Chapter 2 : 2 Roses and 2 Rubies?
Steven landed in the middle of a smallish grey ruin. Along the sides were pillars about as tall as he was. Steven walked over to one and saw that it had what appeared to be a chess piece. He decided to take the piece, the white king, and put it in his backpack. "Who knows? Might bring me luck," he told himself out loud. Steven stepped off the ruin and looked around in amazement. He was standing in a clearing that seemed to be between a large cliff with more ruins and a deep green forest. "Wow! This place is so cool," Steven exclaimed. After a few more minutes of taking in the sights, Steven decided he'd better find the Crystal Gems. "Hmmm," Steven said as looked around for any sign of the Gems. Steven once again looked at the cliff, and suddenly got an idea.
Steven walked over to the cliff, jumped over what appeared to be a destroyed bridge, and used his floating powers to jump to the top of the cliff. Up he went, and down he floated gently onto the cliff. "Ahhh!" Steven shrieked, as he saw what looked like a large bird head on the ground next to him. However, Steven saw that it was actually just a very oddly shaped rock. Steven turned back to look over the cliff. The forest stretched out for miles along in every direction. In the distance, Steven saw what appeared to be a large tower. Maybe a castle, even. Steven had just decided that would be a good place to start when he suddenly heard some commotion in the forest. Listening closely, Steven heard the clash of weapons and the cry of monsters. "The Gems!" he exclaimed excitedly. Wasting no more time, Steven took a deep breath and dove head first towards the forest.
Floating gently down, Steven suddenly remembered that he'd directly gone against the Gems' wishes. "Oh, Pearl and Garnet will be so disappointed," Steven groaned to himself as he reached the tree line. As Steven touched the ground, he decided it would be better to simply warp back without the Gems ever knowing that he was there. Turning around, Steven began walking through the forest back to the warp pad.
Suddenly, Steven came across a black pig-like monster. It stared at Steven, before curling up in what Steven assumed was a spin dash attack similar to Amethyst. Without hesitation, Steven pulled out his shield. The beast crashed into it and was thrown high into the air. Seizing the chance, Steven ran as fast as he could towards the warp pad. He had just made it to the clearing when he heard the monster roar behind him. Before he could do anything, Steven was knocked down by the rolling monster, completely winded. Steven lifted his head up, slightly dazed, to see the pig monster right in front of him, about to charge again.
Before the monster reached Steven, a shot was heard. The monster roared in anger right before completely disintegrating and vanishing. It got poofed, Steven thought. Steven stood up and turned around, expecting to see Pearl or even Opal standing there, confused and angry. However, he saw someone he'd never seen before. She was short, yet a bit taller than Steven, she wore a black and red outfit complete with a hooded cape, and she'd just put away what Steven thought was a scythe before it collapsed into a thin red rectangle.
"Hey, are you okay?" she called in a high pitched voice as she ran over to Steven. Steven groaned a little. "Yeah, I mean, I get run over by pig things all the time. No big deal." The girl laughed in a very cute way. "I'm sorry I didn't finish that thing earlier, but it got away when I was ambushed by an ursa." "A what?" asked Steven, looking rather perplexed. "An ursa," she repeated. "You know, big black bear looking Grimm?" Steven, not wanting to look too lost, simply nodded. "Umm, I like your bags," the girl said, gesturing to his backpack and duffle. "Oh thanks," Steven said, being rather proud of his fast food luggage. "Are you doing some hiking, or something?" the girl asked. "No," Steven said. "I was just looking for..." Oh man, Steven thought, the Gems. "Sorry," Steven said, "but I really need to get going." And with that, he turned and began running to the warp pad.
"Wait! Look out!" The girl called. "Deathstalker!" "Death what?" Steven called back, until he saw between him and the warp pad was a giant black scorpion with a large amber stinger plunging towards him.
"Run!" The girl cried in vain, as it was far too late to get away. Steven, however, simply created his bubble shield. The stinger bounced harmlessly against the surface, causing Steven to get shot away from the creature back into the woods. In the woods Steven popped the bubble and began running. He heard a couple of shots behind him, and the monsters' load roar. "Oh no!" Steven said. He decided he needed to help that small girl instead of run away. Sighing, Steven raced back towards the clearing. That is, until, he smacked into the girl running in the opposite direction. "What are you doing?" the girl asked in disbelief. "We have to get out of here!" "I don't think I can out run that thing, and it's gaurding my warp pad. We need to stop it!" The girl shook her head. "It's too powerful! We'll come back later once it's left, or with reinforcements!" "But where do we go?" Steven asked. The girl looked at him and smiled. "You can come hang out at Beacon until we're ready. Hang on tight!"
Steven looked absolutely lost. The girl had just said so many words he didn't understand, that Steven was at a complete loss for what to do. But before he could ask any of his many questions, the girl grabbed Steven in a bear hug and began running. "Hey! What're you-" But before Steven could finish, the two had turned into a red spiral and began moving at an unbelievable speed. Steven yelled, completely terrified as to what was happening. Eventually, he decided to simply close his eyes and wait for the madness to end.
"Alright, we're here!" A familiar voice said cheerfully. Steven opened his eyes, and fell into a state of awe. He was now on what appeared to be a giant floating castle. Steven felt a little sick to his stomach as he took it all in. "Here, let me help you." The red hooded girl offered a hand to Steven, which he gratefully accepted. "Feeling any better there, uhh, I'm sorry, I just realized I never caught your name." The girl said. "It's Steven," Steven said. "Well, hello Steven. Welcome to Beacon Academy. I'm Ruby." Steven was sure he'd misheard her, as she looked nothing like "Eternal Flame" Ruby. "Sorry, what was your name again?" "Ruby," she repeated. "Ruby Rose, at your service." Ruby went into a low curtsy, before accidentally tripping over herself and falling over. "Oh, whoops," she said before laughing. Steven smiled. He was starting to like this, Ruby. Whoever or whatever she was. "Here, now it's my turn to help you," he said, offering her his hand. Ruby laughed again before taking it. "So, what was with that whole bubble thing? Is that your semblance?" Ruby asked. Steven, again, looked confused. "Well, it's part of my gem power, if that's what you mean," Steven replied. "Gem power?" Ruby asked curiously. "Yeah, it's part of the power I get from my gem," Steven lifted up his shirt so that Ruby could see the piece of rose quartz. "Is that...like embedded in your skin?" Ruby asked, slightly concerned. "I guess so," Steven said, lowering his shirt again.
"Anyway, where should we go from here?"Steven asked. Ruby, shook her head out of a trance. "Of course! You can stay in Team RWBY's room! I mean probably. I mean, I'm okay with it, Yang should be fine with it, and Blake probably won't care as long as you don't bother her. It's just Weiss who may not like it. She loves rules so much I'm surprised she hasn't married them yet..." Ruby continued rambling, talking more to herself than anyone else. Steven decided she needed a minute, and calmly sat down on a nearby bench, waiting for Ruby to finish her discussion. "It's like, I wanted to have a giant bed shaped cookie so I could just take a bite if ever got hungry while studying or sleeping, but was I allowed to? Oh no, because it's "against regulations, would attract vermin, and is just plain gross!"
Ruby went on and on like this, walking around in circles and arguing with herself. Steven looked out at the amazing view of the forest from the castle, or Beacon as Ruby had called it. It really was quite beautiful, almost like something out of "The Spirit Morph" saga. Steven was just realizing how much he wished he was with Connie when Ruby suddenly reappeared and grabbed him.
"Alright, let's go!" Ruby said excitedly, marching Steven toward the main entrance. "Are you sure this will be alright?" Steven asked, a little nervous at all the thought that had to be put in before making this decision. "Oh yeah," Ruby replied happily. "Worst comes to worse, we can just outvote Weiss again like we did with the bunk beds." The entered the academy, and began talking almost like old friends. "You know," Steven said, "I once wanted a bed that was actually just a huge donut! But it turns out the sign for the Big Donut isn't an actual donut..."