Kirakishou eyed the potentials critically as various images of their delicate states filtered in from her lounging within the N-Field. With the field expanding at an exponential growth rate as she was continuously fed life force or 'aura' as these people called it, courtesy of her darling rose, the N-Field itself was creating new pocket dimensions to house the unconscious thoughts and desires of new potential seedlings.

Pure creation.

New worlds birthed to hold wilting seedlings.

Poor unfortunate selves.

It was beyond beauty. Beyond tragedy. The sheer emotion held within was as dazzling as it was overpowering. Their hopes. Dreams. Fears. Desires. All were reinforced by the nature of aura, yet confined in failing bodies.

A red half-crescent moon shined above a beautiful night sky filled with constellations unfamiliar to her own world, bathing the fragmented ground below with a soft crimson glow. Terrain was beginning to form; a rocky terrace of sorts, yet for the most part it was far from completed. Were it not for her white rose vines providing a passageway, she would be limited in her perceptions.

Complex constructs of the mind did not exist yet. Gravity did not exist yet. Nothing truly existed yet, except a canvas for with which a pure rose could begin her work.

Were it not for the relative position of this pocket dimension in lieu to her targets and her dearest, she would never have set foot in an underdeveloped garden in fear of upsetting the delicate ecosystem with her pure state. The worlds that developed from the unconscious minds of those trapped within the white-laden rooms of human illness known as 'hospitals' held a peculiar appeal that was oftentimes outside the perceptions of those living a healthy life.

Many of the sickly had been confined to their chambers and, thus, were left with only their imagination to guide them through their torment until they ultimately wilted and became junk. Yet, now that she had moved her physical presence closer to the city of Vale and thus its hospitals, if Kirakishou were able to time things correctly she may save a choice few of these valiant souls from extermination.

She was shaking. Trembling in her seat.

Those whom were close to the end. She would save them. Hold them tight. They would rest within her Palace of Beginnings, forever. Her seedbed had grown restless without Ruby's presence, after all. Even the connection they maintained could not nurture her garden in its current state of use. It was an uncomfortable sensation. Kirakishou would be quite pleased once it was completed.

It was time to reach out and grasp anew so that she may return to her darling, reinvigorated and blossoming with new and old life. Beacon Academy was a combat school, after all. If she were to impress her red rose maiden, she would need to manifest her powers in the physical world, rather than continue to manipulate the metaphysical. Such sights were overlooked by her darling, as was the nature of humans.

Of particular interest to the Rozen Maiden were those humanoids whom were able to generate an aura. Former hunters or huntresses that had sustained an illness or injury and were on the precipice of defeat. Their souls flared like miniature beacons to her garden. Once assimilated, they would provide a nurturing grace similar to that of Ruby herself, albeit in a limited sense. They were, after all, merely fertiliser in the end.

She would treasure their sacrifices regardless of their sordid state. Kirakishou wondered how many in her position would do the same. They would sleep forever, peacefully, rather than becoming junk as was destined for so many others.

Too many.

In her previous timeline, in the wound and unwound worlds featuring Jun and her fellow sisters, Kirakishou had been limited to collecting former masters to use as seedlings for her special garden. Opening oneself up and exposing ones innermost desires to the Rozen Maiden via bonding with a contract seal had enabled Kirakishou to guide her darling power deep within their souls and harvest the vast energy held within. Such had been the way in which she had continued to exist without a physical form.

A mere shadow of a girl, grasping at weakened strings in an effort to keep herself alive.

It had been a fragile, sordid state, but it had been how she got by. Attaining a true Rozen Maiden body had been a blessing the likes of which she had doubted she would ever receive.

Now, however, in this world where warriors of all ages wielded their souls like weapons and armour… such actions needn't require any special action on her part. And yet, as she had found out from her time in Beacon Academy, there were those whom even the might of the N-Field could not grasp. Not yet, that is.

Plants may require sunlight for nurturing warmth, but even they aren't able to handle the inferno of tortured lament held withing the maiden who slumbered beneath. Not when the powers of others held her within her own personal nightmare. Unable to move on. Unable to think. Nothing but the pain of a fractured existence there to feel. It had brought back horrid memories.

Her first years within the N-Field had been much the same. Weak. Fragile. Weighed down by the actions of those supposed to protect her.

She had wept for hours within her room, without Ruby there to personally console her. Yet her red rose maiden was a courageous soul. Kirakishou had learnt of such through the girl's dreams. Nothing stopped her from fighting for her goal. She would do much the same for Ruby. She would be strong for her dearest.

Kirakishou would not allow one failure to ruin her. She would not allow Jun's betrayal to kill her. She would keep moving forward. Stagnation had ruined so many souls. She would not allow her own to suffer a similar fate.

Originally she had believed that once she had acquired a true, Rozen Maiden body to call her own, harvests would no longer be necessary for a continued existence. Now that she was able to walk on her own two feet like her darling sisters, even Father's final creation found herself weighed down by the might of her ever-growing soul.

As it would appear, housing the entirety of the N-Field within her small figure was proving to be a rather troublesome venture even after giving her Palace of Beginnings a dimensional anchor in what would have been her academy dorm room. A typical Rozen Maiden body simply wasn't meant to handle the weight of an entire dimension residing within it. Were she to continue to allow things to degrade, she would find her body collapsing in on itself under the strain, similar to how the false doll had fallen.

Thus, Kirakishou would be forced to continue her harvest as the N-Field continued to expand inside her. Yet, the harvest was not for a singular yield. What would provide once would provide again and again. She could use the first transfer for a goal far more noble than simple sustenance. She owed her dearest that much.

Sometimes, it was better to put others first before yourself. Ruby had taught her that.

With a pulse of her power, she sent her white-laden rose vines through the portals.

She watched through the very same portals as her vines threaded around each of the victims, tentatively pulling at their withered, ill-stricken souls. None fought her. None could fight her, not in their state.

Kirakishou had learnt that humans (and likely the faunus of this world) typically fought against what they could not understand. It was in their nature to reject change. Jun had fought her tooth and nail, even if she had held positive intentions towards her would-be Master. Thus, a firm hand was required to complete her goal. Without her darling sisters to get in the way, things would be far different this time around.

Alarms blared throughout the hospital as patients began to flatline. She tuned out the particularly agitating sound made manifest by the machines connected to her potentials. It would serve no purpose other than alerting humans whom would be far too late to cause any notable damage to her precious ones. By the time that hospital staff investigated the matter, she would be long gone.

Besides.

There simply weren't enough staff available in order to attend to a harvest of her magnitude.

They could not hurt her. They could not interfere.

With a smile on her face, she retreated from her position within the hospital's pocket dimension. It would not last long without new minds to keep it afloat. Besides, her attention was needed elsewhere.

For this next part, she would require complete concentration. Her Palace of Beginnings was about to get a few new tenants, after all.

Team RWBY didn't see or hear from Kirakishou for the rest of the day, following Ruby giving the girl her class schedule earlier in the morning. Ruby had been in a foul mood ever since she had been forced to depart.

For both Weiss and Yang, the two were rather glad to be rid of the girl momentarily. Whilst they both were quite certain that the blonde would eventually see them again (if only to speak with Ruby- the two are admittedly rather close) the girl had simply met them at a bad time and they didn't want to deal with her for their own reasons.

In Yang's mind, the reason was quite simple; she didn't agree with the blonde girl's romantic intentions towards her baby sister. She had come out of nowhere and immediately formed a close bond with her sister when she'd promised Kira that 'she'd be there for her'. Whatever the hell that meant. Something to do with the girl's janky past most likely.

She couldn't make heads or tails of it personally, yet her baby sister had somehow managed to translate the crazy speech into something that concerned her enough to throw a fit about it.

Too much drama. Plus she was, quite frankly, annoying. If she had to hear any more horrid flower phrases she was going to lose her freaking marbles. Even worse was the fact that Ruby seemed to enjoy her, weirdness and all. She didn't understand how someone could handle being around that deranged girl for more than five minutes without wanting to scream at her to speak fucking normally. Oum.

She was a poisonous person, especially to her younger sister. Why didn't Ruby get it? Why couldn't she see? Yang had certainly had her fair share of toxic relationships over the years. She could recognise the signs fairly easily. She just hoped that eventually her baby sister realised it eventually. For now, though, with Ruby in her funk there wasn't much she could do.

Weiss found herself on a different train of thought to the fuming brawler. She didn't exactly disapprove of Ruby's budding relationship with the damaged girl following what little information she'd been able to discern from Yang's rather loud argument with Ruby that had erupted soon after she'd woken up.

It was clear to Weiss, in the very least, that her team leader wasn't going to be backing down no matter what Yang screamed at her. So, she might as well use her talents as a valuable member of Team RWBY to assist in the matter. Such was her duty. She was... just looking after her friend, after all.

Oum. That dolt had become her friend, hadn't she?

Research into the statements she had heard from Kirakishou concerning the 'Rozen Maiden' had turned up nothing. Whilst there was ample information regarding maidens and roses(the closest possible search term), there didn't appear to be any notable information connected to the work of Kirakishou's father. Merely fairy tales that she had heard a dozen times over. Nothing of interest. Overall, she had spent the better part of the morning completely wasting her time attempting to discern what was likely the work of a craftsman or somesuch nonsense in a small village.

After her horrid night, perhaps it hadn't been the best idea to immediately delve into researching. The resulting headache had warranted a quick check-up from the school nurse and, thankfully, medication to quell the nausea.

A quick departure from the dorms (if only for peace of mind in the morning) had did little to quell the flood of random snippets of half-truths and hyperbole surrounding the odd blonde girl and her budding relationship with their weapons fanatic of a team leader.

According to a brief accounts courtesy of multiple students within Beacon during breakfast, there had been a rather bizarre occurrence surrounding the girl's dorm room. Whilst Weiss admittedly was curious about the supposed vines growing out of the walls as she'd heard, the heiress was much more interested in the fact that the girl was afforded a dorm room in Beacon Academy.

Such would imply she had either become a student of Beacon in a similar fashion as her younger team leader had worked her way inside the academy, or that she had taken up lodging for some other ulterior motive. Regardless of which, it was clear that Ruby and Kira's meeting with Professor Ozpin had resulted in this unique outcome.

But the heiress had bigger things to focus on at the current time than some odd teen drama, even if such drama involved the leader of her team. This business with Kirakishou could wait until the current situation was resolved. She had done her part and would consult with her leader at a later date. For now, she needed to focus on the immediate situation.

The fact remained that Blake Belladonna was still missing from the school. Whilst the ebon-haired girl was lucky that her disappearance hadn't seemingly been noticed by the weekend staff, once Monday classes began there would be several questions asked their way.

Team RWBY, (the remaining members, in the very least) had mutually decided to amount a search for their missing teammate through the downtown Vale area.

"...I still think we should have asked Kira for help. I don't like just… leaving her there like that. It feels wrong." Ruby muttered lowly, a downtrodden expression on her face that had been there for the better part of the day.

Weiss resisted the urge to groan as the trio of girls walked through the docks in search of their missing teammate. The two sisters had only just got back to talking with eachother. Even then, it was mostly in clipped sentences. She could already see Yang rearing up to make a counter-claim. Honestly. It was as if she was the only sane member in the whole damn school sometimes.

"Regardless of your, ahem, pledge..." Weiss began, pausing momentarily to find the proper word for what amounted to a sudden on-the-spot declaration in her eyes. "Everybody needs their space. You can't be around her all the time, Ruby. You'd drive her crazy."

Ruby's cheeks puffed out in childish indignation. "No I wouldn't!" she retorted hotly, glaring fiercely her way. It was actually quite adorable. "...At least, I-I don't think I would…" she trailed off, unsure.

Yang snorted distastefully, drawing a hot glare from her younger sister. Weiss shot her own glare towards the blonde brawler, begging her to not to interfere. You're not helping, Yang. Please don't. She thought, wishing above everything that the girl took the hint.

Thankfully, the elder sister remained silent and averted her eyes, one of the few things Weiss was truly grateful for in her life. Although somehow she doubted that the blonde brawler was remaining silent for her sake. She got the impression that a truly incensed Xiao Long would be neigh impossible to calm down. Especially with that blasted semblance of hers.

"Regardless." she continued, if only to avoid any potential bickering, "We have other matters of more importance to take care of, don't you agree? I am sure Kira will be fine for a few hours. It is our imperative to dedicate as much time as possible into trying to find Blake and sort out this whole mess before the Academy catches wind of what's going on."

Ruby shot her a confused look. "...I don't mean to, erm, ruin things… but, er… you're kinda a little too into trying to find Blake, you know? It's practically been all you've talked about today. I just thought you'd be a little more.. um, I dunno… hesitant?"

The heiress gave a low sigh as she glanced down, thoughts of the horrid dreams running rampant in her mind. Weiss noticed that her hands had balled into fists and forced them to relax.

"We do not know the full story, Ruby. I don't exactly know what impression you have of me, but I am not one to pass judgement without first knowing the full story. Yes, Blake is a faunus. That much is obvious now. Yes, she clearly has ties to the White Fang group, or atleast had ties at one point in her life. However, she is first and foremost our teammate. The White Fang are a supremacist group, Ruby. They wouldn't be sending their associates into huntsman academies without a good reason. I intend to find out exactly what actions have led to her admittance."

The two sisters nodded along at her words. Weiss gave an internal sigh of relief as they seemingly bought into her improvised speech. They were, after all, her thoughts on the matter. Just not all of her thoughts regarding Blake.

It wouldn't do to have two of the most impulsive girls she had ever met suddenly start worrying for her. Especially whilst they were arguing. The two would end up fighting over her and further destabilising their team dynamic.

No.

She needed answers. True answers. And, loathe as she was to admit it, Blake Belladonna was her only hope in ever having her questions answered in a way that didn't ruin everything she had built here in Beacon Academy.

...What are you hiding from us, Blake Belladonna? Why are you here?

How exactly did I dream of your memories? Is it true? Are they real?

If so… How in oum's name could you endure all that pain and still continue to fight?

"Who are we looking for?" an exuberant voice called out, ripping the young heiress from her downtrodden thoughts.

Ruby found herself in a… debacle.

Yes. Debacle. She could actually use that word in something that wasn't a school essay. It was one of those days, as much as she hated to admit it. Ruby thought that this kind of thing was past her by now. Guess not.

Her sister wasn't listening to her thoughts. As was becoming alarmingly common for Yang ever since she was accepted into Beacon Academy. Typically, Ruby accepted it for the most part. To be fair, she was a rather sheltered kid despite her best efforts and she knew that Yang was simply doing her best to look out for her and provide guidance. She'd been the same ever since… ever since Mom had disappeared.

She's dead, Ruby.

Yang had taken up the mantle, as she so often liked to call it. She had done her best to help Ruby grow into a strong person, even when she herself was still developing. The logical side of Ruby understood that. Respected it, even.

Yet it's just so f-fudging annoying, oum damn it.

As the younger sister, as the kid, her words were treated with a grain of salt. Nobody listened to her, not truly. Not as Ruby Rose, but either lil sis or the 'weird scythe girl'. Nobody respected her words or listened to her actions. Not truly. They would hear them, of course, feign that they were listening and actually caring about what she had to say, only to completely ignore it afterwards. Not when her pefect sister was there.

It had happened so damn much that by the time she found herself in Signal Academy she had spent the better part of a semester attempting to find people that would listen to her. Even if she actually hated the whole 'socialisation' aspect of things, she had needed it. The friendships she had personally forged would have lasted a lifetime.

Until she had joined Beacon Academy two years earlier than normal.

She had tried to keep in contact with her friends. Scroll reception had always been rather weak near her hometown so she'd even resorted to writing a letter just so they would know she hadn't abandoned them.

That had been about two months ago, now. She had yet to receive a letter in return. A small part of her doubted she ever would.

Yet little Ruby had kept her chin up and forged ahead despite her feelings on the matter. 'People come and go, kiddo...' her Uncle Qrow had once said to her after a particularly nasty incident one day. 'Don't let it get you down. Keep moving forward and you'll be bound to find more people. The world's too damn populated to ever truly be alone, don't I know it...'

And she had listened to his words. She had forged a team. As a leader, even. Somehow. She had befriended her teammates, an entire other team and even the headmaster himself seemed to like her.

Yet Yang had always been there with her throughout everything. Overshadowing her. Eyeing her protectively. A mother hen, through and through. Especially after the wagon incident, Ruby rarely if ever got some time alone to just be herself. Too many times had Ruby's actions been determined for her.

Kirakishou was another name in a long list of people that Ruby had attempted to befriend, only for Yang to voice her disapproval of the girl and try to ruin things. It was always something with whoever it was she tried to get close with. Either they were too young or too old or I just don't like them or I don't think they're a good match for you.

Oum. She had caught a glimpse the poor girl's face as Yang had pulled her away from Kira. She'd been devastated. Lost, even. She could only imagine what had been going through Kirakishou's head at the time. What things had seemed like from her perspective. All because Yang hadn't approved of Kira being a little affectionate with her.

She was, putting it mildly, sick of being stuck behind her sister's guidance. She was sick of needing Yang's approval to do anything at all.

Ruby just wanted to be her own person without someone to judge her every action. Was that really so bad? She wanted to be a huntress. She wanted to have friends. She, above all, wanted to make her mother proud.

Not Yang. Her actual mother, not her sister trying to be something she's not. Summer Rose.

She knew she was being cruel to her older sister. It wasn't Yang's fault she was the way she was. That was just her own little way of dealing with Summer's departure. If Yang couldn't have Summer, then she would be Summer. The news of Yang's own actual mother had flipped everything on its head, but at that point her personality was dead-set on protecting Ruby at all costs.

Yet what could she actually do about it?

This was just another argument. It would always go the same way. Yang would pretend to stay at arm's length for a bit until Ruby started feeling bad about how she acted. She'd apologise and her elder sister would tease her about it for a few weeks. Then, eventually, something else would happen and the entire cycle would begin again.

A part of her wished she had a different blonde on her team instead of her elder sister.

Kirakishou would be perfect for her. A-As a team-member, of course. Her weird vine semblance could be very useful for a lot of combat applications. She had thought of other people too. Jaune would, eh, he'd probably be a cool team member too. He was as socially awkward as she was. Plus it seemed like he had an appreciation for cool weapons so they could at least talk about something that both of them could relate to. Although either one of them joining would kinda ruin their team name. Well, probably. She actually didn't know what Kira's full name was, come to think of it. Hopefully it was something that wouldn't mess with their team name, or make it sound silly.

It didn't matter what happened. Yang would find a way to be there, just like she had this morning.

The addition of Penny Polendia joining the group during their search for Blake was a welcome distraction from everything that was happening at the time. She was really quirky and had wonderful hair. The girl had just randomly waltzed up to them out from the middle of nowhere and offered to help with their search. Because she wanted to.

How long had it been since someone helped her because they wanted to help, rather than needing to help? She wasn't entirely sure, now that she thought about it. Ruby Rose was a person who ran to help others. It was in her very nature. A nature that, apparently, Penny also shared with her. She wished she'd had more time to talk to the girl the first time they'd met, but they had needed to escort Kirakishou to the headmaster. A detective of all people had requested them to do so. They couldn't exactly say no to that.

But now that she had some time, Ruby was beginning to realise that Penny Polendina was an excitable girl with a vibrant outlook on life.

Plus her method of speech kept confusing Yang, who at this point was more than a little annoyed at another certain blonde and her own cute way of wording things. So that was a private bonus for little Ruby that she could giggle about behind closed doors. Perhaps after all of this madness she'd meet up with Kira again and gossip about all the silly things that Penny had done to annoy her older sister. She hadn't had a girl-to-girl talk with someone that wasn't a team-member in the longest time.

Her stomach felt all tingly at the idea of meeting up with Kira alone. Memories of their last encounter fluttered through her mind.

She just hoped that Kira didn't hold any grudges about what happened with Yang. Her older sister wasn't really the type of person to apologise about her actions. Especially when it came to her apparently sworn duty of embarrassing Ruby at every possible inconvenient moment and ruining everything.

An explosion was heard off in the distance, interrupting her musings. Thank Oum.

"What in the world was that?!" Weiss balked, glancing around to try and find the source of the horrid noise.

"...Judging by the sound and distance, I would estimate the source of the explosion to have originated near the cargo docks. Small yield. Likely weapons fire."

Ruby blinked, glancing at the orange-haired girl in surprise. "That's, uh, a pretty good guess, Penny." she remarked hesitantly, getting a toothy grin from the girl in response. "But why in the world would there be an explosion there? We'd better check it out. Just in case."

There was a tense moment where the four girls realised what they needed to do.

Weiss, however, paled dramatically. "...There's a Schnee Dust shipment that was scheduled for delivery today. If that much dust were to react, the results could be catastrophic. We need to find out what's going on. Quickly."

Ruby was more than a little surprised that Yang didn't make some horrible 'having a blast' pun at that.

Perhaps things were finally looking up.

A/N: Thank you all for the sudden flood in attention for this story. It's been a journey these past few chapters, but we're starting to see how Kirakishou behaves and reacts to the world of RWBY in her own unique manner. I hope you all continue to enjoy!