And we're back to main story stuff.
Hope you enjoy!
Silence reigned in the amphitheater as the students were focused on their test. According to Ruby, this would be the second to last before the end of the semester. They were mostly open ended questions on various hypothetical situations where a huntsmen would take a life. The third and fourth years were also present for the exam and seemed to be having as much of a hard time as the first and second years. Their teacher, for her part, was pacing between the rows, making sure that everyone kept their eyes on their papers while also answering simple questions. When a couple of students started to hand in their exam, Ruby went back to her desk and to begin correcting.
Once Weiss had verified her answers for the third time, she stood up and went towards the silver-eyed woman's desk. As she gave the older woman her papers, the heiress noticed a couple of books with marked pages scattered on the teacher's desk. One on advanced human anatomy, Dendrology and Metallurgy which confused the heiress as she walked back to her seat.
The silence was suddenly disturbed as Ruby's scroll rang, much to her surprise. Picking it up, she took a glance at the caller before standing up. "Sorry about that, looks like the headmaster is calling. Continue your tests it'll take just a minute." She said before answering the call while walking towards the amphitheater's doors. She exchanged a few common answers and questions before suddenly halting right in front of the door with a glare. "They're not ready. I thought we agreed to only start next semester." This instantly caught the attention of the students once more as they all stared at the ravenette's back. "I don't care if they think they're ready, I'm telling you they're not." She sighed before walking back towards her desk. "Ozpin, listen, I am ready to do what it takes for my class, but I would prefer if you'd give those jobs to other huntsmen for a while." It was only for a split second, but the young women from team RWBY definitely saw her glance towards them. "I'd... rather keep myself clean for now..." Ruby sat down and leaned back as she listened to the headmaster. "Thank you. I will come by your office after my class." She then hung up with an exhausted sigh before going back to grading the tests.
The students, especially the third and fourth years, exchanged worried looks before going back to their work, trying to ignore the information they have received.
Once every exam had been handed in and the bell had rang, it was no surprise to anyone present that the silver-eyed woman was instantly surrounded by the students all with the same question on their mind. Are they really going to start the field expeditions next semester?
Ruby sat on her desk with a sympathetic smile. "I know that it's very sudden, but if I want the fourth years to graduate from this class, then we'll unfortunately need to start soon. So yes, next semester, I will be taking mainly fourth year students on missions. Two per teams as you can imagine." They continued to ask questions as the group slowly dispersed until all that remained were the usual first years that stayed with the celebrity after class. "You guys have any questions for me? Seems like it's the perfect moment for an answer." Joked the silver-eyed woman with an exhausted tone.
Her teammates exchanged a glance before their leader took a step forward. "We were actually thinking about going out into town tonight, since it's the weekend you see? Maybe look around for points of interest that we haven't seen before?"
"It would allow us to take a break before starting our homework." Agreed Blake, sitting next to the ravenette.
"And we haven't even had a girls night once since the beginning of the semester. We gotta fix that." Added Yang excitedly while giving a light punch on her sister's shoulder.
Ruby raised an eyebrow towards Pyrrha who shook her head before motioning towards her leader. "I don't mind skipping for tonight. It would allow us to train Jaune a bit more."
The ravenette nodded before giving her team a smile. "Why not? I'm in."
"Mind if we join you guys?" Said the confident voice of a woman at the amphitheater's doors. Turning in its direction, they could see a woman with short dark brown hair standing with her hands on her hips. She wore some rather stylish clothings and accessories, but the most noticeable ones were her aviator sunglasses along with the black beret on her head. Behind her, stood Velvet Scarlatina who waved at them.
"Ah, miss Adel, we haven't had the chance to talk very much, have we? In fact, I don't believe we ever did. I do wonder why though. The other teachers told me that you were a student that participated a lot during their classes." Said Ruby as she stood up from her desk to gather her things.
The new arrival cleared her throat in embarrassment. "R-right, well, your class is not as easy to study as theirs, so I was simply listening." Velvet rolled her eyes before grabbing her team leader's wrist and dragging her towards the group. "Velv! What are you doing!" Loudly whispered the fashionista while struggling against her friends grasp.
The rabbit faunus whispered something back that even Blake was not able to hear which seemed to make the leader struggle even harder.
"Is, uh, is everything alright?" Asked Yang while giving the beret wearer and strange look. They had been approached by the second year and her team a few times before. She had always carried herself with great confidence, as if nothing could bother her or stand in her way. Yet, here she was, squirming anxiously as her teammate dragged her towards them.
"Just peachy." Replied Velvet with a smile as they stopped in front of them. The group stared at each other in silence until the thump of large books brought their attention towards Ruby.
"Alright, I think that's everything. What were we talking about again?" She asked as her eyes landed on the fashionista who seemed to flinch under the ravenette's gaze. "Right, don't worry about it, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. Simple curiosity and all." She reassured with a dazzling smile.
The room went quiet once more as they waited for Coco's answer. Unfortunately, the girl was frozen in place as she became mesmerized by the older woman's charm. Velvet frowned before shoving her elbow on her leader's ribs before harshly whispering. "Now's not the time!"
The second year blinked a few times as her face rapidly reddened. "U-uh, y-yeah! I-it's whatever!" She stuttered which had the first years present recoil in shock.
"Is Coco...?" They thought simultaneously while the three younger members of RWBY exchanged worried looks.
Ruby raised an eyebrow as she picked up her stack of books and papers. "Ooookay... Well, I don't mind if your team wants to join us. I haven't been interacting much with students outside the first year so far."
The rabbit faunus awkwardly scratched the back of her head as she looked at her scroll. "Actually, it would only be Coco and I. The guys are afraid of being the only men of the outing."
Blake gained an amused smile as she shook her head. "With how things are shaping up, they wouldn't have been wrong."
The ravenette nodded as she headed for the exit. "Then it's settled. I don't have you girls' scroll numbers, but I'm guessing that my teammates do, so you can expect a text from them to tell you when to reunite at the airbus landing zone." She hoisted her load on one arm and used her free one to pat the fashionista's shoulder which made her whole body stiffen once more while as she gained an overwhelmed expression. "I have to pass by Ozpin's office, so you girls choose who gets the shower first."
Once out of sight, everyone turned towards Coco who hadn't moved from her spot if at all. Velvet let out an annoyed groaned as she removed her leader's glasses before slapping her on the face. "What the hell, Velv!" Screamed the leader while holding her cheek.
"What were you even doing?! Why would you ask to join them when you can't even stand near miss Rose without freezing up?!" Yelled the faunus which shocked the spectators.
"Wait so that wasn't planned? What about the guys from your team?" Asked Jaune earning strange looks from his friends.
Velvet waved dismissively. "So, I might have told a little lie, big deal. It's not like they'll hate us forever for not inviting them. Plus, I wasn't totally wrong when I said that they wouldn't want to come if there's only girls."
Weiss shook her head while pushing JNPR's leader away. "That's the least of our concern! What happened to you!" She said while pointing at the fashionista who simply raised an eyebrow as she regained her confidence.
"What?" She asked with a hand on her hips.
Nora pointed at her with the same vigor as the heiress. "That! Where did all that confidence go a second ago! I mean, obviously you're crushing on Ruby, but you can't seriously expect me to believe that you have no experience in that field?"
Coco had an embarrassed glare as she put her sunglasses back on. "Of course I've dated before. It's just, I've never been the one to fall first."
Velvet giggled as she rested a hand on her leader's shoulder. "You should have seen the way she'd stare at miss Rose's pictures back at Pharos Academy!"
The beret wearer shrugged off her teammates hand with a glare. "Like you were any better."
The rabbit faunus scoffed. "I totally was."
"Hang on, hang on. You're both after my sister?" Interjected Yang grabbing both of them by the shoulder. "You've barely spent any time with her!"
Coco shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, have you seen her? Your sister's fucking hot, blondie and if all the rumors are to be trusted, she'd make for a great girlfriend."
"I technically have." Said Velvet which caught everyone's attention. She turned towards Blake. "You remember when I said that I was a pretty big fan?" When the hidden faunus nodded, the second year smiled before continuing. "Well, I have been following her ever since she saved me five years ago."
A fourteen year old Velvet was walking home after another day at Pharos Academy. She had stopped by the grocery store to by the ingredients for tonight's diner and was now carrying them in a plastic bag as she innocently skipped on the sidewalk, never noticing the men who had been following her with their eyes. Hoping to get home quickly, she went into an alley which acted as a shortcut before suddenly stopping when she saw three men standing at the opposite end. The faunus was about to turn around and leave when a voice behind her made her jump.
"What do we have here? Looks like someone forgot your leash." Mockingly said a woman surrounded by two other men. They all had traditional weapons; knives, shortswords, even maces. The woman, however, had a spiked ball and chain which rested on her shoulders.
Velvet stumbled backwards while trembling. Her weapon, Anesidora, had been left home this morning since it needed repair. "I-I don't want any trouble. I just want to go home."
One of the men slammed his mace right in front of her which made her fall on her back, into a puddle, ruining her groceries and most likely her textbooks. They laughed while the woman crouched down near her. "Your kind shouldn't be here little pest. I'd say that's asking for trouble enough, right boys?" The men cheered while getting closer to the young girl, making her crawl backwards desperately. This wasn't some kind of practice match at school, these people wanted to hurt her or worst.
The leader of the thugs spun her weapon around menacingly as she laughed before swinging it towards the rabbit faunus, who covered her face in fear. Suddenly, the metalic sound of a deploying weapon could be heard followed by hard hits, powerful gun shots and pained grunts. When it became silent, Velvet gathered the courage to look up only to see a young hooded woman standing in front of her with a mechanical scythe laying on her back in a combat stance. The thugs were laying on the ground either rendered unconscious or in severe pain while crawling away from the new arrival. The weapon folded into its compact form as the faunus' savior stored it behind her back before gathering the defeated men in a single spot with a reasonable amount of struggle on their part. She then slapped the leader awake while crouching in front of her.
"Where's the rest of your guys?" Asked the hooded woman, menacingly. When it seemed like the criminal was attempting to spit on her interrogator, petals bursted from the vigilante as she punched her on the nose. "I won't ask again."
The woman groaned while holding her nose. "Fuck you, bitch!"
While Velvet couldn't see her savior's face, the tone of voice she used made it obvious that she was rolling her eyes. "How original. Have it your way." She deployed her weapon once more as she made her the blade rest against the thug's throat while making sure that she could see her finger on the trigger. "Three... two... one..."
"They're at the old hospital in the abandoned village near here! Oh god, please!" Screamed the beaten woman who was now shaking in fear.
"I feel like you're lying~" Lilted the hooded figure pressing her blade harder against her victim who screamed in terror.
"We have a couple of guys guarding a complex we use as base a couple of streets south! That's all I swear!" The rabbit faunus' nose scrunched as she smelled an unpleasant odor. Looking down, she saw that the criminal had soiled herself.
The vigilante put away her weapon. "See? You could have started with that." She said with a scolding voice, the kind you'd hear from a relative. She then hit the defeated thug on the head, rendering her unconscious once more. She sighed as she turned around towards the rabbit faunus. Raising both hands in surrender, the woman took a couple of tentative steps towards the girl before crouching in front of her while extending a hand. "Are you okay?"
Velvet timidly nodded as she let herself be hoisted up by the hood wearer. She turned to pick up her belongings before looking dejectively inside her plastic bag. A hiss escaped the older woman's lips which attracted the faunus' attention.
"Yikes, I don't know about you, but puddle marinated anything doesn't sound very good to me." She offered her hand once more while motioning the general direction where the grocerie store was. "Let's fix that."
The fourteen year old hesitated for a while before finally deciding to hold the woman's hand. As they neared their destination, the rabbit faunus shivered from the cold of her drenched clothes.
"Right, I guess I should have seen that one coming." Said the hood wearer as she unclasped the clothing from her shoulders and put it on the girl, making slight adjustments so it wouldn't drag on the ground. "There you go, it'll have to do for now okay?"
The sight of the woman's appearance had stunned Velvet, who simply stared at her smiling face. "Wow..." She muttered in awe.
The silver-eyed woman chuckled. "Thanks, but we should hurry. I bet your parents must be worried about you."
It took a few minutes, but they managed to buy everything the girl needed once more, the money coming from the ravenette's pockets which the faunus had thanked her a thousand times for. Her mother was surprised to see a stranger bring her daughter home, but was extremely grateful once the situation was explained in its entirety. Once they had given the eighteen year old her hood back, she attempted to leave before being interrupted by the faunus mother.
"I never asked for your name." She said making her daughter realize that she didn't either.
Silver-eyes stared back at them with a playful glint as she raised a finger to her lips. "Ruby Rose, but let's keep that between us. What I'm doing here isn't really legal per se."
The mother nodded. "Would you like to stay for diner? I'm sure that I can make enough for the three of us."
Ruby bowed with a grateful smile. "Unfortunately, I have a couple of calls to make and places to be, but thank you for the offer. Stay safe!" She said before vanishing in rose petals.
"Ever since then, I would search the internet for whatever I could find about her. It started as a simple deductions from arrest reports, but it became clearer when she reached Vacuo." Explained Velvet having finished her story.
The other students remained silent, unsure of what to say until Yang grabbed the faunus by her shoulders. "We're gonna be great friends, you and I. I can feel it." She ignored the stares she received from her friends as she glanced at the time. "We should probably hurry back to our dorms before Ruby's done with the headmaster."
With that, everyone said their farewells before separating by teams.
The three younger members of team RWBY entered their dorm before sitting in a triangle in the middle of the room. "We got a problem." Said Yang which was answered by nods of agreements.
"While it was easy to ignore when it was just Pyrrha and miss Goodwitch, it has become rather apparent that miss Rose has had an intimate effect on more people than we thought." Said Weiss, receiving nods in turn.
"What can we do about it, though? It's not like we can just threatened them off." Asked Blake which earned her questioning stares.
"Threaten? Why would we do that?" Asked Yang as she and Weiss shared a glance.
A faint blush of embarrassment appeared on the bow wearer's cheeks as she looked away. "N-nothing, I've been reading a bit too much recently."
The heiress shook her head. "I was thinking more of an... alliance."
It was Blake's turn to share a glance with the blond. "Like we did during the initiation?"
"Well, yes, but in a less violent and more long term way." Replied Weiss while crossing her arms.
The two other teammates were thinking about the offer until Yang suddenly spoke. "Haven't we kinda been doing that already? Like, yeah, we get jealous of each other when Ruby's focused on one of us, but I feel like we've been pretty good at not sabotaging those moments when they happen." Blake nodded in agreement as they gazed at the Schnee.
"Well, at least now we're making it official." She replied with a groan before standing up. "I'm taking the first turn for the shower." The two remaining women went to their respective beds while waiting for the heiress to finish.
"Do we even know if Ruby likes women?" Casually asked the ashen-haired faunus as she opened a book on the page where a bookmark rested.
Yang rolled onto her stomach as she played a game on her scroll. "Nope."
Blake licked her finger before flipping to the next page. "That could be a problem."
"Yep." Replied the blond still engrossed in her game.
"We should probably try to find out." Followed the bow wearer.
The brawler sighed. "I could probably just ask her when we're alone. I doubt she'd have trouble telling her sister."
Blake blinked in disbelief, having somehow forgotten about the taboo nature of her teammates feelings. "Oh, yeah. Quite the challenge you've set up for yourse-." Her sentence was interrupted by a pillow hitting her face courtesy of her teammate.
"Shut up."
Team RWBY was standing at the landing zone in sets of casual clothings which would normally have been nothing special. Unfortunately, the celebrity in any clothing that was not her battle outfit, even if she still had a her usual drape, was a rare sight which earned them an impressive amount of stares.
"Sorry for the w-oah." Came the voice of Velvet who was being followed be a sheepish Coco. A concept which was still hard to grasp for the three younger women. "You look great, miss Rose!"
Ruby smiled thankfully as she linked her hands together behind her back, unconsciously making an emphasis on her breast. "Thank you! You girls look adorable."
The fashionista blushed while pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "R-really?"
"Damn, she's good." Thought the ravenette's teammates holding back from glaring at the second year.
Velvet giggled until her eyes caught the sight of a familiar object underneath the silver-eyed woman's drape. "Are you really going to bring your weapon, miss Rose?"
Ruby shamefully looked away. "It's a force of habit. I'll get over it eventually."
The rabbit faunus waved her arms defensively. "I-it's fine! I just curious." She said before releasing an awkward laugh.
They engaged in a few short conversations until their airbus came and brought them towards the capital of Vale. Their evening had been quite pleasant, being surrounded by her students and teammates seems to have made her fans understand that she was having some private time since barely any approached them. The group had watched a movie at the theater followed by a diner at a high class restaurant which Weiss paid for, much to the older woman's embarrassment. Then they went clothes shopping, at least, that was the plan until the students turned it into a fashion show starring the ravenette. Needless to say, everyone came out of that store satisfied in their own way.
However, their fun night had took a turn when Yang brought them to a nightclub which was apparently owned by a 'friend'. As the six women stood in front of the place, Ruby gave her sister a deadpan expression. "Isn't this the place you destroyed a couple of weeks before coming to Beacon?"
The other students gave the blond a dumbfounded look which she replied with a dismissive wave. "Oh please, that was one time. Junior probably forgot about it already." The amount of weapons pointed their way when they entered told them otherwise.
A man wearing red-tinted sunglasses approached the group while glaring at Yang. "You've got a lot of nerve coming back here, blondie. Give me one reason why I shouldn't-" He stopped himself when his eyes met Ruby's. "...lower your weapons." His henchmen were quick to follow his order when they noticed who the man was looking at. "Ruby Rose. Can't say I expected to see a celebrity like you here."
Ruby walked towards the bar while looking around the place before sitting at one of the stools. "Well, it was recommended by my sister, so I would be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little curious."
Junior glanced at the ravenette's weapon. "Define curious."
She chuckled while the students sat around her. "No need to worry about that, I'm just not used to walking around without something, yet." She leaned on the counter while looking back at him. "I hope that it won't get in the way of a couple of drinks?"
The owner sighed before going behind the bar. "What can I get you?"
They ordered one after the other, not one asking for the same drink until the only ones who remained were Weiss and Ruby. The older woman smiled as she raised two fingers. "Water."
Tension rose as junior reached for two glasses. "You came to a nightclub... for water?"
While she didn't divert her eyes from the man in front of her, Ruby could feel the movement of his henchmen as they stood slightly closer while observing her every move. She also managed to see two women, most likely twins, approaching them from the corner of her eyes. "I came because we're having a girls night out. It doesn't mean that we need to drink alcohol now does it? Unless water means something else here?"
Junior grunted before placing the two glasses in front of the pair who smiled at each other. For a moment, it seemed like the atmosphere was calming down until the silver-eyed woman grabbed her drink and swirled it around. "You see the reporter and her crew that came in a minute or so?" She said without looking behind her.
The girls accompanying her were confused at the question until they noticed the hardened expression that the man behind the bar adopted.
Ruby took a sip from her glass. "Today was the third time I've been away from the grounds of Beacon and each time, this little group would follow me wherever I went. Of course I thought nothing of it at first since they were quite good at making it seem like they were a simple news team, but they seemed particularly anxious today." She traced a finger along the rim of her drink. "Why might that be?"
"You say the strangest things, lady." Said the owner with a threatening tone while cleaning a glass.
The ravenette had a faint smile as she raised her hand to rest her head on it. "Would you mind listening to the rambling of little old me?" Not waiting for an answer, shift shifted her position on the stool. "Someone's paying you to get information about me. Wasted money when you can simply look it up on the internet, if you ask me. Said person probably did so around the time I came back to the kingdom amongst a few others no doubt, but that doesn't explain the change in attitude from your employees. No, I believe that someone else came recently and that person scares you, gave you a deadline with more than money as a reward."
The girls became more alert as most of the guards had their hands on their weapon. While Yang had Ember Celica and Coco her own weapon, Gianduja, in its concealed, handbag form, the other girls were left unarmed as they subtly brought forth their aura.
"Now I know that you run a professional business and that information on your clients is harder to buy, but I have a simple yes or no question for you." Continued the silver-eyed woman when a pressure surrounded her as she gained a dark expression. "Did they have... any particular trait to them?"
By then, the entire nightclub had been staring at them as the music died down. While the henchmen had fallen to their knees, the twins were now getting closer at a slow pace. Junior had sat down to avoid falling over, not saying anything to the ravenette. Unfortunately for him, he didn't need to since his glasses had slid down enough for Ruby to see the terrified expression he had while staring into her glowing silver ones.
Ruby suddenly stood up and grabbed her sister's wrist. "We're leaving." She turned towards the other girls with a harsh expression. "Now!" They wasted no time in following the older woman as she marched out of the club.
"What's going on?" Nervously asked Yang while observing her sibling's behavior.
The drape wearer had an intense look on her face as she increased her pace until they were practically running down the streets. The whole time, her eyes would dart towards every alley, rooftops and even behind them momentarily.
"Miss Rose?" Asked Weiss in turn anxiously trying to understand what the celebrity was looking for.
Ruby took out her scroll and swiftly typed a number before bringing the device to her ear. She didn't wait long before someone picked up. "I need an aircraft to Beacon as soon as possible!" She let the other person talk as she resumed scanning their surroundings. "There's no time, Ozpin! One of them is here!"
The students were suddenly forced to stop and cover their face when a powerful gust of wind blew against them followed by the sound of something breaking and the panicked screams of the nearby citizens. Once the wind had calmed down, the girls lowered their arms and saw that Ruby was staring at a nearby rooftop across the street with her weapon drawn in the form of an odachi. Glancing towards the building of interest, they could see that an impact in the shape of a slash had been left on the edge of the roof.
"Ruby?" Warily asked Blake raising a hand towards the older woman's shoulder. She recoiled when the ravenette turned towards them, her eyes glowing menacingly.
"I want you five back at Beacon, now!" She ordered while shifting Crimson Harvest into its scythe form. While it was the first time that the second years had seen Ruby's eyes glow, the ravenette's teammates took an unstable step backwards while Yang deployed her weapon.
"Tell us what's going on!" Fearfully demanded the blond as she took a stance.
"I said Beacon, double time! You'll only get in the way!" She then held her scroll back to her ear. "They better get back safe." She said before hanging up and pocketing the device. She then faced her sister, grabbed her by the cheek and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Please..." Not waiting for an answer, the silver-eyed woman bursted into petals which darted towards the rooftop she attacked a moment ago.
Once there, she wasted no time before scanning her surroundings once more with a predatory glare. While it seemed as if the rooftops were devoid of life, the ravenette would occasionally fire in random directions while dodging what one could assume to be nothing. "We had a deal!" She roared shooting once more. "You have no right being here! Go back to your Ark!" When a few minutes passed without her firing her weapon, Ruby ran across the nearby rooftops, searching for something that she couldn't find. Once convinced that she lost her target, the silver-eyed woman fell to her knees as she cursed the gods with a punch to the ground, making cracks appear around the impact.
She spent a while, motionless, until an aircraft descended near her before opening its side doors, revealing Beacon's headmaster and a handful of teachers. Ruby stood up and stored her weapon away while walking towards them. "I lost them." She said in a somber tone, ignoring the stares she received from her colleagues.
As the craft flew away, two figures appeared out of thin air on the roof on the other side of the street. The first one, a man, watched the vehicle leave with a fascinated hum. "Your thoughts?" He asked the second figure, a woman.
She glared at the retreating craft with spite. "No one has ever seen through my blessing before. No matter where I went, she would use that ranged weapon of hers every time I attempted to strike." She growled while spinning her two daggers.
The man chuckled while caressing the handle of his weapon, an odachi. "She certainly has improved since then. The swiftness at which she drew that strange weapon of hers, it definitely makes desire to cross swords with her." He shook his head with a disappointed sigh. "Unfortunately, it is not the order I have received. So, think you can match up to her?"
The woman huffed as she crouched down. "It'll take more than good instincts to defeat me. I don't care what his highness says, she is not the one who-" Her sentence was cut short when the digital sound of creatures reached her ears. "Would you cease fiddling with that device already?"
The odachi user chuckled. "How can I? They have entire worlds filled with strange creatures in there! Information accessible at the tip of our fingers! What a marvelous invention!"
The dagger user sighed. "When will I be allowed to kill her?"
The man closed the scroll while patting her shoulder. "Patience young one. The criminals of this town are planning quite the heist. All we need to do, is wait. Her nature will bring her to us."
An annoyed grunt escaped the woman. "What a waste of time." She said as they both vanished once more. If anyone had been looking in their direction, they would have been able to observe two pairs of glowing silver eyes, disappearing into the night.
I'm finally starting to introduce the story elements that diverge from canon. (If you ignore the whole Ruby being older thing)
I'm no Kojima, but things might get wild.