Chapter one: The first match (sort of spoiler alert but not really, it doesn't end well)

"Welcome to Vale."

I muttered as I stepped off the airship, feeling solid ground beneath me for the first time in what felt like a week. I reached up, adjusting the small beanie I'd stuck over my head to keep my unruly hair in check before I set my hands back down, taking a whiff of the air. "Blegh, smells like fish." I thought. Granted, I had landed near the docks. Made sense I suppose. I felt something fly from my neck as I looked over, my eyes widening as I saw the red fabric fly away from me. "Hey!" I exclaimed, muttering quiet apologies as I dashed through the crowd, reaching for my scarf. I started sprinting once I was free of the crowd, the wind carrying the scarf along it's currents, towards the inner city. I felt my legs pounding along the sidewalk as I lept, feeling two sensations at once. Relief, and pain. Relief because I caught my scarf, the red fabric grasped tight in my fist.

And pain on account of the sidewalk against my face.

"Ow…" I muttered, pushing against the ground with one hand as I reached back, wrapping the scarf tighter against my neck this time, hoping it wouldn't fall. As an afterthought, I slipped the tail end of my scarf beneath the right shoulder of my jacket, pulling the denim sleeve up slightly as it rustled against the gray sweater beneath. Being a hand-be-down, it didn't quite fit right. Most notably it was a fair bit larger in the chest region. I reached down, grabbing the flapping edges of the jacket as the wind picked up, quickly buttoning it together as quickly as I could. I walked into a nearby alley for a few seconds, smoothing out the jacket against me as best I could… which still didn't look all that great in the first place. I mean, it was still too big for me, reaching down past my rear. It was too long to be a jacket but too short to be a trench coat. It was a.. Jarench coat! "...Nah, that sounds stupid." I thought as I stepped out of the alley, looking out at the Vale city skyline.

Towering structures of concrete and glass loomed ominously above, the familiar logo of the Schnee Dust Company spanning many of their sides and banners. The few that didn't have that logo were noticeably smaller, and didn't have a thousand window-washers along the sides in precarious scaffolding. Other than that, the skyline wasn't all that different from home, other than maybe home had less skyscrapers and more small houses. Patch wasn't all that big in the first place. I felt myself drug out of the depths of thought when someone bumped into me, knocking me forwards to the ground. "Hey! I'm walkin' here!" I heard a voice say behind me. I scrambled up, looking over towards the source of the voice. It was a man, maybe a few years older than me by the look of it. He had gray hair, dark eyes and a strange sense of mystery about him. He was dressed in a long, gray trench coat and black boots, his eyes glaring at me angrily. "Sorry friend." "Friend? Who the hell are you calling friend?! Get out of the way!" he said, shoving me aside as I managed to catch myself, keeping me from falling right in front of a passing cab.

"Someone's grumpy…" I muttered, glaring at the back of his head for a second as I stepped onto the sidewalk, heading towards the center of the city. I reached into my pocket, pulling out my scroll and dialing the familiar number. I held it up to my ear, hoping that they would pick up. It rang a few times, and I contemplated calling another number before they answered. Thankfully. "Hello? Who is this?" I heard the familiar voice on the other end say. I couldn't help the smile that bubbled to the surface of my face as I spoke, "Hey… it's me." "Ruby?! I thought you were in Patch with Tai and Yang?" "I was, I… well it's… sorta like-a… I'll explain later. Do you still live in the same place as last time I was here?" I asked, frowning towards the scroll in my hand as I hoped he said yes. If he didn't… well, I had some travelling to do. "Yeah. I'll be there. You owe me an explanation." the voice said, right before the line went dead. I ended the call before I looked down, letting out a small sigh before I pocketed the scroll, setting off towards the familiar apartment.

"You are not gonna like it."

…

"YOU WHAT?!"

I shrunk in on myself as I looked up at the intimidating figure. He stood taller than me, though that came well enough with age I guess, red eyes boring into me as he seemed to sober up from the drunken state I'd found him in, like normal. I felt seeds of guilt first appearing in my mind, along with a flicker of hesitation. There was something about my uncle Qrow. For some reason he could make me doubt something that even Yang couldn't, not sure how, but he just could. "I… I ran away." I muttered, pressing my index fingers together as I scrunched my knees tighter to my body, feeling heat rising to my cheeks as I first started to question what I was doing. When I looked up, Qrow had sat back, running a hand over his face as I could see him, for the first time, fighting against the effects of the alcohol in his bloodstream. His eyes flashed with nostalgia before he sighed, slogging back another brew from his trusty flask as he spoke again, "You're your mother's daughter alright. But since you're Tai's kid too, I'm guessing you've got a reason… you do have a reason, right?" he asked, leaning in and raising an eyebrow.

I nodded, "I need to help Yang." I said resolutely, just saying the reason giving me a sense of confidence, enough that I could look at him with my most determined gaze… which was probably snuffed out by the fact I was curled into a ball on a dirty couch with a scarf nearly covering my mouth and a beanie nearly covering my eyes. Qrow didn't look as impressed, giving me a blank stare for a few seconds before he stood, towering over me before he slowly walked over. He moved way too fluidly for a drunk person, slinking down into the nearby chair with the grace of a viper. "Why?" "Umm… because, she's my sister. And I… love her and… umm." I looked down again, feeling as if all of my reasons, which sounded perfectly fine in my head, were suddenly completely useless and void. Qrow shook his head, and when my head moved to meet his gaze, it felt as if his eyes were magnets, drawing me to look at him. "Why here? Ruby. Why Vale?" "..."

I didn't have an answer for him, none that would make sense to him anyway. Yang was my sister, I just… I just knew in my heart that she'd want me to be here, doing what I'd planned on. Qrow wouldn't understand, he'd be just like dad about the whole thing. "There are two ways to make money in Vale at your age kiddo. One," he moved his flask over to the left, spilling a bit of liquor on the table… which was covered in liquor anyway so, hey, no big loss. "You find some place that's willing to hire someone in a less than legal manner. Or two," he sloshed his liquor onto the couch, almost onto my shoulder. "Is you go to the nearest brothel and-" "Okay! Okay. I get it." I said, placing a hand over his mouth for a second. He moved it easily, keeping my wrist wrapped in his hand rather easily as he set his flask down, something he didn't do often. "Why Vale?" "I… I have to… Yang. She… she wants me to come here." I said. Qrow, predictably raised an eyebrow at this, his eyes confused.

"Ruby… your sister's been in a medically induced coma for the past six months. How could she possibly have told you that?" "I… you wouldn't get it. I… I feel it uncle Qrow. I can feel it. She wants me here… and she wants me to finish what she started." I said, glaring up towards him. Qrow's eyes widened slightly as he leaned back, letting go of my hand as I stood, standing maybe a head over my uncle while he was standing. We stared at each other for awhile… until Qrow slowly nodded a few times, looking down at the ground. "When did you find out?" "When I asked her." I said, looking down at him as I tried to look more like him. Colder eyes, deader stare, less emotion… it wasn't really working for me. Qrow just nodded, letting out a little chuckle as he stood, leaning back as I heard the slight cracking of his spine. "We never could tell our little Ruby no huh?" "Qrooow! I'm not little! I'm fifteen!" I said, pouting towards him and… likely not helping my case in the slightest.

He reached over, obscuring my vision by pulling my beanie down over my eyes, "Sure you are. Now… why are you here?" he asked. I pulled my beanie up, finding that he'd put the flask away in his jacket somewhere, likely right over his stained undershirt in one of his inner jacket pockets. The only thing that really confused me about his attire were the black shorts. I mean, it was almost winter. "I want you to take me." "Oh no. Not a chance kiddo." he said, turning around and holding up his hands. I dashed around him, placing my hands on his shoulders and jumping up. "Please? Please? Please?" I asked, jumping up to his face every time I said the word. He wrapped his arms around my hips the fourth time I jumped, stopping me in the air as I felt his chin on my shoulder, pulling me back and carrying me over to the nearby kitchen. "You must have some Branwen blood in you, stubborn as me and Raven put together." he absently muttered, setting me down on the kitchen counter as he reached over, grabbing a pair of pants he'd seemingly thrown on the back of a nearby chair. "Will you take me? Please?" I asked, sparkling eyes looking at him. He sighed,

"Fine kid, I'll take you to Roman."

…

"Whose kid?"

I looked up towards the taller man smoking a cigar as my uncle stood tall next to him, drinking from his flask. "Not mine if that's what you're asking." Qrow said. The two men shared a brief laugh, going back to their vices of choice for a moment. Smoke and liquor. There was a sort of air of easiness around them. I'd never even seen my uncle so relaxed. The two men couldn't look anymore different… but somehow, they were so alike. The smoking man was dressed in a long, white trench coat, splitting down along the back and turning suddenly into coat-tails. Beneath it he seemed to have on black dress pants and a plain white shirt. His left eye was bright green, with a fair bit of eye shadow on it and likely fake lashes, with his right being completely covered by a shaft of orange hair. In his right hand he was holding his cigar, some expensive brand I'd never heard of. In his other, he was leaning slightly on a cane, more for decoration than function though. It was too short to really be a walking cane… except maybe on me that is.

My uncle Qrow was… my uncle Qrow. He was messy, drunk, and frankly he didn't care. I mean he wore jeans with holes and socks with sandals. Socks, with sandals. Yet… there was something in their eyes, a similar sort of look to them, that made the two impossibly alike. Each of them seemed to understand something that I just couldn't wrap my head around. Maybe it came with being old? Or maybe… something else. "Hey, red? Is she brain dead?" the man asked, looking over at my uncle as he waved a hand in front of my face. I blinked a few times before my face flushed, realizing that I'd been staring off into space while the two men had been talking. "Yeah, dropped on her head when she was -OOF! Okay okay, no, she's normal… mostly." he said, the OOF! Coming from where I jabbed my elbow into his stomach, a look of rage still on my face from that… and the 'mostly' comment about my normality… not that he was wrong but, still.

The man looked between us before a small smile curled on his lips, his lips wrapping around his cigar as he took a puff, leaning down so we were the same height. He blew out the smoke at me as I backed up, waving a hand in front of me as I coughed. "So little Red, you're the reason the old Qrow finally came back to roost." he said, smiling at me as he looked up at Qrow. I did too, finding that he was glaring at the sharp dressed man, reaching into his jacket to likely pull out something far sharper than what the man was wearing. "Uh… yeah." I said, feeling somewhat intimidated by the man's elaborate way of speaking, as well as his rather large exterior. "Cut the crap Roman. You know why she's here. Where's the champ?" "Oh for the love of-" the man, Roman apparently, started muttering after that, standing up straight before he turned around, slowly shaking his head as I saw his cane shaking slightly as it hit the ground, uneven notes striking against a concrete piano as he moved towards the back of the room. We were in a large, warehouse looking place, though, only the entrance. He opened a door behind him, and I soon discovered why Yang hadn't wanted to tell me everything about her time in Vale with Qrow.

The room was massive, with a large, open ceiling, and giant spotlights hanging from steel girders suspended by thin wires from the roof. All of them were on, pointing at different places. Some were pointing at what seemed to be stands, set out in all directions from a large, circular platform. Said platform had a cage fence around it, with a large gate on one side and barbed wire towards the top. In the center of the ring there were two men. One of them was lying on the floor, blood surrounding his face as he slowly moved around, seemingly unconscious. The other man, the one who quickly stomped on the first one's face, looked very different. He didn't look like he had a scratch on him, and he had this strange, sadistic smirk on his face. He was shirtless, as the other man was, clad in a pair of red boxer shorts, exposing a rippled physique with multiple scars adorning his chest. Above that he had three notable features. One of them being his bright red hair, vibrant enough I could probably see it with the lights turned off. The second was the horns, dark red horns that stood out against the bright hair. A faunus. Finally, there was the mask. It was white with four, bright red slits made to resemble eyes. When he turned around, holding up his hands to the non-existent crowd, I noticed that had had a large tattoo of what looked to be a rose on his back.

"One second red; And Adam Taurus wins again! Another flawless victory!" Roman said, reaching over and shouting into a microphone. He pressed a button, and suddenly a roar of applause so deafening I covered my ears came from above us, apparently some sort of sound system. When it stopped, the man with his arms out, Adam apparently, looked up at me, frowning slightly. Though, and I hoped this was the case… maybe he was just looking at Roman? Said announcer, apparently, walked towards the cage, me and Qrow following behind as Adam walked out of the ring, walking towards us with long, powerful strides. Every muscle in his body could be seen, for the most part, each one flexing and moving in time with perfect synergy. He stopped next to Roman, slowly turning towards me. "Who the hell are you?" "You're the one who beat Yang…" I said, glaring towards him as strong as I was able. I knew I didn't look intimidating with the beanie, jacket, scarf and skinny jeans, but hey, at least I was trying. He looked away from me, up towards the ceiling lights. I had no doubt his brow was scrunching up beneath his mask. "Yang… Yaaang… oh yeah, her… why?" he asked.

"You put my sister in a coma…" "So? What's about it?" he asked, likely glaring at me behind his mask. I gritted my teeth as I tried to control my anger… it wasn't working very well. "You hurt Yang… you have to pay." "You challenging me kid?" he asked. His voice was calm, and the challenge was quiet… but it was there. Oh, it was there. I nodded wordlessly, keeping my glare on full blast as Qrow and Roman looked at me like I was crazy. "Red I don't know you but there's not a chance you can beat-" "Quiet. Let her decide. So… think you can beat me in the ring? One on one, right now?" he asked, looking at me with that unchanging mask and a small frown on his face. He was set in stone, he would fight me if I asked. I thought of Yang, how hurt he made her… how much it hurt me and dad… and I nodded again. He got a small smile on his face before he turned around, "Then come on. Let's go." he said, sliding his body back into position, his right leg in front, weight on his back, his right arm above his left and his body closed in, ready to block.

I stormed in, blinded enough by anger that I ignored Qrow's warnings, jumping into the ring and closing the gate behind me. I crouched lower, holding out my arms, evenly, and gritted my teeth. "Ready little girl?" "I am, are you?" I asked, looking towards him as I felt sweat already gathering from the bright lights. Adam smirked, nodding towards Roman. I looked over, Roman… looked hesitant. Though, he nodded anyway, reaching for the nearby mike. "LLLLLLLadies and gentlemen! LLLLLLLLet's get ready to rumblllllllllle!" Roman yelled in a typical announcer voice. A second later I heard a bell ding, and Adam charged like a raging bull… appropriate since he was a bull faunus. He seemed to teleport, one second across the ring, the next in front of me, his fist aiming right at my face. I blocked it, feeling a shockwave of force go through me as I took a step back, feeling the gate against my back. Did I go that far? I tried to punch, but met only air as Adam ducked.

I felt wind in my stomach, joined soon after by a white hot fire as Adam jabbed his hand into my stomach, lifting me up a good foot in the air for a second. I fell back, shaking my head as I felt my vision blurring. Not good. I barely saw it coming when he charged again, a force hitting my front before I heard a loud clang, the feeling of patterned pressure against my back all too real. I fell, hitting the ground with a thud as I looked up, seeing the swirling mass of red above me. I looked down, only to see a knee rapidly approaching my face. I fell to the ground, grasping at my nose as I felt warm, hot blood flowing down, covering my hand from the blow. I could barely see, I could barely breathe, it was a miracle I was still conscious. I felt something tight around my neck as I looked up, seeing a mass of red above me. I moved my hands up, grasping at the choking sense around my neck, my airway cut off. "OOF!" I exclaimed, feeling the air knocked out of me by another hard punch to the gut. I felt my hands fall to the ground as black spots swam across my eyes. It was so hard to see. So hard to breathe.

I felt the pressure disappear as I fell, taking a few ragged breaths as I looked up, jerking my head up towards my opponent. I saw him lean in, right next to me, to the point that even in my blurred state I could see the smirk on his face. "Guess weakness runs in the family." he said, and if the burning in my abdomen was anything to go by, he'd kicked me in the stomach. I felt tears coming from my eyes, but I couldn't stop them. Even if I wanted too. I felt strangled cries leaving my throat as two hands took fistfuls of my sweater in them, lifting me off the ground. I felt three hard blows to the stomach before I looked down, seeing that knee coming at me again. Suddenly I was floating… and then the clang. I hit the ground, blood was everywhere, tears turning my vision into a paint job of blurry reds and whites, dark spots everywhere like a plague. I saw two pressures coming from my sides, and it was all I could do to raise my hands. "GAH!" I yelled, feeling my own hands slammed against my ears, the sound of cracking ringing in my head. I couldn't see, I couldn't hear, I could barely feel anything either. I felt a gentle push on my right side, but it may as well have been a car that hit me, the way I tumbled to the ground. The last thing I saw was that same knee, heading right towards my head. I just shut my eyes and waited.

…

"You're a long way from home aren't you?"

I slowly opened my eyes, coughing as I did so. Everything hurt. My back was aching, my face felt like I'd fallen from a ten story building, and my head was ringing like every bell in the city was going off inside it. I tried to sit up, only for a massive burst of pain to send me right back down. I could barely move, arms, legs, they all felt like lead. Numb. "Ooooww…" "Man… Adam messed you up huh?" I heard that voice say again. It was a kind voice, gentle but… mature. It was kind of nice to listen too… but at the same time, it sounded like someone that had seen some things they wished they could forget. I blinked a few times, my vision clearing up a bit as I finally saw the person that the voice belonged too. I was greeted with a long mane of red hair, brighter than even my scarf, which she was holding in her hand actually. Gentle eyes that twinkled like stars met my own, and a small smile graced the figures face. Something about that smile, it made me want to always see it. It made me feel like I was the number one concern, and that nothing else mattered.

They had a streak of blonde dyed down their hair, for what reason I wasn't really sure, they'd look better without it, and their hair was pulled tight against their scalp, running down their back in a ponytail. Looking down I noticed they were wearing a simple gray tracksuit, bandages wrapped around their hands. Maybe they were a boxer? That or they were recently injured. "Who are… you?" I said, my tongue a useless lump. The person across from me seemed to sense this, handing me a nearby plastic cup, filled with water. I gulped it down, feeling my tongue seem to go back to normal size, though the water did little to soothe the white hot fire in my muscles. I repeated the question, with a fair bit more success this time. They smiled, "I'm Pyrrha. You are?" "Ruby." I said, about to reach out and shake her hand when she stopped me, a gently hand on my shoulder keeping me from doing anything. "Try not to move. You're lucky Adam didn't break anything on you." she said, keeping that slight smile on her face as her eyes slowly moved down my body.

I looked down, seeing that someone, hopefully another girl or my uncle, had stripped me out of my outer clothes, leaving me in my bright red underwear. My body was covered in bruises, parts of it even having bandages over it. "Why'd you do it?" Pyrrha asked, looking at me as the smile ran away from her face, replaced by a frown and a burning curiosity, brighter than her hair. I frowned back at her, "He hurt Yang… I had to try." "Oh… you're Yang's sister. Yeah, he didn't go as easy on her as he did you." she said, giving me an apologetic smile. I felt my eyes widen. It felt like I hurt all over, my nose was in all likelihood broken, and I'd probably not be able to move the same way for another week or so… he went easy on me?! "Don't be surprised, Adam's the best fighter on the circuit. People that aren't even on the circuit don't stand much of a chance." she said, giving me a little smirk as I glared back at her. Granted, being bedridden and in my underwear kind of destroyed the effect. "And you are?" "I was. I was the best fighter on the circuit for four years… until Adam came along that is. He hurt Jau- uh, someone important, so I left." she said, looking down with a pained expression.

"I have to beat him… I have to…" "How?" she asked, her eyes not judgmental or thinking that I was joking, but having a serious curiosity to them. She wasn't judging me but, she looked like she was ready to judge me depending on my answer. I frowned, how was I going to beat him? She was the best on the circuit and he even beat her… wait, that's it! "Teach me." "Pardon?" she asked, cleaning out her right ear and looking at me in disbelief. I just repeated what I'd said before. She slowly shook her head, frowning down away from me as she spoke, "I'm just a washed up old cage fighter, I couldn't even beat him. Why do you think anything I'll teach you could make a difference?" "Please… I need your help. I need to help Yang… beating Adam can help me do that. Please, you're the only one that can help me… Please…" I said, frowning towards her as I felt tears prickling at the edges of my eyes. If she said no… well, there really wasn't anyone else I could turn to to help me was there. She looked down at the ground, a pained grimace passing by her features before a sad smile replaced it. "You're just like he was…" she muttered as she looked up. It could've been my imagination, but I could've sworn I saw tears at the edges of her eyes, gathering right there in the corners, ready to fall to the ground and betray her sadness.

But she didn't cry, her voice didn't even sound pained. "Whenever you're up and moving around again, whenever you're healed… then we'll talk." she said, standing up and giving me a slight smile. Then she frowned, reaching down as I saw her pick up a strand of my hair, lightly holding it up before the figures of the clump separated, slowly falling back down onto my face. Her face had a strange, nostalgic look to it, to the point she almost looked like she was in a trance. "Uhh… are you just, petting my hair now er…" "OH! I'm sorry!" she said, her face flushing in embarrassment as she smiled, pulling back her hand as she turned to leave, walking back towards the door. "Bye Pyrrha!" I said, smiling up at her. Her face flushed a bit darker as she smiled back, turning around, "She really is like you… Goodbye Ruby!" she said, muttering the first bit to the point I had to strain to hear it. I just leaned back against my pillow, letting my eyes drift around the room as I felt myself drifting into a sort-of-awake-but-not-really-awake-and-can-still-do-stuff kind of state.

Yes, it's a thing.

(a/n- I'm really not sure where this idea came from, but I'm already getting ideas in my head about where to go with it. For some reason I can see, if they weren't on opposite sides, Roman and Qrow being decent friends, or at least acquaintances. Then again, I guess that could work for anyone really, given the proper circumstances. Like Glynda and Cinder, May and Reese, maybe even Velvet and Cardin… okay that one might be pushing it. Also, first match… actually first beatdown would be more accurate, is over. Ruby's met Pyrrha, Yang's in a coma (yeah don't expect her anytime soon), and Qrow's drunk and awesome as always. Also, I can't be the only one that could see Ruby running away if she thought she was doing the right thing (which is kind of what she did in Volume 4 actually). Helping Tai pay her sister's medical bills and getting her sister's revenge for her… yeah, I think that counts.)