It does not seem as if his anxiety levels are ever going to subside, but alcohol does seem like the fastest way to lower his inhibitions—not as if there were any other ways to do so right now. He downs the whiskey in one swift motion, and when he is offered the flask back again he takes a generous swig before capping it and returning it to his inner pocket. Another person handing out drinks passes by them, so he takes the opportunity to return the glass before he takes Apollo’s hand. Hugo looks up at Apollo with a timid smile on his face, knowing that he is as ready as he’ll ever be to dance with him, and if he feels as if his confidence is slipping there’s always some firewhiskey to replenish his needs. “Mr. Koval I’m holding you personally responsible if I do end up embarrassing myself.”
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@juanalmada1234 Currently all my WIPs are just existing in a constant state of ‘I’ll get there when I get there’, but I think I can mayhaps spare a drabble or two of James and Ruby bonding.
--------------
Ruby wandered the darkened halls of the Academy, her silver eyes glowing pale white in the dark, night vision filters activated to allow for optimal navigation. If she wanted to get somewhere in particular, she would access the building schematics, but this was not her plan.
It was the middle of the night, and she didn’t sleep. Sitting in her room for several hours at a time without the capacity to shut off her processing functions was a lot of nothing to process, and she had already finished reading all her books, comics, and magazines. She only needed to read them once.
She had successfully cleared the video games that she and Yang played, reaching 100% completion status on all the solo adventures she also enjoyed, and wasn’t sure what else she could do with herself.
Dr Shell was often awake at this hour, as was much of the R & D department. Ruby did not want to see Dr Shell, despite that being an irrational conclusion without any data to provide reasons as for why.
So she wandered, the long sleeves of a pastel pink sweater with little white roses on it covering her visible robotics. Not everyone knew what she was, after all. She was a top secret highly classified project, and by all rights should never be unescorted.
But she did not sleep. Others did.
“Ruby?” The deep timbre of Mr Ironwood’s voice filled the hall, the light from his scroll’s flashlight function falling over her as her pupils whirred and contracted. She cross-referenced his tone through her auditory databanks and came up with a 89.5% likelihood that he was confused, but not angry. “What are you doing up?”
“I don’t have a sleep cycle,” she chirped cheerfully at him, the internal glow of her pale eyes reflecting his scroll light unblinkingly. She tilted her head, smiling brightly. She always liked being around Mr Ironwood. He made Dad happy, and Yang liked him a lot, and Ruby had long ago decided those were good reasons. “Why are you awake, Mr Ironwood?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” he grimaced and rolled his right shoulder, the attention catching Ruby’s gaze to his right side. She saw a metallic hand poking out of his sleeve and her eyes widened. He had robotic parts as well?
She heard him make an aborted sort of sound, silver fingers flexing as she stared, awestruck. He placed his metal hand in the pocket of his fluffy dressing gown, clearing his throat. “Would you like to walk with me, Ruby? I’m just doing a patrol.”
“Okay!” She beamed and scurried up to join him, taking in the world through colourless night vision, monochrome shades of greys and blacks all she saw. “I was not aware that you had mechanical parts as well!”
“Victoria doesn’t give you access to medical files?” He raised a brow.
“Dr Shell prefers for me to compile my files on individuals myself, so that I can learn observation and notation.”
“That makes sense.” He stroked back his hair, grey streaks at the temple that were not dissimilar to Dr Shells or Ruby’s own silver hair gradient. “I’m heading to the rooftop, you wouldn’t happen to know the quickest way?”
Her eyes literally brightened as she accessed the building schematics. “It’s left-right-left-left-elevator to the top floor. Is the rooftop part of your patrol?”
“It’s a common destination.” He patted her shoulder, too light for her pressure sensors to pick up on it, so she took the visual cue that it was his goal. “I thought that you had a ‘sleep mode’ before?”
“ROSE-3 and ROSE-4 contained coding for a ‘sleep mode’, Dr Shell decided that it was unnecessary. My current form was designed to be constantly ready for missions, aside from when she is copying my databanks and I am in my charging port.” She informed gleefully, so glad to be upgraded from before.
“Ruby, you don’t have any missions yet,” he smiled at her, although as she analysed the expression, it cross-referenced as ‘sorrowful’. Right. She had forgotten, most people did not like her being cavalier about her previous models.
“Can I get some?” She asked hopefully. “Please? Dr Shell finally gave me a weapon to go with my blaster functions and I want to test its strength.” She held up her left hand, the shifting parts for a massive scythe blade stored in the casing of her arm. She was designed as a weapon to kill Grimm and she wanted to get started as soon as she could. It was her purpose.
James sighed and ruffled her hair, his right hand still in his pocket as they reached the elevator. “I’ll consider it, but you’ll be going out with the Ace Operatives, not alone.”
“Okay!” She liked working with the Ace Operatives. They had two new people she hadn’t met yet, but if Elm and Clover liked them, Ruby would as well. “Why the rooftops, Mr Ironwood?”
“... I like the stars.” He admitted quietly, soft elevator music playing. Ruby recognised it as a remix of Weiss Schnee’s newest single, the eldest Schnee daughter both heiress and songstress.
“Stars are fascinating!” She started reciting facts in an effort to please. “The current studies show that they are massive globes of burning chemicals, usually centred around a hydrogen core, and they’re actually billions of light years away. The light that reaches us here on Remnant is technically from the past.”
“It’s very cool,” he nodded, shifting in his fluffy bearclaw slippers as the door opened and they stepped out onto the rooftop, atop the spire of Atlas Academy. Altostratus clouds covered the sky, a thick mass of fog that was rolling in across the floating city as well. Ruby looked over the railings, amazed by the view. She felt so high up. Like Uncle Qrow could be as a bird, he could fly.
She wanted to fly.
Mr Ironwood joined her, elbows resting on the railings. “Shame. There was meant to be a nice Aurora Titanus tonight. Perhaps another time.”
“Can we come up here again tomorrow?” Ruby asked eagerly. “This is great!”
He blinked at her, before a smile that matched her father’s crossed his face. “We can. If the skies are clear, I’ll teach you some constellations, if you like.”
She accessed her databanks. Constellations: (noun) ‘ a group of stars forming a recognizable pattern that is traditionally named after its apparent form or identified with a mythological figure and/or story.’
“I would like that, Mr Ironwood.” Yang said that Mr Ironwood told good stories, after all. “And then we can discuss a mission?” She wanted to fulfil her programming.
A marvel like R.O.S.E-6 doesn’t come naturally. It takes time, work, and failed attempts. Dr Shell documented all of them.
warning: mentions of miscarriage (nothing explicit)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“This is Dr Victoria Shell, lead scientist on the R.O.S.E project.” Victoria talked into her recorder as she looked over the blueprints laid before her, all the notes given to her at the ready and an ample supply of material she could turn into this proposed android. “I have compiled all of Dr Polendina’s and Dr Watts’s notes on aura and prosthetic construction in order to streamline the process. Summer Rose agreed to donate a sample of her genetic material, which we will be attempting to infuse into this creation in order to access the Silverlight Mrs Rose can produce.”
She set her recorder to the side, rolling on her gloves. “Let’s begin.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No one was expecting immediate results with this. However, Victoria held herself to higher standards then the rest of the scientific cohort she had to put up with.
“Damn it all,” she scowled, jotting down a note to add exhaust vents for heat, and anything she could think of to aid the robot in successfully hosting an aura. This was the first one that managed to have even a partial transfer of aura, but even then...
“Attempt 1 of bonding aura to R.O.S.E-1 failed entirely.” She found her fire extinguisher, turning it on the lump of burning metal and synthetic skin. “Memo to me, investigate into aura-friendly materials for the next bot.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The second time was more promising. This time, the android opened its eyes.
Once she had determined that sensory processing and motor functions were in place, she allowed General Ironwood and his chosen carer for the bot to enter. “Alright. Preliminary testing seems to be running smoothly. The aura hasn’t been rejected yet, but we’ll be keeping an eye on the subject to make sure. If you want to try conversing, you’re free to. It responds to audiovisual stimuli.” If she didn’t know better she’d say the thing was curious.
Xiao Long strode by, moving to sit down on the chair beside the laboratory table, the android sitting with perfect posture and straight legs, the entire skeleton made of silver and black metal. Glowing pink lines of energy wove throughout the internal circuitry, pulsing gently with each blink of silver eyes.
Those same eyes focused intently on Xiao Long as he sat down, the robot blinking at him inquisitively, but without any fear. Of course there was no fear. It wasn’t real enough for complex emotions like that.
“Hi,” Xiao Long talked to it, resting his hand on the lab table. “Welcome to the world, Ruby.”
Victoria raised a brow and glanced at General Ironwood. “‘Ruby’?”
Ironwood smiled, a touch of grief in his eyes. “They would have called their daughter Ruby.”
“That’s not what I was asking.” Why were they naming it? It was a tool, a weapon- ah. Right. The famed Huntsman tradition of named weaponry. That made sense. “But I understand.” If Xiao Long wanted to name a weapon after a miscarried foetus then he was welcome to. Victoria was going to do her job.
The robot surprised her, however, the voicebox crackling to life in its throat. “... uuu-beee?”
Xiao Long’s face lit up. “Yes! That’s right, you’re Ruby.” He grabbed its metal hand, carefully. “I’m your dad. It’s great to meet you.”
“Voicebox seems to work well,” Victoria noted. “Appears to be able to roughly mimic other sounds.”
“She’s learning,” Ironwood sounded awed. “Dr Shell, this is incredible! She’s incredible.” His grin broadened. “A protector with a soul. Can you imagine it?”
She raised a brow. A soul? Technically, she supposed. “Don’t get too attached, sir. It’s still in the prototype stages.” Still, she allowed herself some satisfaction as her creation tried to mimic Xiao Long’s hand gestures as he held up a hand, placing its other palm against his and badly copying a smile as it managed the simple task.
So it could learn. That would be useful in the future.
But the future came too quickly. Soon enough, the ambulatory functions and speech patterns began to shut down, the robot’s eyes going vacant more and more often as the pink lines of energy that wove through its circuitry began to flicker and die, like an aura quickly approaching breakage levels.
One day, after speech had slowed to near-incomprehensible levels, and the robot had been unable to do anything more than blink, the light in those lines was gone. Xiao Long sobbed beside the laboratory table, until Victoria was able to find Ironwood and get him to shoo the other man out.
She truly didn’t get the fuss, it wasn’t like the robot could die. That was something living things did. Besides, this was an opportunity to rebuild, better than before. Now that she knew this was possible, she could improve.
She flicked on her recorder, speaking into it as she looked upon the empty shell of new potential, Xiao Long’s tears having left small droplets on the lab table. “R.O.S.E-2 showed promise, but the aura was unable to remain stabilised without a living host. However, this shows that we are getting closer to a more suitable recipient vessel.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attempt three was damn near perfect. She’d managed to make synthetic skin to cover the skull, all the way down to the shoulders, after a note had come back from some of the other scientists about how the bare metallic skeleton had looked creepy.
It seemed to work, apparently. Xiao Long had even taken to dressing it up.
R.O.S.E-3 lasted a few months, without any of the side effects that had been a hassle with R.O.S.E-2. Xiao Long got to take this one home, and introduce it to his daughter. Ironwood brought it to meet his trio of Ace Operatives, and they all found it impressive.
It was impressive indeed.
It was also completely incapable of being muted. Victoria was definitely going to install a mute button into any further models.
“So then dad and Mr Ironwood took me out into the park, can you believe it?” R.O.S.E-3 babbled incessantly as Victoria opened up the plate on the back of its head, checking to make sure everything was in working order. “I got to see snow, it was so amazing and pretty! They said it’s ‘cold’, do you know what ‘cold’ is, Dr Shell?”
“Yes, cold is a lowered temperature, caused by less kinetic energy in molecules which generates a lower amount of thermal energy.” She replied absently, adjusting a few wires to check the motor reflexes. The robot’s hand spasmed in answer. Good. “Cold tends to be subjective to people, and it’s common for endothermic reactions to feel cold as well.”
“Can I feel what cold is?” The android asked curiously, Victoria slotting the headplate back in and activating her semblance, drawing her fingertip over the boundaries of the seam as Cleave adhered the metal back together, repeating the process with the skin section that she’d cleaved off for access.
“Why would you want to feel that?” Temperature receptors would be so finicky to put in. “You have pressure sensors,” of the same standard as those in prosthetics. “That’s enough.”
“But- I’d love to know what wA R M H U G S F Eel like!” The robot’s voice wavered for a second, the sound converting into square waves as Victoria plugged a wire into the data port that rested in the android’s nape. This was the most important part of every check-up, as it allowed Victoria to download all of the robot’s memory files and back them up. It meant that every rebuild wouldn’t have to involve the drudgery of relearning basic things like walking and talking each time.
“I’ll consider it.” She should also consider weaponry for the next update. After all, the Silverlight was still, unfortunately, dormant. Until the damn bot managed to get that working, ordinary weaponry would have to fill in the slot.
“Really?” R.O.S.E-3 beamed, the alertness in its eyes phasing out for a moment as Victoria checked that the download was finished and unplugged the wire.
“Yes, yes,” she checked her scroll, checking to make sure that the data was being stored on her personal servers. She’d review them later and transfer them into the memory bank drives. “Now get out, you’re done here.”
“Thank you thank you thank you!” The android hopped off the table and hugged her tight, but not enough to injure her.
Victoria stayed stiff as a board, clearing her throat. “What are you doing, R.O.S.E-3?”
“Thank you for considering it. I really really want to know what things feel like.” Those big silvery eyes looked up at her, the android smiling with a simple-minded naivete.
“Stop hugging me,” Victoria ordered.
“Sorry, mother,” it smiled and let go, and Victoria stared at the robot, aghast.
“... What did you call me?” How dare it call her that? Someone had messed up programming a mind into this incarnation, clearly, and she was going to fire them.
“Mother?” The robot tilted its head. “Did I… do something wrong?”
Victoria schooled her expression into something calm and clinical, not wanting to scare the robot and cause a panic. It was still a robot, after all. One being programmed for combat capabilities. She refused to be murdered by her own creation.
“Of course you did, ROSE-3. I’m not your mother, and you shouldn’t see that sort of affection with me.” She affected a concerned expression, knowing that the robot was sensitive to the emotional displays of others. “Is your designated family not showing you the right level of care? I can have you reassigned if you want a proper mother.”
“No- wait!” The robot’s face screwed up in despair. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it! Don’t take me away from the Xiao Longs! Please? I love them.”
She tutted. “Robots don’t love.”
“But I-” The android floundered, hands curling in fabric of the long sweater they wore, a pastel monstrosity that only Ederne could have given it. “I didn’t mean to do anything wrong…”
“I know you didn’t.’ She kept her voice soft, as though she was actually addressing a person. “I’ll allow you to stay with them, but you need to keep quiet about all of this, alright? You don’t want them to know how bad of a mistake you made.”
The robot looked like it was going to cry, which was impossible. Victoria didn’t install anything that could work as tear ducts. “I’m sorry.”
“I know. Now run along. The general wants to see your progress.” Victoria had some calculations to do on that weaponry.
“I- oh. Okay.” The android hopped from foot to foot, and it still looked too much like a robot from the shoulders down. Victoria would rebuild it better next time. Make it look more humanoid. Add hair, maybe. That would definitely help the illusion of realism. After all, it was meant to be perfectly disguised as one of them.
“Run along.” She ordered, watching the robot bolt. Hm. Still clumsy. They’d have to better calibrate the next body with better proprioception. And get rid of this… behavioural quirk that had shown itself.
She waited until the room was clear and fetched her recorder, tucking a strand of black hair back into her bun as she made a note to herself. “R.O.S.E-3 called me ‘mother’ today. Clearly this is a defect in the current programming. I’ll reset it and inform the general that we had another aural shutdown. I refuse to have such a glitch persisting in my work.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Come on, Lieutenant!” The android beamed up at the tall woman, its short black hair falling over its eyes. “I can take it!”
“I don’t know...” First Lieutenant Ederne held her warhammer close, almost protectively. “I mean, Timber’s not exactly light.”
“This is a durability test, Ederne.” Victoria reminded her from the sidelines, Captain Ebi and Second Lieutenant Zeki standing with General Ironwood. “That’s the point.”
“Please, lieutenant?” The android bounced on it’s toes, and Victoria wondered where it learnt to mimic that gesture from. “I know I can do it! Dr Shell made me super tough!”
Victoria smirked in pride. She’d definitely upped the durability of the materials she’d used this time. She was quite happy with this iteration, so far. There hadn’t been another repeat of the ‘mother’ incident, so clearly R.O.S.E-4 had learnt from it’s predecessor’s mistakes, once it woke up.
She didn’t really get why Ironwood ordered her to wipe out the memory files of each failure, but she did it anyway. Besides, it gave her the leeway to go in and alter some of the ‘mother’ incident from the android’s files, just in case anyone else reviewed it. She wasn’t stupid. She knew that Ironwood and Xiao Long and the Ace Operatives were all bizarrely attached to the bot.
She didn’t understand why, but she knew that they preferred it to be treated as though it was actually a person, so she may as well cover her tracks whenever she put the thing in its place for trying to act too human.
She left her warnings in the robot’s personal files instead.
“Come on, Elm, she’s totally got this!” Ebi cheered on.
“I do!” R.O.S.E-4 grinned, giving Ederne double thumbs up. “Nothing else put a dent in me, not any of the bullets or anything!” It gestured at the destroyed training room in answer. They had tossed a lot at it, to test it’s capabilities. It did well. Victoria was quite pleased with how her engineering skills held up.
Ederne still looked uncertain as she hefted her weapon. “Well… okay. If you’re sure?”
“Do it!” R.O.S.E-4 smiled innocently up at her, Ederne’s face marred with her unease as she swung her warhammer up, over, and down.
Metal screamed and broke apart, warped by the force of the blow as all of Victoria’s hard work was destroyed in one swing, leaving a mess of scrap heap on the ground. Motor fluid began to leak out of the destroyed wires, coloured pink with metal dust for better mobility.
Timber clanged on the ground as Ederne dropped it with a gasp, her hands clasping over her mouth as tears sprang to her eyes, rolling down her cheeks as she fell to her knees, reaching for the damaged prototype and cradling it gently in her massive arms.
“No-!” Ebi was the first one to speak, but Zeki was the first one to move, crossing the room in long strides to place a hand upon Ederne’s shoulder, kneeling beside her as she stared at the broken mess in her hands.
Victoria realised what had happened to her creation and scowled. “Damn, that’s going to be a bitch to rebuild.” Still, every break meant a new chance to improve, so she couldn’t help but relish each destruction of her prototype, every chance to make something better of the faulty product.
Ederne flinched, her breath hitching as tears began to roll down her cheeks. Ebi huddled next to her, on the other side to Zeki, talking in low tones. “Elm, you need to let go. It’s going to be okay. She’s going to be fine. Just- let go of the body, Elm-”
Victoria noticed with some disbelief that the second-best operative in Atlas was beginning to tremble.
Honestly, some people. Ederne should get over herself.
General Ironwood finally found his voice. “Dr Shell- if you could go to your lab? We’ll bring Ruby in soon.”
Victoria nodded and walked past her failed creation, already dreaming up new improvements. She walked down the hall, her lab coat swishing around her as she pulled her recorder from her pocket and made another note. “R.O.S.E-4 wasn’t durable enough. Next time I’ll use a tougher alloy for the outer shell.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next time she got her project brought into her lab for repairs, the bot was in even worse state than when Elm had crushed it.
“What happened here?” She scowled at the ace operative, not recognising the face. Must have been the new recruit. Something Bree. Started with a H. Heidi? Holly? Something like that.
“Grimm, Doc.” Helen answered, looking very put out. “There were more than our intel said. She got split off from us. We couldn’t get to her in time.”
“I see.” She surveyed the damage. She’d be better off just scrapping it entirely and starting over. R.O.S.E-5 was in literal pieces. “Alright, thank you, Hayley. I’ll get started now.”
“It’s Harriet, actually-” The ace operative rared up like she wanted to fight.
“Yes, yes, now if you’ll excuse me?” She waved her off. “I have work to do.”
Hattie glared at her for a moment, before she was gone in a blur of gold lightning.
Victoria locked the door behind her, a very prominent section of her ebony hair streaked white, the stripe running through her bun as well. She adjusted her glasses and fetched her monitor, as usual, locating the android’s core and plugging it in so she could start the memory extraction. “R.O.S.E-5 was recovered from the field. Beginning reconstruction.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She thought her work was over. That the project she’d put literal years of her life into was gone forever, when Beacon fell. Her project had been destroyed in full view of everyone, tarnishing her name as a scientist and an engineer.
She was certain she’d lose her job for it. At the very least, she’d have nothing to do for a while, until she got assigned to a team headed by a different scientist.
She’d probably resign if that was the case. She refused to follow another’s lead when she’d spent so long blazing her own path. She had built a machine that would save the world, and it got utterly destroyed by a child in a death match. How humiliating.
She’d told Ironwood that R.O.S.E-6 was designed to kill Grimm. Damn him for insisting.
It came as a pleasant surprise when she got the message on her scroll, walking into her lab to see her creation laid out on a lab table, ready and waiting for her.
She smirked, flicking on her recorder. “The Vytal Tournament was a failure. Luckily, we have recovered R.O.S.E-6’s core.” She set the recorder aside and grabbed a blowtorch. “Let’s start over.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver eyes blinked open, and Victoria stretched, unplugging the wire from the port on the back of the robot’s neck. “Welcome back, R.O.S.E-7. How does it feel to be better than ever?”
With the first fight of the Vytal Tournament under team PSCS’s belt and a ship flying in from Atlas, Winter takes her team leader to see the shipment of extra Atlesian Knights arrive in.
And then Qrow shows up.
-----
Penny yelped as Winter grabbed her hand and practically skated on a line of glyphs, aimed directly at the Atlesian airship landing in the docking bay.
Winter slid to a stop, not a hair out of place as Penny was not so fortunate, landing flat on her face beside her. "Winter?"
"Shh, it's an Ace Operative!"
"Winter, I think I may have developed whiplash," Penny said with full sincerity as she sat back up, fingers brushing against her neural implant to make sure it wasn't scuffed.
Winter hushed her again, gloved hands folded behind her back and toe tapping in a way that Penny had realised was Winter-speak for 'bouncing excitedly in place'. "That's Clover Ebi, captain of General Ironwood's Ace Operatives. They're the elite of the elite, best Huntsmen in the world."
She looked at the man currently involved in a friendly discussion with his pilot, her eyes glowing faintly as her semblance logged his appearance into her mind permanently, ready to obtain more information. "He seems nice."
"You're hopeless."
Clover finished his chat and collected the Atlesian Knights, cracking his neck as he paused to look off the cliff's edge, letting out a long whistle. He turned back towards the school, spotting them there and giving them a wave, an easy-going smile crossing his face. "Hey, mind telling me where General Ironwood's camping out?"
"Of course!" Winter straightened her already-straight posture, white hair tied out of her eyes in a severe bun. "His airfleet is parked above the Emerald Forest, on the other side of the school. I apologise for Beacon not sending an official welcome party to greet you, so I took it upon myself to do so in my school's stead," she smiled, very proud of herself.
Penny waved back at him. "Hi!"
"Hidey-hi, I'm Clover. Nice to meet you both."
"Winter Schnee!" Winter announced herself. "My father's got a partnership with the military. In fact, I aim to join the Atlas Specialist Unit upon graduation, I've always admired the work of the operatives involved." Winter glanced at Penny as she stood up, Penny took a moment to pat down her skirt. "Oh. And this is my Huntress partner, Penny. And team leader."
"Salutations!" Penny beamed at him. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
“Can’t say I’ve had too many welcome wagons pulled out,” Clover grinned as he strolled down the path, the squadron of Atlesian Knights whirring in step behind him. Winter practically skipped to keep up with him, Penny walking alongside her. “So, you wanna join the Atlas military?”
“Absolutely, I would have gone to Atlas Academy if my father didn’t send me to Vale for ‘worldly experience’, Winter scoffed, before tossing Penny a very faint smile. “I’ve made do.”
“Well, you’re not required to have gone to Atlas to join,” Clover shrugged, lacing his hands behind his head as they walked down the Beacon Courtyard, the sky painted with pink and orange hues. “Still, I wouldn’t go locking in your future straight away. There’s a lot of options for Huntsmen to take, even in Atlas.”
“Well- yes- I’m sure,” Winter blinked, looking like he’d thrown a wrench into her carefully-laid plans. “But surely you must agree that Atlas’s military is the most efficient way of- OW!” Winter’s potential spiel was cut short as something round and metallic crunched against the back of her head, falling back behind her heels.
“Hey!” A gruff voice called from behind them, grabbing their attention. The three turned, the body of an Atlesian Knight held in the grip of a grizzled man and another sparking in a heap at his feet, Penny’s semblance analysing his somewhat ramshackle appearance and the weapon sheathed on his back, coming to the conclusion that he was a Huntsman returning from a mission. “I’m talking to you, fish bait.”
With that he tossed the headless Knight away, the neck sparking. Penny looked down, the Knight’s head dented inwards like a deflated soccer ball from where it had made contact with the back of Winter’s head, Clover raising a clenched fist to stop the other robots in their tracks.
Winter was already stomping forward. “Excuse me, do you have any idea who I am? How dare you throw something at me!”
“Whatever, ice queen,” The man placed a hand against her forehead and rudely pushed her aside, and Penny could practically hear the steam coming from Winter’s ears. “I ain’t talking to a Schnee.”
“You’re always so rude,” Clover rolled his eyes, hands on his hips. “Would it kill you to be nice, Qrow?”
Penny glanced between them. They knew each other?
Qrow scoffed and cocked his head, a pale red stare piercing through Clover. “So: running errands for Ironwood again? Delivery boy’s a real downgrade from ‘best huntsman in Atlas’.” Qrow made air quotes, sarcasm dripping off his tone.
“Couldn’t resist the opportunity, Vale’s gorgeous this time of year,” Clover gave him a grin, teal eyes hard.
Qrow snorted and squinted at him, placing a foot on a destroyed Knight and stepping his foot through it with the screech of metal. “None of your lil fan club around, boy scout?”
Clover’s grin slid off immediately. “You know you just destroyed Atlas military property. Right?”
Qrow looked down at the robots and stepped back, faking a look of surprise. “Ohhhh, I’m sorry.” His grin came back, and this time it was cutting. “See, I mistook this as some kind of... ‘sentient’ garbage.”
A muscle clenched in Clover’s jaw. “Thanks for checking up on things. We’ll be on our way now.”
“You Ace Ops think you’re so great, huh?” Qrow sneered.
“I mean, ‘ace’ implies that, if I recall correctly.” Clover gave him a mock salute, the fake smile back on his face
“Yeah, big talk coming from a bunch of attack dogs.” Qrow crossed his arms. “Buncha sell-outs and bootlickers, just like ol’ Ironwood.”
“I’d be careful about what words you’re going to say next, Qrow, you’re not painting a good picture of yourself.” Clover warned, his fists clenching where they rested by his hips, the leather creaking from the force
“Careful, huh? Big talk coming from you lot.” Qrow blinked innocently at Clover, his smile sly and mocking. “How’s Atlas’s newest prototype, by the way? Still on the sixth shot or did it need an upgrade already?”
“If you don’t shut up right now,” Clover’s hand rested on his weapon. “Then I’m gonna knock you off the edge of that cliff.”
Qrow pushed his hair out of his face. “Make me.”
Clover took the bait, his weapon in hand and being slung towards Qrow faster than Penny could make out. It was only when she saw the familiar glimmer of razor string that she recognised the thin wire Clover used, specifically to yank Qrow towards his waiting hook.
Qrow barely managed to slide under it, skidding past the other huntsman in time for the back end of Clover's weapon to shoot out, the harpoon clanging against the weapon Qrow carried on his back.
Qrow smirked and pulled it out with a flourish, catching the massive broadsword with his left hand like it was a child's toy. He grinned at Clover as the fishing hook and harpoon reeled neatly back into Clover's weapon, Clover giving him an unimpressed look.
Qrow attacked, spinning into a series of strikes that were all blocked with enough force the impact blew Penny's hair from her face. She watched, barely able to keep up with the speed of the Huntsman, but ready to replay it later to herself at a slower speed.
Winter stomped back over, fists clenched at her sides. “The absolute nerve- how DARE he treat me like that?”
“Hey, Penny, what’s going on?” Penny turned and waved at Yang, inviting her over.
“Greetings, Yang! These two men have started a brawl!” She informed her, looking back in time to see Clover dodge a literally earth-shattering blow.
“Some- some vagabond gutter rat started attacking an esteemed specialist of the Atlesian military!” Winter crossed her arms. “And the roach threw something at me!”
“Wait- did you say vagabond?” Yang looked past Penny and her lilac eyes lit up with childish excitement. “That’s my uncle! HI UNCLE QROW!”
“Of course you would be related to that cur,” Winter grumbled.
“Yeah, he’s kind of a disaster.” They watched Clover’s fishing hook tangle around Qrow’s arm and send him flying into Beacon’s colonnades. “Who started the fight?”
“Mr Clover,” Penny tilted her head. “Is that unusual?”
“Yikes. Qrow must have said something really bad to piss him off.” Yang crossed her arms. “Ten bucks he wins.”
“I- what?” Winter puffed up. “Fine! Ten on Captain Ebi.”
Penny tilted her head. “They’re coming back.” She could tell by the path of destruction they were carving into the grounds.
Clover punched Qrow across the face, Qrow shooting him at point blank range before Clover managed to hook his line around the broadsword and throw it away. The chance at victory was short lived, as at that moment Qrow twisted his hand, causing him to drop his own weapon. They two began to brawl as Yang and the rest of the students goaded them on with a chorus of ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’, punches, kicks and elbows being traded before another voice made them both freeze.
“What is going on here?” General Ironwood snapped as he walked up, Ruby skipping along behind him.
Clover looked up like he’d just gotten caught with his hand in a cookie jar, holding Qrow in a chokehold as Qrow had his teeth sunk into Clover’s forearm. “General Ironwood, sir.”
Ironwood pinched the bridge of his nose with a heavy sigh. “What happened.”
Clover dropped Qrow and shoved him away like he burnt him, picking up his weapon and neatening his uniform up. “He started the brawl, sir.”
“That’s not true, boy scout here made the first strike.” Qrow stretched out, rolling his shoulders as he hunted for his weapon.
“Is that true?” Ironwood looked tiredly between them.
A muscle twitched in Clover’s jaw. “... Yes, sir.”
Ironwood looked around, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth as Yang waved cheerfully at him, Penny mimicking her to be nice. Ruby hid behind the General, peeking out at her uncle with worried silver eyes, her gaze flicking to the destroyed robots as her mouth gaped in horror.
Qrow’s grin fell off his face, pale red eyes burning a hole into Ruby’s head as he glared directly at her. “Brought the whole circus with you, James?”
Ironwood stepped to the side, cutting off Qrow’s line of sight to Ruby. Penny and Winter glanced at each other in confusion, Yang looking away as her shoulders slumped, robotic hand coming up to play with a few strands of her golden hair. “What are you doing here.”
“Came to see my niece fight in the tournament, why else would I be here?” Qrow tossed a mocking salute at Clover as he walked past Ironwood towards Beacon Tower, the squad of Atlesian Knights following him with two of their numbers already gone. Penny couldn’t help but think it was wasteful. Surely those robots could have done good protecting people instead of being destroyed so carelessly?
“What a wanker,” Winter muttered, distracting Penny from the arrival of Ozpin and Goodwitch.
“I’m sure he’s not so bad,” Penny hiccupped, finally making the connection between his comments on makes and models and sentience, and how Ruby looked at him like she was guilty for existing.
Winter gave her a disbelieving look. “Right. Well. I hope that Captain Ebi doesn’t get punished for taking such a correct action.”
“He started a fight, however?” Penny pointed out.
“That hooligan deserved it!”
“Probably did.” Yang stretched, the yellow-painted metal of her arm gleaming in the setting sunlight. “Anyway, I’ll have that tenner whenever you’re ready, Winnie.”
“What? Absolutely not. They had a draw, at best.”
Penny gave Ruby a comforting wave, mouthing ‘salutations’ at her to try and cheer her up. Ruby gave her a tiny smile back, staying safe behind General Ironwood to avoid Qrow’s ire. Personally, Penny agreed with Winter. Qrow absolutely deserved to be taken down a peg for what he was saying about Ruby.
It was like he didn’t think she was as human as the rest of them.
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In which Ruby 6.0 tells Yang that she has been allowed to go to the Vytal Tournament (extra context here)
Ruby was escorted back into her apartment by Mr Ironwood, waving cheerfully at him as she stepped into her home. It was a departure from the white-blue-grey tones of Atlas Academy, decked out with browns-golds-yellows of wood panelling and warm fabrics.
At least, Yang told her they were warm. Her temperature sensors only gave her an ambient reading of the general vicinity, they didn’t translate the sensation of hot or cold.
“I’m home!” She announced, removing her jacket to hang it up on a coat rack like a normal person did. The black metal of her arms reached from the middle of her biceps to the middle of her forearms, the ball joint of her elbows clearly visible along with the pink stripe of circuitry that ran up the sides. The metal was designed to store her blaster on the right and the mechanical scythe in the left.
She was 94.71% positive that she ‘liked’ having Moonlight’s Cull as a weapon, Yang had told her that it was like their Uncle Qrow’s scythe. Their Uncle Qrow didn’t appreciate when Ruby called him Uncle Qrow, however, so she refrained from doing so out loud.
She knew he hated her. She had calculated eight probable lines of reasoning for his negative feelings towards her.
“Hey sis!” Yang stepped out of the kitchen, her half-cape hanging from her left shoulder and tattered slightly at the edges. It had been a gift from their Uncle Qrow. He loved Yang.
She wondered if what she felt about his clear favouritism was ‘hurt’, or if that was too complex an emotion for her neural databanks to process.
She would store that query away, as usual, but especially right now. She had news to give. News that made her feel ‘excited’? “Mr Ironwood has said I can go to the Vytal Tournament!”
“That’s great, sis!” Yang cheered, picking her up in a tight hug. Ruby hugged back, easily matching her strength. “We’re going to Vale, that’s gonna be so cool!”
“You want to accompany me?” Ruby looked at Yang with bright silvery eyes, the entire reason for her existence. Her purpose in development was to unlock the power of the silver eyes and use it.
“Duh! You think I’m letting my sister go to another kingdom for a fighting match without me?” Yang slugged her shoulder, before shaking out her hand with a whistle.
“Are you alright?” Ruby’s pupils whirred slightly, her cameras focusing on Yang’s hand as she analysed it for damage.
“Yeah, totally fine, just forget how tough you are sometimes,” Yang grinned. “It’s a good thing.”
“Yes! My current durability is a direct response to Attempt 5.0’s lack of the same, which caused the Grimm to tear her apart on the fourth field test with the Ace Operatives!” Ruby recited; the note on her previous dismemberment lodged in her databanks along with all the missives on the other failed attempts.
“Yeah- don’t do that again, okay?” Yang’s smile altered, twisting oddly at the edges.
“Affirmative!” Ruby saluted, wondering what had caused Yang’s expression to change. Failures were all part of the process to put her together. With each new failure, she came back better then ever. She didn’t understand why everyone else always took each failure so hard. It wasn’t like she died like a person did. “I will not make a similar mistake a second time!”
