Chapter 3

== Nightmarish Revelations==

(Author Notes here... Bleh)

My grammar and sentence structure tends to run on a lot, and I keep having trouble finding good vocabulary to convey my story.

Due to personal reasons and/or final year examinations coming up for me, I will have to unfortunately prolong the update dates from 3 days to up 5 days or to a week. If you really want updates for me, I'll try my best to post as much as I can.

Enjoy


Weiss was annoyed.

Really really annoyed.

The dolt next to her was trying to ask her out, relentlessly mumbling about activities they could do together. Weiss just wanted to leave the class and return to her dorm. Her teacher, an old overweight man with grey hair and a notably bushy moustache, was ranting on relentlessly on the feats he accomplished during his prime. The White haired student sat on the table, her head lying on it in a stare with the holographic clock "11:58, just two more minutes... 11:59..." Weiss thought to herself. Professor Port was a teacher who had much knowledge to share, but really got carried away with his past-generation stories.

"So, Weiss, y'know, uh, I-I was thinking after this, maybe we could go grab a bite to eat?" Jaune proposed. He turned toward the teacher, checking to see if he was looking at him. Confirming that he wasn't, Jaune continued. "And, uh um, I-I've got two tickets to that new Spruce Willis movie, if you wanna make the trip to Vale. I hear it's awesome."

Unsurprisingly, Weiss didn't reply. She couldn't be bothered spending her precious times with the likes of the dolt that was Arc. With what happened to her teammate, Weiss couldn't and wouldn't spend anytime that would be wasted. Ruby was her friend, and of course she would be concerned for her.

Jaune waited for The Ice Queen's reply, but was disappointed that none came. The blonde continued nonetheless, determined to get some sort of response. "Maybe after that, we could study together? I mean, you're smart and I'm, uh... Y'know. You did beat me in that Duststone game, right? Like that play you did, wow, never saw it coming. Who knew Echo of Medivh could do that? You put six Molten Giants on the board at once!" That match resulted in Jaune's defeat. He didn't play around the 10 health, double molten echo combo.

A shrill beep sounded through the room, signifying that the clock struck 12 noon. Port's lesson had just ended, and Weiss was glad she could finally take her leave.

"And then I? Oh." Professor Port was so induced into his story only realised his class was over until the bell had gone. "Timed that one wrong, I guess. Well, the stunning conclusion to this story will have to wait.

Until next time!" He said, mildly disappointed that his tale would have to end early.

"Um, Weiss? Did you hear me?" Jaune asked the White haired girl, as she packed her belongings and her scroll and proceeded stand up to walk out of class.

"No, no no, yes, me, and yes." Weiss replied in the exact order of questions Jaune asked her, as she strolled away from the disappointed Blonde. Jaune groaned and face-planted onto the desk, unwilling to accept Weiss's rejection.

The rest of her team, Blake and Yang, made their way across Jaune to the exit as well. Yang patted Jaune's back, trying to synpathise with him. "One day" the blonde mutters, before she continued making her way back to her dorm.

"I thought that class would never end." Blake said, as bored as the rest of her teammates were as they strolled back to their dorm room. Professor Port often went into such rambles about tales of his prime days, whether is be wrestling a gigantic Grimm or fending off against hordes of Ghouls.

"Yeah. I fell asleep since he told his story." Yang replied, streching her arms.

"We should check up on Ruby soon. She's been in the hosptial for a long time now." Weiss suggested. The accident didn't just affect Ruby, it affected all of them. Their leader had to go through surgery and was lying in bed for three days already.

"We will, but if anything I think my sis needs some time to herself." The elder sister answered. Yang took good care of Ruby ever since she was born, so she knew what made Ruby tick and whatnot. "Let's just get back to our dorm. I need to take a quick nap."

"Ugh, you always need to take a nap!" Weiss yelled. "Hey, it's not my fault school's getting boring. Whatever, Ice Queen." Yang replied uncaringly. The team eventually walked back to their dorm, with Blake reading her unfinished "The Black Goat's Egg." "Stop calling me Ice Queen!"

Opening the door, the trio was surprised to see someone they have been concerned for a long time.

"Hi everyone!" The leader of the team greeted.


"Ruby! You're okay!" Yang ran up and hugged her sister as tightly as she could. "Please... just got out of... hospital...!" Ruby struggled to escape Yang's grasp. She had always done this to her, but after being discharged from a hospital, she'd rather Yang not do it right now. "Oh! Right. Sorry, just very concerned for you." Yang apologised to her sis, realising that she had indeed was admitted to a hospital...

"What happened to you, Ruby? How did you get hurt? What are you doing here!?" Weiss questioned. She heard from the doctors and seen reports that Ruby and Razor were crushed by Steel beams. Weiss was glad Ruby was alive, though she did feel a little bad about the latter. Weiss barely knew Razor though, and right now she was much more concerned for her leader's predicament. "Um... um... I don't remember much. All I know is that there was a big crash, then I blacked out." Ruby lied. She could not let anyone know Razor was a ghoul, for the sake of Sun and his friends. She believed that they were close, with how often Razor called them with nicknames. "I was discharged by the hospital today so I made my way back to Beacon."

"How long was I gone for?" Ruby asked. She did not know the full details of her condition, only remembering trying to eat some food in the hospital and resting most of the time.

"Three days." Blake replied. Blake, like Weiss, barely knew Razor at all. She had been through deaths before, and was only concerned with Ruby right now. "Three days!? Oh man how many classes did I miss!?" Ruby's mind scrambled. "That's like, 18 hours of homework to catch up on!"

"Woah woah, calm down sis. You've been through alot, you deserve more rest." Yang calmed Ruby down. From what the blonde knew she just got through the death of someone that she tried to ship together.

Yang felt partially responsible for this accident. If she didn't do that then maybe Razor would have survived. "The teachers didn't give much homework anyway, just some fill in the blank questions. Holiday Blues affect everyone you know." Yang explained. She barely remembered needing to put much effort into them.

"Are you hungry though? You look like you ran a lot." Her sister pointed out, seeing Ruby breath unusually heavy.

"Yeah, I could sure use some food..." Ruby replied. The last time she ate food she did puke it out, so she wasn't really too enthusiastic on doing it again. Ruby's stomach growled loudly, letting everyone know exactly how starved she was.

"Here, have this candy." Weiss extended her hand out to Ruby, a small sweet on the palm. "It's not much but it should keep you going until we reach the cafeteria." Ruby looked at the sweet on Weiss's hand. It was a simple cherry flavoured candy wrapped in red. Nothing special "Oh, thanks Weiss." She replied.

The red huntress however found herself more interested in something else; The arm holding the sweet. That long, elegant, pride-rich and juicy- wait what was she thinking. She couldn't eat Weiss's arm! Ruby quickly snagged the sweet from Weiss, trying her best to not think of that... that slender pale looking arm...

"Umm, Remnant to Ruby?" Weiss caught Ruby drooling, with a blank stare at her... hand? The Ice Queen assumed the kid was just daydreaming. She couldn't focus in class for more than two seconds! "You gonna look at my hand or are you gonna eat that candy?" Weiss said, getting annoyed by Ruby's antics.

"Urrrr... Wait what? Oh yeah the sweet yeah... Uh sorry for dazing off there." Ruby unwrapped the sweet and quickly threw it in her mouth, expecting a nice cherry-induced flavour in her mouth.

What she didn't expect was her immediately regretting having taken the sweet, spitting it at Weiss's face on contact with her tongue. With a loud raspberry, Ruby quickly grabbed a nearby tissue by the table and wiped her tongue. "Eww eww eww eww eww eww..."

Weiss, with the red candy sliding down her forehead, gave a very VERY unamused look. "What the hell was that for!?" She began, anger growing at the kid's unacceptable behaviour.

"...eww eww eww sorry that tasted like melted rubber on a hot Sunday eww eww eww eww sorry Weiss eww eww eww..." Ruby wasn't lying, it really did taste that bad to her. "Does this thing have Peanut butter in it...?" She asked. Ruby was at the verge of concluding that peanut butter was deadly poison or something of the like.

"Eh, Jaune's sweets must just be expired." Her sister defended. "I did nickname him Vomit Boy before."

"Oh no the curse has passed on! I'm now Vomit Girl!" Ruby concluded. That must be the reason she kept disliking food. She could drink water and coffee, but cookies and the like really made her sick.

"Oh don't be silly, you just don't like cherry flavour, that's all." Yang said, elbowing her younger sister. "Your description may be a bit too much though. Cherry flavour isn't vomit inducing." Blake commented.

"I guess..." Ruby muttered. She was quite hungry, and the fact that she couldn't have anything to eat before going to the cafeteria saddened her. "Well the doctor said that I have this psychological condition where my brain would think everything tastes bad." Ruby explained, looking at the ground. "I puked out a cookie before getting here..."

"You just need to rest, sis. Since you can't eat any solid food, try drinking water. I have a bottle of fresh water by the table." Yang told her, hoping that liquids would be able to sate her.

"It's nice to be back, guys. But with what happened I think I'll just sit out of afternoon classes today." Ruby said, disappointed with not being able to eat with her classmates. "I have some cookies on the desk.

Once your tongue stops acting up, help yourself out!" The blonde said, trying to cheer her up. "If that doesn't work go grab something in the fridge. Maybe it's the cookies causing you trouble."

"Cookies..." muttered Ruby


Ruby lied on her bunk bed, trying to get some shut-eye. Her friends soon took off for their lunches and classes, which Ruby wished she could join. "Why is this happening to me..." She muttered. First cookies now sweets, what next was she going to puke on an arm? A elegant pale yet juicy... Arm. Wait. Why was she even thinking of arms!?

Ruby sighed, and took out her scroll. Sliding her finger to the "remote control" application and pointing it to a black device on the top of the ceiling by the door. During the semester break Beacon installed these TV stands that could be activated with student's scrolls. Her team enjoyed the new feature, Yang enjoying it the most. She always did love watching TV shows.

With a click of a button, the stand showed a holo screen which randomly played the news channel. Ruby was about to change the channel when she felt her stomach rumble once again. With a hefty sigh, Ruby jumped down from her bed and walked towards the desk of her dorm. Yang's cookies were in a yellow cylinder shaped container, which Ruby opened and grabbed one.

Staring at the Cookie, Ruby examined it. Medium size, fresh brown crispy texture, and adorable chocolate beads in it. Delicious! All Ruby needed was some milk and she would be delightfully eatin-

Wait. Would she still vomit the cookie? Ruby put the palm of her hand on her forehead, checking her temperature. No fever. She then took a sip of water from the bottle next to the cookie container. Not icky.

Lastly she put her right index finger on the tip of her tongue, and found that it tasted like raw bacon. Weird...

Concluding that she should be fine, Ruby took hold of the cookie. "If I puke this out, I'm seeing the doctor." She told herself. Psychological eating disorders didn't last this long, did it?

With a big inhale of fresh oxygen, Ruby throw the entire cookie into her mouth in one shot.

Ruby teared up.

The huntress got up from her seat and walked in distress to the bathroom, spitting out the chocolate cookie. "Sorry, Yang." She muttered. The cookies Yang got just for her, she couldn't eat then at all. She already puked out two cookies and a sweet, what would happen if she ate a proper meal?

Sighing yet again in defeat, Ruby returned to the dorm and glanced toward the holographic news channel. She left her scroll at her bunk bed on the top, but Ruby didn't want to jump up again. The cookie dilemma really demoralised her. The news channel showed an old man with a moustache giving an interview to the news channel.

"Well, in the first place a ghoul has no need for an appetite this large within such a short period of time. Just a single dead body would ensure their survival for a month or two." The man talked on and on about

Ghouls. Ruby looked away from the channel, like before she really didn't want to be reminded about it again. Sitting on Weiss's bed, Ruby looking down at the ground unsure what to do.

"But Ogura-san, wouldn't the normal food that we eat suffice for ghouls as well?" A female voice from the television asked. "Absolutely not. Ghouls are only able to derive their nutrients from human organs."

The statements caught Ruby's attention as she pondered about her taste abnormalities. "The tongue of a ghoul functions in different way then humans or faunus." Ruby looked at the television to see the old man stick out his tongue, pointing to it with his finger. She felt a tingle go up her spine, "If they consume human food, they will be felt with an incredibly awful after taste." Ruby stick out her tongue, copying the action.

"Their tongues function in a different way than ours..." Ruby continued looking at the interview on the screen, the dread slowly overpowering her. "They'd just be left with an incredibly awful aftertaste."

"Oh my... god..." Ruby mumbled to herself in complete disarray. "You... don't mean that... that... No! It can't be!" The young huntress dashed over to the dorm's fridge, opening a plastic bag within it. Ruby grabbed an Apple from the bag, and stared at it with immense fear. She slowly brought the apple cautiously to her mouth, her heart pumping at an alarming rate. She was going to eat this apple and... and she was going to enjoy it's fruity taste...!

After much hesitation, Ruby took two big chomps out of the apple. Immediately, she felt an incredibly awful after taste. "No way..." She said within her mind, unable to believe this was happening. Ruby dashed towards the bathroom and spit out the pieces of the formerly delicious apple. "This can't be happening...!" Ruby ran back to the fridge and grabbing a sandwich and some milk. The frantic huntress chewed and drank both of them at the same time, but still she felt the incredible urge to puke them out.

The young huntress was in a state of disbelief. She tried to eat everything in the fridge, and nothing tasted remotely edible. The floor by the fridge was filled with leftover food, spilt milk and packets of fish all over the place. Nothing tasted good to Ruby. Nothing at all. Ruby laid on the floor in a defeated manner, sobbing at the condition she was in. Slamming the floor with her hand, a cylinder container fell to the ground. Ruby panned over to see it was her sister's cookie container. "Once your tongue stops acting up, help yourself out!" Yang's voice resounded in her head.

"Yang..." Ruby muttered. She got up from the floor and put the container back on the table, not caring about the mess that was around her. The huntress took a cookie out and stared at it. "Cookie... please."

Ruby muttered to herself. "Please don't betray me..." Breaking a small piece of the cookie out, Ruby hesitantly threw the piece into her mouth.

Ruby broke into tears.

"Why is this happening to me..." The huntress muttered. "Why..."

"Would all first-year students of Beacon Academy please report to the Amphitheater. Thank you." An announcement was made throughout Beacon, but the distressed Huntress cared not for that. She had to stay in her dorm to rest anyway.

Getting off the table, Ruby glanced over to the mess she caused and sighed. She was going to need to clean this up.


The trio of RWBY, or rather WBY, sat down at the cafeteria eating their much-needed lunch. Weiss had a green apple on a plate and Yang had green salads with cherries. Blake wasn't eating, instead reading a book.

"Hey Blake, why aren't you eating fish?" Yang said, looking at her friend with curiosity. "I already had a big breakfast, and just cause I'm a cat faunus doesn't mean I always eat fish." Blake replied, not even glancing at Yang's direction. "Is that book really that good? You've been reading it for a long time now. Whose the author?" The blonde asked. She wasn't really interested in the books the faunus read, but she did notice Blake always swapped the books she read every two days or so.

"Yeah, it's a great book. The author's Sen Takatsuki, and she's having a book signing event at Vale soon. I'm excited to meet her, actually." Blake said, passion in her eyes. She was normally a quiet girl who tended to keep to herself, but the books Sen wrote were really good to Blake's amazement. "Her specialty is writing tragic stories, like this one. The Black Goat's egg."

"Um, that's nice I guess... I didn't need a whole backstory though." Yang replied, unwilling to hear the rest of Blake's description of the author. Blake simply gave Yang an unamused stare and returned to reading her novel.

"Would all first-year students of Beacon Academy please report to the Amphitheater. Thank you." Glynda's voice was heard throughout the cafeteria. "That's us! Let's go guys." Yang said, eager to get up from her seat. The team made their way to the Amphitheater. It was a huge glass-dome with raised bleachers arranged in a circle around a circular stage. The students gathered to the middle of theater, and saw professor Glynda on the stage with Headmaster Ozpin standing at the far back, observing.

"As part of the Vytal Festival, we are having the 25th Investigator-Assistance program. Students, please welcome Investigators Amon and Kureo!" Glynda announced, gesturing to the duo a suit and a trench coat.

"Greetings, students of Beacon! I am Kotarou Amon, First class investigator of the Commission of Counter Ghoul!" The dark green haired man announced. "I am here for the 25th Investigator-assistance program." He continued, gathering all students attention.

"Many of you attend this school to train to be Hunters and Huntresses, to become vanguards and peacekeepers of the world. You train to combat the Grimm and maintain order in times of conflict, and I respect such an effort. But have you ever asked yourself this: What about the ghouls?" Kotarou Amon gestures over to his right, revealing his partner, Kureo Mado. The scrawny man walked up to the mic and presented his speech."

"Hello students. I am Kureo Mado. Let's talk about Ghouls." The mentor of Amon announced. "You've all been living here killing Grimm, how about a change? Wanna go about killing Ghouls?"

Kureo ranted on about how ghouls were inhumane and had no soul. They existed only to feast on humanity, and that they don't deserve to live in this world. "Turn your attention away from the faunus, and join me in hunting ghouls. They don't deserve to be discriminated either, since they don't hunt down humans."

Eventually Kureo stepped down after giving his knowledgeable experience on ghouls, giving it back to Amon. "If you're not interested, get out of this room. I have better things to do." The elder ended.

"How many of your loved ones have been killed? How many of your loved ones have been eaten for food? How long are you going to let them do this!?" Amon's words inspired the warrior within Beacon Academy's students. They were not going to let their loved ones be consumed for nutrients! "If you are going to sit here and let them eat all of who you love, why are you attending Beacon? We must take the fight to them!"

"Sign-up for our program from your scrolls. It begins in one week, and I hope the majority of you be there. Thank you." Amon ended his speech, and with that students began to file out of the theater.

The trio of Team RWBY walked out of the Amphitheater, with Yang amazed by Weiss's determination. "Whoa, Weiss you wanna be an investigator?" Yang questioned. She joined this school to be a huntress, didn't she? "No. I'm not going to be a dove, I just want to fight the people who dare to harm my family's name. The White Fang isn't the only one against the Schnees, mind you."

"Well then, aren't you filled with determination, young lady" an old voice said to the Heiress. "Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee dust company. I've heard alot about you, miss." Kureo continued. "My times of investigating has made me go through your companies files a lot, and I've killed quite a few ghouls who harassed your name in the past."

"Um, thank you mister. It means a lot to me, my family and all." Weiss replied, unsure how to exactly get past the creepiness that was Mado and thank him sincerely at the same time. "Don't mention it. The Schnee dust company is one of the reasons I could make my Quinque. It's simply gratitude." The dove then walked away from the trio, who looked at him with mixed reactions.

"Wow that guy was creepy. He even said he killed twenty ghouls at once before and harvested every single one of their kagunes." Blake commented, quoting his speech. "He is rather creepy, I agree. But he has done a lot for my family. I remember seeing him as he was thanked by my father personally before." Weiss added, recalling her childhood. "Meh, I got nothing. Wonder if Quinques can be made into gauntlets like mine." Yang stated, looking at her bracelets. "Let's get back to our dorm again before more classes start." Blake muttered, bringing out her book. "Seriously what is with you and that book?" Yang asked. "It's just... a good read."


"Ruby! We're back!" Yang said with energy. She was greeted with the sight of a floor covered in sheets. "What happened here!?" Weiss was annoyed looking at the mess. "Please tell me my books are safe..." muttered Blake. The team just cleaned up the dorm not long ago, and seeing the mess made their efforts wasted. "Ruby, are you there?" Yang continued, getting no response. Where did her sister go?

"Hey, there a note on the desk." Blake said, pointing her finger at it. "It's probably from Ruby. She was acting a little strange earlier."

Yang picked up the note and read it out loud. "Gone to Vale to see a doctor and have dinner. I might come back late though. Don't wait for me. Ruby. P.S. Sorry for the mess, I accidentally dropped the fridge." Yang put down the note, scratching the back of her head afterwards. "Well, that's weird. Ruby did have something on with her tongue" The blonde said.

"Hmmph. That cloak-wearing dolt. Now I've got to clean up the place for her." Weiss said, unamused by the condition the dorm was. "At least she tried, though." Yang defended. "Whatever though, have fun cleaning I'm gonna go take a nap." She said, hopping onto her bed.

"Yang Xiao Long you are going to help me clean this mess u-" Weiss's angry cries were interrupted by Yang's forced snores, which made her stomp her foot on the ground. "Ugh. Blake can you help me with cleaning u-" She stopped herself after turning around only to see her alone with a loud snoring blonde.

"Ugh. Why is this happening to me."


Ruby aimlessly walked down the streets of Vale, wearing her combat skirt with her hood up while forgoing the Sniper-Scythe she normally brought along all the time. The events that had happened really took a toll on the young woman, and Ruby needed some time alone. Looking down at the ground, she sighed in distress. Was she a ghoul? How did this happen? Why couldn't she eat human food? What was she going to do? These questions rang on and on in her head, but most of them were going to be left unanswered. No one could know of her dilemma. How would her team react? Would Yang still consider Ruby her sister?

Ruby felt her stomach rumble. She was getting hungry, and she didn't know what to about it at all. She couldn't eat any normal food nor could she even think about eating a human... A nice, lean, raw yet juicy human... like the ones strolling past by her. "NO! Ruby Rose, you do not eat humans, you are human and you don't eat humans! They would taste disgusting... yeah it would taste disgusting!" She told herself, mentally hoping that by thinking humans tasted horrible, she would soon go back to eating her freshly baked delicious cookies.

The huntress looked around her. "So many people... People... People..." The word kept repeating itself within her head. "People... people... people... flesh..." Ruby began to sweat. The people, were looking like a fine meal to sate her, and that would be in a completely different level of wrong.

Ruby looked at two girls chatting, "Girls... people... flesh..." Her hunger increased at the words she could not withhold. "Child... Boy... Man... Woman... Flesh..." She described to herself what the people looked like. "Woman... family... people... so many... people... so much... FOOD...!" Ruby snapped out of her trance, and noticed the citizens around her keeping their distance from her. "What is that girl doing...?" A couple passed by her, looking at the starving girl. "Get back you idiot!" The male of the duo yelled, ensuring his girlfriend wouldn't get close.

Ruby could not take this. She was being looked upon, and was the literal center of attention. With reckless haste, Ruby used her semblance and dashed out of the streets, creating a trail of rose petals in her wake.


Ruby ran. She did not know where she was running yet the huntress just ran, the urges of eating human flesh quickly consumed her. Her stomach growled once again, reminding her that she still needed food. How would she eat? Nothing tasted edible to her so far!

Eventually Ruby found herself in a residential area. It was fortunately barren, with no... humans... for her to think about. The huntress didn't bother checking her location. "The further I am from people, the better it would be. I don't... I can't think of eating humans anymore!" Ruby would mercilessly kill an entire horde of grimm, but even the suggestion of ending a sentient being's life made her back away. Now here she was thinking of eating humans, obviously killing them.

"What do we have here?" A gruff voice sounded from the barren sidewalk. Ruby glanced over to the location of the voice, and saw a Raven-Haired girl being held on by a creepy old freak with two horns sticking out of his head. A perverted Bull faunus taking advantage of a young girl alone. "You're showing a lot of leg, girl. Why don't you come with me?" Ruby looked closer and realised who the girl being harassed was. It was Touka, the waitress Ruby saw earlier! "Let's have a good time now, hehe." The man's words made the raven-haired girl struggle harder to break from his grasp. Temporarily forgetting that her hunger existed in a moment of heroism, Ruby shouted to the old man. "Hey! Leave her alone!" The huntress shouted, grabbing the man's attention.

"Huh, what are you looking at missy! I'll teach you to talk like that to me!" The old man shouted, annoyed at the girl in red. Ruby said nothing, intending to intimidate the creep. Taking the bait, the old man let go of Touka and dashed toward's Ruby and grabbed her hood, pulling it off. "Don't ignore me missy. Don't you ignore..." The old faunus stopped himself when looked at the huntress's eyes, or rather one eye. "Don't touch my cloak, creep!" Ruby yelled, kicking the him in the stomach with an abnormally large force. The man grunted as he was sent flying back by the kick, falling onto the ground, seemingly unconscious.

"Touka! You okay?" Ruby said, running to the raven-haired girl. "I'm fine, I could handle him myself though. Thanks anyway." Touka got up with Ruby's help and the two of them looked at the unconscious faunus, and turned away after a few moments to confirm he was knocked out. "Your name was Ruby right?" Touka asked, trying to recall the girl. Ruby nodded with a small "Yup!", emphasizing the "p". "It's nice to see you again. What's with your eyes though?" The raven-haired girl questioned, looking at the huntress's eyes. "That's weird."

"What's wrong with my eyes?" Ruby asked, completely forgetting her hunger from before. For some reason, despite Touka being a human in teh girl's eyes, Ruby couldn't even think about looking at Touka as a source of nutrition. Unknowingly to the both of the however, the bull faunus wasn't got up from his knocked up state and stared at the two figures, blood burning hotter by the second. "You... Monster with the red eye..." He muttered, focusing his rage upon the huntress. "PISS OFF, DISGUSTING MONSTER!" The bull charged towards the two, horns pointed at them with killing intent.

Touka noticed the mad bull running full-force at Ruby, and in the moment of instinct, pushed Ruby out of the way. The result was the bull ramming Touka in the chest and slamming her onto the wall. "Touka!" Ruby cried. The bull faunus pinned Touka with his horns caging Touka's body between them. He soon after pulled out and used his hand to hold the girl by neck-point. Looking at the event happening before her, felt her hunger returning upon focusing on the old man.

"FLESH. FAUNUS. EAT. KILL." The words of destruction repeated in her head over and over again, and Ruby lost control of her body for a few seconds. The huntress saw only red upon looking at faunus harming her beloved friend. "GET AWAY FROM TOUKA!" She shouted, her hands positioned like claws as she charged towards the bull faunus.

The old man hadn't have time to scream as his head was sliced between the eyes into half by Ruby. Blood splattered onto Ruby's face as half of the head fell onto the floor, life quickly losing by the millisecond. Ruby wasn't done there, however. She tore into the headless faunus' chest and pulled out a big piece of flesh. "EAT. EAT. EAT. EAT EAT EAT." The words commanded her to do it. She already killed a man in her drunken frenzy, thus eating him wouldn't matter either now, would it?

Touka had fallen back again onto the floor, grunting upon impact. Looking at the berserk and starving huntress before her, Touka muttered a sentence. "Can I have an arm?" She said, sincere at Ruby's assistance.

The huntress looked at Touka, pieces of flesh on her hand positioned ready to consume. Looking at the raven-haired girl however, returned Ruby to her sentences. The girl was not food, and thus Ruby's feral state had ended. Regaining her senses, Ruby looked at the corpse she was sitting on. "Wha- What's going on...? What am I doing on-" Ruby stopped herself when she panned up to see the body she was on had lacked a full head. "Wha... What happened...? What's going on...?" She repeated to herself, unbelieving at the scene before her. "What? You just killed an old geezer, big deal. Anyway, can I have an arm? I'm a little hungry." Touka nonchalantly said. "Did... Did I kill... this... man?" Ruby was in a state of disbelief. She refused to connect the dots, and refused to believe it. She didn't just kill a man, She did not just kill a man!

"Yeah, you did Ruby. So may I have an arm?" The raven-haired girl looked at Ruby, slowly getting impatient.

"Touka... Are you... a ghoul...?" Ruby asked. Why did the waitress want an arm? She obviously wasn't going to scratch her back with a dead man's limb, was she? "Yes I am, Ruby. What's up? Aren't you gonna eat?" Touka replied, pointing out the piece of meat Ruby still had in her hand. Looking at it for herself, the huntress immediately threw the arm aside and started tearing up. "I'm... I'm a ghoul too aren't I..." She muttered.

This was happening. Ruby unwillingly completed the puzzle to her situation. The icky cookies, the disgusting food in the fridge, the humans smelling delicious, it all made sense. Ever since the surgery, ever since Razor's attack on her, and ever since she got an organ transplant. Reality started to crumble for Ruby, as she came to an unbelievable conclusion.

Razor's organs were transplanted to Ruby. It was the only way. The result was something even she couldn't believe. Something that would change her view on life forever.

Ruby was a ghoul.

"What's wrong? Your eye isn't anything to worry about, if that's the thing." Touka tried to cheer her up. Ruby did save her from the faunus, so returning the favor was the least she could do to the distressed huntress. The kindness the ghoul gave the huntress made her break into a loud crying fit and she hugged Touka with gratitude for her kindness, despite being a ghoul. Touka could only pat Ruby in the back as she sobbed loudly in the dimly lit sidewalk. "I'll get you to Anteiku, don't worry." She said, emphasizing with the crying huntress.


Touka brought the huntress to the coffee shop, where she settled Ruby onto a bed upstairs. Her tears never faded though, as she still sobbed relentlessly while lying on the soft yet comfortable bed.

"What do we have here?" an old voice questioned. Ruby's heart skipped a beat hearing it however, recalling the elder faunus she killed. Attempting to forget about what she had done, Ruby crawled into fetal position and turned to the other side of the bed away from the voice. "There there, it must have be hard for you. You used to be a human before, weren't you?" The elder voice said, kindness in his tone. The sentence caught Ruby's attention, and she looked up to see an elderly man with a waiter's uniform. He had greying hair and a genuine smile featured with his wrinkles. "Y-Yes... I was..." Ruby muttered, trying muster back the courage to reply. "I'm the manager of Anteiku. Would you mind giving me the details of what happened to you?" He asked.

"I-I was in an accident with m-my friend..." Ruby began to give her background of what happened to the kind elder, sitting up from the bed. "He, I-I mean we!" She corrected instantly, hoping the manager didn't notice her slip up. We attacked were in a construction site a-and a ghoul tried to kill me. He was killed by falling beams and then I was sent to the hospital..." The huntress took a big gulp, prepared to continue the rest of her story. "I-I had to go through surgery... Which made me into..." Ruby stopped. The revelation that she was a forced man-eater went against what she thought would be a possible future. The future of Humanity and ghouls coexisting to fight off the grimm. "Ahh, so you were the girl on the newspaper." The man said. Ruby looked back at him in surprise. "I was on a newspaper?"

"Yes you were. Tell me now, was your friend known as mister Razor Rivers?" The manager inquired, shocking the huntress. "H-how'd you know his name...?" Ruby asked. "His name was on the newspaper too, Ruby Rose." Ruby was about to ask him again how did he knew her name, but remembered he just said he recognised her from a newspaper article. "W-well after I was discharged from the hospital, I tried eating some cookies in this store and... a-and they tasted bad. Everything went downhill from me there..." Ruby ended, not wanting to continue her experience.

"Well Ruby, am I not wrong to say that Mister Rivers tried to kill you?" The manager asked, giving Ruby a shock. "W-What...!? No no no Razor... didn't..." The huntress trailed off her sentence when she looked at the elder and saw him chuckling. "There's no need to keep anything from me. Here at Anteiku we give aid to fellow ghouls in need, helping them with whatever problems they face. We are a peaceful organisation that wants to see ghouls and humans live together in harmony." The manager looked at Ruby to see her recover from her sobbing state, noticing a smile under the fallen tears. "T-that's just what I wanted it to be... To see ghouls and humans together to fight against the grimm."

Heaving a big sigh, Ruby started to give out the truth. "Razor attacked me in a dark alleyway, and he was killed by falling beams. It was a miracle I survived, but the aftermath... Yeah." The huntress's stomach began to rumble, reminding her that she still had not eaten since morning. "U-um, mister manager?"

"Call me Yoshimura." The manager said, smiling at the huntress. As if knowing what Ruby was about to say, Yoshimura called for Touka to give him a package. The girl handed it over to the manager, which then showed it to Ruby. "Open it up." He said, tugging at Ruby's curiosity.

Ruby opened the package to see a box full of red-hued, delicious looking cookies with red-looking raisins. "Cookies!" Ruby exclaimed, excitement enthralling her. Red was her favorite color, and the cookies before her really suited her style! The cookies were going to be... delicious...? "U-um, I don't think I can eat this... right...?" She asked Yoshimura, with a raised eyebrow. "Unless it's human meat or..." Ruby realised what she was looking at. The cookies were made of flesh!

"E-ek!" Ruby cried, tossing the box back to the manager. "I-I... I can't eat human meat! I drink milk!" The Beacon Academy student forced herself not to eat such... delicious... tenderly baked... Human Cookies... "N-no I am not going to eat human meat! I AM NOT GOING TO EAT HUMAN ME-" Ruby's cries were interrupted by an angered Touka slapping her in the face. "Don't piss me off." The raven-haired girl muttered. "Tell me, Ruby. What was it like eating cake before?" Touka questioned, tension building up in the moment. "Ow... U-um... It tastes really good... The cream in your mouth and the strawberries on top. Mmm!" The student replied innocently, receiving a glare from the waitress. "U-um... did I say something...?

"Then tell me, Ruby. How does it feel to live without being hunted by anyone? How does it feel not living in fear, forever scared of The ghoul investigation department or other ghouls gone insane?" Ruby had nothing to reply to Touka's statement, slowly lowering her head in shame. "I've never tasted such delicacies you humans make. Donuts, cupcakes... even fruits and vegetables! I can never eat any of that! So tell me, human." Ruby slowly felt herself stiff, unable to respond. "TELL ME!" The ghoul once again shouted, pissed off at the former human huntress.

"That's enough, Touka." Yoshimura stated, with a tone of authority in his sentence. Ruby looked back up to see the manager calming down the waitress. "I can't say I don't agree with Touka. This world isn't a fairy tale." The phrase rang a bell in Ruby's head. It was the same phrase Blake said to her when they first met. "You need to face reality. The incident made you into this, and do you really want to live your life in starvation?"

"A ghoul starving, is worse than hell itself." Touka added in, making Ruby face such reality once more. "T-that's why your here... to make the world better, isn't it?" Ruby muttered, regaining her part of her lost courage. Yoshimura nodded with a kind smile, giving Ruby some hope herself. "I'm sorry for saying that, but it's true. For my entire life it's been a terrible world." Touka stated, looking at Ruby with sincerity. "Now please, eat the cookie. I-I don't want to see you starve any longer."

Ruby looked back at the cookie, and before eating it, said words that made Touka feel better. "Thank you, Touka." Removing all hesitation from before, with the encouraging words of the staff of Anteiku...

Ruby bit into the cookie.


End

Thanks to kuletxcore for posting this on RWBY reddit for me.