Ruby's silver eyes were the size of dinner platters as the last video diary ended. She had learned about this world's history, the history of this planet that was called Earth.
She had listened and watched the video diaries that Aloy, the girl from her dreams had made. She learned about her childhood, and her heart broke. The fact that such a painful burden was put onto a little girl for something that she had no control over. Ruby learned about the Massacre at the Proving and Rost's sacrifice.
She learned about the journey that Aloy had embarked on for answers, about Sylens. And that he helped her out of his own interest in the truth of this world.
But what really broke her heart was Aloy learned… about the truth. About how one man caused a chain of events that would lead to the death of the world and one woman's insane plan for the rebirth of the world. Project Zero Dawn.
There was something…darkly fascinating about the whole thing. It was something that Ruby couldn't even fathom happening on Remnant. She knew that Salem was the biggest threat but even she and her Grimm hordes were twisted forms of organic life.
She learned about the Lightkeeper protocol, which was how Aloy was born. A clone of the woman who spearheaded Zero Dawn, Elisabet Sobeck, and of the mission that she had been born to do. Reunite GAIA with her subprotocols, which seemed like it was far easier said than done.
Ruby took in all the information that she had learned as she took stock of all of Aloy's supplies. It had been days since she first come to the basecamp and she had accepted that now Aloy was… probably on Remnant.
She didn't have any plan or any guesses of what to do beyond doing her best to complete Aloy's mission. "I know that this isn't truly my fight… but I don't know what else to do… so I'll do everything I can to complete the mission that Elisabet and GAIA gave you. That's all I can do, Aloy."
Her mind turned to her friends and her family. She had to figure out a way to get back to them. The Huntress had to find some way to get back to them, to get back to Qrow, to Yang. Ruby forced her breathing to slow down as she thought about it.
Whatever whammied her and caused her to end up in Aloy's world… on Earth had probably caused Aloy to end up on Remnant. That just solidified Ruby's initial idea and she hoped that by rebuilding GAIA in Aloy's place that this would allow her to go back to Remnant… to reunite with her family.
She decided that she'd set out for the world above tomorrow as she settled down for the night.
"Salem can't be killed… you all heard her, right?" Yang struggled to keep her anger in check as the other two members of team RWBY stayed silent. Shock and anger were on their faces. Aloy's eyes were wide as she took in all the information that… Jinn had shown them all. That there had been two Gods, one of Light and one of Darkness who hadn't just been unprovable and abstract concepts like the Nora's All-Mother and the Banuk's Blue Light. They had been as real as the five people in front of her.
They had been all-powerful, but they weren't all-knowing, and they had been fallible. The only thing that Aloy found herself agreeing with Salem about was that even the Gods weren't infallible. She had seen that with the Nora and their beliefs. She had seen it with Sylens and the founding of Eclipse. But most importantly, she had seen it with Ted Faro and all the mistakes that had led to the necessity of such projects like Enduring Victory and Zero Dawn.
She heard a snap and saw the older man send Oscar into a tree with a punch before his hand spasmed into a claw and then another fist.
She heard his gruff voice growl before her attention turned to finding a trail because right now survival came before anger and rage. Aloy moved away from the group a little way before she managed to find a trail despite the ground being covered by thick snow.
She heard her unexpected companions start to become anxious and worry mixed with anger entered their voices. "Guys, I found a trail. We need to get a move on. Based on the Sun's rays it'll be dark soon, and I doubt any of us wants to be stuck in the cold!
The five turned to her as each processed what she said. Yang's eyes flared red, and she let out a growl. [I don't know why you think you-]
Aloy cut her off with a hand. "Enough! I know that don't have the same ties to this world, and this fight that you do but I do know what it's like to come from a world that's died and been reborn! If we don't move, we die. And I swear upon the Old Ones that I haven't fought and bled the way I have just to die in the cold in a strange world that's not my own! Not when I have my own fight to finish!"
Aloy snarled at Yang. Her eyes burned even as she fought off a shiver. "Now, I understand better than most that all of us will need to process this. But right now, we have more important things to worry about."
The Seeker turned on her heel and started to walk down the trail that she found without even waiting to see if they would follow her.
"She's right… we can worry about it once we're out of the cold," Blake whispered as she handed Oscar Ozpin's cane.
That stirred everyone else into reluctant action.
As the six of them walked down the trail, Qrow began to slowly push his way forward until he was silently walking next to Aloy. Her five companions' moods were dour and black as they walked even as the sky itself darkened. Aloy noticed that while everyone else was unaffected she was struggling to hold off the shivers that went through her body as she walked.
Finally, after hours of walking through the snowbound forest, they found where the path ended. The structure was a small one-story house with a smaller storage shed a few footsteps away. Qrow didn't even spare the room a glance before he entered the bedroom, and they all heard the door slam.
Aloy couldn't explain why, but this entire place made the hair on the back of her neck stand up and set her on edge. Something about it just felt wrong… unnaturally wrong.
She forced the feeling down but was hoping that it was just her instincts being overactive at her pending first night in a different world. They had never failed her before, yet she knew that they wouldn't survive a night in the frigid forest.
Yang and Weiss went outside to investigate the shed while Blake and Oscar moved into the kitchen to see if there was anything that could be salvaged as far as food.
"Not exactly comfortable but it's out of the elements which is good enough." Aloy thought to herself as she pulled everything that she thought could be used as bedrolls and piled them on the floor of the main room before she unslung her bow from her back and removed her sling from her hip before establishing a small area in the corner for herself.
The Seeker knew that they were all preoccupied and had things on their minds. Whether because of what they had learned about Salem from the Relic or because they were occupied with thoughts of Ruby. She knew that Yang was Ruby's sister from what she said in the first moments they knew each other but she wasn't sure of the relationship the rest of them had with Ruby.
Once the main living area was at least… conducive to living again she turned her attention to making a fire. Aloy went to her bow and pulled out two arrows before going over to the fireplace and visually inspecting the wood.
The fireplace hadn't been cleaned in some time and it appeared its last pieces of firewood had been halfheartedly scattered in the ashes as it was put out for the night.
"Well, this isn't usable," she grumbled as she took the charred pieces out of the hearth and put them to the side.
[Any way I can help?] A soft voice asked as Aloy looked up and saw Blake leaning against the frame where the main room met the kitchen. The black-haired girl's cat ears were flat against her head.
"We need fresh firewood; do you think you could chop some?" Aloy asked and Blake nodded.
As she started to walk towards the door Yang opened it and looked at the Lamp that rested on Blake's hip.
[Blake, give me the Relic. I have one more question to ask.] Yang muttered.
[But it's the last question this century…]
[I'm aware, but I need to know… please...?] Yang almost whimpered as Blake sighed and held the Lamp out.
[Alright... I think I know what you're going to ask.] Blake said as she handed the Relic over and Aloy's gaze moved between the two.
"Wait, what are you going to ask?" Aloy asked but Yang waved her off.
[Jinn, I have one final question for you.] Yang whispered as the Lamp floated into the middle of the room.
Once again, blue smoke poured out and the ethereal form of Jinn materialized. [Well, twice in one day for two different questions. What kind of question do you have, Yang Xiao Long?]
[My sister, will I ever see her again?] Yang asked with a very faint hint of nervousness.
Jinn considered the question before nodding lightly.
[Such questions of the future have been asked before and only the future can answer can truly as the events unfold. However, that doesn't mean that I don't have an answer for you. You both have long journeys ahead of you that must be completed and they will take some time. The road to returning her to her natural place has not yet been severed, yet the odysseys have just barely begun. Your love and worry for your sister are that of a mother's, but your heart knows that she will not rest until she is with you again. In the past you have also felt a mother's pride for your sister so have confidence in her now as you step forward on your own journey. Know that she is alive and well, just as the stranger that stands beside you is. Does that satisfy you?]
Yang nodded slowly and Jinn gave a small smile. [Then with my last question used its time I slumbered.] Jinn faded away as the Lamp fell onto the ground, unusable for another hundred years.
Time resumed as Qrow opened the door. [Well, I found the owner of this place.] He muttered while Blake picked the Lamp up and attached it to her hip.
The owner had died in their sleep and… not been found. The only ones to not turn green were Aloy and Qrow as they moved the corpse outside and into the shed to cremate tomorrow.
Once that macabre business was completed and brief last rights were given, Qrow turned to Aloy. [It's long past time that you explain yourself. Who are you, where you came from, and what happened to you?]
"That's fine. let's get a fire going and I'll explain," Aloy whispered and the older Huntsman nodded.
Ruby had managed to finally find the open sky of the strange and unfamiliar world that she was stuck in. It wasn't the easiest thing to do while her limbs ached and Crescent Rose felt like a heavy metal weight on her back.
The Huntress hadn't noticed immediately, probably because of all the stress and adrenaline that had been coursing through her but now that she finally had time to breathe, and properly investigate, she had noticed that her entire body felt like she had just gotten hit by a dump truck.
Once she had woken up on her first full day in this world, she had found several pieces of weaponry that she hadn't noticed before. Other than the spear, she had found a device that attached to her wrist that looked like a slingshot but upon experimentation, she had discovered that it shot wires out of it that could anchor into two points.
Using a few pebbles as tests had yielded interesting results. One of the wire types had flat out blown the pebble apart while the other two caused sparks and flames to fly.
One looked like a giant sack that spat flame out akin to a flamethrower, one shot a high-speed ice spike into the wall before exploding violently, and the third shot balls of electricity.
"Well, these weapons are certainly awesome, can't complain about that at least," Ruby muttered as she adjusted the bandolier that rested across her chest.
The pouches that had been put on the table by Aloy now rested either on her hips or around her waist using the sewing skills that she learned from Yang to create loops for them using some of the leather she had found
Since her Dust ammunition was now inert and useless, she had left all of it on the table in favor of the Chillwater, Blaze, Sparker, and Metalburn which was attached to her bandolier where the ammo for Crescent Rose had gone.
She had found a rappelling hook amongst Aloy's supplies which was put into her backpack and set to the side.
That had just left her with two issues. The first was that the animal skins that Aloy, and then Ruby had been resting on was goatskin stitched on top of boar skin with another layer of goatskin as a blanket.
After giving some thought to the matter, she realized that she could use a part of her cloak to create a short-term solution until a more permanent one could be found. Ruby wrapped the skins together as tightly as she could before she ripped the entire bottom of her cloak off and wrapped it around the furs before tying multiple knots into it.
For now, it would suffice and she would be able to carry it just above where she normally carried Crescent Rose.
Crescent Rose was the other, more sizeable issue. Her limbs and body still felt really heavy and her precious weapon, which she had been able to wield with ease, was now pressing against her back painfully and she was barely able to hold it.
As she forced herself to sit down, trying not to let the pain in her limbs overwhelm her she came to a very painful realization. Not one that was physically painful but was instead emotionally painful.
She realized that she'd probably have to take Crescent Rose apart and repurpose the parts. She didn't want to do it, she really didn't, but she could barely lift, much less use it and that was a serious liability.
Ruby knew her High-Caliber Sniper Scythe inside and out so if she was really going to do this, she knew what parts she could repurpose and what would have to be discarded. She knew she could take it apart here but that would just create a whole host of potential issues which would just create a headache for her.
She couldn't help but start to think of new ideas and ways that she could adapt Aloy's weapons into a design that combined Crescent Rose with her own.
Once all of Aloy's supplies and weapons had been comfortably managed and the tension in her body had faded to a dull throb Ruby's attention turned to the top of the sinkhole that she was at the bottom of.
The city that surrounded her was very reminiscent of Mountain Glenn. Unlike that abandoned city which was gray and sealed away from the world, this one was open to the sky and overgrown greenery pervaded from the buildings which were densely packed.
After stepping back to get a better look she saw that she could slowly work her way upwards and out onto the surface so that was the next thing that she set out to do.
They were her first real steps on her new journey in the new world that she found herself in.
"And that's how I ended up here. I believe that you all know the rest of the story from there," Aloy told them as she finished telling her story.
She had told them everything even as darkness claimed the inside of the cabin while the flickering fire kept it at bay inside. She told them about her childhood with Rost and the training he had given her, the Proving Massacre and the beginning of her journey, her entry into Carja lands and going to Meridian, Meeting Sylens and their hunt for the past, her true origins, her travel through The Cut and her run-in with HEPHAESTUS and CYAN, the Battle of Meridian, and finding Elisabet's body.
None of the others spoke for a while as they absorbed her story. Yang's eyes had shifted from lilac to red as her hands curled into fists while Blake, Weiss, and Oscar were lost in their own thoughts. Qrow's first words had been a soft series of curses before he sat back onto the couch.
[It… just seems… so hard to believe,] Weiss muttered as she stared at Aloy with wide eyes.
[I-I mean… in a way it's not that dissimilar to the history of Remnant. Both of our worlds died and were reborn.] Blake said softly as she avoided looking at anyone.
Yang tried to form words, but she just ended up making some nonsensical noises before she just sighed and folded her arms.
[I… think it'd be best if we slept on this. I know I'm the youngest but… we all have had a long day.] Oscar finally said as he looked at the group and slowly got nods from each of them.
"I'm going to stay up for a while… if that's alright. I'm used to not getting much sleep." Aloy said as she moved a chair by the window and then a second one before unslinging her bow, sitting down, and resting her weapon on her lap while she put her feet up.
As the rest of the group settled down for the night, she turned her attention to the dark, snowbound forest. Her green eyes were vigilant in case any Grimm decided to emerge.