{Vale}
Ruby drops back, letting Blake and Yang outpace her as she slows to check on Weiss.
"You okay?" Ruby wonders.
Weiss nods. "Yep. Think they're gonna ambush us?"
Ruby nods. It's crazy to think that this kind of gauntlet run has been a staple of Yang's training routine for all this time—even before they'd come to Beacon. She's in good enough shape to keep up with Yang and Blake for the most part, but both of them have much better endurance; at least for now.
"Oh, definitely. You up for it?" Ruby answers.
Weiss nods again. "I slept pretty well last night, actually. I think we can take them this time."
"I'm glad." Ruby replies honestly. "As long as we can keep Blake from catching us off-guard, and take Yang out of the fight early, we should be in the clear." She suggests. "If we give them a chance to work together, we're kind of hosed…"
"We're just as good a pair as they are, Ruby, we just have different strengths. I can keep Blake busy if you think you can handle Yang on your own for a bit."
Ruby frowns. She knows that she can't take Blake—the Faunus girl's heightened senses and reaction time means that her Semblance isn't nearly as useful against her; not to mention that Blake's tricky fighting style is difficult for Ruby to pin down.
But, on the other hand, Yang knows all of Ruby's moves, so she doesn't think that fight will go particularly well for her either. Despite the improvements she's made since they first arrived at Beacon a few months ago, Yang's big-sister advantage hasn't gone away...yet.
Ruby sighs. "Okay. Just don't abandon me like last time. The two of them wiped the floor with me in like, five seconds."
"I didn't abandon you, I was unconscious!" Weiss grumbles.
"To-ma-toes, to-mah-toes…" Ruby replies.
"And, that's as far as she gets before a Dust round impacts next to her, launching her off of her feet. She tumbles through the air, landing hard on the grass and wheezing as the wind is knocked out of her.
Ow...
Ruby blinks, dazed and trying desperately to reinflate her lungs, only to realize that Blake is hurtling toward her at an absolutely inhuman rate of speed. She calls on her Semblance, frantic, and barely manages to dodge the sword careening toward her face. It thuds into the dirt as Ruby hastily chambers a round into Crescent Rose and fires.
She misses, due as much to the compact form being less accurate as anything else.
However, this particular round doesn't need to hit.
Ruby squeezes her eyes shut as the round detonates in a blinding white flash.
Blake mutters a bunch of bad words and hurls her scabbard in Ruby's general direction.
Ruby dodges the projectile easily, only realizing her mistake when Blake grins, the bow on top of her head twitching as her ears pick up Ruby's movements.
Crap.
Blake is on her immediately, too close for Ruby to fight effectively—she needs reach to really be able to use Crescent Rose. The Faunus girl is too fast for Ruby to keep up without her Semblance, and even with a boost from her ability, she only manages to keep pace with Blake, not to overmatch her.
Ruby lashes out with a clumsy punch, taking advantage of an opening Blake leaves, and realizes that maybe she should take Yang up on her offer to teach her how to fight hand to hand, if the jolt of pain that shoots up her arm is any indication.
Too late, Ruby realizes that Blake'd left herself open on purpose, but Gambol Shroud's ribbon is already looping around her neck, choking her. Ruby coughs and struggles uselessly against the ribbon, and just when she's positive she's about to pass out, Blake she mutters something—probably another bad word—under her breath as a glyph appears under her, anchoring her to the ground.
There's a dull thump and an oof from Blake as the ribbon goes slack, freeing Ruby.
Ruby pauses for a moment to catch her breath, and then springs into action to help Weiss. She knows she'd just get in the way if she tried to use her scythe, so she provides covering fire instead, hoping to corral Blake and give Weiss an opening.
It's much harder to do in practice than it'd seemed at at first—both of them move so erratically that it's impossible to lead her shots or be sure that what's meant to be a near-miss won't end up being a hit instead. Sure, she knows that both of them have the same gift, but Ruby isn't trying to hurt her teammates unnecessarily either.
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Yang leaping to help Blake and frowns. Weiss is good, but she won't be able to fight both of them at the same time, at least not for long.
"Weiss! Slingshot!" Ruby calls out, and a Glyph appears behind her. Calling on her Semblance for a boost, she flings herself back into it and then is blasted forward as if she's been shot out of a cannon. Her vision becomes a blurry smear as her eyes water from the speed she's picked up—she desperately hopes that Weiss ducks as she extends Crescent Rose. She angles the weapon so the blade doesn't connect, but the shaft of the weapon makes a good enough polearm on it's own.
Ruby can feel the impact in her teeth when she crashes into her teammates, sending all of them to the ground in a heap of tangle limbs.
"Ow…" Weiss groans.
"Sorry…" Ruby replies. "Are you okay?"
"I think my dignity is as bruised as the rest of me…" Weiss grumbles as she disentangles herself from Ruby.
"At least we won though, right?" Ruby tries to find a silver lining as she brushes herself off and reaches down to help Weiss to her feet.
Yang laughs, though she doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry to get up—and neither does Blake.
Weird…
"Ruby, I don't think it counts as winning when you take out your partner too…" Yang points out.
"Points for effort though, that was a pretty smart strategy." Blake adds. "Why don't we call this one a tie?"
Ruby groans. "Fine...I guess we didn't technically win. Really thought that flash round would get you though."
"It was a great trick, Ruby, good thinking! I've had practice adapting to that kind of stuff, which you wouldn't have known until now, and it would have definitely messed me up if not for that. Sharpen up those hand-to-hand skills, and you'll be beating us before you know it!" Blake answers, smiling as she reaches down to help Yang up. "You did good too, Weiss! A little more practice and I think we'll be pretty evenly matched. You've come a long way since we first started sparring."
Weiss' cheeks color a bit, but she's smiling. "Thanks."
"Well," Yang says, finally standing. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving. And, I hear they posted the bracket for the Vytal Festival—do you wanna go check it out and see who we're up against?"
Ruby nods enthusiastically. "Finally! I thought they were never gonna put it up!"
Blake shrugs. "I could eat."
Ruby's stomach chooses that moment to growl rather loudly, and she can feel her face heating up at the sound. "Me too," she adds sheepishly, suddenly very interested in her boot laces.
"Alright, food first, then we'll check out the bracket." Yang decides. "Do you guys want to eat out somewhere or should we just go to the cafeteria?"
"If I have to eat one more serving of 'meatloaf surprise', I'm going to vomit." Weiss grumbles. "Let's just go to a restaurant in town. My treat."
Ruby smiles at her partner. It's been a bit of a slow start, but Weiss is a lot nicer than she'd seemed at first, even if she still has her more...prickly moments. "Aww, thanks Weiss!"
Weiss smiles. "It's no trouble." she replies, and the four of them set off for the airship stop.
*CoE*
"Looks like we're up against...Team ABRN." Yang points out, tracing the roster with her finger until she finds their team. "You guys think we can take 'em?"
"I'm...confident we'll succeed." Weiss replies calmly.
"'Confident we'll succeed'? We're gonna wipe the floor with them, Weissy!" Ruby practically crows. "Nothing stops Team RWBY!"
"That's the spirit, sis!" Yang cheers, though in all honesty, her amusement is due as much to Weiss' decidedly irritated facial expression as to Ruby's enthusiasm.
Blake chuckles, a low, gentle, almost-melodious sound. "I think we'll do well. Still, it's important not to underestimate our opponents." She points out.
Ruby deflates a bit at this. "Buzzkill…" she grumbles.
"She's right, Rubes. You never know what other people can do; you might just be surprised. Better to be smart and come out on top instead of being cocky and then eating a big, fat slice of humble pie." Yang adds.
"Yeah...that's true I guess. I still think we're gonna whoop butt though." Ruby replies, grinning impishly.
Weiss just looks at Ruby and shakes her head, cheeks tinged pink with what Yang can only assume is secondhand embarrassment.
She's proud of Ruby for sure, it really is a testament to her skill that she's made it this far at Beacon. She hasn't stopped putting in effort to improve, and that's something Yang has noticed in their sparring matches. But, at times like this, Yang is reminded that despite all her achievements, Ruby is still a kid.
Yang looks over and smiles at Ruby and Weiss—the heiress is rolling her eyes and trying unsuccessfully to look unamused at something Ruby's just said.
The age gap between Ruby and the rest of Beacon's student body is only two years, but sometimes, two years is a lot—and underestimating their competition wouldn't be the first time Ruby's youthful exuberance has led to trouble.
Yang gives Blake a nod of approval—better to nip that kind of thinking in the bud, especially when the three of them are also affected by the outcome.
"Salutations!" Comes the cry from over Yang's shoulder, and she immediately pulls Blake out of the way as Penny barrels into Ruby with an almost-overwhelming enthusiasm.
The two of them land in a tangled heap, and despite the near-miss, Weiss is looking at the two of them with fondness rather than anger.
Penny pecks Ruby on the cheek, and Yang stifles a laugh as Ruby's face turns almost as red as her cape.
"Hi, Penny!" Ruby says "It's good to see you! Is your team getting ready for the festival too?"
"Oh, most definitely! We have been studiously training and discussing strategy." Penny hiccups, and Ruby immediately raises an eyebrow.
"Oh, really?" Ruby drawls, smirking.
"Are they gonna get up?" Blake wonders softly, and Yang can tell without even looking that she's smiling.
Yang shrugs; Ruby and Penny both seem completely oblivious to the fact that the way they're sprawled out on the ground intertwined in a tangle of limbs reads a little more intimately than just friends.
"Well, my team has been preparing...But, I must admit that my mind has been occupied by...other things." Penny admits.
"Aww, didja miss me?" Ruby teases, giving Penny an affectionate squeeze.
"I always miss you." Penny says quietly.
Yang clears her throat, and it's only then that the two friends seem to grasp that they've had this entire conversation without bothering to get up. The two of them quickly extricate themselves and help each other up, their cheeks a bright, rosy red.
"Hello, Team RWBY!" Penny says, with a huge smile. She turns to Weiss and gives her a friendly hug—though it carries on a bit longer than necessary.
"Hi, Penny. It's good to see you as always. I hope you've been well." Weiss returns, her own cheeks tinged a bit pink.
"And you as well, friend!"
"Hey, Penny," Blake says softly.
"Hello! I love your hair, Blake!" Penny chirps, moving to hug Blake, and Yang very deliberately ignores the spike of jealousy she feels at the gesture.
"Thanks, Penny. Yours looks very nice as well. That's a lovely bow."
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…"
Yang grins as Blake's bow twitches; she knows Blake's ears have perked up in response to the compliment. She takes her attention away from her partner just in time to receive her own syrupy-sweet hug from Penny.
"Hey, carrot top, what's up?" Yang says, reaching out to fix Penny's slightly-lopsided bow. She gets an enormous smile in response.
"The sky?" Penny replies quizzically, her cherubic face taking on a thoughtful frown.
Yang chuckles. "Good one."
Penny looks even more confused for a moment, and then grins. "Oh! That was a pun! I see now!"
Yang grins. "Yep. And a pretty punny one too."
The rest of the team groans, but Yang gives Penny a celebratory high-five.
Penny turns back to Ruby. "Ruby, are you free later this evening? I could use your help with a...project." She says, and hiccups.
Yang isn't oblivious to the fact that Penny hiccups whenever she lies, but she chooses not to comment on it. She's happy for Ruby and Penny's budding relationship, wherever it might lead—the two of them have always been close.
Ruby blinks. "Sure, just text me and we can meet up later."
"Wonderful! I shall do just that. I will see you all around, Team RWBY! Good luck with your preparations!" Penny calls out, giving a jaunty salute before heading off down the path.
Yang immediately turns her attention to Ruby. "A project huh?"
"Yang…" Ruby groans.
"There'd better not be any...shenanigans at this project party Rubes." Yang says.
"Oh, Brothers…" Ruby grumbles and covers her face.
"Do you want me to help you pick out an outfit for your date?" Weiss wonders, a teasing smile on her face.
"Ugh, not you too! I'm going for a walk." Ruby replies, and heads off—in exactly the direction Penny had just gone.