Okay, so a real quick note – Ruby's chapters will be a little different from the others. Her stuff will be pretty much stand-alone stories under the sub-title Sojourn. I almost put them in a totally separate fic, but changed my mind last minute and kept them here.
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The dream always started the same.
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She stood in front of Beacon Academy, the tall buildings and spires bathed in sunlight and beautiful. Almost ethereal. All around her stood her friends and family – Weiss, Blake, Yang, Dad, team JNPR, Glynda and Professor Ozpin.
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Also present were seven people who looked just like herself – copies from other worlds. All were a little different from each other, but all were still Ruby deep inside.
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But then the world broke beneath them, shattering like glass.
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She fell into a deep abyss. All around her fell her friends, each falling in different directions.
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Falling. Falling. Endless black. No light.
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A ghostly white form found her, floating along with her and …pulling her. Drawing her towards a distant glimmer.
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She saw the small light and went for it, not caring what it led to. Anything was better than this darkness. Anything.
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She had to reach it…
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She had to…
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She…
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Ruby's eyes shot open, her head screaming with pain.
It was happening again. Her mind and body felt like they were being torn apart, like a rope stretched to the breaking point. Her entire sense of being was falling away.
Only one thing ever stopped these attacks. Her silver eyes found a specific knothole in the ceiling planks – the one that looked exactly like an eye – and focused on it with all her might. Her ears roared with white noise. She smelled the sweat that was covering her body. She felt like she was both on fire and frozen solid at the same time. Her bones felt like they were made of molten iron.
Still she focused, pouring her mind into a single task. Slowly, agonizingly, the pain faded. She was left panting, sweat still soaking the poor excuse for a mattress that she slept on.
Eventually she relaxed her grip on the bedframe, the wood creaking under her hands. Another attack like that and she would probably crush it. Maintaining eye contact with that knothole in the ceiling, Ruby carefully used a dry spot on her sheets to wipe her forehead.
"That… was a bad one…" she quietly gasped.
Three months had passed since Ruby Rose found herself alone and stranded in a strange new world. That was all this place could be. Since she had quickly grasped the basic concept of Carmine's multiverse theory back home, it didn't take the teenager very long to conclude that this place was not the Remnant she knew.
It would have made a huge difference if they all spoke her language, though.
A gentle knock on her door, followed by a tired voice, "Aki-chan, daijoubu?"
In this world, no one would call her Ruby …they called her Aki-chan instead. Sometimes, though, they said Aki-san. A few even said Aki-sama. Truly a strange language.
Still, she'd learned enough of it to get by. She had just been asked if she was alright. "Hai, Shiro-san," she replied. 'Hai' meant 'yes.'
Another sentence followed, but all Ruby caught was 'be quiet' and 'water.' While she still had a ways to go before she could consider herself fluent in Nihongo …that's what they called their language… she could at least understand basic sentences and commands.
All thanks to this world's version of Weiss. She called herself 'Shiro,' however – a word that meant 'white.' Of course.
The wooden bed frame groaned as Ruby sat up and turned to look out her window. It was still quite early, so the stars glittered proudly in the night sky. A damp breeze made it's way through her room, carrying a literal breath of fresh air with it. Her sweat had started to stink. She stretched her sore arms over her head with a moan of pain.
These attacks had been happening almost every night since she arrived, but it seemed like they were getting worse rather than better. It always felt like Ruby was being torn in half once that same dream was done… and somehow, it also felt like there was more to that dream than what she could remember.
Something beyond that light…
Sighing, she took in her room at a glance; three paper-thin plaster walls mounted between thick, well-worn wooden beams of an old farmhouse of some kind. If she'd woken up Shiro, there was no doubt the thin walls were to blame – one of the farm hands she worked with joked that you could hear a fly walking on the other side of one of them (a joke she only figured out through gestures).
For Ruby, it wasn't very funny – because she had heard that very thing. They had some big freaking flies out here.
But of all things, they didn't have any Grimm… gods be praised. The people of this world wouldn't last long if there were even a few. No one she'd seen could even come close to qualifying as a Huntress.
Ruby looked outside again in time to see one of the stars streak across the sky, leaving a thin line of starlight in its wake. A bubble of emotion welled up within her, causing her throat to clinch. She hadn't seen a shooting star in… well, forever.
With a tired smile, the redhead quietly said, "If there's some sort of magic words to say here, then I don't know them… but I'll make a wish anyway…"
The wind caressed her cheek, easing the pain in her head just slightly – but it could do nothing for the pain in her heart. Her eyes welled up with tears before she spoke again.
"I wish… I could go home."
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Chapter 26:
Sojourn – Book 1
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Beyond The Horizon
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It seemed a lifetime ago that Ruby Rose first met an older and much smarter version of herself. A woman who went by the name Carmine. This look-alike quickly built a machine pulled straight out of a sci-fi comic book and tore down the barriers between alternate dimensions.
The rest of the duplicates followed shortly after. The 'Ruby Squad.' A total of seven alternate-reality versions of herself. The Beacon Academy dormitories got quite a bit more crowded.
Slowly but surely, Ruby soon found herself getting left behind. Her partner bonded with a soldier version of herself, her sister bonded with a male version of herself, and even Blake fell in love with a tomboy version of herself. And let's not forget about the catgirl, the adult-child, and the mysterious twin…
So many things happened that Ruby sometimes wondered if the whole thing wasn't some sort of fever dream. After all, this world felt just as real…
Maybe this was her real life, and the whole Huntress-in-training thing was the dream…?
"Aki-chan, shigoto yo," Shiro stuck her head through the door of the bedroom, her white hair already tied back in preparation for the day's labors.
The sun wasn't even up yet, but it was time to go to work.
Even after three months here, Ruby still hated getting up early.
"Ha~a~a~ai…" she replied tiredly. Work at a farm was pretty much ongoing – as long as there was light, there was something to do. Fortunately for Ruby, she was terrible at most of the work needed on the farm.
Unfortunately, that left milking the cows.
She could remember a time when she actually liked milk.
The farm she was on likely had a name and an owner, but up until this point Ruby had missed both. It was just 'the farm' to her. Shiro was one of the dozen or so workers that seemed to have free reign of the property every day, since she had yet to see anyone who looked to be in charge. As best as she could tell, the farm mainly produced a few crops and cows milk. At first she thought they might make cheese on the property, but she'd seen no evidence of any cheese-making equipment.
As a working facility, she noted that it functioned much like farms did back in the days before modern technology – hand-tools, plows driven by steers, and mule-drawn carts to haul goods. Communication was limited at best; if she still had her scroll, Ruby would have bet all her lien that this place had exactly zero signal.
Shiro wore her usual farm clothes today, a basic brown top and rugged pants with dirty, well-worn boots. It was a far cry from the usual immaculate white outfit of her Schnee counterpart. Most of the farmhands wore much the same, and Ruby was no exception. Everyone kept a pair of sturdy gloves on them at all times, too. She found out the hard way how important those were when she had to tackle some barbed wire last month. Bad times.
Ruby had gotten used to milking the cows enough that she could do the job almost without help. Almost. They produced enough of the white stuff that she could not haul it into the tanks without someone to help her. During harvest season (which was about halfway through as far as Ruby could tell), most of the farmhands worked the fields while the rest tended the livestock.
And so, once again, Ruby Rose found herself staring at ten large, smelly animals that were ready to be milked. If it was only ten, then this would be a good day – she could knock out a mere ten before lunch if they didn't fight back too much.
But… first in line was June. Or was it Jyu-ni…? It sounded like June. This cow was one of her fighters. Oh goody.
"I don't suppose you'll behave today, will you?" Ruby asked the cow.
"Moo," the cow replied glumly.
As Ruby began her work, she thought back to the day she first arrived in this place. And how far she'd come since.
The obvious difference in plant life and locals, not to mention the guards who suddenly surrounded her and sounded rather angry, was enough to completely throw her off – as it would be for anybody – and she soon found herself tied up with ropes and marched off to gods knew where. As it turned out, there was a town nearby with a ramshackle prison beneath one building.
Once safely within her cast iron cage, her bonds were cut and she was left to herself. Only here did Ruby notice that her clothes were different – rather than her usual red cloak and black outfit, she wore a mostly brown set of robes of some kind. It was a thin, ragged fabric that seemed more like what a beggar would wear on a street corner.
The next three nights brought several startling revelations to the redhead – the first being that she was physically different than she was before finding herself here. They changes weren't massive, but still noticeable to someone used to seeing a rather specific arrangement of physical features on their own body. While she had no means of checking her reflection, she definitely noticed that her boobs had grown at least one size and she felt slightly taller. Also, her hips felt… wrong. Like they were the wrong shape.
It was as though she had aged 2-3 years in the blink of an eye. How was that even possible?
Then, of course, came the attacks. At first they were mild, waking her up with a throbbing headache, but no more than that – they went away on their own. At that time Ruby felt no fear of having her body ripped apart while her guard was down.
That came later.
Finally, it became clear to her captors that she either would not or could not answer their questions – and they were not happy about that. No matter how vehemently they pressed her for information, Ruby remained silent. She didn't want to cause any more of a stir than necessary by using words they didn't know.
By sunrise of the fourth day, Ruby's salvation had arrived in the form of a foreign-speaking Weiss. The redhead's confusion only grew, however, as Weiss acted with complete familiarity towards her. It was as though she already knew who Ruby was. Those ice-blue eyes Ruby knew so well seemed disturbed as she learned of Ruby's apparent speaking problem, but the Schnee look-alike proved adaptable – using simple words and motions, she managed to communicate with Ruby enough to get her out of there.
From that point on, Ruby's education in Nihongo began. Weiss taught her basic words for 'water,' 'tree,' 'horse,' and 'quiet,' among many other things. She also learned names – Weiss was called Shiro, Ruby herself was called Aki, and the province they were in was called Mistwood (she wasn't sure how to spell it, she just guessed based on how they said it).
There was also the word baka… Shiro called her that rather frequently. Whatever it meant, she was sure it wasn't a compliment.
Within the first few weeks at the farm, Ruby was disappointed to learn just how much work was required of her… and how little of the work was done with the modern technology she missed so much. She also learned that the concept of Dust as she knew it was as absent as the Grimm – none of her ammo had made the trip with her when she awoke, so she couldn't show anyone by example.
There was one major plus, however – her Aura still functioned normally. That meant she could still use her semblance every so often, but only in total privacy. A world like this would consider her skills no less than black magic. Or demonic. She had yet to figure out what the people of this world believed regarding religion.
Still, it didn't hurt to keep in shape. Squeezing cow udders all day only did so much…
"Anata wa nani o kangaete iru?" a new voice suddenly spoke from a few feet behind her, causing the redhead to jump to her feet with a yelp. The voice belonged to someone who was good at being sneaky. It was also quite… familiar.
Ruby turned to find a young woman with much more than a passing resemblance to a certain blonde brawler – if not for the elaborate hairpins and regal look to her attire, Ruby would never have been able to tell the difference between this woman and Yang Xiao Long. Especially the way their knowing smirks were exactly the same.
Beyond that first impression, however, Ruby had no idea what this Yang look-alike had just asked her… but at least she could tell it was a question. Silence stretched between them, Ruby still refusing to speak if she could help it. The blonde woman's smile began to fade as she realized no answer was forthcoming.
"Anata ga hanasu koto ga dekiru? Onamae ha nandesuka?" she asked a bit more forcefully, no longer amused at the strange girl who refused to speak. The way she carried herself spoke of a noble upbringing – far removed from the Yang she knew.
Ruby backed away hastily, whimpering slightly. The blonde woman took a single step forward, acting as though she might beat the answer out of the poor farmhand.
"Matte, matte!" barked the voice of her repeat savior. Shiro came bounding up to the pair looking winded, as though she'd been frantically searching for something. Or someone. With any luck, it was the latter.
Shiro then proceeded to say something to the blonde that was far too fast for poor Ruby to make out anything, even the most basic words. She slowly realized that this was likely how the Weiss look-alike normally spoke, yet she always slowed her words down for Ruby's sake. As the blonde and the white-haired women exchanged machine-gun Nihongo, Ruby found herself a bit touched by the gesture.
Standing there in a barn still full of cows to be milked, watching a farm worker and a roughshod princess argue in another language, Ruby decided then and there to make herself understand them… no matter how hard it would be. She would learn this… Nihongo thing.
The Yang-looking woman eyed Ruby sidelong, then smirked and commented, "Shiro-san wa tashika ni kimyona onnanoko o mitsuketa…"
Shiro sighed, pinching her nose in a very Weiss-like way. "Shitte iru… Shikashi, watakushi wa kanojo ni torikunda imasu."
All Ruby could do was wonder just how much she'd missed in the last few minutes.
The blonde woman eventually made her way out, followed closely by Shiro, and Ruby was left alone with the cows once again. She was only about half-done with the job, but she suddenly wanted nothing to do with the fly-ridden things anymore.
Go was next – that's literally what they called her, Go – and she nudged Ruby's arm anxiously. She'd been waiting the entire time and was eager to be done.
"I don't suppose you followed any of that, did you?" Ruby asked the cow dully.
"Moo," the cow replied.
"Didn't think so…"
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Before she went to bed that night, Ruby received a little present – a small charm in a pouch. It was tied with a chord that hung around her neck. The Yang-woman gave it to her, but obviously she could not clearly explain what it was or what it was meant for. The Weiss-woman just managed to convey one additional piece of information to Ruby – she was to wear it while she slept.
That night was the first night Ruby slept without any dreams at all. She also had no pain to wake her up. No attacks. She knew without a doubt that her charm was the reason, and vowed to never take it off again.
One more month passed at the farm, but then they had to leave it.
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Ruby's progress in Nihongo quickly escalated after her encounter with the Yang look-alike. By the time she and Shiro reached town, and as the first of the cold spells set in, she could follow most casual conversations with some ease. Still a long way to go before she could comfortably speak it, though.
Because of her earlier lack of understanding, Ruby still had no idea why they had to travel to town – but once there, she figured out some of the reasons. The colder part of the year didn't leave much work at the farm, and with the harvest basically being complete, all there was to do was deliver their goods and relax.
She also finally figured out who the Yang look-alike was – she owned the farm. Her visit was because she was checking on her employees. Shiro called her Ginryu-san. Or something. An odd name, that.
Ginryu lived in a large mansion near the center of the town (Ruby never heard what the town was called). As her workers, Ruby and Shiro were allowed to stay in a spare room during the cold season. It wasn't a huge home, but it also wasn't small – to Ruby's eyes, it struck a nice balance. It had enough spare rooms to accommodate all of the farmhands, as well as a few servants to take care of the place. One of those servants was assigned specifically to tend to the needs of Shiro and the rest.
Ruby Rose, known as Aki to the people of this world, found herself with literally nothing to do.
Except, of course, for studying the language.
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"I thought you said Aki-san was trained to work as a farmhand when I bought her? Didn't you do the research?"
"She was trained! But when I asked the guards at the barracks what happened, they said she took a bump to the head when she fell from the wagon. They think that's why she suddenly forgot how to talk. And work. And do pretty much anything. They only tied her up because they thought she was trying to escape."
"So she forgot herself? That's bad, isn't it? Somehow I doubt I can get my money back…"
"Even if you could, I won't let you take her back. I've… become fond of her, actually."
"Another one? You always did like the runts of the litter… but isn't this a bit much for you, Shiro-san?"
"I can manage just fine, thank you."
"Try not to forget that you're only here because of my mercy. On your own, …well, let's not think about where you would be then…"
"Ginryu-san… I haven't forgotten. I owe you my life. And at this point, so does Aki-san."
"That girl… she's got a fire in her eyes like nothing I've ever seen before. She reminds me of my Captain of the Guard… Nikos, remember her?"
"Are you saying she might have the makings of a warrior?"
"It's not impossible."
"No… I won't allow it. All she needs is a bit more attention and she'll be back to normal. No need to send her to the dojo just because you like some look in her eyes."
"You spoil her, you know that don't you?"
"I do not! At least I… I don't think I do…"
"I suppose not. Anyway, it's getting late. You and I have much to discuss tomorrow, Shiro-san."
"Good night, Ginryu-san."
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The next week passed without incident. Or activity. Ruby was literally dying of boredom.
She managed to find an empty building at the back of Ginryu's estate, however, and to her eyes it resembled Dad's workout room back home. If nothing else, she seemed free to stretch her legs in here.
If she had Crescent Rose, or at least some sort of reasonable facsimile, she could even practice a bit…
But those were more somber thoughts than she wanted right then.
Instead, she tried to drudge up the distant memories of Yang's short-lived attempt at teaching her hand-to-hand fighting. The little bit that survived all the madness was now put to the test in a form of shadow-boxing. And the shadows won more often than not.
Then, one evening, the Yang look-alike appeared in the room with her. She was dressed more conservatively than before – more like Ruby's work clothes than her own formal wear – and she also seemed ready to do some working out.
Unlike before, Ginryu-san no longer tried to talk to her. Rather, she seemed willing to spar in companionable silence.
Ruby was struck with just how similar Ginryu was to Yang at that moment. More than looks – this woman now showed the same big-sister attitude.
But she was a way better teacher. Ruby actually found herself …learning this stuff.
Would wonders never cease?
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It was currently around midnight, and as far as Ruby could tell it was shortly after the winter solstice. And it was cold outside.
The moon shone brightly from a cloudless sky, illuminating the small city around her almost like the sun was out. It was that bright. Since Ruby couldn't sleep, she sat out on the porch of the house watching the night. And thinking. And watching her breath steam in front of her face.
She was missing her team. And her sister.
Before her thoughts got very far into that, however… she felt a tingle on the back of her neck. Something was up. Something …back in the house?
Following that feeling, Ruby wandered through the building until she found herself at Ginryu's bedroom. No one in this world seemed to use normal doors, with normal knobs and locks, so she easily slid the door open to take a peek. The Yang-woman was sleeping peacefully, no problems, and Ruby took a deep breath.
A glimmer of light moved in the rafters just above Ginryu's sleeping form.
Ruby moved quickly and without too much thinking, darting into the room and leaping into the dark space above the woman without so much as a light thump on the floor. She dove blindly, aiming for the spot where she saw the glimmer.
In the darkness, she hit a body. She heard a light grunt as she knocked… whoever it was into the next room.
No lamps were lit in the rest of the house. She was fighting blind.
The shadowy figure regained it's feet quickly, darting back over to attack Ruby again. The girl was on her own feet just as fast, but with no weapon she was at a severe disadvantage. Luckily her night vision was fully active.
Running through the rooms, Ruby caught hold of a long stick. Somehow. It was no Crescent Rose, but it was good enough for the moment. In the span of a heartbeat, she darted back the way she came and caught her attacker off guard, sending the two of them tumbling outside.
In the harsh moonlight, Ruby could finally see her opponent.
It was a ninja.
A real. Freaking. Ninja!
Ruby could barely contain her glee as she leapt into the fray, stick blurring and spinning. The ninja countered her moves, but was unable to get any strikes past the shaft of wood. A small knife flickered into view every so often, but Ruby countered it with no issues.
Her senses were more alive than ever before. Her hands moved faster than she'd ever moved them before.
But then, as the ninja let loose a handful of throwing stars, time… slowed down. The blades rotated lazily through the air, so slowly that Ruby could actually see every single scratch across the surface of the metal.
It was just like the battle back home. Against the Grimm.
She'd almost forgotten about that.
Still… it wasn't unwelcome. Ninjas don't fight for knockouts. Ruby moved rapidly, defying the normal flow of time and space, and let loose a staff-based combo that literally left the ninja floating in the air.
She could see the shadow warrior's eyes grow wide with pure shock. Not that Ruby could blame her – few people have ever been knocked around by someone who could ignore the laws of the universe.
All at once, the ninja fell to the ground at normal speed. The time-warping had worn off.
Ruby dropped to one knee, short of breath and sweating. That had taken more out of her than she expected. The ninja lay still, breathing shallowly and moaning faintly. Neither combatant moved. The air was still around them. Not even crickets disturbed the silence.
Ruby soon heard the sound of soft clapping coming from the house behind her. She turned to find Ginryu walking slowly towards them, looking royally amused. Or maybe smug. Hard to tell.
When Ginryu bent down to the ninja, she grabbed the mask and pulled – and Ruby was treated to a surprise that wasn't really a surprise.
The ninja was Blake.
Of course it was.
Standing the Blake-ninja upright and shaking her awake, Ginryu and the ninja spent almost ten minutes exchanging Nihongo too low to make out. It sounded serious, though.
Once finished, Ginryu walked over and stood Ruby to her feet and motioned Blake over to them. The ninja complied, then… knelt down in front of Ruby.
Ginryu said something to the ninja, then looked at Ruby and motioned towards the ninja and said one word, "…Kuro."
Kuro meant black. Fitting.
The Blake look-alike spoke in a solemn tone, but used words Ruby didn't know. At all. She also didn't look at Ruby while she spoke.
The redhead was at a loss. Was this some kind of ritual? Was there something she was supposed to say?
Ginryu leaned close and whispered, "…'Watashi wa anata no chikai o ukeiremasu. Tate'…"
Ruby stuttered through the words, trying to sound as official as possible.
The Blake-ninja stood up, looking Ruby dead in the eyes, and nodded. She didn't have any cat ears, but other than that she was identical to Ruby's faunus friend from back home. Kuro put her fist over her chest and nodded, as serious as anyone she had ever seen.
"Kanojo wa ima anata no monodesu. Kanojo o jozu ni tsukatte kudasai," Ginryu said mysteriously. She was also grinning.
Something about that grin was a bit… disconcerting.
All at once, a runner came darting through the gates in a panic. He shot out a stream of machine-gun Nihongo at Ginryu, then looked out over the city with a clear look of fear. Ginryu followed his gaze as her own face grew into a thunderhead.
Ruby looked… and dropped her stick.
Out in the distance, past the edges of the city, was an army of torches. Hundreds of them. Thousands. The city was surrounded.
Ginryu gave the runner a stern order, who then ran into the house. Alarm bells started ringing all through the estate, as well as the city itself.
Even if she didn't understand the words, Ruby could tell what was happening.
A war had just started.
And she didn't have any real weapons to use.
Crap.
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[ Continued in Next Chapter ]
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(Source for Japanese Language: Google)