RWBY: Rose Reborn
Chapter 2: Denial
"What am I? I already said it silly, my name is Rose but you can call me a huntress!" Rose, a tall girl resembling Ruby but with long hair in a ponytail and armor laughed off before she puffed out her chest pridefully at the declaration of her title. Said title brought a small glimmer of hope to Blake despite her girlfriends confusion, almost like a silver lining to all this.
"You said you're a huntress. Surely you remember us, it's me Blake and your sister Yang. Weiss…Jaune... you must remember." Blake said with a hopeful tone, all of WBY and Jaune in fact leaned in eager to hear her response, only for them to flinch as the girl only gave them a confused look.
"Well….I kind off remember a huntress being some big strong hero who kills monsters with weapon's like these to save people and make them smile. I don't really remember much else, but I kind of wanted to make you smile since you all seemed so upset." Rose said cheerfully as she waved Furry Rose around, though her response only shocked the group, Yang especially.
"T-That looks like…mom's axe. B-But t-that's impossible it was lost when she-" Yang thought erratically, struggling to handle all this before her eyes caught sight of something else and she rushed up to the girl and grabbed it to her surprise.
"Wait! Mom's emblem!? You got it back? Great! You remember mom right? She gave this to you!" Yang cried with a hopeful smile.
"Y-Yeah…this was my mothers. I do remember Summer Rose. I even based my weapon off hers and chose my name after this when I was reborn. It just seemed…natural." Rose said, smiling a bit as the heartwarming feelings of one of the few memories she retained, her mother's image and smile, flashed in her mind before she frowned as she felt a cold bitter feeling arise in her. She did get a vague feeling when seeing this blonde girl and the others, like they truly met before which made her feel comfortable around them, unaware of their true past, but couldn't put her finger on it. The memory loss was actually starting to upset her a bit, as well as another thing once Yang advanced towards her. Her past life must have been afraid of this one, as Rose found herself frozen in place as she could sense anger and fear from the blonde as she picked up on what Rose meant by Reborn. For Yang, she wasn't about to let this supposed charade of her sister slide, It had to be a joke, how could Ruby just change and just forget them? Forget her!?
"Ruby knock it off already!" Yang yelled frightfully, her harsh and loud tone startling the girl, but Yang didn't care she was too scared and upset right now.
"Stop playing pretend and tell me my name! You're my sister Ruby you got to remember-" Yang cried before being pushed away by Rose who gave her a bitter glare. It unnerved not just Yang, looking at her eyes widened in shock, but the rest of her friends. That look was the same one she gave them when she exploded at them for neglecting her. It brought terror to their very souls.
''R-Ruby? Are you okay?" Weiss asked as she put out her arm and walked towards her but winced as she heard an angry tone coming from Rose.
"Don't. Keep. Calling me that." Rose said slowly but with extreme venom in her tongue. All her friends recoiled hearing those words, they were as angry and sad as her last one's she said to them before running off, before they sadly watched her meet her end by Neo's torture.
"W-Why? It's your name your-" Yang tried to argue sheepishly only to jolt as Rose screamed and cut her off.
"I told you my name is Rose, not Ruby! J-Just stop calling me that! I don't get why but my chest hurts and…and.." Rose yelled before she clasped her chest as it ached from the bitter feelings arising within her.
"And what Ru- I mean Rose? Are you hurt?" Jaune asked nervously.
"Yeah! Can we help you? Maybe you just need to lay down?" Weiss said forcing a positive tone as she sat down and patted her knee inviting the girl. She already knew this was the truth; that she lost her best friend and partner, but she had to at least try and help this girl that replaced her, she owed it to her after saving them from the monster. Weiss soon bit her lip painfully as she heard a groan from Rose and she waved her off, it wasn't a good sign.
"No, sorry, I-I'm fine. I-I just…just feel weird is all. Your saying things that make me think about things that hurt and I really don't know why. All I really remember aside from Mom and some scythe training I did with this guy who drank a lot was…." Rose grumbled as she rubbed her eyebrows painfully, trying to remember. Flashes of her past life flickered, seeing an orange haired girl calling herself Penny and the others smiling at her, calling her Ruby and hugging her as well as Ruby crying into Yang's lap at Atlas while Blake and Weiss petted her back. She squinted her eyes at her past life's team, trying hard to focus on that memory, on the familiar feeling they were giving her. Seeing this uncertainty, Blake knew she had to act to knock some sense into her old friend.
"P-Please listen to Yang. She's your sister Yang, I'm your friend Blake, that's Weiss and Jaune, we all are your friends. You must remember that if you remember your mom, that you're a heroic huntress like the books we read together right?" Blake asked, warm memories of her time with Ruby at Beacon fueling her hope as her cat ears went up with anticipation, hoping to hear as best she could confirmation. They soon descended with her smile as Rose shook her head and just sighed.
"Sorry. I really don't." Rose sadly said. Blake just sighed, as she looked down disappointed.
"It did seem too good to be true. Ruby returned, a little different true, but still kept that bright smile that always brought a warm feeling to my heart. Now, I realized too late it was too much to ask. That Ruby come back to us as the person I always looked up to, the sweet innocent cookie and weapons loving girl who accepted me despite my horrible past filled with blood and hatred. All I saw now was some…strange creature who had her face, her eyes and…that smile." Blake thought frightfully, her ears going down as her heartstrings tugged so much it threatened to split apart her aching heart. Quickly tears stung her eyes as the reality before her settled in. Ruby had ascended as someone different, she had chosen to give up who she naturally was, a guilty desire she once had felt consumed by at Beacon herself until she met the girl and her team, which only added to her despair. She looked up with tears in her eyes as she saw Jaune and Weiss giving somber looks. She knew they would respect Ruby's right to change, but it was clear like her they had hoped she would return.
Jaune decided he couldn't stand by anymore. He had promised himself and the others when coming here he would respect Ruby's decision, no matter what. He slowly advanced on the girl before offering his hand.
"H-Hi then…I'm Jaune." Jaune said nervously. Rose only smirked as she returned the gesture and shook his hand. As she touched his hand, she felt a familiar warmth in it and in her chest. Like they had connected like this before. This man was more familiar by the second, like the name wasn't surprising at all. It just made her feel very relaxed, even a bit giddish, which eased the stress she was just under as she soon gave off a warm smile.
"Rose." Was all she could reply, but the second she did she heard a cry.
"NO! DON'T SAY THAT PLEASE!" Yang cried, her eyes red and flooded with tears as she struggled to stand, soon collapsing on her knees and pounding the ground, releasing a small quack that made some leafs fall on her head. Weiss and Blake knelt to her side and rubbed her back tenderly.
"Yang…we said we would-" Weiss tried to say before being shoved away like Blake. Yang just couldn't hear it right now.
"SHE CAN'T BE….RUBY CAN'T BE GONE! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS!" Yang roared in despair. Her hair soon ignited from the swell of anger and fear, bursting the leaves on her into flames and releasing a smokescreen that enveloped just her.
"I CAN'T!" She cried one more time before her body glowed rainbow colors to the others fright.
"YANG!" Blake cried before her girlfriend went POOF and vanished into thin air to everyone's shock.
"W-What just happened?" Rose asked a bit afraid, before suddenly a bright glowing door opened nearby and startled her and the others before her.
"I-Is that?" Weiss asked shock and Jaune nodded as he slowly made for it.
"Yes….our way home." Jaune whispered.
Meanwhile….
Yang briefly awoke to find herself in a black void. She couldn't get up though, her body was sore with pain all over. Her chest hurt the worst for some reason as she pondered why she was here and why she felt such pain. Despite the uncertainty of the darkness, she thought she could make out some sort of light, some voices whispering to follow it saying…
"Let go" (whisper)
She tried to open her eyes fully to see who was whispering in her ears, but couldn't find the strength. All she could make out was a familiar voice that came from the whispers.
"R-Ruby?!" She cried as she opened her eyes at last to see a shiny image of her sister before her. She was cloudy, like some spirit as she gave her older half-sister a somber look. Yang instantly felt the pain in her subside as she lunged arms wide open as she tried to hug her sister.
"Your back!" Yang cried before going straight through the specter to her confusion.
"I'm not coming back." Ruby's ghost whispered. Yang shook her head as she heard this.
"B-But your….your back come on!" Yang cried as she motioned towards the rainbow light. But the spirit just shook her head.
"You couldn't save me Yang." Ruby said sorrowfully as she averted her gaze as her sister paled to almost match her colors.
"I-I tried! We can still save you, we just have to go back and drop that Rose crap!" Yang cried.
"She's not coming back child" Yang heard a mature woman's voice echo as Ruby's spirit soon faded into thin air to her horror.
"Come back!" Yang cried. She soon saw in the void the rainbow light fade, replaced by the image of the Blacksmith, holding a wooden carving of Rose to Yang's confusion.
"Who…Who are you?" She asked confused but the tree spirit didn't answer that, they knew Yang had to learn something else right now.
"If you ever hope to leave here enlightened, you must let go of the past and accept the future. Accept things are sometimes out of your control, even with those you love." The smith said sternly but with a slight bit of empathy as they held out to Yang the carving of Rose. Yang shook her head in denial, couldn't accept was asked of her. She just couldn't accept Ruby was dead, and she certainly couldn't accept trading Ruby for this girl.
"Accept it." A whisper crept into her ear, she shook her head.
"No." Yang whispered.
"Accept it." The voice demanded, getting annoyed with her stubbornness.
"No please I don't'…" Yang denied, silently begging for the unreasonable demand to end. Soon a fog appeared before her, returning Ruby to her. Yang paused in fright as she saw a bitter glare from her as she soon morphed into Rose.
"ACCEPT IT!" Rose and Ruby's voice echoed as the spirits of both roared at Yang, who clutched her head and cried in return.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Yang cried in agony. The smith shook their head disappointed before seeing falling through the ground, seeing a shadowy pit down below as she fell at high speed. As she drew near it, her screams soon grew silent no matter how much she shouted once the hole closed up.
"One doesn't always get what one wants sadly." The smith said sorrowfully as they soon started carving a wooden sculpture of the Curious Cat.
"RUBY!" Yang cried.
After she hit the bottom, Yang soon awoken as her body felt a jolt. Breathing frantically, she darted up from the ground and ran in fright, desperate to find her sister again. She soon bumped her head on something hard in her haste.
"Agh! Damn it!" She cried painfully as she rubbed her head. She slowly opened her eyes to see a large wooden trunk before her.
"N-No." She whispered, not wanting to accept another reality before her. Did she have to start all over again? Soon curiosity overtook her fear as she couldn't resist looking up for confirmation. Her skin paled as her arms descended and went limp as she saw it was true.
She was outside the great tree, the prison that held her sisters spirit. She pounded on the trunk in a fury, trying to pry into it to get back to that void, to get back her sister.
"GIVE HER BACK!" Yang screeched at the top of her lungs.
Author Notes
Hope everyone had a good Christmas and good gifts. Short chapter I know, but the rest of this series is to focus on how each of the others, even back at remnant will react to Ruby's reincarnation. Yang has not taken it well, even Blake is disappointed despite Weiss and Jaune being understanding as promised. Another focus is that Jaune seems oddly lured to the door despite Yang's disappearance. Will his 20-year desire to go home cloud his judgment and will Yang reach the enlightenment that brought her to the tree the Smith wants her to have? Maybe not considering her selfishness and dense behavior but another character may yet find that before her. Next time on chapter 3: Let Sleeping Dragon's lie...or else!
