23

AN: Boom! Surprise chapter update! I betcha didn't expect that to happen. I hope you enjoy this. This is personally my most favourite chapter I've written yet.

Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury sat in their dorm room provided by Beacon, going through a list of huntsmen and huntresses in training that showed promise. Cinder scrolled through the list, deeming those she found potentially troublesome as threats, and the others as nothing but fodder for the Grimm. She stopped scrolling when she saw a picture of the little redhead that had piqued her interests ever since she first saw her. "This girl," she showed them a picture of the teen they'd met in hallways, "do we have any information on her?"

"Her? Let me think." Emerald quickly brought up the girl's portfolio, eager to please her boss. "Her-"

"Name: Ruby Rose, youngest person known to have entered Beacon Academy at the age of fifteen, and also the leader of Team RWBY." Mercury rehearsed, stealing Emerald's moment at the spotlight.

"Oh, my. Fifteen and already a team leader?" Cinder regarding the girl with a look of interest. "What else do we know about her?"

"She's an expert scythe wielder, and the niece of Qrow Branwen." Emerald said, annoyed that she'd been upstaged by Mercury and not liking how her leader was staring at the picture.

"Intriguing." Cinder bit her lip, fascination dancing in her eyes.

"That's not all. There've been rumours going around in the White Fang of girl with a red cape that use to work for them almost a year ago. The description matches her perfectly." Mercury added from his spot on the ground.

"A former White Fang member? Is she a faunus?"

"Not as far as we can tell." Mercury said.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you, my little gem?" Cinder murmured, running a long painted nail down the image of Ruby.

"Should we add her to the list?" Jealousy bubbled up within Emerald as she watched as her mistress silently praised that little runt. What was so special about her beyond the fact that she was skilled? She was just as skilled if not more than the girl. Then, why had Cinder never look at her that way before. The want in Cinder's burning eyes was apparent, and only made Emerald hate Ruby Rose even more.

"No. I have plans for my little Rose." Cinder's smoldering eyes and husky voice made Emerald shudder, wishing it was her that gaze was directed at.

A deep part of her was glad that she'd been called to Professor Goodwitch's office. Things in the dorm had been tense ever since Ruby told the others about her relationship with Blake. Weiss was abnormally quiet, and Yang refused to make any form of eye contact with her, choosing to spend most of her days in the gym. It was suffocating, and things would only get worse if they didn't talk about it. But, the wound was still fresh, and people were not as willing to talk things out as she was.

Though she was grateful to leave the room, another part of her was nervous as she nervously walked to Professor Goodwitch's office. The woman had called for her so suddenly that it made Ruby think she was in trouble. 'I really hope I'm not in trouble. I don't even remember doing anything that would get me in trouble.' Ruby knocked on Glynda's door while she waited for her to answer. She heard the professor call her in and she opened the door, coming to a stand in front of the intimidating woman's desk.

"Uh... you called for me, Professor Goodwitch?"

"Ruby..." Glynda began. 'Ruby? Since when did she start calling me Ruby? She always calls me Miss Rose like every other professor.' "You can relax, you're not in any trouble." Glynda silently chuckled when the girl slouched and let out a sigh. "I just require a small task of you. I need you to deliver this list of Dust to a warehouse owner." Glynda said as she handed Ruby the piece of paper.

"Sure… I can do that."

"Thank you. The person you're meant to deliver this to mostly resides in warehouse 15. You may go now." Ruby nodded before she left the office. She stood outside the door, looking at the list in her hand. 'Don't we usually send the list digitally instead of handing over in person?' Ruby shrugged before she left.

Dust Warehouses

"Warehouse 15, Warehouse 15." Ruby repeated to herself as she looked at the numbered buildings. 'Ah! There it is. Warehouse 15.' Finally reaching her destination, she walked over to the entrance, and peeked her head through the opening, taking note of how everything was dark. She called out to the owner as she walked in, stopping when she felt a strange niggling in the back of her mind. 'Why do I get the feeling I'm being watched?'

The door close behind her and everything was covered darkness. Then, the lights flashed to life, the sudden brightness causing her to squint. Inside the warehouse, many White Fang members surrounded Ruby. She heard the sound of numerous guns being raised and aimed at her. 'Shit! Gotta take cover!' She spotted an open door to her right, deciding it would make the perfect safe spot until she thought of a plan out of this mess. Carefully, she eased to her right, eyes still on the White Fang members above her as they slowly squeezed the trigger of their guns. Ruby disappeared in a cloud of petals and closed the door in time as they opened fire on her. Ruby locked the door, and grabbed a filing cabinet before she tipped it over and blocked the entrance. "Why do I always forget to bring Crescent Rose with me?"

"Hm?" Ruby tilted her head as a trilling blade sliced past her, moving to the side before she could be attacked again. A nasty scowl distorted her normally adorable face when she realized her attacker was the same idiot who had nearly ended her dream. "I didn't think I would meet you again, Rhino." He said nothing as he readied himself.

"How have you been doing? More importantly, how's my sword doing?" She was met with silence as he stared at her. "Silent treatment, eh? Whatever, I don't care. I need a weapon and I'll be taking that back."

Ruby disappeared and re-appeared in the air, her leg poised before she delivered a brutal knee to his face and watched as he slumped to the ground like a sack of rocks. She picked the sword up and looked at the White Fang member. "You either got weaker, or I got better."

'To take care of the ones outside.' Ruby fished into her pouch and took out a small vial of maroon Dust. 'I love Uncle Qrow.' Ruby sprinkled some Dust on herself before pocketing the vial. Activating a tiny bit of her aura, Ruby allowed the Dust to suck it up and unleash its power. Ruby inhaled and shut her eyes as the Dust's effects energized her body and a maroon glow engulfed her form as it pulsated with a low hum; the crimson tips of her hair beginning to glow as well. Enhancement complete, Ruby opened her eyes, the pupils shining the same colour as the Dust, and smiled. "These idiots won't even know what hit them."

On the outside of the door, the White Fang member in charge of the ambush barked out orders.

"The minute she steps out of that door fill her with holes!"

"Roger!" They all obeyed like mindless undead as they aimed their guns at the door.

The door inched opened.

They applied some pressure to the trigger.

Then, the door flew open.

"Fire!" Countless rounds sounded on command as they relentlessly blitzed Ruby's position. The barrage continued for a few minutes before the man in charge stopped them. "Cease fire!"

The bullets halted as the smoke settled down below. When it cleared, murmurs and shouts of 'what the hell' echoed in the warehouse. Ruby wasn't there.

"What in Remnant's nam-" A loud cry cut him off. He raised his eyes towards the balcony across from him and watched as a line of his men were taken out by a red streak of light. He gaped as the red light then bounded over to his side and did the same thing to the members like on the other side. "This is madness!" He turned to run away, but a forceful hit with the heel of a hand stopped him dead in his tracks.

Ruby observed her handiwork before she exhaled and stumbled, the Dust having done its job. "Overdid it with my semblance and that Dust." Ruby muttered wearily. She glanced at the sword in her hands and took it out of its sheath, inspecting it to see if its previous brain dead owner had any sense to care for it.

"It's still in good condition, surprisingly, but, it needs to be in perfect condition." Out of the shadows, a sole White Fang faunus appeared, loading his weapon with a very small black gem before he fired at Ruby.

Ruby inhaled sharply as she felt something prick her in the back, near the base of her spine. "Ah! What was that?!" She exclaimed, spinning around to see a White Fang recruit lunging at her. Acting on instinct, she swung her sword and cut him across his chest before he crashed onto the ground next to her. She stared at his crumpled form, then to her blade. Her throat suddenly felt dry as she gazed at the blood on the sword. It was so thick, so rich, so… red. Something inside her called for her to smell it, taste it even. She raised to blade to her mouth, swiping a finger in the vicous substance and giving into her urge as she licked the finger. Her breathing sped up when the sweet, sweet liquid spread on her taste buds. Ruby smeared the blood across her lips, enjoying the warmth it radiated. A warmth only fresh blood could supply. A manic smile formed on bloody lips.

'Delicious, isn't it?' A voice giggled from inside her head.

'So, sweet.' Ruby found herself agreeing. 'More, I want more. I need more.'

'And you can have more, just end that poor sap's life and you can bathe in that honey liquid.' The voice wickedly whispered.

'More, more, more, more!' Blinded by her bloodlust, Ruby raised her sword, eager to have more of that drunkening liquid.

'Yes, yes! Do it!' Goaded on by the voice, Ruby brought down the sword.

"P-Please… don't…" The man's plea caused Ruby to freeze, the tip of the blade at the man's throat.

'Wait, what am I doing?' She looked at the man, taking his bleeding body, then she turned to her sword, blood still dripping from the blade. 'I… did… this?'

'Nooooo!' The voice screeched. 'What are you doing?! End him! Remember the blood!' It tried to get Ruby back on its side, but it failed.

"No," Ruby refused aloud, "this is your doing, you're the one who wants to see the blood." She sheathed her weapon. "You want blood? I'll give you blood." Ruby began to punch herself again and again with her own fists. The man could only watch as the girl fought back whatever force was trying to control her before he passed out.

Blood dripped from bloody knuckles, this time her own blood as she collapsed onto all fours, red liquid pouring from nose. "Is that… Is that enough blood for you?"

'Ahhh! You'll regret this!' It hissed before it faded away.

Ruby panted, chuckling that she'd been able to push back her darker side before she winced from the pain of her stinging face. 'I'll heal myself later. I have to take care of him first.'

On her hands and knees, Ruby crawled over to the wounded man and checked his pulse, sighing with relief when she found he was still alive. She dug around in her pouch and pulled out a purple healing Dust crystal, a second resort in case standard healing proved to be useless. She surgically inserted the crystal into his wound and let some of her aura flow into gem. Ruby removed the stone and watched as his aura flared up, the wound on his chest closing up. He'd be sore for a few days, but at least he'd be alive.

"Now," she staggered to her feet, "to deal with this bunch." She tied up every single White Fang member, so they wouldn't escape when they came to before she dialed the authorities and told them her location. "I'll leave it in their hands." Ruby stumbled back to Beacon, her body sore and tired.

As she trekked back to the academy, one thought played through her mind.

Why did Professor Goodwitch send her on a suicide mission?

Dorms: Team RWBY

She opened her dorm room door, and trudged in when she noticed no one else was in the room. Ruby put down her newly reacquired sword on in her bag and walked into the bathroom. Turning on the faucet, she scrubbed her face of any dirt and caked blood. Drying off her face, Ruby removed her cape and mission attire before she stepped into the shower and turned on the hot water, letting the heat wash the strenuous day's work away. Stepping out of the shower, Ruby dried off her skin and began to change into a vest and shorts. Before putting on her shirt, Ruby inspected the place where she was shot. The area was a sickly grey, thin veins spanning out from where the bullet was lodged in her back. 'Exactly what was I shot with?' Deciding she'd deal with it later, she exited the bathroom and climbed into her bunk, falling asleep almost instantaneously. 'Let's see what my dreams can do for me.'

Dreamscape

She opened her eyes as she returned to the dark forest she had grown accustomed to. "I'm here again, that means mom must be here too." Ruby ventured deeper into the forest as she sought out her lost parent. She came to a clearing where she found her mother already being attacked by Beowolves. Knowing she didn't have her scythe with her from past experiences, Ruby didn't bother reaching behind her for it. She searched around and spotted the sword she'd not too long ago reunited with lying on the ground. Ruby quickly picked it up and dashed over to her mother.

Summer avoided their attacks repetitively, but as time wore on, it was becoming increasingly tedious to hold them off. Summer fumbled in her steps, her foot tripping over a tree root. As she laid on the forest floor, she saw a claw about to strike her. She closed her eyes, and smiled a small smile, welcoming her end. A blur of red dashed in front of her and decapitated the Beowolf. When she felt no pain, she opened her eyes to see her daughter standing above her.

"Ruby?" Summer called.

"Hiya, mom!" Ruby chirped, offering a hand to her mother. The woman took the hand and stood up.

"I'm glad to see you, my dear, but please, be careful." Summer warned.

"A bunch of Beowolves won't take me down."

"That's not what I meant-" Summer was cut off as two Beowolves charged at them. Ruby cut them down as quickly as they charged. One after another, the pack of Beowolves were fell by the sharpness and swiftness of Ruby's blade. After finishing off the last Beowolf, Ruby turned to hug her mother. Summer returned the hug as Ruby started to cry.

"I miss you so much!" Ruby wept, inhaling the scent of her mother's cape. She didn't care if this was a dream or not, this was the only chance she ever got to be near her mother and she would take it with pride.

"Oh, do you?" They both heard a voice say.

Ruby lifted her and turned around to see a cloak figure standing before them, their cape fluttering in the wind. A cloud that had been blocking the moonlight slowly moved away, allowing the light to shine on the dark figure. It was an exact clone of Ruby, remaining in the same spot and saying nothing as it stared at them, until it spoke up again. "Do you really miss her?" It even sounded like her.

"What? Of course I do!" Ruby answered.

"You're even gonna lie to yourself in your own dream world?" It asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on, we both know you hate her." The clone grinned cruelly.

"No, I don't! I love my mom!" Ruby yelled.

"If you really love your mother, then why do you keep having nightmares about her dying all the time?"

"No! I don't hate her! Stop saying those things!" Ruby drew her sword and charged at her copy.

The clone pulled out the same sword Ruby was currently using and ran at her, their blades clashing with each other. Summer watched as they relentlessly attacked each other, showing no openings whatsoever. She couldn't interfere even if she wanted to. This was something only Ruby could do on her own. Summer had no choice but to stand there and watch as her child fought for her life.

The battle raged on for ten minutes, the only thing that could be heard was the shrill cry of metal clanging against metal. Ruby soon fell to her knees, tired from the non-stop fighting. The clone stood there, not fatigued in the slightest as she knelt down to Ruby's level. "Admit it. You hate your mother. You despise her. You hate her for leaving you, even though you begged for her to stay because of the uneasy feeling in your gut, but, no, she just had to leave because the mission was so important."

"No, I don't!" Ruby picked herself up and swung her weapon at her clone, but it faded away into the dark of the night.

"She promised she would come back, she promised it would be okay, but look at what happened. Her promises were nothing but lies! She never came back. It wasn't okay. You started to think that maybe, just maybe, she didn't love you anymore and left you with dear old dad, so she could get away from you!" It shouted from behind her. "But, no, that wasn't the case, it was far worse. You soon found out she died trying to complete some worthless mission. Tell me, what's worse? The thought that she didn't love you anymore, or the thought that she's gone and never coming back. You'll never know the true answer to that question, and that fake certainly won't be of any help." It gestured to the manifestation of Summer.

"S-Shut up!" Ruby swung her blade again, meeting nothing but darkness as her copy vanished.

"And that's why you have these dreams. You wish you could end her yourself for leaving you alone with all that pain and misery to bare in the years to come." The voice echoed from nowhere this time.

Ruby felt a hand rest on her shoulder and she gripped the handle of her sword harder in anger as she swung her sword at the person behind her. Her eyes opened in fear when she realized it was her mother that she'd cut down instead of the clone. Ruby dropped to her knees, hot tears pouring down her face. She had completely forgotten her mother was here. After hearing all those slurs, she wondered if they were actually... true. She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts from her mind.

"See, you do hate her. You killed her with such anger in your eyes."

"No! That was an accident! I didn't mean it!" Ruby watched as the clone reappeared in front of her. This time, she swung her weapon at the right person, but effortlessly, the clone blocked the attack and pushed Ruby down.

"What's it gonna take for you to accept the truth?"

"Shut up! None of that is true!"

The clone roughly grabbed her by her cape and pulled her closer it's face. "Your mother's death was more traumatizing than you let on. Why didn't you tell anyone about it? Oh! That's right! You're an idiot and you didn't want people to worry about you!"

"I just didn't want to be a burden to anyone!" Ruby struggled in the tight grip.

"Yes, you may have not burdened anybody, but because you didn't tell anyone, lots of problems arised, correct?" The clone let of go Ruby's hood and she fell back to the ground. "You have a side of you that you don't want others to see, you don't want them to leave you all alone. You don't want to see the look of horror and disgust when they see the crazed psychopath that you are. You're too afraid to tell them about your psychopathy, and when you do finally work up the courage to tell them, you chicken out and play it off as a joke. You're afraid that all your nice little friends would leave you. You're afraid that Weiss, Velvet, Coco, Nora, Jaune, Ren, and Winter would try to avoid you at all cost. But, what frightens you the most, is that Pyrrha would also leave and hate you for the things you did." It was being unceasing with its harsh revelations.

"No! Pyrrha said she never could hate me! She would understand that I went through a lot of pain!" Ruby wouldn't let this creature's words cloud her judgement again.

"Then, there's Blake. You've grown quite close to her these past two weeks, haven't you? It would be quite heart breaking if she left you. But, that most likely won't happen, she went through a tough life just the same, maybe even tougher than yours. Unlike you, she had no one who cared for her, no one who loved her, you're the only reason Blake is so friendly. She's so pitiful and desperate… maybe that's why you like her. She's the only one who could understand the things you did because she's just as pathetic as you are."

"Shut up! Don't you dare speak about Blake like that!" Ruby snarled as the creatured riled her up.

"Blake and Pyrrha. You never told them you loved them back. Is it because you don't feel the same way as them? You didn't want them to avoid you because you rejected them both, so you accepted their love. As long as they're happy you're happy, right? You didn't care if you loved them or not, you just didn't want to be alone, or are you afraid if you get any closer to them they'll find out about that side of you keep hidden from others. If they ever found, you would experience the same pain like when mother left you."

"I do love them!" Her throat felt raw from all the yelling. "And stop calling her mother like she's yours!"

"But, more importantly, you're afraid you dear sister, Yang, the one who stuck with you through thick and thin, the one who helped you 'recover' from your loss, would hate you and leave like mom did. You're afraid she would never talk to you again, you're afraid she won't give you those calming hugs whenever something terrible happens. And the thing you're most afraid of if you lose her, is that you would never feel the love that she gives you."

"I said, shut up!" Ruby darted up and swung her sword at the clone, cutting it in half. Ruby watched as it chuckled manically.

"Until next time..." It said before it faded into the darkness.

Ruby fell to her knees, downright fear in her eyes. "D-Do I really... f-feel that way?" The world around her began to crumble, slowly fading away.

End of dream

Ruby screamed in horror, shaking uncontrollably as she lurched up from her night terror. She frantically looked around the room, hoping her sister would be there, but unfortunately for her, Yang nowhere in the room. No one was in the room. She was alone, just like that thing said she would be. Ruby cast the notion aside as she jumped off the bed, in search of her sister.

Blake and Pyrrha walked down the halls, chatting with each other when they saw Ruby burst out of her room, look up and down the hallway before she collapsed onto the floor and wailed.

They both ran over to her, fear taking grip of their hearts.

"Ruby! What's wrong?" Pyrrha asked as she fell to her knees beside the shaking girl.

"I-I had a really b-bad n-nightmare and I can't c-calm d-down." Blake needn't be told twice as she fell down beside them and hugged Ruby. Pyrrha hugged her as well. Competition be damned, something had Ruby spooked beyond belief and she needed to be comforted.

When Ruby felt both of them hug her, her sobs had eased up, but she still shook with fear. "Thank you... I need to talk to Yang..."

"I'll take Ruby back to my dorm and watch over her, you go look for Yang." Pyrrha said as she lifted Ruby up in her arms, the girl hiding her face in Pyrrha's neck as a source of support.

Blake nodded and sprinted through hallways in desperate search of Yang. She just hoped when she found her she'd listen to her.

AN: Oh snap! There's more to her nightmares than just to introduce Violet to the story. And you thought I made her "slightly crazy" for nothing. What's going to happen to our young huntress? There's nothing more nerve wracking than hearing something you don't want to hear and you hear the exact same thing from your own mouth.

Fun Fact: While writing chapter 3 of this story I thought of this scene, yeah, that's right. I had this idea in my head since October of 2014. How I came up with the nightmares was when I was listening to Red like roses part 2, at one point in the song they sang, "How could you leave me when you swore that you would stay? Now I'm trapped inside a nightmare every single f'ing day," and that's what inspired the nightmare she been having. The thing that said all those things is a reference to Persona 4, your Shadow Self. And just in case you don't know anything about Persona 4, I'll tell you what a Shadow Self is. It's a side of you that did not know existed or a side of you that you cannot accept. The whole point of your Shadow Self is that it says all the things you can't accept about your true nature, so you can reject it and it can become its own person. Oh yeah, it also kills you when you reject it. There, a brief explanation of Shadow Self.

Also, can you figure out why Ruby was ambushed, and who set it up? Leave a review if you think you have an idea.