4 Years Old Ruby. A Few Weeks After Summer's Death.

Don't let them see, they can never know. I repetitively told myself like a mantra to hold back my tears as I lied awake in the middle of the night. Faint sounds of rain drops filled the silent night.

They just told me that you were gone, but I already knew.

Don't let them see, they can never know.

They don't expect a four year old to understand, especially how young I was.

Don't let them see, they can never know.

They told each other that I would barely have any recollection of you as I grow older.

Don't let them see, they can never know.

Summer deeply engraved herself into my memory and into my heart. How can I forget such a loving mother? But I played along for the sake of my family. To ease their worries, I played innocent like how normal kid supposed to grow up into.

Don't let them see, they can never know.

Boy, I wanted to prove to them how extremely wrong they were.

Don't let them see, they can never know.

Rule number one: show no weakness, endure everything.

Hold your tears and don't let them see. Be a soul forever haunted, they can't know.

7 Year Old Ruby

After the death of our mom, dad was a mess for years. Our uncle stepped in to take care of us while balancing his job at Signal Academy.

Two years ago, Uncle Qrow got me an adorable welsh corgi puppy and said dad got it for me. But I knew better. Dad wasn't in any state to add another hyper active member to the family. Uncle Qrow got him for me as a replacement of mom.

After our dad shut down, Yang took over the motherly role. From the look of her lilac eyes, she also knew the entire truth. To make up for it, she did most of the house chores while trying to balance school and her trainings.

To me, Yang was the best sister I could ever ask for.

The corners of my lip pointed upwards as my gaze landed on a snoring Yang who was still sleeping. Her hair was like spaghetti, clustered and messy as it draped all over her bed. Turning my head to the clock, I checked the time. 9:53 A.M. I threw my blanket covers off my body and proceeded to my hygienic morning activities.

Today was a special day, the day Uncle Qrow finally unlocks my aura. Throughout history, aura was known to be integrated into one's soul from the beginning. In other words, people were naturally born with aura and unlocked intuitively as time moved on. But my current comprehension was slightly different compared Remnant's case. From what Uncle Qrow told me, in order to acquire an aura, the person must undergo formalities for it to be released.

And that's when it occurred to me.

If the mechanics of aura were exactly similar for both worlds and the only difference was how to acquire it, then perhaps they were one in the same. If Uncle Qrow were to unseal my aura, then there was a good chance that I could gain back my ample supply of aura.

My lips pointed upwards into a smirk as I imagined myself kicking my uncle's ass. The last thing he would expect is a 7 year old overflowing with aura and beating his mangy butt. After brushing my teeth, I threw on my signature red cloak. The last gift of my mother, something I couldn't let go. I spun in front of the mirror, taking final glances before I made my way down the stairs.

On my way down the stairs, I caught Uncle Qrow secretly trying to take a swig from his alcohol canister. My eyebrows furrowed and I placed my hands on my hips.

"Ahem," I cleared my throat, catching his attention. The alcoholic gave me a surprised look as if I caught his hand in my jar of stashed cookies. He glanced back at his canister, and then back up.

"Oh, sorry kiddo. Didn't see you there." He nervously laughed.

Despite his many attempts, Uncle Qrow tried to avoid indulging on alcohol whenever Yang and I were present. Pretty much a difficult goal he set himself up seeing how he drank for a few years.

Lightening up my face, I gave him an enthusiastic smile and excitedly dragged him outside.

"Come on Uncle Qrow! You promise to train me!"

"Hold on Ruby," he chuckled. "You can't forget that I need to unlock your aura first."

Internally, I jumped up and down cheering at the top of my lungs. This was the moment I was waiting for. I closed my eyes and gave permission for my uncle to begin. The scythe wielder held my hands, and closed his eyes as he began chanting verses that I didn't bother to listen because I was too exhilarated and giddy.

"There that should do it," he finished.

With my eyes still closed, I concentrated on the aura flowing through my body. The warmth of my aura coiled around my body, expelling a red color. The hair on my skin stood up as the aura kissed my skin. But something wasn't right.

No.

This was definitely not right.

The smile on my face immediately dropped. That's it? That's all my aura? What happened to my bountiful of aura that I was gifted? For fuck sake, did I lose all of it? The current aura that surged through my body could barely take a punch.

Oh shit, I'm screwed.

"Ahem," Uncle Qrow was the one clearing his throat now. "You have a pretty decent amount of aura you got there kiddo."

Bullshit.

"Let's start with training," he smiled, and I shot a feign smile right back at him.

Uncle Qrow and I worked on the basics of fighting. Stances, breathing, stretching, what to do and what not to do, and all the other things I already knew. He was surprised and complimented on how well I was doing for a beginner. But what surprised him the most was when I asked him to spar with me.

Yep, I asked him for a spar.

At first, he bluntly said no because it was too dangerous and I could get badly injured. But after using my special technique, jutting my bottom lip and giving him the most adorable puppy look, he pinched the bridge of his nose and caved in.

"Okay Ruby, I'm going to hold back as much as I can." He sighed, standing straight up with his hands shoved into his pockets. "I'm ready whenever you are."

I positioned myself with my feet gripped onto the ground and dashed towards Uncle Qrow, who was totally zoning out from the match. With my current body condition, it couldn't really be considered a dash... It was more like a slow run. A very slow run.

With my hand clenched, I threw a punch that was concentrated with aura at him. Or at least, it was suppose to be an aura condensed blow. I frowned at the sound of a light tapping noise when my fist connected to his well developed stomach.

Well, that failed miserably.

Uncle Qrow quickly retaliated as he concentrated his superior strength onto his hand. His attack inched closer to my head, delivering his ultimate final blow filled with pain and destruction.

He flicked my forehead.

"Ack- OW! Uncle Qrow! That hurts a lot!" I hissed in pain, clutching to the side of my forehead. The pain stung my skin and started to throb. "I think you ripped my skin! Oh gosh, I think I'm bleeding! I'm gonna die from bleeding!"

I dramatically fell down and pretended to be dying. Still clutching the side of my forehead, I held my hand out, reaching to the bright blue sky. "I'm gonna miss you my tasty awesome cookies."

The 'murderer' rolled his eyes smiling at the antics that I was ensuing.

"Come on kiddo, let's go make some lunch." He turned around and walked ahead, leaving me behind to rot on the grass.

"Coming!" I giggled and quickly got up, brushing the stray grass attached to my clothes with a smile hanging on my face.

I saw it. No doubt about it, I definitely saw it. He aimed at center of my forehead and I almost dodged it. I rubbed the side of my forehead and skipped along, trying to catch up to my uncle.

Skills beat strength.

At least I didn't lose everything.

8 Year Old Ruby

Dad came back to his senses and profusely apologized to me and Yang about his behavior. He said he didn't act like the fatherly figure like he supposed to and planned to make up for it. In the end, we spent more quality time with each other more than ever, building back our relationship.

I forgave dad because I knew what it was like to lose someone. Not just mom, but also a few of my other members of my guild. They gave up their lives to slay monsters, to complete mission assignments, and to fight wars. Even I fell into despair once, only to recover after a period of time.

But I think Yang had a harder time accepting his apology. But who can blame her? She was left behind by someone with the name of Raven, her birth mother, while dad failed to play his part and only bounced back now.

9 Year Old Ruby

"Yaaaaaaaaang, spar with me pleeaaassee."

"I can't, Ruby. I'm trying to make my weapon for school."

"But training is important too!"

"Yeah, but I'm also required to make my weapon."

I frowned at her answer.

"You're missing a screw right there," I pointed out.

"What? No I'm no- Oh, I see it." Treating her weapon delicately, Yang added and secured the screw in. Even though my previous ability allowed me to 'absorb' dead enemy's weapons, I still knew the mechanics behind each weapon.

"Can we spar pleeeeeasseee?" I drawled and gave her the most adorable puppy look.

"Ugh, fine. One spar. Just ONE spar." Yang rolled her eyes and submitted under my infamous puppy eyes.

"YAAAY!" I cheered, throwing my hands in the air like the little kid I am.

We stepped outside with the sun's beating heat softly kissing our skin. My short deeply red hair fluttered against the spring breeze. Red strands of fur stood up from my wolfish ears, embracing the wind. I deeply inhaled the fresh scent of mother nature.

The smell of roses.

I smiled as I quickly glanced at my small patch of roses that I started as a small hobby. Small red buds were beginning to bloom, bringing life and color at the side of our home. Not only did it rid the dull surroundings, but it was relaxing and represented my name very well.

"Earth to Ruby!" Yang waved her hand, trying to catch my attention.

"Huh? Oh, my bad." I gave an apologetic smile.

"Hand to hand combat and I won't use my semblance since you haven't gotten yours," she pointed.

"I know! Same as always," I giggled.

"So what's the score again? 78 to like 0?" She joked.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. You wish. 78 to 64. You're winning only by like... 14."

To be fair, Yang did have an advantage over me despite my decades of past battle experiences. She had been practicing in close combat for her entire life, copying all of dad's tactical moves. Meanwhile, I was still training under Uncle Qrow to further develop my speed and strength that I didn't have any more.

Why with Uncle Qrow?

Because I wanted to use a scythe. I wanted to try something new for once, and who was the best to learn it from other than the scythe master himself?

"You ready?" Yang called out.

"Yep!"

"Lil' sis can get the first strike"

"Thanks Yang!" I smiled, positioning myself lower to the ground.

With a deep breath I bolted directly at her, attempting a more head on approach. I swung my fist straight at her face, but she ducked and countered with an uppercut into my stomach. My aura took most of the blow as her knuckles drove into my stomach.

I clenched my teeth from the pain and smirked in response.

My feet firmly grasped the grass as I expected her counterattack. Yang's eyes widen when she noticed I was barely pushed back and tried to back step away. However, it was too late for her. Both of my hands snatched her shoulders and I drove a knee right into stomach, knocking the winds out of her. The young brawler fumbled onto the floor as she tried catching her breath.

"78 to 65!" I threw a victory pump, but wasn't the greatest idea as I felt the bruise forming on my stomach. Yang really did a good job ramming her fist right there.

"Wow, Ruby. That was amazing, I totally did not see that coming," she panted. "Though I think you need a little more 'ummph' in your kick."

"Oh, you know me and my crazy ideas." I grinned widely, rubbing my stomach to ease the pain.

When it came to brawling with Yang, she normally went for the head on brutal beating. In other words, her movements were slightly predictable.

"Soooooooo... One more spar?" I beamed.

"Nope. I said one and I mean it"

"But Yaaaaanngg!"

"No is no Ruby"

I dog piled on Yang who still laid on the grass. "GAH RUBY!" My sister shrieked as I landed on her stomach where I previously kneed her.

"Oops sorry Yang," I laughed. The young brawler retaliated back as she wrestled me onto the floor, putting me into a headlock.

"Ack- wait- Yan- Sto-" I tried but the headlock tightened, cutting off my every word. Feeling agitated, I used my outer arm to pull her head back to escape her headlock.

Now, it wasn't a challenge to get out of a headlock. My teammates did it to me all the time because I was shorter than them. They thought it would be funny to put the leader in a headlock until I started beating their asses senselessly.

But this time. I fucked up.

Rather than grabbing the flesh of her face, I clutched her hair and yanked a few strands of her golden locks.

Oh boy.

Number one rule, never cut Yang's hair or remove any strands off her head. She treated her long luscious blond hair as her most prized possession. Everyone knew that, and I just broke that rule just now.

I ripped off a few strands of her hair.

Not one.

A few...

The blonde instinctively released my neck once she felt a recognizable pain on top of her head. She looked down at my hands only to see what use to be attached to her.

"Ruby."

Oh fuck me.

"Oh. Uhh, I- Ah. Um, er. Well you see... Umm." I stammered. Beads of cold sweat rolled down my forehead.

I was doomed.

"Ruby."

Shivers descended down my spine when I heard my name from her lips.

"Yes, Yang...?" I nervously looked down, shuffling my feet against the grass.

"You have five seconds. One."

"Oh, but Yan-"

"Two."

"O-Okay." I held my hands up defensively and took a few steps back.

"Three."

Now this was a good time to run.

"Four."

And I did.

"Five."

Running off as far as my feet will carry me, I turned my head around only to accidentally lock onto my sister's gaze. Lilac eyes turned red and met silver as she made a notable loud battle cry. Yang activated her semblance and engulfed her whole body with flames, shooting off waves of heat and causing a sudden rise in temperature through the atmosphere

For the first time in years, I trembled in fear. Fear that I will die from ripping a few of my sister's hair strands.

"Some honorable death," I muttered out loud, still running with my tail tucked into between my legs.

Soft grunts grew louder when my blazing sister chased after me. She was catching up to me fast, really fast.

"Wait! Yaaang, please stop. It was an accident, I swear! You wouldn't kill your sweet adorable little sister would you?" I begged with pants in between my sentence. She responded with an angry war cry and continued to pursue after me.

I picked up my pace to escape from her clutches, but before I knew it, I teleported right into a tree, smashing my face against the wooded bark.

Yang halted to a stop with her eyes turning back to her normal shade of color.

"Ruby...?" She whispered with concern in her voice. "Oh dust, are you okay?"

I slumped down the tree and fell back onto the ground with a loud crash. To respond to her question, I uttered a indescribable noise to let her know I was somehow still alive and breathing. My sister plopped down next to me and gently brushed my face with the back of her hand to dust the leftover bark off my face.

"What happened?" I moaned in pain. "Everything hurts."

"Weeell," she stretched out. "I think you just discover your semblance little sis."

"What?!" I enthusiastically sat up, ignoring the pain all over my beaten body. "Are you saying I can teleport?"

"Whoa! Easy there pup. You should rest for a bit at least. Here let me help you." She positioned me in a way I could rest my head on her lap. "So, um... No. You didn't teleport. You kind of... Ran super fast? Like, uh... Turned into a swarm of rose petals and flew quickly through the wind?"

"What?"

Yang pointed out to the trail of rose petals that I supposedly left behind. The sweet scent of roses filled the air as the breeze carried the flower petals away, letting it drift through the wind. I pleasantly hummed as I acknowledged my newfound powers.

"You know Yang, you're the best sister I could ever have, " I giggled.

"What do you mean? I'm the only sister you have!"

"You sacrificed your beloved hair for the greater good." My giggles turned into laughter. "A few strands of hair for my semblance? That's such a good trade!"

"Never again." The brawler lightly punched me.

"Ack- Yaaaaang. I'm still hurting all over. I think I might need a band aid," I whimpered. "Maybe not a band aid, but a bunch of bandages."

"Come on sis, let's get you cleaned up. I can wrap you like a mummy for your boo boos. Then put you in a coffin since you already dug your own grave earlier."

I snickered at her comment and happily got up.

I finally got my semblance. It was not magic, but this was definitely perfect.

10 Year Old Ruby

Patch.

A relatively secluded big island surrounded by a body of water. If we wanted to get to the main lands, we needed to take a ferry or take some kind of aerial transportation. And that's exactly what we were doing. We were at the landing station for airborne vehicles in Patch because dad wanted to take us to Vale for the first time.

"Whoooaa, what's that dad?" I gasped, relinquishing my dad's hand and pointed at a funny looking aircraft.

Remnant had an interesting way of aerial transport. My world never had flying chunks of metal for traveling. No, we rode monsters instead. Whether it is a dragon, wyvern, griffon, phoenix, or anything with wings or legs, if you can domesticate it, then you can ride it. But this thing? This was new to me.

"That's a bullhead, Ruby. It's going to take us to the city of Vale," dad grinned.

Riding that thing didn't seem... Safe. Monsters were sturdier compared to these dainty looking vehicles. I'm pretty sure my dragon back at home could snap that like a toothpick.

No, it definitely can.

"But daaad," I drawled out. "Are you sure it's safe? What if it explodes?"

Dad laughed at my exaggerated question.

Yang was the last to let go of his hand as she chased after me. "Come on Ruby! Less talking and more walking!" My sister grabbed my red cloak and tugged me onto the vehicular deathtrap.

"GAH," I yelped in dismay. "Yang, I think you're choking me. Dad! Help me! Yang is trying to kill me!"

"Yang."

"Okay dad!"

We boarded the aircraft after the conductor hollered for last call. During the entire flight, it felt like we were barely moving. Didn't need to worry about messed up hair, a sore ass, or even unpredictable weather. It was definitely different from riding monsters. Quite pleasant in my opinion.

Vale.

An absolutely beautiful city, bustling with crowds of people going about their daily business. Buildings towered over the city streets, shopping centers catered to the public needs, and mouth watering scent of baked goods enveloped the air.

It felt like home. The home I built from ground up, the home where my guild laid and protected, and the same home I governed.

"Dad, where are we going?" I asked, trying to sound unflustered. My teeth was slightly clattering, and so was Yang.

We were window shopping around Vale and made a pit stop at a nearby ice cream shop, bakery shop, and candy shop. Dad made a grave mistake as he bought Yang and I every delectable sweet that we pleaded him for. The next thing we know, we were giddy and bouncing off walls from the absurd amount of sugar we consumed. It was worse enough that we were lively children to begin with.

"We're going to the park because I can't seem to keep you guys still for a second," he chuckled. His eyes seemed a bit lifeless from our afternoon antics.

"Ruby! I'll race you to the park!" Yang challenged. Her eyes was slightly dilated and her body was uncontrollably shaking from the sugar.

"Fu-" I caught myself first before I let out an inappropriate profanity. Dad and Yang didn't know about my habit of excessive cursing. For the greater good, it was better if they didn't know about it.

"For sure sis," I corrected myself. "If you beat me, I'll..." I thought for a moment to see what was a good incentive. "I'll stop eating cookies for a month."

"Get ready to eat my dust because you won't be having cookies for a month!"

"Wait girls," dad interjected, but we weren't listening to him. "Gi-"

Before my dad could finish his sentence, my sister and I abandoned him. We raced down the sidewalk, dodging pedestrians as we made our way to the park.

With a few years of training, I ran pretty quick for my age even without my semblance. Yang couldn't even compete against me when it came to sprints. So why did she challenge me if she didn't stand chance? It was probably the sugar getting to her head.

"Yang, give up! You can't beat me!" I panted as I darted over a trashcan that stood in my way.

"Hah! In my dreams I did. And now it's going to come true!" She heavily wheezed.

I looked over my shoulder and noticed that Yang was getting slower and slower by the minute as her stamina drained rather quickly. I smiled as I overtook her by a long shot, but my adrenaline came to a halt when I suddenly collided with a stranger.

"Hey! Watch where you're going," the man hissed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry sir. I'm very sorry!" I apologized many times to the man that I basically almost trampled. He was wearing a funny looking mask that covered half of his face. What I noticed was his smell. It was different compared to Yang's, Dad's, and even Uncle Qrow's. He smelled like... A faunus.

"Tch- Little runts like you need discipline," the stranger snarled. He bent down and examined me further with his eyes that I couldn't see because of his poorly designed mask. "Huh, you're a faunus."

"Yup!" I wagged my tail to let him see. I wasn't afraid to show off my faunus traits. I wore it like pride. Yang caught up behind me, bent over trying to catch her breath. She looked up and was startled with what she saw.

"Ruby..." she whispered into my ears with worry. "We shouldn't talk to strangers. Especially this one. He's wearing shady mask." My sugar high died down, allowing the information sink in. And that's when sudden realization hit me.

Holy shit, she was right.

"Hey kid, how would you like to join the White Fang?" he smirked. "Of course it's faunus only. So your little friend here can't join unless she happens to be a faunus."

White Fang? Sounds like a cult to me.

"No thanks, this friend here is my sister. I'm not going anywhere without her," I responded with a touch of attitude in it. I glanced around and observed a few of his masked buddies joining him. I slightly nudged Yang to slowly back away.

"Sorry kid, we don't take no for an answer. We could use a little... help with our new revolution."

"Yang, run." I whispered to her.

"Ruby no I'm not leaving you," she retorted.

"Yang, you need to get dad."

"No, I already said I -"

"Trust me. I can hold them off for a few seconds and catch up with my semblance. Now go."

Yang hesitated because our roles now reversed. It was unusual for her to see me overly protective as I always pretended to play damsel in distress in her eyes. Truth be told, I enjoyed having my sister coddle me. But this situation was completely different.

Silver met lavender

We held onto each other's gaze as she slowly turned around. My sister nodded and began sprinting back to wherever my dad was at. The White Fang grunts didn't bother to chase after her as their treasured soon-to-be member stood idly in front of them.

There was a good chance that Yang and I could win if we stood our grounds, but that good chance was still too small for me. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to Yang. I guess some could say it fell under rule number four, protect those around you whether they are strong or weak

"So, which one of you fucker's ass am I going kick first?" I sneered with my personality flipping a complete 180. They were taken aback as they were witnessing a 10 year old curse like a professional.

They were looking at each other in bewilderment with my new change in attitude. However, one lackey with small antlers out of his head gritted his teeth and charged forward with a loud grunt as he took my taunt. I smirked at his short temper. Okay Ruby, you only need to stall.

Hit and run, I can live with that.

The White Fang goon swung his fist straight at me. I maneuvered his jab with my forearm to avoid his clenched hand from making contact with my face. With my right hand, I slugged his reproductive organ delivering traumatizing divine punishment.

Now run.

Using my semblance, I retreated in the direction that Yang ran off to. Even though I had my semblance for quite some time, it was still a bit unstable as I wasn't accustom to it. It was a whole another scale compared to magic.

The poor faunus, who was holding his lower private region in fetal position, muttered orders to the rest of his goons that was too far for me to hear.

Before I could make my great escape, a bigger and bulkier faunus ambushed me. He wore the same mask like the other ruffians and bided his time in the low lit alley. I couldn't avoid his sneaky assault as the efficiency of my senses were cut short from using my semblance.

Oh shit.

The bigger faunus caught me by surprise as he snatched my cloak, choking me in the process. I fumbled and crashed down onto the floor, unable to escape from his grasp. With his other hand, he gripped the collar of my shirt and dragged me to their designated rendezvous, far away from prying eyes.

"Tch- Let go so I can beat the shit out of you!" I flailed at the bigger faunus, doing absolutely no damage. Two years of training with Uncle Qrow wasn't enough to build back my desired strength. Compared to Yang's, my punches didn't pack enough power.

"Well, look who's here!" A familiar looking faunus broke from the clusters of what seemed to be members of the White Fang. The same faunus that I almost castrated. "Not so tough now, are you?"

The bigger faunus dropped me onto the floor in front of the faunus with the small antlers. The faunus superior was looking down at me with smugness plastered on his face. With his hands, he gripped my hair, pulled my head back, and examined me as if I was a damaged good.

"The White Fang can use spiteful little bastards such as yourself," he said with a shit eating grin.

I spat at his face as an answer.

He wiped the liquid off his face mask and returned a deathly glare from what I can make out. With a loud grunt, he angrily brought his clenched fist at my face to enact his revenge. I stumbled back and landed onto the ground with my aura now depleted from his physical rage. The bulkier faunus yanked my arm and dragged me up onto my knees.

Blood trickled down from my 10 year old mouth awarding me a taste of my own red fluid. The taste of iron. I spat the blood onto the floor and looked up with hostility in my eyes.

"And here's another for good luck. See you in the morning brat," the faunus smirked. "Welcome to the White Fang."

He threw a kick across my face and knocked me out onto the floor as my ticket of admission.