2

Chapter 2: One World Is Much Like Another

Summary:

Ruby arrives at Beacon, and meets her friends for the second time.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me. This is the best day ever!" Yang's crushing hug was no more bearable the second time around.

"Pleash stawp." Ruby begged.

Ruby only listened halfheartedly as Yang fussed over her. As happy as she was to with her sister again, her mind was occupied by other things. In just a short few minutes, she would be face to face with Beacon again. Her stomach churned nervously. It had been only a few weeks since she had met Ozpin again, and in that time she had discovered a few things.

While she was back to being shorter, her muscle memory was still intact. Yang had been incredibly proud, if a little surprised, when they had gone out for training and Ruby had completely outclassed her in a spar. Taiyang had chuckled at the whole affair, but wondered aloud just how she had improved so quickly. Ruby had laughed nervously and just called it dumb luck. She tried to keep things a bit under wraps after that.

Not only had her fighting ability not diminished, her semblance was still as powerful as it had been previously. After the debacle with sparring, she knew better than to try this one out in the open. After alerting her dad and sister that she was going for a walk, she trekked off to the woods and let herself go.

Her semblance whipped her past the tree trunks and through the underbrush and just this once, she didn't feel like being careful with it. She separated the rose petals into thirds to rush around trees and bushes in her path and made laps around the forest, sprinkling rose petals everywhere she went. The petals would fade quickly, but Ruby usually kept them to a minimum to avoid being tracked. With no such restriction, she laughed in joy and covered a small section of the forest in as many petals as she could.

Ruby spent lots of her time on Patch thinking about the other person who was like her, the one that Darkness sent back. Who could they be? One of Salem's henchmen would be the obvious choice, but by the time the gods were summoned… Tyrian was dead, Watts hadn't been seen since Atlas, Emerald told them that Hazel had sacrificed himself for her, and Cinder…

Ruby shook her head. After what she had seen, there was no way Cinder would support Salem even if she was sent back, their last meeting had shown her as much. Emerald and Mercury were both helping them destroy Salem. There were no good options. Salem had no supporters left.

Ruby had briefly considered that Darkness had sent back Salem herself, but she dismissed it almost immediately. Darkness despised Salem more than the rest of the humanity, and she was dead when it happened. Did that mean the gods had to send back someone who was alive at the time?

She had no way of knowing, short of asking the gods herself, or finding whoever Darkness sent back. But it was nearly impossible for them to be on Patch. So Ruby enjoyed the seclusion and made a plan. Whoever was chosen, they shouldn't know that Ruby was sent back. She and Light were the only ones present when she accepted his offer. That would give her an edge, as long as she acted normally.

Normally, of course, meant being the awkward teenager she had been when she arrived at Beacon.

Ruby tuned back into the conversation as Glynda's image appeared on the airships hologram. Once she gave her little speech, Ruby walked over to the window of the airship. She placed both hands on the glass. "Look, you can see Beacon from up here-" Ruby said as she sucked in a breath.

Beacon was exactly as she remembered. Ruby half expected a giant grimm dragon to emerge and fly to the top of the tower, but it was still entombed in Mountain Glenn; just another problem that needed solving. There was no row of grimm occupying the entryway, no huntsman wearily stalking the edges, trying desperately to clear the campus.

The picturesque view was only interrupted by the sound of someone retching. Ruby turned away from Beacon to see Jaune doubling over and running for the trash can at the front of the ship. His armor was back to its pure white form, lacking the accents that it gained after the fall of Beacon. Ruby couldn't help but grin at seeing him, still just as dorky looking as he was the first time, and still just as airsick.

It was good to be home.

---

Ruby watched as once again Yang abandoned her right at the entrance of Beacon. This time though, it didn't bother her in the slightest. She had her own schedule to keep to!

Now to go and find Weiss… Ruby had prepared exactly what she wanted to say to her partner, rehearsed it her head dozens of times, changing a word here or there to endear herself more to her partner.

As Yang faded into the distance, Ruby backed up a couple of steps, only to immediately trip over someone's luggage.

"What are you doing!?" An irate voice asked. Ruby looked up and found herself staring right into Weiss' light blue eyes.

They were still just as captivating as when Ruby last saw them, saying a tearful goodbye to each other down in the void. Ruby had promised her that she would get them all out of there, and now… did that world even exist? Were they still trapped down there, waiting for a rescue that might never come? Ruby forced the thoughts from her head. There would be time for that later, after she had made a good impression on her partner.

Weiss had her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. She stared at Ruby expectantly, waiting for an answer. Ruby had wanted to believe that Weiss would recognize her instantly, that somehow they wouldn't have to start over, but there wasn't a shred of recognition in Weiss' eyes.

"Sorry." Ruby said sheepishly.

"Sorry?" Weiss pointed a finger accusingly at Ruby. "Do you have any idea of the damage you could've caused?" Ruby, in fact, did have an idea of the damage she could've caused, and it wasn't much, with the crystals safely packed in their protective cases.

"Uhhh…" Ruby struggled to remember her perfectly rehearsed speech that was intended to make sure they could at least skip the part where Weiss wanted nothing to do with her. She handed a piece of luggage to Weiss.

Weiss continued her tirade, lecturing Ruby about dust and it's many properties, but she had stopped paying attention. She stared at Weiss, had they really been this young? Even with the permanent scowl that she had for their first few weeks at Beacon, she was still beautiful. She had tried to cover up her scar with makeup for their first day, but it could still be seen underneath. How many nights had Ruby spent with Weiss, with her fingers delicately tracing that line?

"Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in?" Weiss asked. Ruby snapped back to attention. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry for tripping over your luggage…?" Ruby offered. Apparently, it wasn't the right answer, as Weiss' scowl deepened even further, which Ruby didn't think was possible.

"What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?" Ruby flinched as Weiss berated her. At Beacon she had always been a little insecure about the fact that she didn't have as much experience as her teammates. Hearing this now, it really drove home the point that this wasn't her Weiss.

"Well- I- I…"

"This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparing and practice you know. We're here to fight monsters!" Weiss crossed her arms and turned her head dismissively. "So watch where you're going!"

"I said I was sorry, princess. Why are you being so mean to me?" Ruby asked. In the back of her head she knew that Weiss was going through a lot at this point, but she didn't have to be so mean about it!

"That's not- I'm not-" Weiss sputtered for a moment. "You ran into me!" She declared, almost shouting.

"It's heiress actually." Blake walked up to the budding argument between them. Her bow sat neatly on her head, not betraying what lay underneath it. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

"Finally, some recognition." Weiss said haughtily. Blake rolled her eyes.

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." Ruby had to suppress a giggle. It had been so long since any of them had been the target of Blake's acerbic tongue that Ruby had almost forgotten how sharp it was.

"What- how dare--! The nerve of-" Weiss sputtered indignantly before turning on her heel and storming off.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby said, but Weiss probably didn't even hear her. Ruby breathed out a sigh. That hadn't gone at all to plan. Was it even better than their first meeting? At least she didn't blow up the docks.

"So what's-" Ruby started, but Blake was already walking away, her nose back in her book. Zero for two on the introductions. "Welcome back to Beacon." Ruby said to no one in particular. She let herself sink to the ground and laid back. Maybe if she sat here long enough she could wake up and realize it had all just been a dream.

"Hey." Ruby opened her eyes. She had almost forgotten that she still had one more chance to make a good impression. "I'm Jaune." Jaune offered her a hand and helped her up.

"Ruby." She said. "Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

---

Ruby and Jaune walked along the grounds. The warmth of summer was just starting to dissipate in favor of fall, and it made for very pleasant weather for taking a stroll around campus. They chatted about the same getting to know you stuff that they had the first time, and it actually seemed like things were going well. Score one friend for Ruby Rose!

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem then people let on!" Jaune defended. Ruby had to stifle a laugh.

"Look, I'm sorry Vomit-boy was the first thing that came to mind."

"Oh yeah? What if I called you Crater-face?" Jaune teased back.

"Hey, that explosion was an accident!" Ruby grinned. It was easy chatting with Jaune.

"Well the name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue." Ruby laughed lightly, and tried to remember what they talked about next.

"So… I got this thing." Ruby unsheathed Crescent Rose and let the blade stick into the ground. Jaune jumped back in surprise and put his hands up.

"Woah! Is that a scythe?" Ruby couldn't help but smile that his reaction was the same the second time around. Secretly she kind of enjoyed that her weapon terrified everyone around her. Once Jaune saw how she could use it, he might faint.

"It's also a customizable, high impact sniper rifle."

"A wha-?"

"It's also a gun." Ruby cocked it just to show off.

"That's cool!"

"So what've you got?" Ruby already knew the answer to the question but it would still be great to let Jaune show off Crocea Mors.

"Oh-" Jaune drew his sword and shield with practiced ease. "I got this sword and shield."

Ruby ooh'ed and aww'ed over it. The conversation was going well enough that Ruby decided to push. "Have you ever thought about adding hard-light dust to your shield?" Jaune stared at Ruby for a moment before providing an answer.

"Actually… I have. And, and- maybe I could add some gravity dust into it? Something that will let me push things away from it?"

Ruby was really excited at the suggestion. She hadn't realized that Jaune had even been considering all this at Beacon. If he had mentioned it to her, she totally would've helped him make all the necessary modifications. Beacon had the facilities too, she could probably convince him to let her use his weapons as a project for Professor Port's class!

"Those are really great ideas, Jaune!" Ruby beamed at him. Jaune gave a small smile and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "So why'd you help me out back there, in the courtyard?"

"Oh, um- I was kind of hoping you could help me find someone." Jaune replied. Looking for someone? Who could Jaune be looking for right now? They had just met; maybe Jaune knew someone from Beacon? He had never mentioned anyone like that before though…

Ruby looked up and realized they were going the completely wrong way if they wanted to get to the auditorium. In fact, they were headed towards Beacon Tower. "Hmm… Hey, where are we going?"

Jaune looked at Ruby anxiously before answering. "To find Ozpin."

"… Why would we need to find Professor Ozpin?" Ruby questioned. Jaune looked around the empty courtyard before replying.

"We have to warn him, about what's coming, about Cinder, about the grimm, about Salem." He his voice was a whisper.

Hearing Salem's name from Jaune's mouth was enough for Ruby to finally process what she was hearing. She was so fixated on the idea that whoever Darkness picked would want to aid Salem that she never considered that it could be anyone besides one of her former followers.

"Darkness picked you?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah… I thought he would pick someone else but- woah!" Ruby threw herself at Jaune in a hug.

"Jaune!! You're you!! You're here!! Brothers, I thought I was going to have to do this alone, but you're here!" Jaune hugged her back and laughed weakly.

"It's good to see you again too, Ruby." Jaune said once Ruby released him. "Do you think Ozpin will listen to us?" Ruby thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.

"I don't know. What we're saying is going to be hard to believe." Plus, Ozpin really wouldn't like what they were saying. At worst, he might think they were somehow spies for Salem. Telling him everything without a plan might be worse than staying silent for the time being. "The fall didn't happen until the Vytal Festival, and even the fight at the docks is still not for a couple months. We should wait until after initiation, come up with complete plan."

"Okay- What's our short-term plan then? If I couldn't find you, or if I was wrong about you, I was kind of going to march up to Ozpin's office and tell him everything I knew… what was your plan?"

"Oh, um. I was just going to try and do everything like I did the first time until I figured out who Darkness pulled back with me. If it was someone like Cinder, she would totally know something was wrong if I did things differently." And that was something Ruby really didn't want to have to fight against.

"But now that you know I'm here with you?" Jaune questioned.

"I guess we should just try to get our teams and partners back? Initiation is in the morning."

"Do you think you can give me a landing strategy before then?" Jaune asked sheepishly. "I mean, I'm still gonna drop like a rock without my shield upgrades." Ruby eyed his shield and shook her head.

"Sorry Jaune, but I think you're on your own for that one. Once we get our teams together I can help with upgrades."

Now that Ruby didn't have to be worried about some unknown person watching her every move and possibly finding out her secret, initiation was going to be a piece of cake. Maybe even a piece of chocolate cake. She could use the time to work on making Weiss like her more too! She was determined to thaw her ice queens heart twice!

Ruby was feeling optimistic. It was only her first day back and she had already accidentally figured out who else had come back with her. She and Jaune could figure out where to go from here together, and now she didn't have to worry about one of Salem's henchmen finding out her secret.

On the other hand… Jaune was a strange pick. Darkness had to know that they would work together. Had the god just not paid attention? No, it couldn't be that easy.

"Do you know why Darkness picked you?" Ruby asked. Light had warned her that whoever Darkness picked would be the downfall of humanity, but that couldn't be Jaune. He was a big teddy bear, and one of her best friends to boot. Maybe Light didn't know who his brother was going to pick?

"I… I don't know. He told me I'd have the chance to save Pyrrha," Jaune hesitated in saying the name. "But beyond that he didn't make me promise to do anything else, or attach any other conditions to his offer." He brought a hand to his chin. "It's something I've been thinking about. There were lots of better choices, Tyrian, Hazel, Salem, even someone like Roman or Emerald." Ruby put a hand on his shoulder.

"No matter the reason, I'm glad you're here." Jaune smiled back at her. "Where did you go after we landed at Beacon?" He had called her crater face, but she had managed to not literally blow a hole in front of Weiss this time. In her excitement she hadn't noticed the slip, but that really should've tipped her off.

"I went looking for Pyrrha."

"Did you find her?" Jaune exhaled before answering.

"Yeah, but- I don't know if I can talk to her." Ruby placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder reassuringly.

"You can tomorrow, before initiation." Jaune still looked unconvinced. "We're going to figure out how to talk to them again, together. At least this time you won't hit on Weiss by mistake!" Jaune grimaced slightly.

"I think I know better to hit on your partner." Ruby laughed lightly at the response.

"Come on, we should head over to hear Ozpin's address. We can meet up after we get our teams back to come up with a plan."

Jaune nodded. "Before that… we can't let the gods ever come back. We were all fighting Salem together and that still wasn't enough for them."

Ruby agreed with him. The gods weren't going to solve anything, just create more problems. And she already had enough problems that she needed to start solving.

---

"Ruby, over here! I saved you a spot!" Yang waved at Ruby from inside the auditorium.

"Oh- I'll see you after the ceremony Jaune!" Ruby waved to Jaune and rejoined her sister.

"How's your first day going little sister?" Yang asked.

"It's going great!" Ruby beamed. She had met her teammates and sure while that hadn't been the best, meeting up with Jaune more than made up for it! "I met some people, and even made a friend!" Yang's smile turned up a degree at the news.

"Hey that's awesome sis! Way to go!" She seemed pleasantly surprised that Ruby was taking to socializing so well. Ruby was pretty happy with herself too. She looked around trying to see if she could spot some familiar faces.

Pyrrha was the easiest to spot, tall and confident, her hand on her hip. Several students milled about around her, but none dared to approach. Jaune stood on the periphery. He shifted his weight back and forth, took a step forward and two steps back.

Ren and Nora walked in together, Nora prattling on about something while Ren kept a small smile on his face. He made sure that she didn't accidentally bump into anyone while they found their spots in the crowd.

Ruby kept searching, and it wasn't long before she spotted her familiar white hair. Weiss stood with her arms crossed, stewing over the events of the morning. Her stark white outfit stood out against the rest of the crowd. Ruby could go over and talk to her, should go over and talk to her. Maybe she could salvage her introduction by asking Weiss about her glyphs! Weiss always took pride in her semblance.

Wait, would Weiss think it was weird that she already knew about her semblance? I mean, sure someone could have figured out her semblance if they knew who she was, since it was hereditary, but would she come off as some kind of stalker? That might do more harm than good actually…

"See something you like, Rubes?" Yang waggled her eyebrows. Ruby gave a light yelp from being startled out of her thoughts.

"Nope! Just uh, looking around!"

"Uh huh." Yang said with a grin.

The opportunity for Ruby to talk to Weiss passed with her still contemplating and staring at her partner.

"Ahem… I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge." Ruby found that statement almost ironic at this point. Knowledge was about the only thing she didn't need more of now.

As Ozpin spoke, Ruby wondered about how far he must have been in his merge. Oscar didn't tell her much about the experience. Whenever the topic came up, he always said that there wasn't much to say. It wasn't that he didn't notice the changes, but dwelling on them just made accepting it more difficult.

The stern Ozpin on stage was quite different than the happier Ozpin that had greeted her last night. Was this some of the last vestiges of Ozpin the man before Ozma the immortal had consumed him?

Ozpin ended his short speech in the same manner as he did the first time, and Glynda instructed them to gather in the ballroom tonight. From across the room, Ruby made eye contact with Jaune, and gestured at Pyrrha while giving him a small nod.

---

"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang plopped down on the sleeping bag next to Ruby. "What's that?"

Ruby grabbed her notebook. "Nothing!" She squeaked, quickly shoving the notebook away. "Just uh, writing a letter to the gang back at Signal." She had been keeping an ever growing list of notes, things to remember, and ideas. She had started to run dry on inspiration during her last few days on Patch, but now that Jaune was here, it opened up an entirely new avenue of possibilities. After initiation they would have time to go over it all.

Yang chuckled at Ruby. "Aw, don't be embarrassed, that's so cute!" Ruby turned on her back and stared up at the ceiling and listened to Yang talk about what she got up to while Ruby was talking with Jaune in the courtyard.

In the distance, she heard the distinctive flick of a match going off, and upon sitting up saw the faint glow of candles. Blake sat next to the candles, dressed in her black pajamas, looking as calm, collected, and poised as ever. Ruby could hardly understand how she could maintain that composure. At most it had been only a few months since she had left the White Fang.

Ruby glanced over at Yang, who had also turned her head towards the noise. "That girl…" Ruby said.

"You know her?" Yang asked. Ruby couldn't give the entirely truthful response.

"Sort of, I saw her this morning but she left before I could say something." Ruby paused. "We should go talk to her, she looks lonely."

"Great idea sis!" Yang jumped up and grabbed Ruby's arm, dragging her along as she went to meet Blake again. Ruby trailed a half step behind her sister as Blake lowered her book. The last thing Ruby wanted to do was get in the way of her sister and her soulmate and mess up their initial meeting.

"Helloooo!" Yang greeted. "I believe you two may know each other?"

Blake's eyes locked onto Ruby, and studied her for a moment before nodding. Her gaze was still just as piercing, seeming to see through to her soul. For a moment, Ruby was convinced that Blake knew that she wasn't what she appeared to be, before the moment passed and Blake looked over at Yang.

"So… what's your name?" Yang asked.

Blake sighed and let her gaze drift back to her book. "Blake."

"Well Blake, I'm Yang!" Yang pointed at herself. "Ruby's older sister. I like your bow!"

"Thanks." Blake said.

"It goes great with your… pajamas!" Ruby gave a strained half smile. How on earth did her sister manage to somehow make a worse impression with her future girlfriend than Ruby had made with her partner??

"Right…" Blake said, entirely disinterested.

"Nice night, don't you think?"

"Yes. It's lovely. Almost as lovely as this book… that I will continue to read… as soon as you leave." Yang turned back towards her sister.

"Yeah, this girl's a lost cause." Yang said dismissively.

"What's it about?" Ruby could hardly contain her excitement. She and Blake had spent many a night chatting about books, Ruby devoured entire series recommended to her by teammate in between training and classes. Their late nights discussing them had been one of the little things she missed most about Beacon.

"Huh?" Blake looked up from her book.

"Your book. Does it have a name?"

"Well," Blake shifted her gaze over to Yang. "It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body." Her brow furrowed and she narrowed her eyes.

"Oh yeah… that's real lovely." Yang trailed off. Blake blinked her eyes and sighed, returning her focus to Ruby as she spoke.

"I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters… They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress."

"Why is that?" Blake's voice was small, almost reverent, like she cared deeply about the answer. "Hoping that you'll live happily ever after?"

"I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves." Blake smiled up at her.

"That's very ambitious. Unfortunately, the real world isn't as forgiving as a fairy tale." Her eyes gained a faraway look as she finished.

"Well, that's why we're here- to make it better." Ruby looked at Blake. She could see her processing those words, and she opened her mouth to speak when Yang blurted out.

"Ohhh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" This time Ruby didn't resist when Yang scooped her up and made cooing noises at her. After being separated for months, and having to deal with the stress of not knowing if they would survive their next battle for years, she was more than happy to let Yang be as embarrassing as she wanted.

"Well, Ruby, Yang, it's been a pleasure to meet you both." Once Yang set her down from the crushing hug Ruby smiled down at Blake.

"You too! I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of each other soon!"

Yang and Ruby departed and went back to their sleeping bags. It was about time for lights out when Yang whispered something to her.

"Since when did you learn to talk to people?" She asked. Ruby laughed nervously.

"Oh, just thought it was time to break out of my shell, meet new people, you know?"

"You're doing a great job sis, I'm proud of you."

"Heh, thanks Yang."

There was so much to do. People to talk to, questions to answer, a monster to fight. But right now, the first step was getting her teammates, her family, back at her side, and getting paired up with the most wonderful partner in all of Remnant.

Then, she could really start making some changes.

Notes:

To everyone who guessed Jaune (which of the people who commented, was everyone), you were spot on!

There were some really good other guesses, my favorite of which were Hazel and Emerald. Both would've been really great choices, Hazel is one of my favorite antagonists and a story about Emerald trying to redeem Cinder would be top tier.

Jaune was the obvious choice, and I picked him long before I ever put pen to paper for this fic. Later plot hinges around the fact that it's him that's chosen. I also just really love Ruby & Jaune's friendship. There aren't enough platonic M/F friendships in media.

I was kinda worried about revealing the champion of darkness so early, but there are plenty more twists and turns to come!

Thank you for reading ^_^