Two weeks before, Ruby was seated in a clearing with a woman in a featureless mask and long black hair. The woman with the displeased body language of that of a person that had upsetting news thrust into their lap, quite literally, in this case, the teen had given her an acceptance letter from Beacon Academy, and Ruby had become a huntress in training. "I uhh... I don't know what to say..." The woman said through gritted teeth, a small frown adorned under the mask when looking at the girl.
Ruby let out a small sigh, her ear-to-ear grin turning that of a frown. After a brief pause, she finally spoke. "You are not happy, aren't you?" Though it was in the form of a question the answer was blatantly clear despite the covered face. The teen took back the letter with tears starting to form. "I just thought you would be happy that after all of that training I had been recognized by one of the top schools for hunters, and it was yours and dad's alma mater too."
The woman did not know how to react to this whole situation, a whole decade had passed since she had met the girl, and even with that, she hadn't gotten used to the tear-filled grays. As a child, Ruby tended to be reserved with her feelings to the point that it was rare to see her upset. In situations like these, the woman would make an awkward attempt to comfort the girl which usually leads to the former being comforted instead. 'And I am supposed to be the parent too.' Her thoughts would punctuate those moments. "Listen little Rose..." She paused to think about what she was about to say. "It's not that I am not happy for you. It's just that I don't trust Beacon, no that's not right. I just don't trust Ozpin. In a lot of ways I don't like that you especially would be anywhere near that man." The subtle hint of worry and concern was evident in her voice. "But if your father approves, then I do not have a problem with it."
"There is a story to that, isn't there?"
"Normally I wouldn't say a thing, but with your lineage and your age... I just can't help but worry about you." The woman said in a serious tone. "He is clearly after something you have, and you need to be careful of what that is."
Wiping her face, Ruby took a thoughtful expression. Thinking over what was said she confided in the woman. "What do you think I should do?... I don't know what I should do here."
A confused hum came from the masked woman, cupping her chin she answered Ruby. "I trust that you will be okay when push comes to shove, and this is your dream right?" Ruby gave her a nod. "Then you should trust in your instincts, like you always have. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you my little Rose, so if you want to go I don't have the right to stop you. No matter how much I dislike the idea." She finished with a resolute tone.
With the smile that Ruby had earlier returned, she hugged the woman remaining silent for a moment. The gesture elicited an awkward response from the woman as she let her hands hover over Ruby's back. "You are still not used to the whole display of affection thing. I wonder how you and dad got together, I can see why you don't want to see Yang. She is like your total opposite." Ruby commented. "You are lucky that I am the one you ran into that day." She finished chuckling.
"What is that supposed to mean?" The woman questioned as she gently pushed away from the teenager acting mock offended.
"Nothing." Ruby started, all the while chuckling. "I know that our relationship is a weird one, and that I shouldn't be lying to Yang and Dad. But I mean it when I hug you, show you this stuff to make you proud, and when I say that I love you." Ruby took a more solemn look as she continued. "I know I might be a replacement for Yang, but I do really see myself as your daughter, Mom."
"Little Rose..."
"You don't have to say anything..." Ruby paused. "In my own way... I am using you too... After her death, I felt so alone... Even now there are times that I can't help but miss her, but when you visit and when we train that loneliness that I feel when I start to miss her goes away." The tears begin to return with a vengeance. "I'm sorry." The smile she tries to put on quickly becomes a frown as she mutters her apology.
Looking over at Ruby her "mother" had an idea. It was a long shot but she believed that she could brighten the teen's mood and make up for an event that she was going to miss in a little over two months. "Are you free tomorrow morning?"
The question took Ruby off guard, not knowing what to make of it. "I should be why?"
"Then meet me here around five, oh bring Crescent with you." She said to the teen.
With that Ruby's eyes lit up at her words, the fact that she was asking for Ruby to bring her weapon could mean only one thing. "You don't mean..."
"I watched a little of your fight with those thugs and you were slower than when we spar together, your weapon might be why." They began to explain. "I want to make sure you are at your best, that said... If we have to, I like to take Crescent to a friend of mine to see what we can do to improve the design. I hope you don't mind... It... She is yours after all. You would have the final say when it comes to whatever comes u-"
"I don't mind." Ruby retorted, her unbridled excitement on display.
Taken aback her 'mother' smiled under her mask. "Is that so?" The question was met with a vigorous nod. "Then we will have to see what we come up with."
(...)
A black-haired boy stared dumbfounded at what he was looking at, a heterochronic girl with half pink and brown hair matching her eyes held a small device to his face. On the device was a message typed out on the screen. [Please help me find my little sister, I am worried about her.] Her face was filled with worry as she looked into the boy's eyes.
Not knowing what to do, the boy scratched the back of his head. Deciding it was best to make introductions first he replied. "First since we are partners now we should probably introduce ourselves before anything else, my name is Wendel Léon."
The girl cocked her head irritated, playing with the umbrella at her side with her free hand. With a not too pleased frown move the device and typed her response on the surface of a touch screen. [Neo Branwen.] She paused showing what she had typed before returning to the scroll and laying out another message. [Neopolitan actually, but call me Neo. But what about my sister? Are you going to help me or not?] The text was thrust into his face.
"If she is taking this test I don't see why not, and if she has a partner already that would be even better, something tells me four of us will only benefit us for the second phase. Well, Neo do you have a way to track each other down? I'm guessing that you have no reception on your scroll." The boy answered, his blue eyes flicking between the shorter girl and her scroll.
Neo's eyes lit up though her face remained neutral her attention returned to the device to work on her response. [Our Semblances and fighting styles are unique to us, I'll be able to track her down soon enough.]
Wendel brought his hand up to his chin in thought. 'Unique what is that supposed to mean?.' Turning his head towards the sky he frowned at the setting sun. "In any regard, we should find any trace of her soon." He then looked down at her with a grin. "Tell me about your sister, what's her name? What does she look like?"
[Her name is Ruby, she is in a black long-sleeved dress with a hoop skirt, and she was in a red hooded cloak...] She stopped frowning before typing more text. [She has long black hair with highlights, red ones. She likes to do it in a braid.]
"Sounds interesting. Let's get going before it gets dark."
Some time later Wendel was at a loss, since he had met Neo she seemed to not much care for his presence. He wouldn't mind it if he did not need her to pass, but that seems to be the case and the lack of communication. 'I hope this Ruby is a lot friendlier than Neo.' He thought to himself, as the two of them tracked through the forest.
Neo who was leading turned her head to peer at him as if she heard what he was thinking. Stopping in her tracks she pulled out her scroll. [Five Grimm, Beowolves ahead, be careful pack leaders can be tricky.]
As it turned out the pack of Lycans were no match for the two. At least not Neo as she did most of the work, taking three of them out herself, throughout the ordeal Wendel could swear he could hear the voice of a young woman just out of reach instructing him from just within earshot of him. The voice calmly told him the Grimm's movements and it helped him fight the creatures more efficiently with his collapsible Lance and minigun combination, something he once found cool but now hated from the maintenance that had to be done to keep the weapon in working order.
He found himself against the largest of the five bipedal wolves, 'This must be the pack leader that Neo was talking about, great.' He thought to himself. The beast let out an earth-shattering howl when it saw that it was the last one left. Wendel cringed but readied for battle. It took him off guard when the larger figure threw its front limb at him, a quick parry was all it took to gain some distance, a thought occurred to him. 'Why hadn't the voice helped,' but that was quickly put aside as the Beowulf was on top of him again. Though the werewolf-like creature lunged at him he was able to dodge, and with the moments of recovery, Wendel took his surroundings and shortly found that his partner was nowhere to be found. In this realization, he found it best to gain distance from the large creature all the while cursing a storm at being left for dead.
Quickly he hid behind a tree, not that was going to hide his scent from the wolf. Trying all that he could to catch his breath he counted his remaining ammo which wasn't much counting the lance's firing rate. Wendel's only option was to fight it in a melee. Seconds passed and he heard a noise coming from the brush just ahead of him, that's where she suddenly appeared. "Wher-"
Before he could ask her about her whereabouts he was silenced by the girl with her knocking him over so he landed in a seated position under the tree he was hiding behind. She was quick to straddle him to his surprise and cover his mouth with one hand. She did not look at him as she looked in the direction that he came from. With a click of her tongue, her eyes looked vacant, the pink eye looked clouded over. He did not move but he did search for answers in her face which he did not receive there but in what he heard. What he heard was the low growl of the alpha stalking past them. He struggled under the girl's touch, the speech coming out mumbled and incoherent. Neo looked down at him frustrated, she quickly took out her scroll and typed up a message. [Would you stay quiet? I don't know if this Beowulf has been around many humans before now, unfamiliar sounds might snap it out of the effects of its daydream.] That did not explain anything at all, but he complied regardless. They stayed like that for a few minutes. Wendel had nothing to grab his attention but the girl in his lap, which was an enlightening experience for the six foot tall boy. If he was completely honest he found Neo's smaller frame to be attractive, and the fact that they were in their current position did not help the matter.
His cheeks grew a tint of pink when the realization that he was pitching a tent hit him. Wendel did not know what was more mortifying, the fact that he had a growing appendage in his pants or the fact that the girl in his lap did not react to it, but the fact that she readjusted herself destroyed any hope that she did not feel it. A few terrifying moments later the large wolf-like Grimm moved on, but Neo did not get off him right away. Making sure that the Grimm was truly gone she sat still until her pink eye returned to its normal hue releasing his mouth. "Is it gone?" was the first thing that Wendel asked.
[Yes, it's gone.] Was the reply on her scroll.
"Then would you mind getting off of me?" Wendel said, looking away. Though he had turned his head he was surprised when his present company's scroll followed him.
[Don't you mean get you off?] The question repeated in his head several times before he choked on his saliva, coughing to clear his thoughts, and his mind went blank before restarting. When it did he noticed that Neo had brought her scroll to cover her mouth and a new message was written on the screen. [I'll be getting off of you now... If that's what you want.]
"Please do." Was all he could manage in the current situation.
Neo promptly stood up, and with an impish grin offered him a hand.
He reluctantly took the hand in his and with her help stood up, protruding lower half and all. "Please, not a word about this to anyone."
[My lips are sealed.] The grin on her lips stayed as she typed that out. Still holding his hand she began to drag him behind her.
"There got to be some irony in that." Wendel wasn't forgetting the fact that she had been a mute from the moment the two of them met. "Where are we going by the way?" He said trying to keep pace with her.
Neo paused, letting go of his hand and typing away at her scroll. [When I used my Semblance I found her. I found Ruby. We are going to where she is.]
Confused, Wendel did not remember any signs of her using her Semblance amid their battle, but he remembered the vacant look in her pink eye when the wolf-like Grimm passed them. She had said something about a dream. 'Does that have something to do with her Semblance.' He thought. "Really? I am happy for you, I have questions about your Semblance but that can wait."
(...)
Meanwhile Ruby and Blake had returned to the tree that she had left Blake at. The tree, still hosting her pack at the base that she immediately went through. Grabbing a first aid kit she instructed Blake to lower her hood, which the older girl was reluctant to do. "Blake come on, we can't rely on my cloak to hide your ears." With those words, Blake lowered the hood.
"Why are you doing this? Helping me, that is. You're even keeping it a secret from your sister." Blake asked, drooping her ears all the while.
Ruby paused as she was grabbing the remaining bandages from her first aid kit. She made a motion that made it seem that she was thinking it over. "Well it's not the first time I kept it a secret from her, and to tell the truth I don't have many people that Interact with outside her and my Dad. So I saw this as a chance to make friends with you."
Blake remained silent as Ruby began dressing her head as if she had a head wound to effectively hide the cat ears. Ruby was about to speak when she heard ruffling leaves. She went to unsheathe Blake's sword on her back but remembered that she had dropped the blade when Yang tackled her. She cursed under her breath grabbing Blake's hand ready to run if need be. Blake opened her mouth to ask but closed it when Ruby brought the index finger of her free hand to her lips. Looking in the direction that Ruby was, Blake saw the figures of two moving closer.
Ruby only had enough time to let go of Blake's hand as a flash of pink and brown tackled her to the ground in an embrace. Rubbing her sore head she looked up to a message typed up on a scroll. [Hi little Rose, Blackbird sent me.]
Ruby's eyes widened as the text was fully processed, there was only one person who refers to her as little Rose, the woman she met a decade prior. "Mom... Mom sent you?" The question left her lips not being able to process the situation. The half-pink girl on top of her had a happy expression when her words left her mouth.
[Yes Ruby. She didn't want you to be out of her reach alone, Ozpin is shady.]
Ruby stared at the scroll for a couple seconds before looking dejected. "I wish that she trusted me enough to be on my own."
Neo's mood fell with Ruby's, deciding to lighten it she typed up a storm. [Mother wanted for us to find each other if something were to ever happen. It's not that she doesn't trust you to be safe, but it's a precaution. We don't know what will happen, it was safer for us to be together, by the way, I have heard a lot about you Ruby, my name's Neopolitan, but please call me Neo. Mother has taught you to sign right?] Ruby nodded. [Then that's how we will communicate from now on.]
When Ruby first had sign language drilled into her head she asked her mother what it was for and why she needed to learn it, but she never got her answer. Now she knows why and it appears that the woman has been planning to have them meet at some point. Neo got off of Ruby and offered out her hand. Taking it Ruby was met with a confused Blake and an oddly neutral Wendel. Know that she had to explain what this was to Blake, but not before introductions.
Picking up on her train of thought Neo was in a flurry of hand movements. [How do you want to do this? He thinks that I am your older sister. Should I correct him? I doubt that Yang Xiao Long would be too happy with me.]
Ruby was able to decipher most of what Neo was saying, but she still cursed herself for being out of practice. She then started to return the favor but the adrenaline that was keeping her moving ran dry and the injury to her arm caught up with her. With a grunt of pain, she stumbled back now holding the now limp limb. Blake and the now surprised Neo moved to either side of her to keep her from falling. "Fuck." Ruby cursed, the pain distorting her senses. She moved to the nearest tree and rested underneath it. Choosing to speak to save Neo the trouble her voice came out soft and pained. "You made the right choice Neo, I doubt that she would blame you." Getting a nod from Neo Ruby turned to Blake to make an attempt to explain the situation to her. "Blake?" Her partner made a motion that indicated that she was paying attention. "This is Neo, Neo this is my partner Blake Belladonna."
The two looked at each other, Blake opened her mouth to exchange pleasantries but had a scroll stuffed into her face. [Neopolitan Branwen... Ruby's big sis at your service, but call me Neo. And this is my partner Wendel Léon.] pointing opposite to where Ruby was resting with a mischievous grin, obviously keeping something to herself.
Ruby and Blake look at the boy in a gray t-shirt and dark blue sweatpants, he was flustered wearing a Rosy tint. Wendel has just now figured an aspect out of his partner's semblance as a voice whispered to him taking the perspective of Neo's point of view, recovering as he introduced himself. "Hello, I am Wendel, as you might have gathered I am Neo's partner." He looked between the two new acquaintances and put on his best smile, much to Neo's amusement. Before he could continue there was an ear-shattering howl of a Beowulf.
Neo with an angry expression looked in the direction of the howl, she activated her Semblance and her features went pale. She had thought that she led the leader of the beasts away but here he was with his close friends numbering in the double digits, the Beowulf alpha seemingly had it in for Ruby, it was tracking her especially. It was too late for an escape and with Ruby in her condition, a head-to-head fight was risky at best and suicidal at worst. Getting Wendel's attention she motioned to Ruby with her head. The message received he positioned his larger frame to the three in front of Ruby still looking at the three, Neo getting Blake's attention.
With her scroll pointed at Blake Neo's message was loud and clear. She nodded at her silent acquaintance and kept a lookout for any movement and any possible escape route if needed. The group got into positioning for a hasty escape.
"Neo, what's going on." She made the attempt to get up but lost her balance. The six-foot Wendel caught her as she made her descent to the ground.
[You need to sit still for now but be ready to move at any moment. We have company, a lot of them.] Neo moved closer to Ruby signing. [Don't use your gift Ruby, the forest has eyes. Trust in us. Both of them have the best intentions for you.]
[Fine, but I have the right to go back on it if you guys need help.] Ruby signed relaxing as Wendel lowered her into a sitting position.
(...)
Back at the clearing Yang and Weiss had got the lay of the land while waiting for Ruby and Blake. Weiss was frustrated with the situation, not only did her partner seem to hate her for gods knows what, but she seemed to be worried about the well-being of someone else not involved with their ability to pass the test. When the pair found Belladonna, Yang instantly recognized the red tattered hood she was wearing and the scythe that said the girl was clinging to for dear life. Weiss' partner then interrogated the ravenette into spilling Rose's location, getting all of the information her partner sprinted towards this clearing at top speed using the blanks firing from her mini gauntlet shotguns to propel herself forward, not knowing why they needed to produce that much power or how Yang's arms did not get torn off from recoil alone during a fight but that was another question for another time. She was more concerned with the large explosion she just heard and she turned towards the direction in which Rose and her partner disappeared, with an appropriate amount of shock a pillar of black flame somehow illuminated the twilight sky further than it had darkened. "What the hell." Was all that the girl was able to spill out before turning to her partner.
However, Yang was not confused by what it was or what the black flame meant. Biting her lip she thought of Ruby or the warning that she gave her sister. 'Rubes,' was the first thing on her mind as stood at the edge of the ravine near the stone bridge. Not giving any warning Yang took off again, and she was headed towards the tower.
Not having much choice in the matter Weiss was left to follow again. This time Yang seemed more panicked than last time and she had no clue why. Of course, it for sure had something to do with Ruby Rose again, but the why and how eluded her. Though she had no clue of what was going on, the fact that her partner cared for the girl was undeniable at the forefront of her mind.