Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ruby flopped onto the living room couch, feeling absolutely pooped for the day. She still wasn’t quite getting the hang of the whole “unarmed combat” thing in spite of her efforts. Oscar—or Oz, she really wasn’t quite sure—reassured her that she was making good progress though, so she decided not to worry about it… much.

Getting herself comfortable, Ruby casted her gaze around the room and caught sight of Nora sprawled out on the other couch perpendicular to hers, immersed in a game on her scroll. Behind Nora, Qrow was leaning against the wall, looking out the window and wearing his “don’t talk to me right now” expression. Finally, sitting politely in the chair nestled between the two couches was Weiss who looked up from the book she was reading as Ruby made eye contact.

“Hello, Ruby. How’d training with Oscar go?” Weiss inquired.

“Not great,” Ruby sighed, “fighting without a weapon is way harder! I can’t punch people! I’m terrible at punching! Look at these noodle arms!” She threw her arms up in there, wobbling them about as if they were limp. “Noodles! Noodles I say!”

Weiss stifled a laugh. “Ruby, you regularly swing around a scythe that’s twice your size like it’s nothing, I’m sure you can learn to throw a good punch if you need to. It just takes practice.”

“Using Crescent Rose is way easier than punching! I don’t hurt my hands if I hit a training dummy too hard with her, for one! Not to mention that my hands aren’t guns like she is!”

Weiss bursted out into a full giggle. “Ruby, now you’re just being ridiculous. I know you well enough to be sure you’ll get the hang of this eventually.”

Ruby let out an exaggerated groan. “Noodle arms!”

With a roll of her eyes and one final chuckle, Weiss returned to her reading while Ruby let her head flop back down onto the couch.
Ruby exhaled a short sigh and began to ponder what she should do with herself now that training was over with. Unfortunately, her search for ideas quickly came up short with the realization that she had, tragically, fallen into a horrible limbo where she was too tired to really do anything, yet not quite exhausted enough to take a nap. 

Absent of any other ideas, Ruby pulled her scroll out of her pocket and began to idly flip through the pages of her home screen. She wasn’t really in the mood for any of the video games she had installed in it at the moment, but hey, she didn’t have much else to do. It wasn’t long before Ruby grew bored, and she quickly ended up mindlessly browsing through the scroll hoping for something to catch her eye. 

Eventually, Ruby wandered into the photo gallery scrolling through the old pictures she had saved onto the device when finally, something jumped out at her: An old photo of Team STRQ that her dad had sent her once ages ago. 

The four members of the team were posing together as a group in a forest on a sunny day, all of them wearing big smiles. On the left was Ruby’s mom, Summer, leaning against a tree and obscured by her awesome, stark-white cloak. Next to her, leaning against the opposite side of the same tree was dad, who looked really weird without facial hair, and to the far right of the photograph was Uncle Qrow, who also looked weird without facial hair but not quite as weird as her dad did. Also Raven was there standing between dad and Qrow but she was a jerk who abandoned Yang so she was hardly worth mentioning.

Despite Raven’s presence, seeing just how awesome her parents and Uncle Qrow were back when they were a team filled Ruby with pride. 

“Oh! Oh!” Ruby shouted, sitting up and shuffling across the couch to get closer to Weiss. “Look at this! I found a picture of my parents’ team from when they were all still hunters!” She pressed a button on the scroll to switch to a larger holographic display, turning the projection towards her friend.

“Hmm?” Weiss looked up from her book and scanned the photo for a few seconds. “Huh.” She passed a glance towards Qrow who was still staring out of the window. “Wow, Qrow looks kinda weird without the stubble.”

“I know, right?!” Ruby concurred.

“And that’s your mom off to the left? I guess I know where you got your thing for cloaks from now, at least.”

Ruby giggled “Heck yeah I got it from her! Cloaks are the height of fashion, after all. They make you mysterious and awesome.”

Weiss uttered a single laugh. “Awesome, I’ll give you, but mysterious… whatever you say, Ruby.” 

“Wait!” Nora shouted, suddenly emerging from behind Weiss’s chair, peering over her shoulder. “That’s what your dad looks like?!” She repeatedly glanced between Ruby and back to the photograph of her father before donning a confused expression. “You look nothing like him!” Nora took several more double takes, seeming to grow more and more puzzled with each attempt.

Ruby laughed nervously. This wasn’t the first time she’d ever gotten that comment, and she really didn’t like that being pointed out. “Y-yeah, I guess I just take after my mom, that’s all.”

“Huh!” Nora turned her attention back to the picture. “Oooooh! That makes way more sense. You look just like her!” She thrusted her finger toward the figure to the center-right of the photograph.

“That’s… Raven,” Weiss clarified.

“Raven is Yang’s mom—the jerk one—not mine,” Ruby elaborated. “My mom’s the cool lady leaning against the tree over there.”

“Huh…” Nora narrowed her eyes, scratching her chin.

“What’re you kids yapping about so loud?” Qrow abandoned his window, taking a sudden interest in Ruby and her friends’ conversation.

“Oh hey, Uncle Qrow!” Ruby offered him a friendly wave. “I’m just showing Weiss and Nora a picture of you and the rest of Team STRQ when you were together,” she explained. “Nora thinks I look like Raven for some reason.”

Qrow’s eyes widened at Ruby’s words and he continued his approach, unusually quick to join the trio at the couch. “You’ve got the wrong mother, you’re looking for Summer.”

“That’s what I told her!” Ruby agreed.

Nora shrugged. “Sorry, I couldn’t tell cuz of that cloak she’s wearing. You gotta admit though, it is kinda weird how much you look like Raven.”

“Sounds like a coincidence to me.” Qrow asserted in a weirdly defensive tone. “Ruby looks a lot more like Summer but she hid her face in most of our old pictures so it’s hard to tell.”

“Well,” Weiss interjected, “Ruby is pretty camera shy too, so I guess that lines up.”

“See? She’s got the right idea,” Qrow concurred. “Anyway, Nora, I need you for something, come with me.” He immediately turned, heading towards the hallway.

“You’ve got it!” Nora replied, chasing after Qrow with the usual pep in her step.

“Bye, guys!” Ruby waved, the cheer in her voice wavering slightly.

The conversation lulled and Weiss returned to her book once more and in response, Ruby flopped back down and sprawled herself out across the couch. She stared up at the image of Team STRQ and squinted, focusing her attention on Raven’s face. Though she tried to put the thought aside and dismiss it as Nora being a goofball, Ruby couldn’t help but wonder… did they really look that similar?

It was no use. Ruby couldn’t stop worrying about that photograph. It had been days and it seemed all she could think about was whether or not she actually resembled Raven as much as Nora seemed to think she did. Of course, she knew it was silly to worry about; Ruby had seen plenty of pictures of Summer and knew she looked just like her mom, so of course, it’d hardly make sense if Raven turned out to be her mom instead. Still… Nora was right that Ruby looked absolutely nothing like her dad, and that was what was really nagging at her. Was Ruby’s dad really her father?

No, no. She had to put this thought to bed already. There were plenty of real things to worry about in the world, and this wasn’t one of them! Ruby took a turn down the hallway, ducked into the bathroom and drew her scroll. She made her way through the photo gallery where she returned to the image of Team STRQ that had started this whole mess and zoomed in on Raven.

Ruby held the scroll next to her face and glanced back and forth, comparing Raven’s features with her own, over and over. That’s when her heart began to sink. Their complexions were the same, they shared the same face shape, and heck even their eyes and nose were pretty similar. But no, that couldn’t be it, right? Raven had clearly black hair but Ruby’s hair was red! Very very dark red, but still red! Maybe it was just because Ruby and Raven both wore black-and-red outfits and it was making them look more similar than they really were! Or maybe it was just the lighting or maybe…

She spat out an aggravated groan. As much as Ruby tried to deny it and pretend it wasn’t there, the side-by-side was proof enough for her. Her and Raven looked a lot alike. Too much alike to just be a coincidence. But what? How?! That made no sense! Summer was her mom, obviously! So how come she looked so much like Raven?! Was Tai not her dad then?! If not, who?! Uncle Qrow?!

A dreadful chill ran down Ruby’s spine. Uncle Qrow? That… almost made sense, didn’t it? Raven was his sister, of course, so if Ruby was his… But no, that was ridiculous, Qrow wasn’t her dad, that was crazy. Why would anybody even lie about that?! No, this was all stupid and nonsensical, Ruby was getting herself worked up over nothing! Right? …Right?

Before Ruby could settle her internal debate, her line of thought was cut off by the sound of heavy footsteps trudging down the hallway. She passed a glance over to the bathroom door to make sure it was closed only to be jolted by a spark of adrenaline when she saw it was still ajar. Ruby let out a startled yelp and rushed over to close the door, but in her haste, her scroll slipped out of her hand, tumbling to the floor with a thud. Panic struck, and Ruby found herself suddenly paralyzed, unable to choose between slamming the door shut or scrambling to pick up her scroll. Much to her despair, she took too long to decide, and before she knew it, Uncle Qrow was standing in the doorway. 

“Hey, kid, what was that thumping noise?” Qrow asked. His tone was that of passive confusion, but in her anxiety-driven state, all Ruby heard was accusations.

“Nothing!” Ruby insisted, lying for seemingly no reason. “I uh… I just dropped my scroll, that’s all, you can go… and keep… doing… your thing. And stuff.”

Qrow raised an eyebrow. “You’re hiding something.” He folded his arms. “Spit it out, Ruby.”

“There’s nothing! I’m not hiding anything! It’s uhm…” Ruby hesitated, trying to think of something that would make Qrow lose interest. “It’s girl stuff! Just girl stuff, don’t worry about it!”

Qrow leaned against the doorway, clearly not buying it. “Uh huh?”

Ruby nodded emphatically. “Yup! Just girl stuff! Nothing to worry about!”

“Hm…” Qrow remained unmoving, wordless. He was onto her, definitely, but Ruby didn’t have any choice but to keep lying at this point.

“I’m serious! You can go! Uhm I gotta get back to my… girl… stuff… uh…” Ruby stuttered.

Qrow frowned, continuing to stay put despite Ruby’s attempts to get him to leave.

“Is there uhm, anything you need?” Ruby asked, wilting slightly under his gaze.

“Yeah, I’d like you to stop bullshitting, for one,” Qrow stated bluntly. “I won’t be mad at you, kid, it wouldn’t do any good if I was.”

It was no good, Ruby wasn’t going to be able to get out of this one so easy. Bowing her head, Ruby sighed. “I was just… I… I dunno, I was looking in the mirror and comparing myself to Raven and I…”

“Are you still worrying about that?” Qrow took a step forward, reaching out toward Ruby. “Listen, kid, Nora just made a mistake, alright? I’m telling you, it’s a coincidence, not something worth working yourself up about.”

Ruby batted his hand away, feeling herself begin to grow frustrated. Why wasn’t he taking this seriously?! “It’s not a coincidence! It can’t be! I checked myself, Uncle Qrow, I look just like her! Why would I resemble Raven so much but look nothing like my dad?! It just makes no sense!”

“Kid—”

“Why?!” Ruby begged, a stream of tears bursting forth from her eyes.

Qrow breathed a deep, heavy sigh but he did not speak, simply stood there in silence, his arms stiffly folded together.

It took some time, but Ruby eventually managed to choke down her sobs, wipe the tears from her eyes, and finally ask Qrow the question that was on her mind. “Uncle Qrow… are you…” her voice faltered for a moment. “You’re not… my dad are you?”

With another sigh, Qrow shook his head. “No, I’m not.”

Ruby blinked, “What? But then… Who?! Why?! What?! How—”

“Ruby—”

Ruby shook her head firmly, cutting Qrow’s words off. “Who is my dad, Uncle Qrow?”

Qrow hesitated, gritting his teeth and inhaling deeply. “Kid, are you absolutely sure you want to know?” He winced as he spoke, as if the words he spoke were driving knives into his chest.

All Ruby could manage was to simply stare back at him as the words she wanted to speak refused to form at her lips. She was right, then? She really wasn’t Tai’s daughter? But if not him or Qrow then who?

“Goddamnit.” Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose with a pained groan. “Okay, you deserve the truth.” He knelt down to Ruby’s level and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Ruby didn’t react. She couldn’t. The pit of dread in her heart—formed of her worst anxieties of who her father really was—had petrified her. All she could do was stand stiffly in place as the statue she had become, awaiting the horrible truth.

“Ruby…” Qrow squeezed her shoulder and looked her in the eyes, a sea of regret shimmering behind his own. “The truth is, you don’t have a father.”

“Wh-what?” Ruby sputtered, feeling as though her heart had stopped on the spot.

“You’re Summer and Raven’s daughter, Ruby.”

What? No. That couldn’t be. That made no sense. He had to be lying. That made no sense. But why would he keep lying now? Why would he just make that up?! But it couldn’t be, it just made no sense at all. What the heck was going on?! 

“But… how? What? How would… what?!” Ruby pleaded, hardly noticing she’d begun to speak aloud. 

“Listen, your mom—err—Summer wasn’t born as a… she wasn’t assigned as a woman when she was born, but Raven was. Somewhere along the line the two of them got together and they had you, that’s all I know.”

“But… s-so Raven cheated on Dad?” she winced in pain, knowing now that that word was incorrect. “Err… with Tai then? And I’m… a bastard or something? Was I… an accident? ”

“No, no, kid. The three of them, Summer, Tai, Raven, they’d been together, the three of them for… since our first year at Beacon.”

For a few seconds, Ruby just stood there, unsure of what to say or what to think. Maybe she should have been relieved to have gotten the answers she’d wanted, but really, they’d only lead to more and more questions. 

“Why did you keep this from me?” Ruby pleaded. “Why lie to me?”

“Because…” Qrow grunted with frustration. “Look, Ruby, it wasn’t my call to make, but Raven ran away when you were still a baby. You were too young to remember her when she left. They decided you deserved a loving mom and dad without the bullshit of having a mom that left you. When Yang started trying to hunt Raven down, we all agreed it was for the best we kept our mouths shut.”

Ruby’s eyes widened. “So.. what? Did you tell Yang? Has she known this whole time?!”

Qrow shook his head remorsefully. “Summer and Tai told her the same thing they told you. You two were half-sisters who shared the same father, they figured you’d both be the happiest that way.” 

Somehow, the pit in Ruby’s chest managed to grow even heavier. “So you lied to her, too? You lied to both of us?! Why?!” She begged, growing desperate for some sort of conclusive answer that she could be at peace with. 

“Listen, it wasn’t that simple—”

“How long were you planning on lying to us?!” Ruby shouted. “I’m sixteen now! When were you planning on telling me? Heck, Yang’s eighteen! She’s an adult! When were you gonna tell her?!”

Qrow reached out once more. “It wasn’t my choice, I—”

Again, Ruby swatted his hand away. “Why not?! Why did you just go along with it?! Were you ever going to tell me the truth if I didn’t find it out for myself?!”

“I…” Qrow’s voice drifted off into an empty sigh. He looked at Ruby with pain in his eyes, but the silence was all she’d needed to hear.

Ruby took a shaky breath, the sobs she’d managed to choke down had begun to fight their way back out of her chest. “Uncle Qrow…” she murmured in utter disbelief at his cruelty.

“I’m… sorry, Ruby.”

“I don’t want an apology I want…” Ruby paused for a moment, trying desperately to think of anything that could possibly make this better… but nothing came to mind. “I-I don’t know what I want, I just…”

Qrow didn’t speak, only breathing a low sigh as he waited for Ruby to finish her thought.

“I need… I need to be away from you., I think. I need to be away from everybody . I need to be alone. I need time alone.” She began for the door, stepping past Qrow. 

Qrow grabbed hold of Ruby’s arm as she tried to leave. “Come on, kid. The last thing you need right now is—”

Ruby wrenched her arm free of Qrow’s grasp, scowling at him. “The last thing I need right now is for you to try to protect me, Qrow. Leave me alone.”

Qrow buried his face in his hand, uttering an unpleasant, pained noise that Ruby couldn’t quite describe. “Okay, kid. Just be careful.”

Turning away, Ruby silently made her way to the front door of the house and made her exit, breathing in the evening air as she let the door behind her drift shut. She didn’t plan on running away, she didn’t want to be like… her mom after all… but for now, she needed her space. She needed to be alone. She needed to be free of Qrow’s “protection” at least for tonight.

Chapter Text

The chill autumn air nipped at Ruby’s flesh as she walked alone down the streets of Mistral. She had no destination in mind, really. Nowhere to go. Ruby pulled her arms close to her chest, shielding herself from the cold. Normally at times like this, when it was cold out and she didn’t have a coat, she’d fantasize about those days when she was kid, huddling around the fireplace with Yang and her dad, but now… those memories were tainted.

That wasn’t her dad. He was just… a friend of her moms. A former teammate who’d agreed to raise her when Raven ran away. Much of Ruby still loved Tai, he did step up to be her dad even when he wasn’t really her father, but at the same time, he wasn’t without guilt either. He’d lied to Ruby all of her life, and as far as she knew, he’d never planned to tell her the truth… ever.
And Yang… Ruby couldn’t think of Yang the same way either. She’d always known her and Yang were half-sisters, but it was different when they both shared the same awesome dad. Now Ruby knew the truth: that she and Yang had never shared a dad but rather, they had an awful absentee mother in common. That didn’t change who Yang was, though, right? They could still be sisters, Ruby thought; Yang was the same person who Ruby had known all her life, right? She wanted to believe that, but somehow it just felt impossible, like it could never be the same again.

Really, Ruby had no idea what she was supposed to think or how she was supposed to feel about everything. She was lost, stranded in a sea of unknowns, maybes, and ifs, all of it churning around her, forming a blinding storm she felt like she could never hope to navigate. 

Should she tell Yang the truth? Would Yang still think of her the same way if she did? Should Ruby do what Yang did and try to track Raven down? What answers could Raven possibly give her that would make this make any sort of sense? Could Ruby ever look at her family the same way again, knowing what she knew now? Would Tai still love her if he knew she’d learned the truth? Would Summer still love her?

Ruby’s chest ached more and more with every sob that tore its way out of her body. She stumbled through Mistral, half-blinded by the tears in her eyes that she simply couldn’t wipe away no matter how hard she tried. There was nowhere she could run to, the only place she had was the last place on Remnant she wanted to be, but still, she pushed herself to keep moving. Eventually, though, amidst all of her crying, her legs buckled, refusing to carry her any further. She took refuge on a nearby bench, pulling her knees to her chest and bawling her eyes out, her face buried in her hands.

Nothing could ever be the same.

For what felt like it could have been days or even weeks, Ruby simply sat there, bawling her eyes out, accompanied only by the evening breeze. Though she wanted so desperately to escape from Qrow, from everyone , she still somehow found a way to feel deeply lonely. For the first time in her life, Ruby felt as though there was nobody in the world that she could turn to. She was all alone.

…Or at least, Ruby thought she was alone. Her sobs were quelled by the sound of footsteps approaching the bench from just out of view. Ruby turned her head, half expecting Qrow or somebody else to have chased after her, but her heart sank when the face she was greeted with was one entirely unfamiliar to her. 

There was a woman standing there wearing a sleeveless blue dress with a stylised tattoo of a black spider on her arm. She had a sharp look in her narrowed eyes and bore a malicious smirk. “Well, what do we have here?” The woman slithered closer. “Have a bad breakup?”

Sensing immediate danger, Ruby shot upright, backing away slowly. “No, I—” she cut herself off. “What do you want?”

The woman’s smile dropped slightly. “Well, you catch on quicker than most,” she hissed. “I guess your money’s a good start.”

Ruby shook her head. “I don’t have anything on me,” she pleaded truthfully. “Just leave me be.”

The look on the woman’s face faded into a judgemental frown. “You’re not a very good liar, dear, are you?” She glanced past Ruby and made a subtle motion with her head.

Suddenly, a heavy blunt force struck the back of Ruby’s head, sending her stumbling forward; She managed to maintain her balance, but only barely. Ruby turned to look at what had hit her and was met with the sight of a rugged-looking man with a leopard’s legs, wielding a large club in his hands. 

The woman’s eyes widened in shock before narrowing into a glare. “Now what would a girl like you need her Aura for?” 

Ruby stood her ground, glancing back and forth between her two assailants. “Just leave me alone. I don’t want a fight.”

The woman scoffed. “Should’ve thought of that when you refused to hand over your cash, then. Ash, get her.” She nodded towards her cohort.

“With pleasure,” the faunus man growled, taking his club in both hands and beginning his advance.

Ruby reached toward her hip, searching for Crescent Rose when she was struck with the horrible force of a dreadful realization: She’d left the house in such a hurry she’d never grabbed her weapon.  

Her eyes shot wide with shock as the man charged forward, swinging his club towards Ruby’s head. Instinct took over, and she managed to duck under the attack, but without her weapon to counter with, she panicked. She really hadn’t been doing so well in those unarmed combat drills, but… well she had no choice now, did she? Unsure of what else to do, Ruby retaliated with a punch to the man’s chest, but he absorbed the blow without so much as flinching.

With a grin, the faunus leaned back and threw a kick forward, striking Ruby in the stomach before she could react. Ruby recoiled in pain, but even so, her huntress instincts held firm, and she managed to sidestep her opponent’s followup swing. Once more, attempting to go on the offensive, Ruby spun around and launched a roundhouse kick Yang had taught her. The blow struck true, and caused Ruby’s attacker to flinch, but only barely. He was quick to recover, swiping Ruby’s leg out of the air with a growl. 

Ruby struggled against her foe’s grip, frantically trying to pull her leg out of his grasp, but it was to no avail. Before she could think of any sort of plan, her assailant spun around, lifting Ruby into the air and slamming her to the ground. She coughed out a pained grunt as she struck the floor. The wind was knocked out of her but still, with some effort, she managed to pull herself back to her feet.

Now it was clear that there was no winning this fight, not without Crescent Rose. Ruby needed to run for her life. Thinking quick, she pivoted on the spot, turning toward the empty street. She darted forward and pulled on her Semblance, but found her Aura lacking. It had already been weathered by the cold, but the heavy blows from the man’s club had been enough to bring her Aura to its last legs. Ruby tried to make some distance simply on foot, but she simply wasn’t fast enough without her weapon or her semblance. Soon, another dull Whack! to Ruby’s head sent her tumbling back to the floor, shattering what little there was left of her Aura.

The woman in the blue dress stepped over to Ruby and peered down at her with a scornful look. “Aura or no, I guess some people aren’t cut out to put up much of a fight. Ash, make this quick.”

“On i—” the man stopped himself, suddenly adopting an alarmed tone. “What the hell is that?”

Ruby turned her head in the direction the man was looking, wondering what he could be talking about. There, standing some short distance away was a crimson red iris, looking as if a tear had been cut in the very air itself. A figure stepped through the portal, taking the shape of a woman in black-and-red armor, wearing an elaborate white mask over her head, decorated by streaks of red. There was only one person it could be.

Both of Ruby’s attackers took a step back at Raven’s sudden appearance, looking alarmed. “What the fuck?” the woman asked, stunned. “Who the hell are you?!”

The only answer Raven provided was the sound of her blade sliding out of its scabbard, the same scarlet hue as her armor.

“Some kind of hero, then?” The woman asked, taking a few steps away from Ruby. “You want her? Fine, she’s not worth the effort. We’ll leave.” She turned away from Raven, ushering her fellow criminal to join her. 

Ruby’s assailants made their leave and for a few seconds, Raven lingered, watching them as they turned down the street, eventually disappearing. Seeming Satisfied, Raven turned back towards her portal, but just before she could step back through, Ruby cried out, interrupting her.

“Wait!”

Raven paused, but didn’t spare Ruby a glance as she pulled herself back to her feet. “I have a question I need to ask you,” Ruby begged.

Raven remained silent and took another step toward her portal.

“Are you really my mom?!” Ruby shouted.

Once more, Raven stopped, this time turning back to face Ruby. Despite the mask covering Raven’s face, Ruby could feel the intense gaze from within. Raven’s stare penetrated her soul, picking her apart and evaluating her before reaching some final judgment. 

“So much for ‘to their grave,’” Raven scoffed. “I guess I should’ve figured you’d work it out eventually. You’ve guessed right, I am your mother.”

For a few moments, Ruby found herself just standing there. She didn’t know what to think, knowing that Raven of all people was so forthcoming with the plain truth. “I-I need to know more!” she stammered. “Why did you leave me and Yang?!”

Raven breathed something between a sigh and a growl. “If you were hoping for some kind of heartfelt mother-daughter reunion, I’m afraid I’m gonna have to disappoint. I don’t have time for this.” Again, she turned from Ruby and left through her portal without another word, disappearing into the smokey red void that laid beyond.

Just like that, the one link Ruby had to the truth disappeared once again. Ruby should’ve seen this coming; Raven hadn’t even bothered to raise her, why would Ruby expect her to suddenly have some sort of change of heart and just decide to care about her? Of course she’d just run away again. But Ruby couldn’t just accept that. She had to know the truth, the whole truth. Why did Raven abandon her and Yang? Why was she so unwilling to explain herself? There had to be more there. There had to be something.

The edges of the portal turned hazy and it began to lose its shape. Raven’s doorway was going to close behind her, and cut Ruby off for good, but in that moment, something in Ruby snapped. Surprising even herself, Ruby lunged forward, breaking into a full sprint towards the collapsing portal. She wasn’t going to let Raven escape this time. She was going to get her answers. She was going to learn the full truth, one way or another. Just as the Portal pulled itself shut, Ruby clenched her eyes shut and leapt…

Ruby landed on a wooden floor with a heavy thud.

Chapter Text

   There wasn’t much of a chance for Ruby to take in her surroundings. All she could work out was that the floor was wooden and that she was in some kind of large tent before she was yanked off her feet, held up in the air by her collar. Ruby blinked and the figure of Raven came into focus; She was without her mask, staring at Ruby with an intense, furious glare.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Raven demanded with a harsh shout.

“I couldn’t just let you leave!” Ruby retorted, struggling against her mother’s grip. “I need the truth! I’m not gonna let you run away again!”

Raven growled. “So you jumped through the portal like an idiot hoping I’d just tell you everything for your display of loyalty or something?! It’s not so easy as to just reopen that damn thing, you know.”

“Then don’t reopen it!” Ruby yelled. “I don’t need you to!”

With a questioning gaze, Raven let go of Ruby’s collar, dropping her onto her feet. She stared down at Ruby, wordlessly, reevaluating her.

“Please,” Ruby begged, “I’m sick of all these lies! I just want to know why you left me and Yang. I want to know why everyone hid the truth from me all my life! I want to know why they didn’t want me to think you were my mom.”

  After a pause, Raven folded her arms. Her gaze softened, and Ruby caught sight of a small wisp of sympathy behind her eyes. “How are you so sure? You know you can’t go back to not knowing.”

Ruby shook her head emphatically. “I wouldn’t have asked you… I wouldn’t have chased you down if I wasn’t sure.”

Raven breathed an aggravated sigh. “Gods, you even sound like her…” 

“Like… Summer?” Ruby asked.

For a short while, Raven just stared at Ruby. Her arms fell back to her sides and she let out another sigh, this one without the frustrated gravel of the last. Her voice shifted to a much more somber tone, sounding almost pained. “The last time she went out looking for answers, she never came back. You’re still sure that’s what you want?”

Ruby nodded stiffly, feeling herself begin to tense up slightly. It was starting to get frustrating, just how evasive Raven was being. “I’m sick of people trying to protect me from the truth. I’m ready, just tell me! Please.”

Something in Raven’s demeanor changed. Her posture softened and the fiery anger in her eyes was quenched for the most part. The scowl she was wearing faded, and her hands, once curled into fists, relaxed. In a way, she almost looked defeated. It wasn’t long, though, before she raised her guard once more, though she didn’t manage to summon the same intimidating presence she’d conjured before. 

“Fine,” Raven spat out the word as if it were bitter on her tongue. “But don’t come crying to me when you learn something you’d wish you hadn’t.” She turned and motioned towards a low table surrounded by a quartet of cushions on the other side of the tent. “Take a seat, then.”

Ruby nodded silently, stepping over and sitting cross-legged on one of the cushions. 

Raven was soon to join her, taking the seat opposite of Ruby’s. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and looking Ruby over one more time. “So you’re tired of being lied to, huh? Well, the first thing you should know is that Tai and your uncle haven’t been the only ones hiding the truth from you.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ruby, quirking an eyebrow.

“Ozma. That rat hasn’t told you half of the truth about himself, or about Salem, or how dangerous she really is.”

“That’s not true!” Ruby protested. “He told us about how he’s been reincarnating for so many years, because he was given a duty to stop Salem. He also talked about how Salem’s this scary lady who controls all of the Grimm, and how she’s trying to bring together all four of the relics left behind by the Brothers so that she can use their power to destroy the world. 

“Oz told us about the Maidens, about the Brothers, about how he can do magic… heck he even told us about how he even gave you and Qrow magic bird powers. How much more could there be, anyway?!”

Raven didn’t seem to see fit to respond with words, simply staring at Ruby with a blank expression. 

A horrible, suffocating feeling sank into Ruby’s chest. “... how much?”

“As I said, you don’t even know the half of it.”

“What’s…” Ruby hesitated, already beginning to dread what she didn’t know. “What’s the other half?”

Raven coughed out a single, scornful chuckle. “Well, the first thing you need to know is that Salem isn’t just some lady who can order Grimm around. She’s Oz’s wife, or at least she was.”

“She… what?!”

“At some point hundreds of years ago, he kicked the bucket, and Salem threw herself into a pool of Grimm out of grief hoping it’d kill her. It didn’t work, but it gave her an appetite for destruction, and she started trying to gather the relics together so she could feed that hunger.”

“So…” Ruby muttered, trying to put the pieces together. “The Brother of Light made Oz reincarnate forever and told him to kill his wife? Is that it? That’s… messed up.”

Raven scoffed. “Kill her?! More like he’s here to stall her for time, to drag this whole mess out.”

“Stall her?” A chill began to slowly crawl up Ruby’s spine.

“Did you ever wonder how Salem’s managed to live this long? How she hasn’t croaked from old age already?”

“Not really, I guess. Maybe it’s the Grimm she fused with extending her lifespan? Is she reincarnating like Oz is?”

“No.” Raven grit her teeth, uttering something like a low growl. “She’s immortal, that’s how.”

The horrible pit in Ruby’s chest felt like it sank a mile deeper, plummeting into an abyss of dread she hadn’t ever realized she had within her. “You mean…”

Raven leaned further forward, curling her hand into a fist and slamming it on the table which creaked under the force of her strike. “She can’t fucking die. You can put as many bullet holes in her as you want and she’ll put herself back together. You wanted to know why I ran away? Why didn't I just stay put and just keep fighting Ozpin’s little shadow war against his ex-wife? That’s why, because this whole damn this is pointless.” In a matter of moments, Raven had worked herself right back into a palpable fury, though it was plenty clear who this one was directed at. 

For Ruby’s part, though, she was far from angry, she was petrified. Could it really be? Salem was immortal? Invincible? Unkillable? Had she really been fighting for nothing all this time? Had Mom been fighting for nothing all this time? Was the world just going to end and there was nothing she could do about it?! How much longer did she even have left if Salem had already taken control of Beacon? 

Feeling herself begin to panic, Ruby desperately tried to take some measure to steady herself. She tried taking deep breaths to calm herself, but all she could manage were thin rasps and she hardly felt like the oxygen was reaching her lungs. She tried going to her happy place, but she could only imagine it being overrun by horrible, ravenous Grimm. There was nothing to hold onto, there was nobody to seek comfort in, nothing. Just an overwhelming feeling of utter hopelessness. 

There was nothing she could do.

Salem was immortal.

It must have been minutes before Ruby realized how hard she was sobbing, because by the time she managed to gather enough of herself to wipe away her tears, she could see Raven was no longer seated opposite of her, instead pacing around her tent, looking irritated.

“Wh-why didn’t you tell… anyone else?” Ruby managed between sobs. “Why hide it from them?”

Raven groaned. “Because I knew that they’d get in my way. Sure, I could see a hopeless task for what it was, but Tai? Qrow? They’d insist I keep fighting, that we’d find some way to defeat Salem without having to kill her. They wouldn’t see it for the hopeless task that it is. I already knew what they were going to say. I already knew what she was going to say…” A wounded expression momentarily crossed Raven’s face.

“So you just up and abandoned them?!”

“You make it sound like I had a choice!” Raven hissed.  “I didn’t want to leave my team, I didn’t want to leave your mother behind, but I did what I had to do to survive!”

Ruby sniffled. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know if there was anything to say. She sat there in silence, wiping away her tears as Raven continued to pace around the room, working herself in and out a fury over and over. It was clear that she was thinking something over, but Ruby couldn’t begin to guess what.

Soon, Ruby’s mind turned back to her grief, to how she’d been fighting for nothing all this time. She felt angry, betrayed, but perhaps most of all, she felt scared. She was scared of what would happen to her friends if they tried to face Salem head on. She was scared of what would happen when Salem inevitably got what she wanted. She was scared of how everyone else would react if she told them the truth Oz had been hiding from them, and how Oz himself would respond knowing the jig was up.

Finally, Raven seemed to deem it worthy to acknowledge Ruby’s presence once more. “So, now that you know all there is to know, what do you plan on doing, hmm?”

“I… I-I…” Ruby stuttered. Though she tried to think of something she could do, nothing at all came to mind. “I… really don’t know…”

“You don’t know?!” Raven roared with outrage.

Ruby bowed her head in sorrow and shame. “N-no… I’m sorry.”

Raven opened her mouth to speak but then, all at once, her anger was extinguished and she hesitated. “You know what…” she wilted. “For once, I can’t blame you. I didn’t know what to do at first either…” There was a pause before Raven spoke again. “You can sleep here for the night. Rearrange those cushions if you need to. In the morning we will… Well, we will see. Get some sleep.” 

“Okay…” Ruby mumbled, feeling thoroughly defeated. 

While Raven stepped away and laid down in her bed, Ruby simply spread herself out onto the floor, laying her head on the cushion she’d been sitting on. Though she was exhausted, both physically and emotionally, sleep did not come easy. No matter what, she couldn’t stop thinking about Salem, about the hopelessness of the fight against her. 

Ruby had spent her entire life training to be a huntress, could it really have been all for naught? What could she do now? Run back to Mistral and tell everyone about Salem’s immortality? Would they even believe her? Was she supposed to just go back to being a huntress after this? No, she couldn’t do that, not now, but she couldn’t just flee to Vale and try to live with… Taiyang back in Patch either. 

So, what, did she have any other choice left but to lay down and die? That wasn’t much of a choice either. Despite everything she’d learned, despite how dim the future now seemed, Ruby didn’t want to die. She wanted to live, she wanted to make the best of what little time she had, she—at the very least—wanted to go down swinging. She didn’t have it in her to just give up.

Just then, a thought occurred to Ruby and she rolled onto her side, turning her gaze to Raven—her mother—who looked to have already fallen asleep. Maybe there was something she could do after all.