Chapter-55

Ruby

A week later, Team RWBY found itself standing in Vale's railway station along with a lot of Beacon students, all waiting for the Trans- Sanus express.

Ruby was wearing a dark red half-sleeved shirt with her emblem in black on it under her cloak along with a short bright red skirt and red leggings and black boots. Ruby had brown fingerless gloves covering her hands and red goggles on her head. Her Rose Emblem was pinned onto her cloak, along with Shirou's cross hanging on her neck. Ruby was carrying her suitcase behind her. Ruby's hair had also grown slightly longer and choppier, with two bangs sticking out of her head.

Beside her, Blake stood, now having forgone her bow and openly showing her faunus ears, wearing a white sleeveless jacket over a black shirt, with black trousers that melt into purple at the bottom along with black and purple boots.

To Blake's right, Weiss stood in a white half-sleeved skirt, along with a white cloak draped around her shoulders emblazoned with the Schnee emblem in black with white high-heeled boots at her feet.

Finally, Yang stood in a brown jacket over an orange tank top having her emblem in black in the center along with khaki shorts and orange boots, with sunglasses nestled on her head and her orange scarf around her neck.

"Alright, about half an hour before we ghetto to Vacuo, ladies." Yang spoke.

"Yeah, Vacuo." Weiss spoke frowning as Blake looked at her.

"Look Weiss, just try to tune out the xenophobic comments and you'll be fine." She tried to assure, but Weiss was clearly still worried about the reception she was going to get.

Ruby walked up and wrapped her arm around Weiss' waist.

"Don't worry, bestie. It'll be alright."

"Speaking of which, Blake, have you gone to Vacuo before?"

Blake nodded. "Vacuo is the most friendly nation to Faunuses. So, there is a lot of white fang supporters over there. I used to go there with Adam just to keep a low profile for the time being."

"So, you're saying there might be some problems with the White Fang as well?"

"Like I said, the Vacuo is where Anti-Schnee sentiments are the highest because of the SDC's exploitative policies in the dust mines and their usual discrimination against the faunus. So, Weiss is going to have a rough time, even without the criminals going after her for her status."

"Yeesh, I know Vacuo's a pretty tricky place, but this is just…"

Weiss sighed. "What can you expect? Vacuo's never been the same since the Asturias dynasty was ousted by Atlas. Widespread poverty, xenophobia, extreme criminality, royalist terrorists…the list goes on."

Ruby shivered. "Not to mention the added danger of the grimm. Vacuo's desert has no natural barriers like Vale to protect against the more dangerous species of grimm. Many of them can really mess with your mind. Thane's diary even records grimm that have been mutated by the area near the Meteor, so…Vacuo's really has it all."

"Well, considering we're dealing with all this AND Salem…this is going to be a fun year." Yang spoke dryly before Ruby looked around at the platform, spotting a particular spot where there was a statue of Beacon students wielding weapons.

Underneath the statue was an epitaph reading:

In Honour of the fallen at the Fall of Beacon and the Battle of Vale.

Ruby felt a sad frown creep onto her face.

The memorial reminded her of all the teams disbanded because of all the members dying to the grimm, or simply survivors being too psychologically scarred to continue as huntsmen.

But Ruby was happy to know one of those team weren't JNPR, which had come out relatively unscathed out of the ordeal like them.

Thinking of them, Ruby remembered her pulse. The pulse that had practically wiped out most of the grimm army attacking Vale, and allowed their side to claim Victory.

If I had used that sooner, less people would have lost their lives. Ruby thought. That was why it was important she got the hang of her powers quickly.

The train soon arrived, and Team RWBY got in immediately, finding their compartment and settling there. It was a bunk bed compartment just like their dorm, and Team RWBY settled down in their positions as if they were coming to their dorm back again.

After some time, they watched as the train rolled out of the station and the concrete buildings were soon replaced by trees.

"Alright, how long till we reach Vacuo?" Yang asked, leaning back.

"5 hours." Blake replied, immediately pulling out one of her romance books and settling down to reading them.

"Well, I know what I'm going to do then." Yang spoke, pulling out her scroll and some ear buds, before she started watching something.

Ruby looked down to see Weiss also reading a bunch of sheets.

"What's that?" Ruby asked.

"Sigurd left me a sheet of the runic alphabet." Weiss spoke. "He said that I would first need to memorize every rune and their meaning before he could start teaching me to use them."

Ruby nodded slowly before she reached into her bag and pulled out Thane's diary.

Ruby lay against the wall and began reading the diary, calmly reading through the entries.

With this time passed as the girls kept reading before Ruby heard a knock on their door, and noticed a familiar face.

"Hey, Jaune." Ruby spoke with a grin as Jaune Arc entered the compartment. His hair was still long and shaggy like it was when she first met him, but she could see Jaune's armor now had more plating with yellow trimmings. But below that, Jaune was pretty much wearing the same clothes.

Jaune grinned. "Can I come in?" He asked as Weiss looked up.

"Ah, good morning to you, Jaune." Weiss spoke as Jaune smiled.

"Hey there, Weiss." He spoke as Ruby got down from her bed and walked up to Jaune.

"Good to see you again." She spoke shaking Jaune's hand.

"Same here, Ruby. And I can see you changed your look." Jaune spoke as Ruby giggled.

"Yeah, I thought maybe a different look for Vacuo. How do I look?" Ruby asked.

"Pretty good. But, those goggles really make you look dorky."

"Good to see someone shares my opinion." Weiss spoke as Yang looked up from her scroll to look at Jaune.

"Well, if it isn't Lady killer." Yang spoke with a grin as she looked over his outfit.

"So, you decided to upgrade your armor?"

Jaune nodded, scratching his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, I went back home to Sauvage after the battle…and dad really chewed me out."

Ruby shook her head. "But it wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Thankfully, no. Dad was pretty mad, but he didn't pull me out of the program. But, he did train me really harshly and had my armor and weapons upgraded to help me with combat."

"Well, at least he's let you come back." Ruby spoke as Jaune nodded.

"Yeah, definitely."

The two were silent before Jaune spoke up

"Hey, have you seen the huntsmen?"

Ruby tilted her head. "The huntsmen?"

"You know, the ones stationed on top of the train."

Ruby's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah, because of more grimm flooding into Vale's lands, huntsmen have been stationed to protect the train against grimm attacks."

Thinking of that, Ruby suddenly frowned. "You know…after what we found out…"

"...About Atlas' role in blowing up Mount Glenn? Honestly, I couldn't really believe it. I mean, after all the help they put out for us, why would Atlas even cause the attack in the first place?"

"Please don't talk about that." Weiss spoke exasperatedly, massaging her forehead. "I still refuse to believe Atlas was the cause for the Battle of Vale."

Ruby crossed her arms as a somber air descended upon the atmosphere.

"You know, I never really asked this: have you talked to the others?"

Jaune's eyes turned downcast. "Well…"

"It's mixed." Another voice came in as Ruby noticed Cardin Winchester of all people standing at the doorway, wearing a simple brown t-shirt with grey trousers.

Ruby turned silent. She hadn't really talked to Cardin after the battle, but after his constant bullying back in Beacon, Ruby couldn't help but feel guarded, along with Yang who was looking between Blake and Cardin.

Cardin simply looked silently, his eyes staring blankly at Blake's ears. The girl simply stared back at Cardin.

Jaune immediately scowled. "Cardin, what are you doing here?"

Cardin was silent.

Ruby stepped forward. "What's wrong? You said 'It's mixed?" She asked as Cardin looked up.

"...You know what the battle did to us." He spoke as Ruby looked down.

Right. All those who died… Ruby thought. Some of the teams had lost team members either to the grimm or simply leaving Beacon.

"Yeah, with the grimm we faced…we barely managed to scrape by ourselves." Ruby spoke, remembering her near-death encounters with the Bloodhound and the Weaver.

"What about your team?" Blake asked.

Cardin sighed softly. "Russell almost quit."

Ruby was silent.

"He saw those weird red grimm…what are they called again?"

"Bloodhounds."

"Yeah, bloodhounds. And those weird robed things…"

"Weavers."

Cardin gulped. "W-We encountered one. Russell would have died if Oobleck hadn't intervened…"

"After that…I-I didn't know what to do. Russell was just…" Cardin shook his head as Ruby fell silent.

"Cardin." She spoke. "Are you…scared?"

"..."

"Cardin?"

"...I-I just had a talk with Port before leaving. Nothing else." He spoke as he turned to leave.

Cardin felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Ruby, staring at him with a serious look.

"Take me to him."

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"Since when did you start caring about my team, Rose?" Cardin asked.

"...Let's just go." Ruby spoke as Cardin continued staring.

"Come on then." He spoke as Ruby looked at her team.

"Don't worry, I'll be back." She spoke as Yang looked between her and Cardin.

"Uh, Ruby…"

"Yang, please don't say what you're thinking. That's being insensitive." Ruby spoke softly as Yang sighed.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm pretty sure you can take care of yourself." She spoke as Ruby nodded before walking out with Cardin.

The both of them silently walked through the train as Ruby looked at the compartments. Inside, Ruby could see other students either sulking around silently or softly joking around with each other.

"Ruby, seriously, what's gotten into you?" Cardin asked.

"..."

"I know how much you don't like my team. I don't need to remind you of the times you've clashed with us because of Arc or yourself. Your team's always been Ozpin's golden goose while my team is just barely getting by with our grades…so what's all this concern? Are you seriously telling me this is because of the battle?"

Ruby took a deep breath.

"I…made a promise to someone special to me, Cardin. I just want to keep it." She spoke as they reached CRDL's compartment.

Inside, Ruby could see Sky and Dove sitting silently, tapping on their scroll, but Russell…

Russell Thrush was just sitting there, doing nothing but staring at the ground, the once snarky boy now deathly silent.

Sky and Dove looked up to see Ruby, and looked at Cardin in confusion.

"Get up, you two. We're going to talk to some of the seniors." Cardin spoke as Sky looked once at Russell.

"What about Russ?"

Cardin looked at Russell. "Russ."

Russell looked up. "What?" He grumbled.

"Someone wants to talk to you." Cardin spoke as he glared at Sky and Dove, who immediately got up and walked with Cardin, leaving Ruby and Russell alone.

Ruby sat down opposite of Russell, silently waiting for him to speak up. Russell continued looking down at the floor, before he finally raised his head to stare at Ruby.

"...Why are you here?" He asked.

"I wanted to talk." Ruby replied, not backing down.

Russell scowled. "Did Cardin tell you about this, and you're suddenly all sympathetic about me? You, Ozpin's golden child?"

Ruby stayed silent.

Russell put a hand to the side of his head.

"...Just go."

Ruby shook his head. "I'm not leaving that easily."

"Oh gods damn it, why are you still here? Just go smiling and laughing like the rest of them. You're the Vytal champion. You're among the best of our year. Why're you trying to all of a sudden kiss up to me, who's been going along with Cardin in picking on you and Jaune?"

Ruby was silent.

"Russell…have you ever faced something like this…"

Russell glared at her. "Of course not!" He snapped as Ruby raised her hands.

Russell sighed.

"You're not going to let me go, aren't you?"

Ruby shook her head. "Remember you called me a pig-headed buffoon?"

Russell winced. "You're stubborn."

"I am."

Russell dragged his hand across his face, relenting in.

"...I'm not telling you my life story, but in summary - I was just a city kid who had never seen a grimm in his life before. That battle…" Russell shook his head.

"Ruby, just go. You're not a therapist."

"No, but I did go through what you did."

Russell clenched his jaw.

"...Don't you dare…"

"I'm not. I'm not going to try and spell out my life story too. I don't think I would be comfortable with that." Ruby spoke.

I'm not like Penny. Ruby thought.

"But I'll also summarize it quickly - I'm a girl who's grown up on a grimm infested island that's lost friends and family to the grimm. And ever since then, I've considered the grimm to be the greatest reason why this world is cruel and always will be."

"I'm not going to tell you what you should do. I don't think I'm in any place to say that. Now Russell…you and your team has been jerks to me since day 1, always picking on me because of the way I got into Beacon, and I've felt a dislike for you as well. And you told me how much you think I don't care because I'm better than you in your opinion."

Russell frowned.

"But no matter how far I go, I won't ever forget what I've seen that night, and the nights before that during my childhood. No matter how much I dislike someone, I won't ever wish the grimm upon them. No matter what you've done, you're still my batchmate. I'll be concerned, no matter our past."

"So Russell, I just wanted to check on you. And I will continue to do so. It depends on you how you want to go forward from here."

Russell was silent as Ruby got up and walked out.

"I swear on your and mom's grave."

Ruby did not choose to think upon her promise as she returned to her compartment.


Hours later, the landscape had already changed into an arid one, as Ruby could see the dunes of Vacuo's desert in the distance.

"We're here!" Yang exclaimed as Vacuo came into view.

The city was definitely smaller than Vale, nestled beside an oasis and surrounded by sandstone walls with towers, which again did not seem as imposing as Vale's much larger Great Wall. Beyond the walls, there were one-storyed or two-storeyed houses in the outer and middle parts of the city, while in the interior, the buildings started getting bigger and more ornate. Ruby could also spot a bunch of factories that definitely stuck out like a sore thumb, most likely the dust factories owned by the SDC. Ruby could spot an ornate building with domes and minarets that Weiss pointed out was the former royal palace of Vacuo, and a smaller one that was the seat of government.

But the most prominent structure was Shade academy, towering over the rest of Vacuo, which was shaped like a stepped pyramid that had four stairs coming from its sides to the top. Each terrace had a garden on it, along with a orange shaped structure on the top. Unlike Beacon, which was a sprawling fortress, Shade was more like a large pyramid.

"So, that's going to be our academy for this year." Blake spoke as Ruby looked out as well.

I wonder if mom ever had to do this. Ruby thought with a smile.

The train stopped at Vacuo's railway station as Beacon students poured out. Ruby immediately noticed some huntsmen who were sitting on top of the train, get down and face the students.

"ALL THOSE WHO WILL BE STAYING AT SHADE FOLLOW THE GROUP MOVING TO THE BUS STOPS!" One of the huntsmen spoke as Ruby noticed JNPR and CRDL heading to the bus stops. Ruby and Russell shared a look, with Ruby nodding to Russell,

I guess they'll be staying at Shade, then.

"THOSE WHO WILL BE STAYING WITH HOSTS, PLEASE STAY ON THE PLATFORM AND LOOK FOR YOUR HOST!" Another spoke.

Immediately, Ruby was hit by hot, dry air as she looked around Vacuo's station, which had a lot more windows than Vale's and was much more spacious. The platform was filled with porters and local people standing with signs on their hands that had the names of the Beacon teams.

"So, what's our host's name?" Ruby asked.

"Brun." Weiss replied, her eyes sweeping across the crowd before she noticed people staring at her with frowns. =

Weiss averted her gaze as Blake noticed someone going through the crowd. A brown-skinned woman with short brown hair in beige robes moved through, waving a sign in the air saying 'Team RWBY'.

"There she is." Blake spoke as Ruby immediately walked upto the woman with a smile.

"Hi!" She spoke as the woman looked at her with a hint of nervousness.

"Um…yes?"

She doesn't recognize me? Ruby thought as the two of them stared at each other in awkward silence.

"Oh, why did we let Ruby of all people go and introduce herself." Ruby heard Weiss' voice speak in annoyance and Yang came up beside Ruby.

"Team RWBY." She spoke as the woman's eyes widened.

"O-Oh!" She spoke in realization as she stared at Ruby.

"I-I'm so s-sorry, M-Ms. Rose…I didn't r-recognize you."

Ruby rubbed her head. "It's alright. I'm not mad, hehe." She spoke as Brun licked her lips.

"U-Um…"

"Looks like Ruby's met someone even more social awkward than her." Blake spoke.

Grandma always said to smile to comfort. Ruby thought, putting a bright smile.

"Again, Hello, I'm Ruby Rose. I can see you're our host. Brun, right?" She asked as Brun nodded.

"Y-Yes, I'm Brun. N-Nice to meet you." Brun spoke shaking Ruby's hand.

"This is Blake Belladonna." Ruby spoke as Brun shook Blake's hand.

"My big sis Yang Xiao-Long." Ruby spoke as Yang did the same.

"And…Weiss Schnee." Ruby spoke, trying to put down her concern as Brun was a lot more hesitant to shake Weiss' hand.

Yang elbowed Weiss.

"She's not used to this. You're scaring her." Yang spoke as Weiss put up a brittle smile.

"Pleased to meet you." She spoke offering her hand as Brun shook it after a bit of silence.

"W-Well, let's go talk in the car!" Brun spoke as she turned around.

"Zar!" She called out as a 15-year-old boy in a dirty blue shirt and brown shorts came in, trailing with a trolley.

"Yes, Ammi." Zar spoke with a smile.

"This is Zar. He's a street boy who lives near my house. He helps me out with a lot of tasks." Brun spoke with a smile as Zar stared at Ruby.

"H-Hello, Zar. Something wrong?" Ruby asked.

Why's he staring at me? D-Do I look scary? She thought.

"...so white…" Zar muttered as Brun frowned.

"Zar! That's not what you're supposed to say to the guests!" She scolded as Zar winced.

"So sorry, madam." He spoke bowing. "I didn't mean to stare."

"Forgive him, h-he's not really used to seeing foreigners." Brun spoke.

"I have spoken with Mr. Contractor!" He protested as Ruby smiled.

"It's alright." She spoke as Yang giggled.

"Wow, Rubes. The fact that he called you 'white' instead of Weiss is just…" Yang spoke before snorting as Ruby shot her an angry glare.

"Please, come." Brun spoke as Zar loaded RWBY's suitcases onto the trolley.

"Um, is it fine for him to do this?" Blake asked.

Brun sighed. "Zar always tries to help me out, even if I ask him not to." She spoke.

"Anything for you, Ammi!" Zar spoke as he rolled away the trolley, with RWBY following Brun out of the station.

Ruby came outside to see a three-way street with cars moving out in a haphazard manner along with people pulling rickshaws. By the street, Ruby noticed the road jammed with cars and buses, into which Beacon students flooded in. Huntsmen climbed onto the top of the buses before the drove off in the direction of Shade Academy, which loomed in the distance.

They walked up to a large black car with a man with bald hair and a brown beard standing in front of it. The man had a necklace and was wearing a green vest along with blue trousers.

"Look at his muscles…" Ruby heard Yang speak as shook her head.

Just Yang being Yang. Ruby thought as the man put a hand to his chest.

"You have picked them up, Ms. Brun?"

Brun nodded. "Here they are. T-Team RWBY, meet Mr. Beech. He's a neighbour of mine, and the owner of this car."

"Pleased to meet you." Mr. Beech spoke calmly before walking upto Ruby.

He's big. Ruby thought with a hint of trepidation as Mr. Beech reached into his pocket and pulled out a notepad.

Mr. Beech then suddenly smiled sheepishly. "Autograph?"

Ruby blinked, taking a few seconds to process the sight.

"Mr. Beech is a big fan of the Vytal Tournament. He came here because he wanted to meet you, Ms. Rose." She spoke.

Blake grinned. "Look who's getting famous." She teased as Ruby blushed in embarrassment.

"O-Oh! I don't have a pen." Ruby spoke as Blake grinned from beside her, while Beech pulled out one and gave it to her.

Ruby just wrote her name as Mr. Beech took it back, before his sheepish smile was replaced by his previous calm expression.

"Thank you."

"You must be hungry, so I arranged some local snacks." Brun spoke as Beech opened the trunk and came out with a bag.

"Oh, Vacuan chicken rolls?" Blake asked as Beech nodded. "Just a welcoming gift, please enjoy." He spoke handing each girl a roll while Zar loaded their suitcases in.

The six then got into Mr. Beech's car as Ruby looked at Zar.

"Um, what about Zar?"

"He likes to take the bus back to our street." Beech replied as Zar waved bye to them before they drove off.

"By the way, I'm sorry for the discourtesy, Ms. Schnee." Beech spoke as Weiss tilted her head.

"I am a worker at one of your company's factories." He spoke as Weiss' eyes widened.

"Oh, um…It's all fine, right?" She asked nervously.

"Well, we could use better wages. We've been working overtime to keep supplying dust after the fiasco in Vale…that's my opinion, of course." He spoke.

"I-I see. I'll speak to father." Weiss spoke as Blake shook her head.

"So, where is your house, Ms. Brun?" Ruby asked as Brun looked back.

"About a 15 minutes drive from here. It's in the outer parts of the city near the SDC factories. But before that, I actually wanted to show you around Vacuo." Brun replied as she looked at Beech.

"There's not much, really. There's Shade Academy, there's the Kurush bazaar owned by the MTC…"

"MTC?" Yang asked.

"Mistral Trading Company." Weiss replied. "They're not that present in Vale, but they're as dominant in the trading sector as the SDC is in the dust sector."

"Anyways, after that is just the Asturias palace and that's it. We've got more history outside this kingdom than inside it." Beech spoke before looking at Ruby.

"But do you want to? You must be a bit exhausted from the journey."

Ruby looked at Weiss. "When do our classes begin?"

"According to Ozpin, 4 days."

"In that case I suggest you rest up at Brun's home. We can always do sightseeing tomorrow."

"Speaking of which, how do you know Ms. Brun?" Yang asked.

"She's a sweet angel. In the heat of the sun, she's always there with her stall that serves life-serving refreshments for us workers on our lunch break." Beech spoke with a soft smile. "Most of us workers at the factories really owe her for not letting us go thirsty."

"Oh please, Mr. Beech, no need for that."

Blake nodded. "Sounds like a happy community."

"It's common saying in Vacuo that our neighbourhoods are more like a giant family living in a bunch of houses." Mr. Brun spoke.

"We Vacuans stick together…although the same is difficult to be said for foreigners."

Weiss grimaced. "About that…I haven't really seen the…"

"Xenophobia? That's because you've only really met me, Brun and Zar so far. Not going to lie, I had that too…until Brun talked me out of it."

He slapped a hand on Brun's shoulder. "Brun here went to Atlas for some time. She's pretty cool with foreigner compared to the average Vacuan, and Zar's just a sweet boy who listens to everything Brun says."

"B-But our neighbours might not be too excited to see you." Brun spoke. "So I hope you don't mind it."

RBY looked at Weiss, who sat silently. "Well, Weiss is a little nervous, but we'll make sure it doesn't get too problematic." Ruby spoke.

Their car broke off the wider streets and into narrower roads, moving past small houses that were painted in simple colours which looked less neat than the houses in Vale's residential areas.

On the sidewalk, Ruby could spot men and women moving about, with boys running excitedly down the street with street dogs while older people were on cycles moving through the roads.

Soon, they reached a yellow two-storeyed house that looked to be of decent size. At the door, there was a sign reading 'Brun Jackfruit'.

Weiss crinkled her nose as the girls got out of the car, while Mr. Beech and Yang loaded out the suitcases.

Ruby, at that moment, notice a few people scowling in her direction but saying nothing. She even noticed an old man looking at them from a balcony shaking his head in disappointment and going back into his house.

"Come on Weiss, don't get the 'rich kid' attitude already." Yang spoke.

"Well, excuse me if I'm not used to this." Weiss bit back.

"Yang, her name is Weiss Schnee. I think you shouldn't get too surprised about it." Blake spoke as Weiss glared at her.

"Speaking of which, this doesn't look too bad." Ruby spoke.

"It isn't. Menagerie's conditions are much worse." Blake replied as they waved to Mr. Beech, who waved back before driving off.

Brun took them inside to a relatively small space with a sofa and a television, beside of which was a dining table. Ruby spotted a room leading to the kitchen and another to the washroom.

"Right, so here is the sofa and the dining table." Brun spoke. "There's the kitchen and the bathroom."

"Upstairs are your rooms. It won't be a problem sharing, right?"

Weiss shook her head. "No. We share one single room back in Beacon. This is in fact better."

"Great." Brun spoke as she led them upstairs to a hallway with two doors to a room and another one to another washroom. Behind them was the balcony.

The bedrooms had two beds and a cupboard, nothing more. While Ruby didn't mind that, she didn't know about Weiss, who simply stared at the extremely simple conditions.

"Two people per room." She explained softly.

"I call dibs on Weiss!" Ruby suddenly exclaimed.

"Dibs? What do you…"

"Why, you're my roommate, obviously." Ruby replied, smirking as Weiss sighed.

"Well, sleeping with you is much safer than sleeping below you. But I think I should ask your sister whether she wants to do that." Weiss spoke as Yang shook her head.

"Rubes is still a baby, and I've been babysitting her for years. So, it's your turn, Weiss cream. I'll be enjoying my retirement with Blakey." She spoke as Ruby glared at her.

"I'm not a baby! I've killed lots of grimm, you know?!"

"Nah, you still are a baby, Rubes. No question about that." Yang spoke as Ruby growled.

"Blake opened the door to the washroom. "Hey Brun, I don't see any spot for bathing."

Brun looked back at her. "Oh, that's in the courtyard."

RWBY's eyes widened.

"Wait, the courtyard?" Ruby asked as she suddenly felt nervous.

Brun shook her head. "Don't worry, it's walled off, and I had Mr. Beech make an asbestos exterior to cover your bathing, all with soap inside. Your privacy is fine."

"O-Ok." Ruby spoke. "We could use a bath, though."

Brun nodded. "In that case, I'll go prepare the water."

"No showers?" Weiss asked.

"I'm sorry, but we don't use showers in Vacuo. They waste a lot of precious water. We just use the water bucket and the mug. A-Again, please forgive me if that's an issue…"

"Is it?" Ruby asked.

"We use bucket and mug back in Menagerie too." Blake spoke.

"Well, we also did the same while our shower was getting changed." Yang spoke.

Weiss was silent. "I-I suppose It'll have to do…" She spoke hesitantly.

Ruby shook her head.

"Ok, Please settle down. I'll call you when the water's ready." Brun spoke as Ruby and Weiss went in one room while Blake and Yang went in another.

"Left one's mine." Ruby spoke as she put her suitcase on the bed and began taking out her clothes, while Weiss did the same.

"So, one year of this, huh?" Ruby asked with a grin.

"...Can we apply for a shift to Shade."

"Well, first of all, that would be rude. Second of all, you think any of the teams at Shade will give up their spot?"

"Well, fair point." Weiss spoke as Ruby walked up to the window to notice another window from the house nearby. Ruby noticed a woman staring at her with a frown.

Ruby smiled and waved, but the woman simply shut her window.

Ruby slumped before she shut her window as well before noticing something.

"Uh, Weiss?" She spoke as Weiss looked back.

"Didn't we change clothes…" Ruby spoke before her and Weiss' eyes widened in realization.

"Me first!" Ruby screamed as she picked up her clothes and dashed out of the door. Weiss did the same and ran after her.

As they came out, Ruby noticed Blake and Yang had the same idea as the both of them rushed to the washroom with their clothes as well.

I'm getting in first! Ruby thought as she went for the door before others. Weiss also reached at the same time as she and Ruby tried to push each other out of the way. Ruby won the battle as sent Weiss stumbling back and went into the door, only for Yang's hand to grab her cloak by its hood and pull Ruby back out of the door.

"Hey!" Ruby spoke as Yang immediately rushed in, pushed Blake back, and shut the door.

Ruby sighed. She could already remember the battles in the morning as her entire team competed for who would get into the washroom and change first. After that, everyone else competed to get in whenever the first person was about to finish.

Just like her, Blake and Weiss pushed against each other as soon as Yang announced she was done. Ruby managed to slip through and shut the door before changing her clothes. After that, Blake came in with Weiss in last.

"Some things never change." Ruby muttered as a scowling Weiss came out.

"Unfortunately, they haven't." She spoke before they noticed Brun come up.

"Um…things are fine?"

RWBY nodded.

"Ok, the water's ready." She spoke as Ruby immediately fired up her semblance, went back to her room, grabbed her towel, and zoomed past her teammates.

"Hey, semblances are cheating, Rubes!" Ruby heard Yang's voice, along with Brun's shriek of surprise, but she didn't care as she immediately went towards the courtyard to take a bath.

Once the girls were done taking a bath, they settled back into their rooms and rested for the afternoon and evening. Ruby spent that time reading Thane's diary. After that, they came down to watch some TV, even bringing their weapons along because of a weird habit.

Once it was nighttime, RWBY and Brun sat at the dining table having dinner.

"I talked to Mr. Beech. Tomorrow, he'll be taking you all to Kurush bazar." Brun spoke. "But his shift's at 2:00 PM, so he can only show you around till 12:00 before he has to return."

"Got it." Ruby spoke.

"By the way, I hope the food is fine?" Brun asked as Ruby looked at her meal, a flatbread along with some potatoes and onions.

"It's very simple." Weiss asked.

Brun looked down. "Oh…w-well, meat is very expensive, and I j-just treated some guests some days before."

"Aw, you could have saved some." Yang spoke as Brun sighed.

"Well, Mr. Tez really likes meat, and I couldn't really refuse him."

"Mr. Tez?" Blake asked.

"He's a foreigner. A very big man here in Vacuo."

"He's rich?" Weiss asked.

Brun bit her lips. "Well…yes, but his income is…not really an honest one."

Ruby frowned. "Is he…a criminal?"

"Well, he sells weapons to some of Vacuo's biggest crime lords. I've heard stories about his dealings with the darkest depths of Vacuo's underworld…but he's really nice to me when he comes by."

Ruby felt confused by that. At the mention of 'criminal', Roman Torchwick came to her mind. But the man wasn't really a pleasant personality from when she first saw him.

But this 'Mr. Tez' seems to be nice according to Brun.

"Mr. Tez…I think I've heard of him." Weiss spoke.

"You have?" Blake asked.

"Winter says that the crime lords of Vacuo do get their weapons from a person, even if she didn't mention their name. Winter even says there is a possibility this 'Mr. Tez' is supplying weapons to royalist terrorists working under The Crown and the White Fang here in Vacuo."

Brun frowned at the mention of The Crown. "The Crown…right."

"What's the Crown?" Ruby asked.

"Vacuo's biggest headache right now." Weiss explained.

"As I said, the Asturias dynasty was supposedly overthrown by a 'coup' engineered by Atlas in Vacuo, but after that, there have been many people who have wanted to restore the lineage and bring back the Monarchy in Vacuo. They are known as Royalists. There are several groups, but none are as extreme as The Crown. Some say that the Crown's leaders claim to be of the Asturias bloodline."

That's bad. Ruby thought as she looked at her teammates to know they were having the same thought as her.

Was The Crown connected with Salem?

"Ammi, Ammi!" The girls heard Zar's voice as Brun looked over.

"Zar! What is it?"

"It's Mr. Contractor! He's coming here!" Zar spoke in excitement.

"Hey there, Brun! Having dinner?" A man's voice spoke as Brun's eyes widened.

"Mr. Tez?" She spoke in surprise as Ruby almost choked on her water.

He's here?! The man who Ms. Brun says is the arms supplier to criminals terrorists is here?! Ruby thought as her teammates stared at the door in shock.

Ruby immediately looked down at Crescent Rose lying by her chair and grabbed it, her teammates also bringing up their weapons as Brun looked at them.

"Please, please. I know it doesn't look good, but Mr. Tez isn't going to do anything harmful." She spoke as Ruby looked at her with doubt.

"Hey, Brun! Could you open the door?" Tez's voice came as Brun immediately went up and opened it.

At the door stood a tall pale-skinned man with long blonde hair flowing down to his shoulders. The man wore a black leather jacket over a white collared shirt unbuttoned at the bottom along with jeans and shoes. At his hips, were two weapons that looked like an axe and a pistol combined together holstered on them. The man wore orange tinted glasses.

"Mr. Tez! I-I wasn't expecting you!" Brun spoke nervously as Tez laughed.

"Of course you weren't! This is a surprise visit!" He spoke spreading his arms as his eyes looked over at Ruby and she immediately felt something was wrong about this man.

"W-Well, what are you doing at my house, Mr. Tez?" Brun asked as Tez shrugged.

"Heard you became a host to some huntresses. So, I decided to pop in and say hello." He spoke looking at Team RWBY.

"By the way, hello there, huntresses! Welcome to Vacuo!" He spoke as RWBY stared at him with caution.

"I don't like the vibes he's giving, Rubes." Yang spoke.

"Me too, Yang." Ruby spoke.

Tez looked at Brun. "Hey, Brun. I need to talk to your guests for a sec. It's…private." He spoke as Brun looked at Ruby.

"O-Ok, Mr. Tez. I'll come down when you call." She spoke as she reluctantly went up the stairs.

Tez looked back at Team RWBY and walked over, puling up Brun's chair at the head of the table and sitting down, smiling at them.

Tez and RWBY stared at each other before Tez's pupils suddenly slit as Ruby gasped.

It's just like Perseus' slit pupils. Ruby thought as Tez continued smiling at them.

"Well? At least eat your food. It's getting cold." He pointed out as RWBY stared at him in silence.

Tez groaned. "Fine, I'll start the conversation. Sick weapon, by the way." He spoke looking at Ruby, who looked down at Crescent Rose.

"You know, I used to think that it was a shame that guns, with all their effectiveness, just took away that sweet melee combat soldiers used to do." Tez spoke.

"But now, these mechashift weapons are absolutely amazing. 10/10." Tez spoke as he raised his own weapon.

"Not only are they both ranged and melee…they make me feel less like a weirdo for using this!" He spoke chuckling.

"Although…I'm really jealous of your weapons, because they make these look like complete junk!" Tez spoke, shaking his head.

"Unlike these, your scythe's just…it's beautiful, even if it's a bit impractical." Tez spoke. "Who made it?"

Ruby blinked. "...I did?"

Tez whistled. "Damn, I found someone who loves weapons like I do! Man, you're making some great first impressions, Team RWBY."

Weiss scowled at him. "Who…are you?"

Tez pointed a finger upstairs. "Brun just called me 'Mr. Tez', but I suppose I can tell you my full name…" He spoke clapping his hands together.

"Let me reintroduce myself. The name's Tezcatlipoca, a guy who loves weapons."

"Tezkat…what?" Blake spoke.

"Sorry, sorry, my name's a mouthful. For that reason, it's better to just stick with calling me Tez for short." Tezcatlipoca spoke.

"And what are you doing here…Tez?" Weiss spoke as Tezcatlipoca looked at her.

"I just said it. To welcome you, of course." He spoke before leaning forward.

"See, I read about your accomplishments in Vale, mostly from that robot Prometheus."

Yang immediately tensed up.

"Prometheus? You know him?"

"He's my colleague, of course." Tezcatlipoca spoke coolly. "And by that, you can guess who I'm working with."

"Salem." Ruby growled as she immediately brought up Crescent Rose.

"Bingo. Also, that's strike one." Tezcatlipoca replied.

"Anyways, my job is the same - cause some conflict here in Vacuo."

"By that, you mean aiding terrorists and criminals?"

Tezcatlipoca kept staring at Crescent Rose with a grin. "Aiding? Well, I just sell the guns, slap my buyers on the backs and tell them to go gung-ho on this city. Things have been peaceful recently, because I have been busy on another project." He spoke as Blake pointed gambol shroud.

"Strike two." He spoke.

"But anyways, I just wanted to meet the Heroes of Vale, who so lovingly grace my city with their presence. But really, you all made a pretty bad decision coming here. Vacuo's just a box of problems waiting to spring out at you."

"..."

"Little miss Schnee here definitely knows about all the problems, and must have told you about it. Not to mention Shade academy. You've got a bunch of xenophobes and my airhead sister over there, waiting to deal with your mess."

"You have a sister?"

"I do! She's my little sister, but me and Birdie really, really hate each other so we don't talk much, and that's because she once clobbered me with a club."

"That's…extreme."

"What can I say? Sibling rivalry, am I right?" Tezcatlipoca spoke as Weiss and Yang scowled.

"We're not here to listen to your talk about your life." Yang spoke. "You work for Salem, that means you're a danger to us." She spoke.

Ruby, Weiss and Yang then pointed their weapons at Tezcatlipoca.

Tezcatlipoca sighed. "...And that's strike three." He spoke…

…Before his hand lashed out at blazing speeds, grabbed Yang's head, and smashed it through the table.

Blake shot gambol shroud but Tezcatlipoca spun his axe to deflect its bullets before he picked up a dinner plate and smashed it against her head, stunning the girl.

Ruby immediately shot with Crescent Rose, but Tezcatlipoca suddenly moved with blue afterimages trailing behind him as the bullets passed before his eyes turned dark blue and Ruby's vision went black.

"Gah!" She grunted as she heard Weiss' yelp, regaining her vision as Tezcatlipoca kicked Weiss into the wall.

Ruby attempted to shift Crescent Rose into its scythe form, but Tezcatlipoca was suddenly in front of her.

Ruby hastily dodged Tezcatlipoca's elbow, before he flipped his axe-revolver around and smashed it against Ruby's cheek, making her vision go white for a second, as Tezcatlipoca grabbed her by the throat and drove her up against the wall.

Ruby noticed her teammates struggling to get up as some dark blue aura was around them.

How's he so fast? Ruby thought as her cheek stung, with Ruby noticing a purple bruise forming where Tezcatlipoca struck her.

Ruby felt her body shiver with fear as she stared at Tezcatlipoca's slit pupils. The last time she'd been beaten so badly was by Mordred, and even that paled in comparison to what Tezcatlipoca just pulled off.

Ruby tried to use her semblance, but felt a burning pain as she tried to.

"Ah, ah, ah." Tezcatlipoca spoke as Ruby looked down at his weapon's gun barrel pointing at her stomach.

"No hasty movements, Red. I may look like an average joe, but trust me. I can kill a lot of servants without breaking a sweat." Tezcatlipoca spoke, before throwing Ruby to the floor.

Ruby massaged her cheek as Tezcatlipoca knelt down.

"Well, since you don't want to be polite, I'll just make the message quick. Things may seem peaceful, but it's all about to go to shit for you in a few days." He spoke as Ruby looked up at him.

"See, there's a lot of people after your head for different reasons and you can expect to get attacked anywhere in Vacuo." Tezcatlipoca spoke.

"Now the thing here is…you made a slight mistake assuming my role here. Just take this as a boxing match, with you in the red corner putting on your gloves to fight. The problem is that you're assuming I'm the one on the blue corner." Tezcatlipoca spoke, shaking his head.

"I am not your opponent, Ruby. I'm just the referee in this match. I've got to supervise the match. And the problem with that is that I'm the referee for 10 other boxing rings set up in Vacuo right now, so it's a pretty busy life for me, but you're lucky because I'll be paying special attention to you."

"So next time, don't attack the referee. Because it's common logic that the referee does not fight in the match, okay?" Tezcatlipoca spoke, giving a thumbs up.

"What is going on here?!" Ruby heard Brun's voice as she came downstairs to see the sight and gasped.

Ruby's mind was occupied with Tezcatlipoca's words though.

"You say you're not the enemy." Ruby spoke. "...Then who is it?"

"Well, you're going to have to find out who is waiting for you at the blue corner, Ruby." Tezcatlipoca replied with a smile.

"But I have to warn it's not as easy as it looks. In Vale, you knew who to fight. But here? You'll soon be asking yourself the question 'Who am I really fighting against?'." He spoke as Brun immediately marched over.

"R-Ruby, are you alright?" She asked helping Ruby up as Ruby stared at Tezcatlipoca.

"Mr. Tez! What did I tell you!" She snapped at Tezcatlipoca who smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, things got heated. I'll buy you a new table, Brun." He spoke, before going to walk out the door as Ruby noticed her teammates get up.

Brun immediately walked over to a chest by her sofa and pulled out a bottle and a cotton dab.

Team RWBY stared at Tezcatlipoca as he went to walk out the door.

"Remember one thing, y'all!' Tezcatlipoca spoke. "It'll take a lot of thinking to figure out who is your actual enemy in Vacuo! Toodles!" He spoke before walking out.

As Brun began dabbing Ruby's bruise with the ointment, Ruby looked down in contemplation.

Their first day in Vacuo had already ended in clash with the enemy, and they'd been thrashed badly, and that bash to the cheek had not only bruised Ruby's cheek but also her pride.

Even after one year of training, she'd gotten beaten again.

Tezcatlipoca had to be a servant. Ruby thought as she stared at the ground.

But the question is…

What did he mean by that last statement?

In the coming days, Ruby would soon find out what Tezcatlipoca meant.


A/N: So, I originally was going to update Rowan's Shade, but I soon discovered I needed a bit more time before I could get back to writing it again. So, another Soulless Plains chapter. Yay to you all!

First segment was to again highlight the slight maturity in Ruby's character ever since the Battle of Vale, along with the changes in CRDL, because I want them to get out of the jerk phase already (Plus, I want Ruby to start getting closer to at least one member of CRDL to help her mend relations with them. But don't you dare think this is Russell/Ruby, I'm not going for a ship here.). The Russell-Ruby segment thus combined both Ruby's maturity and relative higher experience with the grimm along with Russell's terror of the grimm taking away his earlier 'bully' persona.

As for the trauma of the Beacon students, that is something that will be shown over multiple chapters, so I'm not dumping it all in this chapter.

Now, in this chapter, Team RWBY comes to Vacuo. As an Indian, it was really, really easy to give Vacuo that look of a 'third world country' because I just had to imagine my home town's streets to write on those of Vacuo. Introduced some OCs because world building reasons (People are right about OCs being a necessary evil in fanfiction), and just did what I could to build Vacuo's world.

And for the final part, our next God appears out of nowhere. It's Tezcatlipoca, ladies and gentlemen! Honestly, I didn't notice this until later, but this mother fucker Tezcatlipoca basically uses a RWBY weapon in his first ascension. His axe in his first ascension literally looks like a grey, smaller and more compact version of Professor Port's weapon Blowhard. It's such a cool thing that Tezcatlipoca's first ascension weapon looks like something straight out of RWBY.

Now, I have expressed my dislike for Tezcatlipoca's design, but the casual look's grown on me, although that's only just as a 'casual' outfit. I still hate his stupid jaguar suit and his annoyingly bland aztec outfit (Really it looks so jarring with his cool attack and skill animations).

Anyways, unlike Prometheus, I revealed Vacuo's mastermind straight off the bat. Pretty excited to take on his charaacter in coming chapters.

Hope you guys enjoyed and Constructive criticism is appreciated!


Response to Reviews:

Maglad: Good news for you, buddy. I have so far have no female villains planned out. Every female servant will be on the hero's side as of now.

Anon: Really? Okay, I'm not adding those creatures in this story. I just think it just cheapens the threat of the grimm if there are dangerous non-grimm lifeforms in Vacuo.

Shadowhunter2077: They definitely will. RWBY lore essentially confirms Vacuo has problems of xenophobia, so you can expect some of the more mentally scarred Beacon students lash out against any xenophobic insult of attempt to downplay Vale by the Shade students.

And yes, killing Cinder feels refreshing because frankly I'm more interested in Hazel, Tyrian and Watts, so I won't have to worry about Cinder, plus it gives me a chance to take forward Mercury and Emerald's characters.

Guest: I responded to your concern in the review section. But no problem, man. This story's not for everyone. Again, thanks for the review.