I do not own RWBY or any Tolkien related material, and have no claim on either of them. The idea for this story is mine and is purely for fun.
Warning: Exposition. Lots of exposition. Though we know Tolkien loved it a lot, so it's unavoidable.
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Ruby woke up to her room glowing a soft, happy yellow as the sun tried to shine through the curtains covering her window. She yawned and then stretched, but then remembered the bed she was in was cramped for her when her legs went over the mattress, as it was made for smaller people in mind. Oh, right. I'm not in Beacon… Remnant even, anymore. I'm in Middle Earth. With Hobbits and Dwarves and Wizards… She snorted a bit. That sounds a bit like those fantasy stories I've read, or that Yang would read to me when I was younger. This time there is a dragon guarding the gold at the end though.
And possibly a way home there, she thought as she got off the bed and stretched to get the kinks out of her body. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have a ready change of clothing available for her as she wasn't ready to be thrown into a different world (and honestly, who is?) so she needed to sleep in her normal combat attire. Obviously she took off what she could though since she didn't particularly want to be sleeping on her spare clips again. Mountain Glen was a learning experience in that mistake. That was one reason she woke up when Zwei did his thing.
Ruby opened the curtains and blinked when the sun finally rushed in. "Wow, what a beautiful morning," she said aloud in slight awe. The land looked even better than at night, now that she could actually see what it really looked like. The inn they were staying at wasn't very large, and it was only two stories. They had paid to use practically half of it since there were so many of them and they had to rent an extra room for Ruby, as they had the sense of mind not to room with her. Gandalf had left them at some point last night, and Ruby didn't know where he went. He'll probably turn up sometime before we go.
But back to the outside, the fields were glittering in the morning light, brought about by the morning dew hanging on everything. It was a lush green that she only found in cultured gardens and pictures taken from outside the kingdoms, outside the walls and protections. Patch had a different atmosphere that was closer to this one, as it was wilder and more natural than the city, but still held a little something different so that you could never truly relax. This place definitely had a good feeling though. One could say that it was good for the soul.
Ruby absentmindedly took out her scroll and snapped a picture of the scene. Though as lovely as this looks, I do want to get back home, Ruby thought as she turned away from the window. Today's when we set off to the Lonely Mountain… Whoa, okay, I'm suddenly realizing I'm under prepared for this journey. It's going to be a long trip and I practically have nothing except school supplies and- oh thank Oum I have my emergency cleaning kit with me, she interrupted her own thoughts… It happens. She looked through her bag, pulling out everything… Only two extra clips, so that's seventy-five bullets I have available. And no way to resupply… Dang it. Oh well, it could always be worse. And I mean that in the ironic 'I actually don't want that to happen' way.
She put on the garments that she had taken off like her cloak and laced her combat boots, getting ready. Ruby thought back to the distance she had to travel and started separating out the items from her bag that she probably would need, and the things that she didn't. Various notebooks and miscellaneous items were the first to go. Ruby knew that they would just be added weight with no practical use (save for kindling), and even with Aura protecting her from chafing it would still be uncomfortable. She kept a few pens and pencils though, and surprisingly she found her journal inside of her bag. When did I put that in there? Oh, right, Weiss forced us to clean the room a bit and I must have just tossed it in to get it out of the way.
Getting a thought, she opened it up and started writing, basically getting down what happened yesterday and the story leading up to that point. It took up three pages, but it was worth it. Once she was finished, she closed the book just as there was a hefty knock on the door. "You awake in there, lassie?" Came one of the Dwarves' gruff voices.
"Yep!" Ruby responded and went over to the door, revealing Gloin. "We're heading out?" She asked.
"Soon, after breakfast" the dwarf replied. "Balin wants to give you yer contract, and Thorin wants to talk to ya again."
Ruby nodded. "Alright, can do. I'll be down in a moment." Gloin grunted and walked off. Ruby turned around and repacked the stuff and decided to leave the rest of it on the bed with a note that read 'I have no use for these so do what you like with them. -R.R' She looked at the pile. Hopefully I don't cause too much trouble with leaving these here. Though I doubt I need my Grimm studies book.
She slid the backpack over her cloak and then left her room, heading downstairs to where the smell of food was. She found most of the Dwarves loitering around the dining room, some talking, others eating or drinking. Thorin looked up at her colorful entrance and motioned her over. Ruby came over and sat down across from him at the small table. "Good morning," she greeted.
Thorin nodded. "Morning," he said gruffly. Maybe he's not a morning person? Ruby wanted to believe that rather than this was just his normal state of grumpiness. Quickly there was another plate of food that was placed in front of her from a Hobbit server, and after she thanked him she started eating politely, waiting for Thorin to speak further.
"Miss Rose," Thorin said, breaking the silence between the two.
"Uh, yeah? I mean, yes?"
"I want to reaffirm your resolve to accompany us on our quest. While I trust the word of my fellow kinsman and the wizard, you must understand that I still hold reservations about your ability."
Ruby sighed. He won't let this go now will he? "I do want to go with you. For one: it's the right thing to do, and another, there may be a way for me to go back to my home. And as for my ability… well, you may think I'm small and helpless, but when the time comes, you'll see what a Huntress can do," Ruby said with a smirk. Quoting song lyrics is a guilty pleasure of mine.
Thorin grunted, then said, "If you're resolute then. Balin!" He shouted to call the Dwarf over.
The white haired Dwarf came over with a long paper, the one that he was working on last night. "Finished it up this mornin'. Standard pay, usual hazards, the normal for this sort of thing."
Ruby gave it a glance over. Reminds me a bit of the formal mission parameters Uncle Qrow gets from the Kingdom… or now that I think about it, Weiss' family's company, when they give him one. Ruby looked inside her bag and brought out a pen, only to see that Balin had offered her a quill with ink on it. "Oh, uh, thank you," Ruby said awkwardly, quickly putting away the pen in her pocket and taking the offered instrument. She signed her name, wincing internally at the inkblots she made, but it was legible. -Ruby Rose.
Balin took it and looked at her signature, then said, "Welcome to the company."
Ruby smiled in return. Balin then asked a question. "If I may, what was that device you pulled out just then?"
"Oh this?" Ruby pulled out the pen and clicked it. "It's a pen. It, uh, has the ink inside of it." With movements she had perfected through repetition while being bored in class, she unscrewed it and showed him the ink cartridge.
Balin took it and examined it. "Fascinating. Is this a unique item where you're from?"
"No actually, it's quite common." Ruby took it back and screwed the pen together and stowed it away in her bag.
"That's another thing," Thorin spoke again, "where do you exactly hail from? I don't believe I caught the name of your home."
"Uhh… that's a long story," Ruby tried to stall to come up with a good answer. "I'm from a kingdom called Vale-"
"Dale?" Balin asked, mishearing.
"No, Vale with a 'V'," Ruby corrected, "In a land called Remnant… far, far away…"
"Then how did you come by here?"
"Like I said, long story…" I guess I should tell them at some point where exactly I'm from… But maybe once we've gotten further on the road… and maybe if Bilbo joins us. "And I will tell you… just not today since we don't have time. Plus I'd rather not like to repeat myself several times so I'd rather do it with everyone around," Ruby added with an apologetic smile.
Thorin looked at her for a moment before giving a nod and going back to his meal. Balin smiled back at Ruby. "Whatever the case, we could always use more hands and weapons. Whenever you feel the time to do so, just let us know."
"Okay, I'll do that," Ruby agreed and Balin walked off. Thorin nodded and also left, leaving Ruby to eat by herself. After a few minutes she was done and, not knowing what to do, took the plate and utensils back to the counter. She saw there was a pile there already and just placed them with the rest. Okay, now, to find out if there are any extra supplies I can get.
She walked out of the inn and found the other Dwarves near the stables, and Ruby had to stop and look at the horses. As a young girl, she stereotypically wanted a pony as a birthday or Yuletide gift (granted she wanted to ride it into battle while killing Grimm, but that's not important right now), but on Remnant they were rare. Like herself, others before her had thought to use horses in their wars against the Grimm until the Grimm eventually started hunting them, learning what they were to humans, unlike other animals that they normally left alone. They weren't extinct, but they were getting there, and efforts were being made to save them.
So understandably, seeing this many of the equestrian animals had Ruby a little dumbstruck and awed. "Wow."
Her little comment caught the attention of Fili, who was making sure the horses, or closer to ponies, were ready, and turned to her. "What do you need Miss Rose? You're coming with us right?" He asked.
"Yeahp," Ruby answered, popping the 'p'. "I came down here to ask if there was an extra sleeping bag and other supplies, since I don't have anything for a long journey."
"Oh yeah, sure. There should be an extra bag or two somewhere," Fili said and started going through the packs. His brother Kili, and three other Dwarves came in and started to get their packs together and on their horses.
"Here," Fili said and tossed a bed roll at her, which she gracefully caught and then started tying it to the bottom of her backpack using the straps provided for something like this very reason. "Thanks!" It's a little bulkier than my sleeping bag, but oh well. What's that saying, beggars can't be picky? She stood up and tested the backpack's weight, and it wasn't that much heavier than before.
Thankfully for her, there wasn't much more that the Dwarves gave her since most of the baggage was on one pony save for other things the Dwarves kept themselves, like personal bags.
It was around this time that Gandalf reappeared on his own horse. "Ah, there you are Gandalf!" Nori exclaimed. "We were beginning to wonder where you were since we're almost ready to depart."
"And I arrived precisely when I meant to," Gandalf replied as he dismounted and walked over, staff in hand. He looked around, "Where's Thorin?"
"Right here," the Dwarf said as he just now walked up to them, Balin and Dwalin at his side.
"Ah, good," Gandalf nodded. "Now then, our course is set, we just need to wait for Mr. Baggins to arrive-"
"No." Thorin said, interrupting Gandalf. "I won't wait for someone who may or may not come, especially if the person in question wasn't willing to join us in the first place."
Gandalf seemed taken aback at that but recovered quickly enough. "Be that as it may, I have full confidence that Mr. Baggins will come with us. I'll even bet on that outcome." That got the Dwarves' attention.
"I'll wager that he doesn't come," Gloin said.
"I'll put ten coins on that he does," Ori countered. Soon enough all the Dwarves were making wagers on if Bilbo was going to come with them.
Eventually Ruby had to chime in. "Well, I don't have any money, but I'll put part of my reward on Bilbo coming," she said. I don't think they'll take Lien… even if I had any, Ruby thought as she had spent the last of her monthly allowance on her custom ammunition. Plus, I think my letter to him should convince him to come, so the odds are stacked in my favor.
Most of the Dwarves had bet that Bilbo wouldn't come, with a few exceptions of them not betting, such as Thorin and Dwalin. Gandalf shrugged, "Well, if he does come, then everything for the better then."
"If he comes. Otherwise coming here would have been a waste of time… partly," Thorin said, glancing at Ruby, then went over to one of the horses and jumped on. "Is everything ready?" He called out.
"Aye!" The Dwarves answered in the affirmative, and with that Thorin shouted something in another language that Ruby couldn't understand. The Dwarves scrambled to their ponies and hopped on; Bombur needing to have help to get onto his, and the pony immediately protested the weight. Ruby got onto a nice sable pony after making sure her cloak wasn't being stuck under anything, but then realized something very important. I have no idea how to horse. Heck, I don't even know how to drive! I'm not old enough. And one of them has a mind of it's own! She looked over to one of the Dwarves and noticed how he got his pony to move.
Okay, I can do this, Ruby thought to herself. It's not like I'm trying to get it to do tricks or anything, she rationalized. She copied Bifur and thankfully the pony seemed to get what she wanted to do and it moved forward, following the others ahead of it. I think I can get the basics with the reigns…
She found herself closer to the back of the group as they made their way down the dirt road. Ruby's head was on a swivel trying to look at the scenery. It's so nice and green! And the air even feels alive! The group attracted a number of stares from the local Hobbits as they admittedly made quite a sight for the otherwise quiet community. But they soon went back to what they were doing, putting the odd sight out of mind.
I wonder if this would be how it would be if we didn't have to worry about the Grimm, Ruby thought, finally placing the feeling that she'd been getting from everything. It's the feeling of nothing to worry about: no dark clouds hanging over them, no immediate threat lurking behind city walls. It's… freedom, no worries. It's so different than back home…
"So then Ruby." A voice startled her out of her thoughts and she jumped a bit on her horse. She turned and saw that Gandalf had fallen back a bit to talk with her.
"Wha- oh, morning!~" Ruby greeted, getting over her surprise.
"Good morning," Gandalf repeated. "How was your first night here?"
"It was fine," Ruby nodded. "Excited to be here though. This is going to be an adventure! I can't wait to see what's going to happen."
Gandalf had an amused look on his face. "And what of returning to your home? Have you given any thought to that?"
Ruby shook her head. "Nope actually. If I gambled, then I'd bet I'd find something at the Lonely Mountain to help me, maybe some Dust." Usually that's what happens in the story, though we still need to get through the dragon at the end.
Gandalf made a humming sound. "You truly are a remarkable person Ruby." Okay…? "So then, are your going to tell your tale to the Dwarves, of your being from Remnant?"
Ruby thought for a moment. I will have to tell them. It's never good to keep secrets from the people you're with; I'm looking, or rather thinking of you Blake. It never works out in the end. She nodded, "Yeah, I will. Maybe later tonight or something. I just don't know how they'll take it," she admitted.
"There may be some surprise at first, and distrust, since they are Dwarves," Gandalf added in a conspiratorial whisper, "but I think that they'll accept that and move on, getting to know you for you."
Ruby smiled and said, "I hope so." Gandalf nodded in return and moved up to the front of their caravan. They continued on for a few more minutes and the Dwarves started grumbling about having to come here in the first place before they heard someone shouting from behind them.
"Wait! Waaait!"
Thorin called for a halt and they turned to see who it was. Ruby couldn't help the smile that formed as she saw Bilbo with a pack on running after them waving the contract around in his hand.
Oh, wait, how do I stop? Ruby had a momentary panic before she just pulled on the reigns, thankfully making the pony halt. Bilbo finally caught up to them and held up the contract. "I signed it!" He said breathlessly, then handed it to Balin for inspection.
Balin took a look at it and said, "Everything appears to be in order. Welcome Master Baggins to the company of Thorin Oakenshield." The Dwarves chuckled good-heartedly and Ruby gave a light applause.
Thorin however wasn't as amused and just ordered, "Give him a pony."
That got Bilbo's attention and he tried to protest that it wasn't necessary, and rambled that he could just keep up with them on foot before the Dwarven brothers picked him up off of the ground and plopped him on their second baggage pony. He hesitantly took the reigns, looking severely uncomfortable. "Oh, okay, no, this is fine, thank you. I'm sure I could, ah, get used to this!... This won't be a long trip right? A week at most right?"
Ruby chuckled and moved up next to him. "It's not all that bad. This is my first time as well," she gestured to the pony.
"I'll have you know that Hobbits like to stay firmly on the ground, thank you very much," Bilbo said. "And I can only blame you for this. Or partially at any rate."
"Me?" Ruby was taken aback for a moment at the vinegar before she remembered. "Oh, so you read my letter then?" She smirked a bit, amused at his disgruntlement
"Yes, and I have a feeling I'll be wishing that I was back at home with a fire and a kettle going many times during this thing, quest," Bilbo bemoaned, as to which Ruby giggled again. They continued on for a minute or two, enough time for Gandalf to move back to them as well.
Eventually, Oin called out, "Come on Nori, pay up!" The Dwarf in question tossed a sack of, presumably, coins at the Dwarf, who caught it.
Kili chimed in, "One more!" Another bag was tossed, and quickly bags were flying around.
"Hey, Ruby, how much did you bet again?" Dori called out.
"Uhh, I don't have any money on me, so I bet part of my share, though it's fine, you don't need to give me anyt-" Ruby cut off as she snatched a small bag out of the air.
"Bah, good call. This'll last you for a while," the Dwarf said, and then paid no attention to her again.
Well okay, I have some money now… Ruby looked inside the bag and saw there were a couple gold and silver coins inside. I wonder it this is the real metal. Vale and the other kingdoms also used metal for currency before Lien. I could sell it when I get back, she chuckled to herself as she put it inside her pack.
Gandalf was explaining what all the betting was about to Bilbo and the Hobbit asked, "And what did you think?"
Gandalf waited a moment. "Well…" He then caught a bag that was headed towards him and tossed it a bit. "My dear fellow, I never doubted you for a second."
Bilbo seemed mollified at that and then turned back to Ruby. "And you also thought I woul-woul-" He broke off and sneezed.
"Bless you," Ruby said automatically.
"Ah, it's horse hair. Having a reaction," Bilbo said, looking around in his pockets.
"Oh…" No wonder why he didn't want to get on a horse, Ruby reasoned.
Bilbo groaned as he couldn't find what he was looking for. "Wait, wait, stop! Stop! We have to turn around," Bilbo called out. Everyone halted, mainly out of curiosity of what was causing his aggravation. Ruby once again fumbled with the reigns before getting her pony to stop.
"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf asked exasperatedly.
"I forgot my handkerchief."
Ruby blinked and tried to hold back a snort at the absurdity of it. Bofur however, provided a… unique solution. "Here!" He ripped a piece of clothing off and tossed the rag back to the Hobbit. "Use this." Now Ruby did laugh, both at the solution and the look of disgust on Bilbo's face as he held the rag.
After the Dwarves had a laugh, Thorin called, "Move on," ignoring Bilbo.
They started going on again and Gandalf started talking to Bilbo, "You'll have to manage without pocket handkerchiefs and a good many other things, Bilbo Baggins, before we reach our journey's end. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home will soon be behind you. The world is ahead. Comfort will be scarce, but there will be many wonders to behold on the road that will make up for that. So enjoy this time."
Bilbo looked unconvinced and stated so. "Sometimes I wonder if you're trying to secretly dissuade me from this."
"You'll be fine," Ruby reassured him. "We'll look out for you." Or at least I and Gandalf will… Gandalf and I, Ruby mentally corrected, hearing imaginary Weiss in her head berating her about proper grammar.
Time passed and the Dwarves spent their time merrily, singing songs and telling stories, and they only stopped when it was time to eat. Ruby was glad that they took breaks as her legs were getting saddle sore and needed to walk around quite a bit to readjust to normal. They passed through grasslands and small woods, sometimes going up and down small canyons made by streams going through them. The entire time they were traveling Ruby strangely hadn't been asked any questions, and was only involved in small talk.
Though there was one time when Oin asked her what it was like in her land and she replied that it was better if everyone could hear her story at once. He nodded and then (basically) ignored her, making her feel left out, much like Bilbo seemed to be, though he was in a better mood than before, or hiding it better.
Eventually they stopped at the edge of Hobbit lands at a small inn as the daylight was dying and they rented rooms again, Ruby paying for her own once she was educated on what the coins were worth and how the amounts worked out. Unfortunately there wasn't an opportunity for her to tell her own story as the Dwarves split up immediately after eating for their rooms. Gandalf gave her a knowing look and she shrugged and hid under her hood from the stare.
The second and several following days were much like the first with Ruby unfortunately not having the right or opportune time to tell her story, or rather all of it.
She had discovered that her Scroll's battery life was slowly dying, as she was taking pictures every so often, and she turned off most of the functions like the phone and Wi-Fi capabilities to save power. Thankfully the Dust that powered her Scroll could go quite a bit before needing to be recharged, and the battery even longer, as she had the Huntress brand which was made to last long periods of time for Hunters in the Grimmlands. She was sitting at around 82% battery life presently.
I really want to make this last, Ruby thought as she discreetly put away her Scroll after taking another picture of their journey. But on the other hand, I want to keep taking pictures and videos when I want. She had been keeping up with her journal and she had found out on the third day that the calendar was about the same, but it was May here instead of September.
It was on the fourth day when she had been talking with the Dwarves about their metalwork that her opportunity came. She was thankful they finally had a common interest in weapons and struck up a conversation. She had begun talking with them about different ways of forging metal and she made a comment about how she used the special burn Dust they had to fuel the forges at Signal to make the blade for her sweetheart.
"Your what?" Kili asked, as he was part of the conversation.
"Oh, Crescent Rose, my scythe," she answered as she stood up (they were taking a much needed break from riding) and brought out her sniper scythe. Once again the Dwarves and one Hobbit jumped back at the sudden appearance of such a large weapon, though the ones that had seen it before recovered a little quicker. Bilbo, Thorin, Balin, Dwalin, and the brothers both had wide eyes as Ruby held her scythe.
"How did you do that?" Bilbo ventured a question.
"What? It's just basic Mechashift operating on a larger and more precise ratio of mass-to-area, though mine goes to the third power linear instead of the more common and simpler second, though it would be nice to get it to the fourth multi-planar like Coco's minigun, but that just means more and smaller gears which I really don't nee…d…" she trailed off as she realized she had lost the Dwarves. She smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I get carried away when talking about weapons. I built this myself," she bragged.
"How?" Dwalin asked. "I've been to many a forge throughout the lands and have never seen anything like this accomplished, not mentioning the fine, precise craftsmanship needed to make that. Nor have I seen anything move like that outside of siege engines."
Ruby opened her mouth, but then shut it, thinking. Actually, this gives me the perfect opening to tell my story. I guess it's now or never. Ruby decided to put away her weapon and braced herself. Then she started talking. "Well uh, that actually relates to my tale and where I'm from. And I'd like to share that with you all right now, now that I have an opportunity."
"This should be good," Bofur said, situating himself as did the other Dwarves. She almost flinched when everyone stared at her at once, but Ruby drew upon her inner 'Team Leader' role and continued.
Once they seemed ready, Ruby took a glance over at Gandalf, who gave a reassuring nod. She returned it then took a breath. "I'm not actually from here, or Middle Earth rather. I'm from a kingdom called Vale on… another world named Remnant." Like a Band-Aid, just rip it off.
Silence. "Now hold on there lass," Gloin finally said. "What do you mean 'another world?'"
"Ah, well, exactly that," Ruby said. "I'm from a completely different world. I looked at the maps of here and none of them are familiar, and where I'm from we've mapped out the world. And there are other things as well."
"Like what?" Bilbo asked, one of the few that seemed like they would give her a chance at explaining.
"Well, for one, the moon for my world is shattered, not whole like the one in the night sky here. Also, there are no Hobbits, or Dwarves, and the only dragons and wizards are in fairy tales."
"That's absurd," Dwalin said, making the other Dwarves scoff in agreement.
"Well that's the truth. The only other kind of people are Faunus, and they have animal features like a tail or extra ears." The Dwarves grumbled again at this, split once again between belief and the disbelief options. Though Bilbo and Gandalf seemed to be paying the most attention.
"So… these… Faunus? they can have, like, cat ears?" Bilbo asked, putting his hands on his head to symbolize extra ears.
Ruby giggled to herself and nodded. "One of my teammates is actually a cat Faunus and has really cute kitty ears." Too bad she doesn't take off the bow more often. Even in our room she doesn't often. It's kinda sad actually. Ruby looked around and saw that more Dwarves were doubtful of her than open minded. What can I do to prove that I'm from a different world… that's a sentence you don't think of every day.
She put her hands down and into her pockets. What do I have he- "Ah, how about this?" She said aloud as she pulled out her scroll. She turned it on and showed them it. I think I can use battery power for this.
"What's that?" Balin asked, looking lightly awed at the glowing screen, as did the other Dwarves.
"This is a scroll, and I can do a bunch of things with it, but mainly it's a communications device. If a CCT were here I could use it to talk to someone far away as long as they had another one of these. I also can take pictures and videos."
"Vi-dos?" Bombur tried to say.
"Uhh, think of it as a moving picture with sound," Ruby explained as she pressed a couple buttons. "Here. This is from the night we were in Bilbo's house." She hit play and turned up the volume, then showed them the video she took of them singing in Bilbo's house. As it played she was once again treated with the sight of dropped jaws in astonishment.
"How can you do that? Is it magic?" Ori asked.
"Nope," Ruby chirped. "It's technology, the same that allowed me to build Crescent Rose. My Scroll is common in Remnant, and is actually one of the smaller things we can do."
The Dwarves started talking and what started as a murmur gradually grew until they were talking over one another. Ruby couldn't make out anything in the chaos, and Thorin didn't seem eager to stop them. So Ruby decided to go to the extreme side to get their attention. She grabbed Crescent Rose and twirled it like a baton, planting the point in a stone on the ground, cracking it all the way and getting the blade in about five inches deep.
The loud sound and the unexpectedness of such a large weapon appearing so close to them caused the Dwarves to fall silent. "Thank you," Ruby said, a hint of mocking in her voice now. She gave a tug and pulled the blade out of the ground. I'll have to sharpen my sweetheart pretty soon at this rate. "Please, if you have questions, ask them one at a time.
"I'll relit- reiter- uhh, I'll repeat myself," Ruby gave up on the word she was trying to say, "I am from a different world, and have no clue what is here, but that doesn't mean I'm different than you, and I still want to help you on your quest."
She sat down and looked at the Dwarves' bursting faces. "So… questions?"
It ended up that they needed to get up and move on as they would have taken the whole day asking questions just sitting there. Once past the initial distrust and skepticism, they practically hounded her with questions. She explained what Aura and Semblances were, and demonstrated by running to a distant rock outcropping and back in the span of a few seconds, leaving a trail of rose petals, making some realize the link between her name and her power now.
She explained exactly what sort of weapons they had and used, and went into detail about firearms, which the Dwarves were excited to learn about after she demonstrated on the same rock outcrop and shattered a nicely sized boulder from about a hundred fifty yards away (scared the ponies with the sound and they needed to spend time calming them down, with Ruby apologizing quite a bit). She also told them what sort of buildings and other creations they had. They were shocked to learn that they could fly in 'metal birds' and had 'metal people' to protect them.
But then Fili asked the question, "What do you need protecting from? Sounds like you have it easy." Some of the Dwarves nodded in agreement.
Ruby nodded and explained. "Well, on my world, Humans and Faunus have only Four Kingdoms on the entire planet. Only four major cities. The rest of the world is overrun by the Creatures of Grimm."
"Grimm?" Bilbo asked, who was next to her again as they were riding.
"They're soulless creatures that kill anyone they can. Mainly black with white armored plates that grow with age. The older a Grimm, the stronger, tougher, bigger, and more intelligent they get." Too bad I left my Grimm Studies notebook back at the Shire, otherwise I'd show them some of the pictures in there. "Long ago they almost destroyed humanity, but we found Dust and used it to fight them back and make civilizations. And now it's up to the Hunters and Huntresses to kill the Grimm wherever they show up, to become the people on the front lines to confront the darkness. That's what I'm training to become, so I can help people. Plus they're crazy strong and way better than the police…" Ruby trailed off. "Anyway, yeah…" She finished a little lamely.
"That sounds like a tale from the First Age," Nori commented.
"I have no idea what that means so I'm just going to say sure," Ruby nodded.
"It's the beginning age of history for our world, during the time of Beleriand, before it was sundered," Gandalf spoke, adding in his knowledge. "We are currently in the two thousandth, nine hundred and forty first year of the Third Age."
Whoa, that's a long time, Ruby thought. It's only 80NVC*1 back home, and recorded history only goes back another thousand-ish years before the new calendar. I do pay attention to Prof- Doctor Oobleck's class… okay, some attention. I wonder if they could have all that history because they don't have Grimm breathing down their necks?
"What's this 'Dust' you mentioned?" She broke out of her thoughts at Dori's question.
"Huh? Oh, uhh, Dust is… I guess kind of magic," she said. "They're like magic crystals or powder that has the elements in it. Fire, lightning, energy, almost everything we have is powered by it" wow, I sound like Weiss now, "Nature's Wrath is the more poetic name for it, but without it, we (as in humanity) wouldn't have survived.
"It's also what caused me to end up here," she admitted, "in an accident which totally wasn't my fault. So… that's sorta' the reason why I want to come with you, so I can hopefully find more Dust and get back home."
"So you're also looking to get back to your Kingdom as well," Thorin spoke for the first time in a while. "And you hope to find this Dust in Erebor?"
Ruby nodded and said, "Yep. While this adventure may be fun, there's something about home and family."
"Aye, don't we know it," Balin agreed, the other Dwarves nodding.
"But I do want to get the chance to have some fun here as well. This is almost like a fairy tale back home!" That got some chuckles from the Dwarves and Gandalf.
"Ah, that's the spirit lassie," Balin agreed.
"How could we not have found Dust before?" Nori wondered aloud. "We've mined through most of the mountain and if it were there, we would have found it and used it."
Ruby shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not the specialist of the group, but I think it has something to do with Aura, and Dust reacting to it? I'm not quite sure. Maybe there is and maybe there isn't. We'll find out when we get there." And I'll know because I have a sensitivity to it… heh… heh… me and my stupid nose…
A few days later Ruby's enthusiasm was beginning to wane a tad. It had been a week and a half since she had arrived in Middle Earth and they were apparently not even halfway to the halfway to the halfway to the halfway point, or halfway to the 4th power. They weren't even close to the Misty Mountains that basically divided Middle Earth in half when she saw where they were pointing to on the map they had with them. Though she could see them in the very far distance, like a giant wall against the horizon. And they needed to get over that.
Though she kinda expected and rationalized it a bit, she was still slightly let down when nothing interesting had happened so far. No bandits, no creatures, just lots of admittedly beautiful scenery, and that was starting to become duller and bleaker as they started getting into the 'Lone-lands' and the Dwarves called it. Not that she was complaining, but she was starting to get that itch of missing combat. Or maybe it was just the pony hair on her legs.
There was a different air to this place and Ruby started relating it to being back on Patch, or at least in the heavily wooded areas away from the populated cities and towns on the island. Those were the areas that the Grimm just loved. As they rode along, they passed by ruins of castles and fortresses and they reminded Ruby of the ruins that are in the Emerald Forest… or were there at any rate. Some looked like they were nice places at one time, but others she was glad they were ruins as they looked like they once housed dark denizens in them.
Then came a day where they weren't able to stay in an inn at all as they were deep in the wilds now, and so needed to sleep outside. They had found a nice nook in a rock wall and set up camp, getting a fire and food going. They had a rather hearty meal and eventually set up a watch, Ruby was going later in the night. Some of the Dwarves were still up and others were dead asleep.
I'm thankful that I had a separate room in all those inns because that snoring is worse than Yang's on a bad night, Ruby thought as she rolled over in her sleeping bag to try and get some shut eye. She heard someone give a huff and then get up, obviously not trying to do the same as her. Ruby sighed herself and tried to drift off, paying more attention to the nightly noises.
Guttural cries in the distance made her give up on that idea and she sat up in surprise. "What was that?" She heard Bilbo ask in wariness.
"Orcs," Kili answered.
"Orcs?" Ruby asked, echoed by Bilbo at the same time. The camp seemed to jerk awake from its slumber and many turned their attention to the distant gloom, trying to see these Orcs.
"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there," Fili answered. When Ruby looked at him, he had a nonchalant look as he went back to his pipe. "The lone-lands are crawling with them."
Kili then took over from where his brother left off. "They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood." Ruby didn't like the look on their faces and was proven correct in her assumption when they started chuckling at the poor Hobbit's expense.
"You think that's funny?" Thorin spoke, full of ire, cutting off their amusement. "You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?"
"We didn't mean anything by it," Kili mumbled, quelled.
"No you didn't," Thorin almost spat as he walked to the edge of camp. "You know nothing of the world."
Ruby looked after Thorin. Where did that come from?
"Don't mind him, laddie," Balin spoke to the brothers. "Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs."
"Sorry, but what exactly are Orcs?" Ruby asked.
"Some say they were Elves once, but were twisted by the Great Enemy," Balin explained. "They're foul creatures who are man-like, and love nothing more than to kill and destroy." So they're like the Grimm of this world then, Ruby drew a parallel to her own world.
"After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thrór tried to reclaim the ancient Dwarf kingdom of Moria." For some reason, the name made Ruby shiver. "But the Orcs had got there first, overrunning it with their legions led by the most vile of their race: Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin," he turned to Ruby and explained, "the eldest and greatest of the seven Dwarven lines, which Thorin is one of the last decedents.
"Azog began his vow by beheading the king," Balin choked a moment at that, in remembrance. "Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He became fixated on Erebor, but he went missing soon after the battle when he set off with only a few companions. If he was taken prisoner or killed we do not know. After the King was killed, we became leaderless and the battle turned into a rout with the Dwarves demoralized. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him," Balin changed tone and nodded over to Thorin. "A young Dwarf prince facing down the pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe. His armor rent wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. He wounded the pale Orc and our forces rallied, driving the Orcs back, finally defeating our foes.
"But there was no feast nor song that night" Balin continued, "for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived, and I thought to myself then as I saw Thorin, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call king."
Ruby looked back at Thorin and noticed almost everyone standing, looking at Thorin with in awe and respect. Thorin turned back to then and returned into the ring. "And the pale Orc? What happened to him?" Bilbo asked.
"He slunk back into the hole whence he came," Thorin growled. "That filth died of his wounds long ago."
"And… what of Moria? Did you get it back?" Ruby then asked.
Balin sighed. "After the Battle of Azanulbizar we were all too few to reclaim and hold our ancient halls. We had beaten our enemy, but a darker force dwelled within. Durin's Bane. The reason we lost Khazad-Dûm so long ago. Dain refused to enter, and none disagreed, for we did not want to suffer more losses against a foe that was greater than the one we had just fought." He looked off into the distance. "One day, we will reclaim our halls and return Moria to its glory… but we must look to Erebor first, and the night is growing longer. We should rest."
The Dwarves broke out of the slight funk they were in and went back to their sleeping rolls. Ruby looked at Bilbo who seemed to be thinking deeply before he too went to his own mat. Ruby crept back into her own bag and lay there thinking as well. They won, but accomplished nothing except to lessen the Orcs there. Much like us and the Grimm… this world isn't too different from mine I guess. But I wonder what it would be like to be in a battle like that?... I actually don't want to know, she decided, not wanting to see that kind of fighting.
She sighed and rolled over, closing her eyes, trying to sleep, blocking out the sounds around her. She fell asleep gradually, and when she did, she dreamed of battles and flames, and white Grimm. Ruby was interrupted when she was woken up hours later for her part of the watch, which was uneventful and went back to sleep after it was over, having no more dreams the rest of the night.
They continued on the next day and the next few days grew slightly colder until one day the skies opened up and it started raining, much to the disgruntlement of everyone. Even the ponies seemed to be a little less upbeat. Ruby put her hood up to keep her head somewhat dry. Good thing I got this water proofed. The rest of her slowly got soaked as the rain kept coming.
Eventually Dori shouted out, "Here, Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Oh right, he is a Wizard… apparently, Ruby thought. I haven't seen him use any magic though… well, aside from that time he lit his pipe without a match, she just remembered.
"It is raining Master Dwarf and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world you should find yourself another Wizard," Gandalf responded.
Another? Huh, so there are other Wizards then. Wish we had one of those weather changing ones here… and it isn't even proper rain! I can still see the sun! I wonder if Dust could affect the weather like this…
"Are there any?" Bilbo's voice called out to Gandalf.
"What?"
"Other Wizards."
"There are five of us," Gandalf said. "The greatest of our order is Saruman the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards…" he trailed off for a moment. "Do you know I've quite forgotten their names," he said, sounding mildly surprised at that.
Ruby blinked in surprise at that. That's like forgetting the names of your teammates. "So I guess you don't see each other often then?" She asked.
"No, not often. Very rarely do we meet and only for extremely urgent matters that need to be resolved. It's been quite a while since we've had a full order meeting."
There was a pause, then Bilbo asked, "And who is the fifth?"
"Ah, well that would be Radagast the Brown."
"Is he a great Wizard, or is he more like you?" Ooooh, burn. Not very nice Bilbo, but good burn.
"I think he's a very great Wizard… in his own way," Gandalf said, sounding mildly slighted. "He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forestlands to the east. And a good thing too. For always evil will look to find a foothold in this world. We, the Wizards, are the watchers of this land, trying to root out where the Enemy may hide in wait."
Ruby had to ask, hearing it being talked about a couple of times. "And… who is the enemy?"
Lightning flashed and thunder roared like vengeful beasts, causing the Dwarves and company to cringe and try to get the ponies from bolting. "It would be wise, Miss Ruby Rose, to not talk about such things, especially here in these less than happy lands," Gandalf said after they regained their hearing.
"Sorry…" Ruby appologized, subdued. She wasn't entirely convinced the thunder and lightning were coincidental, and that made it all the more frightening. Who is this enemy?
Fortunately with that last bark, the storm seemed to loose its bite (dang it Yang) and a short time later the rain petered off and the sun started shining again. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the constant sound of the rain hitting their cloaks and baggage faded, and they could start to dry off.
Ruby had to unfortunately admit though; it was about as much as a shower as she had gotten in a while, and the best way to wash her clothes. Since they had been moving continuously more or less, she hadn't been able to get a good full-body rinse in (and going to the bathroom was an experience and a half…), though there had been a few rivers and streams that she went by herself to freshen up a bit, just without soap or shampoo. Let's just say that it's been… interesting without warm water and a Dust powered washing machine and leave it at that.
Another week had passed and they were approaching the end of May and were closer to the Misty Mountains. It was noticeable as the air was getting just a bit thinner than before and they were starting to go uphill more often than not.
At the end of one day they came across the shambles of a house, one that looked abandoned for a while at the top of a small incline. Thorin stopped and turned his pony around and addressed the group, "We'll camp here for the night."
Ruby sighed in relief as she slid off her pony, Glimmer she had learned the ironic name, as it had been another long day that seemed to go longer than others. Gandalf went to inspect the former house. "Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them," Thorin started giving out orders. "Oin, Gloin, Get a fire going."
People started unloading their gear and Ruby set down her pack which was slightly heavier now as they had stockpiled on food and needed to split it, keeping an eye on Bombur to make sure he didn't eat all of his already. Ruby heard Gandalf say, "I think it would be wiser to move on. We could make for the Hidden Valley." Ruby saw that Thorin had went over to the Wizard and they seemed to start arguing.
Ruby put it aside for now, focusing on unloading the things and taking care of her pony, but then Gandalf stormed past them all after a moment. "Everything all right?" Bilbo asked, but didn't receive a reply. "Gandalf, where are you going?"
"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense," he said gruffly.
"And who's that?"
"Myself, Mr. Baggins!" He snapped back at the Hobbit. Then he muttered to himself, "I've had enough of Dwarves for one day."
Ruby looked back and forth from Gandalf and Thorin, who seemed to ignore Gandalf's outburst. "Come on Bombur, we're hungry."
"Is he coming back?" Bilbo asked Balin, who's only response was to shrug.
"He'll come back," Ruby answered Bilbo. "He just needs some time to cool down before he says something he really doesn't mean." Yang has the same strategy when she's upset; I've seen it enough times. Though when it is really bad… well, it's a good thing Dad has a big paycheck from teaching at Signal to pay for all those punching bags. "He'll be back. When, is a different story." Though considering the look on Thorin's face, he may leave before he comes back.
They unloaded their gear and set up camp, getting a fire started, with Bombur making a nice smelling stew. That was another thing; Ruby had to admit she started to grow accustomed to the food here, since there wasn't anything else really, and it was pretty good, if a little light on the seasoning. One thing she did miss though was cookies… or just sugar in general. She wasn't an addict to the stuff no matter how much or often she ate them, but it did help with her Semblance a bit, to give her some extra energy. Just one of the little quirks she had.
It had become night and everyone was still eating or just relaxing after another day. However there was still no sign of the grey Wizard and he had been gone for several hours already. I know he's coming back, but I would like it if he did so sooner rather than later, Ruby thought to herself as she had another spoonful of stew.
Bilbo had the same thoughts as he was staring, searching for the Wizard. Ruby went over to him. "Hey, he'll be back, don't worry," she said reassuringly.
"But he's been gone a while. What if he left for good?" Bilbo asked.
"I doubt that," Ruby said. "He just needed to cool his head a bit."
"For a couple hours?" Bilbo retorted.
Ruby opened her mouth, but then clicked it shut. He is right. As much as I think Gandalf can take care of himself it has been a while… He couldn't have gone far, right?
She shrugged to herself. "Okay. I could go looking for him if you want."
"Huh? Well, that's very generous of you Miss Rose-"
"Call me Ruby," she interrupted him.
"Ruby," Bilbo nodded slowly. "That's generous of you, but it's really not that much of a concern."
"Nah, it's fine. I don't have much to do anyway. Plus I need to stretch my legs a bit. Been a while since I ran." Ruby went back over to her pack and got her sweetheart then went back over to Bilbo and announced to the camp, "I'm going to go look for Gandalf. I'll be back in a bit!" She didn't wait for a response before she crouched and then took off sprinting, knowing she was leaving behind a trail of rose petals.
In the world of her Semblance, things slowed down marginally and she could think faster of what needed to be done. When she first started using her speed, everything was normal, she just moved faster and had run into quite a few walls trying to test it.
But now she had vastly more control over her Semblance and the environment was more open than the walls of Signal, so she went for a good two minutes before stopping. "Ahh that felt good!" Ruby exclaimed, glad to just run. She looked around, the moon providing enough light so she could see around her, though she didn't have Faunus night vision, so it wasn't the best.
"Okay, so… if I were a wizard, where would I be?" Ruby wondered aloud. After a minute of thinking and just walking forward she said, "Yep, I have no clue." So where should I start? What did they say about basic tracking in Signal? Uhhh… something about footsteps? Indents in the grass? Broken branches? No wait, that was mainly to find injured Grimm. Drat! Blake would probably be way better at this. She's like a ninja, plus she's a Faunus as well. I wish I had my team with me. Or that I was just back home.
With no clear direction, she started walking and jogging, switching in-between the two to cover more ground in a basic search pattern. And by basic, meaning the only one she remembered.
This time left her alone, which was a first for a while, meaning that she could think and she took a moment to recap. I've been here about a month already… I hope Weiss, Blake, and Yang, and my dad aren't going frantic looking for me. They must be worried sick. Weiss probably is secretly blaming herself… I wish I could get back sooner so they wouldn't worry anymore about me. Maybe they've found out that I'm not on Remnant anymore and are looking for ways to bring me back. I don't want them to send somebody, if that's possible, because then they'd be stuck as well.
This isn't helping Ruby. Don't think about what's happening somewhere else… Okay. So so far not much has been going on actually, except (if this were a story or movie) backstory and exposition. I sorta' want something to happen, but I also don't want to jinx it… I probably just did. But it is a change from school and having to watch out for Grimm, though apparently there's other creatures out there as well. Agh! Gandalf where are you? I want to go to sleep! Even though this was my idea!
She took a look at her Scroll for the time, which still thankfully was the same, unlike the date. Ugh, 11:56. Whatever. Gandalf can come back when he wants to. Now I just need to find my way back to camp. She took a second look at her Scroll and saw she was sitting at 67% power. Ick! She turned it off again and started heading back to the camp, definitely feeling like it was midnight.
A sudden whinny caught her by surprise and curiosity. Whose horse is that? She jogged to where she heard it and saw almost all of the ponies from the company just huddled together, visibly nervous, and definitely not at the camp where they were supposed to be. "What happened? How did they get out?" I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this.
She slowly made her way to them, careful not to startle them and gently took the reigns of one of them. "Shhh, it's okay. It's okay." She started talking to them in low, gentle tones to calm them down. I have to bring them back to camp. All seventeen of them. I think I can do two at a time, I sorta recognize where I am right now, its not that far. She grabbed another pony's reigns and started leading them back to the camp.
It took a few more minutes to lead the two back to the camp, and she found it abandoned, the fire still going. "Oh… that's not good." She quickly left the ponies inside the house as there really wasn't anywhere to tie them down and ran back to the others. She repeated this two more times before the herd mentality came into play and they started following Ruby, which made her job easier. Some time later she managed to coral all the ponies back at the camp.
"Now then… where are the rest of them?" She noticed that there were a lot of footsteps in the grass going into the woods and followed them. Then she came across where the ponies were originally kept and saw several uprooted trees. Looks like an Ursa came through here. What could do that here? She followed the tracks and saw a fire light in the distance and loud voices talking. Then she heard the unmistakable tone of Bilbo's voice, and as she came closer, could hear the Dwarves grumbling.
Ruby crept closer to the fire, trying to stay out of the light, and saw that all the Dwarves were in sacks or on a ramshackle rotisserie above the large fire. That was strange in on itself, but what drew her attention were the three large… things that obviously had the Dwarves prisoner. There were about fifteen feet high and were a motley pale brown, wearing rags and smelling something awful, even from this distance.
And apparently they were trying to… cook the Dwarves. What?
One of the things just told the other one to shut up and said, "Let the uh… flurgaburburhobbit talk."
"The uh, secret to cooking Dwarf is uhm…" Bilbo stammered out. What?! What's Bilbo doing?
"Yes? Come on." The thing prodded.
"It's uh-"
"Tell us the secret."
"Yes I'm telling you," Bilbo seemed frustrated that he was getting interrupted... but not really. As if it were an act. "The secret issss…. tooooo skin them first!" Bilbo finally said, as if he just thought of it… which he probably did. Understandably the Dwarves burst into outrage at that. Skin them? What's he trying to do? No, he has a plan, he's doing this for a reason… just what that is is up for debate.
"Tom, get me filleting knife," the thing said, wanting to test out what Bilbo said.
"What a load of rubbish!" The other creature said, the one spinning the Dwarves around above the fire. "I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scarf them, I say, boots and all!" It seemed to want to actually do that and licked its lips disgustingly.
"Ah, uh, no actually! No! No no no no, you don't want to do that! I just remembered: they're infected!" Bilbo rushed out.
"Huh?" Huh?
"They what?" The creatures seemed confused at that. Ruby was too.
"Yeah they've got worms in their… tubes." Ruby almost snorted aloud at the absurdity of that, blowing her cover. Worms in their tubes? Really? Somehow that made two of them recoil from the Dwarves. "Yes, they all have. They're all infested with parasites. It's a terrible business, I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't." Ohhhhhh I get it now! He's stalling! Trying to make time for… something.
The Dwarves started protesting, saying that they didn't have parasites, but then there was a sound of someone being hit and they fell silent. What's going on? What just happened? Ruby couldn't see from her vantage point. Then their tune changed. "I've got parasites as big as my arm!"
"Mine are the biggest parasites, I got huge parasites!" She heard Kili cry out. Ah, they caught on.
"What would you have us do then: let 'em all go?" The main creature asked sarcastically in it's gravely tone.
"Well…" Bilbo said, waning to say yes.
"You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools!"
"Fools?!"
"Ferret?!" Bilbo squawked.
"You're right," the third creature with a higher pitched voice agreed as he made his way around the fire pit. "He is making us fools. Let's just eat them now! Nothing wrong with a bit of raw Dwarf!" He suddenly grabbed Bombur and held him above his mouth. "Nice and crunchy!"
Now was the time to act as no one else could do anything in time. Ruby quickly pulled Crescent Rose out and turned it into rifle form and aimed for less than a second and then fired. Her shot went true and hit the things' arm, blowing out a chunk of it. With an anguished cry of pain, the thing dropped Bombur and clutched its arm, blood so dark it was almost black coming out of it.
Everything stopped at the suddenness of it save for the whimpering creature. Ruby stood up from her hiding spot and strode into the clearing. Now it's time to show them what a Huntress can do. "HEY! Let them go! Now!" Ruby shouted at them.
"Aaahg! What'd you do to me?!" The wounded creature shouted/whined. "Part of me arm's gone!" The other two stopped what they were doing and stalked over to her.
"A human girl? You'll pay for that you little pipsqueak!" The leader of the lot said bringing out a crude knife, or what could be considered a knife for a thing of its size.
"I'd bet she'd be nice and tender, just like that farmer's daughter," the second one said.
Ruby didn't respond, instead choosing to shift her stance and wait for the inevitable charge. They didn't disappoint as the one with the knife charged at her. Just as the Dwarves shouted a warning, as the knife was getting to close for her to avoid, Ruby activated her Semblance and jumped straight up, disappearing in a cloud of rose petals.
Let's get this started. She channeled her Aura to transform Crescent Rose automatically into its full scythe form and then fired upwards, sending her flying back to the ground, spinning as she went into a Ferris wheel of death. She made the blade cut into the shoulder of the creature and felt more resistance than she initially expected. So they're more like older Grimm with thicker hides then. Okay, that explains why my Dust round didn't turn its arm into mush. I'll adjust.
As she thought, she landed on the ground and rushed forward, her scythe a red blur as she cut into the thing's legs and lower chest multiple times, leaving multiple wounds, blood starting to gush out of the wounds. She finished her assault with a diagonal upswing across its chest, causing a large gash to appear. Sensing danger she fired into the thing's chest, causing more damage, and rolled backwards with the recoil just as the uninjured creature tried to hammer her into the ground with its fists. She cocked the gun and fired it behind her, rushing at the thing's head.
It leaned back from the approaching red blur, but not enough to prevent her blade from slicing into its face, causing its already blind eye to become unsalvageable in any form. She kicked off of its head and flew to the one with the injured arm. With a cry of rage and pain it tried to hit her with it's good arm, but she hooked the scythe around it and spun, cutting into it and making it loose the hand as she pulled and shot, severing it completely.
She continued her swing, bringing her steel-toed boots into its jaw, knocking its head back. She jumped and aimed the barrel right into its mouth and fired, flying backwards a short distance until she landed on the ground. An explosion of blood and meaty bits sprayed out of the back of its head. For a moment it teetered, and almost in slow motion the thing fell to its knees, then keeled over, dead from having its brains splattered out onto the trees behind it.
"TOM!" The one with the injured eye cried out, then in a blind rage charged at Ruby. She just calmly cocked her gun again and met his charge, shooting herself forward so that she momentarily disappeared from the visible eye, reappearing just behind the thing, holding onto the end of the pole, swinging herself back around as the point of her scythe was buried in its chest, stopping her momentum. She landed on its back and pulled, firing one-two-three times to completely pull her scythe through its chest.
She jumped back to avoid the blood spray and the thing gave a keening wail as it tried to hold itself in its skin. It was dead, as it wouldn't survive more than a few minutes yet, but hadn't finished the journey to the realm of the dead. The last one turned and if glares could kill, Ruby would have dropped.
"I'LL TAKE YOU!" It roared in anger, and started to lurch forward, hampered by its wounds.
"The dawn will take you all, and be stone to you!" A new voice called out, making them turn to look at the ring of the clearing. A figure stepped up into the light, a vey familiar one.
"Gandalf!" Ruby exclaimed.
Gandalf raised his staff and brought it down on the boulder he was standing on and split it, letting the rising sunlight stream into the clearing. As the light hit the things, they screamed as if they were being burned. There was a hissing sound, like water being poured over a fire, and their skin started cracking and turning grey. It was as if they were being turned into concrete as they slowly froze in various positions of pain and movement, even the dead one doing the same. A few seconds later, all three of them had turned to stone, one laid out on the ground as the one she shot, another curled up, kneeling, and the last still standing, but with it's hand frozen in a weird position.
The Dwarves and Bilbo were stunned at what just happened, then they burst out cheering, both for Ruby and Gandalf. "That was amazing!" "How'd you do that!" "Gandalf!" Ruby breathed out and let herself smile, slipping out of her combat frame of mind.
Soon enough, the Dwarves on the spit started talking, "I uh am getting pretty hot here!" Ori exclaimed, with Bifur also shouting something in what Ruby supposed was Dwarvish.
"Oh! Here, I can help with that!" Ruby said and brought her scythe to bear. "Brace yourselves!" She warned, then sliced the supports of the spit, causing it to go off balance and for them to roll over, out of the fire and onto the ground. They landed hard, especially the ones under all the others, but at least they wouldn't be cooked. She walked over and carefully used her scythe to cut some of the ropes so the Dwarves could get out on their own.
She noticed Gandalf had gotten down from the rocks and was helping the Dwarves in the sacks get out of them, plus Bilbo. They thanked Gandalf, but most of them swarmed Ruby and were offering her thanks and phrase, calling her 'Troll Killer.' So I guess that's what those things are-were, Trolls. They were actually not that difficult… I'd take them over Grimm every day.
"Whoa, okay, thank you!" She said over the Dwarves' congratulations, "But it wasn't really that hard! I just wish I could have been here sooner!"
"Don't be so modest," Dwalin came over and patted (smacked) her on the back. "Not everyone can go up against a Troll solo, and you went up against three!"
"Aye, that's something special," Bofur said.
Geeze, if that's how they react to this, I wonder what they would say when we fought that giant Nevermore during initiation. Eventually the Dwarves calmed down a bit and Ruby managed to free herself from the group, making her way to Bilbo. "Nice job stalling with the Trolls. That was some quick thinking."
Bilbo nodded shakily, "It was, ah, the only thing I could think of. Sunlight causes them to turn into… that," he waved his hands at the statues. "And both you and Gandalf were gone."
"Good job," Ruby said, giving him a hug, then stepped back. Bilbo blinked for a moment, surprised, then gave a smile in return.
"What you did was impressive. I just wasn't expecting… that… level of violence."
Ruby smiled bashfully at the thanks, but grew serious, "That's what battle is like though."
Bilbo would have said something in response, but Thorin came into the group. "We need to find the ponies and then make sure our supplies are okay."
"Uh, actually," Ruby interrupted, "I gathered the ponies inside that old house, and our stuff was still there the last I checked."
Thorin looked surprised for a moment, but then gave the barest hint of a smile. "It appears we can add Pony Wrangler to her list of titles," he said, drawing a laugh from the Dwarves and an embarrassed blush from Ruby. "Come on, we're going to check on the ponies, then we're looking for the Troll's cave."
"And why are we looking for the Troll's cave?" Bilbo asked.
"Because Trolls have a habit of collecting treasure," Balin explained.
"Not as much as dragons though," Bofur said next as they started following Thorin to their camp, "but Trolls collect stuff without knowing what it is. Stupid things."
"Ah, well that clears that up," Bilbo said. The group set out and went back to camp, collecting their stuff. Ruby found her backpack and put that on again, and some of the others got their packs just because.
She found a chance to talk to Gandalf when they were at camp. "So where were you last night? I went looking for you."
"Oh I'm terribly sorry about that," Gandalf apologized. "I went looking at our path ahead. Only when I looked behind did I see the trouble they were in. I must say that was some impressive fighting. I've only seen Elves move that fluidly before, and not as fast."
"Oh not you too," Ruby whined, feeling like her face would stay red.
Gandalf just chuckled and moved on. The group got their stuff and once it looked like everyone was ready, Thorin said, "Now let's go find that Troll hole."
They decided to take the ponies with them after they loaded most of the stuff onto them. It wasn't that hard to find as they soon found where the Trolls had walked and worn down the vegetation into a path. They followed the tracks up a hill until they found the hole, somewhat disguised by the surrounding woods.
One of the reasons they found it was the stench.
"Oh Dust, what is that smell?" Ruby exclaimed, pinching her nose. She could hear flies and other bugs buzzing around. And is… is that a skull? Ohugh…
Gandalf led the way in, with Thorin bringing a torch he had. "It's a Troll-hoard," he said, as if that explained it… which it sorta' did. "Be careful what you touch." Be careful what you smell! She covered her entire mouth and nose. She wasn't the only one as the Dwarves were suffering as well, coughing and gaging at the stench.
They quickly became preoccupied when the torchlight made something on the ground glitter, as it turned out to be coins and other valuables. "Seems a shame just to leave it lying around," Bofur idly commented as the Dwarves started opening up chests, finding more gold. "Anyone could take it."
"Agreed," Gloin said. "Nori?"
"Yeah?"
"Get a shovel." Nori hurried out of the cave to get said tool.
Ruby couldn't resist and grabbed a handful of coins and put them inside the bag she had. She looked up and saw that Fili was looking at her amusedly. She shrugged, "What?" He just snorted and went back to looking at the treasure.
I really don't need money, so I'm not that interested… but it is gold! Though what I am interested in are the weapons! She noticed the little barrels that had various swords and other weapons in there. She went over to one of them and it seemed that Thorin had the same idea as they were at the same place.
Now, I do know how to use a sword, as that was like basic stuff at Signal, plus me having to find the right weapon for me, but I'm not like Pyrrha or Weiss level. Nowhere near that! I just know basic forms, so I'm like above where Jaune is now. Spears are a little better since they do need two hands, but scythes are the bomb!
She looked along the wall and saw a peculiar short sword in a sheath. She picked it up and saw that it had a design on the leather sheath that reminded her of flowing water, with letters on it that flowed and curled gracefully. She couldn't read it obviously. Brushing off some of the cobwebs, she grasped the hilt, which was in-between a single and a hand-and-a-half, and was tinted red-black, which was one of the reasons it caught her eye.
Ruby pulled it out of the sheath and immediately started analyzing it. It was a straight, double-edged blade, about 19 inches (or ~48 centimeters) long, making the whole short sword about 25 inches (64 cm) from hilt to point. The blade at the cross guard was a little over 2 inches wide that gradually tapered to the point, and the blade had the same design that was on the sheath. It was lighter than Ruby thought it would be. I… I think I'll keep this, Ruby thought. Mountain Glenn taught me to have a second weapon, and reminded me that I'm pants at unarmed combat.
"These swords were not made by any Troll," she heard Thorin say. She saw that he was holding two cobweb ridden swords that looked similar in design and make to the one she was holding, save full length. He handed the straight bladed one to Gandalf for him to inspect.
"Nor were they made by any smith among Men," he said as he pulled the blade out a bit. "These were forged in Gondolin by the High Elves of the First Age." Elves? I have an Elvish sword? Ruby looked at the one in her hand, trying to remember the fairy tales of what the swords could do. She then saw that Thorin was about to put the sword back in disgust before Gandalf said, "You could not wish for a finer blade." Thorin stopped and then took a look at it. It was a single-edge blade, and judging from the curve, it was made for heavy chopping or slicing blows rather than piercing.
Gandalf seemed to like the sword and held it against his chest intending to take it with him. Ruby walked past them and saw that the other Dwarves had finished filling a chest with treasure and were burying it. She stopped by Dwalin who looked like a sentry and glanced at the Dwarves burying the chest. Gloin looked up and said, "We're making a long-term deposit." Ruby chuckled and Dwalin just snorted softly.
"Let's get out of this foul place. Come on, let's go." He started walking out, calling the others that were in there with him.
They came out and Ruby gulped down fresh air. "Ah, sweet air!" I want to have a long shower after that to get the smell out. With lots of soap The Dwarves started taking a look at what they had brought out. There were some coins, jewels, and other items like cups.
"Oh these are nice," Kili said, looking at them. "Gold mainly."
"Aye, they'll be nice to have later," Balin commented. "It'll give us a little more leeway if we have to do some bartering."
"Ruby, Bilbo," Gandalf called out, coming out of the cave.
"Huh?" Curious, Ruby came over, following Bilbo, who was also curious.
Gandalf gave Bilbo a short-sword, shorter than the one Ruby had. "Here, this is about your size."
Bilbo reluctantly took it, but looked uncomfortable with it. "I can't take this," he said finally, pushing past his nervousness.
"The blade is of Elvish make, as is yours Ruby, which means it will glow blue when Orcs or Goblins are nearby," Gandalf explained.
Bilbo was exasperated and angsty as he said, "I have never used a sword in my life. I'm not like you or you," he said the second one to Ruby, causing her to feel sad for some reason. Like me? What does that mean?
"And I hope you never have to," Gandalf said softly. "But if you do, remember this: true courage is about knowing not when to take a life but when to spare one." I understand now, Ruby realized.
"Bilbo," she said to get his attention, "on Remnant, I fight monsters and have never struck a lethal blow against another person. I'm a Huntress. Yes I fight, but I fight for humanity and my friends," she added. "And I get scared as well when I fight against the Grimm. As someone once said, courage is not ignoring your fear, it's about continuing on despite it."
She stopped and looked at Bilbo, who seemed to be deep in thought at the words spoken to him.
Before he could say something, Thorin shouted, "Something's coming!" Ruby went on alert, and she and Gandalf went over to him, getting ready.
"Stay together!" Gandalf said, "Hurry now, arm yourselves." He followed his words by pulling out his sword. Ruby reached for Crescent Rose before realizing that she was still holding her own sword. Oh. She quickly used the straps on it to tie it to her belt, and then brought out her scythe, running after the Dwarves.
It's just one thing after another now… Ruby thought as she followed the Dwarves. She then was overcome by a yawn. And I haven't gotten any sleep at all yet! This is going to be a long day.
But the story is starting to pick up now!
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Edit: 12/18/17- fixed my measurements/proportions of the sword Ruby gets.
*1 This date is just made up and is probably not the actual year in RWBY. Stands for 80 years New Vytal Calendar.
Ruby: Well, I got my wish, things are happening now.
Galen: Yep, finally got a lot of exposition out of the way (though there's more in the future) and now the story is moving along.
R: It's about time. I can still feel my voice hurting from all the talking I had to do explaining things to those blockheaded Dwarves.
G: I know the feeling, just not with Dwarves. Anyway! Wow, this story has gotten a lot of attention: 78 favorites, 112 follows, and a special 34 reviews! thank you all so much! And much thanks to Hazzamo for giving me ideas how to do the fight scene in here, because honestly, I was stumped with that.
R: Yeah! I remember them, they weren't that hard.
G: You know you're gonna' regret that ''I'd take Trolls over Grimm any day' comment Ruby in the future.
R: Yeah, I know, I had enough of Trolls and Orcs for a loooooong time.
G: Don't I know it. So then, to sum up Volume 3, I'm still recovering slightly from the finale, but now my concern for Volume 4 is growing after I saw a video of Jessica Nigri (the voice of Cinder) saying "Get ready to have all your hopes and dreams destroyed in the next season!"
R: Jessica's a nice person, but it's just so strange that she's also that absolute buttface jerk Cinder!
G: *snorts* Buttface? Really?
R: Shut up! *blushes* I can't say anything worse since this is only a 'T' rating.
G: Do you know anything worse?
R: …Welllll there was that one time Yang said something bad-
G: Aaaaand moving on! Ruby, how's your sword?
R: Oh yeah! Some of you reviewers thought it would be great if I got an Elvish sword or dagger, and, lucky for you, it turned out that way. Though I will tell you, I won't use it a lot compared to Crescent Rose, but there were times I was glad to have a second weapon with me. And you'll find out the name I gave it in the next chapter!~
G: Alright don't tease the readers, that's my job. Okay, I don't have anything else to say. If you leave a review I often send a reply back if warranted, just an FYI. Other than that, make sure to Read, Review, Favorite, and Follow this story, and I wouldn't object if you Favorited/Followed me as well.
So until next time
-OrangeGalen
R: And Ruby Rose! I'll still be here!
G: Well yeah, you're, like, the main character actually.
R: I know!~ See ya!
Chapter length: 13,489