[Ruby pov] (chapter 9)
It has been two weeks since Blake ran away, and Me and Penny stopped a massive robbery of dust. The robber, Roman ended up getting away but we scored a small win for the local dust/tattoo shops in town. Unfortunately, almost every shop in town is close to closing down from lack of supplies and constant robberies from Roman and the White Fang.
Blake hasn't been taking the recent discoveries about her old group well. She is constantly focused on gathering new information about Roman and the activity of the White Fang. She scarcely spends time in our room, sleeping in the library after going 20 solid hours of research. Its unhealthy. Yang is always trying to force food into her and make her sleep. Because of the time Yang spends with Blake, it leaves Weiss and I alone, a lot.
To say I was bored would be an understatement. We were on spring break for this last week, but my team and I didn't go anywhere, or even leave the school. Yang said going back to Vale so soon would only feed Blake's obsession more. So we sat in school, training until our body's fell apart, and Weiss teaching me all sorts of tattoos and legends. I enjoyed it, but one can only stay cooped up for so long.
I managed to convince Yang to drag Blake to lunch. Weiss was willing to go along with me regardless, so we both made our way to the cafeteria. Sitting down at our own table I prepared my speech. "Ladies! Family! Friends! Weiss!" I started, my mind growing excited. "today is a great day. A day to kick off the start of the next semester with a bang" I say, then take the binder I've been working on out and slam it on the table. It contains all the hottest spots in the area, and all the upcoming events in and around Vale.
"I don't know about you girls, but I always kick my semesters off with a Yang" my sister said, the pun draining all the joy from the room. "that was terrible!" I say to Yang, picking up a tomato to boo her like in old movies. I throw the fruit and hit Yang in the chin, causing a red splat to form on my sister. She responded almost immodestly, picking up whatever food she could grab first. By the divine power of the comedy gods she picked up a pie and threw it at me. But I was fast and ducked under it and the pie flew right on to the person at the table across from us.
"this is an act of war!" Nora yells from across the room. As if the room knew Nora's power, everyone fled leaving the eight of us to battle. The excitement of the moment gets to me "team RWBY vs team JNPR!" I yell out. We all run to separate sides of the room, preparing our battle plans. I watched in awe as Pyrrha touched a metal table, then the table floated up and stacked itself on the tower she was building. 'that could be bad for us' I thought in worry.
"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" Nora called out, standing on top of the tower Pyrrha built. Then jumped down saying "off with their heads" and threw a table along with the watermelons piled on top of it. "Yang! Turkeys!" I yell. Yang did a flip and shoved her hands into two turkeys, using them as makeshift gauntlets. Running forward, Yang punched the airborne melons, causing small expansions of juice to splash all around.
I looked over to Blake, she seemed interested in the stress relief. I nodded to her, and in a blur she ran and leaped over Yang. Grabbing two loafs of bread, wielding them like swords. Yang punched off her turkeys, firing them at Pyrrha. Pyrrha effortlessly moved out of the way, leaving Jaune to take the turkeys right to the face. Blake ran swinging her bread, but was met with Pyrrhas bread blade. They were both locked in a heated staring contest, but Blake broke away, using her two bread advantage and batted away Pyrrha. Pyrrha didn't let up, she expertly countered Blake's technique and disarmed Blake. Pyrrha used her beard and flung Blake into the air, then jammed her bread into Blake's gut, sending her flying backwards. Pyrrha picked up Blake's dropped bread, then hurled it like a javelin, at Yang. Yang was hit and flew back, landing next to Blake.
I made my move, I grabbed a food tray and leaped over some flying food. Pyrrha threw something at me, but in a fluid movement I swatted it back at her. She was distracted enough for me to slam into her, knocking her back and into the soda vending machines. The machines spilled all its contents and Pyrrha fell, taken out for the time being.
My joy at taking out Pyrrha was my downfall. Nora and her brute strength, caught me off guard. Punching the tray I was surfing on, she sent me flying. Weiss managed to catch me, and used that momentum to thrust me back into the fray. While I was flying again, Weiss took a ketchup bottle and covered the path in front of our oncoming foes. I was overhead forcing them to look up at me, so when they stepped into the tomato-y floor both Jaune and Ren were sent sliding into a pile of tables.
I skidded to a stop and was forced running again. Nora had made her final move. Wielding a metal pole with a watermelon acting as its hammerhead, she ran at my sister. Yang didn't stand a chance, Nora's power sent my sister flying through the roof and out of the battle field. But the reason I was running was Weiss. Nora was heading straight to Weiss, preparing a massive swing. I got there right as Weiss was hit, sending my partner into and destroying a concrete pillar.
I caught her before the pillar collapsed on top of her. Pain swelled up at the unconscious girl in my arms. "Weiss? Weiss! Don't leave me!" I yelled out, in real pain. But the drama of the moment made it seem like over acting. "I looked into the Eyes of Pyrrha, she had just woken from my attack. Looking around, she saw the pile of soda cans and the puddle of soda she was laying in. I watched as her palms glowed with the sign of tattoo magic. then she smacked the ground. The cans that were in the puddle started to float. 'tactile magnetism!' I thought, she used the puddle as a conduit to spread her power to all of the cans, instead of touching them individually. I read about her power, she was a champion fighter so her powers are available to read up on, but the specifies are confidential. She needed to touch whatever she wanted to manipulate, but was limited to only touching one thing at a time, but clearly she can work around that weakness.
Before I had time to think, Pyrrha sent the cans flying towards me. I ran. Ran with the full power of my tattoos. It was a thrilling experience, to feel at one with the air. I made it half way across the cafeteria then leaped over a pile of tables. While in the air I didn't let my momentum go to waste, I spun in the air. Turning myself into a spear, the perfect projectile to cause a whirlwind to form behind me. I couldn't see Pyrrha's face, but I imagined a look of fear at the sight of all her projectiles being turned back at her.
The moment I reached the other end of the room, I stopped. Grinning at the massive amount of food and soda flying right at me, and Team JNPR. I quickly sped away, going around the oncoming danger. When I was back with Weiss, I shook her slightly to wake her up. just as her eyes opened, I pointed to the opposite wall. She giggled slightly at the sight of team JNPR completely covered in food and soda. The food fight was over and we won. But just as I was about to say so, the doors flew open.
Glynda strode in, waving her riding crop and using her tattoos to levitate and clean the room. Within seconds the cafeteria looked just as it did before our fight. "children. Please, don't play with your food" she said. 'did? Did she just make a joke?' I thought, blown away by this new version of Glynda before us. But my attention was broken by my screaming sister falling through the roof, finally landing from Nora's hit earlier. We all exploded into laughter, both my team and team JNPR.
As a minor punishment, we were all sent to the library to study. But it was still spring break, so we all ended up playing a board game and reading comics. Blake left early, saying she was tired and wanted to nap. Yang didn't seem willing to play anymore, she left soon after Blake. I didn't know what to do anymore, Weiss was happy to study. But I wanted to go out and experience the town on our final day of break.
Once I finally got Weiss to leave the library, we went back to our room to check up on Blake and Yang. When we arrived Blake was up and dressed in her combat outfit. "what's going on?" I asked, looking back and forth between Blake and Yang. The mood in the room shifted at my question. Yang and Blake were having a silent argument, I think Yang won because Blake eventually sighed and faced Weiss and I.
"I can't take it anymore. All of this waiting, it's driving me insane. I need to find the reason the White Fang needs all of that dust. I can't just let Ozpin handle it alone" Blake said. I knew it was bothering her, but I didn't know it was getting to her this much. But she is my teammate, and I can't let her do this alone. "fine" I say, "but we're going with you. I will not allow you to do this alone" I say, not allowing room for argument.
Weiss argues anyways "Are you insane? This is a matter for the police. Not a bunch of kids. Just look out the window, General Ironwood brought in a fleet of airships. I think the situation is under control" Weiss said, making many good points. The airships flew in late yesterday, the public statement was, the ships were just to escort the students coming from the kingdom of Atlas. It was a legitimate situation, the Hunters school there was also the Military's school. So traveling to the tournament together was seemingly normal. However, the resent robberies and the fear of the White Fang tells a different story.
"Weiss, this matters to Blake. I'm not saying well stop them, I'm just suggesting we gather some information. It could help the police" I say, pleading with Weiss. She seemed hesitant, but eventually agreed with me saying "alright, but this is only to get answers. Nothing more" she punctuated that last part by pointing at Blake. Blake nodded, a smile formed on her face at the help and acceptance of us.
"Alright, who's ready to take down a super evil, super corrupt man leading an organization ready to start some sort of war? Who's ready to become the youngest huntresses to singlehandedly stop a big bad guy?!" I said, my voice coming out fast and breathless. I looked excitedly to my team. "Yeah!" Yang matched my excitement, Weiss was less excited but was still on board. Blake was still happy we are along with her plan.
"we can't do anything tonight. We have school tomorrow, and he first day back is too important, but this weekend we can spend all night gathering information" Weiss said. Our teams voice of reason, we couldn't argue with Weiss. I nodded in agreement. She was right of course, but it was kind of a bummer. I was ready to go out tonight and explore the city.
The week went by at a crawl. Just about every student in the school was talking about the upcoming Dance. I didn't want to think about it, I don't like dressing up. Weiss and I spent a lot of time going over possible leads for gathering information about the White Fang. Weiss didn't like all of the random robberies taking place in the city. She decided the first thing to do was gather up the list of all the shops robbed in the last few months.
"doesn't the Schnee Dust company have a list of all of its clients. Can't you get access to it?" I asked. Weiss and I were alone in our room. We were preparing to go out and gather information today. "that could alert my Father, and I don't want him poking around our investigation" Weiss said in response. "what about the towers? They can give you access, but make it harder to trace. The firewalls put in place there allow anonymous access to everything" I point out. Weiss looks at me with a tilted head "how do you know so much about computers?" she asks.
I decided to tell her, it was a complicated and painful story, but we were teammates and she deserves to know everything about me. "back at Signal Academy, my uncle is a teacher. He is a great hunter, he's the one who taught me how to use a scythe. One day, after my mom's death he came to me and handed me a box. I contained all the research my mom did on tattoos. Most of them on restricted digital files. Back then I wanted to know everything about her. So I got to work, trying to figure out everything I could but most of it I couldn't get to. At least then, but after a few months I taught myself how to program and build backdoors into my mom's files. Most of it was stuff about legendary tattoos, of tattoos that could give great power. But it was all useless, it didn't make me miss her any less, nor did it answer why she spent so much time away and searching for tattoos" I tell Weiss, and hope she won't want to dive any deeper into the topic.
"I'd love to hear more about her one day. She seems like an amazing person" Weiss said, comforting me as I regained my emotions. "she was. you would have liked her. She was an amazing tattoo artist just like you" I said. Weiss seemed happy with my opening up to her, I felt it too. It was like another thing separating us had been lifted away. I caught myself looking into Weiss' eyes. Her ice blue eyes gazing back into my own. Something in the air seemed to vibrate in-between us, something warm and exciting. But also something I've never felt before, it was both scary and exciting.
"Ruby? Are you okay?" Weiss asked, throwing me from my thoughts. "Huh?" I said. "your face is getting all red, are you feeling okay?" Weiss asked, then moved her hand to my forehead. The touch of her palm made me realize how hot my face was, it felt like a bag of ice was placed on me where she touched. I flinched back involuntarily. Weiss looked hurt by my action, and for some reason that hurt me also. Almost without thought, I grabbed her hand in my own. "I'm fine. Just talking about my mom is difficult. It isn't your fault" I said, thinking of the likely reason for my weird feelings a moment ago.
"alright, are you ready to go? I'm not like Yang and Blake. I would rather not be out all night" Weiss says. She was talking about our plan to investigate the White Fang. Yang and Blake are going to be spying on a recruitment rally. Weiss and I are going to explore the city to try and find a pattern to all the robberies. "sounds good, I'm ready. Let's go" I say, jumping down off my bed I land and walk to the door. Weiss follows a moment later.
"alright Ruby, Wait here. I have to go in and access private files, and if you tag along it will slow down the whole process. It's just easier for me to go in and finishes this as fast as possible" Weiss said, but she sounded slightly sad. I felt her uneasiness and said "don't worry, I'll be there in a flash if you need me. All you have to do is call" I smile at her. Giving her my strength I push her slightly towards the door. She hesitantly went to the doors. But just before entering, she looked back to me. I gave her a big smile, she blushed at my actions then turned away and walked into the CCT.
I wanted to give Yang a call, I was worried about her and Blake. As I was pulling out my scroll, someone bumped into my arm sending my scroll skidding across the sidewalk. "Oum my gosh!" I yelled, and ran after my hopefully undamaged device. Reaching the bottom of a small set of stairs, I watched as a hand reached down and picked up my scroll. "I believe you dropped this" the oddly familiar voice said. I looked at the person.
"Penny!" I said in surprise. All of the questions I had for her sprang into my mind all at once. "What are you doing here? Where did you go after the night at the docks? What were those insane weapons?" I asked all these questions in rapid succession. Penny seemed at a loss for words. She put on a complicated fake smile and said "I think you have me mistaken for someone else"
'What? Of course I don't? something isn't right here. Penny is acting like someone is watching us' I thought, looking out the corner of my eyes, not wanting to look as if I were looking around. "Penny, is something the matter?" I asked, giving her a comforting look. Penny seemed not to feel good at my worried look, she seemed sad, as if it hurt her to talk with me.
"Come with me" Penny said, then grabbed my arm with relatively strong force. She guided me to a populated part of the area around the communication tower. I looked over to the large group of people gathered, a demonstration for a new combat robot was being shown off. The drone was twenty feet tall and looked like it could take on an army of Grimm. But the human shaped drones around the giant robot and the man giving the demonstration, looked more geared towards policing. The moment Penny spotted what I was looking at she froze. Fear caused her to grip my hand to the point of pain.
Two men dressed it the uniform of Atlas police noticed Penny. One spoke into the mic on his shoulder, while the other started to run to us yelling "Hay you" his tone wasn't the most comforting. 'there after Penny! I have to get her away from here' was the only thought that went through my mind. acting on instinct I yanked Penny to the back alleyways of near buildings. Just as we rounded a corner, Penny ran out ahead of me. She was faster than me when I didn't use my tattoo.
We ran down an alley that led to a semi-populated area, it was the perfect place to louse anybody who could be following us. The only thing we needed to do was cross a road. Penny was out in font and was in the road when I saw it. A truck was driving by at that moment. Before I could even think, I pushed my aura into my legs and used every ounce of power I had to propel myself towards Penny. I wanted to save her, I wanted desperately to push her out of the way. No matter the cost.
[Weiss pov]
"that Dolt! I can't believe she ran off so soon" I angrily whispered to myself as I walked through the CCT. I didn't know why watching Ruby run off after Penny bothered me so much, I was Ruby's friend longer than that girl. So why was it so hard to see her run after that orange haired girl? 'that doesn't matter right now. You need to focus, you're being watched by surveillance cameras. Father could look at this footage after learning I accessed Schnee information' I thought to myself.
I entered the elevator, not wanting anyone to join me. The voice that controls all CCT buildings spoke aloud "Hello. Where would you like to go?" the woman asked in a nice but natural tone. "the communications floor please" I answered back. "Wonderful, can you please hold you Scroll to the screen so I can know who you are?" the voice asked. I hesitated, allowing the computer to know my name so soon was risky, I would have even less time to access the information I needed. But the elevator wasn't moving, so it must need my Scroll information to continue. I took out my Scroll and held it up to the display. "thank you Ms. Schnee" the voice said.
Like a familiar pair of pants, hearing my name caused me to revert back to my old self, the person I pretended to be I front of my father. Doing my best to fake a smile I straightened my back, squared my shoulders, and held my head up high. I will get through this, it's to help my friends. 'Ruby' my mind whispered a word to me. Hearing her name was enough to cause a real smile to show up on my face. I didn't know why, but having Ruby on my mind gave me the confidence to go through this, even with the fear of my Father finding out.
The elevator dinged and opened. The room was mostly empty, only a few students were here talking to their friends and family. I walked up to the front desk. As I stood close to the desk, a woman appeared in hologram form. "hello, welcome to the transcontinental communication transmit center, is there anything I can help you with today?" the same voice from before asked. 'well, it's too late to turn back now' I thought. "yes, I would like to access my family's files in Atlas" I say. The hologram smiled and said "absolutely, if you could please make your way to terminal 3 ill activate it for you" the slightly robotic voice said
Sitting down at the computer, the screen lit up. the Vale logo revolving on the screen shifted to the Atlas one, and I plugged in my Scroll to allow me to access personal information. I began typing, using the guest ID as my username. I was allowed to download most of the information I was looking for, the shipping dates, the shipping routes. 'if this is public access, no wonder the degenerates of the White Fang could rob them so easily' I thought.
The easy part was over, now I needed specific shipment amounts of Dust and how much was sent to every Shop here in Vale. But right as I was about to click on the folder, my screen froze and the Schnee Dust Company logo took over the screen. "oh no" I said, my fear and dread taking over my heart.
"hello user, you are accessing private company information. We ask that you use proper identification in order to continue" a new robotic voice says. This was what I was trying to avoid, but I needed to continue. 'Ruby is counting on you' a wave of calm spread from that thought, my emotions stilled and my mind cleared. I placed my Scroll onto the information. A video conference took over the screen. I hoped with everything I had that it wasn't my Father on the other end of the line.
"Good day Ms. Schnee. How may I be of assistance today?" a woman asked after the video answered. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "if you could transfer the files I requested to my scroll, that would be great" I said, but I had to put on a show for this woman, if she asked my father for permission this plan would be a waste of time. "I find it inconvenient that I, of all people had to go through this annoyance" I said, my voice laced with false aggravation.
The woman looked panicked. Her job was to keep these files protected and out of the public eye, but I was a Schnee. Me asking for these files throws everything she knows out the window. "Ri-Right away Ms. Schnee" she typed away at her computer, but seemed to panic a little more as she pulled up my requested files. "Ms. Schnee. These files are privet company information, may I ask what they are for?" I smiled, knowing she was putty in my hands at this point. "A school project" and the files showed up on my Scroll. I quickly pulled my Scroll off the terminal and let the monitor.
[Ruby pov]
'Am I dead?' I asked the nothingness I was floating in. to my relief nothing answered. I remembered pushing Penny out of the way. 'so that means the truck hit me instead. How dumb can you get?' I again asked the pool of black I was floating in. at my memory, I felt the waters beneath me start to pull me in a direction. Not that I knew it was water, but it felt like water. The more I lay here and stronger I felt, it was like drinking a glass of cool water in the middle of a hot day. The stress and fatigue melting from my body. I knew I could lay here floating for all eternity.
"Ruby" a faint voice whispered. I didn't pay it much mind. "Ruby" the voice said again, it sounded oddly familiar. "Ruby, you can't leave me" the voice sounded sad, as if it was sad by my absence. "Please Ruby. You have to wake up" my mind started to get blurry, this voice was so familiar. I started to swim to this voice. The closer I got, the more my mind tried to know who it was. "Ruby" it called again. It sounded so musical, I wanted to hear more. The current started to go against me, pushing me back farther then I moved forward. But just as I was going to give up, the voice called again "keep going, you're almost there" I knew this voice now. With a exhausted yell I called out to the voice "WEISS!"
"Weiss!" I shot up from the ground, sitting up from where I was laying. I looked around in a panic, I was in a dark alleyway. The smell of the dumpster hit my nose like a semi. 'wait, I should be dead' I thought. Looking down at my body I saw no damage. Sure, my outfit was torn a little. But I was hit by a truck, right? 'what about Penny' I asked, but looking around I didn't see anyone. "Penny?" I called out
"I'm over here friend" Penny called out from behind the dumpster I was lying next to. "why are you behind that?" I asked first, my brain coming up with hundreds more questions immediately after. Penny seemed hesitant, like she was afraid to show herself to me. "Penny. What happened? I thought I got hit by that truck?" I asked. Penny looked away
"You did. You pushed me out of the way, and got hit in my place" Penny didn't make eye contact. But she looked up with sad eyes "Why would you do that? You were almost killed!" Penny said, almost breaking down into tears. I didn't know what to say. 'I almost died? But how, I look completely intact?' I thought. Penny answered "I saved you" was her almost inaudible reply. "how did you do that?" I asked. 'how could she save me from death. It has to be a tattoo, but such a tattoo has never been reported before' I thought, the only logical thing my mind could come up with.
"I-uh. Ruby, I'm not a normal girl" Penny finally said. I waited, I hoped she would continue, because I didn't know what to say to that. Penny stepped out and into the poor light of the alleyway "I'm not human. I'm a machine. The first ever android capable of having Aura and using the principle of tattoos" Penny explained. Penny held out her hands, where the skin on her fingers should have been there was now metal. It looked as if the skin was ripped away by something emerging from beneath the "flesh"
I had a mountain of questions, but my brain screamed out one "how did you save me?" I asked, still looking at her hands. Penny went rigid "Nanobots. My systems use them as a way to self-repair. So logically they could heal you too" Penny said. I looked into her eyes. I saw regret deep within them. "what aren't you telling me Penny?" I asked, trying not to sound afraid. Tears started to well in Penny's eyes. "Th-Their permanent. I can't communicate with them anymore. The Nanobots have fused with your current immune system" Penny said, almost breaking down into a fit of crying.
After some measure of self-control came back to the girl she asked "you hate me now, don't you?" I was a shocked. Of all the emotions I was feeling, hate was definitely not one. "what are you saying? Of course I don't. how could you ever think that?" I asked, looking again into Penny's pale green eyes. "Because I'm not human. Because I'm a machine. Because I turned you into some sort of hybrid robot, just like me" Penny said, growing sadder with every word. I looked at her like she lost her head "Penny, I don't care if you're not a human. I think it's awesome you're an android. And the Nanobots saved my life. You saved my life. Don't think for even a moment I would hate you" I said pulling my robot friend into a bear hug.
After we both stood there for a moment, I looked to Penny and asked "so how do you use tattoos if you're an android. Do you still get them on your skin?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. Penny seemed happy at my interest "Well my Aura flows through a number of tubes located in my limbs, then a tattoo is created using artificial flesh, then attached to an Aura tube. Then it's only a matter of directing the flow of Aura to that tattoo" Penny explained.
Ideas for upgrading Crescent Rose flew into my mind, but I pushed them aside. I was about to ask Penny something else, but my scroll went off 'amazing that survived getting hit by the truck with me' I thought. It was Weiss, and seeing her picture caused me to remember my experience in the nothingness. More importantly, how Weiss' voice caused me to fight my way out. I didn't know what that meant, but it gave me a warm feeling deep in my chest.
"Hello" I answered. "Ruby, get back here now. Yang and Blake are in trouble" and my world went blurry.