Ruby cast her gaze to the sky. The sun sat just below the horizon, leaving a gradient of darkening blues. The Lovers had yet to cross, but she could see the shattered moon's crescent making an early appearance. The city was relatively quiet, besides the drunken din behind her. She basked in it, drinking in every second of silence.
A familiar sound drifted to her ears, distant and quiet, but drawing her attention nonetheless. Hearing it now, she did not realize how much she had longed for that noise.
Ruby followed the sound, keeping her hood pulled tight whenever she passed a fellow wanderer of the night. Under the cover of her umber cloak, she kept a hand on her shortsword's pommel. Thankfully, most of the evening's patrons preferred to ignore her.
When Ruby finally approached the source of the sound, she found an older man pounding a rod of red-hot iron on an anvil. The sweet sound resonated through her body, drawing her even closer until she could peer at his work. It was a nail.
She watched him mold it into shape, then fold the top in on itself to form the head, which he flattened with his hammer. He checked the nails fit, then chucked it into a large box, presumably full of more nails. He retrieved a dirty rag from nearby and dabbed the sweat off his brow.
"Hello," Ruby greeted the fellow smith, making him jump. "Good work."
The man looked down at her like she had grown a second head. "Eh?" His voice was gruff, and extremely deep, matching his rough features, thick beard, and short, slicked-back hair.
"Your work is good," Ruby complimented, suddenly unsure of herself. She'd never talked with another smith before. "You made quick work of that nail."
The man looked between her and the box into which he had cast the finished nail, quizzical look not leaving his face. "Thanks? It's just a nail. One of…" he looked up, pensive. "Thirty thousand?"
Ruby's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Thirty thousand? Why?"
He shrugged. "Job from the Imperial navy."
Ruby remembered her own quest for providing ship nails. She'd hated it then, but she'd love to be making nails now. "I'm a smith, too."
The man looked her up and down, then cracked a smile and guffawed. "Good joke, lass."
"I'm serious!" Ruby shouted, a little louder than intended. To prove herself, she pulled her cloak open, just far enough to show her hammer. She drew it into her hand, comforted by its familiar weight. "I made this hammer myself."
He stared, disbelief still clear in his ember-lit eyes.
"I made three thousand nails for a trade ship helmed by Jaune Arc, you could ask him to prove it."
The man shrugged. "I don't care to, it's much too late and I have nails to make."
"Let me help!" Ruby blurted, unable to stop herself. "I mean, please. I'm a good smith, I swear, you don't even have to pay me."
"I won't let some stranger waste my iron."
"I won't waste it!" Ruby promised, eyes pleading as she approached him. "I swear! If I do, you can take all of these!"
She pulled her cloak open, displaying her collection of hand-made weapons.
The man raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. He pointed a thick finger to the hammer still in her hands. "I want that one."
Ruby pulled the hammer close to her chest on instinct, protecting it. "You can't have my hammer!"
The man stared at her, then leaned forward, eyes challenging. He held Ruby's gaze for a long moment, but she refused to waver. Eventually, a grin pulled his lips. He chuckled. "Maybe you could be a smith," the man conceded. "I suppose I could use a break."
Ruby giddily ran to his anvil, but was stopped by his giant hand on her head.
"What's your name, girl?" He asked.
Ruby sharply inhaled and avoided his gaze. "R-Rupert," she lied. "And I'm not a girl."
The hand on her head turned her, forcing her gaze on the man. He stared at her for a long moment. "You're Ruby Rose of Patch, aren't you?"
Ruby's heart immediately pounded against her chest, hand moving to the dagger at her back. How? How did he know? Did other smiths just knowabout her?
The man chuckled. "I knew it. I've heard of you, mainly from one of my customers. She keeps gushing about her stupid sword, worshiping you like some kind of god."
Ruby gulped. Did he mean Penny? "I-I…"
The man waved her off. "I won't tell anyone, it's clear you're trying to keep it a secret."
Ruby sighed, shoulders sagging. "Thank you."
"Now, show me what the 'greatest smith in Patch' can do," he said with a half-smirk, burly arms folding across his chest..
Ruby nodded, then approached the man's anvil with her own hammer. She gave the iron block a few solid taps, testing its resonance. It was perfect. The sound was music to her ears, and the vibration in her hand was a loving memory.
She searched the unfamiliar workshop, pulling out boxes at random since she couldn't read the labels. Before long, though, she found a multitude of iron rods. Ruby smiled as she took the familiar weight into her hands, then began pumping the bellows of the forge.
With the rod heated, Ruby set to forming the nail. The repetitive clanging filled her with familiar joy, and the tedious action brought a pervading sense of calm— one she hadn't felt in a long time. Her mind, which had frequently been invaded by confused thoughts as of late, organized itself, tempering the things she didn't dare talk to Yang about.
Her hammer struck the glowing nail, forming a point, then an edge. She heated it once more, then pounded further up, better defining the nail's square shape. With the body complete, she folded and pounded a flat head onto the end. Her hand reached for another rod. Her foot pumped the bellows.
She feared Blake. And Penny. And Weiss. Girls, in general, or just her… strange infatuation with them. It was unseemly, unladylike— the way her gaze lingered on Blake when she wasn't looking. She reimagined her talks with Penny, this time with the knowledge she was flirting. She even thought of winning the tournament, of Weiss descending like an angel from the stands to take her hand. She thought of their lips meeting.
She pumped the bellows. The forge swelled with orange light and heat.
She feared Weiss. Greatly. She'd never even spoken to the girl, but terror gripped her heart every time she thought of her. She was falling hard, she admitted— and for someone who could never fall for her! Even if she won the tournament, she knew she wouldn't be welcome. Girl or boy, it didn't matter— she was lowborn, and she'd mortally wounded a member of the nobility. They'd never let her set foot in Palace Schnee. And even if they did, they would throw her out for her unusual proclivities towards fellow women! And who was to say Weiss would share that taboo?
Ruby struck the nail.
Why did she care so much? Weiss was just a girl. She was pretty— beautiful even, but she was just a rich girl looking for a boy to wed. And here Ruby was, stealing that from her. She was too deep to pull out now, but she harbored a great guilt over it. Who was she to—
"Rupert? Rupert the Red?" A wholly unfamiliar voice came from behind, followed by a gust of chill air. Ruby turned to meet it.
Weiss Schnee stood behind her, hood pulled down to reveal the most beautiful face Ruby had ever seen— leagues above Penny and Blake. She allowed herself no time to admire it, though, instead turning back to her work and pulling her hood tighter over her face. She pounded the rod, not even noticing it had gone cold.
"I knew it was you!" Weiss said, her voice much too excited for Ruby to trust. Had she found her out? Was she here to kill her, as revenge for the young Winchester? Or was it because she would win the tournament on false pretenses, luring the Schnee heiress into her unnatural desires?
"I-I don't know who that is," Ruby claimed, voice raspy and low as she tried (and failed) to assemble a believable masculine tone.
"Don't act stupid," Weiss demanded, stepping into the smithy. "I've seen your face and your cloak— I know it's you!"
Ruby's hammer glanced off the nail, creating an awful noise and squashing the metal. There was no way Weiss had seen her face, she had— no, she remembered! Her hood had been pulled back by Neptune, she'd completely forgotten to hide herself that whole fight! She was asking to be found out! But… Weiss wasn't angry, at least it didn't seem that way. Did– did she still not know Rupert was actually a girl? It was possible, she supposed, but that ruse would be up the moment she saw her face-to-face… close enough to kiss.
Ruby shrank into herself, turning a bright scarlet.
Weiss approached, entering well within Ruby's personal space. She leaned forward and peeked into Ruby's peripheral to ogle what was under her hood. The smith turned, desperately trying to hide herself.
"Look at me, come on!" Weiss whined, reaching forward to pull Ruby's hood back.
Ruby leapt away, hood grasped tightly.
"I am your lady!" Weiss insisted. "If you can fight for me, then you can damn well listen to me!"
Ruby was in a panic. Weiss stepped towards her, forcing the smith to retreat. Ruby scrambled back so frantically that she nearly tripped over a huge, obvious tub of water. She stared down at the liquid's still surface.
Her reflection met her, judging her with an accusatory glare. She was a coward and an idiot for boldly entering the tournament and pulling the rug out from under this girl. Privileged royalty or not, she didn't deserve this.
Suddenly, the water flew up towards her face, forcing her back. The flying liquid formed an oval before her, miraculously suspended. She stared, briefly forgetting Weiss' presence as she marveled at the phenomenon. She got closer, finger stretching out to poke it.
The water turned to ice in a second— forming a smooth, flawless surface, one that reflected Ruby's face, lit by the amber glow of the forge.
"I knew it," Weiss whispered, suddenly appearing beside Ruby. "It is you."
Ruby felt her hood suddenly tugged away, then a hand pushed her, trying to force her to pivot towards Weiss. She scrambled back, nearly tripping over herself as she began to sprint away.
Before she could run, though, an invisible force yanked her by her shoulders, dragging her back to Weiss, where it forced her to face her. She tried to turn away, to preserve even a shred of her face, but Weiss grabbed her chin, forcing her head up.
Weiss met her eyes, then slowly scanned over every inch of Ruby's face. Her blood ran cold as realization visibly snapped into Weiss' cerulean eyes.
"Wait…" Weiss whispered, voice thick with disbelief. She gave Ruby's features another once over, then her eyes darted downwards. Weiss suddenly ripped her cloak open, hand relinquishing Ruby's face in favor of diving towards her chest, to confirm what she had clearly come to realize.
Ruby's own hand snapped out, gripping Weiss' wrist.
"You're—" Weiss' claim was interrupted as her face suddenly met Ruby's palm, the resounding crack echoing in the smithy. A red, hand-shaped splotch appeared on her cheek.
Concentration broken, the invisible force gripping Ruby disappeared, dropping her onto her feet.
"I-I…" Ruby stammered. "I'm…"
When Weiss opened her eyes again, she was met with nothing but a sparse scattering of rose petals. She looked about, catching no sign of the smith, save for one thing abandoned on the anvil.
He— she had left her hammer.
AN: wow!~