Blood Red Roses

I don't own RWBY or any version of Hellsing, from which the general premise of this was taken, with artistic liberties taken. This Episode is unrelated to any other Episode in the Series.

Weiss Schnee, by sheer chance, was the first Schnee in generations to find it. There was, in the family mansion, a chamber that hadn't been opened in all that time, a chamber hidden deep within the darkest depths of the cellar, with the massive door hidden behind a false wall, silver chains welded to it and bound together with a lock with the keyhole sealed shut with what appeared to have once been molten metal. Several sigils were carved into the petrified wood that made up the door, which had been sealed along the edges by cement. That she had found it at all was no mean feat, and that she had come up with a way to bypass all of the defenses was even more impressive.

Whatever it was that was held behind the door, she was going to find it before she left for Beacon. If she waited too long, her father could wind up destroying it before she would eventually return to reclaim her family's properties. The application of different varieties of Dust allowed her to find the right means of removing the lock, detaching the chains, and cracking the cement open. When she finally got the door open, she found herself shocked and somewhat horrified to find, of all things, a skeleton in the tattered remnants of black rags and the rotted remains of a red cloak, chained to the wall opposite the door.

What could she do at the sight of it? Her ancestor, the famous Nicholas Schnee, had been the one to build the mansion, and this was clearly as old as the rest of the house. How could such a man, a man known for his goodness, his cleverness, and his skills in battle, be the sort of person to have a prisoner sealed in such a manner. She slowly approached the corpse as respectfully as she could, kneeling down beside the mysterious figure, only to realize that a scythe with a rotted wood haft and a pitted, rusted blade, was plunged into the chest of the figure in question.

Lightly, she touched the flat of the blade, yet still felt a sharpness pierce the skin of her finger, drawing blood. Wrapping her finger in a spare bit of cloth she had on hand, she was surprised to see the blood that had fallen onto it slide up the blade towards the corpse. When it finally reached the corpse, Weiss could have almost sworn she heard a joyous laugh that filled the room. It was at that moment that the corpse began to glow red, the chains snapping as the rotted cloak began to billow, blown by an infernal wind. Rivers that looked to be made of shadows, blood, and that unholy light began to flow from the mouth as the scythe was dragged into the mixture, seeming to dissolve into the blood red mess that seemed to consume all of the figure as it rose to its feet.

When it was finally done, Weiss was greeted by glowing silver eyes and a grin full of sharp, too-white teeth from a red-cloaked figure that she could only identify as a girl in the suddenly much darker light by the combat skirt that it was blatantly wearing.

"Nick!" the girl creature said in a too amiable, too young voice, "How long's it been. One, two decades?!" She laughed, a brief, but manic sound. "You're not Nick…"

"Who are you?" Weiss asked?

"Me?" she asked, "I'm whatever your parents said was under the bed, waiting. Though I'm yours, now, thanks to the seals and such that Nick put on me."

"What?" Weiss asked.

The girl sighed, "Leave it to Nick to bury me deep and not tell anyone about me. I am the most terrifying thing to happen to the world. Nicholas Schnee managed to beat me, so I was sealed away."

"What are you?"

"Part of a package deal," she shrugged, "But Nick cancelled the show before the others turned up. Sealed me up in this hell on earth, and now here we are. I don't even have my mount, and she was going to be beautiful. A red horse of steel and fire. But, now I'm your errand girl. You can call me Ruby."

"You didn't really answer me," Weiss noted.

"Don't worry about it," she smiled, "You'll figure it out. I've been everywhere, even when I was bound. Menagerie? Neat. Really shouldn't have been needed, but isn't that how things tend to go?"

"You know what?" Weiss sighed, "I've got other things to take care of. Come on."

Wordlessly, Ruby followed Weiss upstairs, only to pause at the sight of Klein.

"Klein Sieben, you old so-and-so!" she greeted as the man Weiss considered more a father to her than her actual father paused, an expression of dread on his face at the somehow still shadowed figure in the hooded cloak, "Haven't seen you since you and Old Nick sealed me up down there. You haven't aged a day! You still have that silver tea tray?"

Klein said nothing, seeming to still be coming to terms with the sight of whatever Ruby was, his eyes turning red as he clutched the tea tray in question tightly, as if he wanted to use it to attack her.

"Don't worry so much, old soldier," she said, a grin in her voice, holding up gloved hands to reveal a complicated glyph that Weiss had never seen before on the back of each hand, "I'm duty-bound to serve her and Nick ended the game before we could even play it. Such a pity, too. I was looking forward to the ride. Hey, do you still make those delicious cookies? I loved those!"

"Weiss, do let me know if you wish to seal this creature back into the trap," Klein said politely, though his eyes were still red and he was using the voice of his angry personality, "It had taken your grandfather a good deal of effort to seal her away in the first place."

"I don't think that's necessary at the moment, Klein," Weiss said, "But I will let you know if I change my mind."

"Very good," he said, his eyes reverting to brown, "I came to inform you that your bags have been packed, and that your containers of Dust are ready for transport at your command."

"Thank you, Klein," Weiss said, before realization struck her. Turning towards Ruby, she said, "You're going to follow me to Beacon, aren't you?"

"I fear that you wouldn't be able to stop her," Klein agreed.

"Can she fight, at least?" Weiss asked.

"Obviously," Ruby replied, pulling back her hood to reveal a young face with bright silver eyes, seemingly ordinary teeth and a wolf-like haircut, "You'll see. Trust me."


Weiss wasn't sure as to why no one had said anything about Ruby's presence on the ship, at the initiation ceremony, or during Ozpin's speech before they had been flung off the cliff, but she also wasn't sure she wanted to know. Instead, she focused on making her way through the forest, hoping that she would stumble across anyone else.


"You know that the girl in the hood wasn't part of the roster, right?" Professor Goodwitch asked.

"Yes, but I know who she is," Ozpin said simply, "And she might be of aid if She makes her move."

"Are you sure?" Glynda asked.

"Reasonably," he said, "But we'll have to wait and see."


Weiss had paused at the sight that was unfolding before her. Ruby was surrounded by Grimm, which were snarling at her but unmoving. It was at that moment that Ruby reached into her own chest and pulled out a massive red and black scythe that looked to be very mechanical in design, before she suddenly dissolved into rose petals, which began to swarm through the Grimm like water through rocks, tearing and ripping through them as if they were made of paper. Whenever the swarm stopped and reformed as Ruby, she could only watch in shock as she fired rounds into the Grimm. What was more concerning, however, was the moment in which she converted it into a rifle and seemed to holster it behind her. Grinning, Ruby pulled up her hood right as an Ursa lunged at her, swinging a massive claw that seemed to pass through her as she became nothing more than a cloak engulfing shadows and blood, with nothing but a pair of silver eyes shining within and gloves attached to parts of it.

And the shadows began to extend, piercing the Grimm as the eyes seemed to be alight in glee while the beasts howled in pain. Weiss would never forget the sight of the Grimm desperately trying to claw their way to freedom as they were dragged into the shadows of the cloak. As the silver eyes locked onto Weiss's eyes, the shadows retracted until she could once again see Ruby's face, smiling at her cheerfully.

"Oh, I've missed this!" Ruby said amiably, with not so much as a hint of the malice she had exuded so freely moments before, "Life and death! Who wins, who loses?! Heroes rising to the challenge! An endless cycle of chances and blood spilled!"

"What did you just do to the Grimm?" Weiss asked.

"I ate them," she said cheerfully, "They're mine, now."

As if summoned by such a statement, a Grimm suddenly appeared and clawed Ruby's head off, only to receive a bullet to the head from Ruby's scythe as a result. Immediately, blood and shadows began taking an unnatural shape over her shoulders before her head finally reformed.

"Yeah…" Ruby noted, "That happens." She paused, a giddy look on her face as she said, "There's a berserker in the woods! There's a berserker in the woods! Come on! We've gotta meet her!"

"A… berserker?" Weiss asked in confusion.

"Warriors fueled by their rage," Ruby said cheerfully, "This one takes power from damage, as well. Come on. It'll be fun."


Ruby seemed to get along quite well with the girl she called a berserker, whose name was apparently Yang Xiao Long, according to Ruby and corroborated by the girl, but Weiss still wasn't entirely sure what was going on, and she was completely uncertain as to what Ruby was. Still, she supposed that there was a more pressing matter than that.

That pressing matter being the Nevermore that they were battling alongside Yang and her partner Blake Belladonna while the group they had come across, Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, and the famous Pyrrha Nikos, were battling a Death Stalker.

"You could be doing more than that, Ruby!" Weiss shouted as Ruby fired rounds alongside the rest of them.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" she asked, "Look at it from my perspective. If I were to just beat it like that, you'd just rely on me for your fighting, and that's just not in my nature. Conflict, bloodshed, the dance of life and death! I give you meaning through that!"

Weiss continued casting glyphs and the like to attack the beast as it all finally clicked into place about Ruby.

Ruby, who was associated with the color red. Ruby, who was very interested in battles and conflict in general. Ruby, who could claim countless lives instantaneously. Ruby, who spoke of riding a horse and being part of a group.

"You're War…" Weiss said slowly.

"Yep," Ruby said, "And, since I serve you, but like all three of you for different reasons, I'm going to tell you that I've got a plan for dealing with the bird without me eating it. Wanna try it?"

Despite herself, Weiss still found herself agreeing to try it.