Authors note: It's been a long long moment hasn't it. Been dealing with a long case of writters block and not being able to to put pen to paper as it were. But here we go after a long crueling process it's here. Hope u enjoy and till next time.
Upon waking up this morning, Jaune expected more hijinks. Either that or another cruel and unusual tor- he meant fun and engaging training sessions. With his totally sober teacher, who would take it easy on him.
Jaune let out a morbid chuckle as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Who was he kidding? Qrow would throw him directly in the middle of a Grimm nest and tell him to think fast. Honestly, it could go either way with how his luck worked.
After a serene moment with his coffee. That whispered kind word and told him everything would be alright. He made his way over to the training rooms. To face his fate.
Here, Qrow gave him the most unusual news. That he'd never thought he would hear.
"A day off. You're giving me a day off?" Jaune asked the man again. As if he'd heard it wrong the first time. The thought of a day off never once crossed his mind. Believing it was one Grimm horde after the other. Only retirement being his unfortunate demise. 'Should I be worried that I'm so calm about that?'
"Come on, kid. You'd really expect me to run you ragged?" Despite the question, the man let out a loud scoff. "Don't answer that." He stopped the blonde as he just opened his mouth to reply. "No respect for your elders with this generation, I swear." With Qrow spouting off about how back in his day. They did things differently and better.
Jaune honestly zoned out near the start and returned. To find him talking about rubber ducks and blow torches.
"Um, is there a point to any of this?" Jaune interpreted the older man from his long-winded rant. Qrow's response was to let out another scoff and take a long swig from his hip flask.
"Aaah. Always hits the spot, I tell you. But to answer your question, brat, it does. See, our lives are not all about hunting Grimm. Despite it taking up a majority of our time. We've all got our own hobbies and helps keep you grounded." He said, letting out the random sagely advice. It didn't take a genius to guess what Qrows' hobby might be, though.
"So the lesson for the day is. Go find a hobby and have fun. Paint, listen to music or go watch those dust tubes or whatever you kids do these days. Anyway, I've got a meeting to attend. Have fun-." He let out before leaving the blonde alone in the room.
'A hobby?' Jaune didn't think he really had a hobby. Unless reading cheesy superhero comics counted as one. 'Hmm. I could always go into Vale. Been a while since I've stretched my legs and maybe I can hit up an arcade or two.' He had more than enough money at the moment, thanks in part to the organization. Despite the dangers, they paid well and came with full insurance. 'Too the arcade then!' With a destination in mind, he left to change out before hitting the city.
He really should've known his luck would strike when he least expected it. After just leaving his room and making his way to the elevator. A loud explosion rocked the facility.
"An attack?" He said, pulling himself off the floor. Being closest to the detonation, he sprinted to the origin of the blast. To help anyone who got caught up in it.
His confusion soon peaked as he arrived at a destroyed room. And a young girl laying on the ground covered in soot. Thinking fast, he checked her heart rate. "Pulse good, and she's still breathing. Thank the brothers for that." Letting out a sigh of relief. Both for her being uninjured and that she didn't need medical care. He only really knew the basics after one month at summer camp.
"Ugh. Owieee." The girl soon gained conscious and let out a low whine of pain. Her eyesight returned next as she scanned the room before landing on his face. "Eeep!" she let out a shriek and jumped away from him. "W-who are you and why are you so close?!" the girl sputtered, embarrassed.
"Jaune arc. Short sweet rolls of the tongue, ladies love it." Cringing at his automatic response. The girl seemed to giggle, so at least it broke the ice. "I heard the explosion earlier and arrived to find you collapsed on the ground. I was checking to see if you needed any help." He added and offering a hand to lift from the floor. Which she accepted and let out a quiet thank you.
"Thank you again. As you can see, I had a minor accident." She gestures to the room. And the totaled room and tools that lay scattered around.
'This is a minor accident? If so, I don't want to see how worse it could have been.' Deciding then and there to avoid anymore explosions. "Umm. Do you need help with that?" he pointed to the soot that covered her head to toe.
"Oh! No I got it." She gave him an enormous grin. And one moment she was still. Then next turned into a cyclone of red and were those petals? After that random twister, she returned to normal and clean as if the accident had never happened.
Without the soot, he got a better look at her. Before him was a girl that barely reached his chest. With Striking crimson red hair that he believed to be dyed to reach that level of red. Her attire was a black dress with a long sleeve blouse. But what stood out the most was the blood red hood she wore and her unnatural silver eyes.
"Uum. Do-do I have something on my face?" She spoke after a long moment of him staring. Making him blush in embarrassment for that.
"Sorry. Just you have silver eyes." He replied, earning another giggle from her. Seems she might have heard that one before.
"Lets start over. I'm Jaune Arc as you know. Pleased to meet you." He offered his hand.
"Ruby Rose. It's nice to meet you too. And thanks for helping me earlier." She said with an enormous smile and gripped his hand. Despite her frail appearance, she had a firm grip.
"So what happened? I heard the explosion and found you like that." He said, cutting to the point. Here her face seemed to turn red and soon matched her hood.
"Weeeeell. I was experimenting with a new explosive. It was going well at first. Just it seems the ingredients had a negative reaction to one another and well. Boom!" Throwing her arms and making an explosion noise.
"Is it normal for you to be playing with explosives?" His older brother's tone bleeding into his voice. And giving her the patented older sibling gaze.
"Yes!" she said. Jaune continued to stare, making her sweat bullets. "Maybe." Averting her eyes to avoid the stare. He added a raised eyebrow. "No." she finally muttered and slouched in defeat as he nodded.
The older sibling's stare never failed. He remembered when his younger sisters snuck a rabbit into the house. Attempting to hide it in his closest. One look got the twins to fess up on the spot. Which after a talk with their parents they got to keep. As long as they took proper care of it. Thus Harrold bunny Arc was the newest member of the family.
Despite that, he couldn't stand the sad look on her face. Reminding him much of the twins when they were sad. She'd be the death of him, no doubt.
"How about we clean up this mess and keep it to the two of us?" He said, giving her a kind smile. Her attitude turned and accepted the olive branch. With the two of them working together, the mess was swept up in no time at all.
An hour later, after a messy cleanup. Both Ruby and Jaune were now in downtown Vale.
"Here we are. Anything you want to do?" Jaune questioned his companion.
"Hmm. I'm a little hungry. Ooh, how about the new pastry shop that opened? Here, follow me!" Ruby said with excitement flashing in her eyes. Jaune could only let out a eep before being dragged by the red-haired girl.
"Vala, the pastry shop!" Ruby celebrated with a small cheer. Before pressing her face against the window. Gazing hungrily at the banquet of treats before her. "It looks so good, right Jaune?" She looked behind her to see only air. A groan shifted her gaze to the ground. "Jaune, what happened? Are you Allright?!" She pulled the frazzled boy up to his feet.
"I'm fine. Just I now know how it feels to be clothes in the wash." He stuttered. Fighting to stay up on his feet. It took a long moment for his senses to return.
As they both stepped into the shop, a bell rang out informing the owner. "Ah, welcome to Guy's bakery. Best n the city!" The older man stated to the two. "What can I get ya?"
"Hmmm. Can I have the double chocolate chip cookies please!" Ruby ordered, wiping a stream of drool back.
"Can do, little lady. How about you, kid?" The owner jotted down the order and turned to him.
"Umm. Can I get the blueberry muffin, please?" He said to which the owner gave a thumbs up.
"One order of choco cookies n bb muffin coming up. You can sit at the table till it's ready." The man stated before turning to the kitchen.
The two sat in silence for a long moment before Jaune had enough.
"So, Ruby, why were you in the armory?" He asked. Still a little puzzled about the incident from earlier.
"Weeeeell. It's part of my job. I'm a junior blacksmith in charge of repairing weapons and gear for the field agents." She said proudly. "I'm one of the top engineers right after the forge master himself." Jaune was honestly impressed at such a young age she had a real talent. Unlike him, sadly.
"That's really cool." Jaune's bit of praise made her turn red in embarrassment. "How did you get invited into the organization? I kinda got dragged into it after a bad run in with some wolves." And wasn't that the tipping point in his life. Less than a month ago but felt like a year or more.
"I wasn't invited, I'm a legacy member." She let out a small giggle at his confusion. "A legacy member is someone who was born into the org. Both my parents were agents and so here I am." She motioned around with her arms.
'Born into. Well explains how they might have so many members.' He thought. It's always bugged him how they recruited so many people. Likely a large number of people were like Ruby in that sense.
"So you're mom and dad are field agents then?" He asked only for Ruby to freeze. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, no. Just…my mom was once a field member. Her name was Summer and a s class huntress. For others she was this intimidating figure but for me she was just mom. Sadly she passed away after a hunt went wrong." The girl halted there and stared off into the ether.
Jaune flinched and felt really bad. His parents had always been in his life and couldn't imagine a day without them. "I'm sorry Ruby. I didn't mean to make you upset." As he fumbled in an attempt to brighten her mood. Ruby just giggled at his antics.
"It's okay Jaune. I'm not so weak as a simple reminder will break me. I've had time to come to terms with it. Pus my dad,uncle and sister there to help me. And while I'm sad she's no longer here I'm happy she gave it her all and saved a lot of people. I hope one day I can be like her." She said with a large bright smile.
"Orders up, Here you two go, in total that'd be thirty five lien." Both he and Ruby split the bill and walked off with their food.
As both Ruby and he ate their food. He made a vow to focus more on his training. The image of his family grieving over his casket. Sent a shudder through him shaking him to his core. For their sake he'd pull through his hellish training and live for them. With a large smile and determination he turned back to his muffin.
