Review Answers
Well, now I know that the reply to review button just makes you PM the review writer. I'll continue sticking review answers up here.
bwburke94 - That was a shout-out to the theory. Like I said, I haven't planned very much, though whether or not that theory will be used in this story is likely.
Thanks to you guys who said Jaune was fine last chapter! I wanted him to have some kind of flaw, and I thought pride might be a good one.
I want every character to have some kind of flaw. See if you can identify them!
Disclaimer: I totally own RWBY! See the badge?! It says, proud owner of RWBY! What? It's just a rock? What are you talking about? Huh? I just picked it off the ground?
Ruby's Perspective / Seeing Red
days later
"Mercury... what are you doing? You were hurt! Why...?! Uh... What's going on?"
Mercury smirked at her.
"Fine. If you're not going to tell me..."
She edged to the side, but Mercury moved with her. She frowned. Elsewhere, Oobleck's voice boomed over the speakers.
"Fighters, are you ready? Three, two, one, begin!"
Mercury's grin, which disappeared for a moment, reappeared. "Show time."
Ruby edged back and forth, trying to get around him, but Mercury always kept up. In desperation, she activated her semblance, dashing straight at him. He intercepted her with a kick to the stomach.
Ruby reached for her scroll, but Mercury blasted it out of her hands. "Let's just keep this between us friends."
He lunged forward, Ruby barely ducking and dodging his kicks before using her semblance to shoot away from him, rebounding off the wall of the maintenance tunnels.
She burst out of the tunnels and turned, only to see Penny.
The strings pulled tight, dragged backward by Pyrrha's polarity. Penny's eyes widened in surprise. A crinkling sound filled the air as her strings ripped her to peices.
She crumpled to the ground. Her face. Penny's face. It filled her mind.
"This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust. Your safety. Your children. To men who claim to be our guardians. But are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our Academies' headmasters wield more power than most armies and one was audacious enough to control both.They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First, a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither.
Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong, but I know that the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is equally undesirable.
Our kingdoms are at the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So, I ask you, when the first shots are fired, who do you think you can trust?"
Jaune shot up, chest heaving. He looked around. His bed. His room. Nothing to worry about. It was just a dream.
Just a dream
Just. A. Dream.
Right?
Jaune didn't sleep well that night. But when he did, it was of gunfire and chaos, ending with the sight of a well-dressed gentleman disappearing into a griffon's mouth.
When he woke up in the morning, he found tears in his eyes.
SWISH!
A slice appeared on the tree in front of her.
SKCHINK!
The blade of her scythe slammed itself into the wood, burrowing deep inside.
Ruby pou - scowled, because heroes don't pout. Ever.
Wouldn't be very hero-y for a hero to pout, cause then they'd look adorable, and heroes weren't supposed to be adorable 'cause they were supposed to be fearsome and-
Ahem. Yeah. Heroes don't pout. Period.
Ruby scowled, eyeing the scythe that had to go and get itself stuck. Now she would have to ask Uncle Qrow (not Dad, cause she was never going to let him manhandle another one of her babies) to pull the scythe out. Argh. If she still had aura left, she would've been able to pull it out easily. Why couldn't a scythe be like a gun? Point it, blam blam, job finished.
Heck, she could practice shooting with an area this big. The clearing in front of her house was fairly large. She could even practice using Dust!
Well, except fire Dust. She hadn't seen the bill for last time, but even she knew that burning down the house and starting a forest fire was a bad idea. That, and the clearing was filled with grass, so she'd probably end up lighting herself on fire.
What was she doing?
Oh, right. Scythe stuck. New scythe.
Ditching the old scythe, she headed for the house. As soon as she entered, she took a bottle of water from the stack on the dining table.
The dining table was sorta big, actually. Why was it big enough for, like, five people when there were only three in the house? Yeah, friends could come over, but Yang's friends usually crashed on the couch, and Ruby was socially awk - a lone wolf.
Yeah. That. Socially awkward meant that she couldn't make friends. She could! She just didn't wanna. None of the other kids wanted to play with her, and she was fine leaving it that way.
Sissies.
And yeah, Ruby was a girl and a lot of her classmates were boys.
Still sissies. And that boy yesterday had the nerve to tell her that girls were weaker than boys?
If that was true, why was Ruby able to do three times the amount of push-ups he was able to do in PE? Or run a mile in less than half his time?
Meh. Wimp.
She popped open the cap to the bottle and chugged down the water, downing half of the bottle in seconds. The sun was still out, so training was really disgusting and sweaty. If it was cooler, then she'd actually consider training as fun. A shame that her aura ran out after the first hour of training - otherwise, it would have protected her from the heat.
Not that Ruby was complaining. If it was needed to be a hero (and by extension, a huntress - or was it "be a huntress, and by extension a hero?"), then Ruby would jump straight into it!
Just, why though? Why did it have to be so hot? For once, she was glad she was still in primary school. She wasn't expected to wear a combat outfit at all times yet!
That meant she could just wear plain, white shorts and a t-shirt. Yeah, she liked the combat skirt she designed, but since her color scheme was black and red, the colors would make her burn in the sun.
Under the sun.
Whatever.
She drank the rest of the water, then took a spare scythe out of the closet. The scythes that her uncle let her practice with were all the same - a metal shaft and a curved metal blade.
And the grey. The scythes were completely grey. It was kinda dull, and that was coming from a weapons enthusiast.
No matter what Yang said, she did not have a weapon fetish.
She didn't!
She just... appreciated the finer qualities of weapons.
But the scythes were just plain boring. No mecha-shifting or hidden guns or anything!
She paused at the door. The sun was still bright, even though Yang had come back from school a while ago. And since Signal let out at 3:00, now would be... 4 or 5?
Eh, she could do homework later.
When she strolled out though, something else caused her to stop. Walking up the path leading to her house was Jaune. He still wore the Signal Academy uniform, back his bag was missing. The only thing on him was a sword and sheath, which hung by his hip.
He looked dejected. His feet shuffled along, and his eyes were trained on the ground.
Well, that wouldn't do. Operation Cheer up Jaune was underway!
"Hey, Jaune!"
"Huh?" His head shot up, before his eyes connected with Ruby's. "Oh, uh, hey."
Ruby held back from pou - scowling. Looking upset wouldn't help, even if she was upset that her friend was upset. "What brings you here?"
"Er, well, I was just kinda taking a walk, and I ended up here."
Ruby stared intensely at Jaune. Was he avoiding her eyes?
"Something wrong, Jaune?"
He waved his hands in front of him. "I-it's nothing. Nothing at all."
"Doesn't seem like nothing." She leaned her scythe against the wall, then indicated for him to enter the house. "Come on! We can talk about it over cookies!"
"Um, well, if you insist..."
Ruby walked over to him and pretty much dragged him in, forcing him to sit at the dining table. "Do you want me to get Yang?"
"N-no, I'd rather you not."
"Ok." She opened the closet again, this time coming out with a box of cookies. She set them on the table with the water. "No milk though. Sorry! We ran out and were going to get more. So," she sat in the seat opposite to Jaune and leaned forward so her head was right in front of his. "What's wrong?"
"Look, I really don't want to bother you - "
"Jaune."
"Yeah?"
"We're friends, right?"
"Yes?"
"And friends help each other. I want to help you. So please, just tell me what's wrong." She leaned back and ate a cookie.
He sighed. "I got mad at a friend. I said some things I shouldn't ha - "
GASP!
"Was it Yang? Oh goodness it was Yang wasn't it? That's why she camehomealoneeventhoughshepromisedtowalkwi-"
"RUBY!"
"Yes?"
"It wasn't Yang."
"Oh."
He groaned and put his head in his hands. "A couple days ago, I said some things I shouldn't have to my friend, and now she won't talk to me. Even when I try to talk to her, she usually ignores me or gives me one or two word answers. She's not the type to hold a grudge, so I think I hit a sore topic. I want to apologize, but I don't know how to get her attention. And even then, I'm not sure if she'd accept my apology."
Ruby grinned. "So it's a she, is it?"
He lifted his head and stared at her. "Please, there's nothing between us. Could you be serious?"
She giggled. "Sorry! Couldn't resist! Who is it, anyways?"
He scratched his cheek. "Rather not say..."
"Hmm..." Ruby observed him carefully as she munched on another cookie. He was fidgeting. He always avoided looking at her eyes, and didn't take any cookies. Was he talking about herself? No, he didn't do anything that could get her mad. Maybe she should just give up.
"If I were her, I'd probably listen if you sat down with me. Just the two of us, kinda like right now. No distractions - " she advised.
Thudding sounds came from somewhere else in the house, and Yang burst in, having changed to her combat outfit. "Hey sis! Oh, hi Jaune! What brings you here?"
Ruby spluttered. "Yang! We're having a serious discussion! Please, get out!"
Yang smirked. "Maybe I could join in? After all, I was the most popular girl in primary school. I picked up a few things. Guys mostly, but some advice too."
Ruby opened her mouth, but couldn't find any reason to argue. She pout - sulked, Ruby sulked while Jaune explained his situation.
"Well, I'd tell you to talk to her alone, without distractions - "
"That's what I said, Yang!"
"- and maybe offer her something she likes as a present! I always offer Ruby cookies when I need her to forgive me for something."
Jaune still seemed sorta sad, but it was now I-dropped-my-pencil-sad rather than I-punched-my-best-friend-in-the-face-sad. "That's a good idea. Thanks guys. You were a lot of help."
"No problem. Come around again later, k? Just give us a little heads up first."
"Sure. See you two around."
"Bye Jaune!"
He left, closing the door behind him. For a moment, there was complete silence, save for the munching of delicious treats.
"So... you and Jaune were alone in a room together?"
"Yang! It's not like that!"
Jaune trudged back home, carrying a box that he'd bought. To any regular citizen, he would seem depressed, but he was actually lost in thought.
Ever since they had their argument, future-Ruby hadn't said a word. He couldn't even feel her presence. Having Ruby in his head had felt strange at first, but now that he was used to it, having Ruby missing felt stranger.
Reaching his apartment, he unlocked his room on the first floor. Leaving the box on the bed, he flopped down right next to it.
'Ruby?'
No answer.
'Ruby?'
Still no answer.
'I'm sorry. You only wanted to help me get better, and I hurt you. I was being a stuck up brat. I could only see myself, and not anyone else.
I'm sorry you got stuck with me.
I saw what you went through, you know? I didn't realize what it was at first. I thought they were just dreams. But they were real, weren't they? After all, I was you in the dreams.
I saw the some of the fights. The Nuckelavee in Kuroyuri and Roman in Vale. But there was more, wasn't there? I haven't seen it all, but I saw the fall of Beacon last night. There you were, fighting for your life, and here I am, being a jerk. You don't deserve this. You don't deserve someone like me to drag you down. But you offered help to me anyways, and I refused it.
I hope you can forgive me, even if I haven't done anything to deserve it.'
He lay there, listening for an answer. He was about to give up when finally, warmth seeped back into his mind.
'Jaune?'
'Ruby!'
'Thank you.'
Ruby is really easy to write. I just ask myself, what would I do in Ruby's position? and then I get my answer.
Since everyone said Jaune was written right last chapter, now I'm scared that he and Ruby made up too easily. Drat. I think I need to be more confident. Can't go around doubting everything I write, right?
I'll be rewriting chapters 1 and 2 at some point, but the plot will stay the same.
What's in the box?