AN: New version of Woodcutter's Axe, new direction and several removed writing error.
Blake had been nose-down in a book for the past half-ish hour while another duo of would-be Huntsmen and Huntresses duked it out on the show floor below. She had lifted her eyes from the page a couple of times to see who exactly was competing, but time and time again she found herself somewhat bored. A lot of these people didn't look like they'd seen real combat in their life; either against a real adversary or a Grimm.
She, along with the couple dozen other youth, were sitting in the combat hall in Beacon, lined sparsely among the bleachers. They were the remainder that hadn't been tested yet, waiting their turn to prove their worth.
"All those of you who have applied to Beacon academy without prior experience at a combat school must first compete in combat trials. These are for your own safety, to prove that you have the requisite ability to fight the creatures of Grimm, as well as the safety of others. If you found yourself helpless whilst protecting civilians, who would be able to protect both you and your charges?"
Glynda had gone on and on about the topic, and had reiterated it between matches as if it would help the bruised egos – and ruined dreams – of those who had been given the boot, as it were.
The swiftness of the process surprised the Faunus, who noted that though there was a one-on-one selection process, most of the pairs were summarily eliminated. She turned her gaze up to watch two people who looked like they were competent with blades square each other up in traditional fencing poses. They looked like they were ready to duel on a pirate ship, as if swashbuckling was the call of a Huntsmen, not the slaying of beasts.
Before the match even begun, Blake already knew what was going to happen. One of them, as they both looked competent, would eke out a 'fencing' victory, which would lead to their double-elimination.
She was about halfway through her current page when Blake heard the announcement, and nodded to herself. The criteria for passing Glynda's test seemed pretty simple. Fight a fight which would lend itself to victory over an enemy, not an opponent in a sports arena. Victories didn't have to be decisive, judging by the fact that even those who lost were sometimes given an offer to join regardless.
Fight hard, prove thyself in the fields of battle and proveth thine soul to the heavens above! The quote, obtrusively forcing its way into her mind, caused a flush of embarrassment to flush her skin for a half moment before she recuperated. She glanced sideways to see if the only person nearby had noticed, but she seemed distracted by the fight below, much to Blake's relief.
"They're pretty good." The sudden comment caused Blake to jump, closing the book on her own finger as a reflex so she wouldn't lose her place. Another sidelong glance confirmed that the young woman hadn't noticed her lapse, and Blake nearly let out a sigh of relief. "Really good."
The Faunus nodded in agreement slowly, not offering any comment as it wasn't really clear if the Brunette expected one. There was an awkward break of a few seconds before she sized up the fight below and decided to offer her best non-committal reply:
"They're fine, I guess."
This carefully disinterested remark, born of a lifetime of practiced indifference didn't seem to give the hint Blake was going for. With a certain amount of incredulity, the girl turned, leveling a look that was an equal mix disappointment and scrutiny.
The disappointment Blake registered immediately, causing a bitter taste to grow in her mouth, though the pout on the girl's face did something to offset the feeling.
"Are you even watching the matches?" The girl questioned, her tone belying her obvious disapproval. It wasn't biting, however, and Blake noted that everything the girl seemed to express had a playful hint. She continued, with this same lighthearted sarcasm. "Too busy fighting the pages of a book to take a look?"
"It's certainly very interesting." Blake stated dully, holding it up as if to remind the girl that there was something important she was being kept from. "And I would love to get back to it. Right now."
"Alright, alright, Just one question, I guess." The woman sighed, shaking her head. "Are you better than them?"
Blake's eyes narrowed, "Why?"
The girl shrugged. "I don't know. You sort of glanced at the two that were fencing before, and looked away as if you weren't watching a world-class match right in front of you."
Blake wasn't embarrassed that she had been caught, but she was a little thrown off that the girl had chided her, and her brows creased once more. She didn't really have an answer to that.
"I guess…" Blake shrugged. "It's a fight. I've seen it before, I don't really find it interesting."
"You don't think it might be educational?" The girl pressed, her tone again teasing. Blake recognized it now as the girl trying to be funny, maybe. If Blake had been in a terribly conversational mood, which she wasn't, she might've taken the bait. "I mean, Stella Jay is the best boxer in Vale and here she is trying to knock out a guy in armor and making some progress. It's pretty impressive."
Opening up about her strengths and weaknesses as a fighter wasn't on Blake's plate for the evening, so she turned her nose back to her book and cracked it open. She did, from time to time, did steal glances at the fight. The Faunus despite herself found the fight between Jay and this unknown man wielding a mace to be quite to be entertaining. The brawler was strong, and despite this 'Cardin's superior strength and strong aura she was able to effectively hold her own.
However, when the time ran out on their fight, Glynda motioned to speak with Jay. The two spoke quietly, and it was clear to see that despite her best efforts, she would be eliminated here. Her shoulders sagged and she gave a curt nod, and she scaled the steps her head was hung low with a sad smile. She would try again next year, that much was plainly obvious.
And in that way, Blake noticed what the girl was talking about. Though Cardin got the go-ahead to join Beacon, and his Aura was strong, Blake could tell from how he was walking that he would be feeling pain for the next little while. It was an impressive feat, considering that the aura register for Jay had been dead the entire time, whilst Cardin's been a strong green. She didn't only get a few punches past him, the Faunus realized, she must have been walking all over him to manage to bruise his jaw like she had.
She didn't get hit once and her only tools were her gloves and her wits.
Blake almost felt like commenting on that to the mystery girl, but the grin she was on the receiving end of made it clear she had been read. Before she could huff once more and steel her resolve to ignore the pest Glynda's microphone whined with some reverb.
"Our next combatants are Blake Belladonna and…" The pause that followed was a hair too long, and Blake noticed that Glynda was scanning the crowd with raised brows. "Ruby Rose?"
The tone of voice rung distinctly uncertain, as if she couldn't really believe the words on the page. Blake herself felt drawn to look around to see who was so strange to have caused the Huntress to look so confused.
She didn't have to look far, as the girl beside her stood, waving an arm over her head.
"Ruby here!" She shouted, picking a weapon off of the bench beside her and slinging it over her shoulder. She then turned to Blake and smiled. "Looks like that's my cue!" She winked, her grin widening. "Promise to watch?"
Blake's eyes drifted to Glynda, who seemed stunned.
That's… More than strange. Blake thought as she stood herself, holding up her hand for Huntress to see, though she only got a distracted glance from the blonde. "I don't have much of a choice." Blake sighed, as if she was being forced into this – which she was—and keeping the suspicion out of her tone.
"And here I thought you were only here to read books to the sound of gunfire." Ruby chuckled. "Well, I'll see you in the pit!"
Before Blake could reply Ruby hopped down from the bleachers into the arena below, her landing accented by the jingle of metal on metal. The wrapped weapon she had slung over her back seemed rather large, broad and flat at one end and narrow at the other, looking like some sort of axe. The way she shifted it as she walked made it look like it was a bit heavy, even for her.
From Blake's position she could see Glynda fold her scroll and look at Ruby expectantly, though from the set of the younger woman's shoulders she didn't seem to be in the sharing mood. Weirder and weirder.
The Faunus packed her book into her bag and walked along the bleachers slowly. She was pretty sure that her best bet to stay at Beacon would be to lay low. If the girl who had been pestering her was already drawing attention from one of the teachers there, it would probably be a good idea to steer clear of her. The last thing she needed would be to get involved with anyone as suspicious as this 'Ruby'.
When she reached the raised platform where she and Ruby would be fighting the other girl was stretching her arms over her head and rolling her shoulders. She had ditched her poncho on the side, leaving her undergarments exposed. She wore a simple black shirt made of some sort of wicking fabric which hugged her body and reached from her neck down to waist, where it was tucked into a pair of heavy duty trousers. She was clothed for a lot of upper body motion, and given her combat boots and the loops on her pants the girl seemed used to wearing heavier armour. Blake wondered idly just what sort of person comes to a huntsman academy prepped for armed warfare, but then again this was an institution for fighting monsters.
Ruby sniffed slightly and Blake's eyes jumped back up to her face. The other girl, maybe a woman since she looked a few years older than Blake, seemed to smile at the apparent embarrassment. The girl's short hair did little to hide the wide smile she was sporting.
"As much as I love a good cloak," Ruby began wistfully, nodding to where her red cape had been folded off to the side of the ring, "It's too easy to grab on to. Not really practical for a fight."
Blake wasn't sure how to respond, given that it was basically an accusation that she would fight dirty. Blake did want to prove herself, but she wasn't sure if she'd be so low as to go for such a cheap shot...
"But if you really like it, I wouldn't mind putting it back on, just don't tear it." Ruby chuckled as Blake's eyes once more shifted quickly. Her smile grew a bit as Blake motioned for them to begin the test. "Too cu-."
"Do you ever stop?" Blake said with some sharpness in her voice, cutting Ruby off.
The girl seemed to consider that for a moment before shrugging. "I guess we'll find out."
Blake turned on her scroll and slipped it into a pocket on her shorts, turning on the aura detector, and caught sight of the bar on the display blinking to life, her aura registering green. Ruby's name was on the board as well, but the aura reading seemed to be a bit strange, the color an off-blue.
The bell to begin the fight rung, and the two walked further apart, Ruby taking a position further from where they were standing before. A few seconds passed before Ruby tilted her head towards the Faunus, who nodded. No sooner had she done so than the girl across the room full disappeared with a great whoosh of air like a jet engine. Blake had just enough time to dive to the side and leave an after-image behind and take a haymaker that was aimed right at her chest.
That's some wicked speed. Blake growled to herself as she rolled to her feet and backed up a pace. Ruby seemed legitimately perplexed by the shadowy version of the faunus that she had somehow managed to impale through the chest. She pulled her arm free with minor difficulty, turning her head to Blake with a question in her eyes.
Giving herself a ten foot buffer, Blake brandished her weapon and considered her options. Ruby still had her weapon wrapped, and while her thumb and forefinger tugged at the cord which wrapped around her chest, she didn't seem to be interested in using it. Her speed was overwhelming, closing a thirty foot gap in no time at all, but Blake had to assume that the woman couldn't react that well while doing so. Tunnel vision was a real thing after all.
The Faunus lunged forward and took a swipe with the combined cleaver during her approach, forcing Ruby to take a half step back. Rooting her feet on the ground again she pressed on with the weapon in its cleaver form, using swift and broad slashes to force the defending girl back inch by inch.
The slicing motions were silent in the air, and only the sound of Ruby's boots against the floor were audible, their distinct clicking and clacking where the heel and toe contacted the ground a bizarre noise. Blake herself wasn't one much for shouting when fighting, and it seemed that Ruby wasn't either, given her slightly opened lips and steady breathing.
Silence aside, the other strange thing that Blake noticed was how Ruby was handling her weapon. The fact that it wasn't drawn could indicate a few things, that it was not useful for fighting against nimble opponents for example, but the Faunus was wary. The girl's arms were quite muscled but unarmoured, so the half-movements Ruby would make to block seemed amateur. She'd catch herself in time to not take a blade to her arms, but it was the sort of instinct that only the most novice of fighters had.
Whether or not Ruby was an amateur or not aside, the girl's footwork proved to be sufficient to keep herself on-beat. Blake found herself hard-pressed to find any advantage because it never seemed like she was able to put Ruby off-balance. At every vertical slash the girl would pivot around the Faunus to redirect the direction of the fight.
Still wary of Ruby's unrevealed weapon, Blake drew her sword from the sheathe and used the moment to cross-up. Leaving an afterimage she slipped sideways and slashed horizontally at the Ruby's midsection. As she slid on her knees she saw the weapon on Ruby's back rotate along her body, almost like a hula hoop. The Faunus watched as the strap slid along Ruby's back to spin the body of her weapon in the way of the blade.
The clang of Blake's blade and Ruby's weapon filled the room, and Ruby's head whipped to Blake's new position with surprise in her eyes, which quickly narrowed. Blake could tell the expression was for show, it was no accident that the other girl had blocked.
"Not cool." Ruby deadpanned as she pulled her weapon off her back and dropped it on the ground. She obviously wasn't worried about damaging the thing as she did so, and it hit the ground with a dull thud, the wrappings still holding tight. With the weight free of her shoulders she took a moment to stretch, her eyes trained on the Faunus as her expression shifted from levity to something a bit darker. Her lips curled into a half smile as her hands curled into fists and she dropped into a fighting stance.
Holding her weapon warily, Blake realized that one of the reasons Ruby was so muscular had to be the weight of her weapon, and if she was fast before, she'd be even harder to manage now.
Blake scrambled to her feet and raised her weapons to block, but the other girl seemed content to watch for a moment. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other casting a glance behind Blake, to where Glynda probably was. What's with all the waiting? She keeps doing things and then holding off, waiting for something to happen.
Her musings were cut very short when Ruby flashed forwards without her semblance, covering the gap between the two of them in a single stride. With one hand forward Ruby attempted to strike at Blake's chest. Once again the Faunus ducked to the side, but unlike before Ruby followed, redirecting her weight as she twisted her body and lifted her leg. The motion was minimal and swift, and Blake only had a moment to realize that there was a knee coming straight for her chest. With no way to block, and being far too committed to her movement to stop, she took a deep breath and waited for the blow to connect.
Blake could feel her aura flexing under the force of the attack and taking the brunt of the force for her. Even still she fairly bounced away from Ruby, landing on her back and rolling for a moment before she caught herself. When her feet hit the ground she pushed off, cartwheeling backwards and landing crouched with her blade in front of her at the ready.
Through squinted eyes she could see she landed about thirty feet away, near the opposite end of the arena. She was surprised she'd made it that far, and with a glance up at the overhead monitor she could see that her aura was still holding. She'd need to do something soon to make a statement about her abilities, else she'd get eliminated without really trying.
She had a disadvantage. Ruby was obviously faster and stronger than the Faunus, her years of training not quite matching her opponents experience. Even without a weapon Ruby was a force to be reckoned with, and Blake knew that if the other girl wasn't holding back she wouldn't even be in the ring right now. Her pride stung at the thought, but she'd take these pulled punches to Adam's biting critique any day of the week.
Making full use of the time she had while Ruby strode towards her, Blake made sure that the ribbon that was fastened to Gambol Shroud was securely wrapped around her arm. Giving it an experimental tug she was satisfied with the result, and she settled on a new game plan. Zoning.
With the safety on the glock disabled it was time to get to work.
With narrow timing Ruby lifted the broadside of her axe like a shield, jumping forwards the swinging blade at the same time. With weapons on long cords like Blake's, your only options were either dodging, or blocking at the sharp end. If you were too close, and you tried to stop it at the cord, all you did was give the blade a new pivot to rotate on. But if you knocked the Blade's momentum off with a strike, you could avoid the deadly propeller that could be swinging around your own neck.
Blake, of course, knew this weakness. During sparring sessions with Adam it had been made abundantly clear that her ranged attacks were anything but unavoidable to most skilled fighters. That's why Gambol Shroud could be fired remotely.
Just as Ruby was about to deny the attack Blake gave a sharp tug on the ribbon attached to her hand, activating the trigger from where she stood. The barrel of the gun, pointed downward in the weapon's slightly angled trajectory, flashed as a bullet was fired and popped the blade up in a sharp bump.
The effect was simple, and took only a fraction of a second. What should have been a clean block by Ruby was turned into a free hit by Blake as her weapon slipped over Ruby's axe and was sent on a clean collision course with her skull. Blake could see a little frown settle on Ruby's face just before the hit, which almost made Blake laugh.
Not giving the axewoman a chance to recover, Blake brought the weapon to bear again, but Ruby was ready this time, driving the fork of her axe over the ribbon to prevent Blake from moving Gambol Shroud. Blake tugged hard, but as the blade caught against the edge of the axe it was clear that it wasn't going to be moving.
She wasn't given much time to ponder, as Ruby lunged again. She didn't use that blinding speed, which Blake was relieved to see, but she did move quite quickly. She was on Blake with a flurry of fists, which Blake found herself frustratingly dodging. She still had the cleaver sheathe, but she kept having to block with both of her arms when a heavy-footed strike aimed for her chest was launched.
Blake noted, despite herself, and with a none-to-small smidge of sarcasm, that Ruby was probably just as dangerous without her weapon as she was with it. Even if I don't have to worry about my head. She thought, dryly.
As this little barrage continued, and as Blake started to feel more confident that while Ruby was certainly strong, she wasn't exactly lethal with her fists, she started to feel, rather than see, a pattern.
Ruby wasn't one to let up on her punches and kicks, that much was clear, and while she did feel like a particularly aggressive wall there was a certain order of strikes she used. Usually three attacks in a row, split between punches and kicks, would be accented by a particularly strong fourth hit which stung like being stabbed. Sometimes she cut it short to three. But the last hit always came from about the same place as the first hit, meaning that where she attacked was predictable enough that Blake was able to keep her block up.
Even so, Blake knew she wasn't going to be able to win from her position, only draw out the fight, and while Ruby was proving to Glynda that she had the speed and the strength to be a Huntress, the Faunus knew that she hadn't done much to plead her case to the onlookers.
She came to Beacon to make a statement about who she was. Not to be beaten into a corner by a girl who didn't even have her weapon at hand.
"You're doing really well." Ruby murmured, her voice soft but a bit strained as she continued to attack. "But aren't you forgetting a little trick of yours?"
Blake was confused for a moment before she remembered her own semblance and internally scoffed. She had completely forgotten in the moment Ruby had switched the tempo of the battle, and here she was looking for an out when she had one ready.
Clenching her fists for a moment she decided to do something a bit risky. Ruby was trying to help her out, at least that was the impression, but as the blows continued to land in their rhythmic pounding it was clear she wasn't going to go out of her way.
Blake had questions, but as another round of hits came her way she decided it was better to contemplate them later.
She rolled the die on which hit was going to be the strongest one this time, more forcefully batting away a straight kick to her torso as well as a jab to her stomach. The third hit she sensed would be the bruiser, and when Ruby's hand splayed and she tilted her forearm to elbow Blake in the collarbone she knew she guessed right.
Slipping away as a shadow, Blake repositioned herself and made a dash for Gambol Shroud, which was surprisingly close given the pressure Ruby had put on her. In fact, now that she had the moments to think clearly, it made sense that they couldn't be too far or else the ribbon on her arm would have gone taut.
Allowing the ribbon on her arm to slide off, she dived over the axe and swept up her weapon, careful not to accidentally set of the gun and shoot randomly. When it was in her hands she activated the ratchet in the hilt which coiled the ribbon, smoothly sliding the black cord between the Axe's twin prongs. Wrapping the cord once more around her arm the Faunus lingered near the axe, weapon fully drawn.
Ruby hadn't made chase, she had instead dropped into another fighting stance, patiently waiting for Blake to recover. She had a slight smile on her face, and after a half-beat, she disappeared for the third time of the match.
Fully aware of how well her knee-jerk reactions had treated her before, Blake turned on a dime to face Ruby, who was already halfway through a jab. Flashing away again, and repositioning, Blake was able to get a good angle at Ruby's side, and she lunged with a lateral slash, which Ruby dodged back and away from, letting Blake make chase.
"So what book were you reading earlier?" Ruby asked as she ducked away from Blake's slash, diving away when the Faunus followed up with a kick to the gut. "Looked interesting."
Blake scoffed at the question, but somehow wasn't surprised. "Do you ever stop?"
The other girl seemed to chuckle and pause to tap her chin. "Don't know. Never really had to before, so—"
Blake rolled her eyes and fired two shots at the 2-bit comedian, who made a small yelping noise and threw herself back from both the bullets. The following swing with the kusarigama forced Ruby to flip backwards over the slice, landing on her feet and groaning when a second attack followed. The glint in her eye belied her mischief, however, and she flashed forward to stop in front of Blake before leaping over her with a great bound.
Blake had instinctively dropped a clone the second she saw Ruby move, her reflexes now warmed up enough that the slight change in Ruby's stance was enough warning. She readied herself to leap in with a kick, only to see Ruby dive to the ground and cover her head with her hands. This was immediately followed by the rather familiar silhouette of Gambol Shroud rocketing past Ruby's head at a blistering speed away from her. Blake had lost track of where her weapon was in the blitz, and at that speed...
Blake could only watch in amazement as the weapon shot like a bullet. She was then reminded of her quickly approaching predicament when the slack in her ribbon gave out and she found herself being tugged forward with a great jerk. She stumbled for a few feet before, lo and behold, her ankle caught on the prone form of Ruby Rose.
Losing her balance, the Faunus tumbled forward, catching herself with her hands while her shins laid on Ruby's lower back. Trying desperately to hold back her embarrassment, she held her head low, while Ruby panted audibly.
"I have… Been slain." She rasped, making a dramatic noise of death that sounded like it had been ripped straight from a B-movie. She even let her forehead hit the ground loud enough that Blake could hear the thud.
Sounds hollow. Blake thought. But why did she… Stop the match?
The entire pace of the fight had been strange, and as Blake picked herself up from the ground she noticed that Ruby continued to play dead. The buzzer went off, indicating that the match had actually gone to time, which surprised Blake, and she glanced to Glynda to see her with an inscrutable expression. The woman's gaze was piercing, and her jaw was set as she glared at the unmoving woman.
"Psst." Blake heard, and she looked down to see Ruby looking at her with one cracked open eye. "Does she look mad?"
"Miss Rose, if you would not mind pulling yourself from the dust for one moment." Rang the pointed words of the witch, the toe of her heels clacking against the ground in an impatient tapping.
"She's mad." Blake deadpanned, to which Ruby audibly grumbled and stood, brushing herself off with her hands. She had a bit of a pout, which was a little cute, though the Faunus could also detect a little bit of apprehension in how she was carrying herself.
"See you later?" Ruby asked with some hopefulness in her voice, passing Blake by as she walked to her great axe and pulled it from the ground, clicking some hidden button to cause the blade of the weapon to fold in two and coil up against the hilt. When Blake didn't say anything the girl paused and looked over her shoulder and met eyes with the Faunus. She looked a little hurt.
"Is she going to pass?" Murmured the young girl that was following Glynda along a dim corridor. She had been silent ever since they left the combat amphitheater, so the Witch was surprised that she decided to pipe up now, so much later.
"Of course. Even with your… Sandbagging." Glynda's tone was biting, intentionally so. She paused in front of the bronze doors of an elevator and tapped the 'call' button with a manicured finger. She then whirled around with pomp to face the young huntress directly. "I'm sure you must realize that most will see your actions as trying to mock the girl."
"That wasn't my…" Ruby bit off the end of whatever she was going to say and her shoulders sagged. Glynda took the moment to get a better look at the younger girl, still not quite believing that Qrow's long-lost niece would be alive.
The Huntress tapped her foot absentmindedly. There is no denying it… Her brow creased and her nose turned slightly. The girl was the right age, about the same height that Summer was at that time, had her telltale silver eyes, the same embarrassed expression… It was almost like young Summer had risen from the grave. That much is to be expected. They were mother and daughter after all.
"But to answer your question." Glynda relented when she noticed that Ruby was maintaining her pout. "Yes."
Ruby seemed relieved, but remained silent as she followed Glynda into the elevator. She didn't offer any more words and neither did the witch, who was quite willing to let Ozpin do his work when they arrived. In the gentle light of the Elevator the witch closed her eyes and listened to the gentle tick of the clockwork gears which propelled the machine, quieting the questions which threatened to spill unbidden from her mouth.
Why had Qrow not contacted them to let them know she was coming? Did the man not know that his own niece had made it back to Vale proper without anyone noticing? Surely someone that Qrow had made contact with over the years would have some information on Ruby – especially if the girl was alive and within reasonable proximity to the Kingdom. The man had too many eyes, Ironwood would often comment.
The door opened with a soft chime and the witch marched Ruby out of the elevator towards Ozpin, who was doing a fairly good job of pretending that they were unexpected. The bespectacled man was, as per usual, mug in hand when he turned from his supposed watch over the campus. Glynda, who could read the man as easily as ever, could have rolled her eyes when the man's brows lifted noticeably, and his eyes took a confused expression.
Ozpin was a brilliant man, but theatre was not his strong suit, and at times like this he didn't truly need to be roundabout. The girl would not be surprised if he already knew who she was. At least, she shouldn't be at this juncture.
"Ruby Rose." Glynda stated, matter-of-factly, indicating to the girl with her chin. "Qrow's Niece."
Ozpin took a dramatic sip from what was probably an empty mug before responding. "Is this true?"
Ruby seemed to hesitate before responding. "Do all of you know Qrow?" She sounded a bit incredulous.
"As headmaster of the academy that teaches the finest Huntsmen and Huntresses of Vale, Qrow and I have been friends for a number of years." Ozpin smiled. "He often had high praise for his eldest niece. Thought you might be a great huntress one day."
Ruby said something under her breath in a tone which caught Glynda's ear. She couldn't make it all out, but the gist sounded somewhat bitter. It caused her already perpetually furrowed brows to dig a little deeper towards the bridge of her nose, though her suspicions were most dispelled with the girl's next words.
"So… Qrow is still alive?" She asked, her voice nearly a whisper.
What? Glynda's expression turned to one of surprise, head turning fully to look at the young woman. What was she talking about? The only thing that Glynda expected could kill the man was his liver, which his alcoholism had done quite a number to over the past decade.
"Because the last time I saw Qrow…" Ruby began, sounding a bit doubtful. "He was being thrown off a cliff by a Grimm."
There was silence in the room as the Headmaster and Witch exchanged glances. Both of them recognized this as the part of the story that Qrow could never fill in. His story began and ended within a minute, but there was an entire lifetime of Ruby's that wasn't accounted for, which both adults realized was standing between the two of them at that very moment.
"I assure you that Qrow is well." Ozpin stated with complete sincerity. "He recovered from the fall swiftly, but at that time you had already disappeared, leaving Yang behind. He suffered minor scrapes and bruises, but what was far greater a pain was the fact that you simply disappeared from the face of Remnant. He feared the worst."
Ruby had relaxed considerably when Ozpin began that statement, but her expression was a bit hard by the time it was done. The Headmaster seemed to realize his mistake and broke eye contact with the girl for a moment to contemplate how to proceed.
The girl had been gone for nearly a decade. Ozpin had, unfortunately, approached the matter as if she were a child which had gotten lost in the woods over the weekend, rather than someone who many expected to be dead, rather than alive.
"Have you contacted your family yet?" Glynda asked. The girl shook her head. "Would you like to?"
Ruby paused at that, before sighing. "I don't remember what our phone number is." She blushed, the color rising to the tips of her exposed ears. "It's been a while."
Glynda nodded, before holding her hand out to Ruby, who handed her the Scroll she had borrowed before the fight. The witch was starting to reconsider whether or not having the girl fight at all was a good idea. The girl's vehement denial at first had put Glynda in an awkward spot in front of the other students, and to be honest she thought the name had to be a coincidence. It wasn't until she saw the girl's skill with her own eyes, and the selfsame playfulness that Qrow himself still expressed from time to time, that she was convinced.
But maybe that was callous of her. She didn't really know.
She searched for Taiyang's contact information through Signal's instructor listings while Ozpin corralled Ruby towards his desk, where he found a chair for her and offered both women a drink, which Glynda declined but Ruby accepted gratefully. Ozpin set about grabbing the drinks while the witch dialed the number she found, waiting to see if Tai would pick up as late as it was on his work contact.
Five rings in and Ruby deflated a bit, glancing out the large windows of Ozpin's office with a deflated expression. "It's probably late for him…" She trailed off as if she was going to ask a question before biting it off in the air. "I'll see if I can call him… Sometime."
Glynda waited for five more rings to pass before closing her scroll and slipping it into a pocket in her skirt and crossing her arms. Ozpin spoke up in her place, handing a steaming glass of something or other to the girl and taking a seat on the other side of the table. "I won't force you to speak with your family to study here Miss Rose." He began, motioning to the young huntress with his mug. "You are nineteen, correct?" He waited for the nod before continuing. "Then you don't require any release from your parent for your lack of combat training."
"Miss Rose showed acceptable combat proficiency." Was Glynda's curt assessment. She rarely gave glowing assessments of any of her students, so while Ruby seemed a bit nervous Glynda meant nothing harsh by it. "She will be among peers in first year."
The muffled but still quite visible sigh of relief that Ruby made caused Ozpin's lips to turn at the corners, and Glynda herself smiled. Neither she nor him knew what had brought this girl to their doorstep unannounced, and the Witch didn't know how the girl learned to fight like she did, but the fact that she was just as nervous as any other first year about getting in was charming.
"Speaking of, I imagine you would want to get to meet the rest of your fellow students. I'll see about getting contact with Taiyang, and in the meantime…" He trailed off when Ruby stood, draining the contents of her mug in one long series of gulps. She finished the rather impressive display of insensitivity to heat by putting the mug a little to enthusiastically back down on the table, where it clanged jarringly. There was a pause as Ruby looked sheepish, and the two instructors winced at the noise. Ozpin continued, "I'll not keep you here then. Enjoy your first night at Beacon."
The girl nodded vigorously a couple of times before walking briskly from the room and into the waiting elevator. When she was out of sight Ozpin's expression turned pensive, and he took a deep breath before regarding Glynda. "I'm frankly amazed. She doesn't bear the countenance of someone living in the wilderness for half their life."
"I agree." Glynda concurred, placing her hands on her hips. "A strong aura, a realized semblance, unarmed combat skills…" The woman sighed. "She seems like she's fresh out of Signal." The man's grunt gave the Huntress pause. "Do you think it's suspicious?"
"Perhaps." The headmaster conceded, shrugging. "But full aware am I that life outside the walls of the Kingdom has given rise to as many skilled warriors as any of Vale's institutions. Of somewhat greater concern to me is her weapon."
"The Axe?"
"A Labrys." Ozpin corrected. "And an oversized one at that." Ozpin scratched his chin for a moment. "If memory serves, the combat style is mostly dead. In stories of ancient Vale the first to defend against the Grimm used oversized weapons along with their raw semblance to fight against the first monsters that appeared. A weapon for a monster among men, to fight the monsters of the night." The man arched a brow, but instead of pressing on with the story he relented. "We'll have to ask her where exactly she learned such a skill."
AN: First couple chapters will be very similar to original, but it'll diverge from there.