"We'll have to stop here." Two of the other three nodded in silent agreement with Ruby's choice, none of them even daring to smile. Nora's face held no expression, her eyes lost in thought - thankfully not cold - and she had an arm looped around her best friend's waist.

He was unresponsive, Jaune doubted he even heard Ruby speak, his cold, thoughtless eyes were cast at the floor, arms hanging loosely by each side, and he himself looked like he belonged six feet under.

To continue on about his eyes, they had dark purple bags underneath, looking sunken and depressed, as if he'd lost everything he held dear.

Oh.

He'd pretty much lost everything though, hadn't he?

He had his weapons, the clothes he wore and Nora. Everything else had been lost to the school, which was currently burnt to ashes.

Jaune patted his shoulder - to get his attention, to bring him back to the land of the living and in an almost futile attempt to comfort him.

He only glanced up and looked at him. Had he slept at all?

Nora managed a weak smile, just for her best friend, and for a second, the corner of his mouth furthest away from them lifted for a single second before collapsing when Jaune spoke.

"Ren? You okay buddy?"

Characteristically, he didn't respond, staying quiet and hiding any emotion that may slip if he spoke or even tried to. He hid emotion by looking away into the distance and biting his tongue to stop the words that he longed to say.

"Ren?" Jaune asked again, placing a hand on his teammate's shoulder.

It was harshly slapped off and he turned to glare at him, before pausing midway to facing him. He didn't complete the rest of the way, as he walked on.

"Ren, we'll set up camp here!" Nora forced a smile. "Why don't you get something for us to eat?"

He gave a small nod and walked away, money that he'd, unbeknownst to the rest of his team and Ruby, thieved off strangers jangling in his hand.

Meanwhile, the others set down sleeping bags Jaune had bought from the money he'd earned from doing a job back in the previous village.

Jaune cracked out a terrible pun, but it was as if no one heard him - or cared.

Nora looked up every so often, wondering if Ren had returned. She was always wrong.

Night came slowly, and the three were left staring at the stars. Jaune and Ruby were looking for constellations (Jaune cried when he found Orion because of Pyrrha's passing) and Nora sat, waiting.

How much time had passed before Ren came back with some wraps and other items of food Nora knew not. All she knew was that it took AGES.

He placed the food down, and gave a nod toward it as if to say, 'I have food.'

"Oh yes!" Ruby took one of the wraps and chomped her way through it, grabbing some crisps and a drink and making her way through that. "Thank you!"

The seventeen year old male watched them, fiddling with the kiwi he'd picked from the bunch, not a bitemark made in it. He looked up at Nora, his expression empty and unchanged at her eyes, which were full of confusion, doubt and pity, the first and last presumably for him, and offered her the unmarked fruit.

"You need to eat." She longed to hear even an excuse from him, but he remained silent, holding it out. His eyes were drooping, and she decided to do what he'd always done.

"Eat it. Please." Despite her command, he still held it out, as if he wasn't hearing anything, and she gave a small huff. She took it and cut it into bitesize pieces. She held up a piece to his mouth, threatening to force feed him herself if he didn't eat himself.

He got the message - Ren began to eat slowly, very slowly, and Nora felt the eyes of Jaune and Ruby on the two as she coddled him, but it wasn't as if she cared. She doubted her best friend even noticed the eyes on them since he was so tired.

"Come on, Ren," Nora coaxed the teen male, smiling gently at him as she pulled the sleeping bag toward him. "You need to sleep."

He didn't move. Nora sighed and pulled Ren's legs into it, asking Jaune to help her move him. With a bit of a struggle and hushed arguments, the two soon had him laying in the sleeping bag, head lolled to the side, eyes open and staring. When they weren't looking, Ren must have fallen asleep, since his eyes were shut and his breathing mimicked a sleeping person's.

They decided to follow his example and sleep themselves, Ruby taking night watch.

I can see every tear you've cried,

Like an ocean in your eyes;

All the pain and the scars have left you cold.

I can see all the fears you face,

Through a storm that never goes away;

Don't believe all the lies that you've been told.

Ruby heard the soft sound of someone crying and whimpering. Had she fallen asleep? Presumably.

She looked around and saw Ren curled up and shaking.

"Ren?"

Everything stopped, the tears, the whimpers, the shaking, and what was left was a bitter silence. It lasted seconds before Ren allowed the tears and whimpers to release themselves again and crumpled to the ground.

Ruby crept over to him, sitting in front of him. He hid his face, more importantly his red eyes, and continued to cry. She did something surprising - she ran a hand through his hair and ruffled it, as if they were siblings and he were the younger one. "What's wrong, hm?" She helped him sit up, he shuffled a little. Tears streamed down his face and she wiped them away with her index finger. "What's the matter, Ren?" Sensing he might need a hug in a minute, she wrapped her arms around him, letting him get close into they were close to being in a ball.

He collapsed on her shoulder, crying even more and shaking vigorously. She patted his back and rocked him a little, feeling no awkwardness at all, the only emotion she was feeling was platonic love.

An idea of what was wrong dawned on her - unless Ren told her exactly what was wrong, she'd never truly know.

Nora and Ren were orphans. Their parents had died. They had nowhere else to go meaning their other family members had deceased also. Beacon was their first home after a long time. JNPR and RWBY might have been their first family after a long time.

Beacon was destroyed. RWBY no longer existed. Pyrrha was dead.

This must be reliving their childhood horrors all over again. Nora was a happy soul. She'd talked to Jaune and Ruby on the way, they'd assured her and she'd felt fine.

Ren didn't even ask for comfort.

Shit.

She squeezed him tighter, running a hand through his hair yet again. Soon the tears and whimpers ceased, and he pulled away from her, perhaps embarrassed at what just happened. Ruby didn't care. He wasn't shuffling his way out of this one. She gripped his wrists tightly, he straightened and jumped at the touch, and she slowly whispered, but not menacingly, "Ren. What's the matter?"

"Ruby... Nora and I... all our stuff... Our possessions..." He looked at the little stuff they had. "This is all we have now. So many have homes with more possessions.

We took everything." Ren looked up at her. "You don't know how lucky you are. You have a dog, an uncle, a sister, a father, a home, more possessions, something to go back to after this is over." He smacked the dirt. "Beacon was all Nora and I had and now everything is gone. I try to be strong for Nora, I'm like her rock, but I'm cracking and I need to stop cracking a-"

Ruby kissed his forehead like a mother.

Ren froze, eyes sad and warm, mouth a little open, and he himself was in shock.

"Did... Did I do something wrong?"

"The day before her death, before this all happened, Pyrrha kissed Nora and I on the forehead... The last memory I had of my mother was her kissing my forehead..." Ren stammered mildly.

He looked at his palms, as if considering something. Ruby's heart went to him.

"Tell me, Ruby." The girl looked up at his features. "How do you tell your best friend you want out?"

"Want out of your friendship?"

"No."

Ruby frowned.

"I want out of life."

She choked on the air. "What?"

"I don't want to live... I want to tell Nora... So she'll understand..."

"Ren, how long?"

"Uh?"

"How long have you considered?"

"..."

"Ren..."

"Since I was twelve." He muttered as if it wasn't him saying when he started thinking of suicide but as if he were asked a normal question and was shy.

She pulled him into a hug at that very moment. "Ren, I-"

She froze.

Nora was awake. She'd been awake for most of the conversation. Tears were in the hyper girl's eyes and Ruby was jealous of the blissfully unaware Jaune.

"You... want to die?" Nora whispered with a sad tone, standing slowly.

"Nora... I-I... It-It's..."

"You want to leave me?"

"I wasn't going to carry it out!" Ren begged her to understand, even more tears coming to his eyes.

Nora tried to speak, but her words caught in her throat at the red eyes and streaks down his cheeks that the tears must have left.
"I don't want to leave... I never want to leave you... I'm so afraid Nora..." He was stammering but the words poured out of him and he couldn't stop now. "Everytime we go out to battle or even fight other teams, I'm afraid. Everytime I sleep, everytime I lie awake, I'm afraid. Each step I make, each place I stand, I'm afraid. But every hit I survive and you shrug off, every pillar I hit and you dodge, everytime I see you fight, I smile because I know if I fall in battle, you'll be strong enough to continue. But I'm afraid still, because I know if I die, you might not be so strong." He looked at the ground - this was possibly the most he was had spoke (and Jaune was missing it all) - and looked at the grass bending like gymnasts under the wind. "I'm afraid because I care."

And Nora dived onto him, pushing him into the grass and hugging him, holding back her tears like he had done for so many years, pulling them back and squeezing him tight.

Ruby watched the two hug tightly, neither crying, neither speaking, neither letting go, only tightening their hug.

Jaune sat up and looked at the two best friends as well.

"Why aren't they kissing yet?"

A/N: I know, you probably hate me for writing such a bad fanfiction.

Whether it be bad because it made you feel or it was badly written, or both.

Anyway, Jaune has probably been asking that question for many of the shippings except his and Pyrrha's.

I think a lot of the RWBY characters ship Renora. Nora has it bad for Ren and he either knows but doesn't want her to know he knows or he doesn't and is totally oblivious.

I'm thinking the second to be honest, the first is a total cliche RWBY-wise as in fanart or whatever.

This was just an angsty story, no shipping is intended but you can say there is.

I forgot to care.

The song (in italics) is Ashes Remain's Right Here.

Anyway, review.

Flames will used to burn my enemies.

And if you flame, you are my enemy.

I will imagine gouging out a stranger's eyes.

Be afraid.

See ya!

Yet another failed outro.