So it is done

Epilogue

Ruby stretched her body slowly, like a cat that was lounging in the sun, she tried to stretch her tense muscles before she rolled to her side of the bed and fumbled for the scroll beside her. With one quick swipe, she turned off the obnoxious trill that echoed through her room.

Stupid technique, stupid alarm, stupid habits...

Reaching for the scroll, Ruby hit the right button to shut it off by feel alone, on her first try! Okay, it was on her third, switching off the alarm clock's trill before blinking her eyes slowly, yawning and trying to wipe the morning drowsiness from her eyes before reluctantly rising from her bed.

Tomorrow was Ruby's birthday, the day marking yet another year that she had lived... She was going to be nineteen years old, a more than respectable number, Ruby couldn't even be called someone who had just had her 18th birthday!

"Maybe this year, Yang will stop calling me a baby." Ruby entertained the thought for a moment, before waddling towards the shower. Sadly, any thought of sleeping in and enjoying a slow day was crushed by her time in the Academy.

Being forced to wake up at seven o'clock in the morning had hardwired Ruby's biological clock to make her wake up at that time. Even when she was on holiday!

At least, back home as she was for the holidays and before her birthday, Ruby didn't have to worry about a busy shower room. Being back home, Ruby didn't have to share her shower room with her team...!

Sure, she loved them to bits, but her authority as team leader meant nothing in the face of the queue for the morning shower!

Uncle Qrow, Aunt Raven, even Dad and Mom didn't allow any tardiness to their lessons! So waking up early to get her own time in the shower was paramount, especially since she was almost always inundated with extra work.

Just why!? What was the point of having half of the academy's teaching staff as her relatives if she ended up staying after lectures almost more often than anyone else!

Muttering more complaints about the unfairness of it all under her breath, Ruby Rose, the nineteen years-old proud sophomore at Trismegistus Academy, strode inside the bathroom.

Turning on the hot water, she let it wash away her morning drowsiness.

Ruby Rose was a simple girl in the prime of her life, and she had her hobbies. No one played board games better than her, and no one could build weapons better than her, but having such hobbies were normal for all Hunters. Some liked to talk about dresses and some liked to talk about large-calibre machine guns, the latter was even more normal for a Hunter like Ruby than the former.

After enjoying her morning shower and waking up fully, Ruby dried off her black hair with the towel, before she looked at it in the mirror and gave up trying to comb her hair early in the morning. Yang could afford to spend the time to take care of her luxurious hair for three hours a day, whereas Ruby preferred to leave it all to chance.

Besides, she wore her hair short anyway, and even without any help, it would settle into its proper shape after half an hour.

So, putting on her favorite t-shirt, she allowed herself to forget about her appearance, at least for the day she didn't plan to leave the house. Ruby then stalked out of the bathroom, almost running headfirst into her mother, causing both girls to recoil from each other in surprise, falling on their butts with a squeak of surprise.

They were almost like twins, each copying the other's action and reaction.

"Mum!" Ruby wasn't even sure what she was supposed to be saying by that exclamation, and neither was Summer, who answered her similarly in turn. Like mother, like daughter.

"Ruby!"

The mother and daughter looked at each other, as if trying to figure out what the other meant by their exclamation. Summer however caught on sooner, and so with a laugh she pulled Ruby up, even as she started laughing.

"Breakfast is on the cooker, the cookies are in the oven, and I'm going to the shop."

"Which one!?" Ruby's interest was piqued for a moment for the possibility of sweets being bought.

"AlbainCo in Menagerie, so I'll be there in a couple of hours, and yes, I'll get you some strawberry shortcakes. Dad will be here in the evening, so don't miss him!"

"You're the best mum ever!" Ruby, delighted at the prospect of her eating her favorite cakes, instantly broke out into a smile before reaching up and kissing her mother on the cheek.