The two adventuring sisters were back on the road again, or rather on the ocean. They were sailing to Argus after their business was finished in Atlas, but a part of Ruby's mind still remained there. It was tough to forget about Weiss, the lonely dragon locked in her family's manor, or her strange new friend Penny. She didn't get a lot of chances to make close relationships, so when she did, she wanted to hold onto them as tightly as she could. Unfortunately, those two were not so easy to stay in contact with. It was just a chance meeting, but she still felt like two good friendships were being left behind in Atlas.
"Cheer up, Rubes. At least we got to talk to a dragon." Yang was right, but it didn't make her feel any better. What she wanted went beyond her previous desire to speak with a dragon. Now she wanted to help Weiss, or at least to be around her. In both a friendly way and maybe a bit more than just friendly. Realizing that she was experiencing her first crush was weird, but it was so powerful that she didn't have her usual reaction of running away from it. Rather, she wanted to run right towards it, to feel the human touch she wanted from Weiss. Or was it a dragon touch? Human-dragon touch.
The thoughts didn't leave her mind when they reached Argus. Her steps were heavy as she watched Yang put her motorcycle up in a storage locker, as if she was walking in leaden shoes. "Well, I suppose we'll be here for a couple days. At least it's cheaper here than in Atlas." She laughed, but stopped when she saw Ruby was still looking forlorn. "I know it sucks, Ruby. When you have your first crush, you feel like that's the one you're going to be with forever, even if you've barely spoken to them." Ruby sighed deeply, feeling that all too well. "Weiss seems like a cool chick too. A bit brusque, but she's in a pretty bad situation by the sound of it."
"That's what I can't stop thinking about. She's trapped there and there isn't anything we can do. It's awful!" She kicked at the air, seething with frustration. It wasn't in her nature to give up, though. There was some way to free Weiss from her fate. She just needed time to think about it. That was why after they left Argus, she wanted to go back home for a bit. She needed time in her room, with her normal comforts. That was always the best environment for her to come up with her best, most awesome ideas. She just needed some time away from adventuring, with her dad, sister, and dog. That was a recipe for major brainstorming.
"I don't want to leave her there either. It isn't right for her family to do that to her. We're just two girls, though. Doing something that reckless is way out of our depth, and that's coming from me." She laughed and wrapped an arm around Ruby's shoulders. "I'm sure we'll figure out something, though. Every time there's been a problem placed in front of you, you've solved it. As for me, I'll just..." She punched the air, grinning. "... break it. That's what makes us such a good team."
"Absolutely!" She laughed too, feeling a bit more at ease. With both her and Yang working together, there was nothing they couldn't do. 'Don't worry, Weiss. We're going to save you from your family! And then we're gonna hold hands or something.'
With that confidence buoying her, she was able to enjoy her time in Argus with Yang. There wasn't much adventuring to do there, but it was nice to take a breather, if only for a moment. Of course, it was natural that she would get restless eventually, so she and Yang took some time to go their separate ways. Rather than search for a bar like Yang was doing, she decided to take a stroll around the city. It was really nice that time of year, with autumn leaves falling around her, crunching beneath her boots. She loved breathing in the cool, crisp air and just having time to herself. Nobody else walking around bothered to look at her, which was what she wanted.
However, her preferred loneliness was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice. "So, this is where you are." She whirled around quickly, automatically pulling Crescent Rose off her back. In front of her stood a woman in a red dress. She was smiling, but there was no warmth there. It was cold and cruel, and Ruby instantly felt a chill running down her spine.
"Who are you?" She held her ground, keeping Crescent Rose at the ready. Something wasn't right, and she wasn't about to let her guard down for a moment. The woman laughed, a silky-smooth sound that still managed to wreak havoc on her calm. Her grip tightened on her weapon.
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I'm just here for something you have that belongs to me." She was slipping a long black glove on her hand as she spoke, though her eyes never left Ruby. "If you give it up quietly, I might even let you live."
"I don't have anything of yours. I don't even know you." How could she own something of this woman's if they had never met in her life? Everything she had was hers through and through. Did she want her weapon? She seemed way too menacing for that, though.
"Don't worry: you will." The woman snapped her fingers on her gloved hand, and suddenly the entire world shifted around them. Instead of the calm Argus walkways, they were now in some dark, creepy-looking realm. The ground was black and purple, oozing a liquid that was somehow blacker than the ground they were standing on. All the trees were dead, the branches curling into themselves. Everything looked so... so depressing. It was the only way she could describe what she was seeing. It chilled her to her core.
"Where are we? Where did you take us?" It was like nothing she had ever seen. Clearly, though, they were no longer in Argus. Her thoughts immediately turned to escape, but to do that, she would need to get through this woman. She needed to figure out just what in the world was going on.
"This is the Grimm Plane. The power of the Grimm is strong here... As is mine." She started walking towards Ruby, causing her to get Crescent Rose at the ready. It was clear a fight was about to happen. The woman stopped, moving her hand in a flowy, circular pattern. Suddenly, fiery rock-like projectiles appeared in the air around her. With a flick of her wrist, all of them were heading straight for Ruby, She immediately started to spin Crescent Rose in front of her, the weapon moving fast enough that it became a protective shield. All of the projectiles were blocked, but when she pulled down her scythe, the woman was running full speed towards her, a scimitar in her hand.
Yelping, she raised her scythe back up to deflect her attack, and then the two of them fell into a flurry of swordplay. The woman was relentless, a second scimitar materializing out of thin air as she whaled upon Ruby's scythe with them. While she wasn't taking any hits, she wasn't getting anywhere. They were locked in a stalemate, but apparently this woman gained power from this location. It wouldn't be long before she would lose any semblance of balance left between them. She needed to find some way to turn the tides, and like she always did in a pinch, she used her semblance.
"I was wondering when you would use that." The woman was left thrusting her swords into the air as Ruby broke free, moving like a bolt of lightning through the air. The only thing remaining that revealed she had been there at all were the rose petals scattered amongst the scarred earth. She had zoomed out behind the woman, turning on her heel and counter-attacking, her scythe ready to strike. However, when the woman turned around, she didn't bother to dodge. Instead she reached up with her gloved hand and grabbed Crescent Rose by the blade. Ruby could only stare in shock as the two of them were connected for a moment, as if this woman felt nothing. Then she ripped it out of Ruby's hands and tossed it aside.
"Pity. It seems you actually thought you stood a chance against me." Her cruel smile returned, and Ruby felt frozen beneath it. She couldn't run, though she wouldn't even know where to run to. "The maiden powers will be much better in my hands." Maiden powers? Before she could wonder what in the world those were, the woman was upon her, placing her gloved hand on her face. "Now, give me what's rightfully mine." Suddenly, she fell to her knees as a blinding, white-hot pain surged across her face.
"AAHHH! AAAAAAHHHH!" She screamed violently, thrashing around in the woman's grasp. The pain had drilled down into her body, torching each nerve ending she had. Every thought in her mind had been dispelled, leaving nothing but pure agony. Well, there was one other thought: she was going to die. This woman was going to kill her, all for some maiden power that sounded like complete nonsense. She... She hadn't even gotten to try and save Weiss...
Her ears were filled with a loud roaring, which she figured was a sign of her immediate passing. Instead, she felt herself floating, the immediate stinging removed from her face. It felt like she was moving in slow motion, everything above her white and fuzzy as she hit the ground. The sounds were all muffled now, as if a loud explosion had gone off next to her ears. She rolled herself onto her side, more by instinct than under her own power. Despite how fuzzy everything was, there was no mistaking what she saw in the Grimm Plane. It was a dragon, as white as everything else in her vision, and yet... so much more beautiful... 'Weiss...'
Whatever happened next was all a blur to her. She could hear roaring and the clashing of battle, and it made her wonder where her weapon was. Then everything changed. It was still fuzzy, but she could tell they had returned to Argus. There was a strange gray smoke fluttering into her vision, and then she was assaulted with sound. There was screaming, so much screaming. It sounded like confusion and panic. There was the flap of wings, and then she saw something yellow appear in front of her.
"Ruby!" It sounded so familiar, yet so muddied... Wait, Yang? Was it Yang? She was being lifted off the ground, and all the pain that she had temporarily lost came rushing back. Was she screaming? Probably, but she couldn't tell for sure. All she knew was the agony threatening to take her down. Then there was another voice: yet another she didn't recognize. "Follow me!" Who was it? Where were they going? She didn't know, and her strength had completely abandoned her. Her consciousness faded, a thankful escape from the pain.
She woke up in an unfamiliar room. The bed was super soft, which drained her desire to leave it. She was tucked in gently, which made everything feel even more cozy. Why did she even have to get up again? Wait, the woman! She bolted up into a sitting position, then groaned as pain rippled across her forehead. Her hands immediately went up to cover her face, massaging at her forehead to try and push the pain away. It did not work. Then a pair of hands were on her shoulders, gently pushing her back down. Slowly her hands fell from her face, and she was looking up into the extremely concerned face of her sister.
"Thank goodness you're awake!" It seemed like Yang really wanted to jump into bed and hug her tightly, but she resisted the impulse because of Ruby's current condition. "You've been out all day. We've been waiting for you to wake up for hours." We? Who was we? As much as her body resisted, she turned her head to the left, trying to find whoever else was standing over her. To her surprise, Weiss was there with a look of great relief. Now she didn't have to worry about the head pain, because her heart was likely the thing that was going to end her now.
"Weiss," she whispered, smiling softly. She couldn't remember much after Weiss had burst into the Grimm Plane in her draconic form, but she had known it must've happened. It wasn't just a delusion brought on by the intense pain she was in. She had been thinking about the next time she would see Weiss, but she hadn't expect it to be this soon, and in such circumstances.
"And Yang, your sister, who carried you all the way here." Yang rolled her eyes, though she was only pretending to be annoyed. She knew that Ruby had it bad for Weiss since the moment she laid eyes on her. Honestly, she thought Weiss was super pretty as well, but she'd never stand in the way of her little sister's potential dating prospects.
"Hey, I carried her weapon," Weiss shot back, her hands on her hips. "That thing must weigh thirty pounds! How do you even carry such a behemoth on your back?" Yang covered her mouth, but it was clear she was smirking at the tone Weiss had taken. That was when she realized what she had said, and the implications behind it. Her cheeks went red as she stammered out, trying to backtrack. "I-I mean, this isn't a competition. Who cares about who carried what, as long as Ruby's safe?"
"That's quite the turn, since you were so adamant about how you carried her weapon all the way here," Yang teased, making Weiss turn a deeper shade of red. Then the door opened, and all three of them shut up and turned towards it. Two people stepped inside. One was an older-looking man with white hair, whom none of them seemed to know but could already tell he had mountains of wisdom within him. The other was a young woman who appeared to be even taller than the already Amazonian Yang. Facing the three of them, it seemed like she had some kind of shield on her back, but they didn't need to see that to know who she was. While none of them knew who the older man was, they all knew who the woman was.
"Pyrrha Nikos?!" All three of them shouted in unison, staring wide-eyed at her. Ruby shot back up, ignoring the pain to get as good of a look as she could. There was no way the Pyrrha Nikos was standing there in the same room as they were. She was incredible! An athlete with multiple endorsements while also being the best young huntress in probably the entirety of Remnant, she was a humongous celebrity. In a way, she was like Ruby and Yang: they too killed Grimm, but that was only when they found them on their adventures. Pyrrha sought them out to try and protect the world from their evil presence. She was amazing!
"Yes, that's me..." She seemed awkward at their stunned reactions, rubbing the back of her neck and tapping her foot on the floorboards. The older man, however, wasn't going to wait for everyone to adjust to what was happening. Time was of the essence.
"Ladies, I apologize for the interruption, but what happened out there shows me that we cannot wait any longer." He tapped his cane on the ground, his eyes moving from one girl to the next. "Obviously the three of you are already aware of who Miss Nikos is. As for myself, I am Professor Ozpin. I am the headmaster of a combat training school in Vale. The reason I am here tonight is for the exact same reason the woman who attacked you was: to see you." Now he was focused on Ruby, who was now completely lost.
"Me? You want to see me? Why?" What in the world was with this day? First a woman nearly killed her over something that was 'hers', and now the headmaster of a combat school wanted to speak with her as well. When had she gotten so fatally popular?
"Because what that woman wanted from you is something that can never fall into her hands. Are you aware of the story of the Four Maidens?"
"Yeah, that's that fairytale, isn't it? Our mom used to read it to us. What does that have to do with this, though?" Yang made a good point. She had nearly been killed. What could a fairytale have to do with that? Unless that woman thought she had stolen the rights to her payments for that fairytale... What was this insanity?!
"Well, what if I told you that fairytale was real?" Well, that silenced the room. It was quiet enough that they could've heard a pin drop. Some woman attacked Ruby in a strange world of Grimm, and now fairytales were real? They were all too shocked to say anything in response, so Professor Ozpin cleared his throat. "If I may have a few more moments of your time, I shall explain what's going on." With that, he launched into a tale that defied belief. Everything he said seemed way too fantastical to exist, like he was just making it up on the spot to confuse them into some sort of trance.
"So your actual name is Ozma, and you've been on Remnant for thousands of years?" Weiss shook her head. "Pardon my hesitance, Professor, but that's impossible. There has never been a person in recorded history who has lived anywhere near that long."
"But he said that he has died. He just switches from mind to mind," Ruby responded, frowning. Trying to think too deeply on this was making her head hurt, but how could she not? What Ozpin - Ozma? What were they even supposed to call him? - was saying was honestly incredible. Magic was real, and there were maidens who held this great power within them, but the powers always chose four worthy girls whenever the previous maidens had passed. On that note... "How... can I be a maiden? I don't remember getting any special powers. Wouldn't I have noticed that?"
"Not necessarily. A maiden's power can lay dormant for many years. It is helpful in keeping you safe. The fact that Cinder was able to find you despite that..." Ozpin rubbed his chin in thought, looking troubled. "... That is troubling indeed."
"How did she even try to take these powers, though? Why would she do that? Where even were we? What the heck's a Grimm Plane?" She didn't mean to bombard him with so many questions, but her brain was desperate to get them out before it exploded. There was only so much room for them with all the pain resting in there from the attack that she was questioning.
"He said her name was Cinder, right? And that she's an agent for Salem." Weiss's response made them all fall silent. The entire tale had been fantastical enough, but hearing about Salem and what she had done, what she could do, chilled them all to the bone. Even with their skepticism over the story's truth, they couldn't believe that one woman had created all those Grimm that had been trying to kill people for... well, as long as recorded history, really. Maybe that was what the Grimm Plane was... Ruby really had been close to dying, hadn't she?
"No offense, Professor, but your ex-wife is kinda being a bitch." Ah, Yang had such a way with words. "So Cinder's working for Salem, stealing these maiden powers so she can help her gather those relics you mentioned so she can destroy the world? Okay, so the Brothers were dickbags, yeah, but I like being alive. Why would Cinder even help her? Does she have a death wish or something?"
"I suspect she hasn't been told that is Salem's plan. We were both very good at not telling each other the entire truth." He laughed solemnly, but then quickly returned to a more serious stance. "While I don't love to come to you with this news, Miss Rose, we can no longer allow you to roam around without some kind of protection. Salem knowing you're the Summer Maiden will put you in constant danger, and I cannot risk any more of your power being stolen. The power within you is the one thing protecting the relics from Salem." He took an uneasy breath, locking eyes with Ruby. "I imagine this must be quite a shock for all of you, and I can understand any concerns you might have about what I'm asking of you. Especially you, Miss Rose."
"Yeah, no kidding it's a shock. This is crazy!" Yang was pacing around the room now, running her hands through her voluminous hair. That was a bad sign: Yang would only muss up her hair if she was getting upset. "How could one person create all those Grimm? And now she's trying to kill Ruby?! What are we even supposed to do about that?! You told us Salem couldn't even be killed! How the hell are we supposed to stop her, then?!" Yang's entire aura was giving off waves of anger, and red was bleeding into her eyes. This was bad, but Ruby could barely move beyond a sitting position. She looked over at Weiss, desperately pleading with her eyes. Weiss seemed to understand, if not exactly what she wanted, and she stood proper as she spoke in an authoritative voice.
"Yang, stop." It wasn't just the authoritative voice that got Yang to stop, but the audacity of someone to even try to do so. Only Ruby had managed to properly subdue her, and that was by jumping on her back and acting like some sort of superpowered koala. This was from a girl she barely knew: a girl she was sure that she could bench press. Still, she stopped, and she listened, though her body continued to shake with helpless anger. "We're all confused here, and angry, but we cannot respond like this. Whatever this is, it involves Ruby. Don't you think she should be the one to decide her next course of action?" Woah, had Weiss just stood up for her? Even though she was in pain, Ruby wanted to throw her hands up and squeal happily. Then she realized all of the attention was on her, and she was much less excited.
"Well... Honestly, it does suck. I don't even know how to activate these maiden powers, if I even have them. Someone did attack me, though, regardless of if this all is true or not. They took me to the Grimm Plane, and I think we can all agree that was real." Yang and Weiss looked at each other, then slowly nodded. "I don't want to die, but... if I have these powers, then I should be using them to help people. Salem isn't going to stop until she has gathered all the relics, and then we'll all be dead anyway. She can't be killed, but Ozpin didn't say she couldn't be stopped. There has to be something I can do."
"That is most excellent to hear!" For the first time since they all shouted her name, Pyrrha spoke up. This time, she seemed elated, heading to the side of Ruby's bed. "I would be honored to protect and train one of the maidens. It is my destiny, after all." It was? Was she like Ozpin too, and kept dying and being reincarnated to protect the maidens whenever they showed up? That seemed really lonely, though Ruby couldn't help but feel a surge of relief knowing that Pyrrha would be protecting her. Cinder wouldn't stand a chance against a powerful huntress like her.
"Well, you're not going to protect her without me." Yang stepped up next to Pyrrha, flexing her muscles. "Ruby's my little sister, and I'm not going to let her be hunted down by some wack-jobs, no matter how powerful or real they may be." Ruby smiled brightly, feeling so much sisterly love in that moment. She wouldn't have blamed Yang for noping out of there, as even after she had pledged to help, she still wasn't sure if she believed it all. The fact that Yang was still sticking by her side made her feel even more confident about the tremendous task that lied ahead. It would be like one of their adventures! Just a lot more dangerous and serious, with a lot more lives at risk.
"And you, Miss Schnee?" Ozpin's voice knocked her out of her hopeful stupor. They all turned to Weiss, who was looking at the wall. "It is not a sign of weakness to say no."
"I'm not saying no!" she argued, though her expression was still rather downtrodden. "I just... I can't. My father would never allow me to leave Atlas when I'm not a dragon." It temporarily surprised Ruby to hear Weiss say the truth out loud, before she remembered that all of them had obviously seen her there when she attacked Cinder. Her suddenly being there as a human would have been quite the coincidence. "Even then, there would only be so much I could do. I'm sorry." She was apologizing to all of them, but her eyes were on Ruby. Seeing her so defeated twisted her heart. It wasn't fair...
"Of course, Miss Schnee. I am aware of the... attitudes of some citizens of Atlas." It sounded like Ozpin had dealt with some Atlesians, and it must've been as bad as what Weiss was going through. "Will you be alright getting back home?"
"Of course. No one here would dare stop a dragon." There was a flicker of a smile on her face, but it disappeared as she made her way out of the room. She gave the others one last look, her eyes lingering on Ruby. Then she disappeared, and the room seemed a lot colder with her departure. All of the hope that had been kindled in Ruby's heart felt like it had been immediately snuffed out. She would have to keep going, though. For Weiss. Yeah, that's what she needed to do. This was for Weiss! And the rest of the world: them too.