Ruby Rose, second Highlord (Highlady? She had never bothered to figure out what her title was) of the Knights of the Ebon Blade, sighed as she looked down upon the force of former Scourge. It wasn't the thousand they had started with, some had managed to die and a few (very lucky) member had actually managed to make peace with their undeath and settle down. But it was a respectable force still numbering over nine hundred, they were after all one of the most dangerous forces on Azeroth, and had been raised because they were more dangerous than most, they did not die (again) easily. That in-fact was part of the problem she was facing, Azeroth had finally managed to enter a time of peace, one that looked like it would actually last for a while, and the Knights were growing restless, not used to not having nothing more than bandits to fight. The solution had come from the strangest place, the Titan Azeroth itself had offered to open a portal back to Ruby's home world of Remnant. (If Ruby was honest the being probably would have offered just about anything if it meant getting them away from it, the Being had made it clear that they did not like undead.)
It was an offer that Ruby could see no obvious downside to, she was allowed to go back home and see her family for the first time since she landed here just before the Scourging of Lordaeron (and her death, and subsequent revival, at the hands of Arthas). The Grimm would also give a constant supply of enemies for the Knights to fight. Her silver eyes (and no one, not even Arthas, knew why they had not changed color when he raised her) shifted to the side where Darion Mograine, her predecessor and best friend (or at least the closest thing she had to one), stood. He too had agreed that it had sounded perfect (almost too perfect) but had wanted to bring it up to the other Knights, if for no other reason than to give them the option to leave and stay on Azeroth.
Which lead her back to her current predicament, addressing the matter before the crowd gathered there below. Twenty years had not made Ruby Rose any more socially adapted than she was when when was fifteen, if anything she was worse at it than when she was back then, because while she refused to break and hate the world like Sylvanas had before the end,(because that meant The Lich King had managed some form of victory from beyond the grave and she would be DAMNED before she gave him that) she was certainly bitter.
She turned back towards Darion, "It's times like this I hate you for putting me in charge, you know that right?"
He looked over to her a slight grin on his face, he had lightened up considerably since she had taken charge, sometimes she took as a sign that it wasn't impossible for things to get better. "What's wrong is the 'Pale Horsewoman' scared of talking to people?"
She threw a glare his way, "Don't call me that."
Pale Horsewoman, the name that she had been given by Arthas when he first raised her, a reference to an old text speaking about death, with her being naturally pale and her horse (Despair, also named by Arthas, who always had a flair for the dramatic) being a pale green from rot, he had apparently found the name too fitting to pass up. Let it never be said that Arthas didn't have a sense of humor. She hated the title which is probably why Arthas, Alexandros and, later, Darion refused to let it die.
She gripped onto the shaft of Crescent Rose, (not Frost Crescent, Mourning Rose, or any other of the shitty names her subordinates had attempted to dub it since she had reforged it with the fragments of Frostmourne and Shadowmourne) raised it up, and fired it into the air, getting everyone's attention.
"Alright, you all know me and my dislike for public speaking, so I'll make this short. We have the opportunity to go to a new planet, one where we will have nigh limitless enemies to fight, we called you here today so you can decide if you will go or not, we'll reconvene tomorrow, if you're here I'm assuming you're going."
She turned on her heel and swept out of the room, Darion followed, snickering.
X LINE BREAK X
Lam'Guld, shouldered his way through the crowd, which had exploded into chattering groups the moment Highlord Rose had left the room, and who could blame them? She gathered them all here, dropped this bomb, told them they had a day to decide, and then walked out before they could ask any questions! He swore there were days where he thought that Windrunner had been more social than Rose.
'Now where is she' ,he thought eyes raking across the room as he looked for-
"Looking for me, dear?"
-Ilyanaria. He turned around to come face to face with his wife, or perhaps more accurately face to his wife's chin. As he took her in again he couldn't help but think that at least one good thing had come from the Lich King's madness.
"- should do?"
He snapped out of his reflection, as he realized that she was asking him something. "Sorry what was that?"
She sighed "I asked what you think we should do about this offer."
Oh, of course, he wasn't sure why he thought it would be about anything else. If Lam'Guld was honest he knew what he would choose in a heartbeat, but…
"What do you think?"
… He knew Ilyanaria would never agree.
"I think we should go."
…What?
"I mean, we might actually be able to find a place where we won't be judged for our state of being, and settle down!"
… And there was the catch, to this day Lam'Guld still wasn't sure how someone so good at fighting, could be so averse to it. Maybe it had something to do with her previous training as a Druid? He had heard Rose grumble in passing about Malfurion being much the same way. He knew that the Orcish Shamans weren't the same, and he had never spoken to a Taurin or Troll Druid.
"Yes, that sounds wonderful."
It didn't matter either way, there was a new world out there, and it might have something to make them both happy.
X LINE BREAK X
Velann snorted as she pushed of the wall and started to move towards the forges. Did Ruby actually think anyone would stay behind? She glanced around the area and could already see the other members of R&D rushing towards their stations, they all had the same idea, if they were moving out soon it would be best to have all their gear tied down, along with any projects they intended to continue working on. She watched as Zaxmaz snapped at Setraa for grabbing one of his tools. 'Yep, gonna be chaos for the next few hours.'
Rather than rush over to her station and make sure she was ready, she headed for the back of the room, ducking her head under the curtain that divided the Old Man's section from everyone else's. She strode forward and sat at the table waiting. Even among the Knights of the Ebon Blade, Pitwick was considered slow. She had been waiting for a good ten minutes (had turned the kettle on, even) when he finally walked into the room. To be fair to him, Old Man was a nickname, that while accurate, said more about how impressive he was than anything else. He had been nearing his expiration date twenty years ago (which is why he had gone to Lordaeron, rather than helped with the invasion on the homefront) and still managed to wreck so much havoc that Arthas raised him as one of his Death Knights. He also had the distinction of being right behind Ruby herself as the longest serving Death Knight, having been beaten to the title by about thirty-eight hours.
"Hello, Velann."
She sat there for a few seconds waiting, "You're not going to ask me why I'm here?"
"I know why you're here. You want to know if I intend to go, seeing as I'm on good terms with my family."
She wasn't sure why she was so surprised that he knew, the Old Man was as intuitive as Ruby was insane (though Velann would never admit that belief to her face), then again he was also insane…
"So? What's your plan?"
"Of course I intend to go! Just imagine all the engineering techniques that might be there! Especially if, as I suspect, this 'new world' is Remnant! You remember when we worked on Crescent Rose, it was a technological marvel! An entire world of engineering like that would keep me busy until the spells Arthas placed on us gave out and I rotted away!"
"Why do you do that?"
He blinked, "Do what?"
"Call him Arthas."
It had always been something that bugged her. She was used to thinking as the man who damned her to unlife as The Lich King, and she knew many of the other Knights felt the same, but the oldest Death Knights (from date of raising) almost exclusively referred to him as Arthas. Pitwick, Ruby and Darmus, the three oldest, and only members of the Ebon Blade that where from the Scourging, never referred to him as anything else unless they were angry.
"I suppose it's in remembrance of who he once was, rather than what he had become."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Arthas was in the beginning, a noble man, maybe that was the problem. He was too noble, he couldn't stand to see people in pain, so when the Plague hit Lordaeron, he set off looking for a cure. The rest as they say, is history."
"So you remember that part of his life, instead of what he did after?"
"We still remember it, we just don't let it cloud our memories of what he used to be like."
"I don't get it."
He looked up, a sad smile on his face, "And I pray you never do, child."
X Line BREAK X
Ruby stared at the warglaive she held in her hand, it was the one Illidan had given her, just before he slammed shut the Legion's portals to Azeroth for good… with him on the other side.
It was times like those that Ruby honestly wondered if she was cursed, seeing as everyone she cared about seemed to die, go insane, or both. If she was cursed she severely hoped leaving Azeroth would release it. She didn't want to lose Team RWBY, Qrow and her father after she just regained them… that or she just had a really bad taste in friends and lovers, Velann would swear it was the latter.
"Brooding again?" Her head snapped up to look at Darmus, standing in the doorway.
"Yeah."
"What about?"
She rolled her eyes, "Why do you care?"
"Because, despite what you seem to be convinced, you do have friends here."
She turned the warglaive over, the Rune of the Fallen Crusader glowing softly, "Do you think we could have saved more people? If we had been less passive? Taken a more decisive approach?"
"What brought this up?"
"I was thinking about everyone who died, and I remembered Koltira. We should have realized that something was wrong when he hadn't reported back after a month. If we hadn't waited, gone right to Sylvanas and demanded to know where he was, he might still be here."
"You know she would have lied."
"Then before that, we knew the type of man Garrosh was. We should of crushed him the minute Thrall put him in charge, instead of waiting for Vol'jin to start his rebellion."
Darmus sighed (and wasn't that something everyone had been doing a lot today?) and walked forward taking the blade from Ruby's hands and placing it on the table before taking her hands.
"I've told you Ruby, and I know Pitwick, Mograine and Velann have all told you it at different times, what happened to Koltira isn't your fault," his eyes searched her face, "when was the last time you slept?"
She smiled slightly, "Death Knight don't need sleep, you know that."
"But it doesn't stop us from enjoying it. We have another twenty hours before you need to be the head of the Ebon Blade again, take a nap."
"I can't, I need to make plans for when we get there. A floating Necropolis appearing out of nowhere will raise a lot of questions, we'll need to come up with a cover story, and be ready for negotiations with the Kingdoms. Pitwick will want to experiment with Dust, we'll need metals for the forges, clothes for when we go into the cities-"
"Ruby, just rest. Pitwick, Mograine, and I can deal with this, we're not completely useless."
"I never said you were!"
"Then let us take care of it, the world won't end because you took a few hours off."
"...Fine"
Ruby picked up the glaive (she would have to remember to name it) and placed it in the sheath she had added onto Crescent Rose's holster, before walking to her bed and laying down.
"Good night, Ruby." Darmus turned and walked to the door.
"Darmus?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks. For everything"
"You're welcome, Ruby."
And with that, Ruby Rose closed her eyes and slept for the first time in a month.
X LINE BREAK X
Darmus swept through the halls of Acherus heading towards the command center, where he knew Mograine would be. He stuck out his arm as a female Night Elf came down the hall.
"Knight-Champion Redbrand!" She exclaimed.
He gave her a small smile, "Might I ask, if you are not too busy, for you to run down to the forges and tell Knight-Captain Blackneedle that I need to see him in the War Room immediately? It's quite important."
"Of course, Sir!" and then she was gone.
'I wonder how long it will take for her to realize that the forges are the other way?'
About ten minutes later, he had made it to the War Room.
"Mograine, we need to talk."
He looked up, "About what?"
"Ruby's sleeping, she wants you, me and Pitwick to make the necessary preparations for this journey of ours." Mograine grimaced, "what is it?"
"Pitwick? Really, she's trusting Pitwick with this?"
"Yes, she is, seeing as he's head of our forges and that means that he'll know what we need once we get to Remnant."
"It's nice to see that someone respects how difficult my job is," They both whipped around, to see Pitwick walk into the room, "unlike our previous leader."
"The supplies you were asking for were insane!"
"Do you think keeping a thousand warriors well equipped was cheap?"
"Before you two get into another argument about this subject, could we please discuss the matter at hand," sometimes he felt like he was the closest thing to a stabilizing (sane) force in the upper management of the Ebon Blade, he turned towards Mograine, "I take it that Ruby has already discussed her plan with you?"
"Yes, but it should be noted that we're running on information that is nearly twenty years old at this point."
"Ain't that comforting." Muttered Pitwick under his breath, Darmus shot him a glare.
"Old information is better than no information, continue."
"Right, Remnant has four Kingdoms, Vale, Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo. We will be transported in approximately six hours away from Vale, from there, Ruby, myself and two other Human Knights will ride to Vale before boarding an Airship to reach Beacon Academy, where Ruby formerly studied, and attempt to make contact with Ambroise Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon. To avoid appearing threatening we will not be going in full armor but rather in outfits meant to emulate what Hunters wear," here he turned to Pitwick" those would be the outfits we asked you to have done by tomorrow."
"They're already finished, though I will admit, I don't see the practicality of the outfit for Ruby."
Mograine shrugged, "Apparently that's what she used to wear, she figured it would be easier to get the meeting if she looked as she used too."
"Makes sense."
"Anyways, from there we will try to negotiate for an area for Acherus to stay, along with supplies and the location of Ruby's friends and family."
Darmus nodded, "That sounds simple enough."
"Which means it's gonna blow up in our faces."
"Pitwick!"
"What? It's true! When was the last time any 'simple plan' went well for us?"
"I hate to agree with him, but he's right, 'a simple plan' never ends well for us."
X LINE BREAK X
Ruby looked down at the Ebon Blade forces again, not a single one had left.
"Alright, Azeroth should be here any minute now and we can-"
DID SOMEBODY CALL UPON ME?
Appearing on the Balcony next to her, Azeroth stared, or at least she thought it did, it had no eyes, and it's form was constantly changing, one moment a Worgan, the next a Troll, Male, Female, Young, Old.
"Yes, we're ready to go."
It's head (currently in the form of a Dragon) turned and looked at the gathered undead.
VERY WELL.
As everything faded into white it shifted forms one last time (a Human with blond hair and blue eyes) and leaned towards her ear. Ruby felt as if something that was previously broken snapped into place,
AND NOW OUR DEBT IS PAID, WE HAVE GIVEN YOU ANOTHER CHANCE, IT IS UP TO YOU TO TAKE HOLD OF IT, RUBY ROSE, WARRIOR-MAIDEN OF SILVER EYES. she opened her mouth and screamed
And then there was silence.
X LINE BREAK X
The last eight days had probably been the most stressful of Yang Xiao-Long's life, first her partner had run off, and then after they found her, her little sister had disappeared, leaving no trace of where she had gone. It was the weekend currently, and she was gearing up for (another) day of searching for Ruby in Vale, walking towards the lockup where she kept Bumblebee, when she caught sight of a group of four, two of them were wearing suits of armor over hoodies (it reminded her of what Jaune wore) the third man though, 'he looks like he could break dad in two!'
The third man, towered over his companions, and the sleeveless turtle-neck he was wearing made it obvious that the pair of massive blades on his back was not for show.
As Yang's eyes moved to the final member though, she tensed, black skirt, black corset and black blouse, all with red trimmings, and a red cloak.
She cleared the hundred yards between them in less than ten seconds, pulled down the hood-
"Yang?"
"Ruby?" -and met the glowing eyes of her little sister.
