Disclaimer: The following is a nonprofit fanfiction of RWBY. RWBY belongs to Monty Oum(RIP) and Rooster Teeth. Any likeness to writings of others is not intentional. To help with improvements: Read and Review!

"Stupid Yang and her rasumfrasum…" Blake grumbled while stomping off to the library. "Reset the game? Oh! I'll reset the game!"

Getting to her destination, she took out her book to help get in her happy place. Torriel may be dead, but she can have the comfort knowing it wasn't directly by her hands. Seeing no one would be able to read behind her, she continued with the next chapter.


Chapter 6: Lessons

"Again!" Blake commanded her princess after she had dropped her bokken. "Always go back into the home stance after a strike."

"Yes, Sensei!" Ruby panted, forcing herself back into her stance.

Benzaiten's princess and company were still far from reaching the Dust Empire. Princess Ruby has been taking lessons from Jaune, Blake, and Velvet daily and has shown great drive in learning. Shikimashi had interacted with a few merchant ships and Ruby took it as another opportunity to learn about trade and cultures. On one day, she had received an item she would be proud to call the first item she had received on her own.

Flashback

S.S Shikimashi had ran into another trading ship on the waters. As Pyrrha called out to them, the owner of the ship had boarded her vessel. A silver haired man with a cane selling different varieties that went by the name Ozpin.

Ruby had stepped out in curiosity to see his goods. After getting permission to look aboard his ship, her three guards had followed her as she explored the silver haired man's goods. Blake was enamored by the delicacies the captain had to offer. As she looked around, she spotted Jaune examining the fine jewelry on display while Velvet had pointed many things to the princess. As they were about to leave, something had caught the princess's eye.

"Excuse me sir?" She called out to the silver haired merchant. "What is that?"

Pointing her finger to an item wrapped in a gray cloth, the old merchant had unfurled it to show her the item. It was a weapon similar to a spear, but the head was much more larger and heavy. It also had a beautiful red cloth cascading down where the head and shaft connected.

"This my dear." He said, holding it out to her. "Is a Guan Dao. A marvelous item I procured in the Gong Empire. A deadly weapon used by the monks and soldiers in their temples."

The look in the princess's eyes was priceless to her guards as her eys roamed the item.

"How much for it?" She asked, patting her clothing for her coin purse.

"Obtaining this was no easy feat." Ozpin said with a winning smile. "The monks were uncertain to sell it to me, but after much asking they relented. For this weapon, I say seventy gold pieces."

Before Ruby could agree quickly, Jaune had patted her on the shoulder to stop her.

"Remember Princess, this is a trade." He whispered into her ear. "The price isn't set. You can barter for a lower price."

Nodding, the princess turned back to the merchant with her own winning smile. "Seventy seems a bit too much for a weapon, don't you think? The blacksmiths in my country sell for forty at max."

"Ah, but we aren't in your country, are we?" He countered back. "But I can agree I may have raised the price a bit too much. Sixty gold pieces."

"True." She nodded, looking over the heavy spear. "But my company and I are headed to the Empires right now. There could be a chance of me finding one of these, but I'm feeling the need for one today. I think fifty-five gold pieces would be fair on both ends."

"I can see we wont be getting any higher or lower in prices." The man sighed, wrapping up the Guan Dao. "Sadly, I don't think I can sell you this at such a low price as fifty-five."

"Add to her fifty-five." Jaune started, holding out metal bracers and greaves with a necklace. "I'd like to buy these at sixty gold pieces for all these."

"Two customers." Ozpin mused, scratching his chin. "It's very rare for me to sell on the open seas. Not taking this chance may bring me bad luck. …I agree to your pricing."

After handing over the gold pieces, the princess and company went back onto their vessel with new items on hold.

"Thank you Jaune." Ruby bowed with her new weapon in front of her. "I was afraid her would not sell me this."

"Be proud princess." He ruffled her hair as he equipped his bought items. "The spear you hold before you is your very first trade you made yourself as empress."

"My very own trade." She muttered, unfurling the cloth to rub her weapon.

End Flashback

Sadly, Ruby never got to practice with the new weapon since Blake had told her to learn the basics of swordplay first. She was doing okay, but with the goal he had in mind, she would need to be better.

"Remind again why I need to learn swordplay when I have a longer weapon at my disposal?" She panted after Blake had finished their session.

"You're body isn't used to the weight of the weapon." The ninja told her once more. "Once I feel you are able to control the weight of a sword, we can start on naginata training."

Nodding her head, Ruby had walked into her chambers to get ready for her next lesson with Velvet. The rabbit faunus was adept in mathematics and had been teaching the little bat the different methods and uses. Picking up the forgotten bokken, Blake had felt a presence behind her. Knowing who it was, she turned around to see Pyrrha walking up to her with a stack of papers in hand.

"Hello Pyrrha." Blake bowed to her in greeting. "What brings you here and away from your quarters?"

"I was hoping if you weren't busy right now," she said with carefree tone. "That you could hand this over to the head engineer. You should find him in the engine room."

"…And where can I find the engine room?" The ninja inquired, taking the papers. The only areas Blake had cared about were her own quarters and her companions. She was unfamiliar with most of the structure on the ship.

"Just follow the signs and you will find the room." The captain said, turning to head back to her quarters. "You wont get lost."

As the Paragon left, she never noticed Blake remaining in place while looking at the papers in her hands. Shaking her head, she had opted to go and search for the signs the redheaded captain had told her to see.

In the halls

Jaune had walked out of his room and into the halls to see Blake staring hard at a signboard with papers in hand. Walking up next to her, he saw she was concentrating on the way to the bathrooms.

"Is there something you're looking for on the sign?" He prompted, brining her out of her thoughts. As she stared at him in shock, she shook her head to calm herself.

"I was …just admiring the calligraphy on this sign." She made an excuse. "It's …simple."

"…What are those papers in your hand?" He asked, changing the subject much to her relief.

"Pyrrha asked me to bring these to the head engineer." She lifted said papers. "She said I'd find him in the engine room, but I haven't found it yet. …I'm lost."

Nodding his head, Jaune had offered to guide her to the area. While they walked, he had pointed at numerous signs for her to remember where the rooms were. As they got to their destination, Jaune had noticed his new teammate acting strange. It was familiar somehow. Getting a sneaking suspicion, he had decided to ask her on it when they were alone.

After handing the papers over to a giant man, the two had left on their way. After coming to another sign, the ex-prince had stopped Blake to have her look at it once more.

"Can you tell me what it says?" He asked, running a hand over a line.

After a minute of struggling, Blake had made to run off but was stopped as the blonde quickly grabbed her hand. He had figured out the secret she had kept even from Ruby: Blake was illiterate.

During the war, she was just the messenger and the assassin. There was no time to teach her how to read or write herself. She only knew how to get to places via following others and asking for directions.

"Let me go." She whispered, hurt and shame in her voice.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about." His grip tightened.

Pulling her so she would face him, she looked down to the floor to not meet his gaze. She didn't fight it when he lifted her chin so they could meet eye to eye.

Jaune remembered the look. It was the same look Velvet had gave him when she was subjected to being his servant. She fought him every way on it, but he didn't give up in teaching her how to read and write.

"Let me teach you." He whispered to her. "I want to help you."

"…Why?" She was used to him helping her in protecting Ruby. She was used to him helping the faunus and crewmen on the ship. But she couldn't understand why he'd want to waste his time helping her. "You gain nothing from this."

"I don't know." He said with a smile. Lately, that's been his answer to a few of her questions. "But I do know I want to do this. But only if you'll let me."

"I-I'll think about it." She muttered, turning away from him. Feeling the grip on her hand lighten, she backed away. "I'll find you in your room when I have my answer."

Turning away, Blake ran off to find a place to think. Jaune had stood in place and sighed tiredly of how the day was going. It would seem there was still a rift between the two before Blake could truly trust him.

Ruby's Quarters

Blake had stepped into Ruby's room in the middle of her lessons with Velvet. Finding her way back from the engine room was easy since she had memorized the way from the outside. Excusing herself to enter, she watched as the princess concentrated on the tasks the rabbit had given her to work on.

"Do you have any more questions, milady?" Velvet asked Ruby as she finished her lecture.

"I think I have it all." The young girl nodded. Even with Blake around, she was not distracted from what was in front of her.

"Then I hope you are ready to answer these questions." Putting a paper in front of her, Velvet sat across the princess to see her answer her test.

The normal happy face was replaced with an air of maturity as she read and wrote while keeping a refined posture. As Blake continued to observe her, she had come to a thought. The once young girl she had watched over and protected with her life was growing. And not in just body and mind. She was bettering herself for her and her people.

Seeing that Ruby would be taking a while to finish her test, Blake had stood up to leave. After excusing herself, she silently walked out to find Jaune.

Outside Jaune's room

As Blake walked to Jaune's room, she had seen that his door was slightly opened. Peeking inside, she saw the man she was looking for shirtless and in the middle of trying on the bracers and greaves he had bought from the merchant.

As he went through the motions of striking and blocking, the movements captivated her. Seeing enough, she had knocked on the door stopping him from his practice. Backing away two steps, she had waited for him to open it himself.

"Blake." He nodded, putting on his upper clothing. "I thought you'd be coming later than this. …I'm guessing you have your answer?"

"I have." She nodded, stepping into the room. "I was embarrassed at first, but I'm willing to swallow my pride and learn how to read and write."

"That's great!" He said with a sincere smile. Looking around, he tried to think of how to start things off. "I wasn't prepared for your answer yet, so I'm not sure how to start off. …Maybe we can think of a time for us to start?"

"That would be nice." She agreed, feeling a little nervous coming to him for help. "I cant be distracted from teaching Ruby swordplay, so maybe we can start while she has her lessons with Velvet."

"Good." He nodded. "We can start tomorrow, but I'd first like to give you a test to see how much you know."

Staying quiet and unsure of what to do, Blake had complied with the ex-prince's orders. Sitting at his table, she was given a small paper with words she was unfamiliar with.

"Before we start," he said on his bed. "Are you familiar with the alphabets."

Remembering a few of Ruby's lessons in the castle while watching over her, Blake had made overheard a few of the letters, but had missed a majority of them.

Nodding her head, Jaune had drawn out different letters for her to see if she recognized any. If she did recognize one, he would ask her to make the sound of the letter. If she didn't, he would give her the sound for it for her to try herself. She was embarrassed to try it herself, but had done so deeming it necessary. After half an hour, Jaune had given enough to see Blake wasn't completely lost now. Giving simple words like cat, dog, and hip, she was starting to get confident in learning.

"We'll work on the rest tomorrow." He said, putting some papers away. "For now, I want you to keep practicing over the sounds of the letters and the words on the paper I gave you."

Nodding her head, she walked out of his room with paper in hand to read them in hers. She may not be as literate as the others now but with each step she made, she knew she would catch up to Ruby and stand by her closer than ever. She had also pictured Jaune standing by her, but didn't think much of it. Reaching her room, she had locked the door to practice early.

"H…He-art." Blake tried to recite the word on paper. Feeling that the word was familiar, she read it once more to try and see why it was. "He…art. Heart!"

She wondered if that was the correct pronunciation of it for a while. If it was, she'd have to ask her new tutor why the 'e' didn't make a sound.

A few days later

Blake had taken to learning how to read and write quickly. She had learnt the basics and had troubles with some spellings, Jaune was patient enough to help her with every mistake. She still had trouble with long words, but after walking around the ship, she was able to familiarize herself with the words and signs.

"Keep your form Ruby!" Blake ordered her as she made a horizontal swing.

"Yes Sensei!" Getting back into her home stance, Blake had seen enough improvement in her strength and control. She decided to surprise her in the morning by bringing out the pole arms for her naginata practice.

After instructing the princess and joining her in a short spar, Ruby had gone off to do her usual practice with Velvet. Watching her head in, Blake had walked off to Jaune's quarters to continue her lessons as well. She had made it her goal to learn more before they had reached the port of the Dust Empire in three days.

Hidden area

"It would seem that our princesses are close to returning." A man said sitting in the shadows. "And they bring with them some very important guests."

"What would you have us do, sir?" A female voice asked next to him.

"We wait." He answered with a smirk. "Knowing who they keep with her, we need to wait for a moment of weakness."

"As you wish." The woman said, leaving her master to his thoughts.

"The Dust Empire will fall into my hands." The man chuckled, looking over the army he had built up. "Come Winter. Can your forces stand up to my might when I bring my parade of a thousand demons?"


Closing her book and placing her bookmark in place, Blake had went back to her dorm to see JNPR's door cracked open. Looking inside, she saw Yang playing Undertale on the visor the team was testing. After hearing Yang's pleas and uncertainties, she had left to enter her dorm to see that the others had heard the blonde brawler's words as well.

Placing her book in a secret place not under her pillow, the three waited for Yang to come back into the room. Jaune had gone to go get Velvet to check on Yang beforehand.

END

AN: Welp! That was something. I know it's short with not that much action, but I thought I'd bring a bit more character buildup into the story for the main heroine. Technically Ruby sounds more like the heroine with the role I gave her, but …meh. You cant always have the story focus on one or two people too much or it gets boring and some facts get left out.

ANYWAYS!

RWBY: Unthinkable Growth is next to be updated. Look forward to it. If you guys haven't picked up on the flow yet, I'm updating things in a circle where it's TD, NoL, then UG.

Look forward to the next update.