RWBY Puppet AU:

Chapter 2: Possession is 9/10th's of the pain

Ozpin sighed as the sounds of Weiss's whimpers plagued Team RWBY'S dorm room. It had been 3 hours since her return with Ruby's Scythe, yet had not uttered a single word despite Yang's prodding. Blake was kneeling beside Weiss offering the sobbing heiress words of comfort that did nothing to alleviate her grief. Ozpin could tell by the atmosphere they were not in the mood for bad news, but he had nothing else to give right now so felt it was best to rip this off quick like a bandage. As he closed the door, Yang finally took her worried eyes off Weiss as she heard his arrival and perked up, hopeful he'd have some news for them about Ruby.

"Professor! Did you find Ruby!? Is she okay!?" Yang yelled a bit frightened, but tried to remain hopeful. Blake forced a smile as she patted Weiss's back, gathering the heiress's attention as she weakly raised her head. Ozpin sighed as he saw her eyes red from tears, knowing this would only devastate her.

"I'm afraid we've lost all trace of your leader Ruby Rose." Ozpin solemnly said. He soon felt his hunter instincts surface as he stood attentively, gripping his cane ready to defend himself as he sensed the rage building up in Yang as she eyed him with a blank cold stare, with eyes as red as blood that yearned to spill it from anger.

"So you're saying that Ruby disappeared, and you have no idea what happened to her? You're the headmaster and you don't have a clue?" Yang asked with a soft but angry tone, not caring to mind her tongue, she was too focused on her sister and the failure to bring her back safely right now. Ozpin merely nodded in confirmation, the teacher in him saying to punish for disrespect, but the man in him knew she was grieving and had that right.

"I know you'll hate hearing this, but considering how we found her scythe it's possible she was kidnapped. If someone did take her they left no trail behind for us to track right now. There's no idea where Miss Rose could be." Ozpin reluctantly said. Internally, he admitted to himself she was correct. Beacon had some of the best Hunters yet couldn't find a clue to where this missing child was or if she was even alive. This news brought him nothing but shame and fear, but he saw Yang's clenched fist trembling and knew she was having it much worse than him or even the other members of Team RWBY.

"So my sister's gone… this can't be real." Yang weakly whispered. This was too much like her mom, Summer Roses, death. She went missing after a simple mission and never came home. All that was found was her cloak, now all that was found of Ruby was her Scythe, her precious "baby" as she fondly recalled her calling it. The fond and bitter memories soon made Yang tremble, almost about to vomit as she processed what they were implying in her heart.

"NO! Don't think nostalgically! She's alive damnit! She has to be!" Yang yelled in her head. Her baby sister was probably hurt, but had to be somewhere even if cold or scared. Her big sister instincts kicked into overdrive.

"We have to do something! There has to be a way!" She yelled, but Ozpin kept his calm.

"I've already notified General Ironwood and he's promised he made this his top priority. His troops are already mounting up a search for her and will contact us with any sign of Miss Rose." Ozpin said with hope in his stern tone. Blake bit her lower lip as she heard this. As much as she hated Atlas and it's military, considering how they treated Faunus badly over the years, she was filled with mixed feelings of comfort and bitterness hearing this response. This was nothing compared to the dread she was willing herself not to show from what Ozpin said next.

Until then…. I'm afraid we can only do nothing more than wait for such news. I'm sorry." Ozpin reluctantly said. Yang merely rubbed her forehead exasperated and angry while Blake rubbed Weiss's back as she cried into her legs.

"I need to leave now, but please take some time to rest and process this carefully. I already notified your teachers and had you excused from classes for a while to help cope with the situation." Ozpin said with care as he closed the door slowly, leaving them to fester in their misery. As soon as he left, Yang gritted her teeth as she never felt so angry in all her life. She grabbed the nearest thing she could find, Blake's Ninja's of Love book, and hurled it through their glass window, shattering it.

"My smu… I-I mean my novel." Blake softly said before correcting herself as she heard Yang's roar and felt the heat off her partners fiery hair.

"DAMN IT!" Yang roared. How could they expect her to sit here and do nothing when her baby sister was gone!?

"Yang" Blake whispered, knowing she had to calm her down before she burned down the dorms, but couldn't find the strength to speak. The dread of what happened infecting her as well as the knowledge how vain that attempt would be. This only worsened as she heard Weiss finally say something, one word in the last 3 hours since their leader went missing.

"Ruby…" Weiss brokenly said as her eyes flooded and she clenched her teeth, pounding the ground as she was filled with sadness and rage right now, probably even worse than Yang as Blake assumed.

Meanwhile….

Ruby felt her head ache as she tried to open up her eyes. Everything hurt, though she already knew she had no broken limps. Yet… why could she move? This thought plagued her mind as she struggled to open her eyes, they felt heavy, much heavier than Crescent Rose.

"Oh God my Scythe!" Ruby screamed in her head, her throat dry and sore as well making it hard to speak as she felt frustrated and afraid not having her weapon on her. As she bit her lip and swallowed with all her might painfully, she willed herself awake at last. She was in a dark room in the middle of nowhere, but a bright light shined painfully in her silver eyes.

"Damn that's bright!" She thought, still trying not to speak too much but found her curiosity was stronger than the discomfort.

"W-Where am I? What the heck happened…" She quietly said to herself, unaware she wasn't alone till she heard chattering in the shadows and soon realized she was in a cell.

"Good job catching her, but how did you know about the girls mother?" A boy with grey hair asked.

"Mom? Oh that's right. Cinder and Emerald used some kind of illusion somehow, how cruel." Ruby bitterly thought, cursing herself for getting her hopes up back there. It just felt so damn real seeing her. "Wait… I know that voice, Mercury?" She thought. She was shocked another transfer student from Haven was in on this. Clearly Beacon didn't do its homework on these 3, but Cinder had unfortunately as Ruby was upset to hear.

"Before we kidnapped her I hacked into Beacon's files and came upon her family information and saw the name by chance. Boy it made tricking that brat easier. Apparently she died on a mission…. Guess history repeats itself." Cinder chuckled. Ruby turned pale as she heard this, almost sensing death itself was coming.

"No! No! calm down and think of a way out Ruby. If they were going to kill you they would have done it already." Ruby quickly thought to avoid panic. Her uncle Qrow always beat drills into her to be prepared and avoid that dangerous enemy of the mind. Ruby looked down and tried to reach for the hidden knife in her boot she saw the villain's didn't notice while tying her up. But the rope she bitterly realized made it impossible to grab.

"Darn! Of all times why now that I can't reach my knife!?" She screamed in her head before she froze hearing an wickedly happy tone and feeling cold finger and sharp nails clasp her face.

"Did you sleep well Lil' Red?" Cinder whispered almost making Ruby almost jump if not for the rope binding her. Cinder chuckled, enjoying seeing her fear like a Grimm would.

"Good to see our guest finally woke up." Emerald chuckled as she and Mercury smirked in front of her, the latter snickering with a cocky grin as he folded his arms. This only served to replace Ruby's startling panic with irritation.

"Have to say I don't feel like much of a guest, being tied up like this." Ruby sarcastically groaned.

"So what do you want with me?" She asked, growing tired of beating around the bush.

"You… have been a thorn in my side, messing up my plans especially with getting Roman Torchwick arrested. Now you're going to make it up to me by replacing him." Cinder coldly said with a grin, waiting for this moment all day. Ruby simply scoffed at the notion, it was utterly ridiculous to the huntress.

"Yeah right! There's no way I'd ever help you!" Ruby defiantly yelled, but Cinder chuckled in response.

"Oh! But see Lil' Red…. You don't have a choice." Cinder sadistically said as she formed a glyph from her hand and her eye weirdly spouted a bit of fire to Ruby's shock, especially as the glyph's marking appeared underneath her chair.

"W-What the?" Was the last thing Ruby said before a light pillar engulfed her and she screamed in agony to the trio's amusement. Ruby felt as if her thoughts, her memories, any of her senses were all being washed away as this light stabbed into her body like knives, only more painful. The last thought, the last memory she saw as everything turned white was a stream of white hair blowing in the wind of a white flower field.

"W-White…..Weiss?"she whispered as her eyes grew weak and almost shut, but she bit her lip to use the pain to stay awake long enough, she couldn't take her eyes off Weiss, her one comfort as this painful light infected her body. But a few seconds later, the pain grew too much as Ruby screamed and winced, before frantically opening her eyes, now gaining a yellow glimmer in the pupils to match Cinder's as the witch chuckled at her victim's misfortune. As the white light grew stronger and shined through Ruby's eyes, she soon saw the image of her friend smiling at her fade into the brightness to Ruby's sadness. She always loved daylight, it was a symbol of a bright future for her to explore, now it was robbing her of the one comfort she had through this hell.

"Don't...go, please" Ruby whispered a plea, but soon she closed her eyes as it went unanswered, the last of her strength faded with that disappointment as two red marks soon formed on her cheeks as water from her eyes washed over them and Ruby weakly hung her head.

As the light faded Emerald and Mercury eyed Ruby's limp head hanging as she sat in her chair, unsure if she was still alive.

"Did it work?" Emerald asked and Cinder nodded.

"I can feel it! Cut her lose." Cinder said with glee, making Mercury's eyes widen in shock.

"She almost killed you and think we should-" he almost finished saying before Emerald cut the rope instantly to his annoyance. The girl practically worshipped Cinder beyond reason, he honestly didn't know if Ruby was the only puppet here.

As the rope fell to the ground and Ruby plopped on the floor limp, Cinder gave her a simple kick to jolt her awake. Ruby's tearful eyes opened, revealing a blank stare, no irises in her pupils.

"Wake up Lil' Red." Emerald cooed as the girl weakly stood up. Cinder eyed Emerald and jerked her head to the right. The green haired girl nodded as she got the clue and stepped aside, allowing Cinder to run her hand through Ruby's hair tenderly, admiring the red marks she forced on the girl. This nuisance had finally been handled to her joy.

"Now then Lil' Red." Cinder firmly said, a bit of pride welling up as she enjoyed seeing Ruby straightened up on command. "Kneel!" she hollered.

Ruby almost instantly complied with to her mind rappers amusement.

"Of course master Cinder… I'll do whatever you ask of me." She said, her right eye still watering.

(French Narrator) 2 weeks later….

It had been two weeks since Ruby went missing and WBY was on leave from Beacon's classes.

"Two weeks…two painful weeks!" Weiss cried on her bed. She sniffed into the pillow on Ruby's bed, the faint smell being the only trace of her she had to remember her by, other than the stale cookies still wrapped in tinfoil on her table. The cookies she made for Ruby…. That night. Weiss cringed as she still had flashes of that scythe stuck in the ground smoking. It was a bad sign of Ruby's current state. Weiss cried into her hand, almost gagging from the dark thought creeping into her before she ran out the room, unable to stand the sight anymore. But it was like she was in an endless curse. Everywhere she looked she remembered Ruby, it flooded her mind just like the realization she was alone here.

As she stared down the hall, she remembered Ruby jumping on her, as well as her words right after that made Weiss lean on the wall, the world now heavier for her.

"I just had a bad feeling this would be the last time I'd ever see you." Ruby had cried. Now Weiss was rubbing her crying eyes painfully as the memory flooded her mind.

"You dunce…why did you have to be right for once?" Weiss cried before she heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Weiss there you are!" Yang had called her. Weiss weakly turned her head towards the brawler making her and Blake cringe. It was obvious from the bags under Weiss's eyes, reddened from crying, she hadn't been sleeping well these last 2 weeks. They couldn't blame her, they were freaking out and having rough nights searching looking for Ruby, and having no luck until now. Yang smiled as she not only felt excited, but believed this would perk Weiss up.

"Great news! Ozpin wants us in his office for a mission, maybe he's found some news about Ruby?!" Yang cheered, but recoiled a bit as Weiss remained unresponsive. Contrary to Yang's belief, the heiress didn't find this assuring, only what-if's couldn't inspire any hope in her. 2 painful weeks without Ruby had beaten all hope out of her.

"I…I don't want go on any missions if I don't have Ruby by my side." Weiss weakly uttered. Those words made something in Yang snap as her eyes widened in shock and anger. She grabbed Weiss's shirt to Blake's shock, but before she could protest knowing Weiss wasn't well Yang shouted at the top of her lungs.

"DAMNIT WEISS SNAP OUT OF IT! THE WEISS I KNEW WOULDN'T BE WASTING TIME MOPING, SHE'D WANT TO FIGHT!" She hollered. Weiss looked a bit surprised, but just averted her gaze weakly to Yang's annoyance.

"If you really care about Ruby, you should stop brooding and join us on this mission to try and find her." Yang said, but Weiss simply started crying with her lip quivering as she refused to make eye contact with Yang, who gritted her teeth and was about to open her mouth to chew out Weiss before a hand shoved her away to her surprise.

"YANG! CUT IT OUT!" Blake surprisingly yelled. Yang was shocked, she only heard Blake yell once before about her faunus traits, she wasn't expecting this at all. Blake took a second to exhale, not use to losing her cool either but it needed to be done. She knew Yang was too pig-headed to reflect on her own or read the room without a shout.

"I get your upset too, but getting angry at Weiss when she's hurting doesn't solve anything. Go wait on the airship, I'll be there at least in just a minute!" She ordered fiercely, Yang telling by her angered tone there was no room for protest.

"Huff! Fine! But I'm leaving whether your there or not if you take too long damn it!" Yang yelled as she walked down the hall angry. Blake sighed annoyed as she turned to Weiss, still shivering and crying.

"Weiss, I'm so sorry about Yang please forgive her. Her little sister is missing so she's just going nuts. Any of us would be if in her shoes so lets not get not get angry with her okay?" Blake said trying to calm things down before her eyes widened hearing Weiss's response.

"I'm a failure." She coldly said to Blake's shock, but in Weiss's mind it was the absolute truth.

"I was her partner, it was my job to keep her safe and I failed. She was scared the day she disappeared but I still left her alone. If I had just stayed by her side, maybe she would still be here." Weiss ranted somberly as Blake saw her fists clenched before releasing and she exhaled.

"What right do I have to be angry, or even sad like Yang? What right do I have to anything when I was the worst partner in the world?" Weiss asked Blake, her eyes too weak to even cry anymore as they just looked blank, almost lifeless. Blake quickly ran up to her and clasped her shoulders firmly.

"Are you kidding me Weiss!? You're the best partner Ruby could ask for! You and I both know she will believe that no matter what at least!" Blake yelled to Weiss shock. Blake averted her gaze a second, feeling a bit guilty about yelling and for revealing something Ruby told her in confidence.

'"I really Admire Weiss a lot. I'm happy I got to meet her" Those were Ruby's words to me that day. She cares about you a lot you know, just as I know Yang was right about only 1 thing today, the Weiss Schnee we knew would never let this stop her, she'd keep fighting!" Blake ranted. Weiss's eyes widened in shock, her lips quivering trying to say something as she processed these words. Blake sighed in response, feeling satisfied she said her peace.

"I'll be on the ship to meet up with Ozpin and make sure Yang doesn't do anything stupid. Please just… consider meeting us there soon, wouldn't want me to keep her waiting too long. " Blake said as she was about to leave, she turned to Weiss one more time. "What do you want though Weiss?" she asked as she left the hallway.

"I-I just want to see Ruby again." Weiss thought.

(French narrator) 2 Hours later…

After the bullhead landed in Mistral, WBY ran through the forests at breakneck speed, Yang hoping to break the neck of whomever she found out kidnapped her sister.

"According to Ozpin, she was last sighted north of her in a clearing!" Blake yelled, making sure to glance at Weiss lagging behind them huffing. She knew Weiss wasn't the most fit, but she had already been neglecting her health starving herself and getting a lack of sleep these last 2 weeks. Only dietary supplements and her aura kept her health up a bit, but it didn't inspire confidence. Honestly, she was starting to regret giving her a pep talk earlier.

"Maybe I should have just tried to surprise her with Ruby if…. NO! When we found her think positive Blake you idiot!" Blake cursed herself internally.

"It's okay! I've been worried sick for weeks I get it!" Weiss yelled as she suddenly caught up to Blake's shock.

"But believe me! I'm here for the long run. We are going to get Ruby back or I'll gladly die trying!" Weiss yelled firmly as she gripped her saber. Blake smiled a bit proud to see her friend regain her fighting spirit.

"You bet now lets catch up to Yang before she starts a forest fire!" Blake yelled cheerfully, Weiss snickered even though it wasn't a joke in all honesty. Yang would do such a thing if Ruby was involved. Speaking of Ruby, they saw Yang frozen in place at the edge of the forest near the clearing, stuttering as they saw the source.

"RUBY!" Weiss cheered as she saw Ruby looking at the ground, standing still in the middle of the clearing to all of WBY's joy. Weiss instantly leapt past Yang to the brawlers annoyance.

"HEY! BIG SISTER'S PRIVELAGE DAMN IT!" Yang yelled, she felt she deserved to hug Ruby first, but a calming hand from Blake and head shake calmed her down, though she did huff and pout a bit.

''Fine!" Yang groaned and Blake chuckled. Weiss ran up to Ruby and placed her hands on her shoulders.

"Ruby! Oh my God! You don't know how much we worried about-" Weiss was about to say but noticed Ruby remaining unresponsive and paused her sentence to Blake and Yang's confusion.

"Something's wrong with her." Weiss thought as she shook the unresponsive Ruby.

"What's wrong Ruby?" She asked as she looked down to where Ruby was staring at. Her eyes widen as she jolted and jumped back in fright, lucky to escape a knife hidden from Ruby's sleeve slashed at her by a hairs length to Blake and Yang's horror.

"Nothing's wrong, just… going to kill you all that's what!" Ruby yelled.

"WEISS!" They hollered concerned. Weiss fell on her butt as she heard chuckling from Ruby, or whom they soon realized wasn't truly her, it was some sort of monster now.

Weiss was panting in fright, Ruby held nothing back, the force of that slash was devastating and precise in its lethality. A second later, an inch more, and that would have slit her throat, which gulped as she eyed her partner's horrific face.

"Nice to see you again, WEISSY!" Ruby yelled with a malicious smile while crying. Weiss and the others gasped seeing though her red marks on her

cheeks. They were red as blood as Ruby lunged forward at Weiss with not one, but two knives she had on her wrists, itching for the heiress blood.

Cinder has possessed Ruby with the maiden power now. This is a mix of ch 1 and 7 from the webcomic as they fit well into narrative. Fate is so cruel at times. WBY yearned to see Ruby again only to get their wish in the worst way possible. Either Ruby will kill them or they will hurt her to save her, neither a good option in the long run. Can Cinder be stopped after getting the ultimate "weapon" against our heroes? Next time in ch3: Death vs Will! Facing the Grim Reaper!