Author's Notes: Hello, me again! Figured I should go ahead and upload chapter two since I had some inspiration going. This story's shaping up to be a little different so I hope that that's a good thing! Anyways, these first few chapters might be pretty short, but I'll try to pump them out as often as I can. (At least until they get longer.) Now that's enough outta me. On with the show!
Chapter 2: Change of Pace
Ruby's head spun as she tried to push herself off the ground. Her hands began to sink into the murky mud she was laying in and quickly pulled herself up in disgust. As she began to wipe herself off, she took a long look at her surroundings. Regretfully, nothing seemed familiar. No recognizable sights or anything. Just a smelly swamp. Ruby wrinkled her nose at the smell and looked up to the sky. It was midday thankfully, and she quickly zipped up a tree, hoping to see some sort of landmark. As she scanned the horizon, the very first thing she saw was the exact thing she was looking for. Smoke.
Ruby used her semblance, rushing over to the source of the smoke pillar, her eagerness to find whoever these people were outweighing any sort of red flags that might've been there. She missed her friends, and she needed a way to get back to them.
Arriving at the source of the smoke, three buildings stood in the middle of a small clearing with no more than fifteen people moving about. Ruby simply walked into the small village after landing and tried talking to the people. They seemed wary of Ruby, not willing to talk. At least until one man stood in front of her. "The Master wishes to speak with you," he said stiffly. Ruby felt uneasy, hoping that this was the right choice.
The man led her into the middle house, the one with smoke coming out of it. She was quickly ushered inside to see a very old man sitting cross-legged on a mat, incense candles burning all around him. "Y-You wished to see me?" Ruby stuttered out. The man remained motionless, and Ruby's body suddenly moved to sit down. "Why are you here, Ruby?" The question shocked the young huntress to say the least. "How do you know who I am?" The old man turned to look at her. "I asked you a question." Ruby nervously fidgeted, stuttering, "I-I was sent here by some strange enemy. H-he had a weird semblance that sent me here. I don't know where that is though." The old man stroked his white beard, leaning back and closing his eyes. "Yes, I see. You wish to return then?" Ruby just nodded, barely following the old man. "Well, then I would be happy to help." Ruby felt dizzy from the speed of the conversation but was grateful regardless. "But can I ask, how do you—" The old man cut her off, "Know so much? I am a shaman, my dear. I knew everything about you when you walked through that door." Ruby wasn't quite buying it, that fact clearly being shown on her face. "The people here call me, Puppet Master. It's based on my semblance for using strings to connect to people." The old man handed Ruby some milk, something she eagerly slurped up while listening. "I can connect to anyone, see everything in recent memory. With that connection, I can tap into people's emotions, see what makes them tick. I can even influence them a little, if given a nudge." Ruby gulped down the rest of the milk, setting down her cup. "Is that why there's no Grimm around?" The old man chuckled. "My, you are a smart one. Yes, I influence the people's negative emotions and keep them in check, keep them from attracting any unwanted visitors. Makes things peaceful."
"So where in Remnant are we exactly?" Ruby asked. The old man paced around the room, still stroking his beard. "Well, that's complicated. You see… we aren't quite on Remnant." Ruby's jaw fell open slightly. "W-what?" The old man scratched his neck awkwardly. "This… place exists only between worlds. It is for outsiders, for who have no place to go. Certain abilities lead people to this place. Teleportation, swapping locations, you name it. Any of those sorts of abilities must have a starting point and an end point. When none is chosen, people end up here. The default, if you will." Ruby's mind began racing, her heart beating with her growing nerves. "But, thankfully, those with said powers can send people back if they wish." The old man looked at the huntress, a warm smile coming across his face. "Then, why do you stay here? Are there even any Grimm?" The old man just shook his head. "No, but people think that I stop them. They think I keep the peace in this negativity free environment. They think that I control their emotions, but in reality, they just see me as the reason for why they feel no negativity. Like I said, its peaceful."
Ruby smiled after listening to the old man speak, his eloquent words calming her and keeping her from worrying too much. "Now then, let's get started, shall we?" The old man sat down in front of Ruby, crossing his legs again. "Faera! Please come in here." A young woman walked inside, bowing in front of the shaman. "Yes, master?" The old man grumbled. "I told you to stop calling me that, now come here. I need your semblance for a moment." Faera just nodded as she sat down behind Ruby, causing the huntress to feel less than calm. "Now, this is the only way we can send you back. It may not be to your liking, but is that alright?" Ruby stayed silent for a moment, trying to ask herself if it was worth the risk. After a few minutes she just nodded, hoping the process was something like teleportation. "Alright, I need you to help me then." The old man laid out a hand, motioning for Ruby to hold onto it. "I need you to think about where you want to go. I will give the location to Faera and she will send you there once the countdown is over. You need to think of only the one place you want to be because that is where you will end up. Understand?" Ruby nodded, trying to think of where she would like to go. Her thoughts ran through her head as the Shaman and the woman began the process of sending the huntress home. The images of her friends flashed through her head as the shaman began counting down. "Five," the image of the forest with team RNJR, "Four," the image of Beacon before the disaster, "Three," an image of her friends, enjoying school, "Two," the image of her home with Yang, "One!" The final image flashed in her mind and she couldn't react in time before she was standing in a very familiar location. Headphones blasting one of her favorite songs in a dust shop. The day it all began.
Ruby's heart sank. "This isn't right…" she thought as her thoughts blazed past her. She pulled down her headphones and looked over to the counter where Torchwick and his goons were harassing the old man. She eased up behind the men, listening in. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?" Roman asked. The poor old man begged for them to not kill him, but Ruby had already seen enough. "This can't be real!" She lunged out at Roman, screaming as she went.
Ruby tackled Roman through the window of the shop, glass shattering to the ground as they rolled onto the pavement. Roman quickly kicked the young girl off him as they rolled and he slid to a stop, dusting himself off while his henchmen ran outside after him. Ruby, with Crescent Rose back in hand, rebound off the ground, the scythe ready. "Okay? Get her!" Roman's goons rushed Ruby as she narrowed her eyes, the fight being much more one-sided than the first time as she dashed through them like bowling pins, knocking them all to the ground as she stood in front of Roman, her scythe around his neck. "End of the line," Ruby said, hoping that she could wrap this up quickly. "Oh ho! Impressive display there, Red." Roman seemed too confident, and Ruby looked behind her to see a Bullhead taking off. "Oh look! There's my ride." Roman tried to knee Ruby in the stomach, but she quickly disappeared with her semblance, quickly zipping up to the Bullhead. She slashed at the vehicle, remembering the one who was inside. "If I can stop her now…" As Ruby swung, she felt an enormous heat as a blast of fire knocked her off course, sending her back to the ground below. By the time Ruby had gotten back up, Roman was gone and the Bullhead began to hover near the building to pick him up. "Oh no you don't!" Ruby said aloud, the thought of stopping this mess before it began filling her head. She dashed up the building to take another swing as the Bullhead pulled away, the girl missing her mark by mere inches. She swung through and hit the roof of the building, digging into the side, staying there as she hoped things played out the same as before. Thankfully, Glynda Goodwitch showed up in the nick of time.
The Beacon Headmistress quickly shot a volley of purple projectiles towards the Bullhead, knocking it slightly off course. Cinder disintegrated the projectiles with little effort, as Ruby rushed towards them, anger evident in her eyes as Crescent Rose amplified her speed. Cinder smirked as she shot a blast of fire at Ruby, causing the girl to dodge with her semblance. The girl lost too much speed during her maneuver and the Bullhead pulled away, too far out of reach and Glynda quickly caught the now falling girl with her own semblance. Ruby seethed with anger as the Bullhead flew off into the night sky, but she tried to calm herself down, taking deep breaths as she was pulled back towards the building.
Glynda set the girl down on the roof and scolded her for being so reckless, but Ruby had heard something similar before and just stayed quiet. Ruby's new mission was to rewrite the future, to make sure that Beacon never falls, that Yang never loses an arm, that Penny and Pyrrha never die.
The talk with Ozpin was much the same as it was the first time. Ruby ate many cookies and was basically accepted into Beacon. It was a good chat, but Ruby could only seriously focus on her mission, meaning that it was a lot quieter the second time. She strived for peace and wished that she could stop this upcoming tragedy. If she couldn't, then what? What could she possibly do with herself after losing twice? Ruby steeled herself and swore that it wouldn't come to that.
Once Ruby returned home for the night, Yang greeted her with a beaming smile. Ruby could barely keep her tears back, especially after all that's happened so far. Yang pulled her younger sister into a very tight bear hug, squeezing the life out of her. "I heard what happened! Ohhh, I am so excited that my little sis is going to Beacon with me!" Ruby patted Yang on the back, trying her best to breath. "I know! I'm super excited to!" Ruby replied not too convincingly. Yang pulled back, letting her sister breath for a moment. "You alright? You seem a little… off." Yang worriedly looked at her sister. Ruby forced out a small laugh. "What? Me? Pssh. Yeah, I'm great! Just a little tired is all. Long day, you know? Hehe." Yang narrowed her eyes a little, making Ruby a tad nervous. "Alright, well get some sleep! Tomorrow's a big day!" Ruby feigned a yawn, provoking a real one to come on, drawing out longer than intended. "I will, I will. Good night." Ruby walked to her room and laid down, processing all of the events that led her here. The memories of the past few hours drained her further, and the girl decided to think of the new life she was about to lead. There wasn't much else for her to think about other than one doubt in her mind. "Liar."
Alright! Chapter 2 is done! Hope that you were a little surprised by the direction. (A little? Even a tiny bit?) If not then you probably read more fanfiction than me. I'll try to get out another chapter pretty soon. People seem to be enjoying it so far so I hope I can keep delivering. Alright, have a good day! Until next time.