Chapter 2: Sharing Stories

Once the battle was over, the park was restored and a blue halo hovered around it signifying it was a safe zone. Team RWBY found a pair of bench-table combinations and joined them together while the others began setting up sleeping areas and food preparations. With everything finally calmed down, Team RWBY sat opposite their counterparts and Team ASHN minus the A.

"So…" Ruby Prime began, "You guys are… us? But how?"

Hex chuckled as she brought out her scroll, "So if my theory is correct, we're all from different timelines. Can you show us your status?"

Ruby nodded and extended her arm, Hex took it and read it carefully before letting out a sigh, "Phew, wow. So… you guys are from Remnant Prime? Sheesh… that's an existential crisis if I've ever seen one…"

New Ruby tapped her forearm and displayed her status. Ruby Prime noticed the girl's left arm was covered in a Rose-vine themed tattoo.

'Ruby Rose of Remnant X-13

Current Location: Earth-613, City Block B.
Age: 18, Height: 5ft 6 inches.
Semblance: Petal Burst.
Class: Fighter, Subclass: Divine Warrior
Aura Level: Full.
Current Status: No Physical Ailments. Exhaustion level 0 of 6. Intrigued. Soul Bonded, Grimm Blood. Worried.'
Skills: Silver Eyes Mastery, Aura Mastery-Intermediate, Huntress
Unique Equipment: Silver Heart

Status:

Level: 7
Strength: 32
Agility: 40
Defense: 28
Intelligence: 22
Wisdom: 24
Charisma: 40

Ruby Prime gawked at her stats, several things stood out from the absurd difference in values compared to her own, to the various skills she had… and the Grimm Blood. What did all this mean?!

She could only swallow her questions as the other Weiss displayed her stats for them to observe.

'Weiss Schnee of Remnant X-13

Current Location: Earth-613, City Block B.
Age: 20, Height: 5ft 6 inches.
Semblance: Glyphs.
Class: Mage, Subclass: Cryomancer
Aura Level: Full.
Current Status: No Physical Ailments. Exhaustion level 0 of 6. Humorous.'
Skills: Aura Mastery-Beginner, Strategist, Manipulation of Ice
Unique Equipment: Cryoseki

Status:

Level: 7
Strength: 24
Agility: 32
Defense: 20
Intelligence: 42
Wisdom: 36
Charisma: 28

Weiss Prime read her stats and gaped at her counterpart, "What the hell are all these numbers?! What's all this stuff?!" she pointed at the Subclass and Unique equipment.

Weiss-13 laughed awkwardly, "Well… it's a long story. It's better to explain all together…"

"Oh! Me Next!" Yang-13 waved her hands as she showed her status

'Yang Xiao Long of Remnant X-13

Current Location: Earth-613, City Block B.
Age: 20 Height: 5ft 6 inches.
Semblance: Burn.
Class: Berserker, Subclass: Aura Master
Aura Level: Full.
Current Status: No Physical Ailments. Exhaustion level 0 of 6. Excited.'
Skills: Aura Mastery – Supreme

Status:

Level: 7
Strength: 55
Agility: 27
Defense: 38
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 27
Charisma: 30

Yang Prime analyzed her counterpart's abilities and compared it to her teammates. Yang-13 seemed to possess exaggerated strength and defense but possessed no unique abilities like the others… except her Aura Mastery had a tagline next to it.

Lastly, the Belladonnas looked at each other, "Do we have to?" Blake-13 asked dryly. After observing the reactions the others had to their counterparts, she didn't want to dishearten hers.

Blake Prime nodded and smiled, "It's fine, honestly I'm curious as well, especially how you used those shadows…"

Blake-13 sighed and smiled back, "Yeah alright other me."

'Blake Belladonna of Remnant X-13

Current Location: Earth-613, City Block B.
Age: 20, Height: 5ft 6 inches.
Semblance: Shadow.
Class: Rogue, Subclass: Assassin-Mage
Aura Level: Full.
Current Status: No Physical Ailments. Exhaustion level 0 of 6. Worried.'
Skills: Manipulator of Shadows, Aura Mastery-Intermediate

Status:

Level: 7
Strength:24
Agility: 50
Defense: 30
Intelligence: 28
Wisdom: 26
Charisma: 20

Blake Prime whistled, "Those are some impressive numbers…"

Blake-13 just shrugged, "They're just numbers. Your skills speak volumes, we saw you guys fight. You're not half bad, but it looks like you lack extensive formal training."

Her counterpart's ears drooped to one side, "Since Beacon, we've sorta been learning through trial by fire."

Ruby-13 clapped her hands, "Alright everyone, enough comparing our stats. Let's get down to the real business."

"And that is…?" Yang Prime asked raising her eyebrow.

"Sharing our experiences," Ruby-13 answered with a bright smile.

"Why should we? If we're you, then wouldn't we have the same experiences?" Weiss Prime countered.

"No, it's unlikely given how different we all seem, and we're older," Weiss-13 pointed out, "It's different timelines, so things could have happened differently."

Yang-13 smirked, "How do we go about doing this?"

"I think the Prime's should start since if they're the Prime universe, then there's got to be a lot of similarities, we can fill in where things branch off," Luna said as she jumped onto the bench next to her team RWBY. "Before that…" she turned to her Ruby.

"Where is my dearest brother?" Luna asked, with hope in her eyes.

"Can't you guys check on the map?" Ruby Prime asked curiously.

Luna shrugged, "I tried but he isn't popping up… it says he's here but I don't know…"

"Maybe he's out of range?" Yang Prime suggested.

Ruby-13 scrunched up her eyes and folded her arms, she was deep in thought, "Since we dropped here the bond has been stagnant. It's like something is blocking us..."

Her prime counterpart raised an eyebrow in confusion, what did she mean by bond? She wanted to inquire further but someone had already spoken up, squashing any chance of her learning more.

"He'll find us when he's ready," Nitro pulled out a bottle of water and drank large gulps. "In the meantime let's start."

Ruby Prime inhaled, deciding that her questions weren't as important, "Alright… so I guess I should start at Beacon. We enrolled at Beacon Academy about two years ago, and things were normal. Thwarted the White Fang, fought Roman Torchwick, met Penny. Everything was fine up until the end of our first year when Beacon Fell…" She began explaining the details of all their adventures.

Team RWBY-13 listened intently, "Sounds about the same as us except there is a clear lack of… well… us…" Hex said with a frown.

"Yeah… do the names Nova, Luna, Hex and Nitro ring any bells at all?" Luna asked. leaning forward on the table so she was in Ruby Prime's personal space.

Ruby Prime shook her head, "No… sorry…"

The little girl snapped her fingers and made a 'tch' sound before retreating to her seat, "What about the Faunus royal family? The Flarehearts?"

"Our Kingdoms don't have any Royal Families, at least not since the war of the four kingdoms," Weiss answered.

Luna's brows furrowed again as she began formulating her own questions.

Ruby-13 took control, "Well from what it sounds like, we had the same experiences up to there except, in the middle of the first year, Ozpin joined our team with ASHN and formed the first-ever joint team called ASHNRWBY. Ever since then, we've been working together," she smiled and ruffled Luna's hair.

"Joint Team? Then who's the leader?" Yang Prime pondered.

"That's Ruby and Nova, two leaders working in cooperation," Yang-13 answered her counterpart.

"Wouldn't that you know… cause confusion?"

"Well, maybe for other people but Ruby and Nova are like two conjoined gears. They just work so well together that it made our teamwork even more cohesive." Weiss-13 answered with pride.

This prompted the other members to giggle and Team RWBY-Prime just looked at each other confused.

"So, who exactly are you? We know ourselves… but ASHN?" Yang Prime eyed the trio without their leader.

Luna snapped, "Ah, sorry. Allow me to introduce myself," she stood up and curtsied, "Luna Sapphire Flareheart, Princess of the Faunus Kingdom of Pandora. I'm sixteen years old." she then showed them her stat block.

Luna Sapphire Flareheart of Remnant X-13

Current Location: Earth-613, City Block B.
Age: 16, Height: 4ft 9 inches.
Semblance: Iron Skin.
Class: Vanguard, Subclass: Telekentic Manipulator
Aura Level: Full.
Current Status: No Physical Ailments. Exhaustion level 0 of 6.'
Skills: Telekinesis, ?, Aura Mastery- Beginner

Status:

Level: 7
Strength: 42
Agility: 24
Defense: 50
Intelligence: 34
Wisdom: 38
Charisma: 30

Team RWBY Prime all blinked rapidly, Blake did a small bow, "Nice to meet you, your highness." Blake Prime spoke and the others followed suit.

Luna quickly held up her hand, "Please, just speak casually to me. My brother never liked others addressing us by our titles and neither do I."

"I see, well, either way, it's nice to meet another young Huntress in training, or is it normal in your world to start early?" Ruby Prime spoke calmly with a smile.

Luna thought for a moment, "Well… actually I'm fully licensed, see?" she showed them her license, "So are the rest of us. I joined Beacon at 13 years old."

Yang fell over, "That's even earlier than Ruby!"

"Yeah… haha…"

"My turn," Hex flexed her biceps, "Hex Magenta Zephyr, Hacker, Engineer, and resident inventor for team ASHN."

Hex Magenta Zephyr of Remnant X-13

Current Location: Earth-613, City Block B.
Age: 20, Height: 6ft 2 inches.
Semblance: Forgery.
Class: Engineer, Subclass: Technomancer
Aura Level: Full.
Current Status: No Physical Ailments. Exhaustion level 0 of 6. Embarassed'
Skills: Hacking, Engineering, Aura Mastery-Intermediate

Status:

Level: 7
Strength:32
Agility: 30
Defense: 30
Intelligence: 60
Wisdom: 42
Charisma: 18

Yang-13 beamed proudly, "My lovely girlfriend, I knew you were smart but hot damn!"

Yang Prime gawked, "Wait… so that's why you…"

Hex blushed in embarrassment, "Sorry about that by the way… you can see why I got mixed up ehehe…"

"It's fine, nice to see the apple didn't grow on a different branch for your timeline," she looked at Yang-13 and shot her a knowing look.

Blake Prime was having a moment of inner turmoil as she watched the interaction, wondering if her Yang was into girls like Hex… instead of her…

Nitro waved his hand, "Oi, don't forget about me! I'm Nitro Zephyr, this girl's adopted brother and I'm the resident blacksmith and bringer of fun." He stuck his thumb in his chest and smiled with his nose in the air.

Nitro Zephyr of Remnant X-13

Current Location: Earth-613, City Block B.
Age: 20, Height: 5ft 9 inches.
Semblance: Friction Control.
Class: Brawler, Subclass: Blacksmith
Aura Level: Full.
Current Status: No Physical Ailments. Exhaustion level 0 of 6. Prideful.'
Skills: Blacksmithing, Aura Mastery-Intermediate

Status:

Level: 7
Strength: 40
Agility: 40
Defense: 35
Intelligence: 20
Wisdom: 20
Charisma: 26

"Nice to meet you too…" Blake awkwardly said.

"And well… the last person on our team isn't here…" Nitro said still looking around for his leader.

"That's this Nova person, right?" Ruby Prime asked, "Who are they?"

Ruby-13 scratched her head, "Well… I'd prefer if he was here to speak for himself but to give you a brief summary…" she was searching for how to phrase her words. After a few moments, she spoke again.

"Well, Nova is… kind of a dumbass. He's always getting lost, extremely childish sometimes and says the most outlandish things…."

"And he's a leader?" Weiss Prime raised her eyebrow in disbelief.

Ruby-13 giggled, "Yeah, but he's also a strong and capable leader. He always knows the right calls to make, and even if it isn't the best or we don't like it, he hasn't steered us wrong yet and I'm always there to make sure he doesn't do something stupid. Sometimes even I get swept up in his plans, I'm not sure if genius is the right term but…"

"He's clinically insane," Weiss-13 said dryly, "And yet somehow brilliant. I just don't know how he does it." Her words were harsh but her tones were affectionate.

Ruby-13 smiled warmly, "Yeah, he's also really sweet and considerate of everyone."

Ruby Prime was startled and Yang Prime whistled, "Wow… sounds like quite the Huntsman." The brawler then leaned down and elbowed Weiss Prime, "I have never seen that expression on Ruby's face before… it's weird…"

Weiss Prime whispered back, "I know right, it's… like pride? Maybe?"

"You don't think that…"

Weiss Prime choked on her water, "No way! It's Ruby. Even if it's a different timeline, that's impossible."

"Anyway, back to the topic at hand, how exactly did your fall of Beacon go down?" Ruby-13 asked, a serious expression on her face.

Ruby Prime inhaled deeply, "That's… the Fall of Beacon was one of the hardest moments of our lives. It's when everything changed." She began retelling the story, "It all started when Penny was destroyed…"

At the mention of Penny, Weiss Prime flinched hard as a dark look washed over her face, but she quickly hid it.

"Then the Grimm came… people were dying, the school was burning down… the White Fang and Atlas Robots were running rampant in the streets. Then… Ozpin tried to turn Pyrrha into the Fall Maiden but… that failed. Ozpin died and Cinder took the power." Ruby felt tears brimming in her eyes as she remembered, "Then… Pyrrha tried to stop Cinder all by herself but… she… she died…"

Team RWBY-13 and SHN gasped in horror, "I'm so sorry…" Ruby-13 reached out and held her counterpart's hand.

Ruby Prime sniffled a little and whipped the tears away, "I-It's fine. It was a long time ago…"

Ruby-13 inhaled sharply, "Well… if it's any consolation I know how you feel," she spoke with seriousness, "When Beacon Fell, Nova, and Pyrrha tried to stop Cinder but she had backup. A man named Onyx."

"Who the hell is Onyx?" Weiss Prime asked.

Ruby-13 clenched her fists, "He's the definition of a monster. If you don't have him in your world then thank the gods that you will never meet him. He's a vile demon, a man who would kill anyone and anything, tear down the very world if it meant more power. He's just as strong as Salem if not more destructive…"

Team RWBY Prime gasped, "That… how did you beat him?" Ruby Prime asked.

"We're… still working on that."

"Onyx was the one who stole my parents from me… tried to kill my brother and I. We were forced to live on the streets, live in hiding our whole lives because of him…" Luna's anger flared up and her eyes turned draconic, her fangs bared in a snarl. Blake Prime instinctively flinched as she felt her Faunus instincts kick in... it was like the little girl was some form of predator, higher on the food chain than cats.

Weiss Prime felt a pang of sympathy for the little girl, "That's horrible…"

"Even worse," Ruby-13 continued, "When Nova and Pyrrha fought them, they lost. Pyrrha was about to die when Nova threw himself in the way of the arrow. I… remember everything. It was the day we thought Nova had died…"

Ruby Prime looked at her with hope in her eyes, "Pyrrha is alive in your world?"

Her counterpart nodded, "Yeah, she's fine now. Penny as well, if that's any consolation."

Ruby Prime felt a bitter-sweet smile creep across her lips, "That's… good."

"Wait, backtrack, you guys thought Nova was dead?" Yang Prime asked.

"Yeah, we held a funeral for him and everything. We thought he really was dead until he showed up months later through Raven's portal, saying that Adam saved his life. Of course he was missing an arm and had brain damage…"

"Meh, the brain damage is normal," Luna shrugged.

Blake's mind screeched to a halt, "Wait. Adam?! As in Adam Taurus?! He HELPED him?!"

Blake-13 looked at her confused, "Well yeah, wouldn't yours?"

"Never in a million years! The Adam we knew was a monster… he was evil to the core… a single-minded psychopath with a vendetta for revenge. He was the one that took Yang's arm!" Blake Prime looked at her Yang and held her hand, "We… finally got rid of him in Argus."

Blake-13 looked mortified, "O-Our Adam wasn't always a good guy sure… he was pretty bad in the beginning but turns out he was being mind-controlled by Onyx. Nova took care of that by breaking the device in his neck and ever since then Adam has been trying to rewrite his wrongs."

Blake and Yang Prime looked at each other, "It would have been nice if that was the case for us…" then the cat Faunus turned back to her counterpart, "You aren't dating him are you?"

Blake-13 choked and sputtered, "Fuck no! He's like an older brother. I'm dating Sun."

"SUN?! AS IN SUN WUKONG?!" Blake Prime was once again dumbfounded, "REALLY?!"

Blake-13 raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong with Sun? He's a sweetheart, a bit of a dumbass, and doesn't think with his head sometimes, but he's really kind… and makes me smile. Why… are you dating someone else?"

Blake Prime turned pink and quickly let go of Yang's hand, "Uh… not… at the moment…"

Blake-13 saw the interaction and smirked, "Well, I wish you the best of luck."

Ruby Prime giggled, feeling the tension in her heart ease up after which a comfortable silence fell over them. Her team looked visibly exhausted and so was she.

"Alright guys, that's enough story time for tonight. Let's catch some rest," Hex said as she clapped her hands and brought out three tiny cubes from her satchel. She then threw them on the ground and out sprouted a portable shower, bathroom, and water cooler.

Team RWBY Prime gawked, "What the…?!" Weiss mouthed.

Hex just smirked, "Always come prepared, heh."

That night as they all slept for the night, Ruby Prime found herself restless. Every time she closed her eyes she could still hear the screaming, the gunshots, the people dying…

"RUBY!" a shrill cry echoed in her head.

*GASP* Ruby Prime shot up in her bedroll, sweat trickling down her forehead as she glanced around feverishly only to find that she was still in the park safe zone. Everyone else was asleep and a fire was going in the middle, the soft crackling of the wood was the only sound amidst the occasional snore.

Well… almost everyone was asleep anyway.

She spotted Ruby-13 poking at the fire and staring into it while seemingly in a daze. Normally she would just go back to bed but… she knew herself better than that.

Unrolling from her cot, she crept up to the fireplace, "Can't sleep?" she asked her counterpart, the latter glanced up with a nervous smile.

"It seems neither can you." She responded calmly, unsurprised by her approach. "I heard you tossing in your sleep. Nightmares?"

"How did you…?" Ruby Prime was stunned.

Her counterpart smirked, "I used to get them a lot too. They started after the Fall of Beacon when I watched Nova fall to his death… then they just got worse and worse, especially after Atlas."

Ruby Prime silently sat down on the grass close by, "What were your nightmares like? Unless that's too personal…"

Ruby-13 just threw her stick into the fire and gazed up at the stars, "Honestly the first few nightmares were just replays of watching Nova get shot and cut down before falling off. Then after Atlas things just took a turn…"

"I keep… remembering everything that went wrong. After Atlas we tried to evacuate everyone… but then Cinder and Neo jumped us on the bridge and we all fell into the void… that's how we ended up here." Ruby Prime spoke, now finding herself staring into the fire, "It was… the first time I'd felt like I genuinely failed…"

When her counterpart just looked at her as if prompting her to continue, she did, "We had this plan… Ironwood was abandoning Mantle. We couldn't just let those people die. We had to do something but… I don't know if we got them out. They were all counting on us… we made a decision against the greater good and now..." she began to trail off, "I just feel like we let everyone down, that… I let everyone down."

Ruby-13 stretched her hands up and looked at her counterpart, "It's always the end of the world this, and everyone is counting on you that. Atlas was pretty tough for me too. It was a real slap in the face for me to think we could handle anything that came our way. Caught in the middle of a four-way chess match between Ironwood, Salem, Saving Mantle, and… protecting the people we care about the most."

"Did you win?" Ruby Prime asked.

Her counterpart shrugged, "Winning is a relative term. If by winning you mean we got everyone out? Then yeah… we won… but Atlas was in a state of disrepair, Ironwood was dead, Salem captured two relics, and… Nova was… well that's a story for another time."

"I'm not sure I understand…" Ruby Prime expressed genuinely. She wanted to know the full story, but it seemed like it was still heavy on her mind.

The other Ruby tapped her chin, "Well, to put it simply… we won some but we also lost a lot. In fights like these… in war… sometimes you need to make the choices you think is best… even if it's not the one you want. There will always be loss, and there may not always be gain. What's important is that you did the best you could and did everything you could."

Her counterpart hummed and brought her knees up to her chest. They sat in silence for a while before the Prime spoke, "Hey… you never told me why you were awake."

Ruby-13 just let out a sad laugh, "It's going to sound stupid."

"Come on, tell me. I'm you so it shouldn't be stupid," Ruby Prime giggled.

Sighing she responded, "I'm worried about Nova."

"You… miss him?" she asked with confusion.

Ruby-13 rubbed the back of her head, "I told you it was stupid… I know he's fine but… when you've spent every day with someone, and suddenly they're not there… it rides on your nerves a little."

Ruby Prime frowned, wondering if such a relationship was even healthy for friends let alone teammates. The thought that they might be something more crossed her mind but then she figured that if Ruby-13 was anything like her, then at best it was just an unspoken crush. Nothing concrete, nothing that could be entertained in the crazy lives that they live.

More silence passed before Ruby Prime voiced a weighted question, "You said trying your best matters most. but… what if you try everything, and do your best but it wasn't enough?"

Ruby-13 looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Then you just have to be better."

"Wait… what does that mean?"

"Go to bed Ruby, it's late... god that sounds weird coming from me." the counterpart said before curling up on the grass, next to the fire… so close it could almost burn her but she seemed so comfortable.

Realizing she wasn't going to get anything else out of her, Ruby Prime decided to drift off as well.

Chapter 2 Done. It's short, I know, but this story isn't on the same weight chapter-wise as DR is. Next... onto Chapter 3.

One Thing to Add: Stats are not inherently upgraded as Characters level up. Some stats do, but its random and certain character's stats are exaggerated based on how they were before arriving on Earth.

Stats also increase based on characters performances and actions, how they develop within the trials and the world rather than simply upgrading from gaining levels.