Oh man, Volume 9 Episode 8. If you haven't seen it yet, skip the authors note at the bottom because I have some thoughts and I need to share them. For now, enjoy this new chapter of Silver Spectre:
Ruby loved Weiss. She was in love with her best friend. She was in love with the woman who was currently fighting a war all for a chance at bringing her back. Admitting it felt strangely relieving, as if some weight had been taken off her mind.
But it was also confusing the silver-eyed girl. Realizing her feelings for Weiss went deeper than simply friendship made their current argument seem so much worse. Before, she was concerned for her friend. Now she was watching the woman she loved risk both her life and her morality all for her. Ruby didn't like that.
"I still don't like this plan," General Yatsuhashi grumbled from the center of their formation. His lieutenant Fox placed a hand on his shoulder placatingly while the rest of the army marched onwards towards Altan, the town where the enemy was coming from.
After hours of debate, Weiss had managed to convince the majority of the Rebellion that the benefits of winning this battle and discouraging members of the nobility from getting involved outweighed the risks of failure. General Daichi and his closest supporters were the only ones who disagreed, but they were outnumbered.
The army was marching in formation, as there was no point in using trickery like in the previous battle. They had won then with minimal casualties because the enemy underestimated them. They couldn't count on them making the same mistake twice.
Ruby knew what that meant. Weiss was once again going to be in the midst of a battlefield, and this time was going to be so much worse than before. No sitting atop a hill overlooking the carnage, no swift charge into an enemy blockade to break through and save their comrades.
She was going to be in the middle of it all, as the rebellion couldn't afford to hold back one of their better fighters when they needed to strike hard and fast. There was a high chance that Weiss would have to kill someone. There was a chance she could be killed herself.
Ruby frowned when she thought of that. The idea of Weiss dying in this quest to save Ruby hadn't crossed her mind when they first began back in Atlas. In Vale, she had started to realize the danger, but it wasn't until Weiss joined the Rebellion that Ruby began to fear for her friend's life.
Images of Weiss's lifeless corpse sitting undignified on a battlefield flooded Ruby's mind. The same images that had been haunting her whenever she had a quiet moment alone, with nothing to distract her. Worry crept into her mind as her breathing began to quicken.
Even if Weiss didn't die, she would still have to kill people to survive. Briefly, Ruby remembered the White Fang lieutenant that Weiss killed in Vale. She tried to shake off the thought and tell herself it had been self-defense, but then the image of Weiss burning a Mistralian soldier with black flames came. That... that had been too much. Even Weiss agreed with that.
But that didn't mean she would forever. What if she had to do that again? What if she started to use more and more cruel methods to achieve her goals? What if the price for this journey wasn't her life, but her innocence? She was a necromancer. She had shown herself willing to break the law to meet her ends.
What if-
"Ruby? Are you alright?" Ren whispered, his hand briefly passing through her body to sense her emotions. At once her thoughts stopped spiraling and her breathing calmed. Turning her gaze to look at Ren, she saw his pink eyes darting around with worry. Next to him, Nora marched obliviously, chatting with a random soldier.
Ruby tried to send a wave of positive emotions to Ren to let him know she was alright, but all she managed was uncertainty. Ren's eyes softened sympathetically. "I understand. I often felt nervous watching the people I cared about march into battle." He whispered quietly.
She felt her face heat up at his words. It wasn't as if she forgot, but having her feelings for Weiss come back to the forefront of her mind was an excellent distraction, albeit a temporary one. Casting a glance behind her, she looked at where Weiss was marching and felt her breath catch.
Weiss had a gorgeous smile. It was rare to see, but when she earnestly smiled at Ruby it felt like her heart stopped. Right now she simply had a slight grin, but to Ruby, it was one of the greatest sights she'd ever seen. The sunlight reflecting off her silver armor looked resplendent while her eyes were filled with passion.
She was talking to Sun about some glyph given the way she gestured. Ruby felt her heart squeeze. Having spent so much time with her, Ruby could easily spot how passionate she was despite looking perfectly composed. The slight twitch of her lips. The way she drew the glyph just slightly too fast to follow, the way she proudly straightened her back when Sun gasped in shock at the simple glyph she drew.
Weiss's gaze shifted over to her, ice-blue eyes meeting silver. For a moment Ruby's world froze. A thousand emotions seemed to pass through her friend's eyes. Ruby felt herself begin to melt. Literally. Her body began to dissolve into silver flames and it took more will than she expected to keep herself together.
Shyly, Ruby waved at Weiss. Her friend simply blinked in surprise and gave a slight nod back before returning her attention to Sun. As soon as her attention was gone Ruby pulled her cloak around her and screamed into her hood. This just wasn't fair.
How was she supposed to talk Weiss out of this when she couldn't even talk to her without wanting to blush? Weiss was just too pretty for her own good.
"I wish Uncle Qrow was here. He'd have some advice for me," Ruby thought to herself before wincing. Uncle Qrow's advice was normally great. He taught her how to use her scythe after all. He was a great source of information and advice for most things. But he was still a bachelor, and by his own admission, most of his relationships started and stopped within the same night. Maybe he wasn't the best person to listen to about matters of the heart.
Ruby shifted her hood and began to watch Weiss talk again, feeling heat creep into her cheeks as she watched her friend talk with Sun. To her horror, she heard Ren chuckle softly beside her. Whipping around to stare at him, she saw his eyes crinkled with mirth.
He knew. Ruby felt her blush deepen. The silver flames surrounding her began to intensify until she couldn't take it and dissolved into a stream of flame with a bright flash that only Weiss could see. Slinking through the air, Ruby reformed behind Weiss and positioned the heiress between her and Ren.
Weiss couldn't exactly talk to her thanks to Sun, so instead, she just sent her a questioning look. Ruby just shrugged helplessly. She couldn't think of a lie to tell her, and telling her the truth was...
Ruby blushed wildly.
Telling the truth was not an option.
Ruby let out a loud sigh. "And I thought this was hard before."
"I still don't like this plan," General Yatsuhashi's voice could be heard nearby, but the quiet man did not raise any more fuss. Weiss cast a quick glance to where he was marching, seeing his eyes flick to hers with a bit of annoyance.
"Man, the general looks pissed. Guess he woke up on the wrong side of the bedroll this morning," Sun joked from next to her, giving her a playful nudge. She cracked a smile and rolled her eyes.
"I think he's just upset that I called him out for being too cautious," Weiss said, adjusting her rapier on her hip absentmindedly. Marching into battle was a nerve-wracking experience, and though she hid it well the stress was getting to her. "Honestly, why couldn't he just admit he was wrong."
"You don't get it. He's been an officer in the Rebellion since he was fifteen. He doesn't like being shown up by a newcomer," Sun explained while similarly fiddling with his weapon. "His pride as a man is on the line," behind him, his two subordinates Scarlet and Sage nodded in agreement.
Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head exasperatedly. "Ugh."
Her reaction garnered some nervous laughter from some nearby rebels while Sun's face split into an easy-going smile. "Hey, I'm just telling it like it is. For what it's worth, I think you and General Pyrrha's strategy is the better choice."
Scarlet nodded in agreement. "Yeah! If we strike now we can leave Mistral on the back foot. If we retreat, we just sacrifice all the momentum we've gained!"
"Indeed. That's not to say I don't see the merit in what he suggests, but I believe he's overestimating the risk," Weiss conceded. "I can't afford to be so passive, however."
Sun perked up. "That reminds me! I've put in a word with some of my boys out in the capital about that book of yours. They said they'd look into which vault it's been stored in, but currently the situation in the palace is tense. Bunch of hooded creeps keep showing up for some meetings with the king or something."
Weiss felt her spirits raise slightly at the faunus's words, and she sent him a grateful smile. "Thank you. I appreciate the update."
Sun just smirked and gave her a thumbs up. "I owe you one for saving my tail back in Shion. I just wish I had something more than news to give you."
Weiss shook her head. "It's fine. For now, that's all I can ask for. I just hope we can get a hold of it soon."
"Well, the more success we have out here the more supporters we get in the capital. With all you've done for the rebellion, I'm sure I can use my natural charm to convince some noble to slip into the vault and bring that book sooner or later."
Weiss nodded at his words before turning to Scarlet. "Any news about those bandits from before?" She asked, referring to the heavily armored group Nora and Ren had reported following them the day before. Scarlet glanced around and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially.
"Yeah, they're still tailing us. We think they plan on trying to loot the battlefield once we're done."
Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Is there any chance they might try and attack the winner once the battle is finished? Capitalize on a moment of weakness?"
Sage shook his head. "Not likely. They've got arms and armor, but not the numbers. Even if we suffer heavy casualties, we outnumber them substantially. A few dozen bandits shouldn't be a threat to thousands of rebels, no matter how well-armed they are."
"Still, we should be cautious. Scarlet, Sage, I want you two to keep an eye on our rearguard. At the first sign of trouble, take as many men as you can and intercept the enemy," Sun ordered with uncharacteristic seriousness. The two men saluted their boss before falling back into the loose marching formation.
"You are an excellent commander," Weiss complimented the faunus. "There was no hesitation or questioning when you gave them an order. You clearly have their loyalty."
"Nah, I just have good subordinates. They do all the work," Sun admitted, waving off the compliment easily. "I'm just good at two things; talking to people, and fighting. All the thinking around here is done by General Pyrrha or Captain Ren. And you, I guess."
Weiss disagreed with the idea that Sun wasn't an excellent leader, but made no argument. Instead, she began to draw a small glyph in the air with her index finger. Sun unsubtly watched as she did so. "Whatcha doing?"
"Drawing a compass glyph. I want to be sure we're heading the right way," Unspoken was the implication that she was nervous and needed something to do to keep herself busy. Sun nodded at her words.
"Man, magic is so cool. I know the basics of enhancement, and my staff has a few surprises," He raised his mahogany staff and gave it a twirl. "But glyphs are crazy. I could never memorize what they look like, let alone draw one under pressure."
Weiss straightened up proudly. "It comes with practice. Even a simple glyph like this took weeks to memorize and months to master."
"Bet it comes in handy when you're exploring, though. Speaking off, I bet you've had plenty of wild adventures before ending up in Mistral, huh?"
Weiss's eyes moved to stare ahead of her, where Ruby was floating and looking at her. "Yeah. It's been... hard. But it will all be worth it in the end." Had her eyes always been this pretty? Weiss felt a feeling of warmth and contentment settle in her chest as she gazed into her friend's eyes.
Ruby nervously waved at her, which made Weiss realize that she'd been staring. Blushing slightly, she turned to see Sun nodding at her words. "You'll have to tell me about some of them sometime!"
Weiss shook off her embarrassment and nodded. "I'd be more than willing to trade stories later. I doubt they'll be very entertaining, however." Sun gave her a doubtful look. "I'm serious. I've mostly just fought a few Grimm and looked for the boo- eep!" She yelped as a stream of silver flames shot towards her and reformed into the familiar pretty face of her best friend.
Ruby bashfully hid behind Weiss, shrugging sheepishly when the white-haired heiress sent her a questioning look. Turning to Sun, she quickly thought of a lie for her sudden panic. "Apologies. I... I saw a bug."
Sun looked at her curiously as Weiss felt heat creep along the back of her neck, blissfully unaware of the fact that Ruby was blushing even deeper right behind her. Eventually, he just shrugged.
"Happens to me all the time. I get so jumpy before a battle that little things freak me out."
Weiss nodded along, grateful for the excuse. "Yes, it's just stress."
She turned slightly to glance at Ruby before shifting her gaze up to where Ren and Nora marched a dozen meters ahead of them. Ren was turned around and giving her a subtle smirk. Or more realistically, he was smirking at Ruby, who was hiding behind Weiss even though Ren had no way of actually seeing her.
"Strange. Nora must have said something weird," Weiss reasoned. It would explain why Ruby was acting so embarrassed. Despite her warm optimism and infectious joy, Ruby could be quite awkward. The silver spectre had told her dozens of stories of Yang embarrassing her in public and her running away to hide from the embarrassment.
Her pondering came to a halt as the soldiers in front of her stopped suddenly. The vanguard was quickly fanning out and forming ranks, and General Daichi's voice could be heard loudly over the noise of the army.
"Form ranks! They're here! Form ranks!"
Weiss felt her nerves return with a vengeance but quickly pushed them down, drawing Myrtenaster and moving to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Sun. It was time to put her and Pyrrha's strategy into play. The mages she'd been training formed up behind her, with Sun's Stone Monkey Mercenaries forming a protective ring around them. The vanguard formed a defensive wall while Ren led several squads to try and attack the enemy's left flank.
"Comrades! Prepare yourselves! If we can win today, we'll claim a great victory for our cause!" Pyrrha called out over the army from atop a horse near the rear. "Remember why you fight! Remember what this is all for!" Her passionate words inspired the soldiers, who began to draw their weapons and slowly began to advance toward the enemy army.
Ruby and Weiss met each other's gaze for a brief moment, worried silver eyes meeting her determined blue. Weiss felt her resolve grow as she stared at Ruby. Her friend was worried about her. She would never forgive Weiss if she died here. So she wouldn't. She'd win.
So yeah, yesterday's episode was crazy. I don't agree with the people who act like its the darkest thing ever shown on TV, and I'd argue that it might not even be the darkest RWBY has gotten, but it's still pretty intense. I saw one person compare it to Berserk and just... no? Like no, it's intense and dark but not nearly as much as Berserk.
However, Ruby drinking magic suicide tea was not on my Volume 9 bingo card. Will she probably be back? Yeah, but still. That was messed up. I can't wait to see where they go with this. If they decide to have Ruby get "reforged" and come back with renewed resolve I'll be happy, if they decide to have her come back with no memories I'll probably cry. If they keep her dead I'll actually lose my mind.
Regardless, I really like Volume 9. Sure, it's had awkward moments and I'm not a huge fan of everything in it, but still. I can't wait for the next two episodes.
This chapter was mostly just fluff with Ruby and Weiss being awkward. The next few chapters are going to be very fun. I've been planning these for ages. I considered including this chapter with the next one since it's kinda short, but stopping here feels natural rather then including 2500-ish words of fluff before going into a battle in the same chapter doesn't feel right.
Thank you for reading this chapter, and feel free to leave a review/comment. I love reading them no matter what they say, since it means what I wrote was able to elicit enough emotion that someone was willing to write. Happy Easter to all my readers who celebrate it, and have an amazing day.