Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or its characters. Only the sun, moon and the stars are mine. (Lol what was I thinking when i wrote this? XD)
Edited on 7/3/2015
Several months later
Snapping on her red cloak, Ruby let out a stiff sigh and began to gather, then stack the various books scattered across the table; one book atop of the other. When the tower of books were neat enough to her liking, she started clearing away the empty soda cans lying in a piled up at one corner of her study table, a testament to her late nights. When her desk was clean enough to be eaten off, she mentally congratulated herself on a job well done, and made her way to Crescent Rose, who had been resting against the wall.
Ruby strode briskly across the room and was heading straight for the exit when Yang spoke.
"Going somewhere sis?"
It sounded more like an accusation than a question.
Ruby hesitated for a fraction, her momentum coming to a halt as she turned to look at her sister. She nodded in response, taking in how relaxed the two were. Yang eyed her from Blake's lap; the mane of gold standing out against the blacks and whites. Ruby would have cared about her sister's tone before, but now, it barely registered in her mind. Lilac eyes bored into her, the edges of Yang's mouth tilting downwards.
"Where to?" She asked.
"Why do you want to know?" Ruby answered, a single eyebrow raising.
"Duh!" She scoffed. "I'm your big sister, I'm supposed to worry about you!"
The leader of team RWBY squashed down the urge to laugh. She could smell the bullshit from a mile away. Oh how glorious it was for her dear sister to be worried about something as asinine as going out. And where exactly was this worry coming from? Yang hadn't blinked an eye when she disappeared for hours on end previously. Hell, the girl hadn't even noticed that her 'precious little sister' was never invited out for their group outings. Talk about selective sight.
"That's a pretty dumb thing to worry about." She sniped. "And sorry, but I don't think this concerns you. See you tonight. If you guys are even going to be here that is." She finished calmly, her gaze taking in the surprised looks on Blake and Yang's faces. Ruby didn't like to take such a passive aggressive way of insulting them, but she lacked the energy to just start a full out screaming match. She'd promise herself to rein the snarkiness in. Just because they did wrong to her didn't mean they she had make their lives hell. If she did, she would be no better than bastards like Cardin.
With nothing else left to say, the girl swiftly exited the room, shutting the door with a soft click. The sound of finality let Ruby relax and as she trudged down the hallway, she pulled out her scroll; fingers flying across the glowing keyboard.
"What was that about…?"
Blake asked and looked up from the world of splendid but dark tales of her newest book. Staring at the spot where Ruby had previously stood, she then looked over to Yang questioningly. In a fashion typical of her, her girlfriend shrugged carelessly (uneasily) and settled back down. But she didn't miss the fleeting glances which Yang threw at the heavy wooden door. With a sigh she snapped her book shut and placed it beside her. Tapping into her resource of infinite patience (a byproduct of dating Yang) Blake silently waited for her to speak.
Meanwhile, the blonde brawler was fighting with her inner dilemma. Yang did not want to burden her lover with her troubles, and yet she felt the strangeness of everything that had been happening over the past few months, beginning to wear down on her decision.
The weirdness of her sister's attitude hadn't escaped her notice. Ever since Team JNPR's impromptu alcohol party (or shindig as Nora named it), something about Ruby felt…off. It would had been no problem, the girl was a teenager after all, except for the itty bitty realization that Ruby's attitude towards the team and things in general seemed to have become, simply put, colder.
It was disturbing. She would even describe it as insanely unsettling.
Ruby Rose was not cold. Even the mere thought was unconceivable. She was the one made of cotton candy, the one who could light up the room with a single grin, the one who made babies gurgle with laughter.
Ruby didn't do 'cold'.
To make things more worrying, each time she tried to snoop around for to find out what she was doing or working on, the red haired girl would just disappear somewhere in a flurry of red rose petals. Every question would be dodged and the very few answers given were just some straight up rubbish that Yang could tell was pulled out of her ass, and the strangeness of it all was really starting to wear her nerves down.
Tilting her head to meet a warm amber gaze, she stared at Blake for several moments before the words escaped her pursed lips into the warm, tepid air.
"Hey Blake…"
The cat Faunus perked up when she heard her partner's worried voice and met her unsteady gaze, the gleam of lilac clashing with the shine of bright amber. "What is it, Yang?" She asked cautiously, her fingers running through the blonde locks with aching slowness.
The girl in question twiddled her thumbs in contemplation and boredom. A few scant seconds passed before she spoke again. "Don't you think Ruby's been acting really strange lately?" She said, with a tinge of worry colouring her words.
"Now that you brought it up…" Blake focused on a particularly dark spot on the ceiling, her mind dredging up memories, flashes, of when she noticed her leader's strange behavior. Swallowing roughly, she fiddled with the pages of her book. "She has been acting rather weird lately." She said. Yang shifted nervously as her fears were confirmed. She didn't want to believe it, but Ruby was definitely hiding something from her. From them.
"Ruby used to be swathed in a gentle scent of roses, but now–"
Amber eyes met lilac ones.
"She mostly just smells of oil, dirt and sweat." She said. "The scent isn't all that new either. And to be honest, I'm just surprised that I hadn't caught it before." Blake shut her book with a thud. Yang sighed in frustration and threw her hands up. "Arghh this is killing me!" She exclaimed. Pulling herself up from her girlfriend's lap, she started pacing up and down their small dorm room. Blake rolled her eyes. Trust her partner to nearly burn holes into their carpet. It would be better to stop her now before she made any lasting damage to the furry thing. Weiss would throw a fit, and then it would be practically impossible to get another moment's peace.
"Why don't you just ask Ruby?" The cat Faunus asked dryly and tugged Yang's shoulder to make her calm down. This seemed to rile the girl up even more, her lilac eyes flickering between red and lilac. Yang scowled. "If it was that easy, I would've done it a long time ago!" she replied angrily and began to kick the wall, leaving several unsightly black marks. The action was repeated several more times, followed by a barrage of curses. "Shit shit shit. God dammit all."
Blake shook her head slightly and stepped forward to wrap her partner in a loose hug. This seemed to calm Yang down slightly and with a large sigh, she relaxed into the embrace and buried her head into the Faunus's neck, nuzzling it gently. "Don't beat yourself up over it, Yang." Blake murmured quietly and began to stroke through the golden locks. Gently untangling some knotted strands; she blushed when Yang let out a small purr. "Ruby's a big girl anyway. You know that she can take care of herself."
"I know that…" Yang mumbled. She looked up into the comforting yellow eyes of her lover. "But there is always going to be a part of me that is protective of her Y'know?" She said dejectedly. "After her mom died, Ruby was crushed. I was the only one who understood what she was going through, what with my mom disappearing and all."
Yang sniffled a little at the sad memories which trickled into her mind. Blake just kept silent, knowing that she needed to vent. It was obvious that Yang was pretty stressed out recently. She led them over to their bed again and gently lowered their bodies onto the soft mattress.
"There were some nights that Ruby would wake up screaming. But…the funny thing was, was that she never bothered me or dad with her nightmares. She just bottled it all up. I could hear her on those nights when the nightmares were really bad. I could hear her whimpering from all the way across the room. It got worse when she started crying. Then, the idiot would just cover her face with summer's red cloak and continued sobbing until she fell asleep."
Yang chuckled, a sense of sick nostalgia overwhelming her. Even now when she thought about those days, it still made her regret not ever lifting a finger to help her little sister. Her younger self needed a good ass kicking.
"So yeah…sometimes I forget that Ruby's growing up. She always acts so childish and stuff but there are times that she says something so sad that it just makes you want to coddle her." Yang muttered as she curled into Blake's protective hold. The cat Faunus hummed in understanding and nuzzled Yang's neck. It wasn't everyday she allowed herself to be the little spoon. Blake knew that those moments were few and far between. The boxer usually considered herself as the protector, and never the protected. It made Blake want to squeeze her and never let go, if only for a short time.
"We're all in the same boat, Yang." She told her partner honestly. "Age doesn't equate to maturity. We've all been through certain things that we never should have. But we come out stronger and better because of it." She said. "Although Ruby is two years younger than all of us, she's smarter than we give her credit for. I know this sounds rich coming from me, but really, I think Ruby just needs to figure it out on her own. She'll come around eventually." Blake's cat ears twitched slightly when Yang sighed again. She pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead, smiling shyly when the blonde gave her a sappy grin. "Ruby could just be working on crescent rose. You know how she obsessed she is, with that scythe of hers."
A small snort. "It's actually a sniper scythe, kitty." Came the cheeky response.
"Quiet, Yang." Blake shushed. "Don't ruin the moment."
"C'mon…way to shoot me down Blakey."
.
.
.
"Yang?"
"Sup'?"
"I hate you."
"Aww, I love you too."
Somewhere in Vale
The sweltering heat of the furnace danced across her skin. The girl felt beads of sweat rolling down her temples but refused to wipe them away. She didn't want to mess this up. Not after so many so many failures. With shaky hands, Ruby began hammering the softened metal into its desired form. Ruby was not in danger of getting hurt, for she wore specially crafted gloves with dust weaved into its simple patterns, negating the searing heat of the newly heated metal.
Ruby was grasped the dagger tightly, the tough rubber handle biting into the rough material of her glove. Her actions were quick. After the first two months of practicing and learning more about smithing (adding to her already basic knowledge), she had finally taken the leap of faith to create something far more powerful. Her mentor had cautioned her that this was no easy task, but the twinkle in his eyes had ultimately pushed her to execute her plan. The image of a new and improved crescent rose made her blood sing in excitement, and with one final knock, she dunked the finished piece into a waiting water bath. The metal sizzled at the sudden change in temperature, clouds of steam rising from the water bath, making the room even more humid.
"Thank dust I didn't break it again." Ruby said aloud, the exhaustion finally hitting her. She glanced out of the window and groaned aloud, what she saw destroying any semblance of a good mood. The vibrant orange hues of the setting sun cast large shadows of the nearby trees onto the ground and on the walls of the modestly sized building.
The momentary distraction had allowed the metal piece to cool, and so, lifting the cooled body of crescent rose. She placed the body beside several other parts she had made today, including a newer, better grip for her beloved. She hummed in excitement, a small grin stretching the sides of her mouth. She couldn't wait until she fixed Crescent Rose up. Stepping over the pieces of broken metal strewn all over the floor, she made her way towards the window.
Although not yet nighttime, Ruby knew that by the time she took the airship back to beacon, she would reach much later than the supposed school imposed curfew. Her team would be bombarding her with pointless questions of her whereabouts and activities. Ruby had already made it clear that she was not going to reveal whatever she was doing.
Yang refused to take the hint and still pestered her for answers. Weiss was too busy fretting about this or that to ever care about what she was doing. Blake was…neutral? She didn't seem to be interested in anything other than Yang, her books, and Yang. Did she already mention Yang?
A sudden knock on the back door broke her out of her reverie.
"Ruby? It's getting pretty late, are you leaving soon?" The man yelled from outside. "Glynda made me promise to get you home before curfew. Heaven knows what she'll do if she catches you sneaking into Beacon again."
"OH DUST I FORGOT ABOUT THAT!" She yelled back, her voice filled with terror. No matter how 'badass' she was going to be, she definitely did not want eternal detention. Professor Goodwitch had already threatened her with extra homework! It was the woman's way of bettering her but god damn it, doing extra homework (willingly) was just pushing it.
Ruby stumbled on her own feet in her haste to put everything away and yelped in pain when she swung her arms a little too wide, smashing her elbow on the brick wall of the furnace. The combination of heat and pain was enough to make her eyes water. Cursing herself for her clumsiness, Ruby became a blur as she hurriedly put her tools away.
"You better hurry! There's no telling when the next airship will come."
"I'm going as fast as I can!" she said in frustration.
"I doubt it." Her mentor replied, his voice containing a hint of amusement.
"Ugh – you know what I mean!" Ruby whined.
Leaning against the wall of his workshop, Jack Ironwood chuckled merrily. Although he couldn't see her face, he just knew that she was making those adorable puppy eyes. Her pout could turn even the hardiest of men into jelly. Grinning, he purposely knocked on the door again, feeling slightly playful.
"The clock is ticking!" Jack called.
"Can it!" Came the muffled yell of one rapidly moving Ruby.
"Oh, what's that? You want me to tell Ozpin that his scarf is ugly? And that you volunteer for campus cleanup? Sure thing!"
As if on cue, Ruby appeared in front of him in a tornado of rose petals. "Okay okay, I'm done!"
"Finally." He smiled. "I know that your semblance is speed, but I didn't know that included running your mouth off."
"Har har." She sulked.
"I'm just kidding, you brat." He ruffled her hair, making her squeak in surprise and mild annoyance. But the sparkle in those silver eyes reaffirmed that the jokes were appreciated. He wondered about the last time someone her age had even bothered to laugh with her, and not without her.
"Before you get going, I just wanted to let you know that your pay's been transferred to your account." He said. She opened her mouth to complain but he cut her off with a wave of his hand and a good natured eye roll. "It's only one day early, Ruby. Goodness, you must be the first teenager I've ever met that hates to get paid early."
Ruby groaned. She didn't like to get her due if she hadn't earned it. Getting her monthly pay earlier than the supposed date made her feel bad. Like she was cheating him out or something. "That's just how I am. You know me, the ole stick in the mud." She shrugged. And immediately regretted it when the bruise on her elbow protested at the motion.
Her face soured. 'Stupid wall…' She grumbled. She made a mental note to apply something for the bruise slash light burn as Jack tucked a small bag of cookies in her cloak pocket. "Here's something to tide you over for the ride back. Now go! You're already late." He shooed. Bidding him goodbye, the girl scurried out of the shop and into the street. Shooting a parting glance at the named shop 'Jack's Weapon and Armor Emporium' she sped down the empty dirt path leading to the main road. The streets were still littered with people, but Ruby had no trouble weaving in and out of the crowd.
Barely catching the departing airship, she heaved a sigh of relief as she all but raced up the ramp and into the ship. As it began to rise into the air, her scroll beeped once, then twice, signaling that it had received a message. Flipping it open, she let out a small laugh when she saw who it was from.
[Jack Ironwood
I don't know how you cleaned up that mess in the workshop so quickly, and for that I salute you. I've moved Crescent Rose's upgrades into the shop, so don't go messing up the storeroom again, alright? I still don't know where you've placed my 'kiss the smith' apron.
Anyway, the shop will be receiving a new order for a custom made weapon next week, so remember to come in at your usual time.
See you next week, kid. ]
New AN: I made their dynamic more like friends than mentor and mentee. I think it turned out okay! If you want to read the old chapter though, just hit me up with a PM and I'll send you the doc. And now, on to the next chapter!
Old AN: I used Wikipedia and made up some stuff about the blacksmithing part. Sorry if it seems weird or anything. Thank you for all those follows and reviews. You guys make me happy. :)
And of course, foreshadowing anyone?