Ruby looked upon the cement tombstone that held a special place within her caring heart. "Hey...mom," she lightly smiled at the grey structure with her mother's name engraved into the design - the Rose family symbol of a petal. "Sorry I haven't come by in awhile. Things have been busy. Well, that's an understatement...a very big one. Dad has been working his butt off at Signal trying to get some spare time. OH, DON'T WORRY-," Ruby quickly informed, "he's here now. You know how he is, always trying to make sure Yang and I are kept out of trouble." The young Rose petal sighs, wishing to have met the one who grew from the stem first, "He still misses you. I miss you. Dad is still working at Signal of course but I'm happy to report, he shall be in the crowd witnessing my team during our first match! That reminds me, I'm in Beacon now! I bet you would be so proud of me and Yang. We're also on the same team as well. She's learned a lot from dad! Weiss and Blake are also awesome a what they do. OH YEAH," Ruby said as she remembered her biggest accomplishment at Beacon. "I'm actually the leader of my own team, RWBY. Confusing, I know," she lightly chuckled to ease the tension radiating from her mother's memorial.
As the gentle breeze flowed throughout the island of Patch, another watched. From atop on a branch of an unsuspecting tree stood a tall, strong and brooding man. His jet black hair naturally spiky along with his blood-red cape that tapped against the back of his knees. Though, his eyes were one of bright red as he gazed upon the lone girl who looked upon his lover's memorial. She looked back, no longer seeing her secret guardian who wouldn't lose her as well. In his place on the branch, stood a dusty crow who's talons stabbed into the bark. "CAAAAW-," it let out as the wings opened up and flapped, sending feathers out. While it took off into the horizon, the bird would secretly turn back and watch the young Rose perched up on a new area.
"Anyway," Ruby said as she looked back to the grave, "back to all of the friends I've made! There's Weiss, the W in my team's name. She can be a little snobby but hey, she is the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Don't worry though, she's warming up to me and she recently did a team attack with me! It was amazing..." Ruby halted, remembering the events that transpired within the city of Vale. When Banner himself lost control and almost took the life of Jaune Arc, one of Ruby's closest friends. Knowing she was short of time, she quickly dispatched the memory with talk of the B in her team. "And of course, there's Blake! She's a Faunus with the cutest cat ears you've ever seen. Wait-," she reflected on her words, "would that be insensitive?" Ruby asked herself about her teammate's biological features. "Nevermind that for now! We helped her take down a dangerous head of a criminal organisation, Roman Torchwick. He was a serious thorn in everyone's backside. Blake took it upon herself to stop him and bring him to justice. Luckily for her, she had a team that wished for her inner peace and wanted to help. Now, we're pretty close and I bet she'd actually call me friend. Especially after what happened in Vale..." now, Ruby would have to talk of her other, destructive friend. "OH SHOOT," she called out as she looked up to the rising sun. The Vytal Festival would soon be upon Remnant and team RWBY was the opening match. "I've got to go, mom! I'll be sure to visit as soon as we win the tournament, I promise. I love you and...thank you. We'll talk again, I promise!"
The young Rose ran back to her father's home within the forests of the island, leaving the memorial behind. Her run soon turned into a short sprint that morphed into a usage of her Semblance that molded her body into petals. Swirling within the breeze, the horizontal tornado of red made quick travel and accidentally left their guest who watched from the side. "WAIT, RUBY," Bruce called out from a nearby trail that lead across Patch. "Great..." he grit his teeth behind his lips, legs already shaking from the idea back trip to the boarding station for Vale. Taking a step back in that area, an invitation stopped Bruce within his tracks.
"Please...come back," a voice of grief and long morning pleaded. It sounded like a woman who had suffered an eternity of pain and misery. Not only that, the voice sounding very close to Banner's position. "I just want to see you one more time."
Turning, Bruce had to question the woman who seemed to call out to the leaving of a loved one. "H-hello? Is anyone there?" No answer came back, reminiscent of someone being silent so they wouldn't be detected any longer. "I know you're there..." Bruce stated as paranoia came into play and forced him to check every angle in case of a mean joke from Yang. No punchline came, causing the once scientist of earth to give into his human nature - seeing if he could help this woman. "Please, I heard your cry. Were you calling for Ruby?"
"Y-YES," the voice spoke promptly once the name of the young Huntress was brought up. Once again, the voice dropped entirely and the feeling of a seeming presence that loomed over the area.
Luckily, Bruce had deduced the general location this 'woman' and her voice radiated from. Clenching a left fist, he traveled off trail and approached a near bush. "I swear if this gets me killed," Bruce seemed to joke as he pushed through the hedge to find a barren patch of the island. Looking around, be found nothing but a concrete memorial that over looked the end of Patch and into the oceans below. "H-hello?" Bruce looked around as he walked forward and came to a halt at the end of the gravestone. Looking down to the engraved symbol of a familiar rose, Bruce read aloud. "Summer Rose...and thus, kindly I scatter." With that, David Bruce Banner felt the sheer guilt and misery of the inhabitant of the grave. Looking up, his eyes widened as he saw a white color-pallet of the all red Huntress. "R-Ruby?"
Well, this will be awkward. Hello again to all who have returned to read a new chapter due to a possible notification. It's been a whole year since the last time I posted to this fanfic and for that, i have to apologize. I've got caught up in graduating from high school and actually adulting that I've been too busy to work on this piece and continue the story. Honestly, i have no current plans to continue but i'm open to the idea of occasionally posting a chapter here and there. For everyone who's stuck around since the beginning, thank you. I've grown so much from writing this throughout the years and am grateful for the experience of receiving criticism on my literary skills and able to create something for one of my most favored franchises. Thank you all again and i'll hopefully see you around