"THUNDARA!"
Three Creeper Grimm were caught in the lightning blast that followed the spellcast. Armored boots hit the ground and sprinted ahead without missing a beat. Ruby pushed herself forward, dashing between trees in the Emerald Forest, fighting and fighting and fighting. A Boartusk leaped out of the shrubs, already rolling toward the Keyblade wielder. Ruby stopped short to set up the zantetsuken. In a blink of an eye, the Boartusk was severed clean in half.
Ruby slowly straightened her pose, catching her breath. She hadn't slowed down since sunrise and it was starting to show. A feeling distracted her, surprising her out of her heavier breathing. She watched heartless rise from the ground and step out of shadows. "I was wondering when you would show up..." Ruby lowered into her combat stance, ready to continue.
Breakfast that morning was a lonely affair for Yang. She was used to Ruby and Weiss being late because of their drills, but she could usually rely on Blake making it to the dining hall before she did. This morning, Blake was missing as well. Yang frowned. Her faunus partner didn't appear to be in the best of moods after their investigation the other day. "I hope she's doing alright..."
"Good morning, Yang," Weiss's voice caught the blonde's attention.
"Mornin'," Yang greeted back, happy at least one of her team finally showed up. But if Weiss is here, where's Ruby?
Weiss looked around the cafeteria before sitting down and asking, "By the way, did Ruby mention anything to you about skipping morning drills again?"
"No," Yang replied, "she wasn't there?"
"No," Weiss responded, "at first I thought 'maybe I got here first for once', but she never showed up."
"Huh," Yang did her best to sound surprised. "I dunno what to tell you."
Weiss was silent for a moment, and Yang could tell something was on her mind. "Weiss?"
"Sorry," Weiss answered quickly, "I was just thinking… do you think she's found somewhere else to practice? Alone?"
"What?" Yang's surprise was real this time, "why would you think that?"
"No matter what she says, she lost pretty hard to the ringleader" Weiss explained. "She's at such a high skill level… perhaps she's worried going through a lower level class is dulling her?"
Wow… Weiss really is way too smart for her own good. "I don't know what to tell you. She hasn't said anything to me," Yang lied.
"Alright. I suppose I'll talk to her in class," Weiss shrugged and began to eat. Yang frowned and opened her scroll under the table, stealthily sending a warning text to her sister.
Scroll safely back in her pocket, Yang opened up to Weiss about the other topic on her mind. "So, I'm guessing you have no idea where Blake is either?"
"Nope," Weiss shook her head. "I haven't seen her since last night."
A few more minutes into the meal, Yang noticed Professor Goodwitch enter the hall. Experience taught Yang to dread whenever that particular teacher approached her. Like she's doing right now…
"Ms. Xiao Long-"
"I didn't do anything!" Yang immediately blurted. Weiss and Goodwitch stared at her. "...Right?"
Glynda sighed. "Allow me to start over, without interruptions this time? Ahem. Ms. Xiao Long, Ms. Schnee, just the two people I was looking for."
"So I'm not in trouble?" Yang asked.
"Yang!" Weiss scolded.
Glynda's next sigh turned quickly into a groan. "I actually had an extra assignment I was willing to offer you two, however-"
"Oh, no no, wait!" Weiss quickly interrupted. "I'm sure we can handle this assignment. You must have come to us for a reason, right?"
Glynda's eyes passed from Weiss to Yang. "I'm just going to stay quiet before I mess up again," Yang stated, raising her hands in surrender.
Glynda rolled her eyes. "I figured Ms. Xiao Long is in tune with what is popular among the youth, and I figured you could keep her more wild fantasies in check while bringing some decorum to the affair."
Yang lowered her arms, interested. "Okay, this is sounding like it could be fun?"
"Very well," Glynda nodded, "as long as you can be serious about this..."
Weiss figured out you're training on your own. Pretty easily, too.
"Well, that's not entirely surprising," Ruby nodded. She shoved her scroll back into her pocket as she made her way through Beacon's empty hall. Her training had gone on a little longer than she intended, and classes had already started. She was hoping rushing into combat class wouldn't be too awkward. Maybe there's an active duel, and nobody will notice the door!
She was wrong on both counts. She happened to walk in between duels and Professor Goodwitch jumped at the chance to make things awkward. "Ms. Rose! I see you've decided to grace us with your presence."
"Sorry," Ruby offered, "I just lost track of time."
"I'm sure you'll be more than willing to make up that time after class, correct?" Glynda's face made it clear it wasn't really a question.
"Of course, professor," Ruby nodded. She ran up to the seats and sat down next to her partner.
Weiss noticed Ruby open up a brown paper bag and pull out a sandwich. "The kitchens made you a late breakfast?" she asked.
"Apparently it's called a 'tardy bag'," Ruby explained. "I guess students missing breakfast is common enough to have a counter measure."
"I see," Weiss noted, slightly impressed by the school's preemptive thinking. She waited until the next duel started to bring up her next topic. Once the lights dimmed and everyone was watching the fight, Weiss leaned toward her partner. "Where were you anyways? You missed our morning drills."
"Yeah… I probably won't be at those for a while," Ruby admitted between bites of her sandwich.
"You're training, aren't you?" Weiss stated plainly.
"Yeah, I am," Ruby admitted. No point in lying, even if she didn't already figure it out.
"Did losing to that woman really affect you that much?" Weiss asked.
"It wasn't just losing to her..." Ruby confessed.
"Than what?" Weiss pressed.
Ruby weighed her next words carefully. "Part of my training was… very specialized. And that woman used something I should have been ready for..."sigh..."but I wasn't."
"Okay," Weiss accepted. "But why leave me behind? Surly you would benefit by having someone to train with?"
"Well..." Ruby winced. I can't tell her why I'm training alone… the whole point is to keep my magic secret.
"Oh… I see…" Weiss's eyes cast downward, "I would slow you down, right?"
"Uh… Yes," Ruby decided to go with it. "I'm not trying to be arrogant or rude or anything," Ruby quickly added, trying not to make things sound absolutely horrible.
"No, I understand. Honestly, I do," Weiss swallowed her own pride. "I actually forget sometimes that you have three years of training on the rest of the team. You won't get better with me hanging off of you, and that's just a fact."
"That still doesn't make it sound any better..." Ruby pointed out.
"Yeah, you're right… there's no way to make it sound 'good'. But we're okay, I promise," Weiss flashed a smile for added affect.
Ruby smiled back. "Thanks Weiss." And I'm sorry I can't come up with a lie that makes you feel better.
The fight finished, and Glynda dismissed the class. "Now I know you're all excited for the dance this weekend, but remember you all have your first missions on Monday. Ms. Rose?"
"Be right down!" Ruby nodded, dashing down the steps. They ended up waiting for the students to file out. "I probably could have walked down here..." the young leader noted.
"Ms. Belladonna seems especially sluggish," Glynda pointed out.
"Yeah," Ruby agreed tentatively, watching her team mate slogged out the door with her nose in her notebook. "Anyway..." she turned back to her professor.
"Ms. Rose," Goodwitch launched into her spiel, "I am fully aware of your unique situation. However, that doesn't mean I can give you unique treatment. Ultimately, you decided to come here, and we expect you to follow our rules."
"A little much for my first time being late ever..." Ruby argued.
"It is only your first time, yes, so you are not in any major trouble," Glynda assured. "But you must understand that regardless of how you view your time here, the other students look up to you."
"Wait, what? When? Why?" Ruby asked.
"You were invited to Beacon two years under the minimum age and are directly responsible for two major arrests in the span of six months," Glynda explained. "Everyone at Beacon knows who you are."
"Just like Penny said..." Ruby recalled under her breath.
"Who is Penny?" Glynda questioned.
"A visiting student from Atlas. I think we're friends?" Ruby explained.
"Really?" Glynda said, surprised. "I wasn't aware you were branching out beyond your team."
"Eh, she kinda sought me out," Ruby confessed. "I don't think she has a lot of friends, I figured, 'what's the harm'?"
"What's the harm, indeed," Glynda's eyes narrowed. A nobody Atlas student seeking out Ms. Rose? James wouldn't… would he?
Ruby noticed her professor's mood shift. "Ms. Goodwitch?"
Glynda cleared her throat, "You are excused Ms. Rose. You should catch up with your team."
"Right. Of course," Ruby turned to leave.
"Ms. Rose," Glynda called out suddenly. "I won't tell you how to make friends, however… be careful with Atlas. The General has good intentions, but good intentions does not always lead to good decisions."
"Um… sure… thank you, professor..." Ruby finally left the classroom, extremely confused. She was still working through her thoughts as she stepped outisde.
A familiar shiver passed through her spine as a group of Haven students passed her. Ruby's eyes passed over the courtyard, looking at nothing but taking in something else. Something that had been bubbling under the surface since the Atlas ships arrived.
Weiss and Yang cut through the courtyard on the way to their next class, with Blake trailing a few feet behind them. Sun caught all three of their attention when he called out to Blake. "Hey, you okay?" the monkey faunus followed.
"I'm fine," Blake answered curtly.
"So, anyway… I hear there's this dance this weekend," Sun moved on. "Sounds pretty lame, but you and me, I'm thinking not as lame, eh?"
Blake's bagged eyes turned up in disbelief. "What?"
"The dance, this weekend!" Sun repeated, "You wanna go or what?"
Blake scoffed and turned away. "I don't have time for a stupid dance," she answered vocally. "I thought you of all people would understand that."
Weiss watched Sun walk away dejected and waited until Blake was out of earshot before turning to Yang. "This is getting to be too much."
"You mean Blake?" Yang deduced.
"Of course I mean Blake!" Weiss nearly shouted. "She's running on empty. She needs to rest before she shuts down completely. We need to do something."
"Hm," Yang thought for a few moments. "I think I got an idea… but we should probably get Rubes on board," the blonde noticed her sister had entered the courtyard. The pair strode toward their leader with Yang calling her name the whole way. "Ruby! Rubes! Ruby?" Yang grabbed her sister's shoulder, finally catching her attention. "Hey, Ruby?"
"Huh?" Ruby spun her head back around. "Sorry, what's up?"
"Oh no, not you too," Weiss groaned.
"Not me too, what?" Ruby asked.
"We already have one teammate with their head on crooked," Weiss explained, "the last thing we need is our leader off kilter as well."
"I was just lost in thought for a moment," Ruby defended.
"Speaking of Blake," Yang cut in, "she's exactly what we wanted to talk about."
"She is kind of running herself ragged..." Ruby nodded. "All right, what's the plan?"
The team waited until after classes to spring the news on Blake. It was well after sundown when they finally sprung the news on the faunus herself.
"You want me to do what!?"
She did not react well.
"We want you to go to the dance," Ruby repeated.
"That's ridiculous," Blake scoffed.
Yang placed her hand over her partners. "We're worried about you, Blake. This investigation is starting to mess with your head."
"You don't sleep, you don't sleep, and to be honest, your grades are suffering," Weiss counted off.
"You think I care about grades!?" Blake shouted, "Lives are on the line!"
"We know, and we're still trying to figure out what they're up to," Yang assured.
"We know they have an operation in the southwest, and thanks to Schnee Company records, only Vale has had an increase is Dust robberies," Weiss expanded.
"But there are still unanswered questions!" Blake argued.
"You won't be able to find anything if you can't keep your eyes open," Ruby countered.
"All we're asking is you take it easy for one day," Yang insisted.
"It will be fun!" Weiss nodded, "Yang and I will make sure of it!"
"Yeah, we're planning the whole event!" Yang announced.
"Team CVFY was supposed to run the event, but their mission is lasting longer than expected," Weiss explained.
"So professor Goodwitch asked us to take over," Yang explained further. "And now we can make sure you have the perfect night!"
"And once it's all over, we'll return to our search rested and ready," Weiss smiled triuphantly.
"So what do you think?" Ruby asked.
Blake stood, looking over her team. "I think… this is a colossal waste of time," she finally answered. "I'll be in the library."
Yang frowned as she watched the hidden faunus leave the dorm. Sigh, "What are we supposed to do now?"
"I suppose we get to work on the dance," Weiss stood. "We only have until Sunday. Blake or no Blake, we took on a responsibility."
"I guess..." Yang shook her head dismissively. "You wanna come help, Rubes?"
"Actually," Ruby winced. "I think I'm going to get some more practice in before bed."
"Oh brothers..." Weiss crossed her arms. "Yang, I'm starting to think we need to have a repeat discussion, but with our leader this time."
"Hey, I'm not going overboard, I promise," Ruby assured. "I'm not even sore. I used to have way harder days," Ruby waved her hand dismissively. "Sparring with Master Terra can be brutal."
Weiss quickly fixed a curious stare onto Ruby. "I thought your master's name was 'Kairi'?"
"Um..." Ruby stalled. "I mean… do you only have one professor?"
Weiss didn't seem convinced. "I guess that makes sense, but then… Where is 'Terra'? Why didn't they take you in when Kairi left for her mission?"
"Um… well..." Ruby floundered.
Yang stepped in quickly to save her sister. "Terra had a student of his own to focus on, he couldn't take Ruby full time."
Weiss still didn't look convinced, but she nodded regardless. "Okay."
Ahem, "Anyway, we should get started on that dance!" Yang grabbed Weiss's hand and led her out of the dorm. "Stay safe Rubes!"
"I will," Ruby returned as she followed the pair out the door, splitting up in the hallway.
Weiss turned back to look over her leader. It was clearer, now more than ever, that Ruby was hiding something. But what, and why? I don't have time for this right now… but the moment I do, I am getting right to the bottom of things.