Ruby took her position in the center, eyes frequently finding her sister. Yang never failed to catch her gaze with an encouraging smile. Ruby sighed, arms at her sides. Her hands were empty— she figured it may be smarter to gauge her opponent rather than have a weapon at the ready. Her cleaver still hung from her shoulder, ready to be dropped or drawn at a moment's notice.

Ruby flicked her gaze across the stands, towards the Schnees. The patriarch glared at her with barely constrained fury, while his wife was deep in a large glass of dark wine. Weiss, though, seemed to be in another world, thoughts drawn to something else. For some reason, she'd hoped Weiss would be watching.

She heard footsteps behind her, and turned to meet her opponent. Dove Bronzewing took his position a couple yards from her, bastard sword drawn. It had a straight blade and a pair of rings as handguards, with its thinner crossguard stretching out a little further at the sides. From what Ruby could see, it was a subtle and beautiful piece of work, enough to make her want to compliment it. Fearing her terrible man voice, though, she repressed her appreciation.

Dove raised his sword for the crowd, drawing a rolling wave of whoops and cheers, including a great many enthusiastic chants of his surname. He raised his other arm to revel in the feeling, then leveled his sword with Ruby's head. "For disrespecting this tournament, and the grace of House Schnee, I swear that your blood will soak my blade!" He shouted, drawing another round of rapturous applause, contrasted by a single 'fuck you, you withered whoreson!' from none other than Yang. Ignoring the heckle, he stared at Ruby through squinted eyes, his navy irises barely visible.

She could feel the revulsion rolling off of this man, who stood in a decadent suit of shining steel, decorated with vertical bands of brilliant golden filigree. His joints were well-covered, with the only gaps she could see covered in a layer of bronze scale and a similar scale coif on his head. His faulds and tassels reached low, with the latter covering all the way to his knees and backed by a skirt of chainmail. Cloth stretched from under his tassets, almost to the ground and split down the middle on both sides. The broad textile gave plenty of room for a full tapestry of beautifully vibrant dye, not in a simple pattern but actually depicting something. Some kind of battle— figures charging with swords and axes overhead, with their opponents cowering under their mettle. One of the armed figures held a bodiless head above him. Ruby squinted at the design— the lifeless head had long, pointed ears.

Ruby frowned. The crowd seemed to expect a speech from her in return, but she didn't have anything to say. The pressure made her reach her hands to her hood, seeking to pull it tighter over her face— then she saw Yang's. She was mad, but determined, hard eyes staring into Ruby's very soul. Yang puckered her lips and threw her head to the side, then pointed to Ruby with a nod to Dove. Ruby blinked. She knew exactly what Yang was telling her to do.

A strong, indignant anger rose within Ruby, inspired by her sister. She stared Dove down, allowing the gentle breeze to push her hood just enough to show the boy her shining silver eyes. A loud noise ripped out of her nose, then one from her throat. The crowd went deathly quiet.

Ruby spat at his feet.

A few gasps escaped the crowd, along with an angry shout from Jacques Schnee. Ruby briefly turned her eyes their way. Now Weiss was watching.

Dove, however, was furious. His eyes had widened in a death glare at the girl, and his sword was visibly shaking in his tight grip. He pulled his open armet from his belt, draping its chain aventail over his breastplate as he placed the helm on his head, then closing hinged visor over his incensed visage. He took a low stance, legs wide with his sword extended to Ruby.

"You're going to pay for that, Rupert," he promised, voice tinny through his helm, "I'll make you choke on that spittle when I crack your windpipe across my pommel."

Ruby's eyebrows raised at the mental image. She shrugged her sheathed cleaver off her shoulder, letting the leather-bound hunk fall at her side— it wouldn't do her any good, not yet at least. She could see his defensive style already, and a giant, heavy sword definitely wasn't the answer. She took another glance over his suit, searching for a weakness.

His chest, waist, and legs were impeccably covered. His arms, though, seemed a little less armored. The scale under-armor seemed to only extend past his armpits, and she could see his inner arms were covered with riveted splints of brown leather. What was extremely intriguing, though, was the fact that his armor completely ended at his left hand, with his plate vambraces flamboyantly flaring around his wrist. Ruby raised an eyebrow— what under the Watcher's gaze would compel a person to leave their hand uncovered? Was he just stupid? The fact she couldn't easily agree to that worried her.

The grandly mustachioed announcer, whose name Ruby still didn't know, gave her a disapproving look before raising his hand high above his head. "When the horn blows, you may begin," he declared.

Ruby tensed, knees bending. She decided her best option would be to test his defense, so she drew her longest blade— a broad falchion with a square pommel and a flat guard— into her left hand, leaving her right hand free. Her left arm escaped the cloak's confines, taking the falchion low and wide in an aggressive stance.

Dove stared her down. Ruby matched his glare. She could feel all the eyes on her: Dove, Penny, Yang, Blake, and even the lady Schnee. A part of her wished Tai had come to watch, too, but she knew that was wishful thinking.

The announcer's hand dropped. The horn blew.

Ruby moved first, lunging forward and bringing her sword up in a wild, aimless strike, just meant to test his reflexes and mobility. Both were excellent, to her chagrin, as he easily moved to parry the blade. He followed with a thrust, and much more quickly than she expected— she barely managed to back away.

His other, unarmored hand gripped the bottom of his half-and-a-half sword to push another thrust her way, even faster than the last. He lunged with it, getting uncomfortably close to Ruby while she stopped the point on her falchion's flat. Ruby didn't have time to retreat before he barged into her with his shoulder, sending her to the dirt. She could feel his smirk taunting her through that helmet as his elbow cocked back for a thrust.

Weiss watched the point fly to the cloaked one's throat, only to skewer a flurry of petals. Was that the trick she'd seen earlier, when a vibrant burst of red caught her eye? Momentarily forgetting her impeccable manners, she leaned forward with interest.

Ruby reappeared confidently behind Dove, falchion slashing to his less-armored arm, only to be deflected with ease— an ease that told her he'd been expecting that.

"Ha!" He guffawed as he pressed her with slashes and thrusts, putting her on the backfoot once more. "A Semblance, huh? No wonder you get along so well with that shim!"

Ruby lunged back, umber cloak billowing in the opposite direction and briefly catching Dove's blade in its flowing cloth. He pulled the sword away with a frustrated grunt, leaving an unsightly rip in the edge. Ruby's eyebrows rose slightly, so focused on the battle she barely heard his words.

Dove pressed on regardless, harrying her with attacks too fast to parry. "You move quick, but your Semblance limits you," he smugly declared, "taste real magic, swine!"

Weiss' eyebrows rose at the declaration, and she nearly shot up out of her seat to warn the cloaked boy. It wouldn't have mattered if she did, though, as Dove's bare hand shot out too fast for her to react.

Ruby suddenly found a palm thrust into her face, sparking with violent orange energy.

"Dodge!" Shouted Yang from the stands. Ruby didn't hesitate to listen.

Weiss watched him disappear in another puff of red petals, which were quickly incinerated as a wild blast of arcane fire burst from his sparking palm, making Dove's Aura visibly pulse.

Ruby reappeared yards away, back where they'd started, cloak covering her as she kneeled and heaved air into her lungs. She'd never blinked so far before— she had no clue how taxing it could be.

Dove laughed loudly, opening his hinged armet just to show her his smug face. "And look at that! Not so easy when you don't have somebody else fighting your battles for you, huh?"

Ruby mumbled something, far too low for Dove to catch with her head down.

"Huh?" He yelled, stepping closer with a hand cupped to his ear. "Are you going to forfeit? It's the only way you'll get out of this alive!"

Ruby mumbled again, still too quiet. Dove scowled and raised his sword.

"Crook and cane," he cursed with a shout, "Speak with some fucking conviction! Your Aura is gone! Forfeit unless you want to paint these grounds with your innards!"

Ruby felt a trickle of power well back up in her soul, but it wasn't enough— not at this distance. Her eyes found Yang, who was barely able to contain her rage, then back to Dove. "I bet…" she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

Dove stomped up to her and ripped her hood off her face, cold steel pushing on her throat. From the corner of her eye, she saw the young lady Schnee shoot to her feet, then get yanked back down by her father.

Weiss' rear hit the bench hard, making her yelp. What the hell was that idiot thinking? Port should call this off, now! He was just kneeling there, staring up at Dove! She couldn't even see his hands under that cloak, and Dove's big, stupid body was blocking the boy's face! Dammit!

Ruby stared up at Dove and grinned. "I bet you can't do it again."

Dove's eyes flashed with indignant rage. When he brought his his bare hand up to prove her wrong, she snorted, and hawked phlegm straight into his face.

He recoiled on instinct, distracting him just long enough for Ruby to shuffle under her cloak. Dove's palm sparked again.

Weiss reached out, but it was too far to stop him— she'd never practiced counter-magic at such a distance. She'd watch the only fascinating challenger be incinerated in front of her own eyes! She screwed her lids tight, but she couldn't keep them closed when she heard the blast. She had to see.

The arcane fire flared brightly, Dove's Aura flaring in tandem as his flames easily engulfed the cloaked boy. Weiss' heart sank. With his Aura depleted, the flames had nothing to feed their arcane presence, and so faded to thin blue smoke. Weiss watched— helpless, like always. The arcane smoke parted with the breeze.

The ground was scorched in an arc around Dove, parted by a giant slab of smoking iron. A frayed umber cloak lay behind it, its edges scorched black.

AN: i fucking love this chapter tbh super fun fight to write, and its not even over yet :)