"Okay what was so important you had to call us back?" Weiss asked a grumpily
"This" Jaune said handing the picture to Yang
"Is that?" Yang asked shocked upon seeing the picture
"Yeah it is, or I believe it is" Jaune said
"Who is it?" Blake asked seeing a teary eyed Yang
"Its Ruby" Yang said allowing a tear roll down her cheek
"What?" Pyrrah gasped
"Ruby lived here?" Weiss asked shocked.
"That means, she was here during the crisis" Yang said nearly breaking down
"To be at such a young age when seeing everything you love get ripped away from you literally" Blake said
"And I'm guessing she's out there right now trying to get revenge on whatever did this" Ren said
"The White Beowolf!" they all shouted after hearing a howl.
"JAUNE COME ON!" Ren said rushing off.
"I'm coming! Girls, stay here until Yang has calmed down" Jaune said
"But!" Weiss started to protest only to have both of the guys nowhere to be found.
"Great" Weiss sighed
Snowy area.
Ruby stood in front of her long awaited enemy, a massive White Beowolf class Grimm, one that stood nearly four times her size
"You've gotten bigger" Ruby said as the monster seemed to acknowledged her own growth
"Thanks but flattery we not get you anywhere" Ruby said unfolding her scythe making it seem like the beast was saying 'really?'
"Enough talking" Ruby said loading a round into Crescent Rose
"I'm going to make your hide into a rug from my dorm room" Ruby declared rushing forward leaving a trail of petals behind her as she attempted to slice a piece of the beast's arm off of it, only to have the beowolf flick her away as if she was nothing. Ruby skidded back sliding a clip into Crescent Rose before opening fire on the snarling beast.
"EAT THIS!" she said between shots, the bullets seem to deflected off the beast as he charged forward
"WHOA!" the trainee huntress said as she dodged the claws, barely seeing a strip of red in his claws, she grabbed her cape and examined it
"My cape! Alright fuzzy! No more gentleness!" Ruby said loading a special type of new ammo she created specifically for this Grimm while switching her weapon into gun mode and cocking the firing pin
"Eat this!" she said firing the ammo, which had been modified with burn dust tips to add fire damage and hopefully burn the Beowolf inside out, the Grimm seems to be injured, but not to the extent that Ruby was hoping for, namely more than two shallow smoking bullet holes
"SHIT!" she shouted as the beast charged her, kicking up snow as he ran at its target: Ruby
"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Ruby muttered as she ran as well, The White Beowolf blending in with the oncoming blizzard
"Not now" Ruby whined as the entire battlefield was taken over by harsh winds and needle like snow and ice. Ruby manoeuvred Crescent Rose into a position to block the snow and ice, only to feel her beloved weapon forced out of her hands in shards of red and black metal
"Crescent Rose?" Ruby asked shellshocked, frozen solid as if she was in an invisible ice. "No" she whimpered as something approached her, the claw of the White Beowolf.
The Beowolf's massive claw was stopped by Juane who showed up just then with his shield deployed "Ah Ren, IF YOU WOULDN'T FREAKING MIND!" the boy shouted as his friend jumped into the fray with his weapons blazing,
"Get Ruby out of here now!" Ren said as he took some shots at the beast's face
"Not yet" Jaun said drawing his sword and stabbing it repeatedly into the beast's arm at a high speed
"Jaun look out for the Jaw!" Ren said using his Aura to block the lycanthropic Grimm from snapping at Jaune and Ruby as Ren grabbed the shaft that once belonged to Crescent rose before leaping out of the way as the White Beowolf stomped on the broken weapon as if to inflict insult upon injury
"We'll be back for you!" Ren said as the two ran off with Ruby in Jaune's arms.
"Did you manage to save any of Crescent Rose?" Jaune asked
"Just the lower shaft" Ren said as they reached the village outskirts
"Ruby" Jaune said as he heard Ruby whimper and cry.
"Come on, we need to get her to Yang" Ren said looking sorrowful.
Yang sat there looking mournful, the cold wind sounded outside singing a most haunting melody of howls and groans, highlighting the emptiness of the fallen village. Even Weiss, who grew up in a cold region shivered with chills. Blake tried to calm her mind by meditating but the shadows that she sensed did little to quell her raging mind's thought about how her team leader must have felt with the destruction of every one she knew. Tears graced the eyes of Team RWBY.
"GUYS!" Jaune as heard shouting as Pyrrah opened the door as the boys raced into the room. Yang froze looking at the sad Ruby being let down from Jaune's arm
"Ruby" Yang whispered as Ruby raced into her arms and let loose a wailing cry that pierce the hearts of everyone gathered in the room
"I...I couldn't do it, I couldn't avenge my mother" was all she said as Yang held her close and tried to sooth her
"You tried, and she would be proud of you for doing that much" Yang said as she stroked Ruby's hair in a calming and soothing way
"We'll be in the kitchen" Pyrrah said dragging Nora with her
"Ren, let's check downstairs" Jaune said
"Yeah okay" Ren said walking down the steps with his team leader in tow as Weiss and Blake joined in teh group to comfort their friend and team leader.
"Damn" Jaune said slamming his fist into a wall once out of sight.
Downstairs the two guys found a workshop of some kind, various plans of different weapons were on the walls, shards of dust crystals, notes and tools littered the benches, and on top of the middle bench was something that looked like a silver version of Crescent Rose's folded up form. Jaune and Ren looked over all the blueprints and discovered they were actually all plans for the same weapons just more detailed.
"A triple combo weapon?" Ren asked looking at one of the plans to see if the makers of the weapons left any clues of who they were.
"Hey Ren check this out" Jaune said from a corner of the room
"Is that?" Ren asked as Jaune nodded.
"We need Ruby down here now" Ren said
"Who knows maybe this will cheer her up" Jaune said as Ren left to get Ruby.
"What is this?" Ruby asked entering the workshop looking around, until her eyes landed on the Silver weapon.
"Is that?" Ruiby asked looking over it
"We think it was something that your mother was working on" Ren said
"It was" Ruby said looking over the notes "She was working with Team GRAC to try and create a triple combo weapon, from what these say" Ruby said still mournful
"Did they succeed?" Jaune asked.
"From what they detailed here, they did but its incomplete" Ruby said
"Wait did you say Team GRAC?" Ren asked.
"Yeah I did. The team consisted of five people Mum and GRAC, the each worked on a part of this weapon" Ruby said. "Hopefully reading these notes aloud will allow us to finish this" Ruby said
"IF you are ready this then you have found the triple weapon project, the idea was created by the hunting of White Beowolf Grimm seen throughout the area, The fusion of Sniper, Crossbow and Scythe seemed like an ideal match, however it couldn't be finished in time for the retaliation of Hunters at the event called the Hunter's Brawl. A small team was commissioned by Beacon Academy to deal with the beast. My name is Crow Shade Long and alongside my friends Geist Schnee, Raven Belladonna, Summer Rose and my Brother Aurum Rex Long we hoped to use it to bring down the Grimm. My part of the project was the scythe, I decided to use Sharp Dust crystals to infused into the twin blades. This was in hopes of increasing the stabbing and slashing strength of the weapon"
"So Your uncle worked on the blades of the scythe" Ren said
"Who's next?" Jaune asked
"Hello, my name is Summer" Ruby paused "Summer Rose, me and my friend Raven are working on the rifle section of the weapon considering we use ranged weapons. We decided to use 50 calibre ammunition; but it seems as we are having a problem with the recoil of the rifle more we should have; Raven is currently working on different types of ammos normal, explosive, incinerate and freeze round each using a type of dust, thanks to Geist we have access to the dust we needed for the ammo'
"So Weiss' dad provided the ammo for this, freeze explosive, burn and normal" Ren said
"So what is the third weapon?" Jaune asked.
"Hey all, Aurum Rex Long here to note down the third part of the project: a dust launching crossbow. I know that must less sense than a high calibur rifle or shotugn, but it will hopefully have the ability to fire out Dust crystal at the opponents the wielder of this weapon faces, namely Fluffy" Ruby read
"He named that thing Fluffy?" Jaune said wide eyed
"it appears so" Ren said
"Okay so why wasn't it used at the Crisis?" Ruby asked deploying it and seeing what condition it was in "It needs a handle able to swing the scythe around, but I can't see one on the benches" Ruby said looking around
"Maybe this will help" Ren said holding out a shaft of something
"Crescent Rose's lower handle?" Ruby asked
"It appears that may have based Crescent Rose off of this" Ren said handing the handle to Ruby
"Thank you" Ruby said attaching the handle to her mother's project and lifting it up to admire the craftmanship of the weapon
"Lunar Rose, the last gift of my mother to me" Ruby said as she felt something draped over her shoulders "huh?" she asked looking down to see a slivery cloak where her red one used to be
"The weapons wasn't the only gift" Jaune said smiling
"Now I feel like I'm ready to face that thing again, only this time I need help" Ruby said pulling up the silver hood
"Got it we'll give you a couple of minutes" Jaune said as Ruby raced out of there leaving behind rose petals coloured red, white and pink
"She changed her tone quickly" Ren said preparing his Jade Dragons.
Ruby was quickly back in the snow, thinking how to beat Fluffy. Several plans rushed through her head, but only one stood out, "I've got to get Fluffy to Rhombus Canyon" Ruby said spotting the white Beowolf
"Found you Fluffy!" Ruby said deploying her crossbow and loading it with a rock firing it at the white beast who spotted her and roared chasing after her.
"I really hopes this works" Ruby said forcing the beast to chase her.
"That idiotic brat!" Weiss said as the two team ran out to find Ruby "When I find her I'll"
"You'll what?" Yang asked making Weiss fall silent
"Never mind that; how on Earth does she expect to fight that white Beowolf?" Blake asked, her bow twitching as if reacting to the cold
"Us" Ren said as he saw a trail of footsteps and rose petals "This way!" Ren said as the team ran along the trail
"We're coming Sis!" Yang said.
"Shit you've cornered me Fluffy" Ruby said as the White Beowolf blocked the entrance to the diamond shaped canyon "Whatever shall I do, oh wait" Ruby smirked deploying Lunar Rose
"Lunar meet Fluffy, Fluffy meet Lunar, you killed her sister Crescent" Ruby said as Fluffy charged forward fangs bared. As Ruby twirled her new scythe around wounding Fluffy who howled with rage and snarled at his prey who was smiling.
"RUBY!" Yang shouted arriving on the scene with the others.
"Okay, Weiss you and Blake are with me and Ruby in the canyon; Yang, Pyrrah, Nora and Ren take up position on top provide cover fire for us in the canyon" Jaune said as he lead the two sword users into the canyon as the gunners went on top
"Nora, cover Blake, Pyrrah you have Weiss, I'll cover Jaune and Yang well I would think that was obvious" Ren said
"Got it" Yang said as she went to her side.
"IN three!" Jaune said drawing his sword. "May my ancestors protect us" he whispered
"RUBY!" Ruby heard Yang shout, only this attracted the attention of Fluffy as well "Oh shit" Yang said from up above firing off a few shots of Ember Celica as Weis and Blake rushed into manoeuvring behind it to impale its back with Gambol Shroud and Myternaster. Jaune raced in as the beowolf was blinding swiping at the girls on its back, before he intercepted each swipe with his shield as Weiss and Blake got out of there.
"Jaune move!" he heard Ren said as he jumped out of the way before multiple shots of green aura impacted the stab wounds as Blake slashed across the front
"PAW!" Nora said firing off a grenade at the left paw before Ruby converted Lunar Rose its crossbow form and pulled out an ice blue crystal and place it in the launcher
"ON IT!" Ruby said firing the Dust crystal at the right paw
"Where did she get that?" Pyrrah asked shooting at the back paws
The two teams worked fluidly to damage the beast, each time a melee fight made and injury on the beast, a ranged fighter were shoot at that wound making it worse. The Beast howled everytime a strike was landed and followed up with a bullet or bomb, Ruby stabbed the right paw after it broke out of the ice
"Hope you're hungry" Ruby said firing off several explosive rounds at its face as Weiss and Blake try to cut the Achilles tendons at the base of the back legs.
"Got it!" Weiss shouted before gracefully darting out of there, lining up for a fire strike
"I'm done here too" Blake said jumping back before Pyrrah and Nora firing a couple of shots into the monster's hips further crippling it
"Blake switch out" Yang said jumping into the canyon as Blake took her position as a gunner
"You won't hurt anyone ever again!" Yang said bashing the monster with her gauntlets making it yelp with each impact
"Its nearly finished, Weiss I need a platform" Ruby said
"Understood" Weiss said summoning one of her air platforms for Ruby as said huntress dragged the Grimm by her scythe over to the cliff where Blake was
"The Nevermore technique!" Blake said backing up as Ruby jumped up the cliff dragging Fluffy with her before they both were in the sky
"BAD DOG!" Ruby said pulling the trigger, decapitating it midair before they both came crashing down.
"I've done it" Ruby said starting to fall "RUBY!" Yang said as she tried to get to her sister before something else caught
"Well done Ruby, now rest" a soft voice said softly stroking Ruby's hair. "Mum?" Ruby asked
"I'll see you again my little rose" Summer said fading away before Yang caught her
"That ghost was Ruby's mother?" Weiss asked
"No, that Angel was Ruby's birth mother" Yang said
"So what now?" Nora asked
"How about we bag and tag Fluffy here before taking him back to Beacon with us and explaining what we found to Ozpin, Goodwitch and Ooberleck?" Pyrrah asked
"Good idea" Yang said as Weiss started to sear the wounds shut to stop the bleeding
"Hunter we got something for pickup" Blake said
"Icarus, we need a ride back to Beacon" Pyrrah said as the two transports came into view
"I take it I've got the carcass?" Hunter asked descending
"Yep, I've got the hunters" Icarus said as the two teams shoved Fluffy onto Hunter's ship
"Lovely, so I courtyard dumping?" Hunter asked as Yang nodded.
"Sure thing" Hunter said ascending
"We all in?" Icarus asked ascending as Ruby woke up
"Hey" Yang said softly hugging her
"Hey" Ruby said hugging her back.
"There's one thing I don't understand is how did your dad find you?" Weiss asked
"Actually, it was Uncle Crow" Ruby said
Crow had walked into a shop; a small bakery at the centre of the village. Freshly baked treats and breads were out from when they were made a couple of days ago, Crow noticed a plate of cookies sitting on the counter, he looked around before sampling one
"Delicious" he said taking around one and devouring it quickly before going for a third only to find the plate empty "Hm?" he asked looking at the crumb covered empty plate. This made him curious as he heard muted crunching sounds behind the counter. There behind the counter with wide innocent silver eyes was a young girl with half a cookie in her mouth
"Where did you come from little one?" Crow asked gently picking the child up who pointed outside
"I take it your mother?" Crow asked as the little one now teary eyed nodded her head
"I'm sorry" Crow said as Aurum walked in
"OH hello" Aurum said gently said he walked over to Crow "and who might you be?" Aurum asked
"Ruby" she whispered shyly
"Hello Ruby I'm Aurum and this is Crow; would you like to come with us?" Aurum asked as Ruby nodded "Good" the huntsman said as he took the girl from his brother who then grabbed a scone
"You know I have a little girl who's just a bite older than you are; would you like to meet her?" Aurum asked wrapping as much of his cloak around the two of them as he could before walking out into the snow
"Yes" Ruby said hoarsely from all the tears she had shed
"You better protect that cookie jar of yours" Aurum laughed as Crow froze
"You know about that?" Crow asked as Ruby giggled
"So your uncle found you because he had a craving for cookies?" Blake asked astonished by that small tale
"Yep" Ruby said as the ship descended
"Hey Hawker's just dropped his load" Icarus said
"Roger" Ruby said as Icarus opened the bay door to let the hunters out.
There in the middle of the courtyard was a headless white Beowolf as students and teachers crowded around as JNPR and RWBY arrived by their prize
"Could you explain this please?" Goodwitch said pushing her glasses up
"Well we went to discover the cause of the Cliffside Crisis and we discovered that this White Beowolf appeared to be the leader" Pyrrah said sternly
"Not only that be we discovered something else, a secret that only very few indeed knew" Weiss said
"and this secret?" Ooberleck asked
"A survivor of the Crisis" Yang said making everyone but Ozpin shocked
"Who is this survivor?" Goodwitch asked flustered as Ruby stepped forward making Ozpin smile slightly
"I am" Ruby declared making the staff shocked
"You have Silver eyes" Ozpin said saying the first thing he said to Ruby smiling
"No I have my mother's eyes" Ruby smiled
"You have inherited much more than that Miss Rose" Goodwitch said smiling
"You have inherited your mother's legacy" Ozpin said
"And I will uphold that legacy" Ruby said smiling as the group left
"Not that by she is more than likely very proud of you, where ever she is" Ozpin said
Alright so that is the end of Cliffside, please review so I can find out what you guys the readers enjoyed or disliked about it and I'll see you in my next RWBY fanfiction: Parents and Hunters