Of Red Petals and Black Feathers

by Unseen Lurker

It had happened many times before, all with the same outcome. The scared sisters, the dark monsters, and the uncle who saved the former from the later. But this time, not all the actors showed up. This time, something else saved the Rose. And now, all who threaten what she strives to protect will learn to fear the crows.

7. Chapter 7

And here we are.

Howdy, folks, how's it going?

I am here at last, with the long-awaited (I hope) continuation for Of Red Petals and Black Feathers. Took a hell of a lot longer than expected, and that is a fault of mine that I shall acknowledge, but I can at least take comfort in knowing that I kept to my word and updated this after the last Through the Eternities chapter, even if the amount of time it took was not the intended one.

Still, you guys should probably thank Chaos for this coming out now, I kinda owed the dude this favor, what with his invaluable help in my writing and all.

And also, I am taking what everyone who voted in that poll I put up a while back into consideration, and will be sticking to the old lore for Irelia and her abilities. In fact, I am gonna try not to worry about lore changes so much anymore and just write as I want. We going full AU! here, boys and gals!

And with all that out of the way, enjoy the new chapter.

/

With unerring accuracy for a ball of flaming gas thousands upon thousands of kilometres away, the sun of a new dawning day shed its light upon Beacon Academy. And inside one of the rooms of the dormitory wing, that light made a white-haired girl stir. With a groan, the barely conscious Weiss shuffled and turned the other way, seeking to escape the merciless glow.

Sure, it was the first day of classes, and her upbringing simply would not allow her to be anything other than punctual and assiduous. But still, Weiss did not like to wake up early any more than any other person, and it was still far too early, still plenty of time to prepare. Surely, with the ordeal they had faced just the other day, she could be forgiven for wanting the reprieve of sleep for a little while longer, right?

Right.

And so thinking, her mind prepared to shut down again…

"Weiss…"

…Well, it would seem not everyone saw things her way. The Heiress snuggled deeper into her blankets, seeking to escape the mumbled call.

"Weeeeeiiiissss…" The little whispering voice tried again, just as toneless but with the slightest bit more insistence. She felt something faintly poking at her cheek, much to her displeasure.

Why did this voice persist on disrupting her sleep?! This low, blank, creepy, eerily familiar voice…

"-ake up, Weiss…"

"Caw!"

As sleep faded and her rational mind finally booted up properly, reminding her of the circumstances she found herself in, Weiss' eyes opened wide…

…And there she saw, right at the edge of her bed, those mismatched eyes staring right back, with all the brightness and liveliness of a dead fish, and just above that a smaller pair of beady black orbs.

…

…

"Mornin'…"

"Caw."

On that day, the first time in a long while, no student of Beacon Academy required alarm clocks to wake up. Weiss' frightened shriek was far more effective.

/

"So let me get this straight." Jaune started, trying really hard yet not being quite successful at containing another bout of laughter, even as he bit into a strip of bacon. "That scream was Weiss getting spooked because you woke her up…?"

"Said sorry…" Ruby mumbled. How was she supposed to know her partner was such a skittish sleeper?

"Ah, don't worry about it, I'm sure she will get used to it eventually." The boy sassed in reply with careless amusement.

"Can you two please not talk about me like I am not here?" A very much frustrated Weiss all but ground out, knife scraping harshly against her plate. After the brief panic attack and the having to explain to Yang and Blake and the just barged in team JNPR, all not fully awake and with weapons fully drawn, that there was no threat present, the two teams were now sat at Beacon's canteen, making the most out of a very early breakfast. "First of all, I was not spooked, I was startled, startled because I woke up to a face inches before my own. Second of all," She turned to her leader. "Why did you do that?"

The younger girl blinked, and Merle, attention diverted from the cookie it was pecking at, tilted its head at the Heiress.

"Said yesterday wanted to be early." She answered, sounding just the slightest bit bewildered. "Thought I help."

"By watching me sleep?"

"Was doing anyway."

A very awkward silence fell upon the table as everyone present stared at Ruby, who merely joined Merle in head-tilting.

"You…" The heiress hesitated. "…were watching me sleep?"

"Sleep little." The hooded girl replied with a shrug. "Little to do. Watch everyone."

"Everyone…?" Blake intruded, barely nibbled on tuna sandwich all but forgotten in her very sudden feeling of uncomfortableness. "For… hours and hours?"

"Count breaths. Passes time."

"Caw!"

Another long, looooong moment of awkward silence passed.

"Right. Won't be doing much of that anymore…" Weiss said at length with a sigh, before turning to their team's last member, the only one besides their leader who didn't look haggard. "She does this often?"

"Yes." Yang replied, averting her eyes hesitantly, her gaze solely on the plate of pancakes in front of her like it was a very interesting thing indeed. "You… Get used to it."

The younger team leader blinked, once then twice, as she took in the faces of all around her. All but Jaune looked really weird. Her teammates all looked skittish, Jaune's all looked like they weren't privy to the conversation. Why though…?

"Did wrong…?" She ultimately inquired.

"It's nothing." The Heiress replied, hand running through her immaculate white hair, clearly wanting nothing more to do with the conversation. "Let's just… get going. Classes are waiting."

She rose then, walking away from the table, and the others shorty followed. Ruby and Jaune were last, the young girl blinking owlishly.

"Something I said?"

"Don't mind it too much, Ruby." Was the boy's reply. "It's a learning experience for all of us."

/

Turns out, the first class of the day were Grimm studies. In theory, it should be a time were they would study the enemies of Mankind in depth, learn strengths and weaknesses, strategies to vanquish the creatures of Grimm, all from the mouths of veteran Huntsmen with years of doing just that under their belt. In theory, that sounded like an absolutely perfect start to Weiss' new life.

In practice, they had just spent the last 45 minutes listening to Professor Port droning on and on and on and on. And while Weiss was certain there was a very important and critical message in his words, which is why she was trying to take notes as diligently as she was able, whatever it was she was not seeing it. Maybe she needed to learn more first, or maybe she needed more sleep, or maybe she was just lying to herself to avoid the crushing weight of disappointment. Take your pick.

Surreptitiously, the Heiress glanced around the room, trying to see how her teammates and acquaintances were faring. Not much better, was her general conclusion. Arc seemed to have tuned out the teacher 5 minutes into the lesson, and Pyrrha seemed heavily torn between admonishing or joining him. Blake was all but head butting the air in her desperate struggle to stay awake, and Yang had all but given up on that struggle, at least having had the good sense of hiding her nap behind an open manual.

And then she glanced sideways towards Ruby, who was… well, she was staring at the teacher without so much as a twitch, she'd give her that, but whether that was out of rapt attention or whatever it was that made the girl tick was anyone's guess. The only indication she was actually alive and not some hyper realistically creepy statue was how she was absentmindedly petting the crow nesting and asleep on her lap (how the heck did the teacher allow the thing in the class…?)

Ruby Rose. Her team leader. Weiss… was quite honestly not sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, she was… disturbingly detached, was the kindest way the heiress could find to say it, and had thrown a wrench of pure chaos and insanity into her life in Beacon from the moment they had first seen each other. But on the other hand, she had saved her life, and at the cost of grievous injury to herself, which made the white-haired girl realize that as off-putting as the younger girl could be, it wasn't out of any malicious intent. She was just… like that. She was still here in Beacon, still trying to be a Huntress like everyone else.

And it was probably this strange duality, this contradiction between the human and the inhuman, that made it so hard for the Heiress to figure out how best to proceed, how best to-

"SO, who among you think they have what it takes to be a true Huntsman?!"

So frazzled had she been left by the events of the morning, so absorbed was she in her thoughts, that Port's bellow caught Weiss completely off-guard, making the snow-white girl flinch and nearly jump out of her seat. Unfortunately for her, that caught the Professor's attention immediately, and fortunately, he seemed to misunderstand it.

"Ah, Miss Schnee, of course." The portly man nodded approvingly. "Come on, then, lass. Go get your weapon and come show us all that enthusiasm!"

Caught with all of the class staring at her, it was all that the girl could do to scurry out of the classroom as swiftly and quietly as possible in an attempt to save face and draw as little attention to the mortified flush on her cheeks as she could. A little bit later, she was back, standing on the platform in full combat gear, with a large, violently rattling, reinforced steel cage before her.

"Now." The Professor started, standing right next to it with his axe musket in hand. "Given your admirable performance during the entry exam, I am quite sure that the beast in this cage will barely be a warm up. But still, one should never forget the basics, so, are you prepared to show me how it is done?"

"I am, Professor." Weiss replied, brushing her earlier less-than-stellar behaviour and thoughts out of mind, focusing on nothing except Myrtenaster in her hand and the thing in the cage in front of-

"Go, Weiss, go…"

"Caw! Caw!"

…

A glimpse at her seat showed Ruby, slowly swaying a small red banner with their team name on it, while atop her head… Where had that crow gotten a foam hand that read exactly the same and how did it manage to fit it on its wing…?

Weiss shook her head, choosing to pointedly ignore the madness for now, just as the Professor swung his weapon at the cage's lock. And out came the Boarbatusk, squealing and growling and foaming at the mouth in a rage-

-And barely even acknowledging the huntress-in-training in front of it.

Instead, 2 pairs of eyes positively glowing with malice locked on to the scraggly blonde figure of Arc.

"Oh crap…" The boy muttered much exasperatedly.

Before either Weiss or Port knew how to react, the boar monster let out a terrible squeal a charged the students' seats, aiming squarely at the boy…

…only for Ruby to suddenly materialize in its path, petals and feathers floating all around her as the Boarbatusk stopped.

Silence fell upon the room, as the creature of Grimm, evil and destruction incarnate as it was, stopped before the small, dainty, fragile looking girl that was the leader of Team RWBY. And as the girl stared down at the beast, face blank and unmoving as glass only half visible over her orange, ragged scarf, her eye releasing that ghastly flaming glow, she took a step forward.

And the boarbatusk, frozen, rigid, hesitant in a way that almost looked like fear, took a clumsy step back. And she took another, and it took another in response.

And so it went, in that silent room where everyone was staring wide-eyed, as the red hooded girl led the Grimm back into the platform, back into the path of her teammate.

"Weiss…" came the faintly mumbled call, snapping the Heiress out of her stupor to look at Ruby.

"Finish it…"

Weiss hesitated a bit, looking at the frozen creature in front of her, unaware of anything around it except Ruby, then at the professor, who gave a single encouraging nod. Then, with a hesitant step forward, she stabbed Myrtenaster downwards into the creature's neck, just behind the bony mask.

It faded, without so much as a whimper.

But the silence persisted upon the room for a bit longer still.

"Well." Port began, snapping out of his contemplative trance. "This did not quite go as I planned. But regardless! It was a fine example of teamwork if I have ever seen one, Miss Schnee, Miss Rose. Keep this up out on the field, and the Grimm will never stand a chance against you!"

Not trusting her voice, Weiss just nodded in acknowledgement, while Ruby simply blinked.

"Right, then!" The teacher continued, turning to the rest of the room. "Remember this, my dear students, the creatures of Grimm are an insidious foe, one that will not always, or likely not ever, act in the ways you expect it to, and thus, you must always remember to stay vigilant and react quickly, like Miss Rose here did. Class dismissed!"

Slowly students started filtering out. It did not go unnoticed to the Heiress how a vast majority of them seemed to veer away from her teammates as they did so, nor did she miss the slightly apologetic look Arc shot her as he rose.

"Ok…?"

Then she noticed her Leader, staring back at her, something almost expectant in those dull eyes.

"…Yes." She answered at length. "I… Thank you for the assistance."

"Sorry meddling. Tried to give credit."

"Don't… worry about it." Weiss replied with a sigh, and then turned to leave. Ruby's eyes never left her.

Merle landed on the small girl's shoulder, and with a soft coo nuzzled encouragingly at her cheek. Ruby absently petted it as she left the classroom.

"Hey, Ruby."

Jaune was waiting for her at the exit. She appreciated it, he was a friend.

"Hi, Jaune. Sorry for mess."

"Ah, it's cool, don't worry about it." The boy replied dismissively. "Way I see it, whatever trouble happened in there was the boarbatusk's fault, not yours or Weiss'. I am sadly kinda used to it. Grimm have a huge tendency to tunnel vision on me."

Ruby blinked, then nodded, uncertain of how else to reply.

"Speaking of, however, you got any plans for later?"

Ruby blinked again.

"Why…?"

"Well, there is someone I wanted to introduce you to."

/

Later that day, as the sun began its descent into the horizon, when the freed period after classes finally hit, the duo found themselves walking down a street in downtown Vale, away from the bullhead docks, amidst a fair bit of staring and whispering from the populace moving around them. Ruby was no stranger to staring and whispering, but this time she felt they were different, more curious than fearful, more awed than malicious.

"…Why staring?" She eventually voiced out, her gaze causing a small cluster of people to shuffle off nervously.

"Wha-Oh, you mean them? Well, let's face it, there's no way anyone around here didn't see the Ebonmaw the other day. And there's also no way that Beacon could keep the first confirmed defeat of one in centuries from leaking out. From what I've heard in the media, however, they don't know exactly who did it, only that they were affiliated with the Academy. Ozpin's probably trying to keep things under wraps not to draw too much attention on us, but still, it's obvious we came from Beacon, so of course people will be wondering." Jaune explained calmly and quietly, paying as much mind to the attention as one might give the air they breathe as he led the way.

"Makes sense…" Ruby allowed.

"Can't say I blame them, in all honesty." The boy returned with a shrug, before glancing at her with that glint in his eyes she'd come to learn meant he wanted to know things. "Seeing one of the most feared Grimm on record getting one shot like that was bound to leave an impression. Which leads to something I've been meaning to ask. What the heck was that?"

The hooded girl blinked, as her feathered companion swooped low to land on her shoulder, squawking in delight at the chance to stretch its wings a bit. There were many ways to answer that question…

"Magic…"

…But Ruby was ever a practical girl. She liked to give practical answers.

"Really?" Her friend replied, more curious than sceptical. "Damn, I mean, I knew that was a thing, once. The flashes I get from the blades showed me as much. But how'd you do it? That didn't seem like… something he was capable of."

"Wasn't. But remembers… I remember. Figured it out."

Jaune stopped with a start, staring at her with a face of gaping shock. Ruby just blinked again.

"Are you saying…" He said, sounding like he was trying to process some sort of difficult reasoning. "…That you managed to reverse engineer magic… from faint, distant memories of an inhuman being witnessing it?"

"Sleep little. Much free time…"

The boy just stood there, staring at her weirdly, making her tilt her head, then look inquisitively at Merle, the crow almost seeming to shrug to say, "your guess is as good as mine".

Then he snorted in amusement.

"Eh, you are something else, you know that…?"

The girl blinked, blinked again, blinked some more, tilted her head the other way, then back, while the bird almost seemed to preen. Jaune was being weird again, she concluded.

"Anyway, we're burning daytime here." The boy started, once more on the move. "We're nearly to the place."

"…Who meeting?"

"You'll see." Was the reply, a mischievous grin growing on the boy's face as he muttered to himself. "Oh, he's gonna love this…"

Pretty soon, the duo found themselves in front of a rather plain and unassuming book store. The sign at the front read "Tukson's Book Trade".

Ah, so he wanted her to meet his other friend…?

The bell jingled as they entered a seemingly empty store. Out from the back, a gruff voice called out.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the Sun. Please wait a moment, I'll be with you shortly."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again." Jaune called back, that grin in full bloom. "That is a terrible slogan."

There was an exclamation of surprise then, along with some quick shuffling and muttered cursing as something seemed to fall. Then, a man opened the door, tall and broad and dark haired and hazel eyed, and his grin mirrored Jaune's the moment his gaze fell on him.

"Ah, what would you know about marketing, you stinkin' brat? Been down in them' ruins so long, you forgot a man needs to make a profit."

"What profit? Bet I could count the number of people who entered through that door since you opened this dump with one hand, this time included, and have fingers to spare."

Ruby was doing a lot of blinking, she found, as she looked back and forth between Jaune and the man glaring with matching grins at each other, sparks almost seeming to fly between their eyes in a way that didn't seem very friend like…

…And then the tension vanished abruptly as both laughed, and approached each other, hands clapping together in greeting.

"Good to see you, kid. How ya doin'?"

"Eh, another close shave with death a few days back, nothing new. It's good to see you too, Tukson."

"Few days ago?" The man inquired in surprise. "Wait, you were trying for Beacon-You fought a Godsdamn Ebonmaw?!"

"Uh, news spread fast." Jaune replied glibly.

"Kid, sometimes I seriously worry about your sense of self-preservation. Or lack thereof." Tukson replied, in a tone of resigned, long-suffering frustration. "The teachers must be something else, if you're here now to tell the tale."

"Funny thing is." The boy replied knowingly, looking back at the girl he had brought along. "It wasn't the teachers who did it."

At that, the older man finally seemed to realize she was there, giving her a curious if confused stare which she reciprocated with a little wave.

"Hi…"

"Tukson, this is Ruby, friend I met over at Beacon, and her crow Merle." He quickly added that last part when it seemed like the animal was about to caw in displeasure. "Ruby, this here is Tukson, that friend I mentioned to you a while back."

With that introduction done, the blond turned to the older man.

"We'd better take this somewhere a bit more private, Tukson." He said, a bit more serious. "You are not going to believe it."

/

A quick relocation later found the trio in the store's basement. As Tukson, who seemed somewhat reluctant to be anywhere near this particular area with her close by, and Jaune where talking things out, Ruby's gaze was locked into the big metal door, fitted with a large number of locks, that was standing right behind them. There was something there, something that seemed… familiar in some way, something that seemed to call from the back of her mind but couldn't quite make itself properly heard…

"I gotta say you're right, kiddo." Tukson said at length as Jaune apparently finished filling him in on the events of the other day, looking at the little girl before him with a dubious expression. "I am having some trouble believing all this. I mean, you're basically saying this girl's got the powers and memories from one of the characters of the ancient tales. Seems a bit… farfetched."

"C'mon, Tukson. After all the crap we've uncovered and what you've seen me do with the blades, you're suddenly deciding not to trust me anymore?" The boy replied, sounding annoyed but not entirely serious.

"It's not that." The man denied with a shake of his head. "I've known you for long enough to know you would not be lying about something like this. It's just… a tough pill to swallow, to think that something more that ruins and broken relics has survived from that time. A time, mind you, we don't know nearly enough about."

"I get that. Really, I do. But you just haven't been around Ruby here as I have, Tukson. She recognized my blades before I even explained them to her, and they recognized her. I've been asking her so many questions, and she has answered them all, even giving much more information on things than what I originally had. I am telling you, Ruby here is the real deal, and you will want to hear what she has to say about the stuff in the vault."

"Well… When you put it like that, and with such a stellar recommendation, I suppose I'll trust you on this." Tukson conceded, before turning and beginning to work on unlocking the door.

"Done talking…?" Ruby ventured, even as Merle let out a small, annoyed squawk. She was curious about what they were talking about, especially when it seemed to involve her. But interrupting or eavesdropping did not seem polite, and as far as Ruby was concerned, if she did not like people being impolite with her, she should not be impolite to others.

"Yeah. Sorry about that, Ruby." Jaune answered sheepishly. "Guess, I owe you an explanation… So, remember how I told before, that Tukson here likes to collect bits and pieces and relics of old civilizations?"

The girl nodded. She did not forget, it was the day they'd become friends.

"Well, that vault's where he keeps most of the stuff. And given everything you seem to know, I figured… Maybe I should show you? You may recognize something." He offered with an expectant look, which had the girl ponder for a bit. That strange familiar feeling had certainly caught her attention…

"Alright…" She nodded yet again.

"Great! So, with that in mind," Jaune replied with a happy grin, turning to the grumbling man tending to his work. "You gonna take much longer there?"

"You know full well that I put this many locks for a reason, you brat." Tukson replied with a grumble, even has he undid the last lock and pushed the door open. "Alright then, have a looksee, kids."

Jaune and Tukson crossed the threshold, Ruby followed…

…And froze, her eyes widening at what she saw.

It was large, rectangular room, bathed in artificial white light by the fluorescent lights up on the ceiling. A room filled with chaotically placed piles upon piles of scrolls and books, in varying states of preservation ranging from brand new to crumbling to dust. Far more interesting than those, however, were the display cases that showed a variety of clearly very old items. Items that she recognized. And none more so, than the one immediately in front of her, in a large, rectangular glass case.

"Ruby, you ok…?"

She did not answer the concerned query, absorbed as she was by what she was seeing. Slowly, she took a tentative step forward, and moved until she could place her hand upon smooth glassy surface. All the while, her eyes never left the leather wrapped handle, nor the simple but ludicrously large pummel, nor the remaining, shattered edge of what had once obviously been a massive, obsidian blade.

She remembered then, a woman, raggedly dressed, hair a bleached white, expression a stony mask of resolution, charging forward into battle, the broken blade held firmly in her single-handed grip, made briefly whole by the runic power contained within, ready to be swung and unleash its devastation…

"Riven…" Ruby whispered, so faintly the other 2 people in the room barely heard her.

She turned silently, then, her gaze slowly moving away from the ancient weapon, until it fell upon another, smaller, square case. Within, lay a small, inconspicuous shard of stone, a fragment, roughly hexagonal in shape, just big enough to fit comfortably in her hand, a shade of white so pure as to almost feel unnatural.

She remembered then, a massive, alabaster colossus of stone and magic, of rock and fury, blotting out the sun as it entered the fray borne on wings of gold, the earth trembling in the wake of its arrival, announced by a roaring laughter, not made in bestial rage, nor malicious intent, but with a childish youthfulness that made it seem all the more alive…

"Galio…"

Over yonder, a large, rusted over circular tube, and a metallic case filled with rusty, degraded mechanisms, all seemingly part of sum ancient firearm.

She remembered then, a man, cape red and cigar burning in his lips, a fearless grin on his face as fire surrounded him, his laugh deafened by a peal of thunder unleashed as the massive double-barrelled shotgun in his grip fired, decimating everything in its path…

"Graves…"

And on the last case, a sceptre, cracked and ravaged by the wear and tear of time, crowned by a golden circle, adorned with deep blue crystals that almost seemed to move like waves.

She remembered then, a girl, a maiden of the depths, a daughter of the sea, her large amber eyes fierce even as her piscine form was carried onto land by the roiling tides she controlled, a wall of pure water rising upon her command, surging and destroying at her call, protecting and healing at her will…

"Nami…"

At the sight of this objects, these derelict remains of a time long past, Ruby felt… a faint trace of something, some form of muted emotion that even she had trouble discerning. Was it surprise? Was it sadness? She could not say, but what she did know was that it felt unpleasant…

Merle, ever on her shoulder, who had so far kept to an almost solemn silence, began nuzzling at her cheek at that moment. She turned to see Jaune and Tukson looking at her, the later with eyes wide in surprise, the former with eyes full of sympathy.

"You know, the people these things used to belong to, don't you…?" The boy asked, his tone hesitant, but full of concern.

"…Yes." She answered at length. "Champions. Like her. Like him."

"We had… Only conjectures about what these object were, until now." Tukson said, seeming suddenly very interested in the conversation. "Our research seemed to indicate that they belonged to figures of some importance, in a civilization so old there's barely any record of it. You're saying… That it is true?"

"Yes." She said simply, almost reservedly, then turned her attention back towards the fours items, her slowly turning between all four of them.

"You don't know the half of it, Tukson." Jaune began, when it became clear Ruby didn't feel to elaborate any further, pulling out his notebook. "Turns out, we were right in some things and way off in others…"

And so, he began explaining to the older man what Ruby herself had told him, of the ancient continent known as Valoran (they had severely mistranslated that before, it would seem) and the governing system of various city states, and this organization, this League of Legends, working towards keeping a fragile peace in an unstable world, and the champions that fought, in magical battles of life and death, and the memories of two of these beings that had arrived to them in this modern era, in the blades he now wielded and the powers that had been given the girl.

"This…This is huge." Tukson stated at length, seemingly trying to wrap his head around this wellspring of new information.

"I know, right?" Jaune said excitedly. "A couple of hours talking to Ruby here has gotten us more information than all the years we've been trying to dig for ourselves." He turned to Ruby, flashing her a smile. "And now that I think about it, I never really thanked you for that did I?"

"Glad helping friend…" The girl stated, like it was obvious, her response so simple and blunt it made the boy rub the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Still, though, this leaves us with one question." Tukson said, apparently more to himself than them. "If this Valoran, this… League of Legends were so powerful, what happened to them?"

The question seemed to catch Jaune off-guard, as if he had failed to consider it up to that point, and both he and Tukson turned to Ruby expectantly.

And the girl, remembered…

She remembered an all-encompassing darkness, broken only by the runic words of power in a circle around her, shining in power with the pretence of keeping her contained. How long had she stayed here waiting, knowing freedom only in the scant few, fleeting times she was called to battle? How long has this silent nothingness been her only companion? She did not know, nor did she care.

But this time, something was different.

An all mighty rumble shook the world.

Soon, it was followed by the din of battle, the clashing of blades, the power of magic, the roars of beasts and the screams of the dead and dying.

Suddenly, the threshold of her prison opened, and a single, purple robbed figure entered, looking haggard and injured.

She gazed at it curiously, this being who began to panickily invoke the words of power to unmake her prison. What, she wondered, could be leading to the desperation, the fear, it was feeling?

Her question was answered mere moments later, when something pounced from the hall upon the summoner, the moments that followed filled with screams of pain and bloody gurgles and the rending of flesh.

It was a beast, she found, not dissimilar from the monstrous chimera that'd once been a man she had fought both with and against out in the fields. But this one, midnight black, red marked, and mask of white bone, radiating nothing but a malicious, unrelenting urge to destroy, felt far more familiar than that man-made monstrosity ever had.

Its butchering done, the creature rose, its burning eyes gazing upon her. Other beasts began encroaching from the halls.

Slowly, she began rising, her scythe firmly in her wooden grip, her power flaring as the crows heeded the call. These creatures who had disturbed her vigil seemed to hesitate then, but all the same, she would dispatch them, as she always did, and then return to her long wait…

"…The Grimm came." She said, after a long, long period of silence.

It went a long way to kill the excitement in the conversation.

/

A few more words were eventually exchanged, and a promise to keep in contact with the store owner for any more information was given (although Tukson had admitted he may be travelling soon for personal reasons. Vacuo seemed to be a nice place to visit, or so he claimed.), but soon Jaune and Ruby had to leave, lest they break the Academy's curfew.

The next few days came and went, an odd normalcy settling over the teams as classes and practices and homework filled their time, Jaune and Ruby where seldom seen too far apart, and the rest of their teams found themselves dragged along, made isolated from the rest of the student body by association with the strange little girl.

A situation that was at once both lightened and exacerbated by a particular incident that occurred one early morning.

/

Team RWBY had been sitting down at the cafeteria, and Team JNPR found them there, partaking of a quiet breakfast.

"Hey, girls!" Nora, ever the chipper one, greeted cheerfully as she plopped down on her seat. Her eyes quickly fell on the large plate of cookies on the table, which Ruby had been quietly munching on, and Merle quietly pecked at his own batch of treats on the side. "Oooooh, cookies-"

Her arm reaching out for the treats was suddenly grabbed, and she turned to find Yang starring at her in alarm.

"Nora." The blonde said, in a tone of scared, frantic pleading. "Don't take Ruby's cookies. Ever."

"Oh come on, I was just going to ask! What's the big dea-"

The redhead was suddenly interrupted, as a feeling of dread seemed to wash over her. Slowly, she turned her head to the younger girl. Ruby's piercing green eye was the only thing that could be discerned from within the darkness of her hood, and it was starring right into her soul.

"Mine…"

With a speed almost too fast for the human eye to follow, Nora had repositioned to Ren's other side, placing him between her and the diminutive girl, a nervous chuckle on her lips.

"R-right, no touching the cookies, like I am with the pancakes, got it…"

Seemingly satisfied with that, the shadows seemed to fade, and Ruby returned to quietly nibbling on a cookie like a particularly adorable rodent.

"Yeeesh, wasn't that a bit much, Rubes?" Jaune asked jokingly, seemingly unphased by what had just happened.

"Cookies mine." Ruby answered in between bites, a surprising amount of steel in her toneless voice. "Can't have'em."

"Yeah, yeah, chill, I wasn't going to." The boy answered placatingly.

And from there, the 2 team leaders once more launched into a conversation about whichever little thing came to mind, their teammates providing little more than a captive audience, when suddenly…

"Ow, stop it!"

Their eyes were drawn to the commotion a few tables over, a rabbit-eared girl being harassed by another team of their year. Most of them frowned in disapproval, however…

"Oh no…"

Blake turned to her partner, finding the blonde witnessing the scene unfolding, eyes wide and body trembling.

"Yang, what's the mat-?"

"…Bullying?"

The quiet whisper echoed, and a heavy silence seem to fill the entire cafeteria.

No one moved as the red-cloaked girl got up from her seat, the look on her face as blank as ever, but with something glowing in her dull eyes that seemed unerringly akin to anger. Before anyone knew how to react, she strode forward, towards Team CRDL and their victim, the only ones seemingly yet to notice the heavy tension in the air.

That changed quickly, however, as their tall bulky team leader, a boy by the name of Cardin, noticed her approach, and sneered.

"What do you want, you little cre-?"

Whatever else he was going to say was lost. The entire student body present in the cafeteria witnessed the bully's arrogance quickly fading away from his paling face, his body frozen in trembling fear. Like a twisted re-enactment of the by now infamous boarbatusk incident, the girl approached the much taller boy, and for every quiet, nonchalant step she took forward, he took a haphazard, hesitant step back. And so it went until the bully's back hit the cafeteria's wall, his eyes widening in a primal panic at feeling his venues of escape disappearing. Ruby approached still, and everyone saw as the once boisterous teen, began sinking to the floor, as if desperately trying to make himself smaller, to somehow escape her notice, starring at her like she was a monster of his childhood nightmares come to life upon the waking world. She was nearly upon him then, and squatted down, so that her mismatched eyes would be level with his terrified brown ones.

A long moment passed by, as the tense silence seemed to reach its peak…

…And then the small girl reached out and lightly smacked Cardin in the forehead.

"Bullying's bad…" She said.

"U-u-uh…?" Was the most eloquent response the fear addled boy could manage.

"No bullying. Leave others alone, big meanie…"

And just like that, the disturbing tension in the air disappeared, fading as if it had never been there. Her piece said, Ruby got back up, and turned to return to her seat, faintly noticing on the way that the rabbit girl had disappeared in the commotion.

Seconds later, she was back at her table, munching on cookies like nothing had happened. She only stopped briefly, when she saw the stares she was getting from the others. Jaune's was merely amused, Yang's had a great deal of surprise in it, but the others…

"…What?"

Other than Jaune's short chortle, she received no answers other than averted eyes.

And at that moment, Ruby had enough, and decided that this would not stand much longer.

/

In fact, later in the day, during free period, Jaune was fairly surprised at finding the red-cloaked girl sitting in a corner of the Academy's massive library, alone, except for her ever-present companion Merle, quietly reading a book with a large amount of keen interest.

"Hey, Ruby." The boy greeted jovially as he approached. "Whatcha reading that's so- "Leadership for Dummies"?"

Jaune, eyebrow raised in confusion, could honestly say he had not seen that one coming. He hadn't even been aware that book series even covered such topics…

"Well, that's new… But what is this all about, Ruby?"

"Having trouble." The girl answered, a faint note of frustration in her voice. "Thought maybe could find answer…"

"Oh?" Was the boy's curious reply, even as he took a seat by her side. "What's on your mind?"

"I…Team leader. Trying to be, trying to act, but…" She seemed to hesitate slightly, unsure how to put her conundrum into words. "RWBY is team, but no talk. I say, they do. I see they want, but never voice. Can't tell doing right or wrong, they won't say…"

"So," Jaune said at length, as he tried to sift through the girl's words for her meaning. "What you're saying is that, well, you're worried about the lack of communication that's going on with your team, and what that might say about your skill as a leader…?"

"Leader, not tyrant. Shouldn't do everything alone…"

"Uh, can't fault you there." Jaune agreed with a nod, although the words, admirable as they were, caused an uncomfortable feeling to bloom in him. "And you thought that you might find the solution for this problem in guide books?"

"Didn't know what to do…" The girl replied, faintly embarrassed.

"Well, at the risk of sounding like an idiot…" Jaune ventured. "Have you tried just talking to them about it?"

Ruby blinked at that, her head tilting as she regarded the boy in silence, for a long enough while that even he was starting to feel uncomfortable. And why was the bird sudden looking at him with an unimpressed look that almost seemed to say "Yes, you do sound like an idiot."…?

"…Have you?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Was Jaune's answer, clearly not having expected things to go in this direction.

"Talked to team. Have you?"

Jaune opened his mouth to answer… And promptly shut it back up. Talk? Sure, he had talked with Pyrrha, and Nora and Ren, he had when…

…

Oh…

Oh…

"Shit." He said instead, as a wave of realization washed over him, followed very quickly by shame, before eventually admitting. "I… Can't say I have."

"Maybe should." The girl replied. "Then both fix problems."

The boy could only chuckle wearily at that.

"How come I am the one trying to give advice, and yet you're the one making me realize I'm at fault?" He inquired quietly.

"Jaune dense like that."

The simple, sledge-hammer blunt response actually knocked the air out of the boy's lungs, but it was drawn back in fairly quickly as he gave a wheezing chuckle.

"I guess I had that one coming." He replied good naturedly. "So, since we both apparently suffer from the same issue, for entirely different reasons, what say you we go try to fix our respective messes now?"

Ruby's response was just a simple nod.

/

It wasn't hard for Jaune to find the rest of his team, working on their class assignments as they were in their dorm room.

His team, the one he was supposed to lead… except he hadn't exactly been doing that, had he? When was the last time he had interacted in any significant way with them, other than constantly dragging them along to meet up with Team RWBY? When was the last time he had even bothered to talk to them?

Had he been just that blind in his drive to learn the knowledge Ruby possessed? Or had his own personal biases gotten the better of him without him realizing…?

"Jaune, is everything alright?"

The blond almost started, at the words directed at him by Pyrrha, looking up at him curiously. Pyrrha, his partner… And yet now, those words, politely spoken, lacked the warmth they'd had when they had met, when they had fought their way through the Emerald forest together.

Damn, he had really messed this up, hadn't he…?

"I… I owe you all an apology." He ultimately replied.

That earned their attention, all 3 of them stopping their work to look at him curiously.

"It has come to my attention…" He elaborated, cursing the sudden hesitation in his tone. "…That although I was, Gods know why, chosen to be the Leader of this team, I haven't exactly been playing the part. At all. In fact, even worse than that, I seem to have forgotten basic human decency and have kind of been brushing you all off."

He sighed then, the truth of this realization hitting him hard.

"I wanted to apologize for that. I… Well, I have been on my own for quite a while. My family never believed in me, and I was left to my own devices because of that." He closed his eyes, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, seeking comfort as unwelcome memories flashed through his head. "I tried to make the most of it, but… I guess what I am saying that I got so used to doing things on my own, that the fact that I know have people relying on me hasn't quite sunk in, yet. That I shouldn't try to tough things out for once."

Another wary sigh, full of self-loathing. He felt like such a hypocrite now…

"That is no excuse, though. I fucked up hard and I accept that. You guys are not obliged to put up with me if you don't want to, you're free to just do your own thing if you'd like. But still, I would like you to at least believe that I want to try to do better. If you would give me the opportunity, that is, I'd like to make amends-"

He stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. His eyes opened to see his partner smiling at him approvingly. From their seats, Ren and Nora where smirking and grinning the same.

"Apology accepted." Pyrrha said with a kind smile, and the warmth was back in her tone. "We're ready to see you try if you really want."

And maybe, Jaune thought to himself, maybe that meant he hadn't completely fucked up yet.

/

It had been easy for Ruby to find her team, they seldom left their dorm room. All 3 of them turned to look at her as the door opened.

"Need talk." She said.

That drew a reaction of them. Weiss put down the pen she had been doing their latest assignment with, Yang rose from her laid out position to sit on the bed's edge, and Blake put down the book she had been reading, all 3 of them looking at her oddly.

"What is it, Ruby-?"

"Stop it." She interrupted her partner, making the girl almost stumble in surprise.

"W-what do you mean?" Weiss ventured instead, as Ruby's gaze fell upon each of them in succession. Each of them flinched.

"Don't flinch like will hurt you." She said, and all 3 girls recoiled at that. "Always go with my say. Never question as I act. Always skittish, always quiet. Never talk." The girl pointed at herself. "Leader. Not tyrant." Then she pointed at them. "Teammates, not subordinates. If need help, should ask, if disagree with something, should say, if doing wrong, should admonish."

And then, the 3 older girls could only stare in shock, as the Ruby's face shifted, and it was plain to see, the faint lines and traces there that gave the impression that she was hurt.

"How can help if don't let me…? How can learn if don't show me…? How can grow if not allowed…?" She whispered quietly.

A quiet that encompassed the room, as Weiss, Blake and Yang, looked at each other, in shock, unsure on how to react to the words spoken. And slowly, shame seemed to fill all 3 of them.

Yang just stood there, staring wide eyed at her younger sister, looking for all the world like she wanted to reach out and say something but simply could not find the strength to. Blake, for her part, looked down to the ground, finding herself incapable of looking the younger girl in the eyes, part of her wondering if things could've been different if someone else had tried to reach out like this…

And Weiss, Weiss was just stunned at the words. Had they really been having so hard a time trying to come to terms with dealing with Ruby's presence… that they had seriously forgotten the actions of the girl underneath…?

Eventually, it was the Heiress that reacted first.

"I…am sorry, Ruby." The heiress said, sincerely. "It seems like we… have been going about this the wrong way. For what is worth… We will try to do better from now on, if you're so willing to do the same, all right?"

"All I ask." The red-cloaked girl replied, seemingly rather pleased, even with her blank tone.

"And since you have asked…" Weiss ventured. "There is one thing I'd like to say…"

"Yes…?" The smaller girl almost seemed to lean forward expectantly.

"Can you please stop watching me in my sleep? It is really off-putting…"

…

"Can do that." Ruby confirmed.

It was progress, and she'd take it.

/

And that's that.

I do apologize for the more breather chapter after so long with no updates. For what is worth, if this chapter was indication enough, I am skipping the Jaunedice arc entirely and we going straight for Volume 1 finale from here, boys and gals!

And I can safely say it won't take nearly as long as this one took.

Big hints have been dropped tho. I wonder who will pick up on them?

As always, the next update will be my by now traditional end-of-the-year Beneath a Broken Moon update. However, depending on how things go, I may have a double surprise for you, the first entry of a new story, a first foray of mine into 2 entirely new franchises, if not alongside BBM, then certainly after it, so look forward to that.

Till then, cya all on the next one.