Chapter 5: How do we prepare?
Ruby awoke the next morning feeling like she got run over by a truck. After her midnight contemplation, her sleep was restless and left her mind awake for practically the entire night. Groaning she slumped out of her sleeping bag and plopped down on the table, the vague feeling of someone tapping on her right shoulder made her groggily turn around. It was Weiss... no it was Weiss-13, gazing down at her with an extremely concerned face.
"Hey... Ruby. Are you okay?" she asked, genuine worry marring her features.
Ruby struggled to prop up her head as she took a deep breath, inhaling the aroma of Weiss-13's tea, "I'm fine. Just... slept on a rock."
The older Weiss frowned, "Alright... if that's all it is...". Ruby could tell the other Weiss wasn't buying it but grateful she didn't pry.
A soft nudge on her left prompted her to see Ruby-13 holding up a coffee for her and a plate of food, "Here other me, this should perk you up. Cream and fire sugars, just how we like it." she smiled and set the cup and plate down.
Ruby resisted the urge to scowl, instead giving a small smile before taking the drink gratefully, letting the caffeine flow through her veins and wake her up. The warm drink was welcome in the cold city. As she munched on the waffles, not sure how Hex managed to make them but she didn't question it, she glanced around the campsite. Everyone was up and about... except for one.
"Hey... where's that Nova guy?" Ruby asked her counterpart, genuinely confused. Didn't he just get here?
Ruby-13 just threw her thumb at a lump inside a white and orange sleeping bag, "Asleep, you know how dragons are."
Luna humphed and took a seat at the table, "Hey, not all dragons are lazy and sleep in when THEY SHOULD BE AWAKE BY NOW!" she said the last part loudly.
Suddenly there was a startled, high-pitched yelp as the sleeping bag fumbled, "Okay! I'm up!" a girl's voice sounded from inside the sheets.
Ruby just blinked rapidly, that didn't sound like a boy.
The covers slowly lifted off as a girl that looked like an older version of Luna with her hair going down to her upper shoulders emerged, her clothes looked far too big and were practically falling off her as she rubbed her eyes.
"Geez can't a guy get some sleep in peace?" she grumbled, then looked up to find Ruby with her face beet red. "What's the matter?"
"Who the hell are you?!" Ruby Prime exclaimed as she gawked at the almost indecent display as the other girl's shirt was hanging a little too low and almost revealing her chest.
Ruby-13 snickered, "Love, you transformed in your sleep again. Fix your clothes before you give them nosebleeds."
The girl in question looked down and suddenly blushed furiously, covering her chest and fixing her clothes, "OH GOD I AM SO SORRY! I think I accidentally squashed the armlet button in my sleep... this is why I hate sleeping bags."
Weiss-13 snorted as she saw them, "Nova, go get changed if you're going to stay like that, we don't want you accidentally flashing our alternate selves."
"NOVA?!" Ruby Prime sputtered.
At that time Yang, Weiss, and Blake returned with their food, "What's all the yelling about?" Yang asked, looking at her little sister, then toward female Nova, then blinked. "Who's the new chick?"
"Exhibitionist?" Weiss tilted her head in confusion.
Nova's face flared up, "I AM NOT AN EXHIBITIONIST! I'm going to go change... please tell me I walked with my girl clothes..." she took out a storage cube and walked over to the bathroom.
Once she disappeared, Ruby Prime stared at her counterpart, "HUH?!"
Blake frowned, "I still don't get it, who's that?"
Everyone was seated and Nova finally came back out wearing a black long-sleeve shirt and a white skirt. "Man that feels so much better. I forgot how stifling staying in my male form is," she stretched high into the air, the fabric on her shirt tightening around her chest and Yang Prime was caught staring as the shirt rode up revealing her toned stomach a little.
Ruby-13 just flicked her fiance, "Stop flashing the others."
Nova blushed again and took down her arms, "Uhm... right... so you guys probably have questions..."
"Questions are an understatement," Weiss Prime gawked.
Nova scratched her head, "Um... well... long story short, my semblance is called Adaptability which lets my body use Aura to adapt to changes internally and externally. Like if I got stabbed with poison then my body would adapt to the poison and make it non-existent if the poison doesn't kill me first."
"That's... really handy. How did that make you... like... you know..." Weiss gestured with her fork to Nova's body.
"Well, I'm not complaining..." Yang Prime was looking respectfully.
Nova just laughed awkwardly, "Well, I almost bled to death after a fight so they injected me with a serum that used the DNA of Amber the previous Fall Maiden as a base. To make a complicated process simple, my semblance adapted to the blood and DNA and now my body exists as both a male and a female at the same time. I can regulate it with this..." She pointed to the bracelet on her arm.
"I can't even begin to imagine what that's like..." Blake Prime said with a tight expression, seemingly trying to hide her jealousy at her Yang.
"It does have some benefits, like I'm a lot more flexible in this form," she demonstrated by getting up and bending so far back that her hands touched the back of her heels.
Team RWBY's brains were definitely in the gutter as their expressions were a mix of dumbfounded and blushing.
"And it ensured that after we defeated Cinder, that the Fall Maiden's powers didn't go to someone random."
"Wait what?" Ruby faltered.
Nova's eyes then began to glow with the powers of the Fall Maiden as she conjured up a small ball of fire in one hand before extinguishing it.
"Holy shit... that explains the fire when you fought..." Blake Prime said remembering their battle against the Horseman.
The prince just waltzed back over to her seat, "Yes and no. See I've got two types of Fire, Maiden powers..." she held up one flame that sparkled and seemed to glow softly, "And Aspect powers," the other hand held another flame that burned intensely and radiated immense heat.
Team RWBY had severely confused faces.
Nova pinched the bridge of her nose, "No one explained what Aspects are to them?"
Ruby-13 looked into the sky while Luna was pretending not to listen.
"Really guys? Goddamnit..." she cursed, "Look. In our world, there are the Aspects of Remnant. The Aspects are Faunus who have special powers that exist to counteract the Maidens... look it's really complicated and convoluted to explain but just think of it as superpowers for a select few chosen. I've got them, Luna's got them, and so does Blake. Even Weiss, though she's not a Faunus."
Blake Prime's eyes widened, "That's the Shadow technique you use?"
"And the ice!" Weiss Prime pointed at her counterpart. The universe-13 versions nodded simultaneously.
Blake-13 made a small wisp of shadows dance in her palm, "My powers originated from my mother. In our world, Mom was a descendant of the original Faunus panther tribe and their powers are hereditary, passing from mother to daughter. They were called the Nightshade, so my full name is Blake Nightshade-Belladonna"
Prime Blake was intrigued, "Wow... I don't know a lot about my own family's history... maybe I should find out one day..."
"And well... mine is a little weird. I'm not sure why I got chosen but this stone is what allows me to use the powers..." Weiss-13 took out a blue diamond-shaped gem. "It's called the Cryoseki, a gemstone linked to the powers of the Aspects that acts as a medium to channel and in Nova's case, enhance them."
Nova responded by holding up her draconic arm and they saw that a fiery orange octagonal gemstone was embedded on the upper hand.
"I don't have a stone, my powers work on different rules," Blake-13 explained, "Most of which I don't fully understand."
Ruby Prime who'd been listening carefully, was staring at Ruby-13's necklace, "Is that stone like those?"
This prompted her counterpart to hold up the drop-shaped ruby around her neck, inside the red gem was a sliver of silver that streaked inside like a wisp. "This is called the Silver Heart, and it functions kinda similarly. It helps me manipulate the power of the Silver Eyes."
"So... that's how you used it so easily against the Grimm..." Ruby Prime mouthed, remembering the earlier fight.
"Sorta? The Silver Heart lets the chosen wielder bring out the full potential of the Silver Eyes but... well it's a little complicated."
Ruby Prime swallowed her unsettled feeling. Of course, it was complicated... everything they said seemed complicated to explain. She could tell it wasn't like they were trying to hide information, more like they were trying to spare them long-drawn explanations they wouldn't understand because they came from different worlds. A fact that was becoming glaringly obvious.
"If you want," Ruby-13 spoke to her counterpart, "I can try to teach you how to use the eyes but... I'm not sure how it works in your world..."
There it was again.
Instead of taking the offer, Ruby just let out a bitter smile, "It's fine, I can figure it out."
"You sure? I'd be more than happy to..."
"I said it's fine. We come from different worlds anyway so your methods won't work for me."
Ruby-13 picked up the hint to drop the conversation. She realized if Ruby Prime wanted to learn more, she'd have to come on her own accord.
Ruby Prime promptly got up from the table, "I'm going to check back some buildings, see if I find any more supplies, in the mean time maybe you guys can make use of these..." she took out the salvaged gloves and scarves she found and dropped them on the table before heading off on her own. "If anyone wants to come with me, feel free."
Team RWBY Prime and ASHNRWBY decided to follow Ruby Prime's idea and go exploring for more supplies. Nova and Ruby-13 headed off in their own direction this time, instead of pairing off their counterparts.
"What do you think of them?" Ruby-13 asked Nova as the two hiked down a narrow street. It was the middle of the day but the fog made it feel like it was already evening.
Nova folded her arms, "They're... traumatized and exhausted, not to mention lacking in training and experience."
Ruby-13 kept her gaze ahead and sighed, "I don't know about inexperienced, they just fought through Atlas so it's understandable that they're shaken up and disjointed."
"Disjointed is an understatement," Nova also sighed, "It's like I'm looking at a pair and two individuals. Yang and Blake are clearly tethered to each other, Ruby is hurt and drifting away and Weiss is caught in the middle trying to bridge the gap. I'm not sure if they even realize it themselves."
"It's hard to imagine what decisions and events lead to such turmoil... I mean we've had some seriously bad moments but it never affected our team. Well... it almost did..." Ruby-13 trailed off.
"Like the time you exploded on them in Atlas?" Nova asked, "You know no one blames you for that..."
Ruby-13 grabbed her arm nervously, "I know, I still feel bad about it."
"You were overworked and exhausted, forced to lead everyone alone when my dumbass self got captured." Nova instinctively touched the scars on her chest.
"And no one blames you for that either. You were trying to save people. No one can fault you for that, I'm proud of you for going so far for strangers... I'm not exactly happy about what happened but you were a hero," she grabbed Nova's arm and entwined their fingers.
"Still... we need to find out from them what happened in Atlas, so we can try to help. I know it doesn't concern us, it's a different world... but they need our help... I can't just leave them like that," Ruby-13 spoke again.
Nova squeezed her hand, "They need to let us help them, but... Ruby's a complicated situation. She's headstrong and stubborn, just like you, but her emotions are running wild, and sooner or later she's going to drown in them. It's a matter of time before she snaps."
"How do we help her?" Ruby-13 asked, looking at her girlfriend.
"Well... if it were you in that situation, I'd do my best to bring you back, come hell or high water I wouldn't stop no matter how much you push me away."
She frowned, "You know I'd never do that..."
"That's because we're soulmates, and our bond is stronger than anything. That Ruby doesn't have anything like what we have... the only way to break through to her is if she comes to the conclusion herself. She needs to snap, vent her frustrations and then come to us." Nova said with concern.
"And if she doesn't? Even after she snaps... what if she just gets worse?"
"That's not up to us to decide."
Ruby-13 heaved a sigh again and checked the system, "Well... we have less than two days before the next Trial. Let's just continue to observe them for now..."
Alright, that's enough for now. I'll probably pick back up writing more of this after I finish Chapter 92 of Dragon's Rise. Anyway, like it? Hate it? Let me know what you guys think, if I should continue this.