Chapter 9 – Ruby's Training But For Real

Ruby had never expected to become part Grimm before she even turned sixteen, but here she was, with one beetle buddy who was now a permanent resident of 3001 Ruby's Arm Avenue.

Receiving it had knocked the oomph out of her for the afternoon, but Cinder hadn't really been in any mood physically or mentally to continue with their 'lesson,' so both women had silently left for their rooms with no further discussion. The doggo that had been watching them was already gone, having followed at Salem's heel when she left first.

Ruby turned her arm over to look at her elbow. She was currently trying to see if she could find any outline of the beetle, just to figure out where it was at the moment.

I can't see any bulge or outline. That means it must be inside of the flesh or bone, not just under the skin.

It hadn't hurt when she got bugged, just tired her out a lot, but Ruby had seen from Salem's domination of Cinder that it very easily could. That would mean bad things when the time came for Ruby to end her mission.

If she orders it to crawl into my heart when I get the maiden powers, I'll lose them. I could think of someone else in my last moments, but it'd be equally likely that Salem would just have the beetle stun me from the inside and then switch the powers to Cinder. Dust, if the beetle can steal it, she might just have my one crawl out and barf them up into Cinder's one.

When that time came, she would have to figure something out. Hopefully she would have a better understanding of how the Scarab worked, though there was always the old reliable Crescent Rose to take the entire limb off. It wasn't ideal, but Ruby's body was now home to an intrusive presence that had no business being inside of her, and she would do whatever it took to free herself.

It was the next day when Ruby felt up for getting out of her room. Said room was little more than a bed, a single glass mirror, and a wooden stool, so she'd spent most of her free time sleeping. Ruby got the distinct impression that time off wasn't really that much of a concept around here, and she'd be expected to put most of her time into furthering Salem's goals, training, or other more productive activities.

The entire castle didn't have doors. In their place were these weird membrane thingies that schwooped open and closed in a circular motion. As Ruby schwooped out of her membrane thingy and entered into her hallway, she realized that she really had no idea what she was going to be doing. Training, most likely, but until Cinder reached out to her with a gameplan, she had no distinct strategy.

If she's cooped up in her room, visiting her is probably a poor choice. I'll go to the same room as yesterday and train on my own until she's ready to face me.

Ruby wasn't looking forward to that. If Cinder had been frosty to her before, then learning that Ruby was going to be taking her place and getting the one thing she wanted from Salem was the whole dang mountainside avalanche. Salem may have decided for the both of them that Cinder was going to be training Ruby at perpetual beetlepoint, and Cinder would pretty much have to acquiesce to that, but that didn't mean Cinder had to like it. There was no doubt that hateful glares, frigid silences, and wrothful clenched fists were going to be their future from here on out.

I'm glad none of this is real, or it might get tough. This is a competitive place, and since Cinder's been around here for longer than the others, they'll probably take her side rather than my own in a heartbeat.

"EEEP!"

Ruby, so caught up in her thoughts, hadn't even seen the black shape until she'd tripped over it entirely.

She picked herself up and rubbed her forehead in the spot it had banged against the stone. "Oh no, I'm so sorry!"

"Hold."

The sight of the doggo filled Ruby with terror, for she recalled in vivid detail how exactly it had paid back Hazel for merely backing up onto its tail. Ruby had tripped over it entirely, knocking them both over in the process, which meant she was woefully unable to defend herself when…

When nothing. The doggo didn't react to being knocked over at all. It simply laid there on its side on the floor, not moving a Grimm muscle to upright itself or exact vengeance upon Ruby.

"Hold."

Tightly gripping the flabs of flesh on her forearms, lest this all be a trick to get her to lower her guard, Ruby scrambled to her feet and ran away from the doggo. She only dared to look backwards once, and it yielded no new results.

"Hold. Hold. Ho…"

Rounding the corner, Ruby paid much closer attention to herself and where she was going as she moved. She knew from memory that the training room was just around the corner. The membrane door slipped open, and Ruby entered to find that she was not alone.

"Oh. C-Cinder. Hey, I wasn't…er, I hope I wasn't…I amn't…I'm not interrupting anything, am it?" Ruby's face would've turned red in mortification if it weren't instead turning pale in fear. She hadn't been ready to face Cinder, and her fear was making itself shown.

I need to be ready for anything. She might just decide to go out in a blaze of beetle glory in one final act of revenge.

Cinder giggled.

She…

Wait, she giggled?

Ruby must've misheard or mis-seen what was before her, because Cinder didn't seem like the kind of girl to giggle. She might've laughed in your face when your puppy died, and she no doubt had a killer cackle for moments most menacign, but giggling? The only things less Cinder than giggling were hugs, kisses, and tickles.

Cinder got up from her crosslegged sitting position and approached Ruby. Her mouth was stuck in a wide smile.

Oh crap. Her mind's finally snapped, which means my spine is about to follow.

Cinder placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

I'm going to die today. This is where my life ends.

"You're so adorable, Rubes."

It's over. Doggo, you can have my scythe when I'm gone. Tyrian, tell my story in whatever language it is you speak.

Cinder pulled Ruby in for a tight hug. This was it. The constrictive motion would only worsen until Ruby's lungs were devoid of air.

The older woman released her younger companion. "Anyways, I wanted to apologize."

Ruby blinked. She considered slapping herself but decided that she would probably need the aura.

"I…" Cinder looked away and awkwardly brushed her hair off of her cheek. "…I don't think I've been treating you very fairly. There were a lot of negative emotions that got me in a very bad place mentally, and I took it out on you. I owe it to you to get down on my knees and let you know how sorry I am."

And then Cinder knelt before Ruby in a vaguely Mistrilian bow of apology, and the alarm bells that had been ringing in Ruby's mind went into fucking overdrive and jumped to warp straight into the next galaxy.

Danger! Danger! Danger of a stranger variety!

"So, can you find it in yourself to forgive me, Ruby?" Cinder cupped Ruby's cheek with one hand upon rising. "I'm really, really sorry."

As Cinder said it, she made a little pout with her lips that looked like it was genuinely sad but also trying to be a little cute while she was at it.

What the heck is going on?! She hated me yesterday, and then I got her into trouble with Cinder, and –

"– course I accept your apology," said a voice that sounded like Ruby's. "There's no need for –"

– acting nice now? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever! Cinder's not the forgiving type, and she certainly isn't the cuddling type either. This has to be a trick, or a trap, or a –

"– wonderful occasion," Ruby's mouth finished enunciating, a smile on her face. "So, would you care to train together? I, for one, would love to."

After a long hard day of training, it made more sense now what Cinder's game was.

It wasn't the training that gave it away, not by a long shot. No, the big reveal all began when Cinder had pointed out that Ruby must be all hot and sweaty under that new hood of hers that Watts had stolen from a clothing store shipping vessel, and that she must've been more comfortable without it. Ruby had followed along, willing to go along with the training regime and more than happy to part with her hood (it wasn't Ruby's original; that had been left in Vale). It also was hot, though that was probably due to the fact that Cinder was artificially heating up the room using her semblance, even though she thought Ruby didn't notice.

But hey, the training was going well, so Ruby let it slide. Cinder was actually a good teacher when her goal was to teach Ruby a lesson, not 'teach Ruby a lesson.' Ditching the hood did cool her down, so she continued their hand to hand combat in her T-shirt and leggings.

That on its own wasn't too much, but the next part was too obvious. Both of the women were still wearing suitable combat gear that was all rated PG. What gave it away was when Cinder pinned Ruby and held her for a second too long while staring into her eyes. The real Cinder that Ruby had met in Vale and flown with to the Grimmlands and eaten dinner with would've smirked victoriously at having bested her opponent and had them at her mercy, but this new Cinder just radiated a sheer sense of loving warmth and cooperative affection.

In short, Cinder had decided that, one way or another, the maiden powers would be under her control.

They might've, if not for the fact that a) Ruby was secretly working for Ozpin, and b) Cinder had no comprehension of human emotions and was far too blatant in what actions she expected to appear romantic. It felt more like they were speedrunning a romance movie, the yucky kind that Yang and her friends loved to watch but Ruby didn't care for when they went to the cinema. They were going through things like a checklist with no buildup, and the change from yesterday's behavior was too jarring to ignore. Ruby might've bought an apology if it were more genuine and less seductive, but she didn't buy Cinder suddenly realizing that she was desperately in love with the little child who'd upstaged her and been the cause of her being subjected to torment.

She's going too fast, was all Ruby could think as Cinder's lips pressed into her mouth. Think of this as a valuable lesson, Ruby. I need to learn from her what not to do when trying to trick someone.

Oh, yeah, there was that too. When Cinder pressed her lips into Ruby with a triumphant smile, she probably thought she had outsmarted her simple witted child of a minion and seduced her to be firmly under Cinder's thumb. She hadn't. Ruby got nothing out of the kiss…nothing physically, that was.

Two could play the game of letting romance get them what they needed.

With Cinder on her side, in the week they spent holding personal training sessions day in and day out, Ruby improved more than she had in a year of scattered, hour-long P.E. lessons at Signal.

"Oh, you're just so adorable, Ruby!" Cinder said to her 'girlfriend,' planting a kiss on her cheeks. Ruby vibrated with excitement at the fake praise.

Watts looked like he was about to throw up in his mouth. Tyrian, on the other hand, was excitedly clapping. Hazel was still absent due to his injury. Salem and the doggo didn't even seem to care, instead focusing on either their meals or on being mistaken for a statue, respectively.

They had been called together for another dinner to commemorate Hazel's imminent return to active duty, at which juncture he would be sent out to look for the Spring Maiden, as well as Dr. Watts' long-awaited return to Atlas. Watts was being tasked with finding some sort of palladium robot that they had built and stealing it, which was kind of dumb because palladium was waaaaaay too hard to come by since it was one of the rarest metals on Remnant. However, if Ruby spoke up and pointed this out, it was possible he would be sent to aid Hazel instead, and Ruby didn't want that.

Or do I? she wondered to herself as she sat down for the meal. I don't have a plan for the beetle, but the sooner I get the maiden powers, the sooner I can get out of here and have Goodwitch exonerate me. They said I might have to do evil things for my cover, but if I don't and still can complete my mission, that's all the better.

Ruby looked down at her arm. The beetle…it was inside of her. Was it possible that it could hear her thoughts? But if it did, Salem would've known of her treachery the moment she'd put it in…

It was in that moment that Ruby felt a knife pass between her ribs.

"Oh, thanks for cutting my ribs for me, Cinder."

"Of course, little Rose," Cinder said, generously lathering on some sauce and spreading it all over them.

Salem's been looking for the maidens for years. I think it's unlikely that she and her people will find them the week I show up. Anyways, I need to train more if I'm going to claim the Spring Maiden's powers.

When the time came, Ruby would hopefully be dispatched alone, reason with the maiden to come back to the good guy's side, and they would become best friends and go to Beacon together. In a worse scenario, Cinder or one of the other minions would be sent with her, and Ruby would need to spirit the maiden off with her semblance. In a worser scenario, Ruby wouldn't be able to convince the maiden of her argument and would have no choice but to kill her. In the worst scenario, Ruby would need to kill the maiden, kill the minion, and cut of her own arm.

"Ruby? You haven't touched your food."

Ruby blinked herself out of her stupor and looked down at the table. Everyone else was nearly finished with their meals, meaning that she'd been thinking to herself for a lot longer than it had seemed. Salem was looking at her with worry.

"Oh, sorry."

"Is everything alright?"

"Oh, absolutely. Just a bit worn out from a day of training with Cinder."

That got a raised eyebrow from Salem, directed not at Ruby but Cinder. "I would've thought that your appetite would be increased by the effort. Are you sure you're not unwell? I would be most displeased to hear you were overworked during your training."

Ruby forced a smile. "H-Heh, if I'd known you were going to grill me this much, I would've covered my body in raw hamburger patties. I'm really fine, Miss Salem."

"Your grace," coughed Cinder under her breath.

Ruby saw the lifeline for what it was and thanked Cinder with her eyes.

"Oh, yeah, the reason I haven't eaten anything is because we haven't said grace yet."

"Grace?"

Ruby nodded vigorously. "I gotta say a thing before I can eat, in honor of the Gods of Light and Darkness."

She actually didn't, since Ruby had never had enough time for that uber devout religious stuff, but it was a convenient enough excuse. There was probably a bunch of other ones she could've used, but Cinder knew Salem better, so if she thought that Ruby would be best off going with a fake grace, Ruby would trust her judgment.

"Ruith," said Tyrian.

"Huh?"

Ruby looked up.

Salem remained in her seat, but the look on her face was not a happy one. Watts was already stepping out of the room, closing the door behind him as Tyrian desperately fiddled with the knob.

"What?" Ruby asked.

Salem stood.

The dining table flew backwards, as did all of the chairs. Ruby screamed as she fell to the floor in a rainstorm of food, cutlery, dishware, and battered Seers that were caught in the barrage. Her aura wasn't up to block any damage, but nothing hit her with enough force to break the skin. Cinder had possessed enough wherewithal to protect herself with her own…meaning she'd seen the attack coming.

"Huh…huh…huuuuuuh…"

The only thing more ominous than Salem's ragged breathing were the cracks in the walls forming all around them. Ruby tried to get up, but her hand caught in a spill of her milk on the table when she gripped it for leverage, and she slipped. Cinder looked down at her once, then towards the door.

If Salem kills me here, Cinder might not be blamed for it. Might not. Still, it's her best chance.

The amber pupils flicked back and forth as the mental calculation was made. Ruby tried to get up again, but her leg caught on something – probably the underside of an overturned chair – and she failed to. Panic was making her sloppy, for all of the knives and shards of broken glassware and ceramic pottery in the room were slowly levitating into the air, stopping when they reached eye level. Salem was shaking with rage.

"Hold," said the doggo, unmoved and miraculously undisturbed by any of the flying objects.

A hand grabbed Ruby's right wrist, hoisted her to her feet, and pulled her out the opposite door.

S-She…

At the same time, a hand grabbed Ruby's left wrist, picked her up, and yanked her in the direction of the first door.

Cinder tried to pull Ruby to her door. "We need to –"

" – falbh!" finished Tyrian, jerking the girl in his own direction. For once, the madman scorpion Faunus' eyes didn't seem to be dripping with mischief.

Knowing that this little tug of war would inevitably end in their mutual demise, Ruby made the executive decision of pulling Tyrian towards the door Cinder had chosen, since it was closer. However, at the last moment, a swirling maelstrom of blades shot out in every direction as Salem screamed.

Ruby let out a cry of her own, and then things got really shiny bright but also blurry, and Salem slowed down a bunch…and…

Coming Soon – Ruby's New Moves

And now, a tip from Ruby:

Ruby's Tip #58 – You don't actually need loads of money to find true happiness. You need shitloads of money.

Author's Notes

Good old saying grace…Ruby, you perfectly read Cinder's cues. You did it, Ruby! You won!

Tyrian gets, like, 2 lines of dialogue – hell, 2 words of dialogue. RIP whatever language I'm underrepresenting smh 1 like equals 1 line of dialogue in the next chapter

Anyways…on to the big thing: that ship.

Not as bad as you were expecting, eh? Cinder x Ruby is a thing, but it's just both of them thinking they're taking advantage of the other. Cinder thinks she's seduced Ruby's loyal to her because she has no idea how actual love works and thinks it's just automatic when they do kissy faces, and Ruby plays along to ease things along with Cinder, knowing she's more likely to train Ruby if she thinks she has power over Ruby. Not that bad, right?

Except, when you think about it, this is that bad…oh, it's no good at all. Ruby is 15 and Cinder is approximately 22, and from Ruby's perspective, this is a transaction. It also doesn't help that Ruby (in Origin Story) is canonically asexual, meaning that she's not even feeling any attraction to Cinder. Ruby's essentially giving up something that shouldn't be given up for the mission, or for anything. It's especially bad when you realize that Cinder is speedrunning through a relationship, meaning that she's expecting them to move through the baseball diamond pretty fast. Again, Rated M for violence, not for horny. There will be no horny or lemons. This is a child being groomed and is not going to be a wholesome relationship.

Ruby: *kissing Cinder* Ozpin gave his life for the mission. I need to succeed, no matter what it takes. I'm doing this for him.

Ozpin in limbo: Ruby plz do not engage in compensated dating in my name plz.

Ruby: I don't like it one bit, in fact I hate it a lot and it makes me uncomfortable, but this is what Ozpin would have wanted.

Ozpin: Fuck, how do I reincarnate faster so I can tell her to stop this shit? Where's Chris Hansen when you need him?

Happy rats, and don't do crime!