RWBY: First Love (On Hold)

Chapter 2: That Strange Boy, That Amazing Power

It had been a day after Caleb had sparred with Yang, and it was all Yang was talking about. How a cute boy beat her in a match. Everytime Yang mentioned him, Ruby's heart ached. She still couldn't figure out what this feeling was, and it vexed her still.

"Oh man, and the way he stopped those bullets? Amazing!"

"Yang, can you please stop talking about him? It's getting annoying." Ruby complained.

"Annoying? That hottie, Caleb? No way!"

Ruby sighed, knowing that if this was the case, she'd just have to ride out this storm. Yang kept on going on about "Caleb this" and "Caleb that". And to Ruby, it was the most annoying thing ever.

There was a knock on the door of their room, and Yang went to go see who it was. And to both Yang and Ruby's suprise, it was Caleb. Ruby saw a strained look on Yang's face, to which she concluded that Yang was using all her willpower to keep from throwing her arms around Caleb.

"H-hey...umm, is Ruby here?", asked Caleb. Ruby felt her spirits lift. She stood up and walked to the door, popping up behind Yang, waving to Caleb. She saw his face brighten, and Yang moved out of the way. Caleb motioned to Ruby to come into the hall. She stepped out of her room with him. Yang smiled strangely and closed the door, leaving Ruby and Caleb alone in the empty hall.

"So, what did you need?", Ruby said shyly.

"I...I wanted to explain what my power is. A lot of people have been asking about it, since I was unbeatable at the entrance ceremony yesterday. And you never asked, but I could that you wanted to ask."

Ruby nodded, suprised he had spent all that time thinking about her. Caleb laughed, and started to explain.

"It's called energy manipulation. You know how we have our aura? The thing that protects us? Well, it has that ability, but it's a lot more extreme. It will naturally block any sort of small physical attack, like a punch or kick, or small arms fire, but in order to block a bigger thing, I need to focus on where it'll hit and direct more of my power into a central point. Here, I'll demonstrate. Throw a punch at me."

"Are you sure...? Like, seriously?"

Ruby got a strange look on her face, but Caleb just nodded.

"Whatever you say..."

Ruby pulled her arm back, and swung at Caleb's chest with all her might. But before her fist even touched him, it stopped.

"What the...? Why can't I hit you?"

Ruby kept trying to push against this invisible force that was stopping her. She eventually gave up and lowered her hands, sighing.

"See? Exactly. Also, it does have offensive abilities. Like with Yang, if I'm hit with a physical attack, for instance, Yang's gauntlet, I can retaliate by sending back an equal amount of force. Basically a more forceful recoil. I can also turn some of the energy into a solid form, and can form any weapon, aside from ones that use an external power source. I can also use them as projectiles."

Caleb demonstrated by creating a small glowing ball in his palm and sending it flying through the door to Ruby and Yang's room. Yang's frightened shriek could be heard inside. Ruby giggled, which put a smile on Caleb's face.

"And one of the coolest things I can do is telekinesis. But the farther away the object, the harder it is to move."

Ruby nodded, and wondered what else this guy could do. Then, another question crossed her mind. What gave this kid these powers? Caleb, being the perceptive person he is, guessed what she was thinking.

"If you're wondering how I have these powers, well...", he started to remove his shirt. His entire chest was covered in those markings she had seen on him, but given a closer look, she realized they were burns and scars. He turned his back to her, revealing a small black chunk of metal, in the shape of a small oval, right in the center of his back. "This was surgically connected to my nervous system, which increased my brain function, allows me to use my powers, increases my strength, and made me extremely smart. But it came at a price." Caleb pointed at the burns and scars. "At first, my body couldn't handle the rapid changes or tolerate the powers, which burned and scarred me. But I built up a tolerance, so it doesn't affect me anymore, but I still get pains ever now and then."

Ruby traced a one of Caleb's scars with her finger, from his neck down to his waist. He smiled halfheartedly, and Ruby eyes met his. They held each other's hands, and they went silent. For just a moment, there was a perfect, quiet, serene moment. Then Yang slammed open the door, her face angry and her breathing heavy.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?! WE'RE AT SCHOOL! YOU CAN'T JUST GO AROUND DOING THINGS LIKE THAT."

The two quickly broke apart, both blushing. Yang gave them a suspicious look, and pulled Ruby back into their room. Caleb stood out in the hall, and could hear Yang and Ruby arguing, which only made him blush.

"Ruby, I will NOT allow you to take him. He is mine! I called him!"

"Yeah, but I met him first! And you can't just claim him like he's some sort of object."

"Still, why are you fighting me about this? Unless you really do like him...but that's strange, seeing as earlier when I was talking about him, you said it was annoying!"

Caleb blushed even more, and knocked on their door.

"Umm, Ruby? Yang? Should I...go?"

Their voices instantly cut off, and Yang opened the door, blushing.

"Y-you didn't hear any of that, d-did you?"

"Nope, not a word. Why, did you say something?"

Yang gave him a confused look, like she didn't believe him. She sighed and sent him on his way.

"Jeez, that was embarrassing. What if he really had heard me?"

Ruby laughed and said, "I'm pretty sure he did. He was probably just saying that to make you feel better."

Yang's face glowed a soft red, and she ran and jumped on her bed. Ruby had a feeling that life was going to be much more interesting with Caleb in it.