13 Chapter 13

AN: Ruby is ten years old now. A three year four month timeskip. I might also say that Ruby's about in the middle of sixth grade right now. Let's say that it's like january. That sounds about right! Sorry but I'm not keeping track of Remnant time down to the month. I have a life you know...

[||||=LEVEL 13= ||||]

9 years 3 months in Remnant

4 years 10 months after Summer's death

"No. Twist just enough to improve your striking power but hide your muscles coiling. If you don't you're easily predictable." Raven instructed. Ruby nodded a little and readied herself again. She was panting and sweaty from the sparring session but of course Raven wasn't going to be done just because she was tired.

Inside Ruby's soul space my body was working out as it did with my parallels and my other parallels were studying one thing or another. In all honesty I wasn't paying attention. My parallels are like Naruto's shadow clones really. Just infinite training forever. It's nice. Perhaps a bit OP but not crazy. I know that being as strong as Qrow or Raven or somebody with strength like that is just the start. Qrow nearly died from just Tyrian and he had team RNJR as backup.

"Again." Raven drilled. Ruby swung but it was shaky and slower than the norm. "An enemy won't stop because you're tired. Again. Properly this time." Ruby's next strike was still a little shaky but better than before.

"Enough." Raven said a little lighter. Ruby seemed to deflate and I dropped a chair for her, which she collapsed in.

"You're getting better." Raven said calmly. For her that was high praise. "But your horizontal strikes sag and the weight is too focused on the tip. Your grip is weak when you miss a strike and you fail to act on openings when you feel they're unsafe. You're training for combat. Some risks are inevitable."

For a split second something strange passes over Raven's face and I showed Ruby my curiosity. Then Raven reached down and laid a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "You're doing well." Ruby beamed at her, still breathing hard. "I'll see you saturday. Don't shirk your grades."

Raven's hand slipped from Ruby's shoulder as she walked off. I smiled internally. She had changed, even if she didn't admit it. Physical contact and Raven weren't two words I would use unless that physical contact was strangling her enemies or breaking an arm. That she was comfortable enough to touch Ruby showed a lot of trust in her.

"You ready to go or do you want to have tea with her?" I asked. "I'm alright with going." Ruby said happily. So she had gotten the message as I did was good. I sent a feeling of satisfaction at her relationship with her aunt. She giggled in response as I finished opening a portal. I got it down to about thirty seconds through practice.

Ruby stood up a little shakily and I casted weaken spatial interference to make it a little easier for her to get around. Ruby just fell through the portal and landed on her bed. A contented sigh came from her as I left her soul space and readied a shower for her. My wind affinity just kept increasing. Wind just did as I asked now. I just flicked my affinity and it worked. Tornadoes were out of my reach without expending mana but a gust strong enough to blow Ruby off her feet was obtainable. With all my mana I could start a hurricane I believe.

As I walked downstairs I glanced at Tai on the couch writing notes for his classes at Signal. We ignored each other as we do. Curiously enough Qrow was here as well laying down playing a game on his scroll.

"Qrow? No missions right now?" I asked as I walked to the kitchen. He paused the game and looked over to me. An observe showed him as only buzzed. Something important coming up?

"Oz wanted me to run out to Anima but it's been awhile since I met with my nieces. Strangely enough though I can't find either of them. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

"Ruby and I just got back from practice." I said as my winds got whatever tools I would use to make rice and fish. I sent a flat look at the measuring cup and my affinity took it back to the cupboard quickly, as if in apology. I rolled my eyes and poured he rice grains and some water into the cooker. Really, a measuring cup? I can eyeball it quite accurately. It's like my affinities insult me.

A flash of mage sight and I found Yang several miles away playing basketball with her friends. The time was eight o'clock so I wouldn't expect her back for another hour. I'll be nice and leave some food for her. Perhaps some for Qrow and Tai as well.

"Yang is playing with her friends. Want to see her now or wait for her to get home?"

Qrow looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head. "I'll see sunny later. Do you mind making me some stuff too?"

I looked back at the fish. We had about seven of them in the freezer… sure. I could do that. I pointed my wind affinity and got to pan-searing the first fish.

"Sure." I shrugged. Tai's eyes glanced over to me curiously. I've never made food for him or… Anyone really. Just Ruby and myself.

He and I both knew it was more out of isolation than any feeling toward the other. Looking at Ruby was still a little painful for him. I could see him flinch every once and a while that he looked at her.

Qrow on the other hand just had no real reason to be here. His semblance would be bad for the family somewhat and he had a hefty duty being Ozpin's intelligence and field agent.

"Thanks kid. What have you and Ruby been up to? School going well?"

I snorted. "Ruby's a genius and I don't use that term lightly. She's just about mastered algebra and touched on calculus before finding she hated it and focusing on ballistics. Every other subject but music she excels in."

Qrow's mouth opened slightly before he closed it and smiled a little. "I've got to see that. Ballistics, huh? She wants to be a huntsman?"

"I've been working on her technical skills while working her on he physique. Some magic to make training go more smoothly. She's looking into weapon designing now since I promised a few years ago to make what she designed."

Qrow smiled. "Is she good?" I finished cooking the fish and dropped it to the side to start dressing it with butter and herbs while I fried another.

"Hell no. She's ten. Still, though, she's better than most ninth year students at Signal. She can match some tenth years too."

Qrow grinned and Tai looked skeptical. "Atta girl. She'll be joining Signal's high division, right?"

I nodded. Of course she would. I couldn't teach her everything. Signal was a middle school and high school for aspiring hunters so it covered sixth through twelfth grade.

Sixth grade through eighth grade focused on aura, dust, and knowledge both huntsman specific and conventional while the high school years looked to actual combat. They were also the only times a kid could theoretically be called a 'huntsman or huntress in training'. I'm going into the high school division next year.

"Good… what sort of weapon is she using?"

"Shortsword. Also snipers. I think she wants to learn the scythe, though. Just saying…"

Qrow looked interested. A sort of gleam in his eyes. I just got him hook, line, and sinker.

"Subtle, kid. Real subtle. Sure, I'll see if she really wants to learn. If she does, though, I can only be around every so often. Do you think she'll be okay with that?"

I didn't even need to think about it. "Of course. She's plenty good with a shortsword. Slowing down a little is fine so long as we have the weekends sometimes."

Qrow grinned and nodded. "Sounds nice. I'll spar her after I eat."

And on that note Ruby came down the stairs in a rush. She immediately noticed Qrow and ran to him to tackle-hug him. He chuckled and hugged back with a grin.

"Hey there kid." He got out through her squeeze. Ruby looked up at him with a grin. He grinned back. She grinned back harder. He narrowed his eyes and forced himself to grin harder. Once more, though, Ruby one-upped him in a show of valor and-

"Trying to split your faces in half?" I questioned dryly. The two quit their strange competition and Ruby hopped up on the free space on the couch beside her uncle.

"Where have you been the past few months?" Qrow looked amused at her as he began regaling her with what had been going on. Not the truth, of course. Ruby wasn't allowed to say that she knew about all the magic stuff. A part of our agreement. So she sat and took in her uncle's extremely edited version of the truth. She enjoyed his stories even if she knew they were fake.

On my side I dropped the fourth fish down and glanced at the rice. It had a few minutes left. How irritating. My maxed out cooking skill just made everything I make taste better and show me what to do. It didn't actually take time into account. Or maybe it didn't because it didn't need to. I kept the food perfectly hot with my heat affinity and a little mana after all.

I briefly wondered what to do or make while the rice was cooking… I'll make some salads. We've got some berries in the fridge. I quickly retrieved them with some lettuce, sprouts, and a raspberry vinaigrette. I portioned it out into five salads and tossed them.

Just as I finished the cooker finished as well. I set the salads aside, set the rice in bowls, and put the fishes on a plate. I melted some butter and poured it on, salted it a bit, and added some herbs from Tai's garden. Rosemary mostly.

Amusedly I wondered whether my life had become cooking simulator. Maybe the sims? Nah. It's just a lull in the action for the moment.

I looked with some pride at the meal. A sampling of my meal brought a smile to my face. Man I was good. Or my skill was. Well I consider it a part of me so yeah I'm skilled.

A little boring time dishing out servings and I was done. My portion was bigger than the others since being a homunculi I needed more food and water than a normal human. I could last a lot longer without sleep though.

I narrowed my eyes and looked to the fifth plate… a frown pursed my face as I dropped a heat barrier spell, which stops heat from escaping an area, onto the meal and set it into a corner. Damnit Yang. Sure I could just abduct her but it would be even more awkward than Tai-Yang over there trying to ignore that he wasn't a part of the family conversations. I also ignored his hands gripping his book way too tightly to be calm.

I closed my eyes for a moment. Was it the family moment that was a part of him? Still caught up on Summer?... damnit Tai.

"Dinner's ready." I called. Ruby zeroed in on the food with the look of a predator. Qrow looked to the food curiously.

Ruby ran over and grabbed a bowl of salad and the fish and rice. She walked back and forth from the table and carried two loads. When she got the third, however, I saw Tai silently leave the house. We locked eyes and I saw shame in his eyes. He flinched as he looked at my eyes. I frowned at him and sent a wind whisper.

"These aren't Summer's eyes Tai." He gritted his teeth as he silently closed the door behind him. Ruby didn't notice his absence and went to grab a fourth pair of bowls. I softly pushed her hands away and she looked at me in confusion. I locked eyes with her and jerked my head very softly towards the living room.

Ruby pursed her lips and turned to look for her father. All three of us, Qrow, me, and Ruby all looked to the door in silence. Qrow wore a stern and judging look. Ruby wore a sad one. I turned to the two other portions of food and thought for just a moment. It wasn't a hard decision. The two bowls meant for Yang and Tai were put into the sink and the food went to our bowls.

[|||| == ||||]

Qrow smiled and leaned back in his chair. I finished off the last few bites of food with a smile of my own. Ruby still hadn't finished. She wore a smile too.

The fish and rice had been even better than normal. The more the merrier I suppose. It wasn't really merry though since we were all too busy eating. It was certainly nice though.

"Okay… why were you hiding this from me Abyss? I thought we were friends?!" Qrow said jokingly with a fake sad look on his face. I rolled my eyes.

"I've just improved you old fart. I've hidden nothing." Except my gamer powers, my contact with Raven, my reincarnation, and my knowledge of the future.

"Well then you've improved beyond what I ever imagined. This is five star restaurant stuff kid. And you made it with store bought fish and what you could scrounge up in the kitchen. Be proud." I kept my smile up. That's nice of him to say.

"Thank you. Weren't you going to spar with Ruby sometime?"

"Not on a full stomach, kid. I am open, however, to playing video games."

"Huh?" Ruby said. "why would uncle Qrow and I spar? I don't think I can learn all that much from him…"

"You wanted to learn how to use a scythe, right?" Qrow asked. Ruby nodded with a little confusion.

"Well I know how to use a scythe. I'm also your uncle so I have a sort of responsibility to teach you. It's what family does."

Ruby still looked confused. "But I thought Abyss was going to teach me." I shook my head.

"Ruby I have no idea how to use a scythe. I could learn with you but I'm better off continuing to learn the shortsword and halberd. If I get good at it I'll pick it up with you."

Ruby didn't look like she considered that. Did she think I would be personally teaching her? When I made the offer a month ago I meant finding a tutor.

"Well come on kiddo. I've got to kick your ass."

"Never! I've been practicing with Abyss!"

Half an hour of Ruby's pride being stomped on later Ruby gave up. She didn't win even once. I just stayed out of it myself.

"Alright kiddo." Qrow started with a wide grin. Ruby looked flatly at him.

"We'll be doing this… You try to hit me and I'll be dodging everything you throw out there. Start now."

I tossed Ruby's typical shortsword at her and she caught it swiftly and charged at Qrow. He didn't even flinch as he simply stepped backwards.

Ruby let loose a torrent of stabs and slashes and even a kick to the shin but Qrow simple dodged or deflected it all with a bored or disapproving expression. I could tell from his eyes that he was actually following her form closely and wasn't actually bored or disapproving at all but Ruby couldn't. I could sense that it made her angry.

Ruby kept up her idea of pure offense and Qrow just kept dodging or slapping her blade away. It only pissed her off more. I had done very little to harden her to insults so I was actually surprised that she had held up for almost four minutes now.

Then, as expected, Ruby snapped. Children aren't exactly known for tolerance or patience.

With a small snarl Ruby got a little sloppy. Her blade work was fast and strong but there were more gaps in her guard and less focus on Qrow but more anger. Not exactly a good thing but easily fixed in time.

Qrow seemed to share the sentiment with me as he looked at Ruby and smirked. "Alright. I've seen what you can do. Now defend." Without waiting for her to respond he weakly jabbed at Ruby's chin. She widened her eyes and tried to stop her momentum but Qrow still hit her softly. She flinched and I could realize that she had bitten her tongue trying to say something. A flash of guilt appeared on Qrow's face but it was hidden from Ruby due to her flinch and slightly teared up eyes.

Ruby focused once more on Qrow. Her face clearly showed cold anger and irritation. Not the clouding anger from before but more like a grudge against Qrow. He really was getting her riled up. He was treating her like an ass after all. This was a good test of how she manages herself in a high stakes fight actually.

Qrow tried a few different moves on Ruby and she dodged or blocked plenty of them. Whenever Qrow hit her now he opened his palm and hit her. It was like a soft palm strike rather than a soft punch.

For a few minutes Qrow inspected her form while pissing her off. Ruby cooled down a little but was still seething.

"Alright enough." Ruby stood back and clenched her sword. Was she really that pissed? I've treated her too well. I didn't think I was spoiling her but if she's actually that immature as to fall for a disapproving expression on her skills then I need to fix that. It wasn't just a bad habit for battles but it could develop into hypersensitivity later on. Or some other sort of issue.

"You're strong for your age." Ruby narrowed her eyes a little. Not the opinion she had expected apparently.

"But you're emotionally weak. Stunted, even." Ruby's eyes widened. That apparently meant a lot to her. It made sense, really. Qrow was basically saying that Ruby valued the opinions too much. I had once told her that true strength is valuing your own opinion and doing right by yourself was more important than the opinions of others. But she valued my, Raven's, and maybe even Qrow's opinions a lot. Too much maybe.

"When I insulted your abilities you got angry and didn't manage to suppress that until later in the match when I landed a blow… on your face. If this had been a real fight you would have lost badly and not because you were too weak or unskilled but because you were too prideful. A bad flaw to have. Some pride is perfectly fine. Some might even encourage it. I do. But you have too much pride in your skills. If someone insults you you'll get thrown out of the calm mindset that you really need in a battle."

Ruby looked disturbed by Qrow's observations. "Yeah…"

"So that's what we'll be working on first tomorrow." He continued. Ruby blinked a few times and looked to her uncle incredulously.

"Scythe work will come soon enough. I'll teach you the basics of basics tomorrow and get you a little thicker skinned when it comes to what others say about you. Being easily manipulated is just plain bad. Talking in battle is bad but having the tactic work on you is a hard no. It just shouldn't happen. We'll start when you get out of school."

Ruby smiled at her uncle. He grinned back. I rolled my eyes off off the side.

"And you need to get good at video games too. Or at least decent." And just like that Qrow ruined the atmosphere. Ruby looked irritated. I laughed at them off to the side.

[|||| == ||||]

*Ring ring*

"Ah, hi this it Taiyang speaking."

"Hello mister Xiao-long. This is Miss Riddle. Ruby's teacher. I'm calling because of your dau-"

"Is she hurt. What's going on. Where is-"

"-sir she's fine. School's over if you recall. She walked home as usual."

"Oh. Oh okay."

"Yes, now, Ruby is typically fine but I've noticed a few things that bring concern over her home life. For one thing she only has two friends. Not very close ones either. Pepper Lancer and Jam Magenta. But with the other kids she just sort of… brushes them off."

"What do you mean?"

"A cold shoulder. Ignoring them. For the more persistent ones she even resorted to harsher words. Not swearing, thankfully, but certainly not kindness or anything. Do you know what could have caused this?"

"...Yes. I do."

"Would I be correct in assuming the passing of her mother did this?"

"... indirectly."

"Could you shed some light on this for me?"

"... When… when Summer died she was with a close friend of the family. Abyss Mavros. He has a teleporting semblance. When Summer was on death's door Abyss teleported her right in front of the whole family as we were eating dinner."

"Oh god."

"With Summer gone Yang took off and Abyss took care of Ruby as best he was able to. But Abyss… Abyss has some issues. Extreme pessimism, a loner complex, stress, and plenty of events to cause trauma worse than a war veteran… Look, this information was regarded as classified by Ozpin himself but… do you remember the Vacuan purging about year ago?"

"I… Yes."

"Abyss was the sole enactor of the purges. He was responsible for the crippling of Vacuo's criminal underbelly and the murder of seventy nine or more suspected and confirmed gang members and the collapse of four minor or auxiliary gangs. The loss of those minor gangs caused a power vacuum and the enactment of a string of violent gang wars. He's responsibe for all of that."

"But… he's taking care of a CHILD?!"

"..."

"Good dust…"

"When Summer died she left him with a very personal… gift of hers. I can't say for certain but I think she wanted him to keep her children safe. Being a huntress had made her some enemies. Abyss apparently interpreted it as 'keep Ruby safe' with Yang being the child of me and my former wife's."

"I-I see."

"I'm not proud of it but I was depressed for… quite some time after Summer's death. I eventually got over it but… Ruby just… she looks so much like Summer. And I thought Abyss would help her heal. And she has. I can't say that my other daughter, Yang, is alright.

"Whatever Abyss did Ruby is better now. But… Yang goes out and does… something. Socialize I think. I'm… not really in touch with my kids these days. Ruby is doing things with Abyss. She's training to be a huntress though. She'll be great at it."

"... Mister Xiao-Long have you considered family therapy for you and your children?"

"Therapy, huh? I did. But Ruby was already gone from the family by the time I got myself stable enough to consider that and mostly healed from whatever Abyss did. Yang isn't great now but she's slowly healing. We still talk sometimes."

"... I see. Ruby is doing well in school. She's very smart and frighteningly mature… I'm sorry to make you talk about this Mister Xiao-Long."

"I-I'm sorry I made you listen through all of that. It just came out… I'm sorry I need to go. Goodbye Miss Riddle."

[|||| == ||||]

9 years 8 months in Remnant

5 years 3 months after Summer's death

"Kid you're going to break your wrist if you block a blow like that! Use your forearm!" Qrow twirled his scythe again and I shot a few more low velocity ice bullets that he blocked easily to prove his point.

Ruby didn't speak and tried to spin her training scythe like Qrow did. She sort of succeeded. Qrow groaned and stomped over to her. Ruby spun again and Qrow fixed a few things. Ruby slowly reverted back to her old incorrect way of spinning and Qrow fixed it again. Then she sort of got it down.

"There aren't many good ways to block with a scythe. That's one of the best despite it's simplicity. The blade block might work better on you with your small body but damaging the blade isn't a good idea, as I told you. The spinning block works better for almost any static situation." Ruby nodded and kept at the spinning block.

"Work on it kiddo. The slashes too. All twelve angles and their recoveries and chains. You can do it with all that new free time you got. Now my flight's in two hours. I'll be seeing you next year." With a wave Qrow grinned and walked off.

With school ending just a week ago I gave Ruby a break from training and just messed around with her for a few days. Qrow managed to get a free day to train Ruby and she took full advantage of it.

Ruby had gotten pretty good with the scythe over the last five months. That said, the scythe was a very, and I mean VERY hard weapon to learn. Any idiot can slash with it but so few can slash with it and then lead into five other strikes from various angles with a kick thrown in just for kicks… heh.

I had trained with my shortsword against Qrow and gotten something I'm actually excited for. My swordsmanship skill reached fifty as did my polearm skill and I got a personalized combat style from them.

*Ding!* By reaching Lv. 50 swordsmanship skill a new skill has been acquired! - Sting style (Shortswords)

"Why would I bother to aim for anything if it's not vital?"

-Abyss Mavros, the gamer

*Ding!* By reaching Lv. 50 polearms skill a new skill has been acquired! - Sting style (Halberds)

"Why would I bother to aim for anything if it's not vital?"

-Abyss Mavros, the gamer

The skill was vague but in action it was way better than what I had before. My personalized skill was uniquely fitted for my body and fighting style in every way. I used my knowledge of anatomy to tear apart a person's weak points with a thrust or close slash after slipping through their guard or throwing them off balance. Perfect for me. It even integrated with my skills in firearms into the style. The skills with guns weren't eliminated. They were used with how smoothly I could use the gun parts of my style instead.

The halberd style was more grounded and based on defense than the shortsword style. The shortsword style was more for offense and more flexible than the halberd style. Good for me considering that I preferred shortswords than halberds. Summer had been right after all when we first met. Speaking of I still need to make a weapon whenever Ruby gets good at designing them. I could only read the schematics with my skill. I couldn't make really good ones.

"I'll see you around, Qrow." I called to him as he left.

"I expect a spar next time we see each other, kid!" He called back in a fading voice. I shrugged. It might be fun.

"So… other than training do you think we can do anything over the summer?" Ruby asked me as she handed her scythe to me. I put it in my inventory and thought about that for a moment.

In the previous summer's we had mostly trained and worked on whatever Ruby wanted to do. There wasn't much to do otherwise. I had a few ideas but no real reason to do them. This year I might try them out.

"I think we do enough training already. No need to do any more." Ruby smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Signal is coming next year for me… I've got a few ideas as a sort of celebratory Summer. First is you spend the summer with auntie Raven and the tribe." Ruby's eyes lit up. She really was getting closer and closer to her aunt.

"The second is to travel. See Vale, Vacuo, and other places." Ruby didn't look as enthused by this as the first option but didn't seem to disapprove of it either. I know that she expects to see the world when she becomes a huntress.

"If we travel we could visit old ruins and potentially find something." I hinted. There really might be something in those ruins too. I have no idea but treasure hunting sounds fun to me. Ruby seemed to agree with me.

"I have a few places already marked by the way. They're dangerous though. Just saying…" Ruby looked torn between her auntie and adventuring so I gave her an out.

"We can always come back to adventuring later when you're stronger. I would do almost all the work if we went now. Then you can help next time."

"That sounds so much better." Ruby looked relieved. I smiled. From those two years ago… I still remember that icy forest in the desert and the tower and temple. I still want to go back there one day. But I can wait until I travel with a friend. Leaving Ruby out of it wouldn't be very nice and I have no immediate need of more power.

I want to travel, though. With or without Ruby I'll be traveling around. I need to meet with some people. I speak, of course, of Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc, Blake Belladonna, and maybe Weiss Schnee. Probably anybody else I feel like visiting as well. Winter Schnee, for example. Or Roman Torchwick. I don't know what they'll be like but a little searching could do me well.

Along the way I might like to establish a reputation in the criminal underworld. It might serve me well to become a contact for Cinder when canon begins. I don't have any strong feelings for Cinder even with her association with her mother, who killed Summer.

I really want to hate Cinder but with the knowledge from Ashaya , having birther Cinder for Salem, I don't hold Cinder's evil against her so long as she doesn't affect my life. I might be able to change her a little bit too. TO be a slightly less shitty person. Or scare her from harming Ruby at least.

"I'd like to be around auntie Raven. She's nice." Ruby said with a smile.

"I'll leave a note for Tai. I don't think he'll be mad or anything. That we're going travelling. I'll also rune a mirror to act as a scroll if he ever needs me." Ruby smiled brightly and ran to her room. I followed her up.

"While you're with auntie I'm going to go travel a bit. I'll stay away from the adventuring. I just have some people to meet." Ruby blinked owlishly at me.

"Can you take breaks to visit us?" I rolled my eyes. Obviously. Rubby huffed and went back to putting things onto her room that she wanted to take. I don't see why she wanted to pack when I could pack her entire room but it doesn't hurt to indulge her a little I suppose.

Ruby finally got all the clothes she wanted to bring onto her bed and seemed to realize that she didn't have a suitcase. I flashed mage sight and retrieved one from Tai's room that was probably once Summer's.

Ruby seemed to recognize it and her smile turned a little sadder but she used it anyways. I gave her a quick hug and left the room to Raven through a portal. She was eating an early dinner alone in her tent right now. Tea and a steak.

"Do you mind if Ruby stays with you during some of the summer? I have some things to do and you know that the house isn't really… hospitable. Raven scowled at me.

"A little sudden of you. And no. Summer is when the tribe raids more than usual. Commerce picks up in summer." I thought about that for a moment and peeked back through the portal to Ruby's room.

"Ruby Raven has to actually do her job now."

"I heard that." Raven called through the portal. I tossed a snow ball at her with my ice affinity and she cursed me out. Ruby giggled.

"Anyways, your auntie is going to be raiding. That means killing. Killing, extorting, and all the things we both like to pretend don't happen." Ruby put on a solemn face and looked to the portal.

"You can stay here and try to reconnect with Tai or your sister. I don't know what they're doing though." Ruby shook her head.

"I'll try when they try… I still want to go with auntie. It's not fair to only want to know the good parts of her." Ruby looked to me resolutely and Raven emerged from the portal with her teacup. And her sword at her waist. Typical Raven. Ruby blinked.

"Oh! Sorry auntie! Did we interrupt dinner?" Raven almost smiled a little at Ruby's concern.

"It's fine Ruby. I don't mind it." Raven's face grew more serious then.

"Raiding is a serious business Ruby. This isn't politely mocking people from treetops and playing dramatics and flair. This is extorting people for their living. Ruining lives. Are you certain you'll be alright even being a part of this?"

Ruby looked troubled but nodded. "You're my auntie. I'll get over it… but I'm going to mope. I'm just telling you now." Raven really did smile this time. A rare sight.

"Promise you won't yell about the injustice of it or that we can rise above our place in life and I'll let you stay."

"I promise I won't yell at you for raiding or killing or extorting people. Just be angry at you but I'll really try to get over it." Raven nodded.

"Come along then." Ruby ran around and grabbed a few more things. Toiletries, her scroll that I had gotten her, and some other things like a charger, mobile battery, and some pocket change.

"Bye Abyss! Don't stay away too long okay?" Ruby said as she stood at the edge of the portal. I chuckled lowly.

"Well I'm sure I can talk to you plenty when we go to Signal's high school division together. I'll visit the tryouts next year." Ruby beamed and backed off through the portal. I shut it and smiled. Now who to visit first… perhaps Ren and Nora first. Then Pyrrha if she's in the championships yet. Do they have championships for kids? Hm. They have championships for preliminary students I know…

Well, there's no way to know until I start. And if I don't meet anybody I'll be fine. But where the hell is Ansel?

[|||| == ||||]

"Ember… what is it you want?"

"My lady, you recall my request, yes?"

"To travel. Of course. Cinder is doing the same now, fulfilling my orders."

"Yes, my lady. I have several personal people to meet with this summer. Do you believe I may meet with them?"

"Have you finished your duties?"

"Yes my lady."

"I see… Yes. I will give you a list of tasks. One task, however, is more important than the others. You see, there is a boy. Abyss Mavros. Find out everything about him and his association with the wizard. Befriend him if you can. Then either kill or convert him to our cause. He is young still. You should be capable of this."

"Yes my lady… do you believe him to be like me?"

"Reincarnated, you mean? I do not know."

[|||| =NEXT LEVEL= ||||]

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