Chapter Text
Second Try.
A wide and vast array of weapons were displayed around Ruby by the spirit in the tree. The spirit told Ruby that she could take any of them and become a new person. Someone better than Ruby Rose, at least that's the implication Ruby heard. Ruby walks from case to case as the blacksmith spirit speaks to her though Ruby could barely hear her voice through the fog in her mind.
Ruby comes to a stop in front of a case. Inside the case was Miló and Akoúo̱, The shield and javelin of her dead friend Pyrrha, the friend she wasn't fast enough to save. Earlier the spirit asked Ruby what she wanted and Ruby couldn't bring herself to answer. But now staring at the reminder of her first real failure she had only one answer.
“I want to have been faster!..” Ruby cries.
“I want to have been smarter and stronger, strong enough to protect Pyrrha, and Penny… and everyone else!...” Ruby could hardly see through the tears as they dropped all over her hands. She just couldn't handle the guilt anymore, she still hears the sound of Jaune begging her and Weiss to save Pyrrha, she remembers the way his words had spurred her on as she had raced to save Pyrrha.
At the time there was very little doubt in Ruby's mind that she'd make it in time, she'd always been fast after all. The night that Beacon fell, however, the only thing Ruby was fast enough for, was to make it in time to see an arrow pierce her friend's heart.
“Hmm, hmm, hmmm.” The sound of a voice she hadn't heard in awhile humming lightly, jarred Ruby from her thoughts. Raising her eyes from her tear soaked hands, Ruby sees that the glass case holding Miló and Akoúo̱ was showing her a vision. The vision showed Pyrrha humming lightly to herself as she traversed Emerald Forest, which Ruby could only assume was during the day of their initiation.
Seeing Pyrrha alive causes Ruby's heart to lurch in her throat as she reaches forward instinctively and shouts her name. “Pyrrha!” And with a flash of white light, Ruby was no longer standing in the near empty void surrounded by weapons, Instead she was surrounded by bright green trees, staring down the startled face of her long dead friend.
“Hello there.” Pyrrha calls out kindly despite the wary look in her eyes. “I didn't notice your approach at all.” The wariness in her expression quickly gives way to concern as she notices the tears staining Ruby's face.
“Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?” Pyrrha questions her warmly as she lightly jogs towards Ruby. Of course Ruby couldn't bring herself to respond, she couldn't even begin to comprehend what was happening to her. This didn't feel anything like the vision the lamp had shown her. Pyrrha was really there right in front of her, every one of Ruby's senses were telling her the same thing, that this was real.
Pyrrha's really right there in front of her, alive! There was only one thing her mind could think to do, and consequences be damned, that's what she did. With another shout of “Pyrrha!” and a burst of her semblance Ruby threw her arms around Pyrrha in one of the tightest hug of her life.
“This doesn't make any sense!” Glynda Goodwitch, headmistress of Beacon Academy remarks to Professor Ozpin, headmaster of said Academy who sits besides her. Ozpin gives a light hum in response as he sips his coffee.
“Miss Rose was nowhere near Miss Nikos merely a moment ago, and now they're partners. I know Miss Rose is fast but there wasn't a hint of her semblance until she hugged Nikos. What happened?” Ozpin's lips curl upwards around his coffee cup.
“I wish I could say that I have the answer to your question, Glynda sadly I'm just as flummoxed as you are.” Ozpin takes a long sip of his coffee. His eyes focused on the tears in Ruby's expression.
“I'm more concerned with what's got Miss Rose so distraught.” Glynda's eyes narrow in concern at that. As far she could tell Ruby Rose seemed perfectly fine in combat scenarios, so she doubts she's scared of the Grimm. The only thing that seemed to somewhat rattle her was social interaction, even then Glynda didn't think her social anxiety was bad enough to bring her to such tears.
Glynda's brow furrowed in confusion as she realized another oddity. As far as she knew her and Pyrrha Nikos just met, so for someone with social anxiety to latch on to a total stranger seemed strange to Glynda. Similar thoughts run through Professor Ozpin's mind as he worries he jumped the gun in offering Ruby a spot in Beacon at her age.
She had reminded him so much of her mother Summer Rose, that perhaps it had blinded him to how much she still had to grow. Thinking of Summer made his grip on his cup shake slightly, the last thing he wanted was to fail Ruby like he had failed her mother.
Being hugged to death by a distraught girl she just met is not exactly how Pyrrha expected her initiation to start but here she is. Thinking back, Pyrrha believes she recalls her name.
“It's Ruby right? That's your name isn't it?” Pyrrha questions the shaking girl as she lightly pats her shoulder. The girl in her arms shaking goes still after the question. She stays there frozen for a second or two before leaping back with a look of horrified realization. She adverts her eyes from Pyrrha and mumbles a few words inaudibly.
“I'm sorry. What was that?” Pyrrha smiles as warmly as she can, slouching her posture so she can go eye level with the shorter girl.
“I don't know what came over me, sorry for the hug out of nowhere… oh and yeah I'm Ruby” Ruby wipes a few tears from her cheeks and finally brings her eyes to Pyrrha's as silver meets green. Happy to have made headway with the troubled teen Pyrrha decides not to push Ruby for answers quite yet.
“I don't know about you Ruby but I haven't locked eyes with anyone else yet, so I guess that makes us partners huh?” Once again Ruby's eyes widened in realization, to Pyrrha's dismay she began to hyperventilate.
“Alright that's enough! You were off base Professor. Miss Rose is much too young for this. Look at her, this level of panic attack is no joke.” Glynda exclaims in startled concern.
Ozpin wasn't far off from agreeing with her; the look in Ruby's eyes was truly haunting. Staring at her eyes though he couldn't quite give in to his desire to pull her from the initiation. Their silver nature was far too valuable to the war with Salem to simply let them go to waste. Though two years in the grand scope of things wasn't that long of a wait.
Salem had been dormant for years if this was just a year or two ago Oz wouldn't hesitate to give Ruby more time. However after the attack on Amber, he just wasn't sure they had the time. He truly shared Glynda's concern, seeing Ruby like this broke his heart, especially considering her resemblance to Summer, but…
“Give her some time, Glynda. Let's see how Miss Nikos deals with the situation. Perhaps she can help Ruby with her panic attack. If she can, such a skill will prove invaluable in her career as a Huntress.“ While there was some logic to his reasoning, he wasn't sure Glynda bought it, judging by the look on his friend's face, he knew he didn't.
It's only when Pyrrha says that they are now partners that Ruby fully understands the gravity of her situation. Somehow, the Tree has sent her into the past, Pyrrha's really alive again. Which means that also Penny is as well, and now that she's in the past Ruby can change things, she can really save her lost friends.
Now the Ruby of months past would've been thrilled by the chance. But following the catastrophic failure that was Atlas and Mantle. She couldn't help but believe that any other of her friends would've been a much better choice to send back to save them. There's just no doubt in her mind at the moment that Ruby will just screw it up. The weight of the responsibility and fear of her inevitable failure cause her to hyperventilate severely.
Why couldn't it have been Weiss, or better yet Jaune he was always a much better strategic than Ruby ever was, surely he could devise a plan to prevent the Fall Of Beacon and save Pyrrha.
Ruby though… thought that keeping the truth from Ironwood was the right move, only for the lies to drive him insane. Ruby thought that turning Penny into a human would save her, only for newfound mortality to lead to her permanent death. If there's anything these experiences told her it's that Ruby interfering with the past and changing things is only going to make things worse. Maybe Pyrrha and Penny will die earlier, maybe Jaune will join them, or Weiss, or Blake, or Nora, or Ren or Yang…
Her spiraling thoughts are stilled by the comforting weight of Pyrrha's hands on her shoulders. Ruby's pupils dilate as her eyes flicker up and down her friend's expression. Technically, she reminds herself, she and Pyrrha aren't friends anymore, not yet anyway. It's probably best if they don't become friends. Actually Ruby reckons safer for Pyrrha most definitely.
“Breathe Ruby, slowly in and out… in and out.” Pyrrha soothes her softly and as patiently as humanly possible.
“It's perfectly natural I'm sure for someone of your age, no matter how gifted, to feel panic at her first real combat scenario.” Ruby couldn't help the sardonic chuckle that breaks through her panic. The idea that Pyrrha thought she was some inexperienced kid frightened at her first dangerous combat while understandable from her perspective was just way too far off.
She might be a kid but Ruby's far from inexperienced at this point. This isn't even close to her first dangerous combat, or anywhere near her most dangerous. Ruby's grown quite familiar with dangerous situations, far too familiar especially with their consequences.
Pyrrha frowns slightly in what Ruby reads as confused hurt, at the mocking tone of her chuckle. Ruby flinches at the sight.
“Sorry, ‘wasn't mocking you I swear.” Ruby takes a deep breath finally getting a grasp on her panic. She still didn't have much faith in her abilities to change things for the better, but with such an opportunity she couldn't afford to back away from the challenge. Lack of self-confidence be damned.
“Thanks Pyrrha. I'm ready for the rest of the initiation. Promise.” Ruby gives Pyrrha a determined look, that she hopes comes close to the kind she used to give so easily. Pyrrha didn't look overly convinced, not that Ruby could blame her. Pyrrha closed her eyes and breathed in slightly before giving Ruby a supportive smile.
“Ok then partner. I threw my spear to stop Jaune's fall. We'll have to make our way over to him to retrieve it, and hopefully support him in finding a partner.” Ruby saw a flash of disappointment in Pyrrha's eyes. Knowing what she knows about her and Jaune, Ruby can't help but feel guilty ruining their chance to be partners.
Though considering she has the responsibility of saving Pyrrha from her fate, being partners with her this go around is probably the best thing going forward, Ruby hopes so anyway.
Weiss couldn't help but smile as she walked through the Emerald Forest, she couldn't stop herself this initiation was the perfect chance to prove herself. The best part is she won't have to worry about stupid energetic kids with red tipped hair or annoying blonde idiots, because she was going to partner with Pyrrha Nikos.
First of course she'd have to make sure she's the first person she makes eye contact with, but Weiss was confident that would happen, it just had to. She was a Schnee after all, only the best for a Schnee. Against her will the thought came from her father's voice which Weiss couldn't help but flinch at.
Wading through the bushes Weiss shakes her head to rid herself of distracting thoughts like her father. The sounds of grunting from above her causes her to look up. To her horror she comes face to face with the blonde idiot. He's hanging from a tree because of a spear piercing his hoodie.
Weiss closes her eyes and pinches her nose in frustration hoping beyond hope to herself that he had already partnered with someone so she can get out of teaming with him. She looks back up at him to see him giving her a pathetically hopeful expression.
“Hi… can you help me down… please?” Her gaze travels from his face to the spear holding him up instantly recognizing it.
“That’s Pyrrha's spear.” Jaune chuckles nervously.
“Yeah she probably figured I didn't have a landing strategy… She was right of course.” Jaune looked down in shame at that last admission. Weiss quickly squashes the sympathy his expression inspired within her. Her eyes widen as an epiphany comes to her.
Pyrrha will assuredly make her way here to collect her spear, which means Weiss can still somewhat salvage the situation. She might be stuck with this blonde buffoon, she shudders involuntarily at that, but it seems she can still end up on Pyrrha's team after all. She just had to wait for the champion to come to her.
Pyrrha and Ruby make their way towards Jaune in a somewhat tense silence as Pyrrha observes Ruby to make sure she's not going to have any panic attacks. From what she can tell it seems like her partner has gotten her emotions under control but it's hard for Pyrrha to move past the look of distraught she had seen in the girl's eyes mere moments ago.
Something Pyrrha notices that surprises her is the way Ruby carries herself. She's seen warriors twice Ruby's age carry themselves much worse outside of battle. If Pyrrha had to guess from her stance and the look in her eyes, she'd say Ruby has as much if not more combat experience than even herself which has her even more confused and worried about what had caused Ruby's prior state.
“We should be nearing the location where Jaune fell.” Ruby's expression lit up with excitement only for it to give way to weariness quickly.
“We should pick up the pace then.” Ruby declares as she switches from a walk to a jog. Pyrrha puts her concerns about her new partner to the side to focus on the situation at hand, she sprints to catch up.
She and Ruby find themselves at Jaune's location quickly.
To Pyrrha's surprise Jaune wasn't alone, Weiss was with him. When they saw her they both smiled, Jaune's with a nervous smile, and Weiss with a confident one. I'm Weiss's grip is Miló, the white-haired girl strides towards Pyrrha with Miló outstretched. Weiss clears her throat as she comes to a stop in front of her.
“Your weapon, I kept it safe for you.” Similar to their conversation in the locker room. Weiss's kindness hid an ulterior motive, Pyrrha could tell by the look in her eyes she was more interested in having a champion fighter on her team than she is in being friends with Pyrrha. She didn't get the feeling Weiss meant it maliciously or anything like that but it still upset her.
Pyrrha accepts her weapon with a polite smile and thank you. Pyrrha turns towards Jaune with a more sincere and excited smile.
“I see you, like me, have already found a partner. I hope it doesn't mean there's no room in your team for two more.” Jaune's nervous expression is replaced with relieved excitement.
“Of course, you can join, the more, the merrier is what my mom always told me.” Jaune chuckles never as he smiles at her before turning his attention to Ruby at which point his enthusiasm only grew.
“Hi Ruby. It looks like we're going to be teammates isn't that cool.” Ruby responds to his enthusiasm with a muted smile, causing Jaune to frown worryingly. Jaune calling attention to Ruby causes Weiss to scoff.
“Oh for crying out loud, not you again. First I'm forced to be on that team with the blonde buffoon, but now I'm in a team with a brat. What a farce.” Both Jaune and Ruby flinch with hurt, Ruby's more stark than Jaune's. Seeing the looks on their faces causes feelings of protectiveness in Pyrrha.
“Excuse me...” Pyrrha interjects sternly but tries her best to keep anger out of her voice.
“But there's no call to speak to either of them that way. Please apologize!” Being scolded by Pyrrha makes Weiss jump back and give her a startled look. If it were any other situation Pyrrha might feel bad for startling her at the moment she was too annoyed however.
Weiss looks down pensively, leading Pyrrha to wonder if she's reflecting on her actions, before a look of realization settles on her face. Weiss takes a deep breath before turning to give the other two frustrated but contrite looks.
“Pyrrha's right of course. I am sorry, I don't have a lot of experience with…” Weiss seems to struggle with the right way to describe Ruby and Jaune. “Normal people.” Weiss bows her head slightly. Pyrrha glares, judging her sincerity, after a few seconds Pyrrha determines that she means it. Pyrrha's glare softens to a relieved smile.
Jaune chuckles nervously, while Ruby's eyes slightly glaze over as if her mind is elsewhere.
“That’s okay, this is a stressful situation.” Jaune says somewhat awkwardly, while Ruby continues to silently stare off into the distance. Jaune notices this as his worried expression returns. He nudges her softly with his elbow saying her name. She jumps slightly before quickly looking at Jaune then turns her expression to Weiss as if she's seeing her for the first time today.
“It's okay Weiss we're good.” Weiss smiles in response, looking like it pained her slightly before nodding her head in acknowledgement. Glad to see things are getting better before the four of them Pyrrha clears her throat.
“Well shall we make our way to our goal then… team.” She adds, team at the end of her sentence somewhat cautiously. The other three straighten up before turning towards her and nodding. Pyrrha smiles, maybe this team will work out better than she first expected.
‘“Alright Professor, It would seem that with help of Nikos Miss Rose has collected herself. However, I believe we should continue to monitor the girl's mental state vigilantly.” Ozpin doesn't respond verbally to Glynda's statement instead he gives her a slight nod. He never takes his eyes off Ruby, simply observing her for any sign of mental collapse. Satisfied that she's found her bearings at least for the moment he moves his attention to Pyrrha.
When he first heard that the famous Mistral champion was coming to Beacon he wondered if should begin to prepare her for joining his efforts against Salem. Then Amber was attacked and he knew he had to find a suitable vessel to inherit the power of the Fall Maiden.
His instincts told him that Nikos might work, she undoubtedly had the combat skill to use the powers and hopefully protect them better than Amber did. Of course none of her skills would matter if her heart was in the wrong place, or if she lacked discipline. So he knew he'd have to use her time in his school to test her.
After what he just witnessed he now had little doubt her heart was in the right place. The kindness she showed to Ruby was quite heartwarming, but what impressed him even more was the patience she gave Ruby. His eyes drift to Weiss momentarily, certainly she would not have handled it with such grace. Ozpin shakes the distracting thought from his mind to focus on Pyrrha.
Everything he had just witnessed led him to believe in his first instinct about the Mistral champion. He would have to keep his eyes on her for a bit longer before making his final decision of course. His mind wanders back to the sight of her holding a panicked Ruby in her arms. Such kindness was truly a gift to the world.
A cold shiver as he realizes his plan for involving her in his centuries long war with Salem had a high chance of robbing the world of the gift that was Pyrrha Nikos. He doubted the cold grasp around his heart would leave anytime soon after all, when it came to defeating Salem everything and everyone came second…
They had to.
Ruby couldn't help but observe the other three, Weiss, Jaune and- Ruby takes a deep breath fighting off tears -Pyrrha, assuming this wasn't some weird vision, and she wasn't going to find herself back in the void with the blacksmith, she truly did end up back in the past on initiation day.
This go around she wasn't going to be on team RWBY, she might not even be a leader anymore, which as far as she is concerned is for the best. This will be her new team this time, most likely anyway who knows what kind of twists Ozpin has up his sleeves. Thinking about Ozpin causes an even deeper pit in her stomach to form. The weight of her situation felt unbearable.
She would almost definitely have to save him as well as Penny and Pyrrha. That would probably be the right thing to do, however, she couldn't help but think of Oscar. The farm boy turned world protector. If Ozpin doesn't die in the fall, he doesn't link consciousness with Oscar, meaning he and Ruby will probably never meet.
Better for him of course, that Ruby had no doubt of. She couldn't help but think about their friendship though, the one they formed through vigorous trials and tribulations. As tough as those times were for Ruby, his friendship was a boost to her motivation. She knew she wasn't the only one in the group that had felt that way.
After all, Oscar was intrinsically tied to Ozpin, someone they all had strained feelings on, and despite this link with Oz. When Oscar disappeared after his argument with Jaune, there was very little doubt in everyone's minds that without the boy there was a hole in their group. That alone speaks to the bond he had formed with the group. Selfishly, Ruby doesn't want to change things in such a way that she doesn't meet him, even if it was better for him as well as the world.
She pushes those thoughts to the back of her mind, she couldn't let herself swayed by her selfish feelings and wants. Besides she needs to focus on her present, the here and now, which is initiation. She won't be able to change anything if she doesn't actually make it into Beacon.
Ruby returns her attention to what's going on around her, the group is following Pyrrha's lead in pursuit of the forest temple where Ozpin placed the relics that the initiation was built around. Now that she's no longer distracted by thoughts of the future, Ruby realizes that they're going the wrong way and that she knows the right one.
“Ah, Pyrrha…” Ruby calls out, her voice shaky as the concept of being around Pyrrha, alive, was still hard to grasp. Pyrrha, as well as the other two turn to look at her from her position at the back of the group. Pyrrha and Jaune both look at her kind interest, while Weiss visibly tries to push down her annoyance.
“We're heading the wrong way, our objective is this way.” Ruby points in the direction of the forest temple. Pyrrha opens her mouth to respond before she can, Weiss snaps at Ruby instead.
“Why didn't you say something earlier you dunce!?” Ruby flinches, she forgot how mean Weiss was back then. Ruby prepares herself to apologize, she doesn't get the chance as Pyrrha cuts in.
“Weiss! Be nice!” Pyrrha scolds the heiress once again. Just like last time, Weiss's posture crumbles at Pyrrha's ire. Pyrrha lighters her frown to a smile as she turns her attention back to Ruby.
“Thank you for pointing us in the right direction, Ruby.” Pyrrha punctuated her gratitude with a tilt of her head, signaling for Ruby to lead on. Ruby flinches, taking a reflexive step back. She might be feeling a bit better about the idea of trying to fix the past, but she can't be a leader, not after how badly she messed up in her original timeliness.
Pyrrha's eyes furrow in concern at Ruby's reaction. Pyrrha walks over to Ruby with purpose before squeezing Ruby's shoulder reassuringly with a gentle smile on her face. No words need to be exchanged as Pyrrha takes charge once again, leading on in the direction Ruby had pointed.
Ruby lets out a sigh of relief at not being forced to take charge, she smiles lightly after Pyrrha as she walks away, Ruby sprints after her. Not noticing how Jaune stares after her in concern. Ruby forgot how amazing Pyrrha was, but now being around her and knowing that this time around they're partners. Ruby starts to believe this second try might actually work out.