I DO NOT OWN RWBY

RED TRAILER:

The full moon shines as the snowflakes flutter in the air. A figure in a red cape is standing at the edge of a snow-covered cliff. The person has a hood hiding their face. As the camera pans around them, it shows a marble memorial in front of them. As they turn around and begin to walk away, the front of the grave is revealed with the engraved: 'Summer Rose – Thus Kindly I Scatter'.

Summer's finger hit 'Pause' almost on its own as she stared at the screen in shock.

This whole situation was ludicrous to begin with – being transported to some outwordly theatre and offered to watch a show based on the future in her world – but to see her own grave almost immediately? Summer felt her heart hammering against her rib cage as she tried to make head or tail out of this. She knew this was real. She knew this was not a joke.

Yet seeing her own name on a gravestone made her search for any sign that this was but a pathetic fake.

"Why did you pause?" Willow cocked an eyebrow at her right before the realisation hit her. "Oh… it's… you?"

"No," Qrow chuckled meticulously while shaking his head. "Nah, this is… It's a joke, isn't it? Well, it isn't funny!"

He turned on his seat as if in search of the one that was behind all this, but there was no one here but them.

"Summer," Taiyang whispered, glancing between the screen, on which the memorial was stuck in eternal pause, and her. His hand sneaked into hers, searching in her eyes for something that would soothe him, but she knew not what to tell him.

"It's future, isn't it?" Kali spoke up when the silence was becoming unbearable. "We have to assume that we are all… gone."

"It's just twelve years," Taiyang whispered with disbelief. "You can't be… not so soon…!"

"It's alright," Summer heard herself whisper. "I know how it goes, Tai. I'm a Huntress. I know the risks. I probably shouldn't have expected to live long and happy, right?"

She let the man pull her into the hug but didn't reciprocate. Summer was torn between giving in to sorrowful disbelief over her future demise - and as Taiyang stated, just twelve years forward in future - and apathetic resignation to her fate. In the academy, every professor would remind them, over and over again, that becoming a Huntsman is almost a certain death warrant. Those who lived up to a senile age were either the best of the best or retired along the way.

Even if it wasn't true, which was quite improbable at this point, Summer knew that she would most likely not live to see her sixties.

"You knew what you were getting yourself into," Raven suddenly said and Summer surfaced from her thoughts. "I've warned you that this is how it will end, didn't I?"

"Will you shut it for five seconds?!" Qrow barked back at her, but his sister didn't even flinch despite her brother's aggression just a step away.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Raven finished calmly before turning to look back at the screen with a blank face. What her real thoughts were on the situation was to remain a mystery.

Summer reached out to wipe tears off Taiyang's cheek and slid out of his embrace to sit upright. She had faced bigger challenges than some prophetic show. She could do it.

"I'm fine," she repeated, gripping the remote. "It's all fine."

"Then, can we proceed?" Jacques sneered. "Or should we wait until we sprout roots?"

"Jacques!" Willow gasped at the man's words, staring at him with pure disbelief.

"What? I see how that can be shocking, but we're here for a reason, and it's not grieving over something that has yet to happen…"

"We're all here to see the future," Ghira interrupted him. "And being interested in something usually involves emotions. We have all the time in the world, and we have a pause button too. I don't see a reason to rush this."

"And paying a bit of respect to others won't destroy your ego," Kali added with a deadpan stare before turning over to look at Summer. "Are you sure you don't need more time, dear?"

Summer chuckled lightly and shook her head as Taiyang's arm sneaked around her waist to provide silent support.

"We've barely started and it's already all drama, eh?" she sighed and lifted the remote. "Let's see what's next."

"Wait," Willow said before she could hit 'Play', making Jacques groan. "If it is really your grave, then who is that woman in red?"

Summer shrugged, fairly certain that she hadn't seen the woman before, but reversed the footage until the stranger was in their full view. Because of the cape, it was impossible to see her face, and the majority of her clothes were hidden under the red fabric as well.

"I have no idea," she admitted, glancing over at her former team.

"Beats me," Qrow shrugged. "Never seen this cape before."

"Maybe it's your future friend?" Kali suggested with a hum. "It's all mostly guessing at this point…"

"I'm fairly sure it would be answered… if you let the video play!" Jacques pointed out with a rasp in his voice, glaring holes in the remote and Summer made a personal note to never let the man have it.

"Alright, alright!" She rolled her eyes and pushed the button.

The woman slowly makes her way through a snowy forest. In the background, shadowy beasts dart forth, but the person doesn't seem to be aware of them.

"Pause!" Ghira said to Jacques' annoyance and as Summer finally pressed the button, one of the shadows was passing behind the woman - not nothing but a dark smudge between the trees.

"What's that?" Kali leaned forward as if that would help her see the image better.

Summer attempted to reverse the footage, but neither of the creatures was moving slow enough to be captured in their full grace. Or lack of grace - they didn't look very pleasing to the eye.

"Looks like a Grimm to me," Qrow said, folding his arms and frowning at the screen.

"Which means the woman's in trouble," Willow surmised before humming thoughtfully. "Why would the Grimm be so close to someone's grave?"

"We don't have one official graveyard as Atlas does," Taiyang pointed out. "In Vale, every family takes care of their dead as they see fit. So, lone graves are quite a common sight."

Now that she thought of it, Summer realised that the cliff from before wasn't that a foreign sight as it seemed.

"Wasn't it the cliff where you proposed to me?" she asked Taiyang while the puzzles in her head started to align nicely. If she really died, then they buried her in the place she loved the most - the one that during spring, turned into a beautiful paradise.

There was not a better place to eternally rest than this one.

"I… it could be?" The man blinked, still visibly unsettled by the whole deal.

"Hold on, aren't Grimm attracted to negative emotions?" Ghira suddenly said. "That's a whole lot of monsters this close to a grave unless you were buried in absolute wilderness."

"You're saying the woman attracted them?" Qrow hummed. "That would make sense. I know this place, no way it's this overrun, even in twelve years…"

"What kind of sorrow do you have to feel to attract so many monsters?" Willow whispered just audibly enough for Summer to make out the words.

Whoever this person was, they visited her grave in the middle of icy winter and were saddened by it enough to become a midnight snack for the Grimm. Whoever they were… Summer hoped they would survive the night.

"I'll remind you we're watching a trailer," Ghira frowned. "Trailers are to grab attention, aren't they? So whatever happens next…"

"Will remain unknown until she unpauses the damn video," Raven finished with an exasperated sigh.

Eventually, the woman leaves the forest and enters a huge, snow-covered clearing… but she is not alone. As she stops, a horde of Beowulves is shown, snarling and growling at her.

"That's a lot of Grimm…" Kali muttered, watching the beasts with wide eyes.

"Just Beowulves, not that much of a deal," Taiyang shrugged.

As Summer stared at the monsters surrounding the woman in red, weird anxiety started to grow in her. She felt concerned for the stranger - which wasn't that weird since she used to be very compassionate towards others. But that concern… it was far from normal.

She wanted to jump into the screen and shield that woman with her own body. And she didn't understand why.

Three Beowulves charge at the woman, but before any of the strikes land, she disappears in a flutter of red petals.

"Interesting…" Raven leaned forward, showing her first real interest in the show.

Meanwhile, Summer battled with her confused feelings and thoughts. That someone… visited her grave. Felt saddened by her demise. And was making quite a mess of her instincts at the moment. And all those rose petals were so familiar, but she couldn't quite put it. And that cape - it was so much like her own, almost the same length and crop, wasn't it?

It was like… No. No! Could it be…?

The Beowulves look up to see the woman far in the sky - in the full light of the moon. Her hood is now down and her cape fluttering behind, showing the face of a young girl with dark, red-tipped hair, silver eyes, and black and red clothing.

Summer didn't even feel pressing the 'Pause'. Her finger slipped down on the button as if it had its own mind, and she was glad for it as she simply couldn't tear her eyes and thoughts from the face on the screen. It was both foreign and well-known, but those eyes… Those eyes she knew well.

How they shined with joy. How they would light up anytime the little girl giggled. How trustful they were every single time they held her.

"Why did you pause?" Jacques grumbled angrily while she struggled to take back control over her own thoughts, much less over her own fingers.

"That girl…" Kali gasped. "Doesn't she look like…"

"Summer," Qrow finished with his eyes wide in shock while Raven was taking double looks between the girl on the screen and her former team leader.

"Ruby," Summer whispered, leaning back as if to take a better look. "My little girl."

The longer she stared, the more obvious the resemblance was. Ruby was always said to be her mother's copy, but Summer always thought her daughter would show more of her father's characteristics with age. And this was clearly not the case. Aside from the clothing and the hairstyle, the girl could be her twin.

"I can't believe it…" Taiyang covered his mouth with his hand, shaking his head ever so slightly.

"It's your daughter, then?" Willow glanced between Summer and the girl. "It would explain a lot. She must have loved you greatly to risk a visit in the middle of the night. And in that weather."

Knowing that she was dead didn't make such an impact on her as did knowing that her own daughter was in this show… which would make quite a lot of sense. After all, she was told she'd be very interested in how all this would proceed.

"And doing so, she just got herself in quite a trouble," Ghira sighed. "Hopefully, she'll be fine."

"Can't she just leave?" Kali suggested. "She's pretty fast… I bet she could keep doing that until she was out of range."

If she ran, Summer wouldn't be angry at the girl. She'd be glad she would be safe and sound. But Beowulves weren't that much of a danger to anyone trained to fight and use their Aura, and since this was supposed to be such a grand story, she fully doubted this would be the case.

"I need to see how it ends," Summer said, hitting 'Play'.

Calmly, Ruby reaches behind her and in a swift movement, pulls out the folded Crescent Rose and headshots one of the Beowulves below her.

"Whoa!" Qrow laughed in surprise just as Summer took a double look at the screen. In the corner of her eye, she saw Taiyang's hand fall down onto his knees as he gaped at the scene.

"That was… unexpected," Ghira huffed with a growing smile. "I guess she's not that defenceless…"

Of course, she wouldn't be defenceless. Even with Summer gone from the picture, Ruby would be growing up with Taiyang and Qrow around - they'd teach her to deal with the Grimm eventually. And since she was out there, alone, they most likely trusted her to stay safe.

Unless they didn't know about her escapade. That was also a possibility.

Ruby dashes towards the ground, using her gun to both propel herself in different directions and shoot the Grimm, efficiently making her way through the horde. She rolls away from the monsters and as she stands up, she unfolds the Crescent Rose into a scythe.

Summer hit the 'Pause' before Qrow even opened his mouth.

"Hold up, hold up!" the man gesticulated violently, staring at the screen with awe. "Look at that beaut!"

While Qrow clearly couldn't get over the weapon, Summer worried that he might start drooling. Both of them were geeks when it came to arms, especially more exotic ones, but he was the one to completely lose his mind if he saw something slightly resembling scythes owned by the Grimm Reaper.

"It's… just a weapon?" Kali pointed out with a cocked eyebrow and Taiyang chuckled quietly. Summer was glad to see the man slowly regaining his wits.

"And a very impractical one, at that," Ghira added and Qrow gasped dramatically.

"Oh, really?" he glared at the man. "Ever fought someone who could use a scythe? 'Cause I could give you a few pointers, in practice."

Branwen cracked his knuckles looking straight into Ghira's eyes, who didn't seem even partially fazed by the threat.

"Calm down, Qrow," Summer chuckled. "Never thought you'd be the one to train Ruby, though. That's quite a revelation."

"What? Why? I'm a great teacher!"

"If she survived you, she's going to survive anything," Raven pointed out and Qrow sulked, fully aware that she was picking on his semblance. And even though Summer always made a point of defending the man and his unlucky talent, she had to admit that dealing with constant bad luck during training would harden anyone after a while.

"She is handling herself well," Taiyang hummed proudly. "So I guess you did a good job."

"You guess?" Qrow deadpanned at him as the man chuckled.

"Are we done with… whatever this was supposed to be?" Jacques asked and yelped when Willow jabbed him lightly on his shoulder. "What are you…?!"

But Willow merely smirked with her eyes glued to the screen, unabashed by her husband's plain disbelief.

One of the Beowulves lunges at Ruby, but she simply spins and hooks it with her scythe. With a smile, she pulls the trigger and slices the beast in half.

"Did she just… smirk before killing it?" Kali gaped at the screen before grinning. "I like her."

"Kali?!" Ghira shook his head at the woman, but she just shushed him.

Summer cradled the remote, feeling how her worries and anxiety give way to excitement. This was supposed to be a show. This was barely a trailer. This was… fun? She definitely started to feel hyped by all that fight. It was never in her blood to stand aside and watch others battle for their lives, but she was a sucker for action movies.

As the remains of the Beowulf hit the ground, the park charges forward. Ruby rotates her weapon and drives it into the ground before taking several shots at the Grimm.

"So it can still shoot… that's a good design," Summer hummed, appreciating the meticulous details that went into that weapon. It would be much easier to simply block the gun while unfolding the scythe, but keeping it functional added much more combat value to it.

"It's a sniper rifle," Qrow muttered quickly, leaning forward so much that she feared he would slip off the couch. "Look at the scope."

"Nerds," Taiyang coughed into his fist, smiling like a crazed man. Summer couldn't blame him - she hadn't felt this much pride since the day Yang learned to walk on her own.

One of Beowulves manages to get to Ruby and swipes at her feet, but she manages to jump over it and shoot it. The impact sends her back, but she brings the Crescent Rose back into the ground and lands on it.

"That was close," Ghira shook his head. "She took too much sweet time with those shots."

"She's clearly inexperienced," Willow shrugged.

"She's still doing better than some Huntsmen I know," Qrow grumbled and Summer rolled her eyes. Knowing that he was the girl's teacher, defending Ruby's actions was equal to defending his dignity.

"Maybe, but unless she won't pick up the pace, she's getting nowhere with this," Raven said pointedly.

More Grimm show up and one of them charges forward, almost slicing her, but Ruby manages to get out of its way. She lands back down on the weapon and pulls the trigger, shooting the Beowulf in front of her and using the impact to spin backwards with the scythe and kick the former attacker.

"Another close call," Ghira sighed. "She's getting overrun, doesn't she?"

"She's efficient, though," Taiyang pointed out. "Plus, if things get nasty, she has her semblance to get out of the way."

"She could just run," Jacques scoffed. "There's military to deal with the Grimm. Unless Vale can't even afford that."

Summer sighed and paused the video, feeling that an argument was coming their way.

"Vale depends on the Huntsmen to deal with the Grimm," Taiyang explained, eyeing Jacques with annoyance. "And they can't be everywhere."

"Plus, Ruby dealing with the Grimm could save countless lives," Summer added. "Even if she run away and got help, the pack could go somewhere else and erase a whole town from the map…"

"And all that could be solved by having a competent military, just like Atlas does!" Jacques argued, unfolding his arms to highlight his words. "You and your Huntsmen… are redundant! In the end, you're never there when you're needed, and you require much more founding than a regular soldier."

"That's because a regular Atlesian soldier is a meat fodder," Qrow interrupted him with a glare. "I've seen just how good your precious military is and let me tell you, the only reason Atlas wasn't shredded so far is because it's high in the air…"

"Oh, do pray tell…!"

"Huntsmen's purpose is to deal with threats too costly for a whole army to deal with," Summer followed up before Jacques could start a tyrade. "We move alone or in small groups, we are far better than any soldier, and we can easily adapt to the situation. I'm not saying the army is redundant, but without us, the military wouldn't be able to keep up the pace."

"Are you all seriously turning this into a political debate?" Kali suddenly spoke up. "If I knew, I wouldn't agree to be here. Give it a break, will you? We're here to enjoy ourselves, not to tear out each other's throats. Summer, hit 'play', please."

Under the Faunus' intense stare, Summer hit 'Play'.

Ruby twirls her scythe and slices two more Beowulves before dodging another attack and hooking another Grimm. Pulling the trigger, she blasts the monster behind it and cuts the former in half. Then, she proceeds to massacre even more Grimm.

"I want to see a soldier do that," Qrow grumbled, clearly not feeling as excited about Ruby's fight as before. Even Summer, although impressed by her daughter's skills, could feel how sour the mood was after barely a scratch of an argument.

Eventually, Ruby stops to see a whole horde still remaining to be killed.

"See?" Raven shook her head. "All those fancy moves didn't do that much."

"She's barely tired, though," Summer pointed out, beginning to worry about Ruby again. "I bet she can take them down."

Could she, though? Summer could picture herself dealing with the whole pack efficiently and without much effort, probably in less than five minutes - those were all but younglings, weak and predictable. But could her young daughter handle that?

"Is it a bad moment to point out I really like the music?" Kali spoke up, gathering quick glances from across the room. "I guess it is. Never mind then."

Ruby replaces the cartridge for the one marked with a cross symbol.

"Gravity Dust?" Taiyang frowned at the sight. "I can't imagine that working well with a sniper rifle."

"And that's why you're all fists and feet in a fight," Qrow huffed, though he himself was frowning. Taiyang merely glared at the man as a response before returning his attention to the screen.

Ruby loads the bullet in and blasts herself forward at high speed, using her semblance to go even faster as she unfolds the scythe blade.

"What in the…" Ghira stared at the screen just as Summer tried to comprehend both how fast her daughter was going at this point and just how many little mysteries her weapon held. It was like learning about the Harbinger all over again.

"Oh, this is going to be good…" Qrow muttered as his eyes lit up again.

Ruby goes in relentlessly, slicing and quartering, and cutting and disembowelling until there is nothing but bloodied limbs and empty shells in the air. She goes faster and faster… and when there is only one opponent left, she blasts it into pieces, sending herself backwards to land with her scythe behind her. As she stands there, shells rain from the sky and into the snow.

Summer paused it and dropped the remote onto the couch, between her and Taiyang. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to calm herself down. After all, she just saw her teenage daughter, little Ruby, that toddler who would stuff her mouth with cookies, decimate a whole pack of Grimm with seemingly no problems at all. Something like this would be normal for a Huntsman or even a student from an academy, but Ruby clearly was too inexperienced to be either of them.

And she still handled that without breaking a sweat.

"That was something," Taiyang took a deep breath, relaxing more into the pillows but keeping his arm around her waist. He kept staring at the screen, at Ruby, with a lazy smile that was making Summer feel warm inside. Their daughter was surely something to be this good at such a young age.

"Something? Come on, kiddo's kicking butts," Qrow chuckled, slicking his hair back. "Gotta admit, though. When we got here, I didn't expect to see Ruby on the screen."

"So if that's the trailer for the show…" Kali hummed. "Does it mean she's the main character?"

Summer felt chills creeping up her spine.

"I hope not," she heard herself saying. "I don't want to imagine what would happen to make this interesting to some… some… I don't even know how to describe those people."

"If they are people," Willow added and Summer nodded.

"It does look like she's significant to this story," Ghira said, scratching his beard - first, subtly, and then going overboard when he noticed Jacques making a disgusted face at him.

"Don't worry, it's too early to call shots," Taiyang told Summer, pulling her closer to him, so both of them could rest on the pillows. She managed to fish out the remote before it got squished between them.

"It's a quite generic trailer," Willow pointed out in the meantime. "Just her, fighting the Grimm…"

"It doesn't say much about the story," Ghira agreed. "Is there anything else to it, by the way?"

Summer shrugged and let the video play again.

The scene darkens down to show four greyed out cards with silhouettes of four different people. The first one suddenly flashes to life, creating a portrait of Ruby. Underneath her, a crimson letter 'R' is created through a flutter of red roses.

"Hey, isn't that from that poster?" Taiyang called out, scrunching his face in focus. "What was it, RW…"

But before he could come up with the full name, the screen brightened again and another song started to play…