Ruby Schnee
She was humming. It wasn't something she had often done in the past, rather it was something vivid she could remember that her own mother would do. The gentle soothing nature of her voice had calmed Ruby to sleep more times then she could remember, and she found that those same songs had the same effect on Argus... even without the lyrics. Her mother had quite the talent with singing, and while Ruby was confident she herself wasn't terrible... she couldn't remember the lyrics anymore.
Only the name of the song and the general tune still stuck in her mind. 'Red Like Roses' was the name of this particular one... it had been her favourite. Perhaps that just showed how long ago it felt like since her mother had been here... Ruby shook her head, trying to erase those thoughts. She didn't want to be thinking that kind of stuff right now... she had guests!
"You ok?" She turned her head and answered Emeralds question with a simple nod.
"Yeah-" They were heading down the hallway, now that Weiss's meeting was done Ruby was due to hand Argus over so she could practice some combat drills with the others. "-Just thinking about stuff."
"I've never heard that song before." Emeralds words were just meant to be an offhand comment, but Ruby blushed gently as she remembered that her singing wasn't currently just an audience of her baby that wouldn't remember this.
"Its something my mum used to sing to me..." Ruby let out a gentle sigh as she looked down at the sleeping infant. "At least... I think. I can't remember the words." They didn't speak much after that, to be honest, Ruby wasnt even too sure why she had asked Emerald to come with her.
"Hey so... you're gonna leave him with Weiss right?"
Ruby smiled a bit, noticing that Emerald called her Weiss rather then 'the Queen'. "Yeah."
"And... does Weiss have like... stuff in her office?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well... I'm not too sure about how to take care of kids-" That caught Ruby's attention. Not because it seemed out of place or anything, rather Weiss had been teaching her to better pick up on lies... but why would Emerald lie about that? "-But what if he like... goes to the toilet or something?"
"He can't use a toilet-"
"Ruby that's my point..." She said it with a sigh, and Ruby could have sworn she was a second away from facepalming.
"Ohhhh... right. Umm..." She considered her options for a few seconds, but Emerald just sighed and shook her head.
"Is it in your room?"
"Y-yeah."
"I'll go get it for you." She waved the conversation off as she headed down the hall, splitting off and surprisingly heading in the right direction.
"Huh... when did she figure out where our room is?"
Ruby mulled over that for a few seconds, but shrugged and kept walking to Weiss's office.
"I'm sure she just picked a random direction and the second she's out of sight she'll ask someone for help."
She couldn't help but giggle a bit. "That's totally something Emerald would do."
Yang Xiao Long
"Alright. Come on, one more shot!" She spoke with a toothy grin, holding one fist up as if to invite the challenge of it.
"Are... are you sure...?" In stark contrast, the young girl standing opposite Yang a fair distance away looked rather bashful and unsure of herself. Yang gave her a quick and enthusiastic nod, to which she gave her own weak nod and tucked some of her dark hair behind her ear again. "Ok... h-here I go." She raised both her hands and pointed them forward, both of them let off a soft glow and gave Yang an almost stinging feeling in her soul as the mana gathered into Celica's hands.
"You got this." Her words were as encouraging as she could make them, and she didn't once take her eyes from her daughter.
"Aqua sagitta...!" Her words were as loud as she could make them, and the mana gathered in her palms collected and bundled into a result. Bubbles of liquid mana formed over her outstretched hands and quickly formed into a shape that resembled a rather large arrow, the water flowed and ebbed inside the shape but never broke the outline of it. Celica wore a bright smile and bounced a little in place before pulling one of her hands back like she was stretching the string of a bow, the arrow followed her hands as she moved and Yang held her breath.
"Ok... now just point it up, and fire!" Her daughter nodded and slowly but surely angled her hands to point the arrow into the sky, holding her breath for a moment as the arrow turned... and with a twitch of her back hand the arrow was set loose and soared into the sky above the courtyard, sailing into the air and flying about as high up into the clear sky as Amity Colosseum floated. The arrow detonated after too long of not hitting a target, and the surrounding neighbourhood was treated with a light drizzle of rain for a moment while Celica danced around happily.
"I did it!! Mum did you see?? I did it!" She ran over to Yang and she scooped the happy girl up in a tight hug while they both laughed.
"You sure did, kiddo!"
"What did she do?" They both turned to the door, an entrance back into the house from the courtyard they were standing in. The whole area was designed as a sort of outdoors sparring space, but the courtyard was surrounded on all sides by roofed walkways that connected to different parts of inside the house.
Yang smirked at Blake, the love of her life being followed by Sun and currently carrying the newest member to their family... who in all honesty was already looking ready to start crawling around. He nearly had a full head of dark hair, and his eyes almost glowed a deep and beautiful red that reminded Yang of her sisters cloak.
"Your daughter cast a Wizard spell." Yang put Celica down so she could run over happily, and Blake smiled brightly down at her.
"That's really good Celica-"
"Yeah!! And it was a Water spell this time too!!" Her excited words caused Blake's expression to change to one of shock, and Yangs smirk to grow a bit in response.
"That's... w-wow Celica. That's amazing."
"Hehe! Praise me more!" The parents let out a small chuckle at that, and Blake handed their baby over to Sun, the boy resembling a body guard these days.
"You got him?" Her voice was confident, she was making sure rather then actually concerned... Sun had been a very good older brother these last few months.
"Yeah! I got Jasper!" The children all moved over to play a bit, both of them were surprisingly happy to slow down and make sure Jasper was included in whatever little game they were playing... which seemed rather difficult in Yang's opinion, but they seemed to have figured it out.
"Yang-" Blake spoke in a whisper as she approached her wife. "A Wizard spell...?"
"What's the big deal? She's cast one before-"
"She's cast a fire Wizard spell before, Yang. You know, the element she has a double Affinity for. This is different...!"
"Ok, i hear you Blake. But would you rather i let her teach herself magic?"
"Well obviously not-"
"And would you rather i teach her fire magic?" Yang smirked and gestured to the inside of their house, featuring some lovely hardwood floors and furniture made of a similar material. Blake let out a small sigh, but nodded in agreement anyway.
"You're right... you're right..." Yang pulled her into a side-hug as they watched the kids, and she didn't even have to ask the question. Blake knew without her mouth ever opening what she wanted to know. "I'm fine... i just... I guess I'm a little stressed."
"I'm sure she's gonna be found, Blake." The woman tensed under Yangs hold and Yang backpedaled. "I'm sure she... won't be found?"
Blake let out a sigh and shook her head. "I don't know what I want... I feel guilty no matter what I think..." Yang nodded and they sat against the single step leading down into the open area of the courtyard.
"Well... you can be selfish if you want to be."
"My sister in law is the Queen, Yang... I shouldn't be hoping a... criminal... can run free..."
"Why not? Do you think she'll hurt anyone?"
"I..." Blake leaned against Yang further. "I don't know."
Blake didn't open up much about the White Fang, her experiences with them or her opinions on them. They were private and only meant for herself... which Yang respected. Blake didn't push her to talk about her mother, and Yang didn't push Blake to talk about the White Fang. So that left only two details about the situation known to the blonde woman. Blake's parents were founding members of the organisation... and she used to be a member. Though perhaps it was three things now. This girl that Blake had known before... the one who had escaped prison... Illia. Apparently, they had a bit of a falling out when they were both members... Blake wasn't sure if she even was a part of it anymore, but no matter the situation... it was likely that Illia wouldn't be too happy to see her-
"Someone's at the door." Blake spoke quietly and Yang nodded, taking her arms from around her wife and letting the woman get up to go answer the front door.
Yang watched her kids in the meantime. She was sure that Blake was still a little upset about Jasper being a Hellhound rather then a Faunas, but she was trying not to show it. She let out a sigh and leaned back a bit, looking up into the sky... she didn't understand why Faunas were so deadset on proving themselves... did anyone really care what you were in this world? Were Faunas really that much different then anything else...?
"Maybe it's wrong of me to have an opinion on it... but I don't see what's so important about the specific culture..."
Yang was herself. What creature she was didn't have any meaning on her life other then what it meant she could do to protect the people she cared about. But, if Blake had different views? So be it. The only times they butted heads about it was what to teach Sun... Yang personally didn't have a problem if Blake wanted to teach Sun all about Faunas culture but... she couldn't leave Celica and Jasper out of it... Yang let out another small groan and closed her eyes.
"There I go... having an opinion about it again..."
Her head turned at a noise she hadn't been expecting. The door opened and two sets of feet crossed the boundary out to the courtyard... Blake and... Yang could guess who this was judging from just her looks alone. The clothes clearly ragged and possibly not her own, the obvious Faunas features... But... surely Blake wouldn't bring her into their home...?
"Yang... this is Illia." Well, Yang had been proven wrong before. She stood and gave the apparently nervous girl a gentle smile before turning to Blake.
"Is this your decision? This the mindset you're going to go with?" Her words were sturdy, she wanted an honest answer... and she got one.
"Yes."
Yang nodded and dropped the stoic vibe, turning to Illia with a bright smile and a happy voice. "Welcome to our home!"
"Annnd... here they are! Hopefully these should fit you. You look about the same size as my sister." Yang finished rooting through the closet and pulled some decent clothes out. Nothing fancy really, rather a comfortable getup as well as some pajamas for tonight... and however long she was staying.
"T-thank you... is this your sisters room...?" She looked around the towers bedroom in awe, and Yang chuckled.
"I mean... kinda? It was meant to be, but she only ever stayed here once." Yang lead her back through the door and down the stairs of the tower again. "We'll get you set up in a different room though. The door is a bit funky sometimes." Yang tried her best to form an excuse... honestly she just thought that the enchantments on the door would remind Illia too much of prison.
"Ok... umm... can I ask you something...?"
"Shoot."
Illia chuckled weakly as they walked. "I... I could have sworn Blake was with a guy the last time we spoke..."
"Ah-" Yang wasn't sure if Sun and Blake had ever actually been a thing... "To be honest, I'm not too sure what happened between them."
"I didn't even know she liked girls..." Illia mumbled that last part, but Yang decided to let it go. She wasn't about to get jealous over the girls crush... she was literally married to Blake and shared her bed, not to mention their three kids.
"And here we are!" Yang happily announced once they reached the guest room she'd be staying in. It was on the opposite end of the master bedroom to the kids rooms... and Yang may or may not have done that on purpose. Nothing against Illia, it's just that certain things mattered to her more then being a nice person. "Dinner should be ready in about an hour, I'll give you the chance to wash up and all that in the meantime."
"Where is the bathroom-"
"There's an ensuite inside." Yang tapped the door and Illia nervously excused herself through the door after grabbing the clothes.
Ruby Schnee
She refused to lose. This was a battle for the ages and there wasn't a single cell in her body willing to give up. Her soul screamed with a determination she had never felt before, her body was focoused unlike anything she had ever seen, her mind burned with a willpower she didn't know she had. Her eyes locked onto her opponents, they shared a look for a while, both of them matching each other's determination even unknowingly as they took a simultaneous slow blink.
Ruby Schnee... refused to fall asleep before her infant child.
OK, maybe the meeting wasn't actually that boring, but Ruby just couldn't help herself. All of the council members spoke so slowly and each of them seemingly had to give their input on any given subject. Argus was lucky, even if he fell asleep no one would blame him... he was a baby! Ruby on the other hand? The Queen Consort and Royal Wizard had no hopes of having that kind of behaviour excused. Besides, Ruby was doing this for Weiss! She never asked Ruby to come to specifc meetings, so the fact that she had for once was a big deal in Ruby's mind. She was going to stay awake and push through this meeting, for Queen and country!
Easier said then done however, and the hours ticked away slower then Ruby had ever experienced time before. Argus had long since fallen asleep in his high chair, Ruby couldn't even hold him to give herself something to concentrate on... this meeting was honestly the most bored she had ever been.
"-Now to the main issue for today-"
"If there's a main issue why did we bother with any of the other stuff beforehand?!"
"-a recent White Fang base was found and raided, and they had a stockpile of these." Ozpin put a small case down on the table and opened it, pulling out an arrowhead and a crossbow bolt of all things. Though they looked sort of strange... they were made of solid metal that dripped with magic. Ruby surmised pretty quickly that this was why she had been asked here today.
"I thought all of the White Fang bases in Vale had been found..."
Ozpin slid the bolt over to Ruby and she got a closer look while the others looked over the arrowhead. The bolt held a strange magic that she hadn't seen before, as well as having a strange seam built towards the head of it. She carefully twisted the point of it and unscrewed it at the seam, revealing an empty compartment inside.
She got a closer look at the inside by holding it up to her face, and her eyes gently glowed as she scanned the interior. She could guess that it was meant to redirect mana. You would place something inside, and it would be channelled through the head of the bolt... or arrow in the other weapons case. Ruby had a pretty good guess as to what they would be used for exaclty as well.
She put the bolt down and Ozpin looked at her with a question ready to ask, but she spoke first. "It seems to be some kind of... Dust-bolt. My guess is that powdered, liquid, or even crystallised Dust goes in, and the mana is released from the front when they're used."
Ozpin nodded and let out a sigh. "That was my fear... we recovered multiple cases of the equipment, as well as a knife or two of similar properties." Ruby nodded.
"This... Dust-ammo, can you work out how to mass produce them?" Weiss spoke to Ruby directly, and the girl had to think for a moment.
"I haven't had any practice with that... but I can take a look. If you send the cases to the lab-"
"We already have." Ozpin cut in with a nod. "I was hoping you would be able to come up with a more effective variation of them as well."
Ruby smirked, feeling confident for once. "I can do you one better. The enchantments will be complex, but I should be able to make them dissolve after impact."
"Meaning we can steal their design but they can't steal your better one?" Weiss smiled as she spoke, and Ruby responded with a nod. "In that case, I would like this to become your newest priority after you construct Clover's weapon." She turned back to the council and pulled a paper out that Ruby recognised. "Now... Ozpin, I have recently received a design for a magic item that I believe your Hunter's could take great advantage from."
Ruby fiddled with the bolt for the rest of the meeting while they discussed Velvet's camera. She wanted to get a better idea of what it could do before she got a proper chance to take it apart... but unfortunately the meeting finished before she got the chance to fully work it out.
She had one thought that stuck with her though... a strange idea that was just stupid enough to work.
"If it transfers mana from the compartment to the head... I wonder if you could put a ritual in there if its small enough..."