RWBY 1. Prologue

**Alright, so normally I like to either completely finish writing a story, or get a solid number of chapters in before posting, But this time is the exception. Though I do intend to keep pushing this, I make to promises that it will ever be finished if for some reason I take a wrong turn and kill the direction I wanted this story to go.**

**RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.**

There was a gasp for breath. A scythe stood planted into the ground by its tip. Laying from atop it's shaft was the red cloaked warrior who carried it into battle.

Her foot rested on the flat of the hook, holding up her and keeping balance while the rest of her limbs lazily hung down. If it wasn't for the burning buildings around her one would think it was a relaxing evening. But instead it was the end of a long battle, Yang was unconscious in a nearby garden a massive cut going clean through her cheek; Ruby wouldn't have been surprised it a part of her tongue was missing to from the wound. Blake was on the other side of the courtyard struggling to stay awake no doubt just as tired as the rose. Weiss was... somewhere, she might be in Beacon's main hall, but she wasn't sure. She did know the heiress was ok though, maybe a little battered and bruised but nothing major.

A small thud could be heard as Blake finally went under with a smile on her face. The rose relaxed as well, looking up at the moon high in the sky. Though the stars were hidden from the glow of the fire and the smoke-filled skies she knew they were there in their full splendor just as always, and she helped to ensure they always would be.

A smile covered her face and she removed the cloth over her right eye, though she couldn't see through it, the feeling of the midnight breeze brought her more joy then anything else at that moment, save a chocolate covered strawberry. The relaxing breeze was interrupted by a sudden chill. A presence appeared out of nowhere and her very being was suddenly filled with absolute terror, if only for a second before familiarity kicked in. She didn't even have to look to know who, or rather what, it was to know. She had, had brush ups with the ominous being many times before.

The humanoid figure 'floated', maybe walked; the woman couldn't tell, past her toward the man whose blood now covered the crimson reaper's weapon. Clad in a black cloak with the hood pulled up leaving the face nothing but a empty void that the rose was sure people could lose their sanity in should they stare to long.

A bony hand extended from one of the long black selves, though covered in a sickly pale toned skin. It lacked muscle and anything else that would make one believe that it should be able to move on its own, it was literally just skin and bone.

A dull blue crystal was wrapped in the skeletal fingers of its owner. It held the gem out in front of it before the corpse of the man who had seeked to bring the world as close to destruction one could get without actually killing off the human race. The gem left the hooded being's hand and floated to the mentioned dead. Sinking into the body's center causing blood to spurt out, yet it passed through the flesh without not leaving a mark.

Ruby looked around, this undertaker had only appeared before her, and sure enough with Blake having gone under she was once more the only one to witness the act.

The gem exited the body after a few moments and returned to its owner's hand. It was exactly the same as before, but now there was a small pin sized light shinning from the center. Last time, she witnessed this act, this was the point where she had passed out from blood lose, she had never seen what happens after.

The pale walker adjusted the gem in its hands and after a moment a small fracture appeared in the once perfect surface. Another moment and the gem unnaturally shattered into dust in hand.

Without a moment's hesitation the being looked over to her. She knew what was coming, she knew when she had first meet it. Though no matter how much she tried steeling herself to the thought, no matter how much she told herself she wanted this, the thought of death was still frightening to those who were on the brink, either figuratively or in this case literally, looking upon Death.

A whisper echoed through her mind. It was her voice, like her conscience speaking to her. Only these weren't thoughts of her design.

_"And so it is done,"_ Though it was her own voice it still sent a cold chill down her spine, and her every being was telling her to abandon everything and just get away. She didn't move though, she couldn't out run it even if she could. She did make this deal fully knowing the outcome.

_"Cinder Fall, Roman Torchwick, William Wyte, and now Kazachin Hussar. The four beings who you deemed a threat to the world are dead. Slain either by your hand, or another's. Their souls now rest once more in the void where once they came."_ Ruby gulped, she knew what was coming, but as it drew closer the brave face she put on started to crack as Death literally approached.

_"It is now done, their souls have come early. Now your's will return to death."_ The true reaper's hand stretched out before her. Dying wasn't pleasant the first time, and she didn't relish in the cold grip claiming her again.

The fingers made contact around her face, two on her forehead, two on her cheek and the thumb on the opposite side. She grimaced as the cold surrounding the hand approached, but was replaced when the fingers made contact to reveal them warm. They were actually really warm, like the perfect warmth; the touch was almost enough to make the tired girl pass out from the comfort of the grip on her. She almost did too, but a single through echoed through her head in a last-ditch effort to stay awake.

"Wait!" She shouted.

The grip was removed from her face and she saw the pale figure flex the tips of its fingers, whether in annoyance or patience she couldn't tell, but she swallowed what felt like a rock in her throat to speak. Realizing she was actually wanting to speak and not just a instinctual outcry for life, the hand was pulled further way, the whole of the fingers flexing in front of her as they went.

"I- I," She swallowed what felt like another rock in her throat before continuing with a much more firm voice then before.

"I want to make a request."

The voice returned to her mind, slightly agitated in tone, but not yet angry. _"And by what right do you have to ask ME, for another request?"_

"Well, since I have already defied death, so to say. Might I be able to defy time as well?"

She could feel a painful rush fill her mind as the reaper crushed through her mental fortitude with ease, and raced through every thought and memory she could remember in her head; even ones she would have to struggle to call upon. After a moment the being left, Ruby's brain throbbed like someone had smacked it with a hammer then put it back inside her skull. The echoing voice in her mind did nothing to help with the pain either.

_"You would have me defy time in such a matter just so you can repeat our original agreement?"_

"Eh, yes...?"

_"In the many centuries and millennia no mortal has ever asked such a thing of me..._

_Very well."_

Ruby blanked at what she just heard. She didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but she just felt the over barring need to.

"Wait, really? Even after you just said all that stuff?"

_"In all this existence's time, none have asked me to perform such a feat for such a... 'pure' intention, as such I have never done so. You though, Ruby Rose, you are the first mortal in a long time that has... 'interested' me. I wish to know as well, can time be changed? Or is it of stone never to be moved once laid? Will you achieve what you seek? Or will the hopelessness of seeing the events unfold before you, unable to be changed break you?"_

"Well then, I guess we'll just have to see." Her confidence had immediately returned upon hearing the words of acceptance, and Ruby was looking forward to doing the one thing she had always hoped she could do:

Fix the world before this whole mess started.

**There's your prologue, little shorter than I intended, but it's to good of a cliffhanger to not use. And it's a prologue not an actual chapter.**

**Also I don't normally tell people to leave reviews, I like to think people are smart and grown up enough to do that on your own, but since I've yet to get any for any of my RWBY stories I really want you people to do so. I can't get better if I only have my opinion to lead off from.**


	2. The New Old World

**Another Short chapter, but it was a good cliffhanger, and I felt it helps get the story going without being forced to go on, and on, and on just for the sake of length. Also thanks to everyone who followed, I turned my phone on and thought it was going to explode from all the emails saying people were following and favoriting.**

**Panda-kun77 - Yeah, the concept sprung from one of my lessons in philosophy classes. And I've noticed time travel in media follows one of two things (normally), A they change everything and it all works out, B history always flows to it's original path. In this the concept will be a mix of the two, but I intend to focus more on the philosophical implantation of going back in time and having the power to change things more so then the actual acts.**

One thing Ruby learned in her time with Death was don't question it. Logic seemed to be something it didn't abide to. Death seemed to have its own laws of the universe specific to only it.

She didn't know when she fell asleep, but she found herself awoken by the morning sun sitting in a passenger train seat. She stretched and letting a yawn. She didn't know if she had actually slept for very long in the seat but it sure felt like she did. Her back was sore even after stretching and being rewarded with a number of satisfying cracks. She also felt well rested, something she hadn't felt in a long time. The need to be on consistent alert for months on end meant that not only did the huntress get little sleep, but she also didn't sleep very well when she did.

She took a glance around to see everything was grey, as if all the color had been sucked away. People were moving about completely ignoring her sudden appearance. For all she knew, to them she had been there the whole time. One man tip toed by trying not the wake the people on her flanks and on the floor still sleeping.

When he passed, Death appeared in a rather cliché method before her. No one seemed to notice the hooded reaper floating in the center of the train, and guessed only she could see him.

_"It is done. The consequences, both desired and not, are now in your hands."_

"So why exactly are you helping me?" As she thought, no one seemed to hear her either.

_"Because you interest me. Knowledge is a powerful weapon, knowledge of time can shatter worlds, or bring them back from the brink. The thought of how you will use this knowledge fascinates me."_

"So you're just doing this for your own entertainment?"

_"Do try to put on a good show."_ The tone in her head unnerved her, like he knew something and relished in the knowing she didn't.

"You said you haven't done this for anyone in 'my' existence. What did you mean by that?"

The blake one leaned over so they were 'face' to face before continuing, _"This Remnant as you call it, is not the first existence. The cycle of creation and destruction has happened countless times, and will continue long after this world is gone."_

Death started floating down the hall, but kept 'eye contact' while he did, _"Also a word of advice: Don't try fixing everything."_

"Why? I thought that's what I came here to do."

_"It was interesting the first time. The second time a Paladin as he called himself, resolved to right every wrong in the world. For ten years he fought to destroy all evil in the world completely ignoring how his actions were shaping the world around him,"_ A chilling laugh breached the woman's mind clearly amused by the memory, _"When he finally found that existences' arch evil it was revealed that his actions had changed history so HE was the great evil he set out to destroy."_ Ruby gulped as the message set in, her immediate plans would need some changing.

She asked what happened to the Paladin, _"He struck himself down without even a second thought. I was thoroughly impressed by his resolve in what he believed was the right thing to do." _That actually wasn't what she thought would have happened.

Death's gaze set on a man a few seats down from her. Deciding to end their meeting, the world started to regain color around her. Slowly Death floated into the sleeping man's body. By the time everything returned to normal it had fully disappeared.

She took a breath, not realizing her breathing had slowed to such slow pace during the encounter. Reality kicked back in when the man Death was interested in started violently coughing. At first she didn't think anything off it, till the man pulled his hand away to find it red from blood.

Ruby jumped to her feet and bolted over to the man. What Death said about fixing everything still held true in her mind, but this guy didn't have any involvment, and she couldn't just let him potentially die right in front of her if she could help.

She asked if he knew what was wrong only to get more coughing in reply. She looked about, she knew basic medicine from her classes and picked up a little advance stuff while on the field, but she was still leagues away from a actual doctor. Everyone was either asleep or to far away to realize how bad his cough was. Her eyes fell on a man in a long trench coat sleeping down the car. Though she didn't know the man himself, she recognized the coat as part of the 'Great Coat' uniform. She rushed over to him as fast as she could short of her semblance.

She kicked the man in the foot to wake him, getting a angry growl in response, and a demand for what she wanted.

"That man over there is coughing up blood."

"I don't care if he's- Wait blood!"

His brain finally recognizing what she said the man stood and bolted over to the mentioned passenger, telling Ruby to grab the first aid kit in his bag, "Out of the way, Great Coat on duty!"

The train car was starting to wake up at the man's shouting and started realizing what was happening. Everyone moved out of the way to make room for the man as he set the patient down on the floor and started examining him. One passenger grabbed the emergency scroll on the wall and Ruby delivered the requested white box.

It only took five minutes for the Great Coat to identify what was happening and force a special dust filled pill down the man's throat. He also gave the man a syringe of a clear liquid before claiming he would be stable till they got him to a hospital.

The train ride ended half a hour later. A ambulance was already waiting and the rushed the man away. A few news casters pulled the Great Coat aside for a interview, "Would you care to introduce yourself?"

"Sergeant Maricc of the Vale Boarder Protection Force."

"So can you tell us what happened?"

"Well I was sleeping, till a woman in a red hood woke me up and alerted me to one of the passenger's condition."

"Can we get the woman in for this interview too?"

"Sure she's... Actually where did she go?"

**:::::**

Ruby had bolted from the scene. There were cameras and as much as she would have liked too, she couldn't afford to be seen, what if someone she knew saw her; what if "she" saw her.

Vale was much taller then she remembered. She had grown so use to the half destroyed skyscrapers that she had forgotten how tall and proud they once stood. First thing first though, she needed to figure out "when" she was before deciding how she would act. The CCT still stood so this had to be at least before she graduated Beacon. She entered the first shop she came to and asked the owner for details.

"Excuse me, do you know what the date is?"

"Hm? Oh yes, it's Tuesday."

"No date."

"Oh, it's forth quarter 27th day." Ruby had hoped he would give the year too, but didn't push it as it would seem weird to ask.

She turned to leave, but was stopped by the owner, "Wait, do you know a girl named Ruby Rose?"

She stopped on her heels hoping he wouldn't push for details, "Who?"

"Younger girl, actually looks almost exactly like you, I thought you might be family. She's a huntress like you I'm guessing, if you do see her, can you ask her to come by? I never did get a chance to properly thank her for saving my shop last year."

She nodded before leaving. Looking back at the shop "From Dust till Dawn" read across the top.

"Well that explains that" She thought as she took into account the date, "He said last year, so that means it's my second year. And fourth quarter that means "The Gathering" is coming up..."

The crimson reaper smiled at the memories of her first Gathering, and gave a small laugh at the memory of seeing a drunk Yang hanging from the scruff of her cloths by Qrow after he and her dad caught the brawler about to do the dirty deed. Pyrrha had her little 'revelation' and that's when... she shook her head to clear the thoughts from her head the good memories were starting to turn to darker ones that she had no interest to relive. "No, I'm here to ensure that doesn't happen again."

Determination chiseled into her face as she made for Beacon. If she was going to change the future she would need to talk to the man who still had the power to help her.

**Don't worry this isn't going to be some "Our worlds are connected", chase across dimensions. The whole point of the 'existences' speech from Death is just to highlight "I know more shit about the universe then you ever will" aspect of him. He'll bring it up once in a while, but don't worry about wrapping your head around it.**


	3. To End All Wars

**Boom! Done, here's a more appropriately lengthened one. So enjoy.**

**panda-kun77 - And you're first on the board at 200. But thanks, I've been told I have accent, so during high school my English teachers would get on me for having LONG paragraphs sized sentences since the way I would word things wouldn't leave room for periods. So it's nice to know I've gotten to a point where the casual reader can follow along. Also philosophy classes only open your eyes if they were closed to begin with, so unless you would describe yourself as a close minded individual I don't think that will apply to most people. But it does help you express yourself (you'd thick is was a physiology class rather then a philosophy,) and I would recommend everyone should at least take a intro to philosophy class if they can spare the time and money. **

Evil is needed for there to be good. There must be sickness if there is to be health, sorrow to be happiness. Death is the great equalizer, for no matter what side of the spectrum the forces that be stand on. Death is the one that makes all shadows see the light, and all lights to fade.

Ozpin entered his office. Night had rolled it's shadow over the world to give it rest from the sun. He made his way to his desk eyeing the slightly open balcony door, but didn't react. He took his seat senses alert for the slightest sign of the intruder. His aura told him he was being watched, but from where he couldn't tell. This assassin, or spy if the case be, was clearly ex-hunter. His gaze carefully darted around the room taking in every slight detail. The intruder didn't go past his desk, the very fine, invisible to the untrained eye, layer dust on the ground had not been disturbed. The clock work above and below him showed no sings of change, each piece still was in perfect sync with the others, not betraying any sign of extra weight ever disrupting them.

The intruder clearly knew exactly what they were looking for and it must have been in his desk. His seat was ever so slightly deformed from someone else sitting in it recently. A tall woman or a short man he had to guess, maybe a young adult; a student? No the Vytal festival was over and all the foreign students had returned to their own academies. And Ozpin had cherry picked every one of his students, he was more than certain that none of them were a traitor. So tall woman or short man.

His middle drawer on his right side was closed all the way. Ozpin had learned early that espionage was a consistent threat to Beacon for one reason or another. In his time as headmaster he had implemented several tricks to prevent and identify foul play; the layer of dust, the perfect synchronization of the clock gears; to even more basic things like not completely closing his drawers.

Carefully he pulled out the top drawer, making sure not to disrupt the one underneath. Ozpin expected a bomb or to find one of his folders missing, instead resting a top the mentioned papers was a perfectly shaped rose bud. Completely forgetting the situation the head master set down the container he was holding so he could collect the flower.

His face was one of both shock, confusion, worry among other feeling.

"Summer..." It was only a whisper, and he didn't seem to realize that he had actually said it aloud.

In his moment of not paying attention the intruder had appeared behind him, but he realized now there was no ill-intent involved. Ozpin turned to face her in his chair completely dumb struck at the sight.

She had to be at least five feet eight inches, give or take an inch. Her hair was in a cut similar to Ruby's, though the sides were a longer reaching to her shoulders. Her single eye was pure silver, the other covered in an eye patch with the silver rose emblem upon it. Though Ozpin wouldn't need the familiar emblem to recognize the women, her eyes were all he would have needed. She had a black blouse and a skirt with a second red one underneath with gold trimmings on both, she bore her iconic red cloak now with snow-white fur ringing the hood. She had a black corset with red trim around the edge with black laces. Her black skirt had a triangle cut with the gold following up to her silver belt around her waist with special high-caliber bullets lining its lengthen.

The old huntsmen's mouth opened and closed as he struggled to find words, but none seemed to escape his throat. Finally a 'h' sound slipped free and Ruby guessed he was confusing him with her mother.

"I'm not Summer if that's what you're thinking." That seemed to snap Ozpin out of his blank out and he narrowed his eyes at the women before him, remembering she was an intruder.

"Then who are you?" Though his voice didn't carry any aggression, his eyes betrayed his thoughts.

"Well you're going to think I'm crazy but," She took a breath. Originally she was going to pose as her mother, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it, "I'm Ruby, from the future."

"..."

"Really."

"..."

"I'm not crazy, I've gone back in time to try and fix the world before Cinder and the others can destroy it."

"..."

"Maybe I should just go then."

"No." Ruby stopped on her heels hearing his words. She doubted he believed her, though Ozpin wasn't the kind of person to let something go with so many strings still attached.

"So if you're really Ruby from the future, first tell me how you traveled to the present, or past in your case."

"I kind of made a deal with Death... well a second one." The rose noted his eyes narrow more when she mentioned the pale horsemen. _"Does he actually believe Death is real? I've never been able to tell with him."_

"So if your from the future then tell me what happens?"

"Um well, I kind of feel I should be careful about what I say, Death pointed out what can happen if I'm not careful so are you ok if I don't go into details?"

He thought for a second, though it was probably just for dramatic effect since his eyes didn't shift to highlight him coming to any conclusion.

"Very well. Start from the beginning, but you can skim the stuff that's already happened."

The rose took a deep breath, and walked over to take a seat on the opposite side of the head master's desk, knowing this would be a LONG story.

"Alright first it started with Cinder, who is the "queen" that you've been tracking. Though I never learned the details of her plan it had something to do with destroying the kingdoms so there was only one. My guess is she wanted to make herself queen of the world or something."

Ozpin noted that to be wrong, he had a strong idea as to what, Cinder as she was now identified as, wanted and queen wasn't on her to do list. The girl was half right in wanting to cause harm to the all the different kingdoms so didn't count her out yet.

"Me and the rest of my team and JNPR finally managed to stop her though she did manage to destroy the CCT greatly disrupting cross continental communication to and from Vale. Roman Torchwick returned to being a major crime boss, though he does lay low for a bit. You even made him an informant with a little persuasion from Yang."

The headmaster was well aware of Yang's adventures to Junior's, though something must have happened for him to bring her directly into his command.

"The White Fang meanwhile started separating itself from the extremist declaring them to be the 'Red Fang'. And for a while they helped fix faunus-human relations. The Red Fang itself soon split off between the extremist who continued sabotaging Schnee company dust shipments and other acts of sabotage. Between them and the half that broke of calling themselves the 'Blood Claw' who preformed far more hideous acts. At first it was even believed they were behind your assassination."

The headmaster coughed on his coffee, upon hearing those words. After correcting the pain in his chest he asked the rose to elaborate more. She was hesitant at first, but the headmaster's golden eyes cut through her resolve like butter till she yielded.

"Well it was a White Fang rally. You the council and Connery the leader of the White Fang were there. Though they were going to sign a document for Faunus labor equality, and enforcement of equal treatment. I was still young and didn't understand much of the politics, but Blake said you were essentially going to outlaw public discrimination of people based of their heritage. Though it was meant for Faunus, it also applied to humans as well."

He gave a mental nod to this. He had more than once tried appealing such a document to the council to pass. Every time though it was denied under the claim that it wouldn't have enough public support to enforce it, and they feared the Faunus would consider it a mockery to make such a pathetic token attempt to appease them.

He was more curious how exactly he died, in all his years two attempts have been made on his life. The first from a drunk anti faunus extremist in a back ally, the second form a man he was convinced was under Cinder's employment or was somehow influenced by her.

"They planned it perfectly. The shooter purposely set himself up so his scope would reflect the light so you would notice him, but he took the shot at Connery and you had to dive in the way to save him.

The White Fang blamed the Red Fang, the Red Fang accused the Blood Claw, who themselves said that they supported the action and had no designs on interfering with the rally. The people though blamed all Faunus regardless of their allegiance."

"So who was the shooter?"

"A hunter turned mercenary named William Wyte who is part of a group called the 'Peace Makers'. Lead by a man named Kazachin Hussar. His group wanted to start a great war that would make the last one seem like a border skirmish. With the increased threat to faunus, the Red Fang brought on Torchwick to help fund and supply them, the Blood Claw one upped them and freed Cinder from her life sentence. The White Fang continued to try and be a voice of reason, but almost no one was listening. The Red Fang turned into a form of Mafia under Torchwick, offering 'protection' to non faunus owned shops and businesses. And they started to be idolized as a sort of Robin Hood, for their stealing from the rich and giving to the 'poor defenceless faunus' as they put it. The Blood Claw filled the role of a terrorist organization wanting to kill everything that wasn't them. Including the Red and White Fang."

"So what happened after my demise?"

"Ironwood is what happened."

"I can guess how he handled the situation."

"General Gustavus immediately stepped in claiming that Ironwood was not suited for such a delicate situation. But the council wouldn't listen to him and gave Ironwood full control over Vale security and Beacon. I think Ironwood had the whole city under martial law within the hour of his appointment. This only angered people more increasing hostilities to the breaking point. Finally General Gustavus declared a public coup to take control of Vale and revoke Ironwood's authority.

And actually it was the first sign of unity the city had seen in almost a year as everyone save the Blood Claw was there marching with the General to the council chamber in support. That ended in a stand-off between Ironwood and the General. At the time we didn't know of the Peace Makers so we didn't know who fired on who. But Vale quickly became a war zone between the people and Ironwood. It only stopped when Atlas ordered his return where he was court marshaled, stripped of rank and given a life imprisonment. That didn't fix the damage though, Vale had completely fallen apart. There was no government and the law enforcement was to busy helping the hunters holding off the drastically increase in grimm activity as they swarmed to the city. Cinder tried making a gambit for control by putting a large part of the city under her banner and that of the Blood Claw. Ironically it was Roman who stepped up to oppose her claiming she was "bad for business." Me, Jaune, and team METL joined him in stopping her. We managed to chase her to an abandoned ship at the docks where we had a heated battle. It turned out to being a trap, as once the battle went below deck the ship pulled out of port and they sunk it with the intent of killing the 'leaders' of those that resisted them. During Cinder's escape I got separated from the others and engaged her one on one. I almost got her but, the ship started sinking and during the moment I was off-balance she got me with a fireball."

Ozpin hadn't realized he was nearing the edge of his seat and sat back. The girl didn't have to many scars on her body that would hint to where she was hit, save the eye path that covered the entire right side of her face.

"She got away and locked me in the room with no way to get topside. By the time I regained my senses enough from the pain the ship was already submerged, I couldn't even open the door due to the weight of the water.

I don't know how long I was in there, but I reached the point where my mind stopped working properly and went into survival mode. It seems stupid now, but I guess hunger and thirst makes people do stupid things, so I actually cut the door off its hinges and opened it up, I guess with the intent of swimming through the ship to the surface of the bay, then swimming all the way back to Vale on an empty stomach and dangerously dehydrated. I didn't even get that far though, as when I opened the door the water blasted it away and it pinned my legs underneath while the water rushed into the room."

"So who saved you?"

"No one."

"Then how are you..."

"I guess my desperation caught the eye of Death and I begged him to save me. At first he said it was because I could help him, claim his renegade soul. Later when it came up though he said it was just because I interested him.

I don't know how he saved me, I just remember waking up in a hospital room with Yang crying into my lap and Jaune passed out in the chair on the opposite side. And a pile of cookies and strawberries at the end of my bed. Apparently I had been missing for a week and everyone thought I was dead and during that time my team and JNPR had gone out and killed Cinder in vengeance only to find me floating in the water while they were watching the sunset and reflecting on everything that happened.

After that the Blood Fang kind of fell apart as only the most dedicated members wanted to keep fighting. Roman actually managed to get the City to a somewhat stable condition, though it was through oppression and dictatorship. It's funny how Cinder was trying to take control yet Roman was the one who won. We didn't do anything at first because the stability helped calm people down enough to lessen the presence of grimm around the city.

With the CCT gone, we still didn't have very reliable connections to the outside world. And apparently the Peace Makers were in the other kingdoms causing problems too. They destroyed the CCTs in the other kingdoms and did everything in their power to separate them. While also causing panic and havoc bringing people to a dangerous line. Finally enough fuel had been thrown on and they lit the match. Atlas declared war on Vacuo, Mistral came to their aid. Vale who was just starting to get on their feet again declared war on Mistral in retaliation; it was a huge mess. Vale was quickly occupied by Vacuo and Atlas rushed to help. Within the year the kingdom existed in location and name alone as the actual city was just a bombed out ruin, with three kingdoms fighting over it and desperate people trying their hardest just to get by. Roman was arrested and the general for Mistral ordered his execution.

Later we learned that the Peace Makers who were being supplied by the Schnee dust company were poking and prodding the different kingdoms to keep the war going. Though only enough to keep the conflict going not enough to get the hunters involved. It was painful having to spend more time fighting the endless hoards of grimm rather than helping end the war. But if we didn't do it, there wouldn't have been a kingdom to help.

Finally Jaune happened to stumble on the Peace Makers in action and he tried to stop them and bring them to justice for what they had done, but he was..."

The woman started to tear up, obviously still not having gotten over what had happened. Since it wasn't the end of the story Ozpin could make a strong guess as to what happened.

"He, managed to killed Wyte who was the Peace Maker's second in command and another member, but one of them managed to get him with a poisoned blade. And by now there were no more hospitals or clinics to help him. He said it didn't hurt, but I could tell he was lying..." The women had to take a few minutes to calm herself, taking a few extra breaths before continuing.

"With one of their scrolls we identified who the leader was and my team and the rest of JNPR immediately went out to stop them. Pyrrha, Ren and Nora went to stop a train of dust and arms that they were planing to 'donate' to the kingdoms to keep them supplied. We went to Beacon where Hussar had set up a temporary base of operations. There were only three members there including Hussar, but all of them fought like ten hunters. How Jaune managed to beat two by himself I doubt I'll ever know. After that I made a deal with Death to go back in time so I could stop all this before it happens."

Ozpin took a bit to take her story into account. Honestly he wanted to think it was a lie, but something in the back of his mind kept whispering it was true. After what felt like eternity of silence he took a breath finally figuring out what the whisper was.

Ruby on the other hand actually felt very good about herself. She had said more than she originally intended to, but it just felt good to just let it out. Ozpin always had that effect on her when they talked.

"I don't belive your story," Ruby frowned. She knew it was a long shot, but she still hoped he would give it some credit, "But, your eye's don't lie. Honestly I could tell you were Ruby from the get go. No one has eyes like yours, your mother could only come close."

This perked up the rose right away and her frown bent into a smile glade she might get the help she needed. He took a final sip of his coffee before continuing.

"Where you the one on the train coming into Vale?"

"I guess you mean with the passenger who was coughing up blood? Yeah, that was me."

"There's something you should see then."

The headmaster opened his desk and fished out a remote from one of the compartments then had the wall to their left opened up for a TV. He rewinded the current program to the news a few hours ago.

"This morning a man traveling from Vacuo to Vale was rushed to the hospital when a passenger found him violently coughing up blood. The passenger alerted a member of the Vale Boarder Protection Force, who applied basic first aid, stabilizing the passenger, now identified as William Wyte, till he could be rushed to a hospital. The man had apparently received a blow to the chest causing his lungs to bleed internally, though he doesn't know when it could have happened. Mr Wyte is expected to make a full recovery."

Ruby's eyes shoot wide when she realized she was the reason that Wyte was alive to cause all the pain he inflicted in the future. Her thoughts took a cold tone while they echoed through her mind.

_"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Congratulations Rose, you have made your first intervention! Ha, ha, ha-"_

**There might be a small delay on the next chapter, College shit to do, but it's coming so don't worry.**


	4. The First Domino

**Bloody hell this one was a pain in the ass to write, don't worry next one if it doesn't have some action in it, it'll be setting up for it; so you can look forward to that.**

**Blackpony9 - Thanks for the compliment, it's always nice to have someone enjoy reading the words I throw up on the screen.**

"Oh just kiss him already you dolt."

Ruby was sitting on one of the rooftops at beacon watching her younger self and Jaune talking on a bench in the garden. If memory served right this was when he was asking her to help him forge his own weapon so he could stand out from the rest of his family, or she was asking him if he wanted to go into town and get some shortcake; one of the two.

She had been staying in a special guest room for the past two days while she gathered her bearings and readjusted to normal living. It felt great to sleep in a warm soft bed with a in room heater instead of a sleeping bag atop a flat section of rubble around a campfire. During her time Glynda was the only other person she had revealed herself to. She was currently debating on doing so for her younger self and her team.

What were the good points for doing so? One, she could have extra eyes and hands to help her if she need it. She could also be there to help them for whatever they needed, though that would mostly be just her helping them study; actually that could be bad because the might start relying on her instead of learning it themselves. Naturally they would bombard her with enough questions that the events they wanted to know about would have passed before she even finished. And actually if they knew what would happen it might change how the events unfold, it could change their attitude to things because they would think fate would side with them instead of taking it into their own hands.

Ruby would just want to be with her all the time, she actually might treat her like a second older sister come to think of it. Weiss would be agitated about their being two of them, though that could be easily fixed. Blake would probably be the most likely to be unaffected by it, continuing to keep to herself and read her smut. Yang would probably be in the same boat as Ruby, only she'd want to take her on more 'adventurous' outings.

"Everything alright Ruby?"

"Yeah, I never realized how blind I was till I'm actually looking back and seeing all the signs."

"Things always seem different when we look back on them."

The rose looked over at the headmaster who was sipping his coffee behind her.

"So my plan so far it to wait for Cinder to make her next move then pick up the trail from there."

"And what might I ask is this next move of hers?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't feel it's a good idea for you to know." Her voice was wavering under Ozpin's gaze. during the past two days she had spilled more beans to him then she wanted, but she had also started steeling herself to the effect his yellow eyes had.

He continued looked for a moment longer, he could easily push her resolve and have her tell him; but felt she was right on this matter. Him knowing could alter events after and she could lose the advantage of her foresight. As much as it pained him, he dropped the subject.

"And what is your current short term goal then?"

"Well I'm thinking about if I should reveal myself to my team or not. Also can you call me Red in public?" He gave her a confused glance, but could fit the pieces as to why easily.

"Alright then Ms. Red, I'll leave you to your thoughts. Also you mentioned you had worked with team METL during your story. Would you like me to have them on standby to help you if you need it?"

"If they're ok with it, sure, except Tyral; keep him teaching. Also until Cinder does make a move you can put me on the roster for missions too. I need to stay in shape after all." Ozpin raised his eyebrow once more at her first statement, but didn't push. He gave her an ok then walked off, leaving her to herself.

Red went back to watching the two teens, again as they awkwardly stared at each other for a moment till Jaune managed to raise his hand and give the rose a small wave good-bye, letting them comfortably separate. She still hadn't decided if she would involve herself in their lives directly, but that didn't mean she couldn't work from the shadows.

_"So you didn't learn from your first intervention? I'm so glad I didn't let you drown in that ship."_

"No comments from the peanut gallery."

Red dashed through the halls, a few students giving the red blur a glance before shrugging and continuing on their way. She arrived in the library, most of the student's were absorbed in their studies and didn't even realize the women had walked in. Using her semblance she dashed through the room in short burst to keep from a tail wind forming, while making sure she stayed out of sight. She spotted her target sitting at one of the tables. Ruby's forehead was red and her eyes were drowsy. Guessing from the book the girl had an assignment in Health and Survival class.

*Thud*

"And that explains the red forehead... This will be easy."

Almost too conveniently, everyone with line of sight to the girl had turned their backs to her and the bloomed rose dashed forward slipping a pre-prepared note into the next page of the book. Noticing everyone still had their back to her, the women ruffled up her younger self's hair in an attempt to wake her so she could keep studying. The usually light sleeper didn't stir, so Red just left her to her sleep.

"Thanks for the help."

_"I just want to see this blow up in your face, that's all."_

:::::

Ruby woke up from a slight nudging of her shoulder. She gave a small squeak of a yawn to look over seeing Weiss.

*Yawn* "What is it Wiess?"

"You fell asleep again you dunce. Can you act your age for ten minutes on your own? Or do I have to baby you the whole time? You can't even study for thirty minutes without some sort of sugar to keep you up. How do you expect to succeeded here when the teachers start increasing the amount of work?"

"But it's SO BORING!" adding a fake sob to the end of her sentence.

"Well this kind of stuff can save your life one day, or someone else'es."

"What does learning about people's privates have to do with saving someone's life?"

"If you're going to learn how the human body works you might as well learn it all. Why are you so immature over looking at a medical diagram?"

"Because of what it is." she whined back.

Weiss gave an annoyed sigh before storming off, muttering "You're so childish" as she went.

The red-haired girl gave a sad sigh as she went back to her assignment. Turning the page she found another picture with an overly excessive amount of detail in the young teen's mind. Her attention was quickly pulled away though by a slip of paper. Curiosity took manual control over the girl as she opened the slip of paper.

Ruby after reading it in full twice over, she immediately stood and left the library; knowing someone else will take care of the book. She walked to her dorm, but knocked on the door opposite of it. Nora opened and when asked, told the rose that Jaune was in the training field.

Upon arrival she saw the blond swinging at a dummy, his sword glowing as he pulsed his aura into it, giving it extra power and length as the white, needle like energy pulsed through the blade. She unconsciously rubbed her left temple remember a solid blow Jaune had landed on her at the start of the year.

She made her way to the boy after he had finished, breathing a little hard from his workout. He turned to collect his stuff, only to find Ruby walking to him.

"Hey Ruby, you need some-" he was cutoff has the girl reached him and immediately made a small hoop to plant a quick peck on his lips.

She watched his mouth freeze slightly ajar while his eyes rapidly twitched about slightly, his mind obviously not in this world at the moment as countless thoughts passed through it.

Finally his mind started to still and he asked what the kiss was for.

"The note, duh." she said nonchalantly holding up the piece of paper responsible for the moment.

He took the note confused and read it to himself. After a moment he looked up at her, "I didn't write this. The hand writing is way to nice to be mine."

"What? But if you didn't write it then who... YANG!" she shouted the last word in irritation and she stormed out to look for the mentioned, the knight in tow.

:::::

"...YANG!"

Red face-palmed from her hiding spot. It was working so well, she had hoped the knight wouldn't ask, and just accept the kiss. Her younger self had found the boy faster than she thought, and she didn't have enough time to put the note for Jaune in his bag to find.

:::::

The dorm room door blasted open making Weiss and Yang jump slightly when their red leader marched in. Shoving the note in her sister's face she demanded to know what her plan was. The confused blonde took the slip and read it to herself.

"Aww! My baby sister has her first crush!" She shouted with joy snagging up Ruby into a bear hug.

"Actually Yang, I didn't write it." The brawler looked past her sister to her blonde counterpart, before putting down her sister.

"It said it's from you, but if you didn't write it, who did?"

"Well we thought it was you, but if you didn't then who did?"

Weiss walked over and took the note wanting to know what all the fuss was about. She read a few random lines, the ones she picked were depicting Ruby's eyes like stars and her smile glowing like the sun. The whole thing was so cheesy she was surprised it wasn't written on the mentioned dairy product. The whole thing read like something Jaune would write, it even had a few spelling errors as further proof of that, but Wiess recognized the handwriting.

"Ruby, though the letters are much neater, this looks like your handwriting."

The crowd eyed her, causing her to stutter a few letters of denial, before collecting herself enough to fully deny her hand in it. Weiss wasn't convinced and Yang dropped the conversation since she wasn't involved anymore. Ruby backed out in embarrassment Jaune following behind her.

"Actually Ruby?" Stopping the girl who was about to storm off back to the library after he closed the door behind him, giving them some sense of privacy.

The girl gave him a "Hmm?" while she turned back to face him.

"I mean I wouldn't have worded like that, but I do think you're an amazing person-"

:::::

"Pfft! Yeah right, you wrote that completely on your own, word for word spelling errors included, I just recreated it."

:::::

"-and I thought maybe you'd like to go out, you know for dinner... or something..." He started tailing off at the end realizing he was asking a girl out, and his nerves starting to protest to the action.

"You know Jaune you don't have to-"

"When you kissed me, even if the reason turned out to be fake, I still like the feeling that went though me, and well..."

The girl grinned and put a hand on his arm to calm him a little.

"How about instead of shortcakes this weekend, we make it dinner instead?" The comment made Jaune's jaw drop for a second while he recollected himself.

"Yeah, sure, that'll be great!" He was practically jumping for joy.

The two resettled the details of their get together. Ruby left to go back to her studies, Jaune went into his dorm then proceeded to do a few fist pumps and other celebratory actions. Ren and Nora just sat on their beds watching with confusion at their leader's antics. Only Nora was curious enough to actually ask what was happening.

:::::

"I was panicking for a second, but it actually worked out."

_"Careful Rose, Father doesn't fight fair when others try playing his game. It might take a bit, but time habitually retaliates."_

"So I need to make sure they don't get hit by a car or something while they're grabbing dinner?"

_"I can not say, though I wouldn't tell even if I did know the events to unfold. All the consequences are upon your hands."_

"Welcome to the last three years of my life."

:::::

"The knight is in the pants, I repeat, the knight is in the pants."

"Yang, stop that. I don't think your sister is even interested in that sort of thing yet. She can't even look at a medical diagram of a man's genitalia and you think they are just going to be like rabbits in season?"

The brawler pulled away from the keyhole in the door and shot a knowing smile at Weiss while she shot her statement down, "Until maybe a month before the start of the school year you might have been right. Then while we were having a 'talk' I introduced her to porn."

"And I bet her face turned red and she wanted to stop looking."

"Yeah, exactly that actually. The thing is she doesn't realize I know the password to her scroll. Remember last week? She said she was going for a 'walk', but her scroll's search history says she was doing something else."

"Don't you think that's a massive invasion of her privacy? Like up there with reading her diary? I've never seen a book with so many locks on it, and every time I've seen it, it's had more added to it."

"That's how I know how to approach her about important things. I'm not a mom, so I don't know how they manage to know everything, so I need to cheat a little to make sure I can talk to her about the right things."

That actually made a little sense in the heiress'es mind. Though knowing Yang, she was also doing it for her own satisfaction to uphold her sisterly duties as well. To which the brawler gladly confirmed.

"You'd be shocked about the kind of stuff she's in to. According to her page history the one video she watches the most is just..." The thought of the events playing in her mind caused her to give a shiver that unnerved the two people present in the room, "Well I'll spare you the nightmares, but let's just say I'm a bit concerned about how often she watches it."

This unnerved the two young adults even more. If someone like Yang was creeped out they surely would be revolted by it, but at the same time they wanted to know what it was that was too much for the "unfazeable" Yang.

:::::

"Oh right... 'That' video... I wounder what her reaction will be in a month or so when I find that 'other' one?"

_"What is this 'video'?"_

"I'm sure you'll be disgusted by it, Yang's right, I have some VERY weird fetishes two I know for fact she is the cause of."

_"I highly doubt a mortal of your nature can 'disgust' me."_

"Well the one my sister was talking about, opens with-"

**Alright FINALLY got this one done. I know the chapter is a little shorter than the standard I wanted to reach, but when I tried making it longer I found the writing to start getting tedious to read, and knew I should just ax the parts I'm forcing so it doesn't pointlessly drag on and bore you.**

**Few story notes:**

**1) HA HA! Morvan and Tyral Cameo! METL(METAL as I'm sure you can guess) and LVTH(Leviathan) will just be making small appearances so I have an excuse to have some action outside of Cinder and Hussar. They'll also be the teams Ruby will be going with since they were the RWBY and JNPR of their generation. (They are between the main cast and their parents)**

**2) Death was referring to Father Time, who is not Death's actual father, he's just an entity who exist and might be referenced to, but will not be appearing in the fic.**

**3) The last segment was just an attempt at some crude, bad humor I thought of while freezing my ass off walking home from class. If it comes up again it's just be to poke fun again, it's not going to be an actual plot point. At least I don't plan it to be at the time of writing this. **

**This took so long; One, because of college; Two, like I just said I had a little trouble with the ending. Even the part with Yang at the very end I literally added while doing my final proofread to make sure there weren't a lot of spelling and grammar errors. Continuing off the first point, the time between the last chapter and the last is what you should set as an estimate for a wait time between chapters. ****Now I'm going to bed, it's flipping two hours past when I should be normally asleep doing my blood spell check.**

**Review/Follow, you know how we authors like it stroked.**


	5. New Blades and Face

**This one just flew by. Normally I write in portions, so that way I have plenty of time to think about what I want to write, but this one fell out of my head in only two days, a record second only to the second chapter of Northward; which took the same amount of time, but was longer. Actually decided to wait and "forget" how the chapter flowed so I could do a better final proofread. I was looking back at the chapter actually and realized I have a fetish for segmentata armor (think roman legionnaires) or something.**

**PM - I'm assuming you want to be anonymous hence why you sent me a PM. No you are going be introduced to the last (unless the plot requires a new one) of the OCs. And most of them are going to be support characters, a few of them just for humor and banter even. Very few of them will actually make regular showings, they're more just to help fill out the world; so don't worry about remembering twenty different names, you'll probably just see them mentioned once or twice without ever actually showing up.**

"This is Red," Ozpin stated as he passed a picture of the girl to the two men in front of him, "You'll be assigned to her till further notice. Don't let her young age fool you, I can assure you she is more then capable, and is a experienced leader. Though she has a assignment of her own, for the time being she has offered to take standard missions while she waits for her actual mission to start."

The two men looked at the girl, burning her face into their minds.

The one on the left stood 6'10" and was clad in a leather pants and shirt with a black carapace breastplate. He had a dark blue great coat on, the sleeves rolled up to his elbow, with tiny black checked diamonds covering it. Though you could still make out the blue with ease, the slightest adjustment of the coat would flux the color; Ozpin found the consistent changing to be extremely distracting, but guessed that was the point of it. Dark steel colored shoulder plates held down the coat with the one on the right being larger and having three different dust crystals embedded within it; The top edge had a lip to doubt to protect his neck from the effects of the crystals. Metal gauntlets protected his hands and his pants had segmentata plates to protect the thighs. Heavy leather boots went up just short of his knee and they also had segmentata plates over his shins and and white fur ringing the top. His round-top helmet covered his head completely with three levels of openings for the eyes so he could clearly see forward, down, and up without having to move his head while still exposing as little of his face as possible.

The one on the right only came to 6'1" and was also clad in armor. His took the form of a chain mail undershirt and also having a evergreen overcoat on with short sleeves and the bottom hem only reached down to his knees. His hands were bare save the plated vambraces on his forearms. His feet were protected by segmentata plate boots that came to a point at the tips. His short auburn hair was well kept and was cropped to ensure it could never block his line of sight. Obviously caring about efficiency more so then his partner's ornament armor.

After a few moments to let them study the image he noted she was staying in guest room 401 and that she is currently waiting for them so they can make proper introductions.

The taller one acknowledged the information before passing the photo back to Ozpin and giving him a small salute before running after his teammate who was content to leave him behind.

They knocked at the door hearing "It's open" from the other side. Red sat there with Crescent Rose performing basic maintenance to the deadly scythe on her couch, headphones around her neck. The shorter took a seat in a chair in the main living room while the bigger one sat down right next to Ruby.

"So Red, how old are you?" The girl eyed him for a moment, taking note of how his arm was on the back of the cough behind her and how he was slightly leaning in, "Actually it doesn't matter. If you're eight-teen it's good."

"Ernest, do remember she's armed and you're not."

"Lann don't be such a party pooper. You don't mind a few jokes do you?" Turning his gaze to the red individual next to him.

Ruby grinned back, when they had first met she was rather annoyed by the man's antics, but she had grown use to them; and wasn't bothered now.

Lann responded saying, "Don't encourage him." when she shook her head.

"Mad that you can never get a girl?" Looking back at his partner no doubt grinning behind his helmet.

"I could get a women if I wanted, but I've yet to find one I like."

"What about Vell-" Cutting himself off even before Lann tensed up at the mention of the person's name.

Ruby was actually curious, in her year of knowing them they had never mentioned someone named "Vell" before, and from the way Lann tensed up it didn't seem like something they were going to openly talk about.

"So! Allow us to introduce ourselves," The taller man obviously trying to change the subject, "I'm-"

"Ernest Offing, of Team METL, graduated seven years ago from Beacon and acted as a hunter for two years. You later joined the Vale Boarder Protection Force serving for three years as a Great Coat before returning to being a hunter two years ago.

Your semblance is momentum allowing you to amplify the force your body is currently carrying. You have a vast amount of aura allowing you to shrug off blows that would succumb other hunters, combined with your Congenital Analgesia you are renown for your unrelenting fighting style, willingly trading blows with your enemy till you grind them down beneath your mighty blows and strength. Your Congenital Analgesia is also a weakness though, as you are a frequent patient at the hospital since you fight on as normal instead of paying heed to any wounds you might have."

Ernest pulled back a little shocked by how well she knew him, but managed to play it cool "So, it seems my reputation proceeds me, well then let me introduce the not so well known partner-"

"Lann Merccia, also of Team METL. Graduated as the ninth strongest fighter of your year, and has served as a hunter for the whole time since your graduation. You are known to be a bit of a loner only recently returning to official hunter missions after a long period of solo missions for various people.

Semblance is friction, and is mainly used to 'glide' across the battlefield. You have a unrelenting in-and-out combat style, as you will use your semblance to dash up to or past a opponent unleash a flurry of attacks then dash out before any retaliation can be made. You have a moderate amount of aura, but it refills very quickly letting you continue your continuous assault on the enemy long after most would be exhausted from fatigue.

You are known to be a very solo oriented combatant, though you do follow orders if someone has a plan of action. You also prefer to be more stealthy approach as you consider most combat tedious, but will gleefully engage known skilled combatants. You are confident almost to the point of arrogance and you don't back down when you feel you are right about a matter even going as far as taking action despite your orders."

He grinned at her before turning to Ernest boasting "You're not so special after all."

"Well clearly she just pre-read our profiles." Crossing his arms and looking away, undeterred by his comment.

"So you know about us, how about introducing yourself." Ernest turned back the the girl next to him agreeing with Lann.

"You can just call me Red, I also went here to Beacon. Since graduating I've been serving under Ozpin and I'm currently on a secret assignment that you'll learn about when it officially starts. Until then we will be performing standard assignments together. Semblance is simplely speed, and I can amplify it even more with my sweetheart here." She paused for a moment to bring her weapon into a loving hug. Ernest mumbled about being cock blocked by a weed wacker.

"Tell us about your personality, if we are going to be following you to the ends of the world I would like to know if it's going to be a suicide run or if you actually intend to keep us alive."

"Well I don't think someone can do a very good impression of their own personality... But I'm often told by my team that I'm too good natured. Using a time I saved a town from a huge pack of beowolves and collecting a beautiful flower woven bracelet and crown instead of the lin they were paying for my services as a example." Both looked at her slightly shocked by her comment, Lann telling her he has rent to pay and he wont stand for that; Ernest agreeing, but his voice hinted that it was more out of need then requiring the money.

"Since I was pushed up two years by Ozpin so I could attend Beacon right away, my teammate would often call me childish, and even after graduation she still consider's me immature. Looking back at it I might have been a little ignorant of how the real world works, but I wouldn't say childish is a good word to describe it. Outside of that, you'd have to ask them."

Ernest jumped up clapping his hands together asking where they were so he could find them.

"Well um, their kind of... gone... on a mission, I don't know when they'll be back."

The helmed one sat back down putting an arm on her shoulder in a attempt to comfort her, guessing something must have happened to them or something; using the fact they were brought on to reinforce that idea.

"Who's the one that considers you childish, just so I can get a view of why they would think that. You seem very composed and mature to me." Ruby's was practically glowing on the inside, at the comment. Even after all these years Weiss still considered her just as naive and childish as she was in her first year. Though she would admit to acting as such, it was very intentional; she was more then capable of being mature if she wanted to, but found being a 'proper' adult boring and not any fun.

"My teammate Weiss, she's kind of cold and honestly a bit of a bitch some times. She's a good friend though and I would gladly put my life down to save her, just as she would do the same for me."

Lann hmm'ed to himself in thought, before being reminded by Ernest they had a date.

"Sorry Red, we need to go, I promised Larron I would be at the arena so we could fight."

"Can I come too?" Ruby had heard of Larron back in the day. Supposedly he was a great fighter, winning the Hunter World Championship five times becoming a 'Grand Champion' and going on to win a sixth before finally being beaten.

"Sure, bastard thinks just because he won the World Championship once he's hot shit, but I'll put him down!" Pride and confidence filling his voice as he dramatically raise his fist to empathise the point while they walked down the halls.

"No one from our year has managed to beat Larron... actually Me, Tyral, Morvan, Richard, Amala and Hong are the only people who have managed to hit him."

"Shut up, don't kill the moment. That was years ago besides, I'm sure all of us can at the very least match him, if not best him. I've gotten better over the years I'll have you know."

"You speak as if he hasn't as well." Continuing the banter as they walked through the school toward the main arena, not noticing Ruby fall behind so she could hid from the public eye, before dashing up to meet them when they reached the main doors to the wing.

Lann gestured for Ruby to follow him up into the stands while the vanguard went to retrieve his arms. They took a seat and the reaper noted the stands were filled other hunters, most of them looked to be the same age as Lann and Ernest. She recognized a couple of the faces in the crowd, hunters and huntresses that had distinguished themselves during the war, or fought along side her at one point. Death was floating in the air opposite of Ruby, but he seem to have his attention on the to-be fight, rather then her.

Larron was already in the arena. He wore bronze colored chain mail with a dirt brown coat of plate tabard over his center that ended above his knees. He had three different quivers on his back, and a fourth by his waist; a saber of some sort resting in its sheath on the opposite side. His bow was metal and the arms looked to be folded themselves giving it a makeshift hand guard. The bow still curved enough to be functional, but it still seemed like a odd design since it would prevent him from getting the full power of his bow. Leather gauntlets protected his hands and arms most likely from the bow's string more so then his attacker. Leather boots protected his feet and shins. A thraex helmet with a large fin like plum protected his head, with the eye holes being larger to provide extra vision.

"Hey Lann, I can't help but notice you all seem to wear very... 'classic' armor, why is that?"

The man turned and looked up and down her then reached out and pinched her sleeve, feeling the fabric.

"This is your combat outfit?"

"Yeah, why?"

"How to your protect yourself with that? I thought it had metal threads woven into it, but it's just cloth."

"With my aura, duh."

"Kids... We wear armor because then you don't have to waste aura on every little scratch, you can focus on the bigger stuff and spend more on your offence and movement."

It looked like he was going to continue his rant, but he caught sight of Ernest entering the arena. Still clad in his armor and coat, now he bore a massive, oversized great sword in his hand. The blade was very geometric having very straight and exact angles and cuts, the blade had to be five feet long and a foot wide with a two foot handle with a flanged spike for a pommel.

The blade rested nicely on his on his 'safe' shoulder while he walked to the center of the arena. Larron met him halfway and the two shook hands in respect before going to the starting zones.

The arena gave the green to start and in an instant a metal shafted, pyramid head arrow was already racing toward Ernest; who was mid stride in his dash to close the distance. The vanguard leaned forward to avoid the arrow using his foot to catch himself and kick off after his attacker. Ruby was shocked by how low he went, she was sure he could have kissed the ground with how low he was. The great sword dragged behind him, the blade staying an inch off the ground at all times.

He kicked off with a huge blast of speed, his semblance kicking in leaving a slightly exaggerated motion trail in his wake. The druzhina jumped back just enough to avoid the massive blade as it swung up, leaving a arc in its path right where the bowmen had been a second ago. The blade was brought around over it's owner's head then down to repeat the swing with enough force that he was pulled off his feet for a moment. The bowmen jumped to the side this time and crouched down to give himself some extra force as he kicked out Ernest's feet just before they could be reintroduced to the ground.

The clank of metal armor smashed into the ground as the great coat fell flat on his back. Larron pulled back and raised his foot to stomp his fallen foe's gut. A vice grip snagged his foot midway and it's owner refused to let the foot to be pulled away. Using the strong grip as a pedestal Larron's other foot came around to nail Ernest square in the head.

Ruby noted that despite taking two hits one of them a very solid blow, Ernest's aura bar had only dropped a sliver. Another sliver when the foot came up and stomped down on his foe's face this time. "This is going to take a while." She thought while watching the vanguard throw away Larron to the other side of the arena while rising to his feet. Larron expertly twisted through the air landing on his feet without so much as a effort escaping his lips.

Knowing he could simply dodge the arrow the bowmen slung his bow and drew his saber, holding it up in a defective position.

_"Beware, the gaze of the twin stars is near."_

The feeling of thoughts not her own always sent a chill down her spine, no matter how much it happened. She humored the voice and gazed about curious as to what the being was referring to. She looked up to see the sun and moon floating above the horizon, near invisible next to the blue sky. Guessing that wasn't what it was referring too, she looked to the crowd. Lann had a very intense gaze on the fight, or rather Larron very specifically. Death had taken a "seat" and was sitting in the stands. She was about to give up on what he meant till she noticed a new red spot in the crowd.

The whole of RWBY and JNPR were next to each other save Weiss, who was over talking to the hunter next to her. If memory served right, Weiss mentioned his name was Richard at one point, but she had never actually met the man.

"Sorry I need to go." She said while standing to leave.

Lann didn't give her a eye while waving her off, "You're a big girl, you don't need me to hold your hand to the bathroom."

The crimson reaper quickly turned and walked off at a brisk pace toward the exit, her cloak trailing behind her.

:::::

"Hey Ruby do you know who that is?" Blake's hand rising into her vision pointing out who she was talking about.

The rose looked to see a hunter with a red cloak walk through the exit, clearly in a slight rush to be somewhere. She only had a moment and red cloak caught her eye to much to gaze upon the rest of her form.

She shook her head in reply.

"She looked almost exactly like you, I thought you might know her."

This peaked the girl's interest and she looked in thought at the exit the women had walked through.

Her attention was pulled back to the fight when a massive explosion went off from Ernest's shoulder plate. Larron was sent flying across the arena and smashed into the wall. Ruby started bouncing slightly in her seat while the crowd roared in approval around her, glad the fight wouldn't be as one sided as when they were young.

**Review/Follow, you know the things.**

**I'm wracking my head on how to do the next chapter. I know what I want to do but it's how to fill it out without you smashing your head into the keyboard shouting "It's SOOOOOOO dull! So unless my frozen bus waiting ass can give me an epiphany it might be a little bit for the next one.**

**You all loving the Vol.2 soundtrack? Was listening to it and wanted to make another action one-shot, but stopped myself so I could focus on this. **

**Don't distract yourself, get it done then you can move on; yes me, I know how you work, you say side project ,but then you move on from this altogether. Not this time though, you told the people they would get a story and you're going to deliver or burn out your creativity doing so!**


	6. Not as Remembered

***Places laptop in safe location***

***Proceeds to flip table and kick over chairs***

**Fuck this chapter. I've redone the date scene like three different times and still HATE it. First try was me doing a actual date, but then I thought "Wait these are two people who have never gone on a date." So I scrapped that and thought "So a first timer would either A) Try overly hard to make it as romantic as possible; or B) Just go out like it was any other day and be a date by name alone and maybe by conversation subject matter." So after a half attempt at A, I went with B. Didn't like it so made some changes and now consider it a different attempt, just on the same frame work.**

**Also I know it's a short chapter, but I didn't like this SO much just said fuck it, get it done and over with so we can MOVE THE FUCK ON! Seriously fuck this chapter. If you get sick of the crap you can just skim it, only two things that really matter to the plot in this one.**

"Ahhhhh... That's nice..."

Ruby was in the process of enjoying her new favorite pass time.

Soaking in a warm bath. She couldn't remember the last time she actually took a bath before the start of this misadventures. Baths were a luxury one would have to go far out into the grimm filled wilderness to the springs to have. Even Beacon only had showers, save for the guest rooms. The rose had forgotten how nice warm water was, and used every excuse to take advantage the ready plumbing. Showers in the morning to make herself presentable, bathing at night. She would never say it in front of her baby, but cleaning herself was more enjoyable now then cleaning her scythe. But had no shame in getting as messy as possible while cleaning Crescent Rose so she could wash up after.

Suddenly the water around her pelvis turned cold. Odd since the rest of the water was still warm, and hot water was still filling the tub. She opened her eyes to investigate the sudden change.

Glynda was walking by when she heard a high pitch scream through the wall. She was about to break down the door she knew lead to the room till she heard "Don't fucking do that! You scared the shit out of me!" Realizing the future comer wasn't in trouble she continued on her way to Ozpin's office, wondering when Ruby started swearing.

Back in the bathroom Ruby was holding her breast in one hand and had her legs crossed in an attempt to hid her flower, despite the fact that Death currently had its head fazing through it; so no one could see anyway. It didn't give her statement or body-language any heed while echoing in her mind.

_"It is almost seven, the time you desired to leave yes?"_

"Oh already? Ok thanks. But seriously DON'T EVER do that again!"

After floating through her it stopped mid air and finally realized what she meant.

_"You mortals are so strange, only the second existence was comfortable in their own skin. Why do you feel the need to hide your bodies? You all have the same parts or equivalent to."_

"Why do you wear your robes?"

Death raise it's arm, the skeletal hand extending from the black abyss that was the sleeve. After a moment the other came around and started pulling back the cloth even more letting its arm come into sight. It didn't even get to the elbow when Ruby was begging it to stop and pull its sleeve back.

"There go my plans for sleeping tonight..."

She raised from her interrupted bath to change; after Death had floated off to do its own thing.

Tonight's to do list included, but wasn't limited to: Stalking Ruby and Jaune, ensure their date goes off without a hitch, ensure Jaune doesn't get hit by a car or something.

Normally she wouldn't bother following them on their date, if they went to the same place she did for her first date, everything would be just fine. Death's warning though sent her on nerves and she didn't think it would play out the same this time.

:::::

Red was already in the city when Ruby and Jaune had gotten off the bullhead, still dressed like it was any other day. If one didn't know already it would look like just two friends hanging out.

"So Ruby, where do you want to go?"

She hmm'ed with thought for a second, before finally shrugging. Jaune didn't know where to go so the two just decided to walk through town till something caught their eye.

"So Ruby **did** you write that note?"

"No! I wouldn't need an excuse to ask you out, if wanted to go out with you I just would have asked."

"Oh..." slightly bummed by her response.

"That's not what I meant Jaune," Trying to reassure the knight by hugging his arm and leaning her head on his shoulder, "Don't think I don't like you, I just didn't realize you thought of me more then a friend."

"You're not doing a good job cheering me up."

The rose puffed out her cheeks into a pout, pinching his arm.

"I'm trying, I've never done this dating stuff before; give me a brake."

Arc laughed knowing exactly what she meant. Wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her into his side while they continued walking.

Finally a sandwich shop caught the attention of their stomachs and guided them in. Red was standing outside watching the two from a alley. Her mind filling with the memory of how her date went.

Jaune had a simple ham, cheese, tomato, and lettuce sandwich. Ruby stuffed her's high with bacon, chicken, lettuce, three different cheeses and dripping in different sauces and ranch. Jaune actually looked on in shock not only in how big it was, and pondered how she would fit it into her mouth. Sure enough she managed... somehow.

"Ruby you ok? You're not going to choke are you?"

"Don't worry, me and Yang use to be very competitive and that included eating; so I have lots of experience putting lots of stuff in my mouth." Opening wide to take another bite.

Jaune tried so hard to keep his mind out of the gutter, he really did; but it still found it's way there. In the alley Red face palmed recognizing his facial expression and knowing what 'she' just said.

"Ruby, you're a little too innocent you know that?"

"Hmm? wot du you mean?" Mouth still half fully of food.

"Think about what you said. Like really thing about it."

She tilted her head in thought wondering what he meant. finally the light bulb above her head lit up. Before he could react her hand was in the boy's face delivering a quick jab to his nose.

"Don't make it weird Jaune."

He tapped the edge his mouth, letting her know she had something on her face.

"The white ranch around your mouth doesn't help with that."

Casually licking the corners of her mouth to clean up, she looked on to Jaune to see him faceplam; mind clearly still in the gutter. The rose redirected the conversation to be about them personally. _That's a thing people do during dates right? _she thought.

"So Jaune, your sword is a hand-me-down right? Why do you have it not your dad? He's not... you know, dead is he?"

"No he's fine, I was talking to him yesterday for some advice. He only used Crocea Mors while he was at Beacon, then he made his own sword, shield, and armor. My older sister used it for half her time at Beacon then she made her own weapons and passed it on to me for when I went into training. I think grandpa would be upset if he found out his weapon had be condemned to a training weapon."

"When you started training? Is that why you had such poor fighting skills when you came to Beacon?"

"Sort of. I'll admit I spent much of my early years wanting to be a baker not a hunter."

"Oooo, maybe you should cook something up for me next time."

"I can cook if that's what you're thinking, but I'm by no means a master chief."

"Back to the original topic, do you plan to make your own weapon? Like your sister and dad?"

"I've thought about it, but I've never actually put much more thought into it pass: it would be nice to be able to separate myself from the rest of the family."

"What do you mean by separate yourself?"

"Everyone in my family has had something to set them apart from the rest of the family. My great grandfather made the shield after he inherited the blade, my grandfather the armor. My dad passed his skills to me and my sister. I want something to pass down to my kids too."

The blond boy stepped out of his own world for a moment and realized Ruby had a oversized smile on her face.

"Don't you think it's a little early to be thinking about kids? I don't even think I **can** have a kid, even if I wanted one; which I don't, save my sweetheart. And as you know I'm a complete dork for weapons, I could help you make something if you want a expert's hand on your shoulder."

"How could I forget? I'm actually surprised the topic only now turned to weapons." He joked at her expense.

"We can talk about weapons whenever, but I want to take this date somewhat seriously."

Jaune saw the breach and went for it, "How seriously? Just say awkward good byes when we're done, or find and room and you can lick up a different white sauce from your face."

A boot clad foot introduced itself to Jaune's shin and he jumped slightly from the impact. He apologized and the two went back to talking about themselves more in depth.

Ruby offered to pay for her own food when they had finished their meal. Jaune had been told that girls like it when guys pay, but his dad had different advice.

:::::

"Hey dad, it's me."

"Oh hey, been a while since you called, something wrong?"

"No. The opposite actually. I got a date, and I was-"

"Hold up a second, I'll get right back to you."

He could hear his dad had moved the scroll away from his mouth and as shouting through the house.

"Girls! Time to pay up, I told you your brother could get a date before he graduated!"

After a little longer a few more words were shared among the people of the house before his dad got back to him.

"Alright you can go on now. Also your mother says hi."

"Well, as I'm sure you can guess this is my first date so I was hoping you could give me some advice."

"Alright sure, need some details first. One, did you ask her out or did she. Two, what is your current relationship, and finally what is the spending budget?"

"Me, but the circumstances were a little odd, It's Ruby, and I've got 36 lin in my pocket."

"Oh really Ruby Rose? Ha, ha, that's so ironic."

"What?"

"Personal joke, don't worry. Well I would suggest taking that hoody off and putting on a nice shirt and pants, and put a comb through your hair while your at it, and I DON'T mean your fingers!"

Jaune groaned as he brought up the topic, fortunately he didn't linger on it.

"Other then that just be yourself, you would be amazed how many guys suddenly change, trying to be 'super cool' or otherwise out of character. She's going out with you for YOU, so don't try to be someone else."

"Ok, thanks dad."

"And thank you, for making me a hundred lin richer. Oh and last thing, don't push the subject of the tab if you get a meal. If she offers to pay, let her. Women like a guy who will let them be independent and take care of themselves."

The knight thanked the king once more and said good-bye.

:::::

The two were walking back to the air ship hand in hand talking about dinner when Ruby made a sly remark to get back at his harassment from earlier.

"Hey that's below the belt!"

Ruby took a few steps ahead and teasingly sticking her tongue out, then ran off ahead. Using her semblance she bolted down the block and across the street and beckoned him to keep up. As fast as he could he sprinted at her, part of his mind trying to reach the airship in time so she be trapped with him, the another part trying to decided what he would do to her when he finally did catch mind was pulled out of it's thoughts by a loud sound, like a horn.

Actual it was a horn. Jaune looked over and froze as he saw the headlights of a truck only meters away; though stopping it wasn't slowing enough. A slight pressure hit his chest and he found himself moving out of the way of the truck. He looked over seeing Ruby had pushed him out of the way, but now she herself was about to be hit.

Or so he thought.

Right before impact a red blur speed by, and within the blink of an eye Ruby was gone with it. The truck slowed to a halt a little later and the man with a hood on inside started shouting at Jaune about running into the middle of the road or the like, but the boy didn't hear. He was to busy chasing the blur that ran down the alley with Ruby.

He rounded the corner to see his date being set down on her feet, her eyes find with wonder as she looked at her savior. A women who must have been a relatives, maybe her mother was standing before her.

"M-mom!?"

Jaune ran up to Ruby and asked if she was alright. The girl nodded and the pair turned back to the women. Jaune turned to the women and scratched the back of his head thinking of how to introduce himself to her.

"Um... Hi, Mrs. Rose. I'm Jaune Arc, I guess I'm Ruby's boyfriend." Holding out his hand for her to take.

The women gave him a loving smile, and the blonde could feel his nerves calming from the sight of the beautiful smile. Taking his hand in a gentle grasp she responded.

"You can just call me Ruby."

**Fuck, now we just got one more "fun time" chapter with RWBY and JNPR and then one with Red and METL then we can get to the fighting! Feel free to bash this chapter to the fullest extent of your hatred. My ass is ready. And I'm sure you can tell I was rushing to get it over with by the end.**

**Also the comment about Ruby and kids is because she's recently turned 16 and hasn't started her Menstrual Cycle just yet. I doubt past what she read in the Textbook last chapter, she doesn't even know what it is. (In the show i'm sure she's completely clueless about it.)**

**Alright onward! We getting to the good stuff, and I can't wait!**


	7. On Your Mark, Get Set

**Gah fuck. This one was a pain. I literally rewrite this thing twice and still not happy with it. But I think it's "good" enough to be passable for the next chapter. Seriously fuck this chapter, when do we get to the fighting?**

"So that about wraps it up."

Ruby, Ruby, and Jaune were sitting in a corner of the airship as it made it's way to Beacon. Having just explained who she was and what she was planning to do. The other two took it surprisingly well. Saving her younger self from being hit by a sixteen wheeler probably helped.

"So you're me."

"Yes."

"Who came from the future."

"Yep."

"With the intent of saving the world, before it get's destroyed in a war."

"In a nutshell."

"THAT'S SO COOL!"

"I knew you'd get a kick out of it."

The younger girl was not so much on the edge of her seat, as forcing herself onto Red's.

"So Ruby," Jaune asked, but stopped when both looked at him.

"Oh this might be a problem," looking over at her counterpart, "I'm already going by Red in public, but Rose and Surrexit work fine as well."

"Surrexit?" The pair asked.

"Nickname when we get older, replaces Crater-Face."

"Do people ever stop calling me Vomit Boy?" Jaune asked hopeful that maybe his nickname would also take to the wind.

"Chevalier." She half lied. Mostly thanks to Yang, the hated name would last the ages, but she always called him that.

Ruby was practically hanging from her older self's arm as she bombarded the older women with questions about everything and anything. Who is the strongest of her team, is JNPR or RWBY more famous, is she a famous hero, does Yang still treat her like a little girl, does Weiss still call her a dolt, does she ever get married, ect.

"I'm not going to spoil it. We are about the same, I honestly think everyone is more famous as individuals then the actual teams as a whole. Depends how you define hero. Yang treats me like a rebellious teen; doing all the drugs and having sex with every other guy, Yes she still calls me a dolt, though more for humor then as a insult. No I'm not... I mean we practically were married in every way, I guess the war distracted us from the need to actually hold a ceremony."

"Oh! Who is he! Do I know him?"

Red flinched slightly. It wasn't going to be much of a spoiler since they are already dating, but she also didn't want to make it awkward for them by saying they are 'destined' to be together. She finally decided on "Maybe." Jaune and Ruby looked at each other, a slightly awkward silence. Red realized she had the same effect she wanted to avoid decided to distract her from it. With a grin she leaned down and whispered into the girl's ear.

"WHAT! I. He. What! I don't want to ever do something like that." The rose's face turning to the same color as one.

"Is that a lie that just fell out of your lips?" laughing lightly at her reaction, Jaune just looked on the awkward third wheel in the conversation.

"So are we going to tell the others?" She asked in a hopeful voice, probably so she could boast about how awesome she becomes.

"I would really rather not, but I doubt you're capable of keeping your mouth shut.-" "HEY!" "-So might as well so that way I can coordinate how much damage is done. But know, and this goes for you too Jaune, you **must** **NOT** tell anyone outside of your teams. If you do, you might completely screw up my plan. Got it!"

Both rapidly shaking their heads in compliance. The airship started it's finally decent for the dock and Red stood so she could head for the exit, her companions hot on her heels.

:::::

_"Caliph Abbasid to do list - _

_Bring armor to storage_

_Confront Auburn forest guardian about letting us pass safely_

_Buy more beer for us and strawberry banana 'Twister Elixir' for Rook_

_Try to recruit Wyte again_

_Pick up mail for me and York; his box # 1455_

_Have nice weekend_

_Love you - Hussar_

_P.S. Pizza in fridge for you"_

Caliph let out a annoyed groan. A seven hour drive, almost hitting some dumb kid in the road only to find a list of things to do when he arrived. He crumbled up the paper and tossed it into a corner on the floor making his way for the fridge where the beer and his food was.

The warehouse had high ceiling and a concrete floor, with only the fridge and five huge storage creates and the newly arrived truck within. Two were set up to act like seats and one was already occupied by a giant of a man standing just over seven feet tall, a large war hammer resting beside him, with a dust blast chamber in the center of the otherwise flat face.

"Greetings Cutthroat, how was drive?" The man's voice heavy with accent, one would actually think him to being a simpleton going off only his voice. Caliph though, knew better then to judge someone just off their voice.

"Was actually nice till some kid ran in front of me, I almost swerved into oncoming traffic. Then needed to outrun a police officer who was trying to ticket me." Opening the fridge he found the box of pizza and grabbed one of the few bottles of beer still within.

"Kids these days fools, peace make them soft. During my time fool kids get run over by tank or shot by enemy fire, or step on land mine." The way Rook talked of war and peace made him wonder just how old the man really was. It was hard to tell since he was covered in metal plate armor from head to toe, though looked like it was forged recently and had been fit with modern technology, it still had a very ancient aesthetic to it. A golden lion was etched into the center of his breastplate. Though he didn't have the long red flowing cap, with a spotted cat's fur trim, with him today.

"Rook has been asking others. Rook is curious as to why others helping? Rook think Hussar idea is noble in intent, but I know how men think, I not sure it will actually work. Rook just want war to make people strong again. Were you moved my Hussar's pretty speech about his cause?"

"No. Honestly I don't care. I'm being paid by my employer. I get them a war they can profit from, I get to spend the rest of my days on a tropical island enjoying the rest of my days."

"Ha! Cutthroat still young, must be big paycheck. Maybe you let Rook join you when I'm done smashing the weakness out of people." Caliph tipped his beer bottle to the iron giant and agreed to let him join him.

"I need to be going, Hussar have things for me to do. Rook see you later Cutthroat."

The giant left leaving the cloaked and hooded figure alone to enjoy his beer and cold pizza. Once done he brushed off any crumbs then went to his own appointed task.

:::::

"You were doing WHAT!"

Oh right... Yang...

"So tell me Mr. Arc, when were you planning to tell me you were going out with my sister."

The blonde girl circled the knight who was sitting in a chair in the center of Team RWBY's room. Weiss, Black, both Rubys, and NPR were seated about the room watching the interrogation. Only Red being smart enough to grab popcorn for herself. They normally would have done something to stop Yang, but they were kind of enjoying the situation. Jaune cowering in his chair while she walked about, occasionally and unnecessary slamming her fist into the arms, just weak enough not to break them. Jaune flinched at every sudden move, thinking it to being the death blow.

"I don't want you going around me sister outside of classes without my permission, you got it!"

"Yang leave him alone."

"You are not to make physical contact with her unless it is polite, like helping her up if she trips or such."

"Really Yang, stop!"

"And if I find out otherwise, well..." Cracking of her knuckles finishing the message.

Ruby didn't use words this time. Metal moved into place and came down so the blade of Crescent Rose was between her sister and boyfriend.

"Stay away from him Yang." Her voice carrying her anger.

"I'm just looking out for y-"

"I'm a huntress I can look out for myself, I don't need you treating me like some dumb kid. Jaune isn't the kind of guy you're just now accusing him of being, and you know that. And besides it's not like he could force me any ways." Yang was dumb struck, Ruby had never talked to her like that before.

Red was in full shock too, she didn't start back talking Yang for a few more months, and she certainly was never that bold and forward about it till after she let Jaune "take" her; though honestly it would be the other way around. She honestly didn't know if she should intervene or not. Finally she thought it would be a good idea to get everyone out so they could give the three some privacy. Jaune only being allowed(forced) to stay since this involved him too.

"Well my rebellious phase is starting a few weeks early, so I think we should move away for a bit and give them some space." On cue the two girls started getting into a heated debate, that was obviously not for their ears.

Red lead them away and they decided to stop by the main hall. Red hadn't eaten as she was spying on herself and Jaune. Rushing to grab dinner before it ended. She took a seat in her regular spot when she was young and the others did the same. There was a awkward silence between them all, but Red ignored it and ate her dinner. She was looking forward to having a nice quiet meal with her friends, till Weiss finally snapped.

"Please tell me you're doing that purposely to annoy me!"

"Hm? Wot du you mean?"

"Gah! Stop, that! I can't believe after what, eight? Nine years? And you still talk with your mouth full and have the manners of a five year old. Really, elbows off the table! Back straight, we bring the food to us!"

Red rolled her eye and started to preform "proper" mannerism. She cut her food into small bites and carefully brought them to her mouth. Though it wasn't perfect, Weiss; both her's and this one, both would admit she could probably go to a high class party and be tolerated. After eating half her meal she went back to elbows on the table and taking as large of bites as she could reasonably fit in her mouth. Grinning when she saw Weiss baring her teeth in the corner of her eye.

The awkward silence returned so she brought the topic to something she was actually interested in.

"So you guys ready for The Gathering?"

"I've heard about it, but what is it exactly?" Asked Pyrrha.

"It's hunters coming from all over the kingdom, on duty and retired alike coming to celebrate a year of protecting humanity and to rest for a week in preparation for the new year."

"So is it like a ball?"

"I'm sure that'll be one of the things that happen. But post day one the gathering turns into a six day party." Memories of her Gatherings filling her mind. It was the only event she looked forward to more then the Cycle Solstice. Well maybe Jaune's 'present' for her birthdays came close too.

"What kind of party?" Asked Weiss fingers crossed it would be to a degree classy, but she knew the actual answer."

"A week long of celebration. Booze flowing freely, practically every room crowded with people, many of the dorms being used for more adult activities. I hope you're ready for a good time."

A surprising number of them were slightly uncomfortable about the situation they were about to go through in a week. Nora didn't seem to get what she meant and only really heard week long party. Weiss feared the though of some random hunters breaking into their room so they could have sex on her bed or something. Ren and Pyrrha were uninterested in such subject matter. ect.

Red assured them once it got started they would like it far more, while finishing the last of her dinner. Ren was kind enough to take her plate. The group talked for a few more minutes till finally the subject changed back to her. Despite how many times she tried deflecting it, they were persistent on the matter.

"I still find it hard to believe you're from the future, but the resemblance is to close, even for me to think you're her mother. So why are you here, how did you get here." Weiss finally backing Red into a corner.

"To save the world." a oversized smile on her face.

Weiss faceplamed. The others had a variate of reactions from awe to confusion.

"From what? We are in a time of peace."

The bloomed rose's face turned dark. Much darker then they ever thought Ruby would be capable of. She glared at each of them, ensuring she had their undivided attention.

"Time doesn't stand still. You can make a moment last, but in the blink of an eye it's gone all the same."

"Well let use help. We wan-"

"NO! The only reason I'm telling you guys anything is because I know you'll just go digging, and I don't want you getting in the way."

"We won't get in the way, we-"

"No! You might think you're strong, and for first years you certainly are, but you're nowhere near the level I am, and the people I'm chasing. This is a group of some of the most powerful individuals of our time. A veteran of the war 80 years ago, a pyromaniac with with enough blood lust to make Yang look calm while using her semblance, a mercenary who makes even me look like an amateur with a rifle. And those are only the one's I've fought before, there are four others besides their leader I've never meet, but been told about.

In my years I've seen Ozpin only fight once, he was a monster, and I'd say he's the only person who could reliable beat any of them. Even in a four versus three with my team, we struggled to beat them. You, Weiss and Yang were hurt badly, and even I was pushed to the brink. Honestly I'm lucky that I won, if that explosion didn't happen half way through the fight he would have taken my head. Literally.

These are not individuals you can handle, honestly the only reason I think I can handle them is because I know their skills and abilities and have a slight advantage in experience fighting them already."

"So what do you-"

"Nothing, you're to carry on like you normally do. Focus on class and your training. I promise, if you get to a point that I think you can help, I'll invite you to do so. Otherwise say out of my way."

_I need you to focus on fighting Cinder while I handle Hussar._

Her faced lightened back into a smile, changing the subject.

"Speaking of classes. You might think you're smart, but Professor Port knows when you're not paying attention. That's why he bases his finals on the classes the most people were ignoring."

Their dumb struck faces made her almost burst out laughing. Like a kid who realized they were caught after eating a cookie from the jar. Worry spread across them like a plague. Finally she broke down into laughter.

"What's so funny." the group looking over to see Jaune sitting down with them.

"Just telling them about Professor Port." Her smile dropping slightly, "So how it go with me and Yang? Is it as bad as I think it is?"

"Well it was very heated, but I was to scared of their anger to actually get up and leave. They stopped when Ruby shoved Yang to the ground, then ran off somewhere. I think she was crying, but she left before I could get a good look" His head hung depressed while talking. "I tried looking for her, but can't find her."

"Here," grabbing his arm and having him stand with her, "let's go find her."

_I was wrong, that's much worst then I thought it would be._

**Alright, my ass is ready for your abuse. Yeah I know the Yang-Ruby argument feels forced, but you'll see why I did it coming up. Also let me know if you care at all about the Peace Makers. I have back ground for each of them, more so, so I can keep their traits and personalities straight; but if there are any characters you find interesting let me know and I'll give them a short chapter to themselves. Same for METL too, since they are going to be the following older Ruby through this adventure.**

**Follow+Review, Let me know how bad this chapter was.**


	8. Contact

**Damn I hate this chapter. SO MUCH, and I hated writing it too. Can we get on with the fights yet? Yes? Finally! Enough of this boring world building crap, I want Ruby to fight some people already! **

Jaune and Red looked up and down for Ruby. Finally the cloaked women took a wild guess where the cloaked girl could be. During her second week at Beacon she found a secluded corner of the school. She didn't know why she would be there, but it was a place that stuck out in her memories for some reason.

They arrived at the spot. It looked like it was intended to be a pathway between two buildings, but was never made so, and had a brick wall down the center of it. No sign of Ruby, but anyone with even a basic sense of aura could tell there was someone nearby. Jaune pointed to a roof top across from them, and sure enough down the way they could see Ruby's red cloak flapping in the night.

They arrived at the door that lead to the roof. Red gestured Jaune to go ahead.

"Wait, wouldn't you be better at consoling her?"

"Maybe, but time to prove yourself as boyfriend material."

"You sound like Yang, minus the waving fist." She gave him a smile before pushing him out onto the roof.

Ruby was sitting along one of the vents, her knees to her chest. Hood up and her face tucked between her legs. Jaune walked over nervously, the gravel announcing his arrival. He stood next to her for a moment, not really knowing what to do. Finally giving a breath he sat down next to her, guessing she would talk if she felt like doing so.

The silence continued on for a little before Ruby finally shifted so she was under Jaune's arm. He wrapped his arm around her side. Her deeper more relaxed breaths, and the slight lean of her head told him he was doing a good job soothing her.

"I didn't mean it." Jaune didn't reply guessing she was just wanted him to listen, "Those things I said, I didn't mean them. Do you think she realized that?"

Silence.

"I was just so mad, she's always like this. I appreciated it back at Signal when I didn't know how to tell a guy no. But that was years ago, and I don't want her to chase you away."

"Well if it means anything, I appreciate you sticking up for me..."

The rose leaned fully into his shoulder as the two looked forward into the night sky before them.

"I miss nights like these." Jaune 'hmm'ed in response to the sudden speech.

"Back when we lived on Patch we would have nights like this near every night. So many stars filling the sky. I lost the stars when I went to Signal, the city is to bright for most of them to shine. I didn't complain much, it wasn't like they have any symbolic meaning or anything, but seeing them now reminds me of those days so long ago."

"I don't really care for stars. Stars are suppose to have our destinies written in them. See that one there?" He pointed out into the sky into a small cluster. It took Ruby a moment to figure out which one he was talking about, but one, a yellow one, glowed brighter then all the others in the cluster.

"My mom says that when I was born, that star was born too And it was the first star of the night. She use to tell me it was my star. And my dad would tell me that; like that star I have it in me to outshine everyone around me.

Remember last year when you were cheering me up and you said I might have been a failure as a kid? That was closer to home then you even realize. I mean, I have a older sister who's a huntress too, and I always wanted to be like her. When we were young she would be the knight and I would be the squire riding to save the prince in the tower."

"Prince?"

"She got to pick, and she wanted to save a prince, but as I was saying, despite how much I tried to follow her footsteps I couldn't even come close to keeping up. In basic grade school I was actually the last kid to be able to spell my name. I was the second slowest kid in gym, and that was because one kid refused to run. I wasn't strong, I wasn't tall, or smart or even tenacious.

Standard high-school wasn't any better. I tried going to a combat school, but after the first year the principle and my parents had a talk. He said I wasn't performing up to the standards of a mid year student let alone a second year so they decided to move me to a regular high-school. I still tried and would even get my sister to spar with me who was at Beacon at the time. But eventually she got bored with my lack of progress and sort of gave up on me as well.

So in my Junior year, that would translate to third year by the way, I got a talk from my mom in her attempt to encourage me after a rather bad day at school. She mentioned the star again, and out of curiosity I looked it up."

"Wasn't your star?"

"No actually it is. The star's name is Apollogarus and it did appear in the night sky on the day of my birth. the problem though it Apollogarus isn't actually that bright, in fact it's actually a very dark star and would be near unnoticeable in the night sky, blocked out by those in the cluster. The reason it seems so bright is because another star behind it named Apollomajor shines bright enough to carry the light all the way here. Just like me.

If it wasn't for everyone consistently throwing me up on this pedestal and consistently putting my in the spot light I would be unnoticeable among the crowd of everyone else."

"Nope."

"Nope?"

"Jaune, you may not like admitting it, but your dad is right. You do have the potential to be a great leader. You just have to have confidence in yourself. If you belive your a failure before you even try then how do you expect to succeed?"

"And if I try and fail?"

"Then you just try again. Each time is different, and every time you have a new chance to push past your previous failures and succeed." Jaune chuckled, probably interrupting a second half of Ruby's speech.

"You know I came up here to comfort you, yet you're the one doing it instead."

"You were the one who choose to tell you life story with such a depressing metaphor." She leaned in more snuggling into the blonde boy's chest, "And who cares if you need someone else to help you shine. As long as I can be your Apollomajor."

Jaune had to struggle not laugh at the horrible cheese that just came out of her mouth. He kept a straight face, or straight enough for Ruby not to notice at least.

:::::

"Hey Ravi!"

"We are in session, it's **Doctor** Ravi."

"Right, sorry. What's up Doc?"

The man glared at his patient knowing he was intentionally trying to annoy him.

"Now Travis, you know I'm more interested in what's up with you."

"Nothing much. Drinking, wooing, woo-hooing, gaming and sleeping. Occasionally eating too."

"I heard you've been fighting as well."

"Hey he started it! He called my lady friend a whore. I mean she was, but you can't just shout those things in public."

The therapist let his face fall into his palm, while he rubbed his brow. He enjoys having a more personal relationship with his patients, hence why he wears what people would deem as "nice" casual cloths instead of the profession standard suits and dress shoes. Travis took it to the next degree though, like they were childhood friends or something.

"Travis did you remember the steps?"

"Breath in count to four, breath out? Yeah, didn't work."

"Did you try telling the man he was angering you?"

"Yeah."

"With words?"

"Oh... I might have forgotten those."

Travis had been coming in for the past five years by order of the court for anger management. apparently he got in a bar fight and killed two people and badly hurt three more. The only reason he didn't get time is because it was self defense and the last guy tried pulling a gun on him while he was walking away victorious. Didn't change the fact he looked for any excuse, save a person bumping him in the shoulder when they walked by, to fight.

"So Travis, since you enjoy fighting so much, why didn't you become a hunter?"

"I tried it. I'm sure you already know I graduated from Beacon a while back. But grimm don't have the challenge of a actual person. I'm a warrior, and warriors aren't cut out to be huntsmen."

"I thought huntsmen were the greatest warriors at man's disposal." A curious eyebrow being raised.

"Don't get me wrong I have full respect for hunters. Hunters fight grimm, warriors fight people, and soldiers fight to protect people; normally warriors but there are exceptions."

"Why the need to separate them all?"

"Like I said, I have my fullest amount of respect for hunters. So while I'm doing my thing I don't want to represent them and thus drag their reputation through the mud. I'm ok with being knowing as an merciless, arsonist, pyromaniac bastard. But I don't want to drag down others who don't want to be associate with me."

Travis was one of those interesting cases. He was very self aware of his condition, actually almost to the point that you could just think he was a run of the mill asshole. But if you actually did proper testing you'd find that though he is aware of it, he can't control it. Things like deep breathing and other calming actions can minimize his aggression, but in the end Ravi doubted he would completely get over it.

It was a short session today, only ten minutes. Due to it being a last second visit. Ravi explained to the man that he needed to control himself as usual, and suggested him telling people they are making him mad, that way next time he came it he could tell him someone provoked him into a fight.

He shook the doctors hand and offered to take him out for Bulgrathian barbecue. The therapist declined saying he had a date already. "Fine suit yourself." As he left the man. Once outside the building he pulled a small box from his back pocket and pulled a fag out with his teeth. His gauntlet activated and snapped into place so his arm was completely enclosed, with a metal plate to protect the top of his palm. The glove suddenly burst into flames after a moment, causing a few people nearby to jump back. After a second the flames dissipated leaving behind a blue blowtorch flame burning parallel with his forearm. He made sure to hold the blade of fire up away from any pedestrians till he reduced it to a more manageable size. As one would expect he lit his fag, then blew out the flame, and walked off like nothing interesting happened.

:::::

"So you coming or not?"

"I kind of have some things to do today..."

"Come on. Just call it a extended lunch."

"Fine..."

Red was waiting for her younger self to walk through the door the next day asking about how to apologize to Yang or the like. Instead it was Ernest who near kicked it off its hinges. Apparently him, Lann and their team mate Tyral were going to give their leader Morvan a pre-Gathering party since he would be spending it with his in-laws instead of with the rest of the hunters.

Red didn't actually have anything to do, but her younger self was currently being taught by Tyral and she had worked with Morvan before, so he probably still had fresh memories of Ruby in his mind. Ernest was insistent to the point of threatening to grab her and carry her to the party. Lann added that if that happened he couldn't assure her that her skirts would keep her decent for the two men.

"Don't worry you'll like it, we're going to the best all you can eat Bulgrathian restraint in Vale."

She grumbled as she stood and walked away with the two men. They managed to get on the airship to Vale, last second and made it to town with time to spare. Ernest and Lann guided her to the right location. It was a smaller restraint near the docks. The taller man pushed the door open and held it politely for her. After she passed and commented him to being "Such a gentlemen," before intentionally closing it on his friend.

There was a six man booth in the back corner with two men already sitting, clearly waiting for them. They each took a seat and flipped a card at the end of the table to signal the servers to start delivering food. Red immediately felt the awkward look Tyral was giving her without even looking.

"So you're Ernest and Lann's new supervisor. I wish you luck kid, Ernest in particular needs to be kept on a tight leash at all times." Ruby already knew how they all were, but forged ignorance and nodded in response.

"So mind telling me about yourself? I'd like to know who I'm trusting the safety of my team with." She looked over to Morvan.

He had is standard purple robes on with a silver breastplate decored with a ram's head, and gauntlets with skulls with extended fang like canines and sharp finger tips. The rest of his armor was gone though and his hood was pulled back showing long flowing jet black hair and a chin curtain that ended in a small point. His eyes were blue like Jaune's and he had a slightly pointed face and nose.

"I'm Red. I'm a special agent of Ozpin's."

"Tell me Red," Tyral cutting her off before she could go on, "are you related to a girl at beacon named Ruby Rose?" Morvan cocked his head before the resemblance took hold.

Ernest and Lann being the third wheel just took their food when the servers came, meat impaled onto swords. They expertly cut it into slices, filling the plates to a adequate amount before walking off to help someone else.

"Eh, yeah. She's my cousin."

"Well I can tell who she looks up to." Morvan commented nonchalantly before digging into his own food. Tyral eyed her for a bit longer, before flipping the leaf visor over his helmet up and started eating.

Ruby did the same and let out a small moan as the sauce soaked meat blessed her taste buds. It had been so long since she had something this good. Jaune and Weiss were good cooks, but you can't out match a professional chief with proper equipment and ingredients.

She could only enjoy it for a moment before the door opened and ruined her appetite. A man with a blonde fohawk walked through the door dumping his cigarette in the ashtray. He walked in glove plated hands in his jeans with a casual long sleeve shirt on metal clad feet clanking on the ground with each step along the tile floor. A hostess approached him and asked him how she could help him today.

"A table for two and the usual."

"Sorry Travis, I just had my break and don't get off till seven."

"Alright table for one then. Also let Magyar know the eggs are in the basket, he'll know what I mean." The hostess walked him to a table before walking to the back.

"Hey guys, I have something to do; I'll see you later."

"Oh come on, you only took a few bites; you can stay for a bit."

"No I can't." Her voice firm, letting him know to drop it.

Ruby stood and left the restaurant. She spared the object of her distress a glare. He noticed, and gave a confused look at the women glaring at her.

"Who's that Travis?" The voice was made it less of a question and more of a demand.

"I swear I've never seen her before. Truly I don't know her!" throwing his hands to the side in surrender to the hostess.

**Gah that first bit is so bad I know. I was trying to make some drama then realize IT'S SO BAD, it seemed so much better in my head before I started writing it. In fact that part was so bad, it alone is the reason for such a huge delay between chapters. Now I'm going to make some awesome action, and hope you don't notice me sweep it under the rug.**

**Review (my ass is ready) + Follow (I swear It'll get better. I swear!)**


	9. PSA

**For those of you who haven't gotten the word yet. Monty Oum Passed away yesterday at 4:34PM. Ironically I was in in my 2-d visual concepts class telling some of my classmates how awesome RWBY was and that Monty was one of my inspirations to become a animator. There were many ways I thought he would go. stress/anxiety, car accident while over exhausted; and preferable, old age.**

**I hope they will find a caring hand to take care of RWBY. It's one of the many things that keeps me going for my own dream. Every time I don't feel like going to class, or want to skip a semester I just look at my RWBY poster and remember "That's the dream" to have my own visions made reality, and to share with the rest of the world.**

**GG Monty, shame we can't ask for a RE.**

Writing will be postponed for the next few days, while I get over the fact on of my inspirations for not only my current writing, but future is gone. This isn't the first time it's happened either...


End file.

RWBY, Fantasy, Friendship