Hello?
Anyone there?
To the few of you who might still be around...
Howdy folks, how's it going?
I know it's been an awful long while, and for that I apologize, the semester has been an absolute bitch lately. I'm taking advantage of a small lull to finally bring this thing out, but I'm sorry to say that after this, updates during the rest of May and June are not very likely(read: not gonna happen).
With that out of the way, I am glad to see that this idea was well received, and on that note, a big shout-out to Chaos Productions not only for his amazing review, but also the conversations we had afterwards. If you haven't checked out his work yet, I highly reccomend you do.
Now to answer some reviews:
Withengar-Void Walker: I appreciate the compliment m8, but the whole "without trying" part might be a bit of an overstatement xD. Hopefully you'll find this chapter to be just as good.
Guisniperman:You see m8, the thing here his that, while that could make for an interesting story, that's the general plotline of 95% of LoL cross-overs, with the remaining 5% being the reverse. Granted, the whole idea behind the lore of LoL, the old one at least, made it very easy to work, but with this story I intended to try a different approach.
Xbox432: True, Crescent Rose is an important part of canon Ruby's character, but hey, this is fanfiction, and if people can give Ichigo every freaking zanpakuto under the sun, then I can give Ruby a different scythe, plus like you said, crow powers to compensate :) .
Mistletainn:Chaos and I actually talked about this, and the way I see it, Fiddle could actually be the worst, in the sense that while Noc represents the terror of nightmares, the scarecrow represents a much more universal approach to the concept of fear. But the thing is that he has all that power, and yet he doesn't use it, which begs the question, just what exactly was he waiting for in that chamber? And it's a question I'm trying to answer, in a way that might not be the obvious one.
Also, good catch. I admit I don't know much about BRS, but for whenever Ruby's manifesting Fiddle's powers, I wanted something that looked just the right mix of eerie and badass, and the burning-eye thing seemed to fit well :) .
Right, and with that done, enjoy the chapter :)
/
As he walked through the streets of Vale, the few other people still around this late at night either staring in muted fear or scrambling for the safety of their homes, the master criminal Roman Torchwick couldn't help but feel that something wasn't quite right.
It was supposed to be a fairly simple operation.
Get to one of the few dust shops("From Dust till Dawn"? Who comes up with these names?) he and his henchmen hadn't picked clean yet, go in, grab the dust, get the hell outta dodge before either the police or the hunters showed up, and with any luck get the Boss Lady off his back. Seriously, he had done a splendid job so far, and she still harped on him whenever she had a chance. Why did he even agree to this gig? Oh, right, she had that "I will roast you in the most excruciatingly painful way possible if you cross me" vibe going on.
Anyway, it was going to be easy, hell, it was damn near insulting for a thief of his skill to waste his talents in such a small time job.
So why was it that, as he stood before the entrance of the place, his most recently hired goons at his back, and a bullhead nearby for their getaway (stolen by none other than yours truly), he still couldn't shake off this faint feeling that things were about to go horribly wrong?
/
As the Boss handled the store's manager (not too difficult, considering the old man looked like he was going to have a heart attack at any moment for some reason) and his colleagues went for the dust, Dave the goon was tasked with checking the aisles for potential late night costumers, and just as it seemed he needn't have bothered, he reached the last one...
...To find someone at the magazine booth on the far end of it, his/her back turned to him.
Dave took a moment to wonder about the red hood and cloak that looked like they'd seen better days and... was that a crow on the guy/girl's shoulder? How had it been allowed inside the store?
Shaking his head, the henchman approached, weapon at the ready to handle the person.
The crow turned its head to glance at him, then cawed once as if announcing the goon's presence, to which the person turned...
...Showing herself to be a young girl, no more than fifteen years old, wearing dark clothes, skirt and a clashing orange scarf, as ripped and tattered as her cloak, with one eye bright silver, the other pale green, both staring at him with passively.
This fact alone caused warning bells to ring in the goon's mind. He had already had the misfortune of meeting the Boss's second-in-command, and if the encounter had taught him anything, it was that girls with differently colored eyes where to be avoided if at all possible.
Unfortunately, his ego, greed and the overall lack of intelligence that led his life down this path made him ignore said bells.
"Yes...?"
"Alright kid, hands where I can see them."
...
...
"...Robbery?"
Gee, couldn't the kid be a bit more lively?
"No, I'm doing a survey on people's hands... Of course it's a robbery! Now are we going to do this easy way..." He brandished his blade menacingly."... or the hard way?"
The girl just kept staring, her right eyebrow raising ever so slightly.
And Dave the goon could have sworn that someway, somehow, that crow was giving him an evil smirk...
/
Roman was feeling quite pleased.
Everything was going according to plan, guess he had worried over nothing...
Suddenly, that slight feeling of dread magnified ten fold.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
What the...?
The master criminal and the rest of the henchmen all turned in the direction of the scream, to see Dave falling on his ass and crawling backwards, away from something in the aisle, a rapidly growing stain in his pants and a look of sheer, unadulterated terror in his pale face.
"NNOO! NOO! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
And with that, the goon frantically rose and sped through the door, looking for all the world like he had the creatures of Grimm biting at his heels.
...
...
"Ooook..." Taking a moment to process the strange occurrence, Roman turned his head to the nearest henchmen, George the thug.
"You, go check it out."
George the thug hesitated slightly, but just like Dave, he wasn't the brightest fellow, so as the rest of the crew waited in tense silence with weapons at the ready, he moved forward, entered the aisle...
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
... And very quickly joined Dave the goon in his mad dash for the door.
"Alright, that's it." A mildly unnerved Roman said."Everyone! Outside!"
The entire gang filtered through the door, and positioned themselves in a semi-circle on the street, waiting for whatever had caused Dave and George to run to come out.
She obliged.
Roman raised an eye brow as he looked the kid over. For some brief moments as she crossed the door, nothing was visible beneath the hood other than a eldritch, spectral flame emanating from her eye, but then the streetlight revealed a pale, petite face, which would've looked rather adorable, if not for the fact she was staring at them with that disturbing, slack apathy only a porcelain doll should be able to pull of.
Torchwick had to admit, he had no idea what he was dealing with here, and so, faced with an unknown factor, his mind defaulted to his main way of handling things, witty banter.
"Well, well. What's a young girl like you doing here, Red? Isn't it past your bedtime?"
"..."
"What's the matter, kid? Cat's got your tongue?"
As the crow on her shoulder left its perch, the girl answered by brandishing a scythe that Roman was certain had NOT been there two seconds ago. A small part of the thief's mind couldn't help but praise the simple design. None of that over-the-top bullshit nearly every hunter used when trying to blast his hide to Kingdom Come, just a large metallic blade in a wooden shaft, built for the simple purpose of cutting things.
And apparently she intended for them to be those things.
"I see... Well, Red, as riveting as this conversation is, I have business elsewhere, so how about you just go your way, and we go ours?"
"...No." The self-proclaimed gentlemanly thief had to make some effort to suppress a shiver. It was little more than a mumble, almost like she was about to fall asleep, and yet there seemed to be something, something just beyond his ability to perceive, that gave the otherwise rather endearing way the answer was given a very... eerie edge.
That faint feeling in the back of his mind was telling he had better leave. Right now.
The criminal sighed somewhat theatrically.
"I figured as much..." He turned his head to the henchmen."What are you waiting for? Get her."
The five remaining thugs charged.
The girl vanished in a burst of petals and feathers, and reappeared behind one of them, who slumped to the ground with a nasty gash across his back. She then kicked the second thug's legs from underneath him, the man falling hard and giving a panicked cry as the scythe came flashing towards him... only to pin him to the floor by his clothes, the experience frightening him so much that he fainted on the spot. Using the weapon as support, the girl roundhouse kicked the next two thugs, the momentum behind it knocking them against the walls on the far side of the street, where they slumped to the ground unconscious. The last one, wielding a pair of brass knuckles, went for a haymaker, only for the girl to stop it by grabbing his arm with a strength belied by her small, delicate frame, and roughly tossing him away, causing the thug to crash through one of the store's windows.
She turned to face the leader...
... Only to find his cane-cannon aimed squarely at her chest.
A small explosion, a loud boom, and the brat was sent crashing through the store's other window.
"Nothing personal, Red, just business."
Certain the little meddler was taken care of, Roman took a moment to lament both the money he wasted on the useless hired muscle and the failure to meet the dust quota for this robbery, and then proceeded to make his escape.
However, as he waited for the Boss Lady to show up on a nearby rooftop, thinking how he'd get her off his back now...
"Caw."
Nearly jumping out of his skin, the thief turned to aim his weapon at the source of the noise...
Perched on the roof's edge, the crow gave no reaction other than an accusing stare.
"Caw."
The feeling of dread returned.
A whooshing noise was heard.
Eyes wide, Roman frantically made to dodge...
... And thanks to that, the blow that would've lopped both his legs off merely hamstrung the left one.
The criminal cried out in pain as he fell, but a vice-like grip around his neck prevented him from hitting the floor, while another ripped Melodic Cudgel from his hand.
No... It couldn't be...
The girl's blouse had become as torn and ragged as her cape and scarf, her entire body riddled with small, bleeding cuts, and her upper torso was still releasing smoke from the blast, obviously burned.
And yet with all that, her face, still so disturbingly pristine, so disturbingly fragile-looking, remained unchanged.
Her eyes however, one silver, the other green, both gazing into the very depths of his soul, told a very different story.
It was at this point Roman finally understood.
It was a mask.
And he was now at the mercy of someone who could easily end him without thinking twice about it.
"Hhrrgh...Now, now, Red... Let's... let's not be too hasty, alright?"
"..."
"It was nothing personal, you see... Just doing my job.."
"Hurts."
"...Would it matter if I said I was sorry?"
She just stared.
"I was afraid so... Isn't there any way for you to let me go?"
"Make hurt stop."
The statement both confused and disturbed Roman.
"I'd love to, Red, I really would... But healing people is a bit... beyond my capabilities. May I suggest going to the hospital?"
"Not asking."
Her grip tightened, her left eye once again released that baleful flame.
Roman began to feel that something was wrong, something was shifting in way it wasn't supposed to..
With growing apprehension, the master thief noticed the same glow permeating his body.
With growing fear, he saw this energy draining from him to the girl through her arm.
With growing horror, he felt himself growing weaker, colder, emptier. Through his blurring vision, he witnessed the wounds in the girl... no, the monster's body receding one by one, fading as if they'd never been there.
This... thing was leeching off of him to heal its wounds.
Roman tried to struggle, to lash out, to do anything to release her hold, but weakening by the second as he was, his attempts were pathetic at best.
And through it all, she just stared, no anger in those eyes, no judgment, as if to her he wasn't worth even that, wasn't worth anything other than apathy ...
"Caw!"
Hearing the warning, the heterochromic girl let go of the thief and vanished in a burst of her semblance, milliseconds before a stiletto-like blade pierced the space where her head had just been.
Reappearing on the other side of the roof, she stared at the new arrival, who had just shimmered into existence. She was a girl, shorter even than Ruby herself, and like her, she had heterochromia, one eye pink with white streaks, the other brown, both staring at her in apprehension, likely shocked that the red-cloaked girl had noticed her. The color scheme was matched by her hair, and her clothes.
Ruby began craving ice-cream for some reason.
During the standoff, a bullhead had appeared at the edge of the roof, and the girl proceeded to grab the reeling Roman and his weapon and jump on board, one of the few dust crystals he'd managed to bring falling on the rooftop with a loud plink.
Ruby made to follow, but the master thief, in a desperate effort to stop her from doing so, weakly raised his cannon and with some effort managed to squeeze of a shot, aiming for the crystal as she neared it.
The cloaked girl decided to simply power through it, when a purple figure blurred in front of her.
An explosion much louder than the first echoed through the night.
The thief waited for the smoke to clear, dearly hoping that had been enough to stop the thing, only to get his hopes dashed by the large, purple glyph that shielded both it and the newcomer from the blast. A newcomer he recognized. A newcomer who proceeded to blast the ship with purple bolts and conjure a small hailstorm over it.
First a monster, now a huntress. He wasn't getting paid enough for this shit.
Let HER handle it.
He turned his head to the cockpit."We got company out here! A huntress and some freak!"
The Boss Lady rose, Neo taking her place, and moved to face the meddlers, the shadows of the ship masking her face from them.
The patterns on her dress flared as she threw a large ball of flame at the interlopers, which was easily avoided, blowing a hole on the roof.
The thing retaliated by swinging her now eerily glowing scythe in wide arcs, releasing eldritch green crescents with each swing, each one tearing alarmingly large gashes on the bullhead's hull.
The Boss Lady didn't seem to take too kindly to that, if the narrowing of her eyes was any indication.
The patterns flared again, and a bright orange circle manifested beneath the hooded girl, from which blazing bars shot up, forming a cage around her.
Oh, he had seen this trick before. The bars would regenerate from anything the captive tried, and eventually the fire would end them, if the heat and smoke didn't get to them first.
As the Boss Lady became preoccupied with dealing with the huntress, who began using the debris from the earlier explosion to hurl spears at them, Roman watched the monster, hoping to see her die.
Others in her situation would've panicked, would've frantically searched for a way out before the heat and flames roasted them, but she was just standing there, staring at the bars like an inquisitive child would stare at a bug. Then, as if deciding it was no longer worth her attention, she swung her scythe in a lazy, horizontal arc. Roman could only stare in shock as, starting from the point where she struck, the flames grew green, then dispersed entirely.
What would it take to get rid of this thing!?
The girl lifted her head to stare at the bullhead, their gazes meeting for a brief moment, which made the thief flinch. Slowly, she lifted her arm to aim her pointer at Cinder. For a few moments nothing happened, then dark tendrils writhed through the limb, coalescing and shooting forward in the form of a large, spectral crow. Noticing the incoming attack, the woman promptly threw a fireball at it, and both projectiles collided in a large explosion...
Only for the crow to reform mere moments later and continue on its course like nothing happened.
If the circumstances were different, Roman might've considered the surprise that crossed his employer's face highly satisfying. As things were, it only added to his apprehension.
Unimpeded, the creature surged into Cinder, or rather, much like the phantom it resembled, through her, causing the woman to stagger, her teeth clenched in pain and the glow of her dress fading.
Once again, Roman might've actually enjoyed the scene, had the thing not turned and gone straight for him next, finally fading as it passed through the thief.
Not only did it hurt like a bitch, it felt disturbingly like the life-draining grip that freak had on him not too long ago. Even worse, he couldn't feel his aura, like something was denying him access. Judging by the surprised look on the Boss Lady's face, as she tried and failed to activate the dust in her dress, she was much the same.
That creep kept shutting them down with every move she made, and the huntress was now capitalizing on that, trying to use some sort of telekinesis to force the ship to land.
With a growl that sounded more desperate than threatening, Roman raised Melodic Cudgel and unloaded its ammo on them. The huntress summoned another glyph to shield herself, while that red-hooded freak blocked the shots coming her way with the scythe...
Wait... Where the hell did she...?
"I feel your fear..."
Oh God, no...
Eyes wide, Roman and Cinder had just enough time to turn towards the enemy now in their midst, staring at them with that haunting, blank expression, her cape fluttering almost like unfurling wings.
And then, the world exploded in furious caws and midnight black feathers.
The unnatural murder engulfed the ship, its frenzied members tearing, rending, and pecking at the metallic structure with reckless abandon.
The huntress, Glynda Goodwitch, could only stare wide-eyed as the bullhead gained altitude and shook in an attempt to loose its attackers, and then started to collapse.
Alarmed, she prepared to use her semblance to avoid property damage or loss of life, when she noticed the ship was falling slower than it should, and to the left.
The crows were pushing it away from the buildings, towards the large expanse of grass of a nearby park.
Glynda followed, arriving just as the flock dispersed into the night, and the bullhead finally crash-landed, carving a large trench in the earth.
Cautiously, her rod in hand, she approached the ruined vehicle.
"They got away..."
The deputy headmistress of Beacon Academy nearly jumped as she looked to her side, to see the girl standing there, looking no worse for wear.
/
Sometime later, the two found themselves in the interrogation room of a nearby police station, the girl sitting, the woman pacing back and forth.
"What on Remnant were you thinking, Young Lady?"
"..."
"Picking a fight with one of the most wanted criminals in the world, nearly causing large amounts of property damage. Do you know nothing of restraint? Of thinking things through?"
"No one at the park. I felt it. And no one got hurt." The crow on her shoulder (Earlier, one of the officers had tried to separate the critter from the girl. He was currently in a very fitful sleep in the med bay after falling unconscious in the attempt.) cawed softly, as if to remind her of something, which made her nod in acknowledgement."No one that mattered, anyway."
"But you yourself could've gotten hurt. In fact, you did. You should leave situations like this in the hands of those who were trained for them."
"No one else around. And was doing fine before meddling."
"Why I never..."
"Now, now, Glynda, that's quite enough..."
Another person entered the room, a grey-haired man, wearing a dark suit and vest, a green scarf, and shaded glasses. In one hand he carried a mug of coffee, in the other a plate of cookies, and underneath his arm he carried a file folder.
"...I'll take it from here."
The woman shot a brief indignated glare at the girl, moving away from the table as the man approached.
"Ruby Rose..." He stated, his tone musing."Your eyes... silver and green..."
"..."
"Ah, forgive the ramblings of an old man. You made quite an impressive display today, Miss Rose. Might I...?"
"..."
It was at this point the man finally realized she was completely ignoring him, both her and that crow staring intently at...
Eyebrow raised, he moved the plate away, and much like a pair of atlesian drones with a locked-on target, their gazes followed.
He couldn't help but chuckle at that. Guess children will be children.
"Ah, of course, you must be hungry. Help yourself." He handed her the plate.
The crow moved from her shoulder to the table, the girl grabbed two cookies, placed them in front of the bird, and then they both proceeded to devour their portions.
"So, as I was saying, Miss Rose, might I ask where did you learn to fight like that?"
"Awways uwwon."
"I'm sorry?"
The girl swallowed.
"Always known."
"You've always known how to wield one of the most dangerous and impractical weapons in existence?"
"Yes."
"It's just that I've only ever seen one other person so skilled with the scythe. A dusty old crow..."
"Uncle Qrow." The girl stated as she nodded.
"Did he train you then?"
"No. Gave a few pointers, spars on occasion. Always known."
"And what of those... unique feats you performed? Your semblance?"
"In a way."
"...I see." He said at length, when it became clear she wasn't going to elaborate on the subject, then he placed the file on the table and proceeded to open it."Let's see...Ruby Rose... fifteen-years old... Home-schooled, due to an incident in first grade where... Oh, my..."
"They were picking on us." She stated while petting the crow, who preened under the attention, as if it explained everything.
"Indeed...?" He stated, as he skimmed over the rest of it. Distant, apathetic, borderline unsocial behavior, and a disturbing amount of sessions with a large number of psychologists. But although she was home-schooled, she seemed to excel in most things taught to her."If I may ask, Miss Rose, why did you take action tonight?"
"Was provoked."
"That's it?"
"Mainly. Also dislike bullies, and Father, Uncle and Sis always say to do the right thing."
"Hhmm. Miss Rose, do you know who I am?"
"Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon."
"Indeed, and as the Headmaster, I'm always looking for talented children to join the ranks. Would you be interested if I offered an invitation to the Academy?" The headmaster asked, while Glynda stared at him in shock.
"... Why?"
"Like I said, I'm always on the lookout for potential, Miss Rose, and I see plenty of that in you. And while you may be the youngest, you'd not be the first I invited directly due to feats of skill. Why, just a few days ago, there was a young man who single-handedly protected a border village from a beowolf pack, and I've extended the same invitation to him, which he accepted. With the Creatures of Grimm always ready to take advantage of our weaknesses, we need every able-bodied hunter we can get. So, what do you say?"
"..."
The girl considered the words, but to Ozpin's slight concern, she didn't seem all that interested. Then, the crow cawed, and the two locked eyes, engaging in a conversation no one else was privy to, much to the confusion of the two adults. A few moments later, the girl turned back to the Headmaster and nodded.
"I'll go."
"Excellent." Ozpin wasn't quite sure what made her accept, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "I'll make the arrangements."
/
In an inconspicuous warehouse in Vale's industrial district, Roman Torchwick hissed in pain as the White Fang healer tended to his injuries. He almost lashed out at the animal, but reigned himself him, it would be foolish to mistreat the one treating him.
The entire operation was ruined... by a monster in the shape of a little girl.
Both he and Cinder had been lucky that Neo had managed to use her semblance to get them out of there, otherwise, they would either have been captured, or turned into bird food.
Of course, being the bitch that she is, the Boss Lady had immediately ordered him to get more dust once his wounds were taken care of, after which she stomped off in a seething fury, likely to replace her now fairly tattered dust-woven dress.
For a few moments, he had considered telling her to shove it and walk away from all of this.
But even if his pride would never allow him to admit it, as much as he feared the red-hooded girl, he still feared Cinder more. At least for now.
Needless to say, though, if he never saw the girl again, he'd be a happy man.
That faint feeling refused to leave him even as he thought that.
/
And that's that.
Before anyone asks, no, Ruby did not pull an Elfen Lied and murdered the shit out of the other kids, but she did traumatize them pretty badly.
Three guesses as to who the guy Ozpin mentioned is.
The next update will be to An End to Corrosion, so I'll see you guys there, but like I said, it's gonna take a while.