Chapter 3

The Grimmlands, a dark, dreary place, where the light of the sun dares not tread. The land desolate, life more than dead, silence reigns with nature removed from the lands. Here the Grimm rule, their numbers uncountable with fledgling Grimm seeming to spring forth from the very ground. This barren land home to monsters and abominations holds but a single structure. Deep into this alien realm lies a castle made of black stone. This oddity jutting from the wasteland every bit as foreign as the atmosphere around it housed only one occupant, a walking relic from a time before time, spoken about in only quiet whispers in isolated quarters, the Witch, Salem. Deep in the holds of Evernight Castle, named for the constant night that shadow the Grimmlands, she sat upon her throne waiting for her minions to report back on the status of their missions. Unnatural bone white head slightly reclined as she closed her eyes, once more reminiscing on times long past.

That all came crashing to a halt as she felt the world around her shift and a familiar presence made itself known. In an instant, almost instinctually, she rose from her throne with magic swirling around her as she made to release her rage on the purple humanoid that towered over her when her body crashed to a halt, her magic fading out as she struggled to move under the power of the God of Darkness.

"I'd quit with the useless struggling. I would have thought that you might have learned since the last time you tried this."

Salem ignored his words as she continued to struggle. She needed to kill him, hurt him, anything, so long as she beat this "god" and brought it as low as it had brought her all those years ago, then she'd go after the brother, the God of Light.

"If you insist on continuing like this, then I can simply relay the information while you're like this. Granted, I doubt you'd be able to retain any of it and get us all erased because of your callousness."

Confusion slowly bloomed across her face as she registered what he had just told her. With great effort, she ground out, "What…information?"

The purple god seemed to shrink upon himself as he floated towards her throne where he lounged. Salem found herself suddenly falling as her body continued from her momentary pause, but she caught herself before she fell too far. She turned to the god, venom in her voice, "What information could you possibly want to bring ME. You both made it quite plain what your thoughts on me were, so what brought about this change of heart?"

The God of Grimm continued to lounge as he gazed upon the fallen human. After what seemed to be an eternity, he finally spoke. "We are at the end. Something greater than us, greater than the most powerful of gods has decided that Remnant will be the next to suffer its ire. The Devourer of Fate has arrived, and we are all doomed to oblivion. My brother and I managed to buy us a chance, but it will be up to you mortals to truly ensure we all escape this."

Salem took several moments to process the information divulged onto her. She wasn't sure what if she could trust his word and if she did, then did she even want to help. From the sound of it, she'll be able to achieve her goal if she foils the Brothers' plot. As she thought, the purple god watched, his visage unreadable. Finally, after an eternity of internal debate, she gave her answer. "If I choose to- "

"It would seem that you don't understand the situation. If the Devourer gets its hands on the Fate, then we will ALL be relegated to OBLIVION. There will be no afterlife, there will be nothing and all that comes with it."

Salem was slightly taken aback at the interruption, but she had managed to keep her expression under control. The outburst had illuminated more than she could have hoped for. She didn't know what a Devourer of Fate was, but she did know what had been implied: it wanted to destroy this world and kill that inhabit it. It was hardly a choice as the very thing she had sought had conveniently dropped in front of her and all she had to do was help it complete some distraction. Even if she died in the process, then she would just be satisfied with the knowledge that she had managed to outsmart this deity.

As though he had read her mind, he replied, "Death would be a blessing in comparison for truly awaits you if you throw this all away. When I said oblivion awaits us all, I meant it. Do you remember the myths from your time? The stories that predated the world you knew?"

As taken aback as she was with the direct reply to her inner thoughts, she still took a moment to consider the question. She knew of the stories he was hinting at, but time had not been kind to her. Isolated for millennia with all traces of the world she knew erased, her memory of all the legends, myths, tales that were kept to spread unity and set humanity upon a greater pedestal, the history that some sought to bring glory to their home had faded rather drastically by the time humanity had once more began to reemerge and faded further since. The vague memories from those times had her wondering what they could possibly have to do with the situation at hand, if it was truly as bad as he claimed, then what good would those stories do now in a time where no could know of them.

Once more he spoke, "The meaning behind the stories matters little. What value they hold is in the stories themselves but let us not waste more time if your memory is too incapable of remembering them."

Salem couldn't help the anger she felt at the slight as she clenched her fists ever tighter, black ichor slowly dripping from her closed hand.

"The stories of meaning pertain to when Remnant was young, and humanity had just begun to gain its footing. When this world held more than two gods."

Even in her fury, Salem once more found her mind crashing to a halt. "The stories only told- "

"The stories only told what the humans could understand. The clash of deities that exist on their plane of reality is not a comforting thought to most. Though those other gods are gone now, leaving only the strongest of the pantheon left to watch over the only thing we all came to together to create. Which brings us to the point at hand, when I said oblivion awaits us, I meant it as a literal phenomenon. We gods do not die in a traditional sense. We are sent to a state of nothingness and the only thing that can bring us back from it is our own willpower."

The Witch pondered the notion, a question floating in her head.

The God of Grimm answered that unasked question, "The others found themselves unable to continue bringing themselves back. That state is more than just nothing. You are an existence in a realm of nonexistence, and it wants to be rid of you. Pain unimaginable fills your being as you try to rip yourself from it. There can be no other thoughts, if your focus is not entirely on escaping, then you are already lost. You cannot allow even a fraction of your being to notice the pain. Let me show you what awaits if you squander this opportunity, we've barely managed."

Before her mind could even register what he had said, pain unlike any other filled her being. There was no other way to describe it. Her body, her soul, her very being was pain. She didn't know if she was screaming or if the pain had robbed her of that as well. She could feel nothing but pain, and just as quickly as it had set upon her, it was gone.

Reeling from the shock, she noticed that she was on the ground curled in upon herself, sweating profusely as her body quivered from the experience she went through.

" That is but a small fraction of the pain that I have experienced from the brief time that I spent there. I can assure you it is far worse than you can begin to imagine, but that is what awaits should the Devourer wins this challenge and consumes the Fate of this world. So, do you still plan to continue your foolish thoughts?"

The question was rhetorical, and they both knew it. Even if she managed to rid herself of the accursed life she lived, that pain would be her only reward. With her still trembling arms, she forced herself to look up at the god still seated in her throne. "What do I have to do?"

He sat there, amusement dripping from his form, gazing upon her for what seemed to be an eternity before answering. "The Devourer has been tasked with removing one of you from this war that you have waged. The only caveat being that humanity as a whole is not allowed to die. It has taken on a human form, but do not mistake that for it weakening itself. It may be human now, but it still possesses the powers that it originally held. We are playing its game, not the other way around. I have no doubt that it will work around the rules placed, but that does not matter. The only goal you all now have is to stall long enough for it to grow bored and leave. Nothing more."

Salem sat there for a minute before voicing her question, "How?"

Though the god had no face, Salem swore she could see a cruel smile on his face as he answered. "You and Ozma should have no trouble with that. After all, it's what you've been doing for so long."

Just like that, he vanished as though he was never even there. Salem sat on the cool ground as she once more felt the world shift around here. It was in that silence that she reaffirmed her hatred of the Brother Gods.

Ruby awoke to the still dark sky. She could only inwardly groan as she continued to lay in her bed. 'I was apparently expecting too much of those gods. Why not give your exposition dumps at the same time? Did they really need to stop time twice just to talk to their immortals? So much for sleep.'

She stared out the window just above her bed, gazing at the stars that littered the night sky, before rolling onto her side and stretching her right arm out. Wisps of pitch-black flames played along her hand, their darkness standing out amongst the dark of the room. She laid there thoughtlessly watching the dancing flames as time ticked by and dawn eagerly approached. While she had held these powers for so long, there was just something special about watching them that never failed to mesmerize her whenever she took a human form.

The first rays of dawn began to seep through the lone window in the room, breaking the trance she had placed herself in. Dismissing the flames, she stood up and changed into some of her "play clothes" as Taiyang referred to them. She didn't really get why she had to separate her clothes at this age, she was only five and expecting a five-year-old to not get their clothes a tiny bit dirty seemed unreasonable to her. She'd humor them though, as they were her legal guardians and while she was sure they wouldn't drop her with child services, it still wouldn't do to antagonize them while she was still so young.

Once she'd finished changing, she swiftly exited the room and made her way downstairs. As she descended the stairs, she could see Qrow sitting on the couch with his head in his hands and his Scroll lying on the coffee table in front of him. 'I guess someone got some bad news.'

She made her way to him, and the sounds of her footsteps seemed to stir him as he quickly looked up, eyes forlorn before resolution quickly covered them over. Ruby couldn't help but wonder what that could possibly be about. "Did you get a call from Tai? Did he tell you if Yang is going to be okay?"

A brief confusion washed over the older Huntsman before he realized what he looked like sitting in the living room with his head buried in his hands and his Scroll out. "No. No, Tai didn't call. I'm just processing some news I got from Oz. He wanted me to go check up on some things for him. Told him I'd get right on it as soon as we know if everything with Yang is alright, and you are left alone." He paused for a moment before seeming to dismiss whatever idea popped up. "How about some breakfast? I doubt I'm as good as Tai is when it comes to cooking, but I can handle myself well enough. Chocolate chip pancakes sound good?"

The excited squeal he got brought a small smile to his lips as he made his way into the kitchen. Ruby sprinted by and quickly climbed into one of the dining room chairs. 'O, wonderous chocolate. How I have missed you and the sweet fulfillment you bring.'

With Ruby waiting as well as he believed the five-year-old could, Qrow began making pancakes, but as he started going through the motions, his mind wandered to the meeting Ozpin had called. The fact that an even greater threat than Salem existed was incredibly defeating. 'We already have our hands full dealing with Salem and the Grimm, but we have our shit kicked further upstream, and the only thing keeping us around is the damn thing wants us to entertain it.'

Qrow placed a stack of pancakes in front of Ruby, and she began devouring them. A small smile creeps onto his face as he sets down his own plate. 'I don't care if I can't kill it, but I'll be damned if I don't try. These girls deserve more than to be the plaything for some overblown space monster.'

"More please." The excited grin on Ruby's face further deepened his resolve. Chuckling a bit, he replies. "Guess you worked up an appetite while you were sleeping but are you sure you want more? Those things fill you up fast and a little kid like you isn't gunna have the stomach for it."

A pout with the force a thousand kittens hits him, and Qrow has to physically shield his eyes. "Alright, alright, I cave. Just give me a minute."

Standing up and returning to the oven, he begins making more pancakes. 'Well, at least I know she likes chocolate.'

Ruby reclined as well as she could into the couch, rubbing her full stomach. 'Every little bit of suffering that may come later will have worth it.'

While her mind continued to reminiscence on the chocolaty goodness, Qrow pulls up the coffee table and sets Harbinger on it before opening up a toolkit and taking out a couple tools. Ruby stares at the happenings in front of her with bleary eyes before the pancake induced coma is quickly thrown off as she looks up at him. "You're really letting me help?! Really?!"

Laughing lightly, Qrow hands her a screwdriver. "I'm a man of my word. That and it'll keep you occupied." He shrugs lightly. "Who knows, you might just pick this up and make something out of it. Plus, it's a good skill to have."

Ruby could barely contain herself. 'He's never let me touch Harbinger before. I wonder what else will change?'

The two spent far too long on the simple task before them. Ruby had a million questions with Qrow jovially answers them. By the time they had halfway rebuilt Harbinger, the sound of a vehicle pulling up brings them back to reality. Qrow looks out the window and sees Tai walking up to the cabin with a sleeping Yang in his arms, the evening sky painted a dull orange.

"Guess we got a little carried away with the whole thing." Qrow comments as he goes to open the door for Tai.

"Everything check out?"

Tai takes a moment to properly enter the home before replying. "She should be fine, the doc with the healing Semblance was in. They ran a few tests, but they don't think that her Aura will too heavily impact her growth. Maybe some emotional issues, maybe some mental, but we'll just have to see with those and do the best we can."

Finally noticing the half-assembled weapon, Tai raises an eyebrow. "The alcohol finally make you forget how to put that thing back together? I don't even know why you made it so complicated."

"Hey!" Qrow indignantly pouts. "I'll have you know that I've been sober all day, and the only reason Harbinger is still in pieces is because the little squirt- " "Hey!" "wanted to ask about every little piece and how they worked together. Think we've got a little mechanic in the making on our hands."

Tai shook his head enthused as he began heading up the stairs. "I'm going to put Yang to bed, then I'll start on dinner. Why don't you two finish and clean up in the meantime."

Qrow turns to his little helper, a grin on his face. "You heard the man. Go clean up while I finish this."

The disappointment in Ruby's eyes was heartbreaking as she starts heading to the bathroom. As she washes her hands, she takes a moment to once more reflect on the situation. 'I never thought that Qrow would ever let me touch his weapon. I guess what I said really affected him. Maybe a bit unfair to him, but I'm not wrong. They might not understand now, but they will. Before the end, I'll be sure to explain it to them. With what they will have to go through, it's only fair.'

Wiping her hands on a nearby towel, Ruby walks out and heads into the kitchen where she can hear sounds echoing out. Peeking through the doorway, she spies Qrow clearing the dishes from earlier and turns back to check the coffee table only to see it emptied of the precious weapon. Pouting, she crosses the kitchen and hops in one of the chairs.

As she sits down, Tai walks into the room. Ruby looks up at him. "Is Yang gunna be alright?"

Tai takes a moment to think as he and Qrow start getting things prepped for dinner. "She… she'll be fine. She took a rather nasty blow, but the doctors say she will make a full recovery. She might be a little moodier than she used to be, but she should be up and moving in the morning."

Ruby nods along. "Maybe she'll listen when I tell that going into the woods without you guys is dumb."

"Ruby…" Tai starts. "Just try not to push her on this. She messed up and she paid for it. I'm sure Qrow told you, but we will be trying harder to keep an eye out so nothing like this happens again. Do you think you could give her another chance?"

As Tai set down a plate in front of her, Ruby pondered her answer to the question. The first time she went through this ordeal, she had been asleep and missed all the really important parts. All she knew is that they got a dog, supposedly so the girls had something to play with and keep them entertained, but now that she took the time to reflect on it, Zwei was likely bought to keep an eye on them and keep them out of trouble. 'It really should have been obvious that something was up. Who buys a dog with an awakened Aura for two small girls?'

After that deliberation, Ruby knew what other change she wanted to make. "Can we get a dog?"

The two adults looked at each other as they started sitting down. A silent conversation quickly passed between them. A smile bloomed on both their faces as they fully sat down with Tai responding. "Sure. That sounds like a great idea. I know just the place. I can head down there in the morning and pick one up."

"Can I come?"

While momentarily taken aback, Tai quickly rebounded with a full-blown smile as he eagerly agreed. "Absolutely, but if you want to join me, you'll want to hurry up and get to bed because I intend to leave early, and you'll have to get up early if you want to join."

A smile on her face, Ruby merrily ate her dinner and the night passed without incident.

Dawn bloomed over the sleepy island of Patch. Dew glistening from the earliest rays of light, the only disturbance to this was the sound of a lone vehicle driving down one of the many dirt roads. Taiyang at the wheel with a clearly still sleepy Ruby in the back seat. Despite his laid-back posture, Tai still kept a sweeping eye on the woods lining the road for the errant animal or a Grimm foolhardy enough to wander this close to human settlements.

A quick glance in the rearview mirror revealed Ruby struggling to stay awake as they drove. 'I'm glad she's started engaging more. After Summer left, I wasn't sure whether she'd try to open up with us. I hope this incident doesn't set itself between the girls.'

Once more focusing on the road, Tai drove them into the town proper. After a minute of driving pass the various different buildings with Ruby lightly snoozing in the backseat, they pull up to there destination. Stepping out, Tai gingerly opened the backdoor and gently woke Ruby. "Ruby~…Ruby~…Come on, wake up. We're here or do you want me to pick out the dog by myself?"

The young girl groggily opened her eyes as she looked at Tai then the building. She lightly gasped as she stared up at the building. It was a short building, only a single floor, but for what it lacked in height it made up for in width. It easily took up half the block by itself with the parking lot taking up the other. The light blue building had a number of lights around the perimeter of the building with several windows along the walls, but the most eye-catching thing of all is the giant sign depicting a man standing over a Beowolf and writing that said, "Hunter's Supply co."

Ruby quickly turned her head to Tai, excitement on her face. Tai smiled at her. "Now, I probably shouldn't be bringing you here while you're this young, but this is the best place to come for a family like ours. After all, we're going to need a special dog if we want to keep you two outta trouble."

The cheeky grin he gave her went unnoticed as she quickly latched herself him. Tai only laughed as he carried her into the store. A light ring was heard as they walked through the automatic door and Ruby's eyes nearly bulge out of her head as swivels her head taking in as much as she could. Tai waved and greeted some of the employees, former Huntsmen, as they made their way to the section of the store that housed pets for Huntsmen. The kennels and displayed a wide variety of pets, while most of the section seemed dedicated to dogs, there were several unusual choices for pets, birds, snakes, fish, even turtles. As they moved down further, Ruby couldn't help but coo at a particularly cute cat mewling at them. Tai shook his head but kept going. "Thought you said you wanted a dog?"

"Cats are cute too."

He couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Cats aren't nearly noisy enough to alert us to a Grimm attack."

"Yeah, but they're still cute." Ruby pouted.

Tai chuckled lightly at her argument. "How bout this? If you guys can do good enough with the dog, then we can look into getting a cat, but you guys have to be exceptionally good. A pet is a huge responsibility, even the type we're getting today, they need a lot of attention. Not to mention that you guys will have to listen to it when it tells you not to do something. Things dogs are trained to be companions for active Huntsmen and some of them even have an active Aura."

Ruby's pout deepened as she sulked further. "I'll behave just fine. Yang is the issue. She always wants to do something dangerous and is constantly dragging me into it."

Tai's smile lessened at that. "Even if that was the case, after this there are going to be a number a new rules implemented. Qrow and I talked about it last night and I'm planning on taking a job at the academy here on Patch. That way I can be home more often to help keep these things under control. That and you girls won't be able to leave the yard unsupervised until the dog is comfortable and gets a good lay of the land. After that, we'll be taking it and marking out the areas you girls can go, and when we'll be expecting you back."

Ruby couldn't help the confusion on her face. "That sounds like a lot for a dog to know. How's it gunna learn all that?"

She hadn't quite understood how Zwei knew and behaved the way he did, but she didn't question it the first time. To his credit Taiyang crafted a masterful response to the five-year-old's question. "All Huntsmen grade animals are really smart and can handle all that no problem."

To say she was disappointed with the answer was an understatement, but before she could question him further they arrived at their desired section. Setting Ruby down, he smiled. "Go ahead and pick one out."

Turning from the man, Ruby browsed the different dogs, occasionally stopping to pretend to look at a dog, but she knew what she wanted, and it wasn't long until she found him. The little corgi looked up at her with the cutest face it could, and Ruby felt her heart melt all over again. Having found her prime choice, Ruby confidently turned to Tai. "Let's get this one. It's cute and if it's over here then it has to be like all the other ones, right?"

Tai walked up and kneeled, inspecting the dog. After a minute, the dog that would be Zwei yipped, leaving his tongue hanging out. Tai chuckled good-naturedly. "Fine choice if you ask me. I'm going to get someone, stay by him and start thinking of some names."

"I've got one already picked out."

"Good, then I'll be right back."

As Tai went to go grab an employee, Ruby turned back to Zwei and chattered at the soon to be family pet. Soon Tai returned with an employee in tow, as they started filling out paperwork, Tai turned to Ruby. "What name did you decide on?"

Ruby smiled. "Zwei."

With that, Tai finished the paperwork, handed over the lien, and he was on his way out the store with a dog crate in one hand and Ruby in the other. The ride back was spent mostly with Ruby babbling to the newly christened Zwei with Tai occasionally tossing in a quip here and there. The uneventful drive home soon came to an end and Ruby excitedly exited the truck and ran to the cabin as Tai unloaded the dog and its supplies. Toting the animal into the house, he was met by Ruby's excited voice. "He is the cutest thing and has these adorable eyes and little tail. He's gunna be perfect, I just know it."

"I believe you kid but sit down at the table. Breakfast is almost ready." Qrow drawled. "That goes for you too Tai."

Tai set the crate down and opened the door allowing the corgi to roam its new territory. Things seemed to be going well that morning, Zwei seemed to take to Qrow well enough, and breakfast was a quick affair as Ruby soon became enraptured in playing with the new dog. Tai and Qrow were happy that things seemed to be going well, but before they could start training, angry stomps hurriedly made their way down the steps. "What is with all the noise! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

Tai couldn't help the wince at the anger in Yang's voice, but soon composed himself. "Well after what happened the other day, we decided to get a dog to help keep an eye on you girls."

Yang's anger didn't seem to subside, though. "Keep an eye on us? We don't need some dumb dog to keep an eye on us!"

Before either of the adults could speak up, Ruby retorted. "Zwei isn't a stupid dog. He's smart dog."

"Nobody asked you, Ruby." Yang gritted out. Gripping her hands, Yang narrowed her eyes at the younger girl. "Why are you even happy about it? You don't bother trying to have fun with us, so why is a dog any different?"

Ruby pouted heavily. "Zwei is different. He's going to keep you from dragging me around."

Before the argument could continue, Qrow and Tai stood between the girls with Tai speaking up his voice stern. "That is enough. Yang, we got the dog because what happened the other day proved that we need some help keeping an eye on you girls and I don't want to hear another word about it."

Yang's anger only furthered, her eyes turning a bloody red. "You're taking her side?! I'm your daughter, not her. We don't need some stupid dog!"

Qrow and Tai's eyes widened as though looked to Ruby with Qrow moving to comfort her only to stop short at her cold response. "Of course, he took my side, you almost got us killed! I bet you get that from your mom."

Yang's anger peaked and her Aura ignited in her rage. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

Yang lunged at Ruby only to be grabbed by Tai with Qrow picking up Ruby and taking her into the kitchen. Ruby stuck her tongue out as Yang fumed at her dad as the kitchen door closed.

"Ruby, that wasn't called for. When Yang calms down you are going to apologize to her."

Ruby looked up at him with a pout. "Why? I didn't say anything wrong."

"'Cept you did." He drawled. "You didn't need to throw what happened in her face, and you shouldn't talk about someone's mom that way. Especially when you don't know what you're talking about."

"But- ""No buts, now I think Tai managed to calm her down. So, what are you doing when we go back in there?"

Ruby pouted and mumbled under her breath. Qrow wasn't having it. "I said, 'What are you going to say'?"

With an indignant groan, Ruby replied. "Apologize."

"Good. Now come on." Qrow opened the door back to the living room to reveal Tai and a lavender-eyed Yang.

Once the girls were in front of each other, they stared at each other. Qrow exasperatedly sighed. "Girls."

"I'm sorry." They both quickly spat out.

Qrow rubbed the bridge of his as Tai sighed. "I'm going to take Zwei around the property. Qrow, you're in charge."

Qrow nodded his acknowledgement as Tai and Zwei walked out the door. The two girls tersely sat on opposite sides of the couch as Qrow plopped into one of the recliners. The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and Tai came back before dinner. They ate in silence with Ruby running to bed soon after finishing.

After having changed, Ruby dove under her covers in a huff. 'I don't remember Yang being this annoying. How can she hate Zwei? He is the goodest of boys. I cannot wait until I get old enough to start training, then I'll show her. Gods, I don't remember the last time I was this frustrated and didn't wipe out the world.'

As she lay there in bed, she waited until she was sure that no one was coming into her room. Pulling an arm out from under the blankets, she once more let the wisp-like flames play on her hand. Time passed idly before Ruby lulled herself to sleep. That night she dreamed of the future and what outfit she'd wear when she started training.

Time passed with nothing too eventful happening. Yang started her training early before finally enrolling into Signal Academy. Ruby's days were mostly spent playing with Zwei and helping Qrow perform maintenance. Things passed in this fashion until Ruby's tenth birthday.

Opening groggy eyes, Ruby sits up in her bed and looks out the window to the breaking dawn. A smile graces her lips as she stands and stretches, relishing in the few pops she could manage. 'Finally, the day has come. I can't wait to get my Aura unlocked. With all the experience I have with combat, I doubt there will be much of a challenge in this world, but that brings the question what weapon to use?"

She pondered the question as she set about changing into her normal day clothes, a black skirt and an Achieve Men shirt. 'I've got experience with just about everything, but I don't really want to resort to something boring, maybe as a backup. I could make another scythe. My skill with Crescent Rose put me in the top of my class back during my first time through Signal, but I could never just replace her. Qrow uses a greatsword/scythe combo with a shotgun for range, so I could just use a longsword/scythe combo with no range option. I already know what I want to use as my Semblance, and nobody will be able to call me out for it cause there's precedent for it.'

Her thoughts organized, Ruby made her way downstairs to see Qrow sitting on the couch looking at his Scroll and scowling all while noises could be heard from the kitchen. She quietly walked up to Qrow and plopped beside him. "What's with the frown? Girlfriend dump you?"

That managed a stifled laugh as he put his Scroll away. "Naw, just some annoying adult stuff. Nothing a kid like you should worry about." His smile withered a little. "You sure you don't want more than just your Aura unlocked?"

Ruby waved him off. "You're going to be training me, right?" He nods. "Then I don't see a need for more, and I've got more birthdays coming up and you guys can get me stuff then."

Qrow just shakes his head. "You are one weird kid. Any ideas for what you want to use?"

"Yeah. I was thinking using a sword/scythe like you. Only cooler because it'll be me using it."

Qrow mocked being struck, his tone light. "You wound me with your words." He quickly ruffles her hair. "We might make a Huntress out of you yet."

Ruby swats his hand away a pout on her face as she tries to fix her hair. "Don't you know better than to mess with a girl's hair. I spent so long on it."

The deadpan look she got told her he didn't buy her complaint. "I think I know you well enough to know that you probably just rolled outta bed a few minutes ago."

The two's banter is interrupted by the sound of something heavy falling upstairs. "DAMNIT!"

"Language!"

Grumbles are heard as stomps carry Yang to the bathroom. Ruby and Qrow look at one another and shrug. Tai sticks his head out of the kitchen. "Everything alright out here?"

Ruby speaks up. "Yeah, Yang just fell out of bed…again."

Tai rolls his eyes as he fully exits the kitchen. "That girl has got some of the worst sleeping habits I've seen since Beacon. Anyway, everything should be done by evening. Do you want to go ahead and get your Aura unlocked?"

Ruby barely wasted a moment before nodding. "Of course. I've been waiting for this moment for so long."

Hands on his hips, Tai smiles. "Well, come here and I'll unlock it for you."

Hopping up, Ruby rushes over to Tai and he puts one hand on her shoulder, then closes his eyes and starts mumbling his chant. Ruby watches as his Aura glows a bright, warm yellow. His brow furrows as he continues his chant and soon Ruby is wrapped in a pitch-black glow. As soon as he finishes the ritual, Tai braces himself against the nearby wall clearly out of breath. "That is quite the hefty Aura you've got there."

"Really?" she asks innocently.

Having regained his breath, Tai smiles and pushes off the wall. "Yeah. I'd say you're got more Aura than the average Huntsman. With some training under your belt and a few years, there is good shot you'd have a hard time finding anyone capable putting up a challenge."

Ruby turned to Qrow. "Hear that? Not only am I going to be cooler than you, but I am also going to way stronger too."

Qrow laughs and stands up. "Not if you don't put in the training for it. Why don't we get started or else you'll end up only being as good as Tai."

"Looks like someone doesn't want cake after dinner."

As the two's bickering got pettier, Ruby smiled as she studied her now unlocked Aura. Running to the door, she calls out. "Come on old man, I don't want to waste the day listening to you bicker with your husband."

Qrow laughs at the taunt as Tai rolls his eyes. "You heard the girl. Gotta go be a teacher. See you later, honey."

Tai groans. "This is why you are constantly in the doghouse, dear. At least Zwei doesn't snore."

Qrow follows after the girl as they exit the cabin leaving Tai to stand there by himself. A mass of blonde hair descends down the stairs, headed for the door. Before Yang can leave, Tai calls out. "Where're you going?"

"Out." She answers evenly.

Tai frowns. "It's Ruby's birthday. You could stick around to celebrate, you know."

Yang turns around to glare at her dad. "Why would I want to do that? She's just going to be a jerk."

Tai sighs heavily. "You should know she doesn't mean anything by it. She's still really young. I know unlocking your Aura made you quick to anger, but you haven't really tried being nice to her since. That day is just as ingrained in her mind as it is yours."

"She wasn't the one that got hurt and then had her whole family turn on her."

"We didn't turn on you, Yang." He walks forward on grasps her shoulders before bringing her into a hug. "You have no idea how scared I was when Qrow came back with both of you in that wagon. I know I played it off as everything being fine, but it was really touch-and-go for a while there. Unlocking your Aura only managed to keep things from getting worse, but you were still hurt incredibly bad. I spent that night talking to Qrow about how what we could do to prevent this from happening again. We had already decided to get a dog by the time Ruby brought it up, so we just went along with it."

He pulls back and looks down at his daughter's face. The frustrated look on her face bringing a sad smile to his face. "I know things happened so quick, and so much changed so suddenly, but there is one thing that I promise will never change.

He gently tilts her head to look into her eyes. "We love you and we always will. Nothing is going to change that. Ruby was just worried that you'd try to drag her into something else dangerous, especially since you had your Aura awakened. As you know, Aura makes you stronger. Now imagine being a little kid trying to play with an older kid that has their Aura unlocked. She was just scared, but now is the best time to fix things between you guys. She has her Aura unlocked and has a lot of it."

He finally steps back with a smile on his face. "Why don't you go out and join them. This is the perfect opportunity. You always wanted to be an older sister to her, and as the older sibling, you're going to have to be the one to take that first step. What do you say?"

Yang hangs her head for a second. "Do you really think we can fix things?"

"Of course, you can. You girls are still young enough to be able to make mistakes and bounce back from them.'

She lifts her head to look him in the eye. "I'll try"

Nodding his head, Tai turns back to the kitchen. "That's all that I'm asking."

Yang turns back to the door and gingerly steps outside. Upon exiting, she sees Qrow training Ruby. Gathering up her nerve, she walks up to them. Qrow sees her approaching and doesn't say anything as he turns his attention back to Ruby. Not discouraged, she continues forth, and stops just short of the two. Now that she was up close she could see that Qrow was having Ruby run through repetitions with some wooden practice weapons. She fiddles with her hair a bit before speaking up. "Do you mind if I join you guys?"

While Qrow isn't fazed by the question, Ruby's face scrunches up as she continues her training. "Don't you use your fists? Why would you want to join us?"

Yang clenches her fists but manages to keep her cool. "I just thought that you'd learn faster if you had someone to train with rather than just yourself."

"I'm not by myself. I've got Qrow."

Seeing Yang's growing frustration, said man steps in. "Actually, Ruby, I think Yang could be a good help to have. I've found that having someone to train with that's around your level will help you both grow faster."

Ruby grumbles slightly and Yang looks at him gratefully. Ruby finishes her mumbles and turns to Yang. "Fine. You can join. Just don't start being a sore loser when I beat you up."

Yang chuckled heartily and smiled. "You can try, but I'm gonna be making you eat those words."

While the threw jabs at one another, Qrow looked on at the two and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. A moment later he clears his throat to gain the two girls attention. "Alright. Since we've got an extra set of hands, we can take this a different way than normal. I hope you're prepared cause I'm not going to go easy on you."

The two girls looked at each other before turning back to Qrow, resolution in their eyes.

The training with Qrow took a lot out of both girls by the time Tai called them in for dinner. Dinner was an excited event as Ruby and Yang continued chatting. Tai leaned back in his chair as he watched the girls start goofing around. 'I guess things weren't as bad as I thought.'

After cleaning up, Ruby lazily fell onto her bed, sighing contently. As she slowly slid under her covers, her muscles burning, she gazed back out her window to look out at the stars. The twinkling lights dancing before her eyes as she waited for sleep to take her over. 'I knew that starting training again would be painful, but Qrow doesn't seem to be pulling his punches. I hope he keeps that up, but Yang stepping up took me by surprise. She stuck to her own training last time and only really jumped in to spar.'

Smiling as she turned onto her side, once more extending a hand and allowed the wisps of flame to dance in her palm. That night, she dreamed of the world that she originally came from and the start of her long, lonesome journey.

Autho's Note:

Welp, with this chapter I hope to be done with the introduciton. Going forward we should be hopping up to about the start of canon RWBY. I won't lie. I am tempted to add more in between scenes depicting some slight changes from what might have happened. Another I wanted to bring up is that these first few chapters were written without an outline, which sucks. I'll probably be spending some time writing that up because while I have an end scene thought up. I don't really have anything else thought up. Going forward I'd like to have some sort of reference and guide going with this story. All that aside, I do have to ask if you all want me to take this series further once we reach the end because that will change whether I end the story here or move on to some other franchise that you want to see.

With all that said, I hope you enjoyed.