Alright folks, here it is! The next chapter to A Rose For An Heiress!
Sorry again for how long this took to get to everybody. For whoever left this story behind, I cannot blame you one bit. But for those of you who stayed and watched for a new chapter, I thank you and cannot express how much that means to me. I only hope that this will be worth the wait for you.
Freedom
*****
Two weeks later
"So today is the day, huh?" Sun asked as he, Blake and Yang walked down the hall toward the room Weiss and Ruby had occupied the past few weeks.
Blake nodded, "Yeah. Im surprised though...Weiss was cleared to leave after she woke up, but she's been refusing." She said, reaching up and adjusting her ribbon, "But today neither of them have a choice. Ozpin says that two weeks is enough time away from classes."
"Yeah, and he's kinda right..." Yang agreed as she sifted through a bag of snacks they had gotten past the nurses station. "Ruby's probably looking for ways to escape out of the window at this point."
They got to the door and Blake opened it to see Ruby flitting around the room, leaving trails of rose petals in her wake as she looked out of the window, then rushed to the white board to read it for the tenth time that day, then to the TV to see the same boring news channel, then back at the window. All the while Weiss was sitting on her bed flipping through a book. She didn't even look up to see who was opening the door. "She's been like this for hours." She said as the trio walked in and Ruby finally noticed them. In an instant she was in front of Yang, her eye pleading, "Pleeeaaase tell me its the daaay..." She whined.
Yang patted her younger sister on the head, "Congrats, sis. No more hospital for you." She said and Ruby grinned, "Great! I can't wait to see Crescent Rose again! Sucks they dont let weapons in here..." she slouched a bit.
"Wait..." Sun looked at her then down the hall, "They don't?" He pulled his weapons from behind him and laughed a bit, "I should probably keep these hidden then."
"Probably." Weiss said, flipping another page as Ruby walked back to her bed, picking the tray up with her good hand and setting it on her stand before she sat down. "Ugh...I think my taste buds died from the food here..." She muttered.
Suddenly a small plastic package landed beside her and she looked down to see "Cupcakes!" She squealed, grabbing the snacks and tearing the package open with her teeth. Yang smirked, tossing a pack to Weiss as well, "Figure you guys might need something tasty to celebrate your freedom." She said. Weiss looked down at the snack before she marked her page and shut the book. "Thanks." She said quietly, grabbing it.
Yang raised a brow and looked at Ruby, who had already taken a huge bite of hers, "Whats with her?" She asked, pointing to Weiss with a thumb. Ruby swallowed and wiped her mouth off, "She's been like that since Maria came by earlier." She explained, "She said that before we leave a doctor will come in and the bandages we have can come off."
"But that's good news, right?" Sun asked, taking a bite of a banana. Blake gave him a look and he suddenly remembered.
Ruby saw how she looked at him and frowned, "What? Am I missing something?" She asked. Yang shook her head, "It's nothing, Ruby. Don't worry about it." she said. Ruby was about to press the issue when the door almost caved in on itself as someone beat on it.
"Nora, be easy!" Jaune said before the door opened to reveal team JNPR standing outside, Pyrrha holding the door open as Ren and Jaune dragged Nora inside, each holding an arm as she struggled. "Nobody takes away my hammer!" She shouted.
Ren looked over at the others, "They took away Magnhild. She's not taking it well."
"We noticed." Yang said before walking over to Nora, "Nora, if you behave I'll give you a treat."
Nora immediately went still, "...what kind of treat?" She asked, eyes narrowing as she stared at Yang.
Yang rummaged through the bag, "How does...a cinnamon roll sound?" She asked, pulling one out in a small box. As quickly as Jaune and Ren let go Nora was on it, taking it from Yang and taking opening up the box. She inhaled deeply and sighed before she looked at them all, "I guess I can ignore the injustice of it all...for now." she said, taking the fork Yang offered and digging into her treat.
With that taken care of Yang turned toward Ruby, "So when is the doctor supposed to come back?" She asked.
Ruby thought for a moment, "I think she said about...two?" she said.
Blake took out her scroll to check the time, "It's 1:50 now." She said, seeing she had a new email. She took a minute to open it and reply before closing her scroll and slipping it back into her pocket.
"Any minute then." Weiss said, both anticipating and dreading the visit. Her arm would be fine, she knew that for a fact. She could move her hand and all of her fingers just like before, and the pain had stopped days ago. She was more worried for Ruby, and the extent of the injuries she had received.
Ruby rubbed her cast, "Stupid thing...I hate that this isn't coming off for another week..." She grumbled.
"Well, by what we heard it could have been worse." Pyrrha said, "At least your Aura is helping your recovery. Otherwise it would take a few months."
"I know..." Ruby said, "But it still sucks...stupid Boarbatusk." she said, perking up when she heard a light knock on the door. It opened to let in a tall woman with short brown hair and round glasses in front of green eyes. She wore a long white coat and had a scroll in her hands. At the sight of all of the people in the room she sighed, "I'm pretty sure there is a limit to how many visitors people can have..."
Ruby smiled, "Sorry, Dr. Winters, they all just sortof...showed up at the same time."
Dr. Winters relented a bit, "Well...it is your last day here. I suppose I can let it slide." She stepped into the room and shut the door behind her before setting her scroll into a small dock at the bottom of the white board and turning toward the girls. "Who wants to be first?" She asked, leaving it up to them. Weiss and Ruby exchanged a look then immediately pointed to each other. The group laughed and the girls exchanged another look before the doctor walked over to Weiss, "How about we just go with you first." she said. Weiss looked like she was about to argue but wound up only nodding, holding her arm out and trying to keep still as Dr. Winters cut through a piece of the bandage and began to unwind it. After a minute Weiss' arm was bare. The skin was pale, but that was nothing new, and a quick examination revealed only a faint scar running up her arm. Weiss sighed, "Well...at least it's light." She said. She wore long sleeves most of the time anyway, so it wasn't like it would be seen. Dr. Winters nodded, "Thats the spirit. Your turn, Ruby." She said, walking over to the other girl.
She snipped a piece of the bandage on her head, unwinding it and gently holding up the cloth patch beneath as the bandages fell away. Ruby swallowed nervously as Dr. Winters slowly removed the patch to reveal a large scar over Ruby's right eye, which was still shut. Weiss gasped at the sight of it, while Yang bit her lip.
Ruby's right eye opened looked at everyone, "What? Whats wrong?" She asked, blinking. Dr. Winters tapped her shoulder to get her attention, "Hold on a second and you can go see for yourself." She said, taking out a small flashlight and shining it into her eye. Then she had Ruby follow her finger as it passed in front of her eyes. "Try closing your left eye. Can you see alright?"
Ruby did as she said and nodded, "Everything's a bit fuzzy, but I can see." She said. A long sigh escaped Weiss as she lay back, relieved. Dr. Winters nodded, "The blurriness might go away in time. I want you to come back in a week just to make sure though. Understood?" Ruby nodded again and the doctor stepped aside, "Now go into the bathroom and see what everyone else did." she said.
Ruby stood up and walked into the bathroom, flipping on the light and looking into the mirror before she gasped. She closed her right eye, a finger coming up to trace along the scar running down it. It was jagged, a result of the Boarbatusks spikes, and a light red. "Oh..." She whispered. Behind her Weiss walked into the bathroom, worried at how Ruby was being so quiet. "Ruby...?" She asked softly, shutting the door behind her.
Ruby turned to her and smiled wide, "Now we match!" She said, opening her eye again and grinning. The outburst was so sudden and unexpected that Weiss stood there, stunned for a long moment before she cracked up and started laughing, "W-What?!" She asked, "Ruby...You...You dunce.." Weiss said, smiling to her, "You have a scar now...and that's all you can think about?"
Ruby nodded, "Yeah! I mean, its gonna take getting used to, but it's to be expected right? We're huntresses, sooner or later we're going to get some scars."
Weiss just stared. After a moment Ruby waved a hand in front of her, "Hello? Weiss, are you okay?" she asked.
"Y-Yeah..." Weiss said, "Just...surprised at you being the voice of reason..."
"Hey!" Ruby puffed her cheeks indignantly, seeming to pout. Weiss only smiled a bit before leaning forward to kiss her cheek, "I think it suits you." She said, "But lets not try getting more of them, okay?"
Ruby smiled back and nodded, "Okay." With that she opened the bathroom door to find everyone crowded around it with the doctor standing by the board. Yang looked her over, "So...?" she asked.
Ruby shrugged, "Not so bad." She said. Yang grinned, reaching up to ruffle her hair, "About time though. Luck doesn't last forever sis."
Ruby swatted at the hand, "I know..." she said. The doctor cleared her throat and everyone turned to her, "Those aren't the only bandages to be removed today." She said, pointing to Ruby's torso, "I will have to ask everyone but miss Rose to clear out for now."
Pyrrha was the first out, followed by Jaune, Ren and Nora while the rest of Ruby's team hung back. "Can't her own team stay in?" Yang asked. Blake nodded her agreement, and it was clear by the way Weiss stood that she wasnt going anywhere. Winters gave a soft sigh, reaching up to fix her glasses, "Very well." She said, shutting the door and instructing Ruby to sit on the bed. Once Ruby was seated the doctor drew her scissors again, "Try to be still." she said, snipping another piece of the bandage around Ruby's chest.
The tight material went slack and she unwound it from the teams fearless leader. Every inch that came away revealed a pattern of light, crossing lines along Ruby's right side and her lower back. Weiss grit her teeth at the sight and Yang held her breath. Ruby covered her chest with her left arm before looking down at her side and sighing, "Well...my eye scarred, why not that as well?" she asked. Dr. Winters ran a light hand over the skin, "It does not look that bad." She said, "The skin is hardly raised...its possible that these will disappear with time."
Ruby smiled, "Well, that's something at least. Oh well, it's just skin, right?"
The doctor smiled, "You certainly have a bright way of looking at things." She said, and Yang placed a black shirt by Ruby. Weiss and Blake turned away while Yang helped her get the shirt over her cast and on. Once that was done Yang looked at the doctor, who gave a thumb up, "They're good to go. I would like them both to come back in one week, though, just to make sure we didn't miss anything. It goes without saying to keep an eye on them." She said. Yang and Blake both nodded and Ruby stood with a grin, slipping on a pair of velcro shoes Yang had brought a few days back.
A few minutes later and they were walking out of the hospital alongside team JNPR, Nora hugging her weapon fondly. Sun excused himself from the group, saying he was meeting someone. Ruby only waved as he left while Blake thought it was odd that he kept leaving like that. For now she brushed the thought to the side.
"So, anything new happen while we were gone?" Ruby asked.
Jaune shrugged, "Same old stuff I guess. People have been talking about how Weiss and Yang fought. What was with that, anyway? Making you fight a Grimm right afterward?" He asked the Heiress.
Weiss and Ruby exchanged a look and shrugged. They hadn't even told their own team about Ozpin's visit yet, and they werent sure who was allowed to know. "Dunno." Ruby finally said, "We haven't really been told. Maybe it was just to make the class harder?" She asked. Jaune knew she was hiding something and looked like he might press the issue when Pyrrha cut in, "Well, lets all hope this is the last time it happens for now." Everyone nodded in agreement as Ruby looked at the ground. She hated lying to people, let alone her friends.
It was a short walk from the hospital back to the main buildings of the school, and as soon as they were inside Ruby heard a commotion. "What's going on?" She asked, looking down the hall to see a group of people gathering.
"Probably nothing good..." Pyrrha said as the group made their way to the crowd. They pushed their through it to see two people staring each other down, one of whom they recognized. "Why am I not surprised? Cardin, in the middle of trouble..." Pyrrha said.
The groups gaze went to the other person, a boy taller than even Cardin, with silver hair and striking blue eyes. "He looks kinda like Maria..." Ruby said. Yang smirked, "Yeah, but alot taller..." This guy was almost six feet tall. Behind him was a girl with black hair cut off at her shoulder, the top of her head only coming up to his chest.
Weiss got to the front and took a sharp breath in as she looked at the boy, "Wait...Damon?" She asked. At hearing his name Damon looked over for a second before looking back at Cardin, "Apologize." He said.
"For what?" Cardin asked, hostility already apparent in his tone as he glared at the upper-classman, "Like I told the bookworm, she doesnt want to be bumped into? She should pay closer attention."
"She was. You shoved her into the locker." Damon said, his tone level. The girl pulled at his sleeve, "Damon, it's fine. He's not worth getting into trouble..." She said.
Damon looked down at her for a long moment, as if considering whether or not to press on, before his eyes closed and he sighed, turning away from Cardin to face her, "True. Are you hurt?" He asked. The girl shook her head and Damon smiled, "Then I will let him go this time." With that he began to walk away.
"What do you mean 'This time'?!" Cardin asked, stomping up to him and grabbing his shoulder. Damon stopped walking and Weiss visibly winced, "He should have let him walk away..." She said.
Damon slowly reached up to grasp Cardin's hand in his own, "What I mean is..." He pulled Cardin's arm, yanking him forward as his other hand came up, grabbing the back of his head and slamming him into the metal face of a locker, holding him there with ease as Cardin struggled against him and his team looked ready to pounce. Damon slowly turned his head to look at them before he let go. Cardin held his face with a hand and turned, enraged, as Damon continued to speak. "If you bully my partner again, nobody will stop me from putting you in a hospital." He said, and with that he turned and walked away, the crowd parting to let him and his partner through before dissipating, disappointed whispers going around at the lack of a fight. Teams RWBY and JNPR walked down the hall toward the cafeteria, "It's his own fault." Pyrrha said, looking back to see Cardin shrug his team off as he walked away, "He's been picking fights with everyone lately. He just picked the wrong one today."
Ruby looked over at Weiss, "You knew his name. Who is he?" She asked.
Weiss smiled nervously before she sighed, "His name is Damon Silva. He's likely related to Maria. Maybe siblings?" she said, looking at the ground, "I've never seen him so...aggressive."
Ruby frowned, "Okay...but how do you know him? He looked like he recognized you."
"Our fathers used to do business together regularly." Weiss explained as they walked, "The Silvas would visit us at our estate and Damon would always come with them. While the adults spoke, we kids did whatever we wanted, which was usually going to the garden. But I haven't seen him in a few years, I didn't even know he was coming to Beacon. He never had Maria with him, either. I wonder why that is..."
Blake remembered something as Weiss spoke and opened her scroll, pulling up the roster of Beacon Academy's teams. "Hold on a second." she said, typing in Damon's name. "I know I've heard that name before..." After a moment her search brought something up, "Damon Silva is the leader of team..." she sighed, "Team D.A.M.N. Honestly, that's their name? Ozpin couldn't avoid that? Moving on...Formally known as team Diamond, the team is composed of Damon Silva, Nina Winters, Maria Silva and Amethyst Rhodes. Their record is pristine, with a 100% mission success rate."
"Nina Winters?" Yang asked, "Wonder if she's related to the doctor."
Blake shrugged, "Doesnt say. All this says is that they're all third years and lists their semblance and weapons."
Ruby perked up at that last part, "Weapons?!" She asked, looking over Blake's shoulder as the faunus kept reading, "Damon's weapon is twin sickles named Ebony and Ivory, Maria uses pistols named Memory and Thought while Nina has a glyph codex and Amethyst...hers just says 'Little Gear'."
"Little gear?" Yang asked, "What is that?" Blake shrugged, "I don't know. It literally only says Little Gear, no description of it." With that she closed her scroll and put it back into her pocket.
Ruby smiled a bit, "Well, hopefully we can find out sometime." She said, "For now can we hurry? I want to see my own weapon again..."
*****
twenty minutes later
The door to the dorm room swung open and the team walked in, Ruby first, then Weiss and Yang with Blake shutting the door behind all of the them. On Weiss' nightstand was a large bundle of papers and Ruby walked over to look at them, picking up the paper on top and seeing that they were notes on the faunus-human war. "Oh no..." she said, putting the paper back and looking at the stack, "How many notes did you take?!" she asked.
Blake shrugged, "As many as I thought were needed." She said, walking over to sit on her bed. She untied the ribbon around her ears, feeling them twitch as they came free.
Ruby looked over at her, "Blake...you know you don't have to wear that...right? I'm pretty sure the others will accept you..." She said.
"That's exactly the point, Ruby." Blake said, staring at her, "I wear this ribbon because it's a sad reality that I'm a faunus. And it's not what I am that's sad, but that I need to be /accepted/, like I'm some kind of freak in human society. We're seen as lesser just because we're different, and its pathetic that some of us have to hide just to coexist society and avoid something that shouldn't even happen in the first place." As she spoke she became more agitated until her tone bordered on hostility.
Ruby was stunned for a moment before looking down at the ground, "Sorry..." She murmured. Yang put a hand on Blake's shoulder, "Hey...lighten up. You know she didn't mean it like that." she said.
Blake looked up at her for a moment before realizing she had gotten out of hand. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, "I know...sorry, Ruby." she said, "It's just...a sore subject."
Ruby nodded, "I understand." She said, rubbing her neck gently before looking up at her bed. She huffed, only now realizing that she was going to have a hard time climbing into it. Weiss walked up to the beds and, seeing Ruby looking at hers, thought for a moment before she jumped up and hoisted herself onto the hanging bed. "How about we switch beds for now, Ruby?" She suggested, "At least until your cast comes off."
Yang looked over at them and smirked, "Or you two can share a bed." She said, "You didn't seem to have a problem with it in the hospital."
Weiss' face took on a slight pink hue and she crossed her arms, "We were both hurt, and the beds were far apart...I didn't feel like walking back." She said.
Blake looked up at her with a small smile, "Right...which explains why you stayed in the bed for three days." she said, "Makes sense."
Weiss pointed down at them, "I don't need to explain myself to you!"
Ruby snickered, "Guys, leave Weiss alone. If she doesn't want to, she doesn't have to." She said, looking up at Weiss, "If you think that's the best idea, then I don't mind. Though...can we swap pillows? I like the ones I have..."
Weiss looked to her left and saw the kitty-face shaped pillows Ruby had before nodding, "That's fair." she said, tossing them down to her. Ruby caught two with her left hand, but the others fell to the ground. She didn't seem to mind though, passing Weiss' pearl white pillows up to the heiress one at a time before picking hers up and arranging them on her new bed. "Although...if you change your mind, I don't mind it. It's getting colder at night anyway." she said, crawling onto the bed and laying down facing the bed above her. Weiss immediately lay down as well, ignoring the smirks the other two members of their team had. "Don't encourage them..." she said, reaching up to gently rub her eyes, 'Or tempt me...' she added in her own thoughts. The idea was certainly appealing, but she felt it was just too soon. In the hospital there really was an excuse, and after a few days she had returned to her own bed and found she actually missed the close proximity as she slept.
Blake stood up from her bunk, "Well, we have some studying to do. Tomorrow is a test in Professor Oobleck's class." She said, looking at Yang, "Coffee?" She asked.
"Doctor Oobleck." Weiss corrected as she heard Ruby whine in the bed below her at the very idea of a test so soon.
Yang nodded, picking up her mug, "Reunite me with my sweetie, will you?" She teased, handing the mug to the faunus, who only rolled her eyes with an amused smile as she walked to their makeshift kitchen to make the coffee. As she walked Yang looked over at Ruby, "Relax, sis, I'm pretty sure he's gonna give you a free pass from this."
Ruby looked up hopefully, "Really?" she asked.
Yang shrugged, "Yeah...maybe? Weirder things have happened..." she said.
"Like what?" Ruby asked. Above her Weiss thought for a minute before answering, "Maybe your skill with sketching? You know, when you actually try." Ruby had requested for Yang to bring her sketchbook to her in the hospital, and wasted no time showing it to Weiss once it was there. The heiress had to admit that, even though most of the sketches were weapon designs, Ruby had a gift getting the small details down. There was even a sketch of what Ruby called "Crescent Rose's final form", whatever that meant.
Ruby stared up at the bed above her until her scroll rang in her pocket and she reached her hand in to get it, flicking it open to see a private message from Professor Ozpin, "It's the Headmaster." she said.
Yang looked down at her as Blake brought their coffee, "What could he want?" She asked, taking hers with a word of thanks to her partner and starting to drink.
Ruby shrugged, opening it and reading, "Oh! He wants to talk to us about our first mission!"
Suddenly she heard Yang choke on her coffee and go into a coughing fit, sputtering as Blake patted her back. When it was clear she wasted no time shouting "WHAT?!"
Ruby looked up at her with a small, nervous smile, "Did I...forget to mention that?" she asked as Yang and Blake stood over her, arms crossed and obviously not happy with being kept out of the loop.
Aaand now Ruby is in trouble. Maybe.
What do you guys think? Was the chapter worth the wait? What do you think will happen in their first mission? I have already said that it will follow some of the canon, but alot of it will be changed. While I hate to do it, it's the only way I can see to try and link the two together.
Here's to hoping the next chapter doesn't take as long!
-Grim
Edit: I've been tracking progress on the fic. Over 650 views today alone! Which is amazing to me, but it makes me think about things.
Monty Oum recently passed away. And the fate of RWBY is largely in the air at this point. But just because Monty is no longer with us, that doesn't mean that his dreams should fade away. We the community, through the hundreds if not thousands of fics on this site, the thousands of pictures floating around on the web, the fan-characters, the amazing role-plays and the AU's, we will keep this amazing universe alive within our own hearts and minds for as long as ideas keep flowing. I, for one, don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
We all love you, Monty. Wherever you are now, keep rockin' that DDR.