Hunting grimm used to be easier, Ruby thought. It used to be that they were simply mindless, hateful beast with a penchant for catastrophe. Now, three months after the Battle of Beacon—as everyone had started referring to it as—the picture was a lot bigger and a lot more complicated. Like they had finished most of a puzzle, only for someone to come in the middle of the night and steal some of the pieces.
Hunting grimm used to be easier.
But that was a while ago, when Ruby was still a child and two of the best people she had ever met were still a part of this world, with her. When Jaune didn't cry himself to sleep every night, or when Nora's smile seemed natural and not tired, when Ren didn't turn to the empty space next to him, a question on his lips for a person no longer there. When Pyrrha was here. When Penny was here. It was a while ago.
A ring sounded from Ruby's scroll, and Jaune, Ren, and Nora's faces flickered into view. "Ruby, are you alright? We saw smoke," Jaune's voice came through rougher, as if his soul itself was scarred from the events that took place three months ago. That probably wasn't too far from the truth. "Yeah, I'm alright Jaune."
"Save some for us!" Nora's voice shouted, and Ruby smiled softly. She always did try to cheer everyone up. She was kind of like Yang in that way- "Better hurry."
Ren stayed quiet, as stoic as ever. She appreciated that though, truly. Ren was definitely affected by the Battle of Beacon, it was the first time any of us had seen he and Nora cry, but despite this his demeanor changed the least. There were times when he'd turn to an empty spot with a question on the tip of his tongue, expecting his red headed teammate to help him affirm a situation only to be met with air. Or sometimes he'd make a pancake too many. It was little things that had changed about Ren, but he was still a quiet, reassuring presence Ruby found herself needing.
Nora had tried to stay energetic as always, but like Ren there were little changes. Her smile wasn't as bright any more, and on occasion Ruby found Nora staring into space, a plethora of emotions on her face. Originally it was just sadness, but then she looked angry, and now she looked a bit...empty. Like losing Pyrrha stole some of her light. Maybe it really did.
Jaune took it the hardest. He was quieter, more quick to anger. Harder. There was a sadder, more angry undertone to everything that he did, the way he moved and spoke and fought. Nora said they couldn't get him out of bed for three weeks at first, that he passed out from hunger and dehydration and they had to force feed him. She said he had only gotten out of bed when they gave him his scroll back. He had sent them out of the room and when they returned he had declared that they were going to avenge Pyrrha. That didn't make his loss any more bearable. He still cried himself to sleep, and they all acted like they didn't hear him crying her name out in the quiet of night.
Ruby was affected as well. She had lost her team, Weiss taken from her, Blake ran, and Yang couldn't get herself out of bed. Penny was ripped to pieces right in front of her and Pyrrha shot in the chest. It didn't make sense. Out of everyone, all the people who deserved that, Pyrrha and Penny simply did not. Penny was the most innocent person—and yes, she was a living breathing person—Ruby had ever met, someone who simply wanted there to be less misery in the world. Pyrrha as well, simply wanted less misery in the world, but on top of that? Her one, true wish? She just wanted to be seen. Seen for who she truly was, not a champion or the famous 'invincible girl'. And she died to protect the few who saw her that way.
She didn't have to do that.
Ruby almost made it.
They don't give out medals for almost.
"That was crazy," Jaune muttered across the campfire where they sat. Ruby nodded. A spark went out. "I thought it was awesome!" Nora yelled enthusiastically, throwing her fist in the air, "There were so many grimm! I bet I took out at least a hundred!" She laughed, flipping her slightly longer hair over her shoulder. Ren sighed beside her, "Forty eight, actually," A roar sounded from the forest. "And counting." He muttered in conclusion. Nora laughed, "Bring it on!"
Jaune chuckled under his breath and stood. Ruby couldn't tell if the light in his eyes was simply from the campfire or if he was genuinely happy. She'd guess it was the campfires doing. Another spark went out. "Okay, well, no matter how awesome it was it was also tiring. I'm gonna hit the hay, see you guys in the morning," He said, and left them with nothing but the flickering light of the fire. Ruby stared into the flames, willing them to take form, or to turn back time. To do something. To fix something. But alas, the flames continued to do what they could. Burn. Burn the wood to ash and sparks and Ruby felt something like bile—or maybe it was just sadness—block her throat.
Pyrrha was burned to ash.
Everything seemed to remind her of Pyrrha these days. She couldn't look at Crescent Rose anymore without recalling whatever daily conversation her and the red head had about upgrades on it and Milo. Sparring reminded her of all the times Pyrrha had accepted her request for a sparring match—I want to be as awesome as you—she had said. Pyrrha had laughed that gorgeous laugh she was blessed with, her hand coming to cover her mouth as if to suppress the happy noises she was producing.
Everything reminded her of Pyrrha
She couldn't imagine how Jaune felt.
"I'm with Jaune, guys," Ruby sighed, "It's been a long day."
Ren nodded in agreement and Nora huffed. "I'm gonna take first watch then. I'm not tired at all," She sighed. Ren fixed her with a hard stare, his hands finding his hips and his lips tightening into a straight line. Nora waved away his incredulity with a flick of her wrist and chuckled, "Don't, Ren. I'll take first watch," Ruby noted how exhausted her eyes looked.
Ren sighed and looked at Ruby almost apologetically. "I'll take second watch then," I'm going to be the only one to be able to get her to go to sleep, is what Ruby heard. Ruby nods and heads to her tent, she's too tired to think of a response or rebuttal to the suggestion and frankly doesn't see any reason Ren shouldn't take second watch. Nora truly won't go to sleep if he doesn't force her. Ruby's not entirely sure what happened to them—Ren and Nora—but Pyrrha's death triggered something in her and Nora simply couldn't sleep anymore.
She sighs for the umpteenth time that night—since when did she sigh so much? How many years older has she grown in these three months? She certainly doesn't feel fifteen anymore. She groans instead of sighs this time, but admittedly only because she felt another sigh come on, and crawls into her sleeping bag.
She turns so she's facing the stars and can see Ren crawl into his sleeping bag out of the corner of her eye, and notices how he doesn't lay down, but instead covers his legs with the blanket and stays sitting up, watching Nora, no doubt. Ruby's eyes find the stars again and for a moment she wonders if there are two more stars up there, watching them live and breathe and continue. That sounds fitting, she didn't spend enough time with Penny to know the little things about her, but at least for Pyrrha she was certain. Pyrrha loved the stars. Penny, she was sure, loved them as well. That was something Ruby loved about Penny, her ability to truly love the small things that Ruby, until that point, had taken for granted.
She closed her eyes for a final time, the last thing she saw being stars and the last thing she heard being Jaune's quiet whimpering of Pyrrha's name.
"Ruby?"
Ruby lifts her head and is met with emerald, "Oh, hey Pyrrha!" She chirps, a goofy smile playing on her lips, "What's up?"
Pyrrha smiles politely—a practiced trait, Ruby's sure—and holds her hand up in a gesture similar to that of one surrendering, "I'm sorry! I need a partner for that project in Professor Goodwitch's class and somebody already..." She pauses and an emotion Ruby can't confidently place passes her face, but its covered by her usual happy, polite expression just as quickly as it came. "...Somebody already asked Jaune. And he, of course, accepted. So I am, therefore, left without a partner for the time being..." She explained slowly, her gaze finding its way to the floor as she continued.
Ruby smiles and straightens, "Yeah sure-"
"That is, unless you already have a partner! Oh, I'm sorry, I completely forgot about Weiss! It's okay I can ask someone else-"
"Pyrrha," Ruby grabs Pyrrha's hand as she turns to walk away, her smile only growing, "It's perfectly okay, Weiss ditched me too—I mean, not ditched Jaune would never ditch you—nobody would you're awesome um..."Ruby laughed under her breath and looked to the ground, "Yeah anyway, it's fine."
Laughter broke Ruby's embarrassment and her gaze flew up to the source. Pyrrha's hand was covering her mouth, and the other gripped her stomach as peals of laughter left the girl breathless.
It was times like these when Ruby realized Pyrrha was truly beautiful. Sure, everyone was aware that Pyrrha was attractive—She's Pyrrha. But Ruby felt something warm in her chest whenever the girl laughed—as in genuinely laughed. It's a sight few get to see, as Pyrrha isn't comfortable enough around most people to drop her polite celebrity persona. Another thought crossed Ruby's mind. Pyrrha was comfortable around her. For some reason, that felt like such a huge honor, like something precious and fragile she didn't have a right to hold.
"S-Sorry, Ruby!" She laughed, her hand still covering her mouth. Ruby felt a smile grow on her face from the sight. It was a couple more moments of laughter from Pyrrha before she calmed, "Your just funny!" She smiled, leaning back on her heels and clasping her hands behind her back. "So, temporary partners?"
Suddenly, Ruby was a lot more excited about this project.
"Pyrrha, out of all the temporary partners that could temporarily partner, you are the best temporary partner."
A jolt woke Ruby from her sleep. "Wuh? Whoozat?" She looked around groggily, her eyes landing on an amused Ren. He smiled and pointed a thumb at the rising sun and dying fire, "Morning."
"Why didn't you wake me for my shift?" Ruby questioned immediately. She felt terrible—which isn't exactly an ideal mood to wake up to. Ren already had enough trouble sleeping as it was. Then again, they all did, didn't they? "You looked like you were having a good dream, I didn't have it in me to wake you." He said simply, shrugging and moving to wake Nora. "Still..." Ruby trailed off, rubbing her eyes tiredly. The sky was still mostly pink, with a very light blue outline. "You could've woken Jaune up..." Ruby couldn't imagine Jaune would want to sleep anymore than he had to anyway. "We could've just switched it up."
"We both know Jaune wouldn't have woken you either. And as much as he hates...what happens..." Ren clears his throat before continuing to try and jostle Nora awake, "..As much as he hates what happens in his dreams he needs sleep possibly more than the rest of us do." He finishes quietly. Ruby nods and sits up from her sleeping bag, eyes glancing over at Crescent Rose. "Hey, Ren?"
"Hm?"
"You remember that project we had in Mrs. Goodwitch's class? The one about disassembling your partners weapon and putting it back together without help from the other person?"
"Yes," He pauses. "I believe you and Pyrrha teamed up for that one." He says softly, his movements halting as he turned from Nora to fully face Ruby. She nodded. "Yeah, she dis and reassembled Crescent Rose on her first try. No problem," She says softly, laying back down on her sleeping bag gently, "It took me twice as long as her to disassemble Milo, and twice as long as that to reassemble her..." Ruby trails off, head turning to the rising sun. "There wasn't a bolt out of place. Not a bullet that wasn't lethal."
Ren nods along with her story, his fingers playing with the dewy grass beneath him. Ruby is silent for a long while after that, but Ren feels that she isn't done and stays quiet. She lets out a shaky breath and looks back to the sky above her, "She shouldn't have been able to lose that fight."
Ren sighs softly, "One time," He begins, and Ruby turns on her side to look at him fully, tucking one hand underneath her head for support and the other splaying out on the grass. "A little while before the vytal tournament," he continues, though he finds it hard to talk about his late teammate. They need this, he thinks. It won't help, not now, but it'll make it more bearable. "Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and I, you see, we agreed to have a cook off. I couldn't tell you why if you asked me—I honestly have no idea why we did that, I think Nora just wanted an excuse for more pancakes. But anyway,"
"Throughout the whole thing—which took up half of the day—Nora and Jaune wouldn't stop talking about how it was a 'fight to the death'. I won. Pyrrha, she laughed the whole time." Ren smiled nostalgically at the memory, crossing his legs underneath himself and interlocking his fingers in his lap. "My point is, she lost that fight, Ruby." He explained. Ruby tilted her head to the side in confusion and he smiled gently, backtracking. "By all means, she should have won. She didn't make more pancakes than me, but hers tasted better—that was surprisingly hard to admit." He chuckles and even Ruby finds herself giggling quietly at the comment. Who knew she could cook?
"But," He pauses, "Nora kept stealing her ingredients because she kept running out of her own. Nora cheated, and Pyrrha lost a fight that should have been hers to win." He finishes quietly. Ruby remains silent, looking at Ren blankly, "You're saying Cinder cheated?" She whispers, and Ren has to strain his ears to hear. He nods, "That's the only way I can imagine her losing to someone like her." He explains. "It's the only way I'll accept that she lost to someone like her."
Ruby nods silently, sitting up and stretching. The sun has risen more, the darkness of night no longer visible. "Thank you, Ren" She says. He hums and turns back to Nora, "Anytime."
Ruby walks over to Jaune's sleeping bag, ignoring the dampness of his pillow, and shakes him awake. "Hey, sleepyhead! Time to get moving!" Jaune groans something unintelligible and turns away from Ruby. "Jaune..." Ruby whines, sitting back on her knees, "...I will get Nora," She says as a last resort. That does the trick, and Jaune almost leaps out of his sleeping bag. "Up! I'm up!" He yells. He stretches his arms in the air and yawns before addressing Ren and Ruby, "Good morning."
Ren hums and Ruby smiles. "Hey," Jaune starts, scratching behind his neck and looking around, "Nobody woke me up for my shift," He states, looking to Ruby. She shakes her head and points to Ren, who had managed to get Nora to sit up. "Mr. Actual Ninja thinks he doesn't need any sleep. He didn't wake me up for mine either."
"Rennn..." Nora groans, half lidded eyes flitting up in a tired glare at her partner, "You promised me you would sleep." He sighs and helps her into a standing position. "Sorry, Nora," He responds, and then stays silent. He doesn't have an explanation that would please her in this state. Jaune sighs tiredly and turns away from the group, looking at the clouds in the opposite direction of the sun. "It might rain today..." He notes, tired eyes examining the horizon blearily.
Nora laughs, "Sounds like fun!" She cheers, and finally leans away from Ren's support, seemingly instantly regaining her usual energy. Ruby giggles, "It kinda does. It's been a while since it's rained any." Ren nods, "Though, it won't bode so well for Grimm hunting," He states, and Jaune perks up a bit. "That's okay, let's not hunt today! We're close to Mistral now right? I mean, it's capital?" He questions. Ren nods, "Another day or so away, yes," He confirms. Jaune smiles, "So...Let's make 'another day', today!"
"Can we make it?" Ruby queried, grabbing Crescent Rose's holster and tying it around her waist. "We should be able to..." Jaune muttered. "It's been three months. The boat took two months and the trek there should have only taken five days. It's been four. Think we can make it, Ren?" The huntsman in question only hummed once more, closing his eyes in thought. "We...might be able to. With no significant delays we should be able to make it within a few hours, actually."
"Sounds awesome! Let's go! Team RNJR, move out!" Nora cheered enthusiastically, swinging Magnhild over her shoulder and marching forward. Ren sighed, bending down to pick up Nora's forgotten sleeping bag.
"Well..." Jaune smiles, "Can't go too wrong, can it?"
If there's one thing Ruby's learned in the past three months, it's that it can definitely go wrong.
"Right."
A/N
Okay so I actually wrote this like, a month or so after volume three ended-and then lost it-and then found it again-and then dropped it because volume four-and then decided fuck it all and now we're here. So anyway, this is my first time writing for RWBY and while I think I got the characters pretty in-character, feedback and constructive criticism is always welcome-just don't be a dick, really.
Anyway, as for how long this is going to be, right now its pretty indefinite-think of the fanfic Resurgence when I say 'indefinite'. It'll probably be pretty long (also if you haven't read that get on that right now that story kicks ass). I can't, however, promise that it will be updated regularly as I'm currently going to an art school for visual arts and am constantly swamped with work (thumbnails and linoleum and sculpting and AP U.S history and AP English 3 can suck my ass tbh), but I'd really hope for at least a chapter a month-or more depending on how 'in the mood' I am with writing and my schedule-though when that one month marker pops up and a chapter hasn't been produced, I'll try and post a PSA regarding when thereafter it should be, or how far I am with it. Maybe I'll just post snippets of it to get you through-that'd be cool, right?
I also think I'll have another chapter posted tonight-like I said this story has been sitting in the woodwork for almost a year now, the second chapter is already almost half way written, so if not tonight sometime within the next day or two definitely. And if not then I'll just post a part of it, like a 'Next week on...' except for this! Yay! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and please, leave a review or two-as previously mentioned constructive criticism or a 'Hey! This is pretty cool!' is really good for my motivation/inspiration to kick in and I'll be kicking these chapters out in no time. So, see you next time, I guess!
