Chapter 2 – Ruby's Task

"Miss Rose, wha–"

"Why is –"

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

Ruby couldn't even hear whatever Ms. Goodwitch and Mr. Ozpin were shouting at her, for she was screaming her lungs out far too loudly. It didn't matter what they said, though, because no words could undo this. Nothing could change what she'd done.

"AIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEYAAAAHHHHUHUHHHUH!"

Her terrified shrieking only ended when she ran out of horror and was left with nothing but everything else. Panic, guilt, sorrow, shame – all of them mixed around inside of her, churning around within her broken heart. The howls turned into choked sobs as Ruby's life as she knew it ended before her very eyes.

There was blood. There was blood in the room.

Ruby shut her eyes.

The blood was still there. No, no, no, no, please no!

She'd…

Huntresses weren't supposed to…

"…Rose? Can you hear me? Please, you need to breath, or you're going to pass out!"

The world came back into focus as she opened her eyes, but she could barely even keep herself from flopping down and weeping.

Ozpin was checking Qrow for a pulse and trying to stop the bleeding with his coat, but Ruby knew the truth: her uncle was gone, and it was all her fault. Miss Goodwitch, on the other hand, was close to Ruby, far too close for her comfort. Ruby wanted them to go away. She wanted everything to go away.

"…nghhh…"

"Miss Rose, I'm going to use my semblance to restrain you for your own safety. Please, try to relax your body."

Miss Goodwitch was restraining her…that meant…

Good. Ruby belonged in prison. Huntresses were supposed to save people, not kill them in cold blood.

The telekinetic grip was a welcome blessing, for it robbed Ruby of any control over her actions. Before it, she hadn't known what to do: scream, cry, kick her legs, flail about, try to tear her eyes out, wither away and die. Now, she could just take solace in the complete absence of choice. Her only option was to be entirely still and not move at all, according to the will of the greater huntress.

"Miss Rose, can you hear me? Please blink your eyes once if you can."

Ruby didn't blink.

Miss Goodwitch stepped in front of Ruby, blocking her view of the headmaster and her uncle's…a-and her uncle. "I'm going to release you for a moment, but I would ask that you do your best to please stay calm. I know that this advice may seem extraordinarily difficult to follow, but if we are to assist your properly, we need you to stop screaming."

Ruby didn't blink.

…what was Miss Goodwitch asking her to do?

The unseen force that had gripped her arms, legs, face, and torso ceased, and Ruby felt herself slump back into the sitting position she'd been frozen in before it was enforced. Ruby was tempted to give in to her body's involuntary urges and start screaming again, but Miss Goodwitch's unyielding gaze stopped her. Instincts to obey a teacher's commands that had been ingrained into her since she was a little girl kicked in, and Ruby remained silent.

Quickly, she looked down at her hands. There wasn't any blood on them. But hadn't…why wasn't…

"Miss Rose," Professor Goodwitch breathed, somehow calm despite it all. "I'm going to ask you some questions. You need not answer them verbally if you feel unfit. Please just nod or shake your head."

Someone had died. How come there wasn't blood on her hands? Where was the blood from the gunshot? Where had it gone?

Ruby couldn't blink.

"Did you see someone attack your uncle?"

Ruby tried to lean to her right and look at the gory scene she knew her once-prospective teacher was blocking with her body, but Miss Goodwitch foresaw the motion and adjusted her crouched posture to keep herself in the way. Somehow, Ruby managed to meet her eyes and eke out a shake of her head.

"Was there anyone else in the room? Anyone at all?"

For the life of her, Ruby couldn't see what Miss Goodwitch was trying to ask, or why that would matter. Words like 'witnesses' and 'evidence' tumbled around in the back of her head, but that stuff seemed so far away. It was meant to be done by the police, days and weeks after the crime. Her uncle might've still been twitching, for all Ruby knew; she couldn't see him.

"Let me backtrack. Was Qrow like this when you found him?"

Ruby's lips trembled. "W-What?"

Calm and collected, Ozpin's voice came from across the room. "Miss Goodwitch."

"It could've been her doing, headmaster," Goodwitch hissed, but not apparently angry at anyone in the room. "Qrow was set to –"

"Glynda."

The older woman looked over her shoulder back at her employer, and Ruby took the chance to sneak a quick peak at oooohhhhh nononononononono.

She couldn't keep herself together. Ruby fell flat into a heap and began to hack up bitter stomach acid onto the ground. There was so much blood, sooooo much blood, whyyyyyyyyy…she couldn't help but cry some more.

Professor Goodwitch rushed to cradle her, paralleling the way Ozpin had been holding Qrow in the brief moment she'd seen. "Miss Rose! Come, we should get you away from here."

Ruby tried to speak, desperate to say something, but her vocal cords failed her, and she just started coughing even more.

"It's going to be okay, Miss Rose. You'll be safe. We can protec–"

"Glynda!" Ozpin said sharply.

She turned once more. "What?!"

"The wounds…" Ozpin trailed off.

"I-I-I didn't…I wasn't…I didn't mean…to," Ruby whispered, more to herself than anyone else.

"The wounds are consistent with…"

Ruby didn't need to hear Ozpin finish.

For reason's Ruby couldn't fathom, Ozpin had decided to interview her about what happened right in the same smithy where her uncle had died. With the bloody body still there, covered by the tarp that was meant to protect the drill-press when it was turned off for the night.

Miss Goodwitch didn't seem to fathom the reasons either.

"Sir, please. She's just a child, we need to take her away from here!"

Seated on a stool in the corner of the room, Ruby let out a pained sob, horrified at both herself and the implications of what the teacher was saying.

"Hnnnnnnnooo…" she wailed. "Nnnnnnoooooo! I dinnn mean tuu!"

Goodwitch's head rapidly swiveled towards Ruby, fear on her face. "I…I don't mean that we are going to…let me clarify. There is no doubt in my mind that this was an accident. A tragic accident, for which you should not be blamed. You shall not be imprisoned or otherwise censored for what has happened here."

Prison. From Beacon to nothing to jail. Ruby wanted nothing more than to run over to Crescent Rose and try to pretend everything was just a dream.

…but Crescent was the gun that had…

"No," she whined softly once more. Goodwitch looked at her with sheer sympathy.

Ozpin, on the other hand, didn't seem to be willing to meet Ruby's eyes, though it wasn't out of any guilt or disappointment. He was rapidly pacing back and forth, toying with his glasses as he mumbled words Ruby could barely hear. It honestly seemed like he had forgotten he wasn't alone in the room as he spoke to himself.

"Sniper…must've been Qrow's semblance…visible wounds, recognizable…diagnosis of chronic…ballistically traceable…less than a week…"

"Sir, I'm going to take Miss Rose to the –"

"NO!" Ozpin barked, suddenly turning to face the two huntresses. He cleared his throat, adjusted the glasses on his nose, and looked away. "No, she cannot leave. Not until I have finished considering…all of our options."

"Options?" asked Ruby.

"One week…student body…Salem…"

Goodwitch tensed up at the last word, as though every muscle in her body was suddenly shocked with a zap of electricity. Her eyes rapidly began to alternate between Ruby and Ozpin, and a look of sheer astonishment developed on her face.

"Headmaster. Miss Rose has nothing to do with…her, sir. Sir? Sir, you cannot believe that Miss Rose has fallen under the influence of…one such as her."

Ozpin brushed a hand distractedly in his deputy's general direction. "Of course not, of course not."

Ruby was starting to feel antsy about being a part of this closed-doors conversation that was apparently going to decide her fate, but she couldn't find the strength in herself to speak up. These were the adults; they would know what was supposed to happen. Ruby was just a kid.

A kid who had…

Ozpin beckoned Goodwitch over with a finger and a solemn face. As the two came together and began to speak in hushed but steely tones, Ruby took the time to ponder the ramifications of her actions.

Qrow was dead. That meant that Ruby had accidentally torn apart her family because of her stupid temper at failing a stupid test. He wasn't even her uncle by blood, and she'd torn him away from his real niece without a second thought. And dad, Uncle Qrow's only remaining teammate, what was he going to think?

Beacon was obviously gone forever, but Ruby couldn't bring herself to think about something as selfish as her own ruined career when the man who'd raised her from babyhood lay dead not eight feet away. If Ruby were to place a hand to his cheek, she imagined it would still be warm.

Qrow was a huntsman, and an exceptional one at that. With him gone, Signal was going to be down a teacher. All that knowledge, all those students he could have nurtured into huntsmen and huntresses, all gone. And Signal was part of the pipeline to Beacon – oh Dust, this was going to impact the kingdom as a whole. Less hunters meant less safety, and people were going to get hurt, and even more lives would be lost because of Ruby.

She didn't even realize she'd interrupted the two teachers by squeaking in sorrow until they both turned to look at her.

Goodwitch frowned sorrowfully. "Miss Rose…"

"I'm sorry," Ruby just barely managed to spit out. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"…I think we may need your help."

"…of each academy. Now, each of these vaults can only be opened by one person – the maidens that I mentioned prior. Within them are artifacts of immense powers, referred to as relics."

Ruby frowned and rubbed her red eyes as she tried to keep up. "Are…Are the, uh, relics weapons? Or something?"

"Let's go with 'or something,'" said Ozpin.

Ruby had always been a visual learner, and she wanted nothing more than to draw up a diagram of how these many different features – maidens, relics, vaults – interacted with one another. Unfortunately, the headmaster had told her that it was all too secret for her to have any written notes, so that idea was shot down before it ever had a chance to fly.

So far, she kind of understood what he was saying. The fairytale of the maidens was real, meaning that there were four superhuntresses rummaging about the world somewhere, and they could go to these secret basements at the bottom of each of the main schools. Inside these basements, Ozpin had hidden relics, and the relics did…stuff. The huntsman seemed hesitant to elaborate on the specifics.

"Okay, I think I get it." Ruby repeated what she had so far, just to make sure it was all correct.

Ozpin nodded. "Excellent. Now, that is the theoretical framework for the situation. What I am going to explain next is the problem."

Ruby nodded.

"We hope that you…" Miss Goodwitch pointed at Ruby "…might be a solution."

"Please try to follow along as closely as you can," requested Ozpin. "This is meant as no slight to your attention, but merely to highlight just how time sensitive our situation is becoming. Classes will be starting in just a few hours."

The three of them had been in the smithy for many hours, giving Ruby enough time to calm down slightly over her panic regarding Uncle Qrow. The two teachers had repeatedly reassured Ruby that they did not blame her for what had happened, and that was starting to help convince Ruby not to blame herself. Plus, having Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch outline the details of this real life storybook-like tale had forced Ruby to distract herself from what had happened just earlier today (technically yesterday, because it was now about 3am in the morning of the next day). She hadn't gotten any sleep in nearly a full 24 hours now, and her eyes were now red in equal parts from crying and staying awake for so long.

"Not to interrupt," Ruby said, interrupting. "But, if this stuff is so important, couldn't you get substitute teachers? Like, I get that classes matter, and I'm not trying to say time with me is worth more than the other students and their educations and all, but…someone is dead, and you're talking about superpowers and artifacts that can do, uh, whatever important stuff it is that you can't tell me." She rubbed both eyes. "Doesn't that take priority over classes?"

"If we are to enact what we have in mind, it must take place before you would be typically scheduled to leave Beacon," said Miss Goodwitch with a sigh. "Which is 6am today."

"Please, we've no more time, and there is preparatory work that must be done as well," said Ozpin. "Listen closely. The relics, and thereby the maidens as well, are sought by an immortal being known as Salem. She has the raw magical talent equivalent to the combined strength of the four maidens, and her abilities include the control of Grimm to boot."

If they hadn't specifically stressed how important it was to pay attention, Ruby would have been sorely tempted to tune out right then and there. If they thought that she was supposed to be the supposed solution to this invincible enemy they were describing, they were in for an unpleasant surprise. There was no way Ruby could fight someone like that. Heck, she'd struggled to stop Torchwick!

"Three of the maidens are under our command – us, in this instance, referring to those loyal to the academies and the side of humanity and opposed to Salem's influence," said Miss Goodwitch. "The good guys, if you will."

"Fria, the Winter Maiden, is in Atlas with General Ironwood and Specialist Winter Schnee, who are allied with us towards impeding Salem's efforts. The Summer Maiden is living in Vacuo in a location so secret that only Headmaster Theodore and his deputy Miss Rumpole know of it. Glynda and I command the Fall Maiden, a young woman named Amber."

"Qrow is a member of our…" Goodwitch paused midsentence.

Ozpin continued for her. "Qrow was a member of our cabal. He was going to be shadowing Amber for the next few days during her travels to visit some family, but…he cannot."

Ruby felt a fresh wave of guilt wash over her. Not only had she hurt her uncle, who'd never done wrong by her once in his entire life, but she'd endangered these super important maiden women by her reckless actions. She'd chided Qrow for gun safety and then ignored it right –

"Miss Rose. Please focus."

Ruby's cheeks reddened. "I apologize. D-Do you want me to be the one who watches over Amber, then?"

It didn't make sense to have a child watching a trained huntress who could use magic, because there would be nothing Ruby could defend Amber from that the maiden herself wouldn't be able to just obliterate on her own. However, they'd said they needed Ruby to do something, and with Qrow…and with Amber going about unguarded, that seemed like the most likely thing.

"No," said Ozpin immediately, ending that train of thought. "You are not being asked to resume Qrow's duties or missions. We shall simply recall Amber. She may be unhappy at first, but the extenuating circumstances shall be enough to convince her to delay her trip."

Extenuating circumstances.

Those extenuating circumstances were lying in a pool of their own blood on the other side of the room.

"Then what should I do?"

"What we want from you is to locate and contain the Spring Maiden," answered Miss Goodwitch, to Ruby's great surprise. "She went missing many years prior, before you were even born. If possible, we would like for you to bring her in. If not, you shall have to claim the powers for yourself to secure the vault in Haven."

"The relic in Mistral is unique," said Ozpin. "It can grant limitless knowledge. In theory, if acquired, Salem might be able to use it to locate all of the other maidens and relics. This could spell the literal end of the world, Miss Rose. I cannot impress upon you enough how vital it is to our –"

"You can, and you have," said Ruby. "Y-You're asking me to…to…to maybe kill someone."

Ruby had been expecting guilt, shock, or perhaps even sheepishness, but there was nothing she could have done to anticipate the accepting nods from not one but both teachers. Miss Goodwitch had acted hesitant before, but now she seemed to be fully on board with the plan.

"Okay," said Ruby, trying to make herself sound confident. "I'll do it, I guess. I'll find her and…I'll do it."

"No," said Miss Goodwitch almost instantly. "You won't. The four headmasters, especially Leonardo Lionheart, have been searching for the Spring Maiden for years. They have so far made no progress. We do not expect you to fail where they have succeeded."

"But –"

"Our own investigation shall continue," explained Ozpin. "And if we locate the Spring Maiden, there shall be no threat."

Ruby blinked. But hadn't she said –

"However, if Salem finds her first, all could be lost."

"O-Okay."

Goodwitch reached up and removed her glasses.

"Which is why Headmaster Ozpin is…why we both are asking you to infiltrate Salem's inner circle, gain her loyalty, and present yourself as a candidate host for the maiden powers."

Ruby watched Ozpin leave the smithy. He apparently had to go prepare the rest of this mysterious plan of theirs from elsewhere, leaving Ruby to hear the remainder of the explanation from Miss Goodwitch.

"Y-You know I'm not a spy. R-Right?"

"You lack training, true," said the professor. "And age. And maturity. But what you lack in those categories, you make up for in circumstantial opportunity. That is what you offer."

Ruby didn't like the sound of that, given how the only circumstance she'd recently found herself in was getting kicked out of Beacon for catching the flu and the accidentally shooting her uncle in the throat.

"I shan't lie to you, Miss Rose. You are too young for this, and we are asking the world of you. But the people of Remnant are endangered, and Ozpin and I have oft had to sacrifice our own morality by offering the burden of maiden powers to hosts even younger than you are in times of desperation. Amber was only six years of age when the prior Fall Maiden selected her for the powers."

Ruby quite heartily agreed with the first part of Miss Goodwitch's rant on the ethics of this – she was too young. At fifteen, she wasn't even supposed to be able to be at a Huntsman Academy, let alone pulling off missions that pro-hunters would balk at. Tricking the immortal supreme leader of the Grimm? Impossible!

But…

Uncle Qrow was a part of this. He had been a part of Ozpin's inner circle, which meant that he'd trusted the man enough to not only obey him but to keep it secret from Ruby and Yang on his orders. Qrow told his nieces everything, so if this super secret stuff was important enough for him to hide it from them, it must've mattered more than anything to him.

With Qrow gone, they were going to need someone to fill in his spot. Ruby may have been woefully underprepared for such a role, but she had always planned on becoming a huntress. Huntresses protected people, and staving off the apocalypse from a relic-wielding witch probably feel under the category of protecting people.

And if she failed, she didn't have all that much else to look forward to in life anymore.

"Okay," said Ruby. "Okay, I'll d–"

"Stop," said Goodwitch, raising her hand with a weak smile that looked like it was about to fragment. "Please stop agreeing before you fully understand what we are asking of you. This is not a cinematic adventure or whimsical comic book. If you are looking for something of that sort here, you will be unlikely to find it. The only reward at the end is the knowledge that what you have done has protected the world. I have agreed with this plan because I hope it might alleviate some of your guilt by giving you the opportunity to do good in the world, but know that it will be a grueling ordeal that shall test your resolve."

Ruby nodded, waiting for her to continue. The alleviating guilt part raised Ruby's spirits a bit. She wasn't going to go into this looking for redemption, but maybe it would be there are then end if she succeeded. A girl could hope…

"Talented candidates for maiden powers are few and far between, and even rarer are those viable to be snatched up by Salem. You find yourself in the rare position of being both. If she does dispatch one of her agents to claim you as an underling, you will have to simultaneously feign shock at Salem's existence, play dumb when the nature of maidens, relics, and vaults are gradually explained to you from her, and distinguish yourself as her most competent servant in order to gain her trust. However, these will be the easy tasks."

They didn't sound easy, which filled Ruby with dread regarding the 'difficult tasks.'

"The challenging part will be what is asked of your spiritually. Salem will insist you prove yourself by performing unforgivable acts of violence and wanton destruction, and you must comply without question. You cannot hesitate or show any guilt for your actions. You will be asked to side with the Grimm and murder with a smile on your face. Your actions will inspire disgust in the population of Remnant, and good people will come to revile you – even your friends and family. You will have to turn down opportunities to save those imperiled by Salem's plans. By the Grimm, you and I may even come to blows at some point in the future."

It was slowly starting to look less and less appealing. Ruby wasn't sure she would be able to hurt innocent people, even if she knew it was for a good cause. Sure, it might sound easy on paper, but she knew that when the moment came, she would almost certainly freeze up.

"The important thing to remember is that recovering the powers of the Spring Maiden can and will save the whole world. No other victory, no other intelligence, no other individual is worth more. Only when you have the powers can you return to Beacon, where I can clear your name and absolve your guilt. You cannot abandon your mission pre-emptively when you discover Salem has made a plot to assassinate a councilman of Vale, or when you hear of an attempt to kidnap the premiere of Vacuo, or when you are made privy to the names of spies within the academies, or when you are made aware of the fact that waves of Grimm are on their way to Patch."

"A-Are –"

"I am providing possible examples of what you might hear," Goodwitch said sternly, adjusting her glasses as she raised an eyebrow. "And from your voice wavering, I wonder if you are fit for this task if such theoretical descriptions disturb you so."

Ruby shook her head. She wasn't sure if she could do this, but it seemed like the best way to honor Qrow's memory – by picking up where he left off and seeing his last work through to completion. The people of Remnant would benefit from this, and Ruby's soul was a smile price to pay for that. Besides, she'd already killed once for a stupid reason. Killing for a good reason would hopefully be easier.

"Miss Rose, I will ask you this once, and there will be no going back. We stand on the precipice of executing this plan, and to do so, we shall have to invest further resources into it – or you call it quits here and now. So tell me: are you going to be able to do this?"

Coming Soon – Ruby's Cover

And now, a tip from Ruby:

· Ruby's Tip #185 – Working with fireworks can be dangerous. Thus, before starting, always strike up a match to ensure you have enough light to clearly see your surroundings.

Author's Notes

And so we get our story's premise.

To clarify: Ozpin isn't gambling the world's fate on Ruby, nor does he desperately hope (or expect) her to pull through without any training. He merely has seen an opportunity that might yield results, and with very little risk to anything he values.

I just don't want people to think this is some random 'Ruby gets thrown towards Salem by chapter 2' fanfic where Ozpin does it for no reason and without taking any time to training Ruby because he's dumb or for manufactured drama/silliness. Qrow is freshly killed, meaning that their window of opportunity to take advantage of his death (and yes, that is just as bad as it sounds) is limited to right now, before the blood even dries.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!