aight this is chapter 3

i had a really tough time on this chapter trying to make everything feel organic, and i think i managed that albeit at the cost of some of my sanity.

ive sorta worked out how my writing goes in that ill usually write a who chapter in one sitting, then go through and edit it immediately after. then ill wait a day or two and re-edit the chapter and maybe add some stuff in

I decided on this because within hours after submitting the first two chapters there were already things i had noticed i could have changed or improved on.

unfortunately, right after deciding to write like this, i wrote this chapter in bits and pieces over multiple days so editing everything so it meshed together organically was hell. hopefully, chapter 4 can be the start of an actually effective writing method.

also, i just wanted to point out that the one-off line mentioning ruby designing a handheld railgun was like 8 sentences long at one point just because i thought the idea was dope and started fleshing out how it would work. but dont worry my fellow railgun fans, i've set that aside and can say it will probably come back in some way in future chapters. It'll probably take a bit though.

enjoy

Inside the Evernight Castle, a meeting was being held between the vassals of darkness and their master. Just a day before, Salem had orchestrated the death of one of her closest subordinates. An event that left the remaining retainers with mixed feelings. Salem, of course, foresaw this and scheduled a meeting in order to clear the air. After all, a subject who could not understand their master's will was hardly a subject at all. Luckily, after all these years Salem had become quite adept at controlling her underlings and thus maintaining order within her ranks.

Salem broke the silence. "I assume you all must have some questions about the unfortunate fate that befell Tyrian last night. Worry not, I will answer any query you may have pertaining to the situation."

"Then let's address the elephant in the room." Arthur Watts spoke, with his dignified and intelligent air not faltering even a bit in front of their master. Salem found this trait of his to be amusing. Like a child pretending to be an adult in order to participate in a discussion among grownups. "Who exactly is that murderous little girl, and why did you allow her to kill Tyrian? I admit I wasn't exactly a fan of the man but even I can't deny he had his uses. I simply cannot fathom why you would throw someone with his skillset away just to win over some petulant child."

"Tyrian was useful, yes, but also volatile and difficult to control when he was not directly in front of me. And I have no need for disobedient servants. Ruby Rose will prove to be a far greater asset than he could ever hope to be."

"But how? I fail to see how that frail girl is anything but a liability."

"Perhaps as she is now, yes. However, I'm more interested in what she will become. You could say, I'm investing in her future. A child is a malleable thing. Given the right environment, it can become a catalyst for great change."

Arthur fell silent. The tone of his master's voice told him that he was supposed to be satisfied with that explanation. A few moments passed before Cinder decided to break the silence.

"Well, I for one think that this plan is a wonderful idea. Think about it, Arthur. The chance to take a promising young mind, and mold it into the perfect pawn. I couldn't think of a more enticing experiment."

Arthur scoffed inwardly at these words. Cinder always mindlessly agreed with whatever came out of Salem, and there was nothing that irked him more than those who are incapable of thinking for themselves. The two exchanged venomous glares until the final member of their meeting spoke up.

"Regardless of the circumstances surrounding it, the fact remains that Tyrian is dead. And that girl isn't going to be able to replace him any time soon. So now there's only three of us to carry out your orders." Hazel stated bluntly. He made a point to say exactly what he wanted to say, and nothing more.

"Indeed. That is the second matter that I wished to tend to in today's meeting. Hazel, your next mission is to find a replacement for our late comrade. Remember, they must meet each and every requirement I have detailed for you. It may take quite a while, but so long as you are able to complete this mission within the next 5 years, it will be perfectly satisfactory."

"5 years… So then, the plan to finally strike the huntsman academies is in place?" Cinder exclaimed as she rose from her seat excitedly. Hazel and Watts glanced over at Salem, waiting for her to confirm what Cinder had said.

"That's right. In 5 years the fall of Remnant will begin. In the meantime Cinder, your mission is to find yourself some useful pawns to aid you in acquiring the power of the Fall Maiden. It is paramount that you gain that power if we are to set this plan in motion. Arthur, you will continue to collect and manipulate information so that when the time comes, we will be able to deal with any opposition we may have as efficiently as possible. And of course, Hazel, you have your mission already." Salem briefed them one by one and made sure each understood their role before adding one more thing.

"Ah, before you leave, there is one last matter to be addressed in this meeting." Salem paused, smiled, and continued. "Seeing as we've just established that Ruby Rose is your new colleague, I believe introductions are in order."

The past 4 years had passed very quickly for Ruby. She would wake up, eat, practice with her training scythe, and then have the rest of the day to do whatever she pleased. Most of the time she lounged around and read books all day. When she first decided to do this, she found that all the books in the castle were extremely old and brittle. Not to mention they required quite a high reading level to grasp, and while Ruby was quite the exceptional reader for her age, she was still 9 years old and many of the words just didn't make sense to her. When she brought this up to Salem, she woke up the next day surrounded by piles of brand-new books that still bore the stench of chemicals used to bind the pages at the spine. It only took her a few weeks to work her way through the entire cache, but one simple request to Salem was enough to get a new shipment delivered directly to her room the next day.

On her 10th birthday, Salem gave her an entire room in the castle that she could do with as she pleased, with shelves already packed with new books to read. Ruby set this up as her own personal study, and often spent more time in it than she did in her bedroom.

For her 11th, a small workshop was built in her study, as Ruby had begun to show an interest in mechanics. Of course, this too was accompanied by shiny new books about all sorts of different gears and mechanisms.

Ruby's 12th birthday was different. Salem led her down into the depths of the castle. They entered those forbidden locked doors that Ruby had never been allowed past, and found themselves in the deepest bowels of the underground. It was there Salem told Ruby the truth about her status as master of the creatures of Grimm, and her feud with the current head of Beacon Academy. Oddly enough, Ruby didn't feel the least bit afraid. Even after Salem exhibited her total control over a Beowulf, Ruby felt completely calm.

The Salem she knew was kind. She showed patience when Ruby stalled in her progress during training. She gave gifts and always helped Ruby whenever she asked. Ruby trusted Salem. She owed her everything. So on her 13th birthday, when Salem revealed her plans to bring down the Huntsman Academies and asked if Ruby would keep the promise she made the day they had met, Ruby looked her in the eyes and nodded resolutely. Determined to help in any way she could. The knife she kept on her at all times not only reminded her of her completed revenge but also her promise to her savior.

Now It was only a few days until Ruby's 14th birthday. She was holed up in her room, drawing blueprints and making the necessary calculations for a new weapon design. She had been tweaking the designs for a handheld railgun for a few months now, and she had almost solved all the immediate problems. Although convincing Salem to give her the materials to create a prototype that would undoubtedly be highly volatile, highly explosive, and honestly just plain destructive even if it worked as intended, would be a tall task.

Ruby always moved from task to task, never taking even a second to just laze around with nothing to focus on but her thoughts. If she wasn't inventing, she was reading; And if she wasn't reading, she was training. And speaking of training, Ruby had become a force of nature with her scythe. Under the watchful eye of Salem, she was able to beat a Beofwulf with ease, even with a wooden weapon meant for training. She rarely got hit thanks to her semblance, which allowed her to evade with incredible speed. Ruby had become a full-fledged warrior before the age of 14, and she was ready for whatever would come next.

The past 4 years had passed at a slow rate for Yang. It seemed every step towards progress was hard fought as if slowly pushing back an opposing army throughout a brutal war just to gain a few inches of land. In the year after the loss of her family, she recovered enough to go about her daily life with a certain layer of normalcy. But she still bore the scars of that day. Not just with the burn marks that marred the right half of her body, but also with the wounds on her heart that had never truly healed. With every step she took, she felt the weight of that day.

Yet still, she pushed onwards. Because she wasn't alone. She had her uncle. He had stepped in and given her a place to stay, a place to call home. When he returned from his missions he would help train her. Sometimes if she seemed to be stuck, he would offer his surprisingly sage advice, even if she had never told him what it was she was stuck on in the first place. She knew he forced himself to stay strong for her, and she appreciated that from the bottom of her heart. Of course, her Uncle wasn't perfect, his strong facade would falter occasionally. Sometimes, in the middle of the night when Yang went downstairs for a glass of water, she would find Qrow, practically drowning in booze, and it would break her heart.

Though Qrow was often gone on missions, whenever he was around, his experience helped accelerate Yang's growth by a substantial amount. His guidance provoked quick and drastic improvements. This was paired nicely with the fact that Yang was a natural-born fighter. Her raw strength was fully recognized by those select people in town that had been stupid enough to get on her bad side.

Yang's average day mostly went as follows: She would sleep in till noon, quickly eat whatever was leftover from the day prior, train till evening, and spend the rest of the day running errands until it was time to go back to bed. She didn't have any hobbies, though occasionally she would go for a ride on the motorcycle that her uncle had gifted her for her 15th birthday. She was quite adept at driving and enjoyed pushing the limits of what she was capable of. One time, she attempted to stand on top of the bike whilst it was moving as if she was surfing on it, which resulted in her face planting directly into a nearby shop sign that she felt really should have been placed higher than where it was.

Recently Yang started getting into video games. Specifically, a new fighting game that had come out recently. Although she was quite good, having no one around to practice against meant that she got bored rather quickly.

As Yang sat in the town square debating how to spend her time, she watched a group of kids walk by. They went to Signal and were training to become Huntsmen and Huntresses. Yang remembered back to when Qrow had asked her if she wanted to attend Signal. Her reply was a quick and firm "No.". Not only did Signal remind her of her father, but it also held many students that had known Yang since before the incident, and she couldn't stand the way they looked at her. She hated to be pitied. Did they think she was some weak little girl who was incapable of moving on? She had moved on. Yang thought. She didn't even have nightmares about that night anymore. She lived her life normally just like everybody else. How could they not see that?

In reality, while Yang had made progress when it came to processing her loss, she was still a confused little girl who had a long way to go. The townspeople saw her stare emptily into the distance. Watched her as she stood still in the middle of the road, watching the flame within the street lanterns as it danced to a silent song. They noticed, that every day on the anniversary of that terrible night, Yang could not be found doing her routine exercises or roaming the streets looking for something to pass the time. She simply slept. The whole day. As if to deny it the chance to cause her any more pain.

Bringing her thoughts back to the students from Signal, Yang remembered how Qrow had assured her that even if she didn't attend Signal, she would still be able to enter Beacon Academy and get her license. Not only was Yang far more skilled than the average student, but Qrow also knew the headmaster and would pull some strings to get her in if need be.

Yang felt a buzz in her pocket. Pulling out her scroll, she saw that the alarm she had set had finally gone off. She rose from her seat and began walking. She walked through the town, greeting the people she had gotten to know rather well over the years. The old widow who lived on the street corner. The tall lanky barber, who always made sure that the sidewalk in front of his shop was well swept. Even the delinquents who hung in the back alleys. The bravest among them attempted to provoke her, but it wouldn't work on her. Not today.

She walked past the borders of the town and into the well-beaten path into the forest. Grimm didn't tend to show up there, but she was on high alert nonetheless. As she walked Yang noticed a dragonfly buzzing around, flying in its predictably unpredictable patterns.

She continued to walk until she finally exited the forest into a clearing. A small cliff face overlooking a breathtaking sunset, and on the cliff, lay 3 gravestones.

The first, leftmost grave read Summer Rose. The woman Yang felt was her true mother that went missing on a mission all those years ago.

The second, rightmost grave had on it engraved: Taiyang Xiao Long. Her father. The man who had raised her and given her so much love.

The third, sat right in the middle of the other two graves, said Ruby Rose. When Yang switched her gaze to this grave, she finally broke. She fell to her knees and wailed. She doubled over as the agony she kept bottled inside her tore its way out through her lungs and exited as a scream that sounded like it came from a fatally wounded wild animal. Tears flowed like rivers down her face and showered the ground. She kept crying for what seemed like an eternity. She pounded against the earth as if declaring it an enemy. She needed something, anything, to lash out against. To take her anger out on.

After a while, Yang seemed to calm down. Her breathing steadied, her tears dried up, and she got up off the ground. She took a few deep breaths to collect herself, before walking closer to the 3 gravestones. She looked around for a brief moment, took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"Uh, hey… guys…" Yang shook her head to try to clear it and began again. "Sorry about what happened just now, I just kinda… lost my cool I guess, heheh. It's been a year since I last visited you guys, so I'm sorry about that too. It's just, coming here isn't very easy for me, I hope you'll forgive me for that." Yang took another pause before continuing.

"Anyways… I've been training a lot. Sometimes Uncle Qrow even comes by to help. He says I've got a lot of potential, so you can look forward to when I become a full-fledged Huntress and can tell you all about my numerous exploits. Oh! And I've gotten really good at driving the motorcycle Qrow got me. Though I miiiight have caused a bit of property damage at first while trying to get the controls down." Yang chuckled as she said this, and proceeded to tell a long story involving her bike, a police pursuit, and 15 canisters of gravity dust that led to a truck and its driver being stuck 30 feet in the air for a good while.

As Yang finished telling her stories about accidental levitation and high-speed chases, she looked at the moon already high in the sky and gave a sad grin

"Hey so, it's already gotten pretty late. I'm glad I decided to talk to you all today. See ya later I guess" Yang said as she slowly turned around and walked away. But just before she made it into the forest, she turned around and spoke the words she had really wanted to say all along.

"I want you guys to know that I love you" Yang swallowed down the lump building in her throat. "Goodnight guys, I miss you."