Ruby was not a patient girl.
It had only been a mere fifteen or so seconds since this little practice battle officially began, but what person stayed perfectly still in a fight!?
Ruby at the moment was hopping from foot to foot, twirling the comically large Crescent Rose between her hands with amazing ease, trademark red cape billowing behind her in the autumn wind. "Come ooooooon Blake!" She whined, wanting more than anything to attack. If only she hadn't given the frustratingly calm girl the first shot.
Blake's mouth twitched into a slight smile, the smallest amount of amusement in her golden eyes. She shifted Gambol Shroud in her hands, the rather thin sword still in its much wider-but still razor sharp-sheath, its attached ribbon wound around her right arm. She took a breath then charged, moving with incredible speed towards Ruby.
The younger girl yelped, swinging her scythe upwards, where it met Gambol Shroud in a series of sparks and a loud CLANG! Ruby leapt back, shooting at the ground with Crescent Rose, the massive kick sending her skywards. Then she shot the sniper scythe at the sky, causing her to to rocket down towards Blake, bringing the blade of her weapon down to meet the other girl's.
The scythe met sword, the pure strength behind the attacks of both weapon kept Ruby suspended in the air, the topside of Crescent Rose still on the broadside of Gambol Shroud.
Blake chuckled, still rather detached and calm, stepping back after Ruby launched off the duel, landing a few feet away. Cool golden eyes watched the redhead, who looked a bit annoyed that Blake was able to remain so calm while fighting someone of Ruby's strength. The younger female rushed forward, Crescent Rose raised high in the air. Blake raised her weapon to intercept, but, in a flash of quickly-disintegrating rose petals, her leader was no longer in front of her.
A shoulder was slammed into the space between Blake's shoulder blades, sending the ravenette several feet away. Before she hit the ground, she crossed her forearms in front of her face, allowing them to take the majority of the impact. She shoved off with her arms, flipping upwards onto her feet, immediately drawing her sword out of its sheathe in order for her to use both should the need arise. Blake turned quickly in a full circle, frowning when Ruby was nowhere in sight. Wait! Was that a flash of red behind those trees? The seventeen-year-old took a couple of steps forward to investigate, but felt a slight shift in the air. She whipped around, holding both blades up in a X just in time to catch the blade of a giant scythe between them.
Ruby pouted slightly,"Awww, you're no fair!" She accused, which drew a chuckle from Blake, who had a brief thought that, if Ruby had actually been trying to injure her, that the redhead would definitely have been able to defeat her by now with that blasted speed of hers. Blake pulled her actual sword back, keeping the scythe in the deadlock using its sheath.
She flicked her wrist, causing the blade of her sword to fall back, forming a 90-degree handle with the handle and the barrel of its pistol compartment. Blake threw the pistol form of gambol Shroud forwards, and yanked on the ribbon connected to both its trigger and her arm, causing it to shoot back, wrapping around the handle of Crescent Rose as she did so. Blake yanked again, pulling the handle of the hum0ngous scythe out of the hands of its wielder, and clattering to the grass.
The black-haired teenager grinned, putting the pistol back in its sword form, sheathing it, and putting it on her back in just under a second. "You've been disarmed, I wi-Ruby?" She cut herself off, her smug smile turning to a concerned frown.
Ruby had doubled over with a groan, and was tightly clutching her left hand in her right. "Bl-Blake, you got me good," She moaned, causing a bit of panic to appear in the golden eyes of her friend.
"What? Let me see," she said, mentally kicking herself for not being more careful when disarming her redheaded teammate. She gently took Ruby's wrist of her injured hand, and coaxed her to release her knuckles, only to groan in amused exasperation when she saw the oh-so deadly wound. "Ruby, stop being so dramatic," she teased.
"But it huuurts,"she complained, though there was humor in her light grey orbs, indicating she was likely pulling Blake's leg the entire time. The injury itself was nothing more than an inch long scratch of Ruby's palm that wasn't even bleeding save for a tiny red line, and was likely caused by the sharp counterweight on the butt of Crescent Rose's handle.
This brought forth a snort of laughter from the older girl. "If it really hurts that bad." She said, and bent down."
"Blake, what are you EEEP!" She squealed. Blake had given the cut a tiny, sweet little kiss, using a burst of her aura at the same time to heal Ruby's scratch.
"I'm sorry for hurting you," Blake said, smiling as she turned Ruby's hand, pressing another kiss to the back of her hand, letting her soft lips linger on Ruby's warm skin for a bit longer this time.
"Th-Thanks," Ruby stuttered, her cheeks igniting a deep, rose red, but it didn't stop the smile from spreading across her face as she collected her weapon. She shifted the scythe to its compact form, attaching it to the back of her belt. The redhead walked back to Blake, and they both agreed it was time to take the short walk back to school.
Blake was silent for the first couple of minutes of the walk, but there was nothing out of the ordinary with that, as she was quiet by nature. Then, after a moment, she said,"Hey, Ruby?" When the redhead turned to face her, head tilted in curiosity, she continued. "Don't scare me like that, ok? Not even over little stuff. I... I don't want you getting hurt."
Ruby nodded, apologizing and promising to Blake that she wouldn't.
The golden-eyed beauty smiled again, and hesitantly slipped her arm around Ruby's and her hand in the younger girl's, causing Ruby to smile and the both of them to blush.
"And you won't have to worry about me getting hurt next time, 'cuz I won't lose!" Ruby challenged, silver pools shining with pride, earning a lighthearted laugh from her teammate.
"I'm sure you will Ruby," Blake said, taking note of how Ruby affectionately pressed into her side, and of the slim fingers that shyly tangled with her own, causing the two lone hearts in the forest to beat just a little faster. "I'm sure you will."