Hello to all, I am MintIsMeth (though some of you knew me as Nazarkovn back in the day) and it has been almost 3 years since I've uploaded for the original 'Betrayed: Descendants of the void' and nearly 7 years since I've published it. Looking back on the Weebly site I made for my writings and this story in particular I feel a twinge of cringe in my soul, but what's done is done. I leave the website and the original story unchanged as a testament to where I began as a writer.

Now then, what are my plans with 'Betrayed; Descendants of the Void – Redux'? I plan to take my time in completely re-writing the old story and though it may take a while I hope to one day finish re-writing the existing chapters to my current abilities and expanding the story yet further on beyond its original scope.

Please note that this story has a discord where I am available for questions and which contains some supplementary material which I managed to dig up for this and the earlier edition. Just remove the spaces and pop it into your browser.
discord .gg/ c753RU7q2Z

She must have expended her Crescent Rose hours ago, yet Ruby Rose continued the motion, cleaving another Beowulf in half only for it to be replaced by yet another which took its place in the pack that surrounded her. Bracing for discomfort she sped forward with her semblance, swinging through another five, turning them into black fog and then moving to the next Grimm in line. Again and again.

Though her body ached and begged her to stop, she continued the strenuous exercise of bisecting every one of the beasts before her. Her soul was aflame, her mind categorically obeying the prime directive to not die and shutting out all complaint from her body; her eyes focused by the rush of adrenaline as she cut another down.

"There!" she thought, having spotted a Beowulf almost twice the size of an ordinary one, bearing many marks and indentations upon his extensive white-bone carapace. "The Alpha! If I can take him down the rest might just flee!"

So, with a renewed hope she moved forward, to a sprint and then in storm of red petals was winding through the horde, cutting apart any who tried to stop her reaching their leader.

The Alpha bellowed a challenge and swung at her with claws the size of blades, bearing down upon her small form with teeth as thick as fingers. Yet she was still moving, refusing to slow, delivering a set of cuts along its black fur as she passed behind it. The beast roars in fury and swung again, barely missing her but still nicking her cloak; tearing a good quarter off her prized garment as she moved in for the kill.

Ruby hadn't struck randomly, her slashes had sought out the unarmoured joints of the Alpha's front and back legs, leaving it unable to turn after her fast enough. She had her opening and so leapt with another burst of her semblance, reaching her apex just above the back of the beast as it tried to rotate to face her.

With a yell she swung downward, her speed reaching a blur as she targeted the segmented plates upon its neck. At such speed she barely felt her scythe as it moved down through the neck and cut through it as easily as if it were a sausage at lunchtime.

Landing by the slumping carcass, she looked around and finally breathed out. It seemed as though her gambit had worked, the black fur of the remaining Beowulves falling back into the trees at the sight of their Alpha turning to mist, his head lying a solid few metres in front.

Ruby finally began to feel the exhaustion from the prolonged battle, she just barely shuffled over to a nearby tree and slumped down, her hands loosening their grip on her weapon a little as she closed her eyes. There was little she could do as her mind slowed and she began to dream...

Ruby had never been particularly popular in Signal Academy, she always got the best grades and all the teachers liked her; it would have been a happy time for her if the same could be said of the students.

She never had many friends, being more interested in reading about famous huntsmen and huntresses or working on her weapon in the forge. It had been at lunchtime when she was suddenly invited to sit with one of the cliques of the academy, consisting of several popular guys and their fangirls. They had been nice enough at first but as the conversation continued it stretched to wired and icky topics as well as questions she was not comfortable answering. By the end she couldn't take it anymore and left the table tying to conceal her tears.

The next day she found her locker vandalized, a rather pronounced inscription in felt tip proclaiming 'Rose is a slag who does blowies for a fiver'.

It grew worse from there. The teachers would punish those she reported to them but it didn't stop; it only got worse, finding spitballs in her hair, her sports uniform soaked in some foul liquid... and it just kept coming.

Her Crescent Rose's completion was the only real highlight of that term. Armed with it stowed on her back she began to walk the streets of Vale, finding peace where many would fear to tread. It was one of those nights when she accidentally interrupted Roman Torchwick's robbery of a dust store; taking out his thugs and chasing him down to his Bullhead which she shot down with the aid of Glynda Goodwitch, a professor at Beacon Academy.

She had been a little afraid to meet Headmaster Ozpin but when she was offered a place in his school two years early she was so happy she cried a little. But not all would be so pleased to hear of what had happened.

Her adoptive father, Taiyang Xiao Long had been surprised but allowed her to go, it was a great opportunity to be sure. He was always like that, not a bad parent by any means but Ruby had always felt like he tolerated her presence rather than wanting her to be around. She was twelve when her adoptive sister Yang told her the truth; her mother, Summer Rose, had left a sum of money to pay for her to be looked after until she was of age, Taiyang kept her around for the money; but was otherwise indifferent so long as she stayed out of trouble.

But her sister's reaction was bad enough to bring her to tears. It was around when she was 8 that Yang Xiao Long stopped playing with her and spending more time with Taiyang, getting angry whenever Ruby tried to spend time bending with him. At Signal Yang had been popular and in several cliques when Ruby joined, when she began to excel academically Yang became increasingly jealous and confrontational. She sometimes wondered if her sister was the one that organised her suffering at the hands of the student body.

But Yang had also made it into Beacon this year, when she heard Ruby would be joining her the girl had punched several holes in the wall and yelled at her for "stealing everything from her", whatever that meant.

Ruby felt something touch her on the shoulder, it was warm, moving to her neck and holding there for a moment before she felt a firm tap on her cheek, one which told her that she had to open her eyes and face the day, no matter what was actually touching her.

It took a few blinks but her eyes focused on the visage of the man before her, his bald head shining orange in the light of the morning son passing through the red leaves of the forest. His eyes were a kind blue but his features suggested experience.

She sat up and immediately groaned "agh, muscle cramps", ceasing her movement Ruby took in the scenery before her. The man had stood up, waving at something in the trees. She glanced at him some more, noting the sword at his hip bearing an angular hilt as well as the rifle he slung over his shoulder, looking further, he wore a charcoal black uniform, supported by brass buttons and a black leather webbing set that had several pouches affixed; he must have been some form of forest ranger perhaps?

Hey kiddo, are you alright to get up? Injured anywhere at all?" Asked the man as he turned back to her "My partner is just coming by with a vehicle"

"I'm not really injured sir" answered Ruby, using her scythe as a walking stick for a moment only to fall back down with a yelp "I've just got some really bad cramps"

"Cramps?" The man asked frowning "This place looks like a damn war was fought here! You managed to fight off... whatever caused this without so much as a scratch? You understand I find this hard to believe"

"It's true, my Aura has pretty much fixed whatever injuries I've gotten, just look at my clothes. Hardly scratch-free they are"

The man sized her up "Aura? You're one of those hunters?" Seeing her nod he continued "Might I ask what you're doing in Mycelle then? I doubt you're a hiker this deep in the woods"

"I was..." Ruby began to answer but the chugging of the engine in the distance had gotten close enough that she could see the vehicle and the driver that waved to them.

"It's about time you showed up Greg, I've been waiting a solid half hour for your sorry arse to get the memo"

"Well Phil, perhaps if there weren't so many trees for me to go around I'd been quicker. Is the girl alright?"

"Looks like it. She needs something for muscle cramps, check the vehicle's medical kit, there should be some Deep Heat in there" He turned back to Ruby "Don't worry miss, we'll have you moving in a jiffy once Gregory over there has finished faffing around"

As they waited Ruby finally asked, "Sir, I apologize but I don't recognize your uniforms, who are you?"

Phil looked to the Greg and they shared a look before he finally answered "I am Overseer Phillipson and my colleague in the vehicle is Forestry Ranger Gregory... It seems there are still questions we must ask but for the moment let's get you moving"

At that moment Greg tossed Phil a red tube and he knelt down to her "So, where are your cramps? This tube isn't too big so we should prioritise the more important areas"

"I would say my back and legs are the worst right now, followed by my arms" Ruby answered as she took the tube and squeezed some of the white ointment out.

The two men turned away as she strained to take off her blouse and applied the cream. They made hushed conversation, ending with Gregg moving back into the vehicle and opening the long-range radio's antenna to maximum length.

"Control, this is FR Gregory, we've investigated the area and found one huntress with minor injuries in an area that looks to have seen recent battle. Please advise, over."

It took a few minutes for the response to fizz though the set "Control copies, bring the huntress to home base for questioning and medical attention; keep an eye on her and restrain if need be. Ensure she lives, over"

"FR Gregory acknowledge. Expect us back today or tomorrow. Over and out"

"So…" began the Overseer, "you got a name?"

"Ruby Rose" she answered staring out into the trees. She hoped for a moment that there might be a flash of yellow, white, or black but none came. She was alone with the two men.

"Well nice to meet you Ruby. I believe we've already introduced ourselves so I'll get to the point. Our boss has kindly allowed us to take you to a base we have around a day's drive from here. You'll receive medical treatment if you need it there but then we'd like a word with you about just what you were doing back there. Nothing personal, I believe you and all, but it's standard procedure and I doubt they'll hold you for long."

"Okay. So a day's ride then?"

"Pretty much, as long as the Grimm don't impede our route we should be back on the roads in an hour or so. It'll be a smooth ride from there onward"

Ruby turned back to him and laid back in her seat a little. "What's going to happen to me?"

Phil furrowed his eyebrows a little but answered, "I'd assume that once we're done with you… Assuming you are a huntress you'd be sent back on the first airship to wherever you came from"

"Huntress in training-actually, I'm from Beacon Academy"

"Truly? Then for the record I'll say that I'm impressed by the damage you did to the forest. If I may be so bold to presume so, you aren't some anarchist so you were fighting Grimm; probably a fair number judging by how many shell casings were in the grass over there"

"It was Beowulves. I was…separated from my team and ended up having to face a whole pack. If I hadn't managed to kill their Alpha I would probably be Grimm food"

"Oh. Sorry to hear about that. If you want I could have Greg put out the call, we could find them and let them know you're alright"

"I'd prefer if you didn't" reacting to his surprise she continued "I would prefer that they didn't know that I made it out alright"

"But… Were you abandoned by them?" at her nod he growled, "Despicable; such bastards don't deserve to be called men, let alone hunters"

"Hey Phil". Greg spoke up as the vehicle slowed and climbed upon a long stream of gravel "I've found the road. The girl should get some sleep, that should help with her muscles"

"I'll get some in as well then" seeing her inquisitive look he answered "Your fight wasn't exactly quiet, we heard gunshots in the distance and headed out immediately to see if anyone needed our help. It also means that I haven't slept for a day and a half now"

The two of them reclined back as far as the faux leather seating would allow as the vehicle joined a sparse stream of others as the gravel road was replaced with a proper paved one. She closed her eyes, the warm darkness being occasionally interrupted by the cool autumn breeze.

She dreamt of Beacon; the tall spires and fantastical promises made by her story books. "If only it had been that way".

I think the way I did this, beginning with a fight scene, works better than the original where Ruby had to be saved. All things considered she is a prodigal huntress and the original made her seem a bit too weak and defeatist for my tastes. I think the fact that her most significant wounds end up being muscle cramps tells you as the reader that she is highly determined and skilled at being a Huntress.

Additionally, I made Phillipson and Gregory somewhat less impactful in the chapter. This is in order to keep the story centered on Ruby as the protagonist while still providing a fair bit of development for them. It also just made far more sense that they wouldn't be talking to a potential foreign agent as if she were a friend, it should help characterise them as men of integrity first and foremost rather than the rather 'hillbilly' manner they came off in.

Finally, the quotes I had at the top of each chapter just came off as me trying too hard to make it a serious story. That part was probably one of the most cringe-inducing aspects of the story and possibly one of the more impactful in terms of getting me to re-write the thing. Obviously they won't be included any more for the rest of the story.