Foreword: A Note From The Author
Paradigm of the Rose is my main story. This story here, Concurrence, is meant to be a combination tie-in/add-on to the main story. The first five chapters stand as prequels and can be read anytime to help you get to know five of my OC Rubys. After that will come numerous chapters that serve as stand alone stories and one-shots that introduce even more alternate Rubys. In time, there will be a plot… but not until at least chapter 10.
The point of this is to bring the many alternate universes of the RWBY world into the light. Worlds you may not have even known existed before now. Worlds you may just like. Worlds you might hate. All are important. All matter.
Welcome to the Multiverse!
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Chapter One:
The Eternal
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This chapter dedicated to Sha Yurigami
For helping to pull me through
one of the hardest times of my life
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Designation: [Remnant-0701]
Status: Unstable due to an unnatural shift in both ethereal and temporal energies during earliest stage of development. General stability maintained for most of later stages. Relative speed of development far exceeds previously designated zones. High risk of collapse.
Condition: Red
Recommendation: Continued study and further observation. No interference.
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[ - Distant Past - ]
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It was raining hard. That was all she knew.
She couldn't remember her own name (assuming she even had one). She had no idea where she came from. She didn't know where she was either, nor where she was going. She couldn't even tell if she was hungry or not. Her body frequently shifted between being too hot and too cold as she sat huddled in her small shelter in the hollow of a large oak tree, so even that was unknown to her.
It seemed her very existence was a mystery.
The rain droned on, at once a peaceful and dreadful sound as it washed away nearly everything else within view.
The girl considered herself again, since that was all she had to do. Her long, scraggly red hair was sticking out everywhere, plain as day that she hadn't washed it for at least a few months. She didn't look, but she knew her ribs would be showing if she checked underneath her torn and battered shirt. Her bare feet ached from the nearly endless walking through miles and miles of wilderness, constantly searching for the next meal and a safe place to sleep.
If she was thinking more clearly, she might have wondered why the giant black creatures with the bony, white faces seemed to be neglecting her completely. She vaguely recalled tales of the things attacking villages and killing everyone, so it seemed strange for them to ignore her like this… but in the end, she really didn't care.
A low growling sound emanated from her midsection. So she was hungry.
The rain soon relented. The afternoon sun was slow to emerge from behind the clouds after the deluge, so the girl moved quickly to get some food before it did. She knew the heat of the day would drain what was left of her stamina.
The wind shifted, sending the sweet aroma of fruit to her nose. She turned, following the breeze, her mouth already watering in anticipation of the meal. Her feet moved more quickly, oblivious to the scratches. The child hadn't had any good food in nearly a week, and she was eager to fill her stomach again.
The sight that greeted the poor girl was decidedly different than what her nose had led her to believe.
In a clearing at the edge of the woods lay four bodies, all young women. At first glance they looked quite dead, what with them all laying in a slowly spreading pool of their own blood - yet the girl soon found that they were still breathing, but just barely. All thoughts of food were abandoned as the ragged child leapt into the clearing, frantically checking the still-living bodies to try and tend to their injuries… or at least see what had happened.
A large number of stab wounds and massive bruising. No animal could have done this.
No words were spoken during the whole event. There was no need for any. Although the girl had always been wary of other people, there was no caution present now - her natural curiosity and caring nature had taken over as she tried her best to clean the wounds on the women. She obviously had no idea how to do this, but she tried anyway.
After a time, she carefully moved the girls into the shade of a large tree nearby to give them some small comfort, but it was clear their time was short.
Almost an hour of tense waiting passed and all four victims had regained consciousness, regarding their caretaker with a smile and weak gasps of air. Even with nearly all of their lifeblood drained from the wounds, the women had the warmest, kindest smiles the girl had ever seen. One by one, they groaned out a single word each.
"Summer," said the first woman. Her long, fiery red hair seemed to fade as she spoke.
"Winter," coughed the second. The cool blue tint of her skin was turning a sickly gray.
"Fall," wheezed the third. Her short, auburn hair reminded the girl of the fallen leaves all around them.
The fourth woman, who was closest to the girl, lifted her hand. The child took it, tears streaming down her face as she struggled to contain her emotions. "Spring," the green-clad woman sighed. After another heart-warming smile, Spring motioned to the girl. The other three turned to look, eager to hear. They wanted to know her name.
Still teary-eyed, the girl shook her head, her dark hair whipping around and smacking her in the face as she did so. Red highlights could be made out in the fading glints of sunshine that snaked through the foliage above them.
She had no name and, even if she did, she hadn't said a word in so long that she didn't trust her own voice to work when she needed it to.
Slowly, as though using the last of her strength, the woman in green reached her hand out and gently placed it on the center of the girl's chest. The other three also each raised one hand towards her, but none could keep them up for long without shaking. A pleasant warmth spread over the child, like the embrace of a mother wrapping her arms around the most precious thing in her world. The aches and pains of the road slowly faded into nothingness. She breathed a deep sigh of relief.
The sky quickly grew darker, raindrops once again spattering all over the ground. The woman's bright green eyes, fading though they were, locked onto the girl's bright, silver-colored eyes as Spring breathed her last breath, forever marking the ragged girl and giving birth to a new life with a single, simple word.
"Rain."
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[ - Present Day - ]
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The girl called Ruby Rose stared out of the window of her dorm room, entranced by the rainstorm. Her thoughts always seemed to return to that moment, so many years ago, when her living hell of a life had changed forever.
And it would always happen during the rain.
Almost a thousand years had passed and it hadn't failed yet.
The door burst open, blonde hair flying in like a comet. "Hey Rubes! They're serving strawberry pancakes in the cafeteria. You comin'?"
Ruby considered for a moment. "No thanks, sis," she replied slowly. "I'm good."
Yang paused, unsure of that answer. Ruby refusing strawberries was like… like Weiss telling a good joke. "You sure? Nora's already on her way there, so if you take too long…"
"I'm alright. Besides, quiet time in here is already pretty rare." Ruby glanced around the room, emphasizing her point.
Laundry was the main culprit in giving away that the room was lived-in by a bunch of teenagers. Books of various shapes and sizes adorned the shelves and a desk that was, rarely, used for actual homework. The makeshift bunk beds cast dark shadows into the corners. There was an air of comfort, of long chats into the night and stories told during the daytime. A feeling of hot showers in the mornings and kicking off shoes after a long day of classes during the week.
This was home.
Yang chuckled, "Heh, if you say so. No pouting later!" She gave her sister a ruffling of the hair, knowing Ruby hated it but doing it anyway. That's what sisters are for, she would always say.
The younger girl batted the hand away, "Can I pout now, then?" She crossed her arms and stuck out her lower lip as far as it could go. Yang just laughed, which of course got Ruby laughing. With a casual wave behind her, the blonde brawler exited the room.
Ruby quietly got up, turned off the lights, then sat back down to watch the rain, her mind silently returning to thoughts of her previous years of life. And there were so many to pick from…
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[ - Past - ]
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Rain, as she now called herself, took very little time to locate an old wooden shack somewhere deep in the forest, beyond where she found the four girls. It was as though she just …knew where it would be.
The old man who lived there was a little scary at first, but he soon opened up to the girl and even took her in to stay with him. She learned that he was a good friend of the four women who Rain had seen die, and he was deeply grieved to hear of their loss. While she didn't remember everything the old man said, the girl finally understood that he was some kind of "wizard" who could use "magic" …whatever that was. She also learned that he had given nearly every bit of it to the Four Maidens, as he had come to call them.
He also said that somehow, beyond his ability to understand, he had felt all of that magic now lying within Rain's body. He could only guess it was because she had been there at their final moments, and it was their parting gift to their new friend. Rain could only weep again as she thought of those four young women, so full of life, being cut down so brutally.
Neither Rain nor the old man would likely ever know the truth about what had occurred with the passing of their magic... but that was a problem for another time.
The two of them worked together to learn what had happened to the Four Maidens. They tracked down a group of drunken thugs that were camped out close to the scene of the ambush, and after some intense questioning it was discovered that the people of the nearby village had become fearful of the 'witches' and decided to do something about them. They had hired the small band of thugs to ambush the Maidens and kill them. It was stupid, rash, and overly violent, but there was nothing the old man could do about that now.
But that didn't mean he had to forgive them. In a surprisingly dark moment for the old wizard, the group of thugs were left bound and gagged in the middle of the woods.
They wouldn't see the next morning. The creatures of Grimm handled the rest.
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Because she had remained with the old man, Rain didn't realize just how much time had been passing - but it had been nearly fifty years since she had visited any sort of civilized area. By that point he had deduced the truth of her situation, since the girl hadn't aged a day in all that time.
Having acquired the powers of all four Maidens, Rain had gained an odd sort of immortality. The girl had no desire to test the limits of this ability, so she made a strong effort to ensure that she remained safely anonymous. If there was anything else for her to learn regarding these powers, then she just didn't want to know. She'd had enough already.
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The next couple of centuries seemed to fly by. The girl didn't even bother trying to count the years.
Over the course of several human lifetimes, Rain had taken on a vast number of new and different identities, which she called 'life-roles': She was a homeless drifter for a few years, while later on she was a soldier in one of the wars. She also gained some experience as the owner of a lumber mill next to a riverside town in Mistral, as well as in running a large farm on the eastern edge of the desert of Vacuo. Most of the time she simply tried to live as a common civilian and enjoy the peace, regardless of her kingdom of residence.
With each new life-role she created, she also took on a new name: Rachel, Rebecka, Richelle, and Rinoa were just a few of them. She always tried to keep an 'R' name for simplicity's sake.
Her most recent life-role came about courtesy of a woman who, by some bizarre coincidence, resembled Rain herself. They even had the same silver eyes, which was more than a little peculiar. She was a young Huntress called Summer Rose. The two girls became fast friends over the years, and soon Summer became the first person outside of the old wizard who learned who, and what, Rain really was.
Much to her delight, Summer didn't care. Not only that, the woman had formed a plan to ensure that they stayed together even longer - as Summer grew older, she could 'adopt' the girl as her daughter once Rain's former life-role ended with her faking her own death (something she had become quite good at by this point).
And so, on that fateful day, 'Ruby Rose' came home with her 'mother,' Summer Rose, to meet the rest of the family - Taiyang Xiao Long and little Yang Xiao Long (Taiyang knew her from before, which saved time in explanations). Ruby and Yang bonded almost instantly, as though they had always been sisters. The blonde girl had been told beforehand what her new big sister truly was, by the way… otherwise the redhead would have had a hard time explaining why she never grew any older as Yang got taller and taller.
Over the years Ruby would often find Summer staring at the two of them with a slight sadness in her gaze, as though she knew full well that even this happiness would fade away with time.
Ruby never truly knew the depths of Summer's love for her, despite the fact that Ruby could easily have been one of Summer's ancestors.
Thinking about it later, it occurred to Rain that she may very well have been. After all, can anyone keep track of more than a dozen generations of children and grandchildren?
The day the Four Maidens died had been the saddest day of Rain's life up until this point… but it didn't hold a candle to the day Summer Rose died. That was a day that would haunt the girl for the rest of her existence… even if it lasted for an eternity.
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[ - Future - ]
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The name of Ruby Rose was the last of the false names the girl had taken. She vowed to never take another one. There was really no need.
She sat on an empty cliff, looking out over the ruins of the once-great city of Vale, now destroyed and falling prey to the reclamation of nature. In the distance, she could make out the crumbling walls and spires of Beacon Academy, at one time the single brightest hope in all of Remnant. Broken houses and storefronts littered the landscape, long forgotten remains of lives that had been lost in the Final War. The rusted, hollow shells of tanks and airships dotted the ground, each laying where they had fallen centuries ago. There were no bodies - even the skeletal remains had faded and vanished after 524 years of silence.
Ruby studied it all. She remembered the fighting, the screaming, the explosions. She remembered the death and destruction. She spent all of her time making absolutely sure that she'd never forget.
Everyone was gone. Humans. Animals. Even the creatures of Grimm. Only Ruby Rose remained.
No, she was back to being Rain now. There was no one to hide from anymore.
For nearly two centuries, Rain had wandered through what was left of the world of Remnant. She saw all of the cities, great and small, lying in total ruins. She explored vast battlefields devoid even of lingering spirits, walked down ancient roads that were returning to the soil, and wondered absently how many lives were lost in that one, horrific day.
She then sat down on this cliff side, content with staring down at the remains of her last, true home. She had been there for 298 years straight by now, and was fine with waiting until the cliff itself collapsed before she would bring herself to move off of it.
Her thoughts had lingered into the past many, many times over the years.
She thought of the old wizard and his rough, raspy voice as he told numerous old stories of the past and various fairy tales and legends. He was a surprisingly good storyteller, despite his apparent age and hermitous lifestyle. She had seen the same spark years later in the eyes of Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, and knew him instantly for who he truly was.
She thought of Geraald, her first love, who proudly commanded an entire legion of fighting men as one of the earliest organized defenders of humanity against the creatures of Grimm.
She laughed as she remembered the first child she had adopted with Radian, her 12th husband, and how the boy had admired his 'mother' like she was a living goddess. There was really no helping that boy. Rain absently wondered what became of him after he ran away from home.
She thought of Uriah, a boy no older than Rain appeared to be when he enlisted in the army of what was then the kingdom of Mantle. She would never forget his life story, told to her while in the trenches, and less than a day before he was ripped apart by a land mine.
She thought of the man called Jessie, a towering giant who looked like he could uproot a tree with his bare hands, yet was the kindest, gentlest bear faunus you would ever meet. It was he who taught Rain the techniques of the blacksmith trade and the woodcutters. He had passed away quietly in his sleep, his eternal smile permanently stuck to his face. Rain grinned as she remembered his funeral - most of the kingdom of Mistral showed up for it, and half of that was needed just to move his casket.
If the immortal girl had any tears left by this point, she would have shed them for Summer Rose, her greatest friend and, later on, her 'mother.'
Out of the thousands of people Rain had known and loved, she missed Summer most of all.
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[ - Past - ]
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"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Summer's silver eyes gleamed in the fading daylight.
"Nothing," came Rain's reply. And it was true - the shorter girl was trying to keep her thoughts empty for once. It was good to just focus on nothing and let the mind relax. They had all been through enough crap lately that they needed a break, even if it was only a small one.
Team STRQ was currently deployed in the forests of Mistral, somewhere near Haven Academy, on the hunt for a dangerous new Grimm that reportedly looked like a large, hairy man-beast with big feet. It was more than likely an exaggerated report, but they still had to go… and it was considered the team's final exam of sorts before their graduation from Beacon Academy as full-fledged huntsmen.
Rain and Summer were walking back to the campsite where the other members of team STRQ were waiting. Rain, by the way, was only tagging along on this mission and not considered an 'official' member of the team, but none of the four young huntsman had any problem with her presence among them. They all knew good and well how valuable an asset the immortal girl could be.
They also found it amusing just how similar both Summer and Rain actually were. It was like watching two long-lost sisters trying to get along with each other after growing up in different families.
There was a chuckle from beside her, followed by "Yeah, right. You're thinking about Qrow, aren't ya?" she teased. "Those deep red eyes..."
"Nope," her voice was deadpan. She did pop the 'p' sound, though.
"Ooh, …Raven, then?" the taller girl nudged Rain playfully, grinning like an idiot.
"No!" Now Rain was getting annoyed. "At least I'm not stuck on that Taiyang weirdo…"
The bottom lip was extended, "No fair! Leave my Taiyang alone!" Summer's white cloak seemed to glow in the faint light of the sunset as she sulked along.
"You know I saw him giving Raven the look just yesterday…" the shorter girl teased, causing the taller girl to fold her arms crossly, her cheeks puffed out in annoyance. They often went through these verbal sparring sessions, and Rain almost always came out on top in some form or another… at least, until Summer started pouting. There could be no defense against that.
Rain just sighed and shoved her friend lightly, one of her no-hard-feelings sort of signals. They walked on in silence until they reached the glow of the small campfire. The crickets had already begun their nightly serenade by the time the pair arrived.
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Summer and Rain were sharing a tent for the night, which they often did on these kinds of outings, and were currently engaged in their regular contest of naming each team member by the sound of their snoring. The shorter girl had better hearing, but Summer had the advantage of knowing Taiyang, Qrow and Raven for much longer than her friend did. As usual, they ended up in a draw.
Summer stood by the entrance of their tent, fully dressed and ready to take second watch. Rain had just been relieved and was getting ready to get some rest. She quietly munched on one of Summer's cookies that she had (smuggled in) packed away for emergencies. They were always top-notch, of course - Summer had commented once that when she learned how to make them from her mother, she had been told that her cookies were going to save the world… or something like that. Rain had just chuckled at the time. They were good, though…
"Hey Rain…" Summer started, pausing as she waited for a reply.
The shorter redhead simply hummed. She was a bit preoccupied with getting her sleeping gear in order… and wiping away the (evidence) crumbs.
"I know you don't know when your actual birthday is…" she started again, "…but I figure we can at least mark the day when we first met… right?"
"I guess… that's better than nothing," Rain shrugged.
"Well in that case…" she perked up, reaching into her bag and pulling out a red-colored cloth bundle, "Happy anniversi-birthday!"
"Uhh… thanks?" the shorter girl took the bundle and let it fall open. When she saw what it was, her breath caught.
In her hands was a cloak similar to Summer's, but fully red inside and out. And it was a gorgeous shade, too - a deep wine-red. The girl gave it a twirl as she draped it over her shoulders, holding it closed at the neck and tossing the hood over her head with a small giggle.
"I'm glad you like it," Summer said, smiling warmly.
Rain hummed contentedly, "I love it. Thank you."
The two friends leaned in and exchanged a long, gentle embrace. Summer whispered, "I figure that'll stay with you longer than I will… keep me in mind when you wear it later on, 'kay?"
Rain's smile faded as she hugged tighter, not wanting to let go.
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[ - Future - ]
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The sky remained black, dark and empty in the aftermath of the Final War. No rain had fallen for a long time. A cold, dry breeze blew through the area.
She pulled the worn, faded red cloak tighter around her shoulders and shivered.
A lingering pain in Rain's chest preceded the memory of her own team of huntresses, called team RWBY. She, as Ruby Rose, served as team leader and it was a fun challenge to use her vast knowledge and experience to win at nearly everything they set out to do, all while at the same time maintaining a false front of the innocent 15-year-old girl she was supposed to be.
She grinned as she thought back to Crescent Rose, her self-declared 'sweetheart' and combination scythe-sniper rifle. Fawning over it was a fun pastime that she kind of missed. It had fallen prey to the ravages of time and rust 208 years ago and had been buried in a small mound next to Summer's grave marker.
She missed Weiss Schnee. The stuck-up heiress was an easy target to latch onto and Ruby made the most of her acting skills while in her presence. Of course Ruby knew of the Schnee company (hell, she helped start it), and she managed to play off Weiss' personality without the slightest mishap.
Rain winced as she remembered Weiss' final act of defiance during the war - the heiress had thrown herself in between the enemy and a group of fleeing innocents, using the last of her aura to shield them until they could get to safety. She then launched a final spell that destroyed the attacking force, but expended the last of her strength in the process. She had passed away in the hospital later that night.
Rain's chest puffed up a little when she thought of Blake Belladonna, her faunus friend and the single greatest champion of faunus rights in the history of Remnant. She had almost single-handedly taken out the White Fang, a faunus-based terrorist organization that she had been involved with earlier in her life. After that, she had sat down with nearly every major leader of the human world and signed many, many treaties. It was thanks to her efforts that faunus rights were not only restored, but the rights of all races were actually secured through several long-term deals.
Naturally this made Blake a prime target for assassinations, but none of them succeeded thanks to her background and physical conditioning as a huntress. It was actually kind of fun to watch any would-be assassin try their luck, only to have the snot kicked out of them by a girl. She always loved to rub that in their faces, too.
Yet all the training in the world couldn't protect that noble woman against the worldwide energy surge that wiped out all life on Remnant.
Well, all but Rain that is.
If Summer Rose was Rain's closest friend, then Yang Xiao Long was right behind her in line. The two 'sisters' were nearly inseparable in their first few years together, even upon entering Beacon Academy. There was literally nothing they did apart from each other (well, almost nothing). Rain slightly regretted passing on those pancakes back then, though. After all… a strawberry is a terrible thing to waste.
Aside from Weiss, there was no one Ruby would have rather had at her back in a tight situation - Yang was easily the best brawler Rain had ever met, and considering her experience in the world, that was saying something. It had come as no surprise, then, when Yang decided to go into full-time huntress work. She had loved it from the get-go.
It pained Rain to think of how Yang had died, but in truth there was no other way the blonde would have preferred to go out. She had gone down in battle while fighting the single largest and oldest Grimm on the planet… but she had taken it with her. From what Rain had heard later on, it was a glorious battle.
The only positive thing Rain could think of regarding Yang's death was that her sister never had to live through any of the conflicts that started only a few months afterward. Small battles that signaled the beginning …of the end.
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[ - Present Day (a bit earlier) - ]
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No light shone into the large ballroom from outside, mainly on account of there being only the minuscule glow of the stars. The moon was on the other side of campus from where the mediocre number of new students were preparing to go to sleep… but they weren't getting very far with those preparations. The next day's initiation event was looking to be quite exciting, after all.
"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang cheered as she flopped into her sleeping bag.
Ruby lay in her own bag right next to her sister's, eyes closed in thought. Beneath her face was a notebook she had been writing in. She cracked one eye open and intoned, "I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though."
The blonde grinned, her father's influence showing a bit too strongly, "I know I do!" she growled playfully.
The redhead sighed, ever the patient immortal-in-disguise. Her pajamas were hand-picked by her 'sister' in order to better blend in with the more modern teenage culture… at least, that's how Yang put it. Ruby actually hated them.
She glanced around the room, taking in the details of every potential huntsman and huntress in sight. It was always good to know the crowd you were getting involved with, and in this line of work, that crowd could mean the difference between surviving a tough battle and getting fed your own ass on a platter.
In particular, she took note of the owner of a (very) long white hairdo back in one corner of the large room. Ruby had encountered Weiss Schnee earlier in the day and immediately knew exactly how to react to everything the heiress said and did. The girl's reactions were so predictable it was as though she were reading lines from a script. But then, that's how Ruby always handled members of the infamous Schnee family…
"What's that?" Yang was staring at Ruby's open notebook quizzically.
"Oh, just a letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going," she answered quietly.
Their eyes met, and Ruby knew the next question would be of a more… private nature. "And the other letter?" she motioned towards a piece of paper hidden within the pages of the notebook.
Ruby replied with only the slightest hesitation, "I'm answering a missive from Qrow. He needed some intel on one of the larger gangs over in Mistral." She had no problem sharing such confidential information with Yang, as the blonde was easily the most trustworthy person she knew …at least, for now. It was how they had stayed so close after all this time. Despite their current size difference, Yang would always see Ruby as her 'big' sister.
"Hmm…" Yang nodded, "He's doing okay, right?"
"Seems so."
"Does he plan on coming back soon?"
"He hasn't said either way."
Both girls fell silent. They knew Qrow was a busy man, but only one of the two was aware of just how busy. Acting as a spy for your kingdom was no simple task. Yang could tell that Ruby was a bit worried about the guy, though - she always called him Uncle Qrow in any other situation.
A new noise drew their attention, the sound of a match being lit. When they looked, another teen with long black hair had just lit the three wicks of a small candelabra and was starting to read a large book. Her dark gray ribbon matched her elegant-looking sleepwear and her amber eyes were locked onto the pages, ignoring everything else around her.
Ruby quickly muttered, "That girl… is a faunus. She's got cat ears hidden underneath her ribbon."
Yang was understandably surprised and began to reply, but was quickly cut off by a raised hand.
"She's trying to hide it, but the ribbon is moving too unnaturally to be empty, and normal humans would need a lot more light than that in order to read comfortably."
The blonde quietly breathed, "Oh." How Ruby was able to see such minute details was something Yang knew she would never truly understand.
Ruby stood up, beckoned Yang to do the same, and quickly muttered, "Drag me over there and force me to say hi. Make it look natural." She paused, giving Yang a smile and a wink, "You said I needed to make more friends, right?" Within seconds of laying eyes on the faunus-in-hiding, Ruby had deduced many of the brunette's strengths and weaknesses and had quickly come to the conclusion that she was …shall we say, worth the effort.
Yang was blessedly quick on the uptake and grinned knowingly. She nodded, grabbed the shorter girl's hand, and made her way over to the quiet teenager reading in the corner of the room.
The act had begun.
The rest of the night went on much like one would expect… and exactly as planned. Not only did Ruby and Yang make the acquaintance of Blake, but their antics drew Weiss over to see what all the ruckus was about. The future team RWBY was together for the first time, despite the less-than-pleasant nature of the event.
Thinking back, Ruby would later realize just how important that night had been to her.
Especially since Cinder's group, under the command of the witch called Salem, had already begun to move behind the scenes.
The attack on the Vytal Festival Tournament may have been foiled by many of the young teams at Beacon, many of them visiting from other academies, but the shadows would not give up so easily. Two years, three years, even five years passed and nothing else happened. The kingdoms of the world were beginning to breathe a sigh of relief. The guard had been lowered.
Which was just what the witch had been waiting for.
Atlas was the first to fall, as it was the least prepared for a direct assault from within it's own borders. With Remnant's strongest military force humiliated and destroyed, it was only a matter of time before the rest of the world fell to ruin.
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[ - Future - ]
… …
Rain sat and looked out over the dead city.
There were no tears in her eyes. She had run out of tears a long time ago.
If there really was an afterlife for humanity, there were two things she knew: all of her friends were there now, celebrating their reunion and their new, everlasting peace …and that she would never be able to join them.
With Summer's face clear in her heart, an old song came to her mind, one of the last ever produced. She began quietly singing it before she even realized what she was doing.
"I never felt that it was wise
"To wish too much
"To dream too big would only lead
"To being crushed
"Then I met you
"you weren't afraid of anything
"You taught me how to leave the ground
"To use my wings
"I never thought a hero could ever come my way
"But more than that I never thought you'd be taken away"
She kept right on singing, pushing past the lump in her throat.
"Now it's cold without you here
"It's like winter lasts all year
"But your star's still in the sky
"So I won't say goodbye"
For the first time in nearly a century, the black sky opened. A gentle rain cascaded down over the ruins.
The girl called Rain found that she did have a few tears left after all.
"I don't have to say goodbye…"
She never bothered to finish.
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[ - EPILOGUE - ]
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It happened nearly 120 years after the last rainfall.
Or maybe it was 130 years? She had quit counting exact days by then.
The sound was unnatural, pulling the immortal out of her trance and causing her to move for the first time since she could remember. Behind her came a flash of blue-green light and a mechanical noise, like a buzzing or whirring. When she turned to look at it, her long dormant emotions began to move once again.
She saw herself standing there. Or at least, an older version of herself. Rain first imagined the figure before her to be some sort of ghostly incarnation of Summer Rose, but there were enough differences that the shorter redhead simply knew better. This newcomer was a completely different person.
The woman in question wore a pair of eyeglasses for starters, and the ethereal imagery was only due to her white lab coat. The stranger looked around in a daze, apparently unprepared for the total devastation that lay all around her.
Familiar silver eyes spotted the lone girl sitting on the cliff side, and Rain's own voice called out from within the woman's throat, "Hey, um… where is everybody?"
And for the first time since before the end of the world, Rain spoke to another human being.
The biting tone of her voice only surprised her a little bit.
"…What the hell do you want?"
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Author's Note: Rain was directly inspired by The Immortal Maiden by ravenrose8. In short, I tried to imagine how Ruby would handle becoming immortal and living through all of Remnant's history. I also took some notes from Doctor Who – mainly the character Ashildr from the ninth season.
=^w^=