A Cosmic Journey

by Sleepless Elite

One minute asleep in an apartment, the next clearly not. This is no quest with a goal, no adventure voluntarily undertaken. This is a journey without acquiescence, a constant fight for survival, with the creatures of Grimm being just one problem. This is a story, now woven into that of many others, that better not end anytime soon. (SI/OC) (OC/?)

4. Chapter 2C: Reality 3

A Cosmic Journey

A/N: Hello again, SE here. As promised, immediately following the first chapter are the potential storylines this first arc and story can take. Feel free to read just one, two or all three, and there's no specific order to be had. Again, if you decide upon a preference for which choice you'd prefer all are welcome to cast their vote in the poll on my profile, which will be up for two weeks. All reviews will also be taken into account and as always any favorites or follows are greatly appreciated. See you all at the A/N at the bottom!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, all rights are owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, R.I.P.

Chapter 2C: Reality 3

Chapter Date: 08/26/19

Agony.

Before I was even conscious, the pain garnered from broken ribs and arm fractures pervaded my rest, until my consciousness restored itself quite suddenly.

"UUUuuuuggghhh." Even the act of opening my eyes felt painful, like my body was one giant bruise at the moment. 'Given exactly what I faced last night, I'm lucky I'm still in one piece in the first place. Wait a second, where am I? And what on earth is that aroma, and where is it coming from?'

Craning my neck, I looked around to find myself under a set of off-white sheets upon a very worn-down bed. Above and to the sides of me were a ceiling and walls of wood, put together to look very rustic. Off to the side of the bed on the right was a battered night table. And upon its surface, next to what looked like the tattered remainder of my clothes and wafting over to the bed, were a stack of doughy, flat circles drizzled in some kind of sweetener on a plate.

'…Why the hell are there a plate of pancakes next to the bed? You know what, I'm not gonna question it yet, I'm starving.' I reached out with my right arm, noticing for the first time that it was heavily bandaged and set in some form of rudimentary splint. So long as I didn't bend the bandaged areas though movement was still possible, so I shrugged it off and reached out to the plate.

The door took that moment to nearly bang off its hinges, and a voice shrieked, "MY PANCAKE SENSES WERE TINGLING! THIEF, PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR LEGS BROKEN!"

"HOLY SHIT!" I screamed back.

As an honest-to-God sledgehammer cleaved through the air towards my right shin, a sharp retort rang out from behind the would-be-reaper.

"NOOORRRAAA!"

The sledgehammer stopped inches away from the bone, and the girl, who couldn't have been more than more than four-and-a-half feet, twirled the blunt weapon away from the bed and behind her as she turned around towards the source of the second voice. "But Reeeeeeennnn, pancakes! MINE!"

The incrementally taller boy in the doorway sighed, bringing a thin hand up to his face. "No Nora, these are for him. Yours are still in the kitchen where I left them."

"You're right! How could I have forgotten? I guess my pancake senses are just telling me that all your pancakes are belong to me. I guess he can have this little bit though." The girl sighed and sagged like a great weight had fallen on her, then brightened up almost instantaneously. "Buuuuuttttt he's awake now, so STORY TIME! I'll be right back!"

The girl zipped out of the room, hammer and all, as the boy turned to gaze at me, an action that I wasn't really registering at the moment due to my thoughts having run into the Great Wall of Huh?

'Wait…Nora…Ren…'

Pancakes.

'…Nora…Ren…'

Hammer.

'…NORA?…REN?…'

The girl burst back into the room, hammer slung over her shoulder in one hand, a dramatically larger stack of pancakes balanced on a plate in the other.

"PANCAKES!" I shouted, my train of thought having crashed.

…

"SEE! Even he gets it!" shouted the girl over to the boy, gesturing with both arms still holding the aforementioned objects. The boy did nothing but add his other hand to join the first on his face.

Something was severely wrong with this picture, and it wasn't me being in it.

The boy, probably of similar if not equal height to my body at the moment, slowly withdrew his hands from his face to display magenta eyes highlighted by a matching streak of hair the same color by his left eye, with most of his remaining hair tied back in some form of ponytail. The sleeves of his green tailcoat came to rest at his sides against the black-and-gold patterning, with black shoes and cream-colored pants rustling with the barest hints of shuffling around. Placed by his right hip dangled a string of what looked like throwing knives. This must have been Ren.

Similarly, the girl next to him could not have been anyone but Nora. Crackling turquoise eyes and bouncing orange hair were windows to a soul of chaos. Slightly below, the pink heart on her white shirt popped against the black jacket worn over it, while matching with the pink skirt and pink and white shoes. Closing out the outfit were the fingerless gloves on her hands, along with the sledgehammer now propped up against the wall while she devoured her stack of pancakes.

It certainly looked like them. There was only one issue; they were TOO DAMN SMALL!

'I get that Nora wasn't a exactly a tall girl in the show, but I'm barely pushing five feet and I'm positive I'm noticeably taller than her. Even Ren is about equal with me, and he supposedly edges out Yang in height!'

What kind of fuckduggery was going on here?

"-worried that he hasn't responded for a while?" I caught the tail end of the girl, no, Nora's question and realized I hadn't said a word thus far beyond pancakes.

"I'm alright, I was just lost in thought." I tried to reassure them both that I was fine, save for the laundry list of physical injuries and possible chance of head trauma…ok, I could see why they'd be worried.

"Oooh, whenever I get lost in thought, I just tell Rennie whatever I'm thinking and he usually clears it all up for me! He's a wizard at this kinda stuff." Nora explained, and yes the emphasis was still required, and would be until I figured out what the hell was going on.

"I don't know if this is the kind of thing that talking with someone will help with." I tried hedging my bets.

"Blasphemy! Talking with someone is the best way to solve your problems, unless the problem is to break some legs. Besides, I've spoken with Ren on tons of crazy stuff at this point, so there's no way whatever you're thinking can top that." Nora confidently spouted.

'I really, really wouldn't take that bet.' I tried pleading with them silently, before turning to Ren, who at this point still hadn't spoken more than a handful of phrases.

"You must either be infinitely patient or a very wise child if she's calling you a wizard." I joked, while also being completely serious. 'The boy is, or will be, an avatar of tranquility. Include the fact that he was voiced by the god of gods that created this universe, and that he had been with Nora for years now, and it wasn't hard to begrudge him that much.

"How old are you exactly?" I questioned, trying to fish for whatever information I could find.

"My experience with Nora is what has given me the practiced skill of acknowledging that things are fine even while everything is on fire." Ren replied nonchalantly. "Also, Nora and I are currently twelve years old, and we have been with each other for four of those years."

My brain apparently decided it wanted to take an unscheduled vacation again, because the best I was able to reply was with a hollow "Oh…"

'…Oh dear God…twelve…but that means…'

They must've taken my silence as indication that my questions were answered, as Ren continued speaking. "As I'm sure you are wondering where you are currently, I would like to assuage your concerns prematurely. You are recovering in the orphanage of Yozakura, a village slightly north of Wind Path. You were brought here after Nora and I happened across your, fight, in the forest and saved you from the pack of Beowolves."

'Five years before canon…five years after I started watching…' I started poking at own face to see if I was against all odds dreaming, which Nora apparently took as code for 'medical check to see if face is as wrecked as rest of body,' before placing a small mirror in my lap. Slowly dragging it up towards my face, I was in for one hell of a shock. Short black hair just shy of a buzz cut laid on my head, matching the dark limbal ring around the russet brown irises of my eyes. A straight-and-narrow nose matched with high cheekbones to give my face an angular feel. Even lips narrowed at the reflection, and I turned to the side to confirm the appearance of a birthmark next to my left eye. Most importantly, however, was the fact that this face was devoid of the hard-fought maturation that came from the hellish era of puberty.

"Sorry that you got treated a little rough…and that your bandages were mostly done by us and Mother Fujiko…and that I almost broke your legs earlier." Having calmed done a minutia, Nora now seemed apologetic about her supposed role in the various actions leading to my being in this bed.

'I regressed in age equal to the time since I started watching the show, meaning I'm currently twelve right now, just like Nora and Ren and every other first year at Beacon. Except for Ruby, who's even younger at ten.'

"I understand that you have been through a harrowing and traumatic experience, but Nora and I would like to ask a few questions related to the events of last night, if only to better understand what occurred and how to prevent it from happening again." As one could expect, Ren was a pillar of calm regardless of the absolute bombs he and Nora were unintentionally dropping on me.

"Sure, I'll help however I can." I said faintly. 'Just don't ask me anything hard questions, thought processes are moving like molasses at the moment.'

"Thank you for understanding." Ren smiled, and pulled over the chair tucked in the corner of the room as he sat down. "I suppose the most prudent thing to ask first is-"

"What's your name?" Nora zipped around behind Ren's chair and did a little hop, nearly clearing Ren's head as her arm bore down on his shoulders. Remaining upright through impressive back strength, Ren sighed and then gestured back at Nora to signify his confirmation.

'Aw crap, literally the easiest question they could've asked me right off the bat but that's still one hell of an opening volley! What the hell am I supposed to tell them, my name doesn't remotely relate to a color! Ok, I need something Mistralian since I'm on Anima, with so much Japanese leaking into the show then how about this?"

"I-I'm Kouzai." Mixing being completely clueless on whether my 'name' would fly and anxiety over the situation that did not need to be faked made for a convincing wobble in my tone.

"OOhh, sounds dark and mysterious. Have a last name to go with it? Do ya? DO YA?" Nora's seemingly teleported presence from being draped around Ren's shoulders to being right at my bedside was quite disconcerting.

'Holy crap! If being a huntress never worked out for her, she'd do great as an interrogator, I almost got a heart attack from that without the threats of leg breaking!'

"…N-no, I can't remember what my last name would be here, or who or where on Remnant my family would be if I have one." Ren adopted a pensive, well, more pensive, expression as Nora leaned back from the bed with a deep frown and teary eyes. 'I feel awful about this, but it's entirely true. I have no idea if I'm me on Remnant or if I'm supposed to be someone else, someone that might already have an established history that I'm butchering as I think!'

"I see. I apologize further for exposing you to such recent trauma when your memories aren't even fully organized. So you wouldn't have any idea then how you came to be in the forest outside Yozakura?" My head shake was enough for him as he continued. "Then we can move on from that discussion to something perhaps more agreeable, or at the very least more informative."

'More informative for them or for me?'

"I'm sure you have noticed by this point, but your brief combat with the Beowolf in the forest has left you with various injuries, both internal and external. Chief among them are the broken bones and fractures to your arms and ribs, which are injuries that inhibit your movement and will do so until you have recovered. However, such a recovery will likely be multiple months for a civilian, during which time you will have to remain within the village, as permitting you to travel outside of the village would be akin to throwing you to whatever cruel entity you would encounter next, be they bandits, animals or Grimm." Nora then appeared back next to Ren and twirled her sledgehammer around her body.

"Don't get us wrong, you did pretty good by surviving that long, most people tend to freeze or run and get caught quickly. But a civvie without Aura, training or a weapon could never and should never fight a Beowolf, otherwise they'll end up like you or dead. If we hadn't gotten there in time and the full pack got to you…" Nora trailed off, her twirling stilling for a moment.

"Wait, there was a pack of Beowolves there?" I clearly hadn't been paying attention either last night or earlier when they were explaining. "How did the two of you manage to kill a pack of Beowolves? You're both twelve!"

"Oh, stop it, you charmer you…" Nora giggled as her cheeks pinked, hammer swinging back and forth dangerously close to the walls as Ren reached down to his hip.

"Nora and I both have our Auras unlocked, and have trained ourselves for years to fight the Grimm. As for weapons, Nora has her sledgehammer to provide the power," Ren then held up a number of throwing knives, "while I have my knives for range and versatility. With the two of us, we have been able to kill multiple Grimm at a time as training."

"Color me impressed, but it was still two of you against a pack of Beowolves! How did you kill all of them before the last one managed to kill me?" I watched the two of them exchange a nervous look. "What? Was it something I said?"

"What exactly do you remember before losing consciousness last night?" Ren did the talking while Nora fiddled her hands behind her back.

"Not a lot, everything was hazy at the end from the adrenaline and pain. There was the one Beowolf that I was fighting, and some howls that I guess must've been the rest of the pack, and right before the Beowolf tore my throat out there was an…explosion…of pink…"

My eyes widened, while Nora and Ren winced. Nora slowly brought her arm around from behind her, a round object in her hand. A lever with some sort of pin were sticking out of it.

"Is that a grenade?" If my voice were any flatter, it would've been sharp enough to cut through the awkwardness thick in the room.

"Heh-heh…if I said that they're special grenades that explode in clouds in pink, would that make it better? I did use them to kill a bunch of Beowolves after all."

'Well, that explains where the pink explosions came from, and how they managed to kill multiple Grimm. Still a question that bears asking though.'

"Nora, where did you get grenades to use against Grimm?"'

"Why Kouzai, I got them like I got most things; from Ren-Ren!" Nora grasped Ren's shoulders, both to highlight his presence as well to hide her smaller body behind the boy.

"…Ren, why did you give Nora pink grenades?" Ren, to his credit, did not change his facial expression whatsoever. His hands however, did twitch the slightest fraction from their folded position.

"…In my defense, they were for her birthday, and we were already training against Grimm. As for the pink…it was a custom order."

My eyes twitched. 'Dear God, it's already started. Within four years, Nora's already Nora and Ren's all but helpless in reeling her back in from her antics.

Before I could reply to that particular explanation, Nora was back at my bedside, kneeling with both arms clasped and elbows on my bedsheets. "Please please please Kouzai, don't tell anyone about the grenades!"

"Uhh, why not?" I wasn't sure why exactly they wanted to hide them, but hiding the fact that two twelve-year-olds had concealed explosive ordinance from someone seemed like a tall order. In the meantime, Ren sighed and clenched his fingers.

"It's…complicated, unfortunately. Nora and I wish to become huntsman in the future, in order to protect others from the threat of the Grimm. To that end, we train and have acquired weapons and Aura. However, the true mark of a huntsman is in their ability to combat Grimm, and to protect the lands of the kingdoms and the outside from potential harms. To that end, Nora and I have trained against Grimm outside of Yozakura in order to hone our skills. Despite our aspirations, however, Ms. Fujiko, the matron of the orphanage, is adamant against her wards risking their lives in such regular fashion. Her disapproval and vigilance has led us to doing the majority of our Grimm combat during the evening and night, a time where people are few and the Grimm are more. As such, though our skills increased correspondingly, so did the need for greater protection during our 'hunts.' For that reason, I acquired a set of custom grenades for Nora, both as a gift to her and as a method of defense for the both of us. Ms. Fujiko may not see such explanations as sufficient for owning grenades, however, forcing us, and now you, to keep such information secret."

Ren finished his explanation, and looked over at me, attempting to discern my opinion on the matter through my expression and posture.

"Hah…ok, I can understand your motivations, and I'm sure that you two would like to stay in the village, at least for the time being. I'm also not sure if spitting on my saviors and two of the only people in the village with Aura is an idea conducive to my health, so sure, I'll keep quiet about the grenades." I barely managed to wheeze out the rest of the sentence following 'sure," as Nora had sprung up from her kneeling position and was hugging me.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Ren similarly broke out into a smile, as his hands unclenched themselves.

"Yes, truly, thank you for your kindness. And as for our immediate future plans, I'm sure we can discuss those as part of them…may involve…you…" Ren trailed off as he observed Nora continuing to hug me, oblivious to my recovering ribs as I weakly lifted my fractured arms to tap sporadically at hers through a thought process becoming increasingly difficult to progress thanks to lack of air.

"…GAAAAHHH!" Air had never tasted so good as Ren gently pried Nora's arms off me. "…Ok…so, plans. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I had planned to offer you the opportunity in the first place, but as thanks for keeping Nora's, armaments, secret I would like to unlock your Aura. It would give you the ability to heal from your injuries faster, and would serve to protect you should you be accosted by any further enemies." Ren likely would've continued talking, if Nora hadn't placed her hand over his mouth.

"Enough of the boring stuff! If you train, it makes you super strong and super fast and gives you other superpowers once you find your semblance! The only downside is that we think it makes you easier to be found by Grimm since it's like being coated in your soul and emotions and stuff." Nora's hand was removed from Ren's mouth as he rubbed the faint handmark shape over his mouth.

"While Nora is not fully correct on the drawbacks of Aura, becoming more noticeable to Grimm is likely the most prominent of them. There is also the matter that individuals with unlocked Auras are required to register in the Remnant Database of Auras, but that mostly pertains to citizens within the kingdoms' purview. Those that live outside the kingdoms' borders tend to view such regulations as guidelines, to be followed should life within the kingdoms' walls be desired. Common is the situation in Anima where registering in the Database without a detailed origin of your unlocked Aura can be explained with living life on the frontier." Ren's eyes narrowed for the briefest moment when talking about the rules of the kingdoms, and I realized that he and Nora might have some underlying issues with the way Mistral ran things.

Meanwhile, I was back in my element of 'stress over two weighty and potentially lethal options'. 'Ok, life on the frontier tends to be touch-and-go for some villages if I remember. Add to that, the show never touched on where the hell Nora and Ren went to after Kuroyuri, so there's no guarantees this village will still be standing once canon gets rolling. I could move to Mistral and live there without Aura, but the possibility that Salem makes her way back around to Mistral after the failed attack on Haven is too high to go without Aura. Even if I don't get involved in their game, living on the frontier or anywhere after the Fall of Beacon will be suicide without Aura and some level of training. Alrighty then.'

"I would appreciate it if you unlocked my Aura. Though the question does occur to me, how will I know how to use it?" Nora then popped off to the side of Ren and presented him with both arms like some sort of exotic art.

"Rennie here is a whiz at Aura control, he can do all sorts of neat things with it. I can do some things too, but he's better at it!" Ren looked modest about it, but I remembered from the show that he was able to hold back a King Taijitu and its fangs by way of an aura shield on his palms.

"I am decent at controlling the flow of my Aura, and am willing to teach you what I know in order to aid in your recovery. As for what comes after, we can discuss that after I unlock your Aura." Ren made his way over to my bedside and reached out with his hand. "Are you ready?"

As I nodded, he placed his hand upon my chest and began to concentrate. I closed my eyes, knowing what was about to come as he began to chant.

"For it is in reflection that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of serenity and tranquility to rise above all others. Infinite in emotion and unbound by suffering, I release your soul, and by my power, protect thee."

There was a pulse as something powerful spread from within me. I opened my eyes and saw the slowly fading glow around Ren's body correspond to the silver glow coursing around mine. As the glow passed over the injured parts of my body, they began tingling as my skin felt tight and there were slight itches coming from my bones.

"With your Aura recently unlocked, it should be focusing on healing your wounds." Ren gestured towards my slightly squirming posture as explanation enough. Straightening up, he walked back around to the chair with Nora appearing unfazed by what had just occurred.

"Ok, the chance of having Aura reserves as deep as Jaune's was slim, but to have a twelve year old unlock my Aura without even breathing hard seems slightly offending if I'm reading this right."

"Now that your recovery has been discussed, I'm sure that Nora and Ms. Fujiko would like to know what your immediate and long-term plans are for the future." Nora's slight bouncing on the balls of her feet and the slight sparkling of Ren's eyes clued me in on exactly how interested the pair were in my potential answers.

"Well, I think that I need to stay within Yozakura for the time being, both to allow my injuries to heal and to be present in case any information on my family can quickly reach me. I guess if Ms. Fujiko would have me for a short period of time I would be grateful." I tried to answer the easiest of the three questions on my plans, mostly because my plans on the future were a conundrum wrapped in an enigma.'

'Getting pulled into Ozpin and Salem's shadow war is an almost guaranteed path to an early death. But doing nothing will result in canon progressing as seen, and letting the Fall of Beacon happen will start the process of royally screwing the world. In either case, joining either side or managing to stay out of their gambits is gonna require some serious skills for either scenario. So then the obvious choice is…'

"As for any plans, I would like to train with the two of you in order to learn more about Aura and to fight Grimm." I might've said more if Nora hadn't blurred over to my bedside with one hand outstretched in the air.

"OHMYGOSH Rennie, we finally, finally have someone else to train and talk with. Not that you aren't great and really fun to have around, because you're super fun, but having another person to come up with awesome ideas and help during our Grimm hunts is amazing!" After indulging her high-five, Nora did a little jig of a dance while Ren cracked what I'm sure was a rare smile.

"Well, I can say with certainty that Nora and I are glad to have an additional person learning and training with and from us, especially one that is of similar age to us. I must ask, however; do you have any intention of becoming a Huntsman with the skills you seek? If no, what are your plans regarding your education?"

'Damnit Ren, that's quite a hole you've dug me into.' I managed to keep an exasperated groan from escaping my lips at the admittedly well-deserved psychoanalysis I was receiving. 'If I say yes to becoming a Huntsman, it's going to be Beacon Central for me in a heartbeat. But if I say no, it'll be hard to justify training up to the level that Nora and Ren will be at. Plus, I have no idea how the education system on Remnant is run, but if Huntsman Academies are substitutes for college, then I need to explain why I won't be partaking in advanced education, or why I probably have tons of knowledge in common universal categories but am completely clueless in other more common categories.'

"I am considering becoming a huntsman once I am older, yes." 'There's plenty of ways I stay out of the group throwing themselves into the fire. If I head to Haven, or just stay out of the limelight in Beacon I should be out of Ozpin's eye. I just have to avoid making a name for myself.'

Nora jumped up, and grabbing Ren and I in her arms squeezed us into a hug. "This is GREAT! We're going to be like the Three Huntsmen from those old stories!"

Ren seemed resigned to being trapped in the embrace, his aura flaring to mitigate the crushing force. "Nora, I believe there were four huntsmen in that story."

I had no such protections though, and my face was returning to that familiar shade of blue. "Air…."

After Ren once again pried us out of Nora's grasp, he said, "Well, all of this is dependent upon your recovery, so we can put off such discussion for now and let you focus on that. It would most likely be good for you to…"

Hearing him trail off, I looked toward the side of my bed where the stack of pancakes was. Was, as in, they were all gone somehow. Two sets of eyes, pink and brown, trailed over to a nervous set of teal.

"…When?" sighed Ren.

"How?" I wanted to ask the more important question.

"Weeeeellll, you were taking too long talking, so the pancakes would've gotten cold." Nora shuddered. "I was just doing you a favor, now Ren will make you fresh ones!"

I deadpanned at her for a good ten seconds, before looking over at a now perpetually sighing Ren. 'Seriously, his lung capacity must be godly.'

"Very well then. I will make a fresh batch of pancakes that only Kouzai will eat, in peace. Kouzai, you can remain here and rest while I return to the kitchen and Nora will accompany me and watch me make pancakes without eating any." Ren slowly walked out of the room, followed by a dramatically tearful Nora with cries of "Noooo…"

As the door closed, I waited a moment before releasing an explosive breath and sagging back down onto the mattress.

'Ok, this means I've got a total of about six years until the Fall of Beacon where everything starts going to shit. More importantly though, that means I've got six years to figure out a way to get home. I feel terrible for this universe, especially since it's clearly real, but I've got a life waiting for me on Earth. I just need to figure this out…' I couldn't move my fingers like I wanted, so I settled for drawing imaginary words and lines in the air with my mind, an old thinking habit of mine.

'Ok, there are four general possible ways I ended up here. Let's sound 'em off.'

'First is that something from Remnant pulled me here, like the Relics or some experimental form of Dust or semblance. To get back, I'd need to utilize those same methods and figure out how to reverse the effects. Putting aside the difficulty of the latter two as finding a grain of sugar in a shaker full of salt, the Relics are zealously guarded by Ozpin and the Inner Circle. The only way I'd ever be able to access the Relics and find out which ones have the power to get me home, was if I was either invited to use them or if I stole them. One involves the promise of fulfilment presumably after a lifetime of service in Ozpin's war, and the other promises certain death from Ozpin and crew, if not Cinder if I ever actually manage to steal them. The other two are equally if not more impossible, since it'd take years and years of research to find the particular dust or semblance responsible for this, and years more to reverse the process. That's time, and likely intelligence that I do not possess.'

'Second is that someone from Remnant pulled me here. The only possible people who could so severely break the universe like that are Salem and the Brother Gods. Asking Salem for anything would either lead me to a swift death, or get me pulled into her side to be used against Ozpin, both of which are unacceptable. Considering the Brother Gods is an exercise in futility, as the only official way to bring them back is to get the Relics, already established as impossible. The only other explanation is that one or both of them are present on Remnant, which also doesn't work given that they would've already heard me by now and hopefully whisked me out of Remnant, so all options here are inapplicable.'

'Third possibility is that something from Earth put me here, but again, figuring out science for Remnant would take a level of time and intelligence for learning that I don't have the luxury of. Not to mention I would be playing the most rigged lottery game ever, waiting for the conditions on Earth to match how I ended up on Remnant in the first place.'

'Last and certainly least is that someone from Earth placed me here, and it's by far the most impossible. If someone, be they mortal or deity, had the ability to rip a person out of one universe and put them in another, the fact that I'm here now means that whoever did so meant for me to be here and isn't going to be bringing me back. Assuming in the most unlikely of scenarios that this was done by accident, whoever did so would've already brought me back. Barely worth mentioning is that there might be two or more individuals out in my universe capable of this, but the idea that they haven't already fixed this cosmic failure seems indicative of their acceptance.'

'Overall, I'm stuck here for the very foreseeable future, and at the very least until the overarching plot of RWBY comes to pass, including the part where Salem gets beaten that I'll likely never get to watch. Live through, maybe. That being said, so long as I don't get myself put on the game board as a piece for either Ozpin or Salem, there's nothing stopping me from setting the cast up in a better position than in canon. My existence in this universe has already started the butterfly effect to change things, so making a few more small ones won't hurt. If I plan this out right, leading the cast to get stronger or smarter, or maybe throw an anonymous wrench into Salem's plans, should raise my overall chance of getting through this whole mess and making it back home. To do that, I need to get my complete bearings of what I'm dealing with here, time period and people and all.'

I blinked for the first time in probably minutes and began to reach for my clothes as the door opened again and Ren walked backed into the room carrying a steaming stack of pancakes, followed by a still tearful Nora who might or might not have been crying out the same 'No' as before. 'Does having Aura substitute the need to breathe or something?'

As he set the plate down, I began to dig in, taking in the ambiance of Nora and Ren's conversation as the enormity of the circumstances sunk in. Still weighing in the back of my mind was all I was about to leave behind, but that life could be glanced upon if circumstances were dire and I needed to see my phone.

'Five years, huh? It's a long time, and yet not…here we go though.'

TIME REMAINING UNTIL START OF CANON: 5 YEARS

A/N: Woah, quite a bit longer than the first chapter, huh? It really makes a difference when you actually have time to think or have more than one person in a conversation. I plan on making my chapters around this long, don't wanna go too far over though otherwise it'll feel a little packed. As for the structural bits, I'm fleshing out a bit more of the narrative style that I hope to carry on in subsequent chapters, especially that narrow-viewed, unreliable narrator nuance that I feel adds depth and complexity to a story such as this.

Onto the more technical stuff then. Hopefully I've portrayed Nora and Ren in at least a slightly realistic manner compared to canon, but if you feel that I'm not feel free to inform me about it. As for any original information, I'll try and keep it light on any additional OCs and only add information when I think it'll sync up with existing information about Remnant and canon. In terms of Aura and its drawbacks, I've taken some inspiration from writers such as Coeur and Imyoshi on some of its broad concepts, like what "manifestation of one's soul" really means and why the kingdoms don't have scores of individuals with unlocked Auras. Moving on from that though, the countdown arc begins next chapter, and I've got plenty of ideas for this storyline, so keep your eyes peeled for any announcements or updates. I may have a preference on which poll choice I'm partial to, but I'd really enjoy writing each of the selections available. Thank you again, and I'll be back shortly with updates.

-SE

Next Chapter Date: 09/16/19