Apologies for the delay.

REAPER IN RED

Interlude 7: Blake ch.2

"This is Combat Class 101, where you will, under my tutelage, gain a better understanding with your unique fighting styles, weaponry and semblances." Professor Goodwitch's introduction was very much like her. Strict and straight to the point. Almost immediately the class had fallen silent with their full attention on the commanding deputy headmistress. Even Blake had trouble turning away from her speech to the book she held below her desk.

The class was all about fighting. So as expected, the class began with a fight between two students. One just so happened to be Blake's very own team leader. "Darn," Ruby whispered as she went to get up. Blake's ear flickered underneath her bow.

"Knock 'em dead Rubes," Yang said, patting Ruby's back.

Blake could only watch as she slowly trudged her way through the desks and towards the locker room to grab her gear. She looked deep in thought. In a much deeper way than Blake would have expected from a girl who had danced after cleaving off the head of a giant nevermore only a day prior.

And that was only the first of several strange quirks that appeared throughout the class. Ruby's scroll seemed to break the aura measuring system. Which was strange because anyone who had their scroll on them for more than a day would be synced up to their scrolls. The technology was proven to work. Hence why model T8 scrolls; the same ones used by Beacon and most huntsmen in the field, were also the burner scroll of choice for the White Fang.

"How long has Ruby had her scroll for?" Blake asked Yang, leaning into her.

Yang shrugged. "Ruby got into Beacon late. Ozpin himself let her in. I think he gave her the scroll when dad accepted Ruby's admission. Maybe a few days ago at most? Don't know, maybe less?"

After that less than helpful non-answer, Blake watched as Ruby danced her way around Jaune Arc's lackluster attempts at combat. It was pitifully embarrassing to watch. Jaune seemed to grow more flustered with each heavy swing of his sword, all while Ruby's weaved in and out of his blows. The boy was opening himself up to dozens of attacks by Ruby's scythe, yet she refused to hit him even once.

Her movements were fluid. Swift. Careful. Like she saw everything around her. Even while she was bickering with a classmate sitting in the stands.

"I would like you to attack, Miss Rose." Professor Goodwitch ordered.

"But, what if I accidently kill him?"

Ruby's response brought a round of laughter from the rest of the class, while Jaune left in a huff. Blake frowned. Ruby's question seemed… strangely honest. That didn't make much sense to her. Was Ruby truly not practiced enough with other people to not know her own strength? Yang looked more than ready to 'throw down' -Yang's words, not Blake's- in the ring. Was there truly that much of a difference between the two sisters?

Blake shook that thought from her head. There had to be something else. Something that she was missing. Could it be a semblance issue? Could Ruby's speed have some further effect on the rest of her strength that she's unable to control? There was, of course, the possibility that Ruby's semblance was perpetually activated? That sort of thing does tend to run in the family and could cause strain on the user in plenty of unforeseen ways.

"Hey Yang, does any of your family have eternally activated semblances?"

Yang glanced at her, "like ones that just don't turn off?"

Yang continued after Blake's nod of affirmation. "My Uncle Qrow has one. Misfortune. He and everyone around him always has bad luck. Would hate to have that semblance."

Alright. That did make sense.

Either way, the professor did not enjoy the lack of actual combat in her combat class and sent Ruby off with a detention.

Later that week, Ruby began asking for Blake's help in retrieving some books. More so than that, she was asking for help in sneaking into the restricted access section of the library. Not that it looked terribly difficult to get into. But it was clear that something was on her mind. Which meant that Blake had one more puzzle piece at play to start figuring out Ruby Rose.

"Why me?" Blake asked.

"Because Ozpin said that you were pretty good at it."

Blake paled. How would Ozpin have known that she was good at sneaking into places? She'd gone clean since leaving the White Fang. While she was looking for some time to get in some late night reading, she had planned to take the books out while the library was open, not closed. She was on the straight and narrow since arriving at Beacon. How would Ozpin know?

Wait… Blake had indeed snuck into the cafeteria the night before to check the dates on the salmon there. It had tasted strange that dinner and Blake wanted to double check that it was fresh. Had Ozpin really seen her then? She had no idea that the elusive headmaster was anywhere present.

"I really need to practice my infiltration," she muttered to herself while Yang and Weiss chuckled at Ruby's cluelessness.

With some quick thinking from Weiss, the date for their library infiltration was postponed and they went to bed with little else to worry about, with just the thought to their first mission to Forever Fall that next morning.

It was a mission alright. Returning to their dorms afterwards, Blake was glad that she called first shower. Letting the steam rise over her as the hot water pelted on her back, she praised the amazing water pressure and the seemingly never ending supply of hot water. A supply which she had come to learn was a rarity for anyone who took a shower after Yang Xiao Long. What she wouldn't give for eternal first showering privileges. Not salmon though. Maybe a book of poems or something that she had lying around. That seemed like a fair enough trade to her.

But like always, the days continued on. Blake grew closer with Yang and Ruby, as strange as she was, while somehow slipping further from friendly with Weiss. It wasn't like neither of them were trying. They interacted almost daily, were kind enough to each other when required. But… it was like there was still something fundamentally different between them. Were it not for her, Blake would have felt somewhat comfortable thinking about telling her team the truth of her species. She was a Faunus. It seemed to be the central point of contention between the two of them.

Not that Weiss knew of course, but the effects of her upper ears was still ever present. In the constant debates and arguments they had. In the way they saw the world; Weiss from a position of status and money and Blake from the position of the downtrodden and those who earned their way to riches, instead of riding it on the backs of slave labour...

It was one mostly ordinary morning that everything came to a head between them. Well, most days felt like their arguments were reaching a boiling point, but this one felt that much closer to one. Enough so, that Blake had stormed out of the cafeteria. Oh, Ruby had tried her best to calm the two of them down. Blake was almost glad that she did what she could. But just the sight of Weiss was all too much for that afternoon.

Blake just had to go. The library. That was a good enough place to relax. She needed some time and space away from her team. Away from everyone really. It was why she enjoyed books so much. Just an escape from one reality to venture into a different one that almost always had an ending that made sense. Whether it was a joyful, happy ending, or a tragic one, or even one which shook her to her very core, it was an ending that worked. Everyone was left in the places where they deserved to be.

It was much better than real life. At least for a time. She'd have to go back to her team and apologize for ditching them at some point, but she deserved a few hours to brood.

So obviously, that meant the fearless leader Ruby Rose had to show up. And it didn't go the way Blake had thought it would. She slipped up. She accidently revealed herself and who she was. She had prepared to run. To use her semblance and dart passed Ruby and get on the first airship going anywhere. Even worse, she revealed she was ex-White Fang. In the dumbest way imaginable!

Blake wanted to kick herself for it. Ruby, being the confusing mess that she is, didn't pick up on anything Blake had said. Blake had thought that Ruby was an excellent listener. Well, she was, but she did have a unique way of picking up on certain things and not others.

And she didn't care.

Ruby didn't care. Not that she was a Faunus. Not that she was ex-White Fang. None of it. It was a massive weight off Blake's chest. Ruby agreed to keep it a secret and everything. It was… amazing. Incredible. A feeling she didn't expect to have that left her smiling with tears streaming down her eyes.

Then only a short while later, Ruby put her faith in Blake to practice. She stood up for her in front of Weiss, in the middle of Vale.

The docks happened. A fight which began as a way to ease her own conscience, help out a fellow Faunus, as well as reconnect with Weiss, that turned into something worse than a disaster. They had gone in, planning to stop a shipment from the White Fang and instead ended up fighting Roman Torchwick of all people. Everything got worse from there. A hard battle became an impossible one. Penny Polendina, that strange girl Ruby had made friends with turned into something she thought she'd only see after years of training. Skin Crawlers were nothing to scoff at.

The way it tore through Penny's body, sending tendrils out of her arms, legs and neck to grow its reach. The sickening cracks of bones and the unholy squelches of sinew and muscle. It tore through everything. Her sword struck that monster time and time again, yet it was like nothing could pierce its flesh. It ripped through loose veins and ligaments which had surely been Penny's once upon a time, but not it's true body.

Blood had rained down on them as they had fought that Skin Crawler. Blake had felt like she was on her last legs, barely keeping up with it. And then an impossible situation got that much worse.

What was worse than impossible?

Once upon a time, Blake didn't have a word to describe it. Now, there was one. A word which pounded into her, a rhythmic drum pulsating as fast as her heart.

Reaper.

Reaper.

Reaper.

The word struck her over and over again. Impossible to shake. Impossible to hold back.

The stories were true.

All of them were true.

It had been like she was frozen in place, unable to tear her eyes away from that creature.

How it barely flinched when the Skin Crawler struck the back of her head, hidden away beneath that long, black cloak. It paid them no mind, its attention focused solely on the dying White Fang members. A simple nick of its scythe and they slumped over, dead.

Blake wanted to cry out in horror, yet the sound caught in her throat, nearly choking her.

Then it turned to look at them, batting away the Skin Crawler like she might brush away a pesky mosquito.

Somehow Yang had managed to shake off her fear first. And it was at that moment that Blake truly understood Yang, as well as Ruby's strange behaviour. Ruby was destined to fight these things, wasn't she… Yang was so sure that Ruby would become one of the remarkable few which sought out Reapers and slew them.

As Yang struck the Reaper with all her might, barely leaving a scratch on the First of the Higher Order, Blake was glad that Ruby was nowhere present. She needed to keep her sense of amazement with the world for a little bit longer. Ruby needed that joy and wonder and oddity to grow into the strongest of them all. If she were here…

Blake let out a shuddering breath.

There was no way that Ruby would be able to face one of these. Blake knew in her heart that she never would be able to.

Relief filled her as a bullhead rounded the corner, dropping off five teams of professional huntsmen. The Reaper fled and Ruby appeared in the nick of time, shouting that the huntsmen had arrived. They killed that Skin Crawler, blasting it with untold quantities of fire dust, while helping the four of them to safety.

And like a switch, they all broke into tears. They had survived. Somehow. They should have died. Every single last one of them. Yet there they were. Alive, mostly uninjured physically, but likely never the same mentally.

It took time for them to come around. Nightmares became a constant for all of them, including Blake. Yet, every night when she woke up, about to cry out, she could feel Ruby's presence nearby.

Ruby was awake. Every night, no matter the time that those dreams tore her from rest, Ruby was there. With a hand in her's. Or a gentle word to calm her down.

A song spoken in a language she had never heard of before. Or even in her very own tongue with a story which painted Reapers as tragic creatures of good. It was almost horrifying how well those sweet, simple, delicate words about the creature she had learnt to fear most, soothed her entire being and brought her back to a comforting sleep.

It felt like years ago that Ruby had asked Blake to help sneak into the restricted access section of Beacon's library. Yet, it was a quick stroll through Beacon at night, followed by an open window in the library. It had been much too easy to get in. And while Ruby was upset that there wasn't much in the way of stealth, Blake could see the lights on each video camera turn off just as they reached them.

Ozpin was likely allowing them this little venture. After all they'd been through, Blake was grateful for it. She was in no real mood to keep Ruby quiet and finding the blind spots in each leg of their journey.

When one flickered back on, she gave it a thankful nod before following Ruby once more. It would be good for the headmaster to know that she wasn't completely clueless to his motives.

The two books they eventually found were nothing like she'd come to think would be housed in the restricted section. For one, they were fairy tales. Children's stories. The Hero's Daughter was a story she knew nearly by heart. It was one of her favourites as a young girl. Everybody knew it.

The other; The Farmer's Daughter. Well, that one she had never heard of before, yet Ruby knew it well. It was very much the same story, but seemingly told from a different perspective. Closer to that of Salem, than the Hero Ozma. Worse that that, Ruby's story painted Ozma as a villain more so than a hero, and Salem as a tragic figure who was just trying to help the people of her village after Ozma attacked her mother. It -Blake had to let out a somber chuckle at the thought- it almost sounded like Salem was a Reaper.

Blake had read and reread the Farmer's Daughter, deciphering its poetry and very strange ending verses. Try to, at least. Blake had no clue what Ruby was getting out of these stories, if she was at all, but Blake could only pick up on a single thing.

The stories were the same. Obviously. Most likely The Farmer's Daughter was and earlier version of the story which slowly shifted into the version most everyone knew today. Which was absurd, really. The Hero's Daughter was an extremely old story. Most definitely written before the establishment of the kingdoms. Maybe even a great deal before that too. And the Farmer's Daughter was supposed to be even older than that?

It was unbelievable in a way. If the solution that Ruby's fairy tale was older than the oldest known fairy tale in existence was untrue, then that left just one possibility. The Farmer's Daughter was a modern retelling of the story from a different perspective, written in such a way that it seemed older. It would make sense. The strange nonsensical ending could be some staple of the author, or maybe even a sequel bait to a future story that would add to this new retelling. It sat more right with her, this interpretation.

It still didn't explain why Ruby seemed to be taking a keen interest in them however…

Apologies once more for the delay. I normally like to upload in the morning, but I had some issues with this chapter. As you could probably tell from reading it, it's lackluster at best. Thanks mainly to school projects and midterms taking up most, if not all of my free time this week, a growing rut in this story causing me frustration is certainly not helping either. I know I had big plans for it, but nothing has been coming out the way I wanted it to lately, so I may need to speed through it some more, or just jump cut to the ending. Please note, that I'm talking about this Blake-centric section of the story, not the full Reaper in Red story as a whole. The entire story I still plan on completing. I'm just having some issues with this section.

Hopefully next time I get back in the zone and can give you guys a more satisfying chapter. I completely understand any and all dislike to this section because it's certainly not coming out the way I was hoping it would.

C3l3st14 - Maybe? I never really thought about that, but Reapers are most definitely very strong.

Cun - Thank you! This chapter aside, Blake thinking Ruby as just an eccentric prodigy is a lot of fun,

Dragonqueen1993 - I did send you a message so you wouldn't have to wait so long, but for everyone else, check out chapter 18.

TM Calypso - There's definitely more to come. Who knows what Blake will discover!

firewyrm2 - Thanks. Sometimes a break is needed, even though it probably sucks to need to wait for what is happening with Ruby and Cinder.

Dragon Lord Draco - Probably not from Weiss's perspective no. Maybe another single interlude or so, but not much. Well, okay, I did have an idea for an epilogue from Weiss's perspective if I decide to split this story up into 2 'books', but I'm still debating on whether or not I should go that route.

FN75 - Sorry! I know cliffhangers suck. But hopefully that means you'll be excited to find out what's going to happen with the two of them? :P

Alucard45 - Ya, that was my worry with the recap chapters too. I want to add at least a bit of new information to each chapter, even if the chapters do suck.

Until next time!