"War is cruelty. There's no use trying to reform it, the crueller it is the sooner it will be over."
– William Tecumseh Sherman
Chapter 7-
The next morning Mizu came down the stairs wearing barrowed clothes from Ruby who seemed to favour baggy clothes which was helpful for Mizu.
Walking down the stairs Mizu saw Qrow sitting at the table in the living room with a coffee and his scroll in hand.
"Good morning. Sleep well?" Qrow asked without looking up.
"I did thank you. Yourself?" Mizu asked as she heard the sounds of flesh hitting flesh happening outside.
"I slept good thanks. You had a package arrive this morning. I'm assuming that was intentional." Qrow said, putting down his scroll.
"Ah yes it was, it's a present for Ruby. Where is she by the way? And what is that sound? Is it fighting?" Mizu asked in quick fire.
"Already buying her approval?" Qrow teased with a smile, "She's outside with Neo, and they're going through their exercise for the morning." Qrow informed her.
Mizu walked over to the glass door that led into the garden area and spotted Winter watching the two women dressed in shorts and a shirt as they were fighting with each other, the pair looked equally matched but they were still beyond the skill level of many Hunters.
"She holds back." Qrow stated as he joined the woman watching the two train.
"What do you mean? They both seem so advance and I can barely keep track of their moves." Mizu said as she watched Ruby almost vanish from sight as she launched an attack at Neo's back but she watched as Neo blocked the strike as if knowing where it was going to come from.
"Ruby is the far superior fighter and she actually holds back a lot when fighting. Even now she's not using her entire ability in fighting Neo because it is simply training, that's it." Qrow informed her.
Mizu watched the two fighting as she watched the features on the girls faces change as if talking to each other as there was smiles, laughs and even some glares, mainly from Neo.
"Are they talking to each other? But their mouths aren't moving." Mizu said in out loud in thought.
"I'll allow them to explain that one, I don't really know the answer to that." Qrow said.
"I see. How long have they been going?" Mizu asked.
"Hmm I think they started around five this morning." Qrow said offhandedly.
Mizu was silent as she realised the pair had been going on for nearly three hours as they broke apart and seemed to talk to Winter before heading inside.
"Good morning Mizu, did you sleep well?" Neo asked kindly as she walked inside.
"I did thank you. Have you been up since five in the morning doing that?" Mizu asked.
"I was, Ruby was up earlier than that working on a few things before I woke up." Neo stated as Ruby walked up the stairs and towards the shower.
"Does she ever sleep?" Mizu asked, shocked at hearing how much Ruby was doing.
"She does, an hour or two a night normally. Sometimes I can get her to sleep through the night but it's rare." Neo informed her. "Anyway I need to shower and clean the sweat off me. We'll be leaving shortly after breakfast as Ruby's class is at one." Neo informed her before following Ruby upstairs.
Once everyone had eaten and gotten ready for the day ahead Qrow bid them goodbye so he could get to Signal for his classes for the day while kissing Ruby and Neo goodbye. This left the four women alone as they themselves were about to leave.
"We want to come with you back to Beacon." Winter said.
"Why?" Ruby asked.
"Well I want to see my sister and the school that she is going to and mother wishes to see Weiss as well but also Ozpin." Winter informed them.
"I have no issue with that." Neo said before turning to look at Ruby as she said, "Yes it'll be fine." Neo said before pausing as if listening to something before she spoke again. "Will we be back in time if you do?" Neo paused once more as she ignored the confused looks of the two Schnee women, "Ok then we can do it on the way." Neo finished.
"Um what are you talking about? And how are you doing that?" Mizu asked.
"Hmm. Oh There's something Ruby wants to check out on the way back to Beacon. It's in Vale so it's easily doable." Neo said, avoiding the second question.
"Yes Qrow did allow us to use one of the schools Bullhead's, don't worry it's the same pilot as before." Neo informed Ruby as she finished putting her boots on. "Are we all ready? The pilot is meeting us at the docks." Neo said.
"No Ruby, Qrow is sorting out the transportation of your bike." Neo stated calmly to the girl before they walked out of the door.
"You have a bike Ruby?" Winter asked.
"I do. It's at the house but I'm getting Uncle to transfer it over to Beacon so I can use it." Ruby informed her.
"What sort of bike do you have?" Winter asked as they walked, turning so she could look at Ruby while walking backwards.
"A modified Ducati 1098 with a dark red and black finish." Ruby stated.
"Modified? How?" Winter asked as they walked.
"Increased speed and better acceleration. Slightly larger seat and better handling as well." Ruby explained.
"Why do you need all that? And did you do it yourself?" Winter asked quickly.
Ruby turned to look at Neo as they were approaching the docks as she tipped her head in that direction.
"She did all of it herself, she more or less built it herself once she brought it. She spends a lot just working on it, improving it or making modifications to the bike. And she uses it quite often so wishes to improve it to almost perfection." Neo informed her, taking Ruby's place for speaking as the girl grew quiet and put her hood up.
"I see. Why almost perfection?" Winter asked.
"Because nothing is perfect." Aria informed them, her voice emitting from Ruby.
"We're here." Neo said, stopping any further line of questioning.
They approached a Bullhead that had a smaller passenger area compared to a normal Bullhead and the engines were slightly smaller and there were two more running along the fuselage.
Outside stood a tall woman dressed in a flight suit and her helmet in her hands as she stood smoking a cigarette. She had long pink hair that was tied up into a loose ponytail to keep it under control but still showed.
"Ladies." She said, tipping her head in their direction while Ruby went immediately over to the woman.
The woman seemed to sigh but held out her packet of cigarettes, which were simple roll-ups but already pre-made by the woman earlier.
"You know these are bad for you." The woman said calmly, but still handed her a lighter to light the cigarette.
Ruby just nodded in thanks as she climbed into the aircraft while Aria asked, "Is everything ready?"
"Of course. Didn't know I was transporting friends. Are they good?" The woman asked.
"Of course. Mother would like to depart immediately." Aria stated.
"Yeah, yeah kid. Just don't get ashes in my cockpit." The woman said as she turned to the others. "Naomi, Captain in the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Or Night stalkers but I think Ruby has that description." The woman, Naomi said with a large smile as she threw away her cigarette.
"160th?" Winter asked, confused as she never heard the name.
"Climb aboard before Ruby gets impatient and I'll explain." Naomi said while climbing into the cockpit.
The three women outside all climbed into the cramped passenger space but were able to get comfortable inside as they put the headsets on inside.
"Rubes says I can trust you two, plus I know you're Schnee's. The 160th is a part of Vale's military, as it says in the name its special operations for missions that require a more delicate touch then the common military response. We are quite commonly assigned to Hunter missions to help them." Naomi explained as she powered up the ship and shot off towards Vale.
"Vale has a military? I thought they just had the Hunters." Winter said, confused.
"The military is very low key, it is mainly support for Hunters but there is enough for a defence force around Vale. My unit is the top pilots from around the world, we perform various missions to aid Hunters in their missions and sometimes, although rare we help the military as a whole." Naomi explained.
"So why are you with Ruby?" Mizu asked.
"I was assigned to her." Naomi stated.
The two Schnee women looked towards Neo for an answer, which she happily provided. "Ruby is very reluctant to accept any sort of help. Qrow and Ozpin both want to help Ruby but she won't accept it, I was able to convince her to have some sort of help and so Naomi was assigned to her if she needed to get around the world." Neo explained.
"Isn't that a bit high profile?" Winter asked.
"Nope. If you didn't even know who the 160th were, then why would anyone else?" Neo said happily.
"Ruby. Why do you smoke?" Mizu asked, changing the conversation as her tone became parental.
Ruby didn't answer, even when Mizu asked the question again so she turned to Neo instead.
"She doesn't smoke often. She and Naomi have a deal. Ruby doesn't smoke at any other time and each time they meet each other she'll give Ruby one of hers." Neo explained.
"But why does she do it?" Mizu pushed.
"Not my place to say." Neo said, smiling apologetically.
"Going to be about five minutes, want to get ready?" Naomi said.
Ruby climbed out of the co-pilots seat as she went into the passenger area and crouched down in the middle.
Neo pulled out her scroll as she started typing away on it as she heard Aria asked, "Parameters?"
"Non-lethal, intelligence gathering while taking down the base. Get Aria into the system to copy everything and we'll sort it all later." Neo explained while she typed away on her scroll.
The two Schnee women watched with interest as they saw Ruby secure her weapon and hood while Naomi gave them verbal updates on their location.
"Link is running. Look left. Look right. And focus on Mizu." Neo said calmly as Ruby followed the directions.
"Ok links good. We're ready." Neo said, looking up at Ruby, "Want me to come?" She asked.
"No." Ruby said, using her actual voice.
"Ok then." Neo said leaning in to kiss Ruby briefly.
"Ruby, I have something for you." Mizu spoke up, getting the woman's attention.
Ruby cocked her head to the side as she waited for Mizu to continue talking while the woman took out the box she had been carrying since leaving the house.
"Here. Open it. I think it could help you with teaching at Beacon as well." Mizu explained as she handed over the box.
Ruby opened up the box to discover a simple mask, it had no design on the front and was simple black glass plate over the front and with a small area to secure it to her head.
"It's designed to be able to link in with in with androids for a commander to control them or see what they all see." Mizu explained. "I think that Aria should be able to interface with the mask. It is also able to show your own face or other faces." Mizu informed them.
"Thank you." Ruby whispered to the woman, using her real voice.
"Thank you. I'm going to begin immediately." Aria said excitedly.
"Running silent. We're thirty seconds away." Naomi informed them all, breaking the moment between them all.
"Vale police are called. Response time is five minutes and counting." Neo informed her with a smile as the door opened and Ruby jumped out.
"What was all that?" Winter asked once Ruby had vanished.
"We do that to remind us what we're going in to do and also I have a direct video link. So whatever she sees, so do I." Neo explained, holding up her scroll to show the two other women what she was looking at.
They saw directly through Ruby's eyes what she was doing, currently she was on the roof top of a warehouse building looking around it for entrances and exits while also seeing who was inside.
"Fifteen inside, all White Fang. Make police aware." Aria stated in short sentences.
Neo typed out something else as she showed the video feed to those in the ship so they could follow Ruby.
"Three minute warning." Aria stated.
They all watched as Ruby climbed in through a window as she moved across the support beams for the ceiling as she thought through a plan in her head.
Deciding the best course was direct action Ruby dropped into the middle of them all with her hood hiding her identity and the new mask over her face.
"Please surrender peacefully." Aria said loudly enough for them all to hear them.
Some jumped away in surprise but the others immediately grabbed weapons and started to either charge Ruby or shoot at her.
Ruby reacted immediately by jumping back from the attackers before she charged once them all. She didn't draw her weapon, not even once as she systematically took out the White Fang soldiers.
She started with taking out those with guns first before she worked her way through those with the swords until only a Lieutenant was left.
"You've lost. Surrender and you shall be unharmed." Aria said in place of Ruby.
He instead ignored Ruby and charged straight towards her only causing Ruby to sigh as they never surrendered when she gave them the chance.
Ruby avoided the first strike as she threw her fist out towards the sword bearing arm. It broke with a loud snapping sound but as he screamed out in pain Ruby kicked at the back of his knee, breaking the knee as well, forcing the man down onto his knees.
"What is Adam planning?" Aria asked, her cheerfulness gone and instead replaced by a more serious tone.
"I don't know. He doesn't tell us anything." The man cried out.
"What about Roman? This cell is supposed to aid the man." Aria pushed.
"I don't know." He cried out.
Ruby placed her foot onto the man's broken knee and pushed down slightly, causing him to cry out louder. "Stop! Stop!" The man shouted.
"One minute." Neo's voice entered into Ruby's head, telling her how far the police were.
"Talk or broken bones will be the least of your problems." Aria said chillingly.
"Alright I'll talk. We're meant to help the human acquire Dust and we're on call in case he needs us. We're going to be hitting a Schnee Dust delivery to Vale in three weeks. That's all I know. I swear it." The man begged.
Ruby nor Aria didn't say anymore as Ruby, using some crates in the warehouse to jumped onto the roof as she heard sirens getting close by.
"Swinging in now. Hey Rubes, make sure the stealth system is working fine for me." Naomi requested.
Ruby looked up towards the sky as she waited for Naomi to bring the ship around for them when she saw nothing in the sky but after thirty seconds she jumped straight up, catching onto a rail underneath the aircraft before using only touch to climb aboard.
"Stealth systems are all fine Naomi, no issue." Neo informed the pilot while Ruby climbed inside.
"Thanks, was unsure how it would work in daylight. Next stop, Beacon." Naomi informed them before gunning the engines once more.
Ruby sat down into a seat next to Neo as she started to check her over for any wounds or anything that would give her away.
"Mothers, can we keep the mask?" Aria asked childishly, barely containing her excitement.
"Of course we can sweetie." Neo answered once she received a nod from Mizu.
They arrived at Beacon shortly after, Mizu left the group going to see Ozpin about something. While Winter went to see her sister briefly and sit in on their lessons while Ruby and Neo went to their rooms to get ready for the day.
Inside their room the girls were getting ready for the day, the first lesson and only lesson for the day was Ruby's three hours session.
"You can't wear your normal clothes." Neo stated, looking at Ruby wearing her normal outfit and cape.
"Why not?" Ruby asked softly.
"Because it will give you away. If you wear that outfit now, you can't wear it later." Neo explained.
"I'm sure I'll be fine." Ruby said, dismissing the concern.
"Ruby. Change into something else after the lesson. And you won't be able to wear your cloak later either." Neo said firmly, looking directly into Ruby's eyes.
Ruby nodded her head after a minute of starring, agreeing to the plan that Neo had supplied, although she didn't like it.
Neo smiled as she saw Ruby agree and leaned in to kiss her but she heard the sound of the door opening and a flurry of rose petals in her face, "Sneaky devil." Neo said, shaking her head.
A/N
I love foreshadowing, including certain things in my writing is always interesting because I am curious to see if anyone actually notices things or the meanings to things I add. Admittedly I do explain a few meanings behind things but I'd like to see if anyone could correctly guess my plans.
Anyway random update because I'm just very pissed off and pretty much done with about half of the US about now. All I will say is that when the answer to gun crime is believed to be more guns then I must question your society.
But that's it, I could really go into a rant about the US but I won't, I quite like the country and don't wish to piss off a lot of people.
Also the Nightstalker's or 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment is a real part of the US special forces. They are amazing and very well trained, if you have the time search into them because they are truly great.
Another quick piece I will add as well is that I will write how Ruby and Neo met each other which will happen later in the story. This will be a named chapter called Little Red Riding Hood. I'll give a heads up again but if you don't wish to read that flashback then you can skip it if you so desire.
And thank you Gorsouul for mentioning about a mask which prompted the idea about Mizu giving one to Ruby.
Until next time. ^_^