28

Black Rose Blooms SilverCyberQueen_Jolyne

Chapter 28

Chapter Text

"So… it's been about two weeks, Rubes, how's classes treatin' ya?" Yang asked idly as the two of them walked towards one of the Team Leader meetings that Ruby had to attend due to being the leader of Team RWBY, the aforementioned grimm girl simple grumbling under her breath at the fact that she was obligated to talk and give a progress report on team cohesion and training exercises- not that they'd gotten to that yet, since Beacon, for all that it was prestigious and extremely difficult to actually enter, liked to use the first two weeks mostly for introductory lessons and easing students into the workload. Ruby figured that was about standard, but given that the only other schooling experience she had was that year at Signal… well. She wasn't sure. 

"I'm… doing fine? It's not too hard yet… Uncle Qrow and dad did mostly teach me using stuff they kept from Beacon…" Ruby sighed, rubbing her cheek a bit as she looked around and pursed her lips. "I wish Cinder was here… can't believe she managed to pick up a month long mission right on the first day of school! I thought she wanted to hang out with us!"

"To be fair, she did say she was doing that so we'd get on our feet first and not end up relying on her or Team CMNE too much for help. I still think it's bullshit that CinCin did it on the first day but… eh. Whatever. She's been getting a little distant lately, y'know? Maybe a year away from us wasn't such a good thing," Yang mentioned, shaking her head as she flicked her hands by her waist and let her duster flare dramatically outwards as if to try and simulate a sudden dramatic breeze that didn't exist. Ruby's cape, of course, continued to flow and ripple as though it were caught in the wind, almost alive in its movements as she wrapped it around herself like a safety blanket. "That said- she'll be back by the end of the month, and then we can actually have some real fun! Just the three of us- sisters together again at last!"

"Mmm…. that'd be nice… we could go shopping again and Cinder could totally scare any jerks into giving us discounts," Ruby giggled, leaning against Yang slightly as she nuzzled against her older sister, their pace slowing down as they took the time to cuddle right there in the hallway- Ruby's ears and tail twitching with contentment as she embraced the buxom blonde. "Oh, and I could do some tune ups on Midnight! She did say she's been upgrading it since she got to Beacon, right? That means I get to check over everything that's new and make sure it's all up to my standards!"

"If Midnight was up to your standards, she'd be firing ballista bolts capable of downing a Sea Feilong in one hit," Yang deadpanned, rolling her eyes as she poked Ruby's forehead. "You go really overboard on the firepower, remember? Sometimes bigger isn't better."

"It is with Crescent Rose!" Ruby pouted, crossing her arms and huffing as she looked away. "And Ember Celica! And even Mercury agrees that Talaria gives him way more height on his double jumps and launches with the bigger shells!"

"He also said it was a pain in the ass compensating for the increased power in his shots and it took him two months to stop feeling super sore whenever he let off even a single shot," Yang deadpanned, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "Not everyone has the super strength to deal with your obsession with higher calibers and high explosives, Rubes."

"Nora does," Ruby huffed, still crossing her arms and looking away impetuously. "And Pyrrha could totally handle Crescent Rose too! Mercury was just being a baby."

Yang sighed, patting Ruby on the shoulder and briefly feeling a small flare of warmth in her chest as Ruby's cape unconsciously twined around her hand, the fabric twisting on its own as if trying to keep her there. "Pyrrha might be strong, but I don't think she's that strong, Rubes."

"Mm… maybe. A-anyway," Ruby cleared her throat, then pointed at the double doors they had been standing in front of for the last few moments, labeled with a plaque reading Prisma Auditorium . "We're uh… here. You can uh… go now."

"Mmm… nah! I'm gonna stick around out here til you're done," Yang grinned, shifting her hand down from Ruby's shoulder to perch on her upper back, drawing the shorter girl into a tight hug that left Ruby's ears twitching and tail flicking in agitation as she squeezed the air out of her little sister's lungs. "Aww, you're so grown up now! You're gonna blow 'em away, Rubathy!"

"... Rubathy? You haven't used that nickname since we were ten …" Ruby grumbled, wheezing slightly as she settled in Yang's arms, the mask on her face showing the emotion she tried to suppress- that being a happy little wiggle as it shifted around from where it was "clipped" to her hair. All these years, and the easiest way to reassure her was still one of Yang's tight, rib breaking bear hugs. Gods, she really was such a baby…

"Mhmm! Thought it was time to bring it back! Now c'mon- you got a meeting to go to, and I got notes to read," Yang snickered, dropping Ruby and giving her a spirited pat on the butt to draw her towards the double doors, only just now noticing the paper taped to said door reading Weekly Team Leader Meeting in Progress . "Seeya in an hour?"

"More like an hour and a half…" Ruby sighed, hanging her head slightly and groaning at the thought of actually talking to the others- they'd only had two meetings beforehand, and they were still harrowing to get through, even though the first meeting had just been Professor Peach giving them handouts on what their responsibilities were as team leaders and doing some icebreakers so everyone could get to know each other. Names, where they came from, favorite hobbies, that kind of thing.

Everyone had looked at her weird when she'd said her favorite hobby was slaughtering Beowolves by the hundreds in the middle of the woods at night for some reason…

Sigh. At least Jaune was nice- goofster and combat amateur that he was, he was clearly pretty smart for all that he seemed incredibly inexperienced and green and he was just… really good at being understanding and casual and- well. 

He was nice. A good friend, if she could convince herself to talk to him more- even if their teams hung out at lunch… it was still kinda weird trying to talk to them- it wasn't like Blake or Weiss where she had to talk and then they'd gotten along pretty well afterwards.

Whatever. Jaune was nice. Cardin was a jerk and so were some of the other team leaders. Most of them were cool, but none of them really wanted to hang out that much- Yang's friends from Signal were there, at least! Some of them. Out of an entire group of ten, only six had actually passed Initiation. The four that hadn't got sent back home with a recommendation to try again next year after some remedial training.

Onyx was nice. Distant, because she was Yang's friend more than Ruby's, but nice.

Ruby sighed, shaking her head as she walked into the room where everyone else was gathering- Professor Port was overseeing their meeting today, so they'd probably spend a good half hour just on him telling stories about his team leader back when he was a student. Honestly, it wouldn't be too bad- Professor Port was kinda cool honestly, but… very long winded. They'd still have to submit their schedules for the next week's training sessions and make sure nobody was hogging any one training room too long, as well as make sure their reports on team cohesion were submitted on time.

"Long day?" Jaune asked a bit guilelessly as she sank into the seat next to him, somehow being one of the few people on campus that didn't seem put off by her general looks, her wild hair, her ears and tail, her grimm features… honestly, he seemed pretty oblivious to it all and just thought she looked cool, which was… nice. "You look kinda tired."

"Mm… Professor Greene is… really hard on us when it comes to stealth stuff," Ruby sighed, rubbing her cheek lightly and shaking her head. "Dunno why she seems to hate me so much, I do really good on everything she tells us to do!"

"Couldn't say, but it's a pretty big jerk move to be like that," Jaune commiserated, patting Ruby on the shoulder and wincing a little as Cardin thumped down into a seat on the other side of the large round table- he wouldn't dare try anything, but Ruby knew damn well that something was going on between the two and she didn't like it- though, at Jaune's request, she'd let it stay a Team JNPR thing for now. "She shouldn't treat you any worse just because you're naturally good at stealth and security."

"Well… mostly just stealth. I… don't think I'm allowed to use my… usual method… of keeping a campsite secure against grimm," Ruby chuckled lightly, then looked to the side. "Thanks for… not treating me any different, by the way. I don't… get a lot of that…"

"Hey, no problem- what're friends for?" Jaune grinned a bit wryly, settling back in his seat as they waited for the meeting to begin properly. "Besides, you shoulda seen my sister Iris when she went through her goth phase- I swear, she somehow wore more grimm designed stuff than you. It just isn't fair that you get those kinds of looks, honestly…"

"Yeah… Still… thanks."

"Like I said- what're friends for?" Jaune shrugged, rubbing the back of his head and looking away. "You deserve better, Ruby."

Ruby sighed, then looked over to where Jaune was staring at Cardin with a general aura of unease, fear, and worry.

"So do you, Jaune. So do you."