Recently, Ozpin looked like he'd aged. Glynda wasn't sure of when this thought began, but it had persisted for the past few days. Considering the headmaster's hair was already sort of grey, it was kind of difficult to tell whether or not that was age truly showing on him, or something else entirely. Ruminating on it any further would serve to do her no good, and with a sigh, Glynda decided to let it go from her head. Well, that is until she walked into Ozpin's office to give him some more paperwork, only to find him slumbering peacefully with his head on his desk. Walking briskly over, Glynda slammed the pile of papers down, waking Ozpin with a jolt.

"That's it Ozpin. I've known you for too long, and I'm well aware when something is bothering you. Now, tell me what's wrong." Glynda earnestly pleaded with him, desperate to find out what ailed him and maybe help heal him of it. Too bad there was no cure for what bothered him.

"Glynda," Ozpin sighed out, not wanting to say what was really on his mind. But with how well he and Glynda knew each other, he knew he couldn't hide it much longer. It showed on his haggard and worn face, especially in the stubble that was starting to grow and the dark bags under his once sharp amber eyes. "I could never hide it from you, could I?"

"No, you couldn't," Glynda said with a hint of a smile. "Now, spill."

"Well, lately I've been thinking on, well..." Sighing once more, Ozpin hesitated before continuing. "I've been having dreams. Thanks to them, I can't really sleep well."

"What sort of dreams?"

"Dreams of- well, more like nightmares really. But regardless, they're about Ruby Rose." Upon saying this, Ozpin heard a sharp intake a breath. "Glynda, you know I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child on the face of Remnant. And yet while all of them haunt me as they should, this one I still feel is the worst I have ever made."

"But Ozpin, it's not your fault-"

"No," Ozpin said, cutting her off. "It is, Glynda. I was the one who had invited Ruby to Beacon two years early. I saw in her some amazing potential that I honestly couldn't describe back then. She was a gifted huntress, her abilities proving to be rather astounding for her age. Even amongst her peers, most of whom were a couple of years her senior, she could be counted as one of the top. I'm not sure if it was natural talent, or the training she'd received from Qrow. Regardless, she was going to make an amazing huntress." Stopping for a minute to catch his breath, Ozpin was greeted only with silence, as it seemed that Glynda had nothing to respond with. After a short minute, he continued once more. If I had not given her the opportunity to skip the grades, and if I'd just left her in Signal, then none of this wouldn't have happened."

"Ozpin, you don't know that. Jealousy is a normal thing for humans and faunus'. Someone would have eventually still looked at her jealously and tried to harm her as well. It's not like this was all due to your actions."

"Glynda. Regardless, the current situation is my fault. Had I not invited her, and had I not placed her as one of the participants in the Children of Artemis, she never would have been attacked. On top of it all, despite all that has happened, I'm not even sure if I've made the right decisions in how I've handled all of this."

"Ozpin," Glynda said, worry heavy in her tone, "You handled it as best as you could."

"There are a lot who would disagree with you there. Not only have I opted to keep Ruby's identity as the Red Queen of Grimm hidden, but yet I've even let those who survive her wrath remain outside the reach of the law."

"Ozpin, you know just as well as I do that it was a necessary evil to do that! With how many huntsmen and huntresses were lost in the Red Queen Crusades, we needed every last hunter, whether they were in training or not, to replace those who had fallen. And with their talent, you know we had no choice but to allow them back into Beacon, and keep their involvement in the attempted murder of Ruby a secret."

"Glynda, I-"

"No. Human and faunus kind are on the losing end of a long war. Regardless of how hard we fight back, the shadows, the Grimm, are still trying to snuff us out. The light will not hold out much longer if we're so picky with who we choose to have defend it. Even if they defend it with bloodstained hands."

Averting his eyes from Glynda, Ozpin could only look down on his desk with shame in his heart. She was right. She was absolutely, one hundred percent correct, and he knew it. Deep down he knew it, which is why he'd made the decision initially, despite Glynda's protests. Despite how his heart told him he should have let those students deal with the law, let their futures be ruined by their stupid actions and let society shun them for the monster they've created. Despite how much he felt disgusted by their actions, he still let them back. All because deep down he knew that it was necessary.

Walking behind Ozpin, Glynda looked down on the back of them man who was known as one of the greatest hunters living. His accomplishments, as well as his running of Beacon academy have made him a well known figure in the hunter community. And yet now it looked ready to fall apart at any minute. Leaning over, Glynda wrapped her arms around Ozpin's back, as though to assure him that she were still here.

"Please, let it go Ozpin. What's done is done."

"I know, Glynda. I know."

Signal Academy. A well known school which made it's goal the raising and growth of new hunters in training. Through the halls of this rather famous school have walked many a good huntsman and huntress. And now, through these halls walked a rather bored looking student.

Standing about six feet in height, short messy black hair the color of a raven's plumage. His attire was rather plain and casual, consisting of a black tank top, and worn black trousers, accented with violet stitching along the hems, and in a pattern resembling a simple crescent moon on the right thigh. He wore plain black combat boots with violet stitching, and around his rather thin arms were a metal brace on each. On his wrists were a pair of hand guards, each just plain black. What stood out a lot was that he wore a pitch black scarf, despite it being the middle of summer. Well, the scarf, and his eyes. Eyes that were a rather uncommon color; a striking and vivid violet, almost as though the irises were carved from polished Amethyst.

Swiftly making his way through the halls, the boy tended to avoid the crowd as much as he could while making his way between classes. If anything, the biggest pain came from having to go the long way to actually avoid the rush. Thankfully, he was rather quick on his feet, so time wasn't an issue. It was that he had to worm his way through so many people.

But again, like always, today he made it through the halls and into his next class of the day with relative ease. Advanced Combat Theory 101. His favorite class, really. Unlike most of the others, this class was taught by a rather spirited woman, simply known as Professor King. An odd name, or so most of them thought, but they didn't really care. The students loved her. Despite her height barely coming up to around five and a half feet, if even that, she had energy to spare. There was never a dull moment in her class, and it was a guarantee that nobody ever slept during her lessons.

"Goooood morning students!" Professor King greeted the class with her usual enthusiasm once the bell rang. "I'm so glad to see everyone once again. Let's begin roll call, shall we?" And she began to go through the student's names, usually in no particular order. She said she preffered it this way because she didn't want students whose names began with a 'Z' feeling like they were last, or something like that. After a minute, the boy's attention began to slip. "...la. Alexander Viola. Alex!"

"It's Alec, Miss King. And I'm right here." That's right. His name was Alexander Viola. But he preferred to be called Alec.

"That's Professor, to you." After a quick lecture from her, attendance continued for another two names before class officially began. "Okay, so today, we're going to jump into the lesson rather soon. Due to current events, the headmaster has requested that I teach a lesson on the Red Queen of Grimm. Now, who here has been following the news?" A few hands came up, Alec's included. "Okay then, Alex."

"Alec."

"Alec, then. What can you tell the class about the Red Queen of Grimm?"

"Oi," Alec said, annoyed. He hated standing out, and Professor King knew it. Standing up, Alec began to explain what he knew about the Red Queen of Grimm. "The Red Queen of Grimm, commonly just called the Red Queen, is a known criminal with the designation of danger classification SS~ (Double S). Not much is know about her, save some rather unreliable reports. Her activity was said to have started a little over five years ago, when a town known as Gévaudan, a small settlement a fair distance from here, was found to have been assaulted by some mountain bandits who had been active in the area recently. Despite how obvious the ending of the story should have been, a miracle happened. The bandits, despite having the upper hand on the mostly peaceful villagers, were almost completely slaughtered, leaving few survivors. The remaining bandits mentioned having their group stopped by some little girl with a posse of Grimm following her. Reports on her description ranged, but it was agreed on that she wore a red cloak, carried a scythe, and had red hair. Ever since, however, new reports have long since screwed up the previous known information, leading to nobody having any more knowledge on her appearance besides those facts. Following that incident, the Hunter's Association did an investigation, finding a similar pattern of a human working with Grimm in previous cases involving the death of a former hunter in the mountains, and a couple of others. Ever since, the HA has left a large bounty on her head, leading to a period commonly referred to in the HA as the Red Queen Crusades. Despite sending out numerous hunters, and placing a large bounty on her head, the Red Queen remains uncaught still to this day. Even now, however, the HA still leaves a large bounty on her head, the thought of her gathering an army of Grimm and organizing them causing unrest." Finishing his explanation, Alec took his seat again, ignoring the eyes still on him.

"How, that was detailed. I thought you hated current events Alexander?"

"Alec. And I do, Professor. I just have a vested interest in the Red Queen."

"Why-? Oh, that's right. You-"

"Professor!" Alec jumped from his chair, knocking it back. Hands on his desk, he sent the worst glare he could muster at Miss King, her words bringing up some rather bad memories. Regaining his composure, Alec felt something tugging at his stomach. Dust damnit. She said too much. "Professor, Im not feeling to well. I'll be going to the infirmary." Without waiting for her to agree, he began to walk out of the classroom.

"Oh, alright then... Don't forget to come back later so we can discuss the plans for the team based exercise later."

"Sure."

In the infirmary, Alec gave some half assed excuse about a stomach flu, and took one of the cots as his own, trying to get a nap in. It's not that what the Professor was saying was anything bad, but they were memories that Alec didn't want his classmates poking and prodding their way in to. After all, if they found out about him, they'd either view him as an interesting "subject" of gossip and rumors, or they would see him as some sort of social pariah. Pulling out his Scroll, Alec set an alarm for an hour later. Plugging in the set of headphones he always had around his neck, and placing them on his ears, Alec allowed himself to drift off, completely sure that the alarm would wake him up as always.

After a fitful rest filled with screaming, fire, and a lot of red, Alec awoke in the infirmary. Pulling his headphones off, Alec threw them back around his neck, turned off his Scroll's alarm, and began to go back towards class. His timing, it seemed, was impeccable. Entering the classroom, Alec found the class beginning to discuss the exercise planned for later.

"Oh, welcome back Alec. We were about to begin."

"Yeah."

Taking his seat once more, Alec sat down and listened to Professor King begin explaining the details of the activity. While the teacher spoke on, Alec zoned out, only one thought dominating his mind as it had for the past five years and however many days and months. The thought of her.

The exercise, it seemed, was a simple one. Groups of four students would be sent into the forests surrounding Vale, and would be tasked with hunting down at least five Grimm, logging the hunts in their Scroll, along with some sort of proof of victory, and then returning to the school. Alec was grouped with three others, all girls. Despite being in the same grade and class, he hadn't really bothered to memorize any of their names, so he couldn't tell you who they were, even if you gave him time to recollect.

The first girl was a rabbit faunus. Most boys unfortunately have a fetish for the rabbit ears, and she took advantage of that. Long blonde hair, electric blue eyes, and pure white rabbit ears sticking straight from her head, along with the rather revealing outfits she wore, left most boys wrapped around her little finger. Well, most. Alec being a major exception. The second girl was a cat faunus. Her hair was short and black, and she had a kind of tomboyish look going on. Sporty and well known, she was rather popular among the clubs in their year. The last girl was a regular human, like himself. The difference was that she was a shy girl, mostly kept from others. Insanely good grades in Dust Control however. Not much else know but that really.

"Okay then, let's get this assignment over," Rabbit girl said, likely viewing herself as the leader. Oh boy, this was going to suck, and Alec knew it. "You there. What was your name again? Alex? Don't slow us down by staring at me too much, okay?" Her attitude could piss a priest off, that is if he could resist her charm. Too bad for her Alec could, and he was pissed.

"I wouldn't stare at you if you were the last female on Earth. Sagging udders and a poor taste in fashion leave you less desirable than miss mayhem over here," he said, pointing towards the cat faunus girl.

"Why you...!"

"Let's just get this over with, okay? I don't wanna be stuck with you any more than you wanna be away from the masses who give you all of their attention you whore." Finishing his venomous words, Alec began walking in search of some sort of prey. He wasn't joking when he said he wanted this over. He couldn't stand their company, ad they likely couldn't stand his.

Hiking through the woods in search of Grimm wasn't as easy as one would hope, especially since the area had been rather clean lately. Despite this, the teachers still chose this as the location for the activity, leaving Alec wondering just who the hell was coming up with these crappy lessons. After a few minutes, however, he heard what sounded like conflict. Pausing to concentrate, Alec deafened himself to what was around him, searching for the sound of that noise when the girls behind him began a ruckus.

"Hey, what're you stopping for genius?"

"U-uhm... Are you okay?"

"Shush. Can't you hear that?"

"Hear what exactly, you freak?"

"Oh, that's right," Alec muttered to himself. They can't hear as well as he can. "There's someone fighting. It sounds like it's coming from that direction. Let's go."

With that, Alec took off. Not in a full out sprint, but still with some impressive speed. Among his peers, Alec was doubtlessly one of the fastest. Though depending on who you asked, he might just be the fastest. He didn't really know that, as he never really tried, avoiding standing out too much if possible. But right now, not many people were around, so he let himself go more than normal. Not for fun, however, but rather so that he could catch up to the source of the noise. And despite his speed, the girls were doing a good job of keeping up, mostly. After a bit, one of the faunus girls spoke up.

"Oh, now I think I hear it. But wait, how'd you hear it first? I'm a faunus, I have better hearing than you."

Shit. He didn't want people finding out what he could do, so he usually downplayed his abilities.

"Call it luck, okay?"

"What the-?"

"Did those nutrients you intake just go to those saggy tits? Just leave it at that, will you?"

"You rude bastar-!"

"Quiet! We're here."

Slowing down, Alec and his group walked cautiously forward, eventually arriving at a clearing. And what they found was astounding. Standing before a large group of Ursai was a lone girl. No, girl didn't seem just right. While she was definitely shorter than Alec, she stood around five foot seven or so. Her figure was amazing too. The black jeans that hugged her perfectly shaped legs. And despite the red cloak over her shoulders, a nicely developed chest could be seen. But her face was obscured.

Wait. Red cloak...?

"Tha- that cloak! It's got to be the Red Queen. We've got to take her down!"

"Are you nuts? Did you not hear what I was saying this morning? She's an SS~ ranked criminal. She's killed more hunters than any Grimm to date, save maybe Ouroboros." Alec could not believe this. Was she really this stupid?!

"Quiet. We have the element of surprise on our side, and if we take her down we'll be famous! Imagine being known as the ones who took down the Red Queen."

"Count me in then," said the cat faunus with a chuckle.

"M-me too!"

"Don't do this. This is a bad idea, seriously. Let's just leave, and pretend we weren't here." Alec almost begged them. Because he knewknew if they really tried to attack her, they wouldn't survive.

"Too late, loser. Let's hop to it girls." Jumping out from their spot, the girl charged at the cloaked figure just as she finished up with the Ursai, wielding a large two handed greatsword. Turning lazily, the cloaked girl met the blade head one with one of her own, a slender, pure white straight sword. About three feet and some change in length, and covered with the same red markings as a Grimm's plate. But there was something else, some sort of black design around the base. Or were those some sort of characters? Regardless, the small sword met the massive blade head on, and knocked it back. Despite her faunus strength, she was blown back so easily. Tapping the rune on her sword, the cloaked girl slashed at Rabbit Girl. When she held her greatsword up to defend, the small sword cut right into it. That's not a joke. The sender white blade cut through the large seel sword like it was nothing, sinking itself halfway through it's one and a half foot width. With a swift and vicious kick, the cloaked girl sent the blonde flying away.

"Could she really be...?"

The other two girls were'nt more successful really. While they employed some bit of teamwork, it wasn't a match for the alleged Red Queen. Easily stopping the Cat Girl's fists, each covered with what appeared to be some Dust imbued knuckles, she flipped her over with ease and sent her flying right where the Rabbit Girl was kicked. The dust using girl, who'd tried using the Cat girl as a distraction, attempted to freeze the area around the Red Queen in a rather large radius, finding little success however as the Red Queen disappeared into a cloud of black rose petals. Before he could blink however, the Red Queen was behind her, knocking her out with a well placed chop to the neck.

"Holy shit." Even if they were only trainees, to have defeated three huntresses so quickly was still impressive. Keeping himself calm, Alec calmly strode over to the girl he thought was the Red Queen. With a good look, Alec could appreciate the view he saw before. She was well proportioned, and it showed. But her face, he still couldn't make out, obscured by a Grimm plate mask, a simple and plain mask with no mouth or nose, only two slits for eyes. And he couldn't see hers through them. "I'm sorry about them. My classmates are rather rude."

"..."

"You don't talk much, huh? Not one for conversations?"

"..."

"Don't know what I expected," he muttered. Of course she'd stay silent. Whatever, time to try his last card. "You, you're the Red Queen, aren't you?"

Once he'd said those words, the girl, now likely the Red Queen, sprang at him. Slashing viciously with her sword, she would have had his head were he even a bit slower. Grabbing from their place at his back, Alec brought up his weapons to intercept the Red Queen's assault.

Both just over a foot in length, they were a set of double edged daggers. Nothing too impressive to look at, being a simple design based off of a combat knife, with the hilt being pitch black and with Violet Dust veins running through the steel of the blade. Using all of the force he could muster, Alec threw his attacker away, bringing himself into his battle stance. Concentrating as best as he could, he focused on the sounds he could hear, looking for the right one.

*Boom Boom* *Boom Boom* *Boom Boom*

There. And just in time too, as he'd only milliseconds to react before she disappeared into a cloud of petals once more, only this time she was met with the clash of a pair of blades instead of an easy victory. This time, taking the chance, Alec kicked out at the Red Queen, only for her to spin lightly out of the way of the foot, and back up, putting sufficient distance between the two of them.

"How did you dodge that?"

She spoke to him. The first thing she said this entire time. Her voice was enchanting. Soft, clear. But still, he kept his wits about him.

"You never reveal your tricks to your opponent, right?"

"I suppose." Shifting as though to prepare for another attack, Alec quickly tried to stop her.

"Wait, wait! I don't want to fight you!"

"But you know who I am."

"Yeah, I do. But I don't wanna fight you or arrest you. No, I have another thing in mind. I actually wanna say something else entirely. I sort of always wanted to meet you so that I could thank you, honestly."

"Thank me? For what?"

"'It is in the end that we reach the beginning. Here we become the epitome of virtue and glory to rise, unendeing in growth and unbound by the thorns of death. Be free, your soul, and our fates be bound by vines.'"

"How do you know that...?"

"Five years and some months ago, you saved a small settlement from a contigent of Atlesian soldiers. After having killed most of them, driving the rest off, and sicing your massive pet Beowolf after them, you left. But not before unlocking a young man's aura." If he could see her face, he would no doubt see the gears turning in her head. "I was that young man. Alexander Oz Viola. But most people I know call me Alec."

"Ah, you're the boy. I see, so you did grow strong."

"Yes. I've wanted to meet you these past several years, all the while wanting to thank you. That day, I should have died. But I didn't. You saved me, and even empowered me to be able to fight back. After that day, I trained to the point of almost vomiting blood daily, despite my foster father trying to tell me not to. Yes, the training was harsh, but it was self imposed. All so that I could one day meet you, and thank you."

"..." The Red Queen, it seemed, could not speak. She was processing all that he'd told her.

While she was processing that, however, a different thought was running through Alec's mind.

'It's the perfect chance. I could ask to go with her, leave behind this depressing school life. All of those classmates that I can't stand, those teachers who look at me with pity, knowing my past. Those idiots that I have to babysit on simple assignments,' he snarked, giving a quick glance to the girls lying on the ground.

"Please, can I go with you?"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"This life, I owe it to you." He said, beginning to speak honestly from the heart. "I don't like the life I have now. Despite how thankful I am to y foster father for taking me in after my parents were killed during that damn attack, I want to leave it behind. And because of what I feel I owe you, I wish to help you."

A moment of silence followed that declaration. It wasn't anything profound, really. No. It was the silence of Alec praying with all of his heart, and of The Red Queen thinking. After a minute, she began speaking again.

"My life isn't an easy or a fun one. I'm hated, by many. But, if it is your will to follow me, then by all means."

"Thank you, Queen." After being called that, The Red Queen paused for a bit, then looked back at Alec.

"It's Ruby."

"Huh?"

"My name. It's not Queen. My name is Ruby."

*Author's Note*

Welcome.

You may already know this, but this is the sequel of The Red Queen, and the next installment in Ruby's legend.

To let you know a few things in advance, this story is set over five years later. The boy followed in the second half of the story, following Ozpin and Glynda in the first part, is Alec, from chapter 18 in the original story. I promised something would come of him, right? Anyhow, in the sequel, Ruby's wanted rating has been boosted, she gained a posse (to be introduced), and a few other things.

I'll give a little background on her new weapon. Around three and a half feet in legnth, carved from Grimm plates with a plain hill wrapped in black leather, no hand guard. Inscribed on the blade, nearing the hilt, are some characters to be described in the next chapter.

Well, that's all for now. See you next chapter.

Dravyn LeCrux