Chapter Text
The gentle rumble of approaching thunder accompanied the rapid pitter-patter of a downpour surrounding the remote forest cabin. The whistling winds caused the branches of the nearby trees to sway, and their leaves to rustle as they crashed against each other on a cloudy Halloween night. Inside the cabin venue, owned by the Patch Island Government and rented out by the Schnee’s for the night, was the chatter of friends and family as they enjoyed dinner in the dining room and awaited the night's dessert.
Ruby Rose looked around her table while she took a big stretch. To her left was her best friend Weiss Schnee in a dark burgundy dress, the latest addition to the Weiss Schnee Original collection. Next to Weiss was Blake Belladonna, dressed in a stylish dark purple dress, and next to her was Yang Xiao Long, casually dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and an orange t-shirt. Finally, sat in between Yang and Ruby was Penny Polendina, dressed in a pair of white jean shorts and a green, long sleeve blouse. At the only other table in the room, Ruby saw her friends Lie Ren, dressed in a green hoodie and black pants, and Nora Valkyrie, dressed in a pink skirt, white top, and black leather jacket. The happy couple was sharing a vanilla smoothie together.
At that same table was Jaune Arc, wearing his usual black hoodie and dark blue jeans, and Pyrrha Nikos-Arc, wearing a dark red long sleeve shirt and brown shorts.
Without warning, a loud crack of thunder suddenly echoed in the night. Darkness, save for a faint yellow-tinted light coming from under a nearby doorway, took over the room as lightning struck the cabin. Various party guests gasped. A glass fell and broke against the floor. A woman’s blood curdling scream caused an aura of panic within the dining room.
The lights just as suddenly came back on as the cabin regained power, and the party guests looked around the room. Ruby heard a haunting scream come from her sister, chilling her straight to the bone. “Blake! No!”
The doors connecting the dining room to the hallway flung open following the sound of Yang’s scream. Through them came the night’s security: Officer Winter Schnee. Following her was her girlfriend and Island government employee keeping an eye on the venue, May Marigold.
Ruby saw her sister’s eyes locked on the center of the room. When she followed Yang’s gaze, she, as well as all the others in the dining room, gasped when they saw what Yang was looking at.
On the ground was Blake Belladonna, the handle of a "knife" sticking out of her chest, the blade of which having pierced Blake’s heart. Her clothes and the floor beneath her body were stained red with blood, which strangely looked just like tissue paper.
The rest of the party guests murmured as they watched Yang rush to and hold the body of her fiancé in her arms.
“Blake! Oh god no! It’s not fair, it's not fair!” Yang cried as she laid Blake’s head in her lap.
“I know! I was far too young to die.” said the body of Blake Belladonna.
“Blake, you’re supposed to be dead babe.” teased Yang.
“I know. I'm running and planned out the game after all,” answered Blake as she exaggeratedly collapsed in Yang’s arms.
Yang made a show of clearing her throat. “It’s not fair! We were supposed to grow old together! Spend the rest of our lives together!” Yang turned to the room, using all of her very little acting chops to express her anguish. “Which one of you did this? Who killed Blake!?”
The other guests looked around the room at each other, each one suspicious of the others.
“Well, who did it?!” Yang yelled. No one stepped forward, each party guest continuing to look at the others.
“Did anyone see anything?” asked Winter Schnee as she took a step forward, making a show of adjusting her baseball cap which said ‘police’ on the front. No party guests spoke up. None had seen anything.
The identity of the murderer was shrouded in as much darkness as the moment Blake was slain.
“And so begins our tale on this dark and stormy Halloween.” said the game master, who suspiciously looked and sounded just like Blake. “The night’s dinner party has turned from celebration to tragedy by a sudden murder. The victim: the beautiful, elegant, talented, intelligent-”
“And I’m the pompous one?” interrupted Weiss, receiving a side-eye from Blake the game master as she stood up and removed the toy knife handle from her chest.
“The victim: Blake Belladonna. The suspects: all those in attendance. The motive: a mystery. If only there was someone skilled enough to solve this case with seemingly no leads and numerous possibilities.”
Ruby got a big smile on her face when she heard her and Penny’s queue. “We can!”
Everyone turned toward her. “We can solve this case!” Ruby said, pointing to herself and Penny.
“And you are?” inquisitively asked Winter. Ruby was a little surprised at how much Winter was playing along.
“None other than-” Ruby said, going back to back and striking a pose with Penny. “-The Great Sherlock Rose and her crime fighting partner, the beautiful Dr. Penny Watsondina!”
She heard a stifled chuckle from May. “You guys are dorks.”
“May, be nice. It’s Ruby’s birthday.” said Winter while giving a side-eye.
Ruby, deciding to ignore May’s comment, excitedly approached Blake and gave her a big hug. “Thanks for working on this for me!” she said as she let go of Blake. “This is gonna be so much fun!”
“You’re welcome. I hope you have a good time.” said Blake to Ruby with a smile.
Ruby cleared her throat. “Officer Schnee, if you would please go get the kitchen staff and bring them out here. I need everyone in this room. No one leaves until my partner and I investigate the scene and the bod-” she looked down, seeing nothing on the floor within the pool of red tissue paper blood. “Uh, Blake?” Ruby said, pointing to the empty spot.
“Hm? Oh right.” replied the game master as she walked to the corner of the room. Within the corner was a small desk with a laptop on it, a chair, and a backpack. She returned a moment later with a teddy bear wearing a dark purple dress. Taped to it was a piece of paper as well as a piece of cardboard to mimic a knife handle. “Sorry, I can’t stay on the floor. Lots of moving parts to manage so the game can keep going.” The game master said as she put the bear in the tissue paper blood and then returned to the corner of the room to take her seat at the desk and man the laptop.
“Totally understandable.” replied Ruby before clearing her throat again. “No one leaves until my partner and I fully investigate the scene and the body!”
Ruby's smile grew as she looked around the room, at the party guests, and at Winter and May. The main event of her birthday party, The Great Patch Island Murder Mystery Game, had begun.
Ruby’s goal was simple: discover the identity of the murderer before they kill all of the "party guests", consisting of Weiss, Blake, Yang, Penny, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren. The rules: anything and everything, including the real life details of all those in attendance, could be a clue. The challenge: Ruby may only make one guess by using the special card and marker held by the game master, and anyone within the cabin could be the killer.