found someone else he loved in the end! Now come on," Jaune stood up, offering a hand towards Ruby, "we should go meet the others. No matter what, Team Juniper is always happy to have you with us, Ruby."