What Defines Us - Chapter 42 (Patreon)

Waking up was easy to do.  At least, that was the theme of the past few days.  It wasn’t even surprising that Weiss was still beside her - it was awesome!  They got to roll out of bed together, get ready for the day together, walk out to the kitchen together.  

Maybe that was the new theme - together.

It was weird to think that it wasn’t that long ago when Ruby hadn’t even known that Weiss was her partner.  Now, that knowledge was as much a part of her life as cleaning up rose petals a gazillion times a day. It was awesome, too, because being Weiss’ partner gave Ruby a built-in excuse to spend as much time together as possible.

There it was again - together!  That’s what partners were supposed to be.  And they were great ones! Better than great, because they got to kiss, which was holy moly awesome-oly.  Nothing sent Ruby flying out of bed like a kiss.

It was the start of a new day, but what was left to do now?  Well, lots, actually. There was an entire list of videos to study.  There were more hunts to go on. More practices and studying. After an entire year of training, there was still more training to do.  But, most importantly, Ruby wanted to spend more time with Weiss, doing all the things that partners were supposed to do together.

Staying with the theme of spending time together, this morning Weiss made pancakes.  They were like Yang’s, only better because they were made with love!  Technically, Yang’s were made with love too, but a different type of love.  Ruby could taste the difference - it was like using two kinds of flour.  Or forgetting flour in one and not the other. Or something that meant they tasted different.

Wasn’t Weiss the most amazing person in the world?  She could cook, and she could kick the crap out of Grimm.  How attractive was that? 

Ruby had developed a new favorite hobby of watching Weiss cook.  It was like watching a magician in the kitchen. 

That rhymed, but it was also true!  Weiss could whip up a batter in a few minutes flat.  She could flip the pancakes better than the most masterful pancake masters across Remnant.  But the best part about watching Weiss cook was that her usual super-concentrated expression faded to a peaceful type of reassured movement.  She liked cooking.  And Ruby liked eating.  They were a match made in heaven.

They were the perfect match for other reasons too!  It wasn’t just that Weiss cooked and Ruby ate, but they also got along really well.  And, don’t tell anyone, but Weiss totally let Ruby put ice cream on her pancakes again this morning.  It was awesome.  Who needed syrup when there was ice cream?

The hardest part was convincing Weiss that ice cream was medically necessary for survival, but Ruby quickly figured out that her partner was a serious sucker for a good set of puppy dog eyes.  Maybe the effect would wear off eventually, but right now Weiss was a complete softie! Not that Ruby minded, but she was getting spoiled big time.

By the time Yang and Blake finally woke up, Ruby was thinking about having another stack of pancakes - not much thought required because of course she was going to have more.  When Yang walked into the kitchen, she lifted her nose and sniffed the air.

“Was I cooking in my sleep again?” she joked before giving Weiss a playfully-serious expression.  “You know, I’ve forgotten what it was like to wake up and not have you here.”

“It was more boring and less pretty!” Ruby answered in Weiss’ defense.

“There’s hot water on the stove,” Weiss told Blake, ignoring Yang’s tease.  

Passing behind the table, Yang rustled Weiss’ hair before pulling out a plate and dropping a stack of pancakes on it.  Weiss straightened her hair with an audible huff, but didn’t seem very annoyed by the action - which was good, because Yang did that all the time.

“Get me more!” Ruby called out to Yang, who grabbed another stack of pancakes and casually tossed them towards the table.  Squeaking in surprise, Ruby shoved her plate forward just in time to catch them in a haphazard pile. What had she expected - that Yang would bring them over and set them nicely on her plate?

Sitting down and cutting her pancakes in no particular manner, Yang took a bite before pointing a second pancake triangle towards Ruby.   

“Ok Ruby - how would you rate Weiss’ pancakes on a scale of one to ten?”

“Ten!  Of course.”

They were only the best pancakes ever - made by a real princess!

“And how would you rate mine on a scale of A to Z?”

“An A, duh.”

Yang’s were the best too - but in a different way.

“Looks like I win again,” Yang said before popping the second piece into her mouth, undisturbed by Weiss’ eye roll.

“It actually looks like you’re still delusional,” Weiss teased in return.

“I’m delusional?  Who’s the one who got out the ice cream for breakfast?”

Whoops.  Busted. Maybe Ruby should’ve put the container away before Yang got up...but Weiss didn’t seem at all upset when she glanced towards the carton.

“She asked nicely,” she retorted, catching Ruby’s eye and sending her a wink.  

Weiss winked!  And Ruby’s heart nearly exploded from how cute it was.  

“You’re so whipped,” Yang chuckled with a shake of her head.  “But seriously. Did you move in and I missed the memo? How could I have possibly missed three truckloads of clothes being dropped off?”

“I don’t mind it,” Blake added, squeezing Yang’s shoulder while walking behind her with a fresh cup of tea.

“It takes three minutes for the water to heat up!” Yang replied in disbelief.  “That’s all she’s gotta do to win you over?”

After taking a sip, Blake smiled and shrugged.  

“Could do a lot in three minutes.”

When Yang grinned, Blake put one finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, and Yang wiggled her brow before taking another bite of breakfast.  And for once, the shushing gesture worked! Ruby would have to try that next time...normally trying to shush Yang only made her louder. 

“Speaking of doing things,” Yang said with a smirk.  “What’re you two gonna do today?”

The question caused Ruby and Weiss to share a look of equal unknowingness.

“I suppose...whatever you want to do,” Weiss offered.

“I wanna go back to our house and run simulations!” Ruby immediately answered.  The response seemed to surprise Weiss, but after a few delayed seconds, she nodded.

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

“More training?” Yang asked.  “Can’t you take a day off and relax?” 

“No way!  I still have years to catch up on.  And Weiss needs to teach me all our moves again!”

When Yang laughed, Ruby felt a blush grow.  

Maybe she should phrase that differently.  They were combat moves though!  How could she make it sound less like...like...a different kind of…‘moves?’  Not that she was thinking about those moves - until right now - but…

Great, now she was embarrassing herself without even saying anything. 

Stuffing nearly an entire pancake into her mouth so she wouldn’t have to talk, she hardly heard the buzz that sounded from the living room.  It was only when she noticed everyone looking at her weirdly that she stopped eating.

“What?” she asked through a mouthful of food.

“I think that’s your scroll,” Blake commented before pointing to the living room.

“Oh!  Really?”  

Ruby’s first instinct was to look at Weiss, who raised both hands to show that the message wasn’t from her.  If it wasn’t from Weiss, then it was either from Yang or Blake, but they were all sitting at the table with her right now...

Taking her fork with her, Ruby raced into the living room and returned a second later with her scroll in hand.  Absentmindedly sitting down and checking her messages, she found that she had a few that she missed this morning.  

The first one - and second one - were from...Nora!  Wait, how did Nora have this number? Had she just used random numbers until she found the right one?  That wouldn’t surprise Ruby at all...

‘Heard you killed some Nevermores - so jealous!  I wanted that one!’

Grinning at the message, Ruby opened up the second and found a picture of a huge King Taijitu with the caption ‘But look what I found!’

“Holy cow,” she gasped before turning the scroll so Weiss could see.  After Weiss nodded in admiration, Ruby showed Blake and Yang across the table. 

“I’m guessing JNPR took that Assassinate contract you were so against,” Blake told Yang.  “Look what you missed out on.”

“Hey, I got to fly.  Nothin’ better than that.  That’s why Nora’s jealous!”

“But look at this thing!” Ruby exclaimed while looking at the photo more closely.  The giant snake was still alive when Nora took the photo.  Now that took some courage.  Or lack of sanity. Probably more of the latter.  Actually, almost completely the latter.

“We could’ve taken that thing out easy,” Yang replied with a scoff.  “The Nevermores were a bigger challenge.”

“Really?” Blake asked in disbelief.  “The last time we went after a Taijitu that size, you almost ended up as snake food.”

“I had that under control!”

“Please explain how you planned to get out of its jaws without me.”

“I had a ton of options -”

While Yang and Blake playfully bickered, Ruby read the last message in her scroll.  It was another unknown number, but she vaguely remembered meeting the man in the photo.  It was that guy from Beacon - the one with the good witch lady.

‘When you’re ready, come see me.’

Well, that wasn’t cryptic at all.

“What’s this mean?” Ruby interrupted.  She handed the scroll to Weiss, whose brow creased when she read it before passing it to Yang and Blake.  Yang’s brow also furrowed, and Blake nodded once.

“It means we have more work to do.”

“What kind of work?” Ruby asked.

“The important kind,” Yang replied, but then shrugged and handed the scroll back.  “We won’t know until you’re ready.”

“What do I need to be ready for though?  Does he need help cleaning out his garage or something?”

“More like cleaning out a section of forest,” Blake muttered before taking another sip of tea.

“But how am I supposed to know if I’m ready?”

When Ruby looked around the table, no one seemed to have an answer to that question.

“You’ll just know, Ruby,” Blake finally said, to which Yang nodded in agreement.  “You’ll feel it.”

Briefly frowning at her pancakes, which was not the appropriate emotion to use with pancakes, Ruby finally turned to Weiss.  Finding icy blue eyes studying her with unwavering intensity, Ruby wondered if she was ready now.  Did she have the confidence to take on the unknown? 

If she had to ask the question, probably not.

No, she wasn’t ready yet.  Weiss wasn’t ready either. They both needed more confidence in their abilities, both alone and as a team.  With more training and time together, they’d be ready soon. For what, Ruby had no idea, but they’d know in time.

Leaving the message alone for now, Ruby set her scroll down at the same moment Yang stood to get more food.

“You did great yesterday, Ruby,” she said from the stove.

“We did great!  And we got rid of those Nevermores close to the walls.”

“That’s right.  Cleared up the air - blue skies and smooth sailing once more.”  Walking back to her seat, Yang raised one hand and Ruby happily gave her a high five.

“Oh!” Ruby exclaimed, turning her attention back to Weiss.  “That reminds me that I have questions for you!” 

When they got home last night, Ruby had been super amped up.  She spent several hours bouncing around the house before a severe adrenaline crash sent her tumbling into bed next to Weiss, which was the furthest thing from a bad night.  But now that she was operating at a more normal frequency, she was ready to tear apart and analyze what they’d accomplished.

“Ok, so during the battle, you put a glyph here.”  Ruby raised one hand near her right brow and extended it as far away as she could.  “And I was hereeee….” She set her other hand on the table to the left of her plate.  “And the Nevermore was...uh…”

She only had two hands - how was she supposed to explain this?

A piece of paper and pen arrived in front of her via shadow, solving that riddle in a heartbeat.

“Thank you!” she said, smiling at Blake before drawing what she’d been trying to say.  “Ok, so I’m this little guy,” she said while drawing a stick figure. “And here’s the Nevermore,” she muttered, drawing a black blob with wings.  “And your glyphs are here and here - I hit it here, here, here, and here before making it to the second glyph.”

“Yes, so I put another one here,” Weiss replied, placing a finger on the paper precisely where the third glyph had appeared.

“Right!  But...should I have been able to finish it with just the first two?”  

“You tell me,” Weiss responded with a grin.  Tapping the pen against the paper, Ruby bit her lip while thinking through the scenario.

“Welllll because you only gave me two, I’d like to think so.”  

The question was how?  How could she have dealt more damage between the two glyphs?  

Attempting to mimic what happened in the air yesterday, Ruby rotated the piece of paper and gasped when she saw it.

“Oh wow.  That’s smart.”  Beaming at Weiss, Ruby received a pretty pleased smile in return.  “Ok, next time I totally got that. Oh! But what about this one?”

Flipping the page over she began to draw again.  Ruby, Nevermore, glyphs... 

“Why didn’t you put the third glyph here?” she asked, putting a tiny ‘x’ where she thought one should’ve been.

“How would you get there?”

“Crossing the Nevermore’s back!”  She drew a line over the wingspan of the Grimm and circled the glyph.

“The margin for error for that is microscopic.  What if you’re not fast enough?”

“I’m plenty fast enough!”

“But what if you’re not?” Weiss repeated with emphasis.  “How confident are you that you could make that every single time?”

Scrunching up her brow, Ruby thought about the entire situation in depth.  What if she didn’t make it in time? Well...that’d be bad. Very bad. And how confident was she that she could make it every single time?

Imagining herself back in the battle, she thought about how wide the wingspan of the Nevermore was.  It was pretty dang wide. Plus potential wind resistance...and feathers didn’t exactly offer the best midair traction.

A grin slowly grew when Ruby realized that Weiss was right.  There were calculated risks they had to accept in battle, but this risk was senseless when there were better (safer) options.

“You’re so smart, Weiss!  What would I do without you?”

“Jump off Nevermores into the abyss?” Weiss joked with a warm smile.

“You’re right!  And that wouldn’t be good at all.”

Hearing a chuckle, Ruby looked over to find Yang and Blake watching them closely.  Blake was taking a sip of tea, her eyes sparkling with joy while Yang leaned back in her seat and draped one arm around Blake’s shoulders.

“What?” Ruby asked.

“Nerds,” Yang coughed into her hand before grinning again.

“If increasing our competency is considered ‘nerdy,’ I have no qualms with it,” Weiss stated with a haughty air that only made Yang’s grin grow.

“Of course you don’t - you’re just happy to be back to hyper-analyzing everything!  Blake just tells me ‘hey you screwed that up’ and I say ‘my bad, I’ll try harder next time.’”

While Yang grinned, Blake rolled her eyes.

“I actually wouldn’t mind if we analyzed a bit more,” she commented before another sip of tea.  

“Really?  But...why haven’t you said so?”

The expression Yang gave Blake was that of a hurt puppy dog - so incredibly sad that even Blake, who usually refused to bend under pressure, immediately backpedaled from the statement.  “I’m kidding, totally kidding. What we have works perfectly. I don’t want to change anything.”

“Yeah, but like...if you want to draw diagrams and stuff…”

“Yang,” Blake said firmly.  “I don’t. I suck at drawing.  Besides, you’re just as anal about strategies as Ruby is.  You just have another way of doing it.”

This time it was Weiss who laughed at the stunned look on Yang’s face.

“I am??”

“She is?” Ruby asked in nearly equal surprise.  

Wait.  Maybe she should be surprised that she was the one they were referring to as hyper-analyzing everything.  Was she actually anal about it? She really didn’t have enough combat experience to know!  Learning about strategies was cool though. Once she had the fundamentals down, she could fine tune and tweak them until everything clicked perfect - oh.

“You are,” Blake replied, smiling at Yang.

Weiss spoke up then, mimicking Yang’s voice, “‘Blake, was that throw ok??  Blake, was that round ok? Did you need more time? Did you need more space?  Did I give you enough lift?’ You do the same thing, but it’s all about Blake.”

While Yang stared at Weiss in shock, Blake set one hand on her arm.

“It’s cute,” Blake added reassuringly.

Clearly Yang had no idea she’d been doing this, but after a few more moments of shock, she brushed it off with a smile.

“Well, if Blake thinks it’s cute, then apparently I’m doin’ something right!”  When Blake stood to take her cup to the sink, Yang turned in her seat to follow her partner’s movement.  “But I could, ya know, draw some stick figures or something sometime. If that’s what you want.”

“I’d love to see you try,” Blake teased, walking back to the table to take Yang’s empty plate.  “But don’t worry about it. I’m serious - what we have works perfectly. Let’s not mess with it.”

“I dunno about perfect,” Yang said with a grin that grew with every word.  “But definitely purrfect.”

When Yang rolled her r’s, Blake rolled her eyes.

“You’re lucky you’re cute.  I’m going to let you get away with that one.”

“Is today my lucky day then?” Yang asked with a big smile, standing from the table and cracking her back.

“Yes.  You can put away the dishes,” Blake teased while whipping the dishcloth towards Yang, who caught it out of the air with a chuckle.

“Damn...was hoping for a different answer,” she mumbled before joining Blake at the sink.  While the two cleaned up from breakfast, Ruby turned back to Weiss and pointed at the pages they’d been working on.

“We can try this out at home, right?  There’s gotta be enough space in the backyard to practice this type of stuff.”

For a few seconds, Weiss just stared, but eventually she nodded - slowly.  

“Yes.  Yes, we can do that.”

“Awesome!  I want to! Can we?  Maybe not today, but sometime soon?”

“Absolutely.  Whenever you want.”

“Ohh aerial practice.  I’m so down for that,” Yang butted in, rustling Ruby’s hair before patting both of Weiss’ shoulders.  “Thanks for breakfast, Weiss!”

“You’re welcome,” Weiss replied before Blake and Yang left the kitchen - their voices quickly fading down the hallway.  It was only when they heard the sound of a door closing that Weiss turned back to Ruby.

“I know you want to train,” Weiss began, measuring her words carefully.  “But maybe we can also spend some time together...outside of combat? We could go to dinner or a movie or...something like that...”

When Weiss trailed off and blushed, Ruby grinned.  

“Are you asking me on a date?”  

The question made Weiss’ blush grow even darker, but she still met Ruby’s eyes.

“I’m trying to,” she said with a small smile.

Fortunately (for Ruby), that was the world’s easiest question to answer.

“I’ve love to!”  

Dinner sounded amazing.  A movie sounded amazing. Dinner and a movie sounded fantastic.  But there was something else Ruby wanted to do - if Weiss was willing.

“I have an idea for what we could do,” Ruby offered.  

“What’s that?”

“We can go back to Beacon!”

Whatever Weiss expected, it hadn’t been that.  

“...go back to Beacon?”

“Yeah!  And re-enact our time there!”

“Re-enact…”

“Like act out,” Ruby explained, growing more excited the more she thought about this genius idea.  “You’ll do that with me, right? I wanna know what it was like when we first met. And how we started dating.  And what we did after classes. All those things. Are you a good actress?”

Mouth open, Weiss numbly shook her head and said, “No...I’m horrible.”

“Me too!  It’ll be great!”

While Ruby grinned, Weiss thought about the idea long and hard before finally nodding, albeit hesitantly.

“As long as I also get to choose a couple of moments to show you.”

“Of course!  What do you have in mind?”

“Well, our first kiss for one.”

Ruby instantly blushed at the comment, and Weiss struggled to hide a smile - clearly having expected that reaction.

Wait - had Weiss just intentionally made her blush??

“That was pretty smooth!”

“Super smooth,” Weiss added.

“Smooth as a cucumber!” Ruby quipped, making Weiss burst into laughter.

“‘Smooth as a cucumber?’  I think you mean cool as a cucumber.”

“What?  No, it’s smooth as a cucumber!”

“According to who?”

“According to Yang!” Ruby replied before her face fell with realization.  “Oh.”

The mixup only made Weiss laugh harder.  “Have you ever even looked at a cucumber before?”

“Of course!  They’re green and super smooth!  But with bumps!” When Weiss lightly laughed, Ruby continued to blush - but would willingly blush forever if it meant Weiss kept laughing.

“What I was trying to say is that...that’s, uh, definitely a moment I’d like to remember…”

“And it’s something I’d love to experience again,” Weiss replied with a smile.  

When Ruby noticed Weiss’ eyes drop to her lips, both of them immediately turned away.  Was it bad that she wanted to kiss Weiss right now?  

“Then...maybe this week we can head back to Beacon for a day…”

“Yes!  Oh, but won’t you have to work?” Ruby asked, but Weiss shook her head.

“Part of the reason I was so busy the other day...was that I made preparations for my imminent departure from the company.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Yes, so that I can devote my time to you.  And training.”

Weiss tossed the ‘and training’ part in as an afterthought, but that did nothing to stop Ruby’s heart from swelling with affection.  

Weiss was devoting her time to Ruby. 

“Will you miss working?”  

Any guilt Ruby felt disappeared when Weiss shook her head.

“Absolutely not.  It was only something I did to occupy my time.”

“Now I can occupy your time!” Ruby said, beaming when Weiss smiled right back at her.

This was great.  Really, really great.  If Weiss didn’t have to work anymore, they could spend all of their time together.  Training and...being together.  The theme of the year.

“Ok,” Ruby said, clapping her hands.  “Beacon this week. Training today - and all the other days.  Can we start with Beowolves and work our way up to more difficult Grimm?”

“Sure.  I can create a training schedule if you’d like.”

“Yes!  That’d be awesome!  But today I wanna try The Horde.”  

She’d been thinking about that video since the night she first watched it.  All those Beowolves…it made her drool nearly as much as the pancakes did. Not that she wanted to eat the Beowolves, but the idea of fighting them - ok, it didn’t actually make her drool.  But it made her really, really want to fight them, just like she really, really wanted to eat pancakes.  

Maybe that wasn’t such a great comparison...

Weiss was now looking at Ruby like she was crazy, which maybe she was.  Crazy in loveeeee -

“I don’t think we can finish that simulation -”

“But we’ll try!  And see how far we can get.”

The idea made Weiss bite her lip, so Ruby reached over and took her hand.  “It’s ok to fail, Weiss. As long as we learn from it - and I think we’ve got a lot to learn!”

“You’re right,” Weiss finally replied, giving Ruby’s hand a soft squeeze.  “Then should we get ready?”

Ruby’s plate was empty, and her stomach gave a happy grumble right on cue.

“Yup!  Let’s get ready!” she agreed, hopping up from the table and putting everything away in a flurry of petals.  Once done, she skipped down the hall and was practically in a food coma by the time she reached her room. Too many delicious pancakes…and the ice cream too...

Tossing her scroll onto the bed, she collapsed backward onto it.  So much for training! Maybe she needed a nap first. Only when Weiss sat down beside her did she sit up - with effort.  A lot of effort.

“What’s the chance we could take a nap first?” she asked, only somewhat seriously.  Smiling, Weiss stood and pulled Ruby back to her feet. 

“Come on, you can do it.”

“I don’t have the energy,” she whined, relaxing her knees and slouching over Weiss’ shoulders.  Grunting with effort, Weiss pushed against Ruby to keep her from falling over.

“You’re Ruby Rose,” Weiss huffed, straining to keep Ruby upright.  “You always have energy.” 

“If only there was something that could recharge me...” Ruby joked.

“Well you need to be standing - first -” 

That worked!  Regaining her footing, Ruby looked at Weiss while her anticipation mounted.  They were going to kiss. They were totally going to kiss.

Straightening her shirt and smoothing away some invisible wrinkles, Weiss then huffed.

“Great.  Now that you’re up, we can leave.”

“Whaaaat?” Ruby whined, reaching out for Weiss’ elbow before she could walk away.  Ruby barely caught sight of a grin before Weiss’ arms looped around her neck and pulled her down for the most wonderfully unexpected kiss.

It was a happy kiss, that was the only way to describe it.  When Weiss’ hand curled into a fist holding the back of Ruby’s shirt, Ruby could feel just how happy Weiss was.  That joyful feeling made Ruby want to press even closer - to stay here longer and enjoy every little bit of that happiness.

Every time they kissed, it was getting harder to stop.

It was Weiss who broke away first, her cheeks adorably flushed while her breaths snuck out a little heavier than usual.  And while Ruby had initially meant it as a joke, now it felt like her veins were pulsing with electricity. 

Food coma destroyed!

“Are you ready now?” Weiss asked softly, her clear blue eyes finding and holding Ruby’s.

“Uhh…”  

Maybe she didn’t want to train today.  Maybe she wanted to stay here instead. 

Somehow reading Ruby’s mind, Weiss leaned forward and kissed Ruby’s cheek.

“You want to try The Horde, remember?  Let’s do that.”

Right.  The Horde!  All the Beowolves!

“Can we kiss for each Beowolf we kill?” Ruby asked hopefully.  That could be like...six hundred kisses.

“Do you really enjoy it that much?”

“Uh, yeah,” she answered with many nods.  

Weiss was so, so pretty.  She smelled good.  Her lips were soft.  And she was just…super amazing.  Who wouldn’t love kissing her??

The answer made Weiss happy - although she tried to hide it by clearing her throat and nodding.  

“I accept your proposal, with one modification.  One kiss for each Beowolf you kill.  That should incentivize you to do your best.”

Oh boy, would that ever. 

“Good luck finding any for yourself!” Ruby joked while heading towards the door, already ‘ready’ to go.   

The great thing about having an entire closet at the other house was that she didn’t need to bring anything with her but Crescent Rose and Thorn!  When they got there, she’d just find something else to wear that was completely new and also completely old. Not old like falling apart and full of holes - old like it sat in a closet untouched for a year.  

“Do you need to tell Yang you’re leaving?” Weiss asked when they were out in the hall, gesturing towards the bedroom door that was still closed.

“Uh...naw.  I’ll just send her a message,” Ruby replied while waving her scroll in the air.

Satisfied with that answer, Weiss made her way out of the house with Ruby in tow - both of them grabbing their weapons from where they’d left them in the hall yesterday.  

Again, there was already a car waiting for them out front, because Weiss was really good at requesting rides without Ruby noticing.  Maybe she had some slick button on her scroll that was dedicated to hailing a cab - one press and a taxi flew out to wherever her scroll was currently located?  That’d be a pretty sweet feature…

After racing down the walkway and sliding into the backseat beside Weiss, Ruby stuck Crescent Rose on the floor by her leg and looked out the window.

“This time I’m going to memorize the way there,” she decided as the vehicle pulled away from the curb.  This was her old home they were going to.  It might be important for her to actually remember where it was - then she could always find her way home.  To either home. 

First, a left...then a right...then straight...then straight…

“You ladies wouldn’t be huntresses, would you?” the driver asked them, glancing in the rearview mirror to catch their eyes.

“Uh…” Ruby stalled before turning to Weiss, who shrugged and gestured for Ruby to respond.  “Yup!” she answered with a grin. “We are!”

“I’d hope so - otherwise I don’t know if you should be carrying around weapons like those,” he replied with a cheerful laugh.  “Seen any big Grimm recently?”

“We have!  Actually, we just go back from taking out a whole bunch of Nevermores!”

“Nevermores?” the man asked, sounding pretty shocked about a topic he brought up himself.  “You’re serious - Nevermores?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry - we cleared them all out,” Ruby said, shooting Weiss a grin. 

“Wow.  Nevermores…” he said again.  “How big are they? My buddy says they’re the size of a semi.”

Ruby looked at Weiss, and then they nodded at the same time.

“That’s pretty close,” Ruby said out loud.  “Their wingspan is huge, and their claws are probably as big as my arm.  And they’re so loud! Did you know that they’re the loudest species of Grimm?  They can shatter glass if close enough. And they can reach speeds faster than a typical airship!”

While Ruby rambled about how awesome Nevermores were, the driver kept glancing at her in the mirror, his eyes wide.  But he seemed interested, so she kept talking and overlooked the way Weiss covered a smile with one hand while listening.

It was only when they pulled up to the cute little house where they once lived that Ruby stopped her in-depth analysis and gave the man a big smile.

“Guess that’s all for now!  If you’re interested in learning more, I definitely recommend On Nevermores.  Fantastic read.  Oh, and thanks for the ride!”

“Pleasure was all mine,” he said with a chuckle while clearing the meter and waving Weiss’ scroll away when she tried to pay.  “It’s been an honor, ladies. Keep doing what you’re doing.”

“We will - absolutely!” Ruby answered before sliding out of the car and waving when the taxi drove off.  “He was super friendly!” she said while turning to Weiss, who was spinning Myrtenaster absentmindedly in her hand.

“He was.  I think you might’ve scared him a bit with your description of what a Nevermore actually looks like,” Weiss replied before laughing.  “He’s going to have a great story to tell his friends tonight. The great Ruby Rose sitting in the back of his cab gushing about Nevermores…”

When Weiss walked towards the front door with another chuckle, Ruby jogged several steps to catch up.

“How would he know it was me?” she asked while falling into perfect step with Weiss.

“He might not, but he should be able to guess based on her.”  Reaching the front door, Weiss calmly gestured to Crescent Rose - who was doing nothing but minding her own business while being pretty and red!  Although the bright red paint kind of stood out…

“Maybe it was you he recognized!” Ruby retorted as she skipped through the door Weiss just unlocked.

“Me?”

“Yeah!  I mean - you’re Weiss Schnee - the prettiest girl in existence.  No way he’d miss that!” Grinning at her genius bit of logic, Ruby was even happier to find that Weiss looked unsure of what to say in response.

“Plus, you kinda have white hair, you know,” Ruby added while the two of them stood in the cozy entryway.  

That comment finally made Weiss laugh.

“I do have white hair, don’t I?” she asked- most likely rhetorically, but Ruby nodded anyway.  “Come on. Let’s go find this horde of yours.”

“Yes!  The Horde!”  

Ruby raced through the entryway and waited by the door leading down to the simulation - and waited some more when Weiss joined her.  After waiting a few seconds more than was comfortable, she glanced at the handprint scanner before looking at Weiss.

“Uh...you wanna open it?” she finally asked when she couldn’t wait any longer.

“Why don’t you?”

“Because I can’t...totally open it myself!”  

Realizing what Weiss was hinting at, Ruby put her left palm on the scanner and watched a series of lights sweep from her wrist up past her fingers and back again.  A second later, a pleasant chime rang out, the door unbolted, and Ruby’s heart did a little flip in her chest.

This was her house.  Her handprint was still stored in the scanner’s memory.  Maybe she was a different person, but her handprint was still the same.

“Got it!” she called out, holding the door and bowing Weiss forward.  “After you, milady,” she joked while Weiss walked through.

“Why thank you.”

While they walked down the staircase, Ruby couldn’t help eyeing the railing that led into the depths of the house.  It was so smooth!  Smooth as a cucumb - nope.  Not a cucumber. Smooth as a...hippopotamus?  It was really smooth! She could probably slide all the way down - that’d be the most efficient way to get downstairs.  She’d have to try that sometime.

When they finally reached the bottom, she again watched in awe as the lights clicked on and illuminated the bright room in a well-timed sequence heading away from them.  She still couldn’t believe that this was hers.  Well, it had been hers.  Was is still technically hers?

Regardless of who it belonged to, she couldn’t believe she could use this room whenever she wanted.

“I’m so excited!!” she gushed, unfolding Crescent Rose and swinging the weapon through the air with a few shing, shings of metal slicing through...air molecules.  “A thousand Beowolves. Bring ‘em on!”

“These aren’t normal Beowolves,” Weiss commented while tapping the screen located at one end of the room.  “You thought that would be too easy, so you made them faster and more durable.”

“What??  Why would I do that??”

“You were always looking for ways challenge to yourself.  And me.”

When Weiss smiled proudly, Ruby felt a surge of warm, fuzzy feelings run through her veins.  She did like a good challenge...and she loved getting better at everything and anything!  Plus, fighting against better-than-average Grimm sounded pretty fun.

“Ok, so a thousand faster, stronger Beowolves.  Piece of cake!” 

“That’s what you think now…” Weiss said, pressing several more buttons and then stepping away from the podium.  “Follow me.”

When Weiss walked towards the center of the room, Ruby followed and watched as an entire forest sprouted into existence around them.  Trees sprouted from nothing, surrounding them in a scraggly mess of dense evergreens. The air grew cold while the ground morphed into a soft, crunchy layer of snow.  

By the time they stepped through a line of trees into a small circular clearing, puffs of steam billowed from her mouth when she exhaled.  The sudden chill made her rub her hands up and down her arms in an effort to warm up.

“Brr!!  Why’s it so cold??”

Weiss laughed, puffs of air coming from her lips while her cheeks grew rosy from the nip in the air.

“I have no idea why you liked the cold so much, but at least half of these simulations have snow in them.”

While Weiss spoke, Ruby stared - not creepily or anything, but in a normal, totally adoring way.  

Something about watching frozen breaths slip through Weiss’ lips was...well, maybe that’s why Ruby liked the snow so much.  Not only that, but Weiss looked so good in white...and then the cold brought out rosy red life in her cheeks. 

She looked really, really pretty. 

“Should we come up with a strategy or something?” Ruby asked when she realized she was staring and Weiss had already noticed.  Glancing left and right through the crowded trees, Ruby briefly wondered how they’d know when the simulation began. How much time was built in before the Grimm spawned?  Did they say something or make some type of motion to signal that they were ready?

“Ordinarily, I would say yes,” Weiss replied, shaking Myrtenaster in her hand.  “But we should probably figure out what our natural fighting rhythm is now. The only way we can do that is by making an attempt with no predetermined approach.”

“So…” Ruby began while her mind tried to decode that sentence into real people words.  “We’ll just...wing it?”

The much more understandable explanation made Weiss smile and nod.

“Yes, we’ll ‘wing it,’” she repeated while swishing Myrtenaster through the crisp air.  “Thorn will change a lot of our style anyway.”

“Won’t that be a bad thing?  We’ll have to start from scratch!”

Starting over was something Ruby did when she woke up in the hospital with a nasty headache.  Starting over meant lots of hard work and discomfort - lots of failing and trying again only to fail again.  She’d just gone through it and knew how hard it was, so the last thing she wanted to do was make Weiss start over too.

At least, that’s what Ruby initially thought, but that thought disappeared when Weiss lowered Myrtenaster and shook her head.

“Starting over isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

The response made Ruby beam - because if Weiss was ready to start over, so was she!  Not that she really had a choice - the reset button for her life was pressed a long time ago.  She could always try to learn the exact same patterns so that Weiss wouldn’t have to change her fighting style, but learning together...that’d be even more fun.  It would be a new challenge - one they could tackle together.

“Are you ready?” Weiss asked, her blue eyes searching Ruby’s for an answer.

“Yes!  I’m ready - for everything.”

Satisfied with the response, Weiss flipped Myrtenaster quickly to the side.  The motion was so fast that it looked like nothing more than a nervous tick, but the next second a howl broke through the forest.  The sound was so lifelike that Ruby felt a row of goosebumps rise on her arms. Maybe those were from the cold...but suddenly this forest seemed very, very real.  

This was only a simulation, but her adrenaline was beginning to pump full force.

“Remember - move towards the first group,” Weiss gently instructed before turning around and standing right at Ruby’s back.  Nodding to herself and holding Crescent Rose at the ready, Ruby focused on the woods in front of her - a semi-circle patch of land that was now her responsibility.  

The trees were still, but there were sounds now - twigs snapping and steps racing across the snow, growing closer by the second.  From what she saw in the video, she knew that the first wave of a thousand Beowolves was tearing through the woods towards them.

The next second she spotted them - nothing more than flashes of red amongst the trees before bony black shapes and white claws grew more and more prominent.  Her gut instinct was to call out to Weiss, but then she remembered that she didn’t need to say anything. As soon as the Grimm passed the treeline, she would burst forward, and Weiss would know that that’s where the fight began.

Watching the nearest Beowolf sprint towards her, her muscles coiled in anticipation.  The instant a millimeter of Grimm crossed into the clearing, she released her muscles and shot forward with a healthy dose of her semblance.  The first Beowolf hardly recognized her new position before she swept Crescent Rose forward in a diagonally-arcing swipe that ended the simulation’s brief existence.  A cloud of silver pixels burst into the air, but there was no time for celebration because the next Beowolf was already on top of her - followed by numbers three, four, and five.

Crouching when one of the Grimm lunged past her, she swept her weapon along the ground and caught the remainder of the enemies in a circular burst of speed.  By the time the lunging Beowolf regained its footing and spun around for another attack, it was blasted to the side by a stream of ice from across the clearing.  The blow stunned it for long enough that Ruby easily cleaned it up with one swift blow.

The first group was easy - more of a warm-up than anything else.  What came next would be much harder.

The next two groups arrived in unison from opposite sides of the clearing.  Rushing towards one group, Ruby figured that Weiss would take the other. But that wasn’t being a team player, was it?

Leaping through the air, Ruby lowered Crescent Rose and hooked into a Beowolf.  When she heaved the creature towards the trees, it dissolved into a shower of sparkles.  Immediately spinning to the left, she pinpointed Weiss’ position before drawing back and letting Crescent Rose fly with as much energy as she could muster.  The weapon cut across the small space before slicing through two Beowolves behind Weiss. 

While her weapon was temporarily away, Ruby used her semblance to zip out of the way of attacks and find a better position - because Crescent Rose was coming right back.

After quickly tapping out the code, she blocked an incoming claw with Thorn - hardly feeling the blow - before watching Crescent Rose take off the arm that had just attacked her.  Two quick up and down swings dispatched two more Grimm, but it felt like there were two replacing each one she got rid of. 

Beowolves streamed from the trees and filled the clearing in black - slowly pushing her and Weiss towards the center while they attempted to hold their ground.

Determined to keep the battle going, Ruby focused on her semblance and shot towards the nearest Beowolf at full speed.  The creature had zero chance of survival and - after she sliced through that enemy - she found a wonderfully-placed glyph that allowed her to fly in the opposite direction, leaving behind the claws slashing through the air where she’d just been.

Moving in Weiss’ direction, Ruby ducked when a huge sword whizzed over her head, catching and destroying at least ten Beowolves who weren’t as fortunate in their head-retaining prowess.  Before the soldier ended his swing, Ruby popped up on the other side of him and launched Crescent Rose into the crowd of Grimm to Weiss’ right. The weapon caught five on the way out and two on the way back before a clump of four burst apart in what looked like shards of glass.

As soon as her weapon was back in hand, Ruby spun in a semblance-powered circle that dashed any nearby Beowolves into smithereens.  The second her feet hit the ground, she searched out Weiss and slid to the right in order to support. Not that it seemed like Weiss needed much support!  A complex series of glyphs opened above, behind, and between the Grimm before a white flash swept between them and they disappeared.

Maybe they were doing ok right now, but they were quickly being overrun.  The Grimm were swarming - filling the clearing with black, leaping overtop of each other trying to reach Weiss and Ruby.  If this was a real life combat situation, this was the moment Ruby would seriously consider making a hasty retreat.  Since this was only a simulation, that wasn’t necessary - but if they were going to do this, they had to work together.

“Weiss - coming at you!” Ruby shouted before blasting a path through the Grimm that had been in front of Weiss.  With a lane temporarily cleared, she established a foothold immediately behind Weiss - the two of them back-to-back once more.

“Hold here?” Weiss asked breathlessly, shooting off a stream of ice that locked an entire line of Beowolves in place before a jet of fire broke them apart.

“It’s our best shot!” Ruby called back while whipping through some of the more complex motions she’d learned with Crescent Rose.  Drawing nearly the entire alphabet in the air to catch and destroy every bit of Grimm that tried to enter her path, she never stopped moving - knowing that the second she stopped, they’d lose.

Left, right, left, right, rotate, repeat.  Over and over again - an endless pattern of death that held the Grimm at bay.  But then something new tingled at the edge of her mind - something she’d never experienced before.

Left, right, left, right, kick, grab, spin.

In the midst of her movements, there was something else...like a shadow in the back of her mind that was less visible the more she tried to find it.  It felt like...a weird mirror covered in smoke.

Left, right, left, right - but also...up, left, right, slash, retreat.

They were movements, but not hers.

Holy Grimm - it was Weiss!  Ruby could feel Weiss’ movements without seeing her!  Like tuning into a foggy radio frequency and barely being able to make out the words.

A new group of Beowolves pushed forward on Ruby’s left, but she sensed Weiss move to meet them - allowing Ruby to slide to the right to keep their formation intact.  The moment she focused on the immediate threats piled up in front of her, however, she lost track of Weiss.  Poof. Just like that, Weiss was gone. Not gone gone, but gone from Ruby’s new radar thing.

When a claw shot out of nowhere, Ruby snatched the creature’s arm and locked on tight with Thorn.  Swinging Crescent Rose around in her right hand, she angled the gun up and squeezed the trigger. When the Grimm disappeared with the crack of a rifle, she switched hands and used her stronger arm to pitch her weapon into the nearest group of enemies before immediately recalling it. In the meantime, she used Thorn to send a furious set of punches into a Beowolf’s chest before finishing it off with one swing of Crescent Rose.

In the itty, bitty, microscopic moment that followed, she tried to find Weiss again without turning around.  There was nothing but static on the radio this time, so she searched a little harder. How did she do it the first time?  Right now, there was nothing but static and -

“Ruby, watch out!”

Spinning to the left, Ruby ducked under a set of snarling jaws but tripped backwards while trying to get out of the way.  A pair of arms caught her and quickly shoved her back to her feet, but then a loud blaring noise broke through the air and everything stopped.  The Beowolves froze in place in a variety of different stances and positions - and when Ruby turned around, she groaned.

“Aww crap,” she mumbled when she saw the Beowolf swiping a heavy claw across the path where Weiss was standing.  

Ruby got so distracted trying to figure out how to sense Weiss again that she messed up. And then, when Weiss tried to help, a Grimm shot through their defenses and landed a critical blow. 

“That was my bad,” Ruby said, taking steady breaths while looking at the many Beowolves in front of her.  

In her mind, she replayed what just happened - the exact steps she took and the ones she should have taken to avoid this ending.  She’d been so focused on Weiss that she hadn’t taken care of herself.  And then Weiss had been so focused on trying to help that she hadn’t taken care of herself.

“That was partially my fault too,” Weiss admitted, walking calmly in front of the frozen Grimm.  “This is why we practice - to learn how to survive these situations while hardly thinking, only reacting.  Still, I’d say this was an excellent first attempt, all things considered.”

“You think so?” Ruby asked, her eyes flitting away from Weiss when the simulation faded back to the bright white room and the chill in the air began to lift.

“Why don’t you go see how we did?” Weiss asked in return, gesturing towards the podium at the far end of the room.  Grinning, Ruby jogged over to look at the screen - and her eyes widened in surprise.

“We made it over halfway!” she called out excitedly, glancing up while Weiss walked more leisurely back to her.

“Like I said - a tremendous first attempt.”

Biting her lip, Ruby looked at the screen one more time.  It was written there very plainly…five hundred and eighty-seven.  That’s how far they made it with no training together! Well, a lot of training together, but none that Ruby could remember.  

Weiss was right.  That was pretty awesome for their first try, but next time they could finish the entire thing.  Ruby knew it! Just a few changes and they’d be more efficient and deadly. Plus, if she hadn’t gotten so distracted trying to feel Weiss, they probably could’ve made it to seven hundred at least.

Feel Weiss like feel what she was doing, not like - not like that type of ‘feeling.’

But seriously, what was that?  Was that another partner thing? Were they that connected?  Because that was awesome.  If Ruby could figure out how to use it, the possibilities were endless!  Knowing where Weiss was without seeing her...Ruby could definitely use that to her advantage - like for winning every game of hide and seek.  Or for partner stuff! 

“Now that we’ve tried it once, are we allowed to strategize?” she asked, growing curious when Weiss laughed.  “What?”

“I’m sure you’ve already thought of at least ten ways to beat this,” Weiss replied.  “And I’m happy to hear them.”

“Not yet, but I will!”  

Were there patterns that could be repeated to catch all of the Beowolves before they moved too far into the clearing?  The most obvious answer was to run in circles, but depending on the location and intervals at which the Grimm arrived, that could be less efficient than a more ‘on demand’ type of style.  Plus, if one of them ran into a larger group and got delayed, it would throw the entire strategy off. But if they developed some type of alert system…

Breaking away from her rapidly-running thoughts, Ruby grinned when she found Weiss smiling at her.

“Sorry, totally spaced out there.”  

“No need for apology.  I enjoy watching you think.”

“Really??  That’s cool because I enjoy watching you sleep!”

The response was supposed to be nothing, but Weiss actually blinked in surprise.

“You watch me sleep?”  

Sensing the potentially embarrassing goof she just made, Ruby waved her hands and tried to backpedal away from the (true) statement.

“Not technically.  I mean, yes technically, but if you think about it….like, what is sleep anyway?  Who gets to decide what ‘sleep’ is or isn’t? I think that’s a good question, don’t you?”

Her masterful backpedaling was supposed to make Weiss forget what she just said - instead, Weiss laughed, raised one perfectly-arched brow, and opened her mouth to speak.

“I have an even better question though!” Ruby continued before Weiss could get a word in.  “How do I find out how many Beowolves I killed?”

That worked.  Weiss’ jaw snapped shut and her cheeks grew the cutest shade of light pink.  From now on, Ruby was going to call that color Weiss pink.

“If you look in the details…” Weiss mumbled, tapping a small icon on the screen and moving aside so Ruby could take a look.

“This is so cool!” she said while scrolling through the very detailed...details...the computer system had put together.  She could spend a ton of time going through this type of data!  Average Grimm speed. Average speed by huntress.  Longest Grimm life. Shortest Grimm life. Number of attacks per Grimm.  Average distance traveled. All the good stuff!

But listed at the top was exactly what she was looking for.  Two separate line items - one with her name and one with Weiss’.  Oh! Then the cameras could tell the two of them apart! Had that been programmed based on color scheme or some high-tech imaging software?  

Right, but at the top - total kill broken down by huntress!  Next to Ruby’s name, it said…three hundred and thirty-seven.

“Three hundred thirty-seven?” she said out loud before and blushing deeply.  Three hundred and thirty-seven Beowolves. That meant she’d won...the same number...of kisses. 

“That’s…a lot.”

Hearing Weiss clear her throat, Ruby turned to the side and caught a shy smile.

“That is a lot.  Congratulations.”

“You didn’t forget our deal, did you?” Ruby blurted out, blushing even more when Weiss’ cheeks turned a darker red.

“I didn’t.  But before that...are we done down here for the day?”

Biting her lip and looking around, Ruby felt her brow furrow with indecision.

“I don’t know...what’re we supposed to do now?” she asked, searching her mind but not finding an answer.  Should they run through the same simulation again? Try a different one?

“We can do whatever you want to do,” Weiss replied, reaching out and gently taking one of Ruby’s hands. 

“Normally, I train all day.  Is that what we’re supposed to do?  Or is there like...something more?”

“We still do much of the same.  We use the combat room.  We sit in the study and pore over strategies.  Not much will change from what you’ve been doing.  We’ll just be…”

When Weiss trailed off, Ruby grinned.

“Together?” 

“Yes.”  Relieved that Ruby finished the sentence, Weiss squeezed her hands.  “We’ll be together.”

That answer was more than enough.  That’s what Ruby wanted. She still wanted to be a huntress, but she wanted to be a huntress with Weiss.  It was the best of both worlds, wasn’t it?  Her goal was the same, but it had grown to incorporate her rapidly changing life and the rapidly changing people in it.

If someone told her a few months ago that she’d have her partner back - and her girlfriend back - have friends like Nora sending her messages, fight in The Beacon Invitational and go on hunts and learn about her past and everything that had happened recently...there was no way she would’ve believed them.

“Can we go to Beacon tomorrow?” she asked, pressing forward when she read the hesitation in Weiss’ eyes.  “Because I think I’m ready. For more pieces of my past.”

Beacon was important to both of them - it’s where they started their journey a long, long time ago.  It would be nice to spend a day reconnecting pieces of that past, if only so that Weiss wouldn’t be the only one holding onto those memories.  Plus, Ruby really wanted to hear more stories about the two of them when they were younger!

“Please?” she added with a pleading expression.  

Even though Weiss initially looked unsure about the idea, she put on a determined expression and nodded.

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”  

“Yes!” Ruby exclaimed, punching Thorn in the air in happiness.  “And can we make spaghetti for dinner tonight?”

“If that’s what you’d like.  We’ll need to go to the store first though.”

“But that’ll be fun too!” 

Grinning at their plans - which all sounded awesome - Ruby suddenly paused and gave Weiss a curious look. 

“When will I stop getting what I want all the time?” 

The question made Weiss laugh - the joyful sound echoing through the empty combat room.

“I’m not sure,” she answered with a shake of her head.  “But it probably won’t be any time soon.”

“Yes!”  

Now that was an answer Ruby liked to hear!  Now she needed to ask for everything she wanted sooner rather than later.  

“And can we go over my questions now?” she asked.  “You said we should wait until after the hunt, which was totally genius, but now is after the hunt...”

“Whatever you want,” Weiss teased, taking Ruby’s hand and pulling her towards the staircase.  “I’m just happy to be here with you.”

“Together.”  

When Ruby added the word, Weiss made a soft “mhmm” while they began their long climb back to the main floor of the house.  Their house. The one they’d lived in together. The one they were staying in together.

Ruby really liked that word.