Kapitel 25: Ruby’s Birthday, Part Two

[Xiao Long Family Cabin]

Ruby waits anxiously in front of the cabin, pacing back and forth, clearly worried. "Where are they? They should have arrived an hour ago!" She stops and looks at Zwei, who is happily wagging his tail beside her.

"Woof!"

Ruby sighs, letting a small smile escape. "You're right, I'm probably overreacting!" she mutters, trying to calm herself down. Just then, her eyes light up. "There they are!" she exclaims excitedly upon seeing her sister and her boyfriend arriving on the motorcycle.

He's holding her from behind; they're way too close for her liking. Ruby frowns, feeling uncomfortable at how glued together they are. "Mmm…"

Yang stops the motorcycle, and they both get off. Before they can react, Ruby runs up to them and slips between them, separating them as she flashes a knowing smile. "And why did it take you so long?" she asks with a judging grin.

"I… got lost," Yang replies, avoiding her gaze.

Ruby chuckles. "Got lost? Yeah, right! For the first time in your life… on a road that only goes one way," she mutters the last part to herself, low enough so that no one hears.

"Shall we go in?" Daniel says, still standing next to Ruby.

"Oh, yes," she responds enthusiastically. She's about to take Daniel's hand, but stops when she sees a strange lump in his bag, from which a multicolored creature with pink eyes is poking out. "What is that!?" Ruby yells, pointing at the bag.

[Image]

Yang and Daniel are taken aback by her reaction and follow the direction of her finger. Daniel smiles and explains, "It's Aegis, my pet. I didn't want to leave him home alone, so I brought him along. It's no problem, right?" he asks, putting on an innocent expression.

"N-no, of course not," Ruby replies nervously, glancing sideways at the creature, which seems to be staring back at her, even though it doesn't have pupils. "Maybe… maybe he'll make friends with Zwei," she says, not too convinced.

Hearing his name, Zwei runs over to Aegis, jumping right into Daniel's bag with his mouth open as if ready to bite his new colorful "toy."

"No, Zwei!" Ruby yells, but it's too late. Just as Zwei is about to bite, Aegis throws a precise hit, sending him flying backward.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Zwei whines, scurrying away in pain.

"ZWEI?! What did he do to him?!" Ruby and Yang shout, alarmed.

"Oh, nothing serious," Daniel responds calmly. "Aegis only hits when he feels threatened."

Yang rushes off to find Zwei, leaving Ruby and Daniel alone. Daniel, smiling, picks up Aegis and holds him out to Ruby. "You forgive him, right?" he asks softly.

"Y-yeah, it was just an accident," Ruby replies, though she hates the creature inside. If it were up to her, she'd use Crescent Rose to blast that thing away; it's hideous, it hit Zwei, and it even gives her the chills. But she can't express her thoughts… not in front of Daniel.

"How about we go inside?" she says, hiding her feelings and taking Daniel's hand, the one not holding the bag with Aegis. Together, they enter the cabin, and Ruby quickly takes the lead, giving him a little tour.

"This is the living room!" she announces, spreading her arms to show off the space. Then, almost immediately, she shifts position. "And this is the hallway!" she continues, guiding him toward another part of the house. "And here's the kitchen!"

Just as she's about to drag him to another room, a voice interrupts from the living room. "Ahem, ahem… Ruby, aren't you going to introduce us?" Summer says, arms crossed and an amused smile on her face.

Ruby stops when she sees her mother and, feeling a bit nervous, turns to Daniel. "Oh, right… Daniel, this is my mom, Summer. Mom, this is my boyfriend, Daniel," she says, a bit awkwardly; it's her first time introducing him, and she can't help feeling this way.

Summer approaches and gives Daniel a warm hug. "So nice to meet you. Ruby's told me so much about you… To be honest, I thought she was making it all up until Yang confirmed you actually existed," she jokes, glancing at Ruby, who only responds with an amused pout.

When Summer lets go of Daniel, her attention shifts to the bag where Aegis is peeking out. "Oh my gosh!" Summer exclaims, leaning in for a closer look. "He's so cute!" she says, reaching out toward the little Aegis

"Mom, no!" Ruby exclaims, fearing the worst. But to her surprise, nothing happens. Summer picks up Aegis without any issue, holding him with a look of amazement.

"He's a mantis shrimp, right? I didn't know you could keep them as pets. He's so colorful!" Summer says, inspecting Aegis with interest. She holds him for a moment before handing him back to Daniel. "Sorry, I got excited… I've never seen one in person before," she admits with a smile.

"No problem," Daniel says, putting Aegis back in his bag before pulling an elegant bottle of wine from his backpack. He offers it to Summer with a smile. "A small gift for your hospitality."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that!" Summer responds, surprised, but doesn't hesitate to take the bottle. It would be rude to turn down his kindness, so she thanks him with a smile.

"Ahem," Ruby interrupts, giving her mother a pointed look.

"Oh, right," Summer replies, understanding the hint. "The tour isn't over, is it? I won't interrupt anymore." With a smile, she steps away, while Ruby takes Daniel by the arm and guides him to continue exploring the house.

Ruby continues the tour, passing through the bathroom, the closet, the backyard, until finally, with a big smile, she stops in front of a door. "AND NOW I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU THE BEST ROOM IN THE WHOLE HOUSE!" Ruby shouts, clearly excited. "THE FORGE!"

With a dramatic gesture, Ruby opens the door, revealing the workshop where she makes her weapons. Inside, there's a variety of tools, blueprints, prototypes, and even some Dust crystals. Proudly, Ruby points to the different workstations.

"I made Crescent Rose and Ember Celica right here!" Ruby says, eager to see Daniel's reaction. "What do you think?"

"It's impressive," Daniel admits, not needing to lie. The amount of tools, parts, and weapons is truly astonishing. However, as he observes the place, something important crosses his mind.

"Ruby, do you take commissions?" Daniel asks, curious.

"Commissions?" she repeats, not understanding at first. Then her eyes light up and her excitement grows. "Do you want a weapon?!"

"Uh, well, I thought maybe—"

"What do you need?!" Ruby interrupts him, excited. "A katana? A machine gun? A chainsaw flamethrower? I'll make you the most amazing weapon you've ever seen!"

Daniel gently stops her. "It's not exactly a weapon," he says in a calm tone. "Close your eyes."

Ruby blinks, confused, but decides to obey and shuts her eyes. All she hears are strange squeaks, like someone twisting a balloon. A moment passes before Daniel speaks again.

"Open them," he says finally.

Ruby opens her eyes and sees what Daniel is holding in his hands. "That's…"

[Flashback]

Aegis is sitting on the couch, watching as Daniel plays and does silly things with his new ability on the same phone he had ruined earlier. Suddenly, he sees Daniel transform the old phone into something new: a sword, to be precise, a rapier.

"I thought your ability only allowed you to create animals," Aegis comments, recalling what Daniel had explained earlier about his new power.

"I can only create animal shapes," Daniel responds, not taking his eyes off his creation, moving the rapier from side to side as best as he can.

Aegis watches him skeptically. "That's clearly a sword," he points out, obviously pointing at the blade.

"No, no," Daniel says, smiling as he twirls the rapier once more in the air. "This is… a bee."

Aegis looks at him incredulously. "It's still a sword."

Daniel chuckles and finally extends the sword to show it up close. "Look, I'm telling you: it's a bee."

[Image]

Aegis inspects the sword closely and notices that, instead of a normal handle, there's a bee figure at the end.

"See?" Daniel says with a satisfied smile. "It's a bee."

"And what about the blade...?" Aegis asks, pointing at the long, thin blade.

"This?" Daniel responds, proudly displaying it. "It's its stinger."

"That's a really long stinger," Aegis replies.

"It's a bee with proportion issues," Daniel jokes.

Aegis watches as Daniel tries to hold the weapon and notices that, due to the lack of a proper handle, it's uncomfortable for him to use. "Seems hard to use," he comments, seeing Daniel struggle a bit with the sword.

"It's because it doesn't have a real handle," Daniel admits, setting the joke aside. Then his mind begins to race. He could pay someone to design a more suitable handle, but... who could he trust with that? What if they took it somewhere else, and it got stolen? He thinks for a few seconds, until a name pops into his mind immediately: "Ruby."

[Flashback Ends]

Ruby opens her eyes and sees Daniel holding a rapier, with a small bee-shaped figure at the end where the handle should be.

"Oh…" Ruby murmurs, a bit disappointed. She had expected something more impressive.

"It's a family heirloom," Daniel explains. "And as you can see, it's missing the handle. I thought maybe you could make one for it."

Ruby nods, regaining her excitement. "Don't worry, I can do it, but it'll take me a few days."

"That's fine," Daniel replies, smiling.

Ruby picks up the rapier, and as she lifts it, she notices that it's surprisingly light… maybe too light. She suspects it might be made of poor quality, as she doesn't know of any good material that weighs so little. However, she decides not to comment on it so she doesn't hurt Daniel's feelings by insinuating that his "family heirloom" is, in fact, basically junk. She carefully places it in her work area.

Then, they continue the tour. Ruby shows him her room, Yang's (who doesn't seem too happy about it), and finally the guest room.

"Maybe you could leave your luggage here," Ruby suggests, pointing to the room.

Daniel nods and starts to settle his things. "Do you mind if I leave Aegis here too? He seems a bit tired," he says, glancing at her.

"Yeah!" Ruby responds quickly. "I mean... sure, poor thing, he must be exhausted." Ruby says, trying to hide her happiness.

Daniel places Aegis on the bed and makes sure he's comfortable, leaving a scroll he had bought for him, some food, and a bottle of water. "Done," he says with satisfaction.

Ruby watches the process in silence, though she finds it strange to see him leave a scroll for his pet, as if Aegis could do something with it. Finally, they close the door, and as soon as they leave, Aegis settles in, opens the scroll, and starts doing his things calmly.

The party begins after Ruby and Daniel spend some time together. As he had predicted, the only guests are Ruby's mother and sister, along with him, making the atmosphere feel cozy and intimate. Although the celebration is simple, Ruby is delighted. They bring a cake, and everyone joins in to sing to her, drawing a huge smile on her face.

"Now it's time!" Ruby exclaims, almost jumping with excitement. "It's gift time!" she shouts, pointing to the table where the presents are already piled up, including Daniel's.

The first gift she opens is from her sister: a comic Ruby had really wanted. "Thank you!" she says, hugging her joyfully. The next is from her mother, a jar of cookies made especially for her. "Yes!" Ruby yells, eagerly opening the jar.

The next gift came from her uncle, who wasn't at the party because, as they were told, he was on a mission as a hunter. The gift he left was a quite expensive weapon piece. Ruby smiles as she sees the piece.

Finally, it's time for Daniel's gift. Ruby opens the package eagerly, her eyes shining with expectation. However, her smile freezes a bit when she sees what it is.

"A cape?" Ruby says, forcing a smile that doesn't fully hide her surprise. The cape is actually one of the ones she stole from Coco, one of the best she had. In fact, it's so expensive that its value is ten times what Daniel pays monthly for renting his apartment. Ruby tries her best to hide her disappointment.

"Yay…" Ruby says with false enthusiasm, unable to conceal her lack of excitement.

Daniel, confused by her reaction, asks, "You don't like it?"

"Well…" Ruby responds, feeling a little awkward, "It's just that I already have a cape, and I wear it all the time."

"Oh…" Daniel says, realizing what he hadn't considered.

At that moment, Zwei runs in, jumping with excitement. "Wouf!" he barks, looking for everyone's attention. Ruby can't help but smile at the sight of him. "I have an idea! Come here, boy," she says, quickly putting the cape Daniel gave her on him. Naturally, the cape is too big for Zwei, and he starts dragging it around as he runs through the room, causing Ruby to let out a genuine laugh as she watches him having so much fun with his new "accessory."

"Hahaha, look at him, he's so happy!" Ruby laughs as she watches Zwei run around the room, the cape dragging behind him. In her excitement, she doesn't notice Daniel's gaze, whose smile is no longer as natural. Yang and Summer, on the other hand, do notice.

"Dear, maybe you shouldn't give the cape to Zwei…" Summer begins to say, trying to prevent Ruby from further damaging her relationship. However, just then, a sound interrupts her words. Beep. The beep echoed from all the scrolls in the room.

Summer, already familiar with the sound, quickly checked the scroll she had. "Grimm alert," she said, in a calm tone. Although the alert might sound alarming, she knew it wasn't too serious. A Grimm had probably gotten close to the roads of Patch. It wasn't uncommon, since Patch was a sparsely populated island surrounded by dense forests where Grimms often appeared. Most likely, a hunter was already on their way to deal with it, or maybe even a retired hunter, as many chose Patch as a place to retire.

Summer paused for a moment and looked at Daniel. "It would be better if you stayed here for the night," she suggested in a calm tone.

Ruby, upon hearing this, lights up with excitement. "Yay!" she shouts, hugging Daniel enthusiastically. "Sleepover!"

"Yes, yes," Summer replies, smiling slightly, "but you'll be sleeping in separate rooms," she adds, pointing at Yang, who is standing off to the side.

"Why are you pointing at me?!" Yang yells, clearly annoyed.

"Sorry," Summer responds, still smiling, "I prepared this speech thinking of you, not your sister."

[9:00 PM]

Daniel is in the guest room, stretching his muscles as he prepares to carry out his plan. Aegis is lying on the bed, absorbed in his scroll.

"What are you doing?" Aegis asks without looking up from the scroll.

"I'm getting ready," Daniel murmurs, opening the window. "Don't wait up," he adds, but Aegis doesn't even react.

Daniel looks outside; it's not very high, just a few meters to the ground. He decides not to waste time. He jumps with agility and grabs onto an overhanging beam, holding himself up with one hand. "It's a lot easier to do parkour when you have the strength of three people and the weight of one," he thinks as he climbs. "Hmm... if I'm not mistaken, Yang's room is to the right..."

Without wasting time, Daniel jumps between beams and ledges, moving with precision. In less than a minute, he is in front of Yang's window. He sees her sitting on her bed, engrossed in her scroll, completely unaware of his presence.

He tries to open the window, but it's locked.

"Knock knock!" He taps lightly twice on the glass.

Yang looks up, startled to see him hanging on the wall, and almost lets out a scream. "WHAT?!" she exclaims, about to panic, but stops herself in time. She approaches the window and stares at him, both confused and annoyed. "How did you get here?!"

"I came out the window and swung over here," Daniel says, as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

Yang watches him with disbelief. "How?!" she whispers, visibly surprised.

"Well," he responds with a cocky tone, giving a small smile. "I don't want to brag, but I'm pretty flexible."

Yang looks at him in silence, her expression neutral, not showing any emotion.

"So, can I come in?" Daniel insists, remaining calm.

In response, Yang closes the window without saying a word, locking it with the latch. She ignores Daniel's murmurs, turns her back to him, and says, without even bothering to look at him, "Go back to your room before you fall."

Daniel hangs there for a few more seconds, blinking, before accepting that, for now, his plan didn't go as expected.

[Mermaid Voice Ability Activated]

"Come on, Yang, open the window. I just want to talk," Daniel says in a soft, captivating voice.

Yang turns around, not knowing why, but suddenly feeling the urge to open the window. "You know you want to," Daniel murmurs, his voice calm, almost hypnotic.

Yang is about to give in, but suddenly slaps herself and turns around angrily.

"OH, YEAH?!" Daniel says, offended at being rejected. "Fine, I'll go fuck your sister."

Yang spins back around and, almost shouting, replies, "SHE'S YOUR GIRLFRIEND, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING THAT, IDIOT!"

Daniel, irritated by the situation, keeps jumping from one side to another until he reaches Ruby's window. "Knock knock!" He taps softly.

Ruby looks at him, surprised. "AHH!" she almost screams, but Daniel gestures for her to be quiet. Ruby covers her mouth with her hands, moves closer, and opens the window.

"How did you get here?" Ruby asks.

"I'm very agile," Daniel responds with a smile.

Ruby pulls him inside. "Why did you come?" she asks.

"What, can't I give you my birthday gift?" Daniel says, still smiling.

Ruby doesn't understand. "But you already gave me my gift downstairs..." she murmurs, confused.

"OH!!!" Ruby exclaims, now understanding the message. She didn't expect this... or maybe she did, but thought it wouldn't happen.

She quickly grabs Zwei, opens the door slightly, and pushes him into the hallway. "Sorry, Zwei, but tonight I need you outside."

Zwei looks at her, lowers his head, and walks away, scraping against Yang's door. He finally enters Yang's room and closes the door behind him.

Once Ruby locks the door, she runs to Daniel and catches him in a tight hug, pulling him down to the floor.

[Daniel's Apartment]

Neo is in Daniel's apartment, rummaging through his things, as usual. Even though he had told her he wouldn't be home, that's not enough to stop her curiosity. She hasn't found anything particularly interesting, but she doesn't really care. The simple fact of being there is enough for her: sleeping in his bed, eating his food.

Thinking about the latter, her stomach growls, reminding her that she still hasn't eaten. She heads to the kitchen and opens the fridge. A quick glance: berries, vegetables, antibiotics... She frowns in disgust. "Seriously?" Nothing decent, just athlete's food and painkillers. But, thinking about it, who doesn't have a bunch of painkillers at home? Roman has them, the Malachite twins have them too, and even she carries some in her bag, just in case. So, it doesn't seem that strange.

At that moment, Neo remembers seeing another fridge at the back. That's where the good stuff must be. She heads there and quickly finds it, covered by a blanket. "Aha!" she thinks, excited, as she uncovers and opens the second fridge. But what she finds inside freezes her.

Inside, there's a creepy collection of jars filled with eyes—lots of eyes—and something that looks like a hand. But the worst part, the one that will probably give her nightmares, is the ice cream he gave her last week, untouched, unopened. "He didn't even eat it!" she thinks, furious, glaring at the special ice cream she gave him.

She pouts. Maybe he just forgot, she tells herself with a resigned grimace. "Oh well, whatever."

She moves the jars of eyes aside, takes the ice cream, closes the fridge, and flops down onto Daniel's couch. While eating the ice cream, she starts watching TV as if nothing happened.

-/-

Author's Note: Do I hate Ruby? Not really. But in stories, there's always a less-favored character: in Harry Potter, it's often Dumbledore as the villain; in RWBY, Ozpin; and in Naruto, Hiruzen. Well, in this story, it's Ruby's turn. It happens to everyone.

The next chapter is R-18, and it won't be kind to Ruby at all, hahaha.