Chapter Text
It was simple. Cruelly simple for what it was.
Soul words work easily enough. When you’re born, there’s a series of words somewhere on your body. The first words your soulmate will ever say to you. When they say it, of course, the words are gone. You forget about it, and it’s left to fate. Except when the two of you finally fall in love. Then the words reappear… and you know.
A lot of these are innocuous (my sister was introduced to her wife with “Are you using that ketchup?”). Some are actually kinda funny (my parents said the same words to each other at the same time). But mine?
Mine is just one word. One stupid red-lined word on the back of my bicep. A color. A gemstone. A name, I hope. Just one little word.
“Ruby.”
~
Ruby. Ruby, ruby, ruby. I’ve been pouring over that word since I can remember.
I tried wearing a lot of red clothes, in the hopes that someone referred to the shade as such. Just my luck that my favorite color turned out to be golden yellow.
I wanted to get some kind of jewelry that had a red gem in it, but nothing really looked good. Every piece I found was so boring.
Why was I so stressed about it, anyway? Soulmates were a natural thing! At least, they usually are. I just have to wait it out.
So I waited. I waited through my early years. I waited through combat school (which I failed). I waited all the way until I was on the airship to Beacon Academy with the knowledge in the back of my mind that most soulmates meet before they’ve graduated from college and now I figure maybe I screwed up my own destiny by forging my acceptance letter and I’ve put myself onto an inexorable path of loneliness forever and-
Oh. That’s why I was so stressed.
Stressed enough to throw up on this airship.
I don’t even get airsick…
~
And so my legacy at Beacon Academy has begun. The dried throw-up of Jaune Arc shall remain on the edge of this trash can for hours to come.
Twice in one day. All of a sudden, I feel compelled to reimburse that poor girl whose shoes I got puke on.
...Isn’t that her over there? She seems-
Whoop. She’s gone. Looks like her poor friend’s been left all alone to… fall and knock over someone’s luggage.
Never seen either of them before, but I think that white-haired one looks familiar.
“Schnee Quarry?” Ohhhhh my God that’s Weiss Schnee! Heiress of… Gah, she’s even prettier up close! Wonder if I could get on the same team as her someho-
OH HOLY CRAP!!
...Red Girl just exploded! She exploded!!
Oh, no wait. She’s fine. Guess that was just Dust. Lotta the stuff. I guess it makes sense.
That girl with the black bow seems to be pissing her off, though. Weiss is leaving in a huff… and so’s she. Looks like Red Girl is alone again, and on her back. I can hear her dejectedly muttering “Welcome to Beacon…”
This isn’t right. It’s her first day at Beacon, and nothing’s going well for her. I need to help out, somehow. The least I could do, I think as I approach her, is give her a friend.
“Hey.” I extend my arm, offering to help her up. “I’m Jaune.”
Red Girl’s quiet for a second, giving me this intense look that goes right into a smile. And as she takes my hand and stands up, I understand why.
She only said one word. Just one little word.
“Ruby.”
~
Ruby. I like that name. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. I can't quite place it, but... something about it puts a smile on my face.
“Aren’t you the guy that threw up on the ship?”
Aaaaaand the smile’s gone.