A/N: Okay, folks… time for the finale for the first part of Ruby's solo journey (her 'Sojourn'). It won't be as exciting as the previous entry, but I can't leave it out completely. As before, just pretend that everyone is speaking Nihongo.
…
… … …
… … … … …
Designation: Remnant-1004 (Nippon World)
Status: Foreign energy detected – unknown in origin – otherwise stable. Technological development below standard. Civilians recovering from recent fighting.
Condition: Green
Recommendation: Continued observation with limited interaction.
… … … … …
… … …
…
Reconstruction is a slow and painful process. The few pockets of resistance had to be quelled before they could do any damage, but thankfully those were few and far between. Law had to be reestablished in whatever way possible.
Thankfully Ruby was not required for any of that. She had more than enough to think about on her own.
Ever since the day Omega had taken her charm away, Ruby had started remembering things. Names, places, events… but they did not belong to her. They belonged to Aki. The real Aki.
She was now in possession of two distinctly different sets of memories.
The first three weeks of reconstruction went by without Ruby at all. She spent the entire time cooped up in her room, simply going over the newly revealed information in her mind. Trying to piece together exactly who Aki used to be before… well, before Ruby came into the picture. It didn't take too long, either.
Based on what she remembered, Aki was born into a peasant home and knew only poverty and malnutrition. Being captured and sold into slavery was actually the best thing to happen to her – a slave had to be kept in decent health if they were to work, after all.
It was then that she met Shiro for the first time. The two of them hit it off well, despite all odds being against it. Shiro actually tried to give Aki a little bit of tutoring before she was officially bought by Ginryu-san and shipped off to the farm.
Along the way, the wagon hit a bump and tossed Aki out onto the road. She hit her head and blacked out…
And Ruby Rose woke up in her place.
But that still left one big honking question – WHY?
Why did she travel to another world and take over someone else's body, rather than keep her own? Why did she almost forget about where she really came from? And why the hell did Omega Rose follow her here?
Too many questions, not enough answers… or time to come up with them. At the end of the three weeks, Ruby had to come out and take her place among Shiro's new court.
Gods did that sound boring.
…
… … …
… … … … …
Shiro made sure to keep her word – she made Ginryu-san work extra hard during the reconstruction. That woman would have very little rest before it was over.
But she did not abandon her family name. Not again. Once was enough.
Without Aki at her side, Shiro was determined to put off the official coronation as long as possible. This allowed her to focus her attention on the more legalistic aspects of the job, such as revising current laws.
Before shutting herself in, Aki did point out a few scrolls in Kasai-dono's old bedchambers. Within them were several detailed plans for new housing projects, grain storage, and even plans for newer, stronger boats. They were extraordinary, and the fledgling empress wasted no time in putting them all to work right away. There was no doubt that these plans would accelerate the progress of the entire kingdom by at least a decade. Maybe more.
She never bothered to question where they came from. She trusted Aki's judgement.
In fact, she trusted that girl with her life.
But was that all…?
Yukimura Shiro didn't want to believe that she was falling in love with another woman. It wasn't unheard of in this country, but… an empress needed to produce an heir. That meant she needed a husband, not… a fling.
Regardless of her feelings on the matter, Shiro often found herself longing for Aki's company. Something about that girl just… set her mind at ease.
Hopefully it would pass. Soon.
…
… … …
… … … … …
Kuro the ninja was torn.
On the one hand, she had her loyalty to her master. There was no doubt that the awkward girl she had sworn herself to had little to no clue what she was getting herself into when she accepted Kuro's oath, but that made little difference. The girl had beaten her soundly in combat. That was enough.
On the other hand… Kuro found herself fascinated by the girl.
The strange black substance was always close at hand when master was near, and Kuro had no desire to come close to it. Master seemed quite alright with it, however. In fact, master appeared to be quite adept at handling it as though it were an extension of her own body. It was quite a sight to behold.
And then there was that conversation master had with that armored woman. Kuro had watched the exchange while hiding in the rafters above the group, so she was unaffected by the strange magic that made the princess and the commander unable to move. She could follow none of the conversation, unfortunately – both speakers used strange words.
Was there no end to master's surprises?
Still, she vowed to remember that tall woman. She had the same silver eyes as master. Possibly a distant relative? Worth investigating.
Kuro was a part of the shadows, and always had been. But she could only resist the light for so long…
…
… … …
… … … … …
Kojima Ginryu was completely worn out by the time she returned to the capitol.
Shiro certainly made her 'pay for it' …by working her almost to death. Ginryu didn't care. She made a vow and she fully intended to keep it, no matter the cost.
Still… even she needed a break sometimes.
During her three-week tour of the country, Ginryu found herself remembering Aki-sama's fighting at the gates of the city. Dreaming of it, really. That girl was beyond exceptional. Never before had the blonde woman seen a scythe wielded with such deadly skill. Nor had she seen one of that size.
But more than that, the spark had returned to Aki-sama's eyes. The spark she had seen back when the girl forgot how to talk. The spark she had thought lost not long after the war came to Ginryu's doorstep.
While the blonde woman traveled, she made arrangements. Aki-sama would have a bit of a surprise when things settled down.
As she flopped down in her own bed, finally free to sleep, Ginryu grinned as she pictured the look on Aki-sama's face when her new instructor arrived…
…
… … …
… … … … …
Chapter 28:
Beyond The Horizon (part 3)
… … … … …
… … …
…
A lot of things began to happen once Ruby came out of her room. Most of them kind of …blurred by.
She first learned the ins and outs of being the 'proper' lady that Shiro-san wanted her to be. Various other 'ladies' of the court accompanied her quite often, a few of which looked familiar to Ruby – one actually looked a little like Professor Goodwitch – but for the most part Ruby preferred to keep to herself.
Shiro-san began to refuse to make any decisions without Ruby in the room, giving her advisors no end of headaches. There was no real reason for it, but the woman was nothing if not stubborn. Ruby never offered any sort of advice on any of the woman's declarations, so why she waited for Ruby to be there at all was a real mystery.
Not that she was annoyed by it or anything. Shiro was much more pleasant company than Weiss ever was. Of course, thinking of Weiss caused Ruby to slip into a mild depression.
Ginryu sought to fix that right quick. The woman who looked so much like her own sister took her aside one day and introduced her to a new resident of the palace – a young man who was the spitting image of Lie Ren.
"Aki-sama… this is Master Oum," Ginryu said proudly. "His Nihongo is spotty at best, but there is no one more skilled in the martial arts. He has agreed to pass his skills on to you."
The man bowed low, a motion filled with respect. He said nothing.
Ruby simply stared, unable to reply.
Ginryu brought a karate guy in… just for her?
If she hadn't been told ahead of time that it was rude, Ruby would have kissed the blonde woman right then and there. As it was, she barely managed to contain her squeal of joy.
Oh this was gonna be fun.
…
This was where the weeks passed by in a blur. Master Oum's lessons were strict, but Ruby found herself taking to them quite readily. After just one month, she actually pulled out a win in a sparring match with Ginryu.
After a further two months, Ruby was confident she could hold her own against the real Yang… at least until the girl's semblance flared up and she sent Ruby flying over the horizon with one punch.
She shared this concern with Master Oum, who decided to work with Ruby and develop a counter-move to deal with a power hitter. It was not easy – Yang's power and speed were not to be trifled with once she was fully powered up.
Master Oum's answer was a series of rapid nerve strikes.
Using his extensive knowledge of the body's nervous system, he showed Ruby the most vital points on every person she would face in combat. Using her insane speed, Ruby soon came up with a few combinations to try.
Now all she needed was a training dummy.
Poor Ginryu had no idea what she was volunteering for. At least she would wake up within a few days, according to the medics.
…
Kuro slowly transitioned from bodyguard in the shadows to Ruby's private handmaid. Somehow.
And she seemed happy about it.
Must be a ninja thing.
Once her title as a proper 'lady' was official, Ruby was no longer able to change her own clothes – Kuro was always right there, ready and waiting to do the job for her. Ruby often wondered if the ninja simply wanted to take a peek…
But no, that wasn't likely. Was it?
Kuro's golden yellow eyes were always averted whenever Ruby checked to see if she was peeking, so maybe not. The ninja girl didn't strike Ruby as a closet pervert. She was probably just overthinking things.
Of course, the woman's daggers were never far away. Anytime Ruby took a walk down the hallways, Kuro was right behind her. And anytime they approached another servant, the woman had one knife tucked behind a hand.
As though Ruby couldn't defend herself. Heh.
Kuro's antics slowed down once she accepted an offer to a sparring session with her 'master' that ended in her most complete and resounding defeat ever. She never even saw Ruby move.
Unfortunately, the former ninja now looked at Ruby with a new gleam in her eyes. One that implied a new level of loyalty that Ruby didn't know how to deal with. She was more like a lovesick puppy than a handmaid.
If Blake ever started acting like that when Ruby got back… yikes.
Of course, …that was assuming Ruby ever did get back.
…
… … …
… … … … …
"Ginryu-san… have you done something to Aki-san?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Your Eminence…"
"Drop the honorifics when we're alone. I haven't seen Aki-san relaxing very much these last few months, and my other ladies tell me she is hanging around with that foreign boy you brought back with you."
"If you're worried that Master Oum might just take Aki-sama away from you…"
"Master Oum?"
"He is a martial arts master from across the sea, that's all. I brought him here to help Aki-sama train…"
"So it WAS you…!"
"Please calm down, Shiro-san! I didn't do it on a whim!"
"…I'm listening…"
"Aki-sama seemed rather… down of late. I remembered how happy she looked when she slayed those monsters last year, so I decided…"
"…That she could find her happiness in battle? Is that what you thought?"
"… … …She did seem happy when she beat me."
"Hah! She beat you, did she?"
"…I …don't remember much of it, to be honest."
"Hmm… I'll speak with her later. And as for you…"
"I stand by my decision, I have no regrets."
"… … …I'll deal with you later. You're dismissed."
…
… … …
… … … … …
As strange as it seemed, Ruby's workload did not decrease the day Master Oum left the palace (satisfied with her progress, one might note) – in fact, it only got worse.
She was promoted from student… to teacher.
Another oddly familiar face was introduced to Ruby the day after Master Oum left – the same flaming red hair and green eyes that Pyrrha Nikos was known for. Ginryu just called the woman 'Nikos' though. Apparently she was Ginryu's former commander of the military, now demoted after Ginryu swore to serve the Yukimura Dynasty.
Ruby's task was to train Nikos in how to wield a scythe in combat. If things worked out, Nikos could then train other soldiers in the same weapon style.
… … …Well, shit. This was quite a switch.
The training was a long process, but Nikos proved to be just as capable at learning as Pyrrha was. The only challenge was coming up with a new design for a scythe that could be mass-produced with this world's level of technology. In all, Nikos became fully trained with everything Ruby could instill into her after a mere month and a half. The rest was left up to her to figure out.
After it was over, Ruby just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a week straight.
But noooo… now she had to attend a goddamn wedding?! She barely had time to catch her breath!
…
… … …
… … … … …
Every single noble in the entire country had made the trip to attend the wedding of the empress of the Yukimura Dynasty. The woman who pulled the land out of the embers of war.
Ruby needed to be anywhere else.
As luck would have it, she managed to escape and procure a horse in the early morning hours. By the time the sun peeked over the horizon, she had found herself at a small lake near the base of a nearby mountain. Tying off the horse, Ruby strode to the edge of the water… and took a deep, desperate breath.
It was quiet here. Calm.
The girl nearly wept with relief.
Almost a full year had freaking flown by without much fanfare. So much had happened that Ruby's head simply would not stop spinning, even now.
She sat on a large rock and stared out over the surface of the water. There was no wind, so it looked like a vast sheet of glass that perfectly reflected the image just above it. Gorgeous.
The only sound, other than the occasional nickering of her horse, was a gentle wind that sighed by every few minutes.
This was what she needed. A moment's rest. A chance to get her head back in order.
Ever since she started remembering who Aki really was, Ruby had woken up every morning with the same mantra on her lips – I am Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY, and I will remember.
And now, sitting in solitude for the first time in forever, she spoke the words again, "I am Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY, and I will remember."
"…How do you feel about this world…?"
Ruby blinked as the voice echoed out of the past, a voice not unlike her own. The voice of the ancient look-alike called Rain.
She smirked and quietly spoke her response aloud, "…Why are you asking?"
"…The same reason any other human asks a question –
I want to know the answer…"
"So do I, my friend," Ruby muttered, "…so do I."
"…You're the only you here, you know…"
Ruby didn't answer this time, mostly due to her throat locking up. A few tears leaked from her eyes before she could stop them. "…Thanks Rain," she choked out.
…
Ruby didn't get close enough to see the man Shiro had decided to marry, but from a distance he looked an awful lot like that Neptune guy. Oh well, good for him.
The courtyard was rather vast, and every square inch of it was filled with people wearing the gaudiest outfits Ruby had ever clapped eyes on. She couldn't say anything, though… her own clothes were even worse. She didn't dare look down at herself for fear of her own eyes bleeding.
As far as she could tell, the goings-on were supposed to be a wedding ceremony, but they were totally different that she expected. But then, lots of things here in Nippon were different that she expected.
An arm suddenly embraced her from the side, pulling Ruby out of her thoughts. Ginryu was there, looking rather happy with everything. "Are you enjoying the event, Aki-sama?" she asked cheerily. Quietly, also.
Ruby shrugged, "I might if I didn't look like an abstract painting…"
"Well, that's the fashion of the court. Like it or not, that's your look here."
Ruby sighed and leaned her head back against Ginryu's shoulder, causing the older woman to flinch slightly. Her arm remained on Ruby's shoulder, but now just rubbed it lightly.
"Oh…" Ginryu suddenly said, pulling away from Ruby and reaching into her pouch. "Almost forgot… Master Oum couldn't make it in time, so he sent a present for you in his stead."
"For me?" Ruby's brow furrowed in confusion, "…Not Shiro? It's her wedding, right?"
"Nope, it's for you," Ginryu finally found what she was digging for and pulled a small wrapped bundle from her pocket. It wasn't very large, but it was wrapped in fine paper. "I'm going back inside for a bit. Feel free to open it."
The blonde quickly made her way back into the main part of the palace, leaving Ruby alone with her package. And her thoughts. The silver-eyed girl sighed again, then unwrapped the bundle.
Inside was an item she would never have expected to see again, even in her wildest dreams.
It was a card with the image of a rose in full bloom, surrounded by a field of thorns at a distance. It was rendered in amazing detail.
At the bottom, in perfect English, was written The Rose.
What… The… Hell?!
…
…
… … …!
Touching the card had an immediate effect. Ruby's vision went completely white as she felt the sensation of …lifting.
Her hearing began to muffle, but she clearly heard the sound of panicked cries, mixed with a few screams.
All around her, the light bent and stretched as she felt herself coming apart at the seams.
…
The world beneath her rapidly receded as she was pulled through a white infinity.
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
… … …?
She opened her eyes, looking around the bedroom wearily. A beeping noise drew her attention to the nightstand. She reached over and hit the snooze button, turning off the alarm. The big red numbers displayed the time as 6:00 AM.
Time to get up, then.
Boy… what a dream that was.
"I am Ruby Rose…" she muttered to herself, unsure of why she was even saying it, "…leader of team RWBY… and I will… remember…?"
"Remember what, Prim?" her roommate said from their shared bathroom.
Prim shook her head slowly, trying to clear it. "I think… it was a dream I had." She rubbed her eyes, unique in the whole academy with their silver color, and looked over at the girl brushing her teeth at the sink. "It felt so real…"
"I've had a few like that," the girl mumbled with a mouth full of foam, "I was sure I was back on the surface two nights ago…"
Prim scoffed, "Like you would know what the surface is like. No one's been down there for a century, remember?"
Val finished up her ministrations, then proceeded to get dressed. "I said it was dream, Prim. Come on, we don't wanna be late for training on our first day."
Primrose, Prim for short, stood up and got herself dressed without any fanfare. Val left on her own first. Prim barely had the wherewithal to even finish putting her uniform on.
Ruby Rose…? Was that supposed to be her?
And that language… was that Japanese? Like in those old cartoons?
Hard to remember, now… but damn did it feel real.
The artificial gravity system was working like normal as Prim made her way towards the main control center of the Lunar Academy. She and nearly a dozen other new pilot trainees were soon to begin learning how to pilot their vehicles.
She glanced out the windows as she walked. Space waited beyond it. The stars glimmered like a billion lightning bugs in the vast blackness.
How long had it been since humanity had finally conquered the challenge of space travel? How long had it been… since they abandoned the planet they came from?
Just then, one of their vehicles floated by. It had a shape like a human, with a head, two arms and two legs. There were no guns, wings, or other fancy add-ons that were more common on army versions. Prim remembered that the pilot sat in the chest area, and the head unit was mainly a housing for cameras.
They called the things… mobile armors, or something. Prim didn't care about nicknames.
Yet… looking at the machine floating by, Prim was taken by the urge to squeal like a fool.
Where the heck did that come from?
…
… … …
… … … … …
Unknown World,
Some sort of underground bunker
…
Thorn was a little conflicted as she watched the scene before her.
On one side of the room was the big-bad General, a woman who always looked to be in control of the situation, bound hand and foot within… rocks. Yes, rocks. Somehow, the kid in charge of this outfit had made the rock flow out and engulf the taller woman's feet and one hand. The other arm was just a stump. Her top had been removed and her upper body was awash with welts and bruises from her recent lashing. The eyepatch remained undisturbed.
The kid in question sat on the other side of the room, holding the General's mechanical arm and playing with the fingers like it was a toy. She was also actively ignoring the state of the captive woman.
If Thorn hadn't seen the kid do that thing with the rocks, she wouldn't have believed it was possible. Not to mention the lashings – somehow the kid was using the air itself to hit her.
Thorn's conflict was whether or not she should be enjoying this show.
"Have you figured out why I'm punishing you yet?" the kid asked with a bemused tone.
The General, her breathing ragged, wheezed, "…No… not yet…"
The kid wiggled her fingers and summoned her little Grimm familiar – it looked like a cross between a squid and a television set – and it conjured up the image of a young girl with black hair and silver eyes.
"You know this child, yes?"
One tired silver eye examined the image, "…Yes, I remember her. She ended a war on the world I just left… but she acted as though she was not from it…"
"And her weapon? Surely you did not think a device of that caliber was native to such a backward place…?"
"I don't…" but the General stopped talking as her mind caught up with the kid's words. "…No…"
"Yes…" The kid stood up and slowly approached her tallest ally. "You allowed the Anomaly to simply… go free."
An invisible whip struck the General across the back, causing her to let out a brief whimper.
"Against my direct orders…"
Three more lashings occurred in a split second, forcing the woman to let out a sharp cry of pain.
Thorn swallowed hard. All these cries of pain were starting to make her… excited.
The General took a few shaky breaths, then said in a stronger voice, "Please… continue my punishment."
The kid raised one eyebrow, her glowing red eyes locked onto the bound woman before her.
"Not noticing such an obvious detail right in front of me… I deserve no less than a hundred lashings for my failure…"
"No."
Both Thorn and the General stared in disbelief as the kid made wiggles with her fingers and… somehow caused the rocks to let the woman go. She slumped to the ground, clutching the stump of her arm close to her side.
"I am not without mercy. You did not attempt to pass the blame onto anyone or anything else, but rather took ownership of your failure. I respect that."
She handed the mechanical limb back, and the older woman took it with reverence. Thorn could see a clear note of awe in that single silver eye.
"Continue your operations, General Vermillion. I will contact you with my next assignment when it is time. And take note… I will not allow another failure. The Anomaly must die."
The General stood to her feet and gave a hard salute (which must have hurt with those welts), then turned and left the room. Thorn watched her go, but not too closely. That woman was well-built, but a far cry from watching Yang walk away. No one had an ass like Yang…
"Walk with me," the kid suddenly said to Thorn before heading for the door. The girl in the black hood jumped to her feet and kept a steady distance. Neither one of them spoke for several feet as they strode through the empty hallway.
Finally, the kid spoke first, "What do you think of me?"
"Not much," came the instant reply.
This caused the child who was not a child to chuckle lightly. "And that is why I like you. Unlike the others, you don't consider me a distant authority figure to be feared and worshiped. It's… refreshing."
Thorn raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
They came to an intersection in the hallways and stopped. Both Thorn and the kid turned to look down the hallway to their left. Even though the lights were working just fine, the space in that direction was… dark.
The creature in the bone-white mask stood there, watching them.
Oddly, Thorn found her voice in that moment, "…What about that one?"
Several seconds of silence stretched between them. The creature (Thorn had noticed a bulge in it's chest area, so she decided it must be a 'she') stared at them for another minute before turning and walking down the hall in the other direction.
"When I found that one…" the kid started saying in a quiet voice, "…I was visiting a world that was dead. Everyone there had been slaughtered."
"By her?"
"No… most of them had slain themselves…"
Thorn gulped. Simply being in the same room as that… thing… certainly had an effect. It wasn't hard to imagine an entire world going mad with her there..
"One dying man had written a message on a wall with his own blood before succumbing. It read:
'Meaningless!
Everything is meaningless!
The Shade is coming!
Beware The Shade!'"
Thorn blinked. The Shade…? Was that what she called herself?
As Thorn remembered that empty stare, the lifeless gaze behind that mask, she felt a deep chill.
The Shade… A good name for a monster.
…
… … …
… … … … …
What About Roman and Neo…?
…
"You know… after everything we've seen so far, it's nice to see something normal for a change," the ginger-haired man mused as he leaned back in the padded chair.
Neo nodded from the loveseat beside him. She snuggled into the pillows and took a deep breath, sighing airily.
The duo had appeared in what looked to be a perfectly normal living room. Normal television, normal furniture, just… normal. Roman, at the very least, was determined to enjoy it while it lasted.
Of course, if his luck held out, he was soon to find himself in the presence of That Damned Kid again. She always appeared close to wherever they were.
Still, no reason to stress now, right?
Suddenly he heard noises in the next room over. The sounds of a door opening, followed by the smell of a recently ended shower. Also a humming voice.
Ah… that would be her. Damn.
Without a word, Roman nodded to Neo and the pair stood up to go. Roman stopped and took another look around, however, and spotted something that looked valuable. Without thinking twice, he grabbed it and pocketed it. The thing looked vaguely like a scroll, so he figured why not…?
Neo rolled her eyes and smirked. Roman shrugged – he was a thief, wasn't he? Might as well steal something.
He grabbed her arm and she hit the buttons. A flash of light later and the pair was off again.
…
Less than a minute later, a young woman with reddish hair walked out of the bedroom with a towel wrapped around her middle and went to grab her…
Wait a minute…
"Barb? Did you take my phone?" She called out loud. A muffled voice answered through the walls.
"BARB! Did you take my phone?!"
Another muffled reply, followed by, "Oh yeah, very funny! Just because I got sent to some strange alternate world with lots of clones of myself, now you're blaming everything on that!"
The girl crossed her arms with a huff, then muttered, "If that Ruvys chick did have something to do with this, I am SO gonna kick her butt…"
… … … … …
… … …
…
Author's Note: And with that, I can safely say that Round 1 is over. If you're not dizzy after all that, then I'm not doing my job. :)
Next up will be an intermission chapter of sorts, then into Round 2. A few of you have been waiting rather patiently for that, and your patience will be rewarded soon.
Beware The Shade…
...
(Credits: Ruby 'RJ' Jones was created by The Layman and appears in Distorted Mirror Images)
=^w^=
