Chapter 8 – Ruby's Training
The next morning's breakfast was not a communal affair. It appeared that Salem tended to hold group meetings with feasts and merriment only to mark monumental occasions in her organization, to address specific detrimental failures, or to check in on their progress at key junctures in the plans. Since Cinder had been planning to hunt down a maiden but had to swerve out of the way to collect Ruby instead, it was something of a mixture of the three.
Ruby was saddened that she was going to have to eat alone for the first time in a while, but after dinner went so horribly wrong, she conceded that it might've been something of a blessing given the company she now kept.
Dr. Arthur Watts might not have been much of a fighter, but it was apparently thanks to him that the Evernight Castle even stayed standing in the first place. His hacking was responsible for diverting a few automated drone food and supply shipments their way, ensuring that the folks there didn't starve, get sick, or run out of supplies. He only did it once a month, on different days every time to avoid attracting attention, but since the companies from which he stole (Iron Lion Foods, Medica Pharmacies, Hypro-Mart) were such large mega-corporations, they rarely tended to miss a handful of drones going missing out of the tens of thousands they flew.
It was because of Dr. Watts that Ruby got to eat Pumpkin Pete's cereal for breakfast instead of dried Beowolf jerky, so she made a mental note to send him a thank you card after training today.
Salem had decreed that Ruby was to be trained by Cinder. The message was delivered by Seer, sparing Ruby the uncomfortable meeting that would require Ruby to look Cinder in the face when it was announced that the latter's plans in Vale were being postponed until Ruby was up to snuff.
She knew Cinder hated her. After last night, there was no doubt. However, Cinder was clearly combat capable, and if she could hold off Miss Goodwitch and Ruby from a moving bullhead, there was clearly a lot she could teach Ruby. The only problem was that Ruby wasn't sure she wasn't going to unfortunately and quite tragically perish in an utterly unavoidable training accident under Cinder's supervision. It would truly be a shame, but there would have been nothing Cinder could have done to prevent it.
Still, she couldn't just say no, so Ruby made sure to get to the sparring room a half-hour early. She didn't want to give the appearance that she was better at being early than Cinder, but it would be even worse if Cinder were forced to wait for her. The training room was mostly just a matted floor with a few archaic pillars scattered throughout, lacking a combat ring or any sort of aura monitoring devices. In fact, the whole tower seemed to be devoid of technological influence, instead relying on far more outdated things like candles for lighting. There weren't stands either, but the lack of an audience to watch the show made that obvious.
Well, the near lack of one.
Two figures sat just beyond the portal to the room. One was the Grimm doggo from before. It lay curled up much like a resting dog would on the left side of the entrance. Ruby had nearly tripped over it when she'd immediately turned to the side of the room to drop off her scroll and stuff at the side before getting in some stretches.
The other figure was Tyrian. He knelt on the right as though praying, though his hands were not in any particular pose.
When Ruby saw him, he rose to his feet. "Якщо у вас виникнуть проблеми з Cinder, наша собака виправить їх." His hand gestured to the doggo. "Якщо це все, я виведу себе. Вдалих тренувань, молодий Rose."
With that, he left.
Ruby watched him shut the door behind him, as did the doggo. Unlike last night (before the massacre of Hazel's arm), it wasn't making an effort to be completely and utterly motionless today. It scratched itself, gnawed on its own foreleg and paw, made Grimmy noises that Ruby would've best described as whimpering, and even rose up to stretch its back like normal dogs did every once in a while.
Cautiously, she approached it. Crescent was ready for a defensive block at a moment's notice, but Ruby wasn't planning to do anything unless it did first.
Or would it be he? The dog somehow looked male, but there was no true evidence other than a masculine body type, and Ruby's instincts could easily have been wrong. Like all Grimm, it didn't seem to have any parts down there. Such things didn't really matter for any serious purpose, but Ruby didn't want to keep thinking of it as an it after she'd heard it speak last night.
"What are you?" she asked, knowing that no answer was coming.
"See," it answered, startling her a tiny bit. Still, it talking was no true surprise anymore, so she didn't flinch or anything.
"See…last night was hold. You were told to stay put." Ruby scratched at her chin. "She's training you, but you're not a normal dog. You talk. You understand." She looked into its eyes to see if she could find anything intelligent beyond the usual Grimm mindlessness. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"See."
Welp, it was to continue on as a mystery, then. Ruby turned around and stretched out her arms and legs, hoping to maybe get a little light exercise in before Cinder got here. Now that she was going to conceivably be running with pro-hunters and super Grimm for the foreseeable future, it wouldn't do to not be fighting at her best.
It was an hour later than Cinder was supposed to be there that she arrived. Ruby was slightly sweaty from running a few laps around the court and doing some practice moves with Crescent just to keep up her form, but it was nothing intense. She knew better than to expend all of her energy on warm-ups before the combat instructor even got there.
Wiping the sweat off her brow, she stood at attention. Cinder would probably be more reasonable if Ruby were sure to show her whatever respect she desired and make it clear that she had no intention of usurping Cinder's spot at the council of Salem.
All I want is the maiden powers. Unless Cinder is only in it for those, we don't have any quarrel. And if she is…well, she doesn't need to know what I'm after until I've already stolen it from under her nose.
"Rose," Cinder said. "I see you've kept yourself busy. I apologize for my tardiness, but an urgent –"
"See."
Cinder's head turned to doggo. The smarmy expression on her face vanished, only to be replaced by an entirely neutral one. Without taking her eyes off of the Grimm, she asked Ruby, "How long has that been there?"
"A bit before I came in," Ruby answered honestly.
"When was that?" Cinder asked.
"Um…a-about an hour and a –"
"Why didn't you come and find me?!" Cinder said suddenly. Her voice was oddly modulated, though. She didn't sound like she did when she'd been furious and ready to kill Ruby before. Now, she just seemed plain angry, like Ruby had spilled coffee on her dress or accidentally dropped a beetle onto her donut and said nothing when she'd eaten it by accident. She was shouting, not screaming.
"I – I –"
"If you knew that our training was so important that Queen Salem allocated her hound's time to observing over it, you must've been able to figure out that it took priority over…my other duties! You stupid girl!"
Oh.
She was trying to deflect the blame.
Oh.
Wow, Cinder was really blatant about it, though. The way she spoke made it sound like she was playacting, not genuinely upset at the waste of Salem's doggo's time. Did she not get how normal people acted and thought an obvious charade like this would pass? Even Salem herself seemed more reasonable than this, and she was the evil queen and all.
"I'm so sorry," Ruby squeaked, hoping that her own playacting wasn't just as transparent. As much as it irked her that Cinder was so ready to throw her to the Beowolves at the first sign of trouble, she didn't need to stir up trouble. At least not intentionally.
"Never mind," Cinder said, turning her head away angrily. "I'm here now, meaning that your choice to squander our time is not absolutely ruinous. I've been ordered to train you, and train you I shall. Now, I must first get an understanding of the level at which you fight before I can turn your body into a weapon. To this end, we shall spar."
She really liked the sound of her own voice, didn't she? Only the last sentence even mattered. Honestly, only the last three words even mattered.
"Yes, ma'am!" Ruby said with a salute. "I'll do my –"
Cinder drew an arrow and fired it at Ruby.
Ruby threw herself down to the floor stomach first, then rolled out of the way as Cinder broke her bow into twin swords and tried to slice her in half. It had the unfortunate side effect of meaning that she was essentially lying on Crescent Rose, which prevented her from drawing it out when Cinder tried to step on her head.
She's not trying to get any understanding of anything –!
Ruby used her semblance to get herself to higher ground, in this case one of the elevated window frames closer to the ceiling. Cinder was clearly hoping to take out some of her frustration on Ruby under the guise of training, which left Ruby with a tough choice.
If she put up a fight, Cinder would probably take it a step further and try to actually kill her. On the other hand, if Ruby rolled over and let Cinder wail on her for free, it could be reported back to Salem as a sign of weakness. Salem had explicitly said that her interest in Ruby was using Ozpin's ex-student against him, meaning that it was Ruby's status that made her valuable, and as more of a curiosity/pet project than an invaluable fighter. Of course, if Ruby couldn't pull her weight, the symbolic victory of using Ruby to destroy Ozpin and the academies wouldn't seem as tempting as the actual victory of using someone good like Cinder. It was made worse by the fact that Cinder was known to Salem, and far more likely at the moment to succeed in her task.
I need to fight, Ruby decided. As long as my aura is up, she won't physically be able kill me. The second it goes down, I need to ensure that the doggo is watching. She can't hurt me fatally in front of it.
Crescent Rose twirled to block the arrows that rained upwards towards Ruby, but she was forced to flee from her temporary reprieve when Cinder pumped a fist to send a fireball her way. Landing in a roll, Ruby went on the offensive, firing sniper shots at Cinder's legs in a hope to trip her up or perhaps tear off a chunk of her aura.
Cinder danced through the bullet fire, using the motions of dodging to actually get up closer to Ruby. By the time Ruby's eyes were off of the scope of Crescent, Cinder was already driving a glass blade across her upper chest.
The motion sent Ruby backwards, and Cinder capitalized on that by kicking up a splash of fire with her shoes. Ruby saw it coming, but there was nothing she could do to prevent it, since she herself was still falling from the first hit.
The glass swords nearly got her a second time when Cinder surged forward, but Ruby blocked them before they could. It was tempting to try and score a few hits on Cinder's undefended bare legs, but that felt too much like a trap. Besides, Ruby's biggest advantage was in how big her weapon was comparatively. Cinder would never not see it coming, but her scythe could defend a wider area if Cinder tried anything.
Falling into a defensive posture against a superior opponent came naturally to Ruby. In fact, between the fire and the proclivity for up-close-and-personal combat, Cinder sort of reminded her of fighting Yang. Of course, that scowl was nothing like Ruby's sister. Yang never frowned during a fight with her baby sis. Come to think of it, Ruby could barely remember Yang frowning whenever she was around. That probably meant Yang just hid her tears for when Ruby wasn't present, which wasn't exactly a good thing.
"Pay attention!" Cinder said, missing another hit that Ruby countered with the staff of her sniper. "Don't ignore me!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am," Ruby hastily replied, not sure how to take the genuinely useful advice. She was supposed to know better than getting sidetracked with some other train of thought in active combat. What would Uncle Qrow say if his prized pupil – oh.
Oh, yeah.
"I wasn't – argh! Stupid child!"
Cinder followed up with a flurry of antagonistic strikes that were weak individually but collectively managed to drive Ruby backwards by the sheer force of their relentless push. It put Ruby's back to the wall, meaning there was nowhere left to run, but that also gave Ruby some leverage. Leaping up, she kicked out into Cinder's stomach and used the wall to push off, augmenting the force of her already strong strike (Ruby didn't skip leg day). Cinder was sent flying backwards to the far side of the room.
You're good, but you aren't untouchable. Neither of us are maidens, which means neither of us can afford to lose ourselves during a fight, Cinder.
"You bitch!" screamed Cinder, picking herself up. "I'll fucking kill you!"
"See."
"Shut up, you damned mutt!"
"Please try not to be cruel to our hound, dear Cinder," said a female voice from the doorway. "After all, I did only send him your way to ensure you had ample motivation to excel."
In spite of her overwhelming rage, Cinder somehow managed to calm herself down in the presence of Salem and kneel. "Your grace."
"It does appear to be a correct decision on my part to attend this training session in person, though," Salem said. "I believe I might've misheard something just a moment ago that sounded much like a death threat."
"I had no intention of following it through," Cinder said, lowering herself even further.
"Oh, it's fine," said Ruby. "People back at Signal used to say much worse trash talk, but they never went through with it."
Even though it was in her favor, the look on Cinder's face said she didn't appreciate Ruby intervening.
However, Salem herself was not a blind woman.
"Cinder, dear, I can see you glaring at young Ruby. By the cursed gods, I can practically see your brain trying to think up a way to rid yourself of her presence while disguising it as an accident."
Cinder shook her head. "I would never, my queen."
"Ah, but I think you would. Furthermore, I mentioned motivating you to train Ruby, but it was clear I failed to do so. I doubt you will train her…not for any lack of skill on your part, but for a simple lack of desire to see her succeed on your part."
Salem stepped closer to the kneeling woman and bade her rise.
"So, I shall clear the air between the three of us right here. You want the maiden powers. You shall not receive them."
Cinder froze. Everything – her mouth, her eyes, her entire body – stopped moving.
"Ruby will."
I am so going to die.
But there was no glare. Instead, Cinder shifted uncomfortably.
"Now, I realize that this may not seem like a good way to get you invested in her success. After all, while I may care about subverting Ozma with his own silver-eyed warrior, why should you?"
Cinder winced. "Mmmmm…"
Salem ignored Cinder's groan and walked right past her to Ruby. "You only care for power, Cinder, power I promised you. Sadly, I must renege on our deal."
Cinder fell to her knees and reached out a hand. "Y-Your grace…"
"So, I shall educate you with a new lesson. Power is nothing but a means to an end, and that end is survival. If you attempt to kill Ruby when I am not looking, the Scarab I placed within your arm shall burrow its way through your heart. It cannot be removed, and it cannot be deterred."
"Nnn…NNNNRRRR!" Cinder pounded a fist into the floor. "PPPPLLLLLEEEEEASE!"
"I know you, Cinder, and I know you shall attempt to find some way around this. Perhaps it will be an accident during a mission, or she'll fall from great heights when I am not looking, or some other curious death. I care not. Know this, young Cinder. If Ruby dies, I shall not look for evidence. I shall simply kill you, regardless of the means. If she mysteriously dies overnight with no murder weapon or motives apparent, I shall kill you. If a maiden kills her on one of her missions, I shall kill you. If she chokes on a cherry pit, I shall kill you. If Ozma's next incarnation were to walk through that door right now and kill her in front of us, I shall lay the blame at your feet and kill you."
Any coherent words died, and Cinder began to writhe back and forth on the ground in agony. It was so much that Ruby had to look away.
"I consider this fair, Cinder. If Ruby is killed, that means that you did not train her adequately, or perhaps that you did not protect her suitably before she could be trained to the appropriate level for her assignments."
Salem held out a hand, and Cinder stopped moving so violently. Her body still twitched slightly, and she was clearly alive from the fact that she was holding herself up, but she looked thoroughly drained.
"Say it," she demanded.
Cinder took a moment to get her breathing under control. And then…
"I am nothing without you…my queen."
"Correct," Salem stated. "Now, there is one more task we three must see to. Ruby, please hold out your arm."
Ruby did, without question.
"You must become a suitable vessel for the maidens, but none can ensure a dying woman's last thoughts are on them. You shall need my gift if you are to circumvent this transfer pathway."
The gift is a…a…
Ruby didn't dare ask the question. Secret mission or not, fear or not, concern for having a Grimm beetle crawl into her arm or not, there was no way from Remnant to the shattered moon that she was going to question Salem after that.
Coming Soon – Ruby's Training But For Real
And now, some tips from Ruby:
Ruby's Tip #962 – Save money by cancelling your car insurance, then reapplying just before you get into an accident so you're still covered.
Ruby's Tip #800 – Never try to suck snake venom out of an open wound. A far more effective method is to suck the snake's venom glands dry before the bite even occurs.
Author's Notes
And so, Ruby gains a bodyguard. Two bodyguard, actually, as her beetle marks her permanently as one of Salem's, and Cinder has literally no recourse but to train Ruby.
Remember, Salem is ~1e6 years old, so she can afford to throw away a solid lead in order to satisfy her vengeful desires to taunt Ozpin by evilifying Ruby. The time invested in Cinder is paltry compared to what Salem's lived through, and they already missed their shot with Amber.
Happy rats, and don't do crime!