Don't Fall, a rwby fanfic

(A/N) Welp, it got the better of me.

Those who know who I am are probably disappointed to see this instead of Ruby-B312 – especially since that hasn't received an update in several months – but… I needed to get this plot bunny out of my system. My brain just would not let me think of anything else.

Dunno how often I'll update it, but here ya go.

Chapter One

A Rose, Transplanted

/-\ Ruby Rose /-\

He had one warning, one!

Don't Fall.

Yet here I was, sailing off the edge of the golden pathway. All because I was too caught up in listening to Cinder monologuing. Crescent Rose was just out of reach – I'd grasped for it the second I realized what was happening. My aura flickered and died as I tried to reach that extra two feet with my semblance – simply too much for how strained it was.

Up there, past the edge of the glowing road, I saw the horrified faces of Blake and Yang – the former throwing her weapon my way.

A relieved smile crossed my face and I reached for it.

As it flew, I had the faint realization that… this would be the end for my sweetheart. This was where Crescent Rose's story ended. It… hurt. It hurt a lot, actually – I had so, so many memories with her. But another part of my mind realized that, after all, she was just a weapon. At the end of the day, I could rebuild her – better, and stronger than the Mark-Seven ever was.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gambol Shroud's ribbon grow ever closer. I gave it my full attention, ready to catch it as soon as it entered my grasp.

…it never did.

The ribbon pulled taught just a single inch before I could've grabbed it.

I gasped, eyes shooting wide open as… as I fell.

I reached far down inside my soul – pulling on every ounce of aura I could muster as fuel for my semblance.

There… was none left.

Their faces… my team's faces… grew more and more distant.

Their voices merged into one, continuous scream of horror.

I couldn't help it, my own joined them.

I screamed until I couldn't see them anymore, then I kept screaming.

Only in the distance, did I see even the faintest lights. The entire network of golden roads was but a pinprick of light.

Yet… somehow I managed to find Crescent Rose – a red smudge against the black sea.

Somehow, it had gotten ahead of me – falling more than I had.

…until it vanished in a flash of golden light.

My eyes widened.

Not

I scrambled, trying to think of a landing strategy – if I even needed one!

Fall

…

I gasped, scrambling around as I felt something cold envelop my face.

Clawing and scratching, I realized nothing was holding me down. I bolted up to my feet, quickly wiping away the wetness around my eyes. Finally able to see, I assessed the threat in front of me…

…which turned out to be a rather snowy alleyway.

Sighing, I reached for Crescent Rose… and immediately stopped the motion half-way through.

I fell – my sweetheart having been out of reach.

"Wait…" I let out. "I fell. Where…"

I looked around, seeing nothing but old bricks in the dim lighting. Looking up didn't help either – it was a cloudy night, only a single, large airship visible just beneath the clouds. That… kinda surprised me – I thought the Atlesian airfleet got destroyed by the Grimm whale.

It… also looked quite different from the ones I was used to seeing, at least for the fifteen seconds it was visible between the narrow slit of the skyline I had to look through. This ship looked a lot more blue than the stark white of usual Atlesian ships. Frowning, I realized I didn't really have time to think on it. Weiss could probably identify it, if she were here.

But she wasn't.

That thought made me both sad and happy… especially since I didn't know where here was.

For all I know, I could still be in the middle of a Grimm invasion. Without a weapon.

I really, really, really wish I hadn't lost Crescent Rose in the fall – and not only because I could've used her recoil to boost myself back up. Taking a deep breath, I shook my head. "Not the time, Ruby…"

I glanced between the two ends of the alleyway I could see, looking for which one might be… less deadly. Neither seemed better, so I picked an end at random.

It wasn't a far walk by any means – this alleyway just happened to curve in a way that the end wasn't visible from where I was standing. What did surprise me, however, was that a bustling city stood at its end.

I mean… I knew I was in a city, but this one was… well… not full of life, but it was certainly alive.

Cars drove, the occasional person walked by, vagrants sat near vents to keep warm… it was just an average city. There didn't look to be any danger of getting your face mauled off by a Sabyr – more likely you'd get mugged here. By a person.

That danger – Grimm danger – crossed off my list of things to worry about, I moved onto the next one: finding out where in the universe I was. There didn't seem to be many shops or government offices or… really anything around here – nothing to even get a hint of what city this was. And right then, I had another thought.

I might not even be on Remnant anymore.

The people outside the alleyway looked… normal enough, for a semi-slum, but I think the relics were stored in their own universes, right? Maybe falling brought me to a parallel one where Humans just happened to still exist.

I… didn't quite know what to do with that idea.

In fact, I hated that idea.

I needed to disprove it immediately. With a sigh, I walked up to one of the people that were clearly trying – and being quite unsuccessful – to sleep near a vent. I cleared my throat, making him open an eye. "U- Uhh… excuse me?"

He groaned. "Tryna sleep, girlie, whaddaya want?"

"I'm just… uhh… a little lost, can you-"

"Nicholas Street," he interrupted, groaning. He pointed down the street. "Hotel's that way. Don't fuggin know how far."

I let out a small smile – at least the guy spoke Valerian. "Oh, ah… thanks mister!"

He only groaned. "Get dafuque outta my face, ya brat."

As he curled up into a ball, covering himself more with the dirty newspaper he was using as a blanket, I turned away. I didn't have any idea what hotel he meant, but they could at least tell me what city I was in... or planet, if I was unlucky.

I walked away, only realizing a block later that I probably could've just asked the hobo what city I was in. Then again, I didn't want to seem too crazy without my weapon.

So I just… kept walking.

He said it was a hotel, so it should be pretty obvious. Sure enough, the city gradually started to get nicer as the blocks went on. Trash started being less and less common, alleyways were illuminated better, and even the vehicles started looking nicer.

The buildings started looking… grand even.

Like someone had seen Schnee Mansion and copied the style everywhere, just… made it a tiny bit retro in the process. I… had a bad feeling about this place for some reason – as if I'd been here before. I shook my head, not knowing what else to do but continue. Eventually, I came to a building with a red-shirted guy out front. I saw him open the door for someone, a pair of girls slightly younger than myself following after the woman with some luggage.

I nodded, knowing I was in the right place.

Walking up to the big doors, I saw the name was written in cursive. I could've spent an hour looking at it and still had no idea what it said, so I ended up ignoring it. Instead, I approached the door-holder-guy. I was about to greet him, but he merely nodded, opening the door for me. I muttered a quiet 'thank you' before proceeding inside.

I… couldn't help it – I stared at the inside for a while.

A fancy red carpet, custom stone Grimm statues – which made me realize I was, indeed, on Remnant still – lanterns, carved tables… this place was way nicer than anything I'd ever stayed in. And everything was… spotless!

I just… I almost wish I could stay here – there were even a few huntsmen swapping stories in the corner!

My legs started taking me towards them almost automatically. I had to force myself to re-focus on the task at-hand… totally not by imagining Weiss grabbing me by the shoulder.

I blinked… someone actually was grabbing me by the shoulder.

I turned around, seeing a strict-looking older woman tower over me with a frown. She cleared her throat, pointing to a sign near the door.

All minors under 14 must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

I blinked. "Oh uhh… okay?" I let out. Her frown deepened as she cleared her throat again. My eyes widened. "Oh wait, do you think I look- oh, uhh… sorry, I'm actually seventeen," I said, a couple awkward chuckles escaping my mouth.

She raised an eyebrow. "Identification?"

"Oh, sure!" I said, fumbling around in my pockets for my scroll. It took a minute to try and connect to the CCT… which failed, surprisingly. Still, I was able to pull up my huntress license and show it to her.

She squinted at it, humming. "Very well, Miss Rose – I apologize for the inconvenience. How may I help you?"

Before I could ask anything, my stomach growled – and very loudly, too. "I uhh… don't suppose you-"

"Indeed we do offer restaurant services," she said, face as impassive as ever. "I shall send over one of my daughters with a menu, if it so pleases you."

I gave her a smile, even though she was really starting to creep me out. "Uhh… sure. Yeah, that sounds good."

She nodded, walking away. I sighed in relief once she was out of earshot, sitting down at a random table near-ish to the gossiping huntsmen.

…for all the good that did – they left only a few minutes later, heading to their rooms for the night.

As they left, a girl a few years younger than me approached. Even I could tell her smile was plastic, eyes hiding sheer contempt for the world. "Hello and welcome to the Glass Unicorn," she said, placing a menu down in front of me. "May I get you a refreshment?"

"Yeah, uhh… just a water please."

She curtsied – actually curtsied – and walked towards the back. I sighed, starting to read the menu. My eyes narrowed – I didn't know what half this stuff even was! With a groan, I rubbed my eyes – it was extremely expensive, too!

A door slammed open behind me and I whirled around to face it – reaching for the small of my back on instinct only to be met with nothing but air. "Mom, come quick!" one of the younger girls shouted, storming out of the kitchen. She looked… scared – terrified, even. The stern-looking woman and her exchanged a few words, too quiet for me to hear at this distance.

The woman's expression hardened even further, and she reached inside one of her skirt pockets, retrieving a remote. The girl led her mother back to the kitchen, door swinging shut behind them.

Barely audible shouts reached my ears – three… no, four voices behind many walls. I stood up, something was clearly wrong here and I was a huntress. Even if I didn't have Crescent Rose with me, I… maybe could do something.

Walking past a disgusting 'no Faunus allowed' sign on the front desk, I entered through the same door I saw the other two go through. The shouting got louder with every step I took – through the main hallway, through the kitchen, and then into a… storage closet?

I opened the door to a makeshift bedroom, a young, vaguely-familiar girl standing atop a bare mattress on the floor while the stern woman shouted at her. The two other girls stood behind their mother, looking very angry and also very, very scared. The bed girl's tear-stricken face turned towards mine, one of her swords pointing in my direction.

The shouting instantly stopped, the three employees stopping their shouting. "Arrest her," the stern woman said.

I frowned, trying my best to put on a serious face. "What's going on?!"

One of the girls – twins, by the look of it – stepped forward. "She… she threatened us!"

"She's always been unstable!" the other said. "You're a huntress, throw her in jail!"

I looked back at the other girl, whose blades begun to shake more and more. She… she looked like a cornered wolf, bearing her fangs but not wanting to fight. Her eyes pleaded with me, pleaded to do something.

"Why don't we all just… talk about this, 'kay?" I said, doing my best to put on a reassuring smile. I didn't know if the girl was trained in the use of those swords – if she was, I'd have a very hard time actually disarming her. If she wasn't… she probably would hurt herself somehow. Obviously, I didn't want either of those things to happen.

"No," the stern woman said. "There is nothing to talk about. She is NOT allowed to have those, end of story."

"Iwannabeahuntress!" the armed girl squeaked out. Another tear traced its way down her cheek. "I… I want to leave."

The woman's eyes narrowed, flashing her remote. "You don't get to leave." She pressed the button.

Immediately, the ornate necklace around the armed girl's neck began sparking, sending her into convulsions as she screamed.

I gasped, a look of horror dawning on my face.

It only took a moment to put the pieces together – this was the armed girl's room, she was being kept in this… hellhole against her will. My eyes turned to the… the slaver holding the remote. I exploded into rose petals, charging the woman and snatching the remote within a moment.

The girl's convulsions stopped as she gasped for air, dropping one of the swords as she leaned against the brick wall. A moment later, the remote hit the floor as well, my foot stomping it into shards.

"You don't get to shock people," I said, my voice dangerously low. "And you won't hurt her anymore." I walked over, picking up one of the girl's swords. "Leave."

The girls' mouths worked, but no sound came out. The woman, however, had plenty to say. "I- Wha- This is an OUTRAGE!" she shouted. "That girl is MY property – I am her guardian!"

I frowned in disgust. "You can't own a person."

"I don't know what they taught you in that academy, Miss Rose, but article thirteen of the Atlesian Constitution clearly states that orphaned children may be acquired for the purposes of indentured servitude." She growled. "And you have destroyed my property. Priscilla, do be a dear and contact the authorities about a rogue huntress."

One of the girls shakily nodded, running out of the room.

I glanced over to the armed girl beside me. "Can you run?"

She looked at me for a moment before nodding, tearing off the shock necklace and throwing it at the woman. "Yes."

I nodded. "Then go, I'll be right behind you."

She… hesitated for a moment before slowly backing up. Once she got a few paces away, she turned and ran, bursting through a steel door. I was behind her in a moment, using my semblance to get through the door before it even began to close.

I caught up with the girl before she'd even gotten ten paces from the door. Scooping her up into my semblance, I zoomed throughout the alleyways that seemed way too familiar. Just when I thought there would be a junction, there was one. It looked safe enough, so I set us down there.

The girl dropped her sword, clutching her stomach as she leaned against the stone wall of a building. "I…" she groaned. "What was that?"

"My semblance," I said, chuckling. "Yeah… Blake didn't like it either."

The girl shivered, letting out a deep breath as she bent over to pick up her sword again. She frowned, looking deeply into the blade for a moment, before her gaze turned back to me. "You… said you were a huntress, right?"

I really couldn't shake the feeling that I'd seen this girl somewhere before, but I still couldn't place her face. "Yep. Well… actually, I don't know if I ever said I was, but, well… I am."

Her eyes narrowed. "From Atlas?"

I shook my head. "That's… a long story," I said. "Short version? I started at Beacon, left for… reasons, wandered around Anima for about a year with some friends, then got my license while I happened to be in Atlas."

She… hummed, looking around. "I… umm… suppose I should thank you, ma'am. For getting me out of there."

I shrugged. "Any huntress worth her salt would've done the same thing." I blinked, just now realizing how she'd addressed me. "Oh and uhh… call me Ruby. Feels weird getting called 'ma'am'."

Her mouth opened, then closed again. After a moment, she finally spoke. "…very well," she said, slowly holding out her hand – her left hand. "I- I'm… Cinder."

My head whipped up, the last piece finally clicking into place. I knew I recognized that face – I just hadn't seen it without its bandages in literal years.

"…oh, crapbaskets…"