Disclaimer: Author of this story does not hold rights to Rooster Teeth's RWBY

It's what AM, the what is gone, the what's still warm.

The time is indeterminate, my orientation is gone, the atmosphere is still warm, so is the horse beneath me.

I'm having a rapid fire question-and-answer session inside my mind because I'm just dropped into the middle of nowhere onto a horse. Describe everything again: The time is at dusk, the weather is overcast, my surroundings look like some rural trail with fences on both sides, myself – it's hard to describe but it seems at least I'm not wearing what I had on me anymore. Who the hell wears a hooded cape today outside of a cosplay photoshoot? Hoodies exist for a reason!

I reached around me and found three things: An apple, a telescopic baton, and a… Smartphone with a transparent center and can expand sideways?

I know. It's a Scroll (trademark), widely used by the folks of RWBY. This little thing actually works. The system is in English, but not like anything I've seen before. No signal, I noticed.

This is not a prank. I am in RWBY.

"All gods above and below!" I muttered in a voice that belonged to Laura Bailey in my own world as I use the Scroll's frontal camera as a mirror. The horse is an obvious hint by itself, but there it is, now I am Amber, surname unknown and probably not written at any point in the creative process. Now looking back, I originally look like Amber to a degree, because we are both very generic looking.

It should be pretty close to the time where Amber is surrounded and soul-drained by the villains. It looks positively like the same scene. Of course, things look real instead of 3D. Holy shit, the sky is so dark in "real life" it's only brighter than my future.

This is what I get for being a RWBY fan but not buying enough merchandise, is it? Well, looters can't be choosers, at least I'm not being thrown into the coffin machine as I enter this world, the Rooster Teeth creative team be thanked.

I have answers to almost every question I have, but the thing is I don't have solutions. Being Amber itself is an enormous problem. People bent on harvesting my soul is practically within spitting distance, as my horse goes forward.

I'm a travel writer! I review bus depots across the Euroasian continent for a living, for fuck's sake. And then, I'm suddenly a soon-to-be-reincarnated god of agriculture, yippee kee yoo!

I've read once in the past there are three rules of survival if you just have been inserted into a work of fiction, cast into stone by some of the brightest minds among the fanfiction world:

1. Be prepared if you are not the only person not from this world;

2. Be prepared if the work you has been inserted into is not the original version but a spinoff or worse, a fanfic;

3. Be quick to make peace with your character's personal relations, from loved ones to sworn nemesis.

These rules used to only apply to fanfiction writers, and I wasn't one. Now, they appear more solid and pressing than ever.

/

I tell the horse to stop and stepped down. Glad I've dealt with horses before, when I was travelling in Inner Mongolia.

My first act of revenge against anything responsible is to try out the supposedly great season magic on the apple I carry on me. I am totally a fan of Emerald when I'm just a random audience member, but I'm sure the apple isn't enough to be a bribe. I pulled the telescopic baton with dust crystals out. One slash with the blue end successfully created a layer of frost on the apple. Well, that's something. It seems I can freeze tree leaves like in the show too, but I don't want to have a high profile.

Can I set things on fire without using the Dust crystal? The apple on the ground didn't even turn a bit warmer after I threw a dozen or so thoughts related to fire and Cinder towards it. The horse watches patiently. Is fire even a power used by people other than Cinder?

Actually, what is my semblance? I think Ozpin mentioned in Volume 3 that a Semblance is different from the seasonal power. How about levitation then? It doesn't work! Can I lift myself up at least? With a ton of focus and meditation. I sighed after the third try, since I don't know what should I think to trigger anything. No memory of being Amber at all.

A couple of minutes later, I give up trying to look for an answer. The semblance just didn't show up. This is clearly not my day.

I roasted the apple with the baton and began munching on it. It seemed a bit riper than when I took it out, despite having been frozen a bit ago. Least I can do is not die starving.

I climb back onto the horse and weighed between going forward to reason with the conspiracy and turning back to make my way to some authority. Will they listen? Do I have anything to offer in exchange for my second-hand life? How should I handle the fight if it's inevitable and what will happen if Qrow hear me offer terms of surrendering? Will the Grimm bug transfer me to Cinder along with the power? Better play it safe and leave any awkward conversation for meeting Ozpin.

I tell the horse to turn back. There should be some kind of settlement nearby, judging from the fences.

I went on backtracking the curved trail where I came from for quite a while, between checking my Scroll's contacts and scanning around. Amber doesn't seem to keep many people on her phonebook. Then, I saw a signpost pointing the way to some city belonging to Mistral. Well, at least now I know whether it's in Vale or Mistral the ambush happened.

A few minutes later, I come to a crossroad; A policeman of some kind stands in one branch. He sees me, gestures towards me and blows onto a whistle. His getup looks a bit different from the police in Volume 4, more like a historical French or German policeman – fancy uniform, tall officer cap, even a metal throatplate saying "Feldjager" like those World War Two German field policemen had. He also has a white armband on him, same as the Haven students.

I pause after climbing down from the horse. Something about this scene seems a bit familiar…

Oh. Shit, I know.

"Fuck you, Mercury!"

As I curse, I try to climb back onto the horse, but the horse reaches the same "screw it, I'm out" conclusion I have when a gunshot rings out. He jumps, shakes me off, and ran away with his backside towards me.

I stand up, propping myself up with the baton as it expands. What should I do? I'm reasonably good with a gun on the range, but I don't know how to fight. Not to say, all I have right now is a magical staff without a users' manual.

Emerald has decloaked Mercury when I'm up. Neither her nor Cinder is in sight, but I guess I must switch back to plan A.

"I know who you are and what you want! Let's talk!"

Nobody answers, Mercury backs up. This is going pear shaped in record speed.

I back up in response, waving the baton and trying to conjure a wind in anticipation for the explosive arrows.

The arrows come before the slightest hint of a breeze, but at least I manage to knock one off course using the baton itself. They all exploded away from me, not trapping me inside. That's an improvement compared to the show! Seems I have to make the dialogue mostly physical – it will be much uglier and one sided than Harry Potter fencing Voldemort, both using shaving razors tied to wands.

Emerald and Cinder showed themselves. I shout at Cinder:

"Give me a minute for fuck's sake! You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and you're doing fine! Just listen to me, alright?"

They didn't attack me outright. Bluffing isn't going to help much when I'm up against three people all known for perceptiveness and spy craft, so I took a deep breath and cut to the collaboration terms part:

"Okay, I'll tell you what I offer. I'll do your work. You're not going to like being me, for sure. I don't like being myself, it sucks working for your enemies, so you could have just asked. Just let me walk, give me a number, and we can talk on burner phones… Scrolls when nobody is watching."

"That's pathetic."

I agree with Cinder's evaluation. Emerald raises her gun, and I realize I haven't even tested if I can take a beating before running into them. The explosive arrow attack doesn't feel like much only because it's way off course, compared to what happened in the show. I don't know whether I can summon my Aura up at will or have to grin and bear it like Jaune at the beginning of Volume 1. This is just getting worse.

Channeling my best Roman Torchwick impression, I light both Dust crystals on the magic staff up and thrash the fire end in Emerald's general direction. All hope lies in buying enough time for Qrow to show up, at this point. Though, I'm still not completely discouraged from selling my confusion and apparent weakness.

Mercury charge up and I manage to club him in the stomach with the ice Dust crystal before he kicks upward. My mind focus on freezing him onto the staff and use him as hostage. Scratch that, Emerald starts firing indiscriminately right away. It's no teamwork-of-the-month, but she landed the majority of shots on me.

I scram sideways and try to herd Mercury along. He kicks the staff away but the fire end lights up his trousers. It doesn't bother him any bit! The Dust blasts are mitigated by my Aura, at least, but I have no guarantee of taking it any longer. Time to stall and/or surrender again:

"Cinder, Emerald! Fucking knock it off, you have no use for my power. I wanna help. Just listen, alright?"

"How low have the Maidens fallen. I don't know how you caught wind of us, but you have no chance of halting our plan." She walks up but doesn't order her underlings to stand down.

"Cinder. I'm not an enemy! You don't need my powers. You need what I know for every fucking thing you do in the next whole year. Your soul bug isn't going to transfer my memories to you!"

Emerald and Mercury look confused hearing me mentioning the soul bug, staring at each other and somewhere behind me.

Brilliant.

Yeah, I'm calling their plan brilliant. Fuck. The Cinder walking towards me is a projection, it's a no brainer. I make no effort to dodge because I'm sure she has guided arrows. I just turned sideways and said:

"You'll regret this next time you see me."

The arrow hits precisely in my spine. What a cliché that can totally be avoided if she is more open to negotiation and if I have any damned idea of how to do the entire "keeping myself alive in Remnant" routine.

Now my Aura breaks. From what I understand when Emerald shot at me, the thing distributes incoming force and injuries evenly to a degree that I can regenerate back non-sustained damage. The arrow overloads it. It hurts like a son of a gun but I'm still totally lucid, sustained by morbid curiosity and paralyzing numbness.

The real Cinder walks up to me preparing the glove containing that soul bug. Emerald and Mercury props me up like in the show. Wait a minute, where the hell is Qrow slacking off?

She says in a stylistically pretentious voice: "You are a disgrace to everything you stand for. I don't know if you will be around by then, but I'll show you how to do things right."

I'm interested in neither screaming nor acting defiant. However, I am annoyed beyond thinking anything related to my approaching doom: "I want to meet you. I know your names, I know your plan, shouldn't you take a fucking hint? Besides, you're not the only one having a thing against the world."

It's surprising that I can still shout coherently without gasping for air. Either my Aura is doing something despite being emptied, or I subconsciously overloaded something myself. Please don't be the latter.

"Yes, we could have met under other terms, but there are never that many choices in the world. Though, you can tell me what do you hope for."

She looks aside. Well, the portal on her glove is now open, here comes the Grimm bug. Where the fuck is Qrow?

"Fuck it! I forgive you. Just do your part!" I place all my bets on the bug transferring my soul to her somehow, it's even more unfair to Amber, but I can't do anything, "You're gonna hate this later."

I once almost had both paint and paint remover spilled onto my face when I was helping at somewhere. That time I blocked the liquids with the back of my right hand, only piece of exposed skin that got hit was on the wrist, but it sucks. What I'm saying is, the black gel spit out by that bug hurts just like that but it felt like a sucking vacuum.

…Wait, why am I still able to think, at all? I open my mouth again.

"What the…"

Then, a metal glare fills my sight. The air displaced by Qrow's sword scatters the severed black gel, before it can evaporate.

I watch my rescue with a detached curiosity that I should not describe to Qrow or even Cinder. For no apparent reason, I can just feel so relaxed and take a mental back seat. Let Qrow do all the driving, so to speak.

After he lugged me over such a distance that I began to wonder if he can simply drag me along while in bird mode, Qrow stops at the outskirts of a small farming town.

"…Mr. Qrow Branwen?" I ask, mostly to test if I still am alive or still have control of my head. Check, check.

"No, my name is Bran Corvus. Local Huntsman. You aren't in any shape to talk, kid, just hold on and I'll get help." He sets me down sideways without breaking the arrow.

So he has an alias, probably because he's too famous for all the investigation he does on the side. I'll still show off my knowledge of his world, though. Get some use out of my consciousness! Maybe I don't even sound hurt enough, because the numbness from that arrow is still present.

"I know who you are, Mr. Branwen. Teacher at Signal combat school in Vale, running side jobs for Beacon. You're some kind of folk hero."

"Fuck, just call me Qrow. Anything else?" He sighs, hard.

"You can turn into a bird. I don't know what's the scientific term, but you just did that to get to me."

Qrow stares at me for an additional instance, completely speechless, and then walks off towards the nearest building muttering something that doesn't seem to have an end. I'm glad he isn't asking me anything, especially related to the fight I just lost.

/

Qrow came back with some medicine and instruments to remove the arrow and treat the wound. Despite how complex the arrowhead looks, it didn't tear out a big chunk or cause too much bleeding as Qrow dug it out carefully. However, he sounds concerned when he asks me after applying the last layer of coagulant sticker:

"You feeling any better? Your Aura doesn't seem to be doing much, normally regeneration should have kicked in."

"No, does that look like a normal fight between Hunters? You'd better get me to a real hospital."

I don't even have full control over my arms, despite the arrow hitting pretty low in the spine. And then, I realized something I wanted to ask a long time ago back when I was on Earth, "Why can't you slice that… Whoever is that jackass, cut her entire arm off?"

"My handlers told me about a few theories on how Maiden Power transfers, you've heard them for sure, if you know so much." He continues after a mocking pause, "Don't know which theory to trust, I can't risk killing both of you and let the power go who knows where."

With that said, he picks me up again and starts moving towards the center of the village. We come to a stop at a blocky, fairly modern looking building, standing out among the mix of fantasy European and southeast Asian houses.

Qrow budges the front door open and shouted: "We're back! Name is Corvus, the one with the horse accident."

The clerk doesn't make any comment on Qrow just casually wandering in holding an injured woman, blood visible on both persons, at all. It's not really a scene that can be covered with a heads up that just says "horse accident" but he didn't bat an eye.

"There's a big fat fucking difference between hospital and hostel, you know?" I groan at him. The pain in my voice is genuine – as exhausted and roughed up as I am, I will choose just sitting on a bench and wait for some cross country bus over staying at a hostel in the middle of nowhere. I don't care how much it reminds me of modern Earth, I just know too many true stories that suggest horror movies like Psycho and Hostel are grounded so deep in reality. On top of that, the staff giving a "same shit at the front desk" face isn't giving me any faith in Remnant's shady motels. Wait, what if this is regular shit for Remnant people indeed?

"It's an inn! It's family owned and artisanal! I support every worthy small business, you know?" I can see Qrow feels very insulted, "I've already called a plane to get us, but they can only get here tomorrow."

I figure the first half of his reply is another way to say the place is certified to sell hard liquor, so I want him to clarify the second: "What are we supposed to do here? Can't we call an ambulance and get to somewhere with a hospital, or hire a truck?"

He grabs the key handed over by the clerk but didn't say anything, only stares at me in a way that's half irritated and half "kid, this is what gets you into trouble".

The room is fine in most aspects, with everything expected in a motel or bread-and-breakfast twin room. It even has a hologram television! Then, I remembered that on Remnant, even trailer park boys can afford one of those, judging from that scene in Volume 3.

After propping me up on a bed, Qrow throws me a tiny plastic bottle along with a bottle of drinking water to me, then walks towards the door: "Remember to take a handful of this if you feel like you're going to nod off."

"What's this?"

Qrow walks back and shuts the door behind him: "Metabolism regulator pills. You haven't seen any on the black market? Atlas medical science, this wonderdrug makes your body forgo number-ones or -twos, and focus on regenerating your aura at double capacity. Keeps you awake for hours too, I got this bottle from a jock cheating an endurance run."

I am overjoyed by the unexpected piece of disturbing Remnant backstory. Forget how many hours and bodily functions I'm about to lose, I should be taking in as much information about this world as I can right now. What's a better way to kill some boring, paralyzed, hostile time?

"Okay, Qrow, would you please check what they have on TV right now? I need the shittiest and bloodiest entertainment available, to unwind good."

"Really?" Qrow sighs as he turns the television on, "Let me see… They have some movies on demand, some documentaries, don't know what's your standards though. You sure you can handle slasher movies this early after getting sucker punched the fuck out, kid?"

"You know taking artificial testosterone makes the human body stops producing it? I'm trying to help, producing less negative emotions for Grimms to smell." The second half is bullshit, though it's one of my headcanons I'm willing to have someone knowledgeable to disprove, "Just get me something bad and grab as many history documentaries as you can. I'll pay you later."

Qrow either doesn't care or doesn't find my guess wrong: "Fine, have it your way. Oh, Beacon pays for everything, I don't care what Glynda says."

He smacks on the remote control randomly for a minute or so, throws it at me, then heads out to grab his long-waited drink. I gulp down half of the pills inside the bottle, to prepare for the bad movies ahead.

The first few entries on the playlist are a teen action series under a special promo discount, about what life should be like inside a combat academy according to non-Hunters. I can already guess how bad they are just based on this premise, and the charmingly brutal titles cemented my vision:

Blood School: Snitches get Stiches

Blood School 2: The Backbone of Education

Blood School 3: Professor, Jury and Executioner

Blood School 4: Graduation Exam by Firing Squad

One thing I noted before pressing play is, the title, Blood School, is written in both English and Chinese. The pun on "blood" and "learning" only works in Chinese, so it proves those people with Chinese and Japanese sounding names on Remnant shares something more from their Earth counterparts. And then there's the Chinese text for Graduation Exam by Firing Squad. Pure unfiltered Chinese teen humor.

A few minutes into Blood School: Snitches get Stiches, Qrow comes back with a few bottles and a sandwich in hand. He sits down, visibly concerned by my petrified cringe-glee as I sat watching a team assignment ceremony even crazier than Ruby's: "Look, you told me you want the cheapest action flicks available."

"No…" I built a dramatic pause for maximum punchline delivery, "This. Is. Gorgeous."

"This is what people think when they hear about Hunters! Hunters walking the tightrope like you and me!" He points furiously at the hologram screen, where students are forced to fight Beowolves inside cubicles, using only sharpened ink pens.

I muster all the strength up to make a shush gesture, and probe him: "You, not me. How much did Ozpin tell you about my upbringing anyway?"

"Nothing. What's it like? Fuck, I still can't believe my ancestors died on three sides in the Great War so artists can survive to make this kind of shit, kid." Qrow takes a long drink. I suppose the "three sides" he mentioned means his bird tribe acted as its own faction during the war?

"Been on the run for longer than I can care, there always are dipshits like those you saw. Doing odd jobs with my power here and there." I make it sound bleak but ambiguous then cut back to about Blood School, "Since you saved me, they'll go on to make shitty movies for another day."

"Don't try me."

The movie comes to an obligatory team building melodrama scene. This might be a good time to dig into why Ruby and Qrow use crosses as their symbols:

"Mind telling me what's the story behind your…"

He cuts in before I finish: "This? Oh, one of my ancestors, married into the tribe about two hundred years ago, used it as his personal emblem. He's the freak in his generation far as I know, says it's given to us by an angel, or an alien, or something."

"That's… Something for sure!"

This could be the most groundbreaking worldbuilding trivia in the show for fans developing all kinds of theories. Just mentioned in a sourcebook or an interview is good enough. The catch is, it doesn't matter to me anymore, for obvious reasons.

I resume watching silently.

"You're right! It is pretty relaxing, Kid." Qrow remarks when the end titles show up, "Oh, wait, this ending song is sung by Weiss Schnee. Season of Lost. Worthless snob for a worthless movie, even the lyrics have stupid grammar, but back when it came out every kid in Signal uses it for ringtone. Here it comes!"

When I wake up from my nap, summer is here

This is what, I have expected

When another summer is coming, another spring has gone

This is what, I have expected

I lost the figures, when I reach into my memories

Where are you, the ones who just cry, as times goes on

You go further, I'm left here, to seek the wind of change

The season, the season of lost

I seek you, with only a song

Let tears, let tears run by the sands of time

When will the sadness be gone?

Thanks for reading! Author's notes:

This story uses some background elements from RainStorm4's story Redemption, for instance Qrow's alias. Please check that story out!

The opening sentence is a reference to Golden Earring's song Twilight Zone. There will be many 1970s-80s rock references to come...

Amber X Qrow is not the official ship of this story, I don't have an idea yet.

Chinese Puns: Blood School = 血校, Graduation Exam by Firing Squad = 毙业考试

The ending song is written (and composed and sung) by a friend of me who's cool with me using his lyrics, though its creation predates RWBY much. Still it sounds like something Weiss will sing, though.