Disclaimer: See last chapter.

Thoughts

Ruby laid on her bed, letting the cool breeze of Beacon at night flow around the room that Beacon and Professor Ozpin had let her use. She had so many questions, but there were no answers for any of them in any clear sight.

Magic was real. That was a big one. She already had some hint about it, seeing as how while she had never seen Uncle Qrow turn into a bird, she knew that he could. It was why she kept her window open while she was in Vale. Also that meant she now owed Yang two hundred lien, but considering that Ozpin had asked her to keep it a secret, that meant she didn't need to pay up just yet.

Furthermore, the maidens were real. The Story of Seasons! While it hadn't been her favorite, that was definitely Red Riding Hood; a story about a girl who defended a village from a horde of beowulves that had almost gained intelligence; she still knew the fairy tale quite well. And to hear that at least it was somewhat based on fact?

Blake's book, the Man with Two Souls, was fortunately not based on fact. Although why Ozpin knew exactly what she was talking about when she mentioned that little fact made her slightly suspicious...

But that meant there might have been others that were. The Faunus King was one that she doubted was real, but many people knew that one and grew up with it just the same. The Lady in the Tower might be another one. She had to go through each one, one by one, to determine which one was truth, and which one was just...teaching lessons.

But to hear how Amber, that was her name, had gotten to that point...and what the Maidens actually were. And that Ozpin wanted her, her!, to become one. Or rather, to take the rest of Amber's power and Aura into herself. And all because of one Cinder Fall.

The name was fairly anonymous. Ruby knew it wasn't, though. The woman had somehow conned the White Fang into blowing up half of Vale. She'd also somehow managed to get Torchwick to work for her. The only thing saving the one currently at Beacon, right now, was that Ozpin had absolutely no proof of anything. Right now, as he put it, Cinder was just a name, and it could belong to anyone.

But that didn't mean he couldn't stop and watch. And that was what most of their 'group' was doing. A group dedicated to eliminating Grimm everywhere. Made up of members all over the place, Ruby wasn't sure why they needed to be 'secret' but if they were guarding actual magic then maybe they did have a reason.

Also she wondered if she could transform herself into a wolf if she took the power, because that would be cool and awesome and she'd get to talk to Zwei, and chase Blake around like a dog chasing a cat, and chew on Yang's homework that she didn't do to get her out of trouble!

Dogs were cool. Birds were cool too, but they weren't dogs. Not in Ruby's mind.

She remembered the other conversations she'd had with Ozpin. Originally, he hadn't wanted to choose anyone for Amber's 'replacement', as he hated the term, and to let her die in peace. Then someone, probably Goodwitch although Ozpin hadn't said who, had figured out that Amber only had half of the maiden's power. Meaning that whoever attacked her had the other half.

And they weren't sure if, when Amber eventually passed, the power would 'snap' back to its other half, or it would transition as it should and there would effectively be two Fall Maidens, each with half the amount of power of any of the other maidens.

Although really, Ruby wondered how anyone could have 'half' of their power. That wasn't how energy worked. Yes, someone could have half the amount of energy, but that was like having a quarter of it instead. An impact force of six hundred newtons felt like a quarter of twelve hundred newtons, even though it was technically half, just because it hit that much harder. And when a certain point was reached, even half was considered overwhelming.

Ruby had at first insisted that someone else be chosen to do it, and Ozpin had shaken his head warily. There had been others chosen. One from each of the major four players, although again, Ozpin didn't go into detail on who was who. He had chosen Pyrrha Nikos, and having her lead Team PABY was an experiment on how well she'd do under stress.

Especially the stress of having to deal with Yang. That, Ozpin had assured her, was really why Yang was there. She was a chaotic element, designed to see if Pyrrha could do it. Considering the amount of detentions that Team PABY had, he'd realized that he couldn't, in fact, put that burden onto her with the added stress that being team leader brought.

Ruby had pointed out he could change things up, it was only the first year, but he shook his head. Team placements were permanent, and team leaderships were permanent. At least for their stay in Beacon. While if they moved academies they could 'rearrange' the name, although to what Ruby didn't know because that acronym was hard, it was unlikely to happen.

Another person had suggested Nora Valkyrie, and was shot down for being too chaotic. Ruby didn't blame them, that was insane. Adding fire to the thunder grenade wizard? Admittedly, that would be awesome, in much the same way the word was originally used. That much firepower packed into one person, she'd be a Grimm-killing machine! But that was also why they didn't.

Another had suggested Penny, the strange acting girl from Atlas. That one had been shot down too, for reasons that Ozpin didn't go into. Ruby had a feeling it was because the girl was so strange, and ten floating swords called the 'Floating Array' was probably because of it.

The other suggestion, the last one, was Yang Xiao Long. That one was shot down instantly, and ferociously, by Uncle Qrow. Mostly because of Qrow's sister, who actually had a teleporting Semblance and that was so cool why didn't Yang have something like that she could just go 'whoom' and then be somewhere else and it would make traveling so much quicker and then Ruby could actually live out in the forest somewhere or live out in Vale and Yang could be right there with there the entire time and...!

Ruby let out a deep breath. Teleporting Semblance or not, Qrow's sister wasn't anywhere nearby. Ozpin supposedly knew where she was, and Ruby would tell Yang the first instant that she could if Qrow and Dad thought that was a good idea. But also apparently Qrow and his sister didn't get along at the best of times. The rest of the time it turned into a bloodbath.

But what that all meant was that Ozpin had very few people who could step up, not without the balance of what was going on, not that he'd actually mentioned what exactly that was, tipping in one way or the other. But it was then he mentioned one other thing.

The thing that really cemented in his mind that Ruby could be the most worthy girl to take the title. At her core, according to him not that Ruby agreed, she was kind. She was excitable, that part Ruby agreed with, but more than that through that kindness had actually managed to partially convert Adam Taurus, one of the most extremists possible, to defect in the middle of his attack. If she could do that...then maybe she would do this too.

It was a big decision, Ruby knew. She'd seen Amber, and was probably going to be the last one to see her alive. Giving up the power would kill her. Taking the power would spell a death sentence to Ruby, that much Ozpin did tell her.

So killing a girl and obtaining a death sentence...but at the same time, being able to help a lot more people out and kill some Grimm. Maybe she just liked killing Grimm too much, she might have to look into that.

She wanted to talk to others. She wanted to talk to Yang, and to her dad, and to Uncle Qrow...but most importantly, she wanted to talk to her mom. Summer would know exactly what to do, Summer always knew what to do.

That's what made her mom. But...she'd been gone, a long time. Ruby took a deep breath, before she let it out again. Ozpin had suggested that she take a day or two to think it over. There was a rush, yes, but most important was Ruby's feelings on it.

If she didn't want to do it, Ozpin wouldn't fault her for it. And honestly, she was glad for that bit. Part of her wanted to jump at the chance, because who wouldn't want to be able to use magic? But on the other hand...death sentence.

They still didn't know who exactly attacked Amber. Ozpin suggested Cinder, and he was watching for things that precluded an attack, but that was solely because Adam named her as an associate.

Adam had also named Blake as a direct associate, which was something that Ruby had already known. She'd bailed when things had gotten too extreme, which was why Ozpin had let her into Beacon without too much fuss.

Although how the headmaster had already known that, he hadn't gone into detail about.

The ceiling was nothing but empty squares, and if she listened carefully, Ruby could hear the sounds of people walking around outside the room, talking in hushed tones. A few people walked outside in the grass, more than a few trying to sneak out for some 'alone' time with another person.

The moon was slowly rising, bathing everything in its silver and gray glow. It may have been shattered, but the light that it redirected wasn't. It still gave odd shadows at times, but it was something that Ruby was used to.

She glanced down at her scroll. Morning was only a few hours away, and she'd barely slept a wink. She doubted she'd be able to sleep now, but maybe there was a way that she could do everything she needed.

Was today the two on two battles, or was that tomorrow? The four on four full team fights were over at this point, so it may have been the two on two's that didn't move on to the main rounds.

She typed a quick message, hoping that it wouldn't wake anybody up. She just needed to talk to someone...anyone, at this point. Her scroll flashed as her dad responded, "Sure thing. Join us out in the courtyard. Qrow and I always train this early."

Ruby grinned, grabbing Crescent Rose as the petals shone about the living space. Her combat skirt was on, her boots tied and ready to go. Without bothering to go out the door, she used her Semblance to jump out her window directly into the courtyard.

Finding where they'd be wasn't that big of a challenge, either. Right in the middle of the courtyard, Taiyang and Qrow, small flashes of weapons showing where they'd matched each other.

Sparring Reapers

Ruby didn't bother watching or waiting for Uncle Qrow or Taiyang to separate before she launched herself at the two, hugging them closely for a long moment. "Hey there Rubes. What's all this for?" Uncle Qrow asked as he let out a small smirk, rubbing the girl's shoulder's a bit.

"I...just kinda needed someone to talk to," Ruby muttered after a moment. How was she to tell them what Ozpin had offered her, and more importantly how did she want to tell them? Did she want to say? She had too many things on her mind, and honestly, fighting was one of the easiest ways to get it out of her.

Taiyang nodded. "No worries. We're here to talk, whenever you're ready," he said. "Unless you want to spar," he continued, punching the air lightly.

"Tai, she just needs someone to talk to. That doesn't mean-" Qrow started before Ruby flourished out Crescent Rose. "Never mind, I guess that's that," he said, pulling out Harbinger and holding it out in front of him.

Taiyang let out a small smirk. "Guess that answers that. We're here anytime you need to talk, or to fight," he answered.

"Good," Ruby smiled. "I...want to try something. I want to spar with you Uncle Qrow, when you're not holding back."

"I...uh, sure? I mean you've been doing pretty well in our spars earlier but I mean, I'm kinda strong-" Uncle Qrow started to say.

He blocked Crescent Rose easily with one hand on Harbinger. His eyes were still wide, as if he was still surprised. "I mean, if you want to spar with me going all out, I can. Tai, you think she's ready?"

"I think she's ready for you, definitely," her dad smirked. "Maybe not me."

"Oh come on!" Uncle Qrow answered as he blocked a few more slashes from the scythe sniper rifle. "I'm a lot better than you are!"

"And yet you're the one she wanted to fight first, rather than me. Ergo, I'm stronger," Taiyang chuckled, his face tilted a bit as he basked in the presence of his ego.

"Actually it's because Qrow fights pretty close to how I do," Ruby interrupted. "And I want to see how far I've come since the last time."

"You mean since you went supersonic on us?" Uncle Qrow recalled. "That was impressive, but you barely hit us. What makes you think you can do it now?" He asked, his sword clashing against Crescent Rose's blade and shaft with each strike. He was still easily holding her off.

Not that Ruby was actually forcing herself to go hard at the moment either. This was essentially a warm up, just a way to stretch out the muscles. She'd been stuck in the same position for hours when she was doing her smithing, and now she was out here.

Actually using what those muscles were being trained for. She'd done pretty well in the invasion, but that didn't mean much. She'd still gotten hit, after all.

"Alright, my aura meter's tied to the both of you," Taiyang said from the side, his scroll out. Ruby could imagine the two green bars below the pictures of Qrow and her. "But this is a good chance for you to get a feel for your own aura. How many hits you can take before your aura breaks. Don't use your scroll; try to sense it yourself."

Ruby nodded, although she knew that it was a long shot at best. Aura sensing, the way most Hunters could do it, was something that an Academy like Beacon taught only to those on the way to graduation. It was a difficult technique, and harder to do it in the middle of a fight.

Some kids that were exceptional could do it early, but while Ruby was exceptional she was pretty far away from it.

She was exceptional in other ways, like being able to forge a scythe sniper rifle from her own designs, using her own metal, and then go on to found her own weapon shop of all things.

Qrow was barely moving as the strikes dived off his blade into the ground or the air. His sword was moving, sure, but Harbinger was nearly three or four feet long. Ruby had never fully examined it, but she knew what it was capable of. Transformation into a scythe-esque weapon based off the Grimm Reaper's, firing forty five shots out of the handle in the base.

But for him to fire any shots in range, he had to fold the entire sword or scythe down. It was a bad design, or in Ruby's mind, a bad design that was down to luck. But what that also meant...was that he had a weakness. And she wasn't getting anywhere just sprinting around him and trying to budge him from the ground.

"You're not half bad, Rubes. But you're still a far cry from dealing with me," Uncle Qrow was warning. His own blade clashed against Crescent Rose, pushed to the side to the ground. He was attacking now, Ruby could see.

The two traded strikes and quick hits for a while, Ruby trying not to overextend herself. Qrow was still taking it easy on her, she could tell, but he was warming up to her own skill level. He was good enough that he could handicap himself to become a good opponent for whoever he was sparring against.

She doubted she could beat him, but that didn't mean that she wasn't going to try. Small petals floated around as she activated her Semblance, going for small strikes rather than the longer ones that would down her aura.

"Sense your own aura, Ruby. How far out do you think you are?" Her dad asked from the side. Qrow smirked as he had to do a full dodge, moving himself three feet to the left, following up with another strike before she came through with another slash. Their clashes were becoming more frequent, their attacks doing more damage to the blades.

Although it wasn't as if this was unusual for Crescent Rose. Ruby doubted it was unusual for Harbinger, either. She was getting him to ante up, slowly and surely. Maybe she wouldn't need to get him to go all out, but she was getting there.

"Sixty five," Ruby answered her dad's question after a moment. Her dad said nothing, instead looking down at his scroll. She felt as if she could just keep going, keeping on going for as long as she needed, her aura was strong and she had a lot of it right now.

Qrow didn't give her the time to ask if she was right. He was on the attack now, his strikes short and sweet and very to the point. He wasn't holding as much back as Ruby thought he would. She still needed to use her Semblance to be able to defend in time, using the shaft of Crescent Rose to ward off the strikes.

"You're getting better! You're a lot better than you were just a few months ago," Qrow smirked as he jumped back a bit. "I think she's ready for the scythe," he turned to her dad. "You agree?"

"I'm not agreeing with anything," her dad answered. "That's up to you and her. You think you can keep going? What's your aura at?" He asked again.

"I...fifty five?" She guessed. Her dad laughed, but it wasn't the kind of laugh of someone making fun of her.

"Once you're done, I'll let you know how close you are," her dad answered. Ruby nodded, as she turned to Qrow, Harbinger transforming into the scythe blade that she knew it to be.

The same blade she had modeled Crescent Rose after. The same blade that she had mixed with Sundered Rose to come up with the weapon she now held. The weapon that she had made...along with the many other weapons in her shop.

Qrow's strikes were much quicker now, and it was a lot faster. Ruby wasn't taken off guard for long, using the shaft of Crescent Rose to hook the scythe much the same way he'd used Harbinger as a straight sword to defend against hers.

"Now you're getting it!" Qrow laughed, a large smile on his face as Ruby started to force herself to go faster. She was expecting to see petals fly out from her body, only to realize that she wasn't using Petal Burst.

Time hadn't slowed, not the same way that it did in her Semblance. She was still the same, but she could watch and view his movements, comparing it to her own. He was much more skilled, but she knew something she doubted even he did.

Harbinger's range decreased in scythe mode. Not by much, only about two inches, and it would shift faster if he tried to use ranged shots than it would as a straight blade in return for that range decrease. Nearly impossible to find a way to use that in the middle of a fight or spar with him at the time. But if she knew about it ahead of time...?

She dove into his attacks, folding Crescent Rose into its half mode, the boxy weapon taking up much less room as she attempted to batter him with the blunt of the weapon. Qrow attempted to flee by jumping back, his eyes wide in surprise.

She fired instantly, flinging herself back and Qrow far backwards. She pushed her Semblance up into it, flourishing Crescent Rose as she kept going after him. He did a flip as he leveled out from her non-glancing blow. He was nowhere near the ground, and her weapon was gunning straight for his torso.

Ruby...was winning. "Now you're getting into it!" Qrow cheered. "But I still have tricks up my sleeve!" He said, a small thing of smoke covering him in an instant. Immediately Ruby turned the gun down, firing straight up. She cut off her Semblance, using only the power of Crescent Rose at this point.

She could have done the same with any weapon she had in her stock. Going straight up was a definite need when fighting nevermores, not that many people realized that. Most people didn't have a weapon that gave that kind of kick. Ruby specialized in them.

A small black bird exited out of the treetops, its eyes wide as Ruby was following it. Instantly another layer of smoke as Qrow came out of it, a loud shout leaving him as he spun around, trying to give Harbinger more momentum.

"Stop holding back!" Ruby shouted back at him. She had plenty of ammunition in Crescent Rose available to her, which meant that she could keep up the recoil combo as much as she wanted. Harbinger had no such option.

His strikes struck her blade, and she swung him upwards as their scythes connected. She fired downwards once more for chasing, bolting upwards.

He didn't bother shooting her, instead spinning around to let her go higher, falling quickly towards the ground. Harbinger changed to its ranged form, and he fired a few shots towards her.

A few took against her aura, but most of them weren't going anywhere close to her. The dust in them would burn off before they came back down. Assuming Uncle Qrow used dust, though, really. She should probably check that before doing this move in the future.

She folded Crescent Rose up again, before letting it unfurl beneath her. By doing that, it saved her energy and would make it harder for Qrow to see what she was doing. Her boots gripped against the blade and the side, and she aimed down the center, right for where Qrow would land. She hit the lightning dust on the side.

Lightning purity seventy five. A crystal that on its own didn't give much charge, but when added to white dust as well...she aimed for where Qrow would land.

She fired twice, once aiming for where he'd land and once where he'd land after he tried to change direction to avoid where he'd land.

Harbinger glowed purple as Qrow cut the two shots in midair, the lightning charge discharging against him. They were definitely not direct hits, but they were enough for Taiyang to stand up from the side. "And...that's game!" He shouted.

It took another fifteen seconds for Ruby to land, using a small portion of Petal Burst to soften her landing as she furled up Crescent Rose. Harbinger, too, she noticed was back in its straight blade formation at Qrow's back.

"Winner's still Qrow, but that, Ruby...was very good. You got him down to forty percent aura," her dad admitted. "And that was after a soft warmup, so he started at a full ninety five."

"Fifty five percent of my aura is no small feat," Qrow admitted. "I wasn't sure of the exacts, but that lightning move at the end...had those hit, I have no doubt that'd hurt," he said, moving his hands to his hips and pulling out his hip flask. Ruby noticed they were still shaking a bit.

"You're down to thirty at the moment," her dad said, "but you guessed pretty well. When you said sixty five, you were actually at seventy five. Fifty five, you were down to fifty. Dodge more, I'd say, and not to rely so much on your Semblance."

Uncle Qrow laughed. "She could rely on it all she needs, she barely used it once she learned my pattern! Even when I was switching it up, she was analytical about every move. Yeah...I'd say you're doing just fine, Ruby," he admitted.

Ruby grinned, her heart beating slower now that she wasn't in the middle of a spar. She was supposed to be talking about something though...eh, probably not important.

I almost went with "Ruby vs Qrow, Round Three" for that second skit. Almost.

Until Next Time!