A Single Step

After the rally, Tukson ended up finding Ruby and bringing her home. Ruby only remembered brief bits. Cinder being furious with both Schnee Dust Company and the White Fang, for one. Her protectiveness made Ruby warm inside. The next days were spent recovering from her various wounds, until her birthday finally rolled around.

Tukson and Blake showed up at the penthouse a little after nine.

"I'm surprised you made it, actually." Cinder said as Tukson helped Blake take a seat on the couch.

Tukson shrugged "I felt they both could use a friend right now." He said.

"Indeed." Cinder said. She'd noticed Ruby's unusual lack of energy in the last two days. The girl was still peppy, but just more... muted recently. "I'll bring her back to the book store when they're done."

"Thanks."

After the man left, Cinder turned her full attention to the two little girls sitting on the couch. The cat faunus... Blake, kept glancing at Cinder warily. She could see how the girl had placed herself so that she could keep an eye on Cinder no matter where she was in the room.

Cinder found it far more telling that, by doing so, Blake had left Ruby in a blind spot.

Still, it wouldn't do to stifle the two of them right now. She had her own business to attend to in the wake of the massacre.

"I'll be back in a bit Ruby." She said. "Your friend is welcome to stay for dinner, and feel free to show her the training room if you're so inclined."

Ruby nodded once and gave Cinder a small smile. "M'kay."

Alone at last, Ruby and Blake looked at each other awkwardly.

Blake took in her younger friend's appearance. She looked tired, dark circles starting to form under her eyes. The boundless energy she usually had was clearly lacking at the moment. Ruby's face was pale, more so than usual, and there were bandages wrapped around her neck. At the sight of them Blake winced slightly.

"Blake?"

She looked over at the wall. "It's not important." She murmured. Ruby gave her a look. "Well... your neck. I-"

Ruby gave a weak smile and touched her throat gently. "It's not that bad." She said. "Besides, you're the one who stopped him, so you don't have to feel bad about it."

"Still..."

Ruby reached out and patted Blake on the head. "I'm okay Blake. Thanks for worrying about me though." She said. Blake sighed and lowered her head slightly, allowing Ruby to 'pet' her for a moment. Then she pulled away, a light blush on her cheeks.

"I, uh, brought some presents." She said, reaching into the small bag she'd brought, Blake pulled out two wrapped gifts. One was pristine, while the other had more tape than wrapping paper.

"That one's from Tukson." Blake said.

"Yay!" Ruby took them both and set them on the ottoman atop a large present, presumably from Cinder. "Thanks Blake."

The awkward silence came back for a moment as Ruby sat back down.

"Ummm, are you doing okay Blake?" Ruby asked. "I shouldn't have touched your head..."

"It's fine. The bandages are mostly for show now."

"That's good."

"So when are you planning to open your presents?"

Ruby brightened. "Not until Cinder gets back." She said. "And someone's going to bring a huge cake!"

"You mean Cinder's going to bring a cake?"

"Psh, no." Ruby said, crossing her arms proudly. "It's Cinder."

Blake smirked. "You have a point there."

The girls just talked for a while after that, working through the awkwardness and sorrow that still lingered after the rally. Neither had been brave enough to watch the news reports on the next day, but even just from walking around they could see that faunus were being treated even worse than before.

"Why don't they understand?" Blake asked at one point. "Why do they all just accept whatever bullshit is spoon fed to them by the media!?"

Ruby looked down at the ground. "I- I..."

Blake let out a big breath. "No... that was unnecessary. I'm sorry Ruby."

"It's... nothing Blake." Ruby said, trying for a smile. "Don't worry about it."

"Still I shouldn't-"

Ruby sighed and Blake winced. A girl as bright and alive as Ruby should never make a sound like that.

"Sooo..." Ruby said. "Do you wanna look at the training room."

Blake looked smiled weakly. "Sure..." Because really, what else could she say.

All the same, Blake was somewhat surprised when, instead of going to a room inside the already spacious penthouse, Ruby led her across the hall to only other door on the story. When she saw that the entire space which would have become the other penthouse had been converted into a giant dojo, she could only gape.

"This is... unbelievable." Blake said.

Ruby crossed her arms behind her back sheepishly. "Yeah... it's... really really big."

"I think that's a bit of an understatement." After a moment of looking around the room, Blake turned her attention back to Ruby. "So how rich is Cinder exactly."

Ruby blinked. "Umm... rich enough for this?"

Blake cocked an eyebrow "No, really."

"Meanie"

"You have to admit that this is more than a bit of a surprise."

Ruby shrugged. "Cinder is Cinder, what's surprising about that?"

Blake sighed. "Never mind." Ruby was clearly incapable of questioning anything about Cinder Fall at the moment. Though if Blake called her out on it she'd be nothing more than the pot calling the kettle black. After all, until the... alley way... Blake had been similarly devoted to Adam.

"So Cinder trains you?" Blake asked. As a faunus, she'd had some training of her own, mostly in self defense and often with far too much real life experience. But she couldn't really see Ruby undergoing the same. The girl was far too rambunctious to have been trained with any sort of discipline.

"Umm, kinda?" Ruby said. "She's out a lot. So mostly it's just me..."

Blake didn't know quite what to make of that.

Of course, Ruby obviously wasn't training now. Not only was her throat badly bruised, but both of her wrists had been sprained from using the dust rifle. Between her aura and her own natural recovery speed, her wrists were almost fine now, but still too tender to do any sort of exercise.

Blake was much the same. Her concussion had left her painfully disoriented (especially for a cat). And even though she could walk in a straight line now she was still prone to chronic headaches and nausea.

So they didn't really do that much more in the training room. In the end they retreated back to the comfort of the couch and spent more time talking about unimportant things. Somehow, Blake ended up laying back against the arm of the couch with Ruby nestled in between her legs.

Blake decided it was a good thing that Ruby was so short, it let Blake rest her chin on top of Ruby's head.

"Mmmm, you're really comfy Blake." Ruby murmured.

"Hah..." Blake's eyelids fluttered once as she tried to stay awake. Ruby was like a big red blanket, and she was already tired from staying awake for so long. "I..."

Blake decided to just close her eyes for a moment. The light was a bit too much. She needed to rest her eyes, just for one second.

The second after she was asleep.

Upon discovering that her friend ha passed out between words, and that said friend had trapped her in a rather tight hug, Ruby did the intelligent thing and drifted off right after.

Cinder was almost surprised when she walked into the room and saw both girls practically wrapped around each other. on the couch If they didn't look criminally adorable like that, Ruby leaning back into Blake, who had her arms crossed around Ruby's stomach, she almost would have laughed at the absurdity of it.

A human and a faunus. At this point in time that was practically scandalous.

Faunus were barely aloud into Vale's combat schools after all especially after the rally. Despite all of that fool Ozpin's political maneuvering, they were still very much seen as second class citizens. And yet here they were, a human girl and a faunus one, sleeping together like sisters.

She decided not to wake them, even though the cake had just arrived. The two were completely exhausted no doubt.

But this was just to good to pass up. Pulling out her scroll, Cinder snapped a quick picture of the scene. Maybe it would come in handy later, but if nothing else it was still impossibly cute.

Unsurprisingly, Ruby woke up first, being both more energetic naturally and lacking the head injury. She came to slowly, squirming slightly in an effort to get closer to that lovely piece of warmth that was wrapped around her. After a while she opened her eyes and yawned.

"Good morning, my little gem."

Ruby's eyes snapped open. She would have jumped too if not for Blake's arms holding her in place.

"S-s-Cinder?"

Cinder smirked. "Enjoy your nap?"

Ruby nodded hastily, even as she began squirming, to no avail, to get out of Blake's possessive grasp. Said cat faunus was still happily asleep. She was in the sun, there's no waking up that.

But Ruby's attention was on something else.

"W-what did you call me?" Ruby's eyes were wide and vulnerable as she asked that question. The name was to close to home, to close to memories that Ruby did not want to unearth. Why? Why on Remnant would Cinder call Ruby that.

It was almost exactly the same as what her mother used to call her when she was barely more than a toddler.

"My little gem?"
'My little rose'. A voice from the distant past echoed in Ruby's head. It brought with it memories of warmth and joy, but also much sadness and pain.

Ruby shivered.

Cinder woman laughed softly as she stood and moved over to where Ruby lay, still trapped, on the couch. "That's what you are, isn't it?" Cinder teased. "My precious little jewel."

'My beautiful little flower.' The memories whispered.

Ruby scrunched her eyes shut. Her mother's pet name for her, little rose, little flower. It had been so long since anyone had called Ruby something precious or beautiful. But it had been even longer since anyone had called Ruby 'mine'.

"Do you not like it?"

Ruby shook her head. "I... call me that again... please?" Her silver eyes flashed with unrestrained need.

Cinder smiled, perfect. "Come here." She said, opening her arms. "My little gem."

Somehow Ruby escaped from Blake's grasp, leaving only a thin blanket of rose petals behind. She almost cried as Cinder's arms closed around her, holding her with a fierce possessiveness that threatened to swallow Ruby whole.

Cinder cooed softly in her ear. "Good girl..."

That was when Blake finally woke. Unlike Ruby, who slowly transitioned from sleeping to drowsing to finally waking. Blake's eyes opened right away, all lingering traces of tiredness vanishing as her body switched gears.

She awoke to what should have been a heartwarming scene, had she not seen the expression on Cinders face.

Instead of a gentle smile, or a warm or comforting or happy one, the grin Cinder wore was wicked and gleeful. She looked as if someone had just handed her all of Vale on a silver platter.

And in an instant she wiped that expression off of her face, and replaced it with a warm, caring, understanding smile that looked no less real than the diabolical grin that had been there only seconds before.

For a moment, Blake panicked. She close her eyes, faking sleep as she tried to think.

The expression on Cinder's face. It had only been there for a second, and the smile just seemed so real. It couldn't be fake... could it?

There was something very, very, wrong at work here. Blake was confused, but more than that, she was afraid.

She had been wary of Cinder, but never once did she think that the woman would be able to fool her senses so completely. And that disbelief added even more weight to the other side, but all the same-

"Shall we wake up your friend now, little gem?"

"I don't know..." Ruby whispered. "She was really really tired today!"

How did Ruby figure that ou- no, focus Blake. Now as not the time.

Yawning, Blake stretched out, arching her back and reaching her arms way above her head.

"Morning Blake!" Ruby chirped as Blake sat up and opened her eyes.

"It's the afternoon, Ruby." She said, forcing her lips into a small and genuine (she hoped) smile.

"Yeah but you just woke up." Ruby said. "So I said good morning, see?"

Blake sighed and stood. "Of course."

Cinder set Ruby down, but Blake noticed how the girl made no move to distance herself. She didn't quite know what to make of that, so for the moment she settled on reacting, on not giving anything away.

Cinder smiled. "Now then, I believe it's time for the main event." She gestured to the table, where a small but incredibly intricate looking cake sat.

"Yay! Cake!" Ruby said from where she sat at the table. Blake and Cinder both blinked, glancing back to where Ruby had just been. Rose petals, neither of them had seen her move.

Cinder laughed, and even Blake was forced to grin. "Don't get ahead of yourself."

"Well what are you guys waiting for?" Ruby asked.

"Don't forget the cups, little gem." Cinder said.

"Oh right!" Ruby zipped over to the cabinets, then the fridge. In short order there were three cups on the table along with several different drinks. "Whaddaya want to drink Blake?"

Blake coughed into her fist. "I'll... I'll have milk."

"Okay!" Ruby missed Cinder's secretive smirk and raised brow, but Blake could almost hear the unspoken insult. In a cup or a saucer?

Then the moment passed as Cinder ensured that Ruby didn't spill everything. The woman was far too politic to say something like that anyway. Before, Blake might have even brushed off the glance as if it were nothing, but now it was just one more piece of evidence that there was something else to Cinder Fall.

Blake didn't know what to make of it all. She knew there was something up, but she had no evidence other than a fleeting glance and a gut instinct. So for now, she wouldn't do anything. She would be Ruby's friend and do her best to repay the energetic, lovable, little girl for all that Ruby had given her.

She let out a breath and refocused on the party just in time to see Cinder deftly plucked a knife from Ruby's hands before she could try and cut the cake with it.

"You forgot the candles, little gem."

Even Blake was impressed with how Cinder lit the candles with just a touch of her finger. Cinder and Ruby both just used their semblances so easily.

"Happy birthday Ruby." Blake said.

"Don't forget to make a wish."

"Yeah!" Ruby scrunched her eyes shut for a moment, thinking very hard about her wish no doubt, then she blew out the candles.

After that it was just a matter of eating, and somehow Ruby managed to pack away more of the cake than Cinder and Blake combined. She was bouncing off walls afterwards, literally.

"...Presents?" Blake asked, wondering if remembering her gifts would cause Ruby to slow down or speed up even more.

Ruby slid to a stop next to the ottoman, wide grin on her face. "Oh oh oh! I can't believe I actually have presents! This is the best!"

There was something impossibly sad about that statement, but Blake pushed it aside.

Out of the three gifts Ruby had, Cinder's was by far the largest, nearly the size of the ottoman and at least a foot high. It was heavy too, judging by the way the ottoman nearly sagged beneath it's weight. Tukson's looked like a book, big surprise, and Blake's was small and of indeterminate origin.

Ruby looked at the pile with huge eyes, practically shaking with excitement as she tried to pick which one to open first.

"Largest to smallest?" Cinder offered with a small smirk. She picked up the smaller two gifts and set them on the chair. "I think that will be the most... satisfying order."

"Okay..." Ruby was practically licking her lips as she reached out and gripped the wrapping paper of Cinder's gift. "One, two... three!" She tore off the wrapping, revealing...

Ruby gasped. "A starter weapon-buildingkitwithmechashiftpartsandthreeprogramedweaponsohmigodohmigodohmigod!"

"Calm down, Ruby." Cinder said with a laugh. "You're hyperventilating."

"B-but it's just so cool!"

It was a starter weapon building kit, one of the latest models. "It is rather cool." Blake said as she moved over to Ruby's side to get a better look at the box.

It was mostly unadorned. After all, a weapon kit was hardly something you could buy at a supermarket, so there was no need for the box to advertise itself. Nevertheless, the front did list the features this particular kit boasted.

This starter kit had some of the latest mechashift technology along with three basic template weapons to get an aspiring weapon maker started.

Blake thought Ruby would probably build the mace/shotgun first, before scrapping the directions entirely. She'd start in on her own insane creations after that.

"Tukson's present goes well with that." Blake noted, handing it to Ruby. "Here."

Ruby destroyed the wrapping paper once more. Rather than a thin book, like she initially expected, the wrapping fell away to reveal a thick magazine.

It was a magazine with all of the latest information on- wait for it -weapons.

Ruby almost died and went to heaven right there.

Just from a glance at the cover, Ruby could tell the magazine had everything. The newest trends hunters followed? On the first page. The most recent innovations in mechashift? Try a whole section. The newest breakthroughs of dust casting weapons? That, and much much more.

"This is amazing!" Ruby squealed. She hugged the magazine close to her chest with a humongous grin. With this... "I can make ANYTHING!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, little gem." Cinder said. "Besides, you still have one last gift to open."

Ruby gave Blake a huge smile as the older girl bashfully handed Ruby her small present.

"I'm sorry it's not something better..." Blake said.

"Blaaaaaake~" Ruby whined. "I'm sure it's amazing!"

"..."

Slowly, and with another smile, Ruby removed the wrapping paper. It was as if she were trying to savor the feel of opening her last gift.

Inside, nestled in several layers of thin brown paper lay an elegant silver bracelet made of metal links. It had a single yellow gemstone as the only adornment, along with extra links to make the bracelet longer, and an odd looking clasp.

"It's actually a dust crystal." Blake said. "I had it disguised as a topaz by... a friend of mine."

Ruby grinned. "That's so cool! It's like a secret weapon!"

Blake's ears twitched. "Also... the clasp is actually a whistle. It makes a pitch only cats can hear." She blushed lightly and looked away. "Well... cats and..."

"Cat faunus?" Ruby asked.

Blake nodded. "It's usually really annoying. I can hear things that most other people, faunus included, just can't." She said. "But I guess it's useful here..."

Ruby looked at the whistle, then back to Blake. There really weren't that many cat faunus in Vale, so...

"If you ever need my help, or even just see me across a crowded room and want to talk, just blow this and I'll hear it..." Her shoulders slumped. "I knows it's not a very good gift and-"

Ruby practically threw herself forward, wrapping Blake in a huge hug. "It's the best gift ever!" She said. "You're a great friend, Blake."

Blake froze for a few seconds, before returning the hug silently.

The two separated a moment later. "Thank you so much Blake." Ruby said, snapping the bracelet onto her wrist. "Oh! And tell Tukson thanks for the magazine too!" She paused for a second. "This has got be the best birthday ever."

She said that last with a melancholy smile. Ruby didn't want the day to end; it had been so much fun. But it was getting late. Soon, Blake would have to go home and Cinder would have other things she had to do.

And even though Ruby would never ever forget this day, it would still eventually come to an end.

Cinder tutted, ruffling Ruby's hair once. "You're party isn't over quite yet, little gem" She said softly. Ruby watched, confused, as Cinder left the room and returned with one last gift.

"It took me a while to find this." She mentioned as Ruby took the parcel from her. "Go on then, open it. There's no point in standing on ceremony, especially when it isn't really a gift per se..."

After a moment's wait, Ruby tore off a strip of the wrapping paper, revealing a swath of soft red fabric.

Ruby's eyes widened in shock. Her hands began trembling violently as she tried to tear off he rest of the wrapping paper.

Blake immediately started to help, and shortly after Ruby was holding a large red cloak. It sat draped over her arms, unassuming, but impossibly important all the same.

She could only stare at it, breath coming in short gasps, as she tried to process what lay before her. It was- It was-

It was too much for her to bear.

Ruby broke down crying, holding the cloak close to her chest. Cinder pulled her into a tight hug and Ruby buried her face in the woman's shoulder.

"M-m-mommy made it for me." Ruby gasped out. "to k-keep me s-safe when s-she couldn't."

And truly, the day she lost it was the day when things really started to go wrong.

It was Ruby's birthday today. They both had their separate ways of dealing with that fact.

Qrow told Ozpin he was taking the day off. He spent it searching the city for Ruby. From dawn till deepest night he combed the streets and alleys of Vale. If Ruby had been outside at all on her birthday, he almost definitely would have found her.

But she wasn't, and he didn't, and the next day he would return to his task as if nothing had ever happened.

Yang was feeling worthless and self destructive, and so went to visit a place from her nightmares.

There was a house a few miles away from where Yang lived. She'd been there once, before. Before everything.

She'd been childish then, a child, even more than she'd been on that day. No... on that day she had been selfish, but she couldn't blame it on childishness.

But yes, Yang Xiao Long had made a mistake once. She'd wanted to see her mother. So when her father and Summer had both left one day, she'd take Ruby, barely more than two, and set out on a journey.

The house had been miles away, somewhere she barely remembered.

Perhaps if she had remembered in full she would never have gone. Or perhaps she still would have, no one ever accused Yang of being timid. But she never would have brought Ruby, her sweet innocent little rose, along with her...

On Ruby's birthday, Yang made that journey once more.

The dirt road she'd followed years ago had almost ceased to exist all together. She had to force her way through the undergrowth when she started nearing her destination. Once she almost fell into a ravine, barely keeping her balance.

It took her twice as long as she remembered to finally reach the house.

She was sweaty and sore, with shallow cuts on her arms and twigs in her hair. But regardless, Yang Xiao Long stood tall before the place of her nightmares. She could still see the scythe marks in the ancient wood.

"Come on out bitches!" She shouted into the darkness. "I know you're there! You want some tasty human?! Well come and get it!"

The red eyes were just the same as she remembered. As she glared into the house, shadows slipped from the darkness, homing in on Yang's sorrow and self hatred like flies to honey.

Yang stood, head bowed and fists clenched around her metal training caestus. She let them circle, let them surround her. Three shades of hatred and evil surrounded her.

For a moment, Yang felt right at home.

Then the shadows fell on her.

These were weak grimm, one huntress could clear them all with a single sweep of her blade. But Yang was no huntress, she was a eleven year old girl drowning in her own loathing.

Yang roared and charged the first grimm, ignoring the two that swept around behind her. It's eyes seemed to flash as it knocked her weak punch aside, backhanding her into the other grimm.

Her arms came up, an instinct, as the jaws of the two beowolf pups descended. Their teeth locked around the metal instead of piercing the skin. But even still, one of them shook it's head, tossing her into a tree.

Yang collapsed to the ground with an 'oof'. She tried to get back onto her feet only to have something slam into her chest, crushing her back against the tree.

Yang screamed, pushing, and somehow managing to force the beowolf off of her before it could bite.

Another slammed into her side, sending her flying across the clearing once more.

She tried to stand. Her gauntleted fist found the snout of one wolf, turning it aside. She blocked the other, but the third took her legs right out from under her, sending her back to the ground.

Yang's breath came in short gasps as the monsters descended upon her. Claws scored across her back, her arms, leaving trails of liquid fire. She forced herself to her knees, fighting through the pain if it. Tongues of flame started to dance across her form as she rose. She was going to make it back to her feet. She was going to. fucking. stand!

Then a maw filled with impossibly sharp teeth clamped down around her shoulder, and Yang's world exploded.

A cloak of fire shrouded her form, blowing the beowolves backwards. Yang surged up. Her crimson eyes locked onto the grimm in front of her. With a shout, she charged them. She beat them all into dust.

As the dust blew away on the wind, Yang stood silently, her arm outstretched and eyes glowing red.

On a day much like this one, Summer Rose had saved her two daughters with a single sweep of her scythe.

On Ruby's birthday, Yang threw herself into the maw of Hell and punched so hard it spit her back again.

Slowly, Yang Xiao Long, sank to her knees. Her arms felt so heavy. Her body felt so heavy. The flames around her flickered and died, and Yang toppled to the ground.

The darkness rushed to claim her, and the nightmares returned once more.

A/N: A big thanks to: patrick the almighty observer, Zev610, ocomfv, Mistic Shadow, Electric Eclectic, SharkBiteDynamite, Trying to Put Pen to Paper, EverCharady, Banana, jduncan1, we love us, Drow79, and P.T. Piranha for leaving reviews. And thank you to everyone else who followed and favorited.

Also a big thanks to Trying to Put Pen to Paper for betaing this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it.

A few story related notes next.
1) Ruby does not know that she killed the two mercenaries. She knows she hurt them badly, but she never thought they were dead, simply unconscious. She may or may not discover the truth in the future, but at the moment, she is not suffering from the psychological effects of having her 'first kill'
2) Got one or two mentions about paring in reviews. Naturally, all of the girls are too young to worry about that right now, but currently, Ladybug is the most likely paring for the future. Followed by RubyXPenny (joking)

And that's that. Don't forget to fav/follow/review!

Oh, one last thing. My classes start tomorrow, so I'm not sure yet how much time I'll have to write. I'll do my best to have another chapter ready by next week.