A Trail of Roses
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.
She was lost. She had been wandering through this forest for hours. She recognized nothing and couldn't look at the stars for direction because the sky was covered in clouds that night.
Her feet were worn out. The trees seemed to be spinning around her as she stumbled around aimlessly.
It all started with a fight. She and her girlfriend Ruby had fought over some trivial thing she couldn't even remember. She just remembered that she got angry and ran. She ran into Forever Fall. Deeper and deeper she ran until she encountered a pack of Beowolves. A welcome outlet for her anger.
The Beowolves weren't a problem. The problem came after the fight when a Death Stalker, attracted by the fight, came crashing through the woods. Even if she had been at full strength, she wouldn't have been able to take it on alone. So she fled.
The Death Stalker chased her for a while, until she came across a river and jumped in. While the Grimm continued to follow her on the river bank, its pursuit was cut off by a waterfall.
She got down the waterfall with no problems and decided to continue downriver for a little while. When she finally swam back to shore, she was immediately presented with a new problem: She had no idea where she was. She couldn't go upriver and downriver also wasn't an option as she could already see a Nevermore circling in the distance. So she went in the woods.
And here she was, still wandering around long after sundown. As it turns out, this forest was a death trap. Not only was it teeming with Grimm, but there was no source of food or water. She would've gone back to the river if she knew where it was. Everything in this forsaken forest looked so similar that it made her dizzy.
All she wanted right now was to lie down and sleep, but she couldn't. The Grimm were everywhere. It took all her effort to avoid them. At times, she had to crawl through bushes and hide under roots. Her clothes were torn, she had various cuts and scrapes all over her body.
Finally, her exhaustion got the better of her and she fell to the ground. Her vision blurred and she was gasping for air. She just seemed to be suffocating.
Eventually, she calmed down. Now she was just lying on her back, staring at the sky.
This is hopeless. I'm never gonna get out of here. Tears started forming in her eyes. She was going to die. Hungry. She would never get to eat another one of Ruby's home-cooked meals. Cold. She would never get to feel the warmth of Ruby's embrace again. Alone. She would never get to see Ruby again. Tears started flowing freely. All I want is to see her again.
Suddenly, she felt an odd sensation. Like something light had fallen on her cheek. She opened her eyes, reached up with her left hand and picked it up. She turned towards her hand to see it holding a red rose petal. Looking up, she noticed more of them falling from the sky.
Where are they coming from? She suddenly had some of her strength back and got up. As she looked around, she noticed the petals falling in a certain direction, marking out a path in front of her.
So she followed it. She couldn't possibly imagine how petals were gonna lead her home, but she'd learned to trust her instincts. And they were telling her to follow this trail.
Despite her exhaustion, she followed the trail without pause. The longer she walked, the more certain she was of going the right way.
Then the trail stopped. Just like that. She was still in the middle of the woods and the sun was starting to rise.
She looked around frantically. No! No, no, no, no. You can't be serious. Her aura then alerted her to a presence. She turned around to see an Ursa standing a short distance away from her on its hind legs. You can not be serious!
The Ursa raised its right paw, preparing to charge her. Blake heard a swishing sound and watched as the paw fell to the ground while the rest of the arm remained above the Ursa. Before it could react, Blake heard two more swishing sounds and saw a blurry shape cut across its chest. Then, with one final swish, the Ursa fell to its knees and its head rolled off its shoulders.
As its body fell forward, Blake heart skipped a beat. Ruby was standing there, sheathing Crescent Rose on her back and looking at her. Then she zoomed forward and hugged Blake.
"You idiot," she finally said. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"
"You were worried? I'm the one who almost died."
"It's not funny!"
"I agree. It was terrifying."
Ruby looked up at her. Oh, how Blake had once again yearned to look into those big silver orbs once again. She then felt Ruby's hand on the back of her head as she pulled Blake down into a kiss. The warmth of her lips seemed to be burning against Blake's cold flesh. She thoroughly enjoyed the kiss and gave off a disappointed mewl when Ruby broke it.
"I'm glad you're back," Ruby said.
"Me, too," Blake replied.
"It was lucky I found you. You wouldn't have been the only one to vanish forever in these woods."
"I don't know about luck." Ruby gave her a confused look at that statement. "I...kinda followed a trail."
"A trail?"
"Rose petals. They led me here. I don't know why, but something told me to follow them."
Ruby took a step back and paced around. "When my papa died, mama told me that she'd felt it. She told me that when two people truly love each other, their auras...merge. They when the other is in pain and, no matter how apart they are, will always be able to find each other."
Blake just stood there. She'd read a lot of combat books, many of which going into great detail about aura, but she'd never heard of it having such an effect.
"That's partly why I came looking for you. A chill ran down my spine and I just knew that you were in trouble." She then waved her hand dismissively. "Whatever. The important thing is that you're safe. C'mon, honey. Let's go home and go to bed. And when you wake up I'll cook you something. How's that sound?"
Blake pulled her into a hug. "Sounds wonderful."