Chapter Eleven
Today was apparently going to be different. Not so much that it started just like any other day, but it sure as hell broke the monotony of daily combat training, studying, and semblance practicing that has been going on for the past two years. And, while it wasn't going to be a complete distraction either, that was perfectly fine for Lune Beryl. She just needed a few moments to pour her attention onto something else before everything she'd put aside came back to crash on her like a grand piano would in a cartoon strip.
Today was the day Ruby Rose approached her for help. With combat.
"Um…" Lune started, her sleepy-looking eyes widening a fair bit. Still remembering who exactly should and would be teaching the red-haired, energetic girl, she wasn't entirely sure what to do. Or for that matter, what to say.
The younger girl had approached Lune right before she could enter her dorm room for a power nap, catching her completely surprised. She'd meant to just laze away her one free hour before she went to class again as her friends were out doing their own thing. With Vanilla retreating to the library to do research for Weapons Creation class and with Yang hanging out with her other friends, Lune didn't really have much to do.
Well, okay, she had a pile of work to sift through, but she was going to do that later.
And… oh hey, was that a trail of rose petals she saw behind Ruby? Lune momentarily looked over the redhead's shoulder and concluded that, indeed, they were. If Ruby had immediately dashed towards her after class with the use of her semblance, that meant she was that eager to get her help. Such was the gravity of the situation, then.
"Please, please, pretty please?" Ruby interrupted Lune's thoughts. Her silver eyes were wide open as she stared up at the rabbit girl, both hands clasped together close to her chest. "I just really, reaaaally need to practice on some moves and stances. I know Dad and Uncle Qrow hasn't said anything about what I could do so far, but… yeah, I know I'm not very good at fighting yet." She then laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.
Oh, yeah, that was right. Lune had remembered this belatedly, but as of this time, Ruby Rose was still… learning the ropes, to put it kindly. Just the memory of having watched one of Ruby's classes earlier in the week had her wincing in sympathy.
Really. She wasn't even kidding. Ruby's knowledge on weaponry was to be green with envy for and her class performance showed it (well, partly, because all she had was Ruby and Yang's word), but the kid could hardly do much when she started to wield one. Her movements were always awkward, her stances constantly corrected (by a constantly amused Qrow, too), and Lune was starting to believe more and more that a scythe was the only weapon this girl could expertly wield. Which would be kinda ironic when, by default, scythes were the absolute hardest to learn for combat purposes. There was a reason why nobody scored well from tests involving those weapons.
(And thankfully, no one ended up losing limbs in the process, either.)
Gotta admire Ruby's never-give-up attitude, though. Ruby was always quick to recover from a failure. The determination Lune could see in Ruby's eyes never disappeared even once.
Maybe she was just judging the younger girl too quickly. It had only been, what, two weeks since Ruby started attending classes here? Lune knew the redhead had potential—all that was missing was Crescent Rose to completely mold her fighting style. Heck, maybe Crescent Rose was built to suit her, instead of her training herself to suit it.
She had to admit, though, it was cute how Ruby fawned over every new weapon she ended up handling. That it was, quote and unquote, super-fantastic-awesome she was holding an honest-to-goodness weapon. She was certain she'd even seen Ruby cradling a sheathed katana one time. Yang had laughed the whole thing off and accepted that as normal.
"Okay then... I'll bite. Why me?" Lune decided to ask before her thoughts took an even weirder turn. She couldn't help the yawn that escaped her lips then, either; she'd been looking forward to that nap… "Because let me tell you, Ruby, I'm nowhere as good as your older sister."
"Oh, pshhh. You already know why," Ruby said as if it were obvious enough. "You killed a Grimm before! Yang told me all about it." There was a pause. And then, almost hesitantly, she added, "…And, uh, okay, she also told me I should go find you because she's going to be busy."
"Oh." Typical Yang. "Not that I'm saying no just yet, but don't you also have your other friends to help you out? I know my friend did when I had my own share of trouble."
Lune inwardly smiled at the memory. One of these days, she was going to treat Vanilla to an ice cream place or something for being such a kind friend.
"I guess so. But…" Ruby actually blushed. Whether it was due to being called cute or it was due to something else, Lune didn't know. The redhead awkwardly played with her hands as she explained, "I don't really have any friends yet. Other than you."
"For serious?"
Ruby nodded. "I mean, I'm trying, but then someone starts talking to me and suddenly I don't know what to say. I can talk about weapons all day long, but most of my classmates don't look all that interested and they bring up something else I don't think I know about. The conversation starts dying and they start leaving and then… and then…" She stopped her rambling and made a helpless gesture.
"Socially awkward, right. Can't believe I forgot that," Lune said, almost to herself than to Ruby. "Well, Ruby, I'm not the best person around for advice-giving, but I'd say just give it a bit more time and some people will just warm up to you. You shine just as brightly as Yang; it's only a matter of time before they realize that."
"Really?"
"Really." She then smiled. "Chin up. You'll find someone who shares your interests. Just keep talking to your classmates and you'll see who it is."
"T-thanks," Ruby said. Her lips stretched into a much, much brighter grin. "Y'know, I don't get why you say you're not awesome when it's obvious that you do."
"Because I really am not—"
"You are!" Ruby nodded fiercely. "So come on, please help me out? I swear I won't bother you too much! You're, like, one step closer to becoming a Huntress by slaying a Grimm, too. Have I mentioned that was totally cool? Because it was totally cool."
Lune nearly grimaced. It was painfully obvious that Ruby saw things in a wholly different way than she did. The way the redhead put it, it was as if the faunus had just participated in a fight of epic proportions with all the suspense and drama amped up to the maximum. That she'd fought valiantly, like a heroine slaying an evil dragon; that she'd done her part alongside mankind's continuous fight against the Grimm; and that she was a role model as a result. But no, that wasn't to be. To Lune, it felt more like she was fighting tooth and nail just to get out of that encounter alive. She almost didn't.
She absentmindedly rubbed her hand over the scars given to her by the Beowolf, forcing her mind elsewhere before she completely delved into that line of thinking. "Yang, you say."
"Yep! Yang," Ruby happily said.
That's right. Think about Yang and not that near-death scenario. Lune decided that maybe she might have words with the blonde about what Ruby knew. Because, last she remembered, she hadn't embellished the story she shared to her and Vanilla the day after that Grimm attack. She'd told it as truthfully as she could—she even showed her scars. But apparently, the very prospect of killing a Grimm might have excited Yang so much that she ended up thinking Lune really did do the deed and was just being too modest.
Anyway. It really appeared that Ruby was resolute on having Lune help her out. No one else. And with that look on her face, that awestruck expression that told her that she was more of a hero in Ruby's eyes than some average Joe… she couldn't very well say no, couldn't she? She was hardly a good teacher, but she was going to have to do her best. Maybe she could even get Vanilla to help her out—that kindhearted girl had more of that spark of leadership in her than Lune would ever have.
"Fine," Lune said, giving in. Before she could say anything else, she felt her back collide against the door as Ruby tacked her into a hug. She bit back a yelp as she felt the doorknob press against her, hard, from the impact.
"Yes! Thank you!" Ruby's arms were wound tight around Lune's waist. "See? You are awesome!"
The rabbit faunus could only awkwardly pat the girl on the back as she slowly felt her head grow lighter and lighter. "Okay, okay. But not right now, alright? I'm tired."
"Oh! Uh, right. You did have that pret-ty sleepy look on your face…"
Apparently, she wasn't fooling anyone. Even more apparently, her acting game was getting weak. "Anyway, you can come to my house and watch my friend and I have a go at combat practice this weekend. Maybe you'll learn some things. So…" She was also pretty sure the white stars clouding her vision had nothing to do with hallucinations. She tried blinking them away to no avail. "Can you… let go now? I can't breathe."
Three in the afternoon. Combat class. And Lune had almost won against Vanilla Blackthorn.
It was quite the feat, actually, when her opponent flitted in and out of invisibility and ensured that her every movement was difficult to predict. Lune would manage to sidestep what would've been a punch, but the proceeding leg sweep would always knock her down on her butt. Painfully. Then Vanilla would make a few steps back, her feet moving on the floor lightly enough that she was almost floating, and she'd spend her semblance's downtime by keeping out of reach of Lune's own strikes. By the time Lune was about to score an actual hit, poof! Well, not literally poof, but Vanilla went invisible all the same.
It was quite annoying. At the same time, it was also Vanilla's cunning at work.
...But what about Lune's semblance, you ask? How come it hadn't seen much action?
See, other than the fact that there was no water source in the training room, Lune just wasn't at that good at waterkinesis (or was it water manipulation? waterbending?) yet. Sure, she could say that she could make a bucketful of water float and encircle her as she moved her hands around, like some kind of water magi out of a fantasy novel or some character out of an animated show she vaguely remembered. She could shape the water in any way she could imagine, ruin peoples' day by making them wet from head to toe, and with enough concentration, make them act like a shield. But then her control still had the tendency to slip from her at inappropriate moments. Not to mention overdoing it made her feel mentally exhausted.
It was just, Lune's skill level was still shoddy at best. That was the only way to put it.
She'd tried her best after she, out of desperation, had Yang chuck a water bottle at her from the bleachers because she didn't bring her own water source. She'd done her own dancing around Vanilla, almost literally with those rhythmic flurry of strikes and smoother movements learned over the years, and she'd given the older girl a run for her money. She'd shown Vanilla the result of two years of additional training with her. Heck, Lune was proud to say that she was improving a lot more than before. Even Qrow made an impressed comment after she'd twirled out of Vanilla's strike and gracefully flipped around her to deliver a smarting blow at her back.
But then she made the mistake of acknowledging Qrow's rare praises as she turned her head towards the gray-haired man to say something in return.
Lune had been on her back before she'd realized what was happening. When she'd opened her eyes and had propped herself up with her elbows, feeling a strange ache in her chest the whole time, she'd noticed Vanilla lowering a seemingly raised foot. And then she noticed a shoe-shaped mark on her inconveniently white shirt.
Believe it or not, that was how it ended. After several minutes of flipping, cartwheeling, jumping about, and some waterworks that resulted to a swift change of clothing afterward, all it took was something ridiculously anticlimactic to finish the fight.
Note to self: never keep your eyes off the opponent even for just one millisecond.
"You did well," Vanilla said to her, approaching the still-fallen faunus and extending a hand. She awkwardly tugged at one of her braids with her free hand as she added, "Um, for what it's worth, I'm sorry I had to do that. You know I couldn't just pass up the opportunity."
Lune shook her head, took hold of her friend's hand, and felt herself pulled to her feet. Even after two years, she regretted to say she hadn't done much growing; she grew a few centimeters, sure, but compared to Vanilla… yeah, it appeared that her second puberty was going to affect her at a much later time at this rate. Then again, maybe that was for the best because she most definitely did not miss this one, particular, leaky aspect of being a growing girl.
You know what, I'm going to stop that line of thinking right now because that's the kind that makes anyone feel awkward.
"Always take the shot," the rabbit girl replied with a reassuring pat on Vanilla's shoulder. "That's what you always tell me every time we practice."
The older girl laughed softly. Vanilla's skill with a bow was pretty impressive—the statement applied to her the most and she knew it. "Right."
The two exchanged grins before turning towards Qrow, awaiting the man's verdict.
Even until now, Qrow Branwen was still their combat teacher. That didn't mean that there weren't any others to teach the students the more particular aspects of it, but it just so happened that it was often the man who taught them. And honestly, Qrow wouldn't have it any other way. Mostly because it had become more and more apparent to him that Lune's batch was actually a lot more talented. And a lot more behaved. It was best kind of class a teacher could ever have, even for someone too jaded by the whole Huntsman business.
For someone who couldn't help but feel a stab of pity for these poor kids who might just become pawns in the grander scheme of things, anyway.
(Not heroes. Never heroes.)
"Alright, the much-awaited verdict," Qrow began, pushing himself off from the wall he'd been leaning on. He approached the two girls and crossed his arms. "Beryl. Blackthorn. I know I'm a pretty damn difficult person to please, but props to you both for giving a much, much better performance than before. For one, that's pretty damn clever of you to use your semblance like that, Blackthorn."
Vanilla smiled wider. stood straighter, and was definitely feeling pretty proud of herself right now. Qrow then looked at Lune next, and… well, he smirked. It was obvious that he noticed how her whole posture screamed lazy or indifferent while her expression told him everything he needed to know about what she really felt: nervousness and something along the lines of not really looking forward to what the man had to say.
"As for you," he started. "Your movements are smoother, and you finally look like you actually know what you're doing. Good on you."
"Er, thanks?" A compliment and a not-quite-a-complement at the same time. She didn't know what she was supposed to expect.
"You could've been more prepared or competent if you utilized your semblance more, but at least you managed to make your opponent struggle. Even just a bit." He elaborated. Then he shook his head. Just like that, he swung down the hammer. "But next time, whatever you want to say when someone talks to you, save it for after a fight. A mistake like that's the difference between getting out of a battle unscathed and a Boarbatusk spearing you right through the chest. Let's not add one more scar to your collection, alright?"
Her hand twitched. And her arm felt like it wanted to ache again. It wasn't doing her any favors being reminded of that particular day, but whatever. Lune murmured her affirmative reply. And unintentionally, she yawned. A good workout always had her feeling drained.
"Still with me? Good. Lastly, keep working at improving your semblance. Because I'm not gonna lie, kid, your fighting prowess is fine, but your skill with that needs to catch up once you need to use it more often. Just remember, that's a part of you. Treat it as if it were one of your arms or legs—not another separate entity."
"Noted."
Deciding that was a satisfactory enough reply, Qrow turned away from the pair who then walked back to the bleachers, clapping his hands once to get everyone else's attention. The rest of the class immediately hushed their chatter and attentively looked at him. "And that concludes today's class. You already know what needs to be worked on, so get to it whenever you could."
A series of murmurs and nodding heads were what he got in reply.
He then crossed his arms and met everyone's stare with his intense one. It was almost, almost hard to believe that he wasn't mildly drunk just then when Lune had seen him take a few discreet sips from his flask earlier. The man had even noticed several hours ago and had winked at her. "By the way, you better have learned a thing or two from Beryl and Blackthorn's fight. If you didn't… well, you'll be the one suffering the consequences, not me. All I know is that I did my job. Dismissed."
And that concluded today's combat class.
The rest of the students dispersed with all the eagerness of one looking forward to spending the rest of the day however they wanted. Which meant grinning faces, loud chatter, and surprisingly happy waves sent at their amused teacher when the man had done nothing but bluntly point out the good and bad points—mostly the latter—of their earlier practice fights. The room was empty in a matter of minutes.
Well, almost empty.
"Hey, Beryl, c'mere for a sec," Qrow called out from behind just as Lune was about to step past the swinging double doors. Hearing this, the friends she was following from behind stopped as well, curiously regarding the faunus as if to ask if she did something particularly attention-seeking.
"Don't look at me. I have no idea." Lune gave a small, it-can't-be-helped shrug and gestured to Yang and Vanilla to keep walking. "Just go on if you want to. I'll catch up."
"You sure? Alright! I've still got some stuff to do today." Yang said with a grin.
"Involving boys?" Lune wryly asked. Yang had started noticing them for a while now, but she hadn't gone beyond that. Yet.
"My lips are sealed." Yang winked. "I'll just see you later for some movie-watching—which you're not getting out of or else I'll sic Ruby on you." She raised a fist, which Lune promptly bumped with hers, then went on ahead with a loud hum that sounded remarkably reminiscent of a song from a lifetime away.
Lune turned towards the remaining other person in the room and noted how Vanilla didn't move one inch. She simply smiled her usual, sweet smile and moved to lean against the nearest wall. She wasn't one for blocking paths, even if it was as empty as it could be at the moment. "I'll wait. Take your time."
"You sure? I dunno how long this'll take."
"You know I'm patient, Lune."
"Fair enough." Lune gave her friend a small, grateful smile before turning away and walking to Qrow… who definitely didn't waste any time pulling out his hip flask and taking a swig of whatever alcoholic drink was in there right now. The man wasn't normally discreet and couldn't give a damn about who spotted him, but it wasn't like he had any choice but to be when a certain headmistress was screeching at him whenever he was caught in the act. That woman had one hell of a voice box.
I swear it's a miracle his liver hasn't malfunctioned yet, Lune thought as she stopped before the gray-haired man and titled her head slightly in curiosity. I mean, seriously, how does he manage to even like the stuff? Alcohol tastes awful... Or I think I remember it tasting awful.
Apparently, she didn't realize she'd ended up staring at the flask. She only did when Qrow followed her line of sight, when one corner of his mouth curled up into an amused smile as he lowered the thing, twisted the cap close, and stuffed it back into a pouch normally hidden by the cloak he wore most of the time. Small mercies, her not blushing. But she did feel a faint pang of embarrassment. Qrow just managed to read her too easily every time she pretended to be nonchalant.
"Yeah, kid, I'm going to recommend against you trying stuff like this out," he said. "At least until you're old enough."
That got her blinking and rapidly shaking her head. The reaction was accompanied with a look of exaggerated disgust. "God, no. That stuff does weird things to your brain."
"Good, more for me," Qrow said. After a brief chuckle, he decided to drop that topic. "So. Anyway. A little bird told me a niece of mine is going to have you as a mentor of sorts for my class."
"If by little bird you meant a certain girl in a red, hooded cloak who's also said niece of yours, then yeah, that's the plan." Lune readily answered. "Or at least, I'm just going to give her a few pointers to get her on her way. Is it going to be a bother, sir?"
"Pft, no. In fact, by all means. Kid could use a lot of help. You should've seen the look on her face when she told me all about it." Qrow smiled fondly at the thought of his favorite niece. "I know she's… okay, she's bad at it right now. I'm not gonna lie. But she's not one to give up too easily, too."
Lune immediately realized that this might just be that moment when she can steer this a bit towards what would eventually happen, anyway. If she had to be honest with herself, she wasn't entirely sure if things would still occur the way she still remembered or they would occur a la Chaos Theory. So far, this particular train had yet to be derailed.
But either way, it wouldn't hurt to just be sure that very thing would happen, right? It wasn't like she was going to go full-on master manipulator mode. Other than the fact that she was never such a person in the first place because that just made her guilty as hell, she knew she just didn't have that kind of right. All she wanted was certainty. Nothing else.
"Well then, I'll try my best. But I bet she'd love to have you as a more personal teacher too," Lune decided to say.
"I'll admit, the thought had crossed my mind once or twice," Qrow said. "We'll see. There's still plenty more types of weapons she and the rest of her class hasn't tried yet. There's still a good chance she'll take a shine to something—kind of like you with pistols or daggers."
The faunus actually relieved to hear that. She then sighed; when was the last time she'd actually spent some time with Ruby? She was in Signal more often than not, but then she'd watched Ruby grow from an adorable little girl to a much more adorable ten-year-old kid. "It is amazing that she keeps trying no matter what, though. She's really going to be a Huntress or die trying. She knows what she really wants."
"And, what, you don't? I thought you did, kid, or else we wouldn't be speaking here now."
Lune didn't answer at once. Instead, with the sudden need to distract herself, she focused on a small puddle of water nearby—remnants of earlier's sparring match, obviously—and let her semblance activate. The water started floating in the air in a serpentine-like manner, proceeding to wrap around her arm just as she'd willed it to. She could also feel it drenching her arm in the process; manipulating water was always a very wet business. Qrow regarded the spectacle with mild amusement.
Once upon a time, she might have had a more positive thought about the whole Huntsman business. She'd actually looked forward to fighting one someday and proving she could be a badass like everyone here in Remnant, at the same time showing the world that there wasn't any point to the humans' pointless racism against the faunus. But after that Grimm incident…
Okay, so that still made her want to kill even more of the bastards because, just like she'd realized then, they didn't deserve to live. That part remained the same as ever, and so did her wishes of getting through the future Beacon attack alive when the Grimm came to invade. But at the same time, that incident shook her up a lot more than she thought. She was trying to remain optimistic about it, that it wouldn't be so bad when she encountered more in the future because she'll be prepared this time, but it took considerable effort on her part. It was mentally taxing.
"Kinda-sorta. But only because I don't know what else I want to be." It was somewhat true. She knew she'll never be a hero; she had no intentions to be one. That was more of Ruby's future role. And maybe, her future friends' too. She'll play her role while they played theirs.
Lune suddenly lost control of the water and it splashed down on her feet. And Qrow's. Oops. She sighed as if that was enough as a gesture of apology. "I'm fine, though, so please don't be concerned. It's not all bad. Besides, think of it this way: as a faunus, either I learn how to kick butt or some humans end up kicking mine. All the time."
"Fair enough. You've got your opinion, and I've got mine," Qrow said. She knew the man didn't have a very good opinion at his chosen line of work, so she figured he was being diplomatic at best.
"Yup." Lune nodded.
"At least you're getting serious with everything Signal's throwing at you now." For a moment, he seemed to be scrutinizing her. "Anyway, you're young, kid. Maybe you'll realize that this path isn't for you. Maybe you won't and you'll realize instead that you're fine staying in this one. Just be ready to suffer the consequences of whatever path you take." He shook his head. "All I know is, and I'm only telling you this because you struck me as someone who understands more than the average kid your age, that this Huntsman business? It's got its glamour at times, but as a whole, it's not going to be a very pretty sight."
Somebody answer the phone, because I definitely called it. "Speaking from experience, sir?"
"I wouldn't put it any other way," Qrow said.
"Right." Lune nodded. "I guess I won't ask further than that. I'd hate to bring up bad memories. That's what my mom says about the Huntsmen's line of profession too anyway, so it's not very surprising."
"Then you knew what you're signing yourself up for the moment you decided to become a Huntress."
The smile on her face was an empty one. "Possible early death, being reduced to a drunken mess somewhere down the line, and always fighting the Grimm. But I try to look at the silver linings the best I can. 'Sides, civilian life is boring anyway and I'm just going to be Grimm food. But as much as possible, I prefer living until I become one of those crazy cat ladies." Which was true to an extent. It had occurred to her that maybe being involved in the whole Huntsman business was ten times more dangerous than being cooped up within a city, but at least when the time came that her life was in danger, she could fight tooth and nail to stay alive. Being a civilian didn't give her that kind of opportunity.
That got the man regarding her in a different light. Then he shook his head and seemed to decide against the next words he had in mind. He opted for something else; this kind of conversation wasn't really what he was here for. "You're really something, kid. In any case, you've brought this conversation to the one person I was meaning to talk to you about: River Beryl. Much as I love my niece, she's not the reason for"—he gestured to himself and to her, the two of them standing there and having this kind of interaction—"this."
"…Ooookay, then. What about my mom?" Lune asked. She'd told herself that she wasn't going to bother with whatever business her mom had with Ozpin's Secret Society (oh, hey, that sounded pretty nice in her head) even though she had a faint idea as to what that was (maybe it was time to reread her secret notebook hidden in the attic), but she was curious about what kind of impression the man had about her mother. It was clear that they were at least acquaintances, judging from the familiar tone he'd used when referring to River, but she thought that maybe finding out more wouldn't be so bad.
"I just want to know how she's doing."
"Oh," she said. "Well… Mom's okay. Mostly. She's not one for going outside as often as she used to. Like, it takes a miracle just to get her shopping in Vale with me—Dad does that in her place now. When he's not busy, I mean. I can walk around Vale just fine by myself now, so long as I don't go anywhere that doesn't have people in them. But when I'm with Mom…"
Lune remembered how the woman would look over her shoulder from time to time as they walked past one building to another in the city of Vale. She would take special care to look twice at an alleyway, and when she caught her daughter staring at her in wonder, she'd laugh and say she just thought she saw something pretty damn cool, like a stray dog playing with a stray cat. Then she'd smile that dry smile of hers, talk about something completely random, maybe rant about the latest asshole who pulled the faunus racism card, and eventually, she'd grow silent. By then her smile would be replaced by a straight line, just at that moment when she thought Lune wasn't looking.
She didn't know how long her mother could pretend that everything was fine. And honestly, she was getting worried—enough to want to get involved.
"…She's, like, on the constant lookout for something. Like she might be attacked anytime," Lune finished quietly. "But yeah, she's still the same person who thinks it's a miracle you're still standing upright with the amount of liquor you're imbibing." It was a lame attempt to keep the mood light, but she thought it was working.
"Yeah, that's definitely River you're talking about," Qrow said, smiling dryly at that. "Well, kid, I don't really know how to put this. But believe it or not, your mom's got a reason to be careful. I think I've told this to your dad before. You were there, too, but I doubt you understood then." Qrow then patted Lune's head, an action so sudden the faunus didn't do her usual reaction of twitching her rabbit ears and stepping back with her hands protectively covering her head. "Don't worry about it too much, kid. If she's fine, then she's fine. That's the most important thing of all. It's enough to learn that nothing's gone off-rails or something."
A part of her couldn't help but wonder whether that was concern as a friend or concern as a part of said secret society. So to say. "Should there be something Mom should look out for? Do you… know something?"
It was borderline suspicious that he didn't answer at once. "…No. But you'll never really know what can happen anytime, anyway."
"Oh." Lune decided she wasn't going to pry.
"But seriously, kid, don't let it get to you too much. Just enjoy your life for now. You'll find yourself missing this kind of innocence once you're neck deep into things in the future." Seeing this as his cue to put draw the curtains on this particular scene, Qrow pulled out his flask and opened it, taking a few gulps from its contents before returning it to where it came. He then began moving towards the exit of the room, where Vanilla still waited. The fourteen-year-old was no longer standing, sitting on the floor with her back against the wall and an open book in her hands. Qrow paused and looked back at Lune, his back partly turned against her. "That's all. Go on and join your friend. Have fun with whatever you crazy kids do these days."
Then he said no more.
"Right. Of course," Lune said. Shaking her head and reminding herself that she'd nearly stepped into this particular territory she was trying to avoid, she saw Qrow leave the room. After seeing him gone from sight, she padded over to Vanilla and tapped the teenager on the shoulder.
"Done?"
"Yup."
Vanilla closed her book, stuffed it back into her messenger bag, and stood up with little effort. She flashed a smile at her friend before finally exiting the classroom with her, making their way towards the dormitories from the north of here, the main building. Even after two years, Lune still appreciated how Signal Academy's layout was conveniently easy to navigate around in.
Comfortable silence was what occurred between the two of them as they made a slow but steady pace past the classrooms and offices, approaching the outer walkway connecting the main building to the dormitories. Lune idly noted that, the walls remained white and untarnished as ever, smooth as she'd seen it when she was physically five years of age. The flooring was still a nice shade of light brown, easy to her eyes.
Eventually, though, it wasn't Lune who spoke first. Vanilla did.
"So…" the girl started, looking at Lune. "What was that about, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Just about Ruby, Yang's younger sister, and me giving her some tips the next time we do an off-campus practice session. And he asked about my mom—they know each other." Lune shrugged, maybe a bit too dismissively for her liking.
"Oh," Vanilla said. She hmm'ed softly before giving a small nod to herself. Just like that, she managed to sense how it was something Lune wasn't keen on talking about. That was what the faunus liked about her friend; Vanilla knew to respect her friend's privacy. "If that is the case… I don't mind having someone practice with us on our free time. Ruby—she's, ah, Yang's younger stepsister, right?—seems like a sweet girl."
"A bit hyper at times. But she's sweet like you, yeah."
"I see—um, what?" Vanilla blinked, and then her cheeks flushed red. She nearly stumbled as she walked. "Lune!"
The faunus chuckled. "Just teasing. But for the record, you are. Anyway, how are you with your weapons research? Got anything in mind now?"
The happy smile on her friend's face was enough of an indication as to how well it had been going.
Lune wasn't surprised. Vanilla practically lived in the library these days, and if no one regularly dragged her out of there, she might have started consuming books for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Lune herself liked to read a good book from time to time, but just like any student, she struggled keeping her attention on anything remotely academic. It always impressed her how her friend managed to spend hours with those books that would make the faunus want to stab herself with forks so she could say she died from boredom.
"A mix between a bow and a gun," Vanilla answered softly. At Lune's slightly raised, curious eyebrows, she added, "Ah, I mean… it'll be in the shape of a bow, but instead of shooting arrows, it shoots bullets. I'm still working on that idea, but I think I can also fit in some blades for its body so I can use it in melee range. Or… maybe I can just make the bow somehow fold-able so I could hide the sharp parts when not in use? Oh, that might just work!"
Vanilla's hands had clasped together in front of her as a dreamy expression on her face took over, the teenager clearly loving the idea she was tossing around inside her head. If Lune had to warrant a guess, Vanilla was probably wondering how she would work the gun part in, or what the weapon was going to be made of, how it wouldn't be a bother carrying outside of class, etcetera. It was one of those rare moments when her friend wasn't acting so reserved.
Good for her, honestly. As for Lune—
"What about you? You could have come with me to the library earlier, instead of… um, being lazy as usual."
She didn't really know what kind of weapon she wanted yet. She'd narrowed it down to something she could dual-wield—her ambidexterity developing after a childhood, Aura-less incident of accidentally slamming a door on her hand and having to use a non-dominant one for a week or two—and being comfortable both in melee and ranged instances in a jack-of-all-trades kind of way. But other than that… nada. Her crumpled paper-filled trash bin was a testament to her lack of creativity in that department. So many rejected sketches…
"I guess so, but then I wouldn't get to talk to Ruby," Lune said. She and Vanilla had reached the walkway by now, a simple passage with thick glass for walls and a nice, simple-looking black roof supported by metal beams. It would only be a matter of minutes before they reached their dorms. "And about the weapons…" She laughed awkwardly. "It's still a blank."
"Oh… Well, you'll think of something soon. You always do," Vanilla said kindly.
"I hope so, because we're due to submit our first few ideas soon for evaluation," Lune said. She made a mental count of the days left, which was… four weeks from now? She needed to check Vanilla's planner. "There's technically no rush, but you know how people are. The sooner the better."
"Yeah…"
"In any case, let's just talk about how the weekend's going to go. With Ruby joining in for a bit, we'll have to go over our old lessons again."
"Yes, and you'll be doing it with me, aren't you?" The look on Vanilla's face was pleasant—sweet, even—but the eyes behind those glasses of hers gave Lune the impression she was being wordlessly dared to say otherwise. The faunus suddenly wondered how Vanilla would be like when scrubbed clean of any social awkwardness or anything else of the sort. She also wondered if that would be her doing because she'd been helping the teenager improve socially.
In any case, she definitely wasn't going to say no.
"Much as I'd love to be stupid and lazy, I can't exactly say anything but, 'sure, let's.'" Lune sighed dramatically. "Man, I suddenly miss the shyer version of you."
Vanilla laughed. "If I'm to recall correctly, you're the one who insisted on doing those bi-weekly dares involving activities no sane person would ever do."
"…But it worked, didn't it?"
"It did. Um, at least a bit. But please, don't make me hug a total stranger again. The look he gave me… oh, gosh, that so embarrassing…"
"Alright. Sorry. But I'll have to think of something equally insane. In turn, you don't hold me back from my nap when I want to have one, okay?"
For the rest of their walk back to their dorm rooms, Lune and Vanilla talked about helping out a certain, excitable redhead who seemed to enjoy scattering rose petals in her semblance's wake.
Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, the first time Lune (and Vanilla) had their tutoring-slash-sparring session with Ruby that weekend had occurred without much fanfare. After introducing Vanilla to Ruby and letting the two get familiarized with each other, they'd all made use of the spacious clearing behind the Beryl household. And, before the three girls had set to work, a batch of "crappy cookies" had been promised by River Beryl as soon as they were done.
The cookies, after consumption, had been anything but.
The redhead really did have a lot more to learn. Ruby Rose had proved to move fast and even faster if she activated her semblance, but as the rabbit girl had found out after they had a sparring match with wooden swords (courtesy of Vert Beryl after witnessing his daughter, Vanilla—and occasionally, Yang—practicing in the past with tree branches), Ruby was prone to overextending, making the wrong steps or movements, or just not acting fast enough. The faunus wasn't sure if she managed to explain that all clearly because she didn't have the flair for teaching that Vanilla had, but she'd tried.
True, Ruby wasn't completely hopeless. She'd managed to land a few good hits on Lune, who'd already decided to take it easy and not let her faunus-enhanced reflexes take over. But the huge gap in skill level reared its ugly head when Vanilla's turn came to teach Ruby. Basically, that sparring match ended with the poor, younger girl gasping for breath and yielding with raised hands. Vanilla had apologized profusely afterward.
And on the next weekend, the quartet—because Yang had decided to join in—nothing much had happened either. The only highlight was the fact that Ruby was at least improving, even just by a bit.
"Hey, not bad," Lune had said after being struck at the waist. It had been mostly due to luck than pure skill, but Lune had noticed that Ruby was slowly realizing that she could take advantage of her blind spots. "Keep that up, and I'll have to fight smarter."
"She's all talk, Rubes." Yang had grinned at Lune when the faunus raised an eyebrow at her. "She'll just end up not doing anything 'cause it's not worth the effort."
The faunus had merely tossed her sword at the blonde, knowing that she'd catch it with ease—or knock it away. Which she had.
The weekend after that, though… that was when things had gotten a bit more interesting. Not in the "oh wow, so many things happened!" kind of way, as life in Patch was uneventful… for the most part… but rather, interesting in the way that it had been a day that Lune might be remembering for a good, long while. The fact that Vanilla being unavailable for that weekend due to her older sister wanting to spend some time with her might have had something to do with that, too.
In any case, only Lune and Ruby were there to spar with each other. As the two readied themselves and began swinging their practice weapons at each other, Lune idly thought that this whole scenario felt sort of strange because she'd never really spent some one-on-one time with Ruby. Yang was usually there with her younger sister as some sort of package deal. Not this time, apparently; the blonde had messaged Lune on her scroll that she'd come down with a nasty cold.
(She'd proceeded to wondered if it was Taiyang Xiao Long attending to his daughter's needs. Last time any of his daughters got sick and Lune came to visit, the treatment being given was… kind of eccentric, to say the least. Motivational posters, anyone?)
"So, uh, Lune?" Ruby asked after ducking from a blow that Lune delivered with her practice sword.
"Yeah? What's up?" Lune easily blocked Ruby's counterattack, seeing it coming a mile away. She felt her rabbit ears twitch slightly at the thudding sound the swords made. "Also, don't position your feet like that. Once I push you away, you're just going to fall on your butt."
"Right!" Ruby nodded, adjusting herself as Lune instructed. "Anyway, I just wanted to ask you something."
Lune nodded after seeing the shorter girl steel herself against what was to come and pushed as hard as she could. She watched with satisfaction as Ruby merely ended up stumbling backwards and regaining equilibrium instead of completely losing it. "Ask away."
"What made you want to become a Huntress?"
She couldn't answer at once; memories of Lune's conversation with a certain Qrow filled her head like a pitcher of water on a glass. She'd practically admitted to both him and herself what really kept her going, but considering who was standing before her… She thought she couldn't tell that same truth. Maybe to someone else. But not to Ruby. Or at least she'd try toning it down for her sake. Honestly, she didn't really know what to say, anyway.
"You first." Lune's deflection was a weak one, but she thought it should work on the younger girl. "What made you want to become a Huntress?"
Ruby fell for it. But she didn't answer right away, either, though for different reasons entirely.
Ruby traded blows with Lune before she did… or at least the redhead hoped to trade blows. Lune simply avoided the girl's sword strokes every time (even though she knew by now that parrying was something she should've done instead), and after letting the girl advance towards her, Lune met Ruby's sword with her own and maneuvered it in a way that ended up with the redhead's disarmament. Ruby gave the faunus an impressed grin and went to pick up her sword.
"That was so cool," Ruby said.
"Should've suspected something when my style's more of avoiding than direct confrontation, but you're learning," Lune replied. She gestured to the grass down below before sitting, then telling Ruby that they'll take five.
"Right, so uh, my answer to the question…" Ruby began after following suit. It just occurred to Lune that Ruby made for quite the pretty and innocent picture, sitting there with flowerbeds and trees consisting of what was behind her. "Do you remember those storybooks you'll read to me when you came to visit me and Yang?"
"Yeah. You liked them a lot, so I sacrificed nap time for Storytelling with Ruby," Lune said jokingly. Ruby snorted in reply, definitely amused. "But seriously, I didn't mind. It was pretty fun in its own way."
"It was! So then you remember how the story usually plays out, right?"
"The hero goes to a grand journey to slay the monster that threatens to destroy everything in its path, while helping all those he—or she—passes by." Lune remembered how utterly awed Ruby would be at the end before she dashed to find the next book she'd read to her. She thought they were all a cliched mess, but a happy Ruby was a happy Ruby.
Though of course, once Ruby had become good at reading, the faunus ended up watching her flip page after page with an excited look in her face instead. And Lune always did, right before she'd get smacked in the face by a pillow, courtesy of Yang.
"Yep." Ruby said, making Lune return her mind to the present. "And just like the heroes in the stories, I want to help people. I want to be that person who fights for what's right. Who fights for those who couldn't protect themselves! So when Yang decided to become a Huntress, I thought, hey, I should be one too!" The smile on her face grew wider. "And then there's Mom and Dad, too, who are, like, the coolest people on Remnant. Especially Mom. I don't really remember much about her anymore, but I know she's the best Huntress there is."
Ah, Summer Rose. Lune didn't really know much about the woman, either, even with Yang's stories about her. And honestly, she also wondered if the woman was really dead. There was a grave, but it hadn't been clear about being any body there to bury with.
"…You miss her, don't you?"
"More than anyone in the world."
Lune decided to really look at Ruby then. There weren't any tears in her gray eyes, but there wasn't that thousand-watts smile on her face either. Just a simple fond, distant look in her eyes as she stared at the colorful flowers around her.
"Then… I bet she'll be glad to know that you're well on your way to becoming just like her," Lune said kindly. Ruby visibly brightened.
"Um, thanks. I really wish that didn't have to happen, but it can't be helped, you know? I just need to keep moving forward so wherever she is now, she's proud of me!"Lune ignored the lump that formed in her throat. The whole parental loss just somehow reminded her of her past life's parents. She'd moved on, mostly, but she still missed them so much. No sense crying about what can't be fixed, remember. "So you're really sure about this, aren't you? Even if not every person is a good person? Even if… if nobody's there to know that you've just saved their butts from the big, bad monster. And they never even bother finding out who you are, just taking things for granted."
The redhead determinedly met Lune's green eyes. "Even then."
She was struck speechless.
Despite it all, Ruby was still going to insist on becoming the hero in her own story. It was definitely something Lune would've had difficulty going with. But then, she and Ruby grew up under different circumstances. Ruby might have had a much better childhood, and Lune's definitely involved a lot of racism and bullying. With the thought of being constantly forced to think about how much of a scum some humans were, the faunus could never bring herself to even want to defend those ungrateful asses.
Well, she might have been more willing to help people like them when she was younger, but things changed as she grew up. She still wanted to be a generally nice person, but... honestly, would that really help her in the long run or just be the reason for her downfall in whatever form that came?
Best not get philosophical right now, or something, Lune thought. As she held the younger girl's stare, she couldn't help but wish she was a lot more like her. Ruby… she really was the best kind of person humanity had to offer. It hadn't been so noticeable before, but it certainly was now.
"Then this means you're not going to give up anytime soon," the faunus finally said.
Ruby shook her head. "Nope. I know I'm not really all that good right now in Signal, but I know I'll get better." Then she gave Lune a toothy grin. "Especially with people like you helping me out. I'll become awesome before I know it!"
Lune blinked a few times before shaking her head and standing up, wooden sword in hand. "Then come on. Break's over. Let's get back to it so you can prove to everyone that Ruby Rose will become the best Huntress there is."
"Amen to that, sister!" Ruby followed suit and grabbed the sword.
For the rest of that afternoon, the two girls proceeded to spar against each other and ultimately enjoying the whole session. While Lune felt like she'd dodged a bullet there with Ruby not pressing her for her answer to the earlier question, at the same time she'd felt guilty about not doing so. Then again, that might just be for the better.
She wouldn't deny, however, that there was a slowly growing thought that maybe, just maybe, she might just make it one of her top purposes to help Ruby Rose as much as she could. It would certainly be a less selfish reason to keep going forward than just looking to ensure her own survival in the many years to come.
Yes, she thought after her own practice sword was finally sent flying the same way Lune did Ruby's earlier. She wasn't sure how much help she'll be to Ruby, but she'll do whatever she could.
As the two girls later retired to the comfort of the Beryl household later on, it completely escaped Lune's notice that all this time, there was a crow perched on one of the trees nearby. She didn't realize it had been observing the two girls ever since it had started following Ruby, either. And she most definitely wouldn't have suspected anything if it even if things were otherwise.
And when Lune heard the rustling of leaves and the quick flapping of wings, all the faunus could see in the sky was a black bird flying to join a flock that had so conveniently been passing by.
A/N: This is me hoping yet again that the length doesn't make things boring and makes it worth the nearly month-long wait. Boy howdy, do I look forward to the day I finally get out of college.
So, uh, yeah. I hope I managed to portray Ruby well enough. Honestly speaking, at first I had a hard time writing her. But then it was like, suddenly, things clicked and the words just came out without any further difficulty. There are probably a lot more I could've done to improve this chapter, but I tried my best. No regrets... until the next criticism comes anyway, haha. Also, I sneaked a little RWBY Chibi reference there. That had just been so amusing I had to put it in.
Anyway~! Enjoy, guys! Fingers crossed that the next chapters comes a lot more sooner. I did have the next few chapters plotted out. Not in detail, but planned enough that I want to know what happens next. I'll do some liberties as I write. See you all next chapter!