**Note: I’m so tired today this is really dumb don’t even bother honestly. Takes place at the beginning of the tournament.
--------------
“I'll catch you guys later!”
Yang called this out to her teammates as they parted ways at the heart of the fairgrounds. There was a break in tournament activities for the current lunch hour, and the four of them had decided to spend a bit of leisure time exploring. Ruby and Weiss headed off together, and Blake stayed at Yang's side as they started off in the opposite direction.
As they walked, Yang couldn't help but smile, occasionally stealing a glance at her partner. Blake's bow was perked tall as she gazed around at all of the foreigners. A lot of them had ears and tails.
They soon passed by a group of Faunus, and Blake gasped aloud in excitement. Yang paused and cocked her head.
“You know them?”
“Yeah... actually.”
“Go chat 'em up! I'll hang back.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course! You got catch up, I'll be here~”
Blake offered an appreciative smile and then scurried off.
Yang decided to loiter at the nearest food stand, leaning against the outside wall as she enjoyed the atmosphere of the festival. Everyone seemed to be in such a good mood, and the weather was gorgeous. It was so nice...
She was getting so into her people-watching that she was very surprised when she felt a presence at her side.
“Whoa!” Yang jumped in surprise when she discovered the girl who'd suddenly appeared at her side. She had long black hair tied into twin-tails, and wore a rather unusual outfit.
Yang had certainly never seen her before, and yet this girl with piercing green eyes was leaning awfully close to her.
“Um... Can I help you?” Yang awkwardly shifted a bit, wondering if she'd been mistaken for someone else.
But the girl seemed very intent on her. She nodded her head in response to Yang's question. The blonde stammered.
“Uh... what can I do for you?”
The smaller girl stepped closer, staring unblinkingly up into her eyes.
Yang swallowed and was about to brush her off when the girl flicked her gaze behind Yang. She followed her gaze, seeing the girl was looking at the food stand behind her, which sold all kinds of cotton candy.
Yang looked back at her. The girl blinked innocently.
“Um... you want some?”
With a tiny little bounce, the girl clapped.
Yang wasn't sure what was going on, but Blake was still preoccupied with the other Faunus. Therefore, the blonde decided to humor this girl.
She ushered her to the food stand, then ordered two sticks of cotton candy, both pink in color. Yang paid for both. The other girl made no move to pay, but Yang didn't mind the small fee.
The black-haired girl eagerly accepted her treat and dug right in.
They sat in silence for a moment, and while Yang thought the air was crackling with tension, the other girl seemed perfectly content with the arrangement. Still, Yang tried to start up a conversation, just to keep things a bit less awkward.
“So, um... where are you from?”
The girl pulled off another mouthful and licked it until it dissolved. She shrugged, saying nothing.
Yang stared. Was she supposed to guess?
“Um... Are you from Vale?”
A shake of the head.
“Mistral?”
Another shake.
“Haven.”
A nod.
Yang grimaced.
“Oh. That's neat. How did your team do in the teams' matches?”
But still, the other girl didn't speak. She just focused on eating her cotton candy. In response to Yang's question, she gave a little shrug, then presented her with an almost smug grin, and continued eating.
Yang hadn't even touched her cotton candy. This was... just too awkward.
Idly, she took a bite of her treat, seeing that the other girl was already just about done. Yang was scrambling for something else to say, but just then, a familiar voice called out to her.
“Yang!” She turned around to see Blake hurrying towards her. “Sorry about that. I'm ready.” The Faunus girl blinked in confusion. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, y'know. Just havin' a snack.”
“By yourself? You could've waited for me.”
“No, I was having some cotton candy with her-”
Yang looked back over her shoulder, only to find the space beside her completely vacant. Only an empty cotton candy stick laid there on the counter.
Blake was clearly puzzled.
“Um, Yang? Who...?”
“I... she was just here a second ago?”
“Riiiight...”
“No, I swear!”
“If you say so.”
Yang was still astounded, her jaw agape as she sought out the other girl.
She... wasn't just seeing things, right...?
She started off with Blake again, splitting her cotton candy with her partner.
Just as they were rejoining the crowds, however, Yang caught sight of a familiar set of piercing green eyes. Yang opened her mouth as if to call out.
But something stopped her.
The black-haired girl smirked again and blew a mischievous kiss her way. When she next blinked, her eyes were no longer green, but pink and brown...
Yang shook her head quickly, then looked again. She was gone.
**Note: Set before the series at Taiyang’s home. Ruby is 5 years old.
-----------
“Uncle Qrow, Uncle Qrow!”
He was still getting used to that.
Of course, his eldest niece always addressed him the same way, but there was just something different about the way her younger sister said it, now that she was old enough to speak a bit more intelligibly. Yang would say it with a bit more reserve, or as much reserve as a seven-year-old could muster anyway.
But with Ruby, there was something infinitely more inspiring about the way she called his name.
He never felt he deserved to hear such a pure, innocent voice say the name of a man such as himself, who was just about as tainted as a person could get.
He looked down to see her, waddling over to him on her stubby little legs, her pink dress complimented by the little red hero’s cloak her father had made for her and she’d never taken off a day in her life. Qrow knelt down to her level and offered a grin.
“What’s up, kiddo? I came to visit again.”
Ruby squealed and ran into his arms, hugging him as though she hadn’t seen him in years, even though he’d been coming to visit just about every day now. She wiggled in his arms and kissed his cheek enthusiastically, while Yang came up behind her a bit more slowly. Qrow opened one arm to pull her close before she stepped away.
Meanwhile, Ruby had looped her arms around his neck and was clinging to him like a piece of jewelry.
“Uncle Qrow! Can you show me how your scythe works today? Pretty pleeeeease?”
He looked up to Taiyang who’d also come to the door to greet him. The man rolled his eyes but shrugged his permission.
Qrow chuckled and decided to tease his niece.
“Gee, I dunno, kid. Your old man’s tellin’ me no.”
He smirked as Taiyang gave him an appalled look, jaw dropping open in betrayal. Before he could defend himself, Ruby whipped around to face him.
“Daddy! You promised!”
“I know, sweetie!” Tai scrambled. “I never said no. Your old uncle’s just playing.” He made sure to emphasize that word as payback.
“Reeeeally?” Ruby squinted up at him suspiciously. Her father sighed.
“Yes, really. You can go outside to look at Uncle Qrow’s cool scythe, okay? Just don’t touch anything he tells you not to.”
“Okay! I will! I promise!!” She turned around again to cling to her uncle. “Let’s go, let’s go!”
“Alright, alright. Hang on, kid.”
Qrow scooped her up into his arms and headed back out the door. He chose a spot in the grass to sit down, and had Ruby crawl into his lap.
From there, he made sure to keep his weapon a safe distance from her eager hands as he extended the scythe to its full length.
Ruby’s eyes widened in amazement at finally getting to see it up close. She watched every shift in the mechanics with comprehension, seeming to understand how each part of it worked without anything needing to be explicitly explained to her.
“Whoa... It’s so cool! It’s the best, Uncle Qrow! One day I want you to help me build one, too!”
“What? Ya mean a scythe?” He considered it for a moment. “Yeah, why not? But we’ll upgrade yours will all the newest technology. It’ll be a lot cooler than this old thing.”
“I think your scythe is super cool, though!”
“Thanks. That’s quite some praise coming from a little master like yourself.”
Ruby giggled as he bent down to kiss her nose.
Qrow explained a few things about his weapon, trying to elaborate about the mechanics and workings of its different parts in a way a five-year-old would understand. Ruby never once showed confusion about anything he said, even though he knew there were at least a few things she had no knowledge of.
He let her touch the cool metal, and in her eyes, he could tell she was envisioning herself wielding a weapon of her own, cutting down monsters to defend the innocent...
She really did have her mother’s eyes. In every sense of the phrase.
For a while longer, he humored her - or rather, she humored him, it felt. Until a small rumble reached his ears, and he looked down to see her rubbing her stomach.
“Lunch time?” he guessed.
“Yeah...”
“Alright.” He closed his scythe into its more compact form, then put it away behind his back. “Then let’s head back inside. Oh, and did I forget to mention I brought a few groceries with me? Like eggs, flour, some sugar-”
“Can we bake cookies?!” she gasped.
“Huh. Now there’s an idea.”
He stood, keeping her in his arms as she once again squealed and hugged him tightly.
“Thanks, Uncle Qrow!”
Even a decade later, the way she said his name would still have the same effect on him.
All she’d wanted was an afternoon of peace and quiet.
As soon as classes had ended, Weiss had grabbed both sisters by the ears and more or less dragged them to the library to study, simultaneously providing Blake with the privacy she sought. With a book under her arm, she headed to the courtyard in search of a vacant bench.
However, Friday afternoons typically called for more students to be out and about, and given the warm weather, a lot of them were bustling about in the courtyard. With the tournament still at large, students from all regions intermingled, different uniforms and styles standing out.
Forced to seek a different place of refuge, Blake passed by the crowds and continued onward towards the small fraction of forest on Beacon’s campus. She didn’t go far before she selected a tree with ample shade from the bright sunlight and sat at its base. Letting out a sigh, she leaned back against the trunk, lifted her knees, and opened her book.
Judging by Weiss’ declaration to keep the others for at least an hour, Blake was prepared to enjoy herself for that long.
However, she’d hardly been absorbed in the story for five minutes when her bow flicked, ears perking and swiveling at the sounds of rustling leaves.
She’d check in a second, she just wanted to finish this sentence-
“Booooring.”
“Ah!”
Scrambling forward, Blake nearly jumped out of her skin as she whipped around, clothes and book now ruffled. She stared wide-eyed up at the boy dangling upside-down from his tail.
“Sun!”
“S’up?”
As the hair on the back of her neck settled and her heart began to calm down, she let out a long sigh, then glared up at him with disapproval.
“What are you doing?”
“What? I’m just hangin’. Same as you.”
“Did it have to be here? There’s an entire forest. There’s an entire campus.”
“I like bein’ high up,” he explained. “And well... they kinda closed off the roofs. Some idiot nearly fell off the other day. No idea who, though.”
Blake narrowed her eyes, then rolled them.
“Right...”
“Anyways, why don’t you come on up? View’s much nicer from up here.” He gave a little swing with his tail, then jumped and swung up onto the branch that had been supporting him, landing now upright on his feet. “There’s plenty of room!”
Blake said nothing as she watched him, fingers twiddling at the corners of her book. Sun curled his tail, waiting for a response.
“Oh.” He snapped his fingers and grinned. “Right, sorry. Forgot cat’s had this fear of trees-”
“Move it. I’m coming up.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Blake left her book on the ground as she stood, then moved back a couple of steps. Sun watched as she darted forward to build up speed for a jump, but quickly realized where she planned on landing. Blake easily grabbed onto the branch where he was standing and hauled herself up and over, making it shake. Sun needed to jump off onto another tree to avoid falling off.
“Hey! Ya got a whole forest!”
“Then you should have chosen another tree.”
“You are so weird.”
Blake stood and dusted her skirt off, shifting closer to the trunk of the tree where better support was guaranteed. There, she sat down once more, dangling her legs over the edge.
Cautiously, Sun took a spot on the branches above her, then dropped down to hang by his tail once more. Blake jolted and nearly hissed at him when she found him mere inches away from herself.
“Hey, I got an idea!” he said. “Why don’t we-”
“Why don’t we just sit here and not talk? That could be nice.”
“What? Aw, c’mon!”
But Blake wasn’t listening. She leaned herself back comfortably and looked out across the campus scenery, watching the students, the birds, the clouds...
She could hear Sun grumbling about “no fun” above her, but paid him no mind.
For a while, Blake enjoyed the sights, while Sun swung back and forth like a stir-crazy child, eventually pulling himself up onto his higher branch to perch. But he had to admit, this wasn’t as boring as he’d thought it might be. It was kinda nice, actually.
The hour was up before they knew it, and Blake was alerted by a buzz on her scroll. She stretched out her arms and legs, then cracked her neck a bit.
“Well, this was fun. We should do it again some time.”
“I can’t believe this is your definition of fun.” He sighed, then jumped down from his perch, landing with perfect balance thanks to his tail. He turned back to look up at her and called out. “You need help getting down? I know there’s this thing about heights-”
Blake snorted and jumped down, fully intending to kick him in the process. He dodged at the last minute with a yelp.
“Geez! I was just pullin’ your leg.”
Blake scooped up her book and started back towards the school. Sun felt lost as he stood there, not knowing if he should follow or not.
Until she turned back and smiled.
“Are you coming or not? It’s almost suppertime.”
With that, his tail shot up in delight, and he hurried to catch up to her.
**Note: Written at 6:45AM before class so please excuse the strangeness.
---------------
Weiss woke in the midst of the night, disturbed by some night terror, the fragments of which were only just beginning to fade, slipping from the view of her conscious mind now so that the sounds and forms of them were undeterminable.
With her eyes now ajar, staring at the bottom of her partner's bed, she lay there, gasping softly, lifting a hand to her forehead to smear away a veil of sweat. As her heart rate began to slow, she pulled her fingers through her bangs and shuddered against her will, despite the melancholy air of the summer night.
Motivated by the desire to shake away the last of the nightmare, she sat herself up with fatigued slowness, removing the blankets from atop herself whilst slipping her legs over the edge. Her bare toes found comfort in the plush of her slippers, matching in hue to her winter-colored nightgown.
She stood carefully, intent not to wake the others, or rouse Zwei who had curled at the foot of her bed for the night. Crossing the room, she selected from her drawers whichever bolero she first touched, slipped the garment onto her shoulders, adjusted the sleeves, and stepped quietly out the door.
With no particular destination in mind, she set out, merely wishing to walk for a time and clear her head.
As she traversed the quiet hallways, where the only sounds were the soft echoes of her slippers and some distant rush of ventilation, she realized she'd neglected to check the time. Judging by the milky velvet of the sky when she passed the windows, there was still some time before dawn.
Weary and lonesome, she trekked aimlessly, her sleep-ridden mind not fully recognizing where her feet were taking her.
In this manner, she found herself on the open balcony on the roof of the dorm room building. The summer air was pleasant and warm, even at this hour of the morning, when the stars were still winking.
And to her initial puzzlement, and eventual delight, she discovered she was no longer alone.
The figure of a tall girl stood before her. The long, red stream of her hair that was so often held up in daylight hours was now released in a cascade of silken scarlet. Her nightgown was of a lighter, pinker shade, like the color the sky would soon be turning with the waking of the sun.
As Weiss' slippers scraped gently over the concrete, the sound alerted the other's attention.
Pyrrha turned, eyes wide with surprise, but it took only a second for her lips to break out into a life-giving smile, brighter than the rising sun itself. In her excitement at being so unexpectedly but pleasantly joined, she opened her arms wide for joy and called out her name.
“Weiss! Why, what a grand surprise! I never expected someone to come and join me here at this hour!”
Weiss offered the shyest of smiles, both because she had always harbored a gentle affection for her classmate, and also to because the idea of confessing her reasoning for being forced from her bed at such an hour made for some level of embarrassment.
Still, she didn't refuse her friend's waving invitation to join her where she stood at the edge of the balcony.
Pyrrha welcomed her with open arms, pulling her into a brief and friendly embrace, thrilled by the prospect of being joined.
The action brought more comfort to Weiss than she could admit she thought she'd needed. It took her by surprise, enough so that she didn't get a chance to return it before Pyrrha had already let her go. The crimson-haired girl spoke enthusiastically, her voice void of any residual rasp of slumber.
“What brings you out here at this hour, Weiss? I believe it's the first time I've seen you here!”
Bashfully, Weiss stepped into place beside her friend, as Pyrrha had indicated she may.
“It's nothing, really,” she mumbled. “I just woke early. Bad dream. I wanted to clear my head.”
Pyrrha's demeanor changed automatically, her curious smile fading into a more reserved, sympathetic expression.
“Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that. Are you all right? Would you like to talk about it?”
The offer to share her troubles flattered Weiss greatly, but she maintained her stubborn composure with a polite shake of her head.
“It's fine,” she repeated.
Respecting her decision of abstinence, Pyrrha nodded.
“Then please. Look up at the stars with me before they disappear. It's truthfully quite marvelous. I always come out here early in the morning, usually before the others wake up. It's just so peaceful...”
She didn't need to say any more than that.
Since the very first second she'd stepped out from beneath the building's roof, Weiss had been embraced by the calming air of the world just before it woke.
The shade of the sky was shifting brighter and brighter before her very eyes, though it was just barely enough to be consciously noticed. The stars sprinkled the vast purple canvas like grains of glimmering salt, and behind a distant cloud, the fractured moon took its final stand for the night. The air was still, save for the occasional push or pull of a breeze, stirring the ends of their hair.
Weiss felt that breaking such silence would be shameful, and somehow force time to pass by more quickly, erasing the last few moments of tranquility all too soon. But when Pyrrha spoke, her voice was never intrusive. It fit in so naturally, as though it were meant to be a part this kind of world.
“Incredible. I've been doing this for months and no matter how many times I see them, these sights are always astounding. Every morning is different. It's just so beautiful, don't you think?”
Weiss had been so enraptured by the sight of the rose-colored sky that she'd barely even registered the fact that she'd been asked a question. Perhaps she had no need to respond, but she did so, matching her tone to Pyrrha's.
“Yes. It really is.”
She hadn't realized it, but the prickles of discomfort that had plagued her previously had now vanished. A ginger touch on her shoulder let her appreciate Pyrrha's arm around her, pulling her close.
Together, they stood and watched as the sun woke, opening like a blossomed flower, spreading its milky yellow petals across the expanse of the firmament.
Weiss felt she'd never breathed quite so easily as she had standing there that morning at Pyrrha's side.
It was evident by the reflected smile that Pyrrha felt the same.
Without words, they turned together and headed back towards the door.
“If you'd ever like to come up here with me again, please feel free,” Pyrrha offered.
Weiss reached down to lightly touch her hand to Pyrrha's.
“Same time tomorrow?”
Pyrrha laughed merrily and pulled her into another exuberant hug.
Nightmares didn't bother Weiss very much after that.
She could feel herself being lifted, as though by the wings of an angel. Or perhaps, a demon.
Cinder’s amber eyes glinted in the darkness, flashing at the sudden influx of light. Wincing, she stumbled back-
All Ruby could see was red.
The final, dissipating strands of Pyrrha’s streaming hair, the tiny red bubbles left in the space her friend had once occupied, the deep stains on Cinder’s dress...
Crimson rose petals spiraled around her in a vicious tornado, tiny scarlet daggers slicing the air, seeking vengeance, blood-
She wanted Cinder’s.
It was only fair.
She’d killed Pyrrha. She needed to pay-
"HHAAAAAAAA-!!”
She screamed, and even her voice was sanguine, seeming to shatter the sound barrier as the world knew it, shaking time and space, shattering the air.
The outrage in Cinder’s eyes shifted to anger, then disbelief, and finally-
-fear.
Ruby liked it.
This was only fair.
Cinder had done horrible things to her friends.
She destroyed her beloved school, led the White Fang in to mutilate her sister, led Blake’s old partner in to stab her, led Atlas’ rouge soldiers in to strain Weiss’ heart...
She’d pit Pyrrha against Penny, let Penny die-
-and now she’d murdered Pyrrha, too. Right in front of her.
It was her turn to be afraid.
She deserved it-
Screeching, Ruby let the intangible wings wings carry her.
To the rest of the world, they appeared white, but to her, they were red. They felt red.
She shot forward at Cinder, hearing her shriek.
Her terror fueled Ruby’s rage even more.
Red.
Red.
R E D
It piled up before her eyes, mounting, filling her vision as though filling up a glass. She was drowning in it, and she was going to take Cinder with her.
She wanted her to suffer.
Like Penny had. Like Yang had. Like Pyrrha had.
The red filled and filled her
More.
More.
Until she couldn’t see anymore.
Until the red turned to black.
And when she next opened her eyes, Cinder was gone.
It was all gone.
Even as she sat there, safe in her bed, she knew it could never come back.
**Note**: Takes place at the very beginning of Volume 1.
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Beacon was scary.
Well, maybe not scary. She’d been in the heart of White Fang activity in past years, after all. Nothing after that could be scary.
So... intimidating?
Yeah, that sounded like a better word.
She was seventeen, and this wouldn’t have been the first time she’d been in an environment swarming with humans, all of whom could be potentially discriminatory towards her kind. But she decided to tighten her bow a little extra that first morning, just in case.
Unlike most of the other people here, Blake didn’t have very much luggage with her. No suitcases or boxes, just a simple handbag with a few of the outfits she’d managed to grab before she’d left. Her lack of belongings seemed to scream of her lower societal standing, and she couldn’t help but think people were staring, whispering...
“Ah-!”
A sudden bump at her back had her twirling around in a panic, prepared to dart off if she needed to.
She’d been in someone’s way. She should apologize-
“Sorry.” The other person’s voice was deep and calm, and surprisingly casual. Blake peered up at him nervously.
He had dark skin, indicating he was from an area of warmer climate, and his hair was a reddish-brown color.
But even more striking than those features were his bleak eyes. They were somewhat dull, hazy, but there was character in them.
Blake gasped and dropped her gaze when she realized she’d been staring.
Unlike herself and all of the other new freshman on campus today, this boy wasn’t dressed in personal clothes, but the school uniform. Meaning, he was an upperclassman.
Great. Of all the people to get on the bad side of!
“No, I’m sorry,” Blake replied. “I was spacing out a little bit. I’m just nervous...”
Why was she babbling? He didn’t care...
“Don’t sweat it.” He shrugged. “I could tell. That’s why I came over to put your mind at ease.”
“...Huh?”
He’d... specifically come over to her?
“Yeah.” His lips curved up into a kind smile. “Let me guess. You feel different from everyone else, right?”
Blake stiffened, and her concealed Faunus ears twitched beneath her bow, making it tremble noticeably. She’d almost feared he’d seen until she remembered his blank eyes.
“Yes...” she admitted. “A bit.”
Did he know? Could he sense that she was a-
“I’m the same way.”
“W-What?” Blake could only think he’d meant that he was a Faunus, too. She quickly scanned his person, searching for ears or a tail, but found none. Her hopes of finding another Faunus to be friends with right off the bat were crushed as quickly as they’d formed.
The boy shrugged again.
“I’m the same as you. Different, I mean.”
Another pause.
Blake wasn’t sure if she should speak, or what she should say if she should.
But the boy went on leisurely, in a way that put her frantic mind at ease.
“Yeah. It’s not bad, you know? Being different. We’re all different somehow.” He pointed a finger up at his own eyes, still smiling faintly. “It’s nothing to be afraid of. Beacon’s not that bad. You’ll see.”
Blake remained silent, trying to absorb his kind words. She scrambled to find words of thanks, but couldn’t arrange them in time.
The boy lifted his hand and pointed ahead, as precisely as if he could see as well as she could. “Freshman dorms are in that building. Catch ya later.”
With a small wave to her, he turned and headed off back the way he’d come.
Blake still couldn’t speak. She was too baffled that a total stranger had just come over to... to help her out. To be nice to her.
Something told her he knew she had a secret. Maybe he didn’t know what it was exactly, but he knew it was there. And he hadn’t pressed her about it. He’d just accepted it and let her be.
She wanted to say thank you, but she felt he already knew of her gratitude somehow.
With a smile now, Blake turned to face the building he’d pointed out and headed towards it.
