Stories. A means to tell of events both grand or small. The RWBYverse is full of such stories, seen and revised by the collective actions of its denizens.

But, behind the silver gates, its counterpart, the Ruinverse, shifts between destruction and oblivion on a turn of a dime. Never revealing the possibility of hope upon its denizens as per its godly design.

But...what about the stories after the turning point? What of the tales set before or after its climatic downfall?

What of its heroes? Its villains? Its struggles?

The black screen flashed to life in a brilliant display of colors as several words appeared, all twisting and glitching in and out of reality in red and silver hues.

Tales of the Ruinverse

This is their story, and you.

The words slowly faded out of reality as purple hooked chains dragged the words into the inkly black abyss, slowly followed by the appearance of a dull silver colored book, which opened up and caused the screen to turn bright silver in the process.

Will learn of their fates.

Tales of the Ruinverse: Chapter One: Tale of Two Frenemy Souls.

Timeline: I Must Prove Myself!

Xxxxxx

-Remnant, Somewhere in Sanus-

The wind swayed against the pine needles, the great oak trees standing every strong against the oncoming storm in the distance. Within the forest of trees, far from civilization and its protective walls of steel, a black corvidae flew across the sky, seemily looking for shelter from the growing windstorm.

"Caw caw!" the bird cawed, flying as hard as it could through the wind as rain drops began to fall from the sky.

WOOOOSSSH!

As the bird's strength began to fade, having flown for hours at this point, it spotted a small cave near the side of a mountain and flew towards it.

ZAP!

BOOOOM!

Hearing loud thunder made it fly faster, nearly crashing into the cave wall when it flew a little off course.

POOF!

Only to transform into a tall pale skinned woman with long bushy jet black hair tied by a red bandanna in a neatly done up in a ponytail, a small cowlick on the top of her head, bright crimson red eyes, a E cup chest and wide ass, wearing a shallow cut black and red dress, red gauntlets, black fingerless gloves, several black beaded necklaces wrapped around her waist, a black belt, a red and white bandana hanging from the waist and went down to her ass, black shorts, black mid-thigh high leggings, black high heels with a single red sole and had a black sword sheath with a red hilt on her right hip, in a puff of smoke.

"Ah...that stings." she muttered while rubbing her head. "Goes to show me that flying is never as easy as it appears."

She winced and dragged herself over, before sitting down against the wall. As she sat down on the cold yet dry metamorphic rock formation, she began to contemplate her life a little bit.

Just months ago, she was the leader of the Branwen Tribe, feared bandits of the Anima continent but now, she was nothing. For she had broken her own damn creed, her own moral code.

She sided with Salem, the one that ruined her life, all...because she thought she could use her lackiey to gain the Relic of Knowledge and possibly stop Salem herself.

This, combined with the fact her own daughter, rightfully in her own opinion, chose to oppose her. Well, given that she was antagonistic, didn't get to know her better and acted like a bitch, it wasn't a surprise. But...she screwed up. And even now, after she let her former husband heal her from her battle with Cinder Fall, a false maiden...she continues to fuck herself sideways in her own flawed logic.

She was no Huntress, she was no warrior...she was a coward. A coward that couldn't even fix her own life once it breaks around her.

She stared down at the floor, feeling like she hit rock bottom, or even deeper.

'Always on the wrong side of history. To think I actually...regret letting my emotions speak for me, especially with him.'

ZAP!

BOOOOOM!

Rain dropped quickly blanketed the cave's entrance like a curtain, preventing the former Huntress from seeing the forest in the distance, not that she cared.

'Perhaps this is my fate? To be the fool that knew too much and let that consume their life.' she thought while looking upwards towards the stalagmites above. '...if Qrow was here, he would be telling me 'I told you so' or something like that.'

Siish!

"Well, if that dusty old crow were here Miss Branwen." said a familiar voice from the woman's own mouth, her eyes now bright green as the lower tips of her hair turned silver. "He would be giving you a Vaucoian curse."

She jolted back, looking at her mouth and covered it in shock. "What-"

"Relax, it's only me. Ozpin, or-"

SHING!

"Now now." Ozpin's voice chimed in, seeing Raven's left hand moving towards her blade's hilt. "Harming me isn't going to help either of us. Especially when I have urgant news."

"What in all of Remnant are you doing in my head?!"

"That is both a difficult and a simplistic reason to explain."

"You better tell me now!" she narrowed her eyes. "Or I will take this body away from you!"

"..."

"Ozpin!"

"...I died. Everyone died." he said gravely, causing Raven to notice the lack of quips and retorts in his tone of voice. "It was a massacre."

"What are you talking about Ozpin? Did the Grimm finally kill you on route to whatever destination you wanted to be?"

"No we did make it to Atlas...but Salem had an agent there." Ozpin said with a frown, via Raven's own lips. "I didn't foresee this, no one did...and..."

"And what?"

"...I'm sorry to say but...your brother and daughter are dead. Possibly Summer's child as well."

"...what?" Raven said, her tone filled with disbelief and shock.

"It...It was horrible." Ozpin said as Raven moved her arm back from the hilt.

"My...daughter died?! How?!"

"She was stabbed by Miss Rose's stolen weapon, though the chest. Impaled into one of Atlas Academy's pillars and had her prosthetic arm ripped from the socket."

"Her sister!?" Raven yelled in disbelief. "But she's Summer child! She wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"It wasn't Miss Rose. It wasn't her team or anyone you knew in Atlas...it was a Specialist." Ozpin said with a heavy sigh. "One Harriet Bree, an Ace-Ops with a semblance capable of matching Miss Rose. She knew of Salem, she disorganized all of Atlas, and at this moment, she might have succeeded in her mission."

"So Yang...is gone? You're sure?"

"I'm sure. Both her and your brother died before me, and then I was stabbed in the eye by my own cane." He said with a 'frown', using Raven's facial expression to mimic his own displeasure. "But that is where the matter of you being my next reincarnation comes into play."

Raven narrowed her eyes at that.

"I need your help, I need you to kill Harriet Bree before the world falls."

"So you need a new pawn, is that it?"

"It's not like that, you know that."

"Ozpin, I am not going to be a pawn-"

"Miss Branwen, I came here to ask you...no implore you to stop Harriet Bree."

"And why should I?"

"She killed your daughter, possibly took Miss Rose's Silver Eyes, and with her semblance, she's the fastest being on Remnant. Think, if she is on Salem's side, then the relics will be lost to her even faster."

"All the more reason to worry about my own survival." Raven said with a frown.

"So being stuck in a cave while your own daughter goes unavenged is the right quitteria for surviving? Oh how you really fell, Raven Branwen." Ozpin said sadly. "The Raven I know would fight for her beliefs instead of hiding from them."

Raven narrowed her eyes.

"But it matters not, if Salem has taken control of Atlas and left Harriet in charge, then no amount of hiding will shield you from their pursuit. You have the Spring Maiden's powers and are considered a criminal in the eyes of Atlas, they will hunt you down and kill us both if you just run away like always."

"Damn you..." She muttered while feeling trapped between a rock and a hard place, unable to figure out a solution to her current situation.

"It was not my fault that Atlas fell, nor was it my fault that your emotions overtook you. But the past is the past, we need to band together if we are going to stop Harriet from giving Remnant an unnecessary cremation." Ozpin said as Raven gripped her left fist tightly, despite being possessed at the moment.

"You...are intolerable."

"And you can be stubborn, but we need each other, Miss Branwen." he said calmly. "I need your skills and you need my knowledge. If we pool our 'resources'-"

"You mean our lack of them."

"Wait, you still control the Branwen Tribe right?"

"Not after the disaster that was Cinder Fall." Raven frowned. "The tribe was destroyed behind my back, and since you don't have your little circle to help, that means we are screwed."

"...a quite accurate assessment there. But I do have one thing that no one else does."

"And that would be?"

"The master key for the Vault of Destruction." Ozpin said while Raven's eyes widened. "Which of course is me, if we can acquire the Relic before Salem does, we can use it to defeat Harriet. Plus Theodore might help us out."

"He's a loon."

"But also the most powerful of the headmasters, why do you think Shade Academy is protected from all threats?"

"Paranoia, and luck, since one of your teams stopped the Crown a few months back."

"Ah, good to see something good came out of this mess." Ozpin said with slight relief. "But Miss Branwen, if we are going to do this, we need to set some ground rules."

"Which would be?" Raven asked with a raised eyebrow.

"One, no trying to kill yourself. Two, no deviating from the plan unless it's necessary. Three, no secrets between us." Ozpin said while Raven frowned.

"Four, I am only doing this for Yang, not for your little spat." she added while Ozpin sighed.

"At this point, both are one in the same." he said before noticing the storm outside had ended, leaving a bright full moon in place of the storm clouds. "And since the storm has ended, let us depart. But first things first, you need new clothes."

"That was plainly obvious." She deadpanned. "But why should I even change?"

"Miss Branwen, you look like a Beacon student during casual friday. That and your face is the most recognizable in Remnant because you came from the illustrious Team STRQ." Ozpin said flatly while Raven felt offended by the first part of the conversation. "If they don't recognize your face right away then they will be suspicious of a woman of your age wearing something a teenager would wear."

"I happen to LIKE these clothes, thank you very much!" she frowned. "They demand respect and do NOT look like something a teen would wear!"

"Yet you wear a miniskirt."

"That enforces my respect value!" she yelled with a light blush.

"Uh huh, a miniskirt that enforces respect. Impossible, and I have been around for ages." Ozpin said with disbelief as Raven looked ready to strangle herself. "Which is why we are going to the nearest town and acquiring new clothes, do worry it won't be anything as scandalous as a 'respectful miniskirt'."

"Stow it you old bastard!" She snapped in rage.

Ozpin chuckled as he recalled the days when Raven was one of his many students, quick to anger yet always wanting to prove herself to him. 'Just like old times.'

(Some time later)

-Somewhere in Vale, Kanimus Town-

It was a peaceful night as the small city, one located near the coastline surrounded by high coral to protect the town from the Grimm, as everyone was currently sleeping or on patrol.

"Caw."

Although near a closed shopping mall, a raven with silver tipped feathers, flew towards the roof before transforming back into the former huntress.

"I still don't understand why you want to come here during the night when it is better to just take someone else's clothes in an alleyway." Ozpin said while Raven looked around for any signs of a guard.

"Because I'm trying not to draw attention to myself. If I stole someone's clothes then I'll be hunted by the police."

"...true, but still stealing from a mall is just as wrong as stealing from a bystander, no matter how you look at it."

"Yet you were the one to suggest it."

"As a joke."

"Well too bad, we're doing it." She said with a smirk before moving towards the nearest door and kicked it with her foot, moving downstairs as Ozpin sighed at her antics.

"Just like Beacon, but..."

"But what?"

"It was usually Taiyang that did this sort of thing, not you." He said while recalling past memories. "You were the one to reign him in, usually by kicking him in the groin."

"Stow it." She huffed while looking a little amused at the memory. 'Stupid voice, making me recall my times keeping 'my man' away from the hussies.'

"I heard that Miss Branwen, still glad to hear you still love him, despite leaving him alone."

"SHUT UP!" She yelled before kicking the third floor door in with her foot, walking into the mall itself as she noticed a statue of Ozpin, casted in copper, in the center of the room. "Or I will destroy that...idol to a madman."

"Go ahead, I really don't like that statue anyway. It makes me look rather chunky compared to my old body."

"Body one or ten million?" she said sarcastically while walking carefully within the area, avoiding security cameras in the process.

"You know what I mean, also security camera on your left."

She ducked behind a column and spotted said camera near the ceiling. "Shit."

"If I were to make a suggestion, perhaps we should first head to the security room and disable all the cameras first."

"And here's my suggestion, fuck off." Raven frowned before using her sword to fire a Fire Dust coated blade at the camera, disabling it in the process.

"Merely trying to make things easier." Ozpin said while Raven quickly moved down the hallway, making sure to destroy any cameras in her path. "Although my idea would cost less."

"This isn't the time to get sentimental about Vale's economy."

"Well I was the one that founded the Kingdom." he huffed while Raven raised an eyebrow at his words, just as they made it to a Cold Discussion shop. "Wait, you're not serious about Cold Discussion? That shop is notorious for its high prices."

"Do I look like I have the chance to be picky?" Raven frowned before slicing the steel security gates and pushed the doors open. "Especially when we are going to be hunted by Atlas soon."

"Fair point. As for the clothes, try something green."

"No!"

"Why not, green is a lovely color."

"For you, yes, but NOT me."

"Yet I am going to be with you for a very long time, possibly years. Wearing green might hel-"

"No it won't!" Raven interrupted with annoyance. "It will only draw attention to me!"

"And red doesn't? It contrasts with the environment."

"It helps blood blend in better. If I wear green and there's blood, it'll draw too much suspicion."

"You do realize that blood will still be shown on the fabric even if it's red? Dark spots and all." he said while Raven looked very much frustrated at him. "But green also has the problem as well."

"Just let me pick the clothes!"

"Sure sure, but we need to figure out the color. Mmm perha-"

"Not green!"

"I was going to say navy blue."

"I'm a huntress, not an assassin!"

"It was a suggestion...although given the fact you are an ex-huntress, that assessment is flawed at best."

Raven frowned while that comment stung at her pride, opening very old wounds in the process. "Stuff it you old man."

Ozpin mentally chuckles, making Raven a little annoyed in the process, as the former bandit queen rummages through the store for more clothes.

(A bit later)

"I am not going to even look at you." Ozpin said as Raven was currently in a changing room, her eyes closed. "Why would I ever invade your privacy like that?"

"You already invaded my mind."

"That was my curse's job, I have no say in it."

"Yet you chose me."

"Because I was thinking of you when I was being stabbed in the eyes by my own weapon."

"How honored." She muttered while picking up a pair of black pants and attempted to put it on her head.

"Miss Branwen, those are a pair of pants, not a shirt."

"I know that! Look away!" she yelled while one of her eyes, now emerald green, was looking at the woman via a mirror.

"You know that's impossible for me to do, given I'm only a soul within your body."

"Just let me change!"

"Alright alright, I'll leave you alone. Just make sure the clothes aren't red."

"Ugh!" She groaned while really not happy at the moment. 'I really hate him!'

(A few hours later)

Suuish.

The red curtains moved back as Raven walked out of the changing room, her attire still the same except for the addition of a deep green hoodie.

"..."

"Speechless Ozpin?" Raven said with a smirk.

"...that is literally the same thing you previously wore."

"No, it has some of your precious green on it just to shut you up." She said before noticing her body was walking towards a hardware store. "Ozpin!?"

"Sorry, but I think your clothes need a paint job." He said with a bit of amusement in his tone.

"Don't you do it!" She yelled while seeing her arms cutting down the doors via her own blade as she walked towards the paint department.

"It is either the paint or going back to the shop to get different clothes. What will it be, Miss Branwen?"

"You wouldn't DARE." She growled in anger before seeing her hands grabbing a green paint can.

"I would."

"Don't do it!" Raven yelled while seeing her hands open the paint can. "Don't you dare!"

"I'm sorry, but our mission is too important to be hampered by your inability to wear appropriate clothes." Ozpin said while Raven's arms moved upwards towards her head. "My apologies."

"NO-"

SPLAT!

(A few minutes later)

Raven growled while currently using one of the public bathrooms to wash her hair, her attire now covered in dull timber green, dark navy blue and red paint that surprisingly worked, as the green color dominated the attire and the navy blue and red portions became part of the cuffs and lining.

"There, it wasn't so bad right?"

"You nearly RUINED BY HAIR!" she snapped, smashing the mirror with her fist. "I should go find a cliff and jump off it!"

"Then Yang might never be avenged."

"...still, you had no right doing this to me!"

"Fair enough, but at this point, we need to come up with a strategy to gain the Relic of Destruction before Salem." Ozpin said while Raven put some soap into her hair.

"After I clean up." She grumbled.

"Mmmm."

"What now?"

"You and Miss Xiao Long are alike when it comes to your hair." He said while Raven momentarily stopped her cleaning, feeling a pang of guilt within her own heart.

"...was Yang happy?" she asked with a hint of sadness in her tone. "After we last met?"

"A little, but I spent most of my time hiding within my last host's brain. They used the Relic of Knowledge, found out about my past and...I kinda acted like a child with the response." Ozpin admitted while Raven scoffed at him. "It wasn't my best move but at the time, I wanted them to find their own way in life. But as for Yang...I think she was fine, for the most part."

"That doesn't tell me much."

"What I meant was that she had escaped her depression and was able to move forwards to help Miss Rose, even if her actions kinda lead to-"

"Her death." Raven frowned while drying her hair with a nearby air dryer. "I know. But she chose that path...eh, to think, I left her and my own team because I was afraid of her dying."

As the woman dried her hair, she recalled her own past actions, each one either hurting her or hurting her relationship with her family. Leaving because of Ozpin, his actions, the war behind the curtains...all of it.

But it was for not, she lost her daughter, one she pushed away by her own actions. She lost a daughter who...perhaps, might have given her grandchildren, descendants, possibly redemption.

"...Ozpin."

"Yes?"

"Tell me everything."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Tell me, everything about you. I only know bits and pieces of your history, what you did to Remnant, but I do not know why you did this, why you chose to let someone like 'her' be unpunished for her future crimes. I need to know everything." she said while letting a tear go down her left cheek. "I need to know why my daughter and Summer's lineage were killed, I need to understand it all."

"...even if you were my 'eye', you admitted to me just now you didn't have a clue, is that right?"

"...yes." she said reluctently, her pride set aside to better understand the man behind Remnant, the one that might help her in enacting vengance against her daughter's murderer.

"Well it's a long one not going to lie."

"Just tell me, before I change my mind."

"Very well."

(Several hours later)

"And that's when Oscar's time came to an end and...well you know the rest." Ozpin said while Raven walked towards the stairway, her face completely surprised by his words.

"So you are a dead wizard that fucked Salem and CAUSED her to become a homacidal and suicidal monster?!"

"In short, yes."

"You are...insane! You and your ex lover!"

"Well...that might be the case, but at the moment." Ozpin said as Raven walked up the stairs to the rooftop. "We must head to Vauco, obtain the relic and use it to destroy Harriet. Without her, Salem will be unable to advance in her plans for at least a few years. More than enough time for us to remake a kingdom or two."

Raven frowned while looking a little annoyed. "And what's stopping us from being hunted?"

"Well...we could always travel incognito."

"I can turn into a bird."

"True." he said while Raven noticed a man, covered in brown robes, walking down an alleyway. "But I was more thinking walking to Vauco."

"...that would only cause trouble." she muttered before jumping down and knocked the man unconscious as she stole his robes to wear as her own attire. "Especially with Atlas."

"Perhaps, but do recall a few uncharted sea routes to Vauco that can help us evade any Atlasian ships. Also why steal this poor man's robes?"

"To be incognito, duh."

"Still, that was rather hasty of you. What if that man was a member of a church? A possible ally of Salem?"

"Oh so you NOW care for my safety?"

"I'm a teacher first and a wizard second, it's my nature to worry for my students."

She rolled her eyes before making her way out of the alley. "Let's just get going."

"Alright, by the way...um...I forgot to mention something pertaining to Harriet."

"Then tell me." she frowned.

"It's not anything good-"

"Ozma. Just tell me."

"...fine. When Harriet killed Qrow, she turned to me and, after breaking my cane, said 'Want to know something? That bimbo was this close to beating me up. Good thing I tore her arm off, less likely the Branwen spawn would blast me in the face.'." Ozpin said while Raven's eyes glowed bright red with anger. "She also mentioned this before killing me, 'To think Ozpin, that blonde bitch said that Silver Eye's name, right after I pinned her to a pillar and watched her bleed out like a fat pig.'."

WOOOSH!

And cue Raven's body glowing brightly with pure red energy, her long doment maternal instincts reigniting along with her need for vengeance.

"RAAAAAAHHHHHH!" She screamed with fury as her powers started to create a mini cyclone. "THAT LITTLE BITCH!"

"Miss Branwen, calm down!"

"How!? SHE KILLED MY DAUGHTER! AND ENJOYED IT!"

"YOU MUST KEEP IT TOGETHER!" Ozpin yelled before hearing several sirens in the distance. "And we must leave before the local enforcers arrive, now!"

Raven's anger reigned in a little, just enough to realize he was right. "Grrrrr. Fine."

WOOOSH!

The Spring Maiden raised her arms upwards as she created a small tornado near her legs and used it to create lift, allowing her to take flight in the process.

"But this will not stop my rage." She growled while her eyes became covered in red flames. "Not until she suffers for her actions, against my daughter, and against the Branwens!"

'I think I just created a monster.' Ozpin thought as Raven flew away, towards the southwest.

Their next destination...Vauco.