Dead Men's Tales

Chapter 3 is here! I've taken the liberty of making some minor changes to the other chapters, nothing drastic, just adding chapter names really. From now on, all chapters will have a name. I would have done it sooner, but I didn't want to update the story without there being, well, an actual chapter to upload with it.

I don't own RWBY. I loosely own any OCs that get made, I'm too lazy to file a copyright claim for them so it really is a loose ownership. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Thank you Monty for all your work bringing the world of RWBY to life.

"Dialogue"

Thoughts

'Quotes'

Flashbacks

"Arcade Mode Clear! New Record for Soaring Ninja!"

Yes! Jakob had been playing this game for hours, and hadn't gotten a new record in all of that time. Story mode was kind of repetitive really, just facing random opponents one after the other on varying difficulties. But it would feel kind of odd to just play against computer opponents in Versus Mode.

Honestly, Jakob didn't used to play this game so much. But recently he found it was a good way to distract himself from certain...memories

A knife stuck out of the back of Mrs. Levinson's back, an almost contrite look on Mr. Levinson's face while he stabbed her...

Yup! Going to beat this record too! Jakob went to pick a character for another run, but at that moment, there was a light knock on the front door. Frowning at the interruption, Jakob stood and walked over to answer it, as his parents were currently out.

Opening, the door, he found a girl he had never seen before, dressed in a vaguely gothic looking outfit and a red hood. Wow, this girl has some strange tastes. Out loud, Jakob asked "May I help you?"

The girl nodded "Yes! I'm looking for someone called..." she paused and furtively glanced at a piece of paper "Jakob Punainen?"

"That would be me." Inwardly, Jakob wondered why on earth this girl was looking for him. She only looked a bit older than him, yet he'd never seen her before.

"Oh, great!" She stuck her arm out as if for a handshake "My name is Ruby Rose. You can just call me Ruby."

Jakob took the offered handshake and responded "Nice to meet you, Ruby." She seems nice enough I guess, if a bit weird, but why is she looking for me in particular?

This must of shown a bit on his face, as Ruby laughed a bit awkwardly and said "I guess you're wondering why I'm showing up here." At his nod, she seemed to brace herself before continuing "I'm a Huntress in training who is investigating the three murders which happened in the past week."

At this, Jakob suddenly felt very uncomfortable. So she wants me to tell her what I saw that night... He had spent a lot of time unsuccessfully trying to forget, and between the sheriff and this girl, it seemed everyone was determined to keep reminding him.

At the same time, Jakob couldn't help wondering. This girl is a Huntress? No, she said Huntress in training. But still! She looks two or three years older than me! And they don't really let students take on missions until they're in the higher schools like Beacon or Haven. Although, it would explain the outfit...and the belt of bullets on it...and what looked like a gun holstered on her back.

Okay, maybe in retrospect, it should have been obvious.

Ruby had been standing there uncomfortably during the time Jakob was going through this thought process. "If it's not too much trouble, could you tell me what you saw happen on that night?"

Jakob frowned a bit "Even if it is too much trouble, it seems like I don't really have a choice" he muttered a bit rebelliously.

Ruby seemed to flinch a bit from that, but recovered quickly "I don't really want to make you talk about it if you don't want to."

Damn right I don't want to! I just want to forget it happened at all. Jakob felt a bit hopeful, maybe he could just say no and she'd go away?

Ruby continued on however "But if you can tell me about it, then we can try to use the information to track down the killer, and prevent this from happening again. It's for the good of everyone in the village."

Anddd there's the catch. Of course, I have a choice, but she guilt trips me into telling her anyways. Jakob thought somewhat bitterly

Yet deep down, Jakob knew this wasn't really fair. Ruby was only speaking the truth, after all. It wouldn't do anyone any good if he refused to cooperate, and could only result in more deaths.

Sighing a bit, Jakob opened the door a bit wider "Come in, we can sit down while I tell you."

Ruby couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that she had pulled that off. Her first thought was that Jakob was going to be difficult because of the small age gap. Yet aside from a few bumps, everything had gone pretty smoothly.

Jakob led her to a kitchen table, where she pulled out a notebook, ready to jot down anything that might be important. Weiss would be pretty proud of me actually, taking notes.

Jakob seemed a bit resigned as he began. "On that night, I was outside, because I couldn't sleep. It's usually pretty safe out, even at night you know? I saw Mrs. Levinson was also taking a walk, although I don't think she saw me. Then, she looked shocked, and started talking to someone I couldn't see behind a house. I walked over, and saw that it was Mr. Levinson."

Ruby frowned "You're sure it was him? Not someone who looked like him?"

Jakob shrugged "I'm pretty sure. Not to mention, Mrs. Levinson was convinced too, and you'd think if anyone could tell it wasn't him it would be her."

Ruby nodded, and started writing in her notebook. Mr. Levinson, recognized by both Jakob and Mrs. Levinson. Met her at night. She frowned a bit, thinking. "You said he was behind a house?"

Jakob nodded "It was one of the last houses, on the edge of the town."

Ruby added to her notes. Suspect chose a place that was out of sight to meet her. "What happened next?"

Jakob stood up and started pacing a bit "They talked a bit. Mrs. Levinson was asking him where he had been. He had a bit of an odd response. After telling her they didn't want to wake up the neighbors, he said he got held up a bit at work. Which doesn't really make sense, because who gets held up for a year?"

Told her to be quiet, odd excuse for being gone for so long. Ruby added to her notes. "And then?"

At this point Jakob was looking away from her, but he continued. "At that point I was thinking about how weird everything he said was, so I wasn't looking at them. But I-I heard this noise, you kn-know? It wasn't really that loud, b-but everything sounds so loud at night you know? And...and..." at this point his shoulders began shaking, and audible sobs could be heard.

Ruby stood up, and put her hands on Jakob's shoulders, murmuring "it's okay, it's okay." It's not okay, I should know it's not that easy. Regardless, it seemed to help Jakob begin to calm down.

After a few minutes like that, Jakob seemed to collect himself a bit. He muttered "Thanks" so quietly Ruby could barely hear him. They went and sat back at the table.

Jakob was still a bit pale, but he continued "He had stabbed her with a knife. It was one of those ones that farm workers around here always seem to carry with them. He dropped her and began to walk away as she d-died." A few tears escaped his eyes, but he remained composed

Murder weapon, common utility knife. "Did anything happen after that?"

"At that point, it really hit me what had happened. Just as I was about to go find someone, he turned around. I don't know if he heard me or something, but he began walking towards where I was hiding. I couldn't cross the streets to go back home, because he'd see me, so I went into the open door of Mrs. Levinson's house." Jakob's eyes were alight with fear as he spoke. "I looked out the window, and I saw him in the yard. He looked up at the house, and I ducked down for a bit. When I went to take a peek again, he was gone. I got pretty frightened, so I hid in the closet for a while. After maybe a few hours, I finally left the closet and ran to get help." He put his head on the table "I've never felt so scared in my life."

"I don't blame you. Anyone would have been scared if that happened to them."

Jakob seemed to wilt even more. "I just felt so useless..."

Ruby looked at him questionably. Surely no one would expect him to do anything, would they? He's just a kid, he shouldn't be so hard on himself.

Jakob continued to lament "I guess, I always wanted something to happen to make things a little more exciting around here, you know? And in my mind, I always saw myself facing whatever trouble or adventure arrived bravely, and in a heroic way, you know? But the only thing I was able to do when something really happened was hide in a closet." He looked up briefly, and seemed to laugh, although it sounded forced. "I guess I should have known I was really a coward."

At this, Ruby felt a little ashamed by her earlier thoughts. I can say he's just a kid, but he's really just two years younger than me. And at around his age, I blamed myself just as much, maybe even more, for similar reasons. She watched as he put his head back on the table, seemingly ashamed to look up at her after his speech.

"I don't think you're a coward." Jakob didn't really respond to that, so Ruby went on "I can tell you that it's never easy the first time your life is in danger. The first time I ever fought a Grimm, I was terrified. It felt like my legs turned to jelly as soon as it growled at me, and I actually dropped Crescent Rose-my weapon- at one point." Jakob looked up questionably at that. "If my uncle hadn't been there to kill it, I might have been badly hurt, maybe even killed. After that, I wondered if I truly had what it takes to be a Huntress, you know? But my uncle told me that was natural for everyone to feel afraid at first, maybe even to always feel afraid whenever they're in danger."

Jakob was sitting up straight now, his full attention on her as she continued. "Eventually I was able to fight Grimm, and even find it kind of fun." Ruby smiled, but then comically her smile dropped. "Wait, maybe I shouldn't encourage you to find fighting fun. Ahhh, Weiss would kill me if she thought I was being a bad influence! I, uhh..." Jakob had begun laughing at this point, and Ruby couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed.

But that faded when Jakob eventually stopped and said "Thanks." At that point, Ruby couldn't help but feel glad she was able to help. Even if the way my Uncle said it probably sounded a lot cooler.

At the door, Jakob paused before opening it, and turned to look at Ruby gratefully. "Thanks for listening to me talk about all that. I hope it can help you out a little bit. Let me know if you need anything else! I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I'll try."

"I appreciate it, thanks!" Ruby wasn't sure if she had learned anything useful, but hopefully she would be able to put it all together eventually.

Waving goodbye to Jakob, Ruby felt better than she had in some time. For a while now, she had felt helpless, after weeks of trying and failing to get through to Yang. But after managing to help Jakob, Ruby felt like she was making a difference again. I became a Huntress because I want to help people. I will get to the bottom of this case, and I will save this village!

A few hours later, Ruby had visited most of the people on her list. For the most part, their stories were a lot shorter. Although none of them had seen any of the murders, they all claimed to have seen dead people wandering the streets at night.

"I saw my mother sitting on our porch a few nights ago. But she died of some disease eight years ago!"

"I was late coming home from work yesterday, and right before I got to my door, I saw ol' Chris strolling the streets. But I could have sworn he had died of old age last month!"

"Little Timmy was playing on the swingset next door when it was dark out, but he fell into the river and drowned over two years ago!"

Ruby's good mood from earlier had faded by this point. This investigation was forcing her to learn about almost every death which had occurred in the village for the past 10 or so years. Although most of them seemed to have died of natural causes, there was the occasional accident which took someone before their time.

A 9 year old child fell in the river and drowned... At the moment, Ruby was taking a break on the outskirts of the village. She felt drained, all of the stories from today having taken their toll. There had been so much death in her life recently...

"You've got spirit Red, but this is the real world! The real world is cold! The real world doesn't care about spirit! You want to be a hero? Then play the part and die, like every other Huntsman in history!

No...No...No no no NO! Ruby clutched her head, and began to shiver uncontrollably. None of the breaths she took seemed like they were enough. Every part of her body felt cold, and she couldn't stop shaking. I have to be able to do this! I have to, I have to!

Unbidden, Ruby continued to shake, no matter how many times she tried to stop. She stood up suddenly, and took off in a cloud of rose petals. Heading to the far end of the fields around the village, Ruby drew Crescent Rose and began to practice, executing form after form. After several minutes, her body began to calm down, and lost itself in practice.

Once Ruby felt better, she stopped and took a deep breath. Okay, I can do this. Beginning to walk back, Ruby took out her notebook to see what she had gathered. All of the murders had occurred outside, and at night. So had all of the "ghost" sightings. My best bet would be to take watch at night, and to see what happens.

Ruby took out a strawberry flavored nutrition bar and took a bite. If that was the case, she probably should try and get some sleep now, so that she would be more awake at night. Maybe she could get a room at the inn?

Naw, actually I have a better idea...

For the second time that day, there was a knock at the door. When Jakob opened the door, Ruby was once again on his doorstep. "Oh, hey Ruby! What's up?"

She gave a somewhat sheepish smile "I was wondering if I could take a nap on your couch until it gets dark?"

"Ummm, I'd have to ask my parents, but sure?"

A little bit shorter than the last chapter. Trust me when I say the next one will likely be quite a bit longer.

Ruby's a bit of a prodigy, but even for her there was probably a point where Grimm seemed frightening. It would have taken some time for her to become as comfortable fighting as she is now.

To reassure anyone who has any doubts, although I should think this would all be pretty obvious by now. The OC Jakob is going to play a part in this story. But he's fulfilling that role as a non-combatant, as in he's not suddenly going to be able to do badass things now that Ruby gave him a pep talk. Also, there's no pairing in this story, so he's not going to be paired with Ruby. But I might give him a one-sided hero crush on her. That he'll vehemently deny of course, because he's 13 and in the awkward phase for boys between "girls have cooties" and the phase where crushing on girls becomes the norm. Or boys.

See you next week folks! Things are going to start picking up a bit in the next chapter.