A/N Corner:
ApertureZero: Hey everyone! Finally got this written and man was it a doozy. It was originally much shorter but every time I came to what I thought was a finishing point I just felt dissatisfied. So 5k words turned into 6 and then finally 7.8k. As I've stated before I'm still new at this, but I try my best with every chapter, and I really hope I'm improving. Please be sure to leave a comment. It really helps me know how I'm doing. I want to write good, enjoyable chapters for you all so polite and constructive advice is welcome. What did I do wrong? What did I do right? Let me know in the reviews! Thanks to AhamkarasEye for being my Beta for this chapter as well. Thanks, enjoy, and I'll see you in the next one!
Forests of Mistral
A slight wind picked up and blew through the treetops causing the branches and leaves to flutter in its wake. As they did, they created small openings for God-rays to shine down through. A few of these landed on the face of a young white-haired girl currently curled up on a sleeping roll causing her to squint her already closed eyes and groan. After a few moments the pesky beams of light finally abated, and she began to drift back to sleep as a small smile played across her lips.
BOOM!
Weiss's eyes immediately snapped open. Any hope for continued sleep had been ruined. She contemplated trying anyways, but the sound of gunfire erupting not too far from where she lay only dashed her hopes even further. Letting out a frustrated huff she sat up and, with a strained groan, stretched the stiffness from her body. Feeling limber enough, she helped herself up on to her feet and got herself ready. Well, as ready as she could be given their current situation.
"Of course, those two are at it again. Every morning it's the same. Would it kill them to wait a little longer before starting?" Weiss let out despondent sigh and proceeded to the source of the noise, certain in what she'll find. As she cleared the last line of trees, she came upon a sight, as arcs of lightning and wreaths of flame shot back and forth across the clearing.
She watched as Ruby threw out a lightning shrouded knife at Talos as he disappeared in a flash of purple light. Only to reappear above and floating as he flung his arm out and threw a small glowing orb that exploded after a short while. In a feat of acrobatics that Weiss had never seen from her before, Ruby managed to backflip away from it, however she wasn't quick enough as the explosion still grazed her. Ruby managed to land into a ready kneeling position however and brought up her sniper rifle and sent off a quick series of shots. The first two missed Talos as a small burst of flame erupted from his side allowing him to dodge midair. The third, however, found its mark, and Weiss saw the tell-tale pop of his shields giving out. In response Talos immediately dove straight down to the ground, causing Ruby's fourth and final shot to miss, and upon landing began to glow. Standing up, Talos brought out his hand cannon and fired off a trio of shots. The first hits Ruby's helmet snapping her head back, the second hit the upper part of her chest and popped her shields, and the third hit her center of mass knocking her flat on her back. As Ruby struggled to get up, Weiss watched as Talos surged forward. Leaping into the air he formed his sword in a reverse grip as he plunged it down into Ruby's chest killing her and causing her body to disintegrate.
Through it all Weiss looked on in awe, though recoiled at the brutality of the finish. Recollecting herself, she began to walk over to Talos, sparing a glance over at Harmony as she began the process of resurrecting Ruby. As she neared, Talos looked over to her and dematerialized his sword.
"As much as I understand the need for sparring in order to hone one's skills," a flash of light and gasp from a newly reconstituted Ruby, "the whole 'to the death' part seems a bit…excessive, don't you think?"
"Maybe to someone like you." Talos replied with a small nod towards Weiss.
"Excuse me? 'Someone like me'?"
"Yes. Someone like you, a mortal. I need to remove her fear of death, it does us no good."
"Wait wait wait wait…. wait." said Ruby as she walked over to the two. "You just finished reprimanding me for dying and putting my ghost in danger. Now you're saying I need to not fear dying?"
"There's a difference between not fearing death and being suicidal, and not fearing death and making a smart sacrifice to save others who don't have the benefit of resurrection," replied Talos. "There are very few things in the universe that can kill a paracausal being such as a Guardian."
"Para-what now?" asked Ruby while tilting her head quizzically.
"Paracausal, Ruby," corrected Weiss. "And I too am quite curious as to what that means."
At this, Esper materialized and looked at the two younger girls, "Paracausality is a category used to refer to abilities, events, or entities which seem to violate causality, which itself is the principle that all effects must have a preceding cause. Some people, though, like to call it 'magic'."
Harmony then materialized next to Ruby and continued, "Put simply: A Guardian can violate the laws of cause and effect, and by extension the universe, at will. Take for example Talos's sword. He creates it via nuclear fusion. A process which requires very specific conditions to be met before it can occur, however he creates it simply by willing it to be, and generous application of the Light." To reinforce the point, Talos held out his hand and the sword materialized in a blaze of solar light. He then just as quickly made it dissipate.
At this Ruby looked down at her hands with awe. "Am I really that powerful?"
"There has to be some caveat though. I mean that amount of power just seems ludicrous." Interjected Weiss with a scoff. "I would assume at least some of that is hyperbole, Ruby."
"Not really," responded Talos, "With proper tactics and smart planning, we are literally walking armies. With our ability to resurrect indefinitely, we have in-built anti-attrition capabilities." He looked to Ruby. "If you wanted you could face off against an entire army and come out unscathed. But that's where you need to understand the difference between a suicidal death and a strategic one. An example of the former would be your battle with that Bandit woman"
Ruby winced at the reminder of that encounter, both from embarrassment and from shame. "And for the second example?" She asked wanting to quickly move on from the memory.
"A good example of the latter would be the Battle of Twilight Gap."
"Twilight Gap? Is that somewhere from where you're from?"
Talos nodded, "Yes, it was one of the biggest battles that the Last City ever had to face. During the battle a gap was made by the Fallen." Seeing the confusion on their faces, Esper chimed in to clarify, "Also known as the Eliksni, a race of scavengers that wanted to invade the city to reach the Traveler"
"The order was given to fall back," Talos continued, "Six guardians led by Lord Shaxx defied the order, however, and moved to secure the gap and prevent the Fallen from getting through."
"How did they do that?" Weiss was now leaning forward slightly, fully invested in the recounting of what sounded like a large-scale battle.
"With a mountain of corpses." Weiss's eyes widened and she visibly paled. "Six Guardians waded into the gap. Six guardians held. Death after death, resurrection after resurrection. Six guardians were all that stood between the Last City and an army of Fallen."
Ruby looked to Talos, "They weren't afraid to die. To do it over and over. In place of the people of the city…. because they could take it."
"Now you're getting it." He replied, and Ruby could swear she heard a small hint of pride in his response.
After their discussion, the three went back to the campsite and began to pack up and between the three of them it didn't take long. Afterwards Talos instructed Harmony and Esper to ready the sparrows and in two flashes of light the vehicles were ready and waiting. Weiss couldn't help but marvel both at what had transpired and the, literally floating, vehicles.
"This is amazing." She breathed out. "How did you do that?"
"It's called 'Transmat'." Replied Esper, "It's a type of matter transport and storage technology, and its basic tech in the city. All Ghosts can do it as well."
"Can you do it with anything?"
"Most things. It does have its limitations."
"And these vehicles?"
"They're called Sparrows. Mostly by Guardians for rapid planet-side transportation."
Weiss's eyes were wide and sparkled with barely contained excitement. "If we could have access to this, Huntsmen and Huntresses would be able to respond to calls for aid much faster. Not to mention be able to carry Dust, ammunition, and other items without having to deal with the extra weight." She could already imagine Atlesian scientists clamoring over the chance to get their hands on this technology.
Talos cleared his throat and Weiss was snapped out of her imaginings. "If you're done drooling over our tech," Weiss scowled at the Warlock, but wiped a hand across her mouth and chin just to be sure, "it's time for us to head out. I'll take lead, while you and Ruby take the rear." With that, both Talos and Ruby mounted their respective Sparrows.
"C'mon Weiss," Ruby said while patting the space on the seat behind her.
"Are you sure about this? These seem to be single seat craft."
"It'll be fiiiiiiine."
Reluctantly, despite her earlier excitement, Weiss mounted the Sparrow behind Ruby and wrapped her arms around her partner's waist.
"Awesome! Now hold on tight!"
"Wait, what do you MEEEEEAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa- "Weiss was cut off as the Sparrow's engine ignited and rocketed them forward through the trees.
In her attempts to hold on and not be blown off, Weiss lost track of how much time had passed. Eventually, however, they finally came to a stop, with Weiss slowly removing her arms from Ruby and shakily dismounting the Sparrow.
Ruby dismounted as well and made her way over to Weiss who was bent over with her hands on her knees for support. "Uh, Weiss, are you oka- "
"BLERGH!"
"Ew!"
Wiping her mouth and slowly standing up straight, Weiss shot Ruby an icy cold death glare while speaking in a tone that was far too calm. "We do not speak of this. Ever. Especially not to Yang."
Ruby nodded her head furiously. "Yeah, sure, whatever you say Weiss."
Recomposing herself as best she could, Weiss turned to Talos. "I take it we've arrived?"
"Close enough. We're about a couple of miles just outside of Mistral. Given your reaction to our technology, I figured we'd draw less attention if we walked in and posed as travelers. I also wanted to take this time to talk to Ruby."
Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Alone?"
"No. Just wanted to let you know," he said while regarding Ruby," that since you've decided to pursue finding out about your past, I'll leave the decision of whether or not to wear your helmet up to you. Just keep in mind: there's a chance that someone who isn't an ally might recognize you. Weiss, I'll be trusting you to have her back and keep an eye on her whenever I'm not around."
She crossed her arms with a huff and a slight smirk. "So essentially what I did back before she died then." Ignoring the indignant "Hey!" from Ruby, she made to follow Talos towards the city of Mistral.
/-/
Jaune Arc awoke to the incessant beeping of his scroll's alarm and reacted to it the way any young huntsman in training would. With lethargy and apathy. Groaning, he slid his arm out from under the sheet and blindly flailed it around hoping to silence the noisy device. After several second of no such luck, he rolled over onto his side and finally grabbed the dang thing and shut it off. Yawning, he sat up and looked at the time, which was several hours too early for his liking. Part of him, the sleep loving childish part, argued for laying back down and going back to sleep; however, he knew if he didn't get up now then he would receive another, more violent, wake up from his pink-adoring teammate.
Grumbling, he got up and exited out into the hallway of the large house they were currently occupying and shuffled to the bathroom. After washing his face and brushing his teeth, he went back to his room, got dressed and proceeded to make his way to the dining table and sat down on one of the cushions. Joining him soon after were Ren and Nora. Ren carrying two small bowls of white rice and two plates of what looked like cooked fish while Nora, unsurprisingly, had a massive plate of pancakes.
"Morning Jaune." Ren set one of the bowls and plates in front of him.
"Morning Ren. Morning Nora."
"Goooooooooooooood Morning Jaune-Jaune!" Nora slammed down he plate, rocking the table, all while sporting her trademark megawatt grin. "Crazy to see you up so early."
"Well, I'm trying to change some of my habits for the better" He let out a nervous laugh while running his hand through the back of his hair. "Besides, the sooner I get up, the sooner I can train."
All three began to dig into their respective meals, and while the food was good Jaune couldn't help but look at the rest of the table. It felt so empty with just the three of them there. He missed his sister team. He imagined Ruby stuffing her face with cookies, while Weiss berated her for not having a balanced breakfast. All the while Blake would have her face buried in one of her books ignoring her two teammates with Yang laughing and making some quip to Weiss to rile her up more and just being happy to be around the antics.
"Jaune?" The images disappeared from his mind's eye, just as he had turned to his right and caught the briefest glimpse of bright red hair and green eyes.
"Yeah?"
"Are you alright?" Nora had stopped eating, no not stopped, she was already done. Hadn't they just started?
"Yeah, you were staring off into space there for a bit." Ren still had his same stoic expression, but he could see concern in his eyes.
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, I was just…. thinking."
"About Team RWBY?" Let it never be said that Nora couldn't be perceptive when she wanted to be.
"Y-yeah. I guess I just- I just never realized how close our teams had gotten, and now that they're not here…"
"Cheer up Fearless Leader! It'll only be a matter of time before they bounce back and Team RWBY returns!"
"Yeah, just without the R."
Nora sagged a bit, and her smile faltered.
"She would want us to move forward." Jaune looked at the source of the new voice, Ruby and Yang's Uncle Qrow. When they heard from Yang's dad during their visit to check up on her that he was coming to Mistral, they begged to join him, to find the ones responsible for the fall of their school and the deaths of so many they held dear. "Knowing Ruby, she would have wanted us to keep pushing on. We owe it to her and everyone who's dead because of Cinder."
Jaune's hands clenched into fists. Ruby, Penny…Pyrrha. That woman has a lot of blood on her hands, and she's going to pay for every last drop.
"Anyways. You kids should probably go into town and buy some supplies. I've still got some business to tend to while we're here and so it might be a while."
Jaune stood up from his mostly finished meal. "I can go. I could use the walk and fresh air anyways."
Nora jumped up immediately after. "Ooh Ooh I can come too!"
"I'll stay," Ren said as he collected the dishes. "I'll clean up while you three are out and about."
"Awwww c'mon Renny! Let's all go out together!"
"Nora someone needs to clean these dishes and put them away." He gave her a sideways glance. "Unless you want to be the one to do it."
"Haha wow you're so responsible Renny! Yup. Super responsible. Anyways let's get goin Fearless Leader, that stuff isn't gonna buy itself!" With that Nora grabbed Jaune's arm and dragged him to the front door.
"N-Nora! Wait!" The sound of a door opening and then shutting was the last thing heard as the duo raced, or was dragged, outside.
The streets of Mistral were bustling with people and faunus as they went about their day like normal. Jaune couldn't help but gawk and the sheer verticality of it all. Whereas Vale was wide, Mistral was tall. Built into the mountainside, almost blending into nature. It's crazy how different everything is here. The streets feel more crowded too.
He would have had a hard time making his way through as well, if not for the ginger-haired bulldozer currently dragging him behind her so hard he thought his arm might rip out of his socket. "Nora can you please slow down? You're making a bit of a scene." Indeed, as she pushed her way through, a few people stopped to stare or even scowl at the pair as they made their way down the sloping street to the market district.
"Oh relax, Jauney. Its fiiiiiiine. See? We're practically there anyways!" Nora pointed ahead and Jaune could indeed see the tops of various stalls and shop signs in a square just a bit further ahead.
"Okay I get it, but could I have my arm back please? I think you're starting to tear- OOF!" Jaune was interrupted as he slammed into Nora's back, and she let go of his arm. For someone so small she certainly knew how to throw her strength around. "Nora what the heck, you can't just stop so suddenly when someone's behind you."
"…"
"Nora?"
"White. Hair."
"What?"
"I just saw white hair! C'mon Fearless Leader let's go!" And with that Nora took off into the crowd towards the center of the square.
"N-Nora! Wait up!" Jaune took off after her trying, but failing, to keep up with her through the deluge of people and not even registering what it was she said she saw. The last he saw of her was the back of her jacket as she was swallowed up by the crowd.
/-/
Weiss was currently failing. She had been tasked with a responsibility and she was failing it.
Not even five minutes after separating from Talos, she and Ruby had gotten separated after the newly resurrected girl saw the market, grew wide-eyed and sped off rambling some such thing or another about how amazing the place was. Part of her was frustrated at the girl for leaving her but, at the same time, a part of her was happy that at least some portions of the Ruby she remembered had remained.
Shaking the thoughts from her head, Weiss redoubled her efforts, looking left and right for any sign of the red reaper. Or is it Hunter now? she thought to herself, that's what Talos and the Ghosts said she was technically classified as. Regardless I need to find her quickly. If I recall Cinder and her ilk came from Haven and, while I doubt they would return after having their names and images plastered over the news for what they did, I'd rather not take the chance of them spotting and recognizing Ruby.
Panning her view back around she came face to face with a familiar head of bright orange hear, teal eyes, and mad shit eating grin. Weiss blinked twice before the shock fully settled in, finally recoiling back with a shout when it did.
"N-Nora!"
"Weiss!" the Pink Bomber yelled and crashed into her with a massive bear hug, crushing her in her grip and lifting her off the ground despite being shorter than her. "Ohmygosh you just got whisked away after the battle and we never even got to say goodbye! I thought we were gonna have to come rescue you or something!"
"Nora…. please…. can't breathe…."
Either nor caring or not heeding her struggling friend's cries, Nora continued to ramble on about how why they were in Mistral, how they met up with Ruby and Yang's uncle and the travels they went on to get here.
"….and then we learned that he's actually here on a mission too! And- "
"Weiss!" a third voice called out. Weiss managed to turn her head to see a red blur shoot in and stop just before her and Nora. "You won't believe all the cool stuff I saw! There was this one stall with- oh. Hello." Ruby waved, "I, uh, I think you're crushing Weiss." However, before she could struggle to say anything, Weiss was released and fell to the ground with a dull thud, gasping for breath. What have I done to deserve this?
Nora stared at Ruby, eyes wide and mouth open. An awkward silence permeated the air. Ruby was the first to break it. "Sooooooooooo, I take it you know Weiss?"
"Nora!" Another familiar voice called out. Weiss looked in the direction it came from to see the easily recognizable hoodie and armor combo of Jaune Arc as he jogged over and eventually slowed. "Jeez, I thought I lost you. Had to look almost everywhere for you!" When no response came Jaune looked to his teammate. Nora being this quiet was normally worrisome. "Nora?" he reached out to her shoulder.
"Ruby." That one word spoken by her was enough to make him stop and flinch. He looked at her and noticed she was staring. He followed her gaze, and when he saw what she saw, his brain stopped, and his mouth fell open as well. Before he could say anything however, a hand grabbed the bottom of his sweater and Weiss, using him as leverage, hoisted herself up and back onto her feet.
"W-Weiss?!"
Letting out a breath, Weiss calmed herself after finally recovering from her near Death-By-Nora experience. "Jaune," she said quickly and politely, "I know you must have a lot of questions- "
"Yeah! Is that really- "
"Ahp ahp ahp! Quiet. I-, "She shot a glance over to Ruby, "We will explain everything but first we need to go somewhere with a bit more privacy."
Nora, finally having gotten over the shock decided that now was a good time to jump into the conversation. Literally. "Oh Yeah! Well, we're staying in a house not too far from here." She replied while hanging off Jaune and pointing her thumb over her shoulder. "We can talk there if you like. Oh! And you guys can stay there too obviously!"
"Yes, that would be appreciated seeing as how we have yet to find suitable accommodations."
/-/
As the group of teens were talking another figure walked up to their group. "Traveler preserve me, there are even more of them now." Jaune looked to the newcomer and was met with a serious yet slightly amused expression and piercing green eyes.
Clearing her throat Weiss held out a hand to regard the new arrival. "Jaune, Nora, this is Talos. He has been accompanying Ruby and I as we made our way here."
"I'm sorry. I've been accompanying you?" Weiss shot him a stern glare, and he simply huffed in amusement and rolled his eyes.
"Regardless, he's with us, and so will be coming with us to the house."
"O-oh. That's fine. The more the merrier, and besides if you're friends with him then I guess it's okay. Right Nora?"
"Yeah! And besides those robes are pretty cool! Are you a Huntsman?! Your gear is super unique so you gotta be right?! Oooh ooh what's your weapon? What's your Semblance!?"
Esper tittered, in his earpiece. "I like her already."
"I'm a Guardian."
"Guardian?" Jaune asked while tilting his head. "So… you're a Huntsman who specializes in protecting things?"
"Yeah, let's go with that."
"Very well then," Weiss said taking charge once more, "lead the way."
As the group began their trek up the hill, Talos noticed how the two new kids kept shooting glances towards Ruby. He slowed his pace down and came up beside her. "Looks like they recognize you. Maybe they're more people from your past life."
"Y-yeah."
"Everything alright? I figured you'd be ecstatic to have found more people who could tell you more about your past."
"I am!" Ruby replied with a series of quick nods, "But I didn't expect to find this many people so quickly. It's all a bit overwhelming to be honest."
"Well, it's going to get even more overwhelming so best prepare yourself." Ruby shot him a confused look and so he continued. "They said we're going to a house. I highly doubt they have the means to own a house given how young they look. Which means they're probably staying with someone or someones who do. And if they're people that they know, which I don't know why they wouldn't be, then chances are it'll be people who you knew as well."
"Which means that they'll recognize me too."
"Correct."
/-/
As the group approached the house Ruby couldn't help but feel extremely nervous. These are all people I knew. And Talos thinks there's even more?! I wanted to know more about who I was but, this all seems like too much all at once!
As if sensing her unease, Weiss made her way over and spoke in a quiet tone, "Is everything alright Ruby?"
"Hm? O-oh yeah. I'm fine. Yup. Nothing to worry about here. I'm A-okay!"
Weiss stared deadpan at her and spoke in a similar tone. "Ruby we were partners. I lived with you during our time at Beacon, so I'm fairly confident in my ability to tell when something is bothering you."
Ruby held Weiss's gaze for as long as she could until finally giving in with a deep sigh. "Okay fine. Yes, I'm nervous, okay? It's just so weird. Knowing that at one point I knew them and now I don't. And when I saw you talking to them normally earlier like you were super close friends- "
"I wouldn't say super close friends."
"-and then I think that I could be like that with them. That I was like that. But instead, now I'm an outsider looking in to a group of friends that I have no memories being a part of." Ruby looked at the backs of the blonde-haired boy and ginger haired girl leading the way and Talos' voice resonated through her head as she recalled what he told her.
"-The personalities of the people around you, the laughs you shared joking around with your best friends, the love of your family, they're all gone from your mind, and seeing those people again won't just bring all of that rushing back. There are ways for a Guardian to get their memories back but they're… difficult."
"-most of the time the subjects don't feel like they're truly remembering, but that they're watching someone else's life through their eyes. Because that's really what it comes down to in the end. You're probably not the same person that died at the top of that tower a few weeks ago."
Not the same person huh? I know I asked Weiss to tell me but…. what do I do once I know who I was? Do try to be her again? Ruby looked back up to see Weiss still looking at her with concern in her eyes. "Can I be her again?"
"Be who Ruby?"
"Ruby Rose. Your Ruby Rose. Even if I were to somehow remember, would I be her? Or just someone pretending to be her? Or should I just be this new person?" Ruby ruffled her hair in frustration and let out a small whine. "Ugh! This is so confusing."
Weiss reached out and put her hand on Ruby's shoulder causing the young Hunter to look at her. "I-I don't know Ruby. When I talk to you, and see how you act now, it's hard to believe you were once the girl I called my partner." Ruby's face fell. "But then sometimes I still see the old you. It comes out and I find myself feeling familiar. Like you're still Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY."
"Were hhhheeeerrrreeee~" Nora let out in a sing song voice and ending the discussion.
"No matter what you decide we'll be here for you Ruby, even if you don't remember us." Weiss said while patting her shoulder and then removing her hand. "Now hurry up, we've been trekking through the forest for weeks and I could really use a decent shower and an actual bed."
As Weiss picked up her pace and walked towards the large three-story house in front of them Ruby let out a small smile. She was still conflicted and filled with doubt, but that could wait. For now, she had friends to re-meet.
/-/
The door the house slammed open with Nora's arm still on the front as she stepped through the threshold.
"Renny! Were hooo-ooomeee~" Nora sang as Jaune stepped around her and into the house.
Ren walked around the corner from the kitchen while wiping down a plate and a small smile on his face. "Welcome back you two," he said once he saw them both, "how was everythi- "
The sound of porcelain breaking filled the room as the last three members of the group came through the door, but it was the sigh of red-tipped black hair and silver eyes that gave him pause. He watched as she looked around, amazed at the size and décor of the house. He was broken out of his daze by a hand on his shoulder and when he looked, he saw Jaune standing next to him with a look that spoke of being in the same boat and understanding exactly what he was going through.
"R-Ren? Is everything alright?" a younger voice called out. It was unfamiliar to any of the current members in the room.
"No Oscar. It seems there's been a bit of a…. development."
Jaune turned to Ren with an eyebrow raised, "Oscar?"
Soon after, the source of the voice made its way into the living room with them. It was a young boy with brown hair, green eyes, and simple farmers clothing. Coming in behind him was a much taller and much older individual. He had black hair, red eyes, a hard stubbled face, and a dress shirt with slacks and a cape. "Would you kids keep it down. It's been a hell of a day and I really need to get back to- " The man stopped in his tracks as he took in the most prominent of the new arrivals. He looked Talos up and down, taking in everything. Talos in turn observed the man and his mannerisms. He was slouching, but he wasn't relaxed. In fact, it seemed the opposite, as if he was wound up tight and ready to react to any provocation. Talos then turned his attention to the young boy. He had a soft face with a simple innocence to it, but it was when he looked into his eyes that he tensed. There was something there, behind the green and amber coloration, something was looking out back at him, and it felt familiar somehow. His suspicions were raised even more when the young boy tilted his head as if listening to someone, slightly nodded his head and stepped a bit further back.
"You got a problem?". The older man was still staring at Talos.
"No." he replied finally looking away and back towards the man. "The name's Talos. We ran in to two of your young companions here and they offered us a place to stay."
"We?"
"Yes. Myself," he gestured to himself, and then swung his arm out to introduce the other two members of his party, "Weiss Schnee and- "
"Ruby." The older man cut him off. His eyes were wide and almost manic. Not in a violent way, but almost as if he was seeing something he couldn't believe was there but so desperately wished it was. "Is that really you pipsqueak?" His voice shook with emotion.
"Pipsqueak?!" The taller man was taken aback, almost as if he didn't expect that reaction. Along with everyone else if their equally shocked expressions were any indication.
"I'm just a tall as Weiss, and like, a bit taller than Nora! And I'm definitely taller than him!" Ruby yelled pointing as the young man. "And who do you think you are calling me out like that?"
"Ruby it's me. Qrow. Your uncle. Remember? Good old 'drunkle' Qrow?" Qrow took a few tentative steps closer to Ruby as he spoke. "Do you not remember?"
Everyone was quiet for a while. Until a small cough broke them all out of their thoughts. Turning to the source of the noise, everyone saw Oscar, now standing tall while resting on his cane and with a much different air to him than before.
"I believe that an exchange of information would be beneficial to us all. Mr. Ren, would you be so kind as to prepare some tea?" Without waiting for a response, the young boy then began making his way over to the dining area with Qrow shrugging and following right behind. Everyone else looked at each other hoping someone would have an explanation for what just happened. The tone of voice and manner of speaking was totally off from what they experienced earlier and Talos couldn't help this familiar feeling growing inside.
Eventually, they all made their way to the dining table and took their seats as Ren brought out several cups of piping hot tea. Talos accepted his with a quiet thanks and nod. Should I tell them everything? He debated to himself as he sipped his tea, it's obvious they knew Ruby like Weiss did so obviously seeing her back amongst the living is going to reveal her immortality to even more people, but just how far should I go with the truth?
Nora slamming her hands down on the table brought him out of his contemplation as she looked right at Ruby, "So how did you come back? As far as I know only zombies can come back- gasp- Are you a zombie?! Are you going to eat my brains? Renny protect your handsome brain!" She shouted as she grabbed Ren's head and protectively smashed it against her bosom.
"Nora. Relax." Ren said in a muffled voice, "Ruby is not a zombie."
"Y-yeah, there's no way she's a zombie." Jaune hesitantly said. "Right?"
Weiss let out an exasperated sigh while pinching the bridge of her nose. "No, Ruby is not a zombie, and yes she is, in a sense, back."
Finally managing to extricate himself from Nora's grasp, Ren turned to Weiss with a questioning look, "What do you mean 'in a sense'."
"I don't remember." All eyes turned to Ruby as she spoke. "I don't remember anything. Not about myself, or my life before I died, friends," she looked at Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Weiss, "or family." She finished while casting a glance at Qrow. "Whenever I try and recall anything, its like an empty haze."
"It's true," Weiss added with a downcast look, "she didn't even remember me when I first saw her."
"Curious," Oscar said as he took a sip of his tea, "and would this amnesia be related to your coming back Ms. Rose?" Ruby nodded her head in agreement but looked at Talos, which then caused everyone else to look at him as well.
Seeing everyone waiting on his explanation Talos cleared his throat and took a quick sip of his tea before speaking, "To begin with allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Talos. I was there when Ruby was brought back and, yes, her memory loss encompasses all knowledge of her previous life. Memories involving her previous experiences, friends, and family are all lost to her. Such is the case for all Guardians upon their first resurrection."
"And would you mind telling us how this was accomplished?" Oscar asked as he took another deep drink of his tea.
"Ruby has been chosen to wield the Traveler's Light in the defense of humanity and is now an immortal paracausal warrior."
Oscar almost did a spit take as he heard the explanation. "H-how?! How was that even possible?" he choked out between coughs. In response, Talos looked at Ruby, nodded his head and held out his left hand. Seeing what he was doing, she did the same and in small flashes of light, both of their ghosts materialized themselves.
"Hello." Both Ghosts said in unison.
"I'm Esper."
"And I'm Harmony! I'm the one who resurrected Ruby and now we're bonded!" the second ghost excitedly said while spinning her shell.
Everyone, except for Weiss, stared at the two new additions to their group in awe. "Since we've got you silence and attention, I guess I'll start at the beginning." Talos said, taking advantage of the situation. "It all started a long time ago when humanity detected a strange signature on the planet Mars…"
/-/
An hour later, and Talos had told them everything. The Traveler, the Golden Age, the Collapse, the Risen, the building of the Last City, and everything else leading up to Talos' arrival on Remnant. Everyone was processing in their own way. Weiss and Ren were both quiet with contemplative looks on their faces, Jaune was looking down at his hands balled into fists in his lap, Qrow had taken to drinking from his flask around halfway through, and Oscar was rubbing his chin in thought.
"And that's not all." Esper spoke up, "We've detected other sources of paracausality. Some of them," she swiveled to look at Oscar," much closer and more recent."
"I thought I sensed something familiar." Talos added as he crossed his arms, "I couldn't quite put my finger on it since it was so muted, but now that you've said it, it feels similar to the Light."
Oscar coughed nervously. "I was planning on bringing this up to all of my ex-students however, your arrival kind of put that on the back burner. Though I suppose now is as good a time as any. My name is Ozpin, and I too am immortal, though not in the same way as you two are. When I die my soul is merged with that of another like-minded individual."
Nora let out a startled gasp and pointed at Ozpin, "You're a cute little boy Ozpin!"
"Please don't call me that. And you are taking this surprisingly well Ms. Valkyrie."
"Well, yeah, Qrow pretty much gave us the spiel on the way over. Maidens, Relics, the whole sha-bang. Plus, you know, Ruby's back with superpowers and stuff from some giant slumbering god-ball, and now you're telling us you're immortal too. I'm kinda mind-blown out. But hey," Nora turned to look at Esper, "is what you said true? Are we really para-whatever?!"
"Paracausal," Esper responds, "and yes. Everyone that we've scanned on this planet has given of slight readings along with light and darkness."
"Light and darkness you say," the now revealed-to-be Ozpin said, "that would make sense considering our humanity was created by the Brother Gods of Light and Darkness."
"Brother Gods?" Esper twirled her shell.
"Yes. From what I understand Qrow has already told the story to a few of you here so for the sake of brevity I'll give a condensed version." Ozpin cleared his throat before continuing, "There once were two brothers. The older sibling, the God of Light, found joy in creating forces of life. Meanwhile, the younger brother, the God of Darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. The older one would spend his days creating life. And at night, his brother would wake to see all the things that the elder had made and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations, the God of Darkness brought drought, fire, famine, all he could do to rid Remnant of life. Eventually however, the older brother finally had enough. Knowing that their feud couldn't last forever, he proposed that they make one final creation together, something that they could both be proud of, their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed. This last great creation would be given the power to both create and destroy."
"Humanity." Harmony said in a low tone.
Ozpin nodded his head in agreement, "Humanity."
"Still though," Qrow said while staring at his flask, "figures that there's another humanity and that they're in an even worse predicament than us. Sucks, cuz from the sounds of it, they were doing pretty good until this 'darkness' showed up."
"Indeed Qrow, the similarities are quite surprising."
"Similarities." Talos repeated in a low mumble.
"Tal?" Esper asked floating up to him.
"You said the Grimm we fought gave off sterile neutrino readings, right? Like the Taken?"
"Yeah." Esper let out a small, excited gasp, "and the Light inside Oss-pin…"
Ozpin chuckled. "You can refer to us as either Esper, it doesn't matter." He rolled his eyes and tilted his head as if talking to someone next to him, "Yes, Oscar, it really doesn't matter, we're one and the same, or soon will be at any rate."
"Right. The Light inside Oscar is the same as what's inside a Guardian. Given all of that, and the tale of those two Brothers we were just told. You think that maybe…. maybe they were actually the Darkness and the Traveler?"
"But the Darkness has always been the Travelers enemy." Talos said closing his eyes in thought, "As far as we know, whenever they've come across each other they've always fought. Why would they then suddenly work together. And to create humanity no less?"
"Uuuughh!" Ruby frazzled her hair with both hands in frustration. "Ever since you found me on top of that stupid tower It's been nothing but craziness."
"Tower?" Jaunes head snapped up for the first time since the end of Talos's story. "What tower?"
"Beacon tower." Harmony answered. "We were up there scanning for anything useful and that's where I found Ruby's lingering essence and resurrected her for the first time."
"…."
"Are you okay there Fearless Leader?" Nora reached out an arm to comfort Jaune.
"Did you sense anyone else up there?" Nora's arm stopped just before reaching him. "Jaune" Ren said, seeing where he was going, "please."
"Answer the question please." Jaune's voice was hard and filled with pain and desperation.
"No." The answer was like a dagger to his heart. "The only reason I even sensed Ruby was because there was a lingering essence of Light as well. "
"Pyrrha…." Jaune clenched his fists even tighter as his eyes began to hurt and his vision began to blur, "Pyrrha died up there too…. she could have…she could have come back too…" Jaune then stood up abruptly and before anyone could say anything, walked out of the room and to the back yard.
"What was that?" Esper looked round. "Did…did I say something wrong?"
"Nothing of the sort Esper." Ozpin rested his hands on his cane. "You see, Ms. Nikos was Mr. Arc's partner. She also died while fighting against Cinder Fall at the top of Beacon Tower during the Battle of Beacon."
Harmony quickly put it all together and drooped down, her shell sagging slightly, "I'm sorry."
Ren stood up, dusting himself and looking at the sad Ghost, "You have nothing to apologize for. I assume that you can only resurrect one person?"
"Yes, and once we do, we're bonded to them as I said earlier." Ren offered her a small smile. "Then I for one am glad that at least one of our friends is back."
Nora nodded in agreement. "Yeah! I mean I would have loved to have had Pyrrha back, but it would've been the same as Ruby. She wouldn't have remembered us, and it would be just as painful. And like Renny said, it's good to have one of our friends back, no matter who." She then hopped up onto her feet and held out a thumbs up, "We'll go and have a talk with our Fearless Leader so don't you worry." With that she took off after Jaune with Ren offering a polite bow and following right behind.
After the members of Team JNR had left, the table remained quiet for a while.
"Ahem" Ruby cleared her throat, "I told Weiss this but, since I don't remember anything, I would like to find out more about who I was."
"I'll go first then." Qrow said as he pocketed his flask. "I'm Qrow Branwen. I'm a professional huntsman, and your uncle."
Ruby let out a small gasp, "Oh yeah you said that earlier!" She turned to Weiss, "You mentioned I had an Uncle Qrow! Is this him?!"
"Yes Ruby, this unruly drunkard is your uncle." Qrow let out a chuckle in response. "Don't tell me you're still mad I beat your sister Ice Queen."
"Stop calling me that! And you did not beat her. As I recall she had you on the defensive and only stopped due to interference by General ironwood." Weiss said with a huff. Ruby let out another gasp, "Wait! You also mentioned I had a sister!" She turned to Qrow, "Is that true?! Do I have a sister?!"
Qrow's eyes softened as he looked down at his returned niece, "Yeah. Yeah, you have a sister. Her name is Yang Xiao Long. Last I checked she was recovering at home with…. your dad." Talos' face took on a complex look, which did not go unnoticed by Ozpin who then spoke up. "I am glad we are helping Miss Rose; however, I believe in order to avoid having to repeat information multiple times, I suggest we wait until Mr. Arc and his companions return."
"Ooooh yeah!" Ruby said excitedly, "We can tell you all about how we got here! How we fought our way out of Beacon, and then rode Sparrows and even how we rescued Weiss from that Bandit Queen in Mistral!"
Qrow, who had been mid sip from his flask, let out a spit take and coughed as he pounded his chest with his right fist. "B-Bandit Queen?!" Talos looked at him with raised eyebrows "I take it you know of her?"
"You could say that."
"Hmmmm." Esper floated close to his face, causing him to lean back. "Now that I look at you, you and she have red eyes."
"And black hair." Harmony said while coming up behind Qrow causing him to let out a surprised squawk. "Related then?"
"Yeah," Qrow responded while finally backing away from the ghosts. "She's my sister. Her name is Raven. Raven Branwen."
"Can you also shoot fire and lightning?" Talos asked.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Fire and Lightning. While in combat she was able to shoot fireballs and summon lightning." Qrow and Ozpin shared a look at each other, and Ozpin leaned forward while intertwining his fingers on the table. "I believe we have much more to discuss than I thought Talos."
Ruby let out another deep sigh. "Nothing but craziness."
AhamkarasEye: Hey everyone. As mentioned above, Aperture wrote this one. I've outlined to him my general ideas for the story, and I helped with revision and editing, but pretty much all the prose is his. Again, let us know how it is beyond just the small stylistic differences you'll inevitably find between us.
I'll once again apologize for the formatting mistake last chapter, hopefully it didn't happen with this one, but if it does, I'll be sure to fix it again. Hopefully we'll have at least one or two more chapters of this out by the time Witch Queen launches on 2/22.
Anyways, signing off for now.
