Chapter: Ruby

"I hereby dub you, Crescent Rose!"

And then Ruby watches in horror as parts of her brand-new scythe start to collapse and flex.

"No!" she screams, hovering over the weapon. The panic is real. "What did I do?"

"Ruby?" Qrow asks, poking his head in the workshop-shed. His eyes go to the weapon laid out on the table. "Oh, so what did you name it?"

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby latches onto his arm and tries to drag him to the table. "It just stared moving and- my baby! The parts we smoothed- I don't know what to do!"

"Do nothing," Qrow laughs, patting her head. "This is actually normal." His eyes drift over the new imprints on the motionless scythe. He lets out a low whistle, uncapping his flask as his eyes flash with emotion. "Wow, you sure have a lot."

"What?" Ruby asks, voice thick with worry. "What do I have a lot of? What's going on?"

Qrow jerks a finger at the childish font written along the flat, black, back end of her scythe - a part that will hide when transformed for storage – that reads 'Salutations!' "A lot of soulmates."

Ruby blinks. Her jaw works but only a high pitch 'eh' comes out.

Qrow smirks. He leans his head back and drinks from the flask to hide the concern he feels about it all.

"Your mother would be better at explaining this," Qrow sighs, grabbing a chair to sit in. He turns it backwards and crosses his arms over the back, watching his step-niece. "But the short version is that the first thing your soulmate – or mates – says to you is written on any weapon you assemble and name."

Ruby blinks away her shock, and then turns to the freshly named Crescent Rose. She counts three sentences, but something tells her there are more.

"This…" Ruby hesitantly says, poking her weapon. She does it again. It doesn't do anything unexpected. "Are you trying to prank me? Cause this isn't funny."

"Nope," Qrow says, running his fingers over the words on his flask. The flask named – Boire – and given so he could laugh at his first words to his soulmate. "This is a secret for all huntsmen and huntresses; so don't go spreading it." He smiles and slumps further in his chair. "Soulmate names only appear to those willing to put other's lives above their own. Bit of a blessing and a curse." He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "And since this shows me how reckless you are, I'll have to train you twice as hard."

"No!" Ruby whines, turning to her uncle. "I never have time for my friends as it is. And don't change the subject!" She pauses and hesitantly looks over to her weapon again. "This soulmate thing is… real?"

Qrow looks grumpy as he stares at the weapon lying on the table, grumbling to himself, "I swear she only let me have the day off because she knew this would happen…"

Ruby's eyes widen and she runs up to her uncle. "Was this how you met aunty?"

Qrow flinches at the thought and gives a nervous laugh. "It took your aunt and me a long time to realize we were soulmates. She had the words right away but, well, there were complications."

"What did you say to her?" Ruby asks, eyes wide. "What did she say to you?"

Qrow smiles widely, winking. "Your father's forbidden me from saying a couple of the words while you and Yang can hear me. As for what she said…" he gets up from the chair and goes towards his weapon stored in the back of the workshop.

Ruby frowns. "Uncle Qrow… there's nothing on your scythe. You've shown me it sooo many times I can take it apart and put it back together blindfolded!"

Qrow chuckles and lays it in the free space on the table. "Just watch, kiddo."

Ruby looks over to where her uncle taps on the handle of the weapon. It takes a few seconds of glaring at it. Ruby opens her mouth, but pauses when the fabric around the handle seems to sink in and mold into a better, right-handed grip. The words 'Shut it already.' appear. Qrow flips over his weapon, and the words are mirrored on the other side for his left hand.

"Your aunt and I have odd soulmate marks," Qrow says. "Normally, you only meet your soulmate for a first time, well, once." He lets out a harsh breath when, for a quick moment, the marks fade. They come back and he runs a hand over them. "When they flash like that, it's her using her semblance."

The marks completely disappear, and Ruby startles.

"What's going on?" she asks in a hurry.

Qrow ruffles her hair and goes to place his weapon back. "When I can get a handle on my semblance, the words appear. If not, no soul mark." Ruby bounces on her toes with questions. Qrow turns to her before she can say anything. "Start counting, kiddo. It's not every day a weapon gets so many marks."

Ruby grabs the handle of her weapon, but looks at her uncle with trepidation. "What if… Can the marks fade?"

Qrow nods seriously, gaze hooded. "Yah. They can. If your soulmate dies, then the mark disappears."

Ruby tights her grip on her weapon.

"Don't fret over it, kid," Qrow says lowly, ruffling her hair. "If anyone's going to be your soulmate, they're going to be d*** strong. Strong enough to survive and meet you."

Ruby's lips twitch. Her fingers ghost over one of the longer, sunken in, sentences.

'Ah, it's a pleasure to meet my sister's partner.'

"What does auntie's weapon say, Uncle Qrow?"

The man snorts. "I'll tell you that story when you're older."

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights belong to their respective owners.

A/N: Because I thought 'why not do a soul mark AU'. Then this chapter happened. Sorry.

Hope everyone has a great day