Author's Notes: TWO RWBY reactions series? I seem to have infected myself with this concept.

Anyways, this story is based on an AO3 story of the same name, by ResplendentChungus. It's an amazing story that's only five chapters long, so you should definitely read it.

Prologue

Onboard an Atlesian Manta, everyone looks at Ruby.

"Hey," Ruby complains, "Stop it!"

"You petrified a Leviathan…" Ren states, "After diving down the barrel of a cannon!"

Ruby laughs, "Don't act like you haven't done crazy stuff be-"

Everything turned white, blinding Ruby's vision.

"Ahh!" Ruby cried out. She could hear the others, but they were cut off. After a couple seconds, though, their voices came back. What scared her, though, was that there were others amongst the voices she heard. She couldn't tell if they were friend or foe due to the cacophony of voices crying out.

"What the hell!?"

"What's going on?!"

"Kids!"

"Sir, what's happening?!"

"Are we under attack!?"

"Ren, I can't see anything?!"

"My thermal vision can't pick up anything!"

"Kids!"

"Ruby, where are you!?"

"I'm right here!" Ruby tried calling out, but it got lost in the sea of voices.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Finally, Qrow's voice broke through everyone's causing the white void to briefly become silent.

"Qrow?"

"James? Please tell me this is your doing."

"No, I have no idea what's happening?"

"Great…Okay, I need a headcount, since none of us can see. Yang?"

"Here, uncle."

"Ruby?"

"I'm here."

"Salutations, Ruby Rose."

Ruby froze.

"Wait," Weiss's voice could be heard, "Was that…?"

"Penny?" Ruby said, hoping beyond hope.

"Yep. It's so wonderful to hear from you again. And, once this unknown energy that's keeping me blinded fades away, it'll be wonderful to see you again."

"Weiss?"

"Winter, I'm here. Wherever here is."

"Gah!" Nora cried out, "Someone just bumped me!"

"Sorry."

"Ilia?!"

"Yeah, I'm here, too, Blake."

"Hold it!" Ruby cried out, the whiteness starting to fade, "I think I can see again."

Ruby slowly saw that she was in an ornate dark red room, lined with purple marble. Around here, she could see everyone that was in the Manta, as well as Ilia, General Ironwood, Winter, an old man on a moving chair, and-

"Ouf!" Ruby coughed at Penny tackled hugged her.

"Oh, it's soo good to see you again, Ruby Rose!"

Ruby was left speechless as she returned the hug. "Uh-I-Ho-Penny, how?"

"I believe I can answer that," the old man approached, offering a hand, "Dr. Pietro Polendinna."

Ruby took it, but then noticed his name, "Polendina?"

"Yep," Penny exclaimed, "This is my father."

"Oh! It's an honor to meet you, Sir."

Pietro waved a dismissive hand, "No need for that. You are Penny's friend, so that makes you a friend of the family. But, once Amity Colosseum returned to Atlas, I was able to retrieve her body. Luckily, her memory core was intact."

"And now I've been rebuilt, better than ever." To emphasize a point, Penny conked her head.

"This is all well and good," Maria butted in, "But, does anyone know where we are?"

At her words, the walls seemed to shift, with one section producing two, 3 foot sized pillars. Everyone got their weapons out, ready for a fight. The tops glowed a sickly green as they produced between them a holographic screen, about 60 by 35 feet.

GREETINGS.

Those words appeared on the screen, causing confusion amongst them.

"Are you the one who brought us here?" Ruby demanded.

YES.

"For what purpose?" Winter responded.

TO WARN YOU.

Everyone started to lower their weapons, but not holster them.

"About what?" Oscar asked, though Ironwood noticed Ozpin's cane.

"Oz-" Ironwood began, but the screen continued.

SALEM HAS A WEAPON, ONE DEADLY IN ITS CAPABILITIES. YOU MUST BE WARNED OF THIS THREAT. HOWEVER, MY METHODS OF CONVEYING IT ARE LIMITED.

"In what way?" Blake questioned.

I UNFORTUNATELY CANNOT DISCLOSE IT DIRECTLY.

"So," Yang commented, "You have important information, but you can't tell us. How is that helpful?!"

"Directly…" Weiss and Ruby both muttered, but Ruby spoke up, "You said directly. What about indirectly?"

THAT IS WHY I HAVE BROUGHT YOU HERE.

The area around them began to shift, as couches began to manifest from the ground.

I CANNOT SHOW YOU THE THREAT YOU'RE FACING. HOWEVER, I CAN SHOW YOU WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED, IF YOU FACED THIS THREAT EARLIER.

"Wait, so, you mean like, alternate timelines or something?" Yang half questioned, half snarked

YES.

Yang's face fell in bewilderment.

"How long will this take?"

I HAVE FROZEN TIME ON YOUR WORLD, SO TO ALLOW NO ANXIETY ABOUT LEAVING YOUR HOME UNDER THREAT. HOWEVER, THERE ARE FIVE 'CHAPTERS', SIX IF YOU COUNT THE DIVERGENT POINT. I WOULD RECOMMEND YOU ALL GET COMFORTABLE, GET REACQUAINTED WITH OLD FRIENDS. AFTER ALL, WHAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO SEE…WON'T BE PLEASANT.

Despite no voice coming from the screen, they all got an ominous feeling crawling up her spin. As soon as the text disappeared, the two pylons stopped glowing, and the screen vanished. Everyone was left stunned, unsure what to think. Eventually, Winter broke the silence.

"General, do you think the…screen, is telling the truth?"

"Well, Ice Queen," Qrow snarked, "Considering we're all here, we can't argue he's powerful. I mean, you and Jimmy were in Atlas, and most of us were in a Manta heading to you guys. So either this is possibly the most convoluted hallucination I've ever seen, or he's legit."

Ironwood rubbed his temple, before turning to Qrow with a small smile. "Qrow, it's…it's good to see you again. I got your letter, but I wasn't sure…"

Qrow shrugged, "Hey, not our fault your officers have too much of a stick up their asses."

Winter scowled, but, surprisingly, Ironwood chuckled. Which terrified Qrow.

"Hey, Jimmy, you alright?"

"Yes. Just didn't realize how much that snark of yours made me feel comfortable. I did mean it when I say it's good to see you."

To say Qrow was surprised was an understatement.

"Ah…yeah, good to see you too, Jimmy. How about we take five to collect ourselves before we start comparing notes."

Ironwood nodded. "Agreed. Polendinnas, Winter, with me."

As the three joined Ironwood, Qrow went to the others.

"So, kiddo," Qrow turned to Ruby, "Think Mr. Screen is legit?"

Ruby rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I don't see why not. If he does have info on Salem, why should we not watch it."

"Even if it's in such a ridiculous manner?" Weiss countered.

"Well, yeah. I mean, it is weird, but I doubt he means to do harm. Who knows, it might be fun."

"What I want to know is why I'm here?" Ilia questioned.

"Yeah," Yang added, "That's why I'm not getting. I mean, Ironwood, your sister, Weiss, Penny and her pops, they make sense. But, why Ilia?"

Blake had a hand on her chin, her eyes nervous, "Maybe…maybe one of these 'weapons' that Salem has will be coming for Ilia?"

Ilia froze up.

"Well," Maria said, "All the more reason to watch this. This little girl's going to need all the help she can get."

"And," Qrow added, "While we're here, like I told James, we can talk about our next move. Which brings me to an uncomfortable discussion…How much do you want to tell James. About what we learned from Jinn?"

At the mention of Jinn, Ruby moved her hand to her hip…only to find the lamp was GONE! In a panic, Ruby started looking around, the others quickly realizing the same thing.

"Oh no, ohnoohno!"

Ironwood's group soon noticed Ruby's group's terror.

"Ruby," Penny said, "What's wrong?"

"The lamp is gone!"

Ruby's group immediately went into panic mode, and, while Ironwood initially had a look of confusion. After a couple seconds, he understood what 'lamp' they were talking about.

"Where did you have it last?!" He commanded.

"It was on my hip when-Oh Brothers, it's still on the Manta!"

"You mean," Yang commented, "The Manta that no longer has a pilot?"

Weiss groaned, "Great. Now we're going to have to fish the damn thing out…Assuming Salem doesn't grab it while we're watching this 'alternate timeline'," Weiss then muttered to herself, "Can't believe we're even entertaining this idea."

"Then we shouldn't accept this entity's offer!" Winter exclaimed, "If Salem gets the lamp-"

Qrow's eyes widened. He was initially frustrated that Weiss name-dropped Salem infront of Winter, Penny, and Pietro, but it turned to shock when Winter said the name so casually. He turned to Ironwood.

"Wait, James, you told them?"

"We can discuss this later, first-"

The pylons activated, returning the screen.

HAVE NO FEAR, MY FRIENDS. YOUR LAMP ISN'T IN ANY DANGER. WHEN YOU LEAVE, YOU'LL BE RETURNED TO THE EXACT SAME SPOTS, AT THE EXACT SAME TIME.

Ruby's shoulders fell in relief. "Well, that's good."

ONCE YOU ARE ALL SETTLED, WE CAN BEGIN.

Ironwood stepped forward, "Wait-!"

The pylons shut off.

"Damnit."

"Something wrong, James?"

"Nothing. I just don't like being kept in the dark. Now," he turned to Oscar, "Qrow, please tell me this is what I think it is."

Qrow looked to Oscar, then back to Ironwood. "Yeah. Oscar here is Oz's next reincarnation."

Ironwood's face turned to joy. "Oz, it's so good to see you-"

As he knelt down to Oscar's level, the boy put his hands up, taking a step back.

"Wait! Um, Oz is…gone, at the moment. He's silent."

Ironwood's joy turned to concern.

"That's not normal? How did it happen?"

Ruby closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "That's…kind of our fault."

Ironwood stood up as everyone turned to Ruby.

"What do you mean, friend Ruby?" Penny questioned.

"It happened on our way to Argus. Grimm were attacking the train, and Ozpin told us that the lamp was attracting them. We detached most of the train so the people could get away. After the train, well, crashed, we kinda got angry how he didn't tell us the relics could attract Grimm. Things got heated, and…we learned how the war between Ozpin and Salem started.

Ironwood's brow rose. "Continue." He said softly.

"Centuries ago, Ozpin and Salem were actually married, even had children of their own."

Ironwood's brow somehow raised even higher, as Winter had a look of absolute shock.

"Ozpin wanted to bring back the Brother Gods, believing that they'd restore humanity to its former greatness. Give everyone magic, and all that. Salem believed differently. She believed that we didn't need the gods anymore, and she had plans to restore our magic. Though, it would take time, and a LOT of bloodshed, as Salem would've conquered all of Remnant. Eventually, Ozpin decided that he couldn't convince Salem to change her ways. As a result, he tried to get their children away from her."

Pietro moved forward, "And that is what started it?"

Ruby shook her head. "Not exactly. I don't know if he simply wanted to get the kids away from Salem until they worked out their problems, or if he intended to run away with them. Either way, Salem caught them in the middle of the night as they attempted to leave, and the two fought each other. A fight that not only destroyed their home…but also killed their children."

Ironwood shut his eyes in frustration, while Winter had a solemn look, and Penny and Pietro were horrified.

"There was no peace after that," Ironwood concluded, "Salem's been boiling in hatred ever since, hasn't she?"

Ruby nodded.

"And I take it you guys didn't take Oz's confession well?"

Qrow rubbed the back of his head. "I may have punched him."

"After that," Oscar exclaimed, "Oz…shut down? He's still here, but it's like he's in the farthest corner of my mind."

Ironwood looked…somewhere between upset and depressed.

"I see. I can't fault you with how you reacted. I probably would've done the same thing. Ah, blame Ozpin, not the punching Oscar."

Qrow wilted, "Yeah, that was a bad move on my part."

"But, now that we know how this war ended, maybe we can work on how to end it."

"You've got a plan, James?"

"I do. But that can wait until after we're done here. You said you were in a Manta, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Ironwood." Ruby responded.

"I had just gotten a report on long range that a Manta was closing towards Atlas."

"That's probably us."

Ironwood nodded, "Then I'll have you escorted to a private landing pad. I should warn you, though. Things in Atlas have been…tense, for the most part."

Ruby nodded in understanding. What Weiss said last time was that Ironwood was closing the borders, so it's understandable that it wouldn't be business as usual.

As if sensing the group's content, circular holes opened in the floor, prompting everyone to tense up, readying for a fight. Instead, chairs started to sprout up from the holes, enough for everyone. As the chairs arrived, and the holes closed up, the pylons lit up.

I ASSUME EVERYONE IS READY?

"Yeah." Qrow exclaimed.

FORGIVE ME. I WASN'T ASKING YOU, MR. BRANWEN. IS EVERYONE READY, RUBY ROSE?

Ruby blinked her eyes owlishly. 'Why was he asking me?' "Uh, yes."

VERY WELL THEN. ONCE I BEGIN, I WILL BE UNABLE TO 'SPEAK' TO YOU UNTIL THE VIEWING IS DONE. TO ANSWER YOUR MOST PRUDENT QUESTION, EVEN IF YOU HAVEN'T SPOKEN IT, I HAVE THE ABILITY TO PEER INTO OTHER TIMELINES, SPECIFICALLY THEIR PRESENTS. HOWEVER, WITH ONE TOOL…

Between the pylons, a hole opened up, producing a pillar with-

"The relic!" Weiss cried out. As the pillar raised up, the lamp was now perfectly between the pylons, and at even level. The pylons then emitted energy, making the lamp float in the air. The pillar retracted back into the ground.

"General," Winter stated, "What does the lamp do?"

"It can answer three questions every hundred years. The only restriction is that it can't answer anything about the future."

"I see!" Penny declared, "Using the lamp, which can view the past of our timeline, combined with your ability to view other timelines, you're going to show us the past of another timeline.

HAHAHA.

Nora giggled, "Okay, with no sound, that just looks ridiculous."

Pietro leaned forward, "Incredible."

Everyone began taking a seat, with the screen now changing, but with the unknown text leaving a final message.

WE SHALL BEGIN WITH THE DIVERGENT POINT, THEN I WILL TAKE YOU TO THE MOST RELEVANT INFORMATION. I'LL SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE.

*White text appears on a black screen.

I CAN ALMOST HEAR THE HOUNDS*

"That's an interesting title for this timelines." Jaune exclaimed.

"Do you think they'll be dogs?" Penny inquired.

*The screen reveals a white full moon, as the text shatters into sickly black and red petals, snow falling amongst them.

A figure in a red hood and flowing cloak is seen under the moon and in a snowy landscape, the cape constantly producing dozens of wind-blown rose petals.*

"Oh, it's me!"

"Yeah, Sis. And it's at least three years ago, since you're wearing your outfit before Beacon."

*An altar is seen near the edge of the cliff that the person is standing at, who turns and walks away to let the audience see the rose symbol on the marker and the words "Summer Rose" - Thus Kindly I Scatter".

The red-hooded wanderer slowly walks through a snowy forest, where shadowy, beastly shapes quickly dart through, before coming to a clearing and looking around at the sight of around a dozen black-coated, red-eyed Beowolves circling their prey.*

"Oh, I remember this fight! It's a year before I got accepted into Beacon."

"At least we have a timeframe." Blake responded.

"Fascinating," Pietro added, "It's rare to see young Grimm, even if it's only Beowolves."

*Three decide to dash forward and attack through jumping, but the figure disappears in a swish of rose petals, and the creatures crash to the ground and look up.

Outlined by the moon's light, her cape swirling around her body, is Ruby, who reaches behind her in slow-motion, pulls out Crescent Rose, and fires a shot that blows a large part of a Beowolf's head out in a burst of blood-red smoke.

More Beowolves start to attack as Ruby lands. She leaps over the first beast and shoots it in the back, then, still in the air, blasts another one's side and gets into a position where she can fire at the third dead center. She rolls back and stands, unfolding it into its larger - and deadlier - scythe form.*

"Yang, did Ruby go to Summer's grave often?" Ren inquired.

"Plenty of times. I think…damn, what was this occasion, Ruby?"

Ruby looked sheepish. "Not a good one. You had just busted up some club."

Yang tilted her head in confusion, but then her eyes went wide in realization, and she smirked, "Right, Junior. Can't remember what we said, but I know we both left angry."

*One of the braver Beowolves goes forward, but Ruby merely spins, hooks its body in the curve of her blade, smiles at the camera as the monster growls, and fires the sniper section at speeds that sever the creature's body in a shower of petals. Both halves land on the ground, continuing to bleed roses, and the rest of the pack charges.*

Nora snorted, "Gotta love foes who don't know they're outmatched."

*Ruby, rotating the weapon, unloads her spent bullet and drives the blade into the ground, firing from a single spot at several approaching monsters until one swipes at her feet, narrowly missing as she jumps up with Crescent Rose and blasts back, digging it into the ground again when she sees more creatures emerging from the woods.*

"Ruby," Yang exclaimed, "You didn't say there were that many Grimm!"

"Hey, I handled it!"

Weiss was shocked at the sheer number.

'If I had known about this fight, I would've been far less judgemental towards her.'

*A Beowolf almost gets her with its claws, but she twists out of the way, fires at the monster in front of her to make the weapon and wielder spin, and kicks at the one behind her. She twirls the scythe and cuts down Beowolves from both sides, dodging another attack to hook a beast in and blasting out at an approaching creature to kill both.

Ruby leaps over two, goes in to dismember and cut down one, and catches another's neck in her blade with her on the beast's back before pulling the trigger and beheading it while flying upwards. Two Beowolves follow, but she shoots her way down and slices them up when she has to block from a wolf's swipe on the ground, which pushes her back and lets her see the large number of enemies left.*

"How many Young Beowolves were in that pack!?" Jaune cried out.

"Sir," Penny exclaimed, "This number of Beowolves, especially young ones, in such a large pack is unusual, given the size of Patch."

Yang merely shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah, well, doesn't matter, cause my sis handled them like a champ."

Yang turned, and noticed the concern on Ruby's face.

"You did handle them, right, Ruby?"

"Yang…something's off."

Now everyone was concerned.

"What do you mean?" Maria asked.

"That last group of Beowolves…there's too many. There were only half of that many, I think."

"It has been years, though," Oscar rebutted, "Maybe your memory is just off."

Ruby shook her head. She was sure that the pack wasn't that big.

*Nodding, Ruby drops her previous cartridge, inserts another with a cross symbol, loads it in, and blasts off at a higher speed than ever before, coming at the dumbfounded Beowolves like a rocket when she converts the scythe to a sickle-shape and spins her way through the mass, cutting up and down, left and right, leaving bullets, rose petals, and blackened body parts flying into the air.*

Despite the seriousness of the situation, seeing just bullets and arms flying all over the screen was hilarious for many in the group.

"And you mean to tell me, little girl, that you still didn't know how to use your eyes?"

"Um, yeah, Miss Calavera."

"Hmm, impressive…for a fifteen year old."

*She disembowels them quicker and quicker until the last one falls, she blasts into a jump, and lands in a pose with her scythe hanging behind her as bullets rain from the sky.*

"That was awesome!" Nora exclaimed, "What happened next?"

"After that, I made a beeline for home."

*Ruby stood in the field, taking deep breaths as she checked her ammo. She was down to only one clip, meanwhile unaware of a figure slowly walking from the treeline. Hearing the crunching of snow, Ruby turned to see a woman approaching.*

"What?!" Yang cried out, "Why is CINDER there?!"

Everyone either was enraged or in terror at what they were seeing.

"Miss Rose," Ironwood gulped, "I'm afraid to say I know what the divergence in the timeline is."

Ruby, terror in her eyes, was pleading with her other self to run.

*Ruby looked at the woman, tilting her head. "Um, hi. Do you need anything?"

Cinder merely smirked and pulled out two swords.

The screen cuts to black.*

"I think, in this timeline, Cinder killed Ruby."

Ironwood's words prompted Yang to hug Ruby tightly, followed by a hand on Ruby's shoulder from Qrow. Yang's hair was on fire, while Qrow stared at the screen, hand flexing on Harbinger's handle. Ruby herself was petrified. She couldn't even imagine what horrible things Cinder would do. Would she come after Yang, Tai, Qrow? What about Beacon? What about-Ruby's eyes widened.

"We wouldn't get team RWBY! You guys wouldn't get to be such great friends with each other!"

"What would Beacon be like without Ruby?" Nora questioned. "Would Weiss finally get the leader position? Who'd be the fourth member?"

Jaune was about to give his own guess, when his eyes drifted to Ilia.

"Oh Brothers." He deadpanned.

"What?" Blake asked.

"I think I know why Ilia's here."

Everyone turned to Ilia, who started to piece it together.

"No way!" Ilia angrily declared in denial.

Surprisingly, Blake started laughing.

"Why are you laughing?!" Weiss cried out.

"Weiss, you remember how much we argued?"

"Yes."

"Ilia would've been much worse."

Weiss slumped her shoulders. "Great. Let's just keep going."

Yang looked Ruby in the eyes. "Hey, Rubes. Are you okay?"

Ruby blinked out of her stupor. "Y-Yeah. I'm good. I mean, it's not our timeline-"

"But it could've been, kiddo," Qrow offered, "It could've been so easily. I don't know how or why Salem decided to take an interest much earlier here, but let's be glad she didn't."

Ruby placed a hand over Qrow's, still on her shoulder.

With that, they continued the, for lack of a better term, movie.

Author's Notes: Well, introduction was out of the way. A much more mysterious visitor, who's not related to my Colva Moon character in Ever After Theatre. I do want to make clear that this opening chapter was exclusively the Red trailer, mixed with a little custom scene that isn't in the fanfic.

You also may have noticed Ruby was much more forthcoming about what they learned. This, in my opinion, should've been what Ruby did at the start. Give at least some of the information they learned, but keep some of the more sensitive information until Atlas was in a much better state. Unfortunately, events on both sides prevented either group from reaching a point of trust until it was too late. Not blaming RWBY for keeping it quiet, as Ironwood wasn't really making the best re-first impressions. In short, BOTH sides screwed up.

As always, leave a review, fav/follow, and I'll see you all next time.