Chapter Text
Rose, Ranger of Patch Island and Hero of the Land, ventures on the open road on the way to the capital city of this proud nation. Winter’s first snow falls across the open plains, and it crunches beneath her boots. The human girl has eyes as silver as Terran’s sun, and the bleached-gray moon shines down upon her. As she walks forward, she stops as she perceptively notices a collection of creatures approaching: Dire Wolves. They’re horse-sized hunters with dark coats and red eyes, glimmering in the dark.
With a smirk on her face, Rose waits patiently for the creature to approach. As the wolves lunge for her, even their pack tactics are no match for her ability to dodge, vanishing into rose petals and reappearing high in the sky…as she descends, her special weapon, Crescent Rose, emerges from its mechanism and fires energy downward before swinging downward to take on the Dire Wolves!
Wolf after wolf, Rose uses a combination of magic and battle prowess to eviscerate the wolves! She may not emerge unscathed, but she emerges victorious. Her cloak billows behind her, and her silver eyes glisten with a grin of victory. Her black hair, highlighted by red, is tied into a wolf tail behind her head, and her fine leather armor is well-used but sturdy.
~=~
“WOOHOO!” Seventeen-year-old Ruby Rose stands up and cheers. “Take that, Dire Wolves!”
Taiyang laughs goodheartedly as he sees his daughter celebrating her latest victory in their home game of Tales of Terran. Tai has always loved the game, but for a while now, it was only him and Ruby. Qrow drops by on occasion, and Yang plays sometimes, but she prefers to come in as a deus ex machina to help her little sister, no matter the adventure. Ruby, though, loves the game more than anyone. Ruby has always been a smart girl, just a little different…that’s to be expected, really. She’s just like her Mother.
Ruby has a good head on her shoulders. Graduating from high school two years early is no small task, and his daughter has a brilliant mind for math and creative writing…which, of course, also makes Ruby a phenomenal Tales of Terran player. Ruby gets sucked into the world, seeking to carve a story out for her characters, whether they make it to glory or die in tragedy. All that matters to her is the story being woven.
“Looks like Rose the Ranger is doing great!” Tai smiles. “I’m starting to run out of ideas, honestly.” He says sheepishly. He and Ruby have already gone through every premade campaign in the house for her other characters, and he has to admit, he’s not creative enough to write up a long-term homebrew adventure for her.
“Aw, come on, Dad, there’s gotta be more!” Ruby pouts. “We barely play anymore!”
Ruby is, unfortunately, right. Taiyang is a teacher, and unfortunately, he’s transferring to a new school. It’s still in the same town, so they don’t have to move or anything…but it’s left him a tad overworked trying to prepare, and even as summer break is on the horizon, he’s gonna have almost no free time. For the most part, that’s fine! Ruby and Yang have always been very self-sufficient girls; he knows they can take care of themselves. But alas, Ruby is truly in love with the game, even without…
Without…hm. There’s an idea.
“Well, you know, Ruby, I may know someone who could run a game for you. An old friend of ours.” Tai strokes his chin and smiles.
“Old friend…?” Ruby’s eyes widen. “Ooh! Is this the game where you met Mom?”
Yes, as utterly nerdy as it sounds, Tai met Summer playing Tales of Terran. The story of how they met was one that’s been practiced and told a million times: the two met as part of an adventuring party, their characters had great chemistry, fell in love, and they would one day realize that such affections weren’t limited to their characters.
“The very same,” Tai answers. “He’s still got a game shop in town, though I don’t visit him much. I think Qrow keeps in contact with him, though. Between you and me, I think he still plays in his world from time to time.” He chuckles.
“He always runs the same world, right? I’d be playing STRQ: The Sequel?” Ruby grins.
“That’d probably be the idea.” Tai chuckles, then gets serious. “But I gotta tell you, Ruby, his games…they’re no joke. They’re a heck of a commitment, and they’ll draw you into the game like you wouldn’t believe. Summer break may be a few months away, but when it comes around, you may not ever wanna stop-”
“Yeah, yeah, you’ve already sold me, stop with the sales pitch!” Ruby hops up and down, unable to contain her excitement.
“Yeah, that’s par for the course,” Tai smiles fondly. “You have your Mother’s excitement.”
“I am going to spend the first few weeks getting comfortable with my character, and then I will spend all summer playing!” Ruby excitedly gets her things together: a character sheet, dice, and her notebook. “Oooh, I need to know everything about the world!”
“Well, I don’t know about everything…” Tai chuckles. “But I could make a call to my friend, and tell you a few more stories.”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Ruby cheers.
~=~
It took Ruby three days to get her things ready, and she hardly slept in her excitement. Maybe some people thought she took this game a bit too seriously, but there was just something special about it!
Not to mention that Dad told her to “bring a friend or two” to the game shop! Naturally, Ruby sent a message to her friends Weiss and Jaune, and of course, she invited Yang.
“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” Weiss frowns, giving Ruby a ride to the game store in a chauffeured car.
“Well, of course I did! We’re best friends!” Ruby hugs Weiss, who gets red in the face and pushes her away.
“We are classmates who happen to work well together.” Weiss retorts.
Ruby and Weiss are kind of friends, kind of not. Ruby met Weiss when she was bringing a bunch of fireworks to Yang and accidentally set a bunch of them off point-blank in front of Weiss.
“In any case, I’ve done my research into the game,” Weiss says. “I’m only doing this because you insist this strange game helps you use your brain. Just be warned: the moment I determine it’s the reason you’re such a dolt, I am leaving.”
“You say that now, but you’ll love it!” Ruby grins. “You made your character sheet already, like? What did you pick? I bet you’d like a spellcasting class. You’d like how complicated they are,” she rambles, and Weiss narrows her eyes.
“...regardless,” Weiss sighs, “So long as this keeps me out of the house over the weekends, I don’t care. But do we really need to play with Jaune?”
“What’s wrong with Jaune?” Ruby asks.
“I’m personally not looking forward to seeing his ‘macho suave’ persona regularly.” Weiss huffs.
“Come on, it’s all just pretend! Besides, he’s gotten better at reeling that in since meeting Pyrrha,” Ruby expresses. “And hey, these characters aren’t us, unless we want them to be…you could throw him a bone by letting your character be a little interested~”
“Not a chance in hell,” Weiss says coldly. “What about you? Why don’t you throw him a bone?”
“You know, I would,” Ruby grins mischievously, “but I’m afraid Rose the Ranger is as raging a lesbian as I am.”
“We have arrived, Miss Schnee,” the driver says, stopping in front of the shop.
“YES!” Ruby barrels out of the car, and Weiss sighs.
“You can go,” Weiss dismisses the driver, “I can get a ride from someone.”
“As you say, Miss Schnee.” The driver drives away, and Weiss looks out to observe the game shop.
It looks…strange. Somehow, it stands out in the middle of town, yet she’d never actually noticed it before now. The sign overlooking the shop reads ‘Seifer’s Emporium’, and is emblazoned on the left side with a large purple eye, with an iris like a reptile or cat, she can’t tell which. It’s a dark wood building, and just looking through the window, the rows of games and books have what Weiss can only presume to be accessories for the game. She can’t see anyone at the front desk, though…
“Hi, guys!” Ruby’s voice snaps her out of her scrutinizing gaze, and she sees that Yang’s motorcycle has pulled up, as well as…Pyrhha’s car?
“Hey, Ruby!” Jaune gets out of Pyrhha’s car, immediately making it clear why it’s here: Pyrhha gave him a ride. That does not explain the two people in the back seat, or the woman riding with Yang.
Yang’s passenger pulls off her helmet, and she looks around. She’s a beautiful woman with black hair.
“Guys, this is Blake!” Yang smiles. “She’s my partner in crime.”
“There are better ways to put it,” Blake mutters.
“Oh, is this the girl you met in a bar fight?” Ruby asks with an innocent smile.
“I’m sorry, what?” Weiss asks.
“Relax, I wasn’t drinking, just kicking ass,” Yang smirks.
“Which you needed me to pull you out of,” Blake smirks.
“Oh, you wish.” Yang chuckles.
“Hey, guys!” Nora Valkyrie is recognizable as being a bubbly (and crazy) girl alongside her quiet boyfriend(?) Lie Ren, both step out from the back of Pyrrha’s car, and Pyrrha walks next to Jaune.
“Hello, everyone!” Pyrrha smiles. “I hope you don’t mind, but Jaune invited us to play.”
“Yang did the same with me,” Blake says. “Is this okay? From the podcasts I’ve listened to, this seems like a lot of people for one game.”
“I mean, sure, this is like…twice as many people as Mom and Dad’s party had,” Ruby says, bringing some quiet nervousness to the group, but she smiles. “But I’m sure it’s fine! Dad always talked highly of this guy. I’m sure he can handle it!”
“Well, only one way to find out.” Yang shrugs.
“Right! Let’s go play!” Ruby rushes in.
“...how many of us have actually played?” Weiss asks. Yang and Pyrhha are the only ones who raise their hands.
“I’ve heard podcasts and like fantasy books,” Blake says, and Ren hums, as though agreeing that he shares Blake’s experience.
“Great. This’ll be a disaster.” Weiss sighs.
“Oh, don’t be such a spoilsport!” Yang walks past her. “Come on, give it a try for Ruby!”
“I am not doing this for Ruby.” Weiss walks in.
“Keep telling yourself that, ice queen.” Nora snickers.
Inside the game shop, Weiss narrows her eyes as she notices that all of a sudden, a man is standing behind the front desk. She didn’t see him from the window.
“Welcome, all of you!” the man smiles. “You two must be Ruby and Yang. You’re the spitting image of your parents.”
“That’s right, Mister Seifer!” Ruby smiles.
“Just ‘Seifer’ is fine,” the man smiles. “I have to say, though, I’m surprised to see so many people.”
“Yeah, it kinda got out of hand…” Ruby chuckles nervously. “Is this okay?”
“Of course it is.” Seifer chuckles. “It’s heartwarming to see that so many people are interested in the game. We’re going to tell a beautiful story together, I can already tell.”
“So, how is this going to work?” Pyrhha asks. “Most of us haven’t played before.”
“Oh, I already have everything set up in the game room! Come with me,” Seifer says and guides them into a back room. “For simplicity’s sake, we’re going to start you all at level 1.”
“Aw, what?” Ruby frowns. “But I’m proud of my character…”
“Consider it a reboot for a new setting!” Seifer smiles. “You want to ease your friends in, right?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Ruby sighs.
The back room is a dimly lit room with a large table set with enough chairs for everyone, including the end with the DM screen in front of it. There’s a map on the table with several markers of different colors on it, and there are shelves with many different game pieces and monster miniatures.
“Did you know there’d be eight of us…?” Weiss mutters, observing the number of chairs.
“I just like to be prepared!” Seifer shrugs and smiles. He sits down at the head of the table. “Now, Ruby, since I’m pretty sure you have Rose figured out, why don’t you pass these around, whip up a level one version, and help your friends with their characters? After we come up with the basics, we can figure out some basics for backstories, and we can figure out depth if you guys end up wanna keep playing. After we have the basics, we can try out a simple introduction session.”
“Okay, sure!” Ruby smiles and takes the papers.
“In addition to the rules for character creation in the game,” Seifer speaks, “I’ll also pass out some custom magical items based on your characters.”
Ruby squeals in excitement as she passes out the character sheets. “Oh, that means I can get my Crescent Rose!”
“Terran has a lot in it,” Seifer smiles. “The kind of campaign we play will ultimately be up to you all, based upon the actions of your characters and the things you want to see in the world. I’m always open to feedback, and this is more than just a sequel to the game Ruby and Yang’s parents played: this is your story. It’s been a long time since those heroes saved the world, and continuing a legacy will only be part of the story.”
“Well, I took the liberty of setting up a character beforehand,” Weiss pulls a character sheet from her bag. “I found something optimal and printed it out.”
“Hang on, are Ruby and Yang going to play the actual children of their parents’ characters?” Blake asks curiously.
“I mean, I want to!” Ruby says.
“I’d be open to that,” Yang chuckles.
“More than welcome!” Seifer says. “This takes place a couple of decades after their final adventure, so it’d make sense if they’ve had a couple of kids since then.”
“But a backstory?” Weiss huffs. “That’s so troublesome…can’t we just play like it’s a board game?”
“Ugh, that’s so boring! If you’re stuck, just be yourself,” Ruby smiles. “That’s what I did! Rose the Ranger is basically just me!”
“Yeah, mine’s probably just gonna be ‘Rose the Ranger’s sister’,” Yang smiles. “I’ll be a Bruiser! They're like a Barbarian, but they focus on punching. Ruby could use the extra muscle. What do you think, Blake?”
“I have some ideas…” Blake mutters, swiftly writing in her character’s basic info on her character sheet. “I’m going to be a Rogue.”
“I’ll be a Barbarian! No, Sorcerer! No…” Nora rants.
“We’ll have to take a look at it and get back to you,” Ren says.
“I think no matter what I choose, I’ll need some pointers…” Jaune says.
“We have all the time in the world,” Seifer smiles.
~=~
In about an hour, the eight players have all made the basics of their characters and at least have an idea of the reason that they’re where they are in the world.
“I’m looking forward to this!” Seifer smiles. “You all wrote such interesting characters…this will be quite the tale.”
“Aw I dunno, I’ve pretty much got nothing…” Jaune chuckles.
“I just did what Ruby said,” Weiss shrugs.
“I think it might be time to get started.” Seifer starts to pull out some dice. “I’m going to start with all of you separated. Your first goal will be to find each other and fulfill the plot hook I’ve given you. I hope you’re all ready…”
“Uh, can I borrow some dice?” Jaune asks.
“Oh, you’ll all get your own dice.” Seifer smiles as he takes out a small box that fits in his palm.
“What’s that?” Yang asks.
“Your Dad probably told you that my game and world is unlike anything else…” Seifer opens the box, revealing an amethyst die with a strange eye in place of the ‘20’. “Did he ever tell you how?”
Everyone’s eyes widen as purple light fills the room…