#mechanical rosegarden

[nottoxicfr]

So…

*steeples fingers*

FFXIII Rosegarden. I must know the inspiration aside from FFXIII being AMAZING (and my childhood) and also RWBY for the same reasons.

Scratch that, I must know everything. This is a crossover I never knew I needed.

I’m sorry this took so long! Seriously, my bad. If you have any questions, please tell me. I promise I won't take three months to answer this time

This will be long.

For inspiration, the short story is that I have a lot of Final Fantasy-RWBY AUs, for basically all the Final Fantasy games I think of regularly (7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16) and even in the scope of Final Fantasy 13, I have a 13-1 and a 13-2 and a 13-3LR AU. I also have a KH AU I've been working on.

This'll just be the Final Fantasy 13-1 AU, though I’ll link the other story details when I post them.

Just to run through a few things, just to set a baseline of how the world works. This is a Remnant where the world increasingly reveals elements from Final Fantasy 13, rather than a true crossover.

For example, the l’Cie and the Fal’Cie are the same idea in concept. The l’Cie are branded servants of the Fal’Cie, mechanical deities serving the Gods themselves. However, in this story, the l’Cie are a fairy tale to even Ozma, which means he only has a strange idea of what they actually are. Only l’Cie really knows what being a l’Cie entails.

A l’Cie is:

Someone who has been branded with a tattoo by a Fal’Cie, essentially the sign that they’ve been given a quest and a vision (a Focus) of what they have to accomplish

The tattoo slowly grows, setting a time limit for their quest. As it grows, the l’Cie also gains the ability to harness magic

However, if they fail to accomplish their task in time, they will be transformed into a monster, a Ci’eth

Someone who is branded naturally attracts Grimm to them, which makes traveling more difficult

Oscar is aged up here a bit, just a year younger than Ruby, and this takes place during a pseudo-Beacon Arc time period.

Oscar is the first l’Cie of the story. His brand is on his neck, under his bandage wraps. His Focus, his quest, is to awaken the slumbering Fal’Cie hidden around Remnant. They were put to sleep when the Brothers left Remnant and, for some reason, they’ve judged it time for them to awaken.

Outside of being a L’cie, he’s just a regular guy at this point and that makes it hard for him to get where he needs to go. For this reason, he hires Ruby to help him get to Forever Fall Forest, which is where he thinks the Fal’Cie he needs to awaken is.

The first arc takes place in Vale, where Oscar’s tremendous bad luck causes a trip that should only take a few hours take several days, which pushes him up the edge of his time limit. Naturally, this puts him in a bad mood, which makes him and Ruby have some friction between them. The situation is somewhat smoothed over when Oscar shows Ruby some magic and he vaguely explains that he needs to get to Forever Fall soon or he’ll die a miserable death.

Ruby distracts him for a little while by talking to him about her Team and asking him about his life. He worked on a farm for most of his life, his aunt died recently, and he’s always wanted to see the world. They fight several packs of Grimm as they hike and Ruby contemplates calling in reinforcements because, for some reason, Oscar insists he’s on a time limit.

They arrive in Beacon where they meet up with WBY and Team JNPR briefly, only to hop on a wagon heading to Forever Fall. Oscar is, at this point, seemingly kind of sketchy. To be fair to him, he’s basically dying.

The arc resolves when Oscar and Ruby plummet down into a sinkhole and find the sleep Fal’Cie of Forever Fall, Behemoth, who brands Ruby simply for being nearby. Now, aside from being paid, Ruby has been dragged into this race to awaken the Fal’Cie, much to the frustration of Oscar. He doesn’t feel comfortable with that, but there’s not a lot he can do but beg an uncaring Fal’Cie to unbrand her.

On the upside, Oscar is given an extension of his time limit and a new vision. He needs to go to the floating city in the sky (Atlas) next, which is where he needs to find the twin Fal’Cie sleeping there.

Ruby is branded as the second l’Cie. She has a brand at her collarbone, hidden under her shirt. Her Focus is to awaken the slumbering Fal’Cie as well, although she also catches further glimpses into the future that put an emphasis on encroaching darkness.

This starts the second arc, Atlas, or the journey to Atlas.

It kicks off when Ruby essentially runs away without telling anyone, under the assumption that once Oscar and her finish their quest, she’ll come back and explain everything. It’s not a very good plan, but she’s understandably occupied by everything that’s going on with her life right now. Ruby and Oscar try and fail to rent a car because they’re both underage. Following this, Ruby tries to buy them tickets directly to Atlas, which doesn’t work because travel to Atlas has suddenly jammed up. Instead, they have to take an indirect route from Anima (the Mistal continent) to Mantle, which takes a few more days but that’s fine.

Yang is, understandably, incredibly distressed that her sister seems to have given up her dreams of being a Huntress to chase after a boy she met three days ago. She reports this to Qrow, who tells Ozpin, who tries to get an understanding of what happened. Yang tells Ozpin about the weird stuff that she heard Oscar and Ruby talking about before, which entails something about Fal’Cie and l’Cie and the Kingdom of Atlas. 

She suspects Ruby has joined a cult and is, again, incredibly distressed.

As stated before, the words l’Cie and fal’Cie are like myths to Ozma. They’re messengers of the Gods and assistants to their angels and, most importantly, they’re almost synonymous with great change. Not good or bad, just big changes in the world. This rings alarm bells in Ozpin’s mind, though not to the point of overreaction.

Ozpin asks Yang to take Team WBY and go after her sister, just to make sure she’s alright and to try and bring her and Oscar back. Ozpin wants to speak with both of them over this supposed l’Cie business. Qrow says he’ll do some scouting ahead to search for them, hopefully, to wrap this whole thing up quickly. He’s not too fond of the idea that some kid swept Ruby away from Beacon.

Ozpin informs his inner circle about all of this, just to keep them updated. It seems like Ruby and Oscar are headed to Anima and then to Atlas, they’re talking about l’Cie stuff which is crazy because, etc…etc… He wants Leonardo to investigate Oscar Pine, he wants Ironwood to try and bring them both in and most importantly, Ozpin just wants to talk.

The lack of details makes Ironwood have a bit of an overreaction. The l’Cie are agents of change in the world and, with the Vital Festival on the horizon, it seems more likely to him that these “l’Cie” are probably going to cause a negative effect. He mobilizes some of his elite forces to capture Ruby and Oscar, as well as putting out wanted posters on Scrolls that these two people are wanted for questioning. It’s a bit of an overreaction, but in his mind, it’s better to be cautious when it comes to mysterious things that haven’t been heard of since Ozma was a child.

Leonardo reports this to Salem soon after, having defected to her not that long ago. Just as troubled by this reappearance of a fairy tale from her childhood as Oz was, she tells Cinder to go find them. She can kill one of them, but she needs the other one to question about what’s going on.

To summarize:

Yang, Blake, and Weiss are chasing after Ruby and Oscar from Vale. Qrow is also looking for them as a bird.

Ironwood told Winter and some of her troops to go to Mistral and cut them off. He also made wanted posters for them.

Salem told Cinder to go find Oscar, who told Roman to spread the word and find them.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Oscar’s air ferry to the port crash lands because, apparently, l’Cie magic disagrees with technology. They have no idea they’re being chased until Ruby sees a wanted poster on her Scroll, detailing that Oscar is a potential terrorist and Ruby is either an accomplice or a hostage. This causes Ruby to freak out and summon her Eidolon, essentially a summoned spirit meant to assist a l’Cie in the quest. She and Oscar have to subdue it before it attacks the people on the crashed ferry, because a freshly summoned Eidolon is naturally berserk.

Her Eidolon is Carbuncle, which basically takes the form of a giant wolf-cat when it is going berserk and is much smaller after being tamed. It has the ability to produce elemental dust from a gemstone in its forehead and is, generally, more of a support Eidolon.

They have to run now because Carbuncle managed to destroy a hefty part of the ferry while it was attacking them, which upgrades them from potential terrorists to probable terrorists, even if it’s only on accident.

This is as far as I’ve written properly because I’ve also been writing a dozen other things. As I said before, I have a lot of Final Fantasy AUs. However, I do have vague details on how things progress from there.

Ruby and Oscar run into Yang, Blake, and Weiss just as they arrive in the port town where they have to board a boat. They end up getting into a fight, Ruby verbally and Oscar physically, because of the miscommunications involved. It’s hard to explain being a l’Cie to someone who doesn’t have the context of apparently sleeping Gods under Remnant. For the most part, Oscar’s part of the fighting ends up being running away and casting magic, which baffles all three of the Huntresses (because of genuine magic) and ends up casting a Thunder (Thundara) spell too close to Blake. This knocks her out.

They board the boat, just barely managing to escape from Ruby’s teammates and there’s a climactic moment where Yang has to watch the boat depart without being able to chase after them. WBY makes plans to keep up the pursuit as soon as they can, with Qrow flying ahead to Mistral.

When Ruby and Oscar get to Mistral, where they’ll board another ferry to go to the north and then get on a boat, there’s a scene that plays out similarly to when Snow rescues Lighting and Hope in FF13.

Winter corners Ruby and Oscar in a plaza with her troops, putting handcuffs on Ruby, only for Yang to show up on a motorcycle and rescue both of them. Blake and Weiss provide supporting fire and they all escape to the rooftops to get away. This puts Mistral on high alert, which shuts down the air ferry, complicating matters significantly. Still, Ruby and Oscar are grateful they weren’t captured. At this point, Ruby’s brand is halfway developed.

They all talk things over and, although WBY don’t necessarily believe everything they’re saying, they decide to help them get to Atlas. Yang also frets over Ruby’s tattoo-brand, which feels relaxingly normal to the group.

While all of that is going on, Cinder begins to make moves towards Atlas, planning to take advantage of the chaos the l’Cie are causing to damage Atlas and capture them. Salem is contemplating what to do about the awakening Fal’Cie, who is purging the overpopulation of Grimm in the world.

Oscar summons his Eidolon, Pegasus, which can turn into a motorbike with wings.

Ruby falls off of Atlas, but is saved by Oscar in a Bullhead.

When they get to Atlas and awaken one of the Fal’Cie there, WBY gets branded as l’Cie. It’s kind of like a spreading curse, and eventually, it will reach JNPR too. That comes later on though.

One of the Fal’Cie is located under Mantle, Vulcan, and the other one is located on the under side of the island of Atlas, Venus. WBY is entirely branded by Vulcan, and Winter and Penny are branded by Venus (though this isn’t something RWBYO is aware of).

There’s only one more Fal’Cie to awaken after this, which is located in Vacuo.

-Oscar awakened the Mistral one

Ruby and Oscar awakened the Vale one

Ruby, Oscar, Yang, Blake, and Weiss awaken Vulcan, which awakens Venus

The last one is in Vacuo. JNPR and Oscar will end up awakening it by falling into a ravine (Woo!)

The final stage of the story reveals that the Fal’Cie want to harvest the collected souls of Humanity so they can use that power to evolve into a God themselves and follow after their creators. They despise Humanity and resent having to serve the inferior creations of the Brothers. Everyone takes a stance on what to do about that, though the main characters decide to fight that. This goes against their final vision, which tells them they are meant to assist in harvesting the souls of Humanity. This is called Humanity's Fall!

Pyrrha does get stabbed in the process and possibly dies, which relates to the RWBY x Final Fantasy 13-2 AU. I love interconnecting these things.

I love talking. If you have any questions or ideas about anything, please ask. Please. Again, my bad. It's been a rough few months.

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1180: Strolling Down the "Wedding" Lane #2: Rosegarden (RWBY)

???? Unknown Area.........

After suddenly falling down from a planted trap floor from a few floors up above, in a last ditch effort, Oscar took this opportunity to swoop himself over and catches Ruby in his arms before both his feet lands on the solid ground below.

Oscar: GOTCHA!

'THUD'

Oscar: (Starts Panting Quite a Bit) That.....was way too close....For our own comfort.....

Ruby; (Gently Place Her Hand onto Oscar's Arm) Oscar, are you okay?

Oscar: ('Sigh in Great Relief') Yeah....I habe no idea what's going on right, but I'm glad we made it down here in one piece at leadt

Ruby: (Sighs as Well) Yeah, same here. On that note....(Happily Hugs Oscar in his Arms While Nuzzling his Cheeks with Hers and Wiggling her Legs Up and Down) My Sweet Herooooooo!!~ You're so cool and brave!~

Oscar: (Chuckles a Bit Ticklishly by his Girlfriend's Affections) Ruby, I only did what I could to try and save you. It's nothing to it than that.

Ruby: I know, but I couldn't help but be more prouder of you than I already am!~ I mean, look at you: you even did the Super Hero Landing and everything!!~

Oscar: (Looks Down to See his Knee is Laid Down on Back Side and his Foot is Down on the Front) Is that right? (Starts Getting Himself Back Up on his Two Feet) I.....somehow no-(Suddenly Felt a Small Cramp in his Knee, Causing Him to Bring it Back Down) ('Crack') Tice!

Ruby: (Immediately Gets Worried as She Jumps Off of Oscar's Arm to Go Check on Him) Oh no! Is your knee hurting you?

Oscar: Just a bit, yeah....(Sits Himself Down on the Ground) I forgot how painful it gets every time I stick to theses types of landings.......

Ruby: Yeah, it's usually get hard on your knees a bit. Now, hold still for a bit. (Sticks Both of her Habds Out, Creating a Red Light In Front of Oscar's Knee)

Oscar: (Eyes Widened a Bit as He Recognizes the Form Ruby's Making) Wait, you can heal now?

Ruby: (Smiles a Bit Sheepishly) Kinda? Jaune's been teaching me how to do Heaking Aura as of late, but I'm still a little rusty.....How is your knee's feeling right now?

Oscar: (Felt his Knee Slowly but Surely Healing Up to it's Regular, Functioning Self) A lot better actually, thanks. But....you know I could've done this myself, right?

Ruby: Yeah, but I wanted to return the favor. You got my back, I got yours, remember? (Lend a Hand to Oscar)

Oscar: (Stares at Ruby For a Brief Second Before Smiling Back and Happily Nodded in Agreement) Right. (Takes Ruby's Hand Let her Help Him Back Up on his Feet Before Looking Around the Pitched Black Area) Where are we?

Ruby: ('Sigh') That's what I wanna know. That host guy has been making us do that dumb Couple's Questionaire Challenge for twelves straight minutes and he just dropped us in here outta nowhere like that? (Crosses her Arms Together While Pouting) Is this some kinda elaborate their pulling? Cause I'm NOT giggling in the slightest!

Oscar: Or a trap waiting to get us when we least expected.('Sigh') I knew we should've brought our weapons with us before taking participating in that dumb game.....But either way we can't afford to let our guards down for even a second, with or without th-

The sound of all the lights getting turned on one by one was loud enough to ring the couple's eardrums in surprise as they turn their attention to the room now revealing itself to have blue, aurora filled skies, flower filled field, a vine carrying a portrait from the ceiling, and a road with a few sets of heart shaped wooden tunnels going up ahead, while the sound of organs suddenly starts playing out of nowhere, much to their dumbfounded surprise.

Oscar: ...........You know what? Nevermind. Maybe this is a prank after all......

Ruby: What....are we even looking at right now?

???: This, my friends.

The sudden mechanical sounding voice spooked Ruby well enough to make her quickly hug her boyfriend's arm while shaking a bit.

Mechanical Voice: Happens to be the destination you have finally arrived to.

Oscar: (Raises an Eyebrow) What kind of destination exactly?

Ruby: Yeah, you invisible jerkwad! (Angrily (And Shakingly) Points at the Air) Tell us what's going on right now and I won't have smash your dumb face in!....W-Whereever you are!!

Mechanical Voice: Patience, my friends.

Ruby: Who says anything about us bring your friend!?

Mechanical Voice: This sacred destination is where two lovers who met their destined partners, discuss their love for each other. What could be waiting up ahead?

Oscar: (Looks Over to the Road Ahead of Him and Ruby) That can't be our only way out.....can it?

Ruby: Hold that thought.

Ruby lets go of Oscar's arm and uses her semblance to dash her way to the other side of the room before coming straight back a few seconds later.

Ruby: (Starts Panting a Bit While Bending her Upper Body Down Close to her Knees) I.....can't find.....a single exit......around.....this....stupid place! (Sits Herself Down on the Ground) It's like an endless void or something.......

Mechanical Voice: In order to find out what lies ahead, you must step forth, hand-in-hand and embrace what this particular road will have in store of both of you going forward. Now, please step forth.

Oscar: ('Sigh') Well, that answers all that. Forward we go I guess. (Turns to Ruby) You feeling okay there, Rubes?

Ruby: Yeah. (Gets Herself Back Up on her Feet) Had to catch my breath for a second there. Now then.....(Grab Hold of Oscar's Hand) Shall we go forth, hand-in-hand, my good sir?~ (Forms Bright, Cheeky Grin on her Face)

Oscar: (Stares at Ruby For a Brief Second Before Snickering) You are such a dork, you know that?~ (Starts Walking Forth Along with Ruby)

Ruby: (Chuckles Lightly) Hey, you fell in love with one~ Besides, don't act like you don't have your dorky moments too, mister. (Forms a Teasing Smirk) Remember that sweet love song you sang a while back? A kiss from a rose perhaps?~

Oscar: (Rolls his Eyes a Bit) I was hoping to forget about that one, thanks......And hey, wait a minute. (Glares at Ruby) You sang a son about me afterwards!

Ruby: Yeah, but it wasn't even remotely close as being as romantic as yours, with that nice, angelic singing voice of yours.

Oscar: (Starts Blushing While Turning Away and Rubbing his Head) You're being too modest here....Your song was nice too, albeit short, and you're singing isn't bad ei-(Eyes Slowly Starts to Widened at What is in Front of Him and Ruby) therrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......

Ruby: Oscar, what's- (Eyes Starts Widening Up as Well) wrrrrrOOOOONNNNG!!!?

The couple's shocked face speaks volumes as they witnessed a golden portrait of Ruby dressed in a dark red wedding dress, carrying Oscar, wearing a green tux, in her arms,

Mechanical Voice: Here, you will see the bride and groom's joyous commemorative photograph of their undying love and passion for one another.

Oscar: (Almost at a Loss For Words) ........Your kidding.

Ruby: (Places her Hands on Both Sides of her Head in Complete Disbelief) WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!? How? When? Why!? What kind of constant makes you answer a bunch questions, brings you down here with a trapped floor, and flat out assume you want to get hitch!? This doesn't make any lick of SENSE!!! AT ALL!!! .(Continues Ranting On)

Starting to notice something was off, Oscar walks himself over towards the picture to take a closer look. It took him thirteen and a half seconds later to find a few details before turning back to his distressed girlfriend.

Oscar: Hey, Ruby. Ruby!

Ruby: (Immediately Stops her Ranting and Gives Oscar his Attention) Yeah?

Oscar: Come over here for a second. Take a look at this. (Watches Ruby Walk Herself to The Picture Frame Before Turning Back to It) Notice something odd about all of this look? Like how big both our heads are compared to our bodies?

Ruby: (Starts Taking a Closer Look at The Picture Herself) Yeah......Our heads does look better in this......('Gasps') And they don't remotely blend in with the bodies at all!! (Turns to Oscar with an Angry Look on her Face) Those jerks photoshopped us!!

Oscar: (Raises an Eyebrow in Confusion) Photoshopped?

Ruby: It's where they take a photo part of you and try altering and editing it into another one, hoping it could blend into the other photo's background. (Crosses her Arms) And they did s real lousy job on that front, that's for sure!

Oscar: (Looks Back at the Fake Photo) Yeah, no kidding. It doesn't look nearly look as believable looking back at it. And why exactly are you carrying me in your arms?

Ruby: To make it stand out I guess. (Slowly Starts Smirking Again) Which reminds me~

Oscar: ('Sigh') Oh God. What is it?

Ruby: I never did get the chance to carry you bridal style. (Playfully Shrugs) Now it seems like a pretty good time for me to finally give a go, don'tcha think?~

Oscar: Ruby, we're not even close to finding our way out of here, we don't have time for this.

Ruby: (Clasps her Hands Together While Giving Oscar the Puppy Dog Eyes) Pleaseee?~ I promise it'll be quick. I'll even teach you how to execute a Raging Demon properly!

Oscar: (Raises an Eyebrow) Really?

Ruby: Really ×1000 with a cherry on top~ (Rapidly Blanking her Eyes in a Cutesy Manner)

Oscar: ('Sigh') Alright. You got yourself a-DEAL!? (Quickly Gets Scooped Up into Ruby's Arms, Bridal Style)

Ruby: Gotcha!~ Right in the neck of time too~ (Winks at her Boyfriend)

Oscar: (Playfully Rolls his Eyes) My speedy hero. You're already enjoying this, aren't you?

Ruby: (Forms a Playful, Seductive Smirk on her Face) Not as much as I'm gonna enjoy kissing that cute freckled face of yours~ (Starts Kissing Oscar's Freckled Cheeks)

Oscar: (Chuckles Ticklishly) Sheesh!~ You're in a more romantic mood than usual, Rubes. What gives?~

Ruby: (Casually Shrugs) It's Valentine's and whatnot. (Starts Pouting Again) And whaddya mean "more than usual"? I'll have you know that I have been the most romantic young woman in our lovely relationship!~

Oscar: Are you really though?~

Ruby makes a cute angry noise at Oscar, causing him to chuckle even more.

Oscar: Kidding, kidding! You're very romantic in your own cool way and I love you a lot for it. (Kiss Ruby on the Cheek)

Ruby's heart starts to melt in pure happiness as she hugs Oscar close to her before suddenly notices something from afar.

Ruby: ('Gasps') Oscar! Look! (Points Oscar Towards....) A door!

Oscar: (Eyes Widened atvthe Door in Question) You're right.....(Smiles Brightly) That might be our one ticket outta here.

Ruby: (Smiles Brightly as Well) Well, what are we waiting for? Let's Cheese it!

Ruby was about to activate her semblance until the sudden sound of the alarm Starts ringing their ears.

Mechanical Voice: Halt. Halt. You two are not permitted to use your semblance and/or run towards the door ahead.

Oscar: Seriously!?

Ruby: (Glares at the Invisible Voice) And why not!? We're halfway to the ending point, aren't we?

Mechanical Voice: Indeed you are. But this road to enlightenment is an once and lifetime experience that cannot impatiently rush. Therefore, If you and your friends wish to leave this entire facility, then I advise the both of you to continue to walk this path as originally planned.

The couple groans in defeat and pure annoyance as Ruby puts Oscar back down on his feet before continuing their tedious quest, walking on foot.

Ruby: (Starts Grumbling On) ('Groans') I swear, I wish where that voice is coming from so I could punch him in his dumb face....

Oscar: You and me both. But the closer we reach to that door, the more time we'll have find the others and leave. We can't stop now.

Ruby: Yeah, yeah.....

'A Bit of Silence'

Ruby: Hey, Oscar, can I ask you something?

Oscar: Yeah, what is it?

Ruby: Do you hate Uncle Qrow?

Oscar: (Turns to Ruby with a Bit of a Confused Look on his Face) Not....really? What makes you think that.

Ruby: Well, for starters, always look uneasy whenever you two see each other, like you're trying to avoid talking to him or something. (Rolls her Eyes a Bit) Not like he's any better in comparison......

Oscar: ('Sighs Heavily') Yeah......That's not surprising.....Considering we don't really gotten along as much as we should. (Roll his Eyes) Mostly cause of everything Ozpin related.

Ruby: ('Sigh') Of course.....So, is that one of the reasons why you two fought in Vacuo in the past?

Oscar: (Eyes Widened as He Immediately Stops Walking) Wait, how did you-

Ruby: Emerald told me about during our lunch outing the other day.

Oscar: Really. That's the third time this week you guys been hanging out this week.

Ruby: Yeah, it's been an ongoing thing we do oddly enough. (Pouts at Oscar Again) And before you say anything, NO! This doesn't automatically make the both of us friends!

Oscar: You sure? (Chuckles a Bit) Cause it kinda sounds like you are actually starting to get along for once.

Ruby: AS ASSOCIATES!! (Crosses her Arms) That doesn't mean I wanna be buddy-buddy with her of all people! She know what she did.

Oscar: And she's more than willing to pay the price for it however she can, her words. Just try and give her another chance, will ya? As rude, harsh, and smart-mouthed as she gets at times, she can also be as cool and understanding once you guys get to know her more better. Hopefully.

Ruby: I still don't trust her. ('Sigh') But I'll try and get along for you.....Now, quit stalling and tell me why you and Qrow were fighting!!

Oscar: (Takes a Deep Breath Before Speaking) Okay, so......It all started when we reached to Vauco. We all assumed you, your team, Jaune, and Penny were dead at the time, so we arranged a funeral for all of you. It was an emotionally stressful time for most of us to endure, Qrow especially.......

Ruby: (Pinches the Bridge of her Nose) Oh no......Please don't tell me he was drunk during that time.....

Oscar: ('Sigh') Unfortunately. He seemed so....out of it the moment we saw him step into the room. Laughing, crying, freaking out and throwing out anything in the room he could find.........I tried calming him down, he shoved by the shoulder, yell at me, and said, and I quote: "I am nothing but a useless, puppet meat shield, who should've fell down and died instead."

Ruby: (Eyes Widened in Shock, Couldn't Believe What She Heard Just Now) ......What?

Oscar: It's the truth. He said it right in front of face...... And it got to me. Egregiously so. I have worked my hardest to contribute to the team, to try and fix Oz's mistakes and do better by him, surived and fought the hardest I have EVER done in my life, from Ironwood, Salem, Hazel, and anyone else who stood in my way of living my life!....And to have him call me useless after all of that just....struck a nerve in me. So I punched him. More than once. He started punching me. And before either of us know it, we ended fighting until Nora, Ren, and the others was able to break us up, ending the service altogether. (Sighs While Facepalming Himself) I know we've been through a whole lot to get to that point, some of which more life-threatening than the others, but it wasn't an excusefor either of us to act that way, especially when we were suppose to mourn for our loses. I'm really sorry, Rub-

Ruby: (Immediately Hugs Oscar Tightly) No! Emotions get the better of us at times, it happens! And that's absolutely NOTHING for you to apologize for! If anyone should be doing that other than Qrow, it's me for not helping or being there for you as much as I should be. (Starts Tearing Up a Bit) Especially when I knew for a fact that you were suffering way more than the rest of us combined. ('Sniff') You didn't deserve any of that, Oscar. Not at all!

Oscar: (Frowns Sadly at the Sound of Ruby's Soft Crying) Ruby, come on. Don't say that. You've done a lot for more than you think you did.

Ruby: ('Sniff') Yeah? Like that? Not yelling at you?

Oscar: (Gently Pulls Ruby Away From Him For a Moment) You know that's not what I mean. Remember that at we were staying at the dojo and I got so worked up over everything that's been going on with and Oz?

Ruby: Yeah. (Wipes the Tears Away) ('Sniff') You seemed so mad....and scared.

Oscar: (Simply Nodded) I was. But that pep talk you gave me about how i should keep fighting and moving forward, it inspired me a lot since: to be better, stronger, and more brave than I've ever been growing up. (Let's Out a Soft Chuckle) Heck, if anything, I highly doubt I would be standing here right now if I never took any of the advice you've given me since then, to heart. You've been an inspiration to me from the very beginning, Ruby Rose, and it makes me love you even more than I do before, believe it or not.

Ruby: (Heart Starts Melting in Happiness Again) You're real inspiration to me too, you know?

Oscar: I am? Really?

Ruby: (Giggles Softly While Hugging Oscar Again) Yes, really, you big dumb-dumb!~ You inspired me to keep going, make more better choices, be a better leader, a better person even. And be makes me so, so happy to meet abd eventually fall in love with someone as sweet, brave, and, wonderful like you in my life. I love you with every bit of fiber my heart and soul can carry, Oscar Everlynn Pine~

Oscar: (Heart Begins to Melt as Well as He Hugs His Girlfriend as Well) Likewise. And listen, please don't hold any of what happened against your uncle. What he did was completely uncalled for, but I can tell it was because of how heartbroken he was of losing his only two nieces, you and Yang.

Ruby: I'm not happy with what he did to you at all and I will DEFINITELY have a talk with him the next time we see each other again. ('Sigh') Buuuuuut I suppose I'll try not to be too mad at him IF you give lots of cuddles later on today~ (Smirks at her Farm Boi)

Oscar: (Smirks Back) Give me a Valentine's kiss and you got yourself a deal.

Ruby: (Places her Hand onto Oscar's Cheek) Done and done~

Ruby leans in to kiss Oscar until something flew over towards the white door in blazing, startling the duo into hugging one another as they turn to see a man I'm a black suit slowly sliding down off the door, groaning in immense pain.

Ruby: What in the-

????: RUBY! OSCAR!

The duo turns to see two very familiar faces making their way towards them.

Ruby: ('Gasps') Yang!~

Oscar: Emerald!

Yang: (Rushes Over to Hug Both Ruby and Oscar) You two had us so worried....Are you okay?

Ruby: Yeah, we good. (Happily Hugs her Big Sister) Even more so now that you're here!~

Oscar: How were you two able to get down here?

Emerald: We ran down the stairs. Like five to six of them in total I think? Anyways, he had to chase down the dumbass over there before he could get away. (Points the Duo Back to the Man Knocked Out)

Yang: Yeah, turns out him and his little friends upstairs were pulling the strings of this little Couple's Questionaire charade just try and throw us off courses to what their scheming. (Smiles Brightly) Luckily, everyone else are handling the rest of those punks as we speak.

Meanwhile in the Third Floor

Nora: (Glaring and Tightening Up her Mangchild Dangerously at the Rest of the Shaking Suited Men Tied Up, With Everyone Else Ominously Glaring at Them in the Background) I'm getting REAL of sick playong the silent game right now.....If you idiots don't quit your shaking, cut the bullshit, and tell us where have you sent my baby and his girlfriend RIGHT NOW, you six are going feel each and everyone of our WRATHS in the next thirty seconds!

Pyrrha: (Hovering Multiple Swords in the Air, Pointing the Blades Down at the Terrified Culprits) Start. Talking.

Back at the Bottom Floor

Emerald: It's a good thing the two us came down as quickly as we could. (Forms a Small, Playful Smirk on her Face) We can't have you two lovebirds go in and elope on us now.

Ruby: (Pouts at Emerald) Oh will you hush!? We're not dumb enough to fall for this stupid trap completely!

Yang: (Starts Smirking as Well) You sure? Cuz that picture frame we saw kind of says otherwiseeee~

Oscar: (Gives the Two Older Ladoes a Deadpinned Look on his Face) It's a photoshopped picture, Yang. (Turns Away While Rubbing The Back of his Head Back and Forth) Though, I do think that.....(Starts Blushing a Bit) Ruby does look pretty cute in that red dress. She's looks better in that frame than I do actually.

Yang: (Forms a Proud Grin) Of course!~ My baby sister can rock any dress she wears perfectly! But don't short, lil bro. (Playfully Pulls One Side of Oscar's Cheek) I think you would look pretty damn handsome in that suit~

Ruby: (Playfully Pulls on Oscar's Other Cheek) Right?~ My precious farm boi will be the most handsomest man in our very own wedding!~

Oscar: (Already Annoyed) Stooooooop......(Notices a Emerald Holding her Scroll Right I'm Front of Him and the Sisters) Really?

Emerald: Oh don't mind me. Just capturing the cuteness is all. Probably use it as blackmail or something later down the road.

Oscar: I hate all of you.

Emerald: No you don't.

Oscar: ('Sigh') I don't. I love you all a lot actually.

Emerald: Love you too, handsome.

@albion-93

@ma-lemons

@maripr

@oscarpineprotectionsquad

@miki-13

@littlemisssquiggles

[franollie]

all ships you like?

remember you asked for this...

They will be organized by fandom and ranked.

Key:

romantic

exes

very platonic

nostaligia made me

super specific way that would take to long to explain so you'll have to ask if you want to know

DC:

Stephcass

Dickkory

Timkon

Cissiecassie

Dinahbabs

Clois

Brutalia

Dickroy

Beatora

tedbabs

Honorable Mentions:

konbart, bartpreston, batcat, bruharvey, timives, timtam, timsteph, dickbabs, boostle, batjokes (i wouldn't say i ship them but i firmly believe the joker is convinced he's in a fucked up romcom with batman), helbabs, cassrose, rosecassie, ivycat, harlivy, anitacissie, anitacassie, hellbeetle, timcassie, koncass, wondercheetah, donnakory, dickdonna, wallylinda, daminika, jaydana

Haikyuu!! (idk if ive ever mentioned it on here but im a MASSIVE haikyuu fan):

Iwaoi

Kenhina

Daikurro

Yamayachi

Asanoya

Honorable mentions: sakuatsu, kiyoyachi, kiyotana

Sailor Moon:

Usamamo

Makoami

Michiharu

Avatar Franchise:

Katoph

Rangshi

Sukka

Tysuki

Korrasami

Kyalin

Kataang

Tysokka

Zutara

Taang

RWBY:

Bumbleby

Nuts n' dolts

Renora

schneekos

Rosegarden

Spiderman/Spiderverse:

Gwemj (spidergwen comicverse)

petergwen

parksborn

spideytorch

ghostflower

gwemj (spiderman comics)

Petermj (spiderverse)

petermj (comics)

petergwemj...hmm

johnnymj

Witch Hat Atelier (everyone go read witch hat):

orufrey

arkco

Buffy:

Fuffy

Twillow

Xandelia

Spuffy

Sprucilla

Teen Wolf (unfortunately):

Malydia

Cordia

Scisaac

Scira

Berica

Owl House:

Lumity

Huntlow

Raeda

TGCF:

Fengqing

Hualian

Beefleaf

Peihuang

Xianle Trio

Lunar Chronicles:

Cresswell

Kaider

Scarletwinter

Wolflet

Captain mechanic

Percy Jackson:

Percebeth

Theyna

Rueguard

Zoëtemis

Pipabeth

Grishaverse:

Kanej

Helnik

Zoyalai

Danya

Zoyalina

Misc./Honorable Mentions:

madohomu, dianako, utenanthy, xenabrielle, matchablossom, renga, farcille, royai, catradora, glimbow, griddlehark, strawberryblossom, jackieshauna, lottienat, caitvi, jayvik, sabead, barrisoka

i think thats all of them. it's probably not.

[tecnestheim962]

hey gimme some rosegarden prompts i want to rotate them in my head for a bit , might mess around and write about it

Hmmm

What about Oscar being a new florist in patch at a flower shop Ruby religiously goes to every week to get flowers for her mom

Or everyone has graduated beacon (Salem doesn’t exist) and are full blown huntsmen but they stayed in their teams. They report to Ozpin about missions every once in a while and they walk in on Oz training with a TA (Oscar) they’d never met (he’s Ozpins nephew in this) and Oz proceeds to tell RWBY and JNPR that Oscar is to join them on their next few missions to learn about field work

Or Oscar goes to the weapon mechanic for parts that Oz was asking for to do maintenance on his cane and teach Oscar about the whole process and there he meets Ruby who is an apprentice there

These are only a few but they popped into my head and I hope they’re useful

[joshy-tomato]

Rosegarden reunion ft violence WIP 3

(But this time with more fighting than anything else. Someone help, im dusty with this type of scenes (and is the main reason all my wips are taking so long, all of them have fights!))

Oscar entered the fry, striking multiple hits with his cane. When he noticed Tyrian about to retaliate he stepped back. The faunus tried to hit him with his blades, but missed by a notorious margin, courtesy of Emerald illusion, most likely. Tyrian wasn't given the time nor the consideration to allow him recover from the confusion, as Nora shots her bazooka at his direction and Oscar jumps to the opportunity of striking one of his legs and making the man lost balance.

Sadly, Tyrian was able to recover from this rather quickly, using his mechanic tail to stop himself from hitting the ground and freely spinning around with the blind hope of hitting someone on the way. Nora and Oscar were able to dodge the first frenetic attack, yet Tyrian continued on his frenzy, hitting and slashing the air with no real direction, hoping to be able to hit one of them by chance.

[kyanitedragon]

[ID: A traditional drawing of three RWBY characters. There’s Oscar on the left, a black-haired boy wearing a shirt with the aro flag, and Penny on the right, a robot girl with orange hair and freckles wearing a shirt with the trans flag. In the middle is Ruby, a girl with black hair and red tips, wearing a shirt that reads “Straight as an Aro” with a green arrow on it. Ruby is holding both of their hands, and Oscar and Penny are both holding the ends of a large polyaffectionate flag that is displayed behind them. END ID]

Januaro Day 5: Polyaffectionate Aro

Ruby has two hands. Also, she’s aro. And so is Oscar.

[maswartz]

Mechanical Rosegarden combo attack idea

Oscar creates a bubble shield around Ruby and himself, Penny uses her Winter powers to blow them past enemy defenses and Ruby rushes with her semblance.

[pxnnypolxndina]

[pamayapaya]

Okay so we know that in RWBY whenever two characters are meant to be significant to each other, they share complimentary color schemes (usually their eyes match the others color scheme)

Blake and Yang:

Ren and Nora:

Qrow and Clover:

So I mean I kinda get why people think that since Oscar kinda has a green color scheme and Ruby’s signature color is red, that means they match but...

Are y’all forgetting that Penny is right there and has been from damn near the start???

I mean look at them!! Red and green plus Ruby accentuates with dark colors while Penny goes for lighter colors and they just look so cute next to each other I’m- asjdjsksjdjd

[ookamihanta]

💔

-

commissions are opened!

[nexyra]

I strive on the RG love and asexual Rosegarden content I've been seeing lately, so take this shipping chart ✨

Please don't hurt me if you think I didn't put them in the right place, I spent time on this and I tried I edited out the Horny and I will do so for every chart because I don't feel comfortable answering that ;;

I'm fine with both NB and cis girl Ruby, but I thought I'd make this extra gay ✨ to spite the people who call it a boring straight ship </3

Also I didn't put down Oscar as bi ace because I personally don't hc him, all on his own, as ace as much as I do Ren or Ruby. But Ruby and Oscar as a couple absolutely make up asexual Rosegarden (also because Oscar isn't all that friendly with touch)

And if that makes no sense and it doesn't work like that well idk i'm sorry, this is the right time to annouce i don't know anything about romantic relationships *sobs*

It's my chart and I get to make Oscar the little spoon because he's a SHORT KING and he deserves ALL THE HUGS. But to be honest they swap

They can both exchange clothes but I just feel like Ruby would be the clothe-stealing gremlin

I don't remember Oscar using pet names, but all of RWBY still teases Weiss with the Ice Queen thing so here they go.

Neither of them are really extroverted but I think Oscar hides in the background even more. Babies

Ruby always has a speech and comforting words ready, Oscar is king of Acts of Service & Quality Time

Oscar might be a very awkward blushing dork but that won't stop him from confessing first. Also because Ruby is very stressed and very worried and feels like there's too much going on to do it first

Oscar is farm boy, he's seen worse than a bug. Although he can squash but he probably would simply bring out bugs 🥺

They can both drive, Ruby can honestly go two ways : either be as clumsy as she usually is outside of Huntsman work; or know just enough mechanics because weapons to know her way around. Imagine Ruby modifying their car with weird additions... "Are you sure that's safe Ruby ??" "Yea yea trust me, building Crescent Rose only took 3 tries." "Oh that's good... Wait, THREE ? Ruby we don't have 3 cars !"

Ruby is banned from the kitchen apart from a few dishes, and Oscar is the chef because I said so

Ruby is okay with PDA, Oscar is canonically picky about touch so

"I'll protect you." "No, I'll protect you !"

They're babies your honor, they're awkward because they have no idea what they're doing.

I can't see either of them being seriously & genuinely jealous ?

[leviathan-supersystem]

Top 60 Darkwave and Industrial Albums and EPs of 2020

1: E U P H O R I A- Future Faces

2: Monument- Molchat Doma

3: Curtains- Truth Coming Out of Her Well

4: At The Stake- Rosegarden Funeral Party

5: Gathering Swans- Choir Boy

6: Die Notwendigkeit der Notwendigkeit- PAAR

7: Peaceful As Hell- Black Dresses

8: LP II- Linera Aspera

9:  Kogarashi Tales- 9ToEarth

10: Stray- Bambara

11: Dead Kids, R.I.P. City- Soft Kill

12: Deception Island II- NNHMH

13: Killed By Roses- NAKED

14: REINCARNATED- REIN

15: Thin Skies- Bootblacks

16: Apathy- Astrophysics

17: Heavenly Rhythms for the Uninitiated- True Body

18: Don’t Run From The Fire- Minuet Machine

19: Monsters- Empathy Test

20: Vicious Pastimes- House Of Harm

21: The Tacks (s/t)- The Tacks

22: Methods Of Dreaming- Hawksmoor

23: After The Rehearsal- Jackson VanHorn

24: Coping Mechanisms- Ky Voss

25: Predestiny- Mareux

26: Extinction- Zanias

27: The Flesh Of The World- Uboa

28: 20 Years- Sure

29: Silent Places- Houses of Heaven

30: Limpwristed- Picturesque Ruins

31: Bodies- hørd

32: New Signs of Life- Death Bells

33: Boys- Cower

34: Shadow- Fearing

35: RIki (s/t)- Riki

36: You Want It Real- Lie

37: Eons- Psychic Guilt 

38: Nostalgia- Spectres

39: Lilith- ZAH

40: The Birdwatcher’s Guide to Atrocity- Seeming

41: Abstraction- Schonwald

42: Second Seduction- Panic Priest

43: The Night We Raise- Korine

44: Chimeres- Blind Delon

45: Zone- The Mall

46: Sometimes It Feels Like Chains- Live For You

47: Deep Wave Data Dark Web Daemons- Trevor Something

48: Visions of Bodies Being Burned- clipping.

49: Pandora’s Box- Bari Hari

50: Colours- The Secret French Postcards

51: Zeher- Aurat

52: Modern Anguish- Visceral Anatomy

53: Profess- Woven In

54: End Credit- Ghost Cop

55: Pleiades- Velvet Velour

56: Gain- New Today

57: Faraway Neighbor (s/t)- Faraway Neighbor

58: The Upstairs Museum- Swan Wash

59: /// 1- Dove Armitage

60: Blood Pact (s/t)- Blood Pact 

[joshy-tomato]

I see your ask for prompts and I answer with RoseGarden! Your word prompt of the day is... 'Weaponbuilding'!

Trying to do something different than the usual "Ruby helps Oscar upgrade Long Memory", I remember I had an au where Oscar was raised in Beacon by Ozpin, he was also kind a weapon/mechanical nerd and they became besties by talking and brainstorming weapon ideas and upgrades. Talking a lot of complicated words and everyone around like, understanding half of it but happy they are happy and making friends.

[kyanitedragon]

[ID: Arospec icons of three characters from RWBY, using screenshots from Volume 7. The first image is Ruby flying through the air, the second is Oscar from the chest up with a small smile, and the third is Penny leaning back and smiling with her eyes closed as her hair blows. Each row repeats these but with different flags. In order, the flags are: aromantic, diamond demiromantic (by @crimsxnflxwerz), and greyromantic. END ID]

[beetletricks]

Rosegarden, Why Ruby Interacts Differently With Oscar: Part I

So for some background Ruby starts off the story as someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to be a huntress. However, even back a child she represses certain details of her mother’s death, never really talking about it like Yang does. However, she has the desire to become stronger to help others as her Mom and the stories she reads about empower her will beyond most others, which helps start up her path as a leader. 

This helps to gain the interest of other characters such as Weiss and Penny. 

However, when death rears it head again into Ruby’s life in the forms of Penny and Pyrrha, Ruby’s defense mechanism kicks in. 

Its clear that she downplays her struggles in front of other people her are struggling, resulting in her withdrawing as fast as she goes in to help.  

Coming back to Oscar....

Compared to most people, Oscar is very perceptive of this which makes sense. Oscar is always privy to the things around him, like what else can you do on a farm. Its why he saw his reflection was different in a mirror 5 ft away. 

The biggest difference is that unlike other characters who have seen Ruby’s private side, Oscar conflicts are outward so he is straightforward with his inner feelings, making it easier for Ruby to be more open about her inner feelings. 

Ruby didn’t try to hide her inner feelings when cheering Oscar up in V4 because he is different from the other characters, she just used to doing so for everybody. 

But Oscar ain’t having none of that... 

Oscar: How do you handle all of this? Ruby: What do you mean?

Oscar then opens up about his specific fears about going to war rather than not being able to fight since he puts effort into training, most likely for self-defense. 

Oscar’s stubbornness allows Ruby to put her guard down. 

Ozpin: (mentally) She really is remarkable, isn't she?

Ozpin is saying this because its like shipping an apprentice with a nice girl, he knows he can’t control who Oscar falls for since Oscar’s personality will be dominant(Ozpin’s dominant personality wasn't that of the old king) while Ozpin ends up  manifesting as the quirks and approaches that come to mind as choices in Oscar’s mind. 

[teethhunter]

Better than a Dream

Rosegarden Secret Santa Gift for @jealouscartoonist  based of their Cinderella AU

The kingdom was absolutely bustling with news of the Grand Ball.

Rumor had it that this event was to find a proper suitor for the Crown Prince, Oscar.

It was to be the largest event of the decade, more open  to the public than many events but also with many important and influential people planning to come. There was much talk of the preparations happening at the palace in the weeks leading up to the event as even those with no plans or no means to attend enjoyed participating in the excitement.

Many were sent into a tizzy of daydreams of meeting the love of their life at the ball. With all that talk about the prince those daydreams tended to prominently feature him. For some the daydreams morphed into full on scheming and for others they remained fun fantasies that filled the streets with quiet whispers and giggles of just how romantic it would be to get a moment alone with such a charming and handsome prince.

The rumors, however fun, were patently false.

Yes this was to be an event of massive proportions and King Ozpin certainly hoped that a few people might find a spark of romance for themselves that night but he wasn’t doing this to marry off his adoptive son to the first or most enthusiastic party-goer who made a move.

“Just because that wasn’t what you meant to do, doesn’t mean they won’t try.” Oscar pointed out, voicing his anxieties as the day of the ball grew closer.

“Ah but that’s just part of the fun!” Ozpin replied, a far too pleased look on his face.

“Fun for you maybe…”

“And fun for everyone else too. They are making their own fairytales that prominently feature themselves. The human imagination is a wonderful thing.”

Oscar sighed, he should have known that a chat with Ozpin wouldn’t exactly quell his fears in a normal way but it did sort of help even so, just a little bit. “You’re sure I have to go?”

“You’ve never had a miserable time at a party thus far. You can see your friends, maybe meet someone new… Just try to celebrate with everyone.”

In this kingdom still bustling about a ball lived a beautiful girl named Ruby Rose.

Ruby had never been to a ball. In fact Ruby couldn’t at all recall attending a party where she didn’t have to do all the prep work and clean up, only getting scraps of the food that was served.

She lived in a lovely house with her stepmother Salem, and her two stepsisters, Cinder and Neo. Despite the high status of the family and the fact that they could more than afford to hire servants, Salem treated Ruby as nothing but a scullery maid herself. She made Ruby do all the work around the house while Cinder and Neo did seemingly everything they could to make it more difficult. Cinder was more direct in her ways of showing disdain, she would make huge messes right when Ruby had something important to do,or she would burn Ruby’s possessions for fun. Neo was more subtle, waiting until no one was looking to set up situations that would frame Ruby as having messed up. Putting bleach into the wash with the dark clothing Ruby was cleaning, or slipping an ingredient someone in the family was mildly allergic to into a meal Ruby was preparing.

Ruby had grown rather numb to all their antics after dealing with them for so long.

The step family was of course planning on going to the ball and all the talk of the prince looking to find a suitor had certainly gotten back to them. For the last month Salem had been coaching Cinder in this elaborate scheme to catch the prince’s attention, ensuring that they had planned down to the last little detail.

Ruby thought it all a little silly because no matter how much they planned there was always a change that Cinder wouldn’t run into the prince at all, or he wouldn’t like her if he did meet her, maybe even see through that thin veneer of faked kindness to how cruel Cinder could actually be.

None of that was Ruby’s problem though and she had the sense to not voice any of these opinions. She had other things on her mind.

For the first time in her life she was going to go to a ball. Salem had given permission (however offhandedly, it was still a yes!).

For years, during her limited free time she would work at Pietro’s mechanic shop in town to earn money. She had a certain talent for weapon repairs which were nearly always a necessity for anyone traveling outside the city limits where beasts and bandits lurked.

Most of the money she earned at this job was tucked away to someday move far away from her stepfamily but for the last few months she had saved up the money and bought herself a lovely dress. The style of it might have been a bit unconventional- particularly when in combination with the boots she was planning to wear with it- but the fabric was silky to the touch and a deep red color and trimmed with an intricate lace at the hem. She was incredibly proud to have this tangible proof of the work she had put in to get to this point.

The morning before the ball, Ruby woke up early to go to the market to do the grocery shopping. She knew if she wanted time to get ready she would have to get all of her chores done as quickly as possible because here was always a chance Salem would add new tasks to the list.

The excitement in the air was palpable everywhere she went. It was the only thing anyone around was talking about it seemed. Normally Ruby was happy to talk idly with the owners of the various food stalls but today she just nodded along politely as she filled her basket, not lingering for the chit-chat.

Ruby arrived home, basket heavy with produce heavy on her arm, with plenty of time to complete the rest of her chores. She put away all the food and went immediately to cleaning. She took extra care to avoid her step family as Salem was already getting the girls dressed up and ready meaning they would all probably be looking to take their anxiety out on her.

By early afternoon Ruby has finished up and finally can retire to her room to rest and get ready. Her room was in the cellar, not much larger than a closet. It could get cold and damp in there during the winter and after downpours of rain though right now it was pleasantly cool compared to the hot summer weather.

She had done a lot to make it cozy and comfortable. Every inch of wall was decorated, her bed piled up with blankets, and her shelf lined with books she bought over the years from a thrift store in town.

When Ruby opened the door to her room she saw something that made her blood run cold. Cinder, perfectly dressed up and ready for the ball, perching on the end of her bed, holding Ruby’s dress.

Cinder smirked with an awful twist to her lips when she saw Ruby, like she was laying in wait for this moment, a lit candle held in one hand.

The dress had been hidden at the back of her closet so there was no way Cinder just tumbled on it.

“I thought you were joking about going to the ball. You can’t be serious.” Cinder said with a mock laugh.

“No… I wasn’t joking.” Ruby’s voice already held a hint of defeat, already knowing where this was going to go.

“Do you seriously think anyone there would be interested in /you/?” Disgust radiated from Cinder in those words.

“That’s not why I-” Ruby was cut off before she could finish her sentence.

“And this dress.   You’ll be turned away at the door for wearing something so low class.” Cinder held the dress up as if appraising it for it’s every flaw, as if it was too hideous to look at for too long.

“I…” That hurt more than it should for how many insulting things Cinder had said to her over the years. She had grown a rather thick skin about it but this dress was really important to her.

“Really, dear sister, I should save you from the embarrassment. You could tarnish our family name.” Cinder brought the candle up until the flame of it licked the lace trim, making it curl, then crisp, then catch fire.

“Please stop.” Ruby whispers, knowing it was useless, she knew what was about to happen the moment she saw Cinder in here.

It didn’t completely catch fire, put a few flames eat at the edges and creep up the bottom of the skirt, leaving it a mess of holes and ash.  Cinder says nothing else to her, simply unceremoniously dropping the dress in a pile on the ground, stepping on it as if to put out a still burning ember on her way out.

~~~~~

Ruby waited until the last of the burning embers died down before picking the dress up and bundling it in her lap as she sat on her bed. She sat frozen like that in silence, her ears ringing as she tried to bite back tears. There was no way she could mend this in time for the ball. She couldn’t afford to get new fabric even if she had the time.

All she had wanted was to share this one special night with everyone who was so excited about it but that was ruined.

“I wish I didn’t live with these awful people.” She muttered to herself. “I wish they would just disappear.” She took a breath and all at once any anger she held just deflated into grief as tears finally spilled. “No… I just wish I could go to this ball.”

In her mind she had held this event as a moment of defiant freedom, that if she could never escape Salem and she lived the rest of her life like this then at least she got this one wonderful moment.

“You called?” A voice broke the silence, startling Ruby so badly she nearly fell off the bed.

In front of her was a familiar man- er Fairy, technically. He stood in proper Fairy Godmother attire, a clearly enchanted black dress with translucent red fairy wings fluttering behind him. In contrast with the traditional look was his much less conventional scythe-style magic wand at his side and the full martini glass held precariously in his hand.

“Oh! …. You.” Ruby sighed in relief as she got her bearings after being so startled.

“Well don’t go sounding too thrilled about seeing your Fairy Godmother kiddo. You summoned me, remember?” He put on the airs of being dramatically offended though his smile told a different story.

Ruby wiped the lingering tears from her eyes before she spoke. “No it’s… sorry, it’s good to see you actually Qrow.”

In all honesty she had almost forgotten that wishing for things summoned him. She didn’t exactly even know why that happened. When she asked before all she got was a shrug from Qrow and some half-excuses about the ‘mysterious ways of magic’.

It had been a long time since she’d wished for anything actually. Her memories of her childhood were blurry at best but she could vaguely recall how she’d make all sorts of silly wishes just to have him come visit. He was odd and always a little tipsy but he was also so much nicer than her step-family that it made her earlier years with them much more tolerable.

“I didn’t actually mean to call you, it was sort of an accident.” She admitted after a moment.

“Hmm, well even if it was an accident, I’m here now so why don’t you tell an ‘ol Qrow your woes. Looks like you’ve had a rough time of it.” He walked with a strut in his step over the small distance to her bed, sitting down next to her. He took a long drink from his seemingly never emptying glass as he waited for her to talk.

Ruby started and stopped her attempts to explain several times before she got all the words out, still stumbling over herself. She gave more detail than could possibly ever be needed but this was the first time in a long time she ever let all these emotions out. She had friends in town but she never ever let any of them know the cruelty of her ‘family’. Her Fairy Godmother already knew of these things so for once it was safe.

She began to cry again as her words flowed. Qrow was content to listen in his somewhat drunkenly glazed over state.

“-and now I can’t go because my dress is ruined and it’s not like I have anything else I could wear and the ball is in just a few hours and I’m never going to get a chance like this again.”

Ruby finally took a pause and Qrow chuckled.

“Well if it’s only an outfit you need then I can fix you up fine.”  

“Wait, really?” It hadn’t actually crossed her mind that he could help with that..

“Yeah that’s what I’m here for. Mmm, but there’s limits to it, I think you remember that.” Qrow said, fiddling with is scythe-wand as he got ready to do some magic.

Yes Ruby remembered there were limits, there were always strange caveats to any wish she made but right now she could barely bother to care. “Okay! That’s fine, I don’t mind as long as I get to go. Wait um what are the limits?” “It’ll wear off at the stroke of midnight. Indefinite magic gives the worst sort of headache to do.”

“Are you sure that’s not just a hangover?” Ruby mumbed, being immediately met with a shove and grumble from Qrow.

“Shush you. No sassing your godmother. Magic works in mysterious ways.

Speaking of which, magicking you up might make you a little harder to recognize.  Not that you’ll look different, just a side effect of illusionary magic.”

Ruby nodded along, none of those terms sounded awful and now she was just in a rush to make it happen.  “Okay goes away at midnight and I’m sorta in disguise, I can handle that.”

“Great, go put that dress on then and I’ll get you all set. Best to work from a base product to build onto y’know.”

`

“Get out of my room then please?” Ruby started ushering him out of her room so she could have space to change.

“M’kay, I’ll wait outside.” He swayed as he walked out of the room, leaning against the wall in the hall as she got ready.

Ruby carefully slipped the dress on, as if trying to prevent it from crumbling more than it already had. Dark ash smeared her skin as the burnt bits brushed against her. She put her boots and accessories on to finish the look. One glance at her small, cracked mirror had her frowning. She looked absolutely ridiculous. It took her longer than it should have to build back up the confidence to call Qrow back in but eventually she did.

“Oh good, you’re all ready.” Qrow came to stand beside her. “Time for the magic words, you know the drill.” He lazily waved his scythe-wand over her head while in a dramatic and slurred fashion exclaiming “Bippity boppity boo!”

Ruby could feel the hum of magic before she could see it. The dress seemingly mended itself all at once, fitting even better than before. She was so captivated by how well it worked that she did notice the other alterations until she took a step and immediately lost her balance, sticking her arms out to keep herself from falling. Her nice practical knee high boots were now sparkling ruby red heeled shoes.

“Why did you give me stilts to walk on?” She asked, still trying to keep herself upright.

“Isn’t that just what people wear to these things?” Qrow shrugged, completely unbothered.

“I’m going to trip and die before I get there.” Ruby commented half to herself, but she didn’t want to be ungrateful and he had done something wonderful for her.

“Thank you for this.” She eventually added.

“Yeah yeah, any time. I’d love to stick around but I do have things to do, places to be. So go enjoy that ball, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He said, seemingly uncomfortable with the appreciation and in a rush to escape it, he disappeared in a blink.

Ruby walks the length of her room several times, trying to get a hang of walking in these shoes.

She didn’t dare leave her room until she was certain her step family had already left for the ball because she dreadd what Cinder might do if she saw Ruby all dressed up- or worse what Salem might do.

~~~~

When finally she is sure it is safe to leave, she heads out immediately to the palace.

The ball was in full motion when she arrived. It’s the most beautiful thing she has ever seen with people laughing, drinking, and dancing the night away to beautiful music performed by a live orchestra. There were tables filled with the most luxurious snacks and servants going around to cater to guests as well. There were of course guards posted around but even they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Ruby was a bit out of sort, unsure what to do with herself but more than content to just take it all in.

She has been seated in a quieter corner, enjoying some snacks when a man sidles up next to her to start a conversation which leads into asking her to dance. She politely declined but this repeated itself once again with an entirety different and more persistent lad who was determined to dance with her. She wouldn’t be able to dance in these silly shoes even if she knew how to or wanted to so she less than politely bid him farewell and walked away, trying to find somewhere she won’t be pestered.

She weaved through the crowds, paying little attention to who was there. It was during this escape that she stumbled terribly, instinctually grabbing at something to keep herself from falling on her face. The tearing sound of fabric was audible as she realized she grabbed the sleeve of some woman’s dress. The horrified screech from that woman was what made her realize the person she had grabbed was none other than Cinder.

Ruby stole a glance at the scene, Cinder having clearly been mid-conversation, now with a torn sleeve and wine covering her whole front from a glass that had been jostled.

Ruby quickly ducked her head, hiding her face, planning how to escape, praying that Cinder hadn’t noticed who she was. As it turned out, an escape plan was unnecessary as Cinder stormed off and away from all the prying eyes watching this scene play out.

Ruby stayed knelt there, stewing in her own mortification, wishing in her head to just disappear.  

“Hey, are you okay?” Someone asked, bending down and offering her a hand up.

“I’m… fi- fine?” Her voice cracked mid word as she took his offered hand and finally got a proper look at him. Her gaze sliding from his face to the circlet on his head. Without that, she would have no clue who he was, she had never seen the prince before after all.

She had made no move to stand yet but Prince Oscar had also made no move to help her up either. They were frozen like this, hand held, staring at each other.

For Ruby it was the shock of meeting the prince and him kindly trying to help her (and he was as pleasant looking as everyone said).

For Oscar it was because when his eyes met her he was utterly and inexplicably captivated. His heart skipped a long beat and he couldn’t seem to look away.  

In the same instant they both snapped out of it. Oscar helped her up in one swift motion, completely red in the face as he processed just how long he’d been staring at her.

“I’m-” Ruby was instantly interrupted.

“No I’m-” Oscar tried to say.

“Sorry” “Sorry.”

They said in the same moment, looking down and away from each other.

They fumbled over each other’s apologies for another moment and finally got the courage to look at each other again. Another pause, just for a breath and they both laugh.

“It’s not a big deal. If I’m being honest you sort of saved me there? I had been trying to get out of that conversation for a while and that definitely took care of it.” Oscar explained, rubbing the back of his neck as he confessed that.

Ruby held in another laugh, it would be very difficult to explain just how funny this situation was to her personally. “Well I’m happy to be a help?”

She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as she was quickly becoming acutely aware of just how many people were still watching them. “I should probably go do- do something else, something ball related, you know.”

She turned away and tried to disappear into the crowd, headed outside to get some fresh air. “Wait!” Oscar called but she didn’t seem to hear him. There wasn’t a thought in his head as he followed right after her out to one of the balconies. It was quiet out there and a major relief for him to have a break from people constantly wanting something from him.

When she noticed him approaching he flustered again, he had no reasonable explanation for why he followed her other than this undercurrent need to get to know her.

“Are you enjoying the ball?” He asked, internally cursing himself for such a bland introduction.

Ruby was more at ease without so many people around. Even if it was a little nerve racking to be speaking to someone so important, she was somehow less on edge than when anyone else at the ball had approached her. “I don’t really have anything to compare it with but it’s sort of amazing?” It was true, it was all so grand and amazing, even if she did have to dodge a couple of people it was still one the most incredible things she’d ever been a part of.

“Oh, so it’s your first time attending a ball then? I’m glad it’s been good.”

“Yeah I mean, all the books I loved when I was little had castles and grand balls in them and I never thought it would actually be like those stories. Turns out yeah it really is.”  Ruby took a seat on the bench to finally get off her feet.

“I loved those sorts of stories growing up too. I guess it’s weird now to think about how people dream of becoming royalty, being a prince or princess. I went from living on a farm to being adopted into this and then those stories were less fun to read.” He hadn’t really read any books like that since he moved into the palace, now that he thought about it. They all lost their charm.

“I always wanted to be a knight in those stories actually.” Ruby admitted.

“Oh really?” Somehow that didn’t seem surprising at all, he had known her for no more than a few minutes but there was a certain spark to her that made that so believable.

“Yeah I just loved the idea of protecting people that can’t protect themselves, y’know?”

“Remind me to introduce you to the castle guards sometime, I really think you’d like them.” Oscar noted. “But that’s a really nice dream you have though. I think sometimes imagining things is more fun than the reality of it? I’m very lucky to be in this position but living it made dreams of it more dull...I’m sorry I’m rambling!”  

Ruby covered her mouth to conceal a grin. “No, it’s fine. I know what you mean but I want to believe that sometimes reality can be even better than dreams if it’s the right reality for you.”

“That’s- hm I think I’d like to believe that too.” Oscar mumbled, leaving them sitting in comfortable silence side by side for a long moment.

“Would you like to go back inside and dance?” He eventually asked, worried she might grow bored with him otherwise.

Ruby shook her head immediately “Oh please no! I mean I’d love to but… erm you saw me trip back there, I don’t really want to have a repeat performance.”

“Okay then do you want to go on a walk?” Oscar just didn’t want to leave her side, not yet.

“That would be nice actually.” Ruby didn’t particularly want to end their conversation either.

Like a proper gentleman, Oscar offered her his arm to link together which abated any of her lingering anxiety about tripping again.

Oscar led her through a quieter path out of the castle and out along a cobble pathway that snaked around the rear courtyards and into the gardens. Lit only by the moonlight it was gorgeous, overflowing with different flowers and vines covering every surface other than the path itself. Their evening was filled with conversation, once past the initial awkwardness they slipped into comfortably chatting about all sorts of meaningless things.

Time had melted away for the both of them.

That was, until the gonging sound of the clock tower atop the castle interrupted Ruby mid sentence.

She went pale.

“I have to go.” She said, pulling away from him. She could already feel the magic beginning to fade as she hurried away.

“Wait come back!” Oscar held a hand out like he wanted to stop her, like he hoped she would listen and turn around for even a moment.

Just before she was out of Oscar’s view she stumbled once more, the heel of one of the slippers getting caught between two stones in the path.

Oscar flinched, taking one step forward. “Oh, are you okay?”

She didn’t have time to waste and she hated these stupid shoes anyways so she just slid her foot out of it and kept on running.

Ruby was well on her way out when Oscar stooped down to pick up her shoe. The clock had struck midnight and that slipper had reverted back to its old form as a boot. “You left your...boot?” He muttered to himself in complete confusion as he stared at it.

Ruby’s dress was back to it’s charred state by the time she had left the palace property. She hobbled her way home with one boot and one foot with nothing more than a sock on it.

Sneaking back inside her home went better than she was expecting. She was able to get to her room and change out of the ruined dress without anyone seeing her. None of that stopped Cinder from being in a foul mood and barging demanding Ruby draw her a bath. This time Ruby couldn’t even claim that Cinder’s mood wasn’t her fault, even if Cinder wasn’t aware that it was Ruby who had interrupted her plans.

~~~

The morning after the ball Oscar sulked through breakfast. He just couldn’t get his mind off the girl he had spoken with at the ball.

Four of his guards who were more just friends of his than anything else often joined him for meals when there was no formal gathering in place. Today was no different but there was a certain tension in the air.

“Soooo, how was the ball?” One of his guards, Nora asked, breaking the silence with a smile that told him she was already perfectly aware of how it went. “It was fine. It was a ball.” Oscar answered blandly, still staring at his food that he pushed around on his plate.

“Just fine? Hmm well I heard you disappeared with some pretty girl and didn’t show back up all night.”  Nora pressed more, leaning in with an intense expression like she was rearing for a full interrogation. Ren put a hand on her shoulder to try and rein her in.

“Oh you met someone?” Jaune asked and Oscar genuinely couldn’t tell if he was teasing or if he was completely out of the loop. “What’s her name?”

Oscar shrunk in on himself with a quiet sigh.“I don’t know, I didn’t ask.”

“Wait wait wait, you spend all night with this girl and you don’t even ask her name? How are you going to find her again?” Pure horror present in Nora’s voice as she asked that.

“I guess I probably won’t.” Oscar said like he was trying to come to terms with that himself.

“If you are meant to meet again, I think your paths will cross.” Pyrrha chimed in right as Oscar was getting ready to leave the table.

The entire day following Oscar felt like he was in a daze. He couldn’t concentrate for any of his lessons, which got him scolded by one of his etiquette teacher, Glynda, and told to leave early since he clearly ‘had his head in the clouds’.

Even King Ozpin commenced on it in passing with that odd smile on his face that always irked Oscar just a little bit.

When he finally had enough of all the ‘knowing’ comments and teasing he dug out his commoner clothes from his closet and slipped them on. He used to sneak out much more often because sometimes he missed being looked at like a normal person. He hadn’t done this in a while and the clothes didn’t quite fit anymore but he really needed some space.

Oscar wandered aimlessly through the maze of streets in the city surrounding the palace. For the first time all day he felt relaxed as he blended into the crowd with on stares or comments. There was always the slightest bit of tension he held from always having to perform in a princely manner, but here no one expected anything of him.

He was window shopping at an antique store when someone passing by catches his eye.

Maybe Pyrrha’s comment about paths crossing if they were meant to wasn’t so silly because he sees this girl and his brain goes completely fuzzy like it was trying to piece things together while his heart skips in a way that’s becoming very familiar to him.

“Hey wait!” He called out, jogging to catch up with her, not paying mind to how odd this might seem to bystanders.

Ruby doesn’t immediately realize it’s her that’s being called out to. Not until he catches up to her. She started, stopping mid-stride to look at him. Despite his change of clothes she recognized him immediately. She was nervous and happy and confused all at the same time. She never thought she’d see him again and didn’t think he would care to talk to her again either.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to scare you. I guess that was pretty weird to do.” Oscar said apologetically, realizing this was the second time in a row they had an awkward greeting.

“No, no it’s okay I just wasn’t expecting to see you again!” Ruby explained, unsure what to say or do now. “Do you come around here often?” She asked, just to fill the silence.

“Sometimes it’s just nice to be able to take a walk without people staring, you know?” Oscar answered, genuinely thrilled to talk to her about literally anything right now.

“Won’t people recognize you?” Ruby thought he was fairly recognizable, but then again she also had a whole night to take in the details about him.

“Well no one has so far, I think when people aren’t expecting to see me I sort of blend into the background.” The only person to recognize him thus far was her, but that was because he came running up to her so obviously.

“You weren’t expecting to see me but I didn’t blend into the background for you.”

“Oh it’s your eyes…” Oscar tapered off quickly, not wanting to admit that he’d been subconsciously scanning the crowd every moment he was out, hoping to run into her again.

“Hey, have you eaten lunch yet?” He changed the subject abruptly.

“I haven’t but-”

“Well, would you care to join me? There’s this little bakery I love around here.”

Ruby was anxious both because the longer the less chores she was getting done but also because she didn’t have the money on her to pay for lunch. But he looked so bright eyed and hopeful and that smile was killing her.

“I can’t be out for too long, but okay.” She answered finally.

“Really? Great!” Oscar was nearly bouncing on his feet as he offered her his arm reflexively, an overly formal gesture but sweet nonetheless.

Ruby laughed quietly but took his arm, ignoring the couple odd glances they earned.

Oscar led the way to this small corner shop filled to the brim with various baked goods. The sweet scent made her mouth water. She looked at all the different offerings as Oscar chatted with the old lady running the place, listing off the pastries he wanted to get.

He turned to Ruby after a moment and asked “What would you like?”

It hadn’t occurred to her that he was offering to pay for her until then, she didn’t have the money on her to actually buy anything so she was planning on just quietly not ordering anything.

She paused, internally scrambling to make a decision. “One of these?” She pointed to a flaky chocolate croissant that had caught her eye earlier. He picked up on her hesitance quickly and ordered both that and a couple of his personal favorites for her to try.

Once they gather up all their pastries they sit at the one small round table next to the window, settling down.

“ Okay, weird question but it’s been killing me ever since I last saw you.” Oscar asked.

Ruby nodded, giving permission for him to go ahead and ask.

“How do I phrase this,,,,When you left, you dropped your boot? But you definitely weren’t wearing a boot before that?”

Ruby blinked at him then laughed. “Yeah I get why you’d be thinking about htat for so long. It’s well, it was magic? And no I’m not joking! I really mean it.”

At first Oscar gave a slightly doubtful look but she seemed so genuine and there was no other good explanation either. “You know someone that can use magic then? Wow that’s pretty rare nowadays.”

There were traces of magic, some people were born with minor magical abilities and there were healers that cultivated that particular skill but it was rare to have someone perform magic for something like this.

“Yeah I’ve known him for my whole life I guess. Kinda an odd guy but also he’s always been there or me so I guess I can’t complain.”

With that they fell into easy conversation once again and once again time slipped away.

Until she was abruptly brought back to reality from a comment by the old lady running the shop.

“Are you two planning to just honeymoon it here or what? We’re losing daylight!” She asked, halfway between amused and annoyed at the two lovebirds.

Ruby froze, glancing out the window to note that indeed the sun was going down.

“Oh no, I have to go.” She should’ve already been working on dinner and none of her other chores were done yet, scrubbing the floors always was so time consuming.

She was out the door before he could even call out to her, almost impossibly quickly.

“I didn’t even ask you your name. Oscar grumbles as he buries his face against the cafe table.

~~~~

Quite predictably Ruby was immediately scolded when she arrived home. She hadn’t washed Neo’s clothes in time and all her other chores were left to do too. She had to work far into the night without dinner to get it all done, though she wasn’t too bothered after having a lovely lunch with Oscar. She figured that would be the last time she saw him, that fate decided to give her that nice little bit of closure with him, one nice happy moment she could think about as her knees ached from crawling on them scrubbing floors.

~~~~

Oscar however wasn’t at all satisfied in that being the last time they met. In fact had been skipping out on his lessons and duties, sneaking out in commoner’s clothes constantly. It was not like him at all, normally he was highly responsible and took his role seriously.

After several days of this, King Ozpin interrupted one of his escape attempts. “If you needed a break, you could always just ask for one.”

Oscar, very much having not expected Ozpin to be lurking by the exit he always snuck through to get to town, startled. “I’m- it’s not that- it’s-”

Ozpin just nodded, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “You met someone.” He answered for Oscar.

Oscar just sighed and nodded.  

“Well, a little birdy was telling me about this girl who works at a mechanic’s shop. Pietro’s I believe? Interesting thing about her is she’s got bright silver eyes, a pretty rare trait.” Ozpin explained casually.

“I… didn’t tell you she has silver eyes?” As odd as it was, Oscar had grown somewhat accustomed to Ozpin’s odd ability to know things he really shouldn’t be able to and knew that the half shrug and smirk he was given at that comment was all he would receive.

Ozpin stepped aside, clearing the way to the exit and gesturing for Oscar to go on.

Oscar began lingering around that shop whenever he could. He didn’t see the girl that day, or the day after that. In fact it took almost a whole week and he was beginning to feel rather creepy for doing this.

He just wanted to know her name. If it turned out that she wanted nothing to do with him after that, then so be it.

But finally his determination paid off and she was there that day. He didn’t approach her while she worked, not wanting to interrupt and be incredibly rude.

Instead he waited until she was off shift and out of the store, making himself very visible as he approached her. He had a whole thing to say planned out but it all left his brain the moment she saw him and looked happy to see him.

“Sorry to ah- ambush you here but I- someone told me where to find you and-” He just couldn’t string a sentence together. “What’s your name?” He finally blurted out.

Ruby was surprised to see him but already grinning at his awkward entrance. “Ruby, it’s Ruby.”

“Ruby.” He repeated back to her with a look of wonder on his face that made her stomach flip. He said it like it was the most beautiful word he had ever heard.

“So Ruby, you work at a mechanic shop?” Oscar asked, as if he was looking for an excuse to say her name again.

“Yeah, I work on weapons mostly, it’s fun.”

“Weapons huh? How come?” He wanted to know everything about her, he realized.

“Well… same reason I dreamed of being a knight as a kid I think? It helps protect people, in any way I can manage. That and the way weapons are put together is sort of like a puzzle? I find it calming I think and-  oh, I do have to get going soon though.” She interrupted her self, knowing full well that they could talk for hours again.

“Come visit sometime!” Oscar said in a rush, not wanting to lose the chance to see her again.

“I can show you around, show you what it looks like when it’s not crowded with people for a big party.”

“If you’re sure that’s okay…” Ruby wanted to see him again too and seeing the rest of the palace sounded really interesting too.

“Absolutely! It won’t be a problem, no one around will mind.There’s always a guard up at the front gate, just tell them who you are and they’ll let you in.”

Ruby felt warm at the implication he'd mentioned her to enough people that the guards would know who she was. She nodded. “I’ll stop by as soon as I can, I promise.”

She left for home feeling light and with every intention of visiting him.

~~~~~

Bogged down by chores, it’s nearly two weeks later when she first gets a chance to visit. At the entrance to the castle stood a tall red haired woman in armor standing guard.

Ruby opens her mouth to introduce herself but doesn’t even have to as the guard is already opening the door. “It is very good to meet you.” she says. Ruby guessed Oscar really wasn’t exaggerating about the guards knowing who she was.

“Wait here and the Prince will be right down.” The guard assured.

Ruby stood in the main hall, looking at all the tapestries and portraits lining the walls as she waited.

Oscar showed up only minutes later, looking ecstatic and slightly out of breath as if he’d been running to get to her.

He reached out to her then hesitated. Like he wants to hug her or some show of affection but his etiquette training kicked in.

He held his hand out, palm up.

Ruby wasn’t entirely sure what to do but took a guess and put her hand very lightly on top of it.

His fingers curled around hers as he lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles.

This was by noble standards a very appropriate greeting for a woman he highly respected- if not a little strange because of their status difference. Yet it felt more intimate than just about anything else he could have done. She stood there,red faced and dizzy as he lowered their hands but still held hers in his. “I’m glad you actually came.”

“I promised I would, didn’t I?”

“Well I’m very glad you keep your promises then… I missed you.” He mumbled the last part before clearing his throat.”May I give you a tour?”

“Of course, lead the way your majesty.”

Oscar walked with her hand-in-hand through all the major parts of the castle. Quickly his tour got off track to them discussing other things with him briefly stating what room they were in but otherwise not bothering to give details about it, much more interested in the conversation at hand.

The sun is setting once again when they part ways, Oscar inviting her back any time she wants.

~~~~

Rumor has it that the Prince is seriously courting a girl. She is over many times a week and several servants whisper of the fact they have seen the two snuggled up together when they thought no one was looking. Even without that damning evidence, the bright mood the Prince was constantly in told the story plainly enough.

Ruby had taken to visiting the palace rather than working at the shop. She knew Pietro would welcome her back no matter how long it had been since she last worked. Still, it made her a bit anxious to not be working on her savings currently but for once in her life she was so very happy.

~~~~

Oscar had been serious about properly introducing Ruby to his guard friends. She got along with them easily, so easily in fact that they had begun teaching her the basics of fighting out in the training yard.

Whenever Oscar knew that was going to happen, he tried to get out of his duties early to go watch, it was always worth it to see.

This time around he got there just in time to watch Nora flip Ruby, pinning her to the ground.

“Nora… please try not to kill her, I think Oscar might actually get mad at us then.” Jaune pointed out as Ruby stood up and brushed herself off. “Oh come on, I’m not that breakable.” Ruby laughed. “You next then.” She grabbed one of the wooden training swords and stood at the ready for him.

A few parries from either side before Ruby went on the offensive, half accidentally Jaune over the head with it.

“Ow okay please don’t kill me either.” Jaune whined cradling his head.

Ruby snorted in an attempt to hide a laugh, completely unable to feign concern. “Hm but if I kill you do I get to take your place and be a guard?”

“What! No! Now I’m afraid you’re actually going to kill me.”

“You don’t need to kill Jaune to have a place here. You are more than welcome to stay” Pyrrha said while sympathetically rubbing Jaune’s shoulder, the only one willing to comfort him in his dramatics.

“I think there’s another role you’d prefer over being a guard though.” Ren noted, backed by Nora wagging her eyebrow to punctuate it with implication.

Ruby was less embarrassed now by this than she used to be. This teasing was commonplace now. There was no way it wasn’t glaringly obvious to everyone that the prince was courting her. Honestly she hadn’t put a whole lot of thought into it, it sort of just had been washing over her. Shows of affection are basically constant and they weren’t exactly secret about it even if they weren’t exactly clear about what they were to each other either.

~~~

It became a regular thing for Ruby to join Oscar for lunch or dinner on days when she visited. It was during one of these meals that she first met the King who apparently had the time to join them that particular day. King Ozpin was quite kind and welcoming to her, that dinner actually wasn’t nearly as awkward as she was expecting it to be. The only thing was that he kept saying things that made it sound like he’d met her before. It was odd but also hard to put her finger on exactly. When the meal was over and they parted ways Oscar assured that he was just like that but that the King really did seem to approve of her.

~~~

Some days she and Oscar would go spend their time in the palace library together. Usually they would just quietly enjoy having the other around, leaning gently against each other as they read. Sometimes they would talk about the books they were reading and get completely sidetracked. On this particular day they were going through the shelves of storybooks, quick and simple to read but filled with nostalgia. One particular set of books caught Ruby’s eye, pages faded to yellow with age and a gold trim around the edges. She grabbed for them before she noticed what she was doing, thumbing through the pages looking at the print and little illustrations. She hadn’t noticed how long she had been standing there when Oscar snuck up behind her and wrapped his hands around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“What’d you have there?” He whispered.

“These books, I just, I remember them from when I was little but I think you’re missing one?” There were three books she found on the shelf from this series but there should be a fourth one, the one she remembered best. “My mom- my birth mom used to read these too but my favorite was this one that had these warriors who could turn all the beasts in the forest to stone with their eyes? And well, they had silver eyes which I thought was so cool because both me and her had them too.”  Ruby explained, she couldn’t even recall how the stories went, just like she couldn’t really recall her mother. Sometimes she’s sure she just dreamed it all up.

~~~

Oscar wasn’t too keen on giving gifts. It felt odd to do when he had so much wealth, like he was trying to buy affection. Today though was different. It was Ruby’s birthday and he’d been looking for this particular perfect gift all month long. Once she arrived he could hardly wait to give it to her.

“You’ve had that silly grin on since I’ve gotten here, it’s making me nervous..” Ruby said, eyeing him carefully.

“Okay, okay, I was going to wait until later but, well- hold on.” He turned tail, running up to his room and back to go grab the unwrapped present, returning soon after. “Here you go.”

In her hands he placed a book with those yellowed pages and gold trim. She stared at the title ‘The Warriors of the Woods ’, her fingers tracing the letters in awe. Her cheeks ached from the grin stuck on her face as dragged Oscar into a tight hug.

“Thank you so much!”

“Happy birthday.” Oscar said as he hugged her in return.

~~~

Ruby’s step-family was growing ever more suspicious as she kept returning home happy and grinning, humming songs to herself. Nothing seemed to manage to sour her mood whatsoever and every happy moment she showed only earned her more disdain and chores from Salem. Ruby did them all without complaint.

~~~

With Ruby around so often, Oscar began constantly skipping his lessons. All of his tutors eventually came up with a way to circumvent this by simply pulling Ruby into his lessons as well. Oobleck more or less ambushed them in the garden and gave them no room to politely escape as he handed them textbooks, paper, and pencils, diving right into a history lesson of the internal politics of the Kingdom of Vale.

One thing Oscar had learned about Ruby early on was that she hated being forced to sit still if it wasn’t her choice. She began to fidget, then doodle, then as all this information droned on made her head buzz she began to drift off into a nap.

Oscar nudged her awake a couple times before taking his paper and writing her a little note.

‘Think you’ll survive?’ He slid that over to her just before she began to doze again.

‘I don’t know! Is he always like this?’ Her writing was scrawls that took Oscar a moment to decipher but once he did he quietly laughed.

‘Pretty much, why do you think I skip out on this and spend time with you instead?’ He replied.

‘Saying I’m better than this isn’t a compliment :( ‘

This was the first, but definitely not the last time Ruby was brought into his lessons. Any time they could get away with it they passed notes and laughed like little school kids to pass the time.

~~~

When Oscar was having a bad day, he liked to go climb up into the rafters of the stables. The palace had a large stable where they kept the horses and a few chickens roamed freely. It felt familiar and safe to him. It wasn’t often that he had a truly bad day but today he was feeling very off. Ruby had come to visit that day and while it cheered him up in the way it always did, it didn’t exactly fix everything. That day Oscar decided to show Ruby his hiding spot in the rafters. He led her to the stable and showed her how he climbed up there, sitting comfortably on one of the beams.

“You don’t have to tell me but, is something wrong?” She asked, he had been so quiet today and they had never gone to spend time out here like this before.

“It’s nothing… nothing in particular, just a bad day, I guess.” Oscar admitted. “It’s silly, I mean it’s hard not to feel guilty about having a bad day when I have so much going or me.”

Ruby scooted closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist. “I don’t really think it’s silly, if you want to talk about it, I’m right here.”  She rests her head against his.

Oscar took a moment to try to put it into words. “I’m thankful, for everything Ozpin has done for me. I’m a prince now, and he doesn’t even push all these outdated royal rules on me or anything. But… I didn’t exactly grow up this way? I grew up on a farm, and sometimes I just miss how simple everything was there and I miss my aunt and everything else.”

Ruby understood then why he would want to go hide out here and in a way she could imagine how overwhelming this must be for him since what she’s experienced of palace life was awfully overwhelming to her too.

She didn’t think about it for even a moment before she turned her head to press her lips to his in a sweet reassuring kiss.

Now, affection was shown quite freely between them in private, nearly constantly touching. Kisses, on the cheek, forehead, back of the hand, those were all commonplace for them nowadays. Yet this right here was their first proper kiss.

They were both a bit red in the face at the realization but it felt like it hardly needed addressing, like it was inevitable.

“Hey when you said Ozpin doesn’t push outdated rules on you? I mean he’s not going to have a problem with…” Ruby gestured between the two of them.

Oscar laughed, kissing her in return finally before answering. “I think he’s all for this. He approves of you and he wants me to be happy, and well, you make me happy.”

~~~

Ruby shouldn’t have been surprised when one night she came home to find that book Oscar had gifted her a charred pile of illegible paper in the middle of her room. Cinder had always had a knack for knowing just which of Ruby’s possessions would hurt the most to lose. That, and the whole family had been completely furious with Ruby being so upbeat lately that of course Cinder would do something like that.

Somehow it is so much worse than the dress being burnt. She re-read this book every night before she went to bed to remember what she could of the family she once had and to remember that someone cared enough about her to go through all the effort to find it for her.

She cleaned up the pile, feeling cold and empty and like she was entirely trapped here. Maybe it was just because she’d summoned him last time Cinder burnt something of hers, or maybe she just desperately needed someone to talk to in general but once she is calm she whispers “I wish I could see my Fairy Godmother.”

Once again Qrow appears in front of her in a blink. “Y’know, you can call me when you aren’t crying.” He sighs. “What’s it about this time? I thought the last gig went well. Heard you even snagged yourself a prince.”

“Where did you hear that?! I- never mind, it doesn’t matter.”

“Am I wrong?” Qrow raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

“That’s not the point. But even if I did you shouldn’t pat yourself on the back about it. You nearly killed me with those heels.” Ruby was trying to sound serious but having something meaningless to argue over was such a relief it was difficult to keep that tone of voice.

“Oh I’m definitely patting myself on the back. When you two get hitched that makes me royalty by extension.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.” Ruby mumbled, hiding a smile by ducking her head.

“Well, enough of that. You never answered my question, what’d you need?”

“I don’t know. Nothing, I guess. I think I’m just tired of this place.”

It was nothing he could fix anyways, not permanently at least probably. “Could you stay for a while? We could play games like when I was little?” She asked, of all things she thinks that might cheer her up right now.

Qrow seemed a bit confused and maybe even a touch startled at that statement  but hid it quickly. “Didn’t think you remembered any of that.”

“You were always around, it’d be a little hard to forget!”

“Hmm…” For a moment he looked to be deep in thought before he shook his head.  “I guess I can spare a little time.”

~~~

It was a few days before Ruby visited the palace again, longer than she had gone without visiting in quite a while.

When finally she does come by, Oscar is visibly worried.

He greets her with a kiss but lingers close. “Did something happen?”

“No, no I was just really busy.” Ruby said blandly.

Oscar had an expression that said he knew that wasn’t the whole story but he wouldn’t press her on it either.

“Just some family trouble, talk about it later okay?” Ruby added to try to quell his concerns.

Before they could continue their conversation they were interrupted.

“Ah, you’re here, excellent!” Said Ozpin as he approached the couple who took a respectful step away from each other. “See, I wanted to formally invite you to our next upcoming ball.” He handed Ruby a sturdy envelope embossed with her name in silver print on the front.

“We’re having another ball?” Oscar asked.

“Yes, it’s been a few months since the last one so I thought it’s time for another celebration.” Didn’t I tell you?”

“It must have slipped your mind.” Oscar muttered, half sure that Ozpin came up with this on a whim just today.

“This one is by invitation only. Hence why I wanted to personally ensure that Miss Rose received hers.” Ozpin shot a meaningful look Oscar’s way as he said that before turning to direct his next statement to Ruby “Mm, anyways, don’t worry about attire, we can have you fitted for a dress, one properly suited for a night of dancing.”

He left no time for either of them to respond before heading off elsewhere. They both are left standing there, confused about what just happened.

“Hey Oscar?”

“Mhm?”

“So, I don’t actually know how to dance?” She was embarrassed to admit it, since it seemed like something everyone around knew how to do but her.

“Oh, well there’s some excellent tutors around here, you don’t have to worry about that!” Oscar reassured.

“Okay but what if I’m afraid of embarrassing myself in front of the tutors?”

“Are you afraid of embarrassing yourself in front of me?” He asked and she considered the question.

“Somehow a lot less afraid.” Ruby answered, there was a level of comfort she’d reached in being that vulnerable around him.

“Then how about I teach you?”

~~~

That started what would become the weeks of dance lessons leading up to this next ball.

“It’s easier than it looks. I was nervous the first time around too.” Oscar said, standing in the large empty ballroom with Ruby as he started the record player on some basic waltz music.

He demonstrated the base steps alone, explaining them as he went.

“Okay, want to give it a try?” He asked.

“I guess, sorry if I step on your toes.” Ruby was still pretty apprehensive even after watching him demonstrate.

Oscar chuckled, putting one hand on her waist. “I’ve seen you practicing sparring with the guards, you’re actually really graceful.”

“When I’m sparring I’m supposed to be aiming to hurt people, and here not so much.” She retorted.

That was only met with a fond kiss and Oscar’s other hand finding hers. “Come on, giving it a try?”

She began to follow his steps but it was clear how uneasy she felt no matter how long they tried it for.

“Here, let’s try something different. You lead.” Oscar offered.

“Won’t that make it worse?” Ruby thought that would just give her more opportunity to step on his feet.

“No, I think it’s pretty awkward to learn to do these all backwards, it’s easier to learn if you’re in the lead role.”

“Okay…” Ruby reversed their position, putting her hand on his waist to mirror the way he had been holding her before. They were nearly the same height so it worked perfectly in that sense.

It’s awkward at first still but Ruby was much less nervous, actually it was Oscar that was stumbling more now because he wasn’t used to this role.

By the time they had made their way around the room once, she was grinning.

When the music ended she hugged him.

“Thank you, that was way less awful than I was expecting.” She mumbled against his shoulder.

“Ha, glad it was better than awful?” His arms wrap around her in turn.

“But you aren’t done quite yet. That’s just the very basics, and you still need to practice this more too.”

Ruby feigned a pout with a grin hidden behind it. “What? There’s more?”

~~

Until the day of the ball they continued to practice. Oscar had been made to take dance classes since he’d been adopted so he was more than happy to show off some of the more intricate steps and dances. Ruby’s personal favorite was dips mainly for that cute dazed expression Oscar got on his face when she could easily dip him and pull him back up for a kiss.

~~

Rumor had it that the Prince will be engaged to miss Ruby Rose by the time this exclusive ball is over with.

This rumor may or may not have been started singlehandedly by one royal guard by the name of Nora Valkyrie. Regardless of how it started, word spread far and wide.

~~

Word spread so far and wide in fact that it reached Salem. She was fuming, oh how could that wretched girl catch the prince’s attention so easily?

As much as she wanted to lock Ruby away and have done with her, Salem knew that if the prince truly cared for the girl then he might very well go looking for her. So she bided her time and came up with a plan, forging an invitation for Cinder to go to this new ball.

Ruby didn’t know any of this. Maybe Salem was a bit more cold and cruel than usual, but Ruby had already grown to expect the worst so she couldn’t even tell the difference.

~~~

The night of the ball arrived rapidly and Ruby had snuck out without finishing her impossibly long list of chores knowing full well she would pay for it tomorrow.

She wore a lovely floor length dress in a similar red color as her previous one, this time with her comfy boots underneath rather than those awful stilts.

Ruby was happy with how she looked, and so much more relaxed without the constant fear that her step mother or sisters would somehow ruin this for her.

Her confidence only grew when she met Oscar at the entrance and he offered her his arm. “You look beautiful.” He said, sounding so genuinely awestruck.

She really had to hold herself back from kissing him or even hugging him since there still was etiquette to follow for an event like this.

“Thank you, you don’t look bad yourself.” She replied as she took his arm.

Oscar didn’t leave her side all night. As he was Prince, they did have to make the rounds of talking with anyone particularly important but everyone was quite polite and seemingly excited to meet her too.

Once all the niceties were out of the way, they joined everyone else on the dance floor.

Ruby wasn’t nervous anymore, though she put her hand on Oscar’s waist to immediately take the leading role in this dance. Oscar just laughed and tried to stealthily kiss her on the cheek, an action many caught sight of regardless, because of course people were keeping their eyes on the prince and his girl.

For the whole night they only dance with each other which no one seemed to take issue with.

Well, no one took issue with until one particular unwelcome guest mader appearance. A song had just ended when Ruby felt a harsh tap on her shoulder, a fingernail basically gouging into her arm. When she looked up at who was trying to get her attention, she tensed,  staring wide eyed. Cinder stood here, a fake overly polite smile plastered on her face as if she didn’t know exactly who Ruby was. “May I have this next dance with him?” She asked, putting Ruby in a position to look very rude and possessive if she were to say no.

Ruby couldn’t find her words at all, even if there was little Cinder could directly do to her here she still couldn’t help but be afraid.

Oscar picked up on something being wrong immediately, he’d never seen Ruby look so vacant and afraid, and this woman who had approached looked vaguely familiar. He frowned slightly before looking at the guest. “Would you excuse us for a moment?”

Cinder, seeing how this wasn’t going her way and so incredibly angry with Ruby getting her way, did not in fact excuse them for a minute. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think you heard me, I said may I have this dance?” Her grip on Ruby’s shoulder now bruising as she tried to rip her away from the Prince.

Oscar immediately got in between the two of them, and the guards were there almost immediately. Cinder did not go easily or quietly, in fact it made for a rather impressive wrestling match to watch in the middle of the dance floor before she was actually dragged off.

Everyone was quiet, shocked, and confused but slowly the party came back to life with people chancing quiet conversation and then returning to their dance.

“I’m sorry- about that.” Ruby mumbled, voice trembling slightly.

“That wasn’t your fault… at all. But, you seemed to know her?” Oscar spoke carefully, not wanting her to feel obligated to answer.

“She’s my stepsister.” She answered shortly

Suddenly something clicked for Oscar about the ‘family issues’ Ruby had alluded to before and it left a bitter feeling in his stomach. “Hey, you’re safe now.” He said, pulling her close.

“Yeah, for now.” Ruby sighed, she would still have to go home to.. To whatever was going to happen now.

“No, for always. You could stay here, stay with me.” Oscar blurted out, more than anything just wanting to make sure she was safe and happy. It took him longer than it should have to realize just how that sounded. “Okay, uh to be clear that was not a proposal. I promise that will be much better thought out and not asked when you’re dealing with a lot of stress-” His explanation was interrupted with a kiss.

“You do realize you just implied you’re going to propose, right?” Ruby asked once she pulled away.

Oscar laughed, giving her one more peck on the lips. “I thought that was obvious.”