Chapter 7 – Ruby's New Home

If there was one thing Ruby knew how to do better than anything else, it was be Ruby. She'd been doing it basically her entire life except for a short period when she turned 13, and she was the undisputed master of it.

Salem wanted Ruby Rose, the adorable tyke. That was what she was expecting. She had plans to eventually induct her into her inner circle and corrupt her, but she seemed to think that would take time (in reality, it would never happen, even if Ruby let her think it would), so for now, it was time for Ruby to be her best self. And by best self, she meant the most of her current self possible.

Since it was her first dinner with the gang, Ruby made sure to show up extra early. People often said fashionably late, but that just sounded dumb to her. Why show up after the party had started? To be fair, Ruby had never attended fancy dinners or parties before, but the point stood.

It proved to be the right decision, as she got a full view of each and every man or woman or Grimm as they entered the grand hall, which now was furnished with a spooky dining table, spooky chairs, and a spooky course of meals, all piping hot.

The first to enter was…Professor Callows?

"Wait, you're one of them? Er, of us?"

He nodded and used his scorpion tail to reach onto the table, snatch up a napkin, and press it into his shirt. Many creases were left in the cloth. "Pontosan így van, kedves gyermekem."

"W-What?" she said weakly.

"Rose, Szólnia kell, különben nem fogom hallani." He smiled and patted her on the head. "Ahogy mondtam: elnézést kérek a csalásomért. A királynő megparancsolta, hogy csaljak meg, és az övé vagyok, hogy parancsoljak."

Ruby blinked a few times, but the Faunus seemed to think that his mumbo jumbo had been enough to settle the matter and left her for a seat on the opposite side. Upon seeing him walk so far away from her, Ruby briefly worried that there were assigned seats, but a quick once-over on her current chair revealed that there were no names on the back.

Cinder came in next. She shot Ruby a single glare that promised Ruby was going to die violently, and then she sat down right next to Ruby in the only chair between Ruby's and the head of the table.

Ruby wasn't an expert on metaphors and symbolism, but she was fair certain from the way Cinder pointedly scraped out her chair and slid it closer to Salem's, she was trying to make a statement about their placement relative to the queen.

That doesn't bother me. I don't need to be the best here or anything. Cinder can have the glory; as long as I can get the Spring Maiden powers, she can be Salem's BFF and eat off of the same plate for all I care.

One of the men who'd been silent at Ruby's initiation before entered third. Ruby had never seen such a well-trimmed mustache before, not even from that fat guy at Beacon who was the Grimm teacher or something.

The man lackadaisically took a seat next to Tyrian. He spared Ruby a single look, then gave on to Cinder. A quiet chuckle escaped his lips.

"Something to say, Arthur?" asked Cinder.

"Most pedig Cinder. a jó orvos csak nézett." Tyrian clapped his hands gleefully. "Nem történt kár, mi?"

"Watts' mere existence is harmful, Tyrian."

"So angry." Watts reached a hand over to his Faunus tablemate and aided him in tucking in the napkin that was haphazardly sticking out of his coat. "Is something the matter, young Cinder?"

Ruby had been waiting for the big tough guy with the muscles to show up next, but it was actually a canine Grimm that came in next.

"Doggo," Ruby said.

It didn't take a seat, instead parking its butt down on the floor at the end of the table exactly opposite Salem. Once it found its place, it didn't move a muscle, save for a dry whine that fell past its clenched jaw.

Arthur Watts, assuming that was his name and not Watts Arthur, deeply inhaled at the sight of the beast. Tyrian reached out onto the undisturbed buffet to grab a cut of meat from one of the roasts and threw it directly at the Grimm doggo. The slab landed on its cheek and fell off.

"Na jó, azt hiszem, egy új kutyát nem lehet régi trükkökre tanítani."

"Don't you mean an old dog?" asked Watts, an eyebrow raised. "And new tricks?"

"De a vadászkutya olyan fiatal!" Tyrian sorrowfully wailed, throwing his hands into the air in lamentation.

At long last, the occupant of the final non-royal seat finally arrived. In walked the hugely built human, a real tower of muscle and sinew.

"Ah, nice of you to join us, Hazel," said Watts. "We were beginning to…wonder…if…"

He trailed off as Ruby rose from her seat and stood between Hazel and his empty chair. The big man paused his gait and looked down at her with a blank stare.

"So," Ruby said, hands on her hips. "Ya think yer the biggest, baddest toughie in the cell block, eh?"

Cinder's face fell onto her empty plate.

"Well, there's a new chief in town, and her name is me." Ruby proudly pointed a thumb to her chest. "So you'd better move aside, or you're going to have to deal with…" Ruby flexed her wiry arms. "…this!"

After that display of intimidation, she turned around 180 degrees and took the seat Hazel was going to occupy before she'd stopped him.

Hazel said nothing and merely took the chair next to Cinder.

If they wanted Ruby, they were going to get Ruby.

"Csodálatos! Elképesztő!" Tyrian exclaimed, clapping both hands quickly. "Kivételesen zseniális!" He brushed a tear from his eye and sucked in his cheeks.

Cinder slammed her forehead into the table again and ground herself into it.

The Grimm doggo's tongue flopped out of its mouth to lick its eye, then fell back in. At no point did the frame or head of the beast move from where they had been. There wasn't as much as a twitch.

Watts opened his smirking mouth, but whatever dry remark he had been about to make died on his lips as the main doors opened once more.

In walked Salem.

Ruby knew better than to do something stupidly silly now. The normal Ruby Rose, the one who didn't have a secret mission, would've been quiet now, so she was too. The others stood, and she followed their lead on instinct. No one, not Cinder or Watts or even bonkers Tyrian, felt comfortable enough to even breathe as Salem claimed her spot. Even Doggo seemed especially still, now more than ever.

Salem said nothing as she gently strode up to her chair. Her hand raised, but instead of pulling it out by gripping the backboard, the body of the chair itself moved to slide outwards. Salem took her seat, and the chair glided back towards the table from which it had come.

Both of Salem's hands went onto the table. In her mind, Ruby knew she was doing nothing more than slowly and deliberately taking a seat and getting ready for dinner, but everything about her made it look like both practiced and foreboding elegance. The woman's horrid pallor and the general aura of fear that came from her castle might've helped.

"Let us dine."

And with that, the spell was broken. All planted their butts down in their chairs once more, and a few of the tentacle orb Grimm, the Seers, floated forward to serve them their meals. Ruby had been about to serve (and therefore embarrass) herself before they did, and it was only by luck that she survived.

The meal was…odd, to say the least. She hadn't been expecting Nevermore drumsticks and Ursa shank, but it wasn't just normal food either. Well, normal comparatively. It was all food, but it wasn't food that your average person ate on a daily basis.

Ruby looked down at her now served plate of braised lamb, whole raspberries, and mushrooms. There was nothing wrong with it, but it was just so much fancier than she'd ever eaten at home. Contrary to popular belief, Ruby's diet didn't exclusively consist of cookies. She ate a healthy and balanced diet of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, double cheeseburgers, onion cheeseburgers, and the occasional slice of pizza when it suited her.

"Is there something wrong, Rose?" Salem asked.

Ruby nearly jumped in shock, having been so absorbed in staring at her meal that she'd forgotten herself. "N-No, it's just…I wasn't expecting it to be so…"

"Human?" offered Salem.

Ruby bit her lips.

"Believe it or not, I am a human." Salem placed a mushroom on her tongue with her fork and chewed it down, fully swallowing before continuing to speak. "I am far more as well, but I remain human at the base of it all."

Ruby nodded.

"I do wonder: are you not curious as to what I am? You've barely questioned any of this. It's most odd…"

Uh oh.

But at the same time, not uh oh.

Ruby poked at her food. "I mean, it's kinda obvious who you are. Grimm castle, Grimm servants, evil minions – you're the Queen of the Grimm."

The others at the table turned to look at her following the strange wording, save for the doggo, who still continued to sit there and not eat.

"I mean, it's just an archetype that exists," said Ruby. "The Supreme Queen stands at the center of the hive of monsters, controlling them from afar. I saw a space show with the Borg Queen, and I saw a zombie movie with the Queen of the Undead. It's just like that. You're the power behind the scenes that commands the Grimm."

"Do you not wonder how I came to be?"

"I…huh." Ruby scratched at her head. "I guess I just never thought of it. Can you tell me how you came to be?"

"No."

"T-Then why…never mind." Ruby poked at her meat with her knife. "What can you tell me, then?"

Salem explained in between bites of her food. "I can tell you that I am not the monster you likely think I am. All I seek is what was denied to me many eons ago: peace. Beyond that, I have a minor interest in retribution against the man who wronged me, and against his ilk. It is through this shared goal that those at this table have found themselves aligned with me."

Watts nodded. "Atlas and I are old enemies. My Queen graciously offered to not only aid me in my research with resources aplenty, but to also apply the fruits of my labor towards expediting their inevitable destruction."

"Ozpin is dead, but his spirit lives on," grunted Hazel. "That is enough for me."

"A húsgombócért vagyok itt. Ó, és Salem nagyon menő, azt hiszem."

Ruby looked at Tyrian, then at Salem. "I-Is he okay?"

"No."

"T-The stuff he says is just gibberish."

Watts laughed at that. "Even having just arrived, she already acknowledges this. Young Rose, Tyrian says nought but nonsense."

Ruby sighed a breath of relief at that.

"Why, it sometimes almost feels like he's speaking another language."

Wait, ALMOST?!

The group's conversation moved on faster than Ruby could keep up with, and before she could ask why Tyrian was so messed up in the head, they were already discussing something else.

Well, let's just hope Tyrian has nothing to say. I can just get the details from Cinder if he does.

The table has begun to discuss something about the CCT and Watts' writing some code, so Ruby partially tuned out and looked instead at the doggo. It wasn't eating anything, though with its height, it was easily tall enough to reach the table.

Ruby rolled a raspberry off her plate and flicked it towards the Grimm with her spoon. The morsel rolled over to the spot at which it sat but prompted no response.

She glanced at the others. They were still distracted.

Ruby poked another berry onto her knife this time and tentatively held it out to the doggo. "Here you go, boy. Dogs can eat berries, so you can have a little snack."

The doggo kept its faced forward, eyes fixed on the Grimm Queen at the opposite end of the table, though Ruby liked to imagine that she saw its resolve waning in the face of the treat. Zwei always held out for a little before giving in while when she gave him a piece of chicken, for he knew that Dad didn't like for him to be fed people food.

Hmmm…how is Zwei doing? I wonder if he's surprised that Yang and I both left h–

At the thought of her sister, Ruby's breathing began to accelerate.

S-She's safe. She's in Beacon, and she's safe. Hurt, I'm sure, but that was bound to happen when Qrow died, and I couldn't go back and change that. Besides, Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch are adults, and they signed off on this plan.

That was the most reassuring part – that someone in a position of authority had told Ruby to do it all. Ruby dreaded imagining a world in which she'd gone to Beacon and been made team leader, for the responsibility would've surely tripped her up many a time.

"Hold."

"AAAAH!"

In her moment of inattention, Ruby had accidentally poked the doggo with her knife, raspberry and all, and it spoke! All fear of embarrassment went out the window as Ruby fell backwards, knocking over her chair and bumping Watts with her scrambling elbows as she did.

"That Grimm just talked!"

Ruby stared in distress at the Grimm, but it remained stationary at its perch. Aside from the single spoken phrase, it was so immobile one might've thought it a statue.

"Hold," it repeated, licking its once gums when its mouth opened.

"Ruby, perhaps you should avoid playing with things you don't understand," snapped Cinder, rising from her seat to pick Ruby off the ground. Well, she didn't pick up Ruby as much as she uprooted her like an overgrown turnip.

Still, Ruby accepted the help just the same. She hadn't really processed who it was coming from, for her eyes were fixated on the Grimm dog.

"I-I-It spoke!" she dumbly repeated, unsure of why the others weren't freaking. "W-Wait, are there other Grimm who…?"

"My hound is the first and only," Salem declared proudly. "When the time comes, he shall serve us greatly, provided the experiment is a success."

"As shall we all," noted Watts.

Salem said nothing, not even hearing him as she admired her hound's obedient position.

"We all serve," he said once more, to which Hazel nodded solemnly.

Ruby tore her eyes off of the Grimm in time to catch Cinder's own narrowing at the hound for just a second.

Intelligent Grimm – if she has those, she'll have no need for people like them. They must hate it. They must see it as a replacement that's come to steal their –

Ruby looked at Cinder again.

Oh.

The meal was a little bit quieter after that interruption. All of them seemed unhappy with the mention of the Grimm doggo, except for Tyrian. Ruby had a hard time gauging his reactions to anything.

It ran contrary to everything Ruby could have possibly thought about both desserts and evil villain castles, but there was an after-mean confectionary dessert course served. Ruby would've thought Salem cared little for having the presence of anything sweet in her presence, but that was apparently wrong.

It was also probably wrong to voice these thoughts aloud, but Ruby had already done it, so it was too late.

"No sweetness?" Salem actually laughed at that, quite heartily. "As I've told you, I am human. My tongue, while black, still contains taste buds that detect sugar, and the neurons in my brain release the chemicals for pleasure when that happens. I am no so old that I have lost touch with pleasure."

The Seers served her a plate of poached pears in white wine. Salem looked down at it and chuckled to herself once more.

"I must admit, it has been so long since I've encountered someone beyond the four souls within this room, it is rather refreshing to have a new perspective on my existence and nature. Serve loyally, and you shall do well here, young Rose."

Salem motioned, and the Grimm handed…er, tentacled Ruby her plate.

"I'm going to have to step in, your grace," Hazel randomly said, snatching Ruby's goodies away from her before she even had a chance. "It may seem like a trivial matter, but alcohol and developing minors do not mix."

"We're beyond the walls of the kingdoms," said Watts, digging into his own. "Surely laws do not bother you, Rainart."

"Add a lánynak a körtét, te kurva," Tyrian said, sounding somehow both calm and enraged at the same time. "Kurva…"

"If she is to be an investment, it would be best if she does not develop such an addiction in her youth, your grace. The laws of the kingdom exist to maintain order, and while we may wish to rewrite them in your image, we must heed sense." Hazel looked down at Ruby, both literally and figuratively. "Especially when the niece of Qrow Branwen sits before us. The weakness could be in her blood."

"Whuh – how dare you!" Ruby screeched, offended on behalf of herself, her uncle, and everything about this giant. "We weren't even blood related! That's why I killed him!"

She'd thought of that one a while ago. Qrow was dead and wouldn't mind, but it would be good to have an excuse if Salem ever pitted Ruby up against Yang or Dad, thinking she had no love for her family.

"In your patterns, then," Hazel amended. "We cannot have you inebriated or otherwise impaired. Another dessert can be brought for you, if you wish it."

Ruby frowned. She did wish it, but the smart part of her could already see Watts and Cinder watching her. She could practically feel the condemnation in their eyes – oh, look at that, watch the itty-bitty baby throw a tantrum for her sweeties. It would be best for Ruby to just let it go.

…except…

"I do wish it," Ruby said.

The smart part of her wasn't what called the shots here. She'd already committed to the Ruby part of her.

"What would you like?" Hazel asked. "The Seers keep a wide stock on hand."

"Fire ants," Ruby said, smirking victoriously. "I'd like one tankard of your finest fire ants."

That made Salem smile, thought it was more of a dismissive, condescending, insulting smile. Ruby didn't like the way it made her feel one bit (it reminded her too much of the looks the other Beacon students had given her when she'd gotten sick), but it was necessary. People had died for this, and she could stomach having to feign a little immaturity. Salem's smile was also predatory, like a lion watching the antelope leap into bounds.

What they didn't know was that Ruby wanted to be hunted. She was the antelope who…who had lined its horns with poison, and when they ate it, they would all get sick and…okay, animal metaphors weren't her strong suit.

"Fire ants," Hazel repeated. People seemed to be repeating a lot of things tonight.

"What's the matter, pal? Think I'm not tough enough?" Ruby reclined in her chair. "Then why don't we make it a challenge? You vs. me. If I can keep down more fire ants than you, I get your…your room. If you win, I'll do your chores for a month."

"Nincs házimunkánk," Tyrian commented.

Hazel nodded, the trappings of a disappointed frown on his face. "He's right. The Seers keep the castle clean."

"Sounds like the words of a coward." Ruby mimicked a chicken, flapping her arms at the elbow. "Bwak-Bwak-Bwak!"

Cinder was probably having an aneurysm at being so thoroughly humiliated by Ruby in front of her peers, but Cinder wasn't Ruby's objective.

That's probably enough. I shouldn't make myself look like an idiot. I just need to be a kid. My cover is myself, and I wouldn't draw out a joke for too long.

"So, what's it gonna be, big guy? You gonna give me back my pears, or will it be a good old-fashioned fire ant off?"

Hazel shook his head and took a step back when a sharp cry rang out.

"HOLD!"

The Grimm doggo rose suddenly, pulling out its tail from under Hazel's boot and knocking the man off its feet with surprising strength. It suddenly turned its fangs upon its mistress' servants, slashing two Seers to shreds with its mighty claws and sinking jagged teeth into Hazel's forearm.

"H-Hazel!" Ruby screamed. Crescent was with her, but it was folded up, and in the time it would've taken to open it, he could've lost the limb.

Ruby rushed forward with her semblance and charged into the doggo with a full body ram. That tore a chunk of human flesh from the injured man she'd saved, but it probably prevented the complete loss of limb. The hound had been aggressively shaking its head back and forth as it tore into the man's arm, like it was a wild animal trying to bring down much larger prey.

"Serve!" Salem yelled.

The doggo stopped moving entirely and bowed its head.

"Serve."

The chunk of missing flesh was dropped from its mouth.

"KKKKkkk…k…"

Hazel cradled his ruined arm, but it took him less than two full seconds to get his excruciating hiss of pain under control.

"Are you well?" asked Salem.

"No, my queen," Hazel said. "I…I…kkk…I am unfit."

Salem let out a sigh. "Take whatever resources you need to repair yourself from the supplies. Watts, fix him up as best you can. This dinner is adjourned. Yield."

The Grimm hound rose and trotted off in Salem's direction as she departed. "Yield."

The others bowed as she left, even Hazel, so Ruby went along with it. As soon as Salem was out of the room, she turned to the hurt huntsman.

"I'm so – are you okay?" Ruby frantically asked. "Can I help?"

"Can you?" snapped Cinder, from across the room. "Can you? Can you do anything right, you stupid insolent waste of space?"

"I – I –"

"You can't," finished Watts, chewing down the last of his pears and dabbing at his mouth with his napkin. "Loathe as I am to agree with Cinder of all people, you are ill equipped to treat Hazel's wounds. This is my domain. Remain in your own."

"O-Oh."

"That was not advice, girl."

Hazel and Watts went out of the room from a different door than the one Salem had come through. With them went any buffer between Cinder and Ruby.

"You," Cinder seethed. "You have ruined me."

"S-Salem wanted –"

"Salem wanted me." Two blades flicked out of Cinder's sleeve. "It is to be me."

In spite of Ruby being the one with super speed, it was Cinder who cleared the distance between them while Ruby was left in the dust. Crescent was still with her, but the fire in Cinder's eyes robbed Ruby of any will to fight before she could even think of reaching for her baby.

The edge tickled Ruby's throat, pressing against the terrified ex-huntress' aura.

"Th–"

"Cinder."

Both Ruby and the woman in question turned to the quiet Faunus who'd nearly been forgotten in the chaos of just a moment ago.

"Oh, and now you care for the girl?" Cinder said sarcastically. "I could end her before you even got out of your chair."

Tyrian said nothing. His fingers drummed against the table, providing the only noise in the room, and he raised an eyebrow.

Ruby was thrown to the ground with hatred and disregard.

"Stay out of my way," Cinder growled, returning her blades to their hidden sheathed and storming out of the room.

Now, they were truly alone. Ruby looked at Tyrian, but he still remained in his chair at the dining table. There wasn't any food or drink in front of him.

"T-Thank you."

He offered a smile and a nod.

"I-I'm going to go to my room. The one down the hall and to the left, right?"

"Helyes, Rose."

Ruby's eyes nervously shot left and right. "U-Uh. Yeah. Sorry about nearly shooting you in the…yeah, never mind. I'll just go."

When Ruby left the room, the candle lights flickered down to nothing. Tyrian was still tucked into his seat.

Coming Soon – Ruby's Training

And now, a tip from Ruby:

Ruby's Tip #18 – Ladies, do you have a crush on a boy, but you're too afraid to ask him out on a date? Ask out my Uncle Qrow instead! He's hot, single, and ready to – oh, wait, no, I killed him. Never mind.

Author's Notes

We all knew Tyrian would be the most likely of the Evernight Council to get along with Ruby, but now we're going to have to translate it from Turkish or 3D or whatever the fuck language I wrote it in. Google translate auto-recognition is a wondrous feature, folks.

Your virgin basic b*tch Ruby drinks milk. My sigma female Ruby drinks fire ants. We are not the same.

This will be the core cast of this fic – Ruby, Salem, Cinder, Tyrian, the hound, Hazel, and Watts, roughly in that order. Other will certainly show up, but these folks are recurring is many chapters and every arc.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!