Sunday dawned bright and cold, the winter winds returning for their last breath, bringing with them dark clouds filled with snow. The brightness of the day left shortly after the morning church services in Vale started, the bells of the churches chiming faintly in the distance.
At Beacon, most students were sleeping in or relaxing in their rooms. Few of them routinely attended the morning services down in Vale, and parts of the campus were often completely devoid of life. One of these spots was the emerald forest.
Weiss walked calmly down the overgrown path that had been forgotten by all but the few students that, like herself, found solace in training against the real monsters rather than the hopelessly simple robots that the school used in its sparring gyms.
She'd been out for three hours and twenty minutes and had yet to run into her first opponent. Whether it was simple misfortune or luck depended greatly on which Grimm her opponent would be and whether or not she'd be able to handle it alone.
She heard the rustling of a nearby bush and quickly placed her hand on the hilt of her rapier, ready to draw it should a Grimm come out. She internally scolded herself for being so jumpy as a small squirrel darted out and ran up a nearby tree. She continued on while keeping alert to any sound that would travel in the forest.
Weiss knew that the area was infamous for the amount of sound the ground and trees absorbed, making it a perfect training ground. She would unlikely hear anything outside of a five meter radius, meaning she would have to rely on her sight and intuition.
That was the reason why the forest was off limits to all but the most competent of warriors. The threat of death in the forest was higher than any other place a student of the academy would ever go while in attendance. But that was exactly why Weiss had qualified within the first week of her training. She may not have been the best, but she knew anything that happened under the shade of the canopy would simply alter her life's course. In the end, the destination was the same. She would only be able to skip several irksome steps along the way.
But not once so far had her reflexes failed her. She had once come back from her solo hunt with her dominant arm broken in eight places and her right leg broken in two. She'd had a hairline fracture to her scalp and was in danger of contracting an infection from an open wound on her hip. But she'd killed six death stalkers and a small pack of beowolves before she'd dragged herself back to the infirmary.
Ruby had been furious when she'd found out. And her anger had been escalated due to the fact she too had been cleared to enter the forest on her own. In fact, her whole team had clearance within the first month of their education. But not once had she ever seen any of the others go hunting alone.
Maybe it was the group mentality that came from transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Or maybe it was just who they were. Blake and Yang went after classes, seemingly on a whim, while Ruby seemed to never set a foot past the tree line. Weiss had no need for her teammates, though. She was confident she could handle herself, and if she couldn't… her life was an affordable price for her overconfidence.
She sensed movement in the shadows to her left and froze, turning to survey the darkness. Nothing moved, the bushes barely rustling in the breeze that managed to penetrate through the thick growth. Weiss sensed whatever had been moving had left and continued on the overgrown path. This was her first time walking down that specific path since she often found herself wanting to take the clearer, more traveled path through the center of the Grimm infested forest. This smaller, less traveled path curved back and forth through the forest, coming closer to where the Grimm nests were most likely located. The fact that she had not yet found a single one of them was eerie to say the least.
It was odd for Grimm to ignore isolated prey, especially when they were dressed in bright clothing as she was. Something else must be attracting their attention. Just as the thought occurred to her, Weiss came to a fork she hadn't noticed on the old maps of the forest. Curious to its route, she decided to see where it went.
The path was almost invisible at points with only a few broken twigs here and there to mark the way it curved over the ground. After going several feet, Weiss realized that the path she was following wasn't a part of a trail. It was the path taken by migrating Grimm. She picked up her pace, careful to keep an eye on the ground she covered just in case a pack came up behind her.
She froze again as a slight breeze ruffled the leaves on the plants around her. She listened to any noise that the breeze could have masked, hearing nothing. Yet something inside her told her to remain still. As she did so, an extremely faint growl reached her ears, pushed on by the barely moving air. She turned and started in the direction she thought the noises came from.
After a couple of minutes, the growls were loud enough for Weiss to tell that the Grimm behind them meant business. The odd thing was that there seemed to be another sound underneath the growls that she couldn't identify.
She came out of the foliage to a wide open clearing, the dark clouds above making it seem just barely lighter than when she was beneath the trees. On the far side of the sea of grasses, a lone huntress, barely visible through the surrounding mob of Grimm, danced to music playing from her scroll. Her signature weapon looped around in wide arcs, cutting down those who dared get too close. It was Ruby.
Weiss watched curiously as her partner danced slowly to a duet of a piano and electric guitar. The hymn was equally haunting as the image before Weiss. Ruby, with her red cloak pulled far over her face to just above her eyes, seemed completely oblivious to everything happening around her. She danced back and forth, swinging her weapon and discharging the propulsive shots in time with the music. The entire time, her eyes remained closed as if she could sense the creatures movements with her other senses.
Weiss froze as she watched, not able to tear her eyes away as Ruby made the fight look effortless. The wide, slow sweeps that were just quick enough to keep the monsters around her at bay, and random enough to keep them apprehensive. Her timed shots taking down random Grimm that happened to be in the way when she pulled the trigger. Ruby's cape fluttered around her ankles as her skirt twirled back and forth with her rotation while she danced to the music wafting off her wrist mounted scroll.
The mob of hostile creatures took no notice to the girl clad in white as she stood stunned at the edge of the clearing, instead focusing on the red cape that danced back and forth majestically in the dark light of the day.
Weiss heard a slight hiccup in the music that snapped her out of her thoughts as she realized it was on repeat. As much as she hated to admit it, she'd come hoping to hunt, and Ruby had all the attention. She didn't want to go farther in the forest, but she didn't see a way around it. After all, it was rude to steal another's prey and Ruby seemed to be off in her own world. The last thing she wanted was to distract her when she was surrounded by Grimm.
But whether it was fate that had Weiss hesitate, or just Ruby's luck that seemed to match her sister's, Weiss had only started to turn away when a Beowolf lunged into Ruby's attack Radius, slashing at her arm as the scythe spun through its body.
The music stopped and Weiss heard a quiet swear beneath the continued growls followed by the thump of the creature's corpse landing on the ground. The other wolves seemed inspired by their comrade and the volume of their growls increased as several more lunged at Ruby just to meet the same end, leaving scratches down Ruby's leading arm and shoulder.
Weiss watched in indecision as another Beowolf landed the first solid hit on her back, making her cry out as crimson splattered the snow filled ground beneath her. Ruby dodged another attack, but there were still far too many Grimm surrounding her for Weiss to clearly see her condition. She glanced down at her scroll to see Ruby's aura already rapidly draining past the half-way mark and taking on a tint of orange that grew more red every time the bar jumped lower.
Weiss loaded her ice dust, and took a hesitant step towards the mass of combatants, hoping she wouldn't intrude on Ruby in case she had expected this outcome and come prepared for it. She watched her scroll, Ruby's aura now depleting to a bright red as it started to drain the last ten percent of the meter.
Weiss looked up to find that even though the crowd had grown thinner, it was still more than half the number it started as. She stopped thinking and jumped to action, happy that she'd stumbled across her partner in time.
"Ruby! Atlas Firestorm!" She yelled, hoping Ruby would hear her warning. She ran to the edge of the mass of monsters and slammed her rapier down into the ground while pulling the trigger. A massive wave of ice rose from the ground, encasing everything in its path in solid ice, a ball of red rolling out of the left side of the mob just as the ice passed by told Weiss she was clear for her follow up attack.
She jumped in the air and off her glyphs criss crossing over the angry Grimm while letting black propulsion dust rain down. When her cartridge was empty, she landed just out of range of the creatures and changed to her red dust.
She let loose a single fireball that landed perfectly on the nearest Beowolf, incinerating a hole through its chest and setting the creatures fur ablaze. As it fell back, it caught the black dust that had barely settled on the ice and the whole pack was suddenly wailing as fur melted and organs boiled. The massive fire's roaring competed with the creatures cries of pain until the crackling and sizzling pops of bones cracking was all that could be heard beneath the whoosh of air fueling the flame while the black smoke of the dead Grimm gave the orange flames an eerie backdrop. Seconds later, that too died as the flame extinguished, leaving charred remains encased in ice, slowly smoking as the tops were exposed to oxygen.
Weiss looked across the left side of the smoking field where Ruby was laying on her back. Her right arm rested over her eyes as her chest rose and fell in a calm manner. Her scythe was folded up and rested against her leg as blood slowly oozed out of a cut on her inner thigh. Weiss walked over and found Ruby was in far worse shape than she'd thought, with her clothes almost shredded between her neck and her knees. Below the torn fabric, red marks that varied in deepness and angle seemed to shimmer with her blood as it pooled into the open wounds as Ruby's aura slowly did its job at stitching her back together.
"Sorry I took your kills." Weiss apologized as she knelt at Ruby's side to wait with her until she could move again. "Is anything broken?"
At first Ruby didn't answer, making Weiss start to worry until Ruby took a deeper breath than normal.
"I think I might have broken my left arm. Otherwise I'll be fine." Ruby stated simply, raising the fingers of her broken arm off her stomach in the tiniest of waves.
"Alright." Weiss responded. Really, there was nothing to say. The scratches, while looking bad to begin with, were looking better every second as the hooded girl's aura stitched new skin over the openings. There would be a couple new scars from the larger wounds, but Weiss knew that everyone on her team had an ever growing collection of them that would never match the ones she bore beneath her white outfit.
Ten minutes passed in the silent forest, with nothing but the subtle breeze rustling the surrounding bushes every few minutes. Weiss's thoughts idled randomly through her schoolwork she had left to do before class the next day. She mentally completed the checklist and just watched Ruby as she recovered. Her eyes drifted from the exhausted neutral expression on her face to the nearly shredded fabric of her combat outfit. Mostly, the outfit was shredded along her stomach and shoulders, but a single large chunk of fabric hung loose to reveal Ruby's black lace bra cut just to the right of center. The fabric still covered her chest, but would undoubtedly fall loose if she moved from her horizontal position.
Weiss felt her neck and ears heat up as she turned her gaze away. She chastised herself for her wandering eyes and waited patiently until she felt her body heat return to normal.
Ruby suddenly sat up and gasped as she hunched forward, causing Weiss's head to spin towards her teammate. Weiss's neck once again caught fire as she didn't avoid catching sight of Ruby's chest, now hanging free with the shredded fabric acting as a very poor visual shield.
"Shit! I think I broke my shin too!" She exclaimed as she used her good arm to feel her leg. She winced in pain before lowering herself back to the ground. "Damn it!"
Weiss was used to the cursing from Yang, but found it oddly distasteful coming from her leader. She reached out carefully and patted Ruby on the shoulder.
"I think you're done for today." She said while purposely looking anywhere other than at Ruby.
"Yeah… I guess I couldn't ask you to help me back to the dorm, huh?" Ruby asked, leaning up on her good elbow so she could look at Weiss.
Weiss avoided Ruby's gaze for several long seconds before breaking down and looking over at her. Her large silver eyes glimmered in the dim light, but not as if she was pulling any type of puppy dog face. Weiss knew this was one of the few times Ruby was asking for something with the clear intent to let her decide. A quick downward glance didn't help Weiss's reasoning and she turned her head away.
"I… suppose I could stop my hunting for today. I'll need to refill my dust anyway." She lied. In reality, she still had enough to keep going but she couldn't leave Ruby to fend for herself. "Just on one condition."
"Anything!" Ruby replied immediately. She was already smiling that Weiss had accepted her request so readily.
"Cover yourself up." Weiss spoke quietly, making Ruby look down at her exposed breasts.
"Ahh!" Ruby's startled yelp brought a small grin to Weiss's lips as Ruby pulled some tape from her belt and combined a few pieces of fabric back together so she had at least some temporary coverage. After she was done, Weiss helped her to her feet and helped wrap an arm over her shoulders.
Ruby grunted in pain every few steps as she gingerly let her weight fall on her leg and Weiss. She clutched the other arm stiffly to her stomach, making sure her shoddy tape work remained intact as the duo made their way slowly out of the forest.
When they'd made it a kilometer, Ruby broke their comfortable silence with a question.
"Am I attractive?" She asked. Her voice was laced with uncertainty as she limped on with Weiss's help. When Weiss turned her head, she saw Ruby looking down, her white tips hiding her face from view.
"Why would you ask me?" Weiss answered vaguely. "Your sister tells you all the time."
"But Yang's my big sister. Her opinion is biased." Ruby responded simply. Weiss almost laughed from her response. "What do you think?"
Weiss thought for a while about how to answer Ruby. On one hand, she didn't want to say yes because Ruby might take it the wrong way considering the past couple of days. On the other, she didn't have the will to lie and tell her she wasn't.
"I believe the saying is 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder.'" Weiss answered after an old saying popped into her head.
"Then I know what Yang thinks. I still want to know what you think." Ruby replied quickly. Again Weiss paused, not knowing how to reply.
"I suppose you are not unattractive." Weiss responded, hoping to get away with a neutral-positive answer.
"Hmm…" Ruby hummed as she digested Weiss's words. "So you don't find me attractive? Not even a little?"
"I didn't say that, Ruby." Weiss replied patiently.
"You may as well have. You said I'm not ugly." Ruby argued back. "That's basically saying you're not ugly, but you're not pretty. Or hot. Just plain."
"What's wrong with plain?" Weiss asked somewhat indignantly. "I know I'm not attractive-"
"Ha, good one." Ruby cut Weiss off as she laughed dully between her labored breathing. When Weiss didn't respond, Ruby looked over at her. Weiss's eyes were looking into hers sharply as if they could cut into her. "Wait, you actually believe that, don't you?"
When Weiss didn't respond, Ruby gasped.
"You do! Wow!" Ruby mused in amazement. "You are so wrong I can't even begin to tell you."
"Please…" Weiss tried dismissing Ruby's statement, yet a small feeling inside her knew what came next.
"You know how guys rate girls on a scale of one to ten? You're like a six-" Ruby started only to be interrupted by Weiss.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence!" She replied sarcastically, having heard Ruby's rating of her.
"You didn't let me finish." Ruby replied quietly after a moment of hesitation. "I'd give you a sixteen."
"Out of what? Twenty?" Weiss asked sceptically.
"No, out of ten." Ruby replied honestly.
Weiss paused for the briefest of seconds before continuing to help Ruby walk. Not once in her memorable life had she been told she was attractive. Sure the camera apparently loved her, but it seemed that was the only sentiment even her photographers had to share with her. And for Ruby to give her a rating that far above the maximum…
"What would you give me?" Ruby asked curiously, breaking through Weiss's thoughts.
"I'm not placing you on a scale, Ruby." Weiss replied indignantly, terrified of what Ruby would think about any number she could give.
"Please?" Ruby pouted with her puppy dog eyes full force. Weiss made the mistake of not looking away quick enough and sighed.
"Fine. I'd give you a ten." Weiss answered, hoping Ruby would be fine with the non-extraneous number.
"Only ten?" She asked while seeming to press herself tighter to Weiss's side.
"The scale is out of ten, Ruby." Weiss replied with a sigh. "I guess I could also add that your cuteness goes up a hundred points when you do your puppy dog eyes."
"Alright! A hundred and ten!" Ruby cheered. She leaned over and placed a small peck on Weiss's cheek.
Weiss felt her cheeks flush as she hung her head and sighed. This seemed like it was going to be a very long week.