"Hello...? Is anyone there? Yang, Dad...Anyone?" Ruby asked the dark void surrounding her at the moment. She was walking, but her destination was still very much unclear, in this sea of pure dark, Ruby was but a sailor in the middle of the endless ocean with no navigation to speak of, merely...walking. Walking through this void was rather unsettling for the young Signal student, she was the only one there after all, neither her sister nor her father were within sight or anyone at all for that matter...
Or so she thought.
Ruby felt as if she was being...watched...observed by some unknown spectator lurking amidst the deep blackness. The redhead felt a chill run down her spine and a sense of foreboding fill her conscience, a shaky, dainty hand anxiously rested atop the folded Crescent Rose. Without faltering, Ruby continued onward, making frantic glances from the corner of her eyes to her sides, she kept her face mostly calm, save for the widening of her eyes and the ghost of a fearful grimace upon her lips.
Ruby's head whipped to her left at the sound of movement, whipping then to the right when the same sound was made in said direction. The young girl's grip on her scythe became even tighter, Ruby now using the weapon's presence on her hip as her one grasp on her calmness and her conscience. Despite her fear and her expectation that something would jump out at her from the endless span of darkness before her, the delicate young Rose trekked onward through the land which she could not see. She could clearly hear the same...being from before following her, if the swift indications of precise movement trailing behind her was any indication.
Ruby quickened her pace, if only by a small amount, even with whatever "destination" she had being completely unknown, the last thing she wanted was to get caught by whatever was tailing her. She heard the sound of swift movement once more, then quickening her pace once more to a power walk, just shy of being a jog. Her stalker's movements became more frequent, the sound of shoes lightly tapping against the "floor" behind her now apparent.
"So you're a person..." Ruby muttered quietly under her breath, with a nod to herself, the scythe mistress then broke into a simple jog and to her expectations the frequency of movement increased. The silver-eyed prodigy narrowed her eyes with a renewed resolve, "Let's see you keep up with this!" She exclaimed proudly into the nothingness surrounding her as she activated her semblance, rose petals occupying the space where she once stood. If possible, her pursuer only seemed to speed up exponentially in order to keep up with her, something she didn't have the luxury of realizing due to all the concentration she was putting into her semblance.
Ruby skidded to a halt after sprinting for what she thought was at least five minutes, she gave a quick exhale before standing up straight, straining her ears to try to locate whoever was behind her. A sigh of relief escaped her when she heard nothing.
"Thank Oum above, I'm not sure who that could've been...or what they wanted from me..." She sighed out and stepping forward to continue her aimless journey.
"As expected, you are indeed quick, Pure One." Ruby froze ice-still at the sound of that voice, it sent a violent shiver up her spine. It was a deep and commanding voice that reverberated throughout her entire being but at the same time, it was almost like the voice was non-existent, empty, lofty even...
Gathering her bearings quickly, Ruby yanked Crescent Rose into her hands, unfolding the massive scythe and stabbing the blade into the "ground" beneath her, "Who are you and why are you following me?" Her one of a kind silver orbs glaring at the revealed hooded stranger before her, she was stuffing all of her apprehension and fear behind that look. This person...this person looked deadly, someone she'd like to be far, far away from as soon as possible.
Instead of answering her questions, the figure merely opted to slowly walk towards her, no weapons drawn, his posture in no indications an attack. Ruby's eyes widened as she took a slight step back, holding up Crescent Rose in a position to retaliate.
"Hey, d-don't come any closer!" She exclaimed as she continued to back away from this unknown figure, however, his long and demanding steps had overtaken her small and fearful back pedals, he was looming over her now and then proceeded...to walk right through her. Ruby's silver eyes expanded more than they ever had before as thoughts filled her head, words spoken from someone who she didn't know.
"I've been having these weird thoughts lately, like is any of this real or not?"
"What are you talking about?! We've gotta find Kairi!"
"I don't need a weapon! My friends are my power!"
"That's not true! The heart may be weak and sometimes it may even give in but I've learned that deep down there's a light that never goes out!"
"I promise I'll come back to you."
"A scattered dream that's like a far off memory...a far off memory that's like a scattered dream...I wanna line the pieces up yours, and mine..."
"Are you talking to me...or Sora?"
"Donald! Goofy!"
"You guys wanna team up for one more adventure?"
"Roxas. I wish I could meet him too."
"I looked for you! I looked everywhere for you!"
"Get ready, Xemnas! It all ends here!"
"I know the keyblade didn't choose me and I don't care! I'm proud to be a small part of something bigger, the people it did choose! My friends...they are my power!"
Ruby had dropped to her knees, holding her aching head as all those memories flooded her mind. Who was saying those things? That wasn't a voice she recognized, why would this person be in her head, what do they have to do with her?
Ruby grit her teeth as she pushed herself to her feet, "I'll a-ask again...who are you?" Crescent Rose was once more within her grip. However, the figure completely batted her question away, "Yes...you do remind me of him...however...you are of whole and unbroken heart...allow me to test your abilities." To Ruby's horror, twin pairs of what appeared to light sabers beamed to life from her enemy's sleeves, red and crackling with power. In any other circumstance, she would be gushing over the weapon, but now realizing that this person had plans to attack her with said weapons...she couldn't find it in her to admire them.
Ruby had to shield her eyes as the darkness exploded into color...and she found herself and the enemy before her standing in the training room at Signal. At least, that's what it looked like...the walls were usually a dull gray but now seemed to be a sort of warped magenta, the ceiling was an unsettling color of dark red…the color of blood. The floor she stood upon was a puke colored green that almost seemed transparent, like a mere glass floor that she could possibly fall through at any given moment.
"Are...are we at Signal...?" As she expected, she received not a single response from the man before her, rather he seemed ready to begin their bout and she was ready to comply.
Ruby spread her legs and kept her stance low to the ground as she readied herself for a fight, she narrowed her silver gems at her adversary. She didn't know what this person could do but she knew the best hope she had was to do her best in fending him off.
With speed that Ruby wasn't expecting, the man in the hood was upon her, his sabers already in motion. Moving on her reactions alone, Ruby raised the shaft of her scythe in front of her, the attack sending her skidding back quite a fair way back. In the blink of an eye, he was upon her once more, he struck at her more than once this time, his strikes were fast, graceful, and precise with not a single movement wasted or any strike missing its mark. The young redhead was indeed having trouble fending off the ruthless barrage of strikes effectively, her scythe was NOT made for heavy defense, it was an offensive weapon through and through, she couldn't feasibly continue guarding like this for much longer.
As soon as she guarded the next strike, Ruby wasted no time in activating her semblance and leaping backwards, creating a considerable amount of distance between her and her rival. Ruby took a short second to gather some breath into her lungs as she narrowed her eyes at her attacker.
"I can already tell this guy is super tough...he might even be able to give Uncle Qrow a hard time...I don't know how well I can stand up to this guy..." Ruby said to none but herself, the brief exchange between the two had been all Ruby needed to deduce that this person was leagues far above her own. The young girl's head snapped up when she heard an odd static sound, almost like a beam, when she looked up, multiple mini-laser bullets were floating in a circle and ready to fired right at her. With little time, Ruby dove to her side to avoid the very first shot, the deadly beam leaving a scorch mark on the magenta wall behind her before she stumbled upright, barely batting away the second blast with the flat end of Crescent Rose's blade. The Signal student was quick to activate her semblance once more and dash out of the range of the next four consecutive shots, rose petals being left behind to burn to ash.
Ruby narrowed her eyes, she had been on the defensive for far too long, it was time to take the initiative! Ruby suddenly changed course and targeted her opponent, frowning when she saw a new set of his ammunition. The speedy girl gave a determined glare before shifting into a zigzag pattern, the homing shots unable to keep up with her incredible speed. In a mere second, Ruby was atop her adversary with Crescent Rose raised above her head.
She gave a small smirk, "Gotcha!" However, her smirk was wiped clean off her face when her scythe cut through nothing more than air. "AH!" The young girl cried out when she felt a burning, blunt force slam into her side and send her flying towards one of the far walls. Ruby regained her bearings just enough to right herself mid-flight and plant her feet against the wall, activating her semblance once more, Ruby took off in a sprint along the wall. She switched Crescent Rose to sniper form, firing round after round at her target, the hooded man using the least amount of movement possible to dodge her shots, frustrating the young Rose.
Ruby kicked off the wall, somersaulting back onto the floor beneath her before bending her toned legs at the knees and proceeding to burst forward towards the mysterious man. Her eyes were narrowed with the determination to land a single hit on this incredibly skilled and powerful enemy, her weapon was held high with the intent of a warrior who had every hope to cut completely through their opponent.
"Leave me ALONE!" She roared from deep within her soul as Crescent Rose swung in the direction of this unnerving man. As she expected, the man had simply sidestepped her attack and so, without missing a beat, Ruby swiftly pivoted and slashed once more, taking advantage of her second chance to inflict damage. As Ruby swung her massive scythe, the hooded man was seeing the opaque figure of a brunette boy with blue eyes, those eyes that held such a fire and will to protect that only few had. He raised his gloved hand and merely caught the nearing blade of Crescent Rose by the flat end and stopped the swing dead in its tracks.
"Yes…you truly do remind me of him. Of Sora." He said as a short, sinister chuckle escaped his throat. For reasons unknown to even her, Ruby felt herself react strongly to the name Sora, by all means it was NOT someone she had the memory of ever meeting…but she felt like she knew him closely…
"Wh-Who is–wait a second! Where are you going?!" Ruby asked as she saw the man slowly backpedaling away from her. Like she'd let him escape that easy! She got to her feet with Crescent Rose in hand, her eyes locked onto his dark figure and charged at him full speed.
"I won't let you get away!" She screamed as she neared, "Answer my questions!" She swung the reaper's weapon at him, the red head of the scythe merely slashing through emptiness and inky darkness.
"He's…gone…" She muttered, "Who…is this Sora person?" It was an odd feeling, having the enemy vanish but remaining within this freaky…dream? Shouldn't she be…waking up maybe? She really just wanted to go back home, hug the life out of her Dad and sister and have some strawberries and cookies! Was that too much to ask for? What next? More weird people?
"Uh…hey there."
Ruby leaped a few feet into the air(?) in pure surprise from the sound, "Who's there?!"
"Whoa whoa whoa calm down." The voice held an amused tone to it, it honestly sounded no older than maybe 16 at the most. Ruby turned around to greet the voice, expecting someone around her age and was greeted…to about three floating lights that were all closely knit together, almost in the shape of hearts even.
"Um…who…or what are you supposed to be?" Ruby asked she tilted her head in confusion. The…floating light in the middle between the other two seemed…indignant? Her only clue was how erratically it bounced around.
"Hey I may just be a heart right now but I've got a name!" It exclaimed, "It's Sora!" It exclaimed as Ruby felt herself react strongly once more.
"Sora…" She breathed out, saying his name from her own mouth felt lighter than a whisper, to the point that she almost missed herself saying it.
"I'm Roxas." The light to his right said.
"And I'm Ventus. Just call me Ven though…" The last one sounded extremely sleepy, like someone who was forced out of bed far too early for their liking.
"H-Hi Sora, Roxas, Ven. I'm Ruby…" She introduced herself, she extended her hands, keeping them cupped together as the three floating lights flew above the space she offered.
"That's a pretty name. I like your eyes too." Sora complimented her, as she blushed very light pink from the kind words.
"Th-Thanks…so why did you guys come to me?" She asked the three of them.
"Sora got himself into a bad situation and now we don't know where his body is, which leaves us with nowhere to go." She THINKS Roxas was the one who said that, him and Ven sound identical besides for Ven sounding dead tired.
"So basically we're asking…can we stay with you for a while?" Sora asked her, causing her eyes to widen.
"S-Stay with me?" She asked, "How would you do that?"
"Just…let us stay in your heart for a bit…" Sora said softly, she could feel the smile he would been shooting at her if she knew what he looked like. She felt like the least she could do was help them out.
"O-Okay…go ahead…" She said, a little nervous.
"Thank you." All three of them said with sincerity in their voices, which caused Ruby to crack a smile as all three of them flew into her chest, giving a warm feeling as they entered. She could almost feel them, dancing around her heart.
"I hope you're all comfy in there." Ruby said softly as light began to pour in through cracks in the darkness that surrounded her so heavily. It was almost like Heaven itself was shining light on this dark Hell pit she found herself trapped for only Oum knows how long.
"Looks like I'm finally waking up." She felt herself crack a smile as the light washed over her and she found herself free of the deep darkness.
And embraced by the protection of the light.