When morning came, the three younger women of team RWBY woke up without the presence of Ruby in the room. In fact, they had not seen her since the previous day's accident. Whenever they would ask a teacher about the woman's whereabouts, they would brush off the question in their own unique ways which infuriated them. When lunch came, they sat at the same cafeteria table they usually would with team JNPR who attentively listened as they recounted yesterday's events.
"That's... concerning." Commented Ren, arms crossed as he looked down at the table.
"I don't think I've ever seen or heard anything about miss Rose acting like that." Added Pyrrha worry dripping from her voice.
"If they were able to spook her like that, it sounds to me like whoever that person was must be incredibly dangerous." Said Jaune while pinching his chin in a pensive stance.
Nora remained quiet as she played with her food while an anxious expression adorned her face.
Yang growled as her fists tightened. "Why can't she just talk to us? I promised that I wouldn't hate her no matter what happens, so why is she still hidding things from us?"
Blake's expression fell as she glanced at her own hands. "Everyone has secrets that they wish to keep to themselves. Your sister just so happens to have traveled the world for five years. So many things could have happened to her during that time."
Weiss drummed her fingers on the table as a sigh escaped her lungs. "Miss Rose would never do anything to harm us. If anything, she most likely thinks that she's protecting us by keeping us in the dark."
"And look where that got us." Dryly followed the brawler.
They were shocked when two hands slammed at the end of their table, bringing their attention towards their owner. There stood Velvet with a worried expression while Coco stood behind her. "Have any of you seen miss Rose since yesterday?"
The two teams, excluding Yang, shook their heads with an apologetic expression. The fashionista took her scroll out and browsed various pages with a frown. "It doesn't say anywhere that her class is canceled this afternoon. Maybe we'll see her there?"
Weiss noticed her partner's crestfallen expression and grabbed one of her hands in a comforting manner. "What's truly bothering you?"
The brawler stared at their joint hands for a moment before sighing. "On our first night after the initiation, I made Ruby promise that she wouldn't give up on the person my sister was. In my head, it was a two birds one stone kind of deal, I'd keep the sister I remembered and she would have something to focus on to help deal with her... issues. I've realized a while ago that it was a selfish idea. You can't just expect someone to remain the same after five years of whatever she went through, but for a moment, I really though I could." She sniffed as tears fell from her eyes. "Now? After everything that happened since then? I know that I'll have to face her true self eventually and I don't know how I'll take it. I promised that I wouldn't think differently of her, but what if I can't keep that promise? I love my sister and I want to love who she is today, but what if it's too much?" The blond then fully broke down and cried as her teammates tried to comfort her.
The others were unsure of how to react until Pyrrha spoke up. "Do you truly believe that miss Rose would do anything with bad intentions?" This made everyone turn towards the redhead who's attention was focused on the brawler. "The woman that you're so afraid of, do you really think that she could have lived through something so life changing that she would wish to harm a single one of us?"
Yang wiped her tears with the back of her hands. "I... I don't know."
"I don't." Said Blake while staring at her blond teammate. "I've met her during her third year of traveling and even after everything that happened, I doubt that she would. Sure, I am terrified of her when she's serious, but not once has she directed any animosity towards us. So if she ever drops the mask that she has made, assuming she has one in the first place, I will face her head on and accept her for who she is because that's the woman I chose to spend the rest of my life with and there's no one else in this world who can replace her."
As soon as the bow wearer had finished her speech, team JNPR and the two second years stared at her in surprise. "Wait, you're in love with miss Rose?" Asked Jaune putting into words, what the others were thinking.
"That... makes so much sense!" Shouted Nora in excitement. "Oh, you would look so cute together!"
Ren nodded with a smile while Pyrrha had a conflicted expression on her face. Velvet then slammed a hand in front of the hidden faunus as she took a defiant stance. "Well, get in line because I'm not giving up on miss Rose either." She proclaimed with pride.
"I've always enjoyed a bit of competition, you're on." Added Coco while crossing her arms with a confident smirk.
Nora blinked in surprise as a look of realization appeared on her face. "Oh yeah, these two were also after miss Rose. Though I gotta say, Coco. It's hard to take you seriously when we know how you act around her."
The fashionista glared at the ginger. "I'm working on it, okay?"
Pyrrha's gaze flickered between the three women before she suddenly stood with wavering confidence. "I-I'm not going to lose to any of you!" She declared which caused their table to become silent.
They all stared at the champion for a while until the hammer user commented. "Didn't expect that one to be honest."
A chuckle escaped Yang which brought their attention back on her. "If you girls are going to all come out like that, you're going to make me feel bad about the way I've been thinking."
Weiss smirked while flicking her partner's hand. "I believe that unintentionally became the plan." She then flicked her ponytail behind her as she adopted a confident stance. "It goes without saying that I won't back down from this challenge either."
"That's... a lot of people aiming for the same woman..." Commented Jaune incredulously.
"It was somewhat to be expected." Added Ren.
Coco chuckled in awe. "You're telling me that we have to deal with whatever miss Rose is hiding from us on top of having five of us compete for her love?"
"Six if you count Goodwitch." Added Yang, mentally agreeing with her teammates not to reveal her true feelings just yet.
"What?!" Screamed those unaware of this information.
"Did none of you notice how differently she's been acting around Ruby since our field trip in the Forever Falls forest?" Questioned Blake making them notice what they had been blind to this whole time.
"Isn't she, like, double her age?" Inquired Nora while stuffing a spoonful of her meal into her mouth.
"Miss Rose is twenty-three. I doubt she'd be paying attention to the age difference at this point. She doesn't seem like the type who would care either." Theorized Weiss analytically. "In our case, however, it might be a different story."
Blake nodded at the heiress' statement. "She might be fine with someone older, but she might not feel as comfortable with someone younger than her." She added, resisting the urge to flatten her cat ears against her head at the anguish she was feeling.
"There's also the whole thing with your sister and your mom." Nonchalantly added yang, pointing towards her partner.
"You gotta be kidding." Exclaimed both Coco and Jaune for very different reasons.
Weiss' face became bright red as she lowered her head, trying to avoid any eye contact with her friends. "Couldn't we have kept that part to ourselves, Xiao Long?"
"So, eight people then?" Asked Velvet with a raised eyebrow.
"Considering the fact that Weiss' relatives are in Atlas, shouldn't the last two not matter that much?" Suggested Ren, rather interested in this developing situation.
"Okay! We get it. A lot of you are after miss Rose. Shouldn't we think about how to deal with the fact that we'll potentially see her during her class later?" Barked Jaune, standing up from his seat.
"Jealous?" Taunted Coco with a hand on her hips.
The man seemed to deflate at her intervention. "It was a genuine concern, but yeah, kinda."
Pyrrha give him an awkward smile. "I'm sure that there's someone for you out there, Jaune."
"Please don't give him any false hope." Scoffed Weiss, negating any confidence the redhead had given her leader.
They all chuckled, some out of pity and some out of genuine amusement before the two second years started walking away. "I'm sure that we'll be able to ask miss Rose anything we want after class, so we'll see then. As for the other part... good luck to you all 'cause I don't intend on losing."
The two teams of first years sat next to each other in the amphitheater, as they always did, with a disappointed expression. It was an unspoken rule made by the students, but it was rather well understood by everyone that the class would be separated by the year the teams were in meaning that the two women of team CFVY were left wondering what happened during the first year's previous class.
"I don't know why I thought Goodwitch would tell us something about where Ruby was or what she's been doing the whole day." Groaned Yang as she laid her head on her desk.
"She was acting a bit weird though." Commented Nora earning a nod from Ren.
"She seemed worried about... many things." He added while placing his supplies on his desk.
Blake flipped a page of her book with a frown. "Hopefully not in a bad way if it concerns Ruby."
"Speaking of miss Rose, this is the first time we've arrived in her class before her." Pointed out Weiss making them look towards the teacher's desk which stood without an owner.
"Maybe whatever she's been doing today has her running late?" Offered Pyrrha glancing at the room's clock.
A storm of rose petals suddenly burst through the room's doors as Ruby metalized at her desk right as the bell rang. "Sorry about that, I got held up by something." She set down some belongings on her desk before turning her attention towards the students. "I know that we had an exam yesterday, but I need to remind you that the end of the semester is a few weeks away meaning that we have one last test to prepare for."
"She seems... normal." Whispered Yang, watching her sister do her job as if nothing happened the night before.
"Your sister can be quite good at acting when she wishes to be." Replied Weiss without taking her eyes off the ravenette.
Blake, who had heard everything thanks to her enhanced hearing, leaned slightly towards her teammates. "It feels kinda weird when the last time we saw her, she had that intense expression of hers."
"Do you have anything you'd like to say, team RWBY?" Called out the celebrity, raising an eyebrow in their direction.
"No, m'am!" They replied simultaneously, much to their peers' amusement.
Every minute felt longer than the last as they neared the end of the period. Yang and Nora were almost melting in their seats, Blake and Jaune nervously glanced at the clock every few seconds, Weiss and Pyrrha would find themselves easily distracted while Ren was perfectly fine. Meanwhile, the two second years found themselves quite entertained by the unintentional distraction provided by the two teams.
As soon as the bell rang, they waited until every students had left the room to approach the silver-eyed woman who had sat down at her desk, most likely having anticipated this outcome.
"You know, I doubt the other teachers get swarmed by their students as frequently as I have." She joked while leaning on her desk. "I'm guessing this is the part where I get asked a lot of questions?"
Yang slammed her hands against the desk. "What the hell was all that yesterday? And why haven't you come back to the dorms since then?"
Ruby sighed. "I'll start with that second one. While I wish I could have gotten a bit of sleep after that, I was brought to the infirmary so the doctors could ask me a thousand questions. They thought that I might have forgotten to take my meds and got confused between the past and the present. Ozpin and Glynda were awfully nice about it though so that's fun. As for afterwards, let's just say that causing such a scene in public comes with quite a lot of damage control and paperwork, especially when your name is as wide spread as mine. Barely made it to class in time."
The brawler's semblance activated as she burst into flames out of anger. "Why are you so calm about all of this."
"Well, no one died so I'm very happy about that." She said making them freeze momentarily.
"W-what do you mean?" Asked Velvet as she took a couple of steps forward.
The silver-eyed woman adopted a serious expression as she leaned back on her chair. "I have made a lot of friends while traveling Remnant, but I've also made a lot of enemies all more powerful than the last. The one from yesterday? I have no doubt in my mind that they are from a very VERY dangerous group that under no circumstances do I wish to see any of you approach from a hundred meters."
"How can you be so sure that they were from that group?" Wondered Blake which made the celebrity fall silent for a moment.
"I can't tell you that right now. I only ask that you trust me on this." She replied regretfully.
"Are you seri-" Attempted to complain the blond before being silence by her partner.
"Fine, in exchange, you will answer our next question no matter what." Bargained the heiress with a glare. Ruby nodded while motioning the Schnee to continue. "We've been wondering this since the beginning of the semester, but why do your eyes glow when you fight?"
The two second years nodded. "We've been wondering about that too, actually." Added Coco, the severity of the situation allowing her to interact seriously with her crush.
"Fuck." Swore the ravenette under her breath surprising the students as this was a rare occurrence for the older woman. "Have you ever... seen anyone else with silver eyes before?" They exchanged a few confused glances before shaking their heads. "Well that's not surprising since it's a very rare trait to have. Thing is, these eyes don't just make you look pretty, they come with... advantages."
"Ooh, like what?" Asked Nora while gripping the edge of the desk.
"Like the ability to kill grimm just by looking at them." She said, letting her statement float in the air for a few seconds. "Okay it involves a few other things than just looking at them, but the end result is the same."
"Ah yes, because that was the unbelievable part." Said Ren with a calm tone, yet the sarcasm was quite obvious.
Ruby sighed in annoyance before pulling out her scroll to call a certain number. It rang for a few seconds before an indistinguishable voice game through. "Yes, hello professor. Would it be possible to bring one of your caged grimm to the amphitheater, please? Thank you." She then hung up without waiting for the man's answer. "Anything else?" Weiss raised a hand. "You don't need to do that."
The heiress cleared her throat in embarrassment. "Right, you said advantages, plural. What else can they do?"
"Well, other than enhance the physical capabilities of the owner. Some of us benefit from extra unique functionalities. Kind of like semblances that don't require aura." The drape wearer took out her weapon and placed it on her desk, making it creak under its weight, before grabbing it on both sides and splitting it open. "First, can anyone tell me how my weapon works?"
They all inspected the visible interior mechanisms closely. Those who were less versed in the domain were left confused and gave up while the others gave the silver-eyed woman and curious expression.
"It... shouldn't work?" Answered Velvet hesitantly. The others nodded, having come to similar conclusions as they waited for Ruby to explain.
"You would be completely right if it weren't for my... well, some would call them blessings while I call them mutations. I do not know the extent of its power, but it allows me to rearrange structures." The older woman placed her hand on the weapon as her eyes glew. The students were amazed once they saw the various components snap, twist, turn and weld themselves together until each half of the weapon had transformed into the two swords she used when she fought the Worgen during their initiation.
"T-that's..."
"What the hell?"
"It explains how she could make copies of our weapons..."
Crimson Harvest then reverted back to its compact form as Ruby clasped it behind her back. "The only downside being that I need a certain understanding of the material I'm manipulating for it to work. I just so happened to know a lot about weapons, but I've been studying a bit of Metallurgy lately, which has made the transition speed a lot faster than before. Hell, I could probably make a simple weapon out of a solid block if I tried at this point."
"And none of this costs aura?" Asked Ren in fascination.
"Nope, but there is a certain drain of energy depending on the mutation. The stronger its effect, the more exhausting it is to use." She explained while sitting back down.
"When did you find out about all of this?" Asked Pyrrha. However, she immediately regretted her question when the older woman's expression fell.
"Too late..." As soon as the ravenette had said that, Yang remembered the first night Ruby had spent back home and the talk the older sibling had with their father.
She immediately went around the desk and knelt beside the silver-eyed woman, her hands gently grabbing her sister's. "It wasn't your fault." The blond felt a cold grip on her heart when Ruby refused to meet her eyes.
"Yeah..." The ravenette ran her thumb across her younger sibling's hand before separating as she stood up. "Anything else? You have until Port brings the cage here."
They remained silent until Jaune came forward. "What now? If I understand correctly, whoever that person was is still somewhere in Vale."
Ruby groaned while pacing in a circle before she started mumbling to herself. "They let me go... Why? That's not how they do things, but I know it was one of them, so why?" She let out another groan as she went back towards her desk, the sudden advance making her sister back away. Once close enough, she reached towards her bottle of antidepressants before curiously halting her movement. The students were confused yet kept quiet while they watched her glance between her two bottles of pills. "Sending a group is not their style either, but observing is his. What are you planning? What orders were you given?"
"Miss Rose...?" Warily asked Pyrrha snapping the older woman out of her thoughts.
She shook her head then swallowed a pill as a knock was heard on the amphitheater's doors. While it wasn't Peter Port himself, there were a few staff members who had brought a few cages and set them up next to each other in the middle of the room before leaving. Waiting a few seconds, Ruby approached the new arrivals as she removed the tarps set over them. "If I'm correct, you shouldn't need to worry yourselves about them. It's obviously me that they want and I believe that we will meet again very soon."
Once all uncovered, the cages revealed an Ursa, two Beowolves and a few Boarbatusks. They all growled and roared at the people present, yet were left ignored as the drape wearer sat on her desk.
"Is there no way for us to help?" Asked Coco which the others acceded to.
Ruby leaned backwards, staring at the ceiling as an amused smile grew on her lips. She then lowered her head as her eyes spewed a blinding light which forced them to cover their vision. Once the brightness of her power died down, they blinked a few times while turning towards the cages. They were astounded to see that nothing remained of the creatures, leaving empty cages behind.
"I've spent five years fighting mostly alone. I think I'll be just fine on my own." Said the teacher as she gathered her belongings and marched towards the exit. As she neared the doors, she turned towards her teammates with an apologetic smile. "I'll try to sleep at our dorm tonight. I wouldn't wait for me though." Only once she left did they recover from their stupor, too late to reply.
"We're not seriously going to just let her deal with everything, right?" Fumed Yang, pacing in the middle of their dorm.
The monochrome duo exchanged a concerned gaze as they sat on their respective beds, wearing their pyjamas.
Blake released an insecure sigh. "You heard what she said. These people are extremely dangerous, enough to make an incredible fighter like her nervous."
"At least, until she started talking about some guy." Added Weiss with a frown. "Her attitude changed afterwards. As if this other person's presence changed everything."
Blake nodded before looking at Yang, who had climbed on her own bed and sat on its edge. "Whoever he is, she must have known him personally at some point. Though the fact that he's still with whoever attacked Ruby is concerning."
"Which is why she shouldn't be doing this alone! We're a team, right? We should be helping her!" Argued the brawler as her eyes turned red.
"We have no idea what we're up against, Xiao Long. We couldn't hold our own against her while she was sleepwalking. What hopes do we have agai-" Scolded the heiress before being interrupted by her partner.
"That was on our first day! We've become better since then! Maybe not when fighting alone, but together we can totally match up against her!" She countered with a glare. The frustration in her voice had been slowly turning into pain the longer she talked.
The amber-eyed woman hugged her knees against her chest while staring at the ground. "We haven't practiced our coordination much this semester. We were always more focused on improving our own fighting style against singular opponents."
Yang had fallen silent as she mimicked the hidden faunus' position. Tears had welled up in her eyes as she buried her face in her thighs. "I just... I don't want her to leave me behind anymore."
"I'm not leaving." Said the familiar voice of Ruby, making them turn towards their door. "Never again." She then approached her sister's bed and effortless picked the blond in her arms before setting her down on her own bed. "I love you. All of you. There is nowhere in this world that I'd rather be than here and nothing will ever change that." She motioned for the two other women to approach as she pulled Yang onto her lap while the other two sat at her sides. "You have no idea how much I would love to spend the rest of my life having fun adventures as a team with the three of you, but this? This is something I cannot let you join." She wrapped her arms around two women next two her while leaning backwards to make her sister lay on her. "But I know that it's not my place to choose that for you, so I'll try a different approach. I'll make our usual training with Pyrrha harder to hopefully make it so that you girls can at the very least survive should you ever be attacked by someone stronger than you."
The three younger women were surprised at this unexpected decision until a sense of dread washed over their body as they feared the bruises they would suffer from for the next few weeks. Suddenly, they were all pulled downwards as the silver-eyed woman laid on her bed, her teammates resting on top of her as she wrapped her drape around them. "For now, I'd say that we all deserve to rest."
And so, team RWBY spent the rest of their night, cuddling against the silver-eyed woman as sleep overtook them.
In a back alley of Vale, two cloaked figures could be seen standing over a well dressed man with red-tinted sunglasses as the sound of painful breaths echoed around them.
"Why are we not killing this insect?" Complained the silver-eyed dagger user as she applied more pressure on Junior's throat with her foot.
The man with an odachi shook his head in disapproval. "When a pet does something good, we reward it."
"And what good did this one do? That bitch knows we're after her now!" She complained twisting her foot slightly.
"Yes, but it also allowed you to gauge her strength, no? I think the benefits outweigh the losses." He reasoned nonchalantly while letting one of his arms hang on his weapon's handle.
The dagger user glared at the silver-eyed man. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're purposely wasting our time."
He raised his free hand in surrender with an amused expression on his face. "I only do what is best for our world and his highness."
The silver-eyed woman huffed in annoyance as she glanced down at her captive. "So, what's his reward? His life?"
The odachi user rubbed his chin while looking around at the multiple dead bodies belonging to their victim's henchmen. Every single one of them seemingly died in one blow before any could upholster their weapons. "That and whatever he can pick from their corpses." He then knelt close to Junior's face. "Hopefully he will not fail us again, hm?"
They then suddenly vanished from the nightclub owner's sight as they ran at high speed towards their hideout, leaving impact craters whenever they would jump over obstacles. Once inside, they both sat on their makeshift beds as they began performing maintenance on their weapons.
"A question, if you will?" Asked the man with a playful, dramatic tone. He only received a grunt in response which was enough for him. "Why are you so eager to kill her?"
The woman glared at him as her eyes flared. "Because his highness desires it so."
Running a cloth along the blade of his sword, he chuckled. "Your dedication to the king is admirable, but I haven't obtained my position by being a fool." He then angled his head sideways to dodge the dagger sent at him.
"She has ruined, everything. Rose was supposed to rid our world of the witch. The Oracle said so!" Ranted the dagger user as she lowered her hand, now void of a weapon, while extending it towards him.
"Ah! You claim to know what the Oracle has said, but you weren't there when she revealed her divination." Replied the man as he removed the dagger from the wall behind him and tossed it back at her.
The sound of metalic objects hitting one another resounded around the room as he casually held his sword in a defensive stance against the woman's sudden lunge. "You dare speak against the teachings of the sisters?!"
She then rapidly swung her weapons, trying her hardest to slice through the man in front of her while he perfectly parried her strikes, his expression remaining nonchalant the whole time. Seeing as this was going nowhere, the man abruptly disarmed his assailant in one swift motion of his odachi before using the back of his hand to hit the woman across the face, sending her crashing against the wall.
"You are talented, girl, but you are not as powerful as you believe yourself to be." He knelt down beside her as she struggled to lift herself up. "The sisters are nothing but pawns of the king. His words are their teachings." He stood up and turned towards where his bed used to be, finding instead, debris surrounded by slash marks along the walls, floor and ceiling. "I was there when the Oracle blessed us with the guidance of the divine. A young man I was, yes, but never will I forget her words. It is true that a silver-eyed devourer is destined to slay the immortal witch, but never has Rose's name been spoken."
The woman's eyes widened in shock as she managed to raise herself on her knees. "Then... our savior's..."
"The first fully matured devourer since Rose, yes." He replied while sitting on her bed. "You'll be sleeping on my bed from now on, it's only fair."
She didn't bother arguing as she crawled towards the remains of the cot and laid herself on top of them. She remained in silence as her superior resumed his maintenance until a question popped into her head. "Then why... is his highness..."
The sword user sheathed his weapon as he sent a regretful glance at his companion's back. "Now you're asking the right questions..."
Honestly, I could spend weeks making the story in my head without rest, but writting it down is getting harder and harder with each chapter I post.