When Ruby made her way into the forest, there sat a small pack of Beowulves. A woman lay amidst them, and she appeared to be torn to shreds. Blood was sprayed all over, organs and whatnot littered the ground by the beowulves feet as they chewed her open.
Ruby nearly threw up at this, but thankfully didn't. They hadn't seen her yet, and this would be a perfect time to take them on. But, she didn't have Crescent Rose on her.
That's when Ruby looked down at her arms to see the seals and glyphs glowing a bright red. Without thinking Ruby ran forward, and smashed her fist down into one Beowulf's face. It turned around right as Ruby's fist connected, and she sent it flying.
The Beowulf flew into a tree, and was impaled by one of the branches. It hung in the air, wimpering and crying as the life drained from it.
Ruby didn't understand this feeling inside of her. It was cold, it was merciless, and it made her feel unstoppable.
One of the six remaining Beowulves jumped at Ruby, and she kicked her foot straight into it's jaw. Ruby was surprised to see the wolf shoot high into the air, and when it came back down, on impulse Ruby smacked her hand into it's stomach.
The Beowulf dropped to the ground after it was hit, and after a few moments of laying there, a hole burst open in it's torso. The other wolves had taken this oppurtunity to circle Ruby.
Ruby was stunned, dazed even at her reflexive abilities, and strength. "What is happening to me?" Ruby said to herself as the next Beowulf to attack her found itself in a headlock and being given a broken neck.
The Beowulf dropped out of Ruby's hands right as she blocked a claw from the next one. She gripped it's hand, and harshly twisted it's arm around, breaking it with ease. As the Beowulf whimpered in pain, Ruby roundhouse kicked it in the face, caving in it's skull.
The next two Beowulves attacked simultaneously from both sides, in which Ruby ducked under their vicious swipes. She then performed an uppercut for each Beowulf, and sent them off into the forest.
The last Beowulf tried to run, but Ruby picked up a nearby tree branch, and threw it at the beast. It whirled through the air with incredible speed, and smacked the beast in the head, bashing it's skull open.
Ruby stood, panting as she looked over the scene she had just created. She had killed seven Beowulves with her bare hands, and she had no idea how she did it. The glyphs and seals on her arms no longer glowed, but they did not disappear this time. Instead, they remained a permanent red on her arms.
The Beowulf attached to the tree wasn't quite dead yet, and when it ripped itself off the tree and lunged at Ruby, she had been ready to punch it. The moment she readied her fist, the beast had burst into flames, and reduced itself to ashes in front of her.
Ruby frowned in confusion, and began looking around rapidly to find the source of flames. Ruby's gaze landed on a woman wearing a red dress, and the dress was embroidered with an orange glow here and there.
"Um... thanks for the save." Ruby said on instinct, her mind racing as she looked this woman over.
She was taller than Ruby, had lightly tanned skin, black hair, and eyes the color of flames. She looked exactly like the woman from Ruby's dream, the only real difference being her hair color.
"Oh, it's no problem, Ruby." The woman said with a small smirk as she began slowly walking towards the girl.
"How do you know my name?" Ruby asked a little bit defensively, growing worried at the woman's intimidating posture. "Who are you?"
"My name is Cinder, and from what I've seen, pleanty of people in Vale know who you are." Cinder stopped just in front of Ruby, smiling down at her.
Ruby thought her to be incredibly attractive, and was blushing a bit as she looked back into Cinder's eyes. "Have we met before?"
Cinder tapped her chin in thought. "Some time ago. You attacked one of my lackies along with my helicopter. Otherwise, no."
This was a shock to Ruby. She had forgotten about that incident entirely, and thought that her team had killed off that crew.
"So, are you back here for revenge or something? Because I'm not going down easily." Ruby hardened her gaze, and clenched her fists.
"Oh Heavens, no. I wouldn't dream of hurting you, Ruby." Cinder quickly tried to reassure the girl that she meant no harm. "I only wanted to talk, perhaps get something to eat."
"Why should I trust you? You tried to kill me!" Ruby shouted, her fists shaking as she clenched them.
"No, I didn't. My lackies did. I didn't approve of the actions they took in trying to hurt you." Cinder said this carefully, not wanting Ruby to lose her temper. "Listen, I wouldn't have saved you from that Beowulf or let you live as long as you have if I wanted you dead."
Ruby thought for a moment, trying to think why Cinder hadn't tried to kill her. "Tell me why, then. Tell me why I'm alive."
"Because I need your help, Ruby." Cinder paused, and gave a seductive smile. "Besides, you're too cute for me to ever hurt you."
Cinder knew her flirtatious manner was working when Ruby began blushing again.
"F-fine... we can talk." Ruby was trying to calm her blush, but ended up failing horribly.
"Thank you, Ruby. I'll be here tomorrow to see you." Cinder then snapped her fingers, and exploded into a ball of flames, before disappearing.
Ruby's blush didn't go away as she began walking back to her dorm room. "The bad ones always have to be pretty." She muttered to herself.
/*/*/*/*/
Ruby soon returned to her dorm, and by then, it was around noon. Her clothes were stained with blood, and some of it had dried on her face. Yang was the first to notice.
"Ruby! Are you okay? What happened?" Yang asked as she ran over to Ruby, and began frantically looking her over.
"I'm fine, Yang. I just got in a fight with some Beowulves, but they weren't any match for my muscle." Ruby smiled as Yang stopped looking at her, and looked her in the eyes.
"Well, in that case, I'm poud of you." Yang said before tightly hugging Ruby, Ruby hugging back in return.
Ruby was thankful the blood on her arms blended in with the marks, but the appreciation disappeared when she saw Weiss' stern gaze.
"You, little Ruby, managed to take on a pack of Beowulves with your bare hands, unscathed, all by yourself?" Weiss asked, putting her hands on her hips as she stamped her foot.
Ruby broke the hug, and stepped aside. "Well, yeah, for the most part. Except for the last one, somebody else stepped in."
"Oh? And who was that?" Weiss asked, leaning forward as she continued her actions.
"None of your business." Ruby said, feeling her anger from earlier return. She was having enough of Weiss' crap for one day.
"I think it is my business that you're running around telling lies." Weiss stepped closer to Ruby, glaring her eyes down.
Ruby glared back, gritting her teeth. "I'm not, lying."
Yang and Blake watched from each side of the battle, worrying how far this would escalate.
"As if anyone would believe a brat like you was that strong." Weiss smirked, feeling herself above Ruby.
Ruby had had it. She brought her arm up, and was about to sock Weiss in the face, when someone grabbed her arm.
"That's enough, children." A voice spoke.
All of team RWBY turned to see Ozpin standing there, holding Ruby's arm. "If you plan to stay here, I will not accept any violence. Understand?"
All of RWBY was dead silent as they nodded their heads.
"Good." With that, Ozpin walked out.
Ruby noticed her arm immediately. The part where Ozpin had grabbed her had rubbed off, revealing her markings, and it made her quickly step into the bathroom and lock the door behind her.
Ruby found her thoughts racing. Had he seen her arm? Why did he happen to walk by at that exact moment? What would he do if he saw the marks?
Yang had started knocking on the bathroom door. "Ruby, are you all right?"
Blake was leaning against the door as well, trying to listen for Ruby. Weiss on the other hand was laying her bed, her back faced towards her team mates.
Ruby quickly replied to Yang. "Yeah... I'm fine... I just need to shower." She said, already turning on the water to end the conversation.
Yang and Blake exchanged concerned looks, and they both returned to their bunks. Neither of them sad anything, for both of them were in thought.
Weiss was just trying to ignore the fact that Ruby almost knocked her on her ass.
Ruby began stripping herself down. She threw her T-shirt off, and dropped her jeans. She unclipped her bra, and dropped her panties down as well.
After Ruby was fully nude, she stepped into the shower, and began soaking herself in the warm water. It felt very relaxing, and the feeling was intensified as the blood was washed from her hair and the rest of her body.
To make sure she was clean, Ruby poored an amount of shampoo in her hand, and began scrubbing it into her hair. As soon as her hair was fully covered in the shampoo, she washed it off under the water. She proceeded to do the same thing with conditioner.
Ruby poored body wash into her hands, and began rubbing it in all over her body. After her body was covered, she twirled around in the shower while rubbing herself all over to ensure the wash cleaned and rubbed itself into her skin.
Now that Ruby was clean, she could relax in the warm water of her shower. She sat down in the corner of her shower, the water spraying on her as she leaned against the wall.
Ruby felt tired from the long day, and before long, she had closed her eyes, and fallen asleep.
/*/*/*/*/
Ruby opened her eyes to see herself in the void, the void from before. Bits and pieces of Vale floated around her, and as she looked, she spotted the woman with white hair.
"You!" Ruby shouted, walking towards her. The woman's gaze followed her with amusement. "Are you Cinder or not?" She asked, stopping in front of her.
The woman tapped her chin in thought for a moment, before shaking her head. "Nah, I'm not Cinder. But I can see the confusion."
"Who are you, then?" Ruby asked impatiently, wanting to know rather badly who she was.
"Don't worry about it, Ruby. Worry more about yourself. That's the reason I'm here, after all." The woman said, beginning to circle around Ruby.
"What do you mean?" Ruby had begun turning to try and keep her eyes on the woman.
"I mean, I'm here to make sure you know how strong you are, what kind of power you have, and to teach you how to use it." The woman then stopped. "I'm sure you've noticed your arms and your newfound strength and reflexes. Well, there's a lot more than just that to your power, and you will see that soon enough."
Before Ruby could respond, she felt a freezing sensation come over her, and it made her shiver.
/*/*/*/*/
When Ruby next opened her eyes, she was back in the shower, and the hot water had apparently run out, spraying freezing cold water onto Ruby. Ruby quickly jumped up, and turned the shower off as she hopped out. She was shivering as she moved about.
Ruby wrapped a towel around herself, and gathered her clothes as she stepped out of the bathroom. She only realized how long she had been out when she saw all of her team mates asleep and no sun outside.
Ruby carefully tiptoed over to her dresser, and dropped her clothes into the dirty hamper next to it. She then sorted through the drawers, and gathered a black tank top, a pair of panties, and a pair of pajama pants.
After looking around to see her team mates still asleep, Ruby dropped the towel and frantically pulled her clothes on. As soon as she was dressed, she climbed into her bed, and wrapped herself in her blankets.
After she had situated herself, Ruby lay her head on her pillow, and closed her eyes. Surprisingly enough, she fell asleep in moments.