Chapter 29: Aftermath

It had been a few days since teams RWBY, JNPR and RAIN returned from their mission. Although a success, Ratchet died. Irene also died but since she went rouge, they couldn't mention her in the official report.

Ratchet had asked to be buried at the special place Yang showed him. Yang agreed right before he died and that's what everybody did. It was tough for Ruby but she managed. Everyone said their respects and wishes before departing but Ruby stayed behind.

Ruby stood there staring at the gravestone. Her hood was up and her cloak practically covered her small body. What nobody seemed to notice was that under her cloak she had a shovel. Thinking back on what Ratchet told her before he died, she began digging.

I may be dead but I'm not. I taking a chance and saying I have about 3 days…make sure I'm out by or before then ok? Trust me Ruby. I know it sounds crazy but this is for the best I swear.

Ruby didn't fully understand but she quickly dug up the grave and opened the coffin. Sure enough, Ratchet was there and he was just starting to wake up.

"What…?" Ruby said confused.

Ratchet sat up and cracked his neck. "Holy shit…that pill actually worked…"

Ruby jumped on top of Ratchet and hugged him tight. "Ratchet you're alive!"

Ruby was basically choking Ratchet rather than hugging him. "R-Ruby! Can't breathe!"

"Oh!" She got off of him quickly. "Sorry."

Ratchet explained what was going to happen from this point on. He would go in hiding until Ruby graduated. After she did, they would meet up in the Badlands near a town outside of Vale. Ruby could visit if she wanted but he made her promise only if it's important. Afterward, Ratchet and Ruby filled up the grave so it looked like it did before and parted.

Various news reports from the past four years…

Headmaster Ozpin has finally opened up on recent events that transpired near the borders of Vale. A secret organization named Freedom was trying to bring harm to the people of the world by dropping the moon on Remnant. They have been stopped thanks to the bravery of teams RAIN, JNPR and RWBY however two of the students, Pyrrha Nikos of JNPR and Ratchet of RAIN had been killed in the battle to save the world…

In recent news, Ivin Kekovich has made an official statement that he is seeing someone. The lucky girls name is Neo, a criminal who worked under the nefarious Roman Torchwick but is now on the side of good. Or at least whatever side Mr. Kekovich is on…

Today, the teams that saved the world, RAIN, RWBY and JNPR have all graduated and can now truly be called Huntsman or Huntress'…

Ruby Rose, one of the many heroes who saved Remnant from destruction by the forces of Freedom, has disappeared. None of her friends know where she is and they have been searching frantically for her but have found nothing...

There has been word from outside that a new group comprised of only two people are going around and wrecking havoc amongst the Badlands. It is unknown what these two are doing but General Ironwood has stated that his forces will keep the people safe from harm…

Today we celebrate the loving memory of Ratchet and Pyrrha Nikos. These two sacrificed their lives in order to stop Freedom from destroying the peace amongst the kingdoms. We also have a special guest with us today! The very hero who was there to stop Freedom and saved an orphanage from being destroyed by a sudden outbreak of Grimm, ladies and gentleman, Jaune Arc!

Anna, a member of team RAIN who stopped Freedom has won the national championship in this years vital festival. Her scythe skills have truly improved during the years and it's great that she's doing well…

It's been four years and Nick, a hero from team RAIN who helped stop Freedom, has agreed to share his knowledge of his mental A.I. with General Ironwood. We all hope this will further our advances in technology and help us all in our everyday lives…

Present…

The sky was a clear beautiful bright orange. Not a single cloud was in the sky to block the sun's slow decent into darkness as it faded behind the mountains in the distance. The cool breeze made the leaves rustle and it was very calming to the mind. It was almost as if this was straight out of a painting at an art museum. There was but one figure standing there on top of a cliff to take it all in.

"So…this is why…" A young man said aloud as he looked at the gorgeous view of the forest and the sky. Autumn was truly a beautiful time of the year. He looked down at a gravestone and knelt down to place his hand on the top. "I'm sorry…" The young man thought about the events that happened fours years ago. Events that changed him and his fiends and even the fate of the world itself. Taking a deep breath to calm down from his bad memories, he exhaled and reached into his pocket. He placed a crimson rose on the grave before walking away on his journey back to Beacon.

As he made his way towards the school, he got a message on his monocle.

Ivin are you at the reunion yet? You don't want to be late.

Ivin shook his head. His monocle was no ordinary monocle, it was a link between him and Neo. Because Neo is a mute, she always had to text or write what she wanted to say and Ivin assumed that was tiring to do. So he created an earring for her, whenever she thought of Ivin and wanted to say something, it would appear on his monocle. When he needed to respond or talk to her, he did the same thing and the earring made his text seem like he was speaking directly to her. He patted himself on the back for this incredible creation.

Ivin made his way back towards Beacon quickly and got there in a couple of minutes and made his way to the lunch room. Opening the doors, he was slammed to the ground by a hunk of metal and flesh. "H-hello Nick."

Nick laughed and got up from Ivin, helping him up in the process. "Everyone, our guest is here!"

Everyone laughed and made their way to Ivin who patted some dirt off his sleeve.

"Guest? Pfft, more like VIP."

Anna punched Ivin lightly on his arm. "Oh please. If anyone of us is the VIP then it'd be mister save an orphanage over here."

Jaune blushed a little. "Heh, it was nothing. Really."

Blake shook her head. "Actually it was something. You saved a bunch of kids from a bunch of Grimm. Well done Jaune."

Ivin noticed somebody was missing from the small gathering. "Where's Yang?"

An awkward silence fell on the group when Ivin asked that question. Ren was the first to break it. "She…didn't show up."

"More like ignored us completely." Anna said coldly. "This is supposed to be a reunion."

"True," Blake agreed. "But how can it be without…them…"

Blake didn't say it but it didn't take a genius to know what she was talking about. Without Pyrrha, Ruby and Ratchet, it didn't feel like a reunion. Ivin also remembered seeing something about Yang going out into the Badlands a few days ago. He kept tabs on all his friends to make sure everyone was safe. Some would call that stalking but he only did it to make sure they were safe. Nothing more, nothing less.

Nora blew up a balloon and popped it to get everyone's attention. "Come on guys! If Yang isn't here then let's just have the fun for her!"

Everyone smiled at Nora's attempt to get them back into the little party and it worked. The little reunion began and everyone shared stories of what they were doing and how their lives have been going. It was a great time for everyone.

Out in the Badlands…

A cloaked figure ran through the streets of the small settlement she currently found herself in. Carrying a basket of food with her, she was being chased by the so called guards of this little town but she knew better. They were just bandits who would make her pay with her body rather than actually using money.

She rounded another corner before realizing she had ran into a dead end. She turned around to get out but it was too late, the two bandits chasing her were in her way.

"You sure gave us some trouble miss. You're gonna have to pay for that." The one on the right said with a smile. His buddy nodded his head and laughed as he checked her out.

"Kinda hard to see your body miss. Why don't you open your cloak?" He said.

She smiled and dropped the basket of food, opening her cloak and pulling out her weapon. The weapon didn't seem like much besides a sniper until she opened it. It transformed into a massive scythe much bigger than her and it's blade glowed a ghostly white.

The two bandits were gripped with fear as they knew who she was. "White Rose?! You're White Rose?!"

White Rose smiled. "Guess you fucked with the wrong girl huh?"

Before the two bandits could move to run away, White Rose moved with incredible speed and cut the legs off of the one on the left and he screamed out in pain as his legs fell to the ground. The one on the right was cut in half by the glowing white scythe. As White Rose turned to the torso of the bandit beside her, she saw the fear in his eyes.

"Pl-please! Don't!" He screamed.

It was pointless though. She cut his head off and kicked his torso to the side. She didn't feel pity for these guys. They were going to rape her and then kill her so why should she care about how they felt? Plus out here in the Badlands, there are no rules, no justice system like in the kingdoms.

White Rose picked up the basket and headed outside the settlement. Awaiting her in a cave was her companion. He saw her and smiled.

"Well hello there beautiful."

White Rose rolled her eyes. "I got the food."

She sat down next to her friend who had started a fire not too long ago. "So how was the jog? Did you see a bunch of cool things? Perhaps any cute boys?" He joked.

White Rose shifted through some of the contents in the basket. "Fine, nope and I saw two bandits who tried to get there hands on me but I killed them quick."

The man nodded and stared at the fire. "Today makes four." White Rose looked up at him."Well four for me. For you it's been about three years. But yeah…I wonder how everyone is doing."

White Rose got close to him and rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying the warmth of the fire. "Don't worry Ratchet. We'll see them all again one day."

Ratchet smiled sadly and rested his head against her's. "Yeah Ruby…I hope your right…"

The Legend Lives On...


A/N: The End!

It has been a fun and truly interesting experience hasn't it? I hope I was able to deliver a unique (ish) OC story. I like OC stories but I feel like they are all (or at least most of them) the same in the sense that the OC has this dark past that's not like 10/10 fucked up or said character is op as fuck and has a dark past and chooses to be a lone wolf.

You know what I mean?

Now I'm not saying all OC stories like that are the same and just suck. No of course not. If you truly believe in the character you are writing then shoot for the stars! Hope I didn't contradict myself there.

With team RAIN, I wanted to focus it around all of them equally but slowly I loved Ratchet the most. Ever since he was young, he's wanted to do the right thing and sad people. With the sudden Grimm attack on Vale (end of volume 2) Irene's supposed death really took a toll on him. After that, him and Nick didn't really have a good relationship since Nick could've saved her but Ratchet believes he didn't try hard enough.

I also wanted to try and capture a sense of...darkness? There's probably a better term for that. Anyway, as the story progresses, Ratchet slowly becomes more violent and cruel. Freedom's plan to destroy the world is not something to take lightly and we notice it makes Ratchet really stressful. Loss of sleep, extreme anger in fights, loss of Pyrrha and finally, cruel acts that he believes are for the good of everyone. I hope I really captured a sense of a hero, no matter what or who they are, can fall too darkness when pushed over their limits.

Dont get me wrong, Ivin, Irene, Nick and Anna are all characters I love as well in my own special way but Ratchet is my favorite. I do regret not going into them as much and I can only ask that you forgive me.

You're probably wondering what happens now.

...

Well...I don't know. Honestly I hate the way I ended this. It feels like if I ever decide to continue with The Legend Of RAIN, I'll be forced down a path that I can't swerve or turn from you know?

However...

I would love to continue with team RAIN. Maybe a series? Chronicles Of RAIN sounds nice. This story could just be a...non canon story. People do that with their OC stories right? Thought so.

So I'd really appreciate any thoughts about how this journey went. And hopefully, someday, team RAIN can come back and either continue their fight or start a brand new journey into the mysterious and intriguing world of Remnant.

- CLOUD MARIO