Hello everyone! Apologies for the long wait for the next chapter. Life has been… maddening. So, I'll get this out to all of you.
Chapter 6: Working Out
Ruby and her team were sleeping happily, racked out on their fluffy feather beds. Josie went to great lengths to get them those beds to ensure their herald and her friends were at the top of their game. Unfortunately, that happy sleep was interrupted as Josie threw open the door, flooding the room with light. She looked like she did last night… and the night before… and the night before in her golden dress and perfect bun.
"Rise and shine everyone! We have a busy day ahead of us!" Josephine cheered as she started looking over her list. The Herald needed to maintain her physical strength, so she was set to go on a morning run with the Misfits. Then breakfast, which rolled straight into a classroom session about the history of Thedas, or at least the most abridged version that could be mustered. Then possible combat training with the soldiers in order for her to gain some knowledge with the weapons of their world. The girls groaned, generally unhappy to be woken up, especially after such an eventful few days.
"Please Josie… five more minutes…" Ruby groaned as she pulled a pillow over her head. The last thing she wanted to do was wake up with whatever day Josie had planned for her. The only thing she would really look forward to would be the inevitable competition for her affection between Raphael the Templar and Malachi the Assassin. She had to admit… two guys fighting over her was pretty nice. Usually Yang was the one with guys following her… although this world was no different.
Many of the male soldiers, and even a few female ones, were swooning over Yang. Apparently a woman of her… physique, was rare in Thedas, or at least a woman who was so bold to show skin like that. But still, men fighting over her… pretty nice.
"Oh no, Ruby. You have quite the day ahead of you. Come now, get some comfortable clothing on. Ones that you don't mind getting sweaty during a run." Josephine pointed out as she walked away. All of the girls groaned as they started to drag themselves out of bed, just wanting an additional hour or two for sleep. They begrudgingly changed into some Thedas friendly workout clothing, which was a t-shirt and loose pants. Yang, naturally, ended up tearing the collar down the middle, making room for her ample bust and guaranteed to turn a few heads.
They all dragged their feet before walking out to the training yard, looking for the Misfits to join their morning run. They were easily found since they were really the only ones up at this early in the morning, other than Commander Cullen who was talking with Brianna. Talking was a bit of an overstatement, considering Brianna was wearing the Thedas equivalent of a tank top, which was a shirt cut at the midriff and the top torn like Yang's, and Cullen was constantly looking at her exposed skin.
"Hey Cullen! Her eyes are a bit higher!" Yang called as they joined the group in their stretching. Cullen blushed and rubbed the back of his head while Brianna started to laugh and pat Cullen on the back. Weiss and Blake chuckled a bit, thinking it was a bit cute that a man that was held in high esteem could still be embarrassed by something so small… like flirting. Ruby, however, didn't notice too much since she was drooling over the two gentlemen that were currently stretching without shirts on… despite the cold.
Blake and Weiss looked at Ruby curiously as she drool over the heavily built Templar and the toned, well-defined assassin. Ruby had never really had an interest in guys since she was always drooling over weapons more, but it seemed she wasn't just interested in guns that fired bullets anymore.
"Ruby… are you… checking them out?" Weiss questioned as she slid over to Ruby's side, taking a look at the men from her perspective. She could see the attraction, they both took care of themselves, which was obvious.
"What!? No!" Ruby defended as she looked away from Raphael and Malachi, only to look at them out of the corner of her eye. Blake stepped behind Ruby and noticed that the two weren't really stretching as they were… flexing.
"So… which is Raphael and which is Malachi?" Blake questioned, tilting her head and seeing how Ruby finally came around to physical attraction.
"The… big one is Raph and the toned one is Mal…" Ruby replied, starting to turn a bit red. She felt weird… talking about guys with her friends… or in general. Thedas was the first place she actually started to think about boys.
"I say Raph." Yang input as she joined the group in the man watching. Raph was clearly the better looker with larger muscles, and more importantly, he wasn't peeking on Ruby while she was changing. "Much sexier."
"But Mal is toned… and bad…" Ruby added quietly.
"Wow… this is a whole new experience." Weiss commented, smiling a bit that Ruby was starting to grow up. A quick whistle from Brianna yanked everyone's attention to her and Cullen.
"Ladies, I will begin charging you if you continue to eye fuck my boys." Brianna called, putting her hands on her hips. Ruby was the only one to blush horribly while the other smirked at Ruby. She patted Cullen on the back and joined the group, instructing "Alright, we'll be taking the usual path. Ladies, just keep pace with us and you'll start to see the path. Hope everyone is stretched out! Let's get going!"
Brianna started to jog, everyone else starting to fall in line with her, Misfits on the left with Team RWBY on the right. It wasn't long before Team RWBY figured out they were jogging the path that went around Haven, including the lake. The group kept together pretty well, except Ruby kept stealing looks at Raphael and Malachi, which slowed her down pace, which in turn slowed down the rest of Team RWBY's pace. Malachi and Raphael noticed this look and started to speed up their paces, more than likely to try and impress Ruby. The two slowly kept increasing their speed until they were naturally sprinting, the larger group watching them run off until they were out of sight.
"I have ten gold Raph collapses first!" Ataashi called with a laugh, basically the new Misfits running leader other than Brianna.
"I'll match that on Mal dropping first." Racheal laughed. Everyone else chuckled as they kept up their jog, the path taking a bit longer than Team RWBY thought before they finally reached the spot they started after nearly ten minutes. There, they found Mal and Raph leaning on their knees, panting hard when the group finally caught up to them. Team RWBY started to slow down… but the Misfits kept going.
"That was just lap one! Hopefully you two haven't burned yourself out trying to impress the Herald!" Brianna called as she kept going. Team RWBY and the two men scrambled to catch up with them, Raph and Mal already huffing and puffing. Three laps more laps around Haven later, everyone was drenched in sweat and panting.
"Nice work everyone in keeping up. Raph, Mal, slow it down next time." Brianna panted as she wiped her brow. "Start the stretch!"
Brianna started the Misftit's stretch, Team RWBY joining in and noticing the stretch was a bit… sexual. There was a lot of bending backwards and forwards. Ruby looked back to see that Cullen was stuck staring at them while working with the morning training session with the soldiers. He looked like he was supposed to be reading some forms, but she could see that he was a tad more interested in an elven mercenary band leader. The stretch eventually ended and everyone headed for the bathhouse, luckily separated between men and women.
The group dispersed to grab their clothes for the day and returned to the bathhouse to clean off the sweat and dirt. The girls stripped and slipped into the large pool of warm water, luckily warmed by special Lyrium burners, a slow steady feeding of magic activated burners that kept the water warm.
"So, Brianna, have your eye on Cullen?" Ruby questioned as she grabbed a washcloth and started cleaning herself off. She wasn't sure either of the two's love life, but she was happy that they seemed to be flirting.
"Can't help it. A man in uniform is just so…" Brianna went on with a happy sigh. She slipped a bit more into the water, leaning her head back.
"Alluring." Ataashi finished as she washed herself.
"Attractive." Reka continued as she relaxed in the water.
"Thanks ladies." Brianna laughed as she splashed at them, earning a chuckle from everyone else as they started washing themselves. Brianna pointed out "Besides, I'm not the only one that has their eye on a man, or in your case, Ruby, two."
"Yeah, I'm curious about that myself. Tell us about that." Racheal asked as she relaxed in the water.
"Well… boys never really interested me… mainly because they were never interested in me." Ruby responded. Which was entirely true, most guys were never interested in her. Ruby went on "Then… Mal started doing his thing… and Raphael is so sweet…"
"It's nice to see you have started looking at something other than your weapon." Weiss pointed out as she finished cleaning herself off. Everyone chuckled as they finished up, drying off and getting dressed. They went to the tavern for food since it was better breakfast than the barracks mess. Whoever the cook was, they were pretty good. Eggs cooked to perfection with bacon at the nice median of crispy and chewy with oatmeal that was at the perfect consistency. It was definitely a great start to the day; one that was going to last quite a while. Team RWBY headed for the Chantry where they would meet Josie for their Thedas History lesson.
They stepped into her office, where she was currently buried in papers, quills and ink wells.
"Ambassador, we're here for our lesson." Ruby announced as they entered. Josie looked up with a smile, her joyous attitude was painfully infectious.
"Oh! I'm glad that all of you wish to learn about Thedas." Josie practically cheered as she got up from her desk.
"Wait, so the rest of us don't have to listen to this?" Yang questioned, really wanting to get out of going back to school.
"Well, no, it's really just for the Herald, but you can still…" Josie attempted to entice. She wanted Ruby and her friends and sister to learn about the great history of Thedas, but she couldn't force them if they didn't want to.
"Bye!" Yang turned and walked straight out of Josie's office.
"Madam Vivienne has some training for me." Weiss stated as she slipped out.
"I'll stay and learn." Blake exclaimed as she took a seat on the bench Josie had in her office. It would be beneficial for her to learn about the world they were in. Josie smiled as she pulled her chair around and Ruby joined Blake on the bench.
"So, there is quite a bit to start with. So, I will give a shorter version. Where shall we start?" Josie questioned.
"Well, who is Andraste? And The Maker?" Ruby questioned.
"Well, The Maker is… the Maker. He created the world as we know it. And Andraste was his bride, the woman that freed Thedas from control of the Tevinter Imperium. She led both men and elves, spreading the word of the Maker… until she was betrayed by her husband, Maferath." Josie explained as best she could.
"Wait, so who was her husband? This Mafahfah, or the Maker?" Ruby questioned as she raised her hand.
"Technically, Maferath was her betrothed husband, but Andraste was in love with The Maker."
"So, why did Maferath betray Andraste?" Blake questioned, curious about the entire situation.
"He was jealous of the love Andraste had for the Maker, so he sold her out to the Imperium." Josie sighed since it was a sad tale.
"Wow… that's sad." Ruby added as she looked down. To be betrayed by your husband because he was jealous? Really sad.
"It is, but it was that event that unified her cause, and we won our independence from the Imperium and the Chantry was established." Josie added to try and pep Ruby up. Seeing the Herald so down was a bit disheartening. "So, next question?"
"I've heard people talk about some event called a Blight that happened several years ago. What exactly is a Blight?" Blake questioned. People in Val Royeaux brought it up whenever they talked about the Mage Rebellion as well as a place called Kirkwall.
"A Blight is when an Archdemon is created, amassing a horde of Darkspawn to destroy the world as we know it." Josie attempted to explain. She wasn't the best at explaining the intricacy of a Blight. "Warden Blackwall may know more. As for what happened during the Fifth Blight, an Elven Grey Warden named Lilith gathered the forced of Thedas, stopping Teryn Loghain from seizing power and raising Alistair Therin to the throne."
"Impressive. She did all of this by herself?" Blake questioned. Leliana then walked into the room with a few papers in her hand.
"She did not. There was a small group that helped her achieve victory, and I was lucky to be among them. There was Lilith and Alistair, the Grey Wardens. Morrigan, the Witch of the Wilds. Sten, the hornless Qunari. Oghren, the now Grey Warden and previously drunken disgraced warrior. Wynne, the healer with a Spirit of Faith. Zevran Ariani, the Crow Assassin and Shale, the living Golem. And of course, me." Leliana explained as she handed the papers to Josiphine. "Together, we brought stability to Thedas when it had gone mad and stopped the Blight."
"Such a small group, and you guys saved the world? That's so cool!" Ruby cheered. To think that such a group like that could save the world; it gave her hope that the Inquisition could close the Breach.
"And much more. We found new friends, fixed old friendships… even found love." Leliana replied with a smile.
"Love?"
"Yes. Lilith and I fell in love during our travels."
"Wow…" Ruby said in amazement. For all of that to happen was almost beyond belief. Ruby noticed that Josie was looking at the papers with a very serious expression.
"Sister Leliana, are you positive that this is correct?" Josephine questioned.
"I was simply handed the letter, but the seal was legitimate, and I know a forgery when I see one." Leliana stated.
"Then this must be handled! Apologies for cutting our lesson short." Josephine apologized as she scurried to her desk. Blake and Ruby both groaned as they got up, heading out only to find Sera waiting by the door, giggling a bit.
"Why do I feel this is your doing?" Blake questioned with a sigh. Sera was always pulling pranks and messing with people. Granted, she generally did it when people started getting stressed or were taking things too seriously.
"Cause we can't have Ruby all work and not play, ya?" Sera chuckled as she stood up straight. "Hey Rubles, wanna go get the right amount of cream for a pie?"
"Do I!?" Ruby cheered. As fun as learning about Thedas was, especially since it was a world of magic and elves and dwarves and dragons, but it was still school.
"Then let's go!"
Sera and Ruby ran off, slipping past Weiss and Vivienne practicing their magic. The two easily slipped into the kitchen while the cooks were away, taking a deserved break for cooking for the entirety of Haven.
"Alright, step one: ingredients!" Sera cheered as she started looking around the kitchen for the ingredients. "We need eggs!"
Ruby dug around with Sera until she found the box of eggs.
"Got 'em!" Ruby cheered as she held up a handful. Sera turned around with a large bowl in hand and a large smile. Ruby smiled as Sera squared the bowl up on her chest, and she knew exactly what to do. Ruby shuffled the eggs to one hand, lightly tossing one in her hand.
"Give it your best, Rubes!" Sera cheered as she readied herself. Ruby reeled back and threw the egg, going high and hitting the wall behind Sera. She looked back and chuckled "You're aim is shite! How do you hit anything with that oversized crossbow?"
"My aim is perfect! I just needed a practice throw!" Ruby barked as she readied another egg. Sera braced herself and Ruby threw another egg, nailing the bowl. She readied another egg as she exclaimed "Get ready for the rest!"
Ruby started hurling the eggs, Sera catching the splatter in a bowl as the two laughed.
"Alright, we've got the eggs. What next?" Ruby questioned.
"Flour!" Sera called as she set the bowl down. The two began to rummage through the cupboards once again, Sera being the one to find the flour. She opened the bag and instructed "Now, just a handful."
She pulled her arm back and slammed the flour into the bowl, sending up a cloud of flour that caused them both to start coughing. Once they were done with their coughing fit, they both looked at each other, both of their faces and their hair misted white. Both kept their composure until Ruby snorted and started to laugh, causing Sera to laugh with her. Unfortunately, during their laugh, the cooks returned to their post, finding their mess.
"What in Andraste's tit's!?" The head chef barked. Ruby and Sera looked at him with a look of knowing they were in trouble before Ruby made a quick decision.
"Run!" Ruby shouted as she flashed to the door. Sera quickly followed as the head chef went after them, but had zero hopes of actually catching them. The two ran out of the kitchens into the cold Haven air, laughing as they ran all the way to the tavern. The two hid in one of the corners, panting and laughing.
"That… was fun, yeah?" Sera panted/ chuckled. The great Herald of Andraste needed to be down the Thedas, to have fun once in a while. The last thing she needed was for Ruby to break under all Josie's history lessons, Solas' Fade talk and Vivienne's magic lectures. She may have also stolen Josie's itinerary for Ruby and it was just so… dull.
"Yeah, tons of fun. Definitely… need to do it… again." Ruby laughed as she took a deep breath. It was nice to feel the stress of the job start to roll off her shoulders. Sera was a bit… off, but she was a good person, definitely fun though. Ruby took a deep breath to compose herself, finding getting level. She continued "Well, I think I'll get some combat training with Cullen."
"Good idea. Can't use that oversized gardening tool forever. Good luck." Sera replied as she waved Ruby off. Ruby left the tavern and headed to the training yard seeing Cullen working the troops. Ruby slipped by the troops to see Cullen reading over a list that was handed to him by one of Leliana's scouts. He handed it off as Ruby slid over to his side.
"Ah, Ruby. I wasn't expecting you until later." Cullen commented as he turned to see Ruby. He couldn't help but think that she was such a tiny thing. She had almost no muscle density and was as skinny as a pole. He was supposed to train her on the weapons of their world… but what the hell was he going to train her on?
"Yeah, Josie got busy with something. So I figured I'd get an early start on our combat training. So, what will be working on?" Ruby explained and questioned. She had no idea on what Cullen was going to train her on, so she was pretty excited.
"Not sure. What would you like to train on? I'm skilled in the sword and shield, but if you want to learn something bigger, I'm sure The Iron Bull could help with that."
"Hmm… I don't know. I mean… I don't think I could swing around an axe like Bull, but a sword and shield would be a bit… cumbersome."
"Maybe… let's see."
Bull had spotted Ruby walking over to Cullen and decided to join in, see if he could add anything.
"Hey Cullen, Imekari. What's the plan?" Bull questioned.
"Trying to figure out a weapon set for Ruby." Cullen answered. "And no, we aren't giving her a massive axe."
"Nah, too big for her. Granted, she's good with that curved blade of hers, but it's a lot lighter than it looks. What are the options?"
"Well, Cullen knows sword and shield, but then I lose out on power swings." Ruby updated. She wanted to be able to practically finish a fight in a swing or two, but a shield would put her more on the defensive. "But I don't want to be the one to tank the hits."
"Then how about we give you a buckler and a bastard sword?" Bull suggested. "Small shield, maneuverable and good to deflect hits. Then the bastard sword can give you the power, plus you can swap to two hands. Best of both."
"That is a great idea, Bull. Ruby?" Cullen replied. It was a great idea, giving Ruby the options to deal with the situations.
"I think it will work… in theory." Ruby chuckled. She knew how to handle Crescent Rose, but she didn't have much of an idea on how to use a sword and shield. Cullen nodded and went to the training gear, grabbing a buckler and a large wooden bastard sword, one with an iron bar in the center to give it the weight. Ruby took the buckler and strapped it onto her arm before taking the blade with one hand, then immediately dropping it. The wooden blade plunged into the snow and dirt, earning a chuckle from Cullen and Bull. Ruby chuckled "That's heavier than it looks."
"That's the idea. Try two hands first." Cullen advised. He had seen that enough times, recruits underestimating the amount of weight a weapon had. Ruby nodded and picked up the sword with both hands, thanks to the buckler simply tied to her forearm. It was definitely different from Crescent Rose, which was more top heavy, since the weight was a bit more distributed. Cullen grabbed a training blade himself and taking a relaxed fighting stance. Cullen instructed "Alright, now take it slow. Try a few swings to get used to the weight."
Ruby nodded and took a side swing at Cullen, but she stumbled under the weight of the weapon as the wooden blades clacked together. Bull chuckled as Cassandra and Blackwall walked over, wanting to see the Herald of Andraste learning their weapons. Ruby gained her footing and took another swing, handling it better than before. Cullen smiled as Ruby was quickly picking up on the swings, the wood clacking and grinding as he blocked and deflected the swings.
"Alright, now I'll try swinging back. You can try to block with your sword, or you can try with your shield." Cullen advised.
"Remember, it's a buckler. Good for deflecting, not so much for blocking." Blackwall chimed in. He had seen enough broken arms from recruits trying to block a greatsword with a shield. Ruby nodded and prepared for Cullen's swings, which he took slow. Ruby tried Blackwall's advice, except her instinct took over and fully blocked the swing… which was a large mistake. The blade hit… and the edge of her shield clipped the bottom of her jaw. Luckily her aura still worked and she didn't sustain any damage… but it still hurt like hell.
Cullen immediately stopped when Ruby dropped her sword and grabbed her chin, doubling over in pain and groaning.
"Ruby! Are you alright?" Cullen questioned as he dropped his blade and ran over to her. The last thing they needed was for Ruby to get hurt during her break from going out and dealing with the perils of the world.
"Yeah… that just hurt… a lot." Ruby groaned as she rubbed her chin. She stood up straight to see everyone had gathered around her with worry on their faces. She held her head high, brushing off the attack and grabbing her discarded weapon. Cullen smirked as he stood back and readied himself to go again. Bull, Blackwall and Cassandra stepped back and allowed them to go at their training session.
The training went on for an hour or two, and Ruby was exhausted. Fighting with a sword and shield was definitely more taxing than Crescent Rose, which she could use the recoil to help her swing out.
"Good training for the day, but it's good to also take the relaxation to recover." Cullen advised. Ruby was picking up on the fighting style pretty quickly, but she still needed time to practice and refine her technique. Ruby and Cullen put their weapons away, Ruby groaning as her arms and shoulders ached. Cullen advised "I recommend plenty of meat and vegetables and water. Rebuild the muscles after tearing them today."
"Thanks Cullen, for the advice and training." Ruby replied as she rubbed her shoulders. She knew she was going to have a rough next day.
"Of course. We'll pick up again tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?! I probably won't be able to move my arms tomorrow!"
"Exactly. That way, your body will become more adjusted to the weight and strain." Cassandra chimed in as she strode over to Ruby and Cullen.
"Ugh… I guess." Ruby groaned again. The last thing she wanted to do was deal with sore muscles during more weapons training.
"For now, take some time to yourself. Relax and recuperate."
"Yeah, I will."
Ruby started heading back to her room, hoping to hide from any other responsibility she could possibly have. She was near the Inquisition Quartermaster when she spotted Malachi leaning by the Chantry door with that constant, pride filled smirk.
"Hey Red, have fun with the sword play?" Mal questioned as he took himself off the wall. He noticed her rubbing her shoulders as she looked away.
"Yeah, Cullen really helped me learn to use a blade." Ruby replied.
"I bet he did." Mal chuckled at her choice of words. Ruby looked at him funny and realized he was making a sex joke.
"Not funny!" Ruby barked as she lightly pushed him. She blushed hard and looked away, because it was a bit weird since she was starting to have thoughts of… sword play… with him or Raphael.
"I'm sorry. So, feeling a bit sore?"
"Yeah…"
"You know, I'm good with my hands. Perhaps I could massage you later?" Mal questioned as he put a hand on her bicep. Ruby blushed a bit harder, thinking about Malachi having his hands on her bare skin.
"M… maybe…" Ruby stammered a bit. It was a bit of an accident that she responded with that.
"Oh? Alright then. Just let me know when I can." Mal responded as he patted her shoulder lightly. Mal walked off and started whistling, Ruby feeling her hairline start to vanish her face was so red. She slipped into the Chantry and headed for her room, only to be intercepted by Leliana.
"So, are massages going to cost us a bit extra?" Leliana chuckled.
"You… heard that…" Ruby mumbled.
"Yes, I did. So, from what I've heard, boys aren't your forte."
"No, they aren't. Can we discuss this somewhere… private?"
Leliana nodded and the two went to Team RWBY room, Leliana taking a seat at the desk while Ruby sat on her bed. She intentionally laid down, feeling her soreness starting to melt away on the soft bed.
"So, massages from Malachi and Raphael doing your laundry. Do you naturally get this much attention? Or is it just recently?" Leliana questioned.
"Recent… like when I got here, recent." Ruby admitted.
"So, no dealing with boys back home?"
"Like… none."
"Well, I can certainly help you dealing with them. Step one isn't giving the rogue the idea of giving you a massage… unless you truly want one."
"I mean… kinda…" Ruby admitted. This whole… having guys flirt with you and you actually enjoying it… was new and confusing.
"Well, be careful with that one. That's all I can say." Leliana stated as she stood up and headed out. Ruby took a deep breath and sighed as she worked her boots off, then started working on her gear. She was exhausted, and a nap seemed like the best idea at the moment. She got down to her underwear, grabbed a large shirt and flopped down on her bed. She knew she was going to be busy in the next few days since she needed to go meet with Grand Enchanter Fiona in Redcliffe and see what she had to say about a meeting.
Ruby's eyes started to droop as exhaustion started to take over, and she started to fall asleep.
A/N: Apologies for the wait. So, here is a bit of a fun chapter. Next will be a bit more… plotty? If that's a word. Anyway, PM or review with any thoughts, comments or concerns. Until next time.
-Chief