Ruby stared in wonder at the shattered moon of Remnant. Her six year old eyes were wide with happiness and excitement. If only she knew how drastically that would change in such little time...

Her Aunt Raven had come over, and had immediately taken a strong interest in Ruby. It could've been her eyes, or her extra set of ears... but Ruby believed that she was just too cute for anyone to resist. And cute she was. While petite and small, her big, innocent, silver eyes, her heart shaped face, and her natural crimson hair seemed to pull in any onlooker.

Why was she excited, you ask? Her Aunt Raven had promised to take her into town to get some cookies from the bakery. She loved peanut butter cookies, since she couldn't have chocolate ones. She didn't know why, but her daddy would never let her. The thought itself made her pout. How did he know that she wouldn't love them?

Speaking of her Aunt, her she came now. "Auntie!" Ruby squealed, and jumped into Raven's arms. The moment she had talked about cookies, she had become the best person in Ruby's books. Ruby really didn't know too much about Raven, but she liked cookies, and Raven liked cookies, so they were definitely going to become best friends.

Making their way into town, the duo were chatting before Raven asked a question that most kids at six wouldn't know the answer to. "So... Ruby, how much would you want to be a huntress when you go up?" Ruby's eyes widened then sparkled.

"More than anything in the world! I want to be like a ninja!" She struck a ninja-like pose. "Bwah! Twah! Hiii y-AHHHHHH!" Ruby tipped over and got a mouthful of dirt. She rose quickly, and was still grinning as she wiped the dirt off her tongue with her hand. "Anyway, you get the point."

Raven nodded. "Yes... I believe I do." That was all Ruby heard before everything went black.

When her eyes opened, Ruby was immediately scared. She may have acted mature, but she still was only six. It was dark, and she could feel herself shifting up and down. She poked her head up, and she found herself in what seemed to be the underside of a ship, tucked under a silver cloak. Looking around, she found her Aunt sitting on a bench, reading a book.

"Aunt Raven?" She called out. Her Aunt's head whipped towards her.

"Ah, Ruby, you're awake. I'm sorry I couldn't have told you before we left, but I couldn't risk you not believing me."

"Believing you about what?" Ruby timidly spoke.

"Your father. He is a cruel man, and I couldn't let you stay there. He told me himself that he was going to get rid of you." Looking away, Ruby couldn't see Raven's smirk.

"Daddy didn't like me...?" Ruby whispered.

"No. He hated you. He didn't want you to have any freedom to be yourself. He was upset that you were better than him. Let your hood down. Be yourself, Ruby."

"But Daddy told me to never let my hood down..." Ruby muttered, teardrops running down her face.

"Didn't you hear what I said? He didn't want everyone to know that you were better than him." Ruby sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve, before sliding her hood back and down. Instantly, two canine ears popped up, finally free of their confines.

"Where are we going?" Ruby asked, wanting to know what was going on.

"To my house, in Vale." Raven answered.

"Where in Vale?"

"What do you mean, where in Vale?"

"Where in Vale?" Raven was confused.

"Vale, Vale..?" The response came as more of a question, but it made Ruby's eyes sparkle.

"We're going to the mainland?" Her eyes sparkled once again, seemingly forgetting the fact that she had been kidnapped from her home and told that her father didn't love her.

"Yes, you haven't been before?" Raven was shocked, although she quickly covered it up.

"Yeah... Daddy always said it wasn't safe..."

"Ruby..." Raven knelt before Ruby. "Forget whatever your father has told you. He never wanted what was best for you. But I do."

Ruby accepted it without ever thinking that it was a lie with her innocent six year old mind. "What are we going to do at your house?"

"We are going to train. Well, you're going to train. But I'm going to teach you."

"Teach me what?" Ruby questioned.

"Well, Ruby, how to be a Huntress, of course."

Raven's "house" was more like a mansion, hidden in the woods of Vale. Gigantic, it provided secrecy and comfort, but lacked the essential need of a child growing up - Human interaction.

Year One

For Ruby's seventh birthday, Ruby was given her first weapon project - to build a weapon suitable for a Huntress. She knew she wasn't as tall, even though she drank all her milk, so she wanted a weapon with a longer reach. But not a sword. Swords were for dumb, boring people in her eyes. And not a spear, because in her words, "Spears are stupid!" giving no further explanation. She had almost decided on a bow, but realized that she wanted to show everyone her talent and combat, not just at aiming and pulling a string. That left one, final idea in her mind - a scythe.

Year Two

On Ruby's eighth birthday, she discovered her semblance. Raven was bringing her a cookie tray when she tripped on a chair leg. Ruby never realized that Raven's natural instincts were too good to ever have made the mistake. Her semblance wasn't speed, really, but she could slow down other forces, such as people's perceptions, gravity, and time. But she couldn't bother with the technical things. All she knew was that her snickerdoodle and peanut butter cookies were falling, and she wanted to stop it. So she did.

Year Three

Ruby had come further than most adults ever would have with her knowledge and use of a scythe. But she wasn't finished yet. To enhance her attacks, Raven bought Ruby a Dust Kit for her ninth birthday. While Ruby had nearly set fire to the house, and had exploded a vase with a lightning bolt before she got the dust under control, she was determined to get better. And get better she did. She was more suited for Fire Dust and Lightning Dust than the other two types, and Raven believed that this was because both elements were sudden, and she was quick. Ruby accepted without further question.

Year Four

Ruby had been playing hide and seek in the house when she had found it the first time. In Raven's room, under the bed. A small black box containing dozens of letters. She read through one. It talked about "Raven's student" and "Hench woman", the latter Ruby didn't understand. She didn't understand what they were talking about when they mentioned an "exchange" multiple times. This planted the seed of doubt in Ruby's mind. But she wanted to learn, and be the best. So, on her tenth birthday, she asked Raven to teach her subjects that she would've learned in school.

Year Five

Ruby had become a master at the scythe. For her eleventh birthday, Raven had dressed her up in a black kimono and a mask and had told her she was going to fight an opponent. She introduced him as a teacher at a place called Signal Academy, but gave no other name. But, as Ruby found out, he used a scythe, too. At least, most of the time. He surprised her by having a sword take the place of his scythe when he found that his skills weren't superior to hers. But, overall, he had more experience, and she hadn't learned enough to beat a trained Huntsman. For this reason, she decided that she needed to upgrade her own weapon and increase her own skill. Thus, her Scythe was now also a rifle.

Year Six

Ruby was finishing her studies when she heard voices upstairs. Using her semblance, she crept unseen into the room, where a red portal was opening (1). Then, she watched as another woman walked through. She had black hair and pale skin, as well as a red dress. Unknowingly, Ruby blushed as she found the girl to be cute. She realized that the woman, while older than her, was not older by far. She was only a teenager. But then they started talking, and Ruby recognized some of the phrases they used to be some in the letters that she had gone over multiple times. When they finished talking, the unknown girl said, "Open up another portal for me, Raven?" To which her aunt replied,

"Always." Ruby went back downstairs before she could be discovered missing. She was disgusted when Raven came down smiling as if she hadn't just talked about trading her niece to a person she didn't know. After this, she started to work on being in tune with her Faunus side. She was a wolf Faunus, one of the last ones, according to her aunt. Although, she didn't know how much she could trust Raven anymore. On her twelfth birthday, she started stockpiling.

Year Seven

Ruby had been stockpiling money and other essentials for a year now. She was now working on improving her semblance, which was still very unused, even though it was powerful. She had caught Raven and the girl meeting multiple times over the past year, finally finding out that the girl's name was Cinder. Over time, her semblance had escalated to the point where she could control the rose petals that flew behind her when she used the ability, and make it so she could focus her semblance on certain things, or other people. But she had little to no social skills. For the plan she was making to work, she needed to know how to talk to people. So she talked in the mirror, but stopped once it started to talk back.

Year Eight

For the past year, Ruby had been training her mind and her body. She had money. She had clothes. She had a weapon. She knew how to survive, and was physically capable of doing so. So, on her fourteenth birthday, she put her plan into action. By the time Raven would realize she was gone, she would already be in Vale. She had no idea what she would do once she was there, but she didn't mind. Cinder's visits had become more frequent and urgent, and she had a feeling that sooner or later, most likely sooner, something would happen that she really wouldn't like. So she left. Her main goal was to become a Huntress, as it had always been. The main academy for Huntresses in the Kingdom of Vale was Beacon. So that was her goal.

The day she turned fourteen, she ran away. Raven was out in the morning, as she always was. Ruby packed a bag full of clothes and a single credit card that had access to all of her money. She also grabbed a few books and keepsakes. Bundled in her silver cloak that she had woken up in on that fateful day on the ship, and with her weapon, Rose, on her back she left the only home she had known for the past eight years. As she got outside into the chilly October air, she immediately ran into the way she knew Vale was (2). When she got there, it was dark, and she was tired. There were candles lit and weird decorations hung up everywhere.

Kids ran around with parents not too far behind, everyone dressed in costumes of everything from Grimm to princesses to witches. As she looked around for an inn, she thought to herself, 'This place is weird. But... I like it. And I don't care. All that matters is that I'm free.' And she was free. At least, for now.

AND THERE YOU GO, MY PEOPLES! This is the rewrite for RWBY: A Faunus Life. This is the first chapter, and I used some ideas from the comments in it. However, I tried to keep the overall plot the same. While this didn't directly talk about her Faunus traits too much, they were referenced, and they will be important in the future. Anyway, who's with me for that RubyxCinder ship, yeh?

1 - Raven's semblance is to open portals to people she has bonded with.

2 - Ruby's birthday is on October 31st, or Halloween. Search it up if you don't believe me!

Date Written - 2/3/2018

Word Count - 2,169 Words