Groggy eyes snapped open to the sight of arching branches sweeping softly in the overhead breeze. The dark silhouettes of the trees accented the contrasting shine of the stars and shadows of the night. White light from a shattered moon splashed across the sparse foliage of the mostly dead, skeletal branches, making them glimmer. Soft grass tickled the back of her neck, comforting her, but an insistent prodding from a broken twig encouraged her to roll over, away from the ground.
A moan escaped her lips as stiff muscles moved. She caught sight of her arm, covered to the wrist by a dark sleeve. She followed the sleeve up to see she was wearing a dress that ended in a flared skirt, all darker than the shadows of the midnight. The bottom side of the skirt, however, was made of a sharp red, catching the moon's rays and standing out in the otherwise monotone, shadowed ground. Something ruffled behind her in the wind, and she turned her head to see a cloak behind her, made of the same colour, twirling softly in the toying breeze.
There was something about that colour, that cloak. She was supposed to remember. Something that was important, but the memories were slow to come. She reached for them, but could not dredge them from the recesses of her mind.
She was also wearing tights, fading from red to black, and they were cut off above her ankle by a sturdy pair of combat boots. She immediately liked the boots. They seemed practical, sturdy, and grounded. They were the opposite of how she felt: senseless, faint, frail, and liable to blow away with the breeze.
She stood, slowly, looking down at her hands. She felt that they should be remembered, but they looked unfamiliar. Well, not unfamiliar, but unnatural. Something in the back of her mind told her that those weren't supposed to be there. Everything about her just seemed... Off.
The trees, the view, the moon, the cliff edge on one side, even the grass, it all seemed familiar, but distant. There was a memory, something about black fur and red eyes, but she couldn't pull it all the way up. None of it was tangible to her. It was recognized, but almost forgotten, nothing but hints and scraps of the former experiences remaining.
Some electronic device made a beeping sound to her side, and she looked down to see a small scroll with a little green light blinking at her. A moment later, it beeped again, trying to get her to pay attention.
She bent over, and picked up the scroll. Upon opening it, the green light went out. The screen was dark for a moment, and when she tapped it gently, a message popped up.
Ruby,
I know this is probably more than a little disorienting for you. I guess it has been four years. I don't know what you remember, or if you remember anything - none of this is very exact science - but I hope you know who I am. I'm not sure I could bear losing all the moments we shared... I hope you remember.
This isn't your scroll; it's mine. I won't be needing it anymore though, so I suppose you can use it. If you're reading this, it will be the first of many letters you'll receive, and Dust do I hope you're reading this. What's happened is long and complicated, and maybe in time I'll be able to tell you, but sitting here, writing this, I can't bring myself to think about it. I'm scared, Ruby. I'm so, so scared.
That doesn't matter though. You're about fifteen kilometers from the city. You're on the edge of an overhang. If you walk in the exact opposite direction of the edge, you'll get to the city. I suppose that you could get there in a few minutes, but if you walk, it will take some time. When you get there, go to 29-11, apartment J. Maybe they can tell you what I can't bring myself to.
When you see the others, if they ask about me, don't tell them about this message. They'll worry and fret, but everything is alright. Everything is going to be okay now. I don't want them to come looking for me or try to track me down. This will all be a lot simpler if everyone continues to live the way they were before. I know they'll have a lot of questions, and you won't have answers, but don't try to find them. I suppose I'll tell you in time, but until then, just do your best to live a normal life. Or what passes for normal for you.
There's a lot I want to tell you, but everything I have to say will be said soon enough. I do wish I could be there to see you again, but circumstances have made that impossible.
This letter is going to be short; I need to do this now. Preparations have been made though. You'll receive more of these, and maybe by the end of it all, you can understand why I did what I did. Why I did what I had to do. It's selfish, I know, but I think that maybe, even if you can't forgive me, you can understand me. More importantly though, I hope that you can do what I couldn't. There are things that I couldn't overcome, things that I couldn't beat. You've always been strong though, you've always been better. I think you might just have a chance at succeeding where I failed.
It is probably little compared to what others feel, but with what little warmth and love my heart can summon, welcome back Ruby Rose, and I wish you the best in your life.
-Weiss
Ruby... Her name was Ruby. That sounded right, familiar. Ruby Rose. Other names drifted into her mind, though in no particular order. Random names that made no sense, but a few caught and stuck.
Yang, that one was sunny and bright. That one felt important, like someone she had known the name for a long was a faunus, Blake, though she couldn't remember how she knew her. And then a few others, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, Ozpin, Taiyang... They all meant something to her, though Ruby was having issues putting her finger on what it was exactly.
And then there was Weiss.
Weiss Schnee.
That name was different. It definitely meant something to her, but there was more to it than that. Thinking about it though, Ruby became even more confused. No specific memories came to her, but rather snippets and images. A condescending voice that somehow warmed her heart; a flicker of brilliant white hair, a warm smile on usually cold lips, smooth ivory skin...
But one question, one sensation, overpowered the rest. It made no sense, and Ruby had no idea why she thought it. She didn't know what kind of relationship she had had with Weiss, but the question burned at her, caused a sense of betrayal, made her somewhat sad.
Why isn't she here with me?
Ruby stared at the screen for a moment, trying to make sense of the words. The entire world was jumbled, and the text on the scroll just added to the confusion. Weiss was right about at least one thing; Ruby was very disoriented.
She checked the address again, committed it to memory, then turned away from the cliff and began walking.
The apartment complex wasn't particularly fancy, but the large building had spacious glass windows and a well-kept ground. It didn't speak of excessive wealth, but it was the kind of place that people who were well-off would live. Ruby looked at the address, verified it was 29-11, then entered the building. The main floor was wide open with slim, carved pillars shooting up towards the ceiling. The architecture was pleasant, and Ruby saw a small plaque posted outside a glass door that opened into a spiral staircase as she walked up to it. Apartment J was on the third floor, so Ruby opened the glass door and began to make her way up the staircase.
When she exited onto the third floor, she was met with a narrow corridor that ended at a darkly stained oak door. As she approached, murmuring followed by the occasional laugh or giggle escaped from the walls.
She came up to the door and knocked; there was an immediate groan in response.
"It's your turn Jaune." The voice was soft, lilting, and kind. It pulled at memories in Ruby's mind, but frustratingly, they eluded her.
"Come on! We're watching a movie, besides, it's probably just some salesman."
"Go on," The kind voice urged.
"Aren't you at least going to pause it?"
"Hurry back, and you won't miss a thing."
More grumbling in a lower voice, and she heard footsteps approaching the door. As the steps got closer, the mumbling got a little louder until it finally grew into speech. "Look, this movie's really good," The door began to open and Ruby saw a well built man with blonde hair and deep blue eyes. "So I'd really like to-" The man broke off as he saw her, the colour drained from his face. His mouth hung open in shock, his eyes bugged out, and he looked like he had seen a ghost.
He was familiar, and one of the nebulous names that had been floating around her head came into sharp definition, the memories focusing: he was the first friend she had made at Beacon. She had spent a lot of time talking with him, discussing their teams... RWBY and JNPR. His hair was swept over his brow as usual, and he was wearing a hoodie as he always had, though white now rather than black. Despite these similarities, he seemed more like a man. His face seemed stronger; he was older and physically matured, yet she could still see the friend she had made outside of Beacon on the first day of school.
After she had exploded in front of Weiss.
Ruby let out a little giggle as a warm feeling spread through her chest, a sort a comfort. She knew he was a good guy, and she was among friends. She was feeling confused and disjointed, but she knew if anyone could help her it would be Jaune. He was always helping someone, the kind of guy who would put others ahead of himself - though she remembered getting mad at him for it a few times. It was funny how the memories started to come back right away, and it made Ruby's fingers tingle.
"Jaune?" She asked, working the name around her mouth and trying to get used to it.
"Who is it?" Came the soft voice from behind him.
Jaune was still in shock. Ruby didn't know why. He was looking at her and studying her intensely, his ocean blue eyes flickering over her, and his brow knit together. "This isn't possible." He murmured under his breath. His eyes looked past her through to the corridor, but drifted back to her eventually. "How?" He asked; the word tumbled from his mouth in an exhale of a breathe he had been holding. Ruby didn't think that it had been intentional.
"Jaune?" The soft voice called again, and the hard clacking of heels on hardwood echoed through the hallway. Jaune didn't respond.
Scarlet was the first thing Ruby saw as Pyrrha walked into the hallway, 'immaculate as ever.' The thought sprung to mind, unprompted. She was wearing a warm, amber T-shirt and a green pleated skirt, and although they were casual garments, she looked like she was ready to attend a ball which, for some reason, seemed quite fitting to Ruby. She had not changed as much as Jaune though. She was perhaps a little more relaxed, her shoulders not pulled so stressfully into a permanent, militant pose.
It was the setting that first tipped Ruby off that things might be different than she remembered. They were living in an apartment, not at school. Ruby didn't remember anyone living outside of Beacon, and finding two of her friends here confused her. She hadn't known what she had been expecting, but it definitely wasn't her friends, especially not friends who had changed from what she could recall.
And they had been watching a movie. Together. Since when were Jaune and Pyrrha watching movies together? In an apartment, apparently theirs.
It was at that time that Ruby noticed the rings.
Ruby started to get a headache.
As the woman caught sight of Ruby, her eyes shot open and a harsh gasp echoed through the hallway. She fell against the wall of the entryway, her eyes boring into Ruby, her face plastered with shock. Pyrrha seemed to have stopped breathing.
"What is it?" Ruby asked, her focus returning to Jaune. It felt like someone was pressing a needle through her forehead. "What's wrong?"
"Ruby..." The name fell through his lips, almost like it was involuntary. "How are you here?"
Ruby opened her mouth to tell him about the scroll, but she frowned. Weiss had asked her not to tell them, and although Ruby didn't really know why, she wanted to trust her... Friend? She was still struggling to remember what her relationship with the other woman was. A shot of pain echoed through her head.
"I was told I could find you here." She said instead. It wasn't a lie, however, she still felt guilty saying it.
"No, how are you here? Breathing, walking, talking? What- How?"
"Most living people breath, Jaune." She said, grabbing her elbow with her hand nervously. She didn't feel comfortable anymore. Suddenly everything felt very unfamiliar. There was a moment of silence, the air practically crackling with tension, and Ruby suddenly found the sleek, hardwood floor to be very interesting.
"Ruby," Jaune finally spoke, warily and low. She met his gaze, not missing the hard set of his jaw and deep sadness in his eyes.
"You haven't been living for the past three years."
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the first chapter of my next story! I wrote a few chapters of this before summer as a buffer, but after getting into Melt the Ice, I didn't invest too much time into it. Now that the other is over, it's time for me to focus on Letters!
Let me know what you think of the first chapter! First few will be spaced out this week, and after that it should fall into the habitual chapter/week. This is going to be a bit of a weird ff... Time skip and amnesia. The first few chapters will mostly be setting the scene. Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed!
-Unjax