11

"What are we doing here again?" A fellow with silver hair asked, expression bored.

"Did you forget, Mercury? Idiot." His green-haired companion scoffed.

"Whatever, Melonhead." Mercury mocked.

"Be quiet, you two." Their leader said, voice calm, yet an underlying threat in those words. Mercury and Emerald kept their mouths shut in fear of incurring her wrath. The three criminals stopped in front of the closed warehouse door before Mercury opened it.

Cinder strode into the warehouse with long purposeful steps, glass heels clinking on the cement. Despite the small smirk on her face when she saw Roman, both Mercury and Emerald knew Cinder was not in a pleasant mood, so they made sure to stand decent ways back.

"How very disappointing, Roman." Cinder chided, her tone condescending.

"Woah! Cinder, I didn't expect you to be here." Roman adjusted his hat, backing away slightly.

"We expected much more from you, Roman." Cinder hummed, taking a step forward for each Roman taken.

"Hey, it was your idea to work with those idiots from the White Fang in the first place." He tried to pin the fault on Cinder, tried to sound angered, but faltered instantly under that smouldering gaze that promised pain if he crossed her anymore.

"And, you'll continue to do so." Cinder raised her hand, a faint glow burning in her eye while a ball of fire ignited in her hand. "We have big plans for you, Roman, all we ask for is a little… co-operation." She moved her hand closer to Roman.

"H-Hey, I'll help you, don't worry about it." The suave criminal said. "What do I need to do?"

"Just continue the job given to you." Cinder snuffed the flame in her hand. She didn't spare him a second glance as she left the warehouse, her two lackeys following close by.

"What should we do now, Cinder?" Emerald asked, anxious to please the object of her infatuation.

"You two will go back to the hideout while I take care of a pressing matter." Cinder turned her head just enough to see over her shoulder. "And, Emerald, make sure Mercury doesn't do anything stupid." Cinder sauntered away, leaving Mercury and Emerald to return to their hideaway.

"You heard Cinder, don't do anything stupid," Emerald said to Mercury as they left.

"When have I ever done something stupid?" Mercury crossed his hands behind his head, eyes closed.

"I have a list, pick a number," Emerald smirked, fingers tapping on her lips.

"Oh, shut up."

Cinder was far from pleased as she walked down the sidewalk. She despised having to make new plans when it came to correcting undesired failures. Roman would pay for this.

Cinder paused, her less than kind thoughts halted briefly when three men walked out of an alley. She observed them with blatant disinterest as they pulled knives from their pockets, possibly striving to intimidate her.

One man stepped forward, a gnarly scar running from his nose bridge to the top of his left brow. Slightly sunken eyes stared at Cinder with evident signs of excitability, the knife shaking in his hand. 'Already excited, amateur.'

Motion to her rear alerted Cinder that the other two men had moved to encircle her. 'Classic, closing off all possible escape routes. Truly rookies.'

The scarred man twirled his knife between his fingers, probably hoping to show Cinder he wasn't to be messed with. "Hand over the money, sweetheart, don't wanna have to cut that pretty face of yours." His companions sniggered at his comment.

"I was in a foul mood a minute ago, but now I'm feeling quite jolly. Three unsuspecting fools have presented themselves to me." Cinder brushed her voluminous hair aside, revealing her eye. "Who'd like to volunteer first?" An eerie glow burned in her eyes as she smiled, wispy flames dancing on her fingertips, thirsting to fill the air with the scent of burning flesh.

Gone was that false bravado as a sense of dread settled in the pit of their stomachs, buckets of sweat sliding down their backs when they realized who was the alpha here.

"Y-You're a monster." The man said, grip on the knife loose. His partners fared no better.

"Monster is a docile term." Cinder husked as flames enveloped her hands. "No volunteers?" She raised her hand, palm facing the ringleader as a bright light swirled in the middle. "Pity."

Before she could fire, and reduce the fool to ashes, a swirl of red cut in, and blocked her shot.

'Oh?'

Cinder doused the flame, letting her arm fall to her side as a tiny red blob made swift work of her almost victims. Perfect red lips turned up as Cinder cocked her hip, smirking as her knight in shining armour's flushed face turned to her.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked, fringe sticking up in all directions.

"And, who might you be, hm?" Cinder completely ignored the question, finding an instant interest in the tiny human.

"Ruby Rose, at your service." Ruby gave a small salute.

"Ruby Rose, hm?" Cinder slowly circled her, brushing the back of her hand against Ruby's round cheek. "Pray tell, what's an adorable girl such as yourself, doing in a place like this?"

"I-I'm searching for someone." Ruby stammered, the suffocating—not a bad thing, though—presence of the woman rendering her somewhat incapable of smooth speech.

Cinder stood behind her, easily towering over Ruby's miniature height. She leaned down, face close to Ruby's as she whispered in her ear. "Do I know this person?" A gentle nip followed after.

Ruby jumped away from Cinder, holding her neck as she panted heavily, throat suddenly dry while she sported a full-face blush. "I-I have to g-go, it was nice meeting you." She ran away, blood thumping in her ears as she struggled to control her breathing.

Cinder straightened up, painted lips smirking. Hooded eyes smouldered as they stared at the fading figure. "We'll meet again, Little Rose, I'm sure of it." Glass heels chimed as their owner sashayed down the sidewalk.

Ruby propped on a wall, face still heated as she panted. She touched her neck, vividly recalling those hot lips as they pressed against the column of her neck. It triggered a queer feeling in her lower abdomen. 'I need to focus on finding Velvet.'

"I'll try her on my scroll." Ruby absent-mindedly massaged her neck as she searched through her contacts. Clicking Velvet's name when she found it, she sent a quick message to her friend.

Ruby moved to a nearby bench, plopping down on the cedar, hand still rubbing her neck which seemed to have a lingering burn. 'This is useless. As much as I try to put my thoughts elsewhere, her face keeps coming back to mind, and the way she…' A vibration in her hand signalled a new message had arrived. Pressing the yellow diamond on the scroll, she opened the message and read Velvet's reply.

"I'm going to the airship docks to head back to Beacon." It read.

'A wasted effort.' Ruby sighed, pocketing her scroll. "Might as well go back now." She reached for the airship schedule she'd brought with her in her pouch. "Perfect… the next ship won't be here for another hour."

"Ruby?" An accented voice called.

Lifting her head, she looked to her left and saw Velvet jogging to her. "I thought you would've been back at Beacon by now." Velvet said, slowing to a stop once she reached Ruby.

"I could say the same to you," Ruby answered playfully. 'I guess it wasn't wasted after all.' She rose from the bench. "Walk with me?"

Velvet inclined her head slightly in agreement.

Upon entry in the terminal, Ruby and Velvet rested on a bench as they waited for the airship.

"Did you find Blake?" Velvet asked.

"Yeah, she was with another faunus we met a couple of days ago. Well, not really met, more like saw escaping from a boat."

"Is he a part of the White Fang?"

"Nah, Blake told me he was helping her."

"Do you know what happened?"

"I'm not sure, I only arrived in time to help Blake." With a new topic in the air, Ruby managed to forget, or at least, push back her earlier encounter from her thoughts.

A foghorn blew, indicating the arrival of the airship. Boarding the airship, they settled for a quiet corner as people crowded and spoke with each other.

"You said the White Fang was stealing Dust with the Schnee logo on them." Velvet bit her lip, pushing herself further into the metal of the airship as some people walked by and stared. "Do you know why?"

"I don't," Ruby said, chasing away those who stared with sharp ash-grey eyes, "but I doubt it's anything good."

"Funny, I've never been to this part of the dorms before." Ruby airily mentioned.

"That's because second years are allocated a different building for our dorms." Velvet explained, knocking on her dorm door. A muffled 'bump' sounded beyond the door, then came a relaxed pace of 'thumps.' Opening the door, stood a tall, and a rather fashion-forward brunette with the tips of her hair fading from dark brown to caramel.

"Velvet, why did you knock? Don't you have your key?" The tall brunette asked.

"I forgot it on my desk..." Velvet's ears drooped in shame.

"Again." The girl smirked.

"That was only one time!"

"Right, right, so who's your friend?" The brunette motioned to Ruby.

"I'm Ruby, nice to meet you."

"Hm... Ruby?" She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Oh, right, you're the kid who got accepted into Beacon at fifteen."

"Yep, that's me." Ruby scuffed at the ground, feigning bashfulness.

"I'm Coco Adel, Velvet's team leader." Coco offered a handshake, which Ruby briefly accepted.

"It's pretty late, so I'll be going. It was nice meeting you, Coco."

"Take care, kid." Coco waved before closing the door.

Ruby quietly eased the door open, wishing not to disturb its sleeping occupants. Once inside, she switched out of her mission gear, and into her pyjamas before she hopped in her bed. One last scan was given to the darkroom before Ruby fell back on the pillows, joining her teammates as they slumbered.

Moments later, her eyes fluttered open to a white forest she'd grown all too familiar with.

"I'm back here aga-" Ruby narrowly dodged the sharp claws of a Beowolf. 'Geez, and I just got here!' Rolling away from the beast, she reached for her holster, but only found air where Crescent Rose should have been. She looked down at her attire, cursing when she found herself still in pyjamas. Pajamas meant no weapons. No weapons meant no way to defend herself. And, no defence meant a minimal chance of survival.

Acknowledging these facts, panic set in before she sprinted away, seeking refuge from the Grimm.

A white cloak billowing in the wind forced her to skid to a stop as the owner smiled faintly at her.

"M-Mom…?" Ruby breathed before she ran, and threw herself into the woman's arms, hugging her with every ounce of her strength as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

"Hello, my lovely daughter." Ruby cried even harder when her mother's soft voice filled her ears. She'd missed it a great deal. "Wipe your tears, Ruby, we have to get moving." Ruby wiped the tears away before nodding. Grasping her mother's hand, the two ran through the forest, creating distance between them, and any Grimm that might have given chase.

They ran straight into a clearing and stopped. Summer Rose placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder, gaining the young girl's attention.

"It's time for you to wake up, sweetie."

"B-But, I-I don't know how."

"Worry not, we'll find a way, but for now, we must survive." Before Ruby could ask what she meant, snarls surrounded them as Grimm appeared from the murky shadows in droves. The Grimm blocked every possible exit, which meant as much as they hated it, Ruby and Summer would have to fight their way out of this sticky situation.

Summer pushed Ruby away as a group of Beowolves leapt at them, missing them by a mile. A white mist engulfed Summer's hands, solidifying into sharp blades. Summer crouched low to the ground before darting from Beowolf to Beowolf, a white streak trailing after her. The Grimm toppled over like trees, severed limbs and blood coating the ground.

Meanwhile, Ruby struggled to evade the attacks of the giant beast before her. She was no good without her weapon, and her kicks wouldn't serve to do much damage on an Ursa that size. The unusually massive Ursa raised both its forepaws, about to slam them down on Ruby when an icy blade jutted out its chest. Summer tossed the Grimm to the side, smiling at her daughter before she was knocked aside. More Grimm came, encircling her fallen guardian.

"Mom!" Ruby cried, watching in horror as they swarmed her. Summer dodged and fought back the creatures, but then she fell. A Beowolf had slunk out of the shadows, creeping up behind her mother as she dealt with the foes before her. Sensing its opportunity, the Beowolf lunged at Summer, slicing her Achilles tendon. Summer cried out as she crumpled to the ground, no longer able to stand because of her severed tendon. The Grimm took this chance to pounce on her, ravaging her body, and ripping her to bloody shreds.

Such a savage display made Ruby retch, and sob, dropping to her knees as she bawled. Black, abnormal, humanoid-like legs appeared before her. Daring to look up, Ruby stared helplessly as a Beowolf overshadowed her, the blood of her deceased mother dripping from its claws as it glared at her with hungry red eyes.

Ruby found herself unable to move, legs resisting all forms of movement, refusing to co-operate with her.

But, what was the point? Ruby asked herself. She'd just witnessed the death of the one person she loved more than her sister. Not only that, but she'd lost her mother twice, first in reality, and now in this sick fantasy turned nightmare.

Ruby stared, puffy argent eyes vacant, and unblinking as the other Grimm directed their attention to her, finished with the corpse of her mother. They plodded over to her, joining the Beowolf in its threatening gaze.

She let her head drop, preparing herself for her bleak fate when a rose petal floated down onto the ground. 'Petals?' Emotion returned to her eyes as she raised her head, a shower of rose petals floating down from above. A petal landed on top of the Ursa's head, and in the next moment, its head was decapitated. 'What?'

The Grimm fell in throngs as petals coated their bony bodies, limbs becoming scattered amongst the fallen petals on the ground. The last Beowolf was cut down, its mid-section separated from its lower body. That was the end. All the Grimm had been killed, and Ruby sat amidst the carnage as confused as could be.

"What's going on?" To answer her question, a hooded figure appeared in a white mist, brandishing a giant scythe. A fresh set of fear rested on her heart as the individual slowly walked towards her, dragging the large scythe along the ground. Upon approach, the person extended their hand. Ruby squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the excruciating pain of being torn apart to come. Needless to say, she was beyond puzzled when a gentle hand touched her head.

Curious, Ruby slowly opened her eyes. The mysterious figure stood over her, shadows of the forest obscuring her face. Given their lithe body, and petite hands, Ruby was able to deduce that the stranger was female. The girl's red eyes were luminescent as she stared down at Ruby, an almost there smile quirking her lips.

In a flash, the large scythe transformed into a rifle, two loud shots following after as she shot into the darkness behind Ruby. An inhuman screech echoed, fading in the distant as whatever she shot ran away.

"W-Who are you..." Ruby mumbled, staring back at the shadows, then back to the girl. Her question remained unanswered as her vision blurred, the figure becomes a blotch before everything faded to black as she slumped forward onto the ground.

Blake slept peacefully as the sun rose, cat ears twitching beneath her bow as she dreamt of a paradise dedicated to books and tuna.

"Hm...?" Blake mumbled, tongue heavy in her mouth as she blearily opened her eyes, the shifting of bed sheets, and soft groans filling her ears. Reluctantly leaving her plush pillows, Blake sat up, rubbing her eyes as she yawned.

Blake despised being compared to a domesticated animal, but she couldn't deny the fact that she gave a loud meow when she heard a scream from Ruby's bunk.

"What on earth..." Quietly, she slipped off her bed and tiptoed to the other side of the room. Blake tapped Ruby on her arm, trying to wake her. "Ruby, Ruby, come on, wake up."

"Ah!" Ruby jerked up at the unexpected touch, chest rising and falling spasmodically.

"Ruby, calm down, slowly breathe in, and out." Blake coached, rubbing circles in Ruby's back. Eventually, her breathing regulated, enough for Blake to try and goad some answers out of her. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Ruby swallowed, and wet her unusually chapped lips. "I… I had a nightmare, nothing major."

"It doesn't seem like it's nothing major if you jumped out of your sleep when I touched you." Blake's gaze turned empathetic. "What really happened, Ruby?"

"Blake, nothing happened. I'm fine, I promise." Ruby smiled for good measure.

Pretty golden eyes regarded her for a moment before Blake promptly turned, and dived back under her covers. She didn't believe Ruby, not at all. She knew the girl was not okay considering the way she acted when she woke, but Blake left the subject alone. Ruby would tell them in due time.

Ruby stared at the raven-haired girl's curled up form until her breathing slowed, and when it did, Ruby slid off her bed. Grabbing her mission gear, she quietly opened the bathroom, and entered, stripping her night clothes before she took a quick shower.

Slightly less bothered than earlier, Ruby donned her gear and headed for the door where she briskly slipped outside. 'I'm glad Weiss and Yang weren't there, they would've hounded me.'

"Again, with that dream," Ruby said to no one in particular.

Garbled voices up ahead broke her thoughts. Walking further up the hall, Ruby saw that the voices belonged to Coco and Velvet. It seemed the two were having a minor disagreement.

"But, Coco, I really need help with this mission."

"I understand, Velvet, but I have some things of my own to take care of." Coco sighed, removing her shades. "Why not ask one of your friends to help you?"

"I would, but I don't know if they're busy, or not."

Coco put back on her shades, playing with her wavy caramel locks as she thought of possible candidates she could ask to help Velvet when the flare of a well known red cape caught her eye. "Why don't you get Ruby to help?"

"R-Ruby? I don't know." Velvet twiddled with her thumbs, pink dusting her cheeks.

"Help with what?" Ruby popped up behind Velvet, startling the poor girl.

"R-R-Ruby!" Velvet was quick to use Coco as a wall to hide, caught unaware at the sound of Ruby's voice. "Why didn't you tell me she was there?!" She whispered.

"Velvet needs some help with her mission. You mind going with her?" Coco asked, shushing Velvet.

"Sure!"

"Great!" Coco walked away right after the confirmation, leaving Velvet without her wall, and at the mercy of Ruby's innocent features. "You two have fun now!"

"So, where are we going?"

Velvet looked back to Ruby and her puppy-like enthusiasm. Velvet was certain she could see a little tail wagging underneath the red cloak. 'This is both a blessing and a curse.'

"What exactly are we looking for again?" Ruby asked as they traipsed through the forest.

"I'm not quite sure how to explain, but it's a mystical crystal said to be used in separating different objects if they're combined with one or more entity."

"Awesome..."

"Rather intriguing, yes." Velvet paused near a small cave entrance, stooping down to pick up the shiny shard partially covered by the dirt, but dropped it after realizing it was a common type of Dust. With Velvet busy in this section, Ruby moved onto another section to inspect on her own.

Ruby was thorough in her investigation, going as far as to dig a few shallow holes in the dirt.

'Nothing.' Ruby swore under her breath. Dusting off her hands, she inspected her nails. She was going to need a manicure after all this, and she avoided those like she avoided shopping.

Moving again, she heard a snap. Looking down, spider-web cracks spread in the ground below where she stood. Any sudden movement and she'd be sent spiralling downward to who knows where.

'Crap.' Ever so slowly, Ruby lifted her boot and eased it back. Alas, she misjudged just how unstable the ground was, because the second she placed her boot back down, the ground beneath her collapsed, and she was sent plunging into the dark caverns below.

"Ah!" Ruby screamed as she fell deeper in the darkness. Once able to see the cavern floor—just barely—she covered her face with her arms, landing with a noisy grunt shortly after as her body slammed into the hard rock, and bounced.

"Ruby!" Velvet ran over to the sound of the scream, gasping when she saw the decent sized hole in the ground where Ruby had been probing. She carefully stepped over to the hole, leaning over enough to peer inside. "Ruby, are you down there!" Velvet listened closely, waiting to hear that high pitch voice. She was not disappointed when she received an answer of 'yeah!' "Are you hurt!" Again, she answered with a 'just some scrapes!'

She placed her bag down, rummaging through the various utensils for the emergency flare.

"Here! Use this until I get down there!" Velvet tossed the flare down to Ruby, who fumbled as she caught it.

"Be careful, it's a… nasty fall!" Ruby warned before cracking the flare. It's red light illuminated the cave somewhat. "Where am I?" Ruby stared at the strange markings in the cave as she moved deeper inside. Coming to a dead end, a sparkle a bit further in the unlit darkness twinkled. Stepping closer, Ruby held the flare out, the light revealing a huge cluster of crystals jutting out from the cavern wall. 'Is this Dust? Or, maybe the crystal Velvet mentioned.' She ventured pouring some of her aura into the crystal, yet nothing happened. "This has to be it."

Holding the flare between her teeth, she braced one hand on the sizable crystal while the other strained to break a piece loose. 'Yeesh, I get that its crystal, but this is ridiculously hard! Maybe, my semblance could help.' Employing the ability of her semblance, Ruby focused on increasing the movement of her hand. The vibrations from her rapidly moving hand served to loosen the gem fragment enough for Ruby to break it off.

"Phew!" Ruby removed the flare from her mouth as she inspected the shard in her hand. "What a weird colour…" It was pink, with thin white swirls. Without warning, the shard began to hum, and glow. "What's going on!?" Then, a bright white flash happened, painfully blinding Ruby as she dropped the gem and fell to her knees. She suddenly felt nauseous as held her head.

She wasn't in this cave alone, she realized because booths crunching on the cavern floor echoed a few metres away from her. Battling through her pain, Ruby fought to look at the new presence.

Friend, or foe? She didn't know, but she was about to find out.

Out from the shadows came a figure, donning a purple cloak similar to Ruby's. They came to a stop, looming over the pained girl, a pair of glowing red eyes peering down at her. The familiar body was enough to make Ruby forget her pain momentarily.

"I-I've seen you before. You… were in my dreams." Ruby forced out. "W-Who are you?"

"I'm you… in a way. I'm all of your negative emotions personified. I was born from the negativity created by you ever since that… dreadful day." The being removed her hood, showing that she shared the same face with Ruby. The only differences were her red glowing eyes.

"Negativity? Dreadful day? I-I don't know what you're talk-"

"Yes, you do." The doppelganger interrupted. "I was born the moment you were told of her death."

"Your name." Ruby disregarded the question, it made no sense to answer. If the other her was, well, her, as she claimed, then she already the answer to that.

"I'm technically you, so of course, I have a name, but you can call me Violet to avoid any confusion," Violet said.

'Another me.' Ruby thought as she looked at the girl.

Things went topsy-turvy when Violet grabbed her neck and slammed her into the wall. 'What the heck?!'

"Don't do anything stupid, understood!" Violet threatened.

"Okay, okay, I won't!" Ruby shouted. "But, say perchance, that I do something stupid, what would happen?"

"I cease to exist. That crystal gave me a body and formed a tangible connection between us, and as long as you don't do anything life-threatening, I'll be here to stay for a while." Violet released her before she peered at the hole above them. 'Though I wished you hadn't touched that damnable piece of shiny rock. You dolt.'

'Ugh, this is going to be a long day.' Ruby groaned as slid down to the floor.