Welcome to the first chapter of my edited version of UNLIKELY!

Originally, I did not plan on creating a new version for this story, but then I had so many ideas in my mind for additional chapters etc. that I thought it to be better if I simply created a new story.

For those of you who already know my story, there will probably be 3-4 new chapters added in this version, maybe more if the ideas keep coming. Other than that, the plot is still the same. But feel free to read it again, if you'd like.

As another change, I also decided to add one or two quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I thought it'd be nice, kinda sets the tone for the chapter. Plus, I started doing this in another story, and I really liked the idea of it. So many stories I've read did the same, and I always felt like they showed you the path the story or chapter would take.

Apart from that, there will be no major changes.

Chapter 1 — Death

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

― J.K. Rowling,

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

The snow was falling heavily and the runways were still not free. Planes queued and waited for their turn to start, pilots drinking coffee and passengers growing more cross by the second. Flight 9517 to Florida was currently being de-iced by the airport personnel, the chemicals erasing any speck of ice that had accumulated on the plane for the past hour. The pilots made the last few checks when they finally received the sign to move forward onto the runway by the Tower.

Amidst all the passengers sat a black-haired 19-years-old girl. She had been attending a boarding school in Washington D.C. for the past few months and had finally concluded her last year of high school, ready to attend Yale in the coming Fall. In that time, she had decided to visit her family who lived in Phoenix, Arizona. She hadn't seen them since last year December when she had visited to celebrate Christmas with them. Else, they had only exchanged letters, her telling them what it was like in the capital and them telling her what happened at home.

She was looking forward to seeing them again. She had missed her little sister the most. Jasmine was three years younger than her, a beautiful 16-years-old teen who was just as intelligent as her sister and attended a private high school not far from home. She had the same black hair as her sister, although her eyes were a deep brown while Serena's were more like deep turquoise that would appear brighter or darker depending on the light.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please: We are now ready to take off for Tallahassee, Florida. Please fasten your seat-belts and put away anything that could fall off during takeoff. We apologize for the long wait and thank you for flying with us," rang the pilot's voice through the speaker that hung above the cockpit's door.

The flight would take five hours (though who really knew with this kind of weather?), and after that, Serena would have to switch onto another one to get to Phoenix. It was a holiday and most flights that went directly from Washington to Arizona had been booked out, so she'd had to book this one and another. It cost more, of course, the prices for a normal seat being already high, but her family had sent her some money, so she had managed to afford it.

Fastening her seat-belt and putting on her earphones, she put her iPhone on play and leaned back in her seat, waiting for the plane to take off. It began to pick up on speed and soon they were racing over the runway, the scenery outside passing by them in a blur, the slowly falling snow looking more like a blizzard now. When they had reached the needed speed, she could feel the plane lift off the ground, shaking all the while.

Not having flown much, she didn't think that the shaking was unusual until she noticed a passenger, an elderly man with glasses who sat in the row beside her, looking back and forth with a worried look. The woman who sat beside him asked what was wrong and he said that something was not right, though he didn't know what. Noticing this, Serena stopped her music and took off her earphones, stowing her phone in her blue jeans pocket, only now hearing that the shaking of the dishes that were stocked in the back of the plane had yet to subsided. Even she knew that, after some time, the shaking would stop and the flight would be a smooth one.

The man suddenly bent forward, placing his arms against the seat in front of him, pressing his head against them. The woman beside him did the same after he told her so and Serena's anxiety started to grow. She had never really liked flying –– the idea of being cramped in a room, tens of thousands of feet above solid ground where she couldn't do anything if something went wrong terrified her. As a kid, she'd always liked to watch documentaries about everything, but mostly about planes and plane crashes. It had always morbidly fascinated her how planes were built to be impenetrable and were the safest mode of transportation in the world, yet they were still so fragile and vulnerable. The images of burning plane wrecks floated through her mind and she began to panic.

Mimicking the man –– for she saw that he had experience in flying and knew what would most likely happen –– she also pressed her forearms against the seat in front of her, burying her head in them as if to escape her possible fate. Several other passengers were doing the same and the shaking intensified even more. Soon, many more people started to panic, some screaming or crying and in the midst of all the noise and shaking Serena could faintly hear the heart-wrenching cry of a baby.

Then the plane suddenly lurched forward.
The fuselage hit something full force and the plane dipped even more towards the ground, more people screaming, Serena being one of them. She had started to sweat at the beginning and could now feel it running down her forehead and back, sending shivers through her entire body. Then the plane's nose hit something and she could hear it crashing through something else. The aircraft broke in the middle and she suddenly realized that water started to flow in.

The Potomac! she thought in horror, realization dawning on her.

They must have plummeted into the river.

Attempting to unbuckle her seat-belt, she tried to move only to feel terrible pain rake her entire body. Looking down, her eyes widened upon the sight of blood pooling out of her stomach and into the ice cold water. It was then that she realized the large gash across her abdomen, partially across her left breast. A metal piece from a seat must have come loose and struck her during the crash, tearing the flesh wide open. She spotted another sharp piece of metal sticking out of her right side, but decided to leave it there. Trying to ignore the throe, she started to scramble for the exit that was now the rift where the plane had broken in two.

She saw that the man beside her and the woman were doing just the same, although she could see that the man's legs were either broken, or at least his ankles must have been by the way he was crawling and trying to somehow get out of this watery grave. Looking around, she noticed that most of the other passengers were either unconscious or already dead from the force of the impact, their forms hanging limply in their seats.

It was eerily silent.

The water was reaching just underneath her chin and Serena knew that she had to get out now or she would be unable to; the plane would either drag her down or she would be shocked even more by the chilling temperatures of the rising water. Taking in one last big gulp of oxygen, she ducked her head and began kicking her legs, trying to find the exit in the darkness of the river. It was frozen over and therefor the sun could not get through, basking the water in an almost pitch black color. Only at the top could she see a faint light, so she decided that that must be the hole through which the plane had crashed and began swimming for it.

But the bitterly cold temperatures quickly took their toll and she could feel her lungs piercing from the lack of oxygen. Her vision was starting to close in from the sides and she could barely see the light now. Kicking her legs a few more times, she tried her best to reach the surface until she finally couldn't take it anymore. Gasping, she felt the water entering her lungs, the pain being the worst she had ever experienced. She flailed her arms a few times before realizing that there was nothing left that she could do.

So this is how I'm going to die? Freezing and drowning to death, body never to be found? I always thought that I would die old and grumpy with my kids at my side, going to a peaceful sleep. Guess that's not the case.

She could feel tears starting to leave her eyes, closing them to try and fall unconscious, not wanting to experience the entirety of her death. She had never imagined or thought about what it would be like to drown, but she didn't want to know it now either. So she took one last look at the surface, seeing the bright light approaching her. Thinking it must be the light that would lead her to the afterlife like in the movies, she smiled to herself and closed her eyes again.

I'm sorry guys, but I'll be going first… I'll wait for you on the other side.

With that final thought in mind, she let darkness consume her and Serena Cauldron drifted to the bottom of the Potomac River, her corpse never to be found.

But it was not the end of her story. Her "death" in one world was the beginning of her life in another, far more perilous world...

Edited 30/11/2016

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. All I do own are my OC and the idea and plot of the non-canon parts of the story.