Only Blood Wipes Away the Tears
Chapter 1: A Broken Family
Taiyang Xiao Long smiled. Ruby's killing prowess was coming along nicely. He watched his twelve-year-old daughter mercilessly slaughter Beowulf after Beowulf that were present in the forest. Qrow had taught her the ways of the scythe and he taught her everything else.
Why was he turning his daughter into a living weapon? So that she would be able to kill Ozpin. The man responsible for Summer's death. The woman he loved. Before he and Summer were going to retire from being a full time huntress and have a quiet life on the Island of Patch in order to raise their children, they had one last mission. This last mission would prove to have a lasting impact on his entire life. The mission had been simple at first, investigate the caves where people were reported missing near a village outside the Kingdom of Vale. Unfortunately everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. There was a huge infestation of Death Stalkers, some of them incredibly old, powerful Grimm. They had attempted to retreat but as soon they reached the exit of the cave, part of the cave collapsed leaving Summer trapped inside the cave cut off from everyone else.
He had screamed, punching through the rocks with his full power, however there was loads of dense rock and there was no telling whether or not Summer's aura could protect her from the immense amounts of fallen rocks or the Death Stalkers. However at the same time six huge Nevermores were coming from the skies and ambushing them, attacking them near the entrance of the cave. It was almost like there was a huge collaboration between the Death Stalkers and Nevermores which would have been practically ridiculous, considering Grimm had never been known to be that crafty or work with Grimm of different species. But nevertheless it was happening, and there was no denying reality.
His partners and the fourth year students from Beacon accompanying them were screaming for his help. The feather spears and sky dive swipes of the nevermore were quickly overwhelming them. He felt torn for he knew that he had to help them, but at the same time his wife, his lover was still trapped. Please be safe, he had begged at the time, before joining to help his comrades. After ten minutes they had managed to defeat five of the giant Nevermores with the last one running away. However three of the four beacon students accompanying them were nearly completely depleted on aura, which meant one of them could potentially die. However Ozpin had been notified the situation via a distress signal and immediately ordered them to retreat.
Normally Ozpin would not have authority in missions involving high-level hunters and huntresses, however since it involved his students, the National Hunters and Huntresses Association had given him full say in all matters regarding this mission.
Before the mission he had argued with Ozpin that students had no place partaking in this mission for their field trip unless they had graduated. Even though this mission was not likely to be dangerous, he did not want to have take care of novice hunters and huntresses. This decision proved to be the turning point of a lot of things.
Since they had been ordered to retreat, they were not allowed to go back to help Summer, Ozpin himself had strictly forbid it after being informed immediately. However he disobeyed this rule and went back into the cave of death. No one was going to tell him what to do regarding his wife. However even after he had pulverized through tens of feet of rock, no sign of his wife was present here. He had collapsed to his knees and wept. She had disappeared just like his first love.
Later on he had yelled at Ozpin, spewing out many obscenities. He had never felt so betrayed in his entire life. Ozpin had insisted that they bring these kids along that he never wanted to deal with. This decision ultimately proved to cost his wife's death. If those kids were never there, he would have kept looking for Summer instead of feeling obligated to save the kids who were in trouble. Ozpin had been the man he looked up to growing up, but now he only felt irrevocable hatred in his soul. He wanted the man to feel the pain that he had felt when his beloved Summer had vanished forever, no doubt killed in a horrendous way. He felt dead and merely a walking shell when he imagined how Summer died.
But those thoughts slowly drifted away from sadness to full blown desire for revenge. Ozpin must die. For too long people, like him before, naively believed that he was a savior, a good man who would lead humans to prosperity. However this was a great lie. This is why he did not blame the other people that were with him on the mission, when they did not try to help find Summer. Because he knew that they were just following orders. They had been brainwashed into believing that Ozpin was a man who could never be wrong, but he saw through that falsehood. He was just a man who was a manipulative utilitarian. He never cared for any single individual like Summer, just the whole so that his legacy would be preserved and people would continue to blindly follow him. But no longer would that be case soon enough, for a dead voice ceases to be heard.
"Father that is all of them in this area," said Ruby after she slaughtered the last Beowulf. She appeared somewhat exhausted, though she was trying to hide it, like he had taught her. He looked at his daughter with love and pride. She truly was Summer's daughter. Her power was immense and her talent level was unmatched at this age. He patted her on the head.
"Your training is coming along nicely, Ruby, but you still show emotion on the battlefield. I could sense you anger when you eliminated the Grimm. Our emotions inhibit us from acting at our full capacity; they are a weakness. You must never show emotion in front of an enemy, for the enemy will use it against you. The hunters and huntresses have become far too passive compared with ages past in regards to dealing with the Grimm. That fool Ozpin who has been in authority for far too long is partly responsible for this. But don't worry, you are doing well so far, my daughter."
Summer you will be avenged; our daughter will make sure of it. She after all is manifestation of my own hatred.
Three years later
Ruby was flipping through a weapon magazine while in the dust shop late at night right before closing hours. Her father had allowed her a little break from training, so she decided to spend that time finding ways on how to possibly enhance her weapon. After all power is everything and anything that would allow her weapon to be more powerful was worth investing time in. She heard several men enter the dust shop. She looked back to see that one of the man was the criminal Roman Torchwick. She looked at the scene with interest, what could a man like Roman want with dust? She decided to intervene.
"Roman Torchwick," she said his name coldly and without emotion.
She saw the man look at her with annoyance. He gestured to his men to take care of her. What a mistake that turned out to be. She brought out her scythe in a flash and mercilessly beat his men up, breaking several of their legs in response. A part of her had wanted to kill these men, watch as their blood splattered across the shop and walls, their decapitated heads and limbs lying everywhere upon the ground. But another important thing her father had taught her was restraint.
She looked at Roman with a bored look. Roman quickly realized that this was not a situation that he wanted to be in. This girl had taken out his men in less than ten seconds.
"Well Red, I would like to stay and chat, but I have important things to do."
He then threw a smoke bomb out of his pocket that immediately blocked Ruby's vision of him. She quickly activated her semblance to dash through the smoke. Where was Roman? She then spotted him climbing up a ladder on the side of a nearby building.
She then tensed, activating and charging her aura into her feet. She propelled herself with that energy to catch Roman completely off guard at the top of the building.
She hit the man hard, knocking him to the ground and pinning the scythe to his neck.
"Well Red you're no ordinary girl, are you?" he asked.
"Tell me what you're planning, or I'll kill you right now," she said moving her scythe slightly closer to his neck.
"It is really quite uncommon Red for someone of your age to be making death threats against respectable individuals such as myself."
"Tell me what I want to hear, or I'll splatter your blood across this building."
"Red, Red I think you need more lessons in proper interrogation," he said smiling at her. Why would he be smiling at her? Unless…
She then suddenly brought her scythe back to cut his left hand off, forcibly tearing through his aura.
"AHH, YOU BITCH!"
Just as she expected, suddenly a black haired woman wearing a red dress appeared onto the scene and shot a burst of lava dust towards Ruby. She barely managed to avoid it.
"Roman, I have to say I'm quite disappointed that you lost to a little girl, I had higher expectations for you," said Cinder.
"This is no ordinary girl," Roman spat out as he got up clasping his arm where blood kept pouring out of the hole where his hand once resided.
Ruby saw that Cinder was no slouch of an opponent. It was a probably a bad idea to engage her, especially factoring in a pissed one-handed Roman.
"So what were you planning to do with copious amounts of dust? If you don't tell me, I promise I will not hesitate to permanently end your partner's life" threatened Ruby.
Cinder looked at Ruby something akin to fascination. Who is this girl? A girl who seems to imply that destiny itself is in the palms of her hand. A child born from hatred and the darkness that resides in the souls of men.
"Roman," Cinder smiled, "you really have attracted quite a interesting specimen."
"I don't see where you're going with this," said Roman, not really caring in the slightest, except for his now non-existent hand that he now stared at, lying uselessly on the ground.
Ruby used this momentary distraction to immediately charge straight toward Roman at a blinding speed, making sure that she would deplete the rest of his aura, making it easier to kill him later on. Cinder however had a swift reaction, blocking Ruby's attack with her hands powered by the aura and the dust fused in her body.
Cinder and Ruby looked into each other's eyes. Ruby's expression showed nothing, it was a mere void. Cinder's eyes showed fascination.
"I could use someone with your abilities, what is your name?" asked Cinder.
"My name is Ruby Rose, and I exist for one reason and one reason only, do not think that you can create a purpose for me," said Ruby.
She must be the girl then.
"I see, you truly are fascinating, Ruby Rose," said Cinder.
Cinder suddenly backed away from Ruby to avoid the dust attack from a newcomer onto the scene.
Glynda Goodwtich looked at Cinder sternly, daring her to attack.
"Roman I think we've overstayed our welcome, it's about time we left," said Cinder.
Cinder then raised her arm and created a massive explosion in front of her obscuring all view in the area. Ruby quickly dashed through, but it was hard to tell what direction they could have possibly gone. When she finally could see completely, they had vanished.
Well at least she had been able to give Roman a parting gift.
"I hope you realize the severity of you actions tonight. What you did was completely irresponsible, young lady," said Goodwitch.
"I was in complete control of the situation," said Ruby evenly.
"Hardly, you put yourself and others in great danger,"
"That is a lie," said Ruby with a bored expression, "I was on the top of building with no citizens anywhere near the battle. In fact if you hadn't decided to intervene, I probably could have defeated them. However your arrival scared them away. So you have no one but yourself to blame for allowing them to escape Ms. Goodwitch."
Goodwitch gave Ruby the infamous death glare that probably was capable of killing most people. Ruby though was immune to that technique.
"You have quite a mouth young lady to be accusing me of allowing the perpetrators to escape. However that isn't important right now, there is someone who would like to see you."
Ruby watched with interest as Ozpin walked through the door into the room holding a plate of cookies and his coffee mug. Immediately Ruby felt her blood boil and the desire to murder the man consumed her mind. She wanted to paint the walls with his blood. If her father hadn't trained her in controlling her emotions, she most likely would have attempted to outright kill him right then and there.
"Ruby Rose, you have silver eyes."
It was taking all her willpower to not show any sign of hostility towards the man. He dared to mention her connection to her mother, whose death he was responsible for. She looked at man wondering what his ploy was.
He gestured to Glynda who was holding a scroll showing footage of the battle earlier between Ruby and the criminals.
"Where did you learn to do this?" he asked.
"My father and Uncle Qrow taught me everything I know," said Ruby.
"I see," said the man as he placed the plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table in front of her. She looked at the man in confusion.
"Think of it as a reward for your contribution to defending the city earlier," he said with a small smile.
I see what father meant now about this man. He uses cheap ways of gaining people's trust, like giving away chocolate chip cookies so that he gets the people he considers his pawns on his side early on. There really is nothing worse than a man who manipulates others and gets away with it because everyone just thinks he is nice. I really wanted to rip that smirk off his face with Crescent Rose and then bathe in his blood.
She could just imagine the poor old man begging for his life, right before she was about to kill him. She wouldn't make it a quick death for him though. No, that would be much to kind for a man like him. He deserved a slow and painful demise. She would laugh maniacally as she sliced off every limb one by one, watch in sadistic glee as the blood oozed out of his wounds, stick her hands in his blood, and lick it off of her fingers. The taste of his blood would be simply divine and it would intoxicate her into madness. She would enjoy the screams of the pitiful man as he slowly died in agonizing pain, just like her mother had because of his decisions.
She then inhaled the cookies that had been put in front of her as she was quite hungry.
"Why is an adorable girl like yourself, stopping criminals?"
"Being a huntress is the only path in life meant for me," Ruby said plainly.
"Do you know who I am?"
"You're Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon."
"Do you want to come to my school?"
Did she? She laughed inside of her head. This was too good. Ozpin believed that he was molding his newest and most powerful pawn yet. Little did he know that he was unknowingly inviting a wolf into his home that would later devour him whole.
"More than anything," said Ruby with a genuine smile, but she was happy for much different reason than they assumed.
Ozpin glanced at Goodwitch.
Goodwitch gave a huff of indignation, clearly not enthusiastic about the headmaster's decision.
"Well, okay," said Ozpin with a smile.
After she was let out of the room. She contacted her father on her scroll.
"Father I have been let into Beacon."
"Then it seems that you will be able to complete the objective I have assigned for you two years ahead of schedule."
Taiyang was not the man he once knew. Qrow sighed as he waited for the airship to take the students to Beacon so that he could wish Yang off.
He had trained Ruby in the way of scythe, albeit reluctantly. At the time he had argued against Taiyang that training Ruby at the age of ten in wielding a scythe was simply ridiculous and highly dangerous. Taiyang completely dismissed his concerns, saying that he had already trained her in many different forms of combat and that she was ready to learn how to wield the scythe. Why in the world was he pushing so hard for Ruby to be a huntress? If anything he should be wanting for Ruby to not be one, considering what happened to Summer that fateful day.
Taiyang was simply an enigma he did not understand and probably would never understand. What he was doing to Ruby, his own daughter, was wrong. He was grooming her to be exclusively a Grimm slayer. A good parent would let their child choose their own career path, not brainwash them into doing one.
He knew that Taiyang probably hated Grimm immensely after Summer died, but this was not the way of dealing with that hatred. If only he had been there with Taiyang and Summer on that mission, perhaps he could have prevented her death and this fragmented family that had been made as a result. Speaking of fragmented family, he had been taking care of Yang ever since Summer died.
Taiyang had asked him to be Yang's guardian since he was going to shift his focus to raising Ruby. He should have refused. It was ridiculous that Yang rarely got to see her father and her sister. He knew that this had deeply affected her on many levels. At least Taiyang came to visit Yang every month, but it was not for very long. Qrow could tell that Yang resented her father as a result, but she did not voice it. He also had not brought Ruby with him anytime recently, meaning Yang hadn't seen Ruby in four years, which was especially cruel considering how close Ruby and Yang were as children. He had brought up this issue with Taiyang many times, but he kept making the excuse that he had his reasons. He hated that his nieces were being treated like this, but at the same time it wasn't his place to interfere. He also knew it was pointless to argue with Taiyang. Taiyang was nothing like the man that he once fought with on missions and called friend. Taiyang was a shadow of his former self.
He also feared Taiyang's influence on Ruby. Ruby surely by now was full of her father's shadows, an emotionless killer. He had seen it with his own eyes. When Taiyang had asked her to test Ruby on her skill with the Scythe. Ruby's demeanor had alarmed him immensely, she did things with such precision and power that there was no doubt in his mind that she was more than capable of being a fully fledged certified huntress. She had even done things with her scythe Crescent Rose that he never taught her. Ruby's skills were far beyond those of a person about to enter Beacon. Why was Taiyang so hell-bent on training Ruby? He knew there was something more to it than Taiyang was letting on, and he was going to find out what it was.
Ozpin had notified him last night Ruby had been accepted into Beacon, despite being two years younger. She truly was a prodigy. Apparently there had been criminal activity last night that Ruby had been able to stop and Ozpin immediately wanted her talents at Beacon as a result.
The airship had finally arrived. The huge airship gracefully disembarked on the giant landing zone in front of them, where many students were eagerly waiting to begin their journey to Beacon. He gave his final instructions to Yang before she left.
"Yang, when you get on the airship, I want you to find Ruby and keep and eye on her while you are at Beacon. Make sure to be on the same team as her."
"Yes I know, Uncle Qrow," Yang said. After all she was planning to do that anyways. She hadn't seen her baby sister in years. She hoped that Ruby hadn't changed a lot. But if anything of what her uncle said was true, then she knew that would be impossible. Yang waved to her uncle once last time before getting onto the giant airship with all the other students.
Ruby where are you?
She desperately looked for her among the many students milling about in the main area. She was nervous about meeting her sister. If her father had done anything to Ruby, she would hate him forever. Of course it was hard to hate him any more than she already did. Her father betrayed her and left her after mom died. But there no was use thinking about her father any more, she need to focus on Ruby, that part of her family that hadn't betrayed her along with Uncle Qrow.
She could remember the times, years ago when she spent everyday of her life with Ruby. While she only had just started to learn how to read at that young age, she would read bedtime stories to Ruby when they cuddled up in bed together. Ruby would eagerly eat up every word that Yang told about the heroes of old who bravely battled against the evil Grimm that wanted to destroy the people. Then she would eventually fall asleep, her arms lying around Yang's waist with a cute smile on her face. Yang then would fall asleep as well, her arms wrapped protectively around her little sister. There was no person in the world that Yang loved more than her little sister.
The fact that for so long, she had been deprived of that relationship would cement her belief forever that her father was evil. How could any father in good conscience willingly and knowingly separate his daughters so that he could raise one to be a warrior and leave the other to be raised by his first wife's brother? She could and would never forgive him for the sins he had weaved. Uncle Qrow was more than right to be suspicious of what her father had done to Ruby. But first she needed that long sought reunion with Ruby.
She still had not yet found Ruby. She cursed other her breath. Perhaps she was hiding somewhere. Her uncle had told her that for the most part that her father had kept Ruby away from public, isolating her from society for she had never attended Signal Academy or any other for that matter. Perhaps she was just very shy and was hiding in the bathroom or something. The longer it took to find her, the more anxious she got about meeting her sister. What if Ruby didn't care about her anymore? What if dad had told Ruby to hate her because she was a worthless daughter that he no longer cared about. Normally she didn't think like this, but she couldn't help it considering how much stress this situation was putting on her. A sibling's love was known to be unconditional, but yet she still felt this way.
A scrawny looking blond boy suddenly ran past her, looking like he was about to throw up considering he was holding his mouth and was making odd noises. She just shook her head. Already getting sick even though we haven't gotten to Beacon yet? Yeah this boy is a lost cause.
It was at long last that she finally saw Ruby. She was much changed from when she had last seen her. She was incredibly thin and fit for her age and she looked composed and serious, looking around idly as if she was observing her environment.
"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed.
Ruby looked to see her sister she hadn't seen in years, she momentarily felt a sense of genuine happiness that she hadn't felt in years, which she then quickly repressed. Emotions inhibited judgment after all as her father had taught her.
Yang embraced her, pushing her bosom into her sister's face.
"Uh, Yang," she said, "it's rather hard to breathe."
"Oh sorry, Ruby," Yang said slightly embarrassed.
Yang was smiling at her with such extreme happiness, that it caught Ruby slightly off guard. Of course she should have known her sister would be here, but it was hard to prepare for everything.
"You sure have grown up a lot little sis, I'm so glad to see you again, I love you so much Ruby" she then hugged Ruby again with less force than last time. It was a hug Ruby could tolerate.
"I love you too, Yang."
Ruby couldn't help but give a small little smile to her sister, however she said that statement with very little passion and this fact did not go unnoticed by Yang.
What have you done to Ruby, dad?
"So I saw you on the news this morning, Ruby, you sure must have impressed the headmaster for him to let you in early."
Ruby just shrugged, "There was nothing to it, I was merely helping stop a known criminal."
"Oh Ruby, you're so humble," said Yang.
Their conversation was interrupted by the holographic image of Glynda Goodwitch appearing before everyone.
"Hello and welcome to Beacon."
"Who's that?" asked Yang
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."
"Oh," said Yang.
"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace. And as future Huntsman and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task. Now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."
"Well are you ready sis?" asked Yang.
"Is that even a question?"
"Ruby can I ask you a question?"
"You just did."
Yang just looked at Ruby in surprise before bursting into laughter. No matter what her father had done to Ruby, she knew that Ruby was still in here, evident by the fact that she just told a joke. She might put a front of not having emotions, but Yang knew deep down she had them.
"Ruby do you want to be on the same team as me?"
"I would love to be on same team as you, Yang."
Yang felt a sense of relief. She would make sure that Ruby would be on the same team as her and that her father would not have the final say on what kind of person Ruby would become. Her father might have broken their family, but it did not mean that she could not fix it.
A/N: It is has been far too long since I've posted something to this site. I came across this series by accident over the summer and I didn't regret a single second of it. I've decided to take my own stab at a fanfic idea for this series. I hope you guys enjoy it. Feel free to leave a review. Any criticism is much appreciated.