AN: Void here with the next chapter of Dreams of Remnant.
I've switched the Fic Poll back to the Pairing Poll so you can now vote on that. I'll switch it back next chapter and so on…
Next up my pal and helper with this fic Kurt, Kurt50Alien, is doing a SYOC (Send Your OC) fic and it looks pretty cool. I've sent one of my own already, the details are on his page. I also recommend his fics, as they're very interesting.
I also have Uni's next theme!
Born without a Heart by Faouzia
Link: youtu. be/k RZHp FtQLhQ
Just remove the spaces and it should work.
I don't have much else to say except thanks for the support so far. You guys have been awesome and I've enjoyed writing this stuff so far and I hope you guys enjoy reading it.
Oh! Keep in mind this chapter takes place over a few days.
I don't own Rwby, I only own my original content
Chapter 3 - Why do Broken Hearts get Lost in a Sea of Shattered Dreams?
Ruby sighed to herself softly, exhaustion and sadness evident in her voice as she spoke to herself, "Where do I start?"
Ruby was sitting in a circle, surrounded by the rest of her team, along with the members of Team JNPR. She had called up a meeting with them to explain what she had discovered about Uni, and what they should do about it.
As Ruby began to speak, Pyrrha interrupted; curiously she asked, "If this is so important, shouldn't we get Uni first?"
Ruby sighed once again, shaking her head solemnly, "The meeting is about Uni, which is exactly why she can't be here…" Ruby replied seriously, although a tad colder than she would've liked.
"What's the issue?" Weiss asked hesitantly, slightly nervous as she, or rather, none of them had seen Ruby so seriously torn.
"When Uni and I went out to Vale the other day, something happened…" Ruby elaborated softly, with an exasperated sigh she continued. "She nearly killed someone, and she didn't even care…"
Upon hearing Ruby's words the others all had torn looks of horror and disgust on their faces. They had known that Uni was a little strange but they never would have expected this…
"That's not even the worst part…" Ruby continued, causing everyone to darken slightly. "From what she said, I'm pretty sure she can't feel…"
There was a brief silence before Yang spoke up, breaking the sharp tension that hung in the air. "Like, she can't feel emotions?" Yang asked softly, clearly confused and torn.
Ruby nodded sadly, her eyes darker than normal. Everyone hung their head, all hurt by their discovery.
"I find it hard to believe that she can't feel at all, she might just be very passive and calm, like me…" Ren suggested causing the others, although mainly Nora, to brighten up a little.
Blake nodded in agreement, adding on to Ren's argument, calmly she spoke, "You said it yourself that she had a tough past maybe that just hardened her."
Nora, who had just regained her cheer, leapt up into the air and smiled brightly. "Yeah! There's no way such a sweet angel could be heartless!" She exclaimed joyfully.
The others began nodding in agreement as Jaune spoke up, "While Uni's very cold, think of what she's done for us, it's hard to believe she's some sort of psychopath…"
Weiss, who had been thinking to herself quietly, had to be the bearer of bad news. Softly she asked the group, "Have any of you… seen her smile? Or express anything? At all?"
The room fell silent once again, they all knew the same answer. None of them had seen Uni show any emotion, though none of them wanted to admit that either.
Ruby, who had been sitting quietly as the others tried to find evidence against her words, decided to speak up once again. Softly, she broke the silence, "She said, and I quote, 'I don't know what I feel, or if I even can…"
Everyone darkened further, it was hard to argue against that. It was Uni's own words, deeming herself heartless.
After a long solemn silence, Pyrrha broke the thick layer of tension that lingered in the air. Quietly, she suggested, "Why don't we confront her about it, see things from both sides before we come to any conclusions?"
The others nodded eagerly, all glad to find some slim chance of hope in the situation. Grabbing at any chance to prove that Uni was their friend.
Meanwhile Ruby sighed to herself softly…
Uni sighed to herself as sat down in the middle of team RWBY's dorm, they had set out a bunch of chairs and sat around her silently.
"So what's this all about?" Uni asked with muted interest as she tilted her head slightly.
Ruby had dark eyes as she spoke up, "We need to talk, all of us…"
Uni nodded blankly as as she looked around the room, everyone seemed sad and nervous to look at her. They all had mixed expressions though, but none of them good.
After an awkward moment of silence Ruby, while refusing to look Uni in the eyes, spoke once again, "We're here to discuss your emotions, or rather, if you have any…" Ruby explained softly, her voice cold and slightly sad.
Nora could no longer hold back, swiftly she leapt towards Uni, her sad yet hopeful eyes wide open as she asked, "It's not true right!? You can feel can't you?! You're our friend aren't you!? Nora cried, her voice breaking slightly before Ren pulled her back.
"As I told Ruby, I don't know…" Uni said tonelessly, her passive eyes now slightly cold and dark. "I don't hurt nor do I feel happy, I don't know if I just can't feel or if I'm simply cold and passive." Uni seemed to hang her head slightly as a heavy silence filled the room.
"So Ruby was telling the truth…" Weiss muttered, her eyes cold and harsh as she glared at Uni. She didn't want to admit it but Weiss was actually really hurt by this discovery. To find out one of her friends was heartless; It hurt her, a lot…
While Ren simply frowned at Uni, his normally calm eyes had a well hidden rage behind them as he stared her down. Meanwhile Nora was holding back tears. "Does that mean, we're not really… friends?" Nora asked hesitantly, scared of the answer she would get.
Uni frowned slightly, "It depends on your definition of the word…" She explained tonelessly, but apparently she should've had a better choice of words as Yang's silent rage increased to the point that her eyes flickered red for a moment.
Blake simply sat silently while Jaune frowned, refusing to even look in her direction.
"I mean…" Nora continued, refusing to believe that Uni was a monster. "Do you enjoy hanging out with us?" Nora said softly, her voice breaking as she spoke.
Uni seemed to fall silent as she thought to herself quietly, before softly she responded, "I don't think I've ever actively enjoyed it but I never disliked it, unless it interrupted my sleep."
Pyrrha seemed slightly saddened but more curious than anything. Calmly, while frowning, she asked, "Did you really try to kill someone?"
Uni nodded, "Yes I did, he tried to attack me and Ruby so I returned him the favor..." Uni elaborated emptily. "He wouldn't be the first to attack me and die..."
Everyone seemed even more disgusted, Ruby seemed genuinly horrified as she asked, "How could you? how could you do that to someone?!"
Nora seemed to hung her head as tears started to leak out, Ren tried to comfort her but he still glared at Uni harshly. Pyrrha simply looked away sadly in a mix of dark emotions while Jaune frowned, seeming almost disgusted.
Team RWBY wasn't taking it much better. Ruby seemed to hang her head hiding a dark expression while Weiss regarded Uni coldly. Blake seemed to view her with a strange mix of fear, disappointment, and hate. All the while Yang glared at Uni with rage, her eyes glowing bright red as she stood up and pointed towards the door, "Out! now!" Yang said sternly, her fury evident in her harsh tone.
As Uni nodded, her eyes dark and cold, she sat up and began walking towards the door. As she walked she muttered something under her breath as she opened the door. It was quiet enough that only Ruby, who was right next to her, and Blake who had her Faunus ears, could hear.
"I wasn't born without a heart, I used to feel but now I'm empty…" Uni muttered softly, a strange undertone barely evident in her voice.
Ruby let out a soft and quiet, but sharp gasp as the door slammed shut behind Uni, meanwhile Blake had wide eyes as they both came to the same conclusion.
Softly, Ruby muttered, "We may have made a mistake…"
Uni sighed as she walked back towards her room. Although she hadn't felt anything in years there was a distant knot in her chest that she couldn't explain, though it was fading now. The usual emptiness was returning…
In a grand hall of marble a girl made of argent light wept silently. The large door was covered in more chains than usual and the key that used to lay on the ground was gone…
The girl seemed to struggle as she faded into silver orbs and was quickly absorbed back into the lock that bound the door tightly.
In a crystal palace, all the candles extinguished as an eerie emptiness crept over the halls. The castle was silent and some of the mirrors had faint cracks.
In the large hall a silver throne crumbled into dust as the ornate mirror shattered even further. Even the glass like walls seemed to have cracks lining them.
A silver room slowly faded gray as the pillar standing in the center cracked slightly, the pieces of glass on the pedestal breaking further.
The room became cold and quiet, the once calming solitude was replaced with a strange emptiness.
The next day…
Even though it was a nice day in Vale, Uni still found herself aimlessly traversing the many busy streets. Simply observing the town as she went.
Uni had no real goal, she just… didn't want to be at Beacon for some reason. So she kept walking.
Eventually finding herself in the shadier parts of Vale, Uni continued to wander without a care. However, as she wandered the empty streets, something caught her eye. A black feather, to large to be a bird but way too small to be that of a Nevermore.
The jet black feather slowly drifted out of an alleyway not too far from Uni's position.
The sleepy girl tilted her head in muted curiosity, slowly approaching the dark alley. Only to find a young girl, holding a bloody knife, tears dripping down her face.
The girl appeared to be fourteen, with slightly curly black hair that went halfway down her back and had various streaks of red throughout it. She had fair skin and bright red eyes that almost seemed to glow in the dark alley.
She wore a pair of red and black combat boots with a pair short black shorts held up by a strange red metal belt. She had a red strapped blouse under a cropped black leather jacket with red accents. The only accessory Uni could see was a necklace of a black raven feather made out of some strange crystal.
But what really caught Uni's eyes, were her wings. Large jet black wings. They were truly massive, giving the girl a wingspan of what appeared to be at least ten feet, maybe larger, making a single wing around the same size as the girl, who was roughly five feet tall.
As Uni slowly approached the girl something occurred to her. How familiar this scene was…
She was in a situation like this at one point…
This used to be her…
For reasons unknown to Uni, she decided to step forward towards the girl. However, she accidentally kicked an empty beer bottle and sent it scattering towards the winged girl.
The winged girl flinched, just now noticing Uni approaching her, she quickly readied the knife.
"St-Stay back!" The girl cried out, clearly nervous and frightened. "I'm not afraid to h-hurt you!"
Uni shook her head gently, "I mean you no harm, I am simply curious about your wings" Uni explained calmly, mild intrigue in her voice.
The girl froze, slowly she turned her head looking at her wings with wide eyes; it was as if the girl was surprised to find out she had wings at all.
"Dust!" The girl swore, clearly annoyed at her wings. The girl seemed to roll her shoulders causing the wings to disappear in a puff of shadowy smoke and feathers.
A brief moment of surprise flickered across Uni's face while the girls face has hardened. The girl then hit a strange button on her metal belt causing it to snake around and form a thin longsword.
It was made of several red metal joints with a black feather crossguard and hilt. With a flick of her wrist and a squeeze of the trigger the segments split apart into a snake blade.
"Sorry but I've been told to k- kill anyone who saw my wings…" The young girl said nervously, trying to feign bravery.
Uni quickly ducked as the snake blade swung towards her in sheathing her own weapons in the process.
As Uni continued dodging and defending against the winged girl's attacks she tried to reason with the girl.
"We don't have to fight" Uni said tonelessly, she wasn't sure why, but she felt the urge to protect the girl; it was a very weak urge but it was there…
"Yes we do! You saw them!" The girl cried out angrily, clearly upset about something as she continued to slash towards Uni.
Uni frowned, she didn't think racism was this bad in Vale, did people really treat her poorly for being a Faunus?
Calmly, Uni spoke, "I don't care that you're a Faunus…"
The girl paused, thoughts running through her head as she carefully analyzed Uni for any signs of deceit but froze as she took a closer look at Uni's eyes.
Softly, she muttered a word in fear, "S-Silver…"
Without a moment's notice. The girl rolled her shoulders causing her wings to erupt from her back and through the holes in her outfit.
Quickly, she leapt into the air, using her wings to launch herself onto the roof. Disappearing from Uni's line of sight.
Meanwhile Uni hummed to herself thoughtfully. Wondering about what frightened the girl so much, until she paused. "My eyes?" Uni muttered quietly.
Lilith ran across the rooftops, fleeing from that Silver Eyed monster. The Silver Eyed girl was clearly trying to trick her into believing that she was a normal girl.
"Does she know what I am?" Lilith thought to herself worriedly, briefly her eyes flickered strangely, as she ran.
She would have to worry about the girl later, she had bigger problems. "Z's gonna be pissed!" Lilith thought to herself as she leapt into the air, and took flight.
Ruby was glad to find that Blake believed her, as no one else did. They had tried reasoning with the others but hearing it from Uni herself was hard to argue against.
Ruby sighed to herself as she sat down next to Blake. "What should we do?" Ruby asked nervously.
Blake seemed to hum to herself thoughtfully before responding, "The best thing we can do is find her and talk about it, but still we need to discuss the fact that she killed people..."
Ruby nodded in agreement, she caused this mess and she would have to fix it.
Uni was walking down the streets of Vale, heading back to the SkyDocks where she could take a bullhead back to Beacon.
It was getting late so even though she didn't want to go back to Beacon she would have to. Although she still didn't know why she was wary about the academy.
The SkyDocks were located in the nicer parts of Vale, right in between the residential and commercial areas making it, and the areas around it, a very lively place.
Despite it being an hour from sundown many people were out and about, though one particular group of people caught Uni's eye.
Not because they were strange, it was a normal mother and daughter walking down the street, but because of their resemblance to herself.
The daughter had long silver hair, held up in a pair of twin tails by a set of gold ribbons, and bright gold eyes. She was around ten years old and had fair skin, wearing a white dress. Despite the differences in attire and eye color she looked remarkably like Uni.
The mother had fair skin and long black hair in a ponytail that graduated to silver at the end. She had bright gold eyes and wore a pair of black shorts and a black blouse.
The girl was running farther ahead while the mother struggled to keep up as she carried several bags of groceries.
"Slow down Angel!" The mother cried out. The daughter, presumably named Angel, seemed to pause and giggle as she turned around to face her mother.
Meanwhile Uni watched on with a strange feeling in her gut. Something seemed so familiar about that scene.
She couldn't watch any longer, so she simply walked away. Unaware of what was happening, while something inside her, shattered.
It was late and Uni finally made it to Beacon, she didn't want to be here but she didn't have anywhere else to sleep at the moment. Well there was Glynda's place but how was she going to explain that?
However, not wanting to deal with anything else, Uni Locked the door and went to bed. Unaware of what was happening in her heart.
Uni was confused, not a lot but more than she usually was. She wasn't in her dreamscape, she couldn't control her dream, she couldn't do anything but walk around.
She seemed to be in a long dark hallway, it appeared to be endless. Everything was in black and white, even herself. The only thing she could hear was the faint growling of Grimm behind her.
Turning, she saw strange amalgamation of various Grimm, made out of what appeared to be bone and ash, running towards her. They were far away but approaching quickly.
Quickly she reached for her weapons only to find that she didn't have them. Sighing, briefly annoyed about resorting to unarmed combat, she channeled her Aura only to discover she couldn't manipulate her aura, or even activate it.
Her eyes widened slightly…
She was helpless…
She was weak…
She was alone…
So she ran…
As quick as she could, she ran away from the strange creature, only to see it speeding up whenever she did, always matching her pace.
It was an endless chase down an endless hallway, and as she ran, she heard whispers of familiar voices.
"Die you heartless freak!" One voice whispered.
"You're a psychopath!" Another voice spoke.
"Just join the rest of your family and die…" A different voice muttered harshly.
As Uni struggled to ignore these voices she discovered, she wasn't in the hallway anymore, there was no more monster chasing her. Instead she was on top of a hill, next to a dead withered tree. Not too far away was a set of three graves, one still an empty hole in the ground..
Uni recognized the place fairly quickly, she was home…
However, she noticed that there was an extra grave, so she approached them.
The graves were crude and made out of broken pieces of wood from the wreckage of her old home.
The first grave had 'Silvia Moon' written next to the word 'Mom', both poorly carved into the wood. The second grave had 'Lux Moon' next to the word 'Dad' hastily scratched into the wood.
The final, and empty, grave, however, had 'Uni Moon' next to the word 'Monster' carved into the wood.
Uni winced as she felt a sharp pain in her back, looking down she saw blood trickling down her gown.
As she fell into the grave, she could hear laughter coming from behind her. Many people laughing at her as she bled out in the grave.
She was alone…
She was hated…
She was broken…
With a sharp gasp Uni shot out of bed, her widened eyes cold and dark, nearly empty.
She had a nightmare for the first time since she discovered her semblance. That was… intriguing to say the least, but definitely annoying.
She didn't care anymore, Beacon was a pain. She wasn'y wanted hear, so why should she stay? it was clearly much better to leave. After all, she was getting tired of having her sleep interrupted so much so if she left she wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.
With that she sat up and, despite being four in the morning, she left the room. Heading to the SkyDocks to head back to Vale. This time, she was leaving for good.
A few days later…
Ruby gently went up to Uni's room and prepared herself. Breathing in and out a couple times before she gently knocked against the door.
However, much to Ruby's surprise, the door opened just a crack. Uni had left the door unlocked, that was unlike her.
Hesitantly, Ruby pushed the door open only to discover it was empty.
Uni's bed was in shambles and all of her stuff was here but Uni was missing. However something did grab Ruby's attention, a gleam of silver light from Uni's nightstand.
Ruby slowly approached it only to be shocked. It was Uni's locket, she always had it on her. They had never seen her take it off, even when she slept. Though they never saw her sleep in her room…
But for Uni to leave without it… Something was wrong. Ruby had found the evidence she needed.
Curiously she grabbed the silver locket and examined it closely. It was a circular silver pendant with two clasps, implying it could hold more than two pictures. On the front side was an engraving of the shattered moon of Remnant and on the other was a four pointed star.
Ruby was nervous about opening the locket, it wasn't hers after all. But it could be important.
Gently, She opened it, only to immediately feel surprised and saddened.
The first picture was of Uni, when she was roughly five? Ruby wasn't sure but she thought she looked familiar. One either side of her were two adults who Ruby could only assume were her parents.
The tall man was slightly tan but his skin was still fair and he stood at around five foot ten inches with short but slightly messy white hair that faded to gold at the ends with bright gold eyes. He wore a white leather jacket over a black shirt and jeans.
The woman was only slightly shorter than the man and had long black hair in a ponytail with a streak of silver near her left temple and brilliant silver eyes. Her skin was slightly pale but still on the fair side and she wore a white dress. She seemed to be happy as she held Uni's hand.
The next picture was of Uni's parents and two other people. In the bottom of the picture was four letters, 'SLVR'.
"Was that her parent's Team?, Team Silver?" Ruby thought to herself as she looked at the picture.
Uni's parents had their arms around each other and were both smiling brightly. They looked roughly the same, if not fairly younger.
Next to them was a rather tall man, based on the picture Ruby would guess six foot five inches? Somewhere around there. He had dark red hair that faded to orange near the ends and rich amber eyes. He seemed to have rich caramel skin from being out in the sun a lot and was very muscular. He had a red shirt and a large black leather jacket with red accents and black pants. On his back were two large great swords. While serious the man did have a slight smirk on his face.
The final member of Team Silver was a rather pale and short woman. She seemed to be roughly four foot ten inches, and her hair was a long wild mix of various shades of blue. Her eyes were a deep sea green and she seemed to be very lively. She appeared to be wearing a sea green cropped top under a very dark blue jacket with short blue shorts.
The third picture was the woman who Ruby was pretty sure was Uni's mother was hanging with Glynda.
Uni's mother had her arm around Glynda's shoulders and both were smiling. Ruby was really surprised to see Glynda smile, in fact, she wasn't sure if Glynda could smile until she saw this picture.
The fourth picture really surprised Ruby, as she was in it.
It was all of the members of Team SLVR, Uni, who was around two or three, in her mother's arms. Next to the five was Her mother and father, Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao-Long, along with her uncle Qrow Branwen. Beneath her mom and dad was herself, around the same age as Uni, and Yang who looked to be four years old.
They knew each other…
They were too young to remember it, but they used to know each other…
She would have to show this to the others…
"What is it this time Rubes?" Yang asked as she, along with Weiss and Blake, and the members of JNPR, sat down in the dorm.
"Did you find something?" Blake asked curiously, who hadn't found anything in her search for Uni.
Ruby nodded, "I found evidence this time!"
Weiss groaned, "We've already been over this! Uni said it herself! She's a murderous psycho for dust's sake!" Weiss exclaimed, tired of Ruby's search.
"She isn't our friend so why do keep bringing her up!" Nora cried, still hurt by Uni's betrayal.
Ren nodded silently. He had been a lot quieter than usual, ever since Uni was revealed to be a heartless murder.
Pyrrha frowned, "You said you found evidence right? Well it better be good."
Ruby nodded, "Yeah, I found this!" Ruby said cheerfully as She held up Uni's locket.
"And?" Jaune asked, clearly annoyed and confused.
Ruby sighed, calmly she explained. "Have you guys ever seen Uni without her locket?" She asked.
Everyone shook their head while Weiss raised an eyebrow, "So? She took it off for once, what's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked doubtfully.
"Uni has been missing for days now and she left her locket, I think she was heartless." Ruby explained causing everyone to become confused. "But! I think she was healing, and we stopped that when we accused her…" Ruby elaborated.
"But if she was healing, why didn't she say so?" Yang asked, clearly uncertain about Ruby's new theory.
"Because she didn't know she was healing!" Ruby explained, losing everyone as she spoke. Noticing their confusion, Ruby sighed.
"She didn't know she was healing because she hadn't felt anything in so long, so she didn't know what she was feeling!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly.
"So she might've liked hanging out with us but not have known it?" Nora asked hopefully, all of a sudden cheerful for the first time in days.
Ruby nodded quickly, "Yes! Exactly like that! She was feeling stuff she just didn't know it!" Ruby cheered, Happy that they were finally understanding.
"So by accusing her like that…" Pyrrha trailed on, her face darkening in realization.
"We may have ruined any chance of her feeling again…" Blake finished.
"So we just have to find her and help her heal right?" Jaune asked nervously.
"Are we gonna ignore that she's killed people?" Yang pointed out, Uni had killed people, and she couldn't just come back and act like nothing happened.
Blake frowned, "She said that they attacked her, which implies it was self defense..."
Ruby nodded happily, glad that everything was coming together.
Yang sighed in annoyance before rolling her eyes, "Fine, but don't think things will be all buddy buddy when she gets back..."
Ren sighed, "I suppose it's a possibility, but we need to discuss things further..." He said calmly. A distant look of uncertainty on his face.
Weiss glared sternly, "She's killed people!" Weiss exclaimed incredulously, shocked at how forgiving her friends were.
"Yeah but it was self defense." Jaune pointed out in Uni's defense. It was for her own survival after all.
"So!?" Weiss cried out once again. Still upset about Uni's crimes, and the fact that they were ignoring them.
"It's not like I, or a certain someone's father, hasn't done worse..." Blake pointed out. She had done a lot of unsavory things when she was in the darker parts of the White Fang, stuff thaf she definitely wasn't proud off.
Weiss paused, unsure of how to argue against that sighed. "Fine, IF! We are doing this..." Weiss argued sternly. "When she gets back, we will have a lot to discuss!"
With that, everyone was in. Ruby cheered to herself, leaping out her seat she cried, "Yes! Now let's get to work!"
A few moments later...
So what did you wanna talk about?" Yang asked curiously.
Ruby had pulled her sister aside so she could discuss the pictures in Uni's locket. Particularly the one that had them in it.
"It's about Uni's locket…" Ruby said hesitantly, nervous about bringing up their mother.
"What about it?" Yang asked, her voice a mix of curiosity and concern about Ruby's actions.
"We're in it…" Ruby explained showing her the picture. Yang's eyes widened in surprise and confusion before darkening, sadness evident in her face. "We used to know each other?" Yang asked.
Ruby nodded in confirmation, softly she said, "Apparently."
As Yang flipped through the locket she raised an eyebrow, "Miss Goodwitch is in it too, should we ask her about it?"
Ruby was hesitant, Glynda Goodwitch was known to be stern and harsh… but she knew Uni better than anyone.
Firmly, Ruby nodded, "If anyone would know something about this, it would be her."
Glynda seemed surprised, or rather shocked by what she had been told. Ruby and Yang had handed her the locket and explained what happened.
"We knew she would be traumatized but not at this level…" Glynda said softly before muttering, "The poor child…"
She then sighed before turning back to Ruby and Yang. "But yes, Team Silver and Team Stark were very close, not unlike the relationship you have with Team Juniper." Glynda explained. "I was two years their senior, I tried to keep them out of mischief, not that it helped much…" Glynda went on with a distant smile on her face as she remembered her Beacon years.
"Then, one day, about a year before the loss of, Summer, your mother" Glynda continued, her face growing dark as she went. "Grimm attacked the Moon family, everyone died, or so we thought…"
"Apparently Uni survived somehow and was left alone, she wandered into one of the less savory towns outside of Vale, and things only went downhill from there…" Glynda finished.
"Why did no one help her?" Ruby asked softly, confused by the world's cruelty.
"It was a dark time, it was only a couple years after Mountain Glen had fell and people were paranoid and harsh…"
"My question is, Why did she shut herself off? Most would become cruel or hurt but…" Yang trailed on, not wanting to finish her sentence.
Glynda sighed, "There are much worse things that happened to her, things no child should have to go through…" She elaborated solemnly. "She was lost at the age of six and was treated cruelly, robbed, attacked, and more until she was fifteen, nine years of pain and torment is a lot to go through alone." Glynda finished.
"Why did it take so long for it to start to heal?" Ruby asked, still oblivious to the innermost workings of the heart.
Once again, Glynda sighed in exhaustion as she tried to explain. "The heart is a lot like glass, easily broken, and sometimes, it's easier to just leave it broken and throw it away than to pick it up and risk getting hurt." Glynda explained.
"Now Uni had to pick up her heart so many times that instead of leaving it broken, she ended up breaking herself…" Glynda ended. leaving Ruby and Yang to their own devices.
Ruby was exhausted, they had been searching for Uni for the entire week. Glynda had even organized an actual search party for Uni but that didn't work either.
There were only two more days left until school started back up again and there was still no sign off Uni. They would still look for her then, but it would be much harder.
However, as Ruby stood outside her dorm, something occurred to her.
"Uni's semblance, she can see people's dreams right? Does that mean I can call out to her?"
Ruby nodded to herself firmly, deciding it was worth a shot, gently she opened the door. Trying not to wake the other members of her team, she climbed into bed and began to concentrate.
Uni laid down on the ground peacefully in a field of strange flowers. Relaxing calmly, as she had for a while now.
However, Uni felt a pull as she rested in her field of dreams. It was a calling of sorts.
As she sat up and looked around, she tilted her head at the strange sight. Ruby's door stood behind her, the rosewood frame shaking slightly as she neared it.
"How are you here?" Uni thought calmly as she reached for the door handle.
Uni was mildly surprised to find that it functioned as any other dream door and didn't do something weird like the other doors but, then again, it did appear in the middle of her dreamscape.
Upon opening it, she was on a cliff filled with roses, hanging above the sea. In the distance the sun was setting as she stood next to a grave.
Emblazoned on the stone grave marker was,
'Summer Rose'
'Thus Kindly, I Scatter'
With muted curiosity, Uni searched for Ruby. Only to find that she was standing right behind her.
Ruby looked at her curiously, the Dream around them started to shift upon their contact.
Quickly Uni gently tapped Ruby on her forehead, causing her to become lucid.
Ruby seemed to pause and blinked a couple times before turning towards Uni. All of a sudden she smiled and shouted, "It worked!"
"How did you do this?" Uni asked as she tilted her head with dulled intrigue.
"Oh it's simple really! I went to bed while thinking about communicating with you!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully.
Uni frowned slightly, "I didn't know that was possible…" she muttered softly.
Meanwhile Ruby had paused her celebration to look around only to pause as she saw the gravestone. "H-how are we here?" Ruby asked, her eyes watering slightly.
Uni tilted her head slightly before shrugging, "It's your dreamspace" Uni said calmly. "Now what did you want to talk about?"
Ruby paused, "Oh… y-yeah…" Ruby said softly, her voice breaking slightly. "W-we want you to come back…"
Uni frowned, tilting her head in confusion, "I thought I was unwelcome…"
Ruby brushed the tears out of her eyes and gave Uni a soft smile as she shook her head, "We made a mistake, we want you to come back to Beacon…"
Uni seemed to think about it for an eternity, although in reality it was only a few minutes. "Why?" Uni asked blankly.
"Huh?" Ruby said confusion. "What do you mean why?"
Uni's eyes seemed cold and sad as she spoke softly. "I ask myself why, very often." Uni said tonelessly.
"Sometimes it's why should I do this? Other times it's why would someone do that? And sometimes… It's why me?" Uni went on, her voice just a tad bitter. "So tell me, why do so many have so much but I have so little?"
Ruby paused, unsure of how to answer, so she simply replied, "Because that's just how life works, sometimes it's not fair but we have to deal with it…"
"Why did you decide you wanted me back at Beacon?" Uni asked her voice complement devoid of feeling as she spoke. "After shunning me, what made you change your mind?"
Ruby seemed to pause, she had done this, she had broken Uni once again. "I-I um…" Ruby stuttered, unable to find the words she wanted. "Because… It's my fault, I hurt you and that's not okay…"
"Why…" Uni asked once again.
"Because hurting people isn't okay…" Ruby said softly, reaching out to grab Uni's shoulder, only for her to step away.
"So if someone says they don't care, it's okay to do whatever you want to them?" Uni asked, her empty voice was much colder than normal.
Ruby paused once again. Uni had a point, they were cruel to her just because they thought she couldn't feel.
"N-no… We made a mistake! We forgive you!" Ruby cried out, the guilt evident on her face.
Uni remained silent, staring off into the sunset as she thought to herself quietly. "Do they?" She thought curiously.
"Tell me, isn't it sad that when things hurt you, there's a point where you say your used to it? Now imagine what it must take for someone to not care at all…" Uni said blankly. "You don't understand Ruby, I'm more broken than you can comprehend…"
Ruby frowned, "Surely…" she said comfortingly before Uni turned around.
"Surely What? Surely I can be fixed? Surely it wasn't that bad?" Uni said her eyes dark and cold, cruel and uncaring. It was a different side of Uni. Orbs of black light began swirling around Uni as her aura turned from silver to black.
"You don't know what it was like for me…" Uni spoke emptily as she stepped towards Ruby.
"To be treated like dirt…" a voice whispered bitterly.
"To be thrown out into the woods to fend for yourself…" another voice muttered sadly.
"To be assaulted…" Uni said coldly, causing Ruby to back up a few steps.
Orbs of golden light began mixing in with the black as half of her aura was gold while the other half remained black before more silver began mixing in between the two colors.
"To be ignored as you cry for help…" a third voice whispered blankly.
"To be left without a f-family…" Uni continued, her voice breaking momentarily as Ruby's face darkened further at Uni's past.
While Uni's face remained completely expressionless a tear began rolling down her cheek. She paused as she reached up and wiped it off, looking at her hand in confusion.
"I'm crying?" Uni asked in muddled confusion. She seemed to stop her rant as she calmed down, now confused and torn by her tears.
Ruby stepped forward and rested her hand on Uni's shoulder. Giving a solemn yet gentle look as she turned towards the horizon.
"You know, my mother once told me something…" Ruby said calmly as she stood next to Uni, who was staring at the sunset as well.
Uni, her face still empty, tilted her head curiously. Ruby gave a distant smile and said "She said 'It'll never rain roses, when we want roses, we have to plant them ourselves."
Uni frowned as another tear dripped down her expressionless face while Ruby continued. "Then one day, when she told me that, I asked her, 'What if we can't grow roses?' And you wanna know what she said?" Ruby asked with a smile on her face.
"She said, 'Then I guess we'll just have to work hard enough until we can make it rain roses…" Ruby said gently as she turned to the gravestone.
Uni paused as she thought the phrase over before turning to Ruby. "You know it can't actually rain roses right?" Uni asked bluntly.
Ruby giggled, "Of course silly! It's an expression, it means that sometimes things will get tough but if you want something you have to work for it…"
"Hmm, but still, why are you working so hard?" Uni asked tonelessly. Her eyes filled with genuine curiosity and pain, mixed with a cold emptiness.
"Because you're our friend, and we care…" Ruby replied brightly while smiling cheerfully.
"But what if I'm broken forever?" Uni asked emotionlessly, only the faintest hints of worry remaining.
"Nope! You were crying just moments ago so you're not beyond repair, sometimes things will get dark but we just need to make some light…" Ruby said cheerfully.
While Uni thought to herself blankly, Ruby continued watching the endless sunset.
"I think you are a good friend, though I'm not sure of how friends work so maybe you're a bad friend I don't know…" Uni said tonelessly causing Ruby to frown slightly before giggling. "I think… I'm ready to come back to Beacon…"
Ruby smiled, "Great! See you tomorrow?" Ruby asked happily.
Uni gave a distant look as she stared at the endless horizon, softly she said, "See you tomorrow…"
AN: That! Was the last intermission chapter! I hope you enjoyed it took me a long time to write, especially because I had some stuff going on…
But this chapter was emotional sorry if some parts were low quality, though I think it got better near the end, as I mentioned I had some personal issues going on so I apologize about that.
Damn, I used a lot of quotes from my repertoire, even some original ones too! But whatever…
As I think I mentioned both polls are tied up and I'm switching it back to the pairing poll this week because FanFic only allows me to imbed one poll on my page at a time. If you have a guest account and can't vote just review your vote and I'll mark it up.
By the way I'm hyped to have introduced my newest OC. She's not a Faunus but she can fly! If you guys want me to do sections in chapters where I show her off let me know, or would you rather I only show her when necessary? Maybe do a chapter for her every once and awhile? Any guesses about her character, her semblance or abilities maybe? Or any other theories you guys have, whether they're about Lilith or not I'd still be interested to hear them.
Next chapter will be Volume 2 but for now please tell me what you guys think. Also comment any questions or concerns you may have.
That's all for now, Void Out!