6

One Never Steps Foot In The Same River Twice

ThePalestRose

Chapter 6: Sheering the Sheep

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Roman stared out over a veritable mountain of maps, schematics, and paperwork. This would be his biggest dust heist so far. True, robbing what was basically an outdoor warehouse lacked the pizazz of his usual robberies, but it was the juiciest target. Cinder had continually been pressing him to secure massive quantities of dust, and robbing mom-and-pop stores just wasn't cutting it anymore. The docks on the other hand—well, that was a score that would be worth it. If his intel was right, it would be the last dust robbery he'd ever have to do.

In two weeks the largest SDC dust shipment for the year was going to hit Vale. The city had ordered a massive emergency shipment due to the actions of one charming criminal who was starting to hit the city where it hurt. If it were up to him, after robbing this last shipment, he would sell it all back at 10x the price, and live like a king for decades to come. The profits would be enormous, what with the low overhead that outright theft provided. Course, it wasn't up to him.

If Roman was right, and Cinder really was going to use this stuff as part of some grand master plan to topple the huntsman academy just outside the city, then it was about time to start thinking about an exit strategy. Sure, he was a criminal, and Roman would never truly give up the game, but while he wanted to sheer the sheep, Cinder seemed hell-bent on skinning it. That just wouldn't do.

No, that wouldn't do at all. Which lead to the second reason Roman found himself putting twice the effort into this job. He needed to confirm whatever the fuck was going on with his head. Ever since he was struck with his first vision, they just kept coming. Premonitions, he was calling them.

Or, would call them, once he confirmed that it wasn't all a load of horse shit.

Roman studied the time-table Neo had compiled regarding the security the docks had, and his own research into what time the dust would most likely arrive. He wanted to hit after the dust had arrived and passed through customs, but before anyone arrived to showed up to cart any off. Normally, without knowing precisely what day that would be, this would be difficult. But with his preternatural premonition, he had a pretty good idea of when he was "supposed" to strike.

As he was pouring over those details, Neo silently walked in. Roman had long grown used to her silent presence, and looked up as she came to his side. She placed a hand on the giant X that was marked on the map of the docks and shook her head.

"Yeah, I get it, you don't want me to go. Look- I know it's a trap, they don't know that I know it's a trap, and this is our best shot at figuring out if what I've learned is real or just a spree of insanely vivid hallucinations."

Neo frowned and crossed her arms. She used her semblance to transform the X on the map into a miniature portrait of Roman in jail.

"That's why I'm bringing you with me. Just in case this is some massive setup, you're my get out of jail free card." Neo wouldn't be the only trick up his sleeve though. Roman stepped away from the maps. "You're right to be worried that I've lost my edge. This is a risk, and normally isn't one I wouldn't even think about taking. But—if what I'm seeing is true, then you and I have far bigger problems than ending up behind bars."

Left unsaid was the fact that Roman wouldn't even consider this without Neo. His partner would be there to watch his back, while he figured out how to get them both out of all of this. He could count on her, just like she could count on him to have their best interests at heart.

Neo gave an exaggerated sigh and a roll of her eyes, then let the map flicker again to Roman holding bags of money in both hands. That was more like it. In for a penny, in for a pound.

---

Ruby awoke with a start. She sat up and it took more than a few quick breaths to get her breathing back under control. The dorm room was still pitch black. The nightmares were nothing new, they plagued her ever since Beacon fell.

Ruby wondered if they would go away once she and Jaune stopped that from happening.

Looking around, Ruby threw off her covers and let her legs dangle over the edge of her bunk. Below, Weiss was still fast asleep, and Ruby wanted to keep it that way. She edged her way down, careful not to make too much noise. Unfortunately, she misjudged the last little drop, and quickly used her semblance to land gracefully with a little whoosh.

Ruby winced at the sound, but a quick glance reaffirmed that her teammates were still blissfully asleep. She quietly opened the door, and slipped out of the room.

Once outside, Ruby let her mind wander while she walked aimlessly around campus. Her and Jaune's plan was coming along, besides a few minor hiccups. He had come to her a few days ago and told her that Pyrrha had at least partially figured out their secret, or at least determined that she and Jaune had a shared past.

Ruby was more worried about what that would do to Jaune then what it would do to their secret. When Jaune proposed telling her more about them, she readily agreed. He had promised his partner that he would tell her more, and Pyrrha was only going to tolerate being in the dark for so long.

Ruby had offered to be there when they talked, so that Pyrrha knew he was telling the truth, but he had declined. "She's my partner. I owe it to her." Jaune had said. They discussed what he could even tell her. It wasn't that they wanted to keep things secret, it would be best for everyone if eventually everyone knew, so they could fight against Salem together. But for now, Salem was one of the things they decided against revealing to Pyrrha. Well, they didn't decide it so much as Jaune did, and Ruby agreed with him.

Pyrrha's head was already going to be spinning after that conversation, and they were trying to make her understand, not scare her off.

Ruby's thoughts naturally turned to her own former partner. What would Weiss think if Ruby had told her of all the adventures they went on together, all the tragedy they had lived through? Would she still be willing to follow Ruby after hearing how she had failed? Would any of them?

Ruby exhaled loudly as she took a seat on the cliffs that overlooked the emerald forest. She had wondered over to the edge of campus, then past it in her absentmindedness. Thinking was always easier when moving around. She leaned back and rested her elbows on the ground. The wind whipped through the trees, and Ruby enjoyed the early rays of the sun peaking above the horizon.

It was so serene. Would she ever get over the novelty of being able to just… walk around Vale, freely again? Probably not.

"It's a beautiful sunrise." A voice behind her made her turn her head. She had half hoped to find Weiss, like she had so many nights down in the void, when the nightmares only became worse and threatened to overwhelm her. Instead, she was greeted with her partner smiling down at her. Her bow conspicuously absent.

"Your bow…" Ruby trailed off. Blake smiled softly and took a seat next to Ruby.

"There's no one else around to see. I don't mind if it's just us." Ruby nodded and a comfortable silence descended as both of them watching the sunrise together.

Ruby didn't know what to make of the fact that Blake was so open with her. She considered confiding in her partner more than once while she and Jaune discussed what to tell Pyrrha. She knew Blake had her own history with the White Fang. What she wouldn't give to have that perspective now.

"I get them too, sometimes." Blake kept staring at the horizon as she addressed Ruby. "Nightmares, I mean." So Ruby had woken her up. Darn those amazing faunus senses!

"I didn't mean to wake you up." Ruby picked at the ground between them. Blake scooted a bit closer.

"I'm glad you did. It's easier to bear these things with someone at your side."

"And what about you?" Ruby asked. It wasn't fair, but she couldn't help but ruminate on Blake's past before Beacon. She had seen things that would haunt her even before she ever arrived, before any of this. Maybe that was why they had connected as partners so easily.

Her ears folded in on themselves. "I used to have someone like that. Before coming here."

"What happened to them?" Ruby knew a little about her partners past, but it was really her sister that Blake had opened up to. Still, Ruby could guess that Blake was talking about Ilia. Ruby had met the girl after they saved Haven, she was one of friends Blake had been forced to abandon when she fled from Adam.

Blake sighed. "I don't know. I… left. I still think about her every day. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get back to her." Boy did Ruby know how that felt. Blake turned to look more deliberately at her partner. "She'd be happy though, to know that we're friends."

Ilia would be happy they were friends? Well, I guess she would be happy that Blake had made another friend? That didn't really sound like Ilia based on what she had heard from Blake, but she supposed that her partner knew the girl a lot better than she did.

"I'm glad were friends too." Ruby reached out and touched her partners hand. Blake smiled and intertwined their fingers together. The pair sat in silence until the sun had reached the halfway point in its rise, creating a beautiful skyscape.

"Do you want to head back?" Blake asked. Ruby shook her head. Going back there meant getting back to her endless quest. Back to training and homework and trying to figure out how to prevent the end of the world. It wouldn't hurt anything to stay here for a few more minutes.

"Can we… stay, a bit longer?" Her partner smiled back at her.

"Of course we can." She said softly. Ruby scooted in close, and after a moment's hesitation laid her head on Blake's shoulder. Blake wrapped and arm around her waist, and together the pair enjoyed watching the day break.

---

Jaune pushed open the door to JNPR's favorite training room. He expected to be the first one there, as usual, but was surprised when he found Nora of all people already pumping iron.

"Jaune!!" Nora yelled and dropped her weight to the ground with a loud thud that made Jaune wince.

"Hey Nora… you're up early…?"

"You bet I am! It's semblance day! Now that I know what you can do, I gotta see what we can do with it!! I bet I could lift all of you at once! Oh!! Can we do that?? Can you use your semblance on me while I put you all on my shoulders?? Can we, can we, can we??"

Jaune wasn't prepared for Nora's rapid fire questions this early in the morning.

"Uhh… I don't think it really works that way Nora…" He kind of doubted that his semblance could make Nora any stronger than she was already, but Nora pouted at the response. "I mean, sure, we can try." She perked up and clapped giddily.

This… may have been a mistake, Jaune thought as he wondered what other stuff Nora had thought up to do with his semblance. Still, he went through his usual warm-up routine.

Pyrrha walked in when he was halfway through the fifth set. Suddenly Jaune felt almost self-conscious, he was doing her exercises after all and now she knew it. As if sensing his discomfort, his partner walked over and waited politely for him to finish. Of course, that only had the effect of making Jaune more self-conscious, and after a few more repetitions he gave up.

"I didn't mean to interrupt." Pyrrha said in an overly formal and polite voice.

"You're not interrupting; I was just about finished." Jaune responded in an equally stiff voice. The fib wasn't very effective when Pyrrha knew what order they both did their exercises. The two of them stared at each other awkwardly for a few moments before they both tried to speak at once.

"I- um,"

"Pyrrha, I-"

"Oh, go ahead."

"No, no, you first."

"No really, Jaune, please."

"It's really okay, you should go first."

Pyrrha gave a little half smile. "Well, I was wondering if you wanted me to walk through my warm-up exercises with you. In case you're ready to…" Pyrrha chose her next words carefully. "Move forward."

Jaune instinctively gripped his sword. "I—I don't think I'm ready for that yet." He willed himself to relax as much as he could, or at least to unclench his sword. "But… if that offer still stands when I am, I'd really like to do that. Is that, okay?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Of course." Jaune sighed in relief. "What did you want to say?"

"Right! I was going to ask if you were free tomorrow night." Pyrrha stared at Jaune before her cheeks pinked. "Wait no, nothing like that!!" Jaune quickly added as it was his turn to blush. He dropped his voice to a whisper. "I just- wanted to ask if you had time for us to talk, about- you know."

"Oh! Of course. I will look forward to it." Phew, that was a relief. Jaune had been worried that Pyrrha would push him away after getting a glimpse at how messed up he was.

"Great!" Jaune said. He would still need to figure out just how much he was going to tell his partner, but a deadline gave him something to focus on. Still, with that out of the way, and Ren having arrived, there was nothing else left to distract him from the fact that Nora was gonna use him like a test dummy for the entire training session.

"Alright Nora, let's hear what you've got in mind." He said. Nora let out a happy squeal and Jaune prepared himself for whatever crazy schemes she had concocted.

---

"What do you think they would like more, kale or dandelion greens?" Yang held the two bunches of greens in her hands as she considered them. Ruby recoiled at the sight of them.

"Neither, Yang! No one likes them except for you!!"

"What?? But you love it when I put dandelion greens in our smoothies!" Ruby had actually forgotten that, yes, Yang had convinced her to eat dandelion greens back when they used to make smoothies after training in their backyard.

"Do you really think you're going to be able to convince Nora to eat leafy greens?" Ruby asked. Yang shook her head solemnly.

"You're right. She's definitely a raw vegetable girl. I'll grab the carrots!"

"Yannngggg," Ruby whined. They were supposed to be buying snacks for tonight's board game session, but if Yang got her way, all they would have were spinach, kale, and lettuce. Yuck. No, Ruby was determined to save the night by getting proper snacks!

She picked up a couple of vegetable dips. If Yang wasn't going to give up on her beloved healthy super-foods, at least they could be palatable. Meanwhile, Ruby was going to buy every form of junk food she could find. Cookies, chips, cakes, … other delicious things that start with C! C-Crème Brule…? Could she even buy that here?

Ruby contemplated what other delectable delights she could find here as Yang perused a wide selection of mushrooms. (Who knew there were so many varieties??)

"So…" Yang used her casual voice, only reserved for when she was seriously trying to look like she wasn't serious. "What's up with you and Jaune?"

"Me and Jaune?" Ruby scrunched up her nose. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're spending a lot of time with him, sis. More than your team sometimes. Not that you're neglecting us!" Yang rushed to correct herself. She picked up a container of mushrooms and pretended to inspect them. … Or maybe she was really inspecting them, but weren't all mushrooms the same? "You can tell me if something's happening between you guys, if you want."

"Oh- no, there's nothing going on there! We're just, really good friends!" Yang turned over the carton in her hand before setting it down.

"Yeah… friends. You've been really good friends with him ever since you met him."

"What're you getting at…?" Ruby asked her sister. Yang sighed and turned to face her sister.

"Be honest, do you have a crush on him?" Yang asked matter-of-factly. Ruby knew she shouldn't, but she could help but burst out laughing.

"On Jaune?? No way!! He's like—" Ruby almost said 'like a brother' to me before realizing that Yang probably wouldn't like that. "He's just a friend, and a really good guy. But no, Yang, I don't have a crush on him."

"Cool, cool." Yang was terrible at trying to be casual, and Ruby could tell she was relieved that her baby sister wasn't having her first crush yet. "He is the reason you've gotten way better though, right?"

"Wha huh?" Ruby was totally caught off guard by the question.

"You guys are training together, right? That's how you've grown so much? He's real disciplined, and ever since we got to Beacon, you've really buckled down and worked hard. That's how you've gotten so much better than your big sis, huh?"

Yang thought that Jaune was training her?? If Jaune could see her thoughts right now he might've felt insulted. Still, it was the perfect excuse to use to explain how she had gotten so much better so quickly. Plus, Yang already believed it.

Ruby considered the option for all of about two seconds before dismissing it. She wasn't going to lie to her sister. "I just decided to start taking this all seriously." Ruby said with a wave of her hand. Yang nearly rolled her eyes, the same way Weiss definitely would have.

"Please, you've always taken this seriously." A carefully inspected carton of mushrooms joined the kale and carrots in the grocery basket before they moved onto fruit. "At least tell me you're doing extra training or something with Blake. There's no way you guys are naturally that coordinated."

Ruby let out a whine. Really? This too?? Ruby assured her sister once again that no, nothing was going on there either.

"Okay, okay, I believe you." Yang laughed lightly and shook Ruby off her arm, which she had grabbed trying to convince Yang that there was nothing going on. "Weiss swears by it though. I probably wouldn't even have noticed if she didn't keep going on about it."

At the mention of her ex-partner's name Ruby felt a wave of guilt. In her haste to get everything back on track, she barely had the time to even interact with Weiss. "Speaking of… how is Weiss?" Yang gave Ruby a perplexed look. "As- as team leader I should keep track of how all my teammates are doing, and as my second in command, I demand to hear your report!" Ruby summoned all the bravado she could muster.

Yang snorted. "You sure that Blake's not your second in command?" Ruby's bravado crumbled.

"Yannggg!!!"

"Kidding, kidding! Weiss is doing alright. She's going through something, but we're getting to the bottom of it." That peaked Ruby's interest.

"Going through something? What is it?"

Yang shrugged. "No clue. She hasn't told me yet, but she will."

"Then how do you know that something's wrong?"

Yang brought two fingers to her temple and tapped it. "Instinct. Same way I know something's going on with you."

Ruby sighed in exasperation. "I told you there's nothing-"

"I know, I know. It wasn't what I was guessing, but I can still tell. You don't have to tell me what it is if you don't want to. If these last couple months have shown me anything, they've shown me that you've grown up a bit. I trust you, and I trust you'll come to me when you're ready."

Ruby was kind of surprised. Yang had always been protective of her, but here she was willing to give Ruby her own space. She really appreciated that Yang was being so understanding.

"And when you realize that what's going on is the fact that you've got a crush on your partner, I'll be here to offer advice on how to get the girl too!"

Anndddd the moment was gone.

"Yang!!" Ruby banged her fists on Yang's arm.

"Ow! Ruby, I didn't mean it!!" She said in between fits of laughter. Ruby pouted and tried to turn it around on her sister.

"Oh yeah- well, what about you and Weiss!" Yang stopped laughing immediately and almost looked sheepish. In that moment, Ruby knew she had struck something. "Oh my gods, you're actually considering it, aren't you??"

"I don't know yet! She's… I want to know her better first, okay? There's this whole side of her that she's keeping from everyone, and I feel like I'm so close to it. I think I can draw it out of her."

Suddenly, Ruby felt the overwhelming need to sit down. This was all wrong. She gripped the edge of the display case in front of her.

"Woah, Rubes are you okay??" Yang asked, worried.

"I—I'm gonna go find some more snacks!" Ruby rushed off, turning a corner and fleeing until she was out of her sister's sight and down another aisle. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she was breathing way too fast. Get ahold of yourself, Ruby. A few deep breaths later and she got to picking out some candy so she didn't at least return empty-handed.

What had she expected with her team though? She had barely paid any attention to Weiss, and now she and Yang were getting closer. But Yang was supposed to be with Blake! Ruby had seen first-hand how happy they made each other. Was she responsible for ruining that?? Had she caused this??

Of course she had! It was either her or Jaune, and Jaune wasn't the one meddling in team RWBY's love life!!

Okay, she just needed to make this right. She could get them together still. It wasn't like Weiss and Yang were dating or anything. Yeah, she could fix this! Ruby convinced herself and calmed down. Once she was sure she was okay, Ruby exited the little closet and found her way back to Yang.

"Geez, Ruby. What was that all about?"

Ruby gave an awkward chuckle. "Sorry, just- remembered something I wanted!"

Yang shook her head. "You're such a spaz."

They completed their grocery shopping in peace as Ruby plotted how she was going to get her best friend and her sister together again.

Notes:

Chapter 6!

I couldn't think of a good chapter summary for this one, sorry. Speaking of, do you guys like chapter summaries or is it better to not have any? I just started putting them in cause there's a box labeled "chapter summary" that I thought would look nice with some text in it.

Anywho, shorter chapter after last weeks really long one. The fic from here to the docks fight it mapped out scene by scene, along with a couple afterwards that will wrap up the first little arc (in a way), which makes sense since were hitting the end of volume 1 at that point. That'll be up to chapter 9 (current plan at least). I anticipate covering volume 2 will be longer, with the goal of wrapping it up by around chapter 20, with the amount of content I have planned. That's just a guesstimate though, and I will take as long or as short as the story needs to get us there.

Thoughts, theories, and comments are always appreciated (whether it's been 2 days since publishing or 2 months). They help me make the best story I can for you guys!