- - -
They got their gear together and headed out to the airfield. Numerous other teams were gathered around the landing pads. They were checking over their supplies, talking, or meandering around. Arjun cut through the crowds and led them right towards a slim-looking airship in green and black tigerstripe camouflage. It resembled a Bullhead, but sleeker, slimmer, and with longer engine nacelles.
Jaune looked over at Ruby, who was extremely distracted. He gave her a smile.
"So, what's this model Ruby?"
Ruby looked up at it, and a little light returned to her eyes.
"Oh! Wayland Air Motors Tigertail Model A47?"
Arjun nodded in approval.
"Yes, good eyes."
Ruby flinched at that. Jaune's lips thinned a bit, but Arjun went on.
"My company helped the new VDF procure several of these. Since we're going to the military base, they agreed to give us a lift."
Arjun walked up the back ramp into the cabin. The teams followed. The interior was standard military grays and blues, with several seats with harnesses lining the walls. The cockpit was separated with a hatch that was currently open, showing the flatscreen control panels, seats, and the wide windscreen. Arjun scanned around the interior, and checked over everything with a keen, practiced gaze.
"You all know how to stow your gear properly?" He asked. Ruby nodded.
"Y-yeah!"
"Not a problem, Arrow Man," Yang said with a grin and wink. Arjun didn't react to this, merely nodding.
"All right. Stow the gear. I'll do the final checks outside. Ruby, Jaune, with me. You're the team leaders."
"Eh?" Ruby blinked. Arjun raised an eyebrow.
"Are you going to trust the lives of your teams to just any aircraft without inspecting it?"
Ruby winced again. Jaune nodded and turned to his team.
"Stow your gear, we'll be back," he ordered.
"On it, Fearless Leader!" Nora saluted. Ren nodded. Pyrrha smiled a bit more warmly, but obeyed. Ruby looked to her team, who were already stowing their things.
"Come on, we're great at packing it in!" Yang grinned. Weiss groaned as Blake shook her head.
Yang shot a flirty look over at Jaune.
"Though I bet you can't wait to give it a try, huh Jaune~?"
"Yang!" Jaune groaned. Ruby flushed. Pyrrha managed a tighter smile. Weiss groaned in disgust.
"I don't suppose you have a gag for her?" Weiss asked Arjun.
"How kinky," Blake observed. Weiss sputtered angrily, her cheeks burning red.
"I-You-THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" The heiress cried.
"Ooh, I knew it," Yang grinned like a cat about to pounce on its meal, "Repressed rich girl with a very hidden kinky side! You're finally loosening up!"
"I AM NOT KINKY! OR-OR REPRESSED!" Weiss denied angrily. "Stop being disgusting, Yang!"
"Or what, you'll spank me?"
"IF I HAVE TO!" Weiss hissed.
Silence fell. Yang cackled. Blake smirked. Nora cheered.
"GO WEISS!"
"Oh my," Pyrrha murmured, blushing bright red but looking at Jaune almost speculatively. Which Jaune bore with his normal stoicism.
Weiss turned bright red.
"N-No! I didn't mean-!"
"Oh man, Jaune, will you still accept me after Weiss has her way with me~?" Yang snickered, covering her cheeks with her hands. Blake was suspiciously covering her mouth up. Ren looked like he dearly wanted to roll his eyes.
Ruby was bright red, but very quiet. Just as she had been since Jaune and Arjun showed up.
"We'll leave you to stow your gear and figure anything else out," Arjun said, his eyes laughing despite his calm voice and neutral face.
"N-No, I-You-OOOH!" Weiss cried.
Jaune hurried Ruby out of the aircraft after Arjun. The older man was smirking slightly as Weiss and Yang continued to argue.
"You have very colorful teams," he observed.
"That's an understatement," Jaune sighed. Ruby flushed a bit. Arjun's smirk grew slightly as he raised his eyebrows.
"Reminds me of better times," he admitted. Before Jaune could ask, Arjun said: "Come on, let's go through this."
They went through the checks, Arjun pointing out each component of the Tigertail and how to tell if it was functioning properly. Ruby's mechanical background gave her the edge, but Jaune did his best. They soon returned to the interior of the Tigertail, where the rest of the teams were sitting in their seats. Arjun had them strap in, and nodded in satisfaction.
"All right. Ruby, you know this machine well enough: I'll teach you how to navigate on the way there. Jaune? You'll stay back here and I'll teach you on the way back. Understood?"
"No problem, Uncle," Jaune said with a smile. Ruby did look a little more excited but a tension remained in her shoulders. Jaune turned his smile to Ruby.
"Hey, don't worry. Uncle Arjun's a great teacher. He taught my dad how to fly."
"And he only crashed three times," Arjun said, still smiling politely.
Much staring. Arjun hummed and rubbed his chin.
"Or was it four times?"
"That's encouraging," Yang deadpanned.
"Absolutely," Arjun nodded. He motioned Ruby into the cockpit, and began to prep the Tigertail for takeoff. Ruby sat in the seat next to him, and helped him go over the final pre-flight checks before the engines started up.
"I'm sure he's just joking," Pyrrha said with a soft smile as Jaune sat down and strapped in next to her. She looked over at Jaune.
"Right?"
Jaune smiled wryly.
"Relax. Uncle Arjun doesn't crash… Though my dad definitely did."
"Aw," Nora pouted, "No crash?"
"Maybe next time," Jaune said with a nod. Nora beamed.
"YAY!"
"Joy," Weiss deadpanned, as the rear ramp and cockpit hatch closed, and the Tigertail took off with a tremble.
- - -
Ruby checked over the instruments carefully as the Tigertail flew over the wide green expanse of the Emerald Forest. She didn't put her hands on the co-pilot controls-She didn't need to be told about that, and Arjun hadn't reminded her. They both wore headsets, Arjun asking her to note their position and anything else while he navigated the vehicle.
"How's the oil temperature?" He asked. Ruby checked it.
"309," she called out. Arjun nodded.
"Good. Tigertails tend to run a bit hotter at low altitudes," Arjun nodded, checking over the screens before focusing on the horizon. Ruby looked ahead, and fidgeted in the seat nervously.
"Um… Uh…" Ruby tried, before she fell silent again.
"Hm? Yes?" Arjun asked, looking as placid and calm as he had been since they met.
"Er… So… You like… Arrows?" Ruby tried.
STUPID! Her brain shouted. Arjun chuckled.
"I do… But why don't you ask me about what you really want to talk about?"
Ruby stared. Arjun adjusted a knob on the joystick.
"They won't hear," he said quietly, tilting his head back towards the passenger compartment. Ruby sucked in a deep breath as she stared intently at the older man.
"Did… Are you the one who saved me?" She asked.
"I am," Arjun said. "Do you doubt your own eyes? What did you see?"
Ruby channeled her Aura into her eyes. She stared intently at the purple and blue Aura figure that took the place of Arjun in her vision. It was like seeing a man-shaped ocean: Placid with a flow to it like waves lapping against the shore. He turned, and she could see two glowing points where his eyes were.
"You're seeing my soul," Arjun said softly, "And I am seeing yours."
Ruby cut the Aura. His gray-blue eyes were glowing softly, before the light vanished. Ruby gaped at him in astonishment.
"Are… Are you a Silver Eyed Warrior too?" She whispered.
Arjun shook his head.
"No," he said quietly, his voice grave. "But in the journal your mother left you, she would have written about the legend of my family's origin. That a Silver Eyed Warrior married the patriarch of the Sakaras centuries ago… And gave us our hereditary Semblance: Aura Sight."
Ruby sucked in a deep breath through her nostrils. She nodded: That had been mentioned in the journal.
"Did… Did you know my mother?" She asked, her heart clenched in a mixture of hope and trepidation. Arjun smiled gently.
"I did. We were friends," he said, "Not as close as I would like, but… Yes."
Ruby opened her mouth, a hundred questions on her mind and all trying to ram their way to her mouth. Arjun shook his head.
"I am sorry I have not made contact sooner, Ruby," Arjun said, "I did check in on you from time to time. I wanted to introduce myself when you were older. It… Was easier that way."
"Easier?" Ruby asked, incredulous and a little upset. Arjun sighed.
"You'll find as you grow up that the adults in your life are just as human as you are. They make mistakes and can be foolish. I was working very hard, to protect the innocent, my family…"
Arjun shook his head. He looked tired and mournful, which stopped Ruby's irritation cold.
"Your mother's death was… Well. It came in the same year that my wife was killed by assassins. And my best friend, Jaune's father, was slain."
He bowed his head to her, solemn and sad. Yet he got his eyes back to the controls and out the windscreen.
Ruby's chest clenched. She sniffled, and tried to hide her tears with her hand.
"O-Oh," she mumbled, wiping her eyes. "I-I'm sorry."
"Not your fault," Arjun said softly. "I am hoping I can make up for my absence. I want to do right by you and Jaune. While I do not have all the powers of the Silver Eyed Warriors? My Semblance retained the power to see people's souls. And that? That I can train you in."
He looked over at her.
"If you wish to learn?"
Ruby nodded.
"I… I do."
She frowned deeply. She opened her mouth.
"When… When those White Fang guys… When you…"
Arjun closed his eyes and sighed quietly. He shook his head.
"Yes. When someone dies… You will see it," he said. "You will see when their soul leaves this world and goes onto the next. It is… Not something to enjoy. It is not something you will 'get over'."
He shook his head, before he looked back at her.
"All I can say is that it can be necessary. To defend the innocent and those you care about. It is a great burden… But if you can take it up? You must."
Ruby slowly nodded. She set her hands in her lap and stared out at the Emerald Forest. They passed over another sea of trees before they passed over a ridge. Before them stretched a wide square space, framed in dirt roads. Boxy buildings stood all over, and vehicles trundled up and down the roads. Arjun smiled softly as Ruby's eyes widened in interest.
Ruby found herself smiling, as a familiar excitement rose in her heart.
"Welcome to Fort Celliwig," Arjun said, as they descended down towards the airfield. "And your first mission."
