A/N Another project I get to do with Kin! This is the BodySwitch AU, in which Ruby and Cinder switch bodies, awesome right? Just an art/fic trade that I can't wait to dive into, so, let's get started.
~Hope this works Kino!~
People say that having a proper daily routine is the chief way to maintain a balance between life's ups and downs. It offers an organized plan that remains the same and is, for the most part, resilient to faltering.
Such was the case with Weiss Schnee; as planning and organization were her biggest Forte. Alongside being a huntress that is. She never had to worry about being late, or not handing in an assignment on time because her routine offered a straight path laid out specifically for her.
But that was before Beacon, before RWBY, before... Ruby herself.
It would seem that Ruby's sole purpose in the heiress' life was to teardown all of the hard work and organization she had put forth in education, and replace it with discord and chaos.
Blake and Yang didn't help either.
A prime example of this was mornings. Before Beacon Weiss would wake up at a appropriately determined time and took on the day -already knowing what it had in store for her. Now, mornings in the dorm were always... different.
It was early, the sun had just begun to poke up above Vale's beautiful Horizon and bathe the land in brilliant yellows and oranges. Weiss lay in bed, eyes scrutinizing the bunk above her own. With Ruby around; Weiss' internal clock had been thrown completely out of whack. Some days she woke up exactly at the same moment Ruby did, other days it was later, and then there was days like today where she woke up before her crimson haired partner.
She could just sneak up out of bed and slip into the bathroom to get ready, but that ran the risk of Ruby waking up and entering the bathroom while Weiss was already in there; creating a very awkward situation that would no doubt result in a lot of "I'm sorry Weiss'!" And/or "Ruby! I'm going to kill you!"
Shuffling on her bed, Weiss gently closed her eyes -Not to fall back asleep, but to enjoy the last few moments of silence she undoubtedly had left.
Her brief relaxation only lasted a few seconds as the bed above hers began to creak and shift, signaling that Ruby was in fact awake and would likely try to-
"Ga-Whoa!"
THUD!
"Owwhh..."
Weiss shot out of bed as Ruby had just promptly rolled off and fallen out of her own, hitting the surface with a floor-racking thud. It was odd; as Ruby would always pull off some weird gymnastic moves to leave bed, never once had she fallen off.
Weiss ruhsed to the groaning Ruby's side, looking over her with a worried and annoyed expression. "Ruby? Are you alright?"
The crimsonette shook her head, trying to stop the room from spinning and rid her mind of its current hazy state. "Mrgh, wha?"
"MMnnmmmRggnff" All of the commotion from the red and white half of the dorm effectively stirred the yellow and black half awake. With over exaggeration, Yang threw her sheets around and rolled over, facing the wall rather than the scene in the room. Blake cracked one eye open and copied the blonde's moves too. Rolling over and attempting to ignore the situation.
"Weiss..." Yang yawned. "It's too early for this..."
Weiss stood back from Ruby's side and glared at the blonde mess on the bed. "Ruby just fell out of bed! You're her sister; you do something!" She huffed.
Ruby eyed the standing form of Weiss above her, and the approaching blonde coming from her right. 'What's going on...?'
"Ruby? Are. You. O-kay?" Weiss asked again, this time her tone an octave more annoyed.
Ruby sat up rubbing the back of her head. "W-wha? W-who's that?"
The heiress was now visibly glaring at Ruby. "Ruby Rose, I don't have time for games!"
"What's going... on?" She asked again.
"Ugh!" Weiss tossed her hands up in exasperation. "I don't have time for this." The heiress reached for the nearest towel and stormed off into the bathroom. Yang had held back until Weiss promptly 'gave up' on Ruby. With her out of the way she reached the still prone crimsonette and outstretched her hand. "You really got her this morning." The blonde smiled.
Ruby reluctantly grabbed the blonde's hand and was pulled up in a surprisingly strong grip. "Her? I don't..."
"Haha! Sis, you can cut the act now, she's gone." Yang patted Ruby's back before walking back to her own side of the room and jostling Blake from her slumber. 'Ruby' stood there, scratching her head in a completey dumbfounded stupor.
'Ruby? Sis? Where the hell am I? This isn't my room.'
"Mhn, Morning Ruby." Blake greeted.
The crimsonette turned and eyed the Faunus widely. 'Who's this?' Blake continued to eye Ruby, patiently waiting for a response. She was expecting an over excited: 'Good Morning Blake!' Not a quiet and confused Ruby standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.
"Is she okay?" Blake asked Yang.
"Heh, Yeah she's fine, you just missed the joke she just played on Weiss; like she was pretending she couldn't remember anything. 'What's going on?'." Yang mimicked 'Ruby' in a sultry tone.
"Oh, that's kinda funny. You want to go get breakfast? Classes start later today." Blake said to Yang who was already standing by the door; raring to go. "Sure!" The blonde beamed. Both girls slipped on some more appropriate clothing and quickly left the room, leaving the confused girl alone and to her own devices.
Before 'Ruby' had a chance to assess her situation, Weiss burst through the bathroom door clad in a long white towel. "Bathrooms all yours, if you're done playing around." She spat.
"S-Sure. Ruby absent-mindedly nodded.
Without second thought, Ruby bulldozed past Weiss, pushing the heiress out of her way as she entered the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.
"I don't even want to know." Weiss sighed.
'This can't be, this can't be, this can't be!'
'Ruby' rushed across the cold tiled floor and slid directly in front of the large floor to ceiling mirror that paralleled the sink basin. The girl brushed the disheveled hair from her eyes and-
Almost fainted at what she saw.
Last time she checked, she wasn't a short fifteen year old girl with silver eyes and Crimson highlighted hair...
'What the going on!'
This made no sense! She said her goodnights to Mercury and Emerald and fell asleep not long after; and now she wakes up, in this girls... body?
Wait a minute...
'If I'm in her body then does that mean...'
Oh-no...
'Ruby' ran away from the mirror so fast it looked like she was being pursued by it. She exploded back into the dorm room and was already hurriedly making her escape.
"Ruby what's with you this morning?" Weiss asked as she fiddled with her scroll. Menacingly, 'Ruby' turned to face the heiress. "Quiet, do not ask questions you don't deserve the answer to, Schnee."
Weiss backpedaled at Ruby's odd behavior. "E-Excuse me?"
'Ruby' gave no response, as she was bent on getting out of the dorm room as fast as possible. She swung the front door open and was gone in flash, albeit a 'semblance-free' one.
'Ruby' ran through the halls, she was still dressed in her pyjama ensemble, but right now that mattered null. If a 'switch' did so happen to occur, Cinder, currently in Ruby's body, prayed that the naive young girl didn't mess anything up. After all, not everyone is cut out to be a criminal mastermind; especially a fifteen year old huntress in training.
Meanwhile...
"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"
A ghastly scream of stark realization rung through the halls of the eastern dormitory. More specifically from the dorm room belonging to Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald. The source? Cinder Fall herself.
Sort of.
She currently stood in the center of the room. Dressed in her Haven school uniform with Mercury and Emerald standing by her side.
Everything was so hazy this morning that 'Cinder' hand come to the realization that this was not her room, or her body for that matter. She had dressed and prepared herself for the day; all had seemed a little off but not enough to raise suspicion.
Until Mercury came out of nowhere and gave her a "Morning Cinder."
She was a little frightened at first as to why Mercury was just standing there with Emerald not to far off. Mercury had tossed her a handheld mirror to try and poke fun, and that's when the ear - piercing scream had rung out.
She was in the body of a young woman with deep contrasted hair and sharp saffron eyes, in a room that held none of her teammates, and was bunkbed - free.
Everything seemed a little shorter too.
'Oh no! What's going on! Why am I here!'
'Cinder' still stood there, centered in the room and holding the mirror in a shaky grip. 'Her body' completely locked in fear and confusion.
"What're your trying to do? Wake up the dead?" Mercury whined, still recovering from 'Cinder's' odd outburst.
Her mouth flapped open and closed like a fish, "I...I...I, what? I d-don't... is this..." She sputtered.
"Are you okay?" Emerald asked, somewhat worried.
'I gotta get outta here!'
"Uhhm, o-of course I'm okay! Me? Totally fine." 'Cinder' spoke loudly, in a tone that was at least a few pitches higher than normal.
"Stop acting all weird, you're creeping me out." Mercury complained once more.
"S-Sorry." The ebony-haired girl muttered. "I'm gonna... go?"
'I'll use my semblance!'
'Cinder' bent forward into a sprinting stance, the girl brought her hands back and prepared to dash out of the room at Mach speed. Both Mercury and Emerald watched in bewilderment as Cinder dashed forward and-
Slipped on the oak floors and crashed into the door face first.
Mercury exploded with laughter. "Ppfftt, wow, seriously; whatever's wrong with you better stay because it is hilarious!"
Emerald glared at the silver - haired boy before rushing over the downed 'Cinder's' side. She instinctively reached out a helping hand to 'Cinder' but the young woman rolled out from underneath the crimson eyed girl and dahsed out the door, rubbing her head the whole way.
"Do you think she's okay? It's kinda weird." Emerald winced as the door slammed shut.
Mercury was unable to respond, still rolling on the floor in a laughing stupor at what his cunning and brilliant, criminal-mastermind leader just did.
It wasn't everyday you got to see Cinder crash face first into a door.
'Cinder' rushed through the halls, her quest? Get back to the proper dorm room ASAP and figure out what on Remnant was going on! She continued to run massaging the spot that would no doubt bruise on her head.
'This is probably just a bad dream.'
To try and prove so, 'Cinder' brought her palm up to her shoulder and gave it the most pleading and painful pinch possible.
Nothing.
'Oh no, oh no! What am I gonna do? What if they don't believe me?
A much more important question crossed her mind;
'What if I'm stuck like this... forever?'
She didn't even want to think about that. 'Cinder' rounded a corner and bumped into another student, effectively knocking them to the floor. "Sorry!" She called out over her shoulder.
She focued her gaze forward, only to be met by...
Herself.
'Cinder' and 'Ruby' both came to a sudden halt. Both girls now looking at each-other in complete bewilderment.
"You. Did you do this?" 'Ruby' seethed.
"W-What? What'd I do?" 'Cinder' retorted.
The crimsonette facepalmed. "It appears we've switched bodies, and I want to know if you had anything to do with it."
The taller girl crossed her arms. "Wait so you and I..."
"Yes."
"And we're..."
"Yes."
"O-Kay... what're we gonna do? We should tell someone!" 'Cinder' panicked.
"No!" 'That's the last thing I need.' 'Ruby' thought. "Just... keep quiet. We'll figure this out in time, and handle it ourselves; for now, just..."
"Just what, just what?!" 'Cinder' was visibly freaking out at this point.
'Ruby' thought of a plan, or rather, the first thing that came to mind. "We can't raise suspicion, so you're going to have to act like me, and il, have to act like you."
"Okay, and how do I do that?" 'Cinder' pleaded.
"Well~..." 'Here we go...'