Work Text:
It was a common misconception to believe that you knew your Soulmate as soon as you saw them-that simply coming into contact with your fated partner was enough to spark the beginnings of something new.
This was the reason that Weiss’ father had even allowed her to a place like Beacon. Because for all his money, and connections, he still had been unable to find the one for Weiss anywhere in Atlas. Not that he did so for any pure reason, or out of concern for her wellbeing.
The sooner he knew who they were, the sooner they–and everyone they knew–could be in his pocket.
Weiss herself didn’t believe that she would really find that person here, yet it was still a better break from her father and mother than anything else might have provided. If she was still anywhere in Atlas then she was sure that there would have been no end to her influence.
And it was these thoughts exactly that distracted her in what would come to be known as a pivotal moment in her life. It was rather silly, or disastrous, in hindsight, she would admit. So distracted by her own pondering that she didn’t notice that she was about to run into a fellow student before their day had really even begun.
It didn’t help that one of her Dust containers hadn’t been properly stored within its casing, causing the following collision, and fall, to make it explode.
But she never felt the heat.
“Forgeworks.”
Instead, something, or rather, a lot of small somethings, flew by her head and formed a shield to protect her from the small-sized explosion. The small objects took the form of a five-petaled flower, red in colour, and almost as large as she was tall. A hand on her back steadied her as the shockwave created by the dust made the nearby surroundings shake.
“Woah!” A sharp voice spoke from behind her. “Oh brothers– I am so sorry, I should’ve been watching where I was going–!”
Weiss blinked as the shield–made of petals –dissipated until it began flowing back to the one who deployed it. By the time she turned around, the petals had mostly vanished, and she only saw the last few seemed to touch what was showing of this girl’s skin, before vanishing into her body.
The girl in question was a fair bit shorter than herself, with an… interesting ensemble. If a mix between classic Huntress garb and a biker gang could be called interesting–it would certainly turn some heads, if nothing else. Her hair appeared to be cut short, almost in a pixie style, but the hood that she wore made it hard to tell.
But her eyes…
Weiss blinked, realizing that she had been staring, and silent, for far too long.
“No, no.” She waved a hand–she was a Schnee , not immune to admitting fault–and sighed. “I was lost in thought, and it seems my Dust wasn’t properly stored, the fault is fairly my own.”
The girl cocked her head to the side for some unknown reason, and Weiss would admit it reminded her of a lost puppy, but quickly nodded her own head in acceptance. “I guess that makes sense; Dust shouldn’t just explode on its own like that.”
“Indeed.” She dusted off her clothes, already scowling at the mess. “Regardless, I believe I should introduce myself; my name is Weiss Schnee, a pleasure, Miss…?
The girl stared at her after hearing her name, eyes searching her for a moment before a big smile graced her features.
“Ruby Rose-Br–” She coughed into her hand, pausing for a moment before continuing. “Sorry, I’m Ruby Rose; nice to meetcha!”
She held out a hand for Weiss to shake, and despite herself, Weiss actually took it. There was no reason not to, even if she usually wouldn’t shake hands with strangers, something told her that this was a good thing.
Besides, she had saved her once from a much worse scenario, surely she could return the favour?
<I|I>
Her hair held a red streak.
Why was it red?
Red?
She had met so many people on her first day–
Ẃ̵̭̞̲̎͌̇̋̚H̵̬͉͗̒͗̿́̈́̏Y̷̮̲̿͒̽̃ ̵̡̥̰͎̯̟̲͐W̴̧̡͎͈͖͓̙̖͆̐̔̓̌͆͐͝Ä̸̞S̶̱͇͎͐̈́͊ ̷̣̹̬͔̞͍̑̐́̋̃̚I̶̢͉͗̍͐Ţ̵̗͖̙̳̬̟̽͑͒̈́͂̚̕̕ ̸̲̝͈̰͖́͐̀̑̚R̶̖͓͓͓̲̿̈̂̽̽̂E̸̡̯͎̗̰̲͈͋̈́̓͗͜D̴̢̞̤̬̦̠͎̎̂?̴͇̪̭͈̆̓
<I|I>
“That’s a rather big Nevermore.” Weiss grimaced as she looked up at the large creature. Although she knew that they would have to fight it, she found it hard to tighten her hands around Myrtenaster.
Yang, whom she had only just met the night before, snuck a look at her sister. “Hey, Rubes, think you can just eye-blast the thing?”
“I’m sorry, can she what–” Weiss tried to ask, but was interrupted by Ruby herself.
“I can try, but from this distance, it’s gonna be kinda hard.” She nodded nervously as her eyes began to glow with a soft silver hue.
She had noticed the day before, the way burn marks seemed seared into her skin just around her eyes, and in the shape of rudimentary wings, no less. As the glow intensified, Weiss began to feel like a headache was brimming just behind her own eyes, it ceased a moment later–just as the glow did.
“No good.” Ruby said with a slight hitch to her voice, an odd tone for someone who had seemed so sure of herself when they had met. “I’m out of juice.”
“Out?” Yang blinked, turning to her sister. “How can you be ‘out’?! Mom said–”
“I know what mom said, but–!”
They quickly devolved into some kind of hushed argument, one that escaped her and Blake–Yang’s new partner, apparently. Although, the ravenette did sneak glances at her every now and again.
After a few more moments, Weiss had enough of the pointlessness of the argument and decided to butt in.
“I don’t know what you were trying to do, or what you wanted to do.” Weiss snapped and tried not to feel particularly bad about it. “What we need to know is if there’s another way to kill this thing.”
Ruby hesitated, looking at Yang for a moment before she turned back to Weiss with a small smile.
“Do you have any Gravity Dust?”
<I|I>
“And you’re sure this is going to work?” Weiss asked as her partner was perched atop one of her Glyphs.
“Eh, maybe.” Ruby made a so-so motion with her hand. “Now that the others showed up, getting on it will be easier, but actually doing it–”
“Without a weapon?” Weiss inquired, knowing that she had yet to see Ruby with any tangible form of defense or offense. Ruby only shrugged, which irritated Weiss to no end.
“Crescent still needs fixing.” Ruby hummed, adjusting herself one final time. “But I can do other things.”
“Such as?”
“Guess you’ll find out, yeah?” Ruby grinned at her, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Weiss huffed, and in the last moments before the launch, steeled herself. “If you’re not sure, you shouldn’t be doing this. So, if I’m sending you up there, I want you to finish it.”
Ruby’s eyes widened, and she took a moment to process the words, but she nodded in the end. Weiss wasn’t trying to stop her, just make sure that she knew what she was doing.
She did wonder, though, had Weiss’ eyes always had those specks of silver in them?
In the end, it didn’t matter, as Ruby was launched just seconds later. She felt the wind passing by her face, ripping her hood back and revealing the large scar that ran down the back of her neck, just before everyone below lost sight of her.
Faster.
She willed her Semblance to carry her upward. The rose petals that she had come to know so well wafted off her body, gathering beneath her feet and speeding her up. It wasn’t something that could last forever, she knew that, but it would be enough.
Landing on its back was tricky work, but not impossible–like she had done it before, a long time ago. The petals beneath her disappeared, and others took their place. Ruby raised her hand above her head and pulled .
“Forgeworks.”
She felt lightheaded as her body seemed to burst with waves of red. If she was on the ground, some might see her and think that it was waves of blood, but they would be wrong. The new petals that she summoned coalesced above her head, taking the form of a dozen familiar swords.
She let her hand fall, and so to did the swords–each one penetrating the Grimm’s body, but were unable to kill it.
That was okay; her goal had been something different, after all.
“Increase.”
The Grimm beneath her seemed to lurch for a second but didn’t quite falter. She supposed it shouldn’t have been a surprise, given its massive size. But, it was definitely gonna drain more out of her in a second.
“Increase.”
It faltered again, but this time; it actually began to fall.
“Increase.”
It fell faster.
“Increase.”
And so she continued until the beast was plummeting toward the earth at a rapid speed.
That was the thing about mass; the more of it that you had, the greater your velocity would be.
When she was mostly sure that there was nothing more she could do, the girl began to run across the back of the Nevermore until she was on its wing. Continuing across the spine until she was right at the tip, and ready to jump. When she did, however, she hadn’t expected the beast to give one last, futile flap of its wings. Maybe it was spite, maybe it was desperation, but whatever it was, it threw her off as she made to leap.
And then she was falling, without enough time to concentrate more petals around her feet, and too tired to try anything else, she wondered if that was simply the end for her.
Then again, she didn’t yet know how stubborn the Ice Princess could be.
She grunted as she hit something hard , and just continued to lay there for a second. It was unmistakable that she was still floating, but she wasn’t exactly sure how. Taking a breath, and opening her eyes, she saw that she was on one of Weiss’ Glyphs, and floating upwards.
When she reached the cliff edge and stumbled onto solid ground again, she was immediately pulled into a hug by her sister. The blonde blur didn’t even give her a chance to breathe as she both berated and comforted, her.
Her eyes weren’t on Yang though, they were on Weiss.
“You… caught me.” Ruby said as if that was a total shock to her.
Weiss raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms as she turned away.
“Some student I’d be if I let my partner die before the first day.” She huffed. “And… besides, I owed you from yesterday.”
There was a moment of silence, and then a quiet–” Thank you.” –from Ruby. As Weiss turned back to her, Ruby wondered if it was possible for anyone to have a prettier set of eyes than her partner.
<I|I>
Her eyes held blue.
Why were they blue?
Blue?
Ẇ̸̨͓̩ͅa̴̗͌̌̔̀͑̃́ş̶͕̓̽̇̓̑̚ ̷̹̲̐̀̑t̷͙̥̱̥̟̼͌̿͐́́h̷͙̱̦̻̲̆̄̉i̶̡̨̯̻̱͋͐͒͜s̵̢̥̩͍̽ ̷̺̽̂͐̈́w̵̛͈̙̰̪͎̹͒͆͜͠h̸̯̮̝͔̝̩̔̉̈́͆a̸̜̣̗̘̳̠̲͆̇̀̉̒͗͝t̴̯̼̼̠̗̰͐̑̈́̅̕͠͠ ̴̨̞̤̈́h̴̦͈̥̻̲͍̫͛͗̐̿ȩ̶̭͂̕r̷̡̳͑̇͘ ̶̹͍̯͇̽ṕ̵̤͕͉̈́͜a̷̢̢̢̛͚̟̼͇͛͊̀͠r̶̮̗̺̟̱̍̅͐͌͑ͅḙ̴͕̮͑͑͛n̶̨̛͕̖̜̺̂̏͂̃͗t̶͖̐̾s̷̠̭̮̦̗̏̑̒ ̴͓͈̄̐̀̇̀̊̌ͅh̷̗̥̣̳͕͎́͌̂ȧ̸͓̬̣̙̯͈ͅḓ̶͒̓̔̚͠ ̷̣͙͔̺̈́̑̕ṫ̷̡͚̯̫̲̘̑ͅa̵͎̯̝͔̪̝̽͌͌̊́͝l̶̻̮̮͐k̷̢̥͎͓̩̟̅̈̈́̿̾̈́e̵̛͔̘̼̤̯͋͑̄̿̑̚ḋ̶͓̮̻̫̞͍͍̆̅̏̍͠ ̵̹̰̼̉̏͊͑͒͜ä̴̹͑̈́b̴̡̛̝̞̯̅́̚͠o̴̡̺̗̦̲͇̱̊͆͛͛̕ų̸̥̣͇̺̭̀͐t̷̖͐?̴̛̣̯͖̙̟̮̬̓͛̍͝
<I|I>
“Ruby–” Weiss took a sharp intake of breath as she watched Ruby remove her shirt.
It had been… a rough few days, to say the least. Pyrrha and Blake were unconscious, Jaune was… gone, the students of Beacon were either dead, or scattered, and–
But seeing the large scar painted across her partner's back seemed to only make her feel worse.
“It’s old.” Ruby answered the unasked question as she shrugged a pajama shirt on. “I was, like, six, I think. Yang and I went into the forest, and there was something out there… I jumped in front of her without thinking.”
“You protected her.” Weiss realized.
“I could have died.” Ruby laughed bitterly. “Almost did, too.”
“You can’t blame yourself for that.” Weiss walked up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Without you, Yang might have been worse off, or–”
“You think I don’t know that?” Ruby pushed her hand off, barely managing to keep from raising her own voice. Her parents weren’t home, and she hadn’t been able to get in touch with them either, but that didn’t mean she was trying to wake anyone else up.
“I–” Ruby sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Sorry, it’s a touchy subject.”
Weiss nodded, fully familiar with that herself. “I understand–”
“No, you don’t.” Ruby sighed as she sat down on her bed. “But I want you to.”
She patted the bed beside her, and Weiss sat, albeit a bit reluctantly. They were silent for a time, with only them, and the light of the moon filtering through the window across the room.
“My moms weren’t just a pair of soulmates.” Ruby began, surprising Weiss a fair bit. “There was a third; my dad, a member of their team. And they were happy, I guess. I don’t have a lot of memories about him.”
Weiss nodded, it made sense; she had likely been quite young when he had died if what she was implying was correct.
“They went on a mission, the four of them, and… only two came back.”
Weiss pulled the girl close slowly, almost instinctively, letting her know that she was still there.
“Dad and my Uncle Qrow didn’t make it.” Ruby shook every few seconds, a hiccup escaped her as she paused. “Mom came back without her legs… and Yang’s mom came back missing a hand. I don’t know what they did, or where they went–but I know that they’ve hated Professor Ozpin ever since.”
“The Headmaster?” Weiss questioned–speaking for the first time since they had begun this talk. “Why?”
Ruby shook her head. “I don’t know, but I think it’s time to finally ask.”
Weiss didn’t say anything–she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say. Did Ruby want Weiss to comfort her? Did she just want someone to listen? She didn’t know, she wasn’t good at this sort of thing–none of her family was, except for Klein, perhaps.
She tried to focus on anything but what she saw next, it wasn’t the time, or place, to address such a thing. In fact, she had been putting it off for months at this point, and she wasn’t sure if Ruby knew, or not, but–
It was almost impossible to unsee the white tips that had grown into Ruby’s hair.
“I don’t want to turn out like that.” Ruby said suddenly as if reading Weiss’ mind. “Like my moms, like dad, I don’t– I can’t lose people like that.”
I wouldn’t survive it , went unsaid by both of them. And it hurt Weiss, deeply so. Ruby was young, hell, Weiss wasn’t much older. As much as she was sure that becoming a Huntress was what she wanted out of life, she had never expected to begin grappling with death so soon–before her career had even started.
But there was another implication behind her words.
“You… You knew ?” Weiss croaked, feeling her hold on Ruby tighten just a bit.
The redhead let a wet laugh escape her. “It’s kinda hard not to notice the white in my hair or the silver in your eyes, Weiss.”
Weiss reddened, feeling sufficiently called out. Her ears tinged pink and heat rose to her chest without warning. There were other things they should be talking about, like regrouping, healing, or their next steps.
They discussed none of those things, however, as Ruby lifted her head and looked into Weiss’ eyes with her own colours mixed in. It was like looking at a snow-dotted sky, the clouds bringing the weather just barely being parted by the sky beyond.]
It was a beautiful thing, and Weiss felt her heart flip because of it.
“C-Can I…?” Ruby asked, face closer to hers than ever before, and Weiss shivered . Not due to the words, or anything else, but due to the electricity that seemed to flow between them in that moment–as if a link had been established between their souls.
“I–” Weiss hesitated for just a moment. “No.”
Immediately, she regretted her wording, as Ruby’s face fell and she began to pull away.
“Right, sorry.” Ruby laughed ruefully. “How could I think that we–”
“No!” Weiss hissed, grabbing Ruby’s retreating hand in her own. “I just… not like this.” She gestured between them. “We’re tired, haggard, and nothing makes sense. I want it to be something special, something we’ll remember fondly.”
Ruby’s eyes widened, the fear of rejection still present in her eyes, but fastly retreating. She nodded, not fully believing it herself. It was late, after all, and any more pushing would just make her more confused. So, instead, she tried a different approach.
“Will you… stay with me?” She gestured to the bed, which made Weiss pause, again. It was an innocent ask, with no motives behind it, but still…
She shook her head, this was Ruby, if she needed her; then she would be there.
“Of course.” She smiled fondly. “If that’s what you want.”
Ruby nodded quickly, and Weiss stifled a laugh. The two laid down shortly after–Weiss with her arms wrapped around Ruby as the girl pressed her back against her. They talked about nothing and everything, and time someone escaped them as they drifted off into slumber.
There would be no nightmares that night.
<I|I>
Metallic clicks echoed through the home.
“Summer, wait–”
“The door’s unlocked, Raven, which means the kids are here and–”
“It’s three in the morning , if what we heard about Beacon is true, then we shouldn’t be waking them–
“I’m not going to–”
They both paused as Summer opened the door to Ruby’s room, equally shocked that there seemed to be another girl with Ruby in her bed as they both slept the morning away. Summer, for her part, just stood there, watching the sight with unthinking eyes.
“I… am I seeing things?” Summer whispered softly, a ghost of a smile playing on her face.
“No.” Raven hummed. “I see it too.”
It would have been hard to miss the petals that floated around them both, ready to jump to their defense at a moment's notice. And if some of them were white, well… it would make for some prime teasing material when the sun rose, that was for sure.
Then again, maybe this was something that only they should enjoy–just the two newly fated.
<Omake>
“Hah!” Yang jumped from her seat. “I win! I got a soulmate first!”
“Wrong!” Ruby slammed her hands on the table. “My soulmate is clearly better, and she’s rich!”
“Oh yeah?!” Yang huffed, pulling Pyrrha and Blake close, the former of which waved humorously. “Well I have two soulmates, so take that!”
“Ladies, ladies.” Raven held up a hand. “You both make great claims, but my soulmate is actually married to me…”
None of them could quite argue that point.
“...and her robot legs are super fucking cool– ”
Raven was silenced as her own wife, and daughters proceeded to throw various fruits at her.
Just another day in the Rose-Branwen family household.