So, here we are. Back again. I told myself I wasn't going to do things like this, but what can I say? The break was nice at least. So, here's the skivvy, I don't like RWBY, frankly I kinda hate it. And to be clear I've never thought it was very good. Monty, rest his soul, was a master of battle scenes, but the man had few talents for characters or story. And even from that low point, things have only gotten worse. But here I am now, the epitome of arrogance, thinking that I can do it better.

Time to put my money where my mouth is.

One last thing, I'm taking a lot of my ideas from Celtic Phoenix on Youtube and his "Fixing RWBY" series, please pay his videos and channel a visit, without him I wouldn't have been inspired to do this. That being said, I don't like all of what he had to say and I will state what I took and what I changed from both the original source material and from his rewrites, but only as they come so that I don't spoil anything for anyone. So, look for that at the end of each chapter. Though, I will be explaining everything I changed and why I changed it in an author's note at the end of this volume.

Also feel free to disregard the Prologues (Red, White Yellow, Black) since I will neither use nor reference them.

This is XSBR. (Pronounced Saber, like the sword)

By Any Other Name

From Dust Till Dawn, it was a small shop but it was his, the old shopkeep thought. He couldn't really keep up with the big Schnee stores, but he did well enough for himself. He wiped down his glass counter for what felt like the eighth or ninth time, he couldn't quite remember. But with all his other customers gone for the night, save one, there was little else he could think to do with his time.

Speaking of time, he thought as he looked at the clock, it was about time to close. He had better tell-

*DING*DING*

He turned his attention back to the front of the store and was about to greet them when he took notice of these new "customers".

For one, there were five of them, and they appeared to be carrying weapons; swords, clubs, and guns.

For another, one of the guns was leveled to his forehead within seconds of them entering.

The lavishly dressed man in the front gave a sly cocky smirk, addressing the old man. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?" He had dark-green eyes and bright, long, orange hair, with long bangs covering his right eye. His suit consisted of a red-lined white suit with long black pants and black shoes, complemented with a small gray scarf, black gloves with buckled sleeves, and a black bowler hat with a small feather tucked into its red band to finish off the look.

The old man had heard of recent dust break-ins and recognized the man before him.

This was Roman Torchwick.

The shopkeep cowered. "Please," he pleaded, his body shaking like a leaf in the wind. "just take my lien and leave."

The sneer grew as he took the cigar from his mouth and tapped it twice, ashes falling on the freshly cleaned glass counter. "Don't fret, friend. We'll be on our way soon enough. But I'm afraid we'll need more than just your money." Roman motioned to the wall, where several dust dispensers were lined against it. "Take it."

The first grunt kept his weapon trained on the old shopkeep while the others took out clear tubes and helped themselves to the dust. The old man slowly took the lien from the register and handed it over to the still smug looking bowler-hated man as well as his dust crystals from beneath the glass display.

Ruby Rose flipped to the next page of Weapons and Wonders, perhaps it was time her own Crescent Rose got a tune up. The scope featured looked reasonably priced.

She felt a hand on her shoulder roughly turn her around. A bit jarred she blinked at the man who was saying… something she couldn't quite make it out over the music coming from her headphones.

Ruby was fair-skinned young girl with silver eyes and black, neck-length, choppy hair that gradated to dark red at the tips. A cloak was fastened to her shoulders by cross-shaped pins. An emblem in the shape of large silver colored rose brooch was pinned to a wide black belt slung around her hips at an angle, with a pouch. The rest of her ensemble consisted of a black long-sleeved dress with a high collar and red trim on the sleeves, a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front, and a red trim around her skirt. She also had on a pair of thick black stockings and black combat boots with red laces, red trim around the top and red soles.

She eyed him curiously and he motioned to them and she took the hint, letting them fall around her neck, the music still blaring. "Yes?"

"I said 'Hands up!'" He clarified as he stuck the blade in her face.

She looked to the blade then back to him. "Are you robbing me?"

"Yes!" He confirmed, annoyance clear across his face.

"Ah."

The bowler-hatted man flipped through the lien, not bad for such a small shop. He thought to himself as he began to examine the finely cut crystals. Only to be interrupted as he heard a "HI-YA!" from the back and one of his men was sent flying into the wall next to him.

Roman sighed, putting away his loot in a case before rounding a corner to see what ruckus his goons were dealing with. Only for a blur of black and red to sail past him, just inches from his face, and crash through the bay window of the store. The leader and his underlings looked on as a girl stood up on one of the men, a weapon mechanically unfolding into a scythe. She spun it expertly around her body and ended with the tip of the scythe dug into the concrete, clicking a button as the headphones around her neck silenced.

The bowler-hatted man blinked once, taking another drag from his cigar and tapping it twice. "Okay…" He then looked to his men. "Well? Are you waiting for an invitation?" He asked.

The goons shook off their astonishment and quickly charged her in a group.

Ruby dispatched the first with a kick to the face as she used the scythe to acrobatically hoist herself up. Using the momentum, she dug out the blade and clicked a button on its side, a loud audible bang sounding off and the back-end of the blade was propelled into another goon, sending him careening through the air. The girl quickly followed up, firing again and using the added momentum to slam the back-end of the blade on top of another one's head, slamming him into the pavement.

The last goon leveled his gun and fired, but she was too quick, firing off again and using the added propulsion to dart around the gunfire. Before he could adjust, she closed the distance, knocking him up into the air and following with one last spike by the blade as the man slammed into the street at his employer's feet.

The ginger-haired man sighed, eyeing his splayed-out goons. "Worth every cent, weren't you?" He eyed the girl, then eyed the case he still had, weighing his options he then smiled to her. "Well Red, that was pretty entertaining," He said as he raised his cane. "but, it's time for me to say farewell." He said clicking a button as the cane fired a burst of fire from its tip.

She leveled her own weapon at the ground and fired, flipping over the explosion and readying herself to face the man, only to find he was already halfway up the fire-escape on one of the buildings behind her.

The shopkeep timidly exited the shop, looking to her and she to him. "Are you going to be alright?" she asked. He simply nodded in return and she returned it before setting off after the bowler-hatted man.

Roman cleared the top of the ladder, about to make the jump to the next rooftop when he heard a bang from behind. He turned around to see the girl still after him, her weapon level on him and for the first time tonight his smug look became a dead-eyed frown. "Hey!"

He took off his hat for a moment running his gloved hand though it with his single visible eye closed. "You really want to do this?" he asked.

The girl responded as her weapon folded back out.

He shrugged, putting the hat back on. "Alright then."

She propelled herself forward with a loud bang, but the man merely stepped to the side. She sailed past him but caught herself on the ledge with the blade. She swung herself around and flung herself into the air, attempting to slam it right on top of the ginger. But with a single leap backwards she dug into the roof, quickly recovering as he sent fiery flares in her direction.

She dodged them all as she continued to propel herself around the rood, but went on the offensive, attempting to catch him with her blade on the charge

Roman saw through this, moving just a hair closer to her as she attempted to swing. Catching her with a blow to her stomach that knocked the air out of her and propelled her backwards along the rooftop.

Before the girl could recover, she felt the tip of the cane at her chin and felt it angle it upwards so she was facing the him, Roman's smug look restored. "Not bad kid." He said as he began to push down on the button of his cane. "But not good enough."

A sound like whizzing came from above, and the man jumped back in time as purple streams of energy rained down.

Dust whipped up and the two found themselves in the presence of another. The newcomer was a middle-aged woman with light-blonde hair tied back in a bun with a curl hanging down the right side of her face. She had eyes of bright green and thin ovular glasses with dangling teal earrings that matched the hanging pendant on her collar. She was dressed in a white long-sleeved, pleated top that has a wide keyhole neckline and gauntlet cuffs that flared in pleats at the wrist. Her lower body was covered by a black high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and black-brown stockings. She had black boots with bronzed heels, and a cape that was purple inside and black on the outside, cut and stylized to end in flames and arrows, with a row of diamond-shaped bronze beads on the back an emblem of a tiara above it.

The smile evaporated into exasperation. "A huntress, fantastic."

She said nothing but runes and symbols appeared around her as she sent out another volley of violet energy towards him.

The ginger raised his cane and sent off his more of his payload with a grimace. He couldn't keep this up much longer, his cane was almost dry.

He then eyed the girl, still getting to her feet and a wicked idea popped into his head. He quickly reached into his case and pulled out a red crystalized piece of dust, eyeing it with regret before throwing it.

The woman tensed up, ready to counter-attack only to realize it wasn't headed towards her. Her eyes widened as the man leveled his cane on the girl behind her and fired.

The girl had only enough time to hear a "tink" sound about a foot in front of her and watching as an explosion of red and fire suddenly engulf her.

But where she was expecting pain, none came, and she opened her eyes. The woman from before was breathing heavily, and the girl looked around them. The roof was almost entirely charred except for a circle about a foot around themselves. She looked up to the woman who appeared to be looking for the man, but he was gone, and she frowned deeply before turning to her.

"You're a huntress…" She said almost disbelievingly before her astonishment turned to amazement. "That was amazing! You're amazing! You saved me! You-"

"I hope you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly young lady." Came the smooth disciplined voice of Glynda Goodwitch.

Ruby couldn't even raise her head as she looked dejectedly at the table in front of her. This was the woman who saved her, the same woman who might now be ending her future career as a huntress before it even began.

Suffice to say, she had mixed feelings about that.

"You put yourself and others in great danger." Glynda said, continuing her lecture while she circled like a hungry predator.

"They started it!" The girl protested.

The Huntress eyed her for a brief moment, putting hand down on the desk in front the girl. "If it were up to me, I'd send you'd be sent straight home with a strongly worded letter for your parents about what happened tonight." She said, emphasizing herself with a smack of her riding crop, causing a quick yelp from the girl. "But…" she said, taking a step back and clearing the doorway. "There's someone else who'd like a word with you."

The girl's attention shifted as a middle-aged man with tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes walked through the door. He had a light complexion and sharp facial features. His outfit consisted of shaded glass spectacles and a small, purple, cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck, an unzipped black suit over a dark green, buttoned vest, green shirt, black trouser shoes and long, dark-green pants to boot.

"Ruby Rose." He said, addressing her by name. The man was holding a scroll, flipping through it, appearing to be disinterestedly skimming through something that Ruby could only imagine was in ation about her.

He looked up and murmured something under his breath but couldn't quite catch it as he addressed her. "Glynda tells me that you're quite the virtuoso with that scythe of yours." He then looked up from the scroll, putting it away. "So, how did that come about, hm?"

Ruby felt something off about this man but answered, somewhat hesitantly. "S-Signal Academy…"

"Ah yes, I see that." The strange man said, as he looked back down to the scroll. "Where your Uncle Qrow Branwen taught." He flicked on his scroll some more. "You have remarkable scores, near the top of your class." He looked back up to her. "He must be very proud of you."

Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah… he and my Dad taught me everything I know."

"Yes, Taiyang Xiao Long." The man continued. "A somewhat successful huntsmen himself until he retired about a decade back."

Ruby could hear a tone in his voice but couldn't quite catch the inflection. Familiarity? Or was it-

"And your sister, Yang Xiao Long." He said, as her turned the scroll to her, a picture of a beaming a fair-skinned young woman with lilac eyes and bright golden hair worn loose that faded to pale gold at the tips with a cowlick sticking out at the top. "She's quite impressive herself. The very top of her class at Signal. Some say she's the best fighter that school's seen in several decades. She's won the Vale regionals four years running and placed second at the last Vytal international tournament two years ago in Mistral, barely coming second to Mistral's own prodigy Pyrrha Nikos."

Ruby matched the beam of her pictured sister. "Yeah, I was there. She came so close too!" She said raising her arms, before letting them fall slightly dejected. "But Pyrrha was good, like really good. In the end, she tried her best, and she had fun, that's all that mattered."

The man gave a coy little smile as he sat the scroll on the table. "So, you must want to be a huntress then, right?"

She nodded emphatically. "Yes! Yes! I mean I still got two more years at Signal but then I'm going to try and get in to Beacon and become a huntress and help people and-"

She stopped as the man held up a hand. "Do you know who I am?" He asked.

Ruby looked at him quizzically and shook her head.

"I am Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon." He said, introducing himself.

The girl nearly fell over in her chair with astonishment, scarcely steading herself against the desk. "O-O-O-OH! OH! I'm so sorry! I should have recognized- I mean it's an honor-"

The kindly man held up a hand once again. "It's quite alright Ms. Rose. But now onto more important matters. Your sister has been accepted to my school, would you like to be accepted as well?"

Ruby for not the first time in the last two minutes once again felt a wave of shock course through her body. But this time she recovered much quicker. "Oh my gosh! Of course, I would! More than anything!"

Ozpin looked to Glynda who looked from him to her but said nothing, closing her eyes.

"Well then, welcome to my school."

Ruby looked out the window of the airship. It felt like ages since her talk with the Headmaster and her acceptance, but in truth it had barely been a week.

Telling her Dad, telling her sister and the energy of their combined excitement had left Ruby feeling exhausted. But she was here, far sooner than she had ever expected. She'd be a huntress, just like-

"Ooh! My baby sister is coming to Beacon with me!" Yang said, as she hugged her sibling for what seemed like the hundredth time in an hour. "This is the best day ever!" She said squeezing hard.

Ruby stood stock still as she let Yang once more get it out of her system. Her sister wore her usual outfit of a tan jacket that bared her midriff, with golden brown piping and short, puffy sleeves with black cuffs that featured two gold buttons. Underneath that, was a low-cut yellow crop top with an emblem of a burning heart on the left breast in black. Along with that she also wore a brown belt covered by a pleated brown piece of material reaching from hip to hip around the back of her waist, with the same emblem emblazoned on the right-most pleat in gold. Underneath that was a long, white, asymmetrical piece of material reaching to her knee on the right side, as well as a pair of black mini-shorts. She also wore a pair of brown, knee-high boots and orange over-the-knee socks, with the right sock pushed down just below the knee. A purplish-gray bandanna was tied around her left knee and an orange infinity scarf and black fingerless gloves completed the look.

"Please stop." Ruby said her words sounded winded as she gasped for air through the grip.

Yang let go but hopped on the balls of her feet in front of her little sister. "But I'm so proud of you!"

Ruby just sighed. "Yeah, that's been going around a lot lately."

The elder sister frowned, stepping near. "Hey, hey! What's that attitude about? Aren't you excited?"

"I mean yeah but…" She sighed. "Look I'm two years younger than anyone else here!" Ruby finally said. "I just don't want anyone here to think I got special privilege or anything."

Yang allowed her excited beaming to dial back a bit as she took her sister by one shoulder. "Ruby, when I got into the tourney two years ago and had a spot for Vale's team, even though the rest of the guys were from Beacon and in their last year, did that stop me?" she asked.

"No…" Ruby said quietly before feeling a knuckle come down on her head. "OW!" She said holding her head. "What was that for?!"

"Damn right, 'No'!" I showed them all in the tourney! And then I made it all the way to the top."

"Where you lost to Pyrrha…" Ruby felt another knock on her head, she winced in pain. "OW! Stop that!"

Yang then took her sister, draping her arm over her shoulder. "Look Ruby, no one's expecting anything of you, okay? I mean it's not like we broadcasted how you got here to anybody, right?" Ruby thought about that and nodded. "So fine, if you want to take a seat in the background and graduate just like everyone else here, great. But if people give you crap about you being here, just know, you earned this, you deserve to be here and don't let anyone tell you different, alright?"

The girl looked to her sister and for the first time in the last week, initiated a hug. "Thanks sis. I needed to hear that."

Yang just smiled warmly, running her fingers through Ruby's hair. "No problem."

"Hey is that?"

"IT IS!"

"OH MY GOSH!"

"YANG XIAO LONG!"

The two sisters turned as they saw a group of men and women pointing in their direction and began running towards them. Yang's beaming smile returned. "Well, looks like I'll see ya later Ruby, my adoring public awaits!"

The blond broke the embrace and walked right into the swarm of people as they gathered around her. "People! People! Please! One at a time! There's plenty of Yang to go around!"

Ruby bemusedly watched the crowd wander off and then looked out the window, her eyes lighting up as she saw it in the distance, her new home for the next four years.

Beacon Academy, the greatest school in all of Vale.

Nothing could ruin this for her.

*HURRRK*

Ruby's attention was turned to a blonde boy in a tall teenage boy with fair skin and dark-blue eyes. His hair was short and blond, messily layered on his head with the right side of his hair nearing his right eye and the left side swept back. He looked quite toned, having strong muscles in his arms, shoulders and upper chest. He wore a black short-sleeved hoodie with a detached reddish-orange sleeves and a dark brown image of the bunny rabbit Pumpkin Pete trimmed in white with cute black round eyes. Covering his hoodie while also hiding away the Pumpkin Pete bunny rabbit symbol was a white diamond-shaped chestplate cut off above his lower abdomen and placed over his shoulders are a pair of white spaulders with rerebraces set under them. Below that were blue jeans with a white patch placed on the left knee and black sneakers which have "left" and "right" written in black on the respective shoes' soles. He had elbow guards with cords strung through them, and he wears black high tops. He had two belts crisscrossing his waist, both different shades of brown, with a pair of small pouches on them. He wore brown wrist-length gloves with exposed fingertips and small metal plates over the back. A sword was strapped to his left hip in a sheath that seemed to double as a collapsible shield.

He was currently hunched over a trash can, relieving himself of his breakfast.

"Well, so much for that moment." Ruby said, shrugging her shoulders.

So, that's that.

So as for the changes I switched up the Torchwick fight a bit and made him a bit more credible as a villain in his own right. I also decided to save Cinder for later because I want to.

I gave Yang a bit of a boost, making her the Vale version of Pyrrah, and how and why she got to be that way I'll explain later.

Also Pyrrah and Yang participated in the last Vytal festival even though they were from none of the major academies, so yeah.

I also ironed out some of the dialogue, something I'm sure I'll get more practice in as this goes on.

Well, that's it. See ya next chapter.