To clear up the previous chapter, Ruby didn't lose her entire memories. She still retained all her memories from the other world, but she lost some memories from Remnant. The next chapter will reveal a bit more information about it.
15 Year Old Ruby, Present Day
"Little more to the left... Alright, now steady... Okay, hold! Thanks for the lift, Specialist Schnee!"
"It was my pleasure, Miss Rose. Your temporary assistance on my mission was of great value. It's a pity that a young prodigy such as yourself is leaving Atlas. If you can't find what you're looking for, the Atlesian Military will warmly welcome you."
"Thanks, but this is something I need to do. Give my regards to General Ironwood! Thanks to him, Crescent Rose doesn't look like a piece of scrap metal now!" I patted my beloved weapon behind my waist.
"I will leave him a message when an opportunity arise."
"Thanks!" I gave Winter a two finger salute and leaped out of the airship door hatch. The Valean wind whipped my face as I free fall in the air with my red cloak fluttering behind me. My shoulder length red hair blew back against the wind letting my neck feel the cool nightly breeze. Okay Ruby, I need a landing strategy. No using bullets... I'm too poor to afford anymore ammo. Living on the streets doesn't really give me a decent paycheck to buy anything. Okay, how to land... how to land...
I glanced around my surroundings and sighed as I was left with no choice. Got to do what I do best, destruction of property. I unfolded my crescent rose and swiftly buried its crescent shape against a nearby building to break my fall. My precious weapon shredded the concrete building as its blade embedded itself, leaving a notable and jagged scar on the structure.
Wow, Ironwood did a good job buying such high quality material for my weapon. Very durable and explosion proof. I took a long glance and frowned at the property damage I just created.
Ah, I hope no one saw that.
I clasped crescent rose back onto my holder and walked down the moon lit path. I took shelter at a nearby shop called From Dust Till Dawn to lay low for awhile just as a safety precaution. It wasn't the first time that I almost destroyed a building because I was falling from the sky.
The door jingled, notifying the shopkeeper of my presence. I glimpsed around and noticed the entire store only had dust products except for a few minor magazines in the back. Duh, 'Dust' Til Dawn. I internally groaned at my choice of shop that I chose to take shelter in.
Dust, a source of energy used for a variety of purposes, most particularly in weapons used as an enhancement. Other than that information, I have absolutely no clue what else it did. Using dust wasn't my forte since I was barely taught on its usage. It was expensive and I rarely had the opportunity to learn about it or use it. When I did have the chance to use dust, all I knew how to do is make it explode. Literally. I just mix a few different dust together, shake it, and tah-dah - boom. Which is why Crescent Rose is crafted with explosive proof metals.
I awkwardly smiled at the shopkeeper and pretended to be a paying customer interested in his products. I strolled down the aisle towards the back of the shop and picked up a magazine that caught my silver eyes. A pair of red headsets sat snuggly on the wall in courtesy for magazine browsers. I shrugged at the thought of free music and placed it on my ears to blast whatever song was installed in the device. I flipped through the magazine and bobbed my head to the rhythm of the music.
Oh wow, look at that.
I stopped at a particular page of the booklet and took a hard look, ogling at the picture. Oh yeaaah. That long shaft and that nice curve on the tip. That's so seeexy. Every men or women would love to get a hold of that. It's not every day you see something that... Hard. "Now that's a katana!" I snapped my fingers, exclaiming out loud to no one whatsoever. My tail wagged in excitement. Blue dust infused graphene blade katana that is also modified as a semi-auto high velocity handgun. According to its description, it's the strongest and rarest material ever known to mankind. Before I could read more in depth, I was interrupted by an angry hard tap on my shoulder. I slipped off the headsets and turned around.
"Yes?" I asked politely, noticing a grunt in a black suit wearing red shades.
"I said, put your hands in the air, now!" He shouted.
"Are you... Robbing me?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yes! What part of 'put your hands in the air' don't you get?"
"Fuck off," I snapped back at him, startling him in the process.
"W-w-what?"
"Did I stutter? I said - Fuck. Off." I folded my arms, leaned on one leg, and glared at him.
He was completely caught off guard with my current attitude. Apparently he has never seen a 15 year old spit out profanities like a bullet. I rolled my eyes at him. This was a waste of my time. I whipped out Crescent Rose and unfolded it in the process.
Ah shit, I forgot I was still in the store.
The gigantic scythe that was twice my size demolished a good portion of the store's ceiling and crumbled down onto the lackey. Luckily for me, only the corner of the roof fell down rather than the entire shop. Considering that it was a highly stocked dust store, it would've set off the biggest explosion in my record book.
I folded back my obnoxiously large garden tool and climbed to the top of the ceiling debris. My eyes trailed down from above and noticed an orange hair man with bangs covering his right eye complemented with a bowler hat. My lips turned into a frown when my gaze rested on a suitcase full of dust crystals.
"I don't like to make this anymore of a hassle than it should be. Is it quite possible for you to... Let's say, forget that this incident ever happened," the mysterious orange hair robber asked while twirling his cane in the store, leaning against the glass counter.
I furrowed my eyebrows at his question rather than responding.
"Okay... Aren't you a little too young to be out at night? Isn't it past your bed time?" The bowler hat man was now stalling as he was picking off the remaining dust crystals and shoving it into his case.
Wow, the nerve of this bitch! Stealing right before my very eyes while trying to have a conversation with me.
I jumped down onto leveled ground and noted the lowly grunts surrounding me. Five henchmen and the mastermind,this was doable. I sprinted forward to one lackey and caught him by surprise. I firmly grabbed his suit and threw him out the window. Not wasting any time, I climbed over the shattered window, marched towards him, picked him up by the collar, and knocked him out cold with my fist.
One down.
I turned around, now facing the front of the store, and noticed the dust thief signaling his henchmen to come after me. Each one took out their puny weapon and twirled it in a threatening manner. I scoffed and whipped out my enormous scythe. I deliberately showed off as I whirled it in the air and slammed the tip of its blade back down, smashing a little part of the city's street in the process.
"You sure you want to do this?" I asked, giving them a chance to leave.
Loud growls and grunts responded to my question. I shrugged and unhooked Crescent Rose from the ground and slung it over my shoulder. In response to my action, the thief's associates charged directly at me with loud battle cries. To their mistake, I swung horizontally using the back blade of my reaper tool to knock all four out in one blow.
"Geez guys, at least make it a challenge for me. You guys got your ass handed by a gi-." Before I finished my sentence, I exploded.
Go me, way to let down my guard.
I quickly picked myself from the floor and brushed the dust off my black and red corset dress. My aura received most of the explosion, leaving me unharmed. Clouds of dusts cleared from the surrounding area and my ears flickered to the sounds of running footsteps. I turned my attention to the direction of the rapid pitter pattering and saw that the criminal was making his great escape on the roof.
I chased after him and lifted myself high in the air from the rapid fire of a few magazines from my high caliber sniper scythe. I fired a bullet midair to increase my momentum as I swung my scythe straight down at him only to miss by an inch. To his shock, his balance was completely thrown off from the tremor as my curved blade obliterated a portion of the floor.
Smirking at this familiar scene, I bolted forward using my semblance. I clutched his suit with my right hand, and brandish a dagger that was hidden under my dress against his neck.
"Whoa whoa whoa, ease up on the hands Red. You're wrinkling my attire. This suit happens to be my favorite and it also happens to be quite pricey." The thief held up both hands defensively. The suitcase escaped from his grasps during the aftermath, and laid flatly on the edge of the roof.
My grip on his suit loosen as my ears twitched to the pulsating sound of whirling blades. Surprised, I felt a strong kick in my abdomen as the criminal took his chance to fight back. Now free from my grip, the crook collected his suitcase and hopped onto the airship that appeared from below the building.
"So long little Red! I'll send you the bill of my dry cleaning service!" He yelled out laughing. "But here's a early little tax from the tab."
He tossed down a red crystal onto the roof right
Oh shit, here comes another explosion!
I braced myself for the incoming combustion as I brought my arms up defensively. A bullet shot down onto the crystal, igniting the dust into a fiery explosion. However to everyone's surprise, a defensive barrier was raised to prevent me from harm's way.
"We got a huntsman!" The criminal voice entered through my ears as my eyes are still covered with my arms.
I casted my attention towards my temporary savior, a middle-aged woman wearing glasses with blond hair tied neatly in a bun with curls hanging down her face. The older woman flicked her crop-like weapon as retaliation. Sharp brick stones materialized in the air and darted in the direction of the enemy's airship.
However, a new associate of the bowler hat thief made an appearance and extended their hands out, deflecting every attack with a blast of their fiery power. The mysterious stranger counterattacked as they flicked their wrist, hurling fabricated balls of fire towards us.
No way... That's definitely magic!
I held my stance and grasped Crescent Rose tightly. I pressed a switch on the scythe unfolding it into another additional modification I installed awhile back. The red and black blade of the scythe collapsed down and its blade branched to one side, shortening into a single edge short blade. [AN]
Taking my battle stance, I swung my blade against the onslaught of fireballs to disintegrate as many fire as my blade can slice through. The fire lightly stung my cheeks as it dispersed into fractions. Preparing for countermeasures, I took out a small cartridge of leftover dust stored in my pouch that hung behind the hip of my waist. I inserted the container into the slot with a loud 'clank' and twisted the lever, switching it into a dust mode.
The lever allowed the cartridge of two dust mix and with a certain amount of kinetic force applied on the weapon, the two dust will react, turning into a destructive one sided explosion.
I shifted my stance and flung my dust blade, impaling it at the lower half of the airship. With such little dust I had left, it ignited a small explosion and made a small gash on the outer walls of the airship. Nonetheless, it wasn't enough to take down the big airship as the thieves retreated away into the night with a trail of gray smokes and the smell of burnt metal.
My hands ran through my hair and I took a long deep sigh. I can't believe I failed to retrieve the suitcase of stolen goods. I tilted my head further up and searched the pitch black sky.
Now where's Crescent Rose...
I squinted my eyes as I try to find a dangerous weapon falling at high velocity that exploded out of the transporting aircraft. It definitely hasn't landed yet or else my ears would've picked up a large crashing sound.
A small gleam sparked in the upper atmosphere and my eyes widen in fear as my weapon was falling straight at us. I grabbed the older woman's black cape and yanked her away from Crescent Rose targeted sight. In the nick of time, I dashed off to the side of the roof with a trail of rose petals behind me as my now empty cartridge dust blade demolished a section of the roof.
I plucked myself off the ground and walked towards the direction of my fallen tool of destruction. It was definitely a good idea to make Crescent Rose explosive proof.
The dusty debris began to settle and I noticed a scowl plastered on the blond woman's face while angrily tapping her foot on the ground.
Uh oh.
"So... Um. You're a huntress, right?" I rubbed the back of my neck. A bad habit I developed over the years when I was nervous.
"You're coming with me," the woman grabbed my hand and pulled me.
"W-w-wait! What did I d-do?"
"Oh, you know what you did."
"E-e-extensive property damage?" I squeaked.
"So... Where are you taking me?" I asked in attempt to make a small conversation to fill in the awkward silence. We were now sitting in one of the private airships, flying off to a set coordinate punched into the airship's computer system.
"Beacon Academy," the huntress answered, cutting the conversation nice and short.
My face crinkled at her answer. Beacon? Boarding school for huntsmen and huntresses? Why are we heading to there?
"Why?" I tried to inquire further.
"Someone would like to meet you."
"Are you... Going to tell me who?"
"That remains to be seen."
"O-okay..."
Wow... And I thought holding a conversation with Winter was difficult. This woman took it to a whole new level. Though it's better than receiving 'classified' as an answer.
I rested my head against the glass window and watched the view from above. The city's nightlife contrasted with the starry night as neon lights glimmered in the darkness. Mostly bars and clubs ruled the night in Vale, bringing life to its dullness.
I shifted my gaze towards the woman next to me. She was sitting properly straight up, and glaring a beeline at the airship's metallic walls making no movements or sounds. If she had heat vision, I swear she could burn a hole if she wanted to. My eyes veered away from her and back to the window.
This was going to be a long trip.
So I gave Ruby another weapon to go along with her scythe. Even though the mechanics of the 'dust blade' doesn't seem realistic, sue me. I don't plan her to constantly use it because there are a couple of drawbacks to it. It wont be stories where the character use their 'ultimate secret weapon to easily beat hard bosses.' There will be a minor of it but that's just how I'm planning to make the story flow. The cover image is a very quick drawing of my imagination. I apologize if it's blurry.
Reviews are welcome!
And Weiss makes her infamous debut in the next chapter (: