AN: This chapter has been edited for ease of reading. If you have previously read this chapter you may freely move on to the next one.
Chapter 1: The first steps
It was late in the day at the city of Vale, where we find our two heroes. Ruby wanted to pick up some ammunition, and decided to bring Jaune for company.
"Thanks for coming with me." Ruby said, with a small smile.
Jaune smiled back. "It's no problem Ruby." He said, confident that he'll help her as much as he can."How much stuff do you need anyway?"
Ruby pondered this for a bit, thinking of all the different items that she needed.
"Well it should mostly be ammo. But, I heard that this store is having a sale on tools today, so I should probably pick some up. Ooooh also I need to get some more storage packs and..." She said, slowly ramping her voice faster and faster.
Jaune gave a small sigh, knowing that she was gonna be a motor mouth for a while.
As they continued down the main street, a sign caught Jaune's eye. "Crimson's Hobby Shop" He said, half aware.
"Hmmm?" Confused, Ruby turned to where Jaune was looking.
It was a semi-large neon sign with dark red lighting over a simple red door.
"Wanna check it out?" Ruby asked, slightly interested in what items they could have.
"Yeah, they might have that Game of Remnant expansion." Jaune said, knowing that would convince her to go.
"You think so!? Lets go!" Ruby exclaimed, excited by the idea of crushing her teammate in the game. Ruby grabbed Jaune's arm and dragged him into the store.
Ruby and Jaune looked around the room with awe.
The store was a comprised of one large room, The walls were lined with posters and shelves, filled with many items ranging from books, board games, figurines, and dice bags. The back of the room had one large table covered in computers in two rows. In front of that were four long tables, half were being used by players playing some sort of game. Near the entrance was a large counter with a display case. Inside were random card items, dice, and many other game related items.
"Welcome to Crimsons!" Ruby and Jaune looked up from the display case at the man who spoke. He was a slightly taller man, wearing a black polo shirt and a blue hat with a red dragon symbol. "How can I help you two today?"
"Do you have the Faunus Revolt expansion?" Ruby asked.
"For Game of Remnant? I'll have to check." The man said, before turning and looking though the multiple shelves behind him.
As they waited the two decided to look over by the group of people, interested in what they were playing.
Ruby and Jaune stared as the players were a flurry of movement with the cards in their hands and on the field.
"What do you think they're playing" Ruby asked Jaune, slightly mesmerized by the colors of the cards and the actions of the players.
"No idea, but these cards do look a bit familiar." Jaune replied, thinking where he had see them before.
"Well unfortunately I don't think we have the expansion at the moment." The man at the counter said, gaining back the attention of the two.
Ruby gave a sigh of dejection, disappointed that it was out of stock.
"What game are they playing?" Jaune asked the man.
"Oh them? They're playing Magic the Gathering."
Jaune snapped his finger, realizing where he had seen them before.
"Ah, that's right! I remember now. I used to collect these when I was a kid." Jaune said, remembering that he played a bit at his old school.
"Was it fun?" Ruby asked, curious about the game herself.
"I think so? I played for a while, but my friends ended up going off to a different school, so I didn't have anyone to play with." Jaune replied, slightly sad about the memory of his friends going to combat school without him.
Ruby nodded, knowing how hard it was making friends and losing them.
"Well, do you think you could teach me? I wouldn't mind playing with you." Ruby said cheerfully.
Jaune looked at her with surprise, but then gave her a smile. "Sure, but we're gonna need to get some cards."
"Here you go." The man behind the counter said, pulling out a box. "The company who makes the game give us these started decks for beginners to play with."
Ruby and Jaune looked inside the box, inside were 5 smaller boxes of varying colors; red, white, black, blue, and green.
Ruby immediately grabbed the red box "I'll be taking this one!" She said, excited about here favorite color being there.
Jaune looked for a bit longer, before deciding on the white box.
"You can borrow some dice as well." The man said, as he pulled out a small black bag and handing over to Jaune.
Jaune nodded to the man in thanks and walked over to an empty table with Ruby in tow.
Both players opened their boxes and pulled out the contents.
Ruby looked at the package of cards and a small folded up pamphlet which read "Quick Guide Reference".
She quickly pulled apart the package material and looked through all the cards.
Jaune decided to instead look at the reference guide to learn how to play again.
"So if I remember correctly, this is somewhat of a resource management game." He said, reading on the steps of how to cast spells and creatures.
"Like GoR?" Ruby asked , looking over at the art of all the cards.
"Kinda, but instead of multiple resources its just this thing called mana."
"Well I'm sure we can figure it out as we go along." Ruby said, as she began to shuffle her cards.
"Alright, so first it says we need to determine who goes...well first." Jaune scratched the back of his head at his awkward wording.
"Dice roll?" Ruby suggested, pulling out two six-sided dice.
Ruby rolled her dice, into a one and a three. She gave a small frown at the result. Jaune picked them up and rolled double fours.
"Looks like I'm going first." Jaune said, giving Ruby a small smile.
Ruby sulked as she looked at her guide. "So next we both have to draw seven cards."
Both players drew their cards, before Jaune pulled out two d20 dice from the bag and placed one in front of Ruby.
"This is our starting life total, once it goes to zero, that player loses." He said and moved his next to his deck.
Ruby nodded and placed hers in a similar location. Jaune looked at the guide and began to read aloud.
"Now its the beginning phase, which included the Untap, Upkeep, and Draw steps." Jaune then looked down at his empty board "Well since I don't have anything on the field to untap, I guess I'll go straight to drawing."
"Hold up!" Ruby exclaimed, before pointing at the top of his guide. "It says here that the player who takes the first turn won't draw a card that turn."
Jaune looked at the rule."Huh, so it does." He shrugged and moved on to the next part of the turn. "Okay, so now we are at the Main phase." Jaune said, as he looked back at his hand.
"So it says to play down a land card, which...ah here it is." Jaune played down a white card with a picture of a plains on top and a white sun symbol on the bottom.
"That's your land cards?" Ruby said, before looking back at hers in hand. "Yours looks way nicer then mine!" Ruby pouted and glared at Jaune.
"Hey, it's not my fault you picked the red one." Jaune said, holding his hands up in defense.
"Hmmmm true" Ruby nodded, accepting his point.
"Well, next it says I can cast a spell if I can pay for it." Jaune looked through his hand, before finding a card that only showed one white symbol.
"Well look at that. I'll cast a Rustwing Falcon." Jaune tapped his Plains card and put down a creature card.
"Ugh, you already have a creature?" Ruby complained, knowing that in GoR, having creatures early can be a very annoying.
"Yep, and it has an ability called Flying." Jaune said, quickly reading what it meant. "It says, this creature cannot be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach."
"What!? That's so not fair!"
"Well if it makes you feel better, I can't attack you the first turn its played." Jaune pointed to the next part of the guide that said Combat Phase. "Well I guess I'm done, its your turn now."
Ruby scowled as she drew her first card. She began to read the card before a smirk crossed her face.
"Okay, so first I play a land card." Ruby played a red card with a giant mountain as the picture, and a red flame at the bottom.
"Starting to see what you mean by mine being better." Jaune snarked, unimpressed with the art on Ruby's land. She ignored his comment and moved on.
"Next I will cast Shock!" She said proudly and tapped her land to play a new card.
Jaune picked the card up and read out loud. "Deals 2 damage to any target." Then, his eyes widened at what she was hitting.
"Not the bird!" he said, sorrow echoing in his voice.
"Yes the bird!" Ruby said, gleeful that she no longer had to worry about the pesky creature. "Then I will pass the turn."
"My vengeance will be swift and cruel Ruby." Jaune proceed to go to his turn. He untapped his one land and drew his next card. Jaune looked through his hand a gave a sigh of defeat. "Land and pass turn."
"Swift vengeance indeed." Ruby mocked as she untapped her lands and drew her card. Ruby smiled as she analyzed her hand.
"I'll be playing another land, then casting a Kargan Dragonrider."
Jaune frowned and looked at the card. "Hmm, its has two power and toughness, and has flying if you have a dragon."
"Yep! Its gonna ride my dragon to victory!" Ruby yelled defiantly.
"If you get one" Jaune replied with a small smirk.
"Yeah, Yeah, details." Ruby said, waving her hand dismissively. "I'm done."
Jaune rolled his eyes as he drew his card. "Well I'm gonna play another land and cast Loxodon Line Breaker."
"Huh, that's a big elephant" Ruby said, looking at the art.
"Yep, and gonna pass the turn."
Ruby nodded and drew. She frowned at the next card and played a mountain. "So now to combat." She said, and looked at her guide.
"It says first I have to declare attackers." Ruby proceeded to tap her creature. "Then you declare blockers."
Jaune looked at his guide, then thought for a moment. "No blocks." he said calmly.
Ruby raised her eyebrow at that, but shrugged. "Alright, so now damage is dealt."
Jaune nodded and moved his d20 down to 18.
"And with that I pass the turn." Ruby said, smirking at gaining first blood on her opponent.
Jaune drew his card and gave a small growl. "Well I don't have another land to play." He dejected "But I can play this card, Knight's Pledge." Jaune tapped two of his lands and played the card on top of his creature.
"What does it do?" Ruby asked, confused by his action.
"It's an aura card, so it says to attach to a creature. And it gives the creature plus two to both its power and toughness." Jaune replied, giving back Ruby a small smile.
Ruby's eyes widened at this. "So your creature is now..."
"A 5/4 creature"
Ruby gulped at this, knowing what was coming next.
"And now, I'll attack you with my creature Ruby." Jaune smirked as he tapped his creature.
Ruby frowned and moved down her life total to 15. "My turn I assume?" Ruby asked, hoping to draw something to kill this large threat.
"Yep, hope you got something good." Jaune said, leaning back a bit in bliss of Ruby's torment.
Ruby drew her next card and gave a long sigh as she played her next land. "I'm gonna pass the turn here." She knew she couldn't afford to attack as she'll need her creature to defend against the giant elephant of doom.
Jaune drew his card and smiled. "Well thankfully I got my next land." He said, as he placed it down.
"Yay..." Ruby mumbled, hoping that his next card wasn't scary.
"Next I'll be casting this Dwarven Priest." He said, playing the card down. "When this enters the battlefield, I gain life equal to the number of creatures I control."
Ruby groaned at this, as she watched the damage she dealt earlier get healed.
"And now to combat, swing for five." Jaune said, happy at this new turn of events.
Ruby looked down at her board and gave a defeated sigh. "I block with my Dragonrider" Ruby then moved her card into the graveyard.
"After that I pass the turn."
Ruby grumbled under her breath and drew. After a minor debate of card choices she made her play. "Fifth land, and I cast a Fire Elemental".
Jaune looked over and raised an eyebrow. "Well it certainly looks cool." he admitted, but internally panicked a bit by its 5/4 statline. Jaune untapped and drew his next card. "Hey another land, awesome." he said placing it down. "Next, I think I'll play a second Loxodon Line Breaker."
Ruby sighed as she watched her opponents board grew wider. Jaune paused to think for a moment. "Pass turn."
"Really?" Ruby said, surprised he didn't attack with his creatures.
"Yep." Replied Jaune aware of the confusion. Jaune was worried about losing his best creature to the Fire Elemental, and unsure if Ruby will drop another one, making it impossible to recover from.
Ruby shrugged and went with her turn. Ruby saw her next card and her eyes lit up. "Aw yeah!" she exclaimed, placing down her sixth land and tapping it all. "Casting Volcanic Dragon!"
Jaune whimpered when he saw the card. "4/4 and flying? And what does Haste do?"
Ruby looked at the guide. "It means it can attack the turn its played."
"Oh no."
"Yep! Attack for four!" Ruby cheered, happy that the game was finally turning around.
Jaune sighed and dropped his health down to 16, then started his turn. Jaune played another land, and then considered his options.
After a bit of time, he came to a decision. "Okay, moving to combat, swing with everything."
Ruby perked up at the word everything, and looked at the board. She frowned at the incoming damage and decided on a profitable trade.
"I'll block with my Fire elemental against your non-aura Loxodon." She moved her elemental against the unbuffed elephant. Jaune nodded and moved the elephant to the graveyard.
"So that's going to be seven damage to you Ruby." Jaune said with more confidence in his voice.
Ruby pouted and moved her life down to 8. Jaune looked at his hand again. "I cast two Orekos Swiftclaws" he said, tapping four of his lands for the two creatures. "Pass the turn." Jaune said, confident that he could kill Ruby in the next attack.
Ruby gulped as she compared he board of two the massive board of five Jaune had.
She inhaled deeply and drew her next card.
Ruby looked at her card, then back to her hand and board. She proceeded to start counting on her fingers, then she gave Jaune a wide smile.
Jaune was unnerved by this, knowing this wouldn't end well.
"First I'll play my seventh land." she said, placing onto the field. "Next I'll cast Radiating Lightning! Which deals three damage to you and one to each creature you control!" she said happily.
Jaune looked back at his board with mild panic. "Ugh well my cats are dead now." he said, moving his brand new creatures into the graveyard and docking his health to 13.
"Finally, I cast Trumpet Blast, giving all my creatures 2 more power!" she said, happy to let him count the damage for himself.
"Okay...so thats makes it seven and six...oh no." He said with realization that he was about to take lethal damage.
"ATTACK WITH EVERYTHING!" she yelled, tapping both creatures and sending them into the red zone.
Jaune looked at his hand for any sort of answer, but none showed itself.
"Welp...I'm dead" he said sadly, hanging his head in shame.
Ruby jumped off her chair and did a small celebratory dance.
Jaune looked up and gave Ruby a small smile at her dance. "Well that was fun, good game." he said, giving her a handshake.
Ruby smiled and took his hand. They both quickly packed up all the items and went back to the counter.
"Here's your dice back." Jaune said to the man at the counter.
"Thanks, sounds like you two had a lot of fun." The man said, smiling at the two's antics.
"Yep! I got to crush him with dragons!" Ruby cheered.
"Well if you want I can give you guys the other 3 decks." The man said, handing out the larger box.
"Really?" Jaune asked, unsure of what to do with such a gift.
"Yeah, like I said its mostly for new players, and we got a bunch of them still." he said, handing the box to Jaune.
"Thank you sir!" Both Ruby and Jaune said. "It's no problem, and call me Anwic, not sir." He said, with a joking frown on his face.
Ruby and Jaune nodded and waved farewell as they left the store.
"That was a lot of fun." Ruby said, as they walked down the streets of Vale once again.
"Yeah, I definitely want a rematch though." Jaune said with a smile.
Ruby responded with her own "Sure if you want to lose again."
"Oh it is on." Jaunr replied, before looking at his scroll. "Uh Ruby, what time does that gun store close at?"
Ruby froze in place, before grabbing Jaune's scroll out of his hand.
"Oh no! We got to hurry!" she yelled, then proceed to use her semblance down the main road.
Jaune blinked for a moment before he realized what had happened and gave chase. "Hey Ruby! Wait up!"
AN: Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoy the future chaos and hilarity.
