The forgetful girl wandered the streets of Vale, chasing one of her impulses of action.
She did not know where she had come from, a very clouded memory surfaced of waking on a less then pleasant surface this morning, with less then pleasant smells, but shelter, and secrecy.
She had no idea where the impulse was taking her, but it was strong, very strong.
Her name…she felt as if she would need it.
Her name…
Her name…
It started with an S, she thought.
The memory struggled to surface, fighting, but succumbing to the web of ink that obscured it from the girl.
The forgetful girl found herself in a massive plaza, nearly filled with children and adults.
Staff and students…
The memory flared suddenly in her mind, fitting the scene perfectly, then drifted off just as fast. She had no idea what Staff or Students were, but she could tell that these were Staff and Students.
It mattered little however, as she decided to wander around a bit, unwilling to stray from the clearing, but curious about her surroundings.
Time passed. The forgetful girl wandered and sated her curiosity. Eventually, a bell tolled and people began to file towards the large metal structures.
Air transport vessels.
Another memory from nowhere, where they going somewhere?
She was about to depart, unwilling to be left alone in the clearing, when an impulse told her to board with the…students.
She surged forwards, all hesitation gone.
She queued up in the line, leading onto one of these massive vessels, walking forwards to follow the line.
Eventually, the forgetful girl found herself standing before a blockade to the vessels.
A trial, to bar her from her reward.
The man, whilst not particularly tall, still gave off the promise of violence. He was coated in full military armour, and she could see a notable form of an assault rifle, slung across his back.
"Papers?" he stated, bored, the final repetition of his current job for today.
Papers, previously forgotten, clutched in the forgetful girls' fist, were thrust out, hopefully,
desperately.
The man, slightly surprised by her blustery nature, took the folded document, opening the folds and gave a quick scan of the text.
Almost immediately, his eyes widened and he read through it again, then again, and again.
He looked up at the forgetful girl, dropping the piece of paper to the ground.
His face, twisted into a mask of fury.
In the space of a heartbeat, the man crossed the distance between them, his hand snapping up to slam into her throat, lifting her slightly off the ground for a second.
Who are you! And why do you have the identification papers of the venerable huntress Ruby Rose?"
Ruby Rose?
The memory, a particularly strong memory, burst from the ink of her mind, of a night of unworldly nature, of inverted colour, of biting wind, drifting snow,
rose petals, oh so red,
and…
The Grimm reaper herself.
The forgetful girl was about to explain, to try and calm the soldier, when a voice rang out across the plaza.
"Stand down soldier!"
A female voice, a voice that promised no small touch of craziness and pain.
The soldier dropped her and…visually confirming the voice's origin…turned and ran.
He managed five steps before a metal cylinder hit him in the back…and detonated in a surprisingly pink fashion.
"…Nora." A tired sounding voice uttered…
"Was that really necessary?"
"Yes it was."
The forgetful girl turned.
A stern looking woman in some kind of dress stood behind her, a complex, rather stubby gun with a big barrel clutched in her hands. Her face was stern, unforgiving. But her eyes were bright, and promised fun.
A few steps behind her, and steadily approaching, was a long black haired man with eyes that nearly shut with the weight and fatigue of burdens that she could only guess at. He wore some kind of suit, a definite suit, but of a culture that the forgetful girl could not quite place.
Oriental…whatever that meant.
The man gently pushed the wide-barreled gun down, and then turned his thousand-mile gaze to her.
"So you must be Samantha Ferrox." the tired man said.
Samantha, caught off guard, stuttered out a response.
"Y-yes, that is me."
The tired man smiled, a very small smile, barely gracing his features.
But it was honest, that she could tell.
"I am Professor Ren, Headmaster of beacon academy. I was told there would be a special case student this year."
Student, student.
The world felt ill fitting to her, but she guessed she must be.
She felt a slight intrusion on her...self, she could not tell quite what it was.
And as soon as it came, it was gone again.
"Well, the ship is sailing, best get aboard."
"Oh, ok, bye Headmaster Ren!"
And she raced off, to claim her future, as her impulses told her to.
…
Lie Ren was worried, when he used his aura to roughly scan the girl, he uncovered something odd.
Something not often found in people.
The aura probe was quick, unrefined, and had no set thing to look for, so he could not tell what this…abnormality was.
"I think that Miss Ferrox will make for quite the special student, in the coming years." He stated to his ever constant companion.
"Miss Ferrox?"
Ren thought Nora had misheard.
"Miss Ferrox! You sound so much like old Ozpin."
Oh no, completely spiralled out of hand.
"Seriously, you walk around like him. You act like him. You talk like him. But sorta like a sloth as well, but you alwayswerelikeaslothOMGOspinneededhiscoffeetokeephisslothsecrethidden…
He listened to her incomprehensible tirade about sloth's and coffee, a small smile coming to his face.
All his life, ever since he could remember, they had been together, always supporting each other, never abandoning each other.
Their parents both died.
Still together.
Wandered the lands as orphans.
Still together.
Joined beacon, a fighting school…
…together.
Fought in the apocalypse together.
Laughed together.
Cried together.
Lived together.
Stood, defending the helpless, against all chances.
Togeth…
The memory, accidentally allowed to flow, brutally ripped the tired man from his happy memories and crushed him into despair.
THAT day.
THAT choice.
THAT…accident, that he was powerless to stop!
That…failure.
"Renny…Renny…whats wrong."
Dimly, Lie Ren could tell he was crying.
Harnessing his inner peace, he stopped the tears.
He fought back the sobbing.
He calmed himself and stood.
Of course…she doesn't know.
She cannot ever know!
Who knows what that knowledge will do to her.
He steeled his mind.
"Sorry Nora. Just recollecting on some worse memories of mine, nothing important."
"Oh…you know what would make you feel better?"
"What?" he said, obligingly.
"PANCAKES!"
She danced around the hanger, squealing about the joys of pancakes.
Ren smiled softly.
Yes, that…happened, but his Nora is here now, and still just the same.
But for a few…minor differences.
He set aside this sat train of melancholy, and turned his head to the approaching spires and buildings of Beacon academy.
His academy.
The words felt funny in his mouth. But ever since Ozpin died, the academy had juggled ownership, through the older huntsmen that were left.
None wanted it, all for various reasons, none particularly good.
The idea of being state run was considered, but abandoned.
Eventually, some of the older students and newer huntsman tried to sort out a Headmaster.
Team CWFY, not interested.
Team RWBY, one was too social and didn't care. One ran away too much. One had a far harder business to manage, a reputation to save, and a child to take care of along with being a Huntress, which she somehow manages. And one had the heart and soul, and is beloved by many people, but lacks the ability to play the long game.
Eventually, Ren was chosen.
Jaune was a peerless combat strategist, and a good fighter, but he was also lacking in the ability to look further. Also, Ren possessed the most patience, and had the ability to fuss over details that escaped all other notice.
Probably from being with Nora…
He shook himself from that path, and steered back towards another tangent.
The students.
Yes there was that girl Ruby found, but when he read up on the new batch, a lot more stood out to him.
Some good exceptions, some bad exceptions. As usual.
Things were shaping up to be an interesting year at beacon, he thought to himself, lifting his mug of green tea to his lips, thinking over the next sch…
Did he just hear a camera shutter click.
Hammertime3 has entered the chatroom.
Hammertime3: OMG GUYS FUNNIEST THING EVER HAPPENED TODAY!
Vomitboy263: What Nora?
FelixNox1846: Please turn off caps.
Hammertime3: Today, when we were loading up the cattle for the slaughterhouse, Renny said "Miss Ferrox."
Hypaspis4479: Pardon, I do not believe we understand.
Hammertime3: And then, when we were flying, he looked out into the middle distance and sipped tea from a mug!
Rosenrot5024: Wait...
Hammertime3: HE LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE OZPIN NOW! ITS SO FUNNY!
Ursanova9281:Srsly, I can picture that!
Hammertime3: Yup but I got a picture though, sending it now!
Rosenrot5024: OMG LOL.
FelixNox1846: Wow.
Ursanova9281: HAHA! Needs to be meme'd.
Vomitboy263: Is this a natural occurrence that every headmaster drinks from a mug like that?
Hypaspis4479: The resemblance is uncanny.
Paragon6827: Very true.
LotusBloom4: ...Nora...must you?
Ursanova9281: Oh hello Ozpin.
Oh, what could have happened to Nora? What would cause Ren to lose his calm nature and cry at a memory.
Oh you have no idea how much I want to tell you, but I can't, I'm just going to use it to advance the plot, just when everything becomes good.
I am evil.
Besides, I have far too many hidden secrets and surprises to get to first.
Yes, I shall start using different perspectives, and add new characters in, I am tired of writing "The Forgetful Girl." just as much as you probably are tired of reading it.
Also, cookies to whoever has figured out all the names on the chatroom, a little sneak peak on stuff to come, which I also want to tell you, so bad.
As always, new ideas and suggestions welcome. I am thinking of doing a RWBY 40k crossover involving Ruby's weapon obsession and a few 40k characters of my own writing.
A Lamenter dreadnought, the last of his long suffering fragment of a company, trapped on a Daemon world, and his nemesis. A Tau Broadside pilot, with the obliterator virus. They get dumped on Remnant and sh*t happens. Advice and suggestions appreciated.