Chapter 11 - - - Distraction
Ruby lightly grumbled, shifting uncomfortably in her above knee length, high-waist red dress that had layers overlapping one another, each lined with gold at the hem like the frills that were exposed at the very bottom. She rubbed the crook of her bare neck, where most of her shoulders were exposed due to the portrait neckline threaded with black.
This felt terribly different from what she was used to wearing, where everything was so… snug and light. Even with the black sash on her waist that showed off a few, pale golden flowers at her hip and her thin, black leggings, they still were too light. Too snug. It felt like another layer of unwanted skin.
She also felt slightly exposed, almost naked. Usually, just about every inch of her was covered; from her neck to her hands and to her toes. In a dress, it became palpable just how tiny her frame was. Her leggings highlighted just how thin her legs were despite how sturdy they stood. The demeanor of her body was no doubt due to all her parkour stunts she pulled, the running/sprinting she did that caused her to grow up somewhat lanky, and as an unfortunate side effect of her semblance. She usually had absolutely no problems with her appearance, she loved how her body portrayed herself. In a school where most students were a lot bigger though, she felt a bit more intimidated despite knowing fully well that she could very well handle herself.
She wasn't sure she would be so keen on wearing anything like these… again
She mentally sighed to herself as she realized how much of a lie that was. She was willing to wear just about anything her sister made for her no matter how tedious the modeling process may be and that she would take any chance to show it off in pride because whatever her sister made, was always going to look great.
"I must admit, I didn't actually think you would be showing up in a dress." Weiss appraised with a critical eye. "It suits you well."
Ruby snorted, "I'm glad you think so. After all, you're the reason why I dressed up so nicely. " She joked
"I'm flattered. Truly, I am. Were it not for the fact that formal attire was a requirement to attend, then I might have believed you." Weiss dryly stated.
Ruby snapped her fingers, "Darn. And here I was sure you came all dressed up for me too."
Weiss gave an amused look, smoothing down her asymmetrical shimmering dark blue dress that stopped at her left knee and began to cascade down to her right ankle, lightening to a cyan blue at the bottom with her white, opera gloved fingers, before flipping her hair over her bare shoulders. "Unfortunately for you, I only dressed to impress myself."
Ruby snorted, knowing fully well that Weiss had dressed herself to highlight the areas she was most proud of. Her shoulders, and her legs. (Though, in this case, a leg.) Due to fencing lessons, Weiss had gained a rather nimble frame, not unlike Ruby. Except, Ruby noted in slight envy, that Weiss had slightly longer legs than she did, despite being a mere inch taller. Regardless, the main difference between their frames seemed to be the simple fact that Weiss seemed to fit in her skin, while Ruby was still scrawny and looked like she had to eat more.
"You guys are weird." Yang commented with a shake of her head, unsure of how to take the two's new form of banter that seemed to have evolved since they began their late night lessons together.
"Weirdly GOOD LOOKING!" Ruby added, causing Weiss to lightly giggle with a polite hand hovering over her mouth, the other free to give her team leader a high five.
"Oh yeah? Well I think that your hair is what's weird! Come here!" Yang exclaimed, quickly throwing her bare, muscular arm over Ruby and pulling her down into a headlock to give a noogie.
"No! Yang!" Ruby whined, attempting to pull herself out of her prison where it felt like she was being crushed by walls, only for her cheek to continuously rub against the laced bodice area of Yang's pearl white and pale yellow cocktail dress.
Yang merely laughed, continuing to ruffle up Ruby's hair before releasing her. "There. I think you look better now." She grinned
Ruby grumbled, rolling her eyes to the top as if it would help her see her hair better as she patted it down.
Blake chuckled at the display, "Here." She said, stepping up to her team leader, briefly exposing the muscles that portrayed her movement in her pale, slim leg in the slit of her dark purple, near black maxi dress. She gently turned Ruby around to help fix her hair as Weiss began fixing the front.
The help caused Ruby to groan, "I can do it myself you guys."
"It's fine, just let us do this for you." Blake quietly stated.
Ruby grumbled, but allowed her two teammates to fix her hair.
"Missed a spot." Yang snickered as she reached over and flipped a few more strands of her leader's hair.
A sound of a light smack was heard, causing Ruby to glance up to Weiss in question, only to meet with a glare that was not directed at her.
"Stop ruining her hair." Weiss stated.
"Aw, come on Weiss." Yang whined
"No." Weiss snipped, finishing Ruby's hair.
"Thanks." Ruby mumbled.
"Matey-Ruby!"
Upon being called, Ruby turned her head to the source of her name, but barely had time to see a rapidly incoming Penny.
Before she knew it, she was on the floor staring at the ceiling with no breath of air in her lungs, a heavy weight on top of her, and a dull throb at the back of head. "Why…" She groaned
Penny laughed merrily, standing back up and helping Ruby as well. "My sincerest apologies Ruby! I was just happy to see you, it has been quite a while."
"Y-Yeah." Ruby nodded with a slight wince.
"Might I inquire as to your past indulgences up to the present?" Penny asked
Ruby laughed, "The same old stuff."
Penny hummed, staring at Ruby's face. "Are you certain? Your stress levels seem to have risen quite a bit since we last saw each other."
Ruby self-consciously touched the area under her eyes, where her dark bags were covered by makeup before laughing nervously, "I'm fine, but I might have started helping Weiss in exchange for more help with studying in the evening."
"Indeed. She has been improving not only myself, but her academia quite tremendously." Weiss interjected with a nod.
"Oh, right." Ruby voiced, remembering that she should introduce her team to Penny. "Guys, this is Penny. She's here to fight in the tournament."
"Salutations!" Penny saluted with a wide smile
"Penny, these are my teammates; Weiss, Blake, and Yang." Ruby said, gesturing to the respective owner of each name.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Weiss politely said with a curtsey.
"Nice to meet ya." Yang grinned
"A pleasure to meet you." Blake said with a slight bow of her head.
Penny beamed at all of them, turning to Ruby, "Your friends seem wonderful matey!"
"Matey?" The three repeated in varying tones.
Ruby gave a small smile, "I guess, but truth be told I kind of had no other choice, so I'm stuck with them." She joked, causing the other three to laugh in amusement as Yang roughly elbowed their leader in lighthearted jest.
"Please, if we had any other choice, you can be assured that we would trade you for another in no time." Weiss claimed
Penny suddenly looked concerned, until Ruby realized the possibility of a misunderstanding and reassured the other.
"Don't worry, we're just kidding around Penny." Ruby said
"Oh!" Penny proclaimed, with a clap of her hands. "How wonderful! The four of you must be very close to properly understand one another!"
Ruby's heart leapt out of her chest at the proclamation, her throat tightening, making it hard to swallow as she strained herself to smile, "Yeah."
Weiss nodded in approval, "Yes. Team RWBY has been excellent in regards to-" She paused, noticing something particular about the small crowd behind Penny. "That's odd."
"What is?" Blake asked
Weiss gestured over to the front of the crowd with a polite, open hand.
Blake looked over, and was pleasantly surprised to see Velvet, and the rest of her rather popular team; Coco, Yatsuhashi, and Fox back from their mission.
"Velvet!" Blake exclaimed, running a bit up to her. "Are you okay?"
It was little known that the few Faunus on campus were acquainted with one another, if only to entrust each other with a safe space to talk to one another about or to ask for advice in regards to dealing with certain matters.
Blake couldn't exactly name why they were all like this, but assumed that it stemmed from their childhood when growing up.
Like Ruby noted during the first time they went out into town, racists were just about everywhere, and it ran deep. Just about every turn a Faunus made, they were bound to face discrimination. If they found a decent area to live in or work at though, then word would quickly be spread among the others.
Faunus had no other choice but to rely on one another to be able to survive.
So it only made sense that they all sought each other out at school.
"I'm fine," Velvet nodded with a smile. "I had everyone looking after me." She said, gesturing to her other teammates who were blocking the entranceway.
No one seemed to mind though, content to be behind and admire one of the strongest teams at Beacon.
Blake smiled in relief. "What happened? The board said you wouldn't return until next week when the first years departed for their mission."
Velvet shook her head with a sheepish look, "We just ended up clearing out the Grimm much faster than Professor Port thought."
"Just in time for the dance too!" Coco exclaimed with a laugh, throwing an arm over Velvet's shoulder.
"Allow me to excuse myself Ruby. We will reconvene at a later time during the dance." Penny whispered, understanding that her presence wasn't needed while eliciting a nod from the other before leaving.
"Velvet was so disappointed when we learned we would have to skip out on it. So she encouraged us to work just a little harder to try and make it back on time." Coco continued
Velvet's ears flopped down in embarrassment, "Coco, you weren't supposed to tell them." She whimpered.
"It's fine!" Coco laughed, "We totally deserve a break to just relax and have fun. Right boys?"
Yatsuhashi nodded in confirmation, while Fox stepped over to pull Velvet away and help shield her from embarrassment. "Right."
Coco merely continued laughing as she ruffled Velvet's head again, looking over to Ruby. "So you're the kid that's been helping Velvet out?"
"I guess." Ruby said with uncertainty. She wasn't sure whether or not she was actively helping Velvet whenever she found herself in trouble, but Ruby was certain that during the times she did it was out of irritation and pity.
Coco hummed, peering over her glasses that she most likely swapped with her trademark shades to give the younger leader a once over. "You have better sense than I thought." She grinned. "Where'd you get your outfit?"
Suddenly beaming in pride, Ruby stood a little straighter, "My sister made it! She likes making clothes for me. Isn't it nice?" She asked, twirling around in it to cause the layers of the dress to flare out, making it look like a rose blooming.
Yang nudged Blake; "Seeing her like this makes me jealous that she doesn't act like that about us." She joked in a whisper.
"We already knew how much she loves her family." Blake pointed out with a small smile, "But, it is just a little disheartening."
Weiss gave a helpless sigh, "It's only natural as we have only known her for the duration of the school year. However -" She paused for a moment, a small smile gracing her features as she recalled how supportive and encouraging Ruby was during their few, late night lessons together.
Ruby had laid out a reasonable regimen for Weiss to help train her glyph development, where they would focus on one set at a time, and then have her attempt to incorporate as much as possible together. At the very end of their session, Ruby would help Weiss with her summoning, a trait that Weiss had confessed that her family held.
She stated that there was a brief moment during her fight with the Paladin when she thought it would show, but it had disappeared once she realized it. Weiss had emphasized how she was the only family member of age who has yet to succeed in summoning, and direly wished for Ruby to help her develop the skill.
Her team leader seemed to have recognized and understood how important this meant to Weiss, and took the training incredibly seriously while praising Weiss for every success she made and encouraging her after each mistake.
It was a significantly different manner of training that Weiss was used to, where every turn she made, progress or otherwise, was met with criticism and disappointment.
She found that she much preferred training with Ruby though, as she strived to continue her progress and receiving her leader's praise, hoping to make her beam in pride one day like she did with her sister's dress.
"It would be nice." Weiss finished.
Coco whistled in appreciation, "Damn, your sister made that?" She asked, circling around Ruby to examine the outfit better. "You could even go fighting in that if you didn't mind a little bit of blood getting on it."
"You make it sound like it already isn't made of blood." Ruby smirked.
"Hah!" Coco laughed, nudging Velvet. "I like her. I like you kid. You're cool, we should definitely hang sometime."
"I'll consider it." Ruby cheekily stated, pretending to brush her nails against her shoulder.
The action only made Coco laugh harder, turning to Velvet with a wide smile. "You have someone as cool as me looking after you honey."
Velvet giggled, reaching up and lightly caressing Coco's cheek before dropping it down her shoulder and to her elbow to rest. "Almost."
Coco looked back at Ruby, giving a shrug and helpless look. "There you have it."
Ruby exaggerated a sigh, "Well, if she says it then it must be true."
"You get the picture." Coco said, her tongue clicking twice. "We'll see you around. C'mon boys! There's a table of food beckoning our names!" She called, chaperoning Velvet in with her on her arm as the other two followed them.
As they walked further in, the small crowd that had been behind them had suddenly grown more, each passing by Team RWBY and greeting their infamous leader, praising or congratulating her on past pranks. The encouragement only caused Ruby's chest to swell in happiness at the compliments, allowing her to joyously greet everyone in return.
Until four familiar boys came into Ruby's sight, causing her to look at them with mild annoyance. "Didn't I tell you four that you could take tonight off?" She sighed, continuing to absently wave at the other students coming in that greeted her.
"Uh. Yeah…" Cardin said nervously, "We just thought, it'd be nice to hang out at the dance. You know, in case you might need us to help fix something."
Ruby shook her head, rolling her eyes with slight amusement. "I'm pretty sure we're fine, right guys?" She asked her team who were all busy talking and greeting to the other students. Regardless, they seemed to have heard her and all nodded in agreement. "But thanks. Just relax and have fun."
"Right… Relax." Cardin said with a hesitant nod, causing Ruby to look at him with curiosity. Taking a closer look, she noticed that the rest of his team didn't seem at ease either if their slight shuffling were any indication.
"What? Don't tell me you guys want a dance." Ruby commented with a slightly disturbed look.
Cardin immediately scowled, "With a shorty like you? No way."
Ruby glared up at him, her foot lifting just slightly in his direction out of habit to stomp on his, until she caught sight of Pyrrha coming up from behind him, with Nora and Ren following. Making her remember exactly where she was.
Cardin seemed to have realized her dilemma and smirked down at her, flashing all of his teeth with a victorious look. "What's wrong shorty?" He rhetorically asked, knowing fully well that Ruby held herself back when other people were watching.
Ruby gave him a pointed look, tapping her foot down and gritting her teeth.
His team seemed to have caught on as they all smirked gathering closer to Ruby as they noticeably hunched over her to exaggerate how much shorter she was, snickering to themselves at finally gaining an upper hand.
Ruby mentally noted to herself to stomp on all of their feet when she had the chance as she glared fiercely down to the floor.
They all laughed, obviously feeling a lot better as they all patted her head to show off their height before continuing their way in.
Pyrrha arched a brow as she watched Team CRDL walk away before smiling pleasantly to the leader of her neighboring team, "Good evening Ruby."
"HELLO~!" Nora sang, dancing toward their neighbors in a short and frilly light pink dress before being halted by Ren, who adorned nice traditional white clothing with green and gold embroidery of Northern Mistral instead of wearing a suit, with a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Ruby gave a reluctant smile, feeling conflicted at the sight of them due to the fact that she was a little peeved for being unable to hand her underlings the punishment they deserved for their insults, but felt that she owed the three for reminding her of publicity. "Hi you two. Pyrrha."
Pyrrha smiled happily, "You look wonderful."
Ruby beamed, "Thanks! My sister made it for me, isn't it pretty?!" She asked, taking the chance to show off the dress Cinder made for her by twisting her hip to flare the layers out once again.
Pyrrha giggled into her closed fist out of amusement, "Yes." She agreed easily. "It certainly is."
Ruby smiled even wider, looking over Pyrrha to return a compliment.
Pyrrha seemed to have gone with simplicity, as she wore a red long, form fitting dress with neck straps, and gold armlets, decorated with leaves and vines to accentuate broad shoulders and the muscles in her arms. Taking into account as to how Ruby had to look up just a little more, she glanced down at Pyrrha's feet, noticing the gold heels she wore to match her accessories and the slit at the side of her dress, making her leg expose its' muscles against her skin.
"You look great!" Ruby exclaimed despite wanting nothing more to glare at the heels.
"Why thank you." Pyrrha smiled happily. She noticed the number of students waiting behind her to talk to Ruby, and looked apologetic. "I didn't realize how busy you were, I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I'll talk to you later." Ruby mentioned, causing Pyrrha to nod in agreement as she, Ren, and Nora walked away.
Weiss looked over at her with an arched brow as more people greeted her team leader. "If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that you were the one hosting this dance with how insistent everyone is on greeting and speaking with you." She said, crossing her arms.
Ruby laughed, "It's not my fault I'm so popular."
Weiss scoffed lightly, "I don't understand how, all you do is get up to mischief."
"What? You don't like my pranks?"
"Of course not!" Weiss exclaimed, "I'm the one who is usually on the receiving end."
Ruby looked up in thought, "Now that I think about it, I haven't pulled one over you in a while."
For two weeks to be exact. She hadn't attempted to set one up at all the current week. While last week, she had continued to set up the clear wrap on the door for Weiss to run into before leaving into town, but when they got back together, had stopped Weiss from entering and allowed Yang to enter ahead. Although she didn't run into the wrap face first, it was still funny as she pretended to model her new scarf.
Weiss immediately snapped her head toward Ruby with a wary look, "You wouldn't."
Ruby chuckled, shrugging in turn. "If you insist that much, then I won't, but in return you must offer me another person in your stead." she joked
The condition made Weiss chuckle, "So long as it's not me, then I don't really mind who takes my place."
"Then I'll take Blake in your place." Ruby teased, waggling her brows over in Blake's direction.
"Please don't." Blake commented dryly, before she nudged Weiss and nodded ahead.
Turning back to the entrance, Weiss found the unusual sight of General Ironwood making his way up to them.
"Oh, good evening General." Weiss politely smiled with a curtsey, prompting everyone else, save for Ruby, to follow suit.
Ironwood turned to Weiss with a look of recognition, "You're… Weiss Schnee if I'm not mistaken."
"Yes, it's an honor to make your acquaintance." She nodded politely.
Ironwood raised his hand to halt her, "At ease." He said, folding his hands back behind him as he examined the rest of her team. "Winter mentioned much about you and of your letters. I take that this is your team." His eyes stopped on Ruby though, his eyes narrowing down at her in question.
Ruby noticed very easily, and frowned. "Can I help you?"
"Your ey-"
"Now, now Ironwood," Ozpin interrupted with a tap of his cane. "You shouldn't be bothering the students on a night that is theirs. Surely you don't think students wish to spend the night with us old folk now do you?"
Ironwood stiffened, casting one final glance over to Ruby before nodding. "Of course." He said before leaving.
"Have a wonderful night you girls." Ozpin smiled pleasantly to the team as he followed after.
Glynda came up after, a rather annoyed expression on her face as she heaved a sigh. "It's like babysitting two children. I swear."
"Hi Capt!" Ruby greeted with an excited wave of her hand.
"Good evening Ruby, I'm glad to see you in such high spirits." Glynda smiled before turning to face the rest of the team, "Good work on setting up the dance in such a short amount of time you three. It looks fantastic."
Excited at the praise from Professor Goodwitch, the three smiled bashfully as they all thanked her.
"Now if you excuse me, I must ensure that those two don't cause any more trouble... if they can." Glynda sighed as she walked off.
"Good luck!" Ruby called after, causing Glynda to turn around and give a thankful nod.
Weiss sighed, "You might as well be the host if you're garnering the attention of important guests."
Ruby glanced over to Ironwood in question, before silently huffing away. "They're just another person."
Weiss arched a brow, a question on the tip of her tongue, but was halted before she could pose the query.
"Oh, the three of you are just in time." Yang said, causing the rest of her team to turn.
Upon seeing Emerald, Mercury, and Neo, Ruby beamed and ran up to try to engulf all three of them into a hug. "You guys made it!" She exclaimed, causing Weiss and Blake to pause in shock, glancing to each other and mirroring the other as their eyebrows simultaneously rose to the hairlines.
Meanwhile, Yang's jaw slackened at the sight of Ruby willingly hugging someone. As Yang recalled, Ruby either seemed rather indifferent or uncomfortable when being hugged.
"Of course." Emerald stated, groaning a little at the affectionate display.
"We wouldn't miss it for the world." Mercury smiled as he carefully ruffled Ruby's hair.
Neo palmed her hand, waving it to for a seven shape in front of her. "Never"
Ruby stepped back to take a good look at the three and smirked, "I sort of expected it from Neo, but I didn't think the two of you would clean up so nicely." She said, briefly glancing over Neo's pink and brown cocktail dress that had two decorated flowers neatly designed on its' belt. Neo even wore a nice set of brown heels, boosting her to the same height as Ruby.
Mercury adorned a fitted gray vest and pants with a black dress shirt. "I know right? We even sprayed scented water on us." He said, before leaning down so his shoulder would be fairly close to Ruby's height.
Ruby leaned forward to take a whiff, "Oooh! Mercury! How fancy." She said as though scandalized.
Mercury grinned, standing up straighter as he preened under the tone. "You don't look too shabby yourself squirt."
Emerald scoffed with a roll of her eyes as she crossed her arms, slightly exposed by her dark, forest green top with split sleeves that transitioned nicely into an asymmetrical skirt that stopped short at her knees and was long at the back. "I'm sure if it weren't for Cinder, she probably would have shown up in her pajamas."
Ruby huffed, sulking lightly. "I wouldn't have! … Weiss would have stuffed me in a dress."
"Indeed," Weiss affirmed. "No friend of mine will be showing up to a formal event dressed improperly if I have a say in it."
The statement gave Emerald pause, causing her to glance behind Ruby, and at Weiss wondering whom the heiress thought she was to claim that she knew Ruby well enough. Emerald quickly forced a false smile onto her face, laughing lightly. "Yeah well, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to convince her to stand still to model."
"Having her just stay still is difficult enough." Weiss retorted easily with amusement. "Though having her remember courtesy introductions is even more difficult." She said with a pointed look
"Oh!" Donning a sheepish look at the reminder, Ruby quickly introduced everyone to one another.
The corner of Emerald's mouth twitched, though she kept her smile up. "It's so nice to meet you all, but we'll be taking Ruby for a moment so we can… catch up?" She said in question, turning to Ruby with an arched brow.
Neo nodded in agreement with a slight bounce, eager to spend time with Ruby.
Mercury offered his elbow with an exaggerated flourish, "Shall we go little lady?"
Ruby giggled, happily nodding as she reached out to grab his arm, but was suddenly stopped short. She turned her head to her team who were all watching her with interest and sheepishly smiled, "I'll uh… talk to you guys later."
"Don't worry about it." Yang waved her off, "Just make sure you save us all a dance." she teased.
"Yes," Weiss agreed, "It would be quite unfortunate if we could not dance with one another after all the hard work we put into this."
Blake thoughtfully smiled, "In the meantime, we'll be checking in on the guests. So you go on ahead."
"Oh okay. Don't get into too much trouble without me." Ruby smiled, finally taking Mercury's arm as Neo lightly grabbed her shoulders to push her in.
The moment they were all out of earshot, Mercury leaned over with a small smirk. "Your new friends seem like quite the handful."
"They seem annoying. Especially that heiress." Emerald commented with gritted teeth. "I don't know how you stand to hang around them all the time."
Ruby laughed nervously, "I'm fine." She said feeling a heavy weight on her shoulders.
She couldn't agree with them, because she didn't believe it to be true, despite the fact she might have thought otherwise earlier during the year. However, she didn't want to disagree with them either lest she raise suspicion.
Neo seemed to have sensed Ruby's turmoil, as the four stopped at a clear area on the mezzanine, gathering around one another in a semi circle, "Don't be sad. I'll give you something to cheer you up." She signed, thinking Ruby was merely sharing her annoyance against her team.
Ruby inclined her head with curiosity, having already let go of Mercury's arm.
Neo merely grinned as she sharply nudged Mercury, gesturing toward Ruby with her head.
Mercury sighed, raising an arm up and cocking his hip out toward Neo. The action prompted the petite girl to lean over and dig through his pocket before fishing out a small earpiece with a look of triumph. She turned to Ruby, happily presenting the device in her palm as she signed with her free hand, forming a "C" and tapping her shoulder of the same side and then pointing to the device.
"Cinder is on here."
Ruby immediately became excited, snatching the earpiece out of Neo's hand and placing it in her ear, turning the communication channel and microphone on.
A light chuckle came on the line as Cinder's voice came through, "I'm glad you could join us Ruby."
"Cinder!" Ruby exclaimed, "When are you coming in? I want to dance with you." She nearly whined with a slight pout.
An amused hum was heard, "I'm not sure." Cinder said, "It all depends on how the dance is looking so far."
Mercury smirked, as they all glanced down on the student body. "Everyone looks accounted for. If a little bored." He noted staring at the few people on the dance floor as most seemed to be indulging themselves in food or idle chatter, not yet excited or courageous enough to start moving to the rhythm of the music.
"Ruby?" Cinder asked her sister for confirmation, knowing fully well that Ruby had been at the door greeting everyone who entered the ballroom.
Ruby gave a jaunty salute despite her sister not being present. "Everyone is all nice and-" Ruby paused, noticing a familiar figure exiting out onto the veranda, and frowned. "Um… not accounted for."
Emerald had noticed as well, and clarified. "Someone just stepped out."
"Then do something about it." Cinder ordered. "We can't afford to have anyone notice me."
Mercury sighed, scratching his head in frustration. "Easier said than done, we don't exactly know anyone here."
"I'll go." Ruby volunteered, with a raised hand.
There was silence as everyone waited for Cinder's approval, "That would be best." She finally settled. "Ruby knows almost the entire student body and she's been playing host, so it would be less suspicious for her to check in on them."
Ruby nodded in agreement as she began stepping away while waving to Mercury, Emerald, and Neo with an apologetic look, "I'll try to distract everyone too."
"I'm counting on you dearest sister." Cinder teased.
"Roger that older sister! Over and out!" Ruby playfully said, muting her side of the channel to avoid clogging it with her conversation, a little before she reached the door
She paused for a moment though, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling it out before stepping onto to Veranda where the cold night air greeted her. "Pyrrha?" She called out as the other had her back turned toward the door as she overlooked the garden below the railing.
Upon hearing her name, Pyrrha turned around in surprise. "Oh, hello again Ruby." She smiled.
"What are you doing out here and not with the rest of your team?" Ruby asked with curiosity, stepping closer to Pyrrha, only stopping by the railing with a few feet of space between the two.
"Well, I came here with Ren and Nora," Pyrrha explained with a polite smile. "However, after spending some time with them, I began feeling a little…" She trailed off.
Ruby understood immediately and laughed, "Like a third wheel?"
Pyrrha nodded.
"Well, what happened to Jaune?" Ruby inquired.
"He didn't come." Pyrrha said, "Neptune invited him to go out and eat in town with the rest of his team and he accepted it."
Confused, Ruby couldn't help but to ask, "Since when did those guys become friends?"
Pyrrha laughed, "If you would recall lunch on our first sparring day, Sun and Neptune had wished to spend some time with our teams. However, shortly after you and I left, Nora, Ren, and the rest of your team followed suit, leaving Jaune by himself at the table. Sun and Neptune didn't seem to mind and they've been in contact since then." Pyrrha paused, "Although, if I'm not mistaken, he seems to be talking to Neptune the most."
"It almost sounds like he ditched you." Ruby pointed out.
"I suppose it looks that way." Pyrrha started, "But I sincerely hope he has fun. After all, that is what tonight is supposed to be about right?" She asked
Ruby frowned, her expression softening. "Then why aren't you having fun with everyone else?" She asked, "You don't have to stick around Ren and Nora, you could talk to other people. Mingle around or you could even hang with my team if you don't feel comfortable with others."
Pyrrha suddenly looked nervous, raising an arm across her midsection as she lightly rubbed her other arm, and looked away from Ruby, back out into the garden. "Well, when you're a consecutive tournament winner like me, no one ever seems comfortable talking to you."
Ruby felt conflicted, not knowing what to do as she sensed Pyrrha's discomfort and how difficult it was for her to bring the subject up. All Ruby could offer was to stay silent, and listen despite her head telling her to change the subject right then and there.
But Ruby didn't want to. She just… knew and felt that Pyrrha needed this, because this was the first time she was so willing to open a conversation about herself instead of focusing it on her company.
"I suppose that it is understandable," Pyrrha continued, "That others become intimidated by me. After all, the first time I won a tournament was when I was just two years younger than you are now. A mere 13 years old."
"The vast majority of fighters enrolled in the tournament are of seventeen years of age to twenty-one, it is only reasonable to be… amazed when one sees a thirteen year old best those older, more experienced than her." Pyrrha tried to reason, "And when that thirteen year old continues obtaining victory in the tournament for the following years, it's only… natural that everyone puts her up on a pedestal."
"It starts with interviews, then requests for you to become a mascot on a cereal that has far too much sugar in it. Then, next thing you know, you're placed so highly above everyone else, that's all others see. The pedestal that you're placed on." Pyrrha sadly confessed, "Everyone thinks that I'm so much better than them, that they have difficulty just, talking to me as a normal peer."
She paused, allowing silence to stretch in the air for a minute as she stared down at the floor. "I guess… That's why, despite how much I admire you, I'm also… envious of you."
Baffled, Ruby donned a look of perplexity as she pointed to herself. "Me? Why?"
Pyrrha chuckled, looking ashamed at her confession. "Why wouldn't I be? You- despite how well you do, despite how much everyone seems to look up to you… everyone is still so willing to engage in conversation with you. As though you're just, another student to them. That you're just like everyone else and I can't understand how it is that you are able to do this so effortlessly while I'm-"
Hearing enough, Ruby interrupted Pyrrha's rant before she could continue on, with a soft voice. "Talking to me." Ruby finished for her.
Shocked, Pyrrha tore her gaze from the ground and towards Ruby's eyes with confusion.
The intense gaze from those forest green eyes caused Ruby to shift uncomfortably, like all the other times when Pyrrha gave her full attention to her before she could continue on. "I-I mean… You're talking to me right now, and you don't have a problem with it."
"But, you're different." Pyrrha exclaimed, "You're-"
"Just like everyone else." Ruby finished once again with a small smile. "You said so yourself."
"I-"
"And not just me, but you can talk to my team, your team…" Ruby began listing, "Just the other day you talked to my… friends from Haven. If you count them all together, that's a total of eleven people you're able to talk to. If you can talk to that many without too many problems, then you can talk to anyone you want to. But, you don't have to if you don't feel comfortable with it. That's normal though! You can just… take it one step at a time." Ruby pointed out with a smile.
Pyrrha stared at Ruby in disbelief, her eyes seemingly glowing brighter at the revelation as she gave a slow nod. "One step at a time…" She repeated lowly to herself.
Ruby smiled, all too happy to help Pyrrha out as she was content to stand before her.
"Are you almost ready Ruby?" Cinder asked over the com channel.
The sound of her sister's voice suddenly pulled Ruby out of her silence, as her smile dropped, her body taking in the cold air that she hadn't felt before, remembering that she wasn't out here to comfort Pyrrha.
"She's not in yet." Mercury answered in her stead.
Ruby began to lightly sweat, feeling the pressure to make haste weigh down on the forefront of her mind. "W-We can start by going back in and dancing with everyone."
The statement alarmed Pyrrha as she took a step back. "Oh, I believe I will have to pass on that."
"But… Why?" Ruby asked.
Pyrrha looked down at Ruby with a sad smile as she lightly hugged herself, as though to keep herself warm from the cold. "When you're as tall as I am, no one wants to dance with you."
"I'll dance with you." Ruby blurted out before she realized it.
Pyrrha's eyes widened in shock as she stared at Ruby, not believing what she heard.
Ruby didn't have time to lament over what she had just said, and instead tried to roll with the idea. "Come on!" Ruby smiled, offering her hand out for Pyrrha to take. "Don't you want to dance?"
"...Okay." Pyrrha agreed shyly, slowly reaching out to grab the offered hand with a smile.
Quickly, Ruby took hold of Pyrrha's hand and began tugging the taller girl back into the ballroom.
Ruby stopped pulling on Pyrrha, stopping in the middle of a dance floor as she turned to face the other with a small knowing smirk just as a song ended, already knowing the incoming songs thanks to her helping Yang and the DJ set up the playlist.
Pyrrha arched a brow in question upon noticing the mischievous smile on her dance partner's face. "What are you up to?" She asked
Ruby merely smiled, wiping her hands on her dress in hopes to rid of her discomfort at her next action. "You'll see." She said as smooth, acoustics of a Vacuon song began, cueing Ruby to gently place a closed, polite hand on Pyrrha's waist, prompting the other to rest her own closed hand on Ruby's shoulder of the same side as the two barely pressed their palms of their free hands in front of the other with an inch of space, careful not to intertwine them in an attempt to stay courteous of boundaries.
Upon hearing the themed song, Pyrrha nervously smiled, staring at their feet as Ruby began leading them. "I must confess that I do not know how to Tango." she paused, "Or at all."
Ruby gave a small smile, "It's easier than it looks. Here, I'll help and we can take it one step at a time." She said as she softly began leading her dance partner through the steps. "Slow, slow. Quick - quick, slow. Quick - quick, slow." She instructed, allowing Pyrrha to easily, but awkwardly follow her movements.
A smile began to stretch across Pyrrha's features as she gained the courage to look away from their feet and up at Ruby. "I think I have it." She whispered in excitement, as if there were no music playing loudly.
Ruby beamed at the statement, "That's great! I knew you could do it."
The praise and confidence that Ruby sent her way warmed Pyrrha's heart, and made her lightly duck her head in happiness. "Thank you." She said, though at that moment, accidentally had a misstep that caused her heel to pinch down on Ruby's toes.
"Ouch!" Ruby winced, stopping mid-step.
"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha apologized, embarrassed at her mistake.
"It's fine." Ruby assured, "It happens. I used to step on my… uncle's feet all the time." She said, thinking the times Roman used to teach her how to tango.
Pyrrha gave a small smile, her confidence coming back at the reassurance, though frowned in concern. "How's your foot?"
"It's fine." Ruby nodded, starting their dance once again.
"Are you certain?" Pyrrha asked, "Perhaps it's best if we stop." She said, her hand slipping from Ruby's shoulder to be pulled away
Ruby suddenly stopped her though, and before she realized it or could wonder why, she repositioned Pyrrha's hand to her waist instead. "It's fine." She reassured, "But maybe you'll feel better if you lead." She smiled encouragingly as she placed her right hand on Pyrrha's shoulder and grasped the other's hand with her left.
Feeling nervous once again, Pyrrha began to lead them, picking up their awkward tango once more. Tentatively, she glanced up at Ruby, who merely reassured her by squeezing her hand.
Renewed with a sense of confidence, Pyrrha continued leading them, slowly but surely gaining fluidity as they continued, with each step.
"See? You've got it!" Ruby said with enthusiasm when the song ended, transitioning into another song that began with a more, uppity beat.
A joyful, excited smile overtook Pyrrha as she was filled with pride for getting through a dance. She couldn't help, but to grab Ruby, and lift her in a spin with a cheer. "Thank you so much Ruby!" She claimed, eliciting the attention of others.
Ruby turned red in embarrassment at being lifted by someone other than her family, but couldn't hold it against Pyrrha's enthusiasm and sincerity. "Y-You're welcome."
Pyrrha merrily laughed, setting Ruby back down onto the floor as she giddily attempted to start them in another dance.
But paused upon noticing Ruby grasp both hands with a small smile instead. Her ears registered the steady sound of people clapping to the rhythm as Ruby began bouncing in each step.
She let go of one of Pyrrha's hands, keeping hold onto her right as Ruby began leading her into a new dance, tugging her along to skip sideways.
Seeing Ruby's gleeful smile, Pyrrha couldn't but to follow along in her skipping around as they cleared the dance floor by circling the entire area. By then, Ruby nodded her head, gesturing for Pyrrha to continue on as she broke the chain, and skipped over to Yang.
Her teammate gave a look that crossed between that of amusement and curiosity as Ruby danced up to her, only to yelp as she was grabbed by the arm and pulled in. Before they could make it far though, she grabbed hold of Weiss (who was attempting to teach Blake how to waltz, though unsuccessfully if the bruises on her feet were anything to go by) and dragged them along with her leader.
Ruby continued tugging them into the space, linking Yang's arm to Pyrrha's before dancing away again, this time toward Nora.
Said girl had an eager smile on her face as she offered her arm to allow Ruby to drag her onto the dance floor with a loud giggle, but not before she grabbed onto Ren's to pull him along for the ride.
In a short amount of time, Ruby had managed to pull in Team CFVY, CRDL, and Penny, along with other teams to form a large circle dance with another smaller one on the inside, everyone laughing with glee.
Only to break it as she tugged on Pyrrha for the two to link their arms, causing everyone else to follow suit and partner up with the person next to them, and continue dancing in circle formation as each couple spun.
Every so often, the crowd would shout joyously in time with the song, causing partners to split up and link arms with the next person as they continued dancing.
From up above, Emerald, Mercury, and Neo noted how Ruby had included all the students into the dance, and smiled in amusement, recognizing exactly what she had done.
"It appears all the dancers have partners." Emerald said through the com channel, her statement emphasized by the rowdy laughter and whoops of holler filling the air
"How long do I have?" Cinder asked.
"You should be back by midnight to be safe." Mercury said as he noted there being just a little over 30 minutes left until then.
"I'll keep my eye on the clock." Cinder replied. "Ensure that my little sister doesn't get into… too much trouble."
Mercury glanced down onto the dance floor scanning the floor, trying to find where Ruby may be, though one quick look at Neo who was glaring daggers at a particular area, told him where to find the squirt.
Following Neo's line of sight, he found Ruby linked and in arm with Yang with a large smile on her face that had briefly turned into a frown for a split second.
She probably wanted to pout at her sister's statement.
"We will." Emerald answered, just when Ruby squealed in laughter as Yang twirled her out and back into her arms, hugging her at her shoulders from behind.
The scene made Neo's scowl deepen as she gripped onto the railing, nearly sulking for a few minutes as the circle slowly dissipated. (But not before Ruby had managed to hook her arm with every member of Team CRDL, and took advantage of the opportunity to stomp on all of their feet as much as she could)
Ruby, her team, and Pyrrha had slowly migrated away for a quick break at the side, procuring a table for Blake and Weiss to sit at. Though, Ruby didn't look like she was done with having fun as she seemed like she had convinced Pyrrha and Yang to continue dancing with her.
The sight of Yang happily holding both of Ruby's hands as they jumped around in a circle as Pyrrha giggled, watching from the side and awaiting her turn, seemed to have caused Neo to snap, finally turning toward Mercury and Emerald. She fiercely began signing, her hands blurring in their movement and causing the two to recoil away.
"Whoa, slow down Neo." Mercury said, holding his hand up as a gesture of peace. "We can't understand you when you sign that fast."
Not having the patience to sign or to take out her scroll to type, Neo merely grabbed Mercury by his arm and pulled him away, leaving Emerald no choice but to follow after.
The three walked towards Ruby, making their way through the crowded dance floor. Though had to suddenly pause as they noticed someone heading toward the door.
"A party guest is leaving." Emerald whispered
A sigh was heard as Cinder asked with minor annoyance, "Who is it?"
Emerald peeked over to the entrance, using Mercury as her cover. "Ironwood."
"Should we intervene?" Mercury asked, holding Neo back from straying further into the crowd.
Cinder hummed, "No. We have what we need." She said.
Emerald and Mercury sighed with relief as they continued allowing Neo to lead them toward Ruby, and from the look on her face; she must have heard her sister's success.
"Where did you learn to dance?" Pyrrha asked with a light chuckle as Ruby spun back toward her.
"My family taught me." Ruby smiled, stepping in time with Pyrrha in their somewhat silly jig.
"Do you know any other dances?" Pyrrha inquired
"Sure." Ruby nodded.
Dancing used to be an activity that everyone at home use to participate in frequently when she was younger. Her sister knew how to waltz for some reason, and had led many dances with Ruby standing on her feet.
Roman knew many Vacuon ballroom dances like the Tango, and used to pull Ruby into one for fun as he exaggerated their movements, extending their arms out as far as they could while leaning his head back to show her how posh he could be.
Neo learned a bit of ballet, and stage dances saying that it helped her keep balance for fighting. Though Ruby had learned that the only reason both Roman and Neo learned formal dancing and performance dancing was to crash upper class balls.
Mercury knew some interesting, northern Mistralian dances. Though upon finding out that he learned because the name "Dragon Dance" sounded cool, Ruby immediately began making fun of him.
Emerald didn't seem to find any reason for dancing, though knew how to Jive and Swing dance.
Both Mercury and Emerald seemed to learn how to dance during their brief trip to Mistral when they stayed with a rather rowdy village that held a close knit community. Dancing was a past time there, and there were so many forms that were explored during their celebrations.
It was there that Ruby learned how to circle dance, and since then, she loved dancing in groups.
"I even know how to Waltz!" She claimed with a proud smile.
Pyrrha smiled, happy to see Ruby in such a good mood and mentally noted to thank Nora later for convincing her to come to the dance.
She allowed Ruby to spin away, handing her back toward Yang, though paused upon noticing how quickly Ruby was stopped.
Looking up, she found Neo intercepting Ruby with a grasp on her hand, while Mercury and Emerald stood behind her.
"Mind if we… take Ruby for the remainder of the dance?" Mercury asked.
"Guys!" Ruby exclaimed, pulling Neo in for a hug.
Neo seemed to relax with the gesture, though took the opportunity to throw a glare at Yang as she gave Ruby a light squeeze, eliciting a look of confusion to emerge onto Yang..
"Oh… uh… I suppose not… If Ruby doesn't mind." Pyrrha said, a little put off at the sudden interruption
"Of course not!" Ruby stated with good cheer, pulling away from Neo as she beamed up at Mercury and Emerald
At her agreement, Neo immediately began pulling Ruby away, causing her to stumble over her feet as she waved good-bye to her team and Pyrrha.
Who could only watch with a dower mood as Ruby disappeared into the crowd with the team from Haven, leaving them no choice but to rest at the table, and continue chatting without her.
"You looked like you were having fun." Emerald said with a grumble.
"What? Jealous?" Ruby teased, causing Emerald to roll her eyes "But it was fun to dance like that again! I usually don't get the chance unless Cinder gives everyone the day off… Or if I'm with Adam's faction."
"I hope that doesn't mean you'll be ditching us for him every time you want a dance." Mercury said as he and Emerald took up position to dance.
"Psh! No way!" Ruby said with a wave of a hand before grabbing hold of Neo and hung her head back to look at the ceiling. "Why would I when I have you guys?" She asked in a posh voice, exaggerating her dance like Roman did so often.
Neo let out a silent giggle before adopting the same posture, allowing Ruby to lead them in a waltz with long, dramatic strides.
Mercury snorted at the sight of the two, bending over and accidentally knocking his head onto the top of Emerald's.
"OW! That hurt you fucker!" Emerald complained, letting go of Mercury to smack him on his chest hard.
"Ow! What the hell?" Mercury winced, turning away and leaning over to shelter his chest while lightly cradling his head.
"Serves you right!" Emerald stated, rubbing her head.
Mercury sulked, causing Ruby to giggle as she let go of Neo's hand and grab onto his arm. "Cheer up Mercury!" She said, taking hold of his hands as she bounced around him.
"If you hug me, then I will." Mercury said, feigning hurt.
The other three rolled their eyes, though Ruby obliged in his request to humor him.
The moment she did though, Mercury grinned, grabbing hold of her before spinning her around and lifting her into the air.
Ruby screeched in delight as she clung onto him tightly to ensure she didn't fly off, giggling joyfully.
"Mercury! Put her down before you end up throwing her! Again." Emerald firmly demanded.
"Aw, but she's having so much fun." Mercury said, though slowed down in his spin for Ruby's feet to touch the floor once more.
Still feeling giddy, but dizzy from the movement, Ruby removed herself from Mercury's arm with a giggle as she stumbled backwards.
"Let's see her have fun trying to remove herself from the wall." Emerald retorted, catching Ruby with a gentle hold.
"That would be fine!" Ruby exclaimed, allowing Emerald to take a hand and lift it above her head to guide her in a counter spin to right her senses. "I could leave an imprint of myself on the building." She nodded as she stopped.
Emerald rolled her eyes, both their hands clasped together as they swung it back and forth in between them, Ruby bouncing on her heels in excitement. "It wouldn't last long because they'd have to fix it dummy."
"Might I cut in?" Cinder asked from the side, her black, elbow length gloved hand resting on a cocked out hip.
"Cinder!" Ruby jumped in excitement, letting go of Emerald as she crashed into her sister, her face getting lightly scratched from the rough fabric of Cinder's sparkling dress.
"Of course not." Emerald deadpanned, answering Cinder regardless as Ruby looked up at her sister
"How did it go? Did you whoop butt?" She asked.
Cinder chuckled in amusement, starting a small sway for the two to dance. "A few." She answered.
Ruby beamed in pride at her sister, though it quickly turned into an inquisitive frown. "What about Ironwood?"
Cinder hummed, "The general seemed to have seen me at the very end, but not in time to prevent me from planting the virus." She smirked.
Ruby nearly squealed in excitement, burrowing herself deeper into her sister's arms. "My sister is the coolest infiltrator."
Cinder smiled, "It wouldn't have been successful without you Ruby." She said, eliciting her sister to beam up widely at her.
"So, what do we do now?" Mercury inquired.
Cinder didn't take her eyes off Ruby, as she spun her towards Neo. "For now, let us just enjoy the rest of the night."
Ruby giddily bounced in excitement, as the four circled around her and continued taking turns to dance with her.
AN: Thank you for reading, I really hope you all enjoyed the chapter.
If you're curious as to what kind of dance I had Ruby lead everyone into, then just look up Tangled's Kingdom Dance, as I basically based it off of that. Also, the steps for the tango were from a basic routine. ^^