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Red like bloodshed fills my eyes and brings me to my knees and hands…
“Did you hear that? Pack of Beowolves coming from behind. Damn.”
Ren’s warning is low, and your party nods in response. Nora immediately reaches for Magnhild but you stop her, hand softly over hers.
“You and Juane took care of that Death Stalker this morning. We need to conserve energy, remember?” Your words are gentle but firm. You are the unofficial leader of this trip to Haven, and you’ve got to keep everyone from using all their power up at once. Nora seems to understand and goes back to sit down, which leaves you to turn towards Ren and Juane.
“I got the pack, it’ll only take a minu-“
“I’ll help.” Ren interrupts you, as you assumed he would. “Conserving energy.” He says with a soft smile, and you send one back for his troubles. The morale had been higher than you expected, all three of your friends had kept their spirits up as best they could and it was paying off.
But none of you could forget that the world crumbled from under your feet, the losses you all bore and the terrors you witnessed.
Especially you.
“Alright, let’s meet them just a little away from camp so nothing gets torn up. Save your bullets and let them come to you.” You had said it nearly thirty times so far on the excursion, and you were positive it wouldn’t be the last. Ren humors you though, giving a curt nod as the two of you head away from the camp.
After about two hundred yards of back-tracking through the pitch black forest, you and Ren find yourself ambushed; three glistening pairs of red eyes on either side and the snarls of inhuman beasts are your only signals as you edge back to back with your partner.
One pair of hell burnt eyes surges ahead of the others towards you, and you hear a roar behind you doing the same. Without a word or warning you swing Crescent Rose in a large arc that makes a full circle, effectively slicing the two eager Beowolves; You hear Ren give a small grunt of approval from his bent position. You find comfort in the fact the quiet teen can so quickly synch with a new partner, reading their actions and quickly getting out of harm’s way. Ren also knows by know you like to start combat off, and happily obliges.
The two remaining Grimm in front of you start to inch closer, wary now of the danger of being eradicated like their pack-mates. You feel Ren dash forward as his opponents fearlessly charge toward him, and decide you might as well finish your half of the task quickly as well.
Charging with your Scythe angled on your left side, you swiftly leap over the first Beowolf and hook Crescent Rose into the nearest tree, collecting momentum as you swing counter-clockwise; your feet don’t touch the ground until after you land a solid kick square into the jaw of the second Beowolf and without missing a beat you pull your weapon loose, letting a deadly swing ring through the air and the Grimm’s torso. You don’t care to watch it fizzle out, leaping back and swirling your scythe in a defensive stance as the other Beowolf almost catches you off guard with a burst of rage.
Almost.
Its arms are immediately airborne, and after the foolish attempt to slash your throat it leaps back in shock- which means your lightning fast attack doesn’t fully decapitate the beast. You did manage to deal the finishing blow though, a quick glance confirming a heavy slice to its own neck.
But when you twirl Crescent Rose into its collapsed form and look back, the darkness of the night suddenly swallows you up and your heart stops.
It’s Pyrrha now kneeling before you, a hand hovering over a fatal arrow wound to her chest.
Her attempts to breath sound like choked sobs, a cry for help turned into a gurgle caught in the warrior’s throat.
Those bright green eyes lock into yours and you’re left paralyzed, consumed by the fear and pain they emanate.
You want to- try to, run to Pyrrha as she extends a trembling arm out towards you, her face contorted and literally dying to call out your name.
But she’s gone.
And now you’re back, finding yourself collapsed onto the ground and hyperventilating into Ren’s chest. You bring your arms up to hold on harder the best you can, but your whole body feels like an intense static signal; thick and loud sobs ring through the forest as your partner calmly rubs your hair and back.
You try your best to explain to Ren what you saw, but you can barely make out the first syllable of her name. He doesn’t seem to mind, and continues to rock you in his arms as you cry it out.
You’ve really tried hard to be the leader, and keeping it all in is tough to do.
It takes another ten or so minutes before you finally calm down enough to get some words out.
“I… I-I s-s-saw Py… Pyrrha.” Your voice gets caught up in a sudden round of sniffles, and you almost lose yourself again. You manage to look up to Ren, who you trust dearly; he’s always been there for Team RWBY and his own, you know he wouldn’t judge you.
“I was… I w-was too late, Ren. I should have used my semblance, I wasn’t fast eno-“
“Ruby, its okay.”
You hurriedly pull your head up from Ren’s chest and see Juane and Nora standing there, weapons and lights brandished but relaxed. It was Juane who spoke first, but Nora notices your surprise and softly adds a “We heard your screams and came running.” before the taller boy continues.
“You weren’t there in time, but that happens.” The light at his side casts a shadow over most of his face, but you can tell it hurts Juane to talk about it. You wish he didn’t have to.
“Pyrrha… I uh, she… We all loved her. She was the kindest, most caring… she gave me faith when I couldn’t supply it myself...” Stumbling words, broken voice. Your tears come back without a fail and Juane immediately comes to your side.
“I’m bad at words Ruby. You know that, I’m sorry. But you have to know that things happen like this and we get through them. I… I didn’t want Pyrrha to go there alone. She pushed me away, and I felt useless…” he’s bitter now, even though you both know he would have died up there regardless.
“But Pyrrha made a sacrifice for the people the loved and the people of remnant,” Ren continued where Juane broke off, and Nora came down to join the group. “And as much as we wished she didn’t… die in the process, sometimes that’s what happens.” His voice cracked out of character at the mention of that dreaded event, and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back; all four of you broke into tears, a platoon of traumatized soldiers weeping over their fallen comrade in a war they didn’t ask for.
The group managed to get back to the camp in one piece, hands held and bodies knit together close. You gave a short squawk of protest when Ren suggested you and Nora sleep for the first shift, but your heart and head begged for some solace that could come with sleep. As Nora led you into the tent through the dark, a hand caught your shoulder.
“I- no we, will avenge Pyrrha, Ruby. That’s our destiny.” Juane’s promise was low in his throat but it gave you hope, riling up some primal need to succeed.
“Of course Juane. We’ll stop Cinder and save the world, that’s what she wanted.” You surprise yourself with a smile, and you aren’t sure if Juane can see it but he grunts in agreement. He leaves for the first watch with Ren, and Nora’s soft tugging finally convinces you to zip up the tent and hunker down with the redhead.
“You’re doing great you know, Ruby.” Your eyes are closed and Nora’s arms are wrapped around your waist, an added comfort you and her both desperately need. She’s far from the peppy, hyper off-the-wall Nora you goofed around with in class that she used to be, but she still finds the energy to warm your spirits.
You’re so thankful for her, Ren, Juane… all the people in your life.
Even the ones who aren’t here with you now.
The last thoughts you have before drifting into slumber are of Nora’s warmth behind you and glory for Pyrrha.
And in your dreams a bloody, lifeless Yang haunts your head.
______________________________________________________________________
White is numb and always lonely, caught by kin to distant lands…
You’re a caged bird once more, but after spreading your wings beyond the metal bars you refuse to sing for your captors.
Father dearest used his advanced politics and best tricks to wear you down in the beginning, for what it’s worth. You were curtly put into place when you tried to argue about getting on that plane, and the bitter taste of that backlash still hadn’t left your mouth in the month or so that has passed; but the private jet was stocked with all your favorite luxuries, the castle when you arrived was aglow in your favorite decorative lights you only got to see during the holidays, and your personal hall of the establishment was fully refurbished and styled as you liked it.
The devil was tempting you with your familiar vices, and this time you were resisting with enough cold hatred to freeze hell over.
Not that you needed to though, because a quick glance out one of the elegant hall windows confirmed that the snow outside wasn’t letting up; your guess was that there’d be flakes of winter’s wrath up to your waist by the time supper was to be had.
The prison you’re locked in wouldn’t be as bad if it weren’t for the damn weather- the soothing blankets of white coating the vast gardens had always given you a sense of comfort, but you hadn’t realized back then that you could be free to explore a world where there were bowls of fresh ramen the size of a infant bear and acres upon acres of forests that were permanently Autumn in temperament.
And now not only were you trapped by your father, but even if you could discover a way to escape you couldn’t flee with the blizzard raging outside.
“Miss Schnee? My apologies if I’m interrupting,” A quiet voice startles you, and you turn from the window to see Cyril, hands behind his back in the formal position; you instantly gesture for him to relax, and you smile genuinely at the head butler that practically raised you.
“Not at all, I assume that the communications worked and are ready for me?” you ask politely, giving the upmost respect to the kind and elderly gentlemen. He happily nods, opening the door to the small room he just exited.
“It’s bad enough that the CCTs are down and all public communications are ruined, but the blizzard here is making the personal Schnee systems extremely unreliable. We have contact with your sister though, Miss Schnee, and I wouldn’t want to waste your time blabbing with me. Make haste, my child.” Cyril replied earnestly, quickly shooing you into the enclosed space. You manage to thank the man you want to call father for distracting the slimeball who has claim to that title, and slip the door shut.
One of the only rooms in the Schnee Castle to lack windows, you glance at the petite enclosure briefly before getting the thumbs up from the two techies in the back corners making sure the systems were running. You take your seat and smile as you put on the headphones; although the screen cuts out abruptly every five or six seconds and static clings to the corners, you’re able to make out Winter’s face as she calls out.
“Weiss? Weiss are you- ah its about time. We haven’t much time before my ship leaves the viable communications radius.”
“Winter, greetings. Terribly sorry about that.” You start with an apologetic nod, as you can’t curtsy in a computer chair. “It was a nightmare getting father occupied elsewhere, after our final spat last week he has made it his life’s duty to keep a personal eye on me.” You spat out the words as though they are poison, and they might as well be- considering all that man has done to control and manipulate you.
“Understandable, I’ll be brief. I got the package delivered and set up at the Xiao Long residence; it will be on at all times. But Wei-“
“And Blake? You got one to her as well?” You don’t mean to interrupt your elder sister, but the anxiety leaves your brain jittery and you’ve just got to make sure everything is going to go according to plan. She understands your predicament, but still gives a sour look in response to being cut off.
“No, I didn’t. We can’t find the Faunus girl, she’s off the grid as far as I can tell. And what I was trying to tell you before was that Ruby is not there, and Yan-“
“Ruby is gone? Where did sh-“
“Let me speak, you boob!” Your sister shouts, making your ears ring and cheeks blush in embarrassment. You admit you deserved it that time, but you couldn’t help being distraught over your dear teammates.
“Ruby’s father said she left a note but wouldn’t say where she’s off to. Now… Yang didn’t want me to set up the communicator and before you cut me off again let me say my entire piece. …Alright, thank you.”
“She’s hurting, Weiss. Yang didn’t talk to me besides a single protest, and then she glared at me the entire time I set up the machine once Mr. Xiao Long insisted. But she’s really hurting… Her father confided in me that she’s not eating, and she hasn’t left her room once in six weeks.”
It’s funny how your body and mind reacts to when everything you’ve been worried and scared about comes true. You’ve kept yourself stressed sick dwelling on what could have happened to your friends, and the news is slapping you in the face; Blake and Ruby ran away to god knows where, and Yang is… oh dust Yang.
“She feels abandoned. She was abandoned, and not just this once.” You finally say something, Winter giving you a worried look through the visual fog. It doesn’t help anything to brag, but you have kept company with loneliness for all your life, and you’re all too familiar with that horrible haze.
But you’ve only felt abandoned once, and you were instantly begging to just feel the dull ache of feeling alone instead again.
“There’s n-no way I can get to her, Winter. She has to t-talk to me through the SMS, I h-have to...”
It’s becoming far to much for you to think about, but its all that’s been on your mind since you left Vale.
“Weiss? Weiss you’re breaking up. Are you shaking or is that just the syst-“
Winter’s words are cut off by the screen going completely black, and the lights flickering just a second. One of the communication techies removes their headphones but you know what he’s going to say. Blizzard finally beat the system, we can try again, etc. etc.
He flinches when you abruptly burst into a sob, and his partner notices your distress and immediately takes off his gear to help you.
“Ma’am are y-“
“I-I-I’m f-f-“ You can’t regain your poise this time, and end up shouting gibberish at the gentlemen before running out the door.
You’re an embarrassment. You’re pathetic. You can’t help your friends. You wade through the negative thoughts as best as you can, hand to mouth and sobbing down the hall to your room.
You had what you always wanted, and now you’re back to being locked in the cage.
You push through the door of your bedroom, swinging it hard enough to make a loud crack as it hits one of your jewelry wardrobes. You hear countless necklaces and other expensive accessories fall and clank to the bottom of the container as you crash into bed; you’re too upset to close the door but you sob into one of the priceless dove down feather pillows so nobody hears you self-destruct.
Not like anyone could hear you.
You’re alone again.
xxx
It took you over half an hour to fully calm down, but at last the final tears had been dried and you finally kicked yourself into the inevitable “determined mode”; You always bottle up and stress over something, release bits of it in the form of petty anger, eventually blow up or break down, and then when you are emotionally purged you can take of things with the trademark Schnee detail and precision your family coveted.
You loved your teammates, and you were going to fix what you all had.
“And since I know where you are,” you spoke out loud, the verbal commitment fueling your drive as you turned on your SMS- Schnee Messaging System.
“I’m starting with you Yang, whether you like it or not.”