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All around her the forest is nothing but the dull grey of snow and the shadows of trees. The sun hasn’t risen above the horizon just yet, instead the sky is in the time between night and true morning, when there is only enough light to see that it’s still dark. She is perched in a tall pine tree, her back resting against the rough bark and crescent rose in her lap. Periodically she scans the area with her sniper scope for any signs of approaching grim. The night has been quiet, and grim are less likely to appear at daybreak, so Ruby allows herself to relax.
Her friends begin to stir as the light gets stronger, morning finally coming in full. Ruby hears them stretch and yawn from where they are nestled in sleeping bags at the roots of the tree.
Ruby shifts in her perch,her leg starting to cramp. She really should call them her teammates now. Afterall they’re journeying together and fighting together. BUt the thought leaves a pit in her stomach, and still feels oddly like betrayal.
She shakes her head, dispelling the thought for another time. Folding crescent rose back up and placing it back in its holster. She is preparing to get down when Penny appears in front of her.
“Good morning, Ruby.” She says, her tiny holo-body gives Ruby her customary salute. The effect llacks her previous enthusiasm however. “Your time at watch is now over, and it is time to continue our journey.”
“Thanks, Penny.” Ruby says, and flashes Penny a grin before jumping down from the tree and landing heavily in the snow. Penny makes a small “EEP” as she's dragged down with Ruby, her holo being projected by Ruby’s scroll and thus having to follow its fall. The jump must’ve seen much bigger at Penny’s current size, but Ruby just laughs. She relishes the times that Penny sounds more human, and less like the mechanical way this form usually sounds.
As if in retaliation, Penny jumps from her scroll to Ren’s giving her morning report, right as he was presumably texting someone. Ren seems disgruntled for a second, then looks over at Ruby with a knowing smile.
Ruby rolls her eyes and with a huff she walks over to Jaune, effectively ignoring them both.
“Hey, Jaune.”
“Hey, Ruby.”
It’s become something of a default greeting for the two, Nothing special, but comforting in its familiarity. He adjusts his shield and brushes the snow out of his hair. Ruby shakes some pine needles off her combat skirt. Not that it does much for either of them. Sleeping out in the woods for a week does nothing for personal hygiene.
“We should try and reach the next town before nightfall.” He pulls a stick out of hair, “You ready?”
“Grimm I can handle.” Ruby pats crescent rose, “It’s the people that make me nervous.”
Jaune nods knowingly. The last town they visited hadn’t been as pleasant relief from grimm and wilderness as they had hoped. Being as close to patch as they were, there some villagers that recognized Ruby as yang’s sister. Other’s recognized them from the fights from the tournament, and knew they were Pyrrah teammates. Everywhere they went shops would be mysteriously closed, they’d hear whispers of ‘violent children’ or ‘child soldiers’. Even the gossip they’d hear defending them was back handed at the least.
“That girl killed someone.”
“She dismantled a robot . It’s not the same thing.” Someone else scoffed, “Besides it was a spy for Atlas. Good riddance.”
Ren and Nora had to pull Jaune and Ruby out of the Town. They didn’t pay their bill at the tavern.
Ruby was glad to get out of that town and back on the road, but living on the road wasn’t as glamorous as here books lead her to believe. They were dirty and smelly and hungry. Even if they had to deal with pissy villagers in the next town they needed supplies.
Nora jumps into the conversation, literally jumping between Jaune and Ruby. “We should take some Grimm bounties in the next town!” She has a devious look on her face. “And then they’ll owe us a life debt… forever!”
“Actually they’d just owe us money for the bounty.” Ren chimes in behind them, rolling up his sleeping bag. “But we could use the money for more rations and supplies.”
“Thats right,” Nora shoves two rations bars at Ruby and Jaune. “Don’t forget to eat! Today’s flavor is s’mores.”
“Right,” Jaune takes a bite of his ration bar and spews crumbs everywhere as he continues to speak. “Let’s eat and walk people,” He waves the half eaten bar in the air valiantly like a sword, “We’re getting to that town before dark and finding some gimm!”
“For the bounties!” They all join in. Even Penny.
They spew crumbs everywhere.
Ruby laughs with them, and smiles even harder hen Penny appears at her shoulder with a tiny smile of her own.
Team mates or friends, either way she’s glad she isn’t alone on this journey.
She repeats it again in her mind as they start they’re back onto the road.
There is nothing, but the crunch of snow beneath their feet, and the hush of the wind through branches.
This is what someone would consider a ‘companionable silence’ Ruby thinks. But if Ruby is honest with herself, she can’t stand it.
When it is too quiet, she finds her thoughts are too loud.
For the first five miles or so, it was fine. They had their usual idle chit-chat, light hearted and silly. But eventually as their sugar high ran out and their feet got tired, they started remembering why they were on this mission. Why they’re walking in the snow in the middle of the woods far away from beacon and their homes, silence fallling along with their spirits.
They never say any of that out loud of course. From an outside observer it would just seem as if the group gets quite the further they walk.
But for Ruby, it’s unbearable.
She never used to mind silence before. Now it’s suffoccating.
She can’t help but notice the wariness in their footsteps, the way Nora jumps when someone steps on a twig, the dark circles under Jaunes eyes... Ruby knows, knows, it’s to be expected. After everything they’ve been though.
That dosen’t stop it from weighing on her. If she had just… Do they think that she…?
And maybe it’s all in her head, but thinking that just makes it worse.
She stops walking and turns around, her cape whirling behind her.
“I think I’m gonna go scout ahead,” She gives them a smile and activates her semblance before any of them can get a word in edgewise.
The wind whips against her face the like ice water. It’s a welcome feeling and she gasps at suddenly being able to breath again. She pauses for just a moment tobreathe properly, then sprints way again.
There is a warm exertion in her muscles as she rushes past the blurry white and grey of the forest around her. Her aura falls from her as red petals painting her path a deep red and it feels amazing .
Ruby’s semblance made her the prime candidate to scout ahead for Grimm or any other obstacle that might be up ahead. She could cover ground quickly, and report back even faster.
But more than that the job gave her a moment of reprieve from the silence. From the cloying atmosphere of everyone’s anxiety. Their fears and regrets they don’t voice.
It gives her a break from her friends grief.
Ruby pauses mid-dash, landing on a tree branch as gracefully as her sudden stop could allow.
She stands there for a few moments her silence.
“Ruby?” Penny questions, her tiny holo-form appearing at her shoulder. “Is something wrong? I do not detect any Grimm nearby.”
Ruby shakes her head. It’s not as if she doesn’t understand how their feeling. Pyrrah was her friend too, and she had to watch-
“Ruby you’re heart rate is increasing,” Penny is close to her face now, looking at her intently. “Are you alright?.”
Ruby snaps out of that her thoughts and releases a shaky breath,
Yes, she misses Pyrrah. But she wasn’t as close to her as the others were; she was their teammate. They lived with her, fought with her everyday. It was different.
The Battle of Beacon hit everyone hard. Ruby probablly came out on the otherside better off than most. Penny was okay now, for the most part. Her team was alive and well. Penny, Weiss, Blake, Yang, everyone was okay-
“Ruby, if something is the matter, you can tell me. I’m you friend, right?” Penny’s voice cts through her thoughts,laced with what seemed like real concern that Ruby doesn’t see from her that often. Her voice sounded flat more often than not now.
“S-sorry.” Ruby rubs the back of her neck and tries giving Penny a smile, “I just got lost in my own head.”
Penny nods, encouraging Ruby to continue.
Ruby fidgets, not really wanting to divulge further. But if anyone would be willing to listen and not judge it’d be Penny.
“It’s just that,” she pauses, thinking over how to say it, “When I look at the others, sometimes, it just feels like… a piece of them is missing. Something important like an arm or….”
Penny tries putting her hand on Ruby’s own, but the comforting gesture is ruined by her hand passing through Ruby’s. She doesn’t even feel it.
A body. Ruby thinks. Penny stares at her hand for a moment, an indiscernible look on her face.
“Hey, let's finish our scouting okay? Can you tell me how far we are from the next town.”
“We are approximately 12 miles away from the next town.”
“Alright. Let’s keep going.” She says, and prepares to activate her semblance once more.
She needs to keep moving.
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