Ruby, Jaune, Nora, and Ren sat clustered around a fire in an abandoned house along the road to Haven. Night came quickly in winter, and with it came a fiercer, more deadly chill, and the howls of beowolves in the distant dark. Their silence, too, grew darker, as the small distractions of walking and making camp no longer shielded them from the memories of what – and who – they had lost.
Ruby was the first to break the silence. "I'm sorry, Jaune," she said, giving words to the guilt that had nagged at her since she'd first contacted him after the fall of Beacon.
"Sorry for what?" he asked, but he knew.
"I was with Weiss when she got your call, during the battle. I… I'm sorry I didn't save Pyrrha." Tears welled up in her silver eyes, and her voice shook. Nora put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.
Jaune swallowed past the lump in his throat. "It's not your fault," he said, blinking back tears of his own. "Pyrrha is – was," he choked, "better than any of us, but that woman… even Ozpin lost to her. It's not your fault she died before you could get up there."
"She was still alive when I got there," Ruby confessed in a whisper, beginning to cry in earnest.
"What?" Jaune asked, stunned.
"She was still alive when I got there," she repeated. "I think she was hurt – she was on her knees, not standing – but she was alive. Then Cinder shot her with an arrow, and I could see her aura bubbling up from her chest," Ruby sobbed, "and then she… she turned her to ash while I watched."
Jaune stared, horrified, his own tears streaming down his cheeks.
"I'm so, so sorry, Jaune! If only I'd been faster, if only I hadn't stopped to see what was happening, then Pyrrha… Pyrrha would…" Ruby broke down completely, and Nora wrapped her in a hug.
"It's not your fault, Ruby," she said, sniffling.
"Anyone would have needed a second to look at the situation before acting," Ren added.
"They're right," Jaune said, his voice breaking. "It's not your fault, it's woman's – Cinder's.. All of it is. I'm just glad she didn't get you, too."
"Thanks, Jaune." Ruby pulled away from Nora and wiped her eyes, still sniffling. "I'll, um, I'll take first watch."