Chapter 1

"Hear… Feel… Think…"

At that moment, Ruby felt like she was falling.

When she opened her eyes she was in a void, an endless abyss of darkness

surrounding her in every direction. Yet she could feel it, the inescapable pull of

gravity and faint wind rushing past her, her body being pulled towards something

in the far distance.

She turned her head and looked around in bewilderment, trying to get a

sense of where she was or what was happening-

-When she saw something sparkle just up ahead.

As she drew closer she realized what it was, a light blue crystal.

Inside the crystal she saw images, images of a world that look so different

from Remnant. A land where people appeared to be casting magic at will, a land

where monsters that looked nothing like the Grimm roamed the wilds, a land filled

with adventurers going forth and taming the wilds.

As the crystal floated past her, another showed up, then another, and another,

and soon she was floating through a sea of crystal shards. Each one played images

of that strange world, of the people who lived there, of the calamities they

survived, of the struggles they persevere through, and of an uncertain future that

awaited them.

Ruby blinked in awe as she stared at each of the crystal shards, unable to

believe what it was she was looking at. She'd never seen anything like this, not

even in the fairy tales her father had told her as a child.

Watching the crystal fly past her she reached her hand out, wondering what

might happen if she held one of these crystals…

"Hear… Feel… Think…"

As her fingers grazed the crystal it began to glow, a bright white light filling

the void. Ruby covered her eyes to avoid its brightness before the glow began to

fade. When she looked back…

…She found an elegant, red card floating where the crystal had been.

She hesitantly held her hand out, looking to grab hold of the card.

"Hear… Feel… Think…"

Ruby's eyes snapped open the moment her hand wrapped around the card,

finding herself back in her bedroom.

It was a bright, warm morning in the log cabin she called home, the gentle

sunlight filling the room. She slowly sat up, rubbing at her eyes as she clearly

remembered the dream she had just had, falling through an infinite void of crystal.

"What was that all about?" She murmured sleepily to herself, lifting her

arms up to stretch out, yawning quietly as she did. Though as she lifted her arms

up, she felt something flutter in front of her face, falling from her hand.

Blinking several times she looked down at what she'd been holding in her

sleep, only to see…

…The same red card that had been in her dreams.

"What?" Ruby said quietly, picking up the card and flipping it around. The

cover of the card had an ornate picture on it, a beautiful lady dressed in white, with

flowing ribbons and feathered wings before what looked like a giant crystal, much

like the ones she saw in her dream.

"How did this get here?" She murmured to herself, flipping the card over in

her hand. She definitely hadn't gone to bed with the card, so where had it come

from?

The only thing that made sense was that either her sister or father had put the

card in her bed, but what would have been the point of that? It hardly counted as a

prank, nor did she know what it was for it to be a gift…

It was then that the smell of freshly cooked breakfast flitted past her nose

and her stomach let out a light rumble. Her father was probably cooking breakfast

and she was hungry, so the mystery of the card could wait!

Tossing the card onto her bedside table it was almost immediately forgotten

upon the thought of the foods being made downstairs. From the smell of things it

was a mix of bacon and pancakes, a classic delicious breakfast that Ruby was

excited for.

"Morning Dad!" She chirped as she bounded down the stairs, quickly

entering the kitchen where her father, Taiyang Xiao Long, was just finishing up his

cooking. The blonde haired man turned and smiled at his energetic daughter as he

placed the last of the freshly baked pancakes onto a plate.

"Morning Ruby, you're up early!" He chuckled, picking up the plate of fresh

breakfast food and placing it at the kitchen table. "You usually like to sleep in on

the weekends."

"Yeah, but I just kinda woke up today." Ruby said with a shrug as she took

her place at the kitchen table. "Weird dream woke me up."

"Weird dream?" Taiyang asked curiously as Ruby immediately began to

stuff her face. She nodded her head, letting out a muffled 'mhmm' between her

bites.

"I was falling in this weird endless void filled with crystal and I was seeing

all these images of some other world, and then one of them turned into a card and-"

Ruby stuffed a mouthful of food in her mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed-

"-And one of them turned into a weird card and when I woke up the card was on

my bed!"

"Interesting." Taiyang said with a courtesy nod to his daughter, placing the

dirty cookware in the sink. It wasn't that unusual for Ruby to talk about grand

stories she was interested in so he didn't find the story all that unusual. Ruby just

continued to eat her food happily, cleaning her plate in no time. She wiped her

mouth with a napkin, stuffed and satisfied as she hummed curiously.

"I just wonder where the card came from. I don't think I've ever seen it

before." Ruby hummed curiously as she brought her empty plate to the sink.

"Maybe your sister got it for you," Taiyang offered as he began cleaning up

from breakfast, "she did go to the local market recently, she might've gotten it for

you as a gift."

"Hm! Could be!" Ruby said with a nod, before glancing around. "Do you

know where she is?"

"She went outside to train," Taiyan said with a smile, "She's got her Beacon

exam coming up soon and wanted to be in top shape for it."

"Ooooh, right right, that's coming up!" Ruby nodded her head. She smiled,

placing her hand into her palm. "I should go train too! Can't let Yang get too far

ahead of me!"

"Sounds good dear." Taiyang chuckled, watching his youngest daughter zip

upstairs in a flurry of petals, her semblance allowing her to get back to her room in

no time flat. It was only a matter of seconds before she rushed back down, fully

dressed in her red and black dress and her scythe, Crescent Rose, hung firmly on

her back.

More importantly, she'd tucked that card that had shown up in her room into

her back pocket for the moment. Maybe Yang would know something about it.

"See ya later Dad!" Ruby said cheerfully, giving him a quick wave before

dashing out the front door.

The morning air was still warm and crisp, the tail end of winter behind them

and spring well on its way. It was a beautiful time of year on the island and Ruby

was excited to get in some training.

Racing out into the nearby forest Ruby duck and wove through the trees,

jumping and bouncing off of the branches, spinning and landing repeatedly with

grace. It wasn't necessary by any means but it was how Ruby liked to practice her

traversal, you never knew when you'd need to use the environment to your

advantage!

As she jumped around she could hear it, the distinct sounds of trees

breaking, cries being called out, and distinct explosions. It could only mean one

thing.

Yang!

In a clear ahead Yang was getting her own early morning training in, rushing

up on several pre-built training dummies and slamming her fists into their supple

bodies. Several punches were followed with a blast from her Ember Celica, the

shotgun blast tearing holes into the dummy breaking it into pieces. Yang let out a

cry as she spun, kicking the remains and sending them flying.

With one 'opponent' defeated she somersaulted backwards, transitioning

into several back flips before landing and turning to face her next foe. The next

dummy stood as much of a chance as the first, as it also received a series of fatal

punches in rapid succession, before one final punch sent it flying into the forest

beyond.

Yang let out a satisfied sigh at her work, dusting her hands off as Ruby came

in for a landing.

"Hey Yang!" Ruby called out, taking a look around at the training ground,

"you put in some work today!"

"Oh, hey Ruby!" Yang said with a wave and a smile. "You're up early."

"Yeah, had a weird dream wake me up," Ruby explained, glad Yang had

brought it up first. She reached behind her and pulled out the card she'd stored

from earlier, "do you know anything about this card?"

"Card?" Yang looked confused as she looked at the red card, examining it

thoroughly. She put her hand to her chin and hummed as she looked it over. "Nope,

never seen it before. What's it for?"

"I was hoping you knew." Ruby sighed, turning the card to look at it again.

"It just showed up on my bed this morning, and what's weirder is I had a dream

about it."

"Weird." was all Yang had to say with a shrug. "Maybe it's Dad pulling a

prank or something, though I don't exactly know what the joke is."

"Yeah, I doubt it's one of dad's pranks." Ruby shook her head.

"...Maybe Zwei found it?" Yang offered the next solution that made the most

sense to her, "that's all I can think of, I've never seen it before."

"Huh…" Ruby murmured, turning the card over to stare at the woman on it

again. Something about her felt so… Strange yet aetherial.

Yang let out a grunt as she picked up one of the fallen practice dummies and

put it back into a standing position. She dusted it off a little, before giving a nod

and smile and walking over to Ruby.

"Alright Ruby, the training ground is all yours!" Yang gave Ruby a pat on

the shoulder and a big smile. "I'm going to go get washed up."

"Oh, yeah sure thing Yang." Ruby said, breaking out of her stupor as she

watched her sister walking off in the direction she had just come from. She let out a

sigh as she put the card back into her pocket and unsheathed her scythe.

It was just a weird card in the end. Maybe it flew in through the window?

How it ended up on her bed didn't really matter in the end. She had some training

to do!

Yang was going to get into Beacon Academy, Ruby was certain of it. Even if

she wasn't old enough to apply for the academy herself yet she wasn't just going to

sit around and let Yang surpass her in skill!

Ruby bent her knees, pulled back her scythe, and readied herself to launch at

the dummies to get in some combat practice!

"Hear… Feel… Think…"

Ruby froze as she heard that familiar voice once more, the same voice she'd

heard from her dream.

"Hello?!" Ruby called out, looking around for the possible source of the

voice. No one was around, but she suddenly got the very distinct feeling that she

was being watched.

Suddenly the wind kicked up, nearly knocking her off of her feet from the

unexpected force. The trees loudly rustled and the wind howled in her ears, leaves

billowing in the wind and practically swirling around her as the wind grew stronger

and stronger.

Ruby cried out, unsure of what was happening, holding on to Crescent Rose

tightly as the wind swirled faster and she felt her whole body being lifted up off the

ground. She cried out in shock as she began to tumble and twirl, spinning in the air

and no longer able to discern up from down or left from right, just an endless

spinning of colors before suddenly-

-It all stopped as quickly as it started.

She fell to the ground with a soft thud, the wind being knocked out of her as

she landed. She groaned loudly, unharmed but annoyed from whatever had just

happened.

She sat up, rubbing her head, trying to get a vague sense of what had

happened-

-When she noticed she was staring directly at a building.

"...Huh?" Was the word that tumbled out of her mouth as she realized what

he was looking at. She didn't recognize the building at all, the color of the lumber

used for its construction was all wrong for the kind of buildings that were built on

the island she called home.

She turned her head and then noticed she was no longer in the forest near her

home…

…In fact, she seemed to be in the middle of a busy town…

…With a bunch of Faunus looking at her strangely…

"Oh! Uh! Hi! Hello! Hey there!" Ruby laughed awkwardly, jumping into a

standing position and trying to laugh off her embarrassment of being seen on the

ground. Though her mind was also very quickly processing the fact that she…

…Wasn't home anymore.

Her head turned one way and the next, rapidly scanning the area and the

people around her. She recognized they were faunus, many of them having

different types of tails and ears and horns and skin markings that set them apart

from humans.

…But there weren't nearly this many Faunus back where she lived.

Where was she? And how did she GET here??

As the small crowd that had been staring at her began to disperse, she rushed

up to the nearest woman that looked friendly.

"Uh! Excuse me, hi! Sorry but uh, I don't know where I am? Could you

possibly point me in the direction of Beowolf forest? I seem to have gotten lost."

Ruby laughed as best she could, rubbing the back of her head in shame. She didn't

know how a gust of wind had blown her this far from home, but hopefully the

citizens here were friendly and could point her in the right direction.

"Beowulf forest?" The woman said looking at Ruby confused. "There are no

beowolves here."

Ruby blinked at that, even more confused now.

"H-Huh? But, but Patch is known for its beowulf forests," tried to explain,

"it's kind of hard to miss them."

"Uhhh… Sorry miss, but I don't know what you're talking about." The

woman said with a shake of her head. "Maybe you should ask someone else."

"C-Could you point me in the direction of Signal Academy? I can find my

way from there!" Ruby asked in desperation, not wanting the lady to walk away

just yet.

The woman looked at her with an even more confused look, before looking

annoyed.

"Signal Academy? Look, I don't know who you are, but if you're from Vale

you should go back there. No one takes kindly to outsiders here." The woman

huffed, before turning and trying to walk away. Ruby, lost and bewildered,

desperately needed answers.

"No no no no no wait!! What do you mean!? Where AM I?!" Ruby asked

frantically, starting to panic and look scared. The lady could see it on Ruby's face

and let out an annoyed sigh.

"Girl, I don't know what's going on with you but you're in Kuo Kuana. In

Menagerie." The woman said with finality to her voice. "Now if you don't mind

I'm quite busy."

The woman turned around with a scoff and walked off, leaving Ruby

standing there looking absolutely stunned and bewildered.

"Menagerie!?" She cried out in shock and fear, hands on her head. She

immediately began pacing around in a circle, fear and dread filling her heart.

"No no no no no no that can't possibly be true! I CAN'T be in Menagerie!

How would I have teleported halfway across the world in a few seconds! That's not

possible!" It simply wasn't possible, was it? This had to be some kind of elaborate

prank or she was still dreaming.

Not that she'd ever BEEN to Menagerie before to know what it looks like to

dream about it but still, she at least KNEW the continent existed!

Her paranoia reaching a crescendo she jumped from the ground up to the top

of the nearest building and looked around. As far as she could see there were

buildings and faunus and people going about their daily life.

Nothing looked familiar to her. Not the geography, not the buildings, not

even the style of buildings that were around her. Everything looked foreign…

Which only reinforced the truth that she was, in fact, in Menagerie.

But how was that possible? What could have caused her to be sent half-way

across the world?

Just then, Ruby felt something coming from her back pocket. A strange

sensation that was drawing her to the card she had put away just moments ago.

Pulling it out once more, the card seemed different now. It maintained its red

coloring and borders, but the lady on the front of the card was now gently glowing

a white light, as if sparkling with an ethereal glow to her.

"Hear… Feel… Think…"

The voice echoed in her mind again, and this time she realized…

…It was coming from a connection she had with the card.

"Who… Are you?" Ruby asked in a quiet voice.

As Ruby asked the question the sky around her darkened and she turned her

gaze up towards the heavens. The clouds darkened, then burned with a heated

blaze, as if the clouds themselves were made of flames. Her eyes widened as then,

from the clouds began to hail meteors from the sky.

Her mouth fell open as she stared in horrified awe at the meteors, streaking

across the sky and crashing into the ground. Explosions, destruction, and

devastation as far as the eye could see.

The only thing it could be… Was the end of the world.

And just as quickly as it arrived, it vanished.

"Wha-" Ruby looked around bewildered, looking for the devastation she had

just witnessed with her own eyes. She expected screams of terror, fires and smoke

billowing into the sky, people running for their lives…

But life was continuing on as normal. The vision of destruction she had

witnessed was nowhere to be seen.

She stared in a shocked stupor… Until she looked back at the card.

Was this why she'd been brought here? To put a stop to the devastation

before it began? But if so… Where did she even begin?

"What do you want me to do…" She asked again quietly, looking the card

over once more. Flipping it over she noticed there was now writing on the back of

it, glowing in the same ethereal glow as the woman herself. It was an address, an

address somewhere in Menagerie.

"Guess that answers that question," Ruby said, looking up and around one

more time. "I'll see if the locals can't give me some directions."

With her destination now known she jumped off the roof of the building and

began running her way through the streets, looking for any signs that might lead

her to the correct building.

Ruby double checked the address several times, making sure she was in the

right place. It was a somewhat dilapidated building, with a sign that was faded and

hard to read. However, the front sliding-door was open and there was a sign

hanging on it that said it was 'open', even listing hours of operations from 9am to

10pm.

"Hello?" Ruby called out, poking her head in through the open doors. When

no one answered she stepped inside, glancing around and really taking in the view

of the store for the first time.

The store appeared to be some kind of novelty store, with shelves filled to

the brim with knick-knacks and trinkets. Various strange artifacts she didn't

recognize were littering every shelf, from weird looking gloves to small porcelain

sculptures of strange white-fluffy looking creatures.

She paused at one trinket in particular, that appeared to be a piece of jewelry

made from a familiar looking crystal. The same kind of crystal she'd seen in her

dream…

"Hello!?" Ruby jumped in her skin as a shrill voice rang through the air,

followed by the ring of a bell. The bell rang several times, as if the lady who had

just spoken was rabidly slamming the bell. "Hey! If you are open for business I

DEMAND you come out here right now!!"

Ruby hesitantly made her way towards the front of the shop where she saw

what appeared to be a middle aged woman with silver-white hair, dressed in very

fancy attire. A long-sleeved white shirt under a lavender vest with a high collar and

a long dark-purple skirt. She was rapidly slamming her hand against the

summoning bell that sat atop the counter alongside the register, ringing out with

each strike trying to get the attention of whoever ran this shop.

"Excuse me! I demand to know THIS INSTANT why you kidnapped me and

brought me- Brought me HERE of all places!" The woman was clearly frantic,

desperate for answers, but her words struck a cord with Ruby.

"Kidnapped?" She asked, stepping out from behind a shelf. The woman

jumped in place, letting out a terrified yelp and taking a step back from where

Ruby had been standing. Ruby, to her defense, raised her hands as well, trying to

look non-threatening. "Oh! Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"

The woman put a hand to her chest, taking several calming breaths before

standing straight and dusting off her clothes.

"I apologize, you startled me." The woman said, taking a deep breath and

letting it out slowly before continuing. "Are you the proprietor of this

establishment or… I'm guessing from how young you look, work here?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that." Ruby said with a shake of her head, "You just

said you were kidnapped and I was kind of wondering…" She reached into her

back pocket and pulled out her card to show the woman. "Did you get one of these

too, and then suddenly found yourself here?"

The woman's eyes widened at the sight of the card. Instantly she reached

into her own pocket and pulled out a similar looking card, though hers was a little

different. The borders of it were colored blue, contrasting her red, and the person

floating in front of the crystal wasn't the lady in white, but instead a man clad in

darkness.

"Were you kidnapped as well?" The woman asked, a serious look on her

face. "I was simply at my home and then this fierce wind kicked up and then I

found myself- Found myself here!" She waved at the air in a general fashion. "My

only clue was the address on the back of this card and now no one is answering

me!"

"Yeah, something similar happened to me." Ruby said with a nod, putting

the card back in her pocket. "My name's Ruby, btw."

"...Willow. Willow Schnee." The older woman said with a sigh, turning to

ring the bell again. "How is a business open but no one is answering us? I swear, so

unprofessional." She growled under her breath.

Without another word Willow began making her around the corner towards

the back of the store.

"This is absolutely ridiculous, is anyone even here?" She muttered under her

breath, Ruby quickly following behind her. Willow reached out to the handle of the

door that led into the back-

-And as she did, the cards in their pockets began to glow brightly. Brighter

than they ever had before.

"Huh!?" Ruby cried out, seeing the light starting to surround them. Willow

was already opening the door as the light engulfed them, and then suddenly-

-Ruby was falling.

Falling, tumbling, spiraling, back into the void.

She cried out, unable to understand what was happening. She reached out

into the darkness, but there was nothing to grasp.

Then, as she turned her head-

-She saw them. The crystal floating in the aether.

It was the same as in her dream, the same sensation, only this time she knew

she wasn't dreaming!

As the crystals floated past her she looked into them, seeing the same images

she saw before. Worlds she had never seen before, people and creatures unlike

anything that lived in Remnant, and a world devastated by calamity…

Ruby then looked around, trying to see if she could find the woman that had

been with her. No matter where or how far she looked she couldn't spot Willow

anywhere. They must have been separated when they were transported by the light!

Ruby was trying not to panic, to figure out what to do-

-When she looked ahead and saw it. Something was approaching fast!

She raised her arms above her head and in the next moment-

-She blacked out.

"Nnnggghh…" Ruby groaned as her senses were slowly coming back to her.

Her body felt stiff, difficult to move…

…And cold.

Her eyes slowly opened, being filled to the brim with snow.

She slowly lifted herself up into a sitting position, only now truly realizing

just how cold it suddenly was!

She wrapped her arms around her and shivered, looking around frantically. It

was snowing, difficult to see what exactly it was around her, but there was one

thing that was clear. There were two people approaching her rapidly-

-Cloaked in an armor she had never seen before and wielding spears.

"You there! Stay right there!" They shouted, before they were upon Ruby,

pointing their spears straight at her. Her arms shot up at the sudden show of

aggression. "That's far enough heretic!"

"H-Heretic!?" Ruby asked confused, shivering in the cold.

It was then that she noticed the two people in front of her…

…Had super long, pointy ears. Something she'd never seen on someone

before.

"In the name of Ishgard you are coming with us!" The guards ordered,

inching closer with their spears.

Ruby put her hands on her head and let out a loud groan, tossing her head

towards the sky!

"Where am I NOW!?" She cried out into the drowning snow around them.

It was the beginning of a very, very long day for Ruby.