Ruby sat in a void, nothing but blackness around her. Looking around she could see nothing in any direction, just darkness. "Ruby" spinning around she tried to find the source of the voice "Ruby, you weren't supposed to follow me" Ruby turned around trying to follow the voice, this time seeing something. A vaguely human form under a white cloak. "It's time to wake up my little rose petal" "M-Mom!?"
Copacabana, Accord Medical facility, Recovery ward.
Ruby's eyes snapped open as she sat bolt upright looking around for her mom in a panic. After several glances around the room, she slumped back into the bed. Ruby froze as the realization hit her, trying to remember how she got there. And where there was.
The room was clean, and the medical equipment next to her bed made it clear she was in some kind of hospital. But the advanced equipment didn't look like anything in Vale. The clean white metal walls and ceiling wouldn't look out of place in Atlas. How on Remnant did she-.
A beep from her right and a cold sensation in her arm drew Ruby's eyes to a tube and wires attached to her arm leading off to an IV bag and vital monitors.
Quickly pulling out the tube and wires before too much of the unknown liquid can enter her system, causing it to flat line. Ruby sat up, and looking around the room again, this time taking any details she may have missed. Looking over the room again it becomes increasingly clear she isn't in Atlas, the machines are all foreign and unfamiliar, and the style doesn't match either, with sharp angular designs with glowing orange highlights around the edges of monitors or on the floor up against the walls.
Slowly sitting up Ruby tentatively pulled the blanket to the side revealing she was wearing a hospital gown instead of her normal huntsman garb. Looking down in a moment of confusion, while the events that led her to this point came back to her.
Ruby's attention was quickly pulled away from her clothing to the sound of the door sliding open. Looking over Ruby is met with a Nurse whose expression is quickly shifting from worry to surprise at seeing Ruby awake. Ruby slowly raised her hand and gave a small and wave, that seemed to be enough to calm the woman down who let out a breath and walked over calmly. "Dieu merci, madame, vous ne devriez vraiment pas toucher au matériel médical comme ça".
Ruby looked at the Nurse in confusion, not able to understand a word she'd just said, and she simply gave the woman a blank expression. The Nurse looked back at her in confusion for a moment before speaking again, "Pouvez-vous me comprenez pas? Est-ce que quelque chose ne va pas avec votre implant SIN?"
Ruby's heart rate quicked, even if she couldn't understand the rest, she still understood the word sin and knew it usually didn't mean anything good. "Uh… I haven't done something wrong have I?"
That seemed to calm the Nurse down slightly. Leaning back into the hall she turned to her left before speaking in a loud yet seemingly clear voice "Le patient est éveillé. Mais elle ne peut pas me comprendre, est-ce que quelqu'un ici parle anglais naturellement?"
A few moments later an older-looking man with graying hair and a pair of glasses on his face came to a stop just outside the door, it looked like he'd at the very least jogged down the hall. The man spoke to the Nurse, and thankfully spook something understandable as Valish, but with some thick accent, Ruby had never heard before. "Thank you, Curi, ill take it from here" The Nurse nodded before walking off back the way the man had come.
Ruby watched as the Nurse walked away and the Doctor stepped in closing the door behind him. Walking over to her bedside he first looked at the equipment set up beside her bed.
She looked at him unsure what to say or do and was about to speak before he cuts her off "Can't say I've seen someone found in your condition destressed to wake up in a hospital before. So I hope you don't mind me asking who you are exactly, since we can't find you in our database, outside of a DNA match." He looked over at her as he stood up straight, giving her a small reassuring smile.
Ruby took a deep breath to calm herself. This wasn't as bad as she'd thought. Meeting the Doctors gaze she relaxed her shoulders before speaking "My name's Ruby Rose… And Ummm, I was wondering if you could tell me where I am… and where my friends are?"
He looked at her for a moment and nodded softly before speaking again "Rose huh… Well to answer your question you're in the hospital of Copacabana city. As for your friends, they're safe and in this hospital."
Ruby sighed deeply hearing that she and her friends were safe, but there was still a knot in her stomach. She still didn't know where she was on Remnant, but that should be easy enough to fix by asking. "Thank you. But could you tell me exactly where I am on Remnant? I mean this place doesn't look like any hospital I've seen before, and Ozpin may get upset if we've been away from Beacon for too long, and-" He holds up a hand and cuts her off.
The man removes his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose for a moment before speaking again "I'm afraid I've never heard of a place called Remnant before. And I can't say I know any places left on Earth that wouldn't have a hospital like this one. Unless you grew up in shantytown that is. Nor do I know of anywhere called Beacon. So why don't you slow down, rest, while I go figure out what we are going to do with you and your friends. Okay?"
Ruby took a second to take in and process what had just been said to her. Not on Remnant, never heard of Beacon, the fact there was apparently a town called shantytown. It all felt surreal to her and she didn't know exactly how to take it. Slumping back into her bed and staring off to space, while the Doctor simply stood up and left her alone to process this information, after being unable to get a response from the girl.
Copacabana, Accord Medical facility, Recovery Ward Hallway.
A man wearing a set of black military fatigues marched down the winding sterile halls of the hospital. Flanked by two soldiers, one in front and one behind him, holding Bullpup rifles, and wearing mat black armor. Only the faint orange glow of power coils along their backs standing out, and breaking the G-man esthetic these men radiated, as they marched past doctors and nurses, forcing them against the walls or knocking them aside if they didn't clear a path themselves.
Coming up to the desired door, the lead guard spun on his heel before coming to rest next to the door. Reaching over he twists the handle allowing it to swing open and for the officer to step through. The officer stepped through the open door followed closely by his second guard, who quickly steps to the side to watch the whole room.
Marching forward He stopped next to the bed that held his item of interest for the next forty-eight hours or so. Clearing his throat to get the attention of the girl currently hiding under the sheets. "Ma'am. My name is Lieutenant Petterson. Accord intelligence. I understand your name is Rose… Ruby. Is that correct". It was more of a statement than a question. And it was kind of unnerving the certainty he spoke with.
Ruby slowly pulled the blanket down from over her head, looking at the man who'd been talking to her. Looking at the man with his short-cropped hair and sunglasses inside. Before looking past him at the guard standing near the door. Ruby gulped before hesitantly starting to speak. "Uhm... Y-yeah, My name's Ruby… but how dod yo-". She's quickly cut off by Petterson.
"Ms. Rose. It is my job to know these things. But right now I don't know anything about you or your friends. I don't know who exactly you are. And I don't know why you were in an illegal lab in the middle of the coral forest. So before I submit my recommendation to command on what to do with you four. Please. Enlighten me."
Ruby audibly gulped, listening to this man all but threaten her and her friends with the full power of whatever government he served. Taking a deep breath Ruby slowly began to speak. Hoping to placate him. "W-well, sir… My team and I were on a mission from our school, Beacon academy… We were sent to find some strange energy thingy in the forests surrounding the school. When we found it we had been trapped in this cave by Grimm...Yang, My sister, got hurt and I freaked out and got tossed into this weird energy ball thing. Next thing I know I'm in this freaky underground lab with guys pointing guns at us… Then the portal thingy exploded… And I remember fighting big crabs before I woke up here… Can I see my friends now?" She looked at the man pleading to be able to see her sister and friends. While he merely gave her a deadpan look.
" . That story is entirely nonessential. No such school exists. And no school within Accord territory would send four young girls into the woods to find any sort of, 'Energy thingy'. As you put it". Petterson stated flatly causing Ruby to deflate at being shot down.
"But sir, it's th-!" She's cut off as he raises a hand to politely get her to stop. "If not for nearly identical testimonies from your friends I'd simply dismiss it as the rambling of a mentally unstable girl who'd gone through a traumatic experience. However taking into account your friends, I have to assume this is either a prank. Or an elaborate cover story. I'd hoped you'd see reason and spare yourself and your friends the grief of a tribunal. But if your unwilling to tell me who you are and why you were at that lab you leave me no-"
He's cut off as Ruby rockets past him at a speed that should have been impossible for such a young girl. Turning around he was able to see the guard bash her over the head with the but of his rifle, sending her to the floor. A faint glow spreading across her body as she topples over.
Weakly pushing herself up onto her knees Ruby looks up at the soldier pointing a rifle straight at her head. With her Aura broken there was no way, she could survive a fight with him. Petterson stood up and turned around, reaching into his jacket as he approached her. "P-please, I told you the truth, we didn't do anything wro- AAAAGH!"
Ruby falls back to the floor unconscious, with Petterson standing over her holding a taser. "Take her to the holding cell with the others while I contact central. We're taking them with us back to the Arclight".
Copacabana, Accord Medical facility, Containment facility.
Ruby slowly regained consciousness, becoming aware long after she'd been dumped wherever she was. The first thing she felt was a stinging pain near her collar bone where she'd been tased. The next thing she felt was a pair of warm arms warped around her, holding her tightly to someone's lap. She began to stir, seeming to get the attention of whoever was holding her as they began to speak, sounding muffled to Ruby as she tried to get her bearings.
"...? .. .. …. Ru..! Co.. o. Ruby. Wak. up!" Ruby's eyes slowly opened. Looking up she's met with the worried expression of Yang, who's holding her tightly and trying to get her to snap out of her haze. "Oh Ruby, Thank God's you're alright!" Yang holds Ruby tighter, forcing the air from her lungs and doing a great job of waking the young speedster up.
Ruby squirmed in her sister's arms for a moment, attempting to get free of her grip. Instead, she's forced to wheeze out a plea for mercy. "Y-Yang… too tight!"
Yang quickly lets her go, holding onto her arms and looking her in the eye. "What happened. Did something happen to you? Did they do anything to you?!"
Ruby kept trying to speak only to be cut off again by her sister before Yangs cut off herself. "Let her speak you brute."
Ruby looked over from the chair she and Yang were sitting in, at a bed across the room. Weiss was sitting on the edge, while Blake laid back seemingly relaxed, although Ruby could tell she was tense and ready to jump up in a second. Both of them were wearing hospital gowns just like she was.
"If you keep interrupting her like that, she'll never be able to tell you what she wants to know."
Yang sighed and rolled her eyes at Weiss, but noticeably didn't continue rapid-firing questions at Ruby. Allowing her to finally speak.
"I woke up in a hospital and then this creepy guy named Petterson came in and started asking questions… then he told me I was lying and that we were all in trouble for something…"
Blake looks over from her spot on the bed either her brow quirked "I'm sensing a 'but' coming". She said in her normal deadpan voice.
Ruby sighed before she hesitantly started to continue "And then I kinda… panicked and tried to run away… and he tased me…"
Yang's eyes flash red while both Blake and Weiss look at her in concern. Weiss looked like she was going to say something when she's cut off by an extremely angry Yang. "He did what!?"
Ruby cringed before quickly trying to defuse the situation. Only to find Yang's eyes go back to purple as she leans back into the chair looking light-headed.
"Yang! Are you alright?!" Ruby asked frantically and turned to try and figure out what was wrong with her sister. Right as two or more people started yelling outside the holding cell door.
The four girls turned to look at the door. Blake most prominently with her car ears allowing her to hear it much clearer compared to her friends.
After a moment whoever was arguing outside seems to back off in defeat, before the door opens and two people step inside. Unlike the black ops types that they had all seen before, these two did wear black bodysuits. However, that's where the similarities ended. The first wasn't wearing a helmet. Instead, he wore a ball cap with some logo none of them recognized. His armor was painted silver with light blue lights across its surface. With a massive chest rig and boots that seemed to house boosters. While the rest of his armor was rather spartan by comparison. He had some sort of weapon slung across his back that was completely foreign to them, even Ruby having no idea what it was.
The second man wore an even bulkier suit of armor painted in the same colors, with heavy armor plating covering nearly his entire body. He wore a helmet with two beady yellow eyes. And In his hands was a massive Gatling gun that looked like it was nearly as big as Weiss or Ruby easily.
The four of them tensed seeing the two large and heavily armed and armored men. While the leading man simply looked them over before settling on Ruby. He walked over to her and surprised the four of them by kneeling down to meet Ruby's gaze "Ruby Rose, right?" The man asked in a thick accent none of them had heard before.
Ruby hesitantly nodded to the man's question. Not sure what he wanted or what to expect next.
He nodded before smiling gently at her, seemingly to reassure her "well today's your lucky day ms. Rose. My boss sent me to find you. Something about feeling you arriving."
The four of them looked at the man in various states of confusion. Blake being the first to actually understand the man speaks up first "What does your 'boss' want with Ruby?"
He looked over at Blake for a second before a look of understanding washed across his face "I'm sorry, you misunderstood me. My boss wanted me to get little Rose here, and anyone she may be with."
Once again the four of them took a moment to understand exactly what he'd said. But this time it's Yang who speaks first. The normal edge to her voice muted from fatigue.
"And what exactly does she want with us? To throw us in some cell for who knows how long!"
He looked up at Yang. His brow furled in anger as he raises to face her instead of Ruby. "now you see he-"
He's interrupted by Weiss clearing her throat to get his attention and distract him from Yang. "I apologize for my friend. She has a somewhat short temper. But for the sake of trust could you please tell us who your boss is exactly. And what their interest in us is?"
He looked at her as his expression softened and his lips pulled up into a small smirk. "her name's Major Summer. She's been out in the field for about a week when she suddenly contacts the colonel and asks him to send us to go looking for a small girl with silver eyes and red-tipped hair named Rose. completely out of the blue, saying she could feel you or something. so here we are, here to save you from the cold icy of accord intelligence."
While Blake and Weiss didn't have much reaction to his commander's name. Ruby and Yang were exactly the opposite. Staring at him in open mouth shock. Yang slowly tries to speak, stumbling over her own words. "D-did you just say… Summer… is-is her… Is her name..." she trails off leaving Ruby to finish for her "Summer… Rose?"
He turns back to the half-sisters with a look of shock as he looks between them. "yeah. how did yah two know that?"
Ruby begins to hyperventilate while Yang just looks at the man with a mix of hope and disbelief in her eyes. "Looks just like Ruby here… around five foot six… bright silver eyes…?" She trails off waiting for his answer with bated breath.
He looks at her with a look of utter bewilderment before he slowly answers her "Exactly... in fact, you could say little Rose here was her daughter and I'd believe you."
She stared at him wide-eyed while Ruby started taking deep breaths to try and stay in control. Blake hesitantly raises her hand before speaking. "Are we missing something here?" A quick look at Weiss would confirm she has the same lost look to her, just more controlled than Blake.
Yang shakes her head and sighs "It's… that's our mom's name… and that's exactly what she looks like but… she's been dead for years…" Ruby chokes on her breath and spit hearing Yang say that but sighs softly and nods along to what she'd said.
He sighs softly and rubs the back of his neck with his massive armored forearm. "sorry to hear that kids... but the Majors alive and well and made a big stink about getting you lot back to base unharmed. so you coming us, Or do you wanna stay here and let Mr tall dark and creepy poke at you?" He gives a pointed look to Blake, notably her ears, and waits for an answer.
The four of them look at each other, and faced with few other options they all nod their consent to going along to Ruby, who slowly looks up at him before slowly standing up "O-okay… we'll go with you… but could you maybe get us some actual clothes first?" She blushes softly as do Weiss, Blake, and Yang.
He nods blushing softly himself "sure thing kid…" he quickly turns and runs out to get them something. Leaving the four of them alone in the room as the heavy machine gun guy steps out.
Yang looks around before dejectedly saying "Well… that just happened…" The others just nodding their accent as they waited for them to return with clothes.
A/N Okay so this took WAY longer than it should have. But here it is. Dustfall Chapter 2... It's horrible, isn't it?
But really this is a fun side project for me and I'm happy to work on it. And thank you to the great people from GreenTheRynos Discord for helping me when with this. I'd still be stuck in the hospital if it wasn't for their help.
Reviews...Kinda only got the one so...
GreenTheRyno: Thanks for the writing advice both in your review and on your discord. It helped me out a lot and it made the whole process much easier.
Well, that's everything for now. I hope you all enjoyed my insane ramblings and thank you for reading my story.