Hello everyone, this fanfiction will, to be honest, be a bit rough. It has been over a year since I last wrote a new fanfiction (476 days) and this is on my alternative account along with the fact that I am not very... "gifted" at writing stories. However, I sincerely hope with all my heart that you enjoy it and tell me what I should improve through private messaging or leaving a review. Now, without further ado, let us enter the world of Remnant… (And credits to my friend Neopotilan and MISSJENNY12 for revising and tweaking my story). With that, check out TheRubyRitual on Tumblr, it is an amazing interactive story that flows smoothly and enraptures you with each flip of the chapter.

~Somewhere off the coast of Vale, on the island of Patch…~

As a cool breeze spread through the air, a raven stood undisturbed on the branch of a blackened oak. Sensing movement below its line of sight, the black bird craned its neck and gazed down at the two figures making their way through the forest of Patch, one pulling a wagon and the other resting inside of it. As it focused on the two, the raven's eyes took on a look of recognition before narrowing into a glint of suspicion.

Letting out a loud caw, it extended its wings before disembarking from the branch. Its figure shimmered mid-flight, before disappearing in a flash of crimson. The only evidence of its temporary residence were feathers that remained for but a second, before they too disappeared...

"Huff… huff..." the sound of labored breathing drifts through the air followed by the repetitive squeaking of wheels straining under the weight of a small child adorned in a cloak of dark crimson. As the two crossed into a forest clearing sunlight shone upon their faces exposing them as Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose.

"Aw… shucks I got lost again didn't I..." Yang groaned, after looking around and seeing only trees for miles around. Pouting in annoyance she turned to the wagon to check up on Ruby. Tiptoeing to the side of the wagon and gently pulling back her sisters hood, Yang peered over the edge and could not help but smile at the perfect picture of innocence as she saw her sister's face void of discomfort and worry.

She leaned over and warmly hugged Ruby through the cloak before whispering "Don't worry little sister, we'll find her. So sleep easy and know that your big sister won't let anything happen to you." her voice wavering with compassion and sisterly love.

Realizing that she was crying Yang wiped away her tears before straightening up and preparing to continue their journey. But before she could take another step, a distant howl pierced the forests peaceful atmosphere, signalling that the creatures of Grimm have gotten their scent and were fast approaching.

Realizing their current situation Yang paled in fear before quickly turning to Ruby and desperately trying to shake her awake, but the only response she got was "5 more minutes mom..."

Yang jolted to a stop and stared at her sister in disbelief before shouting "Ruby you're a genius!" Scooping Ruby up in her arms she quickly ran towards the supposed direction of the house in a desperate attempt to find safety in the possibility that their mother was there.

But she didn't make it far before thundering footsteps resounded throughout the forest, causing Yang to go into a full blown sprint. But as growls of hunger and bloodlust filled the air Yang could not help but feel absolute terror root itself inside of her. Feeding off her fear, the Beowolves became bold as one launched itself at her exposed back.

Taking a peek behind her, Yang saw the incoming danger and managed to spin her body just enough so that the Beowolf slashed into her shoulder instead of her back…but that does not mean it hurt any less.

As burning pain enveloped her back, it elicited a cry of pain to erupt out of her throat and resound across the forest. Dropping Ruby in the process, Yang was thrown across the forest before landing near a secluded hillside, only managing to catch her breath before succumbing to her injuries and losing consciousness seconds later.

Jolted awake by the sudden impact of the ground and the piercing cry of her sister, Ruby's eyes fluttered open and were met by the demonic visage of a Beowolf.

Freezing in place from the sudden confrontation and change from the dream world into reality, fleeting memories of the fairy tale all but disappeared in that moment as confusion and terror filled her heart. The Beowolf's visage warped into a distorted smile as a look of fear bloomed across her face.

Too afraid to even speak lest breathe, the only thing Ruby could do was stare into the soulless eyes of a creature born from darkness and despair. Spotting something in the corner of her eye, Ruby's gaze flickered to the area behind the creature of Grimm and landed on a mop of yellow hair.

Coming to the realization that it belonged to her sister, Ruby was about call out to Yang but the words died in her throat as she realized that something was terribly wrong with her sibling.

Yang was covered in crimson from the top left of her shoulder down to her abdomen, Ruby in her childish innocence did not know that it was blood, but what she knew was that Yang was hurt, and by the looks of it, badly.

Breaking her gaze from Yang's unmoving body, she looked beyond and saw a hillside to Yang's right. After staring at it for a moment gears in her head began to click into place as crude and rather dangerous plan began to form in her mind. But before she could finish it, a menacing growl interrupted her train of thought and brought her attention back to the Beowolf standing over her.

Seeing that it got Ruby's attention back, the Beowolf began to toy with it's new prey by opening its maw ever so slowly and lowering it's head to Ruby's neck as if it were mocking her by extending the inevitable snap of it's jaws.

But before it could claim the kill a loud caw could be heard coming from all around the two, surprised by the sudden intrusion, the Beowolf's head snapped up, it's attention drawn away from Ruby for only a second... which was all she needed to put her plan into motion.

Rolling under the Beowolf's stomach and appearing on the other side, Ruby jumped up and began to run towards Yang's body. The sound of fluttering wings filled the air behind her that were soon followed by sounds of battle and pursuit moments later.

Refusing to look back Ruby continued to run towards her sister, pushing past her very limits with each step she that was when all of a sudden she felt light, almost as light as a… feather?

Ruby had little time to question this as the feeling spread to the rest of her body, the space in between her and Yang collapsing in an instant as the world came back into focus. Snapping out of her daze, Ruby quickly peaked over the hillside before deeming it as safe.

Turning around, Ruby quickly knelt next to Yang and began to roll her body over the hillside, attempting to cause as little harm to the open wounds as possible. As Ruby neared the slope, tears fell from her eyes as she quietly muttered "Goodbye Yang… I'm really sorry for this." Before giving the final push, unknowingly engraving future events into stone.

But as Ruby tried to follow Yang over the hillside she felt a strong yank on her cloak as a Beowolf bit down on it and threw her away from her only chance at salvation. A loud rip could be heard as the bottom half of the cloak was violently torn away from the top half, the sudden pull choking Ruby in the process.

As feeling of weightlessness filled Ruby's body she had little time to react before the hard impact of the ground left her jarred and disoriented. Before she could even regain her senses a heavy paw slammed down on her ribs creating a chorus of snaps as they broke from the force behind it, causing her to cough up blood in response.

But before the pain could even register, the Beowolf clamped its jaws on her arm and began to tear into it. The only thing keeping the agony at bay was the initial shock of the impact and the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

After a while both began to disappear… and the pain that followed was indescribable. It felt as if her very soul was being torn apart. Every chomp and snap of it's jaws was followed by a lance of unimaginable agony as the Beowolf tore into her muscles and bones, the sound of her anguish only causing it to smile wickedly...

Just as her arm was beginning to grow numb the sound of a sword being drawn from it's scabbard filled the air behind them. Surprised that something managed to sneak up on it, the Beowolf attempted to turn around but was met by a flash of crimson lightning severing its head from the rest of it's body, the red hot blade cauterizing both separation wounds instantly.

As the Beowolf's head flew through the air Ruby could see jet black feathers appearing from the severed portion, gently floating towards the ground only to land on the remains of her tattered clothing.

Using her good arm, she grabbed a feather by its tip and held it up close to her face, "A Raven feather?.." She thought to herself as it began to disintegrate and turn to ash. While Ruby's attention was focused on the feathers remains she failed to notice a figure come into view behind it.

Prying her eyes from the now pile of ash, she gazed at the figure and stared into the blood red eyes of a Nevermore. Blinking in surprise Ruby rubbed her eyes and looked at the figure once more before realizing that it was just a mask.

Her curiosity getting the best of her Ruby tried to sit up but was met with a hand pushing down on her chest firmly but gently. "You should not be getting up so soon, child. Not when you are losing so much blood." the figure said with a voice like velvet and a bit like... Yang's?

Pushing the odd "coincidence" to the side Ruby, quickly remembering her current physical state, looked down at her left arm causing her to nearly throw up from the image she was met with.

Thankfully the arm was numb because if it were not, she would've already died from the pain alone. A huge chunk of it was missing right below the shoulder and the bones could be seen protruding from the flesh near the elbow and tricep, it looked like a portion of it went through the blender and got smacked back onto her arm.

But as Ruby grimly examined the injury she noticed a black smoke like substance floating up towards the sky from the open wound. It's tendrils curling and writhing through the air, undeterred by the Autumn wind.

The figure noticing the smoke like substance immediately knelt next to Ruby and pulled her close in order to examine the injury more accurately. The sudden movement causing Ruby to jump up in surprise and fear. As she attempted to scoot away the figure used her other hand to tilt Ruby's face towards hers.

Halted in place, Ruby was forced to stare into the eyes of the figure. The mysterious glow of crimsons reflecting off of her pure silvers as a moment of understanding passed between them. Ruby then knew that something was wrong with her wounded arm, something… unnatural. And if left untreated she would suffer a fate far worse than death.

Breaking her gaze from the figure's, Ruby closed her eyes and focused on the wound. At first she felt nothing but after a couple seconds she could feel the tendrils making their way up her bloodstream like poison, leaving behind black veins that pulsed with her heartbeat, all of them making their way towards her left eye.

But right before the poisonous growth reached it something unexpected occurred, a brief flash of silver winked into existence before a wing of dazzling white light materialized and began to flow out of her eye, unfurling and bathing the space around her in an unearthly glow.

The infection somehow noticing this, began to violently clash with the silver eyes, and the silver eyes in return began to beat back the poisonous growth attempting to infest itself inside of Ruby's body.

But as the minutes passed by it became increasingly obvious that the light was beginning to falter. For the wound was too large, the infection too vile, and Ruby, far too young for her silver eyes to be able to fight off something this potent...

As the wing of light withered and disappeared the glow all but died as the infection bled into her iris, slowly but surely turning it into an ominous shade of blood red. The sudden takeover causing Ruby's head to snap back from a jolt of pain as her vision began to fade into black.

Snapping out of her trance, the figure stopped Ruby from hitting the ground and carefully laid her down onto it before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a pure white dust crystal.

Crushing it with minimal effort, she placed her dust covered hand over Ruby's open wound, just barely touching it in the process. Seconds later light began to pour into it along with a flowing red aura, both beginning to trace and eradicate the black lines at an alarming pace until it reached the eye. In which the struggle for domination began once more.

Both sides fought against each other. Shadows overlapped light and the light, empowered by the figures aura, pierced through the shadows. This exchange repeating itself in a seemingly endless pattern. It felt like hours, when in reality it was only seconds, before the conflict began to die down, both sides on the brink of exhaustion.

The figure sensing this gave a final burst of aura but withheld just enough to make it back to her hideout and treat Ruby's wounds. With this burst of power the light overwhelmed the infection, completely erasing any trace of it.

With the source of the infection gone the black veins began to fade away and return to their natural coloration. And as the last of it left her body Ruby fell back into the waiting arms of the figure, both exhausted from the ordeal but happy that it was over.

Looking up at the figure, Ruby gave her a weak smile and tried to murmur out a thank you but was met by a finger motioning her to remain silent. "Rest." the figure said in a way that left no room for discussion.

So as her eyes drifted close the figure looked into them once more and was hit by an overbearing sense of familiarity as an asymmetric flash of crimson and silver pierced through her soul before winking out of existence under the child's eyelids as Ruby finally fell into a deep slumber.

(Unbeknownst to her, the infection left a mark on her before disappearing, just like a deep wound leaves a scar, but unlike scars this mark led to a physical change of her left eye, leaving the iris blood red but the whites of her eyes unaffected.)

Slightly surprised by the strong feeling and sudden change of coloration in the child's left eye, the figure ignored both oddities and proceeded to gently pry Ruby's arms off of her torso but was met by resistance as the child whimpered and wrapped her arms around the figure's waist more tightly.

Becoming irritated by the her persistence, the figure prepared to detach her by force but froze when she heard the child whispering out "Mom…" as silent tears spilled over her cheeks and dropped onto the ground with an audible patter.

Her heart softening instantly, the figure held Ruby against her chest and rubbed circles into her back, whispering words of comfort into her ear as the child visibly relaxed and fell back into a peaceful slumber. As she held Ruby in a loving manner, the figure came to the realization of what she was doing and mentally cursed herself for falling back into old habits.

She leaned forward to lower Ruby to the ground, but she could not bring herself to do it, the child looked so fragile, so… fractured. Just like the figure did when she lost her mother on that fateful day, 21 years ago...

Shaking her head clear of the memories, the figure looked at Ruby and for the first time in years she felt sorrow for another person. The child would forever be scarred by the events that transpired today and would carry a mark as a testament to it.

Still holding Ruby in her arms, the figure stood up and walked to the edge of the hillside before peering over it. Looking for a cluster of yellow hair, she instead found a trail of blood that disappeared after a few feet, replaced by crushed leaves in the form of bootprints.

Troubled by the disappearance of her daughter, the figure, now known as Raven Branwen, followed the trail with her eyes and saw that it went East. Straight towards "Tai's house..." the figure blankly thought to herself...

A few seconds passed before she stiffened instantly "Tai's house!" She thought to herself as she realized her current predicament. Just as she began to turn away from the hillside, a low rumbling could be heard, followed by a strong gust of wind as a bullhead flew past above her, only to slow down and land a couple miles off from where Raven was currently standing.

She gritted her teeth in annoyance at the unexpected intrusion caused by her biological daughter, but could not help but feel a hint of pride towards Yang's resilience. Stomping the rising emotions back into the corner of her mind, Raven estimated that she had less than 5 minutes before a search party came looking for Ruby.

Cursing under her breath, she briskly trekked towards the forest's epicenter, her mind conflicted on what to do with the child of roses. But her train of thought was soon shattered by the appearance of a stark white rose petal fluttering through the air, blown by the Autumn winds. As the petal drifted through the air Raven stared at it in disbelief before extending her arm and snatching it out of the air.

Bringing it close to her face, Raven studied the petal as another strong sense of familiarity took hold of her. Then it hit her "Summer Rose..." How long has it been since she last saw the snow white petal of her long time friend and team leader... not to mention a fellow member of the tribe…

As Raven stared at the petal a memory resurfaced about that particular day in which Raven swore an oath to Summer...

(FlashBack)

Two figures could be seen sitting together at the top of a tower, silently gazing at the celebration of humanity's liberation from the creatures of Grimm with the discovery of dust.

Bursts of light illuminating their faces with flashes of red flame, white snow, black pulses, and yellow light… That was until one of the two figures shattered the silence between them, "Hey Raven, I want to ask you a favor."

Turning to the other, the figure, now identified as Raven, gazed at her friend before replying with a smile "Yeah? I'm listening Summer... unless this is one of your terrible puns." before laughing at the little side joke.

A second passes as Raven noticed that her leader was not joining in on the joke. Opening her eyes she was met by the piercing stare of Summer Rose, a look that clearly signified that she was not in joking mood.

Coughing awkwardly to hide her surprise, Raven turned towards her friend and said once more, but this time in a serious manner, "Yes Summer, you have my attention."

Giving Raven a sad smile, Summer looked back towards the light show before saying "Raven I do not want to burden you… but I was assigned a special mission by… him. If I don't come back, if I ever go missing, I want you to watch over and protect my child."

"Do anything that you believe would protect my little rose for I trust your judgement. But please… I beg of you, can you pro-." Summer was not able to finish as Raven leaned forward and enveloped her in a strong embrace.

Shocked from the unexpected reaction of her team mate, Summer sat not knowing how to respond to Raven's… warm response. "Do not worry nor beg Summer, I will gladly honor a request made by those who stood by me through the years and saved me from demise countless times."

"I give my oath to you that your child will be protected if you were to go missing." Raven replied before Summer returned the warm embrace with joy at knowing that her child would remain safe regardless of what happened to her.

(Flashback end)

That was over 3 years ago… and now as Raven stared at the rose petal she came to the sudden realization that if this was here then…

Looking up she was rooted to the ground by the ghostly apparition of her deceased team leader. Gaping behind her mask, Raven stepped forward, unable to utter a word from shock, and tried to reach out to her closest friend in both Beacon and the tribe.

But fate would not have it for she was but a reminder of Raven's promise... silent tears streamed down Summer's face as a smile bloomed into full view before she began to disappear. And with a final gust of wind, Summer Rose, a loving mother, a caring friend, a partner and fellow tribe member, scattered…

A few tears stream down Raven's as well before she comes back to her senses and wipes them away. Coming to a conclusion on what to do, she cleared her mind of all hesitation and drew her blade from its sheathe.

Focusing her aura into the dust and (Grimm) blood infused blade she quickly made a downward diagonal slash. The air before her splitting open with an audible rip causing the birds above her to shriek in fear and fly off into different directions.

Smirking at their foolish actions, Raven carefully re-sheathed her blade and proceeded to walk through the translocational portal. Her focus on Ruby's slumbering form, holding a firm yet loving gaze at the child who would soon become her daughter.

"Shame... Summer never told me your name... I suppose I will have to name you... Rose for your mother's side and Branwen for mine... Rose Branwen..." Raven muttered just before the portal closed with an audible snap….

(Moments later)

A team of rescue workers were seen breaking through the forest clearing, followed closely by a panic stricken Tai. Looking around in a desperate manner, Tai spotted something that made his blood run cold. He numbly walked over to the object of question and picked up from the ground a scrap of red fabric… the same fabric that was used to make Ruby's cloak.

Falling to his knees, Tai felt numb as he stared at the scrap, unable to believe what he was seeing. But as moments passed realization kicked in as the misery became too much for him to hold in.

Snapping his head towards the sky, Tai let out a roar of unimaginable sorrow, his cry releasing the pent up anger and anguish from the deaths of his wife and, now, child. The primal scream reaching to the far ends of the island freezing both animal and Grimm in place.

As this was happening, a few feet away from him stood a dusty old Qrow. Like the former, tears made their way down his face before he wiped them away angrily, refusing to believe that her niece was killed by the creatures of Grimm.

Breaking his gaze from Tai's broken form, Qrow looked around, searching for any other items or objects that would shine some light on what really happened in this forest clearing.

Spotting something unusual among the blood marks left by Rub- a person sat a raven feather. It's pitch black coloration reflecting the light that rained down from above. Just as he began to pick it up for closer examination, the feather began to fall apart and turn to glowing red ash.

He stared at the pile before coming to the realization on what it signified, Qrow grit his teeth in anger before crushing the ashes even further and letting them stream out of his hand, only for the all but nonexistent trickle to disappear before it even touched the ground.

Turning away from the blood pool, Qrow walked towards Tai's, now still, form before crouching down and comforting him. He would tell Tai of his discoveries later, but for now they would mourn over the loss of their family member, whether Ruby's disappearance be permanent or temporary… it would come to show later in time...

Updated.

I apologize for the long delay, I am just caught up with so many other stories at the moment. I hope to post the chapter within the earliest being 2 weeks, (in which I can start moving forward at a smooth pace) the latest being 4 weeks.