The train ride over to Esgaroth went quicker than Ruby could have anticipated. She was pleased with the results, and when she stepped off of the train, she looked upon the beauty the city had to offer. It had rained there recently, that much Ruby could tell. The rain only made the shining beauty of the city shine even brighter, emphasizing the title of City of Eternal Light.
"So good to be home," Jaune said when he stepped off of the train. This was as much Jaune's home as Ruby's, and he was certainly glad to be back himself.
Ruby looked back to Ren, Nora and Weiss. None of them had ever been to this city as far as she knew, so she was eager to hear about what they thought of the city. From first glance, she could tell that Ren and Nora were captivated by the city's glamor, though Nora showed it more than Ren did. Weiss though, it was hard to tell with her. Ruby believed that she was intrigued by the city, but that she just needed more time to take in all of it's beauty.
"Ren, Nora, Weiss, welcome to Esgaroth, the City of Eternal Light," Ruby said to the three. "What do you guys think of it?"
Nora was the first to speak up. "Oh my god this place looks incredible!" She shouted.
"I agree, the city looks beautiful so far," Ren said next. "It definitely lives up to the name."
Ruby was pleased to hear that her home looked spectacular, and she was eager to hear what Weiss had to say. "I'm glad that you like it so far. Weiss, what do you think about the city?" She asked.
Weiss took a moment to consider what she wanted to say. She liked how it looked yes, but somehow she didn't feel like it was as great as everyone else was believing it to be, at least not yet. "I haven't been around long enough to know what to think of it. Maybe, after we've spent some time here, I'll have an opinion for you," Weiss said, not really facing anyone at all the entire time.
Despite being a little bit disappointed, Ruby saw what Weiss meant when she said that. Weiss wasn't going to go off of the first impression and she felt that was a wise decision. "Fair enough," Ruby said. "Hopefully I can show you around the city after we meet with Ozpin. Speaking of which, we should start making our way there now."
Ruby led her companions through the streets of Esgaroth, taking enough time for everyone to see the sights and experience the city's beauty. Even Weiss was starting to warm up to the city and found it somewhat comforting, looking up at the top of the waterfall in particular. She felt that would be a nice place to relax if given the chance, and would need to ask Ruby to bring her up there at some point.
Not long after, they came upon the entrance to the King's Hall. After a word with the guards at the door, Ruby and her companions traversed the gateway into the throne to speak with the King. Upon their entrance, Lord Ozpin stood from his throne and greeted them. "Welcome home, Ruby, I'm pleased to see you have returned safely," He said to the Huntress. "And Jaune, I welcome you back as well."
Ruby knelt down before the King after crossing the distance between the door and the throne itself. "My lord, it's good to be home," Ruby said. After standing, Ruby gestured for Ren, Nora, and Weiss to come forward. "May I introduce to you, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie of the Atlas Military, and Weiss."
Ozpin walked down from the throne and stood before the group of young warriors before him. Taking Ren's hand, then Nora and Weiss' in order, he greeted each of them individually. "It's a pleasure to meet each of you. Tell me, how is it working with Miss Rose?"
"From what I could tell, she is always focused on the quest at hand. Despite that, she makes sure to give time to those whom she works with, that being myself and the rest of us in this case. She ensures that all of us are safe, even if it means the quest grows harder as a result. I say she is a wonderful person to work with," Ren said. Nora didn't need to say anything, instead just nodding in agreement with Ren.
"Well, that's certainly good news," Ozpin said. "And what about you Miss Schnee, how has working with Ruby gone?"
Weiss was a little shocked that Ozpin knew about who she actually was. "How did you know what my last name was? Ruby didn't mention it once, and neither did I."
Placing a hand on the girls shoulder, Ozpin gave her a comforting smile. "I have to keep trade open with the Schnee Mining Company for my kingdoms benefit. There has been one or two occasions where I had asked about how you were doing. Little did you know that before this whole thing with your experimentation began, I actually met you here in this very hall."
The revelation was sudden to Weiss, having no memory of the event in question. "So you've met me before that whole thing began?"
Nodding, Ozpin continued."It was only when you were about knee high to me, but you're beauty is still unrivaled, much like when you barely an infant," He said. "I wish that I could have done something to keep this from happening to you, but alas I was unaware of what had happened until recently. Had I not recognized you after you were rescued, I wouldn't have even known now." Removing his hand from Weiss' shoulder, he turned his attention to the entire group. "In any case, you have a job that needs doing, and and you should also take some time to rest."
At that moment, someone walked into the king's hall. The man was clearly nervous about something and looked like he wasn't going to be patient. "My Lord Ozpin, I desperately need to speak with you. My village is in peril!" The man shouted.
Before Ozpin could say anything, Ruby spoke to the man instead. "Please, calm down so that you can explain to us what is going on," She said to the man, everyone else eagerly awaiting what he had to say.
After the man took a few moments to slow his breathing down and relax, he finally spoke up. "I'm from the village of Haven, the representative to the Vale Council. Our village has been plagued by bandit attacks for weeks now and I've just learned that they have threatened to burn the village down if we don't give them everything that we have."
"Haven, oh no." Everyone turned to see Sun look fearful. "Ruby, we have to go and help him. That's my home that he is talking about."
Ozpin hummed as he weighed his options. "I believe that we may be able to help them out, and quickly too. A cargo train is set to depart past that region in the morning. If you go and hop onto the train and defend against these bandits, you can help the village. I still need time to decipher the next part of the tablet that houses the prophecy on it, so it works out for both of us."
Sun clearly approved of this plan, though he hated having to wait until the morning before they went to do anything. "Sounds like a plan," Ruby said to Ozpin. "I guess that means we need a place to stay for the night."
"You are correct. Take some time to rest up, because come tomorrow morning, you be leaving for Haven. Have a pleasant evening and enjoy all that Esgaroth has to offer, for it may end up being some time before you see the city again after today," Ozpin said as he dismissed everyone from the king's hall.
After being dismissed Ruby gestured for everyone to follow her yet again. "Come on guys, I'll show you where I live," Ruby said as she led everyone down into the city.
The walk to her home didn't take long, even when they stopped in the market to pick up some food to cook for dinner that night. Before they arrived, Ruby turned to them. "So, there isn't going to be much room since it's only for one, but I'm sure it'll be better than some of the nights we went through already," Ruby said, warning them about the lack of space. When no one seemed to complain about anything, Ruby continued to lead them towards her home.
They arrived shortly thereafter and they all clamored up into her home. When Ruby said that it was a small place, she wasn't kidding. Her home was one room with a room to wash up along the side. Her bed, kitchen, and work table took up quite a bit of the space, but Ruby reckoned there would be enough room for everyone to stay, even if it was on the floor.
"I know it's not much, but this is home for me," Ruby said. No one thought badly about it, at least they thought it was better than some of the places they slept while out in the wilderness. Given that it was for Ruby alone, it was a place of luxury to the young huntress. "So, let's get this food cooked."
Ruby and company had soon cooked up a hearty meal for the nine of them, and they all ate like kings that night. Soon afterwards, they began to converse about anything they could come up with.
Weiss at one point said that she needed to go get some air, and when Ruby decided to go with her, Weiss decided not to complain. After the two of them left the home, Yang sighed. "When are they gonna realize that they need to be together?" She said out loud.
"I'm sure they know each others feelings, but I doubt that Weiss understands what to do with her feelings," Blake cut in.
Yang leaned back against the side of the bed from her seat on the floor. "Please, I'm sure that it'll happen sooner or later. I just need to make sure Ruby get's her head out of her own ass and actually say something to Weiss."
"In any case," Pyrrha started to say. "I'm sure that they would look lovely together."
Yang laughed a bit. "I don't think anyone is denying that, Pyrrha. I just think that they're taking too long before they say anything to each other," Yang said.
"Well what about you and Blake then, Yang?" Jaune asked. His question caused the blonde to stop laughing immediately and glare at the boy. "You two clearly like each other, so why haven't you two gotten together then?"
When Yang looked at Blake, she could tell that the black haired girl really wanted to say something about it, but something kept her from doing so. Yang recognized the look in her eyes once Blake finally turned her attention towards the blonde. It was the same look that Yang gave to Blake whenever she thought about her, a look of affection, of want.
Not a moment had gone by, before Yang felt herself being pushed back by Blake. The faunus girl had pounced on top of her and was now kissing the blonde while she had her down. While Yang wasn't complaining, she was certainly surprised by the sudden expression of emotions.
"Well, you asked for it, Jaune," Pyrrha said. Upon hearing her speak, Blake and Yang jumped away from each other, causing everyone to laugh. "It's about time you two," Pyrrha said in between fits of laughter.
"Yeah, I guess it has been too long for us too," Blake said. She sat down next to Yang and let the blonde wrap her arm around her shoulders.
AN: Well it's official, the bumblebee has begun. I hope that the wait for this has been worth it, and that I managed to get it right because I'm not the best at writing bumblebee to be quite honest.
In any case, I'm moving quite along into the next part of the story which as you read earlier is the bandit attacks in Haven. Our intrepid heroes should have an easy time against the bandits, but is that all they will be fighting? I know the answer, and trust me, it's certainly worth the read if you ask me.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.