AN: Greetings! Hi! Yes! Your eyes don't deceive you! I have finally updated! *commence cheering and falling confetti* And It's all thanks to JupiterMonkey4! They helped motivate me back into continuing the story, so if you decide to comment, please also send some praise and thanks over to them as well. ESPECIALLY since not only did they help motivate me, they also worked as my Beta! :D Which is fantastic - Because they're fantastic.
Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this chapter! :)
Chapter 3 - - - Caution
"Last Tuesday night, notorious criminal Roman Torchwick managed to steal a Schnee Dust Company truck while on route for delivery. Not only did he steal a truck, he also dealt severe injury to the driver while the vehicle was still moving before hijacking it, leading the truck completely off road and into a forest filled with Grimm and leaving the driver to their mercy. Thankfully, a Schnee Dust Company employee noticed the truck's untimeliness, and quickly dispatched a search party for their missing truck and driver. With their quick thinking, the driver was able to be found and rescue before meeting their doom.
Police investigators comment that this is very unusual behavior for Roman Torchwick, as he is more inclined to steal from small shops as opposed to stealing from the Schnee group, unlike the White Fang who also managed to raid a train filled with Dust just-"
A scowling Weiss immediately shut down the hologram before the reporter could continue.
"Hey! I was watching that." Ruby protested
"And now you're not." Weiss retorted
The team leader pouted for a moment before a crooked smirk stretched across her face. "Someone's feeling a little touchy." She taunted, "Papa Schnee getting tired of having his products stolen from him?"
The heiress turned to her leader with a glare and scowl set on her face. "That's none of your business!" She growled before crossing her arms in defense, "Besides, I wouldn't know. I didn't see him when he came home as I was too busy packing."
"Translation – you were avoiding him."
Weiss turned toward her leader, a set scowl and eyes narrowed as she marched up to the brunette and set an accusing finger in her face, "Listen you-"
"That's enough you two." Blake intervened with a sigh, pushing her closed book in between the two in order to cause them to break eye contact. "Settle down before you two start something… again." She said, making sure to emphasis the last word
Weiss huffed, and turned away, making sure to throw another glare at her leader when the heiress knew it would be seen.
Upon noticing the glare, Ruby merely raised her hand up and wiggled her fingers while fluttering her eyelashes mockingly, as though saying "Hi, I don't know why you're so angry, because I'm just the most innocent and precious thing around."
Their black haired teammate let out another sigh.
Those two have been like that for the past few weeks, and Blake wasn't entirely sure what their problem with each other was, especially since it seemed as though they were getting along well at first. Initially, it seemed as though team RWBY would have a rather peaceful dorm life and cooperation seeing as they all seemed content to do their own separate activities in their own time; Yang was strangely always on her phone or computer browsing something with a hollow look in her eyes (what she was searching for, their teammates didn't know and couldn't tell), Blake was content on reading a book, Weiss seemed fine studying and reviewing for classes, and Ruby… was usually out of the dorm room doing something else. After a few days though, it became apparently clear that peace and quiet was not something the RWBY dorm would be facing as it quickly became obvious that Weiss seemed rather dissatisfied with a lot of Ruby's choices. Or rather, Weiss did not agree with Ruby's pranks and misdemeanors she conducted around the school.
Replacing the soap in all of the bathrooms with fake soap that covered the user's hands with more and more soot the more often it was rubbed, changing out the chalk in some of their classes with unprintable substances so teachers could not write on the board, and sabotaging the towels of random students (including Weiss's and their neighboring teammates, Ren's) to rub color onto one's hair and body (Weiss ended up with blue streaks in her hair and a partially blue body, while Ren ended up with a pink body if the shrieks of amusement from across the hallway were anything to go by) were just a few pranks their esteemed team leader managed to pull off. And to Weiss's chagrin, did not get in trouble for, as there was no actual harm being done in her pranks and she was never caught in the actual act. To Blake's astonishment though, Ruby would always come forth AFTER the prank was pulled in order to take credit, but seemed to always be congratulated for doing so and would clean her mess up afterward.
With the soap incident, Ruby provided hand sanitizer to help wipe off the soot by the exit with a lovely note saying "gotcha". With the chalk, she would only allow the teacher to fumble around and have the class get a good laugh for a few minutes before handing the professor the actual writing utensil, just enough time that the class learning session was not completely disrupted. As for the towels, she ensured that only a few students who had a good sense of humor fell to that prank (Weiss being the exception).
To be completely honest, it seemed as though Ruby had done quite a bit of planning and studying to be able to pull those pranks off, and seeing as they were all just harmless fun, Blake could find amusement in them.
Weiss on the other hand, could not stand it.
After finding out that Ruby was the one pulling those pranks, Weiss gave a long lecture to reprimand her leader. She stated that they were enrolled in a prestigious academy for hunters and huntresses, so they should all be serious of their studies and stop acting like children. Ruby, of course, did not agree with Weiss's sentiment and began jibing at the white haired girl for being a "stick in the mud". Apparently, Weiss took great offense to that statement and the two ended up clashing. That's when their conflicts started to become routine and occasionally would escalate into great heights.
Ruby would taunt Weiss, and the heiress would ALWAYS be pulled along and react to them. Then the room would typically descend into shouts of mockery and it was ALWAYS up to Blake to stop the two as Yang would merely sit back to roll her eyes at them.
The blonde didn't always leave Blake to mediate between the two though; occasionally she would make a quip or sarcastic remark against one or the other during their bickering. She typically only did that when it was becoming distracting, they weren't watching where they were going, what they were doing, or if they were going to far. At some point, Weiss and Ruby were even butting heads and attempting to push the other with their foreheads and Yang had walked up to the two and smacked them both on the back of their heads, telling them to behave. But ultimately, Blake found that it was up to her to take preventative action.
Which, Blake noted, was a very strange experience for her to do so. She had always been rather reclusive, keeping her opinions and thoughts to herself unless asked for them. Usually, if there was something occurring that was disrupting her reading, there was something or someone else to fix it before it could get out of hand. Now though, she found herself in this odd position of being the one to speak out and take charge to diffuse the situation. It was actually quite stressful for her, seeing as so far it seemed as though a mere pin drop could start an argument between her two teammate.
"Look, you two need to calm down before we're late for class." Blake sighed
"Yeah Weiss, calm down." Ruby mockingly repeated
"It's not MY fault that-" Weiss began
"Weiss." Blake hissed, "For goodness sake."
The heiress immediately began to grumble as she glared at her leader
"And Ruby," Blake sighed, "must you purposely aggravate her?"
Their team leader merely snickered, "But it's so easy."
Weiss gasped in offense, a retort on the tip of her tongue before a glare from Blake stopped her. "Fine." She grumbled before the four made their way to their classes for the day.
Academics were… an interesting subject around their team leader. It always seemed as though Ruby tried her best to maintain focus in their core subjects, but had difficulty staying that way. Sometimes, she would just blankly stare at the teacher before quickly hunching over her papers to scribble something down, or frantically flipping the pages in her text before placing a sticky note somewhere. She was better about taking notes in Grimm and Dust studies though, but not by much. When it came to sparring class though, her teammates all agreed that she was rather impressive about ensuring she obtained every piece of information she could find.
And while initially Weiss still did not believe that Ruby deserved the title of team leader due to her mischievous streak, after some observation of the young student, Weiss realized that Ruby was actually taking her studies seriously. Despite all her flaws and… abhorrent tendencies, Ruby was actually rather clever when necessary.
For example, during their first class of Grimm Studies with Professor Port, Ruby had been quietly mumbling to herself while scribbling in her notebook. Weiss had assumed that the delinquent was merely doodling and not paying attention and allowed her anger to build. Though it popped the moment Blake had nudged her and Yang, gesturing with her head to tell them to take a peak at whatever their leader was doing. Rolling her eyes and acquiescing to Blake's demand, she snuck a peak at the young leader's notes and her eyebrows immediately shot up in surprise.
The page was indeed covered in doodles like Weiss had assumed, but not of anything silly. On one side, there was a rather crude drawing of the Grimm that they had been studying, the boar tusk, with lines pointing at areas and small bits of information littered around it like; "Hard back = Turtle shell", "Eyes + Tusks front = Charge One direction", "Stomach Unprotected = Weak spot", and more. Despite the limited amount of words (and incredibly messy writing), it was astonishingly informative. While on the other page, there was a number of battle formations littered all around it that Weiss was surprised to find, after imagining them, were rather effective.
Upon Professor Port asking for volunteers to fend a Grimm, Weiss raised her hand to put one of Ruby's tactics to the test.
Immediately after being charged at, she quickly dodged the Boar Tusk and side stepped her way behind the soulless creature and made it flip onto it's back. Like Ruby's notes stated, it did indeed act like a turtle struggling to right itself, leaving the Grimm's stomach vulnerable and easy to defeat.
To say she was shocked that her iniquitous leader was actually a very tactful strategist would be an understatement. Although, after some time to gather her thoughts in private… she supposed that it was not actually that surprising seeing as Ruby had to be rather clever in order to successfully pull off her pranks.
Then, there was the test in Dust Studies. The study and use of those minerals were nothing to sneeze at, and is usually one of the top classes that every student struggles in. Class averages, even at a school as prestigious as Beacon Academy, usually ranged from 73% to 80%. It wasn't because the teacher was awful; it was merely because most students couldn't get a hang on Dust control and applications, especially with refined dust. As the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company though, it was only expected that she would not obtain anything less than 100% on that test. Weiss also suspected that the other students in that class to earn above a 90% would wind up being Pyrrha Nikos and Lie Ren. To her surprise (once again), Ruby ended up being the second top student, taking the spot by a mere point from Pyrrha.
Needless to say, no one on the team had too many complaints about having someone so young and troublesome lead them after observing her for the first week.
Weiss still hated the fact that someone who continuously misbehaves was a leader though.
Again, it was times like these, when they were in Sparring Class and Ruby was hunched over on their bench with a pen, scribbling notes in her binder about their classmates and their fighting styles, that Weiss had no other choice but to admire Ruby… just a little bit. She was also, like Yang and Blake, very certain that that Ruby's notes were thoroughly organized and very informative. Unfortunately, they had yet to see them applied into action due to Ruby never being called upon or volunteering for a sparring match (despite it being the third week of school) nor have they had the chance to sneak another peak at her notebook to try it themselves.
So whenever Professor Goodwitch asked for volunteers, like at this moment, they would all glance at their leader, hoping that she raise her hand.
But alas, Ruby once again would merely spare a glance up before continuing doing… whatever she did in her notebook.
A quiet sigh escaped for the other three members of the team at the same time an exasperated one left Professor Goodwitch's.
"No volunteers?" The blonde professor asked, glancing up and through the seats.
Silence
She allowed her eyes to fall onto Ruby and arched a brow, glancing down briefly at the seating arrangements. "Miss Fall, I don't believe you've had the honor of showing the rest of the class the extent of your capabilities as of yet, would you care to step into the arena?"
The entire class, as though they were still in middle school, all turned their heads to stare at Ruby. A few looked rather interested and hopeful to see her spar, but none more so than her own teammates.
The red hooded clad student gave a small grin and shook her head though, much to her team's disappointment. "Sorry teach, not today. Maybe some other time though."
Glynda merely sighed out of frustration, "I suppose if there are no willing volunteers, I'll have no choice but to randomize a match… Again." She scornfully stated, bringing up her electronic pad to do just that.
On the large screen above, faces and names randomly blurred by for all but 5 seconds before settling on 2 different ones.
"Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester, please step down into the arena." The professor announced.
Upon hearing their names, a whine (or maybe a whimper) sounded along with some snickering, while the rest of the class merely rolled their eyes. Whether in regards of having to submit themselves to watching Jaune fight, or having to see Cardin for a prolonged period of time, or possibly both.
For Ruby, it was mainly due to having to stare at an ignorant bigot, but she supposed that she might as well break down Cardin's fighting style now and get it over with.
Although…
She paused in her notes as she focused on Jaune.
He stood before Cardin, hand gripping around his sword hilt tightly while held a little before him, his shield half lowered facing the side, his legs were clumsily spread barely shoulder width apart with toes facing forward and his right foot half a step in front of his left. Upon hearing Glynda indicate the beginning of the match, he immediately charged forward, with his shield swinging back and forth from the side and sword already above his head.
Everything about Jaune's stance and attacking sequence screamed, "I have no idea what the heck I'm doing!" And Ruby found that really weird.
Getting into Beacon academy was pretty tough, that was no secret. Yet somehow, a clumsy guy who can barely fight and fend himself managed to get in.
Despite her own struggles keeping up with the standard textbook courses (due to moving around constantly and not exactly being able to grow up with a formal education) Ruby believed she was doing alright for a 15 year old being shot ahead 2 years (or more, it was hard to tell what grade level she was at when she was pretty much homeschooled). And while usually students struggle in one area, they usually more than make up for it in the other, like how Ruby does with the Hunting courses (a necessary requirement from moving around the kingdoms so frequently and Cinder making sure Ruby held enough knowledge to guarantee her own safety). Jaune on the other hand, seemed to struggle with everything.
It was really weird.
There had to be a reason for Jaune to be here at the academy, but Ruby could not figure out what that reason was.
She glanced at her notebook and bit her lip, she would have to type up all the information she had of Jaune up and call to ask Roman to dig through some records for her.
It was not something she was looking forward to.
"That's enough." Glynda announced, causing Ruby to snap out of her thoughts as her professor stepped in between Cardin and Jaune, "As you can see students, Mr. Arc's aura has dropped into the red, which in a tournament style battle, would indicate that the winner of this match is Cardin Winchester. In the event you find yourselves in a match, I highly recommend that you refer to the screen to see the level at which your aura is. That way, you can decipher whether it is appropriate to be on the offense, or take a more defensive strategy."
"While out in the field, I also recommend that you refer to your scroll so you know whether it is safe for you to continue battle, or when you should retreat, otherwise if your aura has depleted, then you can assume that you could be severely injured. Which is something we would not want of course." Glynda continued, "Please remember that in a few weeks, you will have the opportunity to select your first mission of the year and in a few months, the Vytal Tournament will arrive here at Beacon. In the time frame from now on, I will try my best to prepare you all for the tournament and ensure that you all are confident to go out on your missions." She finished just as the bell rang
"And Miss Fall!" She called out before Ruby and her team could head out to lunch, "From what I have learned through Ozpin and Doctor Ooblek, you are actually quite the combatant. And as I know, you are more than happy to take credit for certain incidents that have been occurring around campus lately, so I can only wonder why you have yet to volunteer to demonstrate for a match seeing as it would be the perfect opportunity for you to show off your capabilities. Furthermore, you are also the only student in the class who has yet to give us the honor of a demonstration, therefore during our next class, I expect you to be prepared for the first match of the period." Glynda sternly stated.
Ruby merely grinned before giving a jaunty salute, "Roger that Capt." She stated, causing her professor to raise a brow before turning away and mouthing her new title to herself.
The young leader turned to the rest of her team once they left the classroom, "You guys go on ahead. I want to make a call to my family before grabbing food, so I'll catch up with you guys later."
Yang merely shrugged with a small smile, "Alright. We'll be at the usual table and save you a seat."
"Thanks." Ruby merely grinned before heading in the opposite direction of the cafeteria as the other three watched her leave before turning themselves.
"Must have a nice family, since she calls them so often…" Blake mumbled lowly as they made their way to the lunchroom.
She didn't mean it to be as loud as it was when she said it, but Yang and Weiss heard it regardless. Both muttering their agreements as a sad smile crossed Yang's face and a small scowl graced Weiss's.
With that, the trio merely continued walking silently.
It was an unspoken agreement with the three that they would never ask or speak of their or each other's family issues. It just, wasn't comfortable for any of them to do so and it seemed intrusive to ask one another. Ruby though, didn't seem to hold such qualms when it came to pointing such issues out like earlier that day. For whatever reason though, after her initial statement, they could never stay angry with her for doing so for long. It most likely had to do with the way she would say it as a fact, something that just… was. There was no malice, sympathy, pity, or judgment when she said it, and maybe that's why they could never bring themselves to be angry at her.
And maybe that's why they couldn't bring themselves to talk to each other about it. Out of fear that the other would understand one another's pain, and it wasn't something they could bear.
"Can I just say, that the cafeteria here is the best?" Yang sighed with content as the three filled up their trays with different foods.
Weiss nodded in confirmation, "While I wouldn't say that it's the best, I do have to say that it exceeds my initial expectation of what the food here would be like."
"What did you think it'd be like?" Blake asked with a quirked brow.
The heiress shrugged, "Bland. Boring. That meals would be the same and we wouldn't have a variety." She stated as she placed a red apple on the corner, "But I do have to say that I'm glad I was proven wrong in this assumption."
Yang blanched, "God… it's like you swallowed a dictionary or something."
A scowl, "I'll have you know that there is nothing wrong with the manner I speak in. Though I can not say the same for you."
"I speak like a normal human being." Yang retorted, leaning over the counter in order to reach the last slice of cake.
Upon doing so, a worn out slip of paper slid out of her pocket and slowly fluttered down onto the ground.
Blake picked it up before it could be stepped on, and upon flipping it over realized that it was a picture.
A very worn out, stained, and old photograph of a little girl with bright lilac eyes, blonde pig-tails, and a wide toothy smile hugging a smiling toddler from behind.
Before she could take a closer look at it though, the photograph was snatched (gently) out of her hand. Following the hand, her golden eyes met with bright red ones glaring at her.
"Don't touch that." Yang nearly growled as she delicately stuffed the picture back into the left inside pocket of her jacket.
Blake and Weiss raised both their eyebrows in surprise; unsure of how else to react as Yang had never lost her temper that quickly before.
Sure, there were times she became angry and hotheaded during sparring matches, but she always seemed to keep a rather cool head outside of fights.
With a small glance at each other, they came to an understanding that it must be one of those unspeakable agreements they had.
"Sorry… I'll tell you when it happens next time." Blake stated with a nod.
The blonde gave a small sigh of relief, her eyes turning back to normal as she gave a thankful smile to her partner. "Thanks…"
Ruby had found that the safest and most private place for her to make any calls home would be at the rooftop above her dorm room at the very top. It was the one spot that would not broke any suspicion when she did so as it was close to her room, and so long as she kept her voice at her normal volume level, no one would be able to eavesdrop on her. No one seemed to mind, in fact, her team mates were very understanding about her wanting privacy when it came to family.
Which is where she was now, though she couldn't exactly say that she was calling family as she pressed her phone to her ear, listening to it ring for connection.
"Red!" an angry voice answered, causing Ruby to give a rather malicious grin.
"Hello to you too Roman." She drawled
"What is the matter with you?!" He shouted, making Ruby bring the phone a little away from her ear to prevent her eardrums from hurting. "First you steal my hat that costs nearly 200 lien, then you frame me for your theft?! Do you have any idea the trouble you caused for me? Stealing a Schnee Dust truck?! I mean, good job for pulling it off and managing to get into Beacon after that stunt, BUT DID YOU HAVE TO PIN IT ON ME?!"
Ruby rolled her eyes.
"Don't you roll your eyes at me young lady!" He sternly stated, successfully eliciting a groan from her. "Do you have any idea how much more difficult you have made it for me to steal more dust? I have police officers actively looking for me! As in- THEY ARE ACTUALLY DOING THEIR JOB'S! Every single Dust shop has a police car station just right around the corner, I actually have to rely on other grunt men to do the job now!"
"Like you've ever done it yourself." Ruby mumbled
"I'll have you know that I am an active participant in my scenes of theft." Roman stated, "Someone has to stand there to look pretty, and it's not going to be Neo I'll tell you –ARGH!" He suddenly groaned in pain, "What was that for?!"
Ruby couldn't help but snicker, as silence reigned through the speaker, indicating that Neo was with Roman now and currently using sign language to him.
"It's true though."
"…"
"Now now, would I ever lie?"
"…"
"I resent that!"
"…"
"No I will not give you the phone. What are you going to do? Sign to the- OW! GEEZ! Fine! I get it! I'll translate." He grumbled, eliciting another snicker from Ruby, as she understood that she would be speaking to Neo now. After a moment of shuffling, it was clear that the phone was now on speaker on Roman's end.
"Hi Ruby. It's been sooo long. I miss you." Roman drawled out monotonously, "Congratulations on getting into Beacon. How is everything coming along? You're getting enough food right? And you're making sure to keep a low profile? Is anyone giving you trouble? Because you know that you can tell us if someone is, and we'll be more than happy to take care of your problem."
Ruby giggled, "Hi Neo! I miss you too! But I should be able to visit back home sometime soon, we're finally getting a weekend to go out into Vale so I'll be sure to stop by if I can." She smiled, knowing that the two would be happy to see her. "The food here is great, there's a lot of choices here so I'm always eating something during meal times. I don't think I'm exactly keeping a low profile, I kind of stand out to be honest. But not in a bad way, a lot of teachers like me and the other students here leave me alone for the most part. I think it's because I pull pranks and they know that I can pull one over them any time I want." She snickered
"I'm so proud of you. You continue doing what you're doing; get on everyone's good side so they all trust you more. Make sure no one messes with you, and if they do, tell me."
"Aye Aye Captain."
"Also, send me a picture of you in your uniform. You should send one to Cinder too if you haven't already. Actually, you should make a call to her soon, preferably tonight. It would really help us out here at home."
The younger girl's eyebrows furrowed down in concern, before they popped back up in realization. She reasoned that Cinder had been allowing her stress to build and it was beginning to show at home. "Roger that." Ruby grinned, "I'll call her later after school. It's really nice talking to you Neo, but I need to speak with Roman for a bit. I'll text you later though."
"You're actually willing to speak to me?" The older man asked incredulously, shredding away his previous monotonous voice. "I don't know what to say Red, I'm flattered. I might even shed a tear."
"Uh huh. Suck it all up." Ruby deadpanned, "Who knows how long it will be until I do this again."
"Oh trust me, I'm savoring every single secon- OW! Must you always kick me in the shin?!" Roman shouted, assumingly at Neo. After a few seconds, Ruby heard a groan, the type Roman would use when he was rolling his eyes and about to light his cigar. As predicted, a few seconds later she heard the tell tale sign of a lighter clicking. "Alright Red, to what do I owe the honor of gaining your audience?"
"I need you to dig through some records for me." Ruby stated, "There's this kid here, Jaune Arc, who is a rather lousy fighter and an even worse academic."
"O…kay? … So?" Roman replied in a confused tone, causing the student to roll her eyes.
"So," she emphasized, "There has to be a reason for him being here. I highly doubt that he was able to enroll through normal means and I need to know if there's anything to be suspicious of so I know which group of students to place him under."
"And why are you grouping students?"
"Nice try Torchwick, but you're not getting any sort of information from me."
A sigh, "Alright alright. Send me as much info about him as you can and I'll see what I can come up with."
"Why thank you Roman, that's very kind of you to do so." Ruby grinned as she brought her notebook and a pad out and began typing away on it.
"Yeah yeah, don't forget, you owe me one." A pause, "actually 3. Because you took my hat, framed me, and now this."
"First of all, you stole that hat. So I don't owe you anything for that. Second of all, the White Fang had already been getting trouble from authorities for sabotaging the Schnee Corp so often; I just thought that you could take some of the heat off from them for a while. I'm sure Adam appreciates all your help, so I'm sure he's more than willing to lend you a hand if you ever need it." She grinned, knowing fully well that Roman couldn't stand being near one of the leaders of the Faunus group and vice versa. "Also, this isn't for me, it's for Cinder. So if you really want a favor, you should really go ask her."
Roman let out another groan, which gave more reason to snicker at him. "Sometimes, I really want to strangle you."
"Don't worry, I share the same feeling about yourself." The student quipped with a grin, "Alrighty, I just sent you all the information I have on Jaune. Now go fetch."
"Arf." Came the simple reply before the line went dead.
Ruby smiled in satisfaction as she closed her pad and put her notebook away, before she could do the same with her phone though, she made sure to snap a picture of herself wearing her uniform with her sleeveless red hoodie over it and sent it to Neo and Cinder like the shorter girl asked. After making sure she had all her belongings gathered, she swung back down into the room and began running back to the cafeteria, as she knew there wouldn't be a lot of time left for her to savor her food.
Thankfully, she had a rather convenient Semblance of speed, and at times like these she was certain it wasn't considered an abuse of power if she used it to get to the lunchroom in record time.
Upon entry though, she was greeted with the sight of Cardin Winchester pulling on the ears of a rabbit Faunus that Ruby recognized from history class, Velvet, while the rest of his teammates did nothing but laugh.
Biting her tongue to prevent a growl from escaping her throat, Ruby changed the course of her destination, her mind set on doing something about this abominable situation (that shouldn't even have occurred in the first place).
She shred off her jacket, folding it up and over her messenger bag while inconspicuously palming two small dust vials out as she walked through the same row where Team CRDL and Velvet were. Just as subtly, she took another student's tray of unfinished food without anyone noticing, holding it in front of her and keeping her head down to blend in with the rest of the students around the bullies who wanted nothing to do with the situation. Just as she passed by Cardin, she poured out one of her dust vials, effectively freezing part of his butt to the bench and eliciting a loud yelp out of him and garnering almost every student's attention around him.
Just as quickly, he let go of Velvet's ear, allowing her to escape from his grasp and scurry away while Ruby continued walking away unnoticed. As she neared the end of the table, she carefully poured the rest of the dust vial, along with the second vial in her hand, onto the lunch tray. The moment she was at the end, she pretended to drop something onto the floor and bent over, allowing her to spin and slide the lunch tray under the table, successfully causing the dust particles to upset and crash into each other and create a reaction.
The tray had generated a tornado to form underneath the table, causing it to rise up into the air with the rest of Team CRDL. Once in the air, the tornado slowly started to freeze from the base up along with the table and benches, causing it to make a sudden stop and throw every member of the team except for Cardin off and flying toward the walls. Unfortunately for the team leader, due to his butt being frozen to the bench, he was stuck hanging awkwardly in the air.
The sorry sight of him hanging dangerously above the ground with his butt above his head and shouting for help and demanding who had done this to him, made nearly every one in the room laugh.
In the midst of the chaos and confusion, Ruby had quickly thrown her jacket back on and stole another student's tray of food before she slid in next to Weiss, taking a bite out of an apple she stole.
"Hey guys. What'd I miss?" She asked looking over her team members, and Team JNPR's eyes.
"Ruby!" Nora stated in surprise, "Did you just get here?"
The team leader nodded, "Yeah. What happened?" She asked, feigning surprise while gesturing to the tornado ice sculpture in the room.
"That's the thing! We don't know!" Nora exclaimed, "One moment we were just sitting here, talking about what a big DOO DOO HEAD Cardin was, and next thing we know… WHOOSH! BRR! SHING! He's frozen up in the air!" She gestured wildly, nearly punching Ren and Pyrrha in the face multiple times.
"It was… shocking to say the least." Ren added quietly with a nod.
"Oh wow." Ruby replied, eyes wide as she reached over and took a few carrots from Weiss's plate. "Who did it?" she asked, causing Pyrrha and Blake to quirk their brows at her
"Beats me!" Nora shrugged, "But whoever it is, they're officially my hero!"
Ruby nodded with a smile before she began to chow down while idly listening to everyone else speak.
Like her, Pyrrha and Blake also sat in silence, both contemplating on what they had noticed and unsure of what to make of the information.
The two of them had seen Ruby pull her little stunt, and were a little more than impressed at her use of dust and stealth. But only one of them found it nice.
Pyrrha had always found the young student impressive ever since she had achieved the second top score in Dust studies. And although the gladiator had yet to see Ruby fight with others, she strongly believed that the young girl would also be impressive in the arena, especially if Glynda's words from earlier were anything to go by. It was a small wonder as to how someone so prodigious can still be treated… normally, as opposed to how Pyrrha grew up being placed on a grand pedestal for being a bit ahead of her age group. Which was what made her so interesting to Pyrrha, and possibly the reason why the tall woman wanted to get to know the much shorter one.
Blake on the other hand, found Ruby's movements… suspicious. There is no way anyone would be able to move so inconspicuously without growing up facing hardships pertaining to living situations. No person who grew up in a comfortable home environment should be able to learn or execute stealth of what Ruby had just been able to present. Furthermore, not just anyone is able to blend in a crowd near perfectly either unless they were experienced with running away. But, somehow, Ruby had not shown an inkling of facing such things if her smiles and personality were anything to go by.
Even more so, Blake hadn't seen anyone be so sneaky since her days in-
She quickly shook her head, hoping her thoughts would leave her mind before refocusing on the topic at hand.
There was something about Ruby that just seemed wrong. Maybe… Maybe there was a darker side to her team leader than what she initially thought. But, she couldn't confront the younger girl with lack of information. And she couldn't just go to Yang and Weiss with this gut feeling. No… Blake would have to keep this suspicion to herself.
And ensure that she keep a closer eye on her team leader.
A growl sounded from Cinder's throat as her eyes glazed a fiery orange, fixated on a group nervously standing before her, each wearing a white half mask to cover their upper faces.
Emerald and Mercury stood a few steps behind her by her side, dark hazel eyes meeting red ones, both pairs filled with dread and worry.
The three of them were in a secluded part of one of their many safe houses, just a little outside of Vale to guarantee safety from authorities, but close enough so any member part of their organization wouldn't get lost in the forest, and were able to drive there if necessary. In front of the trio, was a small group of about 2 dozen grunts, half were Faunus and part of the White Fang while the other half were human.
And they had done something completely unacceptable to Cinder.
The two teens each snapped back to attention when the woman in front of them spoke.
"Tell me, how did you manage to fail at something as important as this?" She lowly snarled.
No one spoke, thinking silence would be the best answer. But it was quite obvious that they were frightened for their lives.
Just about every member of the group had their legs shaking, sweat was pouring profusely from their foreheads, and a few were biting their tongues to hold in whimpers.
"All you were required to do was rig a boat." She stated condescendingly, "To hide a timed dust bomb in the cargo where the other dust shipments would be, so the boat could explode on its' way back from Haven."
"And… you failed." She sighed.
A few hard swallows were heard throughout the room.
"I do not tolerate failure!" She hissed, hands igniting in fire, causing the small group to slowly back up in fear.
"P-Please M-Miss Fall. Ma'am. W-We didn't mean to." One of them stammered, "I-It's just-"
"Just what?" Cinder asked, "You were just, caught?" She finished
"N-No! We didn't- we were able to escape at the last moment!" another protested.
The woman merely tsk-ed at them, shaking her head as though she were speaking to children as her heels clicked ever so slowly forward. "But don't you see? You were caught." She stated, "A video camera caught you all, and now the authorities are ensuring that all boats from Haven to Vale are protected and investigated to guarantee safety passage. You failed."
"P-Please! J-Just give us another chance!"
A look of disgust flashed across Cinder's face before she gave a simple answer. "No"
And the room began to fill with screams.
Emerald and Mercury stayed as still as statues as the scene unfurled before them.
Tear stained cheeks, masks falling and clattering to the floor, red erupting into the air or falling to the floor, panicked looks thrown their way greeted their eyes.
Screams, sobs, and pleas of mercy or help filled their ears as one voice slowly died out before another.
Events such as this were becoming rather common to the two for the past few weeks. Ever since Ruby had gone to Beacon to be more precise.
Cinder had been quick to lose her temper and less tolerant of mistakes being made. And while before everyone in the organization had feared her to an extent, now they all trembled when she merely gave a glance in anyone's direction.
Even everyone living with her was frightened to even be in the house at the same time as her.
While previously, Roman hadn't been home all too much, now he plain steered clear of the house when she was in. Neo was usually with Roman, but in the event she was at the house and he wasn't, she was sure to lock herself in her room. Emerald and Mercury felt as though they were consistently walking on eggshells around Cinder, and occasionally were on the end of the back of her hand when they spoke out of turn. The only thing they took solace in, was the fact that their semblances kept it necessary for them to stay alive and that Ruby would know if something bad happened to them.
Living with and following Cinder now was… stressful.
"N-no! P-Please don't!" The last member hoarsely screamed, throat clutched in between Cinder's fingers as she raised them above her, their feet barely touching the ground. "I-I'm sorry! I-I pro-mise I'll do better."
Cinder snarled, her eyes still angrily glowing, "Promises aren't enough."
But before she could release her power through her fingertips, a song filled the room, causing everyone still breathing to pause in their idling.
Mercury and Emerald glanced at each other in relief, before the silver haired boy quirked a brow in amusement.
"Pocketful of Sunshine?" He mouthed
Emerald merely rolled her red eyes, shrugging before mouthing back, "She's an idiot."
Immediately, Cinder unceremoniously dropped the last surviving member of the group before she reached into her pocket and answered her phone with a bright smile.
"Ruby!" Came the cheerful greeting, "How are you? Is everything alright?"
"…"
A soft chuckle, "Thank you, that's very sweet of you."
"…"
"No, I'm sorry. I hadn't had time to check my phone at all today, I've been rather…" She glanced around at the bloody bodies sprawled all around her before amber eyes landed on the still live one. "… Busy."
"…"
"Is that so? I'll have to thank Neo later then." She chuckled as she turned around and began walking toward the exit.
"…"
"Yes little flower, I'll be sure to get her a tub of ice cream." She amusedly said, rolling her eyes as she passed Mercury and Emerald. The two wordlessly turned to follow.
"…"
She sighed before halting in her steps, turning around to face the two flanking her. "Since we're going out, is there anything the two of you would like before we head home?" She addressed to them
The two teens raised their brows in shock and surprise.
Cinder let another sigh, "And… if there is anything either of you…" a pause, as a squabbling sound was heard from the phone "and Neo…" she added, "would like to eat, we can order it for pick up."
Once again, hazel eyes met red ones, this time in disbelief.
"U-Uh… Sure." Mercury stated.
"Um. Thanks." Emerald followed.
Amber eyes merely rolled before she turned away and continued walking to the exit, still speaking to her beloved younger sister affectionately. Which always unnerved Mercury and Emerald to no bitter end.
At the door, the two teens quickly shuffled out, Mercury making sure to hold the door open for the now happy boss. Before she could fully make an exit though, she excused herself from the phone really quick, and then turned her head to address the last survivor. "Oh and… make sure you clean up." She stated before bringing the phone back up to her ear and leaving.
The door loudly shutting behind her