Chapter 3
The darkness engulfed her like a suffocating fog, her eyes overwhelmed by the sheer nothingness surrounding her. Ruby swiveled on the balls of her feet, pupils blown wide as she took in the hellish void. The desperate gasps of breaths did little to calm her racing heart, and she struggled to make out something, anything at all in this limbo. Whispers originating from an invisible audience echoed around her, prompting Ruby to wrench her head wildly to catch a glimpse of her observers.
"Hello? What is this?! Someone please answer me!", Ruby pleaded to an unhearing void as the whispers grew in magnitude, so much so that she finally heard their contents.
Failure…
"I-I'm not! I can do this, please just let me try!", an unbelieving laugh was her reply, as was the continued onslaught of discontent.
Naïve…
"I don't understand! Just give me a chance please!"
Beseeches to the void proved nugatory as the judgements grew louder, until they formed an orchestra of hate, persecution, and disappointment. Their comments rang like tinnitus in her ears, the shutting of her eyes and encasement of her ears with palms only served to encourage the en masse.
Tears stabbed at her eyes, and sniffles grew in frequency as she ceased her attempts at reconciliation. Choked sobs and sniffles only served as entertainment for her tormentors and thus the circus freak continued to receive her dues.
Her heart clenched painfully in her chest as she bore the foray, and at last, she finally caved and curled up into a ball, knees hugged tight to her chest in an attempt to appear small and unimportant so that the jeers would pass her by.
"I'm sorry…I'll be better"
Liar
In a crack of thunder that caused her to jump, the whispers ceased, and the silence that should have been a respite only served to highlight the ringing in her ears. She was filled with a sense of hollowness, as if the taunts had highlighted her flaws so much so that she was intimately aware of how inadequate she was.
Peeking a swollen eye out from her impromptu attempt at refuge, she stared in horror at the figure dressed in a billowing white cloak, fluttering in the nonexistent wind.
"No…Not you, anyone but you…"
Tears flowed freely now as she retreated frantically, seeking asylum in a world where none was to be found. Her attempts were short lived as she collided with hands that gripped her shoulders securely, causing her to shriek in fear. Throwing a fearful glance back revealed Yang with blood red eyes, wearing a grin as wide as a Cheshire cat.
"No backing down little sis! Our mother wants to have a word!"
A hand fisted her hair and moved to yank her head back forward, resulting in a sharp cry of pain. With petrified eyes, Ruby sobbed as she met the eyes of Summer Rose. Ruby heaved apologies and pleaded, all for naught.
With a cruel smirk that was plastered unnaturally onto her mother's face, Summer spoke: "Oh Ruby. To think I was so proud when you were named leader of your own team, and the taking down of that Grimm made me think you could be something after all"
Dark chuckles surrounded her as Summer Rose's expression turned murderous, "But then, I see you obliterating chances to establish bonds with your peers, failing to do well in classes and… Losing. Your. Position." Each word was enunciated with venomous intent that ordained a fresh wave of tears and sniffles from the tormented.
"I just felt so…disappointed"
Such were the words that caused Ruby to go limp in Yang's hands, head hanging as the quiet sounds of despair escaped the broken cell that once held them all together. A calloused, frigid hand rested on her head, and where she once would have taken comfort in the feeling, she now only felt catatonically numb.
"Now go little Ruby, another day of 'damn mediocrity', you said?"
Swollen silver eyes opened in a Beacon dorm, and hollowness skewered into them through days and nights of admonishment were never so apparent as this moment. It was quiet and dark, evidently past midnight. Yet to sleep was to confront the dreams she suffered so frequently, and so she turned her head to the side. The blue moonlight cascaded down Crescent Rose's paintwork, bathing it in an ethereal glow. Her eyes trailed down to the hint of the rear blade sticking out from its compact state, glinting as the moonlight made its approval known. She got up.
'Fuck mediocrity'
The nights were terrible, the days were worse. The side glances, whispers, and jeers that followed her when people thought she wasn't paying attention left Beacon feeling desolate and bleak. What once was the school of her dreams has turned into a colosseum with Ruby as the animal to beat. Her teammates were of course no help, too busy riding the high of a new, more capable leader.
Hearing how they backstabbed her nullified any wants of cohesiveness that Ruby once had, and she found herself referring to her sister more as a teammate, rather than someone familial. Was she to blame? Yang willingly took part in the vote to overturn leadership, not warning her of areas of improvement in the weeks leading up to the deposition, nor did she give an apology or attempt reconciliation of any sort.
However, it wasn't just her tea- the team that was responsible. The professorate too played their part to a tee. A cloak and dagger vote in an institution meant to empower the next generation of defenders left Ruby despising her circumstances, and she found the hollowness intermittently being beset by bitterness and antagonism.
As the weeks trickled by, Ruby lost what sense of interest she had in curriculum. Classes were skipped, assignments went unessayed, and Jaune had a serious contender for expulsion. The only class where Ruby didn't skip was combat classes, and there, Ruby let go. While students were unafraid to mock her outside of the class, the sparring room was a whole new court where no one dared to play jester.
Once the unafraid and unsure prodigy, Ruby's fighting style had transformed into a deadly dance of scarlet that challenged even the likes of Nikos, often leaving the invincible girl with a mad grin that only the spirit of a challenging battle could provide. An elaborate mix of short-range gunfire and hails of sharpened blades, Ruby appeared a blur as she hit harder, faster, and incandescent. Even while knowledge of her scythe's shortcomings in close range was utilized by most, Ruby's jabs could hardly be said to have occurred at all, yet they hit three times as hard as they were fast. Some wondered where this newfound ability came from, others pondered a secret weapon somewhere in the red vortex. Their auras gave regardless.
Team fights were a small respite for other teams, lacking the red bur that seemed to run through everyone. Team RWBY offered no explanations for their missing member, most commonly giving a shrug or a comment about her slacking off, which had Weiss as its source. It became commonplace to see team RWBY with a substitute, which drew the ire of Glynda Goodwitch.
Beacon was an institution built on the backbone of a system that emphasised education and teamwork. Thus, while her combat scores went up in solo fights, so did complaints, demands for disciplinary action, and gossip about the loner from team RWBY. By the end of the 2nd Month in Beacon, the backlog of everything was frankly too much for even Ozpin to tolerate, and so, Ruby found herself back outside the office of the Headmaster.
Hearing the muted voices from behind the door, a polite Beacon student might have knocked, requested permission to enter, and taken a humble seat in front of the great Headmaster Ozpin. Ruby had no such limitations. A quick turn of the knob, followed by a sharp toe kick from her worryingly muddy combat boots made quick work of the door, and it sprang open in a desperate attempt to fend off further abuse.
"RUBY ROSE! This behavior is unacceptable, you will show respect to-!"
"He called me, I'm sure he's ready for me", Ruby muttered as she rubbed her ears, recovering from the shrill voice of the resident banshee second only to Weiss Schnee. Surveying the room, her eyes landed on the 4th wheel in the room. Had she not expected this meeting she would've been surprised to see her uncle Qrow standing aloof in the corner.
"Sup uncle Qrow, Dad too drunk to make it?"
Qrow winced, not providing an affirmative but settling for a change of topic instead: "Look kid, I'm not saying its your fault. But some of the things I'm hearing aren't looking too good for you. I mean after all the effort that Tai and I put in to get you here and-"
"The effort my dad put in? I spent more effort cleaning up his vomit than he did preparing my papers, I ended up having to do them myself anyways. He was busier trying to figure out a way to breathe with alcohol in his lungs after mum died rather than do actual parenting"
Qrow's glare hardened, "That's not fair Ruby, Summer's death was tough on all of us and while he didn't take it that well, he-"
"And for the effort you put in? You were too busy off at seedy as hell bars doing the same as dad! You were barely home! I'm not even talking about all those missions you went on, who even gave you that many missions!". Ozpin shuffled in his seat, glancing up at the ceiling.
"I had to save up what little money I got from odd jobs, importing books to study scythe combat stances because Patch is in the middle of nowhere despite having a scythe using huntsman for an uncle. I had to stumble, and fall, and bruise because my uncle, the supposed best scythe user in Patch couldn't stop by to give me some advice on the weight of the damn thing! Crescent Rose blew up in my face 3 times because neither you nor dad taught me about dust and carbon obstruction causing overpressure in the barrel even though you guys knew I was building a dangerous weapon from scrap!"
Ruby glared defiantly at her uncle, fists clenched and knuckles white. "And now you come here, talking about effort, talking like you made me who I am?". Ruby crossed her arms, somehow fixing all 3 people in the room with a scowl. Her eyes were darkened, and the silver orbs bore a hint of danger. The pressure in the room was like a heavy blanket, rooting everyone in the room to their spots as they stared down the girl in red.
"I made me. I am who I am because of me, and none of you are going to take that away, regardless of what you might claim after I walk out of this room. Now get this over with Ozpin"
Ozpin's mouth set in a thin line, face tense as he considered his next words. Upon the shrug from Qrow and the indignant scoff from Glynda, he gave a resigned sigh.
"Very well Miss Rose, it seems your refusal to cooperate runs deep with issues. Unfortunately, we cannot allow such disruptive behavior in Beacon, prestigious as it is". Ruby blatantly let her scorn at that statement be known with a none too polite universal gesture.
"It is with a heavy heart that I inform you to vacate Beacon Premises with your belongings in less than 24 hours, after which your records as a student will be stripped from Beacon databases. Your provisional student Huntsman License will have to be returned and a black mark will be added to your civilian record. I wish you luck with your future ventures Miss Rose. Before you leave, would you like us to write a testimony on your combat abilities to any of the other academies"
Chucking the license already prepared in hand at Ozpin's face, that was possibly, maybe enhanced with her semblance, Ruby utters her goodbye to Beacon.
"Nope"