Welcome, to whom it may concern! Yes, it's yet another foray into RWBY fanfiction. It's a show I love despite its flaws, and I wanted to put a take of my own out there. As for what this story will actually be, I'm starting pretty close to the show, but we'll branch off from the main timeline more and more as time goes on. I've got some ideas. For now, all that's left to say is enjoy, and comments and critiques are very welcome.
Two years to the trial
The sun set over a lonely house on the cliffs of Patch. The last brilliant rays made the seas gleam like molten gold at sundown. Sometimes, you could see two young girls watching the shining waves and the falling star from beneath the cherry blossom trees. The girls were sisters, named Yang Xiao-Long and Ruby Rose, and on quiet nights they returned to the cliffside where their mother, Summer, had taken them to stargaze as children. Those nights with Summer were a distant memory now, fleeting and ephemeral as the sea mist drifting into the warm air before sinking back into frigid waters.
Yang sat at the wooden table, looking out the window at the setting sun as it cast its last light into the humble kitchen. Yang had forgotten to do the dishes piling up in the sink, but her mind was elsewhere at the moment. Tomorrow they'd be up before the sun, heading to Signal Academy. She was fifteen now, and even though she was two years out from graduation, she'd been itching for sparring practice with the fourth years. The summer had been sparse in sparring opportunities, and Yang felt excitement, building up inside her, threatening to burst into flames. It'd been so long since she had a good challenge.
This school year would have a different kind of challenge, though. This year, Ruby would be joining her.
"Yang!" A familiar, energetic voice called. Yang looked up from her dinner, and turned just in time to see her sister barreling into the room, a bolt of rose petals and her favorite red cloak. She'd been zooming all over the place since she discovered her semblance a couple weeks ago.
Everyone had a semblance, a sort of unique superpower typically based on their personality. Yang loved her own, because it played perfectly into her fighting style. Storing up the damage she took to throw it back in someone's face was very much cathartic, and each time she felt the buzzing of that stored power, begging to be released, she felt glee.
But of course, Ruby's semblance was entirely based on her hyperactivity.
Ruby popped out of the cloud of petals and ran up to Yang, almost slamming right into her chest, scattering red petals across the floor- and Yang's shirt. Ruby was still pretty small, and only thirteen years old, but constantly she fidgeted and bounced, almost vibrating with the optimism and energy too great for any one kid to hold. "I'm so excited! I start at Signal tomorrow! I'm gonna go be a huntress like Mom and Dad and Qrow!"
"Whoa there, slow down!" Yang ruffled Ruby's hair. "You're starting training tomorrow. You're not gonna be punching Grimm just yet." Ruby visibly deflated, her bouncing stilled for the space between a moment. Yang halted, then tapped Ruby on the shoulder with a playful punch. "Hey, don't worry kiddo. Take it from a real huntress-in-training, you got the stuff."
"Ha! I knew it!" Ruby exclaimed, with a brilliant smile and silver eyes full of light. Just like that, she was lively again, but the burst of energy faded as quickly as it'd come. Then, she cocked her head back a little, and stared off into the sky above the setting sun.
"Yang, do you believe in fairytales?" Ruby asked.
"What?"
"Fairytales. You know, myths, legends, whatever you wanna call em. Those old stories that dad tells us about ancient kingdoms and magical warriors and saving the world?" Ruby stared into space as the first few pinpricks of stars became visible past the fading light of the sun. "It's just- we've all got our aura to protect us from attacks. We've all got our own special semblance powers- my speed, your temper tantrum-"
"Hey!"
"I mean, even Dust. It can like, freeze stuff or light fires or zap things with electricity. We use Dust in everything, and we still don't even understand what makes it tick." She looked back at Yang. "Somehow, it makes those old stories sound less crazy."
Yang shrugged, tepid but unwilling to crush the strange and distant light in her sister's eyes. "Maybe. Could be."
"I hope so." Ruby looked out the window, towards the seaside cliffs that soared above the churning golden water fading to black, where, in the silhouette of a copse of cherry blossoms, sat the outline of a single gravestone, just beginning to wear from the sea salt and gentle wind. On it, carved in flowy script neither sister could see but both remembered well, was the visage of a flower, two dates, and the name Summer Rose.
/-/
One year to the trial
A train carrying weapons of war and ignorant civilians chugged through a crimson forest towards the city of Vale. Unbeknownst to the passengers, Blake Belladonna stood with her pistol smoking in a cramped car at the center of the train. The feline ears atop her head twitched as she sheathed her weapon, Gambol Shroud. Blake looked to her partner, Adam Taurus, as he slid his crimson blade free of the last fallen war machine, a dozen more felled in the car around them. His sword whispered as it cleared the twisted metal. The other sounds were in her head.
The train they'd boarded was normally a simple passenger and freight route, ferrying people and materials to the city from outlying villages. Through means Blake didn't want to ponder, Adam had learned that today it would be carrying a large, lightly defended cargo of battle androids and combat mechs. He'd had that look in his eyes again then, eyes as hard as coals and just as threatening, begging for a spark.
Adam reached into his bag, and pulled out roughly hewn bricks of homemade plastic explosive. Blake did the same. She'd helped build the detonators not two days ago. "You move towards the front. Set charges along the way. I'll move towards the back. We meet here again in five minutes."
"What about the crew? And the passengers?" Blake asked.
Adam sighed and swept a hand through his vibrant red hair, revealing the horns buried beneath it. "We've talked about this, Blake. They're a necessary sacrifice. We need to stop all of this cargo. How many lives have these machines taken? How many will be lost if we let them through?"
In that moment, the reality of what they were about to do finally caught up with her.
"So we're going to kill innocent people? Again?" She threw an arm out towards the passenger cars loaded with normal people, normal families. "Like the docks at Argus and the convoy in Mantle and the soldiers just camping outside Vale? When do we draw the line?"
Adam sighed and turned away from her, like he had done before. Like she once thought he never would. "None of them were innocent, Blake. They made their choice when they became complacent servants of the destruction of our people. Now go. Place the charges. We don't have much time." Adam set a charge, and then left through the rear door.
Blake stood still for a moment. She looked at the explosives left in the bag, and slowly reached out and picked up the duffel. She took one bomb in her hand.
It was so light, so little for the power it held. It could fit in the palm of her hand, and it could end so many lives in the space between heartbeats.
She knew it was potent- she'd helped make it. A shoplifted bag of electronics here, a few hours in a makeshift lab there. It wasn't hard to make enough bombs to cause problems. They would have used Dust for the explosives, but that was too expensive and risky for a tiny cell with no support. These were simple, deadly devices, powerful enough to flatten a house but stable enough not to go off on accident.
Over the months Blake had partnered with Adam Taurus, she had learned how to make a bomb of that magnitude in about an hour. She had learned how many she'd need to bring down an Atlesian armored transport, or a Paladin walker, or a column of Knight androids; she knew the radius in which it would probably be lethal to someone, with or without body armor, where to put them to make sure a train car was reduced to twisted metal and ashes.
Minutes ago, she'd learned something else: how to block out the sound of a security guard gurgling on his own lifeblood as a blade pierced him from behind. He had tried to scream, but only managed to spit blood out with his cigarette. She saw the blood-soaked cigarette fall onto the tracks and then vanish as the train rushed onwards.
How to keep a hand over the dying man's mouth so his partner just behind the door didn't hear anything amiss with his buddy's smoke break. They had thought that they were safe from the Grimm this close to the city.
They weren't Grimm, but Adam wore the face of one.
Adam had swung in through the window with a crash and sliced off the second guard's head with a flick of his blade. She'd found it hard to tell the difference between Adam and the Grimm then. He was dressed in a deep black suit with fiery maroon hair, and a mask over his eyes that looked like a bone white skull with slits of angry red. It mirrored the tough charcoal pelts and crimson eyes of the Grimm. The Grimm were creatures that hunted people, and existed only to kill. To wear the face of one into battle?
As Adam had flicked the dead man's blood from his blade, the broken window had set off a silent alarm, and the dozen or so sleek white robots that were assembled and online at the front of the car then powered up. They had raised weapons towards him. His red mane had flickered through the white metal bodies as the swirling alarm light cast dancing, hellish shadows on the wall.
She'd stepped in, but only gotten off a few shots before Adam finished the job, nine robots in pieces at his feet after a couple seconds of swordplay. His mask had hidden his eyes as he looked to her.
Her worry about the mask was just one on a mounting list of concerns as Adam left her alone in a train car dominated by bullet holes, debris, and a slowly beeping bomb.
She turned to the forward door, and with her free hand pushed it open. The train was still moving at top speed, the passing forest a blur. Blake knew it was rapidly approaching the city. They had but a few minutes to get clear of the train safely. Forcing herself onwards, she stepped into the next car, and placed the charge on the wall, then began to set the timer.
She'd learned a lot since running away with Adam. How to ignore the sound of a point man in a doomed convoy screaming his voice raw in the chill mountain air for just a moment before falling deathly silent. How much red blood sprayed out across the white snow when someone stepped on an impromptu landmine and turned themselves to liquid and fragments. How to look away from the stumps where the point man's legs used to be as he lay cold in the snow, to look away from the red paste on white powder all around him.
How to hit the detonator on the rest of the bombs anyways. The valley had been black and blue too after that, but she remembered the red on white. Like some errant child had playfully, mindlessly streaked their paintbrush over a pristine landscape. She could imagine their mother scolding them for ruining the scenery.
How to keep a straight face when the survivors kneeled in front of her and Adam, eyes wide, trembling and silent, staring at her and the bodies and black smoke in a blue sky and red on white and her and the bodies.
Her hand fell from the bomb as she looked at the floor. What am I doing? Our people are under attack, but this? Just me and Adam against the world? Killing anyone who gets in our way? Tears spattered onto the metal tiles. No. I'm done.
She removed the charge, and then replaced it on the coupler between her car and the rear of the train, tears still streaming down her face. She set a short timer with shaky hands and then moved to the ladder on the wall. She climbed to the roof, and watched as the bomb separated the joint. The half of the train with Adam on it drifted away through the vibrant red trees that seemed to mock her with their beauty and serenity as her mind tensed and threatened to snap. By the time Adam got to the roof of the car opposite her, standing just above the doorway warped and scorched by the detonation, she was too far away to hear him. She could still see his face, though. Despite the red-on-white mask covering his eyes, she could still make out a snarling mouth, and a single descending tear.
/-/
One month to the trial
The vast training hall around her was marred, the once pristine white walls missing chunks where the behemoth had tried to shatter her ribs with a massive blunted blade. Weiss Schnee kneeled over the smoking wreck of the colossus. Her rapier, Myrtenaster, was embedded in its visor slit, and blood poured from a gash on her face. That... had been a very challenging test. Her father insisted she prove herself if she wanted to leave Atlas, to leave the family and the company behind. Despite throwing an experimental war machine at her, Jacques Schnee had not broken her. Perhaps this would finally convince him to stop treating her like a child, but she doubted it.
Still, she had won this round. She steadied her breathing, retrieved her blade and her composure, and strutted to the large double doors of the training room. She threw the doors open with one of her glyphs, and walked out to her waiting father. Jacques turned to her, a smug smile on his face, until he saw the wreckage behind her. He froze, his pupils narrowed, and his smile turned to a frozen grimace. He turned to her with anger in his eyes, and raised a finger to point at her. His reactions were like clockwork to her now. Predictable. Reliable. Planned around.
Weiss responded before he could speak. "Ah ah ah. I held up my end of the deal. You have to let me go." She held her tone despite the fear building in her stomach. She was banking on her dad keeping his word. For all his failings and cruelty, he'd yet to break one of his precious contracts. A signature on a page meant so much more to him than any petty "promise".
Jacques stood taller for a moment, and began to raise his hand as if to slap her. Weiss showed no response. It wouldn't be the first time, and if it was the price of freedom she'd pay it happily. She had no hope of escaping his influence if she remained trapped in Atlas. If it cost her another cold burning in her cheek and the right amount of tears, she welcomed the toll. Jacques grunted, turned, and walked away down the Atlas Academy hallway. "You may have succeeded Weiss, but you will come to regret it." Weiss merely huffed and brushed past him, heading for the skydocks and her ride to the country of Vale, not letting her mask fall. Until she was sure she was free, she could show no sign of weakness. No cracks in the ice, in the marble. She blinked as she exited the building. There was something in her eye, perhaps a speck of Dust. Yes, that was all, she lied.
/-/
Two weeks to the trial
Ruby paged through the latest weaponry catalogs in the back corner of Dust til Dawn, drooling over the arsenal on display. The shop was humble- a little general store, with full-wall glass windows facing the street. Dust tubes lined one wall, and crystals of the substance sat in glass cases under the counter that looked out over the road. If Ruby could afford more Dust rounds, she'd have so much fun playing around with their elemental effects. The rest of the store was pretty simple- a few aisles of snacks and candy, (notably devoid of her favorite cookies) some fridges loaded with soda, (the purple ones were the best) and a few rotating racks with toys and magazines.
Ruby was only half paying attention to the rest of the store, invested in the arsenal on the pages in front of her. She had a knack for crafting weapons, and a burning passion too. That had led to Crescent Rose, the massive warscythe-rifle hybrid currently collapsed on her back. It was well-designed enough to impress Uncle Qrow, and that fact alone had left her beaming for weeks after she'd shown it to him. She based her weapon off of his because it was just so cool, and to hear that he liked it had left her in a joyous daze.
She glanced up from the pages of the magazine as she heard the little bell on the door ring, and saw a group of men entering the building.
They were all dressed in black suits and fedoras, with crimson sunglasses, except for the one in the middle. He sported a black bowler hat with a red ribbon, a fancy white overcoat, ornate black cane, and fiery red hair, a few locks swooped over his right eye. He took a drag from a fat cigar, then leaned onto the counter and said something to the shopkeep. The poor old man was trembling. Ruby squinted. She couldn't really hear what the leader was saying, but her suspicions were confirmed when the men in black drew swords and pistols. Wait- holy crap, is that Roman Torchwick?! Ruby placed a hand on Crescent Rose, ducked into an aisle, and spoke. "You wouldn't happen to be robbing this store, would you?"
Roman looked back towards the noise, and shouted at his goons. "How many times have I told you guys to clear the room before pulling out the hardware? I did not need this today." He tapped his cane on the ground, and called out to Ruby. "Come on out and you'll be fine, little girl. We're just gonna take the Dust and leave, and then you can go cry to mommy and daddy."
Ruby smiled to herself and spoke up with the glee of someone making their own fairytale. "Oh, I wasn't scared. I was making sure I was allowed to do this."
Ruby vaulted the shelves and phased to the front of the shop in a blur of petals, grinning as she exited into a wide scythe swing. Roman barely ducked the blow that knocked two of his henchmen flat. Ruby spun to face Roman, just in time for his cane to slam her in the side of the head and throw her into a rack of greeting cards. Ruby's grin wavered as pain lanced across her skin, but her aura held, and so did the smile.
He raised his cane to point at her, and sneered as he spoke. "There you are, little girl. Fancy semblance you got there. You know, I'm getting pretty tired of you dime-a-dozen huntress wannabes, so I'd really appreciate it if you dropped the hero schtick. That way, I might forget my two men you just clocked and let you leave this room in one piece." Ruby stood, Crescent Rose held sideways, the blade scraping the tiled floor, to see Torchwick aiming at her, a flip-up sight now visible on the end of his cane and a gun barrel poking out of the bottom.
She smirked like she thought the hero ought to. "No thanks."
She fired Crescent Rose, launching herself through the window with its recoil as Roman fired, his shot missing by an inch and slamming into the far wall with a burst of fire. Shards of glass rained onto the cobblestones with a tinkling that reminded her of chimes in the wind, and the pedestrians nearby scattered. Ruby stopped her flying body by plunging her scythe's blade into the ground, swinging around the long haft and landing gracefully on top. She quickly hopped down and sighted with Crescent Rose's scope. She lined up the gun barrel in the head of the scythe with one of the gunmen's torsos. She whispered "Boom."
Roman ducked behind the register, the only part of the store's front counter with something thicker than glass between him and the child sniper. He had no idea where the old shopkeep had run off to, and right now he didn't particularly care. The man to Roman's left dropped with a groan as a rifle round sparked off his aura. He was still alive, but that one would hurt in the morning-even aura could only protect you from so much.
Torchwick scowled. "Oh for the love of- Little Red's got teeth, then. Come on boys. Grab what you've got and leave. Those gunshots are gonna attract the wrong kind of attention." Roman crouched behind the front desk as rounds continued picking off his crew like a child playing with their food. He tapped the transmitter to call for his ride out of this rapidly deteriorating heist. "Everyone left, on the count of three I want you to shoot at the brat while I rush her. Got it?" He didn't wait for a response. "One. Two. THREE!"
Ruby saw three gangsters break from cover as Roman leaped over the counter. She tried to take aim, and felt one, then two bullets slam into her aura. She activated her semblance and launched herself straight up into the air, then burst free from the petals and aimed her weapon mid-fall, smirking as the gunmen gaped. The thrill of floating in the moments when time traveled just right had never lost its veneer. She picked off all three henchmen before she even hit the ground. She just had time to wonder where Roman had gone before something slammed into her gut.
The Dust round impacted Ruby's midsection and exploded, launching her upwards and sideways onto a nearby roof. Her aura flared red as she stumbled to her feet on the sloping tiles. Not a moment later Roman landed on the roof in front of her, launched by his own weapon's explosive shot. "I'll admit Red, for such a little kid you've managed to make quite a mess of this operation." He closed the distance between them in one bound and swung his cane up at her jaw, a blow Ruby barely deflected with the haft of Crescent Rose. Roman moved like the terrain was a mere impediment, lazily flowing out of the way of every languid counterattack.
He kept talking, unfazed by the fledgling huntress. "But you're out of your league."
He rammed a foot into her kneecap and followed with a cane strike to her side, shunting her back towards the edge of the roof.
"I've been dealing with little kids that play at being heroes for quite some time now…" He slammed a fist into her ribs, forcing her back further. Ruby's once confident smirk was gone, replaced by a frightened grimace as she swung wildly at the man, trying to gain a foot, an inch. Her eyes were wild, her body vibrating, and she felt as if her buzzing soul might shake her into dust. Oh Gods, oh no, oh no. Panic bit down on her mind as she approached her disintegration.
Roman barely seemed to notice Ruby's onslaught, stepping clear of each desperate, primal swipe only to dart back in with a precise, calculated strike and slip out of reach again. She didn't even disrupt his thoughts as he mulled over the best punishment for this little fuck-up. "And I'm not really impressed. You're well equipped darling, but you're still nothing special."
He suddenly flicked his cane into the groove of Crescent Rose, where the blade met the haft of the weapon. It stopped the massive scythe in its tracks, even stilling the shaking in Ruby's soul with fear. He stared her in the eyes with a predatory grin as he continued. "When you get backed into a corner, you're just as panicked and sloppy as any little street rat."
Ruby's nerves were fluttering as she flicked a switch on the side of Crescent Rose. Her weapon shuddered as it shrunk down to rifle form, the mechanisms protesting the obstruction of Roman's cane in the gears. Nevertheless, the collapsing weapon yanked the man's cane from his grasp and spat it onto the tiles of the roof at her feet as her weapon finished its transformation. Instead of looking to his fallen weapon, like Ruby expected, Roman swung out a leg and slammed it into her knee from the left, sweeping her legs out from under her and sending her tumbling off the roof.
She forced the vibrations in her body down to one oscillating point, and pulled the trigger.
Crescent Rose spat angrily, the round punching a gaping hole in the criminal's hat, missing his forehead by an inch. The rifle's recoil threw her back further, nixing any chance of catching herself. Ruby felt herself dropping into open air, and waited for the impact of cold concrete two stories below. It didn't come. It took her brain a second to process what had happened as the sparks of panic bled away. A few feet into her fall, she'd just stopped.
The now hatless Torchwick stared down at her, and let out an exasperated sigh. Three bolts of white light slammed into his side, sending him stumbling, almost slipping from the angled tiles.
"Ahh! Oh, what now?" He spun to look at the new threat. A blonde woman in a white blouse, black leggings, and a purple cape marched forwards, throwing more missiles of light with each flick of the elegant black wand in her right hand.
"Oh shit. A real huntress. Of course!", he exclaimed. Ruby gathered herself, found her brain, and launched her body for the ledge of the rooftop with her semblance. She landed shakily and climbed to her feet as the wash of a jet engine kicked her overflowing energy back into gear.
She was met with a Bullhead transport flying in low at the opposite end of the structure, hovering with open doors. Roman looked back at her. "That's my ride! Looks like we both get away today Red. Here's hoping we never see each other again!" He turned to the plane, scooped up his cane from the tiles and then fired it into the surface, launching himself into the open bay of the hovering transport, landing easily with a practiced grace and turning back to face Ruby.
Ruby flicked her rifle back into a scythe and followed after him as the transport's doors began to close, flying straight towards the fleeing criminal in a ball of red energy, petals spinning off all around as her soul overflowed. He confidently swung his cane at the rushing orb of petals, only to watch as it split and went around him. He barely had time to blink before a blade hooked around his body from behind, and he realized that the tiny but frustratingly tneacious girl had him hostage.
He started laughing like the man with all the cards. "Well, whaddya know. She does have a few more tricks up her sleeve. Unfortunately for you, so do I."
He turned his head to face her. Ruby raised an eyebrow and stared into the man's eyes before turning to her right. Her eyes went narrow, and she dove forward, past Roman and out of the plane, just in time to dodge the tip of a spear that narrowly missed her forehead. She tumbled to the rooftop, collecting herself as she gently clattered down and spun to face the dapper bastard and his little friend.
A girl with one brown and one pink eye twirled what Ruby could now see was not quite a spear, but a parasol with a spiked tip. The girl's eyes and hair were mismatched- her hair was chocolate brown and strawberry pink, split by one lock of vanilla white. Her eyes were pink and brown too, but Ruby could swear they switched colors when then girl blinked. She looked oddly sweet, but dangerously so. The kind that would whisper pleasant nothings as it knifed you in the back.
Case in point, she was also drawing a gun.
Ruby raised Crescent Rose as the girl leveled a pistol at her.
The ship was struck by four missiles of light, rocking it to the side and sending the bullet meant for Ruby arcing into the sky. The mystery huntress had finally made it to the rooftop, and stood beside Ruby, flinging more bolts of solid light at the new threat. The colorful girl snarled and snapped off three shots before slamming the door closed, and the ship began to peel off.
Ruby sighted her rifle, and tried to fire into the cockpit to hit Roman, but the angle was bad. Her shots sparked off metal armor or merely pockmarked the resilient, reinforced glass. The huntress beside her flung more missiles at the engines, but the Bullhead wasn't faltering under the assault, even as the night sky came alive with dancing light.
The ship's door was closed, but Ruby saw the mystery girl through the glass of the window. Desperate, she sighted one final shot as the escaping vessel approached the edge of her weapon's range. The round flew almost perfectly. She'd accounted for the wind and the moving target and the range. Ruby imagined the bullet sparkling with a red glow as it flew. The Dust round smashed through the glass and sprayed shards of it into the target, but the bullet flew a few inches too far to the left, and what would have been a perfect headshot became a graze across the cheek, sparking the poison-sweet girl's aura. Ruby caught a glance of murder and amusement from pink and brown eyes before the turning vehicle cut off her sight.
Just like that, the ship was out of range, slipping into the evening sky. She turned to her mysterious savior. Oh. My. Gods. Her soul threatened to crumble for a far less dangerous reason. "Y-you're a huntress." The older woman simply stared at her. "Can I have your autograph?"
The woman had just rolled her eyes at that, and introduced herself as Glynda Goodwitch as she absentmindedly tapped a text into her scroll and police cordoned off the store below them. She explained that she'd been the one to stop Ruby's fall. Apparently it was part of a very versatile semblance that included telekinesis. After a curt explanation, she'd grabbed ahold of Ruby's arm, floated down from the roof while hauling her through the air, and then practically dragged her to Signal Academy.
Ruby had tried to protest- "Wait, hey, I'm sorry I was just really impressed! Dad would be so disappointed if I got in trouble with a huntress already-"
All she'd gotten in response was a curt look back, a small smirk, and a "Calm down and be quiet." The voice was sharp, to the point, and a little chilling. Ruby found herself stilled.
Ruby had listened, and so Glynda had pulled her a few blocks back to Ruby's school, through the familiar front double doors, and into the less familiar principal's office. Ms. Goodwitch closed the door behind them, without turning on the light, and then looked Ruby up and down from behind the principal's desk.
The room wasn't very large, and it was lightly decorated. A globe and name tag on the desk, which was itself a simple wooden affair. A few plaques sat above the neatly arranged shelves, a single painting hung on the left, and a coffee machine waited in the corner. A simple window loomed right behind Goodwitch, letting moonlight seep in over her shoulders, making her appear as a faded and intimidating silhouette.
Goodwitch broke the silence quickly. "I suppose you would be Ms. Ruby Rose?"
Ruby perked up. "Uh, yep! That's me. How did you…" she trailed off immediately under a withering stare from the older woman.
"Well, Ms. Rose," she scolded, "you've caused some not insignificant property damage and put yourself in serious danger to boot."
Ruby began to fumble out an apology, but Goodwitch cut her off. "However, you also stopped a robbery, held your own against Roman Torchwick for a while, and even managed to get the drop on him. We might have actually captured him, if not for that accomplice of his. What you did was patently reckless and dangerous, but nonetheless impressive. If it were my choice, you'd be applauded and given a due punishment. Fortunately for you, it is not up to me. Someone should be arriving very soon who would like to have a word with you."
I don't know if she's happy or mad at me. The question bounced off the walls of her head over and over. Goodwitch didn't seem inclined to hand out any more information, so Ruby took her chance. "I'm really sorry, I saw them about to rob the place and I couldn't just let that happen if I wanna be a Hunter like Dad and Qrow! Those robbers were mean and dangerous and I don't think they would've stopped-"
Goodwitch sighed and rubbed her forehead with her palm. "You talk too much, child. You're not here to explain yourself to me anyways." She casually flicked her other hand to the door, and Ruby turned to see it open, to reveal a man with stark white hair, caramel eyes, dressy black pants, and a simple black jacket over a green button-up shirt, topped with a scarf. Ruby stared at him, dumbfounded. My eyes are broken. That is the only logical explanation, she decided.
Then he spoke, a refined, reserved, unwavering tone. "Ah. You have silver eyes. I take it you know who I am, Ms. Rose?"
Ruby squealed out her words. "Oh my gods, you're Headmaster Ozpin! You're in charge of Beacon!"
He took it in stride. "Quite correct. I am also here because of you."
Ruby's eyes went wide. "...me?" , Ruby eked out. The arrhythmia leaked back into her mind.
Ozpin's voice remained steady, as though nothing could ever shake him apart. "Yes. You managed to thwart Roman Torchwick on your own. That man has been on most wanted lists across Remnant for months, and you managed to throw a wrench into his plans."
Ruby wrung her hands, words dripping with a cocktail of pride, bewilderment, and a desperate attempt to conceal both. "I mean it's honestly nothing, he would've beaten me if Glynda-"
"Ms. Goodwitch." the older woman cut in icily.
Ruby waited a moment before picking up. Ms. Goodwitch scared her, and with just a few words the woman could still her shaking, at least for a moment. "...right, Ms. Goodwitch hadn't shown up. I was toast."
Ozpin stood still, staring into the lone painting on the wall. It showed the day that Signal Academy first opened. "Most likely, but the fact remains that you stand here, and Roman is the one fleeing with his tail between his legs. So, how do you feel Ms. Rose? Not physically. You were fortunate and capable enough to come away from this incident unharmed. How do you feel about what happened?"
Of all the things Ruby expected his first interrogation question to be, that wasn't it. "Um… I feel ok I guess?"
"Please, elaborate." Ozpin put a mug under the coffee machine in the corner as it warmed up, and turned to her, waiting.
Ruby continued, fidgeting in her seat. "Well, I did the right thing, I think. I couldn't let them rob the place or hurt the old shopkeeper. I caught most of them, but Torchwick got away with the weird girl in the ship." She spaced out for a moment as she spoke, and tried to force the feeling of falling as Roman smiled out from her mind. "I could've really been hurt. I didn't realize Torchwick knew how to fight."
Ozpin stirred his freshly poured coffee, letting it cool as he spoke. "Undoubtedly. I would hope that if you knew his reputation, you would not have been so bold with your attack." Ozpin pulled up security footage from the store's cameras on his scroll to illustrate, and Ruby watched herself on the screen as she called out, alerting the criminals, before flying through the air in a painstakingly obvious crimson bolt.
She cringed. Ozpin noted it, and drove the point home. "Discretion can be a very powerful ally, if you know how to harness it."
He took a short sip from his mug, closing his eyes as he savored it. Then he put the mug down and stared Ruby in the eyes. "I had but a few choice questions for you Ruby. In fact, I have only one more before I make my decision." He walked up to the principal's desk next to Goodwitch, placing one hand on the corner with his eyes still piercing Ruby's soul, freezing it not with fear but pinning it beneath some intangible air of dire importance. "Would you do it again?"
Ruby looked to Goodwitch for any hint of what she was supposed to say here, and found no information in the unyielding woman's eyes. She took a deep breath and turned towards Ozpin, looking down at the desk. "...Yes. Even now, knowing I was in danger. I don't know what Torchwick wants, but I know it can't be good. Even if it was just a robbery, letting it happen sets a bad example. If people see criminals getting away with this, it makes them afraid, and makes other bad people more bold. We can't afford that. The Grimm are always a threat, and fear and anger pull them in like a vacuum cleaner." She looked up at Ozpin.
"I want to be a Huntress because of stuff like this. It's why I go to Signal, why I built my own weapon. I've loved the idea ever since I was little. Qrow and Dad and… Mom. They always seemed so cool!" Ruby glanced up to the ceiling, lost in memory, eyes glistening.
"But… more than that, the world needs Hunters." Her gaze returned to Ozpin's, eyes steely and serious.
"The Grimm aren't disappearing anytime soon, and they're not the only threat we have to deal with either. What kind of Huntress-in-training am I if I see a criminal gang stealing volatile magical crystals for mysterious purposes and don't do anything?" On the last word, she threw her arms out to the side, and panted, out of breath.
Ozpin smiled, but behind the rim of his glasses, in the twilight of the room lit only by the moon, Ruby could just make out his eyes. They were dim.
"An admirable answer Ms. Rose. You seem to hold the compassion and drive of a real Huntress. All I would ask is that you be wary. You underestimated your opponent here, and it very nearly cost you. Keep that in mind."
Passionate speech over, Ruby was back to polite bewilderment. "Eh heh, I'm sorry Mr. Ozpin sir, but, um, why do you care so much?"
"I care for all my prospective students, Miss Rose."
His tone betrayed the slightest bit of amusement. Surely he didn't mean… "It is a bit unorthodox to admit students at 15. Our normal age for first years is 17. However, you've shown both the mindset and certainly the skill to match, or possibly exceed, many of our candidates. Our admission trial will occur in two weeks at Beacon itself. If you would like it, there will be a spot open for you. If you pass the trial, you will be admitted to Beacon as a first-year student."
Ruby sat in slack-jawed, stunned silence for a good five seconds, before Ms. Goodwitch tapped her foot on Ruby's leg. "Wh-uh- OH! YEAH, ABSOLUTELY!"
Ozpin smiled. "I'm glad to hear it, Ms. Rose. If you'll excuse me, I must get back to Beacon. Much remains to be done for the coming semester. You're welcome to accompany me, Glynda. Your prior responsibilities are on hold for now." The woman stood, pushed in the principal's chair, and led the way out of the office without a word. As Ozpin made to follow, he turned back to Ruby. "You really do take after your mother." with that, he left. Ruby sat alone in the dark of the principal's office. For the first time in a long time, Ruby remained still and speechless.
/-/
Ruby easily spotted Yang's giant, vibrant blonde hair in the waiting airship. Yang, in her favored yellow top, brown jacket, and a short brown skirt over shorter black shorts, wrapped her sister in a hug as Ruby boarded the shuttle to Beacon Academy. The ship wasn't packed, but it was certainly crowded. People moved about all around them as the airship made to lift off. It was large, holding around a hundred people in the wide, open passenger compartment. Some people milled around the floor, some waited by the windows, and a few trickled in through the door as the pilot announced that it would be closing in a couple minutes. Ruby had spent so long tinkering with Crescent Rose and worrying about what would come in the final test that she'd almost missed the flight. Her nerves were coursing through her brain, and she wondered what it would feel like to flake apart.
Ruby didn't expect it to happen anytime soon- she doubted anything could escape the power of Yang's hugs. "I can't believe my little sister is joining me at Beacon!"
Ruby gasped as Yang squeezed her ribs tighter. "Ah! Hi Yang!"
Yang released her. "Hi? That's all you've got?"
Yang crossed her arms. "Come on sis, this has been your dream, and now you get to go to Beacon early WITH your awesome big sister. Why aren't you bouncing off the walls?"
Ruby avoided Yang's eyes, and decided to voice the idea ricocheting through her brain. "We haven't gotten in yet Yang. We still have to pass the trial."
Yang snapped her fingers right in front of Ruby's face. "Hey. Hey. Look at me." Ruby looked up. "You're worried about that? Ruby, we're gonna blow it out of the water. There's nothing to be afraid of. You're gonna do fine, and we'll be killing Grimm before you know it." Yang looked off into the crowd and waved to somebody. She turned back to Ruby with a smile. "Look, you should take this chance to get to know some of your future classmates." Yang gestured to the students around them, and then she drifted off into the crowd. "Yang, wait!" Ruby reached out towards her sister. The blonde flicked off a mock salute and disappeared into the mass of people, her bright yellow vanishing in the clump of bodies.
Ruby lowered her arm with a sigh. She looked around and saw the throng of students around her, chatting, watching their scrolls, checking their weapons. The airship doors had closed entirely, and a few minutes later the ship was in the air, and Ruby remained alone in the middle of the room. She tugged at the red hem of her black skirt. The red matched her cloak, the black her leggings, and most importantly, both matched Crescent Rose. Some of the weapons around her caught her eye, but beyond that she felt alone and exposed in the middle of the crowd. She wished the wind would just whisk her away and carry her to Beacon of its own volition. She slinked over to the windows and looked out at the deep blue sea.
Yang was right. This was her dream! She should pass the trial no problem. So why was she so nervous? Sure, she'd had bad days, but she'd really believed for a while that she was past the danger of breaking into pieces.
It took her a second to notice that someone had walked up beside her. She turned to look, and saw a boy in simple white plate armor, a black hoodie, and blue jeans, a sword in a sheathe on his hip. His hair was a lighter blonde than her sister's vibrant yellow, eyes blue like sapphires. His skin was pale as he leaned past her. He flung open the window and vomited out into the ocean.
Ruby side-eyed the boy. "Um, hi?" The blond boy's cheeks immediately took on a light red hue. "Oh, hi! I uh, didn't see you there! On account of the whole vomiting thing." By now, several people were staring at the duo, the open window, and his bumbling introduction. "Sorry, I get motionsick. I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc." He reached out a hand. Ruby hesitantly took it. "Ruby Rose." Jaune pointed to the barrel of Crescent Rose poking out from Ruby's cloak. "What's that?" Ruby's face lit up. "Oh, this!?" She whipped out Crescent Rose with a flourish, extending it to full length and nearly clocking another student in the head with it. "Oh, sorry!"
She turned back to Jaune. "This is Crescent Rose. It's a massive warscythe able to cut through Grimm like nothing, as well as a high caliber sniper rifle with the ability to fire multiple different kinds of Dust and conventional ammunition and propel the user with recoil."
Jaune's eyes were wide. "Wow. That's impressive."
He stumbled over his words. "What I mean is , that's actually really interesting. I just… I was never a great weapons designer."
Ruby was curious and somewhat appalled now, hoping to enlighten this poor boy on the perfection of a masterfully crafted armament. "What's your weapon Jaune?"
"Oh, me?" He drew his sword from the scabbard, and then drew the scabbard itself. Ruby watched transfixed as he clicked a button and the sheathe expanded into a full-size shield. "It's called Crocea Mors."
"Whoa, cool!" said Ruby. "Did you build it?"
Jaune's eyes flicked to the floor before meeting hers again. "This thing? Naw, it's been in my family for years."
"Oooo, a weapon with history." Ruby wasn't dissuaded. In fact, this little encounter had given her an idea "Hmmmmmm… Have you ever thought about making your own weapon, Jaune?"
Jaune froze. "Well, I-"
Before he could finish, the pilot's voice blared over the speakers. "Attention all applicants, we are arriving at Beacon Academy."
Ruby started bouncing up and down on her heels, overflowing with herself. A few seconds later, the ship touched down, and the doors at the end began to open. "I'm really excited this was super fun see you later bye!" She spewed out at Jaune. Then, in one motion, Ruby collapsed her scythe and vanished into a red blur rushing towards Beacon.
A sleek, white, private Atlesian transport was also arriving at Beacon. Weiss Schnee was ordering the unloading of the crucial equipment for staying the night, and for the trial tomorrow morning. She wore her signature look, an elegant white top with billowing sleeves and red inlaid on the collar, along with a respectable skirt, white high heels, and a long white ponytail. She was managing the second luggage cart, directing her servants on where to take it, when a dart of red energy zipped out of a landing transport, and then materialized into a small girl in red, just before that girl in red slammed into a suitcase full of Dust, kicking up a cloud of elemental particles. Weiss spoke up sharply. "And just who do you-"
She saw the girl in red sniff and rub her nose. "Wait!-" Weiss cried. Ruby sneezed, and the volatile Dust exploded in her face.
Weiss covered her eyes, and lowered her hands to see her luggage cart spilled over and her immaculate white dress coated in red Dust. She looked to the idiot in red, her mind freezing over with disdain. "Absolutely disgraceful! You haven't been at Beacon for ten seconds, and you run smack into a suitcase and blow me up! I knew Vale wasn't the same as Atlas, but I thought they at least taught trainee Hunters to look where they're going. Do you have any IDEA who I am?"
The red girl's response was cut off by a voice from underneath a tree on the right of the courtyard. "You're Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest and most powerful companies in Atlas, if not the world."
The speaker was a girl in a sleeveless top and simple pants. Both articles of clothing were white at the top, and shifted to black partway down, split in a zigzag of light and shadow. Topping it off were amber eyes, shoulder-length black hair, and a simple black hairbow.
Weiss shifted her voice effortlessly back to a more refined, elegant tone. "Thank you. At least someone here is educated." Weiss shot a faux smile at the new girl.
The stranger in black only smirked, before continuing. "The same Schnee Dust Company that drew international scrutiny for ruthlessly exploiting the dust reserves of Vacuo after the Great War, not to mention their controversial treatment of their labor forces, especially in the Dust mines of Mantle. Those labor forces largely consist of the poor and the various races of Faunus, who have no other option but to take dangerous jobs with little safety equipment handling volatile energy sources so the company can turn a greater profit. To some people, a person having a tail or dog ears is enough to justify worse treatment and lower pay." Ruby saw Weiss' smile quickly morph into a neutral mask, then move to outright rage.
"Our company has done what is best for the people of Atlas, and those workers would not have jobs without us. You've both been frankly insufferable, so I'm going to leave before you blow something else up."
Both Ruby and the girl in black winced, and Weiss Schnee stormed off, leaving everyone behind in the sharp, frosty words as her servants reloaded the luggage cart. Ruby turned to the girl in black, only to find nothing. Scanning the crowd, Ruby found her already far away, walking towards the main entrance of Beacon. "Not off to the best start." Ruby mused.
Weiss took over an hour to prepare her outfit after the disaster outside, getting her servants to block off a restroom while she changed. After finally freshening up, she exited the room, seemingly poured from a mold of what she should be. An ice sculpture of the perfect Schnee daughter number two. She made sure to reiterate where she wanted her bags left- in the communal bunks. I suppose I'll have to share a room with everyone for one night. Only one night. She shivered. For now, she had somewhere else to be. She headed to the auditorium for Headmaster Ozpin's speech.
She strode confidently into the room from the side door, and casually scanned the scene. The room was mostly filled, just a few minutes left until Ozpin's speech. As for the auditorium itself, it was a grand affair, the largest at Beacon. Elegant marble columns soared up the walls, with hundreds of seats in row after row descending to the floor of the room, and there was even a second level of balcony seats encircling the room. Rising a few feet above that floor was the stage, a long, large, semicircular affair that practically shone with polish. Behind it stood a grand mural in the shape of Beacon's central tower. Light trickled into the room through narrow windows laced with silver near the apex of the domed roof. It was almost standard for an institution of such respect, but slightly off. A bit warmer, like a space that existed all the time, not only when it was important.
The seats were filled almost to capacity with hopeful students. Most of the applicants looked unimpressive to her, but one caught her eye immediately. Her hair was a dull maroon, and she wore ornate armor of bronze, with a simple, elegant tiara on her brow above a set of jade green eyes. Weiss began to shoulder her way through the rows of seats towards Pyrrha Nikos.
Weiss yelled her name. "Pyrrha!"
The girl in question looked around for the source of the call. She locked on to the girl in white rapidly approaching her. She answered politely, if a little surprised. "Oh! Hello! You must be… Weiss Schnee?"
"Precisely. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I've followed your career closely. You are the victor of the Mistralian tournament three years running, top of all your classes, and feature prominently in many advertisements across the kingdoms."
"Yes… That I am." Weiss heard the waver in Pyrrha's voice.
Weiss was used to people being intimidated by her chill, and thought nothing of it. "You know, I'm not a slouch myself. We could accomplish a lot together."
The redhead glanced off to the side, crossing her arms and bouncing her leg. "Perhaps. There's so many new people to meet." Weiss narrowed her eyes, and they hardened imperceptibly, like a faint flurry freezing onto the permafrost.
Two taps on the microphone resonated throughout the auditorium. Weiss turned to find Ozpin standing on the stage, one hand behind his back and the other atop his hefty metal cane. "Hello. I am Headmaster Ozpin. Should you pass the final trial tomorrow, I will be your Headmaster for the next four years. You have come to Beacon because you want to be Hunters. The job of a Hunter is to protect the innocent, protect our kingdoms, from the hordes of the Grimm that want nothing more than the eradication of our species."
"Beacon is the final step on your path before becoming Hunters. Should you be admitted, you will discover much about yourselves. You will learn how to fight the Grimm, yes, but also how to fight as a team. How to handle the parts of being a Hunter that aren't as simple as stabbing or shooting the problem. You will learn everything you need to learn to keep humanity thriving in a dangerous world. Tomorrow, that journey will begin. You are to gather at the eastern cliffs at 12. That is where your final trial will start. Good luck to all of you. I hope to see you again."
With that mellow, short address, Ozpin left the stage. Weiss turned back to Pyrrha, to find that she had vanished. How rude. It's almost like she didn't want to talk to me. She huffed, turned on her heel, and stomped back to the bunk hall.
/-/
Ruby searched for Yang in the massive bunk hall as other applicants started heading to bed. The place looked to be thrown together- not sloppy, but converted from what was normally a dining hall. At least, that was Ruby's best guess given the giant tables and mass of chairs stowed against one wall. I guess that makes more sense than having a giant dorm that you only use once a year, Ruby pondered. Hundreds of beds were laid out in orderly rows and columns all across the floor. People stowed their luggage underneath the raised beds, or queued for the restrooms in the back of the building to change into pajamas. Her shaking melted into the background aura of hundreds feeling the same rattling in their heart and head.
Ruby's footsteps echoed on the stone tile as she maneuvered through the rows of beds. Vast windows soared to the sky on the sides of the structure, and moonlight filtered in through the towering glass, though it was overshadowed by the dim glow cast by the lamps hanging from the ceiling. Ruby finally found Yang near the back of the room, zipping up her suitcase and clad in her more casual pajamas, an orange tank top with a fire sigil on the front, and simple black shorts.
"Yang! You left me alone!"
Yang turned to her sister, away from the suitcase she'd been fiddling with. "Oh, hey Ruby. What's wrong? You looked fine on the airship. I saw you talking to blondie over there. He was weird, but I think you hit it off." Yang sounded entirely unconcerned, and even had the gall to wiggle her eyebrows at the "hit it off.".
"Yeah, and then I ran into Weiss Schnee and exploded!" Ruby shouted, jitters rising by an inch.
Yang rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Ruby, you don't have to make stuff up. It couldn't have been that bad."
"No, it was." came another voice.
Ruby turned to see the mystery girl in black, curled up in bed with a book. "Didn't you see the cloud of Dust when you got off the airship? She ran into a case full of it and sneezed, and she blew up Weiss Schnee's suitcase and ruined her dress." She didn't look up from her novel once.
Yang's grin turned to open-mouthed horror. "Oh my gods you actually exploded."
Ruby yelled louder in response. "Yeah! And you weren't there! She had to step in to help me-" Ruby turned to her mysterious benefactor. "-thank you very much for that by the way-" and back to Yang. "-because I was getting chewed out by a rich girl!"
"Ah, crap." Yang sighed.
Yang walked up to her sister and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Ruby, look." Ruby's anxiety slipped as Yang's grip squeezed it down.
"I'm sorry I ditched you. I should've been more upfront with you. I want you to meet some new people here. I thought giving you some time alone would help you make your own friends." Yang's face turned to a subtle grin. "Maybe I should've, y'know, actually said that instead of just dipping, but hey, they say hindsight is 20-20 right?" Yang shot her sister a beaming smile.
Ruby tried to keep a pouty face, but broke into a grin and giggled as nerves turned to mirth. "Dangit Yang, I wanna be mad at you."
"Never gonna happen sis." Yang flicked her hair. She turned to the mystery girl in black on her bunk, halfway under the covers and engrossed in her novel.
"Hey, bookworm." The girl perked up at that.
"Thanks for helping out my sister earlier."
"No problem." The girl dismissed.
Yang frowned a little at that, before trying again. "All the same, I appreciate it. I'm Yang, you already met my sister Ruby. What's your name?"
"Blake." That seemed to be the end of the comment.
Yang backed off. "Alright. Well, I'll see you around Blake." Yang turned back to Ruby.
Ruby surprised all three of them by speaking up. "What are you reading?"
Blake looked over, obviously a little thrown off by Ruby's interjection. "It's a story about a man with two souls."
"Oooooh! What do you mean?" Ruby was intrigued now. This sounded like some cool magic and evil sorcery stuff. The kind that filtered aimless motion into clear meaning and action.
Blake's eyes shifted to the side, and she tugged at her hairbow. "They're supposed to be manifestations of light and darkness. The man struggles to find balance and purpose when his mind is at war with itself."
Ruby liked what she was hearing. Controlling your demons was something they could all relate to. "That sounds interesting! More modern than my usual stuff, I was always a fan of the classics, but I might check it out. What does this guy actually do with his life?"
Blake smiled a little. "He's a hero. He travels the land, fighting against the forces of tyrants and protecting the innocent." Blake was actually smiling now, clearly reliving a piece of the story. "There's a part I love where his souls start fighting for control in the middle of a major battle. He's trying to stay calm and fight off hordes of evil knights as his insides are being torn up. It reminds…" She drifted off. The smile was gone, swallowed.
Yang shot a quick smirk at her sister, though Ruby didn't see it. So, Ruby does have it in her. She got the emo girl to open up for a second. Ruby was standing right in front of Blake now, kneeling down to meet her eyes. "You mind if I read it after you finish?"
Blake seemed stunned that Ruby was still talking to her. "Oh… sure."
Ruby patted Blake on the shoulder, hoping to set her at ease, and found it halted her racing mind too. Blake tensed, but didn't shy away. "Cool! Alright Blake. Nice meeting you, but It's about time we got to bed. Maybe we'll see each other in the trial tomorrow." Blake nodded, and Ruby and Yang headed back to their bunks.
Off on the other side of the room, Yang saw a girl in white gesturing wildly at stacks of suitcases piled all around her bed.
Yang pointed her out. "That the girl you ran into?"
Ruby looked over, and scowled just a little. "Yeah, Weiss. How'd you know?"
Yang shrugged. "Lucky guess. The Schnees have like, a thing for white. Plus, look at that body language. It just screams "I'm better than you."
Ruby giggled, and the two climbed into their beds. Most of the other applicants were doing the same, and the lights in the ceiling were growing yet dimmer. Soon they would be dark entirely. Ruby realized she hadn't changed into her pajamas, and then realized that she didn't particularly care. There were a thousand better ways to use her energy. They watched as Weiss rearranged the luggage once more, until finally seeming happy with the setup. "I'm really excited Yang.", Ruby whispered, afraid to admit it out loud.
Yang still had to poke fun. "Not nervous? My little sister's grown up so much."
Ruby ignored the dig. An insult war with Yang would only end with mutually assured destruction, dust and embers. "Oh I'm absolutely, positively, hyper-caffeine nervous. But I'm more excited so it evens out. I think it finally settled in that we're at Beacon. One test tomorrow, and we're on our way to being real Huntresses."
Yang looked over into her sister's silver eyes. "And we're gonna get to do it together. Nobody can stop Rubyang!"
"Rubyang?", Ruby questioned.
"What? It's better than Yanguby.", Yang replied, placing a hand over her heart with mocking flair. "I'm hurt. I put a lot of effort into that."
Ruby smiled and shook her head. "Good night Yang. I love you."
"Love you too, sis." For once, Yang was totally serious.
/-/
The very astute among you might notice that this is an almost entirely reworked version of the original first chapter, and over 3,000 words longer to boot. What gives? Well, I contacted some friends who, quite frankly, know more about fiction writing than I, and they pointed out some pretty sizeable flaws with the original version. Now, I am writing this for fun, but I also want to get better at writing, so I took their advice and reworked a lot of both this chapter and my writing style for the story going forward. The idea is that the story will be better for it. Thanks for reading, thanks for your patience, and comments are welcome.