The plot must carry on...

With Weiss tucked away in bed at her dorm, you were free to resume your hunt for young women. The night was still fairly young after all, and as you stride across the courtyard back to the dance hall, you find a curious sight waiting for you.

It's Ruby shifting uneasily on her feet as she stood at the entrance of the dance hall. Even with her back turned towards you, you could still feel the discomfort rolling off of her in waves. Her hands fumbled with the hem of her dress while her eyes followed the other dancing couples almost forlornly as she internally wrestled with her disdain for social gatherings. Poor thing was completely out of her element and it showed. Grasping her hands together, it seemed she'd finally had enough of the atmosphere and she turns on her heel to leave, head bowed ever so slightly to hide her anxiety from view. Of course, she doesn't realize where she's going with how caught up she is in disappearing and within moments, she's barreling into you.

"Whoa, wh-wh-whaa? Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she sputters out her apology much to your amusement.

"It's no trouble, really. Accidents just happen," you say with a chuckle. "Leaving so soon? It's not even midnight yet."

Ruby grumbles under her breath and casts her eyes aside.

"I don't like dances," she mumbles. "There's so many people and I can't stand these stupid lady stilts. I'm only here because Yang made me do it! I just want to get out of this dress and back into my hood..."

"It's not that bad," you try to reassure her while flashing a smile. "I think you look stunning in that dress. I'd say you even look better than usual."

She pouts at the compliment but blushes nonetheless, suddenly extremely self-conscious of herself while her hands resume playing with the hem of her dress once more.

"No I'm not. Weiss is the pretty one. And Yang. And Blake. I'm just... just a girl who wants to fight evil monsters and save people."

You hum softly to yourself.

"You know, dancing and fighting aren't that different from each other. Both need balance, coordination, and a sense of rhythm to flow correctly. Have you tried it yet? You might even surprise yourself."

She cracks a smile at your words.

"Professor Ozpin told me something pretty similar to that too. I just don't want to dance though, ya know?"

"Yeah, I suppose that much is fair," you agree with a hearty laugh. "Care to join me for a walk then? I wouldn't mind some more fresh air myself."

Her blush deepens as you extend an offered hand, coy little smile playing on your lips. Nervously, she reaches forward and accepts your invitation, her fingers soft, smooth and cool to the touch. Not a word is spoken between you two as you lead her out into the moonlit courtyard, the steady beat of the dance hall fading away, nor does she make to release your hand from hers. With how poorly she was handling her social ineptitude you half expected her to excuse herself with sputtered apologies, yet she remained by your side in companionable silence, her demeanor relaxing with every passing moment and as you sneak a peek at the young rose, you're pleased to find a soft smile gracing her features.

"Hey uh... thanks for this," she says quietly. "That party was really starting to get to me."

"It's no trouble at all. Feel better?"

"Much better."

Your walk eventually leads you to the gardens behind Beacon's central tower, a well-maintained display of various flora collected from across the world. Taking note of the silence and seclusion of a certain spot, you then lead her to sit in a grassy clearing surrounded by an array of colorful flowers. She follows your lead and while she keeps her hand in yours, she still sits a respectable distance from you.

"I've always liked coming out here at night," she says suddenly. "It's quiet and soothing, and the gardens remind me of my mom."

"Would you mind sharing a bit about her?" you venture curiously, earning a bright smile from the younger girl.

"She was Super Mom! One day she'd be across the Kingdom fighting monsters and the very next she'd be back at home baking us cookies!" she answers without missing a beat. "This one time when I was four, I tried to help her when she wasn't looking and thought I could add the flour to the bowl without help. I grabbed a chair from the dining room so I could reach the counter, but I got all clumsy and fell over with the bag. It got everywhere and I remember dad being not very happy with me, but mom... she just laughed and cleaned me up. Then we made a batch together!"

Hearing Ruby talk so happily about Summer brought a smile to your face. It was certainly much more than what Yang had shared in the show, and it brought you a certain amount of satisfaction knowing she was a real and living flesh-and-blood girl thanks to your efforts.

"You keep talking about her in the past tense. What happened?"

Her once bright smile then turned forlorn and wistful. You could even see a hint of mist forming in her eyes.

"I don't know. One day she left on a mission when I was five and never came back," Ruby replied with a sigh. "Dad was really torn up about it for the longest time, but my Uncle Qrow helped get him out of that funk so I guess it's ok now. I just still miss her, ya know? And even though we have a memorial stone for her back home, I just don't want to think she's dead. I want to think that when I graduate and I become a professional Huntress, I'll be able to go out and look for her like Uncle Qrow does."

"Is that why you started training?"

"Part of it, yeah. Back then though, I mostly just wanted to help people and look cool doing it. I spied on Uncle Qrow when he was practicing with Harbinger one day when I was eight, and I begged and begged with him until he finally agreed to teach me. I was complete garbage when I started, but he trained me really good. Now I'm all hoooahhhh waattchhaaa!"

Her sound effects complete with karate-esque hand gestures that mimicked so perfectly her behavior in the Pilot sent you into a fit of guffaws. She was cute before, but now she was just too damn precious in person and it brought on an overwhelming desire to protect her. Not that she needed much protecting to begin with depending on what she went up against. Of course, Ruby didn't quite appreciate your laughter and lets go of your hand to cross her arms in a pout.

"Hey! It's not nice to laugh at people you jerk!" she admonishes.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. That was just the most adorable thing I've seen in a long time," you apologize between chuckles as you wipe a tear from your eye.

Hearing you openly call her adorable brought her blush back in ****, and she stubbornly turns away from you to hide her embarrassment.

"Quit saying stupid things, dummy!"

"It's true though! I'd daresay you're the cutest girl on campus."

"But I don't want to be cute!" she retorts, back still turned to you. "When people say that, it makes me feel like I'm too young or helpless to take care of myself! I'd rather be more like Yang..."

Uh oh. Looks like you touched a bit of a nerve there. It seemed this Ruby had a few more insecurities regarding her physical appearance than her canon counterpart. Going into damage control mode, you place a gentle hand on her shoulder though she still makes no effort to look at you.

"Hey, I didn't mean any of it like that," you say to reassure her. "I'm sorry I upset you."

She seems to soften a bit at your apology and while she doesn't turn fully again to face you, she does peek back at you over her shoulder.

"I guess it's ok then..." she relents. "It's just... Yang is barely three weeks older than I am, we literally just turned eighteen before we started at Beacon, and she's already filled out so much more! And me... I haven't changed much at all since I turned fifteen. I don't even care if boys start staring at me, I just want to be more... grown up."

"But you are grown up," you point out. "Looks and body aren't everything. Personality goes a long way too."

"So a craziness over all things that are sharp and pointy and/or goes pew and social anxiety that makes me want to hide every time someone new tries to talk to me?" she points out dejectedly. "Yeah, really sexy..."

"Those are just quirks and not exactly what I was getting at," you explain. "Think about it this way. Yang has that outgoing and recklessly adventurous type of attitude that could land her in risky situations. Some guys would be tripping over themselves to get a chance with her and her love of adrenaline sure, but others would find her either overbearing or too intimidating to give it a shot. Other guys would much rather pick the quirky little gun nut over the party girl any day. And besides..."

You lift a hand to gently cup her cheek and turn her towards you. If Ruby's face wasn't as red as a tomato before, she certainly was blazing now. Your tender touch wasn't doing anything to help her either.

"You're the only girl here with silver eyes, and they're easily your most beautiful feature."

She visibly swallows a lump in her throat at how close in proximity you both were. You could literally feel her shallow breaths coming out in bursts across your lips.

"You... you think I'm beautiful...?" she whimpers.

"Especially here in the moonlight. But if you still think you're more like a kid than a grown up, I know a couple of ways to help you feel otherwise. Would you like to try?"

She squirms under your gaze, though not in discomfort or fear like you had initially expected. Her face was growing hotter beneath your touch by the second and her breathing had now turned into panting gasps. She was even more inexperienced than even Pyrrha or Weiss. With both a level of pride and no small share of trepidation, you realized that you were going to be Ruby's first everything. In a way, it actually made you nervous knowing that this innocent soul would become not-so-innocent by the end of the night. You couldn't, wouldn't ruin her curiosity by getting too ahead of yourself and thus you waited patiently for her answer. If she got cold feet tonight, you could accept it. You were here on Remnant for the long haul after all.

You can see her lips begin to move when her eyes suddenly cut to over your right shoulder. Slowly, that bashful innocence faded away and was being replaced by a much harder stare, prompting you to follow her gaze. By chance, you spied the faint and shadowed form of a certain young woman vaulting across the rooftops of the dorms.

"So you see it too?" Ruby asks.

The tone in her voice indicated she wasn't entirely sure that she spotted Cinder carrying on with her plan, leaving you with what was possibly your most important crossroads decision since starting this little adventure.