Blake and Yang stood opposite one another in the ring, both looking like they'd run a marathon. The brunette had her hands on her knees, Gambol Shroud's ribbon only loosely wrapped around her wrist. The blond projected more confidence, but the sweat that was running down her face, neck, and arms belayed the exhaustion wracking her.
"Well done!" Ruby's voice rang over the room, filled with pride. The moment her words were heard Blake collapsed backward, landing on the ground with a dull thud. Yang nearly did the same, but landed on a knee instead, coughing as her throat begged for water. A hand grasped her shoulder and pulled her back up, a water bottle being put to her lips. Yang used her free arm to grasp it and hold it to her mouth as she took long gulps of the sugary drink, her face fairly turning red from lack of oxygen.
"You nearly got her." Ruby said with a grin as she pulled Yang to the benches, half-dragging her along the way. She propped Yang against the wall behind her seat and grinned down at her younger sister. "You're really killing that 'float like a butterfly' thing."
"Yeah, barely." Yang coughed, finally dropping the energy drink from her mouth and wiping it off with her forearm. "You're trying to teach a bear ballet, you know that right?" She sighed, smirked and shook her head. "Gotta admit, I'm getting close to that pirouette."
The sisters exchanged a grin as Ruby gave her a playful punch in the shoulder. Not far from them Weiss finished hauling Blake to her own seat, placing the Faunus gently before stepping back and sighing, grimacing down at her attire. It had taken a couple weeks for Ruby to finish convincing her teammates that while their combat gear was cute, it wasn't all that nice to roughhouse in. Yang's was sentimental, with her coat, Blake just plain didn't have that many nice clothes, and Weiss' required dry cleaning. So, one weekend, Ruby bought them all cheap tank tops and not-so-cheap pairs of trousers that weren't showing wear even after some pretty intense scuffles. Practical, but ugly, and Weiss thumbed one of the straps on her tank and frowned.
"It's not the worst thing ever, right?" Ruby asked, smiling.
"You keep saying that but I'm not sure." Weiss groaned. She motioned to the heavy denim of her pants. She continued with a grimace, shaking her head. "Why did I accept this?"
"Too late for second-guessing, friend." Yang called, motioning to the ring with her free hand. "You're up next."
"Yeah, yeah." Weiss muttered, following Ruby towards the center of the ring, drawing myrtlenaster as she went.
The pair squared up, Ruby on Yang's side, Weiss on Blake's. Ruby waited as Weiss fiddled with her rapier, adjusting the dust cartridges in it. Her pursed lips belied her nervousness, shooting glances at her partner from time to time in expectation.
"We've gone over this a million times before. Focus on breathing and don't worry about getting hit." Ruby spoke calmly, raising her fists in preparation. She didn't summon her axe, and Weiss herself re-sheathed her rapier. Weiss kept her hands low with her palms facing the floor, her arms spread to maintain her balance. "Ready?"
Weiss sighed a deep, powerful, regretful sigh. Then she met Ruby's eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded.
What followed was what happened every week, usually on a Thursday. Ruby charged at Weiss at a manageable speed and engaged her in close quarters. Weiss, without touching Myrtlenaster, tried to stand her ground. In Yang's words it was throwing the Heiress to the sharks, and Weiss might have agreed with that.
Starting slow, Ruby tried to close the gap as an average citizen would, first lurching forward quickly, or running. Weiss would use her unaspected glyphs to bat her back, accelerating the girl away with some speed, though Ruby always caught herself and continued the approach. Weiss had learned early on that Ruby could keep at this for an hour, and there was no point in throwing her across the room.
As the pair continued their warm-up, the noise of glyphs and pounding feet starting to fill the air around them, Yang stood and walked over to Blake. She took her seat unflatteringly, fairly falling into the bench as her knees buckled as soon as she got in range. She groaned a bit and rubbed her leg, feeling a cramp run up and down her thigh.
"How are you doing?" Yang asked, trying to smile at Blake, but only managing a bit of a grimace. She was doing her best to drive her fingers into her thigh to find some relief.
"Great." Blake lied, her eyes closed, head resting against the wall behind them. "All I need is a shower and a bottle full of painkillers and I'll be ready to walk up a flight of stairs."
Yang chuckled, shaking her head. She watched as Ruby upped the pace to student levels without using her semblance. She dove, twisted, put her effort in. She'd leap over one glyph, forcing Weiss to block with one suspended in the air. Then the next time Ruby would weave around a glyph and force Weiss to summon a third. She kept things relatively consistent, never giving Weiss more then a dozen seconds or so to reset. It was a marathon, not a sprint.
"Do you ever think it'd be easier if we just, I don't know." Yang sighed, finally working out the knot in her leg and crossing her arms. "Let the other get a point?" Blake opened her eyes and raised a brow at the blonde. "Like if you let me tag you once, she'd spell us off so that she and Weiss would have a go. Then we'd get a decent break."
Blake considered it, narrowed her eyes at Yang, and frowned. "You're asking me if I can let you win?"
"We both win if we get to avoid a thirty minute session." Yang countered.
"I'm unconvinced." Blake deadpanned, closing her eyes and leaning against the wall once more. "The only thing that sucks about this situation is that some of my muscles haven't been reduced to jelly." She hugged her arms to herself and tried to find a position comfortable enough to sleep in. "I could've gone for another five."
"Five minutes?" Yang asked, incredulous.
"Seconds." Blake corrected, her tone flat. "Maybe eight, I think I blacked out for a little bit before Ruby called time."
"OK, then what's your grand plan for getting out of the 'Thursday Night Meat Grinder'?" Yang grumbled. "Personally, while I've never been more fit in my life," she lifted up the hem of her shirt to show off her superhero-quality abs, "—like, I look like I belong on the cover of men's health— I'm starting to get tired of being… tired."
A meaty thwack and a rush of air was all the warning Yang got before something impacted the wall above her. She tilted her head up to see Ruby cling to the wall for a split second before jumping off again. Weiss was standing in the center of the ring, panting, sweat clinging to her skin as she never took her eyes off of Ruby. One of her hands had drifted to Myrtlenaster, gripping the weapon by its hilt without drawing it. The rapidly fading glyph on the ground was green, and that probably explained why Ruby'd been launched: Wind.
Yang shook her head, Weiss lost again.
The pair on the bench watched as Ruby flashed forward with her semblance, reappearing beside the heiress in a burst of red. Weiss turned, twisted away, but before she got far Ruby grasped her by her sword arm. A forced step, a yank of her wrist, and Weiss started to stumble and collapse, her posture failing as she was forced forward. Ruby pressed her hand to the small of her back and forced her to the ground. Myrtlenaster's sheathe was taken from Weiss and the sword was tossed away, leaving her on her knees with one hand behind her back.
To the surprise of all but Ruby, she didn't call it there. She held on with her one arm, keeping the other one free, and was whispering something Yang couldn't hear into Weiss' ear. Blake seemed to catch it because she looked on curiously, but it took a moment for anything to happen.
Weiss felt panic flood her mind as Ruby appeared beside her. She'd made the same mistake countless times, but was it a mistake if it worked?
Weiss faces Ruby in the ring, the first time she's accepted the offer. It was nearly a week after she and Ruby had spoken late at night, and she had finally relented to some of Ruby's requests. Her hand on her rapier, drawing it languidly, fluidly, an extension of her arm and presence. Opposite her, Ruby stands with her hands in her pockets, her gaze calculating. She never summons her axe, the metal mess that would pass for a hammer. They meet time and again, her blows never quite reaching. She summons glyphs, she dances, she pirouettes around her partner.
Technical, fast, precise. But after she's summoned her third glyph Ruby disarms her, throws myrtlenaster into the bleachers, forces her to continue. Weiss, without the comforting weight in her hand, taps out, humiliated fifteen seconds later.
Weiss wills her semblance into action but her mind is racing, her arm is grabbed and she feels her balance shift. A leg sticks out between hers, her posture breaks, her teeth clench as her hands grasp air. She's on her knees now, her head bowed, Ruby having done her the kindness of at least not forcing her to face their teammates.
Fuck! She thinks, her free hand bunched in a tight fist. Glyphs need concentration, presence of mind, thought. But this was the weakness Ruby sought, had discovered within minutes of starting to fight her, perhaps even before when they'd been on training missions, or maybe even in the forests before that.
Weiss just wanted to match her partner. Fear, embarrassment, all those feelings that Winter made her feel, that her father emotionally beat into her.
"Hey."
Weiss shivered at the word whispered in her ear. It was soft, understanding, warm. It fueled Weiss' shame, the understanding in it. She felt poison rise unbidden, pooling in her core, willing its way through her throat, raging against her clenched teeth. She wanted to scream.
"Weiss." Ruby whispered again, this time placing a hand on her partner's side, right on her waist. It wasn't to restrain her or hold her, it was supportive. "I know you can break out. Summon a glyph between us, push us apart."
"I can't." Weiss hissed, tears clouding her vision.
"You can," Ruby insisted. "I'm not an enemy, I'm not someone trying to hurt you. I want you to succeed, I'm putting some pressure on you." Ruby shifted her grip on Weiss' wrist, holding her by her hand instead. "Take your time, count to ten. You don't use your semblance like this, but once you get the hang of it you'll be so much stronger, I know it."
"…OK" Weiss managed, taking a deep breath and willing her body to come under control. She closed her eyes and squeezed Ruby's hand, feeling the comforting resistance. After a moment — or several, she wasn't counting — she felt her semblance flow through her fingers. She was working blind, she normally didn't place anything like this, and she worked carefully, methodically, expanding gently and applying pressure. She felt a squeeze and knew what she'd done was right, and after a moment of steeling herself, she let go.
The result was instant and unpleasant. She felt Ruby's hand become tight, then release as the two were forced apart, Weiss forwards and Ruby backwards. The sting was sharp, but Weiss had enough presence of mind to tuck her shoulder and roll over before she hit the ground. She pushed herself to her feet and backstepped, putting more distance between herself and her opponent.
Ruby, for her part, was rubbing her chest absentmindedly with the heel of her palm. She looked a bit pained but her expression was glowing. She summoned her axe in a flash of petals and readied it, holding it low behind her. Weiss knew a telegraphed overhead strike when she saw one and she chose to trust Ruby. She steeled herself and planted her feet, hands ready.
Ruby didn't bother to give her too much time for second thoughts. She approached at max speed, going from twenty paces to in front of her in a fraction of a moment. Weiss knew, rather than saw, that the axe was coming down. She trusted that if she made a mistake Ruby could stop herself, dispel her axe, something. She trusted that she herself knew what she was doing, that she had the control to summon.
With a twitch of her fingers a glyph exploded into existence in front of her. The off-white snowflake shone with energy, rippling against the force of impact. Weiss grit her teeth, pressing her hands against her side of the disk, pushing out with all her might.
Absentmindedly, between the glow of energy and the sparking of Ruby's weapon behind it, Weiss recognized a light in Ruby's eyes. Her expression was focused, the silver catching the light, reflecting it in brilliance. Her lips were curled into a half-smile, her form was languid, it was like weight had been pulled from her shoulders. In a word, it was terrifying. Ruby wasn't meeting her eyes, she was staring through her, as if she was an abstract painting, the whole giving all the details needed, meaning discerned in an instant.
You'll be the best fighter you can be.
Ruby shifted her grip, holding her weapon with two hands now, her left hand sliding until it was placed right below the twin blades of the labrys. With additional leverage Weiss could feel herself being physically pushed back, her semblance not used to holding up this much weight for this long, not unaspected at least. Steeling her resolve she pushed with all her might, legs and arms flexing in unison as she heaved with all of her being.
The cry that escaped her mouth surprised her, probably surprised everyone. It was aggressive, loud guttural. It wasn't like her to say the least, it bordered on barbaric. But as the sound left her lungs, and her body strained against the impossible, she felt her her aura pulse and flex. Her glyph shone bright enough she had to close her eyes.
A flash of light overwhelmed Weiss, and like a rubber band snapping she felt herself get forced backwards once more. Her aura flared, then dimmed, and she was faintly aware that she was falling. Falling until she felt two arms grip her around her.
When she finally opened her eyes she was staring directly into Ruby's. She was being held loosely around her chest, but still heaved right into the air, her feet dangling some distance off the ground. Ruby's eyes were wide, her lips pulled up in a genuine smile, pride written on her features. Looking past the Brunette, Weiss could see the Labrys stuck in the ground behind them, a long gash leading to its resting place. It had hit the ground with some force indeed.
"I knew you could do it." Ruby said, her voice brimming with excitement. Her grip on Weiss was loose enough that the heiress could have wiggled away, but she was too stunned to do so. She looked between the Axe, Ruby, to their teammates.
"O-Of course I could." Weiss breathed, blinking back the moisture that was gathering in the corner of her eye.
"Well, I call that a success!" Ruby called, turning her head to look at Blake and Yang but not dropping Weiss. Blake looked a little stunned while Yang was a bit more on the 'annoyed' side. She was staring at the way Weiss was being carried and a frown was settled deep on her lips. "Time to hit the showers, I'm getting pizza for a job well-done."
"We had to go at it for like, four times longer. At least." Blake complained, crossing her arms. "That's bullshit."
"Will you forgive me if yours has anchovies?"
Blake sighed dramatically. "Done."
Blake, Yang, and Weiss all sat around a table in one of their dorm's common rooms, relaxing in bean chairs. The room was designed for maximum 'chill' as Glynda would say, many sofas pointed at TVs and other sources of entertainment. The table they were sitting at was only a few feet off the ground, so they got to slouch down while munching away.
They were waiting for Ruby to get back, the woman had slipped away right after they finished showering to grab their meal. The grand elevator at the cliff side of the school grounds had a ring of restaurants and such around it to serve the student population. Despite many requests to bid on buying or occupying Academy land, the admin had never budged, and so the students had to go a bit afield.
"So Weiss, how do you feel about training?" Yang asked, conversationally. She was sitting opposite Weiss, leaned back and fiddling with her scroll.
"It's ineffective." Weiss said after a considerable pause. "Ruby is pushing us too hard. We're too exhausted for our other responsibilities, and she's training us to fight people, not Grimm."
"So you noticed too." Blake hemmed. She sat up straighter, mostly to reach for the bottle of painkillers in the middle of the table. "She could word things differently and it wouldn't feel weird, you know? Training endurance, working around your weaknesses, whatever, is normal. Predicating everything with 'when fighting someone who' something or other is a bit…"
"Weird?" Yang offered.
"Right." Blake nodded. "Maybe we should take a break from training. I don't want to have to go on a field assignment on a Friday and be too tired to fight an Ursa."
"So what do you think, Weiss?" Yang asked, looking up from her tablet. "We're thinking of telling Ruby we want to call off training for the next little while. We can keep in shape with our required fitness, and take a load off for a bit."
Weiss drummed her fingers on the table as she thought. "If you want to work on your strengths in an 'easy' way, you're better off sticking with the combat schedule Glynda has us following." She crossed her arms. "So, if you two want to quit, I won't stop you, as long as you keep up your training elsewhere. I, however, will be continuing on with Ruby. Even if I don't think it's all that effective I doubt we'll learn as much about our weaknesses from the faculty."
"She definitely knows how to beat us." Blake sighed. "Her Semblance is too flexible, but even just on her feet she's recognized flaws in how all of us fight." She looked to Yang for her opinion. "I think our problem is just that we need a break."
"It doesn't have to be a permanent thing." Yang said firmly. "We just need some time. I love Ruby but I want a break from being so damn sore."
Sore was one word for it. She had been sneaking painkillers with alarming frequency just to keep from flinching whenever she sat down in the cafeteria. She'd considered getting a topical anesthetic from the nurse, then read the dosing guidelines and realized that full-body application would have put her in a coma.
"Fine." Weiss sniffed. "There's a break soon, right?" Pulling out her scroll she opened the calendar app, and laid it out on the table. In two weeks there would be a five day weekend to cap off the first set of practicals, giving them a buffer of three weeks until they'd be at it again. "We should be rested for the practical, and Ruby won't make us work on our break."
"See?" Yang said with a smile. "It's gonna be great. We'll relax, take a team spa day, and get back to pushing the boulder up the mountain another time."
She laughed, then winced because laughing hurt.
Ruby was humming a jaunty tune as she exited the Pizza Palace, the purveyors of the finest pizza within a hundred feet of the elevator to Beacon. On one hand she spun the pizza box as if it were some heinously defective basketball, in the other she carried a plastic bag. Said bag had three cans of grapefruit soda (for Yang, who loved the worst citrus fruit the gods had chosen to gift man), a can of iced bergamot (for Weiss, who found the concept so revolting that she drank it for the novelty), and a small paper bag of creamy earl gray. For Blake, because Ruby had to balance out the ghoulishness with at least a little bit of thoughtfulness.
She made it most of the way to the elevator when someone walked up beside her and smoothly snatched the pizza from her fingertip. Ruby was a bit stunned by the brazen theft, whirling a bit slowly to see green hair slip around a corner into an alley.
"Fuck me." Ruby breathed as she followed, rolling her eyes.
She stepped into the narrow street, just wide enough for a single delivery cart to squeeze through. She skirted past garbage and recycling cans and errant rubbish as she moved away from the bustle of the Court and into the quiet of the dark.
When she was a dozen paces or so along, and was now flanked by inscrutable graffiti art she huffed. "How do you know where I am."
"Maybe it was a coincidence." Emerald said around a mouthful of pizza as she faded into sight right behind Ruby. The Huntress jumped in place before turning around. Cinder's pet thief had the pizza box cracked open, a slice of pepperoni in one hand. "Maybe it was the tracker Cinder installed on your scroll." Emerald eyed Ruby's bag of refreshments, then looked to Ruby with a pout.
"You're like a puppy Cinder adopted when I wasn't looking." Ruby groused, pulling one of Yang's sodas out of the bag. She held it like a weapon when she pointed it at Emerald. "Gimme the pizza and you get your drink."
After a moment's pause for dramatic effect Emerald shrugged and the exchange was made. Ruby hid her amusement when Emerald didn't check the labeling for what the drink was. When she took a swig she coughed, clearly not expecting the bitter, acrid flavour. Ruby does not laugh because it would be unkind, but she does gasp lightly in fake shock as Emerald makes a face of pure disgust.
"Oh no, don't drink that, oh no." Ruby breathes as if she's calling from some great distance, not a little more than arm's length. Emerald scowls, which does not bother Ruby in the least as she asks, "What's the news?"
Emerald frowned. "The raid is being moved up. Some of Roman's goons got picked up for being sloppy. They'll be sprung soon enough but things are starting to get tense in the ports." She shrugged. "Some people are seeing Atlas shipping containers come in. Some people are saying they're for the Vytal festival."
"Moved up… when?" Ruby asked, eyes narrowed.
Yang smiled when she heard the door to the common room open and Ruby swept into the room smelling like cheap pizza. Her sister answered her smile with a waggle of the brows and tossed the pizza into the middle of the table.
"Gourmet, only the finest for the girls." Ruby said with a flourish, now handing out the drinks. Yang whooped when she got her vile potion, Weiss sighed, and Blake offered a small thank-you as she went about making tea. Good thing Ruby remembered to text her to put a kettle on. Good thing this common room even had a kettle.
Yang opened the pizza box to reveal the tripartate pepperoni, pesto-seafood, and plain mozza — for Yang, Blake, and Weiss respectively. The girls plated up a couple slices each, Ruby taking a slice of Weiss' and Yang's, and they fell into an easy quiet as they ate.
Before Yang could ask about taking a break in their training Ruby cleared her throat to speak.
"So… What do you all think of going to Patch for the break?"