Free As A Bird [A RWBY Re-do Isekai]

Dining with The Devil

I looked at the weirdo across from me. I was sitting at a cherrywood table across from a man in a white tuxedo stained with splotches of blood. "Green Tea?" the Devil asked. How did it come to this?

Flashback

I was running in the morning. I actually was more a walker for my cardio, but today the start of a rare week-long vacation for a Physical Therapist like me and, believe you me, I felt ALIVE. I got up out of bed with a smile (and two hours earlier than the alarm -being a retired veteran was terrible) and felt like spending my day just enjoying myself and living free. And NOTHING felt more free than running fast with the wind in your hair -except for maybe sky diving. Anyways, I was running through the park next to my apartment complex when all of a sudden I hear whining. Normally that wouldn't give me pause, but that whining sounded like a dog whining.

A dog whining painfully.

I wasn't a big fan of doing good things for the sake of doing good things -wasn't really appealing to go out of your way to deliver groceries to your next-door neighbor just to waste some gas. But, I could never tolerate knowing others were in pain, understanding that they were helpless to do something about it, and idling by knowing this -and knowing I was helpless once. So, like a bird to its chicks, I jogged over to where the sound was coming from. There, in the middle of a small clearing, was a boxer pup with broken hindlegs mewling over what looked to be a mauled corpse of what was obviously Mama Boxer. I let out a small gasp and hesitated. Why was there so much damage to the adult? There wasn't really an obvious source of violence as I glanced around, wary of what could cause harm to such an animal. I slowly approached the pup, hoping to do some good in this situation that looked grim. As I approached, the pup refused to look away, probably in too much pain to actually pay heed to its surroundings. I knelt and attempted to see if I could help the little guy, when I noticed his stomach -gashed open in a more mild manner than his mother, but fatal none the less. Tears stung my eyes as I cradled the little thing, humming a lullaby my mother once used to sing me to sleep as his cries grew softer and quieter. I wouldn't normally let myself cry, but the death of one so young merited the tears of all. As the pup grew quiet, I settled him down next to his mother and whispered a soft prayer to anyone who would listen on behalf of the pup and its mother. The quiet of the pup spurred another emotion in me -anger. The event at hand echoed with one that happened to me once, and the emotions from that time came rushing to me. Grief, Frustration, and Anger. The sad thing about anger was that it needed an outlet. Luckily, or unluckily maybe, I found one very quickly. As I looked up, I saw red eyes glowing out at me from the depths of the bushes near me. In my anger-turned-rage, I didn't bother to question the naturalness of those eyes. All I was thinking about was the overlapping images of the pup and its mother and me and mine. Those eyes, maybe they were mine at this point, made me see red and only red. Maybe it was my muscle memory or whatnot, but I vaguely remember slamming into the thing and hammering it with blows that put down bullies a long time ago. After a while, I stopped seeing red. The...thing dissipated with the wind and left me with a shell shocked mind. I felt cold creeping up on me -an odd chill grew throughout my body as I panted. I attempted to move, but fell instead. The cold grew as my breath became labored. It hit me: I was dying. "That was stupid..." I gasped out with a slow breath, and I became quiet like the pup with no one to comfort me -except for a red Cardinal that chirped noisily in my ear.

"Wake up."

I awoke with a start. There he was, sitting across from me sipping on Tea with bloodstained clothes on. The Devil, exactly as I had imagined him, gazed calmly at me as I studied him. I replied the only way I could to his question: "Sure. I hope you got lemon juice for it." The Devil chuckled and snapped his fingers. A cup with the requested liquid appeared before me, so I took a sip. "This is...good?" I commentated, the confusion of the situation catching up to me. "I'd hope so -I brewed it myself you know?" The handsome man replied with just a tidbit of sass stuck between his teeth. We drank our tea in contemplative silence, each with our own apparent thoughts. "So what happens now?" I asked, having gathered my thoughts. The Devil tilted his head in askance. "I mean, do I go to hell now? Reincarnation? Heaven?" I asked hopefully, knowing my mother was probably in the latter. "Your mother chose reincarnation." The Devil responded evenly. Did he just- "Read your mind?" The Devil chuckled mirthfully as I gazed at him, mouth agape. So many thoughts were running through my head, but before I could voice them, the Devil asked:

"What do you think of the show RWBY?"

I blinked. It was years since I watched the show, a few childhood memories surfacing from the dredges of my mind. "I liked it? It was something that I enjoyed watching back in 2019 in my preteens, I got to about Season 6/7 ish. Why-?" Then it hit me. Red glowing eyes and a black wind as I lay on the ground, dying. "No. No. This is not going the way I think it-"

"You're being sent to Remnant for Reincarnation."

"WHY?" I shouted, leaping up from my seat. "RWBY is a fictional work you apricot!" I scolded. The Devil looked surprised that someone would insult(?) him, but he continued:

"The stories written by man are echoes of a reality drawn to them. Monty Oum, and the team designated to RWBY, brought it about with vivid clarity that few can. As for the why you're being sent there, it is for you to uncover and decide. This decision was made by the imprint of your soul. That, and a few meddlesome circumstances around your death led me to lock your decision and withhold any answers from you."

I was left standing silently at that. I had no qualms with what was about to happen, knowing that any question I asked would be ignored by him and the author.

"You'll be happy to note that you will be going there with your memories. While you are free to act as you please, do be aware that you will be *ahem* railroaded into a certain goal. It will be apparent to you in time. Anything you wish to say?"

As confused as I was, I took a deep breath and calmed the storm in my mind. "No."

The Devil smiled sadly at me and snapped his fingers once again. The world imploded.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I'm sorry for the long exposition and the heavy stuff, but I promise RWBY stuff coming next chapter. Let me know what you think.