#and then ruby to coliseum

[onthegreatsea]

this is how we traded pokemon back in the old days. with cables. and terrible frontlit screens. and maybe a gamecube. and we liked it.

[pixlime]

Game Freak: Hey, you guys know that game you're all nostalgic for and love dearly? So much so that original copies go for literal hundreds of dollars?

"oh are you guys going to be re-releasing it or-"

Game Freak: Nah nah nah. Just checking you guys remember. If you're lucky we'll make a shittier "updated" version in about five years. If we're not too busy pumping out Pokemon games faster than our poor devs can keep up with. xoxo

[m0chisenpai]

temptress of pluto

˚｡⋆ emperor geta x black fem!reader x platonic!caracalla

in which the gods have sent their judgement to the twins of Rome in the form of a woman, too divine for even Rome to handle

Geta and Caracalla weren’t ones to waste hours with keeping with holy festivals and offerings. But Geta wonders if the gods have blessed him and his brother with your presence.

He witnessed your beauty the eve of a theatrical performance in honor of Rome’s recent campaign. Filled with gore, violent reenactment. But Geta and Caracalla relished in your role: death. How you plucked your fellow actors off one by one. Caracalla insisted his brother seek you out, and for once he agreed with his brother. A sorceress of some sorts, is what Geta calls you after having bedded him and sending him to the heavens.

From that day on you were theirs. And they were yours, though neither would outwardly admit it.

Drunk on your touch, the sweet words you filled their minds with. Those who were able to get even within an inch of your presence were overwhelmed with the thereal nature of your beauty. No scars, marks, freckles. Nothing marred your skin. And your eyes should anyone ever be blessed to get close and make it alive looked like the most beautiful rubies. Wide and unblinding they seemed to drag any one in.

The Emperor’s personal concubine. The most prized one. Venus's beloved. You held many names and titles that spread across Rome.

No man could lay finger or gaze upon you. You were devoted to the imperators, they were sure that the gods gifted you unto them. Caracalla enjoyed when you indulged his more violent desires. He enjoys watching you feed upon the helpless ones they’ve stolen from their conquests.

Some nights you will enter his chambers in the guise of a whore only to pick them off one by one until Caracalla chortles in excitement as you stand before him, dressed in white stained by the blood of a few. Others you tell a poor girl to find her freedom and you would grant it only to chase her straight into the emperor’s chamber where you would pounce and tear her apart.

You keep the twins in an odd sense of balance and who are the senate to complain.

With you in the room sat upon either of their laps any meeting would run far smoother than when your absence was present. And they can tell you are something otherworldly, something the gods must have sent. For judgement? A sign they are pleased with their feats? They know not, but what they hear are tales of the maiden of Pluto. A kiss from her seals your fate in the living, ushering you into the underworld.

Two marks lay upon the emperors, purple from bruising along the pale expanse of their collarbones. It only seals the rumors, the gods have marked the emperors of Rome. For death or praise is yet to be determined.

Even as you enter a room, your eyes gleaming bright as jade, they feel their breaths taken away. Your words are sweet as honey, yet your touch is ice cold. You’ve never tasted power such as this, why have your siblings chosen a life in the dark when these humans grovel and dote upon you like you are one of their silly little gods incarnated?

Today you are bathed in milk and roses, gleaming in the oils and perfumes from the recent campaign. Covered in jewels and fabrics that could surely feed the entire coliseum you enter. Your maidens stand among both your sides, your true protection you tell the emperors who doubt the young women could defend you from any assassin or rogue gladiator. They stop to stand with the guards as you enter where the emperors reside with their general and Macrinus who sings your name taking both your hands.

“Venus enters before us today, and oh how she shines,” he presses a kiss to your ringed hands. He’s a snake. A clever one truly, you smile coyly as you playfully tap his chest.

“Macrinus! When shall I have the glory to see one of your newer boys from the stables?”

“In due time my lady, some of them need a bit....recuperation.” You hum slowly brushing pass him toward the general of celebration.

“We shall see dear Marcinus, I look forward to another wager with you. once my own have fully recovered.”

“General Acacius!” You hold your hands out for the man to take where he places a kiss upon your jade ring. A gift from your previous nameday from your loves. “We have much to speak of, your lovely wife was a presence to adore whilst you were away.”

“Thank you, my lady, for watching over her.” Once more he bows before you, bashful smile across his sun kissed scarred face. He was truly a handsome man, if only he could be added to your collection. Though you doubt Geta would allow it, and the same could be said of his wife.

Once the emerprors have made their presence known and Acacius greets the people of Rome your presence is called and you enter, gold glistening in the warm sun of summer. A hand lie across your chest to rest where your heart should be.

“A fine choice for today’s event don’t you think, brother?” Geta purrs upon your entrance when you stand before both of them to bow.

They loved you in deep red with patters of gold. Your paella was secured by a newly gifted brooch for the festivities. Geta would proudly show off your beauty all to Rome, a symbol of the blessing from the gods yet Caracalla would prefer you veiled and hidden in the public eye. Hence you indulge both today.

“Indeed.” Caracalla sniggers as you flash him a toothy smile.

"My imperators, I pray the gods bring their entertainment for you both to enjoy."

“Come my love,” Geta calls with a hand held and you slowly move to place your hand in his. He tugs you into his lap looking on in excitement. “I believe you will be particularly fond of today’s games.”

You watch men atop rhinos tear prisoners into peace’s. Heads and arms scatter. The man is tall, he loves to do this. You hear it in his mind, see how his vision is blinded by blood. As he has his opponent kneel before you both, Caracalla stands silencing the roars of death. With his hand in fist and thumb pointed to the side he looks to you. “What say you, sister dearest?”

“The gods thirst for blood,” Geta’s chest rumbles with a growl as he moves forward to bite along the expanse of your skin, cold and hard as marble. You drink in the look of despair on the mans face, he is praying to the gods as the edge of the blade presses to his jugular which spills with his blood.

It smells divine from above though you just barely catch the wisps of it. But you are no where near amused for now. And Geta can tell as you fidget with the rings on your fingers.

“Macrinus,” the man stands now beside you head bowed. “Is that one not of your own stables?”

“He is, my lady,” you hum slowly standing as the man begins to take on three more from the stables.

“Yes, but do you see how slow he moves now? There is no more delight in him. He kills yes and does it well, but I am not amused.” And you smirk at how he damns you, how a woman meant to only warm a bed should keep her mouth shut or full rather than speak about the business of men.

“If my lady is not satisfied how might I rectify this?”

You look over at both men with boredom clear upon your face, “end him.”

Oh how he adored you like this. Geta feels the prickle of devotion as he standa with his eyes trained on yours as he moves to stand before you now. You step back and watch as his arms raise, forcing a hush across the colosseum as they watch the man shut his eyes and hold his fist out.

His thumb sharply turns down, “the gods are NOT satisfied!” The colosseum is in an uproar as the gates of the colosseum open revealing your own front he stables. Four large black panthers prowl slowly encircling the men who slowly back together into group until one by one your darlings tear them apart.

And Geta relishes in your laughter as you clap your hands together, your own laughter mixed with Caracalla’s childish ones create a mad melody

“What a lovely gift my, sweet imperator. THIS is entertainment.”

[jaune-submissive-and-breedable]

(FemDom) Ruby decided that the Vytal Festival would be the perfect time to broadcast to everyone that Jaune and his 'greatsword' belongs to her and her alone.

Amity coliseum was silent during the fight between Yang & Mercury. Not because Cinder's plan to frame the poor girl, both combatants' eyes locked on the giant screen. As were all eyes in the coliseum. Yang in particular, seeming most distressed. The reason being an outside source had hack into the broadcast and began projecting a special stream from within her dorm.

"You're all set Friend Ruby!" a chirper voice, recognized as Penny Polendina, called out to the young rose. the android holding a camera in facing the center of the room.

The girl in question, upon hearing que, popped into view, cause her friends and family to gasp in shock. She wore a red corset that left her perky tits exposed and black studded stocks with arm length glove to match. And most importantly, nothing covering her plump, and moist pussy lips. Yet, she stood oddly confident with a slight scowl on her face.

"Alright LISTEN UP YOU SCANKS OUT THERE!" She shouted, surprising many who knew the young girl "I want you to take a look at this"

the camera panned over to the nearest bunk. Laying on it was Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR, her sister team. Tied to the bed posts, gagged with a pair of her panties, and very much naked with everything exposed. Most notably, his raging 9in cock, standing proud for the audience, making a lot of women watching the stream blush, wolf whistle or lick their lips at the sight. A certain red-haired Spartan's nose shot a cartoonish amount of blood at the sight. The blonde blushed embarrassed and ashamed when the camera panned to him.

Ruby walked back into view and gestured to Jaune dramatic, "YOU SEE THIS! THIS IS MINE THIS IS WHERE MY BABIES WILL COME FROM!!"

*what the fuck....* Jaune muttered, confusion visible in his eyes.

On que, Ruby lined herself up with his cock, facing the camera with a look of determination and fear.

"Friend Ruby, I don't this he'll fit inside you" Penny remarked as she eyed the solid pillar of Arc meat. A sentiment shared by all who watched the stream.

Ruby huffed and started pushing herself down onto the mass of flesh. Her face red as the bulbous head pierced her tiny pussy, a grotesque bulge forming as she slides down further. A small whimper escaped her mouth as she did. The audience watched with bated breath as she continued to struggle to against the blonde's length. Many, mostly the woman, watching the reaper expected her to give up and move one, but to everyone's surprise, and Yang's horror, Ruby successfully impaled herself onto Jaune's cock with a loud scream and a forceful push down.

Ruby sat there for a while, processing her lost of virginity and actually taking Jaune's monster cock. A grotesque bulge running up her stomach stopping a little above her belly button.

"Friend Ruby, Are you ok" Ruby just nodded, her hands using Jaune's thighs for support, "Are you sure. By the way your stomach is bulging, I think you should.."

"I'M FINE PENNY!" she snapped, slowly raising herself along his length before letting herself fall back down. Blood and sex fluids mixing together.

After a short bit, she began speeding up, finally getting over the shock. Rocking her body against Jaunes, both teens moaning softly. As she did, the bulge in her chest fluctuating with her movements.

"S...SEE.....He was....m...made for my kitty and mine alone!" she stammered, earning a few snide comments from onlookers.

Ruby began riding him harder, her breast bouncing up and down, and bubbly booty producing lewd plaps as she collided with the blonde's hips. Her breath become more rigid and hot, and body producing more and more sweat. Her silver eyes rolling in the back of her head.

"F.....Fudge he's so big!" She whined. She ceased bounce and rolled her hips against his. "Time to kick things into overdrive!"

Rose petals began to appear as her body began moving at impossible speeds. Those that knew her recognized this as her semblance and silently offer their prayers to Jaune. Who now moaned uncontrollably through her panties as he took Ruby's assault. Not stopping for a moment, she spun herself around, giving the audience a generous view of her bouncing bubble butt as it clapped and rippled from colliding with Jaune's hips.

Ruby arched her back and used his chest for support as she grinded her hips into his once more. Her breath wild and feral. She kept grinding till she felt herself getting closer to climaxing. Resuming riding Jaune's cock recklessly, the boy in question groaning as he felt his once climax approaching. She ripped the panties out of his mouth and pressed their lips together in a lust filled kiss.

"R...RUBY......I....I'M GONNA!!!" He cried once they were through with the kiss.

"ME TOO, BABY! LET'S DO IT TOGETHER! SHOW THOSE TRAMPS WHO YOU BELONG TO!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The coliseum erupted with groans, gasps, and moans as the two love birds on the screen climaxed, many of the onlookers began masturbating half way through the broadcast. Many of the females, especially a certain spartan, bunny, and maiden began concocting plans to stealing the blonde knight from the young reaper. While the males felt pangs of jealousy toward him.

Meanwhile in the arena, Mercury knelt down and comforted a crying and horrified yang

"Sh.....SH...SHe USED TO WATHCH SESEME STREET!" she wailed, trying to ignore the screen

"PENNY GET IN HERE! LET'S MAKE THIS SHIP OFFICIAL!"

"SHE USE TO WATCH BLUES CLUES!!!!" she wailed once more.

[yellowmagicalgirl]

Welding Back the Pieces

Ruby had never been fond of puzzles, but this puzzle was more important than any other thing she had done in her whole life.

I accidentally posted the day 20 prompt yesterday, wrote the day 21 prompt today (to be published tomorrow), and then realized that I had mixed up the prompts. So now, have the day 19 prompt a day late.

I haven't watched Volume 9, so if this is inaccurate, I don't care.

Also available on AO3.

~

Ruby had never been fond of puzzles. She already knew what the picture was supposed to look like, but now she had to find all the pieces? It had always felt like a waste of time.

But this puzzle? This puzzle was more important than any other thing Ruby had done in her whole life, except for maybe the times she had detailed designs to Ambrosius.

Pietro couldn't rebuild Penny, not without his lab or the eyes he had lost when Ruby was in the Ever After. He would only provide part of her soul, with the rest coming from Winter returning the Maiden powers. It was up to Ruby to find all the pieces. Some she could salvage from the ruins of Atlas and the Amity Coliseum. Others, she had to borrow from scrap metal if not melt the alloys herself. She had done so before with Crescent Rose. Crescent Rose was simpler, though. Ruby loved her sniper-scythe, but she loved Penny more.

Penny had looked more human with each iteration of herself, ending with being human. This version would be the most obviously robotic, because the one thing Ruby couldn't make was realistic skin. She'd love Penny anyways.

[versedicis]

reckless pursuits.

charles/max | ~150k, hunger games au | rated t tags: hurt/comfort, heavy angst, canon-typical violence, major character injury, getting together (sort of), found family (maybe), other additional tags to be added

It began with a crispness in the old autumn air, the browning of the trees nearly finished. The wind whistled through the Seam, the leaves blowing up cobblestone streets as if they were the tumbleweeds Charles had only ever seen described in illustrations of a faraway District Ten. The pads of his thumbs rubbed at the soft petals in his hands, ruby-red as they bloomed against his skin. They were the only luxury he could afford to give his father’s grave, their stomachs too empty and their clothes too threadbare to consider anything else to adorn the rickety carved wood.  Then, boom. The silence was deafening, as were the screams that came after, wretched voices echoing out around the districts as wives were told that their husbands were dead. Accidents in the mines weren’t uncommon; for one to happen so close to the winter, however, was a death sentence. If there was one thing that he knew from the year prior, it was that. When the widows poured into the streets, all there was to hear was the wails of women waiting for the freeze, their infants carefully swaddled to their chests unlikely to survive the cold, and the crunch, crunch, crunch of their feet as they swarmed the mining company’s headquarters for their husbands’ final cheques. The sounds of a mining accident in the district weren't unusual. Usually, his father would come home early, before his father’s life was claimed by the ashen earth too. When it was time for his brother to join the ranks of the District’s miners, too, he would come home weary and rough, coal-dust pressed deeply into the lines of his already-aged face despite the short year he’d been working. The sight of a man outside his family’s home, face stony and emotionless as he spoke to their mother, however, was. All Charles could see was the little drops of blood spattered on the wooden steps leading to pooled fabric, his mother’s skirt folding in on itself as she collapsed to the floor in grief; behind her, the terrified face of his little brother peeked out from where it was hidden behind the door frame. In the distance, the browning of the leaves around the faded balcony of his house seemed to quicken.  Blood, again, and again. The man’s hands were covered in it. Charles knew, then, that somebody’s life had been swallowed by the earth again. As he brought his hands up to his face in order to choke back his own scream, all he could smell was the clove-like scent of carnations; and with it, the blurry sight of his own fingers stained with the residue of their red, red petals.

like in the coliseum of the old days, pt. 1 | read on ao3 for the lovely @vi0letchemistry <3

[spartanblacksmith]

The Forges of Remnant

Chapter 2: Destruction and Restoration

Vital Coliseum, Vacuo. 4th month, 2nd day of Year 5028

Yang had been gently driving down the streets of Vacuo, taking the scenic route around Menagerie. As far from their house as possible. Yang’s colossal blond hair was within her helmet, if only so her wife behind her could see. Blake was still wearing her camouflage scout uniform, and Yang was wearing her brown biker clothes.

Blake had traveled for 3 and a half weeks on a hoverbike, living life in the wild. Yang figured she could benefit with a nice view of civilization, and she knew just the place.

She arrived at the parking lot of the Vital Coliseum. Putting it in park, she and Blake stepped off the bike.

“Just this way, kitten.” Yang gestures to the giant arena with a curtsy.

Blake raised an eyebrow at Yang. “The Coliseum? It's closed, isn't it?”

“Yes, but as of today, it's closed forever, so who cares?”

“Still the wild woman, aren't we?”

“Says the wild ranger, scavenging berrys and hunting the apocalypse.” Yang said with a wink. Yang then turns towards the Coliseum to see the progress of her plan.

That gets a chuckle out of Blake. “Observing the apocalypse.” Blake then hugs Yang from behind, nuzzling her face in Yang's back. “You do the hunting, my bright sun dragon.”

“I do the slaying. You do the hunting.”

Blake laughs and she takes Yang's hands in hers. “Are we going to debate the definition of those words or are you going to show me in?”

Yang, looking up, fingers tapping on Blake's hand, swaying back and forth, says “Onnnnlllyyy fffooorrr aaaaaaannnnoootttthhhheeeerrrr mmmmiiiinnnn-” She sees a cloud of rose petals fly away from the 3rd tier of seats, Ruby giving her a thumbs up as she zooms away. “-ute.” Yang opened the side gate. “Right this way.”

Blake goes to walk in, but Yang picks up Blake in a princess carry. She then waltzes inside with her raven haired beauty.

“You've done enough hard work. Imma take us there, myself.” Yang reaches the interior of the arena, and Blake wraps her arms around Yang's neck. Yang then starts super jumping from the dugout to several tiers of seats. Her huntress training really pays off in times like this.

She hops from the 3rd tier to the roof of the seating, a large rectangular area with a fence surrounding the perimeter. Yang landed upon it, and there was a surprise waiting.

It was what appeared to be a picnic blanket laid out and everything neatly arranged. 2 baskets, probably full of food. 4 plates and silverware. A salad bowl full of greens. 2 square cushions, a plush sleeping bag and a tent roll. There was even a pair of lit candles and fresh dinner rolls.

I texted Ruby only an hour ago for an emergency picnic, how did she get all this?

… A little on the nose there, with the rolls still steaming and the fresh lit candles. *Internal gasp* Those rolls are covered in cinnamon butter, that's Penny's rolls! Thank you Robo-angel!

Yang sets Blake down and opens her arms towards the picnic. “So, what do ya think?”

Blake tip toes up to kiss Yang on the cheek. “It's perfect. Thank you so much, love.”

“Aw, shucks.” Yang pats the back of her head, blushing a little.

They go to sit down, and Yang sees three of Ruby's petals sitting next to the blanket. When Blake isn't looking as she's sitting down, Yang quickly scoops up the petals and sits on her own cushion.

“So, what shall we eat first, my little ranger?”

“Let's see.” Blake opens the first basket to find grilled fish seasoned with lemon pepper. “Oh, Weiss's fish. Thank you.”

“Uh…”

“And we should probably thank Ruby for making all this for us.”

Yang was quiet for a moment, then tries to bluff. “Ruby? Nah, I made this and brought you here so we could enjoy it.”

Blake simply smiles and raises her hand, opens it, and reveals three of Ruby's rose petals. Yang checks her own hand and the petals she had are gone. “Whoa, you're slick.”

“I suppose.” Blake says, a new sullen look on her face as she watches the petals dissolve into thin air.

“... I can't hide anything from ya, can I?”

“Sadly, no. I’ve spent most of my life as a huntress and a thief, and you're a bad liar.”

Yang shrugs her shoulders. “Being confident and truthful suits me better.”

Blake rests her head on Yang's shoulder. “They do.” A moment of silence passes. “So, what were the protesters saying this time?”

“Not important.”

“Yang.”

“... They were accusing your father of being “in” with Adam during the Beacon Incident.”

“Ugh. Why did I ask? Why would they-”

Yang put a finger to Blakes lips. “No. Don't even think about it.” She lowers her hand.

“But I can't. We have a responsibility to answer-

Yang puts her finger up to Blake's lips again. “No. They're not like the protesters you hung out with before the White Fang got violent. Those guys had a good reason, a just cause. Like I said before, these guys are simply trolls with nothing better to do, hoping to get a rise out of you, Ghirra, or worse, Kali. All for some gossip.”

“Wait, why is mom the worst?”

“Don't you remember that one guy with the bat wings who tried to throw a swing at you last year?”

“Oh, yeah. Mom clocked him real good. And tossed him down the street.”

“And the reporters haven't let her forget it. There's even a chef who opens a ‘Kung Pao Kali’ in all the Vacuo cities.”

Blake laughs at the memory. “Yeah. It's not bad food either. A nice spicy taste, they've got.” She leans down and lays her head on Yang's lap.

“We still have a responsibility, love. After all, I don't want them to go down the wrong path. To end up like the White Fang, and me.” Blake intertwines her fingers with Yang's metallic digits resting on her belly. “And prevent them from making the same mistakes.”

Still beating herself up over what Adam did to my arm? Oh, my poor kitten.

Yang could only lean down and kiss Blake on the forehead, trying to comfort her wife. “Blake, it's been 10 years. I think you can forgive yourself for being associated with them.”

“You're right. Still doesn't change the past, though.”

“Then let's forget it for a night and let yourself enjoy the night with your wife.” Yang leaned down again, and this time, kissed Blake on the lips.

Yang rose up, and continued speaking. “Perhaps you'd like the news? Or the gossip?”

“Gossip, please.” Blake requested as she reached into the basket and started nibbling on a roll. “Mm, Penny's sweet rolls.”

“Well, first, we have Coco and Velvet. You wouldn't believe me if I told you.”

“What about them?” Blake asked, contemplating the Guardian Clan leader and her wife, the rabbit faunus lieutenant in the Silver Clan.

“Velvet’s pregnant.”

Blake almost choked on a bite of her roll. “Really? Coco knocked her up? When? How?”

“Yeah. Their W.A.S.P. failed its .1% rate on Velvet's birthday, and she got Velvet pregnant. They're keeping it, and they're already writing baby names. We have a pool going for the 20 they’ve thought of. I got $10 for Strudel.”

“That's great. Though Ruby needs another skirmisher now.” Blake finished the roll and grabbed another.

“Yeah. She's promoted Arslan Atlan to fill Velvet's shoes. And she promoted Reese Chloris to co-scout with Neon.”

“The bare-handed fighter and the skateboarder?” Blake asks as she feeds Yang her own roll.

“Yeah!” Yang says. After chewing, she continues. “Have you seen Arslan crush a Beowolf’s head with those fists? And Although Reese ain't exactly stealthy, what with her fluorescent green hair and bright clothes, her skateboarding skills almost beat Neon's rollerblading.”

“And Arslan will have Velvet's sergeant, Dew Gayl. She'll love Dew’s crowd controlling winds.”

“Oh, yeah. Reese will still be under Arslan, but she's doing fine.”

“Well, Ruby's in good company. Although, I think she'd love yours the most.”

Yang waved it off. “Ah, you and I both know she’d love the ‘Angel of Atlas’ being back in the Silver Clan.”

“I'm serious, Yang. As great Weiss is, Ruby would love for her sister to be back on the team. Those doctors don't know what you're capable of. I daresay you fight just as well as during your Beacon days.”

“I… I know.” Yang caressed her lover's smooth black hair. “But I can't make a fuss about it. Those old toadies will always oppose prosthesis using hunters from being in Silver Clan without the Pint Strikers. And besides, my sister does well in the spotlight, and I much prefer my Ember Celica Unit.”

“Yang…”

“I'm fine, love. I am.” Yang put on a smile and kissed Blake on the cheek.

I don't know if I can fight on foot. And I'm scared of slowing Ruby down. This is for the best, Blake.

Blake caressed the luscious blond hair of her lover and returned her affectionate kiss, on the lips. She sat up a little to make it easier for Yang.

After a minute, they stop. “Yang…”

“Sorry, it's been a month, darling. You always leave me wanting more.”

Blake ran her hand over Yang's cheek. “My poor girl.”

“Speaking of which, I really should tell you about Nebula.”

“Nebula? What about her?”

“Has she told you anything in Botanical class?”

“No. Why?”

“Not about her being Sun and Neptunes new girlfriend?”

“*Gasp* What? When? How?”

“Neptune spilled the beans to Ruby when he blurted it out during practice. The three have been together for two months.”

Yang continued her explanation as Blake ate her fish with a spoon. “Sun and Neptune were performing maintenance on their weapons. Then Nebula comes to do hers on her crossbow/sword thing. She helps Neptune enhance the shock on his glaive. Then Sun helps with her weapons extension. And accidentally stabs him in the shoulder as it was too good.”

“Oh, no. Was he okay?” Blake asks, her mouth full.

“He was fine, only a flesh wound. As an apology, she offered Sun coffee and breakfast as he healed up. Badda bing, badda boom, three person polycule.”

“I can't imagine that. After Neptune's been shamelessly flirting with her entire team for years and the whole “shocked them all during the Vytal Festival” would have put a damper on things.”

“Yeah. Sun told me she wanted to wait until the next party before she brings both of them as dates.”

“Wait a minute. Sun and Neptune? I get Nebula, she's a catch. But haven't Sun and Neptune been best friends since forever?”

Blake proceeds to feed Yang spicy noodles from the second basket. Through bites, she explains “Well, at first, it was really her dating one and the other. But after she suggested a threesome, and then Sun and Neptune kissed, it became a proper poly couple.”

“TMI Yang. But I'm glad it's Sun and Neptune. They're nice people.”

“They are. And totally bi.”

Blake cups Yang's cheek in her hand. “You're nice people too.”

“Aw, shucks.”

“I mean it. My strong, *kisses Yangs cheek* lovely, *kisses Yangs nose* kind…” Blake stops talking to kiss Yang deeply.

Yang returns the kiss and runs her hands through Blake's hair.

Thoughts of the food getting cold crossed Yang's mind.

I’ll make a fire if it gets cold. I'm not stopping this.

Yang grabbed the sleeping bag and rolled it out onto the rooftop. Opening it, she picked up Blake and set her inside. And Yang followed suit, continuing where they had left off. “I love you, my moonlily.”

“I love you too, my sunflower.”

And kissing her lover once more.

Their affections didn't stop there, and the picnic had all but been forgotten until a few hours later, where Yang had to make a rooftop fire to heat the food again as Blake set up the tent to sleep the rest of the night inside it.

—----

Plains of Woe. 4th Month, 3rd day of Year 5028.

Squad 12 was watching the Horde from the ledges of the mountain, just next to the fabled Plains of Woe. Outfitted in their camouflage gear and long sight visors, and their bikes parked under tarps on the plateau above them, they’re sure they remained undetected.

The Horde was still moving towards the Remnant Tribe. All 40 of the pitch black armored Leviethains, their 5 smaller Ursa, and their 4 War Forges were looking to pass through the same valley the tribe went through 3 months prior.

A good thing really. The less that happened next to the time when the tribe was set to move, the better.

Lieutenant Geoff hadn't seen anything strange happen for the 4 days he had been put on watch duty. But it always ran a shiver up his spine when he looked at the War Forges of the enemy. It looked so similar to the Tribes Forges, except for the dark armor. But he knew it couldn't be more different on the inside.

His sergeant, Gus, kept looking through the binoculars mounted on a tripod, sitting as he ate a sandwich, ever vigilant.

“Are you eating that through your helmet?” Geoff asked, sitting back to a boulder, his feet up on a backpack.

“Yes.” Gus said, not turning away.

“Why?”

“Helps the chewing.”

“Dumb function really.”

“I like it. This place is dusty, and the helmet keeps it out.”

“It's the outdoors, on the side of a mountain.”

“Still dusty.”

A moment passes between them.

“Say, Gus?”

“Yeah?”

“You ever wonder why we're here?”

“Gee, that's quite a question. Why are we here in this infinite cosmos? Why are we to fight these ever menacing monsters?”

“No, I meant why are we in these mountains. The Sky Clan can watch the Horde better than we can at this point.”

“You just say that because you're lazy.”

“We're Shadow Clan. We can be as lazy as we want. We just watch, record, and ride into the sunset.”

“Don't let Blake hear you say that. She takes this job super seriously.”

“Hey, I do my job well, I'm just-” their conversation was interrupted by loud steam sounds coming from the Horde.

The squad of 7 stopped what they were doing and watched from the ledge. The War Forge, Hazel, opened its hatch on top to release its Nevermore. A gigantic Crow Mech with anti gravity tech allowing it to fly. Armed with 2 dozen 105mm cannons, and a wingspan as wide as the Forge, it stands from it and takes flight.

“Well, there it is.” Geoff looked at his wrist monitor. “We were expecting a Nevermore, but it's early. Sky Clan is gonna be buuuuuuuuuuusssssssyyyy, uhhhhh…”

Geoff looked back to see the largest horde of Beowolves he’d ever seen emerge from Salem. They swarmed down the exit ports on the side and dropped from under Salem, and all the squad could see was a mass of dark steel of death. And they saw multiple Alphas, Pack Leaders, and worst of all, a Hound to join and assemble in the center.

“Oh, crud.”

“Geoff, uh, that's bad.”

“Of course it's bad! That's a massive swarm! With a Nevermore! And a Hound!”

“Yeah.”

“Get Ruby Rose on the radio. We need Silver Clan out here to intercept them.”

-----

Plains of Woe. 4th Month, 3rd day of Year 5028.

The meat stares at us brother. They watch from the mountains.

Don't worry, brother. They don't see. My pack can't be seen. They take the caves underneath the land, as the Leviathans hide our entrance. Though they are of the Shadow, the meat forget the caves. The meat always forget.

Good brother. Good. Then I take the pass. I bring to them the fight they expect.

And I, the fight they don't.

Then this is goodbye.

Until we meet in the Queens embrace, together brother.

Together. Now, you must go. Kill them, we will.

Yes. Soon, we shall spill the blood of meat. Soon…

---------

Middle point of Mountain Pass of Glenn. 4th month, 4th day of Year 5028.

Alright, mental checklist.

Crescent rose? Check.

Blade? Sharp.

Ammo? Stocked.

Red Cloak? Fabulous.

Black boots? Tied.

SnowGear? Ready.

Time? 4 a.m.

Distance from Remnant? 200 miles.

Sky Clan transports in a holding pattern? Check.

Sky Clan fighter Air Support on standby? Check.

My squad of 20 warriors? Check.

Sun and his squad of 20, ready and waiting for orders? Check.

Fox and Cinder waiting in the Pint Strikers behind us, awaiting signal to provide heavy fire support? Check.

Arslan and her squad of 18, ready and waiting for orders? Check.

My Red, Blue, and Green wedding ring? Check.

Reese and Neon with their report, waiting.

Ruby and her regiment of Silver Clan warriors await the pair of riders and their scouting report at the top of the plateau halfway up the mountain. Some of the men were having a poker game behind one of their gathered boulders, others were having a push up competition.

Flynt was playing some soft jazz music on his trumpet and many of the women were either vibing to the music or having small talk amongst themselves. Others were sharpening their weapons and counting their bullets.

Ruby knew Fox was meditating and Cinder was torching paper birds she was folding, next to their Pint Strikers, an Atlesian Paladin but piloted. Neptune was napping. Ruby, she was watching the mountains, covered in her red cape, keeping a bored vigilance.

Sun, in his beige pants and open white shirt, approaches Ruby, who's laying down on the edge of the cliff. “Anything?”

Ruby doesn't look away from the horizon, but replies “Nope.”

“Then chill out, will ya? The team's on edge, both figuratively and literally.” Sun says as he looks over to see some of his guys hanging off the edge to entertain themselves.

“Ugh, fine.” Ruby closes her eyes and rolls away from the edge. “But it's so boring up here.”

“I know. I know. I have plenty of places I’d rather be too.”

Like with Nebula and Neptune? You rascal. Don't say that out loud. Don't smirk.

“Why can't these Beowolves just come out already? They're rarely sneaky like this. And avoiding Remnants trail? They usually like their suicide charges into our ranks.”

Sun merely shrugged, his monkey tail forming a question mark. “Maybe they really do have a Hound this time?”

“Ugh.” Ruby rolled facedown in the grass in disgust of the thought. “A Hound? Like I believe that. I think Geoff was wrong and mistook an Alpha for one.”

“I don't know, he may be lazy, but he can be accurate when he wants.”

“But Salem hasn't sent one in a thousand years. Why now?”

Sun sat down and peeled a banana. “Word has it that it has to do with that Oscar kid.”

“Oscar who?”

“The kid Blake found in the wild. Said he was looking for an ancient A.I. from the days before the Shattering.” Sun says as his tail tosses the banana peel down the mountain.

“Oh, yeah. The kid Yang was talking to Qrow about over the scroll. I doubt that's it.”

“Aren't we putting the cart before the horse here?” Arslan says as she joins the conversation. Wearing her loose yellow robes but a bandage shirt and sleeves, it confused Ruby as to how her style looked good yet was unconventional. Well, unconventional in a Clan who dressed casually, even for battle. “Reese hasn't even returned with her report.”

Ruby raised her head. “Yeah, we aren't even sure there is one. But she's late.”

“She’s always late.” Arslan tossed her… Blond? Platinum? White? Ruby couldn't tell the exact color of her hair. Anyways, she tossed her hair to the side as she said this. “A habit she hasn't shaken from her Haven days.”

Ruby nodded, knowing Arslan was Reese's team leader when they went to Haven academy together. “Right. We can only wait.”

Sun sat down on a rock next to Ruby, still facedown in the grassy patch on the plateau. “So, tell me, Arslan. How's the new promotion to lieutenant, leader of your own squad?”

Arslan crossed her arms and nodded at Sun. “Not bad. Velvet definitely left some big shoes to fill, no rabbit pun intended. Not too different from our days at Haven, actually. It's only filled with more children.”

Ruby just waved her hand. “Aw, they ain't that bad.”

“Have you seen Sun’s sergeant, Neptune? He’s afraid of water! He squeals like a girl when he has to go through the rope swing on the obstacle course!”

Sun pointed a finger up. “In his defense, he’s always been afraid of water, and the obstacle course moat scares him, as it's 4 feet deep.”

“Then there's Flynt, who had just beat everyone in my unit at poker yesterday and cleaned them out of their week's pay. I had to reverse such action to prevent tensions from getting worse.”

Ruby scratches her head. “Yeah, there's that.”

“It's those sunglasses. He got the poker face of a rock, I tell ya.” Sun squinted in annoyance as he recalled the 1 vs. 1 poker game he had with Flynt last month. Well 4 vs. 4 if you count the Doppelgangers both were using to hold more hands of cards. “He can't have 4 straights in the same pot, no one can!” Yelling to make sure Flynt could hear.

“Yes I can.” Flynt shouted back in response. Sun simply shook his fist and Flynt returned to playing some jazz.

Arslan shook her head. “Nonetheless, I’ve been handling it as best I can. Thank the Brothers for Dew. I don't know what I’d do without her.”

“Righhhhttt. Dew is greeeaaat.” Ruby says, staring intently at Arslan, tapping her fingers on the ground.

The fighter simply raises an eyebrow. “What is it, Captain Rose?”

“... So no weapons at all?”

“Ha, we’re back to this subject.”

Ruby shook her head and sat up on the ground. “It's not that I don't doubt your ability. But everyone has a weapon. Sun has his Bostaff/flintlock pistols. Neptune, his Glaive/rifle. My sergeant, May Zedong, has her sniper rifle/axe. Your own sergeant, Dew Gayl has her, uh, magic staff thing.”

Arslan chuckled. “Wind Dust Staff. I’m telling you, I'm fine, Captain."

Ruby continues, with concern. ”I’ve seen you rip a Beowolf in half, but don't you want a knife at least? Maybe a sidearm? I’d be more than happy to make you one. Heck.” Ruby pulls two large caliber pistols she named ‘Snow’ and ‘Gear’ out of the twin holsters on her belt. “You can borrow one of mine for this battle. But, uh, return it afterwards, cause they're special.”

Arslan simply laughed and pushed Ruby's 3rd anniversary presents back to her. “No, no. I am more than fine with the guns I got.” She says as she flexes her arms. “Besides, I was never a good shot, anyways.”

It was Ruby's turn to raise an eyebrow. “Velvet told me you speared a Wyvern in the eye with a javelin at 500 yards.”

Arslan rotated her hand, explaining “Not a good shot, with a gun.”

Ruby was going to protest more, but not another minute passed as they heard someone approaching. Reese and Neon were riding up the mountainside to the Silver clans plateau.

They ride up and over, doing a pose and a flip, and then landing on their feet in classic extreme sport style.

Ruby rose to her feet. “Yay. You're here. Whatcha see? Whatcha hear?”

The rainbow colored Neon answered first. “Nothing good. We found them entering the mountain range towards this pass, as Shadow Clan said.”

Reese continued “There's over 500 Beowolves down there. All very coordinated too.”

Neon chimed in “Yep, but we have to beware worse things. There's 500 Betas, yes. But there's 10 Alpha's, 3 Pack Leaders, and a Hound as well.”

Everyone on the cliff side gasped at the revelation.

So Geoff was right. Crud.

Beta Beowolves were your standard monster, and Alphas were slightly bigger, smarter, and rare, but word has it, manageable. The 500 were expected, given their lack of activity lately, and 10 Alpha's were a mild surprise.

But Pack Leaders? They were Alpha sized, but scary smart. They usually are in charge of War Forge and the Horde’s defense. They've never been seen leaving Salem's Horde. If Ruby wasn't careful, she’d lead her warriors into an ambush and be slaughtered.

And the Hound. A Beowolf, but a Pint Striker's size. It had the strength of an Ursa and the intelligence of a human. As if that wasn't scary enough, it had an Aura of its own, something only seen in Hunters like the Silver Clan Warriors and living creatures, a personal force field protecting them from harm.

One has not been seen in over a thousand years when it assassinated and killed a Head Chieftain, Dustin Schnee, one of Weiss's ancestors. Salem only sends them out when she really wants something dead. Ruby knew she'd have to take this one herself or risk the trail of bodies of her warriors in its wake.

“Alright then. We stick to the plan. Only I’ll be targeting the Hound. Arslan, Sun, the Pack Leaders are yours. Cinder, Fox, you're laying down fire on the mass of Betas as Sun’s squad kills them.” Ruby turns to her sergeant, May. “You and the squad are killing the Alphas. Arslan’s squad is holding back in case the Hound has any surprises for us. And we strike when Sky Clan attacks that Nevermore.”

The Clan nodded their heads and accepted the new orders.

“Ready? Break.” Ruby claps her hands and leads her squad to their positions.

“Good. Neon, Reese, rejoin the others, we got work to do.” Arslan said as they began their own preparations.

Sun shouted to his men. “Alright guys, we got work to do. Neptune.”

Neptune jolted awake from his place by the rocks. He gets up and runs over to Sun. “You called?”

“We got boulders to move. I’ll fill you in.”

*One hour later*

Here they come.

The pack of Beowolves was moving through the mountain pass, a mass of metal limbs and bladed claws walking together, their jaws constantly opening and closing, making sure they didn't rust shut.

Ruby could see the Hound in the middle of the pack, surrounded by Alphas. It was an intimidating monstrosity. But Ruby had seen worse things. As she and her squad watched the horde from their positions above in the rocks, she glanced to the side. Seeing Sun’s team a few hundred yards to the side, and Arslan's team opposite of her’s in the mountain pass, as well as Cinder and Fox waiting on the plateau they were on earlier, she knew everything was in position.

Come on, little dumb monsters. Come on, you don't see us. Yes, right into the trap zone. You don't have your Nevermore here to protect ya, do you?

Did they send it ahead? Distract us here to let it attack the tribe? Shoot, it may have. We should attack the horde now and go after-

May got Ruby's attention. “Captain Rose?”

“Yes, May?”

“Cinders on the radio, she needs to talk.”

Ruby took the microphone from May and spoke. “Ruby?” Cinder asked over the radio.

“Yes, Cinder? What is it? We're about to start.”

“We have a problem.”

Oh no. “What is it?”

“The Nevermore. It's far in the sky, hiding in the clouds, but it's there.”

A surprise attack from the Nevermore. Man, I can't even see it from here. If we had attacked, we would have been squashed. The Hound almost got us before we even engaged it.

“Great spotting, Cinder. I’ll get Sky Clan on it.”

Ruby switched radio channels to Maria’s.

“Death's arrow, this is Red Knife, how copy?”

A voice over the radio answers. “Read ya loud and clear, Red Knife. This is Death's arrow. What do you need?”

“We have the Nevermore escort over the Beowolf horde. We need air cover.”

“Roger, fighters moving to your position. Eta, 2 minutes.”

“Roger that. Over and out.” Ruby looked back to the horde. She switched to another radio channel. “Sun, Arslan?”

“This is Sun, what's up?”

“The Nevermore is in the clouds. We launch the attack as soon as that Nevermore in the sky gets lit up by Maria and her fighters.”

“Once what?” Sun and Arslan go quiet for a moment to check the sky. “Oh, there it is. Right there in the cloud. Roger that, waiting on the signal.”

Ruby put the radio away, and readied Crescent Rose in her sniper rifle form. Looking down the scope, she dialed in on the Hound’s ugly face. She whispers to May “Can I get a second shooter on the big one? He’s got tough armor.”

“Yes, Ma'am.” May sets her sniper rifle up and dials in as well.

2 minutes pass in agony, Ruby hoping the horde doesn't go too far. But luckily, they're right below the Silver Clan. Ruby hears a loud thrum in the air as Sky Clan approaches. The Nevermore's crows deafen the sky as missiles and large caliber bullets hit the side of it. It flies into battle against the Sky Clan fighters and the horde below looks upwards in astonishment.

Ruby takes her chance. She and May fire at the Hound. Their bullets fly out and zoom towards the large beast. The impact staggers him, and visibly damages his Aura. But he's still standing.

Racking a second round quickly, Ruby and May fire again. They hit the Hound before he knows where he's getting hit from.

A third round. Ruby can hear Cinder and Fox spin up their guns. Ruby and May fire again. This time, the Hound grabs an Alpha, and uses it as a shield to take the hits. Although the Alpha was dead now, it kept holding it up.

Cinder and Fox start firing their weapons. Their Pint Strikers were small versions of the Port Strikers, meant for Beowolf hunting. Carrying 4 Gatling guns, 2 shoulder mounted and 2 arm mounted, where some would say ‘Overkill’, the Silver Clan says ‘not enough’. So they load them with explosive Fire Dust rounds.

The 8 Gatling guns tear through the horde, turning dozens of Beowolves into scrap metal. The monsters then start to climb the sides of the mountain to charge their attackers.

Ruby gives the call, her voice sounding through the valley even above the fire. “All Squads, Attack!”

A war cry sounds out in the mountain pass as all the warriors push dozens of their prepared boulders down the mountainside. They crash and crush any monster unlucky enough to be under it. Once the boulders reach the bottom and stop moving, Ruby yells out “Hit it!”

May reaches behind her and clicks the detonator on her utility belt. The explosives attached to the boulders activate, and turn air in the pass into dust, smoke, and flying pieces of Grimm. The smoke clears quickly from the wind, and they see a second wave is on the way up.

Ruby yelled out once more. “Silver Warriors! Fire!” And they all light up the valley floor with bullets. Tearing apart the horde as they climb.

Then, even though all that, the Grimm continues their climb. As they near the warriors positions, Ruby gives out another command. “Ready! Set! Charge!” And hops over the side to start slicing up the enemy.

Another war cry sounds out as Sun’s warriors jump the side and crash into the Beowolves, tearing them apart. The blond faunus led the charge with 4 of his own Aura Doppelgangers.

Neptune was slicing through several of them where Sun wasn't looking and shocking many more with his Glaive.

Arslan's own warriors were supposed to hold back, but as the horde was trying to reach the Pint Strikers, they had to hop into action and hold the line below the plateau they were standing on. Arslan can be seen ripping Beowolves apart, palm striking them to pieces and using a dead one as a club to knock others down the mountainside.

Dew and Flynt was tossing Grimm down as well with their strong winds, tornadoes, and weaponized jazz music. Arslan's warriors fought furiously, holding the line.

Ruby's own warriors jumped down the mountain, carving their way through the swarm. Their targets were the command beasts.

May and the rest of Ruby's squad went to assist Sun’s squad, as the Alphas and Pack Leaders had charged their way. But Ruby went straight for the Hound, still sitting in the center of the Horde.

Beowolves tried to swipe at her, but her semblance “Petal Burst” allowed her to swiftly dodge their attacks at high speeds or simply turn to rose petals and avoid it altogether.

She flew through the horde, reaping nearly 6 at a time with her scythe/sniper rifle, Crescent Rose. Carving through to the center, there she was.

Ruby was standing in front of the Hound. Converting her sniper rifle into Scythe mode, she locks into combat.

You look angry. Let's boogie, big guy.

The beast swipes once, twice, and a third time. Ruby dodges all three. She gets a slice on its leg, its Aura still holding. It picks up a bystanding Beowolf and chucks it at Ruby. The beast knocks Ruby over, but slicing it in half, she regains her footing quickly and charges the Hound again.

You grunt throwing butt head!

The Hound tries to slam its fist into the ground right into Ruby's head. She explodes into Petals before it connects and she reappears above the fist. Its second fist though connects a strong swipe, raking Ruby with its claws. Ruby is sent flying again, her own Aura at 60%.

Okay, new strategy.

She does a backflip and lands on her feet. She dashes at the Hound again. Several beta Beowolves charge at Ruby to protect the Hound.

But Ruby surprises them. The Rose family has a strange, hereditary semblance linked to their silver eyes. On top of her Petal Burst, she can activate an E.M.P. area attack to knock any Grimm mech around her down.

The 20 Beowolves around her fall to the ground around Ruby and the Hound falters a bit as it hits him. Surprised he didn't die like the others, but unfazed, she continues her charge.

It swipes high, expecting a jump. But Ruby slides under it, hooking its leg and pulling it out from under the beast. It falls over and Ruby quickly jumps on top of its chest as it lands on its back. She draws Snow and fires its Ice Dust bullets into the beast's face, turning most of his head into a block of ice. She holsters it again, proud of her wife's gift.

As it starts to beat its own head to break the ice away, Ruby nimbly changes Crescent Rose in its rifle form and reloads with her Fire Dust bullets to blast away at the Hounds chest. Racking round after round, pounding away its heavy Aura.

Finally, the tell tale signs of Aura breaking away shatters over the monstrous mech. But it also finishes breaking the ice away.

It grabs Ruby by the torso and squeezes. Ruby feels the wind knocked out of her, and can feel her Aura slowly being depleted.

Crap, Crap, Crap! I can't breathe. Quickly, now! I can tell I'm at 40%, no, 30%!

Before she's taken down, she changes her weapon into Scythe mode. Tilting the head back into a spear form, Ruby stabs the blade into the Hounds chest. It pierces and she feels it hit dirt on the underside. The beast falters, and Ruby can breathe again. She tilts it back into Scythe mode where she can fire again and blasts the Hound's head off.

Its arm falls away limp. Ruby is victorious.

Yeah. Take that, ya big dolt.

Ruby pulls the weapon out of its chest and she takes a look around and sees the horde around her. More Beowolves start charging at the exhausted girl.

Oh, right. I'm surrounded. And I’ve used my Silver Eyes for the moment. Weiss is right, I am the dolt.

Then the charge is halted by a hail of bullets. The Beowolves around Ruby melt away in a sea of fire. Ruby looks up to see who it was. It's none other than her sister-in-law, flying down in her Pint Striker with its jetpack.

Cinder lands next to Ruby, and launches a circle of fire from her mech. Ruby dives under it, and the fire turns multiple beasts into slag. Cinder's guns begin firing away into another group. “Need some assistance, oh fearless leader?”

Ruby hops up to stand on the mech's head. Although it's quite loud. “Thanks for the save. How are we looking?”

Cinder continues to mow down the horde. “Pretty good. The Alphas are dead, the Pack Leaders too. You just killed the Hound, and the others are almost finished.”

And she was right. For as Ruby looked around again, there were only a few dozen Betas left, being chased by her warriors. Barely a scratch amongst them. Not a bad day.

“Yeah! We Rock! We Kicked Their Metal Butts! Wooo!” Ruby cheered as she jumped up and down on Cinders head.

“Calm down. We still have to hunt down the stragglers. Don't want them messing up the move.”

“Right. Hunt first, party later." Once Ruby catches her breath, she flies away in a cloud of petals, ready to slice up some more Beowolves. Cinder followed, throwing more fireballs and bullets.

Not noticing the blood bubbling from the Hounds chest wound as they left it behind.

—----

Exit point of Mountain Pass of Glenn. 4th month, 4th day of Year 5028.

Grut was fuming. He looked into binoculars and saw that his reinforcements had just been slaughtered by the Silver Clan. “That red haired bitch. Ruby freakin’ Rose. She just killed all my monsters.”

Grut was sitting on top of a mountain, as he was supposed to be observing the horde of Grimm to help him get the boy, Oscar. A big raid on the outskirts of Menagerie, then Grut grabs the boy and gives him to the Hound. But now with it bleeding all over the ground and its forces dead, Tyrian’s Plan A was sunk.

“Just great.” He watched as the Nevermore fell to the ground in 17 different parts a few mountains over. “Now what, ya bag of bolts?”

“Don't worry, my friend.” Behind Grut, a Hound was holding the side of the peak, also observing the battle. Its voice was deep and mechanical, but all too clear. It looked at Grut with its red eye. “My brother's sacrifice will not be in vain.”

Grut was confused. “Sacrifice? Uh, Fennec, weren't they, ya know, gonna attack Remnant?”

“They were, but Tyrian's second spy informed him that the boy doesn't have Jinn. He still needs to be caught. But it's unnecessary now. So I was given different orders. A plan B, if you will. Apologies that you were not informed of the change.”

“So this whole battle, you losing all your beasts was…?” Grut waves his arms over to the hundreds of dead Grimm, hoping for a clear answer.

“All part of Her Majesty's plan. This was not all of them. My brother, Corsac, took half, and got the attention of their ‘Shadow Clan’ to hide my half. Now, as we speak, my Pack travels under the mountain range, to intercept Remnant on their way to the Coastal Plains. And the Silver Clan is none the wiser.”

“Ohh.” Grut then scowled. “Then what am I supposed to do now?”

“Patience will be rewarded, my friend. Watts is sending you your own team of Hybrids. Await them in Vacuo, once Remnant has abandoned the cities. You will have your day, we promise.” The Hound turns and hops down the mountain, sliding all the way down to its base, to return to its pack.

“You better.” Grut says, even though no one is around. “My blood is itching for battle. My circuits are thirsting for carnage.” Grut packs his stuff. Once he's done, loads up his backpack and fiddles with the back of his head, his hair tangled again with the data port and black steel panel installed there.

“They will know my name. They all will.”

—----

Vale Forge. 4th month, 4th day of Year 5028.

Mmm, I don't know how Penny did it, but her shoulder is so comfy. I'm so tired. If only I could stay here, resting with her. And if only Ruby wasn't out hunting. She’d be with us, lazing about, her head probably in my lap.

*Sigh* Why am I so lethargic recently? I love work, or at least, I’m driven. So why am I wishing to stay home and shower my wives in affection more often recently? Or am I just greedy and wanting to steal more of my wives time? Not sure which is better or worse.

Weiss was laying her head down on Penny's shoulder as the car and their convoy escort was driving down the dirt road towards the Vale Forge, the sun setting behind them. She had already made 3 trips to see the others that day.

Sienna Khan of the Menagerie Forge, Vernal of the Mistral Forge, and Allison of the Vacuo Forge. Now she was about to make her 4th to see Amber of the Vale Forge.

Charles, their driver, pulled up to the side of the colossal constructor, where the robotic Atlesian Knights were waiting. “Master Weiss, we’re here.”

Weiss didn't respond, playing asleep. Penny, in her cute yellow sundress, nudged Weiss awake. “Weiss love, we’re here.”

Weiss slowly lifted her head and looked outside. “Can we have five more minutes?”

“Sorry, snow angel, we have to do this last errand, and then there's the council meeting. But I promise, you can sleep afterwards.”

“Okay.” Weiss takes a moment to yawn. “Let's go.” She exits the car with Penny and smoothes out her long light blue dress. The two of them go to meet the Knights.

“Hello, Master Weiss. You're 3.4 minutes late.” Said one of the 8 knights in a woman's voice.

“Hello to you too, Amber.” Weiss said with a slight sarcasm, not knowing if Amber was being sarcastic or serious in noting such a small tardiness. “We’re here to instruct you on your new orders and inspect the Core.”

“Yes, right this way.” They gestured, and a door leading to an escalator stairway opened from the side of the Forge. It would lead all the way to the top.

Led by 4 of the knights and followed by the remainder, Penny and Weiss ascended up the escalator. It was going to take a minute.

Weiss looked out the viewing port to the interior of the Forge. It was always impressive, filled to the brim with massive mechanical construction arms and tools, workshops, the city being built, and whatnot. No organic personnel were allowed, save for the Schnee family for the inspections and the Atlesian Knights.

The Atlesian Knights. The footmen of the Forges. If there was something that needed hands to be done, the Forges A.I. would control a Knight to do it. They were quite versatile, as construction and maintenance crews, defenders of the Forges, and supplementary security support in the cities.

Each Forge A.I. could control thousands of them at a time, and each was color coded to know who was who. Along with their white armor, like the Forges, Amber's knights had, well, amber stripes along them.

The group reached the top floor, and kept going through the corridors. After a few twists and turns, they arrive at the control room. They found 4 Atlesian Paladins, outside the door, these hulking, heavily armed mech soldiers making sure none enter but Weiss and Penny. After scanning the girls, they step aside to let them in.

The door opens, revealing a series of computer stations along the wall, a large hologram showing the status and future architectural plans for the next Vale, and at the far end of the room was the A.I. Core.

The Core itself was largely not surprising as you’d expect, but not many know about the storage capsule attached to it.

Inside was an amber haired woman with amber eyes. She was the personal body of Amber, dressed in explorer clothes, much like how Penny was the body of Atlas.

Nicolas really should have been more creative with poor Amber's color scheme…

The capsule opens and Amber rises out of it. “Hello. Pleasure to see you again, Master Weiss. And Sister Penny, glad you could join us. The Workshop's not busy today?” Amber proceeds to step out of the capsule and approach the pair.

“Nope. I finished all my maintenance duties. Even finished Ember Celica ahead of schedule. Now, I am keeping Weiss company.” Penny grabbed Weiss's hand and smiled her beautiful smile.

“Good, good. Glad to see your lover making you so happy, Sister Penny.”

“Ha, well, thank you, Sister Amber.” Penny says, blushing a little.

Amber nods and turns to Weiss. “On to business. What's our next destination, Ma’am?”

Weiss went over to the hologram display, with Penny still in hand, and pressed a button to change the display to Map mode. She scrolled until she reached what she was looking for. “Here. The Coastal Plains. Good distance from our current position, plenty of fish this season, easily defendable.”

“Ah. My old stomping grounds. Very well. I will make plans and set a route. When will we set out?”

“Tomorrow. 10 a.m. sharp. I will contact you if anything changes.”

“Great. I just need Glyph Confirmation.” A panel in the wall opened to reveal a large scanner.

Glyphs. The Schnee families hereditary semblance that was passed down from parent to child. It was considered the most versatile, and debatably the most powerful, of all semblances of the warriors of Remnant. It could cast all sorts of powers and abilities, depending on the dust used and capabilities of the warrior.

Weiss used it to make a big, intricate glyph, even more so than usual. She put it to the scanner, and it glowed green. This semblance was used to authorize actions and commands to the Forges.

“Glyph accepted.” The panel closed. “I will prepare for tomorrow.”

Weiss nodded. “Good. Now, for the Dust Core Inspection.”

Amber nodded as well. “Right this way.”

Weiss followed the well treaded path to the Dust Core of Vale. A door to the left of Amber's chamber opened to reveal an elevator. Weiss, Amber, and Penny stepped inside.

The doors close, and Weiss leans into Penny for a moment, and Penny wraps her arm around Weiss's shoulders. They ride in silence, a smile on their faces.

Once they reach the Core Room, the door opens. A small walkway extends out, but only a few meters. In the center of this massive room was a Dust Core Crystal, this one named Amber, glowing a bright, uh, Amber. Slightly smaller than the room itself, nearly 100 feet tall, nearly 70 feet wide, in the shape of a diamond.

Dust. A strange, naturally occuring substance, like a rock but grows like a plant. It came in many elements, such as fire, water, ice, earth, etc. It could be plucked right from the ground and be utilized. Little is known about its origins, but everyone knows it's extremely useful. Weaponry, medical supplies, semblance enhancements, and most importantly, fuel. It powered the cities and their vehicles.

Oddly enough, there were still undiscovered things about Dust that people don't know. For example, the Dust Cores. Nicholas Schnee found 5 of them in a mining dig ages ago, and created the Forges with their almost unlimited power. They had no element to them, just pure energy, and they required rest to recharge. Not many know where humanity would be today without this discovery, and they still don't know how to create one themselves.

Amber, Weiss, and Penny stood upon the walkway as the elevator closed behind them. Weiss, reluctantly, let go of Penny's hand to float up to the Dust Core using her glyphs.

Hmm, there's a crack here. Another over there. The beginnings of one here. Better get started.

Dust, unfortunately, breaks down over time with use, but the Schnee family's semblance’s strange connection to Dust was able to reverse this. Weiss began to create mending glyphs to run over the damage in the Core and close the cracks. She flew one way and another, casting her glyphs and repairing the Core until it was as new as the day it was installed.

After 28 minutes, she was finished.

Weiss floated back over to the two androids on the walkway, and Penny gave her a pat on the back. “Good job, Weiss.”

Amber gave a quick bow. “Apologies there was so much damage this time, Master Weiss.”

“No problem, Amber. That's nothing. Although Mistral's and Vacuo’s were undamaged, you should have seen Sienna’s Core. Almost double the cracks.” Weiss said as she shook her head, looking a little sad. Then she became concerned for the Menagerie Forge. “She's been pushing herself a little too hard lately. She didn't mention why her Core was like that.”

“She's just a hard worker.” Amber explained. “And trying to alleviate the faunus’s stress with more amenities in the city. The White Fang has been attempting to recruit members into its ranks recently, and she wants to avoid that. Thankfully, from what I’ve heard, they've been unsuccessful on all fronts.”

Once more, Father's Race War haunts me. Damn it.

“Wonderful.” Weiss said, sarcasm heavy in her voice. “The White Fang’s return. You’d think they'd fold into Ghirra’s Blue Fang by now.”

Penny gently holds Weiss's hand again.

Amber replies “Adam really did a number on the remaining members. Tricking them, lying to them, making them accomplices in the Beacon Incident. But I assure you, they aren't a threat to you or the Faunus.”

That remains to be seen. One person is a lot more powerful, and dangerous, than most give them credit for.

As they enter the elevator, Weiss sighs in fake relief. “That's some good news. Blake will at least sleep a little better tonight when I tell her she has nothing to worry about.”

The trio exit the elevator back into the Control Room.

As Weiss passed the holographic projector, she gave a curtsy and said “Good day, miss Amber.”

Amber returned it with a bow “Good day, Master Weiss.” And returned to the storage capsule.

Weiss and Penny left the control room, Penny waving widely at Amber as she walked away. Amber waved back. Through the many corridors, and down the escalator, they were outside again.

Charles and the other escorts and drivers were standing by their vehicles, chatting, standing guard, one secretly reading a book. When they saw the Head Chieftain and the engineers captain, they reentered and readied their vehicles as Weiss and Penny entered the car.

Once they were in the back seat, Weiss laid her head down on Penny's shoulder again. “Ugh, I don't know how you walk so far and not get tired. That had to be at least 2 hours we walked.”

“Indeed. One hour to the Control room, half an hour during your repairs, one hour back. Although, I have robotic legs and you have human ones.”

“Ugh, something must be wrong with me. I need to get in better shape.”

“Weiss, you are in top shape. The doctor's visit last week showed nothing wrong. But you have been up and working for 16 hours now.”

Weiss jolted a bit. “Has it been 16 hours?”

“Yes. The sun “'is” setting behind us and you were in your office at the crack of dawn.”

“Oh.”

“And you were deliberating between the cities and the councilman for 15 and a half hours yesterday. And you were supervising the packing of supplies all day the day before. And you were doing paperwork for 18 hours the day before that.”

“Ohh.”

“You are not lethargic, you are tired. Not taking a day off for so long has taken its toll. You need a four day weekend.”

“I can't, not so close to the move. I’ll take the time off once we get settled in the new Vale.”

“Don’t be silly. That's 2 months away.”

“Well, we’re set to travel tomorrow. What can I do?”

“You could take me up on my offer.”

“No, I will not be carried the whole way. I can walk. I need the exercise anyway.”

“You already maintain a great workout schedule, as well as keeping in top huntress shape with Myrtenaster.”

“Fair. But no. We walk together.”

“Okay, Weiss” Penny then kisses Weiss on the head. “Whatever you say.”

Weiss’s scroll rings in her pocket. She checks to see who it is, and it's Klein. Weiss answers “Hello. How are you doing?”

“Hello Master Weiss. I have news.”

“Oh? What news?”

“Master Ruby and her warriors have all returned and will be able to attend the Council meeting.”

Weiss's face brightens and she hugs Penny. “Good. She's been gone for 7 days. We miss her.”

“We do.” Penny says as she hugs Weiss back.

Weiss tilts her head, giggling a little. “Ya know, you can drop the ‘Master’, Dad.”

“Oh, was I saying it? Sorry. My old habits die hard, Mas-, uh, Weiss.”

“I know. But you married Mother 3 years ago. You're my father now, not my butler.”

“Do not worry, Weiss's Father, I too still sometimes call her Master Weiss by accident.”

*Internally Screaming*

Weiss, blushing furiously, says “Penny. Remember what I told you?”

“Not to tell people that since we're married, and they might take it the wrong way?”

Klein clears his throat, “Don't worry, I didn't take anything weird from it.”

Penny tilts her head to the side, confused. “Weird? I mean I sometimes call her that in-”

Weiss hurriedly interrupts Penny. “Okay, that's enough of that.”

“Okay. Whatever you say.”

“Haha, well, I’ll let you love birds back to your trip to the council.”

“Thank you. Love you, Dad.”

“Love you, too, Snowflake.” Klein hangs up the phone.

“Now, um, Charles, may we have some privacy?”

“Of course.” Charles then rolls up the partition between him and the couple.

“Now, for your maintenance, Penny.”

“Oh, uh, um” Penny looks side to side, blushing a little. “That can wait until we get home.”

Weiss wagged her finger. “Oh no. I’ve done maintenance on 4 massive Dust Cores today. I'm not waiting to do maintenance on the most important one to me.”

“... Very well, Weiss.” Penny turns her back to Weiss. She then lifts up her shirt to allow Weiss access to her back. A quiet internal command has her back opening in a series of retracting panels, until it shows Penny's Dust Core inside. About 6 inches tall, 3 inches wide, and glowing a bright green.

“Tch, tch, tch. Penny. You have a crack right here. You should have come to me sooner. It's because you pushed yourself to finish Ember Celica, isn't it?”

“...Maybe. I knew you'd say that. No need to bother you with something unnecessary like this.”

“*sigh* My sweet firefly, you and your sisters need to bother me more with this stuff.” Weiss begins to mend Penny's Dust Core with both hands on the glyph. Once she's done, she decides to tease Penny a little.

Mirror, Mirror, A heart can turn to stone. But it's by no means a cold stone. It's a very warm, loving stone heart.

Weiss leans down and kisses Penny's Dust Core, a harmless static shock passing through her lips.

Penny gasps at the contact. “Weiss, you crook. You can't just kiss my heart like that.” Penny says, turning back towards Weiss, blushing.

Weiss giggles and Penny joins in, the two laughing together.

Closing her back and tucking her shirt back in, Penny sits back into the seat, letting Weiss lean back into her.

“Go ahead and nap. I’ll wake you up when we're there.”

“Ok. *Yawns* Love you, Penny.”

“Love you too, Weiss.”

“Aw, you two are a sweet couple. Makes a man diabetic from witnessing it.” Charles says from behind his partition.

Weiss, embarrassed, covers her face with Penny's arm. Penny giggles as they head towards the Council tower in Vale.

[bridgyrose]

Could I drop a fic idea? What about v9 ruby, just after drinking the tea suddenly finds herself in beacon just before vytal, but she's still v9 rubes and vol 2 RWBY is there still witnessing this future version of their leader desperately working to prevent everything and the more they interact with future ruby the more they can't shake the feeling they all failed her in the future

(This was a fun idea to write.)

Ruby felt herself fall through the air, already certain she knew her fate. She was dead. She had drank the tea that Neo had given her, she had been beaten and killed, and she no longer had to worry about being a burden to her team and letting them down. And now, all that was left was to ascend and to take a new role, one that she couldnt possibly fail. 

Atleast, that is what she had thought until she suddenly felt herself on the ground again. There was no thud, no pain, just the feel of grass under her. The sound of people chattering filled the air as she opened her eyes to find herself in the familiar grounds of the Vytal Festival. 

“Are you okay?” 

Ruby froze as she heard the voice of her younger self speak to her, heart raced as she took a glance around the stalls that still stood, almost certain what she saw was a dream. And yet, it all felt real. She could still feel the cool breeze that blew across her face, smell the food that was cooking at each of the food stalls, hear the chimes and people chatting about the teams that had already fought. 

“Miss, are you okay?” the younger Ruby asked again. “If you’re this dazed, we should get you to the infirmary-” 

“I’m fine,” Ruby answered as she picked herself up. “I-I… I guess I got a bit too relaxed. Fell asleep and lost track of time.” 

“Well, try not to get too relaxed again or you’ll miss the matches. Speaking of, I need to find my team so I’m not late to ours. We’re up against team ABRN first. I hear they’re really tough, so it should be a fun match.” 

Ruby nodded and watched her younger self rush off to make it to the coliseum, still a bit dazed. She swore that she had been in the Ever After just a few minutes ago, but here she was, back at Beacon during the Vytal Festival. But if she was back here, then that meant she had a second chance to stop everything that went wrong. A chance that she could make everything right and no longer carry that same burden. 

She heard her stomach growl and she winced, not realizing just how hungry she was. “First a meal, then I can find Cinder and stop her.” Ruby sighed and started to make her way to the nearest food stand, mouth already watering as she smelled the different foods she’d missed. Noodles, takoyaki, cinnamon buns, sweets of all sorts, an overload of smells that she had missed all those months ago, finally settling for a bowl of noodles just like she had with her team. 

Ruby took the bowl as it was handed to her and took her time to savor each bite of the noodles, almost relaxing as she took the time to enjoy her meal. She had lost herself to the moment, listening to the crowds around her and letting herself relax and put her guard down even for the brief moment she had. And for once since Beacon had fallen, things had felt right.

She finished her noodles and glanced at the screen at the stall, a small smile crossed her lips when she saw that her younger self and her team had beaten ABRN. Everything was still going as she remembered. And as long as she could keep ahead of Cinder, she might be able to prevent Beacon from falling. Though, that did leave her with the issue of trying to remember where Cinder and her team were at and trying to figure out what she could do about them anyway. It wasnt like she could just go straight to Ozpin, he’d have questions that she’d never be able to answer. And if Qrow was already here, he’d recognize her right off the bat, which would also bring more questions than she could answer already. If she was going to do this, she was going to have to do this alone. 

Ruby paid for her noodles and made her way back to Beacon. Though, as she walked through the courtyard, she found herself slowing down. She could remember the day Beacon fell as though it had happened yesterday, citizens running and screaming as grimm ran through the streets, buildings collapsing and burning as the White Fang caused chaos, watching Pyrrha die in front of her… her heart raced as she took a breath to try to ground herself. That wouldnt happen again. She would never let that happen again. She could stop all of it, allow herself to continue to attend Beacon, earn her license naturally and never let her younger self have to go through losing her friends the way she did. 

That was, at least, her intention until she ran into her younger self again, knocking her over. “S-sorry,” Ruby said as she offered a hand. “Guess I wasnt watching where I was going.” 

“Its fine,” the younger Ruby answered as she took Ruby’s hand and got up. “Though, I’m glad to see you on your feet.” 

“You know her?” the younger Weiss asked. “Why am I even asking? Of course you made another friend.” 

The younger Yang playfully punched the younger Weiss’s shoulder. “Let her be. Besides, dont you think her new friend looks… familiar?” 

“She does, doesnt she?” the younger Blake asked.

“Look, its a long story, but I… I need to go.” Ruby pushed past her younger self and her team to make her way to the dorms. “I’m looking for someone and its important I find them.” 

“Maybe we can help,” the younger Ruby said. “We can point you in the right direction.” 

Ruby shook her head. “You should get something to eat. I saw your match and I’m sure you’re hungry.” She pulled out some lien and handed it over to her younger self. “There’s a noodle stand I’m sure you’ll enjoy. It’ll cater to all of your tastes.” 

“I cant accept-” 

“Consider it a gift for fight well done.” Ruby relaxed and started to make her way to the dorms. “And enjoy yourselves. You dont know how long you’ll have to do so.” 

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ruby leaned against a wall after hours of searching the dorms for Cinder or her team with no luck. No one seemed to know who she was talking about, and the one room she was pointed to had already been emptied as if they were preparing to leave right after the festival. And yet, she still couldnt seem to find them. “Maybe I should’ve gone to Ozpin first,” she said to herself. “If I explained things, he’d at least be able to understand. Though, I’m sure he’d ask how I knew about this and would probably accuse me of working with them, and I’m not entirely sure how he’d accept my answer of being here.” 

She sighed and pulled out her scroll, pausing when she finally saw the time. It was about time for the singles rounds to start. Which meant Yang and Penny… Ruby dashed through the halls with her semblance to make it towards the arena. She had to make it there before the fight to warn Yang about fighting Mercury. And while she had no doubt that Yang would win, it didnt matter if she got disqualified again. But if she could get there fast enough-

“Alright, that’s everyone that can get in, you’ll need to wait for the next transport,” one of the Atlas soldiers said as he closed the door to the airship carrying people up to watch the fights. “Next one will be back in about ten minutes, plenty of time to catch the start of the first round.” 

Ruby pushed her way through the crowd, only to stop as she watched the airship take off and make its way up to the arena. Her heart pound in her chest as her eyes stayed glued to the airship. Ten minutes was going to be too long to wait if it meant getting to Yang after her fight had started. But, seeing as even with the control she had with her semblance now, she still wouldnt be able to get high enough to reach the arena, all she could was wait. 

The airship arrived soon enough and Ruby boarded once she was allowed to, nervous as she waited for the airship to fill before it’d take off. She glanced at her scroll once more and saw that it had been time for the fight to start. It was already too late to warn Yang, but maybe she could stop it. Emerald had to be in the stands and if she could find her, then she could put a stop to whatever she did.

She tapped her foot as the airship took off and stared out the window as she watched Beacon below her get farther away as she arrived up towards the arena. Once the doors opened and she could get off, she rushed towards the stands near the fight as quickly as she could. She kept her eyes peeled as she made her way through the crowds and into the stands, slowing as she started to watch the fight. She had almost forgotten how quickly Yang had nearly lost the fight, though, the more she watched, the more it almost seemed like Mercury was toying with her. 

Ruby shook her head and started to make her way to a nearby Atlas soldier. “You need to stop this fight.” 

“Please sit down and enjoy yourself,” the soldier said as he tried to move Ruby out of the way. “Besides, the fight’s almost over.” 

“I can see that but-” the words stopped as Ruby as she finally caught a glance of Emerald in the stands. Without another word, she rushed over to her to stop her from getting Yang disqualified. And then she stopped as she heard Mercury yell out in pain. 

“My leg!” Mercury yelled out as he clutched his leg. “You broke my leg!” 

“He attacked me!” the younger Yang yelled out. “Didnt you see that? He attacked-” 

Ruby felt her heart break as she watched Yang watch the camera footage, too late to stop Emerald. But it was only one mess up. Sure, she couldnt keep Yang in the tournament, but she could stop Penny from being torn to pieces and stop Cinder from causing Beacon to fall. All she had to do was get Emerald and then-

“You need to come with me.” 

Ruby froze as she heard Qrow’s voice behind her and felt his hand on her shoulder. She slowly turned around and gave him a nervous smile. “Hey… Qrow.” 

Qrow rolled his eyes and pulled Ruby with him. “Come on, we need to go see Ozpin.” 

“Wait, I cant go see him yet!” Ruby retorted as she tried to pull out of his grip. “I have something I need to do-” 

“And I need to find out why you look like my niece.” Qrow sighed and glanced over towards Yang as she was led out by some soldiers. “But first, Ozpin wants to talk to you and I need to see what’s going on with Yang. So come with me and then you can explain what you’re doing.” 

Ruby sighed and followed Qrow without another argument as her eyes caught the younger version of her team make their way back to the dorms. It was different watching from this perspective, how much she didnt realize just how much even then she always hid what she felt, still seeing a smile on her face. 

Once they were far enough, Qrow finally spoke. “Why do you look like my niece?” 

“Its… its a long story and I’m not entirely sure you’d believe me,” Ruby answered. “But that doesnt matter. What does is that I… I know what’s going to happen and we can stop it.” 

“And what’s going to happen?” 

“I can answer once we get to Ozpin.” 

“Fine, but then you have to explain everything.” 

“I will.” Ruby boarded the airship with Qrow and watched as Amity started to pull away. Two hours. She had two hours until Penny would be called to fight, two hours to try to prevent all of this. And yet, it still seemed like an impossible task. 

She sighed as the airship landed and she was escorted to Ozpin’s office, her heart raced as she entered Beacon tower and brought into the elevator. Time almost felt like it slowed as she waited for the elevator to reach Ozpin’s office, her thoughts and fears raced through her mind as she tried to keep herself focused. Save Penny, stop Beacon from falling, and everything would be right. And as the elevator door opened, all she could do was take a breath and try to relax as she practically shook in her boots. 

“Ah, Miss Rose,” Ozpin said as he looked up from his desk. “You’ve finally joined us.” 

Ruby slowly made her way over to sit down in front of his desk. “You… you know who I am?” 

“I’d recognize one of my students anywhere.” 

Qrow rolled his eyes. “And how can you be sure this is Ruby? You know she and her team are going to be in their dorm with Yang. How can she be here too?” 

Ozpin took a sip of his hot chocolate. “That will be for her to explain.” 

“I’m… I’m not sure…” Ruby sighed and looked at her scroll. An hour and a half. An hour and a half left. “I cant explain why I’m here, but I know I can fix things. Or at least stop what’s about to happen.” 

“And what is going to happen?” Qrow asked as he eyed her. “What do you know that we dont?” 

“Cinder… Cinder and her team plan to bring Beacon down to get at the relic. She’s going to kill Penny during her fight and its going to cause panic across Remnant.” 

“That’s quite the accusation.” Ozpin motioned for Qrow to leave and moved a few papers. “Qrow will take a look to see if he recognizes them, but until then, there’s not much we can do.” 

“You have to stop the tournament!” Ruby said as she stood up, slamming her hands on the desk. She paused when she caught Qrow staring at her near the door, and she slowly sat down again. “If Penny is called to her fight, then it’ll be too late.” 

Ozpin sighed and looked at Ruby almost apologetically. “And unfortunately, I cant do that. I’m no longer in charge of security of the festival, which means I cant stop the tournament. At least, not until we have proof that Cinder is who we’re looking for. Though, I’m sure she’ll be with her teammate while he’s getting his leg looked at.” 

“He’s going to be in the camera room.” Ruby paused for a moment. “He’ll… he’ll be in the camera room. I’ll stop him there!” 

“Wait Ruby-” 

“I can still stop this!” Ruby said as she rushed to the elevator and tapped her foot impatiently as the door closed and the elevator slowly made its way down the tower. She checked her scroll and paused for a moment. She had less than an hour to make it to that camera room and stop Mercury. And as long as she could stop him, then Penny could live. 

The elevator made it to the bottom of the tower and Ruby rushed out as soon as the door opened. She pushed with her semblance to make it to the airship to get up to the arena to stop Mercury, only to once again miss the airship up to wait for the next one. She took a few breaths as she waited to calm herself, to focus on what she needed to do. 

A sigh of relief left her lips as the next airship finally came. She made her way on board and tapped her foot as she waited for the airship to take off, fingers tapping her scroll as she waited for the airship to land. Thirty minutes. Thirty minutes until Penny would be called and to stop Mercury. 

Once the airship landed, she rushed towards the camera room with her semblance and opened the door. Ruby relaxed a bit once she didnt see Mercury there, and leaned against the door frame. “He’s not here, which means I beat him and I can stop all of this.” 

“And what exactly are you planning to stop?” Mercury asked as he entered the maintenance hallway. 

Ruby unfolded her scythe and readied herself as she stared at Mercury. “As long as I keep you from messing with the cameras, everything will be fine.” 

Mercury smirked as he looked up at the screens that showed the next round of fighters. “Polarity against a machine. That’s not going to end so well, is it? Well, doesnt matter if you stop me, my jobs to keep the cameras rolling during the fight. Cant let anyone miss it, can we?” 

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked as she lowered her scythe. “If I stop you from messing with the cameras-” 

“Penny is still going to be torn apart.” 

Ruby’s arms shook as she glanced towards the arena to see Penny and Pyrrha fight, and then towards the camera controls. If she couldnt stop the fight, then she could at least stop it from being broadcast. Penny could be rebuilt, but if no one sees her die- 

She was pushed out of her thoughts as Mercury rushed towards her, instinctively blocking a kick with her scythe as she was pushed back. Then, she saw her younger self make it to the door, just like she’d done before. “Ruby, you have to go! Find Emerald!” 

Mercury paused for a moment when he saw the younger Ruby at the door start to run off. “She’ll never find her in time. Everything is already in place.” 

Ruby took a breath and steadied herself. “All I have to do is stop the broadcast.” 

“And I wont let you.” 

Ruby pulled back as Mercury rushed towards her, blocking kick after kick with her scythe and pushing away from him as she kept an eye on the fight. All she needed was an opening to turn off the broadcast and everything would finally be fixed. And yet, that opening seemed so far away as Mercury kept rushing at her. She blocked kick after kick, pushed him back with her scythe and took a few shots at him, but nothing seemed to get him to back off. 

“You seem distracted!” Mercury said as he pushed off a wall and slammed into Ruby. “And now, you can watch everything fall.” 

Ruby froze as she watched Penny get torn apart on the broadcast again, but this time, things were different. This time, she could hear the metal crunch as the wires wrapped and cut through Penny in the broadcast. Five seconds. All it took was five seconds for it to be all over. 

She got up and rushed outside, only to pause as the world around her seemed to quiet as panic took over the audience. As the grimm started to swarm, the world almost seemed to freeze for her. After everything, she had still failed. 

“You failed again, didnt you?” the younger Ruby asked. “Or atleast, you failed me, right?” 

“I… I did… I was supposed to fix everything.” Ruby dropped to her knees as if she felt the weight of the world on her. She watched as the nevermore broke through the shield of Amity as the citizens started to be escorted out. “I can still stop Cinder-” 

“And what will that change? Even if you managed to change things here, it doest change anything for you, right?” 

“It can.” Ruby stood up and faced her younger self. “If I stop Cinder here then everything goes back to normal-” 

“And then you, what, stay here in a fantasy of your creation?” 

Ruby took a step back as she watched the world around her start to shatter as if it was a mirror, collapsing around her until nothing was left besides her and her younger self. “I… I dont understand.” 

“You failed us, but that doesnt mean you have to end it like that.” The younger Ruby offered her a hand. “You may not be able to go back into the past and fix your mistakes, but you can move forward and move on.” 

Ruby took her younger self’s hand and watched her disappear. Once she was certain she was alone, she dropped to her knees and closed her eyes to keep a few tears from streaming down her cheeks. “I… I dont know what to do.” 

“All you have to do now is wake up.”

[diaryofamadsunwukongfan]

Round One

●"Hey Mom." Ruby tells the last rose of Summer. She holds a bouquet of Red roses to give to her stone memorial. She wonders why it snowed earlier this year, and that the White makes everything colder. Alongside her are Zwei and Taiyang, watching the Black shadows to make sure no beasts attack and ruin this reunion. Heavens above, the Yellow sun beautifully burns gold, reminding the girl of her mother's embrace. "Sorry I haven't come by in a while."

●"Things have been... well, things have been, pretty busy. Oh, Dad's here, too! He's, uh, you know... Dad. He's still teaching at Signal. But he told me that he's going to be on some mission soon! I think he misses adventuring with you. I miss you too..." ...

●"Haven't gotten kicked out of Beacon yet! So that's cool. I think being on a team with Yang helps. Reel her in... That was a joke. She's actually a really great fighter! You can tell she's learned a lot from Dad! Oh, so are Weiss and Blake. Oh! They're my teammates! Together, we form Team RWBY!!!" ...

●"... And yes, before you ask, that does cause a lot of confusion. Anyways, I made a bunch of new friends, and then I met some... let's just say, uh, odd teachers. Oh! We've also stopped some bad guys, too! I guess it's like they say: "like mother, like daughter"! I still wonder why Ozpin let me into the school early. But uh, I guess he'll tell me one day. You know how he is. It's funny, the more I get to know him, the more he's starting to sound like Uncle Qrow..."

●"Ruby, it's time." Father says to daughter with his back turned, refusing to look at the last rose of Summer. "Oh! I gotta go! Dad's dropping me off at Beacon for the tournament match before he goes on his next mission. Wish me luck... It was good to talk." Thus kindly, little red scatters...

●A falling petal shifts the view of the camera away from the sky and over the grassy mountains, where a stadium of epic proportions is seen. Crowds are cheering in the stands, visitors from all over the world. In the field of volcanic earth and icy glaciers below.

●Ruby jumps into frame and swings her scythe at Bolin Hori, who quickly backflips away from her and disengages while Ruby snipes at (and misses) him.

●To the side, Weiss uses Dust to erect an ice wall around herself, protecting her as Nadir Shiko rapid fires at her using Burn Dust. Weiss ducks down and rapidly cycles through Myrtenaster's different Dust types, trying to think of a solution for this situation.

●Behind her, Blake exchanges blows with Reese Chloris, the blades of her Gambol Shroud colliding with the hoverboard of her opponent until she flips away, readies herself, and charges in again.

●On the other side, Yang dodges the explosive force of Arslan Altan's fist before returning fire with her own Ember Celica.

●High above the action, Professors Port & Oobleck are sitting at a sportscaster's desk, with a microphone between them and the holographic image of the four kingdoms' symbols united as one.

●"Hello Remnant!" Port says in a faux sportscaster's tone, "It seems that we have an astonishing first bout ahead of us! Wouldn't you agree, Professor?" He asks Oobleck.

●"Doctor. And yes Peter, I think it's safe to say this match may be the closest we've seen of the 4v4 round in the 40 year history of this tournament!"

●"For those of you just now joining us, welcome to the Vytal Festival Tournament, broadcast live from the Amity Colosseum!" The Coliseum is shown in its full glory, as shuttle craft transport people to and from the various floors while the entire structure hovers around the airspace of Beacon Academy. Explosions are seen throughout the battlefield, but the view shifts back to the announcers as they begin speaking again.

●"For the kids watching for the first time, allow us to break down the rules." Port states.

●"The tournament is divided into three distinctive rounds; 4v4, 2v2, and 1v1. Age and school year are irrelevant! In this tournament, your only attribute being tested... is skill." Oobleck explains.

●"Correct! The winners of this battle will elect two of their members to represent them in the 2v2 round, followed by the winners of that round choosing one member to advance once again. The remaining combatants will then fight their way through the final bracket in the hope of going down in history!" A hologram depicting the previous winners of the Vytal festival tournament pops up, with two winners being James Ironwood and Summer Rose.

●"And yes, Peter, these certainly are some spectacular spectacles on which to spectate on! I don't think anyone tuning in around the world is going to disagree with me on that!" As they say this, the scene changes to their televised broadcasts all around the kingdoms. In rural Mistral, Raven Branwen is watching the fight on her scroll before she hands it off to a short haired woman and walks offscreen... In an Atlesian mansion, Jacques Schnee is sitting in his office chair, arms folded, as he watches the footage on a small box TV when the camera pans to a mysterious white haired boy standing in his shadow... In the deserts of Vacuo, a group of hooded nomads are crowded around the one person holding a scroll, a woman with bright orange hair... Inside a bar in Vale, a black haired man alongside all the customers look up at the installed TVs.

●"Ahh, and why would they? Now, let's get back to the match between Team RWBY of Beacon, and Team ABRN, of Haven!"

●The announcements cut back to the action, as Reese steers her board through the ice. She twirls herself until the board gets launched at Blake, but she's able to knock it away, only for Reese to direct it back at her opponent. Blake blocks it again, but the board rotates back to its wielder just in time to defend Reese as Blake delivers several slashes and kicks. Reese deflects each attack and spins her weapon around until she can flip away and ride it again, rushing towards a smirking Blake. She collides with the frozen shadow clone, and Blake uses his opportunity to slice the board in two, only for the halves to become dual katars that in turn fold up into bayonet-bladed revolvers. Reese manages to fire off a few green rounds before her tailbone collides painfully on the cold ground. Blake winces with sympathy. Copypasting this from RWBYwiki cuz its perfect.

●Meanwhile, Yang lands mere feet away from Arslan, who backs away before being pounded by two quick punches. The pair dodge each others kicks then Arslan delivers her own hits, launching a series of hammer blows. Yang defends herself and retaliates, the clash ending with the two smashing fists and creating a shockwave of force from the impact. Yang and Arslan are both thrown back, but Yang reaches her and tries delivering more blows before Arslan flips away then uses her rope dart to tangle up her blonde adversary's leg and land a kick of her own to send Yang skidding on the ground. While Yang tries to get her balance back on the slippery surface, Arslan rushes forward and knocks her back even further. Also copypasting this lol.

●Behind a pillar of Ice, Nadir aims his gun at Yang when a Freeze Dust bullet hits his arm and glues him to his cover.

●"Got your back!" Ruby yells to Yang from afar. "But who's got yours?" Bolin asks Ruby, as he is seconds away from knocking her out with his staff. That's when a burst of wind blows him to the side.

●"My BFF!!!" Ruby cheers as Weiss slow walks to her side, rolling her eyes. The crowd noticable goes wild as Weiss appears, and one of her songs begins playing on the loud speaker. This causes her to cringe.

●Ruby and Weiss then use their team attack to attempt to freeze Bolin, but he's able to dodge all of their shots as he runs away from them. He rushes to the volcano side of the arena and grabs a Burn Dust crystal that he throws to Reese, who is also running (hovering) away from Blake.

●Reese winks at Blake, causing her confusion, and inserts the Dust into her hoverboard. She then surfs over to Nadir and unfreezes him.

●"Thank's Reese!" Nadir cheers as he picks up his weapon, which transforms into sword mode, and he joins Bolin in fighting Ruby + Weiss.

●Reese then comes back to Blake and slams her board into her enemy's blade, but propels herself backwards and knocks Blake through a frozen pillar. Reese attempts to use her board to slam her foe into the ground, but when she dodges that, she spins around in a flaming arc that Blake narrowly misses thanks to her shadows. Changing tactics, Blake launches the pistol part of Gambol Shroud at a nearby glacier and launches herself behind it, as Reese follows her and sees Blake with her back turned to her under an arch. Reese grins before riding in to deliver a flaming spiral at the shadow clone, only to see the ribbon Blake is launching to trap her opponent a moment too late. She pulls tightly and causes Reese to slam body-first into the string, only to use a final kick to knock her out of the stage. Reese crashes into the wall of the stands before landing on the ground, defeated.

●"Ooh, a double whammy! Reese Chloris is eliminated by ringout and Aura level!" Port announces, which causes some discontent among the crowd. "She really should've worn a helmet!" Oobleck jokes, which makes the audience laugh enough to forget their disapointment.

●Back in the fight, Arslan uses her rope to swing around and avoid Yang right behind her, using shotgun blasts to propel herself forward.

●To the side, Nadir & Bolin are about to knock out a prone Ruby when Weiss Gravity Glyphs to float both of them into the air. Weiss then plants her sword into the ground and closes her eyes, her Aura glowing as she does this. When Weiss opens her eyes, a bright white light appears on her forehead. Suddenly, the iced over ground beneath the two boys morphs into a giant, icy hand that grabs them, before morphing again into an ice ball that rolls along the battlefield.

●When Arslan sees her team in this state, she rolls her eyes, annoyed, before changing direction and sliding into the path of the ball. She readies her stance and uses a Force Strike on the ball, which cracks under her power and frees her allies.

●Just two seconds after she does so, three bullets hit their legs and freezes them to the floor. The camera then reveals a smiling Ruby as the culprit.

●"Yang!" Weiss calls out to her teammate before creating a ramp of ice behind her, "now!"

●Knowing what to do, Yang blasts herself forward and skims over the wall of ice, catching Blake's pistol as her teammate uses Ruby as a launch pad to jump off of towards the remaining members of ABRN. The three only have a second to look horrified as Blake whips a screaming Yang around to land a devastating punch that sends the trio flying into their elimination.

●"And that's the match! Team RWBY is victorious!" Port announces.

●"Yaay!" Yang cheers. Blake gives a thumbs up in acknoledgement. "We... did it?" Weiss asks. "WE DID IT!!!" Ruby cheers.

•Back in the Schnee manor, Jacques grows discontent and shuts off the TV. Meanwhile, a smirk grows on the face of the white haired boy who then calmly exits the room...

●The scene then shifts again to overhead the fairgrounds at Vytal island, which is clearly a short distance from Amity Colosseum. Here, the girls a walking together as they watch and partake in the various world cultural activities taking place.

●Ruby spots a group of Mistrali bellydancers that are performing for Vale citizens. As Ruby gets closer, she realizes that Arslan Atlan is among the dancers. Ruby smile and waves at her, but when Arslan notices her she quickly shoots her a death glare, causing Ruby to laugh awkwardly and to scatter.

●Weiss sees that the SDC is hosting a type of tech demo, where one of the machines is a type of reverse microwave that instantly chills food items. Yang asks Weiss if she would want to stop by, but Weiss declines... that's when the attendees notice Weiss, scream, and then start chasing her for a autograph. Ruby & Blake then drag Weiss & Yang by the hand and run out of there.

●After escaping the Weiss' stans, Blake then spots a food stand selling food from... Menagerie.

●"Menagerie has a stand?" Blake asks herself in disbelief.

●"Oh yeah, that's your home right? C'mon Blake, let's get you something to eat!!" Yang enthusiastically states.

●"Oh, I'm not that hungry..." Blake's stomach then growls like the hungriest Beowolf. "Yeah, let's get you something to eat." Yang says dryly.

●"Yeah, foods on me and oh no!!! I can't find my wallet?!" Ruby starts patting herself down when a green haired woman starts laughing behind her.

●"You dropped this, Ruby." Emerald says from behind her.

●"Oh! Thanks, Em! Looks like I have a hole in my pockets again!" Ruby says as she takes her wallet back from her 'friend'.

●"What's up, Em?" Yang greets her.

●"Just left the stadium after a hard fought win! But, you guys were awesome too!!"

●"Oh, shut your sweet little face..." Ruby blushes from the compliment.

●"Congratulations to your team for progressing." Blake states.

●"You know, I feel that we haven't seen your other teammates?" Weiss questions.

●"How'd they do in the fight?" Yang asks.

●Emerald then flashbacks to her team's first round, she tricked the enemy team into attacking each other using her semblance, "Herm"/Mercury brutally stomped someone's head while licking his lips, "Ella"/Cinder got a knock out by almost drowning them with a water bubble around the head, and their newest partner almost blew their cover by flashing her stupid color changing eyes at an enemy before giving that person a 'small' concussion.

●"Really... well." Emerald answers RWBY.

●"Oh I could see that!" Yang says, nodding her head.

●"Oh yeah, looks like Herm and I are going to move on to the doubles round. What about you guys?" Emerald 'innocently' asks.

●Ruby perks up, "Well, as the leader of this team, I thought long and hard about this decision."

●"We put it to a vote." Weiss cuts in.

●"Yes, so, but I decided that we should put it to a vote." Ruby tries to regain control of the conversation.

●"Ruby and Yang voted for Weiss, Weiss and me voted for Yang." Blake matter-o-factly states.

●"Yang held her own against Arslan alone the whole match, she was just the logical choice." Weiss explains.

●"Yeah, and Weiss was an amaz-yang support the whole match!" Yang jokes.

●The rest of Team RWBY groan.

●Emerald fakes a laugh after a delay, "Well, if Herm and I see you down the line, don't think we'll go easy on ya."

●"Wouldn't have it any other way." Yang smirks.

●"Alright, well my team and I planned to train some more." Emerald lies as she starts walking away.

●"Have fun!!!" Ruby waves to Emerald.

●"See you later!" Emerald waves back to Ruby. When the other girls are finally out of view, Emerald drops her smile and groans. As she walks off to find her team, she bumps into someone.

●"Watch where-" before Emerald can finish her sentance, she looks up at who bumped into her... Sage Ayana.

●"My apologies." Sage says to Emerald. She stares at him for a moment, awestruck. Then,

●"Oh no, are you hurt?" 'Ella' walks up from behind Emerald, putting a hand on her shoulder, and asks Sage.

●"I'm fine." Sage states before walking towards the rest of SSSN, who are goofing off in the background. Emerald watches him as he leaves.

●"Did you get the information?" Cinder whispers to Emerald. Silence. "Did. You. Get. The information?" Cinder asks again while gripping her shoulder. This snaps Emerald back to reality

●"Oh uh, it's the Schnee and the blonde" Emerald answers Cinder.

●"... good. Now come along." Cinder commands before walking off.

●"Ma'am?" Emerald prepares to ask. "What is it?" Cinder snaps back. "Was that guy... my family?" Cinder stops and turns around, "Does it matter?" she asks. "No-no!" Emerald stutters out. "I-i was just wondering..." Cinder hums in response. "He isn't related to you... and even if he was, he's not your family. Do not forget that I'm the only family you have." Cinder threatens Emerald. "Yes ma'am." Emerald obeys. The two then walk off, but not before Emerald glances at Sage on last time.

●Team RWBY arrive at the Menagerie food stand, which is curiously being run by the Dust-till-Dawn store clerk alongside some Faunus.

●"I guess his stores on hiatus?" Yang says.

●"I'll have the grilled Tilapia & seafood stir-fry." Blake orders, and receives instantly.

●"And I'll have what she's having." Yang orders, and also instantly receives her food.

●"Ooh, I'll take the same!" Ruby orders, and also instantly receives.

●"Do you have something that's not spicy or-" before Weiss can finish her sentance, she receives a bowl of peas. "Uh, okay." She says, disspassionately.

●Ruby looks to pay, but finds that the cash in her wallet is missing...

●Weiss sighs, and takes out her personal credit card. "Aw Weiss, you don't have to." Yang says but Weiss stops her. "Consider it thanks for sending me to the doubles round." Her credit card is then thrown back hard enough to cut into the table, the Shopkeeper angry that a big red DECLINED is on the machine. "What?! How can my card be declined? I was barely into my monthly allowance!"

●The shopkeeper begins to take the girls bowls back, and Blake prepares to fight for hers when-

●"Maybe I could pay?" Pyrrha, the rest of team JNPR in tow, approach from behind after seeing the situation from afar.

●"Pyrrha!" Ruby cheers. "Aw, you don't have to-", "But she could!" Blake cuts off Yang.

●"Well, I think you all earned it after that battle." Pyrrha states.

●"Mind if we join you?" Jaune asks. Ruby nods.

●The two teams eat their food. Weiss contemplates why her credit card got declined, over eating a bland bowl of peas. Blake enjoys seeing that Yang likes her people's food, and groans when Jaune starts screaming for milk because the food is too "spicy". When everyone is finished eating their food, they begin to banter again.

●"Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asks Pyrrha.

●"Of course! It will give us energy!" Pyrrha responds.

●Nora belches loudly, which causes everyone to scrunch their noses. "Sorry, hehe!" Nora responds.

●"If I barf, I'm blaming you." Jaune tells Nora.

●"Ooh! Aim at the enemy!" Nora advises Jaune.

●"Nora, that's disgusting." Ren says "But if you feel the urge ..."

●"Got it."

●Pyrrha then stands up, "Well, we should be off."

●"So, you think you guys are ready?" Ruby asks them.

●Nora answers: "Of course! We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, one's an Aura Monk, I can bench five of me, Jaune, we trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh... Jaune!"

●"Are you gonna take that?" Ren asks him. "She's not wrong." Jaune berates himself.

●"I'm kidding, he knows I'm kidding. Don't be so nervous! The worst that can happen is we lose, that is just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team Lose-iper!" Nora begins hyperventilating.

●"So, yeah, we're feeling pretty good." Ren says sarcastically.

●"Don't fret. If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines, and not, well, ...Grimm." Pyrrha attempts to reassure her teammates.

●"Yeah, don't sweat it, we've all faced way worse before." Yang says.

●"Let's see. Grimm invasions, the White Fang, a destructive mob boss..." Blake counts.

●"And that's all while were still in training! Oh, imagine what it would be like to graduate!" Ruby excitedly says.

●"... Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal." Weiss whispers to herself.

●The comms of the fairgrounds spark to life, "Would Team JNPR please report to the Colosseum immediately!" Port's voice comes out.

●"Yes! Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!" Oobleck's voice also comes out.

●"Wish us luck!" Jaune tells Ruby as he and his team get up and walk way.

●"Go get 'em!" Ruby tells team JNPR.

●The camera then zooms far out over the island of Vytal, and then travels south towards the jungles of Vale before zooming in at a strange abandoned temple. Inside the temple is a recent encampment made by White Fang soldiers. And overseeing them... is Adam Taurus.

●Adam is in a room by himself, looking out a window at his soldiers. He takes a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolds it, revealing it as a picture of him, Blake, a brown haired girl... and Nyeusi Mamba, his lieutenant that is clearly absent from the scene. Adam crumbles up the paper and stuffs it back down his pocket.

●Suddenly, a red light glows behind Adam.

●"What do you want?" Adam commands while barely turning his head.

●"Just paying that debt you owe me, a better deal than whatever you've got going on with Cinder Fall right now." The voice sarcastically tells Adam.

●"And besides, I won't be staying in Vale for too long anyway". The camera then turns around and reveals that the voice is none other than Raven Branwen.

●"I just got someone I need to kill."

[rotbite-fr]

hiii :3

new(-ish) blog, hoping to become active and find more friends on flight rising tumblr :>

i am also hoping to post most of my dragons here, and talk about their lore (which is... not a lot right now, it's a struggle to write </3)

anyway um if you reblog this i'll check you out and probably follow you back (if you're an fr blog) :>

here's some of my dragons (still need to gene all of them </3 ooooo) - featuring Ruby Rotbite the family matriarch, Pestilenzi Rotbite the second mother and scout leader, and Callum Rotbite, the youngest of Ruby and Anafiel's first clutch of eggs and a coliseum fighter

[hisuianhellion]

Ooc post, but. I've been seeing polls both on and off of Tumblr about "what your first Pokemon game was". And that's a valid question, because in many cases, that's all she wrote. That's the end-all, be-all of when you got invested into the franchise.

But what about those that it took a game or two? Or enjoyed the game, but didn't get truly hooked or invested in the fandom properly, like me? So I'm gonna ask a different question.

As an example, I answered Gen 3 despite STARTING with Gen 2. I played Gold first, went back and played Yellow, but I wasn't truly invested in the series as a kid until Emerald was being released. So I bought Sapphire, gave that a try, and that was when I was genuinely "hooked". That "Aha!" moment where the series caught me.

[rose-learns-japanese]

Japanese Video Games and Your Consoles

Hello! This post is for people that want to play video games in Japanese and want to know which consoles play them, so I'll go through the ones I know about, here. (Not going to talk about sailing the high seas here)

I've been mostly a Nintendo nut my whole life, so most of my info is about Nintendo!

Hopefully this helps someone!

Gameboy Color/Advance

Region Free

The Gameboy, Gameboy color and Gameboy Advance are all completely region free. Your Gameboy models will all play Japanese games just fine.

I recommend:

Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Crystal, Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald

Pokemon card game and the sequel GR団参上

The Legend of Zelda the Minish Cap, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons

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Super Nintendo

Region Locked, simple devices available

The Nintendo and Super Nintendo were both region locked by the cartridges themselves being of a different shape. You can either buy a Super Famicom (The Japanese equivalent) or buy a peripheral to make your Super Nintendo play super Famicom games. It's not too cost prohibitive to buy what's called a "Cartridge converter". Another option is to buy a Retron system that plays them.

I recommend:

Mario RPG

Final Fantasy

Earthbound

--------

N64

Region locked, easy modification

N64 is region locked based on the shape of the cartridge back. To get your Japanese games to work on yours, switch the back off of the actual cartridge using a 3.8 mm Gamebit screwdriver with the back from any other US cartridge.

I recommend:

Mario Story (Paper Mario)

Mario Party

Pokemon Snap

Legend of Zelda games

--------

Gamecube

Region locked

Buy a Gamecube capable Japanese Wii.

I recommend:

Pokemon Coliseum

Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness

All the Mario Parties

Fire Emblem Path of Radiance if you can get it (EXPENSIVE)

Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess

Legend of Zelda Windwaker

Battle Houshin

--------

Wii

Region locked

I bought a Japanese Wii, but skipped the WiiU in Japanese.

I would recommend:

Captain Rainbow (Japan Exclusive)

Takt of Magic (This one is FUN! It's Japan exclusive and you use your WiiMote to cast spells by drawing shapes)

Earth Seeker (Japan Exclusive)

Legend of Zelda (Skyward Sword)

--------

DS

Region Free

The DS is completely region free. Any DS game will play on your device.

My recommendations:

Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks (You can hold your stylus on a kanji to read it in Hiragana, but it won't show by default! Awesome!)

Any Pokemon Game (You can choose Kanji or hiragana and switch mid-game)

Ace Attorney series - If you want to struggle but skyrocket your reading level, play Ace Attorney, called 逆転裁判. There are a lot of games and they're mostly great. If you can get ahold of the spin off, 逆転検事, I played through the first one and it was a bit slow, but the second one is not released in the US. I've started it, it's supposed to be good.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days

--------

3DS

Region locked

Having a Japanese 3DS has been an invaluable tool. If you save up to buy one Japanese version of a console, get this one. However, with the e-shop closed, if you would rather sail the high seas here, this would be... The prime time to do so, but I did not say anything.

Recommended:

Fire Emblem Fates

Fire Emblem Echoes

Pokemon Moon

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Sonic games

Bravely Default (Fully Voice acted)

There is SO MUCH on there

-----

Nintendo Switch

Region Free

The Nintendo Switch will play any region game you put in it! On top of that, the Japanese language track is available on most Nintendo branded games, so if you have the English version, you might already have the Japanese version!

To buy on the e-shop, make a Japanese Nintendo account. You will need to buy gift cards from a third party site like Playasia to purchase.

Recommended:

Get the online pack, then download the Japanese version of the N64 and Super Nintendo apps! I recommend Paper Mario on the N64 app.

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom (Has Furigana on all dialogue!)

Mario Odyssey

Princess Peach Showtime

Mario RPG

Luigi's Mansion 3

Pretty much anything you can play on Switch can change to Japanese. (Splatoon not included)

This thing is a learning machine.

-----

PSP

Region Free

PSP is completely region free!

I have played Birth by Sleep on here in Japanese and it was good.

Recommended:

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

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PS1/PS2

Region Locked

There's a trick to make these region free, but I bought a Japanese Ps2. If you want to unlock your non-Japanese Ps2, you can look into something called Disk Swapping.

My recommendations:

Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2

I haven't explored much by way of Japanese only Ps2 games yet, but I'm going to be getting Endonesia because it's made by some of the same people that made Moon. Look into Moon, it's an awesome game too.

I am aware that the Japanese only library for this particular console is large.

--------

PS3/PS4 (I do not own PS5)

Region Free

PS3 and PS4 are region free, and I have heard PS5 is as well.

My collection of Japanese games for these, however, is low so I don't really have any recommended games. Maybe I'll update this later.

To buy on the Japanese PS3 and 4 shop, you will need to make a Japanese playstation account. After this, you will need to use a third party website to buy gift cards, such as PlayAsia, to add money. You should be able to buy and download as long as you have the money in the account.

[inkheart01]

THE GODS WILL NOT GO QUIETLY

A Gladiator and a Paramour. A Scout and a warlords advisor. Friends torn down to Enemies. Martyrs and Makers. Allies reduced to Traitors. And the end of the day, who will question the gods when their toys grow boring?

PT 1- CHAPTER 1 - NIGHTMARES

WORDS - 2,229K

CHAPTER 1__CHAPTER 2__CHAPTER 3__

“For a star to be born, there is one thing that must happen: a gaseous nebula must collapse. So collapse. Crumble. This is not your destruction. This is your birth.” ― Zoe Skylar

“Cavalier!”, Kaon’s dirty streets welcomed the twins, flashes of blue and pink darting through the crowds. “Volution, get back here!”, Cavalier laughed, loud and rambunctious as she threaded her digits into her brother's arm, blue eyes shining as her pink hide shon in the neon glow. 

“Hurry, Cav!”, the mech ran faster, heels clicking against stone-metal, “Can't let her catch us”, above them, towering over the doomed city, the Coliseum rose, like an obsidian claw grasping at the sky. For most, it would strike fear, ice carving through their pipes, ensnaring their sparks as they ran from the structure, but for the twins, for Cavalier and Volution, it welcomed them like a home they had never experienced. That was something that Reveree would never understand, no matter how much the twins wished it. She had become complacent in her role, settling into the cage the Blue Palace placed her in, a pretty bird who knew no better. Cavalier could not hate her for it, not her sister, not the third sliver of her glass spark. No, she could not find it in her to hate when Reveree knew no better.

But she and Volution, they had found escape, solace, companionship in the gladiators that raged beneath the thick walls of the coliseum.

“Be back before Luna 2 rises or you’ll be on sanitation for a week!”, in the distance, Reveree’s cries faded, melding into the din of the crowd as the twins ducked under the towering arches, the chaos of the pits halls welcoming them. 

“Down here!”, Cavalier pulled the mech down a slim corridor, under the thick chain barring it from public use. The thin slip in the wall was nothing but a crack, barely big enough for any true Cybertronian, but for Forgeframes, crafted to be slim and sleek, the twin sylphs ghosted through with the ease of water over weatherworn stone. “Where did he say to meet?”

“Bay six”, Volution motioned to the sign hanging overhead, “We need to hurry or we’ll miss it!”

“Quiet! If we get caught-”

“What?”, A third voice joined them in the dark, heavy and deep, and Cavalier lept back as digits ghosted over her arm. “It's a wonder you two can get anywhere” “Oryx!”, Volution hissed, squeezing past the pink femme as crimson biolights blinked on, illuminating the towering mech. “You said you'd meet us further down!’, the gladiator laughed, leaning against the wall as he pulled the twins from the passage, careful of his strength against their own. Against the backdrop of gray metal, the mech’s ruby coat shon dully, ebony horns poised atop his head as he smiled down at the two with eyes burning bloody. 

“I figured you two would use this entrance”, Even without the added height their heels afforded, the crimson mech towered over them, hiding the two in his shadow as he tilted his head, urging them to follow. “Besides, they made new rules, can't go anywhere without an escort”

“You could have warned us!”, Cavalier hissed, trotting up beside him as Volution matched her pace on the mech's other side. “Would you have listened?”, the blue bot poked at her arm, smiling gleefully as behind them, Oryx rolled his eyes. “You've been trying to see this fight for months!”

“He’s got you there”

“Who’s side are you on!”, she howled, feigning astonishment as they hurried down the hall, “You wanted to see it too!”. But his words rang true, ever since learning of the fight moments from taking place, she had been itching to see it, practically jumping out of her protoform at every chance to scrape together more credits. Cavalier had done things, terrible things, just to rid any client of their funds. She had earned names, titles, from it, but it still hadn't been enough. The deadline had crept closer, tickets selling out faster than she could bare to watch. The day the last one had slipped through her digits, she had felt wretched, inconsolable as she lay on her rumbled berth, and then, like a gift from Primus himself, Volution had burst into their shared quarters, proudly declaring that Oryx had managed to get tickets, and Cavalier hadn't cared that the mech boasted like he had saved her live, she had leapt at her brother, practically crushing him in a tight embrace.

“Yeah, but only because I have to fight him next week!”, the mounting excitement crumbled, shock and horror crashing across the twins' faces as they froze dead in their tracks, blue eyes rimmed with pink consuming one another as the gladiator continued on, unaware of the sickness pooling in his companions. “Any chance to survive Soundwave is one i'll take”

Volution was the first to speak, voice shaky as he turned stiffly, “Your fighting Soundwave”. Everyone knew of Soundwave, the undefeated gladiator so quiet he could pass as the wind itself, and everyone knew that crossing steel against the towering mech was a dance with death itself. The mech killed with ruthless efficiency, twin blades slicing like silk through the thickest armor. 

And his minibots, Cavalier felt her spark race faster at the thought of the minibots. Frenzy and Rumble, the twins, fierce as their lord and quick to match. Ravage, the panther was vicious, deadly claws and teeth severing energon lines before his opponent even knew he was there. And Lazerbeak, she had yet to see the bird perform, but she knew the lith flier was hardly something to pass over.

“You can't fight Soundwave!”, Cavalier and Volution roared, lunging forward to grab at the gladiator's hands, pulling him back and down to meet his eyes. 

“He’ll kill you!”

“Tell me you're not serious!”

“Oryx, your lifes on the line!”

“Believe me, you're good, but not that good!”

“Hey!”, Volution spun, eying his sister skeptically, “What do you mean by that!”

“It's the truth!”, Cavalier snapped, jabbing a finger into her twins chest, “You and I both know Soundwave won't hesitate to kill him!”

“Guys!”, the gladiator pulled them away from each other, spinning them to face him as they eyed daggers at each other. “It's not to the death, just first blood!”, for a moment, there was silence, then the twins turned on him with a fierce determination.

“You could have told me that earlier!”

“I can't believe you!

“That's it! I'm going home!”

“I hope he kills you!”

“You aren't going anywhere”, the gladiator scooped up the retreating Volution, throwing the shrieking mech over his shoulder as he turned to Cavalier, “And you, tell Soundwave that i'll give him a fight he won't forget”

The femme stubbornly stuck her tongue out, “Tell him yourself!”. In the mech's arms, Volution had gone still, eyes locked on the shape slipping from the darkness, heavy steps rumbling through the walls as Oryx stilled, eyes finding the shine of Soundwave’s visor. Though tall compared to the twins, the mech seemed tiny compared to the Gladiator behind him.

“Vee!”, from behind the shadow, Rumble ducked out, and Cavalier ran to pull the minibot into a tight hug. “Here to watch us pummel another sorry bot into the dirt?”

“Of course! You really think I’d miss it?”, The femme laughed as Rumble wiggled out of her arms, quickly pulling his brother from their fathers shadow. “I’d never miss your matches!”

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“Jack!”, Arcee grabbed the boy, swinging around to shield him against her side as the vehicon fired a hot volley of shots into her plating. The boy ducked against her armor, hissing as the scouring metal bit into his flesh. There was no time for apologies, not when the second ‘con came up over the ridge they had hid behind, meeting Arcees blades with a sickening crunch of metal and crystalised energon. With her free hand, the ‘bot tangled her fingers into the boy's shirt, pulling him beneath her as she rose, blaster warmed as she spun to fire at the first twin. “Scouting mission my ass”, the femme hissed, nudging Jack with her knee. “How’d it go ‘cee? Oh yeah, Fine until the fucking ‘cons showed up!”. Muttering along, she eyed the thin slip of rock they had been goaded into, hewn stone towering around them, like an ancient, inky city, weak, warm sunlight barely kissing the autobots helm as she shared up into the sky, eyes closed as she waited for the whine of a groundbridge, the humm of blasters or engines. Beneath her, the cold stone was almost metal, the quiet gray dawn, Luna 2 sinking into the rocky horizon… 

“Hey, Arcee!”, Jack knocked a fist against her shin playfully, and the ‘bot eyed him with a raised brow, noting the shadows falling harshly against his face. “Still in one piece?”, His eyes were that of his mothers, quiet, reflective, carefully cataloging any hidden injuries she could be hiding based on her stance alone. She hated it when the Darby’s did that. Ratchet might be a good doctor, but even his evaluations couldn't make her protoform crawl like the keen little daggers shared between mother and son. She hated that she had seen that shared look before, between father and daughter, blue eyes rimmed with pink. Raised brows and scepticism against her dismissal. They knew her too well.

“I'm fine”, she snapped, perhaps a little too harshly as the boy flinched back, and she felt sick at the way worry tipped sharply into concern. “Really, Jack”, Stop it, you're better than this. Eyes, blue, red, a purple femme calling her name. It's been millenia, pull yourself together! A soft cooing, sparks that matched her own. No, she wouldn't break here. “I’m just…”, she couldn't say bitchy, not when the memories hung over her like the executioner's ax. How long had it been? Her chronometer beeped. Exactly 4,065 years, 65 days, and 22 minutes since the first death. Of course today had to be the day her little family had been cleaved down the middle.

“Hey, I get it, you've been off for the last few days”, The boy shot her a lopsided smile, winking softly at her puzzled expression, “What? I notice these things”. For a moment, she felt the warmth of another from the boy, of purple paint speckled with gold, a soft hand in hers, a soothing voice calling out. And then she blinked, and the she-ghost was gone, fading with the whistling wind as she crouched, blinking away the thin energon pooling stubbornly in her eyes. 

“Thank you, Jack”, She cut her voice before the sob could claw its way out of her throat, “its…I’m sorry, there's some bad memories coming back and-”

The boy rested his hand against hers, draping loosely over her knee, “Cliffjumper?”, he almost whispered, brows raised as she lay a hand across his back. “The others said he meant a lot to you”

Arcee shook her head, “Cliff’s death hurt, but…”, the tears threatened her once more, dripping down into the bleached stone as Jack adjusted himself, clambering up to sit against her knee spike, wide, sweet eyes waiting patiently for her. “I had a sister, back before the war, a brother too”, she turned, eyes flickering as a hologram sparked to life beside the two.

“Reveree”, the first to fully form was a willowy purple femme, plating cocooning her like a draping dress. She was beautiful, Jack noted, golden flecks decorating her protoform, winglets long and thin falling behind her.  But it was her eyes that drew him in, a siren call of swirling blue and pink. The same eyes that marked Arcee, and the mech that apparated beside her. “And Volution”, The resemblances between Arcee and Reveree paled in comparison to the brother. They shared the same poise, the same smile, the same dangerous glint in their eyes. They move the same, even, sure steps that breathed power. 

He looked between his guardian and the mech before him and the sister, matching the similarities and differences. The blue between Arcee and Volution was the same, the horn from Reveree. The power, the grace, the deadly delicacy they held themselves with, Jack felt that the three were nothing but a mirror, broken and distorted through different lenses. “What happened to them?”

A tempest swirled to life in the ‘bot's eyes, her brows pulling down as her soft features turned sharp. “Arachnid”

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[crystalelemental]

Coliseum defeated. Got to around level 34 before trying again and we did manage to clear everything and recruit Amalia. I have also created what I feel is a pretty invincible team. At the very least, I haven't seen them lose to anything sane yet.

Alain

Holy Unicorn Blade (S-rank Renown, obtainable if you can beat your grandfather's ghost. Gives +1 AP/PP and debuff immunity, which I think counts status since "removes debuffs" on heals seems to remove status)

Azure Crest Shield (+1 AP)

Ring of the Unicorn (It's fine)

Knight's Medallion (+2 Def, +10% Def, Guard Rate +10%)

AP skills set Cav Slayer as priority if there are Cavs, Spinning Edge as priority if there are 2+ enemies in a row, Lean Edge as generic.

PP skills are important. The big winning move was adding Luminous Cover with the priority target "Highest Phys Atk" so he guards Nina.

Melisandre

Kingsblade Cornix (Obtained from Cornea stone tablet quest. All stats +5)

Notos' Sword (Obtained from southern(?) door shrine. +1 AP, +10 initiative, +10 evasion)

Warrior's Medallion (+2 Atk, +10% Atk, +10% crit rate)

Hero's Medallion (+1 AP/PP, Atk +20%. Was Carnelian Pendant for +1 AP)

AP has Keen Edge for Scout, Impale for any target below 25% HP, and Meteor Slash generally.

PP focuses on Hasted Strike for Scouts or Fliers aiming for a one-shot. Charged Impetus is the big focus for another AP, with the third PP going into Parry and hopefully a third Meteor Slash. That last bit is only with Hero's Medallion.

Nina

Kingsaxe Drakenash (Drakenhold stone tablets. All stats +5)

Warrior's Medallion

Ruby Pendant (+2 AP)

Green Beret (+10% Atk)

AP is Row Smash if there's armor and a row of 2+ enemies, or Heavy Smash if just armor. Otherwise, we're aiming for Assaulting Blow nonstop infinite smashmax.

PP is mostly Enrage. Heavy Counter exists but the goal is to never use it. Binding Guard also exists for armor but ideally it never goes off. Enrage is all she wants to do with her PP.

Rosalinde

Twinned Bough (Default weapon)

Sorcerer's Medallion (Warrior's but for Mag Atk)

Carnelian Pendant

Druid Robes (applied Cursed Impetus, which grants +1 AP if debuffed)

AP is weird. Elemental Roar is set as Second Action, ideally to combo with Primus Edge. Sylphic Wind activates if there are fliers, and Freezing Thrust is there if we have armor, but mostly we want Primus Edge into Elemental Roar.

PP has her using Curing Heal, with "Prioritize Caster." I've found the one thing that really hurt us on the climb, and the reason I was stopped, was status hitting Scarlett. This clears it.

As an aside, I realized a few things while playing around with Rosaline and Eltoline. Apparently, "activates at the start of battle" only happens for one ally on the team. Only one. So if the others jump queue, the others don't get it. This created a huge problem for getting those fairies active, as a faster option like, say, a Scout? Offsets Eltoline's heal and buff and Fairy to give herself her big damage attack. Additionally, it turns out they only dispel their own fairies, not the full party's. So they are actively kinda crap together, I think, because the "start of battle" setup for their big burst conflicts with one another. Only one of them can get it. I still want to shift Rosaline off this team, but she gets the job done and I don't have better ideas.

Scarlett

Precious Rod (Limited Heal to overheal above maximum)

Scarlett's Ribbon (Quick Heal added)

Sapphire Pendant (+2 PP, was Lapis Pendant)

Ruby Pendant (+2 AP, was Carnelian Pendant)

AP is Innocent Ray if there are 2+ combatants in a row. Curing Call is if anyone gets hit with a debuff, or with particular status shifted to suit the match. Holy Light if there's an armor. Then Limited Heal otherwise.

PP has Saint's Barrier and Passive Miracle naturally, while Quick Heal goes to whoever has the lowest HP percentage.

General Notes

The first Amalia fight goes down pretty easy. It's the follow-up fight that's a pain. The big thing that got us to win was Luminous Cover on Highest Atk. This prevented Nina from getting hit by Ground Shaker, which would shed one of her buffs, and one of her attacks. Additionally, Melisandre can just dodge it, so it saves the most effect. With sufficient guard, Alain will also guard her against one of the big seven-hit team-wide combos, which means she only needs to tank one hit. Luminous Cover is specifically chosen to permit that, as the boosted 20% Def actually lets her tank reasonably well.

So far, there hasn't been anything too threatening. Usually when we lose, it's because the opponent has like 10+ levels on us. Otherwise, they crush it. Usually what stops things is status on the back row. Scarlett can get really messed up if afflicted, and if we don't guard Nina from it and she dies to Burn or Poison, the match is effectively sunk. Nina is the win condition outright.

As mentioned, I really want to shift Rosalinde off this team, to something that doesn't have such a high competition for first action. I'd like to see her have a bit more utility overall. Not that she doesn't help, but she feels more like a generalized backup healer for Scarlett. Maybe that's fine. Maybe it's all she needs to be. But I want better for her.

I have some other teams I'm still testing out. I'll have to post about that tomorrow though. I'm enjoying the game, but I feel like I'm going to walk back into the main plot stuff and kinda steamroll everything now. Oops.

[the-spam-specialist]

What was your first ever pokemon game? Your favourite pokemon (other than Ceruledge. That's cheating). Opinions on coliseum? Favourite legendary. First shiny?

I can't think of anything else at the moment.... Guerrero's and Caballero's favourite food? Idk (Skylertheminish).

Rapid-fire answers!

*Deep inhale*

First game: Ruby

Favorite Pokemon (besides Ceruledge): Eevee/Eeveelutions

Colosseum: Never played, loved Gale of Darkness tho

Favorite Legendary: Latias and Latios

First shiny: Hoothoot in SoulSilver

And Guerrero and Caballero's favorite food is Tamato Berries!