Ruby XIV

"You're late," I scolded him, my breath fogging in the cold of the morning. My red cloak billowed in the wind as I thumbed the head of the ax which hung from my belt. Jaune looked exhausted and disheveled, but at least he showed up.

"Sorry I'm late. I was busy with some things," he said.

"I'd rather you not allude to fucking my sister," I said, already tired of he and Yang's shenanigans. I came home late last night from my patrol and walked in on the two of them playing some stupid game with a toadstone like they were children. When I saw the two of them I was furious and went to my room immediately. Jaune didn't even have the decency to make himself scarce before the rest of us returned, that bastard. I hated everything about their consort, but I had to keep my emotions in check if I wanted Jaune's help. And, make no mistake, I needed him that day. Everyone involved with Cinder was of dubious character and made me doubt my initial assessment of her. However, I still wanted to see the good in her, in them. Provided I could keep myself safe while doing so.

"What? No! I wasn't-" Jaune stammered.

"It doesn't matter. We can talk about it later."

"Are you sure?"

"Why would I not be sure? What is there to be unsure about? We don't have time to relitigate the issue, so why bother?"

"I see. Perhaps we could discuss matters later? Today maybe?" Jaune pleaded.

"Maybe, if all goes well. Do you see that rooftop?" I asked him.

"I do."

"Great. Start climbing. I need you to keep watch from a high vantage point. I'll be escorting two people to the academy's hospital to visit a friend of theirs. They seem like decent people, but one can never be too careful. If they do anything suspicious I'll need you to jump down from the rooftop and land directly on either one of them. Once one of them is knocked out it'll be a two on one and we should be in the clear to do whatever we want," I laid out my plan to Jaune, but he seemed a bit confused.

"But… what if I don't knock them out when I fall on 'em?" He asked, earnest in his confusion.

"You will," I said.

"But what if I don't?"

"Then hit them again."

"Right. Right, of course. How did you meet these people again?"

"It's a long story. They want to visit the clinic, but they don't trust it so they're going to use me as a hostage."

"Well now you're just talking shit," He said, incredulous.

"Just get to climbing. You'll see for yourself in a bit," I told him. Jaune climbed the roof of an almshouse and quickly vanished from sight. Pleased with his surprising burst of competence, I knocked on the door and Hazel soon answered.

"Ah, Lady Rose, a pleasure to see you again. Will you be long? Emerald is making tea," He gestured me into the mortuary.

"No, I don't think I'll be staying long. I just came to gather the others, we're going to visit Cinder," I gave Mercury a pat on the shoulder which made him drop the book he was reading. Ostensibly he wasn't paying attention and hadn't even noticed that I walked into the room. A rat scurried across the floor and carried his book away shortly after it hit the ground.

"I hate it here," He said, "When exactly are you going to get these rats out of your place of work, Hazel? This is ridiculous. I feel like I have to fight the little bastard at every turn!"

"If I was going to get rid of the pests I'd start with you and the other freeloader," said Hazel. I couldn't help but laugh. Mercury just grumbled and didn't have much else to say. Hazel shuffled off to the lower floor of the building where he did his work, which left just the two of us alone in the foyer.

"Who wants tea? We got the good stuff straight from Mistral!" Emerald announced as she entered the room with a pot and two teacups, before addressing me facetiously, "Oh, well if it isn't Lady Rose, I'll have to fetch another cup."

"Don't worry about that, I won't be staying long. Are you ready?" I asked them.

"Of course," Mercury piped up, finally ending his sulk, "The real question is: are you ready?"

"No idea what you mean. I've told you already that I'm no saboteur and that I mean you no harm. There's nothing to be ready for."

"Oh, Ruby," Emerald sighed. From the sounds of it it seemed like she felt a great deal of pity for me.

"What? What is it?" I said.

"It's just that things aren't as simple as they might seem. I don't know if you could tell, but we're not good people. Even if you mean us no harm, that doesn't necessarily mean Ozpin's other cronies feel the same. That's why you're here isn't it? Emerald asked you to act as a shield and you agreed to the terms of the deal," Said Mercury.

"Yes, I know that, but where are all these accusations coming from? I told you, I'm no spy!"

"Then you might have landed yourself in a world of trouble for nothing. I'll give you one chance. Go home now and forget about all this. You might manage to live a normal life yet."

"Are you really going to let our hostage leave?" Emerald shouted.

"Sure, if she wants. Whether she stays or goes matters not, I have a plan for both cases," he said. I seriously considered signaling Jaune right then and there and making a run for it. Worst case scenario I would bolt off on my own and leave him to fend for himself. As much as I wanted to trust those two, it seemed like they were always saying and doing suspicious things. They seemed crazy to me and after the controversy with Tyrian I wanted to keep crazy people as far away from me as possible. Cinder had amnesia so she certainly wasn't acting as she normally would, to me she seemed like a lovely young woman. However, that fact made it all the more difficult to believe that she was acquaintances with a perverse dusky woman and a boy with a tongue as sharp as a sword. Emerald walked over to the door and said:

"What's it gonna be, will you stay or will you go?" Emerald pulled the door ajar with one hand and held it there.

"I choose go. After all, that's what we're here to do, is it not?" I walked out the door, "Weren't we supposed to go see Cinder?"

"Don't push your luck," Emerald said, following me out the door. I knew that reminding them of what they wanted would return the negotiations to my favor. And though Emerald was happy to come along, Mercury was more hesitant. He remained seated and didn't follow the two of us.

"Come along, sword-tounge!" I poked my head around the door and called to him. Strangely enough that was enough to coax him to his feet. Once Merc was outside with the rest of us he asked me this:

"Do you always act this strange around people you've just met?"

"Well, yes, but it's not like I can help it," I shrugged, half apologetic, half joking. Things had started to warm up in the city and the snow found it difficult to stick to the ground. Most of it ended up melting and contributing to the wet slush which dampened the cobbles and made walking in the early hours of the mourn somewhat treacherous. I had a great deal of respect for sleet and snow after seeing my father fall flat on his arse several times when I was much, much younger. Everytime that happened he would curse the snow, as though his ire would bring some kind of misfortune down upon nature's keeper.

We soon crossed paths with a young beggar who had only rags to shelter herself from the cold. I carried with me no coins nor bank notes, partly because I didn't believe in the latter, so instead I offered the girl the only thing I had, my cloak. After wrapping her up in the red garment I gave her this warning: "It won't be getting any warmer, go inside."

"I've nowhere to go, my lady," She told me, teary eyed.

"Then find somewhere. Force your way in even if they turn you away," I said. To my surprise, Emerald actually tossed the girl some silver, a fairly generous gift to give to a beggar. Though, it should be noted that she chastised me after the beggar girl was no longer within earshot:

"You must have been raised rich. Only a fool would give away a cloak that nice, especially to a beggar," said Emerald.

"My father holds neither lands nor titles, I was only doing what he would do given the circumstances," I told her. Emerald laughed.

"You actually believe that little girl's story, that she's cold and hungry, and has nowhere else to go?"

"Yes, I do and my actions would have been the same even if I suspected her of lying. Like I said, it's what my father would do and I think that we have a certain responsibility to our forebears. Besides, you gave her money from your own purse so you're not much better than me. By your logic we're both easy marks," I said.

"You couldn't be further from the truth. I used to be a beggar like her, my earliest memories are of me with my hands out pleading for coppers, so I know what it's like. Her routine isn't anything special, hell it's not even clever, all she does is wait out in the snow for manor-housed Ladies like yourself to come by and take pity on her. I only offered her some coin so that she might survive a little longer and hopefully grow to be a better liar,"

"What part of 'no lands or titles' did you not understand? I told you already, I wasn't raised in a place where coins are heavy. I can hardly spell the word manor, let alone tell you what one looks like on the inside," It was clear to me that I wasn't going to get anywhere talking with Emerald after saying that. Why did she have to be so mean? We were on the same side weren't we?

"I wouldn't bother with her," said Mercury as he stepped over a puddle, "Once she's in a mood there's just no getting through to her, and she's feeling particularly dower today, I can tell."

"Has she always been like this?" I asked.

"Don't go gossiping about me as though I'm not standing right here!" Emerald said with a bit of impudent frustration.

"Yes, she's been crazy ever since we met. How long ago was that, Emi? Has to be at least a year by this point, if not more," Mercury posed the question to her, but she didn't respond. She just stewed in silent dissatisfaction at the whole thing. Cocking his head behind him, Mercury called to her, "You still alive back there?"

"Of course I am." She replied, her tone flat.

"That's good. I'd hate for you to disappear on the day of our anniversary,"

"If we were wed I'd kill myself, I'd walk into the sea,"

"A honeymoon at sea is fine with me,"

"Shut up," Emerald said. They went on for a bit longer bickering and bantering. The whole time I couldn't help but wonder whether or not every day with those two was like this? How could two people who hate each other that much possibly spend so much time together? The conceit that all three of them had been working together as a team for over a year became more absurd with each passing minute. Nevermind the fact that all three of them were somehow connected to Tyrian, the scoundrel who stole my mother's eyes and no doubt played a hand in her untimely death. Generally speaking the three of them seemed much less put together than Tyrian. They lacked the sharpness of character that made him immediately stick out as suspicious. So I didn't think that they played a role in my mother's killing. In all likelihood they were pawns in Tyrian's grand game, inconsequential pieces that he would discard at his earliest convenience. However, the rules of his game and the conditions that constitute a winning game state still eluded me. The Brothers Grimm, saving me from the brink of death, and now this business with Cinder; the more I learned, the less I knew.

I scanned the rooftops checking for Jaune and I saw that fool hanging from the shingles of a tavern by his foot. It seems his boot snagged on a rope before he fell. How he managed to fall in the first place was beyond me, I know that I for one wouldn't have fallen if it was my job to spy from the rooftops, but I suppose that's a topic for another time. His spectacular failure had enraptured me and, as a result, I stared at him for much longer than I had initially planned. The others noticed and decided to look in the same direction. They spotted him too. Seeing someone else in pain brought Emerald a mote of joy, she let out a soft chuckle. Mercury mistook Jaune for a drunkard and remarked how strange it was for a man to be so deep in his cups at such an early hour. I lagged behind the two of them a bit so that I could send a message to Jaune without the others seeing. Once their backs were to me I gestured frantically to him, wordlessly telling him to get back on the roof. Juane threw his arms out, almost as if to say 'what do you expect me to do?'

It was important that I act fast because time was of the essence. Shattering into a thousand rose petals, I flew to him, and lifted him back onto the roof. He cut the rope from his foot with his sword and thanked me.

"I asked you to follow us from the rooftops and you fall off the fucking roof? Why, Jaune, do you do this to me on purpose?" I said

"Look at the state of it! The damn thing is covered in snow and held together with rope, what was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, try standing up instead of falling next time."

"Fantastic advice. I never thought of that before," Jaune met my sarcasm in kind and although he likely had more to say I did not stay to listen. I silently flew back to where Emerald and Mercury were. They were in the midst of another conversation. The conversation drifted off to the topic of food and I threw in some inane comment, just to make sure that my presence wasn't missed.

"Oh, I absolutely adore biscuits!" I exclaimed.

"The ones with raisins or the ones with little bits of chocolate in them?" Mercury asked, completely unaware of my previous absence from the conversation.

"I much prefer those with raisins,"

"Strange choice, but I can respect it I suppose. What about you, Emerald?" He asked, but the girl seemed to be out of sorts now that I was part of the conversation again. She didn't answer and so Mercury had to repeat the question. Only after it was said three times did she begin to register what was going on.

"I don't really have opinions on biscuits. Look, Ruby I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for earlier, for everything. In truth, I haven't been very charitable to you and for that you have my sincerest apologies. Things have been tough without Cinder here with us, but that's not your fault and it was wrong of me to put any of that on you. We all want the same thing here. When we go and see her there should be no ill will between us," She continued as we began to approach the clinic, "I'm even prepared to give you a gift if you're willing to accept my apology."

"And if I don't accept your apology?"

"I would still give it to you anyway. Make no mistake, the gift is not intended to be a bribe," She clarified. Emerald looked to be feeling genuine regret for what had happened between us earlier. That was a lovely change of pace for me at the time considering how unhinged my own team had been acting. Yang still hadn't apologized for nearly killing both of us on the night of the bonfire nor had Weiss expressed regret for her acts of prejudice. Knowing those two I would likely never get an apology, or even anything approaching the sort. Meanwhile, a girl I hardly know stood before me saying how sorry she was for being a bit mean to me. I wouldn't have believed it had I not experienced it firsthand. Granted, the degree to which I believed her words was dampened by the dubious air which hung around her and her friends. However, the sentiment itself was still greatly appreciated.

"Come on now, pick your head up, I won't hold any of that against you. Let's just start over and pretend we have never met before," I stuck out my arm and offered her a handshake, she accepted.

"Brilliant, let's do that. Greetings, my lady, I am Emerald Sustrai, a vagabond hunter of little renown. May I have your name?"

"Of course. I'm Ruby Rose, an apprentice studying at Beacon. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," She affirmed, letting go of my hand. Her apology meant more to me than she could ever know. What a pleasant change of pace it was to have someone admit to their wrongdoings and offer a sincere apology. Or, rather, it was nice that someone in my life was willing to offer a seemingly sincere apology at all.

"Well isn't that cute," Mercury jeered, chuckling a bit at our strange way of making up.

"So, what is this gift I've heard so much about?" I asked.

"Right, of course," She reached into her pocket and handed me a glove. It was made of black leather and looked rather well worn. I wasn't really sure what to make of it. Was Emerald just giving me her old hand-me-downs and passing it off as a gift. I suppose it was better than nothing and, given that I had just given away my cloak, I was in no position to ignore something that might help keep me warm. "Take this and use it well," The smile on Emerald's face was earnest, she wasn't joking.

"What is it?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"It's a glove with a powerful hex placed on it. Anything you throw with it will come back to you. It's a neat little thing to pull out at parties, but be sure not to throw anything sharp!"

"I can't make any promises. Haven't you heard? I'm an expert at throwing pointy things,"

"Sounds like a lie to me," Mercury interjected.

"It's not!" I said. I tried regaling the two of them with a story of my days on the island of Patch, where I lived with the rest of my family. Before I ever began learning how to fight with scythes, my first weapons were knives. I always loved them because of their simplicity. Forgive the unintended pun, but a knife is a lovely thing because it's simple, straight, and to the point; nothing besides a long steel blade tapered to a fine point at the end, though I suppose there could always be more going on at the other end of it, at the pommel, depending on who it belonged to. I had seen a fair share of ostentatious pommels in my day. Gilded and shiny things they were, with embellishments like the ends of corinthian columns. Gaudy! Gaudy! Gaudy! Such silly things never caught my eye, except for the momentary look of disgust they incurred upon first sight. No, I preferred simpler tools: a double-edged knife with a simple slender pommel that was good for picking at things and cracking skulls. And although I didn't happen to have any daggers on me, I did have an ax that was just small enough to be thrown with ease.

I quickly put the glove on and threw my ax in the air. Emerald let out a scared yelp as the tool flew higher and higher into the sky. I threw it straight up in the air in an attempt to avoid hurting anyone, but the damned thing caught a pigeon and reduced it to a mist of blood and feathers. "Birdie, no!" I shouted in dismay. The ax began to fall, first slow, and then with incredible speed. The glove began to glow red. As the ax came whistling through the air toward the ground the others looked worried. How foolish of them. I caught the ax in my gloved hand. Even though I caught it by the handle, the pain was sharp. It rang through my arm like a bell. However, I tried to keep a straight face.

"Are you alright? That looked painful," Emerald worried.

"No, no, I'm fine. All in a day's work for an apprentice hunter," I winced.

"Told you not to throw anything sharp,"

"Swords are sharp, axes are sturdy, there's a difference," I said, somewhat short of breath. The pain was sobering in some ways and it caused me to start asking questions. For one, how exactly had Emerald managed to perform true magic and place a hex on the glove? Such a thing should be impossible.

"Would you two stop throwing axes around! We're here," Mercury gestured to the clinic where Cinder was housed. Emerald looked overjoyed to actually be there. She was clearly excited to see her friend after so much time had passed. Or, rather, that's what I hoped her excitement was coming from. Behind my back I subtly managed to take off the glove and place it in my pocket, just in case there was some ulterior motive behind the gift. Perhaps it was misguided to have even accepted the gift given that it was cursed.

I led the two of them into the clinic and into Cinder's room. An empty bowl of soup sat on the table next to her bed. She was eating, which was good. There was a bright look on her face when she saw Emerald, Mercury, and I, but that paled in comparison to how the other two looked at her. Mercury looked like he had just seen a woman for the first time, Emerald cried. They embraced her and a soft warm feeling came about the room.

Cinder still didn't have all of her memories back, but nonetheless she still recognized her former comrades and was happy to see them. Emerald expressed how glad she was to see her safe, or rather she tried her best to convey the sentiment through her sobbing and tears. Mercury, ever the stoic, refused his eyes from shedding even a single tear. However I could tell from his voice that doing so required a considerable amount of effort on his part. They weren't just reuniting with any old friend, they were reuniting with a lost member of their family. The trust between the three of them was nothing to scoff at. I gave them the space necessary for their reunion, careful not to wedge myself somewhere I did not entirely belong. Although I may have saved her life, Cinder did not owe me anything, per se, and I felt somewhat out of place around her comrades. Though I suppose, on some level, she was just as acquainted with me as she was with Emerald and Mercury due to her loss of memory. Even still, I would probably be seeing her much less often after she was fully healed and could be with her own people again.

Perhaps this was a worry that always existed in the back of my mind which I had never taken the time to fully consider before, on account of the fact that I was more concerned with whether or not the mortuary duo would skin me alive. Now that the possibility of the latter happening had vanished, it occurred to me that I should have been more worried about the former all along. It was very likely that Cinder would spend most of her time with them going forward. Which made me a bit sad, but life tends to play out that way. It was good that the three were together again, but their reunion only made me feel more alone.

"I'm so happy you're safe! When are they going to release you?" Asked Emerald.

"They said I can leave tomorrow. I must say, I'm immensely grateful for the help of the healers and surgeons. Without them I might not have survived," Cinder said. Cinder's statement, for some odd reason, made Emerald smile nervously. Something was amiss.

"I never knew you to be the type to heap praise onto some lousy surgeons,"

"Why would I not? They saved my life, they deserve some praise. Though I suppose they aren't the only ones we should be thanking. Ruby! Why are you standing so far away? Come over here, let's all become properly acquainted with each other!" To my surprise Cinder called over to me. I joined them and took a good look at Emerald and Mercury's faces. They looked like they had seen a ghost. I don't know why those two little idiots were acting so surprised. I already told them she had lost her memories. What were they expecting?

We talked for a long time after the initial shock of Cinder's current predicament had settled down. She, Emerald, and I discussed how we were going to get Cinder ahead on her schooling after weeks of absence. Emerald hadn't been attending classes either so they were both in the same boat. We worked out a deal of sorts wherein I would give them a crash course on what they missed. Our sessions were to begin the night of Cinder's discharge. There were a variety of subjects that the two needed to be refreshed on: mathematics, history, literature, and so on. It wouldn't be easy, but I was determined to get them to learn. We were all happily chirping about this or that and everything was fine, everyone seemed happy, except for Mercury. He had been silent for a long time. What could it be? Perhaps he was upset about Cinder's condition and the possibility that she may remain like this for the rest of her days. I for one, having never known the Cinder of old, was perfectly fine with her staying the way she was. Hell, even Emerald seemed to have adjusted to her new way of being rather quickly. So what was it that had Mercury so upset? Cinder was likely to abandon me for them before too long so I suppose it wasn't really my problem. However, as much as I regret to say this, curiosity got the better of me.

While we were there I never did manage to learn about what exactly brought the three of them to Beacon in the first place. They seemed to live and die by Cinder's word. If she didn't attend lecture, then neither would they. It was obvious to me that they did not come to Beacon to become hunters. All their talk of secret plans and subterfuge made that clear, not to mention the fact that I had never seen them inside the halls of Beacon College. Getting admitted to Beacon wasn't easy, for every dozen applicants only one would be accepted. Rejection from the College of Beacon was so common that most apprentices weren't hurt by it. They went into the whole endeavor with the expectation that they would be rejected. For Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury to get the chance to attend such a prestigious institution only to spit in the face of it, well, it didn't make any sense. Something else had to be going on with the three of them and I was determined to figure it out.

After we left the clinic I decided to walk with the two gravekeeper fools back to the mortuary. Emerald and I chatted about something or other, it was all rather droll and gay. We were having fun, giggling and gossiping, until Mercury said something. I wouldn't say that he spoke up per se, rather he murmured something without a care for whether or not anyone heard it, or even responded for that matter:

"I know you told us she lost her memories, but I never expected the effects to be so dramatic. It's like she's a completely different person."

"Perhaps it's for the best," Emerald pondered aloud in a wistful tone. What had I gotten myself into?

"What was she like before?" I asked. They hesitated for a long time before answering. I heard the sounds of water falling into a puddle, drop by drop. 7 droplets fell before they said a word. It was Mercury who finally spoke up.

"You two would have never known each other if she hadn't lost her memories," he didn't seem willing to elaborate on what he meant by that, so I didn't pry.

We eventually arrived at their lodgings, but before they could walk through the door someone fell. A man fell from the rooftops and hit the ground. It was none other than Jaune. Frankly, I was surprised that he had mustered the discipline to continue scouting for me. He must have misinterpreted something they did as a sign of danger and decided to pounce, as per the plan we discussed earlier. Thank god he missed. For once his bumbling antics paid off and avoided ostracizing me from two potential leads in the case of my mother's killing. Having him here was a problem though.

"Ruby, I messed up," Jaune groaned as he tried to pull himself up from the ground, but despite his best efforts he couldn't get up. Mercury took note of the poor blonde boy spattered on the ground, recognizing him from earlier.

"Is that the same drunkard from before? How does he know you?" He asked

"It's a long story. I'll tell you two about it on the morrow. Can I expect to see you at our study session?" I hoisted Jaune up on my shoulder. He was incredibly heavy. I suppose it made sense. He was more than a foot taller than me and more of a robust build. Anyways, Emerald told me she would most likely be there, but Mercury was silent so I asked him again.

"Aye, I'll be there." He said, clearly not giving a fuck.

"Do you promise?"

"Sure, I promise," the two of us shook hands on it, cementing the deal.

"Good, now it's official and you have to come. You know what happens to people who break their promises don't you?"

"Can't say I do,"

"Well, you'll see for yourself soon enough," I smirked, as I ominously faded into the shadows, carrying Jaune's unconscious body with me. The boy was an infinite well of vigor when it came to bedding my sister, but he turned into a daffodil whenever he was tasked with something that actually required effort. It frustrated me to no end.