Chapter 1: Serpentine

It was just a dream, she kept telling herself. You'll forget about soon. It didn't help that every little detail of the dream stayed with her all day. It was the middle of the week, so she had to go to class. Before lunch, however, she excused herself from class and took the rest of the day off. She felt she couldn't cope with classes with the dream still vivid and solid in her mind. She continued to tell herself over and over that it wasn't real, but for a dream like that to feel so tangible was unsettling to her.

She changed out of her uniform and into her casual attire before leaving the dorm again. Now she decided to take a stroll around campus, hoping that the spring air would calm her nerves and sooth her mind. But everywhere she looked images of fire, smoke, and blood took control. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, but to no avail. She heard the clock chime at noon; lunch. She decided it would be better to join her friends for lunch, so she made her way to the cafeteria. She grabbed a tray, placed a chicken sandwich and a pile of cookies on it, and found her way to the table that teams RWBY and JNPR usually sat at.

"Hey guys," she greeted, accidentally allowing a monotone voice to escape.

"Hey, sis," Yang replied with a look of worry. "Still don't feel any better?" Ruby shook her head, and Yang sighed. "Is there any way we can help you?"

"I don't know. I think I just need a little more time to put my mind on something else."

Jaune, sitting across from Ruby, shot a confused glance to Pyrrha. She returned the look and shrugged. Jaune turned to face Ruby. "Um, might I ask what's troubling you?"

Ruby looked away from him, not wanted to purposely mention what she saw in her dream. Yang took the hint and answered for her. "She had a really, really bad nightmare last night that she's trying to forget about."

"Oh. How bad?"

"You don't want to know," Weiss chimed in.

"That bad, huh?" He stroked his chin in thought. "Hey, I know! Do some sort of hobby to take your mind off of it. You like working with weapons, right?"

"Y-yeah, I suppose I do," Ruby answered. She took a small nibble out of one of her cookies.

"When was the last time you cleaned Crescent Rose?"

"Yesterday with a polishing cloth, why?"

Jaune laughed. "No, not polished. Cleaned. Every little joint, edge, and screw might get a little rusty if you don't disassemble it every so often and give a thorough cleaning and oiling. Am I right?"

Ruby slowly brightened up. "You're right! I haven't done that in months!" She started to rush through her food to run off to do just that, but Yang made her slow down.

"Don't run off just yet, little sis. Enjoy our company for a little while. We won't see you until after classes are finished, after all," she said. Ruby nodded, and began to enjoy her lunch. She had something to look forward to, and while the dream was still on her mind, it wasn't as important now.

A couple of hours later, Ruby was in one of the empty workshops working on Crescent Rose. Only the light above her station was on as she worked flawlessly. All of the parts and pieces are organized neatly on a large table, and little plastic cups with markings like "S-1" and so on were filled with all of the screws and bolts that held the intimidating weapon together. She was almost enjoying herself, but the dream kept coming back to her thoughts.

Suddenly, the lights came on throughout the room, startling Ruby. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't know someone was in here," came a voice that she recognized instantly. She turned to see Professor Ozpin entering the room carrying a wooden box. "Terribly sorry, Ms. Rose. I suppose I should've knocked."

"It's alright, professor. It's my fault for leaving the lights off," she answered. "What are you doing here?"

"A little hobby of mine," he said, holding of the wooden box. He strolled over to the table next to Ruby's and placed the box upon it before opening it to retrieve an old clock. "I collect them. If they don't work, I fix them." He looked over to Ruby's table. "Impressive craftsmanship, if I may be so bold. Not many can build such a monstrous weapon." He retrieved a small screwdriver and started to disassemble the clock.

Ruby blushed a little at the compliment. "Well, it's all uncle Qrow's doing, really. I originally tried using weapons like Yang's, but I just don't have the talent for it." She glanced over at Ozpin's clock. "Why work on that here in the student workshops?"

"Every so often when I come down here there will be a student or two working on their weapons. I like to make conversation when I work. It adds to the ambient atmosphere." He flashed her a smile. "It seems to me that you may be in need of a conversation partner yourself."

"W-what makes you think that?"

"Well," he looked at his watch. "Classes are still in session for another hour and a half, yet here you are not in uniform, and working on your weapon in private. You're not a delinquent, Ms. Rose, so I know for a fact that you aren't skipping class for no good reason. Cleaning your weapon is something you can do in your free time, yet you're doing it now. Something on your mind, Ms. Rose?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, not really." Ozpin raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Well...I guess there is something," she finally admitted, feeling dejected.

"I see. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I...I don't, really. But I can't stop thinking about it. Do you think it'll help if I do talk about it?"

"Hm." He adjusted his glasses. "That depends. People cope with their thoughts differently, Ruby. Some people like to bottle them up and deal with them on their own terms. Some of those people are good at it, too. Others need to divulge their thoughts and feelings to someone else. Be that a friend, a relative...an instructor that they trust." He looked Ruby in the eyes. "It's all based on the kind of person you are. Are you the kind who can keep your thoughts a secret and deal with them on your own, or do you need help?"

"I...I don't know how anyone can help, professor. But I do want help."

He smiled. "If you don't want to talk about now, that's okay. But remember, Ms. Rose, I am always available if you need to talk." He went back to work on hic clock, and Ruby followed his example and started to reassemble Crescent Rose.

Ruby sighed. "I had a dream last night, Professor. A bad one."

"Oh?" he asked, curiosity peaked.

Ruby nodded. "It didn't feel like a dream though. It felt real. The world was practically ending. Grimm were everywhere, and people were dying. Enemies were now allies, and everyone was working together in a struggle to survive...but to no avail."

"Do you know why any of it was happening, or was the dream seemingly moving around randomly?"

"There was a comet. It wasn't natural, because it glowed black. Black like the Grimm. My friends died. My classmates died. I died." She turned to Ozpin. "You died too, professor."

"And this dream has disturbed your thoughts all day?" She nodded. "I wish I could tell you not to worry about it, Ruby. But I can't. It was just a dream, of course, but a dream so disturbing has its merits and its meanings, I'm sure. Look at this clock." He held the broken clock for her to see as he tinkered with it. "Clocks are used to keep and measure time. But time is truly immeasurable, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"How long did the dream take place?"

"I don't know what point in my sleep it started."

Ozpin shook his head. "Let me rephrase the question. How long did the dream feel like it was."

"Oh," Ruby answered. "It was over a year, I think. I saw it all from start to finish."

"Yet for all we know you may have been asleep for about six or seven hours. And even then, only in REM sleep do we dream, and that doesn't occur until the end of our sleep cycle. The dream felt like a year, but it occurred in a time frame of roughly thirty minutes or so."

"I don't understand, professor."

"Time, Ruby. Time is everything. The difference in time between the dream world and the real world is vast, and seems utterly impossible if the two worlds were to actually exist simultaniously. But, as I said, you may come to understand the dream eventually. But that will take time, Ruby. Don't let the dream prevent you from living in the now, because now doesn't always exist. Now always eventually becomes then. And we can never get that back. Take the time to understand it, but don't waste your time either." He placed the back on the clock once again. "Because everyone has to move forward eventually." The clock began ticking. It was fixed.

Ruby nodded. She finished putting Crescent Rose back together. "Thank you professor. I think that helped a little."

Ozpin nodded. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help, Ms. Rose. Do try to feel better about it though, won't you?"

"I'll try, sir. Thank you." She began to make her way back to her dorm. She continued to think about the dream and all of its darkness, but something stuck out in her head that she didn't think twice about earlier.

Ruby smiled. "You know," she said with a pause. "I used to hate you. You were lower than scum to me. You tried to kill me and my friends. You even admitted to plotting to destroy Beacon. But now? I'm glad we had to work together."

"... if it wasn't for the night that I met you, I wouldn't have made all the friends I did at Beacon."

She smiled at the thought. She does hate Roman. He is still lower than scum to her, but she had never thought about what happened the night she met him. Because of that incident, she is now a student at Beacon. She looked at her watch, and an idea came to her. She pulled out her scroll and sent a message to her team.

[I'm going out for a while. I'll be back later. -R]

...

[Be careful, sis. Come back soon. -Y]

Ruby nodded, but she couldn't really make that promise. Her idea was a little reckless, but she felt the need to do it. She had someone she needed to meet. She needed to give him her gratitude.

The only problem was finding him. But that was okay. She had an idea.

Ruby stood in line, waiting to go into the club. She didn't really want to go party or anything, but there was a certain individual who owned the place that she needed to talk to. After each person in front of her was admitted, the bouncer stopped her. "Whoa, little girl. You're a little young to be coming here, don't you think?" he said.

Ruby smiled. "Oh, that's alright. I'm not here for the club. I'm here to see the owner."

"And why would I let you in to see him?"

"You won't. I'll talk to him right here. I don't mind waiting for him."

"And what makes you think I'll go get him just to talk to you?"

Ruby smirked as she unfolded Crescent Rose and slammed it into the ground. "I'm stronger than I look," she teased. The bouncer gulped and called for his boss over a radio. She always wondered what it was like to be Yang, and here she was emulating her big sister to manipulate this bouncer. Part of her felt bad, but she was also having the teensiest amount of fun out of it.

A bearded man came outside and the bouncer pointed at Ruby. "Are you causing trouble, little girl?" he asked.

"Not really," she replied. "I just wanted to ask you something."

He scoffed. "Well, I'm out here, so ask away."

"I need to contact Roman Torchwick," she said calmly. "I understand he was seen here talking to you once before. And your people worked with him as well. I know because I fought them at a dust shop."

He laughed. "Girl, do you have any idea who I am?"

"You're Junior. And you're going to give me Roman's contact information. Phone number, scroll, anything. I need to talk to him."

"And why the hell would I give you that information? He's my client, and that information is confidential."

Ruby sighed. "I could call Yang if you want."

He gave her a confused look. "Who?"

"Oh," Ruby remembered. "You never caught her real name, did you? I suppose you know her better as Sir, don't you?" He went pale as a sheet. Bingo.

"And how do you know that?"

"Oh, she didn't tell you? I'm her little sister. I could tell her that you're harassing me while I was in town, and I'm sure she'd just love to have a nice, long, and warm chat with you."

Junior was sweating profusely at the thought. "Fine." He pulled out a notepad and scribbled a number down. "That's Roman's number. Don't tell him where you got it, okay?"

"Agreed." She took the paper and walked away skipping. She paused. "One more thing. Do you have any cigars?"

"Why?"

"As a peace offering," she answered. Junior held his hand to the bouncer, who placed a pair of cigars in his hands. Junior tossed them to Ruby, and she caught them without breaking them. It sucks that I can't tell sis about all this. She'd be furious, but she might be proud too. Oh well. She made it a few blocks away before dialing the number into her scroll.

After ringing for a few seconds, someone answered the phone. "Roman Torchwick, dashingly handsome thief, how may I help you?"

Ruby stuck her tongue out. "Oh please, don't be so full of yourself."

She heard him chuckle. "Was that too much? I'm sorry, but I think that if I get a call from a number that I don't know then I have the right to answer however I damn well please. Now, who is this?"

"It's Ruby," she answered.

There was a moment of silence. "Are you the girl from the other night? I said I wasn't serious, didn't I?"

Ruby fought the urge to gag. "No. I guess you never caught my real name either, did you?" She groaned. She hated the nickname that he tagged her with. "I'm Red."

"Oh...Oh~! Red, is it? Well, that makes this interesting. What's the matter? Still upset that I shot at you again?"

"Sort of," she admitted. "But that's not why I called you. Just for tonight, can the two of us agree to a truce so we can talk?"

Roman laughed. "And just why would we do that?"

"Because there's something I have to say to you in person, and I don't want to fight."

"Oh? And why should I trust you?"

"I'll be at the docks in an hour, and I'll be alone. Is that enough to let you trust me?"

There was another moment of quiet. "I'll think about it. I take that you want me to come alone too?"

"Wouldn't be much of a truce if you didn't."

"Fine." CLICK. He hung up. Ruby made her way to the docks, determined to be their first to make sure he didn't plant an ambush. If Roman could be described in a single word, it would be unfair.

Ruby leaned against a handrail, staring at the reflection of the moon in the seawater. The ocean's breeze tugged at her cloak gently as she stared in thought. Light footsteps caught her attention, but she didn't turn to see the source. She let the next sound tell her who it was.

CLICK; the sound of a gun being cocked. "You really came alone, didn't you, Red?" Roman asked.

She sighed. "Hello, Roman. Nice to see you too."

"Aw, now don't be like that!" he said with a laugh. "You invited me, after all. Not to smart, if you ask me. What makes you think that I won't just kill you and be rid of you for good?"

"Nothing. But I doubt you'd succeed. We'd fight, and we'd both run away. Same as before." She turned to face him. his cane was primed and aimed at her head, but it didn't faze her. "So, can we talk like a pair of decent people or what?"

Roman frowned as he contemplated. "Ah, screw it," he said as he lowered his cane. He placed his back to the handrail and leaned against it. "Why the hell not?"

Ruby nodded. She reached into her pouch and pulled out the two cigars. "Here," she said, offering them to him. "As a sign of trust for today."

Roman smiled and he took them happily. He placed one in his mouth and was about to put the other away, but he stopped. "You know what? No. If this is a sign of trust, then you're smoking one with me." He offered the other one to her.

"What?!" Ruby asked. "I'm fifteen!"

"And I committed my first crime when I was twelve. So what?"

Ruby stared at the cigar. "My sister would kill me."

"Sounds better than me killing you, doesn't it?" He smirked. "Or should I take aim again?"

She sighed. "Fine. I give up." She relented and took the cigar back.

Roman lit both cigars and inhaled deeply. "Hm. I've had better, but this is still pretty good." Ruby inhaled once and immediately went into a coughing fit, and Roman laughed. "The first time always does that to you. You'll get used to it."

"That's awful!"

"Trust me, there's alot worse out there." He turned his gaze to her. "So, what did you want?"

Ruby stared at the cigar as she thought. "I had a dream last night."

"Whoa, I don't like where this is going already. You're a little young for me, Red."

"W-what? No! No, you sicko! It wasn't that kind of dream!" Ruby blushed.

"Alright, alright. Sorry."

She sighed. "In my dream, a black comet flew across the sky, and Grimm started to take over the world. People were dying, and there wasn't anything we could do to stop it. Groups who were once sworn enemies were fighting side by side as allies."

"Damn. That's a pretty dark dream," Roman joked. "You realize I'm not a shrink, right?"

"Shut up. I'm getting to your part." She took a deep breath to recompose herself. "You were fighting with us, Roman. Not against us like now, but with us. Everyone I know died in the dream. I even died. And you were there in my final moments. The dream felt real, but I know it wasn't. However, something happened that made me think."

She turned to face Roman. "I realize that I need to thank you."

Roman choked. "For what, exactly? Trying to kill you?"

"No," she shook her head. "The night we met. Do you remember it?"

"I remember your huntress friend showed up and kicked my ass. In a manner of speaking, of course."

"She wasn't my friend. I never met her before then. She's a teacher at Beacon. Because of you commiting a crime, and forcing me to try to stop you, she showed up to help me. Professor Ozpin saw my combat skills, and bumped me up two years and admitted me to Beacon. I met my friends and became the leader of a team because of you."

Roman whistled, emphasizing that he was legitimately impressed. "Who'd have thought that my dastardly ways would have helped someone. I must be losing my touch." He met her gaze. "A team leader, eh?"

Ruby nodded. "So, thank you."

"I wouldn't thank me if I were you," he added. "We may be 'buddy buddy' right now, but I'm just humoring you. If I see you tomorrow, or later than that, I'm likely to try to kill you again."

Ruby nodded. "Do you think it's possible for us to be friends?"

"Doubt it. But, then again, anything's possible." He laughed. "I still wouldn't count on it, though."

Ruby handed the cigar back to Roman; she barely smoked from it. "Well, I guess I'll head home. My team is probably worried about me by now." She began to walk away.

"I have one question, Red," Roman said, forcing her to stop. "Your dream...what role did I play in your death?"

Ruby giggled. "Believe it or not, you comforted me. And my name's not Red. It's Ruby."

Roman smiled. "Whatever, Red." He turned and walked in the opposite direction, puffing lightly on the cigar in his mouth.

Song: Serpentine-Disturbed

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Not as dark as the prologue, but we gotta build up somehow, eh? For the record, I'm not shipping Roman and Ruby. They're going to have a frienemy type relationship. Also, shit's gonna get dark. Really dark. We just got to get there. Don't worry.

Not much else to say, really. Other than I've got a running theme now: I pick a song that fits what I deep the most important part of the chapter, and I listen to it/name the chapter after it. MUSIC! I think the lyrics to Serpentine actually fit most of this story, but the chorus is aimed at Roman.

Till next time!