She ran up the side of the tower with the help of her partner's glyphs. As she got closer to the top, a feeling of dread grew in her chest. She knew she had to go faster or else something bad would happen. She jumped the last few feet and landed at the top of the tower. She looked up, preparing to join the fight that should have been raging there, only to see an arrow bury itself in her friend's chest. Her friend took a few gasping breaths, then slumped forward with her opponent holding her still form up by her headpiece. A strange light flashed outward, then her friend started to disintegrate right before her eyes. Despair and sorrow welled up in her. If she had only been just a little bit faster she could have saved her friend. The emotional shock was too much for her. She was too late to save a friend again that night. As her emotions surged forward so did something else. As pain built up in her head she cried out in anguish, then everything went white…
"RUBY!"
Ruby jolts up in bed gasping. She trembles uncontrollably as sweat pours down her face. Strong arms wrap around her shoulders and hold her tightly.
"Ruby it's all right, it was just a dream," Nora says, trying to comfort the young girl.
"But it wasn't," Ruby says, failing at holding back her tears, "Pyrrha's gone all because I wasn't fast enough."
"Stop it," Nora says sternly, "You did the best you could; beating yourself up over what happened isn't going to change anything. Pyrrha wouldn't want to see you like this because of her so cheer up, okay?"
Ruby takes a few deep breaths to calm herself and wipes the tears from her eyes. "You're right, I'm sorry," she says with a smile.
"That's better," Nora giggles, "We've got another long day of traveling ahead of us tomorrow so we better get some rest." She bounces back over to her bed, but pauses before climbing in it. "And Ruby? If you ever need to talk about what happened at the top of the tower, then we're here for you."
"I know Nora, thank you."
The next morning Ruby and Nora join Ren and Jaune for breakfast in the dining room of the inn they were currently staying at. There is only a bit of small talk, mostly between Ruby and Nora. Jaune does his best to join in, but always fades off after turning to the empty chair next to him. Whenever he does this it's painfully obvious to the others that he just tried to get Pyrrha's opinion on the topic of conversation. After breakfast they gather their things and return their room keys to the kind old innkeeper.
"You kids be careful in your travels," she says, "the Grimm have been getting stronger around these parts lately."
"Don't worry about us, we can take care of ourselves," Ruby says confidently.
"I'm sure you can dearie. Goodbye."
Team RNJR (as Ruby had started calling them) leave the small town and continue on the road to Mistral. Today, like so many other days, they travel in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts. That is until Nora shoves Ruby and runs off shouting, "Tag, you're it!"
"Hey!" Ruby shouts running after Nora, "That's not fair."
"Guys stop fooling around," Jaune says as they chase each other around. "We have a whole day of traveling ahead of us."
"So? We're only having a little fun," Ruby giggles.
"Yeah, why don't you two join us," Nora adds while aiming a full body tackle at Ren who smoothly dodges.
"Nora it would be wise to save our energy for any Grimm that we may encounter," Ren scolds as he helps Nora up.
This proves to be a mistake as Nora takes the opportunity to tag Ren.
"Your it, Ren!" she shouts gleefully as she runs ahead of the others, "Catch me if you can!"
Nora quickly disappears around a curve in the road, giggling all the way. Ren just sighs and continues at the same pace as before.
"You guys are no fun," Ruby pouts.
"In case you've forgotten Ruby, we're not out here to have fun," Jaune snaps. He immediately regrets it when he sees the dark look that flits through her eyes.
"You're right Jaune. I'm sorry," she says in a defeated tone, her shoulders slumping.
"Nice going," Jaune thinks to himself as he slaps his forehead. He jogs forward a few steps to catch up with Ruby and places a hand on her shoulder. "No Ruby, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. You and Nora were only trying to lighten the mood."
Jaune mentally kicks himself when he sees Ruby quickly wipe tears away before turning to him, but before she can say anything they hear the all too familiar explosions of Nora's weapon. Ruby uses her semblance to speed ahead of Jaune and Ren. She rounds the bend in the road only to be sent flying back as something collides with her. She tumbles along the road and comes to a stop in a heap of limbs.
"Nora!" she exclaims once she recognizes what, or rather who, had collided with her.
Ruby scrambles to get out from underneath Nora in order to see if she was hurt. When she manages to sit up she freezes at the sight before her. Three large Death Stalkers are advancing towards her, flanked by members of the White Fang.
"Ruby move!" Jaune's shout snaps Ruby out of her inactivity. She scrambles to her feet while supporting a dazed Nora. She starts running in order to regroup with Jaune and Ren before the enemy closes in on her, but the White Fang start firing at her. One of the rounds hits her in the foot, causing her to stumble despite her aura. The closest Death Stalker lunges at her with its stinger. Fortunately, Jaune arrives just in time to block the attack with his shield. Ren takes a recovering Nora from Ruby, freeing her up to help Jaune deal with the Death Stalker. A second one comes around the side of the first making the situation worse. Ruby unleashes a barrage of strikes on the second one with Crescent Rose, but its tough armor protects it from most of the damage. Ruby dodges a swipe from the Death Stalker's claw only to land in the path of the third. An explosion announces Nora's recovery and sends her flying into the Death Stalker, hammer first. Ruby returns her attention to her own Death Stalker just in time to dodge another attack. Ren does his best to hold back the White Fang while the other three struggle with the Grimm, but despite their efforts they end up getting surrounded. A plan quickly forms in Ruby's mind that could turn the tide in their favor. She turns to Jaune, intending to put her plan into action, but what she sees erases all thoughts from her mind. All thoughts, but one that is.
An arrow flies seemingly out of nowhere and buries itself in the center of Jaune's chest armor, knocking him over. Images overlap and suddenly Ruby is back on the top of the tower watching Pyrrha die all over again. Her breath catches in her throat as Crescent Rose falls from her weak grasp. She clutches at her head as pain builds just behind her eyes.
"No," she whispers as the memory and reality flash before her vision, "NOOOOOO!"
The pain in Ruby's head reaches its peak and everything once more goes white.
Hey readers, thanks for taking the time to read through the first chapter. This is my first time writing fanfiction so forgive me if I don't do a good job getting the character's personalities right; I'll do my best, but I'm more used to writing stories with my own characters. Let me know what you think either about the story itself or my writing in general; I'm always looking to improve.
