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Weiss first noticed something was wrong when Yang tossed a roll at Ruby and she didn't manage to catch it. At Beacon she would've dove to grab it with her mouth, a silly grin on her face the whole time. Even after the Fall she would've snatched the it out of the air with her hand, not willing to let even a scrap of food go to waste.
This time it simply went flying past as Ruby blinked. “You okay, sis?” Yang asked.
“Huh?” Ruby asked. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. Just lost in thought I guess.”
The others bought it. After all, there was plenty to be lost thinking about. They'd been fighting their way across all of Remnant, killing Grimm every step of the way, and had even brought down most of the human and faunus criminals that Salem had surrounded herself with. Any moment of downtime where they weren't fighting for their lives Ruby was constantly planning their next move, or coming up with new combo attacks.
Weiss wasn't buying her excuse, though. All day she kept a close eye on her, and her worries increased immediately as she saw Ruby trip over a tree root. Which, admittedly, wasn't that weird. Ruby could be quite the klutz outside of battle, but it still made Weiss worry. All day long it was in the little things, the way Ruby followed the group. The way she didn't look around even in Grimm territory. The way she missed Yang holding up her fist calling for a pause.
Before Weiss could approach her the reason for the pause revealed itself. Beowolves, an entire pack of them, and plenty of Ursa as well. Yang charged in with a battle cry, and Blake covered her back as she slammed into the Grimm. Ruby, who normally either sniped the enemy until they closed or flew in like her sister trailing a cloud of rose petals, simply waited, her weapon at the ready.
Soon Weiss was engaged in the fighting, but she stayed close to her partner, and she was very glad she had. Ruby was always a good fighter, cutting down any Grimm that came too close, but today she was hesitant, not pressing the attack, only reacting when the enemy was within her reach. It was nothing like her, and Weiss found the knot of worry in her stomach transform into dread. Something was wrong with Ruby. Very wrong.
Then there was a roar that made them all flinch as a huge Grimm they'd never seen before showed up, obviously sent to ambush them while they were distracted by the usual fodder. It had dozens of arms ending in clawed hands, and its body was a massive, swollen lump of dark flesh riddled with white bony spikes. It had no mouth, but somehow it screamed loudly enough to risk deafening them all as it charged in at an impressive speed on a score of clawed limbs.
Yang tried to meet it, but it was faster than she expected, knocking her away with a contemptuous swat before she could hit anything vital. Weiss started to summon her Knight, but before she could Ruby stepped forward, her eyes glowing, and the world turned white.
Weiss was used to this by then, looking away and shutting her eyes just in time, and so she recovered quickly enough to see the change in Ruby. Her partner was blinking, looking around, her eyes not focusing on anything for a few moments, until she squinted at Yang as she approached.
“Are you okay?” Ruby asked, despite it being obvious that the hit had done nothing more than charge up her semblance a bit.
“I'm fine,” Yang said. “You know, you should save some for us. That silver eyed thing is OP.”
“Yeah,” Ruby muttered. “Right.”
It wasn't until that evening, when Yang was snoring curled around Blake that Weiss finally had a chance to approach Ruby. She was sitting at the fire, staring into the flickering flames. “Ruby.”
Ruby jumped, looking up, her eyes slightly off target as she squinted in her direction “Weiss? What's wrong? It's my watch.”
“Is it?” Weiss asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Ruby… how many fingers am I holding up?”
“Uh… five?”
Weiss sighed and sat beside her. “Ruby… I didn't even raise my hand.”
Ruby didn't say anything for a long moment. “I knew that,” she tried weakly.
“Your eyes,” Weiss said. “Using them is making you blind, isn't it.”
Ruby looked like she wanted to object, before finally slumping. “Yes.”
“Why didn't you say anything?” Weiss demanded.
“Because we need them,” Ruby said. “It's not a problem. The less I can see the stronger they get. Maria said it's because so much aura goes through them or something. But they're getting stronger, which will help-”
“How can going blind help!”
Ruby was silent. “I can do okay. She showed me how to fight while blind, too.”
“That's… why is this happening,” Weiss demanded. “She didn't say anything about that!”
“She did,” Ruby said quietly. “To me. I… after I killed the really big Grimm in the ocean she told me. Things got a little blurry after that, so she told me what was happening. When she lost her eyes she was already almost blind, and, well… I'm gonna be before much longer. I wonder if I can get some cool goggles like she had-”
“How can you do this?!” Weiss interrupted.
Ruby was silent for a while. “Salem has to be stopped. And if it costs my eyes… it's not a big price to pay to save so many lives. So it doesn't matter.”
“Doesn't matter… you dolt,” Weiss sobbed. “It matters to me!”
“Weiss… how did you know? Nobody else noticed.”
Weiss scoffed. “They'd have to be blind not to. I mean… you know what I mean.”
“Yeah,” Ruby chuckled.
Weiss smiled slightly, before sighing. “When I got this scar it damaged my eye. I can still see out of it… a little. But I could tell you were having trouble seeing this morning, so I started paying attention. I don't know how I didn't notice until now.”
“I didn't want anyone to worry about it,” Ruby said. “I have to do this, and if Yang knew she'd try to stop me.”
“I'm going to stop you,” Weiss said.
“No,” Ruby said firmly. Normally despite being the leader Ruby spoke to them as friends, but this was an order, one given with more power than Ironwood, Ozpin, or her father could ever manage. “Salem has to be stopped, and if it costs me my life… it costs me my life. My sight is a small price compared to that.”
“But Ruby…” Weiss murmured.
“But nothing,” Ruby said, her expression softening. “I'm glad you care, but this is bigger than all of us.”
“Of course I care!” Weiss said. “I love you, you selfless dolt!”
Ruby looked flabbergasted. “Oh.”
“Oh! Oh! Is that all you've got to say?”
“No,” Ruby said, smiling and shaking her head. “I love you, too.”
“Oh,” Weiss murmured, before Ruby kissed her. She missed her lips by a little, but neither of them cared for long.