There can be neither today without yesterday nor tomorrow without today- Kim Jong-un


He arrived early; a small backpack as well as his cane and hat beside him as he waited at the airport. It was surprising how no one had recognised him yet, after all he was the most notorious criminal in Vale.

As the minutes ticked by and the morning crowds thinned somewhat he was approached by a guard; hand on his cane he spoke up "Can I help you officer?"

"Yes Mr Torchwick, your flight is now boarding, if you would follow me I shall lead you to the plane"

As he stood up and followed the guard he was lead into a side passage and out to the hangars where he was lead to a smaller cargo plane nested in a closed hangar. As the officer left with an extra few Lien in his vest's pocket Torchwick approached the plane and was met with a few men who were hauling cargo inside the open back compartment.

"Gentlemen?" the men turned to look at him "Could you tell me where the pilot is?"

One man put down a parcel and opened his coat, withdrawing a picture he compared it with Torchwick's face before nodding and walking over "Yeah, that would be me. You're Torchwick right?"

"Yes, I was told that you would have a parachute and some kind of box for me?"

The man walked to the side before returning with a box around the size of his bag and told him to put his stuff in there "We'll attach a parachute once you're done, as for you…" he thought before turning to one of his comrades "Oi, get me a parachute from the lockers will ya!"

One man went off to get the chute as the pilot looked back to Torchwick "I assume you've read some stuff on how to use a parachute yeah?"

"Well I have parachuted once before but that was a while ago. Mind reminding me of how it all works?"

"Alright, I'll have to be brief though" He walked over to the side and took out a jumpsuit like he was wearing" This thing right here is a wind-proof jumpsuit, you'll wear it over your clothes so none of them get tangled with the parachute. We have no helmets so a cloth one should do, just make sure to tie it on nice and hard" He took out a watch-like device from his hip "this here is your altimeter, it tells you how high you are. You should be pulling it at around 3,000 or so meters although for your information the absolute minimum it will be able to deploy and save you from splatting against the rocks at is about 700 meters" He looked to the side and continued "Just so you know our job is to get you above the area, what you do next is up to you and if you land poorly and break a leg or something that is not our issue. Got it?"

"Yes, yes" Replied Torchwick nonchalantly

"Anyway, here's your parachute. Get the jumpsuit on and I'll fit it for you"

As Torchwick put the rather uncomfortable thing on and zipped up the front the pilot headed behind him and helped him put the heavy thing on. As the last buckle snapped into place he was handed a set of goggles and told to put them on after dropping. Following the pilot he then climbed into the back and waited, his crate being thrown in with him.

Just as he was getting comfortable one of the other men walked up to him and handed him a small bag to hang on his chest "Survival Rations" was the only explanation he got as the propellers began to whine. He certainly preferred to travel by bullhead due to it being near-silent but in this case the louder, civilian option would attract less attention to him.


Ruby sat up once again, her drowsy eyes slowly adjusting to the light before realising; she wasn't in her bed. She looked around to see the place where she'd met that weird man who gave her a tattoo, 'He was called the outsider or something, right?' thought Ruby as the man in question emerged from behind one of the dark obsidian rocks.

"Hello again Ruby, the last few days have been a blur, have they not? A war won in a day and yet you chose not to use my gifts. Might I ask why?" he said in his usual distant voice

"Erm.. I suppose I just don't know how to use them or what they do"

"Is that so…" thought the being "I suppose I'll assist you in that" He waived his hand and a swarm of rats suddenly began to appear, Scurrying over the side to bunch up and slowly form into the shape of a woman, as the colours became less blurred and her form became more complete Ruby recognised her as the cleaner lady who looked after her for a few days before her initiation.

"Hello dearie" said the old woman, no longer dressed in overalls she looked quite aristocratic if only you ignored the dirt and dried blood smeared on her garb.

"Hello Vera, would you mind teaching Ruby about her new abilities?"

"Of course my lord! I would be most honoured"

Ruby stared at the two and asked "Wait, how are we going to do that here? I mean this is just a stone slab in the middle of nowhere!"

"Well Miss Rose, you see this is my realm. It is as I desire" he waved his hand nonchalantly and the bed grew back into the black rocks, the obsidian they stood on began to move; changing shape and colour until a great mansion stood before them. It was old though: the glass was broken the doors wide open, and mould everywhere.

Ruby looked back to see the man gone but shuddered when a cold hand touched hers "Come dearie, I have much to teach you…

As they walked up the shattered stairs and entered the pavilion Ruby noticed something; the doors weren't just open, they had been torn from the hinges, claw marks covering their once white and gold surface. Nevertheless they kept walking until they entered a long hall, decorated with tapestries and paintings; some torn, some still intact and a few overturned shelves forming broken and rotting barricades. While banners depicting two gold moons floated on the wind which came through the broken windows.

Finally they entered a wide room. There were no doors to stop them as the only thing left were splinters hanging off loose, rusty hinges. "Well dearie, make yourself comfortable" Said the old woman pointing at the table in the middle. Oddly it had no damage done to it, the candles were still lit and the chairs were comfortable and clean.

"Erm…" Hesitated Ruby "How should I refer to you?"

"Just call me grannie" Spoke the old lady as she sipped some tea from a cup "Come dear, have some tea, I had the butler brew it fresh for us"

Ruby looked down and indeed found a pot of steaming tea and sugar cubes on a platter beside her. She took a cautious sip but found the tea to be alright and kept drinking "So grannie… The man said you would train me in these powers?"

"Well of course dearie" replied the woman through sips of tea "I must know what powers you have first though"

"How would I do that?"

"Just close your eyes" as Ruby closed them she continued "Now think of your hand… Yes, now think of the black symbol on it. Look deep into it and tell me what it says"

Ruby thought to the mark and suddenly she saw it. It was like a list, a list of her powers; she knew what they meant…

"It says…" she began before she felt a hand on her head

"Hush dearie, I can see it. Now open your eyes" the voice commanded

Ruby opened her eyes to find herself in a new place. No, it was the same as the mansion they used to be in but now there were people here, they walked around, cleaning and chatting except for one woman that stared right at her "Yes, this is what I looked like at one point. I find this form much more to my liking; no aches, no pains, it's as if I am young again"

"Grannie, is that you?" asked Ruby

"Yes, now that you have accessed your powers you can see this place for what it was once"

"Grannie, these people are staring at me. Perhaps we should leave?"

The woman frowned but clicked her fingers, causing the mansion to return to its devastated state. She walked over to Ruby and handed her a small stone "Take this and bite your thumb" she ordered in her now raspy voice

"Wait, what?" questioned Ruby "W..why would I need to do that?"

"To make a link with the object, I suppose once you get better at it you won't need this step; just a bit of concentration"

With some reluctance Ruby bit her thumb and as warm blood started to drip from the small cut she put the finger on the stone; slowly dying the mossy surface red.

"Yes, now throw it somewhere" Ruby tossed the stone on the table "Alright, now close your eyes, concentrate and try to find the stone. In response to a nod from Ruby she continued "Now, imagine yourself teleporting to the stone"

Ruby let out a yelp as she ended up with one foot on a plate and the slippery thing flew out from under her, leading her to clash down onto the cutlery. Ruby stood up with a groan to find herself to be right beside the bloody stone, as she picked it up to look over it once more it suddenly turned to ash, covering her gloved hand in soot.

"Congratulations Ruby" said the old lady as she helped Ruby down "Now take a piece of cutlery and try to push some of your mana…. I mean aura into it. Done? Alright now do the same as you did with the stone"

Now Ruby tossed the knife at a chair on the other side of the table and with a thud confirmed a good hit, closing her eyes she concentrated on the knife, it was easy since it was the only aura she could sense in the room and soon enough she was sat in that very chair to some applause from the old woman "Granny, how come you don't have an aura signature?"

The woman paused to think for a moment before replying "I'm afraid that's between me and the black-eyed-one dearie, now just out of interest does every human on this world have an aura?"

"Well yes, so do the Faunus"

"Alright, in that case I shall give you some advice before we part. Your blood is unique to you, your Aura isn't, it may be worth using blood in crowded areas where the signature may be muddled up, and believe me, you don't want to accidentally teleport INTO a human. But anyway dearie, my black doggies are coming for dinner and so I think it's time for you to go. I shall see you next night!"

And with that Ruby shuddered and fell back into the void.


Falling was not usually a thing Roman Torchwick enjoyed. Of course it was something that allowed him to escape cops and whatever many times but as he fell this time it was genuinely exuberating. As the wind roared past his ears he looked at his altimeter '2000 meters' read the scale as the arrow slowly turned anti-clockwise. He had asked the gentlemen above him to have the crate's parachute open at about 1500 meters and as he neared that distance himself he put a finger through the ring and pulled. For a few seconds he still fell as the parachute unfurled and the trees below him grew but eventually he felt a tug on his body showing that the parachute had opened.

As he glided down he aimed for the beach he zig-zagged to the sand only to be suddenly blown forward by the air, as he struggled to regain control he briefly forgot to hold the landing posture and was rewarded with significant pain in his ankle as he fell back and on his arse.

He took off the harness and jumpsuit with some pain and hid them in a hole he scraped out in the sand. Looking up he saw his cate descend and land about 100 meters away from him. As he shambled over and began to equip his pack and cane he heard a growl from the trees. There he was met with red eyes staring at him as he stopped trying to mask the crate and stood face to face with a Beowulf.

Putting a hand on his cane he pulled it up and was about to take the shot before he heard the rumble of an engine, the Beowulf also turned only to have its head blown off but a crack in the distance 'Oh shit' Thought Roman as he doubled his efforts to bury the crate and chute before whatever had shot it could arrive.

Sure enough an APC crashed through the vines and onto the beach, a few armed soldiers coming over to check on the Beowulf. No one had noticed him yet, but in that moment Roman had a streak of brilliance hit him "Help!" He shouted at the soldiers and lay down. Immediately two ran over to him and yelled back "You alright there sir?!"

"No, I sprained my ankle and thought I was a goner when I saw that Beowulf"

"Don't worry sir, you're goanna live you get me? Doc, get over here, we have wounded!"

Another man ran over, a white patch on his arm signifying him as a medic and looked over his leg "Don't worry sir, it's just a sprained ankle" before ordering the others "Oi, Redford, help this man into the APC. I'll cover"

As Roman was helped in and had his cane and rucksack swung onto the top. As the orders were given for the driver to head to Warsawa or something an officer asked him "Say, what were you doing here?"

"Well, I'm a hiker see" replied Roman

"A hiker eh?" thought the man "And could I ask you why you chose not to use the safer trails a little further back?"

"Well…" Thought Roman "I wanted to try something new, I mean I've done those trails before"

The man paused to think before suggesting "Look sir, we're going to get you back to Warsawa and you can go from there. Please don't use wild trails; I mean you don't even have a weapon! If we hadn't been there you'd be dead!"

"Look soldier, I can take care of my self" interrupted Roman before being overturned by the officer

"No, unless you can actually do something with that stick of yours or you're a Hunter/Overseer I doubt you could do shit back there" berated the man "Look, just don't do that again alright. We don't need any more statistics"

As the APC drove further and further from his landing site Roman breathed a sigh of relief, perhaps he could do this without bloodshed after all.


Hey y'all, hope you enjoyed this latest chapter, tell me what you liked in a comment and all that.

Now I'll be focusing purely on fixing the spelling and formatting errors in earlier chapters so don't expect any new ones for a while.

Bye