Prologue

Long ago, a century after the Originals began creating vampires, a unique phenomenon occurred. Nature, to balance the power dynamics, bestowed certain humans with extraordinary abilities to combat supernatural beings. These abilities, known as semblances, granted individuals incredible powers and made them the original hunters—the ones whom every supernatural being feared.

To complement their semblances, these hunters were also granted weapons that resonated with their souls, allowing them to take down most supernatural creatures. This power shift struck fear into the hearts of supernatural creatures, causing them to hunt the hunters, and driving them to extinction. Only a few hunters remain in the present day.

Present day

12-year-old Ruby's ordinary life took an unexpected turn on an ordinary evening. As she sat in the living room, engrossed in her favorite TV show, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the house. Her parents burst into the room, panic etched on their faces.

"Ruby, we have little time," her father said, his voice filled with a mix of fear and resolution. "They've found us. We need to keep you safe."

"Huh? What do you mean, Papa?" confusion and concern washed over Ruby as her parents led her to a hidden compartment beneath the floorboards.

They urged her to stay hidden and promised to return soon. With a heavy heart, Ruby watched as they disappeared into the darkness.

Moments later, the tranquility of their home shattered. The door burst open, and a group of ruthless intruders stormed inside. The sound of gunshots reverberated through the air, sending shivers down Ruby's spine.

Hidden beneath the false floor, Ruby clutched onto her mouth, fighting the urge to scream out. She listened in terror as the vampires confronted her parents. In the ensuing chaos, she heard her parents fight back, but the vampires proved to have much more experience in combat.

Silence falls, followed by the voice of one of the intruders. "Yeah, Tristian, we got the last of them. The originals should be safe from any future threats." The vampires converse with a figure named Tristian before departing, leaving Ruby behind, hidden and grieving the loss of her parents.

Before long, the sound of sirens fills the air as the police arrive at the scene. They guide Ruby out of her hiding place, shielding her from the sight of her parents' lifeless bodies.

The police question her, and Ruby, following her parents' teachings, withholds the truth about the supernatural beings and their involvement in her parents' demise. She mentions nothing of the vampires, knowing the dangerous consequences that could arise if humans discovered the existence of the supernatural world. All that remains of her mother is a red scarf, a cherished gift from her eleventh birthday.

Alone and filled with grief, they placed Ruby in a foster home. The foster system sent her to seek refuge with the Lockwood family in Mystic Falls, Virginia.

Days turned into months, and Ruby adjusted to her new life with the Lockwoods. She maintained a semblance of normalcy, but her heart still ached for her lost family. She immersed herself in her studies, finding solace in books and knowledge.

Ruby became close to Tyler, and he became like a brother to her.

Ruby spends her time either with Tyler or studying books. She became fascinated with engineering, particularly the construction of vehicles, for example, cars and motorcycles. Additionally, she discovers a newfound passion for drawing, finding solace and relaxation in replicating the beauty of things.

During her second year in Mystic Falls, Ruby encounters the rest of the founding families and their children. She is pulled into her room by Caroline, who believes Ruby is not living up to her full potential and could enhance her appearance with the correct clothing.

As their friendship blossoms, both begin to unknowingly fill the void of loneliness in each other's hearts. Unknown to them, there was an invisible string coming out from Caroline and connecting to one of the three threads extending from Ruby's being.

In her third year in Mystic Falls, Ruby transforms. She sheds her reserved demeanor and now appears to be a cheerful individual with a hint of childlike innocence. She discovers a love for cookies and has a playful side, though she remains a bit shy when meeting new people.

During this time, Ruby's interests extend beyond academic pursuits. She starts experimenting with building things in a shed that Carol had specifically made for her. Her first project is a rock-paper-scissors machine. Ruby thought it would be fun to play against a robotic opponent.

It's also in her third year that Ruby develops a tiny crush on Bonnie. Whenever Bonnie tries to engage in conversation, Ruby's normally perfect speech turned into a stuttering mess. Bonnie's presence causes her heart to flutter, and she becomes self-conscious about her appearance.

While Ruby finds Elena to be an alright person, she doesn't actively spend time with her, so she maintains her reserved nature around her.

In her fourth year in Mystic Falls, an incident in the forest changes everything. Ruby sneaked out of the house to find a peaceful spot for drawing in the forest but is confronted by a mountain lion. She panicked and tried to quietly sneak away. However, the mountain lion pounced, and in an instinctive act of self-defense, Ruby raised her arms, expecting the worst. To her astonishment, a bright red scythe materializes, blocking the mountain lion's attack.

Her body, as if knowing how to use the scythe, grabbed onto the scythe tightly before flinging the mountain lion away. Then she started to spin the scythe, and dashed forward to the mountain lion. The mountain lion tried to slash its claws at her, but she sidestepped and cut the lion's head off cleanly.

When the adrenaline left her body, the scythe disappeared, and she dropped to the floor. She looked at the body of the mountain lion and threw up before making a hole and burying it. She made a quick prayer and ran away.

"I did it I finally summoned my weapon," She thought happily her mom used to tell her and show her what they were capable of but they wouldn't teach her until she was 15 sadly they died before teaching her how to use her abilities she tried for a while to use them but couldn't so she gave up and hoped she one day would be able to summon her weapon.

She was back in her room trying to summon her scythe back out but she couldn't get it to appear until her mothers' words appeared in her mind 'Remember Ruby you should only use your weapon to protect not to take away one's life'.

Ruby thought back to when she wanted to protect herself from the mountain lion's attack and concentrated on that feeling. Then she felt a weight appear in her hands. It was her scythe.

"Yesss!" Ruby screamed out

"Ruby, are you ok in there" Carol called out worried

"*cough* Yeah Carol I'm ok I just finally solved this question that I was having a hard time with," Ruby answered

"Ooh, you struggle with something that's surprising, anyway. I'm glad you were able to figure it out, honey," Carol congratulated Ruby.

"Thank you, Carol," Ruby smiled

"No problem. Let me know if you need anything," Carol told Ruby before walking away.

"I will!" Ruby yelled out before focusing on her scythe again

She tried to reenact what she did before, but she couldn't. It seemed whatever she did back then was because of adrenaline and luck, she thought, sulking.

She got on Google and decided to look up ways to use a scythe, but she couldn't find anything, so she decided to just figure it out herself.

She looked at the scythe and started to explore everything about it when she found a trigger located on the handle

"Huh, I wonder what this does," she mumbles before pressing it, making the scythe shoot out a bullet at her pillow, causing feathers to fly out.

"Oops," she says as cold sweat drips from her forehead

"I'm so dumb I should've known it had a gun combined with it. Mom told me some weapons were a two-in-one deal," Ruby says while smacking her forehead.

Ever since then, she would go to the forest and draw for a bit before summoning what she calls Crescent Rose and would start to practice it. She found a book on some weapons in the Lockwood library which confused her a bit, but she shrugged and thought that the Lockwood's ancestors must have wrote them.

She would follow the instructions that were written while occasionally making some adjustments to make it better suited her. She also started to work out, which surprised her family a bit and made Richard angry since he found no reason why she should start working out (he's a traditional man), but everyone else was supportive.

She was already developing muscle outlines, which surprised her since she thought it would be a while before any progress would begin to show.

Caroline wanted her to join cheerleading with her but Ruby declined as she felt it wasn't her thing, but told her she would attend the games and cheer for her. Caroline just smiled at that before heading to class together.

Due to Ruby reading a lot during her first year in Mystic Falls she was able to skip a year ahead she could've skipped two years, but she wanted to be with Caroline and wanted to get the chance to get closer to Bonnie so she told them she would like to only skip one year ahead to which they agreed.

Ruby liked Mystic Falls and wished it could be like this forever, but little did she know that a dangerous future was slowly creeping up onto Mystic Falls. Will she be able to handle the darkness when it finally arrives?