Runeborn; Chapter 1

She had never been a morning person. Morning's were always cold, dreary and uncomfortable, it was always better to stay in bed as long as possible and just wait for the day to warm up. Sadly, Ruby Rose had no such luxury, she was captain of a budding team of huntresses, and a student at Beacon, the school of her dreams. Now, mornings were a time of frantic searching and whispered shouts as Ruby and her teammates tried to get to their morning classes on time. Over the course of the last few semesters, had managed to learn how to force herself out of bed on time, although she did occasionally fail. Like today, her cheek still stung from Weiss' palm as she had slapped her out of her slumber, five minutes before she was supposed to be in class. Even with her semblance She was still ten minutes late to class, which for once she was actually upset about.

The reason being, Oobleck had chosen that day to begin their new course on the first Great War, a subject Ruby had always felt very close to. Although even having missed the first ten minutes of the lecture, Ruby could still feel something off with the story Oobleck was telling. Certain things didn't quite fit, some of the facts Ruby had read about as a child were changed, or not told at all. There was a frustration rising in her chest as Oobleck got "fact" after "fact" blatantly wrong, and seeing as it was Oobleck, a professor she trusted made her even more angry. She gripped the edge of her desk in an attempt to keep quiet, Weiss beside her raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any questions. She took her focus off Oobleck and looked around the class. Every student was taking notes, studious and silent, except for Yang who'd pulled her hair across her face and could be heard quietly snoring. There was no sign that anyone else felt as Ruby did, until her eyes fell on Blake.

At first Blake didn't look odd at all, but having spent the last year learning her small habits and quirks; Ruby could tell that Blake was upset. For one, she wasn't taking notes, and Blake always took notes, then there were more physical signs. Her eyes were unfocused and narrowed, like she was concentrating but could quite remember what she was trying to remember. Her hands, always either still or kept busy with a book or a pen, were now restless, fidgeting, snapping and flicking in an obsessive rhythm. Blake may not be as visibly upset by this as Ruby was, but there was definitely an anger within her, possibly greater than Ruby's own. She would have to bring this up after classes ended.

"Ruby." Weiss leant over to whisper "You should be taking notes, I'm not going to lend you mine forever you know."

"Weiss, I do take notes you know" Ruby snapped back.

Weiss looked offended "Ahh~" She held her hand across her heart "How dare you snap at me, I'm only trying help. If you take notes then why aren't you taking notes right now?"

"I'm not going to write down lies, Weiss." Ruby crossed her arms in a sign of defiance.

"Oh don't be such a baby" Weiss scoffed "Like you know better than Professor Oobleck, you're just a child"

"WEISS!" Ruby rose out of her chair, her frustration reaching an all time high.

"Ruby Rose, please make your way out of my classroom." Oobleck had stopped his lecture and was now standing directly in front of Ruby's desk space. "If it is your desire to interrupt my class I implore you to do so after I have finished speaking, if you are incapable of doing so then please leave."

"I'd stay if you actually bothered to tell the truth" Ruby grumbled as she rose from her seat and slung her bag from her shoulder. Oobleck raised his eyebrow.

"If you have any issues with the content of this course then I ask you to bring it up with Ozpin during your free time. In fact you might as well go see him now, seeing as you won't be allowed back into this room for the remainder of the class."

Ruby huffed and made her way from the classroom, leaving an offended Weiss and a still snoring Yang behind. Blake was watching her, with the same kind of rapture that she reserved only for her books (and sometimes Yang). Ruby could not help but wonder what had piqued her interest; this had not been the first time Ruby had been kicked out of the classroom, she was almost as notorious as Jaune for being kept after class, and her restlessness had certainly rubbed a few teachers the wrong way. There was something that Blake knew that Ruby did not, she made a mental note to ask Blake about it later.

Ruby left the class to their whispers and made her way into the hall. The frustration she felt from being lied to by a teacher was unlike anything she'd ever experienced, it went beyond just simple anger. She had been betrayed by someone she was supposed to trust, it called into question everything else she'd learned during her studies at Beacon. She began on her way to Ozpin's office, she needed to speak to him, regardless of Ooblecks suggestion. While she was walking, her mind drifted back to the stories that Yang would read to her before bed, heroes and warriors, her favorite had always been the one of the first Great War, when the Humans and Faunus banded together and fought off the first coming of the Grimm. The Faunus had done all in their power to help the Humans and yet the Humans betrayed the Faunus in the end. The story had always given Ruby a sense of duty, and since then she had decided to become the bridge between the Faunus and the Humans

Ruby took the steps up to Ozpin's office two at a time, not wanting to waste any time. The receptionist hadn't been at the desk outside, so she had simply begun her climb up to the office. She barged into the room without knocking, having been so tied up in her own thoughts she completely forgot Ozpin was in fact a headmaster, and may be dealing with business when she made her entrance. To her relief it was only Ozpin and Glynda in the room, although Ruby still felt like she had interrupted something; Glynda seemed flustered, and Glynda was never flustered.

"Ruby Rose" Ozpin greeted his most recent guest with his customary statement of fact "What is going on, should you not be in class?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow. Ruby pondered for a moment what it was with professors and their excessive use of eyebrows.

"Should, yes." Ruby responded, still more focused on Ozpin's eyebrows than she was the question. She shook her head to get rid of the eyebrow dilemma "I got into an argument with Oobleck and wanted to speak with you"

"I see." Ozpin reclined in his chair, a cup of coffee appearing in his hand. "Thank you Glynda, now if you would be so kind as to leave me and Miss Rose some privacy, we return to our business in a moment" Glynda nodded stiffly and took her leave. ""Now Ruby, explain to me what this argument was about"

Ruby forced several questions from her mind and focused on her frustration during class "Well, at the root of the problem, the course you're teaching is not the truth, even though it's history class, and is supposed to be all about facts and stuff, you are getting the facts wrong." Ruby took another moment to compose herself "Like, why are we being taught something that's not true? What's the point in spreading lies to people who don't know any better?"

Ozpin sipped his coffee while Ruby spoke, and once she had finished put down the cup and thought carefully about his answer "The first Great War, am I right?" Ruby nodded, surprised "Yes, i thought as much. Usually I get one or two students a year complain about that course, although every single one has been a Faunus. I believe Velvet came to speak to me last year" Ozpin said "You are the first Human to have ever spoken to me about this course, Ruby. Although I don't think I expected much less from someone of your beliefs"

"You mean you've been spreading this course around for years KNOWING that is was false? Why? Also why am I the one you expect to be angered by this?" Ruby had so many questions that they were all coming out at once. "Shouldn't everyone be angered by this? How can you let this happen?"

"Calm down Ruby. Have a seat" Ozpin gestured to the seat opposite his desk and poured her a cup of coffee.

"I don't drink coffee." Ruby stated as she sat down.

Ozpin smiled and leaned forwards "That's alright, neither do I" Ruby looked from Ozpin's smiling face and into the cup he had just given her. The faint aroma of chocolate rose with the steam. Ruby couldn't help but giggle.

"You know, everyone in the school thinks you drink nothing but coffee all day long"

"Yes, there's no harm in that" Ozpin was still smiling "I believe there is something beautiful about miscommunication. A beauty that can also contain the greatest horrors of mankind" Ozpin's smile faded and he once again regarded Ruby with his mysterious stillness. "How did you find out the truth about the first Great War?"

Ruby took a sip of her hot chocolate "When I was little, Yang would read to me, stories and legends, mostly. But there were a couple of books that Dad, Taiyang, brought home from his Hunts that Yang would read as well. One of them was a story about the triumph of mankind and the Faunus over the Grimm. As well as the betrayal of the Faunus by the Humans." Ozpin once again raised an eyebrow.

"Accurate books on the first Great War are quite hard to come by, I surprised Taiyang, I'm sorry, your father managed to acquire one."

"What's so special about the truth?"

Ozpin regarded Ruby for a long while before beginning his explanation "The interesting thing about the truth is that it is not always synonymous with the facts. In this world, those who write the stories are those who survive, and in the case of the first Great War, there were only one survivor."

"What do you mean, the Faunus survived that war too right? I mean they're still around now"

"Yes, in a technical sense of the term they did in fact survive, however, in that sense, so did the Grimm. The victor is the one who writes the stories, Ruby, and the Faunus did not win that war." Ozpin waited for Ruby's interruption, when it did not come he continued. "The first Great War did not end with the defeat of the Grimm. As you know, the final battle was between the Faunus and the Humans, a battle to decide the dominant race in Remnant." Ruby nodded but kept her silence. "Mankind created a weapon for that battle, the likes of which has never been seen since, a bastardization of the power of Man, dust, and the power of the Faunus, Nature."

"What was the Faunus' power? Nature? Did they control nature? How did they do it?" Ruby could feel that there were more pressing questions to ask, but she was very intrigued by this ancient power of the Faunus.

"The power of the Faunus was not dominion over nature itself, but rather a certain amount of control over elements. The original language of the Faunus was developed as a way to communicate with the earth, fire, water, air, the forces of our world. As such, it was possible to share the energy of the these forces with yourself, giving you attributes based on the element you are communing with" Ozpin sighed "The details of the Faunus' language have been lost to the cruelty of time, even the majority of the Faunus only know a few words at most in their original language. Now, is there anything else you would like to ask me?"

Ruby nodded slowly "Well... I understand that our version of history may different that other versions of history, but if there are books that recount the true events, then why aren't we learning them? I could get Dad to bring our book up!"

"No Miss Rose. The reason those books are in a limited quantity is because the city destroys every copy it comes across. If we were to take a book such as that into our school, teach the material that resides within, if even one student complained, the city would shut us down." Ozpin closed his eyes and rubbed his temples "I'm sorry Ruby, I wish there to be something I could do to change this, but I cannot risk this school being shut down. We train the future here, and even if they may be slightly mis-informed, it will still be much better in the students who walk these halls are given the options of graduation."

Ruby Rose rose from her chair and thanked the Professor. She may have been a little too curt with her thanks, but she wanted to get moving again. There was only one other person in the school who would be able to give her more information, well, technically two but Velvet was busy with her training.

Of course, Seeing as it was only midday by the time she finished her chat with Ozpin, and that she would have to wait for Blake to be done classes to have her talk, plus she really wasn't motivated to go to the rest of her classes, Ruby spent the rest of the day in the library, looking up books on the first Great War. She couldn't believe that all the history books told a false truth and was determined to find at least one that recounted the actual events of the War. She poured over the words on great dusty old tomes that had long since forgotten the light of day or felt the breath of wind. The pages had begun to deteriorate and some of the words had become illegible but they all told essentially the same story, the story Oobleck had told, the lie her peers were being taught.

There were of course a couple variations within the story between tellings, in some there were tellings of a general who was the main influence in the War, in others the general never made an appearance at all. There were tellings of a leader that the Humans followed, like a king, but he also was written out of several tellings, or at least given a very minor role. Ruby began to understand more of what Ozpin meant, history is by no means factual, the amount of ways the same story can be told was staggering. She sighed, there were absolutely no books that told the story she had grown up reading and being read. The thought that every single person in the world had been told a different story from her made her feel very alone. Like a lantern, lost in the darkness of the ocean, a single beacon amidst a sea of ignorance. She needed to speak to Blake, she would know, the way she looked at Ruby during class, there was obviously something that she wanted to tell her. Ruby shut the book she had been reading and rubbed her eyes, the sun had gone down while she had been pondering the past, the rest of her team should be in the dorm already.

She was tempted to use her semblance to get back to the dorm faster, but Weiss has always scolded her for using her semblance frivolously, so she decided against it. By the time Ruby reached the dorm the moon was already high in the sky and the lanterns lining the pathways had been extinguished. She reached her room well past midnight, but there was still a sliver of light coming from under the door. Ruby planted her feet and flung open the door.

"There you are!" Yang rushed towards her sister and embraced her. Her squeeze left Ruby gasping for breath, but as much as she cared for Yang, Ruby was more concerned with the look Blake was giving her. Blake's eyes were narrowed, but not accusatory, curious and deep like still water. Her head was cocked sideways, her hair a mess, topped with her two wriggling cat ears, which were the only things about Blake that showed any motion. The book in her hands was left forgotten, tented beside her.

Ruby withstood Yang's embrace until the blonde finally released her. '"Where did you go? Were you talking with Ozpin this entire time? Doesn't he have his own work to do?" The questions came like a flood from Yangs mouth, Ruby simply smiled back, glad to know her sister still worried after her.

"No, I talked to Ozpin right after I left Ooblecks class, but after that I went to the library to look something up."

"You? Go to the library? Don't make me laugh" Weiss scoffed, finally lifting her head from her notes and swinging herself onto the side of the top bunk.

"I go to the library sometimes" Ruby retorted "And why are you on my bed anyways?"

Weiss dropped down from Ruby's bunk and pulled her hair back "You only go to the library when I force you, and even then you are usually playing games or slacking off."

"You never answered the bed thing" Ruby muttered as Weiss dropped onto her own bed and turned her back to the rest of the team. Ruby left Yang snickering behind her and made her way over to where Blake was still regarding her with her mysterious curiosity.

"You know, don't you?" Ruby asked, Blake simply nodded "Why didn't you go to see Ozpin with me then?"

"I don't want anyone to think of me as a Faunus. I'm not ready for that, not yet"

"So? I went and I'm not a Faunus, why would they think any different of you?" Ruby asked.

Blake had no answer to Ruby's question, whether she was simply ignoring the question, or whether she truly didn't have an answer Ruby wasn't sure. "What did Ozpin tell you then?" Blake asked.

"Basically that he wants to change the course but doesn't want to have to fight the city and be closed down. He knows' the truth but can't do much about the way the course is set up."

Blake nodded again, but kept her silence for a long while. Yang snuck up behind Ruby "What''re you guys talking about?" Yang slipped into the conversation as gracefully as a goat walking on ice.

Blake looked up to her partner "The history class we're being taught is a lie, written by the Humans to hide their disgraceful betrayal if the Faunus after the first Great War" Blake snapped, a little too harshly. Ruby nodded in agreement.

"Wow" Yang, for once, was speechless, "And you knew about this?" Yang turned to her sister.

"Yep" Ruby smiled up at her sibling "You used to read me the legend when we were little, when dad was away on a hunt"

"Haha, yeah. Of course" Yang laughed nervously. She'd forgotten. Ruby's smile twisted and fell sideways, into a look of exasperation.

"You don't remember." Ruby sounded mildly offended "How can you not remember? You would read me old sotries and tuck me into bed! You used to kiss me on the forehead and say 'Goodnight, red one' That's me! I'm the red one! How did you forget that?"

"I don't know ok? I'm not good with facts" Yang was taken aback by her sisters outburst.

"Hold on a second" Blake had perked up after hearing Ruby's little tirade "You said Yang called you 'Red One'? Yang do you remember where you got that nickname?" Blake seemed almost frantic.

"Will you be quiet? It's all terribly interesting but it's 1 am and SOME of us would like to sleep" Weiss whispered vehemently from across the room.

There were a couple whispered "Sorry's" from Ruby but Weiss had already turned away. Yang gave Blake a look of confusion "Yeah... I think when we were still little, dad went away on a hunt and I had a dream one night, about a Faunus girl running through the woods." Yang paused momentarily "The little girl told me something like 'Protect the red one'" Blake looked shocked "Why? I thought it was acute nickname, since she always wore her red cloak, does it matter?"

Blake held her head in her hands, trying to process the information she'd just gleaned "I need to tell you a story"

Blake began her tale from her childhood, growing up as a member of the White Fang, going on raids and scouting missions, staying safe from the Grimm. She told the sisters of her old partner, Adam, how they'd go out, just the two of them and watch the sky at night, and count the stars. Then came the fire, and the anger, the hate and the pain. Leadership had been taken over from the old leader, and things began to get more and more violent. Protests became all out brawls, featuring more than one casualty on more than one occasion. That was when the dreams started.

The Faunus elders had told her that in the thirteenth year a Faunus would discover their spirituality, strong or weak, they would share a connection with their ancestors. Blake had a remarkably strong attachment to the history of her people and the power that woke within her rivaled that of the shamans. Blake was told that she was a Dream Walker, although she did not have much of an idea of what that meant. Adam was always pulled away on missions, and Blake was left at the camp, not quite old enough to be sent on missions with the rest of team, so Blake had plenty of time to ponder who she was. From what the elders told her, she was a bridge between the past and the future, with the ability to cast her spirit through time, that's what the dreams were, they were her soul being sent out to the past, the future and the present. That was when she had the dream.

She had dreamt of leaving the White Fang, leaving this history of violence and starting anew, building something herself for her people. She was being chased, but by what she didn't know; there was fire, and smoke and anger, tangible and terrifying. While she was running she saw a girl out in the woods, standing in teddy bear pajamas and her shockingly yellow hair tied back in a ponytail. Blake told her to leave, but the girl only nodded. Blake felt like she knew this girl, like she was going to do something important. In the dream Blake kept running, when she finally lost whatever was pursuing her she darted into a burrow, then the yellow haired girl appeared again. Blake once again told the girl to leave, but this time she simply shook her head. No words were exchanged but Blake could now see who this person was, this was a girl that she had brought into her own dream, for a purpose.

"You called me Yang..." Yang whispered, her words breaking the spell Blake had been weaving. Even Weiss had made her way from the bed and over to the group. Drawn in by the sound of Blake's voice, Weiss stood beside Ruby, grasping Ruby's arm firmly.

"Yes, and I also told you something, do you remember?"

"You said, 'Protect the red one'" Yang said, a little louder now. The effect of Blake's story seemed to be wearing off. "Why did you say that? What did you mean? How did you know who me and Ruby were even though we'd never met?"

"I saw our future, and our past. I saw where we came from and who we would be."

"You can see the future?" Ruby whispered in awe.

"Not exactly, it was more of a feeling than anything, like looking at a piece of a picture. I could see Yang, there was fire, and you" Blake paused and closed her eyes. "You were standing in front of a man in red. The two of you had the same eyes."

"Was he my grandfather?" Ruby asked.

"No, he was older than that. Millenia old. . He was like an ancestor" Blake opened her eyes again and looked Ruby in the eyes "He was a legend to my people, he is called Betrayer." Ruby's eyes grew wide "He was the one who began the war between the Humans and the Faunus."