I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.

Daughter of the Gods

Chapter Nine: Tear it Down

So its a bit late and I apologize, but at least I'm done with finals now.

Qrow was the first to arrive at the station and he recognized me more by body image than my face or eyes. He soffed when he saw the mask.

"You know, it's a crime in Atlas to even posses a mask given out by the 'fang." He drawled.

"I'm well aware Qrow. But this was the only way I have to meet with your partner and not be recognized lady." I said sweetly.

"Partner? Lady I work alone." I was well aware of that, but this was not a one-man job.

"I'm well aware of your skills and determination to be a one-man army, but at some point you'll have to realize that being alone is one of the worst things in the world, especially when you don't have to be." I said calmly.

"Who am I working with?" He sighed.

"Me unfortunately." A woman in a white combat suit spoke behind him. Qrow grit his teeth at the voice and slowly turned around, almost hoping she would go away if he took long enough.

"Winter." He greeted with a roll of his eyes.

"Qrow." She was just as frigid as her name implied.

"You two are going to be working together to protect Terra while she recovers. Same goes for Saphron, her wife, and unborn child. All of them are incredibly vulnerable right now with Terra being weakened. I suspect whoever did this will want to finish the job. That can't happen." I summed up what they would be doing. Winter, it seemed, only just noticed me.

"And what is someone from the likes of the white fang doing ordering me around?" She asked with a snarl on her lips. If we weren't pressed for time I might think it was hot, but alas.

"I'm not from the 'fang. I am however someone who understands the dire situation we face if Terra is killed by the woman who attempted to steal her powers in the first place. As for the mask itself, a girls gotta keep some secrets."

"I don't answer to cowards behind masks." She snarled again.

"Then you'll answer to a maiden!" I lost my patience with her because now wasn't the time to argue and Terra was in danger every moment she wasn't being guarded. To get my point across, the orange flames began to leak out the blackened eye sockets, looking like flaming eyes, just as I had intended. Winter's eyes widened and she backed down, nodding.

"Good. As I was saying, Terra needs protection. Ozpin trusts the two of you to do it. I'm altering the plan slightly from here though. When it gets closer to the Vytal festival, you both will be coming to beacon with Terra and Saphron. I'll be in touch if the plan needs to change any more after this." I said. They nodded, accepting this easily for some reason. Walking away from them, I could feel the tension behind me.

Gods those two needed to just do it already, honestly.

Taking off my mask, I placed it into the pocket dimension, and stiffened when I felt like I was being watched. I dismissed it however because there were to many people here and I tried to get lost in the crowd.

Hopping on the train back to Haven was easy. Again, I still didn't sleep. This train was too exposed to the grimm for too long for my liking and the people were uneasy for some reason. It was understandable when there were reports of a massive sphinx in the area. I never saw anything though, so I guess the rumors weren't true.

Eventually I got off the train in Haven, a place I hadn't really taken the time to enjoy for a long time. Today it seemed I still wouldn't have the chance as I had to get back to beacon otherwise Weiss might have some kind of aneurysm, have her aura heal it, then have another just to say that she had two because of me.

Boarding a public transport, I became aware of someone watching me again, but I couldn't pick out who exactly. Whoever they were, they were good, until I became aware it wasn't real. Whatever I was seeing, feeling I should say, wasn't quite real. I had to shove down the feeling because there wasn't anything I could do about it in such a public area with so many civilians around me.

When the transport landed at beacon, the feeling stopped, and I walked calmly onto academy grounds with my hood up, trying to garner as little attention as possible just in case. Ozpin was waiting by the large doors to Beacon and I shot off a quick message on my scroll.

Walk inside, followed here.

Ozpin pulled out his scroll like he was checking the time and read my message before sighing and heading back in. Honestly, the man was a good actor.

Once we were inside, he went to his office and I followed him.

"Terra is safe for now but I'd like to keep her close. It'll be hard for them to travel once their baby is born but Qrow and Winter are going to be escorting them here before the Vytal festival begins." I explained the slightly altered plan. Ozpin nodded before he pulled out a file.

"We managed to find one of Terra's attackers based on Qrow's description. We've been looking for him ever since the attack but could never find him. A security camera caught a man matching the description in haven for a brief second. His name…is Mercury Black." Ozpin said as he handed me the file.

"Why does his name sound familiar?" I asked as I studied his face and other attributes; Unknown semblance, Grey eyes and greyish hair, height is 5'10'' with a pale complexion, just the fact it took him this long to be found suggests training in espionage, father is deceased with no information about mother.

What caught my eye was who his father was.

Marcus Black, an assassin I was very familiar with.

He had been sent by somebody to kill me at one point and was the reason why 'Summer Rose' died. I had been discovered a year before I was set to 'die' and ambushed. I beat him obviously, but he managed to escape. I had Tai say that Summer had died of her wounds 'right as she made it back to his house.' It was what necessitated the need for me to hide in a cabin in the woods, Tai and Yang being my only two human contacts in the world for a while until Ruby Rose came into town trying to 'find out what happened to her mother.'

"So what happened to Marcus?" I asked, Ozpin allowing me the time to remember who Marcus was, though likely not for the reasons he thought.

"As far as anyone is aware, he's dead. And the likely suspect is Mercury." He said as he pointed to the picture once more. I nodded as Ozpin began to shift gears.

"So were you able to catch a glimpse of who was following you?" He asked

"No. It had to have been some kind of semblance, powerful, but easy to work around if you know how. Thankfully I've run into one similar to it. It was some kind of hallucination semblance, rare because it effected my hearing AND sight." I emphasized.

"My, that is indeed rare." Ozpin muttered. "Most people only have the hearing or the sight, but very rarely both."

"Yes Ozpin, I'm aware. I've been studying semblances and aura since five girls and a panther boy came together to teach the people." I said, amusement in voice. "Sometimes I think you only see me for my looks." I sighed dramatically. Ozpin chuckled and took a sip of his coffee…no wait…it was cocoa today.

"You're right. Sometimes I see you as an eighteen-year-old student. My apologies." He humbly admitted.

"It's fine. Honestly, being here I sometimes forget that I'm almost a thousand years old. Being here I feel like I'm back to being under five hundred again." I joked.

"I know the feeling." Ozpin winced in solidarity.

"I need to talk to you about Jaune." I changed subjects after a minute of comfortable silence.

"I know what you want to ask. Why did I let him in?" He said knowingly.

"I can't figure it out for the life of me. He had no aura at the start, no semblance, no combat knowledge, pretty average with education. So why?"

"As a teacher I've seen many with every skill in the world but very little room for growth. Their potential is limited. But students like Jaune have massive potential, he's a blank slate to work with. He doesn't need any correcting in his habits because he has none to correct. That, and his family morals are appealing." Ozpin explained. Now I understood. Jaune was a mold ready to be filled, cast, and hardened into a warrior.

"I apologize for how I acted when I burst into your office after finding out about Jaune. It was…shameful." I admitted. I heard Ozpin move out from behind his desk and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Ruby, I understand. You've lived a life doing the best you could all on your own but constantly questioning your purpose. You're not used to working with people after so long of being alone. I know because I did the same thing, especially after my fight with Salem and I became Ozpin. You remind me of her in some ways." He said softly as I looked up in surprise. "You're immortal in the same way she is, driven like she is, but the difference is that you have not let your life experiences change you for the worse. You didn't become jaded and hateful, driven to seek vengeance. You've seen the worst in humanity and saw that they could do better, you gave some of your magic to those who deserved it and they passed it down to their children, like Maria. You started wars for the right reasons and ended them the best way possible. You, Scarlet rose, are a good person." He finished.

I was surprised and teared up a little at the end of his speech, not expecting to hear that name. It felt weird, hearing someone call me that again but strangely I loved it. He let me sit in his office to recollect myself before he looked at the time.

"It's incredibly late Ruby, I think it's time you head to your dorm room and get some rest. It's been a rather long few days and I heard from a certain reaper that you hadn't slept on the train and likely didn't on the way home. Go. Get a good night's rest. Your homework that you missed has been waived but you will need to make up Glynda's weekly examination. Her decision, not mine." Ozpin visibly shuttered at whatever thought of Goodwitch had said to him and I chuckled. Honestly the woman was scary. My hand on the frame of the door, I stopped and kept my back to Ozpin, only turning my head to look at him out of my left eye.

"Thank you. For the speech." I said quietly as I pushed the button to go down.

I was in the dorm hallway when I saw Jaune, still dressed in his armor with his sword and shield.

"Hey Jaune!" I greeted. He startled and looked at me in surprise. "Did you lock yourself out of your dorm room again?" Jaune looked away and I knew something was wrong. "Is everything okay?"

"I-I uh-I messed up." His face became dejected as he admitted to me what was wrong. "I did something Stupid and now Cardin has me on a leash and Pyrhha hasn't said a word to me in the last few days." He hit his head against the door. "I'm starting to think coming here was a bad idea." He lamented as he slid down the door and hit the floor with a thump. "I'm a failure." He finally said. I thought for a few seconds.

"Nope."

"No?"

"Nope. You're a leader now Jaune. And that comes with a certain responsibility and many heavy duties. None of which allow you to just fail or give up." I said, drawing on my own experiences.

"But what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" He continued to mope.

"Nope." He chuckled at the continued use of the word.

"You're not an easy person to talk to about this stuff, you know that?"

"Nope. You might've been a failure as a kid, and you might've been a failure the first day, but the moment Ozpin declared you leader it wasn't just about you anymore. The same with me. Failure isn't an option because out in the real world, failure can mean death. Not just for ourselves but for our teammates and those we're supposed to protect. Everyone else comes first now, yourself second. Your team deserves a great leader Jaune, and I know that can be you if you work for it." I said as I opened the door to the team dorm. Jaune looked dejected for a second before I saw something akin to what I had seen in Danielle. "Get some rest Jaune, tomorrow is important."

Walking into the dorm room, I looked at the clock and saw that it was near midnight. It sounded like everyone was asleep until I listened harder.

Blake was awake but pretending to be asleep.

I didn't want to really deal with that right now, because I knew she had question's, so I just dropped my bag and crescent rose by the door. I changed into some pajamas and hauled myself up to the bed. Getting comfortable I wrapped myself up in a blanket.

It wasn't a great night's rest, but it was the best I had gotten in recent decades.

My weekly combat examination wouldn't be until later the next day, after the Forever fall trip that we were on now.

"Now students, I know that the Forever Fall Forest is beautiful, but don't let it distract you. You've been tasked by professor peach to collect samples from the trees deep inside the forest. You'll collect one whole jar's worth of sap. However, this forest is full of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates and meet back here at four o'clock." Glynda instructed. I looked at yang in excitement but frowned when I saw Cardin making Jaune go with him instead of his teammates.

Pyhhra gave him a disappointed glance as the rest of JNPR went into the forest with their leader.

Gathering the sap was no problem, well, it would've been that much easier if Nora would stop eating it by the jarful. I don't know how she did it, honestly it was the sweetest thing I'd ever tasted in my life, and that was just from the tip of my finger. I was just about finished with our teams jars when _RDL ran by screaming about an Ursa and Cardin being done for.

"Yang, Blake, go get Goodwitch!" I gave out orders. I would've had them come with me, but Pyhhra had decided she'd become some kind of…something...with Jaune and wanted to help him.

"Nora, Ren. Go with them, there could be more!" Pyhhra told them. The pink and green duo nodded and ran to catch up. Weiss, Pyhhra, and I all ran towards the sound of grimm and combat.

When we arrived, Cardin was on the ground, a massive Ursa about to devour him. For the briefest second I thought about letting it get him before I shook my head in shame. Cardin was an ass, but he didn't deserve to die. The lumbering beast was going to finish the job when Jaune's shield stopped the massive paw. Jaune appeared to be struggling though, and Weiss readied her rapier, intent on helping.

"No."

"Wait."

Pyhhra and I said at the same time. I gave her a glance and a nod. We both had the same idea. But while she watched with worry and concern, intent on helping should the need arise, I watched impassively with the muscles in my legs ready to move at a moments notice. Weiss gave us a confused look just as Jaune jumped over the paw and was swiped out of the air, a good move for dodging slower opponents, but not one with two massive paws intent on killing you. He rolled to his feet and charged again, getting batted away by the sheer strength of a fully grown Ursa. He rolled again to his feet and checked his shield for something, probably aura level.

He must have been comfortable enough with it as he charged the Ursa again, his shield nowhere close to being ready to defend.

Until it was. A small glow surrounded the folding shield and it was brought up to where the paw going to crush Jaune, defending him. Planting his foot in the ground, he lunged up with his sword and chopped the head off the great beast, killing it.

Weiss was almost at a loss for words.

"How did you-"

"Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs, and my semblance…is polarity."

How interesting. What was also interesting was Pyhhra walking away.

"Wait, where are you going?!" Weiss called out.

"Just let it go Weiss. This'll be our secret." I said when Pyhhra looked at me surprised but nodded and walked away. Jaune stood there for a second, reminding me that he was every bit Danielle arc just by his stance alone. Confident, but humble.

I followed Pyhhra and Jaune to the roof that very night, listening to them as they had their talk. Jaune admitting how foolish he had been. Pyhhra forgave him like I knew she would but I was also praying for her to honestly just woman the hell up and ask him out already. It was clear to literally everyone except Jaune!

I was surprised when Jaune swallowed his pride and asked Pyhhra to help him become a better fighter. Honestly it was about damn time. If he hadn't have asked I would've locked him in training room with myself for a few hours and just teach him.

It was a pretty fitful night for me. Seeing Jaune in combat reminded me heavily of Danielle. I wasn't even sleep before I felt Yang Climb up in bed and wrap her arms around me.

"I gotcha Rubes. Just sleep. I'll be right here." She whispered soothingly. I nodded and closed my eyes, burrowing into Yang's larger frame and felt as she heated herself up slowly before settling at a warm temperature, just like I'd taught her years ago.

I was asleep in another minute, My dreams switching between being pleasant and nightmares.

Waking up early on a Friday when we didn't have to was weird, but Weiss insisted that we go to downtown Vale while they set up for the Vytal festival, which I had forgotten started in a few days. Everything was going great until we saw a destroyed dust shop, detectives and police tape all over the front. And then it became worse when the detectives mentioned the white fang, and Weiss just had to comment.

"The white fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates."

Ah shit.