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rwbyvein · 4 years

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Firen Lhain: Chapter 310: Pharos Over the Horizon

Jaune put Yang down on a chair on the ferry's deck. "You going to be okay?" he asked her, and she lightly nodded.

"Jaune." Taiyang said to him, "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Yes, sir." Jaune replied.

"Sir?" Taiyang asked.

"You are like super old." Nora stated, and Taiyang stopped in his tracks, looking pale in his face. He breathed in deeply and walked into the cabin, Jaune following right behind him.

"Sir?" Jaune asked.

Taiyang breathed in deeply for a few moments before turning to face him. "First, I would like to thank you for all you have done for my daughters..."

"And?" Jaune nervously asked.

"And?.." Taiyang asked, "I'm afraid I have to ask this, but," he said, and paused, "what is your intention with my daughters?"

"Intention?" Jaune asked, "Uh... to help them not die?"

Taiyang breathed for a moment before replying. "That's... really all you want?"

"It doesn't matter how much I want it." Jaune voiced, "I've never been a lady's man. Which, by the way, if Yang calls me Ladykiller, it's 100% ironic."

"She what?" Taiyang asked, and then his face relaxed, "That... does... sound like my Summer Dragon." Jaune looked at him questioningly. "That's that's what her name means."

"Ahhhh..." Jaune voiced.

"Then, if you just want to help them, why did you kiss Yang?"

"What, that?" Jaune asked, "That's what I did to my sisters."

"You have sisters?" Taiyang asked.

"LOTS... of sisters." Jaune stated.

"How many?.." Taiyang asked.

"Seven." Jaune stated. "I'm almost the baby, but not quite..."

"So?.." Taiyang asked, "You're saying you think of my daughters... as sisters?.."

It was Jaune's turn to take a moment breathing in deeply, "Make no mistake sir, I would be more than happy to be their beau. But I swear to you I have not tried anything at all."

"Other than sister kissing?" Taiyang asked.

"The only one I have asked out was Weiss."

"That Atlasian?" Taiyang asked, and Jaune nodded.

Jaune's eyes brightened. "She is... amazing..."

"How does Ruby get along with her?" Taiyang asked.

"She says she's Weissy, but she's Weissy because she cares." Jaune stated.

"Uh... huh?.." Taiyang asked.

"I hope I'm not out of line here." Jaune stated, "But, is Weiss?," he asked, and paused for a moment, "Ruby's first real friend?" Taiyangsilently nodded. "That's how much Weiss means to her. And despite what Weiss might say in reply, she cares just as much about Ruby."

"She cares?" Taiyang asked.

"She nags because she cares." Jaune replied, "and, I mean to say... my point was... my hitting on Weiss really did not go well. Really-really... did not go well, and I've just been afraid to try it with anyone else. Besides, they are my first friends, too." Jaune said, and leaned against the wall. Fumbling thanks to his lack of antlers. When he was younger he never would have thought he would get used to them. He nervously laughed for a moment and looked at Taiyang who seemed to be intent on waiting for him. "Okay, so, yeah, friends?, and I REALLY don't want to screw this up."

"And... Blake?.." Taiyang asked.

"She... she was so afraid." Jaune stated, "But not for herself... for... us... maybe?"

With this Taiyang sighed, "Yang," he whispered, "might not act like it, but Blake was her first real friend, as well. I am so worried about them."

"I'll - do - whatever I can." Jaune replied, and Taiyang sighed once again.

"I still don't know if that's going to be enough." Taiyang voiced. "And Pyrrha?" he asked with a normal conversation tone.

"She fought one of THE Maidens." Jaune stated.

"And?" Taiyang asked. Jaune dejectedly slumped his head forward in reply... which caused him to fall onto the ground. He quickly stood up, trying to act as if nothing had happened.

"You're secret's safe with me." Taiyang said with a weak smile. "But I'm pretty sure my daughters have already figured it out. Jaune once again slumped his head. "And forgiven you for it." Taiyang stated, walking back around the corner. Jaune walked out to the deck and up to his team.

"How?.. are we doing?.." Jaune asked them, and Nora looked at him tearfully. She looked like she needed a hug, and Jaune opened his arms. Nora quickly dashed inside and he wraps his arms around her. "She meant a lot to us."

"And we, her." Ren added. Jaune looked at him, seeing tearful eyes. Jaune reached his arm out. Ren grasped his hand, which Jaune used to pull him in for a powerful hug.

"I... can only hope..." Jaune stated.

"She was always smiling with you." Ruby said from her seat.

"She was always smiling." Jaune said in reply, causing Yang to let out a loud scoff. Once she realized their eyes met, she quickly turned to break their gaze, and then ever so slowly drifted away.

"She was happy when she was with you." Ruby stated. "Which, kind of makes sense, because the only times YOU saw her, she was smiling, because she was with YOU. Right?"

Jaune let go of his team mates and turned towards her. "How?," he asked, "are you handling it, Ruby?"

"I..." she voiced, "honestly don't know. I still... still don't know what happened." She slowly reached under her cloak and pulled out Pyrrha's tiara. Jaune stood, staring at it for a moment before reaching his hands towards it. Reaching... but not wanting to touch... as if...

"She'd want you to have it." Nora voiced. Jaune withdrew his hand a bit and looked at her. "You... meant the world to her. Kind of like you do for us."

"You guys..." Jaune stated, "haven't... for that..."

"It seems, "Ren voiced, "as if our world has changed since being around you." Ren voiced, "And apparently you do not understand how profoundly it has." Ruby shook the tiara a couple of times before withdrawing it. "Please," Ren continued, "take a seat."

Jaune quietly sat beside Ruby. Ruby held the tiara out to him once again, and he reached over to grab it. He could barely hold it, he was so shaken.

"Leader?" Ren asked, and Jaune pulled the tiara in and looked at Ren, and then Nora. "Our village was attacked... when we were young..."

"B..." Jaune tried to say, but Ren held up his hand and Jaune immediately stopped.

"Since, we have not had a home."

"We traveled ALL OVER THE PLACE." Nora added.

"But no place was our home." Ren continued, "Some accepted us, some did not. But none were more than a place to rest our heads."

"We only had each other, UUNNTTIILL." Nora voiced.

"Until." Ren added, and Jaune and Ruby eagerly looked at him. Yang slightly turning her head towards them, looking out of the corner of her eyes. "It is obvious."

"Oh, come on, we NEED to TELL HIM." Nora added.

"In... deed..." Ren grumbled. "I do believe... Yang... was the one... who said it best..."

"Now we can die TTOOGGEETTHHEERR!" Nora shouted.

A faint smile appeared on Yang's face before fading a moment later, and she slowly turned back away.

"What we had... in the Emerald Forest... was unlike anything we had ever had before..."

"And we kind of hope you feel the same way." Nora added.

"I've..." Jaune tried to say... "I've... been trying... to keep the plates spining ever since..."

With this Taiyang looked around the corner a moment before hiding again.

"You've been, what?.." Ruby asked, and Jaune quickly looked at her.

"I've never really had friends before." Jaune voiced, "And as it is, right now, you are the most important people in my life."

"Even more than your OODLES of SISTERS?!"

"SO much more than my seven sisters." Jaune stated. "My family never supported me. Even knowing how TERRIBLE I am." Jaune voiced, and Yang looked angry for a moment before quickly forcing it away, "You guys... still did. I could not... have accomplished anything... without you..."

"Well, yeah!" Ruby replied, "But the same goes for you, so HA."

"Ha?" Jaune asked.

"Ha!" Ruby replied.

"Ha?" Jaune asked once again.

"I do believe she means," Ren voiced, "that you helped her as much as she has helped you."

"Exactly!" Ruby added. "You were, like, the only one that talked to me... and wasn't immediately put off by babbling about weapons... which... I'll admit... I still have a bit of a problem with."

"It's adorable that you treat Crescent Rose as part of the family." Jaune said with a weak smile.

"Thank you," Ruby said with deep sincerity, "for saying that." Ruby said to him.

"And as long as you take good care of her, you - can play - with Corcea Mors as much as you want."

"so, um?" Ruby asked, "I... uh... killed a Dragon?.."

"Not quite." Taiyang said as he walked around the corner. "It's hard to describe. It's not moving."

"Like a statue?!" Nora asked.

"A... very... lifelike... one..." Taiyang stated.

"And what about Cinder?" Ruby asked.

"From Qrow's message, she wasn't there when he showed up."

"Okay..." Ruby voiced, "What about Ironwood?"

Taiyang breathed in deeply for a moment. "Remember that I am basing this off of Qrow's report... The um.. Tinman... tucked his tail between his legs and returned to Atlas... Qrow thinks he was too embarassed when the Knights turned against him."

"And the Paladins!" Ruby added.

"Wait, really?" Taiyang asked, "You guys took on a Paladin?"

"Oonneeee..." Ruby voiced.

"How many?" Taiyang asked.

"It was kind of chaotic... you know... at Beacon... in Vale... on the train..."

"What train?" Taiyang asked.

"Oh, what?, psh." Ruby stated, "What train?"

"Ruby." Jaune admonished.

"Okay... fine... there was train... underground... planning on ramming the end in Vale with a bomb... lots... lots of bomb... and GRIMM!"

"Is that how Grimm got in the City?!" Taiyang asked.

"We did the best we could?" Ruby asked, "Which doesn't sound as cool now that I've said it."

"It!" Taiyang said, "IT!"

"Yes?" Ren asked.

"YES?!" Nora shouted.

"Reminds me of my time in Beacon." Taiyang voiced, "That really brings me bacl. Team STRQ was... a little... infamous at the end there." Taiyang paused and sighed. "How's the sea air doing for you girls?" he asked.

"Better than Jaune's airsickenss..." Ruby stated, and Jaune suddenly looked sick. Yang momentarily smiled before drifting away again. "Really?" Ruby asked.

"In my defence, I don't have my antlers right now, and I guess they helped keep my head steady..."

#rwby #firen lhain #faunus au #pollinated knight ending

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rwby-grimm-guardians · 3 years

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RWBY Grimm Guardians Arc 2: Beacon’s Fragile Light Ch X

Hey, everyone! This is the tenth chapter of Beacon’s Fragile Light! Here, we go through the Yang v. Mercury event….with VERY different results! As usual, please enjoy.

Disclaimer: Still own nothing!

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(At Amity Colosseum)

“Hey, Cres? Could you do me a favor, please?” Ruby asked, looking at the taller woman in her weapon form. Summer raised an eyebrow, “Sure. Is something wrong?” The young leader bit her lip, before saying, “Well, if anything unexpected happens during Yang’s match with Mercury, could you...step in and prevent a possible disaster?” The taller woman just blinked, “I’m not going to deny you, but may I ask what brought this thought up?”

“Mercury’s been hanging out with Cinder a lot… Same with Emerald. I’m worried that they might be working together.” The young leader said. “Gotcha. I agree with your thoughts that something’s up with them.” Summer said. “I have an idea on how we can make sure nothing goes up in flames, though it’s entirely your decision if you want to do it.” Ruby tilted her head, “What is it?”

“Well…” Summer paused for a bit, before sighing, “Well, I could take control of your body for a temporary period of time and intervene if the battle goes wrong.” Surprising Summer, Ruby’s eyes began sparkling. Then again, she should’ve assumed that that would be her daughter’s reaction. “I take it you have no problem with it?” Summer asked. “THAT IS AMAZING!” Ruby shouted, startling Weiss and Blake, who immediately relaxed when realizing that their leader was talking to Summer.

“Okay, I’ll take that as an answer.” Summer smirked with a sigh. “I’ll let you know when I’ll possess you, but know that it is gonna feel really weird. Also, only I will be able to hear you.” Ruby nodded, “Anything else?” The taller woman rubbed her eyepatch, thinking of an answer, only for Ruby to say, “Want me to make sure that stays on?” “Please.” The red clad woman said, giving a small smile. ”If there’s anything you’d like to ask about the possession, please don’t hesitate to do so.”

The young leader nodded as the two went back to watching the match. “Can all Weapon Spirits do that?” Ruby whispered. The former STRQ leader shrugged, “Not sure. You’ll have to ask the others afterwards. Though my best guess is that, yeah, they all can.” She then glanced over where Cinder and Emerald were, but only found that they were gone. “Shit. We might have to do it soon.” She whispered. She then sniffed the air, saying, “It smells like someone is trying to use their semblance.”

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(In the arena…)

Yang continued her match with Mercury Black. As she did, Ember offered helpful advice, pointing out to keep Mercury on the move and not letting him catch a break. After landing a fury of blows on the gray-hair teen, the match was over, the blonde had depleted Mercury’s aura. “Atta girl! Showed him what’s up.” Ember grinned, making Yang smile. “Learned from the best.” She said, walking away from her opponent.

However, as she did so, the blonde witnessed Mercury attacking her with a flying kick. Before she could react in a similar manner, that was a thunderous crack as Crescent Rose was embedded in the floor...with Ruby standing on it. ‘Could’ve entered the arena in a more calmer way.’ Ruby said to Summer in their now-shared mindscape. ‘Needed to get to your sister as quickly as possible.’ Summer thought telepathically, before looking at the two combatants.

“I know you’re going to ask why I’m here...and the reason for that is to make sure that there are no disqualifications...for EITHER of you.” Summer said, using Ruby’s voice. She then turned to Mercury, saying in the kindest tone possible, “So please. Wait to thank Yang for a splendid match. Thank you.” After that, she brought Yang with her towards the combatants’ exit. “S...Cres? Is that you?” Yang whispered. Nodding Ruby’s head, Summer whispered, “Bingo. You’re really lucky I got to you two in time.”

Yang raised an eyebrow, “How…?” “Ruby allowed me to take temporary control of her body in case something went wrong.” Summer explained as guards helped bring them out of the arena. Once in the waiting area and safe from the public eye, Summer materialized as both she and the young leader collapsed to the floor, groaning. “Okay...not happening again unless in desperate times.” Ruby said, groaning in pain. “Ah, that sucked.” Summer grunted in agreement, “I would prefer it if that is the LAST time we do that.”

One of the guards removed his helmet, revealing him to be Oobleck in disguise. “Professor Brown told me to help you out if things went south.” He explained, giving a small smile as he, the now-materialized Ember, and Yang helped the two up. “You two are some sort of crazy.” The taller woman just nodded, “Thank you. What’s happening out there?” “Judging by your almost inhuman speed and strength, they’re...a little frightened.” The green haired man said.

Ember raised an eyebrow, “Inhuman…?” The former STRQ leader froze, before her face and Ember’s began to pale. “Oh shit….” She whispered, before removing her eyepatch, asking, “Is it glowing?” Ember and Oobleck looked at the Grimm eye in Summer’s right socket, queuing Oobleck to say, “If it was, it no longer is now.” Summer let out a short sigh of relief, before putting the eyepatch back on. “Sorry to interrupt, but what exactly happened?” Yang asked.

“Basically, Ruby has reasons to believe that Mercury is conspiring with Cinder.” Summer said. “There was also someone using their semblance on you.” The blonde teen raised an eyebrow, “You mean Mercury trying to kick me?” “He wasn’t kicking you. He was just walking up to you....possibly to thank or congratulate you.” Ruby said. Ember nodded, “So someone was purposefully trying to disqualify us?” The two red clad leaders nodded.

“I’ll warn the guards and staff. Hopefully, we can find Cinder and question her on these actions.” Oobleck said. Summer nodded, thanking him as the two blondes and leaders went up to the food court, where the others found them. Blake hugged Yang and Ruby tightly, asking, “What the hell happened out there?” Ember sighed as Gambol wrapped her arms around her, “Someone’s trying to disqualify us.” Silence filled the space between the group. “Shit…” Arktis said, earning a nod from the tallest of the group.

“Shit is right.” Summer said. She then looked around before whispering, “We have reasons to believe Cinder and Mercury are involved.” “What do we do now?” Weiss asked, taking a brief hold of Ruby’s hand. The young leader shrugged, “Who knows at this point? Professor Oobleck knows and is going to notify staff…” She then sighed, “But honestly, the only thing WE can do is just keep an eye out.” Ember raised an eyebrow, “how do we know that there won’t be any more illusions?”

Summer stayed silent, before tightening her fists, “We do not….” “Hell, at this point, my powers are going to be a bigger issue?” She said. Gambol and Arktis raised their eyebrows, before paling. “Are you serious?” Gambol asked, receiving a nod. “The speed and strength I put out were inhuman...similar to how there were during our training.” The former STRQ leader said. “Shit…” The elder faunus said in a hushed whisper.

Summer nodded, before the group’s attention was brought to the arena, where Mercury was being escorted out by two doctors. Judging by Summer growl, the group assumed that one of them was Cinder in disguise. “She’s pissed by what happened.” Gambol said. The group looked at her, with Blake asking, “You can tell?” “Part Grimm and Faunus, remember?” The taller faunus smirked. She then looked at Yang, “One of the doctors has eyes similar to the pinkish woman you described a while ago.”

The group paled, before Ember asked, “What the hell are we gonna do?” The silence that fell between the group was an answer enough. Not a single one of them knew what to do now. There were three people conspiring with each other against them, but there was no way to tell if there were any more. They needed to find out why they were here, but no one knew HOW. Summer hissed as she collapsed to the floor as her right eye throbbed in pain.

“Cres!?” The taller blonde shouted as the red clad woman applied pressure to her eye. The group then looked at a nearby television, which was showing the events that had just happened. “Negative emotion...rising…!” The tallest of the group groaned. “Blaming...Beacon and...the headmaster...for this…” “Any Grimm active?” Gambol asked. After a few moments of silence, Summer nodded, “The Grimm...are coming.”

“How many?” Ruby asked. The elder Rose shrugged, “Don’t know… Senses are...overwhelmed…” Just in time, Oobleck showed up with cloaks, saying, “Come on. We need to get you all out of here for your safety.” After glancing at each other, the group unanimously agreed to leave the arena. Taking the cloaks and helping Summer up to her feet, they left to head back to Beacon.

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(Back at Beacon….)

Evergreen carefully removed Summer’s eyepatch, examining her Grimm eye. “How bad is it?” The taller woman asked, receiving a sigh. “Do you really want to know?” The headmaster asked. “Well, I can tell you that it’s not glowing, but the whole eye is red.” He gave Summer an ice pack, before saying, “Obviously, there’s some negative emotion form humans that caused your Grimm instincts to spike.”

“Does it have to do with the tournament?” Yang asked. Evergreen shrugged, “Hard to say, but it’s possible that some people are pissed by the results, even with the information we have.” “Unfortunately, for your safety, I will have to remove you from the tournament.” The gray haired man said. The group groaned. They knew that it was best for them, but it really sucked that it had to happen. Ruby asked, “Well, what can we do?”

Evergreen looked at Summer and the other Weapon Spirits, before saying, “Right now, keep an eye on your instincts and behavior. If your Grimm instincts get overwhelmed, you could end up becoming your own worst enemies. I’m sure neither of you want that.” The four just nodded, not really wanting to risk losing control of themselves. “So...what do we do now?” Summer asked in a pitiful groan.

“I would suggest that you all relax for now.” Evergreen said. “However, I also assume that you’d like to be informed as well, so you’ll be given daily updates to what’s going on. Sound fair?” The group of eight looked at each other, before unanimously nodding. The headmaster nodded, “It’s settled then. Oobleck will be giving you updates. Qrow and Winter will be here soon to check up on you all.”

Soft smiles formed on the group of eight’s faces, before they all nodded. “Thank you.” Summer said, before being helped up Ember. Evergreen smiled, “Of course. Just listen to doctor’s orders this time.” The tallest of the group gave a small glare as the amused headmaster, “I was not that bad back then.” “Your records say otherwise.” The headmaster said, grinning as Summer’s eyebrow twitched. “I swear, you are a BASTARD sometimes.” She hissed, only for Evergreen to chuckle.

After leaving the room and heading back to the dorms, Summer immediately crashed onto one of the beds on her back. “This fucking sucks.” She said. “Both my eye being in pain and this situation for all of us.” Ruby nodded, sitting down next to her. Yang also sat next to the tallest of the group, before sighing, “What do we do now?” The group went silent, before Ember shook her head, “I don’t know.” The elder Rose tightened her fist, “We should wait for now.”

Everyone looked at her with raised eyebrows. “What do you mean ‘for now’?” Weiss asked. Arktis tapped her chin, before reaching a startling conclusion, “Don’t tell me.... You think we should do our own investigation?” “Have you lost your mind?” Blake asked. “I understand you want to do something, but you are in no condition for that!” Gambol walked up to the tallest woman on the bed, before kneeling next to her.

“Answer me, White Wolf…” She said in a serious tone. Summer looked at her with a stern glare as she asked, “Even though you’re wounded...or rather, restrained by your Grimm eye, do you still plan on doing a private investigation in order to protect people?” “You’re encouraging this behaviour?” The red clad woman asked, raising an eyebrow. The elder faunus smirked, “It’s no different from what we would’ve done...given the circumstances. Plus...if the headmaster is right, then you don’t care about rules.”

Summer stayed silent for a few moments, before sighing with a soft chuckle, “Well...if you’re wondering, I have no plans on doing it ALONE.” “We’ll wait until my eye is feeling better...or if it’s numb. Whichever comes first.” She said. Arktis sighed, “You are insane. You know that, right?” The red clad woman smirked, “You act like this is a shock to you all.” Silence filled the room, before Ember sighed, “Alright. We’ll go with your idea, but PLEASE don’t overexert yourself.” No promises, but Summer would try anyway.

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Sorry if this is short or seems rushed. I tried to find a better way to end this chapter and make it longer...but i couldn’t think of one. Anyway, we’re coming to the end of Arc 2, everyone! The three chapters will be about the fall of Beacon! See you then!

#rwby #rwby ocs #rwby au #rwby fanfiction #ruby rose #Summer Rose #yang xiao long #ember celica #bumbleby #Gambol Shroud #Blake Belladonna #willow schnee #weiss schnee #rwby oobleck #rwby ozpin #mercury black #grimm guardians au

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calcipher763 · 5 years

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The Last Sunset

Jaune lay against the broken remnants of Beacon tower, his gaze looking out onto the sun setting over the kingdom of Vale. Fitting how their battle would end where it had all begun. This school, this tower, held so many memories for him. He’d lied and cheated his way to get in, convincing himself that he had what it took to pass himself off as a potential hero. All too quickly life had countered by forcing the reality of his situation on him, giving him an ultimatum time and again that would either allow him to return to the life he once knew or forge ahead, uncertain of what trials and challenges that lay in wait to see if the scrawny boy had the tenacity to push through the pain, guilt and heartache. He’d continued forward, partly out of stubbornness, partly out of spite, never knowing what lay ahead of him.

He could never have predicted what would transpire. He’d watched his partner Pyrrha, the invincible girl, being brought to her knees. He’d seen Beacon, a force of good that had faced down the evils of the Grimm for generations, reduced to a ruin. He’d witnessed the city of Vale, a once proud kingdom, become lost to the darkness. Yet again he was given the ultimatum and yet again he chose to forge ahead.

He thought he was doing it out of a sense of righteousness, or heroism. The moment he set out on the path towards Mistral he told himself he was doing this for all the right reasons. He would find Cinder, he would avenge Pyrrha, and he would return, the hero who had slain the villain. How wrong he had been. He had begun his journey as a child and ended it as a veteran, changed in ways that words could not describe and that no human eye could detect. Yet, the boy who had lied his way into Beacon was no longer the man who now lay watching the sun set.

How difficult it had been for him to face the truth, to look himself in the mirror and realize that he had done something far worse than any act Cinder or Salem could inflict on him. He’d lied to himself. He had fooled the fool and it nearly cost him everything.

He told himself he was avenging Pyrrha but in reality he was simply looking for revenge. There had been nothing noble about his desires. He was hurting. He was in pain. His guilt tore at his soul and it cried out for a reprieve. He could only think of one thing that might assuage his suffering. He would find Cinder and make her suffer. He would bring her to her knees, leave her helpless, powerless. She would know how he had felt that night the moment Pyrrha forced her lips upon his, distracting him with a momentary sensation of pleasure before throwing him into a locker and shooting him off to safety. What had hurt most about that wasn’t her actions but her reasons behind them. She knew he was too weak to fight alongside her, to support her. She knew he was useless in the fight to come. He hated himself for that. He hated himself for being weak and he hated Cinder for forcing him to acknowledge that.

That hatred had festered within him, keeping him awake at night, taunting him as he pushed himself through the aches and pains of his muscles in his training. It hung over him, like a cloud of disease. It whispered in his ear as he watched his teammates takedown the Grimm with ease while he supported them from the sidelines. It haunted him in his dreams, leaving him unable to sleep or rest. It echoed in her voice as Pyrrha’s final recording played over and over on his scroll, motivating him to become stronger, to never again allow someone he cared about be taken from him.

Then Cinder impaled Weiss with a spear and reality came crashing down around him.

How could he have been so stupid? How could he have been so foolish? Even with all his training and the damage Cinder had received at Ruby’s retaliation, he’d still been too weak to pose a threat to her and it had nearly cost him another friend. It had been a wake up call, a much needed one, though he was loath to admit it. He knew then that things had to change, his motivations had to change. He could no longer fight for revenge. He would fight to protect everything he held dear to him. He would fight to preserve those most precious to him. He would fight to never again know the feeling of lose at the hands of their foes.

“Hey there, Vomit boy. What’re you doing?” a familiar feminine voice spoke.

Jaune glanced up from his spot, gazing up at the form of Yang Xio Long as she stood against the backdrop of the setting sun. With her hands set squarely on her hips and her usual confident grin plastered on her face, she was a vision of beauty that most men dreamed of and many had been seen drooling over. Simply being in her presence could cause a man’s heart to race. For Jaune, however, she did much more to him than that.

“Just relaxing,” he said, “I’m a bit worn out from the battle. Figured I’d take a rest somewhere quiet.”

“I saw. You really gave Cinder a run for her money. Not sure how many people have been able to wipe that damn smirk off her face.”

“Not many, I’d wager,” he agreed, thinking back to the duel which had ensued between the two of them. It was all a blur to him, really. He hadn’t really been focused on defeating her. He’d only been focused on protecting his friends, of ensuring their future. Somehow that had been enough to undermine Cinder’s own motivations. She come into the battle with the same arrogant smirk she’d worn all throughout their various encounters but she left this world with an expression that showed she hadn’t expected to lose, let alone to someone like him.

“Everyone’s celebrating downstairs. All that’s missing is you.”

“I’ll come down later. I’m not really great with parties. That’s always been your thing,” he said.

“Well, if we’re being honest, I really only came up here because I was getting lonely,” she admitted, dropping her smile to adopt a more vulnerable expression. “Mind if I stay up here with you for a while?”

Jaune didn’t answer but instead smiled as he held out a hand to her. She took it, settling herself down beside him as she wrapped her arm around his torso and laid her head against his chest. He long golden hair tickled his chin, the lose strands rubbing against him as her head rose and fell with his chest. He could feel her warm body against his, a welcoming presence that had become so very precious to him in a short amount of time.

He wasn’t quite sure when it happened. Honestly, he didn’t really think it mattered all that much. Life has a way of bringing people together and hardships have a knack for forging bonds that never break. The same could be said for them. Yang had begun her journey simply out of a desire to keep her sister safe. Jaune had begun his out of a desire for revenge but quickly found himself fighting for something greater than himself. At some point these desires intersected and the end result spoke for itself.

“You know, moments like these are some of my favorites.”

“Hmm?” Yang asked, her head remaining firmly on her boyfriend’s chest as it rose and fell, her mind half asleep as a result.

“I know it sounds corny but I’ve always liked the simple pleasures. I enjoy moments that are more subtle, more patient, that don’t require a great deal of effort for a small reward. Moments like these always feel like they last longer, y’know?”

“I think I do,” she answered, silently contemplating what Jaune was saying. “What makes this moment so special to you?”

“Because you’re in it,” he said.

“That’s a given,” Yang said, turning her head so she could flash him a cocky grin.

“It’s deeper than that so bear with me,” he replied in retort, rolling his eyes at her joking attitude that, while annoying, was strangely charming in her own way. “Before I came to Beacon, before I meet you, my view of the world and how it worked was something akin to the fantasy genre. I thought I’d join Beacon, become a great hero, get a girlfriend, and live a life of fame and adventure.”

“So, exactly what’s happened to us?” she asked.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said with a frown.

“Then what do you mean?” she asked.

“Simply put, I never considered the cost. I never considered what I’d have to sacrifice or what I’d have taken from me. I never thought anything bad would happen to us. I never imagined we’d have to face the possibility of losing those we cared about or putting our lives on the line in a war that no one knew was being fought. I guess you could say that I fantasized about life as an adult without having actually matured. It was nice to imagine but not realistic.”

Yang was silent as Jaune spoke. It wasn’t that she didn’t get what he was saying. On the contrary, she knew better than anyone what he was talking about. It was a reality she’d been forced to face the moment Summer died. It was a moment that left her father a broken man and Ruby without a mother, too young to understand but not yet old enough to take care of herself. It was a moment where she’d chosen to step up and, as a result, forced herself to mature and face the reality of the world at a time when she should be hanging out with friends and deciding which cute boy she had a crush on.

Reality was a bitch.

“Then Beacon fell and Pyrrha sh- “

His words caught in his throat, causing his breath to hitch. Yang glanced up, her eyes filled with concern as she looked to her boyfriend. She could see his gaze had grown distant. Even after all this time he still had trouble with reliving those final moments. He blamed himself, even when he had no reason to. Pyrrha had made her choice. She had chosen to save him at the cost of her own life.

Without hesitating Yang reached up to touch his face and tilt his head down towards her own. She gave him a smile, not one of her signature sunny smirks but a simple one that held her affection for him. It was infectious and he soon smiled one of his own, wiping away imaginary tears before they could start to form.

“I’m alright,” he said.

“I know,” she replied softly. “So, you were talking about this is your favorite moment?”

“It’s this,” he said, pulling his arms tightly around her waist, drawing her closer to him. “It’s moments where just you and me are together, content to be in each other’s arms. It’s simple yet fulfilling. It’s strange how, just being with you, can make all the difference. I don’t need all those extravagant accessories that other people want or have. I don’t need money or fame or power to feel complete. I just need you here, with me, and I know that I am loved. When I hold you close like this, the most precious and important person in my life, I feel completely at ease because I know you feel the same way about me and that makes all the difference.”

All things considered, Yang wasn’t unexperienced when it came to love or dating. She’d dated her fair share of guys at Signal (none worth mentioning) and a few here and there during her time at Beacon. The one thing they had in common was how she felt around them. She was an accessory. She was one of the most popular and attractive girls at both schools. Simply having gone on a date with her could greatly boost your reputation. Still, she didn’t sell herself short. If you wanted more than a simply peck on the cheek you had to work for it.

Jaune, on the other hand, was unlike any of the guys she’d dated in the past. In a word he was genuine. He was loyal, almost to a fault. He pushed himself to be better, especially when he saw just how much difference there was between himself and his teammates. He never turned his back on what he believed to be the right course of action, even when it meant facing an unforgiving reality as a result. He never once ogled her or made her feel like an object. He was always kind, respectful, and even a little dorky.

Where most guess looked to her as a sexual object, he treated her like a beautiful flower. When other men would cat call or whistle he would give her a complement from the heart. He brought her flowers when most guys assumed she was too tomboyish to even care about them. He took her on actual dates, putting a great deal of time and effort into each one. He made an effort to make her feel like woman and it showed.

Perhaps that was what had attracted her to him most of all. Everything he said or did was from the heart. He wore his emotions of his sleeves but he was never ashamed of it. It made her heart beat a little faster simply thinking of how, when he looked at her, he saw the real Yang and not the icon most men imagined.

“I have to admit you make a pretty good argument,” she said.

Jaune cocked an eyebrow, sensing Yang was up to something but not quite sure what it was.

“So let me offer a rebuttal,” she said.

Before he could ask what she meant, Yang leaned forward, reaching her hand up behind his head to pull him closer, before smashing her lips against his. The act took him by surprise but he recovered quickly enough. His lips caressed hers softly, teasing her of what was to come. She pushed forward, pressing her tongue against his teeth in an act to bait him towards something more. He took it, of course, and almost immediately her embrace became more aggressive. Jaune matched her with his own, each of them vying for dominance while being swept away by the pleasure of the moment.

She leaned into him, pressing her chest up against his as one of his hands strayed downwards. She moaned in pleasure, feeling the need to take things further growing within her. She repressed them, for now anyway. Forcing themselves apart, Yang drew back to look into Jaune’s eyes as the last few moments slow dissipated from his mind.

“You make a fair point,” he said.

“That was just part one,” she said, rising to her feet before reaching down to pull Jaune to his own. “Come with me.”

“Where? No offense but I think it’s a bit late to go back to the party.”

“Who said anything about the party. I was thinking we should continue our conversation somewhere a little more private.”

“Oh,” he said, realizing what she meant. “I see your point.”

Perhaps he had spoken too soon when considering what constituted his favorite moments.

Well, it was in the top five at least.

Just a little something I was inspired to write while I was out reading. Seriously, 9 times out of 10, when I’m out for a run or at one of my favorite bookstores reading, I’ll be inspired by something and this is the end result so long as I take the time to actually write it. Hope you all enjoy.

#rwby #Jaune Arc #yang xiao long #dragonslayer #sunset #precious moments #top five

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xoxoendoh · 6 years

Text

Close to Lost

A leaf of cartography, an inkwell upturned… He’d stained the land, he’d blotted out the verdant life around him.

SasuSaku Month 2018, Day 4: Burn

A/N: No content warnings for this fic, and I apologize for being a whopping twenty-four days late! For whatever reason, this one took forever and a half.

Jukebox: "You Are the Moon" by The Hush Sound

FF.net link

Sakura had been wandering through the secluded training grounds, eyes downcast; her troubling ruminations as much to blame as the glare of the sinking sun. There was something about the place that kept her coming back, something reassuring.... Ever since the start of the chunin exams, she had been unable to quiet her mind. Sleepless nights strung together, wakeful worries interwove: she couldn’t shed the net tangled about her.

And through some frayed string of fate, she found the object of her rumination that evening. She caught him in a moment of weakness, shortly after he’d fallen to Sabaku no Gaara and the beast within him, a time near the cruel anniversary of his clan’s demise.

And he was sending up flares.

The gradual transition to twilight was the perfect showcase for his fireballs, their red flames churning upward to lick at the weary sun in spite, in envy.

They were her beacon, drawing her into the trees.

Under the canopy, the woods were dense and shadowy green—and just as they should be. Yet with every stride, the foliage grew more glaucous; the acerbic smell on the air strengthened, it burned…. And she began to hear the silence as she went deeper. There was nothing. No chirping, no scurrying. No cicadas humming their nightly crescendo, their exaltation of the rising moon. Not even cries warning of her intrusion. Just the sound of her footsteps and breath and the heavy quiet… Her instincts, however, beckoned her onward.

And all at once, she found his fury.

It could have been beautiful. Perhaps it was….

She saw downy dandelion parachutes suspended in spring; she saw windswept sakura petals, lilting and languid at the height of hanami….

Yet she knew she stood in summer. Her hands leapt to cover her mouth, her heart.

Fine motes cast a strange veil to compound the dusk. Tufts of ash drifted sedately, buoyant on the dense air; wispy embers, flickering orange and gold, floated along the heated murk. The incinerated terrain below hissed and sputtered in despairing protest.

A leaf of cartography, an inkwell upturned… He’d stained the land, he’d blotted out the verdant life around him.

The unfurling fumes thwarted her attempt at a calming breath, turning it into a muffled wheeze against her palm. Her fingers tightened at her collar, releasing the steam of perspiration; she shook her head, repelling the flecks as they sifted down. One footfall disturbed the chalk of the forest floor; the next created a small cloud. Uneven as they were, her steps took her through the ruin, the temperature climbing as the sun fell, until she stood a few feet away from the boy she loved. The origin of the blaze…

Her tiny frame trembled faintly in the wafting grey, in the orange glow of smoldering coals. She could feel the heat of his destruction radiating into her skin. And she knew she should look him in the eyes, but she couldn’t—not when his gaze had been so blank, so hollow only moments before…. He’d just stood there, among the scattered cinders and flames, the brittle charcoal, the blackened remnants of a vernal woodland. He could have been a child witnessing his first snowfall, dazed, unable to fathom it all. He hadn’t said a word. Perhaps he’d been unable.

"S-Sasuke-kun,” Sakura began hoarsely, sure in the need to break the silence, to tell him…yet so uncertain in the method, in the phrasing. “The day we became genin…” she trailed off, unable to deny her eyes the scene around him.

The burnt foliage above had come apart at the seams, falling so bright in the maturing darkness. Spores seeking to take root, nascent sparks popped and rocketed skyward to compete with those descending from the treetops. Flurrying and whirling, they clashed. Yet it was a futile rivalry, for even fire was failing: the last of the withering flames lusted after the unburnt traces at his feet; blindly, they reached and stretched and groped the scorched earth for virgin kindling to burn, to consume….

But there’s nothing left….

The notion tugged her from her odd reverie, sent a shiver to shake her spine. She’d seen enough. Sakura bit down on her lip. The grainy dust—the arid, acrid taste of smoke and wrath—lingered on her tongue as her lips parted.

The weight of her words and the pain in the memory sucked the remaining oxygen from the haze around her, forcing her to speak too quickly: “That day, you told me solitude is the worst sort of pain! I-I see it so clearly now, Sasuke-kun! I…” She felt weighted, so heavy. Her short hair shielded her face as she hung her head lower, eyes closed to the irritants and toxins around her. “I…” she tried again, in a whisper, “I didn’t back then, I had no idea…” Her voice was stronger: “But I think, maybe now, I understand what the pain of loneliness is. I have family and friends…but…”

She tentatively lifted her head to search for his eyes in the dim. She found them, dark and distant…and waiting. Hers shone and stung with tears to be—from the intensity of his regard; from the airborne debris in the sudden gust. The sparks floating around them flared and billowed on the wind. It whipped their hair; it reanimated the once-settled charred remnants…. Watching the displaced pall subside around her still feet, she waited for the words to come.

When they did, they were frail, fraught: “You feel so far away….”

Come back to me, hung unspoken.

Recovering herself, Sakura quietly cleared her throat and took a soft step forward. She kept her tone gentle, free of judgement: “It-it breaks my heart, Sasuke-kun, seeing you...like this.”

Eyes now keen, now wary on hers, he was still panting from the exertion of forging his own inferno. Singes dotted the skin around his mouth, where he’d exhaled fire. Like hers, his inky hair was dappled. Trickles of sweat streaked through the fine layer of grey on his face, stripping away the corruption, to reveal slivers of the boy she recognized, the boy she loved.

But as she examined the rest of him, she found myriad of scorch marks. He’d been reckless. His dominant arm hung forgotten at his side, the last vestiges of electricity convulsing through his fingers. So reckless...

She clenched the fabric of her dress; she felt her skin cool and prickle, felt the tiny hairs stand on end—like his current had somehow reached her.

Burning through your chakra like this—you could have killed yourself! You could have…

Despite the chill gripping her body, a drop of her own perspiration slid from her temple to her chin. The feeling, though slight, was enough to break her train of thought. For the briefest moment, she wondered what he saw in the vein of clarity it left on her…. She wondered if he could he see anything at all….

The droplet left her skin to disappear in the dust, and her mind centered. Somehow, she knew it was time for honesty. Somehow, she knew he needed to hear it:

“Because…you mean everything to me. Everything.”

The words had nearly caught in her throat, suspended like the ash in the sweltering air. I will not cry, she told herself. I won’t weep for him. He’s never wanted that, he never will—and he deserves more than my tears.

As tentative as it was instinctual, her hand reached out for his shoulder. Eyes flitting between his and her target, she braced for an adverse reaction upon the moment she made contact, she expected it. Though he stiffened, he didn’t swat her away or shrink back: he just stood there and allowed her featherlike touch; watching the dust settle to further mute her bright hair, questioning her with his dubious silence.

Her eyes rose from his shoulder to scrutinize the three black tomoe etched into his neck, as they so often did, and she silently cursed the Snake. Beyond the singes, the malicious, black mark was the only blemish on his body—the only visible manifestation of his suffering! Unless, of course, he set the coal of his eyes aflame…

And she’d seen the frightening power of both.

Is that what you were thinking, Sasuke-kun? ...Is that why you did this?

The fingers at the red of her collar clamped down, she moved to bite her lip again—but she stopped herself. She couldn’t give in to such a childish habit when she’d come this far, when he was listening. Determined, the verdure of her eyes returned to his.

“You don’t have to be alone, Sasuke-kun,” she spoke soothingly, careful to avoid a patronizing tone. “You’ll always have me.” As a shy smile formed around her last word, she felt blood rush to her flame-flushed cheeks. Sakura ignored the sensation and forced her lips to loosen: this wasn’t the time to give in to girlish whimsy; she’d make her body obey. She bent her elbow to step solicitously closer, close enough to smell the earthy scent she knew to be his through the miasma. One hand on him, the other on her heart, she swore: “Always.”

I love you so much…with all my heart, she thought, but I don’t think I can tell you that, not yet.

She gingerly traced his shoulder, nails collecting the fine, gritty precipitate there. She could feel the dexterity in the muscle, the power in the sinew…. And he didn’t flinch under her light touch, he didn’t avert his eyes. She moved nearer, preparing to see alarm or revulsion appear in his expression, until her forearm was flush against the length of his bicep, only a few inches of smoke separating the rest of them. She couldn't blink, she couldn't breathe for fear of dispelling the moment, her chance to reach him….

A branch snapped behind him; coils of red outlining its remaining leaves, faux fireflies swarming and twinkling in its wake. The fallen limb rippled through the powdery soot at the forest floor, sending it aloft once more.

Yet neither noticed, their senses entirely focused on the other.

Sakura was transfixed. She could see the suffering, the perpetual ache, the torment in the ink of his eyes—and it was dizzying. She’d known it was there, but she’d never seen its full extent…. She’d never seen it so close, so unconcealed. And just beneath, there was the acidic fury she’d tasted in the ashes. Tonight, his anger had burned too hot for his body to contain. The devastation around them, she realized, had been a momentary lapse in control, a flare of his temper. A mere glimmer of the roiling, lambent blaze inside him…

Hatred.

Its conflagration eclipsed the flicker of him that existed beyond loathing and vengeance—the flicker the Snake had tried to snuff out, the flicker she’d managed to sustain when his darkness burned black through his skin. She saw it so clearly then, for in that moment, he was living only for the past, only for the promise of retribution….

But they both knew the inevitability in fire….

One tear escaped to flow down her face: she could feel desperation coming on the night.

...They’d known it long before witnessing the aftermath of his arson.

Ignoring the shriek of warning she heard in the back of her mind, she stood on pointed toes and flung her arms around him. The impact of her embrace released a plume of ash to envelop them. She pressed her face to his neck, her lithe body to his, the muck on his skin coloring hers.

“I won’t let you be alone anymore,” she promised in a murmur to his ear, eyes shut to the despair around them. “Never again.”

She waited, stunned at her own audacity.

His heart thudded into hers; his chest expanded as he inhaled. The blue-black fringe at his nape stroked her forehead.

The last traces of tree sap crackled and bubbled in the dimming embers, crystalizing as the surviving coals waned to a low gleam….

Her eyes flew open, dilating in panic, in the umbrage: she felt the muscles in his hanging arms spasm and contract, considering motion. But she didn’t dare let go—not when he felt so close to lost.

So, eyes agape, she froze, not risking a breath….

Over his shoulder, she could see the world turn to shadow as the sun finally vanished. At last unobscured, sweet silver streamed down to mottle the earth, to temper the remaining hues of red and orange and yellow. The shimmering perigee of moonrise... The beginnings of a familiar nocturne hailed its coming: the warble of a songbird announced its proximity; insects revved and stammered, grappling toward their usual thrum; an owl called out, wistful and clear.

And then—haltingly, devoid of his usual grace—he bowed his head until his cheek rested on her hair.

Unsure if she was imagining it, afraid to dissolve the mirage, she held her gasp in her chest.

She felt the low rumble of his voice before she heard it, smoky on the clearing air:

“Sakura… Thank you…”

His breath, his words were soft on her skin…. They were warm.

So, what do you think? I'm still feeling so rusty when it comes to writing, particularly something like this…. Spent so much time second-guessing myself and nitpicking, and I really hope I got it right. Believe it or not, this actually has a Part II. PII was meant for Day 8: Flowers...but it will be a while before I get around to it!

And a huge shout out to @thepiestperson! Thank you for all your help with this lil' ficlet—you're a doll! Not sure when I would have finished this one without your input and encouragement. :)

My other SSM18 submissions:

☀ No content warning: Gravitation, Day 2: Side by Side

☾ Barely NSFW, then very NSFW:

Umbra, Day 11: Eclipse | The Cherry Wood Armoire, Day 31: Free

If you’re interested, you can read my other SasuSaku and ItaSaku work on FF.net.

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razieltwelve · 6 years

Text

Difference of Opinion (Final Rose)

It took Weiss the better part of half an hour to find a suitably isolated place in the gardens around the academy. She sat down underneath the tree and tried very hard to stay calm. Things had been going so well. She and Ruby were actually getting along, which in turn had led to Yang warming up to her. As lacking as Ruby was in some areas, the girl was at least willing to work hard to make up for any deficits. Weiss could respect that.

This morning, though, things had taken a turn for the worse. The topic of Faunus rights had come up, and with it the White Fang. Ruby and Yang had displayed an oddly nuanced view of the situation although perhaps that shouldn’t have surprised her. Cinder Fall was one of Vale’s elite security and intelligence operatives, and Summer Rose had adopted her after finding a young Cinder in the ruins of a devastated village. If anyone was aware of the White Fang situation in Vale, Cinder was.

But Weiss and Blake had swiftly found themselves on opposite sides of the argument. Oh, Weiss wasn’t stupid. She knew that the Faunus had some legitimate grievances, but she had also seen some of her own relatives killed in White Fang bombings and other terrorist attacks. If Blake - or anyone - thought for even a second that Weiss wouldn’t love to see every last one of those extremists dead, then they had another thing coming.

Blake had argued passionately for Faunus rights, but some of her words had sounded suspiciously like White Fang talking points. Was Blake a White Fang sympathiser? If she was, then Weiss wasn’t safe. The White Fang had shown its willingness to abduct and murder its enemies, and Weiss was arguably the second most important target they had behind her father. Part of her wanted to believe she was simply being paranoid - Blake seemed like a good person - but she couldn’t afford to be wrong.

“Yo.”

Weiss shrieked and stumbled to her feet, only to relax a moment later as she realised who had been standing behind her.

“Professor Dia.”

“You know,” the professor said, smiling as she sat down and patted the spot beside her. “It’s customary for people to each lunch with their friends.” The professor chuckled. “And before you point out my hypocrisy, I’m mostly out here right now because Professor Cuddles and his friends could use a run.”

Right on cue, the professor’s hamster and some other hamsters hopped out of her pockets. Making happy sounds, they began to frolic in the grass nearby as a small group of drones took to the air above them.

“Those are in case there are any birds or other animals thinking of making a meal out of my hamsters,” the professor said. “Nothing lethal, but a shock or two is usually enough to convince a hungry animal to back off. If that doesn’t work, an electrified net should do the trick.”

“I… see.”

Vanille tilted her head to one side. “You seemed to be getting along with your team much better, Weiss. What’s wrong?”

“It’s a personal matter,” Weiss said stiffly. “Professor.”

“I’m not surprised that it is, but it might help to talk about it.” Vanille paused. “That and it was kind of hard not to overhear your conversation with your teammates in the library since you and Blake were yelling at each other pretty loudly.” The professor patted her fox ears. “And I do have very good hearing.”

“Oh.” Weiss grimaced.

“If it helps, you’re not exactly wrong,” Vanille said. “About the White Fang, that is. Did you know they’ve attempted to assassinate me several times in the past?”

“What?” Weiss blurted. “But… but you’re a Faunus!”

“Yep.” The professor smiled sadly. “I’m a Faunus who doesn’t agree with their methods. Look, don’t get me wrong, Faunus aren’t always treated fairly everywhere, but I come from Oerba. In Oerba, Faunus and humans have been friends and allies for centuries because the simple truth of the matter is that if we don’t help each other, the Grimm are going to kill us all.”

“I wish it were that simple.”

“It is.” Vanille shrugged. “It’s not unusual for people to be prejudiced. Think of it as a kind of… modern day tribalism. But the thing is, exposure helps. If humans live and work alongside Faunus who want nothing more than to live good, productive lives, then it helps. If Faunus start blowing up transport hubs and murdering members of the judiciary, all they do is confirm all of the worst stereotypes.”

“I don’t hate Faunus,” Weiss said quietly. “Just the White Fang. They’ve… they’ve taken so much from my family.”

“I’m not going to blame you for hating them. If someone harmed my family, I’d hate them too.” The professor’s smile was cold and thin, an utterly alien expression on her normally cheerful face. “If someone hurt my family, I’d find them, and then I’d kill them. I’d kill their friends. I’d kill their family. I’d kill their Dust damned dog too. So, no, I don’t blame you for hating them. But at the same time, imagine you’re a Faunus. Imagine things are tough for you, and they never seem to get better. Imagine some people walk into your life saying they’ve got all the answers. They give you weapons and training. They give you a purpose. You’re not weak anymore. You’re strong. That’s… that’s a powerful feeling, Weiss.”

“You sound like you know how that feels.”

“Heh. I was an orphan, Weiss. My whole village died because of the Grimm. I tried to save them… but, well, I was only a kid then. Who ever listens to a kid?” The professor smiled ruefully. “When I was at an orphanage, that’s where I met Professor Yun. We became sisters, or rather we chose to become sisters. And you know what? It felt good having a family again, having someone who cared about me, and I swore then and there that I would never let anything happen to her. For those people in the White Fang, that’s how it feels to join. The White Fang isn’t just some organisation to them. It’s their family. It’s why so few of them ever leave. Who leaves their family?”

“That’s awful,” Weiss whispered. “They’re brainwashing people.”

“Call it what you like. It’s a smart thing to do. Why do you think the White Fang always goes after the poor and the downtrodden? They don’t bother with the Faunus who are doing okay because they likely won’t join. But the desperate, the ones with nobody and nothing to lose? Oh, they’ll join. It’s also why the White Fang goes after people like me. I started with nothing but the clothes on my back, and now I run a huge company that employs thousands of humans and Faunus around the world. I’m living proof that there’s another way, a better way, a way of hard work and heroism rather than terror and extremism.”

“What should I do?” Weiss asked. “I like Blake. She seems like a good person. But some of the things she said…”

“The White Fang weren’t always bad,” Vanille replied. “They had noble goals once. But things changed, and so did their leadership.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“I’m sure a lot of people would say the same thing about your father and the SDC,” Vanille replied. Weiss’s eyes widened in shock. “I knew your grandfather, Weiss. He was a great man. The SDC hasn’t been the same since he died. And, no, I’m not saying your family are terrorists, I’m simply pointing out how quickly things can change.”

“I feel like I’m always the one who has to apologise,” Weiss said. “And that’s just… it’s not fair.”

“In this case, you and Blake are both at fault. Neither of you know enough about each other’s pasts to understand just where you’re coming from.” Vanille smiled faintly. “You and Professor Villiers get along pretty well, so I’ll share something he once said to me: we can never outrun our past even if we eventually find the strength to overcome it. You and Blake are both products of your past, but that doesn’t mean your pasts have to define your futures.”

Weiss said nothing for a long time. “You’re very smart, professor,” she said at last. “Thanks for the advice.”

“I am literally the smartest person on the planet, but I’ll take that as a compliment.” Vanille waved as Weiss stood. “If you want to pay me back, spend more time with Professor Villiers. He thinks you’ve been avoiding him.”

“I will,” Weiss said

As Weiss rushed off, Professor Cuddles hopped back onto Vanille’s lap for a treat. “Such troublesome students we have this year,” Vanille murmured. “But few great things come about easily.”

X X X

When Weiss got back to the dorm room, Blake was waiting for her. Ruby and Yang were mysteriously absent too.

“Blake…”

The other girl held up one hand. “Just… just wait a second.” She took a second to compose herself. “Listen… we both said a lot of things in the library. I… I don’t know how to feel about the rest of the Schnee family, but I… we’ve known each other for a month now, Weiss. We’ve gone on missions and taken classes together, and I think I know you well enough to say this: you… you are a good person. I’m not saying you're perfect or anything, but you’ve been doing your best to help all of us with anything you can, and you’ve gone out of your way to make adjustments. That’s not easy, and you deserve credit for it.” Her voice softened. “So I’m not going to apologise for wanting more Faunus rights, but I will apologise if I made you feel bad or if I ever gave the impression that I supported anything that has happened to your family. You don’t deserve that.”

Weiss blinked. She was feeling just a tad teary. “I… you’re a good person too Blake. And I want Faunus to have equal rights too. We’ve both got things we’re not willing to talk about yet, but I hope the day comes when we’re both ready to share our pasts. I can wait. I trust you.”

“Weiss -”

“Yay!” Ruby practically exploded out of one of the closest as Yang tumbled out of another. “We’re all friends again!”

“You were hiding in the closet?” Weiss and Blake shrieked together.

“Yeah!” Ruby cheerfully dragged both Weiss and Blake into a hug. When they resisted, Yang added her own strength, which settled the matter. “I know you two are good at noticing people, so I might have borrowed some stuff from Diana.”

“Some stuff?” Weiss hissed. “What kind of stuff?”

“Oh, well, you know. Sound suppression. Holographic camouflage. Aura concealment tech. A bit of everything.”

Blake scowled. “We’re going to talk about this, Ruby.”

“Of course, we are.” Ruby beamed. “And we can talk about it because we’re friends, right?’

“Yes,” Blake and Weiss said together. “I guess we are.”

#final rose #fanfiction #weiss schnee #oerba dia vanille #blake belladonna #ruby rose #yang xiao long #team rwby #mr cuddles

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moonsandstar-s · 7 years

Text

The Final Warning - Chapter XX

Chapter XX - Fallen Angels and Risen Demons

Summary: As the year draws to a close, peace has finally dawned. The time for unity has arrived. In the Vytal festival, it is time for heroes to rise, bringing glory to their kingdoms. But as autumn dies, the first winds of winter blow over Remnant, chilling the hearts of the people; breathing doubt into their souls. Long-buried secrets will triumph, and every action will have a consequence. Ruby must reconcile herself with her own fate. Weiss struggles to escape her legacy. Blake cannot erase memories. Yang’s search leads her into more peril than ever— but none of them can outrun fate. Shadows turn on shadows, and bonds shatter as they are tested to the limit. For in dividing them, they will fall and burn; at the eye of the storm, no peace lasts forever. In the end and beginning of time, there is a place where the sun never rises, and the dead delight to teach the living. A great danger is rising from the darkness. It’s time to take sides. The final warning is coming. The first chill of winter is the most deadly; it is the chill that kills more than any other. The first betrayal is the most damaging; it is the act that shatters bonds of love and trust, crushing even the strongest heart, tearing teams apart. AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/7745314/chapters/21163190 Qrow

“This is ridiculous,” Qrow snapped, swinging his sword around to lop off the head of a Beowolf as it crept up behind him. “I knew Ironwood’s little play soldiers wouldn’t be able to hold back a tide of Grimm, and I was right, and here we are—”

“Did you want to be right?” Goodwitch spat, ducking around and about, dodging a lashing King Taijitu, in a similarly precarious situation. She was surrounded by Grimm— they both were. Two Hunters weren’t sufficient enough to hold back this many all at once. They could buy Vale some time, but not a lot, and Qrow knew it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.

“Of course I didn’t want to be right.” He turned, narrowing his eyes as he saw a Griffon trying to sneak up on him. Backflipping over its low, lean body, he leaped up behind it, scissoring the head off of the Grimm and riding its body to the ground as it faded, hitting the ground in a roll and stopping in a low crouch. For a moment, a flash of euphoria sung through him. This was where he belonged, killing Grimm on Ozpin’s orders, protecting his kingdom and his family. Being a Huntsman. It was what he trained for, and he wouldn’t give it up for the world.

“Impressive,” Goodwitch said, jerking him back to the dark reality they were in, “but you’re not here to impress Ozpin as usual, Branwen, you’re here to fight alongside me.”

He rolled his eyes, annoyed that she had popped his brief happiness like a balloon. “Killjoy. This night is too hellish for my tastes, Glynda, so I’m not trying to impress you. God, I could really go for a good whiskey right now.”

“You don’t have your flask on you, do you?” She looked surprised as she noticed how he was only armed with his broadsword, barely distracted as she turned around to cut down a Creep bounding towards her with a bellow. “Don’t tell me you’re actually sober.”

“Believe it or not,” he growled, slamming the sword into the ground for balance, “I am. Probably not for the better, though, because this sight is damn well unpleasant enough as it is without clarity.”

“You haven’t changed a bit from the same boy who walked into Beacon.” Looking annoyed, she sent out a pronged lance of violet light, making three Nevermores plummet from the sky, shrieking as their skin was stripped from their bones. “Arrogant to the last. What would you prefer, Branwen, a little tea party?”

“I’m a Huntsmen, not a dainty little lady.” Scowling, he spun around, light sparking silver off his sword as he slashed the throat of a Beowolf. “Do you think any other environment would make me comfortable?”

“Only you would be comfortable in the midst of carnage like this.”

“Carnage is alright, but this isn’t a regular battle,” he said angrily, stabbing a Grimm through the skull and stepping back as a spray of black ichor fountained out. “It’s betrayal, and with the involvement of the Maidens and deception… well, there’s too much magic at work tonight for me to be comfortable.”

All the bad things are coming out to play. The Fall Maiden’s assailant, Ironwood’s military, the Grimm, that blasted criminal Torchwick, and God knows where Raven is, but I’ll hope she doesn’t make an appearance. That’s the last thing we need. They had both raced up to Ozpin’s office after Cinder’s speech, and he’d sent them here, as if they were just Hunters and nothing more. He’s going to fight a Maiden, and I’m stuck here. Stuck in the city while Ozpin risks his life.

“Watch out!”

He spun around, wild-eyed, just in time to see a Grimm’s claws swiping for his face, faster than the eye could follow. Before he could react, a blast of hot copper light exploded over his head, and the Grimm fell, screaming in agony as fire devoured its flesh.

“Fire Dust?” Qrow asked hoarsely, watching as the bones turned to ash, crumbling in the bitter winter wind. “Well. I’m sure we could all stand a bit of warmth tonight, Glynda. Smart choice.”

“I don’t approve of Dust use excessively, but if it saves lives—” She broke off as a low rumble shivered through the air, and her eyes flashed up to meet his. “Did you feel that?”

Qrow straightened, looking around, before staggering as the earth heaved and shook around them, rubble crashing to the ground. A Creep shrieked as a stone gargoyle plummeted from a roof and crushed it, a gout of black blood spraying out in a fan across the cobblestones.

The air began to shudder, shaking with the roar of wind, chopping and unsteady. He gritted his teeth, standing up on the shivering earth with his sword planted in the ground for balance, and threw a glance towards Glynda. She said something that he couldn’t hear, her words lost in the growing swell of wind.

Suddenly, a scream split the night.

They looked up in an almost comical unison as a black shadow streaked overhead, giving another unearthly roar as it flashed past, intent on the glittering spire of Beacon Tower. Qrow caught a single glimpse of a gaping maw lined with hundreds of slavering teeth, batlike, blood-colored wings lined with veiny dark cords, terrifying, red, hollow eyes— but the eyes of the Grimm were mindless, filled only with seething rage and hatred against humanity, and no intelligence. But the eyes of the wyvern were hot with a hatred that spoke of intelligence and revenge— this Grimm was no more a like a regular Grimm than an eagle was like a fly.

The wyvern. The negative emotions from Vale; they woke it up.

“This was Salem’s plan!” Qrow shouted over the roar of the wind. “We’re scattered; there’s no way we can get through this. And Ozpin, up in the tower—” Qrow’s eyes widened. “He’s going to try and fight the Maiden’s assailant and the wyvern,” he breathed out in realization, his voice nearly lost in the howling storm. “He knew about the Maiden, but not the wyvern! He can’t hope to stand up to two of the strongest things on the face of Remnant. He’ll die! We have to go back!”

Glynda seemed to snarl at that, whipping around to take down a cluster of Grimm. “We have orders from him to protect the people, Qrow,” she snapped. “Here, in the city. Vale and nowhere else.”

“But Ozpin—”

“Ozpin trusted you!” She thrust her lance upward, sending out spirals of white light that lit up the sky with the brilliance of the sun, banishing the shadows of the Grimm that threatened all around. “He trusted you to keep the city safe. He knows what he’s doing, and he knows his own choices.” Her voice lowered. "He's not a fool, Qrow. You knew him - better than any of us, perhaps. You know that."

“No. I don't care about valor or self-sacrifice, don't you get it? I can’t let him die.” Qrow began to struggle to his feet, blood run unchecked down the side of his face as he propped himself up on his sword, every muscle in his body screaming in pain. “I can’t. I won’t.”

“Qrow, you have to let him do this! We need you here or more people are going to die. He always wanted to save innocent lives. He’s not a coward. He knows about Salem, about the wyvern and the Maiden’s assailant, he knew all of it, he was prepared for this possibility—”

Qrow shook his head impatiently, scattering scarlet drops of blood. “But he was counting on being able to transfer Amber’s powers to Pyrrha; he’s lost that now; there’s not enough time to do the transfer. He’s on his own.”

“This is the way it has to be.” Her eyes were full of pain and he wondered if she had known about his feelings all along. She must have, by the way she was looking at him, with pity he had never wanted, had never deserved. “Don’t let that sacrifice be in vain, Qrow. Let him go.” Her voice dropped to a pained whisper, one he felt reflected in his heart. “Let him go.”

He stumbled, the hilt of his sword digging into the skin of his chest, right where his heart was beating. I’ve lost everything, he thought. My team. Summer, and Raven to the Maiden’s powers, and now Ozpin too… / / /

Ruby

She landed on the very edge of the airship with a thud that reverberated up through her bones, and teetered wildly, arms pinwheeling as she fought not to be hurled off the side. Wind scoured the whirring ship, and she staggered forward a few paces, falling to her knees and retching as the tension and nausea from her wild flight through the air took their toll.

Just as she got to her feet again, clutching Crescent Rose like a lifeline, the air began to pulse like a heartbeat.

No, Ruby thought, puzzled. Not a heartbeat. A… wingbeat.

She turned around and yelped in fright, a yelp was torn from her mouth by the vengeful storm as she saw the cause of it. A shadow— a Grimm— was swooping towards her, but no Grimm she had ever seen or studied about was this big. Its wings blotted out the stars, huge and bat-like, lined with blood-red veins. Its head was cruelly shaped, with sharp horns, its eyes glaring scarlet fury through the night.

It disappeared, hellbent on some distant location, and she squeezed her eyes shut tight as she realized its destination— Beacon Tower, each thunderous wingbeat winging it closer.

Nobody could stand up to a Grimm that big, she thought in horror. Nobody. Nobody could. And if it’s heading to Beacon… towards the Tower… They’re in trouble! Qrow and my team and Ozpin and all the rest… and the airship in the sky with my friends!

The wingbeats faded, leaving her alone with the wailing of the wind and the Grimm. Ruby shook her head to clear it, before pausing as she sensed something, something wrong, like someone unseen was watching her. Tensing up very slowly, she turned around.

She heard the girl before she saw her— heard the clicking of footsteps, even above the shrieking, howling storm of snow and Grimm. Shaking, she raised her eyes, blinking against the tempest of snow and wind flung in her face. A short-statured girl was standing there, looking coldly amused as she stared down at Ruby, who recognized her instantly, even though she had seen her only twice: this was the tricolored girl who had aided Roman Torchwick; who had almost murdered Yang.

She remembered what Ironwood had said. An individual posing as a student, the one we all heard making her speech, has gone rogue, using Torchwick to commandeer my fleet of airships, releasing Grimm all over Vale. But Cinder couldn’t have freed Torchwick if she was making her speech— and Torchwick had been in Ironwood’s ship, locked up, just as they had handcuffed him last year in the Grimm attack on the city.

“You broke him out of jail, didn’t you?” Ruby gasped, words ripped from her mouth by the violence of the storm. “Torchwick. Out of Ironwood’s ship. He shot his ship out of the sky, and it’s your fault! Torchwick killed Ironwood!”

The girl’s eyes narrowed and she made an odd movement of her hand, a slicing downward motion.

She’s mute, Ruby realized, before hardening her heart and sweeping Crescent Rose in front of her. “Get back. I mean it. I’m here to fight Roman, not you. I will hurt you if you get in the way.”

She smiled. Ruby, caught off guard, stared at her before she saw that the girl was looking over Ruby’s shoulder— at something behind her. Too late, Ruby remembered one of the first lessons she had ever been taught as a Huntress.

Look behind you, Ruby.

“Well, well, little Red.” She whipped around and froze as Torchwick smiled down at her, having snuck up in the howling storm. The barrel of his cane was trained right on her forehead, his finger on the trigger, and in the half-light, his eyes gleamed with a feral green shine. “Are you really in any position to be making threats?” He hissed. “I think not.” / / /

Qrow

Qrow plunged his blade through the skull of a Griffon so viciously that it crunched through the bone, blood spurting out in a black gout that coated his hands up to the wrists in a shining, dark glove. It screamed, but he was whirling away as it faded, killing everything about him, hardly aware of anything except the icy-fire of adrenaline, the sort of high you could only get in a fight.

He laid into the Grimm with a savagery that wasn’t unfamiliar, so to speak, but he had never felt such fury while in battle with Grimm. He didn’t hate them, because they were, to the well-trained Huntsman, an insignificant threat on their own. You couldn’t hate something that was mindless. But his fury with everything— at his own helplessness, at Ozpin’s self-sacrifice— made every blow he landed twice as hateful, twice as forceful, acquitting himself especially well, every part of him numb, as though locked in ice.

The wyvern had gone, already flown overhead, and he and Glynda were fighting for their lives once more. The tide of Grimm had receded, but only barely, and he wasn’t sure why. Most Grimm didn’t process danger— only some were smart enough to do that, like the Mammoths and the Father Grimm— they just hurled themselves right into the spot where other Grimm had been slain, launching themselves into death like lemmings. He supposed that the Grimm had figured out that to come here was die on the point of his sword, or perhaps they’d been drawn to Beacon by the greater number of negative emotions there. Either way, the battle had begun to lull, allowing him to take a few breaths and recuperate, if only slightly.

Just as he bent over the hilt of his sword, panting, he heard a noise— an odd clicking, followed by a low humming that was oddly sinister, one that sent a chill like ice water trickling down his spine.

He turned around slowly.

An Atlas soldier, the mechanical ones, which had been battling against the Grimm alongside he and Glynda— however poorly— stood there, gun trained directly on the spot between Qrow’s eyes, an eerie red glow, like the Grimm’s gaze, emanating from the blank hollow of its eyes. He knew instantly what had happened.

“Glynda!” he hollered, using his sword to deliver an uppercut, sending the soldier toppling to the ground in a squeal of gears and sparks that swarmed up like a host of fireflies in the glowing dimness. “We’ve got a bit of a problem!”

She turned around and swore— an unusual occurrence— as she saw that the Atlas soldiers were all marching towards them in a uniform line, their eyes bright red. “Ironwood’s military—”

“No. Humans should be okay, but his robots are hacked by the enemy. Bad as the Grimm now, or worse.” Qrow crouched, bristling, his sword barred over his chest.

“What do we do?”

“What I’ve been wanting to do for years.” A smile that more resembled a snarl flitted across his face. “Chop those bastards into tiddlywink little pieces.”

The battle recommenced, now a furious whirlwind of howls and screams and flashing claws. He and Glynda fell in, back to back, a slashing storm of silver metal and bright lances of light. He casually stabbed a Beowolf in the spine as it hurled itself towards him, and it staggered into Glynda’s reach, yowling. She seized it in a web of violet light and it disintegrated, screaming.

“Qrow, we can’t keep this up forever!” she shouted, but he barely heard her, his ears full of the hum of battle. “My energy—”

“I don’t think we’re doing too badly,” he growled, twirling his sword around so that the starlight sparkled silver off of it, “all things considered.”

After that, it was chaos. She got torn away from him, leaving them both to fight alone. Slowly— very slowly, so much so that he wouldn’t have noticed it if he wasn’t an experienced Huntsman— the battle began to slow, and stop, until the only noise was the ringing in his ears and his own harsh breath. The storm had lulled, snow now coming down in gentle, beautiful flakes that contrasted sharply with the terrible carnage all around him, and the wind was little more than a whisper in his ears.

The street was empty. Atlas soldiers lay around like badly-jointed dolls, some still spitting sparks. The Grimm, of course, had all faded away when they died, but the air reeked of something burned, like scorched sugar and toast, a sharp, lip-curling stench. Black ichor pooled in puddles on the street, turning to ice at the fringes in the bitter coldness.

In the brief lull that followed, his adrenaline faded, leaving his exhaustion free to hit him like a ton of bricks. He became painfully aware of how ragged he was, covered in blood and grime, wounded all over. He didn’t want to be here; he wanted— no, needed— to be back where he belonged, protecting Ruby and Yang, protecting Ozpin, protecting Beacon, his only real home.

“Qrow!” Goodrich’s voice was unmistakably frightened. “Qrow, come here. Quickly!”

Thoughts scattering, he turned around, eyes narrowing, before his stomach dropped into freefall as he saw what had scared her. She was standing over a pale form, and as he strode over, the darkness receded just enough so that the form resolved itself into a more definite figure. A corpse. A corpse that lay face-up, expression frozen in one last snarl of defiance, weapon rolled slightly away from their outstretched hand. It was a boy, no older than seventeen, his short brown hair ruffled by the bitter night wind.

“Cardin Winchester,” she murmured, her voice shaking minutely. “A first year student. We should have been watching him, Qrow—”

“No. I’ve seen much worse in my career. Especially on my missions for Oz.” His heart giving a constricting squeeze at the name, Qrow grunted, using the toe of his boot to nudge the boy’s body. He was undeniably dead, flopping away from Qrow’s touch. “Besides, a Beacon kid should've been able to look after himself. This was bad luck - bad luck and nothing more, and no one can prevent turns of luck. His Aura must have just run out. You think a Grimm killed him?”

“No,” she said sadly. “No, he was a strong Huntsmen. No Grimm could have really hurt him, not fatally. Besides,” she crouched down, fingers gently brushing over a spot on the small of his back where blood slowly spread out, staining his clothes, “there’s this. A bullet hole. One of Ironwood’s guards must have shot him in the back. He couldn’t have seen it coming. No one deserves a death like that. Not even a boy like him, bully and simple as he was.”

Qrow turned away as he heard a howl in the distance, indicating that more Grimm were on their way. “Well,” he said, the ice already flooding his veins once more, “undoubtedly, you’ll see more death tonight.” / / /

Ruby

As soon as she saw the barrel of the gun and the gleam of his eyes, her training kicked in. She ducked, sweeping her foot around and catching Torchwick on the feet, sending him down, but then the girl was attacking from the other side, stabbing at Ruby, backflipping over and weaving around and around in a colorful blur. She lashed out with Crescent Rose, driving them both back, where they circled her, snarling like predators.

“So,” Ruby panted, “so this was your goal all along… not the White Fang and not getting Dust… but this!”

Torchwick’s green eyes held an ugly glitter. “Give it up, Red,” he said, his voice almost a croon. “Don't be a fool. Everyone at Beacon tonight is as good as dead.”

Fury still burning white-hot in her veins like open wires, Ruby brandished Crescent Rose again as the girl tried to sneak around her back and launch an ambush, sending her reeling away. “But why?” she spat. “You don’t get anything out of the Grimm ruling Remnant, you don’t get anything out of destroying Beacon… why not get out of here, go to Mistral, where thieves belong? Why ally with Cinder, why all this? What could you possibly gain from destroying the world you live in!”

Torchwick threw back his head and laughed, actually laughed, a harsh sound that sounded detached and insane in the shrieking storm. “The naïvety of the innocent,” he said. “Oh, but it never fails! Let me tell you something, darling. You’re asking the wrong questions. It’s never about what there is to gain, not to the criminal… but how far I have to fall.”

With that, they both attacked, rushing her from both sides. Ruby activated her semblance, hurtling out of the flanking maneuver in a flurry of rose petals whipped away by the vicious wind.

“Run and hide, run and hide, little Red!” His voice came from somewhere behind her, gleeful in the shadows. “You can’t escape me!”

Can't I? She thought grimly, before whipping around and slashing her scythe at him. He lurched back with a scream, and she saw blood well up blackly from a shallow wound she had slashed across his chest.

“You bitch!” he snarled, shooting at her. She wasn’t fast enough to dodge it, and it crashed into her, her Aura rippling throughout her system to deflect the strike, but she still cried out as a sharp pain bloomed out from the center of her chest.

And as she backed away, shaking away the pain, out of nowhere a blinding pain smashed into her left temple, and she saw Torchwick’s cane darting back from his strike before blackness crashed over her in an agonizing wave. She staggered, her foot going down to find purchase, and it found only empty air.

Her hands slammed onto the edge of the ship just in time as she slipped and fell off the side, and she dangled, feet kicking out over the void. Nevermores swirled and shrieked below her, and she fought off a dizzying, white flash of panic. She was thousands of feet above the ground; if she fell, she would die.

Torchwick stood above her, a slow grin spreading across his face as the girl came to stand beside him. “Back where we started,” he said, looking down at her, shadows moving over his face. Ruby’s fingers were growing numb, and she knew it was only a matter of minutes before she plummeted headlong to her death. The thought felt oddly slow, and she felt blood seeping out from the spot where his cane had struck her temple. A curious mixture of panic and adrenaline thrummed through her, and then, suddenly, Weiss’s face flickered behind her eyelids— not as Ruby had seen her last, drawn and worried as she and Blake had left for the fairgrounds, but when they had Bonded, her face bathed in a golden glow, an odd softness in her eyes, her hands warm and slender in Ruby’s. All those memories that were not Ruby’s own, all the emotion that did not belong to her. She remembered the surety of having another heart close to yours in spirit, the warmth of love that never wavered.

Torchwick’s face, above hers, loomed like the moon. “Any last words, Red?”

There is always a way out.

“Yes,” she said, her voice coming out in a way she didn’t recognize, harsh and scraped raw with hatred. “Goodbye.”

With that, with her last burst of strength, she surged upward and yanked on the girl’s knife, unbalancing her and making her stagger away from Torchwick, the silver light of the blade slashing away as she stumbled. That one step was all she needed. The wind did the rest, tearing her unsteady balance and hurling her off the edge, and Ruby hauled herself up off the brink and onto the steady ship as the girl went plummeting into the dark void of the night as Torchwick let out a scream of sheer rage and fury. She looked back for one wild-eyed instant and saw the girl disappear into a fleet of sharp-taloned Nevermores, her screams of agony floating back through the night as they tore her to pieces. Ruby cried out as the ship bucked, sending her to her hands and knees.

“Neo!” Roman howled, and Ruby collapsed on the edge, one hand clutching with white-knuckled fingers on Crescent Rose, the other splayed on the ship. For a moment, she pressed her cheek to the icy metal, breathing in and trying to control the wild thump of her heartbeat. Then reality stepped in, and she rolled to the side with a cry of alarm as Torchwick’s cane slammed down where her head had been a second before.

“You!” he snarled, his face looming crazily above her. “You killed her!”

Ruby staggered to her feet, swinging Crescent Rose around in a wide arc, moonlight bouncing off the blade. “I don’t care what you say, or what you think,” she said, a dark emotion she had never felt before coursing through her veins. “I will stop them, and I will stop you. Even if I have to kill you too!”

His eyes glittered with a dangerously unhinged glint, and he didn’t reply, only lashing out at her as gunfire spat out in golden explosions from his cane. There was a disjointed fury to his movements, a wild ferocity that would destroy him. Blind rage was never good in battle, and it was his undoing.

“You have spirit, Red,” he hissed, swinging his cane around and barely missing her as she ducked to avoid it, slashing out with Crescent Rose. “But this is the real world! It’s cold, it’s cruel, and it doesn’t care about spirit— you want to be a hero? Then play the part and die like every other damned savior in history!”

In that moment, she saw it, the tiniest gap in his defenses, where he favored his left arm over his right, trying not to open up the wound she had gashed across his chest. She saw the opening, and with the quickest of darting strikes, she lunged forward and stabbed him in the chest.

He lurched back with a choked cry, the faintest sizzling noise on the air telling her that his Aura had expired completely. Her strike wasn’t fatal, but he staggered backward, and, knowing that it must be done, feeling oddly detached from the sudden ice in her heart, she used Crescent Rose to help his fall.

He slipped off the edge with a final scream.

She watched him fall into the dark night, his scream fading as he plunged down, down, down, his hair the only part of him she could see, like a spark fading to darkness. As she watched, a swooping Nevermore snatched him up with a screech of triumph that didn’t drown out his dying scream, and Ruby turned away with a shiver of fear so she wouldn’t see his death. She wondered, briefly, why she felt so conflicted— she had done the right thing; Torchwick would have fired on the school, maybe even killed more people— before she realized. He was the first person she had known, in a way, that she had killed. She had killed Grimm, but this was different. Torchwick had an Aura, a soul.

Behind her, the ship— already beginning to tilt into a nosedive as it registered the death of its pilot— was tipping over, and Ruby knew she wasn’t safe yet

It looks like I have to make the flight again. Except this time, it’s the last.

With one final prayer and a glance back at the dark night rising, she shouldered Crescent Rose and leaped off the edge, into the abyss of darkness, leaving the ship, the Grimm, and the spot of the slaughter far, far behind her.

/ / /

Weiss

She and Blake had split the instant they entered the courtyard, and now she was fighting for her life, desperately trying to quash the terrible fear rising inside of her.

She knew Ruby was fighting, but where? Her Bond had been electric with pain, adrenaline, and fear the whole night— all unmistakable signs of battle. Weiss was getting better and better at reading Ruby’s emotions, but she couldn’t make head or tail of the coldness that had suddenly emanated from the Bond.

“Weiss, watch it!”

She jerked backward just in time to avoid gunfire spitting out from the gun of an Atlesian-Knight, and she stabbed it between the joints of its back, sending it down in a shower of sparks. The sparks scattered hungrily, seeking fuel, and she shivered as they caught on the limp corpse of a White Fang member, long dead. Their horns were red down to the base with blood, and a bloody slash gaped in their throat, ragged flaps of skin fluttering slightly in the screeching gale. As she watched, the flames caught, devouring their body in a shroud of dancing golden flames, smoke belching upward.

A pyre.

She leaped away from the burning body, the reek of charred flesh already thick on the air, and reengaged in the battle, her heart pounding fit to burst. She could feel a heavy pressure at her temple, pressuring her, but she had no idea if it was her own or Ruby’s.

Leaping back into the battle, she looked around, scanning for anyone who might need help. Neptune and Sun were going toe to toe with a league of knights, but they seemed to have the matter well in hand; Yatsu and Coco were acquitting themselves especially well, laying into White Fang members so angrily that their hands were coated in red up to the wrists; Team TEAL were circling a pack of Ursai, taunting them; then Weiss saw Velvet, cornered by a furious White Fang member. She stood there, blade to blade with him, one who looked furious as the blue light of her weapon rippled over his masked face. “I know you,” he growled to her as Weiss approached. “You’re a Faunus. You should be with the revolution, with the White Fang. You weren’t courageous enough to join!”

“At least I was courageous enough to recognize that true progress isn’t made through fear.” She struck out, and the member dropped their blade with a scream. “Now it’s your turn to run.”

She stabbed him through the arm and he turned to flee, running straight into Weiss, who sent him flying away with a glyph. He crashed into a stone and fell off the side of the courtyard, and Weiss turned away, seeing Velvet, who had her hands on her knees and was bent over, panting.

“Thanks, Weiss,” she said through broken breaths. “I’m so tired… never fought this many before…”

Out of the dark, behind her, a Grimm suddenly lunged, white claws flashing forward as its huge jaws gaped, ready to crush her skull. There was no time, no time to shout a warning, to do anything except watch in horror—

And then, suddenly, an intense surge of power let loose in her veins like a firework going off, the pressure evaporating from her skull as it rushed outward, through her veins, into her palms, into Myrtenaster itself, and it exploded from the razor-sharp tip in a blinding white glyph. Weiss’s eyes were forced shut as a huge explosion of white made her stagger back.

Weiss peeled open her eyes, and let out a cry of alarm as she saw what had happened.

The shimmering, intricate glyph for Summoning lay upon the ground, undulating and shining like the moon itself had fallen. The Grimm lay on the ground, impaled through the back by a massive, white, translucent sword. She could hardly force herself to do it, but she lifted her eyes, gazing up at Velvet’s savior, and her own, and what she saw took her breath away.

It was the knight. The one she had killed, the one that she had been forced to kill to gain entrance to Beacon by Vincent’s precedent. It stood there, looking down at her, and Winter’s voice echoed in her mind. “Excellent form! Now think to your fallen foes! The ones who forced you to push past where you were, and become who you are now. Think of them, and watch as they come to your side.”

Weiss watched, and watched, her heart in her throat, blood rushing in her veins like ice. And as she watched, the knight gave her the tiniest of nods before it faded away into shimmering nothingness.

“Weiss,” Velvet said softly, stunned speechless, her eyes huge and terrified.

I Summoned it, she thought, staring at her hands in shock. They were unchanged, but they felt different, somehow, stronger where they gripped Myrtenaster. I actually Summoned it.

She gave Velvet one look before tumbling back into battle with a new confidence flooding her veins. She saw a team she recognized vaguely— Team TEAL— all of them teamed up to take down a Paladin. Talos was up on its head, bashing into it with a glinting gold sword, while Eliás and Amber circled in furious blurs around its clawed feet, their whips flying. In the middle, Leah yelled a war cry before stabbing a spear into its mainframe, electric blue sparks flying out from the contact point.

“Go! Get out of here!” Talos yelled at her as she paused. “We’ve got it covered!” Roaring in defiance, shaggy hair whipping around his face, he backflipped off the machine and landed on the ground. Confident she was leaving them in safe hands— their own— she turn and pelted off.

Weiss didn’t really know when the battle ended, or when a lull came. All of a sudden, she was blade-to-claw with a slavering Beowolf, and then she stabbed it through the heart. It keeled over with a wail, dissolving into a thick cloud of black smog. When it faded, no other enemies lunged forward to take its place, and Weiss realized that the battle had come to a standstill as everyone paused to lick their wounds and regroup. The Grimm had retreated somewhat, to the farthest reaches of the courtyard, realizing that they were only being killed like lemmings by the furious Huntsmen and Huntresses in training. They were mindless, but their instincts could preserve at times, it seemed.

For a moment, she felt a flicker of hope that they might all survive tonight, that it would be okay despite the impossible odds, before she realized that everyone had gathered in a circle besides two shapes— two shapes that had not faded, as the corpses of the Grimm did.

Two bodies.

She walked over slowly, dreading what faces she might find, of who had died, and her breath caught in her throat as she saw who laid there, surrounded by a solemn circle of their peers.

Fox and Neon lay side by side, their eyes staring sightlessly up at the sky, glassy and reflecting the stars. Weiss felt sick as she looked at them, at the wounds that had taken both their lives. A bleeding slash gaped in the side of Fox’s neck, and Neon was so gashed up, so bloody and mutilated, it was impossible to tell which wound had stolen her chance of living.

Life, Blake’s voice whispered in her ears, is far from a fairytale.

“We need to bury them,” Weiss said, her throat impossibly tight.

“We can’t. The ground’s too hard, we don’t know how long we have until the next wave of Grimm comes, and we don’t know why this happening,” Sage growled. “I knew this would happen. We’ve got to go find the teachers and other Hunters.”

“We can’t just leave them here for the Grimm,” Weiss protested.

His eyes glittered at her. She could recognize fear behind them, and she knew he was Blake’s friend, somewhat— but she couldn’t suppress a burst of fury at him. She wasn’t feeling very reasonable, not now, and her fists curled as he spat at her, glancing towards the burning body of the White Fang member, “Do you want to build them a pyre?”

Her teeth clenched together. “Go to hell, Ayana.”

“Do your job, Schnee,” he shot back. “You didn’t fight in this battle to perform funeral rites.”

She lifted her hands, a black glyph forming between them. “How about I crack open your skull like a bird’s egg?”

“You don’t want a look at what’s inside my head, Weiss dear.”

“Stop it, you two!” Sun snapped, stepping between them. Weiss’s anger evaporated as she looked down at the two bodies, and a thick sense of shame overwhelmed her. Two of her peers had been killed, and here she was, arguing like a little schoolgirl who hadn’t got her way. “What the hell is wrong with you? Weiss, it’s okay, we can bury them, and we will. Sage— you stand down. The last thing we need right now is to be fighting between ourselves. Isn’t there enough negativity already?” He cast a glance around the courtyard, where the Grimm circled.

“I’ll help you bury them,” Velvet said sadly, gently weaving her between Sage and Weiss, who were still bristling. “Oh, Fox…”

The snow was falling more thickly now, flaking their still bodies with white. Weiss took Neon’s body, while Velvet took Fox’s, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead between his brows.

In the brief lull of battle, they dug two shallow graves just outside the fountains of Beacon, just under the Latin inscription on the bases: Libertas perfundet omnia luce. Freedom will flood all things with light. With the shadows growing thicker and more dark by the moment, it seemed to be taunting them all. In the distance, a Beowolf was keening, the mournful wail rising high, like the anguished chords of a violin singing its agony into the night, a pain that would tear your heart apart. Weiss let out a deep, shuddering breath.

They laid the bodies in the graves as the snow built up, but she barely felt the cold. Her hands were dappled rust-red with Neon’s blood, and she shivered, wiping them off on her gear. Sage, however reluctant he must have been to watch the sending-off of those who were dead, while he dealt with the living, stepped forward and asked grudgingly, “Do you remember the words before you bury them?”

Weiss gave him a stern look, which he ignored. Velvet looked at him, confusion on her face. “The… words?”

Sage frowned at her. “When a person on Remnant dies— Faunus or human— it’s custom to speak a requiem. A final prayer as they go on their way to the afterlife, as it were. I don’t know the words myself, but…”

Weiss cleared her throat, remembering his words about the pyre. “I do,” she said. “They were spoken at my mother’s funeral.” Winter made me memorize them, so I would never forget Ivana.

“You know the requiem?” He looked at her and there was the slightest hint of a challenge in his eyes. “You wanted to bury them. Then you must speak the words.”

Weiss looked down at the two open graves with a feeling of dismay blotting out her sorrow; she was to speak? She hadn’t been particularly close to either of the deceased. She’d only spoken to Fox in relation to their schoolwork, and she had never spoken to Neon at all, except to see the time when Yang had knocked her unconscious. That seemed lifetimes away now.

Feeling like a cluster of thorns was stabbing sharp spikes in the back of her mouth, blocking her voice, she looked down and cleared her throat.

“From Dust we came, and to Dust we must return. One day the earth will dim; the light in the sun will flicker and die, and the moon will sigh and roll over, keeping her back to the world. Our shadows will say farewell to our bodies, and go their own way in the darkness. But today is not that day. Though we have two less hearts than we did yesterday, though we are two souls lighter, two absences heavier, today we still stand, and fight. But your fight is done with. Shut your eyes on this earth. Place your feet upon the pathway to above, when auras flicker and die, you shall lend us light, whence you return to the stars. Death is not the end. Death is but that one last journey that we all venture on in the end. We bid you farewell, not forever, but until we meet again. May you find shelter where you sleep. May the waters run clear and the comforts leap into your arms. May the sun shine down upon you, may the rain fall softly upon your skin, may you find peace. Your battle is over, brave warrior, those who fight in your stead share your blood, your memories, your love, so that your spirit may never die. Hail and farewell, Fox Alistair, Neon Katt, now and forever. From Dust we came, and to Dust we must return.”

Weiss backed away as their teams began to cover up the scant graves, suddenly conscious of the tears pooling in her eyes. She hadn’t been particularly close with either of them, but she knew, with a sudden sharp, aching pain, that she had been lucky it wasn’t someone she cared about lying there. It could have been Blake, or Yang, or Ruby…

Ruby, she thought. Where is she? I’ve got to find her.

I have to make sure they’re safe, but it might already be too late.

#RWBY #Ruby Rose #Roman Torchwick #Neopolitan #Ozqrow #Qrowpin #white rose #whiterose #weiss schnee #bumbleby #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #neon katt #fox alistair #sage ayana #sun wukong #my writing #the final warning

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