Ok so I know some people may not have been happy with what I did (or rather what my inspiration decided to do). I figured with the way the future ended up for Ruby, she would do anything to prevent that from happening; even if it meant leaving her friends so that they would have a better chance at a nicer future without all the trauma. Besides with the trauma that she's been through ten years into the future, it would be much harder for her to adjust with just being a student again with the knowledge about what was to come.
On another note, a lot of these types of stories seem to stem back and mostly repeat the episodes that have occurred and I didn't want this to be another one of those stories. Ruby came back to change the future and while her calculated move seemed a bit harsh, again she was acting out of a place that she wouldn't want to sit around and do nothing and pretend to be fine.
Going along with that, I was mistaken when I made the last chapter, but I am not going to go back and change it (I will be just more careful next time), but someone pointed out that Blake's clones do not move freely on their own like I thought they did (my bad). I am sorry, like I said I will be more careful with their semblances next time around.
So there will be a slight time jump ahead. Something like we experienced after the Fall of Beacon in the show; the story will explain more (after all I do want people to keep reading and keep you all on your toes *insert evil laugh here*). My inspiration is telling me that Ruby had changed the timeline and that is going to have some kind of repercussions. What those are? Well I guess you will have to read to find out.
Enjoy!
New Divide
Two Months after Ruby left Beacon-
"This is a pain in the ass!" Yang yelled, eyes red as she shot her bullets in rapid succession through Ember Celica at a Beowolf that was coming right at her. Then as she turned, she saw another one about to lunge at Pyrrha's back, "Head's up Pyrrha!" Pyrrha turned just as Yang fired, the Beowolf coming really close to the warrior.
Pyrrha smiled and sent a quick salute to the brawler, "Thanks!" But then immediately retaliates as a Boarbatusk comes charging towards Jaune, "Jaune! Heads up!"
Jaune looks towards Pyrrha and then looks to where she is pointing. He dodges out of the way and yells, "Nora!"
Nora sighs, "This is utter crap!" Lifting Magnhild up she launches off grenades and one hits the Boarbatusk. The other five go flying, "Ren! Blake! Duck!"
Ren and Blake, who were engaged in their own battles with a Beowolf, a Boarbatusk, and a Beringel; looked at the incoming grenades. They dove to the side (Blake leaving multiple shadow clones for distractions), and the grenades hit their targets, "This is useless, we need help!" Weiss yelled as she sent a mixture of ice dust and fire dust at her own dark creatures.
There was a loud screeching and everything paused momentarily. They looked towards the distance and illuminated through the flames of the town they were in, they see two small specks. However experience over the past month told them that these small specks were not so small. They were two Nevermore, "We are screwed. We should leave." Jaune said regretfully, taking this time to regroup.
"We cannot just leave. These people need our help." Yang said angrily.
They start to back away as the Grimm also regroup themselves, slowly approaching them, "As much as I hate to say it;" Weiss speaks up readying herself for another round of fighting, "I agree with Jaune. Who is going to help us? This is out of our league." They close ranks further, backs against each other, "We are low on aura and I am guessing, most our ammunition is out. We have to retreat. We lost sight of our original mission."
"And the village seems to have retreated as well." Ren said discouraged. He did not want to retreat and he shared this look with Nora, who had caught his eye not believing what he was saying; but Weiss was right. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place here.
"No. We try one last time. Yang is right, these people need our help." Pyrrha stated firmly, "At least we can give this one more try."
"Agreed." Blake said just as firmly, "One last try." She took a deep breath and her shadow clones surrounded them, giving them as much cover as possible, "Anyone got a plan?"
They looked briefly at each other and Yang said, "Not dying is a good place to start." There was silence and a Beowolf lunged, and then they were in the fray once more.
In the meantime, on a dirt road a red-hooded figure walks on the road between trees and grass. The red cloak has been frayed along the edges, almost as if telling the wearer's story of the battles she's been in. The shatter moonlight gives the silver broach on her cloak an eerie glow as she makes her way through the forest and towards the small opening of the woods.
She had noticed in the sky illuminated smoke from the moon and the small orange glow. She sighed as she recognized the area that she was in. One year from now, she would have been in this very spot, but things had escalated so fast that she knew she completely changed the timeline. Just a month ago, she had been at Mountain Glenn where she knew the place that Roman Torchwick and the White Fang had been holding their operations.
She managed to infiltrate their area that she knew was holding the explosives. However, while she did prevent the breach of Vale, the train still exploded and there were still fatalities…namely one that should not have died…yet at least. Before that though, she interrogated Roman to find information about Cinder and in turn to find information about Raven. He of course claimed that he did not know anything. She tried to continue, but Neo had jumped in at the last minute to try and save her employer.
They had engaged in a fight, leaving Ruby to accidently set off the train's remaining bombs. Using her semblance, she had escaped but Roman Torchwick had no such luck despite Neo's attempt. Needless to say there was a cave in, the tunnels closed off in the rubble at least inaccessible to the Grimm in the area. Despite the tragedy and not being any closer to Cinder's (or rather Salem's) plans, at least she prevented the breach to Vale. After that she wondered into another town, and she learned where Raven's tribe was located. It was a bit further from Haven than she had originally thought the first time around in a place called Anima. However she needed Raven for the next part of her plan so she was willing to travel as far as she needed.
This moment though was a detour and she drops the stuff she had been carrying. She sighs seeing the view far below the rock precipice she is standing on and sees the settlement of buildings that are burning with the three large pillars of smoke rising into the air. She shakes her head and takes notice of the shots that are echoing in the air mixed with the cries of Grimm deaths. There is a streak in the distance and she turns to see two Nevermores in the distance.
Ruby's eyes shift, taking in the village, before narrowing with determination. She was still huntress, she had to help. More shots ring out and she hears yelling. Two Nevermores fly over Ruby, heading toward the besieged village. Ruby turns around on the rocky precipice, her left arm raising Crescent Rose. It expands itself upward. She releases her grip on a lever in the handle and the blade from the bottom of the shaft extends out as the scythe in the main body of the weapon fully unfolds.
Ruby leaps straight up into the air by several feet, leaving a column of falling rose petals. She turns as she descends and brings Crescent Rose down so that the scythe hooks into another Nevermore passing just beneath her. The Nevermore cries out, but continues its path toward the village, leaving rose petals in its wake.
"Nevermore coming!" Pyrrha yelled in alert as she flipped away from a Beowolf and then using her polarity she threw Milò and it hit is mark between the creature's eyes. She then used her semblance once more as the javelin returned to her hands, ready to take aim at the winged creature.
"Wait what is that on the Nevermore?" Jaune asked as he finished off another Boarbatusk with Crocea Mors.
Blake and Yang are back to back taking on Beowolf and the remaining Boarbatusk. Weiss and Ren are taking out another group of Beowolves and Nora just slammed Magnhild towards the ground, sending a shock wave towards her group of Grimm. They stopped suddenly and there is a pause as they looked up and saw the flight path of the Nevermore coming closer into the village and on its back they catch a glimpse of a red-cloaked figure against the shattered full moon.
On top of the Nevermore Ruby watches for the right moment, and then pulls the trigger on Crescent Rose. The Nevermore screams as its wing is cut off. Ruby descends toward the village while the bisected Nevermore drifts apart. She lands on a statue of a hooded woman, demolishing it.
"Oh my dust." Weiss gasps out as Ruby's hood falls back as she straightens. Eyes closed, she holds still where the statue once stood. Their aura is low as the sudden impact of their battles hit them now that they've stopped.
There is a sudden low growl and they turned to see a Beowolf approaching her while she is focused inwardly. It licks its teeth and moves closer, attracting the attention of other Beowolves. They all move to surround her, their red eyes leaving glowing trails. Ruby remains posed, Crescent Rose in her left hand.
"Ruby-" Yang starts to go near her sister, but stops abruptly; noticing how Ruby's eyes narrow and there's a beat before they open, a dangerous look in them. Her head moves forward and she crouches. Her cloak arches upward toward her body and Ruby transforms into a swirl of rose petals. The swirl propels itself forward through the air. As it reaches the first Beowolf, Ruby comes out of it and swings her scythe at the Grimm.
She lands on her feet as she knocks it back, but without missing a beat she bounds up again, taking out a second and turns to take out a third. Moving into the circle of Beowolves behind her she slashes at them, taking out a total of eight before running to attack the ninth. As it goes down, two more put themselves in front of Ruby.
Team WBY and JNPR watch in awe at Ruby's lethal dance with the creatures that were causing them so much trouble. She was barely breaking a sweat and they made no move to help her. There was no opening she was giving, nor was there much reason. The one Beowolf roars at her, but seeing that she was unfazed, it leaps on her, she takes out it, the other one to its left, and yet two more who approach her from behind in different directions.
When that one is gone, Ruby turns and is hit in the face with stone works, before any of them call out a warning. Blake tries to summon a clone to help protect her, but Weiss stops her with a hand on her shoulder and they are again amazed that the hit didn't even seem to affect her. Still they wonder where it came from, and see the direction she looks and this time manages to dodge as the Beowolf on the roof hurls pieces of broken buildings at her.
Ruby moves swiftly between three different spots on the ground. She then propels herself into the air toward the Beowolf in rose petal form. She splits into three streams around it until coming together just above its head. She aims Crescent Rose and fires a dust round into it.
The recoil sends her up into the sky, where she bounces off a Nevermore and lands in the middle of the village with enough force to damage the cobblestone road and send up a cloud of dirt. Taking a moment to breathe, she looks at her former teams, "What the hell are you doing here?" She ends up saying and mentally takes notice of how battle worn they are.
"What the hell are we doing here?" Yang repeats angrily, "How about where the hell have you been?"
Ruby internally winces seeing how her questioning had come out wrong. She had been shocked to see that it was them that she had run into; but seeing the onslaught of Grimm and the dark creatures overpowering her friends, she acted; shutting down any emotion associated with the battle. She had been about to retract the statement when they heard heavy footsteps.
They all looked around and initially do not see anything through the cloud of smoke. A black fist punches through the cloud and into Ruby, sending her flying into the wooden door of the church she originally landed next to, "RUBY!" They all yell, ready to defend their friend.
"No!" Ruby yells from the rubble. They turn to see her standing, holding her shoulder, and then looks to see that it was another Beringel.
"Where the hell are these things coming from?" Jaune demands ready to fight the creature again as it postures, beating its chest. They all got ready to fight again, but they were already weakened and they knew it.
Ruby knew it too, having sensed their levels in aura around her, "I said no!" Ruby yells, "Let me handle this! You all have done enough. Go take cover."
"The hell-" Yang, Nora, and Pyrrha were about to argue when the Beringel let out a terrifying roar and charged passed them towards Ruby.
Ruby held her ground at the top of the church steps, before flipping over its head and lands back in the town center, sliding around in a circle on her feet until she faces the Beringel again and propels herself toward it. She sinks the tip of Crescent Rose into its hip, but doesn't get it any further through the Grimm's body.
"She's right." Blake says as she tries to summon her clones but fails, "I am spent."
"So are we." Ren says as he notices how Nora is now leaning into him, the last hit having taken a lot of out her.
Nora tries to hold her own as she still argues, "We can't just leave her."
"We won't." Weiss states looking around, "However we need to plan. Come on, over here." She points to one of the building that are not too destroyed and not on fire. They start to make their way to the building, but continue to watch as the Beringel grabs Ruby and lifts her off the ground, her entire head fitting in its fist and her legs dangling in the air. The Grimm uses its other hand to punch her and Ruby is launched across the village center. She lands on the broken wooden canopy of a building opposite and easily gains her footing.
Once inside the building Pyrrha continues to watch with battle as Weiss starts to ask about plans, their ammunition status, and their aura levels, "You know I do not think she needs help." She says. They all look at each other and she pointed out the window.
They slowly go to the window as Ruby switches Crescent Rose to rifle mode and leaps onto the roof of another building. They watch as she runs across rooftops, and fires down at the Beringel. It is unhurt and when it is joined by two Beowolves, the gorilla Grimm grabs one and throws it at Ruby.
For her part, Ruby is only alarmed for a moment but quickly destroys it with her scythe. The Beringel takes advantage of the distraction and lands on the roof as soon as the Beowolf is killed. Ruby gets out of the way in time. The two face off briefly before rushing each other. Ruby positions herself to be a target, and when the Beringel lifts its arm to bring its massive fist down on her. Ruby leaps above it when the fist lands on the roof while she shoots at its back. It stands up, unhurt while Ruby lands on another part of the roof.
"I do not understand." Blake mutters as she watches, "She is two years younger than us, but it is as if she's had years of hunter experience."
The group nods in agreement, and Weiss frowns deeply, "This is almost like her battle with Yang that day."
"Or in Ozpin's office from what you all described." Ren comments.
Nora smiles at the battle, "I wonder if there is something that she can teach us."
Jaune rolls his eyes, but never the less agrees. Throughout their travels, they have been helping him train; especially Pyrrha. He is thankful for their help, but watching Ruby, he sees that they all have a long way to go, "Almost makes me wonder if she really needed help after all."
Yang doesn't comment and just watches as her sister turns into rose petals again and sails into the air above, gaining momentum on her descent. With a cry she attacks the Beringel again, delivering small hits around its body and transforming whenever it tries to hit her. After another failed attempt to make contact has the Beringel's fist landing on the roof, it jumps forward in that direction, driving Ruby back. It slams both its fists deliberately against the roof, causing it to collapse under her. Ruby falls with a cry, "NO!" Yang yells horrified.
Summoning the last bit of aura she could, Yang jumps out of the house with a furious yell, "YANG!" They all called out, coming out and trying to stop her.
The Beringel jumps from the roof back to the village center. It beats its chest and roars triumphantly. Yang is running, fist raised to deliver a punch to the massive dark creature. It loses focus, as it turns to look at her ready for the attack. No one notices the rose petals drift down and out the open door of the church or the stream of rose petals that rose and swirled from door and windows of the front steeple.
Before anything could make contact there is a sudden sound of glass shattering and everyone stops to watch as Ruby bursts through the glass, Crescent Rose at the ready and rose petals behind her. Yang, Jaune, Weiss, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, and Blake stop as the Beringel turns towards the reaper to attempt to swat at her.
It misses and Crescent Rose lands on the ground and Ruby fires a shot to propel herself toward her opponent. She goes above its head and lands on her feet, the two of them back to back. Ruby turns, hooks the scythe around its legs and pulls as she fires, using the recoil to give her blade more force to damage the Grimm. It rears and starts to fall forward, but Ruby transforms to swirl around its body, her semblance creating a tornado-like force that lifts it into the air. Yang instantly flashes back to Goodwitch's class when Ruby had done this to her.
They all watch in amazement as they see Ruby sink the pointed end of her scythe into the Beringel's body, driving it toward the ground. The force of the descent allows the blade to pierce it. Once landed, Ruby in a victory stance on the Grimm's body, it lifts its head and roars at Ruby, but she drives the blade in further to silence it. Ruby cocks the rifle to slide the next dust bullet into place and then finishes the creature off with a point-blank headshot. Its body jerks once and then dissolves around her. She slowly sinks onto the street.
The rest of the Grimm in the area retreats away and all is silent. Ruby looks at them and feels burning shame, "So what's up?" She asks casually. Suddenly she is punched hard in the shoulder, "Ow! Ok you what? Yea I guess I deserved that."
"You guess?!" Weiss demands pulling her fist back, as it was her who hit her former leader, "Care to explain?"
"Explain what?" Ruby asked, "You hit me and haven't asked me anything." Seeing that this was the wrong thing to say, Ruby holds her hands up against another onslaught of questions, "Wait ok yes I suppose I do have a bit of explaining, but if I may make a suggestion?"
They looked at her and crossed their arms and motions her to continue, "We get out of here before they decide to come back."
They exchanged looks and then looked back at Ruby, conceding to her idea. They start to gather what they can, and Ruby breathed out a sigh and led them out of the war torn village. She felt disgusted with herself, seeing the annihilated houses and shops. She was supposed to prevent all of this, and out of the corner of her eye, she sees the looks on their faces.
Weiss is looked shocked and devastated. Yang is looking a bit lost and disgusted. Ruby notices that Blake had lost her ribbon and her cat ears are flattened against her head as she looks on sadly. Nora is not full of smiles, and instead is wearing a frown. Ren has an arm wrapped around her and shares with her a haunted look; one Ruby knows that they are thinking about the aftermath of Kuroyuri. Jaune is trying his best to comfort Pyrrha, but Ruby could see the look in his eyes as well as her own. Ruby shakes her head in disgust once more.
They exit the village and walk in silence through the woods, staying on the road. She leads them to the little cliff she had come across where she left her stuff, before leading them back away from the sad sight she had come across. It was a few minutes into their journey together that Ruby speaks up, having gathered her emotions, "I know it is hard, but you guys have to set your emotions aside for a bit." Before any of them could say anything to her, she adds, "Unless you want to attract Grimm to us."
"She's right." Blake says after a moment. Seeing the looks, she glances back at Ruby, "Are we going to make camp soon?"
Looking around, Ruby sees the area is secluded and that they are far enough away from the village. Listening, she hears nothing out of the unusual so she nodded, "We can camp here. You guys rest and set up. I'll make a fire."
"We can do that." Jaune says motioning to himself and Ren, "You guys can set up the camp." His tone at her, Ruby caught the hidden meaning that: A) he did not trust her to run-off suddenly, and B) they were in for a talk.
Ruby sighed and nodded, "As you wish." So once more filled with silence, Ren and Jaune went and gathered the wood, while the girls set up the camp while also trying to get a fire with the small amount of wood that was close.
Roughly fifteen minutes later, Jaune and Ren came back with larger pieces of wood and Ruby had some food on her that she split between the group; it was the last of her rations but what small talk had been made, WBY and JNPR had went to that little village to restock their supplies. It had been late and they were about to make a reservation to stay the night when the Grimm had attacked.
As they settled around the fire, they all looked at Ruby expectantly. It was also in that moment of silence during their set up that Ruby thought long and hard about what she would say. Clearly the clean break she made a Beacon had not mattered since they clearly came after her.
And in all honesty she was not going to make Ozpin's mistake and keep them in the dark…at least not totally in the dark. She does not want to broach the topic that she was from the future, having seen their expressions and not knowing what else they seen, she doesn't want to destroy their hope, or be the cause of their lost innocence any further, "Ruby?"
Ruby looks up and see that it was her sister that spoke. Yang's voice was hard, and filled with hurt, but she noticed her sister's dark glare into the fire and Yang was tired of it. Tired of the silence and the worry that was knotted in her stomach, "Please, why did you leave? What was that whole thing in Ozpin's office?"
Ruby looked away, "I…Before…You have to understand…" Ruby stopped not knowing why she was getting tongue tied. This was her team, but then again it wasn't. Her team, would have understood; but this team…no, she has to stop thinking about this. THIS was her team now, and clearly that was something that she couldn't change…or one of the things she couldn't change, "I'll tell you, but there will be some things that I cannot tell you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss demanded icily, "We followed you across the continent looking for you for two months. We deserve answers."
"I know, but that is the way it has to be for right now." Ruby stated firmly, not used to having her orders being questioned in this moment.
Seeing the steel look in her silver eyes, Jaune placed a hand on Weiss's shoulder, "Ok fine, granted we will ask questions and demand more of you."
Not expecting that response, Ruby nodded slowly and looked at them, "Well alright so I will start with this, recall what we were facing with those dust robberies?" Seeing everyone nod, she continued, "It was more than that. Its' a very long and complicated story, but the gist of it is that this goes beyond the White Fang." She looks at Blake as she says this, and knowing that Blake hadn't really mentioned much of her former psychotic mentor, she asks, "Remember Adam Taurus?"
Blake stiffens and Yang, sensing this, grabs her hand and gives a squeeze. Interesting, Ruby thought briefly as Blake swallowed and responded, "Yes, but why do you ask about him?"
Ruby nods and says, "The same reason why I wanted to find Raven." She looks at Yang and notices that despite the fire, the blonde's eyes flare up a dull red.
"Why?"
"Cinder Fall." Ruby states with a hint of malice that made them all pause, "Last month I was at Mountain Glenn where there was a White Fang hideout," here she thought they could have some tangible truth. She saw Weiss discreetly pull her scroll out and start typing in the information. Ruby inwardly smirked as she found an article, and showed it around as she continued the story, "after I took out the hideout, I had come across a terrorist plot that connects the 'Fang and the Branwen tribe. They are just pawns, Cinder is like the rook, but there is someone that is the queen. Like a literal queen."
Yang looked at her sister, "You took out a White Fang hideout? Without us?"
"We were told about your run-ins with this White Fang;" Jaune started saying as he motioned to her team, "What exactly possessed you to go after them, by yourself?"
"Do you know how dangerous that was?" Ren asked.
Nora was impressed, but also concerned, "Are you crazy?"
Blake nodded and pointed to Nora, "Her question, but added with what do you mean terrorist plot?"
"I am sorry," Pyrrha said interrupting, "but where are you going with this Ruby?"
Weiss nodded and demanded, "If you knew all this, why did you run? Why not tell Professor Ozpin?"
Ruby stared into the fire giving it a dark look, "I felt as if I couldn't trust Ozpin." This was partially true as well. She had forgiven him in her timeline, but at the same time knew how he was now. Hell, even though she caught a glimpse of him, Qrow, her father, and Ironwood at Mountain Glenn once she sent an anonymous message about the hideout; she overheard somethings that she did not like; like how she was still a 'wanted' person.
"Couldn't trust Ozpin?" Yang asked still seeing the dark look in her sister's eyes, "Why not?"
Ruby shook her head, "Not really my story to tell Yang." Sensing an argument, she says, "In the beginning I said there will be things that I cannot tell you all yet. Please, this is one of them." She saw that they didn't like this answer, but waited for her to continue.
Ruby took a moment to gather her thoughts, and placed another log on the fire, sparks raising in the air, "Do you know the story about the Four Maidens?" Not ready for a question, they all sit there and look at her, "Well?" Ruby asked.
"What's this have to do with anything?" Weiss demanded when no one else spoke up.
"Everything." Ruby said sitting straighter, stealing a glance at Pyrrha.
Jaune noticed the quick look and didn't like it; but he did say, "It's been awhile, but I've heard of it."
"Same." Blake said slowly picking up on the tension.
"I know that story. It was my mother's favorite." Pyrrha said with nostalgia.
"Care to tell the story?" Ruby asked softly looking at her as the group focused back on her, surprised at the tone of voice and how her eyes seemed to have aged some.
Pyrrha was pulled out of her thoughts and looked at Ruby, a mix of wariness and concern, "Ok sure." She clears her throat and starts with, "I guess once upon a time, a callous old man, who refuses to leave his home, is visited by four traveling sisters. The first sister is dressed in white, she goes up to him and tells him that she understands his reclusive nature; and urges him to use his time in solitude to reflect and meditate."
Ruby nods not looking at them, and just stares into the fire as the story comes to life in her mind, just as it did the first time she heard it from her uncle. Pyrrha paused for a moment to look at her before continuing, "The second sister is dressed in green and she brings him fruits and flowers, tending to his crops and revitalizing his garden. The third sister is dressed in orange, she convinces him to step outside and embrace the world around him all the while warming the man's heart. The last sister is dressed in purple, she begs him to look at all that he has, and be thankful."
"This is a nice story." Nora comments lightly looking at her friend and teammate as she leans against Ren; he smiles softly at her, but also looks concerned wondering where this was headed.
Weiss looks impatient, "Yes real nice, what is the point?"
"It's not over yet." Ruby whispers, not taking her eyes off the fire, the attention off of Pyrrha for the moment to look at her, "Please finish the story."
Pyrrha hesitates, but then nods, "Ok, uhm…sorry where was I?" She thinks for a moment then brightens, "Oh right! Well there is a sudden burst of golden light that emanates from the old man until it surrounds the four girls, who go on their way with the glow still around them. In return for their kindness, the man grants the maidens incredible powers, so that they may continue to help others all over the world. They graciously accept, and promise to share their gifts with the people of Remnant 'til the end of days." Nora claps at the ending. Pyrrha smiles lightly at her, and at Jaune who also gave her a soft smile, she adds, "They became known as Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall; the four maidens."
"The Four Maidens." Ruby repeats, "Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall." They wait as Ruby took a deep breath, "What if I were to tell you that story is true?"
No one spoke for a moment, and then they burst out laughing. Ruby sat there patiently, waiting for them to stop. This continued until Blake noticed that Ruby was staring at them. She nudged Yang, who looked at her then at Ruby. Yang in tern nudged Weiss, and this continued down the line until they all were not laughing anymore and just stared at Ruby, "You were serious?" Ren asked looking at her.
Ruby nodded, "Yup. Well I guess I have my answer. You don't believe me."
"Of course we do not believe you." Weiss responded, "This is a child's story. A fable. It cannot be real."
"Why?" Ruby asked leaning back against the rock that was behind her, arms crossed, "Why can't it?"
"Because;" Yang started to say as Ruby looked at her waiting expectantly for the argument. Loss for words, Yang says, "Because it just can't. Help me out guys."
Jaune sighed, "It is hard to believe, because that would mean…"
"Mean what?"
"That there is a thing as magic." Blake commented, "Which there is no such thing."
Ruby leaned forward, "Well as hard as it may be to accept this, I am telling you the truth. The story that Pyrrha just told you," she motioned to said girl, "is real. There were four maidens existing in this world that could wield such tremendous power, without dust."
"Like a semblance?" Nora asked slowly, once again showing a rare characteristic of seriousness about her as she got off of Ren's shoulder.
"Like magic." Ruby responded.
There was a pause and Ren looked at her closely, "You're serious?"
"Does it look like I am joking?" Ruby asked, she held up her hand, "Do not answer that. Anyway I am going to skip the niddy gritty details of this and say that Ozpin has a little secret society that was created to help protect Remnant."
"How do you mean?" Jaune demanded, "And what do you mean skip the details? We need those details."
"They are not that important right now. It's one of those things that I cannot tell you all just yet." Once again there was a sense of outrage, "However," Ruby over spoke to them, "what I can tell you is that the Maidens have existed for thousands of years. But much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike. When a Maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host, ensuring that the seasons are never lost, and that no individual can hold on to that power forever."
"How is the power transferred?" Yang asks slowly, a sense of foreboding coming to her.
"It's complicated." Ruby stated.
"Complicated? You mean everything you're telling us is simple?" Blake asked, her head hurting not bothering to keep the sarcasm from her voice.
Ruby shakes her head, "Look I know you are all frustrated-"
"Such an understatement." Weiss bit in the others nodding in agreement.
"But there is a point, just please bear with me." She looked at them and then sighed, "Yang going back to your question, at first the only thing that was certain was that the powers were specifically passed on to young women. But as time went on, it was discovered that the selection process was much more... intimate." She paused and debated on how to continue, but in the end she figured at this point it was best not to mince words, "As we understand it now, when a Maiden dies, the one who is in her final thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her power; which is where this problem comes in. A major problem."
Weiss looked at Ruby and for the first time since reuniting, feels sympathy for her. The girl in front of them looked older and tired as she told this story; it was as if there was a massive weight. Reaching over, she grabbed her hand and silver eyes met her own blue ones, "Look just tell us. Why is this a problem?"
Ruby looked at them all and then looked away. She sees the battle of Beacon, Cinder killing Pyrrha, the destruction around Remnant, and the battle of Haven, the battle at Argus, the fall of Atlas, and so much more. Taking a deep breath, she answers while pulling away from Weiss, "In Ozpin's office I mentioned 'Fall'; well as part of Ozpin's secret protectors, there is a vault. Inside this vault is…" she deliberately pauses. She tries to sense an intruder or another presence, but there is nothing but them. Taking another breath, she says, "the Fall maiden."
"I am sorry, but what?" Pyrrha asked shocked.
"The current Fall maiden was attacked and apparently part of her power was stolen and she is unresponsive in a comatose like state." They all looked at each other and then at Ruby, "For now she is still alive thanks to advance technology curtsy of Atlas; but-"
"If she dies…" Weiss started to finish Ruby's hanging sentence, "Won't... her power... just transfer to the next host?"
Ruby smiled, albeit grimly, "See? Not all that complicated after all." No one else smiled and Ruby just continued, "Yes, but this is a delicate situation. It's not uncommon for the last thoughts of the slain to be of their attacker; and to make matters worse, no one's seen the power split like this before. For all we know, it will seek out its other half." Which is sort of what happened, Ruby added in her head as she recalled that fateful night. She avoided looking at Pyrrha as she thought of this.
"If all of this is true, why keep it secret!? If this girl is so important…why not tell everyone?" Jaune demanded, "Why can't you tell us anything more?"
"Because too much knowledge is dangerous, all this power in the wrong hands will not end well. Besides this used to be public knowledge. However religions changed and it was written off as a…Weiss what did you call this?" Ruby faux thought for a moment, "Oh right a childish fable."
No one responded for a long moment and the fire crackled. Ren leaned over and placed another log on the fire before taking a deep breath and saying, "You mentioned this Cinder Fall," Ruby looked at him, "what does she, the White Fang, and Yang's mother have to do with the Fall maiden?"
"Cinder Fall is the assailant. She attacked and stole part of the Fall maiden's powers. She is also working for a witch named Salem."
"And who is this Salem?" Nora asked picking up the dark undertone of Ruby's voice.
"To answer that, I need to ask…do you know the story of the two brothers?" Ruby asked.
"I do." Pyrrha spoke up seeing that the others did not respond.
Ruby sighed and said, "Well I'll tell the story. This world's been around for a long time, long enough that people have created dozens of gods; but there are only two that are real. They were two brothers. The older sibling, the God of Light, found joy in creating forces of life. Meanwhile, the younger brother, the God of Darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. As you can imagine, they both had pretty different ideas about how things should go. The older one would spend his days creating water, plants, wildlife. And at night, his brother would wake to see all the things that the elder had made and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations, the god of darkness brought drought, fire, famine, all he could do to rid Remnant of life. Life always returned. So one night, the younger brother went and made something - something that shared his innate desire to destroy anything and everything."
"The creatures of Grimm?" Jaune asked putting two and two together.
"You guessed it. The older brother finally had enough. Knowing that their feud couldn't last like this forever, he proposed that they make one final creation... together, something that they could both be proud of, their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed. This last great creation would be given the power to both create and destroy." Ruby noticed their puzzled expressions so she continued, "It would be given the gift of knowledge, so that it could learn about itself and the world around it." She paused to see if they were getting it, slowly she started to see the last puzzle falling into place, "And most importantly, it would be given the power to choose, to have free will to take everything it had learned and decide which path to follow - the path of light or the path of darkness. And that is how Humanity came to be."
Ren leaned forward and asked, "But…what does that have to do with us? With anything that you told us so far?"
Ruby closed her eyes and started to list, "The four gifts to mankind - knowledge, creation, destruction and choice. Each of them exists in a physical form, left behind by the gods before they abandoned Remnant, and each of them is extraordinarily powerful."
Powerful and a living hellish nightmare, she thought darkly, "If someone were to collect all four, they'd be able to change the world. That's exactly what the enemy wants. The Huntsman Academies were created to train generations of Humanity's protectors, but they also serve another purpose."
"To guard these relics?" Pyrrha asked amazed.
Ruby nodded, "When Ozpin's predecessor founded the schools he built them around the Relics to act as a fortress. Not only would they be easier to defend, but they would constantly be surrounded by trained warriors. The hope was that hiding them would keep mankind from using them against itself... and, of course, keeping them out of her reach."
"Her…Salem?" Yang asked not sure if her sister was being legit or crazy. In fact all this sounded crazy especially since Ruby wasn't saying how she had come across all this information which she was still really annoyed about. Looking around at their fire, she could see that they were still equally annoyed…granted a little curious as well.
Ruby nods, "That is another story, one that is not mine to tell."
"Now you are done with telling us stories?" Nora asks part of her disappointed in this.
Ruby smiles, at least Nora never changed, "For now, but yes Salem controls the Grimm. She is like the Queen of the Grimm. They obey her; what's more is that these maidens are connected to the Relics."
"So you have the maiden's powers…you get to the Relics is that it?" Blake asks leaning forward to look at her leader.
"Correct. Cinder and Salem was using the White Fang as a cover to hide the fact that they needed to get into Beacon. The White Fang gets what they want which is harming the humans; and Cinder get the distraction she needs." Blake looks away at this fact, ashamed at what the organization had aligned itself to, "Using the fear and chaos as a cover Cinder would be able to find the Fall maiden and take the rest of the powers. From there the next thing would be to find the spring maiden and get her to access the vault to get the first relic and then of course so on and so forth."
"What does this have to do with my mother?" Ruby looked away as Yang demanded slowly, "Ruby tell me."
Ruby closed her eyes and said, "I have strong reason to believe that Cinder already got to Raven and persuaded her to help them."
It was fast, no one believed the speed that Yang reacted. Her fist met Ruby's stomach, which thankfully she still had a strong semblance and that Yang's hadn't recharged fully; however it still knocked the wind out of her, "Yang!" They exclaimed and Weiss, despite the strong sense of anger, went over to Ruby and helped the reaper sit up, "What did you do that for?"
Yang turned her back on them, "My mother wouldn't do that! My mother-"
"Left; she is a selfish coward!" Ruby growled out, trying to get air, but accepted Weiss's help.
"Don't you say another word about her;" Yang said slowly, "she has her reasons and-"
"They are nothing more than excuses." Ruby responded as she stood up, "Yang I am sorry, but it is the reason why I also left. I need to find her and see if I can persuade her to help our side. She is the Spring maiden." Silence and no movement between them as Ruby looked at her sister. Yang was breathing heavily, her eyes flashing red and lavender with each breath, "Or at least I think she is; and if she is or has knowledge of where I can find her, then I need that. I need her or the current spring maiden to come with me to Haven."
Blake stood up and went over to Yang, she could see her friend and partner was in distress. In fact they all were, "Why?"
"That is where the first relic is. It's in Haven, it's the Relic of Knowledge and I need it."
"Why just you?" Jaune asked.
"So I can find out how to end Salem once and for all." Ruby said slowly. Then looking back at Yang she said, "I am sorry Yang, but that is the truth." Then in a soft whisper, she adds, "Right now all she cares about is her own tribe; right now she doesn't give a shit about anyone else..."
Taking a deep breath she looks back at everyone else and says, "I know that is a lot to take in, and I know you all left Beacon to try and find me. There is more…loads more, but right now that is all anyone needs to know."
"That's crap." Weiss responded standing up and going over to Ruby.
Ruby snorted, "You don't know the meaning of that."
"Either way, we deserve a lot more than what you seem to be freely admitting that you are leaving out." Ren pointed out in his soft tone.
Ruby nodded, "And I do not disagree…at least completely. However there is another point to be made."
"My head hurts." Nora whined out and then looked at Ruby, "What is that?"
"It's late, I gave you all a lot of information." Ruby said and she looked at her sister, the brawler's fist still clenched, "So I'll take the watch for the night. You all get some sleep and let me know how you all feel in the morning."
Ruby picks up Crescent Rose and heads away from them, "Wait what?" Jaune asks turning to look at her.
She doesn't look back, "This is the part that I leave you all to your own deceives and contemplate the 'life as you knew it ended' information and what you are going to do next. Are you going to go back to Beacon or come with me?"
"Of course we are going to come with you." Weiss said outraged, "Why do you think we left?"
"To get information, well now you got it." Ruby said once more not looking at them, "And do not make this decision lightly. There are so many dangers that tonight's Grimm battle looks innocent."
She was about to walk away when she realized something. They came out here looking for her, missing the field trip that would have given them their sense of purpose of being hunters and huntresses. It was then too that she realized that while the breach was a terrible tragedy and was a prelude to the dark days that followed, it had given them a gift of purpose and resolve.
So with that in mind, she tried to recall the questions that Dr. Oobleck had asked her teammates, "Tell me, Yang: Why did you choose this line of work?" Yang slowly turned and looked at her sister, wondering why she wanted to know. Before she could answer, Ruby moved on, "And you, Weiss?" Weiss looked at her team leader curiously, "A girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly doesn't need the extra work. So... why choose this over a cushy job in Atlas?"
Weiss too was about to open her mouth to respond, but Ruby looked at Blake now, "And what about you, Blake? You seem to carry yourself with a sense of purpose. You are determined to stop inequality, corruption…how do you stop it exactly?" Blake had no answer to this.
Now Ruby looked at team JNPR, "Those questions are directed at you. Why choose this life, this line of work, and how do you solve the problems that seemed unsolvable?" She then looked back at them as a whole, "I know what I did doesn't seem to make sense, or that what I had explained to you seems impossible; but what you choose is your decision. I am not trying to persuade you one way or another, but just think about what you learned and do not make any decisions with a light heart."
Ruby now walked away from them, but not too far away. Blake, with her advance senses, saw her go into a tree and sit on a branch. The group got into the sleeping bags and frowned, how are they going to be able to sleep, much less make any decisions with the information that they have been given. They had left Beacon to find Ruby, and they did that (or rather Ruby found them), but while they were chasing their tails, Ruby had gathered this intel and took out a hideout. Hell they watched her take out a hoard of Grimm, the same Grimm that was causing them problems.
Still, they couldn't help but think that perhaps Ruby asked the wrong questions. There was only one question in their mind, would they really be helping stop a power hungry mad witch; or would they cause the end of Remnant as they knew it?
The small group in the woods was not the only ones up at such a late time of night. There was a crow that was sitting in a tree that was far enough away from being able to be detected, but close enough it could still hear everything that was said; and what it heard was deeply troubling. Its eyes look towards the tree that Ruby was sitting in and shook out its feathers before taking flight. It circled around the area a few times before making a decision to fly off. Where? He did not know just yet. He didn't know whether to go back to Beacon and give its report or to find his sister and give her a heads up. The only thing he knew was that he needed a drink…a strong drink.
Roughly in the same area, another bird sat close. Watching and observing everything. It too had remained out of detection range, but was well within the hear distance. Having got what it needed, it flew out of the area into the opposite direction of the crow into much darker lands.
In a distant kingdom, a pale woman in a black dress sits in her chair looking outside over her dark kingdom in deep thought. She had sensed something was off nearly two months ago. There was something different that she couldn't quite describe. It confused her, and made her curious; but she hadn't allowed herself to be too distracted. At least until she heard the reports that something had occurred at Ozma's precious school, then her curiosity had been peaked.
The next thing she felt was rage at what occurred in Mountain Glenn. Torchwicks death, the failed terrorist plot on Vale, and more importantly Cinder's infiltration into Beacon. All that had been foiled. The few survivors that had been there had told the tales of a girl in a red cloak wielding a sniper rifle-scythe. In her fit of rage, she had brought an end to those survivors and had destroyed her meeting chamber. Once she calmed down, she of course fixed everything and got her fraction back together to come up with a new plan. They needed that Fall maiden, but Cinder had reported that Ozpin wasn't accepting any transfer students into his school for the festival. Instead they had to stay at the local hotels and lodges, claiming it had something to do with that girl that had left Beacon. She showed Salem the report and her curiosity was back. So Salem had given her orders to do whatever was necessary to get into that school and find the Fall maiden without Ozma knowing.
Since then she didn't know why, but something was bothering her. So she reached out to another person that would be most useful. There was a low caw in the distance and looking up she sees a dark speck flying towards her. Opening the window the bird swoops in, "So what have you got?"
The bird as it turns out was a raven. It swoops over further inside and transforms into a woman with black hair wearing a creature of Grimm mask, "Do we still have our deal?"
"Of course Raven; you wouldn't be here otherwise. Now report." Salem purrs out stepping inside further. Raven looks at the woman through her mask and starts to tell the witch everything she was able to overhear.
