It's a Job Chapter 1- Target of Opportunity

Early fall is beautiful in the south of Vale. Mild days give way to crisp nights as the leaves change color and the harvests are gathered in. The woods and meadows team with wild animals preparing for winter, and birds migrate from the highlands down to warmer, lower regions. Tourists from across Remnant come to watch herds of majestic wapati stag, and see the clouds of waterfowl settle on the lakes.

One such swarm of migratory birds was wheeling low over a peaceful pond, preparing to rest for the night. Their golden feathers glimmered in the evening sun, and a lone figure on horseback paused to watch as hundreds of birds landed on the water.

"Well, Copper," the rider addressed her mount, "If we don't keep moving, we'll be joining them under the stars tonight. Come on." With a gentle twitch of the reins, Ruby Rose sent her faithful steed on down the dirt road.

As the horse settled into a trot, Ruby pulled her cape closer around her to ward off the increasingly chilly air. She wished she had taken Yang's advice, and returned to Vale with her older sister after they had finished their previous contract. By now, Yang was probably carousing in one of her favorite clubs, spending her half of their bounty. But a 3-day hunt spent accompanying a group of game wardens tracking down a troublesome deathstalker brood had left Ruby bored, and eager for a challenge. So instead of returning to Vale, she had parted ways with Yang and taken a bounty to hunt down an ursa major with a habit of harassing grain shipments. She found the ursa, about thirty seconds after Cardin Winchester and his team of goons had killed it.

Cardin. Ruby snorted in disgust. Of course it had to be him. The man embodied everything Ruby disliked about some of her fellow hunters. Arrogant, a show off, bigoted, and loud-mouthed, he hadn't changed a bit in the four years that had elapsed since their class had graduated Beacon Academy.

So to make a long story short, Ruby found herself out of her bounty fee, and out of a quick ride home to Vale. But she had Copper, so she pointed his nose north and started for home. Ruby liked hunting from horseback. Horses didn't get flat tires, or need gasoline. Water and grass would keep them running forever. Horses could travel over terrain no vehicle could handle, and outrun most grimm. Horses were quiet. And most of all, a trained horse could sense grimm long before any hunter would be aware of their presence.

But compared to to vehicles, horses were slow. And as the sun sank lower, Ruby faced the unpleasant prospect that she would be spending yet another night sleeping under a bush. She was relieved when she rounded a bend in the road and saw a column of figures marching ahead of her. If people were out walking this time of day, they couldn't be far from shelter.

As she drew closer, Ruby could see that the group was actually a faunus chain gang and their handlers. These days, faunus slavery was a common practice across most of Remnant. The failure of the Faunus Rights Revolution, combined with the brutal tactics of terrorist groups like the White Fang, had left the general public surprisingly accepting to even the most extreme measures used to control the faunus population. Ruby dislike slavery as an institution, but there was little that she could do to change the minds of millions of people. Maybe someday, she hoped, when old wounds had healed over, all of the inhabitants of Remnant could live as equals.

"Good evening, huntress!" One of the men at the back of the line waved to her as she approached.

"Hello!" Ruby waved back. "How far are we from Rockbrook?"

"It's about 4 miles on up the road," the man responded as she reined her horse in alongside him.

"Is there a good stable there?"

"Lady, in this part of the world every town has a good stable in it. But if you're looking for a place to stay the night, we'd be happy to put you up at our place. Dad's farm about 15 minutes walk from here, and I'm sure my father wouldn't begrudge a huntress room and board for the night."

Ruby considered. A farm with this many faunus slaves undoubtedly belonged to a wealthy landowner, and the accommodations would likely be comfortable. But she hated taking things for free, and four miles closer to home was four miles closer to home.

"I thank you for your offer, but I'd like to make as much progress as possible tonight. I still have two or three days ride before I get to a town where I can take a train to Vale, and I'd like to get as many miles behind me as possible."

"Suit yourself. Gray Haven Tavern has the best food for 50 miles, if you're getting tired of trail rations."

"Thanks for the tip."

"Safe travels, huntress."

Ruby nodded to the man, clucked to Copper, and passed the line of slaves and their masters at a trot. She would sleep in a real bed tonight.

Rockbrook was a small town built to support the outlying agriculture that surrounded it. In it could be found all of the usual features of the small settlements Ruby was so familiar with. There would be a couple of stores that sold everything the town needed, an inn of some kind, a couple of bars, a small schoolhouse, a church, a local sheriff's headquarters that doubled as the courthouse and jail, and maybe a thousand inhabitants, all of whom were content to trade the relative safety of larger towns for the slower, down-to-earth lifestyle of a farming settlement.

Dusk was settling thick by the time Ruby rode into town. A few vehicles and pedestrians still traversed the streets, but towns like this pretty much went to bed with the sun. The inn wasn't hard to find in a town the size of Rockbrook, and a few minutes of riding brought Ruby to the front door of Finnegan's Fine Lodging. Looping her horse's reins around the light pole, Ruby walked through the front door. A fat, jovial man stood behind the desk.

"Welcome to Finnegan's! I'm Finnegan. Need a room for the night?"

"Yes, and a stable for my horse."

"Well you've come to the right place. If you want, I can have one of my boys take your horse down the road to Victor at the stable while you get settled in."

Normally, Ruby took care of Copper herself, but after three days of riding, she felt just tired enough to take Finnegan up on his offer.

"Sure. Let me get my bags."

"I'll send someone around to help you."

Ruby went back into the street and peeled her bed roll and travel bag off of the horse. She uncliped the weapon scabbard from the saddle, and threw it over her shoulder. The familiar weight of Crescent Rose felt good, a reminder that no matter where she traveled or how far she was from home, there were some things she could still count on. The elegant weapon had been with her from her days at Signal Academy, and after 8 years of training and fighting with the rifle scythe, it felt like an extension of her hand. She scratched Copper's muzzle as she walked past him. "Looks like we'll be spending the night in luxury. I'll see you in the morning."

A boy appeared around the corner of the inn, and, taking the reins, led the horse up the street. Ruby went back inside and followed Finnegan to a room. He unlocked the door and pushed it open. Ruby walked in, taking in the furnishings with a glance. The room was plain, but it was clean, and smelled of cedar. She had been in far worse. She laid her bags on the bed and carefully stood Crescent Rose in the corner of the room.

"Anything else you need?" Finnegan stepped back and turned to go.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. Can you give me directions to the Gray Haven Tavern?"

The chatter of voices, clank of dishes, and soft strains of guitar music made a pleasant backdrop for a relaxing evening. Ruby sat in a corner booth, slowly working her way through a pork chop and a small glass of Menagerie Gold. It felt good to be off the clock, to kick back and take it easy. For the first time in more than a week, she was eating something not cooked over a campfire.

Nobody bothered her, and she liked it that way. If she had chosen to sit up at the bar, she wouldn't have had to pay for anything all night, but she would have been pestered with a nonstop stream of men. She was a huntress, after all, and a young and beautiful one at that. Yang loved the attention, and by now she would have been laughing, flirting, and playing pool with anybody who could afford to lose five lien. Ruby was quite the opposite, and was more than content to eat her food in peace. She loved these outlying settlements for this very reason. The people here left you alone. If you didn't want to talk, they wouldn't talk. There was none of the aggressive, fast-paced social requirements that the society of Vale pushed on you. Here, people were respectful enough to let the huntress in the corner booth alone.

The man on the road had been right, Ruby decided. As she mopped up the last of the gravy with a bite of pork, she made a mental note to bring Yang by the Gray Haven Tavern if the two of them ever made it back this way. She was about to stand up and leave when the door opened, and a tall man in a sheriff's uniform walked in. He walked to the bar, said a few words to the owner, then turned, and headed straight for Ruby's booth.

"Evening, ma'am. Mind if I sit down?"

Ruby gestured to the opposite seat, and the sheriff slid into it. He stuck a hand out, and Ruby shook it.

"Name's Sheriff John Martin, but around here folks just call me Mart."

"Ruby Rose."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, ma'am. Finnegan said I might find you here. What brings a huntress to this part of the world?"

Ruby sipped her Menagerie Gold. "Just passing through. Headed up to North Bend, and from there I'll take the train to Vale."

"I see. You aren't looking for a little work in the meantime, by chance? I've got a little job they could net you an easy 1500 lien if you're interested."

Ruby was interested. Until she got back to Vale and collected her half of the bounty for their last job, her finances were meager at best. She had just enough money left for rail fare for her and her horse, beside her food and lodging for the night. 1500 lien was a decent bounty. "What's the job?"

"We've got a taijitu pair, a big one, that's moved in to the dense forest west of here. Normally, we'd just put together a hunting party of a dozen or so the men from around here and to go kill it, but the blasted thing's gone nocturnal. I don't mind admitting that I've got no stomach for tackling a grimm of that size in the dark, and it's only a matter of time before it gets lucky and kills somebody. I set up a bounty on it through the Vale Bounty Board, but so far, no takers."

Ruby frowned. A taijitu pair in dense woods wasn't a milk run, even for an experienced hunter. The fact that the grimm had gone nocturnal made things far harder. Sheriff Martin sensed her hesitation.

"Look. If you take the job, I'll throw in an extermination bonus of 250 for any other grimm you kill."

Ruby sighed. "The real issue is time. My sister expects me back in Vale any day, and unless you know where it lives, it could take days to find it out roaming around. If I had a partner, we could try baiting it. But baiting a grimm in the dark is an incredibly dangerous proposition, and I wouldn't try it with anything less than a fully trained hunter."

Sheriff Martin leaned across the table. "What do you mean, 'baiting'?"

"It's a tactic we use sometimes to lure dangerous or elusive grimm into a trap. As you know, they are attracted to negative emotion, so you have one hunter focus on something that makes them depressed or angry or afraid, and one or more other hunters lie in ambush nearby. It's highly dangerous, because it involves allowing yourself to be attacked by a grimm. Normally, we do everything we can to stay hidden and take them by surprise. Also, you have no idea what might respond to the bait. A trap designed to bring in a sneaky beowolf might get you an ursa alpha or a nevermore swarm. So, like I said, I wouldn't try it without another trained hunter."

Sheriff Martin stroked his chin for a second, looking thoughtful. Then he leaned forward and lowered his voice. "I may have the perfect solution, but I can't talk about it here. Can you meet me down at the sheriff's office in half an hour? There's another 1500 in it for you if you take the deal."

Her better judgment screamed against it, but Ruby nodded. Three thousand lien was screaming louder. "I'll be there."

"Good. See you there." Sheriff Martin stood, and tipped his hat to her. "Pleasure meeting you, ma'am." He strode out of the tavern, leaving Ruby wondering what she had just gotten herself into.

Draining the last of her Menagerie Gold, Ruby walked over to the bartender. She pulled out her wallet, but the man waved her away. "Mart told me to put it on his tab. You're all taken care of."

"Really? Well in that case, give me a bag of those cookies." Ruby pointed to a jar on the counter. Old habits died hard.

"No problem."

She was halfway to the door and chewing her first bite of cookie when a dart sang past a foot in front of her nose and stuck in the wall beside her. Ruby paused, and slowly turned her head. The room fell quiet as she made eye contact with a smirking boy across the room. He held up four more darts.

"Wanna throw a game?"

Wordlessly, Ruby put her cookie in her mouth, and pulled the dart from the wall with her free hand. She spun the dart through her fingers, and sent it whistling back across the room. It drilled itself an inch deep in the bullseye with a resounding smack, and sat there, feathers quivering.

Ruby pulled the cookie back out of her mouth and kept walking for the door.

"Round's on him."

Whistles and cheers erupted as she let herself out into the chill night air. Ruby started in on a second cookie. Yang would have been so proud.

The Sheriff's Office was dark when Ruby got there, but the front door was unlocked. Ruby let herself in, and shut the door behind her. She could see a light on in an office of joining the lobby, so she walked to the door and knocked.

"Come in."

She walked in, and sat down across the desk from Sheriff Martin. "So what's this all about?"

"Couple of weeks back, a faunus woman made a run from one of the ranches here about. This ain't terribly uncommon, and in fact she'd run before, but this time around she slashed up the landowner on her way out and stole a horse. We caught up with her, and brought her back here. Now if it was up to me, I'd have had her whipped within an inch of her life and put her on hard labor for a year, but Rinehart, that's the rancher she cut up, he insisted she be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And around here, attempted murder and horse theft is more than enough to get a faunus slave the noose."

"I think I see where you're going with this," Ruby interjected. "You want me to use her to bait the taijitu."

Sheriff Martin slapped one hand on his desk. "Exactly. I can't say getting eaten by a grimm is the most humane way for her to go, but at least we'll get some use out of it."

Ruby recoiled at the idea of intentionally feeding anyone, even a convicted faunus criminal, to the grimm. It ran counter to everything she lived by. Resolutely, she pushed back from the desk and stood up. "I'll have no part of this plan. Keep your money." She turned towards the door.

"Now just hold on a minute." The sheriff sounded exasperated. "Don't think you're doing her any favors by walking out. All you're giving her is a couple of more days of sitting in a small cell waiting to die in front of a jeering crowd."

"You make a public spectacle of it?" Ruby was suddenly reconsidering her opinion of Rockbrook.

"Look, huntress, I'll be honest with you. I don't like this business either. If she needed killed, I'd just as soon take her out back, shoot her, and bury her in the woods. Making a holiday of it for the town doesn't seem any more right to me than to you, but that's how it's done around here. That's why I came up with this idea, as a way of solving our grimm problem and my faunus problem all together."

"If you've got such a great solution, why don't you just do it yourself?"

"Don't you see? I don't because I can't!" Something like desperation crept into the man's voice. "Even if I took a dozen of our best men and we did manage ambush the grimm, I am certain we would lose people. Do you understand, Ruby? People will die. Good people, who don't deserve it. That's why I need your help. So I don't have to explain to widowed wives and fatherless children that I lost men out in the forest trying to kill a giant snake."

The truth of his words hung heavy in the air. Ruby's conscience swung back and forth between the choice of using a condemned slave as bait or leaving the people of Rockbrook to their own devices. Hard choices were common in her line of work, but this one was particularly thorny. She wished Yang were here. Yang always knew what to do.

"The offer of three thousand still stands, 1500 for the taijitu and 1500 more if the faunus doesn't come back. We both know you walking out will cost lives, not save them."

Ruby ground her teeth. The man was right, and she knew it. The townspeople were unequipped for hunting a grimm of this size, and if she attempted to track it down using conventional methods it could take days. That didn't make her any happier about being manipulated into being the town's executioner. "Fine. My horse is at the stable down the street from Finnegan's Inn. Bring the faunus, and meet me there at 4:30 sharp tomorrow morning. If you're two minutes late, I'm riding out of here and you can solve your problems yourself." Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the office.

Well, that had gone downhill quickly. As she walked along the dark streets back to the inn, Ruby couldn't help but feel resentful at the destruction of what was supposed to be a relaxing night. Oh well. If she had wanted an easy job she could have been a waitress at a coffee shop in Vale. The money was good, very good in fact, for what she was being asked to do. As near as she could figure, Sheriff Martin lacked the courage to be either a hangman or a hunter, and was throwing lien at her in an attempt to buy his way out of a problem. All she had to do was shut off her conscience and sense of decency, and finish the job. Right. That was going to be easier said than done.

She found her way back to her room, and flopped into bed. Ruby didn't sleep well that night.

Authors Note:

Welcome to "It's a Job". First off, if you found your way here from my other story, "Before Their Time", thank you for your continued interest and support.

Obviously, this is a very different timeline from the actual RWBY show. I've always been kind of intrigued by the question of what a hunter's life would look like in the RWBYverse, just the day-to-day of hunting grimm, so I decided to expand on that idea in this story. This first chapter had more than its share of world building, which I will continue to flesh out as the story develops. My goal is to update this story regularly with shorter chapters. I would like to add a chapter at least every other week, so check back, and see how our intrepid huntresses fair in a world of bloody evolution.

Thanks for reading, and as always, reviews are greatly appreciated. 'Til next time!