Note: Hi, there.

The following story is an AU/re-write of RWBY Volumes II and III. The following is a sequel and direct continuation to the work, "Let Us Be Your Poison," which can be read on both and AO3. We originally started this story with the intent to try to keep many of the original plot elements of the show intact while drastically changing the tone to resemble a dark fairy tale, though it has eventually branched off and become its own beast entirely. We feel like we shouldn't have to say this, but for clarity: This story is NOT meant to bash the original show, nor is this any sort of "How RWBY Should Be" story. We have the utmost respect for everyone involved in the production of the show, including its writers, animators, editors, voice actors, and more. This is merely our interpretation of the world of Remnant, and it doesn't represent any more than that. Also, when we say that this story is dark, we do very much mean that. This story contains a lot of disturbing story elements, and it contains content that can be uncomfortable and unpleasant to read. Our original work has a reputation for its unpleasantness, though if you are reading this, you likely already know that. We will be actively trying to make this story not as miserable, though we do hope to keep the tone and spirit of the original throughout.

To more accurately reflect the feeling of viewing an anime/manga/television show, we've divided the story into multiple different arcs. If you're a new reader, we would always recommend starting from the beginning, but if you're returning and you want to get to any of the story arcs in particular, you can skip to the desired arcs as followed:

The Flying Academy: Chapters 1- ?

There are also additional side arcs that take place between the major storylines and usually have a lighter tone than the rest of the narrative. This story covers the events of Volume II and III, though it does notably divert in many places. As such, this page will be continually updated with more information as the story continues into the distant future. If you like the story, please consider following us, and always tell us what you think down below. Your feedback is an incredibly helpful tool to make the story better. Please also feel free to be as critical as you like. We are always open to improvement, even if we are not as good as we'd like to be. This is just fanfiction made out of love for an animated web show. Thank you, and enjoy.

Ruby was so screwed.

She knew she was screwed for days. Her anxious mind had been throwing itself through loops trying to save itself, and yet, through all its calculations, its careful planning, its strategy, it led her to the same conclusion. She was screwed. She always thought that she was smart enough to get out of any problem. Her life had been a certified hell ever since the death of her mother, and in the past month, it seemed like the universe had been purposely trying to drown her. Ozpin's lies. Blake's deceit. The Grimm attack. They all threatened to unravel her, but here she stood triumphant, surviving. Perhaps that gave her a false sense of confidence. It tricked her into thinking that she was ready for anything. She fooled herself into believing that maybe life would start to turn around, which is why she threw herself headfirst down this treacherous path.

That was the irony in all of this. It was all her fault. She took one too many risks, and now she was going to suffer for this. Yes, she tried to fight back. She fought with every fiber of her being to save herself, but as each day passed, the path ahead grew darker. Each choice led her further astray, and now, with one final choice ahead of her, with everything hinging on this one decision, she knew she would pick wrong. Her mind had failed her. It seemed like either option was but a different poison.

That choice would ruin her life forever, but she had to choose.

Did she wear the red dress with black highlights… or the black dress with red highlights?

Yang held the two dresses in front of her, but her patience wore thin as her heels made permanent imprints on Ruby's bedroom carpet. She lowered them and curiously pursed her lips. "I don't think this really matters that much, Ruby."

Oh, Yang. Silly Yang. Foolish Yang. She certainly didn't understand the gravity of the situation no matter how many times Ruby explained it to her. It was very simple. Weiss was a woman of class. She was accustomed to a life of luxury, and if Ruby gave her anything less than a premiere dating experience, then their relationship would go down in spectacular flames. Everything had to be perfect. That meant the restaurant had to be perfect, which is why Ruby spent days scouting the best dining experiences Patch had to offer. It meant reading dozens of articles online about proper dating etiquette, from language to posture to conversation topics. And, yes, it meant the dress had to be perfect, too. Weiss always wore the most proper attire, even when she was in combat against a twenty-foot Grimm. Would she really want to date Ruby if she showed up looking like her usual, pathetic, cape-wearing self? Weiss would throw the wine in her face and ditch her on the spot. Okay, they couldn't order wine, but she would throw sparkling water, then. Grape soda. Whatever people drank. Oh God, what did people drink at fancy restaurants besides wine? She needed to look that up…

"Ruby," Yang said bluntly. "Calm down. You look like you are going to pass out."

Ruby took a deep breath, running her fingers through her red bangs. "S-Sorry," she said, trying to regain her composure. "I just… what do you think I should wear?"

"Either. They both look cute," Yang insisted, bouncing the dresses by their hangers. "The red one has this bold, dazzling vibe to it that fits your personality, but the black is sexier and more mysterious."

"Well, then I should take that one, right?" Ruby asked, pointing nervously to the darker garment.

Yang seemed unsure. "It depends. Is Weiss looking for sexy and mysterious? The red seems more your style, and you should probably be yourself on a first date, right?"

"Okay, then," Ruby said nervously. "I'll wear the red one." She took a step forward and reached out toward the red dress, but Yang suddenly pulled it away, caught up in sudden thought.

"Actually," she noted, "depending on the restaurant, a color this bright might come across as overly extravagant."

Ruby smacked her hands to the sides of her head and screamed in torment. "You are literally the worst!" She turned frantically toward her bed, seeking outside help in her moment of desperation. "Blake, what do you think I should do?"

Blake had tried her hardest to avoid the intricacies of the conversation. Having spent three weeks living at Ruby and Yang's house in Patch over winter vacation, she had grown accustomed to the young team leader's relationship struggles. Starting a new romance was hard and messy, and since she considered herself a master at breaking hearts, she thought it was best to stay out of it. She only felt compelled to stay by Ruby's side due to a debt of gratitude. After everything that had transpired over the past month, she was lucky to not be in a prison cell, or worse, a grave. Ruby and Weiss gave her that chance to redeem herself, and she was going to help them in whatever ways she could. It was why she was lying on Ruby's bed during the ordeal instead of chilling out in a dark corner of the basement somewhere. She didn't actually expect Ruby to ask her things. She was more than content scrolling her social media page. Yet, when Ruby called her name, she glanced up from her Scroll and squinted at her nervous team leader.

"Are you sure you want my advice?" Blake asked tepidly. "I did stab two of my last three lovers, you know."

"I want to know what you think," Ruby admitted. "And besides, it's not like I'm going to stab Weiss."

"Didn't you literally break her nose like two days after meeting her?"

"That's not important! The dress, Blake. Which dress should I wear?"

Blake sighed, her yellow eyes flicking back and forth between the two options. Ruby was barely able to stand still. She seemed like she was about to explode. Blake knew to choose her options carefully. After weighing all of the variables, carefully making her calculations, and thinking about it for a very dutiful five seconds, she shrugged. "The black one."

The room went silent for a long moment. Then, Ruby's anxiety vanished, replaced by a dull disappointment. She slumped over and glanced away, muttering under her breath. "I knew you'd pick the black one."

Blake rolled her eyes and loudly groaned. "For fuck's sake—why don't you just wear white? Weiss loves white. Or just wear nothing. Who cares? Weiss is not going to give a shit what color dress you are wearing, and even if she does, her taste in fashion is awful anyway, so it doesn't matter."

"Maybe you can borrow one of my dresses," Yang suggested with a small smile. "I mean, I don't know if you'd fit in them, but we can cut them up or fill them out or—"

Ruby suddenly stepped forward, and with a groan of determination, she snatched the black dress out of Yang's hand to her sister's surprise. "Fine. I'll wear this one." Without waiting to hear Blake or Yang's approval or lack thereof, she marched toward her bedroom door. She needed to go to the bathroom and change. Maybe splash some water on her face, or drown herself. Anything to get this disorder out of her head.

She opened the door—and came face to face with a beautiful young woman in white standing in front of her. Ruby froze in her tracks, startled by the woman's presence, and her panicked words were caught in her throat by the piercing, ice-blue eyes shooting through her Soul. Yang and Blake looked at each other in surprise, while Ruby glanced down at the dress in fear. She didn't know what to do. Hide it? Throw it away? Lie? She started to explain herself, but Weiss just held up a single finger, her lips traced into a thin—yet slightly annoyed—smile.

"As someone who knows how thin the walls are in this house," Weiss said exceedingly calmly, "I just want to say that the red dress would look much cuter on you. Oh, and I'm looking forward to tonight."

Ruby stood there, motionless, as Weiss politely closed the door in front of her. Ruby's mind took a few moments to process everything, but once it did, the young redhead bowed her head in disgrace. She sighed in horror.

"This is going to be a disaster."

The restaurant was named Pink's. Based on internet reviews, it was Ruby's ideal first date location. It was just fancy enough to be impressive while also not being so expensive to drain her admittedly limited finances. Plus, the name was perfect. Red plus white. She thought it was cute.

Did Weiss think it was cute? Ruby couldn't tell, and she was certainly trying to tell. She had been studying Weiss's expressions since her father started driving them, and up until now, sitting in the restaurant itself, with their faces lit mostly by dim candlelight, she was still trying to deduce her girlfriend's thoughts. It was a process that she had grown accustomed to over the past several weeks. Ever since Weiss's embarrassing confession of love and that fateful, shocking kiss, Ruby had spent most of her time trying to understand her girlfriend. Most of it was out of necessity. Ruby didn't actually see the kiss coming, and she had no idea up until Weiss planted their lips together that her teammate had any feelings for her whatsoever. She was, in a phrase, awful at understanding human beings, so she had been trying to do better. Unfortunately, reading Weiss Schnee was like trying to navigate a maze in a snowstorm. Even right now, with their faces so close to one another, Ruby could barely comprehend Weiss's reactions. Was she amused? Annoyed? Annoyed at what? Why was she annoyed? Please stop being annoyed, Weiss…

Calm down. She insisted that her mind be still. She had to distract herself from such negative thoughts. Here she was, Ruby Rose, Hero of Vale, heart racing a trillion miles per hour all because she was on a date with her best friend. It was absurd. Three weeks ago, she almost died. A Grimm—a monster that wasn't even supposed to exist—raged through the heart of the City of Vale, attempting to devour every last Soul it could find, and she fought that. Hell, she killed that. She wasn't nervous throwing herself headfirst toward a bloodthirsty beast, nor did she back down in the aftermath, when her cruel headmaster threatened and attempted to exploit her. She told him off. Reclaimed her freedom. Turned herself and her team into national icons. She had braved her way through every media interview with a confident smile and a quick wit. That was just in the past three weeks. It didn't include all the other insane things that occurred during her first semester at Beacon Academy. The point was that whether she fought gods, monsters, gangsters, terrorists, her teachers, or the world itself, she did it without fear. Okay, that was a lie; she was terrified ninety percent of the time, but she still did those things. She never felt like she would puke up her stomach or have her heart explode out of her chest. And yet, this date—this stupid, little, pointless date—was driving her nuts. All because of Weiss's stupid, little half-smiles…

And her stupid, pretty face…

And her stupid, smart mind…

And her stupid, pretty face…

Weiss took a small sip of sparkling water and cast Ruby a curious glance.

"Are you okay, Ruby?"

Darn it. Darn darn darn darn darn.

"Huh? Yeah. Great," Ruby said quickly, picking up the menu from the white-clothed table in front of her and scanning through it faster than she could read. "It's just… wow, this menu is big. So many options."

"Ruby, you've been staring at me ever since we got in the car," Weiss pointed out, and Ruby's heart sank. Was she really that noticeable?

"What? No," Ruby scoffed, keeping her eyes firmly glued to the menu. Ooh, a special. Halibut. How fun. "I definitely haven't been doing that. You need to stop imagining things."

Ruby didn't see Weiss roll her eyes, but somehow, she felt them move from the other end of the table. "Ruby, if there is something you want to say, you can tell me anything. After everything we've been through, I think I've earned that."

Ruby sighed, dropping the menu back down on the table, still unable to look Weiss in the face. Of course, she had a point. They had suffered so much together. Whenever Ruby fought, Weiss was right there beside her, throwing herself back into danger. They had served as each other's emotional support during their first four months at Beacon; with Weiss's family being actively hostile, and Yang dealing with her… problems, they were pretty much all they had. Thinking like that, her reactions had been extra silly. It was Weiss. Seriously, she could talk to Weiss about anything. She could damn well look at her like a normal human being. So, Ruby glanced back at Weiss, and after staring at her for a long moment, gazing at her snowflake-patterned dress and her royal, styled hair, and the accents of her eyes, Ruby just said the first thing that came to her mind.

"You, um… you look really pretty."

Weiss's mouth twitched, and a faint red flashed in her cheeks before her mouth curled back into a small smile.

"Thank you. So do you."

Ruby grinned awkwardly. She instinctively reached up to push her glasses back into place, but remembered too late that she was wearing contact lenses. With her hand already in motion, she quickly grabbed onto her own beverage and gulped it down. She didn't care how awful sparkling water was as she forced herself to swallow. She hoped Weiss didn't notice her struggling to keep it down.

Weiss totally noticed. She thought it was cute.

They eventually placed their order. Weiss selected the duck cooked two ways. Ruby picked a pasta dish with a name she couldn't pronounce. Once the server was out of the picture, they began chatting in earnest. Weiss was the one who took the lead, picking conversations that interested her so Ruby could merely coast along without stress. She talked about the restaurant's atmosphere, how nice Ruby's dad had been to her for letting her sleep over during winter break, how interesting-slash-insensitive Valian television was, and somehow, the conversation eventually drifted towards her Knightspage account. Her mood notably soured.

"I have no idea how Blake updates that thing fifty times a day," she said, disheartened. "I feel like I want to fight everyone I see on there."

"I think you answered your own question," Ruby noted. "Blake gets to say Blake things unfiltered. What more could she want?"

"I suppose," Weiss nodded. "Plus, given that she's trying to be nice to us, she has to get her aggression out somewhere."

"Well, at least Blake is trying," Ruby stated. "That's all thanks to you."

Weiss scowled. "Can we maybe not spend our date talking about Blake? I'm sorry for even bringing it up."

"All right," Ruby agreed. Her eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. "Oh, I had an awesome idea for a tag-team move."

"Between us?"

"Absolutely."

In truth, Weiss didn't want to spend their date talking about combat either, but seeing how excited Ruby got over discussing fighting softened her heart. She lovingly sighed and reclined in her chair, letting herself get comfortable.

"Go ahead."

Ruby smacked her hands on the table enthusiastically, drawing the attention of the patrons at the nearest tables. "Okay, here's the idea. The move's name is Golden Rose."

"Don't we already have a move named Icy Rose?" Weiss asked. She was also sure they had a team move named Ice Flower and Burning Petals and Wilted Rose. Ruby's geeky affection toward the theatricality of combat had very little practical purpose, but her enthusiasm was deeply amusing to the ex-heiress who had spent her childhood brainwashed with constant Atlasian propaganda and kept under the thumb of her sadistic father. Seeing Ruby maintain that imagination, that freedom—even knowing all of the trauma she went through as a child—was able to soothe her doubts and consternations.

"We're throwing out Icy Rose," Ruby stated. "This is way cooler. Okay, so you can summon those chains now, right? Imagine this: I'm standing there, scythe in hand. You are behind me. You summon up those chains, and they wrap all around me. Then, I fly forward—whoosh—and I start spinning, spinning, spinning, spinning, and all the chains and my scythe just make this… this huge windmill of golden, chainy death. You can use the chains to yank me around to catch our enemies off-guard while I fly around and do most of the damage. It would be, like, crazy. What do you think?"

Weiss crossed her arms over her chest and tried to picture it. She immediately had to stifle a laugh. The thought of Ruby, covered head-to-toe in heavy golden chains, only her arms sticking out like some spatchcocked turkey, flying through the air and being jerked all about like she was some kind of vicious marionette—it was all too much for her to handle. A goofy smile crossed her face as Ruby excited stared at her, eager to get her opinion. Weiss opened her mouth to answer, snickered, and after a few more seconds of Ruby's stupidly pleased smile burning through her, she gave a question instead.

"Why do half of our team moves involve somebody throwing you around?"

It was a simple question, one Ruby hadn't really considered. It wasn't exactly wrong though, as a brief reflection on her history revealed. She smiled at the absurdity of it, and gave her own dumbfounded shrug.

"Uh…" Ruby answered. "I like being thrown?"

A quick, stunned pause—and then Weiss and Ruby instantly burst into a fit of stupid giggles. It was maybe too childish for their high-society setting, and a few people gave them awkward glances, but they couldn't really care about what others thought about them. It was just such a wonderfully terrible idea, obviously inferior to many other techniques. Why not just fire the chains normally? What if Ruby and Weiss couldn't coordinate on when they were supposed to move? Wouldn't it be hard to fly around wrapped in a bunch of chains? And yet, Ruby was so disproportionately passionate compared to its usefulness that Weiss almost found herself agreeing with her. She kind of wanted to see it performed, at least for the preposterous visual. At least Ruby had learned to laugh at herself, too. A few months ago, having her idea insulted may have led to an anxiety attack. It was astonishing what a little dose of rebellion and friendship could do.

And, somehow in the midst of it, Ruby realized that they were laughing. That was fairly obvious, but… she was laughing. She was on a date with Weiss, and she was laughing. The world hadn't ended. Not yet. Maybe she could hold onto that hope for a little while longer.

They chatted over their current circumstances as they waited for the food. The usual topics came up: training, ranting about Ozpin, the somewhat annoying tendency for people to start requesting selfies with them, Blake's nocturnal living habits, and Yang's decisive cheeriness. They did their best to avoid the obvious topic: that in three days, they would return to Beacon Academy, that insufferable hellhole where they were constantly endangered and undermined. They didn't want to think about how stressful it would be, how they would have to constantly look over their shoulders, fearful of being betrayed at every turn. It wasn't exactly a great date topic. Ruby tried to keep the subjects lighter, though she occasionally wandered toward heavier territory.

"Can you rotate your arm now?" she asked innocently. Weiss responded by doing a few circles with her shoulder.

"The left one is pretty good now. The right one is about eighty percent healed. Blake landed quite the blow."

"That's good. I mean, not good that she hurt you. Good that… you know what I mean. At least you can use your sword again," Ruby said quickly.

"Your scar doesn't look too bad either," Weiss joked, gesturing to Ruby's exposed arm. The wound was faint, but the damage was clear. A long, thin scar ran up her arm from where she had been sliced open three weeks earlier. She wished she could blame the Grimm for that injury, but she knew the real culprit was living inside her own house.

"Do you… think it's cute?" Ruby asked suggestively, flexing her bicep. Weiss grinned in quiet contemplation.

"It's… hideous."

"Oh, don't lie. You love it," Ruby said with a wink.

"Well, it's not as cute as mine." Weiss gave a sarcastic huff, barely able to hide her grin.

Ruby blushed. "You do think it's cute, though."

"I think you're cute all the way through," Weiss admitted. Part of her couldn't believe she was saying that out loud. She had spent months and months burying her emotions, trying to keep her feelings from Ruby a secret, and now she was just blurting out phrases like that. It was dazzlingly immature, a complete reversal of the proper character her family had taught her to retain in public, and yet, it felt more freeing than she could imagine. Between this and the fiery display of passion that was their first kiss, she was risking becoming a careful individual. Gods forbid she take it that far; still, it was good for what it was. She would take baby steps toward becoming a better person rather than full force leaps. Hopefully, Ruby wouldn't just grab her and throw themselves into anarchy together—though maybe she wouldn't mind that, either.

"Hey… this is a weird question," Ruby asked, her face turning somewhat dark. She lowered her hands beneath the table, fiddling with them in her lap as she slowly checked behind her. Weiss paused, expecting something especially weird and Ruby-like. Instead, Ruby spat it out so bluntly that the effect came like whiplash. "Do you ever think that we're just going to get assassinated?"

Weiss's smile was cleaned from her face. She stuttered at the sheer absurdity.

"W-What?"

"Sorry, I don't know why that just came out," Ruby admitted. Of course, it had to happen. That dull, anxious section of her mind had to rear its ugly head right while she was enjoying herself. She was a fool thinking she could suppress it for one nice evening. She suddenly became quiet, intense. "But, like… we have enemies now. There's the Grimm, obviously, and whatever that Anti-Fable thing is that Blake mentioned once, and that Glass woman… but then there's also Ozpin and everyone he controls. I know that our deal forces him to cooperate, but we did twist his arm pretty badly. I was just thinking, maybe, one of these random people walks up to us for a picture, and then bang. It's over. He can claim innocence, we'll be left with nothing. I mean, it is risky, being out in public together, isn't it?"

Weiss contemplated that for a long moment, the darkness threatening to creep into her. Yet, she stopped herself before she could wander too far into the abyss.

"Ruby," Weiss said carefully. She reached her hand across the table, beckoning Ruby toward her. While shy, Ruby extended her hand and rested it within Weiss's grip, allowing Weiss to gently squeeze her fingers. "This has all been so crazy. We basically turned the world upside down. But it doesn't matter. Grimm, Atlas, Oz, whatever… we can do this. We know that they're going to do whatever they can to undermine us. They will keep trying to use us and separate us every chance they get. That's what we signed up for. But I spent too many years of my life under the thumb of abusive assholes trying to take my life away from me. I didn't fight—we didn't fight—just to get taken out so easily. I swear on everything that I will protect you from them. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm not letting anyone ruin this."

Ruby's fears dissipated, and the ghost of a smile returned to her features. Ruby always imagined Weiss as a cold woman, but at that moment, her hand was warmer than anything else she could recall.

"Right," she nodded. "I think I'm just being a bit paranoid."

"It's good to be a little paranoid," Weiss reminded her. "Just don't forget who you are. You're Ruby Rose. You are a Grimm Slayer, a Huntress, a tactical genius, a brilliant weapon designer, and most importantly… you are my girlfriend. You're the woman that I chose to be with over everyone else, and I have very good taste. So, don't sell yourself short, okay?"

Ruby held back a small laugh. It turned out this romance concept was actually really fun. Who would have guessed?

"Understood, Miss Schnee."

Weiss smirked. "Thank you."

Their eyes locked onto each other from across the table. Weiss's hand gripped Ruby's a little more tightly. The restaurant disappeared, noise, sight and all. Ruby slowly began to lean across the table.

"Okay, who ordered the bucatini?"

Ruby leaped back in her chair with a frightened yelp, raising her hands in a dramatic combat pose. Her eyes became wide and rigid as they faced a very confused server, standing two feet away from her, holding up two platters of rather delicious-looking food. The server did not move, perhaps terrified of the feisty redhead karate-chopping her face off. The other patrons definitely took notice of them if they hadn't already. Weiss sat up straight, a shock of embarrassment running through her, while Ruby just stared dumbfoundedly at the server who was just trying to do her job. She slowly lowered her hands, cleared her throat, and tried to hide how hard she was cringing.

"I, uh… I ordered... that… ma'am…"

The server awkwardly smiled and dropped the pasta directly in front of her. She served Weiss with the same petrified grin, and Weiss politely thanked her. The server took a step back from the table, but instead of leaving, she sheepishly bowed.

"I just wanted to say… I'm a very big fan," she said quietly, trying to stay as formal as her job demanded. "Thank you for saving the city."

Ruby glanced nervously at Weiss, and her embarrassment only deepened.

"Oh. Y-You're welcome. That's, um… yeah… very n-nice… okay."

"We appreciate it," Weiss said kindly.

"Yes," Ruby added. "That." The server turned to leave, only to be stopped when Ruby quickly called out to her again. She raised a finger. "Also, hey… you aren't planning on killing us, are you?"

The server jerked around and stared at Ruby for a long time. Weiss also stared at Ruby, equally astonished that she would ask such a stupid question to another random person. The server glanced at the floor nervously, unsure of how to respond.

"I… I don't cook the food here," she stated. "I just serve it."

Ruby processed that answer, and then lowered her finger. "Right… understood."

The server bowed once more. "Enjoy your meal."

Ruby nodded sheepishly. "You too."

She turned back to her plate, trying to refocus on the meal ahead of her. She picked up a fork and hovered it over the pasta, attempting to take in the aromas, the smell of tomato and garlic, of freshly cooked chicken and herbs, of a well-simmered sauce that—

"Wait, did I just say, 'You too,' to the waitress?"

Weiss smirked, jabbing a piece of duck and delicately dropping it into her mouth. "Yep."

Note: Hey, didn't we say we'd be releasing this in mid-June? Yes. We got tired of waiting and everything is terrible now so we decided to post this story early. Surprise!