AN: Created for /r/RWBY's Fanfiction contest and a rough attempt at exercising my writing skills. Let's do this.
I don't understand how things got so bad in so little time. It was supposed to be a simple assignment for Ruby and I, just visit a town that was recently attacked by Grimm and try to aid as much as they could to restore and defend it. The mission was meant to last a week just so that we could be absolutely certain that the town would be okay. Yang and Blake had even complained that we got to take a break from their studies and visit the countryside while they remained in Beacon and dealt with assignments and exams. All in all, it sounded great.
But Beacon's intelligence on the town was wrong.
When they arrived at the town it was beyond any repair that they could hope to do. Houses were destroyed and the streets were littered with corpses. Man, woman, child – the Grimm did not discriminate their victims. Some looked like their bodies were torn apart by massive claws or stingers where as others looked like they were chewed and eaten by the monsters, whether they were still alive or not while it happened was not a thought I wanted to consider. We continued to investigate the town however, hoping that maybe there were some survivors that they could bring back to Vale. We checked every building but each was as empty and desolated as the last. That is until Ruby started to hear the sounds of a child crying. We followed the noise to a small alley that they hadn't been through yet and saw the curled up shape of a child huddling in a corner.
"Hey, are you okay?" Ruby said in a soft voice as she slowly approached the child. I stood behind her as she did this, knowing she was far better at dealing with others than I was. It continued to cry and it seemed like it didn't hear her, so she asked again and took another step closer. And then another, and another, until Ruby was in touching distance. She placed her hand on the kid's shoulders in an attempt to get its attention. For a moment it stopped weeping, before it suddenly turned and lashed at Ruby. I stood there shocked as I saw familiar looking claws jutting out of Ruby's back. Beowolf. It seems the Grimm had started to learn some new tricks, even going as far as to imitate human noises. But that wasn't what was on my mind at the time.
"Ruby!" I screamed as the creature pulled its hand out of her chest with a disgusting pop. I immediately drew Myrtenaster and stabbed the creature in the chest. It howled in pain as it collapsed to the ground before slowly turning to ash. I ran to Ruby's side and made sure she was still breathing. She was. Good, if I can just stabilize the wound she might be okay. But before I could do anything, I heard the sound of growls all around me. It seems the beowolf's dying howl was more than a scream of pain, it seems he called up some friends. I knew there was no way I could hold them all off, especially with Ruby in the condition she was in, the only choice I had was to try to outrun them.
So try I did.
I picked up Ruby and leaned her on my shoulder, mentally thanking Yang that I had agreed to some strength training this past year, and formed a glyph directly under us. I used the glyph to propel us upwards before creating another one besides us and propelling us horizontally across the sky. I kept creating more and more glyphs in an attempt to escape the horde but they were slowly catching up to me. We had already gone past the town at this point and the constant motion was just making Ruby's condition worse, something that I realized as I felt her heart beat start to slow down. Out of the corner of my eye I saw what looked like a cave that we could hide in. I propelled ourselves towards it and landed inside. I carefully placed Ruby on the cave floor before turning to look outside. They were still coming after us and there was no doubt in her mind that they'd be here any minute. She had to take a risk and did the only thing she could do – she collapsed the cave entrance. Using Myrtenaster, I placed a few precise strikes at the mouth of the cave with just enough force to make it fall and block it. Now there was no way they would get caught, but at the same time I knew that I had trapped us. I only hoped that the cave lead to somewhere on the other end. But first, Ruby.
Her wounds were small but pierced right through her. Five puncture wounds from each of the beowolf's claws were right in the center of her chest, most likely damaging a part of her respiratory and circulatory system. The escape from the horde just made it so much worse as the constant motion just sped up the blood loss from the wounds. As I continued to observe her injuries, I heard a voice call my name.
"Weiss," it whispered.
"Ruby?!" I exclaimed, surprised to hear her talking.
"It hurts so much, Weiss," she coughed out, "I don't think I'm gonna make it."
She knew she was dying, and I knew it as well. The injuries were far too severe. Maybe if I was able to treat them immediately after she was attacked there would be a chance. But now, after all the blood loss and stress on her body? It'd take a miracle. I said nothing in reply and just held her hand and held back my tears. Now was not a time for weakness, I would need to be strong for her final moments.
"Weiss" she whispered, "Tell Yang that I love her, that she was the best sister a girl could ask for. Tell Blake that I'm sorry for ruining her book that one time and that she was a great friend." She coughed some more and the light slowly started to fade from her eyes. I held her hand even tighter and I saw that tears were starting to flow from her own eyes.
"Tell Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, and everyone else that I was always happy around them, that they made my life so much better," she continued, "And Weiss?"
"Yeah?" I cursed myself for letting my voice quiver when I said that.
"You're the best partner and best friend I've ever had. Don't blame yourself for this and please," her eyes started to close and her voice was barely a whisper, "live."
And just like that, she was gone. Her eyes closed one final time and one of the brightest lights of this world just burned out. There were still tears on her face as she passed, but then I realized that they weren't hers.
So here I am now. Trapped in a cave with the dead body of my partner. It feels like a day has passed, though I can't tell myself as no sun enters the cave. I placed Ruby's body in a corner of the cave and covered her with her cape. To keep her body preserved I applied a layer of ice using Myrtenaster. I'd prefer to bring her back to Vale before she starts to decompose. Yang and Blake at the very least deserve to see her one last time. But if it comes to it, I'll bury her somewhere outside. That is assuming I can get outside.
I had explored the cave after collecting myself from Ruby's death. It was not really much of anything. The entrance that Ruby and I were in is easily the largest section of the cave and the paths don't really lead to anything, just dead ends. I had thought of breaking myself out through the entrance, just breaking through the cave-in I had made. But listening closely to the walls, I could still hear the familiar growls and noises of the Grimm. It seems they're just out there waiting for me, so breaking out from there was out of the question. The only thing I can do now is wait it out, either hope for the Grimm to simply leave or wait for someone to come along and clear them. But then, as far as the others are concerned, we were set to be gone for a week and even then it'd still take them a while to realize that we were gone and to find the cave that we're in.
But the worst of it was that our bag of supplies got left in the town when we ran and the cave provided no edible food as far as I could tell. It's already been a day and I can start to feel the effects of hunger affecting me. My stomach would growl on a regular basis, almost like clockwork, my vision would go hazy from time to time, and I would struggle to even move. But any time I felt weak I'd remember Ruby's last words to me. "Live," she told me and just remembering that would give me the drive to stay strong and persevere. I just had to believe that someone would find us soon or clear out the Grimm outside, I just hope when they open the cave it won't be two graves they'll have to dig.
Another day passed and all I can say is that perseverance, drive, and hope can only take you so far. The effects of hunger were just getting worse and worse. The noises from outside the cave have subsided, the Grimm have either left or are setting up another trap. Either way, even if they were gone I don't have the strength to break the stones that block the exit. I continued to maintain Ruby's body at a low temperature, though I'm ashamed to say there came a point that I started doing that just so I wouldn't have to bear the stench of decay. But at the same time, her body still hasn't started to decompose and is still fairly fresh. Fresh. Fresh? Why would I think of it as 'fresh'? You don't think of the corpse of your friend as 'fresh'! I shake my head to calm myself, it's just the hunger getting to my is all, just my mind getting weak and my focus getting hazy. I can't even think straight.
One more day has passed and I find myself standing over Ruby's body with a crazed look in my eyes. I can't believe I'm about to do this. What the hell is wrong with me?! But I can't help it, three days of hunger and I can already feel myself at death's door. Ruby's last words to me were to live but to do so I'd have to resort to...this. What am I to do, Ruby?! I want to honor your last wish! I want to live just like you asked, damn it! With tears in my eyes, I took Myrtenaster and, with my last bit of strength, cut her arm straight off. It was quick and clean, the blood having already frozen and dried from the layer of ice I had on her. I spun Myrtenaster's shaft so that it had the red dust armed in it and quickly roasted the appendage. I hated myself for finding the smell so delicious. I pick up the arm, holding it as if I were eating some spare rib, and took a small bite.
God damn it. Why did it taste so good?! I was disgusted with myself that I enjoyed the flavor so much, but my stomach craved for more. Each successive bite was less reserved than the last and soon I found myself feasting on her arm like some rabid dog. But I couldn't stop myself. Three days of hunger had finally reached its breaking point and she just tasted so damn good. I continued to gorge myself on her arm and soon all that was left were bones and scraps of meat. No, not meat, Ruby, must remember, never forget who she is – was. I put the bones away and as my hunger started to fade, my thoughts became clear again and my actions started to settle on my mind. What the hell did I just do? Even if someone did find us, how am I supposed to explain what happened here, to what happened to her arm! I'm no better than those damn Grimm on the other side of this wall. My thoughts, however, were broken by noises coming from the outside. It sounded like … fighting? I could hear the sounds of Grimm growling and dying followed by the shouts of people. All of a sudden, light flooded into the cave as the wall was knocked down by a flying beowolf. I blocked the light from my eyes as it was practically blinding me, having grown used to the darkness of the cave but I could still vaguely see the silhouettes of people.
"Weiss?!" a voice called out and my heart sank when I realized who it was.
"Yang?" I softly replied, my throat dry and my voice raspy from not talking these past few days. As my eyes started to adjust to the light, I started to see that it was in fact Yang, but she was not alone. With her was Blake, and behind them I could make out the figures of Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren. No, no, no no no no no no no no. My eyes shifted back into the cave, unto Ruby's body and tears started to form in my eyes. If I had just waited a few more hours, I wouldn't have to had to do it! I fell to my knees and started to feel sick. I started to fall unto the ground and from the corner of my eye I could see Yang and others racing to catch me. They were saying something but I didn't know what it was nor did I really care. If only I had been stronger! If only I had been more diligent! If only had more hope and faith! I continued to scream in my mind, deaf to all those around me. I felt someone raise my head and found myself face to face with Yang's purple eyes as they bore into my own. But as I stared into them I realized I saw not the reflection of myself, but a monster.
AN: So that was a thing. Anyway, leave a review of what you think and what not and thanks for reading.