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howlingday · 2 years ago

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hey if you got some time wanna try writing a fight scene with jaune vs one of the rwby girls (or all four) where they're faster and stronger and more skilled than him but our boy's wearing a literal ton in armor and gear and has a great timing to negate their speed.

on rwby's end we got ruby who's high mobility means that it's damn near impossible to hit her with a timed strike because she gets to set the tempo,

yang who's needs to be taken down in a single blow to ensure her semblance doesn't heal and empower her

blake who can use her clones to take a hit even when jaune does manage to time his hits right,

and weiss who can control the battlefield with her dust usage and can summon fighters to do all the dirty work for her.

the main issue is that all four of them have huge egos and can be tricked into not fighting the right way pretty easily if they even think to fight properly against jaune.

if you do, do the fight scene, would ya mind showing us whichever girl(s) he fought swallowing their pride to ask jaune for pointers afterward?

Ruby: Uh, are you sure about this, Jaune?

Jaune: I have to know where I'm at, Ruby.

Ruby: Yeah, but I don't want you to get hurt. Like, the last time we fought-

Jaune: Was at Beacon, and that was with food. This time, we have our weapons.

Ruby: Not making a strong case for this.

Jaune: Please, Ruby? For old time's sake?

Ruby: (Sigh) Fine, but if it gets to be too much-

Jaune: I'll stop you.

The ground crunched under Ruby's boots as she widened her stance, slightly crouching. 'Like a spring' she thought to herself. Her grip on Crescent Rose tightened as she stared down her friend from across the arena. In a blink, the fight began.

Jaune charged forward, his sword and shield in hand. Ruby lept towards him, her scythe swinging wide from her side. He spun on his heel, catching her blade on his shield and using his momentum to carry his blade into her.

Ruby split into a flurry of petals and reformed behind Jaune. Her scythe shifted to it's rifle form and fired a shot into Jaune, nailing him in the back. He stumbled, but caught himself without falling on his knee. He turned and ran after Ruby as she land. Shifting again, Ruby ran at Jaune, swinging her scythe, keeping Jaune on the defensive back foot as she spun, the blade's size and momentum knocking Jaune's shield off by a few inches. He rolled backwards, shaking his arm.

Ruby: Need a break?

Jaune: I was about to ask you the same thing.

Ruby and Jaune ran towards each other again, but Jaune changed his tactics. He swung at Ruby, keeping shield out further than usual. Ruby stepped back, pointing Crescent Rose's muzzle at Jaune. He followed through, thrusting his sword forward while bring his shield closer.

Ruby fired, hitting Jaune square in his shoulder. He grunted, but continued his charge forward. Ruby petal burst to his side, swinging her scythe down onto him. Jaune caught the scythe's blade on his, then twirled himself along the shaft. Once he was in front of Ruby, he smashed his shield against her, knocking her to the ground.

She rolled backwards, but carefully climbed to her feet. Holding Crescent Rose tight to her chest, she panted from the surprisingly heavy strike from Jaune. Well, not too surprising, since he outsized her twice over. Worst yet, she could feel herself low on aura, while Jaune walked closer, taking a deep breath, and restored his.

Jaune: Can you keep going?

Ruby: Just... a sec...

Jaune: (Amps her aura) How about now?

Ruby: (Rubs her head) I still have a headache.

Jaune: (Chuckles) How about we break for lunch? My treat.

Ruby: It's always your treat.

Jaune: I'm trying a low sodium diet. I can't live on salt, Ruby.

Ruby: My food isn't that bad.

---------------------------------------------------

Weiss: I hope you're ready, Jaune, because I won't be going easy on you.

Jaune: I'd prefer you didn't, actually.

Weiss: If you insist, but just remember that you asked for this.

Jaune: How could I ever forget?

Jaune and Weiss took positions across from each other, swords in hand. Jaune gripped his firmly, heart pounding with anticipation. This is a woman who's been honing her craft since who knows when. He only picked up the sword a few years ago.

Neither moved from their positions, save for Weiss dragging her toe behind her, shifting her body to a fencing position. Jaune brought his shield close as he stepped forward. Rushing in would only get themselves hurt.

Jaune lightly jabbed his sword forward. Weiss easily knocked his blade aside and thrusted into his shoulder. He reeled back in pain, but never lost his grip. Blinking through the pain, he watched Weiss shift forward.

Weiss: That was your only warning.

Jaune: Noted.

He rushed forward, shield moving to cover his shoulder. With a wide swing, he opened himself to catch Weiss' rapier and knock it away. However, Weiss saw this coming and stepped back, lunging law and forward into his open guard. Jaune retreated, slapping his sword down against her blade, then swung an elbow for her face.

Weiss fell backwards, but quickly lept to her feet. He gave her an apologetic chuckle, shrugging his shoulders. She gave her own wry smile, lunging again. She aimed low and struck his thighs, stepped back and shot a round of fire dust at him.

Jaune stood firm, holding his shield up to block the attack. He lowered his defense and found Weiss charging him. He was about strike when he saw the glyph at her feet. In response, he held guard and watched as she soared through the air above him, her body turned to face him as she spun mid-air, her legs over her head.

He turned as she landed behind him and struck the ground, spying a glyph spiraling beneath. He turned and saw a massive construct of ice, summoned to life by his opponent.

Weiss: Do you yield?

Jaune exhaled, his skin glowing as his semblance restored his aura. He gave a chuckled as he gripped Crocea Mors tighter.

Jaune: Do you?

---------------------------------------------------

Blake: Are you ready?

Jaune: Uh, that depends. Does this count as us hanging out?

Blake: Why wouldn't it?

Jaune: Well, when was the last time we hung out together?

Blake: Last week. Remember?

Jaune: Huh. Really? Just the two of us?

Blake: I'm sure it'll come to you, eventually.

Blake ran forward, keeping herself low, arms close to her side. Jaune swiped with his shield, but his momentum carried him through the shadow, forcing him off balance. He turned to see her charge again, weapon in hand. She lept into him, kicking herself off his shield into the air.

She threw her blade at Jaune, who stepped away and stood ready for her to come down. Her descent was preluded by gunshots as her weapon shifted to it's submachinegun form, peppering Jaune where he stood. He held up his shield, covering his face. She tugged on the ribbon, pulling herself to the ground.

Jaune approached her, earning him another dose of gunfire as Blake unloaded the rest of her magazine on him. He held up his shield as he stalked forward, his sword at his side and ready to swing. Blake stood, switching her weapon to it's ninjato form. He swung, missing her entirely, earning him a strike in the shoulder from the girl.

He swung out to the side, missing her again, black smoke rising from the fading shadow. Jaune stepped away, keeping his guard up as he locked eyes on her. She stalked towards him, and on her face was a smile.

Jaune: I remember now. We were watching that ninja show together.

Blake: Ninjas of Love, yes.

Jaune: Yeah, then I said I liked it, and you started smiling. Just like you are now.

Blake: I'm not smiling.

Jaune: Not now, but you were a second ago.

Blake: No, I wasn't.

Jaune: Yeah, you were. You're having fun, aren't?

Blake: Shouldn't we be fighting?

Jaune nodded and breathed out, his aura refilling. He stepped forward to Blake and put a hand on her shoulder. She visibly relaxed as her aura was restored significantly. She had used her clones too frivolously. She needed to rely on them less. As he stepped away, Blake put her next plan into action.

Rushing forward, she jumped into Jaune. He swatted at her with his shield, but had to spin on his heel when Blake swapped herself with a clone, this time made of stone. She capitalized on his off balance and struck him from behind. She ducked away from another sword strike, and thrusted into his thigh.

Jaune stepped away, giving Blake room to jump again. This time, however, Jaune ducked aside as she swung at him. Using her ice clone, she trapped Jaune's sword as he thrusted at her. As she ran into his guard, he swung the clone into her, knocking her to the ground. She jumped to her feet, panting.

Blake: This is fun.

Jaune: Right? I haven't had a workout like this in, well, ever!

Blake: Well, I'm glad you're enjoying this, and not playing unfair.

Jaune: How would I play unfair?

Blake: You could amp your aura without amping mine.

Jaune: Oh... Yeah, I could! Totally! Do. That.

Blake: You didn't of it, did you?

Jaune: (Sighs) No, I didn't.

---------------------------------------------------

Yang: You ready to rock, Vomit Boy?

Jaune: Uh, not really. I mean, you are the best fighter on your team.

Yang: Aw! You're so sweet! Too bad it's not gonna save you from this savage beating.

Jaune: Oh boy.

Yang wasted no time, charging head on into Jaune. She swung a fist into Jaune's guard, knocking his shield away. In response, he swung down with his sword, but blocked it with a backhand and used her free fist to fire a shot into his ribs. He coughed as he rolled backwards.

Jaune groggily stood to his feet, shaking off the pain. Yang giggled across the arena, cooing taunts at him. With a sharp exhale, he reset his stance. He walked towards her, guard up and sword ready.

Yang tittered again before ducking low and launching herself to his flank, coming in like a bullet. He swung around and blocked, then followed with another sword swing at her. She bobbed away, entering his guard. He stepped back, forcing her to a shot he was grateful was empty.

Yang pressed in again, but this time, Jaune pushed her strike inward with a shield. On her flank, Jaune swung down. Yang took the hit and rolled forward, grunting. She stretched her shoulder with a grin.

Yang: That's one for you and... fifteen for me?

Jaune: Ah- Fifteen?!

Yang: Well, I did hit you with a buckshot round.

Jaune: Has anyone ever told you you're the worst?

Yang: Do you mean today, or just my team, or something else entirely?

Jaune: Ugh... You're the wo-

Yang: What? Am I so awesome you can't finish a sente-

Yang and Jaune both looked down in horror at the ground between them. Jaune's horror intensified as he gulped and looked at Yang. Yang's horror shifted to righteous fury as her eyes became red with a blink and her hair shone like the sun. Between them, lie thin, yellow strands of Yang's hair.

Jaune stepped back, holding his guard especially high and close as Yang stepped closer. With a single punch, Jaune was sent rolling backwards. He didn't want to imagine what would have happened if he didn't have his shield to block that.

Yang launched herself at him, firing her buckshot rounds each time. What Jaune couldn't block, he dodged, and what couldn't be dodged was blocked. He lept away and Yang fired another round. When it clicked, she fired another, only for it to click as well.

Upon hearing the clicks, Jaune rushed forward, striking Yang with his shield. Stunned, Yang stumbled a bit, and Jaune wasted no time striking her his his sword. When she swung back, he stepped away before stepping in and striking again.

Yang held up a hand, forcing Jaune to pause.

Jaune: You doin' alright, Yang?

Yang: Yeah. Yeah, just, uh... tired.

Jaune: Your aura did get kind low. And you are coming down from your super mode.

Yang: Ha ha... Super mode? What, like some kind of video game?

Jaune: Kind of. You need a break?

Yang: Yeah. Then, I'm gonna kick your butt twice as hard.

Jaune: Heh heh. I'm looking forward to it.

#rwby #ruby rose #jaune arc #my answers #my answer #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long

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greenteaandtattoos · 4 years ago

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Memories like Thorns: A Ruby Rose One-Shot

Ruby slung the red skirt and cape over the makeshift clothesline that she had made with some sticks she had found lying on the beach and rope she had stashed in her pockets after the incident with the Ace Ops and the Command Center in Atlas.

The sand was warm beneath her bare feet, her boots drying nearby. Her belt, tights, corset, and forearm bracers were laid out on a rock. She hoped they would absorb the heat from the face of the rock and dry faster. She had used a sharp stone to tear off the long-sleeves of her dress and discarded them entirely. It was hot, and she didn’t want to suffer from heatstroke. Crescent Rose rested against a giant seashell.

So, there she stood, in just her shorts and a now-sleeveless blouse. She sighed.

How did it come to this? She remembered the cruel triumph on Cinder’s face as she loomed above her as Ruby clung to the leg of Neo, the girl who had been trying to kill her only moments ago. She remembered the screams of Blake and Penny. She remembered Blake’s grip on her as she attempted to rescue her. She remembered the feeling in her stomach as she and Blake fell after Cinder cut the ribbon on Gambol Shroud, sending them falling to their deaths. She remembered the feeling of free-falling, and then crashing into water, which she eventually discovered was the ocean of this world she could only assume was the afterlife.

She had been lucky her father had taught Ruby and Yang how to swim at a young age. She had managed to swim to the surface of the ocean, spitting up salt water. Through her blurry and burning vision, she had seen the island not too far from where she had fallen, and had managed to swim to the surface. After lying in the sand for what felt like a couple of hours, she had managed to get to her feet and function properly. It was warm now, but who knows what it would get during the night, and she didn’t want to risk freezing.

Not that I can die twice, she thought dryly. Gazing around, she finally took in her surroundings. The sand that made up the beach was tawny in color, and all around her were flourishing trees and colorful flowers. The giant seashell she had rested Crescent Rose against was just one of many that dotted the beach. A massive cliff loomed over her, and on top of that was a tree of gargantuan size, sporting rainbow foliage. Beyond that… she didn’t know, but she heard birdsong.

“We should have asked for guardrails,” Ruby muttered to herself, mentally scolding herself for not thinking of everything like she had hoped. We made more than one foolish oversight, she thought, referring to how they had so easily forgotten that Penny wasn’t the only maiden in Atlas.

Then, I wonder where the others are? Though she and Blake had lost hold on each other when they fell, she was fairly certain she should have fallen somewhat close to her. Yang… she had no idea. Weiss and Penny and Jaune, I hope they’re okay. Last she had seen, they were okay.

Oscar. The thought of the former farmhand scorched through her mind, and she clutched her chest. She hadn’t been able to say goodbye to Oscar.

All of a sudden, a horrifying thought entered her mind. Uncle Qrow. He doesn’t know what happened to us. When he does learn… Oh gods, he’s lost all of his family, now. The thought made her want to vomit and her knees weak. She stumbled and managed to catch herself on one of the branches she had used to make the makeshift clothesline. Her cape, still damp but warm from the sun, brushed against her cheek. She froze suddenly, a memory surfacing.

The feel of velvet brushing against her face, a crimson swathe enveloping her, the warmth of familiar arms wrapped around her in a warm hug. Silver eyes flashed above her as her mother gazed at her, unending love swimming in them. She smiled widely as she clasped her arms around the child in a tight hug, bundling her in her cape. The warmth and the velvet were snug and the child couldn’t imagine leaving the warmth of her mother’s embrace.

Ruby took a step back, her focus returning to the present. She stared at her own crimson clothes. She reached out to touch the cape that had been with her through thick and thin. She grasped it tightly, feeling the damp cloth wrap around her hand.

Her mother’s hug before she left on her final mission was one of the only memories she had of her mother. Her final mission. She grit her teeth. Her final mission that led to her falling into Salem’s clutches. To be experimented on, to be subjected to horrors unfathomable.

All so Salem could spit into Ozpin’s and the God of Light’s face, she thought bitterly. She could imagine the cruel glee that Salem must have felt when she discovered that she could turn the God of Light’s warriors into her own. Her hands trembled, out of anger or fear, she wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

She remembered Oscar’s lament after they picked him up from the slums. “Every choice I made was the wrong one,” he had said forlornly. But it was her choices that had been wrong at every turn. It was her choice to lie to Ironwood, to waste time trying to put out a message with the naive assumption that help would come. Anger and regret surged through her forcing her to sit down. She criss-crossed her legs and stared up at her drying clothes. She wanted nothing more than to be lost in the red, like she was so long ago while in the embrace of her mother.

When she was younger, she had tried very hard not to lie. After all, heroes in fairy tales didn’t lie. They were truthful and brave, and she wanted to be just like them. Of course, she had told little white lies here and there, like when she ate all the raw cookie dough that Yang had made to bake cookies. She remembered when she told her first big lie.

It had been when she first got accepted into Signal Academy, and she chose her combat gear. When she returned home from shopping, decked in all red - and most notably - a red cape, the look on her family’s faces was unforgettable. Qrow - who had come over for a visit - and her father had looked at her with strange, twisted expressions, which in hindsight, she realized was because she looked so similar to her mother.

Yang, on the other hand, had been so proud. “Copying Uncle Qrow, eh?” Yang had asked, in a knowing, teasing voice, jabbing her with her elbows. “The red suits you. Matches your hair.”

The twisted expression had melted off Qrow’s face, replaced with immense pride. “You look good, kiddo. Everyone will know you’re my niece, all right,” he had crowed. Mischief glinted in his pinkish-red gaze as he added, “But don’t think I’ll go easy on you. No favoritism from me. Nope.”

They had looked so happy, and Ruby hadn’t been able to remember the last time the whole family had been so happy, all together like that. Qrow and her father could rarely be in the same room without an argument breaking out, and Yang spent more time at school or hanging out with her school friends than at home.

“Yeah!” Ruby had laughed with them. “I just wanted to look like my hero!” Qrow had puffed out his chest and stretched out an arm ruffling her hair. But deep down, she wasn’t laughing, because it wasn’t true. She hadn’t picked her outfit to look like Qrow. She had chosen the red-soled boots and the corset and the cape because when she thought back to her mother, all she could see was red. From pictures around the house, she knew her mother had a white cape, with a crimson interior.

All she could remember of her mother was the warm embrace of arms hugged tightly around her, the feel of velvet on her face, and bright red. It had been like being embraced by rose petals. And so, when she saw the crimson cape hanging on the clothes hanger, nearly hidden by other capes of varying colors, she had picked it almost immediately. From there, she picked out the rest of her outfit based on the cape and complimentary colors. When she had put it on in the dressing room, it had felt so right.

But she hadn’t wanted to ruin the moment, and so she lied. Guilt had squirmed in her stomach for days after. She had finally managed to dispel it after she convinced herself that by lying, she was keeping her family from feeling sad. She remembered quite vividly how her father got whenever she brought up her mother. He seemed to wither, and while pride and love glimmered in his eyes whenever he spoke of his former partner, his voice became hollow.

Another lie, one that she kept to herself and told no one, was that she was jealous of Yang. She loved her sister more than anything, but sometimes jealousy burned hot in her stomach when she talked about their mother. Because Yang remembered her more than Ruby, and it made her feel emotions that she hated herself for feeling.

It had been a new memory of her mother that had allowed her to activate her eyes against the Leviathan. She had been so excited about the new memory that she had told Yang. Yang had been so happy, and had gone on a long tangent about their mother in an attempt to jog some more memories out of Ruby. Ruby had once again felt the hot bubbles of jealousy in her stomach.

And when Salem had caused a new memory to surface, Ruby had never felt such despair in her life. She remembered the witch’s words, she had burned them into her mind. “Your mother said those words to me. She was wrong, too.”

And then that attacked the Schnee Manor. She remembered the face of the Faunus that had been revealed to be the core of the Hound Grimm. Horrific scars and boils and patches of raw, exposed muscle covered his face and neck, and a strange white spider-web-like substance covered half of his face. Ruby could only assume that Salem had removed his eye on that side. His eye… She had noticed it right away, the dull flash of silver from his remaining eye. He had looked at her, his eye void of any emotion and yet full of an agony that he could not voice as he repeated the same sentence over and over. “Take. The Girl.”

The answer to the question she had asked for 15 years came to her in an instant. This was what had happened to her mother. This was why she never returned. When she had told Yang of her suspicion, for once, she did not feel any jealousy as Yang broke down. All she could feel was overwhelming sorrow and guilt as Yang attempted to comfort her because she knew. She knew why her mother had left her and her family to face Salem.

It was because of her. Because she had inherited her mother’s eyes, and became a target that Salem would eventually come for. For once, she had cursed herself for the color of her eyes. She had previously thought of her eyes as a way to help people, but all they had done was sentence her mother, and indirectly, every silver-eyed warrior that came after her, to a fate worse than death.

She shifted in the sand. A warm, moist wind blew through her hair. None of it mattered now. Because her eyes had failed her, and she had failed her friends, her family, and now she was here. She was dead. She took a deep breath of the salt-scented air. Her heart was rolling with emotions, but all she could do was sit there.

A new sound reached her ears, breaking the lull of birdsong. She instantly became alert. She quickly rose to her feet and snatched up Crescent Rose, brandishing it as her eyes scanned the treeline, where the noise had come from.

A crack of a foot breaking a twig, the rustle of a body brushing against leaves. She tightened her grip on Crescent Rose. A thought suddenly came to her. Wait. I’m dead. Whatever is out there can’t kill me.

The thought wasn’t very comforting, but she did relax her shoulders, keeping her eyes on the treeline, waiting for whatever creature was in there to emerge. Then she saw it, the flash of white, the gleam of silver in sunlight, and the furry black ears that twitched with each step.

Ruby lowered her scythe.

#rwby #ruby rose #rwby 9 hiatus #rwby one-shot #angst was ordered today #summer rose #qrow branwen #yang xiao long

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bridgyrose · 4 years ago

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I thought up an AU where Rwby died in the breach train crash but their spirits didn’t move on and can still use their weapons as spirits and they become unseen protectors until someone (maybe someone in team Jnpr) saw them.

Jaune sighed as he stood at the memorial to team RWBY, looking up at each of their faces. It had been nearly a year after their deaths during the incident that is now referred to as the Breach. It still wasnt clear if the cause of death was the crash with the train, or if it may have been the hordes of grimm that seemed to overwhelm everyone. Either way, it was agreed between Beacon and the Vale Council to erect a memorial to the fallen heroes after Doctor Oobleck explained what had happened.

Jaune sat a bouquet of flowers down in front of the memorial, sighing. “It shouldn’t have been any of you. You all were better huntresses than the rest of us.

Pyrrha walked up behind Jaune and put a hand on her shoulder. “You know they’re not really gone, right? They’ll always be with us.”

“Always be in our hearts, I know.” Jaune shook his head and started walking off. “We should start heading on our mission.”

“Do you really think you’re ready?”

“No, but… we still have a job to do.”

Pyrrha looked at him sadly, hoping he wasnt still beating himself up. She had watched Jaune blame himself for RWBY’s death for the last year, beating himself up for not having been there for them. She took a look up at the monument, smiling at it. “Please watch over Jaune for me while we’re on this mission.”

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Jaune used his shield to block the swipe from an ursa, taking a step back to give himself a bit of room. He made sure to get into the stance that Pyrrha had taught him, readying his sword and waiting for the time to strike. He still wasnt entirely sure how he managed to get separated from his team, but he had to survive and he wasnt going to get himself killed.

Jaune raised his shield once more, waiting for the strike the ursa was gearing up for. He braced himself, sword ready to thrust as the ursa turned to ash and dust in front of his eyes. He blinked for a moment, trying to register what had just happened. The grimm that had been surrounding him, the ursa that had been attacking him, all of them dead and dissipating into the air as smoke and ash. He put his sword and shield away, calling out into the forest. “Pyrrha! Ren! Nora! Are you all here?”

Jaune was met with silence and rose petals floating off in the breeze. He plucked one out of the air and looked it over, watching it fade in his hand after a few seconds. He smiled for a moment and started rushing back to his camp, hoping his team would be there. At long last, he finally had proof.

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“You cant be serious. They’re dead!” Pyrrha pinched the bridge of her nose. “I know I said they’ll always be with us, but I meant that figuratively. That as long as we hold our memories of them, they’d never really be gone.”

“Then explain the rose petal I found. It was just like Ruby’s! And the grimm! No one could ever kill grimm that fast besides her!”

Nora shrugged, looking at her team leader. “Maybe you’ve gotten better at fighting grimm.”

Jaune sighed and looked between his teammates. “Come on, guys, you have to believe me. They’re alive and they’re out here!”

Pyrrha and Nora looked at each other, sharing worried looks as they listened to Jaune. They had all watched team RWBY get buried, saw the broken and battered bodies. There wasnt a chance that they were still alive. And now, their team leader seemed to be seeing things.

Ren sat down a large pot of hash, sighing as he listened to Jaune. “Maybe, you need to get a little rest. You’ve been pushing yourself for so long-”

“I know what I saw! They’re out there! All we have to do is find them and bring them back!”

Pyrrha sighed. “And how, Jaune, do you propose we find them if they’re out there? Let’s… pretend for a moment that you’re right and they really are out there. How are we supposed to bring them back with us? And why would they fake their own deaths?”

“I… I dont know…” Jaune laid back, looking up at the stars. “Maybe… they had something else they needed to do.”

“Or maybe, they’re acting like guardian angels?” Nora started dishing up some of the hash for herself. “I dont buy that they’re still alive. But if they’re still here, maybe they’re protecting those who are in danger.”

“So for us to see them again, we have to put ourselves in danger!” Jaune got up and started heading out into the forest. “Nora! You’re a genius!”

Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora all looked at each other before chasing after Jaune. That wasnt exactly the reaction they were all hoping for with giving him that kind of hope. They all tried to keep up with Jaune, falling a bit behind. The last thing they wanted was for Jaune to put himself in unnecessary danger just to prove a point.

The three of them finally caught up to Jaune, hesitating as they saw a large deathstalker sitting in front of them, red eyes flashing as it moved its tail up. Pyrrha reached for her weapons, hesitating when she realized she left them at camp. Ren and Nora did the same as Jaune backed up, realizing his mistake.

“Iceflower!”

The words echoed off in the wind as a chill started up in the air. A spike of ice pierced the tail from the side, followed by a sharp wind slicing one of the pincers off. JNPR all watched in amazement as the deathstalker in front of them fell, turning into ash and smoke.

Four figures stepped out from the grimm as it dissipated before rushing off in different directions. A trail of rose petals, glyphs, fire, and shadow were all that could be seen before disappearing a few feet later.

Pyrrha rubbed her eyes for a moment, trying to understand what she had just witnessed. “That… that was Ruby’s voice we heard, wasnt it?”

Nora nodded, watching the last of the rose petals disappear. “And that was her move with Weiss.”

“Yang and Blake were also here.” Ren walked over to where the grimm had stood, looking out to the forest in the directions that team RWBY had gone. “Jaune was right. He did see them.”

Jaune smiled a bit, glad his team now believed him. “Then we need to find them and bring them back.”

#rwby #jaune arc #pyrrha nikos #lie ren #nora valkyrie #drabbles #unseen protectors #unseen protectors au

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miki-13 · 4 years ago

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RWBY Volume 8 Part 2 Episode 10: Ultimatum

"That's not a choice, that's an ultimatum!"

"Gohan... we both know I don't know what that word means."

- (looks at warning) Good to know!

- Ominous opening grows more ominous.

- James looking down on the burning city.

- Those poor guards.

- "I don't give a damn about Jacques Schnee." Speaking for the fndm.

- Qrow used peck! It's super effective!

- Trailer clip!

- Again, those poor guards. Running as fast as they can out of the office and I don’t blame them.

- Uhhh... ah geez...

- WHOA JESUS FUCK

- Another trainer clip!

- HOLY SHIT

- OSCAR WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST PULL OFF?!

- Weiss! And Nora's sitting up+ in her battle gear!

- So this was what the warning was for.

- There's Neo skipping through the carnage with the lamp.

- Yeah, I hear you, Elm. That was a massive fucking explosion that could cause tinnitus at best.

- "They were still inside!" Well, some of them were at least. Oh no...

- Geez that's a lot of grimm dust. Ngl, I'm getting volcano ash rain vibes from this.

- Oh come on Elm, accept the comfort.

- So the bomb wasn't used after all... at least, not yet.

- Cinder and Watts! Also Watts sounds shockingly subdued.

- Ah, good to know. So that means you have to go directly to her.

- A virus, huh?

- Damn straight there is! Penny is her own person and you can't hack a person!

- Oh boy...

- Your elitist roots are showing, Arthur. Probably not a good time, considering Cinder's background.

- Damn... wait, why are you laughing? Why he is he laughing? Why is this guy laughing?!

- Holy shit O__O

- Like, damn O__O

- NGL, Watts is giving me a lot of Ironwood vibes just from his voice and tone! - But holy hell if this isn't incredible to watch and listen to!

- ... oh my god.

- OH MY GOD THEY'RE OKAY JAUNE GOT OSCAR OUT OF THERE

- Huh, well there go a bunch of theories.

- Poor Emerald ;A;

- Yeah, Yang not being on board makes sense.

- Oof, we got serious Jaune again. Thankfully, Ren spells out the moral.

- "She is part of the reason I have this. I'm not going to just forgive her." Damn, that line hits hard.

- Wonder what purple petals mean. Also this means that Ren can still activate his semblance despite being out of aura?

- "You don't have to forgive her." Thank you, Oscar!

- "Do you mean Ozpin? ... I had a feeling." Holy shit, Ren is too powerful now!

- Oh no...

- OH MY FUCKING HEART ;A;

- Oh right, the Atlas people are in the subways!

- Yeah, you helped that cause that before, Emerald... but as Oscar says, they could really use your help now.

- Final trailer clip.

- Oohhhh, that bomb is so definitely going off on Atlas, calling it now.

- NO FUCKING SHIT I COULDN'T HAVE SEEN THIS COMING

- "At this point, we'll never know." Who wants to bet he'll learn before the volume is over?

- His body language is fucking stellar.

- ... oh no.

- THIS IS EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE

- GOD-dammit, Harriet...

- AAAAAAHHHH FUCK

- The SDC ships!

- Uhhh, James please stop it. You're looking rather unhinged now. I don't like that smile on your face!

- Yeah, it has always been about Mantle! Because if you just helped them, you wouldn't be in this mess!

- "I need to make a call." ... to who?

- Neo leveraging the lamp.

- Reunion! Oh Ruby ;A; Cry baby, you need to get it off your shoulders ;A;

- Oh... oh god, that face touch. Are- are they...?

- Okay, not a kiss but that forehead touch was still unbelievably precious ;A;

- "Where's Nora?" Uh oh...

- Oscar and Ruby!

- Feral! Ruby totally understandable.

- ?

- ... James, you fucking didn't.

- You piece of shit. Not only is that not a choice but an ultimatum, but fucking dooming those people who are already barely scrapping by to live?!

- "I hope you live up the title I gave you." ... fuck you, truly and utterly, James Ironwood.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby 8 #rwby volume 8 #rwby 8 spoilers #rwby volume 8 spoilers #live reaction

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waxfeatherss · 4 years ago

Text

Jiminy Cricket!

Summary:

Ruby hesitantly spoke up again, “Penny?”

Despite putting everything she had within herself into stopping it, Floating Array—an incomplete set of swords—was called out and readied.

Word Count: 1,465

Ao3 Link

She felt the ground beneath her boots rumble, a thunderous boom from outside silencing everyone in the room. Ruby’s shoulders tensed, sparing a stray but reciprocated glance in Blake’s direction, before sprinting to the entrance of the Schnee Manor.

Smoke filled her senses almost immediately. Despite having to narrow her eyes, nothing could hide the jutting pieces of rock—the crater —that hadn’t been there a few minutes ago. Ruby’s stomach twisted and her mouth went dry, a sense of dread capturing her lungs, but her legs wouldn’t stop.

She couldn't stop.

Vaguely aware of the hurried footsteps behind her, Ruby slid to the edge of the hole and peered in. Time seemed to freeze as her heart dropped in one nauseating motion.

“I-I’m sorry.”

________________________________

Everything hurt. Everything felt wrong.

Her eyes stayed out of focus, blurring her vision of the world around her, but nothing she did could fix it. Her body wouldn't listen to her. Panic overwhelmed her systems, a familiar scene with a girl in golden armor flashed in her mind, the same feeling from that day overtaking her.

She remembered the sensation well; she wouldn't ever forget how little control she felt in that split second between utter pain and dead silence.

Penny knew that her battered legs wanted to stand, despite her cries to just lay down for a moment, they defied her will and struggled. Her arms rebelled against her too, making it easier to come to a stand. The gears in her knees were barely keeping it together; she knew how weak she was right now. Red alerts, detailing her current condition, blended into the crimson coating over her eyes. Please, she tried once again, please stop.

The Vault, it repeated like a broken record. Go to the Vault.

Whirring to life, her rockets sputtered uselessly. Dead. The little voice in her head continued with its orders, unbothered.

“Penny!” Sparks—proof of the damage done to her—danced over her face, shock gripping her tightly. She’d desperately fought against the commanding voice to redirect her fall and it had worked. “Penny, what happened?” she heard her dear friend ask, as though she were speaking through water, but worry clearly soaked her words.

The Vault.

That pretty blob of red tried to reach out, but it made her step back, completely disregarding the aching in her chest.

Go to the Vault.

I do not want to. I won’t.

Ruby hesitantly spoke up again, “Penny?”

It was smart, that tiny voice. Even if it only said the same four words, it carried something terrifyingly competent within it. She could name the moment it knew what was causing her newfound defiance.

Despite putting everything she had within herself into stopping it, Floating Array—an incomplete set of swords—was called out and readied.

________________________________

This couldn’t be happening.

It was all happening too fast.

With a burst of petals, Ruby had scooped Blake and Weiss away from the unexpected attack. From Penny. Luckily, it’d been slow enough that she’d seen it coming from a mile away, though she hadn’t wanted to believe it was happening in the first place.

And Penny chased after them, her blank face and dull crimson eyes struck a flood of both fear and concern in her.

For the most part, they’ve been playing an endless game, just the five of them—May having joined them soon after weapons were drawn—and Ruby couldn't bear to change that anytime soon. She couldn't risk hurting her. Not when Penny was already so injured, the green liquid dripping from her legs and leaving trails on the concrete beneath her more than proving Ruby’s point.

Going on the defense was their best plan.

“Any other bright ideas?” May shouted, narrowly dodging a swipe from Penny. She shifted on her feet to swiftly block another, pushing back to create an exit. An ice wall materialized just in time to protect her from another attack. “You’ll have to excuse me for not believing she’ll have a sudden change of heart in the next few minutes.”

Ruby gripped Crescent Rose tighter. “She’s tired, she can't keep this up forever,” she reasoned under her breath, panting slightly. She threw out a louder response, “Penny’s hurt enough as is, we just need to hold on a little longer!”

But she’s hyper aware of the tremble in her muscles, the sweat rolling down her temple, the heavy breathing from all parties minus one. None of them have gotten a second of sleep. They were exhausted and at any moment they could easily slip up, small or big. Auras were low, however, any mistake was a big one at this point. It’d been one of the first lessons she learned ever since Beacon.

And Penny? Penny wasn't holding back.

Ruby shoved that thought away, hiding it in the deepest parts of her mind; she would never hurt them like that.

Yet here she was, flying swords and all.

No. It’s not her.

Ruby flinched at the sound of her partner’s shriek. Her attention instantly switched onto Weiss, from her place next to May, as the girl ducked under two swords aimed for her neck. Black ribbons circled around the winter maiden’s wrists, tugging them away from the Schnee and back to Blake and Ruby.

Once again, pleading silvers connected with empty crimsons.

“Are we absolutely positive that this is Penny?” Weiss voiced breathily, now that she had time to do so, doubt coloring her tone. “The Ace-Ops stole one of her swords, maybe it’s connected?”

It was a good question. Ruby could scream, an increasing fury bubbling under her skin, but she held it in. The Ace-Ops stole Penny’s sword, that must have been it. She should’ve stopped them, she should’ve chased them down and taken it back by force, she should’ve done something before this.

Before she was forced to fight her friend.

Guilt threatened to drown her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Blake’s semblance caught her attention with a flare of fire dust, but Penny had always been so smart—she always learned quickly and adapted even faster than that—but Blake didn’t know that. Blake was tired. The others wouldn’t make it in time.

Before Floating Array tore apart her teammate’s aura, Ruby used up what little remained of her own to take Penny high up into the sky. The last view she’d see before darkness filled her senses was that of the shattered moon, taunting her in all its beauty on that inky canvas of a sky.

It was broken, yet it still did its job.

________________________________

They were falling. Penny knew that much.

Bitter winds that promised to leave small cuts, along with flying, became very much like old friends to her recently. She knew them well. But in her trapped state, they felt mild and somewhat alien to her. Recognizable, yet not the same.

She hated it.

Through her hazy mind, Penny realized her rockets weren’t on. The Maiden powers, for some reason, refused to work under these circumstances. Logically, she shouldn’t be flying—no, falling—right now. Satisfaction ran through her when she figured out that the little voice in her head was just as confused.

That is, until a singular rose petal floated past her line of sight.

An icy horror spiked into her core, eyes widening as they flickered from red to green. The picture in front of her finally cleared, Penny could count the stars she admired every night and she could feel the full blast of the air against her back as she fell. This body was hers.

Go to the Vault.

No. Vibrant flames flared brightly from her face. I will not.

The wind welcomed her back eagerly.

________________________________

Warmth cradled her, surrounding her like a gentle cocoon. Ruby exhaled quietly, the tightness in her body loosening, absentmindedly searching for more comfort in the arms holding her. Her hands found purchase, but she stilled at the cold and sticky surface. Her eyelids flew open, fear grasping at her suddenly.

A tiny, apologetic smile, accompanied by bright and beautifully neon eyes, met her on the other side.

Ruby carefully sank deeper into Penny’s arms, wrapping her sore arms around the other girl’s stomach. Hot tears stained her cheeks, along with another green liquid she refused to think about, but she could've sworn the breeze moved to wipe her face. It didn't matter though, what did matter was already in front of her.

She cried longer and harder than she’s done in a long time.

And Penny silently kept them hovering in midair until she was ready, the crackling of magic fire bringing her closer to a calm.

“I love you,” she mumbled into the silence between them.

The response was immediate and soft, “I love you too.”

#rwby #rwby v8 #nuts and dolts #ruby rose #penny polendina #my writing #aaaaaaaaaaaa i wrote something again #its been a while

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noneatnonedotcom · 5 years ago

Text

Magical Girl rwby au

yang idly wondered if enjoying this made her a bad person as her flame covered fist crushed the skull of a beowolf. she sidestepped the one behind it as it lunged forward swiping and snarling at the air where she was before. she brought her leg up with a devastating kick to its midsection as the Grimm went sailing through the air wincing at the mistake yang went to follow it only to be distracted by her sister Ruby: yang we’re all done here you ready to head back? yang looked over to her sister the silver-eyed girl was smiling as the read scythe she rested against her shoulder was dissipated into silver sparkles. the scene was almost cute if not for the Grimm viscera that was splattered all over her frilly dress and red hood Yang: yeah we’ll head home, you look like you could use a bath ruby pouted cutely at the remark and yang smirked Ruby: it’s the price I pay for awesome, and crescent rose is definitely that! I mean did you see my baby cutting through those Grimm? she was all “swing” and they were all “bleah” and then they went “fwoosh” and it was like those ninja movies blake likes but it’s a lot less cool when you have to clean off the blood yang smiled at the excitement in her baby sister's voice. it wasn’t always like this back, in the beginning, they had trouble using their powers it was more a chore than anything but then they’d met Weiss and blake and Pyrrha and the five of them working together really helped cut down on the amount of work they had to do any given night. tonight it was her and ruby. tomorrow would be Weiss and blake, then Pyrrha the strongest of them would take a swing at it solo. then a day off and back to her and ruby unless one of them wanted to switch off for someone else which they did on occasion. sometimes they all decided to go out together when there was nothing going on. which was most days. since Pyrrha was the only one with after school stuff like sports and Weiss had her job as a singer to work on it was typically just her and ruby. and blake but the cat could be so damn lazy and Ruby: swear jar! yang: but I didn’t say anything! Ruby: you were thinking it! yang reached down and started to give her sister a noogie yang: little brat! Ruby: arg, yang no! ruby took off in a flurry of rose petals as she used her magic to run away yang smirked and took off after her a streak of fire burning through the sky completely forgetting about the Grimm she’d sent flying in the opposite direction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- jaune idly wondered if avoiding this would make him a bad person over the last few days, a beowolf had been seen in the area. most thought it was a superstition but jaune knew the truth. and he hated that fact he checked his gear again, his family sword hung at his hip, on his back was a small pack holding an emergency medical kit, extra water and a little bit of food (he’d learned his lesson after that time he’d gotten trapped in the cave) his hoodie was more a source of comfort than disguise. after all most people didn’t focus on him when there were Grimm around. still, the hood made him feel more disguised so he’d keep it. his back up knife hung on the opposite hip from his sword. frankly, he’d have liked a gun but guns didn’t hurt Grimm. only his family's ancestral blades. he wielded crocea mors, his father wielded Claíomh Solais and they were alone against the dark. he silently cursed the lack of a brother and thanked the gods that Adrian wasn’t required to fight. he drew his blade and stood. briefly shaking out the stiffness of his limbs as he followed the Grimm back into its den. he’d honestly have preferred a pack of beowolves. yes, they were dangerous in numbers but those numbers could be mitigated when they were alone they tended to grow... alpha beowolf: *lands behind jaune and roars, shaking the crumbling building around them* bigger jaune lunged to the side but just a second too late as the Grimm grabbed his leg with its clawed hand. throwing him into and through the ruined wall of the abandoned building. he rolled as he hit the ground dodging the claws of the Grimm before retaliating with a slash of his own to the beast which howled in rage great now it was mad. he struggled to breathe as he moved around the debris-covered floor trying to get away from the steel rending claws by the barest margin. trying to preserve as much room as he could for further movement. barely flinching as the claws cut open his face just under his eye as they grazed him. dipping under a swipe jaune saw his opportunity and slashed open its neck. as the black blood spilled freely from the new wound it backhanded him launching him into the wall once more as he struggled to stay awake against the coming blackout. jaune: *through gritted teeth* get up jaune the Grimm having noticed he was still alive lunged at him jaune: fucking move dumb ass! he rolls to the side stumbling as he stood tripping and twisting his ankle as he grunted in pain. luckily for him, he was distracted from the pain by the pain of a set of claws ripping through his chest just barely shallow enough to survive. he rolled back as the Grimm lunged again he managed to get the sword in-between its teeth as the Grimm tried desperately to bite his face off. they struggled for what felt like an hour before he felt the Grimm weaken. loss of blood taking it’s tole as the massive beast was finally rolled off of him. he placed his sword against its throat before cutting it open. as the Grimm dispersed into the air jaune leaned back against a wall and slid down exhausted doing a quick check he had four deep cuts on his chest that he was going to have to stitch shut, a cut on his face that was definitely gonna scare jaune snorted at that thought jaune: oh no, my precious modeling career a couple of broken ribs, a sprained ankle, and a concussion he was gonna be out of commission for a while. jaune: *forcing himself to stand* that went far better than expected he limped off, heading back home where his sisters and mother could patch him up. great thing about having such a large family there was always someone around to patch up your horrible painful wounds ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ruby wondered if this was some sort of punishment for being a bad person she’d been transferred to beacon at the behest of ozpin, an old friend of her moms and someone who knew about the maidens and their powers. her silver eyes being the main reason but her recent breakthrough with her mechanical engineering class had given him an excuse to invite her to the prestigious school. her friends had promised to show her around but there was only one problem with that Ruby: where the heck was I supposed to meet them again? she studied the map of the admittedly huge campus as if it would offer any more information unknown voice: excuse me? do you need some help? ruby: *turning around grateful for the help* yeah I was looking for... the guy she saw when she turned around was tall. his shaggy blonde hair framed a scared and tired face that didn’t look any less scary for the smile on it as he leaned down. ruby backed up against the map on the wall scary guy: for...? ruby: *squeaking* library the guy nodded scary guy: alright, so you’ll wanna head for the music room the stares past that will take you to the third floor the other stairs are down after something ripped them up pretty bad so that’s the only way up there ruby remembered exactly what had ripped up those stares she’d been the one to kill it after all. she might have made the stares worse with her baby but now wasn't the time to cast blame. even if it was she blamed violent video games scary guy: now did you catch all that? ruby froze, she’d zoned out, why had she zoned out! oh god now he was frowning at her, she’d made him mad! who knows what he’d do to her now? he grabbed her hand and she felt her life flash before her eyes scary guy:*growling* come on she was too young to die! contrary to her previous thoughts, she wasn’t actually in danger. as they had walked she’d noticed something that took her back ruby: you have a cute bunny on your hoodie! scary guy:* embarrassed* it’s pumpkin Pete ruby: *giggles* scary guy: *chuckles* sure go ahead and destroy my pride, ah well at least I made a pretty girl laugh *winks* from there the conversation went to things like comic books, then it went to weapons (scythes are impractical but really cool regardless, he though swords were better the philistine) guns (guns were awesome) older sisters (they both loved them but sometimes they were too much) and sweets (he was actually quite the baker since his mother had told him the fastest way to a girls heart was through her sweet tooth) by the time they made it to the library they were laughing at each others jokes and he was smiling and now she had to say he didn’t actually look that scary... maybe rugged oh no, he was hot! ruby:*blushing* uhsoanywaystheresmysisterishouldgobye! she ran into the library only to be caught by yang and pulled into a bone-crushing hug yang: he didn’t do anything to you right? I swear to god if that asshole touched you Weiss: we’ll need to talk to him blake: why was he even around you? Pyrrha: did jaune hurt you at all? ruby: *struggling to get free* who are you talking about? yang: *looking ruby over* that guy you were running away from ruby: *finally getting free* oh, uh... no, no he didn’t do anything, he actually helped me get here when I got lost Ruby:*internally* so his name’s jaune? huh, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue *nods* I love it Weiss: well I suppose even a monster like him can be kind blake: you should be careful ruby, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what he could have done to you ruby: *tilting her head* huh? Pyrrha: ruby he didn’t touch you did he? ruby: *remembers him grabbing her hand* uh yeah, it was a little scary at first since I didn’t know him *remembers the conversation as they walked* but then I kinda really enjoyed it *remembers what she thought of him before getting to the library, blushes red* I think I kinda maybe really like him now wby+p: *shocked silence* yang: he needs to die

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rainbowwritesthings · 5 years ago

Text

Love Like You

Qrow tensed at the sudden realness of the situation before he relaxed and gave Clover a smile. “Yeah, should probably start on that. Think any of the kids have some baby names?” AO3

It was a rare treat for the group to find a town so soon after they had left the previous one, only having to sleep in the desert for two nights in between the towns.

Qrow knew the larger settlements of Vacuo well, the ones that could take an occasional Grimm beating thus allowing them to stay in the same place for years at a time.

Smaller ones like they one they were at now, the ones that could be packed up and moved within a few days when needed, tended to slip under Qrow’s map.

Not that Qrow or any of the others were complaining about the stroke of good luck, the sentiment had Qrow rolling his eyes.

Vacuo was hard to navigate, and you couldn’t let your guard down while out in the open day or night.

Add to that the crucialness of rationing supplies and constantly repairing weapons and it was no wonder Nora shouts for joy whenever they come into view of a new settlement.

While Qrow was long accustomed to nomadic traveling in hostile areas, he couldn’t deny the breath of relief he let out every time he had an actual bed to sleep on.

Though he had a feeling that relief was fueled primarily by his “condition”.

Red eyes glanced down to his protruding stomach and as if on cue he could feel one of them start to move. Knowing that with one of them moving around the other would join in, Qrow figured he had rested long enough.

With a small grunt he pushed himself up and immediately his hand was resting on the bump, Qrow knew that simple actions like that would be harder as time grew on.

Even though he hadn’t even hit the sixth month mark most everyone could tell he was pregnant with a quick glance.

He had become a liability to the whole group once more, but now he couldn’t even blame it on drinking to much. At least when he was drunk, he could still fight.

The lamp closest to him flickered once before the bulb exploded and Qrow scrubbed his face.

Going through with the pregnancy while the fate of humanity was in question might truly be the stupidest thing he has ever done.

Stupid.

Raven may prove to be right in her judgment, if it was just him that was one thing but those kids where reckless enough to stick by him. Clover was worse, at this point the alpha had made it clear that he was with Qrow until the end.

Selfish.

Qrow swung his legs over the side of the bed and froze when he heard movement from outside the room, the others must have come back and he had slept through the noise.

It wasn’t as if he didn’t sleep like a log through the night, gone were his honed instincts that he had spent years training.

One headache now had him passed out for over an hour, in a deep enough sleep to miss a gaggle of teenagers coming back from hunting Grimm. Frustration boiled over as the thoughts swirled.

You’ve always been soft.

Going with the theme of being unobservant he almost missed the door clicking open, of course he and Clover got the best room, and a freshly washed Clover walked in.

Forcing the darker thoughts down he swiped at his face and turned to face his alpha. A quick glance showed that the mission had gone well, and Clovers relaxed demeanor promised that the kids were all alright.

Despite himself the omega couldn’t help but return the smile given to him. Clover strode over and practically beamed as he fixed a flyaway black lock, leaning down Qrow wasted no time in meeting him for a needed kiss.

When they parted Clover was gazing at him with hooded eyes, which only went to show that the alpha’s mind was clouded when it came to Qrow.

“How are you feeling?”

Penny must have told him that Qrow had retreated to bed, new frustration sprung forth at the thought.

Penny had more important things to think about, it wasn’t fair that she had to play babysitter on top that.

The pause had Clover looking at him with concern and Qrow had to switch gears.

“Brats were kicking up a storm.”

Clover chuckled and placed a hand over Qrow’s stomach, after a moment a firm nudge met his palm.

Without a word Qrow guided the alpha’s other hand to a different spot and Clover blinked when a firm jab met his palm there as well.

Teal eyes met red ones and Qrow raised his eyebrows pointedly.

“Told you so.”

Despite the words there was only warmth in the tone and Clover captured his lips once again, when they withdrew the alpha crouched down.

“You two need to settle down in there, your papa was trying to rest and it’s rude to wake him up.”

It should be illegal how soft his voice got and Qrow gently brushed through brown hair.

Clover looked up from where he was kneeling, his hand still splayed out over the omega’s stomach.

His grin grew when he saw the faintest blush gracing Qrow’s cheeks, light enough for the omega to use the heat as an excuse.

The blush grew just a shade deeper with the gaze, “Brothers, you’re hopeless.”

Clover hummed contently and gave a soft kiss to the protruding bump, an act that had Qrow rolling his eyes. In these kinds of moments Qrow could ignore the doubts and fear, he could focus on the hope for the future that Clover seemed to have.

Clovers face was suddenly much closer than it had been a moment ago, Qrow hadn’t even noticed the other man getting back up.

“What’s wrong?”

A calloused hand cupped Qrow’s cheek and the gentleness still had the omega’s heart pounding, he was hardly some love struck teen but this casual intimacy was still something that had the huntsman’s pulse quicken.

When Clover’s smile faded more, Qrow realized that he had spaced out again.

“Just thinking about some things. It’s nothing bad.”

Green eyes searched his face for a moment band as per usual Qrow felt completely exposed under those eyes.

“Well, I’ve been thinking as well. I think we should start talking about names, nothing concrete but maybe get some ideas.”

Qrow tensed at the sudden realness of the situation before he relaxed and gave Clover a smile.

“Yeah, should probably start on that. Think any of the kids have some names?”

“Well I know Nora probably has at least five locked and loaded, Weiss as well. Yang and Ruby might have some good ones.”

Qrow had expected Ruby and Nora, they were the loudest about their excitement anything twin related.

Yang joined in at times, mostly to further tease her uncle, but to hear Clover mention Weiss so casually caught Qrow off guard.

The young alpha had certainly warmed up to him over time, but the huntsman doubted that Weiss spent her free time thinking of baby names for a washed-up old crow like him.

Clover, as per usual, seemed to be able to know exactly what Qrow was thinking and raised an eyebrow.

“You mean a lot to them, all of them and they’re all excited about the babies. Of course, some of them are louder sharing that excitement than others.”

Qrow should be used to those casual remarks about what he meant to others, especially when they came from Clover, but it still squeezed his heart and made him shift in spot.

He hummed noncommittally and let Clover help him up before leading the way to the quaint dining room/kitchen.

A few of the kids were lounging about, tired from both the heat and the Grimm hunting, a movie was playing on the small television but only Oscar seemed to be interested in what was playing.

Penny noticed them first and gave the pair a bright smile before bounding over, “I’m glad to see you are feeling better, Qrow.”

It had been an uphill battle trying to convince Penny to call him by his first name and he could still see the girl catch herself every so often.

The omega smiled reassuringly and ruffled her hair, “I am, thanks carrot top.”

Qrow didn’t deserve the beaming smile he received before she turned and went back to the small table to repair a broken sword.

The other kids glanced up at him, as if checking to make sure he wouldn’t keel over from the brief walk over.

Blake smiled at him softly and moved just a smidge closer to Yang, creating a clear opening for Qrow on the couch next to her.

The older omega smiled back at the cat faunas and slowly sank down next to her on the couch, he tried to write off the way she relaxed just slightly into him as just fellow omega tendencies.

Clover perched on the arm rest and Qrow decidedly did not glance at the alpha, he could already guess the smirk the other wore.

Weiss strode towards him, presenting a glass of a water that he took with a smile.

One that she returned in a much smaller manner before taking a sip from her own glass.

Clover made a soft noise before straightening up, “Qrow and I were talking about baby names. Do any of you have some ideas?”

Yang leaned forward at the question and the devious smirk she wore had the hairs of Qrow’s neck raise, he had seen that same look enough times to know things were about to get hectic.

Yang leaned away from her girlfriend and twisted around to face the rest of the rooms, “Ruby or Nora, grab the book!”

To the alpha’s credit, she was hardly yelling, but her order did cause a new ruckus.

Qrow could hear the tell tale stomping of feet and a brief yell from what sounded like Nora before a flurry of petals landed next to Weiss.

Ruby had obviously just woken up from a nap if her mused up hair was any indication, but she looked wide awake and was clutching a journal proudly to her chest.

The rest of the horde began filling into the common room after that, led by a slightly dripping Nora who was scowling at Ruby. “You play dirty, Rose.”

Jaune was rubbing his eyes lightly and Ren’s hair was completely loose, whatever was in the book had enough power to call everyone to arms and the T.V. was turned off.

Weiss retrieved the journal from Ruby and for a moment her proud posture faltered just a bit, Qrow knew the alpha well enough to know that whatever was going on was her idea and she was nervous about the reaction.

“Watcha got there, princess?”

The hesitation disappeared and Weiss held out the worn brown journal expectantly. Qrow snuck a glance around to find that all the kids were watching with rapt attention, though some more so than others, and Clover looked just as confused about this as he was.

The journal itself was uninteresting, no lavish embroidery or bright colors. The moment he opened it that changed and bright colors flooded his vision.

Upon inspection he saw what was written, names.

There were names in different colors in rows, from the handwriting alone he could guess who wrote what, but the colors were a nice touch.

As he thrummed through the pages Qrow was stunned to see that all the kids had put down multiple names.

Clover shifted above him to get a better look and was the first to speak of the pair.

“That’s a pretty impressive list. Or lists, I should say.”

Now that it was brought up Qrow could see were one list ended and another began.

Weiss had gone suspiciously silent and Oscar spoke up, “oh yeah, we um, put them in categories. The one you’re on is names to do with luck, or fortune.”

Qrow couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped as he read through the first few, they were creative to say the least.

Clover gently turned the page and this category was more apparent.

“Names based off plants, might have to cross some off though. I knew some people with some of these names before.”

Spurred on Weiss found her voice again, “this is still the second draft, we’re going to revise the list again soon.”

The fact that this was the second draft had warmth blooming through Qrow, Nora leaned in and turned a few pages before unsubtly pointing to a name written in pink.

“This list is bird names, it’s shorter than the rest but has real gems.”

And quite a few names written in the same shade of pink, when Qrow looked up at her with a raised eyebrow the young alpha winked.

Surprisingly Blake was the next one to flip the pages, “these names are color related, or just colors for some of them. It’s the longest and honestly, has some of the weirdest ones.”

Coming from her that was saying a lot and Qrow was becoming more curious about what had been cut from the first list.

Penny had at some point stood behind him and leaned over the man to rifle through, “this is miscellaneous. They couldn’t be made to fit into any of the other lists, but they are to nice to just disregard.”

She withdrew her hand but made no other move to lean away from above him.

Looking down at the names Qrow felt a rush of affection for the teens that had written them with so much thought behind it.

Clover was right, they were excited for the twins because their odd pack to gain two tiny members.

Qrow could blame hormones for the sudden tightness in his throat and he looked at the kids, “you guys did good, Branwen’s aren’t really known for their naming skills. Thanks.”

It should be criminal how pleased each of them looked, they didn’t have nearly enough opportunities to just be teens.

Clover rested his hand on Qrows shoulder, something in him relented and he would talk with Clover about his fears later.

Ruby caved first and rushed in for a hug, she was soon joined by the usual hug suspects before the others caved in as well.

Qrow tried to encompass as many as he could, he may not feel like he deserved it, but this was his flock.

#fair game #ABO verse #mpreg #qrow branwen #clover ebi #qrow has so many children #qrow x clover #slight angst #surrounded by fluff #clover is soft #fair game babies #kind of?#fairgame #rainbowwritesstuff

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jadekitty777 · 5 years ago

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See You Heal

Hey everyone, long time no update, right? Aha!

Alright time for something a little different but still sweet. This entry is a work entirely inspired by @ladyrobiness‘ beautiful Slow Sunrise series. I woke up one morning and the idea just hit me like a truck and well... I had to write it out.

This is a continuation to that series so, reading it first is absolutely required. But why wouldn’t you? It’s a beautiful Fix-It fic with lots of tender moments of healing for Qrow and Clover both along with them just falling in love like the adorable dorks they are <333

Here are the Ao3 links to both:

Robiness’ Story: Slow Sunrise series

My Story: See You Heal

It’s also below the cut!

Rating: K+

Pairing: Qrow/Clover

Word Count: 2800

Summary: Qrow knows ignoring the problem only makes it worse. Unfortunately, dealing with it has its own set of problems too.

Sometimes, Qrow wished his standard for dealing with shit wasn’t ‘‘Ignore it until it goes away’.

It didn’t work. He knew it didn’t work – and yet sometimes his traitorous brain thought: maybe this time it’ll be different. So, when the issue of Clover not liking anyone at his six came up, like a scroll that had been factory reset, he defaulted. Hoped in the most ironic ways that the problem would just fix itself or at the very least, never become a problem.

That was why, as he gusted through the air trying to spot the nearest nomadic settlement, all he could see instead was Clover’s dismayed expression.

Really, he only had himself to blame.

They’d been traveling through Vacuo’s unforgiving desert for hours. It was a six-day journey to reach Shade Academy, most of which they had to do on foot as no locals at the city border ever escorted anyone across the desert without a price. Though they’d gotten an early start, beginning their trek even before the sun had peaked the horizon, as the day waned the sands around them began to shimmer as the heat rose to unbearable heights. Add onto that an unstable ground that left them all unsteady on their feet, relentless winds that whipped sand along exposed skin and eyes, and the occasional Grimm or wildlife lying in wait for an attack, and it just seemed like a recipe for disaster.

So, when the Sidewinder Grimm leapt from the dunes they were walking across and struck out at Weiss, all but two of them either didn’t react fast enough, or stumbled when they tried. The first of the two that had was Clover, who had his fishing line around Weiss in an instant and yanked her his way. The second was Ruby, who sped above the field like a shot, petals and dust following her wake as she managed to get in the first blow.

Within seconds, the rest of them recovered and suddenly the snake had ten skilled opponents bearing down on it. It certainly wasn’t a long battle, but enough to get the adrenalin going. The kids seemed to take it as they saw it, realizing the threat was over once the smoke cleared. But more veteran huntsmen like himself kept on guard a little longer.

Or like Clover – who wasn’t expecting Jaune to come up behind him and give him a congratulatory pat on the back.

The reaction was instantaneous. Clover yelped as he twisted and swung Kingfisher right at the boy’s head.

The clang of metal hitting metal seemed to echo the world into silence.

Jaune, shield shadowing his face, looked tense and a little frightened.

Clover just looked horrified.

And then he was faltering back, dropping his weapon into the sand. “I’m- I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to- are you okay?!”

“I’m, fine.” Jaune answered a little shakily, trying to laugh it off. “I don’t think now is the time for a training exercise though.”

Clover tried to meet him, but his own chuckle rang hollow. “No. No it’s not.” He ran a hand agitatedly through his hair. “I really am sorry. I, I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s too hot.” Weiss was the one to offer, turning the attention her way. “I’m having trouble too.”

It sounded logical. Believable. Of course the Atlesians weren’t accustomed to blistering heat like this and would be most likely to succumb to its’ effects.

Only Qrow knew the truth of the matter. Tried not to think how a desert wasn’t so unlike a tundra – open space, unsteady footing, extreme weather.

“We need to get out of this sun.” Blake decided.

Ruby nodded in agreement. “Right. Uncle Qrow, can you scout ahead and see if you can spot something?”

That’s how he ended up in the sky, canting in great big circles like a vulture and looking to every horizon as he tried to make out a camp or an outcropping or a cactus. Anything that might provide shade or water. It took a few cycles, increasing his radius at every turn, before finally managing to see several flutterings in the distance. Upon closer inspection, he knew it was the tarps of caravans, moving southwest. Which meant stable ground and civilization.

He dove back towards the group, morphing just shy of his landing. “Looks like someone’s on the move several miles that way. There’s probably a temporary camp nearby.”

Or if there wasn’t, there would be.

“Right, then let’s move.” Ruby ordered, turning to the robot beside her. “Penny maybe you can try and keep us cool in the meantime?”

“I will give it my best shot!”

Their conversation faded to background noise as his focus instead shifted to Clover who, for the first time since they’d begun traveling together, took lead instead of rear. A silent attempt to rebuild goodwill. But his posture was held straight, an unnatural rigidity to his movements.

Qrow joined him, not quite reaching for his hand, but allowing their knuckles to brush together. The effect was miniscule, but there, just the slightest drop of his shoulders as his face eased into a small, not-quite-there smile.

Okay. He could work with this.

It was funny how easy it was to trick a Vacuon when they thought they were the ones playing it. All it took was some altruistic speeches from the kids about wanting to help because that’s what huntsmen did and the words “free of charge” and suddenly they were traveling with a whole parade of people who thought they were getting protection for nothing. Which was mostly true – except of course, now they had a place to stay in and quicker way to the academy.

It also kept them busy, trading off shifts throughout the day to keep watch on their surroundings. Which meant it was almost two days later before he finally had a moment alone with Clover. The wayfarers who they were assisting had a strict habit of bearing down at the hottest part of the day to conserve resources and energy. With JNPR 2.0 on duty and RWBY helping with lunch, Qrow took the opportunity to retire to their makeshift quarters.

As he stepped into the tent, he found his segue into the conversation was going to be more on the nose then he’d planned for.

Clover was seated on one of the various sleeping mats, Harbinger in his lap as he tended to her gears. “Hey.” He greeted. “How’d scouting go?”

“Uh. Fine.”

Seeming to sense his unease, the huntsman paused, looking between him and the weapon. “Oh, sorry! I guess I should do this later.”

“No!” The word burst out of him, startling them both. Qrow cleared his throat, repeating more levelly, “No, it’s fine really. I told you to take care of her.”

To prove his statement, he took the few steps forward to sit directly across from him.

Clover eyed him skeptically for several long moments, perhaps trying to puzzle out if he was trying a backwards form of recovery or just talking big. He seemed to decide the former as he bent back over the sword. “Well, I’m glad you’re here. A lot of grit is getting in-between the gears. But I’m worried about messing up the mechanics.” He offered him a smile. “Harbinger’s really intricate. You did an amazing job.”

“Laying it on a little thick there, aren’t ya Ebi?” He scooted forward just a little, pointing to the correct parts as he spoke. “First loosen the spindle here. Then you can take out the suspension spring and remove this gear.”

They spent the next several minutes just going about the task. Even though he was guiding another’s hands through the motions, the work was so familiar it was relaxing. He even found it possible to keep hold of the small, easily lost pinions as they were removed. All the while, he studied Clover as he worked, the way his brow furrowed with deep concentration or how his strong hands never faltered as he took out each gear with care and reverence. As if the weapon was as cherished as his own.

“Last one.” Qrow announced as the fifth pinion was dropped into his palm.

“You know, before I really was praising you.” The smallest cog came out with a small pop, being added to the growing collection on the cloth Clover had laid out. He finished his statement with a mirthful smile, “But now I’ve determined you went too far.”

He snorted. “Sorry my sword-scythe-shotgun hybrid is a little more complicated than your basic fishing rod.”

He gasped in mock offense. “My darling may not have all your weapon’s fancy little tricks, but it gets the job done with just as much grace.”

“Oh, that’s what you call all that flailing around?”

“Watch it Branwen.”

“What? Am I-” The rest of his words ‘on thin ice’ died in his throat. “Uh-”

This time, Clover misinterpreted his floundering. “What, am I doing it wrong?”

He focused on where the other’s hands were, his own quickly reaching out to catch his, only to abort the motion just as quickly when his fingertips skimmed Harbinger’s surface. That Clover noticed.

He ran the same hand over the back of his neck. “Uh, don’t remove that unless you want her coming apart completely.”

“Alright.” Clover lifted his hand from the center plate obediently. “Are you doing okay or should we stop?”

Dropping the pinions onto the cloth beside the other parts, he tried not to let it feel like too much of a failure. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

“Why would I be uncomfortable?” He replied with a frown.

Qrow stared. Was he being serious right now? “You’re kidding. If anything you should be more repelled to be holding her than me.”

“But I’m not. I never have been.”

The frustration broke over like a wave so that his next words flooded out like a tide of turbulent emotions, “Why not? You’re the one who got hurt! Why is it so easy for you?!”

No, no. Shut up.

He slouched over, scrabbling hands through his hair, tugging at the ends as if it would ground him back to the present.

This was going all wrong. He wasn’t supposed to be getting angry.

“I-I mean-” He started to say.

Clover cut him off. “Have you ever considered things were different from my perspective?”

He blinked. Looked up. “What?”

The other huntsman’s gaze drifted, falling down to the blade still in his lap. He ran his palm along the surface. “I never saw it. Or if I did, my mind’s blocked it out. I… remember pain. How hard it was to breathe. But as far as anything I saw in that moment? All I can think of is gray. A dark gray, almost black, but kind of green too?”

Qrow frowned, trying to piece that together. Atlas wasn’t exactly known for its abundance of greenery. The only green thing he could think of was Clover’s own pin. Maybe it was just his body going into shock, making him see things that weren’t actually there.

“Either way,” He continued, idly tracing the intricate patterns embedded in the sword’s metal. “What I’m getting at is, the only reason I know this was the weapon that struck me is because I was told it was. To me, it’s kind of removed from the whole event.” His movements stopped, that same dismayed look from several days ago clouding his features. “Instead, I have other problems.”

Seemed like they were going to have that conversation after all. “Like what happened with Jaune.”

“Yeah. I hadn’t meant to attack him. I just thought…” Clover slumped, trailing off.

“That he was someone else. I know.” Qrow said in the space left behind. “Known for awhile, actually. I knew it was an issue, but I hadn’t said anything. Tch. I should of. Maybe then-”

A flick to his forehead had him jerking back.

“Stop.” Clover’s fingers soothed over the spot, sliding down along the contours of his face to cup his jaw. “You’re not responsible for my problems Qrow. It’s my job to acknowledge them and ask for help if I need it.”

There was a lot of things he thought to say, the most prominent being how Clover never seemed to have an issue laser focusing on Qrow’s problems and addressing them (though, to be fair, those results didn’t always pan out) – but what he finally decided on saying was, “Do you need help?”

Teal eyes went wide and he drew back. The look on his face, vulnerable and lost, was heartbreaking. “I, uh. I don’t know.”

“Would you like to try something?” He pressed on gently.

“Like what?”

“An exercise.” He waved towards Harbinger. “Set her aside and take off your shirt – Don’t smile like that, I’m not gonna do anything lecherous.”

Clover laughed. “Ah, there goes all my hopes and dreams.” Still, he did as commanded, laying the blade to his left before peeling off the green shirt he wore.

Qrow managed not to stare at the metal plating built into the center of his chest, stitching his body together like a broken doll. Instead he reached forward, undoing the red bandanna around the man’s arm – one of the only things he’d kept of his old uniform, besides the boots – and tied the cloth around his eyes instead.

“Uh, Qrow?” Now blind, Clover sounded a lot more uncertain.

He ran a hand through short brown locks. “When I used to teach, I would do this with the students.”

“Lot to unpack with that statement.” He was barely containing a laugh.

It was his turn to flick him. “Shut it and listen.” He got to his feet, speaking as he rounded the other. “It was usually for typical stuff. Figuring out what movements they knew by reflex and what they needed to work on. Keeping an ear on their surroundings when their eyes can’t. But sometimes,” He stopped directly behind him. “It was to help break bad habits.”

Clover was already tense. “Really?”

“Ruby’s footwork used to be terrible. Got worse when she discovered her semblance – she was tumbling all over the place. Taking away her sight made her focus harder on every step she made. Made her more aware of everything she was doing.” Qrow reached out, fingertips brushing along the base of Clover’s neck, the skin shuddering under his touch. “That’s what I want you to do. Focus on the way your body reacts and correct it.”

“This… seems a little unconventional.”

He knelt down behind him. “Sometimes it’s the unconventional methods that work. Now,” He laid his palm flat along metalwork layered over his spine, hearing the sharp inhale. “Let’s get started.”

Qrow couldn’t say for how long, exactly, the exercise went on for – but it was certainly not as long as he would have kept one of his students at it. Where he’d push them to continue even just a minute longer, he was more willing to pull back with the brunette, knowing this was taking a mental toll along with the physical one. So, when he noticed Clover’s efforts were turning to frustration, he was quick to call for a break, offering that maybe they could finish up with Harbinger in the interim.

Clover, stubborn man he was, didn’t want to quit entirely though.

That was how they ended up sitting back to back as Qrow polished off the gears and pins and Clover set them into place.

Healing takes many forms, Qrow mused as he handed over the third cog and reached for the next, the anxiety he normally felt completely, blissfully absent.

Felt the stretch of muscles against his own as Clover worked, his erratic breathing and shakes having steadied a while ago.

One day, he hoped they could come out of this without their demons controlling them.

Yet, he knew recovery was a difficult, haphazard mess of a journey; so that day was in a future he still couldn’t quite discern, no matter how hard he looked.

Not that he could say he was surprised. His life had never been simple and that track record wasn’t going to let up a four decades’ long streak so easily – but, for once, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

For the one brightness he could see in all this was right behind him.

Qrow slid down, just enough to rest his ear against the metal along Clover’s back, the reassuring thump-thump-thump of his heart a gift he’d never waste.

For it beat with the promise that he was here.

He was alive.

And, Qrow recklessly dared to believe, he was his.

Another gift he’d never waste.

A devotion he’d never dishonor.

A love he’d forever hold onto.

#qrow branwen #clover ebi #fair game #rwby #fanfiction #Chase Firekitten's Tale

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theladydrgn · 6 years ago

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Thanks in no small part to @icibue I just spent the last day crafting RWBY/Pokemon AU headcanons. Please keep in mind that this is 50% funny, 50% serious and 100% self-indulgent!

· Ozpin gives each new student an Eevee egg to hatch and train as part of their course work.

· All the schools give different particular pokemon, Ozpin is just very fond of Eevee because of how much it can ‘change’.

· Mythical and God-like pokes cannot be captured and instead ‘choose’ trainers. Being chosen by such a Pokemon is considered a very high honor but also puts that trainer at risk of being targeted by Salem.

· Xerneas and Yveltal take the place of the God of Light and God of Darkness.

· Celebi chose to be Oz’s partner centuries ago and is always the first to find him again after reincarnation.

· The Xiao-Long family have raised the Kommo-o line of Pokemon for generations and it is customary for a Jangmo-o to be their child’s first Pokemon.

· The Roses were known for raising Roselia and Roserade for show.

· The Honchkrows Ozpin and Qrow have are from the same clutch of eggs.

· Ozpin owns and cares for many pokemon but keeps two teams at the ready. One is a public team that is well known. The other is a private team that contains pokemon he has had through many lifetimes.

· Because of the presence of Pokemon on Remnant, the world is a little safer for everyday citizens, though Grimm ARE attracted to pokemon just like humans.

· The Huntsman Academies teach how to hunt Grimm and how to raise Pokemon.

· Beacon Academy focuses on living in harmony with Pokemon and working together with them. Using pokeballs is optional for Huntsmen who have demonstrated close bonds with their Pokemon.

· Atlas Academy focuses on Pokemon’s use in military tactics and has an extensive breeding program focused on breeding the strongest Pokemon. Pokemon are not allowed to be out of their pokeballs without military sanction.

· Haven and Mistral are well known for their Pokemon Contests and shows. Battling is taught at Haven but definitely takes a backseat to the ‘art’ of raising Pokemon.

· Since law and order is rare in Vacuo, almost anything goes. Having a strong team that can protect you and yours is what gets taught at Shade Academy. Since pokeballs are easily stolen they are very rarely used.

Now for Team Headcanons along with my personal reasoning for why I chose the teams I did. I was getting very tired towards the end of the team building, so I apologize if some teams aren’t as ‘fleshed-out’ as others.

STRQ

Summer Rose

1. Shiny Roserade – Obvious choice honestly

2. Alolan (Menagerie) Cubone – Summer having a poke that lost it’s poke-mom and human mom was too entertaining to not do.

3. Sylveon – Summer being the ‘heart’ of team STRQ

4. Blissey – Since Yang described Summer as ‘super mom’ having a pokemon described at ‘nurturing’ seemed fitting.

5. Gardevoir – The entire Gardevoir line is very sensitive to emotions and I headcanon Summer as being fairly bubbly.

6. Altaria – I didn’t have any super specific reasons for this one. Just seemed like a poke Summer would have ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Taiyang Xiao-Long

1. Jolteon – Jolteon fits Tai’s color scheme. Sue me.

2. Pangoro – A fighting type that doesn’t like it when the weak get picked on

3. Kommo-o – The only fighting dragon pokemon and it just so happens to fit Tai’s color scheme

4. Herdier – I mean, it’s obvious isn’t it?

5. Bewear – Another fighting bear but this one loves hugs

6. Drampa – A dragon that protects kids

Raven Branwen

1. Mandibuzz – Specifically said to hunt ‘weak’ prey

2. Salazzle – Rules over similar pokes and fits Ravens color scheme

3. Weavile – Hunting in small groups to take down larger prey sounds a lot like the Branwen tribe

4. Umbreon – The only Eeveeloution that fit ravens color scheme ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

5. Hydreigon – Brutal and destructive

6. Bisharp – Rules over packs of similar pokes and is called ‘pitiless’

Qrow Branwen

1. Honchkrow – Do you have to ask?

2. Absol – A pokemon said to bring misfortune/bad luck.

3. Umbreon – Fits Qrows aesthetic and the twins having the same Eeveeloution is funny to me.

4. Alolan Marowak – This is actually Summers Cubone evolved and I felt like Summer wouldn’t have brought a young untrained poke on a possibly deadly mission. Also seems fitting that Qrow would take to raising it since Tai would have his hands full raising his own team and the kids.

5. Staraptor – A loner birb that leaves its flock after growing up fits Qrow pretty fucking well.

6. Scrafty – A poke that comes off as rude and actually cares about its loved ones.

RWBY

Ruby Rose

1. Scyther – It has scythes for hands, what’s not to love?

2. Roselia – Wanting to keep Ruby’s family legacy going, Tai gives Ruby a Budew as her first Pokemon

3. Shiny Eevee – I mean silver Eevee… silver eyes… Also, it hasn’t evolved yet cause Ruby and Eevee are unsure of what they want it to be.

4. Rockruff – A pup that turns into a wolf, nuf said (it will probably turn into the midnight form…).

5. Electrike – A speedy boi that gives of showers of sparks as opposed to Ruby’s showers of petals

6. Zigzagoon – Another speedy boi

Weiss Schnee

1. Glaceon – Obvious is obvious

2. Alolan (Atlesian) Vulpix – Pretty snow fox for the pretty ice queen.

3. Dratini – Of course the rich kid would have something really rare

4. Furfrou – Fancy dog for the fancy girl

5. Brionne – A pretty poke that sings? 100% Weiss’s aesthetic.

6. Braixen – You can only have so much blue and white before you need a splash of color and a poke that uses a wand like how Weiss uses her weapon seemed fitting

Blake Belladonna

1. Litten – A cat that like to be solitary and doesn’t often display emotion… sounds like Blake to me!

2. Umbreon – Somehow Umbreon just fits for way too many people but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

3. Purrloin – Cute purple cat

4. Litwick – Blakes shadow clones kinda remind me of a ghosts sooo purple ghost poke?

5. Frogadier – Blake is a ninja. She absolutely needs a ninja Poke

6. Noibat – It’s purple and has great hearing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yang Xiao-Long

1. Jangmo-o – It’s a punchy dragon and fits her color scheme ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. Makuhita – Yellow, punchy, never gives up

3. Flareon – Yang’s hair literally lights on fire. I would be dumb to NOT give her Flareon

4. Combusken – I mean it’s fire, it’s fighting, and warn when hugged!

5. Rufflet – Ok SO Rufflet and it’s eventual evolution into Braviary fits Yang really well. Rufflet starts out feeling like it needs to prove itself and fighting everything it can (including it’s own parents). After evolving it still fights like a champ, but for more ‘noble’ reasons, aka to protect friends and loved ones.

6. Corphish – JuST hear me out on this one. Corphish are said to be REALLY hardy and able to survive in the worst conditions. They also like to fight a lot.

JNPR

Jaune Arc

1. Growlithe – Friendly and loyal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. Eevee – His Eevee eventually becomes Sylveon because Jaune is a cinnamon roll

3. Buneary – Won the egg from cereal box tops

4. Riolu – Riolu and Lucario are described as loyal and having a very strong sense of justice

5. Honedge – This one has been in has family for a long time

6. Skarmory – Jaune only had a team of 5, but when Pyrrha died her Skarmory was the only survivor and Jaune took it upon himself to raise it.

Nora Valkyrie

1. Jolteon – What did you expect?

2. Rhyhorn – It has the lightning horn ability for obvious reasons

3. Flaaffy – Happy, fluffy, pink, and electric

4. Teddiursa – Cute, loves sweet things, and it’s evolution is a rage bear. Nuf said.

5. Munchlax – They both have bottomless stomachs

6. Woobat – If Nora’s heart cannons are anything to go by, she would love this Pokemon

Pyrrha Nikos

1. Magnemite – Polarity… Magnetism… Magnemite… I’m not very original

2. Eevee – Pyrrha’s Eevee would have become a Jolteon if she were still alive.

3. Skarmory – Steel types really are obvious choices.

4. Nosepass – It’s nose is literally magnetic

5. Victini – With all of the talk of Pyrrha being ‘fated’ for victory, it would be silly to not give her the pokemon that makes that true.

6. Buneary – Pyrrha ended up being given one of the Pumpkin Pete mascots

Lie Ren

1. Espeon – When I think of Ren I think of psychic pokes so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. Natu – Calm and cautious like Ren

3. Nincada – Only other ninja poke that isn’t Froakie

4. Espurr – Another calm psychic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

5. Joltik – A cute little critter to remind him of Nora

6. Zorua – Can hide it’s self which is closeish to Ren’s semblance

Misc.

Ozpin – Public Team

1. Espeon – Espeon’s tail fork is said to be able to sense danger so it makes sense Oz would keep one around.

2. Klinklang – I mean, the gear aesthetic it obvious isn’t it?

3. Mimikyu – I headcanon that Oz can very easily see the worth in literally anyone so giving him a poke that thinks it can’t be loved was a no-brainer

4. Shedinja – Pokemon with no soul VS man with too much soul

5. Honchkrow – Oz having a ‘dark’ pokemon and people think he’s shady? No way! (also, I’m a shipper shhhh)

6. Ninetales – Of course Oz would have a stupidly long lived Pokemon

Ozpin – Personal Team

1. Celebi – Of course the one person who can be found in almost any time period ever would be chosen by the literal time travel Pokemon… Also, Green.

2. Dragonite – Dragonite’s are kind, altruistic, and long lived.

3. Magearna – Man-made poke that has a gear aesthetic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

4. Metagross – Made from fusing two Metang together.

5. Aegislash – Despite Ozma being a ‘wizard’ he was also a ‘warrior’

6. Zoroark – Uses illusions and would even sacrifice its life to protect loved ones.

#rwby #pokemon #strq #ozpin #jnpr #rwby pokemon au #i spent way too much time on this #but it was fun

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mikotyzini · 7 years ago

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What Defines Us - Ch. 27

Good morning! Another week, another chapter. Here’s a link to ff.net if you’d like to read there.

Also, if someone knows how to get the read more links to work on mobile, please tell me how? I’ve seen some that work and some that don’t, so there’s gotta be a way!

What a difference one day and one difficult conversation could make. Yesterday, when Weiss had shown up at this small home in this cozy little neighborhood, she’d fully expected to be berated - as she deserved. Instead...she might have gotten one of her closest friends back.

There was still a long road ahead to truly atone for what she’d done, but knowing that Yang was willing to forgive and put the past behind them was more reassuring than Weiss could’ve ever imagined. It lifted an incredible amount of stress from her shoulders. It made her feel like she could walk up the pathway to the front door without worrying about who might be inside.

She no longer wondered when Yang would erupt and throw her out of the house, but that didn’t mean she felt any fewer nerves than usual. Knowing that Ruby was within shouting distance seemed to have this effect on Weiss - elevating her heart rate and blood pressure while making her palms undeniably clammy. Not exactly the most flattering of qualities, but hopefully Ruby would continue to be none the wiser to her ability to turn Weiss’ normally steadfast composure on its head. Especially on a day like today, which felt a bit more monumental than reality might suggest.

They were going out to dinner tonight - just the two of them. Weiss still couldn’t believe that Ruby had agreed so easily to the invitation. Of course, what reason would Ruby have to decline? It wasn’t as if Weiss had called it a date or implied that it would be anything more intimate. It was simply a dinner. Between friends.

Exhaling slowly, wishing the exiting air would take some of her nerves with it, Weiss reached the front stoop and waited patiently. By now, she’d learned that there was no reason even to attempt knocking within the first few seconds of arriving. If Blake was home, the door would open within a few seconds -

The door unlatched at that very moment, and Blake stood behind it, casually motioning Weiss inside.

And into a flower-filled wonderland.

Her feet gingerly stepped forward while her eyes drank in every corner of the small rooms beyond, wondering how the vision before her could possibly be real. There were rose petals everywhere. Spots of red covered every surface - the sofa, the tables, the cabinets, the floors - no horizontal space had been spared a drop of red. And, in the case of the floor, there was a thin layer piled up that swished with her feet as she walked.

Visually, it was beyond magnificent...and the smell lingering in the air was more than heavenly. It tried to pull Weiss away from this reality and into another - one where Ruby was most likely hiding somewhere, waiting to surprise Weiss with a gift.

However, the atmosphere in this current reality was far more subdued than it should be from all the obvious cheer spread about. Standing by the kitchen table and looking rather pensive, Yang gripped the back of a chair like it was the only thing keeping her upright.

“Ruby’s getting ready,” Blake explained before moving to Yang’s side, standing close enough that their hips were just barely touching. It was a gesture familiar in more ways than one, but the two girls always did this when one or both of them needed support.

“Alright…” Weiss replied slowly, taking hesitant steps further into the house. She didn’t know what the cause for such a strained mood was, and wasn’t sure if she wanted to know, but…

“What’s going on?”

The question spurred Yang into motion.

“I’m guessing you got an invitation too,” Yang replied, reaching over the chair and picking up a familiar envelope before flipping it carelessly back onto the table. Weiss’ eyes flitted from Yang to the envelope then back again.

“Like a month ago. Why?”

Yang glanced at Blake, who nodded almost imperceptibly. They always did this too - some kind of nonverbal communication where gestures meant as much as words. It used to drive Weiss crazy...until she and Ruby had developed the same talent. Now it only made an ache of longing appear in her chest.

Having received whatever advice or encouragement she was searching for, Yang sighed and turned back to Weiss.

“JNPR had to drop out.” Picking up the envelope once more, Yang ran one finger along its edge while her brow furrowed. “So Goodwitch sent Ruby another invitation.”

“And?” Weiss asked, not sure what Yang was trying to get at.

“And you should come.”

“...excuse me?”

Of all the things she thought Yang might say, that hadn’t even breached her mind. The Beacon Invitational? Bringing back the graduated teams to compete against waves of simulated Atlesians and Grimm to prove who was ‘best.’ A team reunion. As in, the team Ruby had no idea Weiss had been a part of.

That was a completely ludicrous idea. At least that was Weiss’ thought, but Yang was nodding her head.

“You should be there. As a member of Team RWBY.”

Turning from Yang to Blake and back again, Weiss waited for one of them to say that they were kidding - that this was some joke they were trying to pull in order to freak her out. Because it was working.

But when neither of them cracked so much as a miniscule smile, she decided to press them.

“You’re kidding, right? How is that even remotely a good idea?”

“Ruby wants to go. She’s hoping our 4th teammate will be there,” Yang explained carefully. “She wants to meet her - you.”

“And when she finds out I’ve been lying to her this whole time?”

“You haven’t been lying to her. You just haven’t told her the whole story.” For once, Yang spoke slowly, calmly, as if she didn’t want to set Weiss off into another argument.

Maybe Yang didn’t want to argue about this, but Weiss absolutely did.

“I finally feel like we’re close again,” she replied in a forceful whisper, not wanting Ruby to overhear them. “I don’t want to lose that for some stupid reunion. I don't want to hurt her.”

“I don’t want her to be disappointed,” Yang immediately countered. “But this wasn’t our decision, Weiss - it’s Ruby’s. She’s got it in her head that she wants to go, and you know there’s no way we’re talking her out of it. Plus, there’s no reason she can’t go - she’s healthy and willing. So Blake and I are going with her, and you should be there too.”

Mouth agape at what she was hearing, Weiss stared at the two girls standing in front of her. Back to Beacon? Back to the place where this all began? She hadn’t been there in such a long time - there was always too much to do and then, when there had been time, there were too many memories in those halls for her to set foot near them.

“She’ll understand, Weiss,” Blake added quietly. “She understands what happened to her mind. She understands why, as strangers, we couldn’t just tell her what her life was like. She won’t hold it against you.”

“And she trusts you,” Yang said. “For some reason, she puts all her faith in you. Look how easy it was for you to waltz back in here and win her over. Even at Beacon, she adored you when you were insulting her. You weren’t even nice to her for like the first month we were there!”

“I hope there’s a point to this,” Weiss mumbled with narrowed eyes, making Yang sigh like Weiss was missing some obvious explanation.

“She’s always seen something in you when no one else did. If you think that’ll change just because you didn’t tell her that you’re her partner and...everything else...then maybe you don’t know her as well as you think you do.”

Pursing her lips, Weiss crossed her arms over her chest and tapped one foot on the floor. How badly she wished she could refute Yang’s claim, but it was absolutely correct. It always felt like Ruby saw Weiss - not the ‘princess’ exterior, not the accomplishments, not the money - but who she really was, and who she was capable of being. Somehow Ruby only saw the good parts in Weiss, something only Winter had been capable of up to that point in her life.

Winter was family though. Ruby could’ve easily written Weiss off like everyone else seemed to do, but she hadn’t. In every look, every smile, and every word of encouragement, Ruby showed that she believed in something deeper than appearances and first, second, or third impressions.

Weiss loved being the person Ruby looked at in that way, and she’d done everything in her power to become someone worthy of those glances. But she was scared. What if she didn’t know Ruby as well as she thought she did? Or worse, what if Ruby no longer saw those good traits in Weiss? What if those had disappeared - fading over time as her strength had?

“The Invite is this weekend,” she finally said. “How will you ever be prepared in time?”

“We won’t be. But that’s always part of the fun, isn’t it?” Yang replied with a slight grin. “And Ruby’s good enough to fight those simulations - no problem.”

Yang was crazy. Certifiably crazy. Taking Ruby back to Beacon? Letting her fight? After everything that had happened -

A breeze preemptively announced Ruby’s presence before she shot into the kitchen and slid to a stop in front of Weiss. A wave of petals gently brushed into her - causing her to temporarily close her eyes and relish the smell of fresh roses. When she opened her eyes again, Ruby was beaming happily.

And Weiss’ heart sped up - all thoughts of Beacon temporarily pushed from her mind.

Ruby was dressed up. Nicely dressed up.

“Weiss! Sorry I’m late - I needed a shower big time!” As if to prove this point, Ruby shook her head, throwing the slightly damp strands into disarray...which somehow looked even better with her outfit.

It was rare to catch Ruby in anything other than combat gear or pajamas - like finding an albino Grimm in the forest. But why had she dressed up? Did she do it because she thought this was...a date? Was it? Weiss wanted it to be, but because she’d never actually said the word she thought it was vague enough for Ruby not to make that conclusion.

“Don’t worry. I don’t mind waiting,” Weiss managed to reply with a smile that tugged larger when Ruby beamed back. It was an unshakable impulse to smile whenever Ruby looked even remotely happy - and if it was Weiss who somehow made Ruby smile...even better.

“You look...fantastic,” Weiss added with a blush that only grew when Ruby looked moderately embarrassed in return.

“Yeah, wow, Ruby,” Yang finally spoke up, suddenly looking much more normal with a smirk on her lips. “What’re you expect-”

Yang’s inevitable tease cut short when Blake abruptly caught her chin and turned her to the side for a kiss. Weiss used the few seconds of silence to steal another glance at Ruby - her cheeks flushing even more when she did so. Red was such a great color on Ruby...and that certainly hadn’t changed with time.

Only after Blake released her did Yang cough lightly into her hand and turn back to them.

“Have a good dinner!” she chirped, sliding one arm around Blake’s waist and pulling her close. “Ruby, you totally don’t need to rush home or anything. Like seriously, take your time.”

Only after rolling her eyes at Yang did Weiss turn back to Ruby and gesture towards the door.

“Are you ready?”

Nodding enthusiastically, Ruby suddenly disappeared in a cloud of petals that flew out the front door and down the sidewalk. Confused by the rush, Weiss turned back to Blake and Yang - who both chuckled at her expression.

“Today’s the first day she’s been allowed to use her semblance since the hospital,” Blake explained.

“Hope you didn’t plan anything involving a lot of walking,” Yang added with another laugh. Smiling and shaking her head, Weiss turned and walked out the front door to track Ruby down.

It was impossible to keep Ruby still for more than a few minutes at a time - that was one of the reasons why Weiss was so impressed by Ruby’s ability to sit through the entire movie last night without getting up once. But a couple of days without the use of her semblance...of course she’d be running everywhere. She’d probably been bouncing off the walls all day, too.

“How are you feeling?” Weiss asked when she caught up to Ruby by the car.

“Better than new!”

“And hungry, I hope?” Weiss asked while motioning for Ruby to get into the passenger seat.

“Starving! Blake and I raced through the woods, so I worked up a good appetite!”

Taking heed of the words and sliding into the car herself, Weiss quickly set them off towards their destination. While leaving the neighborhoods behind, her mind tried to drag her back to the conversation at the house - of returning to Beacon as a member of Team RWBY - but, fortunately, she was able to push those thoughts aside and focus on Ruby.

The unexpected dilemma likely would have filled Weiss with paralyzing uncertainty only a short while ago, but with Ruby by her side she could choose to move on. Plus, from the way Ruby was drumming her fingers against her thigh, she was either extremely hyper or needed someone to listen to her thoughts. Potentially both, but Weiss was always more than willing to listen to Ruby’s rambles.

“How has your day been?” The question was meant to get Ruby talking - an easy way to cause the dam to break.

“Great! I finally got taken off speed restrictions. You probably noticed the petals -”

“Hard to miss those,” Weiss replied, sending a grin to the seat beside her and receiving one in return.

“I’ll clean them up later! But it’s been awesome running again. Oh! Where’re we going? I never even asked!”

“A little restaurant I read about,” Weiss began, leaving out the part where she’d spoken to the executive chef earlier that morning and grilled him on his credentials. “Supposedly, they have the very best spaghetti in town.”

“Is this place called ‘Weiss’ Kitchen’? Cuz your spaghetti is the best I’ve ever had!”

Flushing at the flattery, Weiss made sure to keep her eyes on the road and hoped Ruby couldn’t tell how thrilled that compliment made her.

“Unfortunately not, but maybe next time we can go there…I’m pretty sure there’s always a reservation available for you.”

When Weiss snuck a glance to the side, Ruby’s excited expression filled her with butterflies.

Was that another invitation Ruby would accept? There was nothing Weiss would like to do more than cook for Ruby again. That was a bit of a lie, of course. There were many things she’d love the chance to do with Ruby again - making dinner was simply one of them.

To think that Weiss arrived at Beacon without the ability to make something as simple as toast. After discovering how much Ruby loved to eat, Weiss had spent much of her free time trying to perfect the art called ‘cooking.’ With only moderate success, she might add. Ruby never complained - not that she would have even if the food were inedible…

The next several minutes they drove in comfortable silence. The window seemed to have captured Ruby’s full attention, and Weiss kept sneaking peeks at the girl - wondering what was going through Ruby’s head. There was a suspicion pulling at the corner of her mind that Ruby was most likely preoccupied by a certain upcoming tournament at a prestigious fighting school, but each time the name flitted into existence, Weiss cast it aside.

When they sat down at dinner, they could talk about the upcoming tournament and Weiss could get a good feel for what Ruby thought about it. Until then, she would focus on what was rapidly beginning to feel like their first ‘official’ date.

Thank Grimm Ruby couldn’t feel Weiss’ palms right now. They were perspiring in the most unflattering way.

“Here we are…” Weiss muttered, pulling into the parking lot of a tiny restaurant with a line of people waiting outside the door. She’d heard that it was popular, but now the rather large sum she’d paid for the last minute reservation made more sense. Definitely worth the money to skip the wait for a table, especially if Ruby was hungry.

“Jeez! This place looks super popular!” Ruby remarked - her first words in quite some time. She then jumped out of the car almost before it came to a complete stop and sprinted around to open Weiss’ door for her. “After you, mi’lady,” Ruby said with a superfluous bow before extending her hand.

Ruby had always known how to make Weiss blush. It was the small gestures like this one...so simple and sweet and done without any pretense of mocking her social status. Ruby wanted to open Weiss’ door because she thought it was a nice thing to do - plain and simple. If it happened to light Weiss’ cheeks aglow in the process...that was only an unintended bonus.

Subtly wiping her palm against the seat before taking Ruby’s hand, Weiss allowed Ruby to help her out of the vehicle she surely could have exited on her own. The action drew curious eyes their way - as it normally did - but the only eyes Weiss saw were Ruby’s - bright and silver and filled with humor at what had just transpired between them.

Once outside, Ruby was still holding Weiss’ hand and seemed content in not letting it go - which was perfectly fine with her. Gripping a little tighter, she led both of them into the restaurant on cloud nine.

Holding Ruby’s hand was incredible in a way that was difficult to describe. It hinted at a past that was greater than this present, all while being acceptable in their current landscape. As an added benefit, it prevented Ruby from sprinting everywhere.

This could so easily be one of the many dates they’d had in the past, Weiss kept reminding herself that it wasn’t. This wasn’t the past - this version of Ruby didn’t remember that time a waiter accidentally dropped her birthday cake onto her lap. Or that time she’d made Weiss laugh so uncontrollably at a joke the restaurant host rushed over thinking medical attention was necessary.

Maybe Ruby didn’t remember those times, but tonight new memories could be made. Their first time out together as...friends...or whatever they currently were.

“Schnee, for two,” Weiss told the man standing inside the front door. He immediately nodded - likely having heard of how she’d bumped another couple off the reservation list in order to add herself.

It wasn’t a big issue, really. She’d very nicely asked the restaurant to call another couple who did have a reservation and then offered them a large sum of money if they would switch to the next day. They’d been more than happy to oblige, and everyone ended up satisfied with the situation.

“Right this way, Miss.”

Following the man through a maze of intimately-lit booths and tables, a small amount of regret filled her when he set their menus down on opposite sides of a table and she realized that she would have to drop Ruby’s hand. The moment she did so, her palm grew cold as she slid into one side of the booth and Ruby took the seat across from her.

“Your waiter will be right with you,” the host murmured before disappearing back to the front of the restaurant. He’d barely left the table before Ruby’s eyes scanned through the menu and flipped it shut on the table.

“Spaghetti - definitely spaghetti,” she said with a determined nod. “I gotta see if it can hold a candle to yours!”

For as much planning as Weiss had done for this...for tonight...she hadn’t even thought that this could become a competition between herself and the ‘best’ chef in Vale. All she’d thought was that Ruby really loved spaghetti, so they should get spaghetti. Clearly, she hadn’t put enough thought into this...

“Well, I’m no professional chef -”

“You’re better!”

With a small smile frozen on her lips, Weiss stared across the table. It was so easy to believe that Ruby truly meant that…

Meeting Weiss’ eyes only briefly before dropping her gaze to the table, Ruby focused rather intently on smoothing the wrinkles out of the linen tablecloth. There was obviously something on Ruby’s mind, but instead of immediately prying into the matter Weiss watched and waited - trying to gather a better idea of how this new version of Ruby wanted to share her thoughts.

Running one finger in the pattern of a figure eight on the cloth, Ruby briefly glanced up, caught Weiss’ eyes, then turned away again.

“You...uh, you look great tonight, too.”

What felt like a thousand arrows hit Weiss directly in the heart, appearing out of nowhere and striking with deadly accuracy. It had never been a secret that Weiss loved clothes and made it a point to be well-dressed, but when Ruby thought that she looked great...if she was currently wearing a trash bag, she would willingly wear it over and over again. Although why she’d ever wear a trash bag to begin with, she had no idea.

Opening her mouth in an attempt to respond with something resembling words and not stammers of love-stricken gratitude, their waiter mercifully appeared to save her the embarrassment of a fumbled response.

“You lovely ladies have the look of someone ready to order food!” he quipped while rubbing his hands together. “Or maybe you’d like to start off with a few drinks? Appetizers? Corny jokes? I have those too!”

Moving her eyes from Ruby to their decently handsome and abundantly affable waiter, Weiss gave him a polite smile.

“I believe we’d both like to try your famous spaghetti,” she answered, looking at Ruby for confirmation and receiving it with an excited nod.

“Excellent choice - anything else? I’ll bring you some water, but we also have just about everything else under the sun - and moon, if ya know what I mean.” He then winked at Ruby, who looked more startled by the action than anything else.

“That’ll be all for now,” Weiss interjected only after Ruby had slowly shaken her head ‘no.’

“Shouldn’t be too long then! He cranks out that spaghetti like it’s his business!”

Stifling the urge to roll her eyes at the lame joke, Weiss caught Ruby staring at her while their waiter buzzed away from the table. As soon as their eyes met though, Ruby turned her gaze back to the tablecloth.

It had always been easy to tell when Ruby’s mind was elsewhere. For one, she talked much, much less. Her eyes shifted and slid from one point of interest to the next, never latching onto anything other than the ground for long. And her brow would permanently furrow with the most adorable expression of deep thought.

But one of the fascinating aspects of Ruby’s personality was that she displayed her distraction for anyone to see. When she was still a child, Weiss learned how to pretend to pay attention, but Ruby had either never learned or never bothered to hide her emotions.

Something was clearly on her mind. Could it be a certain invitation to a certain school beginning with the letter ‘B’? It had to be. What else could be occupying her mind so ardently?

“What’s going on?” Weiss asked as if she was oblivious, unfolding her napkin and laying it across her lap while Ruby focused on her. “You're awfully quiet.”

“Oh, sorry.” Biting her lip, Ruby looked down at the table before back at Weiss - locking eyes with her and nearly taking her breath away.

Weiss was always taken aback by Ruby’s eyes - pools of liquid metal that were the prettiest things Weiss had ever seen. The color was nearly the same shade as the ring hanging around Ruby’s neck - almost, but not quite. Several jewelers had tried and tried again to match the color, but they’d never been able to replicate it perfectly.

‘One of a kind,’ Weiss had surmised, to which Ruby gleefully pointed at both of her eyes and said, ‘Actually, two!’

“I, uh...I was just wondering…if you...like...” Ruby’s voice trailed off, and she cleared her throat. Her current expression was confusing - why was she suddenly so nervous? Could this really be for the Invite?

“Do you...do you know what the Beacon Invitational is?”

Nodding, Weiss was still trying to figure out what was creating Ruby’s nerves, but they were rapidly disappearing.

“I got a letter today,” Ruby explained further. “They need another team to compete and...they asked me.”

“Well you did go there, didn’t you?” Weiss asked slowly. The sudden nerves had completely disappeared by now, replaced by a more thoughtful expression.

“Yeah, of course, but...we’re gonna go.”

“You’re going to go? Isn’t it this weekend?”

Even though Yang had already delivered this news, Weiss could still feel the shockwaves of that statement reverberating through her bones.

Ruby at Beacon. Weiss at Beacon. The likelihood of keeping this massive secret between them shrunk exponentially at that place. Old classmates, teachers...there would be an abundance of people who knew both of them on a personal level. Anyone could easily make a comment alluding to subjects Ruby knew nothing about. It would be one thing for Weiss to tell Ruby personally...but having a third party accidentally give Ruby that information might hurt her far more than necessary.

“Last minute, but yeah, we’re gonna go,” Ruby repeated, numbly nodding her head as if the knowledge hadn’t quite sunk in yet.

The reaction was different from what Weiss had expected. Ordinarily, the Beacon Invite made Ruby overzealously happy. It was the opportunity to show off in front of a huge audience, after all. But this wasn’t the same Ruby. This Ruby was more...subdued and thoughtful. Her eyes unfocused as she continued to mindlessly trace figures on the tablecloth in front of her.

“I never even thought of going back, ya know?” she said, her silver eyes snapping back to Weiss. “There were so many other things to focus on. Beacon was just this...far off place - like some castle from a dream you can’t quite remember. When I read that invitation though…” Briefly pausing, Ruby looked down at her hands like she could still see the invitation there. “I knew I could do it.”

Of course Ruby could do it. She was capable of anything she set her mind to, but her uncertainty could be read across her furrowed brow.

If she wasn’t sure, maybe there was hope that her mind could be changed.

“Being capable and being ready aren’t always the same thing,” Weiss pointed out.

“Yeah...I know. And this is gonna be...like, huge! There’ll be so many people I don’t remember. And fighting in front of an entire stadium filled with people? I could make a big fool of myself.”

“Then why go?” Weiss asked, her tone on the verge of a plea. “Why put yourself through that? You could always go back some other time. And you could participate next year.”

Weiss needed Ruby to see that this was too soon to bring the past out into the open. Maybe Ruby was ready, but Weiss wasn’t. Not now. Maybe not ever.

“But it feels like the right time. And I think I’m ready.” As Ruby’s brow unfurrowed, she gave Weiss a cheerful grin. “It’s the band-aid approach! Just rip it off, yell some bad words, then you’re done!”

The uncertainty disappeared, taking Weiss’ false hopes right along with it. Again, Yang had been right. There was no talking Ruby out of this. For better or worse, she’d decided that this was the next mountain she would climb. And if the last year had proven anything, it was that nothing would prevent Ruby from reaching any goal she set.

“Plus, I really wanna fight in this tournament!” Ruby added.

Holding back a sigh, Weiss managed a thin smile instead. Of course Ruby wanted to fight in the tournament - everyone wanted to fight in the tournament. It was rare that official huntsmen had the opportunity to show the rest of the world what they were capable of. The Invite presented them with an opportunity to impress and dazzle on a scale they weren’t provided out in the forests.

But who else would be there? Unfortunately, Weiss’ self-imposed exile meant she’d lost touch with the other huntsmen from Beacon. According to Yang, JNPR was already out, but what about CFVY? CRDL would absolutely be there - those boys hardly did anything else.

So many familiar names, so many opportunities for the past to reappear.

“Won’t it be hard...going back there?” she asked delicately. Personally, it would be the opposite of easy for Weiss to set foot near Beacon again, but Ruby shrugged in response.

“It might be weird if there’s a lot of people I don’t recognize, but if I had friends before, maybe I can make them again! Hopefully they won’t be offended about me forgetting them...”

“Of course they won’t be offended,” Weiss replied on impulse.

“I hope not! Especially because…” Ruby hesitated for a second before lowering her voice to continue. “Yang said she’d ask my partner to come. I really don’t want to offend her right off the bat.”

“You could never do that…” Weiss whispered, feeling a grip tighten around her heart as Ruby looked up with bright eyes.

“I was all worried that something bad happened to her, but now I might actually get to meet her, Weiss! If she comes - which, ya know, she might not. It’s last minute and she could be busy, but if she’s there...I could say ‘hello’ and, uh, maybe ask her a question or two!”

Staring across the table, Weiss wasn’t sure if Ruby was more excited or nervous about the prospect of meeting her partner.

What if Weiss could save Ruby the anticipation and tell her right now? What if Weiss could say that Ruby already knew who her partner was. It was the girl sitting across from her - the coward who’d been too scared to mention that rather significant piece of their shared history.

But when Weiss opened her mouth, no words came out. Instead, she wrote off the idea as another fruitless endeavor and focused on Ruby’s nervous expression.

“Do you think that...maybe…” Ruby began to ask, only to stop and shake her head before starting over. “Would you come with me?” she asked, her eyes silently pleading Weiss to say ‘yes.’ “I mean, I know you’re busy with work and all, but it’d mean a lot to me if you were there. I kinda made it seem like nothing to Yang, but...it’s kind of a big deal, ya know?”

Her heart melting on the spot, Weiss knew there was absolutely no way she could say ‘no.’ Who could possibly say ‘no’ to those eyes?

Reaching across the table, she gently took Ruby’s hand to prevent it from worrying a hole into the tablecloth.

“Of course I’ll be there.”

The promise hardly made it past her lips before two steaming plates of spaghetti appeared at their side. Letting go of Ruby’s hand, Weiss sat back in her seat.

“I’m so ready for this!” Ruby said as the food was set in front of her. The nervousness of a couple seconds ago had disappeared and been replaced with starry eyes intent on consuming a great deal of food in a short amount of time.

Pushing any thought of Beacon to the back of her mind, Weiss picked up her fork and took a good look at the food resting in front of her.

“Oh, there are olives in the sauce.”

“Mmm, I love olives!” As Ruby stuck the first giant forkful in her mouth, Weiss stared in surprise.

Right - Ruby refused to eat olives after the extremely ill-advised olive-eating contest she’d had with Nora. But this version of Ruby didn’t remember that...which was probably a good thing.

Before tasting the food for herself, Weiss watched while Ruby chewed thoughtfully and then swallowed.

“So what do you think? How does mine stack up?”

“This is good,” Ruby answered succinctly. “But not as good as yours!”

“You flatter me.” Not that Weiss minded one bit.

“I’m totally not! I’d never lie about food. That’d be like...the worst kinda lie.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Weiss joked while trying a much smaller bite from her own plate. Laughing joyfully, Ruby pointed her fork playfully across the table.

“You can’t lie to me anyway, Weiss! You have a tell, remember?”

“What is it??”

Weiss tried to look exasperated but failed miserably when Ruby giggled and shook her head.

“Not telling!”

Momentarily pouting, Weiss eventually smiled regardless. It was nearly impossible not to smile when Ruby was so cheerful.

“This is fantastic, by the way,” Weiss commented, pointing down to her plate. “I’m afraid we might need to have your taste buds checked.”

“It is great! But it’s...missing something.”

“Garlic bread?” Weiss teased, succeeding again in making Ruby giggle.

“That too! But like...you know how they say homemade food is ‘made with love?’”

“Yes…”

“Well, this chef obviously doesn’t love me!” Ruby concluded with a grin. The implication behind the words made Weiss blush, but Ruby didn’t appear to be taking the meaning that far.

“He only needs to meet you...then I’m sure he will.”

“If only it was that easy!” Ruby remarked with a laugh, her eyes sparkling merrily.

It was that easy. If only Ruby knew how she made Weiss’ heart do little flips and jumps in her chest, then she might have some idea of how lovable she was. But Ruby had already moved on to the next forkful of food and the next topic.

“So do you think Blake ever gets confused about what ears she hears a sound through?”

A startled burst of laughter escaped Weiss at the unexpected question.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Like, say she hears something - does she wonder if her cat ears heard it or her human ears? Or does she always just assume it was her cat ears?”

It was a mystery how Ruby came up with some of these questions, but Weiss had learned that it was quite fun to play along. Sometimes suspending rational beliefs was cathartic, in a way.

“Well…” she began, unraveling a foolish answer on the fly. “You’d think that because her cat ears have better hearing, they’d hear everything first, but I bet they actually take turns. One ear listens for an entire day while the other three turn off. That way none of them get too tired. Audio exhaustion - it’s a real thing, you know.”

It was easy to know if her answer was correct because, if it was, Ruby would burst into infectious giggles - just like now.

“That’s why sometimes she has to turn one ear towards you all weird!” Ruby gasped before devouring another huge bite of noodles. “You’re so smart!”

Smiling, Weiss watched in amazement as spaghetti disappeared in large chunks from Ruby’s plate. There was a reason why Ruby had been known as The Vacuum at Beacon - and it had nothing to do with the torrents of wind she created with her semblance.

“Are you going to have enough?” Weiss asked, nodding at Ruby’s rapidly depleting plate of food. “Because it’s highly unlikely I’ll be able to finish all of this, so maybe you could help me?”

“You sure?” Ruby’s eyes were already filled with stars at the prospect when Weiss nodded. “Awesome! Lemme know when you’re done.”

Chuckling while Ruby quickly emptied her plate of food, Weiss took a few more bites of her own. Ruby was blessed with a metabolism that seemed to work as fast as she could run - which meant that she was tasked with finishing whatever Weiss wasn’t able to eat. It was a mutually beneficial relationship in more ways than one.

When Weiss reached her limit, she gladly slid the plate across the table to her partner - who accepted it with a soft ‘oooh’ of delight. While Ruby was temporarily distracted by the influx of food, Weiss waved a hand and subtly caught their waiter’s attention. He appeared in a dash, leaning down to hear what she’d like next.

“We’d like to order the dessert menu,” she said, sending a glance Ruby’s way and earning an oblivious grin for the effort.

“You mean you’d like to see a dessert menu?”

“No, I mean we’d like to order one of everything you have on it.”

Surprised but willing to go along with the unorthodox request, he laughed and nodded before hurrying away to put in the order.

“Are you going to have room?” Weiss asked as Ruby finished off the second plate.

“Room for what?”

“Dessert, silly - you didn’t think I’d take you somewhere that didn’t have fantastic desserts, did you?”

Squealing in joy, Ruby slid out of her seat and rushed over to give Weiss a sideways hug before returning to the other side of the table.

“Best date ever!” Ruby proclaimed, gasping when their waiter appeared with the first of several dessert plates that he lined up in front of them. “Which one do you want?”

“They’re...all for you,” Weiss managed to reply, her shock slowly dissipating from the word Ruby had used without even realizing it.

“What? No way! You have to at least try a bite of each.”

All that was needed to convince Weiss were two silver eyes and a hopeful expression.

“A small bite,” she agreed, reaching towards the first plate as Ruby set in on another with gusto. Glancing over, Weiss smiled at Ruby’s elation while her own heart thumped loudly in her ears.

A date. Ruby just called it a date. That was why she’d dressed up, and why she’d seemed uncharacteristically nervous when they got to the restaurant.

Ruby thought this was a date.

It felt like someone had just flown Weiss to the moon and left her there. Even if she hadn’t explicitly asked Ruby on a date, the fact that Ruby thought it was meant that she would have agreed to go on a date. If Weiss had managed to ask, ‘Ruby, would you go on a date with me?’ Ruby would have said yes. Which meant…

“Mmm-mgod! This one’s so good!” Ruby pointed to the plate before pushing it across the table. “You’ve gotta try it!”

Smiling, Weiss reached out to try a piece of chocolate cake that looked sweet enough to give her an instant cavity.

If Ruby would agree to a date...it meant that Ruby liked her. Liked her.

That’s what it meant, right? How could it possibly mean anything else? It wasn’t as if they threw that word around for no good reason. Weiss couldn’t even remember the last time she’d used it when not discussing a calendar or event.

Ruby liked her - as impossible, unbelievable, and incredible as that seemed.

Weiss couldn’t believe it. But she wanted to believe it.

“Try this one too!” Ruby said as she pushed another plate forward and moved on to the next.

With her heart beating wildly in her chest at what she’d just learned, Weiss took a forkful of cheesecake before moving the plate closer to Ruby. Smooth, creamy, sweet, but relatively good. One bite was enough - at least, for someone with such a minor sweet tooth like her. Thankfully, especially considering how much she’d ordered, she wasn’t here alone.

If Ruby could eat a regular meal fast, the rate at which she consumed dessert was nearly ungodly. It didn’t matter that there were six different plates to plow through - she did so giddily and with hardly a pause between each.

All the while, Weiss stared - her heart jumping and cartwheeling with every adorable noise Ruby made.

If Ruby liked her...what did that mean? What should Weiss do next? Try to arrange an official date? Another dinner somewhere, or maybe a movie? If Ruby was free this weekend…

Weiss’ thoughts screeched to a halt as she remembered a pretty important fact. The Beacon Invite was this weekend - and she’d just agreed to accompany Ruby. If Ruby’s partner showed up at the Invite, what would happen to this...this feeling growing between them? Would it disappear? Would it be destroyed?

Shaking the worry from her mind, Weiss smiled when Ruby cleaned the last plate and shoved it away from her with a satisfied groan.

“Was it good?” Weiss ventured to guess.

“I’m begging Yang to bring me here all the time,” Ruby answered, leaning back in her seat and wiping her brow as if she’d just finished running a marathon. Not that running a marathon would be particularly taxing for her...

“Well, I’m willing to come back too - if Yang doesn’t want to take you,” Weiss hesitantly offered. When Ruby grinned and bobbed her head in agreement, Weiss’ heart thumped happily.

“How ‘bout only you and I come here?” Ruby proposed in return. “It can be like - our secret place!”

At Ruby’s grin, Weiss couldn’t help but nod in acceptance.

Ruby liked her.

Ruby actually liked her.

“I like the sound of that,” she said, her smile growing at the delighted sound Ruby let out.

“Wow, you finished it all!” their waiter exclaimed as he returned to the table and collected the empty plates. “Can I get you another round or…?”

“I think we’re done,” Weiss replied, looking to Ruby and receiving confirmation. “Thank you.”

With a nod, he slyly grabbed the card Weiss presented him before heading off with the stack of plates in his hand. As he retreated, remorse built in her chest that their night had passed so fast. Well...it hadn’t been that fast, but time had certainly flown by.

It was so easy to spend time with Ruby and not think about everything else that was happening - Beacon, lost memories, their past - none of that seemed to matter when Ruby was making jokes about how spaghetti should be named the national dinner and always be free on Sundays.

“Do you think you can walk?” Weiss teased as their waiter walked back with her card and a receipt.

“I refuse to walk anymore!” Ruby proclaimed before setting one hand on her stomach and blowing a puff of air through her lips. “But tonight might be an exception…”

Chuckling while gathering her belongings, Weiss slid out of the booth and waited for Ruby to pop up beside her.

“Shall we?” she asked, gesturing towards the exit. After nodding, Ruby calmly reached over and intertwined her fingers with Weiss’ - oblivious to the instant increase in heartbeat the action caused.

Since when was Ruby so casual about holding hands? When had this become a thing? Was it because they’d held hands walking into the restaurant?

Did Weiss care what brought it about? It felt incredible to be holding hands again - so much so that she wished they’d parked much further away.

“I could totally still run, you know,” Ruby commented as they made their way through the restaurant. “I just...prefer only seeing food once...”

“I don’t doubt you one bit,” Weiss answered, making Ruby smile in content.

“Thank you for coming,” the host said on their way out the door. “We hope to see you again soon.”

“Youuu betcha!!” Ruby replied with a giggle, swinging Weiss’ arm while they walked into the cool night air. Much of the line had disappeared as dinner passed by, but there were still several people waiting to be seated.

“Ok…” Ruby said while walking over to the car, her feet slightly jittery with sugar-infused energy. “So that was pretty dang good, but I still give the edge to yours!”

“That’s just those three cakes you had talking,” Weiss joked, smiling when Ruby opened the car door for her once again. After waiting patiently for Weiss to slip inside, Ruby carefully shut the door and raced around to the passenger side.

“I might have had a little too much sugar, but that means you should trust my taste buds even more!” Closing her door and finding her seatbelt, Ruby grinned at Weiss the entire time. “Clearly I have experience with lots of food!”

Laughing at Ruby’s influx of hyperactivity, Weiss set them on course for what was likely going to be an entertaining drive home. Based on the speed at which Ruby’s knee was currently bouncing up and down, she might need to run twenty more miles to settle back down. Hopefully she wouldn’t be flying around the house too much. Otherwise, Weiss might get an earful for letting her eat so much sugar so close to bedtime.

“If I ask a question, will you answer?” Ruby suddenly asked. “And like, honestly?”

Curious at the unexpected question, Weiss glanced in Ruby’s direction before turning her attention back to the road.

“I have to, right? You can tell when I’m lying.”

“Right! So you can’t even lie if you want to!”

“Not that I have reason to,” Weiss added, growing worried about what the question might be. “So yes. If you ask me a question, I’ll answer honestly.”

Was that even an honest reply? What if Ruby came right out and asked who her partner was? Could Weiss be honest then? If she did have a tell, then she likely didn’t have a choice...but she never wanted to lie to Ruby anyway. Not in response to a direct question, at least…

“Ok, cool,” Ruby replied. “Because I’ve been wondering if you...uh…”

Turning towards the passenger seat when the question trailed off to nothing, Weiss found that Ruby was scrunching up her face in concentrated effort.

“If I what?” Weiss prodded gently.

“If you...like...if you’ve ever considered being a full-time huntress?”

Surprised, Weiss turned to Ruby again to see if she was joking, but she was nodding her head.

“I mean, you’re totally good enough to do it!” Ruby continued, her words flowing easily now. “If you wanted to, ya know? And I don’t know if you have your own team or not, but like...I’m sure Blake and Yang wouldn’t mind if you joined up with us!”

Shock. Dismay. Paralyzing surprise. Those were all good terms for what Weiss was feeling right now.

“Are you asking me...to join your team?” she clarified.

“Yeah! It’d be cool, wouldn’t it? Then we could go on hunts together all the time! I mean, I guess we could do that anyway, but it’ll be more official-like!”

“But what about your partner?” she managed to ask, making sure to keep her eyes glued to the road while her heart threatened to beat out of her chest.

“She hasn’t been around!” Ruby replied, not at all perturbed by the conversation. “If she doesn’t want to be on the team, I don’t see why you couldn’t join instead! But you don’t have to if you don’t want to...”

“No, Ruby, I - I...”

Weiss didn’t know what to say. Obviously, Ruby had no idea how big of a deal it was to join a different team. It didn’t happen. It just didn’t. Either you remained with your original team, or you went solo. Even if you went on hunts with another group - even if you lived with another group of huntsmen - you were always a member of your original team. That spot was never taken away from you.

And that was Weiss’ spot Ruby was handing away. Granted, she was offering it back to Weiss, but that didn’t lessen the shocking amount of hurt. When Weiss had lost everything - her best friends, her partner, her way of life - she’d remained a member of Team RWBY whether or not she was there. That was a part of her no matter what.

On the flip side...for Ruby to like Weiss enough to propose such a thing was encouraging. It meant that Ruby wanted Weiss’ company for team practices, team hunts, all of the above. Ruby wanted to spend time together - so much so that she’d just made quite a drastic suggestion.

“That’s...a much bigger decision - because of my position at my family’s company,” Weiss finally strung together in response, sparing Ruby a slightly-strained smile. “Preparations would need to be made for my replacement.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, I kinda forgot about that.”

“It’s alright,” Weiss said, feeling a strong tug on her heart when she saw Ruby’s downtrodden expression. “But I’ll start looking into it,” she quickly added. “Whether or not I could do it full time, I’d still love to join you whenever possible.”

The sparkle in Ruby’s eyes was immediately restored, allowing Weiss to breathe easier. Only slightly though, as the boa constrictor hadn’t yet released its grip on her throat.

It wasn’t reasonable to be so upset because Ruby didn’t know what she was suggesting. But what if Ruby had found someone else she liked as much as Weiss? Would she have made the same offer? Weiss would have lost the love of her life, her friends, her family, and her team. The mere thought was crushing.

“And I’d love to have you there!” Ruby replied, tapping the top of her bouncing knee before adding, “Cuz you’re great, you know?”

How was it so easy for Ruby to heal Weiss’ wounds with a few simple words? It was as if she somehow knew, without really knowing, that what she’d just offered had caused some amount of pain. So she went out of the way to ensure Weiss felt special and valued.

Smiling in relief, Weiss felt the temporary grief already fading away - and it was completely gone by the time they reached Ruby’s home. After the vehicle stopped by the side of the darkened street, Ruby again jumped out and raced around to open Weiss’ door before her hand could even reach the handle.

“Thank you,” she murmured, blushing again while accepting Ruby’s chivalrous gesture.

As they made their way up the front path, the walkway which normally seemed so long now seemed incredibly short.

Weiss didn’t want the night to end. She didn’t want to feel the weight of Ruby’s absence for another cold night alone in that mansion she currently called home. She didn’t want to wait to see Ruby again - not when they used to spend the entirety of their days and nights together.

From the way Ruby dragged her feet towards the door - no longer speeding everywhere with her semblance - it was easy to pretend that she felt the same.

But they reached the stoop sooner rather than later. The porch light had been left on, but the room beyond the front windows was dark and empty. Briefly touching the door handle, Ruby paused and turned back to Weiss.

“Thanks for the great dinner,” Ruby said before looking down at her hands and fidgeting with the house key. “It’s nice to get out every once in a while! I had a ton of fun.”

“I did too,” Weiss replied, clasping her hands together by her waist so that she wouldn’t fidget as well. “I know you’ll be busy preparing for the Invite, but hopefully we can see each other soon?”

“Yeah! Actually, do you wanna come over and help me get ready? Like...spar or hang out or something?”

‘Or something’ might as well be ‘or anything.’ As long as they could spend time together, Weiss would agree to anything. And the sooner, the better.

“Absolutely. Whenever and whatever you need.”

Ruby’s eyes lit up at the response.

“Yeah?? How ‘bout tomorrow night then?”

“At night?” Weiss asked in surprise.

“Like after dinner? Sometimes they make teams fight in the dark! I need to practice my night vision.”

“Ah.” Nodding in understanding, Weiss smiled at Ruby’s attempt to prepare for the random wrinkles the tournament hosts loved to throw at their contestants. When it was all for show, turning off the lights and giving the spectators night vision was but one arrow they had in their quiver. That particular one hadn’t been much of a problem with Blake around - it was the water one that had done them in when the same team member refused to stop clinging to Yang’s shoulder. Regardless…

“Then I’ll message you before I come over,” Weiss replied with another smile that Ruby met for a second before bashfully glancing away.

Before Weiss could question the cause of the bashfulness, Ruby stepped forward and wrapped her in a tender hug - one that she returned easily, no longer thrown off guard or frozen by the sudden displays of friendship. Being held in Ruby’s arms was something she’d missed so incredibly over the past year...so much so that it might take millions of hugs before she felt whole again.

“I can’t wait,” Ruby whispered in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine before moving away - but not moving very far away at all.

When Ruby’s arms dropped, one fell to gently hold Weiss’ elbow while silver eyes never strayed from her face, causing her breath to hitch in her throat. It was moments like these where she found it incredibly difficult to prevent her past emotions from taking control. Every cell in her body screamed at her to lean forward a few inches - to stand up on her tiptoes to reach Ruby’s lips. It would be so easy...so gratifying...

“Thank you so much. For everything,” Ruby suddenly said as she backed towards the door, leaving Weiss frozen in place. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

With one last grin and a wave, Ruby disappeared into the house. And when the door closed, a giant whoosh of air pressed out of Weiss’ lungs.

Was it even possible for this to happen a second time? The pounding heartbeat, the sweating palms. The desire, but uncertainty - does she, doesn’t she - was it too soon to take that step? Was Ruby aware of the signals she was sending, or was Weiss misreading the signs completely?

Shaking her head and walking away from the house, certain realities forced their way back to the forefront of her mind now that Ruby wasn’t around to keep them at bay. Overall, tonight had been an excellent night for the Weiss of today, but not such a great night for the Weiss of times past.

Yet...that’s exactly who Yang and Blake wanted her to be now.

How long had it been since she’d been Weiss Schnee - a proud member of Team RWBY? It felt like that memory was a completely separate person from who she was now. Now there were two Weiss Schnees - both of them hopelessly in love with Ruby - but only one of them, this one, might have a chance to regain even a fraction of what they’d once had.

Ruby liked her. But how would Ruby feel when she found out that Weiss and this infamous partner - who’d been missing for a year and was ‘too busy’ to make the trip to Vale - were one and the same?

Weiss understood that Yang didn’t want Ruby to be disappointed. She understood that Ruby wanted to meet her partner. She understood that one day she would have to stop hiding from the past. She understood all of those things, but Ruby liked her. A few months ago that was something she couldn’t have even begun to fathom. Now it was here, and it was true - she could feel it.

How could she possibly put that in jeopardy?

#RWBY #White Rose #Weiss Schnee #Ruby Rose #What Defines Us

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