Legends. Stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past.

Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful, but he was born into an unforgiving world. An inevitable darkness – creatures of destruction – the creatures of Grimm – set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void.

However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change, and in time, man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds. This power was appropriately named "Dust".

Nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness, and in the shadow's absence came strength, civilization, and most importantly, life. But even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone... darkness will return.
So you may prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called "free world", but take heed... there will be no victory in strength.

But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you've long forgotten; things that require a smaller, more honest soul. And even then, should such a simple soul fall into the brink of despair, there shall be a soul waiting in the darkness to return it to the light.

"May dust be brought to dust, but not bring despair, for there is no futility even in death." -Monty Oum

RWBY: Black Rebellion

The streets of Vale were quiet and dark as several men, all dressed in black and red, marched through them. Any bystander with their wits about them recognized the threat they seemingly possessed, and were quick to retreat. All of them wore black suits with traces of red, namely their shirts or the red sunglasses they wore over their eyes. The one leading the group, however, was dressed differently than them. He bore slanted, dark-green eyes and bright, long, orange hair, with long bangs covering his right eye. He wore a black bowler hat with a red band and a small feather, and black eyeliner. He was dressed in a red-lined white suit and a small gray scarf, complete with black gloves with rounded sleeves, as well as long black pants and black shoes. In his hand was a black cane with red highlights.

Their destination was a simple shop, which was not far from them, as it was directly across the street: Dust till Dawn. They ignored the bystanders yelps and cries as they were quick to flee, and entered the store. At the front desk was an old man wearing a brown apron, his gray hair slicked back, and his form rather somewhat frail. When the man saw the group of men, his body became tense, especially as the orange-haired man waltzed up to the front desk. He took a swift drag of the cigarette present in his mouth, before pulling it away, and gave the man a level stare.

"...do you know how hard it is to find an open Dust shop, this late at night?"

"Please, just take my lien and leave." The old man begged, his hands in the air.

"Sh, sh, sh...Relax. We don't want your money." He then turned to his goons. "Grab the Dust."

The men nodded. They immediately turned their attention to the tubes on the left side of the room, which ran up to the ceiling. They removed the locks on their cases, revealing large canisters. They took the canisters, and then placed them to the tubes. As they did this, the man with the cane tapped his fingers against the glass casing. "Open it." The old man didn't need to be told twice, nodding frantically as he popped it open, allowing the men to grab the various colored crystals lined up.

Some of the men scoured the store for more Dust. But one of them found a red hooded figure in the back corner.

The man instantly frowned, seeing them apparently reading a magazine. "Hey!" he shouted. "Put your hands in the air!" The figure made no response. They simply continued reading the magazine. This caused him to scowl, and march over to the them. "I said, hands in the air!" Again, there was no response. He grabbed them by the shoulder, and turned them to face him, pulling down their hood in the process.

It was a girl, no older than fifteen. She was a silver-eyed girl dressed in a black blouse, a black waist cincher with red lacing and a skirt with red trimmings, completed by a red, hooded cloak. Her entire outfit is made up of various shades of red and black with black as the primary color on the main suit and red on the cloak. Even her shoulder-length hair was black with a red tint to it. She had cross-shaped pins holding her cloak to her shirt. Around her waist was a belt which holds large cartridges in individual loops, as well as a magazine pouch. She has a silver rose emblem on her belt. Around her ears were a pair of dark red headphones.

The girl's face was laced in confusion with music blaring in her ears. The man's irritation was growing by the second, tapping his ears. The girl understood the gesture, and pulled down her headphones. "Can I help you?"

"I said," the thug said, for the third time. "Put your hands in the air!"

This caused the girl to tilt her head. "Are you..." she said slowly in realization. "Mugging me?"

"Oh, for the love of-YES!"

The girl's eyes widened, and let out an 'ah' of understanding.

A second later, that same thug was sent flying, straight past the leader of the muggers, and smashed straight through the window, shattering in the process, and tumbled out into the streets.

Along with him, the same red haired girl landed on the asphalt crouched down. The other thugs drew their weapons and peered through the broken window to see all the commotion. As the girl rose to her feet, a red rectangle on her back unfolded into a large, mechanical scythe. As the transformation finished, she looked back and the thugs, smirked at them, and twirled her massive weapon, the blade stabbing into the ground.

(Play RWBY OST: "This Will Be The Day")

The leader of the muggers looked at the sight slowly, holding his cigarette in his hand before flicking out to the ground. "Well?" he turned to his lackies. "Get her!"

Rather than jumping through the open window, the thugs ran out through the door and rushed the young girl. One of the them took a swing at her, only to jump over the blade using the handle of her weapon as support. She swung her body around and kicked him in the face. The thug's shades flew off as he was thrown back. The girl then jumped off with her scythe and landed on her feet. The remaining goons surrounded her. She held her weapon behind her back, one hand located near the base of the shaft, the other near the base of the blade. Her index finger pressed on the trigger on the shaft. The result was her scythe firing a bullet from the top of the blade, and her using the recoil to swing her weapon and hit another thug into the air. She then spun around and slammed the flat end of her weapon on top of another thug.

However, this served as an opportunity, as another thug came rushing at her with a night stick. One hit to the head would be all that was needed to knock her down, and leave her defenseless for them to take their leave, and perhaps beat the shit out of her for payback. However, he was thrown back, his body crashing into a wall. The force of the impact was enough to render him unconscious, seemingly stuck to the wall for a few seconds before falling to the ground.

"Honestly," a male voice sighed tiredly. "I leave you alone for one minute, and your getting jumped. Your are troublesome, you know that, sis?"

The girl turned. Her apparent savior was standing where the thug had been thrown. He looked to be of the same age as her, and bore a heavy resemblance. Were it not for the fact that he had a masculine tone and male physique, one could easily mistake him for a girl, due to the feminine face he bore. His hair was light black with a dark red tinge around the right side of his bangs, which seemed to cover his right eye. He was slightly taller than the girl, possibly only by half a head, wearing a leather black jacket with purple trims and highlights, bearing a multitude of zippers, and a dark purple hoodie underneath it. Below, he wore faded jeans with dark gray boots with white highlights and several straps along the ankle, while around his waist was a black belt with a silver buckle, bearing a similar emblem, except slightly more stylized, and the belt hung lazily off to the left side. His eyes were very interesting, as the left eye was a beautiful violet, while the right eye was the same as the girls; silver.

In his hands was a weapon nearly identical to hers, a giant overbearing scythe with a deadly edge, only the red color was replaced with dark purple.

The girl chuckled bashfully, scratching the back of her head. "Sorry," she apologized. "Oh, and, on your left."

Not a second sooner, the boy ducked underneath a swing that would have perhaps resulted in a concussion, his body swirling around while his scythe danced in his hands, the other end slamming into the thug that tried to hit him. The force of the impact sent him flying, his body skidding to the ground and landing on his back. The leader shook his head, almost slightly disappointed. "Worth every cent," he said, albeit with a sarcastic tone. "Truly, you were."

He looked back at the two kids who had decided to throw a wrench in his little plans.

"Well, Red...and Princess." He begun.

"Hey!"

"I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening." He dropped his cigar and crushed it beneath his cane. "And as much as I'd love to stick around." He then raised his cane and aimed it at the two. "I'm afraid this..." The bottom of the cane popped of, revealing a cross-hair and a gun barrel. "...is where we part ways." A massive flare shot out of the barrel.

The girl swung her scythe, deflecting the blast, but the second one came almost too fast for her liking. Thankfully, the boy intervened, deflecting it with his own scythe. When the two looked up, however, the man was gone, replaced with a stunned, and still shaking old man. They frowned heavily, searching the grounds before finding the man climbing up the fire escape to a nearby building. The girl quickly turned to the old shopkeeper.

"Mind if we go after him?"

Strangely, they didn't even bother waiting for a reply, and chased after him.

The man finished climbing the fire escape and hopped onto the roof. Both teens used the recoil from their weapons to immediately catch up to him.

"Hey!" The girl called out to the man walking away.

The man in white ceased his walk and clicked his tongue without even turning. "Tch. Persistent little bunch."

The boy and girl readied themselves to rush at him. But the whirring of an airship grabbed took them off guard.

The boy frowned as, sure enough, and true to the sound, a silver aircraft appeared just behind the man, rising up from below. The orange-haired man tipped his hat to the two, a smug grin on his face as the carrier's hatch opened up, allowing him to jump inside. "End of the line, boys and girls!" he said with a smirk as he tossed something at their feet, and then took aim. It only took a second for the boy to realize what was at their feet before he scowled, and made a move to get the girl out of the way.

Unfortunately, it was too late. The man took aim, and fired off another round, going straight for the red Dust crystal that laid at their feet. A second later, a loud "BOOM!" echoed into the air, followed by a red burst of flames and cloud that rose into the air. "Whoa-ho-ho!" the man whooped in joy, grinning at his handiwork before he frowned in confusion, seeing something off.

As the smoke cleared, the two were shown to be unharmed. In front of them was a middle-aged woman with light-blonde hair tied back in a bun with a curl hanging down the right side of her face. Her eyes were bright green and she wore thin ovular glasses. She had teal hanging earrings with a small bead identical to her earrings on her collar. She wore white long-sleeved suit that exposed part of her chest, and tight puffy sleeves near the wrist before spreading back out near her hands. Her lower attire was a black business skirt with buttons running in a vertical line up the front of it and lighter black-brown stockings. She also had black boots with brown heels, and a tattered purple cape with black on the outside, decorated by a row of diamond-shaped brown beads going horizontally across it. Above this was a line of beads appears an emblem of a tiara. In her hands was what appeared to be a riding crop.

In front of her were dancing, purple runes in the form of a circle.

"...Ah shit." The man cursed. He then moved further into the airship. "We got a huntress!" He called out to the pilot.

The woman pushed up her glasses as the runes faded away. With a swing of her riding crop, streams of light launched forward, dancing and curling around in the air as they struck into the carrier, causing the man to tumble slightly, losing his cane in the process. The apparent pilot was quick to leave the cockpit, leaving the man to jump in. The woman did not let up, however, as another runic circle danced above them, creating violet, black clouds. The man looked around in confusion. "The hell...?" With another swing of the crop, shards of ice came raining down, several of them striking into the carrier, though none had truly damaged it. One had nearly hit the man in the head as he quickly ducked underneath it, instead piercing metal rather than flesh and bone.

The pilot of the carrier stepped into open view. Their form was relatively obscured to the three on the roof, however, as the shadows hid the upper part of their body. They were obviously female, evident by the red dress and heels they were. They were slightly illuminated by the fierce, glowering light reflected in her eyes, as well as the markings that danced along her arms. Flames seemed to dance around her hands as she launched a ball of flame at the blonde. In retaliation, she swung her crop, dispersing the flame, though small embers pierced into the ground. The woman in red flicked her hands up, causing the embers around the blonde woman's feet to burn brightly. A high-pitched whistling sound pierced into the air as the Huntress seemed to recognize the danger, and jumped back. The ground she once stood on exploded, leaving behind shattered remains of debris.

Using this, the woman flicked her crop once again. A purple light danced around the debris as they began to lift and gather together, creating a spear. She aimed her riding crop at the woman in red, and sent it flying. Her opponent was quick to retaliate as she launched smaller flames at the spear, which caused the sharp pieces to disperse, only to gather again once more and continue it's assault. The man, recognizing the danger of what would happen if it hit, tilted the carrier. The stream of debris instead scraped along the roof. With a wave of the riding crop, the Huntress dispersed the spear, and formed three streams of sharp debris, which served to dance all around the carrier with the intent of skewering it from all sides.

The woman in red's eyes flared along with the markings as she crossed her arms, flames dancing around her. She swung her arms, and the flames were released. In seconds, all three streams of debris were destroyed instantly, left only to be mere flecks of embers. The Huntress scowled, seeing that her efforts were seemingly futile, but the two children beside her weren't about to let them get away so easily. Their scythes folded away, revealing the barrel of their guns, and began to open fire.

Each and every bullet was knocked away by the woman in red before she aimed her palm at the three. A red light began to dance beneath their feet as the same sound from before echoed. The Huntress, as well as the boy, recognized the danger, and moved. The blonde leaped away while the boy grabbed the girl, pulling her by the arm as they ran, knocked to their feet as the ground exploded. They could only watch as the woman in red disappeared as the hatch closed, and the carrier flying away. The blonde glared at the retreating form, clearly not pleased with the fact that two criminals had been allowed to escape. Oh well, she supposed it didn't matter. After all, they had the hired scum down below to get all the answers she needed.

"You're a Huntress!" the girl in red exclaimed excitedly as the woman then turned her attention to the two. The boy merely sighed, apparently recognizing what kind of trouble they were in, and promptly face-palmed as the girl stared at the woman with absolute awe and admiration. "Can I have your autograph?!"

The woman gave her a flat look.

-RWBY: Black Rebellion-

"I hope you two realize that your actions tonight will NOT be taken lightly." The blonde woman stated as she paced around the teenagers. The girl and boy were currently seated at a metal table in a small interrogation room with only a single overhead lamp illuminating the space. "You put yourselves and others in great danger."

"But they started it!" The girl argued.

The woman went around the table carrying a scroll in her hand, apparently reading some sort of report. "If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back..." The girl suddenly looked slightly hopeful while the boy merely read the small notebook in his grasp. The woman turned her attention to them with a glare. "And a slap on the wrist." To emphasize the last one, she slammed her riding crop at the table, causing the girl to recoil in her seat while the boy nearly lost his notebook from the sudden movement of the girl.

"But," she continued. "There is someone here who would like to meet you both." The girl raised her eyebrow in confusion, wondering who would want to talk to her, while the boy looked up in interest. As the Huntress moved away, someone else entered the room. It was a middle-aged man with tousled gray hair and thin brown eyes. He had a light complexion and sharp facial features, and wore shaded glass spectacles and a dark-green scarf with a small, purple, cross-shaped emblem on it. His outfit mainly consisted of an unzipped black suit over a buttoned vest and green undershirt. He also wore black trouser shoes and long, dark-green pants. In one hand was a plate of cookies, and in the other was a white mug with an emblem inscribed on it.

The two immediately recognized him, and apparently, he recognized them in turn.

"Ruby Rose... and Rouge Rose..." He leaned forward to take a closer look at the two. His attention was focused on Ruby first. "You... have silver eyes." He then turned to Rouge, who stared back at him. "...And you have violet and silver eyes."

Ruby felt slightly confused, and uncomfortable, as she raised her eyebrow further. "Uh..."

"So," he leaned back as he set the plate of cookies down while the blonde-haired woman held up her scroll, revealing the two's battle with the orange-haired criminal from before. "Where did the two of you learn to do this?"

"Signal Academy." Rouge answered.

This, of course, caused the man to look both curious, amused, and also slightly amazed. "They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" he asked.

"W-well," Ruby cut in. "One teacher in particular."

"I see..." He smiled, amusingly so, as he watched Ruby slowly reach out for one of the cookies, taking a slow bite. As soon as she did, however, she hastily began to devour every cookie on the plate, while Rouge rolled his eyes at the sight, clearly exasperated by his sister's antics. "It's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before." He chuckled fondly. "A dusty old crow."

"Mmm!" Ruby hummed with food still present in her mouth. "Thash muh unkul!"

The blonde haired woman gave her a critical glare, causing her to squirm underneath her gaze while Rouge translated. "That's our uncle, Qrow." he stated as he put his notebook away. "He's a teacher at Signal."

Ruby gulped down the food in her mouth, wiping away the crumbs on her face as she smiled. "I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing." she told the man. "I'm not like my younger brother, here. Unlike me, he's the one who's really good with a scythe, even before Uncle Qrow decided to teach us."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Younger brother?" he questioned. "From my point of view, you two look to be the same age."

Rouge sighed. "Six minutes and forty five seconds apart, to be exact."

"Yeah! What he said!" Ruby nodded before pouting. "Although people keep assuming he's the older sibling when they see us together..."

"Well, given your behavior, that is what most people would assume." Rouge stated coolly.

Ruby shot her brother a glare before turning back to the man. "But, yeah, now we're all like HOOOWAAAH!" she made exaggerated, kung-fu sounds as she swung her arms like a cheesy martial artist.

The man chuckled. "So I've noticed." he said as he set his mug of coffee down. "And what is an adorable girl and a young man like yourselves doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well...I want to be a Huntress." Ruby answered honestly.

"I desire to be a Huntsman like my parents and Uncle." Rouge responded. "And to keep a promise..." He muttered to himself softly, so as to Ruby wouldn't hear it. But Ozpin had taken note of what he said.

"So you want to slay monsters?"

"Yeah." The girl nodded. "Rouge and I only have two more years of training left at Signal. Then we're going to apply to Beacon. See, our sister's started this year and she's trying to become a Huntress and I'm trying to become a Huntress and Rouge is trying to become a Huntsman because we wanna help people. And our parents always taught us to help others so we thought, 'Oh well, might as well make a career outta it'. I mean the police are alight. But Huntresses and Huntsmen are so much more romantic and exciting and cool and just...Kyah!"

Rouge sighed. "You'll have to forgive her," he told the two adults, who gave her varied reactions. The man looked vastly amused, while the woman seemed to be rather irritated. "She gets quite excited and starts to ramble."

"Hm, noted." the man said idly as he clasped his hands together. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're professor Ozpin." Ruby said with complete awe in her voice, staring at the man with complete and utter admiration, for in front of her and her brother was the man who founded a school that trained the very warrior she aspired to be. "You're the headmaster of Beacon."

Ozpin smiled. "Hello."

"Nice to meet you." Ruby bowed her head.

Rouge nodded back respectfully. "A pleasure to meet you."

Ozpin rested his hands on the metal table top and leaned forward. "You want to come to my school?"

"More then anything." Ruby nodded. Rouge bobbed his head in agreement.

Ozpin glanced over at Glynda, who turned away, but gave a small grunt of approval. He then turned to face the two once more. "Well, okay."

The two's eyes widened, as Ruby's jaw dropped while Rouge looked surprised. "Wait, that's it?" he asked, completely stunned. "No strings attached?"

"That is correct, Mr. Rose." Ozpin nodded.

Ruby's jaw was still open from the news while Rouge took on a more suspicious persona. This didn't seem right... why was this man letting them join Beacon, two years ahead of the rest of their classmates? He obviously saw his suspicion, as Ozpin smiled disarmingly. "I recognize potential when I see it, Mr. Rose." he stated simply. "It's only fair I bring that potential to it's fullest. Besides, if I don't give the both of you some form of recognition for your deeds tonight, I'll have to deal with Qrow's constant nagging." He gave the boy a wry look. "I think you know what I'm referring to."

"You don't know the half of it, Professor..." Rouge sighed, knowing full well what he meant.

Well, this would certainly be an interesting experience for the both of them... Two years ahead of everyone else, joining Beacon with their older sister. As odd as the idea was, while also exciting, Rouge also felt a sense of exhileration. This had sped things up, certainly.

-RWBY: Black Rebellion-

"Ooooh, I can't believe my baby siblings are going to Beacon with me!" Rouge scowled inwardly as a pair of two arms wrapped around him and Ruby, which in turn, began to cut off their oxygen supply. "This is the best day ever!"

"Please stop..." Ruby wheezed.

"Can't..." Rouge gasped. "Breathe...!"

The older girl let the two of them go, much to their relief. "But I'm sooo proud of you guys!"

"Really sis...It was nothing."

"What do you mean? It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you two are the Bee's Knees."

Yang Xiao Long was two years older than them, being a teenage girl wearing a tan vest with gold piping over a yellow low-cut crop top with a black crest that resembles a burning heart. The vest she had bore puffy cap sleeves with black cuffs. On the sides of the cuffs, there are two small golden buttons. She wore a brown belt with a buckle, a pouch, and a small banner-like object. The same burning heart crest appeared on this banner, except golden in color. She wore black shorts under her belt, which resembled a pleated skirt in the back. Over the short shorts but under the belt was a white asymmetrical back skirt, with an orange infinity scarf around her neck. She wore brown knee-high platform boots that looked to be made of leather, with orange socks of different lengths. Her left leg also had a gray bandanna-like object wrapped around the top of her boot. She also had on black finger-less gloves. Her defining, and most valued trait, was her blonde hair, which is lighter in color at the tips and flowed in a loose and messy manner, with a few locks sticking out and a small cowlick on top of her head. She had a pale complexion, like the two of them, and lilac eyes. She also sported an impressive *cough*chest*cough* size, which Rouge ignored to the best of his abilities.

Despite the difference of surnames, Yang was their sister. They had different mothers, but carried the same father. Of course, in spite of that, she was still a sister none the less. Rouge loved his sisters dearly, though he was slightly more closer with Ruby, not because they had the same mother, but because they were twins. That said, they all got along well enough... although Yang could be surprisingly overprotective of them when she chose to be. He could still recall the incident back in their childhood that had nearly ended in disaster, perhaps she was guilty because of that, and felt the need to protect them?

"I don't want to be the 'bee's knees', okay?" Ruby whined. Her enthusiasm from the other day was gone, replaced with the shy, introverted weapons geek that was his adorable, beloved sister. "I don't wanna be any kind of knees! I just wanna be a normal girl with normal knees!"

"What's with you?" Yang asked, still overjoyed by the fact that her two younger siblings were getting to go with her to Beacon. Seriously, how cool was that?! Rouge, she could understand, given he was a prodigy, being both smart AND deadly with a weapon, but she was honestly surprised when she found out that Ruby was also going. She had all but demanded that a party be held in their honor, much to their embarrassment. "Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I'm excited..." Ruby sighed. "I just... We got moved ahead two years. I don't want people think we're special or anything." She paused for a moment. "Well, mostly me, anyway. Rouge is the special one here."

"Ruby, you ARE special." her brother told her, folding his arms. "Besides, I doubt I would be moved ahead two years. If I was granted the opportunity, I would have turned them down."

"Because it would feel unfair to the other students?" Yang guessed, earning a nod of confirmation.

"Yeah." he said. He sported a slight, teasing smile as he looked at his twin. "The only reason I accepted being moved ahead was because if I left Ruby alone at Beacon, chances are, she'd be lost without me."

"What?! That's not true! That's a lie and you know it!" She pouted.

"Yeah. Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that...and your awkward social life." Rouge smirked.

Ruby tried to form a retort to that, but failed. He had her there, her social life was awkward, though that was because she thought meeting people was kind of scary. In all honesty, meeting people's weapons were much more exciting.

"...the robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continued to evade authorities." the newscaster stated via holoscreen, which was visible on the lobby area of the Bulk Head. The twins immediately recognized the person who was shown on the screen,holding a mugshot. It was the man from the other day, only he was lacking his bowler hat. He had a cocky grin plastered across his face with a bruise on his left cheek, and a bandage on the right side of his jaw. "If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa."

The screen changed to the main news image, which showed a woman with gold eyes and white hair; the news anchor Lisa Lavender. "Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Right's protests turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony." Beside the news anchor was the image of various individuals, all of which sharing some form of animalistic feature to them, some of them holding up protests signs. It later changed to the image of a marker, a bloody red wolf with three marks behind it. "However, the mysterious organization called the Black Fang was shown to have intervened shortly after the disruption."

The next image showed several figures quickly charging at the unseen terrorists. Their faces were hidden behind ebony masks with red designs, almost similar to the mask of Grimm, except they were all dressed in black attire. They also shared another commonality: an insignia not unlike the White Fang's showing a black wolf, only instead of three slashes behind it, an avian-shaped symbol stood behind the wolf's head, a sword running through it.

"The members of the Black Fang apprehended and incapacitated the White Fang members for the authorities to imprison. But before the police could arrest the agents of the Black Fang, they had already left the scene of the incident."

"Man, talk about a bunch of hellraisers." one of the students commented. "How long have they been around now?"

"A few years now." another replied. "Still, I hear their group's made of both humans and Faunus."

"Oh, please. How would you know that?"

"Hey, I just heard it from somebody else. Although, you got to admit, those Black Fang dudes are terrifying."

"True," his friend chuckled. "But not as much as their boss. I hear he's a walking nightmare!"

Rouge had ignored their words, merely focusing on the news as he slipped his hands into his pockets. He didn't care for idle banter. Rather, he was more interested in what was transpiring in Remnant. Of course, that being said, nothing had ever truly hold his interest other than what involved the events that seemed to revolve around the two organizations bearing the name of "Fang."

Sadly, however, the news ended there, as the blonde-haired Huntress that had saved his and Ruby's life appeared in place of the news. "Hello," she greeted to all of the newcomers. "and welcome to Beacon."

Yang looked to Rouge and Ruby, as they immediately recognized her. "Who's that?"

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh."

The woman continued to speak, the three listened intently. "You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsmen and huntresses it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task. Now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

With that, her image disappeared. What greeted them was nothing short but an breath-taking sight. Far off in the distance, they were able to see a castle-like structure with a bright light glowing at the apex center tower, almost like a beacon.

They were approaching Beacon Academy.

"...holy crap that's so cool!" Ruby squealed.

"Yeah! Signal doesn't even begin to compare to this!" Yang agreed.

Rouge smiled somewhat. "And speaking of Signal, you can see it from here." he said. True enough, there old school was right there in plain sight. "I guess home's not too far off."

Yang grinned as she hooked her arms around her younger siblings. "Beacon's our home now, guys."

"Yeah...The start of a new chapter of our lives..." Rouge agreed.

1Their attention turned to the other side of the Bulk Head. Standing off to the side, away from the crowd of students, was a tall young man with dark-blue eyes and messy blonde hair. He wore a white chestplate and shoulder armor, and underneath the armor was a black hoodie with reddish-orange sleeves and an emblem hidden underneath the chestplate. He also had on blue pants with a white patch on the left knee, as well as sneakers with "left" and "right" written in black on the respective shoes' soles. Currently, he had a hand held over his mouth, his face slightly green.

"Well, I guess the view isn't for everyone." Yang remarked as the blonde boy suddenly dashed past them, looking ready to heave. "I wonder who we're going to meet?"

Ruby giggled. "I just hope they're better than Vomit Boy." she remarked before a foul stench crossed her nostrils. Her face crunched in disgust as she tried to find the source, and promptly looked down. "Oh, Yang! Gross! You have puke on your shoe!"

Yang's eyes widened. "Oh, gross gross gross gross gross!" she wretched in disgust as she tried to shake it off. Sadly for the both of them, the blonde boy from earlier was tumbling towards them unsteadly. Immediately, the two sisters backed away from him, not wanting their attire to be stained with puke. Rouge simply walked past him and gently tapped his back, wishing him luck. He sighed slightly.

'So much for peace and quiet,' he thought before he felt something in his pocket vibrate. He dug into his pants, and pulled out a maroon colored, slim object. He pressed the large button on the bottom, and pressed it to his ear. "YOU ASS! YOU COULD HAVE WARNED ME YOU WERE GOING TO BE GONE!" Rouge pulled the object away from his ear, wincing in pain. "SERIOUSLY MAN?! NOT ONE WARNING ABOUT YOU SUDDENLY HEADING TO BEACON?! NOT COOL, MAN! NOT! COOL!"

Rouge sighed. "Hello to you too, Flaemis."

But internally, Rouge was happy to hear from him.

"Dammit, man! I thought we were friends! Why do you have to keep me in the dark like this?!" Flaemis yelled.

"We are friends. The reason I didn't warn you was because it all happened just the other night." Rouge answered calmly.

"Even still, what the hell?!" the voice on the other end sighed in aggravation. "Anyway, I take it you saw the news?"

"Yeah, I have. Seems like the White Fang have started to get quite antsy."

"Yeah, well, what can you do? Anyway, you alright?"

Rouge smirked. "It wasn't anything I couldn't handle. At any rate, I'll talk to you later."

"Roger that, boss man." Flaemis chuckled as the line ended. With that, Rouge slipped the phone back into his pocket, and then turned to the window, where the entire kingdom of Vale was displayed for all to see.

The sight brought forth various emotions. Very few were aware of his perception of the world. He was sick of it... all of it. This distorted world, this cruel reality. His gaze focused on his silver eye, the only thing he seemed to inherit from his mother. Gingerly, he brushed away the bangs to reveal it further, all the while glaring out at the world before him. 'I swear, Ruby...' he thought.

'I swear... I'll make that world a reality.'

A world where there was no corruption. A world where there was no discrimination. A world without terrorism. A world without oppression. A World where they can all live in peace.

That was the promise he made with his mother.

"I will..."

For the briefest of moments, Rouge felt his eye burn, and within his violet orb came a mark resembling a bird locked in mid-flight.

"...destroy this distorted world."

The Twin Roses...END

"It wasn't me who was wrong... It was the world. The world was wrong." -?