The son of Summer Rose was trained by Salem to be her perfect weapon. He arrives at Beacon Academy, only to come face to face with Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose. Questioning his existence, the boy realized two things: one: he was a clone, two: he was miserable and hated seeing his "original self" happy. (Meant for a Trans!Ruby, tho you can do what you'd like.)
(Bold to assume Trans!Ruby isnt the default. That said, this one is a little longer so it will go under a page break.)
Reuben took a deep breath as he stared at Beacon Academy, his heart almost racing as the weight of his task finally hit. He was trained… born… to bring down Beacon for Salem. And now that he was here, he could finally complete his task.
“Are you coming?” Cinder asked as she slung a pack over her shoulder. “We still need to get to our dorm.”
“And you’re sure no one will question us being here?” Reuben asked as he looked at Cinder, still seeing the confidence in her eyes. “We can claim we’re from Haven all we want, but if no one recognizes us-”
“Mercury, Emerald, and I attended classes for a year, so anyone we run into should recognize us. Even if it is just out of passing.”
“And what about me? Salem never let me take any of the classes.”
“As long as you can act like you belong, no one will question you,” Cinder said with a smirk. “But if anyone asks, you’re just a transfer student from Vale or Vacuo, whatever you want to tell people. Just so long as you dont draw attention to yourself.”
Reuben nodded and followed behind Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury as they made their way through the halls of Beacon and towards their dorm. It was strange to see them all calm like this, he was more used to the way they fought and bickered any time Cinder tried to take charge. And yet, they acted as if they belonged as students. Quiet as they walked, confident that they belonged, just like the huntsmen that they were meant to kill.
“I forgot it in the library!”
Reuben paused as he heard a voice like his come from one of the dorms, his eyes catching the glimpse of a girl who looked just like him. He didnt catch anything that the girl or Cinder had started to talk about, only able to focus on the girl herself. She looked so much like his mom, like him… it was like looking in a mirror. Or at least one that showed him as a girl instead of a guy.
“Is he okay?” the girl asked as she took a glance at Reuben.
“He’s not a social one,” Cinder said. “But you said you could take us to the dorms?”
“Of course! Just follow me.”
Mercury nudged Reuben. “See someone you like?”
“Something like that…” Reuben said, still unable to look away from the girl. This had to have been the Ruby that Cinder mentioned that kept getting in her way. A girl in a red cloak with silver eyes. She was younger than he thought she’d be, but seeing someone who looked like him, who was happy… a girl…
It made his heart ache.
He was pulled out of his thoughts as he felt Emerald stop him before he ran into Cinder as she stopped in front of their dorm room. He straightened up a bit, his eyes still on Ruby as she started to rush off.
“Here’s your dorm!” Ruby called out. “Sorry I cant stay and chat but I need to get back to my team!”
“Thank you for showing us,” Cinder called back, a false smile still on her lips until she walked into the dorm. “We’ll need to keep an eye on her and her team.”
Emerald nodded and stepped closer to Cinder. “I can spy on them and make sure they dont-”
“No need to go that far,” Cinder interrupted. “We’ll only draw attention to ourselves if we wander around the halls just to spy on them. At least for now. I need a bit of time to figure out our plan. Until then, I want the three of you to start to get to know the others around here. The more information we can learn about Beacon, the better.”
Emerald and Mercury both nodded before heading their own ways, but Reuben could only seem to stand in place. His mind raced with all the thoughts and questions he had pushed away for years when he thought all of them were pointless. He was Summer’s only child, he was born to be a weapon to take on Ozpin and the rest of his circle, to assist Cinder with obtaining the relics to ensure Salem’s victory.
So why did it all feel… fake?
His life wasnt fake, he knew that much. He had memories of Salem raising him, Hazel and Tyrian training him how to fight and survive. He could remember when Cinder was brought to the castle, alone and hurt and that he was the first and only person to treat her as an equal, as someone who deserved to be there. There were the beatings for failure, the lessons from Watts on how to use a scroll to hack into cameras and how to use technology to his advantage, the survival training he underwent, forging his own weapon…
All of it rushed through his mind, but no matter how real it all was, it all felt manufactured.
Like his life was just a lie.
That nothing he did seemed to matter.
That maybe there was something more.
“Are you just going to stand there?” Cinder asked.
Reuben felt his mouth move as the words started to come out, his voice nearly shaking. “Why… why didnt you tell me… that Ruby looks like me?”
“It didnt matter to the mission.”
“It matters to me!”
“And why does it matter so much?” Cinder asked as she dragged a finger across his cheek. “I told you, she’s nothing more than a nuisance. A nuisance that I will deal with. All I need is for you to focus on your mission.”
“As you wish,” Reuben answered.
“Good. Now please, gather as much information about Beacon as you can. With the Vytal Festival coming up, I want to make sure everything is ready by the end of the tournament.”
Reuben nodded and started to make his way through the hall away from the dorm, his eyes focused on each student he passed. He didnt understand why, but he wanted to find Ruby. Maybe it was the anger gnawing at his heart that she was happy and he wasnt, or maybe it was his desire to find out who or what exactly she was. Either way, he needed answers that Cinder wasnt giving him.
He stopped at the doorway to the library once he saw Ruby putting away the cards to a board game. With a few calming breaths, he made his way in to help her. “Need help?”
“I’m almost finished,” Ruby answered as she gathered up the rest of the cards. “Yang would kill me if I left this again.”
Reuben tilted his head curiously. “Yang?”
“Yang’s my sister.” Ruby finished packing up the game and looked up at Reuben with a smile. “Oh, its you again. Finding everything alright?”
“Mostly. Just… wandering around to get the layout of Beacon. Its different from Haven.”
“Beacon can be a bit overwhelming at first for most people, but you’ll get used to the size.”
Reuben gave Ruby a soft smile as he looked her over once more. It’d be easy to confuse the two of them as siblings, though he couldnt seem to understand why she seemed so happy. She was clearly the youngest one here besides himself, so that couldnt be easy on her. And yet, the smile she wore seemed genuine, if nervous.
“Everything okay?” Ruby asked.
“Y-yeah, just… admiring your-” the words lingered on his tongue as he tried to find an excuse for staring. “-your cloak! It looks a lot like mine, just red instead.”
Ruby moved her cloak a bit. “It was my mom’s before she went missing. When I was a kid, Dad said she made it for me to wear when I was older, but I’m not sure how much I believe him on that.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“I’ve been over it, mostly, but right now, I just want to focus on being a huntress like Summer was.”
“S-Summer?” Reuben asked, his words almost hesitant as he spoke. “Summer Rose?”
Ruby nodded. “Yeah, that’s my mom.”
“But… but she’s…” Reuben held his head as it felt like something was pounding inside it while memories flooded in. Summer was supposed to be his mother. And yet, he couldnt seem to remember anything about her. Not her face or her touch, just Salem and her voice. He reached into his pocket to find his medicine, eyes widening when he didnt have it on him.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and he instinctively flinched away, reaching for the scythe he was used to carrying on his back, only gripping at air.
Ruby pulled back. “Are you sure everything’s okay? I can take you to the infirmary-”
“I’m fine!” Reuben snarled out, his breath shaking as he spoke. “I-I just… I just need some air.”
“I can help you get outside-”
Reuben didnt wait for Ruby to finish her offer as he rushed off with his semblance, black and red petals trailing behind him as he made his way out towards the courtyard. Memories continued to flood back in, replacing the ones he’d known. He remembered seeing a tube with a strange liquid in it, seeing Salem when his eyes first opened…
He finally stopped once he nearly ran into a tree, struggling for breath as his head continued to spin until only the truth ran through his mind. He was a clone of Summer’s son… of her daughter. Her happiness only seemed to fuel the anger that festered inside of him along with the lies that Salem had made him believe. His eyes flashed from silver to red and back to silver as he finally was able to catch his breath.
There were still a few truths he knew. He was a weapon created by Salem. His mission was to help bring down Beacon. He had no idea what would make him happy, only a misery that seemed to engulf him whenever he looked at himself.
And he hated Ruby.
Reuben squeezed against the tree to try to release his anger, his nails digging into the bark. Ruby had to become as miserable as he was, and he’d turn everyone against her to do it.