"All… Four… Limbs…" Blake repeated, sounding stunned. Weiss didn't respond, and Yang rolled over again, back towards the discussion. Ruby's opening up a lot quicker than she opened up to Dad, Uncle Qrow, and I, but, then again, we got told about magic on day one, and she hasn't said a thing about that yet. And she did explain that she's not supposed to tell anyone who doesn't absolutely need to know, so she probably won't say a word about that…
Yang mentally shook off her thoughts and turned back to the conversation, just in time for Blake to round on her, the girl's voice accusing.
"You knew, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did." Yang casually confirmed, with a calmness she really didn't feel. "Ruby's lived with me the last few months, remember?" Blake glared at her, opening her mouth to say something, before apparently changing her mind, turning back to Ruby.
It was Weiss who spoke up next, however.
"How can you be so calm about that!?" She nearly shouted, her voice's volume only lowered just enough so as to not wake the teams in the neighboring rooms.
"About what, getting blown up? Or having over half of my body replaced by cybernetics?" Ruby asked.
"Both!" At that, the Knight shrugged again.
"I was unconscious before the blast registered, and I only awoke a few times afterwards, at least, before the surgeries were complete. I only woke up on the operating table once." She noted with the same casualness as if she were discussing the weather. What!? Now, THAT, you didn't tell me!
"You… Woke up… On the operating table." Blake sounded a mixture of disgusted and horrified. "Did the doctors not even care to sedate you!?"
Ruby's head snapped up, something approaching anger clear on her face.
"Of course Doctor Scaglietti did! He is the best in the field, it is not his fault I had an unusual and varying resistance to the sedatives! And he stopped immediately when he realized I had regained consciousness. Well, almost immediately, he finished replacing my spine first. Bad idea to leave that undone. And I asked him to finish." She explained, to the growing horror of her audience. "It was not that bad." She added defensively, as she noticed the expressions of the other three. "Uno gave me a local anesthetic so that it would not hurt too much."
"Uno?" Yang asked, trying to push aside her horror, to focus on something different, hopefully to distract herself. "You've mentioned her before, but you never told me who she is…"
"Uno is Doctor Scaglietti's eldest daughter. She looks like a younger, female copy of him." Ruby noted with amusement. "And she is just as intelligent and skilled, if less experienced, than he is. Of course, all of his daughters are quite intelligent, even if some of them don't exactly show it."
"Sounds like a story there." Weiss commented, none of her earlier emotions showing on her face. Mood swing, much?
Yang gave her a look, and Weiss explained.
"Emotional compartmentalization. A skill I had to learn young. Anyway, Ruby, you were saying?"
Ruby began to speak, but Blake interrupted before she could say anything.
"So, we're just… Going to let all that go? We're just going to ignore what you just told us!?"
Ruby gave her an annoyed look.
"Considering that I am the one it happened to, yes, we are. I would much prefer to talk about my siblings than about my injuries. Despite the fact that I do not honestly have any… I think the phrase is 'hang-ups', about my cybernetics. I am not exactly able to share the full details, as such information is classified. I have already skirted the boundaries of what I am allowed to say. For this I apologize, but I will not reveal classified information without orders to do so."
"So you are military." Blake observed. "Let me guess, Atlesian?" She queried, crossing her arms across her chest. Not even close, Blakey. Also, it took you long enough to figure that out.
"I am a field-commissioned officer, yes. But the military I belong to is classified. And besides, my rank is not the title I prefer." Came a flat response. Blake raised an eyebrow at the Knight, who responded with another look of annoyance.
"Was lässt dich glauben, dass ich verpflichtet bin, es dir zu sagen?" Ruby asked the black-haired girl a question in Belkan, sounding more than slightly annoyed. Something about obligations and telling things?
Everyone looked at their team's leader, who simply looked back, matching expressions of confusion with one of annoyance.
"Translation, please?" Yang requested. Or just teach me more of Belkan…
Ruby looked at her, then sighed, bringing up one had to rub at the side of her head.
"I said something sort of rude. But, my point was, why should I give out classified information?" The Knight stated, before she sighed again, rubbed at her head with both hands, and yawned. Almost as if on cue, the other three members of team RWBY yawned themselves.
"Sleep on things? Keep discussing in the morning?" Yang suggested, yawning again.
Blake looked at her like she was insane, but Weiss nodded her agreement. Like either of them's going to get any sleep after that.
"Just, one last thing." Ruby spoke up again. "Nothing leaves this room. Please."
"I agree." Weiss stated. "None of what any of us said should be spoken of at all outside ourselves or where we could be overheard."
"Sounds like a good idea to me." Yang added her support.
Blake sighed, and nodded her own agreement.
"Fine. But this discussion isn't over, just… Postponed."
***
"So, where to, first?" Yang asked the other members of team RWBY. The four of them stood on the street curb directly in front of the Vale-Beacon airdock, having just come from the academy. It was, after all, a weekend, and Yang had taken charge, declaring that since no one had an idea of what to do, they would all go into Vale, and from there, decide on how to pass the time. It was a miniature vacation, of a sort, as Yang had said.
And given how awkward the last week had been, they needed it, in Weiss's opinion.
While the topics of Ruby's military service and cybernetics hadn't actually been brought up again, Blake, at least, had been treading very carefully around the girl, while Weiss had a very hard time restraining her curiosity. Only Yang had been relatively unaffected by the disclosures, but she had also lived with Ruby for a few months, and had privately confirmed to Weiss that she knew significantly more. However, she wasn't telling any of what she knew either, citing that she would not betray Ruby's confidence. She could at least explain why Ruby is wearing an armored nun's habit, of all things, though.
"How about a restaurant?" Blake suggested, one hand on her stomach.
"I told you you were going to miss breakfast, and you didn't believe me." Yang teased.
"Shush." Blake responded, grinning lightly.
"What do you think?" Weiss asked their quiet leader, who shrugged in response.
"I do not have any preference on where we go. With one exception; I steadfastly refuse to enter any place solely picked by Yang. As a result of certain events I will not speak of." Ruby's tone became vaguely affronted during the final sentence.
"Oh, come on. That was once, and I thought you'd appreciate it!" The blonde brawler protested.
"Well, I did not." Came the flat response.
"I know, just… Please, let me live that down."
"It was last weekend. Maybe in a few more weeks." Ruby told her, as Weiss looked at Blake in confusion, who just shrugged at her. There's a story there…
"I think that's the best I'm going to get, isn't it?" Yang sighed. "Anyway, there's this noodle place that does really good Mistralian food down at the corner of forty-second and central. Transit station's less than a block away, sound like a plan?" She continued.
"I'm fine with that." Blake responded.
"Sounds like a plan." Weiss agreed.
Ruby didn't say anything, and when the other three looked over, she was gazing up at the sky with a blank expression, before her face split into a grin.
"Verbindung wiederhergestellt."
"Uh… Ruby?" Yang looked confused, mirroring the expression on Blake's face. Weiss didn't bother hiding her own expression of confusion and curiosity.
Ruby lowered her gaze, the grin still on her face. It wasn't any sort of feral expression, either, but a genuine smile. Why are you so happy all of a sudden?
"Do not worry about it. Now, was a plan decided on?" She asked.
"Uhh… We decided on a Mistralian noodle place off of forty-second and central." Yang told her, to which Ruby nodded, and set off in the direction of the nearest public transit station.
"Well, are you three coming along?" The team's leader called out over her shoulder.
The three in question looked at each other in silent confusion over the sudden mood swing, before Yang and Weiss shrugged and followed.
Weiss heard Blake sigh and mutter something she didn't quite catch, before the last member of Team RWBY followed.
***
"Hey guys!" Jaune's voice pulled Pyrrha out of her thoughts, causing her to look up from her plate, which she'd sort-of been staring at as she contemplated life at Beacon Academy, and tried to stay awake.
"Hey! 'Sup?" Yang Xiao Long called back as Team RWBY entered the bistro where Team JNPR had decided to have lunch on their first weekend at Beacon.
As usual, Pyrrha reflexively swept her semblance over everyone again, noting that the amount and types of metal on Yang and Weiss hadn't changed at all between their current outfits and their uniforms, while Ruby and Blake had acquired more.
In Blake's case, it was a metal plate of some sort on her back, itself magnetized. Given that was where her weapon was, the purpose was quite apparent.
As for Ruby, her—nun's habit? Why is the robot-girl in a nun's habit?—incorporated thin metal plates on the sides of her hips, like armor. Armored nun habit?
Pyrrha tilted her head in confusion at Ruby's outfit, drawing a glance from Weiss. Ruby herself didn't seem to notice or care, though she twitched when the champion's semblance passed over her.
"You four having a good time out in Vale?" Yang asked as she sat down, drawing Pyrrha's attention away again.
Get more sleep, Pyrrha. Your attention span is incredibly short and it shows. The champion mentally chided herself. But that movie was worth staying up that late… No, focus.
She shook her head slightly and ran a hand over her face, sighing lightly.
"Everything okay, Pyrrha?" The Blonde Brawler asked a different question, Jaune having apparently answered her first one.
"I was up a bit too late last night watching a movie." The redhead replied, trying to stifle a yawn and failing.
"Heh, I get that." Yang chuckled and Pyrrha's face flushed slightly from embarrassment.
"So, how was your first week?" Jaune asked Yang, changing the topic.
"Eh. Was… Interesting, to say the least…" Pyrrha tuned the rest of her leader's answer out, in favor of examining the girl in front of her, as Ruby sat down.
Pyrrha had gone to Professor Goodwitch after classes on that first day, and told her everything her semblance had picked up about the leader of Team RWBY. At first the professor hadn't believed her, but eventually the Mistralian champion had pushed through enough of her skepticism that the deputy headmaster had agreed to take up the matter with Professor Ozpin.
She had not honestly expected to receive a personal message from the headmaster later that night, stating that he was aware of Ruby's 'situation', as the message had put it, and further, had warned her against discussing it with anyone. When JNPR had been awoken in the middle of the night by a scream, Pyrrha had immediately recognized that it had come from RWBY's room, which had startled her quite badly, but also stirred up her curiosity. Thus, she'd gone to investigate, Jaune tagging along out of worry.
While she had, to an extent, expected Weiss to be the one answering the door, she had not remotely expected the heiress to be bleeding from her cheek, seemingly without a care. Nor did she believe the other girl's insistence that it was an accident. Pyrrha was convinced it had something to do with Ruby, and possibly to do with the scream, as she didn't buy the movie explanation in the slightest.
Of course, she was a bit too polite to directly ask what had happened, even though the question had been eating at her. She needed to know. If she had one flaw, it was her curiosity. Usually it was a restrained flaw, but restrained didn't mean non-existent, after all.
"See something you like?" Ruby's teasing voice interrupted her thoughts, and she blinked several times.
"I, uh—Huh?" Pyrrha's response was less than coherent. Really need more sleep… My thoughts went trailing off, there.
"You were staring." The robot-girl shrugged, with a small grin. "It is fine, stare all you wish, I am used to stares." She stated, casually. "Of course, usually they are not from so close a range…"
Pyrrha paused for a moment as her tired mind put together Ruby's statements, then she blushed a deep scarlet, grasping the other girl's meaning.
Ruby chuckled lightly, and Yang burst out with giggles from where she sat, next to her leader.
"Of course," Ruby continued, "I must turn down any invitation you may give, as I cannot return your interest. I am, after all… Taken, I believe the word is."
Now Yang was struggling to contain full on laughter, while Nora had begun to giggle from Jaune's other side, as Jaune, Blake, and Weiss gave her identical looks of confusion.
"You never mentioned that before." Weiss noted, to which Ruby shrugged.
"It never came up."
"Do your… Does he? She? Know about…" Blake trailed off, tapping the back of her right hand with the fingers of her left.
Ruby sighed.
"Yes, she knows." The leader of RWBY noted with minor annoyance. "And I thought we agreed not to speak of that outside ourselves?" Her voice became sharp. Speak of what? Is it that Ruby's a robot-girl? Or something else? Something she did, perhaps?
"Uhh, what?" Jaune tilted his head in confusion.
"Private matter. It does not concern you. Or rather, should not concern you." The robot-girl half-glared at Pyrrha as she spoke. The Mistralian champion froze as that cold, silver-eyed gaze bored into her own green eyes.
Why is she looking at me? Does she know what my semblance is? Does she know that I know she's a robot-girl?
"Ruby?" Jaune seemed confused at her sudden hostility, even more so that it was directed at Pyrrha.
"You felt it, didn't you?" She asked the robot-girl. She has reacted to my semblance before…
"Yes. Now, please stop." Ruby's tone implied that her statement was not a request. Pyrrha ignored it, and continued her questioning.
"How did you feel it? Normally, no one can feel my semblance. Why can you?"
Ruby's expression didn't change.
"Irrelevant. And even if I felt like telling, I am not actually allowed to. Suffice to say, I can, and that is the main point. So I will know if you pass that… Invasive field over me again."
Pyrrha became quite worried at that statement. Not only can you tell my semblance is being activated and focused on you, you can tell what it does?
Next to her, Jaune seemed to be able to tell something was seriously wrong with the situation, as he leaned over and put his hands on the table between Pyrrha and Ruby.
"Look, I'm not entirely sure what's going on here, but, uh, I'm sure it's not that serious, right? We can solve this, uh, dispute? If this is one, we can solve it, right?"
Ruby closed her eyes and sighed.
"My apologies." Her eyes opened again, her expression still completely neutral. "Where I am from, your using your semblance on others like that without their permission, it is a rather large breach of privacy." Oh.
"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha apologized, shrinking in her chair slightly, embarrassed. "I didn't know!"
Ruby sighed again, and shook her head.
"I did not expect you to. I just… What you have detected with your semblance, it is something I am a bit sensitive about, right now, at least. I would appreciate it if you were to not mention it to anyone." I can understand that.
"I can do that. Again, sorry."
"It is fine. Danke, Fräulein Nikos." Huh?
"What does that mean?" Jaune asked before Pyrrha could. "Also, what're you two even really talking about?"
"A literal translation is 'thank you, miss Nikos', and Ruby did just ask Pyrrha not to talk about it…" Yang spoke up again, trailing off at the end her sentence. "And she was talking in Belkan, before you ask."
"Belkan?" Ren asked this time, speaking for the first time since Team RWBY had entered the restaurant. And Nora's been surprisingly quiet…
Ruby sighed, yet again, before speaking.
"Belkan is my native language. Well, one of the two." She shook her head. "Now, I think we have been talking about me a bit much—"
"Are you a magical girl?" Nora abruptly asked, interrupting the other girl. Everyone present turned to look at the redhead, baffled. "Well, you act like one!" She said defensively, crossing her arms.
"Nicht ganz. Ich bin ein Ritter. Schließen Sie, jedoch."
Now Team JNPR turned to look at Ruby, then Yang, while team RWBY continued to regard Nora with confusion.
"I'm not translating." The blonde brawler put up her hands in a half shrug. "I barely know enough to translate what she said earlier." Now JNPR turned to Ruby, who crossed her arms over her chest.
"Not translating." She said, with a small, teasing grin. "Besides, it is not too important. And, how do I act like a magical girl?" She directed this question towards the smaller of the redheads at JNPR's table.
"Well…"