This is gonna be a bit weird. I first uploaded this story with ONLY Ruby's segment, and with a different authors note at the end. I edited the note, and added Yang's segment to this first chapter. So make sure to read up on Yang's!

She couldn't see anything. No matter where she looked, all she could see was pitch-black darkness. Not only that, but there was something eerie settling down over this place. Almost like some sort of chill, but much worse than that. It was something that went deeper than just icy pricks on the skin. There was also the fact that she couldn't see a thing, not even her own hand when she waved it in front of her eyes.

Where am I?

There was no way she was going to find out her location if it was this dark. Fortunately, her semblance had a unique side effect that summoned flames. Smashing her fists together, she felt her hair rise and burst into flames.

Yet somehow, the darkness refused to leave. Even with the amount of light she was now generating as she kept clashing fists, the darkness was still there, almost as if glued to the air and unable to back away from the light.

"Where…" She was about to repeat her thoughts out loud, but she finally spotted something in this dark void. Something red at the corner of her eye caught her attention. Almost immediately, she snapped her body around to face it, but as fast as it appeared, it was gone, as if it vanished into thin air.

That, along with the color, were the first hints, and the only ones she'd need.

"Ruby…?"

She heard sniffling behind her. Turning around, she found her. Ruby Rose was kneeling down, facing away from her. She stepped forward, calling out again, fear and anxiety in her tone. "Rub-"

"You left me…"

The sheer cold and ferocity of that statement alone hit her like a mountain. What's worse, it was true. No matter what she did, she'd left Ruby Rose alone. Granted, Ruby still had her father and her friends, but that did little to dull the pain of losing an older sister.

"I'm so-"

"YOU WERE THE ONE I NEEDED, AND YOU LEFT ME!" Ruby screamed, standing up to her full height. Rose petals flew out of her cape, but they were wilting as fast as they were coming out.

And without even thinking, she lashed back. "YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT NEEDED ME! I THOUGHT YOU UNDERSTOOD!" The once bright flames that burned on her hair flickered into nothing more than just embers. It broke her to see Ruby like this, to have to talk to her like this, weeping like a child that lost its mother. But this had happened before. Ruby lost her mother, and for the second time in her life, she lost another family member.

Her sister.

And just like that, it was over. She regained full control of her body and mind. Glad that the nightmare was finally over, she opened her eyes.

Yang Xiao Long let out a breath mingled with exhaustion and frustration. For a long time, she's had this job. Ever since it was revealed that she was part of the Xiao Long family, Yang was taken away by her relatives to become the guardian of the legendary jewel that held infinite power which could easily destroy the planet if it fell into the wrong hands.

The Master Crystal. Essentially, a giant, green emerald.

This was the very future that the brawler's father, Taiyang Xiao Long had feared. So when he married Ruby and Yang's mothers, he changed his last names to fit theirs to protect Yang. But even through his efforts, his deceit was revealed, and Yang was taken as a way to punish Taiyang for hiding from his blood lineage's fate.

There was a fight, but with the help of a legendary artifact on the Xiao Long's side, it was lost. Yang was taken away, and Ruby was left questioning why her sister had to leave like her mother did.

She was introduced to Angel Island, something Yang compared to a giant boulder that had life on it. It wasn't too far off of the actual thing. It was an enormous island that had mountains and forests, along with an altar and a shrine that held the Master Crystal. This was the reason why the island was able to float; the sheer energy generated by the crystal gave the island the ability to hover miles in the air. At first, Yang was amazed that something this big was so easily hidden from the world. She guessed that it had something to do with the energy that kept it afloat.

When she was left on the job, Yang had little information. She was basically told to guard the gem with her life and not to leave the island. Something about some force field chaining her wouldn't let her leave.

That didn't stop Yang from atleast trying. Unfortunately, the Xiao Longs were right; There was indeed a force field to restrict her movement from beyond the islands boundaries. No matter how hard she pushed, it felt as if there was a solid bubble of air to pull her back within the islands. It drove her mad, knowing that there was an immovable object so close that she couldn't break past.

Other than that, the other things that were told to her were that food and protection wouldn't be a problem. The energy that emanated from the gem automatically satisfied all needs of the human body, as long as that body belonged to the guardian. Yang didn't have to find food, water, or build shelter. Any damage sustained would heal away, and she'd never feel thirst or hunger.

When she first learned this, she felt happy and satisfied to know that she wouldn't have to do much more than guard a giant rock. But as time passed, she realized how much of a hell the job could be.

Without shelter, she had to sleep on stone.

Without thirst, she couldn't feel refreshed from drinking water.

Without hunger, she couldn't feel the joy of filling her stomach with something delectable.

And without something to do, other than just sitting around guarding a glowing boulder, Yang felt like she was dying. She wasn't about sitting around, it wasn't in her blood, as ironic as it sounds. She was built for moving around, for doing instead of sitting.

For fighting.

That was a guilty pleasure of hers, but what could she do? Fighting had proved to be a solid companion. It made her strong, and it was also a nice way to vent. The pillars around the shrine weren't the best punching bags, and Yang already wrecked a good fourth of the forest on a raging spree during her years on Angel Island. Wouldn't want to anger the non-existent environmentalists, right?

For a long time, she hated the position. She was forced away from her friends, her family, her little sister, all for a job that she didn't sign up for.

But eventually, she learned to stamp down those thoughts. She was a Xiao Long. That meant millions of her ancestors suffered the same fate, some for their entire lives. Yang was told she should feel lucky she got to spend time at all with the other half of her family.

As her thoughts drifted back to the status of her younger sister, she realized that the Ruby she was imagining was nothing more than a faceless, grey blob. She tried to recall her actual appearance, but after years of separation, Yang realized how blurry her memories were.

Still...Blurry enough to almost forget what her own family looked like?

Giving up on trying to remember her full appearance, Yang sat down at the top of the stairs that led down to the ground. She looked at the clouds that drifted by, each one taking its own shape like a person would their clothing. It was something that amused her, enough to start naming various shapes and sizes of clouds that would pass by.

Yang always did tell Ruby that the blonde would go crazy if she didn't have something to punch.

The clouds darkened, as if it could feel Yang's emotions, and the guardian realized that she was on the verge of tears.

Tears…

Water…

Clouds…

With a frown, Yang snapped up, as straight as a board. Something's not right… The clouds were white, and they were all separated. So how was there a giant shadow casting across the entire island? That wasn't how weather worked, was it?

Yang was about to look up, but a quake shook her down on to her rear before she got the chance. She yelped in surprise, rubbing her bottom. "What the…" Then, there was a loud noise right behind her. Something shattered. Turning around, her worst nightmares were confirmed.

Yang's eyes widened, and almost immediately, her hair flared and her lilac eyes shifted to red.

"NO!"

The Master Crystal was broken. All that was left in its shrine were a few, meaningless pieces and shards. And on them...was some sort of creature. Yang could of sworn she saw something else, something pink and spherical float off into the air, but it was hard to see through the darkness. None of that mattered, though. Rage and confusion clouded Yang's judgment, and she lunged forward, her fist drawn back.

The creature didn't move, yet when her most powerful blow came into contact with its head, it didn't even flinch.

"What th-"

Something blocked her hit. It glowed with a bright green color. There was a blinding flash of white, and a force hit Yang with enough power to blast her backward right over the stone stairs and on to the earth below.

"Urgh…"

She shook her head, trying to regain her sense of balance as she stood back up. Her arms stretched out to keep herself steady, her sight slowly returned to her, and right in front of her were the stairs leading up to the altar. And the attacker.

"That...little…" Gritting her teeth, she forced down the pain and rushed back up the stairs. But by the time she made it, it was too late. The monster was gone, and so was the emerald.

The strange shadow was gone, too. But that was the least of her problems. Another quake, even bigger than the last one, had took hold of the floating island.

This time, Yang knew what was going on. With terror in her heart, she gulped.

"The island's falling." She murmured out loud, already feeling the island's energy start to dissipate as it started to free-fall down into the ocean.

Grabbing hold on to a nearby pillar, she braced herself as the island started to fall at terminal velocity. However, the surface was closer than Yang expected. With an incredibly loud and powerful impact, Angel Island smashed into the ocean, one of its side scraping against the adjacent landmass that led off into the forest named Mystic Ruins.

Yang managed to tank the force, but her legs wobbled. Using the structure as a support, she pulled herself up on to her feet, her head racking with pain.

Then, it all went away with just one epiphany.

If the Master Crystal had no more energy to support the island, then that must of meant…

With renewed strength, she pushed hard against the ground, and ran as fast as she could towards the edge of the island and towards the forest that was now joined to the islands sides.

She'd reached the border of the island, being able to tell by the massive crack that separated the island from the land. Though noticeable, one could easily just step over it to cross islands.

Holding her breath, Yang inched her foot closer and closer, and then…

...she made it over. Now past the line, she took a moment to register her newfound freedom. She couldn't believe it. Just like that, she was finally free.

But there was still something she had to do.

"Ruby…" Her voice was no more than a whisper, but there was still the pain of a lost, yet determined sister.

"I hope you're alright."

If she was correct, then Ruby should be attending school by now. At the age of...15?

I'm gonna have to get a calendar…

The recent weather and climate suggested that it was summer. Ruby was either out of school, or she would be.

Either way, Yang was determined to find her. To reunite with the family that was taken away from her.

Usually, falling rose petals would make people look up in curiosity-or even worry. After all, it wasn't exactly natural for falling petals to be a form of precipitation. And lately, things that were unnatural led to danger for the citizens of Vale.

Who ever did look up, though, didn't do it for the above two reasons-They did it because they wanted to see their resident savior of the city. Appearing seemingly out of no where some time ago, this 'superhero' had taken it upon herself to protect people from crimes and violence of all kinds. Rose the Red Riding Hood was the name that would be associated with the heroine behind a mask.

The hooded blur jumped across rooftops, speeding horizontally across walls of buildings, occasionally waving and greeting, with a strangely child-like voice, a stranger that called out to her. "Hey there!" She would call, before running off.

After a lengthy jog(As she would call it) to re-familiarize herself with the routes, streets, and jumps of the top of the city, she finally stopped at the edge of a building that overlooked a street below.

"Aww, yeah! I'm finally back!"

Her famous red cape flowing in the wind, hood hiding her identity, Rose spread out her arms, relishing the feeling of the night wind blowing past her. She couldn't keep herself from grinning, the air blowing past her instilling as much glee as a child might get from the hug of their mother.

"It's been too long, city of Vale, but your lovable heroine is back!"

Almost immediately, the city decided to throw trouble at her. She could never catch a break, but she didn't mind. Anything for the citizens, right?

"Huh?"

The sound of distant sirens-More than enough to suggest some petty crime-all came closer to her, across the street below as they sped off towards the nearby hotel. Her interest now piqued, she jumped down and landed without a scratch, staring at the direction the police cars sped towards.

"Something must be wrong..." She thought aloud. And without a second thought, she activated her semblance, disappearing into a trail of blurred red-and-black and rose petals.

Rose heard gunshots, a LOT of them. And there was screaming. She pushed her legs to the limit, the sight of the red-and-blue lights getting closer and closer. "C'moon!"

She arrived within record time, jumping on to the top of a police car over a crowd that had gathered at the gates to the hotel. Inside were the police, shooting at some strange figure.

"Jones, our guns aren't doing anything!"

"I SEE THAT! EVERYONE, CLEAR OUT!"

The order carried out, and they all evacuated the square, but the two officers had stayed behind. They were still shooting the attacker, who was doing nothing but taking the bullets. It didn't phase it at all; They simply bounced off.

"Gavin, get your big nose out of here!"

"Only if you do!"

Now the creature started to walk towards them. A green light enveloped the monster, and the ground below it started cracking.

Having an idea of what was coming, Gavin ran towards the side, arms waving. "OVER HERE, YOU BIG BLOB!" He screamed, the monster turning its attention away from Jones and the crowd. Now facing the wall, the energy grew brighter.

"GAVIN, GET OUT OF THERE!" Jones screamed, but it was too late.

A large, green, orb of energy exited the creatures chest, heading straight for Gavin.

Then there was an explosion.

"NO!" Jones screamed.

He'd just witnessed the death of his fellow officer, and best friend.

...or so he thought.

The smoke cleared away, and to the confusion of the weeping Jones, the crowd started to cheer.

"What the…" Wiping away his tears, Jones stood up to see a sight that filled him with relief and joy.

Gavin was safe, and Rose had her cape drawn forward, a thin, sheet of red aura dissipating.

"R-Rose?!" The scared officer stuttered.

"I'll take care of this! Go back to your friend!"

Nodding furiously, Gavin left to join his friend outside the gates, who reprimanded him, though gave him a hug.

"Dude, we do NOT get paid enough for this crap."

Rose chuckled, and turned her attention back to the creature, which had just came in to view.

"Whoa...This is new..."

If there was a word to describe the creature, Rose didn't know it.

The first thing that one would note of it was that it was clearly not human-nothing even close, actually. It was quadrupedal, and green. Very green. In fact, that was the only color it was-besides a bit of white. It also seemed to be made of some strange...energy, instead of flesh. Faint, white streams flowed away from its center until they grew thinner and thinner the further they got, eventually fading in to the green.

It wasn't large, but it had the size of a large human. Its arms and legs shared each others same size, and were thick as tree trunks. The arms and legs were discernable because, although they looked the same, they led to clear hands and feet. The hands were large and round, with three, thick claws jutting out as if they were broadened points of the vertexes of a triangle. The feet also had claws, but unlike the hands, they were all pointed forward in the same direction.

As for the head, it had very little neck. The head was also round, but its large amount of short hair was spiky, leaning backward and out as if it were a mane. Its face had only eyes. White, glowing eyes that were shaped like upside-down domes, yet angled in a way that made it appear as if it were angry.

"You got a name?" She asked. Of course, it was like Rose to ask an unknown, highly-dangerous and possibly violent creature what it's name was before beating it into a mush.

The creature gave no response, only switching glances between its new opponent and the crowd of innocents.

With a frown, Rose knew that she had to keep its attention as long as possible, atleast until the people were evacuated. Speaking of which-Why were they still here? She turned towards them and shouted as sternly as she could,

"You guys, get out of here! I know you want to enjoy the show and all, but I'd rather you watch it on Dusttube than risk your lives here!"

And just like that, they all started running.

"That was easy…" Rose muttered, turning back to her enemy. Making sure that it wouldn't take its eyes off of her, she jumped towards it.

Landing a few feet in front of the creature, she smiled. "Hey there! Nice to meet you!" She waved, the creature staring at her hand curiously. Its only response was a growl, and without warning, rose on to its feet.

Apparently, it was also bipedal.

It also raised its arm towards Rose, its palm open and facing towards her.

Rose frowned. Was this it's attempt at a handshake? Not that it was possible with the way its hand and claws were shaped, but that wasn't going to stop the reaper.

"Uhh…" Her optimism stepping over suspicion, she mimicked the gesture, reaching out with her own hand before she realized that there was a glow coming from the creatures chest. It was moving slowly, but gaining speed, as it surged towards the creatures arm. It spread down to its wrist, then to its palm, before-

"Aww, nuts."

A wave of pure energy burst from its palm and knocked Rose backward, right in to a street lamp.

"Owowowow!" She yelped, her hands covering the spot on her head where she was hit. It stung, but fortunately, her aura took most of the pain away, though it didn't fully negate the blurs that now took over her sight.

Once her eyes returned to normal condition, she stood up, ignoring the slight aching in her legs. With a childish pout on her face that probably would've made any other criminal apologize, she shouted angrily, "No fair!" Stamping her feet down on the ground, her hands curled into fists.

The creature gave no response, choosing only to walk towards her with more energy starting to surge from its center. At that point, Rose realized something.

That wave...It felt familiar. She recognized it as a technique commonly used by aura users. Heck, even she's used the same technique at times. Then, it made sense why the creature looked the way it did.

"No way...That thing's made of pure aura!"

Aura itself was a very powerful weapon if used correctly. But a creation made of pure aura? Rose had never faced anything like the creature before her, but she had enough experience to know that playtime was over.

With a grin unfitting of a seemingly innocent 15-year old girl, she reached behind her back, gripping on to the handle of her weapon. She swept it out, the weapon automatically unfurling in to its full, deadliest form.

With a flourish for the fans, she slammed the tip of its blade into the earth, her cape billowing in the wind in a way that would make her younger self squeal in joy.

"Say hello to my sweetheart, Crescent Rose!"

About time I finally post this, this was a series in the works for like 2-3 months.

But yes, new series! Hope you all like it. Also, PLEASE leave a review about anything. Positives, negatives(This especially), your thoughts, I need to know! This chapter was more like an interest check at first, but then it became its own full blown-out chapter.

Also, might as well say it. This whole verse IS based off a video game franchise, but it won't be too similar to it. I already got like 5 plot twists ready, most not even for this arc. Take a guess at what the franchise is! Pretty obvious imo...

Have a Happy New Year, everybody!