So I had this little interesting idea for a long time, but I wanted to wait until I saw the end of Volume 3 to properly write it.
Credit goes to xxsgtcampbell for the cover art. Here is the link: xxsgtcampbell/art/Silver-Sharingan-662084678
Ruby ran up the CCT, thanks to Weiss glyphs, where Pyrrha was fighting Cinder at the top. She couldn't use her semblance as she needed to connect her feet with the glyph in order to keep moving, so she ran like her life depended on it, worried for her friend. Pyrrha may have been one of the strongest fighters she knew, but even she would have trouble if one of her opponents was a giant Grimm dragon.
Thankfully she managed to reach the top without interference. She looked at the destroyed room… just as Cinder shoots an arrow through Pyrrha's chest.
Ruby couldn't move due to shock, but luckily, Cinder didn't notice her.
She slowly approached Pyrrha, and placed her hand on her head.
Ruby watched in horror as Pyrrha's entire body incinerated, turning to ash in a matter of seconds, scattering to the wind, the only thing left of her being her shield, sword and a few pieces of armor.
Suddenly, Ruby felt her head throb, before a searing pain surged in her eyes.
"PYRRHA!" She shouted as white energy flowed from her eyes. She heard Cinder and the dragon scream before everything went white.
Everything was ringing in the blank, white expanse. There was nothing, just… nothing.
But then there was something. A voice.
"It's alright, Ruby… I got ya."
Uncle Qrow?
But then it was the ringing again. Then, finally, more sounds.
Radio static. A sigh.
"Nothing."
Ruby's dad – Taiyang.
"Turn it off – no point with the CCT out."
Uncle Qrow again.
The static stopped.
"Communication is down across the entire kingdom… we can't get word out."
"Not alone there – no one else can either. Complete global communications blackout."
Another sigh. "And Ozpin's still missing. Have you found any sign of him?"
"Found his cane… nothin' else yet. Look, Tai, with the state the tower is in, well… maybe he got out, but I don't have high hopes."
A pause. A long one. "This is bad, Qrow."
"Yeah… this is bad."
Suddenly, Ruby was staring at a ceiling, wearing gray pajamas. Birds are tweeting and sunlight is streaming onto the wall behind the bed's headboard. After a few seconds, she looks over to see her father asleep in a chair. She sits up and sighs quietly, causing Taiyang to stir awake.
"Ruby!" He yells as he gets up and runs to kneel by her bed. "You're awake!"
"Ugh... what happened?" She said, groaning in pain. Her head hurt. Taiyang was silent for a bit, only staring at her. "Dad?"
Taiyang seemed to snap out of his shock as he blinked."Oh, your uncle Qrow found you, unconscious." Taiyang explained. "He got you out of there, though, and brought you home safe."
Ruby looks down in thought for a split second, then looks at Taiyang. "Wait! Yang! Is she alright!?" She asked in a panic.
"Relax. She's in the guest room so she can have… privacy. Uh... She's uh... she's gonna be alright. I think she's just... I think it's just gonna take some time for her to get used to things. She's too strong to let this stop her." He covers his eyes for a moment, sniffling, then looks up, smiling. "I'm just glad to have my girls back at home."
She gasped. "What happened to the school?! And Vale?! Were they able to clear out the Grimm?" She asked.
"Things at Vale are under control, but the school... It's... it's not that simple. That thing, whatever it is, doesn't seem to be dead. Don't get me wrong, you did a number on it. But it's not disappearing. It's... kind of... frozen. I know that doesn't sound too bad, but it keeps attracting more Grimm to the school." Taiyang explained, confusing her.
Ruby tilts her head. "I did... what?" She asked.
"Hmm?"
"You said I did a number on it. What do you mean?" She asked again.
"I…" Taiyang sighed. "Look, that's not important right now. We can talk about it later. Things are just... kind of a mess."
"It's always a mess."
Ruby and Taiyang look to see Qrow suddenly standing in the room, near the door. "Mind if we have a minute?"
"Qrow, don't you dare..." Taiyang started.
"Tai." Qrow said with a stern tone. "Please."
Taiyang stands up, sighs, and then leans in to kiss Ruby on the forehead.
"I'm glad you're alright. I'll go make us some tea." He said, before walking away, glaring at Qrow on the way out, but the latter doesn't appear to care. As Qrow approaches Ruby's bed, he grabs the chair and drags it with him. He then spins it around to face the bed and sits in it with a significant slouch, crossing one leg over the other.
"So, how you feeling?" He asked.
"Um... I kind of hurt... all over." She said before groaning. "Especially my head."
Qrow chuckled. "That makes sense, after what you did." He said, crossing his arms
"You guys keep saying that!" Ruby snapped. "That I did something! What are you talking about?!"
Qrow uncrosses his arms and legs, leaning forward in the chair. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"I ran up the side of the tower, and when I got to the top, I…" She gasps, sadness in her eyes as she remembers what happened. "Pyrrha! Is she...?"
Qrow looks down. "She's gone." He said, a bit too blunt, but it's better than just dancing around it.
Ruby feels tears forming in her eyes. "I... I got to the top.. and I saw Pyrrha...and Cinder…" She grips her blanket, tears falling onto it "...and then everything went white!"
"Anything else?" Qrow asked.
"I remember…" Ruby said, wiping the tears from her eyes "...my head hurting."
"Hmmm. Does anything seem odd to you?" Qrow asked.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, once again confused.
"Do you feel anything different? Does anything seem… weird to you?" Qrow asked.
Ruby looked around the room. "Now that you mention it, everything looks kind of… grey?" She asked. "Not literally, but some things seem to lose colour, if that makes sense? And my eyes keep burning a bit…" She wiped them a bit, as if to ease the pain.
Qrow sighed, before reaching for a handheld mirror on the nightstand and showing her reflection. "This might help."
"What are you-" Ruby stopped as she looked at her face. Or more specifically, her eyes.
They were still silver, but they seemed to have lost their glow. She couldn't even see anything reflected on them. Around her pupil was a singular, black circular line and around that line was a singular comma. "What is this?"
Qrow was silent for a while. "The night you met Ozpin, what was the first thing he said to you?"
Ruby was confused and panicking. "I... I don't know. I think it was something about…"
"Silver eyes." Qrow finished for her.
"What does that have to do with anything!?" Ruby asked. "What is going!? What happened to my eyes!? Is this permanent?!"
Qrow placed his hand on her shoulder. "Ruby, breathe with me." He said and Ruby took a few calming breaths. "Now, close your eyes and imagine you're turning off your semblance, only instead of the entire body, only focus on your eyes."
Ruby did as he was told and as she opened them again, she was relieved to see her eyes were back to normal. "Uncle Qrow, what was that?"
"You're special, Ruby." Qrow answered. "And not in the 'Daddy loves his special angel' kind of way. You're special the same way your mom was. Remnant's full of legends and stories, some of them true, some made up. But there's one Oz told me from a very long time ago. Back before Huntsmen, before Kingdoms, it was said that those born with Silver-Eyes were destined to lead the life of a warrior."
"Mom also went through this?" Ruby asked.
Qrow chuckled, reminiscing of old times. "Yep. One glance from her and a horde of Grimm just turned to ash. Saved my asses a bunch of times." He said.
"Then... you think that I might be…"
Qrow chuckled. "Well, a giant monster is currently frozen on top of Beacon Tower. And you're here, safe in bed."
He gets to his feet and walks over to a window, leaning on the sill and staring outside.
Ruby realized something. "Wait a minute, how did you know what Ozpin said to me... the night we met?"
"Because he told me. All those missions I go on... all the times I'm away in some far-off place... it's been for Ozpin. But he's missing now. Something's been set in motion. With Oz gone, I'll have to pick up where he left off."
Ruby clenched her fists. "Then what can I do? If I'm so special, then I can help, right? Maybe you can even train so I can use my eyes-"
"NO!!"
Ruby was startled by Qrow's sudden shout. Qrow never once shouted at her. She had also never seen her uncle looking like that. Looking so… scared.
Realizing what he did, Qrow sighed. "Sorry kid, I didn't mean to shout like that. Yes, those eyes are very powerful, but it can just as easily be a… curse." He explained. "I don't want you to rely on them and get cocky because that could easily get you killed.
"But..." Ruby was still persisting.
Promise me you will only use them as a last resort." Qrow said.
"I… promise, Uncle Qrow." She said, a bit sad.
Qrow nodded. "Besides, you really wanna help? Get some rest. You're in no condition to go anywhere right now." He says as he heads towards the door. "Besides, our enemy's trail leads all the way to Haven. That'd be quite a trip for a pipsqueak like you. Catch ya later, kiddo." He winked at her before leaving.
Ruby sits alone for a while. She looks at the window that Qrow looked out of, then stares at herself in a mirror hanging on the wall across from her bed.
"I should check on Yang…"
Qrow walked downstairs to the living room, seeing Taiyang crouching on the couch, a cup of what he hopes is tea. "What's the status?" He asked.
Qrow took out his flask and took a small sip. "Well, she has only awakened one tomoe, so we shouldn't be too worried about her changing anytime soon." He explained
Taiyang sighed. "Why her, Qrow?" He asked. "I can't go through this again…"
Qrow pointed his flask at Taiyang, eyes narrowed. "Hey, I have been warning you since the day she was born that this was going to happen, especially after Summer died. But it went one ear and out the other with you."
"I thought she just inherited the colour, not her power!" Taiyang interrupted. "In 15 years, Ruby didn't show a single sign of the Silver-Eyes! Even when Yang decided to be reckless and look for Raven she didn't awaken the Silver-Eyes."
"That's because I swooped in at the last second and you should count yourself lucky I did because you would have lost at least one daughter that day, one way or the other." Qrow answered.
"Now what do we do?" Taiyang asked, running his hand through his hair.
"I have to pick up Oz's slack, so I have to go soon. You need to keep a close eye on your daughters, considering Yang is in a very fragile state at the moment. I warned Ruby to only use her eyes as a last resort and I want you to make sure she doesn't train them in the meantime. With luck, we don't get to the second tomoe."
"I would be happy if she didn't use them in the first place…" Taiyang muttered.
"We lost that luxury after Oz's death." Qrow commented.
"Do you think…" Taiyang started. "...she will turn out like Summer did?"
Qrow was quiet, memories surfacing.
Memories of a girl in a white cloak with an axe, both covered in blood, looking at him with a smile on her face and blood dripping from her eyes, her eyes in an odd pattern. "Gods, I hope not." He said.
Half a year has passed since the Fall of Beacon.
There was no point for Ruby to return to Signal, given the fact that she had enough experience to graduate, but she did say goodbye to old friends from her old class who went to other schools in other kingdoms.
Yang spent most of the months healing and getting used to one arm. She mostly stays in bed and doesn't leave the room, only for meals and the bathroom. It's not like she's isolating herself from them since she talks with Ruby and their dad when they are the ones starting the conversation, but she mostly shuts herself off from the world. It's obvious it would take a while before Yang could go back to the way she was, if that was even possible in the first place.
Ruby, in the meantime, got to work. During the whole time, she practiced with Crescent Rose under the observation of Taiyang, who was also training her in hand-to-hand combat, something she realized she desperately needed. She also got some upgrades in the form of Dust Bullets, having a magazine for each element.
Her Dad also got a bit…overprotective, which she can't blame him given recent events, but it seemed like he was focusing more on her rather than the two of them.
Ruby wasn't stupid. It was because of her Silver-Eyes. She activated them once, going against Uncle Qrow wishes and nearly gave her dad a heart attack once he saw them.
Why was it so wrong to use something that she was born with? Not to mention, it may be one of the few connections left she has with her mom? She didn't understand and her dad was tight-lipped about it anytime she asked.
She also got info on what happened to the rest of the teams.
Team CRDL went dark, disbanding after the attack on Beacon being a wake up call for them. While Ruby didn't like them because they were the textbook definition of bullies and racists, she still felt bad for what they had to experience.
Team CFVY went to Shade Academy in Vacuo. Atlas wasn't their style and given Mistral treatment of Faunus, they didn't go to Haven, so Shade was the only option they had left.
She couldn't find any info on Team SSSN, which worried her a bit.
Team JNPR stayed at Jaune's place, which luckily was also in Vale, only far away from Beacon. Ren and Nora didn't have a place to stay and Jaune's family was more than happy to welcome them. It's obvious the last thing the team wanted was to be separated.
And a team is exactly what Ruby needed as she contacted them about her plans.
Again, Ruby wasn't stupid. She knew Uncle Qrow slipped that info about Haven because he knew she would try and find Cinder's group on her own.
…And maybe some deep part of her wanted revenge. It was a new feeling as she never felt vindictive towards someone, and in stories, going after someone so revenge was considered wrong. And yet, it feels right. She won't lie to herself since there have been a few times she imagined separating Cinder's head from the rest of her body or blowing her brains out for what she did. But she kept her thoughts to herself. The last thing she needs is her family and friends thinking she is going crazy.
Speaking of friends…
"Hey."
Ruby turns around after silently closing the door, sneaking out. "Hey, Jaune. Haven's a long way to go." She greeted him
"I know. It's the only way we have." He said. It was the first time they have seen each other in half a year. He looks the same, but you can definitely tell he is still mourning Pyrrha.
"Are you sure you want to come along?" Ruby asked, worried. "It could lead to a dead end."
"The journey will be perilous…" Ren said next to Jaune. "...and whether we'll find answers at the end is entirely uncertain."
"But we wouldn't be here if we weren't up for it." Nora added, feeling pumped up.
"Then let's get started." Ruby nodded before they walked the path, towards their new journey.
The question is… Will this journey lead to light? Or darkness?
I at first considered putting this in the crossover part, but since I am only borrowing the Sharingan and nothing else, it felt better in this.
Just a heads up that Ruby will be slowly turning dark as the story progresses. Don't worry, she won't turn evil and join Salem, but expect a different Ruby from canon.