Ruby looked around, confused.

Where was she? Her dad had sent her to take a nap, and now she was standing in a black void.

"Hello?"

Nothing.

Walking along, the four year old looked around, listening for anything.

Still nothing.

Ruby wasn't sure how long she was walking, but had started to get more than a little tired, and scared, before she came across something.

Or rather, something came across her.

The winged creature came from behind her, flew over her head, and landed in front of her.

The little girl inclined her head, looking at the giant creature.

It was like someone had taken a connect the dots of a snake, and attached a pair of wings to it.

As Ruby stared into the closest ball of light, she saw flashes of images.

A boy and two girls, standing in the burning remains of a village.

A man, desperately trying to comfort a bawling blond baby, before a woman took her from him.

The same couple, the woman was in a hospital bed, gently holding a newborn. Silver eyes spread, staring sleepily.

"How did you get here, little nephalem?"

Ruby looked up, and the creature looked down.

"Hi?"

If snakes could smile, Ruby was sure it was.

"Hello. Now, how did you get here? I certainly didn't invite you."

"I- I dunno. Where is here?"

"This is my home, are you lost?"

"I think so," Ruby felt tears prickle the the corner of her eyes, "I wanna go home."

"I do not blame you. How old are you, little nephalem?"

"Four and eight months," Ruby smiled, puffing out her chest despite herself.

"A respectable age," the creature nodded seriously.

"Respectable? What's that mean?"

"It means that it should be taken seriously."

Ruby looked up at the creature, "are you making fun of me?"

It smiled, "A little bit, yes."

Ruby puffed out her cheeks, scowling, "Why?"

"Well," He, Ruby was sure he was a he, "you are not scared anymore, right?"

"...I still want to go home."

"I do not doubt it," he said, "I would gladly help you find your way, if I knew where you came from."

Ruby felt tears well up again, and desperately rubbed them. Yang would laugh at her if she found out Ruby had been crying.

"Do not worry, little nephalem. I might not know the way at the moment, but I am sure I can find it quickly. Would you like to talk while I do so? I have not spoken to anyone in a long time."

"Ok, Mr…?"

"Trag'Oul. Just Trag'Oul."

"Ok! What are you?"

"I am a dragon, little nephalem."

Ruby puffed out her cheeks again, "My name is Ruby!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that."

"It's ok! What do you do here?"

"I maintain the Balance, or try to at least."

"The Balance," Ruby cocked her head to the side, "like a tightrope?"

Ruby had watched someone walk on one at a circus a couple of months back for Yang's seventh birthday.

Trag'Oul released a deep rumbling sound, and Ruby was afraid she had made him angry, before realizing he was laughing.

"I have never heard of it described like that, but I suppose you could look at it that way. The Balance is between Chaos and Order, too much in one direction, and everything burns, too much in the other, and everything stagnates."

"Wuh?"

"It stops."

"Oh. Do you need help?"

Trag'Oul looked at her, "Why do you think that?"

"It sounds like a big job, and Dad always says I should help with big jobs."

Trag'Oul laughed again, "I think this is bigger than what they mean."

"Well, that just means you need more help!"

Trag'Oul stopped, thinking, "I suppose it would be nice to have some help," one of the balls of light descended, touching her chest, "I will meet you back here tomorrow?"

"Ok!"

-X Line Break X-

Tai watched Ruby play with her friends at her birthday party. The newly five year old was running around, dodging Aileen's attempted to tag her.

Qrow walked out from the house, holding a parcel.

"What's that?"

"It just came, says it's for Ruby."

"From who?"

"It doesn't say. Should we let her open it now?"

Tai looked at it out of the corner of his eye. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a regular package, but he would admit it was strange that it didn't say where it came from.

"Sure. One present won't hurt anyone."

"Ruby, a package arrived for you!"

Ruby looked over, dancing away from Aileen on nimble feet. Tai couldn't help the proud smile that made his way onto her face. She was a natural.

Ruby made her way over to them, and Qrow crouched down, handing her the package.

Ruby carefully undid the twine holding it together, and the simple brown paper gave way.

Inside was a neatly folded pile of fabric, with an envelope sitting on top.

Tai gently took the envelope from her, opening it and reading the contents aloud for his family to hear.

"'Ruby,

These used to belong to two friends of mine, but they no longer need them. Since you were talking about how much you liked your mother's cloak, I thought you might like it.

I have something to deal with, so I won't be around for a bit. Keep up your training, Rathma.

Kalan.' Ruby what does- that's a knife!"

Indeed, the first item was a large cloak. Much too large, Tai noticed briefly, for a girl Ruby's age. The second was a long curved knife, chalk white.

Tai saw Ruby reach out to grab it, and moved to stop her, "Ruby, that isn't a toy-"

Tai stopped, staring as Ruby wrapped her hand around the dagger. While it was also too big for her, there was no denying that Ruby was holding it properly. Hand wrapped around the hilt tightly enough to have a firm grip on it, but not so tight as to be uncomfortable.

"Ruby, where did you learn to hold a knife like that?"

Ruby smiled, apparently unconcerned with the blade in her hand, "Kalan taught me!"

Tai frowned, looking at the note, "Who is Kalan?"

Already, Tai was forming plans to pay this 'Kalan' a visit with Qrow. Ruby was a little girl, she shouldn't know how to use knives!

"He's my teacher!"

"And what has he been teaching you?"

"To fight."

Tai shared a look with Qrow over Ruby's head.

"Why are you learning to fight?"

"I want to be a Huntress."

"That's a very dangerous job, you could be lots of other things."

Ruby face pulled into a expression all too serious for a girl her age, "I want to be a Huntress."

Tai stopped at the conviction in his daughter's voice. Even he hadn't been that sure about his chosen profession.

"And why is that?"

"I want to protect people, and maintain the Balance."

Tai shared another look with Qrow, "and what is the Balance?"

"'If chaos rules, worlds burn. If order rules, they stagnate. If either finds such a foothold that the other cannot right, Remnant will destroy itself,'" Ruby recited, like she had memorized it every day.

Tai curled a hand into a fist, hiding the sparks gathering. Oh, when he found this 'Kalan' guy…

"And what about the people who get hurt because of the it? There are bad people out there, Rosebud."

"'There is a difference between Chaos and Order, and Good and Evil. Good should always outway Evil, but never obliterate it completely, lest Good turn on itself.'"

"Ruby, I don't want you to meet with Kalan anymore."

"Why?"

"These aren't the type of things someone your age should be worrying about-"

"I asked him to let me help!"

"And he should have said no. Give me that knife."

Ruby backed up, holding the knife in both hands, wrapping the bundle of cloth around it, "No!"

Tai walked forward gently, stretching out his hand, "Ruby," he took a harder tone of voice, "Hand over the knife."

Ruby backed up more, eyes wide as she shook her head.

As Tai reached down to take the knife, Ruby made a sharp gesture with her hand.

Tai snapped his hand back to dodge the spikes of bone that rose around him, staring at Ruby through them.

What the- was this Ruby's Semblance? Had Kalan unlocked her Aura? What kind of Semblance caused bones to grow from the ground, and what did it say about his daughter?

Qrow reached down behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder, before something else happened.

The cloak in Ruby's hand lept from it, moving up her arm like a shadow, and wrapped around Qrow's throat like a noose.

It only took a second for Qrow to remove it, but in the moment he did, a whirlwind of bones batted Qrow's hand away, and she took off.

Ducking under Yang's grasp, Ruby ran towards the backwoods, and the cloak rapidly followed her.

"Ruby! Wait-"

Ruby disappeared suddenly, the treeline not even have covered her whole body when she ceased to be.

Tai stared for a second as the bones crumbled, before rushing to look for his younger daughter.

-X Line Break X-

Ruby ran through the black void, hot tears running down her face. She was trying to put as much space, or what passed for it here, in between herself and her family.

"Kalan! Where are you!"

A strangled sob escaped Ruby lips, and she pulled the cloak tighter around herself. She tightened her grip on the bone knife, until her skin was the same shade as the catalyst.

Didn't her dad understand? She was learning to help people! Trag'Oul couldn't help, but she could for him!

Ruby sobbed again, pulling herself into a ball.

She couldn't go home, there was no way her dad would understand. She had seen the look in her dad's eyes when she had created the bone prison, he was afraid.

Trag'Oul had told her about the last time he had people to help him, how the Priests of Rathma had lived in underground cities away from people who didn't trust them.

"Kalan! Please, I need you!"

Ruby stared into the void, but the celestial body of Trag'Oul didn't appear.

Ruby broke down completely, sobbing into the black cloak. It wrapped around her like a hug, and Ruby felt like something was watching over her. Closing her eyes, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

-X Line Break X-

Trag'Oul returned from the conclave, glad to finally be away from his brothers, but with more questions than answers.

It was agreed, there had never been a case of a mortal accidentally stumbling into a Guardian's realm, but somehow, Ruby had.

Trag'Oul took no pride in what he was doing, indoctrinating a young girl to uphold the Balance, but was equally aware he had no choice.

He couldn't directly manifest on Remnant anymore than he could do so on Sanctuary, lest he draw attention of the Burning Hells and High Heavens to the second nephalem filled world.

As he drifted through his home, he noticed two presences. Making his way over to them, the Guardian Dragon frowned.

Ruby was curled up in a bed of bones, her hair having grown out in the three months he was gone.

Standing over her was Linarian, his unnaturally perfect features watching Trag'Oul.

"Hello, old friend."

Trag'Oul drifted over to the ghost of his first student, looking down at the two of them.

"What are you doing here?"

"She called to me," Linarian gestured down to Ruby, "unintentionally, I suspect. She was scared, and had fled here. I see you gave her my cloak."

"Yes, I-"

"You don't need to justify yourself to me. It is the cloak of the Rathma, and she is now Rathma."

"When did she come here?"

"The day you left, she had a fight with her parents. She spoke of the Balance, and it scared them. They tried to take Mendeln's knife, so she resorted to necromancy and fled here."

"She has been here for three months? How has she survived?"

"I put her into suspended animation while the changes took place, there is nothing to eat, and I fear the worst if she went out into the world unready."

"Changes? What did you-"

Trag'Oul looked at Ruby's face, and could already make out the changes to its structure. Examining her soul, he found the shackles on it loosened. The bindings of the Worldstone slowly coming undone.

"Rathma, you did not-"

"I merely made sure the potential would manifest. Something happened while you were gone, old friend."

Turning his eye to Sanctuary, Trag'Oul watched as the moment replayed itself. One of the cult stood by as an angel shattered the Worldstone. The nephalem would return naturally.

"She is a little girl, she does not deserve the curse of a nephalem."

"No, she doesn't. But we both know that sacrifices need to be made to maintain the Balance. If the High Heavens or Burning Hells learn of this place, it will be thrown into the same turmoil as Sanctuary."

Trag'Oul didn't argue, couldn't argue. Hadn't he been doing the same? The only difference was that Linarian had taken it a step further.

"She won't have all the power at once, when she wakes after I leave, she will have little more than a human who slipped the binds."

"You are playing a dangerous game."

Linarian didn't refute the statement, merely smiling, "I am maintaining the Balance, being dead has shown me what must be done. Goodbye, old friend, it was good to see you again."

The son of Lilith and Inarius faded from existence, leaving Trag'Oul with a newly awakened nephalem tackling him, sobs resuming.

-X Line Break X-

Nora watched the other girl pick up the loaf of bread, trying to keep the look of longing off her face.

The malnourished girl briefly thought about trying to steal it, but quickly decided it was a bad idea.

It wasn't because she was scared, nope, she wasn't scared of the girl with scary white skin and a knife and-

"Hey," Nora looked up, the girl was holding out the loaf of bread.

Nora stared at it, eyes wide in shock. Was she really-?

"Come on, you need this more than I do. Take it."

Nora stretched out her hands, shaking slightly as she took the loaf.

It was hard, and cold, but it was more food than she had had in a long time.

Nora felt a ragged gasp of air escape her throat, desperately tearing a chunk out of the loaf.

The other girl sat down back against the alley wall, but Nora ignored her as she ate.

"Hey, don't eat too much, you'll make yourself sick."

Long, spindly fingers took the loaf back, and Nora felt the sudden urge to bite them. She hadn't had anything in a long time.

"Come on, you can have some more later, but let that settle."

The girl extended her hand, holding it out to Nora.

The little girl couldn't stop the tears that welled up, taking the hand.

"I'm Ruby, but call me Rathma, it's what I'm used to, what's your name?"

"Nora."

Nora followed Rathma through the streets of Kuroyuri, the other girl looking for something.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm trying to find a way home. I had an argument with my dad and ran away."

"Where does your father live?"

Nora froze, and saw Rathma grab her knife, hiding it under her too long cloak as she turned. The other hand pushed Nora behind her, and she felt something hard covering it.

Standing behind them was a man with grey and black hair, a boy Nora's age peered out from behind his leg.

"Sorry, what?"

"I asked where your father lived, you said you were trying to find a way home."

"Patch, near Signal Academy."

The older man raised an eyebrow, "That is a very long way for a little girl to get on your own. How did you get here?"

"I had help."

"And they can't help you get back?"

"Not at the moment, no."

"Well, it will certainly be very hard for you to get home, you're on a completely different continent. We can call your father from the CCT, though. Let him know you're safe."

"That… that would be nice."

"What about her?"

Nora shrank as the man turned his attention to her, crouching behind Rathma.

"She's with me."

"Alright," the man nodded, "I'm Li Ren, and this is Lie."

As Rathma let go of Nora's hand, and Nora saw white clumps fall at her feet.

"Thank you."

-X Line Break X-

Tai read the letter again, it had been folded again and again.

Nothing. Him and Qrow had scoured every inch of patch at least three times, and neither had found anything about a Kalan, nor was there any sign of Ruby.

Tai buried his face into his hands, groaning.

He should have just let her keep the knife, then hidden it away when she went to sleep that night. Instead, Ruby was who knows where, probably with some strange cult.

Yang had been inconsolable for the first couple of months, heartbroken that her sister had disappeared like both her mothers had.

Tai's head snapped up as the long range terminal went off, something Tai had decided to splurge on after Qrow took more missions outside Vale.

Walking over to it, Tai checked the ID. The call was coming from Mistral.

Hitting the button to take the call, Tai sat down. After a brief second, the screen flickered to show a middle aged man, his hair and goatee sprinkled with liberal amounts of grey.

"Hello?"

"Hello, are you Tai-Yang Xiao Long?"

"Yes? If you're selling something-"

"I found your daughter walking around our village, she wants to speak with you."

Tai stopped, mouth hanging open as the man stepped aside, letting Ruby sit down.

She was still wearing the clothing she had disappeared in, the hoodie was unzipped, shorts ragged, and the black cape she had gotten from Kalan was around her, folded up and tucked into itself to keep her from tripping over it. The knife that had started this mess sat proudly at her waist.

"Ruby," Tai choked out, "Do you know how worried we've been?"

Her skin was ash white, but her eyes and hair were still the same.

"Dad," Ruby's wavered briefly, before hardening, "I won't stop learning from Kalan."

Tai covered his mouth to hide the sob. He was the adult here, if Ruby was going to behave so seriously, he also needed to.

"Alright, Rosebud, just- just come home, ok? We miss you. I'm going to call Qrow after this, he's in the area on a job, and will come pick you up. Ok?"

Ruby bit her lip, before nodding.

"Ok, can you let that man back on? I need to speak with him."

Ruby did so, and Tai leveled a glare at the dark haired man.

"I take it you're Kalan?"

The man shook his head, "I've never heard that name before, Mr. Xiao Long, and it isn't my place to pry. I'm Li Ren."

"Right, sorry. We've been trying to find her for months, and she just showed up with you."

"I understand completely, I have a son that's a couple years older than her, I don't know what I would do if he went missing. You said someone would come pick her up?"

"Yeah, my brother-in-law, he's in the area. Where are you?"

"Kuroyuri, it's a small village near the edge of Anima."

"He can get directions. Thank you for finding her, we've been worried sick."

"I should warn you," Li said, "don't be surprised if you get one more girl than you were expecting. There was another girl with her when I found her, she's been following Ruby around like a lost puppy. Wasn't happy when she had to wait outside the room for this call, so I wouldn't expect her to go without a fight."

"We can deal with that when we come to it, I need to call Qrow."

"Of course, should we expect him in a couple of days?"

"Yeah."

The call ended, and Tai hit the speed dial for Qrow.

"Tai, it's," Qrow looked over at his clock, and Tai saw him rubbing his eyes, "eleven at night here, couldn't this have waited until morning?"

"No. It's Ruby."

"Did something come up?" Qrow's voice was immediately wide awake.

"I just got a call, she's in a village called Kuroyuri on Anima. Can you-"

Tai stopped as Qrow stood, grabbing his scythe and sheathing it, "I'm on it, I'll find directions, and get there as soon as possible."

Qrow hung up, and Tai was left staring at the screen.

A choked, giddy laugh rose from his chest. They had found Ruby. She would be home soon.

-X Line Break X-

Ruby's chest burned as she ran around the corner, throwing up a wall of bones as she went.

Grimm, a big one. Too big, she couldn't just launch a set of fangs at it like she had done to the smaller ones on her way to Kuroyuri.

Ruby heard the giant horse smash its way through the wall, the bone barely slowing it down.

Throwing her hand behind her, Ruby summoned several skeletons to distract it, praying that they be more successful in stopping the charge.

They weren't.

The Grimm didn't stop, smashing through the skeletons in its attempts to reach her.

Ruby dove into an alley, throwing up another bone wall to hide herself.

That also didn't work.

A hand burst through the bone, slamming into Ruby's chest and sending her skidding back. The bones around Ruby's chest crumbled, the magic keeping them together fading. Ruby's back crashed against the wall, and she closed her eyes, reeling in pain.

Something metallic filled her mouth, and Ruby spat out the broken tooth.

Ruby felt her blood trickle down the the back of her head, everything spinning.

The Grimm leaned into the alley, stretching a hand out.

Ruby braced herself for the blow, reaching back and touching her bloodstained hair.

Something distracted the Grimm, and it turned away from her.

Reaching down, Ruby touched the blood coated hand to the ground and traced out a circle. Then a simple star in it.

The last of Ruby's skeletons was thrown into the alley, before crumbling to dust.

Slamming her hand into the symbol, and watched as it grew into a eight foot golem of blood and muscle.

The golem charged forward, distracting the Grimm as Ruby slunk away.

Ruby felt the bleeding staunch itself as the Golem traded some of the energy it was draining into her through the link. Looking around, Ruby found Lie and Nora hiding under a deck.

Sliding next to them, Ruby leaned down, "Are you two alright?"

"Father, and Mother, they… they…"

"They're in a better place," Ruby placed a hand on Lie's shoulder, certain that Trag'Oul would find the perfect role for Li and An in maintaining the Balance.

Ruby felt the golem be raised into the air.

"They're dead."

The Grimm tore it in two.

"It's ok. Death isn't the end."

"How do you know that? You're younger than me."

Ruby opened her mouth to rebut, but stopped.

Wait, if her golem was dead, where was the Grimm?

A hand lashed out, grabbing Ruby by the legs and dragging her along.

"Rathma!"

Ruby grew a spike of bone from her still covered left arm, digging it into the support beam and-

She cried out as her arm cracked, the bone armor disintegrating as her arm went limp.

Her face crashed into another of the support beams, before the other hand wrapped around her and hoisted her into the air.

Ruby looked through the trail of blood as the Grimm mouth opened in a screech.

The grip tightened, and Ruby felt several somethings crack.

Ruby closed her eyes, struggling to breath. What would happen when she died? How would she help maintain the Balance in the next world?

Ruby smiled through the pain as two men manifested before her. One was unnaturally perfect, like some deity had decided to sculpt his face beyond the limits of a human. The other was shorter, with beady black eyes and an off color right hand.

They put their hands on her arms, and pushed her back. And Ruby's vision was filled with silver light.

Ruby woke with a gasp, hacking up a glob of red mucus. A pair of hands held her down, and another gripped her right hand.

"Wuh?"

A familiar face appeared over her, worry clear.

"-You alright, Ruby?"

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby noticed her speech was garbled, "what are you doing here?"

"I was coming to pick you up, remember Pipsqueak?"

"'m not a pipsqueak."

"You haven't grown that much since I saw you. You gave me a heart attack there."

Ruby felt herself be picked up, before being placed on a bed.

"Where are we going?"

"First we're going to the hospital, that Grimm really did a number on you, then I'm taking you and your friends back to Patch, ok?"

Ruby tried to move her head to the side, only for another pair of hands to stop her.

"Ruby, can I call you Ruby?"

Ruby tried to nod, only for the hands to keep her head in place.

"Yes."

"Ruby, don't try to move, you have a lot of broken bones. Including several compound fractures, those are when-"

"The bone is stickin' out, I know. Where's the Grimm?"

"Dead. Your uncle killed it while it was focused on you."

"Nora and Lie?"

"We're right here," the hand holding Ruby's hand squeezed, "don't do something like that again, please," Nora's voice became muffled, "I don't want to lose either of you."

Ruby's eyelids grew heavy as the woman holding her head placed some sort of mask over it, and Ruby drifted off to sleep.