AN: Sorry this took a bit. My wife and I got COVID at the beginning of the year, and I'm still getting some side effects. But I'm back, and with a new chapter to finally kick off Volume 1!

Onwards!

Chapter 1

Roman Torchwick couldn't believe he was forced to work with these imbeciles.

He and his newly-acquired "crew" strolled through the streets of downtown Vale at night, heading for a small Dust shop called From Dust Till Dawn. He appreciated the pun.

What he didn't appreciate was the group of men that he had been made to work with as opposed to Junior's men as he had intended.

Instead of the clean, uniform look of the people he usually ran with, these guys were just a bunch of thugs wearing clothes from a thrift store, with two of them wearing black tank tops with gold dragons stitched on the right side, while the other two wore black leather vests and no shirts. Roman, by comparison, was wearing a sharp white trench coat, his orange hair contained beneath a black bowler hat. The lit cigar dangling from him mouth and the hooked cane in his hand really helped to complete the whole "Gentleman thief" look.

A group of citizens wisely got out of their way, but one of the idiots saw an attractive woman and broke formation to go and talk to her.

"Hey baby," the thug said. "How would you like to—" he was interrupted by Roman hooking his cane around the man's neck and yanking him away. "Hey! What the hell did you do that for?!"

"We're supposed to be doing a job, so stay focused," Roman said.

"Come on, Torchwick," the goon said.

"Move" Roman said assertively. The man relented, growling in frustration before joining the rest of the group. Roman felt a tap on his shoulder and looked down to see a diminutive young woman. She wore a white coat with tails, tight black pants, and white high-heeled boots. Her hair was half brown, and half pink with white streaks. Strikingly, her eyes were two different colors: One pink and one brown.

Her name was Neo, and she was the only person Roman really trusted in this screwed-up world.

Neo's hands started moving rapidly, the only real way she could communicate with him. "I don't like working with these guys," she "said". "They ruin our style."

"Truer words were never spoken, Neo," Roman said.

"What?" One of the goons asked. "What did she say?"

"That we should get this job done fast and efficiently," Roman lied.

"Oh don't worry Torchwick, you're with the best gang Vale has to offer." He looked to the other goons. "Am I right, boys?!"

The others all raised their fists in the air. "Cor—" They paused, realized their mistake, and quickly corrected themselves. "Torch! Wick!"

Roman shook his head disapprovingly before he looked back down at Neo.

"And they're idiots," she signed. Roman smirked and the group continued onwards.

They eventually arrived at the Dust shop walked through the front door, seeing it deserted except for the elderly, balding man behind the counter. The man tensed up at seeing the gang enter.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust store open this late at night?" Roman asked, and one of his borrowed goons whipped out a gun and pointed it at the shop owner, who threw up his hands.

"P-Please, just take my gil and leave," the old man said. Roman shushed him placatingly.

"Calm down, we're not here for your money." He turned to his men. "Grab the Dust." They immediately got to work, plugging small canisters into Dust dispensers built into the wall. The sound of a soft voice clearing their throat caught Roman's attention. He looked down and saw Neo pointing at the glass case that the shopkeeper was standing behind. There was a mini-fridge filled with cup-sized tubs of ice cream. Roman rolled his eyes. "And get her a tub of Neapolitan ice cream."

The shopkeeper quickly took out a small tub of the sweet treat and handed it to Neo, who accepted it with a big smile.

Roman chuckled.

Ruby bobbed her head up and down as the music blared in her ears.

She was so lucky that this place was still open!

She had found a nice quiet spot in the back of the store near the magazines, and was happily reading the newest issue of Weapons Monthly while listening to her music with the red headphones Cloud had gotten her for her last birthday.

Ruby's reading was soon interrupted when a hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. She was greeted with the sight of a butt-ugly dude wearing a leather vest without a shirt and carrying a knife. He motioned to his ears, instructing her to take off her headphones.

"Yes?" she asked after doing as she was asked.

"I said, put your hands in the air, now!" the goon said angrily.

Ruby narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Are you… robbing me?"

"Yes!" the man shouted in exasperation.

"Oh…"

Roman took another drag of his cigar as one of the goons placed a box down on top of the glass display case and opened it up.

"Put the crystals in the case, old man," the goon said, and the shopkeeper quickly complied.

As the old man transferred Dust crystals from the case to the box, Roman picked up a red one and examined it closely. "Raw Fire Dust," he said, showing it to his companion. "Neo, give your honest opinion. How high would we price these if we sold them on the black market? 80, 90 gil?"

"130," she signed.

"130. Well, someone's feeling generous."

Neo gave Roman a smirk. Suddenly, one of the goons that was the back was sent flying back to the front of the store and crashing into a wall. Roman sighed, looked over at another goon, and gestured to him to go check out the back. Seconds later, the goon was sent flying through the shop window, some kind of red blur following him outside.

Ruby looked down at the unconscious criminal, reaching behind her back to grab Crescent Rose as the other thieves in the store gawked her. She unfolded her weapon, spun it around just to be fancy, and pointed the massive scythe at the bad guys. The leader of the group, the man wearing a white trench coat, black bowler hat, and guyliner, raised an eyebrow at the young girl.

"Okay…" he said. "Get her."

Ruby smirked as the criminals charged at her, sloppily carrying their weapons. In a blur, all of the men were laid out on the ground, with Ruby tossing the last one at the leader's feet.

The leader sighed as he looked down at the unconscious goon at his feet. "If this is the best Vale has to offer, I'm afraid to see its worst," he said. The multi-colored, similarly-dressed girl next to him made weird hand gestures, almost like she was saying something. Ruby could hear sirens approaching in the distance, and the two criminals also seemed to notice it. The man dropped his cigar on the ground before extinguishing it with his cane.

"Well, Red, I think we can all agree that it's been an eventful evening, and as much as me and my partner would love to stick around…" the short girl stuck her tongue out at Ruby, while the man pointed his cane at her. "We're afraid this is where we part ways." A scope flipped up from the end of the cane, and a small ball of fire shot out of it. Ruby's eyes widened for a split second before she jumped into the air to dodge the shot. The fire ball hit the ground and exploded, leaving a small crater in the middle of the road. When she landed, she saw that the criminal duo was gone, being replaced with… shards of glass? She looked around and spotted them climbing up a ladder to the roof of a nearby building. She turned her attention to the shopkeeper.

"Are you okay if I go after them?" She asked. He nodded, and Ruby took off after them. She used her Semblance to scale the building quickly. "Hey!" she shouted, prompting the two criminals to stop running.

"Persistent," the man said in frustration.

The roar of an engine suddenly overpowered Ruby's ears, and a Bullhead rose from behind the building. The criminals jumped on board, but the man didn't close the door. Instead, he pulled a Fire Dust crystal out of his pocket. "End of the line, Red!" he shouted, and tossed the Dust crystal onto the roof. He fired a shot from his cane at the crystal, causing it to explode. Ruby raised her arms to defend herself, but the explosion was stopped by something.

Or rather, someone.

Ruby looked up and saw a tall woman with blonde hair pulled into a tight bun standing in front of her, wearing a white blouse and a black pencil skirt with a purple cape flowing in the wind. A magic barrier surrounded the two of them, the Materia in the woman's bracelet glowing. The woman dissipated the barrier, and swung her weapon, a…riding crop? Weird… and fired several purple projectiles at the Bullhead. The man and his multi-colored partner retreated further into the Bullhead, and were replaced by a woman with black hair and a red dress. Ruby though couldn't see her face with it being hidden in shadow. The blonde Huntress pointed her riding crop at the airship, and a green glowing circle surrounded her.

"Blizzaga!" the woman shouted, and large hail stones appeared above the airship and rained down. Lines on the red-clad woman's outfit began to glow, and Ruby could see her amber eyes light up. A wave of magic energy erupted from the Bullhead, shattering the ice spell. Ruby finally snapped out of her awe and started using Crescent Rose to fire some shots at the mystery woman, who miraculously used her bare hand to block the shots. The red-clad woman turned to look at Ruby, but something weird happened.

Ruby felt some kind of… connection to this woman. Almost like they'd met before. But how?

The two of them seemed to be stuck in a trance as they stared at each other for what felt like hours.

Ruby was the first to snap out of it, and fired another shot from Crescent Rose, hitting the mystery woman in the shoulder. The woman growled angrily, and held out her hand towards Ruby and the older blonde. The ground beneath their feet suddenly started glowing red and exploded, but the two of them were able to dodge in time. This bought the Bullhead's pilot enough time to flee. The mystery woman took one last look at Ruby before the Bullhead's door closed. With no more delays, the pilot flew the aircraft away from the scene and the Bullhead seemed to disappear into the distance.

Ruby folded Crescent Rose up and put it on her back, and turned to the blonde woman, who was looking at the empty space that the Bullhead used to occupy with an unhappy expression on her face. "You're a Huntress," Ruby said excitedly, drawing the woman's attention. "Can I have your autograph?!"

Ruby didn't get her autograph.

Instead, the woman brought her to a police station, throwing her into an interrogation room. The woman was pacing around the room ranting at the young girl with a very strict tone.

"I hope you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady," the woman said. "You put yourself and others in great danger."

"They started it!" Ruby insisted. "Was I just supposed to let them rob the store?"

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with a very stern warning," the woman said, slamming her riding crop on the table, making Ruby flinch in fear, "But… there's someone here who would like to meet you."

Ruby raised an eyebrow in confusion as the woman stepped aside to allow the door to open, and a gray-haired man in a green suit with a cane and a small pair of circular sunglasses stepped in. He was holding a plate of cookies and had a pleasant smile on his face.

She instantly recognized the man as Professor Ozpin.

"Ruby Rose…" Ozpin said, leaning close to her face. "You… have silver eyes."

"W-wow," Ruby said with a slight nervous smile. "The, uh, color isn't usually the first thing people notice about my eyes."

"I can imagine…" Ozpin said, his voice taking on a slight melancholic tone. "So. Where did you learn to do this?" he gestured his head over to a tablet-sized scroll the blonde woman was holding, which was showing the security footage of Ruby's fight against the goons outside the shop.

"S-Signal Academy," Ruby said.

"They taught you how to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" Ozpin asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Well, one teacher in particular," Ruby said.

"I see…" Ozpin said, placing the plate of cookies on the table. Ruby slowly reached her hand towards one and picked it up. Neither of the adults said anything, so she shoveled it and several more into her mouth. "It's just that I've only ever seen one other scythe-wilder of that skill before. A dusty old crow…"

"Oh! Tht's mf unfl," Ruby tried to say through a mouthful of cookies. She swallowed and then continued. "Sorry. That's my Uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now I'm all like super strong now."

"So I've noticed," Ozpin said, taking a seat across the table from Ruby. "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well… I want to be a Huntress."

"You want to fight monsters?"

"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal! And then I'm going to apply at Beacon. You see, my sister and my friend and my friend Cloud are starting there this year, and they're trying to be Hunters and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people. We were taught to always help others, so I thought 'Hey, might as well make a career out of it.' I mean the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting, and cool like Sephiroth, and are just so, gosh, you know?!" Ruby finally finished her rambling, stopping to catch her breath. Ozpin gave a her a long, silent, scrutinizing look.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked.

"You're Professor Ozpin," Ruby answered. "You're the headmaster at Beacon."

He smiled. "Hello."

"Nice to meet you."

"You want to come to my school?"

"More than anything," Ruby said.

Professor Ozpin gave the blonde woman a look, and she looked away with a disapproving huff. "Well, okay."

"Come on, how long does it take to drop people off?" Yang asked. She and Ruby were standing with a large group of other would-be Hunters waiting to get on the airship to Beacon. Yang looked over at her sister and saw her looking around. "Whatcha looking for Rubes?"

"I'm just wondering where Cloud is," Ruby said. "His letter said he was going to be here."

"You miss him, don't you?" Yang asked.

"Of course I miss him," Ruby said. "Cloud's been gone since forever. Sure, he sends us letters and video chats with us sometimes, but it's not the same," she said with a somber tone. "Plus, he was the only one who could protect me from your evil noogies."

"Aw, that's so adorable," Yang said. "You know, just for you, Ruby, I'll allow it."

"Allow what?" Ruby asked.

"You can date Cloud.

"DATE?! Ew, Yang, that's disgusting!" Ruby yelled.

"What, it's natural for a girl your age to have a crush. So, I'm giving you my blessing."

"I don't have a crush on Cloud!" Ruby insisted.

"Alright, alright, I believe you… for now," Yang said, prompting Ruby to turn away from her in a huff. "Listen, Rubes, Cloud probably got here early and is at Beacon right now. So there's no need to worry."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ruby said. "OR, Cloud's running late he won't make it to the ship in time." She gasped dramatically. "What if we get into Beacon and he doesn't? Cloud's gonna resent us, then he's gonna end our friendship, and then he's—"

"Hey, what's up, Ruby?" Cloud asked.

"Not now, Cloud," Ruby said. "And then he's—" Ruby stopped talking, realizing who had just spoken. She and Yang slowly turned their heads, and standing right next to them was a very familiar looking blond-haired young man.

"Hey guys," he said.

"CLOUD!" They both shouted at the same time, before diving in to give him a big hug.

Cloud chuckled and returned the hug. "It's good to see you girls again."

"You too," Yang said. The sisters broke up the hug.

"Wow, Cloud, you look completely different," Ruby said. "Well, except for the hair."

"Forget the hair, Rubes, take a look at his arms," Yang said, giving Cloud's bicep a small squeeze. "Seriously, Cloud, you've bulked up. You might actually beat me at arm wrestling for once.

"Well, traveling around Remnant and getting fights is a pretty effective workout," Cloud said. "Plus, swinging this around helped." He reached behind him, and pulled out a massive sword. One that the sisters immediately recognized.

"Is that…?"

"Zack's Buster Sword?" Ruby asked.

"Technically it's my Buster Sword, but yeah, Zack gave it to me," Cloud said.

"SO COOL!" Ruby yelled, going into her "weapon geek" mode, as Yang affectionately called it. "Is it compatible with Dust or Materia? Did you modify it to transform? Can I please hold-?!"

Yang suddenly grabbed Ruby by the cape and pulled her away from the boy. "Whoa, slow it down Rubes."

"Oh, uh, sorry," Ruby said sheepishly.

Cloud chuckled. "Anyway, Ruby, are you here to see me and Yang off?"

Ruby chuckled nervously. "Funny story actually."

"…And that's basically it," Ruby said, the conversation having moved to the airship, which was currently in transit. "Professor Ozpin enrolled me into Beacon early, and here we are."

"…" Wow," Cloud said, speechless from Ruby's story while Yang smiled excitedly. "That's… something."

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me!" Yang exclaimed, pulling Ruby into a bone-crushing hug. "This is the best day ever!"

"Please stop," Ruby said, gasping for breath.

"But I'm so proud of you!" Yang said, letting go of her.

"Really, sis, it was nothing," Ruby said, trying to downplay what she had done.

"What do you mean?" Yang asked. "It was incredible!"

"I mean, not everyone can claim to have stopped a robbery while still in combat school," Cloud chimed in. "Most people would wait until they got their licenses to start kicking ass."

"Right?" Yang said. "Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees."

"I don't want to be the bee's knees, okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees!" Ruby said. "I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."

"What's wrong with you?" Yang asked. "Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I'm excited… I just…" Ruby sighed. "I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything."

Yang walked over and wrapped an arm around Ruby's shoulder. "But you are special."

"There's nothing wrong with celebrating your victories, Rubes," Cloud said. "It doesn't make you arrogant."

"…I guess…" Ruby said. A news broadcast drew her attention.

"The robbery was led by the nefarious criminal duo Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan, who continue to evade authorities," the reporter said. The broadcast showed two mugshots belonging to the orange-haired man and his multi-colored partner that Ruby had fought against. So those were their names. "If you have any information on their whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa."

"That was the guy you fought?" Cloud asked.

"Yup," Ruby said.

"You know, I've actually heard of Torchwick," Cloud said, surprising Ruby. "Zack showed me a criminal database that Huntsmen use to keep track of high-value targets. He was on it. Though, his partner wasn't for some reason."

"Not only did you make the news, you also fought a 'high-value' target?" Yang asked. "Like I said, bee's knees."

Ruby groaned.

Suddenly, the news broadcast disappeared, and a hologram of the blonde Huntress from the night before appeared in its place.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon!"

"Who's that?" Yang asked.

"My name is Glynda Wallace," the hologram said.

"Oh."

"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy!" Glynda's message continued. "Our world is experiencing and incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such as a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." With that, the transmission ended and the hologram disappeared. There was a bit of a commotion as several of the hopeful students looked out the window. There was a beautiful view of Vale below them.

"Oh, wow!" Ruby said. "Look, you can see Signal from up here! I guess home isn't too far after all!"

"Beacon is our home, now," Yang said, but then they heard a groaning sound. A blond-haired boy wearing armor ran towards the back of the ship, covering his mouth with his hands, desperately trying to not lose his lunch. "Well… I guess the view isn't for everyone."

"It was a nice moment while it lasted," Ruby said before turning to Cloud. "Didn't you used to get motion sick?"

"Why do you think I've been next to the window the whole time?" Cloud asked. "Besides, Zack taught me how to use my Aura to keep my lunch down." Cloud let out a small burp before covering his mouth. "Well, sort of."

"Well, let's hope Vomit Boy learns that trick, too." Ruby then glanced down at the floor and her eyes widened in shock. "Oh, Yang, gross!" she exclaimed. "You have puke on your shoe!"

"Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!" Yang yelled.

"Get away!" Ruby yelled. "Get away from me! Get away from me!"

Cloud shook his head at his old friends' antics. "This is gonna be a long four years."

AN: This story is a lot of fun to see come together. I really love how we're combining elements of FF7 into Remnant.

I'm sure you notice a little detail I threw in about a certain Huntress.

As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!