Archive of Our Own ^beta

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In hindsight, maybe they’d been a bit hasty in deciding that Ruby could get over her anger and hurt at Jaune for what had happened to Penny.

It’s not like they hadn’t expected her to upset about her friend’s death; they all knew that Ruby and Penny had been very close. Obviously Ruby would need some time to come to terms with what had happened.

But the problem is, they just don’t have very much time. Not with their recent return from the Ever After and all the responsibilities that came with being huntresses, not to mention the looming threat of Salem being still out there, with two of the four Relics that she needs. There’s no time for anyone to be moping around these days-it’s an all hands on deck situation.

Plus, Ruby has always been pretty quick to forgive and let things go. Since they’ve arrived in Vacuo she’s given no hints that she’s still angry with Jaune-perhaps the two of them aren’t as close as they used to be, but that’s pretty understandable. After everything that they went through in the Ever After, it’s too easy for her friends to assume that Ruby isn’t holding onto any hard feelings.

At least, until their latest mission, when Ruby narrowly misses taking Jaune’s head off with her scythe.

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Ruby is strong.

Yang is well aware of this, as much as she teases her sister for being a pipsqueak. Her little sister has been swinging a scythe around since she was big enough to hold one. The two of them have sparred together many times over the years. She knows better than anyone that Ruby is more than capable of holding her own in a fight.

Still, Yang has never quite appreciated just how much her sister was holding back when they practiced until she’s frantically trying to stop Ruby from attacking Jaune. As her sister lunges forward, Crescent Rose at the ready, Yang grabs her weapon arm, and even pulling with all her strength, she’s just barely able to keep a hold of her sister. The scythe misses Jaune by only a few inches.

“Jaune, get out of here!” she shouts urgently, yanking Ruby back away from him. Yang doesn’t have to look to know that Blake and Weiss have stepped in to help, leaving her free to focus on-whatever is going on with her sister. “Ruby, what the heck are you doing? Knock it off!”

Keeping her grip firm on Ruby’s arm, she turns her sister to face her. Yang isn’t sure what she expects to see, but the look of absolute fury on Ruby’s face stops her in her tracks.

This isn’t Ruby. It can’t be. Something strange is going on here.

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Since the fall of Atlas, Salem has clearly been busy, hard at work creating new and more insidious types of Grimm to wreak havoc on the remaining kingdoms of Remnant. Fighting back against them has taken just as much research as physical training, scouring old texts and relying on scant observations to try to put together the pieces of how to take down their new enemies.

For Weiss, the new focus on research is a welcome one. Pouring over books in the library at Shade Academy is reminiscent of her time studying back at Beacon Academy. With each new discovery, each time she manages to put the pieces together and figure out what the deal is with their latest foe, it feels like a victory. Like she’s managed to make some progress in what had started to feel like an impossible fight against Salem and her accomplices.

When she’d had the thought that perhaps this latest Grimm was amplifying the anger and rage of its targets, Weiss had felt proud of herself, anticipating the triumph of another mission accomplished, another chance for things to go right.

What she hadn’t anticipated was that any of her teammates might be susceptible to that manipulation. After all, they’d all learned their lesson back when they’d encountered the Apathy, right? They know how to handle this kind of situation.

Now that she’s watching an enraged Ruby barely able to be held back by Yang, and she and Blake are attempting to rush Jaune to safety, Weiss suddenly isn’t so sure that that’s the case after all.

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For the most part, Ruby has never really considered herself to be much of a hothead. She can be overly excited sometimes, and has a tendency to wear her heart on her sleeve (although she’s mostly left that behind since becoming the leader of team RWBY), but anger has never been a go-to emotion for her. Growing up with Yang as her older sister, she’s seen what can happen if you let your temper get the better of you.

But since arriving in Vacuo and-well, everything that’s led up to going there, if she’s being honest-she’s been finding it harder and harder to keep her feelings of resentment and anger at bay. Penny’s death still stings like an open wound, and she can’t help but still feel furious at Jaune for what happened, for not finding a different way, something, anything. He’s apologized endlessly, and Ruby has been trying to pretend that everything is good between them whenever they have to work together. Deep down, though, she knows that their relationship will never be the same.

And the constant pressure and stress of trying to predict Salem’s next move and help with the refugees from Atlas isn’t helping. It’s harder to swallow down her feelings when the tension is impossible to escape. Ruby knows she’s been short with her teammates lately, but she’s running out of ways to stay in control.

Taking the mission was probably a bad idea. But they’re short on hunters and huntresses and the Grimm have been everywhere lately, attracted to the increased population of the city, so she tries to reassure herself that everything will be fine, to shake off the doubts, and heads out with the rest of team RWBY.

But none of that matters anymore, because there is no controlling the rage flowing through her, wiping out any other feelings or thoughts besides anger and the need for revenge. It feels good, to leave the self doubt and fear behind. Even if she could try to resist it, why would she? This is the best she’s felt in a long time.