Chapter Text
Ruby Rose jumped forward, and hooked her scythe around the Beowolf’s neck. She landed, slid, and tugged along the shaft of Waning Rose.
Her hands slid along the shaft, bringing the head of the scythe—and the head of the Beowolf—with.
Four moves, four dead Grimm.
She wiped some dirt from her cheek and hopped forward to the pool in the middle of the clearing. Just as the report said—a Grimm spawning pool had formed in the woods. It was a new one, too, with how little of the Grimm-stuff filled the pit in the ground, and how little of the surrounding area was desiccated.
And with how few guarded it—three Beowolves and an Ursa.
Any of their Hunters could have cleared the site in an afternoon—but only Ruby could have done this last part. The most important part.
She stepped to the edge of the pit, and then slid forward. Her feet
thunk
ed against a rocky outcrop, the only thing keeping her from falling into liquid annihilation.
Ruby Rose focused, and light spilled forth from her good eye. Only a few seconds of concentrated output, and the spawning pool was no more.
Mission accomplished,
then. She smiled and hopped out from the pit.
The little town she’d found herself guarding for now wasn’t far. Thirty minute’s walk put her back within good graces of civilization, even if it was rustic compared to… even just a few minutes ago.
Around this time, Yang would be…
…Ruby pushed open the doors to the bar and stepped in. It wasn’t busy this early in the afternoon, but it wasn’t empty.
“Hey!” she called.
Yang turned on her barstool, and gave a small wave. “Rubes. Back already?”
Ruby flicked right under her eye. “Yeah. It’s like cheating with
these
peepers.”
Yang snorted.
“What about you?” Ruby asked.
Yang just… sighed. She shook her head, took another drink, then leaned back further. “It… it was just guard duty. Stood on a rooftop while they moved some Dust.”
The last two years had been running everyone ragged. Yang… Yang was feeling it most of all.
“Come on,” Ruby said, leaning against her. “Yeah… things are a lot worse for us now. Nobody’s gonna argue that. But you know this is the worst it’s ever been for her, right?”
“Ruby…” Yang said. She tilted her head. “...Look. I get it. You’re gonna give me a rousing speech and get me pumped up to fight the big fight. And—you know I love ya’ for that, really.” She sighed. “But can you just let me complain for a while?”
Yang’s hand found its way to Ruby’s shoulder.
“...Alright, Yang. Try me—
hey!
”
She was cut off by Yang raising the hand and flicking the side of Ruby’s head, launching some bangs over her eyes.
“It’s just… ugh, you know I miss her.”
There were… a lot of different people that her could have been. “Blake?” Ruby hazarded a guess. “You know what she’s doing is important.”
If she could finally kill that thing, then…
“I’m being selfish here, give me some slack,” Yang waved her arm to dismiss it. “...I miss having good shampoo. I’ve got the one bottle, and I’ve watered it down twice already. And the coffee here sucks.”
Ruby winced. “Yeah… creamer just expires too fast.”
“And!” Yang straightened up. She was actually grinning now. “And. My. Arm. Sure, it works, but you know how it feels when I can’t get good oil?”
Ruby smacked the table. “Yes, oh my god! Do you know why I stopped using Crescent Rose as much?”
Her mouth opened. Then it shut. “No?”
“I can’t get good grade oil for her anywhere anymore, so I loosened her up for mechashift and you know what—she squeaks. Every time.”
Yang snorted again, and kicked back. The barstool rocked onto only two legs, then settled again. “Really? That’s why? I just thought you wanted a bigger gun—shit, that’d annoy me too, actually,” she said, more distantly, as if she was in thought.
“I know! It’s the worst!”
“Now I know you’re feeling me,” Yang said. She laughed, and scooched her chair over—enough to lean closer to Ruby, and wrap her up in a hug.
For some reason, the
most
comforting part of it was her metal arm, cold and jagged, pressed against Ruby’s side.