The Shrubbery

The Metro

Ruby stared at the woman who saved her and her teammates for several moments. She looked exactly like her late mother, Summer Rose. In fact, she might even be Summer. But that was impossible, right? Her mother was killed in her last mission. But at the same time, there was no body to be buried. Due to that, for all of her life, Ruby wished that her Summer was still alive. In the recent years, she had accepted her mother's death and moved on.

But perhaps that was a mistake?

"Ruby, you're alright?" Ruby stopped her thought and saw that the woman was slowly approaching her. "Is there something wrong, Little Gem?"

For Ruby, that was more than enough. That was a nickname that Summer gave to her.

Before anyone could react, Ruby immediately dashed towards the woman and gave her a hug. So fast her dash was that she actually used her semblance and caused both of them to fell towards the floor

The woman closed her eyes and braced for impact. When she opened them, she saw that Ruby was hugging her with tears in her eyes. The girl looked at her with eyes full of hope.

"Mom? Y…You are my Mom…Summer, right?" Asked Ruby as she tried to hold her tears.

The woman didn't say anything in return. Worry started to grow in Ruby's heart. However, it slowly disappeared as the woman returned the hug. She also patted the back of her head.

"It's me, Little Gem. I am sorry…for not returning."

Ruby looked closer at the woman – Summer's eyes. There were also tears in her eyes. The dam was finally broken; Ruby let out the tears in her eyes and started to cry. Summer slowly stood up while making sure not to disturb Ruby.

Yang looked at the scene and made a small smile. While she also wanted to give a hug to Summer as well, she decided to let Ruby has her own moment first. She silently wiped the tears in her eyes. When Yang looked at the rest of the RWBY, she saw that they were touched by the scene as well. However, Blake's face suddenly turned into a curious one and she started to sniff on something.

"Umm, I don't mean to interrupt." Said Blake, getting the attention of everyone in the room. "But, Ms. Rose, did you leave something in the…kitchen?"

Summer's face showed confusion before her eyes suddenly became wide. She immediately went to another room, leaving Ruby where she stood, tears still dripping from her eyes.


10 minutes later…

"Gods, that's a close one. Two more minutes and my cooking would be burnt." Commented Summer as she prepared a meal for her and Team RWBY.

It was nothing but a simple stew. It looked really simple; several cuts of chicken and vegetables. The latter thought didn't look fresh at all. The broth looked clearer than it should be. And the chicken…it looked quite dry.

All in all, it seemed that the stew was not made using even merely good-quality ingredients.

"Yang." Weiss took a spoonful of the stew from her bowl and had some skepticism on her face. "I am pretty sure you once said that your mom is a good cook."

"Of course, she is!" Replied Yang, who didn't seem to get what Weiss was trying to say. "Even if she doesn't make a good-looking food, it's still delicious! Trust me on this, Weiss."

Yang took a spoonful of the stew and put it in her mouth…before spitting it out.

"Trust you, huh?" Said Weiss with sarcastic tone.

The Schnee heiress turned her attention on Ruby and Blake. The former was trying her best to eat the stew, obviously not wanting to saddened her mother. The latter on the other hand didn't even try it; the cat faunus merely sniffed the stew before pushing it away.

"I…I am sorry." The four huntresses-in-training looked at the one who speak, Summer Rose. "The quality of the ingredients that I used are…meagre if I am generous enough. And I only used a pinch of salt."

They looked at the pot used by Summer. It was big enough to cook enough stew for more than five portions. With a pot that big, a pinch of salt would do nothing to affected the flavor.

"However…" Summer's tone suddenly became serious, causing Team RWBY to looked at her rather worriedly. "…your choices are either eat this stew or starving. And I am pretty sure you don't want the last one."

The girls fidgeted a little before starting to eat their stew. Ruby and Yang were rather confused with this event. They remembered how when Ruby was still little and didn't want to eat her food, Summer either tried to convince her daughter or did things like making Ruby thinks the spoon is a train or plane. Not forcing them with a threat of starvation like what she just did.

What was going on in here?


Half an hour later…

After they finished the meals, the five of them remained at the same table where they eat. Summer was pouring five glasses of what appeared to be water. She put down the paper bag-wrapped bottle and gave a glass for each of them.

"Alright. I know all of you will have a lot of questions. So, one by one, please." Said Summer before she drank some of her water. "You first, Little Gem."

"Ah, right. Umm…" Ruby started to think. She had a lot of things that she wanted to asked towards her mother. She took a sip of her water as she thought about what her first question should be.

Suddenly, Ruby began to cough and she dropped her water.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?!" Asked Summer as she stood up and approached her daughter.

"My…throat…burns!" Said Ruby as she kept coughing.

Yang patted her sister's back. Then, she grabbed her water and sniffed, finding a stench of alcohol.

"Mom, what the hell?! Of course, Ruby is coughing! This is alcohol!" Exclaimed Yang as shoved the "water" towards Summer.

"So? I mean, Ruby…" Before Summer could finished her sentence, she smacked her own forehead. "Damn it! I forgot you girls aren't like the kids here!"

"What do you mean? You mean kids here can handle alcohol?" Asked Weiss.

"Sort of. Kids here that're as young as Ruby will only feel discomfort rather than…" Summer had no need to finish her words. She gently patted Ruby's back, whose cough was almost over.

After it was over, Summer returned to her chair and let out a sigh.

"Sorry about that Ruby. Unfortunately, there's a shortage of water in this station. So, I am unable to buy one for you." Said Summer.

"Shortage of water? Station?" Said Blake as she repeated what Summer had just said. Curiosity grew each second in her and her teammates' hearts. "Alright. Seriously, where are we?"

"Alright. We're currently in a metro station. This metro station is located in Moscow."

"Moscow? Never heard of that city." Stated Yang.

"Of course, you don't. That's the Goliath in the room." Summer took a deep breath, preparing for possible chaos. "We're not in Remnant."

Silence fell onto the group as the four huntresses-in-training tried to digest what Summer had just said. Slowly, Ruby started to laugh. From the tone of the laugh though, it was clear that it was forced.

"Come on, Mom. I know you like jokes. But that's a rather bad one." Stated Ruby. When she realized that Summer was not laughing and in fact looked serious, she started to become worried. "H-Hey, Mom. That was a joke, right? Right?!"

"I am not joking, Ruby. In here, there's no Grimm, no huntsmen or huntresses, nothing about the Four Kingdoms. They even have satellites. Satellites! We haven't even discovered how to get a rocket into space!" Explained Summer before she let out a bitter laugh. "Well, at least before they fu…kicked themselves anyway."

Once again, silence fell onto the group. Finally, after few minutes, Yang let out a sigh and speak.

"Alright. So, what do we do now?"

"Yang, you trusted her?" Asked Weiss. "I mean, she said that we're in another world. That's not possible!"

"First, I know my Mom. She will not lie about something like this. Second…" Yang diverted her attention to Summer. "…I am pretty sure you have some solid proofs about our location."

"I have. But I better show you girls those proofs later." Summer poured herself another glass of alcohol and drank it before continuing. "Any other question?"

"Well, if we're in another world, and that you didn't come home for more than a decade, I suspect that you haven't found a way to get back, right?" Stated Ruby who got a nod from Summer. "Well, what have you done all those years, Mom?"

"It's…a long story. Better save it for later."

"What do we need to have and do to survive here?" Asked Blake almost out of nowhere.

"Oh? What makes you said that?"

"Earlier, we encountered some kind of animals. I have a suspicion that they're quite common here."

"Mutants, huh? Anyway, that's nice observation…"

"Name's Blake. Blake Belladonna."

"Ah, that's right. I haven't had an introduction with both of you." Said Summer towards Blake and Weiss. "I am Summer Rose, Ruby and Yang's mother. May I know the names of my daughters' friends?"

"I am Weiss Schnee, the heiress of the Schnee Company." Said Weiss with a little bit of smugness, though there was also a bit of disgust.

"A Schnee?!" Said Summer with a surprised tone before she diverted her attention to her daughters. "Wow, girls. What did you do to the point that you're able to befriend a Schnee?"

"Simple. We're in the same school." Replied Ruby with a bright smile.

"Same school…with a Schnee?" Summer looked quite confused.

"Not those rich people schools, Mom. It's Beacon. Same school that you, Dad, Uncle Qrow, and…" Yang became silent for a while before continuing. "…Raven attended."

"Beacon? That means…" There was…something on Summer's face when she found out about that. But it immediately replaced with confusion. "Wait, I am pretty sure Ruby's too young to attend Beacon."

"Oh, it's thanks to Professor Ozpin, Mom. Long story short, I stopped a mugging in a Dust shop and upon seeing my skills in action, he allowed me to attend Beacon." Explained Ruby with a proud tone.

"I…see. That's awesome, dear!" Summer rubbed Ruby's head, causing the latter to blush.

"Mom, stop it!" Ruby gently put her mother's hand away.

"Sorry, sorry. So, I take it that four of you are all in the same team?"

"Yup. Team RWBY, with me as the leader."

Ruby stood up and raised both of her hands when she said that. She also had her eyes closed. When she opened them though, she realized that Summer was looking at her with a disapproval.

"It seems that Tai didn't do a good job in raising you. What with you naming your team after you. Quite narcistic, aren't you, Ruby?" Stated Summer as she shook her head.

"Wh…N-N-No, Mom! I didn't name my team after myself! It was named 'Ruby' because…" In panic, Ruby tried to explain that Summer was wrong. However, she stopped when she heard something.

Summer's laugh.

"S-Sorry. I know that you didn't name it after yourself, Little Gem. R, W, B, Y; RWBY." Said Summer before she laughed again, causing Ruby to sat down and pouted.

Blake cleared her throat in order to gain the attentions of other people in the room. "My question, please."

"Ah, right." Summer stood up and went towards the box that she brought earlier. She picked it up and put it on the table where they sat. "There are many things that you girls are going to need to survive here."

Summer picked something from the box and revealed that it was a jacket.

"I am sure you girls noticed that this place is quite cold. You're going to need this." Summer squinted her eyes towards Yang. "Especially you, Jumpshot."

Yang tried to cover places where she was exposed with her hand, feeling rather embarrassed. Summer gave each of the huntress-in-training a jacket, which all of them accepted and immediately put on. The only difference was Weiss, who didn't zip her jacket due to the Metro being not colder than Atlas.

"Next thing you need is flashlight." Summer picked up the type of the ones people wears on their heads. "Some of the area in the Metro can be quite dark."

The girls accepted the flashlight. When Ruby wore hers, she turned it on and immediately off several times before she realized her mother was watching. Silently and rather embarrassed, she stopped after turning it off. Summer simply shook her head in amusement.

"Umm, Ms. Rose." Blake tried her flashlight and noticed something was wrong. "Mine is really weak. I think it's either broken or an old one."

"Nope. It's just low on battery." Replied Summer before she picked up a strange device. "This is Universal Charger. Simple, but necessary for those who lived in the Metro."

Blake accepted the device and – after inspecting it on how it worked – used it to charge her flashlight's battery. After a while, the gauge showed that the battery was at its maximum capacity and her flashlight became brighter.

"Alright. This is perhaps one of the most important." Stated Summer as she picked four gas masks.

Upon seeing the masks, Team RWBY started to become worried as they knew that if Summer gave them that, that means there would be place where the air was dangerous.

"And of course, the filters." Summer gave each of them two filters.

After giving them the filters, Summer put the box off the table. The fact that she only used one hand indicated that it was empty.

"Is that it, Ms. Rose?" Asked Blake.

"Not really. There are others that I want to give you, but I guess they run out of stock." Said Summer before she grabbed something from her pocket. "Oh, you girls are also going to need new weapons."

"There's no need to, Mom. We simply need to get some ammo for our weapons." Said Ruby.

"You want to put one of these in your weapon?" Summer grabbed a bullet and gave it to Ruby.

Ruby looked at the bullet with curiosity. It was smaller than the bullets that she used for Crescent Rose. This one was like something you used for assault rifle. It was also yellow rather than white. However, there was one thing that stood out the most for her.

"It's…dirty." Stated Ruby.

"Dirty?" Said Yang in confusion.

"See here?" Ruby rubbed her thumb at the neck of the bullet. When she showed it, her thumb blackened. "This bullet isn't made properly. When I said 'dirty,' I mean that this bullet can easily caused fouling."

Ruby then noticed that Summer offered her a magazine. The magazine was similar with the one that she encountered when she saw that ugly firearm. Ruby compared the bullet in her hand and the ones in the magazine; they were a match.

"Yep. We definitely need new weapons." Stated Ruby as she let out a sigh.

Crescent Rose, Gambol Shroud, and Ember Celica were created with the usage of Dust rounds in mind. Using dirty rounds for them is just asking for more time spending in maintaining the weapons, jamming, or worse. As for Myrtenaster, the fact that Summer didn't say anything about Dust already gave the answer.

"Well, you can still use your weapons melee-form. Though for ranged combats, you girls definitely need new weapons since in here, your Dust rounds would be irreplaceable." Stated Summer before she looked at Ruby. "For you however, Little Gem, will also going to need something smaller, like knife."

"What?! Crescent Rose works just fine!" Complained Ruby.

"Only some places, Rubes. Many places in the Metro are simply too narrow for scythe."

Ruby didn't like that fact. However, she also agreed with her mother that she was going to need something smaller.

"Alright. Another thing that you girls should remember is…" Summer immediately slammed the table. "DO NO SHOW YOUR SCROLLS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION UNLESS EMERGENCY! People in here would kill for something like that!"

The sudden shouting shocked Team RWBY. However, the fact that Summer went that much to emphasize her order indicated that this was something serious and had no room for tolerance. They silently nodded their heads.

Seeing that, Summer grabbed an assault rifle that she put at one of the corners of the room and went towards the door.

"Come on, girls. Let's get yourself some weapons." Stated Summer as she opened the door.

The huntresses-in-training grabbed their huntress' weapons and followed her. In their minds, Ruby and Yang noticed that there were some changes in their mother's personality.

Just what kind of place was the Metro?


When the five of them arrived at the "main street," the huntresses-in-training saw the lives of the people in the Metro. It looked like the miniaturized version of Vale's commercial district. There were vendors offering their goods, people looking at what they wanted to but, children running around. Though there were some differences like how dirty and cramped the station was compared to Vale, which was a given.

"Ah, Summer. There you are!"

The five of them looked at the speaker and saw that it was the old man that visited Team RWBY after they woke up in Summer's room. He and Summer walked to each other and hugged.

"Pyotr, it's good to see that you're fine." Both of them parted away. "Anyway, thanks for watching the girls."

"No problem. It's the least that I can do for you for saving my son." Replied the old man, Pyotr, with a small smile. "Oh, by the way, my son wants me to give this to you."

Pyotr put his hand inside his jacket pocket and took out a small pouch. When Summer accepted it and checked the content, her eyes became wide.

"20 MGRs? Are you sure?" Said Summer, rather unsure.

"Yes. My son gained a lot of profit in his last trade. He only managed to return to his family because of you." Replied Pyotr as he grabbed Summer's hands and make them hold the pouch harder. "Once again, thank you. It's good to know that even with the tension between us, Rangers and Hansa are still willing to work together."

"Just doing what's right. Also, Hansa is nothing compared to the Nazis and the Reds." Summer's face became quite sour after saying "Nazis" and "Reds."

"Yeah, it's very hard to disagree with that fact." Pyort nodded a little before going to somewhere. "Goodbye, Summer. It's nice knowing about you."

"Be safe, Pyotr." Summer turned her attention to Team RWBY, who were watching the whole conversation. "Come on, girls. We're not that far from our destination."

The five of them continued their walk. Finally, they stopped in front of a weapon vendor. When the vendor saw Summer, he immediately recognized her.

"Hey, Summer. Here for your orders?" Asked the vendor.

"Yes, Vlad. I have the rounds. You have the weapons?" Asked Summer back.

"Sure, sure. Just let me see them first."

Ruby saw her mother picked up several bullets and showed them to the vendor, Vlad. She noticed that the bullets were more well-made and shinier than the "dirty" rounds that Summer gave to her earlier.

"Well, everything is in place." Vlad picked a weapon and showed it to five of them. "Here's one of them."

"It's that ugly gun!" Exclaimed Ruby who suddenly received stared from the people around her. "Sorry."

"Well, the girl is not incorrect. Submachinegun, 5.45 caliber. It's got poor accuracy and overheats like hell. That's why they call it a 'Bastard gun'." Vlad took a closer look at Ruby. "You know, this is the first time I see you. May I know who you are, young girl?"

"She's my daughter." Said Summer immediately. "The blonde one is my daughter as well. The girls with black hair and white hair are their friends."

"Daughters? Never thought you as a mother-type."

"There's much about me that you don't know, Vlad."

Vlad put down the Bastard on his table. He then put another Bastard before picking a new firearm.

"Double-barreled shotgun, better known as the 'Duplet.' Like the Bastard, it's a poor gun on paper. But don't let that fool you since this baby can kill a Nosalis in one shot, point blank. Still, the ammo capacity is only two. So, make your shots count."

Vlad put down the Duplet and picked a revolver.

"Finally, we have the simple Revolver. Firing .44 Magnum, this gun is more like low-powered sniper rifle. To be honest, I am not advising having this as primary weapon. Better as a sidearm, like all guns should be."

Seeing that the weapons are available, Summer stepped back from the table. Weiss and Yang immediately realized the reason and went to grab the Revolver and Duplet respectively. Blake simply picked the Bastard. Sure, it was a poor weapon according to Vlad. But it was the closest thing to Gambol Shroud, at least in the rate-of-fire department.

Ruby was the last one who realized what happened. She looked at the table and saw that there was only a Bastard for her. Grumbly, she picked it up.

"Many thanks, Vlad." Said Summer before she went away from the vendor with Team RWBY soon followed.

"Come back any time!"

Not that far from the weapon vendor, the five of them stopped in front of an exchange kiosk. The man inside the kiosk realized that Summer wanted to buy his goods and greeted her.

"Welcome, young lady. Need some ammo?" Asked the vendor.

"Yes. 12x70 Buckshot, 5.45x39mm, and .44 Magnum." Replied Summer.

As Summer and the vendor bargained the price, Ruby noticed that her mother once again took out the more well-made and shinier rounds. She looked at the nearby vendors and saw that it was the same; each time someone buy something, they would give the vendor the rounds. As if those bullets were money in the Metro.

"Bullets as money?" Stated Ruby, which caused her teammates to looked at her.

"What's that, Rubes?" Asked Yang.

"Remember when mother bought these…guns at the vendor?" Ruby's tone contained disgust upon talking about the guns. "She gave him several bullets. They're more well-made and shinier than the rounds that Mom showed us back then."

"Commodity money, huh?" Commented Blake.

"That's correct." The team turned around and saw that Summer was approaching her, already finishing the transaction. "Fiat money like Lien – or Ruble, if you want to know what the Russians called their 'Lien' – lost its value after the war. Thus, 5.45×39mm are used since the technology and the equipment to manufacture them had been mostly lost and any counterfeiting attempts were severely limited as a result."

"War? How devastating the war was to the point of bullets become acceptable as currency?" Asked Weiss.

Rather than immediately answering the question, Summer instead let out a bitter laugh as she dropped her head. This caused Ruby and Yang to looked at their mother worriedly. However, Summer noticed the stares that she got and rubbed Ruby's head.

"You better see it for yourself." That was the only thing that Summer said.


After finishing the business at the station, Summer and Team RWBY were now embarking a railcar, similar to the one that the latter used to get to the station.

"Alright, all of you ready?" Asked Summer as she made the final checkup.

"Of course, Mom. Team SRWBY (Shrubbery) is ready to go!" Said Ruby full of excitement.

"Shrubbery?"

"Yes. You, me, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. S, R, W, B, Y; SRWBY!"

"Oh, I am the leader now?"

"Well…" Ruby touched her index fingers with each other. "You know more about the Metro than any of us. So, I guess it's only right that you lead us."

Summer let out a small laugh. "Alright. In that case, I accept the mantle of leadership."

After several minutes, Team SRWBY was ready to go. Blake – now knew how to control the railcar properly – started the car and they went off towards their destination. They had to stop for a while at the checkpoint though before the guards allowed them to leave.

As they traveled away from the station, Ruby decided to ask Summer about something.

"Mom? Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure thing, Sweetheart."

"When you spoke with Mr. Pyotr, you guys talked about Rangers, Hansa, Nazis, and Reds. Who or what are they?"

"Hmm…" Summer thought about a way to give Ruby a simple explanation. "Four of them are the major factions in the Metro, alongside Polis. That station which we had just left behind? It belongs to the Hansa, a commonwealth of merchants working together to protect their interest, to put it very simple."

"Since Mr. Pyotr is happy about the relationship between the Rangers and Hansa and the fact that he was talking to you, I guess that you're a member of the Rangers, right Mom?" Guessed Yang.

"Correct. The Rangers of the Order is a paramilitary organization that protected the Metro and many of its denizens. They're the closest thing to huntsmen and huntresses in the Metro."

"Whoa! Even in another world, you still protect people, Mom!" Ruby said that with a sense of amazement.

"There, there, Little Gem. Just calm down." Summer nervously laughed. "After all…"

"So, how did you become a Ranger?" Asked Blake. "I doubt they'll just accept some stranger into their rank."

"Well, I guess I can tell you girls the story. However, I still want you to keep your guards." After receiving nods from the huntresses-in-training, Summer began her story. "It began not long after I arrived in the Metro…"


And cut!

Answers to some reviews:

Guest: Before Volume 3. Notice no one mentioned Yang's right hand; because she still has it.

Kamzil118: There would be an explanation. Though it's still a long story until that.


Now, how do you guys think Team RWBY is going to react about the factions in the Metro?

If you want to give question or suggestion, feel free to tell me!

Review please!