Okay, so Ghosts isn't even immune from criticism. I'll discuss that at the end of this chapter,
Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, otherwise Nora would be Thor. Seriously, the Queen of the Castle gained major brownie points with me today. Bálor Moonlight (aka "Worthless Moonlight/Bálor s***light.) belongs to me, don't like him? Too bad.
Ruby Rose was at complete loss with how to handle the ever-accelerating implosion of Team RWBY, the actions involving her sister viciously pranking what was effectively now her boyfriend, and to put the cherry on this insane shit sundae she now found herself sitting in Professor Ozpin's office where she was staring down both the wizened headmaster and her uncle: Qrow Branwen, the same man who had taught her how to use the scythe weapon she valued as much as a mother would value the life of their own child.
"What is this all about Professor? I know I already told you all I knew about the incident where Bálor tried to jump, and then the thing in the critical care unit was already over by the time I got there…" Her voice would trail off as she recalled the bloody sight in question, Yang was down on her knees laughing and crying with a bloody scalpel in her hands. "I was going for the throat…" That was the phrase she would keep repeating even as the silver-haired Faunus she had once dated with a quiet but fierce passion lay not too far from her, screaming in agony from a mutilated eye and the fingers of his right hand cut away at varying lengths.
"That's not why I called you in here Miss Rose, it would seem that your uncle has some concerns with the recent anomalies that have befallen our school." Ozpin would smile sadly, taking note of the distracted look in her eyes, the way her body was tensed as if she were just waiting for the signal that allowed her clearance to leave and return to the side of her fallen Faunus. In any other situation he would have released her without hesitation, only this time it wasn't exactly his call to make, as Qrow had insisted upon speaking to his niece openly about his growing concern over her well being.
"Ruby, the reason we called you here was to discuss your current lack of focus towards being a Huntress." The veteran Scythe-user would take over for Ozpin, it was clear that the headmaster had no intention towards calling out the obvious elephant in the room and someone needed to lay down the law to his stray-minded niece. "You were doing so well right up until a certain point in the earlier part of the year, you and your team were a cohesive unit, you were excelling in your studies-"
The crimsonette would narrow her eyes at this statement, surprising even Ozpin with this sudden shift in attitude, clearly the more bubbly continence that the two elder Huntsman had known was thrown by the wayside. "THAT'S what you two called me here for? To give me lip about some falling grades and my team imploding!?" The red-hooded Reaper would scowl as she stood up suddenly, intent upon heading for the door and returning to Bálor's bedside. "We're all big girls Professor, and even big girls squabble like hens sometimes." She would reach for the handle with a sigh, stopping midway when she heard Qrow sigh heavily.
"This isn't just some ordinary female squabble, you've let one petulant little dog come in and piss all over everything you've worked hard for these last two years!" The older man would try to appeal to her sense of reason, not sure just how far her blindness went. However she would simply respond to his allegations with a slight chuckle before turning back to her exasperated uncle and teacher.
"That's not a very nice thing to say about Zwei, he's been a good boy for us since Dad shipped him to Beacon." Ruby would sigh as she looked out the window of Ozpin's office with a mixture of regret and hope. "I hope you're doing well out there boy, maybe you found someone to travel with..maybe even that guy." She would reminisce about the day she met the spiky-haired Keybearer named Sora during one rather frustrating Parent's Day, that was also the last time she'd had any contact with her faithful Corgi, but judging by the fact that her every 'Missing' poster had been tagged with a paw print whenever she went out to check for leads on her furry little friend, she quickly guessed that he had found support and would come home when he felt the time was right.
"You know damn well that statement had nothing to do with Zwei." Qrow would take out his scroll and toss it to the crimsonette: on it was Bálor's unsealed, un-redacted military dossier, listing everything from his last known rank to the number of lives he had taken as a result of his doings as a soldier. "Your precious little demon isn't the awkward buffoon he pretends to be whenever you're around, he's very much a product of Vacuo's Killer Elite training regimen." He would smile in satisfaction as his niece read over the dossier carefully, her face becoming a slight frown by the time she was done.
"I'm sorry I had to reveal such a harsh light on your little friend my dear, but I know that in time you'll-" Qrow would stop speaking as she hurled the scroll back at the older Huntsman, a happy smile lining her face but the molten fury in her eyes negated any sense of warmth that usually followed such a smile.
"Hate to break it to you Uncle Qrow, but my partner Weiss already tried bursting this bubble a while back." She would drop the smile as shock ran across her relative's face, Ozpin would remain impassive however as he contemplated just how the Schnee heiress was able to get her hands on private military data, for himself and Qrow that hadn't been much of an issue due to the presence of an old face from the past who was more than willing to help Ozpin rehabilitate the former assassin while later handing the same information to Qrow as a way to help Ruby snap out of whatever rose-colored blindness her first non-weapon related love interest was impairing her judgment.
"Yeah, it was right around the same time she referred to me as a 'bumbling little side-dish', now that was a low blow..if verbal insults could actually hurt me that is." The crimsonette would prove to be unusually curt as she stared down her uncle and mentor who proceeded to return her stare with icy silence. "She seems to think that my relationship with Bálor is blinding me to what's wrong with the team, when the truth of the matter is that I didn't see everyone's true colors until he showed up!"
Ruby thought back to the day of the 'Prince Puma' gag, in all honesty even she felt it was a terrible idea when he first proposed it to her. But she just couldn't find it in her heart to give it the thumbs-down, after all it was still leagues above the wolf imitating the quixotic Dalton Castle with Jaune and Ren as his 'Boys'. But the severity of the dud that was 'fake Prince Puma' was the furthest thing on the crimsonette's mind, the words of her partner were still very ringing in her ears.
" before you came around she was her own person and not your bumbling little side-dish!"
"I'm not just some bumbling sidekick…I still have my own dreams, my own hopes." Ruby would mutter this to herself as she looked over at the last photo they had taken together as a team in the forest of Forever Fall, they weren't many smiles that day aside from her sister who at the time was very much in the throes of first love. "What happened to us, we were so close as a team before things changed."
A soft tapping at the dorm room door would snap her from her reverie, looking from the photo to the door dejectedly as she stood up. "Yang, I know it's you so just open the door." The door would open slowly, but it wouldn't be the blonde brawler that would make her presence known but her partner, the heiress Weiss Schnee would sigh before entering the RWBY dorm.
"Ruby, about what I said earlier..I apologize for hurting you earlier, but I had to speak the truth: you haven't been yourself since that stupid mutt showed up around here, the Ruby Rose I know would never spend her time holed up in someone else's dorm planning out wrestling-related gags with some new kid with a bad attitude and a shady past!" Weiss would sit down upon the edge of her bunk, finally taking notice of the team photo that the crimsonette was holding in her hands. "The last good photo we all had together was in that forest, I'll give the bastard this much: He can take a good picture, still wouldn't trust him if we were down in the trenches together." The pale-haired Huntress would sigh and set the picture down with a sad smile as she turned to the crimsonette. "I don't know if you can ever forgive me for those hateful words, but I had to do something in order to get through the bullshit he's fed you!" She would grab Ruby's hands and squeeze them slightly as her eyes welled with tears, startling the reaper somewhat at her partner's raw and emotional reaction. "I just want my good friend back, I want the partner that annoyed me but then went on to prove herself as someone amazing!"
Ruby would shake her head calmly, stepping away from the moist-eyed heiress as she tried to comprehend just what was going on between the two of them. Weiss would smile sadly as she removed her scroll from the pocket of her jacket, pulling up a message she had received minutes prior.
"I knew there would be a chance that you wouldn't be convinced, so I took the liberty of calling up some of my father's contacts in Vacuo and had them dig up your mutt's military records." She would project Bálor's dossier onto the wall of their dorm, the first thing Ruby would notice however was how calm and clean cut he looked as a soldier. "He rose through the ranks of Vacuo's Killer Elite Squad, a group of mercenaries specifically trained to dispose of targets that proved to be a threat to the government's better interests." The heiress would sigh as confusion played across her partner's face, deciding that maybe visuals would prove more effective to her simple-minded soul. "Perhaps this footage will get through to you." She would play the grainy security film footage of a familiar looking wolf storming his way through a prison complex, cutting down security guards and escaped convicts during what looked like an-all out riot without even blinking as the Eight Blades of Jaggerjack floated behind him and a cold smirk upon his face. "Do you get it now Ruby, Bálor Moonlight isn't some dimwitted wrestling nerd, he's a cold, ruthless monster!" The camera would go dark as the machine had been destroyed by the amber-eyed Huntsman's blades, leaving her crimsonette-haired partner at a loss for words. "It's only a matter of time before he completely snaps on all of us! Look at what he's done to CRDL, to Blake, what he tried to do to me!" Weiss would show off the developing choke bruise that was forming on her neck from the earlier battle she had with the wolf Faunus, something that would further upset the silver-eyed Huntress even more. "He could've snapped my neck Ruby, I shouldn't even be alive right now!"
Ruby would shake her head in complete denial as she thought back on her friend's demeanor: of course he was prone to outbursts of anger when he was pushed emotionally, but aside from those he was usually laid back and playful, even in combat he constantly was joking and laughing (most of the time he would be the only one laughing). To her, the wolf in that footage and the wolf she knew were so different it was as if they were night and day. "I'm sorry Weiss, I know you mean well by showing me this..and I should be scared as all get out. The crimsonette would hesitate to agree with the heiress outright, the sight of Bálor giving her a lopsided grin as he laid out the Puma getup warmed her cheeks and brought out the ghost of a smile to her lips before disappearing in a flurry of roses.
Ruby would finish her re-telling of the events of that day with a grim smile as she looked upon the faces of her uncle and headmaster Ozpin feeling nothing but apathy for the two older Huntsman. "I've seen the worst of what he can do Uncle Qrow, he decimated an entire team in his first sparring match, I've watched him taken to the limits by one of my closest friends while she was infected by a stupid brain-feeding parasite, and I watched him get physically and mentally destroyed by your other niece after which I had to stop him FROM TAKING HIS OWN LIFE!" The crimsonette was visibly seething as she spoke, it may have been only a handful of days since the incident in question but remembering the look upon his face as he seemingly saluted her on his way to oblivion caused her blood to boil.
"Have you both lost your mental faculties?!" No one boy is worth the efforts of this madness, he's just a two bit punk who got a free pass out of the kennel!" Qrow would glare at Ozpin hatefully, knowing full well that only he would have the sense to try and release a hardened criminal into an Academy full of teenagers and expect something good to come of it. "That stupid mutt doesn't deserve any bit of-" Qrow would see his hot-blooded niece's move toward him coming a mile away as he grabbed her hood as she charged at him in a fit of anger, what he didn't expect however was for the crimsonette to grapevine her legs around the older man's arm and start applying pressure as she locked in an armbar. "The hell!" The older Huntsman would do his best to dislodge the rabid Huntress without hurting her, but he could feel the pain of his muscles being ripped at as she continued to tighten her grip even more.
"Ruby, that's enough!" Ozpin would stand up and glare at the crimsonette through his glasses, he could see the molten hot anger in her silver eyes as Qrow stumbled to the ground as he was growling audibly to avoid screaming outright. "Think about what your mother would say to you in this situation, your first priority should be to tend to the safety of your fallen allies." The headmaster would watch as the fire in her eyes slowly dimmed as the words finally sunk in as she released the hold and stumbled to her feet as she made for the door to his office, Ozpin would smile quietly as he moved to help his old friend back to his feet immediately noticing a familiar stench upon the Scythe-wielder's breath. "I see you've made a bit of a pit-stop coming here, I'd imagine with a more clearer mind you could've chosen a better turn of phrase to describe our resident felon." Qrow would growl as he tried to flex his arm before wincing in pain, his niece had clearly picked up a few new tricks during her time there at Beacon.
"I don't understand it Ozpin, the girl I remember was never one to choose a physical style over a tactical approach. Now she's losing her cool and executing submission maneuvers at the drop of a pin!" Ozpin would simply shake his head as he helped Qrow to a seat with a slight smile before heading back to his own post behind the desk. "Your niece just executed a nearly perfect armbar and the first thing you ask is 'what the hell happened', I truly admire your tunnel-vision Qrow." He would lean back in his seat even as his old ally just stared at him incredulously as the headmaster queued up some footage from inside Bálor's dorm. "There's two sides to every story as the saying goes, your niece is a smarter soul then you give her credit for." Qrow would lean in close as the two began to argue.
"Tell me it isn't true!" Ruby had burst into Bálor's dorm room as he was laying on his bed as he was trying to recover from his brief skirmish with Weiss, the levitation from earlier having taken more of a toll on him than he was expecting. "Tell me you weren't responsible for killing prisoners and innocent guards while in the middle of a riot!" She would watch as his ears perked up at that statement, indeed the wolf Faunus would bolt upright and look upon the crimsonette with a face of shock.
"How..how could you possibly know about that incident?" His pupils would dilate somewhat, as if his mind were replaying the horrible images back for him to look upon. Seeing this reaction was all that the crimsonette needed to confirm that Weiss was indeed right about his participation in the massacre at the prison, but what she really wanted to confirm was his state of mind during the killing spree and judging by the way his body was trembling it seemed very improbable that he enjoyed any of it.
She would sigh and take his hands in hers with an exasperated smile as the red hooded reaper laid her forehead against his, lowering her voice to a whisper. "tell me what happened, you know you can tell me anything and I'll stand beside you regardless."
Bálor would sigh and looked at the silver-eyed Huntress with an empty-eyed gaze as she squeezed his hands once more. "I don't get it Rubes, I've wounded your sister's heart and pissed off half the team..why stand with me?" She would chuckle and pull the silver-haired young man close as she planted a very chaste kiss upon his lips as she looked into his amber eyes. "I thought we went over this way back when, it's because I love you silly."
He would sigh as he tried to pull away from her with a wistful smile upon his face, not willing to believe that someone aside from her sister, his own dead mother, and Ozpin (to a point.) could ever care for him as something more than a tool or at the very least a very dissatisfying lay. "Yeah, that and a lien will get'cha a small bag of Skittles honey." He would laugh quietly at his own terrible joke, only to have his laughter smothered by a more forceful kiss that would cause them both to fall back onto his bed.
Ruby would pull away for breath as she looked down at him once more, this time with a determined look in her silver eyes as she pinned his arms down with her hands. "Now do you believe me?" The crimsonette would grin as she went for the zipper to her skirt, his eyes widening at the implication of what she was determined to do just to get him to talk.
"Alright! I'll talk little Rose." He would glance over at the door to his dorm room questionably, sighing in relief when he determined no one was nearby. Yang already had enough reason to have him stomped down by her 'funboys', if the brawler were to walk in on them now then there was no doubt he'd be publicly executed given their current positioning. "Let's just..sit down on the bed like normal people, Dust knows that if anyone were to walk in on us now I'd be toast, and not the delicious warm, buttery kind." The crimsonette would raise her eyebrow curiously before the implication suddenly dawned on her.
"Ahh I get it now, you're afraid of Yang wanting to strangle you aren't you?" She would giggle as she helped the amber eyed Faunus to a sitting position before ruffling his hair playfully. "Well, given everything that's gone on between us lately that's a pretty reasonable fear." The red hooded reaper would lean in expectantly, waiting for him to begin this week's segment of "story time".
The amber-eyed Hunter would sigh as he stared down at his already trembling hands as he closed his eyes tightly. "It was just supposed to be another cell block inspection, they made us stand outside while the C.O.'s tore through our cells looking for contraband: ciggies, communication devices…porn." He would flush slightly even as Ruby glared pointedly at him, almost as if she were jealous of the thought of him oggling other women.
"Easy does it hun, the boys in Cell block D might be murderous savages but even they have a bit of a moral code. I'd get a smack on the back of my head for trying to even sneak a peek, hell I learned how to play poker before I had any kind of experience with a woman." She would calm down somewhat at this statement, even though the silver in her eyes still glimmered with pent up jealousy causing him to shudder under the weight of her gaze.
"Fudge, and I thought Yang being jealous was freaking scary. I can't believe my little Rose has thorns like this." The once-embittered prisoner would shake his head as he attempted to continue his reminiscence. "I don't know which one of the guys got antsy but before I knew it everyone was throwing punches, pulling shivs outta nowhere and just going off like a pack of dogs." He would shudder as he recalled the screams of the frenzied inmates and the bigoted remarks of the guards that tried to keep them in line. "I had managed to have my father's swords snuck in thanks to some favors from 'El Jefé', that's what we called the big boss who keeps our block in line."
Ruby would nod slowly as she took his hands in hers once again, trying to keep the young man from completely shutting down on her. "It's okay, I'm here with you..just listen to my voice, finish the story Bálor. Finish it for me."
He would gulp and nod as he tried to compose himself and proceed further down the proverbial rabbit hole of memories. "I was terrified, the guards were just laying into us like there was no tomorrow. My friends were in trouble and I just wanted to save them all, so I just started slashing at anything and anyone that moved!" He would sob violently as he turned away in shame at the sudden outburst of sadness, if there was anyone he tried to look strong for it was Ruby Rose. "By the time I finally snapped out of it, everyone was dead, my blades were drenched in blood, and the other guards found me bawling like a bitch. It wasn't long after that when the military came a-calling and I was sent off to train with Sis and the rest of those traitorous lepers." Bálor would finally go silent as he started shaking like a leaf, causing Ruby to hold him tightly as she stroked his hair lovingly. "It's okay, it's all going to be okay…" She would look over at his desk, seeing the most recent picture of the two of them together outside of Cookie World holding up a massive Snickerdoodle cookie together. "I'm going to protect you, no matter what happens next between us I will always stand beside you. I'll make it so that you never have to be that scared ever again!"
Qrow would be seething with anger as he watched his niece holding a raging criminal as close as one lover would hold another, clearly Ruby had finally lost her way and needed to be taken back to Patch for a good talking to from himself and Taiyang. "Why didn't you put a stop to this before it got too far! He's your dog, you have a choke chain. USE IT OZ!" The Signal Academy instructor would stumble as he got to his feet, looking to the headmaster for some kind of reaction, growling as the man remained impassive to his pleas. "I can't let her make the same mistake that Summer nearly did with that mutt's father, I'll skin him alive before I ever allow that madman's dream to come true!"
It was at this point Ozpin had heard enough, standing up and facing his ally with irritation and disgust.
"Qrow, I'll give you the fact that Bálor is a hardened criminal that should've been kept on a tighter leash, I'll admit that the majority of his time here has been sent sowing chaos and discord amongst my students and, I'll even grant you the fact that perhaps he and Ruby had gotten too close too fast." He would stop upon seeing Qrow smile smugly at his assured victory against the silver-haired young man, but Ozpin wouldn't allow himself to validate his friend's soused ravings towards his failed ward. "But in no conceivable way, in absolutely no way period is he anything akin to Jack Moonlight. He was a lunatic with no sense of boundaries or self-control, driven mad by his own fevered fantasies of a future that could never be!"
Qrow would sneer as he looked down at the frozen image of Ruby holding the silver-haired wolf close to her heart, it didn't matter how hard his friend defended the young man Qrow would see the boy's father and his dearly departed friend Summer Rose.
"I stopped you once Jack, and so help me I'll be more than happy to dole out the same punishment to your little whelp!"
Ruby would be making her way back to Bálor's infirmary room, a bag of cookies in one hand and her latest designs for her beloved's new weapon.
"I'm so sorry I did this to you." She would stop mid-step upon recognizing her sister's voice inside the room, her protective instincts were screaming at the crimsonette to rush inside and prevent the brawler from finishing her demented quest to destroy the wolf, but her feet refused to move forward, instead she was forced to listen in as her sister continued to whisper to the sleeping Faunus.
"I know it's foolish of me to ask you for any kind of forgiveness, given everything I've done to you I wouldn't be surprised if you went bionic and hunted me down for revenge or something." Yang would squeeze his still complete hand sadly as she tried to hold back the tears that had been building up over the course of the day. "Baby, I wouldn't blame you for wanting retribution, I should've listened to you more when you spoke. Not just lose my cool and argue with you the way I did!" The golden-maned Huntress would sigh quietly as she stroked his cheek gently, even as her mother Raven began to tire visibly behind her.
"I know you mean well my dear but I can't keep your sister's shadow pinned in place for much longer!" The masked woman would grunt as she exerted more strength into her Semblance trying to counter Ruby's efforts. "I think she knows you're here and is probably thinking you're back to finish the job."
The brawler would sigh sadly, knowing that she was more than likely correct, remembering the grief-filled keen the crimsonette had released upon finding the young man maimed on the floor of the Critical Care Unit. "B; I'm sorry that I don't have much more time to give you a proper apology, but I hope against hope that this will make a good first step." Yang would take a deep breath as she stared at the small pair of scissors in her hands, not liking what she was going to do but knowing that it would serve as a means to an end down the road. Perhaps it would even serve as a prelude to some reconciliation between them. "I do what I do for you…" The brawler would whisper this quietly as she cut a lock of her golden mane and tied it to a small charm that she had bought some time ago, quickly placing it in the young man's pocket as Raven cried out in pain and Ruby burst into the room with a look of anger and her eyes like two boiling pools of silver.
Well there you have it. Knight, I broke RWBY rule 101 buddy, for a good reason but still. Recently a Guest criticized my handling of same-gender relationships, citing that I was just making Monochrome a thing to work for my story.
Guess it's time for another trip behind the curtain, I've been through more than a few same-gender relationships, in all honesty I found it easier to deal with my fellow males than a female, but coming from a catholic family such relationships are frowned upon so I had to hide it and live in quiet fear, my other halves didn't appreciate this and eventually left me alone. I tried going back to women, but it's frustrating. And it's not a bedroom thing either.
So to that random clown who said I don't know s*** about those kinds of relationships: You don't know s*** about me! I live in fear of disappointing my family if I screw up in school again, constant pain from the kind of pressure that brings, yet I come here to show my interpretation (MY interpretation) of one of the finest shows I've had the dumb luck of finding on Netflix and going all in after ONE viewing of Volume 1. I knew going in that I would get heat for what I do but to see that some of you think that my fics are like me taking a steaming pile on Monty's legacy, you have no idea how much that tears at my heart.
For those of you who continue to follow this fic (there's one more step to go) or me in general, I advise you to strap in and hang on for dear life because things are only going to get even more bonkers.
For those of you who don't, well I'm sorry you don't feel what I'm laying down, and I hope you find a fic that floats your boat.
Before I go I wanna thank Asura Boss and her fic "Thorns of a Rose" for inspiring the title of this chapter, and thank/apologize to Drake D. Zero for inspiring Raven's Semblance (at least my guess of it being Shadow Manipulation)
Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna go ready the flame shield before hitting the hay.