Chương 1804: 35
Chapter 35Chapter Text
By the end of the week, Gambol Shroud's overall design hadn't changed overmuch- Ruby had kept her word and made sure it was as close to the original as possible while still adding new features, strengthening existing features, and sizing up the barrel by a considerable amount and adding in the new propulsion system, anchoring the blade to the existing superstructure and reinforcing the hinged areas while also replacing the entire blade with Dust infused steel.
As many of the old parts were kept as possible- anything too worn out or unsuitable for the new design was melted down for raw stock to supplement fresh material, old polymer was scrapped for newer, less worn out plastics with higher quantities of reinforcement and better durability, and the entire blade itself was melted down, treated with Dust, reforged manually, stamped with a subtle rose emblem, and reassembled with proper Dust channeling built in- along with a standardized slot for Micro-Dust Vials just above the hinge point.
The folding mechanism had been streamlined, old joints polished up like new, even the sheath had been entirely rebuilt from the ground up, with the cleaver now sporting a shotgun running just behind the blade, the mechanisms lying parallel to where Blake would sheath her blade.
The new propulsion system was interesting- a double stacked magazine containing twenty rounds of 9mm Dust blanks had been fitted into the mechanism just atop the enlarged barrel of the actual gun, with an aura sensitive trigger so Blake wouldn't have to risk hitting the wrong trigger at the wrong moment. As for the actual gun bit- .45 ACP was no joke, and with a slightly wider mag well with some finagling with Dust, Ruby had managed to make double stacked, extended magazines holding forty rounds each- and with how durable said magazines were, that essentially gave Gambol Shroud almost an entire extra four inches of handle.
In all, the entire package was about twice as heavy, far more durable, and held that very, very nice new weapon sheen to it that spoke of having been freshly oiled and maintained mere moments before Ruby had presented the entire thing to her in a glossy black wooden box lined in deep purple velvet and stamped with a golden outline of Blake's personal emblem, the box having been wrapped in a silky white ribbon as well.
Where Ruby had gotten all of that material, Blake had no idea, but… wow.
"Whoa… she's… beautiful," Blake murmured, gasping as Gambol Shroud seemed to shine as the box opened and the blade within was revealed- blade and sheath presented next to each other along with six spare magazines of actual bullets- each one already filled with Blake's favored Dust types- and ten magazines worth of 9mm blanks. "I don't think Gambol Shroud's looked this good… ever , actually… this is… amazing…"
Yang whistled lowly as Ruby presented the entire box, hands on her hips and looking quite impressed at the construction, a slow grin spreading across her face as she watched Blake pull her newly modified, updated, and almost entirely reconstructed weapon from the box and hold it aloft. "Daaaang Rubes- you really went all out for Blakey here huh? You didn't do this much when you helped me make Ember Celica- I'm almost jealous!"
"Pbbbbbt! Blake gets the nice presentation because unlike a certain someone , Blake never spilled half a bottle of People Like Cola all over my workstation and then forgot to clean it properly, meaning I had to spend a whole hour sanitizing it again because you just wiped it off and forgot that sugar residue gets everywhere!" Ruby huffed indignantly, her gaze turning snooty and haughty as she continued to hold the box for Blake, watching her partner give the weapon a few light test swings before sheathing it and retrieving the spare magazines for proper storage later. "So nyeh!"
"Wh- oh come on, that was three and a half years ago! You still haven't let that go!?" Yang protested, scoffing and groaning theatrically as she walked forward and draped herself over Ruby's shoulders, hugging her beloved baby sister tight to the point that even Ruby's enhanced grimm-like constitution started creaking from the force of Yang's sisterly love. "Woe is me! My sister haaaaaates meeee~! I am lost and adrift! Whatever shall I do? Ruby please, forgive this beautiful, bombastic, bodacious, boobalicious, bangin' bombshell you call your sister, lest I waste away forever!"
Ruby blinked, turning slightly to try and face Yang, only to find herself largely immobilized by her sister clinging onto her- to the point that Blake just started giggling and Weiss just rolled her eyes and returned to polishing Myrtenaster at her desk (while sneaking some longing look over at the newly remade Gambol Shroud). "Uggggghhhh, Yaaaaang! That was awful! And get off! You're gonna make me drop the box! I spent like, six hours making this thing!"
"Only six? This kind of construction would normally be… a lot more time consuming than six hours," Blake murmured, raising her eyebrow at Ruby as she took the box from Ruby's hands and examined it lightly, pursing her lips as some inconsistencies started to show themselves- the smooth, dark surface of the box feeling less like wood and more like cool metal, the gold of the emblem seeming a lot more… pulsating than she'd thought it had been before. All of that plus a lack of hinges too- how odd. The white ribbon was utterly normal, but as she poked around the box, it became… pretty clear what was going on. "Did you make a grimm specifically to carry my weapon?"
"... Maybe," Ruby admitted, clearing her throat awkwardly while Yang still clung to her like a limpet, a childish grin on the blonde's face as she continued to cuddle onto her adorable baby sister. "I kinda… ran outta time to make an actual box, y'know, since we've got that big grimm clearing expedition out near Vale's agricultural district like… tomorrow. Oh- speaking of! Yang!"
"Hm? Y'don't have to shout, Rubes. I'm literally still cuddling you," Yang snorted, raising her eyebrow at her sister. "What's up?"
"Cinder's coming back this weekend! She said her mission's running a little long but they're already on their way back- driving, apparently, because they couldn't get a Bullhead out where they are," Ruby explained, grinning wide and starting to vibrate in excitement as she pressed back against her sister and wiggled in place. "It's gonna be so cool! She even promised to get souvenirs on the way back!"
"Oh shit really!?" Yang blurted out, then paused and narrowed her eyes at Ruby. "Hey… wait how come Cinder didn't tell me? You'd think she'd text the super secret sisters server or something…"
"Naaaah, she wanted to keep it secret cuz she's bringing you back something cool. I'm not telling you what it is though cuz she didn't tell me either," Ruby huffed out, bumping her head against Yang's with a light smile. "Still! Cinder's coming back next week! That means we gotta welcome her back as soon as we can!"
"Sorry, I think I'm out of the loop here- who is Cinder again?" Weiss cut in, raising a delicately sculpted eyebrow as she turned and crossed her arms, tilting her head slightly as she faced the two sisters. "The name is familiar but… I suppose I could gather some context clues from that- an older sister, I assume?"
"Yup! Cindy's the biggest sis in our family! Well, technically cousin since Uncle Qrow adopted her legally?" Ruby paused, tapping her chin. "Then again… Uncle Qrow is technically only Yang's uncle since her mom was his sister and my mom was… different. And Cinder was adopted. Um… But yeah, we're basically sisters since Uncle Qrow lives with us now and dad ended up taking care of the three of us anyway! Also Uncle Qrow half raised me for… different reasons…"
"Different reasons?" Blake asked, setting the grimm box onto the bookshelf by her bed and sitting down, folding her legs neatly as she picked up Gambol Shroud and started going over every line and changed seam- doing her best to get used to the new weapon and its new weight.
"Yeah… my semblance is… uh," Ruby motioned at herself a bit awkwardly. "I kinda… had to live out in the woods for a long time with Uncle Qrow because it's such a… weird thing and it made a lot of people really mad back home on Patch for a while…"
"Fuck those old geezers!" Yang growled, clutching Ruby a little harder as if trying to protect her from the words of a bunch of long since forgotten old people who'd yelled at Ruby for any number of reasons back home. "They should just hurry up and die of old age already and stop wasting people's air if they're gonna just keep being bastards about my precious, adorable, amazing baby sister! And if they keep hurting Ruby's feelings then I'll do it myself!"
"Yang, no, threatening old people is a bad thing…" Ruby sighed, bapping her older sister with her ear and grumbling a little. "Even if Old Lady Magnolia kept calling me faunus racial slurs."
"... If Yang isn't allowed to do it, then I will," Blake immediately deadpanned, drawing Gambol Shroud with the quietest whisper of steel rasping against the sharpener built into the sheath, her eyebrow visibly twitching with rage at the thought of a fellow faunus being abused and mistreated. "Just tell me where they live, Yang."
"... Threatening old people with death just because they yelled at one of our members is hardly becoming of a group of Huntresses in training," Weiss sighed, rolling her eyes and examining her flawlessly manicured nails, tossing her hair as she sniffed haughtily. "Though, I suppose if I heard those comments being directed at Ruby, it'd be remiss of me to not defend our team leader's honor. Verbally, if nothing else."
"Weiss-cream, you literally threatened to murder a guy who called Ruby a 'four-eared freak of nature' last weekend," Yang responded, pushing herself off of Ruby finally and stretching lightly as Ruby just groaned and palmed her face. "Don't pretend you have the moral high ground here."
"Considering both Blake and I had to hold you back from turning that man into roadkill , I'd say I still have the moral high ground," Weiss hummed, not looking up from her nails as she pulled out a glass nail file and started touching up one of the edges. "Anyway. As fascinating as your family history is- what exactly are you going to be doing for your sister's return anyway? I find myself fascinated at the thought of what you two buffoons could come up with to welcome someone home."
"Oh, that's easy," Ruby shrugged, her cloak fluttering around her with a little swirl of rose petals as she vaguely motioned in the direction of Vale proper. "We're gonna go down to Vale, buy a bunch of stuff, and make her a triple chocolate ice cream fudge cheesecake with extra strawberries on top. Duh."
"Cinder's got a sweet tooth like nothing you've ever seen- you thought Ruby was bad with cookies? You've never seen Cinder and her cake," Yang explained, snickering halfway through the explanation at some fond, old memories. "Also, it's kinda tradition in our family to welcome someone home from a long trip with their favorite dessert. Too bad I haven't gone on any trips lately… I could really go for a strawberry chocolate mega-shake right now."
"Ah… so, trip to Vale this weekend, then?" Weiss asked.
"If you guys are up for it, sure!"
"Well, I guess I do need more books…"
"And I suppose I could do with some more casual-wear…"
"Then it's settled! Team RWBY Vale outing this weekend! Just like we did last week! Yeah!"
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