Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.
As a note, the Ruby Rose featured in this story is going to show her intelligence and maturity a little more than she does in canon. We all know she has the capacity for it, and it's a shame that the first couple volumes of the series didn't explore it.
Being raised by your sister, a heart-broken single father, and an alcoholic, depressed uncle, after knowing your own mother died would leave quite the mark on a young girl. She, along with Yang, grew up much faster than they should have. She won't be losing her hyperactivity, optimism, and all of the things that make her Ruby Rose; she will simply display a higher level of emotional and mental intelligence.
I also updated the EXTENDED LORE chapter. There's a few extra things that I figured I should inform everyone of. They won't come into play for awhile, but they're not necessarily spoilers. Think of the EXTENDED LORE reference chapter as a catalog of Whitaker's knowledge.
All of this being said, this is a slower chapter.
Enjoy.
Whitaker wasn't sure what to do when Ruby and Yang appeared at the door to his room in their pajamas, asking him to join them in their video game.
They had their Scrolls in hand, the fantastical music playing through the speakers.
"I…" Whitaker began. "Uh…"
"Have you never played a game before?" Ruby asked, tilting her head.
"I wouldn't say never," Whitaker corrected. "It's just been awhile."
Yang grinned. "Perfect! This game is new, so me and Ruby haven't started at all on it."
"I'm not sure…"
"Whitaker," Esmond interjected. "Join them."
Witt turned to his father, and then he desperately wished he hadn't.
Esmond glared at Whitaker with pure, unhidden fury, and the underlying threat on his life if he didn't join the girls.
"Right." Whitaker fished his Scroll out of his pajama pocket. "I guess I'll join."
"Great!" Yang whooped. "C'mon, let's head downstairs. That's where all the snacks are."
Whitaker, following behind Ruby, opened his Scroll and absentmindedly looked through the app store. He had no idea what he was doing.
Ruby caught him, and she smiled. "Here. Let me show you." She motioned for him to hand her his Scroll. When Whitaker gave her the small device, her fingers flew across the screen as she typed something into the Scroll, tapped the screen a few times, and then handed him back the Scroll.
"What did you just do?" Whitaker asked as he climbed down the last step.
"I… downloaded the game," Ruby said, hesitantly.
"That was so fast!" Whitaker exclaimed. He followed behind Ruby and Yang like a lost child. The two girls sat on the couch in the living room, which was already prepared for a long night's gaming session. The couch had pillows, several blankets, snacks and bottles of water and soda adorned the coffee table, and several Scroll charging warriors were plugged into surge protectors. What scared Whitaker, however, was the mountain of cookies that Ruby had in front of her.
"Is this what you guys normally do?"
"Well," Yang said as she set her Scroll onto her lap. "Ruby and I have been looking forward to this game for awhile, so we did some prepping."
"This much food?" Whitaker motioned to the table of chips, candy, and chocolates. "Junk food too?"
"Uh, yeah?" Yang said, raising a challenging brow.
"If you guys are going to stay up all night, you're gonna need more food than this."
"Neither of us can cook," Ruby protested. "So we just bought stuff like this."
"Neither of you can—" Whitaker cut himself off with a sigh. "That's…" He trailed off. Considering that it was only Taiyang who was here taking care of two girls and having basically two full-time jobs, what with being a Huntsman and a teacher at an Academy, it would make sense that he wouldn't have found the time to teach them how to cook for themselves. Whitaker cleared his throat. "In order to pay you guys back for helping me… relax, I'll teach each of you two how to cook one thing."
"Cook one thing?"
Whitaker nodded. "The easiest thing to cook."
"Which is…?" Yang trailed off.
"Breakfast," Whitaker said with a nod. "It also happens to be the most important meal of the day."
"Okay," Yang compromised. "That's fair. When do we start?"
"How about when you two get hungry?"
And it was that moment that Ruby's stomach let out an almost comically loud growl. The small girl's cheeks exploded into a burning shade of red. She covered her face with her hands. "It wasn't me," she protested weakly.
Yang and Whitaker looked at each other. Then, they broke out into laughter.
"Guys? It's not funny." Ruby pouted. Adorably so.
"Well," Whitaker said, after taking a minute to calm down. "I suppose we'll start now."
Whitaker Ash's impromptu cooking class… Begin!
[;]
As it turned out, attempting to teach two Huntresses how to cook when they had never learned to do as such, was rather difficult. They approached it like it was something to defeat.
Ruby stared at the frying pan, her silver eyes narrowed dangerously. Like she had half the heart to fetch Crescent Rose and slice the pan in two. "It's Grimm. It has to be."
"Ruby—" Whitaker tried. The slices of bacon atop the frying pan sizzled. A moment later, flecks of oil shot up from the pan, one of them landing on Ruby's pajamas. The girl flinched, and then glared even harder at the pan. Somehow.
"Nothing else could explain how evil it is."
"That's the oil," Whitaker explained. "Not the pan."
"Yeah, but the pan is the reason the oil is doing that. So it's the pan's fault."
"Well, technically, it's the fire beneath the pan. If we want to get serious about whose fault it is."
"So then fire is evil," Ruby summarized. She huffed. "I can get behind that."
"Wait, wait, wait, we're getting sidetracked," Yang said. "Aren't you supposed to teach us how to cook?"
"I am," Whitaker said, motioning to the nearly-finished bacon. "This is how you cook."
"You just… throw something onto a pan and stare at it?" Yang asked.
"You wait for it to finish cooking."
"I thought bacon was unhealthy," Ruby commented. Randomly.
"It's a good way to introduce you guys to cooking. Eggs wouldn't remind you to be careful around a pan full of hot oil." Case in point, more oil bubbled and popped, this time launching towards Yang. The blonde didn't even flinch when it landed on her wrist.
"Is this how all breakfast food is cooked?" Yang asked.
"Unless you're a professional Mistralian chef," Whitaker replied. "Or a really good home cook. Like my dad. Maybe he'll cook breakfast tomorrow. If he does, you guys are in for a treat." He removed the bacon from the pan and onto a nearby plate. Then, Whitaker cracked three eggs and dropped them into the pan.
This time, Ruby was interested. "Sunny-side up eggs?"
"Mmhm," Whitaker hummed, idly scooping up the bacon grease and dropping it into the center of the eggs.
"Why are you doing that?"
Wow. Yang had a lot of questions.
"To make it cook faster and more evenly," Whitaker said. "Also makes it taste better."
"I see. I see."
Whitaker turned to face Yang. He placed the spatula in her hand. "You try."
Shock flashed across her face. "What? Why me? I don't—"
"The first step to cooking," Whitaker said, gently pushing Yang in front of the pan. "Is to not be afraid of it."
"Last time I tried, I burned part of the house down," Yang said flatly.
"I'll be here to make sure that doesn't happen." Whitaker placed his hand on top of Yang's. "Just keep an eye on the eggs. When the edges start to brown, you can remove it from the pan. If you want, you can try what I was doing and shovel some of the grease on top of the eggs."
"Uh… okay." A small blush appeared on Yang's cheeks.
Ah. My hand. I removed my hand from hers. In order to quickly move on from the awkwardness that I knew was going to follow, I cleared my throat. "So, Ruby, while your sister watches your food, do you mind telling me a little about the game that we're going to play?"
Her silver eyes brightened into small moons, and her mouth hung open before it split into a wide grin. "Yeah! Okay, so the game is called The Legend of Remnant. And it's sort of like an Action-RPG. Have you played those before? You know, like role-playing games? Okay, anyways, it's co-op, and we're basically playing as a group of adventurers or Huntsman who travel the world, kill Grimm, do quests, and help people and stuff. Apparently, there's so many things to do that it would take a whole year to finish everything in the game. Aaaand," she inhaled, "there's even a PvP mode! Do you know what that is? It's Player versus Player, in case you didn't know—"
"Okay, okay, wait, slow down, sis," Yang interrupted the small girl's impressively fast speech.
Whitaker rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, you sort of lost me half-way through your explanation." He felt completely lost. Hearing Ruby talk, it was like listening to another language. "Sorry. I haven't played anything like that." More like he had never played a video game before. "Oh. Yang, the eggs are done."
"They are?" Yang looked back at her eggs. "They are!" She attempted to lift the eggs free from their iron prison, but the slippery things escaped. She tried once again, only to fail again. She tired once more before realizing that they were slowly being burned. "Whitaker! Help! I don't know—"
"Yang… Turn the heat off."
The brawler did as Whitaker instructed and returned to getting the eggs onto the plate. It took her several tries, but she eventually managed it. She set down the spatula and wiped her forehead with her wrist.
"I am never cooking again," she muttered. "That was more stressful than sparring or fighting Grimm."
Whitaker chuckled. "Don't be so negative. Getting eggs out of the pan is impossible when you first start cooking."
"And that's the bare minimum?" Ruby dared to ask.
Whitaker nodded once.
Both girls groaned.
"I guess cooking is out," Yang said.
"Same here," Ruby bemoaned.
Whitaker sighed. He placed the plate full of food on the table. "You two girls dig in. It's your food, after all. I'll handle the dishes."
A knock sounded at the entrance to the kitchen. Taiyang stood in the doorway, his arms crossed. "Did someone cook?" He asked.
"I showed the girls how to cook a simple breakfast," Whitaker replied.
"Bacon and eggs?" Taiyang raised a brow at the food that rested between Yang and Ruby.
Whitaker nodded. "They're easy to cook. And bacon isn't so bad. Calories are calories— and any of the bad fats we get from bacon are burned pretty quickly. If we exercise."
Yang grinned at her dad and lifted her arm. She flexed it, revealing well-toned biceps and triceps.
"Fair," Taiyang conceded. "Alright, I'm gonna head to bed girls. That game came out today, right?"
They nodded.
"Make sure you don't leave a mess." Taiyang looked at Whitaker. "Make sure they don't leave a mess."
"You can rest easy, Taiyang. I'll make sure they don't."
"Good." With a final nod, the older man left the kitchen and plodded up the stairs.
As Whitaker washed the dishes, Ruby came up beside him and set her empty plate beside the sink. "You eat fast," Whitaker said.
"Comes with the Semblance," Ruby replied with a shrug.
"Do you do everything faster?" He grabbed Ruby's dish and began to wash it.
Ruby twirled her body around, and jumped up onto the countertop, her legs dangling off of the edge. She tilted her head. "Sort of? It's more like everything becomes slower, to the point where I don't even know that I'm doing things faster."
"That…" His hands stopped scrubbing. Whitaker glanced at Ruby. "That sounds a lot like my Semblance actually."
"I thought that yours enhanced your reflexes," Ruby countered.
Whitaker set down the last dish. "I'm not an Aura expert, but when I use my Semblance, the world definitely slows down."
"Do you think that's why we—"
"Were able to see one another?" Whitaker finished. He nodded. "Yeah. I'm willing to bet on it." He dried his hands on a nearby towel.
Yang approached the sink. "Ruby," she said, looking straight at her sister. "Don't tell me you're crushing on our dear guest already?" Yang's brow was arched dangerously— but Whitaker could see the shit-eating grin that threatened to break free from her currently threatening countenance.
Ruby Rose, on the other hand, was as red as her entire name. Her hands desperately attempted to shield her face, but the sheer cherry-redness of her cheeks was impossible to miss.
Yang turned to Whitaker, and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
To which, the white-haired boy sighed. "Yang. I'm nearly eighteen. Ruby is fourteen. I don't want to catch a case."
"I'm fifteen!" Ruby protested. And the meaning behind her words caught up with her a moment later. "Not that I have a crush on you or anything!"
"Like that makes it any better," Whitaker replied. He smiled softly. "Let's go back to the living room. I'm curious to play this game you two have been really excited about."
The look of sheer gratitude on Ruby's face was not missed by Whitaker, to which he simply nodded at her. It wasn't like he wanted to deal with Yang's teasing either. And while he was somewhat sure that Ruby held a childlike crush towards him, he simply wanted to be friends with the girl— both girls, to be precise.
Ruby simply interested him more.
They were very alike.
Whitaker wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing.
[;]
Whitaker stared at his Scroll with a completely blank expression. On the screen itself was something Ruby called a 'character-creation menu.' In its center was a model of a well-armed teenager who was the spitting image of Whitaker. He was impressed, to say the least. While the hair-length wasn't exactly the same, everything from the eye color, to the facial structure, and even the build was the same.
"Normally, in an RPG you would play someone that wasn't you," Yang explained as she finished making Whitaker's 'avatar.' She handed him back the Scroll just as Ruby spoke up.
"So, in The Legends of Remnant, there's something called 'classes.' It's basically what kind of character you are," Ruby stated. "There's a whole bunch. Take a look." She motioned for him to look at her Scroll.
When he looked at Ruby's screen, Whitaker sweat-dropped.
So, this is what Yang meant by playing someone that wasn't themselves.
To put it simply, Ruby's character was hot. She wore high-heeled stilettos to only further accent her already great height, she cut a beautiful hourglass figure, and had a sizable bust. More than Ruby had, at least.
"My character's an Assassin," she said, pointing to the twin daggers that her character wielded.
"And mine's a Knight," Yang interjected. She flipped her Scroll around to show her avatar.
"Uh…" Whitaker trailed off. He wasn't sure whether or not Yang's character surprised him or disappointed him.
It was a carbon-copy of Yang. If she were male with short-hair. Her avatar had the same shade of blonde hair, the same lilac eyes, and the same amused smirk that seemed to be eternally plastered to her face.
"Oh," Ruby said with a giggle. "Yeah, Yang always plays a male version of herself. It's funny."
"At least I don't give myself bigger boobs and make myself taller," Yang countered.
"That's because your boobs are already—"
Whitaker coughed. In a desperate attempt to remind the two girls that he was still here.
On instinct, Yang's hands flew to her chest and she glared daggers at Whitaker. The teen in question put his hands up in surrender. He was trying to prevent the conversation from heading any further in that direction.
"Moving on," Whitaker said. "What are the other classes in this game?"
"There's the Assassin, the Knight, the Monk, the Brawler, the Reaper, and the Samurai, and then the Duelist."
"I'll be the Duelist, I guess," Whitaker said. "It sounds the most like me." Whitaker clicked the button that selected his class on his Scroll.
And the next several hours flew by.
[;]
"How did you get so good?!" Ruby exclaimed as she grabbed Whitaker's shoulders. The white-haired teen was entirely focused on the Scroll in his hands.
"I can use my Semblance on this game."
"You're kidding," Yang deadpanned.
Whiaker chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I'm kidding…"
Ruby smacked the back of his shoulders. "Apologize to every gamer out there. Apologize!" She scolded.
With a quick series of movements, Whitaker obliterated the person he was facing in the Player-versus-Player arena of the game. His screen lit up with the words: "Victory!"
Whitaker set down his Scroll, and leaned back on the couch. They started playing at around 10 P.M., and it was almost 3 A.M. But, strangely enough, he wasn't anywhere near as tired as he thought he was going to be.
The game was much more… fun than he expected. Playing it with Yang and Ruby only made it better. The two excitable girls knew how to enjoy themselves, and Whitaker did his best to emulate that.
"Is there anything you aren't good at, Witt?" Yang asked.
"Yeah, from what I've seen, you're good at everything you do," Ruby supplied.
"You're good enough to skip a year at Beacon and still probably get in," Yang began, "You've been on the field for half a year. You schooled me, could probably go even with Ruby, and might last a minute or two against my dad." The blonde brawler leaned back on the couch, laying an arm on the backrest. "What gives?"
"It…" Whitaker swallowed. "It took a long time to get where I am today."
"How long?" Ruby asked.
"Almost four years." Whitaker let out a breath. "I worked myself to the bone. I didn't let myself rest, relax, or breathe for a single day. I studied, trained, exercised; I did everything I could in order to become stronger."
"Why?" Yang questioned.
Whitaker chuckled. "So I could join my father on the field." He brought his knees up to his chest. "I was an idiot."
"I think that's pretty smart of you," Ruby countered. "If you're good enough to skip a year, then you should be able too."
"Not for skipping a year, but for wanting to join my father," Whitaker corrected.
"So you think it was a mistake," Yang offered.
"Yes, I think so."
"That's ignorant of you," Ruby murmured.
Whitaker turned to Ruby. He desperately fought back a glare. "What?"
"I think that's ignorant of you to say," Ruby said, conviction clearer in her voice. "It wasn't a mistake. You worked for it." She gazed at Whitaker. Through her glass-like silver eyes burned a fire brighter than any sun. "Like you said, you did everything you could, and to think all of that effort was a mistake is ignorant. To yourself and others. You saved people, Witt. I'm sure of it. That's not a mistake."
"I…" The protest died on Whitaker's lips. He hadn't expected that of Ruby.
"She's right, you know. You worked your ass off, you saved people," Yang agreed. "That's gotta mean something, right?"
Whitaker nodded.
"Why… why do you want to become a Huntsman, Whitaker?" Ruby asked.
"Do you two believe in Destiny?"
"Destiny?" Ruby asked. "You mean like, fate and stuff like that?"
"Yeah," Whitaker said. "The idea that we're all destined for something greater than ourselves."
"I mean, I guess," Yang said. "Is that why you want to become a Huntsman?"
He nodded. "It's stupid, I know, but I feel like it's the only thing that I'm good at. And I've always been pulled towards it. Not that I made any effort to run from it."
Ruby raised a hand. "It's the same for me too, honestly. Ever since…" Ruby trailed off and glanced at Yang. The two sisters shared a look. "Ever since my mom died, becoming a Huntsman is all I've ever tried to do."
"What about you, Yang?" Whitaker asked.
The brawler shrugged. "My reason isn't as grand as yours or Ruby's. There's a whole lot of the world out there to explore, to be a part of, to get wrapped up in; I want to do everything, experience everything I can." She grinned. "And if I can help people along the way? Even better."
Whitaker laughed. He wasn't sure what else he expected. Though, there was another matter he was curious about. He set his feet back down on the floor and grabbed one of the chip bags on the coffee table. "Ruby, you mentioned your mom… If it's alright, do you mind if I ask you what happened?"
Ruby and Yang looked at each other once again. They had a silent conversation that included everything from raised eyebrows, head tilts, pouts, smiles, and nods. Siblings doing sibling things, Whitaker reasoned. While they talked, Whitaker opened the bag of chips and began to idly munch on it.
Ruby turned to Whitaker. "I'm about to tell you how my mom died, and you're eating a bag of Tay's?"
Whitaker flushed and set down the chips. "I thought you two were going to be talking for a little longer. I'm sorry."
"I was just teasing." Ruby cleared her throat. "I'm sure you've noticed, but Yang and I don't exactly look like siblings."
Glancing between the two of them, it was extremely obvious. Not sure why I didn't notice it before Ruby pointed it out. "Now that you mention it…"
"Wait, you didn't notice it before?" Yang asked. She pointed to her blonde hair and lilac eyes, then waved a hand at Ruby's entire body. "We look like we're from two different parts of the world."
"You two just seemed so… sibling-like that it didn't seem like you were unrelated," Whitaker guessed. He looked to Ruby. "Go on."
"My mom left me when I was really young," Yang said out of the blue. "And Dad makes it a point to not answer any questions I have about her."
"And my mom was Dad's second wife. Her name was—"
"Summer Rose?" Whitaker asked.
Ruby's eyes widened. "Yes, how did…"
"My dad mentioned that you looked exactly like her. If a little younger," Whitaker said. "Your mom was a really well-known Huntress. The best of her generation, if the stories are true."
"And she was an even better mom," Yang commented. "After my mom left, Dad remarried with Summer."
"She was a super-mom," Ruby reminisced. A small smile found its way onto her lips. "She was the best, and she had the best cookies!"
"Summer is the sole reason why Ruby has a serial addiction to cookies."
Whitaker nodded. And, as if possessed, Ruby was currently chewing on a cookie while her hands were occupied by two additional cookies.
"How did Summer…?" Whitaker trailed off. He didn't want to say it, even though he was fairly certain both girls were capable of handling it.
"She went out on a mission and never came back," Ruby said. "That's all Dad told us."
"And you're not curious about the truth?" Whitaker dared to ask. Maybe he was projecting. To lose a Huntress as powerful, loyal, and passionate as Summer Rose would have been difficult. Maybe it was on pur—
Whitaker silenced that thought.
Ruby shrugged. "If I was curious, would it matter?" She countered. "It's in the past. And that's something you can't change."
"That's… very mature of you," Whitaker commented.
"Ruby and I had to grow up fast," Yang said. "After losing Summer, Dad was lost. For awhile. And Uncle Qrow wasn't much help either."
"Speaking of Uncle Qrow," Ruby began. "Where's Zwei?"
"Yeah, Uncle Qrow took him," Yang answered. "He said it was 'because a dog's nose would be useful.'"
"Zwei?" Whitaker asked.
"Our dog," Ruby said. "He was Uncle Qrow's gift to Dad. He's an emotional support dog."
"Who also kills Grimm."
"Wait, what?"
"Yup," Ruby said, popping the 'p' and nodding. "He had his Aura unlocked, and we trained him to kill Grimm. He's pretty good at it."
"I… I feel like this is a revolutionary thing. Why is no one else doing this?"
Yang shrugged. "It's not like everyone is willing to do that to their dog."
"And yet you guys did."
"We're a bad sample," Yang said.
"Yeah. We're a weird family."
Yeah. You're telling me.
[;]
The days passed slowly in Patch. There was less to do. And, ever since Pharos, Whitaker could actually predict how his days would go. He, along with his father, would wake up first. Then, he would shower while Esmond prepared breakfast. Once the girls were awake and ready to go, Esmond took him, Ruby, and Yang to Signal for the day. Whitaker would sit around or wander the campus grounds until it came time for combat class, and, when Esmond called for him, he would do as he asked. After Signal, the four of them went back home. Whitaker would join the girls in doing dailies for The Legend of Remnant before jumping back into training, which usually resulted in Whitaker's victory. Whitaker would then give the girls pointers, then he would teach them how to cook something. After that, the rest of the day depended on Whitaker's mood; sometimes he would continue to relax with Ruby and Yang, other times he would relax and read a few things on his Scroll, but. more often than not, he chose the former.
It felt good.
Life was good right now.
No dangerous missions. No life-threatening forces of evil. No necessary evils that he had to commit.
Whitaker came to the conclusion that spending time to himself was quite possibly one of the best decisions in his life. He had to thank his father for the advice.
As it was right now, Whitaker, Yang, and Ruby sat in a small clearing in the forest that surrounded the Xiao-Long-Rose household in Patch. The blonde brawler picked at the patches of grass and examined the blades before setting them into the breeze. Ruby sat with her legs criss-crossed atop the stump of a tree near Yang. Whitaker twirled his Scroll across his fingers, his back leaning against one of the nearby trees.
Yang sighed and rose to her feet. She turned to face Whitaker. "I can't decide whether or not I'm surprised."
"Same here," Ruby murmured.
Whitaker, with a small push from his father, had taken it upon himself to ask the girls for their assistance regarding his… unique situation with one Coco Adel. He'd told Ruby and Yang about the relationship between them, how it had developed during his time at Pharos, and how Coco confessed to him the same day he was going to fight his father. While he didn't get into detail about what she said (he left out the part where she mentioned wanting to sleep with him), he tried to give the two girls the truth.
"What do you mean?" Whitaker asked.
"I can't believe you didn't notice anything for three whole years," Yang emphasized.
"I… I've never had that sort of thing happen to me!" Whitaker protested. "And I had priorities."
"Poor girl," both Ruby and Yang mourned.
"What should I do?"
"For starters, you should—"
"Apologize," Whitaker finished. "I already have one written out. What else?"
"Wait, you wrote an apology?" Ruby asked. "Are you going to mail it to her with some flowers as well?"
"Would that… be a bad idea?" Whitaker tried. He'd done some research about how to apologize to women. That was fairly popular on all of the forums he visited.
"Yeah, if she's an old lady." Yang rolled her eyes. "You need to call her. Let her see your face, if you can't tell her in person."
"And if I waited to do it in person?"
"There's no guarantee you'll live to see the next day," Ruby whispered in such a manner that Witt couldn't tell if she was serious or not.
"You're joking, right?" Whitaker rubbed the back of his neck. When the girl in question didn't reply, he turned to Yang, desperation in his eyes. "Yang? Is she joking?"
"If she's as insistent as you described," Yang began. "Then you definitely won't live to see the next day."
Whitaker groaned and sank his head into his hands.
"Wow. I can't believe I'm seeing Whitaker, of all people, get torn up over something like this." Yang chortled. "This is some good content."
"Yang," Ruby murmured.
Yang coughed. "Right, sorry. I think you should call her as soon as possible. Lay all of the cards on the table, and see what happens from there."
"Do you think she'll hate me?"
"That's an unfair question to ask us," countered Yang as she glared at him. "We're not Coco. And she's the only person who can give you an answer you'll actually be happy with."
Whitaker looked between Yang and Ruby, the latter girl nodding in agreement with Yang. "So, I guess I should give her a call."
The girls nodded.
We shared a look.
"Right now—"
"Yes, right now!" They shouted.
"Alright, alright," Whitaker surrendered. "I'll call her."
"Let's give him some space," Yang suggested. Ruby was already moving back towards the house. As Yang stood up to follow her, she glanced back at Whitaker. "Good luck. You might need it."
Within a minute, Whitaker was completely alone.
He stared at his Scroll's screen. Whitaker's heart hammered in his chest. He had no idea why he was so nervous. Steeling himself, he opened his Scroll.
And then he called Coco Adel.
It didn't even get through its first ring before she picked up.
Coco sat in a simple wooden chair, within a minimally decorated room. Two boys laid down in a bunk bed behind her, and a bunny faunus looked upside down from above Coco.
Dressed in a simple white t-shirt and her chocolate-brown hair in a bun, Coco's amber eyes looked back at Whitaker with the same inquisitive expression that he had as well. She had a pen in her hand, and both of her hands pressed against her cheeks. A full minute passed of them staring at each other before Coco spoke up.
"I was wondering when you were going to call." She looked down at the desk and scribbled something. Whitaker assumed she was doing homework.
"I…" Whitaker trailed off. "Yeah. I'm sorry about that."
"It's okay." Coco continued writing. "I'm sure you were busy." She looked up at him. "What have you been up to?"
"I'm on an assignment right now, actually," Whitaker said. He thanked the gods that Coco knew how to steer a conversation.
Coco failed to hide the surprise on her face. "Oh?"
"Esmond and I are just filling in for a teacher at Pharos while he's out on a mission," Whitaker explained. "Nothing too dangerous."
"And your other missions?"
Whitaker grimaced. Coco caught it. She frowned slightly.
"If you don't want to talk about it—"
"No!" Whitaker cut off, maybe a little too aggressively. "I… I should talk about it. I haven't talked to anyone else about it besides Esmond." He looked away from the screen. A wave of nervousness flooded his thoughts. "I… Nevermind, actually." Whitaker attempted a laugh. "It's nothing. What about you? How has Beacon been?"
"Whitaker," Coco breathed. She set down her pen. "I'll be right back." She stood up from her chair and walked away from the frame, a moment later, she returned wearing a jacket over her shirt. "I'm gonna go out for a bit, guys. Don't wait up on me for dinner." She picked up the Scroll, and left her dorm room.
"Coco, you didn't need to—"
"But I wanted to," she urged. After a minute or two of walking, Coco sat down on a bench surrounded by small bushes and trees. A garden, Whitaker presumed. She held the Scroll even with her face. "What is it? What did you want to talk about?"
"Have… have you been on any missions yet?"
Coco nodded. "A few. On our first assignment, we had to track down a clan of rampaging Manticores."
"And how did that go?" Whitaker asked. Manticores were aggressive and territorial by nature— whatever forced them to leave their territory must have either been natural or too dangerous to handle.
"Decently," Coco said. "Fox and Yatsu, my teammates, got a little banged up. But it was nothing we couldn't handle."
"I see." Whitaker nodded. That was good. "Tell me a little about the people on your team."
"There's Fox," Coco began. "He's blind, but he's a great Huntsman. Then, there's Yatsuhashi— we mainly call him Yatsu though—, he's the strong, silent type with a pretty harsh protective streak. And last but not least is Velvet. She's great. And very pretty."
Whitaker chuckled. "Sounds like quite a crew. Especially with you in the mix."
She winked at him. "Thanks."
"Any other exciting missions?"
Coco rested a finger upon her lips in thought. "Well, most recently, we went to a town called Verdant. Do you know it? A settlement south-west of Vale?"
Whitaker froze.
"Well, anyways, we had to check up on the negativity there," Coco continued. "Apparently a team of Huntsmen roughed up some of the faunus, and things were getting a little hectic, so they sent us in to alleviate some of the Grimm." Coco raised a brow at Whitaker. "Witt? Are you…" She trailed off. Her eyes widened in realization. "That team was you, wasn't it?"
Whitaker nodded once.
"Whitaker, the faunus called you and your father murderers. They were rioting, holding White Fang flags, and throwing the entire town into chaos. What did you do?"
"What did I do?" Whitaker asked. "What I had to."
"What you had to?" Coco covered her mouth in horror. "Whitaker… Did— did you kill…?" She trailed off.
"I did."
"Whitaker—"
"Not by choice," Whitaker said. "I… I would have avoided it if I could. But the mission—"
"Whitaker, you took lives."
"I saved them!" Whitaker seethed. "You weren't there. You could never understand. I made a choice. I chose the lesser evil."
Coco's anger was unhidden now. "Then you shouldn't have chosen at all," she spat.
Whitaker laughed. "The world doesn't give us that luxury. We're Huntsmen, Coco. We make decisions based on one thing and one thing alone. What is going to protect the people of Vale?" Whitaker held Coco's gaze. "When the White Fang chose to become a terrorist organization, when those faunus chose to join them, and when put the lives of my people in danger…" Behind the ice of Whitaker's blue eyes, a cold flame burned brighter than any star. "They became no worse than the Grimm."
"How can you even say that?" Coco pressed. "They're still people, they're fighting for their rights—"
"By putting lives in danger? By gathering enough Dust to wipe Verdant off the map?" Whitaker countered.
"Well, I didn't know that—"
"Yet here we are. Arguing." Whitaker glared at her. He let out a deep sigh, and his expression softened.
"I'm sorry," Coco murmured. "What I said was out of line."
"I forgive you," Whitaker replied. He smiled softly at her. "I… I just went through a lot that day. What I did wasn't easy. The decision I made wasn't made lightly." He looked at her. "The last thing I wanted on our first time talking to each other in months was to fight."
"Yeah." Coco swallowed. "Same here."
They fell into a comfortable silence after that.
"Coco," Whitaker began after a minute. "I wanted to talk about what you said to me before I left."
Her cheeks flushed with red. She attempted to hide her smile, but failed miserably. "Okay. Sure. I was totally prepared for this."
Whitaker rubbed the back of his head. "I'm… I'm not sure if you're going to like what I have to say."
Coco's expression shifted entirely. The smile vanished. Her cheeks paled. Her eyes dimmed. "Oh. I see."
"I'm sorry that I couldn't give you a faster response." Whitaker met Coco's eyes. "I was confused. I wasn't sure how I felt towards you, but I talked to some friends. They made it easy to realize where my head was. How I was feeling."
"And I'm guessing that you don't feel the same way?" Coco's expression was blank now, as if she wasn't entirely paying attention to what he was saying.
"Yes," Whitaker confirmed. "I… I think of you as a close friend. My best friend. And I trust you with my life, with everything. But I'm not sure if I see you as a lover."
"And why not?" She challenged with a raised brow.
"I just don't, I think that—"
"Whitaker?" Ruby interrupted. She came up from behind the tree that he was leaning against. She glanced at the Scroll screen and her eyes met with Coco's. Then, she hid her head behind Whitaker's shoulder. "Dad wants you to come back home. When you're done. Or now." She waved at Coco. "Nice… to meet you. Okay, bye!" And with a flutter of rose petals, she vanished. Whitaker continued to stare at the place where the girl previously stood.
Coco raised a brow at Whitaker.
"Who was that?"
"Ruby."
"She had—"
"Silver eyes," Whitaker finished. He smiled fondly. "She's strong. And a good friend."
Whitaker and Coco sat in silence for a time again. Neither of them wanted to reignite the conversation. When Whitaker glanced at Coco's image on the Scroll, she had her camera turned away from her face.
He could swear that he heard someone crying in the background.
"Are you… gonna go?"
Whitaker shook his head. "Not until I'm done here."
"Do you think you could?" She asked suddenly.
"Could what?"
"In time, could you see me as a lover?" She repeated.
"Maybe," Whitaker said. "Maybe not. Have you ever considered…?"
"Getting over you?" Coco offered. She grinned. "I've thought about it. But giving up just doesn't suit me."
"And if you lose?"
Coco shrugged. "That's a big 'if.'" She grinned a classic Coco Adel grin. But there was something off about it. It looked forced. Almost. "You're mine, Whitaker. And if it doesn't end up that way, then you're still mine. As each other's best friends."
"I… I can work with that." Whitaker laughed.
She nodded. Then, a solemn look overshadowed the smile. "Just… give me a chance, alright? A fair chance."
"Do you expect anything less of me?" Whitaker asked. "I did spend a lot of the time we sparred at Pharos looking at your ass—"
Coco flushed. She coughed into her hand. "I see."
"Alright. I'll let you go now, Whitaker."
Witt nodded. "I'll text you when I find time."
"Bye, Whitaker." Coco waved.
"See you in a bit."
With a click, Whitaker ended the call.
A long sigh left him.
That was… more than he expected. But it went, strangely enough, also exactly as he expected. It felt like forever since he last spoke with Coco, yet everything felt so natural. Their banter was still the same, their interesting way of conversing, mannerisms, it made him warm on the inside. It felt like home.
Whitaker realized it then.
Whitaker Ash desperately missed Coco Adel.
[;]
Coco Adel stared at the blank screen of her Scroll as Whitaker ended the call. She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them.
Idiot. He's an idiot. An emotionless, ignorant idiot.
She shook her head, desperate to rid herself of those thoughts. Coco understood. Who wouldn't? She saw the look in his eyes when he spoke to that Ruby girl, when he talked about her…
It hurt. It hurt to see him look at another girl the same way he once looked at her. As a friend, a best friend, as someone he could trust implicitly, as someone he could…
Coco pushed it aside. She pushed everything aside. She tried to. But she couldn't shake the possibility that she was being replaced.
Her hands tightened.
It made her angry. Furious even. Unreasonably so. She knew she was being unreasonable, that what she was feeling was wrong.
She didn't own him. She was his friend, his best friend, someone that should support him through everything in his life, that should be there as a shoulder to lean on.
And if he finds someone else?
That thought scared Coco more than any Grimm.
[;]
Whitaker stared at Ruby from across the table. The girl looked intensely at her Scroll, her eyes scanning left and right as she read what Whitaker had sent her. She had her legs atop the chair and the Scroll on her lap.
"Why are you teaching me this?" Ruby asked, glancing up at Whitaker.
"Because you're strong. Stronger than you can even imagine," he replied.
"And so is Yang," she countered.
Whitaker shrugged. "I never said she wasn't strong, Ruby." He smirked. "But your sister would rather skip straight to punching instead of the planning. Like she's doing now." He pointed his thumb outside where Yang was probably getting her ass handed to her by Taiyang.
Ruby giggled. "That's… that's fair."
Whitaker placed a hand on the table. "Do you think you understand it?"
Ruby nodded. "It's easy enough to get. Play to your team's strengths, make the most out of any situation, have pre-prepared plans that can be freely executed."
"Then let's see you in action."
"Wait," Ruby began. "What? What do you mean?"
Whitaker stood up and began to move towards the front door of the house. "We're going to go Grimm hunting."
"Right now?!"
Whitaker nodded. "With Yang and my dad."
"Wait, why not my dad?"
"Taiyang declined," Whitaker explained. "He said it would be better practice with a team of four."
"That doesn't really answer my question—"
"Anyways," Whitaker interrupted. "Let's go! Yang and my dad are probably waiting for us."
Whitaker watched as Ruby twirled her scythe in her hand before sticking the blade into the ground, firing a shot to propel herself into the air, front-flip twice before sinking the end of the scythe into a Beowolf.
Another Beowolf growled to his left, and Whitaker, without even looking, ran it through with Lightning. As the Grimm collapsed, its black, oily skin melting into the ground, leaving nothing behind but its bony mask.
Esmond came up behind Whitaker, both of them watched Ruby cut down Grimm left and right. The silver-eyed warrior left ruin in her wake. Her sister, Yang, while talented, only managed to kill a quarter of the Grimm that Ruby did.
"She's… really good," Whitaker breathed.
"Almost scary?" Esmond asked.
"Almost."
"You two just gonna stand around?" Ruby called, ducking beneath the swipe of a Beowolf. "Whitaker, you're the one that suggested we go Grimm hunting."
"Nevermind. She's just scary," Whitaker corrected.
Esmond laughed.
Both Ash's rushed towards the girls and joined the fray.
And a field of white bones surrounded their home in Patch.
[;]
Whitaker wrapped his hands around the mug that Taiyang sat before him. The two men were the early-risers of the house, but this was one of the few times that they actually had a chance to talk alone, most of the time, Whitaker was wrapped up in his Grimm studies or something and Taiyang spent the mornings exercising or running errands around the house.
The white-haired teen sipped at the coffee, enjoying the warmth it spread through him. He looked at Taiyang. "Is there any reason in particular as to why you looked so eager to talk to me this morning?" He asked.
Taiyang hummed. "I suppose it's because I wanted to thank you."
Whitaker raised a brow. "Why?"
The blonde man tilted his head to the ceiling. "For being friends with my daughters. Especially Ruby."
"It's nothing," Whitaker said.
"You've got a bad habit of downplaying things, Witt." Taiyang shook his head and smiled. "Ruby's eyes. They're silver. And because of that, people are always trying to be friends with her."
"That doesn't sound so bad."
"Until she realizes that it's only for her silver eyes," Taiyang muttered bitterly. "But you were different."
"I… I suppose."
"Did you become friends with her for her eyes?"
Whitaker shrugged. His father did tell him to befriend Ruby, but for a better reason than simply because she had silver eyes. Sure, it may have stemmed from that. However, at the end of the day, Whitaker chose to be friends with her because he saw himself in her, and he wanted to help her become stronger. "Not entirely."
"Not entirely?"
"Ruby is a lot like me. At least, I think so. In the sense that we both believe we're Destined to become Huntsmen, that we didn't choose this field, that it chose us."
"That sounds like something Ruby would agree with." Hearing it come from the girl's father was as good a confirmation as any. "Did she tell you?" Taiyang asked. "About her mother?"
Whitaker nodded. "On the first night that I was here," he revealed. "And Yang also told me about hers as well. I'm sorry."
Taiyang waved a hand dismissively at his apology. "It's in the past. More importantly." Taiyang leaned forward. "I'm more impressed that you got both of my children to reveal that to you in less than twelve hours."
"Uh…" Whitaker trailed off. "Should I be worried?"
Taiyang laughed and relaxed. "No. I trust you. Well, more like I trust your sense of self-preservation."
"A very good thing to put trust into," Whitaker said with a smirk.
"Good."
Both men shared a laugh and sipped more of the coffee.
"It's hard to believe that I've been here for almost four months," Whitaker said suddenly.
"Has it really been that long?" Taiyang sounded like he could hardly believe it.
"Yeah," Whitaker confirmed. "Qrow is coming back some time next week, right?"
"That he is," Taiyang said. "And I assume you and Esmond are leaving the week after that."
Whitaker nodded. "He mentioned something about an 'end-of-the-year test.' So I've been reading as much as I can on Grimm for the last two months."
"Do you ever stop working so hard?" Taiyang suddenly asked.
"I…" Whitaker chuckled. "This is actually me not working as hard as I usually do."
"Seriously?"
"If I was home, I would probably be in my room, studying, or at a training room in Pharos, practicing my forms."
"That's… that's some serious passion you got there."
"Tell me about it." Whitaker laughed.
"Does it worry Esmond?"
Whitaker nodded. "When we first arrived, he actually scolded me into taking a break from training and studying so seriously."
Taiyang nodded. "Good on him."
"I'm assuming you had to do the same with Ruby?"
"You wouldn't even know the—" Taiyang cut himself off. "Actually, you probably would. Anyways, about a year ago, Ruby lived and breathed training and weapon-sketching. I remember she once spent seven hours inside of a training room at Signal, and by the time I got around to fetching her, she'd wrecked about two-hundred of the bots." Taiyang smiled. "Imagine that. A fourteen year-old girl, swinging around a scythe like it was a feather, cutting down bots like they were nothing."
Whitaker could imagine it. She was probably smiling the whole time too.
"And it wasn't like Qrow helped her any. He personally trained her with a scythe after Ruby showed him her weapon sketches," Taiyang explained. "She spent six months drawing up that weapon. Her part of the room was filled with so many pieces of paper, that even Yang knew how the weapon worked."
"Sounds like she was pretty driven."
"'Pretty driven' is putting it lightly," Taiyang said. "She was obsessed. It even got to the point where she asked me to sign up for a subscription to a weekly weapon magazine— said it was for 'research purposes.'"
Whitaker tilted his head. "Well, did you?"
Taiyang threw his hands up in the air. "Of course I did! How could I say no to my own daughter's puppy-eyes?"
Fair. Not sure if I would be able to deny Ruby either.
"That year…" Taiyang began softly. "That was the tenth anniversary of Summer's death. I think that was the reason why Ruby was so driven that year."
"That makes sense," Whitaker said with a nod.
"When I finally managed to corner her, to tell her to slow down, she wouldn't accept it. She said something about a 'duty' and a 'promise she made to Mom.'" Taiyang's hands gripped the mug tighter. Whitaker could swear that the steam that rose from the coffee had doubled. "I asked her, I begged her to take a break, to take things slower, to calm down." Taiyang was fighting back tears now. Whitaker wasn't entirely sure what to do. "And when she looked at me, she just… nodded. And said 'okay, Dad.'"
"And then?"
Taiyang swallowed. "And then she stopped. She spent a normal amount of time training, her obsession with weapons lessened, and she took things slower. She did what I asked of her to a 'T.'"
"Why… why are you telling me this?"
Taiyang looked hard at Whitaker. "Because to this day, I still have no idea what 'promise' or 'duty' she was referring to."
"Maybe it was in a dream?" Whitaker offered.
Taiyang shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. But Ruby was different after that day."
"And you want me to find out why?"
Taiyang nodded once.
"Should I be concerned for her if I find the reason why?"
Taiyang shook his head. "It's a personal concern," he said. "I know it sounds like some elaborate plan, but it's not." He smiled easily. "You're one of Ruby's first real friends, and that means a lot to me, to Yang, and to Ruby. I just want to avoid another year like that."
"Alright," Whitaker said. "I'll do it."
Something strange is happening here… Hopefully you guys enjoyed this one. A bit slower, a lot of character development/exposition, and a slight push of the plot.
Some readers may have noticed that the pairings have been updated. Yes, this is going to be a Whitaker/Ruby story. But don't expect any actual feelings to develop for some time.
4-Skywalker - Hey, thanks for reviewing, and the pairing is going to be Whitaker/Ruby.
