Why hello. It's time for another update! The action has died down a bit, but it will return in time, don't worry. The next few chapters are more character and emotionally driven, so that's that. Also this chapter has little time skips in it, but minor ones.
Anyway, thank you once again for sticking with this story, and for the new ones just joining, thank you for being brave enough to give this a shot.
Now then, on with the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.
Edit: 12/3/17. Re-worked Ozpin's section to be more in line with current cannon (as of V5 Ch7).
Important!
As a note for those new (and returning) to the story, I've been editing the past chapters. Since this is the first one that's had major changes (see above), if there's something inconsistent in future chapters, it's because I haven't edited them yet, but I soon will! They will get fixed soon!
More at the bottom!
Rejected titles: Remnants Most Wanted
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(One day + a few hours previously…)
"Okay, what was with the alarms? What sort of emergency did they have that they needed to disrupt a relatively nice evening by gathering us all together?" Weiss Schnee griped as she stomped down the hallways to the auditorium for a school assembly that was announced about ten minutes ago.
There were many whispering as to why they were called. All knew that it had something to do with the alarms that went off about a half-hour previously. Some claimed that there was a sabotage attempt to blow up the school, others claimed that it was a rebel raid that was fought off. That one was the most accurate since a couple of students had attempted to prevent a new type of Bullhead from escaping at the Beacon cliffs.
"I think the emergency has already passed and this is just them giving out information," Blake Belladonna said along side her teammate.
"Whatever. Let's just get this over with so we can sleep," Yang Xiao Long grumbled, her eyes a dull red, showing that she was tired. Considering that it was about 11:00 at night, a lot of the future Hunters and Huntresses of Remnant felt the same way, considering the amount of grumbling and moaning over the whispering gossip.
The remnants of Team RWBY pushed open the doors and entered the auditorium, the room looking a lot like orientation day, except without most of the injuries. The students, freshmen through seniors, were all gathered with a few team stragglers. Yang looked around and saw a few familiar faces: CRDL, JNPR, and the remaining half of CFVY, which was just Coco and Fox. Yang smirked in remembrance at the ruckus caused when Velvet and Yatsusashasomethingorother left Beacon, thinking they could just walk away. I hope Velvet kept the top half of her ear as a memorabilia. Maybe she made it into a necklace. Or a snack in a red Velvet cake. Would make a nice one, Yang thought.
"So what's the big idea about all this? I'm hearing so many things right now," Jaune Arc said as he wandered over closer.
"Your guess is as good as ours," Belladonna answered.
"Then what are your guesses then?" He persisted.
"How about we look at things logically," Schnee said. "Something happened last night, and there was definitely an airship and people that were not supposed to be here. That either means there was a really botched attack or a spy getting out."
"Makes sense," Jaune agreed. "Do you notice anyone missing?"
They all looked around and really didn't notice anyone gone. "Nope," Yang said, "Now why don't you take care of your pet? I'm sure she misses her master," she jabbed verbally.
"Meh, she's missed me for seventeen years, a few minutes here and there won't make that much of a difference," Jaune replied nonchalantly. "Besides, who wouldn't miss me after they've had me in bed? Well, for one they wouldn't leave for a while…" He trailed off as he stared coolly at Myrtenaster, which had appeared in a blur under his chin.
"Could you take your uncouth tongue away from us?" Weiss said.
"As if mine's any different for your teams', hypocrite," Jaune coolly said as his gaze turned onto Weiss. "Of course, you'd understand better than anyone here, wouldn't you Ice Slave? Your Mistress always loved giving you a tongue lashing." He then grabbed the blade and moved it away from him, his Aura completely protecting his hand from the rapier's edge.
"Don't you have any other thing to do? Preferably away from us?" Weiss snarled as she sheathed her weapon. She was still annoyed with the Arc heir since the first day.
"Yes, I could be skull-fucking the brains out of Pyrrha right now, but the Commander called us here, and I'd rather not find myself in detention with Goodwitch again." Everyone in earshot shivered at the memory of hell those detentions were. Some were still recovering in the med-ward.
"Eh, ask if you could interrogate Rose the next time, that is if she's still around then," Xiao Long replied. "That'll be a lot more fun than the Goodwitch treatment."
"Agreed, since my team hasn't had a turn yet. Although by now all we'll get are the leftover scraps."
"Scraps of what?" came a bubbly voice. They turned as saw Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Pyrrha Nikos come up to them.
Nora's sleeveless top was white with the heart cut out in the middle to show off her womanly accessories, but not enough to be indecent. The detached black sleeves ended at her pink fingerless gloves. Her black vest went down to her waist with her blue and red odd layers showing. Her armor support was non-deployed, just being only the frame right now. Her pink skirt went only halfway to her thighs, showing off quite a bit of leg, which led down to her black and pink and black shoes.
Pyrrha had on her gold circlet headpiece as always, with the black gemstones hanging from it on their chains. She also had on her gorget around her neck, and her black bracelet on her upper-left arm. Her two layer top was on, the first being a light-brown strapless top vertically divided with some black patterns, the under layer leather being a bronze-gold color V-neck that melded with the top layer. She also had brown cut-off sleeves and an armor plate on her left forearm. Her dark brown miniskirt had her red ankle-length drapery wrapped around it that was stained brown from blood that just would not come out. Around her waist was the plate with her symbol on it. Furthermore, she had on her armor plates protecting her long legs, which led to her brown and dark red boots.
Ren had his black hair tied back in his ponytail, the pink streak prominent on the left side of his hair, the same color as his eyes. His dark green, almost black tailcoat that buttoned diagonally was red on the inside, with pure black and gold trimming. His sleeves ended in wide cuffs that were a darker shade of pink, showing off a bit of his black long sleeved shirt underneath. His pants were a tan color that went down to his black shoes.
"Of Rose, if she's still alive," Jaune answered the hammer wielder's question.
"Even though she's not the Rose we knew, I know she's still alive for now," Yang answered. "She's not going to die that easily."
"True," Weiss answered.
A clearing of a throat in a microphone caused all the talking to cease inside. The two teams turned and saw Goodwitch and Ozpin standing on the stage, with the Commander talking into the mic. "Good evening. You may be wondering why you were assembled at such a late hour, and concerned about the many rumors that have been circulating around. I am here to inform you that a few hours ago two spies inside Beacon triggered the safety alarms when they tried to access secure information. They were perused but escaped before we could apprehend them. Thankfully no major information was stolen before they were found.
"However this incident is just one of many growing in our society, the problems that are cultivating in the shadows," he continued. "The actions of those who dispute our role are growing bolder, making our presence become ever more needed. We are the future of this world and those that stand against it, those that wish to drag us back into the past, must fall.
"To accomplish this, I will be ensuring that harsher measures are taken to those affiliated or sympathetic to groups such as the White Fang or the Ember Rebels. They have been allotted too much freedom as of late and are now surviving on borrowed time. New missions will be assigned to all teams this next week and we will be hunting down these traitors to our world. For the rest of the night, get some rest. Tomorrow we will begin."
Ozpin stepped away from the microphone to cheers and applause. Even team JNPR and WBY were glad for the needed change.
"It's about damn time," Weiss commented. "We've been letting those filthy degenerates loose for too long. It's time to put them down."
"The White Fang is overextending its reach, especially when they tried to jack that shipment of Dust from your father's corporation," Blake added, no hint of regret for the declared fate of her former comrades.
"And those damn rebels keep popping up everywhere," Jaune pitched in. "I just hope I could find my remaining sisters so I could purge the Arc line of its treason once and for all."
"You're not the only one who wishes they could be rid of their sister," Yang said. She was distracted when Weiss' scroll went off with a text message. The Heiress pulled it out and read the message, then turned to the rest of the team and showed them it.
Weiss Schnee, bring your team up to the Commander's office as soon as you get this message. –Goodwitch.
"Well, let's get moving then," Yang said following Weiss.
"Moving where?" Jaune asked.
"This is one of those moments where you don't need to know," Blake responded before turning her back on him and also following.
After leaving, the corridors were empty so they had a clear path to the Commander's office, and made good time. Once they stepped out of the elevator however and entered the Commander's office, Ozpin was already waiting for them with a cup of fresh steaming tea, the clock tower ticking around them.
"How. How?" Weiss questioned deadpanning.
"It's all in the timing," Ozpin replied cryptically. At this, the three of them realized with whom they were speaking to and kneeled, waiting for him to call them to rise, which he did after a moment. "Since the information I'm about to give you is top secret, I shouldn't have to tell you the consequences of speaking about it. I know you three must not be fully satisfied with the little speech I just gave to the masses," he said.
"It was a bit brief," Blake admitted.
"Indeed. There is a lot more than what meets the eye. There was an incident that happened last night, although the severity of it is greater than what I've let on." He tapped his scroll a couple of times and brought up two pictures, two vaguely familiar faces. "Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black, if those are their real names. Transferred here for the duration of the Vytal Tournament on the Haven roster. These two were the culprits of the alarm earlier, and apparently spies from the Ember Rebels."
"Spies? Here?" Yang exclaimed.
"How did they get entered in the first place? Isn't Haven supposed to check their own rosters?" Weiss asked.
"That is something I'll be having words with among other things with the headmaster once I see him. That particular breach aside, they have made off with more data than I said as well."
"Just how much are we talking about, if I may ask?" Blake requested.
"Undetermined at this time," Ozpin replied. "I would expect it would be a lot, considering the time they spent here undetected."
Weiss frowned, remembering something. "M-err, Rose suspected something was off about those two. She didn't fully trust them."
"And how is that different from anybody else?" Yang jabbed.
"More so than everybody else," Weiss amended.
"And speaking of Miss Rose," Ozpin said, bringing their attention back to the present, "apparently those two imposters took pity on her and… 'rescued' her."
"You mean-" Yang asked, her temper starting to flare.
"Ruby Rose, or this version of her, is now in the hands of the enemy," Ozpin stated.
There was a few moments of silence in which the temperature heated up before Yang blew. "Fuck! How the fucking hell could they just waltz in and break her out of this school?! So much for this being the most secure place on Remnant."
In a blink of an eye Ozpin was right in front of her, as if he had flickered and blurred before stopping in front of her, the pummel of his cane forcing her chin up to meet him eye to eye. "Be careful of your tongue, Miss Xiao Long. Your father may be on the council, and your mother an 'S' class Huntress, but I control the council and the hunters. I would not like to explain to Taiyang why his first daughter can't talk anymore. Or why she may have simply… vanished." The words were casual, aside from the blatant threat, but the tone caused the atmosphere to chill dramatically. In a rare moment, Yang's eyes changed back to their original lilac, fear driving the anger away if only for a moment.
Ozpin turned away, taking his cane away and walked back around his desk to his chair. Yang's eyes recovered and changed back to red, though it was gradual rather than instant. "In any event, I'll eventually have to tell him that one of his daughters has been captured after a Dust accident affected the person known as Ruby Rose."
"Why do you say it that way?" Blake asked. "You make it sound as if they are two different people."
"They very well may be," he replied as he sat down, causing them to fall silent. "I've reviewed every recording we have just prior to the accident to when she was broken out. The evidence, however improbable, has led me to believe that an alternate version of Miss Rose was brought here."
"An alternate version?" Weiss questioned, "Like a clone?"
"No, rather a version from an alternate Remnant." More silence.
"That sounds like science fiction." Yang broke it this time, hesitantly, clearly doubting the Commander's words but not wanting (or able) to dismiss them.
"We live in a world that has flying airships, highly advanced robots, holograms, and we constantly defy the laws of physics and gravity on a daily basis, yet that sounds implausible?" Blake scathingly pointed out.
"Well it does!"
"Never the less," Ozpin broke in, "I believe that's what happened, however preposterous it may sound. What we know is that as soon as that Dust crystal activated, Miss Rose changed, seeming to have a different –but not completely- memory of events and history. Seeing as how Miss Rose was in the same position before and after activation, the Red-Black Dust crystal must have pulled the alternate Ruby here. And extrapolating on this theory, our Rose switched places with her."
"So our 'leader' is stuck in an alternate world?" Yang questioned. "Let her rot there then," she muttered, not quiet enough.
"Did my warning not get through that hot head of yours?" Ozpin inquired icily, causing Yang to flinch again, though her eyes stayed red this time. "As much as your enmity with your sister -and you know it's biologically true-" he stopped Yang before she could protest, "clouds your judgment, Miss Rose is one of the key pieces in a larger game."
He steepled his fingers and said, "I brought you three up here because I have a special task in mind for you. You are going to be hunting down members of both the White Fang and the Ember Rebels to retrieve the alternate Ruby Rose. While you are doing that, on your 'free time' Miss Schnee, you will also be making another Red-Black Dust crystal. The ultimate goal is to recreate the events to bring back our Ruby Rose. Since one such crystal allowed for this Rose to come here, it's reasonable to assume that another will bring back our Rose, but only if this other Ruby uses it."
WBY nodded in understanding. "And… what about when news gets out she's missing?" Blake asked.
"Missing? I believe the records show that Ruby Rose has been transferred to a different cell in the Under Basement. We're quite sure we'll get her to talk after she's spent some time there," Ozpin said, a smirk playing on his face, one that was soon mirrored on WBY's faces. "Now then, the last part of my speech stands, get some rest. Tomorrow, you're going hunting."
"Yes sir!" The girls straightened out and stood at attention, then turned around and exited the office.
Ozpin waited until they were gone, then stood up and looked outside the window. Somewhere out there, there's a group of people trying to tear down everything I've built since the war. I will not let that happen, and Ruby Rose is one of the keys to that future. Miss Xiao Long, Belladonna and Schnee have about a week before I contact the Council about this for their assistance. I don't think they want to fail. Their egos couldn't handle it…
He took a sip of tea and sat down again. "Besides," he said aloud, "it's only a matter of time –of which I have plenty."
The clocking sound of the tower continued on.
(Three days later)
O'Malley Frank DuFresne really disliked his job on occasion. He enjoyed his work, helping people; but sometimes those other people, the ones that aren't injured in any way, can get annoying. Always pestering to see if someone is alright even though you've told them multiple times that 'yes, they are all right. No you can't see them right now.'
Of course that doesn't apply to Roman Torchwick.
He's just annoying any time of the day.
"So Doc, has little miss Huntress gone homicidal yet?"
"No." Unless you count wanting to kill herself, he thought sadly.
"Made any death threats against anybody yet?"
"No."
"Tried stealing the scalpels?"
"No. She hasn't changed at all from my last report," O'Malley said, finally responding back with multisyllabic words. "She's still moody, in pain, and showing signs of increased depression. And just to be clear, you aren't going in there yet to antagonize her."
"Me? Antagonize someone?" Roman said, faking being surprised.
"Yes, it's your second favorite past time, aside from petty theft," came a second voice, one that was a slightly welcome relief for O'Malley.
Roman and O'Malley turned and saw Emerald and Neo come up to them; Neo had her umbrella open resting on her shoulder and her classic small smile. "Hey, first off, it's grand theft, alright? Second, I don't antagonize people for no reason." He pointedly ignored the snort that came from… someone. Or all of them. "I'm just trying to make sure that we're not all about to get slaughtered in our sleep."
"If you had been paying attention to what I've been saying, there's no way that she is the Rose from before," O'Malley said.
"Yeah, well a lot of our contacts and supporters are starting to drop off the face of Remnant, thanks to this new 'cleansing operation' Ozpin has declared. I just want to make sure Ebony, or Rose, Ruby, whoever the hell she is isn't actually a spy. Besides, we only clarified that she was different after the Dust thingy. She could very well revert at a trigger word and expose us all."
Neo came up behind him and pulled him down to her eye level. After a moment Roman sighed and rolled his eyes, understanding whatever Neo was trying to get across. "It's not paranoia if you know someone's out to get you." He said. Another moment later, "Yes, I know that she's been under supervision and almost physically able to not move." He was still agitated but sounded defeated this time. Neo placed her hand on her hip, tilted her head, and narrowed her eyes. "Okay! Fine! She's not Ebony, happy Neo? Is that what you wanted to hear?" Roman said, exasperated.
Apparently she was because she smiled again. "I swear woman…" Roman grumbled. Emerald and O'Malley hid their smirks, enjoying the silent takedown the diminutive woman did on Roman.
"Really though, how is she?" Emerald asked, restarting the conversation, or rather starting it without insults.
"She's physically stable. Her Aura's recovering a tad slower but it's fine. Some of the cuts still need a little more time, but her ribs are going to be the longest to recover. However, she's still mentally unstable, and not in a murder-y way," he cut off Roman's sure-to-be sarcastic remark. "She won't eat much so that's slowing down recovery, and she's still in trauma and sliding into depression. Until she comes out of the funk she's in, I can't tell if her story's true. There isn't much I can do about that."
O'Malley looked over and saw that Neo was pointing to herself and Emerald. He frowned for a moment, trying to understand what she was trying to tell him before she gestured back the way the medical wing was. "Oh, uhh…" he thought about it. "Okay, but only briefly, and you leave when she wants you to."
"Oh come on…!"
"Nope," O'Malley cut Roman off again. "Even with her altered memories, she recognizes you as the bad guy. You're not going in until much later."
"Fine. Not as if I wanted to see her anyway," Roman said, pulling out a cigar and lighting it. Nobody bought his indifference. They were all concerned about their guest, for one reason or another.
Ruby had lost count of how long she had stared at the opposite wall. Or had she even bothered to count in the first place? After the first day was spent crying solidly, Ruby had shut down. She still felt the soreness and the pain in her body, but it was numb. She had been numb since… some time ago. The tears had come on and off, but after the tears stopped, she became numb.
After all, feeling nothing was better than remembering everything.
Oh, she still remembered what happened. The torture, the pain … the rape. But it had been pushed to the back of her mind, and then her mind shut down. She had barely said more a single word in each 'talk' with the doctor, which was good for her throat he had said, but she knew he had said that just to try and encourage her. She could see the worry in his eyes from the occasional glances.
She barely ate, only taking a couple of bites before putting the plate of food down and resumed her nothingness. Eventually the doctor would come by and take the plate after trying to get her to eat some more.
She was tired. She had no energy to do anything, and no motivation to get herself to do anything. It seemed pointless. Why bother to do anything?
If she had been thinking properly, she may have found it funny, or at least ironic that she's been stuck in the same room more or less for the past three days. As it was, it was sort of a dull afterthought. I would have gone stir crazy on the second day. Weiss would have loved tha-
Her mind shut down that line of thought before it led to pain.
Everything having to do with them was shut down before it could germinate in her mind. If she let it, her thoughts would take her back to that time, and the monsters her teammates had-
Stop it! Ruby curled in on herself as much as she could with her injured ribs, trying to not make a sound, trying not to cry again. Don't think about it. Don't think. Don't feel. Can't go through that again. A tear came out of her eye, but otherwise she kept it in. Her breathing was haggard, a combination of trying not to sob and breathing with injured ribs.
She just lay there, not thinking, not doing anything except breathing and living, although that last one didn't seem all that appealing anymore. She knew that she needed help, but didn't want it at the same time.
The sun had come and gone multiple times, but she lost count of how many times this had happened. It seemed so normal, so routine, but she looked at it differently. How could it be the same when everything else is so different?
Ruby looked down at her body. She was wearing some wrappings and a lose gown to preserve what was left of her modesty. She lifted up the gown and looked at the cuts she had. They were bandaged but there were still hints of red literally bleeding through the bandages, signifying that they still needed healing. Purple and brown marks were scattered on her skin, disrupting her natural skin tone.
She saw them and without her bidding, the memories of how she got them came to her forethoughts. She closed her eyes and sobbed again, but the tears changed when pain racked through her chest. Oh, god, my ribs. Since there was nothing else she could do, she just suffered for a while before the pain died down. Afterwards she looked at her wounds again.
They're like scars, both on my body and in my mind. They're reminders. I don't want them. I don't want to remember. Something stirred in her, a sense of desperation, and she slowly pushed herself out of the bed, barely staying upright as her legs collapsed under her, only doing so by grabbing the bed. I'm weak. Pathetic. Small and helpless. I need to get the scars to go away. She stood upright and hobbled her way over to the cabinets that she saw the doctor getting supplies out of. It took a minute or two but she made it.
She opened the first one and immediately closed it, seeing that it had all the tools in it, before the flashbacks could start. She shuffled over to the next one. It had more medicine stuff in it, but not what she was looking for. The next one got the results she was looking for. Dust. Specifically White Dust.
All students at Signal were taught the basics of Dust, how it was used, how it can be used, what equipment uses it, etc. Red was fire, Blue and Dark Blue was water and ice, and many others. However, White was the go-to mixer if you wanted to get a different combination or a basic energy source. But White Dust also had a powerful healing element to it. Which was exactly what Ruby was looking for.
She grabbed the vial of White Dust grain and poured some out onto her hand, then used her other hand to peel off one of the bandages; she didn't know or care which one. With the Dust in hand, she held her hand over that wound and tried to use her Aura to activate it. It took a long time and was tiring, more so than she could remember. It was harder to find and concentrate on her Aura, but she eventually managed and the Dust in her palm started glowing. Ruby could feel it seeping into her skin, trying to find damaged cells and repair them. She felt a little bit of her pain subside and moved her hand away. All that was left of the once red wound was a thin white scar. Good enough, Ruby thought.
She repeated this with two other cuts before she felt a wave of weakness come over her, stronger than others before it. Uh-oh. Guess I used up too much Aura. She put the cap back on the vial and placed it back in the cabinet. Then she began the task of returning to her bed, which proved both harder and easier since she had used up a lot of energy and Aura, but her legs had become re-accustomed to walking again.
It took her about the same amount of time to make it back to her bed, where she promptly collapsed on it, breathing a sigh out. She crawled back in and readjusted herself, planning on going to sleep, when the ward's doors opened and the doctor… O'Mallery? Meh, Doc'll do. Ruby couldn't bother to remember his name. Too complicated to say if she wanted to strike up a conversation with him.
"Hello there Ruby. How are you feeling?" He asked.
Ruby blinked and said, "Tired." It came out gravely, but better than before.
Doc blinked in surprise. Probably because I've barely said two words after… "Do you feel like you can manage a guest or two?" He asked, pulling Ruby mercifully out of her thoughts.
Ruby thought about it. Who wants to see me? Is it someone I know, or rather, knew? Or someone different? Ruby shrugged and nodded. "Sure."
Doc turned around and waved two people in. The first one was a slightly familiar face, if only in passing, that she saw at B-… her Beacon. Emerald, if I remember her name correctly. She was wearing the same outfit that she normally wore, when not in her Haven uniform, but she now had a symbol on her armband. Ruby could see that it resembled a four-sided sideways diamond with a crown- no, a tiara, in the middle.
The next girl that came in however caused Ruby to freeze up. Oh no. No no no no no no no. It can't be. If she's here then…
It was that girl that was with Torchwick. Ruby had only saw her once during the fight with the Paladin before she and Torchwick got away, but Yang said that she fought the woman on the train and, surprisingly, lost badly -only saved when another person drove her off before disappearing. With her pink and brown hair, the different colored eyes, and the suit she wore, she was as unmistakable as Ruby wearing her red cloak.
"No. No no no. Why?" She groaned as she flopped back onto her pillow.
"Huh?" Emerald said in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"She works with Torchwick," Ruby said aloud. However, with her tired mind as it was right then, she didn't put two and two together.
"So you do remember then?" Emerald asked, sounding concerned, now confusing Ruby.
"Huh? Remember what?"
"Your life."
"Well, yes, of course I remember…" Ruby closed her eyes as a flashback to her time in the cells came through her mind and ended with those burning red eyes of her not-sister. 'I love it when you're feisty.' "No, no, don't want to remember." She whimpered and curled in on herself.
She stiffened when she felt a pair of hands wrap around her body and cracked open an eye to see that girl hugging her. Ruby tried scooting away but with the girl firmly holding her and being thoroughly exhausted, it resulted with nothing accomplished. Why is she hugging me? I'm her enemy! We are on opposite sides! Why does it feel… nice? This isn't how it's supposed to be. Why is this happening? Bad guys- err, girls, are now the good guys-girls and vice-versa?
It felt like ages but in reality only a couple of minutes before Ruby somehow calmed down. When the girl pulled away, Ruby found herself wanting more of the hug. It had been the first gentle touch in… Ruby didn't know how long. Yes, it aggravated some of her injuries; she made a mental note of which ones to heal next, but it was the best thing she felt in a while.
The only problem was that it was from her.
"Are you, uhh, okay now?" Came Emerald's voice.
Ruby closed her eyes. No, no I'm not. "No… Why are you here?" She asked.
"We wanted to check up on you after we got you out of that hell hole," came the surprising reply.
'We got you out.' They got me out of… that place? "You… got me out of there?"
"Yeah, well, Mercury and I did. Oh! Yeah, I'm Emerald and this lady here is Neopolitan, but she goes by Neo for short." Emerald said, and the other girl, Neo gave a delicate wave.
"I know who you are… knew." Whatever. "But why are you working with Torchwick? I thought… you were from Haven?"
Emerald gave a smug smile. "That was just a ruse. We were trying to get information about the Hunters and the Tournament so we could plan our next move." There was a pause before her tone became serious again. "You remember that we were from Haven?"
"Yeah. We never really talked, but I thought you were nice people." Until I found out you worked for Torchwick. Wait, a sudden thought occurred to her, weren't they the ones that caught Torchwick? "Why is Torchwick in jail if you work for him?"
There was an awkward silence before Emerald hesitantly said, "Torchwick's… not in jail. Where did you get that memory?"
"But I saw you and Mercury hand… him…" Wait. If Torchwick isn't in jail… And she's okay with… Neo's presence, that means she also works with Torchwick. This is still messed up. It isn't my world. "Never mind." Ruby mumbled weakly, still trying to come to grips with everything that happened.
There was another silence and Ruby was about to doze off when there was a weight settling on her bed. She opened her eyes and saw Neopolitan typing something, then showed Ruby the screen.
How did you know I worked with Roman?
Ruby sighed. "You helped Torchwick escape after we destroyed the robot he was in… though I suppose you don't recall that happening," she sighed again.
Neopolitan typed again. No I don't, but there may be an explanation for that.
Ruby nodded after reading, understanding where the girl was going. "The Dust crystal," she said. Neo nodded in agreement.
You figured that you weren't in your Remnant and the Dust crystal had something to do with it.
"That sums it up." Ruby said. Then she asked, "Why did you hug me?" There was only a slight hint of accusation in her tone, but more curiosity.
Because I know what you've been through. I went through something similar six years ago.
Ruby shivered, trying unsuccessfully to block out the beatings and the torture. And the red eyes. Neo's hand rubbing her back returned her to the land of the present. Ruby focused on Neo's eyes and saw the memories haunting her in there. Something clicked and Ruby said, "That's why you don't want to talk?"
CAN'T talk. Neo corrected. They cut most of my tongue off after they shredded it. Makes it difficult to lick ice cream. Neo opened her mouth and Ruby could see that there was only a shortened stump of what was once a tongue. Ruby really didn't want to know what she meant by shredded. Although compared to you I got off lightly. Roman rescued me before anything worse could happen. She took it back then showed her again. Anything ELSE besides what they had already done. So I know what you're going though. If you want anyone to talk to… well, at least I can listen. Neo giggled at the end, which was a pleasant sound, and her eyes switched colors.
Ruby's lip twitched upwards at the laugh but soon fell back into her melancholy state. "I don't think I can talk about it right now. Its… too soon."
"We get it," Doc said, surprising everyone since this is the first time he'd spoken since coming in. "You still need time to recover… and to sleep," he added, seeing that Ruby's eyes were drooping. "Ladies, if you would leave I need to check up on Miss Rose here."
"Of course. We'll be back to talk some more," Emerald said. "See you later Ruby." The two walked out leaving Ruby and Doc alone.
Ruby decided to not try anymore and closed her eyes, falling asleep swiftly while Doc checked her stats. Her dreams were disturbed, filled with images that would haunt her for the rest of her life.
(Three days later)
Ozpin was not pleased. That's not to say things weren't going well overall; the hunter teams had routed out many White Fang and Ember Rebel sympathizers and cells, filling up the jails and the mortuaries both. Information was being gathered through liberal use of their interrogation methods, gathering up even more scum. It seemed that a clean sweep of Vale was soon to happen.
But Ozpin knew that it wouldn't be that simple. Sure they had caught many of the sympathizers, some of the actual members, and a few middlemen or women, but nobody important. Nobody that had any real information. The last two were Miss Belladonna and then Mr. Tukson. Unfortunately Mr. Tukson apparently had been found out as a spy and subsequently murdered by the White Fang, and Miss Belladonna –while helpful- had nothing left except outdated information.
Another thing that Ozpin was… concerned about was the progress of team RWBY, or WBY, and the lack of it in this case. Without Rose to keep them in line, they didn't have as much success in the field. They had already killed two leads that they could have used, although that was paired with the fact that they took in the rest of the rebel cell, all twenty of them. Eight now actually, but that was better than zero. Ozpin had called them personally and told them to do better. From their expressions, maybe that order would stick.
But they were still no closer to their goal of finding Rose, or the other variant of her. Ozpin thought he had seen it all, but alternate Remnants? It just goes to show you may live all your life, see nearly everything the world had to offer, and still find something new. It was a little concerning because it raised a bunch more questions, like how many other Remnants are there, and has anybody else traveled between them before?
And somewhere darker in his mind, he wondered if there was another of himself. One who wouldn't particularly condone the actions he's taken…
Regardless, Ozpin was sure that Rose was being held close to the rebel's head.
Or heads rather. While the body may loose a few limbs, like the Grimm Hydra of legend the head will regrow if any other heads remain.
Several names were on the list: Roman Torchwick for one; a thorn in the hunter's side for ages with his heists, now confirmed working with both the White Fang and the Ember Rebels. The recent Dust 'heists' were all planned by him, or at least carried out by him.
Adam Taurus was known and dealt with, but he had been a public menace in Vale until Miss Belladonna took care of him. Even so, most of the squadron sent to apprehend him had been decimated. They squeezed him of all the information he had and then left him to rot, broken and betrayed. The White Fang had yet to make an attempt to break him out. Probably the mysterious leader of the organization deemed it him to be a waste of time, something Ozpin was fine with, though he was a little disappointed there wasn't some attempt.
Then there were the three remaining Arc sisters: Boudicca, Morgana, and Jeanne Arc. Even though the Arc's had been with Ozpin almost since the beginning, they still somewhat followed the old ways, if liberally, with the eldest offspring gaining the title of head of house, even if female. In that case, that meant any older siblings other than Jaune needed to be eliminated, since the Arc family held one of the largest accounts until their damn father, Alexander Arc, betrayed him and took all the Lien, sequestering it off somewhere only he, and probably one of the living sisters, knew. Alexander and his wife, plus four of the sisters had already been killed in a raid led by Jaune, and they only needed one living. So at least Boudicca needed to be brought in, if only for a short time.
Two more names were recently added: Emerald and Mercury, presumed to be working with Torchwick and the rebels. Both dangerous enough to take on an average Hunter one on one. Working together they would need a team or an experienced Hunter to take them down. And upon further investigation, it seemed that Mercury was the one to end Tukson. Perhaps JNPR would be up to the challenge of subduing them?
However there were at least three confirmed unknowns or persons of interest. The first was the previously afore-mentioned High-Leader of the White Fang: Sienna Kahn. She kept her location a secret, and most of what she did was secret to all but her closest allies. She acted through intermediaries, who then gave out her orders to White Fang cells to protect her location. It was a struggle to even get her name, which for the damnedest time was a mystery. Adam Taurus and Belladonna didn't know where her headquarters was currently, which was unfortunate, so for now, he had to wait.
The second was and unknown and most likely some sort of informant that was high up in society: one that could deliver messages and offer targets to hit for someone with the rebels. A few had been knocked off the list of suspects, but there were a few names that were worrying to Ozpin to even be considered on the list. Those names had the power to destabilize Remnant if proven to be foes.
The third unknown was the person running the Ember Rebels. No name, no images, barely any information aside from the fact that she mainly uses Dust attacks and her clothing is imbedded with it. Yes, they only knew it was a she because of the small glimpses Goodwitch and Rose, our Rose, caught after another Torchwick Dust 'heist'. Torchwick had been running White Fang operations with their lack of a leader in Vale, so this mysterious woman could be the one running the Ember Rebels. And since their spy was on a black-ops silence mission, they couldn't get any information yet.
There were a few others that were of high priority. Especially since Two of the Four are unaccounted for –one having transferring her powers at the last moment to another unknown- and the third crippled.
Ozpin was driven out of his thoughts when the door chimed and James Ironwood entered. Ironwood was one of the few people Ozpin trusted. Ironwood had proven himself during the Faunus Revolution and had earned his position as General. He was one of five people that he told his greatest secret to; one of them wasn't with them anymore, which was a massive mistake on Ozpin's part, telling her.
"General, you're right on time," Ozpin greeted.
"Indeed. I'm curious as to why this meeting has been called." Ironwood said.
"You'll find out in a moment. Unfortunately it's not about a pleasant subject."
"When is anything you need to contact the council about pleasant?" He responded with a smirk. Ozpin chuckled as well.
Just then the projector wined and an image formed on the desk. It showed five people in front of them: Adriana Verda, Nikoli Geoluhread, Wale Thayer, Sai-Mein, and lastly Taiyang Xiao Long, the Dragon himself and one of the five Ozpin trusted.
"Greetings," Ozpin said to all of them. "You may be wondering why I called for this meeting. Several days ago Beacon had a disturbance: two spies for the rebels had managed to steal information about troop movements, hunter deployments, Vytal Tournament plans, and other valuable information." There were faces of shock on many of the council members, and a look of concern on Ironwood's. "Unfortunately they managed to escape, but not without one other thing." He paused and took a sip of his tea, just enough time for Nikoli Geoluhread to speak up.
"And what is this other thing?" He asked. Nikoli was a middle-aged man with steel grey hair and wore a black trench coat that covered the rest of him.
"The spies had made off with one Ruby Rose," Ozpin said and waited for the fireworks.
"My daughter?! They kidnaped my daughter?" Taiyang bellowed.
"How could such a travesty occur?" Adriana asked.
"Could they not be stopped before then?" Wale was next.
Ozpin let them continue on a moment longer before cutting them off. "Enough." Immediately they all fell silent. "Yes, Ruby Rose was captured that night, but that's just the tip of the mountain. That same day there was an incident where Miss Rose tested out a new Dust crystal and it had… adverse effects on her."
"Such as," Taiyang growled. For all his flaws he was protective of his family… or at least his legal wife and daughters.
"The crystal caused some sort of disturbance and somehow altered Miss Rose, leaving behind another Ruby Rose in her place, one that is clueless about our world as she has new memories of a different Remnant." Ozpin left out his theory of this Rose being from a different Remnant, but gave them a similar story that would have little difference in their reaction.
There was silence, not unlike when he broke the news to WBY. Finally Sai-Mein spoke up. Thankfully he was one of the more levelheaded people on the council. "Forgive me Commander, but that seems highly… doubtful."
"Indeed, however her personality changes, along with the way she looked and fought proved otherwise. In addition, we interrogated her which further confirms by hypothesis."
Taiyang narrowed his lilac eyes. "Interrogated?" He growled, a bit of rumbling in his voice.
"Yes, and then put into one of the chambers," Ozpin clarified, placating the man. While no one -almost no one- Ozpin corrected himself, could best me, it would be an inconvenience to try and fight him. Especially if him family is concerned. Taiyang growled but didn't continue.
"So now we have this altered Rose in the hands of the enemy," Wale commented. "Is she likely to join them completely?"
"Highly probable, considering her new mindset," Ozpin said. "However we need her alive, as she could be brought back to her old self." A while lie, he thought to himself. "The remaining teammates, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long are tasked with retrieving her. However, we'll need to speed things up."
"So you're offering a bounty on her?" Ironwood spoke up, cutting straight to it. He had been previously been informed on the whole situation, theories and all.
"Indeed. However, we'll have stipulations. She needs to be alive and able to function. We'll sweeten the deal by offering compensation for expenses, but only if they appeal personally," Ozpin's lips curved upwards in a smirk. Many other council members had the same expression.
"Very well then. We'll get started on making and distributing the wanted posters," Adriana said.
"Good, and if you would, Taiyang, a moment of your time." The rest of the council members obediently left the video call, leaving the blond haired man on the screen.
"So what's the real story?" Taiyang asked, knowing Ozpin enough that what he said and what actually happened were two different things.
"Most of it was true," Ozpin admitted, "however, I have a running theory that instead of altering our Rose, the Dust crystal in the incident somehow switched her with another Ruby Rose from a different, parallel Remnant."
Taiyang raised an eyebrow upon hearing that theory. "Yeah, I can see how that wouldn't have gone well with the Council. I trust you enough that you think that's the truth. So what do we do?"
"Stay with what I told the rest of the Council," Ozpin said. "We need to find this Rose before she fully dedicates herself to the enemies' cause. Capturing her is necessary in order to bring back our Rose. I have the student that created the Dust crystal working on another one to hopefully achieve the same results to bring ours back. But first we need to find our current runaway, otherwise all our hard work may be undone."
"Forgive me," Ironwood said, "but how can one girl undo everything that you've done?"
"Ruby Rose has the Semblance of speed, a speed which could match my own. But more importantly, if she's more or less the same as ours, if she manages to unlock her inherited powers, with enough training and practice, she may even become a match for me." There was stunned silence.
"A match for you?" Ironwood incredulously asked.
"Yes," Taiyang answered. "Ozpin saw the potential when her Aura and Semblance fully manifested, and that's not even counting her eyes. That's why we've been training her. She's one of the few that potentially could be able to beat Her, and could maybe match Ozpin with the proper training. That's why we want Ruby on our side. If this alternate Ruby possesses the same potential as my daughter, then having her in enemy hands would be disastrous."
"Now you see why it's imperative that we get our Rose back, and double our efforts to find the rest of the Maidens," Ozpin said. "Our Rose shows no signs of wavering on her course, but this one will be easily swayed by the enemies' words. And I don't want to know what She would do if she got her hands on Miss Rose."
The silence this time was uncomfortable, full of foreboding thoughts.
(Two days later)
Apparently over a week had passed since Ruby had gotten out of the different Beacon. The medical ward had started filling up with wounded Faunus running from some sort of Hunter purge, at least according to what Ruby heard from the wounded. It scared her to think about what Hunters were like here.
The time spent in her bed allowed her to think more. She still blocked out most of… that, but it was getting slightly easier to control herself and to stop feeling. She had figured out completely that she was not in her own Remnant as there were too many changes. She'd talked with Emerald and Neo a couple of times, and Mercury when he showed up once, about what was going on. They had short talks before Ruby would withdraw and Neo, surprisingly, helping her back out.
Ruby when left to her own devices would go over to the cabinet and get some more White Dust grain and heal her remaining major wounds. She still hadn't gotten around to her ribs yet, but most of the others were sealing up, the only flaw was the scars they left behind.
When she was awake and aware, some of the other Faunus engaged her in small talk. She avoided saying that she was a Huntress, knowing the hatred for them here, and replied briefly. They didn't talk to her much after getting such brief replies.
Doc would check her every day and tell her she was improving. Her Aura was recovering and her body was healing unusually fast, probably due to the Dust she was using that she didn't tell him about, and the outlook was that she could be allowed to wander on her own two feet sometime within the next few days, though of course she should take it easy. It would be a little bit longer before she was back to her full strength. Ruby did miss having her sweetheart nearby and was eager for that day to be reunited with her.
However, her mental state was still worrying for Doc. He apparently had a Semblance where he could see injuries and other things wrong with the human or Faunus, body, the mind included. He broke the news to her, saying that her mind was still a darkened fog, although the maze it used to be had straightened out a teensy bit. Ruby didn't really understand everything he was saying considering he used a lot of medical complicated words.
It basically boiled down to sorting out her feelings and memories, something Ruby was not going to do. At least anytime soon, or willingly.
What was really concerning for her the first couple of days after Emerald and Neo's first visit was realizing that she was inside a White Fang base. Although rationally she knew they weren't the same group she had been fighting previously, she still harbored a little terror over that fact.
But, she thought as she lay staring at the boring ceiling, these are the people fighting against the Hunters. And from what I've seen, they're in the right. And the bad guys are now the good guys and vice versa… I just want to go home. I want my Yang, not that red eyed Grimm. I want dad, and Uncle Qrow.
No. Don't cry. Hide it. Don't feel it. Turn away and shove it back into my mind. Ruby fought down the tears and despair and fell into her now familiar void of emotion.
She had almost gone back to sleep when she heard Doc talking, or shouting really, at someone outside. "Oi, hey, no, I told you already-!"
Another person responded, one that Ruby had been dreading to hear. "Too bad Doc, I'm going to talk to her, and you're not going to stop me this time." The doors opened and there was a pair of feet that strolled over to her bed.
Ruby sighed and opened her eyes, looking at a familiar white suit, orange hair, green eye and black bowler hat that she had grown to despise. "Well hello there Rose." He said.
Ruby sighed again. "Torchwick."
Across the city, in a shadowed alley, a cloaked figure hid out of sight, not wanting to be seen. But she could see everybody passing by. The nervous mouse Faunus, the busy worker, and the casual pedestrian, all perceived by the watcher.
There was an undercurrent of fear. Fear of the Hunters, fear of the Grimm, fear of the White Fang and the Ember Rebels. She could feel it emanating off their Auras. And that level has only spiked in the past couple of days with this new 'purge' Ozpin has going on. Everyone is frightened of being accused of being a sympathizer and taken off to God knows where. Fear has been the driving force of this world for so long. It needs to end.
She turned her attention to the activity a couple of police officers were doing. They were putting up a new 'wanted' poster of somebody. So which poor soul is being crucified this time, she thought, resigned to the fact that she couldn't help everyone.
She took out her scroll and snapped a picture of the poster, then zoomed in on it.
Ruby Rose, Captured by terrorists. Wanted retrieved alive and still able to function. Reward 150,000 Lien. Compensation available for expenses undertaken upon request. There was a picture of the girl in question, taken from what looked like the Beacon security footage.
Her eyes widened as she read this. Ruby? Captured by terrorists? Why didn't Cinder tell me about this? Unless… no, this is Torchwick's doing. His name was growled inside her mind. I need to see where he's holed up this time. Warehouses? That's a good place to start. Then I'll figure out what this is about.
A moment later there was a flurry of sound and the alley was empty.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Now before you all blow up, this chapter had already gone on longer than expected, but that just leaves more for next time. I said that Ruby and Torchwick would talk and I meant to have it in this chapter but... yea, too long. Plus I'm doing this at 12 in the night. I'm probably going to edit this sometime.
And who's that mystery woman? Who else just vanishes into thin air? I'm not giving any spoilers. (Wink wink).
So who's hyped for Volume 3?! Qrow, the tournament, and "Winter is coming."! I can't wait!
Now important stuff. The next update will be a while because I'm going to write at least the next two chapters, possibly three, before I upload them. Trust me, you don't want to wait for what's coming. Plus I've been neglecting some of my other stories and I should get back to them... sorry!
12/3/17: I recently made some changes to Ozpin's scene to keep up with current RWBY cannon. Since I want to keep this close to cannon (and with the new stuff added I needed to go back an edit chapters to stay with it) I've heavily edited that scene and will do so to any lore-ish parts of the story from here on out. Frankly I'm impressed with myself because I'm not changing any of the characters in any major way (just adding some details/more plot) and am just including new material that RWBY's adding to the show. And those materials are better than what I had and work wonderfully with what I'd already planned for this.
All in all, a lot is changing, yet it's staying the same -much like that old saying.
So for now, R.R.F.F! I'm going to get some sleep.
-OrangeGalen