Chapter 46 – Ruby's Team

She got the scroll call when she was verifying the results of another mark from afar. The elderly man, who was apparently some sort of well-respected surgeon specializing in aura users, collapsed into the street with a quiet rasp, but Ruby was a significant distance away. There were several much closer passersby, so no one batted an eye when she answered her scroll instead of going to check up on him.

"Cinder. What've you got for me?"

"Lady Rose," said the voice on the other end. Video was disabled as a precaution, since Ruby's face was well known in Beacon. "She has been located."

Waiting for the weekend was a challenge for Ruby, as her nerves were practically rupturing with excitement, but Cinder couldn't justify disappearing for long periods of time on a schoolday. It was such a trivial concern, Ruby thought, but one they had to abide by. After all, Cinder was still in hot water from the last time they had snuck off for an unlicensed field trip, and Headmaster's Notes could only get you so far.

With her were Emerald and Mercury. Their last teammate, Neopolitan, wasn't going to be attending, following a sudden and unexpected death in the family. Ruby didn't know what her deal was, but she doubted the extra firepower would truly be necessary.

"Heh, still enough for a full team even though the little psychopath is gone," japed Mercury, when Ruby met them in the woods outside of Vale. "Team CRME…oh, it even spells out crime! How wonderful."

Ruby simply raised an eyebrow. Not at Mercury, though.

Shamefully, it took Cinder nearly five seconds to realize she had displeased Ruby, and even longer to realize what the problem was.

"I-If we are a team, Lady Rose is the leader, Mercury," she had quickly stuttered out. "You understand this surely." Her head did a tilted nod quickly.

Mercury's gaze casually drifted to Cinder, then his eyes widened. The cyborg teenager quickly rushed his hands behind his back and cast his eyes down. "Of course. My apologies for forgetting, ma'am."

Ruby decided to go ahead and assume that the ma'am was for her and not Cinder. She didn't really care about Mercury Black or his theoretical insubordination, but she'd realized a curious thing in the wake of Roman's death.

If I can find an above-board reason to kill these three, that's three fewer minions of Salem's, permanently. I need to be on the lookout for opportunities to clean house.

"We're burning daylight," Ruby said. "Cinder, our bearing?"

"Yes, my lady." She collected a scroll that Emerald offered, which had some sort of map open on it. "We were able to use your excellent strategies regarding Amber's staff to approximate the terrain in which she would feel most comfortable. From there, we pinpointed a list of her locations, which allowed us to roughly project her trajectory to the next village."

Ruby's hands balled up into fists at her sides. Cinder had called her out because they had…a projection? Of where Amber might be?

Cinder noticed the peril and quickly continued on explaining. "A-A-And using this projection, we were able to track her to that village, where we positively identified her. Emerald was able to slip a tracker onto her saddlebag while Mercury distracted her by pretending to flirt with her. This exchange took place less than two days ago. We now know her exact location."

"And?"

"She's on the road. Fortune smiles upon us, as her route takes her in a wide arc around the kingdom's wildlands that just happens to come relatively close to Beacon. If we pursue and intercept her, we can be upon her within a few hours."

Ruby digested this report for a few seconds, mentally double-checking it for errors. When Cinder and her own desperate need for power, validation, or whatever it was she secretly craved was involved, one could never be too careful.

"She's seen Mercury."

Cinder nodded and opened her mouth, but Ruby raised a hand. Cinder's mouth shut.

"Mercury."

He stood at attention. "Y-Yes?"

"Any chance she suspected foul play or deception?"

"No way, absolutely not," he quickly stammered. "I made sure to kick up the douchebaggery a notch, play th-the part of an arrogant huntsman, ya know, l-l-like there's, uh, tons, uh, of…"

He quailed under Ruby's gaze, and by the time she approached him, his rambling stopped entirely.

"Mercury," she breathed.

"Ma'am?"

"I need to know. This is for planning purposes, so I'd be more disappointed by a lie that paints you in a good light than the truth, whatever it may be. Does she suspect she's being hunted?"

He bit down on his lip and winced. "No. Probably not. I don't know. N-No, about the foul play bit, but I think I was memorable enough that she would recognize me if she saw me, if you're, uh, planning me to use me in an ambush or for bait or something."

Ruby rolled her eyes, then lit them up with maiden fire as Mercury probably shit his pants.

"Does. She. Suspect."

His head tilted down, as though he was suddenly and incomprehensibly interested in the patterns of the grass on the ground. "No, ma'am. No."

"There we go," Ruby said, letting her eyes go back to normal. She patted Mercury on the shoulder. "Wasn't so hard, now was it? Now, let's hit the road. We've got a maiden to catch."

Cinder dared not bring up the Winter maiden powers that Ruby had promised her. It was painfully obvious that they and all maidens' powers were now lost to her.

The last time she'd seen Ruby in person was after their disastrous attempt to kill Raven Branwen over the powers of the Spring maiden, and the last time she'd spoke to her via either scroll or Seer was shortly after Hazel had taken her to Mistral. Little Ruby had changed much since then.

Gone was the girl who strayed away from social situations, preferring Cinder to talk to the people of Temeria because she was so shy that she didn't even think herself able to. In its place was a cruel facsimile of that long-departed child, one that had all of the accoutrements and much of the cheer, but it was now a forgery. That cuteness was now just an act, one that Ruby could drop at will as she'd shown with Mercury just moments prior.

Ruby had killed a maiden and claimed her powers, a feat even Cinder herself could not boast. On top of that, she'd slain Hazel Rainart himself after the ignorant brute apparently turned against Salem, which was something Cinder would never have attempted in her wildest dreams. Even Tyrian, the combat machine with a heart of murder, had fared poorly in that fight, having lost his tail and going out of commission until Watts rebuilt it from mechanical parts.

Even now, Ruby skipped through the forest, wide-eyed like a bright young huntress keen on soaking in as much of the world around her as she could, but Cinder saw through it. She'd seen the authentic Ruby Rose, and this one was much more carefully crafted. The joy of living that she'd once exhibited freely, worn on her sleeve for Cinder and the whole world to plainly see, was no longer genuine.

Ruby had been out doing Salem's bidding in the Vale for over a month now, and that meant doing unspeakably vile acts while also keeping attention off of her. There was no way she was still a bright-eyed idealist with dreams of an improved world that she'd once been. This new Ruby was an act. She'd weaponized her youth and maintained her mannerisms, but the girl inside was dead. Salem had killed her.

Cinder sighed. It's not my place to judge, nor is it mine to mourn. Ruby is my superior. Without her, I am nothing.

"Cinder?" Emerald said, jogging from behind to catch up to her. "Are you alright?"

The quartet had walked in silence for about an hour now. Ruby had taken Emerald's scroll from Cinder and was leading the pack. She hadn't explicitly asked to be left alone, but only a suicidal fool with a masochistic side would willingly choose to engage her right now.

"Everything is fine, Emerald."

Emerald seemed skeptical, and her eyes flickered over to Ruby before coming back.

Cinder's insistence on Emerald's blind loyalty was now coming back to bite her in the ass. Mercury was an attack dog and, like any animal, could be taught by being beaten until he knew not to bark so loudly; his missing hand was a suitable lesson, and Cinder doubted her would ever try anything so bold again.

Emerald, on the other hand, fear neither pain nor death as much as she did losing Cinder's approval. The only problem was that Cinder herself needed Ruby's approval (she did not want it; she literally needed it to survive). It was only a matter of time before Emerald did something stupid, like try to assassinate Ruby in her sleep believing that she was 'freeing' Cinder.

It would be freeing me, from the bonds of this life and into the next. I'd better deter this before it starts.

"Leave it," Cinder said clearly and calmly. "Ruby is in a unique position relative to me in our chain of command. She outranks me according to our shared mistress, but as her former mentor, her failures shall reflect on me. Thus, her success is my success."

"And your success is mine," Emerald finished, nodding along.

Then, the dark-skinned girl went and winked at Cinder.

"Emerald." Cinder furiously shook her head. "Emerald, no."

This right here was the problem. If it were anyone else, Cinder would have threatened them with bodily harm, but such things couldn't scare Emerald.

"Relax, Cinder," Emerald slily said. "I'm not going to do something stupid and get you in trouble or anything."

"You did the right thing, Cinder."

It was one thing, hearing from Salem via a Seer how Ruby was 'fulfilling her destiny.' Cinder had always known that Salem's intended destiny was for Ruby to become a soulless shell of her former self, but seeing just how cold Ruby could be in person was something else.

"I'm not upset. I'm quite pleased, in fact."

Rose had simply heard Cinder's frantic explanation and acted. There was no reaction from her, no look of shock or flash of rage at the accusation. Her eyes had lit up, and she'd raised a hand, and that was that.

"If she'd acted out during our upcoming mission, it might've risked my Fall maiden."

Emerald had been an investment. Time, energy, effort – but none of those things were worth more than Cinder's life.

"It was smart of you to come to me. If Mercury does anything similar, you come to me again, m'kay."

Mercury was quaking in his boots, so to speak. Ruby didn't seem to care that he was in earshot, or perhaps she knew and was consciously choosing to allow him to know he could be next. Of course, had there ever been any mutinous thoughts in his mind, the sight of the flames was burning them away just as it burned the corpse.

At least Mercury was smart enough to not point out that they no longer had the right people for a full hunter team.

When Ruby and her three-make-that-two tagalongs were within spitting distance of Amber, she ordered them to slow down. Cinder, deciphering the map, had informed Ruby that they were far enough to discuss any instructions Ruby might have had for them without any risk of being overheard or seen.

Cinder knelt. "What shall our roles be, Lady Rose?"

"Yeah, how may we serve you," Mercury said, also taking a knee after seeing Cinder do it. "M-My Lady Rose…"

Ruby looked out ahead on the path along which they had trekked for the better part of the day. Because of their pace, none of the three of them were exhausted. Cinder had outdone herself by planning their exact path in advance to ensure they caught up to Amber with the least amount of waste.

The trees were thick on both sides of the road, holding in a darkness that threatened to encompass any who passed within. Ruby could see no signs of civilization save for the unpaved dirt path itself and a few sparsely distributed fenceposts ever now and again. Truly, they served no purpose in terms of ushering traffic, likely only existing so lost travelers could identify this road as a genuine path and not some bandit trick.

The trail itself was winding, which was how they could trail Amber without being immediately spotted. She was probably three or four bends ahead, which obscured her view of them.

"You've performed adequately, Cinder. Mercury, too, I guess."

Both nodded with due respect at the praise.

"Locating and bringing me to Amber was your role. I shall handle the rest."

Mercury's eyes widened, but Cinder physically grabbed his arm and yanked him down before he could stand up from his bowing position. Despite how quickly she'd thrown Emerald under the airship, she seemed to be unwilling to do the same with her spare minion.

Her usefulness is at an end now that she's found Amber for me. She probably worries that I'll be disappointed in her if both of her little toy hunters turn out to be disruptive.

She would have been right. Although, in due fairness, Ruby was actively looking for a reason to waste these little toads and save her future self the trouble when she defected back to Team Ozpin.

"Defect? Cacaw! Defect means change sides! Caw! Caw! Caw!"

Ruby ignored Qrow's mindless ramblings and refocused her attention on her minions. Cinder and Mercury were patiently waiting for her to excuse them.

Though…

"Stay here." Ruby pointed down to the spot in which they'd paused their hike. "Hold that pose, no matter what happens."

She didn't need them to specifically kneel in this one spot, but Cinder had practically sexually assaulted her, and forcing her to sit still in an uncomfortable position that would make her leg fall asleep seemed like a minor punitive action. All Ruby really needed was for neither of them to interrupt her when she claimed what was soon to be hers.

Ruby turned back to the trail and began to walk the rest of the way.

It wasn't all that different from Mount Serathusa, where she'd slain the Summer maiden. She'd chosen to split off from the group and make the journey alone at the last leg there too. That said, this walk was a lot easier. For one thing, Vale was her home, and it lacked the sandstorms and harsh sunlight that made Vacuo so inhospitable. For another, this path had little to no incline, whereas the other one was literally scaling a mountain. And also. Ruby felt a lot lighter this time. She wasn't sure why, but going to face a maiden by her lonesome just didn't feel as frightening this time around.

"Broken! Caw! Damaged! Caaaaaaw!"

Ruby suppressed a growl.

It was tempting to just shoot her uncle out of the sky like the poultry he was, but he wasn't worth the ammo, and it would be giving away her presence to Amber. Ruby knew exactly what she had to do, and she had no intention of deviating from her plan by even a millionth of a centimeter. Even speaking too loudly now might make it all come tumbling down.

Cinder and Mercury were now gone from her view, and Ruby was truly alone for a moment. With Grubbie buried beneath her skin, there was no one but herself on this path of self-imposed solitude. Ruby had once despaired about her own loneliness, but now it wasn't so bad.

Back in the day, it really used to bug me. I think that having no one I could share my true thoughts with probably contributed to how fucked up in the head I am right now. That's probably why I risked it with Pickerel and Lìxià. Course, they're now dead, so it doesn't matter.

Uh…actually…actually, wait. Scratch that. She hadn't killed the Summer maiden, like she'd just thought just a moment ago.

I probably ought to if I ever see her again, though. All that knowledge of my true loyalties just walking around, free to spread the story with no limits or restrictions…what was I thinking?

"Mission's almost over! CAWWWW! No need to kill Lìxià!"

He was wrong. She had to die.

"Why? CAW!"

Because. The risk was too great.

Ruby slowly rounded another bend of trees and saw someone up ahead. There was only one person it could possibly be this far out in the remote wilds miles away from the safety of the kingdom, but Ruby tailed her from behind with caution just in case.

It was a young woman, probably a few years older than Cinder in age. Her chestnut hair fell down just as short as Ruby's, and it matched her skin so well that Ruby wondered if it might've been dyed. The staff that had given her away was in the palm of her right hand, being used as a walling stick, and the bridles leading a horse were in the other. Amber wore armor, clearly identifying her as a huntress, and she walked with the self-confident swagger of one. Any other traveler in these parts would exhibit caution and glance around every which way for Grimm ambushes or bandit traps, but Amber just calmly led her horse forward.

Ruby stayed out of view and continued to watch her for a few minutes. Amber had no reason to look behind her, and Ruby wanted to be sure that she wasn't aware she was being followed. The element of surprise was what Ruby was counting on.

As the two women progressed along the path, one a long distance away from the other, the trees began to get taller, and thicker. It was no sudden change but a gradual procession. They were exiting the kingdom's shadow and entering into the true wilderness that had claimed many an unprepared soul. In this land, the forests could be so dense that only faint sunrays pierced through the foliage to illuminate the path. It wasn't complete darkness, but it was dark.

Ruby was on the verge of beginning to vibrate from anticipation. There could be no more waiting around. It was time for her to act.

Increasing her pace slightly, Ruby began to close the gap. Her hands wanted to fidget around Crescent Rose for comfort, but Ruby held them steady.

Time to be me.

"HEY!" Ruby called out.

Amber turned around, staff at the ready for action. She faltered when she turned and saw a tiny girl who was probably half her age, but she didn't drop her weapon. Ruby hadn't yet presented her a threat, but there was no reason for her to be out here. Running into someone like this was a hundred to one chance – not impossible, but unlikely enough to raise some alarms, especially since Ruby was armed.

Ruby continued to walk towards her at a slow pace. Amber herself took a few steps away from her horse to approach Ruby. When they came within about thirty feet of one another, Ruby kept walking but held up her hands to show a universal gesture of peace.

"When the sun drops beneath the clouds, who takes its place?" Ruby asked, giving Amber the side-eye.

Amber paused for a second, then a wide grin drew across her face. "Not the moon, for the Gods took it with them. Whew, you really gave me a scare there."

"Sorry," Ruby apologized. "Ozpin didn't give me a lot of details before he died, so I wasn't entirely sure it was you. Y-You are Amber, right?"

Amber nodded and reached out a hand. "That's me. And to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"

"Ruby Rose," said Ruby Rose. "Ruby Rose."

The handshake they shared was curt, but it was a gesture of warmth and understanding. Amber pulled away first.

Ruby awkwardly smiled and glanced at the horse. "Hey, um, if it's not too much to ask, do you have any spare rations that I can eat before we talk? I haven't really had a chance to catch a break for lunch." She wilted in shame. "I'm so sorry for being such a burden, Miss Amber."

Amber nodded and turned around to face the horse. "Boris always carries more than enough. It's no problem, Ru–"

The very instant the first syllable of her name passed Amber's lips, Ruby silently pulled back Crescent and hurled straight into Amber's turned back. The tip hit its target, piercing straight through Amber's heart.

Omake

Cinder: Emerald, no.

Emerald: Emerald yes!

Ruby: No Emerald.

Coming Soon – Ruby's Dad's Ex-Wife

And now, a tip from Ruby:

Ruby's Tip #66 – Everyone has that one coworker who's just won't shut up about their pets. Avoid having to deal with them by putting lead in your district's water supply.

Author's Notes

Ruby pays attention. Did you?

It's been a while since I've written an omake. At least they're just as lame as before...

Happy rats, and don't do crime!