Hello again readers, Silva here with the first official chapter of "The Cursed Rose".

This took me a while to write, most of it coming together today. I have no idea how long its going to take between updates, but I'll try to get them out every one to two weeks. I'm going to keep the updates at 2,000 words or more. I feel as though I have revealed a lot more than I should have this chapter, but this will not be a short 10-15 chapter story. I want to have this one going for at least 30 chapters before I say goodbye and move on to my next project.

With that said I'd like to say that I'm having trouble deciding what pairings I'm going to ship. I'd like to enlist your help, I have a poll up on my page with the three I'm thinking about most. One is my OC and one of the girls with the other two being the most popular shippings: Whiterose/Bumblebee or Ladybug/Freezerburn. Read, R&R, and go vote.

Chapter 1: Ruby Rose

ENJOY!

Ruby Rose was a young, cheerful girl who had very few enemies; though she didn't have many friends either. Many people thought of her as a dork, loner, and just downright weird. She was ostracized by everyone; with the exception of her sister and three others.

Her sister, Yang Xiao Long, was the complete opposite of her. Whereas Ruby preferred being in solitude, tinkering with her weapon, and talking to it; Yang was the party girl. She loved being in the spotlight, and did everything she could to keep it that way. Only Ruby and her closest friends knew the real reason she did that.

Ask anyone in Signal and they would tell you Yang was extremely protective of her little sister. Anyone that picked on her would later have a talk with Yang, which usually involved flames, voices and, occasionally, fists. The offender would be let off with a few bruises, and other minor injuries, easily healed by their aura; unless they made her cry, meaning a trip to the infirmary and Yang's visit to the headmaster's office. Which explained her present predicament.

"Yang," the headmaster removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the oncoming headache. "How many times have you been in this office?"

"I dunno… I lost count after five-hundred twenty three." Despite giving off the impression of being brutish and bull headed, which by even her own account was accurate, she was quite intelligent.

"Yang, that's the third kid you've sent to the infirmary in as many days." He said.

"Not my fault they like making Ruby cry."

He sighed. "Yang…"

"Yes, Uncle?"

"You do realize Ruby can take care of herself, don't you?" he asked rhetorically, already knowing the response that was to come.

"And you do realize that I am her overprotective older sister, right Qrow?" She snapped back. Her eyes flashing red.

And so they followed the routine script of Yang's usual visit to Headmaster Qrow's office. They both knew the conversation by heart at this point, for they have said the exact same words in the exact same tone and moved the exact same movements of the past thousand meetings.

Soon enough the script ran out and they were left sitting in silence. Usually, Yang would leave his office at this point, but there was something that held her back.

Finally Qrow broke the tension, "You know, you're lucky that you have just over a week left at Signal, otherwise you would never be allowed to graduate." Qrow said as he leant back in his chair.

Yang didn't respond, choosing instead to study a chess board on the corner of Qrow's desk. After a few minutes she sighed and said, "Uncle, don't be ridiculous. We both know protecting Ruby is more important than me graduating."

"Unfortunately, you're right. I just wish that we didn't have to do all this."

"Yea, but we can't have them finding out about her yet, otherwise we waste the time given to her by mom."

Ruby was alone in one of her hiding spots, again. Everyone she could've been hiding from had already left for the dorms, seeing as curfew was about to go into effect. She had no worries about being caught, since every guard knew of her habits and never spared the girl a second thought. That and she was hiding in a tree.

The redhead was doing one of the things she loved most, sketching the falling sakura blossoms under the moonlight. She felt as though her world was complete when she gazed upon the pink petals as they fell to the ground. Not to mention the fact that she loved the night.

She loved everything about it. From the stars to the broken moon, everything engulfed in the silent darkness, made her feel alive in a way that nothing else ever could… except hunting Grimm… at night.

It's not that she hated the day, not at all. But in her head night was so much more awesome. It gave her time to think, time to let her mind just wander aimlessly. Though the one thing that made night better than day is the fact she can relax, and that is what she was doing right then.

She finished out the last detail of the sketch and sighed. "Finally," she thought as she held it out in front of her, "this one took longer than usual."

The redhead flipped through her sketchbook to look at her previous works. Each page brought back memories of a time lost but not forgotten. She became lost in the stories told by each stroke of her pencil.

"OW! Damn it!" she exclaimed, clutching her mouth. "Why now?" she reached into one of the pouches on her belt, but found it empty. "Damn it!" The young girl tore through the rest looking for one of the few things that could make the pain go away. "I'm out?! Impossible I just got more the other day!" she thought, "Did I leave them in the dorm?" she shook her head. "No, if I did Yang would've brought them to me."

She groaned as she was wracked by another wave of pain. "God damn it! I'm not going to do that the week before she graduates." Searching the last of her pouches, and found the item she was looking for. Opening the container she downed a couple of pills. After a few minutes the pain had subsided. "Why the hell did I disguise you as a clip for Crescent Rose?" she asked it.

Ruby sat back against the tree and gazed upon the blooming sakura trees. She closed her eyes and sighed, a multitude of thoughts flowing through her head. Any and every thought she had, from her life at Signal, to her curse, flew from one brain cell to another; oftentimes back again.

While she was reflecting on herself, she failed to notice the blonde figure walking up to her hiding spot. Yang, seeing her sister lost to the outside world, decided not to bother her. Ruby could get very violent when she was bothered during one of her retrospective moments. Instead Yang picked up her sister's sketchbook and flipped through it, marveling at how well she was able to draw.

On the very last page there was a drawing of a family. Yang could tell it was incomplete; the one in the middle was nothing more than an outline. Unlike the others in the book this sketch was colorful, something she had never seen her sister do with her works. "Seems like Rubes is trying to drawing our family." Was her first thought, the second… "Impossible!" she exclaimed, "She shouldn't know about that!"

"Yang…" came the warning call. "What are you doing with my sketchbook?"

Snapped from her thought, Yang tried to make up a suitable excuse; but unfortunately Ruby pounced on her before she could utter a syllable. Ruby was able to swipe her sketchbook, knock her sister down, and pin her before she could even blink. "Damn sis, how much faster are you going to get?"

"I'm not getting faster, you're getting slower Yang." Was her answer. The redhead got up, letting her sister go, and proceeded to walk away.

"Hey Rubes, you mind telling me why you're drawing you and Summer as Faunus?" Yang said as she rubbed her sore shoulder blade.

Ruby stopped, and for a few tense moments she didn't move. "What are you talking about?" She was dead serious.

"In the last page of your sketchbook there is an unfinished drawing of you, me, her and dad."

"Yang, there isn't anything on the last page of this thing." She held it up, "And besides why would any of my works be colored?"

"I never said it was colored Ruby Rose."

"Shit, well there's no hiding it now." She thought, "I drew it, but I didn't draw Faunus. I know that for a fact."

"Ruby, I know I saw Faunus ears on you two."

"Yang, I'm telling you I didn-"

"And tails."

"We aren't Faunus Yang. So why would I draw us as them?"

"I don't know. So why don't you take a look and tell me what you see?" came a question that sounded more as a command.

"Fine, but only to prove I didn't draw Faunus." She opened up her sketchbook and flipped through the pages. The images that provided happy memories only moments earlier are passed by without a second thought. She finally flipped to the only unfinished work in it and what she saw stunned her.

"What the hell?" she said in sheer shock.

"Ruby, what is it?"

"Yang, I never drew this. In fact I'm not drawing it."

"What do you mean?"

"It's drawing itself." Ruby turned the mysterious drawing around, allowing Yang to see it.

The last page held an image of a family of four; a man, his wife and his two daughters. They were all huddled together as if they were taking a family photo at an amusement park. The man shared the same messy blonde hair as one of his daughters, while his wife shared her straight deep crimson hair with the other. On the mother's and, what appeared to be, the youngest daughter heads were two sets of wolf ears; while poking out behind them were two wolf tails. The eldest sister, though not as incomplete as moments before, was still lacking the majority of her head.

Yang snatched the sketchbook out of her sister's hands, and after a few seconds said, "Ruby, I need to keep this for a while. Whatever you do, don't come back to the dorm tonight. Understand?"

"What am I supposed to do until sunup? The training hall's closed and I'm not allowed off campus after that last incident."

"Ruby, we are the daughters of the headmaster. We can come and go as we please."

"I still have no idea what I'm going to do." She complained.

"Didn't you want to go get some more ammo for Crescent Rose? Not to mention you are constantly looking for upgrades for it."

"Fine. I'll be back at dawn, Yang."

Yang, whose eyes have not left the image, grunted in acknowledgement as her sister walked towards the wall. As soon as she was over it, Yang pulled out her scroll and sent a message to her uncle. "Meet me in my dorm. Now."

A few minutes after she got back to her and Ruby's room, the door to opened; in strolled Taiyang and Qrow. "We have a problem." Surprise was sewn into her face as she voiced her concern and showed them the sketch.

For the first time since she came to Signal, Yang saw her both her uncle and her father completely stunned. "Did Ruby draw this?" Qrow asked.

"From what she said, she drew most of it, but she didn't draw the ears and tail." Yang informed him. "Supposedly all that has drawn itself."

"What?"

"Honestly, I don't know much about it." She shrugged. "But the first time I saw it there weren't any faces on us. When I saw it again Ruby's face had drawn and filled in, color and all."

"How do you know she didn't draw that herself?" Tai questioned, speaking up for the first time since coming into the room.

"Because it's still going. Look closely."

"Impossible!" he exclaimed, "There's no reason why this should be happening!"

"There is one." Yang said solemnly.

"You mean the seal?" Qrow guessed.

"Most likely." Yang sighed. "But I doubt that it's weakening, mom's seals are the strongest to ever have been known."

"You're saying that something might be interfering with it, causing distortions?" Qrow asked.

"No. She specifically designed this one to be able to adapt to her surroundings." Taiyang answered

His eyes widened in astonishment, "Then there must have been some sort of interaction with the key."

"That's the most probable solution. Though the only person to know the layout of the key is dead, and from what I know she never taught it to anyone. So with each question answered, two more get asked." Tai looked to the broken moon through the window, "What did you plan my love?"

"Hello again Ruby," the shopkeeper said to the young girl as she entered his shop. "The usual?"

"Oh, hello Greg. Yep, and I'm looking to upgrade my Sweetheart." She replied.

"Since you already know where the magazines are, why don't you go look through some of them while I get it ready for ya?"

"Thanks Greg."

"No problem Ruby, I need something to keep me busy anyway."

The little redhead took out her headphones, turned them on, put them on her head and put her hood up. Little did she know what this fated night had in store for her…