Ruby and Weiss were relaxing in RWBY dorm. Though to be fair, as Yang is all too willing to point out, their 'relaxing' is different than normal people's 'relaxing'. For Weiss, this meant light studying on material that was not actually a part of their curriculum. It seemed to be her life goal to absorb the most information a single person has ever absorbed. For Ruby, it meant doing whatever prep she could think of to improve her spellwork or, as in this instance, looking over her broken armor switch.
Ruby sensed a weight settle next to her and looked over to see Weiss had actually taken a break from her own work to examine the bracer alongside her. "Heya, partner."
"Heya," Weiss responded. Sudden realization flashed onto her face. "Did I really just say that…?" she groaned.
Ruby laughed, "don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Promise."
"Thank you," Weiss sighed, taking their 'secret' perhaps a little too seriously. "So, what is the deal with that thing anyway? You've never told us why it's so important to you, or why you can't fix it."
"Well, it's my armor," Ruby told her.
"I can see that it's armor…" Weiss pointed out.
Ruby laughed again.
Weiss frowned. "If you're done making me the butt of jokes that I don't even understand…"
"Sorry, sorry…" Ruby smiled. "And seriously, Weiss… if fixing this was as easy as heat and hammer at a forge, don't you think I would have done it by now?"
"Right. Magic," Weiss shook her head. Despite accepting that magic exists, it was sometimes still tough to wrap her head around these things. "So what is it made out of?"
"Same thing as the Keyblade," Ruby informed her.
"Light, or so you say…" Weiss scratched her head. "So what, is it some meteorite alloy? Comes from the sun or something?"
"No, Weiss. Literal light," Ruby insisted.
"But light is insubstantial!" Weiss argued. "You can't possibly gather enough to make it solid without serious-"
"Weiss!" Ruby interrupted. "Magic."
Weiss stuttered and groaned. "Of course…" The heiress took the bracer in her own hands. "I guess that explains how something so heavy looking can actually be so light. As in lightweight, obviously, not the other kind of- oh gods this is already getting confusing."
"I guess I've had a long time to get used to it," Ruby rationalized.
The phrasing made Weiss turn a confused eye to her team leader. "Is three years a 'long' time?"
"Maybe. Maybe not," Ruby shrugged. "But I've been groomed for Keyblade training since I was five."
"Five!?" Weiss was startled.
"Yeah, Master Kairi and Master Aqua went to some pretty great lengths to earn my dad's trust," Ruby confessed.
"I guess you could get used to anything if you've been dealing with it for literally as long as you can remember…" Weiss conceded.
The heiress still held Ruby's gauntlet in her hands, looking over the cracks with renewed interest. "So it's made of light… if it's anything like your weapon, it's simply too durable to be traditionally re-forged… Which begs the question… how is it even possible it broke in the first place?"
"If I knew the answer to that, I might be able to figure out how to fix it," Ruby lamented. "I mean… I think it's repairing itself? It's just… very slow about it."
"Hmm…" Weiss starting mulling things over with a new mindset. Mainly by forgetting what she thought she knew about weapon and armor design, because clearly none of it would apply here. Instead, she tried to focus on anything and everything Ruby had ever said regarding her magics. "It broke when your school was attacked, yes?"
"Yup," Ruby felt like she had answered that question a dozen times by now.
"Attacked by Heartless?" Weiss continued.
"Um… yes?" Ruby wondered where Weiss was taking this.
After a few more moments, Weiss smirked. "Occam's Razor."
"Pardon?" Ruby cocked her eyebrow.
"It means the simplest answer is usually correct," Weiss explained. "Heartless, Keyblades, magic… it all sounds very complicated on the surface. But when you dig deep… your fight is actually quite simple. It's just light versus darkness. Perhaps even this is simpler than it seems?"
Ruby leaned in with renewed vigor, her partner's words striking a chord. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying maybe the reason your armor of light is broken is because… darkness," Weiss stated.
Ruby held her chin in thought. Weiss's theory gave Ruby an epiphany. "It's an infection."
"Stalling your armor's 'light' from doing its work," Weiss nodded, accepting Ruby's take on her words. "I mean, it's not the craziest idea when dealing with magic weapons and metals made of photons."
"Even it still slowly repairing itself… It's because of my training!" Weiss's theory had Ruby on a roll, "I've been strengthening my own light. As a wear my gauntlet, some of my new light bleeds into it, slowly destroying the Darkness trapped inside… and if that's the case…"
Weiss smiled triumphantly as the armor switch was ripped from her hands. Ruby held it with one hand and slowly lowered the other hand over the faceplate. "If that's the case, then I should be able to…" The vambrace began to glow.
Before Ruby could actually test Weiss's theory, the door suddenly burst open.
"Dear Brothers!"
"By the Light!"
Yang had exploded into the room, nearly giving both girls within heart attacks. Blake slinked into the room behind the blonde brawler with a knowing smirk. "I told you to slow down, Yang. I think they might have thought you were a literal explosion for a second."
"Explosion, after all we've been through?" Weiss jumped to her feet and started counting off, "Torchwick, Neopolitan, the Ringleader? The Black Coat? You're lucky I didn't spear you with Myrtenaster as a simple precaution."
"Well, sor-rry," Yang spoke, not sounded very sorry. "I'm just super excited and you nerds are missing out!"
"On what, exactly?" Weiss questioned.
"They're delivering the arena!" Yang spoke up. "Hurry up, we gotta get to the courtyard if we wanna see it!" With that, Yang had vanished once again. Blake shrugged and walked after her partner.
"Oh! That is exciting, actually," Weiss smiled.
"They're delivering an arena?" Ruby asked. "What arena?"
Weiss stared at Ruby with disbelief. "Okay, seriously, where was your school? Never mind, I know you can't answer… Just come on," the heiress hurried out of the dorm.
Ruby shook her head, previous events temporarily forgotten as she strapped on the still broken bracer and followed her team.
Ruby didn't know what to expect after hearing the words 'delivering the arena'. The sight of a massive floating colosseum, grandiose enough to match even Olympus's arena of the gods, certainly didn't disappoint. It passed slowly across the sky, coming to a stop over the fields just beyond Beacon's courtyard. Yang steps back next to her sister, speaking quietly into her ear. "Amity Arena," the older sister explained, "the battleground for the Vytal Tournament."
As everyone stared in awe at the colosseum, Ruby quickly became distracted by seeing Penny in the crowd. It was hard to track the synthetic girl down the last few days, and Ruby was becoming ever more confident she was being avoided. She couldn't let this opportunity pass. She wove through the crowd, approaching her strange friend and tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey, Penny!"
Penny, predictably, jumped in place, her eyes going wild. "Oh, hello Ruby! I am sorry-"
"-but I must be leaving?" Ruby cut her off. "Where? What is going on with you?"
"What? Nothing is going on…" Penny insisted. "I'm simply busy."
"Doing what?" Ruby pressed, refusing to let this go.
"N-nothing too important," Penny lied quickly, "but I really must be going…" The android started her retreat.
Ruby followed quickly, remaining on Penny's heels even as the android sped her stride until she was nearly jogging. They quickly left the crowd watching the arena arrive behind, and turned a corner effectively separating them from the rest of the students. Penny shouted behind herself back at Ruby, "you don't need to follow me, really!"
"Just tell me what's wrong," Ruby insisted.
"Nothing is wrong!" Penny repeated.
At this point, Ruby knew that was a lie. "Then why are you running?"
"I am not running!" Penny replied while practically running.
Ruby was done chasing. She summoned Crescent Rose to her hand and pointed it Penny's way. "Stop!" The android froze in place, allowing Ruby to calmly walk around in front of her.
When Penny unfroze she nearly toppled into the Keyblade wielder, just barely managing to stop herself short. "How did you…"
"Penny," Ruby spoke sternly, but compassionately. "Please, just tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help?"
Penny slowly dropped into a crouch, hugging her legs. She was trapped. Ruby wouldn't leave, and if Ironwood viewed this… "I… I am so sorry…"
The Keyblader knelt down next to her friend. "Sorry for what?" Ruby asked, happy she was getting somewhere.
Penny struggled to find the words. "I don't want to betray you… but the general is making it difficult for me to do what I want…"
"Ironwood?" Ruby's eyes narrowed. "What does he want?"
"He wants to know… about you." Penny finally confessed. "I'm supposed to be spying on you. I was always supposed to be spying on you, since I met you at that café."
"What?" Ruby's eyes widened at that. There was no way Ozpin was okay with this… Was he doing this behind Ozpin's back?
"I wasn't supposed to genuinely befriend you…" Penny continued.
Ruby frowned, thinking over the situation. "You don't want to spy on me anymore?"
Penny shook her head.
"But you still do?" Ruby questioned.
Penny winced. After a moment of silence, she spoke up, "The general doesn't take no for an answer. I've trying to think of a way to stop, but the general has the authority to shut me down..."
"Shut you down!?" Ruby was startled, "you mean kill you?"
"The general would not see it that way. I am not a person to him... just another cold, unfeeling machine."
"So the general is using you to get to me..." Ruby concluded.
"I don't expect you to forgive me..." Penny confessed, "but I am sorry..."
"Hey," Ruby gripped Penny's shoulder in a comforting gesture, "you have nothing to apologize for. I can't fault you for following orders before, and I can't blame you being scared of him. I mean, you said yourself you've been trying to find a way out?"
"I am, but I think he is already beginning to suspect…" Penny revealed. "It doesn't help that I already got caught deleting a recording…"
"Recording?" Ruby asked.
"That's why I've been avoiding you…" Penny explained. "My eyes and ears record everything. Once he sees this… It's already too late for me."
"Why not just run away?" Ruby asked.
"You think he could not find me?" Penny scoffed.
Ruby was in thought for a long moment. Eventually she pulled out her scroll and sent out a message. After, she took Penny's arm and stood them both up. "Come on, I think I have an idea."
"You do!?" Penny was surprised. Was it really as easy as going to Ruby this whole time? "What is it?"
"We're going to Ozpin," Ruby told her. "If anyone can protect you from Ironwood, it's him."
In his office, Ozpin received a text from Ruby. 'You, Glynda, Qrow. NO IRONWOOD'.
Ozpin's eyes gradually darkened as he listened to Penny's story. He leant forward, resting his hands together in front of his mouth, thinking. "I must admit, I am surprised. I never would have guess James would take this route."
"I could have," Qrow cut in.
"Peace, Qrow," Glynda scolded, though her heart clearly wasn't in it.
"I promise it's all true Headmaster," Penny pleaded, approaching his desk with her palm out. "I can show you recordings!"
"That won't be necessary," Ozpin assured her with an outstretched hand to stop her. "I believe you, Ms. Polendina. But we must handle this carefully. Ironwood has very much not been acting himself lately. And it seems there may be a… dark reason why." Ozpin looked to Ruby as he added that last piece.
"Confronting him with this… it could send him over the edge," Ruby feared. Penny fell silent beside her as the conversation pulled away from what the android could understand.
"What exactly would that entail?" Glynda asked.
It suddenly occurred to Ruby that while she had told people of the Heartless's existence, she never really elaborated on the Heartless themselves. The young wielder realized they didn't yet know, "If he gave into his Darkness, it's very likely he would become a Heartless."
The room was deathly silent. "The Heartless… they're people?" Qrow finally broke.
Ruby sighed, mentally preparing herself for another lecture that may be breaking World Order. At this point, they deserve to know. Especially if Ironwood does fall. "There are two kinds of Heartless, Pureblood and Emblem. Pureblood Heartless are naturally born from the Darkness. If a heart falls to Darkness, or is captured by another Heartless, the heart itself becomes an Emblem Heartless."
"Is there any way to restore a fallen heart?" Ozpin asked.
"One… Magic or the Keyblade can release the captive heart. If it can find it's way back to it's body, the original person can be restored," Ruby explained. "I'm not sure if your Maiden Magic counts."
Qrow shifted forward, "and if someone like me were to destroy an Emblem Heartless?"
"You technically can't destroy Heartless," Ruby informed them. "Only displace them. They'd pop up again somewhere else sometime later."
"We're speaking of the heart independently," Glynda pointed out, "what of the body?"
"That's actually kind of a long conversation I'd rather not have unless I had too. I've already told you guys so much…" Ruby lamented. Although, Ruby realized, I wouldn't be surprised if Ironwood had the will to form a Nobody…
"You said Pureblood Heartless are 'natural'. Do you know where they come from?" Ozpin asked next.
Ruby frowned. "I can't say. But as long as there is Darkness within a single heart, the Heartless will always be."
"And every heart has both dark and light," Ozpin lamented. "You don't need ancient training to observe such a simple truth."
Glynda took it upon herself to steer the conversation back on topic. "Now that we have pushed Ruby to her limitations and possibly beyond yet again… what shall we do about James?"
"Even if we were to put Penny's wish for freedom aside, we must confront him," Ozpin rationalized. "We decided as a group to trust Ruby. His spying on her behind our backs is a betrayal of our brotherhood. Hopefully, we can do so tactfully and keep him from falling to Darkness. If he does fall…"
"Then leave him to me," Ruby insisted. "This threat only exists because of the rules I've broken. It's on me to clean up my mess."
Woo! Managed to get this chapter out a little faster than I've been managing lately! This calls for a sexy party...
If I weren't too introverted to have a party. Or too ugly to have a sexy one...
Anywho... I'm going to start transitioning to a more KH-y plot in the next couple of chapters. I stated near the start of this story that it will either be fairly long or have a sequel, and I've finally decided to just have it be fairly long. I can only speculate at this stage, but I'd say were about half-way through. I know some of you have been very patient yet quite vocal regarding Ruby's fellow Keyblade students. Not to tease you too much, but it shall pay off soon! I did start this story with some idea of how it would end, I assure you! And I hope you all continue to enjoy as the chapters unfold.
And hey, if these updates are a little too sporadic for you and you crave more KH/RWBY goodness, check out the excellent RWBY: Aqua's Mission by TPoynt! While I've credited Fears and Lies Melt Away as inspiration in the past, TPoynt's story was also instrumental in my decision to write Kingdom Hearts: Remnant, and to be honest, out of the two, I enjoy Aqua's Mission more.
*movie announcer voice* After saving Terra-Nort from the realm of Darkness, the last thing Aqua expected was to wake up in a new world! Trapped on Remnant, she finds a home with Ruby's family and even trains the young Rose in the ways of the Keyblade. Will she ever find her way back? What is the young Ruby's destiny? And why is that scruffy drunk so handsome? Read RWBY: Aqua's Mission to find out!