Hi, all. It's your boi, BetterTitles here, and I've come to deliver a rewrite. In detail, a rewrite of my old story "My Own Way." For all you newcomers here who were enticed by my astoundingly fancy title and mysteriously intriguing summary, I won't reveal anything apart from the fact that the original story was clunky and awkward, and for anyone who is here from last year, the plot will stay generally the same, except that this time it will be executed much more smoothly. Either way, you came here for a story and I'm going to give it. Let's jump on in.

The world seemed to be frozen in time as silence ruled over Beacon, and it seemed that it was there to stay. From the halls to the classes to even the cafeteria, a distinct lack of activity had possessed the school. The only place immune to this was the dormitories, which seemed to have practically sucked up all of the action in the form of loud music and bright lights.

All of this was challenged however, with the opening of a door, specifically the one to the workshop. As it closed and let out a muffled 'click', it was followed by a long, deep sigh, one of exhaustion and boredom. Its source was none other than Ruby Rose.

The room sprang to life with the flick of a switch, its lights providing a visual for the young huntress. As Ruby walked to the nearest bench, she couldn't help but frown at the hypocrisy in it. She'd come here to get away from the noise of the dorms, with the partying doing its absolute best (and succeeding) to seep into rooms it didn't belong, and yet here she was, escaping to an equally noisy place to get away from it.

Well, it's not like she had anything else to do. As she set down Crescent Rose on the workbench she let herself get lost in her thoughts a bit more. Ruby had come down here to escape from the noise of the partying, where what seemed to be everyone else in the school gravitated. Personally, Ruby just couldn't see the appeal to it. Being squashed in a crowd and not being able to hear anything besides the deafening thumping nearly gave her shivers thinking about it. And yet, that's where her classmates were, including none other than her three teammates.

They'd taken up partying a few months ago, near the beginning of the school year. It was simply out of curiosity they told her, but now it was pretty much all they did in their free time. Was there a new movie that they could maybe go to? Nah, there was a 'sick party' Yang had to check out instead. Ice Cream? This new 'hangout' was way more interesting. Even something as casual and short-term as a quick video game was put off for a party. They didn't want to do anything else, and what was even worse was that Ruby couldn't ever bring herself to come along, nor would Yang let her. Any sort of free time the team collectively had available was smashed in the face of this new, extravagant hobby of theirs.

By the time the redhead had pulled out the final tool she needed for tinkering, a power drill, her mood had completely soured. She stared at her beloved scythe with a look of what appeared as a mix of irritation and melancholy. She couldn't bring herself to tinker this time. For the past two months Ruby had been filling in all of her extra, teamless free-time by replacing it with time spent on her own hobbies, which were really just messing around with weapons and nothing else. Even with how fanatical she was over said weapons, it was beginning to grow stale, really stale. At this point she couldn't bring herself to even touch the tools. What would she even do at this point, dismantle Crescent Rose and put her back together? She'd already been optimized to her absolute best and beyond that; at this point any more work would just be repetition.

Another sigh left the huntress's lips as she leaned back in the chair and idly stared up at the ceiling. Her motivation was gone for tinkering, and another problem came up as a result of this. She quite literally had no hobbies that she could spend time on. What would she do now? Yang had always said she needed to try out more things, but…

'Well, look how that turned out,' thought Ruby. A bitter scoff escaped her as she saw the hypocrisy in Yang's advice. It irritated her to know her own sister had fallen back on it. But that didn't necessarily mean that Yang was wrong.

What could she do though? Videogames required she went back to her dorm, which was a big no-no, and it was far too late that any shops would be open. The only option left was to go outside and do something, which left Ruby with… admittedly a few ideas, most notable of which was just taking a walk.

A walk would be nice, actually. She could spend some time to see the city, and gather her thoughts as well without any outside interference. It was the ideal way to relax, the more she thought about it.

By the time Ruby had wrapped everything up and gone out the door, she had a purpose in mind.

Roman Torchwick was certainly an ambitious man, but he wasn't the kind of guy who would tear himself apart chasing his dreams. He needed downtime too, and at the moment he was getting some of said downtime.

As of the moment, he was strolling casually in the park with his trusty companion Neopolitan, enjoying the calmness of the night. It was time he could spend clearing his mind and planning ahead. Something he didn't necessarily need but most certainly enjoyed.

The park was one of the few places he could go without worrying. It was completely empty in terms of other people, and that meant Roman could relax his guard without anything unexpected happeni-

"Red?"

'Never fucking mind.' Apparently fate was feeling pretty mischievous, because around twenty feet in front of him was the little twerp who had thwarted his attempts to rob a dust shop a few months earlier, a memorable encounter on his end. Normally this wouldn't be a matter of concern but he had seen that girl fight. She was someone to be reckoned with, and going easy on her would be the end of him.

He'd told Neo about her, actually, and while he had no doubts that she could defeat the huntress, it would certainly be a bigger challenge than what she usually faced, and above that far more time consuming.

He tightened his grip on his cane in preparation, but for whatever reason Red didn't seem to respond to hi- oh, she was wearing headphones. His guard relaxed a bit. That certainly made things easier for him.

Roman raised his cane up and shot a dust crystal right at the young huntress, a move she wouldn't have ever expected in her current state. He watched nonchalantly as it exploded in her face, likely blowing the girl back a few meters, though her aura would protect her from anything serious. This one had been far less deadly than the one on the rooftop, after all; it was simply another stun mixture. As he walked towards her, he put out his near finished cigar on the ground.

Thankfully, Red was pretty dazed from the surprise attack, which was expected, but you could never be too cautious. The duo leisurely strolled up to her form, he set a foot on her chest and pinned her to the ground. He held his cane right up to her forehead, but for whatever reason, he didn't pull the trigger. There was something nagging him, on why in the world Little Red was here of all places and all times. After all, the park was closed, wasn't it?

It probably didn't matter, but something told Roman to press on, see what he could get out of this.

"Little Red, may I ask what you're doing up so late?"

It all happened so fast Ruby didn't know what to think of it. One moment she was strolling down the park blasting music into her ears, and the next she was sprawled all over the pavement, her ears ringing and her eyes seeing nothing but pure white.

The ringing and blindness died down quickly, but her mind was still a bit dazed. Nevertheless, she tried getting up…

…Only to immediately be pushed back down on the ground, by something that wasn't herself.

Her mind quickly went into overdrive at this new threat, and her attention focused on the entity in front of her. Her vision and hearing cleared up just in time to hear the thing in front of them, presumably a person at this point, say something.

"Little Red, may I ask what you're doing up so late?"

The voice, it was saccharine, condescending, but for whatever reason strangely enticing. It took Ruby a few moments to pin it down, but once she did, she became completely alert.

Roman Torchwick.

As silver eyes met green ones, Ruby's mind raced to the point she had trouble thinking clearly. Anything she had been feeling before had turned into blatant panic, and it took a few moments to gather her thoughts again.

She glanced around seeming to look for an answer to her predicament, noticing the bystander woman who was presumably with him, as she'd never bothered to intervene. The indifferent look she gave was kind of unnerving, but that didn't matter at the moment. If she was on Roman's side then Ruby had to focus on Roman himself.

Strangely, she reminded Ruby of ice cream.

She turned back towards the wanted man, and her anxiety flared up again. Her confidence melted in the face of her life being threatened, and whatever answer she had thought up before had long vanished. Still, she pressed on.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" she rushed out. "Why are you-"

She was cut off with her head being pressed hard against the ground below her. She let a sharp hiss out at the pain.

"It's rude to answer a question with a question, Red. Now tell me, what are you doing so late up?"

Again, Ruby had to spend a few moments organizing her mind before coming up with a coherent (and valid) answer for the man holding her hostage. "I…" She stopped out of hesitation. Sticking with honesty was the path she had chosen, but she didn't know if it would end well.

"I was bored?"

Roman stared blankly for a moment, appearing to analyze her, before he let out a small sigh. "Come on, Red, there's gotta be more than that. I know you have something else going on," he pressured, increasing the strength on his grip a bit further to emphasize. In reality, Roman had completely believed she was being truthful in her words, but the simplicity was likely because she was too panicked to really think properly rather than any attempt at lying.

Ruby got quite a bit more anxious at his pressuring, but was able to bring it down to a more stable level. She thought her answer through before continuing, recalling what it was exactly that led her to take a stroll through the park so late.

"I… I came because I had nothing else to do. I was on my own so I decided to go here…" she started.

"…Everyone else is just out getting wasted…"

The last part came out as more of an irritated grumble, a side note if anything, but for whatever reason it seemed to be the part that piqued Roman's interest. His eyebrows rose in curiosity at this remark, and although it was barely noticeable, a slew of emotions raced over his eyes, before vanishing from existence for anyone to take note.

He stayed in his same position a few more moments, all while the tension in the air only seemed to grow thicker. As Ruby's mindset fell more and more into the pits of worry, a ding sounded, similar to that of a Scroll.

In response Roman rolled his eyes and pulled a scroll out of his jacket pocket, supposedly reading something before letting out a deep sigh. He turned back to Ruby with a response in mind.

"Well Red, it seems something has come up," he started. "I have somewhere else I need to be and while I could finish this up now, I think it'd be more fun if we meet again some other time. How about we let this little incident slip this time?" he offered. Ruby simply looked back at him incredulously. If he was implying what she thought he was, then that meant this might end better than she thought.

"I mean… sure?" she responded awkwardly. She doubted it would be taken seriously, but that doubt would soon be misplaced.

"Good!" he said energetically. He lifted both his cane "Well Red, it was nice seeing you this evening, though I'm afraid our time to depart has come. Neo," He turned towards the woman, Neo apparently, who responded to his call. "Let's make our leave." Neo walked over calmly, and took her place besides Roman. She gave a deep, exaggerated bow to Ruby as she got up, before seeming to freeze in place. Ruby yelped in surprise when the two figures completely shattered like glass.

Ruby's breath quickened for a bit, expecting some sort of other surprise, but nothing else came. She walked over to Crescent Rose cautiously, and picked it up with more than a little hesitation. Even when it became clear that Roman and his accomplice Neo had legitimately left, she still had her guard up.

Suspicions aside, Ruby wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. She got herself organized and glanced around more thoroughly, looking for Crescent Rose; thankfully, it was only a few meters away. Despite this, Ruby's mind was occupied exclusively by one question: Why had Roman, a world-known criminal, let her go?

When Ruby started her walk back to Beacon, her mind had slowed to just a select few questions, none of which she would likely have the answers to any time soon.

Yang collapsed onto the bed a complete mess, not that she minded at this point. A hazy grin stretched across her face as she stared up at the ceiling idly, still in a daze from the party that she'd been at only minutes earlier.

Blake on the other hand was having a much less fun time, as she rubbed her temples in an attempt to dispel the headache that had overtaken her. She hadn't gotten herself drunk, so there was little she could do to ignore the pain. As she collapsed onto her bunk, she couldn't help but notice the sense of tension plague her body.

Weiss had decided to take a shower; supposedly to 'clean herself up' from what she told them, but there was no ignoring the look on her face as she walked back to the dorm.

Collectively, the three of them had just come back from a party that Yang had dragged them into, and none of them had come out unscathed. Each of them had bore some form of a consequence for their actions, though it evidently didn't manifest equally for each member of WBY. Now, each of them were living in the aftermath as they had to go to sleep.

Yang had recklessly decided that taking up a drinking contest wasn't that bad of an idea, which was how she ended up in her current predicament of what could only be described as "completely drunk". Blake and Weiss hadn't indulged in any alcohol on their end, however, and as a result were less tolerant to the chaos of the party.

"Ugh," groaned Blake. "Yang, why did you do this to us?"

Yang paused for a moment before responding. "Yes," she said goofily, bursting into an immature fit of giggles in the aftermath. In response, Blake glared at her weakly from under her bunk before letting out a sigh. She wasn't going to get a serious answer anytime soon; pressuring Yang wouldn't do any good.

Weiss, having just gotten out of the shower, seemed to visibly radiate exhaustion, dragging herself towards her bunk and flopping lifelessly. However, her mind was still somewhat clear, likely due to her shower, and as a result she could at least have some form of a conversation.

"I'm never going to do that again."

It wasn't necessarily good conversation.

"Oh, c'mon Weissy, you know you had fun," Yang slurred.

"Yang, don't ever call me that again," retorted Weiss. She meant what she had said, or at the very least thought she did. Partying was absolute hell for her half of the time, and she doubted that would ever change.

Still, Yang wasn't entirely wrong. No matter how utterly unappealing parties were for her, she couldn't help but feel a bit satisfied from the sense of rebellion it gave her. Her father would be enraged if he found out about it, and that gave her a sense of control she couldn't help but relish in. It didn't change the fact that she was barely enjoying herself otherwise, but it did keep her coming back. Well, that and the pressure from Yang.

There was another matter that needed to be addressed, however

"Where the hell is Ruby?" asked Blake.

Weiss raised her eyebrows at this. "She isn't in her bunk?"

"No, she isn't." Blake's voice was laced with concern.

At this point it was a mere hour away from midnight, but the young leader was nowhere to be seen. It was more than unusual, and quite worrying.

"I… don't know. Maybe she's working with her weapon?" responded Weiss.

Blake frowned in thought. Ruby was almost always asleep whenever they got back to their dorms, or at the very least attempting to be. It was likely something had gone astray for her to not be here.

"I think we should go look for her…" she started.

At that moment, however, the door creaked open, and no other than Ruby herself shuffled inside. Silently pushing the door shut, she turned around to see both Weiss and Blake looking at her.

"Where were you?" Weiss asked, though her tiredness made it come off as more of a statement.

Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but paused for a moment, seeming to try and come up with an answer. "…In the workshop," she responded hesitantly. She didn't want to deal with any drama right now. She'd tell them about it tomorrow, maybe.

Weiss and Blake eyed her with suspicion, but chose to ignore it, both too exhausted to try and pressure her.

"Well, it's almost midnight. You should get to sleep," Blake recommended.

Ruby simply nodded in response. After changing into her pajamas in the restroom, she climbed up onto her bunk and tucked herself in.

"Goodnight guys," she said.

No one bothered to respond; evidently they had fallen asleep.

Ruby sighed in exasperation, and let herself get lost in her thoughts again. Her mind immediately snapped back towards her encounter with Roman Torchwick. She was still completely confused over why he had let her go. He'd said that he didn't want to hurt her at that time, but why? He was a criminal, and a world infamous one too. Criminals were supposed to do bad things.

Ruby dispelled those thoughts quickly. Maybe there was something she just didn't know, something that made the whole thing unfinished. It didn't matter, anyways, as it was highly unlikely that something like tonight would ever happen again.

But for whatever reason, a part of her thought otherwise.

And there we go, the first chapter of the reboot. It might be a bit awkward, but it's sure as hell better than the last one. Either way, it's here to stay. Unlike the last time I've decided to adopt a realistic update schedule rather than the flamboyant but admittedly impossible promise of it being daily like last time. I'm aiming for every two weeks, something stable.

Also, a shoutout to my good friend Soulwithlife. Without them this story wouldn't have ever come back. They do some writing themselves, and they have an AO3 (can't link because this site doesn't like that); aside from me doing this as a thanks their stories are beyond good. Go check them out.

Not much else I can really say at this point. Though, it would be neat if I got a few reviews. It lets me know if (and what) I'm doing right, and what I'm falling short on.

Well, see you all next time.

-B