Sarah couldn't help but smile as she gazed up at the blue sky overhead, the thin whips of black smoke that trailed across the sky somehow only adding to her acceptance of the situation. She was lying on her back staring up into the midday sky trying her hardest to ignore the pain in her chest. There were many poetic ways of referring to what she was currently experiencing; in the process of pushing up daisies, crossing the River Jordan, about to walk though a valley of shadows, but Sarah preferred to keep it simple.

She was dying, courtesy of the blood filling her lungs due to a bullet that had lodged itself in her chest.

For most reasonably sane people the realization that death as only at most a minute or so away would cause them to panic. They would try to bargain with whatever god they believed in crying to themselves for just a little more time or maybe they would be furious, trying to blame anything and everything for their fate. But Sarah wasn't like most people, even if you weren't going to take into account the fact that the world had gone to hell on her a few years ago.

No, instead Sarah couldn't help but feel a sense of elation as she coughed up even more blood. She could hear the sounds of the foreign troops all trying to shout over each other in order to get some semblance of unity established but the dying girl knew they would fail. After all, the man she had come to kill, one of the bastards who had destroyed her home, was lying in a pool of his own blood not ten feet away and without him their lines would soon collapse. A part of her was surprised to find that no one had put her out of her misery yet, as there were plenty of armed soldiers hovering around who had more than enough reason to put a bullet between her eyes, but at the end of the day she was only a war orphan with a hole in her chest, no reason to waste the ammo when nature would take its course soon. With her matted black hair, jeans that were barely held together, and a shirt that was so dirty at that point that it was mostly brown Sarah looked no different than any of the other downtrodden civilians who filtered through the area.

There was only really one thing that set the dying assassin apart from others; the fire in her sea blue eyes, the only sign that she was still willing to fight.

The black haired teen would have laughed if it weren't for the fact that just trying to breathe was excruciatingly painful. No one had expected her to break away from the column of refugees and fight her way to their command center, her combat knife and stolen pistol ending lives as she went, but she did the impossible and in doing so she accomplished something no one would have thought possible. Without their commander leading them they would soon fall into chaos, and while the effects might not be felt for a few days Sarah was certain that the others would be able to push the invaders back to get the breather they needed to regroup. Hell, if they were any luckier than she was then they might just be able to win, and that was enough for her…

…Or it might have been, if it weren't for the random firing of synapses in her brain shoving memories into her vision as things began to grow black. She saw the other kids, most of who would either cry or be absolutely furious with her, she saw her parents cheering for her as her middle school orchestra concert ended, her violin gripped in her hands tightly as she fought off the nervousness that any kid in middle school would have standing on a stage…her memories of the day the bombs began to fall, the all to loving smile on her mother's face as the world burned around them.

But more than anything, Sarah thought about all the stories she started and, at this point, would never finish. For her entire life she loved to read about fantastical worlds and the heroes and heroines contained within. She would spend so many days of her childhood just running around outside pretending she was fighting along some of her favorites, protecting the innocent and battling against the forces of evil. And sure, she may have eventually gotten the chance to fight against bad guys, some of the worst if she was being completely honest, but here at the end she just couldn't help but feel regret for all the tales she would never finish, all the things she left unspoken…all the time she was about to lose because she hadn't been quite fast or skilled enough.

But whatever regrets she had didn't matter in the end, as her body was growing far too cold to be good and her vision was fading fast, but still the smile never left her face, the feeling of accomplishment something she considered a better sendoff than what most people died with. "Well…hopefully Hell isn't too awful…or maybe we all get another chance at life…that…would be…nice." Sarah barely managed to think before the darkness closed in around her, her limbs growing too heavy to move. And with one last shaky breath, the darkness consumed her sight and she closed her eyes, finally passing on into death's embrace.

.

.

.

…Or that's what she expected to happen, but her consciousness continued to remain stubbornly intact despite the fact that she could tell she had passed on from the fact that everything had stopped hurting so abruptly that it couldn't be normal. Slowly opening her eyes, Sarah was surprised to not see either an old man standing in front of big pearly gates or a guy with horns smelling of sulfur. Instead she was surrounded by nothing but darkness in all directions. As far as the teenage orphan could tell she was floating in space, as she felt a weightlessness similar to being in a pool but didn't feel any water, a feeling that might have her panicking under normal circumstances if it weren't for the fact that she had much bigger worries in that moment.

"Oh god…please tell me this isn't what death is….Is someone there? Anyone? Please!" Sarah started to shout into the darkness, her shouts not even echoing only causing her panic to grow. There were few things during life that Sarah had been truly afraid of after the war had begun, having watched too many people close to her die to remain unaffected. But more than anything else, the black haired girl could never stand being alone, as it was during those times that their faces came back to her, staring at her with their cold dead eyes, accusing her, condemning her.

Its hell…this place is hell. She eventually decided as she turned her head desperately from side to side, trying to find something, anything, that stood out from the nothingness around her.

But there was nothing, not even a single pinpoint of light for her to focus on. So with nothing else to look at Sarah instead turned her attention to her body, trying desperately to find something to focus on to distract her from her horrifying situation. She was surprised that instead of the white dress or something similar that most depictions of the afterlife showed spirits wearing Sarah was still dressed in her raggedy clothes, her shirt still stained with her own blood. She could still feel, something she tested fairly quickly as she hugged herself unintentionally in order to comfort herself, but when she tried to reach out into the inky darkness that surrounded her she could feel nothing in any direction.

She couldn't move, she couldn't see…and if this continued on for too long she was absolutely certain that she would go insane if she had nothing but her own phantoms to keep her company for the rest of eternity.

"Please God, or hell I'll even take Satan's help at this point; please, please, please don't leave me in this nothingness for the rest of eternity. I'll do anything! Just please save me from this nothing!" Sarah screamed desperately into the void in an attempt to save herself. But there was no answer, no acknowledgement of her suffering. And before long the black haired assassin was reduced to clutching her knees into her chest and bawling, the sounds of her crying the only noise in the endless nothingness.

Sarah floated through the void with her eyes closed and a blank look on her face, barely thinking at all as she prepared herself for the rest of eternity. How long had she been in the featureless void? Days? Weeks? Months? Maybe even years or it could have only been ten minutes for all she knew; there was simply nothing for her to compare the passing of time against when there was nothing but darkness surrounding her.

Ok…well this kinda sucks, kinda wish I was just getting tortured for eternity if it meant that I didn't have to go through this by myself. Sarah couldn't help but think as she sighed heavily, the concern of how exactly she was able to breathe now that she was dead outweighed by the depression she was currently experiencing. Sure, her life hadn't exactly been great since the bombs started to fall that faithful day, but did she really deserve this? Was this the punishment for a murderer? Or maybe it was just an accumulation of all the stupid jokes she had made over the years?

"…God?" Sarah started once again, her own voice sounding louder than ever before in the soundless darkness. " I know…I know that I'm not exactly a good person, after everything I've done but…please, I'll do anything, just please don't leave me alone." She muttered quietly, the sorrow of her situation seemingly crushing her voice until it was a faint whisper.

…but just as she expected there was no reply, no beam of light or anything. And so, sighing once again, she simply closed her eyes, praying that she would simply cease to exist eventually.

"…"

...Huh? Sarah opened her eyes, a frown of concentration on her face as she stared into the emptiness. Did she just imagine that? She didn't hear any words, but somehow the young black haired girl could've sworn she heard some kind of voice echoing out from the abyss. but that...that shouldn't be possible. she was all by herself in the darkness, who the hell would be talking besides her?

"…P-…Sa…ur…ughte-."

Sarah bolted up with such speed that she actually started to spin end over end through the darkness. She defiantly wasn't imagining things, someone was talking and she would be damned if she missed this chance to escape her own personal hell. Twisting her head around in a panic, she was shocked to see that rather than being surrounding by nothingness, there was now a small pinpoint of light, or maybe it was an absolutely massive source of light that was just really far away, she really couldn't tell but also just didn't care at this point. It was something, and that was what she desperately needed.

Stretching her limbs to their absolute limits, Sarah reached out for the light, a rare look of hope on her face as she did so. As her hand got closer to the otherworldly brilliance she noticed a shift in her surroundings that only further confused her. The darkness was beginning to recede, almost like it was being sucked down a drain behind her, and light and shapes began to form before her. She couldn't make out what anything really was, as everything was blurred like she was trapped in some kind of strange surreal painting, but any change at this point was preferable to the featureless darkness from before.

The former assassin was about to cry out in happiness when suddenly gravity returned to her surroundings, and she flopped down onto the blurry ground with a surprised squeak escaping from her lips. Pushing herself up onto her shaking knees, Sarah continued to observe her surroundings in an attempt to determine where exactly she was now.

Despite the fact that everything remained blurry, she could make out the fact that she appeared to be in some kind of house, a bedroom to be more precise, as she could make out the vague shape of a bed in the corner and other common furniture that she hadn't seen in years. One of the walls had window built into it, and through it Sarah could see the lights of densely packed town beyond along with the blurry lights of the stars up in the sky. The house wasn't exactly modern, as she could see a wooden sliding door on the opposite side of the window and some of the furniture was fairly old looking, but the fact that it was something to see was something that brought tears to her ethereal eyes.

It was while she was observing her newfound surroundings that Sarah noticed strange human-like figures moving through the room along with one figure on the bed that she had missed in her first observation. Sarah couldn't make out the persons features but from the sobs escaping from the figures lips she could tell it was a woman on the bed. The other two figures were gathered in the center of the room, their shoulders hunched over staring down at something that the black haired spirit couldn't help but gawk at.

A ball of light, likely the very same light that Sarah had reached for in order to escape from her personal hell, was sitting a makeshift cradle in between them, one of the figures standing over the light had the vague shape of a man in the prime of his life, tall and rippling with what appeared to be muscles while the other was a hunched over elderly woman with…white rabbit ears? What the hell? Did her time in that inky abyss really make her go crazy?

But before she could think about the grandma's strange appendages the man began to speak, drawing her attention. "Please, gods above, please don't take our daughter from us so soon…let her be spared. I beg you…please, " He murmured in a sorrowful voice, his tone quiet as he clasped his hands together that even Sarah, who had long ago lost faith, could tell was a method of prayer.

Sarah stared at his still fuzzy face for a moment before looking down at the strange ball of light. She couldn't make out any fine details, as it was just as blurry as everything else in this strange new place but somehow could feel a strange warmth coming off the light, almost like she was sitting around a campfire.

But whatever the light was, it was fading fast. Sarah watched as the light began to grow dimmer, the strange warmth fading along with its glow.

Well this is...different…but...at least its something. And i suppose I have this to thank for it. Sarah thought as she tentatively reached out for the light. "So if this little guy needs a hand then well, who am I to say no?" She decided as she made contact with the light.

The world exploded in that moment, the light flaring back into brilliance, sending the black haired spirit flying backwards for a few feet before passing halfway through the bed, causing her to cry out in shock for a moment before she phased through it again. Looking back into the center of the room, Sarah was shocked to see that the ball of light had lifted from the crib before extending out into a string the thickness of a piece of yarn, one end flying out to connect with the center of Sarah's chest while the other descended back into the crib. At first Sarah tried to remove the thread, not exactly comfortable with a beam of light extending from her chest, but as she tried to grasp it her hands simply passed through it like it didn't exist. But whatever the connection was it removed the strange blurriness that surrounded Sarah, leaving her with a much clearer picture of what was around her. She could see a woman on the bed covered loosely in a sheet and panting heavily, almost like she had just run a marathon. Her bright red hair was a stark contrast to the faded colors that surrounded her, an almost neon shade that just couldn't be natural. The man had a much more normal hair color, a deep brown that was almost the same shade as his tanned skin, but he was just as shockingly strange as the woman in an entirely different field. His eyes; eyes that Sarah could only describe as the eyes of a hawk, gazed down at the spot that the light had been previously with a mixture of shock and elation.

That was when the crying started, a high pitch crying that was at first very piercing but after a few seconds almost seemed…comforting. Slowly, as she didn't exactly want any other explosions of light or really anything to go off because of her, Sarah approached the crib and peaked down into it to find a sight that caused her to gasp in surprise.

There was a newborn child, a girl from what Sarah could see, in the bottom of the crib, a small tuff of sea blue hair on her tiny head. The child blinked its eyes occasionally and Sarah couldn't help but catch a glimpse of emerald green eyes every time it did so. And while seeing a newborn in place of a ball of light wasn't exactly common, it wasn't the fact that there was a child in the crib that was so shocking.

No, that honor belonged to the pair of tiny white wings that were attached to the infants back, the otherworldly appendages twitching occasionally as the little girl continued to screech at the top of its new lungs.

Sighing once again and staring up at the ceiling while the old woman cried out about a miracle. "Well…OK then, so this is a thing. Somehow being dead just seems so much more complicated than I thought."

Zephyr Ha-Neul was a man who preferred to keep his emotions in check, allowing his actions or words to reveal how he felt on a subject, but as he stared down at the miracle that was his daughter with his wife, Terra, by his side he couldn't help but smile like the happiest man in the world.

With a lack of any true hospital in Menagerie the young couple had been forced to use one of the elders as a midwife in order to make the birthing process as easy as possible but even still there had been many risks for the couple when it came to having a child. Terra had always had a somewhat weak constitution, the trip from Vale to the land given to all Faunus tiring her out for a good few months, and that wasn't even taking into account the lack of proper medical facilities. Zephyr had argued against the idea of having a child adamantly, leading to one of the few heated fights the Faunus couple had ever had since their marriage, but in the end his wife had won out, saying that despite the risks a child would still be worth it.

And looking down at his blue haired daughter, the Huntsmen couldn't help but agree with his wife. The child…no, their daughter, was absolutely breathtaking, blue hair the color of the sea, eyes greener than the trees of the Emerald Forest, and while he was most certainly biased he couldn't help but beam in pride staring down at her.

"Just look at her dear, our little miracle, our daughter." His wife stated in a warm exhausted tone, drawing Zephyr from his thoughts to wrap his wife in a side hug.

"Yes she is…she has your smile." He replied, still slightly concerned over his wife's health but not willing to ruin the moment.

Terra laughed lightly at that, leaning down to tickle their daughter slightly bringing out another fit of giggles from the newborn. "Yes yes, I'm sure that she does. But I can definitely see your cunning and intelligence in her eyes."

"I pray that she doesn't, otherwise the next few years will be quite difficult for us." Zephyr replied, relishing the fact that he made his wife laugh before a more serious expression overcame his face. "But are you certain that you're well enough to move around so much? This last month hasn't been easy for you and the well wishers have only recently started to stop arriving at our front door."

Terra drew back from the infant before planting her hands on her hips and sending a playful glare at her husband. "Oh? Does my dear Huntsmen of a husband think his wife is so weak that she will faint just from entertaining well wishers?"

"You know what I mean." Zephyr replied in the same tone as he gently reached out and held his wife's hands, ribbing his thumbs in the center of her palms. "I am not overly concerned about your physical well being… more so your emotional wellness after...after what happened."

Terra's eyes instantly softened as she stepped forward into his embrace, wrapping her slender arms around his back. "Yes…it was close…but in the end we were given a blessing and I can't let myself fall into depression just because we almost lost her."

His wife was right, they had nearly lost her. Terra's weak constitution had greatly affected both her and the baby, to the point where their daughter was nearly gone the moment she took her first breath. The midwife had tried nearly everything she could to keep the young Faunus in this world, but as the agonizing seconds crawled forward nothing seemed to work.

And so Zephyr did the one thing that he never thought he would…he prayed. He begged whatever deities would listen to spare his daughter. The Brother Gods, The Wild One, he directed his plea to all the gods he knew of hoping that at least one would have mercy on his family.

And to his immense shock something had heard him. One second his newborn child was close to drawing her final breath and the next she was crying out with a volume that surprised them all, her formerly pale skin returning to a healthy pink.

The midwife, after ensuring that the child was indeed going to survive, all but sprinted from their house to tell all those who would listen about the divine blessing that had occurred in the house of one of Menagerie's few Huntsmen. With so many men and women gathered so close together the word spread like wildfire and it wasn't a day later that well wishers began to arrive at their door wishing to see the new life and offer food or gifts to the new parents.

The Hawk Faunus was of two minds about what had happened. On the one hand he was absolutely ecstatic, as he had seen his nearly deceased child return to a healthy color in a few seconds through some strange method. But at the same time he was a Huntsman, a warrior trained at Beacon academy to fight against the horrors of the world, and if there was one thing his professors had beaten into him was that there was no miracles. Only ones own hard work and skill could protect and save the innocent.

But looking down at the now calm infant's form, Zephyr couldn't help but think that maybe something was indeed looking out for the tiny angel, and if something had chosen to spare the innocent child then he could only feel grateful for their mercy.

His daughter, his precious Safira had wings...and while he was eternally grateful that she could have a chance at life, he couldn't help but be concerned for her future. Wings were an extremely uncommon trait, so much so that there were legends about their kind. Legends that spoke of grand destinies and vague prophecies. Many of the well-wishers had fallen to their knees, tears falling from their eyes, at the sight of his heir...it was terrifying in a way, all this expectation placed upon her small, fragile form. As unfortunately she had inherited her mother's frail constitution. So much so in fact, that the Elder who had performed the birthing had told him in private that he did not expect his daughter to live long, that he should be prepared for the worst.

But if there was one thing that could be said about their newborn daughter it was that she seemed to exist only to surprise others. On her back were to beautiful white wings, wings that may had compared to the wings of the fierce snow owls of the north.

"It's true that we nearly lost her, that her body may be weak like mine…that she will face the same hatred that all our kind must endure." Terra continued as she broke the embrace and reached down to stroke the infant's face, the child seemingly leaning into the touch. "But no matter what, she is still here, she's still breathing, she's still alive. And as our little gem is alive and well I will be here to make sure she has a loving family to always come back to."

Zephyr smiled at that. They had struggled to think of a name for the unborn child during the nine months of pregnancy, but once they had seen her beautiful blue hair they had easily decided on what to call her, her sapphire-like hair giving them newfound inspiration.

"Yes, and I will keep you both safe. My beautiful wife Terra, and my precious daughter… Safira." He answered as he led his wife out of the room and shut the light off.

Sarah waited until the child's parents, or should I call them my parents at this point? God this is so confusing, left before levitating over to the crib that held the child she was bound to, the ethereal teen hovering over the child and watching in amusement as the child looked up at her and giggled.

It had been a little over a month since she had found herself in this strange new would, bound by a white wire to a child and confused beyond belief. She didn't spend too long on the thought that she was dreaming, as the fight before her death and the subsequent time in the abyss kinda crushing that hope. But the animal ears and strange colorful hair and eyes she had seen from the guests that filtered though the baby's nursery clearly showed she wasn't on Earth anymore. So that led to the question of where exactly was she now?

That answer had come to her not that long after being forced to hover around an infant all day and hearing a few choice words come from the lips of the English speaking onlookers. Words such as Aura, Faunus, Vale…Huntsman.

And despite everything that screamed at her that it should be possible, that it had to be a delusion that her mind brought on due to the insanity of being left in a void of nothing for however long she was there, when Sarah looked out the window at night the shattered moon in the sky gave her an answer she couldn't refute.

She was on Remnant, the world of RWBY and one of her favorite stories from a time before fire consumed her country.

"No matter how many times I think about it I just can't wrap my head around it…and it's not like I can just ask you huh?" Sarah complained out loud as she wiggled her fingers in front of the infant named Safira, the child laughing as she tried to catch the quickly moving appendages.

Sarah had tried to get the attention of the child's parents, to let someone, anyone, know she was there. But no matter how loud she screamed or what she did they never even looked her way. Only young Safira would notice her, likely due to the bond they now shared, and as such the blue haired baby had essentially become her only outlet for conversation, even if her replies were only gurgles or laughs.

"I don't know if it was my god who did all this or maybe one of yours…but they're kinda cruel to just shove me into your life don't'cha think?" Sarah continued to talk to the baby, the winged Faunus tilting its head in confusion before yawing loudly.

Well, I guess it doesn't really matter why or how so much as that it did. And whatever did it saved me from an eternity of nothing. Sarah thought as she floated away from the crib and landed a foot or so from the bed, a contemplative look on her ghostly face. Another world…but not another chance. This kid has its own life to live, regardless of what I might want or know about…and even if she didn't do it herself, she saved me. She deserves a chance at happiness no matter what.

A new thought crept into Sarah's nonexistent skull, an idea that she always thought was so cool in stories but something no one would ever do in real life because of how outdated and how stupid they would look. But hey…it's not like anyone but a one month old kid could see her now anyway right? Why not just do it?

And so she did something she always wanted to. Sarah dropped down onto a knee and crossed her right hand over her chest and closed her eyes, just like a knight in a story would do when in front of a Princess.

"…I swear to you, Safira Ha-Neul; I will protect you till the day you too pass on. I will keep you safe in this world of monsters. No matter your path, no matter the thorns that may bar your way, I will always be by your side…" Sarah declared with all the solemness she could muster before rising back up and grinning down at the one month old girl, Safira seemingly returning the gesture. "Well then…I guess I look forward to working with you little angel, we're gonna be together for awhile after all."

hello everyone! started this story because i was challenged by a friend to try my hand at an OC-insert story and decided to give my own little twist on the template. I didn't really want Sarah to just be a normal kid who finds herself in a new world so I gave her some combat skills, not nearly enough to fight on the level of your average Huntsman or Huntress but enough to not be completely normal.

until next time!