Hey everyone, it's been awhile! Yes, I know, it's been a super long wait; so I won't waste anymore time with the A/N. I did write a recap for those who may not remember what happened in the last chapter, but my computer jacked up the editing and lost the recap. So, if you want to, you can re-read the previous chapter to refresh your memory.
But since this chapter will follow Little Red, there is little reason to do that for this chapter haha. Anyway, without further ado, enjoy chapter 7.
The warmth of the crackling fireplace fills the cozy den of the Rose-XiaoLong residence.
Little Red comes in from the kitchen with a plate of freshly baked cookies in one hand and a glass jug of warm milk in the other. She walks over to two red leather chairs sitting in front of the shimmering fire, a small round table standing in between them and holding two tall empty glass cups. Placing the plate on the table with a soft clink, she gently fills both glasses with warm milk before setting the jug down.
"The cookies are still hot, so be careful," Red said with a soft monotone before easing down in her seat.
"Thank you," replies a voice that is much younger than Red's. In the chair next to Red sits a little girl, around the age of seven or eight. She looks alot like Red; identical actually. Short black hair with red tips, silver eyes, a small red hoodie, black skirt, and black boots. The two sit in silence, saved for the crackling fire, the munching of cookies, and the sipping of warm milk.
"You know," the little girl speaks up, finally breaking the silence between them. "Ren… He didn't deserve to die like that."
Red's face remains unchanged, void of any expression as always. She calmly finishes siping her milk before pulling it away from her lips. "No. He didn't. But I gave him a choice, like with everyone else. And he chose to fight."
"Hm," the little girl reflects on Red's words for a moment. "I wonder if we made the right choice, taking up that deal with the brother gods. Well, I mean, I guess they're just God now."
"What other choices were there?" Red asks plainly. "Become the world's enemy or let everyone continue to die for nothing? Ozpin and Salem have waged war for a hundred years now, no doubt they would've gone for a hundred more."
The little girl frowns a bit while swallowing her milk, a small glimmer of anger and contemptment at the mention of the two immortals. She gives a small growl from under her breath.
Red looks over at the girl, seeing her anger smoldering. "Do you think of them as monsters?"
"What do you think?" the girl replies with a small hint of animosity. "This isn't something I usually say about people, but… I hate them. I REALLY hate them. Because of them and their stupid war, so many people lost their lives! So many kids were forced to be huntsmen! And for what?! Just to die young?! Mom… Dad… So yeah, I do see them as monsters."
"Hm," Red takes in the girl's words, even though she already knew what her answer would be. "Am I a monster to you?"
The little girl freezes, her small silver eyes widening a bit as her words catch in her throat.
"We know that the goal for what I'm doing is to get a second chance at life for everyone. But from an outside perspective, I'm no different from Ozpin or Salem. I took Remnant out of the shadow of the Great War, only to cast an even darker shadow over them. Through Wolf's eyes, you saw me kill Ren, took Yang's arm, and tried to kill Blake. Even Weiss managed to get away from me. We both know it's gonna happen. Eventually Weiss, Blake, and Yang will try to stop me, and I'll have to take their souls; either they give it willingly or I'll have to take it by force. It'll be their choice."
"I-I…," the little girl hesitates for a moment, struggling to find an answer for Red's question. "I don't know. I don't know what to think anymore. I just… I just want to be Ruby Rose again."
"We will," Red reassures her but in that same plain tone. "Just not right now. Not until our job is done."
The girl let out a tired sigh at the mention of Red's job. "I really hate seeing you like this. You've killed…trillions. You've brought down kingdoms. You're a walking calamity. And yet… you don't feel anything from it."
"We both know why."
"Yes, I know! It's just…" the little girl falls short of words to say, clearly conflicted about the situation.
Red calmly finishes her glass of milk and sets it down on the table between them. "This is why God gave us Wolf, to keep us separated. If we were to rejoin now, Ruby Rose would be in turmoil. She'll have the memories of what I've done and the guilt that you feel because of it. She'll be a wreck and out of control. You know this just as much as I do."
The little girl fiddles with the cookie in her hands, gazing at it with a contemplating stare.
"Time to wake up," Red said while rising from her comfy chair, straightening out her skirt and tugging on her hood before stepping off for the front door. "I'll see you again soon."
"How can you do it?" The little girl asks, stopping Red as she reaches for the door. "How can you keep going; even with all this?"
"Do you remember what mom said to us that day; when she confronted dad in the courtyard?"
The little girl pauses for a moment, eyes widen slightly with realization as she remembers. "She said to…keep moving forward."
"And that's what I'm gonna do," Red responds with her back still facing the girl. "As Ruby Rose, we made a deal with God. That was our choice. And for Him to keep His promise, I have to keep ours." Red looks back over her shoulder at the little girl, her cold silver eyes showing a glint of one single emotion. Conviction.
"I will get our second chance. Not just for us, but for everyone."
/-/
Red exits the house, closing the front door with a soft click and steps out into the pitch black void of her mind. Every dream is like this. She finds herself standing in front of her old house, goes in, talks with the little girl, leaves and wakes up. Yeah, it does sound repetitive; but it's a repetitiveness Red doesn't seem to mind.
The house behind her begins to break down and disperse into a black fog, slowly taking the form of a large wolf's head with crimson sharp teeth and burning eyes. "She's annoying," Wolf grumbles with slight irritation. "Why won't she just shut up and let us hunt?"
"Because none of us thought we had to play the villain just to be the hero." Red replies while lightly scratching under Wolf's jaw, wanting to sooth his annoyance. "Definitely not like the story books."
Wolf's grumbling slowly turns into a low growl, his thoughts still lingering on the little girl. "She wants us to be Ruby Rose again… Ruby Rose was weak. Soft. Powerless. She could never make a change."
"But Little Red can," Red said in that still calm voice; her eyes still glinting with conviction. "Let's go. Time to wake up-" Before Red could finish her statement, a sudden bright light shines through the void. Both Red and Wolf jerk their heads towards it, seeing a white glow radiating in the distance.
Wolf cocks his head with child-like curiosity. "What's that Red?"
"I…don't know," Red replies. As she stares at the glowing light, she senses a strange feeling in her heart. What's this….tugging?
"Red, did you feel that?"
"Yeah. Something's…drawing us."
Wolf snarls with a low growl towards the light, as if sensing something amidst with it.
What is this light? Where did it come from? Why is this inside her head? Question after question comes to Red; questions she doesn't have the answer to. But for some strange reason, a reason she can't explain, she feels the urge to go towards it. She takes a step.
"What are you doing?" Wolf immediately questions.
"I…think we should check it out."
"Why?" Wolf questions her judgment once again. "We've dreamed enough, Red. Time to wake up. We need to hunt."
"I know, but…" Red can't seem to break her gaze from the radiating light, that tugging feeling this nagging at her. Is it curiosity trying to push her towards the light? Or something else entirely? She takes another step, then another and another; walking closer and closer towards the light.
"Red? Red!" Wolf calls after his other half, flying close behind her.
Red enters the light, blinding her for a short moment before slowly fading away. She finds herself standing in the middle of an empty city street lit with street lights. The sky is dark, but it's not the same foreboding darkness she shrouded the world in. Stars, something she hasn't seen in a while, litter the night sky with the shattered moon hanging low.
"It's Vale," Red quickly recognizes her surroundings. Aside from there being a starry night sky, she notices the state of the city itself.
Everything is intact.
Buildings stand tall with lit windows, streets are clear of wrecked and piled vehicles, and, most noticeably, she can't sense any of her Grimm nearby. Everything looks just as it did before the Dark War. Her attention draws to a single store in front of her, a golden light shining out from the inside.
Wolf also brings his attention to the store, tilting his head at the sign. "From Dust Till Dawn. I've seen this before."
"I was small when I last saw this place," Red answers as if Wolf asked a question rather than saying a comment. "Uncle Qrow brought me here, after I bugged him enough times to take me. I never got a chance to come back."
"AHHH!" A sudden scream comes from inside the dust shop, jerking their attention to a shadow quickly approaching one of the windows. Two figures, one black and one red, crash through the window; shards of glass litter the street with a black suited man hitting the pavement with a hard thud. The red figure lands with practiced ease, unfolding a giant all too familiar red scythe.
"Red, that's…"
"Me…"
Both Red and Wolf watch as Ruby Rose turns with a confident smirk, twirling Crescent Rose around and letting the blade slam into the road. Four more black suited men file out of the dust shop, tightly gripping their red swords as they charge at the young girl.
Ruby easily makes quick work of the four men; kicking one in the face, taking out two more with the blunt side of Crescent Rose, and using said scythe to zig-zag as she dodges a barrage of bullets and takes out the last henchmen.
Amidst all this happening, no one seems to acknowledge Red and Wolf standing smack dab in the middle of the action; as if they are a couple of ghosts. A ginger haired man in a white coat and a bowler hat, fires off an explosive round towards Ruby and runs off.
Ruby flips and fires Crescent Rose at the road, propelling herself upward to dodge the explosion. The moment she lands, she chases after him.
"What's going on?! I don't know any of this?!" Wolf growls.
"I don't remember this either. I've never met that guy in the white coat before." Red replies, watching Ruby catapult herself to a nearby rooftop to chase after the man.
Wolf looks over the unconscious henchmen sprawled out on the street, noticing that none of them have a single scratch, cut, or any type of injury. He scoffs. "Wasteful. Who taught her how to hunt?"
Before either of them could speak another word, the world around them begins to change with a bright light.
Laughter and chatter; those are the voices Red can hear. When the blinding light finally fades, she finds herself standing in a large and familiar courtyard in front of an equally familiar school campus.
Red slowly takes in her surroundings. "This is…Beacon."
Indeed, it is Beacon, but something is…different. Color had returned to the world, something she hasn't seen in a while since she began the Dark War. The sky is a clear blue with a warm comforting sun hanging overhead. Lush green grass and trees fill the courtyard, rustling with the gentle spring breeze. Everything is vibrant and peaceful, a stark contrast to what Red grew up seeing.
There are no fifty foot tall concrete walls surrounding the campus with squads of huntsmen and specially trained soldiers on patrol. But what really stuck out to her the most are the students walking by, chatting and joking as they make their way towards the prestigious school.
"They're…laughing and smiling. While going to Beacon… Why?"
"Sis! That kid's got a classical staff! And she has a firesword!" A sudden squeal of giddy excitement pulls Red out of her thoughts, drawing her gaze towards Yang pulling an overly excited and extremely nerdy Ruby back by her hood.
Red watches the sisters silently from a short distance away.
"Easy there little sister, they're just weapons." Yang tells her weapon geek of a sister with a soft smile and a chuckle.
"Just weapons?!" Ruby responds as if her big sister had just said something blasphemous. "They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh they are so cool!" She finishes with a swoon.
Red continues to watch the sisters have their warm moment together, her eyes mainly falling on Yang. Yang seems more relaxed and carefree; her hands resting on her hips. Her skin is clear and smooth, free of any battle scars she got from the war. And her eyes, those same hardened and cold lilac eyes she remembers, are soft. A caring softness with vulnerability, something she hasn't seen since their childhood; before they were sent to Beacon.
Yang… Red's thoughts begin to go back to her childhood with her sister; how they would spend countless nights reading fairy tale books together or pretending to be huntresses, fighting off imaginary monsters and bad guys. But then memories of Beacon come soon after; Yang being sent first on her seventh birthday, then Ruby two years later. She remembers their reunion, how Yang pushed her way though a crowd of new recruits to find her, a look of bitter happiness in her eyes before snatching her into a hug. She remembers the promise they made to each other, that they will be together no matter what; even when Beacon tried keeping them apart.
In the end, they ended up on the same team, largely on Yang's persistent request. She kept her promise, even though she became hardened and distant.
"Sis…" Wolf grumbles lowly with a tear running down his snout, appearing slightly agitated. Red looks over at him, knowing what the giant wolf is feeling on her behalf. Wolf shakes himself out of it, his beastly nature clearly not liking these sentimental emotions. "We need to wake up. Now."
"Now yet," Red replies as she watches Yang run off with a group of students and Ruby getting chewed out by Weiss. "I'm….curious to see where this leads."
"What for?!" Wolf growls in protest. "We don't remember any of this!"
"That's why I want to stay," Red said plainly, taking a deep breath of the fresh spring air. "If this is just a dream that my mind made up, then I want to see the rest of it. If I can just catch a glimpse of a world where everyone gets a fresh start, then let me see it before I go back to reality."
Wolf grumbles again but relents. "Of course, Little Red."
Just as before, the dream changes again. Red stands in the middle of the Beacon's grand cafeteria, filled to the brim with chattering students. Conversations and laughter fill the lunchroom, a more joyful and energetic atmosphere ever present. It all feels…normal; like an actual school instead of a facility designed to drill soldiers.
If she could, Red would be giving a soft, bitter sweet smile at the sight. All the faces in the cafeteria, she remembers them. These weren't people she knew personally; but she remembers their faces nonetheless. Each soul she harvested; from the dead and the living. From the Auric Flow and the Dark War. She remembers all of them.
"FOOD FIGHT!" Someone shouts with an alarming cry. The mess hall breaks into a panicked frenzy, crowds of students dashing past Red as they run for the exit.
Wolf watch them scatter like a flock of stray sheep. "They're fleeing, but from what?"
"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" A loud familiar voice announces with a joyous laugh. Nora stands proud on top of a stack of tables with the rest of Team JNPR standing by with their arms crossed.
"Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! And it will be DELICIOUS!" Ruby cries out in defiance, rallying her team for an all out war.
"Off with their heads!" Nora commands.
Barrages of food come flying at Team RWBY like artillery hell; watermelons, tomatoes, turkeys,raining down on them. At Ruby's command, Yang punches her hands into a pair of turkeys; using them like boxing gloves as the punch a way the foodstorm for her team.
"What are they doing?" Wolf asked with confusion.
"It's…a food fight," Red replies, sounding a little puzzled by the sight.
"I know what they are doing. But why?"
Wolf has a point. From the Beacon Red remembers, if anyone dared try to start a food fight in the chow hall; everyone, even the ones who weren't involved, were forced outside and made to do corrective training. And to make it worse, privileges to eat in the cafeteria were revoked until further notice.
Soda cans are thrown, food is used as weapons; it looks and feels like an actual battle but in a ridiculous way. Pyrrha is still alive. Ren is still alive. Her team looks happier.
"I want this," Red said with a sense of yearning in her voice. "This is how things should've been. This is the life everyone deserves. No Great War. No Little Red… Just…peace. A fresh start."
Wolf makes no objections to her claim.
"We have to keep going, Wolf. We have to keep hunting. For this."
Vale burns under moonlit night.
Bleak wind. Corpses on the ground. Grimm prowling the streets. Screams under the stars. Red watches the chaos from atop Beacon's clock tower, getting a clear view of what became of this relaxed and peaceful version of Beacon. Vale is screaming, the very same screams it gave when she killed it.
What happened here? Did Misteral attack?
"Red," Wolf pulls her out of her thoughts, watching something behind her. "Look."
Red looks back and sees Pyrrha, beaten and exhausted, down on her hands and knees. A black glass arrow sticks out of her achilles, blood pooling around her ankle as she struggles to get up. She is not alone. A woman in a red dress circles around her with a slow and confident stride.
Red immediately recognizes her. "The Maiden In Red, Cinder Fall."
How can she forget that smug face? The same face that took her mother from her. The prey that got away when she came to reap Salem and the Witch Kingdom. Red would be seething with anger right now, but Wolf's growling is doing that on her behalf.
"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours," Cinder says with a condescending tone as she tilts up Pyrrha's chin to look her in the eyes. "But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined."
Pyrrha glares at the maiden defiantly. "Do you believe in destiny?"
Cinder's stands, her smirk falling as she replies. "Yes" She manifests the bow and arrow, draws back, and pieces an arrow right into Pyrrha's heart.
Red unknowingly clenches her fist tightly at the sight of Pyrrha's body slowly turning to ash; memories of the Great War coming back to her. She wasn't there to see Pyrrha's death personally, but Jaune was. She never forgot those broken words he spoke, 'A red maiden killed her.'
What is this she's looking at? Why would her dreams show her a life that she hopes to live only to show tragedy behind it Red hears a sudden thud drop beside her; it's Ruby again.
Ruby falls to her knees, horrified and devastated at what became of her friend. Stress. Fear. Despair. Those emotions and many more reflect in Ruby's eyes along with her tears; just like Red on the night she lost Summer. Ruby's eyes begin to glow, reacting to her frantic state of mind.
Wolf perks up, feeling a sensation of excitement run through him. "Red, do you feel that?"
Red nods, feeling the same sensation as she watches with anticipation. "It's just like the night I…."
"AHHHHHH!" Ruby screams at the top of her lungs, her eyes unleashing a powerful and familiar blinding, silver light.
"This feels less like a dream and more like…"
"Watching a movie, Wolf?"
He nods with a grunt.
Both hunters watch silently from atop a burned village building, bearing witness to a furious deadlock between Tyrian and Qrow. The level of combative prowess from both man and faunus is something of behold. They are quick, relentless, nimble, and incredibly powerful with their clashes; appearing as blurs too fast for RNJR to keep track of, but not so much for Red and Wolf.
Wolf grumbles a bit as he watches both men fall through the collapsing roof of a building. "This is boring…"
Red, on the other hand, doesn't pay much attention to the fight; focusing solely on one particular person. Ruby. "I don't get it."
"Get what?" Wolf asks, taking his eye off the fight.
"Her silver eyes awakened just like mine, but she hasn't changed. Not one bit. And she's not using her powers. Didn't she meet with God?" Red tilts her head slightly as she watches Ruby charge straight into the middle of the fight and deflect Tyrian's attack.
"Do you wish to be taken?" Tyrian crackles with amusement.
"No! But I won't stand by and watch someone get hurt!" Ruby snaps at him and charges back in.
"She's too weak and getting in the way," Wolf comments with a critical tone. "If it weren't for the scarecrow, she would've already been prey."
The truth of this battle glints like a razor, Tyrian is way out of Ruby's league; then the combined efforts of RNJR was nowhere near enough. Both uncle and niece swing for the lunatic, Crescent Rose coming down from above and Harbinger coming up from below. Tyrian blocks the two with ease and kicks Qrow away, laughing with maniatic joy as he refocuses on his real prey. His onslaught is quick, merciless, and hungry. Ruby can't keep up.
Qrow leaps back, colliding with Tyrian in a blade lock. "Ruby, what did I say!? Get back!" Qrow yells over his shoulder.
"This is my fight too!"
This scene. The words spoken. It all feels familiar to Red. Her mind goes back to when she and her mom fought Cinder that unforgettable night.
"Ruby, what did I say!? You can't take her! Run! Now!"
"I'm not leaving you! This is my fight too!"
Just like how Qrow is trying to protect Ruby from Tyrian, Summer tried protecting Red while fighting Cinder. If she had left like her mom told her to, would she still be alive? She was too weak to help her mom. Ruby Rose was too weak.
"No, it's not that!" Qrow tries to warn his defiant niece. A piece of a house's wooden frame breaks off and tumbles for the unsuspecting Ruby. Moving as swift as he has been for the entire fight, Qrow springs in and slash the falling debris cut in half. But this, unfortunately, created a golden opportunity for the lunatic.
Slash!
"ARGH!"
The scorpion strikes with his tail, his poison entering Qrow's bloodstream and spreading throughout his body. Red gives a subtle flinch, Summer's death flashing before her cold eyes. A moment of anger and hatred flashes strongly in Ruby's eyes. She hooks Crescent Rose around the crazy scorpion's tail and pulls the trigger.
BANG!
"AHHH!"
A peaceful afternoon dinner filled with laughter and friends.
Red watches RWY and JNR from the other end of the dining table, casually leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. The group of friends continue on with their mixture of conversations, regaling each other with stories of their personal journeys and recalling memories of their time in Beacon.
Red continues to watch silently, the atmosphere reminding her of similar times she shared a meal with her friends, though not a lot of them were at a dinner table like this.
"It's been a long time," Ren said to the group as they all enjoy a cup of tea. "We've all grown in our own ways."
"You really think so?" Ruby asks.
"Well, think back to when you were at Beacon. Would you say you did anything foolish or embarrassing? Or did you think you were perfect?" Ren asks the group.
"Oh gosh…" Weiss buries her face in her hands as she remembers her old self.
"I may have been a bit too gun-hoo from time to time." Yang comments.
"Pfft. You? I tried to one v one a Nevermore on the second day of school." Ruby adds.
"Well, yeah…" Jaune chimes with a soft chuckle while leaning against a wall. "Don't even get me started."
Ren continues. "Well, that embarrassment. That desire to go back and tell yourself not to be so stupid. That just shows that you're not the same person you used to be. You're smarter. Kinder. Or stronger. And you're not done growing yet, none of us are."
"Growth? Smarter? Stronger?" Wolf scoffs at Ren's speech. "From what we've seen so far, they're still at the bottom of the food chain."
"What Ren said isn't entirely wrong," Red comments. "But he's only telling the brighter half of it. Our experiences do change us, but how we choose to go about that change is where growth goes both ways. Will we be the hero or the villain? The savior or the monster?"
"Hm"
"But if we're talking about strengths and capabilities, they don't seem as strong as the Team RWBY and JNPR I know."
"I still don't understand why you want to stay and watch, Red."
Red's gaze slowly falls to a laughing and smiling Ruby. " "It feels like I'm watching her life instead of dreaming up the one that I want. Everything that has happened to her up till now; the fall of Beacon, Pyrrha's death, her silver eyes awakening, hunted by Salem's assassin and her Uncle Qrow getting poisoned. All this has to be stuck in her head. She's using a smile to push it down; that's what I've tried doing. But reality…isn't something you can just push aside. I wanna see what she is gonna do."
"How about we discuss those eyes of yours." Maria said to Ruby, proposing an invite to a conversation that could benefit the younger silver eyed warrior. Both of them sit in the backyard of Jaune's sister's residence with Red and Wolf watching by a tree a short distance away.
"Oh!" Ruby jumps up from the edge of the balcony where she is sitting, hopping to her feet. "I would be honored."
"Sit back down for peace sake!" Maria chides her, prompting Ruby to sit on the grass. "Let's start with what you do know. Tell me."
"Uh," Ruby starts as she thinks. "Silver Eyed people are supposed to be legendary warriors. Or something. And at the fall of Beacon, I turned a giant Wyvern into stone."
"Oh boy…" Maria sighs with a slight shake of her head.
Ruby pouts, slight frustration on her face as she crosses her arms. "But… If I already knew everything, then I wouldn't be asking for help!"
"When did she ever ask for help?" Wolf remarks. "She didn't even ask the wizard before he retreated into the mind of that boy."
Red shushes him as she continues to watch.
"I want you to think of all the times you've triggered your powers. What did those moments have in common?" Maria asks the young silver eye.
Ruby thinks of a moment. "I was scared and stressed. Is it emotional? Like unlocking a semblance?"
"It's emotional, but more focused than that. Think. What is it you wanted?"
Ruby slightly grips her hands together, "I wanted to protect my friends."
"Precisely" Maria confirms. "It is the desire to preserve life which fuels the light inside you. And to make no mistake, it is light. Preservation is an extension of creation. Or at the very least, an enemy of destruction. The creatures of Grimm were made by the God of Darkness. But your light comes from his brother."
"Even though the brothers are one and the same," Wolf comments on Maria's explanation.
Protect. Preserve. These words echo in Red's mind, resonating with her own desires. But their conversation is only scratching the surface of silver eyes, something she had learned after making a deal with God. "Silver eyes…go deeper than that."
Wolf nods in agreement, "She's not a very helpful teacher for this other you."
"Can't really blame her. She doesn't know everything, just like my mom." Red keeps her eyes on Ruby, watching her spring up to her feet with determination written on her face; ready to start training. "She needs conviction. The want to save and protect is useless without it. That is what really fuels our power. I used to wonder why mom always kept telling me to keep moving forward. I see why now. If I could meet this other me, I would tell her that."
"I think we did. Remember that girl we saw with the huntsmen earlier?" Wolf reminds her of their recent hunt.
"You're right," Red responds with a small hint of realization. "You think this is her life we're seeing?"
"In likelihood."
Along with that revelation, the dream around them begins to change once more, seeming to have one more thing to show them.
The Auric Flow; a grand celestial sea of stars and galaxies. That's the best way one would describe such a breathtaking phenomenon. Red's eyes wander the great expanse, already familiar with the flow itself but never seen it like this. Within the vast number of stars, she sees different versions of herself. All living different lives.
"What is all this?" Wolf asks, looking just as bewildered as he gaze upon the stars.
"I…wish I could tell you." Red answers. She sees the smiling faces of other Rubies in some of the stars along with their laughter; living carefree and at peace. The very thing she hopes to have soon. But within those clusters of dazzling smiles and cheerful laughter, she can also see faces contorted in pain with gritted teeth and eyes red with tears of desperation. And there are others whose eyes are cold, lacking any shine at all. Like her's.
Wolf whimpers as he looks upon these struggling Rubies, a stream of tears rolling down his snout. "They're just like us."
Red instinctively clench her fists, not tearing her eyes away from them. "They…are."
As her gaze continues to wander, she catches sight of Ruby flowing through the stars as well, looking just as awestruck and lost. Red notices she looks slightly older and wearing the same clothes from when she first encountered her.
Could she be me from another life?
"Heroes, blinded by righteousness. Evil, driven by power and greed. It's all the same. If it takes a stronger evil to stop the wizard and witch, to end this cycle. Then I'll become that stronger evil."
Those words… I said that. Red draws her attention to a star Ruby is reaching out to. Did my voice come from that star? The star grows the moment Ruby touches it, engulfing her in a bright light before she disappears; drawing her into the star.
Not another life. Another world. "Wolf, I think we've seen enough. Time to wake up now."
"You're gonna look for her, Red?"
"I want to talk with her. There are alot of things I've seen that I want to talk about. Until that time comes, I will continue to play my role and hunt."
Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter everyone. The stage is being set for Ruby and Red's big one on one confrontation. At first, I started writing this chapter with Red reliving parts of the show in Ruby's shoes, but the way I was doing it wasn't clicking with me. So having Red watch Ruby's life from the outside-looking-in perspective felt easier to write.
I know there are scenes some of you may have thought that I could've put in, but to keep the chapter from being unnecessarily long, I can't put in every scene from the show. But make no mistake, Red has seen everything that Ruby has been involved in, including the Fall of Atlas.
Anyway, see y'all in the next chapter. Outlandish, signing off.