Cinder Falls... For Ruby Rose (ch11)

2-DAY EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL OF MY PATRONS! THANK YOU!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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												Chapter 11. A Clashing Of Clans

To Cinder, it seemed like the flight back to Haven took hours longer than it actually did. The air ship seemed to make a dozen extra stops and loiter for longer than usual at each one, when in reality it was perfectly on-schedule.

Cinder tried not to let her frustration and excitement show as she waited and waited for her home kingdom to be announced. She didn't want to miss a second longer being with Ruby than she already had. And just thinking that the rest of her team was getting to spend time with Ruby right now and Cinder herself wasn't was making her antsy.

Despite her mixed emotions, Cinder did make sure to think rationally at some point on her flight. She ordered and ate a meal on board the ship so she wouldn't have to waste time worrying about eating when she landed – so she could spend as much time as possible with Ruby the very second she got off the ship.

Luckily for her, her teammates knew she'd be dying to spend every waking second with Ruby. So when Emerald assumed Cinder was close to arriving home again, she suggested they all go outside to meet the air ship so Cinder and Ruby could see one another right away. Ruby eagerly jumped up and agreed.

So they all headed outside together and waited at the air ship docks. Neo was leaned cozily against Yang's side while Emerald and Mercury were flanking a jittery Ruby. For a while she just kept excitedly chattering, saying things like “I can't believe we both had the same idea!” and “Ooh I hope Cinder comes back soon!”

But the second they heard the whirring of motors through the clouds Ruby clammed up, clasped her hands together, and started bouncing on her heels.

The air ship was in sight, and it soon docked, and everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. As soon as the doors were down, Cinder was already stepping out onto the platform with her suitcase behind her.

And Ruby was gone in a flash of red, leaving only rose petals in the place where she'd just been standing.

“Cindeeeerrr!”

With a squeal, she lunged at her girlfriend, throwing her arms around her and nearly bowling her over back into the ship. Cinder hadn't been expecting her to be right there, but by some miracle she caught her anyway and didn't fall. The reality hit her as softly and pleasantly as Ruby did, and a smile instantly crossed her lips.

“Ruby. It is so good to finally see you again.”

Ruby sighed and nuzzled into her girlfriend's collar, wiggling as close to her as humanly possible. The others stood watching from solid ground, smiling and smirking and in Yang's case, wiping her eyes happily. They gave the two girls a moment of silence before Emerald cleared her throat.

“Hey, chief! How about you toss us your bags and you and Ruby stay on the ship and go to town? Show her around a bit?” She met her leader's surprised gaze with a wink. Emerald was trying to give her time alone with Ruby for a date.

Cinder swallowed but made sure not to let the others know she was as excited as she felt.

“Very well.” Keeping one arm around Ruby, she reached with her free hand for her luggage. As Emerald came up to her, Cinder handed her the bags with a mumbled “thank you.” Emerald smiled.

“Just don't keep her out all night.”

She left her leader with an encouraging pat on the back before taking her bags off the air ship. Cinder and Ruby stepped back on together now as they waved goodbye to the others.

The doors of the ship closed and the pair walked back to take their seats. Ruby hopped into a window seat on habit, but didn't look out the glass once. Her eyes were entirely focused on Cinder.

As the ship took off, she got to babbling a mile a minute.

“I'm soooo glad you made it back so quickly so we still have most of the day to do stuff together! Heehee I still can't believe we both did that and missed each other. I bet Weiss and Blake nearly fell over when you showed up at our dorm room, right? Gosh, I can't wait to see more of Haven with you! It's such a beautiful place from what I've seen online!”

She was so bubbly and hyper, clinging to Cinder's arm and softly squeezing her hand all the while. Cinder let her speak to her heart's content and only replied when there was room.

“Indeed,” she said fondly, reaching out to touch Ruby's hair. Ruby giggled again, then fell silent. Her impish smile turned a little more serious, just for a second as she met Cinder's eyes. Cinder was drawn in to her, leaning down and closing her eyes for a brief kiss.

Ruby was still and quiet just for those few seconds before they parted. The kiss seemed to have calmed her down somewhat, provided proof for both of them that they were really and truly together again now.

Ruby cuddled up to Cinder's side again and spoke a little more softly from then on, but still just as quickly, musing about what Haven would be like and making sure Cinder knew how happy she was to be here. Cinder responded in her own ways, with simple words and tender touches.

The ship soon landed near a massive local park where most tourists and natives alike enjoyed spending time. Cinder tugged Ruby up from her seat and led her off the ship. It would be a perfect place for them to spend their date today. Ruby followed eagerly and took in all the sights with a slack jaw.

A little ways to their left was the edge of a town, with small buildings and little shops lining the sidewalks. Then there was a big open field with low-cut grass and picnic tables, speckled with a few patches of small trees and flowery bushes. Beyond that were small forested mountains and hiking trails that led into Haven's natural beauty. There were people walking and sitting all around them, talking and laughing or running and playing games. Everyone just seemed to be having a good time.

Ruby jumped up and down at Cinder's side. “Wow! This looks so nice! Where should we go first?”

Cinder led her off the ship as she pondered. Assuming Ruby hadn't eaten much yet today, or if she had that she'd worked up an appetite by now, she directed her toward town.

“Why don't we get a little something to eat first?”

“Food? Okay!” Ruby latched herself onto Cinder's arm and followed her like a sugared-up hummingbird.

Cinder led her girlfriend toward civilization, where people were wearing suits and dresses rather than shorts and tank-tops. There were all kinds of little shops and eateries, but Cinder could tell that Ruby glanced at them all with mild interest. She was an outdoorsy person, not one to waste much time enclosed in stores.

Therefore she took her to the outdoor food stands selling hot dogs and cotton candy and ice cream, which Ruby absolutely loved. She surveyed her options seriously, then whined that everything looked so good and she didn't know what to choose.

“Waaah I really wanna try Haven's famous burgers but I don't wanna be so full I can't walk later! But cotton candy isn't filling enough either...”

Cinder thought for a moment, then proposed an idea.

“Then how about this...”

In the end, Ruby instantly agreed to her idea, which was that Cinder ordered a burger that they would split, and Ruby got cotton candy-flavored ice cream. Ruby tried to pay, but Cinder insisted on it, being they were in her home kingdom and she was hosting Ruby's visit.

They took their food to a small picnic table beneath the shade of a tree and started to eat. Ruby squealed and squeed at the ice cream.

“Wow! This is suuuper yummy! I mean I like Vale's food but it's so nice to try something different!”

“I'm glad you like it.”

Cinder made careful work of splitting the burger as best she could and offered Ruby a half. The brunette put down her ice cream cone, balancing it on the table as she picked up the burger and bit into it. She squealed again before swallowing.

“It's so gooooood!”

“Once again, I'm glad,” Cinder smiled.

They ate and enjoyed themselves for a few minutes. While her mouth was full Ruby couldn't talk, but she did her best to hum and sigh and take in her surroundings.

Cinder was used to this scenery, even though she didn't really come to the park often with her teammates. But she'd grown up in Haven and knew all of this as a normal backdrop. To Ruby, however, it was an entirely new world, and Cinder didn't want to take away from her enjoyment of it.

Ruby finished her burger and continued with her ice cream. Cinder was just finishing her food when she heard footsteps coming their way.

“Oh! It's Cinder!”

Cinder turned around to see two familiar girls – the two that had come up to her several weeks ago inquiring about her romantic state. The girl who had been interested in going out with her back then now had an easy smile on her face as she looked Ruby over.

“And this must be Ruby, your girlfriend. It's nice to meet you. My name is Amber, and this is my girlfriend Krystal.”

Ruby quickly swallowed her mouthful and straightened up.

“H-Hi! I'm Ruby! It's nice to meet you!”

“Is this your first time visiting Haven?”

“Yeah!”

“Then we hope you enjoy it.” Amber smiled kindly to her and to Cinder before taking Krystal's hand. She too, nodded politely before they walked away.

Cinder watched them go without having said a word. But at the very least she was glad to see they were happily together now and held no hard feelings toward herself or Ruby. Ruby leaned across the picnic table a little bit.

“Do you know them?”

“Classmates,” she replied, not giving away more than she had to.

“So everyone at Haven Academy knows about me being your girlfriend, just like everyone at Beacon knows you're mine!”

Cinder actually blushed a little bit.

“Everyone knows about us...?”

“Well yeah, just about! Apparently we're kind of a big deal since we're from 'rivaling schools' in the tournament, but most people are really excited for us. Makes them see that they aren't limited to the people just in their own kingdoms.”

Cinder hadn't ever really thought of things that way, but hearing Ruby say them now made something warm curl up in her chest.

Ruby finished the last bite of her ice cream cone with a happy sigh, then picked up all their trash to toss it into the nearest waste bin. She made sure to clean her hands off on a napkin before tossing that away too and offering Cinder her hand.

“Come on! You've gotta show me around the woodsy part! I bet it's beautiful!”

Cinder accepted her hand and didn't let go.

“It is. I think you'll enjoy it.”

From there, she began leading Ruby to the open fields, bound for the cool, shaded forests beyond.

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A/N: I hadn't named those two other girls before because I didn't know they'd be reoccuring, but since they are I made up names for them in this part.

Don't worry, the date is split into two chapters, so I'll continue the next part in the next chapter! Also the title for this one (keeping to the 'animal-esque' theme) is to symbolize two 'clans' (Beacon and Haven) clashing and/or coming together in Ruby and Cinder.