Author's Note
Military deployment is an experience and a half.
Chapter 6
Hunters and Huntresses were bonded to their weapons, their souls seemingly deadlocked to sharpened edges and lightly oiled barrels. To lose a weapon would be to lose part of oneself, similar to wresting away the ability to hear. A sense underappreciated and remised, till it is lost.
Through this realization, some sought to hone their bodies into weapons. Heightening strength, mass, and power through years of arduous conditioning. Ruby had none of the years, nor the mass. And while Aura coated punches could bend metal and spear rock, it took fuel away from her most valuable resource. Her semblance, her ace in the hole, and her coup de grâce.
It was why fighters like Yang were so effective, having instilled the deception of Ember Celica. When opponents stepped into the ring with Yang, they targeted the gauntlets' underbody, which had exposed mechanisms and dust cartridges. Disable the weapon, doom the Huntress, right? What they didn't realize, was that Ember Celica wasn't Yang's weapon. It was an extension of her weapon.
Ruby didn't have years to punch trees and boulders, didn't have anyone to train her in hand-to-hand, and didn't have any of the mass as a result. What she did have was speed, which defined her fighting style with Crescent Rose, agility being heightened by the propulsion of 50. Caliber recoil.
Yang demonstrated her mastery through power and strength, Ruby utilized momentum and technique. It would only make sense to carry it forth to hand-to-hand, much to the chagrin of Melanie Malachite.
Eyes flashed scarlet as she ducked and weaved between Melanie's numerous kicks and sweeps, each one thrown about with the power of a mule. Through her veil of blood red petals, she saw each kick before it was thrown, each feint before it was projected, and witnessed the adrenaline written into her opponent's features.
Grunting and throwing herself into a side kick, Melanie pants: "You can't keep dodging forever Ruby. Your semblance is aura hungry". Her grunts were accentuated with a spinning back kick, "and I got a heeled boot just waiting for my payback".
The aching in her forearms followed her block, absorbing the devastating kick to her lower forearm and apportioning its power through her arm with a brutal thump. Technique didn't stop her from sliding back, shoes squeaking across the floor in rhythmic symphony as Melanie pressed her advantage with a satisfied grin.
Disregarding the numbness in her arms, Ruby grits her teeth as she nullifies the momentum of two lower front kicks with the flat of her palms, followed by a dodge underneath a roundhouse conceived to take her head off.
Even as she blocked, ducked, and sidestepped, her mind read and recognized patterns unknown to even her opponent, formulated strategies that hinged on weaknesses laid apparent. Ozpin had made her leader for a reason, short term as it may have been. An analytical mind combined with a semblance to give her time proved a deadly combination, and Ruby found her opening.
Melanie was keeping her at range with kicks, which were designed to prevent retaliation. She fought Ruby like she was a boxer, clearly reliving her fight with the older. It was a mistake Ruby punished as she blurred towards Melanie, stepping in while simultaneously grabbing and halting a low sweeping kick meant to remove her footing. Hooking Melanie's thigh and leaning forward to put her off balance, Melanie flared her arms out in a frenzied grasp for footing. With her opponent's balance held by a thread, dangling precariously on the edge, Ruby held a scalpel, triumphant silver bearing into jarred pale greens. A desperate twist of the foot proved futile as Ruby held on, refusing to give her an out. Distraught settled into resignation, accompanying a low, disconsolate sigh.
"Just do it"
Ruby nodded mutedly.
"Good fight"
Hooking her leg around Melanie's sole foot keeping her upright, she delivered a sweep which ushered a forceful push to Melanie's shoulder. "Damn Ruby not so-!". The resultant thump resonated throughout the sparring room, signaling a low groan which emanated from a very sore Malachite. Gratification pulsed in Ruby like the ebb and flow of a heartbeat.
"You know Ruby, there's this ache in my back and a bruise on my shoulder that allows for me to sense this profound and appalling resentment towards me. And wait…I think my senses are telling me that u slept some meant for Mils in there"
Ruby glanced up from brushing the carbon off Crescent Rose's bolt group, giving a long stare with a few hard brushes to accent. "Wow, you got all that? Must really be in touch with yourself." She held Melanie's exaggerated toothy smile that oozed uneasiness, and waited till Melanie relented with a sigh and a pinch to the eyebrows.
"Look Ruby, I get it. They somehow found out about you, and that kid was just a misunderstanding with Junior-"
"Yeah it was real nice going from a Beacon dropout to an accomplice to murder. And really, a misunderstanding? A misunderstanding would be the wrong safe house location, or mishearing he route or something like that. You guys were about to stuff him down the chute like trash", Ruby replied, scraping, and glaring harshly at the bolt group like it superintended the twins wanton cruelty.
Melanie looks up at Ruby with uneasiness, hands bundled together like an admonished teenager. "Ok look. I'm sorry, alright? Mils and I grew up tough, forcefully trained by Spider and all that. There's this whole backstory I could get into but point is, we did shit and got shit done to us. Killed our sense of empathy and all that. Call us psychopaths or whatever but when the world treats you like crap, that tends to take a toll".
Slamming the bolt group into the floor and eliciting a wince from Melanie, Ruby fixed her with sharpened and piercing silver. "You know that's not good for the barrel right? There's a chance the firing pin latch comes loose", Melanie gestured to the mechanism and chuckled weakly, as though that would dispel the haze of tension palpable in the air.
Her anger smoldered, immolation imminent at the weak attempt at mitigation. Hands shimmered crimson, and the sound of caving metal prompted the nervous dart of green eyes to the door. "So what. I'm just supposed to give you guys a pass? Bad stuff happens to all of us. It's just people like you who use that as an excuse to hurt whoever you want. You're not even apologizing because you were going to kill a kid, you're apologizing because I'm mad at you for it."
Melanie drops her head. "It's not like we're bloodthirsty or anything. We just…aren't as last resort as other people are. Like we don't kill civs, or police. With other gangs there are bound to be casualties but-"
"You killed 3 of your own men. Men that were under Junior's employ. They trusted you."
Greens narrowed, nervousness taking a backseat to defensiveness, driving the counterattack armed with fervent detestment. "Those men were scum! They were murderers and thieves, their loyalty was nonexistent. They were forfeit the moment they went behind our back and dealt under the table".
Gesturing back at her, Ruby retorts: "What about you? Way I see it you aren't much different. You have loyalty sure, but is that really all it takes to differentiate a dead person from a breathing one"
"In our world, what else is there?"
Fury gripped Ruby's heart, a low growl disgorging and clawing from her chest. Silver lit ablaze with sterling flame, under the profuse fog of indignation, metal yielded. "So a loyal gang member deserves to live no matter how much he kills or steals? No matter how many families they tear apart? So Junior was lying when he said you guys work under the radar then?" Melanie let out a frustrated growl in response, refusing to back down from a belief she seemingly thought ironclad.
"You. Don't. Get. It. It's not about who deserves to live, or who deserves to die. You want in? Great. We make you Xiong, give you brothers and sisters, and give you a job. If you work well, play well, fight well, you'll climb up the ranks, simple as that. But if you're in, your life belongs to the gang. If you have to die to advance the gang, so be it. It's not a matter of do you deserve to die, it's a matter of do you have to die to achieve something. And we sure as hell aren't going to sacrifice loyal members if there are those whos' loyalty are in question."
"That black and white is it? So you're saying that if it were do or die, your head on the chopping block, you would-"
"Yes"
Ruby reeled back at the resoluteness in Melanie's voice, suddenly acutely aware of crunching metal in her hands, and the shaky intake of breaths from Melanie. As though someone had turned a valve, her anger began trickling away, relenting, and clearing the fog for rumination. "You…You don't get it, and I don't blame you. Besides Miltia, the Xiongs are all I have. They took us in when we were on the run, desperate to get away from a gang that hunted us down like vermin. We would both be dead if not for Junior and his predecessor. It's why we need this gang to survive, because without this, we have nothing. So we do what needs to be done." Watery green eyes captured startled silver, before being erased with a sniffle and the back of a gloved hand that came away mascara stained, black clashing against white like pestilence on sterility.
"I'm not going to lie to you and say once you get out we'll be saints. People are going to die, whether it's us or the rest of them. It's how things work, and this is how it has to be. Gang work ain't clean, but our hands are dipped red while the others are bathed. We kill only gang members, the young and old included, plain and simple. The rest of the other gangs don't play as well in their territories."
This was the world Beacon abstained from, keeping their students in the dark about Vale's underbelly. Back in Beacon students dealt with bullies and boring lectures, competing for arbitrary attention amongst the schoolyard's populace. It was all so…small, compared to the world simmering beneath.
Ruby's heavy sigh accompanied the dusting of metallic shards from her hands, ground and broken such that repair be unattainable. So much for weapon maintenance, Goodwitch would've been pissed. Pushing herself to her feet, she extended a hand down to a questioning Melanie, damp mascara amalgamating with cyan into a messy dark blue hue. "I'm gonna be here a while. Who knows? I might leave an impression, a murmuring little Ruby Rose in the back of your mind whenever you go overboard." Melanie gazed up curiously, eyes swirling in wonder with cerebration evident, before accepting the hand and giving a small deprecatory smile.
"Don't count on it."
It was a silent understanding that no apologies were accepted, nor any conditions stipulated. Melanie had trekked this world far longer, and Ruby was too fresh-faced out of Beacon to speculate about how Xiongs did things. But so long as Ruby had a choice, no matter how difficult, Crescent Rose would not have a count.
The overt clacking of boots drew their attention to the door, the duo already anticipating the arrival of what was to be sure a furious Malachite. True to their premonitions Miltia stormed in with each stomp expelling frustration, the events of the day having taken a toll on her already deficient patience.
"Must be nice being able to kick the hell outta something. Meanwhile I'm stuck up there with that inspector who I swear has been ogling me every single time! This is not a smirking matter Melanie! I will not be laughed at by…What the hell happened to your makeup?"
Stifling a laugh at the behest of her darling sister, Melanie shrugs and waves her question off. "Well in the timesheet it is your shift Mils, with the police inspections having ramped up the past… what's it been, a month since the job? We gotta play everything by the book here. We've been in way worse before, this is barely an inconvenience."
"Easy for you to say. You've been sweating it out down here while I've been stuck dealing with the third unannounced visit this month! I've had to change out our counterfeit drink barrels every damn time, at this point I say screw the profits and let's just serve the drunks the actual stuff." Melanie ground out, crossing her arms, and shooting a glare at the duo.
"Oh woe it must be, how hard it is being a criminal", Ruby replied rolling her eyes. A small jolt of guilty pleasure ebbing within at the sight of Miltia about to blow a gasket.
Resolving to give the sparring room a breather for the day, Melanie interjected: "Isn't it strange though? Even while the job was in our district, at most businesses in the area only get checked once, we didn't mess up did we?"
Miltia scoffed. "We didn't, if we had, they would've came in with handcuffs rather than a clipboard. Something else is pushing them to The Club", pausing to shoot a dirty look at Ruby, Miltia spoke lowly: "You know, we haven't sparred this week yet. I still have a few punches to throw and more hand-to-hand matches to claim for what you pulled"
"Oh ease up a little Mils, Ruby over here knows how hard you hit. Pretty sure the reason she's picking up her new moves so fast is to avoid more hurt. Bet you just wanna pretend she was that inspector, don't you?". Ignoring the dark smirk on Miltia that was surely the epitome of innocence, "Besides we take beatings all the time. Just be glad you didn't come out of that safehouse with a broken nose and a fractured cheekbone, it took a week for my Aura to heal and for people walkin down the street to start looking at me again!". Smiling cheekily through the rapid onset of staccato coughing from Ruby that sounded suspiciously like "Deserved".
"It's even worse with Branwen coming down every other day to ask for info on Spider and Ruby, I swear Junior only entertains him because every time he comes in, he drinks the expensive stuff. Does make me wonder how he would react if he learnt about you Ruby. If Yang could tear The Club apart like she did, I'm not sure I even want to see what he could do."
The reminder of her uncle scratched at her brain, like a neuron clawing at her intuition, waiting to be fired and realized. Something was eluding her, ducking, and darting into the shadows unilluminated by the spotlight of epiphany. If her uncle was asking about Spider and her, then he was surely tracking the job, but remained uninformed of the bona fide culprits.
She wouldn't be surprised if Qrow was the reason her involvement came to light in the first place. With all his faults, he was a master tracker, and if he was half as applauded in Vale as he was in Patch, the VPD wouldn't have hesitated to give him his resources. Considering Qrow had the connections to influence even Ozpin it wouldn't surprise her if they would…do more.
At long last, the neural pathways formed, sending a rippling of goosebumps and a chill that creeped down her spine, momentarily inducing the urge to run. "Qrow's doing this, he's the one driving VPD to The Club." Upon the questioning looks shot her way, Ruby hastily explained: "Think about it, you said it yourself VPD wouldn't put this much effort into the murder of two criminals, good riddance they would say. Someone is pushing this further than it normally would go, someone with connections near the top."
Melanie's eyes widened frantically, and her breathing came out stiff and conscious as though the sheer thought of mysterious Headmaster being on to them was a sentence. "Ozpin? No way, right?"
"Surely…Surely not! I mean looks no offence Ruby, but Red here is just…well she's just her! No way Ozpin puts this much effort into finding her such that the VPD gets off their ass and puts more effort into hunting her than they did with Torchwick." Miltia chuckled weakly, seemingly equally put off by the idea of Ozpin's influence anywhere nearby.
Chewing her lip nervously, Ruby shook her head in an attempt to put the twins at ease, though a small traitorous part of her acknowledged that it wasn't just for them. "I don't know, but I know for sure Qrow has something to do with the VPD showing up so often. Could be because he knows you guys have information on Spider, or maybe he found something that hinted at Xiong involvement. Regardless, he doesn't have anything definitive, or he would've stormed the place long ago."
"Ok…Ok. Branwen we can deal with, maybe a little info on Spider extraction points or something to throw him off us. I'll pass it on to Junior."
The trio fell into thought mutedly, occasionally punctuated by the tapping of Melanie's boot. After a short interlude, Melanie broke the silence, wiping off an imaginary drop of sweat off her forehead while grinning mischievously.
"Whew! Now that the scare's past us, how about you guys say we hit the festivities for the Vytal festival eh?"
Contrary to Miltia's widening eyes and interested hum, Ruby remained deadpanned while crossing her arms for the full effect of her disapproval. "You do realize I'm wanted right? Everyone is going to be looking out for me, I got my very own article by the Vale News Network and everything." Her logic and solid reasoning were decimated by a 'Psssh' from Melanie, and watched as her entire argument fell apart, crumbling to dust and fading off in the wind at an invalidating swipe of the air.
"Come on Ruby, we'll be going to the commercial district anyways, where no one even cares about stuff like this. I mean, think about it, you think Torchwick stays indoors all day? I tell you, he ditches the obnoxious coat, grabs a pair of sunglasses, and he's a stranger." Melanie's strategy of relying on the ignorance of the public didn't soothe her worries.
Even worse, Miltia seemed to agree with her 'sound' piece of advice by throwing her a smirk. "And really you give people too much credit. I mean, think back to the last criminal on the news that wasn't Torchwick, giving how often he appears. Any face pop into your mind?"
"That…Still-!"
The final words that Melanie uttered proved to be her waterloo, laying waste to her resistance and determination to be the only sane one amongst them. "I'll pay for your bolt group, it's the least I can do for riling you up like that just now. I hear there's a new ultra lightweight Titanium bolt carrier group that would fit nicely in a certain 50. Cal scythe you know?" Melanie appeared uninterested, picking at her fingernails with naught but a wry smile, "It's not cheap either, would be a noticeable hit to one's savings, if they haven't been saving for long."
…
Confound it. She had been looking at that one for a while.
"Fix your mascara first, you'll scare the children"
"… Always gotta have the last word don't you Ruby"
The streets of Vale were alive with the chattering of the populace, and the heckling of gleaming store owners looking to give foreigners a "special taste of Vale". Culturally vibrant decorations adorned lampposts and hospitable banners meant to fete Vale's newcomers hung between buildings, fluttering and waving to people, dancing in the song of the wind. A rumbling thrum of excitement was embedded into the cobblestone, seeping into bones and invigorating every cell. Children ran from store to store, sampling as many free samples as they could before they were given a look.
A cacophony of languages, sights, and smells. Boy, was she glad she agreed to this. Joining the twins in soaking the atmosphere with a small luxuriating smile, the trio perambulate through the busy lane, though Ruby did have to roll her eyes at how often the twins paused to ogle the various jewelry displayed through made sparkling windows.
Contrary to her earlier beliefs, the twins were right. Their excursion had just passed three-quarters of an hour, and while at the beginning she had ducked her head and hid her silvers beneath her cloak nervously at every incoming passerby, the electrifying atmosphere had a way of disarming everyone, leading her to keep her head only slightly bowed, having been indued with more confidence.
Spreading her arms out theatrically, Melanie twirled with a gleaming laugh, kicking up small piles of dust to aid in her performance. "Isn't this great? Feels like it's been forever since the Vytal Festival was last in Vale". Miltia gave a short huff at her sister's animated display, regarding her twin with a twinkle in her eye, evidently unable to resist the allure of the event as well.
"That's because it has been forever. The last time it was held in Vale was 6 years ago", a sudden laugh burst forth from her, eyes crinkling shut in amusement. "Remember how scared we were to ask Junior for a day off? He thought we blew a deal or something with how timid we looked." Melanie gave a fond giggle at the memory, eyes clouding in a haze of recollection at the reminiscence.
"You, timid? I would've paid to see that"
Ruby smirked as Miltia rolled her eyes, elbowing Ruby lightly as she progressed their outing down the street. Passing by Vale's commercial dock, the salty tang of the ocean filled the air, and the rhythmic crashing of the ocean waves generated a strangely melodic and soothing tune. With the chirping of birds as the backdrop, Ruby took to admiring the incoming passenger ships, most of them having been supplied with the latest machinery and materials, befitting of the representatives of their region.
Flocks of Hunters in training swarmed out the boats, chittering and gawking in exhilaration at the visuals and harmony of unrestrained, all-encompassing unfamiliarity. She soon found her eyes roaming over the various weapons in their inventory, pieces of machinery that were designed to devastate both people and Grimm alike. The glint of a sharpened edge, the shine of stainless barrels, and the complexity of Mechashift. She would've loved to have a front row seat to their abilities, though she doubted she could get past the enhanced security of Amity Colosseum.
"Say Ruby, sorry if this is too soon, but you got any team in particular you rooting for?" Averting her eyes to Melanie, who had evidently caught her looking at the contestants, she gave a small grin as evidence of ire's absence.
"I would say JNPR. I mean, Pyrrha was pretty cool while I was in Beacon. Honestly, if anyone beats Nikos, Pumpkin Pete fans all over are going to riot."
Scrunching her nose at mention of the artery clogging cereal, Miltia gave a small hum. "That's a strong one right there. Honestly, I'm gonna root for the underdogs, heard Haven is sending some real powerhouses this time."
The conversation flowed between them as they discussed their picks, feet shuffling at a slower pace to facilitate dialogue. "You guys remember how much the Hunters from Shade were shaking the last tournament in Atlas? It was actually hilarious watching them-! Woah, what happened here?"
They came to an abrupt stop in front of yellow tape girdling a dust store front, with the words 'VPD' and warnings of trespassing bedecking its length. Shattered shards of glass layered the cobblestone outside the store, provoking crinkling as the detectives scampered around the crime scene, who were muttering amongst themselves in hushed tones. Inside shelves and glass bottles were toppled, display cabinets smashed open and the dust inside them had been looted and cleaned out, with only a few specks as survivors to the tragedy. The cylindrical glass tubes that normally contained plentiful variants of dust were siphoned and bare, projecting the strange image of an empty gumball machine into Ruby's mind. Another dust robbery, this time one blatantly in downtown Vale.
Her eyes scoured the scene, taking in the small splash of crimson bleeding into the wooden wallpaper, and a pair of legs sticking out from beneath a white sheet behind the counter. A small revolver lay on the counter, its cylinder having been rotated such that it was evident from an empty space that a singular shot had been fired, probably how the window was broken from the inside. Death…just for a dust robbery?
Tilting her eyes towards the twins in question, Melanie met her with a confused expression, sucking in the side of her cheek in thought. "I know you probably aren't thinking this, but just to be sure, it wasn't us. We don't kill much less rob civilians and this isn't our territory, but I doubt the gang in charge of this area did this either, so…who did?"
"No way they did this, bad for business and terrible timing. Who would pull such a ballsy stunt?" Miltia crossed her arms, eyebrows furrowing in deep thought, an unreadable expression overcoming her features.
Ruby diverted her attention back to the counter, where the stack of Lien visible in the open cash register pulled discontented silvers. Oh. "It wasn't a gang", Ruby said, nodding to the cash register. "The Lien was left untouched, and it's no small sum either. Whoever did this wasn't interested in the money, and based off what you guys have told me, what kind of gang out there isn't in it for the profits?"
The twins tensed, with Melanie uttering a low curse and Miltia adopting a dark look that clashed against the vibrancy of the festivities. "White Fang, they're the only ones who would do it like this."
"The extremist group? Why would they need so much dust for? Assuming they've been the ones hitting the other stores, that's a lot of dust to carry around. There's no way they could sneak all that out of Vale. Customs are doing hundred percent checks, border patrol set to high alert for the Vytal Festival, its impossible. Why that much dust could arm a substantial army, and how would they even find a place to store everything?" The screaming in her head again, what...? "I mean just a tiny mistake in handling, someone messing up and dropping tiny specks could start a chain reaction that would make for one mean..."
Horror sprang forth from a well in her stomach, leaping and raking into every molecule, before clutching at her heart mercilessly. It clawed its way out of her, making its venomous presence known to the twins through a feart gasp. Darkness burrowed its way into her vision, consuming the world and slashing at her ears. It encased her in a world of terror where all she could see and hear were the screams of Vale, embers fluttering in the wind above ruined concrete and desolation.
Through the smoke of black and grim, she made out a concerned Melanie, clutching and shaking at what seemed to be her shoulder. Questions of worry and eyes that radiated disquietude succumbed to unadulterated shock as Miltia hastily pulled her away, herself wearing an agitated countenance. A dim flickering pale swirled with the sunlight, replacing the yellow with a pale imitation, subsequently imprinting their shock into Ruby's brain. Her lips felt parched and dry, like she had just trekked through Vacuo without so much as a canteen, but her mind hung on to its last word like it was their salvation from the nightmare, and they forced it out of her in a whisper that cut through the turmoil with a silver edged knife.
"Bomb"
Author's Note
Sorry, the confrontation with the rest of team RWBY will happen in the next chapter. Let me know how you guys feel about this so far.