Foreword

Welcome one and welcome all to this fic. Screw the FFnet guidelines about chapters without story. I'm doing a foreword to explain this fic and go over expectations.

FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS AND JUMP STRAIGHT TO CHAPTER 1 IF YOU WANT.

Let's do this.

Ahem. Welcome to my RWBY fanfic: RCRDL.

If you're wondering, I normally pronounce that as Red Cardinal.

Formal Synopsis
Wisdom for the ages: Don't be at Beacon during the breaks. Weird stuff happened there. Ruby, alone for one reason or another, didn't listen, but she figured the worst that could happen was being bored. Enter Team CRDL, who was having none of it. Join them, Ruby, and the few suckers who ignored sage advice as they deal with the strange world of out-of-school Beacon. Cult to sports, seedy books, and fiery revolutions abound!

Inspiration
The first fic I wrote. Technically. Inspired by a business trip of mine back when Volume 5 was airing. I was left a weekend to my own device while my colleagues decided to hang out in NYC and I was having NONE of their crazy shenanigans. While watching RWBY in my hotel room, my mind wandered to the fanfic Redemption by RainStorm4 – a CRDL-centric fic– and I was struck with the inspiration of a fic where Ruby is by herself (like me), away from the influence of her team and JNPR, and is forced to deal with CRDL, who are not as one-note as in the original show.

Alternate Universe
This is an AU fic. For whatever reasons, the plot of RWBY never picked up. Ruby still entered Beacon via Roman Torchwick and still ends up in Team RWBY, friends of Team JNPR. But that's about it. Cinder is not skulking in the background plotting and if Salem is waging war with Ozpin, it's less a war and more each of them sending glares at each other across a fence.

RWBY and JNPR have a normal first year culminating with Pyrrha winning the Vytal Festival, and life goes on. It's now close to the end of their second year.

Genre
Humor. Friendship and humor.

I'm not a literature major, so don't assume I'm using these terms in their literary sense, but I would say this fic is off-kilter humor that dabbles in the absurd. It's not enough to be humorous. They have to be ham about it. Chew the scenery and be so melodramatic that you receive whiplash. But not too much.

That said, there are some serious scenes in here too.

Romance?
Because I know how some interactions in this fic might be construed. There is no romance within the confines of this fic. Or at least, there is no romance where the 'romance' is not a background event or the butt of a joke.

Rating
PG-13. I'm don't like shying away from swears and some of the serious topics I touch upon are, traditionally speaking, not apt for a young audience.

Original Characters
Yes, this fic will include OCs and they will play an important, secondary role in the story. The main stars are Ruby, Cardin, and the rest of CRDL, but when I jettisoned 5/8 of the canon Beacon students for one reason or another, I need to fill in the missing gaps. I'd say only two OCs have continuous importance in the story. The others either play small roles or are important for specific plot points.

Length
I don't see this fic going beyond fifteen chapters at most. I have a clear goal in mind for this.

Hope you enjoy the read. Cheers!