"Ah! No, not again!"
Beads of sweat pop up in her forehead, rolling down like a drop of water. Panting heavily as her body disconnected from the bed, silver eyes smeared with nothing but freight as if she had seen something that terrified her. "Ha!" The girl roams her eyes around the room while racing heart pounds beneath her chest.
For a short period she was unable to gather herself, but when more time passed, barely was the girl able to quell her pulsing heart. "Phew, just a dream Ruby, it wasn't real, just a dream… but it was so scary! My dear cookies were taken from me!"
Ruby, an optimistic and innocent girl, had not entertained the thought of being visited by a horrifying nightmare tonight. But then again who can predict when they will have an unsuspected nightmare? Frankly, though, her nightmare wouldn't be much of a nightmare to others as it did to Ruby. Because, the so-called nightmare was only composed of her baking a batch of cookies, but only to have it disappear when it was time to dig into the delicious, crunchy, and sweet dessert.
Worst of all, the cookie's magical disappearance was a repeated cycle.
It was like the manifestation of her greatest fear coming true, except it was in a dream. However, dream or not, for poor little Ruby; such a thing was simply too cruel. Why in the world would she have such a fear-shaking dream out of nowhere. Is the dream trying to tell me that I will have my cookies stolen in the future?
Ruby leaped into an exaggerated notion. But cool-down after some thinking, because that wouldn't make sense.
For the next few minutes, Ruby's silver eyes wander around her dorms. It traveled to her blonde idiot sister who seemed to be having a wonderful dream, considering the giggling as his sister slept. Ruby was jealous that Yang's dream was a lovely one while hers was the opposite. Her silver eyes later found its way to her cool and reserved friend, Blake, who by the way was sleeping soundly without making so much as a noise. She smiles and grins at those two. At least they slept fine. It was relieving, as a captain, knowing her teammates were sleeping soundly brought her nothing but delight, albeit she was jealous of not having a cozy dream like them.
From above, she sticks her head down, gazing at her snow color hair friend, Weiss… while observing she heard Weiss mumble in her sleep. Though Weiss wasn't giggly like Yang, she could tell Weiss' dream was better than her's. "Guess I'm the only one having a nightmare? So unfair!" Her eyes were roaming the room because she didn't want to go back to sleep. After all, it would be horrible if she had another nightmare. The sun slowly but surely rose amidst the night, before long, light traveled in from the ajar curtain, illuminated the room.
In the midst, the golden-blonde, Yang, unfurled her eyelid, yawning as she departed from the bed. Stretching her arms, she spoke, "Man, that was a good sleep I had, perhaps one of the most wonderful dreams since coming to Beacon. Who else here has sweet dreams?"
Her lilac pupils glittered as she looked up, gazing at the awake black hair, amber eyes Blake. The amber eyed, wavy hair girl did not respond at first, but realized with Yang's character it would be best to answer. "It was normal, nothing special." Was all she said while gluing her eyes to the book held in her soft hand. Yang grinned, eyes gleaming as teasing words escaped her lip. "Are you sure, perhaps you were dreaming about…"
Before any further words could be spilled, Blake lowered her book below her eyes and frowned imperceptibly. "Don't say it. I was not dreaming about that." Winking with one eye, Yang was stubborn. "Sure… I believe you."
"It is not," Blake said.
However, Yang, who was just getting into the mood, pressed forward. Which was unwanted with how a deeper frown was forming on Blake's face.
"You dolts, are you done!" Weiss yelled. Perhaps irritated, since her words weren't mellow, though this was not unfounded considering she had been yelling for nearly half a minute.
The two turn their heads, spotting Ruby who sits on her bunk bed, a dark circle visible to the naked eye and cute plump cheeks drooping down. Seeing her sister in that condition, Yang spoke unconsciously, "Looks like someone didn't have a great dream?" Ruby's fatigued eyes shot a glare when hearing her words. "Ahem." Clearing her throat instantly, Yang revised her words. "Guess your dream wasn't good, but don't worry it's only a dream."
Ruby decides to ignore her sister, too low on energy to care about her nonsense.
Weiss scrutinizes Ruby and questions out of curiosity, "How bad was your night to have such a dark circle below your eyes." Ruby, ever so compassionate and lively, sighs at how horrible her night was. "Um… it was…"
…
The cafeteria booms with noise as students eat and converse happily.
In the forefront of one of the tables are four heads, Ruby and the others. "Ruby, if you're so tired you can always ask for permission to nap in the nurse's office."
Ruby shook her head, "No, I don't need it. I'm fine, look I'm full of energy… zzz…"
"You're about to doze off again," Weiss said, clearly dissatisfied with Ruby. Although, it wouldn't look good for a captain to be so sleepy during the days when they're supposed to be the leader of the team. Weiss, though reluctant, had no choice but to admit that Ruby needed some few hours of sleep. Hmm. Thinking about it, isn't she being very considerate right now?
That said, letting a dream affect her this much… Ruby indeed was too childish. Furthermore, the dream wasn't even as horrific as she had made it out to be. Cookies disappear, turning into a Grimm and getting slayed by a hunter.
What's so nightmarish about that? Though, the latter is sort of scary but it shouldn't make anyone here be afraid of sleeping
Sheesh, being afraid of sleeping just because you have a nightmare. As I thought, a child is still a child, Weiss didn't pull any punches when remarking in her head.
Typical Wiess, nothing gentle going through that head.
Regardless, it can't be denied that this was silly considering Ruby's age. After all, despite being the youngest in Beacon Academy; Ruby wasn't five anymore. However, poor Ruby can't really be reprimanded for this either. And with all due respect, Ruby's immaturity was what made her all the more adorable.
The first time she woke from having a nightmare, Ruby still managed to fall asleep against her will. Yet before she knew it, once again she had a nightmare, and it was an even worse dream since it was about her somehow becoming a Grimm and getting slayed by a huntsman. If that had happened in reality it would certainly be a tragedy, not to mention horrifying. Plus that second nightmare pushed Ruby to resist sleeping even more. Now, Ruby felt half-dead, her eyelids were as heavy as a boulder.
At this time, four Beacon students walked over, carrying trays loaded with food. Soon they halted right at the opposite side of the table. Seeing everyone, the blonde-haired male gaze settled on Team RWBY, but especially on Weiss and Ruby.
First he marveled at how pretty Weiss was before inquiring about Ruby's eye catching condition from Weiss. "I noticed the dark circle under Ruby's eyes during class…um, did she stood-up all night without sleeping?" Weiss avoided eye contact with him, simply because she didn't really like the blonde-haired boy, Jaune, very much. In fact one can even go as far as to say Weiss considers him somewhat of an eyesore.
If Jaune knew that he'd be heartbroken.
But in Weiss' case it could be understandable, considering his constant pestering, and undeserving title of a leader. Honestly speaking, till now Weiss could not understand why Jaune was chosen as a leader, whereas she failed to be appointed as a leader.
Though with Ruby she came to accept it, yet for this dorky looking boy in front of her, not at all!
"Hi, Jaune." Said Ruby, resisting the urge to sleep.
"Um… so I'd assumed you didn't sleep so well, Ruby. Why? Hold on, did you have a nightmare?"
"Quilt perceptive vomit boy." Yang chuckled. "But It's nothing serious, just a nightmare, Ruby will get over it within the next few hours." Yang simply said, and Jaune, the orange hair Nora, the stoic face Ren and crimson-head Pyrrha nodded. Since it's just a nightmare, it wasn't something to be concerned about since it happens once a well.
Meanwhile, in the midst of nodding, Nora grinned widely before pushing for a question.
"What sort of nightmare did you have! Was it something like getting seared with flame while Grimm slowly sliced your flesh little by little. Or was it something like getting experimented by Grimm that had developed super intelligence, and sought to dissect and learn more about humans? Or was it…"
Everyone expressed utter bafflement at Nora's train of thought. What was she even going on about, and how did she even have these baffling and unrealistic thoughts? They really didn't know she could have such a soul-shivering imagination. Then again, Nora was always strange since meeting her in the initiation. As a matter of fact, someone like Weiss found her to be more out of control then either Ruby or Yang. That was saying something considering how much those two give her a headache.
Soon, Nora's yapping stopped after Ren urged her to settle down and eat her lunch.
In the end, she did stop, though not before pouting and calling Ren boring. That said, Nora has long since gotten used to Ren's boringness. Settling down and eating. Speaking of which, Jaune couldn't help but express his own dream. "My dream was kind of odd." Sitting next to him, Pyrrha turned and inquired. "What was it about?"
"What was it about? Um… Nothing really interesting, it was just—well, in the dream I was playing with a reddish-black color sparrow. It offered me cookies, and we later played together. Oh yeah, it wandered off occasionally but came back all the time, well, until it didn't come back anymore. Though what was odd is that I even have a dream about a sparrow, I mean I don't pay much attention to them. I love bunnies, you know."
Pyrrha smiled sweetly, "Nothing odd about that, in fact your dream seems nice. Of course, you also got to play with a cute sparrow and it even offered you cookies. Jaune paused his fork mid-way and mused. "You're right. Plus the cookies part was good even if it was only a dream…" his words trail off as he notices an intense glare coming from Ruby. Surprised yet puzzled, he inquired, "Wh-what's up Ruby?"
"No fair," haggard silvery pupis blaze, "Why do you get free cookies in your dream while I had mine stolen every time!" He swallowed his saliva, unsure of what to say, but luckily it didn't take long for him to find a way to rid himself of her glare. "Ahem, wow—look at that, so much food is still occupying my tray! I should hurry and finish it before lunch break comes to an end." Then he lowered his head and ate his food; avoided contact with the dark circle's eyes, Ruby.
Grinning, Yang couldn't help but say, "Vomit boy, quite the fast save on your part, huh?" As she said that, her lips curled up playfully, her voice lowered to a whispering level. "I wouldn't want to talk about cookies right now. Ruby's in a grumpy mood. Just a small warning, you wouldn't want to let some words slip."
Jaune nodded immediately. "Got it."
Ruby instantly glared her haggard eyes at Yang, shouting while seemingly looking devilishly adorable. Apparently, Yang wasn't quiet enough, or perhaps this was intentional on her part in order to get a rise out of Ruby.
"I am not grumpy, don't go making things up!"
"Well of course you're not in a grumpy mood. You are my adorable little sister… how can you ever be grumpy." Sneering, Ruby said, "Is that a hint of sarcasm I hear there." Instantly, Yang shook her head and responded. "Nope, not all. You're clearly mistaken." Ruby's heated glare didn't leave her for a full minute.
"They're a fun pair aren't they, Ren?" Nora couldn't hold it in any longer and let it slip. Ren sighed non-commently, still munching down on his lunch slowly but steadily.
Meanwhile, as Weiss looked at the two sisters, she couldn't help but blurted out. "Will you two quit being a child and eat your food? And as for you Ruby."
"What?" Ruby eyed flickers unhappily. Not being able to sleep soundly had really dampened her mood, prone to irritation at this point. Unfazed, Weiss only turned her head, "I'll be taking you to the nurse to catch some rest." Ruby wanted to retort, unfortunately Weiss was faster, "I won't allow any refusal."
"I'm all in agreement." Yang chided.
"And you be quiet." Yang feigned disheartened eyes immediately. At the same time, Ruby enters an intense glare with Weiss. The winner; who else but Weiss. "Hmph." Ruby heaved and unconsciously agreed, yet also tried to come to terms with her nightmare and told herself that a dream is only a dream. On the other hand, Weiss didn't indulge in winning.
Despite how she feels about Ruby's childishness, deeply, she cares about her well-being. Furthermore, this was only a small issue; which Weiss obviously wanted no but coming out of Ruby's mouth.
Meanwhile, Pyrrha glances at everyone before darting back to Jaune.
"I haven't asked yet, but… what do you think we should do once all classes are out of the way for the day?" Jaune's fork wrapped in spaghetti halted and replied uncertainty. "I don't know, read comics and eat chips?"
"Oh," Pyrrha nodded, pursing her lips and seemingly hesitated on saying something. Jaune caught this, raising his eyebrows he asked. "Um, do you have another plan in mind?" For a brief second, Pyrrha remained silent, however she found her tongue shortly. "I was… thinking we get more… you know, into your practice." Jaune only blink, "If that's what you wanted to do, then of course. Since we practiced all the time these past weeks, I thought you'd want to do something different. But if this is what you want, I'm totally down for it! Plus this will be good for me. However, um—aren't you tired of always having to instruct me every time?"
Pyrrha shook her head, simultaneously, a visible blush almost registered on her cheeks. "I thank you for your concern, Jaune, but practicing with you is something I genuinely enjoy. I'm not tired and… I wouldn't ever be as long as I'm guiding you."
Jaune forked out a load of spaghetti and brought it to his mouth.
"Later we can also try getting up to speed on your Grimm essay." The second he heard Pyrrha words, he almost spit out his spaghetti. Coughing or choking, whatever it was he could only squeeze out a small sigh. "Yeah… wasn't that due tomorrow?"
"Mm-hmm." Nodded Pyrrha, she was not only beautiful, but thoughtful too. He feels lucky to have her as a team member, at the same time, ashamed of his inability.
Lunch break gradually ended and everyone headed to their next class. Down the hallway, whether it's Team RWBY or JNPR, they chuckled in amusement when Weiss dragged Ruby to the infirmary. Ruby was kicking and whining, unlike others, Yang wasn't able to hold in her laughter and uproariously laugh.
Ruby heard it and gave her an unforgettable glare, swearing to pay Yang back for laughing.
As Ruby and Weiss disappear from their sight. Steading next to Yang, Blake asked thoughtfully, "Ruby looks serious, can you handle the consequences?"
Her laughter came to a halt, waving her hand, Yang smiled nonchalantly. "It'd be fine… the worst that can happen is her forcing me to buy cookies and pastry. Which I'm totally fine with as long as I'm not short of Lien." Blake nodded, with Ruby's character it made sense.
"We should head to class, the bell rang minutes ago."
Pyrrha notified them. Nora puffs her chest, "The next class is so boring, why are we even attending it!" Rolling his eyes, Ren interjected, "Every class is like that for you." Jaune agreed almost immediately, followed by the others. This only made Nora puff her chest up even higher.
…
Dusk arrived, dots of stars occupied the night sky.
The brightest of them was the half-shatter moon pouring down a flood of resplendent light.
At this time, at one part of the Beacon academy roof; a shaggy blonde hair thrust his sword outward. Yet, when it closed on the crimson-red hair Pyrrha, it was repelled with no effort. As his sword got repelled, he shifted his center of gravity, and struck diagonally. Unfortunately, midway the girl launched her back backward and used the back of her javelin to strike his knee, then swung her shield at his abdomen.
The blonde hair, Jaune, had his body flung the moment that heavy shield slammed into him.
He growled from the strike, golden Aura flicker, but still with strength remaining he channeled Aura into his blade and shield and tried to go in for another assault. The wing stirred, making an audible slashing sound. Unfortunately, as his blade closes on her. The crimson head was far quicker as she lowered down and kicked his leg, causing him to be off balance instantly. Then she lunged her javelin toward him, immediately bringing three more assaults to his abdomen, shoulder, and left side.
His Aura flickers, as if about to shatter in that very moment.
At the same time, he fell backward, though before he could hit the ground, Pyrrha caught his hand, successfully breaking what could have been a heavy landing.
"Are you alright?" A smile graced her face while asking. Jaune forced a smile and said, "Never been better." With her help he balanced himself and said unseriously. "You could've gone easier on me you know? Those last three strikes were pretty heavy."
Pyrrha spun her javelin and placed it behind her back alongside her Roman style shield. "If I had, you wouldn't be as fast to counter when faced with real combat. Those guys in sparring class never hold back against you." He sighed, yeah… those guys in sparring class never went easy, at least with Pyrrha every time they finished sparring, Pyrrha would point out his mistake.
And so without sparring any further, Pyrrha began to guide him, showing him how to properly form a fighting stance and how to strike with greater precision.
Gradually, minutes tick and clouds in the sky swirl and occasionally block out the moon and parted oftenly. Before they knew it, the one on one practice came to an end. Jaune fell down on his butt, sweating and panting heavily. As for Pyrrha, except for a slight sweat on her forehead, she was used to this amount of practice. In fact, with how skill she was, with records of winning more than one regional tournament; Jaune would guess the intensity of her practice far outclass most students in Beacon.
Panting heavily, Jaune closed his eyes, "We should head back. I'm so… tired I just want to lay down and rest now." His eyelid parted, revealing two dark blue pupils that looked up at Pyrrha. "You don't look exhausted at all; it's amazing how much stamina everyone has."
Pyrrha only smiles, saying, "With time and practice your stamina will naturally improve."
"Wonder how long that'll take." He stood up, Pyrrha didn't give a definite answer, telling him that a few months would suffice.
They strode back to the dorm, conversing casually as they moved. In what seemed like a second, they were only a meter or so from the room.
In that moment, a squeaky hearty laugh burst out from across their dorm. It came from Team RWBY's dorm, and both of them knew the voice belonged to Ruby. In contrast to back then, it seems Ruby had regained her energy. It wasn't surprising, after dropping Ruby off in the infirmary, Weiss came back and told everyone that Ruby fell asleep the instant she laid on the bed.
"It appears Ruby is back to full energy, I'm glad for her."
"Yeah." Nodded, he was too exhausted to say much. However, as he hears another burst of noise from the room, he unconsciously remarks. "Though, we might be hearing some noise during our sleep."
"Hmm." Pyrrha neither agrees nor disagrees.
…
One o'clock in the morning.
As Team JNPR slept, a giant bomb of noise woke them.
"Ruby, will you be quiet already!"
"But I'm being as quiet as I could. You meanie, you're the one being extra loud here."
"I wouldn't be if you'd stop making noise or better yet! Just go to Sleep!"
All four of JNPR had droopy faces, their half-awake eyes seemingly bypassing the distance, it was as if they could see the activity in the RWBY room. At this moment, Nora rubbed her eyes slightly and said, "Why are they always so loud?!" Ren and Jaune rolled their eyes immediately. Coming from a girl who is hyperactive all day? Does she even have the right to call others loud! On the other hand, Pyrrha pursed her lips and listened on. That said, with how late it was they all went back to sleep, even the spirited Nora was no exception.
An hour later.
Back in the RWBY dormitory room, the room was spacious and easily able to accommodate the four girls. It was dark and quiet, the only light that could be seen was from one of the beds, blocked by a red curtain and on top of another bed. It was where Ruby resided. Unlike the other, Ruby was still not asleep, and since she was forbidden to make any noise by old meanie Weiss. Ruby didn't play any mobile games on her scroll, mostly because if she had, there was no way she could restrain herself. And so in order to not be bored Ruby had been drawing in her notebook, drawing her dog, her teammates or something completely different.
"Pfft!" For a second there Ruby almost let out a laugh.
In her notebook she drew Weiss slipping on a banana peel and falling flat on her butt. It wasn't just Weiss she drew, earlier she drew Blake with large eyes while reading her books, looking all dorky. Let's not mention what she drew for Yang, because you wouldn't be able to hold in a laugh.
As Ruby continues scribbling in her notebook, before long a soft yawn escapes her lips while her eyelid begins feeling heavier. Feeling the sleepiness coming over her, Ruby absentmindedly checked the time in her scroll. It was nearly three o'clock! No wonder her eyelids were becoming so heavy!
"Ah… so late." Mumble, Ruby.
For a short second, she contemplated whether to sleep or not. In the end, the choice was easy; of course, it was to sleep! Having been able to sleep comfortably in the infirmary, her fear of last night's nightmare faded largely. The others were right, it was just a nightmare, she wasn't a kid anymore, how could she fear a little nightmare? Time ticked by, Ruby put away her notebook and snuggled up on her bed—closing the light off. With that, the spacious room had really entered a state of pure darkness. The moon is blocked by a curtain, unable to shine in.
Soft snoring sound travels out from the bed above Weiss. Signaling that Ruby has now entered a slumber.
Grayish dark seems to be the only color occupying this world.
In the kitchen, a red headed girl baked her cookies alone, humming happily as she poured in flour and sugar. Later she stowed the freshly shaped cookies in the oven, and then waited with a smile, knowing that the cookies were gonna be delicious. In this kitchen there was only her, and the cookies that will soon be in her belly.
In the grayish world, the girl, Ruby sings heartily. Her song sounded sweet and nice, her voice light and gentle. The scene faded as the girl's song continued to bounce around, blurring into darkness. In a second, all was black before another scene unfolded. This time, Ruby unlid the oven and carefully took her freshly baked cookies out. The wonderful scent permitted the kitchen, and Ruby herself took one large sniff. In an instant, her smile became more radiant while drops of saliva dripped from her watery mouth.
Ruby then walks over to the table, laying the batch of cookies along with the metal tray down on the table. The wonderful smell of the cookies was never-ending. Unwilling to wait for the cookies to cool down, Ruby took off her baking glove and tossed it to the side.
The scent filling her nostril, the irresistible cookies before her was down for the digging.
She took her seat and grabbed one of it; then held it close to her mouth, the heat from being too fresh out the oven had not concerned her in the slightest.
Crunch! Ruby chewed the piece of cookies slowly. Every chewed echo and bounce around, seemingly becoming the only sound occupying this place. Not long after, she swallowed it and sang once more.
"Cookies cookies, how scrumptious you are~"
"Testy testy, how delicious you'll be… hehehe." Suddenly an unknown voice sings the next part.
Ruby's voice came to a forceful halt, her body instinctively trembled, the voice was eerie and caused every one of her hair to prickle. Immediately, her eyes looked down on the batch of cookies, she was sure the sound came directly from the cookies. Yet, how could this be possible! But when she scrutinized it, at first there were only her cookies there. Momentarily, her poor little heart stopped racing, albeit only a little.
Yet, the next second frightened her beyond words.
The cookies crack open, some containing eyes; some being a mouth. It was strange and creepy. One that will shake anybody, not to mention Ruby who was naturally scared of unusual things. In that moment, Ruby wanted to run but suddenly realized her body wouldn't move, forced to sit and stare at the cookies with eyes and mouth.
"Hehehhe, how many of my kind have you eaten?" All the mouths spoke at the same time. But Ruby was so scared she could only whisper words. "I-I don't know…?!" The moment she said that, all the cookies with mouths laughed out loud. The sheer volume of the laughter was like thunder.
In the midst of laughing, the batch of cookies started to crack and break apart into tiny pieces. It then floated up into the air and swirled, an endless tiny piece of cookies flying in a circle, creating a gust of wind. Then, the endless piece flew in the center of the circle and slammed into each other. In just a second, it recombines, growing larger and larger. The scene frightened the life out of Ruby, yet she couldn't move and only watched eyes wide open.
Before long, the cookies finished combining.
There stood a monstrously tall humanoid cookie in front of Ruby, its size and height reaching the roof, towering above her.
It had one large eye, staring down and lowering its head. "You wouldn't know… because you've eaten too much." Ruby wanted to say something, but realized she could not retort this cookie monster's words. In her life, how many cookies has she consumed? How much has she stuffed in her mouth?
The number was unimaginable to her. She loved cookies, be it chocolate cookies, almond cookies, strawberry cookies, they all were delicious.
Yet, was this her retribution for all the cookies she has eaten?
"B-but I didn't~"
"You didn't know that we're alive, have a feeling. Doesn't matter, I'd let you feel what we've been through. Hahahaha!" The Cookie Monster cackled strangely. Suddenly, it widened its mouth, showing huge rows of cookie teeth; then spewed large quantities of flour and batters onto Ruby, painting her white. The bewilder Ruby couldn't understand its reasons for doing this… yet looked like she's about to find out.
The flour and batter started sinking into her skin at rapid speed.
Ruby couldn't resist and could only watch it happen.
Indeterminate span of time past. When it was all over, Ruby found she had become an uncooked cookie herself! Such a thing was beyond terrifying… The Cookie Monster grinned in delight, placing Ruby on a metal pen. The Cookie Monster took three large steps and stuffed Ruby in the oven. Ruby struggled, but could not move, at the same time, she couldn't speak either. In the end, Ruby screams inside her head.
Everything faded into darkness.
When the scene emerged again, Ruby was in the hand of the Cookie Monster.
Crunch! The Cookie Monster bites half of her baked cookie body. Grinning with delight and satisfaction, as if not hearing Ruby's horrified scream. In the midst of chewing, its deep gruff voice echoed eerily across the kitchen.
"Scrumptious. Scrumptious!"
In the dark dorm.
Ruby awoke with a terrified expression. Sweating profusely as she cries, echoing noise that awoke her fellow teammates.