Author's note: Today, Sirena leaves.
In the evening, Ruby sent Weiss back to the train station and opened a portal to her, and the entire party left Beacon to retire for the night. They met up with the rest of the group, and except for Ruby and Sirena, everyone was confused why Russel looked so down.
"So Sirena, you're really leaving today?" Glynda asked in the middle of preparing dinner.
"I am, yes," Sirena answered, "I'll be on my way then. It was nice helping you all, but I have my own duties to uphold as well." She left the train station, and everyone felt a sting of sadness. They focused on preparing dinner and sat down to eat something, although Velvet did send a few dozen hard-light Shooting Stars to kill Grimm that had set their sights on the group.
"Hey Russel, what's wrong?" Cardin asked and said, "Don't tell me you miss Sirena that much."
"Of course not," Russel said and answered, "It's just… one of the cops almost died because I didn't pay attention. Some huntsman I am."
"You're still just in training," Ruby said, "You're allowed to make mistakes. We all are. What matters is that you don't repeat them."
"Thanks," Russel said and asked, "Can I… ask you for something?"
"Sure, what is it?" Ruby answered.
"Could you help me upgrade Shortwings?" Russel asked, looked down and said, "I'd like some better ranged options, even if it's not much. Right now, I'm only good for melee, after all." When he looked back up, he saw that Ruby stared at him with excitement basically radiating off of her face like a giant flood light. He looked over to Yang, who smirked.
"Looks like you've got yourself into some trouble," Yang said jokingly, "You better take responsibility." When Russel looked back at Ruby, she was gone from her seat, and stood next to him with her scroll out.
"What do you need?" Ruby asked and made her scroll project his weapon's blueprints, "I'll admit, I don't have a lot of experience working with twin daggers, since not many people use them. Range and all that. But that just makes this more exciting for me. Plus, I already have some ideas, so let me know what you think." She used Puppeteer to change the blueprints, showing a plethora of different version, each with additional features she had come up with since he asked for her help, and Russel backed away from her a little, overwhelmed by her enthusiasm.
"Ruby, you're scaring the kid," Yang said, bringing Ruby back to reality. She blinked, backed away from Russel, returned the hologram to normal and cleared her throat.
"Sorry," Ruby said and asked, "So, when do you want to start?"
"The sooner, the better," Russel said, turned to Yang and said, "And I'm not a kid. I'm two years older than her."
"Got it," Ruby said, and Russel turned back to her, "I've already got an idea for how soon we can start. I honestly should've considered it for Cardin as well, but somehow didn't. Anyway, let's eat first." She put her scroll away again, rushed back to her seat, and continued eating. Jaune thought about Ruby's words a little, and quickly realized what she was most likely up to, so he decided that he and Pyrrha would help.
~o~
After dinner, everyone took turns showering, though some pairs were comfortable sharing the showers, for one reason or another. While the students showered, the teachers went around one more time to make sure that their barricades would hold for the night. Later that night, Russel found himself on a large meadow and looked around, in case there were any Grimm around.
"Hello," Ruby said and walked up to him from the edge of the meadow.
"Where are we?" Russel asked.
"Still in Vale," Ruby answered, "But this is a dream. I figured this would save time, since I just need to see how you fight." Suddenly, Jaune and Pyrrha manifested near them.
"Hello," Pyrrha said.
"Hey guys," Jaune said, "Looks like I was right."
"Are those two part of the dream, too?" Russel asked and said, "They look pretty real."
"Nope, we're real," Jaune answered, "Anyway, it looks like we got here just in time, too."
"What do you mean?" Russel asked, "And also, how are you three in my dream in the first place?"
"Astral projection," Ruby answered.
"Also, telling someone they're dreaming is risky," Jaune said, "Most people are so shocked by that revelation that they wake up. Ruby isn't trained properly, so she couldn't keep you asleep if that happened."
"Ah, right. Thanks, you two," Ruby said, "I didn't even think about that part. Guess I almost messed up there."
"It's fine, we all make mistakes," Jaune said, "But now that we're here, we can stabilize the dream, so you can go ahead and practice with him."
"If this is a dream, does that mean I can do anything?" Russel asked.
"Yes, but so can I," Ruby answered and said, "Think fast." In the distance, a large pack of Beowolves appeared and charged towards Russel, completely ignoring Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha, who were suddenly a lot farther away. Ruby sat on a high chair and watched the fight with a pair of binoculars, taking mental notes of everything she saw. Russel made a backflip and came down with his daggers first, evading a Beowolf's attack and killing it.
~o~
When Robyn departed the train to Mistral's capital, she looked up at the cliffs and needed a moment to get over how small she felt compared to the mountains. She shook her head and pulled out her scroll to check the address Winter had given her, then headed over to the White Fang's headquarters.
"I thought they needed my help," Robyn thought as she walked through the busy streets, "Shouldn't there at least be some kind of welcome committee? Wait, maybe they're in too much trouble." She picked up the pace and hurried to her destination.
"Hello, how may I help you?" The receptionist, a cow faunus, asked when Robyn entered the building.
"I'm Robyn Hill, from Atlas," Robyn answered, and the receptionist looked at her as if she expected something more.
"And I'm Poppy Pomme, from Mistral," Poppy said after a brief and awkward silence, and asked, "Do you need anything, or did you just come here for introductions?"
"I was told your leader needed my help," Robyn said, tilting her head in confusion. Poppy looked through some files on her computer.
"I can't seem to find any requests for help," Poppy said and asked, "Are you sure we called you?"
"Actually, no," Robyn answered, "A friend of mine, Ruby Rose, did. The problem is that she only told me that Sienna needed help, so I don't really know what problem you have that I can help with."
"So we have a helper who doesn't know what the problem is?" Poppy asked and said, "Well, at least you're ambitious. I'll see if there is anything for you to do." Suddenly, both women heard crashing sounds from behind a door, followed by screams and gunfire. Without thinking, Robyn rushed through the door and deployed her crossbow. She saw half a dozen armed guards fight small lizard-like Grimm, while villagers just tried to hold the monsters at bay. Robyn changed her crossbow into its melee form and engaged the Grimm, quickly cutting them down.
"Everything alright?" Robyn asked when the Grimm were dead, and returned her crossbow to its travel form, though the guards stayed on edge, since they didn't know her.
"It seems like that, yes," Sienna answered and walked up to the group, with a guard following her, "Thank you for your help, I'm Sienna Khan."
"Robyn Hill, pleased to meet you," Robyn said and asked, "Is there anything I can help with?"
"You are certainly up-front," Sienna said and answered, "But no, I don't think there is anything for you to do here." She waved her guards to return to their posts.
"Oh, I see," Robyn said, "But I was told that you needed my help. Actually, take my hand." She held out her right hand, and Sienna decided to humor her for a bit, since she had helped them fight off Grimm. She took Robyn's hand, and their hands were covered in a purple aura.
"What is that?" Sienna asked.
"My semblance," Robyn answered and asked, "Do you really not have anything I can help with?"
"Not to my knowledge, no," Sienna answered, and the aura turned green, then faded, and Robyn let go.
"That's weird," Robyn said, "I was sure Ruby told me to come and help you." A deer faunus who had observed the exchange perked up and approached the two.
"Hello, I'm Oihana, and I have a question," Oihana said and asked, "Does your semblance detect lies?"
"It does, yes," Robyn answered, "Red means the person lied, and green means they're honest."
"Then, can you ask Sienna why she and her people came to our bayou?" Oihana asked and said, "My friends are currently holed up in a room, and while the White Fang doesn't enter, it still feels a bit… illegal that we're here. Mostly because they refuse to send us back."
"I told you, Alya can only send stuff and people to safe places," Sienna said, "And she doesn't consider your bayou safe. That's just how things are."
"Alright, I think I know why I'm here," Robyn said, "Show me that room, and then we'll see how much of that is true."
"If you insist, then fine," Sienna said, "This way." She turned around and walked away, leading Robyn and Oihana to a large room with all sorts of amenities, including snacks and arcade machines, as well as improvised sleeping areas for both genders, which were set up with room dividers. Oihana walked ahead and opened the door.
"Hello everyone, I'm back," Oihana said, "And I even brought someone who can help us figure out what's going on here." She waved Robyn over, and when she peeked into the room, numerous faunus looked at her with suspicion.
"Hello, I'm Robyn Hill, from Atlas," Robyn said, "My semblance lets me detect whether or not someone is lying. I'll be asking Sienna a few questions, to see if what she told you guys is actually true or not."
"Hello," Sienna said and stepped in front of the open door, and the faunus glared at her. Robyn also stepped in front of the door, so the faunus could see both of them clearly. She held out her right hand, and Sienna took it with hers. When Robyn activated her semblance and coated both of their hands in that familiar purple aura, she felt something new.
"Now then, let's get started. First, a demonstration," Robyn said and asked, "What is your full legal name?"
"Sienna Khan," Sienna answered, but sighed when the aura turned red, and said, "Sienna Alondra Khan." The aura turned green, and the faunus from the bayou seemed both impressed and convinced.
"With that out of the way, let's start," Robyn said and asked, "Why did you and the other faunus come to the bayou that day?"
"We heard there were Grimm nearby, and came to protect the bayou," Sienna answered, and the aura turned green. Robyn continued to question Sienna, and confirmed all the things the White Fang had told the faunus from the bayou, until her aura ran out and she had to take a break.
~o~
Russel continued fighting off the enemies, evading attacks with a series of flips and jumps and attacking whenever there was an opening. Suddenly, all the Grimm disappeared, and Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha stood right next to him.
"Was that enough?" Russel asked, a bit out of breath after fighting for what felt like ten minutes straight.
"Nope, we're just getting started," Ruby answered, "Round two, Atlesian Knight 200s. Get ready." Before Russel could respond, the trio was several meters away again.
"You have got to be kidding me," Russel groaned, and an army of Knights appeared in the distance. He activated his semblance and rushed the enemies, and the Knights opened fire, causing their bullets to bounce back at them instead. He decapitated the robots one by one, with his semblance protecting him from their ranged attacks, and using his acrobatics to dodge their melee attacks.
"Alright, that's enough," Ruby said, standing next to him after the Knights disappeared again, "I think I've got everything I need to know. But just to be sure, the 130 units." She moved back to Jaune and Pyrrha, and Russel found himself surrounded by robots again. Russel groaned again, but fought the robots until Ruby was satisfied.
~o~
During breakfast, Ruby kept looking at her scroll, and going over various blueprints again and again. Yang glanced over to the scroll, and saw that one blueprint gave Shortwings a short bow form, while another would create a boomerang.
"Weiss, can you go to Soraklia today?" Ruby asked, drawing everyone's attention to herself.
"I- well, I guess? I mean, Donna can probably make it," Weiss answered and asked, "But why?"
"One upgrade I had in mind for Shortwings was a bow," Ruby answered, "And to make sure Russel doesn't run out of arrows, I wanted to weave sea weed into his bracers so he could make arrows out of the goo."
"You mean like Sirena's ice shield and blades?" Russel asked excitedly.
"Exactly," Ruby answered, "I don't know how long it will take for you to properly manifest the resulting element, though."
"Don't worry, she already taught me when we fused," Russel said, "No idea why, but the memories of her training just flooded into my mind when we went to see what our fusion's semblance is."
"I see, that's good," Ruby said, "So, what type would you like?" Russel thought for a moment.
"Honestly, I'm not sure," Russel answered, "Ice or earth would be the most obvious, but I've also seen people condense air-dust into a tangible form in Sirena's memories. So, I guess I'll take that."
"Air-goo, got it," Ruby said.
"But that leaves only one problem," Weiss said, "I don't know where Soraklia is."
"Don't worry, I can just use Mentor," Ruby said.
"That could work," Weiss said, paused for a moment and asked, "But what about the royal guard?"
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"Aren't they like Sirena was at first, and not used to wanting to hurt another person?" Weiss answered and asked, "What if they attack Donna, and she gets out of control?"
"True, that could be a problem," Ruby said and pondered the issue for a moment, mumbling to herself, "Ryn could go, but I also need to upgrade Shortwings, so having Donna take care of that would be faster. But because silver-eyed warriors can't think of hurting one another, most Soraklians have never wanted to hurt other people, meaning they're incredibly impulsive if provoked."
"Wait, what was that about silver-eyed warriors hurting each other?" Glynda asked.
"Oh, right," Ruby said and answered, "So basically, silver-eyed warriors can't even think of hurting each other, so none of Sirena's people ever learned not to punch people that upset them. It just never occurred to them in the first place, so there was no need to teach them not to do it."
"So, if Weiss had silver eyes, she'd be safe?" Glynda asked, and Ruby perked up.
"That's it!" Ruby exclaimed, "I'll just share my silver eyes with Weiss, so that Donna has them, too."
"You can do that?" Cardin asked.
"Yes, but only with one person," Ruby answered, "If I were to share them with someone else, Weiss would lose that power again."
"Sounds like a plan, I'd say," Weiss said, "Let's do this."
"After breakfast," Taiyang said, and Ruby realized she had stopped eating, and everyone else was already finished. She quickly finished eating, then helped clean the dishes before sharing her silver eyes with Weiss and using Mentor to teach her where Soraklia was, as well as how to use her new power, just in case.
~o~
After breakfast, everyone split up and went to take care of different smaller issues, since they couldn't go to Beacon. Among others, Weiss went to the river to swim to Soraklia, the teachers stayed at the train station in case Grimm attacked, and Jaune and Khione went to help the military reclaim the upper class district, while Ruby and Russel went to the former's workshop to upgrade the latter's weapons.
"I was thinking of making them connect in one of two different ways," Ruby said, showing him different blueprints, "With this, you'd have a short bow for ranged combat, but I also really like the boomerang idea. We can also make it a chakram, if that's more your thing."
"Thanks," Russel said and looked the ideas over, "Well, a bow would definitely be useful, especially since my semblance would mean that enemies couldn't fight back without getting close. Not sure how I feel about the boomerang though, since that would leave me without a weapon while it's flying, and enemies can catch it."
"True, throwing your weapon would put you at risk of being disarmed," Ruby said, "So, no boomerang and chakram." While Ruby ditched two of the blueprints, Russel looked around the room.
"By the way, what's all this?" Russel asked and said, "I mean, Talia has used this before, but she left barely anything behind."
"Oh, that," Ruby said and answered, "I've been… busy. Making stuff."
"Wait, really?" Russel asked, "When?"
"Whenever I had time," Ruby answered, "Anyway, let's get started." She removed the clutter from her work bench and grabbed some tools from the wall, then got started upgrading Shortwings, while Russel just stood there and watched her work. She removed a part of the weapons' hilts and drilled new pieces that allowed the daggers to connect, then inserted a bow string into the chambers.
~o~
Marcus watched as his monster killed innumerable Beowolves with its lightning-fast whips. Every once in a while, the monster took a break as another seed emerged from its body, which gathered near the monster like chicks around their mother hen. A dark red sludge crawled up to Marcus and formed into a dark red imitation of the Seer it had killed, and he checked in on the monsters he had made from infected mermaid Grimm.
Author's note: No one tell Cardin that every accusation is also a confession.
Ruby utilizes her dream abilities.
I had intended to have Sienna's middle name written in smaller letters, but it didn't work when I uploaded the file. Eh, whatever.