Displaced

2

"Prove it. Prove you're Ruby." Yang crossed her arms imperiously. Blake looked to the woman in the infirmary bed, she looked unconcerned with the blonde, even going so far as to sport a smirk. The faunus could admit to still being a disbeliever, time-travel just seemed far too illogical. She couldn't help but assess the various wounds the older Ruby had acquired. There was a medical eyepatch covering her left eye and underneath the medical gown she could see gauze wrapped around her torso with one of her wrists in a splint.

"Well," The older Ruby got more comfortable, "When you were twelve you unlocked your semblance, setting fire to the living room curtains. You blamed it on Uncle Qrow."

Blake tried to gauge Yang's reaction but happened to see their Ruby nodding along.

Huh, I'll have to remember that.

"If that's not enough," The older woman continued, "Yang wet the bed until- mmmmmf!"

She wasn't allowed to finish as a hand clamped over her mouth attached to a frantic Yang, "And you're definitely Ruby!" There was a desperate edge to her voice that had even Blake leaning forward, interesting in what she'd been about to say.

"Oh man this is so exciting! What's it like in the future! What kind of upgrades did you make to Crescent Rose! Oh! And what'd you do to those Ursa!"

The older version of their leader blinked owlishly, "Oh gods, was I really this bad?"

Blake felt her lip quirk up as Weiss answered, "Well at least you have self awareness."

"Ooooh that's cold Ice Queen." Elder Ruby's attention focused on her partner as she removed Yang's hand from her mouth.

"Hey!"

"Weisscream aside, how did you end up here?" Yang recovered and asked over her teammate's protests.

"Well if you must know…." She leaned forward, a conspiratorial look upon her face, one hand coming up and cupping her cheek like she was about to whisper. Elder Ruby looked from side to side as if to make sure no one was listening in, "I ran really, REALLY, fast."

"Well if you don't want to tell us then say so!" Mount Weiss erupted.

"The how really isn't important is it? I'm here and here to stay." She got out between giggles, she really seemed to be enjoying messing with Weiss, "It really is great to see you guys again."

Blake caught it, but she wasn't sure if any of the others had noticed but future Ruby's eyes seemed to lose focus for a second then then tear up, though it was gone a second later. Something must have not sat right with Yang either because she frowned.

"Wait, how long's it been?"

From the way Ruby said it, it sounded like it had been a long time, surely they were still a team, right? Blake didn't want to think her budding friendship with these girls was going to end, she well and truly like them. Even Weiss, kind of.

"Ehhhh, a while." Her silver eyes suddenly found interest in and empty corner of the room causing Blake's own to narrow, "Like a few years."

"Why? We're still a team right?!" The younger Ruby looked devastated by the thought that her team would break up and even her older self relented with a small smile at her.

"We'll always be team RWBY. It's just…. Things aren't so good when I'm from. I've been too busy to visit."

Blake furrowed her eyebrows as something nagged at the back of her mind. Something wasn't adding up with her story, though the excuse seemed to work for their leader who cheered up immensely. She'd have to come back to that later, right then there was something else she wanted to ask.

"What do you mean by not so good? What's going to happen?" Blake asked. Ruby's, it was getting confusing now, face darkened for a moment and she got a lot more serious.

"War. A long and bloody one, at that." she almost whispered, her eyes losing focus and looking off into something in the distance.

"A war? With who?"

Ruby seemed to regain a little life and looked hard at Blake, silver eyes seeming to look through her soul, "You guys don't need to know that right now. I'm here and I'm going to stop the war from happening in the first place."

"Oh! Oh! Oh! We'll help!" Little Ruby got excited. "Please tell me we can help!"

The woman from the future chuckled, it was a light sound that sounded genuine and airy, "You can help by studying hard and becoming the best huntress you can be."

Ruby pouted, crossing her arms, "But I wanna be a hero too."

Ruby, older -Blake really needed to figure something out about addressing both of them- chuckled and ruffled her younger self's hair, "There's no such thing as a hero, Ruby."

The hidden faunus' eyes went wide and she noticed she wasn't the only one, Yang looked shocked as well. What was even more disturbing was how lightly she said it. Both Blake and her partner flinched when Ruby clapped her hands together, distracting her younger self who seemed to be having trouble processing what she'd been told.

"Enough of that, while you're here I should tell you." Blake noticed the deflection, " I can't very well keep going by Ruby, and since I'm the outsider here I'll have to ask you to call me by something else. I've had a talk with Oz and he's setting me up with a new identity. From now on you can all call me Carmine Rose."

Weiss put her hand to her chin, "That's actually not bad."

"Hehe, yeah Oz shot down Rouge pretty fast, Carmine was his suggestion." She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"Waitwaitwait!" Ruby exclaimed, waving her hands wildly in the air to get everyone's attention, "You still haven't answered the most important question. What upgrades did you make to Crescent Rose and where is he?"

Ru- Carmine grimaced as the mention of their beloved scythe, "Ruby, I have some bad news. I… uh… I was fighting a really strong opponent and Crescent Rose broke."

Ruby looked as though she had taken a physical blow, stepping back and into her older sister in shock. She was visibly trembling and probably would have collapsed had Yang not gotten a hold of her in time. The blonde led her younger sister to the sole chair in the room. Carmine looked conflicted and tried to console her younger self.

"I'm sorry Ruby, she was incredibly dangerous, and strong." Ruby seemed catatonic, "Look I have an idea for a new weapon, you wanna help me build it?"

It took a few seconds of Ruby blinking before she turned to Carmine, "A new baby?"

"Mhm. It might be better this way, people might ask awkward questions if we both had a Crescent Rose, he's one of a kind right?"

Ruby's face lit up and Blake had to suppress a chuckle, she truly was a weapons nut.

"And that would be my cue to step in." Sounded a familiar voice from behind them. Blake nearly jumped out of her skin, having not sensed the headmaster's approach. He stood there with the mysterious smirk on his face and a scroll in his hand, "Carmine Rose is now officially a person. Happy birthday."

Ozpin handed her the scroll which she opened to check the identification page, after seeming satisfied and held up her own scroll and initiated the transfer of files. After a few minutes she handed her old one to the headmaster, "Keep it safe Oz, there's some serious stuff on there."

He nodded and tucked it away into his pocket, "How goes the reunion between sisters? Has it been enlightening?"

"Not really. She won't tell us anything." Weiss said in exasperation.

Carmine stuck her tongue out at the heiress while the headmaster merely chuckled, "My apologies but I asked her to withhold some information. Knowledge of the future can be dangerous. Now, Carmine is still healing so I'm going to have to ask you to come back again another time. She needs her rest."

Much to their disappointment they were ushered out of the room, Blake caught Carmine's silver eye as she looked back. The woman winked and blew a kiss at her, though now that she thought of it, how does someone with one eye wink? She obviously winked, was it just an exaggerated blink?

Blake paused a second in wonder to where her thought had wandered off to and blushed slightly in embarrassment. Once they were away from Headmaster Ozpin and making their way back to the dorm the nature of their conversation naturally turned back to Carmine.

"I can't wait to help build her new weapon! I wonder what it's gonna be!" Ruby was practically over the moon at the idea of building a new weapon and was gushing to Yang who was taking it with sisterly indulgence.

Weiss slowed down to hold her own conversation with Blake, the faunus eyed her warily. She didn't hate her, it would be hypocritical to judge her based on her name. Or at least that's what she told herself though she couldn't help but feel that the heiress did nothing to disprove the rumors about her.

"Ruby… I mean Carmine was acting very suspicious."

Blake nodded along with the heiress, "It seems she didn't want to talk about our future selves."

"Exactly. I understand the reasons that the headmaster gave but I feel like there's more to it than 'dangerous information'."

"Maybe I should ask her alone?"

"You think she'd tell you?" Blake paused, she didn't think the heiress had meant it to sound rude.

"It can't hurt to try. I can circle back. Can you make an excuse for me?"

Weiss nodded and Blake slipped away while the two sisters were chatting away. The black haired girl relied on the stealth skills she had cultivated in her time with the White Fang, she retraced her steps back to the infirmary. Waiting for a time when Doctor Violet turned away to sneak past her and into the wing that Carmine was in.

When she opened the door to the woman's room she caught sight of her gazing into her scroll, tears streaming silently from her eye. She started as Blake entered but didn't bother to hide what she was looking at.

"Visiting hours are over, Blake." Her voice was thick, it was clear she had been on the verge of breaking down and suddenly Blake felt a sense of guilt wash over her at witnessing such a vulnerable scene.

"I won't tell if you won't." She responded, getting a small smile for her effort, "Are you okay?" Blake couldn't help the question slipping out of her mouth, she didn't even know why she asked it. No, she did. Despite Carmine being so different she was still her team leader and no matter how much she had changed Blake could still see the Ruby in her, a person who was her friend, and that person was suffering in front of her.

Carmine let out a strained laugh, "How can I be okay. I'm in the past, Blake. The people I knew, they're gone. And you guys… you…"

Blake could put two and two together, she'd had the feeling earlier but that reaction and the photo on the scroll, she realized as she approached, was one of an older team RWBY. It was a a group shot with the four of them huddled close together around Blake, and she made note of the fact that Yang seemed to be missing one of her arms. Any doubts she might have had to the woman's identity were long gone, washed away by the proof of a picture. The team looked happy.

"We aren't away on any missions, are we." Blake said low in a matter of fact voice.

"Am I that transparent?"

"You may be older but your ability to lie doesn't seem to have changed."

Carmine let out a breath, "Out of both team JNPR and RWBY only Jaune and I are left… or were left. This picture is the last one we took together as a team."

"What happened?" Blake asked with morbid curiosity.

Carmine just stared at her for a moment and then started talking, her eyes focusing on a past memory, "Weiss died… she was assassinated. In her sleep. Turned out some extremists from the White Fang were still around even after they were destroyed."

What?! The White Fang? Destroyed?

Blake's eyes widened and she even felt her ears strain against her bow momentarily before she regained control. Carmine still noticed.

"It's cool Blake, I know you're a faunus. You didn't exactly keep that a secret very long."

"How exactly…?"

"Did we find out? You kinda blurted it out to Weiss after you guys got into an argument. I like your ears though, they're pretty."

Even Blake couldn't help the flush that tainted her cheeks at the compliment, she was more used to the derision of human.

"You and Yang died when Vale fell, overrun by the Grimm." She drew her legs up to her chest as she continued, "It's difficult, you know? Seeing you all here alive when I know you're dead."

"We are alive, what happened to us hasn't happened yet."

Carmine stared sharply with her good eye, "No, it did happen. Maybe not in this timeline but it happened to me. You have no idea what it was like, Blake. I had to get the news that my partner was never coming back. And you and Yang? The day Vale fell you were defending the walls with everyone else while I was tending to an incursion on the other side of the city. When the barricades were overcome and you two knew you weren't going to make it out do you know what Yang did?"

She didn't pause for a response, "She called me. On her scroll. She called me to tell me she loved me, Blake." The tears were streaming freely now down the side of her cheek, her voice racking with barely restrained sobs, "I heard my sister's last moments as the both of you fought to your last."

"I'm so sorry." It was all Blake could say. She didn't have siblings so she couldn't imagine what that would be like, it was beyond her and all she could offer was empty words of condolences.

Carmine shook her head, "It was two years ago that that happened, " She continued in a whisper, "I thought I was going to die in that battle. Join my sister. And then I end up here. Team RWBY is alive. But not my team RWBY."

The silence stretched on between them, Carmine continuing to let the tears of grief roll down her face. With a sudden urge Blake stepped forward, embracing the woman. She didn't know how to comfort someone but something told her, pushed her, to try and ease the pain of the broken woman before her. Carmine finally let out a stuttering sob into Blake's shirt, her hands coming round to her back. She didn't know how long they stayed like that, only that when they finally parted, the older woman had red rimmed eyes and there was a wet spot on Blake's outfit.

"I'm sorry Blake." She said with a hoarse voice as she wiped her tears, "But thanks for putting up with me."

Blake forced a small smile for the older woman, "It's fine. I may not have been what you've been through, but my time with the White Fang showed me a lot of things I'd rather not remember. So I guess what I'm saying is that I sort of understand where you're coming from."

"Yeah, I don't think anyone can really relate to what I'm going through, not unless there's a cabal of unwitting time-travelers out there."

"Still though, time-travel, it's hard to wrap my head around it…. Well I suppose it's not. I've read those kinds of stories before but to see something out of fantasy come to life right in front of me is…"

"Bizarre?"

"Yeah."

"Heh, try living it kitty-cat." Blake frowned at the nickname, but Carmine stopped for a moment and gave her a considering look, "Thank you Blake. I feel…. A bit better now."

"I didn't do anything." Blakes brow furrowed in confusion and Carmine simply laughed at her.

"You were here, Blake. That's enough. Now what can I do for you? There has to be a reason you snuck back to my room when no one else was here."

Blake hesitated. She had what she'd come for, the real answer to what their status was in the future, her future, but not the reason, "Why didn't you tell us what happened to us in the future?"

The future woman simply paused and and then reluctantly explained, "forgive me for not wanting to relive the moment when Yang and the woman I… Yang and you died." She sighed, "Though it looks like I did anyways. Look, you guys are students right now. I want it to stay that way, not for you to be burdened with a future that won't even exist anymore."

Blake caught the slip but wasn't sure what to make of it, "But it did exist. That's what you said."

That earned her a scowl, "Maybe I did but I'm your leader and you should do as I say."

"You said we weren't your team." Blame it on seeing her in a vulnerable state but Blake couldn't help but feel closer to the woman, and a bit cheeky.

"Quit using my words against me." Carmine complained though there was no real weight behind them. It looked like she'd gotten more comfortable around Blake too. And now that she'd thought about it she realized what it was that was bugging her about the woman. She'd been on edge the entire time, like a coiled spring ready to burst into action but now she could tell the woman was visibly relaxing. Carmine was by no means letting her guard down but she wasn't completely on guard now., "Now if that's all you should probably get back to your dorm… unless you want to spend the night with me?"

Blake rolled her eyes at the woman's waggling eyebrows and bid her a good night. When she finally got back to her dorm it was to see the other three waiting for her expectantly. It seemed that Weiss had informed them of what she had gone to do. She thought back to that scene, the red-rimmed silver eyes. She could understand why Carmine had wanted to not talk about her past. She looked at them and all she could see was how Yang and Weiss would die. Even if it wouldn't happen, Blake still found herself dwelling on their fates.

"Sorry, she wouldn't tell me anything." Blake lied.

"Boss! Boss!" The man ran up to his leader and stood panting for breath, "It's a huntsman! Vernal has been beaten."

Raven Branwen rolled her eyes, though she understood why they needed her she lamented at their weakness. Still, if even Vernal, her own disciple, could not beat this huntsman then perhaps he would provide to her a worthy challenge. It had been so long since she'd been last tested, the lack of a worthy opponent delivering her to tedium. The bandit leader tried to temper her expectations as she was led to where this hunstman supposedly was.

Her tribe had made a ring around the man, weapons drawn but none approaching. Off to the side one of the tribe tended to an unconscious Vernal. Raven quickly checked her student and saw no permanent marks on her which lead to her blood pumping just a little faster in anticipation. If this man could defeat Vernal so easily then the possibility of a good fight was much higher.

Raven tried not to let her disappointment show on her face as she saw the man who had bested her student. He stood stock still in the middle of the plaza of the village they had raided, breathing ragged as his arms hung down almost limp at his sides. The huntsman's blond hair was caked with dried blood that had run down his face and stained his clothing which was shredded from multiple wounds he had sustained.

"You need me to deal with this? Vernal had him almost finished. You should have been down with this fool already."

It was one of her more experienced raiders who answered her, "Raven he was like this when we found him. He wouldn't budge so Vernal sought to move him herself. You can see how that ended for her."

A spark of interest lit within her. If it had happened as he had said then this man was indeed very strong. This led to an interesting though that quirked her lips up into an amused grin, "Very well. Yes I think I'd like to take him with us."

The bandit looked surprised but didn't question his chief's words. Instead he took a step back as she advanced on the huntsman. In one long, slow motion she drew her sword and approached. She could tell she had his attention, his sapphire eyes bore into her own though she was little reason within them. The man was barely alive, a cornered animal that only knew how to bite.

When she got within a few feet of the man she noticed his grip tighten on his sword's hilt a fraction of a second before he leapt into action. The huntsman's blade whistled towards her throat but was intercepted by her red blade. When the edges made contact the man pulled his back and made to impale her.

It was a clumsy strike but still a powerful one as Raven sidestepped the thrust with ease. There was no finesse and no technique, just instinct. Nonetheless she found herself almost smiling at the hunstman before her. He was fast and powerful, obviously a skilled huntsman. Few could challenge her and she felt the desire to cross blades with the man when he was at his best stir within her.

Lifting her foot up she brought it down on his extended blade, trapping the sword's tip to the ground. In one smooth motion she brought the pommel of her sword into his guard, striking his temple with a single solid blow. The blond huntsman crumpled to the ground, finally unconscious. Out of curiosity Raven leaned down and rummaged through his pockets and brought forth the man's scroll.

Flicking the device open she looked at the identification on the screen.

"Jaune Arc." As she read through the information one thing caught her eye.

The date on the scroll.

Team RWBY filed into Miss Goodwitch's combat class right behind team JNPR. Ruby was busy talking with Pyrrha and Blake was absorbed into whatever book she was reading this time. Yang, however, had other things one her mind. It was been almost two whole weeks since Carmine had arrived. Ruby was the one who had spent the most time with her, helping her build a new weapon. It bothered her because as much of a weapons geek that Ruby was, she didn't gush to her team about what she was working one. She said it was a surprise and that they'd all see it soon enough.

The loud whisperings were enough to bring Yang's attention back to the class as they sat down. The first thing she sa when she sat down were the two people standing next to Goodwitch, hence the whispering. One was Carmine, now dressed in new clothes. She had replaced the town goth-lolita clothes her sister favored for something a little more modern, Yang snickered at the idea of a woman from the future needing 'more modern' clothes. Now she had a dark red leather jacket that had a down hood, around her waist was a familiar bright red cloth tied like a belt around black jeans and some knee length boots.

And standing beside her was an even more familiar figure. Tall with dark hair flecked with grey was her uncle, his large weapon strapped to his back. He appeared to be in deep conversation with Goodwitch and Carmine until Ruby screamed out his name. He looked up and caught her eye before smiling and waving at his niece. Yang had to pull her sister back down into her seat amidst stares from the rest of the students gathered around them. Even then that didn't stop Ruby from gushing about her 'awesome uncle Qrow' to anyone who would listen, namely Pyyrha.

"Students." Miss Goodwitch cleared her throat and the class became dead silent, they had all learned long ago to fear the deputy headmistress, "Today we'll have something of a treat for you all. We will be holding an exhibition match today between two official hunters."

The class exploded into murmuring and Yang's sister, seated next to her, nearly burst into rose petals with excitement. Even Yang herself could say she was interested now. Even their other two teammates were riveted on the teacher, Blake's book lay forgotten forgotten.

"I'd like to introduce you to our two combatants for today. This is Mr. Qrow Branwen and Ms. Carmine Rose." Goodwitch motioned to the two hunters as they stepped onto the stage. Yang could feel herself getting a little excited. Her uncle had to be one of the strongest hunters she knew, so if he was fighting Carmine that had to mean they were on a close skill level, right?

"Like always combat will continue until one combatant's aura enters the red or either one forfeits." She turned to the two on the stage, "Are you ready?"

Qrow brought his sword out and held it ready, shooting a cocky smirk at his future niece and nodding to Miss Goodwitch. When she looked at Carmine, the woman responded with her own cocky smirk that mirrored her uncle's and reaching under her jacket, just below her arms. From within she pulled out two bright red handguns, colored the same shade as Crescent Rose. The two guns were fairly large and even from a distance Yang could tell they were high calibre. It seemed Ruby still had a thing for heavy hitting weapons. The guns themselves didn't have traditional pistol grips but instead were almost completely straight, bending only just a few degrees from the barrels of the weapons.

Yang knew she could expect something more coming from something her sister had designed and looking at all the extra material around the barrel that was obviously meant for mechashift, she knew it at least had one more form. A quick glance to her younger sister showed her grinning expectantly at her older self and Yang found that she was on the edge of her seat as well. They hadn't had been able to gauge how good Ruby had become in the future and thus Carmine was an unknown quantity, it looked like they were finally about to find out.

Miss Goodwitch stood to the side, just off the stage, and raised a hand in the air before slashing it down in front of her.

"You may begin!"

A/N: Here's the new chapter of Displaced. The pacing started out slow but will speed up just a tad in the future. There was a lot to establish and YES I know there were things and developments that happened off screen but those will be adressed in the next chapter, i.e. why Qrow is there and such. I wanted to not switch povs as much as I could this chapter.