First arc and first chapter. Character intros will be short and will be thrown into action soon enough.

Read until the end for notes.

~~~~

Just another peaceful night in the streets of Vale. Forget about the events happening across the kingdoms like migration crisis, increase of Grimm attacks, and a new type of monster capable of destroying Atlas fortifications in a matter of hours. The streets have been deserted, even thugs wouldn't dare roam the streets. Fear is at an all time high and people are blaming each other left and right. 

From Faunuses to evil gods to lack of space to end of times theories. The Kingdom of Vale has its resources stretched thin. Groups of Huntsmen have been reported missing each day and they aren't stopping. That's why I'm going to become a Huntsman. So that I can protect these innocent people and families to the best of my ability. Even though my real parents left me, I don't blame them for leaving me. I think they didn't mean to, I think they were forced to. If it wasn't for my big half-sister, I would've been dead when I was just a little kid. 

What am I saying? Oh yeah, that's right, being a Huntress. Anyways, Beacon is my dream academy and my uncle has been training me so that I can be prepared, but he hasn't got the time lately because of everything really. So I'm off to train myself and I'm responsible for getting parts like Dust and bullets for my weapon. 

Speaking of weapons, a gun is pointed at me. Cool. Wait, there's two- no, three guns pointed at me! Very cool. Wait, that's illegal. 

I guess it's time for me to get serious. 

~~~~ 

"Hey there, miss. Got any spare change in your purse? Mind if me and my friends can get some?" A man in a black hood said as he pointed a gun at a girl with a red cape. The girl noticed and removed her headphones. 

"Oh. Are you guys robbing me at gun point?" She asked as she pointed her fingers at his gun. The three robbers looked at each other with their eyebrows raised as they looked at her back with the same expression. 

"Are you serious, little lady? Of course, we're fucking robbing you! Now give us your cash or we can put a bullet through your sorry skull!" The robber said threateningly as they inched their guns closer. 

"Well, call the ambulance." The girl replied.

The robbers didn't have time to react before a smile spreads across her face.

"But not for me." 

In a flash, the three mugger's torsos were flying off their waists. They could only stare at the girl's innocent smile before hitting the ground with a hard thud. 

The little red riding hood wiped the blood off her humungous scythe and retracted it into a long harmless rectangle before storing it behind her waist. She then looked at the dust store ahead of her, and clapped happily as it was the store she was going to get her dust from. Until, an explosion went off and blew a hole in front the store. 

The girl then put her scythe into gun mode and took aim, ready to take some pot shots to whomever got out of that smoke. Then, she saw a familiar figure that wore a bowler hat and a white vest holding a cane on one hand and a box of dust on the other. She gasped and ran closer to them. 

"Uncle Torchwick?!" She asked out loud for the criminal to hear. The man did a double take and looked at his niece with wide eyes and dropped the box of dust on the ground. 

"RUBY?! What the fuck are you doing here?!" He asked as panic started to set in his voice. 

"Oh, you know. Getting some dust for my baby right here. Not expecting my favorite uncle to get some well-deserved dust crates with his gang of friends from the same store I'm going to." She replied with a big, happy and totally innocent smile on her face. 

Roman began to back up slowly as he saw the other deceased robbers cut in half, on the ground and bleeding profusely. 

Roman then shot his lackies' legs out, making them scream in pain, and ran for the rooftops.

"Take care of her for me, will ya?" Roman said to the downed thugs before running away.

"Hey! You better explain why you're trying to ruin the dust economy!" Ruby shouted at Roman as she used one of the downed thugs as a platform and jumped off of him. She then used her Semblance to teleport from rooftop to rooftop which closed the distance between her and her uncle. 

"Uncle! Stop running away and pay for those dust that you stole! With your life!" Ruby shouted at her uncle as she shot twice at her uncle. The bullets whizzed by Roman's bowler hat and almost slid off his head until Roman held on to his head and ducked. 

"No! That's the point of being a criminal, Ruby! I don't pay for damaged goods!" He said as he jumped down from a building. He later reemerged unharmed and was inside a Bullhead. Ruby couldn't see much, but she did saw a very short girl dressed like him except she's in white, brown and purple and a woman wearing a red dress and is pointing a bow at her. 

Ruby pondered that last part before dodging a blazing hot arrow effortlessly. She then aimed her gun at the woman and fired three shots and scraped her opponent, almost hitting her via bullet ricochet. The woman frantically pressed a red button which closed the airlock slowly. Which gave Ruby more time to get some potshots in, but then noticed explosive charges a couple of feet away from her. 

'You son of a-'

Ruby would've used her Semblance if it wasn't for a purple bubble that suddenly appeared around her as the charges exploded a reasonable size of the building and the surrounding area below her. When the smoke cleared, Ruby saw a blonde woman with a riding crop for a weapon. She lead Ruby to a stable platform before removing the protective bubble around her. 

The first thing Ruby did instead of thanking her, she asked the one question she had on her mind the entire time. 

"Are you a Huntress? If so, can I have an autograph?" 

The only reply she got was a whip from the Huntress' riding crop which was inches away from her face. Ruby squeaked as she looked at the Huntress nervously. 

"You're in big trouble, young lady. Big trouble." 

~~~~

You know. Being stuck in the middle of a worn down, possibly haunted and dilapidated interrogation wasn't so bad. It's scary, sure, but there was some peace and quiet to it all. The lighting here needs a change, especially when the lamp keeps on fizzling out every four seconds, making it a huge pain in my eyes and ears. Good thing I don't have get seizures or else I wouldn't survive in this room at all, much less than being a huntress. Flashing light are annoying but my butt being hurt is even more annoying. 

I'd like to think that my butt is growing in size, but that was because of exercise and the chase, and no growth spurts ( I wish I had one right now). I rubbed the sore spot above my butt and never felt any better than the tension going away.

The huntress, Glynda Goodwitch, I think almost slapped my hand with her riding crop when I was talking to her and she seems pretty rude and grumpy. To be honest, I did kill three people there just now, but I didn't feel necessarily bad for them. They had it coming for taking advantage of the people's fears, especially Uncle Torchwick. I was getting bored out of my mind until a man in olive green entered the room with milk and cookies and beside him was Glynda carrying two foldable seats. 

'Yes, my favorite midnight snack! Well, my favorite snacks in general but that's besides the point...' 

The old man set the milk and cookies down and handed it to me, I quickly snatched it and started munching on them. The old man set up his chair and sat across from me and Glynda sat to the right. 

"I got to say, you handled yourself pretty well out there tonight. Who trained you to shoot like that?" The old man asked as he leaned back on his fold chair. 

"It was my Uncle Qrow!" I would've said if it wasn't for my mouth stuffed with cookies, muffling my words and spitting out crumbs every syllable. I stopped and looked downwards for a moment before swallowing and cleaned up for myself with a handy dandy red handkerchief I carry around. 

"Sorry," I replied. "What I meant to say is that my uncle Qrow taught me how to shoot and work around my scythe." 

The man smiled at me and adjust his glasses.

"Then I assume you know why you are here, Ms. Rose." He said with a smirk. 

"Yep!" I replied. "Am I good to get into Beacon now, uncle Ozpin?" I asked as I stared at him with puppy eyes. Uncle Ozpin laughed while Glynda looked surprised as I call Beacon Academy's headmaster my uncle. 

"Maybe. Depends on what you say next. Because I have a question for you." Uncle Ozzy said as he looks at me straight in the eyes. 

"Are you willing to do such acts like that? Like killing those thugs, I mean. You brutally murdered them and didn't give them a chance to fight back." He asked me. The air got a bit heavier, but I did thought about why I killed them in the first place. Sure, it was unnecessary, but I felt like I didn't have a choice in the matter. 

"I felt like it was more of an obligation than a choice. Those thugs were taking advantage of the situation around us so I decided to get rid of them. Also, it was also a message that there are people still willing to defend the streets even though the streets are basically barren at this point. You get where I'm coming from right?" 

Uncle Ozpin didn't looked surprised one bit, but his eyes were... soft? Like "he's heard of that before from a friend and just remembered" it kinda look. He closed his eyes and sighed, not a disappointed ones I get from Uncle Qrow when I act dumb, it was soft and gentle. Is he trying to recall something? Because he was pretty silent for a good minute until he runs his fingers through his own hair. 

Then, uncle Ozpin looked at me again with blank eyes. "Alright, you can go to Beacon, but there is one more thing I want from you." 

I tilt my head curiously. What does the Wizard of Oz want from me this time? 

"How much do you know about your father?" 

My mind came to a full stop, trying to think about what uncle Ozpin asked of me. How much DO I know about him? Thinking back to when I was with uncle Qrow, he would always tell stories about my dad. He said it with so much passion that I'm starting to think that they're real. So I decided to use uncle Qrow's drunken tales to answer the question. 

"Well, from what Uncle Qrow says when he's drunk. My dad was so strong that he can explode people's heads with his fists. He was armed to the teeth instead of using a gun/sword hybrid that hunters have. He killed a pack of Wyverns by slapping them. Killed an army of Grimm butt naked and had multiple children with multiple woman and possibly more."  

The two adults looked at each other with different emotions. While Glynda looked super shocked, uncle Ozpin looked like he was about to cry and laugh all at once. The corner of his lips went up slightly, but before it could turn into a smile, he released a sigh and sets his glasses to the side. 

"Well, Ms. Rose. I'm happy to announce that you are eligible to enter Beacon Academy despite your age. Just don't forget about initiation, yeah?" Ozpin said to me as he stands up extends a hand. 

My brain fries itself, restarts, and rebooted itself in one second and I shook his hand rather aggressively. 

"You got it, uncle Oz! Don't worry about me! You won't be disappointed!" I said excitedly as I stood up and looked at him in the eyes with fiery determination. The moment was unfortunately ruined when my watch started beeping. It was time to go back home. 

Damn 

"Oh no! My ride's going to leave me in 10! Sorry, uncle Ozpin, but I'll talk to you more when I get to Beacon! Bye!" 

I practically ran out of that small room with a big, goofy grin on my face. Hell yeah. As Yang always said. And I agree, I'm one step closer to becoming the greatest hunter that ever existed, perhaps on par with the current one. 

Don't worry, Dad. 

I'm coming to find you. Wherever you are. 

~~~ 

The little girl in red, whom I proudly call my niece, propelled herself off the room with new vigor. Ah, such youth. Remembered it like it was just yesterday. But I cannot deny the depressing feeling I had at that moment when I asked her about my blood brother. Ruby reminds me of my childhood. A young and naïve child, a Fool, beginning her journey through life. Those were simpler times with someone like him by your side. 

Damn. The memories, sweet memories flooding right back again. I hate to say this but I wish things would go back the way they were before this mess happened. Saying that makes me a hypocrite though. After all... 

Nothing and nobody stands in the way of progress and change. 

Closing my eyes, I let the sadness sink into my very core. The thought of inevitability and change ringing like static. I rub my tired eyes and put my glasses back on. My assistant, Glynda Goodwitch, looked at my disheveled form and began to worry. 

"Are you okay, Mr. Ozpin? You look so..." The woman trailed. 

"Shitty? I agree. I forgot to bring my coffee cup with infinite coffee with me today." I interrupt her. The look on her face was priceless, and I couldn't help but smile at it. As I lean on the small metal chair. 

"In all seriousness, though. I am feeling anxious and unnerved lately. Something big is coming, Glynda. And I don't know if I will be able to stop it." 

For the first time in his extended and ancient life. Ozpin felt... 

Scared

~~~ 

"Mistress? Are you okay?" 

A woman in red asked another woman taller than her. She was shrouded in black, her face never visible but her body isn't. The tall woman was hesitant to answer her minion's question. That uncomfortable feeling is returning again. She hasn't felt anything like this in a while. Ever since she was with that man. But that feeling is not the feeling she feels as of now. It is that of dread and despair, a mortal sign of accepting one's death. 

No. She is beyond those feelings of death a long time ago when she turned into this. It's probably just the tingling sensations whenever she thinks about him. Yes, that's perfect, think about him instead. 

"Mistress?" 

The tall woman's serious demeanor cracked for a moment. Her shoulders jumped and her eyes widened. Fortunately, the darkness was thick enough to hide her surprise. The tall lady coughed and gazed at her subordinate's amber eyes. 

"My apologies, Cinder. I was thinking about my own personal dilemma just now. Anyways, what brings you here?" 

Cinder's eyes gleamed rather teasingly at her boss. 

"Now hold on, Salem. You can't dismiss an opportunity of girl talk just like that! Come on, my lady. This is the only time for you distress or else Tyrian will-" 

The tall lady, Salem, panicked just a little by the mention of that simp's name. 

"Fine, just don't mention his name out loud! I would rather drink Ozpin's mystery coffee than listen to his wild ramblings and his... confessions!" Salem said with clear distaste. 

Cinder giggled at the sight of her boss and mother figure turning into an embarrassing mess. After all, nobody knows her like she does. 

After settling down in a nice, comfortable spot. Salem ended up sitting in her oversized bed while Cinder sat in a cushioned chair fashioned with jewels at each leg. 

"So. What is this "personal dilemma" you're having? A woman such as yourself shouldn't be having those kind of problems." Cinder curiously asked. 

"Well, it is embarrassing, but it's not about the matters of the mind. But it's all about the matters of the...heart. You could say." Salem responded in a hushed tone. 

Cinder's eyes lit up and Salem steeled herself for what is about to come out of that girl's mouth. 

"You... you... like someone!?" Cinder said with her hands over her mouth. 

"No no! You got it all wrong! And keep your voice down!" Salem hushed. With a hand over her heart, she sighed and looked into Cinder's eyes once more. 

"Well, you're not entirely wrong. Before you came into my world, I was together with a man, not just any man though. He accepted my faults and made me his queen. Together, we ruled this barren wasteland with the Grimm as our sword and shield and he, at the helm of it. He was the mediator between the good and the evil, keeping the balance of this world and to make sure the humans progress through technological advances without any trouble. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end." 

Cinder watched as Salem looked down at her feet and blinked twice. A tear or two came out of her dark eyes that somehow reflected the broken moon's light. 

"...What happened?" Cinder asked hesitantly. Salem stayed silent for a solid minute until she wipes her tears away and cleared her throat. 

"That is something I will discuss to everyone in due time." She replied with an icy tone. Cinder knew the mood instantly and didn't want to touch on it any further. 

"Well, it's nice talking to you. I shall continue on with my daily routine. Good day, Sa-" 

A knock was heard at Salem's door. A scoff escaped her mouth and gritted her teeth, thinking it was Tyrian. Another three knocks was heard, but they were louder this time. Salem got pissed and bent down to open the door. Instead of Tyrian, it was Hazel, the biggest and quietest out of her inner circle. The man handed her a letter, and she assumed the worst. 

"Don't worry, my Lady. It isn't from Tyrian." Hazel said reassuringly. Salem sighed in relief and looked at Hazel in the eyes anyway. 

"Well, then who wrote that letter? Nobody knows about this place except for a few people. Is this some sort of death threat?" Salem asked. 

Hazel shakes his head. 

"I would look at the seal first if I were you, my Lady. The letter is addressed to you so it must be important, and I don't know exactly what that seal is but I think it's important." 

Salem grabbed the letter from his hand and examined the seal. A chill went down her spine as she instantly recognized the insignia of the seal. 

A mask depicting the two sides of life. Evil, in the first half, slowly fading away to represent the broken moon. And the second half is the sun with the color yellow, red and orange coloring the sun rays. 

'No, it can't be! They- they don't exist anymore! This has to be a mistake!' Salem's mind told her to tear the letter to bits, but her body betrayed her and unsealed the letter. 

The letter reveals to be three sets of numbers with "N" and another three sets with "S". 

'Coordinates?' 

Salem silently skimmed through the sets of coordinates until she realized where it led to. 

The Queen of The Grimm let out a quiet sob. Her legs began to buckle from under her due to grief. Cinder and Hazel dragged her further into the room so Cinder can calm her down. Hazel analyzed the letter and saw the coordinates written. His eyes eventually saw a little note that reads:

"Meet me here at this location when the sun and moon cross paths together. I look forward to seeing you again person. I miss you very much. And so do you." - Mr. B

Hazel looks back at his boss. She was calmer now that she got out of her panic attack, but she got shaken up from that letter. He's pretty much confused at this point. 

"Salem, answer me, please. What was in that letter?" 

Hazel puts a hand in her shoulder, causing her to look up at him. 

"You might want to read this." He said as he hands her the letter. 

Cinder quickly grabs it and saw the coordinates then saw the note beneath. She let out an audible gasp and looked at her boss.

"Salem. Is this...?" She trailed before receiving a nod from Salem. 

"Yes. It's from my long dead husband. And he has returned to me."