Chapter 23 – Ruby's Head

The girl that left the Evernight Castle probably wouldn't have liked the girl that came back to the Evernight Castle. She would've called her hurtful things like 'as cold as the kingdom you came from' or 'a big old meanie' or 'a jerk who pushed away her friend because she didn't fit into the neat little mold that Ruby wanted, no, that Ruby needed her to fit into so Ruby could get emotional gratification out of saving her.'

The girl that left the Evernight Castle was an idiot.

Ruby didn't say a word to Tyrian for the entire duration of the flight. He was antsy, likely at the failure he'd encountered in his assigned task of keeping the Specialists off of Ruby's hands. She chose not to engage him and received nothing but silence in return, which was just the perfect environment for an upset little runt and a jittery old man.

Ruby and Tyrian knelt before Salem on her throne.

"Your grace."

Salem stroked the head of the hound, which sat at her side, then placed her arms on the armrests. "Leave us, and shut the door on your way out."

The Grimm creature must've been making progress, for it completed the two-step command with ease. Ruby could recall a time when it had been barely able to sit still without lashing out at Hazel's accidental touch.

"How was Atlas, little Rose?"

"Chilly, your grace. I'm glad I packed my winter coat."

That got a smile out of Salem. Ruby could've given a fuck about the temperature after engaging in near ceaseless war with the military, but she refused to let Salem witness the anguish she'd caused Ruby. With the Scarab having been inside her arm the entire time and Tyrian dispatched to the city, there was no one who could tell Salem what had truly happened. Ruby refused to give this vile woman the pleasure of seeing her turmoil over what she'd done in the northernmost continent, not when Salem's stated goal was darkening Ruby. It didn't matter if she was succeeding; Ruby would give her nothing.

She remained Ruby Rose, the cute little munchkin, and Salem made no progress on corrupting her. That stupid girl who left the Evernight Castle might've been an idiot, but Ruby remembered how to be her.

And who knew? Maybe if she played the part of the still-innocent child enough to trick everyone else, she might be able to trick herself into believing it one day.

"I'll be sure to send you somewhere balmy next. And Tyrian…I do hope your experience was more pleasurable than Ruby's."

She knew. Tyrian, already on his knees, fell to the floor in a full-body prayer pose.

"Tá brón orm, a Bhanríon!" he sniveled, barely clear enough to be understood. "Tá brón orm!"

Salem held up a hand, cutting him off. Tears were pouring out of Tyrian's eyes.

"Ruby." Salem only needed to turn her head a fraction to address her. "I do believe your communal mission was a success, overall. Please give me your take on the situation."

Ruby looked to her left, where the Faunus was pleading with his eyes. She had no idea if her vote would truly be enough to sway Salem, who clearly knew that Tyrian had somehow failed in his mission. Ruby didn't know if this was some sort of charade and Salem was fishing for a specific answer.

Tyrian was really, really beat up about this, though. Truth be told, it was just a little bit jarring, to see the man who had played a part in exterminating an entire village reduced to such a aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand suddenly Ruby knew what her choice was.

"Tyrian," she softly whispered.

Salem couldn't hear it, but Ruby knew she could tell she wasn't supposed to.

"Tyrian, do you truly wish for me to lie to our queen? Is that what you really want me to do? To deceive her?"

The scorpion Faunus let out a pained wail and shook his head.

Ruby turned back to Salem and shrugged. "I think that's what you needed from me."

The Grimm Queen stood up. With a flick of her hand, the door that the Grimm dog had shut just moments prior burst out, opening with a huge thud. Salem walked forward passing in between Ruby and Tyrian on her way to the exit. A simple touch to the shoulder was all Ruby needed to know that Salem wanted her to come with her. Tyrian received no such touch.

The Faunus let loose a pained wail and pounded one fist into the ground as the duo departed without him, not stopping even as the door closed.

"I wasn't joking when I told you I was going to send you somewhere warmer," Salem explained as they walked. "Hazel has begun scouting the jungles of Mistral for Raven's tribe. I want you to accompany him."

"M-My q–"

Salem shook her head before Ruby could even figure out just what she wanted to ask. "You will be doing nothing but scouting. My intent in sending you is to have Hazel teach you how to operate stealthily, without attracting attention to yourself. Doubtless, the White Fang could not have imparted that particular talent upon you."

"And when…and if we find them?"

"Then we shall mark their location on a map for the future," Salem said, not breaking stride as they turned a corner. "You needn't worry I'm going to pit you up against the trained Spring maiden, Ruby. I find myself approving of your plan to work your way up, one at a time. And to that end…"

They entered into an empty room save for a single Seer and a few candles. Ruby was uncomfortable with the lack of light, and her instincts told her not to enter in after Salem for all the cookies in the world.

As Salem came within range, the Seer rose up slightly, and an image of Cinder appeared within it. Her eyes were downcast.

"Your grace. Lady Rose."

Just as quickly as she'd entered, Salem turned around to leave. "Well. I'll leave you both to it."

Ah. Ruby had demanded regular updates from Cinder, and Salem had taken the initiative to set up the first one.

"Cinder, it's good to see you. Er, hear from you, I guess. No, wait, I actually am seeing you."

Cinder's eyes remained pointed at the floor as she knelt. "Miss Rose."

"So, what've you got for me? Didja find Amber yet?"

"No," Cinder said. "But I have made progress!" she quickly added.

"I'm all ears."

"The Fall maiden's name is Amb…wait, how did you –"

Shit.

Shit.

"Raven mentioned it to me before we fought. She thought I already knew."

Shit.

Ruby held her fingers steady, despite their desperate desires to twitch.

Shit…

"Of course. F-Forgive my impertinence. Amber's name and identity have been made known to us. Using stolen records of her old team in Beacon, we were able to ascertain what manner of weapon she used…a plain staff with a single Dust crystal embedded at the top. The crystal in question must be custom crafted and only has a handful of vendors within the kingdoms knowledgeable enough to produce them. All of them are in Vale and under my surveillance."

"So it's only a matter of time before Amber is found," Ruby said. "Do you know how long?"

"I…I…it could be…"

"This isn't a trick question, Cinder," Ruby said. "I want to know how long I have to prepare. It would actually be better if its longer."

"It could be up to a year, then. The Dust crystal is so difficult to make because it is a carefully carved amalgamation of rare naturally-occurring mixed types of Dust. As such, it is incredibly versatile and can last between six to twelve months depending on how judiciously is used and with what skill level. Due to the rustic nature of the craftsmen and craftswomen's shops, no digital or paper records are kept, so we cannot know how long ago the crystal was made or how much use it has endured since then. Asking the vendors directly risks tipping Amber off that she is being actively hunted. Please, Lady Rose, know that I have weighed the risks and exhausted every option beyond waiting it out."

"I understand. Keep at it, and see if you can find me any other leads."

The Seer's appearance faded to black, and Ruby made her way out of the creepy séance room as quickly as possible. Salem wasn't waiting for her when she exited, so she decided to get a breath of fresh air on one of the landing bays outside of the castle.

At this point, Ruby had spent a little bit more time with the White Fang than at Evernight, but she still recognized the Grimmlands as the base of her operations and considered it home for the time being. Once she'd gotten over the revulsion of allying with the Grimm, it was actually quite interesting to peruse the architecture and watch the daily operations of a castle staffed by Grimm. As a huntress, Ruby had always been interested in learning more about them as a kid, and even though is used to always have been in the context of destroying them at the time, her curiosity remained.

It was mostly Seers that did the housework and things, but Salem occasionally made these ghostly black arms shoot out of the ground when she needed something handle immediately and a Seer wasn't available. Beowolves and more common Grimm roamed the lands outside, and Salem had a special entrance when their presence was needed indoors for things like training or tasks requiring great strength. The bed in Ruby's own room had actually been carried there in the mouth of a small Creep.

There were also these totally gnarly pools of flowing black liquid outside that spawned Salem's Grimm armies. She could improve the speed at which they grew from the ooze by sitting around them and sometimes dipping her hands in, but Salem typically had better things to do. There were already billions of Grimm roaming the world (and probably half stored locally at Evernight), and it was unlikely that a handful more would be turning the tide.

The castle itself was also probably alive in some way, although Salem didn't seem to be able to spy on its residents. Ruby had figured that one out herself, recalling back when Cinder had been at odds with Ruby and Salem had needed the hound to watch over them both. If Salem could see through the walls as eyes, she wouldn't have needed her pet to attend at all.

Still, she exited the castle and sat herself down on the ledge of one of the bullhead docks to afford herself some privacy. Just because Salem couldn't spy on Ruby with the castle itself didn't mean there were no other ways to keep an eye on Ruby within the boundaries of her domain.

Flipping open her scroll, she dialed Cinder's number.

"Miss Rose? How may I serve?"

"Are we private? Can Watts or anyone else hear what we discuss?"

Cinder shook her head. "Salem had these scrolls designed by Watts himself with explicit orders that he not be able to spy on them. She oversaw their construction personally, and he's smarter than disobeying such a clear order."

"Great. Look, I'm just calling to let you know how it is. How it really is."

"M-My lady, I –"

"I'm not going to be like Salem. I don't care for groveling or displays of obedience or whatever. The only reason I did all that stuff was because Salem wanted to see you put down. All I care for are results. Find the maiden for me, and we're good."

"I'm glad to hear it, my lady."

"I'm serious about this, Cinder. I didn't much appreciate how you tried to manipulate me, but I made it sound like it bothered me a lot more than it did so Salem would buy that I'm punishing you."

"I…I do believe I have yet to apologize for that. I truly do –"

"No. You truly don't. But that doesn't matter. Cinder, let me speak in a language you will understand. You really do belong to me…so that means if you have the maiden powers, they're under my control."

"Salem said –"

"When I've got the powers of the Fall and Spring maidens firmly in my grasp, I'll be stronger than any other living being, our queen excluded. That means I'll be able to kill Summer with no issue. Once I'm three maidens, there will be no risk of anyone stealing my power away from me. I'll let you have Winter up in Atlas when that time comes, for I'll have no reason to fear you usurping me with but a single maiden's powers to my three. Consider it…motivation."

"But…"

"I'll deal with Salem. You've already seen how I can."

"I…w-well, if you're sure."

The promise of power was too tantalizing to someone like Cinder, even though any sane woman would've decided the risk to her life wasn't worth it. It would encourage Cinder to perform, but it wouldn't matter in the long run. By the time Ruby had killed Raven, she would be long gone.

Ruby could go into debt for the entire world to Cinder if she had no intention of paying it.

Ruby was given a few days off before joining Hazel. Out of a sheer bodily need to recover, she spent the first one as a break, sleeping for most of the time and letting herself heal. She also made use of the amenities that the White Fang hadn't had, such as a shower, clean clothes, and hot food.

The castle was empty save for her, Salem, and Tyrian. While the second of those three typically kept to herself, doing who knew what, the last was moping around. For his failure, Tyrian was receiving the silent treatment, and it was surprisingly effective. Ruby knew Salem was no stranger to torturing her minions when they underperformed, so the fact that she thought ignoring Tyrian was a better to inflict misery upon him said something about the man's devotion to her.

The second day, she considered training, but it felt so…so…weak. She's just run the gauntlet with the White Fang, going head to head with quite possibly thousands of robots and a full squad of huntsmen. To just mutilate a few Grimm seemed like a step backwards.

It's gonna be tough to be a normal huntress after this. I've read about hunters who retire into the police force and end up exploding at every little thing. I wonder if I'll be the first one to do it from one level up.

In the end, Ruby had asked the Seers to send her their biggest, baddest Grimm to fight. Some practice would be better than being idle.

When a medium-sized Leviathan, nearly smashed the entire Grimm entry doors and compromised the structural integrity of the castle as a whole, Ruby decided to ask Salem to start her next mission early.

Ruby had never flown a bullhead before, but because there was no one to escort her this time, she had to learn fast. Watts had sent her some instructions and given her a brief crash course over the scroll, but when she got into the pilot's seat, all that Ruby could remember was the crash part of it.

I hope that Salem doesn't mind the broken windows. Or the dent in the side of her castle. Or the ravine I dug in the dirt for about a mile before figuring out how to increase my elevation.

Ruby didn't know much about Hazel, the man she was going to be joining. He and Watts were the two members of the team she hadn't interacted with all that much. In fact, between her time at Evernight and the trip to Ovais, Ruby had spent more time with the hound than either of them combined.

It's good to learn from many different people. If I just studied under one person or specialized in one type of fighting, I'd stagnate. Stealth is something I should be good at, given how small and lithe I am.

Who knew? Maybe Hazel would be less insane than everyone else.

"…and when he reincarnates for the eighth time, o-ho-ho, that's when I'll truly break out the big guns! I'm gonna tear whatever little baby boy he reincarnates into limb from limb, and then when the torso bit of him finally recovers enough to feel pain once again, I'll feed him to a pack of hyenas I trained."

"Cool, cool." Ruby had stopped listening to all the things Hazel planned to do to Ozpin by around the third death he had described in vivid detail. "So, about the thing we're supposed to –"

"Don't get me wrong, child, I appreciate your hard work in slaying that monster. You have my gratitude for that. But killing him without torturing him just seems like such a waste. Which is why I've been bulk investing heavily in vats of acid. You see, it's not the volume that matters as much as it is the pH resistance –"

"Mr. Rainart, aren't I supposed to be, I dunno, learning stealth from you? Aren't we gonna track some bandit down and follow them back to base?"

Hazel spread his arms out wide. "Unless you see a member of the Branwen tribe around for us to interrogate, I think that's not an option."

"Well, can't we do something other than just walk around in circles? Spar?"

"We'd attract too much attention with the noise."

Great. So Ruby's time wasted here was about as useful as time wasted in the Grimmlands. At least there, she might've been able to practice against Grimm or something, or at least not roast like a potato in the sun.

The pair of them were currently trekking through the woods with no direction or end in sight. After just barely managing to land her airship in one piece, she had spent several hours trying to track down the man's homing beacon, only to realize two hours into her chase that he was moving away from her.

He was very clearly annoyed by Ruby due to her relentless questions, but she was getting kind of fed up with him, so it balanced out. Together, they were two unhappy campers.

"Where are we even going?"

"It's not where we're going but that we're not staying in one place for too long. These lands aren't safe."

Well, that might sound like the knowledge of an elder for Ruby to learn. "Care to elaborate?"

"No," he succinctly replied. "Now, back to the vats of acid…"

Suppressing a groan, Ruby massaged her forehead and followed after the giant as he trudged through the trees.

Coming Soon – Ruby's Sneak Level

And now, a tip from Ruby:

Ruby's Tip #382 – Playing rock paper scissors with a friend? Tell them to choose paper, then go with scissors for yourself. You'll never lose.

Author's Notes

Another one of what I call cooldown chapters, where so much stuff happened in the last arc that the characters need to just catch their breaths and get up to speed with where everyone is.

We're finally entering Hazel, who's starting off with a bang. Hmmm…a bang. Could he bang Ruby? The possible ships, they just never end!

Ruby sneaks in a little revenge on Tyrian for being such a bad boy, and she gets away with it. That's good. She's finally getting used to maneuvering within the confines of her mission and still getting what she wants and/or needs.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!