Disclaimer: See last chapter.
Penalty?
Ruby wasn't surprised that they got in trouble for what she did. She was surprised, but in a good way, at the brilliant smile on Pyrrha's face.
Even so much that when Ms. Goodwitch had railed on the three of them that Ruby really didn't feel like she had really lost all that much. Sure, they'd almost blown up the entire dance, a good portion of the Beacon courtyard, a small portion of the CCT tower with only one occupant at the time who was mostly unhurt, and filled it with so much earth dust that it was difficult to breathe and it would take the caretakers ages to get it looking good as it had been then. But at least it hadn't resulted in a Grimm invasion, unlike last time!
Even when Ms. Goodwitch threatened to repeal the standing invitation that Ozpin had given Ruby, she didn't really feel all that bad about it. Pyrrha was often too stressed out, from the few times that Ruby had seen her, so seeing her just...'cut loose' for a bit and really throw her all into having a good time eased her consciousness.
Of course, now she was stuck in a classroom with only Pyrrha, still in her tattered brilliantly red dress that made Ruby's look like more like rust than red, and Nora.
Nora who had randomly joined in because she loved causing chaos.
"That was fun! Can we do it again!?" Nora sang as the door was locked. "I stopped paying attention to what she was saying, what's our punishment?" Nora asked.
Ruby pushed herself onto one of the desks. "Detention for about two weeks for each of you, and a small fine for me if only because Ozpin made her reduce it down to the smallest amount. She'll come back in a bit to explain more," Ruby explained.
"Really!? How'd you get Oz to do that for you? Especially for Goodwitch, she is not a person I'd want against me," Nora exclaimed. "Oh, think I could get Ren to get us some pancakes? Shoot, I don't have my scroll in this dress," she said, patting her pockets.
The fact that Nora's dress had pockets made Ruby miss her own combat skirt more than ever. And where the heck had the redhead found a dress with pockets!? What sorcery was this!?
Pyrrha sat down at the teacher's desk with a satisfied smile. "Thank you, Ruby. I think I needed that."
"What, to blow stuff up? You don't need to ask Pyrrha, just do it," Nora said, leaning over the desk. "Although wow, where did you get the birds from?" she asked.
Ruby shrugged. "They just showed up. A bunch of crows and ravens generally. And it's not like I planned the light fixtures to land in the punch bowl."
"No, that was me," Pyrrha smiled. "Magnetism Semblance," she said, taking a small pen from the desk and rotating it in midair. Ruby heard a small whirring sound from it, although it wasn't from the pen spinning.
"You got magnetism!? Oh that's fantastic! No wonder it's hard for me to hit you. I just got that weird voltage Semblance. Basically I get struck by lightning and I'm a lot stronger!" Nora grinned.
"No, Nora, that's just because I know how to dodge."
"Really!? Aw man now I need to practice my swings. Like this, and this!" Nora said, mimicking smashing some of the desks with her hammer. Ruby glanced at her form.
It must've been all the training with her dad and Qrow that made her think of it. "Your left foot is a bit too far forward," Ruby said absently.
"Wait! You know how to use a hammer?"
"A greathammer? Sure, I've made a few," Ruby nodded. "Not that popular outside of Mistral, due to the ease of use, but there's a few people in Vale that use them. Not just you."
"That doesn't explain how you know how to use a hammer."
"Dad makes sure I know how to use every weapon I make to at least a competent degree. Of course, his 'competent' is everyone else's expert," Ruby said.
"Think he could train me on how to use Mio better?" Pyrrha asked, tilting her head. "He's one of the teachers at Signal right? I think Yang mentioned that. It started with a T..."
"Taiyang," Ruby supplied. "I'm still better with Crescent Rose."
"Well yeah, that's your baby," Nora said as if it was obvious. "Of course you'd be better with it-"
"Her," corrected Ruby.
"-her than you are everything else," Nora said without missing a beat. "You said my foot's too far forward, right? How far back does it need to be, here, or here!" Nora asked, the first one in the right place but the second one way far back. "Because I honestly can't tell sometimes. Ooh, did they leave the chalk in here!?" Nora asked as she looked for the blackboard chalk.
"Third drawer from the left," Pyrrha said, touching it gently and having it be unlocked. Ruby wasn't sure if it was already locked and she just unlocked it, or it was unlocked already. What she was sure was that she wanted to ask how Pyrrha knew that.
Nora beat her to it. "How do you know that!? Oh, are you some mystic expert!? Are you psychic too? Pyrrha, are you pychic!? Hold on, what am I thinking!?"
"Pancakes," Pyrrha deadpanned.
"She's right! Pyrrha's psychic!" Nora exclaimed, throwing her head back. "No wonder I can't hit you!"
"...Nora I just dodge."
"Curses! Foiled again!" Nora yelled out. "Come on, let's all draw random stuff on the board and see how many people get in trouble for seeing naughty things!"
Pyrrha laughed. "How about something like pictures and we try to guess what they are?" she asked.
Ruby nodded. "Sure, that sounds like fun. We're not out of here until tomorrow morning. Some kind of 'early punishment'. Good thing I left Zwei some food. And I capped the cookie dough."
"You capped the cookie dough!?" Nora shouted, suddenly next to her. "But then, how would anyone make cookies without dough!? Now I want cookies. Curse you, Ruby Rose, for you have made me hungry!"
"I saw you at the food bar for nearly half an hour Nora," Pyrrha said incredulously. "You can't be hungry again already."
"Oh don't you doubt my metabolism! Wait, is that how I can never hit you, because you never eat!?"
"Nora I just dodge!"
"Foiled I say!" Nora grinned. "You know, why did you two start all that? And how did that start?"
"Pyrrha looked upset. And I wanted to raise her spirits a bit," Ruby answered.
"You didn't need to do that for me, Ruby. Although it's very kind of you," Pyrrha said.
"Pyrrha was sad? Why? You're like one of the best in school. Definitely the best of the first years," Nora said, the omnipresent grin slowly fading. "Seriously, and I'm being serious this time, I simply can't hit you. I've tried!"
"Try swinging sideways?" Ruby asked.
"I have! And she just jumps away, and then she comes in with that spear of hers, and then I swing downwards, and she's to the left! I'm not very difficult for you, am I?"
"You're one of the tougher ones," Pyrrha said tactfully.
The tact went straight over Nora's head. "That doesn't mean much when I'm pretty sure you can beat even the second years without much challenge. Or even the third. Ooh, you think you can take the Vytal Festival!? That'd be cool, you'd be like 'Wham! Bam! Boom!' and then you'd win."
"There's a lot more to it than just the fights," Ruby said. "First is the team round, then the two on two rounds, before finishing in the one on ones."
"How do you know all of this!? Aren't you a bit young to be into sports on the TV?" Nora accused, her eyes glaring at Ruby. There was a sense of playfulness to the act.
She wasn't actually supposed to say just yet, but Ozpin would probably have announced it tonight if the dance hall didn't get Rubified. That was her new name for it. And it wasn't her fault that the landings blew upwards first. "The old weaponsmith that Beacon used for the Vytal Festival retired a few years ago, so Ozpin asked me to take over this years."
Nora gasped. "And everything makes sense! Why Ozpin prefers you, why you make such good weapons! You're a weaponsmith!"
Ruby and Pyrrha stared at her. "Is this something you just now figured out, Nora?" Pyrrha asked kindly. She was drawing some kind of tower on the chalkboard. Ruby was going to guess it looked like a lighthouse.
"No, I knew it a long time ago. Just felt like mentioning it," Nora explained. "By the way...have you thought about saving Maghnhild 2.0 for me...?" Nora asked, leaning closer.
Ruby blinked at her. "The...hammer and missile mechashift?" she guessed, based on how Nora had been drooling over it last time Ruby had seen her at the shop. "I haven't been saving it for anyone."
"Yes! That one! That one's mine, I call dibs!"
"Unless someone else pays for it first," Ruby smirked. Nora's eyes widened and Ruby saw absolutely fake tears wash down the redhead's face.
Pyrrha glanced over, a mirthful smirk on her face. "Don't worry Nora, I'm sure no one's going to buy it before you do. Or before Ren does."
"You think Ren would buy it for me!? Or do you think he'd buy it because he wants to use it too!? Can you imagine him using it? He'd be all, 'I'm too cool for words, Nora, I have a hammer now', and I'd be 'But Ren! We're hammer brothers now! Or hammer sisters. Hammer siblings!'"
"It's quite an accomplishment to be the major weaponsmith for Beacon this young, Ruby," Pyrrha said. "You should be quite proud of yourself."
"She should be, unless she pulls more stunts like this one," Ms. Goodwitch's voice called out as the door opened. Immediately right behind her was Ozpin, whose head was still covered in grilled cheese. He didn't seem to be too bothered by it though, and Ruby watched as a small globule left off his glasses to land on the floor.
She didn't even know where the cheese came from, they certainly hadn't had any at the dance.
"Ms. Nikos, Ms. Valkyrie, thank you for your patience. You will have detentions for two weeks straight, and all Vale privileges are revoked for those two weeks," Ozpin said mirthlessly. Pyrrha nodded.
"So just the normal stuff then when it comes to detention?" Nora asked, bouncing on her heels. She turned to Ruby and stage-whispered, "I've gotten in so much trouble I know what the usual punishments are. As long as they aren't with Oobleck or Peach-"
"Thank you for that piece of information, Ms. Valkyrie," Ozpin added without a fuss, "I'll make sure that yours are with those two." He ignored the jaw drop from Nora and the claim that he must be psychic just like Pyrrha was.
He turned to Ruby, and Ms. Goodwitch sighed for him. "As for you, Ms. Rose, as you aren't officially a teacher or a student in Beacon, I can't actually punish you besides destruction of public property...which Ms. Goodwitch has always mostly fixed. I don't think I've ever seen a hedge turn quite that shade of pink before though," Ozpin muttered. "So the most I can do is tell you off for it, and ask that you not do it again. And a small fine."
"It was for me, Professor," Pyrrha piped up. "She knew I wasn't feeling too well, and wanted to cheer me up."
Ruby turned to her, surprised that she'd voluntarily bring that up. Ozpin gave her a glance, before he pushed up his glasses. "Well, far be it from me to decry cheering anyone up. And the fact that no one was hurt."
Ms. Goodwitch sighed. "Sir, you should also at least tell her...?" she offered.
Ozpin blinked at her. "Ah, yes," he remembered suddenly, "You'll have to be here a few days early to scout out your shop's place. Do you have any other employees yet?" he asked.
There was a slight sound of the riding crop in Ms. Goodwitch's hands hitting her head. "Not yet, Professor. But it's on my to-do list," Ruby answered.
"Very well. You are all free to go," Ozpin said, turning around as Ms. Goodwitch took a deep breath, before following him. "And how many other groups needed punishing?" he asked, his voice getting quieter as they went out through the door.
"Too many..." Ms. Goodwitch's response was.
Maintenance Day
Ruby glanced over at everything, making sure that it was exactly where she needed it to be. She had dozens of whetstones, easily aligned with what kind of weapons they had. She had dust paper, to assist in cleaning any dust wires they were using.
Dad had told her that today was coming but it was still bizarre to actually be here, on the other side of the scenario.
Today was Signal's weapon maintenance day.
Every semester, Signal took the day to take the students on a field trip to Vale to the various weaponsmiths where they either had their weapon built, or if they already had one, for tips on how to maintain them. Flare and Pharos did too, but they also had internal weaponsmiths that taught most of them. Signal used it as a field trip day.
She remembered exactly how bored she was as a kid going through these, but that had also been...almost two years ago now. She'd made Crescent Rose when she was twelve, earned her dad's 'expert' rating when she was thirteen, and learned all she could about the maintenance of it from her Uncle Qrow.
So every time that she went out to get weapon tips, she mostly just tuned them out, especially because most of them that Crescent Rose was far too 'busy' in terms of working parts to be able to maintain for long.
The fact that she was sixteen now and ready to go at a moment's notice kind of proved her point, that most of those weaponsmiths didn't know who they were dealing with.
Which was why she was shocked that Dad had asked her to act as this year's weapon maintenance teacher. It was just for the day, and they'd come to Vale for it, which was tradition, but the fact that he'd asked her, and more importantly she had agreed!, was a huge thing for her.
The door opened and that tinkling omnipresent bell went off. She glanced at the clock, it wasn't yet time for the students to arrive, and Zwei was upstairs sleeping. She had thought about bringing him down to the shop floor if only to give the bored students something to pay attention to when it wasn't her, but decided against it. She knew that in a battle between her and Zwei in terms of cuteness, Zwei won every time.
"Sorry, shop's closed today!" Ruby called out. She knows she'd put up a sign-
A hooded figure with an eye patch glanced at her. "Oh, Adam!" Ruby said, her eyes heading straight for the calendar. "Here for the contract order?" she asked.
He nodded. "I am. The best we've found so far," he muttered under his breath. There was a sense of...something there, but Ruby didn't know what.
"Sure, they're in the back. Did you want to stay? I have a bunch of students from Signal coming to learn maintenance tips. Wouldn't hurt to spread it around to whatever private military you are," Ruby said. She wasn't even planning on charging him for it.
"I shouldn't, I need to head out-" he started to say just as the bell chimed again. Taiyang walked in, a large box over his shoulder.
"Hey Rubes! Kids are just behind me, where do you want me to...hi there," he said, staring straight at Adam. "I thought your shop was closed, Ruby?"
"It is. This is just Adam, he's here for a contract order of guns he put in for a while back," Ruby said. "I finally got around to making them all last week," she finished. And she even checked each one once Uncle Qrow was out of range. Check one up for service!
"Oh," her dad said, staring straight at Adam. "Hm. Okay. He going to stay for the workshop?" he asked.
"No, I need to go-" Adam started, his hands heading towards his sword, a wakizashi type weapon made out of a red dust alloy, using sixty five purity red and titanium-platinum. The only reason Ruby recognized it eventually is because the sheen on it was so fine it could only come from those two metals alloyed together.
Usually such a thing would be a bad idea, but the red dust was infused in, strengthening the blade far more than simple oil and water would make it. It also had the added benefit of being able to accept aura into it, if he had a Semblance that used it. Ruby had no doubt that he did. The weapon and process was expensive.
"He's more than welcome to. Especially because most of these are fairly simple, but they still need maintenance. And I see a bunch of scratches on your sword that could use a bit of work," Ruby said, his eyes widening as he glanced down. "Just sit down, I'll get you your stuff in a bit," she said.
Adam growled out, obviously unhappy, but sat down in the corner, his arms crossed. Ruby could just imagine his thoughts, 'how dare she make me wait. I am Adam and blah blah.'.
She would've used his full name there but he'd signed the contract with just 'Adam', and the funds had cleared so obviously he was used to going around as just that. Then again, maybe he was paranoid about being looked up on the CCT. That was how she'd found Blake's parents, too, and the fact she'd been in the White Fang.
She thought that most people would have at least tried to change their name if they're going to hiding like that. And yet, Blake hadn't.
The chime of the bell interrupted her thoughts, and interrupted the staring match between Adam and Taiyang. Ruby wondered if that meant Dad knew him somehow, but she had to introduce the kids! Shoot! "Hi, come on in!" Ruby said as the door stayed open.
Voices got louder as the students filed in. It wasn't a big audience for this one, but she was hosting two throughout the day. Some of them she even recognized, and more than a few of them recognized her, although they never said more than 'hi'.
She'd been a major introvert even in Signal, after all. "Ruby? You're our special teacher for this?" one of the ones she recognized, a girl by the name of Wave, asked. Ruby knew her weapon too, a special boomerang blade by 'Miscast'. It's mechashift was a returning one, in that it used gravity dust and white dust in tandem to send it flying back to its owner if it was within range.
"Yep! I've moved up!"
"Also because she took out those two trees the mayor really liked," another student snickered. Ruby glared at him, but it was without heat. A few other students walked in too, most of which she knew. The names were impossible for her to remember, but their weapons...she'd fought against most of them.
She'd cleared the field with all of them at one point. Now? She hesitated to wonder how long it would take her. "Yep. I was asked to be this year's annual weapon maintenance teacher, just to get some extra tips before you all graduate to head on out to Beacon's initiation, or to Haven's, Shade's, all of them."
"Is Atlas included in that?" A particularly nasally voiced boy asked. The others laughed at nudged him hard. Adam glared at the boy.
Ruby rolled her eyes. "Yes, Atlas is considered in that, for those that prefer the military lifestyle," she explained. There! No way that General Ironwood could say she was anti-Atlas now.
It wasn't her fault that a watermelon had been shoved onto his fist. That was thrown from Nora, after all.
"Most of you have already heard this speech a few times, and so I'm not cutting corners when I say if you remember those, this should sound familiar. Your weapon is like an extra arm, or a leg. A necessary part of all Hunters, and just like your bodies you wouldn't want to go without a shower. Unless you're Jay," she said. The nasal boy laughed as he was called out, his nearby friends ribbing him hard.
"For bladed weapons, that means you're gonna need one of these. These are called whetstones, which I'm sure Dad, sorry Taiyang, has mentioned more than once. Even given out a few freebies. Well, so'm I. For those with bladed weapons, yes Miscast needs it too-"
"Darn it I didn't bring my backpack."
"Just put it in a pocket then," Ruby waved her hand. "The important thing is that you could use a stone or a steel bar. If you use a dust infused blade, then you have to be careful because your blade is sharper than, and will cut through, steel," Ruby said, grabbing a random sword from her pile that she'd prepared especially for this, as well as another of the whetstones.
"Take the edge, and grind it down, just like this," Ruby said, letting the room fill with sparks as she sharpened one side. "Make sure to do both sides too. For those that have a curved blade, you have to follow the edge."
"Can you show us one?" one of the younger students, someone who Ruby didn't recognize, asked. She nodded, and blinked over to Crescent Rose, grabbing it from the wall and in another blink was back at her starting position.
"Using your Semblance more?" Wave asked. "That used to take you ages. In comparison," she said, sitting down on the arena floor.
"All the time," Ruby answered. "It's a handy Semblance for a shop owner, right?" she asked. Her breath stilted, this wasn't planned she was going to lose them they were already yawning they were so bored why didn't she bring Zwei down here-
"For a curved blade like this, follow the edge carefully. You want it sharp, but not breaking," Ruby pointed out. She could swallow her fear later, why was this so scary!? This was just weapons talk, and she could if nothing else talk about weapons for ages. And she did. A lot.
She unleashed Crescent Rose with a quick button tap, and slowly sent the whetstone down its hardened blade edge. "Now Crescent Rose has already been sharped, but it's important to be constant about it. Otherwise..." Ruby said, tossing the whetstone into the air and slashing it in two instantly. "That can happen, but to your blade rather than the stone."
"What about guns?" one of the younger students asked. He had small horns on his head, but he was paying attention just as much.
Ruby nodded. "That's the harder one. I've set out a small kit here, again everyone should take one, yes Wave that includes you-"
"I'm starting to feel called out here Rose," Wave answered with a grin. "Aren't I older than you?"
Yes, yes she was. But this was Ruby's area of expertise. "Yeah, but I got hired and you didn't," she said, grinning. Wave rolled her eyes, but took one of the sets anyways. "These are gun maintenance kits. Every weapon you buy from here has either a whetstone that's guaranteed for two hundred sharpens if you listen to the ads, but in reality is closer to five, or a gun service kit. Or both, if it's mechashift or has both in base form."
"Aren't you undercutting your buyers when you do that?" another voice said.
"Nah, they know I say the truth," Ruby answered. Her heart was beating out of her chest. "The important bit about the gun service kits is that you need to dismantle the weapon completely. In the movies they have contests where the main characters has to put them together in like six seconds. You've all seen that one, right?" she asked.
"Showed 'em it this year. Thanks for the idea again, Ruby," Dad called out from the side. He was hovering next to Adam, his arms crossed in a defensive position.
"Seriously? You convinced him of that? Good on you Ruby..." Wave muttered. Many of the others also nodded.
"Anyways, that's not too far off. Crescent Rose I can dismantle the sniper components to clean the barrel in around thirty seconds if I'm using my Semblance. If I'm not, about a minute. That's actual standard rate, by the way. Most important thing to clean using the gun service kits is the barrel. If the barrel's not clean, the whole thing misfires, you can lose a hand or worse," Ruby said, her voice dropping low.
"Guns are not toys. Everything we have is a gun, because you are training to be Hunters. And you will need those when you fight Grimm, because make no mistake, you will be fighting Grimm. Not each other-"
"Not the White Fang?" Jay asked from the back.
"No," Ruby shook her head. Adam's eyes turned up on her instantly. "You'll learn about it in history classes, but suffice to say there's a reason for everything. Some of it you may agree with. Some of it you may not. But it's not the opinion that matters, it's that at the end of the day, we are Hunters. And what is it that Hunters fight?"
Ruby let the silence take over the floor of the shop. "They fight Grimm," she answered her own question.
For anyone who was expecting an actual detailed summary of Ruby's dance firework plans, all I can say is 'Really?' I've been dancing around the subject for so long I'm not going to actually detail it. But this does give an idea of how it went down in my head, at least. Hopefully it leads to some laughs through sheer being ludicrous.
Until Next Time!