a white figure stood in front of Ruby, pulsing blue light surrounding it. Then, she was in another place. Everything was a shade of dark blue and other darker colors. She looked around, seeing destruction and rubble all around her.

"Where am I?" She thought out loud.

The white figure appeared out of thin air in front of her, and a woman's voice said, "See for yourself."

Details began to appear on the figure. It was a woman, with short hair like hers. She was wearing some sort of lite armor, with a quiver on her back.

Ruby walked past the woman to look to where she pointed. It was Vale, but it was in ruins, smoke rising from the buildings. Whole buildings and houses were gone, many of which were landmarks to the young girl.

"Vale…" She said, her voice shaking.

Ruby bent over, leaning against a nearby wall.

"What happened to me?" She asked.

"You are banished from death." The woman said, approaching Ruby. "Cast adrift between the worlds of light and dark."

Ruby slowly turned to her.

"A curse binds us together within the walls of Remnant."

"Death?" Ruby asked, her eyes widening.

"Do you not remember?"

"Remember what?!" Ruby stood up straight, a mixture of anger and fear plastered onto her face.

The woman opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, a voice called out, "Ruby!?"

The woman disappeared, and Ruby turned to the source of the voice. The person had not yet come into view, but was getting closer. "Ruby?! Where are you?!"

Ruby didn't call back, but rather hid behind a nearby pillar, watching as the girl the voice belonged to walked into view. It was Yang. She suddenly stopped walking, and her eyes widened. Her eyes filled with tears and she fell onto her knees.

"No…" she whispered.

Ruby followed her gaze, and saw a body, lying on the ground a few feet away from Yang. It was hers. Her throat was slit, and blood was pooling around her.

"Ruby…" Yang said, remorsefully. She leaned forward, supporting the top of her body with her hands, and sobbed.

Yang suddenly screamed in rage, her hair becoming engulfed in flames, and her eyes turning blood red.

Ruby slid down the pillar, feeling the same anguish her sister felt.

"How do we break this curse?" Ruby asked.

The woman reappeared, "We find the one who cast it upon us." She said. "The Dark Lady Salem."

Ruby slowly traversed the grounds of Beacon, carefully watching for any ambushes from Grimm or White Fang. The school was overrun, and overwhelmed by both, but Ruby had faith that they could regain control with little to no casualties.

She grasped Crescent Rose in her hand tightly, having it in its gun form. She could hear something moving just beyond the corner of the dorm building. It was the sound of shoes hitting the concrete. It was a person. Ruby quickly leaned her back against the wall, making sure her cloak didn't stick out from the corner, she waited. The person was getting closer, and they were moving

Ruby suddenly pushed off the wall, and spun around, pointing her weapon at whoever it was. However, she couldn't see their face because of how fast they were. And the same could be said for the other party's perspective.

Seeing a gun being pointed at her face, Blake pushed the barrel up, kicked her assailant in the stomach and tackled them. She pressed Gambol Shroud's blade against their neck, all out of instinct.

"Ruby?!" She suddenly asked.

Ruby, still dazed, didn't answer, but rather blinked several times, and nodded. Blake took the blade off of her throat and helped her up.

"Sorry about that." The faunas said. "A bit on edge."

Ruby chuckled, "That's an understatement."

"Yeah," Blake looked around. "No kidding."

"The others are waiting for us," Ruby said. "Come on." She turned around and began walking away, but Blake stayed put.

"Were you looking for me?" Blake asked, somehow surprised.

"Um… Knowing me, what do you think?" Ruby called back.

Blake made a face, as if to say to herself, 'She's got a point', and followed her leader.

"What use are these broken memories?" Ruby asked the Wraith.

"It is important for you to have memory of what happened." The Wraith said. "Salem did not kill you herself. She most likely sent a grunt to do her bidding."

"And?" Ruby asked. These memories had been triggered after Ruby picked up the remnants of her weapon.

"And, whoever she sent will have information on her whereabouts."

"Unless she sent the order down the chain."

"We will get our information one way or another." The Wraith disappeared. "See what else you can find."

Ruby scanned the room. Yang had left a long time ago, and had left the body. Ruby approached her own body, kneeling down beside it, she grabbed her own hand, hoping to trigger yet another memory. White and blue energy pulsed into her hands, and up her arms, causing her to cry out in pain.

Ruby and Blake approached the cafeteria. The sounds of fighting came from the other side of the shattered windows. The two picked up their pace and jogged to the nearest window, peeking in. Inside, was a bull faunas wearing a white mask. Ruby could tell he was apart of the White Fang, but he was dressed differently from the grunts, wearing a black blazer with a rather odd pattern on it.

He raised his blade over his head, pointing the blade downward. Only then did Ruby see the student he was about to impale. She ran out of her cover, and fired three shots from Crescent Rose at him. He blocked each with his weapon.

"Ruby! No!" Blake ran out of her own cover, trying to stop her friend from fighting the man.

"Blake?" The man asked.

Ruby looked over at Blake in fake shock. She already knew Blake had been in the White Fang, and it was no surprise to her that someone recognized Blake. She rather took the opportunity to get a few shots off on him.

Without looking, Ruby fired three more, each hitting him. He was launched into the wall, and Blake seemed to be getting more and more scared by the second.

"This is a very bad idea." She said.

"Relax. There's two of us, and one of him." Ruby said, stepping through the window. Blake hesitantly followed her.

"So, you'll follow a human to certain death, but you won't follow the faunas on the path to freedom?" The man asked Blake.

"We became what we were fighting, Adam." Blake said.

Ruby cautiously aimed her weapon at Adam, reloading it as they spoke.

"We were doing what was necessary!" He said.

"Put down the sword, and I'm sure we can figure this whole thing." Ruby said.

"Why should I trust a human?" Adam asked.

"I don't want to hurt anyone." She said. "I only want to help people."

"You're a liar." Adam suddenly dashed forward, kicking Ruby backwards, she hit the wall with an audible thud, and dropped her weapon. He then swung his weapon at her throat, but Blake quickly blocked it. Ruby rolled out of the way, and picked up Crescent Rose. She quickly fired a shot at Adam, and he was launched backwards.

"Get out of here, Blake." Ruby said. "I got this covered."

"Are you crazy?" Blake asked. "He'll kill you!"

"Nah."

Blake and Ruby made eye contact for a minute, as she extended Crescent Rose, and the faunas could see that her leader was indeed serious. She sighed and began to run off.

"Running again, Blake?!" Adam called out.

"Shut up." Ruby said. "I told her to go." The girl had the blade of the scythe in the ground, and was still pointing the gun part at him.

"Rose, is it?" He asked.

Ruby nodded, slowly.

"I enjoyed killing your mother, and I'm going to enjoy killing you." He said.

"I was going to let you live." She told him, enraged.

She pulled her scythe from the ground and swung it at him, hard. Effortlessly, Adam swung his sword, taking off the head off her precious weapon, and kicking her into the ground.

Before she could get back up, he kneeled down and pressed the blade against her throat. He forced her chin upwards, and pressed down on her windpipe, insuring that she couldn't breath. He let her struggle for a few seconds, before he slid the sharp blade across her throat. It sliced her skin like butter, slitting her throat.

She tried to stop the bleeding as he stood, but there was too much blood for it to do any good. She choked and sputtered, blooding pouring out of her neck and mouth, but her struggle was in vain, as she went limp soon after.

Adam admired his work, wiping the blood from his sword off on Ruby's sleeve. Blood began to pool around her.

"Shoulda run when you had the chance." He muttered, walking off.

The airship ride back to Vale was nearly silent, save for the loud humming of the engine, and the chopping of the blades. WBY each sat in their seats, the wind whipping their hair in front of their faces.

Yang didn't feel anything, she felt empty, and emotionless. She stared at her feet, a blank, expressionless look on her face.

Blake felt sick. It was her fault Ruby had died, she should have stayed. She should have helped. Maybe then Ruby would have lived.

Weiss didn't know how to feel. She was mainly just angry. Angry at the White Fang. She had lost many family members and family friends to those monsters before, but never a close friend. This was mainly due to the fact that Weiss had never had any close friends before.

When they landed, they saw Jaune, Nora and Ren sitting on the ledge of an empty bullhead. Nora was lying down, stretching her aching torso. Ren was sitting beside her. Beside those two, was Jaune, who had his face hidden behind his hands.

WBY sat down beside Jaune, not knowing what they were supposed to do now.

"Where's Ruby?" Nora absentmindedly asked, not putting two and two together.

Yang glared at the ginger, before growling, "Those bastards killed her."

Jaune sat up, "What?" He asked. He put his face back into his hands, and whimpered, "Not her too."

After many, long minutes of silence, Blake finally spoke, "I gotta go." She said.

Yang looked up, "Where are you going?" She fearfully asked.

"I don't know." Blake began to walk away.

"You don't have anywhere to go, do you?" Weiss stood, and Blake stopped.

"It doesn't matter." She said, beginning to walk again.

"You can't leave." Yang told her. "R— She wouldn't want us to split up."

Blake stopped at the mention of their leader.

"Yang's right," Weiss said. "We're a team. We need to stick together."

"I need to stay away." Blake said. "Ruby's dead because of me. I don't want the same to happen to you two." She began to back away from her teammates, who were now walking towards her.

"What are you talking about, Blake?" Yang asked, concerned. Blake stopped, looked down, and said, "The man who killed Ruby… Was after me."

"I don't understand." Yang said.

"I was… I was there. She told me to go," Tears began to form in her eyes. "I… I should have stayed. Maybe then she wouldn't have died." She crossed her arms, trying her hardest not to cry.

"Or," Weiss said, "You'd both be dead. I think Ruby knew what she was doing."

"If we want to find Adam, where do we start?" Ruby asked the Wraith.

"We may not know where the wretched man is, but one of his men might." She told Ruby.

"Right," Ruby said. "But if you haven't noticed…" She motioned to the vacant campus around her. "There's no one around. Not to mention the fact that; all we have to protect ourselves is a scythe handle."

"Then arm yourself, and we will seek out a White Fang soldier."

Ruby used her semblance to speed to the school armory. Inside were many swords and spears. Ruby grabbed a generic longsword, and a harness, and ran out. But once she stepped outside, she saw something she must have missed on her way in. Something that made her freeze. Protruding from a crack in the cement, was a broken piece of Pyrrha's spear. The blade was stuck in the crack, and the part stick out was melted and bent. Ruby pulled it from the cement, and cried out in pain. White energy flowed into her arms, and covered her vision.

"Leave her alone!" Ruby saw a Nevermore, then Cinder, standing in front of Pyrrha, who was on her knees.

"Do you believe in destiny?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yes." Cinder drew back an arrow, sending it straight into Pyrrha's chest.

Ruby fell onto her knees, still holding the broken spear. She slid it onto her back in the harness, next to the longsword. The harness was underneath her ripped and torn cloak.

The wraith appeared again, "It seems your friend has been killed by one of Salem's servants." She said.

"Let's just find a soldier." Ruby said. "I just want to get this whole thing over with."

"There's a large group of them by the airship dock, preventing any survivors from leaving."

"Alright." Ruby dashed in the direction of the dock, scaling buildings to get there faster.

Once she ran out of buildings, she began hopping from light post to light post.

"Grab one of them, and I will do the rest." The wraith said.

Ruby leapt down in front of the ten or so White Fang soldiers, and drew her sword.

"Human!" A deep, man's voice called out to her. She turned to the source; a White Fang Lieutenant.

"I haven't had some one-on-one time with a human in quite a while." He said darkly. "If you get what I mean."

His face was covered by a mask, but Ruby could tell he was making a disgusting face.

Without a second's hesitation, she leaped to the first soldier, plunging her sword through him. He grunted as she pulled the weapon out and cleaved his head off. She dove at the next, kicking him in the stomach, and digging blade into his arm. Another tried to intervene, but Ruby countered his attack, swiping his feet out from under him, and slamming the blade into his head. She pulled it out, and took off the other's head. Another sprinted at her, she leapt over him, and impaled him with the longsword, before pushing up. The blade cleaved through his body, coming out of his head. Blood sprayed onto Ruby, and his comrades.

The remaining soldiers screamed in terror, and began to run, leaving their Lieutenant behind.

"Cowards!" He shouted, moving towards Ruby.

"Grab him." The wraith told her.

Ruby grabbed leaped behind him and grabbed him by the neck. He grabbed her arm and flipped her over his body, slamming her back into the cement. Ruby grunted in pain as he raised a sword above his head. Ruby rolled out of the way, right before it hit her, swiping her blade at his ankles. He fell to the ground, and Ruby stood.

"Weaken him. Then try again."

Ruby raised her blade above her head, swiping down at the lieutenant. He luckily blocked it, but she kicked him. He swiped at her ankles, but she leaped back. He used this opportunity to try and stand. Ruby didn't allow this, and kicked him onto his hands and knees. Quickly swapping her weapons, she dug her spear/dagger into his back. He shoved her off, and stood. Before he could attack or block, Ruby used her semblance to swipe at him several times before he fell back down into a kneeling position.

The Wraith then took control of Ruby's body, gripping the side of his face. His mask snapped, and melted underneath her, now blue, flaming hand.

"Forfeit your mind!" The Wraith commanded.

He screamed in terror and The Wraith returned control to Ruby, who took off his head.

For a few minutes, there was silence, save for Ruby's panting. She looked around at the bloody corpses that littered the ground, before dropping to her knees.

"Jesus Christ." She said, dropping the broken spear. "Jesus Christ, what have I done?"

The Wraith appeared in front of her, "You did what was necessary. You sent a message."

"But, is this really the way to go about it? I never wanted to kill anyone." Ruby asked.

"It's not about what you want," The Wraith turned her back, before suddenly turn in back around and shouting, "It's about what's fair!"

The woman's face caught fire, glowing a blue flame.

"I can't keep killing people like this!" Ruby said.

"Then you won't get anywhere," She told Ruby. "Not only are you benefitting the mission, you're benefiting the innocent. You're standing up to the The White Fang. You are proving that they are not invincible."

"At what cost?"

"The cost of those who deserved death." She said, "You have no choice."

Ruby sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere in this conversation. And it seemed that, regardless of what she chose, this wraith would make it happen.

"Fine…" She said, "But only people who kinda deserve it." The Wraith opened her mouth to speak, but Ruby didn't let her, "But I decide who deserves it. Not you!"

The Wraith merely nodded.

Ruby looked around and saw no one else around. "now what do we do? "

"now we head to that location I had retrieved from the lieutenant. " the wraith said to her as well sent the information in to Ruby's mind. the place they were going to go next was the island of menagerie.

"how are we going to get there?" she asked the wraith who answered as she disappear from view.

"simple fine a ship and stowaway on it, or we can stay here and train on our abilities."

"finding our ship will have to be our first priority,and while on the why training."

ruby began to make her way to a nearest airship but when she saw them she was, disappointed almost none of them looked to be safe and those that are have been wired to blow up upon start up meaning that none of them are safe to now use. ruby huffed and kicked a small pebble that rechachad off a bunch of stuff and hit a bucket that was hanging around off a bullheads wing. then landed dead center on a beowolves forehead going threw it and killing it in the process. the wraith who was going to warn ruby about the creature of darkness, reappeared looked from the beowolf to another one of the pebbles.

"well that was a thing. but then again most of salem's creatures were rock headed anyway's...oum dammit now i sound like...actually who do i sound like?" the wraith said with a shrug of her shoulders. she watched as ruby walked off, making way to the other exit of beacons grounds that lead to vale.