Hello again! This was one that was sitting on the back burner for a while. Liked the ides, but hsd ton of issues with, so i decided to wrap it up like this and see if anyone had any thoughts and fixes for me. Thsnk you for once again reading.
_
The forest surrounded her on all sides as if it was trying to cut her off from the rest of the world. Its nature was pristine and untouched by man and yet it unsettled the young woman traversing it. For she felt like the only living creature that dared enter this forest. Despite the slowly encroaching fear the red cloaked woman pushed on, her goal the only reason to move forward. That was until she tripped on a root of tree and hit the ground, revealing her dark red hair from under her hood.
The woman quickly got back to her feet and looked at her map . She studied every section of it, hoping to find some landmark to base her location on once again. Once again it was futile through the lush forest around her. Yet somehow she knew that she had to be close, something told her she was close.
Some may wonder what brought such a young woman alone to such a forgotten part of the world and for her this journey began only a mere month ago.
———
1 month prior
Ruby was so excited to hear that her sister had finally found her goddess! That meant that Yang could go Beacon and become a champion just like her late mother, and even save the world! This was what both of them had trained their whole life for after all.
Yet at the same time Ruby felt envious. Where Yang was hailed at every achievement , Ruby was told where she needed to improve. Where Yang was given hope on her bright future of a god's champion, Ruby was reminded that they might not pick her. They both wished to fight for the gods and slay the enemy of man; the Grimm.
The Grimm were beasts made entirely out of negative energy that the gods could not stop alone and feared would bring the end of mankind. Until the gods discovered something extraordinary. When a god choose a human to fight for them, the god imbued a small amount of their divine energy in the human. This mixed with the humans soul and created something akin to the gods protections; an aura.
With this power the gods and their champions had finally pushed the Grimm back enough for man to find a foothold in the world and create civilization. This civilization led to the world that the sisters lived in, a world untied and yet divided. Four kingdoms ruled the land, and yet anywhere outside of their capitals felt as if you lived in the wilds. Only few places outside of these kingdoms felt any true safety.
One of these just so happened to be the village that the girls spent their entire lives in; Patch. Yet in such stability they wished to venture forth into the world and risk their life's. For entirely different reasons though. That's what was truly angering Ruby.
Where Ruby wished to venture forth and help as many people as possible just like her mother had once done, Yang had a different reason. She just simply wished to see the world and enjoy her freedom. If she helped people along the way that was fine. Yet with such superficial goals Yang had found a goddess to back her and Ruby was informed that none of the gods would ever want Ruby to be their champion.
Ruby felt a sorrow she had never felt before when she was told her fate. It took days for Ruby to even leave her room again, and yet the day Yang was to leave to start her journey to Beacon, Ruby was joyous. Her family had assumed she had finally got over the loss of her whole life's goal, but they would be mistaken.
For she had found a loophole in what the gods had told her. They had plainly stated that none in the "current" pantheon would back her, but did not mention any of the gods lost to time. True their were only seven in total that were not in the pantheon, and she knew her mother had killed one ten years ago for nearly causing the destruction of mankind, but that still left six more!
Or… If Ruby weeded out all the evil gods, one. A sole god that was attached to the house Schnee that had split with the pantheon shortly after the beginning of the third age of Remnant. That would be nearly a thousand years ago, and despite the passage of time, Ruby had found one tale that accurately captured the location of this god. The best part? They were located on the same continent as her! Just in some forest known as the Forest of Lost Souls. Scary name, but Ruby wanted to be a champion so no intimidating naming forests were not going to stop her!
So Ruby packed all her essentials, her weapon Crescent Rose, a couple of her signal combat uniforms, a few pounds of cured meat, and of course the most important: a few dozen of her cookies. She left shortly after Yang departed for Beacon and if she timed this right she should find the missing god and become their champion within the time until Beacon starts up in a month!
——-—
Present
Ruby looked through her bag once again to see her dwindling supplies. Despite her best efforts she had forgotten to pack a first aid kit and had to use her spare outfits to make bandages. She still lacked an aura to actively heal her, and cuts could easily bleed a lot longer than she thought. She was down to her last remnants of her meat and her cookies only lasted her the first few days.
Worst yet, this was the final day before Beacon started up and she would be left behind by all her friends, if she didn't find this god now then she was doomed to have to wait until next year to enroll. So despite everything she pushed forward, she would not give up! So what if no one has seen this god for over a thousand years, so what if this god was a hermit and decided not to be with the rest of the pantheon, and so what if no one believed in her ability to be a champion! She would prove them all wrong!
She could hope to deny the gods as much as she wanted, but even Ruby Rose could not defy gravity. Despite all her planning and all her looking around she could never have thought that a seemingly innocent bush was hiding a cliff right behind it. It didn't help that she was also running ahead at full speed, desperate to find this god. All she could do was look down and see the canopy of the trees at least a dozen feet below her.
The rush of air going past her ears only lasted a few short seconds before she hit the first branches of the tree below her. The pain shot through her body but it was the first of many. Her only saving grace was the fact that the tree managed to slow her down enough that by the time she hit the forest floor again it wasn't fatal. Of course that didn't stop the coursing pain that radiated throughout her entire body, pain that she had never felt before in her life. Despite this she was still out in the wild and there could be Grimm around, so she couldn't just stay in one place.
Ruby slowly tried to move her limbs to see if they worked. Her legs were ok, so she could still walk. Her left arm was ok, but when she tried to move her right arm she felt excruciating pain. Yup, decently broke something there. The pain was so much that she just laid there with her eyes forced closed and cursed the gods for all they have done to her. For not letting her achieve her dreams, for crushing her hope.
Yet even with her eyes closed, Ruby felt that something was extremely off about this place that she found herself. Like the forest that she had traversed through for the last few weeks it was deathly silent, but yet there was something more. An almost silent energy that was surrounding her, compelling her to get up and run from this area specifically. Ruby tried to place it with her senses, but no matter what she just couldn't put a finger on it.
Only having one sense to try to figure out what has changed around her, Ruby slowly opened her eyes again and tilted her head back to look in the direction that she felt most of this energy radiate from. She gasped in shock. For in front of her very eyes sat a white marble temple with ornate columns surrounding it. She studied every inch of the pristine building that stuck out like a sore thumb in the greenery that surrounded her.
Carefully Ruby worked her way up to standing and flinched when to much weight was placed on her left leg. Ok, it wasn't broken but the fall definitely sprained it. Yet that didn't hold her attention for to long as her eyes lingered back to the temple once again. Now that she was standing she could get the sheer scale of the building in front of her. It towered over her measly short height and if Ruby had to guess be at least forty feet tall. She could not see the end of it from where she was standing.
Despite everything inside of her screaming that she should not approach closer, Ruby slowly ventured towards the strange temple as fast as she could while limping. Soon she found herself at two large marble doors that stood twelve feet tall. Ruby looked around these doors trying find a handle or leaver to move them and couldn't see anything on their flat, shining surface. So instead she pushed one with her left shoulder and hopes that it would open.
To her surprise the door easily slid open despite the fact that it looked to weigh close to a ton. It moved so easily she had to catch herself before she fell forward into the ground once again. As she looked inside she was amazed to see such brilliant light despite the open door being the only access to sunlight within the building. Using this light she slowly studied the room around her.
She could easily see the end of the room over a hundred feet away, a smaller marble door the size meant for a human against the marble wall. Along the sides of the room were pillars spaced every ten feet and upon these pillars where torches that had brilliant blue flame within them. She also noticed the imitating presence of ten foot tall white knight armor standing on both sides of each pillar leading down the room. Despite the fact that all the armor seemed unoccupied she still felt like all of them were looking at her and it brought a chill down her spine.
It also didn't help that the same weird energy from before was amplified much more so within the temple itself. When the door opened it almost felt like she was getting hit by a wave off water it was becoming so strong. Ruby gulped and tried to push back down the feeling that she was about to lose her stomach. She slowly continued down the long room to the next door, constantly looking over her shoulder at the knights fearing that they would move and follow her. It must be paranoia sinking in as she still could plainly tell that the armor was still unoccupied.
She finally reached the next door and pushed it in, and just like before it easily slid open for her. This time however it revealed a much smaller circular room with the same torches every five feet spread around its circumference. In the middle of the room sat a small wash basin held up by a thin marble frame. What was behind it startled Ruby the most.
For what was there was a throne with a thin woman sitting upon it. Just like the rest of the temple both the throne and the woman herself seemed to be a pristine white. Her hair was a long almost silky white that flowed down her back and she wore a simple white dress that ended just before her knees and unfortunately for Ruby didn't leave much to the imagination. In Ruby's eyes she looked stunning, almost perfect. Even the light scar over her left eye seemed to add to her beauty. Yet there was a catch, for as long as Ruby had stared she didn't see this woman move, not even breathe.
Getting terrified of both the weird energy that was almost smothering her at this point and the fact that she was sharing the room with a deceased woman, Ruby quickly ran up to the wash basin to get a quick look at herself. She saw her face in the reflection and sighed when she had only a small scratch across her face that was close to stop bleeding. Her mind traveled for a moment as she thought on if this was at all somehow related to the god she was looking for. It defiantly looked like a temple for a god, it must have been kept in such a good state by someone. As her thoughts were trying to find this out a small drop of her blood fell from the scratch on her face and hit the water of the basin.
Before Ruby's eyes the water instantly changed to the same deep red as her blood and filled the entire basin. At this point Ruby was close to having a panic attack and screamed as she jumped back as the woman in the chair took a gasping breathe. Shaking like a leaf Ruby looked up at the woman and was stunned by the glacier blue eyes staring back at her, as if studying the young woman before her.
"Ruby Rose, it is a pleasure to meet you." The white haired woman said in a velvety voice that soothed Ruby's ears. That was until Ruby realized that this woman should have no clue who she was, she wasn't famous at all and this was quite literally the middle of nowhere.
"W-who are you?" Ruby stuttered out through her shaking teeth.
"Worry not miss Rose, for I am the one for whom you seek." The woman coolly replied.
Ruby just stared at her until it clicked in her head, she was looking for the lost god and she found this woman. Much more excitedly she exclaimed "Are you the lost god!?"
The woman merely chuckled before making a white goblet out of thin air and dipping it into the basin. She took a sip of it and it slightly weirded Ruby out. After her sip she lowered the goblet and looked Ruby in the eyes once again and stated "Yes, I am the goddess Weiss Schnee. Though I am not lost."
She did it! She found the lost goddess, er… The anti social goddess? Whatever, that didn't matter. She did it! Now all she had to do was convince her that Ruby was the best choice for a champion and to go to Beacon with her.
Ruby cleared her throat "Um, my goddess.." Ruby started, but was interrupted by Weiss raising her hand for silence.
"Now that won't do miss Rose. I do hate such titles. Please do just call me Weiss, all the honors are for the boring old gods. And before we do any more talking we must fix up your beaten body." With that Weiss simple raised the goblet to Ruby. "Drink from this and all your problems will go away."
Ruby looked at the white goblet will the dark red liquid inside of it with apprehension, how would drinking her own blood solve anything? Of course one shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth without accepting it… Especially if it was from such a beautiful goddess like Weiss. If Ruby didn't already know who the goddess of beauty was, she would have sworn that it would have been Weiss.
Ruby grabbed the goblet with as much grace as she had, which for her was close to none and took a sip from it. She instantly felt power flow through her body and every ache was gone within an instant. "Wow! Thanks Weiss!" Ruby yelled out , and quickly covered her mouth after the outburst.
Weiss just simply laughed in an almost angelic voice that memorized Ruby for a moment before speaking again "So Ruby, what is it that you wish to speak to me about?"
Ruby shook her head, right she was here for a reason. Wringing her hangs together and giving Weiss the cutest expression she had Ruby asked so quickly the words all jumbled up together "WillyoumakemeyourchampionandcometoBeaconwithme?"
Weiss just looked at her stunned for a moment so Ruby rambled on "None of the other gods will let me be their champion and I really want to help protect people, and you can only do that as a god's champion. I understand that you might not be the most social of gods, but that's alright because I'm not very social either. But could you do this for me pleaseeeeeeeee." She even topped it off with her best puppy eyes that could get almost anyone to cave to her, well except for the other gods…
Weiss shook her head for a moment and started to loudly laugh, as much as Ruby loved that sound it just lowered her mood worse. Weiss was just going to tell her that she was such a fool for traveling so far to try to get her to return to the pantheon. It made sense, after all Weiss could have returned anytime within the last one thousand years if she really wanted to.
Weiss swiped a tear that escaped her eyes off of her face as she calmed down and replied "I said by drinking from that goblet I would solve all of your problems, Ruby. This one was also included." Ruby looked back up stunned and surprised, she was being accepted so easily? It went even better than she expected in her head! "We are already bonded over this drink we shared. Your blood is within me as is mine within you. Though I would like to say a few things about your wardrobe, after all I wouldn't want the one who represented me to be so drab."
Ruby was scared for a second, thinking about how everything looked around her that would most likely mean she would be dressed in pure white…. And that would be horrible, not that white didn't look amazing on Weiss, but Ruby would look like she was trying to steal her mothers appearance. That just felt wrong.
Before Ruby could respond, Weiss just simple snapped her fingers and Ruby felt the clothes change on her body. Horrified the first thing she grabbed was her cloak that her mother had made for her. She couldn't let that go away. She sighed when she still felt it and confirmed that it was the same color as it was the day it was made. In fact it looked almost the same as the day it was made, none the the patched up tears or discoloration of twelve years there anymore. The only difference being an insignia patched in the middle of her back. A darker red thread showing a burning rose.
The next thing Ruby's eyes caught was her black puffy skirt with a red under lining that just showed at the edges. Below it were pure black tights that covered her legs where her pants used to. She still had her same combat boots, black with laces the same red of her cloak, but now they looked just as pristine as the day she bought them. She squealed at the sight, she always wanted a skirt but her father had told her no on the matter. 'Skirts weren't meant for young ladies in training.' Secretly she just thought that he was scared she would remind him so much as her mom, she always loved skirts too.
Excited Ruby looked back at Weiss with sparkling eyes and blurted out "How did you know I liked skirts and the color red?!?"
Her outburst caught Weiss off guard for a moment and Ruby was scared she said something wrong to the only goddess willing to help her. That was until an adorable blush painted across Weiss's face and she shyly responded "I o-only gave you the clothing that you truly wanted."
Ruby tilted her head slightly in confusion and looked down at her outfit again. It really was what Ruby wanted to always wear when she would slay the enemies of mankind. A large smile plastered itself on Ruby's face as she looked back at Weiss and exclaimed as she tackle hugged her "Thank you sooooooo much Weiss! You are the best!"
Weiss stiffened with the hug that led to the two of them falling on the ground for a moment. Weiss just let out a loud sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Ruby, I do suggest that you rest today so you are ready for tomorrow."
Ruby looked at her confused for a moment and then realized that Weiss's blushing face was just mere inches from her own and quickly hopped off. "R-right, I have to be ready for B-beacon tomorrow." With that she started to turn to walk back into the main room until it clicked, she had to be at Beacon tomorrow for orientation and they were sooo far away! "Weiss!!" Ruby yelled out as she turned around towards the goddess "We have to leave now and we still won't make it!"
Weiss had just gotten back up off the ground and was wiping herself off when Ruby yelled into the small room causing her ears to ring for a moment. She sighed once again and replied "Ruby, I already know when we have to be at Beacon and I guarantee you that we will be there tomorrow."
Relief flooded Ruby's body and strangely with an extreme wave of tiredness. That didn't matter, she had done it! She found the anti social goddess, got bonded with her, and will make it to Beacon on time! She was so excited she didn't even question the random bed that appeared in the main room that she laid down on, or the fact that the suits of armor where all moving now. Doing any small tasks that they could find around the place.
———
Ruby still couldn't believe that she was standing on the hollowed grounds of Beacon that overlooked the city of Vale. She also couldn't believe the crazy morning she had with waking in a random bed that she had no clue how it got there, or nearly having a heart attack seeing unoccupied suits of armor sweeping the floors of the temple she was in.
She also couldn't believe that Weiss didn't arrive with her as she sent Ruby here first, citing that she had to do something before she arrived. The goddess was gone for a thousand years and she still had something she wanted to do when today was such a special day for the both of them.
Silver eyes searched all around her as she was looking for her sister that would be so excited to see her here. Though all the odd looks that she was getting was unnerving here a little at the moment. Almost anyone that passed her by stared at her for a moment as if she was some odd sight to see.
Soon though she saw her, or mainly her golden hair. It was even heading towards where she was currently standing. Soon Yang burst through the crowd with a blackened haired woman beside her, and Ruby instantly recognized the goddess that had chosen Yang. The cat eared forest guardian goddess Blake Belladonna. Made sense in Ruby's mind with Yang's desire to roam, the two made a great pair.
Though when Ruby's sight landed on Yang's face she felt fear again. Yang was mad, so mad that her eyes even changed color. Why would Yang be mad at her? The last time they saw each other was a month ago… Before Ruby essentially ran away from home. Yup, that was a good excuse to be mad.
"RUBY ROSE!" Yang yelled. Whelp if the anyone wasn't looking before they were now.
Shaking slightly at the sight of her very angry sister Ruby gave a timid wave and replied "H-hi Yang."
Yang was now standing in front of her younger sister and still looked really mad. Madder than that time Ruby accidentally washed her cloak with all of Yang's clothes. Who would have guessed she didn't like the colors orange and pink.
"I cannot believe you snuck into Beacon! It wasn't bad that you gave all of us a heart attack when you just ran away from home, but you dared enter here without permission from a god!" Yang exploded her boiling anger as her eyes slowly grew redder and redder.
Oh this was not good, she was worse than Ruby had thought. Trying to calm her sister Ruby tried to explain herself "But, I found proof of where a god was so-"
Yang wasn't having it "I am taking you back home now! Dad and Uncle Qrow can deal with it." With that Yang reached out to grab Ruby's wrist.
No! She can't go back, not after all her hard work and finally arriving here, not even her family will stop her dreams! So she screamed "NO!"
Yang flinched at her scream, but before she could respond a cold voice filled the air all around them. "Who dares to touch my bounded." Ruby's eyes widened at the voice that she recognized, Yang's head snapped back and worth trying to find the source.
Suddenly a portal ripped itself through the air behind Ruby. Two seven foot tall white knights walked through, followed by Weiss herself. The caring blue eyes that Ruby had witnessed just this morning were sharpened into a deadly glare. Her eyes more akin to frozen glaciers of the north than the calm lake that Ruby had seen since they met.
Blake was the first to break out of her stupor and bowed before responding "Y-your highness, what brings you h-here."
Yang looked between the two gods confused, Ruby just stared at Weiss equally confused. Weiss for her part just causally glanced at Blake and said in a disinterested voice "No ceremonies miss Belladonna, just miss Schnee is enough."
Blake slowly got back up and gulped before replying "Of course Miss Schnee."
Yang burst in next "What do you mean bonded?"
Before Weiss could reply a calm voice carried over the air all around them "That means Weiss has finally chosen her partner after all this time." Everyone looked around confused, except for Weiss who just started up into the air. Ruby caught sight of this and also looked up and her jaw fell at the sight of the high god Ozpin descending from the tower of Beacon towards them.
Quickly Ruby fell down to bow to the literal god of life that was before, just like everyone else besides Weiss. Weiss herself looked disinterested while examining her nails, that was until she noticed Ruby was bowing as well.
"Dolt, get up. You have no need to bow before him." Weiss chided her bonded in a warm soothing voice. It instantly relaxed the young woman who instinctively stood back up.
Ozpin landing softly in front of the two woman, one squirming and the other still acting as if the highest god in the entire realm literally wasn't standing before them. "It's a pleasure that you could return Weiss, we have all dearly missed you." Ozpin warmly stated.
"Then you all have a funny way to show it, not a single soul visited me in my temple for a thousand years." Weiss replied coolly to the litteral highest god in the realm. Something that made Ruby really nervous. It almost made her think that she made a mistake in taking the anti social goddess back to Beacon. Of course that was until Weiss lost poker warmly at her and held her hand. It made Ruby's stomach fuzzy even.
Before the high god could reply Yang blurted out "What does partner mean?!" Almost instantly Blake was upon her champion covering her mouth fully.
"That means Weiss has finally accepted her one to share her burdens and future." Said a stern womanly voice from the air above them. Ruby looked up and was staring struck by the saintess Glynda Goodwitch.
Where Ruby was staring struck, Weiss seemed completely disinterested. "Hello Glynda, what do I owe you for this pleasant meeting."
Glynda glared at Weiss and Ruby flinched under such a stare. "I am just visiting my new students, and until the four years that you will be training here are over it will be Professor Goodwitch to you."
Weiss just flipped her hair and replied "Whatever, is that all you two needed?" After affirmations from the two Weiss looked over at Ruby and said "Come Ruby, let us find our room." With that she grabbed the cloaked woman's hand and lead them away.
Where as before she was getting a good amount of stares, now literally everyone was staring at the pair of them. With looks of both curiosity and fear. It was rather unnerving for her. She got a little closer to Weiss and whispered "What are they looking at?"
Weiss looked around them and scoffed "They are just curious, you don't have to worry. If anyone one of them try giving you trouble let me know."
With all the looks she was getting she still felt odd, but it started some thoughts. Why was she so familiar with the high god of life Ozpin? Why did the goddess Blake call her highness? Why does all the other gods same to respect and fear her? It finally clicked in Ruby's mind, she had no clue what Weiss was the goddess of.
So she asked "Hey Weiss, what are you the goddess of?"
Weiss just simply laughed and said "I thought you knew with your grand search and all." She waved her hands as she finished and looked at Ruby and soon realized that Ruby had no clue and clicked her tongue. She turned towards Ruby and stretched out her hand for a shake. Ruby instinctively grabbed and as they shakes Weiss said "My name is Weiss Schnee. The high goddess of death, and you Ruby Rose are my reaper."