Enjoy!

P.S. lots of flashbacks this chapter, it's...necessary, but it should be clear where it does so.

Seven months later.

Ruby walked alone in the artificial twilight cast by the forest. She knew it was early morning, the sun having risen an hour before, but the trees were thick and healthy, blocking the light. The forest itself agreed that it was morning, the wooden titans creaked and groaned while birds and insects whirled overhead.

It was still cool in the post-dawn air and her hood was up. The soft material caressed her cheek like an old friend while her hands felt along the cloak absentmindedly. She wandered slowly, thinking of the past seven months that she had spent on this planet, lost and in unfamiliar territory.

She was still coming to terms with this and would often wake in the morning to forlornly think of home, longingly dreaming of what she once had. But as far as new homes went, this wasn't that bad. She still remembered her second day here vividly and to her surprise, fondly.

"Pssst"

"zzz….."

"Psst, RuRu."

"No, five more minutes…" Giggles filled Ruby's ears as she felt a slight pressure on her nose. Twitching her nose in annoyance, she opened her silver eyes to an opposing set of blue orbs inches from her face.

"GAH!" She jerked awake, zipping to the opposite side of the room in a blur, rose petals drifting slowly to take her spot on the bed. Her reaction was met with roaring laughter as little Celia and Brody rolled on the floor in fits of laughter.

"You should have seen your face! You… You had... Had eyes as big as dinner plates!" choked out little Brody between breaths.

"Forget her face! Look at her hair!" They devolved into more giggles.

Breathing heavily as the shock wore off and irritated at the sudden awakening, she checked a mirror that hung in the closet. Her hair stuck out at gravity defying angles, as if it was trying to mock her in front of the children. Ruby couldn't help it, try as she might the corners of her mouth betrayed her into a smile, and then laughter as full as the children's.

"Brody, Celia! Come out of there this instant! Let the poor girl get ready!" Said Merith sternly. The kids yipped in surprise and bolted from the room, failing to smother the chuckles that still emanated from them as they disappeared out the door.

"Sorry about that dear, they have been begging to wake you up since dawn. I haven't seen them take to someone so much since…" She nodded at the pictures on the desk of Lucy.

"Oh, I really don't mind! I've had worse alarm clocks…" said Ruby, her shoulders slumped in feigned annoyance.

"I think you'll come to doubt that soon enough." A smile grew upon Merith's face. "Breakfast is already downstairs, feel free to wear anything you find in the closet, they might be the right size."

Ruby murmured her thanks as Merith left the room, leaving her again with her thoughts. As she peered into the closet at the clothes, she found no skirts and nothing in red. At that moment, she really missed home.

Later, she was washed, clothed in surprisingly comfortable clothes plus her customary cape, fed and feeling like a normal person again. Brody Sr., kept his promise and dragged her into town.

They used a surprisingly familiar truck-like vehicle. It had an open bed, a cab and was a hideous burnt orange color. It smelled heavily of saw dust and rust caked it liberally. There was also one significant difference between it and any other truck, it was easily twice as large as any she had ever seen.

When they arrived into "town" Ruby realized that this term was a misnomer. This wasn't a town at all. It was a city nearly as large as Vale back on Remnant. It was encircled by a ten-meter-high concrete wall which was covered in vines and various flora. She could see sentries lazily viewing the surrounding countryside.

Here she began to see just how alien of a world she had landed in. Over the entry into the city floated two human?... skulls, peering at all those who came through with crimson eyes. Between the two grotesque machines was floating a sign that stated simply 'Welcome to Hearth.' They passed within without incident, but Ruby continued to stare at the skulls, certain that the little machines were staring back.

"Brody?"

"Hmm?"

"So… Why are there skulls watching us, it's kinda creepy."

"Oh, those are servoskulls, they're like… Helpers. Otherwise people would have to hold the sign."

Odd, thought Ruby, why not just use a billboard instead of using creepy skulls? "Why not…." She held up a finger to point out this solution, but her words died when she saw what the city held within.

Within the city were posters reminding the citizens to watch their neighbors for 'heresy,' or 'Join the Emperor's Imperial Guard, Do Your Duty!' as well as statues of a large figures wielding swords or firearms, whilst halos adorned their heads. Great structures towered overhead, stone and unyielding. The architecture reminded her of old ruins she explored back on Remnant, gothic was the term if she remembered correctly. The structures were magnificent and had her staring in awe.

"Who's the Emperor?" Ruby asked suddenly. The vehicle jerked forward as Brody slammed on the brakes, throwing Ruby into the dashboard. Peeling herself off the dashboard she looked at Brody, he was staring at her with something akin to disgust. "What? Is something on my face!? Get it off, get it off!" She brushed at her face, fully expecting to find something.

"No, there's nothing on your face. But we need to talk about the Grox in the room, right now."

"Grox?"

Brody shook his head and sighed, "Nevermind." before he resumed driving. A moment went by before he continued, "Listen little missy, I know you are new here so I'll let that comment about the Emperor slide. But let me make something very clear." He glanced over to make sure Ruby was listening. "Do. Not. Ever. Ask anyone else that question, you'll likely be charged for heresy. It's not pretty when that happens." He grimaced at the thought, some apparent memory in his mind.

Ruby nodded hesitantly, "Why not?" she asked, "Ask about the Emperor, I mean." She added, cheeks slightly red at her embarrassing questions.

"Where you're from, do you have any religion?" Brody asked. Ruby nodded as she unconsciously played with the hem on her cape.

"Okay, that makes it a little easier. Here we have one religion, one truth, we worship the God-Emperor." He held up a hand as he heard her start to ask yet another question, "He is a real person, a truly mighty being who sacrificed Himself on Holy Terra to keep our souls safe from the darkness of the universe. He watches us, answers our prayers, and by the might of His armies, ensures that we, His children, rule this galaxy." As Ruby watched, she could see the honest belief that he did have in this… Emperor.

"He sounds like a swell guy," She offered wimply, not sure what else to say.

Brody chuckled, "At least, that's what the Priest tells us each week, I've no reason to doubt him." He paused, glancing at Ruby once more before continuing, his face serious once more. "We'll need to sit down tonight and discuss this further missy. If I had known how ignorant you were we would've talked this morning." His tone was stern yet not unkind.

Ruby didn't respond, her mind filled with questions about this strange world she was in. Brody continued, raising his hand up and down towards her in a placating gesture, "Just…. let me do the talking today, alright?"

"Okay Brody, sorry." Her voice filled with sincerity.

"It's okay missy, we all have to learn the truth eventually." He shrugged, the corners of his mouth turned upwards in amusement.

Eyebrow raised at his last comment, Ruby glanced back outside where people swarmed to and fro. She wasn't sure how Brody navigated the maze of unusual vehicles filled with unusual people.

Ahead Ruby saw what she assumed to be their destination. It was an old structure, more wood than stone, the words above the entry were nearly faded and illegible stating 'Hunter's Lodge'. Yet, for its age, people were coming and going with great frequency. It stood roughly central in the city in a large courtyard. Other, stately buildings of stone and statues seemed to innately garner less respect than this simple, wooden building.

When Ruby saw what the majority of the visitors to the Hunter's Lodge held, she nearly screamed in excitement. Guns, lots of guns.

When they entered the building, Brody set off to speak with someone called the Director in a back room and Ruby was left to her own devices. Brody's parting words to her were something along the lines of "Don't do anything rash missy," but she barely noticed they had left. In the Hunter's Lodge, was a collection of weapons, and in Ruby's opinion, far less interesting people carrying said weapons.

So was so enthralled that she didn't notice that she was staring at one individual in particular who had a green rifle attached to her back and two small handguns on her hips. The pistols had cables and tubes leading to a small glowing cell on her lower back. She had brown hair, tan skin and dark eyes to match. A scar ran across her left eyebrow, making it seem like she had one eyebrow perpetually raised in annoyance.

Ruby was finally dragged from her stupor when said individual yelled out to her, "What are you staring at?!"

"Oh, sorry! I didn't expect to find someone that managed to miniaturize energy containment so well. Rifles, sure! But for handguns? How do you keep the crystal lattice functional when firing? Wouldn't a high rate of fire burn out the reflective mirrors?" She kept speaking, oblivious to the glares she was receiving.

"I'm impressed kid, really" Her tone flat and obviously, not actually impressed., "Now run along." A few chuckles and similar callouts followed.

"Oh," Ruby stopped, her mouth still making a small 'O' in surprise before setting her mouth in a thin line with her eyes narrowed. Fine, she would earn their respect. "How about a shoot off? Me against you?"

The woman perked up, "You sure kid?" Ruby nodded, "Alright, I'm listening, the stakes?"

"You show me how your guns work if I win."

"And if I win?" She leaned back in her seat and folded her arms, confidence radiating off of her.

Ruby grinned, "You get this," Reaching behind her, she grabbed the small red box that was Crescent Rose. She spun with flourish, her movements punctuated by the crackling of machinery as the massive scythe made its entrance. She slammed the massive blade into the floor and stood proudly.

"Is that…." Stammered a man behind Ruby.

"A SCYTHE?!" the pistol wielding woman finished, her mouth open in obvious envy.

"Yup," said Ruby, lovingly caressing the handle, "it's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle."

"Huh?" The woman said, obviously focusing only on the massive weapon.

"It's also a gun."

"I know what it is!" Growled the chocolate-haired woman, waving her hands in the air as if to dispel the image in front of her, "You have a deal!"

Thus, Ruby found herself underneath the Hunter's Lodge in a long firing range. It was massive and modern, a far cry from the dilapidated building above. The smell of ozone and gunpowder assaulted the nose. Scorch marks from las weaponry adorned the walls and spent cartridges clattered underfoot with every step. To Ruby, it was home.

Ruby had to admit, her opponent was vary skilled. Their 'tournament' had been neck and neck for the first two rounds, neither could be declared winner. For marksmanship and moving targets both performed flawlessly. For the final round, they had gone for targets hit in shortest amount of time. The grumpy woman had confidently pulled her two laspistols from their holsters. Multiple targets popped up at a time with little time to hit as many as possible. The woman did well, missing only three at the end.

Ruby didn't miss.

To onlookers, she was a blur as she fired round after round, racking a new shell into place with such fluidity, grace and speed that targets seemed to burst simultaneously. The sound of her rifle was one unimpeded report as shells rained, clinking to the floor.

When the buzzer rang signaling all targets were destroyed, Ruby shouldered her semi-collapsed weapon, the breach and muzzle radiating heat and smoke, and nodded. "Whew, almost missed that last one." She spoke cheerily. Turning, she saw those behind her staring with mouths agape.

Ruby's opponent could only choke out three words, "What….. the hell?…"

Ruby continued her slow meandering through the forest smiling at the memories. She had unconsciously wandered back to the clearing where Celia and Brody had found her that first day. Finding a moss-free log gleaming in the now afternoon sun, she sat and continued to reminisce.

She thought of the Hunter's Lodge where she was now a crowd favorite. Rumors of her beating her opponent, whose name she had learned was Clara Huntson, a former Imperial Guardswoman, had spread. Ruby had later learned that no one had beaten Clara in the last two years. People didn't believe the rumors at first, even more so, they didn't believe that Clara had actually made a friend.

It wasn't easy at first. Clara was cantankerous and verbally abusive, yet Ruby persisted. Ruby and Clara had become initially, eager student and begrudging teacher respectively, then as they spent time together, friends. The grumpy, grizzled woman was actually a good friend to have. She was resourceful, intelligent and surprisingly loyal. Those detractors that attempted to belittle Ruby for her small stature and pixie-like face saying she had no right to be here, soon had Clara's boot... One can imagine the rest.

From Clara, and her own personal tinkering, Ruby quickly learned that most people had only a basic knowledge of how their guns actually worked. Being able to take apart Clara's firearms had been more than sufficient for her to understand the machinery. She had begun to teach Clara how her own las weaponry worked beyond praying to the machine.

"How do you stop it from overloading when the cooling system overheats?" Ruby had asked one day.

"Oh, I do the usual you know, pray and ask the machine spirit to let me keep shooting." Came the simple reply. Ruby was floored. Sure, weapons were extensions of who you are, but praying to them? It just didn't make sense to her.

As an unexpected bonus to the shootout, Brody had been speaking with the Hunter's Lodge director about having Ruby join at the time. As fate would have it, Brody and the Director had come down to the firing range in time to see Ruby shattering every record set….Ever.

She was employed as a "Hunter" that same day, sent out to hunt the various indigenous creatures that preyed upon humans and chattel alike.

On her sun-bathed log, she smirked at the irony of the title. She hadn't told anyone of where she had come from. As far as anyone was concerned, she was Merith and Brody Brodson's niece from another city. She would have preferred the title of Huntress, but it would do for now.

Being a Hunter had its perks, she now had a means to manufacture her rounds for her rifle, not dust rounds to her dismay…. and she was paid so do what she had always done, hunt monsters. Although these monsters were not soulless Grimm, but merely hungry predators. She didn't like killing them and often wouldn't if they posed no threat to people. She primarily wandered, searching the forests for any sign that her team had somehow made it to this new world with her.

Using her not insignificant mechanical knowledge, she had helped Brody and Merith Brodson fix their various rundown machines, some of which hadn't run in years. Yet under her gentle touch, they had life breathed into them once more. One little truck in particular she had worked diligently on, scrounging for parts and spending her income on repairing, was now her gallant steed which she used. She had even used it go to neighboring cities in hopes of finding her team. She had found no sign.

Recalling her failure to find her team, she threw her arms up and groaned in exasperation. She leaned back and found a conveniently placed boulder, warm from the sun. She reclined with her eyes closed, absorbing the warmth while she continued to muse upon the state of her new life.

Ruby still lived with the Brodsons. They continued to teach her on the do's and don'ts of the Imperium. It was a lengthy list, half of which didn't make sense. When she had heard specifically about the Inquisition, she was disgusted. Sure, most of what Brody and Merith told her was from rumors, but rumors usually had some basis in fact. Brody and Merith spoke of the Inquisition as if it was infallible. Ruby didn't buy it. If she would change one thing, it was this Inquisition and its apparent god-like power.

Still, first things first. Get her life back to normal. Using her income from being a hunter to support herself, she had her own necessities cared for, including having an appropriate wardrobe of her red and black ensemble. She used what extra money she had to pay the Brodsons, who lived a fairly humble life, a little extra in thanks.

Eyes still closed, she thought of the Brodsons. She enjoyed staying with them, Celia and Brody Jr. spent every minute they could with Ruby and she did in kind. She adored the little children and loved them as only a sister could. When she was with them, she actually did feel normal. She smiled at the thought of the two children who had found her those seven months ago.

The smile was still on her face moments later, but she was fast asleep.

She woke to the darkness. It was cold, the rock, which was so warm hours before had betrayed her, chilling her at its touch. She stood from the nook where she had sat and stretched, cracking her neck and fingers to shake out the stiffness. Looking around the clearing, she mentally scolded herself at her lapse in judgement. She pulled her hood back over her head and resumed her trek through the forest.

She had barely stepped into the shadows to leave the clearing before she noticed something was off. Some sixth sense was screaming that she was being watched. She looked all around her, unaware of anything that would be a threat to her when it finally clicked. The forest was ghost-quiet, no screeching of night creatures or rustling of leaves. Just….. silence.

Alarm bells ringing, she extended Crescent Rose and scanned, peering into the darkness. She stood there staring for several minutes, sweat beginning to gather on the handle of her scythe in spite of the chill in the air.

Her vigilance was well rewarded as with the sound of splintering wood, a massive creature soared from the darkness. It crashed into the ground in front of her sending her stumbling back in surprise.

In the moments she had to view the creature in the failing light, she at first thought she had found a Grimm. It was giant, standing higher than even a Beringel did on Remnant, but lacking the massive muscular structure. It had a black belly and white armor plates covering its back and extremities, adding to the illusion, but at this, the similarities to Grimm ended.

The beast had six limbs, two it stood upon, a pair of arms and a massive set of spear-like claws it held overhead menacingly. A large, flat tail extended behind it and in place of a mouth was a mass of twitching tentacles, they moved and twisted as if already tasting her. Yet worst of all, were its eyes. They glowed with yellow malevolence, brimming with hunger and… intelligence….

Ruby didn't like this creature. Not one bit.

Her moment of observation ended and the creature was upon her. With a shriek, its clawed hands reached for her, and she burst into action. Spinning her scythe, she battered the creature's claws upwards, her body followed her scythe's rotation while her cape billowed out with the wind, and slammed the blade into the creature's leg. Yellow ichor spilled forth, steaming in the air.

The creature hissed and brought all four upper limbs to bare, using its 'hands' it grabbed Crescent Rose and reached for Ruby. Grinning, she flicked her finger over the trigger of the yet unannounced rifle, and fired. The kinetic energy released not only accelerated a small metal projectile at hypersonic speeds into the creature, it also launched the thin woman away from her would-be predator. Chitinous plates shattered into the night, spinning lazy arcs as Ruby flew back into the clearing.

Impaling her weapon in the ground, she spun around the fulcrum point and landed facing from where she had come. She looked for the wounded creature and found only ichor and fleshy plates steaming in the moonlight. Her silver eyes flicked back and forth when something flew at her with an audible crack. A fleshy tendril wrapped around her waist, her eyes opened wide and with a small shriek, she was pulled into the darkness.

Ch. 2 and you already have a cliff-hanger? Yes, yes you do... Any guesses at to the beasty? It actually got really annoying to use 'beast,' 'creature' and 'monster' over and over again so... yeah... I hope you liked this chapter. The obligatory introduce the character to the world basics is over!