"Gosh darn it, Yang," the red figure muttered as she walked alone on the cold street in the dark. She puffed a breath out and it hung in the air, obviously the temperature was dropping much faster than she had anticipated. The season was shifting from cold to freezing, and she judged that by the thick clouds rolling in, it would be a matter of time before it would be raining. She held her bright red hood on either side in her hands, trying her hardest to keep from obviously shivering in the breeze.

The shattered moon above her shone dimly behind the said clouds as her memory of what happened earlier seeped into her thoughts. She grit her teeth in frustration of a certain blonde haired girl that seemed to just go where the party went. She had promised her a special night tonight. They were supposed to go to dinner and see a new movie that premiered. It had been tradition, one that had been failing for so long.

But Ruby hoped that her older sister would have some sympathy for the anniversary of their mother's death. She understood that they were older now and times changed, so she could forgive the missed sister dates from time to time, but this?

"This was supposed to be our night," Ruby whispered to nobody in particular. She watched her words hang in a cloudy puff once more before they were whisked away in the wind, the clouds above her closing in on the street. The wind chill caused her to close her eyes for a few seconds, recalling the full detail of what had occurred…

…

"Yang, are you KIDDING me?" Ruby nearly bellowed, her emotions hanging dangerously close to the edge. Tonight was mom's night, the night they promised to spend together. When Ruby's, and even Yang's mom, had left… died…. They agreed to never leave each other's sides on this day in particular. It was the day that meant the world to them both.

Or so Ruby thought.

"C'mon, Rubes, I'll make it up to ya! It's the hottest party in Remnant tonight, I gotta be there. Do ya wanna come too? Will that make you happy?" Yang replied nonchalantly with her burning smile planted on her near flawless face, her blonde hair styled with absolute grace. Normally, Ruby would have been proud of Yang's appearance, she knew that her sister had the face and form to wow every person on the continent, But now? Now she wished her sister was a nobody.

"Yang, you go to college and you're grown up. Awesome! You only wanna talk to me at home. Great! But all I'm asking for is one night. One." Ruby pleaded to the girl as she walked to her motorbike, her mood obviously dwindling as Ruby's pitch increased at the end of every sentence. She didn't care right now though. All she wanted was for Yang to listen.

Yang stopped short of her yellow motorcycle, her head turned away from Ruby as she looked forward, and with an annoyed sigh released her thoughts "Ruby, it's been over 15 years, when will you let this go? She's gone, it doesn't mean we have to live like… like…"

"Say it, Yang," Ruby challenged to the back of her sister's head, but her heart pounded against her chest, breaking with each passing second. Her mind challenged Yang to confirm but her soul was begging Yang to back down. Ever since their mom left, Yang, her dad, and their uncle was all that mattered. To her, at least. Even worse, it was Yang that filled the feminine gap in Ruby's life. She needed Yang. What sucked? Yang didn't even seem to want Ruby anymore.

"We don't need to live like this anymore. We're grown, we can have our own lives now. I'm choosing mine because instead of being so sad all the time like you, I can change how I feel now. I choose myself." Yang grabbed onto the handles of the bike, her leg lifting over the seat in order to balance on the other side and get ready to take off. She sighed once again, not making any eye contact to her little sister that stared at her helplessly from a couple of feet away. She said what she said, and even getting off the bike now wouldn't do anything to console the girl. The words had already been said. She might as well ride the wave, crash or not.

"Yang-"

The engine of the bike roared to life as Yang leaned forward, immediately moving further and further away from Ruby in a matter of seconds. Ruby watched as Yang's silhouette grew smaller and smaller in the distance before realizing that her vision was getting blurry. She rubbed her eyes with her fist and felt dampness as she pulled it away. Ruby saw small droplets of smeared water on her hand and knew what she was doing. She began feeling the rivers overflow from her sad silver eyes, each side racing the other to get to the bottom of her cheek. No matter how many times she wiped, it seemed that the flow came back in fuller and fuller force. Her breathing had become choppy and labored, with her lungs starting to ache harshly inside of her. She hiccupped for a chance to breathe but ended up making things worse as each gasp for breath just seemed to fuel her pain even more.

She stood still for what felt like years, but eventually felt her hiccups slow. The back of her throat was becoming dried out from the air she tried to suck in and her face seemed nearly stained with tears. She grabbed onto the sleeves of her hoodie and wiped harshly, her skin was flushed red already, what did a little irritation matter?

Ruby closed her eyes, wishing to wake up from this bad dream. Unfortunately, she stayed there until she accepted that Yang wasn't coming back to her that night. With a sad sigh that knew the weight of the world, she turned around and began her trek home.

"I'm so sorry."

There was nobody that replied back to her.

…

Ruby opened her eyes finally, her silver eyes watery once again from the reminder of what a true failure this night was. Her light skin shone dully, the clouds thickening to the point where the shattered moon was nearly blocked. Her black hair did well in covering her view, her eyes barely looking in front of her anything more than two feet. It was okay to her, she didn't want to be noticed anymore, and she had every hope in the world to be seen at one point. But now? Now she just wanted to be alone.

With only her thoughts as her company, Ruby replayed every possible scenario and outcome over and over in her head. She thought of ways that tonight could've ended differently, she thought of ways it could've ended the exact same. She frowned at the concrete below and then realized something had appeared in her vision.

"Hey, girl."

Ruby hardly looked up to the gruff voice, her shoulders sinking further back at the tall man standing in front of her. She continued staring down, noticing the black boots that blocked her path.

"Please, sir, I'm just trying to get home," Ruby sighed, already moving her feet to move out his way. She knew she was attractive to certain people, and normally she would flutter at any sort of foreign attention. But, in that moment, she was not in her normal element. As of right then and there, she was tired.

Not tired, exhausted.

Ruby was once again stopped by the pair of boots still in front of her, them seeming to have moved with her. She raised her head further up, her eyebrow rising in questioning. Even though she looked further up his face, she noticed he had some sort of wrap around his mouth and a beanie on his head. His own features that Ruby could clearly make out were his eyes. They were blue.

But not just blue… electric blue. Blue that could create a current capable of stopping your heart. Blue that meant to harm anyone that came close. He wasn't just clumsy in following her, he meant to follow her. He was angry.

*TRIGGER WARNING STARTS HERE*

"Can I-?" Ruby began to question but was quickly cut off by the sudden force. She was pushed to the side, near the mouth of an alley. She opened her mouth to yell and scream but she was quickly silenced by the man's hand being placed over her mouth. Ruby's eyes widened as she realized that she was still being shoved down the alley, moving farther and farther away from the security of streetlights and cameras and, more specifically, other people.

Ruby thrashed up against the man, her hands beating and clawing against the arms and chest of the man who still managed to keep his hand over her mouth while simultaneously moving her. She realized that, against his thick winter clothes, her efforts were futile. As she was, quite literally, fighting for her life, he was barely feeling additional pressure.

Ruby felt her body stop moving and then felt a sharp pain against her back as he grabbed her body and slammed her up against the wall. He moved his hand from her mouth and Ruby screamed.

Another painful blow came, her back aching from the rough brick wall shoved against her spine. Still, her grunts of pain were released and she felt her head turn to the right, her left cheek now crying in angry red pain. She felt his arm pull back to his side, his left hand gripping the collar of her hoodie, keeping her upright as she took the hit. It was then she realized that this… beast… punched her.

"Scream again and you'll get hit harder," the gruff voiced sounded again, rougher than anything Ruby had heard in her entire life and her uncle was Qrow Branwen. It was because, it wasn't the voice of the man that made him rough, it was his tone, it was his intentions. Ruby knew that her dad and uncle loved her and they showed it through everything they ever did. This man didn't love her, hell this man didn't even like her. He cared for her nothing and he expressed it clearly through such a simple sentence.

Still, Ruby opened her mouth wide once again. She needed to get out of his grasp NOW.

Quicker than the voice could leave her mouth, she was punched again, as promised, harder. Ruby didn't move her head back forward to face him, instead, she had thoughts on the metallic taste that now flooded her mouth. She swallowed the unsettling blood and saliva mixture, some of it hanging from her lips as she had difficulty keeping her breathing steady.

"Stubborn lil bitch, aren't ya?" He smirked through his cloth, venom lacing his words as they oozed out and attacked the poor girl in his grasp.

Ruby said nothing, her face still directed away from him. She needed a plan, she needed a plan…

"Here's what is gonna happen, sweetheart," He breathed insanely, his body pushing against Ruby's. Her small stature was now getting absolutely squished between this man's massive body size and the hard brick behind her. She flinched as she was being pressed again, knowing her back was probably already bruising from the abuse. "You're gonna take off your pants, I'm gonna take off mine, and we're gonna have some fun."

Ruby didn't even have to look at his man to know that he meant every single word. She felt his… excitement pressed against her, digging in.

She felt sick, she felt her body panic underneath him. The thing was, she was stuck. She couldn't move her head, she could hardly move her arms.

But she still had to try.

Before she could think rationally enough, she brought her arms up over his and grabbed his ears, pulling them down in an attempt to get him to back away and give her the space she needed to run. She pulled hard against him, doing her best to get him to take that one needed step back.

"Bitch!" He yelled, taking the bait and releasing the grip on Ruby's collar. As she was finally released from his grasp, she felt her feet firmly planted on the floor. Without another word, she ran down the alley, hopeful to see those familiar streetlights and maybe even a cop.

Uncle Qrow, Ruby prayed silently, Yang, dad, anybody PLEASE.

She continued to run, hearing the man scrambling to keep up with her. His furious steps trying to catch up to her pace that she was running. Ruby actually wanted to smirk, this guy had no idea that she was on the track team in high school. Running gave her a thrill that nothing else quite could and she was really kicking it up a notch by literally running for her life. She wanted to laugh at the irony, but the steps were picking up and she needed to get as far away from this alleyway as humanly possible.

With the end of the alleyway approaching, she gloated at hearing the steps behind her fade away further and further behind her. She had did it, she had gotten herself out of a situation that could've ended very, very bad. She'd tell her Uncle Qrow, he'd get his best guys on it and this slime ball would live the rest of his life rotting-.

*TRIGGER WARNING ENDS HERE*

Ruby then crashed into a semi-solid object, nearly knocking herself off her feet. She looked up to see the thing she had crashed herself into, a person. Thankfully she looked up at the person, another man, but nearly squealed in contentment that it wasn't the guy chasing her.

"Please, sir, help me! There's this bad guy chasing me down and-and I need help. I think he's still on his way!" Ruby explained as she waved her arms around. Her senses told her to look behind her but the more rational side of her said that she'd be okay now. She'd found someone.

She felt two hands clasp around her shoulders and the man in front of her leaned in closer to her face, tobacco on his breath as he spoke, "Oh man, oh man. Something has got to be done about this."

Even though her normal reaction would be to get away from his yucky smell, Ruby heard his words and wanted to cheer but the delivery of them seemed to go to a level that made her uncomfortable. She didn't have much time to think about it before she heard the slow, heavy steps that had appeared behind her all of a sudden. Ruby wanted to run behind the savior but his hands still kept her firmly planted in her spot. She shivered. Everything should be okay, right?

"You there," the guardian asked, a smarmy smirk appearing on his face that could've sent chills down Ruby's spine, "You harassing this little girl?"

"Sure am." The rugged voice said. Ruby's eyes widened to this man's confession. He admitted it to the stranger, she could have this guy crying to his mom in the courtroom. She had the witness too! Everything was going perfectly legal wise, but why did Ruby still have the feeling that she lost?

"Well then," the angel continued smoothly, his fingertips digging into Ruby's shoulders, "You might want to finish."

Ruby felt her body fling backwards into the arms of the man that chased her down. She struggled against the now iron-like grip he had against her abdomen. She flailed in his grasps once more, her body feeling the inevitable evil radiating off of these two men. The man that she once saw as an angel took a few dominant steps towards her and Ruby finally had the chance to see the man's features.

He was tall and skinny, but he looked like the type of guy you wouldn't want to meet one on one. His hand reached into his white coat pocket, pulling out a fat stick looking object and a lighter. Ruby watched with bitter eyes as all he did was light it as she still wriggled around in the arms of her captor. He put the stick, which Ruby now recognized as a cigar, into his mouth and puffed like it was the most delicate thing in the world and the girl in front of him was garbage. He walked closer to Ruby, he leaned down from mere inches from her face and smiled genuinely at the caged girl, smoke leaking from his mouth as he did so. She looked at his red hair that dangled in side bangs poking outside of his black bowler hat. Then she finally stared at his green eyes glow dangerously at her.

Even though she knew she couldn't beat them both in strength, she still fought. She'd always been taught to fight.

"I never said I'd help," he spoke, a condescending ring to it, "I only do things for a fee."

"I can get you money," Ruby rushed, "I can get you…"

"Hmm? What can you get me that I don't already have? I've more than enough money to get me by, but you know what I love?"

Ruby looked at him, knowing that she didn't have to ask for him to finish his sentence.

"I love the thrill of doing bad things."

Ruby bent over by the sudden punch to her gut, her eyes widening in horrific pain as he twisted his knuckles around. She felt his fist pull back just to immediately come back with a powerful force. She felt her eyes stinging as her small groans of pain escape her mouth as he kept punching into her, she didn't even bother to stand straight anymore since she just kept getting punched.

Her captor that held her snickered in her ear, feeling his time coming. He held onto the weak girl with one hand as he began to handle his pants with the other, his excitement begging to come out.

The red haired man put his fingers on Ruby's chin, picking it up so that way they could look each other in the eyes. Ruby's silver eyes had dulled, the pain of everything finally taking over her senses. She hardly moved her pupil to meet his.

"Heh, still with us?"

He leaned back up, taking a long drag from the cigar in his hand before exhaling it back out, giving Ruby a long, wild look, "Well, Red," he spoke, "I like your spunk. I can promise you that you'll live after this is over."

He turned around and flicked his cigar to the ground before crushing it with the heel of his shoe, his back to Ruby as he chuckled to himself, "I'm just not entirely sure if you'll want to."

He began walking, his shoes clicking on the rough asphalt as he left the semi-conscious girl and the big guy behind. He didn't even think twice about turning the corner when he heard clothes being ripped and muffled grunts going on. He moved his hair back to the side, partially covering his right eye. He felt tiny beads of sweat on his hairline from the exercise of using a punching bag caught up to him. He wiped with his long sleeve and relished the cold air as he saw small drizzle drops fall onto the concrete. He continued walking reaching for an umbrella that didn't exist on his waist anymore. He must've dropped it in the alley. He gave an annoyed huff as the drops began hitting hard, he pulled up his collar closer to his neck, "Looks like everybody is gonna have a bad night, Red."

…

Ruby opened her eyes and immediately shut them in pain. She was lying on the cold concrete of an alleyway, she felt that much.

But-but why are my pants..?

And just like that, her memory was returned to her. Each and every graphic detail about what happened hours ago refreshed itself and played over and over again in her head.

Ruby groaned, feeling sore as every muscle in her body screamed at her to stop moving. She twitched her fingers, trying to get used to movements again. She let the movement move up her arm until she was able to bend it and sit up, that way she could get away from the freezing floor.

But my pants…

Her pants were halfway down her legs, dirtied from the alleyway garbage that was lying around. This was how she was left, no better than throwing trash away. Not even respected enough to be covered. Her eyes were still hardly open in slits but managed to notice that her scroll laid broken in pieces mere feet away from her. Ruby sighed, wanting nothing more than to lay back down and go back to sleep, anything to forget what had happened just for a little bit.

But, she thought, I'll never get home by staying here. For now, she was impressed with her thought process. She knew she needed to get home and get clean in order to avoid questions.

Ruby moved her legs, a load groan escaping her mouth as she did so. She was one of the fastest runners in all of town, she knew what it was like to have sore pains. This, though, was not sore pain.

Her thighs leading up to her privates were covered in dried up blood, caked on from the cold. Ruby wanted nothing more than to cry at the sight, but she knew she had to leave now before the man came back. She pushed up her pants back to position and buttoned them closed.

She observed her surroundings near her and found a rather short trashcan overflowing with garbage. She sighed, put her arms on the rim, and pulled herself up. It took everything in Ruby to not fall back down from the amount of ache her body was screaming.

"Ack!" She hissed, her body shaking in near tantrum. She bit her lip and looked down at the damage. Her legs wobbled underneath her, her clothes mangled and dirtied beyond recognition, and she felt like she had been set on fire. Yet, she couldn't help but feel proud for standing right now.

She knew she had to get home.

"C'mon, Ruby," the girl muttered through grit teeth, "Let's get home at least." She knew that she was being extremely uncharacteristic right now and she was almost thankful for it as she took her first step. She had read a lot about stress and shock and how it can activate certain things and cause someone to change into something previously unseen.

She took a couple of more steps.

When your body undergoes traumatic events, the brain will act completely on its own. It can slow down time, it can cause delayed reactions, it can reduce you to a shell. The thing was, you never knew what happened to you unless you had something to cause these reactions. Ruby, for the most part, had never been through anything in her life that damaged her. Nothing in her life had ever caused to think about fight-or-flight seriously. She never thought it would matter.

She made it to the street, sidewalk welcoming her from the alleyway that robbed her. She stared, as the rough asphalt turned into smooth, chalky concrete below her. She shivered, which sent a wave of sharp pain through her body, from the cold. It was then she realized that she was soaked in rainwater, noticing the puddles just beyond her in the street and behind her. How could she have missed that?

Oh, right.

Was it normal to want to chuckle?

No.

Shut up.

Ruby walked carefully, noting where she was. It was even later in the night so she was extra attentive and stayed near busy streets and streetlights. She stayed aware of people walking in front of and behind her, as well as the people on the other side of the street. She would normally have headphones in but one, her scroll was broken and two, she was listening to other things. She would set her ears on passing cars, careful to hear of them slowing down or speeding up. Any indication that maybe they were there for a malicious pick up.

Lotta good this could've done you earlier, huh?

Ruby shook her head, the ringing of this new voice still staying with her. It was… much more direct than a conscious. It couldn't be her conscious right? What did she do? Wasn't she the victim?

She continued treading down each street perplexed about the mental companion she picked up, finally making it before her and her sister's apartment complex. It was perfect, not in a bad area, homey, and had plenty of room for the two sisters and whatever companion would be over. She walked into the brown building, even though it looked black at this time of night.

"Ruby!"

It was then that Ruby froze solid from the hand on her shoulder. She felt her heart drop to her stomach and her breathing fall shallow. She was home. This couldn't happen again. This couldn't happen again. This COULDN'T HAPPEN AGAIN.

She elbows flew backwards, hitting the person behind her solid in the stomach. She felt them crumple over as she took a step forward, turning around and expecting to see the same horrific, evil beast-

Her thoughts came to a halt as she saw a man with blond messy hair hunched over coughing from the wind being knocked out of him. He looked up, breathing heavily, "A... haaa-little haa jumpy there?"

"Jaune!" Ruby said in surprise, already walking back towards the man, "I'm so sorry! Y-you just scared me and-"

"Hey," he mustered a smile, already standing back up at his full height, "no harm, no foul." He looked her over carefully, noticing some serious bruising on her face. His face softened, "Are you okay? You got some marks on your face."

"You were just hunched over in pain and you're asking if I'm okay?" Ruby deadpanned before a slow smile appeared, "It just rained outside and I slipped when I wasn't looking. Fell pretty bad on my face, so be careful okay?" Jaune was one of her neighbors in the complex. He actually moved in on the day that Ruby and Yang moved in. It was his first big move from home and he was completely alone and fragile and helpless. Needless to say, he was so nervous that he accidentally threw up on Yang's shoes when she and Ruby went to go introduce themselves. Since then though? Perfect neighbor besties.

"Ah, alright, I was worried you got into a fight for a second there. I'd hate to see the other guy," he joked, still examining the marks, "You gotta watch for the slippery spots, winter is definitely coming. I have some bandages and stuff in my place if you need anything," his hand resting on his waist with the other on the back of his head. Ruby nodded, keeping her smile ever present to thwart him off of what really happened. He moved his arms back before continuing, "But what I was going to say before you turned all ninja on me," Ruby frowned in guilt, "Was if you wanted to join me and some pals for a movie?"

"Isn't it a little late?"

Jaune shrugged, "Only time that worked for all of us."

Normally Ruby would've loved to go, especially given how she was supposed to be out with Yang tonight anyways. But, she was still exhausted, and she knew that she was a ticking time bomb.

Ruby bit her lip, "I'm sorry, I'm just gonna turn in for the night."

"No problem, you look a little beat," Jaune smirked, knowing of his painfully bad pun that would make Yang holler, "But we'll have dinner soon?"

This made Ruby smile, "Of course."

"Awesome, well I'm outta here. Night, Ruby, ice that elbow of yours," Jaune laughed as he turned to walk out of the building. Ruby watched him leave and scanned around for anybody else. She sighed, heading to the elevators. Normally, she would take the stairs but…

DING

The elevator doors opened and Ruby punched in her floor number, her mind slowing down as the doors closed in front of her. She felt the machine operate around her, fighting against gravity to bring her to her living space. It was a funny thing to think about, she knew it, but she also sensed that these random thoughts are what kept her from thinking about-

Congrats, you got it

Ah yes, her friend in her head. Yet another question she had. But for now, she was more focused on getting into her room, into her bed. A place that she could be safe and really just… be free. She was sure that Yang wasn't home yet and she would just be able to lie there and rest. Or lie there and cry. Whichever came first.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened up again, revealing Ruby's floor. She gave herself a small, tired smile as she took a single step out of the elevator before falling down to the floor.

Ouch, looks like your time is about up. Grab your popcorn because it's show time.

"You are the worst conscious somebody could ever have," Ruby puffed as she picked up her badly beaten body. She half crawled, half walked her way to get front door marked 718.

"Home sweet home," she muttered, stuffing the keys in and twisting until the door popped open. Even though she was managing through the pain, she wanted nothing more than to sit down and not move ever again. She wondered if she was just making it worse for herself, since Jaune just needed a simple explanation to be satisfied with her marks. Still, it was Jaune. As much as Ruby cared about the guy, he was a little dense. And a little gullible. And a little too happy.

Granted, none of these things were bad, per say, but they definitely didn't equate him to recognizing what happened to Ruby that night. She didn't know if she was grateful or not.

"I can promise you that you'll live after this is over."

She plopped onto the couch, her body thanking her for something soft as she felt her muscles relax for the night. It took everything in her to not pass out then and there, though she probably should've. Instead, Ruby thought of the night in its entirety, from point A to Z. Now, she was safe to express her true raw feelings. She now understood the dangers of tonight, she understood the magnitude of everything and what it meant. Words, thoughts, actions all flooded her mind, ifs, ands, and buts all crashed into her scenarios. She didn't know anything anymore. How could she? What had she done to deserve this? Did anybody do anything to deserve this? Who could she tell? Did she need to tell? Would someone blame her? Would they come back if she told?

"I'm just not entirely sure if you'll want to."

She didn't even try and stop herself from crying.

And there we have it! Chapter 1 of this… crazy road I've decided to travel on. Look, I love the RWBY gang, truly I do. But I know I'm not the only one that's thought if things went a little… differently.

So really quick, I'm going to address some things. This is an AU, Faunus still exist but the creatures of Grimm do not. Because of that, Huntsmen and Huntresses do not exist either. I like to take a look at the true monsters in this world… people. So by taking out Grimm, I get to do just that. Now, this also RWBY centered. Each of the girls will be up to bat at any given chapter so there may be multiple chapters before getting a look at someone and how their plot is going. Of course, I'll still have their friends and their families come into play but they won't have as big of a focus as RWBY. YES, they will interact and find love. Maybe find heartache. Maybe find death. Who knows?

CHAPTER FUN FACT: Their apartment number is 718 because RWBY first premiered July 18th, 2013. Ah, such simpler times.

Next chapter looks at Yang annnnnd some others. 10 points if you can guess the three.