Hello and welcome to Atonement. This will be a fic that's going to be .. quite dark and dramatic. It will be different from my other fic, Weapons Pointed at the Enemy: Redux. It will focus mainly on Ruby and Weiss, and will handle some themes that people might be uncomfortable with. You have been warned.
Aside from that, please enjoy.
Weiss held Myrtenaster in her lap and breathed in deeply. In her mind, she had known eventually someone would have to go find Ruby again, but she hadn't expected it to be her. Or under these circumstances.
Weiss had learned that after she had been taken away by her father, Ruby had joined with the remainder of team JNPR and traveled to Mistral. She had also learned, that after their arrival, Ruby had disappeared. It had then been a couple of years where both Taiyang and Qrow had tried to find her but had been unable to find anything. Then, in this year, mysterious killings started to happen. All done with a sniper scythe, of whom only a handful of wielders were known of. And all of the eyewitnesses had said the last they saw before the target died was a flash of red.
Ruby had returned, apparently, on the wrong side. And now, it was up to Weiss to go take care of it. The mission statement was clear, get Ruby back. Alive or .. dead.
Weiss carefully took Myrtenaster out of the scabbard, inspecting her weapon one last time. Ruby had taught her how to better take care of her weapon at Beacon after the dust refills would often clog the revolving mechanism of Myrtenaster. Ruby, being the mechanical gun-nut that she was, is, helped her optimize it. Now, it never clogged anymore and it gave Weiss the added bonus of knowing more about making her weapon look flawless.
A faint smile appeared on Weiss' lips. She hoped her partner would still see reason. There was no way on Remnant that Ruby would suddenly change like this. It was quite obvious something was controlling her, the question was only, what?
"Mistral, main airship port" the speaker sounded. Weiss was shaken from her thoughts and stood up, slotting Myrtenaster to her belt and grabbing her suitcase. Something she also learned from Ruby and from running away, travel light. An extra set of clothes, toiletries, dust and the bare minimum of makeup (at least, for Weiss' standards) the only things she took with her.
As she stepped off of the airship and made followed the crowd into the terminal, Weiss wished she had someone with her. Unfortunately, Blake and Yang had been occupied with their search for Raven and were practically unreachable. Qrow had promised Weiss to try and contact them as soon as he could, but they had been gone ever since they reunited on Menagerie. Weiss had spoken them at her graduation a couple of months before Ruby reappeared. They had been looking happy. Yang had a mechanical arm, but seemed comfortable with it. As for Blake, she seemed a lot more open with Yang. Weiss was glad about that.
Then a pang of guilt hit her. In some way, Weiss felt, she was also responsible for Ruby. Of course she hadn't had direct influence in it, but Weiss still felt she should've gone to find her immediately after returning to Vale. Instead, Ruby was lost for years. Her partner was gone, as was most of her team. Becoming a huntress had become hard that way, all alone. But, she persevered and now she could hopefully atone to Ruby for her mistakes. At least, that's what Weiss hoped.
Getting through the security was a breeze and she was quick to get into the hotel and stash her things. Weiss needed to be quick either way. An event with a high-ranking Mistral politician was in a couple of hours already. Deeming herself ready as she looked one last time in the mirror, Weiss made her way to the public event. The information provided in the document about the mission marked him as a possible target for assassination. Defense was being taken care of by the Kingdom of Mistral itself, so all Weiss had to focus on was trying to catch Ruby.
As she neared the plaza where the event was held, Weiss immediately scanned her surroundings. Roofs, bushes, trees, anywhere where someone could hide out. One by one Weiss checked them without trying to draw much attention. Finding nothing, she decided to blend in with the crowd.
There was a very large logical inconsistency with the way the assassinations were done from purely the killing part of it all. None of them were long shots with her sniper rifle. All of it was done with the scythe blade. It was clear for Weiss that the killings were meant as messages, not as taking out purely the target. They were meant to strike fear into the people.
As Weiss stayed on guard, the politician's speech began. Weiss only listened halfheartedly as she focused more on trying to spot the potential assassin. Time passed as the speech continued on, people cheering and murmuring as he pointed out specific points. Weiss' hand stayed on Myrtenaster, ready to cast a glyph the moment Ruby would show herself. Then, she saw something in the corner of her eyes. Holding up her hand, she saw it slowly land. A rose petal.
Weiss almost felt like time stood still as the realization hit her and she looked up, the red petals collecting again as a person, the scythe extended into a spear-like position and a bang emphasizing the death of her target. There was no doubt anymore.
Weiss willed her body to move as she saw the scythe's blade being pulled out and Ruby take off. Summoning glyphs rapidly, Weiss gave chase to the rose petals winding through the streets of Mistral. The petals gathered again before a heavy sniper shot sounded again and the petals scattered again, gaining height as they flew away from Mistral. Weiss would not be deterred. Training with Ruby had given Weiss knowledge about her partner's semblance and the patterns about how she used it. She hadn't changed in that pattern one bit. Summoning a glyph and readying herself, she launched after Ruby before placing another glyph in the air to propel her to keep up.
The both of them shot through the canopy below them and the main streets of Mistral, disappearing into the forest. But Weiss was keeping up, almost catching up, although it was draining her aura and dust quite fast. Seemingly, Ruby was also using a lot as the rose petals gathered once again. Weiss held up Myrtenaster preemptively before hearing the shot and it's deflection on the blade. Weiss' heart felt a sting as she was shot at by Ruby, but she reasoned that maybe Ruby didn't know it was her in hopes that there was still some part of Ruby that would recognize and reason with Weiss.
Weiss took a gamble as she used frost dust and the waning reserves of her aura to summon a frost glyph in Ruby's path and triggered it. The glyph exploded and a chunk of ice attached itself to Ruby sending her tumbling. As she tumbled, Weiss caught up before noticing the ice had broken on her arms and Ruby was able to shoot once again but still unable to move. Grinding to a halt, the both of them were at a standoff as Ruby had leveled Crescent Rose towards Weiss. Weiss felt her heartbeat in her throat as she recognized that if Ruby would fire, she'd be dead to rights.
Looking at her former partner, Weiss could only feel pity. The red cloak she wore was almost tattered beyond usability, with noticeable patches of different kind of cloth painted red on it. Her stockings were torn heavily and the skirt and shirt Ruby wore were stained in dirt and what Weiss presumed was blood and she doubted very much it was her own. Her hair was longer than it had been previously, although still fit her. But the more eerie part, was that Weiss could not see her face as it had been obscured by a mask with the painting of a Beowolf's face on it. Even worse, she could see the glint of her former partner's eyes. One silver. One blood-red.
Weiss could see Ruby's finger on the trigger shake, as if fighting something inside herself. Weiss could almost feel the struggle herself.
"Ruby.." Weiss pleaded, softly, just above a whisper.
No answer was giving as Ruby now shaked altogether, but keeping Crescent Rose leveled on Weiss.
"Please.. Put it down. Let's talk." Weiss pleaded, a little louder. Hesitantly she put a step forward. But immediately, Ruby took one step backward.
"Don't! Don't come closer!" Ruby said. Her voice sounded hoarse and forced. Weiss could hear the sobs in the words.
"Ruby, please. It's me. I want to help you." Weiss said, pleading earnestly to her friend and former partner. She couldn't help tears from flowing as she saw the desperation of her friend and the state she was in.
"You can't. I've tried.. I really have. I'm afraid.." Ruby choked out, keeping her rifle aimed at her friend.
"Afraid of what Ruby..?" Weiss asked, keeping one of her hands on Myrtenaster.
"Afraid I won't be able to stop myself from killing you!" Ruby choked out, before gripping her rifle more steadily again. "Please! Just leave! I don't want to hurt you!".
"Ruby, I can't just leave. You're my friend. It's been so long and I've been sent to find you. Just put it down so we can talk!" Weiss pleaded once again, taking a step closer.
"You don't understand! If you ever valued our friendship, just, leave!" Ruby yelled, gripping her weapon even tighter.
Weiss felt like she was shot. But she had no time to feel as she saw Ruby struggle again before lunging towards her, Weiss narrowly missing the blade as she jumped back a little. On the back-foot, Weiss kept parrying the incoming slashes of Ruby's scythe. The hits were uneven, undetermined. It made no sense to Weiss. The attacks felt like Ruby was doubting herself as she fought, completely unlike how she had acted before. With a slice, Ruby had opened up on Weiss' defense and the both of them had noticed.
Weiss closed her eyes, expecting the next hit from Ruby to deplete what little aura she had left and leave her fatally wounded. This is the end. She thought to herself.
As the scythe came around, Ruby screamed.
With a heavy thud, the blade landed in the soil. Weiss opened her eyes again, seeing Ruby struggle to both pull Crescent Rose out of the dirt and keep it there. The glint of red would glow when trying to pull it out. Ruby looked at Weiss. "Please Weiss. I beg you. Please leave me alone. I can't stop myself."
Weiss stood stunned for a moment before attempting to imprison Ruby with the ice glyph. But in time Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose and shot at her, making Weiss have to dodge backwards once again. As she looked back towards where Ruby was, she saw she had missed her mark and Ruby was gone.
Angrily, Weiss screamed and threw Myrtenaster into the ground before sobbing. She knew she'd never be able to catch up with her aura and dust being on the levels where they were at.
Weiss had found Ruby. But in the same way, she had lost her more than she had previously.
Ruby felt her semblance drain her of the last of the aura reserves she had before she was flung out of her semblance unwillingly and tumbled as she was unable to compensate for her speed. She slid over the earthen soil, destroying the plants in her path. As she came to a stop, all she could do was curl up in a ball and cry. She let loose sobs she had long thought locked away.
Ruby had known one day they'd come looking for her when she was commanded to kill. But this, this she couldn't handle. She could never kill her friends. She could never kill her partner. She would never kill Weiss.
The darkness in the back of her mind tugged, feeding, pulsing, at her misery and despair. In a strange way it fueled her and drained her at the same time. It hurt, but she had long since accepted her fate. She was nothing more than a weapon. She had been foolish and paid the price all those years ago.
In a way, she thought that maybe she should've let Weiss take her and kill her. Actively fought against that which controlled her. But deep inside, she had already known it would never let her. It would continue to fight for survival regardless of what Ruby wanted.
Ruby felt her scroll buzz. Sitting up, she took it from her pocket and took a deep breath to stop herself from crying further. As she calmed down, she opened it.
"What took you? Oh, never mind." Dr. Watts replied. "You killed the target. Good job, Mistress is pleased. Now, you need to stay in the area. There is another target there. We just need to figure out a little more information and then you'll be called upon again. And remember; do not fail us."
Ruby knew better than to talk back. She was to listen and obey. She had learned to not do so otherwise well enough. Ruby nodded before the connection was severed and she closed her scroll.
Her heart still stung as she thought of Weiss and naturally the old wounds of her friends and family ripped itself open. Ruby folded Crescent Rose into itself and held it as she made her way to the makeshift hideout she had made north of the city. Hopefully, sleep would help her forget again. If nothing else, it would give her a moment of peace.
Weiss had returned to town, the twilight making it hard to continue to track the steps as Grimm would set in. In her hotel room, Weiss rethought the encounter. The desperation to get away, the fear of hurting her and the clear killing blow she consciously missed. But yet, she was doing all the things 'her' Ruby would do. Who was controlling her in and in what way if Ruby was capable of murdering in such a fashion? And how was she still be able to stop herself from hurting those whom she supposedly still cared about?
Weiss rubbed her eyes with her fingers. She felt drained, mostly mentally. Methodically, Weiss cleaned Myrtenaster and refilled the dust chambers. I was so close, continued to ring through Weiss' head. It turned into resolve. I'll have to try harder then. And I won't stop until I've got her.
With new vigor, she continued cleaning. I will not let her get away. Weiss thought to herself, reassembling the dust activation mechanism. She can't be far if the crash site was any indication.
Slotting the revolving dust chamber back in, Weiss locked it back in place and gave it a twirl to test her cleaning. No hitches meant she was ready. Quickly she donned her second set of clothes and took the dust-crystal belt-bag and hooked it onto her belt. It wasn't very fashionable, but very practical. Ruby was strong, but she had her limits. Limits Weiss had trained to overcome.
As Weiss looked out the window, she saw night had come. But she knew she had no choice but to go back. If she would sleep, she'd miss Ruby and the chase would begin again. Feeling refreshed, Weiss closed the door to the hotel and made her way back. Now, the added Grimm would pose a problem. But Weiss didn't care. She was determined to find her friend.
Getting back to the place where she presumed Ruby had landed, she lit up the area. Quickly she found the footsteps going north and followed the steps cautiously. The light of her scroll would make her a target, even though it was dim. Determined, Weiss continued forward until she saw the red eyes of a Grimm in the distance. Putting away her scroll, she continued walking forward. It was only a simple Beowolf, hardly a challenge. The monster didn't stand a chance as it growled at her but quickly was decapitated. It didn't even get the chance to howl.
Weiss was focused and could already hear another beowolf come up. Without much effort, she disposed of this one as well. It had tried to lunge at her, but with a quick strike she had lobbed off its paw before almost gracefully dancing around its jaws to slice its head off.
The third one had backed off a little, but with a ice-spike glyph she had pierced it through, making the three beowolves disappear into dust. Weiss was still on the path Ruby had followed and could see exhaustion had taken her as she examined the footsteps with her scroll out. Steps were closer together and she could see that Ruby had started to drag her feet. Weiss could feel herself coming closer and closer.
Close to her, she could hear the growl of an alpha beowolf. With a roar, it lunged for her but Weiss had anticipated it. Her years of experience now making even the alpha's seem like hardly any challenge. She danced around it's attacks before driving Myrtenaster in it's chest. It fell to the floor and Weiss delivered a swift kick to it before stabbing it again and this time making sure it'd count. As it disappeared, she turned around to continue on the path before being face to face with the person she was chasing. The silver and red glint, now looking much more saddened, standing before her.
"I begged you to leave me alone." Ruby said softly, the scythe on her side. To Weiss, it seemed she was on her last legs. A gust of wind would blow her down.
"And I said I just wanted to talk." Weiss responded, her resolve remaining.
"Please." Ruby pleaded again. "Just leave me. Forget about me. I'm broken and you can't fix me. All it would get you is killed."
"Ruby. I came back to Vale for RWBY. For us. For you. Now that I've found you, there is no way I will go away. Whatever's happened, I can help you." Weiss said, her words unwavering much like her gaze.
Weiss could she Ruby struggling again as she tried to pick up her weapon, the red glint pulsing a little bit before being suppressed. Now holding Crescent Rose with two hands, she fought hard against seemingly herself. Weiss felt confident enough to step closer, but was startled as Ruby pulled Crescent Rose from the ground and flung it away with great force and a loud yell. In exhaustion, Ruby fell to her knees, looking up at her former partner.
"Please. Save me." Ruby said softly and Weiss could see the red glow was dimmed immensely, only visible if she focused on it. Weiss got closer and for the first time in years, embraced her former partner.
"Don't worry. I will." Weiss whispered in her ear and hugged her friend tightly
Ruby felt the darkness lurch before the warmth of the embrace suppressed it once more. For the first time ever since she had been cursed, she felt peace. Yet, more importantly, she felt hope.