Hello everyone! I am so fucking excited right now! Pardon my language, but I'm so happy that I'm writing this remake for my very first story that I ever published here on FF. It's also my third year anniversary of writing! So much has happened and I'm turning 17 close to the end of this year. Time really passes, and this story really brings up some memories for me, since I have a lot of history with it. Most of the plot will be retained in the story, but stuff will be much more in depth and… well grammar and spelling will be much better too. -_- I was terrible with grammar when I was 13. You will also see some new stuff that wasn't present in the original version; this will be content that i always wanted to add whenever I wrote the story, but I never did. So… this remake will be a lot different than the original; I can guarantee that. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this story, and… I'll actually keep the original version up so if you guys want to go back and compare this story in terms of quality to it, then go ahead. Just be warned the original fic, in my opinion now, is just so… cringy to read. Well… that's what I did when I read it a few days ago. Cringe because of the grammar and spelling errors. Gosh… what the fuck was up with me back then? xD

Just let me know if I'm doing a great job with this Remake in a review… or is it a remaster? I don't really know… I'll just shut up now. Enjoy… and thank you all for reading my stories all these years. I-it really means a lot to me. :')

Hopelessness; that was the one word that described my condition. Gasps for air, the struggled beating of my heart, and the warmth that left my body in the form of a red liquid… blood. I laid on a blanket of white, feeling it's cold surface that caused me to shiver. The grey sky in front of me slowly showered white dots… snow. In my mind, I was afraid. Afraid of dying. Afraid of leaving this world I lived in for so long. Afraid of not seeing them again.

The winds brewed into a violent gust, making my shivering grow into the same manner as the weather itself. I wanted to move away from the death that threatened to wrap their arms around me, but I couldn't. I was already too weak to do so, and if I did move, those looking for me would never find me. So I stayed in place, the snow burying me at a very slow pace as time passed. I could hardly feel the harsh weather that came through the Forever Fall forest, but that only meant that death was getting near.

I could hear their shouts, provoking a sense of grief inside me as they drew closer. "Ruby!" They called. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting out a shaky breath of air before opening them again. What I was met with was not a form of hope, but the form of a beowolf, it's piercing blood-red eyes glaring into my own silver ones. I whimpered weakly and closed my eyes as it growled.

What have I led myself into?

A few days ago…

"Knowledge. Knowledge can be your greatest weapon while you're out on the battlefield. You may know what grimm there are in the world of Remnant, but it won't help you if you don't know what capabilities they wield." I listened intently to the lecture that Headmaster Ozpin gave, taking mental note of every word he spoke. It was the start of my second year here at Beacon, the prestigious academy that trained those that wanted to protect the world and rid the darkness that was known as the grimm. Despite it being my second year, all of Beacon Academy was asked to attend the assembly that was planned mostly to help get the first-years settled in. On the stage, Headmaster Ozpin stood there, a cane in his right hand that settled on the ground at the right side of his body, and a mug of hot chocolate was held with his left hand, steam still emitting from the mug, signifying that it was brewed recently. "Any fact that you learn of them can increase your chances of survival tenfold. It's vital that you pay attention to what your teachers give or teach. To our newest batch of students that have just arrived, remember this…"

He turned himself to the area that the first-years had grouped up at before speaking again, but as I tried to concentrate on his speech, I heard a loud but elegant sneeze to my right, turning immediately and seeing my partner shaking her head. "Something wrong, Weiss?" I asked, my voice level close to whispering.

She looked at me, sighing softly and shaking her head again, the motion causing her side ponytail to shift and lay on the front side of her right shoulder. Weiss Schnee… it was strange that I was partners with the heiress to the largest dust company in all of Remnant. I'm glad to see that she was still the same Weiss I knew… well… physically she was. She still wore her pale blue bolero jacket that had her father's company logo embedded on the back, along with the same colored combat skirt that I just can't help but admire since I'm a fan of them myself. She also still had her side ponytail, making me wonder if her father had scolded her about it over the time off that we had. "I just had a rough time on the airship ride over here, Ruby. Ugh… I'll be fine later." Weiss whispered before giving her attention back to Headmaster Ozpin.

I sighed softly and looked over her form to her right to see if Yang, my sister and teammate, and her partner were there. My eyes widened when I realized that they were not there. "Ummm… Weiss? Where's Blake and Yang?" I asked, my volume raising slightly but not enough to get anyone else's attention.

She gave me a confused look and turned to her right to see my realization, making her confused. "They were next to me… where could they have gone?" she replied, groaning in frustration. "Those dolts; we need to stay put and listen, but now the blonde brute and her bookworm are nowhere to be found. Unbelievable."

I shushed her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let's just wait until the assembly's over, then we'll go look for them. I just hope Goodwitch doesn't find out and scold me for not keeping my teammates in line."

"You should keep them in line; that's the last thing you want as a leader. Get in trouble because of your teammate's behavior."

"I know… but our second year just started, Weiss. Blake and Yang must have missed each other, since they had been separated for a while. You know they're together… t-that's how it usually goes when you've been away from your lover for so long, right?" I said, but ended up questioning my reasoning instead. Gosh… I haven't changed either. I thought and sighed annoyingly at myself. My sister and partner had gotten so close during our first year at Beacon that they formed a romantic relationship with each other. I could understand why they wouldn't be here… they could be catching up with each other and didn't want to show it off to everyone in this arena.

"Well… you do have a point." Weiss replied, making me smile.

"Yeah… anyways, we should keep listeni-"

"And that will be all for this assembly. We hope you enjoy your first year at Beacon Academy; and to our second to fourth year students, please do your best to help guide the first years as best as you can if they have any questions or concerns that need to be addressed." Weiss and I turned to see Headmaster Ozpin walking off the platform while his assistant, Glynda Goodwitch, took over the microphone that was resting on the stand near her.

"The first years will gather in the ballroom, tonight. Second to fourth year students, you won't have to worry about living accommodations; you will still reside in the dorm you've lived in the year before." she said, holding her scroll out in front of her to look through it. "That should be everything; go on now, I'm sure everyone must be needing to unpack. Don't hesitate to explore the school, but be sure to be where you were designated to by the evening." With that, Goodwitch walked off the stage in the direction that Ozpin went, leaving the student body to go and get settled into their new, or old dorms.

"Hey Ruby, you know where our dorm was, right?" she asked, giving me a troubled look.

"O-oh… u-ummm…" It's been months since we all last saw each other, since we walked around Beacon together. Despite the memories we made, I couldn't remember where our dorm was. "I… don't know." I replied, twiddling my fingers, nervously.

Weiss sighed; I was ready to take a scolding from her, but instead, she gave me a reassuring smile. "Well, we can figure that out later, right?"

"H-huh?" I gave her a confused look. "No 'you're such a dunce, Ruby', or 'Ruby, you dolt'?"

She tilted her head at me, a puzzled expression present on her face. "It's understandable that you don't know where the team dorm is. Even I don't know where it is, so scolding you would be rude."

Well, she does have a point. "U-ummm… well, let's go find Yang and Blake?" I said, trying to steer the conversation back to what tasks we need to fulfill.

"That's a good idea; let's go find that cat and brute, leader." My eyes widened at the callsign she gave me, making her much more confused. She's being too nice! She usually has sort of a little cold attitude, but she's not even expressing it. Maybe… just maybe I can milk this. "What's wrong, Ruby?" she asked, giving me a worried look as if I found out something terrible.

"You… you acknowledged me as a leader." I replied, making her gasp and turned away, seeing a hint of red on her cheeks as she turned from me.

"I-I did… b-but don't expect much more than that… dolt." I started to laugh hard, making Weiss whine. "Ruby~, people are starting to stare at us!"

Despite her attempt to stop me from laughing, I was too far gone. "S-sorry; just the fact that you blushed makes you so friggin adorable right now."

"RUBY!" She exclaimed turning to me, but her cheeks reddened much more, making me laugh much harder.
"I can't breathe!"

I can tell that this year's going to be different, but what will entail for me… and my team? I'm not so sure, but whatever it'll be, we'll tackle it, together. For now, we just need to find my sister and her partner before I keep milking this golden moment between me and my own partner.

[READ THIS; There's some things you might want to know about.]

I… I really feel rusty at writing, for some reason. xD I've been out of writing for a while now, since I had serious Writer's Block. But I'm glad that I was able to finish this first chapter of my rewrite for my Third Year Anniversary of Writing RWBY Fics. Thank you all so much for helping me get here.

I'll be making a video to commemorate my third year anniversary on my RWBY fanfiction channel on YouTube (TheDarkenedRose; you'll know which one when you see the search results), so stay tuned for that. When this story comes up, expect to see the video a bit later.

On another note, I'll get back to writing The Heiress and The Maid after I release… what I call the "True Ending" to Red Snowflakes. The wait will be worth it, I swear. I hope that chapter will come out on the 10th of this month, just to commemorate the story's two year anniversary; think of it as a beautiful farewell to the story. I guess you can say this week will be… well… a week of me giving back to you, my readers that hopefully have stuck with me over the years.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You don't know how much your support has changed me… I love you all. If I could, I would marry all of you- WAIT A MINUTE! U-ummm… forget I said that!