Ruby sat in the stands, alone. She could see Blake watching from a far away corner, but the fay had refused to risk going back to the tourney. Ruby held a small piece of parchment, folded and bound with a thin piece of string, apparently containing the roster of the day.

She untied the slip and gazed upon the list. It was some of the highest quality parchment she'd ever felt, bright and clear in sharp contrast to the smooth, bold ink of the list itself. She marveled at the beautiful writing, then immediately felt dour when she remembered that she couldn't read it. She frowned at the parchment, as if that would cause the scrawlings to reassemble into something she recognized instead of the strange, winding glyphs they were now. A picture would be nice.

She huffed and, in a rare moment of anger, crumpled the slip in her hands. She just had to hope the announcer would call their names.

A weight settled beside her, making her jump.

"Hey, 'Rupert'." It was Penny, her ginger hair brightly reflecting the morning sun. She smiled at Ruby, who cautiously returned the gesture.

"Uh, hi, Penny." She muttered, pulling her hood over her face. She really didn't like being recognized here, even if it was someone she could probably trust.

"You were insane yesterday!" Penny mused, scooching closer to Ruby to softly grip the girl's arm. "Like a whirlwind! I've never seen anyone fight like you do!"

Ruby pulled her hood tighter as she felt heat surge in her face. She really wasn't used to compliments on things that didn't come out of her forge. "T-thanks, uh, it's nothing… I just, uh… yeah."

Penny got even closer, even going so far as to drape an arm over Ruby's shoulders. The contact made Ruby nervously search the stands— such a thing had to be a breach of propriety, or something!

Nobody was staring, nobody even batted an eye their way. She sighed. She supposed they just looked like two friends, or some such, and Knights technically existed outside of men and women's societal rules. She was also masquerading (or at least attempting to) as a man, so perhaps it wasn't so strange, but it certainly made Ruby feel strange.

"You'd make an excellent Knight," Penny insisted, leaning close to Ruby's ear, "We could even be on a team together!"

Penny was an extremely pretty girl, that much she could admit— especially by Ruby's more rural standards of beauty— but that wasn't a reason for this proximity to make her feel so strange! Ruby's arms wrapped tightly around her chest, hoping to keep the swirling feeling inside of her steady. She wasn't used to this kind of closeness with anyone but her sister.

"How do you feel about your match?" Penny asked, still close enough to set Ruby's face on fire.

"I-I-I, uh, I've… got it, haha," she nervously chuckled, "Yeah, t-totally, haha."

Penny raised a dark eyebrow at Ruby, gaze flicking between her eyes and Ruby's hands. "You sure? You seem mad."

"No, no, no, I'm not angry, I just—" her words hitched in her throat, the embarrassing admission stopping before it could start, "I'm just confident I can beat whoever I fight."

Penny hardly looked convinced. She unwrapped her arm from Ruby's shoulders and instead laid it over her hands, "May I see?" She asked, suddenly gentler than she'd been before. The warm contact made Ruby's heart beat doubly fast— was she really so unfamiliar with female contact? Penny was making her feel like she was almost shirtless in front of Jaune again!

Penny gently unfolded Ruby's hands from around the crumpled slip, the meticulous movement making Ruby's breathing hitch. Penny briefly met her eyes, and Ruby immediately looked away. She was… weird! It was weird! Everything was weird, she felt weird, what was going on was weird! Weird! But if it was so weird, why did she miss the warmth when Penny's hands retreated with the roster?

Penny's eyes scrolled over the slip for a moment before she slipped her arm under Ruby's, using it to pull the girl closer. She held the slip up, finger pointing at the glyphs at the top of the list. "Wow! They put you first!"

"I-I can read!" Ruby insisted through grit teeth, equal parts frustrated and flustered.

Penny's eyes snapped to hers, like she'd caught the girl. Smugness flashed across her face, immediately followed by a gentle empathy. "I never said you couldn't," she looked back down at the paper, "But now that you mention it, I'm having a hard time with that name. What's it say?"

Ruby followed her finger slightly to the right, towards another set of equally unfamiliar black glyphs. She tapped the word.

"Well?" Penny urged, watching the poor girl struggle to pull miraculous understanding from nothing.

Ruby's hands balled into fists and she wrenched her arm out of Penny's grip, snatching the parchment back in the process. She scooted away from the girl, the strange fluttering of her chest replaced with anger. She huffed, avoiding the Knight's emerald gaze.

"Ruby," she whispered, "it's okay. Lots of people can't read."

Ruby bit her lip and looked away, tears pricking at her eyes. She hated being as stupid as she was, it made her feel useless around people like Blake, and even her sister. She was a smith! She smithed and she was damn good at it! Why did it matter if she could read or not, people could just come and ask for a sword!

"Hey, I'm sorry," Penny muttered as she scooted back up to Ruby's side, "I'm not judging you, you're an incredible fighter and an amazing blacksmith— so what if you can't read, right?"

Ruby's arms tightened around herself. When it came from someone else, that notion sounded childish and patronizing. "Right," she mumbled in return.

Penny visibly recoiled from Ruby. "I didn't mean to—"

"Ruby."

Another voice. Ruby turned, heart dropping into her stomach like an iron weight.

The bench sagged as another armored person sat between Penny and Ruby, their plate a familiar dark color and of a utilitarian, unadorned make. They pulled their helmet off, long blonde locks spilling forth to reveal the face that Ruby had dreaded to see here.

"Yang, I can explain!" Ruby whispered as loudly as she could, hands flying up defensively.

Yang merely stared, red eyes and tight scowl locking Ruby down for a moment before fading back to lilac. Yang took her sister into her arms for a crushing embrace. "Ozma's balls, you had me so worried!"

Ruby tried to wave everything off. "I've been fine!" She wheezed, "I just needed some… time? To myself!"

Yang pushed her sister far enough away to affix her with a glare. "Ruby, I know what happened. Dad told me."

Ruby sagged, deflated. "I… please don't take me home," she whispered, defeated, "Not yet."

Yang squeezed her shoulders, her head dipping to meet Ruby's eyes, softly this time. She stared for a long time, thoughts visibly zipping around behind her irises. Ruby watched the conflict play out on her face— Yang never was able to hide her feelings. After a long while, her head dropped, eyes turning to the floor.

"Yang? Are you okay?" Ruby reached for her sister.

Yang's head stayed down, making it hard for Ruby to hear her words. "I heard you did pretty well in the first round," she muttered, "and you protected your partner."

"I just—"

Yang' head sprang back up with a beaming smile on her face. "I'm so proud!" She lunged forward again to tackle Ruby, gaining a good few annoyed looks. "My little sister is a warrior!"

"B-but dad—"

Yang squeezed her tighter, taking her words away. "Is an idiot! What did he think was going to happen, sending me here? As if I would drag you back home, kicking and screaming, when all you want to do is protect people!"

"Please—" Ruby wheezed, "you're killing me."

Yang finally relinquished her, allowing the blessed air to flood her lungs once more. "Just don't die, and try not to get any more of these," Yang gestured to the new scars on Ruby's face, "I don't want my baby sister's cute face to go patchwork."

Ruby panted, bewildered. She'd barely gotten a word in with her sister, but apparently that was enough to prove her conviction.

Yang smiled at her sister again, then jumped when Penny tapped her shoulder. "So, who are you?" Penny asked.

Ruby watched Yang's eyes slowly turn red. She turned her head, just enough to meet her eyes to Penny's. "I saw you leering at my sister. You're lucky you're a Knight."

Penny's eyebrows shot up as she was taken aback, then came down as she leaned forward with a hard look. "Oh? And why exactly am I so lucky to be a Knight?"

Yang turned fully, nodding to the tourney grounds below them. "Because if you weren't, I would've thrown you into that field and taken you on myself."

Penny squinted, hand slowly drifting to her scabbard. "How's my knighthood stopping you?"

"Killing a Knight would put my Huntress status in jeopardy," Yang's fists tightened as she seethed, "Even if that Knight is a lascivious cad."

"Huntress, eh?" Penny chuckled, "I'm sure the world wouldn't miss one less of you."

"Hey, hey!" Ruby interrupted, hand firmly on her cleaver's grip under her cloak. "Don't say that to my sister."

Penny frowned, then let her hand leave her sword. She turned her nose up at the two of them. "You're not worth it. Don't forget my favor, 'Rupert'."

With that, Penny left. Ruby could see Blake distantly watching them with wide eyes.

Yang spoke up first. "So when—"

"Fighters, turn your ears!" The mustachioed announcer shouted from the tourney's center, atop a squat wooden crate, "Would the first combatants please come to the center! Rupert the Red and Dove Bronzewing, to the center, please!"

"Heh, Rupert," Yang chuckled, "Very subtle."

Ruby laughed sheepishly. With a last glance at Blake, then one to her sister, she turned to the tourney.

AN:yes penny is extremely ooc but consider she is made of meat now and also its a nice contrast to twilight concerto penny