Ruby Schnee

While it was true that Ruby didn't have the best grasp on social interactions and figuring out how people saw her, it was common knowledge even to her that she gave off an 'innocent' aura. Even given her now apparently mature look, Ruby didn't doubt for a second that her friends and family still saw her that way. In fact, she was even sure that Weiss did! And the Queen definitely had more evidence to contradict her apparently 'innocent' nature than anyone else did.

So as she sat at the table, staring at two different pictures of her wife... she was almost certain that Blake wouldn't think she was being a pervert. After all, she wasn't! She was just... admiring the differences.

"Wow... I'm not even doing a good job at justifying this to myself."

She was glad that Blake and Onyx had yet to comment on it.

The two pictures she held, one in each hand, the left one was the picture Blake had shown her last night... and the right was the picture Weiss had sent as per Ruby's request. Somehow, even given how shocking last night had been... This was worse.

Ruby wasn't a prude, she often admired her wife's body and... enjoyed... it, so how was it possible that all of this had slipped past her notice? Looking back at the left picture, she saw Weiss as she knew her. Short, sweet, and lacking in a certain area somewhere around her chest - Not that Ruby had minded that. Now though? In the picture on her right? Well... Weiss hadn't actually changed too much, just from what she could gleam looking at it now, the only thing of note being an improvement to the size of... certain features. But of course, she had grown, matured, her face was sharper, but the change wasn't as drastic as Ruby herself had been. Which had made sense, of course, Weiss had changed less than Ruby as she had been older. No, the part that actually shocked her was quite simple.

The most prominent feature of Weiss upon first glance besides the prominent Schnee features - At least, that Ruby took notice of - was how short she was. Her wife had stood at a good half a head shorter than her when they first met, though heels had alleviated that dramatically. But, Ruby had grown. And as she thought back to these last few years, she realised that the height difference between them hadn't actually changed! Weiss had gotten taller! Not as tall as herself, mind you, and she would still probably be called short if she took her heels off... But she had grown! Ruby was so proud of her!

Though, as her thoughts lingered on the comparisons between Weiss then and now... they slowly shifted back to last night, and that second picture she had sent to her own Scroll instead of Blake's. Thankfully, Ruby had been smart before checking it, obviously it was meant to be something private if she would go through the trouble of sending it to her Scroll instead of just with the first photo to Blake. Upon retiring to her temporary bed for the night, Ruby had checked the picture, and her response had been some thoughts that definitely went against that 'innocent' nature people attributed to her.

"I didn't even know she had that."

Ruby was certainly planning on checking their closet when she got home, she wanted to know exactly what outfits and 'outfits' Weiss had stored away in there. Only to know, of course. It wasn't like she intended to use them or anything. Of course not.

Once again failing to justify something to herself, Ruby decided to stop looking at the pictures before her blush became any more prominent. Handing Blake's picture frame back to her as the faunas passed by the table, and slotting her own back into her Scroll. "Alright, let's do this." Figuring that Ruby was done, Blake had moved over to the ritual near the mirror again, as they hadn't actually made a proper disguise yet for Ruby. The Schnee look wasn't a good idea if you were trying not to be noticed. Steeling herself and rising, Ruby approached and stood once again in the middle of the Illusion ritual.

Onyx and Blake worked slow, mainly because it was fun to mess around with. They changed Ruby's hair to every colour of the rainbow at some point during the ten minutes it took them to settle on a disguise. Her red and black hair becoming a soft brown and losing its spikes, while her eyes barely shifted to a prominent Grey instead of Silver. The changes weren't big, certainly not compared to some of the options they had flicked through, so, puzzled, she looked back at Onyx with a raised eyebrow.

"Your Mana will be maintaining the enchantment, the smaller the changes, the easier it will be on your Tank." The answer did nothing to change Ruby's mind, after all, she had a lot more Mana than they did. "Just because you're a Dragon doesn't mean you can waste Mana." It seemed like he was just as good at reading her as Blake was...

"Well, you two can figure that out while I'm gone." Another look of questioning from Ruby, and another answer in response that she didn't accept. "It will be safer for me to scout by myself in the morning. I can get a better idea of the town first and then bring you with me later."

She wanted to argue, to bring up the fact that Ruby was the muscle on this mission for a reason... But, she respected Blake's opinion. "Alright." After all, if one of them was going to be caught, it certainly wasn't the ninja.

"So, the Dragon has been sidelined." Looking into the mirror, Ruby was now sure that at some point over the years she had picked up her wife's annoyed expression... She was doing it right now, after all. "Relax, Ruby. I'm just messing with you."

Blake hadn't been gone for long, but they were already putting the final touches on Ruby's disguise. She had kept the changes they decided on, and all that was left was to set the enchantment and adjust so it wreathed her properly. Which was a process that required waiting in the circle. Thanks to Ruby's eyes, though, she had the foresight to sit down in the middle of it rather than stand the whole time. This was going to take a while, after all.

As much as she wanted to simply wait and be done with this... It seemed that Onyx had other plans. "Your weapon, it's impressive." Her eyes darted to his own with a frown, but he raised his hands defensively before she could fully settle into her threatening aura. "Woah, touchy subject?"

"I guess you could say that." With a sigh, her aggression left her body. "It's a failure. Its... Not good enough."

"It's a Legendary weapon, what about it could be bad?"

"Just because it's Legendary doesn't mean it's good." Ruby failed to hear the whine in her voice, but figured it out moments later after seeing Onyx's reaction plastered over his face. "It needs to be perfect." She reiterated.

"Why?" A million answers flowed into her head all at once after that one word of his, but he shut them all down with his next words. "At least, why does this one have to be perfect?"

Silver eyes flickered with confusion, and her stunned silence was broken after a full ten seconds. "... What?"

"Oh, come on Ruby-" He gestured to her like it was supposed to explain something. "You're rich. You can just make another one!"

"I mean... Yeah, but-"

"-But what? Even if it isn't perfect, you're still stronger with it than without." His words rung true, but still, they struck a nerve.

"You don't know me, why are you pretending to know how strong I am-"

He kneeled down, still a distance from her as he practically squatted with his arms rested on his knees, staring her down. "Once again, Ruby, I watched the Vytal Festival."

"So-?"

"So-" She was getting very sick of being interrupted. "I know how you fight, at least, without a weapon. Trust me, you need all the help you can get."

Ok, now she was definitely pissed. "What did you just-?!"

"Why did you let Carmine win?" Once again, he left her stunned with just words. Words that were spoken so casually as well. She didn't even know how to answer that.

So, she said what she did know. "I didn't."

"Sure you did. I mean, you kicked her arse immediately after the fight-"

"He knows about that?"

"-Why didn't you just do the same thing in the fight?" Her voice hitched before she responded, ready to cast aside all his words and argue it... But... She couldn't. "That roar of yours... When it's pushed to its limits, It's capable of disabling two Harbingers and a fully transformed Dragon even at a distance." She remembered that... Sure, it wasn't her in control at the time but... Well, logically, there was no reason why she couldn't do it if Rory had. "Why don't you use it?"

This one she went to answer before her brain caught up with her words. "Because, it's not-!"

"-Fair."

Ruby stopped. Unable to process that line of thought that had come from some deep part of herself... Ruby never considered herself an honourable fighter, but was she actually in practice? And more importantly, as she listened to him speak... was that even a good thing?

He didn't seem to think so. "Those wings of yours. You can still use them while you roar. A good strategy would be to disable someone with that spell, then crush them with those arms." She had actually done that once... and it worked so well too, why hadn't she done it since? "I said earlier that you need all the help you can get, but you knew healing magic back during the Vytal festival, right?" He didn't wait for her answer. "Carmine's spells were taking way more of her Mana than those defences of yours were taking you... If you had just taken it and healed the damage, Carmine would have had to either drop the power of her attacks to save on Mana, or run out before you did."

Ruby had so many regrets thinking back on that tournament... The things she did, the things she didn't do... But now, Onyx had added a new entry to that list.

"I... could have won that fight...?"

"Why are you telling me this?" He clearly knew a lot, after all, some of the events he had just spoken of weren't public knowledge... Perhaps he actually was a good informant.

"Let's just say that I have an interest in your continued existence." His eyes focused... and for the first time since seeing him, did Ruby question if he was also using a disguise enchantment or not. "Fight hard, Ruby Schnee. Fight dirty. Do whatever you have to in order to win. Remember... there can only be one winner in a fight. And they're the only one who gets to go home to see their families again."

Once, a long time ago, Ruby had thought about Qrow and Pyrrha... about how much stronger they would be if they didn't purposefully hold themselves back. Ruby never thought she would be in a position in which she could do that, let alone that she would actually fall into that trap herself.

Different words echoed in her mind, memories of a time long ago... and she was forced to face them now that it was the future. Now that she had failed to get stronger.

"I refuse to be weak."

The town wasn't exactly bustling with life, but one could call it rowdy without hearing many arguments. The people walking down the streets, going in and out of shops, meeting old friends and family members, the odd couple on a date, this place had just as much life in its foundations as Vale did. A calming thought, to know that these kinds of environments could be found everywhere, and not just home.

"Though... I guess that includes Vacuo and Mistral."

Her brow furrowed with that thought. If she cut off the heads of those kingdoms, if Carmine and Neptune were no more... Who would replace them? And would they be any better?

"Huh..."

The slow steps of a calm walk slowed and halted to a stand still, grey eyes flickering and glancing around the peaceful town. Busy stores, happy people, despite the war the kingdoms were currently in... She found herself in a place that seemingly didn't feel it. Ruby stood at perhaps the centre of peace in all of Remnant... and she thought of murder.

"Anna?" Stopping her sightseeing, her curious eyes returned to facing forward, locking onto the amber eyes of her guide. Blake's eyes held worry, and Ruby could feel herself being assessed at that very moment.

"I'm fine, sorry, Bella." She could handle her thoughts later, sort out her issues alone... or with the person she trusted most. But for now they had a mission to do, so off they moved.

"I'm probably just feeling weird because I don't have my cloak."

Ruby's feet moved into a jog temporarily to catch up with Blake, halting into a walk as they stood side by side and continued through the town. She kept her eyes forward, only glancing around at the stores they passed in order to make her actions seem natural, she was in disguise after all. Said disguise still confused her momentarily every time she caught her own reflection, then again, so did the rest of her body in those same reflections now. Her image of herself so far on this mission had been shaken from top to bottom, how she looked, how she acted, Ruby found herself questioning everything as they passed through this peaceful slice of Remnant. Maybe the only piece left that felt this way.

"I've given the town a general sweep over-" Ruby kept her eyes forwards, not reacting to Blake's words as she listened intently. "-The guards are lazy, this place has a really low crime rate, so we don't have to try too hard to not be seen as suspicious." They passed by people as they spoke, all of them unaware of their conversation thanks to their successful attempts at keeping it private. Blake was using some rather complicated Magic in order to direct her voice to one place rather than letting it spread everywhere, while also using Illusion Magic to mask her mouth's movements. Ruby, on the other hand? Well, by comparison, she was practically cheating.

"Where to first, then?" Out of all the abilities, Dragon's had access to - the base set not counting Title's anyway - Telepathy was by far the most convenient.

"We'll ask around."

"For what? Suspicious activity?"

Blake let a smile leak onto her expression, though she actually had to purposefully display that with her Illusions. "Yeah. There's no reason that we have to be subtle about that. The issue isn't the investigation, rather, it's who we are."

"How do you figure that?"

"A Dust shipment went missing, Ruby. Doesn't it make sense that Atlas would send people to find it?"

"So, we're trying to bait them?"

"Exactly." Ruby heard pride in Blake's voice. "If we make it seem like we're weak enough, it'll be easier for our enemies to attempt and 'handle us' rather than hiding"

That made enough sense, though, it raised a question for the Queen. "So how do we do that?"

"I admit, acting like an amateur isn't easy-" The Dragon had to hold in a laugh at Blake's cockiness. "But I'm sure we'll manage."

Continuing on, they headed for their first destination. A place one would always head to first when looking for information... Well, that's what Ruby had thought anyway. Blake had simply told her in response that she was definitely really good at 'acting' amateur. The Faunas and the now mildly annoyed Dragon stepped into the bar, and Ruby's first thoughts upon taking in the establishment's air?

"Smells like Uncle Qrow."

Though, weirdly, not as bad.

"Hello-!" Ruby's entire worldview briefly shattered as she bore witness for the first time to a cheery Blake Xiao Long. Seriously, she sounded like a teenager. "We're Knight's from Atlas, I was hoping you could answer some questions for us?" Besides them and the man behind the bar, the place was empty... Blake had definitely picked this time on purpose, at least, Ruby thought.

She contemplated that as they moved to the bar, sitting on stools that surprisingly were quite comfortable. "Welcome, I'd be glad to answer any questions. Could I interest you Ladies in some drinks as well?" At first, Ruby wanted to question that... But they were pretending to be amateur, was drinking on the job considered amateur?

"If so, I'm not sure what that says about Uncle Qrow."

"Trying to get some business while you can?" Blake's whole attitude right now was rather teasing and chipper... and it had taken Ruby way too long to figure out where she had stolen it from. This was how Yang used to act. Over a decade ago, sure, but this was still familiar to Ruby. The barkeep put his hands up as if to say 'you got me' but placed a device on the bar in front of them nonetheless.

"I'd ask you ladies how old you are, but frankly I think it's best if we just skip straight to this." Ruby was glad he had decided to pull out the Soul-Eye immediately... She really didn't want to have to explain that she was indeed an adult, despite being under thirty.

"Oh my god... I'm twenty-five... When the hell did that happen?"

One at a time, they swiped their hands over the device, the small yellow and purple plate on four short legs on all corners lit up with a blue light as each hand passed over it. After they had both been confirmed as adults, the man slipped it back under the bar and smiled at them. "So, what'll it be?"

"So, are we actually trying to get info, or are we just trying to bait them out?" Back to walking, and once again communicating without speaking aloud.

"If we actually get some info, then I'll see it as an added benefit." Blake's response was short and sweet to say the least... though, perhaps that's because she was still embarrassed.

Blake had failed to provide any kind of warning to Ruby for how she acts when on these kinds of missions... So in the ten minutes since they'd exited the bar, Ruby had been teasing her relentlessly for it. "I wish I could have shown Yang." Her smile turned evil for a moment as she decided to bring it up again.

"Why? She knows I act like that... It was her idea, anyway." Ruby actually wasn't too surprised to hear that... Though, it did raise the questions of why Yang wanted her to act specifically like that.

Now picturing Yang acting like a younger and more closed off version of Blake, her smile was chipper as they moved through town, passing by a few stores of note and stopping in most of them to ask questions. A bookstore that had a rather robust Magic section, a Magic item store that actually had some Scrolls on the shelves - though still not exactly cheap - and even an alchemist! It was so rare nowadays to see people practising making potions... but even rarer was what came after.

Moving down the path... Ruby's eyes glanced to her side as they passed a particular shop. At first, the simple rustic decor and door sitting next to a large crystal clear window was what she had come to expect... But it was the plants behind the window that caught her eye. They looked strangely remarkable... odd colours, large flowers that looked too big to stand, vines that curled and wrapped oddly... it was like someone had grown the strangest plants they could with magic, then dyed them. But Ruby knew that wasn't it. Because while they did catch her eye... they also caught the attention of her eye.

"A Magic plant store?" A practice barely partaken nowadays, much rarer than even the slowly going extinct alchemy. This practice was continued and held up by probably only a handful of people... and it was likely that they were all too old to try and start a different business anyway. Ruby looked at the plants as she thought on that, eyeing the beautiful and active Mana that flowed over their petals, almost like a dance... She thought about how she would more than likely live to see the end of this practice, that her life would outlast the knowledge needed to keep this beautiful work going.

It wasn't a place Blake had intended to stop at, but even still, Ruby entered the store. The sounds of a gentle bell ringing as she crossed the threshold to signal her entry.

"Oh, Sam, is that you? I wasn't expecting you today." An old voice, a frail one, more so even than Ozpin sounded nowadays. This woman, whoever she was, even before seeing her, Ruby knew she was on her last years. Stepping around a display of beautiful blue, almost lotus-looking flowers that made the back of her neck tingle, she moved to the counter. Setting her eyes on the woman, Ruby gave her a gentle smile, having hit the nail on the head with just her assessment of her voice. "Ooh, you're not Sam, are you a customer?" Her old eyes lit up with joy, it filled Ruby with a strange warmth to see. "What a rare treat for today."

Ruby felt a kinship with the old woman from just this small interaction. While her body was old and frail, her hair having turned completely grey and white long ago, her movements slow and careful... Ruby related so incredibly deeply with her passion for her craft. With just those words alone, Ruby knew that this woman could and would speak for hours on Magical Plants, if given the opportunity.

How badly Ruby wanted to sit and listen to her stories.

"No, sorry-" Ruby nearly jumped, having forgotten Blake was with her... She honestly had stopped paying attention to the faunas the second she saw the plants. "We're Knights of Atlas, I was hoping we could ask you a few questions."

"Oh." A pain struck through Ruby's heart at the woman's disappointment, she had to wonder how many customers she actually got...

"So, are you two together?" The older lady readied herself up to try and extract some gossip from what she clearly believed were young lovers, but Blake shut that down quickly.

"Oh, no. This is Anna, my daughter." Ruby froze momentarily... It wasn't just the words, it was how easily Blake had said them. They slipped from her lips like it was the most natural thing to say in the world.

Blake asked her questions, but Ruby was disinterested. Instead, she moved around the store, her eyes setting on every plant and drinking them in with a smile. She explored the small shop, getting lost looking at all different kinds of flowers and bushes. Her eyes drifted over vines, succulents, flowers that seemed to pulse with light, and even a hanging pot with berries that glowed like a lamp. It was a peaceful feeling, looking at these plants, the Mana coursing through them danced like stars in her eyes as she stared... The feeling quite similar, yet so strangely different, to how she felt when looking at a Magic Item.

Looking at a particular flower, Ruby smiled at it and leaned down, taking in the aroma of the purple rose. Her face a smile as she reached out to gently touch the petals-

"Anna?" Her eyes whipped to the counter with a smile, her head poking over a shelf to see the other two girls as her hand moved away from the rose. She had missed its change as she touched it, the flower turning a solid red colour and hardening over with something akin to scales, before it reverted back as she moved away.

Stepping up to the counter again, Ruby gave the older woman a smile... one she returned, like she knew that Ruby had appreciated the plants almost as much as she did. Blake, of course, was ready to leave thanks to the lack of information... But, Ruby couldn't bare to leave without fulfilling the woman's wish. Turning to a row of those blue lotus flowers in pots that sat just below a mantle adorned with pictures, Ruby spoke.

"How much for one of these?" She picked up the pot, but before she turned, her eyes lingered on one of the pictures... One of an odd sight. It was a girl, standing in front of this very shop, though clearly quite a long time ago. It struck Ruby with a great deal of confusion as she saw the picture... and as she took her eyes from the young girl with red and black hair in the picture, and turned to the old woman... Her disguised Grey eyes met the older Silver ones. "What's your name, Ms?"

"Rose." The older woman spoke with a gentle smile. "Vermilion Rose."

Their walk carried a tense air now. Like an awkward smell that lingered and refused to move on.

One that Blake of course couldn't stand. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." There wasn't a reason to, at least, not one Ruby could see. She was a bit shaken from the surprise, sure, but the potted plant she now carried close to her chest was actually doing a lot to provide comfort.

"Ruby-" They didn't stop walking, sure, Blake wanted to so they could have a serious discussion but... Well, they did still have a job to do. "She was your family."

"She's distantly related to me. You guys are my family." With a slight turn did she flash the faunas a smile.

"From what I can remember... Mum once said that her family was already gone. I don't have any grandparents from her side, or any cousins that I'm aware of..."

Ruby knew that she was a descendent of Rory's brother, it was likely that at some point after him the family had split, Ruby and that woman were probably incredibly distantly related. At least, that's what she told herself.

In truth, Ruby didn't want to let that woman into her life. She knew they would enjoy each other's presence, have nice talks, spend hours just discussing Magic... But how long would that last? Vermilion was on the clock, she probably only had a few years left...

"I don't really want to outlive anyone I care about, anyway." So, she didn't want to let Vermilion in, she didn't want to care about her.

Her words, however, struck a different cord than what she expected. Rather than a look of understanding or even empathy... Blake looked guilty for a moment, and it took only a moment longer for Ruby to know why.

"One day... You won't be around anymore..."

Ruby held her gaze forward, trying to focus and concentrate... She didn't want her mind to wander. She didn't want to think about losing another mother.

That tense air grew heavier as they moved... Trudging along to their last location for the day. The awkward smell so overbearing that Ruby could almost actually smell it.

Finally arriving at a much different kind of store on the other side of town, it was more like a tourist attraction really... One that clearly didn't get much use. Annoyingly, there wasn't actually anyone here at the moment, as Blake confirmed herself after looking around. The small structure resembled an open plan wooden floor and roof with walls only made up of the odd wooden beam here and there, the only two things of note being the small booth for whoever was clearly meant to be working right now... and the binoculars. There were multiple sets, all attached to metal stakes in the floor that kept people from taking the devices, but allowed them to rotate still. They were, of course, pointed down to the massive crater that was the birthplace of Amity Colosseum.

Ruby could understand the idea of why people would want to see the crater... but it was a glorified quarry, not exactly worth paying to see in more detail with binoculars.

"I guess I'm a bit biased though..."

Ruby leaned over the railing next to the binoculars, looking down into the crater with her telescopic vision. Even given the fact that she had seen it before, it took on a whole different scale when standing next to it.

"Well, this is a waste of time." Speaking out loud for the first time in ages, Blake couldn't help but sigh as she grabbed a pamphlet from the booth, glancing over it with a frown. "Hopefully someone will take the bait from today..." Ruby wasn't sure if saying that out loud was the best idea, but both of them had good enough senses to detect anyone that may be close enough to hear them... Now that there was clearly no one in sight. "-See the 'breathtaking' sights and observe the preserved condition of the birthplace of peace! The Dust Crystals inside, the very same as the day the Colosseum rose from the earth!" Blake read a part of the pamphlet dramatically, and Ruby couldn't help but chuckle before taking one last glance down at the crater. They were both clearly ready to leave... But something caught Ruby's eyes as she looked into the chasm.

Or rather, something didn't.

"Ruby?" Blake's voice spoke to her as she practically leaned over the side of the railing, eyes flicking all over the crater and double, triple checking.

Only when she was certainly did she turn to Blake once more. "The Dust... Its gone."

21st Day, Fourth Strike, 2115 PE