Dead By Roselight
Chapter 1: Past Mistake
It was another day in Beacon with the schools students going about their usual routine. The young future Huntsmen and Huntresses were heading for their classes, hoping to one day graduate and become protectors of the world.
However, while most people were going about their day with happiness and excitement, there was one person who didn't feel that way at all. This person was alone in the dorm room that belonged to team RWBY and her name was Yang Xiao Long. The reason why this normally happy and energetic girl was in such a terrible mood was because today had a special meaning for her. It was the day that her younger sister, Ruby Rose, had gone missing.
Back then, Ruby had gotten into a huge fight with her teammates. For some time, the redhead had been asking the three older girls to spend some time with her, instead of just going on their own. While Ruby knew that she couldn't go everywhere her teammates could, she hoped that they could make time for her as well. Unfortunately, the three older girls didn't take her request well, which led to an argument breaking out. It ended with Yang letting her anger and frustration get the better of her, which led to her slapping Ruby. The young team leader then ran out of the dorm with tears falling from her eyes, while her teammates could only stare in shock at what had happened.
The three older girls didn't remain still for long and were soon looking for their young leader. Deep down, they knew that they were the ones who had wronged Ruby from the beginning and were regretting what they had done to her, especially Yang. All the redhead had asked was for her team to spend some time with her as well, but they had responded to it with anger. They wished that they could find Ruby, so that they could make things right again. Unfortunately, they were unable to find her, which led to them returning to their dorm with heavy hearts. They hoped that the scythe-wielder would return after having some time alone.
However, Ruby never returned. This led to full search for the redhead to begin, which included not only the three members of RWBY, but several other teams from Beacon, some of the school's staff, Vale's police and other Huntsmen, like Ruby's uncle, Qrow Branwen. But despite their best efforts, Ruby was never found. They had looked everywhere they could think of, yet were unable to find even a trace of team RWBY's leader. After months of searching, almost everyone had given up on finding her. The only one who wanted to continue the search was Yang, but even she was eventually convinced to give up.
The loss of Ruby left her old team broken. The three remaining girls still tried their best in their pursuit of becoming Huntresses, but it was obvious that some of their drive had been lost. While they weren't the worst team in Beacon, their overall skill as a team had greatly fallen. Ruby had been an important part for their team in many ways, whether it was in combat or outside it. Through this loss, team RWBY had lost an irreplaceable part of their chemistry.
Weiss no longer acted like a princess anymore, but had become much calmer and less pompous than before. The heiress was most likely too ashamed of her actions towards her former partner that she couldn't bring herself to act the way she used to. Weiss even refused to take the now open team leader's position, as she felt that she didn't deserve it at all. She still had her temper and was willing to defend her family name, but it was obvious that some of her spirit had disappeared along with her partner.
Blake's personality had also take a turn for the worse. The cat faunus might have been silent and rarely showed her emotions, but after Ruby disappeared, she became practically lifeless. The rare smiles that would sometimes appear on Blake's face were now practically non-existent, and she almost never showed her emotions anymore. It was like the raven-haired girl was afraid of losing someone else, like the way she did with her team leader.
But the one person who took Ruby's disappearance the worst had to be Yang. The blonde blamed herself for what had happened and even considered herself a murderer for ''killing'' Ruby. It was her duty and responsibility as the redhead's older sister to look after the younger girl, which she had promised to Ruby's late mother, Summer Rose. The fact that she had failed in this hurt her deeply and filled her heart with regret. Yang no longer had the same sunny and outgoing personality that she used to have. Instead, she had become a much colder person, essentially the opposite of what she used to be. The blonde even had trouble facing her family or her friends, as the guilt she felt was sometimes too much to bear.
Since Ruby had gone missing, team RWBY needed a new leader. The person who was chosen in the end was Yang, due to the outright refusal of her other two teammates. Weiss didn't feel like she deserved the position anymore, and Blake felt like she had committed way too many mistakes to ever be considered a leader at all. However, the three girls still wanted to keep their team as a way to honor Ruby's memory, to the point they kept the name same. This led to Yang taking the role of leader, even when she didn't want to.
When it came to team RWBY's friends, like team JNPR, the relationships between the three remaining members of RWBY and them had become quite cold. Many of their friends couldn't look at the three older girls of RWBY the same way again, and some even cut off all friendly ties altogether. The other students in Beacon had also learned of what had happened to the team's missing leader, which led to all sorts of rumors beginning to float around Beacon. Some started to say that Ruby ran away from her teammates out of fear of being killed, while others claimed that the redhead had been abused by her team on a daily basis for a long time. While some teams like JNPR, CFVY and SSSN didn't believe such rumors, they still treated the remaining members of RWBY differently. After all, they had been responsible what happened to their leader.
Even the families of the three girls had started to treat them differently due to what had happened. While most of Weiss' family had been relatively indifferent to what the heiress had done, there were certain two people who were very disappointed in him. Klein, the Schnee family's butler, had been greatly saddened by what Weiss had done, as he had expected the white-haired girl to be better than that. But the one whose reaction to her actions hurt Weiss the most was Winter. The older Schnee sister had been very displeased by what her younger sister had done and said that those who cannot show proper respect to their comrades do not deserve it in return.
Blake's family was saddened by what had happened to the raven-haired girl's team leader. While they never showed any anger or displeasure towards Blake, due to fear of losing their daughter again and their shared history with the White Fang, it was still clear that things had changed between the members of the Belladonna family. Some of the warmth that used to be around the faunus family had clearly disappeared.
However, when it came to families reacting to Ruby's disappearance, Yang's family had it the worst out of all of them. While Taiyang didn't get angry at his eldest daughter, he was downright horrified over the loss of Ruby. The blonde man had become a broken drunk, finding only comfort from bottles of alcohol. But while Taiyang didn't show any anger, Qrow did. The grizzled Huntsman was downright furious at what his niece had done, which he showed by yelling at the blonde girl with a face red from pure anger. After showing just how displeased he was with Yang, Qrow had left and refused to talk with his remaining niece anymore. He was too enraged over what had happened to do that. The old crow believed that families should support and take care of each other. Those who didn't seem to understand this, were not worthy enough to have families.
Right now, it had been three years since Ruby had disappeared and the remaining members of team RWBY were on their last year in Beacon. Inside RWBY's dorm, Yang was the only member of her team in the room. The blonde was laying on her bed, thinking about her missing sister, especially the last time she had seen the redheaded girl.
''Guys, you haven't spent any time with me at all for the last couple of months!'' Ruby told her teammates, who had just returned from having fun with team JNPR. ''I know that I'm younger than you, but you should also make some time for me, too! We are supposed to be a team!''
''Ruby, just because we are teammates, doesn't mean we have to spend all of our time with you,'' Blake said in a frustrated voice. ''We have a right to have time without you as well.''
''Besides, we need a break from your childish antics every now and then!'' Weiss yelled angrily. ''I doubt that there is a single human being that can stand being around all the time!''
''I know that I can be a bit much sometimes and that you guys deserve to spend time without me,'' Ruby managed to say while doing her best to hold back her tears. ''But I'm starting to feel like I'm living with complete strangers! When was the last time any of you spent time with me outside of school!? Or even had a casual conversation with me!? Or-''
''Rubes. Enough. We get that you're upset. No need to start ranting,'' Yang said with a frustrated sigh. ''You need to grow up and start acting like an adult.''
''YOU CAN'T JUST-!'' the redhead began to yell, only to be cut off by a violent slap across the face from her older sister.
For a moment, the three older girls froze still and stared at their young leader with wide eyes. They were all shocked over what just happened, especially Yang. The blonde girl never meant to hurt her sister, but she had been so tired that she let her anger take over her for one moment, which would cost her dearly.
Ruby slowly touched her bruised cheek with a trembling hand, before looking at her teammates with tearful eyes. Before anyone could say anything, the scythe-wielder disappeared in a small cloud of rose petals, indicating that she had left the room.
A couple of tears fell from Yang's eyes as she remembered the look Ruby had given her. The one that she saw after the slap that was filled with heartbreak and sorrow. That look haunted the blonde every day of her life and appeared in her nightmares. No matter what she did, Yang would never forget it.
''Oh, Ruby...'' the brawler said to herself in a sad tone. ''Can my mistake ever be forgiven?''
Suddenly, Yang's Scroll gave a loud beep, telling her that she had just received a message. The blonde picked up the device and opened the message. It was from Ozpin, telling her to come to his office as soon as possible. Seeing as how this was urgent, Yang got up from her bed and started to head towards the headmaster's office. On her way, she met both Weiss and Blake, who were heading in the same direction.
''Hey, guys,'' Yang called out to the two girls. ''Did you two perhaps get a message from Ozpin as well?''
''It seems we did,'' Blake answered. ''Either one of you have any idea what this is about?''
''Unfortunately, no. I think he might want us all to be there before telling us,'' Weiss replied.
It didn't take long until the three members of RWBY had reached Ozpin's office. Upon entering, the trio noticed that the headmaster wasn't the only person there. While Glynda Goodwitch was to be expected, team JNPR was also there. The three girls didn't think much of this, though, as they assumed that whatever mission Ozpin had for them required at least two teams.
''Ah! Team RWBY. It's good to see you ladies,'' Ozpin greeted the team of three in a friendly manner. ''I hope you weren't bothered by getting summoned here so suddenly.''
''It was not a problem, Professor Ozpin,'' Yang replied politely and gave a small bow to the headmaster. ''Do you perhaps have some sort of a mission for us?''
''Indeed I do. However, it's not what you would normally expect,'' Ozpin answered, getting the attention of his students. ''You'll be going on a mission to look for someone.''
''Look for someone?'' Blake asked. ''Who is the person we'll be looking for?''
''I'll tell you that in a moment. First, I'll need to give you some background on your mission,'' the headmaster explained, before pressing on some buttons on his desk. Suddenly, a big, holographic monitor appeared in front of the students. The screen showed the picture of a young boy, who was about 14-15 years old. The boy had short, gray hair, purple eyes and was wearing what seemed like a white hospital gown. However, there were two things that caught everyone's attention. The bruises the boy had and the expression on his face that seemed to be empty of life itself. ''About a week ago, a group of Huntsmen were going to a forest in Atlas to take down a pack of Beowolves that had been causing trouble in the nearby village. Just when they were about to reach the edge of the forest, they saw this young boy stumble his way through the woods. The boy was badly bruised, exhausted and delirious. He didn't have anything on him, except a single CD. Despite the efforts made by the staff at the hospital he's resting at, he has refused to give it to anyone. He claims that it's meant only for certain people.''
''Poor guy,'' Yang said in sympathy for the boy. ''However, where do we come into the picture here? Are we supposed to find the people that he wants to give the CD to?''
''There's no need for that, as they have already been found,'' Ozpin answered, causing his students to get confused. ''The people he claims the CD is for are none other than the remaining three members of team RWBY, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long.''
Upon hearing the headmaster's answer, the students in the office became even more confused. Yang looked at her two teammates, wondering if they knew something about this. Upon seeing that they were just as clueless as she was, the blonde turned her attention back to Ozpin.
''But... how is that possible?'' Yang asked. ''I don't think any of us know who he is.''
''You might not know him nor does he know any of you. However, he might know someone very close to you all. You see, there is a reason Ironwood informed me about this. Among the things that this boy has told us, there was a certain name,'' Ozpin explained. ''That name was Ruby Rose.''
The room was completely silent as the students could only stare at the headmaster with wide eyes.
Author's notes: And the first chapter is done! I wanted to get it done as fast as possible, so you guys could have a better idea of what this story is about. Hope you guys liked it.
As many of you have probably guessed, this is kind of a crossover with Dead by Daylight. What I mean by saying this is kind of a crossover is that I won't be following the lore of DBD completely. While some of it's elements will be present in this story, there will be many things that won't appear in this story. This is mostly because I haven't actually played the game. I have been intrigued by the game's concept and lore, like the backgrounds of the characters. Because of this, I can only use the things I've seen, read or heard about the lore that surrounds DBD. In other words this will essentially be an AU of DBD. It's also because of all of this and the fact that it's centered around RWBY that I didn't place this story under ''crossover.''
As this story goes on, I will be explaining some of the differences and the reasons behind them. However, the continuation of this story depends on you people. If you guys are interested in seeing this story continue, tell it to me in the reviews. If you guys are interested in seeing me continue this, I will.
Also, this story also centers around an AU of RWBY, where neither Cinder or Salem went on to conquer the world. The characters have been going through a normal life so far, with the exception of Ruby's disappearance.
Until next time.
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Dead by Daylight belongs to Behaviour Interactive.