The Pale Rose of the Tides {Bloodborne X RWBY X Arknights}

Chapter 04 Beacon Part 01

Chapter 04
Beacon
Part 01

Ruby mentally groaned, Oh Gods and Great Ones above, both lands, sea, and the cosmos, please answer my plea...

Which one among you guys I've angered?! She cursed her luck, wondering how she had managed to make such a mess of things on her very first day at Beacon.

Stumbling back to her feet, Ruby quickly bowed and blurted out an apology to the Schnee heiress. "Sorry!"

Weiss retorted sharply, "Sorry? Y-" But her words faltered as she recognized the girl standing before her-the same strange girl from the Bullhead who had annoyed her with her freakish appearance and whose sister had the audacity to accuse her family's company of slavery. Weiss's face twisted in irritation as she yelled, "Y-you again?! Didn't I tell you not to show your face in front of me, ever again?!"

Weiss's frustration only grew as she turned her attention to her Dust-filled briefcases, scattered around Ruby. "Do you have any idea of the damages you could've caused?"

Ruby's heart pounded as she frantically looked around at the fallen briefcases, silently praying that none of them were broken. To her relief, they seemed intact. She quickly picked one up and meekly offered it to Weiss, "Um..."

Weiss immediately snatched the briefcase from Ruby's pale hands, her eyes narrowing as she opened it to check its contents. She inspected the inside with a mix of suspicion and annoyance, ensuring that none of the precious Dust within had been disturbed.

Thankfully, none of the vials filled with various types of Dust inside the briefcase was broken. Weiss, clearly relieved, held the case close and proudly stated, "This is Dust mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry."

Ruby, who had spent her entire life under the tides amongst the Ægirians-her kin-had never heard of the Schnee family or its Dust-related monopolies. Her brief visit to a Dust store the previous day, where she had encountered Roman and his goons, had only piqued her curiosity about what Dust was and how a Dust store worked. So, with genuine confusion, she replied, "Uh... sorry, never heard of it."

Weiss's eyes widened in disbelief, her irritation boiling over. "What?! Are you braindead? Have you been living under a rock this whole time?!"

Ruby cringed slightly at the latter comment, mentally noting, Well, under the tides, actually...

Weiss, still fuming, continued, "How did you even learn those etiquettes, anyway? The last time I saw something similar was during my birthday when some royal elites were invited."

She pulled out one of the vials of Dust-a red-colored one-and waved it around in her hand, emphasizing, "This! Dust! Fire, Water, Lightning, Energy!"

Unfortunately, as she waved the vial, it became apparent that something was amiss. Either the vial had been damaged when Ruby fell on its case, or the person who originally filled it hadn't done a thorough job. Tiny particles of the red Dust began to leak out, carried by the wind toward Ruby. Weiss, engrossed in her explanation, hadn't noticed the Dust escaping, but Ruby instinctively felt something strange as the red particles floated in her direction.

Ruby's nose began to twitch as something tickled it, the sensation growing more uncomfortable by the second. She tried to stifle the sneeze building up inside her, but Weiss was still in the middle of her beration, completely oblivious to the leaking Dust vial she was still waving around.

"Uhhh... ahhhh... uhhh..." Ruby fought against the sneeze, her eyes watering as she struggled to focus on what Weiss was saying.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Weiss snapped, her voice sharp with irritation. She held up the vial once more, unaware that a larger waft of Dust particles was now swirling in the air between them. "Is any of this sinking in?" she demanded, her frustration reaching its peak. "What do you have to say for yourself?!"