78

Chapter 78: Quoth

Bzzt...

Ruby's eyes snapped open, darkness greeting her. She fumbled blindly for a moment for her PJ's pants pocket, her fingers finally closing around her scroll to stop its buzzing.

A grunt behind her made her freeze.

Ruby stayed perfectly still, now aware of the arm hanging over her middle, holding her close. She could feel Blake's breath against her neck as the Faunus mumbled in her sleep. Seconds felt like an eternity as she waited to see what Blake would do.

To her relief, she felt Blake's breathing even out quickly, the arm around her going loose. A low purr soon filled the room.

Ruby let out a breath, allowing herself to just lay there a moment, listening to Blake's purrs and Yang's soft snores coming from the opposite side of the bed. Just to be sure, she closed her eyes and stretched out her senses.

The Void was growing more familiar the more she looked into it. Tilting her head to the right, she peered back at the muted violet and yellow forms behind her, confirming that her bedmates were truly asleep.

Before she opened her eyes, her attention was drawn to the only other source of light in the Void, little more than a dim white speck far off in the distance several floors and buildings away.

Ruby's face pinched, the corners of her eyes tingling the longer she looked. Despite the feelings of Calm and Contentedness around her, even from the slumbering white light in the distance, all she could feel was the growing pit gnawing at her stomach. She gave her head a small shake, her eyes opening as she blinked back the tears.

She lay for only a moment more, feeling Blake's heartbeat against her back, before slowly lifting her arm. She reached behind her head, ghosting her hand across Blake's cheek until it was right behind the Faunus's human ear. She pressed her fingers against soft skin, scratching gently with her nails.

The response was near-instant, Blake's back tensing as her purring hitched. Her arm lifted just enough for Ruby to roll out of her grasp, rushing to her knees to kneel on the oversized bed. She quickly grabbed her pillow, planning to put it in Blake's arms in her place, only to watch as the cat-girl rolled over in her sleep, instead draping it over Yang's snoring form, her purrs unbroken.

Ruby's shoulders fell in relief, setting her pillow down at her side. She watched as Blake got comfortable laying against Yang, curling up against the blonde's side to use her chest as a pillow. Yang took no notice, laying on her back with her arms up haphazardly, practically taking up the space of two people all on her own.

A smile slowly formed on Ruby's lips at the sight. For a fleeting moment, she considered just laying back down, wrapping her arms around Blake and going back to sleep. Her brow pinched as reality slammed back into her, and she took a determined breath. She crawled out of bed, careful not to jostle the slumbering partners. She tiptoed quickly across the carpet, snagging her cloak off the back of the desk chair as she passed it. She wrapped it over her shoulders and put her hood up once she'd reached the door.

"...arr?"

Ruby froze, eyes darting towards the high-pitch yawn from across the opposite side of the room.

Zwei stared back at her, poking his head out of the blanket-cocoon he'd made for himself atop Blake's old bed. (Which he seemed to have claimed as his own when he realized the Faunus no longer slept in it, much to Blake's ire.) The corgi tilted his head curiously, letting out a light yip.

Ruby flinched, looking back towards her sleeping team. She cringed when she saw Blake's ear flick at the sound, thanking everything that she and Yang stayed asleep. She turned back towards Zwei, putting a finger to her mouth as she shushed silently.

Zwei blinked at her, tilting his head to the other side.

Out of desperation, Ruby put her hands together like a prayer, pleading with her eyes for the Corgi to go back to sleep.

Zwei stared back for an endless moment, before opening his mouth for another yawn. He put his head down, curling back into the covers, losing interest in his human as she continuously did nothing.

Ruby nearly collapsed in relief. Still, her eyes never left Zwei as she tiptoed fully up to the door. She eased it open slowly, thankful that the hinges did not squeak. She glanced up and down the hall, finding it expectantly empty. With a final look back at Yang and Blake's sleeping forms, she slipped out the door, holding her breath as it closed behind her, gently twisting the doorknob as she did to keep it from clicking. When a cursory look through the Link showed her teammates within were still fast asleep, she let out the breath she'd been holding, then took off down the hall at a brisk pace.

A few twists and turns down the darkened halls later took her to the stairwell. Just as she was a few steps away from the door, however, it started to open all on its own, voices coming from behind it. Ruby tensed, looking around franticly, before ducking down the hallway just behind her. She ran down its length and around another corner, peering around it. To her surprise, it was Jaune and Pyrrha walking back up the way she'd come, speaking in low tones.

Unable to beat back her curiosity, Ruby rushed back up the hall once they'd passed by, trying to stealthily watch them go. The two walked close, almost shoulder to shoulder. Ruby rose a brow when their hands accidentally brushed, causing the two to look at each other, startled. Their faces tinted red, Jaune looking embarrassed and Pyrrha… hopeful?

…

…

Ruby's brow shot high, practically feeling the lightbulb go off in her head. Her mouth opened slightly, having to hold back from vocalizing her realization.

After a moment, Jaune and Pyrrha shared an awkward laugh before apologizing and looking away from each other, Pyrrha putting a hand on her forearm as the two continued walking. Before they were out of sight, Ruby saw Jaune glance back at Pyrrha, his shoulders slumping as he shook his head.

Once they'd left, Ruby remained where she was, letting this new information wash over her. She pulled out her scroll, typing out a quick note to herself for later, saving it amongst the tutoring notes Weiss had given her to make sure she would remember.

After she saved the note, she hummed faintly to herself, the brief distraction fading away as she reminded herself why she was standing there in the first place and headed back to the stairway.

She winced as her bare feet left the carpeting in place of cold linoleum. Once the door had closed behind her, she shot up the stairway in a flurry of rose-petals, climbing the seven floors in a matter of seconds to the roof access. The door needed a good amount of force to open, thanks to the newly acquired human-shaped dent buckling it inwards.

Ruby shivered as she stepped out into the night air, pulling her cloak tighter around herself as the wind whipped about. Her eyes drifted instinctually towards the edge of the roof, where she and Yang had sat with Raven… Dust, was it really only two weeks ago? She moved to the spot without thinking, her eyes rising towards the city lights, merging with the stars reflecting off the ocean, Atlassian cruisers drifting lazily above the skyline.

Movement down below drew her attention. A group of at least eight people was making their way through the courtyard. It was too dark to make them all out, but there was no mistaking the stark white of Roman's suit and Ironwood's uniform shimmering in the lamplight. Before she could question what they were doing together so late at night, and with such a large group of people, they turned the corner and disappeared into the school grounds.

Ruby contemplated the group for a moment, before shaking her head. If it was important, she'd likely know about it soon enough anyway.

She had something more important to focus on.

Tearing her gaze away from the courtyard, Ruby rubbed her arms as she stepped further out onto the roof, where she'd have the most room.

She knew she'd need it.

Pulling her hood down, Ruby took a steadying breath. She raised her hands, curling her fingers. Red light enveloped her hands.

"Start small…" she murmured to herself as she arranged her fingers, turning her palms up.

Twin circles of red light shimmered into existence above her hands, a crimson snowflake spinning lazily at their centers. Keeping her breath steady, she curled her fingers slowly. The glyphs shrank down until they were the size of a small coin, the speed of the snowflake's rotation increasing with the loss of size. Ruby reversed the motion and the glyphs grew, to as large as her hand, then plate-sized. They grew larger still, until the two glyphs overlapped, merging into one as Ruby lifted her hands over her head.

Ruby stared up at the stars through her glyph, mesmerized for a moment by the red-tinted sky. Slowly, she lowered her hands, keeping them locked in the needed signs. She took a step back, leaving the glyph to hang in the air on its own.

"Okay…" she murmured, breath hitching from the cold. "Now…" Ruby let one hand relax, holding the other out towards the glyph. With a motion of her fingers, the glyph started to turn on its edge, its flat side going vertical. Another change of the hand size, the glyph changed, the snowflake shifting to a more intricate design, spinning wildly. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a Lien coin and tossed it at the glyph. The moment the coin touched the glyph, it was enveloped by a red glow, before being launched away at high speed.

Ruby watched as the coin flew into the distance, becoming just a pinprick before vanishing into the Emerald Forest. Nodding to herself, she let her arm fall limp, the velocity glyph fading away.

"Alright..." Ruby rubbed her arms in a vain attempt to warm herself, pulling her cloak closed for the moment. "Think, Ruby. Think." She closed her eyes, remembering…

"Do you think I could try?"

Weiss blinked in surprise, letting her half-formed glyph fade away before she fully committed to the action. She looked up at Ruby, perplexed. "Try… what?"

Ruby giggled at her expression. "What do you think?" She gestured out at the floor in front of them, a few fading wisps of white light still visible from the glyph.

Weiss's eyes darted to the dying lights, before letting out a groan. "No, Ruby."

"Aww…" Ruby slumped, pouting. "Why?"

"Because, Ruby, you only just started figuring out how basic barriers work. If you jump to anything else, you would just hurt yourself."

Ruby's pout morphed into a frown. "You don't know that."

Weiss side-eyed her. "Considering how much I've hurt myself over the years, yes, I do." Her hands glowed as she created another glyph on the ground. They watched as something moved and shifted within the spinning snowflake, its surface bulging slightly. Weiss felt her hopes rise minutely, only to fall to familiar disappointment as the glyph shattered, again. "Dammit. I'm never going to get this right."

"That's why I think you should let me try."

Weiss huffed, realizing that Ruby wasn't going to let this go. Resigning herself, she turned to her partner. "You're going to have to explain that one, Ruby."

Having been given the barest hint of acceptance, Ruby's face lit up. "I just thought that… well, you've been trying to figure out summoning glyphs for a while now, right?"

Crossing her arms, Weiss frowned. "Obviously."

Ruby ducked her head sheepishly. "Well, I just thought that... maybe you've been trying so long that you've kinda… burnt your thoughts out on it. Maybe if someone else tried doing it, a fresh set of eyes could see something you're missing."

Weiss's face softened out of the slight scowl Ruby's words had put on it. "Look at it from a different angle, you mean?" At Ruby's excited nodding she hummed, before shaking her head. "I don't know if my Semblance works like that, Ruby."

Ruby, however, would not be deterred. "It could, though! I mean, mine does!"

Weiss blinked. "What?"

"Yeah! After using my Semblance, Yang came up with a whole bunch of new ideas for it that I've never thought of!"

A surprised look came over Weiss's face. This was the first she'd heard of this. "Such as?" she asked curiously.

"Like… what do you think would happen if I stayed in place, and spun my arms in front of me with superspeed?" To explain, she flailed her arms in front of herself in a vaguely circular motion.

Weiss had her 'you're acting-stupid-but-I-don't-want-to-hurt-your-feelings-by-saying-so' look. "You would… make your arms sore?"

Ruby rolled her eyes with an exaggerated groan, half expecting such a response. "Well, yeah, maybe. Or, if I do it right, I could make a mini-whirlwind that I can aim."

Weiss rose a skeptical brow. "Does your Semblance even work like that?"

Ruby shrugged sheepishly. "I don't know. I never thought about trying. But Yang did! When she used my powers, she thought about using them in ways I never had. If Yang could do that with my Semblance, why can't I maybe do it with yours?"

Weiss crossed her arms, giving Ruby a calculating look. "Ruby…"

Ruby groaned, recognizing Weiss's 'gentle-let-down' voice. "Weiss, what's the worst that could happen?"

"It doesn't work and you get hurt." She then leveled Ruby with a more serious look. "Or worse, it only works halfway, you lose control of it, and all of us could get hurt."

Ruby pouted, hating that Weiss might have a good point. "C'mon, Weiss, just once? It probably won't work anyway, and we have plenty of backup in here if it goes wrong." She gestured out towards where Blake and Penny were sparring, then to Yang and Winter chatting quietly across the warehouse. She put her hands together holding them just under her chin in what she knew was a cute pose. "And just think about if I do think of something you haven't. What could go wrong?"

"A lot," Weiss frowned, unimpressed.

Ruby just pressed her hands tighter together, willing her eyes to grow bigger. "Pleeease?"

Weiss winced slightly as she stared down the full force of Ruby's puppy-dog eyes. She made it almost fifteen seconds before rolling her eyes skyward, groaning. "Oh, Winter's going to be so mad at me."

"Yay!" Ruby cheered, instantly gathering Weiss in a hug. "Thank you, Weiss!" She jumped back in a rush, holding her hands out in excitement. "Okay, what do I do?"

Weiss, slightly stunned by the sudden and brief bearhug, shook herself before gathering Ruby's hands in her own, unable to keep a fond smile off her lips at the girl's eagerness. "First, calm down. Getting too excited will not help you at all. And it's going to take more than just proper gestures. It's mostly all mental."

Ruby frowned slightly. "How do you mean?"

"Well…"

Ruby sucked in a deep breath, a cloud of steam leaving her mouth as she exhaled. With a determined look, she lifted both arms. Red enveloped her hands as she bent her fingers.

"First," she muttered under her breath. "Picture it in your mind."

A glyph formed a little ways away from her, small at first, but growing slowly as Ruby's fingers twitched.

"It's every feature."

Ruby moved her arms apart, the motions slow and exaggerated. The glyph expanded as her arms moved until it nearly took up the width of the building. Ruby could feel her hands vibrating, not too dissimilar from how her own Semblance felt as the glow built. An outline started to take shape within the glyph, wide and curved.

Ruby's heart rate picked up the longer the glyph spun, every second of its existence a miracle to her. She continued, her voice gaining strength. "Every detail exactly as it was when you saw it."

The outline started to sharpen, the vague curves starting to thin, the edges sharpening. As the glyph spun faster, the outline began to take shape. Wide wings, a sharp beak, several glowing silver eyes…

Ruby now swallowed down her growing nerves. This was the hard part.

"Recall the memory of when you defeated it."

She thought back. The wind whistling past her ears. The pounding of her heart as she soared. The shrieking roar of shock and anger as she brought Crescent Rose down, the scythe's blade glinting in the sunlight...

Ruby opened her eyes, not having realized she'd closed them. There it was. A great winged creature within the glyph, staring at her as it stayed beneath the snowflake, like a whale waiting to breach the ocean's surface.

Her hands hurt so much.

Ruby grit her teeth, fighting against the trembling in her arms. "Bring that moment forward." She lifted her arms higher, the glyph shining its brightest. "Pull it straight out of your memory and-"

Two things happened at once: The Nevermore surged forward with a great flap of its wings, its beak pointed towards the sky as it soared halfway out of the glyph…

And the light enveloping Ruby's hands erupted into a cascade of sparks, her arms blown apart in a clap of thunder.

The sudden implosion in between her hands knocked Ruby to the ground, forcing her to look up as the glyph failed. The glowing circle shattered into a million shimmering shards, electricity darting between them as they vanished. The Nevermore let out an almost mournful cry as it faded into the ether.

"No…" Ruby whimpered as she watched the Nevermore vanish, nothing more than red wisps in the wind. Without the light from her glyph, she once again found herself in darkness. The silence of Beacon's night was deafening, save for the faint whistle of the wind blowing between the buildings.

Ruby stared at the empty space for a moment, her eyes darting around in disbelief. Once it was clear what she was seeing wasn't going to change, she closed her eyes, putting her head in her hands. "I was so close that time," she whimpered to herself. "I… I had it! I…" A great heave of air burst from her lips, shaking her whole body as it tore its way from her chest. Wetness trailed down her face as she hugged herself, tears coming freely as she felt the pressure building in her chest.

What did I do wrong? she thought desperately. I did everything right… didn't I? So why didn't it work? I… I have to make this work. If I don't, then…

Flashing steel. Rose petals in the air. Taurus's mad laughter. The numb horror on Weiss's face.

Then Weiss… I can't… I can't let that happen again. We have to get stronger. I have to get stronger. Otherwise, next time… next time…

"So this is where you snuck off to."

Ruby's head shot up when warm, strong arms wound their way around her shoulders, her heart leaping to her throat.

"Easy, Sis," was whispered gently in her ear as she was pulled into someone's lap. "It's just us."

"Yang?" Ruby turned her head, finding her sister's face close to her, a sad smile on her lips. A second person sat down next to them, sporting the same kind, worried look. "Blake? What…" She jumped when she felt cold paws on her legs, finding Zwei leaning against her, his head tilted in concern. Out of habit, she picked him up and put the corgi in her lap, letting him snuggle into her cloak. A blink spilled more tears, making Ruby rub frantically at her eyes in the vain hope her team hadn't noticed them. "W-what are you doing here?"

The squeeze Yang gave her was proof enough that she had failed (again), and Ruby registered that they were both still in their PJs. (Blake must be freezing, she thought randomly when she saw Blake's thin sleep robe.) "Zwei woke us up. He started barking when he heard Jaune beating on his dorm door. I guess Nora locked him and Pyhhra out." She gave a small snort of amusement before her eyes grew more serious. "When we saw you weren't in bed, we went looking for you."

"We thought that you snuck off to see Weiss," Blake continued, her cat ears lowered. "But then we realized you were up here, Feeling..." She trailed off uncertainly, not sure how to sum up the typhoon of Torment that had been pouring off her youngest Mate. "Ruby, what are you doing up here?"

Ruby swallowed. She'd been hoping to keep this a secret. "How much did you two see?" she asked nervously.

Blake and Yang shared a look. "Uh, most of your little light show there, Rubes. At least since you made that big one."

...they were there that long? Ruby thought absently, "I didn't notice…" she muttered, her cheeks tinting in embarrassment.

Yang chuckled lightly. "You looked pretty focused, Sis, so we kept quiet." Her smile faded a bit taking an exaggerated breath. "So… wanna tell us why you snuck out to try and summon an overgrown chicken?"

Ruby grimaced, hanging her head. "Not… really."

Blake frowned, shuffling over to lean against her side. "Ruby…"

Concern. Support. Care. Worry.

A low whine built in Ruby's throat, hugging Zwei against herself. "It's embarrassing."

Yang shot her a bemused grin. "Rubes, you almost summoned one of the biggest Grimm out there. I'd love to hear what embarrassing thing led you to do something so awesome."

"It wasn't awesome," Ruby quickly fired back, pouting. "It didn't work."

Yang blinked, then rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Okay, something fifty-percent awesome then. C'mon, Sis, spill."

Ruby stayed quiet, not wanting to voice her thoughts. But between Blake's Concern and Yang's Support, she felt her meager resolve quickly crumble.

Besides, the warm but firm hold Yang had around her waist made it clear her big sister would be keeping her there until she got an answer, as prior experience had taught her.

"I was trying to figure out why Weiss has so much trouble with summoning. I thought there might be something I'd see about it that she might have overlooked."

Yang nodded slowly. "Okay… that's really cool of you. Mind explaining why you needed to sneak out to do that?"

Ruby's lips thinned. "I wanted to surprise Weiss," she reluctantly admitted, not looking at her teammates. "To… make it up to her."

Blake frowned. "For what?"

"For… y' know." She dipped her head down further, her voice lowering to a mournful whisper. "Getting her hurt."

Blake and Yang's eyes blew wide, both confused until a look of realization washed over them. Another look passed between the bumblebee pair, this one filled with concern. "Ruby…" Blake droned apprehensively. "You know it's not your fault Weiss got hurt… right?"

Instantly, Ruby let out a loud groan. She knew they'd say that. "Yes, it is," she grumbled mournfully, her tone leaving little room to argue.

Not that Yang wasn't going to. "No, last I checked it was Taurus who was being psycho with a blade, not you."

Ruby did her best to scowl at her big sister, twisting around in her lap, making Zwei squirm in her grip. "He shouldn't have gotten that close to her in the first place." Her ire died quickly, eyes going sad again. "I should have stopped her."

Blake sighed, her ears pinning back fully. "Ruby, it was chaos down there. Adam… he got a lucky hit in." She grimaced at the memory, forcing it away to focus on Ruby. "It could have happened to any of us. It's not your fault."

"But it is!" Ruby burst out, spooking Zwei out of her lap. She struggled against Yang's grip until her sister loosened her grip, shooting to her feet and whirling around. She glared down at Yang and Blake's startled faces. "I could have stopped her! We could have stopped her! But… but we didn't." She wrapped her arms around herself, looking off to the side. "We screwed up."

The sound of the wind filled the air, awkward silence building between the three girls. Yang turned to Blake, sharing in her confusion as they Felt Ruby's Guilt and Failure wash over them. With a heavy sigh, Yang pushed herself to her feet, Blake following. "You're gonna have to explain that, Rubes," she said, crossing her arms. "Cause far as I remember, we were kicking Tarrus's ass up until he got lucky."

Ruby huffed. She worked her lips for a moment, before looking back up. "Remember our fight with Uncle Roman?"

Yang blinked. "Uh.. yeah, why-?" She cut herself off as Ruby's words registered. She gave Ruby a flat stare. "Rubes. You're already calling him 'Uncle?'"

Ruby's cheeks pinked, cringing a little. "I mean… he is Mom's brother. And he's been nice to us…" She shrugged sheepishly. "Kinda."

Yang fixed her with an unimpressed glower, before letting out a groan. "Ruby, I swear, sometimes you are just too…" She struggled for a moment, before just exasperatingly throwing her arms out towards her little sister. "You."

Ruby squinted at her, unsure whether to be insulted or not. The amused way Blake was smiling at them didn't help.

Yang sighed, before sobering. "Yeah, I remember that fight. Freeway chase, found out Penny was a robot. 'Uncle' Roman broke your leg," she ground out, glower returning.

Ruby cringed at the reminder but continued. "Do you remember how we fought him?"

Yang frowned, shrugging. "Yeah, I superspeed punched his mechs head right off its shoulders. That's how we figured out we had an Affinity."

To her surprise, Ruby shook her head. "That's how we beat him. How did we fight him?"

"Um…" Yang hesitated, not getting what Ruby was baiting for.

A sudden hiss from the side drew her attention to Blake. The Faunus's eyes were blown wide, shock on her face. Her brow pinched as she cringed, almost looking pained. At Yang's questioning eye, Blake groaned heavily. "Yang… Instinct Sharing."

Yang blinked. Then it hit her. Her head fell in her hands. "Oh...crap!"

Ruby nodded, not looking happy in the slightest. "Yeah. When we fought Roman, it was like we… could just tell what we wanted each other to do. When one needed to jump or attack or…"

"Dodge…" Blake murmured.

Ruby's face pinched. "Yeah. But when we fought Adam… we couldn't. The whole fight, it just… never happened."

Blake got a faraway look in her eye, playing back the fight in her head. "I… I didn't even think about it."

"Well, we didn't have much time to, did we?" A harsh scoff tore from Yang's throat as she ran her hands roughly through her hair, drawing the others' attention. "We were already trying to figure out our Affinity. Then me and Rubes found about our Moms, your folks showed up, the whole White Fang revenge thing kicked off. When the hell would we have thought about it?"

"It still should have happened." They looked to Ruby curiously, making the girl shrug. "I mean, we didn't think about it with Roman. It just… happened. So why didn't it with Adam?"

Yang rubbed the back of her neck, at a loss. When Blake could only give her an equally helpless look, the blonde shook her head. "Yeah, that… okay, that's something else to add to the pile." Letting out a slow breath, she pushed the thought away to focus on her sister. "Still, Rubes, that's… whatever that is, that's on all of us, not just you. It's not your fault we couldn't use some random power we got dropped on us."

To her dismay, Ruby's face just scrunched up in denial. "I'm Team Leader, Yang. I'm supposed to keep track of our abilities and skills so I can make the best call. If I'd thought of it earlier, we would have realized it wasn't working… or found a way to make it work." She hugged herself tighter, anger on her face as they felt her Self-Loathing. "But I didn't. And because of that, Weiss got hurt. It's my fault."

Yang's eyes narrowed at that, her fists clenching. In a move that surprised Blake, the blonde strode right up to Ruby and planted her hands on her younger sister's shoulders, making her look up at her.

A silent moment passed as Yang peered into Ruby's eyes, searching.

"...we're not changing your mind on this tonight, are we?"

Ruby just stared back at her, her silver eyes wide, watery, but defiant.

Yang sighed, the stiffness in her shoulders slumping away. With a sad frown, she wordlessly pulled Ruby into another hug. Ruby stiffened for a moment, before giving up and pressing her face into Yang's shoulder, letting her big sister rub her back soothingly.

Blake stood a little to the side, close enough to give comfort if need be but letting the sisters have their moment. She peered through the Void briefly to check on Weiss. Thankfully the heiress was still asleep. Blake didn't want to know how she'd react to Feeling the three of them up on the roof, especially with Ruby Feeling like this. A low keen at her heels made her look down, seeing Zwei sitting at her feet, staring up at his owners in worry.

A minute passed before Yang shivered. Without the talking to distract them, the cold of the night air was starting to creep in. Taking a steadying breath, she asked, "So… how exactly did thinking you got Weiss hurt lead you up here?"

She felt Ruby huff against her skin, pushing her way out of the hug. Yang let her go, seeing her sister only take a step away. "I just… there's nothing I can do to help her heal, but… you know me, I can't sit still. I had to do something."

"Okay…" Yang said slowly. "So why summoning?"

Ruby shrugged. "It's the thing Weiss struggles with the most. I thought maybe I could fix that." She hung her head again, grumbling, "For all the good it did."

Blake tilted her head a bit, her cat ears flicking in the wind. "Ruby… it looked like you almost had it. That's… really impressive for a first try."

At that, Ruby's head shot back up. A nervous look passed over her face before she looked away, her cheeks tinting. "Um… this wasn't my first try. Or second." Her cheeks reddened further, her voice growing quieter. "Or third."

Blake and Yang looked to each other in alarm. "Ruby…" Blake questioned carefully. "Have you been coming out here all week?"

Ruby's shoulders slumped, shaking her head in defeat. "Just since Tuesday. Remember, I went to see Weiss while you two were with Blake's parents? We were talking… well, I was talking. Weiss was kind of out of it. I was just telling her how our classes went, just getting into Combat Class and… Weiss just kind of said something."

Yang gave a light snort, grinning. "She's… been saying a few things, all hopped up on painkillers. Mind specifying?"

Ruby let out a breath. "She just kind of blurted out… that she doesn't like training. Which makes no sense, right?" Blake and Yang's confused looks echoed their agreement. "She loves Combat Class, making herself a better Huntress. But when I tried to say that to her, she talked over me, all mumbly. It took me a second to realize she was talking about…" She gestured vaguely at the roof, where her glyph had been. "This."

"Summoning," Blake said

"Yeah…" Ruby confirmed quietly, eyes on the ground. "She just kind of rambled about it for a minute, how frustrated she couldn't make it work, how she thought she never would.. a few other things…" The soft trailing off of Ruby's words was punctuated by the wave of Sympathy, Sadness, Helplessness the memory dredged up, prompting Yang to bring her into a side-hug. Ruby took a shuddering breath, shivering from the cold (it was just from the cold, she told herself) before finishing, "Then she just slipped off back to sleep."

"And that led to you sneaking up here at night?" Yang asked gently, trailing her hand up and down Ruby's arm in a soothing motion.

Ruby nodded. "I just thought… summoning gives Weiss so much trouble and she's making so little progress with it… but she's just been doing the same thing over and over again to make it work because that's what Winter always taught her, even though it wasn't working." Ruby gave a helpless shrug. "I thought... maybe I could try figuring out on my own, just from the basics Weiss told me. Maybe all it would take is looking at it with fresh eyes, maybe see it at a different angle or… something. I'd figure it out, then I could show Weiss so she could finally do it and not have to worry about it anymore, and she'd be happier when she was recovering and… and…" Ruby trailed off, her voice starting to break.

Yang turned to meet Blake's eyes, the Faunus standing well within arm's reach. Getting a nod from the blonde Blake carefully wrapped her arms around Ruby's waist, tucking the back of the smaller girl's head under her chin. Feeling she already knew the answer, she softly asked. "And how's it been going?"

Ruby's face screwed up as she tried to hold everything in. But being surrounded by Blake and Yang's arms, she felt something crack in her chest

"I can't do it!" Ruby sobbed, the sudden shout making Blake and Zwei's ears pin back. "It feels like it should be so easy! I think it's so close, every time, and it just falls apart at the last second. I… I think I got farther than Weiss did, somehow, but…" She petered out quickly leaning back into Blake's embrace. "It always goes wrong at the end."

Yang hummed. She patted Ruby's arm absently as she thought. An idea brewed in her head, a likely silly one, but… well, since when did Yang care if she sounded a little silly.

She pulled away from Ruby and Blake, walking out to where Ruby's glyph had previously been. There was a light scorch mark burned into the concrete, likely from the rather violent way the glyph had failed. After looking the space over for a minute, she turned back to the pair, who were watching her curiously.

"So how do you do this?"

Ruby blinked. "Uh…" She pulled out of Blake's arms looking back at the Faunus nervously. "Yang, I haven't had a whole lot of luck. I don't know if you should…"

Yang put her hands up, fighting from rolling her eyes. "I'm not going to try it myself, Sis. I just want to know. Did Weiss give ya some kind of notes or … hell, I don't know, a checklist for how to pull it off?"

Ruby eyed her suspiciously like she expected. When Yang just raised an expectant brow at her, she gave in. "Well... kind of. Winter told Weiss this… mantra, I guess." At Yang's prodding nod, she explained. "It's like a list of steps you've got to go through in your head as you make the glyph. How to picture the thing you want to summon." She crossed her arms, grumbling in annoyance. "It's really not that hard… up to a point. Everything feels like its working… until I do something wrong. Then it just blows up in my face."

Blake put a hand to her chin, following Yang's lead. "How does this… mantra go?"

Ruby hummed, then recited, "Picture it in your mind. Every feature, every detail exactly as it was when you saw it. Recall the memory of when you defeated it. Pull it straight out of your memory and back into the waking world. Take that memory, and make it live again."

Yang cocked her head to the side. "That's it?"

Ruby shrugged. "I told you, it's not that hard… until it is," she muttered bitingly.

"Huh," Yang said, bemused. "So which part's giving you trouble?"

"Recall the memory of when you defeated it," Ruby threw her hands up in frustration. "Which makes no sense! I remember it perfectly! It's hard to forget."

"Hmm… yeah, that was a trip, wasn't it? Hell of a first day." Yang chuckled. "Feels like a lifetime ago."

"Maybe…" Blake said quietly, drawing their attention. The Faunus hummed to herself, then looked to Ruby. "What exactly are you remembering, Ruby?"

Ruby frowned at her. "Um… cutting off the Nevermore's head?"

Blake's eyes narrowed. "Is that all?"

Ruby's frown deepened. "What else is there?"

Blake sighed, giving her an exasperated but fond smile. "Ruby, that was the killing blow. What if you need the whole memory to make it work? The entire fight, start to finish."

Ruby blinked. "It… it can't be that simple…" She turned to Yang, almost hoping for her to agree. "Right?"

To her surprise, Yang snorted. "I dunno, Sis. Weiss has been having so much trouble with this, and that sounds exactly like something she would say right now."

It kind of annoyed Ruby that Yang was making sense.

Biting her lip, Ruby mulled over what they'd said. She looked to Yang, then Blake, then Zwei, who was sniffing at the burns where her glyph had been. She let out a long sigh. "I'm gonna be mad if all I was missing is that I wasn't thinking hard enough." She walked between them, out to the center of the roof.

"Ruby?" Blake questioned.

Ruby chewed on her bottom lip, glaring at the scorch marks. "I'm gonna try one more time… just to see."

Yang grinned at her sister's back. "Give it your best shot, Rubes." She clicked her tongue to call Zwei to her, the corgi running from where he was to where she and Blake had moved out of Ruby's way.

Ruby took a moment, listening to the wind whistling passed and the crickets chirping out in the forest. She slowly brought her arms up, curling her fingers.

"Okay… Picture it in your mind." She went through the now-familiar motions, saying the appropriate line with each one as her glyph formed and shifted. "Every feature, every detail exactly as it was when you saw it." She sighed as she reached her troubled place. She stared at the spinning glyph for a tense moment, before closing her eyes. "Recall the memory of when you defeated it."

Her mind instantly jumped to what it always had before, Crescent Rose sinking into the Nevermore's neck. She gave her head a small shake, forcing the image away. That was the end of the memory. She had to go back to the start of it, which… she supposed was when she was...

Being picked up by the Nevermore out of nowhere, Weiss hanging on next to her. Getting away from it, only for it to return later. The four of them leaping through debris as the Nevermore soared around them. Yang firing widely from that column, then leaping up to fire right into the Nevermore's mouth. She, Blake, and Weiss working together to launch Ruby right at the beast. Weiss's glyphs propelling her, the thrill of running straight up that cliffside, knowing they were watching…

Ruby's eyes opened wide.

That's right. Killing the Nevermore wasn't the only part of that memory. There was meeting Weiss and Blake for the first real-time. Having Yang, the big sister she'd always looked up to, look at her like an equal. Trusting them with her life. Having them trust her.

It was the first time they acted as a team.

"Oh…" she breathed softly. She looked down.

The glyph was spinning wildly. She could see the Nevermore within, staring up at her. It was just like all the other times…

Except her hands didn't hurt.

She took a shuddering breath. She looked over her shoulder, seeing Yang and Blake watching her in trepidation. She smiled at them. "I think I got it."

Yang's brow shot high, before beaming back. "Then do it, Sis!" Blake nodded her encouragement, even if she did watch the glyph with worry in her eyes.

Ruby turned back to the glyph, locking eyes with the Nevermore. "Okay… Pull it straight out of your memory…" She lifted her arms higher, shifting her fingers. "And back into the waking world."

The glyph spun faster and faster. The air shifted, and the glyph doubled itself. The Nevermore moved, as if preparing itself.

Ruby took a shaky breath, bringing her arms in. This is it. "Take that memory."

She threw her arms out wide.

"And make it live again!"

The second glyph rose from the first, keeping level as it rose into the air. As it did, the beak of the Nevermore broke through the first.

Yang and Blake watched in shock as the Nevermore rose out of the glyph like it was on an elevator. The massive Grimm kept its wings folded against its body, yet it still seemed larger than they remembered.

Once the Nevermore was fully out of the ground, both glyphs faded away. The only light now came from the Grimm itself, a deep glow that lit up the area around it. Unlike a true Grimm, Its body was a deep crimson color, which lightened to almost neon red at its edges. Its mask was such a light red it was almost pink, white markings swirling around four silver glowing eyes.

Yang let out a shout of excitement and pride. "Yes! Rubes, you did it!"

Blake let out a startled laugh, marveling at the creature. "Incredible… Good job, Ruby!"

Ruby stared up at the crimson Grimm in awe, stars dancing in her eyes as it loomed over her. "I...I did it." She let out a laugh, jumping in place with joy on her face. "I did it! Oh, you are beautiful! " She put out a hand towards its beak, wanting to touch the summon to make sure it was real. "Just wait until Weiss gets a load of-"

Scraaaawww!

Just before Ruby's hand made contact with the summon, the Nevermore let out a piercing shriek right in her face. Ruby jumped back in alarm, stumbling into Blake's arms. The Nevermore flared out its wings, the span of which spilled over the edge of the building.

"Uh, Ruby?" Blake said quickly, her voice strained as she stepped away from the summon. "What's it doing?"

"I...I don't know!" Ruby stammered as the Nevermore shuffled about on its talons, swinging its head side to side as it looked at the surroundings. Its movements were fast and twitchy like the creature was unable to sit still. Zwei started barking at the massive bird, now considering the creature a threat. "I haven't told it to do anything yet!"

"Well, could you make it stop?" Yang asked nervously, bringing her hands up defensively as she stood between them and the Nevermore.

"I-"

She was cut off by the Nevermore letting out another screech. The summon flapped its wings, nearly blowing the teens off the roof from the wind. As its feet left the ground, it swung its body until it hovered above them, facing the Emerald Forest. All throughout Beacon, windows were lighting up, the students within being awoken by the noise.

Ruby stared up at the Nevermore in mounting horror. "What did I do?"

"Not a problem!" Yang shouted, smashing her fists together, triggering Ember Celica to unfold around them. Her hair flamed and eyes reddened as she cocked back her arm. "I'll just smash it before-"

Scraaaawww!

With a mighty, almost excited screech, the Nevermore angled forward, giving a heavy flap of its wings…

And a thunderous boom shook the school.

The three watched in stunned awe as the Nevermore shot away in a streak of lightning, vanishing into the distance as rose petals rained over the school grounds.

Silence fell over the school once again, broken only by Zwei's barking and the distant screech of the fleeing Nevermore.

"...guys?" Ruby breathed in a daze. "Did the Nevermore just use my Semblance?"

Blake let out a small squeak, her mouth hanging open as she watched the Nevermore soar away.

Yang swallowed thickly. "Okay... that might be a problem."

Betaed by Covert Weapon

A/n: Do the summons in RWBY really work like this? Probably not.

But I love the idea way too much, so… yeah.

Next chapter, there's a superspeedy Nevermore summon on the loose. Who will take it down?