What Defines Us - Ch. 16 (Patreon)

Will tomorrow afternoon be alright?

Grinning at the message, Ruby typed out a hasty ‘Yes!’ and sent it without a second thought.  Tomorrow afternoon would be perfect for Weiss to come over - the sooner the better!  This afternoon would be even more perfect, but Ruby couldn’t really say that.  She could, but she didn’t want to pressure Weiss into coming back so soon.

Honestly, Ruby hadn’t wanted Weiss to leave last night when they’d been talking in the garage.  It was really nice to spend time together - just...hanging out, looking over Myrtenaster, and getting to know each other.  That’s what friends did, right?  It was fun - and...nice.  She couldn’t think of a better word for it than that!

It sucked that Weiss had to go home at night, but they were probably a little too old to have sleepovers.  So...Ruby would have to deal with waiting another day to see Weiss again.

And she’d ask Blake about the sleepovers, because maybe it was actually ok!  Who knew?  Well, Blake would know.

“Who ya textin’?”

“No one!” Ruby immediately replied.  She tried to put her scroll out of sight, but didn’t get it far enough away before Yang walked behind the sofa and snatched it out of her fingers.  Squeaking in surprise, she flashed around the sofa and grabbed it back from her sister.

“Yang!” she scolded when the device was safely back in her grasp.  “This is private property!”  

Of course, her response only made Yang laugh.  

“Relax, Ruby.  I’d never read your stuff!”

That was probably true...Yang would only pretend to read it, but still!  Private property meant that it was private property.  That’s why Ruby had written her name on the back of her scroll with a permanent marker - then Yang couldn’t use the ‘well I didn’t knowww it was yours’ excuse again.

“Well good!” Ruby replied with a curt nod.  “Because you wouldn’t want me going through your scroll, would you?”

Why did she say that?  It was a complete bluff, but apparently a good one because Yang’s eyes widened and she shook her head with an emphatic ‘no.’  The response made Ruby scrunch up her nose at the thought of whatever her sister was hiding.  There were probably a whole bunch of mushy ‘I love you’ messages between Yang and Blake - that’s all the two ever seemed to say to each other.  

“Probablyyy best if you didn’t do that,” Yang commented with a light chuckle.  “But come on, who’re you messaging?  I haven’t seen you use that thing in ages.”

“If you must know,” Ruby began, to which Yang nodded like she did need to know, “I’m talking to Weiss.”

“Weiss?”  The name made Yang’s brow furrow in confusion.  “But how do you -”

Realization suddenly dawned and a grin slowly appeared on Yang’s lips.  Slow grins were the worst because it meant Yang had just figured out something that she found particularly amusing.  And amusing to Yang almost always meant embarrassing for Ruby.

“How’d you get her number?” Yang asked, her voice teasing as she quickly stepped forward and wrapped Ruby up in both arms, lifting her right off the ground.  “Who asked, huh?” Yang quizzed Ruby while strong fingers tickled her ribs.  “Did she ask for your number?”

“Yannnggg!” she whined, letting out several giggles while trying and failing to squirm away.  “Lemme goooo!”

“Not until you tell me!  Did she ask you?”

When Yang’s fingers dug into the most ticklish spots between her ribs, Ruby burst into laughter - gasping for breath while trying to answer the question.

“No!  I-I did!”

The answer was like a magic spell that made Yang drop her arms and allowed Ruby to dash a safe distance away.  Jeez - she needed to be on higher alert.  No more unsuspected tickle attacks!  She was never strong enough to get out of her sister’s grip - it was like being caught in the world’s strongest tickle machine.  Only machines would follow some sort of logical programming, but Yang just kept tickling until she got whatever she wanted.  Which she always did!

“You asked for her number?” Yang asked, a look of disbelief on her face.  “You did.  Ruby Rose.  Asked for a girl’s number.”

If Yang was trying to embarrass Ruby right now, it was working.

“Weiss’ number,” she corrected, as if that was actually a correction.  

“Is Weiss not a girl?”

“She’s your friend!”

Yang shrugged off the comment before reaching out to try to ruffle Ruby’s hair, but this time Ruby dodged out of the way in time.  “Maybe.  But where’d you find all the courage to do that, huh?”

“It’s no big deal,” Ruby replied, trying to sound nonchalant.  It had been so nerve-wrecking though!!  

“Uh huh…”  Shaking her head, Yang clearly saw straight through the lie.  “Weren’t you worried that she might say ‘no?’”

“Of course not!”

Ruby had actually been terrified that Weiss would say ‘no’ and then she would be super embarrassed for trying to ask at all.

“Really?” Yang asked, again seeing right through the lie.  “So you were pretty confident that one of the wealthiest girls on the planet would willingly hand over her personal number to you?”

“Uh...yup!”

Another big, fat lie.  Thank god Ruby hadn’t gone to Yang for advice beforehand...otherwise she never would’ve asked at all!

“Well look at you, casanova!” Yang said before chuckling good-naturedly.  “I just might be able to pass on the torch yet!”

“Casa-what?  What torch?” 

“The torch, Ruby.  The one that gets you all the ladies,” Yang answered with a wink that made Ruby’s cheeks get a little hotter.  “I mean, I don’t need it anymore cuz I’ve got Blake!  But you - you can use it to woo Weiss and everyone else.”

“Aw Yang!  It’s not like that!” Ruby whined.  She’d asked for Weiss’ number because she thought it would be nice if they could talk a little more often.  That was it!  

“Uh huh...not yet.”  

Tired of her sister’s teasing, Ruby reached out and gave Yang’s shoulder a little shove.  The action only made Yang laugh and quickly succeed in shooting out one hand to ruffle Ruby’s hair. 

“What’s so funny?”

The two of them turned towards Blake as she walked into the kitchen with an empty glass held in one hand, heading over to the sink to fill it with water.

“Did you know Ruby asked for Weiss’ number??” Yang told Blake gleefully.  Ruby shot her sister a look that said ‘thanks a lot for tattling,’ to which Yang only stuck out her tongue.

Blake already knew that Ruby had Weiss’ number, but Ruby never specified who’d done the asking.  Was it important who had asked who?  

“Did you really?” Blake asked before nodding in appreciation.  “Well done.”

“Why is that such a big deal?” Ruby asked in confusion.  “I was just being friendly.  It’s not a big deal, right?”

It wasn’t like she’d asked Weiss to marry her or something!  It was only a number!  It was a means of conversing when not in person, not a blood pact!  But the way Blake and Yang looked at her made it seem like Ruby had just joined some sort of Weiss-worshipping cult.  Not that she’d be completely against that...but that’s not what she’d done!

Of course, Blake and Yang turned back to each other without giving Ruby an answer.  Typical dumb roommates.

“I was telling her I can pass on the torch now!” Yang explained, walking over to give Blake a kiss on the cheek.  

Ruby pouted when her question went ignored, but she really wanted to know more about this torch.  Was it always on fire?  How big was it?  Did it have any special powers besides ‘getting all the ladies?’  Like was it also a taser?  And where did Yang keep it?  Ruby’d been all around this house and she’d never seen a torch anywhere...

“Have you seen the torch, Blake?” she asked.  

“Torch?” Blake repeated.  Her brow was creased in confusion as she turned to Yang, who was giving her a very expectant expression.  “Oh right - that torch.  Yes, I’ve seen it.  Set my whole world on fire.”

The response made Yang laugh and kiss Blake again on the cheek.  Rolling her eyes at what she had to assume was another joke she’d never get, Ruby decided to let the subject drop for now.  If she really was supposed to inherit some magical torch, Yang would give her all the details later on.

Maybe it shot fireballs or something?  That’d be pretty cool and definitely worth having around….

“So if you’re talkin’ to Weiss,” Yang said after turning her attention back to Ruby.  “Do you know when she’s coming over to fight you?”

“Tomorrow afternoon!”

The answer made Yang grin and wave Ruby towards the hallway.  “Ok, then let’s go practice!”

“What?  Right now?”

“Yeah!  You need to be prepared for tomorrow!”

“It’s just a little spar, Yang, not a championship fight,” Ruby replied while obediently following her sister out of the kitchen towards the backyard.  

She was hesitant to admit it, but she was a bit nervous about fighting Weiss.  For what felt like forever, she’d fought only against Blake and hand-to-hand against Yang.  The idea of a new person with a different fighting style made her excited and apprehensive at the same time.  

Plus, it was Weiss.  Ruby really, really wanted Weiss to think that she was a good fighter.  Especially because Weiss seemed to be good at practically everything - at least, that was the vibe she put off.  In comparison, Ruby wasn’t very good at many things, so there wasn’t much opportunity to impress Weiss.  

Why did she want to impress Weiss so badly?  She didn’t really know why, but she needed to do her best!  It would be so embarrassing if Weiss completely mopped the floor...or the grass...with her.  Those grass stains would probably never come out.

“Hey, uh...how good is Weiss?” she asked while stepping out onto the back porch.

Throwing a few warm up jabs in the air, Yang turned back and grinned.

“She’s pretty good, but nothing you can’t handle.”

The answer was reassuring.  Yang would definitely let Ruby know if Weiss was some unstoppable force with pretty eyes and an awesome weapon.  Yang wouldn’t let Ruby get destroyed in their own backyard.  

Or would she?  She wouldn’t, right?  It did sound like something Yang would find funny...but she wouldn’t want Weiss to win because of...all of the reasons Ruby still didn’t know or fully understand.

But she had the upper hand!  She’d just examined Myrtenaster last night, so she had a good idea what the weapon was capable of!  Speaking of Myrtenaster...

“Do you know who made the upgrades to Weiss’ weapon?” she asked as she followed her sister to the middle of the yard.  Pausing, Yang thought about the question for a second before shrugging her shoulders.

“Some girl, I think.  Don’t think she does it anymore.”

“That’s what Weiss said,” Ruby sighed in defeat.  “I really want to know how she made some of those upgrades though!  And the welds were so tiny and precise…”

“You can do the same thing!”

She scoffed at her sister’s optimism.  She was probably years away from being able to do any of that stuff.  And that was only a guess since she’d never actually tried anything of that magnitude before, but guesses based on no firsthand experience were usually very accurate...said no one ever.  Maybe she should try making welds that small…it would just take a lot of practice.

But she didn’t only want to know how to do those things - she also wanted to know who had etched those words into Weiss’ weapon without her knowing.  It was hard for Ruby to believe that some unimportant person would dare write something like ‘believe in yourself’ on someone else’s weapon.  That’d be like a stranger giving her a tattoo while she waited to cross the street - only weirder.  

And if this person was so important to Weiss, where were they now?  Why weren’t they around anymore?  Were they the reason Weiss seemed so down sometimes?

Ruby’s heart clenched when she thought that maybe...maybe they had died.  It was a morbid thought, but for huntsmen it was the risk they agreed to take.  That could also explain why Weiss hadn’t brought up that she was a huntress - there could be bad memories there.  But Weiss wanted to come on the hunt with Ruby!  Why would she want to come if she had bad memories from a previous hunt?

Ugh.  It was all so confusing.

“No weapons,” Yang said, turning to face Ruby and lifting both hands to the ready.  Rather than dwell on Weiss any longer, Ruby was forced to focus on the impending fight.  It was probably for the best, because trying to figure out what had happened was making her head spin.  

“Sometimes you don’t have a weapon in a fight, so you gotta improvise,” Yang was saying while bouncing between both feet.  “You gotta be quick.  Rely on your instincts - trust your gut.  Having a weapon only makes you overconfident -”

Raising her own hands, slightly bending her knees and rocking towards the balls of her feet, Ruby rolled her eyes at the monologue.

“You’ve given this speech before, Yang,” she teased.  “I get it - hand-to-hand combat is sooooo much better than having an incredible weapon that deals a ton of damage and is also a gun.”

The reply made Yang purse her lips and lower her hands.

“Ok wise guy.  Then you wanna fight me with Crescent Rose?”

Ruby immediately went flat footed and dropped her hands to her sides.  They didn’t fight with weapons anymore because the first (and last) time they tried that...well, it hadn’t gone very well.  It would’ve been more fun to throw a stick into a beehive and then try to catch all of the bees with bare hands.  And that wasn’t fun at all - she would know.

“Are you serious?”  Her voice squeaked while Yang smirked in return.

“If you are.”

It had been a long time since they’d tried this.  The months had given Ruby time to regain her strength and get used to fighting with her gimpy hand...

“But…”

“You beat Blake, didn’t you?” Yang pointed out before giving Ruby an encouraging smile.  “Come on, let’s just try.”

Stick/beehive or Yang/Ember Celica?   

“You promise not to throw me over the woods again?” she asked first, to which Yang drew a cross over her heart in promise.  Satisfied with that, she nodded and Yang beamed.

“Blake!” Yang called back into the house, drawing the girl in question out onto the porch a few seconds later.  “Hey there, sweetheart,” Yang said cheerfully, but Blake immediately rolled her eyes.

“What do you need?”

“Well, now that you ask, I was wondering if you could grab Ember Celica for me?”

The request made Blake’s eyes widen in surprise.  Her eyes flickered to Ruby before returning to Yang.

“Really?”

“Yup!  Ruby said that hand-to-hand combat is lame.  She wants to pull out the big guns.”

“That’s not what I said!” Ruby whined, but it was already too late.  Blake disappeared into the house and reappeared a few minutes later carrying both of their weapons and Ruby’s glove.  She tossed the gauntlets over to Yang, who caught them and gave Blake a wink.

“Thanks Blakey!”

Failing to suppress a small smile, Blake then brought Crescent Rose and the new glove over to Ruby.  After handing them over, she walked over to the porch and sat down on the step.

“I’ve got to watch this,” she commented while Yang and Ruby prepared themselves for a suddenly real battle.

But this was good - a witness.  Now there would be someone to call the hospital.

Sliding on the glove, Ruby briefly clenched her fingers into a tight fist and then released.  Satisfied that everything was working perfectly, she unfolded Crescent Rose and hesitantly faced Yang.

Of course her sister was making a show of gearing up - pulling on one gauntlet, making a fist, then spinning the shotgun shells into place.  The second gauntlet followed suit before both were cocked in unison.

The entire act was unnecessary because Ruby was already terrified.  It was one thing to fight Yang with no semblances and no weapons involved.  Fighting with everything?  Her sister was a full-fledged huntress!  Well...Blake was too, but still!  Blake was actually a sane fighter.  Or as sane as a crazy ninja shadow warrior could be.  Yang was straight up insane.

When they were kids, Ruby and Yang trained together all the time.  Yang always won.  It didn’t matter how many of Yang’s moves Ruby memorized - her sister was always a couple years ahead, and a couple of years made a big difference at that age.  It meant that Yang was taller, stronger, and in more control of her semblance.  She didn’t accidentally blast herself into the side of the house at full speed, which had only happened to Ruby a handful of times.  

At one point, Ruby was able to put up a good fight, but Yang now was a lot different than Yang then.  For one thing, she’d learned a lot of new moves at Beacon that Ruby had never seen before.  And then Yang was just all around better - stronger, faster, and maybe a little smarter.

“Ok, Ruby,” Yang said, tapping her fists together with a metallic clang of metal on metal.  “Same rules as with Blake.”

Nodding, Ruby clutched Crescent Rose close to her chest and sent a small prayer up to her mom for protection.  She would love to see her mom again, but maybe not quite this soon.  Although...then she and Mom could spend the rest of forever haunting Yang!  That’d be pretty awesome.

“Ready?” Yang asked, raising both fists and bouncing slightly up and down on her toes.

“I think so...”

“Then let’s dance.”  Grinning, Yang waved Ruby forward with one hand.

Taking a deep breath, Ruby decided that she would attack first - catch Yang off guard and hopefully earn a small advantage in the process.  Dashing straight ahead with her full semblance, she slid to the right at the last second and sliced her weapon through the air towards Yang’s ribs.  

That was the precise moment she felt something strong - very, very strong - grab hold of Crescent Rose.  Before she could even let go of her weapon, she was jerked backwards off her feet and thrown into the ground with a thud.  As if the impact hadn’t been enough to paralyze her, a hard knee pressed down on her sternum not even a second later.

“Gotcha,” Yang called down to Ruby before hopping up and pulling her to her feet.  Somewhere in the collision with the ground she must have dropped Crescent Rose, because Yang was now pressing the weapon back into her hands.

“I hope you’re paying my medical bills,” Ruby groaned, wheezing slightly and placing one hand on her lower back.  The nice, squishy grass looked soft, but it was not.  Definitely not.  She’d met rocks softer! 

“Blake pays those!” Yang quipped before shooting a glance towards the house.  “Right?”

“You only asked me to ‘take care of them,’” Blake replied with a smirk.  “You never said how.”

Laughing nervously, Yang turned back and shrugged.  

“They’re being taken care of somehow,” she said before leaning forward and putting one hand beside her mouth to whisper, “But it’s probably best not to ask how.”

Yang and Blake both giggled while Ruby shook her head and grimaced.

“Now I remember why we don’t fight with weapons…” she mumbled, finally straightening her back and hearing a loud, somewhat alarming pop.  Yup, pretty sure she was going to have some serious back problems when she was older.  Squinting her eyes, she peered at her sister in confusion.  “How did you know I was going to do that?”

“You’ve been using that move for years,” Yang replied with a grin.

“What??  But that’s not fair!” Ruby immediately complained.  “I didn’t know that!”

If she’d been using it for years, that probably meant it was a good move.  But it also meant that her sister had memorized it by now. 

“What am I supposed to do??  Not react to it just because you don’t remember using it before?”

“Yes!  Show some sympathy, jeez!” she shouted playfully.  “Remember that your poor little sister lost a lot of her memories!”

The comment only made Yang smile and shake her head.

“There’s no sympathy in battle!  You can’t pull the injury card on an Ursa.”

“Watch me!” Ruby said just to be difficult.  Laughing, Yang raised both fists and waved Ruby towards her.

“Ok little sis - why don’t you pretend I’m a big, bad Ursa then?  Let’s see what the poor amnesia girl’s got!”

“Poor amnesia girl…” Ruby grumbled to herself while raising Crescent Rose and clutching the weapon tightly in both hands.  “I’ll show you a thing or two about forgetting things…”

“Yang, hold on a second,” Blake suddenly said, standing up and heading over to Ruby while Yang willingly dropped her hands to her sides.

“Ruby,” Blake said, lowering her voice when she was standing right in front of Ruby.  “Maybe I can give you a few pointers.”

“Are you gonna tell her how you distract me?” Yang called over to them before chuckling.  Ruby wrinkled her nose at Blake, whose cheeks grew a little pinker.

“Ok, now I really want you to beat her,” Blake muttered to herself.  “But Ruby, you know your sister as well as anyone, so you know what her...character flaws...are.”

“Uh…”  Ruby searched her brain for an answer and came up empty.  She’d never really thought of Yang as having any flaws.  Yang was her big sister!  She was the best at everything!

“She can be cocky, right?” Blake led her.  “And overconfident.  But, most of all - impatient.  She brings all those things into her fighting style.”

Ruby was starting to catch on now.  Yes, Yang could be a little impatient every once in a while…which was ironic considering how late she was all the time.

“If you show an opening she’s going to take it every time, but she’s so good that she can normally correct even if it’s a trap.  You have to play to her impatience - and if you can get her to tunnel in on you, like she does when in a close fist fight, she might not catch what’s happening around her.  Or behind her, if you know what I mean.”

Nodding her head along with Blake’s advice, Ruby finally grinned.  That actually made sense!  If she could get Yang to focus on her, maybe she could use her new glove to her advantage like she’d done with Blake.  It sounded like a much better plan than the one she’d had - which was no plan at all.

“Thanks, Blake!” she said, earning a smile in return before Blake walked back to the porch.  

“Oh, and she has terrible balance,” Blake added over her shoulder, loud enough that Yang could overhear.

“Hey!” Yang yelped in fake hurt.  “You said I was getting better!”

Smirking, Blake resumed her seat on the porch step and Ruby turned back to Yang for round two.

“Ready?”

Situating Crescent Rose in front of her, Ruby nodded only when she was positive she was absolutely ready.  Yang raised her fists again and waited, but this time Ruby didn’t strike first.  And apparently she shouldn’t have done that the first time because Yang only waited a couple seconds before bursting forward, fists flying.

Defend - that’s what Ruby had to do, just like when fighting Blake.  Except Yang’s punches were hard.  Each one that hit Crescent Rose sent Ruby skidding a few inches backwards on the grass even when she hadn’t moved her feet.

Jab, kick, kick, jab, jab.  Each blow clanged off of Crescent Rose and reverberated through her arms.

Testing one of Blake’s theories, Ruby lowered her weapon a fraction of an inch from where it should be.  A fist immediately flew towards the gap in her defenses and would have caught her if she hadn’t used her semblance to flash away.

Yup - Yang was pretty dang good at finding weak spots.

Pressing forward, Yang continued to throw blows in that smooth, seamless manner she’d always had.  There was no tiring and no slowing down - only moving forward, spinning and kicking and punching and repeating again and again. 

Blocking some blows, dodging others with her semblance, Ruby was careful about attacking and building Yang’s energy, but eventually she needed to do something other than defend.  It was only a matter of time before she made a mistake, or her arms broke from the force of the blows.

Ducking a jab, she saw what looked like an opening.  There wasn’t time to be certain, so she took the opportunity immediately.  While a kick rocketed towards her she flew straight into it, sliding the handle of Crescent Rose underneath Yang’s ankle and continuing forward while lifting up - forcing Yang’s leg straight up into the air and knocking her off her feet.  The second her back hit the dirt Yang rolled out of the way of Ruby’s follow up attack and flipped easily back to her feet while moving away.

Ruby responded by launching Crescent Rose through the air, putting all of her weight into throwing the blade with as much velocity as she could muster.  

Yang’s answer to the heavy weapon bolting towards her neck was to grab it out of the air and swing it into the ground with enough force to make the entire yard tremor.

Immediately dropping her hands, Ruby looked at her weapon - now stuck halfway into the compacted dirt in their backyard.  The last thing she’d expected Yang to do was catch Crescent Rose out of midair.  Who was crazy enough to try to catch a six foot spinning blade out of the air??

Oh right.  Her big sister.

The results were the same as the last time they’d sparred together - Yang was winning handily.  Back then, the outcome was really discouraging.  But that was then.  

“Can we go again?” Ruby asked.  Smiling at the request, Yang nodded.

Walking over to retrieve Crescent Rose, Ruby put her gloved hand on the handle and tried to look all cool by pulling it out with just one hand.  But the weapon didn’t budge.

Ok, so Yang had used her superhuman strength to slam Crescent Rose in the ground.  There was no shame in having to use both hands…

Grasping the handle with two hands, Ruby pulled upwards and, again, nothing happened.  Planting her feet on either side of the weapon, she tried to use her knees to provide some form of leverage.

“Need some help?” Yang teased after watching Ruby struggle for a few moments.

“No - I -”  When Ruby gave one more big tug, this time putting her whole back into it, Crescent Rose finally dislodged and sent her stumbling backwards onto her butt.  “Got it!” she called out cheerfully while jumping to her feet and meeting Yang in the middle of the yard.

Ok, this time she needed to do something crazier.  Clearly being fast wasn’t enough.  She needed to outcrazy Yang.  

“Ready?”

Again, Ruby nodded.  This time Yang didn’t wait more than a second before charging forward - the same as before, only this time the combinations were all mixed up.  The relentless attacks clanged off of Crescent Rose time and again, but thankfully none of them found their way to Ruby.  If even one blow made it through, she was a goner.  

Blocking was one thing, but she couldn’t find any sort of weakness in Yang’s defenses.  Or maybe Yang had no defense, but was so good at keeping up continuous attacks that it didn’t matter.

Outcrazy crazy.  What was the craziest thing Ruby could do in the middle of a fight?

Dashing several steps backward when a fist came pummeling towards her jaw, she dropped Crescent Rose to the grass in favor of charging straight at Yang for a fist fight.

Fighting Yang Xiao Long with no weapon.  Now that was crazy.

And stupid.  Ruby wasn’t strong enough to deal any damage with any blow she might be able to land, so trying to attack was pointless.  Instead, she needed to rapidly dodge while sledgehammers flew at her face like they were being shot from cannons at close range.

But Blake had been right - Yang was tunneling in now that they were so close together.  When Ruby shuffled a few inches to the side, Yang turned with her without hesitation.  When Ruby shuffled back, again Yang shifted with her.

Very quickly, Ruby was able to pivot Yang so that her back was to Crescent Rose, but before anything could be done with the weapon one of the sledgehammers landed in Ruby’s gut, sending her toppling backwards.  Ignoring her sudden lack of oxygen or an intact rib cage, Ruby rolled up to her feet and immediately blasted back to her sister.  She couldn’t give Yang any time to think about what had happened with Crescent Rose.

Swinging her left fist towards Yang’s ribs, Ruby realized too late that her sister was allowing the blow to land.  Yang let out a soft ‘oomph’ before clamping her arm around Ruby’s wrist and holding tight.  Panicking, Ruby punched out with her right hand, but Yang moved her head out of the way before jabbing with her own free hand and following it up with a knee towards Ruby’s gut.  She tried to jump backwards away from the blows while Yang still held onto her arm, preventing her from escaping.  

They were fist fighting with just one hand now - Yang refusing to drop Ruby’s gloved hand.  Rose petals were scattering across the yard as Ruby was forced to use her semblance in short bursts to escape her sister’s attacks.  The fight was going to end soon - she could feel it.  There was absolutely no way she could get her arm out of Yang’s fortified grip.

But first - in the midst of dodging two more attacks that would likely send her back to the hospital if they landed - Ruby tapped her fingers quickly together without Yang noticing, calling Crescent Rose their way.

Under normal circumstances, Ruby would’ve caught her weapon, but because Yang was still latched onto her wrist she had no opportunity to do so.  Instead, Crescent Rose slammed into the back of Yang’s shoulder and knocked her forward in surprise.  That brief moment of shock was more than enough time for Ruby to stretch and grab the weapon with her free hand as it fell towards the ground.

As the giant scythe unfolded, Yang finally dropped Ruby’s wrist in order to jump away from the blade, but Ruby swung with her semblance and caught Yang by the ankle before she got far enough away.  It was enough to send Yang toppling to the ground, but her butt had hardly touched a blade of grass before one hand hit the dirt to propel her back to her feet.  

The moment Yang straightened herself up, Ruby was flying back around from behind - dragging Crescent Rose along the ground to remove Yang’s balance once again.  This time Ruby leapt into the air as soon as Yang’s feet left the ground - swinging her weapon above her head in preparation to deal the final blow before Yang could get up. 

Just as planned, Yang didn’t have enough time to escape - her back hit the grass and Ruby was already on top of her.  But Crescent Rose jarred to a stop a foot from Yang’s chest, the end of the blade clasped tightly in her right hand.

Surprised, Ruby tried to pull the weapon back, but it wouldn’t budge.  She tried again with more effort, but still nothing.

It was at that moment that Yang grinned and swept her legs underneath Ruby’s.  The move seamlessly propelled Yang back to her feet while sending Ruby crashing to the ground.  Holding onto Crescent Rose all the while, Yang forced the handle of the weapon into Ruby’s chest the second her back hit the ground and pinned her down.  

Unarmed and unable to move, Ruby took shallow breaths to avoid pressing into Crescent Rose any more than necessary.  Thankfully, the pressure quickly disappeared when Yang tossed the weapon off to the side.

“Jeez,” she huffed, her breaths heavy as she pulled Ruby to her feet and patted her on the back.  “That was really fun!”

Brushing blades of grass from her clothes, Ruby peered at her sister like she was crazy.  “It was?” 

“Yeah!  That was so awesome!”  

Forget losing - Yang’s upbeat energy was infectious, filling Ruby with giddiness in a heartbeat.  

“Really??  You think so?”

“You’re so good, Ruby!” Yang replied with a big smile, grabbing both of Ruby’s shoulders and shaking her gently in congratulations.  “Let’s do that again.  Like seriously.  I had no idea Crescent Rose was going to hit me from behind - that was so cool!”

Looking towards the house, Ruby grinned at Blake - who smiled before standing and heading inside now that the show was over.  When Yang shook Ruby again, she turned back with a big grin still set in place.

“I can’t believe that made such a big difference!” Yang commented, gesturing to the glove on Ruby’s hand.  “Have you thought of a name yet?  I think it’s definitely ready for a name.”

“Uh, no - not yet.  I can’t think of anything good!  Other than ‘Glove.’”  Briefly wrinkling her nose at the terrible name, Ruby smiled when Yang laughed.

“How about - oh, I got it!  How about ‘Thorn?’”

“‘Thorn?’”

“Yeah, you know, cuz every rose has its thorns,” Yang replied with a grin.

Holding up her hand to look at the glove, Ruby mulled the name over in her mind.  Thorn.  It went with Crescent Rose, if she was looking for a theme.  And it sounded pretty cool.  Plus, it was good to remember that even something really pretty, like a rose, still had its flaws.

Curling her reinforced fingers into a fist, she grinned.  

“I like it!  Kinda reminds us that we’re not perfect, huh?”

Smiling in return, Yang held up her right fist and bumped Ruby’s with a metallic clunk that hurt a lot less than normal.

“Least of all us,” Yang replied while wrapping one arm around Ruby’s shoulders and turning them towards the house.  Tapping out the code once again, Ruby held out her left hand and snatched Crescent Rose right as the weapon hit her gloved fingertips.  The action made Yang chuckle and shake her head.

“So freaking cool…”

Maybe Ruby had lost again, but that had been a lot better than before!  It almost felt like, with some more practice, she might actually be able to give Yang a run for her money.  It was such an encouraging feeling that was growing in her right now - like maybe she could actually do this huntress thing after all.

Sparring with Yang was a great first test of Ruby’s abilities.  The next one would come tomorrow when a completely unknown fighter came over…

“Uh...if I lose tomorrow...I can still go on the hunt, right?” Ruby asked.  The question made Yang pause for several seconds - long enough for Ruby to start worrying - before nodding.

“Of course.  You’ve earned the right to go.”

The reply made Ruby breathe a sigh of relief.  She’d worked so long and hard to get to this point...it would really suck to have it taken away when she was this close to finally going!

“Besides,” Yang continued with a grin.  “You’re not gonna lose.”

“You think I can win?” 

Yang squeezed Ruby’s shoulder gently.

“Ruby, I know you can win,” she answered, releasing Ruby when they stepped onto the porch and smacking her hands together once in excitement.  “Oh man, Weiss is not gonna know what hit her.  You’re gonna knock the smug smile right off her face!”

“Yangggg,” Ruby whined, turning to give her sister a stern look.  “You said you’d be nicer.”

“I said I’d try to be nicer.  Big difference.”

The reply made Ruby purse her lips and frown.

“Aw, come on, Ruby,” Yang added with a lax smile.  “So Weiss and I aren’t friends anymore.  We don’t have to be, right?”

Normally Ruby wouldn’t be so stubborn with her sister, but...it was Weiss.  And Weiss seemed like she could use some more friends right now, not less.

“But something bad happened to her -”

“Something bad happened to you,” Yang replied with a frown, but Ruby waved the statement away.

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“Because!  I had you and Blake to help me get better.”  When Yang stared in confusion, Ruby tried to explain her thoughts more clearly.  “I just...can’t help but get this feeling that she’s been all alone for a while…”  

The thought made her inexplicably sad - enough so that even Yang’s brow furrowed in concern.  But what she was saying was true.  She knew it was.  She’d had Yang to talk to.  When she was scared, she always knew Yang was there to protect her.  When she was sad, Yang was there to hold her.  That was the kind of relationship they’d always had and hopefully always would.  Sure, maybe Yang could be a little overbearing sometimes and definitely overprotective, but when Ruby had been so hurt and felt so small and vulnerable that type of protectiveness was just what she needed.  And if Yang ever became a little too much, she’d had Blake to turn to.

A support system - that’s what they were.  They encouraged her, consoled her, and sympathized with her.  It was hard to imagine how difficult her recovery would have been if she’d been on her own.  Would she have had the strength to get out of the bed in the morning?  Would she have been able to rebuild herself from scratch, or would she have sunk into the past and always wished for what had been?

“Do you know what happened?  To Weiss?” she finally asked.  The question made Yang’s eyes fall to the ground in a way that immediately made Ruby’s heart fall as well.

“She...lost someone very close to her.”

“Oh…”  

That was kind of what Ruby expected, while also hoping it wouldn’t be true.  Poor Weiss…to lose someone and not even have anyone to talk to about it...no wonder she thought memories were difficult to bear.  Ruby could remember how hard it was when her mom died, but - again - she’d had Yang there and they’d helped each other through.  

Having that person who you could tell anything to...that made all the difference in the world.

“I want to help her,” Ruby concluded out loud.  The desire had been growing and growing over the past few days, but she finally felt confident enough to speak it out loud.   She wanted to help because Weiss was important.  For whatever reason, Weiss was important in the same way that Yang and Blake were important. 

The comment made Yang sigh and drop any hint of a joke.  

It wasn’t often that Ruby got to see her sister’s serious side, but Yang did have one.  It was this side of Yang who was giving Ruby a small smile right now, laying one warm hand on her shoulder and giving it a little squeeze.

“I knew you would,” Yang said earnestly.  “Blake and I have talked about it, you know.  Weiss has changed a lot in the last...since I’ve last seen her.”  Yang shook her head sadly, temporarily lost in her own thoughts before turning back to Ruby.  “We thought you’d be the best person to help Weiss regain a bit of her former self.”

“Why me?”

“Because you make her happy,” Yang answered succinctly.  “And she trusts you enough to talk to you.  That could be just what she needs.”

It did seem like Weiss trusted Ruby.  At least, that’s how it felt last night with Myrtenaster and talking in the garage.  She wanted to gain even more of Weiss’ trust, but they hadn’t known each other for very long.  Really, it might make more sense for Yang to regain Weiss’ trust than for Ruby to start from scratch.

“Wouldn’t you help too though?” she asked.  “You two have been friends longer.”

“I don’t think I can help her, Ruby,” Yang answered, her eyes growing sad at the thought.  “Because when she looks at me...I think she sees the mistake she made.  I know that’s what I see when I look at her.”  Yang shook her head before giving Ruby a hopeful smile.  “But you...you’re a fresh start for her, you know?  Sometimes a fresh start is just what someone needs.”

Biting her lip at the reply, Ruby finally nodded her head and smiled.  

“I’ll help her,” she said resolutely, feeling a warmth spread through her chest when Yang smiled back.

“You already are.”

It felt like Ruby had just agreed to take on some huge challenge, but she couldn’t be more determined to see it through.  Even if it took the rest of her life, she was willing to spend every day trying to catch a glimpse of the Weiss she’d seen while messing around with Myrtenaster - the witty, playful, lively version of Weiss with the laugh of an angel.

Everyone deserved to be happy, no matter what their past was.  Hopefully, Ruby could get Weiss to believe that.

“You’re right though,” Yang added, turning away and pulling off her gauntlets.  “I’ll try to take it a little easier on her.  It’s just...really hard.  But I’ll try to be better.”

“Thank you,” Ruby said while following her sister back into the house, their practice unofficially ended.

“You know I’ll do anything for you.”  Reaching out, Yang wrapped an arm around Ruby’s neck and pulled her close to ruffle her hair.  “Cuz I love you!”

“Aww Yang!  Come on!” Ruby whined, pushing at her sister’s arm to no avail.  

“Nnnope!  You’re my little sister so I get to say it as much as I want!”

Ever since they were little, Yang tried to embarrass Ruby like this.  It was something she pretended to be annoyed with, but in reality she loved it.  And she’d willingly tell anyone who would listen how much she loved her big sister.

“Let me go!” she huffed while shoving again at her sister’s arm.

“I’ll let go when you say it back!”  Yang’s grip tightened to where Ruby knew she’d never get out unless she caved to Yang’s demands, but she struggled for a few more seconds anyway.  Finally, she sighed in fake exasperation and stopped squirming.

“I love you too, Yang.”

“There!” Yang exclaimed while removing the vice grip.  “Was that so hard?”

“Yes,” Ruby teased, sticking out her tongue for good measure before dancing to the side to escape the arm that shot towards her.

“You’re so difficult sometimes, you know that?”  Tossing her gauntlets on the table inside the back door, Yang stood taller when she thought of something.  “Oh - I forgot to mention the penalty for losing today…”

Dropping Crescent Rose on top of Ember Celica before turning back to her sister, Ruby’s eyes widened when Yang held up both hands and wiggled her fingers menacingly.  Backing slowly away, Ruby bumped into the wall while Yang crept towards her. 

The look on her face said that there would be no mercy tonight.  And that was a bad thing because Ruby normally depended on mercy in order to survive.

“Yang…” she said, hoping her voice would serve as a deterrent.

“Ruby...” Yang replied with an evil grin.

“Blake!” Ruby yelled as she turned and ran for the kitchen like her life depended on it, smiling when she heard Yang laughing and chasing her down the hallway.  

Yang and Blake were her family.  They were her support and her strength.  Hopefully Ruby could be the same for Weiss.