Sorry for taking so long guys. I'll try to make the chapters faster but this will take time.
I don't own RWBY, Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum do.
I don't own Rangers Apprentice, John Flanagan does
Chapter 8
A hollow smile of a new life
Arulan POV
As they reach the castle, Horace carry's Ruby into the castle and has some guards take him to a spare room. He leaves 2 guards at the door. He looks back at Ruby as she sleeps on the bed. She has been silent as they entered the building. She had a slight pained look on her face. Horace moved out of the room as he could see that she would be asleep for some time.
He walked down the hall to a small study that held Will, Cassandra, Alyss, Baron Arald, Halt and his wife Lady Pauline. Will seem to have filled them in on the details of the events that transpired on the last trek to the Castle. They seem to not have told the Baron what happened on the road. When Horace took a seat, Will spoke.
"So? What are we going to do with her?" Will asks the group. The Baron sits and thinks, the others are worried what might come of the girl. They all know she is dangerous and can be a bit destructive. But what scares them is that weapon of hers. The Baron only knows what happened at the Castle. Halt speaks.
"She needs a new focus. She is in a new place and is lost and scared, even if she won't show it. Why not put her into a craft?" He asks as he looks around the room. Will looks at his old mentor and a thought comes to mind.
"Well she seems talented, and that she learns fast. But she needs something that feels like a family. I know those eyes. The look of all the kids in the ward had that look. We knew that our ward mates were our family so we looked out for each other." A fond smile comes to his lips as he remembers all the fun he and his friends had back then. "But is must be a disciplined one." He says now serious.
The group ponder on his words. It's the Baron that makes the choice and it shocks the group.
"Why not have Halt train her as a Ranger?" He says looking at the stunned group. "What?" He asks as everyone just stairs. "Well it is logical. Halt and Pauline can give an almost family feel, a ranger's life is very disciplined and it'll give her a new focus." He says to the group as they nod.
"But she's a girl". Horace says. Getting death stares from all the girls in the room.
"But have you seen that weapon of hers and the speed she can move it. I carried it inside and it weighted a ton." Will said. "I don't see why she can't. Girls are smaller and tend to be more on the quiet side. Guys are also more likely to talk to them as well. This gives her the advantage of being more of a use in grabbing Intel." Will states. Halt nods in agreement.
"It might be good to get some new blood. I will have to consult Crowley first though". Halt say, stunning half the group.
"Let's just hope this is the right choice. Bedside's, being with you guy's will allow her to search for her sister and friends." Alyss says with a smile. The Baron nods.
"For now, I believe we should let her sleep. You all should get some rest as well. I'll let you know if she wakes. We will discuss this problem then. For now, Halt you talk to Crowley and the rest of you rest." Arald says as he stands up. Everyone nods and moves to the door.
"I'll go have a look in on her." Will says.
"Mind if I join you". Alyss asks, smiling.
"Sure". He says as they walk to her room. The walk to the room is quiet and slow. Neither wanting to see this girl that now lays motionless. They reach the door but something tells them to go a bit faster. Like a voice in their ear. Will rushes the door open and a guard is over her bed. He has a blade out. He holds Ruby as she lays still. Will dives through the door and tackles him out of the way. Bringing back his arm to punch the man out. But he's stopped as the man's eyes seem to change colour. From a brown to a deep red. He growls at Will and throws him off.
The man's arms start to grow fur as dark as night. His teeth sharpen and grow. Will pulls out his Saxe and ready's himself. Alyss looks over to Ruby's bed and see she's gone. But she sees rose petals falling from the roof. They look blood red. She looks up to see a being layered in petals. Slowly a petal would fall from the being. It's covered in a cape that looks all too familiar. Alyss puts the dots together when a familiar red box is being pulled from its back.
"Ruby". Was all she says when the man attack's. Ruby dives off the roof, driving her feet into its head. As the petals touch the man, it seems to burn his skin. Like fire in the form of beautiful rose petals. The man screams a demonic scream as he backs up. Ruby's hand grabs this monsters face and it bursts into flames. It screams as it swipes at it face, spreading the flames. As Will watches this, it reminds him of what happened in his first year when he shot a flaming arrow at an ancient beast, setting it ablaze. It dropped to the floor. It's body vanishing into petals as black as its fur.
As this beast slowly vanishes, Ruby's petals start to vanish. Ruby's eyes return to her silvery colour, from their silver red look. But Ruby's normal happy look was gone. She has this look of anger and hate. But also a look of emptiness. Her eye's looked hollow. The silvery eyes now look grey and dead. She slowly moves to the bed and lays down. She closes her eyes and she falls asleep. Will looks at Alyss, panting and confused. They leave the room and slowly head home. Vowing to not speak of what happened until they ask Ruby what that thing was.
3 Days later
"What? Why should we have her"? Crowley shout. Halt sits there. Unmoved and strong. "We never have females". He says again.
"That's because we never had a girl who would be any good at being a ranger. This girl may not look it, but she's fast, strong, smart and sneaky, and god does she ask questions." Halt says rubbing his head remembering the questions from the start of their ride. Crowley strokes his hair and sighs.
"I'll give her 5 days to prove me wrong. If she can impress me in those days then I will allow it". Crowley says standing. He shakes Halts hand and they part ways. Halt hearing Crowley's last comment.
"Next thing I know, Will, will be training a princess". He say walking away. Halt looks at his old friend then continues on his way. He mounts Abelard and rides to the keep.
1 Hour later
World POV
Empty. That's all she felt. She didn't know why or when this started but nothing is really making me happy. Ruby walks the halls and looks out a window. A large tree catches her eye. She walks out side and stands before this mighty tree. She looks around and starts to climb. She reaches the lower branches, but keeps going. She gets up to the middle of the tree and move higher. Eventfully she reached a branch with a fork in it. She sits down and leans back. It's like it was made to be sat on. She could almost feel the memories of the last person who sat there.
It's was a boy. Short, skinny and alone. But it was still a warm feeling. She wondered what his life was like, who his family was and where he was now. A gentle breeze slowly moved the branches, almost rocking her to sleep. She looked up to the sky and slowly fell asleep.
In a window, not far from her. The Baron smiled, looking at the girl. She reminded him of a young boy her once knew. Of course this boy was now a man but, he is still a boy in his eyes.
"Will, she is so much like you, yet she seems to be empty". Arald says moving to his seat. "She reminds me of when you were younger. You seemed lost until we gave you the letter that had come with you, the day you were left with us." He says. Will standing in the corner, nods.
"I wish we could help her in some way" He says looking at the girl asleep in the tree. "All alone. Her friends scattered and she is so broken." Will says. A tear almost in his eye. "I could hardly imagine if I lost Alyss. I probably shut down and try to find whoever or whatever killed her". He says looking away from Ruby.
"Will. Why don't you take her under your wing? You were so free spirited. Maybe that will spark something in her. Something that would make her happy and want to be here." Arald says. Will walks to the door.
"I'll see what I can do" He says walking out.
4 hours later
"So we have 5 days to impress him or we will need to find some other way to get her mind off things." Will says, looking at Halt.
"Yes. But the question is, what could we get her to do that would impress him enough to let her." Halt say and pondered for a moment. Will sat and thought for some time. Then it hit him.
"What if we got her to sneak up on the gathering and steal something from the command tent, then give it to Crowley?" Will says looking at Halt. He nods. It was a risky idea but, if it works, then he would not be able to deny the idea of having her join.
"It will be a lot of work, but we should be able to work something out". Halt says walking to the door. "Go fetch Ruby and meet me at the cabin. I have some preparations to do." Halt says. Will nods and runs off to find the sleepy girl.
10 minutes later
It didn't take long to find Ruby as she was still in the tree. Now to get her down. Will grabs a rock and pegs it at her. But she springs away and catches the rock.
"Come down here. We need to go somewhere" Will says, waving Ruby over.
Ruby slowly climbs down. She looks at Will, wondering what he wants. He walks out of the yard to the stables and grabs Tug. He motions for her to join him. She walks over and jumps on. Will slowly starts to the cabin.
"Where are we going?" Ruby asks. She looks around as they ride.
"We are going to the Rangers cabin. We have found a way to be able to take you overseas and blend in a bit better. Which means we should be able to find your friends and your sister". Will says with a smile. Ruby just has a shocked look on her face. "But to do that, we need to impress someone. If we can impress them, then you can join us on our trips around the world." Will says with a laugh. Ruby nods.
This hits Ruby's slowly. It slowly begins to make sense about what this will entitle. She could find her sister. Her friends. Her team. But she could not feel this happiness. She tried to smile like she normally wood, but it felt hollow. Like it never existed. Will sees the smile and rubs her head as they travel closer to the cabin.
Ruby looks at her environment. It's gone from a bustling village to a quiet and calm forest. Then the sound of something hitting wood, rings to her ears. Then another and another. They get louder and louder as they move down the path. Then they start to speed up. The sound getting faster as well as louder. The noise stops for a moment and as they take a turn past a grove of trees. She sees a cloaked figure holding a bow up and takes aim. When he unleashes the arrow, they seem to blur together as the arrows fly off into the target.
The speed and the accuracy shocks Ruby. She watches, amazed as the arrows fly one after another and rip through the targets. Her face shows a small amount of emotion as she watches the arrows getting fired at almost inhuman speed. Tug makes a sound that Ruby could almost call a greeting. The same noise is returned a few seconds later. She sees a small stable with another horse. It's a bit taller than Tug but it looks like it's had the same breeding.
Halt turns too look at the road, where Will, Ruby and Tug are now heading down. He nods at them as he collects his arrows. Will moves over to a small cabin and stops. He climbs off, of Tug and waited for Ruby to dismount. She slowly gets off of Tug as she looks at her surroundings. Trees are all around her. A small open field with targets and a small cabin. It reminded her of her Uncle Crows house on the edge of patch. The memory would normally bring a smile to her but she felt nothing. Not a single twinge of a smile would form. She should feel sad at this occurring but not even a frown would form.
"Are you ok Ruby"? Will asks her. She realises she still half on tug. She gives a half-hearted apology as she gets off tug and walks over to the porch. She sits down on the seat, awkwardly waiting as she shuffles her feet and twiddles her thumbs. Halt raises an eye brow as he looks at Will.
"We have 5 days till the gathering, you sure she will be up to the task?" Halt asks Will. Will nods at his old mentor.
"She will. Besides, I know a way to get her to agree." Will says walking over. Halt looks at him confused as he follows Will. To the empty girl. Ruby looks u at the 2 approaching men and almost looks quizzical of why they have her here. Will speaks.
"Ruby. We have come to a conclusion that, to help you cope in your current situation, we want to train you. Train you in ow to become a Ranger." Will says. It was short, sharp and straight to the point. Ruby looked at him.
"Why should I join? This is not my home and I have nothing here". Ruby says. Halt frowns. She has a point. She has no ties to this world that she knows of. She has no commitments and reason to listen to them. He looks at Will who just smirks.
"Being a Ranger allows certain things. But being a Ranger here with us will allow you to do more. You will be able to travel the world, and that means a chance to find you friends and your sister." Will says with a large grin. Halt looks at will nodding his head. Ruby looks at him with her mouth open. If he was right then they could find her friends and work on a way home. She looks at him as she thinks then nods.
"If it allows me to find those close to me, then I will join you. On one condition. You help me find them?" She says, putting out her hand. Will smirks.
"Deal. Now you will be needing one of these. We have 5 days to prep you and trust me. You will need to be ready." Will says handing Ruby a Green and Grey cloak. A huge grin on his lips.
Remnant
Beacon POV
Ozpin sits in the school library. He looks through old books and new trying to find anything that matched the symbols that he saw on team RWBY's floor. But nothing. He looks at the piles of books that now sit at his current desk. All held nothing.
He looks at a door that he forgot existed. It was the forbidden library. He looks around hoping Glenda was not around. He walks to the door with his coffee in hand. He looks at the lock and realises that Glenda has the only key. He sighs as he takes a sip and struggles not to throw up.
"Southern comfit is a terrible idea to put in coffee." He says as he sways out the library door to a bathroom to be sick.
Hey guys and girls. Sorry for how long it took. CIT and work mixed with writers block is not a good idea. So I'm doing what I can with a few new stories in the mix. I'm also holding a comp to decide what Rubies Ranger horse will be called. So send in ideas and make them different and one of a kind. The best will be the name of the horse. Until next time. BYE!