Prologue - What Once Was

Sometimes, Ruby thought to herself, being the most wanted Huntress on Remnant could be a bit of a drag.

Ruby Rose, self proclaimed 'Huntress Extraordinaire', dove to the side, the tattered edges of her trademark crimson cloak swirling in her wake. White hot lines of gunfire cut through the empty air behind her as she rolled across the dusty ground and back to her feet. She sprinted across the cracked road, vaulting over the burnt out wreck of a car and sliding behind the half destroyed wall of what must have been a cafe lining the once busy street.

Ruby braced Crescent Rose against her, peering down the scope and searching for her target. An annoyed huff blew her red bangs out of her one good eye. A long scar twisted its way across the other side of her face, covered beneath a black eye patch.

A terrible reminder of one of the most brutal battles she'd ever had, and the worst day in her war filled life. One that she wished she could forget.

She dropped the crosshairs over one of the twelve Atlesian Knight's searching for her. Nearly seven feet tall, covered in bulky armor plating, and armed to the teeth, they only had a cursory resemblance to the sleek and shiny 'guardians' Atlas brought to the Vytal Festival so many years ago.

Now, they simply looked like what they always were; war machines, designed as a desperate last attempt by a dying people to impose order on a world that thrived on chaos.

The desolate, destroyed ruins of the once cheerful city of Vale Ruby hide within confirmed that without a shadow of a doubt. Twelve years of war, both civil between the people of Remnant and for survival against the Grimm, tended to do that. The fact that, up until a few weeks ago, Atlas remained as the last civilized country on the world of Remnant also attested to the state of things.

Ruby squeezed her baby's trigger, and the sniper kicked against her shoulder. The robot's head exploded in a burst of metal wiring. It crumpled to the ground, twitching ever so slightly.

The remaining eleven combat androids spun towards her position, bringing their Dust infused weaponry to bare. Ruby vanished in a flourish of roses as they opened up, barraging the cafe with a hail of gunfire.

Ruby frowned as she dashed away. The Knights had chased her from the nearly a mile out from the former Vale city proper into the heart of the ruins. Surely they had to run out of ammo soon?

Granted, when she'd first stumbled across the roaming platoon of Atlesian robots, there had been double their current number.

With a put-upon sigh and a flick of her wrist, Crescent Rose extended out into her scythe form. The familiar weight of custom designed weapon resting in her palms sent warm confidence rushing up her arms. She could feel the tingle of Aura electrifying her muscles as her Semblance gifted her with supernatural speed.

A not-so-innocent grin pulled at her lips. She took a breath, and appeared in the middle of the Knights formation with a slash of crimson and black. Two robot heads clunked to the broken asphalt.

"Hi there," Ruby chirped.

The androids, as completely outmatched as they were, still reacted instantaneously. Sensors looked onto Ruby's new position and robotic joints whirred as rifles were brought to bear on the Huntress.

"Aw, aren't you guys happy to see me?" Ruby pouted. She vanished with screech of steel tearing through steel. Mechanical limbs dropped, cut clean from their owners with naught but a few spins of her beloved scythe.

Gunfire swept up and down the street, tearing even larger holes into the already dilapidated buildings. Maybe when she had been younger, this would've been a challenge. Something to struggle with, maybe something she might need help from her team to deal with.

But that wasn't something she had anymore. She'd been alone for a long time. So Ruby made sure she grew stronger.

The Huntress frowned, memories she wanted to forget ever existed bubbling, unbidden and unwelcome, just under the surface. She tamped them down with an angry scowl, and the Knights paid the price of her sudden fury.

She dashed through the androids again. Another two robots joined their brethren as nothing more than junk on the ground. The remaining soldiers, perhaps realizing that she would pick them off one by one, circled up back to back. Every direction had a rifle covering it.

Except for one. A single, Gravity Dust powered gunshot launched the Huntress into the air. She landed in the center of the Knights and set to work. Crescent Rose blurred through the air. The Huntress wielded her beloved scythe with a masterful touch, and the reinforced blade slid through the thick armor plates. Dismembered robotic body parts clattered across the street.

It's almost like a game of pick up sticks. The idle thought floated through Ruby's head as her blade twirls around her. Only with arms and legs instead of sticks. So, like Yang's version-

She cut off that train of that abruptly, before it went somewhere she'd rather not. But the moment of dealing with emotional baggage, as brief as it was, cost her.

With their numbers dwindling rapidly and their executioner in their midst, the few functioning robots dove at Ruby in a last ditch attempt. She shredded the first into scrap metal, back pedalling away desperately. The next Knight caught the edge of her battered chest plate with a finger before she could remove the offending limb.

The last one slipped past her guard and smashed its plate metal gauntlet into her her cheek, sending her careening backwards. Ruby's limp body vanished into a cloud of dust and debris and she crashed into the bombed out cafe. Crescent Rose hit the ground.

Snapping up its rifle the android peppered the rubble with a stream of gunfire. Fire and dust filled the air until the chamber clicked shut on an empty magazine. The Knight scanned the settling dust cloud, its sensors checking and double checking for any hint of life.

The alert, a detected heartbeat, came a moment too late.

A blur of black and crimson blasted out of the rubble. The android raised its rifle in a futile attempt to club the Huntress back to the dirt, only to lose control of its limbs as an Aura covered fist punctured its chest armor. Icy fingers wrapped around its Dust powered core and violently ripped it from the Knight's body, tossing it aside.

The Knight slumped over, its many systems failing by the second. A slim hand grasped it by the neck and its optics saw a single, furious silver eye staring down at it. The eye suddenly gleamed an angry crimson, and with a jerk Ruby tore the Knight's head off.

Ruby dropped the collection of broken parts to the ground, each breath coming hard and fast. Rage, burning red hot, flooded her veins. Her fingers twitched spastically, and she knew her fury radiated over the ruined city like a giant, emotional flare. It called to every single one of the monstrous Creature of Grimm that still roamed the streets of Vale.

If she didn't control her anger, Ruby knew she'd draw all of the Grimm to her, and more. As the only human for miles and with her emotions running wild, there'd be no doubt she draw the attention of the Grimm spawning deep within the desolate Beacon Campus.

She'd be here soon. If the gunfire and explosions hadn't drawn her attention, then the tantalizing taste of Ruby's darker emotions spiralling out of control would. And if it didn't, Ruby had no issue waltzing into the corpse of Beacon and tearing the place down around her until She made her appearance.

The soft patter of paws on broken rubble drifted to Ruby's ears. Ruby flicked her wrist, and Crescent Rose rocketed back into the Huntress' outstretched hand as the first Grimm appeared before her.

A pack of Beowolves crept into the street, clambering over the broken rooftops and slinking out from dark alleys. Their bone white armor glinted in the orange light of a dying sun. Ruby's knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip around Crescent Rose. The Beowolves slowly circled around her, keeping a respectful distance from the reach of her blade. Ruby's gaze jumped from monster to monster, waiting for the first attack.

It never came. The wolves sat back on their haunches, still watching her with haunted, soulless eyes. They covered the rooftops and lined the street, but made no move to advance on her. Merely wait. Dozens, if not hundreds of crimson gazes all focused on her, as more Grimm arrived with each passing moment.

It would've been unsettling, if Ruby hadn't been so consumed by her own fury over all else.

"Well?" Ruby scowled, shifting her scythe in her hands. The Beowolves stood still as stone, "Are we doing this or what?"

"So impatient."

Ruby froze. The soft click of shoes on broken stone echoed up the street behind her. Her voice followed the footsteps. "I would have thought you would have learned restraint by now."

Ruby turned slowly to face her adversary. Silver eyes met black and red. Ruby's blood roared, pounding at her temple. She growled. "About time you showed up."

Salem, Queen of the Grimm, raised an immaculate eyebrow. "You do know exactly how to draw my attention, Last Huntress."

Ruby grit her teeth. "I'm surprised you came down here to deal with me yourself."

"I don't believe in hiding within a gilded tower watching others attempt what only I can handle. Besides," Salem said, running her hands through the coarse fur of the Beowolf at her side as it nuzzled her hand.

Her black and crimson eyes meet Ruby's gaze. "We both know that my children would have been mere annoyances to you at best. I see no point in wasting their lives."

"Well that's a first. Never bothered you to throw them at us before." Ruby bit out, her grip tightening around Crescent Rose's hilt.

"On the contrary," Salem said, her thin fingers idly stroking the Beowolf's ear. Her lips quirked as it's long tongue lolled from its jaws.. "Despite what you may think of me, I happen to care quite deeply for them."

Salem's eyes glanced towards Ruby. "I wonder if the same can be said for you and your family, Little Rose?"

With a snarl, Ruby spun her scythe around her body, burying the blade into the ground to stabilize herself. With the barrel locked onto her target, Ruby squeezed the trigger. A lance of fire leapt from the rifle, rocketing down the street-

Only to be deflected away with a casually raised hand. The dust round ricocheted into the remains of the cafe, detonating and engulf the broken building in a roaring fireball. Ruby worked her rifle's action, squeezing the trigger in perfect time as she locked another bullet into the chamber.

Again and again, she fired round after round down the street at Salem, only for the inhuman woman to casually brush each aside with a dismissive flick of her wrist.

Lightning scorched the street, razor sharp winds tore gouges into the street, and a wall of ice ripped through the roof of another building lining the street, collapsing the already weakened walls.

Ruby snarled as she squeezed the trigger one last time, hearing the bolt click shut on the empty magazine.

Salem reached out and snatched the final round from the air. Ruby's face paled.

The Grimm woman clutched the Gravity Dust bullet in her pale hand, staring at it from one angle and then another. The round pulsed with raw energy, cracking the stone beneath Salem's feet. The Beowolves shied away from her, unwilling to be torn in half by the unstable Dust.

"Curious," she wondered, "Mankind prided itself so much in their little tools. Dust was your way of trying to manipulate nature itself. And yet, look around at the failure of all they wanted to achieve."

"Because of you!" Ruby shouted back, letting Crescent Rose shift back into a scythe, "You destroyed everything!"

"You know that's untrue," Salem admonished. "Mankind tore itself apart, fighting among themselves for centuries. Mankind's creation was a mistake. My children and I are simply nature's way of correcting the damage of those playing with powers beyond their comprehension."

The Grimm Queen allowed herself a moment of introspection. "Still, look at all I've done without your tools. Imagine what I could have accomplished with Dust?"

Salem tossed the Gravity round back towards Ruby. The Huntress' eyes widened, and she had little more than a fraction of a second to dive out of the way with the help of her Semblance.

The round imploded, violently tearing into the very fabric of the world and crushing all that surrounded it into a single, dense mass. Anything within the blast zone no longer existed, only torn scars of rock and concrete.

Ruby rolled back onto her feet, guard up and her scythe at the ready. The surviving Beowolves silently watched her. Ruby glanced back up the now empty street, then down the opposite way searching for her foe.

"Or what if I had Aura, Little Rose?" A voice asked from behind her, "What could I do then?"

Ruby snapped into action, Crescent Rose spinning in a cyclone of sharpened steel around her. She screamed, "No one gets to call me that!"

Her strikes met nothing but open palms brushing them aside as Salem danced between the wild slashes. Ruby swung faster and faster, desperately trying to score even a single blow. The electrifying feeling of her aura filled her muscles again.

Ruby exploded into a cloud of rose petals, launching herself through space and more importantly behind Salem. The next strike finally broke through the woman's calm demeanor, eliciting wide, shocked eyes.

The Last Huntress tapped into her Semblance again, and again, assaulting the Grimm Queen from every angle before her last blow had even landed. Each swing came ever closer to striking true. A grimace flickered across Salem's lips as the cutting edge slid fractions of an inch from her neck.

A snarl broke Ruby's lips. Cold filled her chest.

The last blow came hurtling in, too fast. Salem gasped as steel cut flesh.

"Enough!" The Grimm woman backhanded Ruby, sending a jolt through her bones. She landed awkwardly on the street as the rose petals drifted to the cracked ground.

Black ichor, tiny oily beadlets, dripped from the slice along Salem's cheek. Flakes of ice covered the already white skin. The droplets sizzled and burned as they fell into the blanket of petals beneath the two women's feet.

"You've become much more frustrating as of late," Salem stated slowly, wiping away the frost covering her wound.

"You always underestimate me," Ruby shot back. "Cinder did the same thing. And you know how that ended for her."

"Do not delude yourself. Cinder was human, just as flawed as all others, even with my guidance." Salem said. Angry, black energy gathered at her fingertips and very air seemed to scream in agony. "I've grown tired of these games we've played, Little Soul."

"Try it." Ruby shot back. A deep, soul numbing cold gripped at her heart. Wispy white flames leaked from her silver eye and a skull throbbing ache begun to slowly pound harder and harder in her head. "See how that works out for you!"

She remembered a long past time when she could chase away the chill and the ache with memories of a sharp smile, a stifled purr, or a terrible pun.

But she'd long since buried all those memories away deep within her psyche, and Ruby wasn't about to unlock that door anytime soon. The dead held no bearing on the few still living in Remnant, and the clock had started.

She only had so long before the pain swallowed her, and she would have to either flee and hide again, or fall and die in battle. And Ruby swore, she was done running.

Ruby raised her hand, conjuring a dozen enormous shards of ice with a mere thought, materializing them in mid air behind her.

With a cry, she launched them towards Salem, who watched the frozen missiles progress with an impassive gaze.

With an almost disappointed sigh, Salem discharged the power clutched in her hand. A wave of unnatural black energy washed over the ice, melting and evaporating every last one of them instantly. The air between the two women filled with a cold mist.

"That didn't work the first time," Salem commented idly, "I expected better-"

She cut off abruptly, eyes widening, as she suddenly leapt backwards. A frost covered scythe blade slashed across the empty air. Snarling, Ruby leapt from the cloud of mist and unleashed a series of fluid strikes all with the goal of separating Salem's head from her body.

The Grim woman slipped between every single one, Dust forged steel whipping through the air scant inches from pale white skin. Even as ruby forced herself to move faster, strike faster, wielding Crescent Rose as an extension of her own will and leaving a trail of freezing air in its wake. The Last Huntress felt her muscles straining, feasting greedily on the Aura she fed them. Cold lightning lanced through her veins and she moved at inhumanly fast speeds, well beyond the limits of even a 'normal' huntress.

Playing sole host to the raw power of the Winter Maiden had its perks.

Red and white blurs danced up the ravaged street, with Ruby in control of the pace. Where Salem had started off dodging, now she was forced to parry and deflect the scythe blade aside with her hands. Frost crept up her hands from each blow she knocked away.

An irritated frown spread across Salem's brow. "Pathetic."

Lashing out, the Grimm woman caught Crescent Rose by the blade. The icy metal bit into the flesh of her hand, but sank no further even with Ruby's entire weight behind the blow. Rime and slowly spread over Salem's fingers, encasing them in a thin layer of ice.

"This is truly the best you can do, little soul?" Salem asked, her glowing red eyes flicking to the lines of black ichor running slowly down her palm. "All your powers, and this is what you offer me. Perhaps I did overestimate you. You've become little more than an aggravation."

"Glad I finally got under your skin," Ruby grunted, unwilling to give Salem the satisfaction of the last word. She yanked on Crescent Rose's hilt, but Salem's grip held firm. "Or whatever you have. Do you even actually have skin?"

"Such a quick tongue," Salem mused. She lowered her arm slowly, dragging Crescent Rose's blade down towards the ground. Ruby struggled futilely against the inhumane strength. The tip of the scythe cracked against the broken asphalt, and Ruby realized her arms had gone limp.

"No doubt something you picked up from your sister, yes?"

A memory of golden hair stained with a mess of liquid red rose to the front of Ruby's mind. Blake's primal, furious, heartbroken screech echoed in her ears.

Blood everywhere. So much blood.

Something dark, and ice cold, settled deep in Ruby's chest. A whisper slipped past her lips. "Shut up..."

A chill whipped through the ruins of Vale. The Beowolves, still watching the battle between the two women, whimpered and slunk farther back into the shadows. Dark, stormy clouds gathered above the city.

Ruby ripped Crescent Rose free, launching back into a barrage haphazard of cuts and sloppy slashes. Salem weaved around them with little effort.

"Do you still blame me for what happened to your family, Ruby Rose?" Salem asked between strikes. "It's time for you to be honest with yourself."

Salem sidestepped a overhead slash that smashed into the ground with force of a piston, pulverizing the rubble into a fine dust. She raised a questioning eyebrow. "It was not my weakness that caused Yang Xiao-Long's death."

"Shut up." Ruby growled, lunging through the powdered rubble. Silver flecked with crimson glared at the Grimm woman as she slammed her closed fist into Salem's guard, sending jolts down her bones. "It's your fault!"

"Hardly." Salem's hand wrapped around the neck of Ruby's cloak and the Last Huntress suddenly found herself soaring through the air. Her back slammed into a still-standing lightpole. Her ribs screamed at her and Ruby felt the metal bend beneath the impact.

"I've only done what I've needed to in order to survive." Ruby landed hard on her hands and knees. She coughed, splattering the dusty, broken road with blood. "It was not my choice that killed Blake Belladonna."

Pleading words, babbled and incoherent, mixed between nights of screaming. Endless hours of dull, blank eyes staring at something unseeable. Shattering glass, followed by a horrifyingly blissful silence and twisted limbs.

"Stop. Stop… talking…" Ruby bit out. Cold numbed the fiery pain burning through her side, letting her force her way to her feet. She ground her teeth together, biting down hard enough on the inside of her cheek to draw blood.

Around her, a trio of Beowolves slunk closer. The copper scent drew them in, wafting past their noses. Their claws crunched into the ground.

A hateful, crimson eye glared out at Salem from beneath matted, red and black hair. The urge to rip the Grimm woman's glowing eyes from her inhuman skull hit the Last Huntress with all the urgency of breathing.

"You destroyed your own family, Ruby Rose. I had no direct hand in it," Salem said, casually tossing Crescent Rose to the side. The weapon bounced and clattered over the debris. "I am not the one who killed the Ice Queen, Weiss Schnee."

Porcelain skin and hot, sticky blood covering her hands. Silky, snowy hair slipping between her fingers. White hot rage, so vivid she could barely see straight.

Snow began to drift down from the black clouds, dancing this way and that in the violent winds.

"Do not pretend your hands are clean, little soul. The so-called Crimson Reaper collected her souls, did she not?" Salem asked without truly expecting an answer. The Beowolf nearest Ruby lowered onto its haunches, muscles ready to pounce.

Guilt, fury, and despair exploded through Ruby's veins, beating a harsh, painful tempo in her skull. Her heart pounded in her chest and her missing eye pulsed with phantom pain, a spot of white agony at the edge of her skull.

"SHUT UP!"

Silver-white energy radiated from Ruby in a pulse, crashing over the Beowolves encircling her and cascading down the street. The Beowolves shrieked, their flesh growing grey and stony in mere moments. White flames rose from Ruby's eye and another pulse reverberated through the ruined buildings. The three Bewolves, petrified mid leap, crumbled to dust as unrestrained power washed over them.

Salem took a startled step back, snarling as she shielded herself with her arms. Her pale skin cracked and petrified, fading to a dull grey. The Queen of Grimm dropped to one knee, gasping for breath.

Sensing their mistress' pain, the remaining Beowolves leapt to her defense. A rolling howl echoed through the countryside as they rushed towards Ruby en masse, pouring in over the rooftops.

"No!" Ruby screamed.

Jagged shards of ice erupted from the earth around Ruby, skewering through the Grimm charging her and shredding them mercilessly. Ruby flicked her wrist, snatching Crescent Rose from the air as it rocketed back towards her.

The Last Huntress vanished in a swirl of frost covered rose petals. A crimson streak dashed through the columns of ice crisscrossing the street in the blink of an eye. The scythe blade sang as it ripped through the air and a pale white arm fell to the ground.

Salem blinked, her mouth caught open in a soundless scream with black ichor painting the side of her face. The dismemberment happened so fast, she never even felt the slice. Even now, instead of the pain she expected the Grimm woman only felt the prickling numbness of ice creeping its way through her body.

Black shadows swallowed Salem, and she materialized atop of the broken roofs nearby. She clutched at her missing arm even as her fingers started to turn stony and still.

Ruby appeared in a red blur and a shower of petals, a murderous gleam in her eye and with Crescent Rose already swinging towards Salem's neck. The air crackled with eldritch power as ice coated the scythe.

It normally took so much effort to even summon a few shards of ice, but now it felt so easy. Power and burning rage bubbled at her fingertips, begging to be used.

"Don't you run away from me!"

Salem coated her remaining fist in unholy black power and drove it into Ruby's stomach, launching the Huntress skyward and driving the air from her lungs.

At the mere thought, a jagged pillar of ice exploded from within the building into the air above Ruby. She spun and braced her boots against the underside of the frozen structure, kicking off hard and rocketing back down towards Salem in a wild spin.

The Grimm woman rolled to the side and Crescent Rose sunk deep into the rooftop, sharp crystals of ice blossoming from the point of impact. With a growl, Ruby ripped the scythe free and charged Salem.

The second it took gave Salem a brief moment to focus herself. Black wisps and crackling lightning coalesced in her hand in the form of a dual bladed staff, materializing from the ether the same way Ruby had seen Grimm spawn.

The two weapons clashed amid the snowy gusts, before separating and slamming back into each other again and again as the two women searched for even the smallest opening to exploit. Each blow from the crimson scythe sent ice spreading over the rooftop like a white plague and each deflected counterstrike from Salem's staff cut scorched swathes into the crumbling concrete.

Blurs of crimson and white danced back and forth across the rooftop, slowly but surely destroying the building. With a growl, Ruby spun away from their latest exchange and slammed the base of her scythe into Salem's stomach. The pale skinned woman sputtered and doubled over.

Ruby swept Crescent Rose upward, slamming Salem's jaw shut and knocking the woman into the air. Flecks of black blood cascaded from purple lips. Anticipation surged through Ruby at the sight of her opponent hanging above her, vulnerable.

Roaring, Ruby swung Crescent Rose overhead and slashed across the exposed woman's body. Frost instantly froze the wound close, jagged chunks of ice exploding from Salem's back covered in ichor.

Salem gasped and spasmed, white hot pain clashing with the ever spreading chill that struck deep to her core. Her knees weakened and one of her legs gave way.

Ruby's one glowing eye narrowed. In a fit of rage, she raised her hand towards Salem, clenching her first tightly closed.

Razor sharp icicle blades sprouted from the rooftop, catching Salem through the chest and suspending her in the air like macabre sculpture. The sound of the Grimm woman's barely suppressed scream was practically musical to Ruby's ears.

Ruby stalked forward, hooking Crescent Rose's blade around the back of Salem's neck. "I warned you not to underestimate me."

Salem struggled to lift her head enough to meet Ruby's gaze. She chuckled weakly. "Indeed. It seems you've made a fool of me, little soul. Your mother would be quite proud."

Crescent Rose bit through pale skin with a sudden tug, drawing a grimace from Salem. A single crimson eye, surrounded by glowing white and silver flames, glared at Salem.

"You don't get to talk about her," she snarled, "Or about my team. Ever."

"My mistake," Salem agreed, a dribble of blood running down her chin. Ruby jolted back in surprise. "I shall remember not to make that mistake again."

"What do you mean, again?" Ruby asked, her grip on Crescent Rose tightening. "Do you really think I'm just going to let you walk away?"

Salem scoffed, coughing up another wave of blood. "Of course not. I'd expect you to kill me-"

"Of course I'm going to kill you," Ruby interrupted. The scythe blade sank a touch deeper into Salem's neck. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

"So hasty. Always charging forward without thought, little soul," Salem stared at her, through her. Ruby shuddered. "I am patient, Ruby Rose. Beyond what you can comprehend. You may kill me here, but you have no chance of ever winning."

Blistering heat rose from beneath Ruby's boots, and reality started to tear around them. The air distorted and space seemed to fold in on itself. Ruby's eye widened as a high pitched scream shattered the air.

The Huntress yanked hard on Crescent Rose and the blade sliced through Salem's neck effortlessly, sending her head toppling to the rooftop. Her body fell limp, her skin quickly fading from white to grey.

But it was too late to stop whatever Salem had started.

Black lightning leapt and danced across the roof, illuminating a giant, glowing glyph. Ruby tried to turn, to dash away and run, channeling all her Aura, her Semblance, any power she had left. The lines flashed with a strange, unnatural light-

And Ruby's world exploded into soul crushing torment. A tsunami of raw negative emotion collapsed over her, an unending cascade of suffering. She screamed into the void as her body tore itself apart, unable to handle the torment, baring her soul to the physical embodiment of rage, anguish and terror.

Every single bad or unhappy moment in her life rushed by her in a repeating loop, the emotions within them amplified and overpowering. She felt abandoned, betrayed, and burning hatred with no target expect herself. She rewatched every single death she'd ever witnessed, hating herself just a bit more each time, their faces searing themselves into her brain. But none more so than those of her former friends and family.

Beneath the torture, another feeling slowly grew. Regret. A desire to have done things differently. She could've done better, been better. Maybe she could have saved them.

Lightning shot through her soul, each strike ripping it apart. Right as her mind reached its limit and started to shatter one last coherent thought slipped through. "I wish I could fix everything."

And suddenly, the pain was gone.

Trembling, her body wracked by the phantom of heart stopping agony, Ruby slowly opened her eyes and blinked blearily. Flickering orange and yellow lights sat out of focus against a dark background. She tried to blink through the haze unsuccessfully.

Growling weakly in the back of her throat, Ruby sat up and struggled to lift her exhausted arms, bringing her hands to rub at both eyes-

She froze. Wait a second.

Both eyes?!

Ruby frantically felt for the scar that should've have cut from the edge of hairline down to kiss her upper lip, only to find smooth, unbroken skin. She fingered at the eye socket itself, seeing for the first time in years.

She winced as she poked herself in the eye with a mumbled, "Ouch."

It was real, Ruby realized. She had an actual, real flesh-and-blood eye again.

No, it was more than that. She closed her eyes briefly, running through a check of her own body. Every single ache and pain she could remember carrying for the last twelve years had vanished. A weight lifted from her shoulders as she slumped back down, softly smacking her head against the floor.

Despite her amazement at the miraculous restoration of her body, Ruby's well trained reflexes still caught the slight movement to her side.

Instinct kicked in. Ruby tucked into a roll, pressing off with her hands to launch up to her feet. Flicking her wrist habitually, Ruby landed on her toes waiting for Crescent Roses hilt to fly into her waiting hands.

… And she kept waiting. Ruby glanced to the side quizzically as she flickered her wrist again, surprised to find her normally gloved hand completely bare with no sign of Crescent Rose that she could see through her blurry vision. In fact, her entire arm was uncovered. A breeze brushed along the bare skin of her shoulders, missing the familiar weight of her cloak.

Well, that was just odd.

The absence of all her normal Huntress gear and her battle worn armor finally registered in her bamboozled mind. Looking down, Ruby only a black tank top and rose-covered pajama pants. She swore the last time she wore anything like this was when she'd been a teenager.

A loud sound drew her attention. Shifting her view forward, Ruby squinted through her hazy vision. Her body tensed and her Aura swirled to the surface, ready to launch her forward into a bone-cracking blow.

Only to see a familiar shape slowly come into focus before her. Shocked tears welled up at the edges of her newly restored vision. Her mouth dropped open.

"Yang…?"

Her sister. Her amazing, protective, and very, very dead older sister lay sleeping in front of her, golden hair tossed wildly across the pillow beneath her head.

Ruby decided this day had just gone from troublesome, skipped right passed incredible, and stopped on downright impossible.

The origin for this little piece of fiction is inspired in part due to Remnant's Reclaimer by Hysterical Clerical Hijinks and Harry Potter and the Nightmares of Futures Past by S'TarKan as well as my own obsession with all things time travel. Enjoy the result of my unending addication to RWBY and my innate desire to take ideas and run with them. And people warned you that running with scissors was dangerous.

Disclaimer: Assume anything you recognizes belongs to Roosterteeth while just enjoy playing with their toys.

EDIT 07-07-2017: I re-wrote this mainly because I felt that, with vol 4, Salem's character was massively out of place. Since I originally started right after vol 3 ended, I had to create Salem's character mostly from scratch. It bugged me how I'd wrote her more and more, to the point where I had to go back and fix it. It also let me more directly touch on the "Silver Eyed Warriors" element as well.

Overlord Swarm departs.