Hi everyone. I don't know what exactly possessed me to write something like this, but I hope you all enjoy this little thought experiment of mine.

This is a RWBY story with some...minor? (I think I can say minor.) crossover elements. As to where it take place, I'd say just after the events of first season, and just before the start of season 2.

I hope you all enjoy the start of...well, whatever this is.

Prologue: The Curtain Rises

Ruby Rose grunted as her hammer struck steel. The young girl of fifteen was in Beacon's Foundry, working on her weapon (her 'baby', at least to her), a high-impact sniper rifle that could shift into a scythe, or more simply, Crescent Rose. The roar of the furnace, the sound of her hammer shaping her blade, the smells of oil and ash, she felt at home in the forge, away from her teammates.

Ruby hummed as she quenched the blade, the satisfying hiss of hot metal ringing through her ears. Gingerly removing the blade after a few moments, she let the metal rest before retrieving a whetstone to remove the blemishes on her blade. Her headphones blaring her favorite tunes, she worked to the music, unaware of the world around her.

After her first semester at Beacon, Ruby had expected (more liked 'hoped', really) that her social life would take a turn for the better. While that was true for the first few months, the leader of Team RWBY had found herself alone on most weekends, despite her best efforts. Her partner, Weiss, her sister's partner, Blake, and older sister, Yang, were always doing other things with the other teams of Beacon, often leaving her alone until Sunday evening. She tried to make time with them during the week, but with the amount of coursework she could barely stay on top of, it was impossible.

So here she was. Alone, again, at Beacon's Foundry.

It didn't help that she barely knew anyone else outside of her team and their sister team, JNPR. Jaune was nice enough, but lately, all of his free time was focused on one-on-one training with Pyrrha. Nora was fun and hyper, but she and Ren were never too far apart from each other (and Ruby honestly felt self-conscious about that, for some reason). Other than that, there were Sun and Neptune, but she hadn't even said anything more than a handful of words to either of them. So they were out.

Wiping the sweat off her brow with her bare forearm, she held the blade out before her, judging the shape and its balance. Satisfied, she retrieved the handle of her scythe and reattached the blade. Giving her baby a few test swings, she nodded, satisfied with her work as it compressed its base sniper rifle form.

She grabbed a clean towel from her bag, wiping away the sweat and grime from her face and hands. Ruby idly checked her scroll, hoping that someone would have messaged her.

Sadly, there was nothing, as usual.

Ruby sighed, sliding the protective goggles off her eyes and resting them on her chest. Shaking her head, the fifteen-year-old girl made her way to the dorm but stopped at the door. The room was dark and empty, and probably freezing since a certain ice princess thought that a room at 60 degrees was too hot for a bedroom. Across from her, JNPR's dorm was dark and empty as well. It looked like another lonely Friday night for her.

Opening the door, Ruby tossed her bag on her desk and sat on her chair, slumping into the seat as she shivered at the uncomfortable chill. Her arms hanging loosely at her sides, she spun in her seat as she stared up at the ceiling. Alone again, naturally.

She spun there, until the soft rumble of a scroll caught her attention, coming from the beds. It wasn't her scroll's, but rather, it was...Yang's? Since when did she leave anywhere without her scroll? Sighing at her sister's carelessness, she plucked the device from her sister's bed, catching a glimpse of the caller.

It was Nora. What was going on?

Ruby hesitated. She could have answered the call...but decided against it. What her sister was doing was her business, and, well, Ruby had no say in it, team leader or otherwise. After a few rings, Nora had hung up, but then the scroll vibrated with a message from Velvet, the second-year Faunus of Team CFVY.

Ruby hesitated again. She could leave it alone...but decided to take a peek anyway. She was alone with no one to talk to, so why not? Opening the message, her smirk fell from her face, as the scroll itself slipped from her fingers.

The message had a picture of Velvet, most likely a selfie based on the angle, and her partner Coco, the P and N of Team JNPR and Ruby's teammates squished together in the frame, all of them smiling widely for the camera. Based on the lights and scenery around them, they were at the carnival that was in town for the weekend. The very same carnival she had asked her team to go with her the week before. Underneath the picture was a caption, "Just a Night out with the girls! 3"

Ruby picked up the device, her hands shaking as she navigated to Yang's photo album. Her heart broke as she viewed the rest, most of them Yang taking a selfie-picture with herself and the W and B of the team, hanging out at places Ruby herself had asked about, or at some kind of club. Each picture felt like a stab in the back, but with Blake and Weiss smiling in every picture they were in made it hurt more. It was more than Ruby could even coax out of them! She had tried everything she could think of to get them to smile at her, but all she got were annoyed looks or impassive stares!

Tears fell to the floor as Ruby dropped the scroll on the floor. Just how long had this been going on? She had never felt so...so betrayed, in her life, by the very same people she just wanted to make friends with. Was it because she was younger than them by one or two years? Was it because she was the team leader, despite being the youngest in their year? A cry, (or perhaps it was a yell?), bubbled in her throat but was quickly smothered when she heard footsteps outside. The handle to the dorm room slowly opened, and Ruby panicked.

The window wasn't locked, so Ruby, thinking quickly, dived out from the third floor, landing on a nearby tree's branches.

"Weiss! Did you leave the A/C on full-blast again!? It's absolutely freezing here!" Ruby heard Yang shout. Ruby tried to make herself as small as she could, as she saw her sister's visage reach to close the window. "Why the heck did you leave it going if you were just going to open a window?"

Ruby didn't hear her partner's response as the window shut. The crimsonette let out a breath of relief as she leaned against the tree's trunk, her panic replaced with anger, both at herself and her 'team'. She could have confronted them right there! What was wrong with her!?

Grumbling, she stood up and dropped down the tree, falling into a roll at the last jump. It was at that, Ruby realized she had no way of getting back into the dorms. Her keys were back in the dorm room! Ruby bit back a scream of frustration as she unconsciously made her way to the Bullhead hangar, jumping into one that looked ready to take off.

The pilot raised an eyebrow at the angry young woman approaching his ship, then to a nearby clock. It read 2100. "A bit late to take a night out on town, isn't it?"

"I don't care," Ruby said, nearly snapping at the man. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, resting her head against the rest. "Look, I just need to get away from my team for a few hours, alright?"

The pilot shrugged, as he made his final preparations for launch. "No need to explain, just saying this will be the last Bullhead between Vale proper and Beacon until tomorrow morning. Are you okay with that?"

"That's fine," Ruby said, pulling out her ID for the pilot to verify. A quick scan later, Ruby was back in her seat, where she took stock of what she had on her person. Her scroll and wallet were on her person (Thank the Brother's for that!) and she was still dressed in the clothes she had worn while working at the foundry. A dark burgundy overshirt was tied around her waist, leaving her with only a black sleeveless shirt on her back. That, as well as a pair of dirty, torn jeans and well-worn black boots, finished her ensemble. Her hair was still tied back in a tiny ponytail, but she kept it that way, lest someone from Beacon recognize her.

After a ride of nothing but awkward silence, Ruby made her way to the city proper. The city's nightlife was bright and bustling, a far cry from her lonely evenings that she was subjected to. She felt a scowl forming at the thought, but she quickly pushed it down. If her teammates thought that, for whatever reason, they were going to have more fun without her, then she could do the same! A smile formed at that, as she continued to walk down the bustling streets of Vale's commercial districts. It was strange; she never once realized the different kinds of stores the city had. Sure, she had saved the one from Torchwick and his goons, but why had no one ever told her there was a store with over a dozen kinds of cookies?! Or a store that sold vintage video games?! Ruby grumbled to herself as she walked past the shops, keeping a mental tally to visit them in the morning.

Needless to say, the carnival was still ongoing, but by the time she got there, there were fewer people. She saw a few groups of friends and a few families with small children, but the cleaning crews were out in full force with security helping them. She looked around, taking in the wide variety of booths of overpriced fried food and rigged games. Ruby stopped, catching herself with that thought. Where had that come from?

A vibrating from her back pocket caught her attention. Ruby flicked her scroll open to see an incoming call from Yang. Scowling, she closed it and passed on the call, turning the device off. In her haste, she failed to see the messages that her sister had sent.

Walking to the other side of the carnival grounds, she stopped at the sight of the store named "From Dust Till Dawn". A wry grin formed on her face; it was just over a year and here she was, back where her story began. She made her way to the door but heard a crash from a nearby alleyway. Her brow furrowed, walking towards the source of the sound.

Her eyes widened at the sight of a dark-skinned young woman in a blue stage musician's outfit being shoved against the brick wall by a small gang of similarly dressed men. They were all wearing black suits and black fedoras, all while wearing black sunglasses and matching red ties. All of them carried similarly shaped red axes, the sight of them made Ruby's eyes narrow. Subconsciously, reached for Crescent Rose, but realized she didn't have her precious baby.

Ruby hid around the corner, and she could barely make out one of the gang members saying, "You know your boss hasn't paid your squatting fee. We gave you and your carney pals five days to pay, and you're late."

"Wait, please! Just give us some time and we can pay you!" the girl cried, but grabbed by her lapel and slammed against the wall again. Ruby winced when she heard a fist slamming into the young woman's midsection. She risked another look, seeing the poor girl keeled over and coughing up a mix of spittle and blood.

At that moment, Ruby decided that enough was enough. Weapon or not, she was a Huntress and it was her job to help those in need! She leapt from her hiding spot and dashed forward, staying low to the ground as she slammed both of her feet into the nearest gang member's arm, the force sending him and his buddy into the wall. As that gang member lost consciousness, Ruby kicked off of them and onto the wall, leaping off and ramming her heel into a different gang member's face as he fell to the pavement.

"What the hell?! WHO ARE YOU!?" the last gang member said, dropping his ax and pulling out a pistol. "You better stop playing the hero or this woman's gonna get it!"

Ruby said nothing but stepped off the groaning gang member's face. The remaining gang member had grabbed the woman by her blue-collar and held her close, holding the gun against her temple. Ruby took a deep breath before she activated her semblance, disappearing in a cloud of rose petals, reappearing above the gang member, flipping as she slammed both of her heels on the gang member's head.

As the last gang member let out a pained gurgle, Ruby caught the woman in blue in her arms, idly noticing that cat ears on the woman's head. When her eyes didn't open, Ruby panicked and laid her down gently on a nearby bench, but relaxed slightly when she heard breathing. As she did, a ringing scroll fell from the woman's pockets.

"Hello?" Ruby said as she answered the call without thinking.

"Who is this!? Who are you!? Where is Kayah!?" Ruby winced at the man's volume, pulling the scroll away from her ear lest she went deaf.

"Sir! Can you please stop yelling?" Ruby said back into the scroll. She looked at the scroll feed, seeing a middle-aged man wearing a similar outfit to the woman, except it was stylized more for men and missing the blue coat. His grizzled face spotted black hair and a matching beard, his dark red eyes hidden behind a pair of half-moon-shaped spectacles.

"Who are you!? Where is Kayah?!" the man demanded again, albeit with a lower volume.

"I assume Kayah is the cat Faunus in blue?" Ruby asked.

"Yes! Is she alright!?" the man asked, looking frantic.

"She was cornered and attacked by some guys in suits, and they were demanding lien out of her," Ruby explained. "I couldn't let that stand so I just jumped in to help her out."

"I see," the man said after a pregnant pause. He let out a relieved sigh, before continuing, "I apologize for all the yelling, young lady. And I hate to ask this of you, but can you help Kayah get back to the carnival? I'll let the guards know to let you in."

"Sure, I don't mind," Ruby said. She looked over the unconscious cat Faunus, and then back to the scroll. "We'll be there soon, sir."

"Call me Martyn," the older man asked. "Ask the guards for me, and they'll let you in no problem."

And that's the prologue of whatever this is.

If you managed to make it all the way down here, please tell me what you think. My earlier pieces are incredibly cringe-inducing, so I'm hoping to move those pieces. Any criticisms are welcome.

(Well, as long as they're constructive, I mean.)