The Darkest Shade Of Red
Pt. III

Where Is My Enemy

Everyone you love is capable of doing great and terrible things,
things you never thought they could do,
when they are clawing, panicking, breaking to survive.

Remember this,
when you watch them, at their very worst moments,
And forgive them, their survival too."

-Survival Nakita Gill


A Once Simple Soul
Pt. I

"We have all taken turns being Red Riding Hood and we have all been the wolf."

― Nikita Gill


She was lost in the crimson, nothing but a void with a single colour as far as the eye could see. Red above her and below her, she floated in the void with nothing but the muted sounds of war around her. Gunshots and explosions, some she remembered, and some were new. Voices accompanied the sounds, some she knew and some she did not, but it was hard to tell, it sounded like everything was happening outside of her void. Ruby did not mind, it could stay there for all she cared, at least she did not have to fight anymore. Then, all at once, the sounds stopped, and the colour began to run.

Ruby watched as the red of her void began to drip and funnel, collecting at her feet. The empty void had returned, and Ruby did not know what to do now, so she stayed with the red until she watched as a small drip began to pull away from the rest. A thin red line began to form, leading away from Ruby and deeper into the darkness of the void. Somewhere out there, Ruby heard her name echoing all around her and Ruby followed the line.

As she walked, she saw another line join the one she was following and then another shortly after that. Red lines from all over the void began to converge, widening the line until Ruby had to walk on it to follow it. Wondering where it was leading her, she was suddenly aware that the void had been left behind, and she had been following the red path outside.

She knew this place, she had walked the red path countless times before and will do multiple times afterwards. This time was different than before, though. This time her red path had become a river that flowed into a lake that consumed the horizon. Not even the sky was safe from the blood that flowed from the countless bodies that hung from the trees in her forest. What was once an endless black was now bleeding, ripples of crimson and abyss as rose petals floated across her sky like flocks of birds. The forest Ruby walked time and time did not belong to her anymore.

"Ruby," Looking up at the gravestone that sat on the edge, Summer Rose looked at her daughter, and Ruby could see tears rolling down her face. "I'm so sorry," She whispered as Ruby walked up and wrapped her arms around her and felt the warmth flow from her. Crying into her mother's shoulder, Ruby could not take the pressure anymore and broke down completely. Her mother just tightened her hold on Ruby and spoke softly to help calm her.

There was nothing she could do, the Red Death was right. Atlas bombed cities and shed blood with no regard to who the enemy was. Even her friends, even Yang, betrayed her in the end. "It's not your fault," Summer whispered to her. "It was never your fault," Ruby only cried because it was her fault. She was not strong enough, not fast enough to save people, and in turn, they betrayed her.

Around her, the river flooded the lake and began to seep into her forest. Her mother's grave quickly becoming an island as the cliffside became the shore. How could she had been so blind before? No one wanted her around, not even her sister. There were only two people who truly cared for her, and one of them was holding her now. She did not know where the Red Death was now, but Ruby knew she was painting the world red like roses for Ruby's sake. After all, if there was no one to hurt her, she could finally be safe.

When the world is your enemy, there was only one thing to do.

"Ruby?" It was a familiar voice, one she had not heard from in such a long time. Turning to look back into her forest, he stood at its shore. Ozpin. She sat on her small island, surrounded by rivers, all pouring into the endless ocean of blood. She did not know why Ozpin was in her forest, but he needed to run.

"You shouldn't be here," Ruby said, her voice weak but echoed through the dead black trees that reached to a crimson sky.

"What happened?," He asked, looking at the bodies that hung from the branches. Ruby wanted to warn him, but the rose petals floating through the air appeared, it was too late.

"She's coming," She felt Summer's fingers running through her hair, trying to comfort her.

"Who is coming, Ruby," He asked, but it was too late now, she was already there. A scythe came flying from the tree line, and Ozpin quickly dodged out of the way, only to be knocked to the ground by a cloud of rose petals.

Just as quickly as he appeared, Ozpin vanished, and the Red Death approached Ruby. With a wave of her hand, the Red Death's petals brought her weapon to her. Her shirt painted red with blood, crimson poured down her face as the storm of roses surrounded them. Ruby could not look up at her and just sunk deeper into Summer's embrace. Her voice echoing in the void.

"Where is he?"

Ruby felt Summer pull her closer, trying to protect her from the Red Death. Seeing this, the crimson woman began to walk on top of the red water towards them and stopped at the shore of the small island.

"Where!" Ruby flinched when the Red Death barked out her question. Ruby tried to tell her she did not know where Ozpin had gone, but all that came out was a stammering sob as Summer wanted to comfort her.

"Leave!" Summer shouted at the Red Death. "You've done enough already,"

Kneeling down, Ruby could see the black and silver eyes, the blood that was painted on her face that soaked into her shirt. Her hair was matted down, as someone had drowned her in blood only for her to come back and take her revenge. She looked tired too. Bags under her eyes, like she had been fighting for weeks without rest. The same could be said for Summer. More wrinkles showing up on her face than Ruby remembered.

"Do you hate me?" The Red Death asked. Ruby stared at her for a long moment, unsure how to answer that question. "After everything I've done for you. I saved you from Atlas, from the White Fang, from the Enemy. Because of me, you are alive."

"Because of you," Summer released Ruby and rose to her feet. Walking to the edge of the island as the Red Death rose to match her gaze. "She has known nothing but pain. She was kind and caring. She was supposed to protect people! She was supposed to be a Huntress!"

"And look at what the world did to her, to us," The Red Death waved her hand as her rose petals began to form up around her. "It fought us, hurt us, tried to kill us. Even after the good we did, they still tried to kill us. Even after she turned that Grimm to stone, they still tried to kill us. Even her so-called friends were in on it, to distract us while the sniper got into position. The world is our enemy," The Red death stared deeply into Summer's eyes as a wave of red from the ocean around them sent a tidal wave to claim more of Ruby's forest.

"And I will paint them red like roses."

Ruby watched as the wave was about to crash over Summer's tiny island, consuming both of them in the sea of red. Summer simply raised her hand, and the water was stopped by a barrier of silver light. Ruby flinched as the light blinding her and prevented any of the Red Death's ocean from overtaking them. On Ruby's shore, she saw some of the trees with bodies hanging off of them had been consumed by the red. Looking back to her mother, Summer and the Red Death were staring each other down, the same light preventing the Red Death from stepping an inch on Summer's island.

"So long as there is a Huntress to protect people, you will not have her." Summer held her ground, and the rose petals surrounded the island, looking for a way in before falling into the water and disappearing into the depth. After a long silence, the Red Death finally turned and began to walk back into the forest.

"All you do is guilt and coddle her while I'm actually protecting her from the enemy. When all the world is red like roses, there will only be you left, and you cannot stop the tides with your will alone..." With that, the Red Death disappeared into the forest of hanging bodies, leaving Summer and Ruby alone, surrounded by the red water. Returning to Ruby, Summer sat down and pulled her close and began to drag her fingers through Ruby's hair and began to hum a melody that Ruby recognized but could not remember where it was from.

Looking up, Ruby saw the shattered moon in the crimson sky, and even that too was being consumed by the red. Many of it's smaller pieces had already been turned red while the main body had only begun to be eclipsed by the colour. How long would it be before the Red Death paints everything red like roses? The moon, her forest, even Summer. The Red Death will declare everything her enemy and not rest until everything is red. Closing her eyes, Ruby decided that as long she did not have to fight anymore, she did not care. There was nothing else for her anyways.

Maybe it was better this way.


Ozpin threw himself up and off the small couch he had been sleeping on and sprinted to the large window that dominated James' private room onboard the Mantle of Responsibility. Pressing himself up against the thick safety glass, he tried to take in as much colour as he could. The sky was blue with white clouds, the ocean below them had green tints, and the birds that were flying near the dreadnaught were a variety of reds and whites with some yellow as well.

With deep breaths, Ozpin calmed his heart and finally pulled himself away from the window and slowly walked back to his temporary bed and flopped down onto it and ran a hand through his hair. He could feel the cold sweat sticking to his skin as he looked back at what he had witnessed before and shuddered at what happened.

It was not the first time he had stepped into Ruby's dreams to communicate with her, but this time was so different he thought he had made a mistake until he found her. What's worse was not only did he find Ruby Rose, but he had found Summer Rose as well. To make matters worse, he was attacked by another Ruby Rose, but this one was covered in blood and had black eyes.

It was then Ozpin realized what he had just stumbled upon. The beginning of the end of his world.

The Red had already started, and Ruby was its origin. The only things he was missing now was the how and why. A knock at his door interrupted his train of thought and watched the door open to allow Qrow and James to enter. "You okay, Oz?" Qrow asked as he sipped on his flask and sat down in a chair while James turned on the lights.

"Yes," Ozpin cleared his throat and began to button up his shirt. "Just a nightmare,"

"You've been having a lot of those as of late," Qrow mentioned as he pocketed the flask and took a hard look at him.

"Yes, well, I've seen a lot of things in my life that I would not wish upon anyone." Ozpin finished cleaning himself up as he stood from his spot on the couch and walked over to James, who had been using the coffee maker in his room and poured a mug for him. While Ozpin made do with the instant coffee he stocked up at his cabin, he was glad James had higher standards when it came to it.

"Anything from Raven, yet?" He asked before sipping on the drink.

"Nothing," Qrow stared out the large window in the room and shook his head. "She's been gone for too long, something's happened to her."

"I agree," James said while crossing the room and leaning against the wall. "It should not have taken this long to retrieve the Relic and get back to us. We need to send someone to confirm her whereabouts."

"Patience, James," Ozpin said while setting up a small chessboard that was sitting on a small table in the room. "I seem to recall she did this before and disappeared for some years before making her reappearance to us,"

"Things are a little different right now," The General stomped towards Ozpin and stared down at her. "We are currently balancing on total annihilation, and the one person with the one tool that could stop it is missing so forgive me for being a little thin on patience right now,"

Ozpin looked up at James Ironwood and saw how tired he was. Ozpin did not know how long he had been awake for, but with how many people had been thrown into the brig for their loyalty to Watts, he knew that James was running on fumes. He was right, though. They were balancing precariously between reigniting the Second Great War and having Salem's forces overwhelm a divided populace, not to mention the growing threat that was the red. Looking over to Qrow, he nodded, and the man jumped out of his seat to find his sister.

"I'll send a team with you," James began, only for Qrow to raise his hand.

"No, they'll only slow me down. I work better on my own," Without any more words, Qrow left to begin his search, probably not before checking up on Ruby, if Ozpin had to guess. With a sigh, James occupied the seat Qrow had just vacated and rested his head in his hand.

"Worry not, there's no one better to track her down than her brother. He's had lots of practice. Fancy a game?" Ozpin asked as he finished placing the white knight piece and gestured to the game board.

"Maybe later," James said as he ran his hand down his face to try and wipe exhaustion from his body. "I've been running around all night putting out fires, I just need some rest,"

"Well, your bed is right there," Ozpin said with a smile. James just let out a hum as he leaned back in the chair and rested his head in his hand and promptly fallen asleep right there and then. Suppressing a chuckle, he let his friend sleep peacefully as he picked the white knight piece back up and reflected on what he had discovered.

Ruby Rose, the key to salvation and annihilation. Ozpin had been so worried about trying to understand what The Red was, he did not even think the infection had already started, or its host was someone with such a simple soul. The red woman in Ruby's mind attacked him without hesitation, Ruby even tried to warn him. Who was she and how is she connected to Ruby. Not to mention Summer Rose looking precisely as she had nearly twenty years ago.

With the chess piece in his hand, Ozpin examined it and rolled it in his fingers. Even if he could watch a game of chess be played a million times, there was no way he could predict every move even with an eternity to watch every game imaginable. His trump card, his knight, team RWBY, the one piece that can move to every square on the board, was now caught with a critical member out of action. Just as he got all his pieces lined up, something blocked him. With a sigh, Ozpin put the piece down and quietly left the room to James to rest in peace while he walked out into the Mantle of Responsibility.

Over the last day and a half, dozens of people had been ferried on and off of the ship of every faction and walk of life. From the Mistrali armed forces to Valenese Reclamation soldiers to White and Black Fang operatives. Atlesian personal rushing back and forth with orders, forms and weapons, trying to keep another war breaking out inside of their own ship. Stopping by a window, Ozpin saw a makeshift interrogation room where Velvet was being questioned. Their eyes connected and he simply nodded before carrying on his way, to say she was surprised was an understatement.

Walking down to the infirmary, Ozpin saw the people still in urgent care and not well enough to finish their healing outside of the limited beds available. He knew for a fact that the morgue onboard was quickly filling up, and they needed to ship the dead for proper burial sooner rather than later. The halls were crammed with people waiting to see a medic or doctor to extract shrapnel or treat burns. Everyone who needed surgery was on a waitlist that was getting dangerously long.

Stopping in front of a bed, Ozpin's eyes narrowed down at Ruby Rose, who was recovering peacefully in a bed despite being wrapped up nearly head to toe. He remembered when he first saw her. A spitting image of her mother with such large, innocent eyes and a weapon twice her size, devouring cookies and behaving like the child she was. The innocence of youth was so far gone from her now, only five years, but she had changed so much since he last saw her. Gone was that girl, a much more complex soul stands in her place.

"Come to check up on your favourite again?" Doctor Bleu asked as he picked up her chart and checked over the machine she was hooked up to.

"How is she, doctor?" Ozpin asked him.

"Well, slow going considering what was done to her," he said as he looked at the IV bag and made a note of it on her chart.

"Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Well, she did mumble something a little while ago which should not happen since she's in a coma, she might be waking up sooner than we expected so we'll have to keep an eye on her," Bleu mentioned as he walked up to Ozpin and put the chart back where he picked it up from.

"What did she say?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, her charts are all in order, so there's no concern," Bleu waved his hand in dismissal as he started to move to the next bed and check on the next patient.

"Please, doctor, I would like to know,"

The man stopped and eyed up Ozpin for a few moments before nodding. When he opened his mouth, he said the words that scared Ozpin even more.

"Where is my enemy?"


A/N: Ladies and Gentlemen, please have your tickets ready for the final boarding call for the Angst Train. As you can see, there are no emergency exits and no brakes and will not be stopping until the end of the ride. Please enjoy your trip!

I would like to welcome everyone back to this insanity where I think of the worst thing to happen to the characters and make it worse!

StreetAngelJ is still out with his surgery but is making a speedy recovery and hopefully will be back to editing my garbage soon!

If you enjoyed, leave a Favourite! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on AO3 under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support!

And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!