The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
-Sun Tzu
Chapter 2-
Before anything more could be asked a knock sounded on the door leading Ruby to quickly put her headphones back on alongside her hood as well to hide herself.
Glynda moved to the door, having a quiet conversation with whoever was behind it before closing the door and speaking to Ozpin.
"They are asking what is going on with Miss Rose, and what we are going to do with her." Glynda informed them.
Ozpin nodded his head before turning to look at Ruby, "So Ruby, are you going to accept my offer of joining Beacon as a student?" Ozpin asked.
"I will, but I would like some freedom as well." Ruby said.
"Why don't we talk about it while on an airship to Beacon? I believe that will be more private." Ozpin suggested as he stood up.
Ruby followed suit, "Ok then, could you just give me a minute?" Ruby asked.
Nodding their heads the two teachers waited by the door for her, hearing what was being said in the one-sided conversation she was having.
"Neo, you there?" Ruby asked as she pressed two fingers to just behind her ear.
"Of course sweetie, what's the occasion?" The woman, Neo asked cheerfully.
"Occasion?" Ruby asked, confused.
"Well the fact you're speaking and not using Aria." Neo said.
"Remember when I told you of the incident with the hunters a couple years ago?" Ruby said.
"Of course, a hunter offered you a place at his school. What about it?" Neo asked.
"He's here and asked me again, I'm accepting it." Ruby told her.
"You're what? Why? What happened to the whole working alone thing?" Neo asked, surprised at what Ruby was saying.
"I told him about myself and mother." Ruby informed her.
"Really?" Neo said, sounding hurt as it had taken almost a year for Ruby to tell her about her mother and about her being a Faunus.
"He knew her, he was on her team all those years ago and he's going to try and find out who my dad is." Ruby said excitedly, unaware that the two teachers were hearing what she was saying.
"That's great Rubes. So you're going to Beacon with him?" Neo asked.
"How did you know it was Beacon? I never told you his name." Ruby asked.
"Ah well you see Aria was worried about you so she hacked into the cameras in the room and well we both saw and heard what was going on." Neo said sheepishly.
"Sure, it was Aria who was worried. But yes I will be, I'm about to go with him now to Beacon….." Ruby paused for a minute thinking how to ask but said softly, "I want you to come with me." Ruby said hesitantly.
"You want me to come? Why's that?" Neo asked hopeful and surprised that Ruby was asking that.
"I do, I um…." Ruby started to say before stopping, "I want you to come." Ruby said, not finishing what she was going to say.
"Oh, ok." Neo said, slightly deflated.
Ruby was silent for a minute as she tried to think up what to say back to Neo, but she couldn't think of anything to say but she didn't have to as Neo spoke.
"I'll join you, I can still do what I do now anyway but if you really want me to join you I will. Will it be ok?" Neo asked, unsure.
"Um I don't know, I'm going to ask now, are you ok with it?" Ruby asked once more.
"Of course, if you want me there I can be there." Neo told her.
"I do, I'll ask now." Ruby said before she went over to the door to speak to Ozpin and Glynda.
"Um Ozpin I have a request." Ruby asked nervously.
"What is it Ruby?" Ozpin asked, noticing how nervous Ruby was being.
"I have a…a friend of mine, I want her to join me at Beacon." Ruby said, unsure how to phrase it completely.
"Who is this friend of yours?" Ozpin asked.
"Um, she can meet us by the airship so I can introduce you." Ruby said.
Ozpin thought for a minute as he decided what to do and saw what Ruby was like, "Ok, tell her to meet us at port Six A, and we'll meet her there." Ozpin informed her.
"Thank you." Ruby said as she let a breath of relief out as she informed Neo of where to go to meet them.
It took them an hour to arrive at the docks which were empty except for a single airship waiting in the dock for them.
Appearing out of seemingly nowhere was a short girl, shorter than Ruby who appeared next to said girl. She had oddly coloured hair with half being pink and the other half being brown with a white strike in the pink side.
She was wearing a white jacket with a pink interior, brown pants alongside grey/white high heels that make her slightly taller, she also wore a black corset which was curved to show her hips and had a multitude of necklaces around her neck.
She had a wide smile on her face as she leaned on umbrella on the ground, blinking at the two adults as her eyes changed from pink and brown as she looked towards them but as she looked to Ruby they changed to a soft brown.
"Hello." Neo said cheerfully towards them all as she wrapped one arm around Ruby's side, hugging the girl into her.
"Hello, who are you?" Ozpin asked, curious at the new girl.
"My name's Neo, I'm Ruby's girlfriend and I help her with her other business." Neo said, the smile never leaving her face as she spoke to them all.
"Well then, it is a pleasure to meet you Neo. Why don't we all board the ship and talk more in private?" Ozpin suggested as he started to walk towards the ship, Glynda following behind him a second later.
"You ok?" Neo asked Ruby as the two started to follow the teachers.
"I'm fine." Ruby said flatly.
Neo pouted at Ruby, "Ruby." She said softly.
Ruby's face faltered slightly, "I'm ok, a little tired and annoyed that he got away. What have your contacts got to say about him?" Ruby asked.
"Not a lot, career criminal who's been hired by someone to work with the White Fang but nothing on who that might be or why he's been hired." Neo said, pausing as she held something back.
"What is there?" Ruby asked, worry entering her voice.
"My contacts are all saying the same thing, something big is coming and it's soon. The White Fang are stealing a lot of dust, you remember Nightshade?" Neo asked, knowing exactly what the answer would be.
"Of course, the most efficient member of the White Fang who I helped a few months ago to get out. She had never killed anyone and wanted out after stopping her partner from killing a load of people on a train carrying a dust shipment." Ruby said as they climbed on board the large airship, following Ozpin and Glynda towards a large open area with tables set out.
"Yep, well we learnt that they are going after dust shipments like mad and the fact they are slightly getting more violent. Well that's what I'm being told everywhere and the fact it's getting big and they're storing up loads of dust for something." Neo said, worried about what could be happening.
"Well keep working on it, sooner we find out then the better." Ruby said.
"There is a way I can find out more." Neo said, reluctant to tell Ruby.
Stopping them from walking to the table where the two teachers were sitting, Ruby turned to face Neo. "What is it?" Ruby asked, unsure why Neo was reluctant to tell her something.
"Roman's looking for a partner." Neo said in a small voice.
Ruby paused for a minute as she digested the information before speaking in an equally small voice, "And you want to take that position."
"I think it will be a good thing to do, yes. I'm sure I can find out more from the inside and…." Neo said, trailing off a little.
"You've been bored haven't you?" Ruby said playfully.
Neo glared at Ruby but ended up smiling as she saw the smile in Ruby's eyes, "Yes I have, it's been a while since I've felt the thrill of a heist or anything. It's a win-win situation really." Neo said.
"Let's talk about it later, ok?" Ruby said as she noticed the eyes of the two adults on her.
"Ok then." Neo said smiling as she took Ruby's arm and linked it with her own as they walked happily over to the table.
"So Neo, how old are you?" Ozpin asked while Glynda tapped on her scroll.
"Sixteen, turning seventeen this year." Neo said with a smile.
"Ok, and your name is Neo correct?" Glynda confirmed.
"My full name is Neopolitan but I just go by Neo." Neo confirmed to the woman.
"Last name?" Glynda asked, one eyebrow raised.
"None." Neo said emotionless.
"Ok then, what about weapon proficiency? Have you any video or a way to show us your skills?" Glynda asked.
"We could spar." Ruby suggested.
"Excellent idea Miss Ruby, we can do that when we arrive at the academy." Glynda told them.
"If that is all, why don't we discuss what you want in exchange for joining my school?" Ozpin said, a mug of something in his hands.
"We would like the freedom to come and go as we please, while we would be attending the school as a student we still have my own mission to complete." Ruby said, making sure to include Neo.
"Agreed, however in return for this freedom I would like you to teach some students." Ozpin said, taking a sip from his mug.
"Teach what? And why? I'm going to be a student." Ruby said, confused at the idea.
"I will be honest with you Ruby, the only reason you are a student is because of your age. If you were say twenty years old then I would likely offer you a full teaching position alongside being officially recognised as a Huntress but as it stands it would be too suspicious if I were to do that so we are at an impasse." Ozpin stated.
"So to get around it we'll be Huntresses in training and you'll have Ruby teach some students, but wouldn't it look odd if Ruby was teaching as herself?" Neo asked.
"That is correct Neo, however if Ruby were to teach as her Red Reaper identity it would look less so. I am sure the police will release the fact of where she has gone soon so this way it would work in both of our favours." Ozpin informed them.
"In exchange for teaching you'll let me and Neo have the freedom we need, correct?" Ruby asked, wanting to clarify it all.
"Yes." Ozpin stated.
"Ok then, we'll accept." Ruby said with a nod.
"Good, any more requests or questions?" Ozpin asked the groups.
"Nope." Ruby said with a slight smile.
"I do, who was that you were talking too originally?" Glynda asked, putting down her scroll.
"Aria, she is a Virtual Intelligence that I created. She is able to hack into most networks and provides support, she also acts as my speaker the majority of the time as she has a direct link into my head." Ruby said plainly.
"Direct link?" Glynda asked.
"It's complicated, I have an implant just behind my human ear so I can speak directly to Neo whenever I need to, and she also has a similar implant. Aria is able to move between us as long as there is a clear connection." Ruby stated, as if teaching someone.
"That sort of technology is way ahead of most of what we currently have." Glynda said, surprised.
"It's not as far ahead as you think, it is actually in development now but we were um able to acquire this this and it suited our needs." Neo said, avoiding how they were able to get this technology.
"I see." Glynda said, not asking the question about the speaking element but chose that topic for another time.
"Well, we'll be arriving shortly. The new students won't be arriving for at least another week so you can at least settle in." Ozpin informed the two of them.
A/N
So getting to Beacon next chapter and you can see some underlying things with Ruby and Neo if you look at some of the interactions between the two of them. Anyway thanks for reading.