Destiny No More

Chapter 68

Pyrrha flicked the catch of Allos' center gear open, admiring the near perfect job Ruby had done last night. She'd always known the girl as a weapon nut, but it was sometimes easy to forget that it was more than just a hobby or passion, or even a profession. If anything, most would have said it bordered on fanaticism sometimes, though mostly in a humorous type of way. The result, however, was that her friend had taken better care of her weapon than even Pyrrha had.

Closing Allos up and slipping it back into its sheath, Pyrrha smiled back at her friend and nodded politely. "Thank you Ruby, it's perfect."

"I didn't see any signs of strain or damage, so I just did a once over to make sure the inner-mechanisms weren't cracked or corroded." Ruby smiled back at her, the bright shine of which lifted Pyrrha's mood slightly; it was impossible to be upset in the girl's presence.

"You did an excellent job, there just wasn't much to repair." Pyrrha took comfort in the familiar weight of Allos on her hip.

"Kinda makes me wonder why you were in such a hurry to start working on it." Coco mumbled, though clearly intending for Pyrrha to hear it.

Pyrrha ignored it. "I'm sorry for the last minute maintenance. I usually would have done it myself but-"

"Fox explained." Ruby said confidently, though judging by the way she continued to smile he had left out how poorly the mission had gone.

Pyrrha hadn't told them yet, after all, how could she? Even without being told, however, they had been able to tell something was wrong from the moment she stepped off the airship. Fox had probably told Ruby that she was just tired, which hadn't been an incorrect statement. She'd barely been able to keep her eyes open for half of the movie the night before, passing out somewhere around the halfway mark.

"Thanks Ruby." Pyrrha reached out to ruffle the younger girl's hair before she could run away. It was an act Yang repeated often, though she figured that happened less now that her sister was on a different team. Ruby groaned and pulled back, intending to glare up at her but only managing to look like a puppy who had broken its toy. "How have you been enjoying Beacon?"

The annoyed look on Ruby's face was replaced with sheer excitement in such a short amount of time that Pyrrha was surprised the girl didn't suffer whiplash. "Beacon is amazing! There are so many cool weapons and fighters! Have you seen Nora's hammer? It's also a grenade launcher!"

Pyrrha chuckled softly, not at all surprised by Ruby's response. "That's great, but I was referring to more than just the weapons."

Ruby paused, blushing slightly as she shrugged. "School's fine." The silence began to drag on before the younger girl let out an exasperated groan. "You're worse than dad, fine. Beacon is awesome, the weapons, the fighting styles, the teachers, it's all awesome. I'm doing fine in my school work and I haven't gotten into any trouble... for the most part. Would you like to see my report card?"

Most people who didn't know Ruby would have been surprised by the sarcastic tone she used, those people incorrectly believing that she was an innocent little girl. While she could be a little naive at times, she was more mature than most would expect, even those years older than her. That snarky side usually only came out when she was comfortable with the present company. Pyrrha could easily recall a number of times during her own time at Beacon when she had responded to something Weiss had said with a muttered comment the Heiress most certainly didn't approve of.

Speaking of. "How are you enjoying Team RWAN?"

Ruby's smile dimmed slightly. "Better. Things are getting better. Weiss and Pyrrha have started talking ever since what happened in Vale, but I don't think I'd call them friends. More like work colleagues."