Chapter 2: Ch 1: Twin Roses
A cold female voice speaks. "Legends stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, by-products, of a forgotten past. Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful. But he was born into an unforgiving world. An inevitable darkness, creatures of destruction. The creatures of Grimm set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning mankind's brief existence to the void. However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change, and in time, man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds. This power was appropriately named "Dust". Nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness, and in the shadow's absence, came strength, civilization, and most importantly, life. But even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone… darkness will return. So, you may prepare your guardians… build your monuments to a so-called free world but take heed… there will be no victory in strength."
A calm male voice replies. "But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you've long forgotten. Things that require a smaller, more honest soul."
*Jig-a-ling* The store bell's tinkling awoke the young man napping in the back with a start causing the magazine covering his face to fall to the ground. A lightly tanned, fair-skinned young man around 15 years old with silver eyes, a sharp chin, and short shaggy dark red hair, almost black, that faded to a brighter shade of red closer to the color of a red rose as it grew out. Two locks of hair on either side of his face had been left long and hung down to just below his jawline, framing a face that leaned closer to the pretty end of the spectrum rather than handsome.
The boy wore an open black leather jacket with sleeves unzipped up to the elbows held loosely together by sewn-in belts around the cuffs over a loose grey-ish blue tee shirt and navy-blue blue jeans. The gauntlets on his forearms were blood red and ended in black fingerless gloves. 10 silver metal balls, each about the size of a fingernail, rested on the back of his handguards in a triangle pattern. They matched the greaves that covered his matte black combat boots, which had the same 10 silver metal balls decorating the tops of each of his boots, announcing his identity as a young Huntsman-in-training.
The young man leaned forward as he sat up, rubbing the drowsiness off his maturing face, revealing his emblem of a lotus with a tongue of fire curling up from the middle on the back of his jacket in ocean blue. His name was Rajeev Rose, Ray to his friends or Little Blue to his family when they wanted to tease him.
[Why did I dream of the opening narrative of the RWBY anime now of all times?] Ray thought to himself before brushing the matter aside and glancing over at the young woman standing next to him.
The teenage girl stood about 5'2", almost half a foot shorter than her male companion. She had noticeably fairer skin, the same colored hair only styled in a choppy neck-length pixie cut, and the same silver eyes, pert little nose, sharp chin, and slim eyebrows. Her face was in many ways a softer, more feminine copy of his. With her adorable and beautiful facial features and a petite body that was just beginning to show curves in all the right places, she was a young flower that was just beginning to bloom and would soon blossom into an earth shaking beauty. She was Ray's twin sister, Ruby Rose.
She wore a long-sleeved black dress with a high collar and red lacy trim on the sleeves and the bottom of the skirt, over which was a black waist cincher with red strings lacing up the front. Under her skirt were layers of red tulle and a pair of thick dark red stockings and black combat boots with red laces, soles, and trim around the top. Topping off her outfit was a red hooded cloak fastened to her shoulders by silver cross-shaped pins, and a broad black gun belt slung around her hips lined with sniper bullets on her left side, and a grey pouch and metal emblem of a burning rose on the right.
[She still has her nose buried in that new weapons magazine.] Ray thought to himself as he turned, pulled out his scroll, a pocket-sized computer with a collapsable holographic crystal screen that served a similar purpose to a modern smartphone from Earth, from his pocket, and looked at the time while smiling bitterly to himself. It was almost 10:30 pm, and they had already been here for well over an hour.
The two of them were hanging out in the back of a Dust shop so late at night because Ruby had just had to come to this store tonight so that she could read the latest release of "Weapons Magazine", and Ray, being the doting twin brother that he was, had agreed to tag along as company. It wasn't the first time they had done this, and Ray knew it would not be the last. [From a mama's boy to a sis-con. I really am hopeless.] he smiled to himself with a slight glint of sadness in his eyes before putting his scroll away to bend down and pick up the magazine that had fallen to the ground intending to get back to his nap. He knew his twin sister; they were going to be here for a while longer.
Or maybe not. "Alright, kid, put your hands where I can see 'em." a voice called out just as his fingers brushed the dropped magazine, causing him to pause in surprise.
[Deja vu!] Ray thought to himself and leaned around the store shelf he was sitting against to look down the aisle at whoever was calling out to his sister as a smile started to tug at the edges of his lips.
"Hey, I said hands in the air!" the voice called out again louder and more forcefully, this time followed by footsteps as the man began to approach. Ruby was utterly absorbed in her weapon fetish, and Ray hadn't been paying attention to the front of the store, so neither of them had noticed that several armed men had entered the store and were threatening the owner.
[Now I understand why I had that dream. It's because this is the day where the original plot began.] Ray's smile became more pronounced and mischievous as he started humming along with the song "This Will Be the Day" that he could hear from Ruby's headset when he spotted the man in a black suit with a red tie and sunglasses approaching them with a drawn machete and confirmed his gut feeling.
"You got a death wish or something!?" the man continued as he put a hand on Ruby's shoulder and spun her around, causing her hood to fall back.
"Huh?" Ruby asked innocently, looking at the man who had started gesturing towards his ears in frustration when he saw that the girl he had been almost yelling at had been wearing a headset over her ears under her hood the whole time.
"Yes?" Ruby politely replied to the man as she took her headset off while Ray rose to his feet beside her.
"I said, put your hands in the air, now!" the man growled out, clearly reaching the limit of his patience as he brandished his red blade made of fire Dust at the twins.
"Are you…" Ray started as he and Ruby exchanged a glance, "robbing us?" Ruby finished innocently.
"Yes!" The man almost shouted, frustrated that the two brats in front of him didn't seem to be impressed by his Oscar-worthy criminal henchman act in the least.
""Ohhhh…"" the twins said together, smiling, the eagerness evident on both their faces.
Before the goon could process why the two kids he was threatening seemed to be so happy about being robbed, Ray's hand shot out in a palm strike that landed squarely on his collarbone, sending him flying backward and cracking the glass in the big display window in the front of the store.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
TJ_Watkins
TJ_Watkins Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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