A/N: This is kinda my fourth fanfic, and before you accuse my of copying another, know that I probably haven't read it (I put that same sentence on all of my fics). This is my own salute to Monty Oum, but I don't intend for this to be a wimpy one-shot (no offense). This will be a somewhat long story. Note: Team RWBY will all be wearing the season 2 outfits, expecting Ruby, who will be wearing the season 1 outfit.
Chapter 1- The Burning Rose
Third Person's POV
Time: A year after "Breach".
"Where could she be?" Weiss asked, "Ruby just disappeared."
"Wherever she is, we will find her." Blake replied.
"Yeah!" Yang said, "We're finding my sister!"
"But she's been gone for a year now." Weiss argued, "Shouldn't she have called us?"
"Weiss!" Yang shouted, "That's my sister! She's out there, and we're going to find her!"
"I want to find Ruby just as much as you do!" Weiss shouted back, "But I'm just saying that she should've called us!"
"Stop fighting. Both of you!" Blake spoke quietly, but forcefully, "We aren't helping our leader, just standing here and fighting."
"Let's go to A Simple Wok." Yang said, "Maybe the shopkeeper saw her."
A few minutes later, they arrived there.
"Have you seen Ruby? Small girl, red hooded clock?" Yang asked desperately, "She might have a scythe?"
"Uh-uh." the shopkeeper shook his head.
"Ugg, where are you, Ruby?" Blake said, "What could you be doing that's more important then training to be a Huntress?"
Line Break
Ruby's POV
I surveyed the scene around me: Bodies were strewn around the street, blood soaking into the ground, and limbs lying haphazardly. The moon watched from above, not safely, though.
The last of the team of dismembered and brutally murdered Huntsman was lying in front of me, crying.
"I-I-I kn-know you!" he said. "Y-you disappeared a year ago. . . Ruby! Ruby Rose!"
He was wearing armor, but it was in shreds after being attacked. He and his team were patrolling this abandoned area of Vale when I dropped behind them. The first died from a bullet in the throat. The second was sliced in half, after trying desperately to fend her off. The third bled out after I chopped off all of his limbs. The fourth lying on the ground in front of me. One of his legs was still there, along with an arm. His other arm was cut away below the shoulder, and the other leg just under the knee.
His aura tried desperately to heal him, but there was too much blood.
"Ruby Rose is gone." I said.
"No she isn't! You wouldn't kill me! I was in my second to last year when you arrived. You were too good! Please don't kill me!" the Hunter pleaded.
"Oh, you're one of them." I said quietly, menace in my voice. Crescent Rose came down, ripping apart his chest. The last thing I did was take out a stamp-like contraption, but with blades in place of the edges.
My hand came down, leaving cuts the shape of a burning rose on the forehead of the Hunter.
I cleaned Crescent Rose on the clothes of the dead Hunters, then turned away. Blood caked my clothes and skin, but I didn't care. I had finally started to get my revenge on those who pushed me out over a year ago.
I turned, starting the long walk back to the building that was currently the headquarters of she who had things to hide: Cinder Fall.
It took thirty minutes, but I got back to the almost drab-looking building. Inside, it looked unremarkable at first too. But then you look around, see shipping containers of Dust, Paladins shifting cargo off of Bullheads, and White Fang members guarding the place. On the other side, the building was divided into living places.
"It is done, my Queen." I declared, kneeling before Cinder Fall.
Cinder's POV
"Well done." I said. Ruby was covered head-to-toe in blood, but her scythe, Crescent Rose, was spotless.
She came one year ago. No longer wanting to be a Huntress, actually vehemently opposed to the idea, she joined my faction, and quickly became one of it's most powerful members. No one knew what happened to her there, but she came to us. She was a weapon, and needed to be controlled. I craved control.
"Rise." I ordered, and Ruby obeyed my orders. The White Fang members gulped nervously, and turned away. Usually, the presence of my assassin was accompanied by many dead bodies.
"The team you sent me after is lying dead in the streets." I could see a gleam in her eye as she continued, "They will not find the bodies until at least the morning."
"You left your sign, my assassin?" I asked her. I didn't need to ask whether it was a brutal death or not. With Ruby, it was just a pleasant side effect.
Ruby nodded, "Everything is in place. Hunters and Huntresses will be flooding the streets there, far away from here."
"Very good." I said, "Clean yourself and rest until I need you again."
"Your wish is my command, my Queen." She turned and strode off.
Roman, standing a ways away from me, made an exclamation of disgust, "That girl gives me the creeps!"
"She should." I replied, "But she will not hurt you unless I order it. Shall we experiment?"
"Ah, no." Roman also turned, and headed towards the White Fang, "Get moving, you animals!"
The White Fang members, who were all staring at my assassin, went back to their work.
"That girl is dangerous." Adam Taurus warned from behind me, "It is only a matter of time before she strains her leash, and only a matter of days after that until it snaps. I would not want to be in the way when it does."
"But I am holding that "leash" and I won't let it go." I stated calmly, "You will remember that, Taurus."
Line Break
Ruby's POV
"How many where there this time?" Mercury asked me, raising an eyebrow.
I growled at him, then continued back to my room.
"Not enough, apparently." Emerald said.
Neo was the next person, and she made a few quick signs in the air, asking how many I killed. I smiled, and signed four in reply. Neo, surprisingly, was just a bit like me, in the way that she liked to play with her prey before killing them.
I showered, washing the blood off my body. My outfit would hang in the closet with other like outfits. I had changed my hood from red to blood-red after it ended up blood-red after every mission.
The water washing over me didn't feel cleansing. It was washing away the blood, but I could feel it still there. And it would be there after the next target my Queen sent me after, and the next.
Redressing in another one of my black and red outfits, I walked out. On my scroll, I checked the news. It was all the usual. My last murder, before the Hunters, was in all the headlines, usually "The Reaper Strikes Again!" or "Another Killing by the Reaper!"
Funny, really. I wondered whether Ozpin had connected the dots, and realized one of his former pupils was doing on a rampage. The other Hunters and Huntresses in training probably hadn't figured it out. They would remember how I used to be, not how I am.
A message on my scroll summoned me back to the jokingly named "throne-room". In reality, it was where Cinder, my Queen, gave orders and met significant people who wished to pledge their allegiance.
"I have your next target." Cinder ordered, "Lisa Lavender, head anchorman of the Vale News Network. Tomorrow."
"Hmm, she got promoted." I murmured, "It will be done, my Queen. Should it be quiet?"
"Whatever you think best, my assassin."
I bowed, then exited the room. On my scroll, I called up the blueprints of the Vale News Network Headquarters. All ground level entrances. Plenty of sightlines, if I wanted to shoot her. I didn't feel like it, though.
Let's see. Through the back exit, elevator upward. Then down to the CCTV room to destroy all the record of the break-in.
Once I had planned my entrance, I lied down in bad and slept.
Line Break
Ruby's POV
My scroll sounded at five o' clock. Let's see, she would do the morning news at eight o' clock am, the afternoon news at three pm, and the evening news at eight pm. Which means I had three hours.
After gathering my cloak, I ran a whetstone down the length of Crescent Rose's blade. It made a shirking sound that I loved even before. Now, I got to hear it a lot more frequently.
The Vale News Network Headquarters were about an hour from where I was now, and I started out at six o' clock, leaving plenty of time.
I ran across the rooftops, the only place of complete solitude. On the street, people would be screaming. There were only a few photos of the "Reaper" out there, but most people had seen at least one of them.
I was lying on the rooftop of a building only ten meters away from the back entrance of the building. The front side may be bustling with activity, but here, it was as still as the grave. Just how I liked it.
My scroll beeped, informing me of the time: Seven fifty. Just enough to time to kill everyone on the way up, and kill her while she was on air. The only thing that would show up on the news was her terrified expression, then the camera would be gone.
I jumped off the building, rolling on the ground, then cut the lock off of the back door. No one was in the hallway, so I walked over to the nearest elevator. A few people there, though. Who all screamed and tried to run. But they were slow. Much, much to slow.
My scythe cut one in half, and I laughed as blood splattered over me. The second was brought down by my kick as he was fleeing. Another stomp ended his life.
The elevator dinged, a normal sound in the macabre scene around me. Dragging the bodies in, I hit the button for the floor my target was on.
The single man there had the same expression of surprise and horror that the ones downstairs did, and was brought down by a bullet. I knew Lavender would be starting the news in one minute. As long as she didn't hear the shot, everything was going according to plan.
The room she was giving the news had no windows, all the better for surprise. I could see the cameraman in the back, while Lavender was prattling on about the murder two days ago.
The door splintered inward as I jumped through it, cutting down the cameraman.
"She's here!" I could hear Lavender scream, "She's here! I'm going to die!"
Yes, you are. I thought grimly, then destroyed the camera. Hopefully, the last few seconds of footage went out.
Lavender was screaming still, for someone, anyone to help her. The first thing I did was cut out her tongue, silencing her.
"Anything to say for yourself?" I asked, "A pity. I was hoping for more screaming."
I separated her fingers from her hand, one after another. A quick slice did the same for her left hand. Her screaming was a choked gurgling as her own blood filled her mouth.
My scythe fell again and again. Next went her left leg, cut off at the hip, then ripped apart her right. Her left arm spiraled off, but I left the right there. Lastly, I made my mark on her neck, then strode out as the gurgling finally ceased.
The elevator was in the same place I left it, wedged open by all three of the bodies. I pulled them inside again, then hit the button for the second floor, where the CCTV monitoring room was. Lucky I did, as the man who was supposed to be monitoring it was running away with a bag full of records. A bullet left him face down on the floor, and the recordings were smashed beyond all repair. The CCTV room was just like any other, with monitors showing every view in the building. When I left, every monitor was cracked, every piece of equipment broken. Every CD of footage from the past month was shattered. No traces. Just like any other mission.
Line Break
Ruby's POV
"I have completed the mission, my Queen." I was back in the "throne-room", back in front of the Queen to be. Soon, she would rule Vale, a true, strong ruler, unlike those bureaucratic councilmen. And I would be by her side, feared by all, exacting my revenge on all who had wronged me.
A/N: I need to see your reviews on whether I should make it a bit less bloody. It is rated T, but I don't know if this would rate M.
Please review, follow, favorite, whatever. No pressure, except for the review part. I really want your feedback.
This story is dedicated to Monty Oum, who passed away three days ago, on February 1, 2015. He was a creative, humorous, and hard-working man. His work was what inspired me to begin writing, and it was a good choice. At thirty-three, he was far too young to die. Thus, this story is dedicated to him. Matt Hullum said it best. "Use your imagination to make the world a better place in any way that you can. If you know Monty like we do, then you know he would certainly be doing that if he were able to." While I don't know if something this horrific would make the world a better place, if one of you enjoyed reading this, then it did. Godspeed, Monty, godspeed.