Author's Notes

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Hey, is it just me or is the new story alarm going off? That's a-right, it is!

Ozpin pays a bit more attention, and 2 lives are changed forever. Blake Belladonna and Jaune Arc, Beacon's pair of frauds, have nothing but each other and their weapons when they are kicked from the academy before school even begins. Now penniless and hopeless, their only option is to unite and form a team of freelance hunters. Together, they will do missions and shit.

Be sure to give it the old check-out-arino. It's my longest story yet, and it's a fun one more focused on adventuring and friendship than on saving the world or going through trauma (so basically, it's a good cooldown from Origin Story).

Happy rats, and don't do crime!

Chapter 4 – Ruby and Pyrrha

"I yield," said Pyrrha. She then looked down. "Wow. It's been a while since I said that."

Ruby helped the former Invincible Girl up to her feet and returned her weapon to her. She hadn't had to use the maiden powers to secure that victory, but it had required a decent output of effort. The fact that Pyrrha's semblance somehow disabled Blossom Artemis only made it tougher.

"Where'd you get so good?" asked Yang, watching from the bleachers. Today was a full team spar, and with Weiss out planning the funeral and Blake busy with something else, Ruby subbed in. It worked rather well, since she could pretty much outlast both girls and just keep fighting them one after the other.

"Cinder trained me," Ruby admitted. Goodwitch had gone over some acceptable truths that wouldn't give away too many secrets of what lurked within Evernight, and the Havenite spy's name was on that list.

"Cinder?" asked Pyrrha, incredulity on her face. "Cinder Fall?"

Ruby nodded.

"BS detected!" called Yang, cupping her hands to her mouth.

Pyrrha said, "I beat Cinder Fall many times during her time as a student in Miss Goodwitch's combat class, and she didn't even go forward when her team advanced to the doubles round during the Vytal Festival."

The second one sounded like it was Ruby's fault – Cinder needed to keep a low profile and spend her time searching for Amber, not winning sports competitions and all that. As for the former…

"Not only Cinder," Ruby said. "I graduated from pupil-hood under her when we first encountered Raven. That would be about the time Cinder's eye was lost."

"Raven…more top secret shit, I assume?" Yang inquired. Ruby just nodded. She seemed to accept that her semi-evil bandit mother was a do-badder involved with terrorist groups rather easily and didn't seem to blame Ruby for her death. Yang was trying, and Ruby appreciated that.

"The eye was lost to the Grimm," Pyrrha said. "Cinder told me so in person."

"Nope. Cut out by the blade of Omen." Ruby drew a line over her own eye with her finger as though to pretend it was the katana blade. "That became a whole thing."

Yang swapped placed with Pyrrha and began priming her gauntlets for combat as the red-haired huntress went to the bleachers to watch.

"Hey, sis. I was thinking…"

"Careful not to hurt yourself."

Yang smiled grimly. "Har. Anyways, since you're allowed to talk about Cinder, would you be able to, you know, talk about her?"

Ruby blinked.

"I'm explaining it bad. Look, you can't tell us all about what happened, and that's okay. I'm a seventeen-year-old who's still in her first year, and I get that there are plenty of things above my paygrade. But, I'd like to know some more about what went down. If Cinder is a topic that Headmiss G has declassified, could we hear about some of your adventures?" Yang wrinkled her nose. "Nothing too heavy, but I'm sure you've got at least some that don't end in…"

In death, Ruby thought without verbalizing. Yang tended to not respond positively when Ruby filled in the blanks for the awkward part, and she was getting better at recognizing these kinds of polite society social cues and adapting to them.

"I guess so," Ruby said. "But only if you promise to tell me what that bitch was getting up to in Beacon."

"Um, is it wrong to speak ill of the dead?" asked Pyrrha from the sidelines.

"She's a murd…a terrorist, so I think we get a free pass," Yang answered. Pyrrha seemed to chew on that for a moment. Truth be told, Ruby frequently thought that that girl was a touch too kind.

"I'll go first," said Ruby. "So, I guess I can tell you how I got recruited by Cinder and mistook her for the big boss…"

"It's not okay," Yang screamed. "Oh, I wish Cinder were still alive so I could kill her myself!"

Her sister was behaving really weirdly about this. She had been willing to look past murder since it had been for a good reason, but apparently letting herself be forced into a relationship for the exact same reasons upset her far too much.

"Yang, I had to."

"P-Perhaps I should go," said Pyrrha, who was Ruby's opponent in the ring at the moment. The alternating of stories had taken place over the course of a few more bouts between the girls, and Yang was currently supposed to be sitting out. However, she didn't seem to be sitting out given how close she was to the sparring ring.

"I'm not mad at you, Ruby," Yang said, turning away. "But…oh, it just riles me up so much inside that you were forced to kiss someone."

Ruby shrugged. "If it makes you feel any better, Cinder lost everything because of it. Her little gamble to get me on her side was not taken well by organizational leadership, and her fall from grace was a thing of beauty."

"It just feels like you got raped or something," Yang said, shuddering.

"I didn't sleep with her," Ruby admitted. "Just kissing and touching."

"I know, but…look, if you ever, I dunno, adopt a kid or have a surrogate or ever somehow become a parent, you'll understand how I feel." Yang looked between Ruby and Pyrrha. "I think I need to go plow through a few punching bags at the rec center. You ladies mind if I take off?"

Neither had any objections, so Yang left, giving Ruby and Pyrrha a chance to finish their spar.

Ruby continued to destroy Pyrrha, though after multiple simultaneous rounds with her and Yang, she was beginning to have to rely on secret little uses of her magic to keep winning. Nothing major like winter winds or summer storms, but a little extra pep in a few punches here and there that flew under the radar. When an opponent was subjected to multiple continuous combo attacks, they tended not to be able to properly analyze each and every one's presence for secret magics, given that their brains were scrambled from so many headshots.

"I don't get why Yang's being like that," Ruby said, after knocking Pyrrha out of the ring with a headbutt followed up by a butterfly kick. "It was just a kiss. She's kissed tons of people. And it was me who did it, so why's she upset?!"

Pyrrha tried to use her semblance to grab those weapons of hers, the spear and the shield, but her aura was too low to continue. That meant no more duels for a little while, so Ruby went over to her effects to grab a towel and some water.

"I think I might know what the problem is."

Wiping her brow clean, Ruby gestured for Pyrrha to explain. "Do tell."

"I've only ever seen you twice, Ruby – once, when you pretended to kill Ozpin, and when you showed up now with Yang's mother in your grasp. In my mind, you've only ever been this invincible huntress, slaying fighters far older than you. You might look fifteen –"

"Sixteen," Ruby corrected. Yang had probably been telling the girls all about her fifteen-year-old sister, but a year had passed since then, even if she tried to block out the idea that time had passed for Ruby during it.

"You may only look sixteen, but it's impossible not to see you as a professional huntress. You have the skill to surpass any that I've ever seen, and your maturity seems up there as well."

"I've been into the real world," Ruby said, feeling oddly defensive. "You can't stay a kid when you do."

"Exactly! You aren't a kid, and most of us can tell. But Yang still sees you…she still wants you to be one. She raised you, and now you've gone past her, and that makes her uncomfortable."

"It's jealousy?" asked Ruby. That really didn't sound right.

"No, just a dichotomous mental image. For you, who's had to kill to survive, kissing someone without truly wanting it seems like a minor inconvenience by comparison, I'm sure. But in Yang's head, you'll always be at least one part baby sister, and it makes her uncomfortable with you being in a potentially sexual situation, especially when it was nonconsensual."

"I guess. So what do I do about it?"

"Just be yourself," Pyrrha answered. "Yang will eventually accept that you've grown up since you last saw her. It's only been, what, two weeks so far? Compared to fifteen years…"

Be herself. That was all anyone ever asked of Ruby, truly, so it wouldn't be a major inconvenience. It was being herself that had let her survive in Salem's clutches for so long as a spy.

"So, what's the deal with you?" Ruby asked, squinting at Pyrrha. "You helped me with my deals with Weiss and Yang. You moonlighting as some sort of counselor or something?"

"I'm just observant," Pyrrha said. "As a tournamenteer, one must pay attention to small details in an enemy's combat style in order to build a defense. I suppose the skills apply to social scenarios as well."

"Well, if you do become a counselor, I'll be your first client."

"Sure," Pyrrha said sweetly. "I'd be happy to help a friend of the team."

"Uh, th-that was a joke, Pyrrha."

"Oh. Sorry, then."

"I mean, I have so much shit to work through that it'd probably melt your brains. And I wouldn't even be able to talk about all of it, since some is confidential."

"Okay."

"And there's no way you'd actually be able to help me. No one can. I sometimes hallucinate, I don't feel good emotions without forcing myself to, I'm always so paranoid that Sal…that someone's going to jump out of the bushes and ambush me."

"Ruby, uh…"

"If there were a shrink who could fix me, they'd deserve a medal. No, a trophy!"

"Ruby."

Ruby looked at Pyrrha. "Yeah."

"Instead of…counseling, how about we just have talks when you need advice or help with anything? You're protesting a lot for someone who doesn't truly care about it."

Ruby was skeptical. "That sounds an awful lot like counseling."

"I'm not a counselor, so it can't be. If you'd like, we can spar while we do it, so it doesn't feel uncomfortable."

Ruby paused to consider it. On the plus side, it would be a chance to talk to someone who wasn't awkward around her like Weiss, too close to the situation like Yang, or utterly distrustful about everything like Blake. On the minus side, she'd have to give up a lot of her secrets.

Except I don't. If I don't feel comfortable telling Pyrrha anything, I can just lie and say it's classified by Goodwitch.

"Okay," Ruby said, offering out her hand to Pyrrha. "Let's do it."

Pyrrha smiled and shook it.

The first time Ruby sought Pyrrha out for not-counseling was in the afternoon following one of Port's classes.

"I don't know why, but just…the way he talks has started to become annoying," she admitted.

Pyrrha chuckled. "Most of us don't pay much mind to Professor Port. He's a bit of a braggart."

"It's more than that," Ruby hissed to her scythe, swinging it down towards Pyrrha.

"Let's go back." Pyrrha blocked the swing with her sword and drove her shield towards Ruby's stomach, pushing her back. "You seemed almost happy in his class the first time. Has something changed?"

"I think so." Ruby repeated the swinging attack, now confident in how Pyrrha blocked using her sword. "I don't know what, though."

The serrated blade of Artemis caught Pyrrha's sword (now a javelin) within its groves, and Ruby tore the weapon out of her grasp. Pyrrha recalled it using her semblance (they'd agreed to a handicap of Pyrrha not using her powers on Ruby's weapon just so Ruby could apply it to their spars).

"Did you enjoy his previous lesson?"

"Not really."

"The one before that?"

"Maybe. I can't remember."

Both girls switched their weapons into firearms-mode and took a few shots at one another as they moved through the arena. All of Pyrrha's shots hit Ruby across her chest, and only one of Ruby's hit Pyrrha, but it was a tactically chosen snipe to the leg that knocked her down.

Ruby took advantage of her moment of weakness to charge forward and swing Artemis like a baseball bat, knocking Pyrrha far away.

"Ring-out," Ruby declared. "I win."

"About Port…"

Ruby stopped her. "Let's talk while we fight. It feels easier."

Their battle began anew, this time without their weapons, just to change things up. It was important for a huntress to stay sharp when it came to fistfights.

"About Port, then." Ruby exhaled and tried to sum up her feelings. "It wasn't anything he said or did. It's just the way he…I mean, we all know he's lying. And even if he fooled someone, what would the point be? Just a little grandeur?"

"His dishonesty bothers you," said Pyrrha. "Perhaps it has something to do with you having had to spend an extended period of time with your enemies under false pretenses, and you'd prefer to be surrounded by honest in Beacon."

"That's not it," Ruby said, throwing a few punches towards Pyrrha.

Without her magic or her weapon, she was probably equally matched with the Invincible Girl in hand-to-hand combat like this. Still, Ruby thought she recognized some of Yang's familiar technique within Pyrrha's movements. She's been training her.

"I think it might be that he's treating it like a joke," Ruby said, struggling to phrase it right. "He's bragging out the wazoo when there's bad guys out there that'll kill all of these students without even a second thought. This is Beacon, where the teachers are supposed to be raising up a future generations so that they can go out and fight battles with people like…like Cinder, or worse. Far worse. And he think that the best way to prepare them is to just, I dunno, joke about killing Grimm with tree trunks and pickles or whatever that was?"

Ruby kicked Pyrrha back, doing it so recklessly that she probably lost a good chunk of her own aura from that impact. Her anger was making her reckless.

"You people don't have time to slack off! Just because you haven't seen the threats out there with your own two eyes doesn't mean they aren't readying for war as we speak. Every moment should be spent preparing ourselves as best we can. There isn't time for Port's stupid tall tales, not when Tyrian's training in Evernight to slaughter us all!"

Pyrrha backed away from the fight slightly. "Tyrian?"

"If you think I'm bad, you don't wanna mess with this guy," Ruby said, letting out a long breath. "He's a monster. A real, genuine monster. You and I wouldn't stand a chance against him. Even Goodwitch would probably falter in a straight fight."

"I just…a-am I supposed to be hearing about this?

Shit. I'm not supposed to mention him, I think.

Ruby suddenly realized that she'd spoken of Evernight just a moment ago. Evernight, where Salem lived.

S-She can't…Pickerel…

Reaching out her hand on instinct, Blossom Artemis flew towards Ruby in a flash of black and red.

If someone knows about Salem, they have to die. She'll burn down entire villages just to keep herself a secret. Pyrrha can't…I can't let her…

"Uh, Ruby? How did you just –"

A brilliant bolt of lightning instantly shattered Pyrrha's already weakened aura. She hadn't been expecting the attack, so it came as a complete surprise with no way to dodge or defend against. The red-haired girl cried out in pain, but it was probably the least painful way to have your aura broken. Not at all like burning alive.

That's what I'm trying to stop. Villages like Hibernance being burned alive, with hundreds or thousands of deaths. That's why I have to do this.

Ice formed around Pyrrha's body, trapping her entire body below the navel in a large cube. The Invincible Girl's hands had been lowered at the time, so they too were immobilized. Without aura, she had no semblance and no way to draw her weapons towards her.

"Ruby, what is – what are you doing?!"

The ice held despite Pyrrha's frantic struggles, as she was little more than a muscular civilian without her aura. Ruby stalked her way, Blossom Artemis in hand.

"Ruby, what are you doing?!"

It would be for a good cause. Pyrrha couldn't be allowed to tell anyone about the secret of Salem, and this was the only way to ensure it. Just like Pickerel.

"You're doing the right thing," cawed Qrow. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed him pecking at Pyrrha's javelin.

Something about the sight of the once comforting bird frightened Ruby now. As she'd realized back with Weiss and Winter, the beginning of her turn for the worse had been sparked by that fateful day on Mount Serathusa when he'd arrived for the first time.

"I…I can't trust you…"

"Course you can," cawed the bird. "I'm yer uncle."

"Q-Qrow…Qrow died. You aren't real."

That made the specter, whatever it was, smile. "If I ain't real, then I'm yer voice. You're just remindin' yerself that you have to kill her. Like you said, it's the only way."

Pyrrha continued to struggle around, her eyes wide with fear as Ruby spoke to a figment of her imagination. "Ruby!"

It was the only way?

Only way for what? For Pyrrha to remain silent about a single word she'd heard with no context? To not go and blab to no one in particular that Ruby had said aloud the name of a killer who was being hunted down in Vacuo as they spoke?

Ruby compacted Blossom Artemis and stowed it on her back.

"You…You can't tell anyone about what I said to you." Ruby shook herself, realize it sounded like she was talking about the whole 'nearly beheaded her' bit. "About…the names I said. Pyrrha, this information is dangerous, and they plug any leaks they know about. You have to forget what you heard."

Ruby placed a hand against the ice block and began to thaw it rapidly.

"Promise me, okay?"

"I…I promise. But Ruby, how are you doing that?"

The ice continued to thaw away into a spread-out puddle of water until it was no more.

"I can't tell you that either," Ruby said, sighing wistfully. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, but this is a dangerous world. Maybe…Maybe it's actually better if you don't have to be a part of it."

If the students of Beacon can just keep living in Port's childish fantasy world, blissfully unaware of the fate that awaits them when they step out of this castle's walls.

Pyrrha lifted her feet out of the remaining ice when enough of it was gone for her to do so, only to trip over herself as she desperately tried to get away from Ruby.

"I'm sorry –" Ruby called, but Pyrrha had already run away.

Her first counseling session with Pyrrha was also her last.

Author's Notes

One could call this the first step Ruby has taken towards actual progress. Not the counseling, that is - Pyrrha barely lasted half a chapter - but in rejecting Qrow and using her own logic to reason through why she didn't need to bust out the violence, the opposite of her typical justifications of murder.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!