AN:

Which was your favorite Summer/Ruby scene? Was it the one in the previous chapter, was it the one with the cookies or was it when Summer sang "All Our Days" to Ruby?

Me? My favorite was the one where Ruby accidently killed Summer and broke down in hysterics. Ah, good times.

Anyway, back to business. I'm sure some people must have seen the poll by now. I just want to let you know that it's going to be there until sometime next month so be sure to vote before then because that decides on whether or not I will make a forum for this story.

One last thing, RabidArmenian asked if he/she could make a tie-in to Remnant of an Iron Rose so expect for him to post it one day.

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Chapter 10

It was common knowledge that Cayde-6 hated his position as the Hunter Vanguard with a passion so it was a wonder why the Exo Hunter was chosen to be the ambassador for Remnant in spite of there being over several people more suitable than him.

Why couldn't it have been Ikora Rey or Commander Zavala? Even representatives from the major factions like New Monarchy and Dead orbit would have been sufficed so why was it Cayde who was placed into such a crucial position to strengthen ties with the people of Remnant?

There were very good reasons for that decision.

Any candidate chosen from the major factions couldn't be trusted completely. While all of them were be loyal to the City, they would always hold their respective factions as a higher priority. It was not entirely certain if the factions would not use the diplomatic ties with Remnant to further their own agendas.

Future War Cult would utilize the Huntsmen and Huntresses especially the ones from Atlas to increase their military might. Dead Orbit would use the existence of Remnant as an example and traverse the galaxy for similar worlds like it while actually formalizing a legitimate excuse for them to flee the Sol System. New Monarchy would garner the sympathies of the oppressed faunus people in order to strengthen their own standing in the Consensus while furthering their goal to abolish the Consensus system and establish a ruling monarch.

On the other hand, the members of the Vanguard held no interest on what the factions do in their spare time as long as it didn't aversely affect the City and they also held a considerable amount of sway over the Consensus. However, Ikora Rey was the founder and leader of the Hidden, the Last City's own spy network. It would not sound like Earth desired a diplomatic union with Remnant if they chose a known spymaster as the ambassador. The same applied to the Titan Vanguard who commanded a majority of the City's military forces as their commander.

The Speaker was also more suitable representative than Cayde-6 but choosing him was out of the question since the Speaker was the most important figure in the City, second only to the Traveler itself so the idea was immediately turned down before anyone could voice it.

That left only Cayde-6 as the most viable candidate for ambassador. A fact that everyone, including the Hunter Vanguard himself had no choice but to begrudgingly accept.

It also helped that the Exo Hunter had close ties with Guardian Summer Rose, who was born on Remnant. It turned out that she had a respectable reputation before she died and became a Guardian so her word carried a good deal of weight to the people on top.

Well, her word actually meant a lot to the headmasters of the various combat schools actually but in Cayde's opinion, they were the only ones that he deemed more important. The Councils of Remnant were kind of dicks and that made him wonder why Remnant hadn't imploded on itself yet.

Then again, the planet was on the brink of another civil war before the Vex invasion began. Even now, there was an almost palpable tension between the citizens of Remnant and the presence of the Guardians did very little to ease it.

Even though Cinder Fall's faction and the White Fang were no longer allied with one another, they were still a separate threat to the peace of Remnant. The Vanguard didn't know where Cinder Fall's faction was based so they couldn't immediately send a team of Guardians to eliminate them. The White Fang, on the other hand, was something that could be dealt with whether through pacifistic means or a violent end that was up to them.

The law enforcement of Remnant had no clue where the leader of White Fang, Sierra Khan was but the Hunter Vanguard figured that he could eventually deduce the location once he made it to the island with the largest faunus population.

Menagerie.

It was really no secret that the presence of the White Fang could be found on Menagerie. Although, it was a common misconception that the White Fang was the only ruling body on the island. In fact, it was someone else that was no longer affiliated with formerly peaceful organization.

Cayde-6 didn't actually know who it was but that was why he was here on Menagerie to find out for himself.

The Hunter Vanguard's boots sunk slightly into sandy grains of the beach after having been dropped off by his jumpship. As the ship flew off, he dusted himself off to look more presentable before trekking into the village proper.

The arrival of the spaceship gathered quite a crowd of curious faunus onlookers before their stares turned wary as they caught sight of the mechanical Guardian making his way to them in a confident stride.

Noticing their gazes upon him, Cayde placed his hands on the sides of his hips and puffed his chest out to put better emphasis on its well defined frame as he proudly called out to the inhabitants of Menagerie.

"Hey there,take me to your leader," the Hunter Vanguard proclaimed in a loud voice as he internally guffawed at the irony of his words.

Let it be known that even though Cayde-6 did his job well, he still found the opportunity to make as much jokes as he can while he did so.

He didn't really had to go to Menagerie himself but it was the perfect excuse to leave the stuffy office space back in Beacon Academy especially after he accidently signed his approval without consulting his colleagues in the Vanguard for Shaxx to start his own curriculum of combat classes here on Remnant.

In hindsight, the Hunter Vanguard should actually read what he was signing before stamping his signature on it. It was also not too long ago that he warned that ice cream girl to not skip reading the fine print of her contract. He really should have listened to his own advice.

The headmasters of the combat schools saw no problems with the Lord's proposal and thought it would be a great learning experience for their students to be mentored by a veteran Guardian so they also allowed it, consigning the young warriors of Remnant to their doom under one of the most powerful Titans in the City.

May the Traveler have mercy on their souls for Shaxx will spare them none.

00000

Summer Rose and her daughter, Ruby embraced each other for an undiscernible amount of time before they pulled away from one another, their tears having dried up by now.

"Sorry," Ruby sheepishly looked at the rather noticeable tearstain on her mother's chest where she pressed her face against.

"It's okay," Summer waved it off as she wiped her face with a handkerchief that she materialized from her inventory before offering the small cloth to the scythe-wielder.

The leader of Team RWBY gratefully took the offered handkerchief and she used it to loudly blow her nose on it before offering the cloth back to its owner. The White Rose received the handkerchief with a carefully concealed wince as it was now dripping wet with a liquid other than tears. Before Ruby could take note of her discomfort, she placed the cloth back into her inventory.

"Well, we should hurry back to your house. I'm sure everyone else is waiting for us," Summer said as she gestured to the general direction of Patch.

"Do we have to?" Ruby pouted, not wanting to return just yet. It was not because she wanted to spend more quality time with her mother but it was because it was a little uncomfortable to be in the same vicinity as Summer's new teammates from Fireteam Nero.

Well, one teammate in particular.

0000

Earlier

"Hi, my name's Ruby Rose and I'm gonna be the greatest Huntress in the world!" the red garbed girl greeted the other members of Fireteam Nero as she gave them her biggest smile. The pure optimism that she exuded was almost palpable as sparkles seemed to emanate from the innocent expression on her youthful face.

Prometheus-23 abruptly backpedaled several steps as he flailed his arms around as if to ward off a physical threat. His internal processors went into overdrive as his anti-puppy dog eyes subroutine was initiated. The Titan idly pondered why he had that subroutine in the first place but he really shouldn't complain for it was definitely being put to good use at the moment.

The same can't be said about the Warlock of Fireteam Nero.

Lux Sylphid appeared to have been left unaffected by the young girl's cuteness as she kept her expression schooled. The only proof that spoke otherwise was how her cheeks flushed a light shade of pink against her silvery skin. Face still maintaining its calm countenance in spite of the blush, the Awoken removed the cigarette that she was smoking from her lips, which she then snuffed out its lit end of the cigarette filter before tossing it to the side.

Eyes closed, Lux inhaled deeply and let her breath out in a long exhale. Without warning, the Warlock vanished from sight and the next thing that Ruby Rose knew was that her face was forcefully pressed against something soft yet firm and that she was having difficulty breathing.

"So cuuuutttee!" Lux shrieked in delight as she tightly hugged the young girl to her bosom.

"No, not again!" Ruby cried out in horror as she desperately struggled to escape the Warlock's grasp but the Awoken grip was stronger than a King Taijutu.

Ruby's mind was assaulted by flashbacks of all the times her older sister, Yang Xiao Long nearly suffocated her by excessively pressing the young Rose's face against her breasts. Lux Sylphid wasn't as big as Yang (and she was starting to believe that no one would ever have boobs bigger than Yang's) but they were still hefty enough to make breathing an exercise in futility.

"Hey! Only I'm allowed to do that to my sister!" Yang bellowed as she moved to extricate her little sister from the Awoken.

"Kill me now," Ruby prayed to whatever was listening as the blonde brawler and the Warlock played an impromptu tug-o-war with her body, "End my suffering."

00000

"That definitely could have gone better," the Hunter assured her as she rolled her eyes at the memory of the proper introduction between Ruby and Fireteam Nero.

It was a good thing that she and Prometheus were able to pry Yang and Lux away from the young Rose before they actually needed to resuscitate her. The experience still left Ruby with a justifiable fear of the Warlock so she was reluctant to see Lux again.

Besides, if there was anyone who was going to hug and smother Ruby with kisses, it was going to be Summer Rose herself.

"C'mon, I'll make sure Lux doesn't try to suffocate you again," the White Rose told her in assurance, alleviating the younger girl's fears somewhat before whispering to her Ghost in private, "Now, Drei, which way is their house again?"

Summer would have asked her daughter but she didn't want to bring down the mood by revealing that she still didn't remember where their house was. Her amnesia was still a touchy subject to broach upon and she could see the hurt in her daughter's eyes whenever she failed to recall a precious memory from her past life.

Somehow, interacting with Yang and Ruby had instilled in the Hunter the one thing that many had attempted to the same over the course of her Guardian career: tact. It was a fact that the Ghost, Drei would forever be thankful to the girls for. Maybe being a mother would make his Guardian more responsible.

"The house is in that-" Drei was about to say to her but he was suddenly interrupted by something else.

"Someone approaches."

Summer's body instinctively tensed up in preparation for battle as her head shot towards the direction where the other voice directed her to. Now wasn't the time to question the second voice in her head for it was telling the truth as a sharp whistling reverberated across the tree line. The Hunter quickly flung herself to the side as a bullet grazed against her rapidly forming helmet. If she had been a split second slower, her brains would have been splattered all over the ground whether she was wearing a helmet or not.

"Mom, what's happening?" Ruby asked as she looked around their surroundings for their unseen assailant with worry in her silver eyes, "Who's attacking us? Is it the Vex? Did we miss some?"

"Ruby, I need you to run to your house as fast as you can. Do not stop for anything," Summer told the young leader of Team RWBY as she drew Thorn from its holster and aimed it between the trees where the other voice told her the threat was. Ruby didn't know what was going on exactly but she somehow knew that it wasn't the Vex her mother was warning her about.

"But I can fight too!" the red reaper protested as she unslung Crescent Rose from her back and shifted it into its scythe configuration, "I'm not letting you fight on your own!"

Not anymore. Not when she can finally hold her own ground now.

Several more sharp whistling sounds punctuated through the air and the Hunter exchanged Thorn for her knives to deflect the incoming projectiles only for their blades to instantly shatter upon impact, leaving her with empty hilts in her hands. Even though she was able to divert the bullets, her shields were heavily peppered by shrapnel from her broken knives as she tossed away the empty hilts.

Those were not her only knives since she had plenty of the same knives to spare but they were designed to be very durable. For them to be broken so easily meant that whoever was shooting at her wielded a top tier weapon, which could effortlessly pierce the low leveled armor that she gave to Team RWBY, shields, Aura and all.

Fortunately, Ruby wasn't the target of the elusive sniper. A skilled shooter like their assailant would have known that the younger girl was a more vulnerable target than the Guardian with how she failed to react to the initial shot in time. They could have taken her out first but instead, they chose to go for the greater threat that was Summer Rose.

This meant that whoever the shooter was, they only had eyes for the White Rose while the younger Rose was nothing more than an afterthought, which the Hunter intended to keep it that way to ensure that the sniper didn't see Ruby as a potential threat to remove, Ruby had to leave now.

"Now, Ruby," the Guardian replied with what the first year student remembered to be Summer's Mom VoiceTM. Her mother never had the tendency to get mad at her daughters but whenever she used the Mom VoiceTM, there was no room for question. You did whatever she told you to and there would be no complaints at all.

Ruby had not heard the Mom VoiceTM in years but she immediately knew that arguing would do no good so she begrudgingly beat a hasty retreat. But not before sending a brief message to her teammates in Team RWBY to rendezvous later.

Another bullet came slicing through the air as the young leader of Team RWBY used her semblance to sprint out of sight. Summer drew Bolt-caster and swung it in a downward swing, cutting the speeding bullet straight down the middle. Both halves of the bullet impacted the two trees behind her as she dashed forward in the direction of where the bullets originated from.

The Guardian twirled her sword with deft skills, creating a veritable barrier to deflect the rounds sent fired at her form. Noises of the altercations attracted the creatures of Grimm in droves but they were deemed inconsequential as she cut them down with a single round from Thorn, Mark of the Devourer finishing off any Grimm that didn't already die from the first shot.

Whoever was shooting at Summer Rose was highly professional and yet was very determined to get to her in spite of how ineffective their bullets were to her skills. Either that or they wanted for the White Rose to head towards them. Even though she would be playing into the enemy's hand, she needed to know the identity of her attacker and possibly bring them in for interrogation.

It was fortuitous that the shooter didn't aim for Ruby though. Because if they did, Summer will not bother to arrest them. No, she would have made what she did to Roman Torchwick look like a spa treatment if they attempted to kill her precious daughter before her very eyes.

Hehehehe…

The other voice deeply chuckled in dark amusement as it sensed the Hunter's morbid and graphic thoughts. It even went as far to further reinforce those very same thoughts, making them even more vivid and tempting than before. For once, Summer didn't find it in herself to object to those mental images.

Yes, the other voice was going to take great pleasure of watching such a paragon of virtue fall from grace.

00000

Ruby Rose dashed past the trees at blinding before she skidded to a halt at a large clearing that she quickly recognized. She had been through this same clearing so many times from whenever she visited her mother's grave and she usually had to lead the Grimm to this location so they would be out in the open and reduce the chance of being blindsided.

Her older sister, Yang was also aware of this place, which was why Ruby told her to bring the rest of Team RWBY here to meet up with her. Not long after entering the clearing, the red reaper could see the forms of her teammates in the distance, running up to meet her.

"Ruby, what's happening?" Yang, being the first to reach her, inquired as she and the rest of Team RWBY stopped in front of their leader.

"It's mom! Someone's after her!" the red garbed girl cried as she grabbed her older sister's arm and pulled on the limb in a frantic manner, "C'mon, we have to go and help her!"

"Wait, we shouldn't be too hasty," Weiss Schnee spoke up as the sisters were about to go running off.

"Why not? It's our mom!" the blonde brawler growled in irritation as the Schnee heiress refused to let them leave just yet.

"Whoever is attacking your mother would have to be on the same level as a Huntsman or a Guardian," Weiss interjected as she placed a hand on each of the sisters' shoulder, "We're still students so we won't be much help to her if we were there. We'll only be in the way."

"She's right," Blake Belladonna agreed as she stood beside the white haired girl, "We're not ready."

"And we'll never be ready!" Yang roared as her eyes flared red and her long flowing blonde locks emitted fire, "If we always play things safe, we won't be ready when it isn't! We either do it and deal with what happens after or we don't and continue feeling useless for the rest of our lives!"

The rest of Team RWBY was taken aback by their resident spitfire. Blake especially was more surprised than the rest for the former White Fang member said something similar during the start of the second semester, which motivated the team into action in the first place. That it came out of her partner's mouth didn't make it any less true. It simply reaffirmed what they already knew.

The sound of slow clapping from behind them alerted the all-girl team and they spun around to find that they were no longer the only ones in the clearing. Not even Blake, who possessed superior senses as a faunus, was able to detect that something was amiss until the new presence decided to reveal itself.

"Couldn't say it better myself," a new voice rang out in the clearing, causing the members of Team RWBY to tense up, "Nothing like pitting yourself against new adversaries to improve your capabilities. I say it builds character that way."

A man stood a dozen meters away from them and he was cladded in the same armor as a Guardian of the Hunter class. The light grey poncho that he wore covered his upper torso but they could see two handguns hanging by his waist in their holsters. For some reason one of the guns appeared to be smaller than the other gun, the first being more like a sidearm while the other could be designated as a hand cannon due to its relative size.

The sudden appearance of what seemed to be another Guardian would have been a relieving sight to see but something was off about him. The cat faunus didn't want to reinforce stereotypes of faunus but the atmosphere around the man was making her hackles rise and her teammates knew her well enough to notice her discomfort.

Whoever this man was, his presence felt more unnatural than the Guardians that their team had met so far. And this uncomfortable sensation was only reinforced when the man drew his sidearm at blinding speed and aimed the weapon at the first year team.

"Why don't we give it a try?" the man said as Team RWBY deployed their weapons. Faster than they could react, the man crossed the distance between them and placed the muzzle of his sidearm against the side of Ruby's head, "So show me what you got."

A gunshot rang out across the clearing, startling the nearby birds from their perch.