Ruby: A Different Path

Chapter Eleven

        Ruby insisted Dove and Sky be present for the new student interviews. They watched a live feed set up for them and debated each person. In the end they agreed upon a quiet girl who wielded a staff. She didn't seem overly friendly and that was what decided it for Ruby. She didn't want to make new friends and didn't want anyone else prying into her life.

        By the end of the day Mezza Majorelle was moved in. Her intense blue hair formed a curtain blocking much of her face from view. Most of her possessions were crates of books. The first hour was tense as everyone stared at everyone else with no idea what to say. Ruby's partition curtain had come down and she wasn't sure how to feel about that. It made the room feel larger but it was weird not being able to close herself off.

        "Let's go spar." Dove suggested. Sky nodded and Mezza shrugged. Ruby led the way outside and they chose the fight order. Once that was decided, Mezza pulled a hair band from a groove in her staff, had her blue locks tied back and was ready to fight in the space of a heartbeat.

        Dove was sparring with her first since he had excellent control with the sword. Ruby worried the staff against her scythe just wouldn't be fair. She felt another pang as she realized she wouldn't get to tease Cardin after beating him while sparring anymore.

        By the time she brought her focus back to the fight it was already well under way and she wasn't as sure this girl would be outmatched by Crescent Rose anymore. She was fast and confident when fighting, she showed none of the passive uncertainty she had displayed before. It was like she came alive.

        Dove ended up flat on his back with the end of the staff against his throat. He stared up at Mezza in shocked silence for a moment then gave her a wide grin. "Good match."

        She nodded and pulled the hair band out, the curtain of darkness descended again as she stepped away to make room for Ruby and Sky. Ruby watched her for a moment longer, Mezza now seemed like a passive doll again. It was almost creepy.

        By the end of the session they had all fought each other and it left Ruby with more questions. On the way back to the dorms she fell back to walk beside Mezza. "Where did you transfer from?"

        "Home. My father was a hunter. He was training me until..." She trailed off and looked down, her hair completely hid her face.

        "Sorry..." Ruby said awkwardly. No wonder she was so good. She pushed away the terrible thought that it would be good to have a more advanced opponent now that Cardin was gone.

        Over the next few days everyone began to relax around each other but Ruby found it harder to return to her old cheerful self. The enthusiasm just didn't come as it once did. She did what she could to be a good leader, forcing smiles and helping Mezza get caught up on the paperwork she was way behind on. The girl was a great fighter and had no trouble with anything dealing directly with the Grimm, it was just history and geography trivia she really had trouble with.

        Yang always seemed to be within yelling distance. It was sweet but annoying. How much she appreciated it depended on the day but mostly she just felt smothered. Of course that was absurd, she stayed well back unless Ruby called her over but knowing it was irrational didn't change anything.

        "I'm going for a walk." She muttered to her studying team as she grabbed her cloak. She hadn't gotten more than a few steps down the hall before Mezza fell into step beside her.

        They were outside the gates of Beacon before she spoke. Mezza looked up at the gold and orange clouds overhead. "Do you go out this late often?"

        "Not really. I just needed to get away for a while, you know?" Ruby shrugged.

        "Why were the guys so adamant that I join you?"

        "There are subjects we tend to avoid." She answered after a moment. "I had a lapse of judgment a while back and almost got killed. They don't think I should go to town alone. If you hadn't come one of them would have."

        "I heard something about an attack. Glad you're alright."

        Ruby nodded, not sure how to take Mezza's words. They were what she would expect anyone to say but there was so little sincerity that she could tell it was just politeness.

        They wandered in silence as the color drained from the sky. She knew they should head back but she really didn't want to. Part of her just wanted to start running and not stop. Everything just felt wrong now.

        "You really miss your old teammate, don't you?" Mezza asked after almost an hour of Ruby's gloomy silence.

        She nodded. "I never would have thought I would. He was an arrogant jerk most of the time... but he was getting better. Just like Dove and Sky did. They were all a little mean when we first met but... they grew up."

        "Yeah, I haven't heard a lot of good things about the guy who left from others but you three seem nice."

        Ruby shrugged. She really hadn't heard what other students had to say but she hadn't really listened, either. "Thanks."

        She slowed to a stop, glancing around at the painfully familiar street. The abandoned house stared at her with empty windows. The top of the garden wall was faintly visible in the back yard. Forcing her head to turn forward again, she resumed walking. Those days were over. No more laughing and joking, watching the guys act like drunken idiots.

        There just seemed to be no escape, no peace anywhere. Further depressed, she turned them back to Beacon so she could escape to a world of dreams where things would be better.