Summary: Ruby went to visit her mother's grave. On the way back, she thinks about her friends and life as a huntress-in-training. Takes place between Vol. 1 & 2.

(Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. RWBY, and all it's characters and settings, belong to the RoosterTeeth crew and the dearly missed Monty Oum.)

(Author's note: This is my first fanfic, so please be kind with criticism. When I started writing this fanfic, Volume 2 had just finished. Than I got writers block and lost my motivation. I started writing it again after Volume 3 begin. Y'know, when everything was still in a lighter tone. Now with the finale over, I hope to create my own RWBY AU saga. And it all starts here. I do hope you enjoy.)

'Summer Rose'

'Thus kindly I scatter'

Those were the words engraved in the Cliffside Altar on the island of Patch. Above the inscription is the Rose family symbol.

The Altar was rarely visited due to the eternal cold and snowy climate and, in order to reach such a place, one would have to venture through the Snowy Forest, a dark and haunted place full of dead, frozen trees.

Why anyone would build an altar in such a place is a mystery to all save for the ones who put it there. Perhaps it was for sentimental reason. Maybe it was for privacy. Regardless of what reason it was there, there it was. It had been there for twelve years now, and there it would remain for as long as anyone can guess. Alone and untouched.

Once a year, however, a girl in a red hood and cape would venture through the forest and pay the altar a visit. She would go there every year, standing in front of it. She would just stand there in silence, not uttering a word. For Ruby Rose had nothing to say to her mother's grave.

The young girl in red had come alone, as she had done for the past 4 years now. And, as she had done the past 4 years, she stood in front of the grave in silence and thought about how she should feel.

Ruby felt great sadness, of course, as one would losing a loved one so dear to ones heart. But a part of her was also angry at her mother for leaving her. For leaving the family. She was angry at how her father fell into depression. How her sister had to set aside her own grief to look after her. How her uncle had to look after them both and try his hardest to keep their father from falling into the same alcoholism that he did.

Ruby felt lied to and betrayed by someone she put her absolute trust in. She was only three years old when Summer left for, what was supposed to be, a week long mission when her father, Taiyang, told her that she wasn't coming back. Although, neither he nor her uncle, Qrow, ever told her exactly how Summer died, it didn't really matter. She was gone and Ruby would never see her again.

For years, Ruby was angry and confused at her mother, unsure why this happend. Now, however, being a huntress-in-training, she finally understood the why: it was an ocupational hazard. Ever since she started going to Beacon, only just recently finishing her first semester there, Ruby has nearly died more times than she cared to count, whether it was to a creature of Grimm, a member of the White Fang or some random criminal goon. Who knows how many times Summer had looked death in the face during her time, or how many times Ruby herself will by the time she becomes a full fledged huntress.

Ruby had been standing in front of the grave for what felt like an hour or more and decided to turn back. She had left Beacon on Friday evening, after all the classes, to get an airship to Patch. She would need to go back home to her father and rest to get up early enough to catch the first airship back to Beacon in time for one last rest before a new week began. Even with there still being a week of break left, the young leader wished to return to her team.

With one final glance, Ruby turns her back on the Cliffside Altar and begins her trek through the dark and snowy woods, wanting to get back to her team, to her friends, as quickly as possible.

Ruby smiled to herself, thinking about how much her life had changed between now and her last visit here. It all started out when she was visiting Vale to see her sister off from enrolling in Beacon Academy. She had some time to kill, so the young girl decided to go to a nearby Dust shop and look at the latest weapon cataloges.

The next thing Ruby knows, she's chasing some criminal named Roman Torchwick to the rooftops and trying to stop him from escaping. Then a huntress, Glynda Goodwitch, comes out of nowhere and saves her, before bringin her in to meet the headmaster of Beacon. Professor Ozpin, and then all of a sudden she's enrolled into Beacon too.

And that's just the beginning of it all.

She becomes leader of her own team, makes a bunch of new friends and goes on all sorts of epicly crazy and potentially life threatening adventures. Like being sling-shot into the air in an attempt to decapitate a Nevermore. Or crime fighting against Torchwick and the Faunus extremists of the White Fang. Or that one time when, in a sparring match, Yang got half an inch of her hair cut off and it took herself and twenty other students to make sure she didn't kill anyone.

It was agreed that the events of 'The hair cutting incident' were to never be spoken of again.

Ruby then thought about all the new friends she made during her time in Beacon. Fellow hunters-in-training that she has fought along side with against the creatures of Grimm on more than one occasion.

There was Sun Wukong, leader of a team from Haven Academy in Mistral who came to Vale with his team to compete in the Vytal Festival. Though she had not known him for that long, Sun seemed like a fun guy to be around, even if the monkey Faunus was a bit of a klepto.

There was also Team CFVY, a team one year ahead of her own. Honestly, she only knew Velvet Scarlatina, a shy rabbit-Faunus and adapt dust mage, on a personal level. But the whole team was quite a role model for her. Ruby always wanted her team to be as closely knit as CFVY was.

Then there was the latest friend Ruby had made, Penny. She was quirky, lacked social skills, knew nothing of personal space and was just like herself when a little five year old Ruby started Signal Academy trying to make friends. Last time she saw her, Penny had just helped them fight off criminals and White Fang extremists before disappearing. Ruby hoped that she was okay.

The closest friends Ruby had outside her own team were RWBY's close allies, good friends, next dorm neighbours and occasional friendly-rivals; Team JNPR.

Team JNPR's leader, Jaune Arc, was actually Ruby's first official friend at Beacon. Sure, he was a bit socially awkward and had often doubted professor Ozpin's decision of making him the team leader in the beginning, but Ruby was the exact same. Over their time at Beacon both leaders have come to see each other as the brother Ruby never had and the sister Jaune wished he had.

Next, there was Pyrrha Nikos, winner of tournaments, mascot of cereals, and so obviously in love with Jaune that both teams had to constantly restrain themselves from slapping him in his dense skull and telling him to take a hint already! Pyrrha was kind , beautiful, supportive and way out of the blonde boys league. And yet she still only has eyes for him for the sole purpose, as far as Ruby can tell, that he knew nothing about her before Beacon and just treats her like he would any other friend. Poor girl, hopefully she'll be out of the friendzone by this time next year.

The last two members of Team JNPR were the childhood friends Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. One was calm, quiet and one of the sanest people she knew at Beacon, though maybe a tad boring and hard to hold a conversation with. Nora on the other hand was the complete opposite. Always hyper, always loud and always crazy, but in a good way. Her stories were amazing, if somewhat exaggerated, and she would hunt fun down if it didn't come to her. Put the two of them together and they just complete each other, like one can't exist properly unless the other is within twenty feet of them. Nora keeps saying that they aren't 'together-together', but Ruby is convinced they're both in denial or something.

As Ruby continued her walk back home, her smile grew larger as her thoughts turned to her teammates on Team RWBY, lead by none other than herself, Ruby... admittedly a little confusing, which would probably be more so if she wasn't chosen as the team's leader.

First of all, there was Ruby's older sister, Yang Xiao Long. Ruby had known and admired Yang all her life. She has always been there when Ruby needed her, always striving to be the best big sister ever. And sometimes, even be the maternal figure they had both lacked. True their young lives hadn't been the most pleasant, and their family was dysfunctional and a total mess, but Yang was always there to help Ruby get through anything life through there way.

Next on the team was Yang's partner and new best friend, Blake Belladonna. She was a quiet and mysterious girl when they first met, and after hearing her backstory, that was quite understandable. Practically born into the White Fang when it was still a peaceful Faunus rights group, Blake left after it started employing acts of terrorism. She even hid the fact she was a Faunus, just so she wouldn't be ostracized and ridiculed by others. Human or Faunus, Ruby didn't care. Blake was a good person and she would always have her back just like she had hers.

Last but not least, was the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and Ruby's partner and BFF, Weiss Schnee. Although, it didn't start out that way, if anything, Weiss hated her and Ruby was not too fond of her either. They got off to a bad start when Ruby made Weiss explode (both figuratively and literally). That animosity the heiress had for the younger girl didn't change when they met and partnered up in the Beacon entrance exam, Ruby's childish and carefree attitude clashed with Weiss' cold perfectionist personality. When Ruby was chosen to lead the team over herself, Weiss was... upset at first. But in time, she learnt that she was not perfect and that Ruby was the best pick for the leader role. Over the rest of the first semester, Ruby and Weiss had gotten on much friendlier terms, the scythe wielder even went so far as to claim Weiss as her best friend and, although she denies it, Ruby believes that the heiress feels the same way.

Continuing through the woods, Ruby's train of thought stops as she feels... uneasy. Like something was missing. But what could it be? She did the same thing she's always done every year: Walk through freezing cold woods alone? Check. Stare at mother's grave for an hour or so? Check. Turn around and go back-

Then, at the instant she passed out of the forest and into the clearing, Ruby remembered what was missing, even as it stood there before her...

Grimm.

An entire pack of Beowolves, no fewer than two dozen, circled the entrance of the forest, trying to judge the best angel and time to strike at the red hooded girl.

With a smile, Ruby flared up her aura, drew forth Crescent Rose, the weapon shifting into it's scythe form and took her battle stance. The same one her uncle had taught her.

She waited, keeping her eyes on the beasts, ready for them to make the first move.

With a roar, the first three charged at her. She did not move. The Grimm drew closer, closing the distance. She did not flinch. The beast finally pounced in the air, ready to bring down their prey and tear her limb from limb.

And in an eyeblink, all three Grimm were dead. Bisected. Where once was their prey was a flurry of rose petals, the huntress-in-training a few feet behind their dissolving corpses, her scythe wet with Grimm blood.

The rest of the pack followed suit and, much like lambs to the slaughter, they were struck down, one by one. Whether they were sliced, stabbed, shot or knocked away, the creatures of darkness always met the same fate when meeting the young reaper. Death.

Now, Ruby was, for the most part, a pure and innocent soul. She knew about the darker aspects of the world and that it was not as black or white as she would like it to be. Even her chosen occupation was seen as questionable to the misinformed. Some may view the hunters as heroes, fighting for what's right and bringing peace to the world. Some may see them as weapons, tools to use against one's enemies. Some may even see them as mere cannon fodder, to fight and die unthanked and forgotten to defend the carefree lives of others

But when it came to killing Grimm? It couldn't be simpler.

To be the light that banishes the darkness, to be a beacon of hope for a better tomorrow. That was the greatest form of heroism Ruby could think of. And that is exactly what she did. With every swing of her blade. With every pull of the trigger. She would strike down the darkness and cast it back to the nothingness from wheras it came.

Truly, there was nothing purer.

With one more pull of the trigger, the last Grimm fell. It's corpse and the corpses of it brethren, already dissipating. Purged from the face of Remnant. Never to terrorise innocent people again. Others will come to take their place, they always do, but Ruby will still be there, ready to continue her work.

Satisfied, Crescent Rose folds into its compact form and is clipped onto her belt and begin her trek back home anew, using her semblance of Speed to hurry back. The sun was in the midst of setting now. Dinner would be ready soon.