To say that Ruby was surprised when Salem had brought her to a large room containing multiple tables lined with Dust crystals, some cut and raw, while others had been cut down to more usable sizes, would have been an understatement. All of the different types of Dust were laid out across the four tables, with the most prominent one being Burn Dust; Ruby also was overjoyed to see Crescent Rose laying on one of the tables, shining in the purple light cast by a few sconces that hung on the walls.
"What is all of this?" Ruby asked quietly as Salem watched her pick up her scythe, checking the firing mechanism to see if it was still jammed.
"Over the years I have been studying how Humanity uses Dust, and the ways that they use it in conjunction with a Semblance. But now that I have you, I believe it may be more prudent to allow you access to it. Use what you need, Little Rose."
Ruby was quiet for a few moments as she wordlessly returned Crescent Rose to the holster that sat at the back of her belt, then nodded her head in understanding. "Alright, that makes sense I guess. I'll probably end up needing a lot of Dust to get done what I need to." She paused a moment, looking at all of the Dust for a quick second before she arched an eyebrow in confusion. "I'm a bit confused though."
"About what?" Salem said folding her hands together behind her back, her red eyes glowing slightly.
"You said you wanted me to break into the four vaults; I know already that I'd need to either get the Maidens to open them for me, or have their powers to do it myself. But if I went with the later option... how would I get the Maiden's powers. With the way the powers work, it makes things complicated," Ruby explained.
Salem smirked a bit as she brought her hands forward, resting one on Ruby's shoulder. "That is the easy part. I happen to have a special gift for you to use to take the powers for yourself. All you must do is find them."
As Salem mentioned that she had a gift for Ruby, a small beetle-shaped Grimm skittered along one of the walls, having entered the room from a window. It was only a couple of inches in size, with a purely white body and head with the same red glowing symbols that most Grimm had. It was quick in the way its four legs moved, with the tiny creature going from the wall to the palm of Salem's hand in only a minute, where it stood as if waiting for a command.
"What is that? I've never seen a Grimm like that before," Ruby said, a slight shiver running through her at the sight of the tiny Grimm.
"This is a simple Grimm that I created some time ago. Beetle Grimm are special, being very different than most in the sense that they are the only Grimm capable of performing a transference of power."
"Whoa... that's actually a nifty little idea..." Ruby cocked her head to the side, staring at the Beetle for a couple of seconds as it's tiny eyes seemed to stare straight through her. "So, I just carry it in my pocket or something?"
Salem's eyes seemed to glow a bit brighter, her smirk getting a bit wider as she chuckled at Ruby's naivety. It was then that the Beetle started moving again, jumping off of Salem's hand and landing on the floor between the two before quickly leaping up onto Ruby's boot. The young Huntress went wide-eyed momentarily as it started climbing up her leg, then circled around to slip under her shirt where it kept crawling along her spine, only to stop between her shoulder blades. It was still for a couple of seconds, making Ruby nervous as Salem dropped her hand back to her side, and before Ruby had a chance to ask anything or try and remove the small Grimm, she felt a piercing sensation in her skin as the Beetle started digging.
"Agh! What- What's going on, what's it doing?!"
"What it was made to do... Don't fight it, or else it may end up harming you severely," Salem mused, walking around Ruby to watch as the Beetle burrowed into Ruby's back.
The Silver-Eyed Huntress twitched and groaned in pain as she felt the Grimm digging around under her skin, then dropped to one knee as she tried in vain to smack at it with her hand, but by that point it was already in a place where she couldn't reach with her hand unless she had help. Salem raised an eyebrow when Ruby shook her head, almost about to scream as the Grimm finished it's job, but then as suddenly as the pain began, it was gone. Ruby was left on her hands and knees, breathing heavily as her vision blurred from the excruciating pain she had just endured, but as Salem walked in front of her once more, she lifted her head and looked at the woman with a confused expression on her face.
"Wh-What just hap-happened?"
"I told you, the Beetle Grimm are made for transferring power between two individuals. However, for it to work properly, it must fuse with a host in order to be an effective tool," Salem said, watching with an expression of annoyance due to having to repeat herself. "It was doing what it was created for. Now, you will be able to take the powers of the four Maidens for yourself."
Ruby let out a long sigh as the last vestiges of pain left her, then balled her hand into a fist as she used her knee to push herself up to stand again. She felt like she had just had a few thousand volts of electricity coursing through her entire body, but she blinked a few times as she rolled her shoulders, standing before Salem with the same determined look she had had before.
"Okay, then I guess I'm ready to start. Is there anything else I need to know?"
"Actually, yes. The first of the four Maidens is actually here. I was saving her for you as a sort of surprise; something that I thought you would be very pleased about, especially since this person was behind the failed attack on Beacon Academy," Salem explained, turning to leave the room.
Ruby was quiet for a couple of seconds, thinking about who Salem was talking about before her eyes quickly snapped wide open, the Huntress following along in a fast-paced walk. "You don't mean Cinder, do you?"
"That is exactly who I am talking about," Salem said with a hint of approval in her tone. "She has been here for a while now, planning on how to track down the other Maidens for herself, all while I have kept you hidden away and safe from her petty childish anger. She was the one who previously stole the Fall Maiden's powers, but in light of her past failures, I believe she is of no longer of use to me. After all, I do believe she one day plans to attempt to overthrow me; which is something that I cannot stand for. So, I believe allowing you to deal with her will not only help you in getting revenge for the attack on Beacon, but it will also be beneficial to me."
Ruby was quiet during Salem's explanation, only following along as she was led to another door similar to the one that had been used for the bedroom that Ruby had woken up in. And when Salem turned to look at Ruby, her eyes glowed slightly as she placed a hand on the door and gently pushed it open a few inches.
"When you are finished, we will get you prepared to leave."
"Are you sure about this?" Ruby said looking to the door.
"Quite. I cannot allow anyone who would wish to plot against me, nor will I tolerate failure on a scale as high as Cinder's," Salem said coldly. "Go now, take the power that you need, and deal with Cinder so that we may continue with our plans, Ruby."
Ruby narrowed her eyes slightly before she reached for Crescent Rose, unfurling the scythe into its full form as she pulled her hood up, smirking widely as she pushed the door open. "I'm going to enjoy this..." She said before speeding into the room in a blur of red and black.
"I'm sure you will, Little Rose." Salem said before she walked back down the hall towards the main hall of her fortress.
Ruby was moving almost as fast as a bullet when she sped across the room, slamming into Cinder's back and knocking her to the floor with her shoulder. The Fall Maiden barely had any warning when the door had been opened to her chambers, only hearing a slight sound of movement before she looked up and saw the red ball of rose petals and cloth speeding towards her. Cinder had previously been studying several blueprints and schematics of the four different Huntsman Academies, trying to plan how she would break in after she had obtained all of the other three Maiden powers. So when Ruby had crashed into her and knocked her to the floor, along with breaking the table she had been using, Cinder was utterly confused and surprised, not having much of a chance to flare up her Aura to protect her.
The Fall Maiden shook her head several times as she pushed herself up off of the floor, then stared, utterly dumbfounded, when she saw Ruby standing a few feet away, her massive scythe held tight in her hand with the gun barrel pointed at her.
"What?! You! What are you doing here, you insignificant little-!"
Cinder was cut off when Ruby fired a round at her face, with Cinder's Aura absorbing the attack, but knocking her back a foot or two as she stumbled.
"I'd watch what you say... Especially to the one who is replacing you, Cinder," Ruby practically growled as she ejected the empty bullet casing and loaded a fresh round into Crescent Rose.
"You what? You really think you can defeat me? Here of all places? Salem will destroy you; the Grimm will destroy you, they will feast upon your bones until nothing is left! You're a fool, Ruby Rose. You're going to die here," Cinder said laughing as she shook her head.
Ruby pulled her hood down, letting Cinder get a good look at the Huntresses damaged and scarred right eye, as well as the sinister grin on Ruby's face. "Perhaps you didn't hear me..." Ruby said before firing another shot, this one aimed behind her. The recoil from Crescent Rose propelled her the few feet that separated the two, and she crashed into Cinder, grabbing her by the throat as she slammed the Fall Maiden into the wall. "I said, you should be careful of what you say to the person who is replacing you."
Cinder gritted her teeth and snarled before she raised her Grimm arm and grabbed Ruby's neck in her clawed fingers. Ruby merely smirked as she felt her air supply being cut off, her eye starting to glow a faint white before a blinding flash enveloped Cinder, causing her to scream in pain as her left arm was encased in stone. Ruby dropped Crescent Rose and raised her left arm to grab at the stone appendage, then pulled hard and caused it to shatter to pieces, letting her breath again as she went back to holding Cinder against the wall.
"Y-You... little bitch! I'm going to kill you!" Cinder screamed.
"You're not killing anything anymore Cinder. You're through; and when I take those powers of yours, you'll be finished for good," Ruby said as she vaguely became aware of an itch that was growing increasingly hard to ignore.
Unbeknownst to Ruby, the Beetle Grimm was already getting ready to do its job, painlessly burrowing down Ruby's arm towards her hand where it seemed to almost melt into existence and appear in the palm of the Silver-Eyed Huntresses hand. After a few moments, Ruby couldn't ignore the weird feeling in her hand, raising her palm to look at it, then narrowed her eyes when she saw the Beetle. Flexing her fingers a few times, Ruby grinned before showing the Grimm to Cinder, causing the Maiden's eye to widen in panic.
"No... You can't! It's mine, it belongs to me! I won't let you! It's MINE!'
Ruby went quite as the Beetle jumped from her hand and latched onto the untarnished side of Cinder's face, sinking its claws into her skin before it started pulling the power of the Fall Maiden out of her, channeling it through its body and into Ruby. Cinder screamed in pain from the process, something she should have expected since she had heard Amber do the same when she had stolen the power for herself so long ago. But despite the agonizing screams, Ruby remained silent and held her against the wall for the entire process, something that lasted several minutes. But as the minutes went by, Cinder's screams started to quiet down, eventually turning to whimpers and then complete silence as the Beetle disappeared back into Ruby's hand. Ruby stared at Cinder for a few seconds, then backed up and let the former Maiden fall to the floor in a heap.
"Thank you Cinder, you were actually useful for once. Now my newest Maiden is one step closer to helping me in accomplishing my goal."
Ruby went wide-eyed and spun around quickly to see Salem standing several feet away, her hands clasped together in front of her as she looked at Cinder. Ruby was quiet as she looked back to Cinder, her eye still glaring in anger, but her body language much calmer than before as her working eye seemed to glow a very light mixture of orange and silver. Cinder, despite feeling so weak now, managed to hold herself up with her remaining hand and glare daggers at Ruby before looking to Salem in confusion.
"M-My Queen... Why..?"
"It is as I told Ruby. You have failed me far too many times in the past. And despite what you may think, I am fully aware of your plans to overthrow me once you have all of the Maiden powers," Salem said as she walked closer, looking down at Cinder disdainfully. "I have decided that you are more trouble than you are worth."
"B-But why her? She's a Silver-Eyed Warrior! The very enemy of the Grimm! It doesn't make any sense!" Cinder protested, glaring at Ruby again.
"Because, unlike you, she has potential," Salem said, turning around and placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby has already shown how far she is willing to go to aid me, not just in joining my cause, but in how she did not hesitate nor fail to defeat you and take the power of the Fall Maiden for herself."
"Please... just give me another chance! I won't fail you again, just give me one more task, I promise I won't let you down, my Queen."
Salem turned her head, looking over her shoulder at the collapsed, and begging form of Cinder before looking to Ruby with a smirk. "As you wish... I will give you one more task, Cinder. One you cannot possibly fail."
"Anything, my Queen!" Cinder said hopefully.
Salem looked to Ruby, a deadpan look on her face as she removed her hand from the Huntresses shoulder. "Ruby, why don't you help our dear Cinder in getting out of my sight."
Cinder froze, disbelief clear on her face as she heard the words. Her face went pale as she looked back at Ruby, whose eye began glowing that orange-silver light as she stared at Cinder.
"With pleasure, Ma'am," Ruby said before she raised a foot and kicked Cinder in the side of the head, knocking the woman out and causing her to fall to the floor.
"You did well, Ruby," Salem praised as she smiled. "Now, I believe it is high time we sent you on your way. After all, you have a lot of work to do."
Ruby picked Crescent Rose up off of the floor and collapsed it to its compact form, holstering it wordlessly before following Salem out of the room.
"Yes, My Queen."
AN: Alright! There's the third chapter, done and good to go.
Gotta say, writing this is super fun; I know I have a lot of other projects I'm in the middle of. But I went ahead and started this because it was an idea that popped in my head that wouldn't leave me alone. So I'm using it as both a new story, and as a way to help me get inspiration for my other stuff, as well as a bit of a break from the other things.
Anyways, I hope you all are liking it so far, as Traitor Ruby is really fun to write. As I have stated already, there are going to be elements in this that are pretty dark and not really my forte, but I'm giving it a shot. And I have to point this out, because it was a question that was poised after chapter 2.
This story not only takes place in an AU where the Fall of Beacon was unsuccessful, but also a couple of years ahead of established RWBY Canon where the members of Team RWBY were born a few years earlier. The result: Team RWBY are pretty much full-fledged Huntresses, being in their third year at Beacon. As for the Maidens, Fria and Raven are still the Winter and Spring Maidens, while Cinder did steal the power of the Fall Maiden. And as for Summer, I'm going to take that into Author's creativity, seeing as in the show we don't know who the Summer Maiden is.
Anyways, that's chapter 3! I hope you all enjoyed; go ahead and let me know what you think so far, I'd really appreciate the input.
As Always,
Soul's Release