The forgetful girl wandered the streets of Vale, taking in the sights and sounds.
She had no memory of how she had gotten there, nor of where she was going.
She wandered the back streets of the city, taking in the sights and smells, testing for any compulsion or drive, the only indication of the reason she was there, her memory having long since let the information slip into oblivion, along with a great deal more information.
Her name... the memory struggled to rise to thought.
Sa...
Sam...
"Samantha Ferrox!"
She reacted to the name, turning back down the alleyway.
She guessed that that was her name, she had reacted to it without thought.
She noticed the sight of the group that had called out her name. A large group of twelve humans, all wielding a mixture of bats, knives and even a few SMG's (whatever they were).
Thats right, she was a Faunus, a...dragon Faunus if she remembered correctly.
A rarity in any city.
The gang was making sure to block the entire alleyway, preventing her from having a way to leave.
Cornering her, trapping her.
She turned, suddenly afraid of the hostile mob and sprinted down the alleyway, in hopes of escape from the gang.
The gang laughed and gave chase, howling in a grotesque mockery of wolves on a hunt and mocking her.
She did not get far, the alleyway terminated in a wide courtyard, all the doors that could offer blessed salvation...shut.
She turned, in time to watch the gang of...Faunus hunters walk unhurried into the courtyard.
It was nearly midnight, in a nearly forgotten part of Vale, never really patrolled or visited, by people or police.
They would not have to rush.
They would have plenty of time.
One of the gang walked ahead of the group, striding up to her, an arrogant smirk twisting his face.
He probably was in this just for the violence, like most others.
Stopping a metre away from her, he suddenly shot his arm out, hand wrapping around the throat of the forgetful girl, painfully.
Samantha Ferrox suddenly felt her mind clamp down suddenly on itself, dulling emotion and inhibitions in the face of a very real threat.
She reached for the large sword on her back, hidden under her cloak, with her right hand, her left hand going to the base of her spine to grasp the spined combat shield that sat there.
And yet, before anyone could act, a faint whisper of a song could be heard.
"Oooooooohhhhhh-ooooooohhhhhhh-ooooooohhhhhhh-ooooooooooohhhhhhh."
The mysterious song began to increase in volume, almost as if it recognised it had been discovered, and did not need to hide.
"Red like ro-ses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest.
The surroundings suddenly seemed to jump and invert colors, causing a burst of electric pain to go through all in the courtyard, the dark night sky jittered into an incandescent white, whilst the buildings and courtyard seemed to turn a complete all consuming black.
"White is cold and al-ways yea-rning, burdened by a royal test."
Samantha noticed the slowly increasing amounts of snow falling, not melting in the now chilling air but gently carpeting the surfaces it fell upon.
"Black the beast de-scends from sha-dows." The music changed tone, growing more hostile.
The collection of people caught in this strange place found themselves suddenly hit by extreme winds, forcing the few who could to use their aura's to not get beaten around by this potent tempest.
The gang began to look around for what was causing this to occur, raising weapons in fear.
"Yel-low beau-ty burns..."
Samantha barely noticed the sudden influx of crimson rose petals, drifting with the snow.
"Gold."
And then they saw...it.
It stood atop the cathedral-like building to Samantha's right a long hooded cloak that Samantha could not quite tell if it was white or red hiding the unmoving being beneath.
The figure however had one notable feature that was not hidden by the cloak.
Grasped in its hands behind its back, held in reverse form, was a massive, red scythe.
The entire altercation had taken less then ten seconds, the weak and half frozen thugs no match for her speed. However, as the last one fell, a brutish one with a beard, she noticed something red falling from his hand. A dust crystal.
Oh no, not again.
She sprinted over and picked up the Faunus girl, running back atop the myradria of roofs to escape the imminent blast.
She collapsed Crescent Rose and slotted it into its holster on her back.
"Omg!"
The sudden burst of sound startled the huntress, snapping her attention back to the girl.
"You're Ruby Rose!
Yes, I am pretty sure I am.
"Can I have you're autograph?" The now excited girl squealed.
Suddenly, Ruby felt herself struck by an incredible bout of Deja'vu.
Why would this happen.
She thought back on what could have caused the phenomenon.
A gang of thugs. Not very bright or strong, just thugs.
A seemingly defenseless girl, who was actually armed, Ruby had seen enough people to know when one is armed or not.
A very one sided fight in a relatively open space.
An escape up to rooftops.
Explosive dust crystal.
And a huntress intervening.
The realisation hit her with the force of an Ursa and she had to call on all her metal and physical power to not burst out laughing, and rather maintain her badass air.
She was very badass.
Regardless, she allowed a slight chuckle to pass her lips, and then raised her arm in gesture...
Toward a cluster of buildings only about 200 metres away. A few memories of a big building, containing many dust crystals. She was bought out of her thoughts as her idol and now savior began to speak.
"15 years ago, over around those buildings there, I had the exact same thing happen to me, a gang, a short fight, and I met the first ever Huntress I knew, as she saved me from injury. And now, not to far from there, I find myself the Huntress rescuing the young child. What strange cycles of fate"
Of course, I had already fought off most of the bad guys and this girl recognised me by name. In your face Miss Goodwitch.
"One day, you yourself will find yourself in this very situation, assuming by your weapons you wish to become a huntress. And if so, you must not hesitate to act, for it is these moments, legends begin."
The young Faunus girl stood there, looking up at her with utter awe.
"Whats a Huntress?"
The question caught Ruby off guard, a very unexpected question.
She responded, faster then she thought she could have.
"A Huntsman or Huntress is a person who, when no one else can, brings justice to the unjust, salvation to the lost, and peace to warring people. A Huntsman or Huntress can be expected to give all to the mission, sacrificing even their lives to ensure victory and survival. The life you would live is likely to be short and dark, yet through your efforts you may save thousands of innocent lives.
...Do you wish to make a difference?"
The reply was quiet, but it was didactic.
"Yes."
Ruby inclined her head in a gesture of respect, examining the girl briefly.
She looked old enough.
The Huntress removed a series of folded slips of paper from her cloak, passing the small bundle of documents to the girl.
Then she disappeared in a thudding detonation of rose petals, leaving the awestruck girl, who would not move for another hour as she came to grips with what had occurred.
She had met Ruby Rose! And she had finally found her path from her intervention.
Rosenrot5024 has entered the chatroom.
Rosenrot5024: Guys, you won't believe what just happened!
Ursanova9281: What happened sis?
FelixNox1846: What happened Ruby?
Paragon6827: What did you do now?
Rosenrot5024: You know how I told you about how I got into that fight with Torchwick and met Miss Goodwitch?
Hypaspis4479: We remember the story Ruby.
Rosenrot5024: Well, the EXACT same thing happened, as in exact exact, except I was the Huntress.
Vomitboy263: So, not the exact same thing then.
Rosenrot5024: You get my point. Also Ren, you there?
Lotusbloom4: Yes I am here.
Rosenrot5024: I need to tell you a few things, important things, about tomorrow.
Lotusbloom4: Go ahead, we are both talking now.
Rosenrot5024: No need, am outside your window now. Nice new desk ornaments BTW.
Lotusbloom4 has left the chatroom
Rosenrot5024 has left the chatroom
Ursanova9281: AWKWARD!
And there we go, as always, new ideas welcome.
Some of these usernames should be obvious, some less so. Comment on who you think the characters in question are. I will be very impressed if you get them all right!
Drawings of characters are unfortunately not done, and I will probably also revisit this chapter.
Until next time.