Original upload date: 9/18/2020

Revised date: 5/16/2024

Huh. Of all the chapters, I suppose it makes sense that this one would be rewritten the quickest. There wasn't much I had to rewrite and I only changed a few, single-line items. And setup for what is to come. In the authors note when I wrote this, I comment how we had just reached 3,000 views. I am proud to say that as of today, we have almost reached 30 thousand. Thank you all so much :)

Please, feel free to follow and comment on predictions, thoughts, etc. I am always looking for new ways to improve my craft.

Metal like Roses

By ReaderWarrior

I do not own Mistborn or RWBY.

Preserved

Beta'd by: Icarus720

As always, please comment! It honestly makes my day to read your thoughts and opinions.

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The room felt like it had been spinning. Blake's entire view of, well… everything, had been changed with a simple tale. A story, just like the ones she used to love. Gods? Witches? Genocide?

This man had known it all… Or worse, he had seen it himself.

But as Blake's mind tried to hold itself upright, all she could focus on was the girl now sobbing at her feet. In all the time Blake had known Vin, she had never been one to act out in emotion. Only once. Yet now, tears were streaming down her face as she desperately tried to grab the sand that had depicted her home. Being told you released an evil god on your friends after thinking you had saved them… That was a fate Blake wouldn't wish on anyone.

"It's all my fault," Vin sobbed. "I killed him… I killed Elend. I let him die and I killed everyone ."

Blake kneeled and pulled Vin into a hug. She then glared up at the shopkeep - this seemingly immortal traveler - and growled. "Why are you doing this?"

Something changed in this man's eyes but his smile remained. "What's the reason for any story?" he laughed. "To spread a message of warning. Of teaching. And of hope." Sand poured out of his hand as he opened it, revealing a parchment with the Allomantic chart scrawled on it.

"What hope?" Vin asked. "The Hero of Ages was a puppet of Ruin's making. I failed. The Terris religion is a sham and my victory against the Lord Ruler was fake. Where is the hope in any of that?"

"The hope is there for you to see if you'd like." He grabbed Vin's hand and brought it down to the pile of sand on the floor. With her finger, her made a circle in the grains. "Yes, you did fail. But you were not the Hero. Ruin has not yet destroyed Scadrial mit will take him some time to become strong enough to do so and the Lord Ruler helped delay it even more. During which, a young emperor will find the powers akin to the woman he loves."

In the circle, the sands glowed. Instead of faint descriptions, Blake could perfectly see a man, clean shaven with short hair, struggling to crawl toward an empty basin. He winced, coughed up some blood, and held his side.

The breath that left Vin's lips was full of love. "Elend," she whispered. She tried to touch him but she stopped, scared to scatter the sand.

Blake had always read stories about 'true love'. Especially in fairy tales. The term was something she had always associated with her parents. But it wasn't until she saw the look on Vin's face - the emotion in her eyes - that she understood what it was.

Undying. Forever. Magical. A connection that could span worlds.

In the sand, Elend was rolled onto his back. A hand grabbed the back of his head and helped tilt it forward while another, holding a shining white bead in his palm, covered his mouth.

Vin froze. "I can hear it."

"Hear what?" Blake asked.

"An Allomantic pulse," the strange man answered. "The pulse of Preservation."

A chuckle escaped Vin's mouth, one that slowly morphed into a genuine laugh. "Rashek. The Lord Ruler left it behind just in case."

Again, Blake felt lost. "Left what?"

Vin turned to the Faunus, her eyes sparkling through her tears. "It's said the Lord Ruler gifted his followers with Allomancy to make the first mistborn." She turned to the shopkeep. "With a metal, right?"

The man smiled. "He did say you were a smart one! Yes, Valette, the Lord Ruler used lerasium to give Allomancy to those he deemed useful. And being the paranoid man he was, there just so happened to be a few beads left over."

He pointed back at the live… sands showcasing Vin's homeworld. A vial was placed on Elend's lips by the same unknown stranger. He swallowed it and his eyes fluttered open. He pushed himself backward as his savior reached for him. The man's sleeves pulled back as he did, revealing dozens of painful-looking scars.

Vin gasped.

The man grabbed Elend and helped pull him to his feet. The new man looked back momentarily, almost exactly through the sands and at them, and smiled.

"Kelsier."

Ruby and Yang were busy practicing (playing) their video game when Weiss returned. The sisters cried 'Hello!' without turning to face her as Weiss walked over to her desk. She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and quickly began writing down notations of all the lessons she could recount from Winter teaching her about Summoning.

"Whoa," Yang said as they finished their game. "Is there an assignment due later today that I don't know about?"

"You of all people know there won't be any new assignments until the festival is over," Weiss said with a roll of her eyes.

The blonde chuckled. "Yeah. Easiest time of my life. No more tests, assignments, or classes. Just me and an opponent to beat into a pulp."

"Too bad nobody has any real chance of beating us," Ruby said. "We're the only team that's had to deal with the real thing. We've handled three terrorist activities!"

"JNPR," Weiss corrected. "Neptune. Sun. And a great many other students, especially our seniors, helped with the rupture."

"I guess," Yang sighed.

Ruby had picked up her scrolls and realized how late it had become. "Has anyone seen Blake or Vin?"

Both girls shook their heads. "It's getting late," Weiss said. They all glanced at the purple, sunsetting sky. "Did either of them message where they were going?"

"Do you think they went after the ramen guy?" Ruby asked. "Or Cinder came back?"

Yang paused. "If it were Cinder, Blake would have called. Or the alarms would be going off. I don't think there's a single mouse on Amity Colosseum that hasn't been tracked five times over. Can't we just track their scrolls?"

"That would be rude and an invasion of their privacy," Weiss scolded as she reached for her scroll. "But… considering our record falling - sometimes literally - into trouble, it might not be too unwarranted to err on the side of caution."

"What are we waiting for then?" Yang punched her palm and grinned.

Ruby nodded in agreement. "Let's go save our friend!"

"They could just be having dinner," muttered Weiss. But she did rise and reach for the door.

"Then we will save our friends from full stomachs!"

Vin couldn't believe it. Believe him. Kelsier. Alive. Vin would have hugged him if she didn't want to stab him.

How dare he? How dare he leave us?! Vin had long since forgiven Kelsier for his foolish, albeit successful, plan. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt any less. Especially with the revelation that somehow he lived.

"Like always," the worldhopper smiled, "he survives."

Blake frowned at the now-frozen image. "Wasn't Kelsier your teacher? The one with the flower?"

"You told them?"

Vin glared up at the man with a tear-stained vision. "I told them. They wanted to know, and so I did."

"She told us what she was comfortable with," Blake said, reaching out to pull Vin to her feet. She did so.

"Comfort?" the man asked. "It has been some time since a Mistborn like you has truly understood that word."

Without warning or hesitation, Vin reached into her pouch and threw one of her disks at the man. With a wave of his hand, they were Pushed back. They bounced off the women's auras.

"You took some."

The man nodded. "Among other things, yes." He pulled out a metallic orb. Its surface shone unbelievably bright in the lowly-lit room. "The last bead of lerasium, and with it, the gift of Allomancy."

Vin frowned. "Or curse."

"A gift is always a curse. Presents sometimes need to be returned, secrets can hurt those who hear them, and some stories are meant to be left unfinished. But that doesn't mean you can't make the most out of it."

The door opened with a mental Pull from the traveler. "I make an exemption just for you, young Mistborn. And just this once. I gift you your true powers and I curse you with a choice." He wrapped the bead in fabric and placed it on the ground. "This is the last time you and I will ever see each other, Vin Venture. No matter how hard you look, I will not be found. No bronze pulse will aid you either." He turned to leave.

"Wait," Vin called out. "What's your name?"

The strange man stopped in the doorway and raised an eyebrow. "Why would you like to know that? Wouldn't you instead like to know more about your husband?"

Vin glanced down at the sand on the floor. "I know Elend. I know Kelsier. Sazed and everyone will keep him safe. But you… I don't know you." She stepped toward the shopkeep. "Names have power. And I want yours."

"My name?" he asked. "Or my power?"

"Yes."

The man chuckled and waved at them. "I am a simple traveler. But if you wish to call me something, try Hoid. I left my other name with the gods."

"Are you sure this is it?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "This is where their scrolls pinged last. They should be here." Or when they were last on…

What if Cinder had destroyed their scrolls? She shook her head, there would have been signs of a struggle and Weiss' (albeit untrained) eyes didn't see any.

After returning to the fairgrounds, the trio of RWY tracked Blake and Vin's devices to an empty area. It was a good distance away from the stalls, but not so much off the path. So far, they hadn't found anything.

"Maybe Vin fell through another portal," Yang offered.

Before Weiss could remark, they all heard something loud, and metal, creak from a nearby tree. All three girls reached for their scrolls, ready to summon their weapons. Weiss noticed a segment of the tree lift away like a panel.

There, she pointed. The sisters nodded. They moved around it and watched as a man stepped out. At first, they didn't recognize him. But then he placed two puffy clumps of hair above his eyes and they knew it was the ramen man.

"Hey, eyebrows!" Yang said, stepping out and cracking her knuckles. "What did you do to our friends?"

No answer came.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all prepared to fight as the man continued to ignore them. Then, from the tree door, a familiar face suddenly poked her head out.

"Blake!" Yang cried, stepping toward her without thinking. The man took this as his cue and bolted off through a bush. Immediately, Ruby chased after him with rose petals falling behind her. Weiss prepared to do so too, but stopped when Vin stepped out.

Weiss noticed the color and puffiness around her eyes and froze. "What happened?"

"He told us things," was Vin's cryptic reply. "Let him go."

"Are you okay?" Yang asked.

Vin sniffled and nodded. "We need to talk."

"Why?" Weiss frowned. "Did he tell you something?"

"He told us a lot of things," Blake said. "And gave Vin something too."

"Gave you what?"

Vin opened her hands. Lying on top of the cloth, which had the Allomantic chart inked onto it, was a metal bead. It glowed in the night air. "A burden," she answered. Then, softly, she whispered, "I'm going to save it all this time, Elend."

Back in the room, Yang and Weiss sat across from Vin and Blake. After calling Ruby and telling her to let the man go, they returned to their home. Ruby hadn't made it back yet, she had run pretty far away before they asked her to stop.

The two women listened as Blake, with a few comments from Vin, told them what happened. It was amazing. Like the stories Summer used to read to Yang and Ruby when they were kids. It wasn't the Ever After, or the Four Maidens, but it was just as fantastical.

But this wasn't a story. This was the truth.

"Then," Blake finished with tears falling slowly down her cheeks, "he gave her one of the leftover beads that created Allomancy. He said Vin could use it however she wanted. He called it a gift… and a curse."

"How is that a curse?" Yang asked. She pointed at the orb in Vin's hand. "It's like being given a potion that gives you superpowers! Who wouldn't take that?"

"Anyone who knew what the life of an Allomancer was like," Vin whispered.

The three girls frowned at the mistborn. "What do you mean?" Yang asked. "Kicking ass, killing Grimm, and saving the world! That's what it's all about."

Vin shook her head. "That isn't the life of an Allomancer. That's the life of a huntress. Of heroes. An Allomancer, Mistborn or Misting, is a tool. Not just an assassin but the weapon itself. We were born to kill for a Noble's desires. Not to save.

"No wonder a creature named Ruin helped create us."

Blake placed a hand on Vin's shoulder. "And Preservation. Allomancy saved Elend, didn't it?"

"It didn't save him. It just slowed his death. Pewter doesn't heal wounds, it just makes the pain forgettable. Allomancy won't keep him alive. It'll just keep his soul burning until it flares out."

"What about that Kelsier man?" Weiss offered. "Won't he help him?"

A laugh escaped from Vin's lips. "Helping a Noble? He'll take him to a surgeon, but I doubt Kelsier would go out of his way to help him if he doesn't have to."

"I'll take it then," Yang said. She held her hand out for the metal. "Powers aren't bad. It's just the people using them. What do I have to do, snort it?"

Weiss and Blake groaned.

"No," Vin whispered. "I think… I'll hold on to it. Just in case." She grabbed a large vial and slid it inside. Then it disappeared into one of the many pockets of her mistcloak.

Dang, Yang thought with a chuckle, it would have been fun to be a Mistborn too. But she knew what it meant to Vin and she was her friend.

The door opened and Ruby stepped inside. Her eyes swept right over them for a moment before focusing back on Vin. She jumped at Vin and pulled her into a hug (which Vin didn't return but also didn't stop). "Don't you ever run off after strange ramen men anymore, okay?"

"Did you catch him?" Blake asked.

"No," Ruby sighed. She made her way over to her bed and slumped onto it. "It was like he vanished into midair."

"I figured as much," Weiss said. "Still, it was a good thing we went looking for you."

"We weren't in any danger."

"That doesn't mean-"

Yang stopped paying attention and studied her sister. Normally, she wasn't able to sit still. Even after missions, her fingers were tapping on something or her feet would be shaking up and down. But now? It was like all the speed had been zapped out of her.

"Hey," she whispered, sitting down next to her sister. "Nothing happened. Vin was okay."

"That's not…" Ruby sighed and she reached for her pocket. "Thank you."

With a smile, Yang kissed Ruby on the forehead. Then she ruffled her hair. "Get some sleep."

Ruby nodded. But as Yang turned away, she pulled out a small object and held it in her hands as she fell back onto her pillow.

Bushes and tree branches swatted at Ruby like unwarranted high-fives. She slowed down momentarily to check her surroundings. Even at her top speed, she hadn't been able to catch the bushy-eyed man.

Worse yet, she lost him.

"Fudge nuggets," Ruby mumbled as she turned around and bumped right into the man's chest.

Ruby's aura flashed and she jumped back, instinctively reaching for Crescent Rose. The man didn't seem to worry, he pulled out a coin from his pocket and flicked it upward at an arch toward her. Ruby grabbed it and glared at the man.

"Who are you?" she asked. "What do you want with Vin?"

Like before, he remained mute.

"Tell me what you know!"

At that thought - that Intent - a vision filled her mind as her bare fingers grazed over the coin's cold surface. When it finished, the man was gone and tears were falling from Ruby's eyes.

"Mom?" she whispered, her voice vanishing into the woods. Just like the stranger had done.

Okay, play, I know. I'm late. I've been busy. I had to write 5 essays this week and last (seriously, five!) and I got a new job.

This chapter wasn't supposed to be like this but me and my editor decided it would be best. The next episode is mainly just RWBY's doubles fight, and I felt that would have been too much.

Let's see… Hoid! Effing Hoid! Elend's alive, and so is Kelsier, maybe. I'm still debating on whether or not to write a story on what happened after Vin left. Let me know if you guys want it.

Lerasium has entered the field. Who shall be given the gift/curse of Allomancy? Yang? Blake? Jaune? NOBODY?! RAFOOOOOOOOO!

I wonder what Ruby saw… I guess you'll have to find out later.

BTW, WE REACHED 3K VIEWS! Holy cow! I never, ever, ever thought that a story I wrote would reach double digits, but here we are in the thousands! Seriously. Thanks guys. You are all the best readers an author could ask for.

Edward4555: I'm sorry you feel that way. But please note, this is Hoid telling a story, not Khriss giving an explanation. Yes, technically, they are not, but to the people of Remnant and Vin, they are.

iChaos: Dude, above and beyond. Thank you for all of the reviews. Depending on when this is posted, I'll reply to you personally. Thank you so much for all the comments, thoughts, and predictions.