(This chapter has been edited since its original posting. Someone thankfully pointed out a part about the vaccination scene ((which by the way wont make much sense until later)) and i managed to edit it to flow better. Hopefully that fixes any confusion about that particular part of the chapter. Have a nice read and day!)
The week went by rather quickly and soon approached the time of Arthurs arrival. Finding random places to sleep and scrounging for food had been an interesting experience for Ruby, with mixed results. She had found out that meat was harder to steal or procure then she previously had thought, and just getting something that wasn't rotten was often first come first serve in the alleys. Finding places to sleep was actually easy, many rooftops were often left empty and had amazing views of the sky above. Light pollution sadly hid many of her personal favorite constellations.
The smells had gotten somewhat tolerable, either that or she was going nose blind and thankful for it. Ruby still had a hard time picking individual scents from the absolute mess that was the city, but thankfully she no longer felt the constant urge to just empty her stomach on the sidewalk.
The meeting spot for this particular evening was just outside the city limits, deep in some rather Grimm infested trees. A sort of homely area for a meeting, one that Ruby was rather thankful for since this entire last week had definitely grated on her nerves. It had gotten so bad that she had almost resorted to gnawing on her own arm to stop her from lashing out against someone claiming that their pet wolf hound was a vegan.
Just entering the forest felt like it had removed a massive weight from her shoulders. Like something had been adjusted inside her and finally clicked into the correct spot. Her body began to relax, nerves which had been frayed from all the new experiences tied themselves back together as she walked through the trees.
Soon enough smaller Grimm began emerging from the shadows of the thick brush, pushing their way forward until they walked alongside her. A few of them even bumped their heads against her shoulder, a sign of familiarity and welcome amongst these dark beasts. Pausing for a moment Ruby bumped her head against the closest Grimm, its fur rough against her skin but comforting.
A large majority of the Grimm were Beowolves, with a few Ursa scattered amongst them. The big hulking bear monsters didn't attempt to nuzzle the wolf girl, although they remained close as she walked further and further into the thickening woods. The underbrush gave way to their powerful legs, clearing a path of sorts through the trees for her to walk. It was slow going at some point, climbing over hills or rocks till she finally made it to a clearing. A dark gray shuttle could be seen with its ramp deployed, waiting for her.
From the interior of the dark gray vessel came forth a rather skinny old man. Old being in the sense that he carried himself with an air of nobility and stuffiness that made him seem elderly even though he was probably only in his 40s. The shadows of the ship seemed to be swallowing his thin frame even as he walked down the ramp to greet her.
There was a point in time when Ruby was a lot younger that she laughed at his graying hair and his flimsy body. She quickly learned exactly how wrong she was for judging him by looks when he quickly defeated her with his knowledge and skills.
Arthur Watts had a mastery over technology, that and a shrewdness that lay hidden beneath his sharp tongue. It was he who helped design Crescent Rose when Salem had deemed it time for Ruby to have her own weapon.
Crescent Rose… What a weapon… roughly seven feet long when fully extended with a five foot wingspan. The blade was not a smooth edge but instead jagged and rough, sharp as hell but designed to deliver devastating attacks and tear through the flesh of her enemies. While light and compact, there were a few things that still needed tweaking or adjusting from time to time such as the folding mechanism and the firing pin. The only real problem with the firing pin was sometimes it ended up getting stuck and required a deep cleaning.
On the subject of cleaning, the blade thanks to its rather jagged edge often needed to be scrubbed down after any battles. Just last week when she almost tore one of the robbers arms off she had spent a good twenty minutes just picking pieces of him off the blade. It was messy but required and Ruby would never willingly leave her precious sweetheart a gorey mess. Although… Something about Crescent Rose bathed in moonlight, glistening with crimson, felt almost too perfect. As if being coated in blood just made it all the more beautiful.
"I see you still enjoy staring off into space… honestly sometimes I wonder if there's even a light on in that head of yours or if its completely vacant" Arthur sighed, drawing Ruby out of her in depth dreams of Crescent Rose's design, maintenance problems, and dancing images of blood dripping from the blade.
"It's nice to see you too, Mr Arthur! You're looking as old as ever!" Despite the very obvious insult, Ruby smiled happily and made her way over to the shuttle. Insulting people was just part of Arthurs charm and something that she had grown up to accept and eventually ignore.
"Our goddess, in her infinite wisdom, has decided that your little 'mission' was important enough to warrant this supply run" Arthur snapped his fingers and from the shadows of his ship a shambling figure emerged carrying two duffle bags. An oddly shaped robot of some sort that hobbled forward on badly damaged servos. Ruby half expected it to fall over or burst into flames before making it to her but instead it dropped off the bags and made its way back into the ship, vanishing within the inky darkness which seemed to permeate from its hidden depths. "Inside, you'll find a few sets of passable clothing. A couple containers of dust, your tools, and some spare parts for when that scythe of yours falls apart. I trust you can manage your own repairs?"
"You're being rather rude to our master's daughter, it would be a shame if she heard about how you're treating her" A new voice emerged from the abyss, a pair of gleaming amber eyes pierced the darkness to settle on Ruby. a new smell fluttered its way to her, roasted cinnamon, Cinder! Yes she could see her now as she stepped into the moonlight. Tall, powerful, ethereal beauty, and of course a cool and threatening aura that seemed to fill the air.
"Cinder! Cinder! Hey Cinder!" Ruby raced forward only to skid to a stop half way up the ramp when she remembered an important lesson about tackling her most favorite older sister figure. Well her only older sister figure.
"Hello little wolf. It's good to see you again especially after that run in you had with Torchwick" Cinder met Ruby halfway down the ramp, reaching out and resting a hand in between her fluffy wolf ears and scratching one of those very special scratching spots that very few people actually knew about. The wolf girl's left leg began to shake rather violently as she tried desperately to not begin stomping in delight.
"Yah sorry about that, I didn't know the weirdly dressed man was working for you I thought he was just… well… weird. His henchmen did point a gun at me and wore stupid sunglasses at night so my attack was rather justified"
"He is weirdly dressed isn't he" Cinder said, finally removing her hand from Ruby's head and returning it to her hip where she stood there looking her over. Her dress glowed softly in the light making her look even more ethereal and dangerous. "Have you been well since then? No complications?"
"Nooooope! I've just been exploring and familiarizing myself with the city. There's so much to see but sometimes the smells and sounds can be a bit much…" Ruby sighed, blushing a little bit in embarrassment as she rubbed the back of her. She may have been a bit too excited by Cinders head pats, but being excited was something she couldn't really control. Stomping her foot or shaking her leg just felt natural, primal, like it was connected to a deeper more canine part of her responsible for her ears and tail.
Arthur cleared his throat, holding up a small case for them to see. He opened it silently, exposing its contents, an assortment of syringes and small bottles could be seen carefully resting within the safety of a black foam mold which hugged them in a sort of secure blanket.
"These are vaccinations for an assortment of infections and diseases before you actually begin your time at Beacon at the request of our goddess. Although if you really did fall ill I would think that you perhaps just weren't strong enough" The man handed the case to an irritated Cinder, well it was more like he thrust it into her arms with a sneer splattered across his face.
Ruby rolled her eyes and exposed her left arm for him to stab at. This wasnt particulalry strange since she has often been asked to visit Arthur in the past for physicals. Something about making sure she wasnt going to implode? Or randomly go feral? Something like that, Ruby didnt really care, no wait that was a lie, she did care if she exploded because that would be rather messy and she'd be dead.
Goosebumps spread across her bare skin as Arthur began disinfecting the area, the swab leaving behind a tingling sensation that made her want to shake out her arm. She felt a slight hesitation as the first of three needles approached her skin, she never was good with needles.
The first syringe ended up being a flu shot, relatively simply even if it burned a little. The second was for some sort of chicken related thing that apparently hit people when they were kids usually. Ruby could have sworn she had already gotten that one but she also had a rather picky memory.
The third and final syringe was more interesting, a cloudy black liquid that Ruby was 57% sure was not your normal vaccines. Of course she was not a medical professional and had no actual knowledge of such practices as she generally relied on her aura for its healing abilities.
This one felt like sludge, a cold creeping that climbed her veins and before igniting like a cold fire. Doubling over she grasped at her arm in pain, growling softly and stumbling back away from Arthur who watched with a rather satisfied look in his eyes. She knew he was enjoying this, he always did whenever she needed a shot, watching with a judgmental stare as she squirmed.
whining softly Ruby grabbed at the injection spot, scratching at it causing blood drip down her arm. Her ears lay falt atop her head as she gasped and almost fell off the ramp.
"What was that!" Ruby managed to choke out, looking up at the older man with a rather pained expression painted across her face. It burned her blood, seeping into cracks and crevices that housed her nerves and… other assorted weird biological stuff. She had been schooled but unless it was Grimm related or mechanical she had not committed much of it to memory.
"Nothing much, something I happened to concoct at the request of our goddess even if I do believe it's wasted on the likes of you." Arthur rolled his eyes and took the case back from Cinder who almost looked worried, although that was quickly masked by an expression of either irritation or fury, Ruby couldn't quite tell at the moment as she was more occupied with the feeling of being cooked alive.
There was one surprising thing. The song of destruction, the melody of Grimm, wasn't being amplified by her current emotional state. Ruby had no doubt that it had to do with whatever the blackish liquid had been, and that this was probably temporary, but still she was relieved that she didn't have to resist its seductive pull in this moment.
it took a few minutes but the burning sensation vanished leaving Ruby a shaking mess. Whatever Arthur had injected her with had either finally made its way throughout the entirety of her system or it had decided that burning her alive from the inside was no longer productive.
No, it wasn't completely gone, it was more like it had been transformed from a burning rage to an insatiable itch. This irritation was mild, easily ignored if given time but in this moment it was very much noticeable. The grimm which had paused previously around the edge of the clearing began to walk closer, slowly but steadily towards the shivering girl.
Rolling his eyes at the feverish girl and contemplating why he had even been asked to waste his talents on aiding her, Arthur finished putting away the case.
It was no secret that Arthur didn't like Ruby, to him she brought no strategic value to his goddesses mission and was merely a distraction. She had grown up within the arms of Salem, attached to her hip at almost every meeting. Contributing nothing, offering no help or assistance, a waste of resources.
Ruby only thought of Arthur as a grumpy old man who preferred the solace of his work over interacting with other people. He was cruel and manipulative but he also got the job done when assigned to one.
A smaller beowolf bumped its head against Ruby's shoulder, earning a small tired smile from her as she returned its nuzzle. It was a calming action born of their connection to her and her emotions. The grimm were the only things besides her mother and sister that ground her to the earth, returning her to a sense of calm and ease simply by making their presence known. Returning her attention to Arthur and Cinder she bowed suddenly as instructed by her mother when something was given.
"Thank you" It was a cold thanks than the two were used to but they nodded their acceptance anyways. Cinder shot a glare towards the older man, clearly not approving of his satisfaction with Ruby's misery "Cinder, will I be seeing you in Vale again at some point?"
"Yes, I've been tasked with quite an important job, little wolf. I may even see you at Beacon in a few months if you keep yourself in check" Cinder walked towards Ruby, a little hesitant due to the Grimm that now surrounded her in a sort of protective shell.
"Really! I can't wait! We can do all sorts of fun things like play board games or have sleepovers! Maybe even prank people by releasing a bunch of Grimm in random areas!" Ruby said, no longer holding back in wanting to hug her older sister. Small arms wrapped tightly around the tall woman, surprising her on how quickly Ruby had regained her exciting energy that she was so well known for.
"You really do love your Grimm dont you"
"Of course! They're so cute and fluffy! Plus they are always so excited to see me! Humans won't accept me for what I am but I can always count on the Grimm to instead!" These words were the truth, Salem had told her that much. To the humans Grimm were creatures of destruction and chaos, this extended to Ruby if they ever discovered what she was.
Ruby would be captured or killed, tortured for information or simply because of what she was. Humanity was scared of her mothers creatures even though Salem only wanted to bring a utopia into existence. It didn't make much sense to her but Ruby could understand enough to know that she was better off with the Grimm than with human companionship.
Salem's words were more than enough to convince Ruby that the world was a dangerous place for her, that only she and those close to her would accept her for what she was. Attending Beacon would be a challenge, surrounded by humans and the horrible Ozpin, always watching and listening. If so much as a flicker of her grimmness managed to break through then it would be a matter of life or death.
"Fluffy? I don't think I've ever heard a grimm described as fluffy" Cinder laughed, her uneasiness of being so close to the grimm was fading, replaced with the fondness for Ruby she often presented in more private settings away from the prying eyes of Arthur and Tyrian.
"Yah! Ok so here feel the fur of this Beowolf, its rough on the surface but if you run your fingers just a little deeper its sooooo soft." Ruby demonstrated, grabbing the head of the grimm which had bumped its head against her most recently. It gazed up into her silver eyes with its own crimson ones, acknowledging this action and accepting its role in presenting the softness of its fur to someone who had been a bit too uneasy around them to actually try and touch them in such a way.
The two continued their conversation as Arthur sighed and walked into the shuttle, his mission was technically complete and he wasn't obligated to wait for Cinder. The injections were done and the tracking chip implanted along with the concentrated Grimm pool liquid. Salem had made it quite clear to him in private of Ruby's role in all this, even if he did find it rather useless.
She was an experiment, no more no less. An experiment that required a colossal amount of resources and technology that could be put towards more important things. Raising the little wolf had been like hell, especially when she had no control over her emotions in the early years. Reinforced cribs and toys needed to be constructed along with proper surveillance equipment and a lab capable of studying the effects that the dark brothers pool had on a silver eyed child.
The results had been… well there were no results. Nothing was consistent and there was no pattern to what had been the key factor to Ruby's survival. If Arthur had been presented to the child for study during his time at Atlas then maybe he would have been more excited about the thought of studying her and her abilities, but now when there was a much more important goal in mind… Ruby was a puzzle meant to be locked in a box and burned.
With those thoughts in mind Arthur began preparing for takeoff prompting Cinder to make a hasty goodbye to Ruby and hop aboard. The wolf girl watched silently as the shuttle lifted up into the sky and vanished from view, leaving her and the Grimm to the welcoming silence of the forest.
Ruby felt an emptiness settle within the pit of her stomach. A longing for Cinder, for her mother, to be back in their arms and to never leave. The human world was scary and there was no telling what would actually happen at Beacon.
Turning she looked one last time at the sky, sending a silent prayer to the cold stars above and vanishing into the woods, back to the city of sin and filth.
Hello everyone sorry for the long wait on this chapter and its shorter length, I honestly couldn't figure out what else to put in here to make it longer without just drawing it out to unbelievable boredom.
There is good news!
This is the final chapter before we actually begin the first major arc (technically this chapter also still falls under the timeline of episode one of RWBY as will the next chapter) But anyways yah! final chapter before the start of our first main arc!
You guys have been very supportive and I thank you for that, really means a lot to me hearing your thoughts and how much you actually enjoy the story i'm trying to tell. if you have hopes or ideas for how this would go id be happy to listen to them, or if you want an OC to pop in as a background character I wouldnt mind trying to work them into a scene. For the OC thing just remember that they would be a background character but depending on how things go they may have a lasting impact on characters.
Anyways dont want to bore you all with my non stop rambling of possibilities, if you have ideas or the OC thing request shoot me a PM or send in a review and ill respond to it as soon as possible! I love ideas so much! too many notebooks have been filled with my own.
See you in chapter four and may the Raccoon be with you.