These Thorns of Mine
Chapter 1: Starting a new life
Our tale, which is not for the faint of heart, begins in an alley.
Already, the tone is set; rarely does any good come from such a place.
Eleven men strode down this alley, ten in matching outfits of suits and red sunglasses any a gangster would wear. The man in front was shorter than them but clearly the leader; he wore a bowler hat and wore a white suit that contrasted his red hair.
They strode through the neighorhood with all fearing them, moving out of the way and praying whomever they were after wouldn't be too badly hurt.
What the group failed to notice was that their party was dwindling the closer they got to the shop. First, a slit neck.
10.
Then a spine-stab and neck bite.
9.
Unfortunately for the attacker, the thug had groaned loudly, alerting the others to his death.
"Great." The leader sighed, then looking on in expectation. "You want their share? Kill them!"
As they drew red blades, one of the thugs gasped and said something that put them all on edge.
"NIGHT STALKER!"
That was the last word the thug said, as the attacker landed on his neck and twisted it. A bullet ended the lives of six more and a pair of butterfly knives slit the throats and wrists of the remaining two.
Just one left.
The leader was faster than his goons and lifted up his cane, the end of which opened and fired a blast of fire Dust. The attacker barely leapt over and landed behind him with the intent to take his head. However, he blocked their knives with his cane, beginning a duel that would've been worthy of an action movie.
The attacker then pulled out a thigh mounted pistol and after kicking Roman away, slammed a round inside and fired. However, the leader had thought similarly, picking up the machine one of his mooks had been carrying and letting the bullets fly. Sadly for him, his attacker was fast enough to see the shots coming and leapt upwards, then running along the roofs off the buliding that made the alley, their eyes never leaving the gangster.
Eventually, the machine gun ran out of bullets and the gangster moved to grab another, only for his hand to impaled by one of the knives and the other open his neck.
"...Neo..." Was all he could say.
And thus ended the life of Roman Tourchwick. Wanted Enemy #1 of Vale and the man who would've helped spark a major incident or two by the year's end.
RWBY
The attacker was a 14 year old, almost 15 year old girl with white skin, short black and red hair. She wore combat shoes and a short skirt, along with a hoodie that, upon her letting out a sigh, turned red from its camo colour.
What stood out most about her were her eyes; one red as her namesake and the other silver.
Glancing around, the girl quickly got to work on doing the thing that had lead to her hunting such a dangerous criminal: Placing a hand on the bodies or even just placing her tongue on them, she began to absorb the blood of the criminals, soon leaving husks in their wake.
She gagged once she was done; none of them had been her favorite blood type. Still, at least they were indeed bad people, so she was grateful for that at least.
"...I need some cookies." She mused as she put an eye-patch over her red eye and lowered her cat ears before willing her tail to wrap around her waist. Once she was content with hear appearance, she made her way to the same location her targets had approached.
'Dust til Dawn' was Ruby Rose's haven; open nearly 24/7 and had everything she loved; weapon magazines (both actual rounds and monthly publications), Dust, snacks and music. The owner was always an incredibly nice older man who would occasionally offer her a discount.
So when she entered the shop, she happily returned the wave he gave her and dropped a few Lien on the counter for the milkshake and cookies he had made in preparation for her arrival.
"Thanks. Is the new issue of CAW in yet, Oji?" Ruby asked, with the old man smiling and pointing to the magazine and CD section, where she saw something that put her on edge.
Ordinarily at this time of night, Ruby would've had this whole store to herself. But not today; no, today, there was someone else in the story.
A boy, not too much older than her in a Pumpkin Pete hoodie with what looked like the shoulder armour of a knight, a sword and two holsted, silver revolvers with red highlights. He seemed to be listening to music, and judging from the smile on his face, he clearly enjoyed what he was hearing...and it was very cheerful.
Ruby couldn't help but chuckle as she made over the magazine section, only for her interest in this boy to grow even more when she saw he was reading Classic Armaments Weekly as well.
When he noticed he wasn't alone, the boy dropped his headphones and offered Ruby the magazine with a smile. Now Ruby got a good look at the boy; blonde and scraggly hair with gentle blue eyes and an admittedly sweet and awkward smile.
"I'm...I'm done with it, if you want."
"T-thanks..." Ruby shyly said as she took the magazine; she may have been fight and kill gangsters with little problem, but dealing with cute boys was something she had little to no experience in, and this lack of experience made her antsy.
She then realized that the boy seemed to be struck by her in some manner, as his form tensed for a second and his eyes widened. He seemed to realize this as he blinked a couple time and shook his head.
Well, this made things a little easier, Ruby mused. Him seemingly being as awkward as her gave her a little of confidence. Taking a sip of her shake, she then steeled herself and asked:
"So...you new in town or passing through?"
She had tried to sound not too interested, but her lips folded onto themselves and her eyes darted back and fourth from the magazine to his face, which was adora...WHY WAS SHE THINKING THIS?!
"Just passing through before I go to school." The boy replied, his own answer very much like Ruby, him clearly thinking to sound calm when his body was clearly not, as he struggled to turn off his music.
"I'm Ruby." Ruby decided to cut him some slack and extended a hand. "Ruby Rose."
The boy seemed grateful for this and returned in kind.
"Jaune Arc."
They both tensed at the name reveals, but for very different reasons.
Ruby realized that she was speaking to someone from a very well known family! Since the Great War, the Arcs had consistently produced not only exceptional Huntsmen and Huntresses (the latter more than the former, admittedly), but several members had created or had a role in creating revolutionary weapons or peace-keeping movements. They were well-known as the one 'human' backer of the White Fang group, for crying out loud!
The current main heiress, no doubt this boy's sister (the Jaune matriarch was considered a treasure in not only being a powerful warrior, but having multiple and powerful children of her own) was rumored to be just as strong as Beacon Academy's Team CFVY and was team lead of the formidable Team JNPR, who had many were betting would win the Vytal Fest.
And the boy in front of her had been mentioned in several interviews, with his sisters claiming he was the most determined soon to be Huntsman in training and...the other reason...
For Jaune, however, the reason for his tensity was entirely different"
"Wait...any relation to Summer Rose?" The boy asked, a desperate hope in his tone.
Ruby's body tensed and fear and sadness crept in.
"H-how do you know my mom?" She asked.
Instead of answering, the boy fell to one knee and bowed like a knight before their king or queen, even unsheathing the sword was carrying and using it to keep him upright.
"W-w-what are you...?!" Ruby had started only for the store's chime to inform them of another customer.
"Jaune, we need to...Jaune, what are you...?"
The two turned to see a tall and beautiful blonde woman with glasses with a prod in her hands to pause mid-step
"...Summer?" The woman asked in shock.
Ruby's sense of unease grew exponentially and she reached for her butterfly knife.
"How do you know that name?" Ruby asked, desperation filling her; she was not going back to...wherever they were going to send her! She had escaped once and all she did was to be left alone while occasionally killing a bad guy or two!
Her weapons were suddenly pulled into the air and some blood dripped from the knives. She panicked. How could she have forgotten to clean them?!
RWBY
A half hour later, Ruby and Jaune waited in an interrogation room.
The door finally opened, but it wasn't a police officer who entered. Instead, it was a man all knew and respected; the youngest Headmaster of a Huntsman Academy and a legend in his own time and right;
"Professor Ozpin." The three said in unison.
Ozpin, holding a plate of chocolate chip cookies, placed the plate on the floor and gave the two teens a look over...more specifically a courteous nod to Jaune before focusing on Ruby, who was stuffing her face with cookies.
"You...have Silver eyes." Ozpin mused. "Like your mother."
Ruby suddenly filled with shame and the two blondes could see she was about to cry.
"No." She confessed, finally taking off her eye-patch to reveal her crimson eye. "I have a Silver Eye. Just one."
"...You're a Night-stalker." Ozpin noted.
Before Ruby could say anything else, Jaune intervened.
"Professor? I don't mean to overstep my place, but...she hasn't killed anyone innocent, right?" He asked.
The woman nodded in agreement; having been reviewing every death that looked like it could've been caused by a Death-Stalker within the last few years: Each and every one of them had been a criminal, rabid animal or domestic abuser.
Ruby's eyes twinkled with tears and she sniffled, hugging Jaune without a second thought.
"T-thank you..." She managed to say before Jaune returned the hug, his face filled with shame and confusion.
"...That is true, young Arc." Ozpin mused, his own face adopting simular feelings. "And I do owe her mother. That being said, there is the fact that..."
"No. No facts. Nothing being said." The woman cut in. "If you're letting Raven's daughter in, you can and WILL let Summer's daughter in. If we absoluteky have to, the infirmary ncan afford to loose a blood-packet or two. If not, take it off my pay-cheque."
"Auntie?" Jaune asked, shocked b the woman's emotonal outburst.
Glynda Goodwitch, normally a very straight faced and firm woman who many respected and even more feared, had been hosting her nephew Jaune for a few days before he went to Beacon to start his training as Huntsman. Training that he had put more effort into than most other students, ever since that incident 10 years ago...
She had left him at Dusk Til Dawn to investigate some shouts and the firing of machine gun rounds after a celebratory dinner and her giving him some tips to make his time at Beacon productive.
She had found what remained of Roman Tourchwick and several of Junior Malachite's henchmen, obviously on loan. All dead and cleaned of their blood. Following procedure, she had informed the Vale police and then gone to collect her nephew, only for luck to be on her side and find the attacker was with him.
But to see that the attacker was a young girl who, cat ears aside, was the spitting image of her best friend?
No. This would not do.
Glydna narrowed her eyes at her boss.
"I am merely..." He started, only to be cut off.
"I am aware of what you meant and under most circumstances I would agree. But I trust my nephew." Glynda snapped, before her face softened as she pressed some buttons on her scroll. "And I will not fail my best friend a second time."
The cuffs on Ruby's wrists deactivated.
"Jaune. Take her home. I'll personally drop you two off at the Bullhead tomorrow."
The two teens left the room and did as they were told.
RWBY
The next day, after a warm but somewhat awkward breakfast (during which none of Ruby's questions were answered) the two teens found themselves on a Bullhead headed towards Beacon. Ruby could barley contain her excitement, jumping up and down in giddy delight.
"I can't believe it!" She happily beamed. "We're going to THE Beacon Academy! THE! BEACON! This all I've ever wanted! Isn't this amazing!?"
"Yep." Jaune simply smiled, popping the 'P' and just happy that Ruby was happy...Mostly so that he could focus on something else; his motion sickness was kicking in fast and it was taking every ounce of strength he had to not vomit his breakfast all over the floor.
When the Bullhead finally landed, he had let out a grateful 'thank Oum' before running as fast as he could to the nearest garbage bin.
"Jaune? Are...Are you okay there?" Ruby asked in concern.
"You...You go on ahead, Rubes. I...I'll catch up..." Jaune groaned as the last of his breakfast left his form. "I...need a minute."
Ruby recoiled a bit, cursing her Faunus senses but otherwise making her way closer to Beacon, leaving her first friend to collect himself. She marvelled at the open spaces, green pastures and the magnificent castle that hosted the Academy, as well as the statue of the King of Vale in the centre of the courtyard
Our heroine was so enraptured by everything around her that she failed to notice several suitcases until she tripped on them, her hood falling off.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU FILFTHY CAT?!"
The shouter was a girl of pale complexion and white clothes and a sideways ponytail.
"Could you maybe yell a little quieter?" Ruby asked, knowing it was probably in vain...and swearing she knew this girl from somewhere.
The girl proved her first point by opening up one of the suitcases to reveal vials of explosion Dust; one of which was improperly sealed.
"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN WHEN YOU WHEN YOU NEARLY...Wait a minute...YOU!"
The two girls' eyes widened in recognition.
Ruby whimpered, her ears flattened on her head in fear and to try and lower the noise. In spite of her battle skills, memories of this girl kept her from standing up for herself.
"Um...hey there, Weiss.." Ruby chuckled weakly, trying to keep herself calm and assert some authority; she had actually killed dangerous criminals, for Oum's sake! Which was way more than this girl! Worst she probably had was tutors.
But the girl before her...the girl before her was the source of some of her worst nightmares. Even more so than...HIM.
"That's Mistress Schnee, you...!"
She suddenly stopped speaking. Wait, why? If this was the same girl, Ruby knew for a fact nothing short of her father or siblings would start when she got into one of these moods. So why would...?
Ruby looked up to see Jaune had stopped the girl's tirade and snapped the vial shut...and he was glaring at her with the hardest eyes she had ever seen on him.
"...Arc." The girl snapped, her voice dripping in hate as she put the vial away.
"Weiss Gele." Jaune retorted, pushing Ruby behind him.
"That's Weiss Schnee to you." The girl humphed, pride clear in her voice.
"No, Winter is a Schnee." Jaune retorted, a smirk growing on his face. "Your grandpa Nick is a Schnee. Your mom, once she gets off her ass and quits drinking, could still be a Schnee. As far am I'm concerned, you and your dad are just parasites. I didn't count Whitely cause he's still a kid."
Weiss glared at Jaune, who glared back. She then humphed and marched away, shooting Ruby one more angry look.
"Don't let any of the doors hit you on the way in or out! No valets here, rich girl! You want something? You gotta work for it here!" Jaune shouted before turning to his friend, who was shaking and clinging to him.
Jaune then realized it: Ruby was TERRIFIED of Weiss. And the sheer terror her eyes betrayed showed that this was NOT a first experience.
'Sweet Oum, how badly have I failed Summer?' He wondered, his mind filled with the image of a smiling woman in a white hood and cape rustling his head after slaying a horde of Grimm. Not sure what else to do, he simply patted her head.
"Its okay." He assured her. "Its okay. She's no princess here. Just a rich girl with daddy issues. Trust me, nothing special there."
Ruby looked up to Jaune, who smiled sweetly at her...and produced a cookie from his backpack. Her happy nature returned and she nibbled on the cookie like a squirrel would a nut.
RWBY
Dinner was a quiet and ultimately umcomfortable affair, especially in the wake of Ozpin's...less than inspiring opening speech:
"I'll...keep this brief." The headmaster had stated. "You have travelled here today in search of knowledge; to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look among you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
Not exactly the 'welcome to the school of heroes' most of the students were expecting, suffice to say.
But what made the evening terrible for Ruby was that the sexes were put to sleep on differnt sides of the gym and Glynda had placed a Dust field to keep them apart. While it was understood why; so many hormonal teeangers in one place was just asking for trouble, this meant the one friend she had was out of reach...and nothing was stopping Weiss from bothering her.
"Do you really have nothing better to do?"
It was a young woman with long black hair and a bow atop her head, a closed book and bored look on her face.
"And why do you care?" Weiss snapped. "I have business with this..."
"You're distracting me from my book." The girl snapped. "And others are trying to sleep. And no, I don't care that you're piratically princess of Atlas."
"THANK YOU!" Jaune shouted from across the room.
Undeterred, the girl continued:
"Your family company was already shady, a good friend of mine lost her parents to their mines' shoddy safety measures."
"The Schnee Dust company is not responsible for negli..." Weiss started before she realized there was another prescene.
"If you don't shut up, I'll make you shut up." A blonde girl with a body any model would kill for glared at Wiess, cracking her knuckles before shooting Ruby a look. "And you could step up a bit too, kit."
Weiss left, knowing when she was beat, the blonde following in suit, delighting in the lustful looks many boys were giving her. Jaune was one of the few not doing so; he was trying to set his sleeping bag so that he was directly across from Ruby from his side.
"Stalker." Weiss retorted, making some boys chuckle.
"Least I don't need to pay people to like me." Jaune retorted.
The first girl stayed close to Ruby for the rest of the evening, even moving her sleeping bag close to her.
"...Thank you." Ruby cooed as she fell asleep.
The girl, a small, sad smile on her face, tried in vain to finish the chapter in her book (thank Oum for night-vision) but she couldn't. An odd feeling filled her; a sense of protectiveness and care for this girl.
Perhaps it as because they were simular in a manner she was hiding? As she put her book away and blew out her candle, the older girl spied something on the younger girls' neck: The SDC symbol branded onto her, followed by the numbers 0967-9035 and a single word:
Night-stalker.
She had heard rumours of the SDC's one and only venture into military contracts, who hadn't?
In the wake of the mounting Grimm attacks, the king of Atlas had allowed the SDC to begin experimenting with different viruses. Eventually, the SDC found a way to fuse those viruses, which had the ability to complete allow control of the human form,into living beings. Sadly, the process only seemed to work on the younger, and for some reason, 'pure' humans outright rejected and died when in contact with the Viruses.
Soon, the SDC began training faunas child slaves and brainwashing them to be killing machines, in spite of very vocal opposition from General Ironwood.
No reason had ever been given why they had decided to share the name of the project with the Scorpion Grimm...she expected Merlot Industries might've had a p[art.
One subject in particular had seemed especially full of potential, and after a shady informant let the information out, many a corrupt business-person, bandit queens and crime-lords had begun to procure funds in an attempt to purchase said subject. The girl knew this because Sienna Khan had informed her of such; hoping to gain such a powerful force for their organization; the White Fang.
Unfortunately for all those interested, before the first auction and project bore real success, the White Fang, led by a recently promoted Adam Taurus (her own ex-boyfriend), blew up the secret prison camp and destroyed the labs, killing all the scientists they came across and destroying all materials that could've enabled this to come again.
No survivors of either incidents were reported...until now.
The SDC's response, upon the king's declaration of enabling them to do whatever it took to bring the attackers to justice, was to take over Atlas and squash all White Fang activity on the continent. The King, heirless and already very old, had suffered a surprise sickness fit and died shortly after enabling the most powerful company in Remnant such power.
Yes. Totally not suspicious at all...
In the end, his actions, as well intended as they might have been, ended with Jacque Schnee the new king of a land that operated on its own wealth and the companies of his fellow business-people and aristocrats.
Many are just waiting until they run out of money. But the girl had it on good authority that some less than patient folks, lead by the now former General Ironwood, had banded together in a very loud and proud rebellion. Jacque's eldest daughter and the sister of Weiss, Winter, was the most recognized of this rebellion.
She didn't sleep a wink, a single though in her mind:
'She's been hurt worse than any of us.'
RWBY
The nice girl and Jaune were not alone in showing some concern for Ruby.
On the girl's side, an orange haired girl who seemed perpetually happy had frowned for the first time when the Schnee heiress had begun to bully the younger cat Faunus.
Yes, she said younger.
She was fully aware that the nicer girl was Blake Belladonna, former White Fang operative and daughter of White Fang co-founder Ghira Belladonna. The ribbon was cute, but not nearly as subtle as Blake seemed to think it was.
The blonde was Yang Xialong, daughter of Beacon Alumni Taiyang Xialong and Bandit Queen Raven Branwen. She had been raised by her mother and was a thrill-seeker with a Darwinist side.
Speaking Beacon Alumni, Ruby Rose was an enigma; no official records made any mention of who her father was, but going by images alone, there was no doubt she was the daughter of the legendary Summer Rose. What the girl wanted to know was how in Oum's name did the daughter of such a powerful Huntress become a test subject for the SDC and survive this long on her own?
The girl had noticed that the sole Arc male heir seemed very protective of Ruby, judging from his constant vigil and seemingly refusing to sleep until Ruby did. She had to admit it was kind of cute...especially when he stood up to Weiss without fear or care.
Realizing she needed to 'recharge her batteries' as some one would say, she put these thoughts away until the next day.
RWBY
"WAKE UP, LAZY BUMS!" A cheerful voice bellowed/ sang, awakening everyone. "IT'S MORNING!"
"NORA! LEAVE THE FIRST YEARS ALONE!"
"BUT REEEEN! JUNE'S BABY BROTHER IS HERE!"
"YOU CAN MEET HIM LATER, NORA!"
"YEAH! AND YOU BETTER HURRY UP AND COME BACK HERE OR I'LL EAT YOUR PANCAKES, NORA!"
"TOUCH MY PANCAKES AND YOU DIE, JUNE!"
The next day came to soon and yet too late for many, specifically with that alarm. Neither Ruby, the nicer girl or Jaune had slept well, and it was clear by the bags under their eyes.
After a filling breakfast, during which Ruby practically glued herself to Jaune (soliciting many adoring 'awws' from other girls), the students made their way to the Beacon Cliffs.
Ozpin had been brief and to the point; first eye contact was your partner for three years, retrieve relics in the temple remains and return to be sorted.
What he had NOT said was that the students were flung off the cliffs.
Ruby let out a cat-like screech as she went soaring through the air, which was only halted when she accidentally hit a crow amidst said soaring and shouted:
"Birdy, no!"
Upon seeing she was about to hit a tree, she screeched again...but she never made contact. In fact...she seemed to stop moving.
"Just dropping in?"
She turned to see Jaune holding her in his arms, a confident smile on his face...amidst some flapping.
"Wait, you can fly?" Ruby asked, getting a smile from Jaune.
"Well, that is normally what happens when one has wings." He teased, a confident smile on his face as he saw Ruby marvelling at his blacked but polished and strong crow wings as they flapped in the air.
THIS was why Jaune was so well known; the only Faunus in the Arc family (at the moment, there were rumours one of his sisters was dating one of unspecified animal type).
"So pretty!" Ruby cooed at the sight of Jaune's wings, make him blush.
"Well, we better get down there. Oh and you...may want to duck and roll." Jaune chuckled uncomfortably.
Ruby rose an eyebrow in confusion.
"I...don't really...know...how...to...stop." Jaune confessed. "Without crashing into something, that is."
Ruby's cat ears flattened in fear and unease, but in the end, she landed perfectly on her feet while Jaune's face met the ground. The young girl quickly flipped him over.
"No Saff, I don't wanna wear the pink dress; the blue one goes better with my eyes...!" Jaune said in a daze, then following with: "Mama, there's a Schnee in my soup!"
Ruby couldn't help but giggle and hoisted Jaune onto her shoulder, then spied some blood dripping from his nose and the side of his head. Not nearly enough for her usual dosages, but it'd hold her over for now.
She licked the blood off and then slapped Jaune back to reality.
"Thanks. Sorry about that." He chuckled. "So...did you see were the temple was?"
"The temples that way." Ruby mused, pointing where they needed to go.
"...Why is the side of my head wet?" Jaune asked.
Ruby moved faster.
RWBY
Blake Belladonna had been determined to do two things: NOT be partnered with Weiss Schnee and to make sure that the Night-Stalker girl was okay.
Ever since leaving Adam on that train, the Cat Faunus in hiding had made it her mission to amend for his actions. If she could do this, then at least she could sleep a little better.
She had been lucky so far; Weiss was a mile or so away from her and juding by the apology she'd heard, had been partnered by Pyrrha Nikkos. The blonde beauty was mercilessly killing Grimm with a grin on her face but since they made no eye contact, Blake had avoided her.
Probably for the best.
If she could've chosen, Blake would've liked to partner with the Arc boy; he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders and she felt a need to pay his family back for all the good they had done for Meanguire. However, he had caught the Night-Stalker girl, who seemed to trust him more than anyone.
She had been slaying Beowulves without too much thought or trouble and was about to add an Ursa to her body count when several swords sliced it into pieces.
The wierd thing was that the swords were moving on their own...at least until the happy orange girl appeared and they vanished into her dress.
"Salutations!" The girl beamed.
"...Hello?" Blake asked, not sure how to react to such...happiness. Where was this girl from?
RWBY
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO IN THE CAVE!" Ruby shouted as she and Jaune ran from a Grimm that Jaune had woken up when they went through a cave.
"I THOUGHT IT WAS A RELIC!" Jaune retorted. "IT WAS GLOWING!"
"FIRST RULE OF MONSTER AND HORROR MOVIES! LIGHT IN CAVES? THEY NEVER END WELL!"
The two had been such a hurry to get back on track
Ruby froze at the Nightstalker; memories filling her eyes.
Demented laughter, belonging to a man with a similar tail to the Grimm before her.
Her mother smiling while mortally wounded after pushing Ruby off into a Bullhead that was supposed to take her to safety.
Jaune drew a pistol and fired at the tail, knocking the stinger off. As the scorpion like monster roared in pain he flew towards and drew his sword, hoping his training paid off and he could remove the tail entirely.
He was in luck, slicing the tail clean in two and firing a shot into its head. But , before he could fly back and comfort Ruby, the blonde crow was hen falling backwards by the creature's claws, which crushed some of his ribs.
The sight of this snapped Ruby out of her nightmares and fatser than either Jaune or the monster could react, the claw was cut into three and the crow Faunus was in her arms and moving so fast that the trees blurred.
"This ismy semblance; Speed!" Ruby smiled when she saw a confused but grateful Jaune. "Are you okay? It sounded like that hurt."
"I've been worse." Jaune tried to assure his partner, only to grimace. "Give me a sec for my Aura to...?"
Ruby had stopped.
They where at the temple.
And the relics where chess pieces.
And they were not alone.
"Nice girl!" Ruby beamed at the sight of her protector and then realizing she wasn't alone. "And...Um...I don't know your name."
"Not a worry!" The orange haired girl smiled. "We can do proper introductions after we collect our relics."
Ruby spied the choices; a horse? A tower? That other one whose name escaped her? Defintely not a pawn!
"Jaune, which one do you want?" She asked her partner.
"I trust you." The blonde crow smiled. "Choose whichever."
As Ruby made her decesion, the 'nice girl' stared at Jaune in awe.
"So...the rumors...?" She started.
"Yep." Jaune smirked as he felt his Aura kick in and heal his ribs and he made to push himself back up, only to find the other girl to doing such.
"Best to rest until you're completely healed." She suggested. "How did you even...?"
"We thought the relics were in a cave..." Jaune started.
"No, YOU thought the relics were in a cave." Ruby cut in, deciding to take the two horses, one of which she tossed at her partner.
"...Anyways!" Jaune sighed. "We..."
"You!"
"...woke up a Night-Stalker..."
"There's ANOTHER here? WHERE? WHAT TYPE?" The ravenette and orange-haired girl, then catching themselves.
"We are aware, Ruby Rose." The more cheerful girl said. "But it makes no difference."
Ruby's eyes widened.
"I have access to several classified databases." The girl explained.
"...Me too. Well, I used to..."
Before another word could be spoken, a loud caw filled the air. The four looked up to see a Giant Nevermore, which held the Night-Stalker Ruby and Jaune had fought in its claws before tossing it aside.
"I vote run." Jaune said.
"Second that." The ravenette followed.
"Good idea." The orange haired girl replied.
"Feet don't fail us now!" Ruby shouted.
And thus, that's what they did. Or at least, tried.
Just as they began to reach the edge of the forest and back to where they had been flung off, the Nevermore unleashed a flurry of feathers, cutting the four off. Their only alternate route was the remnants of another castle.
"I'll distract it." The orange haired girl declared, unleashing all of her swords to slash the giant bird, but sadly missing killing spots.
"I'm back!" Jaune declared, feeling his healing was finsihed. He took to the skys and unloaded his gun into the Nevermore before drawing his sword and deflecting the feathers it unleashed.
The ravenette took Ruby into her arms and using her weapon's Kusarigma function, swung herself and Ruby onto the other side. Only for the Nevermore to spy this and swat them with its wing.
"Friend Blake!" The Orange haired girl shouted in worry.
"Ruby!" Jaune followed in suit racing to his partner's aid.
"Get her!" Ruby ordered as she managed to grab onto the ledge of the castle while Blake was soon falling.
Jaune obeyed his partner, grabbing Blake and flying back upwards, barely managing to deflect the feathers. Blake then shifted her weapon into gun mode and fired at the Nevermore, who turned its attention to the sword controlling girl.
Swinging its head downwards like a woodpecker would do to wood, the Nevermore destroyed the cliff-side its remaining attacker was on. Luckily, the girl seemed be very agile, jumping onto the debris and continuing her attack before a feather sent her crashing into the crow and older cat Faunus.
The three slammed into the cliffside and then landed right where the feathers had blocked their path.
"I'm out of ammo!" Blake and Jaune shouted together, shifting to their swords and helping their comrade upwards as the monster approached them.
Seeing this, Ruby became filled with an emotion she couldn't quite describe; not just fear and desperation. Not just protective instincts. Not just pure rage. Not just regret for past failures.
"No."
The Night-Stalker ran on all fours as fast as she could. Just before she leapt off the cliff and towards the back of the Nevermore, something caught her eyes:
A rusty old scythe.
As she leapt off the cliff, Ruby grabbed the scythe and twirled it to test its weight. Finding it perfect weight, she then shouted:
"HEY! BEAK-FACE!"
The Nevermore was taken aback from the slash, which took one of its eyes. It then turned its attention to Ruby, who held onto the pillar and drew her gun.
Jaune, Blake and Penny could watch on in a mix of awe, worry and tactiful thinking. If they saw a clean, open shot, they'd take it.
The Bird Grimm charged at her, letting out a squawk that Ruby used to empty the gun's magazine. While this hurt the creature, as its mouth bled slightly, it was not enough to deter it from headbutting and destroying the remnants of the castle.
The Nevermore barrelled through the air, but was unable to shake Ruby off, who had stabbed it's head with the scythe and slashed any flesh and feather she could with her butterfly knife. Amidst its screeches, the Nevermore slammed itself into a cliffside, which released the sycthe.
As she began to fall, Ruby unsheathed her knives, throwing one more into the Nevermore's eye and, as its beak moved to swallow her whole...
Slit her arm open.
"Eat up!"
But what came out was not blood. No, what came out of Ruby's arm was a golden brown liquid with red tint, which the Grimm gagged on as sores developed all over its body and it fell to its death. The Night-Stalker managed to grab onto the corpse and race up it tp grab the edge of the cliff her partner and the other two girls were own before her world began to spin.
She gave the three other teens a smile before she let go.
"RUBY!" Jaune shouted in worry, jumping off the edge and flying towards her before two swords pinned Ruby to the wall through her hood. He looked to see the orange girl had willed them to stop Ruby's fall with a smile on her face. Shooting her a smile of his own, he gently took Ruby into his arms and flew upwards to place her on the ground.
The girl groaned but stirred.
"Jaune? Did...Did I get him?" She asked.
Jaune and Blake nodded, which made Ruby feel a little better. She then glanced up at the hole in her arm.
"Aw dang. I used it all up."
"So...that was the virus?" Blake asked, getting many to look at her. "...What? Penny and I already established we know."
She then realized something.
"Well, no use hiding I suppose."
She removed her ribbon, revealing her cat ears.
"..So...pretty..." Ruby smiled weakly before she began to cough. Jaune gently sat her back up. "Need...to...feed..."
The boy moved to remove his sleeve, which was stopped by Blake.
"She needs at least a few pints!"
"If I may, new friends?"
The trio turned to Penny, who revealed four blood packets.
"Just in case of emergencies." She explained. "One of each blood ty..."
Ruby greedily guzzled down the blood, her skin regaining color and the circles under her eyes vanishing, as did the wound she'd open to unleash the virus. She then proceeded to lick her hands like a cat would their paws...only to remember she wasn't alone.
"Sorry you had to see that..." She looked off to the side.
"Honestly? Like that?" Jaune mused. "Its...kind of cute."
Ruby's face reddened as Blake's mouth curved upwards into a very tiny smirk.
"Well, he's not wrong. Oh right; we never introduced ourselves. Blake Belladonna."
"Penny Poledina, salutations new friends!" The orange haired girl beamed. "I do believe that a certain someone deserves a pat on the back for taking down that Nevermore, friend...?"
Ruby's eyes were widening and glistening with tears
"...Ruby Rose."
The girls shook hands, a sight that made Jaune feel happy for his friend before found himself being into a group hug by Ruby.
"You're part of this team, Jauney!" Ruby cooed, rubbing her face against his own and missing his blush but just as happy smile.
Blake and Penny however, saw this and smirked.
"I do believe this is what people call...'shipping?'" The Atlas girl mused.
The cat and crow faunus realized what happened and jumped apart, with Jaune petting his wings to calm himself down.
"Does that actually help?" Blake asked.
"Not really." Jaune confessed. "Bit of a habit."
Ruby then spied the scythe she had used and picked it up.
"Need a few upgrades..." She mused. "But I think I'll keep you."
She then put the weapon on her back as the four then made their way back to Beacon, exhausted but pleased with how they'd handled themselves. Yes, this wasn't a perfect Grimm takedown. But that was the point of coming here, rght?
They only hoped that they could become a team together...
RWBY
From their viewpoints, Ozpin and Glynda couldn't help but smile at what they saw.
"They still have some ways to go, but..." Ozpin mused.
"Just bring back all my chess pieces and show those videos to Gilles and Joan." Glynda cut her boss off. She was proud of all four of these students and looked forward to teaching them.
RWBY
Elsewhere in Vale, a young woman with white, pink and black hair with mismatched eyes and a parsol stood in front of a grave.
Roman was her whole world; her only friend and family.
She would find who had taken him...and she would kill them. No matter the cost.
"Don't disappoint us." The woman, Cinder Fall, ordered.
Neo simply saluted. She'd play the part of the loyal hench-woman for now, but the second Cinder showed a moment of weakness or got in her way?
There was a reason Roman had been the #1 Criminal in Vale and why she had stuck to the shadows.
RWBY
"Consisting of Pyrrha Nikkos, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xialong and Emerald Susutari...Team PYWE, lead by Miss Nikkos."
"Pray for the spartan." Jaune whispered. Blake saw why when Weiss looked enraged at the arrangement, having clearly been expecting to be leader.
The four of them and four boys were the only ones not yet sorted into teams.
"Perhaps we should each minimize contact with them." Penny mused.
"No arguments from me!" Ruby added.
"Ditto." Blake concluded, a smile on her face.
"Why are you smiling?" Ruby asked her fellow Cat Faunus.
"I do believe I know..." Penny mused with a smile.
"Consisting of Penny Polidena, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc...Team PBRJ, lead by Miss Polidena." Ozpin then announced.
The world went silent.
"...Jaune. Quick. What's my name?" Ruby asked, not believing what she had heard.
"Ruby Rose."
"Don't toy with me, blond boy!" Ruby desperately demanded, pulling in his hoodie and producing one of her knives, but a smile breaking on her face.
"You heared right! We're on the same team, red!" Jaune beamed before he felt himself being pulled stage-ward by Blake's weapon. Ruby quickly followed him and they stood in front of the students and staff of Beacon Academy, who applauded.
Glynda shot the team a smile and an uncharacteristic thumbs up.
This day officially became Ruby's new birthday and with a delighted squeal she shared with Penny, she dragged Jaune and Blake into a group hug. Blake stiffened, but came to return the hug.
'Mom?' Ruby thought as she glanced upwards. 'I think I found my new home.'
She didn't know how or why, but she could feel a warmth fill her.
Things were definitely different, but Ruby Rose was preared to take them head on.
Read and Review would ye kindly?
My second adopted fic; pretty different than 'Spider of the Rangers' huh? I hope you enjoyed it.
Major thanks to DeathProphet, the original author of this story, for their help on developing the world and characters of it. I hope I did it justice...especially the fight scenes (I admittedly struggle with those)
Now, some things will be explained in the coming chapters, but I did hint at several reveals already. In fact, the whole backstory of Project Night-Stalker and the new Atlas was originally going to be a separate, mini-chapter to be uploaded next chapter, but I decided to put in here for now.
For the OOC characters, 'redemption' or becoming like their canon selves is indeed possible, but it will take some time.
With all that said, I once again hoped you enjoyed this first chapter and will stick around for more of it.
Keep warm, safe, well rested, wash your hands and drink plenty of water.
