Prologue 1

Six years ago...

Ruby looked around the house one last time. The nine year old was done with her family and she finally decided she was running away. It all had happened only a year ago, and Ruby told herself they were just trying to cope. Her father and uncle would drink every moment they were awake. Her sister Yang would be anywhere on Remnant but in the house, and Ruby was left on her own with only Zwei.

The black and white corgi was watching her now with intelligent dark eyes. Zwei gave a short bark, snapping the girl out of her thoughts. Ruby looked at him, meeting his gaze. He walked closer, curiosity clear as he cocked his head and wagged his stubby tail.

Ruby broke their eye-contact to check over her filled backpack again. Water bottles, some granola bars, some lien that she stole from her dad and uncle's wallets. A few odds and ends, and at the bottom was a stuffed beowolf plushie that was named - quite appropriatly to Ruby at least - Beo. She zipped the backpack up again and crouched down to pat Zwei. The dog licked her hand, as if sensing she was leaving.

At Zwei's whine, Ruby exhaled a sigh. "I'm sorry, Zwei. I'm not really wanted here." She told the dog. Zwei's head and ears lowered as his tail went limp. It was true, recently her dad and uncle would yell at Ruby, stating that she reminded them too much of her mother and she'd be better off not in their lives. They also would say she was preventing them all from moving on.

Ruby stood up and turned her attention to the couch, where her dad was laying with an empty bottle on his chest. "You'll get your wish now, dad." Ruby told him. Her dad shifted and Ruby feared he'd wake up. Instead, he remained asleep. There would be no note, no letter, no explanation. Ruby wanted to vanish from the life she had, to start anew wherever she would eventually end up.

Hesitation seemed to fill her now. Am I doing the right thing? She now found herself wondering. No, don't be stupid. This is what's best. For both them and myself. She steeled her nerve and walked out the door before closing it and going on her way.

Patch was quite calm, and Ruby was somewhat sad to know she couldn't come back - lest she be found out and get grounded for eternity for running away.

It was a long walk to the ferry that would lead Ruby to Vale city. There was a man checking tickets, and Ruby was able to meld into the crowd of people pouring through to make it in unnoticed. Sitting down by the back of the boat, she watched the ferry take off as Patch grew smaller and smaller in front of her.

It was a while before they arrived, and once again Ruby melded into the crowd until she reached the streets. Looking above her, she noticed that there was a dark stormcloud looming off to Ruby's left side. A storm was definitly brewing in the pregnant looking clouds.

Continuing to walk, Ruby heard a commotion go on to one side. She followed the noise out of curiosity and found a man with black hair and green eyes was yelling at another man, who was profusely apologizing. At the former's side was a raven haired girl with green eyes, and to Ruby's surprise her hand was reaching towards the latter's pocket. It was a moment before it withdrew with the man's wallet. Ruby continued watching as the girl, finished with the obvious pickpocketing, shifted her heel to step on the black-haired man's toe. As if it was a cue, the man burst into a theatric finale that would only be found on a comedy television show. Ruby inched closer and was able to pick up on it.

"Maybe get your eyes checked, sir! I hope you're sorely remorseful for bumping into my daughter, and may we never meet again!" He declared and took the girl's hand before speaking to her, "Come on dear, I'll get you some icecream." Before turning heel and walking away.

Against Ruby's better judgement, she decided she wanted to confront the dad and daughter as to why the daughter pickpocketed the man.

Thunder rolled in the sky, and Ruby could already tell without looking that the storm was almost here. Putting her hood up in case of the rain, she kept following the two until they vanished into an alleyway.

Walking after them, she heard the man speak again. "I know, Neo." There was a second of silence before he called out, "You can stop trying to be inconspicuous about following us, Red!" Making Ruby jump. She froze in place as a pair of people walked from the shadows of the alley walls. One was an orange-haired man with a white coat and a black hat with a feather in it. The second was a short girl with hair that was half pink and half brown, her eyes were brown and pale pink. "What on Remnant are you doing here kid? Lost?" The man asked, and Ruby realized he was the "father" of the girl.

"I'm not lost." Ruby told him "I wanted to ask why that girl stole that man's wallet."

The girl's eyes widened slightly, but she withdrew from a pocket the wallet she had stolen. "This?" The man asked, Ruby nodded in response. "Why we did it is none of your business." He responded flippantly, and the girl put the wallet back in her pocket. Now he reached in his coat pocket and withdrew a cigar, before groping around in his pocket until the girl withdrew a silver stylized lighter and waved it in his face. The man sighed "Neo! Stop stealing my lighter!" He snapped at her and snatched it from her hands before using it to light the cigar and took a puff. The woman tilted her head and the man rolled his eyes. "Anywho," The man continued "Maybe you should get going, there's a nasty storm coming." He told Ruby.

The girl next to the man started making hand movements and the man took a drag on his cigar while watching her. "You're kidding," he told the mute before looking at Ruby "Red. What's your name."

Ruby hesistated for a second, but eventually told him "Ruby. Ruby Rose." And to her surprise, both seemed shocked and even a bit scared.

The man cleared his throat quickly, "Ooookay. So Red, where are your parents?" He asked.

"My mom is dead. I ran away because my dad and uncle hate me because I remind them of her, not to mention they're always drunk and don't care about me anymore." Ruby told them. "So I left."

The duo in front of her was silent, until the woman started signing to the man again. "No, Neo." The man shot down whatever she was saying. The woman, Neo, pouted and the man glared at her with hard green eyes. "We have a job to do. We can't." He told her.

More signing and he opened his mouth to speak, but a parosol seemed to appear magically in Neo's hands and whacked the man with it.

"Owww! Neo!" The man exclaimed, rubbing his leg "Let's go. I really don't fancy getting wet." He told her. Neo put her hands on her hips and pouted, almost in a child-like manner. The man rolled his eyes and finally she nodded and they both turned around and started walking away, leaving Ruby alone.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" Ruby called, running to grab the back of the man's jacket. The moment she touched him, Neo and he shattered like glass. "What...?" Ruby asked herself quietly, her hand remaining outreached as she tried to comprehend what happened. Her hand recoiled as she felt something wet hit her hand.

Looking up, the dark stormcloud obscured the entire sky. Drip. A droplet of cold water hit her nose. Ruby sighed, drawing her cloak closer to herself. Walking out of the alleyway, the rain picked up until it was a torrential downpour of what felt like liquid bullets. Her cloak was soaked and it felt like it was plastered to her skin as it was a practically nonexistant barrier between Ruby's skin and the rain. The streets were almost deserted, and all the people who were out there were carrying umbrellas.

She trudged on, until she saw a shop was lit up. Ruby had no second thoughts about entering, as it would allow a respite from the rain. A bell tinkled and she let the door close behind her as thunder rolled overhead, followed soon by a flash of lightning somewhere in the sky.

"Nasty out there, ain't it kid?" A voice asked, Ruby turned around to see the man again, but disguised as Neo's father once more. Neo was next to him and tilted her head in a greeting.

Ruby put her hood down and used a hand to try and move away the hair that was plastered to her face. "Yeah." She told him as she managed to brush her wet bangs out of the way of her face. Now she moved to start methodically wring out what felt like gallons of water trapped in her cloak's fabric.

The man and Neo shared a glance and the man spoke again, "I suggest that when you're all done drying yourself off to run off," he glanced around and his next words were quieter - the cacophany of rain on the roof was enough to shield the conversation from being overheard by possible evesdroppers, "Because we have a job to do, and I doubt a kid like you needs to get caught up in our line of work. Its not the most savory... or legal." Neo and him started shifting back to the people Ruby met in the alleyway, and a cane was in his hands. "So get on." He told Ruby, raising his cane. The bottom of it flipped open to form a crosshair for him to aim at Ruby with.

Despite this, Ruby was curious and felt defiance fill her out of nowhere. "I don't see why I should." She told them, and the man threw his hands in the air.

"God! Kids these days!" He declared loudly in obvious frustration, "Just leave, jeez! It like you want to get killed!" He exclaimed. Neo's brow furrowed and she snapped her fingers to gain his attention by signing something. He gave a glare her way "I doubt that would be a good idea." He told her. Neo glared back and signed more. "No." He stated.

Before Neo could try and argue more, a door opened and the shopkeep came out. The man's green eyes lit up as he set his cane down, the crosshair flipping back down as he turned to the shopkeep. "Ah! Just the man I was looking for!" He declared, an aura of casual bravado surrounding him as he got to business. "Hand over your lien and we'll be on our way, or if you don't-" he gave sucked a breath through his teeth, "then the cops will have to deal with a murder case as well as a robbery. Your choice." He told the shopkeep flippantly.

His words seemed to have their desired effect as the shopkeep seemed to shrink down and pleaded "Just take my money, please!" He croaked, opening the register.

The man raised his cane again at Ruby, crosshair flipping up. "Well Red. Since you are so hell-bound on not leaving - how about your the one to fetch this kind man's money and bring it to us!" He told her with an upbeat grin on his features.

Ruby felt frozen as her heart started beating just a tad faster. She felt fear knot her stomach. "Well?" The man asked "Get on with it, kid. We don't exactly have all day." Ruby started walking slowly to the counter, each step felt like she was walking neck deep in honey. To add to the stress, she knew the cane was still trained on her as she stopped and mechanically raised her hands as the shopkeep pushed the lien her way. "Hurry it up, Red! The cops could be here any second!" The man barked, striding Ruby's way and snatching the money from her himself.

Neo nodded to Ruby a quick acknowledgement. Ruby was still frozen as sirens started blaring in the distance and grew louder each second that passed. "Farewell, Red. Thanks for helping us, and good luck using your kid charm to get your way out of trouble!" The man told Ruby as he and Neo started making a getaway

But just as the door opened, a police cruiser rounded the corner. Ruby started running after them as an officer leapt out and yelled the usual phrases shouted in television shows. "Freeze! Put your hands in the air and drop your weapons! Vale Police Department!" Roman and Neo kept running as Ruby attempted to follow. But there was a bang, and Ruby realized they were being shot at. Turning around, bullets started flying and the gun swung around to face her. Ruby stopped and froze as a gunshot echoed. Screwing her eyes shut, she waited for the bullet to impact, but then a hand was grabbing Ruby's own.

Opening her eyes, Neo was grabbing her hand and dragging her along. They rounded a corner and the man was waiting, cane held out. "Neo! What the hell do you think you're doing?" He shouted and swung the cane once again at Ruby, Neo tucked her parasol under her arm to sign at him. The man grew even more angry "She was supposed to take the fall for us! Why save her?" He demanded. Neo signed at him, and he threw his arms in the air. Neo kept signing insistantly. "You actually think she has potential?" Rapid nodding from Neo as she kept signing, hands speeding up. "Fine. If shit hits the fan and things go south, we're bailing and you're taking the fall if it comes to it — understood" he told Neo, who nodded again.

Ruby was about to ask what they were talking about, when the duo turned Ruby's way. "Alright Red. Neo here thinks you'll be useful to us, so seeing as you probably have nowhere to go, we're offering to take you under our wing. We'll train you and the such, but you need to know this is a lifelong commitment." He told Ruby.

She hesitated, should she live the life of a criminal? Her heart was saying no, that she would be caught and locked up. But then again, did she have any better plan?

"I'l do it." She agreed, the man reached a gloved hand out to Ruby, who shook it.

Neo smiled, and the man finally introduced himself to Ruby. "Well, if you didn't know who I am already, I'm Roman Torchwick - professional street rat of Vale. The lady next to me is Neopolitan, but just call her Neo." He informed Ruby. Ruby nodded, and Roman told Neo and her "Now, let's get out of here and back home!".

Neo nodded vigorously and opened her parosol and used it to shield herself from the rain. Roman grumbled a complaint under his breath while he cast an envious glance at the woman, and Ruby knew exactly what was going through his head Neo took the lead back down the streets. Roman and Ruby trailed behind her.

A/N: Welcome to One Man's Trash Is Another's Treasure! A theif!Ruby AU if none of you already could tell. As you may have noticed, the chapter is labeled "Prologue 1" and not just "Prologue", this is because I'm splitting up what would have been an 8-9k chapter into 5 or 6 chapters with 1-2k per chapter (maybe even a 3k).

Just to get two things out of the way:

1) Ruby will NOT go to Beacon (at least in the way you're probably imagining) but I plan on her most likely going at some point.

2) I do not intend (at this point in time) for there to be any ships (involving Ruby) in the story. This may change with time, but please don't ask for any ships in the story.

One more thing.

I don't know yet if Ruby will keep her semblance. Leave a review if you think Ruby should keep it or not. If you want her to have a different semblance, then tell me what YOU would think it would be.