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It ends with a light; the same, incredible white light that is blinding and binding to her silver eyes… but, preceding that is something she is unable to contextually understand. White, black, yellow… red encompassing them all…
Is it the red tint of her cloak? Or something else?
In that chronology of the snow white, light black and fiery yellow the three will lie there, displaced, limp and unable to move. The darkness is grasping at them, slowly dragging each lifeless body away...
The thought shakes and trembles and quivers her; the acceptance of reality entwines her tightly and chokes her like a fly constrained, struggling in a spider’s web.
Weiss…
Blake…
Yang…
Are you still there?
…
The colour white is all that she can remember, thus awakened, juxtaposed from the usual darkness one may see while deep in slumber. Ruby Rose, having sprung up from her bed, is completely lined with sweat. Her bed almost looks like she had died, as her imprint was distinct as if she had been there for a long time.
Perhaps she had been.
Confusion soon struck at the girl, and panic overrides; she comes to the realisation that she has been left alone.
“So… I guess everyone ditched me. Come on, guys!” Ruby groans, punching at her pillow in sheer frustration. She propels herself off of the top bunk bed and to her feet, stretching for a minute with quite the long yawn; and something glints in her eye. She glances over at one of the beds, Jaune’s, and discovers that a note has been left there:
Dear Ruby,
We are on a mission, and please don’t kill me on our way back because we left you. I am seriously so, so sorry, as we all know how much you love fighting and being active in all this...
What I am trying to say is you seemed so deep in your sleep that not even Nora’s racketing could ever wake you. Seriously, she got out the pots and pans and everything! And we decided we couldn’t just disturb you… I know how much that sucks.
Anyway, don’t worry, we will be back as soon as possible. You should fix yourself something to eat, we left food in the fridge for you. You should take care of yourself.
See you later,
-Jaune
After reading the note, Ruby thrusts it on the ground and stomps on it in a childish manner. “Seriously! They could not have just slapped me awake or something?! Ugh!”
This girl, Ruby Rose, had been on trips and missions with the former team JNPR to try and polish her skills in combat as well as taking her mind off some things. That was almost impossible, however... The Fall of Beacon had taken a toll on every single one of them.
She dearly wished that she could be with her friends again; her teammates and sister... But, the whole event had torn them apart, rendering the situation worse in the long term. All Ruby can really do is to stay cheerful, to be positive about what was happening right now in order to keep herself alive.
The girl who is heavily influenced by the colour red storms out of the bedroom. Upon doing so, she almost instantly just… freezes. The rays of light that shine through from the wide window brings her back somewhere; to the past, perhaps. Her sister, friends…
They were away from her.
This hit her harder than any punch from Yang. The emptiness she felt from what has happened is yearning to tell her something, but it is suppressed; the light…
Ruby soon snaps out of her trance and her eyes move along slowly to the fridge. “Ahhhh… food!” she cheers dreamily, practically teleporting to the large, white box containing the deliciousness of replenishment.
The girl was particularly starving today, which provoked her to clear out whatever contents there were in the fridge within a matter of seconds. She felt like Nora, consuming anything that’s edible on her path.
“What has gotten into you, dear Ruby?” she imitates her friend, Weiss, doing a little cartoonish twirl before falling. It’s almost as if Weiss really is here, at least in her mind. She then nudges her own shoulder, saying “You need to chill out, y’know.”
“Haha… Yang…”
Not long after, her cheerful demeanour falters; the loneliness has returned. She lies on the ground, hugging at herself for comfort. Disarray is part of what she felt without the presence of them; her friends - her team that she had grown to know and love.
“Honestly, what’s wrong with me… I… I miss Yang, I miss Weiss, Blake… why couldn’t I at least have stayed with Yang..? She needs me!” Ruby insists this to herself, rising from the ground as if in a hurry. She felt full of regret, and yet full of sudden adrenaline. “I know! I should find them! I have to!”
Ruby speeds up to her bedroom and shoved on her outfit, rapidly packing her suitcase by stuffing anything remotely hers into it, having some trouble sealing the thing; the bag had pikes all throughout it.
She chuckled in embarrassment.
“Alright alright. I guess I need to tell the others first…”
The waiting process was a while. But eventually, as promised, the team of three finally returned to her, and Ruby was met with a tackle hug from Nora.
“YOU’RE AWAKE!!!” the electrical current exclaimed, springing up almost as fast as Ruby’s semblance.
"Ahahaha... Nora, you're acting as if I was dead, or somethin'. Was I out for a long time..?"
"OH GOD, YOU WERE! WE WERE WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU, RUBY!!!"
"Hey, I appreciate that, aha... but I'm alright. There's no need to yell..-"
"AHHHHHH SHE ATE ALL THE FOOD!!! REN, I KNEW WE HAD TO GO BACK THE DAY BEFORE!!! Nooooooo!"
As quickly as a bolt of lightening, Nora was already at the fridge and complaining about the terrible loss of nourishment. Of course, Ren was as quiet as ever. Instead, Nora was answered by Jaune.
"Hey, we were gone for a while, and we can always get more, Nor." he sighed, face-palming at her inevitable immaturity.
Nora raced back to Jaune and prodded him with her finger. "DON'T CALL ME THAT! Only Ren can, hmm~?"
Again, Ren said nothing. Buuut, there might've been the slightest indication of red cheeks rushing over his face.
"Alright I'm sorry! It just... it rhymed..." Jaune sighs in defeat, holding at his elbow and staring at the ground.
Ruby, still on the floor, had started to cackle. "Oh goodness, you all are as hilarious as ever! Hehehehehe-!"
"Woah woah, Ruby. What's with the suitcase?" Ren finally spoke.
Ruby stopped laughing. She sighed, slowly rising up into a sitting position.
"Guys, I... I was thinking of just... I um..-"
Her words stuttered a little bit, as it was difficult for her to speak.
"I want to return to my team, to Yang... I'm so sorry, guys..!"
It is silent for at least thirty seconds. But Jaune is able to break it.
"H-hey, Ruby! We understand! We, uh... we kinda heard you sleep-talking Weiss, Yang and Blake's names a few nights ago... so we already figured..."
Ruby, struck with surprise, jolts at the news. "Huh... I guess I really need to see them after all. But I feel so bad-!"
The team of three glance at each other, then at Ruby. They give her as reassuring a glance as any of them could muster, Jaune's probably being the most effective.
"Don't feel bad, Ruby! Go back to your team! We'll be fine!" Jaune insists, waving his hand nonchalantly.
"You suuure..?" Nora whispered, to which Ren gave her a nudge to try and silence her.
"Seriously..? Thank you, guys... I really appreciate you all..!"
They all mostly join each other for a group hug, and they bid Ruby goodbye. It was time, finally, to seek her teammates again.
The order of which Ruby found her friends were all over the place when comparing the chronology of their team name, RWBY. But regardless... they all were found.
Yang wasn't hard to find. She was at their home, and had agreed to go on Ruby's journey to find the rest of the team.
Blake was next. She had returned to Menagerie, and this journey was difficult mainly because of the fact neither Ruby nor Yang were faunus; that place was a sanctuary for those kind of people. Regardless, Yang and Blake were happy to see each other, which made Ruby relieved. Ruby wonders how Yang knew about Blake's whereabouts...
Weiss was last. She wasn't the easiest to get, as they had to travel all the way to Atlas and somehow get past all of the security measures that had been put in place as a result of the Fall of Beacon. But, despite all of the hardships, Weiss was ecstatic that she was able to leave the haunting constraints of the mansion her 'family' lived in. And she was happy to see her friends, no - true family, again.
Things seemed to be going pretty well, from here on. The gang returned to their previous ways, spending quality time talking and occasionally fighting alongside each other, just in general taking a break from all that had happened to them.
They had settled in, and Yang was telling stories of home, although possibly exaggerating a few parts to make it sound more interesting while they were all snuggled at a campfire.
"And then, you would not believe this, but... Qrow was wearing a goddamn skirt! I'm not even joking!"
The quartet rioted with laughter, Ruby exaggeratedly rolling on the floor with the others sustaining their own mannerisms. Yang was pretty good at making anything sound funny.
Ruby took a while to stop laughing at that one, before she eventually rose from her position again. She couldn't help but just observe everyone, looking so happy and content to be here...
"You know, you guys... I have to tell you how much I-"
Rumbling was all that could be heard. Then a scream, followed by more rumbling and the sound of terror overwhelms the atmosphere...
The crew return to their feet and unleash their weapons. "Oh no, this wasn't so safe after all!" cried Weiss, steadying her stance.
"We gotta help!" Ruby insisted, but already, the rest of her team was racing ahead of her. It wasn't at all difficult for her to catch up with them, as her ability as a whole was speed, but it still felt strange for them to be ahead of her, even for a second.
It was immediately clear what the source of this problem was; it was a massive, terrifying, horrible Grimm that had shook the Earth and has caused absolute turmoil for the town it was terrorising. "H-how did we not know about this?! Why is this happening?!" screamed Blake, before Yang hushed her and held her hand. "We can all do this."
What appears to be the silhouette of a crow passes through the light of the moon. The four girls are slightly reluctant, but they understood their duty; to protect, at all costs...
White, like snow, uses her semblance to ricochet off her glyphs, ridding an occasional small Grimm before trying to block pathways of the giant one using her dust. But she was thrown back, away from view.
"WEISS!" screamed Blake, the light black, using her weapon to try and grapple over to her. Dodging whatever she could while using her semblance, she reached Weiss and tended to her; she'd have never seen that coming to her... but what was everyone thinking..?!
"BLAKE, WAIT UP!" Yang screamed, propelling herself up using her gauntlets. Ruby couldn't move; somehow she... knew how this was destined to end...
"WAIT, NO!" Ruby screamed, and just as the burning flame of Yang was about to attack the large Grimm...
The white light returns. Ruby's focus is all on who she cares about, and nothing else...
A Ruby Rose was crying. Surrounding her, were her friends; Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and her sister, Yang Xiao Long. "Hey, Ruby. It's okay... crying is totally a normal thing! Everyone does it. Even me." Yang was saying to her in a reassuring, big sister voice.
"Ruby, I never thought I would even say this, but... I wish you were your stupid happy self again. What's the matter?" asked the Weiss Schnee, patting the red-hooded girl on her shoulder.
The black cat, Blake, didn't say much, but she gave reassuring gestures to the crying girl.
Eventually, Ruby came to. "Guys, I... I kept dreaming of losing you all, and... I can't imagine that actually happening..-!"
The three other girls look to each other in shock. But they smile. "Hey, Ruby; you know that we're not going anywhere, right?" Weiss explains, almost ridiculing Ruby for even thinking such a thing.
"Yeah! What Weiss said! Right, Blake?" Yang agrees with the snowy girl, and Blake nods.
"Of course..."
They all eye Blake, noticing her unsure tone. "Blaaakeee..."
Blake smiles nervously and shrugs. Yang just nudges her. "Oh come on, Ruby! Cheer up! We're all here for you!"
The rose petal girl wipes her own tears and nods. "Guys... I can't tell you how much I love you all, so, so much..."
The other girls couldn't help but just admire how sweet that was of Ruby to say. "Hey, Ruby,"
"We love you, too..."
...
And just like that, it all ends with darkness.