Weiss Schnee was walking back to her dorm room to pick up some books. They had combat practice the entire morning, and now she only had one more lesson: history. She realized that she had not seen Ruby anywhere today, but quickly shook the thought away. It was not her place to babysit her teammate, after all. Still, Ruby loved combat practice. Perhaps she should ask later.
Arriving at the dorm room, Weiss stopped. She heard a strange noise coming from inside the room. It sounded like someone was sobbing. Silently, Weiss pushed open the door. She froze.
In the middle of the room sat Ruby, her back facing Weiss. From the looks of it, she was holding something, and was crying softly.
Weiss walked up behind Ruby, and grabbed her. Ruby turned to face her. Tears were streaming down her face. Weiss looked at what the girl was holding. It was a small picture, showing a woman that closely resembled Ruby, if a few years older.
"Ruby, what..." Words failed Weiss, looking at her teammate so distressed. Luckily, Ruby seemed to understand her.
"Weiss... today, ten years ago." Ruby looked down at the picture, her voice weak. "Ten years ago, my mother died." Ruby started crying again, much harder now.
Not knowing what to do, Weiss just hold her, telling her it was ok.
Weiss was familiar with loss, with death. She felt tears coming down her face as well, crying for those she had lost. The two of them sat there, crying into each others arms.
Yang was walking towards the dorms. Ruby had not shown up to class at all today, which in itself was strange, but now Weiss had disappeared to. Because they still had a few minutes until the next class began, Yang had decided to go back and find the two of them, and hopefully be back before the next class.
Yang walked up to the door, not noticing the sounds coming from within. Pushing it open, she spotted the two girls sitting on the floor. Confusion, then realization, and then regret flashed to her mind as she remembered what day it was.
Stepping forward, she hugged Ruby. "I'm sorry Ruby. I'm so sorry."
One look on Ruby face told her that the girl didn't care. She just wanted to be held, and to cry until she couldn't anymore. Looking to Weiss, she expected to see the heiress's trademark scowl. Instead, she saw tears streaming down her face, and she understood that Weiss had lost people to.
Eventually, Ruby fell asleep. Yang picked her up and put her in her bed. Looking at the clock, Yang saw that the class was already almost over. Facing Weiss, she put a hand on the girls shoulder.
"Want to talk about it?"
Weiss shook her head. "Your sister is not the only one who lost people close to them."
Nodding, Yang decided not to ask further. If Weiss wanted to tell her, she would.
Looking down, Yang saw that Ruby had dropped her picture on the ground. Picking it up, she softly put it on the nightstand.
"Who was she?" Weiss's voice was soft, none of the usual malice in it.
"Summer Rose. She was Ruby's mother. She..." Yang swallowed. "She was an amazing woman. I don't remember much from her, but she was a huntress. A good one. She died protecting a village from a beowolf attack. A massive pack had somehow gathered in the forest."
Turning to Weiss, Yang continued: "If you can believe the stories, there where hundreds of beowolfs there. One of the largest packs ever. None of them made it to the village. But a price was paid."
Looking at the little girl in the bed next to her. "Ruby paid that price. The village still stands, but a small girl grew up without her mother."
"She's not alone anymore. She had us now." Weiss's response surprised Yang. She knew that Ruby and Weiss had been getting along better, but now the white-haired girl talked about her as a friend.
"Weiss... thank you for being there. With everything going on, I had forgotten."
"Anytime. If you don't mind, I think I will take a quick nap."
Yang walked to the door. "Sweet dreams, princess."
Turning of the light, Yang walked away.
First of all, I want to apologizes for the lack of updates the last few days, I just had a terrible couple of days.
I bought the album for volume 1 today, this is based on the new Red like Roses part 2.
Review would really be appreciated. They make my day, they really do.