Ruby Rose - I
'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!' Ruby Rose zipped to and fro from her bedroom, into her sisters, and then to her father's own bathroom.
The man was unwinding on his bed, reading a book as he tried to relax with his youngest daughter buzzing about. He tried to ignore it, but the whispers and panic eventually made him lower his book and stare at his daughter sniffing various bottles of his cologne.
"Ahh, what do I do!?" She cried.
"Ruby."
"Ah, I can't wear this!" She suddenly appeared with her entire closet in her arms, ripping through the pile in the hallway.
"Ruby."
"Should I bring snacks? Is that too much?" She mumbled as she started to stress eat a plate of raspberry cookies while sitting on the pile of clothes.
"Ruby."
"What dad!" She suddenly barked, giving him a brief flashback to Summer. He shook that nostalgia from him and sat up.
"What are you doing?"
The teenager of seventeen years suddenly froze, a blush creeping up her face and ears as she woodenly started to walk away.
The father frowned, "Ruby, what, are you doing?" He emphasized.
She vibrated, before breaking the next instant, "I'm going on a date!" She suddenly shouted, only to immediately clap her hands over her mouth.
The father bounced from his bed, kicked out against the wall in a move of Huntsman Agility as he rocketed out into the hallway. Like a spider-monkey the man flipped from the door frame and then stuck to the ceiling; crawling upside down and staring down at his daughter with wide blue eyes locked in an intense stare.
Ruby whimpered, "Why are you so strange?" She mumbled with teary eyes.
The father dropped nimbly from the ceiling and crouched down by his daughter. "C'mon Rubes, now, give me the sitch." The man suddenly dropped the 'over-the-top' father act and laid down on the mess of clothing his daughter had made in the hallway. His mien now of the 'cool confident and spunky friend you can confined you killed a man to'.
Ruby made an exasperated face at her dad, before grumbling; "I was doing some training and met Corwyn at the yards." She said, a smile coming onto her face at the mention, with a sinking feeling crawling down the father's stomach the same moment it appeared.
"Corwyn Corwyn?" Tai asked, "Hammer, Armor, Stoic? Never says a word more than needed, takes obsessive amounts of notes? Dudes tests are annoying to grade. Swear I learn more from his essays than I know myself about Grimm." The man muttered.
Ruby frowned, "He's serious about being a Hunter, I think. But, erm, he discovered his Semblance two months ago!" Ruby made sure not to spill about him having two; "It was really cool. But, he didn't really want to share all of it, cuz, y'know, Tournament, and semblances are kind of private."
Tai nodded, following along.
"So, I started getting a bit desperate and promised that I'd go on a date with him!" She said quickly.
Tai frowned, "He didn't pressure you into it, did he?" He asked.
Ruby shook her head, "Corwyn's not a bully, dad. He's all stoic like, but he doesn't fall into that crowd. Just…lonely?"
Tai frowned, before suddenly grimacing as he recalled a certain fact about the lad. "Ah. Shit." The man ran a hand through his hair, "Fuckin' Kingdom." He muttered, wincing as he realized he hadn't really talked about this aspect of Huntsman life with his kids. Something that he now realized was rather important to do.
"Dad?" Ruby asked.
"Erm, alright, so; Corwyn's situation is a bit special."
Ruby suddenly frowned, "I'm still going on my date; he's nice, good lookin-"
Tai grinned, "Oh, so broody, tall, pale-skinned muscle boys are your type."
Ruby slapped at him, drawing a laugh from the father as he batted the strikes away, before getting serious.
"Ruby, listen."
She stopped and did so.
"Corwyn's what the Government Spooks call a 'Government Acquisition'. It's a term that is…dehumanizing, to say the very least." He sighed.
Ruby frowned, not liking what she was hearing already.
"Look, the files on the kid are a bit private, you'll likely be able to get the story from the horse's mouth. But, what you need to know is that kids in his spot don't exactly have bright happy stories." Tai sighed, "Government Acquisitions, or how Huntsmen and Huntresses call them; Fodder, are a sad story."
Ruby's face scrunched up, "Fodder?" She asked, aghast.
"The government finds kids, usually orphans with Auras unlocked. Car accident, robbery, trauma; tough shit, basically." Tai explained, "They come in with sweet words about sponsoring the kid to become a Hunter; sounds cool right?"
Ruby hesitantly nodded, "Now, imagine yourself if you didn't have me and Qrow teaching you."
"Ew. I'd still think chops would kill Grimm." She muttered.
Tai nodded, "These kids get a frugal fund barely enough to live off of, and are expected to buy access to quality training, weapons, armor, ammo, dust; basically, anything and everything that a Huntsman and Huntress needs on effectively around…twenty to thirty thousand lien a year."
Ruby let out a horrified sound, "Crescent Rose's prototype was twenty thousand." She muttered.
Tai sighed, "We try, but a lot of them are…demotivated. They're effectively death row inmates, slated to die the moment they graduate and prove they can kill at least a few Grimm; they have no powerful weapon, everyone else often has the funds that allows them access to quality training." Tai shook his head, "It's a nasty business of politics and public perception. For as powerful and elite as a Beacon Graduate like myself is, there's a dozen of Fodder -third and second rates- dying trying to transport a shipment of plastic toys from Atlas to Vacuo. They're out-skilled, out-gunned, and generally a bunch of charity projects that get pumped out to plug holes. Often at the cost of their lives."
"And Corwyn was…?" Ruby asked, her eyes dull and sad.
"Yeah. He…he's one of the better ones. Skilled enough I'd bet on him getting into Beacon and escaping that fate. Especially in the past two months; kids been soaring." Tai looked Ruby into the eyes, "I didn't want you going into this date blind. A lot of these kids have chips on their shoulders, and you're pretty much exactly what they hate." Tai sighed, "Legacy kids trained by renowned Hunters versus the street-rat orphan who's bled for every scrap of skill they have. Doesn't mix well."
Ruby nodded, "Corwyn just seemed really lonely. He doesn't seem to like Yang though." She noted.
Tai narrowed his eyes, but eventually nodded; "Yeah, she flaunts it more than she should." He muttered.
Ruby teetered, "Eh, it seemed more a personality conflict. When have you seen Corwyn angry?"
Tai hummed, "Not-a-one."
Ruby nodded, "He seems chill. I've heard a lot of students say she was just…too much for them." She shrugged, "Anyway, what should I wear?"
Tai bunched up into a human ball and started to roll away. Ruby pouted as her strange dad skillfully rolled into the living room. She sighed, staring down at the mess.