I don't own RWBY

When she first got her memories of her time as Alice, she hated the death god, for waiting until Summer died to give them back. It hadn't seemed fair that the first time she got a good mother that she wouldn't be able to have a life with her. In her pain, she'd thrown herself into being Ruby Rose without hesitation. She wanted to prove she could survive this world as a bitter way to get even with Anubis. So, she renounced her old life and stopped caring about the world she left, becoming Ruby down to her bones. She was ready for anything or at least that's what she thought.

Then the train crashed, and she found her teammate laying wounded. She'd been too slow, and Blake had paid the price. If she hadn't wasted so much time playing with the chainsaw user, then her teammate would be safe not knocked out on the ground. Jaune wouldn't be exhausted from transferring his aura to Blake either. Pyrrha wouldn't be defending them both from grimm despite the blood running down own her arm.

Clutching Crescent Rose tightly in her hand she felt guilty but not for the people around her; the innocent civilians, but for letting her team get hurt. Gritting her teeth, she tried to ignore the screams that echoed through the air; ringing in her ears. She didn't care that these people were dying, there was no point in worrying them when she needed to protect her team. Still, she wanted to finish off the grimm quickly before any more lives could be lost.

As her blade cut down grimm after grimm she hated that her aura was running so low. With all the years she'd spent training she should be able to be faster now. Pyrrha looked over at her leader worriedly as she covered Jaune. The reaper was using her semblance to dart around the battlefield without hesitation, yet it was too much. The girl was nothing more than a blur; she was using her aura too quickly and there was a chance she would burn out. Neptune watched the scene with his mouth hanging open. Awe and shock in his eyes.

"I can see why you call her a demon," he told Sun who was mostly distracted. Sun looked at Blake who was being guarded by her teammates. He could understand why Ruby had gone a little battle crazy however this wasn't her usual attack style. She didn't waste any movements, and her attacks were ruthless. Then she made a mistake. Hand going to his weapon he leaned forward just as Ruby's eyes widened.

Ruby stumbled coming to a stop as her aura ran out; it felt as if she was suddenly moving through quicksand. Looking up at the giant snake grimm heading in her direction she frowned before straightening and pulling back her scythe. In a flash of yellow her sister dropped in attacking without hesitation. Yang punched the grimm hissing at her sister and sent its head into the ground with enough force to crack the concrete. Rolling off its head she smirked at the younger girl.

"You okay Rubes," Yang asked only to freeze at the rage in her sister's eyes. Yeah, Ruby was not okay; in fact, this was the most anger she'd ever seen in her eyes. As Ruby transformed her scythe into a glaive and stabbed the snake grim in the head with much more force than necessary, Yang suddenly felt sorry for the creature.

"Blake got hurt," Ruby said simply as the grimm faded into smoke.

Yang winced and looked away from her sister, she knew how possessive and protective her sister could be. It was actually intimidating how attached Ruby could get to others. Anything that hurt her team became an issue Ruby would handle herself, however, she doubted Ruby could handle an entire grimm invasion. Seeing how horrible the girl looked Yang had a feeling Ruby would be angry for days or she would start pouting. Watching the atlas fleet show up, Ruby began walking back over to her team.

"How is she," Ruby asked kneeling beside Jaune.

Looking over her teammate she narrowed her gaze. The long-jagged claw marks from where the Ursa had slashed across the girl's stomach were healed but Blake was still unconscious. Ruby sighed in relief even though the memory of Blake covered in blood still haunted her mind. Glancing up as Sun made his way over to them as the Atlassian forces cleaned up the streets, she tried to smile at the boy. The expression fell flat.

Kneeling beside the girl, Sun laid a hand on Ruby's shoulder as she looked down at her teammate. Despite his own worry about the black-haired girl, he knew that Ruby felt horrible. Loosening her grip from her scythe, she closed her eyes as frustrated tears stung her eyes. She hated feeling so weak; so useless. As a team leader, she was supposed to keep them safe. Feeling the feather from her father brush against her face she wondered if she even deserved to lead her team.

(Ozpin)

Ozpin stared down from his tower and wondered if this had been part of Salem's plan. If she'd manipulated these events to suit her purposes while his people ran around like headless chickens. Not only was this something she would do, but he also knew that she wouldn't leave her tower to attack like this. He supposed she could have sent one of her minions. Humming slightly, he wondered if her minions had infiltrated the school before pushing the idea away; his security could never be breached. Idly he listened to the council talk before standing he didn't really care that Ironwood would be given control of the Vytal Festival; he cared about his students. Even if he didn't really show it, he did care. His students had arrived back at Beacon earlier and he wanted to check on them.

"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen," he said taking great satisfaction in cutting off their call. Politicians really were the worst race on Remnant; he missed the good old days when no one dared to question him. Walking to the elevator he was surprised when it opened and Ruby stalked into his office with a guarded expression on her face. Blinking he stared down at the girl before waving his arm toward the chair in front of his desk. Was his silver-eyed warrior finally going to confide in him? Trying not to get his hopes up he said, "I assume you want to talk about today."

Nodding the reaper took a seat she was wearing a simple pair of red leggings and a pale pink long sleeve shirt. Her combat clothes were still covered in blood, her teammate's blood. Digging her nails into her thighs she tried to pretend that she wasn't about to break apart. When he sat across from her and met her eyes he frowned. This was a different side to the girl than he was used to seeing. She seemed almost hesitant in her actions; it was worrying.

"How many people died today," she asked. Despite not caring much about the civilians she needed to know; those deaths were partly her fault after all. There was a chance her team might be blamed for their part in allowing the breach to happen and she was not going to allow that to happen. Tapping her foot on the floor she refused to look away from his gaze. He set down his mug for once not finding any interest in drinking his coffee.

"Civilian casualties were low compared to how bad it could have been," he said knowing all too well how much worse it could be. Memories of burning buildings and screams flashed through his mind before he pushed them away. Now was not a time to dwell on the past; he could do that when he was sleeping.

"I asked for a number headmaster," she said undeterred.

"Sixty two," he said finally. He watched her eyes close as she slammed her mental shields up at full force to keep from crying.

She'd known that people died during the breach but having a number, even if she'd asked for it, made it feel more real. The civilian casualties might've been unfortunate but worse was the reaction her team had to the breach. Her team was shattered. Pyrrha was trying to be strong for Jaune but was also wary of Blake due to the girl's action. Jaune was traumatized from seeing death up close, and Blake was finding it difficult to cope with her choice to take a life. Everything was a mess and the Vytal festival was coming up too which meant Cinder's plan was going to really kick-off

"I would like to request a week of recovery for my team away from Beacon," Ruby said knowing that they couldn't work on their issues here. For one she didn't need her sister to start treating her like a child and they needed to be away from everything for a while.

"Your team would get back right before the tournament," he said lacing his fingers together in thought. He could see that Ruby needed a break from Beacon; he occasionally felt the same as well. Sighing because he knew Glynda was going to kill him slowly he spoke, "very well you have until next Wednesday to return to Beacon. I truly apologize for any suffering this mission brought to you, Miss Rose."

She didn't care about any grief the mission brought her; she cared about her team. Nothing else mattered to her except making sure her team was alright, and this mission had thrown her team out of whack. Standing the reaper nodded stiffly as she had to go tell her team the news. She just hoped they would take it well. Offering him a small smile she felt a little better; maybe he wasn't as horrible and manipulative as she thought he was.

"Thank you, headmaster."

"Miss Rose, where will you take them," he asked curiously. Ruby twitched slightly at the question but had no reason not to answer the question.

"Home," she said simply referring to patch and the house she grew up in. Tai would still be on a mission for another week and a half so they would have the place to themselves unless her father decided to drop in. Ozpin nodded as he understood her reasoning sometimes home was the only place safety could be found.

"I hope your team resolves their issues," he stated meaning every word. It would be disappointing to lose four talented students; he needed all the warriors he could get.

"Me too," Ruby whispered as she entered the elevator. Now she just had to tell her team about the decision.

Exiting the elevator, she wasn't that surprised to see Cardin waiting on her. He was leaning against the wall watching her closely; he always knew when she needed him. Stalking toward him, she didn't care that she was rushing until she was crashing into him. Wrapping her arms around him she didn't hesitate to cling to his shirt. It was easy to press her face into his shirt and pretend that she was anywhere else. Feeling his own arms wrap around her made it even easier.

She had no idea if she was actually a good leader or if her team deserved someone better than she was. What she did know was that Cardin believed in her unconditionally. If she gave up now, then she would be betraying the trust that he placed in her. Her plans were more important than any emotional turmoil and her team was more important than her plans. Feeling his arms tighten around her she almost wanted to ask if she could hide in his room for the night. It wouldn't be the first time she decided to stay with him rather than confront her own problems.

"So, I'm guessing you're not doing good," he said as her hand tightened on his shirt. Feeling her shake her head, he sighed. His mission had gone better than hers; in fact, it had been boringly normal. What did he say to make her feel better? He had no idea how to help unless she told him what was wrong. Sighing he asked, "Want some ice cream?"

Pulling away she knew that she needed to talk to her team, but at the same time, she wanted to be around him. He was the only one she could possibly tell about everything without being judged for it. Giving a nod she smiled at him; ice cream sounded really good right now. Following him to the cafeteria she didn't say anything as they got their desserts. Taking the strawberry and chocolate ice cream he handed her, she smiled softly.

She knew that he really didn't like ice cream that much, so seeing him pick a peanut butter cookie instead. Letting him lead her to a secluded spot outside she sat down under the tree first. Taking a bit of her ice cream she turned watched him pace for a moment as if scanning the area for threats. Sitting down once he was sure they were alone, he scoffed lightly before viciously biting into his cookie. Blinking at the action she rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to laugh. Why was it that everything he did was aggressive?

Watching him devour the cookie, she ate her own ice cream with much less vigor. This was something that they'd always made time to do; although usually, it wasn't after she killed a man. How would Cardin react to her admitting that she killed someone? Knowing him he would shrug it off and ignore that it even happened. Or given that it was a White Fang member he might throw her a party. Leaning back against the tree, she hummed softly at the thought. The idea of Cardin raising a banner with her name on it was amusing in its own way.

"Sorry I couldn't help with the whole grimm invasion thing, my own team was in the infirmary," he said once he'd demolished his cookie. Shaking the crumbs off his hand he frowned slightly as he recalled the chaos that had followed the grimm invasion. He supposed that she'd known about the thing before it actually happened, but he doubted she could have stopped it.

"What happened?"

Twitching at the question he could clearly remember hearing Sky scream the word stairs right before he rammed into Dove. Their race resulted in a broken leg and a mild concussion; well he'd given them both a concussion after he caught up with them. Apparently, while diving off the stairs was faster than running down them it was also dangerous, also his teammates were idiots. It didn't help that when he had them writing lines for the next two hours with Russel supervising to make sure they didn't run away.

"Training accident," he said just slow enough to be considered the truth. There was no way that he would admit to what actually happened. Shifting to lay on the ground he asked, "So how are you doing? What all happened?"

"We went to Mountain Glen, I fell in a hole and landed on a White Fang operation," she said bluntly. Watching him twitch at the words White Fang she said, "I also saw Roman again and he had this really hot woman with him."

Of course, she did. Chuckling at the words he felt the tension fade from his body. If she was still able to focus on her crush, then she was perfectly fine. It was nice to know that Roman was still one of her priorities; all he had to do if he angered her was hunt down the thief and use him as a bargaining chip. Still, he could tell that something else was bothering her. She usually wouldn't act like someone just murdered her puppy. He knew for a fact that Jaune was perfectly fine.

"Alright, and why are you acting so weird?"

"Blake got hurt," she said. Shifting slightly at the rush of guilt she felt, she didn't know what else she could stay.

"I doubt that was your fault," he said. The day she purposely hurt her teammates was the day he stopped pretending that he didn't have emotions besides anger and annoyance.

"I feel like it was," she whispered just loud enough for him to hear her. Instead of responding to her words, he huffed; she blamed herself far too much.

"What else happened," he asked. when she shifted and gave a confused look, he rolled his eyes saying, "that isn't you're my teammate got hurt face it's the I messed up and now I'm worried how they'll react face."

She did not have an expression like that, did she? Raising a hand to poke her cheek she pouted. He'd spend way too much time around her if he could tell her expressions apart. It didn't help her pride that he was actually right about why she was acting so weird. Frowning slightly at the blow to her pride she took another bite of ice cream before sighing in defeat.

"I killed a White Fang agent," she admitted.

Sitting up quickly, he pinned her with a sharp stare as he processed the words. His first reaction was to throw her a party; his hate of the White Fang hadn't faded a bit in the last few years. he could stand to buy her a dozen or so boxes of cookies. She deserved it for ridding the world of one of the terrorists that plagued it, but from the expression on her face he doubted that she agreed. if she hadn't planned on killing the terrorist scum then she must have lost her temper. it made sense that she wouldn't want her teammates to learn she killed someone due to a momentary burst of anger.

He'd spent more than enough time around her to know that her temper was much worse than she pretended it was. After all, suppressing her negative emotions in favor of acting like a happy fool wasn't healthy. He had to wonder what the poor faunus did to anger her; she didn't usually react to taunts with murder. Slowly laying back down once he realized the staring was making her uncomfortable, he grinned.

"Your temper snapped," he said with just enough glee to sound amused.

"What if they hate me," she asked. rather than wonder how he knew that she'd lost her temper she decided to pout instead. it made sense that he knew she'd lost control. After all the last time she'd gotten close to killing someone it had been due to losing her temper.

"Doubtful, it's not like you're an insane killer or anything, you just lost your temper," he said. He didn't care that she'd killed someone; she was still his Ruby.

"He insinuated Blake belonged to someone else," she mumbled. The anger was still in her tone when she spoke, and he couldn't keep a smirk from his face.

"How possessive," he teased. The glare she sent him was more adorable than threatening. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "but seriously you need to work on that."

"I know," she said softly. IN her first life she'd had nothing, now that she had people, she cared about she couldn't help how possessive she was. She just wanted to protect what was hers, however she couldn't keep losing her temper. Shifting slightly, she decided to share something that had been bothering her by saying, "but I didn't feel anything when it happened. All I'm worried about is that my teammates will be upset."

"I don't blame you, Jaune's a bit of a pansy," he said instantly. The opportunity to take a shot at one of her teammates wasn't one he was going to miss out on.

"He's an adorable puppy!"

"I'm ignoring that," he snapped. There was no way he would ever admit to finding anything attractive about the blonde, even if he did agree with her. He knew what was really bothering her ant that was that she hadn't cared about killing the faunus. Normal people would have panicked about killing someone, but she simply didn't care. He could honestly say that he wouldn't' have cared about killing the faunus either, but Ruby wasn't him. Rolling over to look at her he wasn't that surprised to see a troubled expression on her face. in his opinion she cared too much both about her own actions and about her teammates. Tapping her leg, he said, "So what if you killed someone. We're huntsman, at our core we are killers. Be it monsters or humans we are not heroes, we're warriors."

Stilling, she stared at him. She could agree with his words, but she doubted her teammates would. Jaune was still trying to play hero and Pyrrha was raised to be honorable. She didn't blame them for their beliefs, but she knew without a doubt they would be upset by her actions. It wasn't as if she'd had to kill the faunus either, she'd chosen to kill him. Laying the half-eaten bowl of ice cream on the ground, she curled up beside him. Neither of them noticed the black crow sitting on the branches above them.

(Neo)

Staring down at the dagger she'd taken from Ruby; she couldn't stop herself from studying the weapon. It was simple but efficient, a good tool for a huntress or a killer. After playing around with Ruby's teammates for a few moments, just long enough to knock out the blonde, she'd seen the end of Ruby's fight. She could still remember the sight of Ruby throwing the faunus out of the train. Knowing that she'd been right about the girl was gratifying.

She'd been supposed to meet up with Cinder and become the woman's third teammate, but instead, she was taking the time to set up a safety net. She and Roman needed out of this situation and who better to go to than the owner of the largest black market in Vale. True it was nothing compared to Mistral, but he could still smuggle them out of the city. Looking up she entered the small weapon shop hoping that he wouldn't turn her away; from the reports he was fond of Ruby so the dagger should work as payment.

Nic looked up and froze seeing the girl who held up a blade he instantly recognized. Laying a hand on the shotgun under his counter, he frowned at the multicolored woman; if she'd hurt Ruby, he would kill her. It wouldn't be the first time he'd dealt with a threat to his little freeloader.

"Where did you get that," he asked slowly as she walked to the counter. Barely stopping himself from baring his teeth, he snapped, "Ruby would never give away a blade she made personally."

Smirking Neo typed a quick message on her scroll and held it up for him to see. She wanted out of Vale the second the Vytal festival ended; for both her and Roman. It was doubtful that Cinder would want to keep them around once the woman got what she wanted. The old man had all but announced Ruby's status as untouchable in Vale after the breach and she knew him well enough that he would make a deal for the right price. She watched the man silently waiting for his response while also keeping up her guard. Nic read the words for the third time and looked up at her face to find genuine regret, but also determination.

"If I agree this stay's secret," he asked just to make sure. Neo nodded instantly in agreement; she was desperate enough to agree to anything in order to get out of this Kingdom. Running his hand through his hair the old man said, "deal. One last trade, then both you and Roman are to leave Vale. I'll set up identities for the two of you in Mistral."

Reaching out she handed him the dagger as a peace offering having dropped her guard the moment he agreed. Instead of taking the weapon, he grabbed her wrist in a tight grip as his nails lengthened into claws. She felt something press against her skin and looked down: sharp claws stopped just before breaking skin. The action was both a warning and a promise of what would happen should she betray him.

"If you kill Ruby, I'll break you Neo," he warned faunus features on full display. The old lion of Atlas glared up at the young woman with lengthened fangs.

So, I have one college class this summer and it's Chem 112 the second chemistry class in the sequence. It was supposed to start the third but my teacher is apparently having technical difficulties. I figure my updates will return to being chaotic too. This is probably the only one of my stories I'll be able to update on a regular basis (summer classes go really fast). That being said, I am working on another story at the moment too a currently unpublished one. What do you guys think of a Fullmetal Alchemist and Harry Potter crossover? It's weird I know and it's not exactly in my comfort zone but I rewatched Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood recently.

Anyway moving on from my chaotic story ideas; what did you guys think about the chapter? I tried to take a look at Ruby's emotional state this chapter and how she felt about killing. Qrow will show up next chapter and I'm really happy about that.

stay safe and have a good day

-Shyla