Chapter Two: The Roaring Winds of a Hurricane
"Hey, Travis?"
A soft voice disturbed me out of whatever sleep I was trying to get, not to say I was sleeping, but my eyes were close and I wanted it to stay that way.
"Travis, you idiot! I know that you're awake! And stop grinning it's not funny!"
Well I guess she wasn't going to give up. I thought I remembered loving something about her. Oh right! Her goddamn tenacity!
So without another second to spare, I turned my head to the side and gave her a bigger grin as I opened my eyes.
Right next to me was one of my closest friends. Her name was Evelyn James and she was laying in the grass...next to me…?
When the hell did I get a chance to lay down on grass? The last thing I remember was….was…. 'Shit what was the last thing I was doing and where the hell was I?' Those thoughts swirled around in my head until my eyes caught on to Evelyn's bright green ones. She was beautiful, laying on her side like that. Her silky blonde hair cascading over her eyes and down onto her cheek and right into her mouth as she tried to speak.
And just like that the illusion was broken as I snorted as she spat some of her blonde hair out of her mouth only for it to stick to her light mocha colored skin. My snort grew into a chuckle which caused her to pout at me. "Screw you, Cruz."
"There's always a time and a place." I joked back.
She gave me a smirk as she pulled her hair behind her head. "To kick your sorry ass? Oh aren't you so kind."
"I feel the love from here, short stack." I said with a grin as she stuck her tongue out at me.. It felt so natural to just argue with her. The back and forth...I never thought I'd miss it so much. "So... why'd you call me? Boyfriend issues?" I asked her while wiggling eyebrows for emphasis.
She swatted my shoulder and rolled her eyes. "No you doofus. I just wanted to ask you a question. Let's see if your semi- empty skull still has a working brain."
I clicked my tongue. "Tch, fine. What's up?"
She looked at me and smiled before looking up towards the sky. "When you dream, what do you remember?"
The sky shifted becoming darker as twinkling stars slowly appeared.
I frowned at the question, genuinely curious about what she was asking. "Well, sometimes I remember things and other times I just have a dreamless night." I answered with a shrug.
Evelyn shook her head. "No, no you're wrong! Whenever you're sleeping you're always dreaming but nobody knows why we remember certain dreams." She looked at me with a sad expression, "Or why some dreams are so vivid you would think that it's real." She slowly got up. "But let me ask you this, Travis." She was now standing above me. The star filled sky was long gone, now just a pitch blackness rumbling softly. Then came a blinding flash followed by a loud roar as if an explosion had gone off.
Evelyn raised her hand up towards the sky, another flash showed that she had a knife in her hand…
Wait what….?
"Huh?"
What the...fuck? Why was my friend going psycho? Actually why didn't she take my confusion as a hint to freaking explain! "Travis. What if we were dreaming right now?"
That didn't explain shit! Groaning I answered back. "Well, I don't know if we're dreaming, Eve, but could you kindly put the damn kitchen knife down!"
The wind was starting to pick up.
"It's time to wake up, Ghost." Evelyn said as she kneeled down next to me. It was at that moment that I realized my body couldn't move! What the fuck?! "It's not your time to die yet you idiot."
I frowned. "Then how about you drop the lethal kitchen utensil!"
Evelyn looked away. 'Look at me dammit!' Then I saw the knife coming down on my chest. "Ghost, for my sake and for hers…."
Pain exploded in my chest. "...WAKE UP!"
"AHHH!"
My eyes shot open as a scream ripped its way out of my throat. It wasn't the most pleasant feeling in the world let me tell you. Especially considering my dream…. Ha! Dream!? No, that was a freakin' nightmare and it involved my dead friend murdering me! Like why!? Why now?!
Why…. was I suddenly thinking about her now?
'...And why did she have to kill me?' My thoughts were full of questions I had. Plenty of that needed answering, but right now those questions could wait for just one. Just what the hell was on me, and why was it...cuddling me?
I noticed it when I first woke up and now…. Yes, I could admit I was terrified dammit! Waking up in the middle of a clearing was not normal! Like how the hell I got here?!
'Okay, don't panic, Cruz. Just take a breath and-' My eyes drifted slowly from the cloudy skies above to...to silky black hair…? 'Is this a person on me? The hell…?'
The first mistake I made was thinking that their hair was black. Whoever this was didn't have black hair. It was more of a very deep red that faded to a lighter red at the edges. Kind of reminded me of Ryuko Matoi's hair. Wanting to see more of who was on me, I tilted my head up and saw the silhouette of a female.
Well this just kept getting more confusing. This lady had creamy colored skin and honestly from what I could see from the side profile of her face, was actually quite good looking. She wore a red cloak that did a horrible job at covering whatever the hell was that red box on her back was. Along with a black gothic dress that had hints of red highlights and red combat boots.
This lady loved her red. I didn't blame her. It was my favorite color too.
Too bad acceptable clothes choices doesn't explain why she was here or on me!
Sigh
Still that box on her back for some reason was catching my interest. It had a metallic red sheen to it, and had a transformers vibe about it. I couldn't explain it but…..I've seen this thing before. Without realizing it, I reached around the girl with my right arm to touch the strange object. It was cool to the touch and felt like some type of alloy…
Why would someone have something like th-?
She started moving!
'Shit!' The speed at which my hand had returned back to my side, you would've thought I got burned. I stayed as still as possible as the girl's movements turned out to be her cuddling with me more. 'Goddammit!' Her arms, which I now noticed, were wrapping tightly around my abdomen. She rubbed her head on my chest, somehow sinking deeper into it...as if I was a goddamn pillow!
"Mmhmm…"
'Who the hell are you?!'
"Yang, I don't...wanna...go….later~"
"Eh…?" I blinked. Did….did the universe just answer my question? No way it did. Context meant a lot to me over the years and to hear some random girl say Yang was weird….
As weird as being in the snow on what was supposed to be…. a summer day….and... 'Oh god!' Like a runaway truck, all my memories hit me at once. I was in New York before this! It was summer! Why was I in the snow?! 'The wolves! I was attacked by wolves in the forest! No, not just wolves... Beowolves! I was attacked by fucking Grimm and...and I almost died….' I held my head. 'No I was close to dying and then I saw..' My eyes went down to the girl on top of me.
"Ruby…"
Ruby Rose….
Holy shit, the lady laying on top of me was none other than Ruby Rose! It shouldn't have been possible! Everything that had happened was real! I nearly died and now for some reason, Ruby goddamn Rose, was resting on my chest! 'And what did I tell her?' Oh god, I wanted to facepalm badly. I stole Ozpin's line because I thought it would be so cool and…
"I'm alive…. I'm ALIVE!" I sat up and accidentally threw Ruby off of me.
The girl landed on the snow with a soft, "Omph!"
I grimaced at that but I couldn't stop myself from ignoring her. 'Sorry…' I slowly lifted my hand up to my head and rubbed it through my short and coarse hair. "Oh god, I'm really alive…" I couldn't stop it. I started giggling then it turned into full blown laughter. Tears fell from my eyes in disbelief. Immediately my hand began roaming around my body, searching for the injuries I knew were supposed to be there but ones I couldn't feel.
With a frown I looked down at the snow and of course there was blood in it. And of course it was my blood. And yet, in all my movement, I only felt a little bit of pain coming from my ribs! And-
My left hand paused over the skin on the back of my right shoulder. I felt it. Three deep grooves that were once a part of a life threatening injury were nothing more than impressive feeling scars. Probably looked as impressive as they felt.… 'None of this makes sense!'
"Ow! Why'd you knock me off?" In that moment, Ruby's voice resumed time back for me. It was then that I realized only a few seconds had passed. I glanced to the side, looking at a pouting Ruby who was looking at me with narrowed eyes.
So in all my wisdom, knowing who she is, "Ruby, holy shit thank you!" Why did I call her by her name? Oh and it didn't stop there. No my dumbass yolked her up by the collar trying to hug her.
Was she just going to sit there and let it happen?
"OW!" The sudden pain I felt in my leg followed by my weightlessness gave me my answer. "OMPH!" I landed hard on the snow. My breath forcibly leaves my lungs. And for a few seconds, I laid on the cold snow groaning in pain and questioning my life. As the world around me continued to spin, I closed my eyes.
Click
And just like that that world was no longer spinning.
My eyes shot open only to be staring into the barrel of Crescent Rose. I felt my breath pause seeing the dangerous weapon up close and personal for the first time. As scared as I was I couldn't help but noticed how badass Ruby looked holding that scythe. 'Wait, this is Ruby. She won't shoot me.' I scoffed internally.
The cute and innocent looking girl here wasn't the type. Yeah she tears through Grimm like a knife through paper. And yeah she probably took off Cinder Fall's arm and poked out her eye in a fit of rage that was left off screen during the Fall of Beacon….
But to kill me...no...she wouldn't…..
'Oh god...she's going to kill me!'
"I...um...I'm sorry for hurting you, and you're welcome, but who are you? And how do you know my name?" She asked, visibly confused and even a bit...anxious?
Well shit and doubly shit. How do I explain to her that I knew her because she was in a webshow…..in another universe….created by a company basically called cock bite?
I could always lie...
Lying always worked. Yeah I could say that I knew her through her family or some shit and…. That wasn't going to work. She'd ask anybody if that was true, and now I would've had to deal with Qrow, Taiyang, and Yang thinking I'm some stalker. I don't even want to start comprehending the bullshit that trio would put me through. 'Not to mention I don't have an Aura to hits…...I don't have an Aura.'
...Wait a hot fucking second….
My eyes narrowed into slits. "How the hell am I alive, Rose?!" I practically demanded, basically forgetting about the threat of a sniper pointed at my face. Seems Ruby didn't forget that fact either as she pushed her weapon closer to said face.
Great, I just had to over-fucking-react. Now one of my favorite scythe users probably thought that I was a threat and maybe even a stalker and….
'Maybe I can use this to my advantage?'
Oh fucking yes I can!
Ha, in all my fear of what might happen I almost forgot that she knew absolutely nothing about me. The only thing she knew was obvious things like how my eyes were light brown, or how my skin was the same shade as milk chocolate. Or what I was wearing, but she didn't know me as a person...
I couldn't stop the small grin that formed on my lips. Maybe if Ruby's beautiful silver eyes weren't so focused on my own she'd probably would've seen it.
Then I noticed it. How her eyes shifted in conflict and then her whole demeanor changed. "I...I actually don't know." Ruby said, finally answering my question. "I don't know how I saved you."
'Really now?' I had to call bullshit. Yeah she may have not known how to save me, but the fact remained that I was still alive. The only variable between my death and I living was her. 'Better if I threw her off her game.' I thought to myself smiling, and then I opened my big mouth. "Hey, if Crescent Rose wasn't being pointed at my face. I'd probably hug you right now." I responded back truthfully with a shrug.
"Well sorry I-" I couldn't help but snort as Ruby choked on her words. Her eyes widening in alarm as my words finally registered in her head. "Wha-? H-How'd you know my weapon's name?" Her hold on her weapon tightened. I sat up, not even worried that Ruby might shoot me basically because I've done the one thing every human couldn't resist. I piped her curiosity. "Stay down!" She ordered.
I ignored her, pushing Crescent Rose slightly away from me. Then got back up to my feet. "Sorry, Red, but I can see it in your face." I said, channeling my inner Torchwick. "You want answers, but so do I. But that scythe of yours isn't going to work for this chat so put it away."
Ruby narrowed her eyes. "Why should I?"
I shrugged. "Hey, if you're afraid of the non powered civilians just say so." I retorted, grinning at my own words.
Ruby's frown deepened, but she conceded, 'YES!', folding up her weapon and placing it on the small of her back. She crossed her arms across her chest then spoke. "There, you got what you wanted, now answer me."
I can't lie, I grimaced. I mean who the hell would have expected things to workout this way? Certainly not I! She wanted answers and those answers might result in her having an existential crisis.
Shit, what did people say about expecting the unexpected?
To hell if I knew because now I had to explain to a fictional character that her life is technically a lie, and that I'm from a different universe and why didn't I just go with lying? Lying always worked out right?
Fuck.
Tch, and now Ruby was getting impatient and tapping her foot. Welp, I might as well get this over with. "So, Ruby, I bet you're wondering how I know you and your weapon's name?" Well no duh asshole. "Truth is I'm not from around these parts."
Ruby looked at me confused. "You mean Patch?"
I looked down at the snow in surprise. "Wait this is Pa-" I shook my head. "Not the point. I'm not from here or from the four kingdoms of Remnant. I'm not even from the badlands or outback or whatever the hell you call the uncivilized part of Remnant."
"Then what are you trying to say?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
I sighed as soon as the question had left her mouth. "Look, I'm from a world a lot like your own, but very different."
"Huh?"
"I think what I'm trying to say is that I'm an alien."
"..."
"..."
"Why do I always run into crazy people?"
I put my hand against my chest gasping in shock. "What the- No I'm not crazy! Dammit, Rose! I am an intelligent, and well educated young man."
"Who thinks that he's an alien!"
My eyelid twitches. "Hey, I could've easily said something way more outlandish than that! Like look at me, I'm a goddamn time traveler, but am I? No! Instead of that, I'm telling you the goddamn truth!" I barked back getting into Ruby's face.
She didn't back down. Instead reminding me that Yang was her sister pulling me down to her level and slamming her forehead into mine. Her eyes pierced mine with a surprising amount of anger…. but why was it mixed in with guilt? "Yeah, that would've been so easy to do. Imagine if you said you had a mind reading Semblance? I might've believed you! But, that was before I found out that you didn't have an Aura! So it wouldn't have been possible anyways…." She trailed off, backing away.
'Huh?' It was then that her words hit me. 'She knows I don't have an Aura?!'
Then her other words tickled my brain. "What do you mean by that? What wouldn't have been possible?" I asked aloud.
Ruby's eyes widened in surprise as if she now was catching up to what she had said, and smacked her forehead groaning. "I shouldn't have said that."
I clicked my tongue. Now my curiosity was piqued. "Well, well, well, Ms. Rose. It would seem like I'm not the only one withholding secrets. So how about you explain to me what you meant by that."
Ruby furiously shook her head. "No," She paused before a smirk came on her face. "Not unless you can really prove that you're from another universe!" She finished. Her face a triumph was pissing me off.
I opened my mouth wanting to say otherwise but was for once completely stumped. How the hell was I supposed to prove to her that I was from a differen-
My hands immediately flew to my pockets. Ruby smirk fell and I would've enjoyed it too, if I wasn't so desperate. 'Come on, come on...YES!' In my left pocket was my wallet and in my right was my phone! My beautifully cracked phone! Hitting the power button, my cracked to hell phone, turned on and was still perfectly working which meant...
My eyes turned to Ruby with a large grin splitting my lips. "Well, Ruby, here's your proof." I extended my arm towards her with my phone in hand.
Ruby looked apprehensive at first but her curiosity got the best of her when she took my phone from my hand. "What is this?" She asked while looking it over.
"Well, it's my world's version on a scroll. It's called a smartphone." I answered.
Her eyes widened as the implications went through her head. "Are you really an alien?" She questioned back with uncertainty in her voice. She handed me my phone back.
I chuckled. Wow, never thought that I'd ever be asked a question like that. "I guess I am, Red. Though to how the hell I got here….? Well your guess is as good as mine."
Ruby nodded her head then sat down on the exposed roots of a nearby tree. She leaned her back up against the trunk as I walked towards her. "Heh, it's my turn huh? To hold up my end of the deal."
I nodded. "Yep. Clearly you did something amazing to bring me back and I want to know what." I replied. Then I sighed as a thought went through my head. "Hey, could you stand up for a second?" Ruby looked at me confused but still did what I asked.
As soon as she stood up I pulled the young Rose into a hug by wrapping my arms around her shoulders. Not expecting the hug, she froze up at the contact. That is until I said, "Thank you." After that I felt her body relax as I lightly rested my chin on top of her head. 'Damn she was short.' I couldn't help but think. It almost made me chuckle, but it didn't stop the tears forming in my eyes.
I was barely holding myself together dammit! You know how hard it was acting like everything was fine and dandy after almost dying?! Ruby, right now was my literal life line, and I wasn't sure if I would ever tell her that. Ever…. 'Huh?'
Ruby was….she hugged me back? Why was hugging me back-?
"As weird as it is to hug a random stranger in the middle of a forest. I think you needed it." She said, slightly muffled by my chest. She then pulled away smiling at me. "You're welcome. It's a Huntress job to save lives after all. I had to save yours." She said determinedly.
Her words brought me back to the topic at hand. "I'm glad you did, but you said it yourself. I don't have an Aura. I mean that's how we got to this convo, right?"
Ruby's eyes widened in slight surprise then turned towards me, nodding her head. "Yeah, no Aura." She sighed. "You not having an Aura is supposed to be impossible. Yet when I tried using my Aura to unlock yours….it...it was like I was pouring into an empty glass or never ending pit." She frowned. "Does that make sense to you?"
I nodded then shrugged. "I guess? I mean I don't have soul energy leaking out of me so I wouldn't know how that feels." Ruby was now staring at me. "Err, not the point. I get what you're saying. You were pouring in Aura where there was none….so it felt like my body was eating it?"
The fact that Ruby nodded, didn't bold well for my sanity. "Yep." She said, popping the 'P'. "Your body was using my Aura to heal itself. I…..I had never seen something like that before. And before you ask, yes it's the reason I fell asleep on you." She said with a grimace. "It was an odd feeling and weirdly your body, like I said, was healing quickly. I've seen Aura heal small cuts in seconds. Your body was doing that with that large wound on your back." She then looked me directly in the eyes. "I heard your ribs popping back into place, and when I was sure you were stable. I passed out." She finished. Then she reached out and-
"Ow!" Did she really have to poke my sore ribs?! "Was there a reason for that?" I growled out.
She nodded. "Yeah. Your body did that super amazing super healing thing but it looks like it didn't go the full way since you are still feeling pain." She then sighed. "Dad, would ground me for life doing something so reckless." Ruby groaned pitfully.
I frowned. "Why?"
"I pushed almost all of my Aura into you."
That's it? That didn't really sound like as big of a problem as Ruby was making it out to be. So why was it reckless? Without a simple way to deduce her answer I simply asked. "Umm, so what's wrong with doing that?"
Ruby frowned at me but otherwise continued. "Aura is a part of the soul. Most civilians assume that when our Aura breaks that that's it. That we lose the ability to fight or use our semblances." Her gaze fell from me to the snow. "The truth is, we're trained to stop using our Aura the moment it breaks."
I tilted my head in confusion. "Huh? So your Aura breaking doesn't mean you're out of Aura?"
Ruby shook her head.
That was when my mind decided to place together the horror of the situation. One that I almost did not want to confirm. So instead I acted like I was a dumbass. "So what does that mean, Ruby?"
She grimaced again. "Well...so when our Aura breaks it just means we don't have enough to protect our bodies. Not that we don't have enough to use for our Semblances or general use. That means…" She started twiddling her thumbs. "It means...in certain situations we can drain our Aura fully and that can result in…."
"Death." I said, finishing her sentence. "Death. Are you out of your mind?!"
"What?!"
I glared at her. I was angry but she looked affronted by my outburst. The only way I was going to get to her was to hit her emotionally. "Ruby, don't take this the wrong way because I'm glad that you saved my life, but you almost died for one life. If you had died and I woke up. First and foremost how would I survive out here and….and think about your family! How would your pops feel? Yang?"
Ruby opened her mouth to speak and it seemed like my words were finally registering in her head. "How do you know, Yang?" She asked standing up. She walked up to me. Her silver eyes glistened with suspicion and anger. "Just who the heck are you?!"
"I'm…" I paused as I realized something. "I never told you my name?"
Ruby shook her head. "No, you haven't. Ever since we woke up. You never once introduced yourself! And I humored you, because you were going to explain how you knew me. Being an alien from another world doesn't explain how you know me! How you know my weapon's name! How you know Yang's name!" She gave me a stern look. "I just want to know who you are?"
I grimaced. "Well...you wouldn't believe me if I tried."
Ruby throws her arms in the air. "You're an alien right?! What could be even more unbelievable than that?!"
I shook my head. "No, you don't get it. I'm from an alternate dimension! I-" I cut myself off pinching my nose. "Y'know what? You're right. I didn't introduce myself. I just started sprouting a bunch of shit out of nowhere and expected you to just roll with it, but you're right. What could be so earth shattering that I couldn't be taken seriously?"
My eyes met her silver apprehensive one's. "My name is Travis Cruz. I'm sixteen years old and I'm from planet Earth. And you wanna know what the best part is?" I asked rhetorically. I took out my phone, unlocked it and went into my gallery.
"Hey, what are you do-?" I interrupted her with a raised finger.
"I've been a person that has been open to believing in a lot of things. Multiverse theory was something I just came to accept as only a possibility in the future or something." I pulled up a specific photo and nodded to myself. "Multiple different realities where I was this or that. Where you were this or that. Where I wasn't born or even a scenario where I could end up in one of my favorite TV shows." I showed her the image on my phone.
Ruby shakily reached out. "W-what is this?"
I shook my head, temporarily ignoring her question. "I always thought that legacy was a funny word because normally it means you have to aspire to something someone left behind." I told her. On my phone screen was an image. An image that showed four silhouettes. One under each letter they represented. "If given the blueprint of the world. What would you do with it?"
"I don't understand what you're saying! Why does it look like me under the 'R'?"
I sighed. "In my world, Ruby, you're a part of a show using your name as the title. Or rather an acronym of your name. Created by a guy called Monty Oum. Produced under a company called RoosterTeeth." The more I spoke, further her jaw fell. "The Red Trailer was the first event in this series, and that's where we are now."
"That's not possible!"
"Isn't it though?! You just healed a guy with no Aura, seeing him use tech you've never seen before. Hell my wallet is in my other pocket with money and ID's that don't exist on Remnant. And so what if you're a part of a show back home. Does that change who you are? Who you'll always be?"
Ruby clenched her fists. "No."
"Exactly. The only thing that's gonna change is…." My sentence died on my lip as I realized something. 'I was in the Red Trailer….' It seemed so simple of a concept to remember, and yet I didn't. I fucked up...
I could almost feel the light bulb cracking over my head as I put it all together.
My palm smacked against my forehead. "Shit..." Someone go say hi to Mr. Barry Allen for me because I think I just ruined a timeline. "FUCKING MURPHY'S LAW!"
And that's a wrap. This is an edited version of the original chapter that I hope makes way more sense than the original mess that was released. Anyways, since I don't have a release schedule I can't say when chapter three will finally be out. That being said, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and sorry for the long wait. I think we all can agree that last year was one that definitely going to get its own volume in a history book some day. Till next time...Flex out...
