#maiden!ruby

My one token reservation with this is that making a Silver Eyed Warrior also a maiden would probably make them massively OP buuuut I like the idea so we’re just going to ignore that

(semi-related fun fact: the first time I got to the end of V3, I thought the Big Thing Qrow was going to tell Ruby was that she was one of the maidens.  I was so confused when he started going on about Silver Eyes instead.  My brain had been hooked on the theory ‘Ruby has special magic, there are four seasonal maidens with special magic, her mom was named Summer’, and did the math from there.)

(so yeah I’m definitely down for a maiden!Ruby AU)

and here’s a little thing bc I have no self restraint apparently

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Overhead, big clock gears tick ominously.  If Ruby wasn’t so nervous, she’d wonder how they worked.  Maybe she’d even find a way to climb up to explore them.  But, no.  She sits, swinging her short legs back and forth, on the sofa in the waiting room to Professor Ozpin’s office.  Through the ajar, big, mahogany doors, she can hear the adults murmuring in the office itself.

“We’re absolutely certain it’s her?”  Ozpin is speaking.  Not in the friendly voice he usually speaks to Ruby in, but in his solemn, ‘something is wrong’ voice.  “Before we go any further, I want us to be sure.”

“Yes,” that’s Uncle Qrow.  Ruby wishes he and Dad would walk out of the office and take her home already.  She wants to go home.  “Ruby used the magic.  She had the flames around her eyes.”  Qrow sighs heavily.  “No one saw.  This time.  We need to be careful, so no one ever does.”

Dad finally speaks up, “And there’s nothing we can do about this?  She’s just a child.  She’s too young—she shouldn’t—how could she even inherit the powers?  She’s six!”

“Much still isn’t known about how the transfer between maidens work,” Ozpin says calmly.  “We know there’s an age limit, but that only refers to the elderly.  It would seem six years of age is not too young to inherit a maiden’s powers.  For all intents and purposes, Ruby Rose is now our Summer Maiden.”

“So, what do we do now?” Dad sounds so defeated.

“We protect her, to the best of our abilities.”

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>In this au, Ruby does have a connection with Summer (like the Avatar and their past lives in atla).  Summer has technically always been there, it just takes Ruby a bit to reach out to her.

>after ^this conversation, Ozpin, Qrow, and Taiyang decide that they need to hide Ruby away.  Salem knew Summer was the past maiden and her daughter could have been in her thoughts when she died, so keeping Ruby with Taiyang and Yang puts them all in danger.  Taiyang hates this plan, but he eventually agrees to it anyway to keep his daughters safe.