A/N I found writing the last chapter to be extremely fun and I really hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Ruby lied her head on her desk feeling that it was comfortable enough to sleep on and that all the hard work she'd already done made for a good motivation to sleep there and now she slowly closed her eyes and quickly found sleep on top of many, many, many, different sheets of uncomfortable paper
(o)
Blake, Weiss, Winter, and Esdeath were currently sitting in a meeting room quietly waiting for the final member to arrive, she was currently a few minutes late but none were bothered by it, well none but Winter
"I apologize General, I'll go search for Yang if you wish." Winter offered clearly fearful for the girl and slightly irritated by her tardiness
"No need, I'm sure she'll have a good reason for being late, if not than you should worry." Esdeath waved off reading from her scroll
"Its not like Yang to be too late, but I thought we stamped that out with Akames' help." Weiss muttered to herself as Blake nodded in agreement
"Like I said don't worry about it yet. I cant help but feel that she'll have something interesting to say when she gets here." Esdeath waved off again, about seven minutes passed before the door opened and Yang walked in a strange smile on her face
"Sorry for the wait, I lost track of time while I was cleaning our bunks." Yang calmly droned sitting down next to Blake and looked to Esdeath who calmly watched her for a few moments
"Very well, I'll let it slide this once but should you fail for no serious reason again there will be consistences." Esdeath warned dangerously both Weiss and Blake began to fear Yangs' response to the blatant challenge
"Then I will accept it willingly, General." Yang submitted bowing her head to Esdeath causing everyone but Esdeath to look dumbstruck as to what happened to Yang. Weiss and Blake were clueless, but Winter was growing suspicious
"Good, now then the reason you're all here, you four can move around Beacon academy unabated, Ozpin will obviously be keeping very close watch on me but you four he will not, I don't believe he would suspect any of you three of serving me but thankfully Weiss and Winter are related so if he sees you two moving around together I doubt he'd bat an eye, so it places us in a unique position, he'll have his eyes on me, while you all have your eyes on him, now obviously we'll also be watching the criminal underground, Qrows' apartment, Akames' room at Beacon and your father Yang, I assume that's not an issue?" Esdeath explained passing around list of locations and points of interest
"Not a problem General." Yang obediently agreed bowing again
"Good, now then, the warships engines will be functional in..." Esdeath began but pulled out her scroll and checked the time "... ten hours, so you all should be able to get back to school before then if we send you in a manta, which is what will be happening. So go now and pack your things. Winter we have to talk some more." Esdeath said and WBY got up and exited the room leaving Winter and Esdeath alone
(o)
"Okay whats wrong with you Yang?" Weiss asked after the door shut
"Yeah, you're acting really strange." Blake joined looking at Yang suspiciously
"What are you guys talkin' about? You said that we should bide our time and wait so that's what I'm doin', she gets a high off me being disobedient than I'll do what I can to make her lose that high." Yang explained normally as she pulled both of them into a hug "Sorry if I spooked you with that."
"No its fine... a little warning woulda been nice at least." Blake forgave returning the gesture Weiss grumbled a bit about giving her a heart attack but returned the gesture
"Sweet, now then lets go pack our things and get Ruby and hopefully put this nightmare behind us." Yang happily said as they walked towards their barracks all feeling a strong sense of relief
(o)
"Ruby..." She felt a light shaking and her voice called she didn't want to move though "...wake up..." just a few more minutes of sleep is all she wanted then she'd be right as rain "I'll pour water on you if you don't..." she didn't care if she got water on herself... but she was at her desk... covered in paperwork...
"DONT! ALL THIS TOOK SO LONG TO DO!" Ruby shouted and jumped to her feet "I'M AWAKE!" looking at the people in front of her heart skipped a beat it was Yang, Blake, and Weiss, they were all dressed in their normal clothes
"Jeez sis, never thought you'd be the one to worry over paper." Yang said with a chuckle
"I'd be worried too-" Weiss began but was cut off by Yang "-Of course you would."
"I agree with Weiss, look at how much there is here." Blake added looking over Rubys' desk covered in all sorts of different sheets of paper
"Not all of it was filled out, some of it needs to go in transit and some needs to be filed away, all of this could have been done on the computer but I cant read anything on it so it had to be done all by hand. Anyways what are you guys doing here?" Ruby explained rapidly as she straightened the stacks of paper she knocked over then quickly pulled on her collar revealing her extremely reddened neck which no one noticed but her
"We're here to get you, Esdeath is sending us back ahead of the Warship 'cause its taking a while to repair." Weiss said causing Ruby to sigh in frustration
"I don't want to see my workload if I leave for too long." Ruby complained looking extremely exhausted already
"Don't worry 'bout it too much Ruby. Me, Sal, and Falk got the workload covered you just go and do your mission." Sarah still disguised as Ruby said from the door way looking over each of them but her eyes froze on Yang "Man I wish I met you sooner, I'm gonna be so pissed that I didn't get the chance to get properly introduced. But I'll love watching you leave."
"Ru-by?" Yang asked looking between the two of them in pure confusion
"Uggh, that's Sarah she can shape shift, apparently she likes my... body." Ruby explained in annoyance and embarrassment
"Yeah its great, this body was made for fighting, tits ain't too big to get in the way, ass ain't to big that it gets in the way neither, and best of all pure as a nun." Sarah explained happily but in very crude terms for all of them "Your body though... that was made for fun, that's the body of both a top and bottom and I wouldn't mind being either for you." she added looking Yang up and down lust filling her gaze
"Yeah I'm not too big on hearing that come from my sisters' mouth." Yang coldly replied glaring at the woman who's eyes only grew more lustful
"Keep that look for a minute... I just want to memorize it for when I'm in bed later." Sarah said again lust dripping from her voice, causing Yangs' face to change to one of disgust
"I'm so sorry guys! Shes... shes really oblivious when it comes to NOT being a creep!" Ruby hastily explained glaring at Sarah who laughed
"Jeez, take a joke, like I said I wont try anything on you, that goes for your division as well, see ya 'round kid. I'm gonna go... I don't know probably annoy the fuck outta Sal." Sarah say as she left them to gather their stuff and leave
(o)
Sitting in the manta team RWBY all looked to Esdeath who stood on the ramp of the ship and began to speak
"As you all know your job is to monitor all of Ozpins' movements and learn all you can on your fellow student body, but there's also a second objective that must be completed as well, the criminal underground must also be monitored, I'll have other agents acting towards that and you four are to help in every way you can, Is that understood?"
"Yes ma'am." Team RWBY all confirmed and she smiled at all four of them letting her gaze pause on Ruby for a few moments
"Good, I expect success. Now go and bring me it." Esdeath ordered as she stepped out of the manta and waved for it to take off
(o)
Team RWBY sat quietly the mood of the manta had grown depressed
"We'll be there in about three minutes, so don't get too many Grimm on us." the pilot called back to them
"Don't worry!" Ruby called tiredly "I'm too tired to be depressed." causing her team to laugh a bit as she adjusted her collar
"Yeah, well keep it that way... please, I don't wanna let this ship get damaged too much. We don't get a lot of logistical support from Atlas, so we gotta make due with what we got." the pilot called back again
"No worries... I got some cute cat videos right here." Yang snarked and pulled out her scroll and opened it up to a... cute cat video "Oh wait... I actually do."
"Is that actually why you were late to the meeting?" Weiss asked looking from the video to Yang
"I have no comment." Yang answered putting her scroll away a small blush forming on her cheeks
(o)
An Atlas manta landed on the pad just below the second Atlas warship and out walked team RWBY, Ozpin was the first to greet them quickly rushing towards them he composed himself to the best of his ability
"I'm so glad you all are okay!" Ozpin happily said looking over each of them, their clothes were tattered but clean, each of them looked tired but Ruby looked like she hadn't slept in days and had a collar around her neck, but the most problematic thing for Ozpin was Akames' absences "Where is Akame? Why do you have a collar on? What happened?"
"I'll explain everything, you three go and settle in." Ruby ordered and the three of them complied "Can we talk in your office?"
"Of course. But I think you should rest first." Ozpin said but was clearly concerned for her health, Ruby reached up and pulled on her collar
"I can sleep later, but for now we need to talk." Ruby waved of as they began towards his office
"So what happened in that village?" Ozpin asked as they walked
"It was attacked by a massive horde of Grimm, we held them off for hours, none of us had any rest and they just kept coming, we protected as many as we could but there were still so many casualties." Ruby explained her tone completely neutral as they entered the elevator
"I had no idea, I'm sorry you all had to deal with that... most fully fledged huntsmen would have ran at those odds." Ozpin apologized and placed his hand on her shoulder which Ruby quickly removed
"Yeah..." Ruby grumbled looking even more tired
"I really think you should rest first, when was the last time you slept?" Ozpin asked his concern for her rising quickly
"It doesn't matter, you need to be caught up." Ruby clarified her intentions as the elevator stopped and opened, both of them exited into his office and took their seats and Ozpin spoke "So after the village battle what happened?"
"Esdeath arrived, Akame attacked her so did me and Yang, we were all defeated and imprisoned... now we're forced to serve her or spend our lives in prison, but Akame is free and Murasame can still be retrieved, now we wait, and hope that Akame can pull off the impossible." Ruby explained her tiredness growing with each word as did her desperation
"I am so sorry. If I had know-" Ozpin began but was cut off by Ruby
"Don't worry, with the locations of all the huntsman in Vale none of them would have been able to get there fast enough, we're just luck to all be alive." Ruby waved off his words
"But what about the collar? I don't quiet understand it." Ozpin asked folding his hands on his desk
"It shows that I belong to Esdeath... it's really tight too." Ruby droned the light in her eyes fading a bit
"I wont allow any of my students to be in such a situation." Ozpin growled fury burning in his eyes
"And what are you gonna do about it?" Ruby asked her own anger beginning to burn "All you do is sit up here in your ivory tower and watch."
Ozpin sat quietly for a few moments "I understand how difficult it is to be in your situation, but trust me when I say its harder to do nothing but watch." he then reached into his coat and pulled out his scroll pressed a few buttons and turned it towards her showing the contact to be Qrows'
[Qrow, I need you to return, don't come to the tower find Akame she'll inform you of everything you need to know.]
[Top priority?]
[Yes. Contact Raven if possible you'll need her.]
[Got it.]
"There, I've sent for Qrow, he's faced her before and this time he'll have Beacons support too, We'll help you." Ozpin explained confidently causing Ruby to smile sadly at him
"I'm sorry for being so rude or pessimistic, but it pointless, shes too strong." Ruby denied, clearly her mind was already suffering
"Don't worry about it, sometimes strength isn't the only tool needed to win, a tactful mind and strong heart are also needed for victory, now go rest you'll need your strength." Ozpin waved off but within he was trying to find some way to try and comfort the girl but failed as the look in her eyes told him that she wanted to say many things but she settled for shaking her head and looked away from him
(o)
Ruby left Ozpins' office and went back to her dorm found everyone else already asleep and joined them. Ruby woke up hours before dawn due to a lack of oxygen quickly sitting up she gasped for air as she pulled on the collar letting herself breath normally, tears began to flow from her eyes as she felt the leather of her prison, she didn't go back to sleep after that, because she knew if she did she would be strangled again...
(o)
Team RWBY went about their day as normal, dressed normally too, ate breakfast that wasn't meat, and went to first period, second period, third period, then lunch during lunch is when them and JNPR finally met up again
"Hey guys!" Jaune called out as JNPR walked up and sat down across from them
"Hi Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren, how was your break?" Ruby asked blankly as she fiddled with her collar a bit, moments later Ruby's aura shattered and a small amount of blood started to run down her collar
"RUBY!" Yang gasped tried to touch the collar only for Ruby to stop her
"Don't." Ruby ordered covering the collar "It'll hurt regardless."
"Why don't you take it off then?" Pyrrha asked watching as Ruby drew her lightly bloodied hand away from her collar
"I cant, its frozen shut." Ruby answered as her eyes grew darker
"We've had a rough few days, especially Ruby and Akame." Weiss added holding out a cloth for Ruby's blood
"Oh! I wanted to ask where she was, I wanted to challenge her in sixth but I wanted to make sure she was willing." Pyrrha added calmly and clenched her fists
"You're gonna have you wait on that one, I don't think she'll be around for a while." Yang replied her tone was completely serious as she watched Ruby continue to fiddle with her collar
(o)
sixth period rolled around quickly but instead of Professor Goodwitch to greet them it was professor Ozpin which was extremely surprising due to him usually never interacting with students
Ozpin cleared his throat and began speaking "I hope that everyone is here because I'll only say this once; Professor Goodwitch has been going through some very... painful times, she is currently hospitalized and will remain so for an unforeseen amount of time, I hope you all will treat your substitute with the same amount of respect and obedience, though I doubt she would have much trouble in earning it."
Jaune raised his hand and Ozpin nodded and Jaune posed his question "Um, if we're getting a substitute than how will we conduct combat lessons? I thought subs weren't aloud to do that."
"That is under normal circumstances, but considering your substitute is in fact a general of the Atlas military I doubt there is anyone more qualified, that and the council has granted her permission to take charge of any class of her choosing should we need a substitute, her choice of class was also approved by Reichsmarschall Ironwood. Sadly my hands are tied in this matter, I was just here to inform you all of the alteration." Ozpin explained as he spoke Ruby's fear became visible to anyone around her, Yang wrapped her arm around her sister after noticing her fear bringing a small amount of comfort, after Ozpin finished speaking the doors to the room opened and Esdeath walked in, instantly all the students quieted down except for a few who whistled or made vulgar comments, Esdeath ignored them and walked up next to Ozpin then turned to the class and spoke
"I'm glad to have such a diverse group of..." Esdeath began but slowed to a stop when she saw Ruby "...Ruby..." Esdeath mumbled to herself
"Something wrong General Esdeath?" Ozpin asked stepping in front of her view of Ruby causing Esdeaths eyes to snap to him
"Its nothing... you can return to your many duties now. Thank you, Headmaster." Esdeath waved off causing Ozpin to lightly nod and walk to the door and exited
"Ruby Rose, come here." Esdeath ordered after the door shut, Ruby slowly complied and carefully walked forward and stood in front of her
"Yes... Ms. Esdeath?" Ruby asked fearfully of whats to come
"Why do you seem so... sad?" Esdeath asked placing her hand on Rubys' cheek
"Nothing." Ruby quietly answered trying to look anywhere but Esdeaths eyes
"Don't lie to me. Answer the question." Esdeath ordered causing Ruby to flinch a bit "Is... is it me?" Esdeath asked her voice suddenly sounding weak "Is it because of how I've treated you?"
"I... ye..." Ruby couldn't figure out how to answer, she couldn't figure out if she was too scare to answer or if she was too tired
"If you want, I can remove it." Esdeath asked as she absentmindedly drew I line along her throat
"Please!" Ruby yelped her eyes quickly snapped to Esdeaths eyes and quickly became teary
"Very well, under a single condition." Esdeath agreed calmly placing her hands on the collar
"What is it? Anything!" Ruby begged causing Esdeath to smile at the younger of the two
"'Anything' you say?" Esdeath asked sweetly causing Ruby's heart to drop "Agree to go on a date with me this weekend, and I'll remove your collar."
"Really? Are you being serious?" Ruby asked in complete disbelief of the simplicity of the request
"Of course, I just want you to be happy, if I had know that this thing has given you such issues I'd have gotten rid of it earlier." Esdeath answered as she unlocked Rubys' collar and returned it to her coat then touched her hand to Rubys' throat and suddenly everything fell unnaturally quiet for Ruby
I grant you my strength, I grant you my power, I grant you my experience, all I ask of you is your loyalty, do you accept?
Ruby blinked a few times as she felt her strength return but it kept growing, she felt her semblance return but it kept growing, she felt her movements grow less sluggish but continued to grow faster, and she felt her disdain for Esdeath quickly turn to fascination.
"Well?" Esdeath asked watching as Ruby's throat slowly healed
"Yes." Ruby answered completely focused on Esdeath, her eyes trapped on Esdeaths' and she stepped a bit closer to her only for Esdeath to stop her
"Save it for this weekend, I'll eagerly be awaiting it as well, but I feel that everyone else will feel that I will be showing favoritism." Esdeath said playfully as she pointed to the rest of the class who were watching the scene, Ruby began to blush and she pulled her hood up, quickly sat down, and curled up into a ball making herself as small as possible
"Now that that's out of the way, lets get down to work, first off Team CRDL step forward." Esdeath ordered putting her hands behind her back, Cardin got up and walked up to her "Oh... I was under the impression you were a group of four, I suppose they all died then?" Esdeath asked looking him over, his hair had grown messier and he had begun to grow a beard
"Yes ma'am." Cardin answered tiredly as he had a growing look of guilt on his face
"I see its begun to effect you too, pity, I doubt you'll last here any longer. Give up and leave." Esdeath ordered as she continued to watch him closely
"No, I wont run away anymore." Cardin denied staring her dead in the eyes causing her to smile then speak in a very condensing tone "Well look what we have here, Akames' touched your soul too hasn't she?"
"You could say that, she helped me when I was going to be killed, I owe her too much to run away now." Cardin agreed tiredly then continued to speak after a few moments of silence "I even asked for a transfer to her team, but it was denied because of how we've acted towards each other, until that changes I'll be stuck alone."
Esdeath placed her hand on his shoulder and spoke sweetly "If you think joining up with the strong will make you strong than you're an idiot. You'll only make yourself a burden. Strength can only be obtained through suffering and pain, something both me and Akame have experienced, and something you have yet to."
Cardin's eye twitched as fury began to burn in him and he clenched his fists trying to calm himself
"But then again what could I possibly know?" Esdeath asked her tone one of condescension "I'm just a general, I follow my orders and do what must be done, while you do... whatever it is you do here. Now I want you in the arena for the rest of class, I'll be sending teams down to fight you, now get a move on." Cardin looked like he wanted to say something but instead growled at her and stormed away, after he left Esdeath turned back to the class and called out again "Now then, we'll be going from weakest team to strongest team... but considering all the others in here are transfer students there aren't many to go through until they've all been added to the system." Esdeath began to speak but Ruby wasn't paying attention she was too focused on her new found strength, she couldn't help but want to test it, she felt like she had the strength of three Goliath, and she had so much more control over her body then she used to, there was no delay in her actions anymore, it was such a strange feeling being able to move so smoothly, it was intoxicating to say the least, she felt like she could take down the horde they ran into a few days ago all on her own, but something felt very off, she thought she could hear something but it was too quiet to make out what it was
"Hey Ruby, you doin' okay?" Weiss asked as she shook Ruby a bit
"I'm fine, just... feeling a little... light?" Ruby waved off watching as she opened and closed her fist
"Really because you've been sitting here doing that for the past few minutes." Weiss added placing her hand on top of Ruby's stopping her from opening it
"I feel... too strong." Ruby said her voice still distracted "I feel... weird."
"I'm sure its nothing, that collar was a huge burden on you so I guess you're just getting used to having it off again." Weiss waved off with a smile
"Team RWBY you're in, Cardin is beginning to get a bit fumed I'd say." Esdeath called out causing all of team RWBY to stand and look into the arena, Cardin was standing in the center clad in black leather armor with an assortment of different swords of varying lengths on him, he was holding a long sword in his hands as he waited, Esdeath watched him for a few moments before speaking again "Actually, no not all of you, just Ruby."
"What?! Why just one?" Cardin called out clearly pissed by the 'lack' of challenge
"Because Ruby will defeat you." Esdeath explained and drew her own blade, a long rapier and flipped the blade and held it out to Ruby who walked up near her "Use this, I want to see how quickly you can adapt to a new weapon in combat." Esdeath explained as Ruby grabbed the hilt she felt cold, it wasn't a part of Esdeath, it was a tool, not that she needed a weapon, it was just another reminder that she was just toying with everyone around her, pulling the blade away from Esdeath she felt that the tool in her hands could be considered the perfect weapon, it wasn't too light and it wasn't too heavy, it wasn't too short and it was perfectly balanced, she though of ways to use it as she walked away into the changing room
(o)
Ruby walked out into the arena in her combat outfit, Cardin was waiting she smiled at him, he grinned back at her
"I hope you're prepared, just cause Esdeaths got a soft spot for ya doesn't me I'll go easy on you." Cardin growled pointing the long sword at her his stance was practiced but new, she didn't know how she knew this but she did, she also could see all his weak points and she knew just how to exploit them, it wasn't going to be a fight it was going to be a slaughter.
"Don't worry, I wont be going easy on you either." Ruby replied pointing the blade at Cardin her smile changing from a genuine kind smile to a sadistic one
A/N Ruby vs Cardin... Yeah there might be a few more things that Esdeaths semblance does that she didn't mention, but now things are beginning to get interesting, who knows that could happen next... cause I don't...