In the aftermath of the fall of Beacon, Ruby struggles to find her footing.
It had all happened so fast. One minute, she and her dad had been sitting on the couch in the living room, eagerly watching the final matchups of the tournament, cheering their hearts out for her sister—and the next, terrible tragedy had struck, the feed cut out, and the school of Ruby's dreams was overrun by Grimm.
(In the weeks leading up to the tournament, Ruby had begged and begged and begged her father to let her go to the school and watch Yang compete, but Tai had shut her down every time, refusing to let her miss that much school. Ruby had brainstormed for a bit, trying to plan for a way for her to sneak out and come back without anyone noticing, but had ultimately decided against going when she couldn't find a way to get there and back without getting caught and ending up in a whole boatload of trouble.
In hindsight, that was probably for the best.)
As soon as he realized what was going on at the school, her dad had rushed off to help evacuate the students and fight off the invading monsters. Ruby had wanted to come along, but Tai had insisted that it was too dangerous for her, and that she'd be safer at home. He had grabbed his weapons and rushed off, leaving Ruby sitting alone in the dark house, clutching Zwei to her chest and hoping that everything would be okay. That her dad would make it back to her. That Yang would make it back to her.
And while her family had made in through the tragedy alive, they had all been affected by the events of that night. Both Tai and Ruby were heavily shaken, and as for Yang, well. Ruby had never seen her sister so quiet and pale and still before, lying in her hospital bed. She doesn't remember being so scared since that Grimm attacked them during training and Yang had almost gotten eaten trying to protect Ruby.
Deep in her bones, Ruby knows that nothing will ever be the same again.
Her conversation with Qrow hadn't reassured her. He'd stopped by for a brief visit a few days after Yang got home from the hospital, and although Ruby pestered him with countless questions, he hadn't answered most of them, and the few answers he had given her had been vague and unsatisfying. Not unusual for her uncle, but still frustrating.
He'd left shortly after he'd arrived, telling her that he had important Hunter business to take care of. She'd overheard him talking to her father about heading to Mistral and going after the group responsible for the assault on Beacon Academy.
Ruby desperately wishes that there was something she could do to help.
It's why she's training to become a huntress, after all. But these days, she doesn't seem to be able to do much to help anyone.
Yang might be home from the hospital, but she might as well be in Atlas for how far how far away she feels. Ruby has never seen her sister so depressed and angry before. She does her best to try to help, to talk to her sister and cheer her up, but Yang either snaps at her and tells her to go away or just ignores her entirely. Ruby understands that her sister is hurting, she really does, but it still stings to be pushed away like that.
"Sometimes bad things just happen, Ruby," Yang had told her, her voice flat and her face expressionless.
And maybe Yang is right. After all, Ruby doesn't know why those people attacked Beacon Academy. She doesn't know why her mother had to die. But just because she doesn't understand why something bad happened doesn't mean that she can't try to fix things. It doesn't mean that they should all just give up and stop fighting.
She just wishes that she could figure out what to do.
Just sitting around at home doesn't seem to be helping much. In the weeks following the attack, her father has been even more protective than usual. Most days, it feels like all Ruby does is help with chores around the house and train until she's called in for dinner. And while she doesn't mind helping out and training, it feels like that's all she's done since Yang left for Beacon.
And if she's being honest, being stuck at the house all day every day is starting to drive her up the wall.
Luckily, before she can go completely stir crazy, she manages to convince her dad to let her help with running errands, picking stuff up in town and whatnot. That's where she is now, in downtown Vale, tucked into a corner alongside one of the shops and looking over the list her father sent her, trying to figure out where to go first.
She's made up her mind and is about to tuck her scroll away and head out when suddenly, someone crashes into her, knocking the device out of her hands. She hears a loud "ouch!" and looks down to see a blonde boy, maybe a few years older than her, lying awkwardly on the ground by her feet.
With a small sigh she crouches down to pick up her fallen scroll—and the boy finally seems to notice her, scrambling to sit up and look at her apologetically. "I'm so sorry!" the boy yelps. "I got distracted and wasn't looking where I was going and—"
"It's okay," Ruby says hastily, cutting him off before he can really get started with his rambling. ("And doesn't that sound familiar," says a voice in her head that sounds suspiciously like her sister.) "Do you—do you need me to help you up?"
The boy shakes his head hastily, pushing himself to his feet. She grabs her scroll and tucks it in a pocket before standing up as well. An awkward silence falls over them. Ruby has never really been that good in these kinds of social situations. "So—what's your name?" she blurts out, desperate to say something.
"Oh! I'm Jaune Arc," he replies, holding out his hand. Ruby stares at him for a moment, confused, before realizing that he probably wants to shake hands.
"I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose," she says, returning the handshake. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, Ruby."
Yes I am starting another AU on top of all my other works don't me. I was discussing this idea with silverrstardust on AO3 the other day and somehow it morphed into an entire fic of its own.
Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you liked it.