A/N: I just want to say, before anyone gets too into this story, that I am still working on the Political Protocol as my MAIN priority— meaning that I upload chapters for that daily (excluding weekends and holidays) and I won't work on a chapter of this until that is taken care of. I will also note that there is a possibility that I will have no idea where I'm going with this and quite possibly give up. But maybe not, I'm really into this game at the moment.
Weiss looked down at Yang and Blake in disbelief, Yang was unconscious and missing an arm, while Blake had been stabbed, but was still conscious.
Zwei suddenly barked, pulling Weiss' attention to her quickly approaching leader.
"Ruby!" Weiss happily said. She had begun to fear that Ruby had been killed, but was thankfully incorrect.
"Oh, I found you!" Ruby said.
"Ruby," Weiss said. "Where have you—?!"
Ruby cut her off, "Don't worry," she said. "I'm fine. What's going on?!"
Unsure of what to say, Weiss lowered her gaze sadly.
"Weiss?" Ruby asked. "What is it?"
Weiss stepped aside, giving Ruby a clear view of Yang and Blake just as Blake reached over and put her hand on Yang's.
"I'm sorry." She softly cried.
Ruby opened her mouth to say something, but in her current emotional state, she didn't know what to say.
Blake curled up and closed her eyes, "I'm sorry." She repeated.
"Yang…" Ruby sadly said.
Sun suddenly approached the younger girl,
"Hey." He said. "She's gonna be okay. The soldiers have a ship ready to send you guys to Vale."
"But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing!" Nora said from her spot behind Yang and Blake. The girl attempted to stand, but quickly sat back down, groaning and clutching her side.
"What?!" Ruby asked.
Look, guys," Sun said. "That giant Grimm is circling the school! Even the White Fang are pulling out! We have to go, now!"
"We're not… leaving!" Ren also tried to stand, but he too fell back down.
Sun quickly casted a worried look in Blake's direction.
"I'll find them…" Ruby said. "I'll find them, and I'll bring them back."
"No!" Weiss said. "We will find them."
She turned to Nora and Ren, "Watch over Blake and Yang." She said. "We'll be back."
Sun watched as Ruby and Weiss ran away, calling after them.
"You better be!" He shouted. "Idiots…" He mumbled.
Ruby and Weiss ran through Beacon's Campus, when Weiss' Scroll began ringing.
"It's Jaune!" She said, quickly answering it. "Where are you?"
Jaune's voice immediately came back through the scroll, "Weiss!" He said. "Please, you have to stop her!"
"What!?" Weiss asked, confused.
"Pyrrha!" He said. "She's going after that woman at the top of the tower! She doesn't stand a chance!"
Weiss opened her mouth to say something else, but Ruby dashed forward.
"Weiss!" She called back. "Come on! Hurry!"
Weiss looked back down at her scroll.
"We've got this handled, Jaune." She said, following Ruby.
The two brushed past countless Grimm, until they got to the base of the tower. Ruby fired Crescent Rose at the ground beneath her, sending her flying upwards. She didn't go all the way up, of course, and stabbed her weapon into the side, repeating this action until she got to the top.
The first thing she noticed, once there was that the top of the tower was gone, reduced to piles of rubble here and there. And the second thing she noticed was the fight that was going on.
Cinder formed a black bow in her hand. As she drew back an arrow, Pyrrha threw her shield at the older woman. The arrow shattered immediately upon its impact with the shield, but then reassembled itself on the other side, going right into Pyrrha's heel.
Pyrrha collapsed in pain.
"Leave her alone!" Ruby cried out, pointing Crescent Rose at Cinder and firing three shots. Cinder blocked these with her hand, and sent a fire bolt towards the girl. Ruby easily dodged it, however, she failed to see the second that Cinder fired, jumping right into its line of fire.
Ruby was launched backwards by the power of the hit, slamming into a pile of rubble and dropping her precious weapon, causing it to fly off the side of the tower.
With Ruby taken care of, Cinder returned her attention to Pyrrha, who attempted to stand, but the pain in her heel was too much, and she fell back down. Both of the ends of the arrow broke off, making removal impossible, as Pyrrha move herself onto her hands and knees.
"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours." Cinder said. She knelt down and lifted Pyrrha's chin, staring into her eyes and smiling.
"But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined."
Pyrrha pulled away, sitting up and matching Cinder's stare.
"Do you believe in destiny?" She asked.
Cinder frowned, narrowing her eyes.
"Yes." She said.
Before anything more could happen, their attention was drawn back to Ruby, who was trying her hardest to stand back up. Her breathing had grown ragged as she managed to get back to her feet, clutching her stomach in pain. There was an obvious burn mark that scorched her stomach, burning through her clothes and leaving a red mark on her skin.
Pyrrha's eyes widened as Cinder strode over to the younger girl, grabbing her by the throat and walking towards the edge.
Ruby's cloak flew back and forth in the wind, and would have actually looked pretty cool under different circumstances.
Ruby herself, gripped Cinder's wrist tightly, not wanting to be dropped.
"It's truly unfortunate that your young life had to end so soon," Cinder said. "But you're a nuisance."
On that note, Cinder touched the center of Ruby's chest, a green glow emanating from her hand. Ruby coughed, blood spattering onto Cinder's arm and face.
"Hands off the niece!" A voice called from behind her. Cinder slowly turned, not pulling Ruby away from the edge, and smirked.
"Careful what you wish for!" She gleefully said, releasing her grip on the young girl.
Ruby fell a few inches before disintegrating, leaving only her cloak behind to slowly drift down.
"No!" Qrow ran forward, swiping his scythe at Cinder, but she herself disintegrated.
The woman suddenly reappeared behind Qrow, sending an arrow flying into Pyrrha's chest. Qrow swung at the woman again, but again she disappeared.
Jaune quickly moved through Vale, Beacon Tower not leaving his sight as he moved. And then he saw something that made his heart drop. His feet wouldn't carry him any further as he stared at the unmistakable sight of Ruby's cloak hanging off the side of the tower. With the girl still attached to it.
It was hard to see from the distance he was at, but he saw the cloak began to drift downwards, with no one attached to it.
Jaune's jaw hung open as he tried to comprehend what he had just witnessed. Surely she had just dropped her cloak. Right?
No. She would die before she let that thing fall.
And that was probably what had happened.
Jaune hit his knees. Ruby had just lost her life. Because of him. He had been the one to ask her to save Pyrrha. It was his fault.
"Oh," A voice said, quite obviously faking sympathy. "You poor thing."
Jaune quickly turned to the source and saw Cinder standing just feet away from him.
"Did I kill both of your friends?" She asked, smirking.
Jaune didn't move.
"Pity." She said. "But, oh! You should have heard Rose beg for her life."
Jaune shook his head.
"That's not Ruby." He said.
Cinder's smirk swapped with a look of disgust.
"She was a coward. Even in death. Both of them." She told him.
Jaune quickly unsheathed Crocea Mors and charged the woman, only to be quickly stopped and grabbed by the throat. She moved her free hand to his chest, a green glowing shining upon him.
He coughed up a little blood, and she smirked again.
"See ya, Arc." She suddenly pushed him backwards and his world went black.