章 1786: 17
Black Rose Blooms SilverCyberQueen_JolyneChapter 17
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Several months, a few early graduation exams, a diploma, some packing, a bunch of photos, a bunch of paperwork, and a small tuition fee later, Ruby found herself flying on a Bullhead for… the first time in a while . Honestly, it was kinda weird actually being on one for such a short trip- they were only going from the Vale airship center to Beacon, which was about a half hour flight for the sake of comfort and fuel efficiency.
Usually if Ruby had to go anywhere nearby, she just swam there. She'd have liked to fly instead, but smaller aquatic grimm drew less attention and didn't trigger the same alerts as larger flying grimm did. Even as a small Nevermore, there'd still be random Huntsmen and Huntresses trying to shoot her down for sport and for the sake of one less grimm infesting the world. Which… Ruby understood- truly. After all, she'd killed hundreds of grimm in her life already. She knew what it was like to want to be rid of the things.
Ahem. Either way, the sensation of riding around in one of the larger Bullheads where she could stand up and walk around and watch the news or whatever was actually pretty nice- usually when Uncle Qrow brought her on flights they were stuck on the flights that needed them to stay in chairs for the vast majority of the flight. Stupid intercontinental Bullheads, someone should make them less terrible. Though, even with the added ability to walk around and stretch her legs and eat some snacks that the flight attendants had passed out, it was still kind of overwhelming.
Ruby wasn't used to crowds, not in the slightest. Sure, she could weave her way through a crowd of random people, but these people around her might end up being future classmates! They might want to talk to her! They might want to try and make friends with her! And she didn't want to mess that up! She didn't want to screw up and drive people away with her weird and somewhat eclectic personality, but at the same time she didn't really want to attract people to her anyway- it only invited inevitable disaster once they all realized they probably didn't share anything in common with her. Well, except for maybe taste in comics and assorted random stuff they couldn't really account for. It was, in a word, terrifying . She'd already bungled enough social interaction with Emerald and Mercury- to bungle social interaction with people who weren't essentially her family?
Ugh, no thanks.
Best to stay holed up with her sister in one corner of the main passenger area, the two of them sitting on a random L-shaped couch that happened to be tucked away in an alcove that made it easy to relax in without inviting too much attention, but still open and nice enough that it was easy to leave and come back as much as one pleased.
"Sure are a lot of people," Yang mentioned idly, deciding to people watch while she held Ruby with one arm, casually wrapped around her little sister's shoulders as she tucked the younger girl against her side as if to keep her safe from the scary crowd and their scary ways of… occasionally having random people come up and say hi because they happened to be there. "I wonder how many of 'em are gonna pass Initiation?"
"Probably not many, as sad as it is," Ruby sighed, curling up slightly and wrapping her cloak around herself and examining the people around her. It might have been a little hypocritical, but she liked to people watch even though she was also terrified of those same people coming up and trying to strike up a conversation with her. She looked around, frowning a bit as she examined the prospective students' builds, general way of walking, and assorted other bits of information she could use to tell whether or not they'd make it past Initiation. Which… Cinder hadn't actually said anything about it a year ago, but apparently it was really hard and involved a lot of grimm and also getting thrown into the Emerald Forest.
A lot of the people in the Bullhead wouldn't make it. That was almost a guarantee. That lady over there with the giant fan didn't have the muscles or familiarity to use her fan maybe more than a few times in a fight- probably couldn't maneuver it well enough to actually last in hand to hand combat. The guy over there in full armor and with an overbuilt bastard sword assault rifle combination would likely be too slow and, with how he handled his weapon, too clumsy to be of any real use, especially with how finicky his mitten style gauntlets would be for anything requiring fine manipulation. Like reloading.
So on and so forth. Honestly, as much as it would be nice to see huge class sizes and everyone managing to make it into Beacon properly, it wasn't like everyone would be able to pass. Only the ones serious about actually becoming Huntsmen regardless of grades or build or weapon complexity would be able to pass. Anyone else would probably have their resolve broken nigh instantly the moment they had to fight more than one small grimm at a time. Anyone without that spark and willingness to fight the creatures of darkness would probably end up either dying in the line of fire or dropping out when the stress became too much.
Not that Ruby judged people for it- the life of a Huntsman or Huntress was fraught with endless danger and despair and the more atrocities the grimm created that people stumbled upon, the faster the less prepared and unskilled would fall. Better to find out just how easy it was to break someone's will during a largely controlled test than it'd be to find out during a high stress, high tension situation.
Buuuut, how many of those could there possibly be in one school year?
"Yeah, not gonna lie- I don't think the blondie over there throwing up into the trash can is gonna make it," Yang pointed out dryly, motioning at the form of a rather tall, scrawny looking blond guy throwing up exactly as she had said. Around his waist, she saw a gleaming white shield with some gold trim, with an antique looking sword popping from the sheathe without any visible indicator of mechashift parts- not that every weapon needed mechashift, of course, but there was a reason why most people preferred to have mechashift mechanisms instead of not having them. "Oh, and that dude with the bow. He's gonna run outta arrows super fast in the field and I betcha he does not have the right Semblance to make arrows on the fly like Cinder can. Oh, and that girl with the bladed fans. Those look more like decoration pieces than anything that can be used in a fight."
"Don't be rude, they're very pretty weapons, and functional too. From the color, those look like good quality steel with excellent edge retention… Probably have to figure out how to make my own at some point, I think," Ruby huffed, clearly more interested in the weapons than the wielders- and for good reason too. The weapons gave her ideas on how to expand on her repertoire, and they just looked cool to boot! They could be elegant, deadly, strong, fast, precise, and anything in between. Weapons were great. So much better than dealing with people. "Honestly, though… if they fail Initiation, do you think I get to collect their weapons? I see a bunch that I wanna add to my collection and refurbish."
"Mmm, probably not, but if someone gives you a weapon then I guess it's okay," Yang shrugged, humming quietly as she continued to lean against Ruby, who was basically keeping herself as a rose shaped blanket burrito with how her cloak was wrapped around her body. "Whatever the case is, I think Cinder mentioned Beacon having its own forge and production facilities- if you wanna make weapon copies, probably best to take it over there, yeah?"
"Mm… yeah, but… I can't help but wanna get my hands on all the weapons I see, y'know? They're all so cool and complex and full of really good ideas I might be able to add into Crescent Rose and Augury! Also, I just really wanna see if I can use them too," Ruby admitted, cuddling up against Yang with a contented smile on her face- even with the crowds she was terrified of, and the social interaction she'd so far managed to keep away from, her sister never failed to bring her mood up again. Yang was great like that.
"Yeah, I know. You're our little weapon gremlin and nothing's ever gonna change that for you, eh Rubes?" Yang snorted, cracking a lopsided grin as she brought her free hand up to noogie Ruby's hair lightly, careful not to press too hard so she wouldn't pinch Ruby's wolf ears.
"Mhmm! And now I'm going to Beacon with you and Cinder! And…" Ruby paused, searching for the right words for a moment before nodding to herself. "With all three of us there at once… Beacon's not gonna know what hit it!"
"Probably Crescent Rose, that's what usually breaks stuff."
"Hey! No she doesn't!"
"She's a one hundred pound sniper scythe with an eight foot pole length. I'd be surprised if she didn't break a bunch of stuff."
"Well then be surprised because Crescent Rose is a delicate lady and I made sure she doesn't cause any more damage than necessary!"
"The curtains in my room back home."
"... usually!"
"Uh huh. Keep thinking that, Rubes."
Notes:
I'm not drawing Team JNPR for a while btw
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