Hey Everyoooooone! Stormy here. And welcome back to another episode of RWBYK Vol.2! This chapter will start off my very own arc going into's Ky's origin. I would like to give my gratitude to all the people who read it and are following this story.
Also, what kind of scenario do you think I should do for the Dance? Let me know in the reviews! Ahem, so, without anything else on my part, let's get to this chapter!
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[Somewhere in a dark realm]
"It's time"
"Finally...."
"Vanitas, do you wish to go against the boy alone?"
"Of course! I don't need any daemon, especially Xerxes"
"I see... Very well then. Draw him out however you see fit and once you have the boy, make him suffer"
"Gladly..."
(Opening Theme - Simple and Clean)
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[Beacon; RWBYK Dorm]
"Yaaaaang, you promised!" Ruby whined, following her older sister around their dorm.
Yang shrugged. "Sorry sis, that was before we had this assignment. Unlike you I didn't have Weiss do everything for me," she teased.
"Hey, she just did it! I wasn't going to complain," Ruby complained. "I've been planning this since last week! It was part of the 'Best Day Activities!'"
"I don't know what to tell ya. I guess you gotta find someone else to go with," Yang told her as she gives her hair one last brush in front of the mirror. Satisfied with her look, she headed for the door with Ruby hot on her heels. "Sorry Rubes, I was supposed to meet Blake ten minutes ago. I'll see you later."
"But...but!"
Before Ruby can come up with something to say Yang closed the door behind her.
"Awwww," The crimsonette whined as she fell flat on her back.
Suddenly she heard the door to the bathroom open. She looked over and saw Weiss, all dressed and ready for the day. Ruby bounced to her feet and ran up to Weiss.
"Hey Weiss want to-"
"No," Weiss quickly shoots down as she walked past Ruby.
Ruby puffed her cheeks at the heiress, to which Weiss rolled her eyes at. "I have some other things to do today. Perhaps another time."
"There won't be another time! I wanted all of us to do this as a team!" Ruby shouted, waving her arms at break-neck speeds.
"Well it seems you'll have to go with someone else. Why not ask Ky? I'm sure you'd both have fun. You two are good together."
Ruby thinks back to a few days ago. Where she and Ky ended up kissing...his lips felt so warm...her instantly goes red as she shakes her head rapidly. "W-W-What does that mean!? What do you know!?"
Weiss cocked her head to the side. "You two seem to converse fairly easily, so I assume spending a day together wouldn't be too taxing."
"O-Oh, yeah, t...that's what you meant. Totally make sense...I'm gonna go find him," Ruby babbled, rubbing her head. "Wait, where is Ky? He wasn't here when I woke up."
"I believe Aptus came by a bit earlier. Those two left together about a while ago. I don't know where." Weiss replied.
"Oh, alright then. I'll be going now."
Ruby jogged out of the room, closing the door behind her. Weiss stared at the door for a few seconds after Ruby left, then exhales as she shakes her head. Weiss pulls out her scroll and begins typing away.
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Ruby began walking away from her dorm at a lazy pace, swinging her legs around as she thought to herself. 'If Ky and Aptus are together, maybe I shouldn't bother them. Jaune would go with me! But... I... kind of really want Ky to come. Wait, why? Why do I want him to come, Jaune would be great company! But so would Ky...'
Ruby's eyes fill with conviction. She'll find him, and at least ask if he wants to come with her. If not, she'll go with Jaune. A simple plan. Now all she has to do is find Ky.
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[Beacon Rooftop]
Ky and Aptus sat side by side on the roof slowly savoring the frozen treats they both held in their hands. Thankfully Aptus had made the wise decision to bring more than two ice creams as Ky was already on his third.
The bluenette stared up into the sky as he responded "Man, I've missed do this."
"Same here." Aptus as he looked out towards the view of Vale light. "The view's not as good as Twilight Town, but it's a close second.
Ky laughed at that. "You got that right. Speaking of which, how was everything going there before you came to Vale?"
"It's going great actually. Leon and the others are still doing their jobs to keep the peace, Seifer's still being an ass plus everyone pretty much misses you. Especially Hayner, Pence and Olette."
"Yeah? Well, I guess I could go back for a visit this semester. It'd be great to see everyone again."
Aptus grinned. "Yeah, especially since the next Struggle tournament will be staring real soon."
"Yeah, I plan to enter it!" Ky said, pumping his fist, before pondering over something. "Maybe I should ask Rosebud and the others if they want to come too. I'm sure they'd love it, especially! Heck, I could show Ruby the clocktower!"
Aptus cupped his chin as he gazed up at the sky. "Yeah, it'd be the perfect place for you to express your love for her."
"Yeah...wait what!?" Ky snapped his head to look at his friend so fast, he almost got a whiplash. "Where did that come from!?"
"Aw, come on Ky!" Aptus playfully punched his arm. "Relax, I'm just kidding."
"Surrree you were..." Ky said with an eyeroll before he looked down at the ground below. "Hey Ap?"
"Yeah?"
"I...I told Ruby about Esuna Town."
Aptus looked at his friend in surprise. "Really? Even about your mom...?" He asked.
Ky nodded as he rubbed his hand through his forehead. "Y...Yeah." He muttered. "About Centurion, the Committee, everything that happened that day."
"What did she say?"
"Well...she surprisingly took it well. That's for sure." Ky told him as he blush a bit. "And well...she gave me a lot of support..."
A long silence instilled as the two looked up at the sky.
Aptus broke the silence. "I hate to bring this up..... but...... when was the last time you went to visit your mom?
Ky went silent for a few minutes, lingering in thought as his orange haired friend stared at him, waiting for an answer. "Come to think of it...I...I really can't remember...." the blue-nette lowered his head in shame and let out a long sigh. "I guess with all that's been going on...I never got around to doing it."
Aptus gave him a pat on the back to reassure him. "Hey, it's not too late to visit her. Better late than never, am I right?"
"Heh." Ky nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Ap."
Suddenly, the balcony door was flung open as high pitched feminine voice squeaked a from it. "Ky!"
Both Aptus and Ky turned their heads to look the source: Ruby. Once she saw the bluenette, a wide smile appeared on her face.
"Hey Rosebud. What's up?" Ky happily asked, smiling at the sight of the young Huntress-in-Training.
Ruby walked over to the duo, then waves at Aptus, who wave back.
"Are you guys, uh, doing anything?"
"Well, Ap and I were just sitting sitting around, eating ice-cream. Why? Do you need us?" Ky asked.
"Well, I need you! I-mean, I... I wish to ask you something," Ruby quickly corrected.
Ky shrugged and turned his body slightly to face her. "Sure, what is it?"
"Would you like to, well... Yang and the others were supposed to come with me but they didn't have time so I need someone and I thought you might want to come to fight Grimm in the Emerald Forest... with me?" Ruby hopefully asked, a little red around the cheeks.
Ky pondered her request for a moment, before looking over Aptus. The fox Faunus caught is eye and spoke. "I'm probably going to look for Blake or stay up here a bit longer."
With a nod, Ky looked back at Ruby. "Sure, sounds like a lot of fun!" He enthusiastically answered.
"Yay! Come on! I can't waaaaait!" The crimsonette shrieked in delight, grabbing Ky's sleeve and tugging him towards the door.
Ky chuckle at her excitement, and give one last wave to Aptus as he left. He saluted back, laughing at his friend's situation.
"Yep, she's definitely gonna keep him on his toes," He said.
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[Emerald Forest]
Ky dove out of the way as a large tree was hurtled in his direction. Turning his head, he saw Ruby seemingly warp around a large boulder that struck the point where she had just been standing moments ago.
"Rosebud! Use your sniper as a distraction! Get their attention! I'll take them out before they realize what's happening!" He called out.
Ruby nodded her head, shifting her Crescent Rose to its sniper form, she began a barrage of heavily powered gun shots each reaching their mark on the targets surrounded by the duo.
There stood five massive Ursa Grimm, each at full height easily towering over the tree line around them growling with an intense glare in their eyes. As Ruby began to fire her rounds the Ursa subsequently started shielding their face and eyes with their massive and armored arms. They turned their attention to the small girl in red, leaving their backs turned to Ky.
Ky took this moment of opportunity to attack one of the bear like Grimm from behind as it was too preoccupied to notice him. With a mighty pounce the teen landed atop the beast's shoulder before driving Bright Crest into the side of the creature's skull. The Grimm's growls immediately ceased as it's knees buckled and it's corpse came crashing to the ground. Rather than ride the beast down however, Ky quickly pulled out his blades and leapt to the next Ursa having to drive them into the creature's back this time in order to catch himself from dropping to the ground.
The beast roared in pain and anguish as it spun around wildly trying to rid itself of the young man now being flung around it's back.
Ky was quick to use his semblance however as he appeared below the Grimm readying Rhindon as he did so. In what looked like only a moment both of the Beast's legs had been separated from their owner just before the Grimm came tumbling down no longer able to support it's own weight.
With that, Ky used the creature's massive back as a platform, before performing a well executed front flip that landed with him driving both blades deep into the skull of the roaring Ursa. Its cries were silenced seconds after his blades found their marks leaving only three of the massive Grimm remaining.
The remaining beasts charged forward, barreling their way towards Ruby as she readied her next shot.
"Uh oh!" she muttered as she saw the Grimm approaching. Moving quickly, the young girl aimed the barrel of her gun at the ground firing several consecutive shots propelling her into the air. The moment Ruby was level with the Ursa's faces she aimed her Crescent Rose behind her before firing one more piecing round. Moving like a bullet the girl darted through the air, readying her scythe behind her as she passed by the throat of one of the Ursa, using the blade trailing behind her she caught the beast by the neck and with a mighty tug decapitated the roaring creature.
"WOOOOOOO!" she cheered "That was awesome!" she continued to sail through the air before a massive claw appeared just by her side.
"Gah!" she shouted in anguish as the beast flung her to the ground catching her out of the air. Skidding against the dirt and grass the young girl came to a stop as her body struck a tree.
"Ruby!" Ky was quick to respond as the Ursa who had stuck Ruby began to charge again towards the young girl. Appearing in front of the slowly rising form of Ruby, Ky raised Bright Crest to his side assuming his usual stance just before the Ursa brought down a massive claw on his form. The heavy arm came to a sudden stop however as Ky raised his weapon, using both arms he pushed back the Grimm's attack.
Roaring in frustration, the beast pressed the rest of his weight into his paw, hoping to crush the young Huntsman-in-training beneath him. Just as Ky felt the pressure begin to build on his blade he stepped to the side, pushing the claw away with a swipe of his blade.
The beast stumbled, loosing it's footing as Ky disappeared from underneath and reappeared just above With Fallen Abyss ready and above his head.
Raising it's head, the Grimm only caught a slight glance of Ky before the bluenette descended on the creature, penetrating deep into it's skull with the blade. Retracting his weapon from the Grimm, Ky stepped off of the beast and let gravity carry him back down to where Ruby was collecting herself.
"Are you okay?" Ky asked the raven-haired girl.
Nodding, she said "I'm fine, it caught me off guard is all." with a cute smile she added "Thank you."
"No problem." he said with a nod of his head.
They both turned their attention back towards the last two of the Ursa who came from both sides of them respectively, along with several other smaller Grimm. The duo then moved back to back as they faced their opponents.
"I see odd numbers." Ky noticed with a grin, "Loser buys lunch?"
"Your on." Ruby smirked, and the two charged at the Grimm with battle cries.
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Later...
"Well, that's that." Ky stated, sheathing Bright Crest and Fallen Abyss away once he saw no Grimm in sight.
"Same here." Ruby agreed, putting Crescent Rose away, "So how many did you get?"
"Well, if we only counted the ones to end the tiebreaker, about eight. You?" Ky asked.
Ruby grinned as she had her hands out wide, only one of her thumbs curled in. "N-Nine?!" Ky exclaimed, then he sighed deeply.
"You'll pay for our next lunch, right?" Ruby asked him eagerly as Ky nodded in remorse for the bargain he made.
Soon after, Ky and Ruby find themselves lying on the ground looking up at the blue sky; Ky had one hand hand behind his head, and the other on his front, while his female friend had her arms resting on her stomach.
"So you lost the binder?" Ky asked, looking up at the clouds.
"Yeah." Ruby sulked with a sigh. "Seems we went a little overboard at the end of the food fight and basically ripped it all apart. I spent so much time on those plans...and the worst part is, the others didn't even join in."
Ky place a hand on her shoulder, making her jump in surprise and blush at the same time. "Well, this was pretty fun on its own. But I'm sure we'll do something you can remember as a team. I wouldn't mind seeing what your crazy little head came up with," He joked, yet said to comfort her.
Ruby looked up at him, cheeks red, and giggled. "Well it's not that crazy just a couple activities I really like so we can all do them," She rapidly spewed.
"Looking forward to it," Ky chuckled and looked into the sky. "Say Rosebud...this might seem out of the blue for me to ask but...I've been curious...what were your parents like?"
Ruby looked over at Ky in surprise. "My parents? Hmm..." She then tapped a finger on her chin. "Well...My mom died when I was younger so I don't know much about her other than she was a skilled Huntress, graduating from Beacon Academy, and that she was a "Super-Mom" and "Slayer of giant monsters and Baker of cookies."
Ky laughed at the thought. 'That would explain why she loves cookies so much.'
"My dad, Taiyang..." Ruby continued on. "He's still around and he's great"! He raised Yang and I and though he wasn't really the best father role model, we could still look up to him. Though he can be a bit overprotective and made terrible puns like Yang."
"He sounds like a pretty cool guy," Ky grinned. "Maybe I'll get to meet him one day and we crack some jokes."
"Oh no, then I'd have to deal with three of you..." Ruby playfully groaned as the duo laughed together, until Ruby perked up at something. "Oh, speaking of which...what was your dad like, Ky? You never told me about hi-"
She stopped herself when she noticed something... different about her friend. The cloudiness in Ky's eyes, she saw before during their conversation about Aqua was back, but there was also some anger mixed in too. "...Ky?" She said, hesitantly. Did she just say something wrong, did she bring up something bad? "I'm-I'm sorry! I shouldn't asked that and I could help but be curious-"
Ky chuckled, raising a finger to her lips, causing her to halt in her rambling and making her blush again. "It's fine, Rosebud. Don't worry yourself about it," his voice was more soft, trying to conceal the bitterness at what he was about to say next, "It's just...my old man wasn't like an average one. He was more like the 'taking off and never coming back' type."
"W...What do you mean?" Ruby hesitantly asks, quivering in fear that he might be angry with her.
Ky sighed lightly before speaking. "I...I used to be very close to my dad. "He was an amazing guy known throughout Esuna. I still remember the nights he read me the story of the the past Kings and the Kingsglaive before going on his missions."
Then his face darkened a bit as he clenched his fists. "But soon after, his duties detracted him from spending enough time with mom and I, to the point that he would be gone for weeks at a time. I was always bummed out that he never came back on most days and special occasions, especially my 7th birthday..." He continued on. "Then, one day...he never came backand I never knew why."
Immediately slapping himself in the forehead, Ky sighed as he turned his gaze to the sky. "Sorry. Truth is, I really have no clue why I'm going into this. It's been 9 years and I still keep bothering me-"
(Song ends)
"No Ky; I should be the one apologizing." Ky blinked at the sudden interruption and stared at Ruby in confusion. The teenager sighed. "Don't give me that look, please. You know exactly what I'm talking about. I keep bring making you relive dark memories everytime I mention your parents, it makes me feel inconsiderate-" Ky looked at the girl, but didn't stop her yet. "-I am so sorry. You must be feeling mad at me right now, I wouldn't blame you." Ruby turned her head down at her own palms. "I feel so stupid for this."
"...Except the only problem with that is you're not stupid." Ky protested quietly, but knew his friend wasn't done.
"And yet I made you upset because my own idiocy." Ruby disagreed and regrettably, eyes drooped in sadness. What she said next stilled the bluenette for a moment. "You must hate me..."
Now hold on there! Who on Remnant would possibly hate Ruby? Not Ky, not in a million years! The understandable upsetting things she was saying threw Ky off, eyes widened in surprise before giving an objectified frown. True the bluenette was a little upset and had the smallest layer of hurt for having to talk about this. But he could never hate his first friend at Beacon, not ever. Swallowing his disbelief, Ky gathered himself before replying to the rash teenager. Slowly, the key-user moved his hand underneath his disheartened friend's chin, lifting her apprehensive face to meet his encouraged smiling one.
He spoke before even thinking.
"You really need to work on your assumptions, Rosebud." Ky began jokingly, as the other teenager lifted a brow in confusion. "If you think for a minute I would ever hate you, and I emphasize 'ever', then you obviously hang out with odd people on more than you should." He chuckled lightly. "Honestly, you underestimate people way too easily. Yourself included."
"You're... not mad?" There was that innocent confusion Ky liked, the teenage girl frowning at him.
"Mad? You must be mad to think I would ever be angry with you!" The bluenette grinned encouragingly, every word he was saying being sincere. "As if something like this would make me get upset with you. So don't apologize to me, you didn't do anything wrong. Okay, so I was a little put off by the fact you brought up my old man. But hey: you were also the first person to check on me when I was upset about my mom! That in itself is an achievement, Rosebud. Nothing in the world will make get angry at you. So chin up."
"But..." Ruby stopped when the bluenette moved his hand down to rest his palm atop her own.
"Let me finish Rosebud, you need to hear this." Ky continued gently as both unknowingly synced their hands together. "When I first told you about your mom, did I ever become upset and angry with you? You didn't know, so that doesn't count." He added just as the teenager opened her mouth to speak, but closed it and let him continue. "Besides, I was upset about that memory for a while, so don't beat yourself over that. And especially don't get upset over this. I think I can understand why you were curious. You're my best female friend though, and I could've understood even if it took me years to tell you. I won't ever get mad at you, and you know why? You're the best thing that's ever happened to me since I came here, and I can't bare getting you upset over me." Ky smiled at her wide-eyed shock at his confession and his own eyes lit positively. "If that hasn't convinced you yet, I could get on my knees and pray for you to feel better." He told her jokingly.
And just like that, he somehow brightened Ruby up more than anyone did. How was that even possible? Right now, it didn't matter. Her guilt slowly got crushed by a sense of happiness and relief that her friend never took offence in the first place. Ky then winked at her. "How about showing me your beautiful smile to show that you're all better now?"
Ruby's eyes widened in surprise as heat rushed to her cheeks. Did he call her smiling beautiful? But nonetheless Ruby smiled for her friend, the regret now disappearing from her features completely. Now to repay Ky in kind. "See, nothing to worry about-"
She halted the bluenette's speaking with a hug that obviously caught him off-guard. "Thank you Ky... thank you..." Ruby said quietly while taking in his warm presence, that made her feel safe and have this weird feeling in her stomach. Ruby felt Ky embrace her in return, and she smiled while her face dug into his blue clothing. This was a moment the teenager already wished never ended. And she thought for a brief second Ky might feel the same way.
"Anything for my Rosebud." Red cheeks now go into overload; did he just say...? "Uhh, I mean not as in 'my Rosebud' but I mean 'my friend Rosebud'."
'Oh...' Ruby snuggled in the embrace. "It's kind of adorable when you stutter, Ky." She admitted, and felt his hair resting on her cheek which didn't bother at all with the other times. Maybe his blue locks will hide the heat on her face away, that always seems arise whenever Ky says nice stuff or compliments her. Maybe the same thing happens in opposite, when she compliments him. It would be nice not to be the most odd one out of them. That wasn't to say Ky was odd, of course... well not in a bad way.
Soon the duo pulled away from each other, as Ruby wrapped her arms around her bent legs to keep herself up. "So, you got any plans for today?" She asked with a goofy smile.
Ky froze at the question. It brought him back to his conversation with Aptus. Then again, right now isn't a bad time to tell Ruby. Ky huffed, then look into Ruby's eyes. She's intently staring back at him, waiting with bated breath for his next words.
"I... well... hm..." Ky think of where to start, and what exactly to say. "I... guess I need to tell someone, eventually, just to clear the air. But I wanted to tell you first. I think you deserve it the most, you know? You've been by my side from the very start, so... you know. I trust you." Ruby's butterflies stir up a storm in her stomach at his words, and she even develops a slight shade of pink along her cheeks. "I...I plan to go visit my mom's grave."
The crimsonette looked surprised at that. "Really?"
"Yeah." Ky nodded. "I haven't to see her in years because of...reasons. But I guess after talking with Ap, I've decided to 'man up' and go visit her. Maybe even tell about what's been going on in my life so far."
Ruby had been watching Ky during his explanation. She felt sympathy for him. Sure, she had at least Yang, her dad, uncle and her dog, Zwei to keep her company, Ky had to grow up without both his parents at a very young age. In a way, he was exactly like her, as both knew what it was liking losing their moms early in life and managed to stay optimistic the whole time.
"I think you should go visit her, Ky." Ruby finally spoke after a long silence.
"Huh?" Ky glanced over while the crimsonette-haired girl rubbed her arm.
"I know that feeling all to well. Don't get me wrong, I have Yang, my Uncle Qrow and my dad and I love them, but I still miss her. I was torn about her death, but I was probably too young to understand it at the time. To this day, I still miss her...But every chance I got, I would routinely visit her grave back home in Patch and talk to her about the events in my life, casually addressing her as if she were still there." Ruby said in a quiet voice, as she let her words sink in. "Maybe if you go visit your mom, you'll finally have some closure. Like you once told me and Jaune...May your heart be your guiding key."
Ky remained silent at what she said. It still surprised him how perceptive she was, how good at listening she could be. She truly was a kind and gentle soul worth being called a Huntress. He then gets an idea, and nervously rubs his head. "Would you..... like to come with me... to the grave?" He asked her.
"H-Huh?"Ruby blushed crimson red, making Ky nervous "Unless you don't want to then I can just—"
"No, no!" She quickly responded. "I would love to come. You've been helping me since day one and now, I'm going to do the same for you."
Ky's nervous look turned to one of relief. "Oh okay. Thanks Rosebud." He grinned before standing up to his feet and offered her his hand. "Here, hold my hand."
Ruby blushed at the proposal. "W-Why?"
"It'll be much faster." Ky grinned. "Trust me."
Ruby looked at his hand for a second before she took it "O-Okay." She said as she wrapped her small fingers around Ky's hand, feeling his calloused fingers wrap around her extremely soft skin. Her heart beats a million miles a minute at the simple contact.
"Alright... let's go." Ky said, as he use his semblance to teleport them out of the Emerald Forest and back to Beacon.
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Well here it FINALLY is the next chapter. And holy hell I'm sorry for talking so long, but it's done!
And I'm beyond thrilled to have this chapter done and short as it maybe be it sets up for the next chapter I have in mind. And it may lead up to a little mini arc involving Ky and Ruby that I have in mind.
But I hope this chapter was good enough for the long wait and I'm gonna try to update more frequently, but tell me what you guys thought of this chapter and leave a comment if there is anything you have ideas on, I love reading all of your feedback.
Stormy out!!!