First Petal [Video/action for New Bark Town]

[rosetotheoccasion]

[There's a bit of a clatter when the video turns on, and the view is a bit skewed; a sideways shot of the very same house all non-Rockets wake up in. A pair of black and red boots can be seen pacing back and forth, their owner reaching down and grabbing a few other things that had spilled from their bag, along with the 'gear.]

Miss, I don't-- [The owner of the fear - a young girl it seems - halts as "Mom" continues to drone on with her usual spiel, a slight whine in her voice as she impatiently bounces on the balls of her feet.]

Miss, I really don't think you-- I mean, I really appreciate this, I guess!! But you're not really... [Sigh. She's not really listening is she? Guess she has no choice...]

I'msorryIreallyamthankfulbutIgottagobye!

[The words rush out all in one breath, and with a flurry of footsteps, the girl is gone.

... Without her Pokegear.

Luckily, a moment later a Houndour appears, grabbing the device in its mouth and running off. The camera jostles around a bit but stops soon enough, with the girl - dressed all in red and black, wrapped in a hooded red cape, and black hair cut short - finally in full view.]

What- yikes!

[She jumps back, shock on her face and a small bit of fear in her eyes. After a moment, though, she leans a little closer.]

You... you're not a Grimm, are you?

[A muffled bark comes from the Houndour holding the gear, and it's only then that the girl notices the device and quickly grabs it. After giving it a quick once-over to determine what exactly it is, she turns it in what she hopes is the right direction...!]

Uh... mayday, mayday! SOS! Some other distress call! .... Help? Geez, I don't know what I should be saying here...

[FOCUS. Okay. Breathe in, breathe out.]

T-This is Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY, and I have no idea where I am! This, uh... this isn't Vale, is it?

[As her adrenaline starts to fade, Ruby's shoulders slump.]

I... I gotta get back. Like, right now! There are a whole lot of people that need help...

Comments

[video]

[captainash]

[Worried newcomers are a familiar sight, after all this time, but Ash is never quite sure what words will make them feel better.]

The good news is that those people won't be harmed or endangered any further while you're here. The bad news is that you can't go back home willingly, no matter how busy you were. You're stuck here with the rest of us for a while, but you'll be relatively safe the whole time.

[Hopefully those will do the job.]

[video]

[rosetotheoccasion]

[Oh good, a response!! Even if it's... not a response Ruby really wants to hear right now.]

Wha- no! There has to be a way back! There was a way here, right?

[video]

[in4apounding]

Ooeee?

[Hello, distressed human. Have a very confused looking Floette peeping out from the Pokégear at you. She thought she heard her name in there somewhere, but you're not someone she's met before.]

[But something sounds really wrong, so she's. A little concerned.]

[New Gear who dis]

[video]

[rosetotheoccasion]

[Unfortunately, since this device is fairly new to Ruby, she isn't really noticing any sort of ID or names or anything, so she hasn't got a clue as to whose gear this is...

She's still a little weirded out because... geez, what is that thing? Some kinda fairy?]

Uh... hi?

[Video]

[callbacks]

Ruby?

[Ruby? Ruby.

Dave knows someone who knows someone named Ruby. She looks like she's freaking out, though, so maybe it'd be best to chill her out before springing the "ummm do you know a teenage robot named Penny?" question on her.]

Hey, um, look, I know this sounds weird but it's gonna be okay. Timelines between worlds aren't synced up so even if you're here, time's not moving back home, so everything's gonna be right where you left it when you get back. Okay?

[Video]

[rosetotheoccasion]

[Guess what, Dave? Since you got here after Penny, you're... probably going to wait a bit on that response. And you get the honor of seeing this poor kid immediately post-cry, so... don't mind the reddened eyes or the way she's scrubbing at her face to clear it up a bit.]

I, uh... I'm not even going to pretend to say I understood any of that.

[Action]

[topiaries]

<sub>[Edward, who hasn't yet left this Mom's yard because he's too dazed over the fact that he has hands turns toward the sounds of distress. Oh, wow, she looks really upset. He's sad on the girl's behalf but glad that it seems he's not the only one who is undoubtedly jarred.]

[His wide-eyed leery stare doesn't look at home on the face of someone dressed like your every day bird keeper. Without his strange strap and buckle exterior, Edward looks like some scar-faced, wild-haired ruffian.]

[Totally the first thing you wanna see when you step out the door.]</sub>

Are they in trouble?

[Action]

[rosetotheoccasion]

[Look if you were friends with the people that Ruby knew, the last thing you'd be weirded out over is clothing. That's not really all too out there compared to the outfits some of the people in Beacon or the Vytal Festival were wearing.

BUT WOW FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE IS JUST AS WORRIED AS SHE IS, GOOD.]

Yeah, the Grimm...! They were everywhere, all over the city, I gotta...!

[The others were there, Atlas's army was down on the ground, but she still had to do something...!]

[audio]

[nullorvoid]

[Well, she's not getting video in return, but there's something at least halfway understandable about people having Difficulties With Mom that gets Ginti to respond a bit more readily than he would to most people.]

If it's any consolation, that woman does that to everyone and we've got no damn idea why.

[...Thanks, buddy.]

It's not Vale, wherever that is, but you're not in any trouble or anything, either. I'm not going to be cute and say it's fine, but it's not like anything's going to get any worse for you while you're here.

[audio]

[rosetotheoccasion]

... Did she really have to pretend she's my mom, though?

[Because wow, even after all this time, the topic of moms is... still kind of a sore subject for Ruby. And for someone to claim that she's in place of her like that...

Yeah. No.]

But what about home? There's a lot of people in danger - I need to go back.

[action; let's say sometime after her initial gear post?]

[usedglaciate]

[Today has been a day, and this whole 'nobody's going back to Remnant' thing is making it worse. She puts Aster back in her ball, looking to storm off -]

-- Ruby? Ruby!

[Weiss breaks out running before grabbing at Ruby's cape.]

[action]

[rosetotheoccasion]

Wei--ggk!

[Today has been a day indeed. The only thing that's really keeping Ruby on her feet is pure adrenaline at this point; she's not outright panicking anymore, but she's so antsy to just move that after stumbling a bit, she doesn't struggle at all against Weiss's grip on her cape.]

Ow- hold on! Where are we going?!

[No protests, but there's something... odd, about Ruby's voice. Her nose is stuffed and her voice sounds a little scratchy, like she'd been crying a whole lot not too long ago...]

Video

[bylight]

[A newcomer in a getup that reminds Lightning of what she came in. The cape's a lot longer than he own was, that was for sure. Still...]

You're stuck here. No idea how long. Some of us have been here for years, others only a few weeks. If you look around, you shouldn't be the only one there.

[It's always multiples.]

And it looks like you've got a Houndour.

Video

[rosetotheoccasion]

[Thankfully, she looks remarkably calmer than her initial post. She's still fidgeting a bit, and she looks pretty damn tired now that the adrenaline's starting to wear off, but... she's no longer panicking. That's good, right?]

People have been here for that long, and they still haven't found a way out? That's horrible...

[She's starting to accept - for the moment at least - that she's stuck here, but the chance that she's going to be separated from her friends and family for that long really isn't sitting well with her...]

A wh-- oh. You mean the dog?

[She looks down, off-screen, and there's a happy bark.]

[Video]

[usedlightscreen]

[TINY RT PROTAGONIST have a giant RT dad]

Easy there, slow down.

[He looks worried.]

It looks like you're in a place called New Bark Town. It's where a lot of people start out, you'll be safe there.

[Video]

[rosetotheoccasion]

[SHE'S CALM OKAY. Just. Jittery. Which means she's not exactly calm, but it's better than outright panic, right?]

Everyone wakes up here? [...] If everyone wakes up here, then shouldn't that mean that there's a way out here somewhere?

action;

[crimsonchin]

Looks like I'm not the only one they caught at a bad time...

[ Asuka just scoffs a bit, arms crossed. She's been leaning up against a sign she found, letting her spirited little pink whatever scamper around in circles with its rock as she tries her best to form just the right text message to send out to everyone here. But seeing other people just as lost as she is...she doesn't know if that makes things better or worse. ]

Freaking out like that is just going to wear you out quicker. Calm yourself a bit.

[ Coming from someone known for flying off the handle in stressful situations... ]

You should have a handbook in your bag. That'll have at least some of your answers.

action;

[rosetotheoccasion]

I can't! There are a lot of people back home in danger, I gotta go back...!

[She's too hyped up on adrenaline to even stand still right now. Honestly, if it wasn't for that, she'd probably be lying face-down in the grip of full-on grief. But she was able to get up to fight, and now that there's nothing to fight, all that energy is just... stuck.]

action;

[melodlies]

[A long, blonde haired girl has been watching Ruby and her Houndour for a while without interrupting her...at least until that I have no idea where I am and I gotta get back part. To Kaori, they definitely have enough in common so she decides to chat her up, not minding the fact that they're complete strangers at all.]

Are you some kind of a hero?!

[With such a cool name, she must be. Not to mention Being a leader of a team.]

I'd like to get back, too...at least to that house I woke up at. I can't believe that lady kicked me out, I haven't had breakfast yet! My real mom wouldn't do such a thing.

action;

[rosetotheoccasion]

[WHOA okay that... is the first time someone's called Ruby that! Despite everything, she can't help but look a little flustered.]

A-A hero? Well, kinda... but not yet, really! I'm still in training and all, so it's kinda complicated.

[translation: I kinda get stuck in a lot of trouble but wind up helping people anyway.]

Yeah, for claiming to be everyone's mom, she doesn't really do much to help, does she?

[heartdive]

What's a Grimm?

[rosetotheoccasion]

... Nobody knows what a Grimm is? Weird...

Well uh. They're monsters, they attack people a lot. And it's my job as a Huntress-in-training to fight them!

[Video]

[crouching_sin]

[Sure is newbie day.]

It's not a 'Grimm', whatever that is, it's a Pokemon - that's a Houndour I believe. This isn't Vale, this is Johto, and you're in New Bark Town. Time at home stays still while you're here, from what I've been told. 'Mom' and the man in the middle of town do the same thing to everyone, it's not just you. Also, you're three days from the next town, where there's an inn.

Any other questions?

[Video]

[rosetotheoccasion]

Yeah, sure, just one. Why couldn't you have been the first person to respond to this so I got all this information at once?

[BUT NO REALLY RUBY'S GLAD SHE MET ALL THESE PEOPLE, SHE JUST... WISH SHE'D GOTTEN THIS ALL AT ONCE.]

But uh. The whole time thing... is anyone sure that's true? And does anyone know how it works? 'Cause I'm still super confused about that.

[islandshore]

[And on the other end of the feed we have a young man, somewhere in his twenties, offering a sympathetic smile.]

It's a lot to take in, isn't it? Trust me, we all go through this, right down to the overbearing "mom" and the locals being about as helpful as a fly buzzing in your face.

I'm guessing you've already gotten the usual lowdown, so I'll spare you any repeats. On the upside, looks like you've made some friends already.

[rosetotheoccasion]

Yeah, seems like it! All the people here have been super nice. It... really helped, actually.

video;

[loveisanopendoor]

H-hey, so, I hope you're feeling a little better about this whole thing! I know it's definitely a bit of a shock at first, but I'm sure by now someone's given you the whole "everything'll be exactly the way it was when you get back" rundown, which, well, at least made me feel a little bit more calm when I got here.

[ Come to think of it, that was kind of a while ago... ]

But really, though, it sounds like you've kinda been through a lot, so if nothing else, maybe this'll be a nice change of pace? It's pretty quiet here! Except for, well, when it isn't, but even then, it's just fun, I promise! I think it's great here, honestly, you get used to, like, all the weird stuff...

video;

[rosetotheoccasion]

I like to think I can roll with weird things well! I mean, you kinda have to, when you're a Huntress.

But.. I dunno how I'll deal with things being really quiet. Even without all the stuff I've been involved in back home, I still had school and training and all that. Not having any of that is gunna be... really weird.