Ok, so to all that do it, Merry Christmas and have a nice Christmas. Consider this my present to all of you.
If not, I hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy yourselves with this chapter. I put a lot of time into this, and it was till 1am Australian time ON CHRISTMAS DAY that I finished writing and editing, so I hope you all appreciate it. I'm going to regret it though, I have family to visit lol.
This one was a bit of a doosy. This chapter will either be one of the best, or the worst, up to you guys to decide.
Qrow watched as the four girls all turned to him in surprise.
"At this rate, I'd think you girls are actually out trying to get in trouble, but I was by no means a ideal student when I went to Beacon." Qrow said while walking up to them. The older huntsmen took a swig from his flask before continuing, "Now, I think you girls can go home now, I'll make sure your buddy Torchwick doesn't land around here soon." Qrow finished, walking past the girls who stared at him in confusion.
"So...you're not going to punish us?" Weiss asked with concern.
Qrow paused for a second, before looking back. "Not my problem, Ice Princess. Tell your sister I said hey." The Branwen said before continuing to walk away, much to Weiss' confusement. Weiss looked at Yang, who proceeded to shrug.
Ruby too looked at her mentor confused, then back at Weiss. Did Weiss' sister and Qrow know each other?
"Well, I think we should probably head back before the police show up and we get in trouble again." Ruby said to her team's acceptance.
Half an hour later, they found themselves walking back to their dorm, discussing the events that had transpired, Ruby of course keeping Penny's secret to herself, when RWBY happened to walk past Ozpin and Goodwitch.
"Ah, Team RWBY, may I talk with you for a moment?" The headmaster said, silencing their conversation. Silence filled the air before the headmaster continued, "I assume you know what I want to talk about?" Ozpin asked.
"Sure, why do you want to talk about it?" Ruby asked, looking between the teachers.
"I just wanted to make sure you girls were alright, and that what I was told was correct." Ozpin said with a discreet grin, unnoticed by combat professor.
"Sure, we were out and we saw some White Fang outside a warehouse, and we got noticed by Torchwick, who was in one of those new Atleisan Paladins and he tried to chase us, but we beat him and he ran." Ruby said without pause, to which her team looked at her in surprise.
Ozpin, however, nodded, "Good, that is all I wanted to know, thank you for your time, Team RWBY." With that, the headmaster and professor walked away. As soon as they were out of hearing, Weiss turned on Ruby.
"I thought we were trying to NOT get in trouble?" Weiss frowned with crossed arms. Ruby shrugged at her partner and team, who had adopted similar expressions.
"Think about it, Qrow was there and likely saw what happened so even if I did lie, Ozpin would learn the truth from Mr Branwen." Ruby explained, and her teams quickly turned from confusion and annoyance to understanding.
"Well, I guess that is fair enough." Weiss said shortly. Ruby smirk as the team resumed their walk back to their dorm. Arriving there, the team quickly changed into their sleepwear. Ruby looked over at her team, who were all already lying in their beds.
"Well, we'll go over everything once more at breakfast tomorrow, make sure we know everything and nothing was forgotten." Ruby declared before turning off the lights. A round of goodnights went of and the team proceeded to swiftly fall to sleep.
After some time past, Ruby slid out of her bed and walked out of the dorm, making sure no one woke from her opening the door. In the hallway, Ruby proceeded to turning her scroll on and opening her contacts list, finding Neo's name quickly enough. With a short request, the multicoloured girl appeared next to her and with a blink of the eye, the two appeared in their house lounge room, Roman already relaxing on a couch.
"Hi Dad..." Ruby said with a yawn before taking a seat next to the thief.
"Hey Red, have a late night? Doing your homework and making sure your up to date with assignments?" Roman joked to Ruby's amused nod. "Now, I probably know why your here, so I assume you want to tell me something?" Roman said as his voice turned serious. Or more serious than usual.
"Yeah, so first, sorry about what happened, I didn't check to see about that rally and I had no clue that was were Blake was going." Ruby started, Roman shrugged in acceptance. "Also, Cinder and her two whatevers arrived at Beacon the other day, they claim to be from Haven, uniforms and all. I tried to place that little camera in their room, but they seem to have taken account of the chance something like that happening, the camera blew a few circuits and is basically useless now." Ruby continued, and once more Roman shrugged.
"Well, shit happens, just keep an eye on her and her cronies, and try to get in their way if you can." Roman said. "Just remember, I don't want you to risk yourself or anyone you don't want to. I'll try and do my best to avoid hurting them, but you know I will if I have to." Roman continued.
"No no, I understand, don't worry Dad." Ruby reassured Roman, who nodded.
"Now, if there is nothing else, you want to have that conversation now?" Roman asked as Ruby blinked in momentary confusion.
"Conversation..? Oh yeah, the one after the docks I wanted right." Ruby asked to Roman's confirmation. "Yeah. So after we went back to Beacon, we had a chat with Ozpin, and after he finished talking with me privately, he asked me if I had ever heard someone's name. I was wondering...?" Ruby paused for a moment, before continuing.
"Have you ever heard the name Summer Rose?"
Neo loved to watch the world burn.
She found watching things going on around her amusing to watch. Maybe because she can't speak, she just grew accustomed to it, but nonetheless, it was a past time she loved.
Except when it effected her or those closest to her.
"Have you ever heard the name Summer Rose?" Ruby had asked. The ensuring silence was telling.
Roman briefly looked over at Neo, and in his eyes, Neo could see a plethora of emotions, questions and answers all coming to her friend. Roman looked away and placed his hat on the table and ran his ungloved hand through his hair. Both girls looked at him with concern, Roman got up and walked into his room. He was in there for awhile before he walked back out, an old scroll in his hand and a picture in the other. He placed the scroll on the table and held the picture in his hand, the image on it out of sight of the two girls. Roman took a deep breath before saying anything.
"What do you know about yourself Ruby?" The man said, his voice being clear of any kind of underlying tone. No joking or mocking demeanour. Nothing.
"Uh...You found me as a toddler, in a side alley somewhere in Vale. You took me in and raised me. You didn't know my last name, but it didn't really matter. We've become the best criminals in Vale and I'm currently at Beacon. Why did you want to know what you already know?" Ruby asked, confusion ripe in her voice. Neo was also confused, why would Roman ask such an idiotic question? Neo looked at the master thief, who was split between looking at Ruby, that old scroll and the photo. In fact, the scroll looked kinda familiar.
"Ruby, when I found you and took you with me, I found this scroll." Roman said after some time, gesturing at the scroll in question. "On this, all I could find was your name and an image. That thing has run its course, but I backed-up the image in case." Roman continued, motioning to give Ruby the picture, but stopping himself. "Ruby. I need to make sure. What I'm about to tell you and give you will be very VERY important. Can I trust that you can compose yourself?" He questioned, his force for once being truly serious. Neo frowned slightly and her eyebrows furrowed. Roman was being really abnormal about this. The ice-cream loving girl sat up from her seat and looked over at the two. Roman's face continued to be a mess and he seemed...almost afraid. Meanwhile Ruby's was a mix of confusion and concern, clearly not understanding what was going on.
Ruby nodded and before Roman passed over the picture, he turned to Neo.
"Neo. Would you please, wait outside for a moment?" Roman asked to Neo's furthering concern. She nodded and walked out the front door, closing it behind her. It was a little cold, but nothing to complain about.
A few minutes past, and all Neo could hear was faint words coming from the two she considered family. Suddenly the voice got louder, and the door opened suddenly, causing Neo to activate her semblance on reflex and appear inside again. Ruby ran out of the door, tears in her eyes, her semblance active and the red reaper disappeared. Looking back inside, Roman was sitting down, his head facing the ground. The picture was on the table, but the scroll was missing. Roman himself seemed to be out of it, and getting closer, Neo could hear him taking a few deep breaths. Neo picked up the photo, and looked down on the image.
It showed a young Ruby, the same age as when Roman had found her all those years ago, sitting on the lap of a similar looking women in a white cloak in the same fashion of the cloak Ruby had. Neo remembered that Ruby had that cloak since they found her, and had extended it's length to match her height. Sure, she wore it a bit differently occasionally, but still, the resemblance was uncanny.
It then clicked in Neo's head.
It was Ruby's mother.
Neo looked over at her friend, who looked back up her. Roman's eyes seemed a little red, and before she could get a good look at him. Roman got up and walked away. He briefly stopped. "Neo, make sure she's ok." Roman said shortly, before walking off. Neo nodded, despite not being seen, and went after her little sister.
It took Neo sometime, and a hint from a very confused and concerned Yang, to find Ruby sitting on the cliff she had killed that Nevermore, the Emerald Forest spread out below them. Neo disappeared briefly, then reappeared next to the little girl with the red cloak, and draped a blanket over her shoulders. Neo sat next to her surrogate sister and pulled Ruby into a tight hug. The two sat like that for a few minutes, before Ruby spoke up for the first time.
"I-i-i-i didn't know. Y-you guys never told me..." Ruby stuttered as tears continued down her face. Neo pointed at herself and shook her head. She hadn't known anything more than Ruby other than her mother had died with Ruby. It wasn't like Roman to keep things to himself, but seeing this, it made sense in Neo's eyes. But...
Maybe not so much to Ruby.
Ruby went to speak again, but stopped, took several deep breaths, then continued, "He told me my last name was Rose. And...we both came to the conclusion that..." Ruby trailed off, Neo pulling into her embrace once more, patting her on the head gently.
And so, the two sisters sat there for awhile in silence. As time passed Ruby got up, looking at Neo, "I have training in a few hours with Qrow...thank you." Ruby said quietly, before disappearing with her semblance. Neo shrugged before getting up herself.
She did her part, Neo could only hope Ruby could handle herself.
She was a tough girl, Neo had faith in her little sister.
Qrow had wondered how Ruby was surprisingly OK with a weapon rarely used, but given who she knew, it didn't surprise him too much.
Ruby swung her leg into the back of Qrow's leg, causing him to fall slightly. He blocked the scythe aimed for his neck, then knocked Ruby back with a reversed swing of his sword. Ruby fired behind herself, stopping her momentum. She brought her gun to her side and fired, before repeating the action and zig-zagging towards him, dodging Qrow's shells. Reaching her target, she brought down her scythe in a downwards arc, cleaving through the spot Qrow had just been. Collapsing Crescent Rose into its gun form, she swung it like a bat into his sword, knocking it to the side, then shooting him point blank in the chest. However, before she could pull away safely, Qrow's sword managed to flail forwards and weakening her grasp on her weapon.
Qrow suddenly moved forward and knocked her scythe out of her hands with a kick. Ruby, unperturbed, jumped back before using her semblance to run behind Qrow, leg raised into a kick. Qrow moved his large weapon behind his back to block her kick, however the short girl was in front of him instead, and proceeded to kick him in the chest. Smirking at his failed prediction, Qrow swung his sword forward in a large arc, Ruby ducking to avoid, however the girl tripped and fell on her back. Qrow moved to put his sword at her throat, but the red haired girl rolled to her side then backwards, picking up her weapon at the same time.
Qrow pulled a trigger, causing his weapon to extend into its own scythe form, before putting it behind him and firing himself towards Ruby. She cut an arc down in front of her, trying to hit the huntsmen, but he knocked her scythe away with a spin of his own, swept her legs out from under her, then aimed his gun down at her face, ending the fight.
"You've definitely gotten better, and your ability to not rely on your weapon is becoming more prevalent. You need to take care not to put yourself in a position where an opponent with a weapon like ours can block you and then knock you over. At the end there, I knocked you down because you didn't account for my weapon's length." Qrow said, helping Ruby up. The girl had been unusually quiet when she had arrived, and forgotten to bring Yang with her. When Qrow had asked her, Ruby had merely said that she had been busy and forgot.
"Hiyas! Good job Ruby, you gave my uncle a nice little challenge." Yang said walking in, Ember Celica on her wrists and dressed in her combat clothes. Ruby said nothing before looking down and muttering quietly to herself. Yang looked at her team leader with a concerned look. "Ruby, why weren't in bed last night? I woke up and you were missing." Yang asked the red girl, whos only reaction was her shoulders sagging a little. Qrow looked back at his student with surprise and, surprisingly to himself, a bit of concern.
A few moments past before anyone spoke up, and, surprisingly, the first to was Ruby herself.
"I...had some problems...family problems...I had to address." Ruby murmured quietly, barely heard to her audience of two. Yang walked up to her and grabbed her by her shoulders gently.
"Did something happen with Neo?" Yang asked with concern. Qrow's looked at the two a little harder, unnoticed by them.
So, they did know that girl...
Knocking the expression of his face before either could notice, Qrow noticed that Ruby had started to look at Yang, who fussed over her like a mother does their child. Qrow coughed, getting the attention of the two teammates. "Don't get me wrong, I do hope you're alright Ruby, I have some questions to ask you two." Qrow said to the two, trying to sound kind. Ruby took a deep breath as the two girls nodded. "I wanted to ask about this girl, Neo. Yang showed me a picture sometime after that dock thing you girls were up to. It should you two and Neo, I was wondering, how much do you know her Ruby?" Qrow asked.
An expression other than sadness appeared on Ruby's face, one of suspicion and concern. "I...have known her since I was really young, she and another guy who disappear raised me as a child and we are close, really close." Ruby explained suspiciously, Qrow looked at her and realised he needed to be very careful about this.
"Ok, can I ask how much you know of her past?" Qrow asked carefully, trying to maintain his illusion of calm. Ruby looked at him, her expression loosing for a second, then tightening.
"Not much, other than she was alone most her life and was raised a fighter." Ruby said, clearly trying to piece together Qrow's intent.
The huntsman looked at the girl, before letting out a sigh. "I know that girl, it's been years since I've seen her, and the last time I did, she was running away trying to escape me and my sister." Qrow said, much to Ruby's shock. Qrow continued, "As I told you, me and my tribe had a frankly fucked up thing of sending teens out into the world to train them. Me and my sister, Raven, met a small, 5 year old, mute girl outside a small township in Atlas." Qrow watched as Yang started to join the surprise chain. Qrow knew he probably shouldn't talk about Raven, but Ruby should know, and Yang was hopefully smarter then the young girl he saved from Beowolves. "We took her in for some time, looking after her. We taught her to fight, how to steal and how to survive. Heh, she was a quick learner. Anyway, one day, we found ourselves in need of money, and instead of doing some work, Raven took the little girl and robbed a place. As they escaped, Raven tried to use her semblance to let them escape, but soldiers that patrolled the almost caught them, and didn't give them time to escape. The girl, in this moment, tripped and broke into glass, and appeared in front of me. A few seconds later, Raven ran around this corner, shot up a little, and saw her, yelling at me she abandoned her which let the soldiers have an excuse to shoot her. I was an easily angered teen, and rather protective of my sister, so I didn't think, but did. I tried to grab her and throw her to the soldiers, but she once again broke into glass and disappeared. We saw her run away and into a nearby trainyard, but with those soldiers after us, we had to run. From that day forward, we never trusted anyone again, until we met Ozpin."
Qrow finished his little story, and the two girls in front of him had shocked expressions on their faces.
"Don't think on it too much, just keep it in mind. Class Dismissed."
Two Days Later...
Weiss was sure that she was the only normal one left on their team.
Actually, Yang was alright, she just had occasionally spaced out, apparently thinking about her mother. The problem was with Blake and Ruby.
Blake's problem was in fact, rather simple in the eyes of the heiress. She was spending her time 'researching' into the White Fang and Roman Torchwick, that despicable man. She spent more time looking for information on them that she was failing at work, her grades were suffering, she hardly payed attention and was barely sleeping. While some might think otherwise, Weiss truly did care about her faunus friend, they had worked past their differences and had become friends despite everything saying they should hate each other. Weiss had discussed it with Yang, and the two of them were going to have a team sit down this afternoon.
As Weiss watch Pyrrha start wiping the floor with those annoying boys from CRDL, her mind trailed off to her leader, Ruby. Weiss had promised to be a great teammate and partner, and, for the time, they had stuck with that appropriately. Weiss did care about her friend, but something over the last few days had caused the eager and determined 15 year old to become a shadow of her former self. While Blake's problem was understandable and could easily be solved with a bit of sleep and reprioritization, Ruby had seemingly just given up on anything non-school related. While she did get her work done, slept for an appropriate number of hours and still managed to stay on top of her grades, she had none of her prior enthusiasm or any urge to do anything. Most days, as soon as they had finished eating or classes, she would disappear only to appear later that night.
As Pyrrha slammed Cardin into the ground, Professor Goodwitch called the match. After some points from their combat teacher, she sent the boys off, then turned to face the class. "We have enough time for another match today. Would anyone like to volunteer?" Professor Goodwitch asked the class. Weiss noticed a guy behind them with gray hair and a Haven uniform adjust how he was sitting, as if he was going to volunteer, then suddenly Ruby put her hand up almost haphazardly from her previously slack position. "Thank you Miss Rosline, nice of you to contribute in class now. And now to find you a match." Professor Goodwitch said, before Ruby shook her head, then pointed down at Pyrrha, who looked confused.
"No, I'll verse Pyrrha." Ruby said simply, her voice clear and plain. Professor Goodwitch looked towards Pyrrha, who shrugged and declared herself well enough for another bout. Ruby got up and went down to the arena, pulling Crescent Rose from her back. Yang and Weiss looking on with confused, and concerned expressions while Blake managed to break out of her lethargy and eyes widened at this random sight.
As the dome around the area reappear, Weiss watch on as the two prepared to fight, Pyrrha adopting her standard posture while Ruby rested her weapon on her should, still in its gun form.
Pyrrha was a little tired, and concerned for her friend opposite to her. Ruby's teammates weren't the only ones that noticed Ruby's sudden change, much to Jaune and her concern. But if Ruby wanted to have a bout, then Pyrrha wouldn't rob her of one.
The two stood across from each other, waiting for the Professor's signal. A small alarm went off, and the two began circling each other, waiting for the other to start the match. Pyrrha move, Milo raised and facing Ruby behind Akouo. The red haired 15 year old still hand her weapon on her shoulder, ready in its gun form. Pyrrha stared at Ruby intensely. Why would Ruby still have her weapon in such a vulnerable fo-.
Suddenly, Ruby adjusted her weapon on her shoulder, facing behind her, and she fire, launching herself at the Champion and swinging her collapsed weapon like a club. Pyrrha quickly parried the weapon, and thrusted Milo at Ruby's torso, who quickly adjusted and let the blade slide past her. Ruby kicked Pyrrha back and used her kick's momentum to knock herself back. Letting her weapon uncollapse into its full glory, she swung the scythe around to her target from her right side, before firing and swing in from the left side with the scythe's edge. Pyrrha deflected the scythe with Milo, the slammed Akouo into Crescent Rose's shaft, pushing the girl back. Pyrrha moved forwards, swing Milo rapidly from left to right, Ruby blocking with her weapon's shaft. As Milo swung at Ruby from the left side, Ruby suddenly dropped her weapon which the sudden action forced Pyrrha to drop Milo or risk the blade on Crescent Rose cutting her forearm. Ruby disappeared in a flash of rose petals, then suddenly felt a kick in her back. Pyrrha went with the kick, bending over and performing a forward kickflip, kicking Ruby in the jaw.
Ruby, uncaring for the powerful kick, moved forward and gave a roundhouse kick swiftly towards Pyrrha's head, but the champion blocked it with her arm, then punch forward with her shield, knocking Ruby back. Unfortunately, she landed right next her weapon, and proceeded to fire it at Pyrrha's legs. Pyrrha jump briefly, using her Semblance to assist in getting a little extra height, then with both her jump's momentum and a touch of her semblance, moved close enough to stop Ruby from firing. However, mid jump, Ruby managed to land a shot on her heel, much to Pyrrha's annoyance in both her bad luck and lack of awareness. Ruby fired once more, launching herself back and into a ready position, scythe raised behind her.
Pyrrha quickly picked up her sword, then moved forward. Pyrrha threw Akouo, forcing Ruby to move out of the way or risk getting hit. With this distraction, Pyrrha jabbed her sword into Ruby's guard, hitting the girl along the collarbone. Ruby tried to move out of the way with a shot of her scythe, but Pyrrha swung forward again, smiting Ruby along her back and causing the smaller girl to grunt in pain. Swiftly picking up her shield, Pyrrha shifted Milo into it's rifle form, and started to fire at Ruby, who was forced to spin her scythe around to block the shots. Moving forward, using Akouo as a brace for her weapon's gun form's accuracy, Pyrrha ran forward and shifted her weapon again into its javelin form, Pyrrha spun around while keeping her shield in perfect position to block an attack, she put Milo on her shoulder then jabbed at Ruby, who deflected the polearm and proceeded to swing her weapon around her in a wide arc around waist height in a cleaving motion, however Pyrrha caught the weapon on her shield, then swept Ruby's feet from under her and pointed the tip of Milo at Ruby's throat, ending the fight.
Pyrrha looked down at her friend, her fierce combat expression slowly returning to her polite, kind expression. Putting her weapons away from Ruby and shifting Milo back into its sword form, Pyrrha placed her weapons on her back then offered a hand to Ruby, who pulled herself up with the proffered hand. Ruby looked at the champion fighter with light smile, and gave her a handshake. Moving a bit closer, Ruby whispered quietly to Pyrrha.
"Thank you for that." Ruby said, before the two dropped the handshake. Professor Goodwitch came over to the two.
"Now students, that was a fine example of a fight, with both skill and unpredictability to test a fighter's abilities. Miss Rosline, while I must commend you for your unexpected menuover in dropping your weapon to give you a possible edge, keep in mind that, as Miss Nikos did, some opponents have other tools to use as weapons. Try to use such risky techniques when you can easily acquire your own weapon while preventing your opponent from doing the same. Also, you may wish to consider methods that prevent you from being kept in one place, such as what happened when Miss Nikos kept you from moving with gunfire." Professor Goodwitch said to Ruby, who merely stood there and listened.
"Miss Nikos, you perform exemplary once again, however you might wish to practise finer methods of unarmed combat should such an occurrence happen and you find yourself without your primary weapon. As well, take care in ensuring that you don't leave any part of yourself vulnerable to ranged attacks, as they can be as debilitating as any other." Professor Goodwitch said finishing her criticism. The two girls nodded, Pyrrha more obviously than Ruby. The bell went for the end of class, and the two made to leave. Pyrrha looked to her friend, who seemed to return somewhat to her cathartic state.
"Ruby, I know it's probably not my place to ask, but are you alright? Jaune and I are concerned with how you have been recently, and Weiss has shared that she has had some concerns as well. We are here if you want to talk to someone." Pyrrha ask kindly, trying to see if Ruby will react positively.
Ruby let out a sigh, before looking at Pyrrha. "I've had a rough few days, with a lot of personal issues going on. I really feel like I need to have a talk with someone, but what's going on isn't something that I want to talk about with anyone. It's nothing wrong inherently, but still." Ruby said to Pyrrha, who nodded.
"Well, Jaune and I are more than willing to hear you out. He told me about how you gave him advice before what happened at Forever Fall, and we are both willing to hear anything you need to say out privately, besides, you know about Jaune as well so it's not like we'd choose to betray your trust." Pyrrha reassures to Ruby, who looks down, before nodding.
"Ok, I think about it." Ruby said, before walking off to join her team. As Pyrrha proceeded to walked over to her own team, she noticed those two that had been sitting behind RWBY to still be sitting there, talking about something.
Probably amazed at Ruby's performance against her.
"What the hell was that about?" Mercury said to Emerald, who shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe Red Riding Hood just wanted to get into a fight?" Emerald replied, to which Mercury scowled.
"Sure, maybe, but who knows when I'll get a good shot at fighting Nikos now?" the grey haired boy said, to which he's green haired companioned shrugged.
"No matter, we'll just have to let Cinder know you didn't get the chance." Emerald said. The two got up and left, Pyrrha Nikos in front of them a bit.
"I hate it when I miss out on fun learning."
Ruby and Blake had been sat down by their teammates to discuss the issues going on. Ruby continued to watch as Yang and Weiss tried to convince Blake to start taking it easy. The faunus weakly tried to defend her actions, but ultimately gave up.
"So then, what do you think?" Yang asked nicely, hoping for her partner to agree.
"I think...this is a complete waste of time." Blake said, getting up and moving to leave the room. Ruby let out a deep, annoyed and frustrated sigh, as Blake went to open the door. "I'll be at the libra-"
"Blake Belladonna, sit the fuck down and be a mature adult for once in your miserable life." Ruby suddenly interjected, her voice being one of cold, barely restrained anger. Blake suddenly stopped and looked back at Ruby, as did Yang and Weiss. Ruby had been hard on them when Blake and Weiss had their fight, but hearing and seeing Ruby say and act as she just did had made them all falter for a moment in disbelief in their leader's action. Blake looked at Ruby, and Ruby glared back, before gesturing to Blake's bed. The former terrorist moved back to her bed, still shocked at Ruby's abnormal reaction.
"I am currently having a crisis as my own life has just been flipped on its head. I am currently questioning my own very life, and who can I even believe and trust anymore. Things that none of you can comprehend are happening to me, and here you are, complaining once again that no one else can do anything, and that the stupid ex-terrorist Blake fucking Belladonna has to work it out on her own, because despite the police, despite the huntsmen, despite people like Ozpin, despite the damn General of Atlas being here, YOU are somehow the only one that is doing anything. Have you actually learned anything we didn't already know? Have you made some grand discovery, that will solve everything? Have you worked out the way to beating the Fang and their Leader? Did you discover where they are South-East of Vale? Have you actually learned ANYTHING?!" Ruby shouts angrily at Blake, who can't help but shake her head at Ruby's questions. "THEN WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS APPROPRIATE TO CONTINUE WORKING YOURSELF TO THE BONE AND TAKING WEISS AND YANG'S CONCERN FOR FUCKING GRANTED?! YOU NEED TO RELAX AND ALLOW YOURSELF TO REFRESH, BUT YOU STUBBORNLY REFUSE BECAUSE OF YOUR OWN FUCKING PRIDE! YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT WANTS TO LEARN WHAT'S GOING ON, BUT YOU DON'T SEE US KILLING OURSELVES OVER IT!?" Ruby vividly screams into Blake's face, who tries her best to look defiant, but in the face of Ruby's fury pales in comparison. A moment passes as Ruby gets up and walks over to the door, letting her head rest against it, her team looking at their leader with concern. A few moments pass, before Yang gets up and moves over to Ruby.
"Ruby...are you alri-?" Yang tries to ask before Ruby suddenly turns around to face her team, her eyes red and starting to tear up slightly.
"Just stop." Ruby says, walking back over to Blake, ignoring Yang. "Just stop. Stop trying to solve every little problem that you can't solve alone. Stop trying to prove yourself and be some hero that beats bad guys and saves the damn day. You might help, but you'll end up killing yourself trying to do the right thing, or losing what's close to you in the process. Just step back, and think: Am I actually doing anything that will help, or am I wasting my time on something that has the chance to help a slight bit. Because, I doubt you will find anything, and anything that you do find will not be worth it in the end, because you'll be too wasted to make use of it. Just...sit back, take the time to acknowledge if this will actually help, and will the help be worth the pain and repercussions." Ruby quietly said, but the silence makes the small girl's low voice sound louder than any shouting.
With Ruby having said her piece, the red reaper proceeded to get up, her eyes starting to properly leak tears, and heads to the door, opening it and leaving without a word. Silence reigned supreme in the RWBY dorm. A few seconds later, the door opened up to Jaune looking in, a guitar in his hand. "Uh...does anyone want to say what that was about?" The blond man asked them.
Yang looked at him, "Jaune, can you do me a favor? If you see Ruby, can you ask her what's wrong?" Yang asked, her voice filled with concern. The leader of JNPR nodded, before closing the door and leaving. Weiss and Yang looked at each other, then at Blake, who seemed pretty shaken up. "So, I hope you'll reconsider what we asked Blake. I know I would." Yang said to her partner without a tone of humour in her voice. Blake sat there, looking down at her legs, and nodded.
Weiss looked at Yang, then whispered to the brawler, "I hope you have something to help me help Ruby, like she said, she's has had happen something massive in her life." Yang nodded to the heiress.
"I have something in mind, I'll let you know if I need anything." Yang says before looking over at Blake, who is lying on her bed, back facing the two of them. "Can you make sure she doesn't do anything crazy? I need to go punch something." Yang muttered to Weiss, who nodded in confirmation. Yang proceeded to walk out the door, leaving the faunus and the Schnee to their devices.
The Following Day
Ruby hadn't returned from last night, and didn't respond to any calls or texts. While they didn't have any classes today, Weiss and Yang had been setting up the hall for the dance, and Blake went with them, having finally agreed to go to the dance and listen to what they had asked, and Ruby had said.
While Yang and Weiss had been setting up the hall, Blake had been sitting down at a table when Sun and Neptune came in.
"Hey guys, Blake. Did you decide to come to the dance?" Sun asked the cat faunus, who nodded before Yang and Weiss came over.
"Yes I am. You know Sun, I'm sorry about yesterday, I was being unfair to you, and Ruby put me back in order, so if that offer to go to the dance is still available...? Blake asked, however Sun merely smiled and nodded.
"Oh, sure Blake, it's ok, if you want to, let's do it." Sun confirmed to her, which both Faunus smiled in relief.
"So, what are you two wearing for the dance?" Weiss asked, to which Sun looked at her like she asked an obvious question.
"Uh, this? Duh." Sun pointed at his regular clothes, "What else would I wear? I may have moved to Mistral, but I was raised in Vacuo." The monkey proudly announced before being cut off by Neptune for being an uncultured idiot. Blake looked at him amused.
"I hope you come in something nice if you want to take me to the dance." She said looking at Sun, who suddenly did a 180 in decisions.
"Oh yeah, don't worry, I've got something in mind, I definitely won't come in this." Sun declared, much to everyone's amusement. Then Sun noticed something about the girls in front of him. "Hang on, where's Ruby at? She here to or busy, cause I saw her going out to the Emerald Forest this morning at like, 6AM." Sun asked.
"About that...when we were talking to Blake, she...kinda had a blowout and lost her shit at Blake." Yang discreetly said to Sun as Blake looked away guiltily. Sun looked at Yang in disbelief. There was no way someone as nice and well-mannered as Ruby would get angry so much. The look on Weiss and Yang's faces claimed otherwise, and Sun soon rethought than if this was the reaction his disbelief was getting. Yang spoke up suddenly, "Where about was she when you saw her? Any idea where she was heading to?"
Sun thought about it for a moment. "She was...heading in the direction of that giant cliff overlooking the forest, the one with the ruins." Sun said to Yang, who nodded in confirmation.
"Thanks Sun. Hey, do you mind doing me a favor and giving us a hand with this, as well as your opinions? Because I was thinking about having smoke machines and Weiss really doesn't want them..."
Ruby found herself overlooking the cliff she killed the Nevermore. While her tears had long since dried up, her decisions had likely costed her too much. And they had all been for someone else's sake.
Ruby was having a crisis alright. She didn't know what to know or who to trust. Was Roman hiding anything else from her? Was Neo? Had the two only looked after her on a whim? Or did they have nothing else to hide, and had looked after her out of the kindness of their hearts? Ruby shook her head at her ridiculous thoughts. Of course Roman loved her, and so did Neo, they were her family. They had raised her as well as they could and did what they could for her. But what Roman had revealed to her was shaking the very foundations of her self being.
Ruby Rose. Daughter of Summer Rose.
That's all Roman and her had come to, and while Ruby knew it was be simple to learn more, it would lead to consequences and revelations of her relationship with Roman and Neo. And while this revelation was trying it's best to destabilise her beliefs, Ruby knew the better. Roman was her dad, he looked after her. Neo was her sister, she cared for her. The things they taught her, while dishonest and morally bad, were still in the best of intentions. Nothing was going to change that. But still, learning her mother's name? Her surname? It was chewing at Ruby. She wanted to admit the truth to Ozpin, to learn what had happened to her mother, why she had died in some alley in Vale. But to do so would betray her family, the one that let her live and cared for her more than could be said for any other. And it would let Cinder destroy her and those closest to her in some game that they had no reason to be part of. But still, no matter how much she wanted to shake it, Ruby just couldn't avoid it coming to her.
Then what she learned from Qrow. About Neo...
It made sense, Neo had known Qrow and Raven, they had looked after her much Ruby had been looked after by Roman and Neo. They taught her from their beliefs, to grow and survive, yet when things turned bad, Neo ran, and ran too far that she lost the ones that once looked after her. It explain how Neo was such a good fighter, it explained how she survived so long until she met Roman, it explained her expertise in swords, it explained how she had once known so much about using a scythe and how she instructed Ruby with how to us her own, hell she had probably trained with one under Qrow's tutorage like she currently was! But still, with such revelation after learning about Summer...it really caused her to start to crack. She was ashamed of herself that she lost it at Blake, that she couldn't keep herself restrained at Blake's foolishness.
Before Ruby could think on it further, a person sat down next to her. Nothing was said, nothing was done. A few moments passed, and the person picked up something and started doing something on the ground, likely drawing.
"When I was born, my biological mother, as we know, Raven, left me and my dad. He was broken by it as she had left with little to no explanation, or so I am told. A few years later, my dad remarried, and for a few years, life had been good. Unfortunately, she died one night without explanation, and my dad's depression began anew. I was forced to mostly look after myself, with some income and help from Uncle Qrow as the only thing keeping us going. After some time, I found a picture of a cabin somewhere with Raven's name on it, as well as an address for the place. One night, I looked the place up, packed a bag and left, looking for my mother, it took me some time to find the place, alone and weak on the road to someplace I didn't know what could be. All I knew, was that it was connected to my Mother. So I pressed on, alone thinking I could get there by myself. And eventually I got there, but the house was ruined, and no one had clearly been there for years. I felt like a failure and disappointment. Before I knew it I was surrounded by Beowolves and I had no hope to escape. One dumb girl all alone, all because she could bring herself to seek help. However, as luck had it, Uncle Qrow had followed me, and saved me from those Grimm. I wouldn't be here if not for him, and I came to realise, that as strong as you might think you are, sometimes, you just need to talk, and seek help from others when I had a problem I couldn't solve on my own."
Yang looked over from her recreation of her uncle's personal emblem, to her teammate, friend and leader, who was looking at her, her eyes tearing slightly.
"I'm sorry Yang, it's just I can't..." Ruby couldn't find anymore words and pulled Yang into a tight hug, the blond girl replicating the same thing a multicoloured girl had once did mere days ago.
"If you can't then don't, but we are here to help you, not matter what." Yang reassured her. The two sat there awhile longer, before Yang gently pulled the smaller girl up. "Come on, we have a dance tomorrow, let's get set up for that." Yang said kindly to her cry, young leader.
And thus, the two began walking away as the sun started sink over the horizon.
Well, that's that, time to procrastinate for 6 months. Jk, but seriously, I hope you all have had a fantastic year, and Merry Christmas to those that do it. Like I said, you'll either love this chapter, or you'll want to kick me in the teeth for it.
A Present from Me to all of you, regardless
As always, any advice or helpful criticism is always appreciated, AD