A/N
I wrote this story over the course of one night while dealing with sleep deprivation. I hadn't slept in twenty four hours and got this weird inspiration to write a story rather than sleep, as I was attempting to fix my sleep cycle. I powered through this and had a lot of fun writing it. Then I got some sleep and read what I made. With a little bit of tinkering, but leaving the story relatively untouched, I think I made it a little more legible. I'm not sure if this story is any good as I was half asleep writing it, so I'll let you guys decide what you think of it.
Edit: Decided since this turned out to be one of my most popular stories to spell check it some more. It didn't seem right leaving some of these errors in here. One typo implied that Yang had two arms, can't have that. Still I'll probably miss some. Such is life.
Also noting it's almost the one year anniversary of this story. Where does the time go?
Remember the Heroes
Chapter 1
Yesterday's Heroes
Seven bodies hung from meat hooks in front of the Vale Police Department's headquarters, roughly eleven o'clock at night. Blood dripped from their wounds and pooled along the steps below. The entire street was blocked off, police were canvasing every square inch of the block. Inside internal affairs was running a witchhunt. Someone brought seven bodies into police headquarters and dangled their corpses from the roof and nobody saw a thing.
Ruby Rose, a huntress of twenty five years of age was staring at the grisly scene. She was thankful that she ate a light supper. Her silver eyes scanned the scene. Her shoulder length black and red hair was blowing in the breeze. This wasn't the first time this happened. The coppery odour was making her eyes water. She took a few steps back. This was not the first time she's ever seen a corpse. It comes with the line of work. She yawned slightly. This was going to be a long night.
"Miss Rose." Duffy, a detective a few years older than her said holding two cups of coffee in his hands. He had dark brown hair and was growing out a nice stubble. Despite the odd hours he's been putting in these last few weeks, he's remarkable well kept. No bags under the eyes or creases in the skin. He looked quite handsome. Ruby would have laughed if it weren't for their current situation. That was a silly thought. "Cream and five sugars was it?"
"That'll do it." She said with a smile. She grabbed her coffee and took a sip. Just what she needed. "What do you got for me?"
"All seven of the victims are members of the Torchwick gang." Duffy said. Ruby shook her head. She should have known Roman Torchwick would have something to do with this. But if those were his men, who was the killer.
"Roman has a lot of enemies, but not many could pull off something like this." Ruby said.
"So are we talking a rogue huntsman?" Duffy asked. "Because to me this screams Semblance."
"I don't know Duffy, but I have a very bad feeling about this." Ruby said. "Any idea what the cause of death was?"
"Until we get the bodies down and on an autopsy table, we can't say for sure." Duffy said. "All I can say is they bled a lot, which means they might have been still alive when he or she hung them from the roof."
"That's a scary thought." Ruby said. She felt a shiver run up her spine. She shook her head. "Anything else?"
With a loud snap, the rope holding one of the bodies gave out. It fell to the ground with a deafening splat. Ruby blocked her face with her coffee cup just in time to block a splash of blood. She passed the now unappetising cup to Duffy and approached the body. The rope was frayed. The killer cut it on purpose and left it there. There was something important about this body. She motioned to Duffy who placed the coffee cups down and passed her a pair of gloves. She put them on and checked the pockets. She found something and pulled it free. Her heart lurched.
It was a photograph, of a person she hadn't seen in a long, long time. Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl. Her heart continued to pound as she turned the card over. Three words were emblazoned on the back. Remember the Heroes.
"Anything useful?" Duffy asked.
"Maybe." Ruby said. She stared at the photograph. She hasn't thought about Pyrrha in a long time. "Maybe..."
Ruby drove her cherry red sportscar through the streets of Vale. She had to pass through the reconstruction zones along the way. She was stopped by the police three times. Road blocks were all over the city and cops were patrolling with increased frequency. The reconstruction zones are the worst part, the damage from the battle were so immense that it's taken almost ten years to rebuild. Memories from a time she'd rather forget.
Ruby arrived at an old apartment building on the other side of vale. The apartment was a dump. He could have gotten himself a better place to live if it weren't for his habits. She headed up the stairs and found herself at room 311. She knocked. No response. She pulled out her personal key and opened it.
The first thing she noticed was the room reeked. It smelt of puke and booze with an undertone of urine. She grimaced. The sad thing was she got used to it after a while. She stepped inside and locked the door behind her. Stepping around discarded bottles now turned tripping hazards, she made her way to the living room. The living room was a mess of old socks, discarded clothing, empty cans, and a ratty couch buried in a hunk of smelly laundry. The news was playing on the monitor. She went to turn it off but she heard a groan of protest.
She nearly jumped in surprise as the mass of old clothes shifted. She approached it and gave it a kick. It gave another groan and lurched. She sighed and began pulling the old socks and ratty jeans off of her old friend's face. Blonde hair and a messy beard were under it. Baggy blue eyes stared up at her without a trace of dignity.
"Hi Jaune." She said. Soft and gentle, almost motherly. She sat down beside the couch and pushed a pile of crushed cans out of the way.
"Hi Ruby." He replied. "How was Vacuo?"
"Hot." Ruby said. "Exciting too, there are some really unique grimm out there."
"That's cool." He said, eyes transfixed on the monitor.
"Sorry I didn't come by sooner." She said. "Work has been busy."
"That's okay." He said.
She stared at it too. Her eyes widened slightly. It was that time of year already.
"The Battle of Beacon, as it has been referred to for nearly ten years now went down as the day things changed in Vale forever. Countless dead, some still missing. Effects of the incident still ripple into our lives today." Veteran reporter Lisa Lavender said. "The reconstruction zones still recovering from that fateful day when the white fang hijacked an atlas airship and bombarded the city. Statues of fallen huntresses and huntsmen, who gave their lives to save citizens during the bombings, are venerated in the courtyards of academies around the world."
Pictures of the deceased popped up on the screen. In the center was Pyrrha Nikos. Next to it was Lie Ren, Coco Adel, Fox Alistair, Yatsuhashi Daichi, and three dozen others. Courtesy of freelance photographer Velvet Scarlatina. Ruby sighed and glanced at Jaune. She could see his eyes watering. He reached under the pile of clothes and pulled out a small bottle of scotch. She grabbed it from him.
"You've had enough." Ruby said.
"One more please." He pleaded. She shook her head. He went back to staring at the screen.
"Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch has yet to comment on whether Beacon Academy has plans for the ten year anniversary of the Battle of Beacon." Lisa continued. "Despite the extensive investigations into what occured during the incident, there is little information on what happened to Professor Ozpin, nor any information on how Adam Taurus and his White Fang terrorists managed to pull off such a daring attack."
"Jaune, you can't keep living like this." Ruby said. "You should come out with me, on a hunt."
"Maybe another time." Jaune said. "I'm not really feeling it."
"Yang got back out there." Ruby said. "She's hunting again."
"How's that going for her?" Jaune asked.
"She's taking it slow, she still has trouble but refuses to use a prosthetic." Ruby said. "I believe in her, she's going to succeed."
"Good for her." Jaune said.
"Have you spoken to Nora?" Ruby asked.
"Have you spoken to Blake?" Jaune asked. Ruby winced. That hurt. She shook her head.
"That was low Jaune." Ruby said.
"I know." Jaune said. "Sorry Ruby."
"It's okay Jaune." Ruby said. "I've got your back vomit boy."
"Maybe I will too, crater face." Jaune replied. "But not today."
"I'll hold you up to that Jaune." Ruby said.
She left the apartment and shut it behind her. She locked it and turned around. The landlady, Miss Urdina, a wrinkly old lady, was staring at her expectantly. Ruby sighed and reached into her wallet. She passed her several hundred lien.
"It's gone up, it's six fifty now." Miss Urdina said.
"What?" Ruby asked. "Come on for a dump like this?"
"Maybe it's seven hundred now?" Miss Urdina said. "Or your maybe your loser friend is on the street."
"Fine." Ruby said, gritting her teeth. "Seven hundred. Take it."
"Pleasure doing business with you." The old lady said. She stuffed the money into her cleavage and walked off. Ruby glanced back at apartment 311 and sighed.
She parked her car outside her apartment, a beautiful apartment building right on the waterfront. It smelled like fish most of the time but she had grown to love the smell, she can't remember why. It's as if it reminded her of a memory she had long since forgotten. She reached apartment 516 and entered it. It was a spacious and not to mention clean apartment. She collapsed on her bright red leather couch and turned on the electric fireplace. What a day.
She wasn't sure why she took this job, looking into homicides wasn't why she became a huntress, but the police were desperate for help and nobody was taking it. She's a good person, she though, that's why. That's why she pays Jaune's rent and takes any job she can to support two apartments. Actually, maybe that was why. She's tired of doing it. Jaune has nobody. She has half a mind to call Nora to drag him out of that prison he's built himself, but she knew Nora wouldn't bother. She gave up a long time ago.
She rested for an hour listening to that annoying clock Weiss gave her, and then climbed up and headed for her terminal. She turned it on. She had photographs from the crime scene on her computer courtesy of Duffy. She stared at the grisly murders. All of whom were faunus. She perked up. Faunus, they were all faunus. But the seven dead men were Torchwick's men. Torchwick doesn't work with faunus. She needed to talk to Duffy.
Her terminal flashed and she nearly toppled over in her chair. She took a deep breath and laughed then checked what it was. An incoming message, from Weiss Schnee. Long range communication usually needs to be done at the CCT but Weiss managed to pull some strings. She smiled. She pressed accept.
Weiss' face popped up on screen. She looked a lot like her sister Winter now. White hair tied in a bun with a pair of sapphire socketed hair sticks. They complimented her light blue eyes. Even her scar was less pronounced. Though the bags under her eyes were telling.
"Hey Weiss." Ruby said. "How's work?"
"Tiring, turns out running a multinational dust company that nobody likes isn't actually fun." She said.
"Who'd have thought?" Ruby replied. Weiss yawned.
"I miss our chats Ruby, I miss hunting again." Weiss said.
"We can always go hunting together." Ruby said.
"Please!" She said. She started giggling. "Sorry, but I can't. I wish I could. Responsibilities and all."
"I understand." Ruby said.
"How's Jaune?" Weiss asked.
"About the same." Ruby said. "Maybe seeing you might cheer him up."
"If he's as bad as you described, I doubt it." Weiss said. "You know he always had a thing for me, I doubt he'd want me to see him in such a state."
"Probably not but he needs a good push." Ruby said. "I really want to call Nora but that didn't go so well last time. I haven't heard from Nora in a bit, I'm a little worried."
"Don't be, I've actually hired Nora on an assignment recently." Weiss said. "She's doing all the huntress work I wish I had the time to do myself."
"That's good to hear, how is she?" Ruby asked.
"She's not the same Nora." Weiss said. "But it is enjoyable to work with her again. Even from a strickly professional level."
"That's good." Ruby said. She hesitated to ask. "Any news about Blake?"
"I wish I could say I found her." Weiss said. Her eyes darted away from the screen. "I've spent a fortune on P.I.s. No word yet. It's been ten years Ruby." Her eyes started to flutter. "I think we might need to start facing the facts."
"I can't." Ruby said. She didn't realize her eyes were so watery, they were starting to sting. "Blake is out there."
"Ruby..." Weiss said. She turned away for a moment. "...just a minute. Sorry Ruby, no rest for the Schnee. Back to work I go. We need to chat again. Bye."
"Bye!" Ruby said. Weiss disappeared and her desktop appeared again. She sighed. That damn clock continued to tick.
