Well hello all. Time for the wordiest chapter yet!
REAPER IN RED
Chapter 10
Yang was sitting on her bed, head between her legs as she faux-cried. The rest of our team was standing in front of her, glancing at one another. At least I wasn't the only person confused by the awkward display of emotion. As Yang let out another bellowing moan, which once again confirmed our suspicions that her tears and sobs were indeed fake, Weiss seemed to have enough, slapping her with a strong back-hand.
"Please shut up, you annoying brute," came the ice queen's harsh words.
"What did I do wrong!" Yang groaned in reply. "I thought I was the perfect sister. Did I not sneak out enough? Did I set too good of an example for my poor little Rubix Cube? It had to be something I did. Why else would Ruby go to Blake of all people to learn how to sneak out! And the library of all places? What did I do to you to make you want to sneak out after hours just to study more?"
Blake and I groaned in unison. So that's what these last five minutes of hugging and fake-crying were all about? Because I asked Blake instead of her?
"Yang, maybe Ruby wants to sneak into the library to meet up with some boy? Who says it's to study," Blake asked helpfully, perking up the wily blonde.
"You're right! Maybe she did learn a thing or two from me! But I better meet this mystery man first, Ruby. I want him to know what's what before he's allowed to even think of touching you."
I immediately tensed and felt my face heat up and turn a not very natural colour. "What boy? There's no boy!"
"Fine, girl then." Yang shrugged, giving me a wave of her hand.
My cheeks reddened further.
"There's nobody! I promise!" I quickly spat out, waving both my hands in front of me, trying desperately to force those types of thoughts from my teammates' minds. Judging from the smirks all three of them were giving me, it was a completely lost cause.
"I just need Blake's help to get into the library's restricted access section after hours to find a book!"
"So you want to break into a section of the library that requires explicit professor permission, to get your hands on a book. On the one hand, my sister is a dork. But on the other, she's breaking a whole mess of school rules. Huh," Yang tapped her chin. "This is a tough one. Should I be proud of her or not? Weissicle, help me out here. Is she a dork or a badass?"
Weiss huffed and rolled her eyes, not even bothering to answer. Yang shook her head over a moment of chin-tapping.
"No matter, I still think it's some guy. Or girl." She added after noticing my glare.
Why was my glare not frightening her! I was copying the face Weiss makes all the time and I knew I had it mastered by now. I guess I needed more practice in front of the mirror.
"So Blake, will you help me?"
"Why me?"
"Because Professor Ozpin said that you were pretty good at it." My reply seemed to make Blake tense and pale.
"What? I thought it was a compliment." I looked between the three of them, oblivious to why Weiss and Yang were chuckling and Blake was muttering to herself about losing her touch and needing more practice at infiltration.
"Fine, I'll help you get that book you want." Blake finally acquiesced.
"At least you're taking a bigger interest in your education," Weiss agreed. "Even if it does involve illicit behavior."
"I'm going to go with being proud of you for breaking rules before me. And getting a detention first! Hah! I can't wait to tell dad about that."
Yang guffawed against my whine to keep it a secret.
Taiyang wasn't my father, but it would still be best to keep on his good side.
"Can you at least hold off on your planned late night extracurriculars until after our trip to Forever Fall? Maybe a little later? I would prefer my partner was not given a second detention and force the both of us to remain behind on our first mission."
I readily agreed. It only meant waiting a week or two. Besides, we were heading to Forever Fall tomorrow and it was already too late to go snooping around in the library after hours. Well, it wasn't too late, because the whole point of it was to go get the book late at night anyways, but after just having that conversation with Ozpin, it might make things too obvious. But then again, who would suspect someone of sneaking into a library the day after they are informed of that possibility?
I then proceeded to curse myself for rambling in my own thoughts. That could wait, we had a mission coming up tomorrow!
"So, who's excited for tomorrow?" I decided to change the conversation to a safer topic.
Yang shrugged, leaning back on her mattress resting on her forearms. "Should be pretty easy. I bet five lien it's going to be a simple grab and go mission, like initiation."
"It must be at least somewhat harder, right? We had some classes already. Even a sparring class, so they must at least have some ideas as to what we all could handle."
"I guess we will see. Good night." Blake said, giving a small wave and nimbly lifting herself up onto her bunk, above Yang. Pulling out a book, she opened it to the bookmark and proceeded to tune the rest of us out.
"You think she really drowns us out? Or is she secretly listening to everything we're saying. Like, if I were to say that I really enjoy Blake's bella-booty, or that she has incredible legs… She blushing Rubes?"
"Nope," I shook my head. "Not even a smile."
"Damn," Yang snapped her fingers.
"Well, as fun as listening to the two of you prattle on about your indecent and rather unbecoming manners and workplace behavior, I will be turning in for the night as well. I will see you on the morrow." Weiss turned to me, sneering. "And if you deign to use that infernal whistle, or even consider slamming pots and pans together from the dorm-floor kitchen, I will strangle you."
With those final words, she slipped under her covers, face turned towards the wall and away from my sister and me. I looked to Yang, surprised.
"We have a kitchen?"
"Where do you think Ren gets all the pancakes for you and Nora from?"
"I thought that was just one of life's mysteries!"
Yang chuckled and rubbed my hair affectionately. "You really are a dork, Ruby. I love you."
"Y-ya. You too," I let out.
No way was I saying those words. From everything I read, those were important words. You could love a thing. Or even love doing a thing. But loving a person? That was different. That meant you had a… connection with them. Real trust. I trusted Yang. She was my human sister, after all. But did she really trust me? Or this interpretation of me? Would she still say those words if she knew what I really was? Or would she treat me with as much fear that was shown in Professor Port's first class.
With those less than joyful thoughts, I climbed into my own bed, shouted goodnight to the three of them and stared at the ceiling. Another couple hours of boredom and my own thoughts, before fatigue and sleep would claim my body.
I woke up with the sun, and for probably the first time, so too did the rest of my team. That isn't to say that they were truly awake, but they were 'up'. Except for Yang. The moment she stood on her two feet, she fell face first onto the hard floor below her.
Snoring.
The rest of us collectively agreed to leave her be until the very last minute. An hour later and we were all ready to go.
"Breakfast," Yang reminded us.
So, twenty minutes later, we were finally ready to go.
"We need our weapons from our lockers," Weiss mentioned offhandedly.
Ten minutes later and some complaining by yours truly about using the rocket lockers like they were designed for; we all had our weapons and Team RWBY was finally able to reach the bullhead docks to get started on our class mission.
Of course, we were the last ones to arrive. At least Professor Goodwitch scolded us on route to the Forever Fall Forest, instead of waste any more precious time before departure. Scolding done and trip over, we touched down in a small empty field somewhere deep in the forest and were all assembled as a class of first year hunters in training.
"Professor Peach is in need of sap from the trees in this forest. Each team will be required to collect two jars. You have four hours to complete this mission and return to the bullheads." Task given and jars distributed to each group of pairs, we set forth on our mission. Our very first mission!
"This'll be a breeze," Yang laughed, tossing her jar from one hand to the other.
"This mission is obviously to prepare us for the more tedious aspects of the huntsman life," Weiss surmised. I couldn't help but nod along to Weiss's statement. "If anything, it is to see if we are able to complete our assigned mission in an effective and time-efficient manner. I suggest we fill these jars and return them to Professor Goodwitch post haste."
Yang shrugged, "fine by me. Gives us more time to lay around and catch some Z's."
"Ooh no siree!" The energetic redhead from Team JNPR jumped up onto Yang's shoulders, having sneaked past all of us mid-conversation. "You got to try some of the sap first! Apparently it tastes awesome. Even Grimm like the smell!"
"Nora, please get off." Nora smiled and patted Yang's cheek before hopping down. The rest of Team JNPR joined us shortly after.
I said hello to Jaune and I waved to the rest of his team. Nora was hyper, almost like a me-sized version of Yang, with comparable strength. Ren and Blake were two pees in a pod. It was almost funny watching their interaction. I would have thought those two were the non-human ones if I didn't know any better.
"Hello," Ren started,
"Good to see you," Blake concluded.
Nora and Yang noticed the two's lack of communication and attempted to spur them on. At least Weiss and Pyrrha looked to be doing better, though not by much. Jaune and I could only look at each other and laugh. It was quite amusing to see our teams interact. We had sat near each other for a few meals that week, but it was mostly because Jaune or I would save each other a spot. Teams kept to themselves for the most part.
At least that was how things had looked so far.
But actually seeing our two teams get along in such a way, Jaune could all but voice my thoughts, "and apparently we're the awkward ones."
I snorted. "Who'd have thought that? Want to get sap together? As a big group, I mean."
Jaune frowned, eyes darting around. "Sure," he finally said, eyes settling on mine. "Things are better in numbers. Pyrrha told me that the sap attracts Grimm, so it's best not to get any on your clothes. Also, it stains really bad."
"Thanks for the warning. Hey guys! Let's start getting that sap!"
A small cheer erupted from the group, along with Nora's shouts of "and let's eat it all!"
Handing Weiss our jar, I got to work drilling a hole into a tree, humming a little tune to myself. It was easy work. Or, it was easy, as the process felt little like work, and more patience and strength control to keep from accidently pushing the drill straight through the trunk. I was very glad that Weiss didn't ask me what happened to my drill and allowed me to borrow hers.
The hole drilled and tap placed, Weiss went about filling our jar while I took the time to people watch. It was amazing how quickly the eight of us bonded. Nora's bubbly laughter filled the air as she and Yang tried to rile up their partners. I even thought I saw a hint of a smile perk on Blake's lips.
As soon as Ren finished with his jar, Nora took it from him and gulped down half of it, much to Ren's displeasure.
"Nora, what did I tell you about the sap?" Ren said, shaking his head.
"Take slower sips?" Nora tried. "Share?"
Ren nodded, pleased when she handed him the jar and allowed him to take a small sip of the purple sap.
Pyrrha was filling up her own jar as well, a few trees away, frowning.
"Hey Weiss, I'm going to check on Pyrrha for a minute." Weiss nodded and flicked her wrist at me, which I took as acquiescence.
"Hey Pyrrha," I said in a sing-song voice, skipping over to her.
"Oh, hello Ruby. How are you doing this morning?"
"I'm good. Hey, do you know where Jaune is? I haven't seen him in a little while."
Pyrrha tensed and pursed her lips.
"He should be around somewhere…" Pyrrha glanced around. "He has been quite busy lately. It's… most likely about a personal matter. Something that he has kept close to his chest until recently. It's not really my place to say, but I do wish he were here."
I tilted my head. "Is this about him faking his way into Beacon?"
"Shh! How do you know that?" Pyrrha spun towards me, dropping her half-filled jar onto the grass. Its contents slowly seeping out.
"Oh, oops. I promised Jaune I wasn't going to tell anyone that."
I watched as Pyrrha sighed and looked around, pulling me by my shoulder into a more secluded part of the forest.
"Jaune told me he faked his transcripts to enter into Beacon Academy. He told me just a little while ago actually."
"I made Jaune really angry and he sorta shouted it out at me," I shrugged. "I didn't really see what the big deal was, since I didn't get here the proper way either. I think it's just us that know though."
"Thank you for keeping it a secret. I know Jaune would hate for us to share his personal information with anyone else." Pyrrha placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm glad that he told someone else though. He has been acting… strangely these last few days."
"Why's that?"
"I'm not really sure. Just that he has been spending a lot of time away from the team, favouring time spent with Team CRDL."
My brows furrowed. That didn't sound like something Jaune would do. Cardin Winchester hated Jaune! He was a big meanie! And I felt like the feeling was mutual between the two. I told as much to Pyrrha, recounting what I had heard and seen after our sparring match the day before.
"I think we should trust him. As his friends, as well as, as my teammate, partner, and leader. And your fellow leader, of course."
I nodded at Pyrrha's words. They made sense in a way. Maybe it was one of those human things I read about in my book on how to make friends! I racked my brain for the words the book used.
Contact is essential to becoming friends. While this does in some cases mean physical contact, the best form of contact is to be around the person. Have them grow accustomed to you being in their visual vicinity and engaging with them in minor conversations.
There's the devil! I knew I could remember it if I thought hard enough. And I should know, I read it over half a dozen times. Even Weiss commented on how invested I was in my work. Although she might have thought it was some history book for class and not one to relate to people.
Jaune must have read the same book too! I knew there had to be a reason why he was hanging around with somebody who hated him. It would only be a matter of time before Cardin would see how awesomely amazing Jaune was and then we'd all become besties! Like Team RWBY and Team JNPR were! Sort of. School hadn't been going on that long, but there was definitely a comradery between the eight of us. Or at least between me and Jaune and Yang and everyone else. But it was a start!
My incessant internal ramblings were cut off when I felt something shatter across my back. The force of it pushed me forwards, taking a small step to regain my balance.
"Hey are you okay?" Pyrrha asked, holding my shoulder gently. Her eyes widened when she looked behind me.
"Ya, I think so. What was that? Do I have something on my back?"
"It seems as though someone threw their jar of sap on you. I must apologize. I believe they may have been aiming for me, had you not stepped in front of me when you did, it would have been my body that is... sticky." She picked a shard of glass off of me. "Are you okay? Some of these look deep. I will go get a profess-"
I swiped a finger across my lower back, feeling the purple sap stick to it. Sucking the digit clean, I smiled. "Oh that tastes incredible!"
"I'm glad you are enjoying it?" Pyrrha asked, unsure of whether to be offended for me, or relieved I wasn't hurt.
"Do you hear that?" I turned towards an approaching noise.
It was like a faint buzzing. Almost like a zipper that was slowly approaching. No, the sound was quickly approaching. Definitely quickly approaching. Then I saw it! Them! Wasp-like grimm. What were they called, what were the called?
"Lancers!" Pyrrha shouted, pulling out her sword and shield.
The Lancers did not even turn to look at the invincible girl. All their attention was on me. Right, Grim Reaper thing.
"They must be attracted to the sap!"
Oh? A human thing too? Well, that's a nice change of pace at least.
"My sap!" I shouted at the grimm without meaning to. I blushed as they appeared through the treeline.
Not super nice though, as these tiny grimm creatures were still flying full-speed towards me, stingers at the ready. Only a second later, I pushed myself into high gear, activating my magic -semblance as the humans call it- and dashing away leaving behind a trail of rose petals appearing out of shadow. Unfurling my weapon, I struck one down, splitting the grimm bug in two.
That still left... only fifteen.
That wasn't so bad. I had Crescent Rose with me. Now, to pull in some shadows to confuse them and split up their basic formation. Then it would be a simple matter of slicing them up.
I paused to get my bearings, taking a deep breath to call upon my magic, preparing for what needed to be done.
"Don't just stand there, run!" Pyrrha called to me, blocking a Lancer's powerful stinger with her shield and slashing across it's bone plated abdomen.
"Right! I'll go find some help." I shouted back, rushing ahead once more. Darn humans and their lack of magic. Why couldn't everyone just have magic! Then another thought dawned on me.
Could a regular human fight off fifteen Lancers at once? Well, maybe not a regular human, but a huntress-in-training? Would it be weird if I just... swoosh, and sliced all of them in half? Could a fully trained huntsman do something like that? Argh! I really need to do some research before I try to act human! Welp, I guess there's always next time I try this.
And what about my... aura? Reaper aura? Raura? Was there really no name for our... thingies? Could a Lancer's stinger pierce aura? And even if it couldn't how many hits could a human take before their aura was gone? A hundred hits? two hundred? I gasped. Only fifty? No, now was not a time for questioning the basics of being a human. That would wait until later. All I needed to do was not get hit at all.
I ducked under a Lancer and threw myself out of the way of another.
That might take getting used to.
So, I listened to the strongest and smarty-est person around and ran like Pyrrha said. Advancing in the opposite direction. That's what Yang would have called it. Pff, retreating. What Reaper would retreat from a few measly, massive and massively aggressive grimm who were dead set on killing you and only you? Not me of course!
"Help!" I most assuredly did not scream as I zipped by the rest of team RWBY and JNPR -minus Jaune and Pyrrha- who were taking their time relaxing and sipping on extra collected sap. The thirteen remaining Lancers chasing me, with a panting Pyrrha chasing after them, was enough to rouse the group from their recreational rest.
Taking a sharp turn, I spun around, running passed my team. "Anybody see Jaune?" I breathed out to Yang as I went by.
"Not a pip from him. He's missing out on all the fun!"
Of course Yang would have fun at a time like this. Jumping over a rock and dancing my way through the quick stingers, I slashed up just narrowly missing my target's soft black flesh. The ringing of metal on bone echoed through the treeline, even over the loud buzzing of these bugs. Yes, I did it! I didn't slice it in half accidentally!
"Rubes! Bring them over here!" I complied to Yang's request, sliding underneath a Lancer and darting towards my human sister, her arm pulled back and a glint of excitement in her eyes. Lilac twinkled and gave me a wink as I sped by, her fist flying at me-like speeds.
Straight into the face of one of those annoying little brats! Immediately, it began to evaporate.
One more down, twelve to go.
"Hiyah!" Make that eleven, judging by the excited chattering of Nora, now wielding a hammer larger than she was. But who was I to talk, lugging around Crescent Rose.
I ran the bugs chasing me through a gauntlet of my teammates and colleagues. No, friends. Those who fight together are friends. Even if only for a short time. Fists and swords and guns tore through the heavily armoured grimm. Even I got in a slash or three! Pyrrha was being her awesome self, taking on four at once whenever I whizzed by. I would definitely have to ask her how to fight many strong opponents without her magic. So cool.
"Ruby look out!" I barreled head first into a tree. With a grunt, I fell, head pounding. Just one Lancer left. I could do it. I could take it on. Nothing too complicated, just a little burst of speed to get beside it and a single swing. I stood up.
Almost immediately, vertigo set in and I came crashing back down to the forest floor.
"Ugh, my head." I whined.
The lancer fell upon me. I saw the stinger in striking position, inching closer and closer. My hands reached up to defend my neck. I only had one thought in my mind at the time. Aw great. How was I going to explain this to my team? What was going to happen when I got pierced? Not only would it not kill or greatly injure me, it would probably get stuck. Like a tiny bee's stinger. Then I would have to tell them and then they'll get all scared of me and then I'll have to go hide again! No! Maybe I could come up with a really super perfect lie! Or just wipe their memories of the situation? No, mind wiping is plan B if the lie doesn't work.
Lie, lie. What's a good lie? My mind was blank, I had no ideas. None! This was it, the moment of truth, I shut my eyes tightly. I really hated needles.
But the pierce never came. I peered at the figure standing before me. Tall with a white chest plate and scraggly blond hair. Sword drawn in both hands as he pushed back against the Lancer's stinger.
"I've got you Ruby!" Jaune shouted, his voice filled with determination. "I'm not going to let my friends get hurt, no matter what!"
He wasn't talking to me. Maybe not even to himself. I glanced sideways. It was Cardin. Him and his teammates, all watching Jaune with surprised expressions. Huh, when did they get here?
I looked at Pyrrha, who was holding back Yang and Nora from joining in on the fight. I couldn't hear what she was telling them, but they both nodded and stopped struggling. Now all of us were just an audience for the leader of Team JNPR. Sword finally pushing back the stinger, giving himself enough room to draw his shield in his free hand.
The stinger came down again, now impacting the shield, while his sword arm thrust and cut. Hacking away at anything it could connect with.
"Stay away from my friend!" Jaune shouted in a cry of strength. One final thrust. At the same time, his shield arm moved up, blocking a last attempt strike from the Lancer. The sword impaled the Lancer. Its wings stopped beating and the buzzing I had almost grown accustomed to, ceased. The grimm fell and begun to disintegrate.
Jaune was breathing hard, his sword dropping beside him. Shaking his head, he turned to face Cardin, who stood at a distance. Jaune was angry. No, he was determined. Without even a glance at the rest of us, he stared down the guy. "Don't you ever dare do something like that to one of my friends again. Next time, it'll be you instead of the Lancer."
Whoa boy, that was a crazy long chapter. And it also wraps up the entire Jaunedice arc of classic RWBY in one fell swoop! For those that know me or Reddit me, you'll know that I'm not a fan of this arc. When it came to writing it, I wanted to get it over with quickly. And so, one chapter, one arc. Heh. More like one Jaune Arc, am I right? *gets throat punched* I deserved that. But anyways, I hope you enjoyed it in any case. I changed it up a whole lot and seeing as this entire story is from Ruby's perspective and Ruby doesn't know everything that happens to everyone, everywhere around her, it allowed me to push most of Jaune being whiny into the background. Even without knowing what Jaune's talking about, I think the chapter should still make sense, so I'm proud of that (let me know how wrong I am). Also, I made myself a nice little cover! I have no talent at covers, so trusty MSPaint is back at it again!
Firewyrm2 #1- Ya, she was always going to make an appearance in this. After Ruby, Cinder was the second character I redesigned for this story. Don't worry, Ruby is still the central character in this. Rosegarden is fine, but knowing Oscar is going to be taken over/absorbed into Ozpin makes it a little creepy for me. I've always enjoyed Whiterose or Nuts&Dolts. A crack ship I've been enjoying is SunxRuby.
Firewyrm2 #2 - I think that it is a pretty unique idea that mixes together a couple really fun tropes. You do have to pretty very careful with something like that, as it will essentially involve a very OP character. Have you seen the anime 'Overlord'? I would recommend putting together a bunch of firm rules on how her powers work and stick to it. Whether you reveal to your audience these rules is up to you (I like making my readers guess what her powers are and how they work). As for Konosuba, I don't really remember much about it other than it being a comedy? From what little I remember, the characters are fairly under powered, so you should take that into account. Having a crazy powerful Ruby trying to balance what her angst and still be a good person can be fun to see. As both a hero/mysterious ally as well as villain. Good luck with the story! (And if you ever want to PM me about this, please feel free. I'd love to know more.)
Pleaseworkforonce - Thank you! The whole reason I'm doing this is to help improve my writing, so please always feel free to tell me my mistakes.
FN75 - Those are some pretty good guesses into Reaper powers. The real question is: how much of that is Cinder's power? And how much is it Ruby just not realizing what she herself is doing? (answer: some from one side, some from another) From that list in your guesses, there is only one actual mistake. As for Cinder, what was her goal in the show for the first few seasons? What has changed between the show canon and what she is? Sorry, but that's as close as I'm going to get to explaining Cinder until she makes her grand reappearance. As for what happened, it's sort of a soft magic scenario. There are a few hard rules which I refuse to explain because it might become important to a later arc. As for there is a hierarchy, think of it less as a true laddered style hierarchy and more of a... ascent into madness. I do know you will see some fun differences between Reapers, I just don't know if you will see them all in this story.
Alucard45 - Thanks a whole bunch for the very thorough review. It's really amazing to know what I need to work on and I will definitely be looking to improve. As for some of the things you mentioned. So far, you guys have only really seen some of the new baddies which have filled the world. There have been a few namedrops to different creatures which don't hold much significance, but that's it. The reason why nothing is really discussed is because this is normal life for them. I will make sure to bring up some more stuff in the future to help out in this regard. As for Salem and Ozpin... there is a bunch of stuff left to do for them. Your synergy idea is one which I am quite ashamed at myself for missing. I have a whole lot focused on Reapers and other creatures, but not all of them with each other. And now for Ruby. There is a whole lot regarding Ruby's backstory, even up to how long she's known the Xiao Longs for, that was intentionally not discussed. It's just my fault that it was written unintentionally poorly. It all comes down to the Reaper's powerset. It will be brought up again in the future, but a lot of the confusion regarding the Xiao Longs and going to Beacon will be explained in the story. And lastly (though what you mentioned first), I would like to preemptively apologize for this chapter.
JackTheSpades - Ya, I sort of realized that the Cinder chapter would get a mixed reaction. As for Maria, I thought about it for a moment, but then I wouldn't be able to call her the Reaper Reaper and then try to think up as many 'two' puns as possible. :P Or maybe just have her being a super old Reaper, who knows? Really, I wanted Cinder for the position for a few reasons. 1. As a Salemite, she is still technically 'working for' Salem. 2. Plot reasons. 3. If I brought in Maria, or Qrow or any elderly character friendly to Ruby, everyone would just expect them to be her ally. But with Cinder, nobody knows for sure what is going on in her head (well, I do. But not everything atm). As for scary Ruby, I gave it my best shot. I'm hoping you will enjoy the Spoopy Arc when it comes around.
Alank2 - Thank you for sticking with this story! Let me tell you, I have a lot planned (and even more unplanned) for this story so I hope I continue to write and improve this.
Anyways, see you all again real soon!