Ruby Rose: Huntress of Fenrir
An: New chapter. This one introduces some familiar faces.
1-Whetstone
FRIAR, Mobile branch of Fenrir
Within her laboratory aboard Friar, Rachel sat at her computer, observing the personnel reports of her Blood unit candidates. However, her attention was focused on one in particular. She smiled at the screen when she noticed her door opening. With a quick tap on her keyboard, she turned to see her visitor. "Why, hello, dear sister," Rachel said. "What brings you here?" The tall redheaded woman wearing a white lab coat over a grey blouse and matching skirt smiled.
"Oh, I just finished another meeting with Director Grem and thought I'd check up on you!" Leah Claudius answered. "What are you up to, Rachel?"
"Simply reviewing the dossiers of my current Blood unit members," Rachel replied. Leah was interested and walked behind her sister's wheelchair to view the reports. Julius, Romeo, and Nana's she knew, but she hadn't seen the latest member, who had just become a God Eater just three days ago. She placed her hands on the wheelchair's handles as she read. As she progressed, however, she paled.
"She was there for the Satellite base massacres?" she gasped.
"Indeed. The reports stated that she held off multiple Aragami so the civilians could evacuate, despite not having a God Arc," Rachel said.
"That was rather foolhardy."
"True. However, she knew the risks, and chose to continue fighting to save as many lives as she could, even if the cost would be her own. That is to be commended, don't you agree?" the younger of the two asked.
"I guess so. But to think that someone would willingly fight Aragami without a God Arc like that…" Leah mused as she continued to read the dossier. The picture provided showed a smiling young woman with crystal blue eyes and short black hair that was dyed red at the tips. However, upon looking further, Leah noticed the roots were red too, meaning the girl was, likely, a redhead like her.
Leah liked her already.
Reading further, the God Arc Soldier researcher saw she was seventeen and had started out in Fenrir in God Arc maintenance. She was quite proficient at the task, and it caused a great deal of disappointment when she was found compatible with God Arcs. In fact, she saw Ruby had an unusually high compatibility rate with them. Uncommon, for sure, but not unheard of. Her combat aptitude was also far above what most God Eater recruits were, which was astonishing considering her age. Leah supposed she should have expected this, considering the reports about the Satellite Base Massacres.
Speaking of that, Leah made a silent motion to Rachel to pull up the reports about said incident, and Rachel did so easily. Leah watched as the situation reports flew up on screen. She quickly skimmed over them and sighed sadly. The Satellite Base Massacres, otherwise known as "Golden Week Hell" because they occurred during the Old World holiday baring the same name, were a brutal reminder of how dangerous the Aragami could really be, as well as the horrors of the red rain. Very few survived the massacres from those Satellite Bases, and even fewer still survived the black plague.
Leah found the reports about Ruby Rose easily and read quickly. She whistled. "No wonder you wanted this girl, Rachel," she said. "If this report is true, then that girl is a boon for Blood."
"That she is!" Rachel smiled as she stared at the blue-eyed teen's picture. "That she is…"
Friar barracks
Ruby groaned as she started waking up. She raised her arm to her head felt something metal hit her head. "OW!" she cried and bolted up. Opening her eyes, she blearily glared down at her arm, seeing a black, circular object above her wrist. She was confused for a moment before her sluggish mind finally caught up with her eyes, making her huff in frustration.
"This is going to take a while to get used to," she murmured, absently rubbing her sore forehead.
Looking back down at her Armlet, she couldn't help but feel excitement bubble inside her chest. Three days ago, she had survived the process to become a God Eater, and today, she would hopefully be cleared to start training and begin her new life. A Huntress must hunt, after all.
Her prey may be different, and her job classification has changed, but Ruby was, now and always, a Huntress.
And now, she was Earth's version of a Huntress. A God Eater.
She wiped the sleep from her eyes and quickly kicked her blanket off her. She needed to head to the med bay to see if she could be cleared for missions yet. She jumped up and quickly grabbed her uniform.
Since she literally only had the clothes on her back when she arrived on Earth, she had been forced to wear the Fenrir uniforms for a while. Even after getting the money to buy herself new clothing, it had become habit to wear them most of the time. It helped they were extremely comfortable, and they didn't inhibit her in a fight.
Currently, Ruby was wearing the top part of the Variant Scythe uniform (dyed red, of course!) with the shorts, ammo bags, socks, and boots from the Boost Hammer uniform (dyed black). The Huntress had been terribly upset to find that she had lost her cloak during the Incident that brought her here, so having the cloak from the Variant Scythe uniform draped across her shoulders gave her a since of comfort. The shorts and boots from the Boost Hammer uniform were simply because the Scythe uniform's bottoms had heeled boots (which was a big NO for Ruby), the skirts on others weren't Combat Skirts (Seriously, it was like the skirts on the uniforms were designed by perverts! Ruby would rant) and the others impeded her style.
The only real downside was it showed more skin that she was used to. She supposed that was a small price to pay.
After checking her outfit again, she nodded happily and turned to walk out of the room when her eyes caught the items on her nightstand. A red rose hair clip and two small silver ring shaped earrings. She sighed. The hair clip had been a gift from a little girl she had saved during the Golden Week Hell, a 'memento for my big sis!' the girl had said to Ruby's flustered confusion and silent joy. She had never been a big sister before, and being called one was quite an experience.
The earrings were from one of her friends in Maintenance who refused to believe Ruby had never had an interest in getting her ears pierced before. It had taken weeks of pestering and bartering on her friend's part to finally have Ruby agree. It had been painful, and she had done nothing but glare at her friend for weeks after. However, her friend had given her the earrings, knowing Ruby wouldn't be into gaudy and showy jewelry so settled on a simple pair of small hoop rings for her. And Ruby liked how they gave her a more mature look when she wore them.
She let out a huff and smiled.
Friar main lobby
Fran stood behind the counter, bored. It was rather quiet at the moment, so she was stuck watching people pass until she was needed. She started moping when she heard the elevator creak, making her frantically bolt up and straighten her uniform. Turning to the elevator, she saw a girl about her age leave it. She wore black shorts and boots and a red Variant Scythe uniform top. Her eyes were a bright cheery blue, and her hair was black with dyed red tips. A red rose hair clip was pinned in her hair, and two small ring earrings hung from her ears.
So, this was the new God Eater.
The girl walked up to the counter and smiled. "Hey there! I'm Ruby Rose! I was told to speak with Fran?" she asked. Fran smiled at her.
"Yes, hello! I'm Fran, your operator. You're the new God Eater, correct? Congratulations on passing the God Eater and Blood aptitude test," she replied.
"Thanks!"
"No problem. Now that you've passed the test, you have been granted clearance to access the Database," Fran continued. "I'll be doing everything I can to provide you support in your time as a Rookie Blood."
"What's the Database?" Ruby asked.
"It's basically Fenrir's digital library containing all sorts of information," Fran explained. "If you come across an unfamiliar term, you can likely find it on the Database. It can be accessed from the Terminal to your right."
"Ok. Got it."
"Unfortunately, I've been informed your Bias Factor has yet to fully bond to you, so you can't go on missions yet." Ruby groaned at that. "However, you are free to look around for now," Fan told her. "How about taking some time up in the Garden?" Ruby's eyes widened.
"This place has a garden too?! How big is this place?!" Ruby exclaimed. Fran giggled at her surprise.
"Director Grem spared no expense in designing Friar!" she explained. "You can access the Garden from the elevator down there." She pointed to the elevator, and Ruby turned to see where she was directing. Turning back to Fran, Ruby smiled and nodded.
"Right! Guess I'll go check it out!" the now blue-eyed Huntress said. Fran nodded.
"Very good! I hope you find it pleasing!" Fran replied. "If you are ever in need assistance, come talk to me!"
"Got it! Take care!" Ruby smiled and waved as she turned to walk down the stairs to the sitting area. A member of Friar's staff at the bottom of the stairs stopped her.
"Hey, you are that new rookie, aren't you?" he asked. "Welcome to the mobile fortress Friar, the pride of Fenrir! I'm rooting for you to make it as a full-fledged member of Blood. I'll be cheering you on!"
"Hey, thanks!" Ruby said with a salute. She walked into the sitting area and saw the large monitor depicting a map of their immediate area. Another staff member stood at the elevator. Ruby walked up to him and greeted him. "Hi!"
He turned to her. "Ah, yes. So, you are the new Blood," he said. "Do you know where this elevator goes?"
"Fran said it can take me to the Garden," Ruby answered.
"That is true. It also leads to the Upper Level, which houses a lot of important facilities here on Friar," the man told her. "The Director's office, labs, and other ministerial areas."
"Cool. Thanks!"
"Anytime. Good luck with your training."
Ruby walked up to the elevator and pressed the up arrow. The doors opened, allowing her to step in. The doors closed behind her, and she turned to the lobby panel to press the button for the Garden.
The elevator jerked and started to ascend. She leaned against the wall when her phone went off. She fished it out to see had a message. She opened her phone and read: Yo, Ru! Finished placing the Variant Scythe and Sniper Rifle onto your God Arc! Praise me now!
Ruby smiled and chuckled as she quickly typed out her response: You rock, Babs!
Yes! Yes! Keep them coming, oh-mighty God Eater!
"Typical Barbra," Ruby mumbled as the elevator stopped and opened. Ruby's eyes widened, and a gasp escaped her lips.
She slowly walked out of the elevator into the Garden, mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the place. The Garden itself was a modest size, circular garden surrounded by a moat of clear water. It was mostly covered with lush, green grass and colorful flowers. Her boots made soft thuds against the cobblestone walkway that lead to a small gazebo. The whole room was illuminated by the back wall being nothing but glass with a background of a bright blue sky with fluffy clouds. Potted plants hung from arches above the elevator, while an elegant, massive tree sat at the far end of the Garden. Underneath it sat a young man with blonde hair and grey eyes. He wore really fancy clothes, making Ruby assume he was a high-ranking member of Friar or Fenrir until she noticed the black Armlet around his arm, making him a God Eater, like her.
He turned to her as she approached him. "Ah, I hear congratulations are in order on the results of your compatibility test," he said to her. "I'm glad of your success." Ruby just shrugged.
"Thanks. I'm glad it went well, honestly," she replied. He nodded and motioned next to him.
"Please, sit," he offered. She nodded and sat down next to him. He leaned against the tree and sighed. "This is the most peaceful location on Friar," he told her. "I come here when I have free time, to reflect."
"Yeah, I can see why," Ruby said, nodding. "It's a nice breath of fresh air compared to the stifling corridors of Friar."
"Yes. It truly is beautiful." He turned back to her and said, "My apologies, I haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Julius Visconti. I serve as captain of the Blood special forces unit, which you will soon be joining."
Ruby's eyes widened. This guy was the captain of Blood?! She snapped up, unsure whether to salute him or not, but he just chuckled and waved her down. "Please, no need to be nervous," he told her. "I'm rather looking forward to working with you."
"R-Really? Thanks," she chuckled sheepishly as she eased up. "My name is Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise." He stood and continued, "I apologize for the abrupt exist, but I have some tasks to attend to."
"Oh! No worries. Don't let me keep you, Captain!" Ruby said smiling. He nodded.
"Feel free to tour Friar while you have a chance," he told her. "Your Bias Factor will be fully bonded with you soon enough; we'll speak again then, I'm certain." He waved to her as he walked to the elevator. Ruby waved back before sighing. She fell back on her back and used one of the tree's roots as a pillow to stare up at the branches filled with bright green leaves.
"So, that was my captain, huh?" she mused. She smiled. "He seems like a good guy. I think I'm looking forward to working with you too, Captain." She looked back around the Garden with melancholic sigh.
"It…really is beautiful here…"
It was four hours later when Ruby was cleared for training.
In that time, she had taken two naps in the Garden, gotten turned around and lost in the labyrinth that was Friar, familiarized herself with the Upper Level (just in case), and chatted with Fran and other Friar staff. The Remnantian was still amazed by the sheer scope of the mobile fortress. She was sure she'd only scratched about ten percent of the whole place!
When she reported back to the med bay, Ruby was ecstatic to finally hear her Bias Factor was now bounded, and she was cleared for missions. Finally! She had quickly made her way to the Lobby to talk with Fran, who told her that her first mission would be a training simulation, to get used to her God Arc.
That was fine with Ruby. She wanted to test her God Arc in combat. Excitement bubbled its way through her system as she walked into the training grounds, her God Arc held in her right hand. The black material of the Kurogane Scythe shined in the harsh fluorescent lights. She stared out at the obstacle course before her.
"Now, then," Julius's voice crackled from the intercom. "We'll take this nice and slow. First, movement is crucial in combat with Aragami. Make your way through the obstacle course to the other side of the combat area." Ruby nodded and spun her God Arc in her hands, bringing it back to her side, ready for combat. She tensed as she waited for the greenlight to start.
A bell rang out, and Ruby jumped into the fray.
Within Rachel's lab watching Ruby's training, Leah raised an eyebrow at the monitor. "Fast," she commented. Rachel giggled.
"She's eager!" the blonde woman agreed. "This does her credit!"
"Indeed," Julius said with a nod. God Eaters, due to the presence of Oracle cells in their systems were naturally stronger and faster than normal humans, and Ruby was showing she was no exception. It would also seem Ruby may be more inclined for blitz tactics. This was good. Romeo and Nana were more strength fighters, preferring a more straightforward approach to fighting. Hopefully Ruby's presence will help round out the team.
"Her footwork is excellent!" Leah spoke, bringing him out of his thoughts. "It's as if the weight of the God Arc isn't effecting her at all!"
"That's because it isn't," Rachel told her sister.
"What do you mean?" Leah asked.
"It's obvious she's dealt with heavy weaponry before," Julius remarked, watching Ruby easily jump through the steppingstones obstacle set up. "One doesn't get this level of balance hoisting something as heavy as a God Arc while running overnight. Clearly, she must make adjustments here and there, like right now our razor blade obstacle, but that's more being unfamiliar with the God Arc and not struggling with the weight."
"But still…Even with such knowledge of heavy weaponry, and the boost in strength God Eaters receive from the Oracle Cells, you don't just pick up an Arc and start performing as well as Ruby here," Leah said.
"That is true," Julius conceded, not taking his eyes off Ruby as she neared the final obstacle. "There is more to Ruby Rose than we know right now…"
Meanwhile, with Ruby, the Huntress turned God Eater was grinning joyfully. Yes! She was back, baby! Two years of training, repairing God Arcs, and waiting for this moment made everything worth it. All her life she had promised she'd do what she could to help people, and for those brief moments after her arrival on Earth, she feared she would have not been able to keep that promise.
But now, she had the means, the power, to make sure she never broke it.
She cleared another obstacle and found herself facing the final one: a large pit with warped walls on either side and a pole high above the pit with ropes. Now, normally, a God Eater would need to use the sides, run across the walls to reach the other side. Or, if they were brave enough, jump for a rope and swing across.
Ruby, however, was a Huntress. And she took option 3. She switched her God Arc into Sniper mode and ran directly at the pit.
Back in the lab, Julius raised an eyebrow. "She's going for the rope swing?" he asked.
"She must be quite confident to be able to make the jump," Leah said. Not many God Eaters who took the rope swing actually made the jump; the God Arc weighed them down too much. Much easier to rung along the side walls and reach the other side. However, neither were correct as Ruby jump high off the edge and quickly angled her Sniper at the pit. "What is she doing-?"
She was cut off when Ruby fired her Sniper, using the recoil to flip around and get more airtime. She quickly swapped the Sniper for the Scythe and reached out for the pole. The Scythe blade connected with the pole and Ruby wasted no time swinging off the pole, backflipping, and landing with a soft thump on the other side of the pit.
The three in the lab were shocked. "Hehehe! Well, that was certainly new!" Rachel mused.
"She used the recoil of the Sniper to propel her high enough to use her Arc as a grapple, then used her momentum to swing to the other side," Julius said, analyzing her technique. "Impressive!"
"I've never heard or seen a God Eater even think of using their God Arc in such a way!" Leah gasped.
"It would seem that our newest Blood member," Rachel commented, "is just full of surprises!" Julius smirked. He had felt she was going to do well in Blood, and this was just his proof.
"Congratulations! You've completed this exercise," Ruby heard Julius say over the intercom. "Head back for now, and rest for bit. We'll be resetting the field for the combat portion of your training, so we'll call you back in a few hours."
Ruby grinned at that, her blood already running hot at the prospect. "All right!" she cheered, fist pumping to the sky. "I can't wait!"
Fifteen minutes later, Ruby was walking back into the Lobby, feeling exhilarated. It had been too long since she had a proper weapon to train with, and she was on cloud nine. She couldn't wait for the training area to be reconfigured so she could work off the rust from her fighting style. Training weapons and sims could only do so much to keep a routine in top form.
After saying a quick hello to Fran, she walked down the steps to the sitting area when a new voice called out to her: "Hey there! You were so super amazing out there today!" Ruby turned and paused, thinking she was seeing Faunus! However, she quickly noticed it was only her hair done up in such a way and quickly played it off by stretching her arms and cracking her neck.
Ruby walked up to the girl and noticed she was around the same as her and was holding some kind of sandwich. The girl had short, bluish-black hair with some of it held up like cat ears and one strand held at her forehead with a yellow X-clip, and she had pink eyes. Her outfit consisted of a white tube top that looked too small to cover her large chest and a short, sleeveless pink vest. She wore short shorts and boots like Ruby's, though the girl wore crew socks with her. She had the same black Armlet as Ruby and Julius with a pink fingerless glove on her right hand, and her left arm had a pink, elbow length fingerless glove with a black sleeve under it going up to her upper arm. Beside her was a large sack.
"You're a newbie, huh?" she asked as Ruby sat down. "I mean, new to this…Blood…special force…you know what I mean!" Ruby giggled.
"Yeah, I guess I am. I'm Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you!" Ruby said, smiling.
"Nice to meet you too! I'm Nana Kouzuki, Cadet Second Class! Haha! I just got brought up too!"
"Hey, congrats!"
"Thanks! It's so awesome to meet you!"
"So, how was your training?" Ruby asked, making Nana look a tad sheepish.
"Well, it was…um…not great…exactly…" she admitted. "What about yours?"
Ruby smirked. "Piece of cake!"
"Wow! That's amazing! You must be top of the class already!" Nana praised.
"I don't know about that," Ruby commented as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
Nana giggled. "But don't worry, though! I won't let you rest easy!" she proclaimed and proceeded to eat her sandwich at a pace Ruby had only seen from Nora devouring pancakes. Ruby reached out to try and slow her down, but the girl was already halfway done with the sandwich, easily pulling out the skewer holding it together as she went.
She finished with a satisfied sigh and perked up. "Ah! By the way, as a token of our newfound friendship…" she said as she dug through her sack. She smiled widely as she pulled out a sandwich, exactly like the one she just ate. "Ta-da! Sammich!" she proclaimed proudly. "It's my mom's secret-super-special recipe! An amazing oden sandwich! Give it a try! Betcha love it!"
Ruby's eyes brightened to near impossible shades as she grinned widely. "Aha! Thanks! Can't ever go wrong with a Super-Mom special!" she exclaimed gratefully, quickly grabbing the offered sandwich. "Next time, I'll remember to trade you a batch of my mom's patented super awesome chocolate chip cookies!"
"Oooooh! I'm soo there!" Nana cheered as Fran's voice came out from the PA system.
"Nana Kouzuki, please report to the Main desk in the Lobby," Fran announced, making Nana jolt out of her seat.
"Oops! Training starts any minute now! I almost totally zoned! Sandwiches can be a blessing and a curse," she lamented. She grabbed her sack and hoisted it over her shoulder. "Sorry, gotta run! See you later!" she shouted as she raced to the stairs.
"No worries! Catch ya later!" Ruby chuckled.
"Oh, and hey!" Nana called back just shy of the stairs. "I'll be really mad if you leave even a single crumb! So, enjoy! Hehe!"
"Got it!" Ruby smiled at her as she ran up the stairs, then turned back to her sandwich. She took a bit and sighed in contentment. "Ish good!"
1-Whetstone…Complete! Next chapter: 2-Whetstone [Ni]
An: Longer than I'd like, but it was necessary to combine the training and the first real mission two chapters, hopefully. I hope everyone liked Ruby's new look and the liberties I took with the training, as well as Ruby's interactions. Some of them seem close to the game, but I tried to deviate in a few places. Hope everyone enjoyed it and can't wait for the next one!