The Lost Gate
By: Hagarthehorrible65
Dedicated to the late, great Monty Oum and with a shout out the the (fortunately) not late, but still great Ken Akamatsu.
1. A late summer afternoon in the wilds northeast of Vale
Ruby Rose reviewed the pictures she had just finished taking with her scroll. She and her team had been sent to find and investigate an ancient circle of standing stones on the eastern edge of the Forever Fall Forest. Because of the rugged terrain and dense forest, the bullhead was forced to drop them several miles from the site and they had to hike for what seemed like hours down a barely visible forest path. To Ruby the site seemed ancient. The tall, rectangular stone blocks were massive and Ruby wondered how the people back then had set them in place without heavy machinery. As Ruby looked up from her scroll she saw that Yang and Weiss had finished taking measurement while Blake was still making charcoal rubbings of some barely visible markings they had noticed on the stones.
"Almost done Blake?" asked Ruby. Blake replied "Yeah, this is the last one. Funny, these carvings don't seem like they come from any of the ancient cultures. Also I've noticed that there seems to be some kind of tiny crystals set into the lines of the carvings... almost like... Hey Weiss, is this dust?" Weiss came over with the measuring rope coiled over her shoulder. "Let me see" she said. "Yes, I think it is, but I don't know what kind." Weiss stared at the fine sparkling lines that glittered in the late afternoon sun. "Can anyone tell me what color this looks like to them? I can't put my finger on it." She asked.
Yang joined the group and they all stared at the lines for a time. Finally Blake spoke up "Maybe kind of a purplish white? Kind of like Yangs eyes, but... different." Weiss spoke, exasperation creeping into her voice "Darn it! I'm supposed to be the team dust expert and I can't even tell what kind this is. Wait a second, Ruby, can I see that vial the Professor Ozpin gave you for the experiment?" Ruby fumbled in her belt pouch for a second and finally pulled out a bottle of dust and handed it to Weiss. Weiss opened the bottle and stared at the contents "Huh, this looks like it's the same color." There were no markings on the bottle, so Weiss closed it and handed back to Ruby "I've never seen this kind before, I guess I'll have to ask my father about this." said Weiss with all the enthusiasm of someone volunteering to scrub a toilet.
It was starting to get dark so the foursome returned to where they had stashed their backpacks. Yang looked at the rocky ground around them "Well, this is going to suck. How can we get any sleep on these rocks? We might as well sleep in a tree." Blake smirked "I've done that before, it's not so bad" "Easy for you to say Blake" replied Weiss "I've seen you sound asleep while stretched out upside down in a chair" the heiress continued with a smile.
"Why don't we sleep in the center of the stone circle? The ground was nice and smooth there." suggested Ruby. "That's a great idea sis', and the stones are close enough that most Grimm would have a hard time fitting in between them to get at us. Not that I've seen any since we arrived." replied Yang boisterously. The group picked up their packs and walked back to the stone circle. As they set up camp Ruby began to wonder about the lack of Grimm sign since their arrival. The Forever Fall Forest was normally infested with Grimm, but this area seemed to have nothing but ordinary animals. Weiss even almost got bitten by a moose once.
They built a fire and cooked supper. Yang always seemed to be able to make even field rations taste good so they had an enjoyable meal. After eating they talked for a bit and then started preparing for bed, and then Weiss started up with her "survival" lecture. While Blake and Yang face palmed, a confused Ruby argued with Weiss "But Weiss, it's warm tonight, do we really need to do this?" Weiss replied firmly "I'm sure it'll get cold later, autumn is coming, we need to share sleeping bags to conserve body warmth." Ruby pleaded "Okay, okay, but do we really have to be naked when we do it?"
Weiss glared at Ruby "Of course, it doesn't work if we aren't, stop being so childish!" Weiss snapped back.
Ruby couldn't help but blush as she thought about it. She had to admit that the feeling of Weiss's slender, well toned body against her back as they spooned wasn't entirely unpleasant. She also had gotten used to Weiss and her showering together. It was nice to have someone to scrub your back and all. Besides, Yang and Ruby had bathed together as children until Ruby was old enough to wash herself and there was nothing wrong with that. Ruby finally gave in, sort of "Okay Weiss, but lost body heat or not, I'm keeping my panties on this time and no tickling either." Weiss was already undressed "Fine, fine, just get in the bag you dolt." Blake and Yang could barely keep from laughing as they watched this.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the stone circle, a small figure with black, pink and white hair watched the girls with some amusement. Cinder had asked Neapolitan to follow the girls and see what they were up to. She had hid in a cargo compartment and dropped out as the bullhead had pulled away after depositing the girls at the landing zone. While Neo considered herself Romans employee, not Cinders, with Roman locked in General Ironwoods brig she had nothing else to do, so she agreed to Cinders request. Besides, she kind of liked Cinder, she seemed to have her s**t together.
Meanwhile back at Beacon Academy "Schoolwork is hard when you have to do it yourself" lamented Cardin as he struggled to complete his latest assignment from Doctor Oobleck while alone in his room. "Maybe I can find someone else to blackmail to do it for me" he thought. As he thought this he heard two voices coming from above him on the roof "Oh Jaune, kiss your goddess you dope" said Pyrrha in a husky voice. "Oh Pyrrha" replied Jaune. "Oh no, not again" said Cardin "They were up there half the night last time. I'm never going to get this finished!"
Later on back at the stone circle it was Rubys turn to keep watch. She was thankful because it gave her an excuse to put her clothes back on and leave Weiss back in the sleeping bag. The moon had come up with the broken side plainly visible in the night sky. As she sat there Ruby began to notice a slight sparkling in the surrounding stones. "Must be that dust that's embedded in them" she mused. As the moon rose higher in the sky the sparkling began to become brighter and Ruby could see patterns beginning to become visible in the stone columns. Ruby wasn't sure if it was because she was sleepy, but the patterns seemed to change and move as she watched them.
Ruby then began to feel a growing warmth against her right thigh. Ruby looked down and saw wisps of smoke coming from her belt pouch, the pouch that held the dust vial given to her by Professor Ozpin for this mission. Ruby quickly opened her pouch and saw the bottle of dust glowing brightly. The smoke was coming from the other items in her pouch which looked like they were about to burst into flames.
Acting without thinking Ruby grabbed at the bottle, she cried out in pain as the heat from the bottle burned her fingers. As she pulled her hand back she was able to yank the bottle out of her pouch. The bottle flew through the air a short distance and landed in the very center of the stone circle and shattered, spilling the almost white hot dust on the stone surface.
The rest of team RWBY woke up at the sound of Rubys cry. They jumped out of their sleeping bags and ran over to Ruby. Weiss was completely nude but Blake and Yang had kept their underwear on as they slept. "Ruby! Are you all right?"asked Yang urgently. "What happened?" asked Blake. Wincing in pain, Ruby blurted out "Well, I was watching as the patterns on the stones began to glow and then I felt heat coming from my belt pouch and when I opened it the dust bottle was glowing hot so I tried to pull it out of my pouch but it burned my fingers and then it flew through the air and landed over there." Ruby pointed to where the bottle had landed.
Weiss hadn't said anything, instead she was staring at the place where the bottle had shattered and spilled the dust on the ground. When the others looked over there they could see why. The glowing from the dust had begun to spread quickly. Before they could move it had spread underneath them and to the edge of the stone circle and beyond. As they clung together fearfully the air around them seemed to begin to glow. The light grew until it blinded them with its brightness and they began to feel a sensation almost like falling. "I'm sorry guys, I think I got us into trouble" apologized Ruby in a fearful voice. "You are such a dolt!" replied Weiss. Then everything changed.
About noon, August 2003. Mahora Academy, Northern Tokyo Prefecture, Japan.
Evangeline A.K. McDowell walked sleepily down the path from her woodland cabin towards the square where Yotsubas dining cart Chao Bao Zi was located. Since her automaton servant Chachamaru had left for Inverse Mars with Negi and the girls Eva had gotten into the habit of sleeping in late. She had also neglected the food shopping and there wasn't anything left to eat in her cabins pantry. She cursed the midday heat under her breath. She had been living in Japan for over fifteen years but had yet to adjust to the heat and humidity of a Tokyo summer.
As she strolled along she suddenly felt her magical senses tingling It felt like some kind of intrusion, but not around the magical barrier that protected the school grounds. More like near the center, not too far from where she was. As she tried to figure out where the intrusion was she started to hear the eight bit version of "Devil Woman" coming from her pocket. Eva answered her phone "Och aye auld cheil, I've awreddy felt it. Near th' auld beel tower? Braw, braw I'll gang investigate. " Eva sighed "Thes hud better at leest be interestin'. I'll be pished if Ah hae tae miss breakfest ower somethin' borin'. "
Meanwhile, team RWBY huddled together looking around them nervously. Where before they had been in the midst of a circle of tall standing stones at night, they now found themselves in a small open space in the middle of a wooded area in broad daylight. "Um guys, what happened?" asked Ruby in a frightened voice. Weiss replied "We must have teleported to the other side of the world for it to be daylight, but I don't recognize this vegetation so I don't know where." The team quickly took stock of their situation. Only Ruby was fully dressed and armed, Blake and Yang were unarmed and in their underwear while Weiss was completely naked and unarmed.
Blakes cat ears twitched as she looked around "I'm pretty sure I hear traffic not too far from here, maybe we should go and investigate." Ruby replied as she handed her cape to Weiss "Okay, let's go" Yang added "Might as well, nothing good will come from staying here." They soon found a path leading in the direction of the noise and began walking cautiously down it.
They soon reached the edge of a ridge where the trees ended. They stood there awestruck by what they saw. Before them lay an immense city, bigger than any they had ever seen. It seemed to almost go on forever. In the distance they saw a cluster of huge towering buildings and beyond that the glittering of water in a large harbor. "What the f**k? What city is this?" asked Yang. "I've visited all four kingdoms and none of them have an urban area like this." replied Weiss.
It's called Tokyo, an' it's th' capital ay th' Empire ay Japan." said Eva. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang nearly jumped out of their skins as they heard the voice behind them. Eva had come up behind them soundlessly. She had silently cast "omprehendcay anguagelay " on the girls as she listened to them speak. All four of them spun around, before them stood what looked like a girl of about ten years old with ankle length blond hair and wearing a frilly pink dress and carrying a parasol.
"Who are you?" challenged Yang. "We don't want to hurt you kid, but we're just lost and we're not looking for trouble" said Blake. "Um, maybe if you could forget you saw us and we'll be on our way" suggested Ruby hopefully. "Och pure? Yeah, weel swatch, aam th' security guard aroond haur, sae mebbe ye hud better jist come alang wi' me." Eva snapped impatiently.
Eva sized up the four girls who stood before her. Only the shortest one with reddish black hair was fully dressed and was carrying something that might be a weapon on her back. The well endowed blond and the black haired catgirl (Eva saw the ears wiggle under the bow) were wearing only panties and sports bras. The skinny white haired girl seemed to only be wearing a red cape and a nervous expression. As she shifted position the cape parted a bit and yep thought Eva, definitely naked and white is apparently her natural hair color.
"No, really, we need to get going" said Ruby nervously. "Come on guys" she continued. Eva sighed "Nae, ye see, ye pure main bide, Ah insist." said Eva sarcastically. As she spoke she held out her hands and tiny, nearly invisible threads seemed to suddenly appear and pin the girls to the ground. Try as they might they couldn't break free of them.
"Who are you and how are you doing this?" demanded Weiss in a near panic as she struggled to free herself. "Fa am Ah? Fa am Ah? Wa aam nae other than th' vampire Evangeline A.K. McDoweel. greatest undeid mage in tois worlds! That's fa Ah am! " bellowed Eva laughingly. "Ah am th' high daylecht walker, th' mistress ay mirk tomes, th' puppit master! Ah hae a thoosain names!" she continued haughtily.
"Blake, what's a vampire?" asked Ruby. Blake shook her head "I got nothing." Ruby looked inquiringly at the others. Yang and Weiss both shook their heads. "Serioosly ye burds? " said Eva in an annoyed voice. "Just where in the magical world are you from that you dinnae heerd of me?" Weiss replied "What's this magical world place? We're from the Kingdom of Vale, on Remnant." Eva looked at them askance "Remnant? Ne'er heard ay th' place ." She sighed again "Okay, gie up. " she said as she released them from her control strings. "Jist dornt try anythin'." Eva flipped her cellphone open and called Dean Konoe "It's me auld cheil. Och aye, Ah foond them. It's fower burds, they say they're frae someplace called Remnant. Nae, I've ne'er heard ay it either. wa dornt ye ask 'at glaikit eggplant Alberio? Okay, swatch coods ye send someain aroond wi' thee sets ay clothin'. " Eva looked at Weiss "An' a body sit ay britches. Whit? Och, sized medium Ah guess."
A short time later Eva sized up the girls again, Yang, Blake and Weiss were now wearing Mahora track suits and sneakers. Yangs outfit was a bit snug around the bust, but otherwise the fit was acceptable for now. Eva looked up at Blakes ears "Okay, fit loch daein' it?" she asked. "What do you mean?" asked Blake. "Ah can see frae th' lugs 'at ye ur a catgirl. as a magical bein' ye shooldnae be tae exist oan earth, thaur isnae enaw magical energy." replied Evangeline. Blake was baffled by this "I don't know what you mean. I'm a Faunus, why would I need magic just to exist? There's no magic where we come from."
"'En hoo did ye gie haur? " asked Eva "Teleportin' 'as ta 'ave magical energy " Weiss cut in "It's not magic, we use dust. We had an erm... accident while investigating some standing stones."
"Okay, braw 'en, ye use magic doost. But ye main hae tae use spells tae make it." replied Eva. "IT'S NOT MAGIC DAMMIT!" yelled Weiss. "It's dust, my family mines it from the ground. There's nothing magical about it. That's all fairy tales." continued Weiss angrily. Evangeline gave Weiss a sour look. She quickly chanted "Lic lac lilac" and promptly froze Weiss's feet to the ground. "Diz yer doost wark anythin' loch 'at?" asked Eva mockingly. "Actually, yes it does" replied Weiss as she struggled to pull her feet from the icy ground "But you didn't use any dust. How did you do that?" Eva replied "Ah used magic an' if yer 'doost' works anythin' loch 'at, 'en it's magic."
"BUT IT'S NOT MA..." Weiss began to yell again before Ruby clamped her hand over Weiss's mouth. "Give it a rest Weiss, we are in enough trouble as it is." urged Ruby frantically. "But, it's not." replied Weiss before quieting down. "Okay, whate'er. let's gie gonnae. Ah still huvnae hud breakfest. i'll gie ye somethin' an aw." stated Evangeline as Weiss finally managed to pull her feet free from the ice.
As they walked, Eva noticed the small, pink, white and black haired woman following them discretely. Eva guessed that she had followed the girls through the gate and was spying on them. She figured that if that was the case, then Eva could round her up later.
1pm, at the Chao Bao Zi dining car.
Evangeline watched the four girls while eating the scrambled eggs and crumpets that Yotsuba had prepared for her. Yang and Weiss were digging into pork katsu-don bowls while Ruby seemed to be inhaling a plate of chocolate chip cookies and Blake was eating a double order of tuna sushi with great enthusiasm. "In my entire life It'd never even occurred to me to try and eat tuna fish raw, but this is amazing" Blake marveled. "Are you sure its safe to eat it like that?" asked Weiss, "By the way, the sauce on this cutlet is excellent." As Yotsuba refilled Weiss's cup of tea she replied "Thank you miss and yes the tuna is quite safe. It was delivered this morning and was probably caught yesterday"
"I'll be reit back." said Evangeline as she finished her coffee. As soon as she got out of sight of the food cart Eva did three quick and silent slash steps which placed her directly behind Neopolitan who was crouched behind a bush watching team RWBY eat. "Wa dornt ye tak' a picture? It'll lest longer." said Eva mockingly. Neo nearly jumped out of her skin upon hearing Eva's voice. She spun around with the intention of landing a kick on Eva's head but was nearly thrown off balance as her foot met only air. Suddenly she felt Eva's grab her arms from behind and very expertly put her in a full Nelson wrestling hold. "By th' way, Ah dae jist loove yer ootfit. We shoods gang messages together sometime." Eva mocked. ". . . " replied Neo angrily as she struggled futilely to break free.
Evangeline switched to a half Nelson and then twisted Neo's other arm behind her back so she could guide her along. "Ah can make thes hurt e'en mair if ye try tae break free, sae jist come alang noo." suggested Eva as she guided Neapolitan toward the dining cart. As the two of them came out from behind the bushes the four members turned and saw Neo and Eva and immediately began to spring into action. "YOU!" screamed Yang angrily when she saw the ice cream themed psycho who had beaten her back in the train. Yang began to run towards Neo with her fists raised while Ruby pulled Crescent Rose from behind her back and deployed the battle scythe. Blake and Weiss were unarmed, but took combat stances nonetheless.
" Nae, nae, nae! back aff burds, Ah dornt need a barnie haur!" Yelled Evangeline as Yang approached. Seeing her opportunity, Neo suddenly twisted free from the momentarily distracted Eva and ran off like a jackrabbit down the path towards the classroom buildings. Yang immediately sprinted off after Neo before Evangeline could stop her. When Eva saw Ruby, Weiss and Blake start to follow their team mate she lept in front of them. "Nae! Ye thee bide haur. I'll gang gie them. Zazie, help me it haur!" Eva then turned and ran off in pursuit.
The three girls tried to follow, but suddenly, the strange looking white haired, dark skinned girl in clown makeup was suddenly standing in their way. ". . . " she said as the world suddenly seemed to darken around the girls. The darkness seemed to emanate from the black in Zazie's jester outfit and encircle Ruby, Weiss and Yang. The girls began to feel as if there was something beyond the now inky backness. Something that they couldn't see, and somehow knew that if they did see it, it would blast their very souls to ashes. The three of them clung to each other fearfully as the thing beyond the darkness seemed to grow closer as the blackness enveloped them. After a moment that seemed to last an eternity, they suddenly heard the pleasant voice of Yotsuba, "Girls, girls, come back to the counter and wait. I'm sure your friend will be all right." As they turned the darkness seemed to fade and they saw the short, plump girl beckoning them back to their seats. "Come on, before your food gets cold" she said as she put a metal lid on Yangs meal to keep it warm. As they sat down they looked around and Saw Zazie, seemingly still in the seat she had been in when the arrived. As they nervously turned back to their food Zazie looked over at them, smiled and said nothing. Ruby, Weiss and Blake each decided to pretend the last few seconds never happened.
Yang sprinted as fast as she could down the path that Neo had taken. She soon burst out into a square and found Neo standing in the middle of the square with a bewildered look on her face as several young men in baggy clothing danced around her rapping a rather vulgar song about an ice cream truck. "Neo!" yelled Yang as she ran towards the diminutive hired killer with her fists raised. "Yo, Yo, Yo, Yo Blondie, Chill!" yelled the young men as they backed away from the athletic Yang. ". . . " mocked Neo as she turned to face the approaching blond. Yang knew better than to try to fight Neo the way she did before, so she gritted her teeth and tried to fight with a bit more caution. Despite this and despite being able to punch a little faster without her gauntlets Yang still found herself unable to land a blow on the grinning Neo who seemed to effortlessly dodge her every blow. Finally Yang, her blood on the verge of boiling did something a bit unexpected. Both hands reached out and she grasped Neo by the ears and pulled her face into Yangs ample busom. Neo let out a muffled ". . . " as she flailed about helplessly as Yang smothered her in marshmallow hell.
About this time Evangeline showed up to the sight of Neopolitan going limp in Yangs bear hug. "Oh, um, hi Evangeline. I caught Neapolitan for you" said Yang as she let the now unconscious Neo slide to the ground. Eva walked up to Yang and promptly landed a punch into Yangs solar plexus that knocked the wind out of her and dropped her to her knees gagging. "Cheers, lassie" replied Eva in an annoyed tone as she "borrowed" the cloth that Yank kept tied around her knee to bind Neos hands.
A short time later Evangeline, Yang and a bound Neo arrived back at Chao Bao Zi where they saw the robed, wizened form of Dean Konoe conversing with Ruby while Weiss was having a friendly chat with the ever fashionable Ayaka and Blake watched Yotsuba prepare another plate of sashimi for her with great interest. "Ah Evangeline, you are back, good" said Dean Konoe. "This must be Yang" looking at the buxom blond, "and who is this?" turning his attention to Neo. "Evangeline, I thought you said there were four of them." Eva sighed "Och aye, 'at is whit Ah thooght at first. thes wee a body main hae followed them ben an' remained hidden. Ah foond 'er spyin' oan us frae th' bushes. apparently they ur enemies." Yang spoke up "Listen, that's right, her name is Neo and she's a wanted criminal and terrorist. She should be arrested." Eva gave Yang a suspicious look "Och aye Yang, that's whit ye say, but ah dunnae kinn 'at. E'en if 'at was true ye shoods nae assume eh'd be oan yer side anyways."
"Evangeline is right" added Dean Konoe "We have no idea what the situation is on your world, so we have no reason to side with either of you." The Dean pulled a small glass bottle from under his robe and handed it to Evageline. The contents looked suspiciously similar to the powder that had been in team RWBY's bottle the night before. "There should be enough powder here for two uses. Evangeline, take Neo to the circle now and use some of the powder to send her back. I'm sure you remember how to activate a teleportation gate." Eva took the bottle and looked at the contents "An' aam sure th' barriers willnae jist lit me send myself ben." The Dean smiled "Probably not." Dean Konoe turned to team RWBY "We'll wait a while and then send you back to your world. I think it would be for the best."
Some time later as Evangeline led the girls back to the circle Ruby asked Weiss "Weiss, who was that pretty girl you were talking to?" "Her name was Ayaka, I guess you could say she's kind of my opposite number on this world. Her family runs a huge corporation that's many time the size of the Shnee Dust Company. For that matter, this entire world has dozens of companies that are even larger as well as over a hundred countries and a population in the billions" replied Weiss. "Billions?! Are they all humans? I haven't seen any Faunus" gasped Ruby. "All human. For that matter they don't seem to have anything like Grimm here either. They still have militaries, so I guess they find other things to fight about." continued Weiss.
When they arrived at the teleportation circle Eva had the girls stand in the center. As she prepared to pour the dust around them to activate the gate she said "Ah tauld Neo tae lae th' area when she got tae th' other side. if she didne, weel Ah guess ye will deal wi' 'er as ye see fit." Eva had wanted to ask the girls more about Remnant, but decided she'd have to settle for grilling Ayaka about anything Weiss might have said. She poured out the dust to activate the gate and stepped back and watched as the glowing started and eventually enveloped the girls and then disappeared, taking Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang with it. Evangeline stared at the spot where the girls had stood for a while and thought. If she can't escape from Mahora to the magical world or even to the rest of Earth, maybe Remnant would be an option. A place where they didn't know about vampires or understand magic. Yes, maybe there.
"Weiss, come on!" exclaimed an exasperated Ruby. Team RWBY had made it through the gate unharmed. Aside from stealing some rations and Yangs hair brush, Neapolitan had left the girls gear alone. But it was still night time at their campsite and Weiss was insisting that she and Ruby continue their "survival" training. "It's going to be dawn in a couple of hours and it's still warm out" said Ruby insistently. As Weiss began to reply Blake interjected "Um, Weiss, if its okay with you I'll join you instead of Ruby. I'll even be on the outside if you like." Weiss stared at her with some surprise "Okay...sure, that'll be fine" she said. Yang raised an eyebrow at this turn of events, but then shrugged and went to take her place on watch as a relieved Ruby crawled into her own sleeping bag alone.