It had been three years since Ruby Rose's capture by Cinder Fall. Beacon Academy had been rebuilt, and Salem was being held at bay, at least for now. A war was being fought between the Huntsman and the Grimm, while the White Fang still waged its own civil war.
None of this mattered to Ruby anymore.
All she could focus on anymore was the pain. Cinder was more than happy to take her frustrations out on the younger girl, and had taken to torturing her relentlessly every chance she had.
Ruby sat in the cell that had become her prison over the previous years. She was not chained to the wall, nor the uncomfortable bed she sat on, for Cinder saw no reason to chain someone she had broken so completely. The only time Ruby showed any signs of life anymore was during one of the agonizingly thorough torture sessions that she had come to dread. She stared at the cracked stone floor before turning her head upwards, dead eyes staring out of the lone window the room possessed. Ruby had attempted escape many times before, each attempt ending in cruel punishments that she knew Cinder delighted in. However, no longer did the girl try to abandon her situation, knowing it was pointless to even attempt. The shattered moon shone brightly in the night sky before being swallowed up by dark clouds.
A thick iron door was set ominously in the eastern wall of the room, which Ruby ignored. She knew all too well that the door wouldn't budge unless her captor wanted it to. Moonlight danced through the window tantalizingly as the clouds parted once more, illuminating the room. A white shirt with an open back glowed in the moonlight, offset by black tights that accentuated her muscular legs. Pale scars on her back and arms gleamed in the moonlight, the result of her captor's temper and Ruby's inability to maintain her aura after pain became the only thing she could feel.
The girl had changed over the last three years, having grown more than half a foot and developing a lean fighter's body during her grueling time as a prisoner. Even while looking so helpless and lost, any person in their right mind would call her beautiful, despite her unkempt black and red hair falling past her shoulders to rest gently on her delicate collarbone. Her lithe body was mostly muscle, thanks to the ministrations of her captor. Ruby was more than just a toy to the demented fire witch, she was a tool to be used.
It had started out in such a way that Ruby had no idea her skills were being intentionally honed. She had thought the waves of Grimm she was forced to pit herself against were a part of the torture that had become her waking life. Until the day it was not a small army of Grimm meeting her in the large domed room that served as Cinder's own personal colosseum, but the madwoman herself. This event marked the first proper torture session Ruby had experienced, with the fire witch using her control of the element to cause as much pain as humanly possible as the scythe master struggled to put up a decent fight.
It had continued as such for some time, with Ruby consistently losing and suffering for her losses, but making marked improvement as time progressed. Eventually, Cinder stopped actively sparring with the younger woman, instead preferring to watch Ruby fight against increasingly difficult Grimm as the chance of her being injured by the crimsonette increased.
Three years this had been going on, the result being that Ruby was now a veritable killing machine, harboring skills with a polearm that even Qrow Branwen would be hard pressed to match. In addition to her hard earned skills with her weapon of choice, Ruby was positively deadly when it came to hand-to-hand combat.
Then had come a very painful day for Ruby. The day that her spirit had been shattered beyond repair, when she had been forced to take another person's life against her will.
Salem had devised for Cinder a mask that, when placed upon the victim's face, allowed complete control over the wearer through the manipulation of the wearer's aura. Normally this feat would be far too difficult to maintain due to the amount of aura it would take to control another person, but the power of the Fall Maiden was plentiful indeed. The mask was a delicate looking thing, resembling in a way Raven Branwen's signature helmet sans the second set of eyeholes. The eyes that were part of the mask were long and slanted, glowing red when the mask was active and the wearer was being controlled. The mouth of the mask bore a wolfish smile, sharp teeth glistening against any light that happened across them. Red Grimm markings traced their way along the mask's forehead and cheekbones, completing the ghastly image.
Ruby had been used as an agent of death more than once after having the mask forced upon her, her first victims being a contingent of Atlesian soldiers who had the misfortune of finding one of Cinder's hideouts by chance.
They had been met by a young girl no older than seventeen, a dangerous red glow crackling around her as she tore them apart like toys. Her midnight-black bodysuit had no defining marks other than the small patches of aura-infused cloth that served as a secondary means of attack. Ruby's aura had changed with her, becoming dark and heavy as her soul became more and more tattered. Crescent Rose had been lost in her capture, and Cinder had given the girl another polearm to replace her sweetheart. A halberd that ended with a large black axe-blade and vicious spear head was given to the young woman, runes inscribed along its shaft and blade in earth dust. It served as a harbinger of death for the Altesians that stood in her way.
From that day on, stories ran wild about a black-clad girl wearing a Grimm's face. Hunters and Huntresses that had suffered at her hands the few times she had been involved in altercations over the years had taken to calling her Nightshade, assigning her a AA danger level on the mission boards and a 100000 lien reward for her capture.
The massive door creaked open and then shut, the sound incredibly loud in the silence and shaking Ruby from her thoughts. Dull silver eyes met a fiery amber orb as Cinder cockily waltzed into the room. The older woman closed the distance between them with a few strides and cradled Ruby's face with one of her scalding-hot palms. Ruby could feel Cinder's nails, sharp as a Nevermore's talons, digging into her skin as her head was tilted upwards. Then came the part of Cinder's visits that Ruby despised more than anything else, more than the torture and abuse, more than the smell of her own scorched flesh as Cinder played with her.
Cinder's lips pressed themselves against Ruby's insistently, her tongue demanding entry. Ruby's lips parted with no resistance, having long since lost her will to fight the lecherous advances of her captor. As Cinder explored her mouth for what felt like the hundredth time, she couldn't help but remember the first time she had been taken advantage of by the corrupted Fall Maiden.
Several weeks after Ruby had been confined to her cell, Cinder confidently entered the pitiful excuse for a room and, instead of torturing the girl as Ruby had come to expect from the fire witch, the older woman had begun to remove her clothing. Instinctively, Ruby had struggled against the groping hands, only to be rewarded with a painful knee to her gut that drove the wind out of her. She had continued to fight, to bite and scratch at her captor, but that only seemed to encourage Cinder further as she made her own marks on Ruby's pale skin.
Clothes were torn from her body as Cinder began to ignite a heat in the younger woman, her painful touch waking something in Ruby that she had never experienced before. Despite herself, the girl found herself responding to the despicable touches and scratches that caused her both pain and pleasure. From the moment her first unintentional moan had sounded, Cinder's eye lit up with a fire that was completely unrelated to the Maiden's power that flowed through her. She was determined to make this girl hers, mind, body, and soul. And, as she cupped Ruby's leaking center in her hand and violated the girl in the most intimate of ways, she knew she would be successful.
When she had finished with Ruby, the girl sobbing on the floor with her clothes torn and smoldering, Cinder stood up and began to dress herself. A slow smile played at her lips as she wished Ruby a good night playfully. As the door closed, Ruby heard the woman say something that turned her blood to ice in her veins.
"Same time next week, Red."
Cinder pulled away from the one-sided kiss, her eyes glinting dangerously. Her hand wrapped itself around Ruby's throat and began to squeeze. With a low growl, she slammed Ruby's head into the wall and threw her from the bed violently, what little aura Ruby had been maintaining shattering instantly from the assault.
"It seems that your little friends have found this hideout." She hissed, barely able to contain her rage as flames spilled from her lone eye. Ruby lay on the floor, head ringing with pain as her shattered pride attempted to cajole her into fighting back.
All thoughts of resisting immediately flew from her mind as she felt a fiery blade pierce her left thigh, cauterizing the wound and roasting her flesh as it cut deep into her. The aura-summoned weapon sent waves of pain through Ruby's system as Cinder began to slowly wiggle and twist the blade.
"This has become a rather convenient stronghold, and I really am quite upset that several Huntsman are roving my halls. So" Cinder drew out the 'oh' sound at the end of the word. "I'm going to make it so you die here and your precious little friends can come find your pretty corpse. Although, 'pretty' might not be the best description of you once I'm finished."
With that, Cinder severed Ruby's leg completely from her body, leaving a smoking stump halfway between her hip and where her knee would be were it still attached. Ruby cried out in pain and anguish that not even she had felt in the years she had been tortured by the older woman. A second kick from Cinder flipped her onto her back, and the fire witch swung the sword viciously at Ruby. Instinctively, she shifted out of the way and the blow landed on her left shoulder, severing her arm like a hot knife through butter. Cinder let out a small tch of annoyance and brought the blade up one final time, determined to end this stupid girl's life.
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from outside the cell. The door rocked in its frame, small dents appearing in the metal as it suffered a barrage from what sounded like an angry Goliath. Another sound of annoyance escaped the fire witch, and the flaming sword disappeared into thin air. Her gaze swept over Ruby's pathetic form and she smiled mirthlessly.
"It seems I don't have the time even to kill you, miss Rose. However, I still owe you for this." The older girl gestured towards her face, specifically to the mask that covered her missing left eye. "You know what they say..." She crouched next to Ruby and caressed her face almost lovingly.
"An eye for an eye." Cinder's hand shifted and struck, fingers digging themselves into Ruby's left eye socket and squeezing, a wet squelching noise punctuating the air as she yanked her hand back. Flames trailed behind her hand as she scorched the girl's face for good measure. Ruby shrieked uncontrollably, unable to handle all of the pain that her body was trying to process. Cinder squeezed her fingers around the ruined orb, chuckling as she stepped into the sole window, dropping into the night. Ruby could do nothing but scream and clutch at her face with her remaining hand, writhing on the floor until the door finally gave way under the onslaught it was enduring. It tore free of its place embedded in the wall, flying across the room and burying itself in the wall opposite.
Yang Xiao Long rushed into the room, hands up and ready to fight. She froze when she saw Ruby, her thick blonde hair whipping around her. She rushed to Ruby's side, tears falling from her eyes as she looked at her little sister's ruined body, the younger girl having passed out from the overwhelming pain. Yang gently scooped up her long-lost sister, their reunion after the years made decisively one-sided and horrifying.
Blake met up with her outside of the fortress that had been Ruby's prison for the last three years, both of them unable to comprehend what they were looking at. Blake had silent tears streaming down her cheeks, her fists clenched in an impotent display of rage. Yang, however, could only stare into the distance and mechanically made her way through the task of loading Ruby onto the airship that had arrived to pick them up, her eyes staring at nothing the entire way back to Beacon Academy.
…
Several days later, Ruby woke with a start in the infirmary at Beacon Academy, a long room filled with several beds that were cordoned off by a maze of screens and curtains. Instinctively trying to roll off of the comfy hospital bed she had been placed on, she landed gracefully, hands brought up in a defensive position, ready to handle anything from the familiar-looking surroundings. The dimly lit room held no secrets to her as she scanned it with a skilled eye, determined that should the need arise, she was more than capable of defending herself against this new trick from Cinder.
Or, that's what she had intended. Instead, her right leg buckled underneath her as she tried to use her missing left leg to support herself, and she painfully cracked her head against the floor. Strong hands lifted her from the ground and back onto the bed, dazed and groaning in renewed pain as the events of that night flashed through her mind. She blinked her remaining eye up at the golden-haired woman who had placed her reverently back onto the bed, not recognizing the gorgeous girl. Several moments went by until her head stopped ringing long enough for her to notice lilac eyes, her breath coming out in painful sobs as she reached for her older sister.
Yang wasted no time in throwing her arms around Ruby, both sisters weeping as they embraced. Ruby, out of pain and shock, unable to process completely what was happening. Yang, in horror and heart-wrenching guilt, cursing herself repeatedly for not being able to protect her precious sister. Both girls sobbed for the time they had lost, for the time they would never get back.
A long time passed before either girl could relinquish her hold. Yang gently extricated herself from Ruby's arm and held her hand tightly, tears still tracing their way down her face. She looked at Ruby, determined to memorize every detail about her sister. The lone silver eye was wet with the tears that covered the right side of her face, gauze wrapped around the other half to cover the ruined socket. Yang cupped her sister's beautiful face, trying and failing to wipe away the tears that continued to flow. Her hand dropped as she got a good look at Ruby's shoulders and collarbone, the pale scars shining in the moonlight that drifted in through the large windows of the infirmary. Fresh tears began to fall from her eyes as she spoke to her sister for the first time in three years.
"I am so sorry." Her voice broke as she began to sob harder than ever, shoulders shaking with the force of her sorrow. A delicate but strong hand cupped her face and brought it up, silver eye meeting lilac eyes. Ruby's gaze was much older than she was, her voice firm as she spoke to Yang.
"Don't be." Came the reply. Ruby's voice was slightly deeper than Yang remembered, a husky quality now coloring the girl's normally high pitch. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Yang."
"I couldn't protect you! I couldn't keep you from getting kidnapped and now you're-"
"Home. I'm home, Yang." Ruby hugged her older sister as tight as she could, ignoring the pain from her battered body. "For the first time in years I'm alright, at least for right now."
Yang hugged her sister back, careful not to squeeze too tightly. She knew things wouldn't be okay, not for a long time, but for now she was content. For a long time they stayed like that, neither sister willing to let go after being apart for so long.
Yang snorted softly, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth as she leaned back and looked at Ruby. The younger girl tilted her head questioningly at her sister.
"You said you're alright." Yang couldn't help but snort again. "Alright. All right. You're all right!" Unable to contain herself any longer, she burst into laughter. Ruby glanced at her missing limbs and couldn't help but join Yang in her mirth, the unexpected pun making her laugh for the first time since her capture. The two sisters laughed together, happy in that brief moment that they could be with one another once more.
Yang's breathing hitched as her laughing turned into more sobbing, holding her sister's head to her chest as she vented years of hurt, worry, and pain. She had missed her sister dearly, and she finally had her back. Ruby gently pulled Yang onto the bed next to her and lay down on her good side, allowing Yang to hold her tight. The events of the last few days overtook the two girls, and they soon drifted off to sleep.
…
When Ruby next awoke, Yang was nowhere to be found. Instead, a familiar figure snoozed in a chair that was pulled up next to her bed. Black, messy hair contrasted with pale skin and a white coat as the man snored loudly. Qrow Branwen had flown to Beacon as soon as he could when he heard the news, stopping only once to call in a favor, and he was exhausted from the trip. Ruby smiled softly as she looked at her uncle for the first time in years, surprised to see a scar stretching from the left side of his jaw to the corner of his eye on the same side.
Looking around in the bright morning sunshine streaming through the windows, Ruby noticed a tray with a pitcher of ice water resting on a small table near her bed. She quenched her thirst and proceeded to throw the wooden cup at her uncle's head, a dull thunk sounding as it hit its mark.
Qrow started and leapt to his feet, his hand shooting towards the sword-scythe he always kept nearby. He calmed down significantly when he saw his niece sitting upright in bed and chuckling softly. Smirking, he sat down once more and took a good long look at Ruby, concern filling his eyes as he took in the extent of her condition.
"How do ya feel, kiddo?" He rasped.
"Like I've lost an eye, an arm, and a leg." Ruby deadpanned, silver meeting red as he met her gaze. He could only find a haunted young woman in that look. "Other than that, I'm glad to be out of that hell hole. Where's Yang?"
"I can only imagine. I myself was a prisoner for about a year once. I was glad to be home after it was over." Qrow had been captured by the Branwen tribe some time back, a band of thieves and murderers, but ultimately he was considered family. He was sure he had been treated a lot better than whatever ordeals Ruby had been through. "Yang had business to take care of in the city. Seems she's going to be taking a break from missions for a while to help you recover."
"Mmm." Ruby hummed noncommittally, lost in thought. Bitterly, she wondered if Qrow had been broken and violated as thoroughly as she had been. He did drink fairly often. She jumped when Qrow snapped his fingers in front of her face.
"I asked if you were hungry, kid. You've been asleep for nearly a week." Ruby's stomach growled loudly at the suggestion of food, making him laugh. "I'll take that as a yes, I'll be right back."
As she waited for her uncle to return, a gasp sounded from the open door of the infirmary. Ruby looked up quickly to see Blake standing in the doorway with tears sparkling in her yellow eyes. The faunus girl wore a black and purple yukata that split down one side, showing off a generous amount of the woman's skin. To Ruby's surprise, Blake's hair had been cut short into a pixie style, her large black and purple ears prominently displayed for all to see.
The injured girl smiled and patted the bed next to her, inviting the faunus to sit. Blake padded forward slowly, as if moving too quickly would somehow chase this moment away. Her ears twitched almost constantly, a sign that the faunus was nervous.
When Blake sat next to her, Ruby reached out and grasped her hand. At this point, tears were flowing down Blake's face and she threw her arms around the younger girl, making Ruby wince in pain as she was squeezed. She ran her hand through Blake's thick black hair as she too began to cry, both girls taking comfort in the embrace.
"I've missed you so much. We've all missed you so much." Blake sobbed into Ruby's good shoulder. Ruby made soothing noises while Blake's cries faded away into sniffles.
"I've missed you guys. All of you. I've missed my family." Ruby felt Blake stiffen at the word 'family' and looked at her questioningly with her lone silver orb.
"Y-you still consider us family? After we failed you?"
"I've already told Yang, no one failed anybody. Would you feel that I had failed you if you were the one who had been captured? Would you want me to blame myself?" Ruby smiled softly as Blake flinched at her firm tone, and she looked at the faunus girl properly for the first time since she walked in. Blake's features had developed into a more feral appearance, her feline heritage only growing more prominent as the years had gone by. She was breathtakingly beautiful, equal parts terrifying and gorgeous, her short haircut framing her face elegantly
"Of course not. I just... Losing you hit us pretty hard, Ruby. We thought you were gone for good."
"It'll take a lot more than a few years of torture, mind control, merciless physical abuse, horrifyingly painf-" Ruby stopped as Blake began to cry again. She sheepishly hugged the girl close, not used to this side of the usually passive ninja. "Sheesh, I was just trying to be funny."
"You're about as funny as Yang, you jerk." Blake hiccuped as she pawed at her eyes. "We've all been worried sick about you."
"I'm sorry, Blake. Really, I am." She hugged the girl tightly, wishing that the last three years could just disappear. "Where's Weiss? She's the only member of the team I haven't seen yet."
Blake met Ruby's good eye with a sorrowful look. Ruby could practically see the cogs in her head turning as she tried to formulate a response.
"Blake?"
"Weiss... She took it the hardest out of all of us, Ruby. After you were captured, she began training with Winter and the spec-ops squad that she's in charge of. She's been blaming herself this whole time, pushing herself harder and harder in an attempt to punish herself for letting you get captured. I'm honestly surprised she's not on one of these beds herself, with how reckless she's been lately." Her amber orbs sought out Ruby's gaze, holding it beseechingly. "Don't hold it against her for not being here. She'll come to you in her own time."
Ruby nodded, a worried frown on her face even as her eye twinkled mischievously. "I know how she is. Getting her to express emotion is like getting blood from a rock."
It was Blake's turn to nod, a warm glow igniting in each girls chest for a brief moment at the harmless jab at their absent friend. They both looked up when Qrow walked in with a large tray full of pancakes, setting it down across Ruby's lap as the girl's mouth watered.
The smell of fresh-cooked pancakes was nearly making her drool, and she picked up the fork laying on the tray. As she dug in to the huge pile of flapjacks, both Qrow and Blake smiled. This was the first time since her arrival that Ruby truly seemed to be like her old self, almost inhaling the breakfast food. She had some difficulty eating due to her missing limb, which served to tinge the moment with a feeling of melancholy. Qrow and Blake met each others' gaze, and he nodded almost imperceptibly at the cat girl.
"I'll be right back, Ruby." Blake said, hugging the girl one more time before walking to the door. "Your uncle Qrow brought something for you."
Ruby shot an inquisitive look at Qrow as Blake walked out, which she turned on Blake as the faunus walked back in hefting two cylindrical bundles of cloth, one of them being slightly longer than the other. Qrow unwrapped the smaller bundle first, revealing a blood-red robotic arm, complete with a shoulder joint. The other package was a matching leg to replace the one she had lost. Ruby looked at the appendages and beamed.
"We'll have to wait until someone from Atlas can come and install the connector plates to your shoulder and thigh, as well as adjust the length of each limb so you're comfortable, but these are a gift from Ironwood. He and Penny both send their regards." He smiled at Ruby's shocked gasp. "Penny is alive and well, Ru. She's been looking forward to seeing you again." Qrow ruffled Ruby's hair, mussing it up further than it already had been, and laughed at the grimace the gesture elicited from the young woman. He turned to Blake, suddenly serious. "Blake, I need to have a few words with Ru. No one else can be here while we talk, I'm sorry."
Blake, to her credit, nodded after only a few moment's hesitation. She shared a small smile with Ruby before leaving the room, gently closing the door behind her. Qrow turned to Ruby, his red eyes hard as flint as he prepared himself for the conversation the was about to happen.
"I know this isn't easy for you. And I know this is the last thing you need while you recover." He began, walking over to the corner of the room, where a large chest had been placed. Ruby's heart seized as she recognized the chest that once sat outside of her cell, the chest containing the compacted halberd and all of the equipment she used as Cinder's personal soldier.
"Team CVFY found this chest during their sweep of the compound that the Beacon teams found you in. I need to know what exactly is going on, Ru. What is all of this?" Qrow asked the young girl as he pulled the weapon in question out of the chest, along with the black bodysuit she wore while fulfilling Cinder's terrible missions. This weapon was not the flashy piece of equipment Ruby had used as a younger girl. It was sleek, black as night and covered in earth dust runes to prevent it from dulling or cracking during combat. The blade was a singular piece of metal, and the halberd did not morph into a rifle but a deadly shotgun designed to eliminate enemies at close range with lethal force. Qrow could see that Ruby recognized both objects, and he pressed his niece for information.
"This equipment matches the description of a dangerous agent of the enemy. Someone who we've been trying to catch for almost two years, now. Do you kn-"
Ruby interrupted, her voice flat. "There should be a mask in there as well."
"Ru, I-"
"Take. Out. The. Mask." She hissed, her voice suddenly full of anger and pain as aura crackled around her.
His face set in a grimace, Qrow pulled out the white wolf mask covered in red tribal sigils. It resembled a beowolf, which he supposed was the intended affect.
"That mask," Ruby stated, voice cracking with emotion. "is the most disgusting, horrible piece of garbage I have ever experienced." Hot tears streaked their way down her face as she sobbed in impotent rage. "She made me do things with that mask, Uncle Qrow. Horrible things. Terrible things." Her teeth were bared, mouth twisted into an inhuman snarl as she relived painful memories. "I've k-killed people. Innocent people."
Qrow looked sadly at his broken niece, understanding etched in his features. He had never encountered anything like this mask, but if his suspicions were correct then Ozpin was going to have a lot on his hands.
"Ru. Look at me." Qrow sat next to his favorite niece, the bed creaking softly under his weight. The girl didn't budge. "Please, kiddo."
Ruby looked up to meet his gaze, and in the depths of that silver eye he saw many things. He saw the emptiness of a person who had lived through hell, through daily torture and anguish. He saw the fire that burned, the hatred for the person responsible. He saw someone who, in no small way, wished for death. And through all of that, he saw pain. Pain that tore her to pieces, knowing that she was responsible for hurting people. The fact that she was not fully in control of herself did not matter, her actions had spelled death for too many.
"If what you're saying is true, whatever you did, whatever you were forced to do, that wasn't you. You're not at fault for any of this." He saw the disbelief in her face. "We're going to talk about this with Ozpin eventually, but for now just focus on getting better." Qrow paused, unsure of what to say next.
"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby's voice had that strange flat quality to it once more.
"Can you please hide... that." Ruby refused to name the weapon or acknowledge the mask that had been forced on her. "I know I'll have to face it eventually, just... not now. Please."
"We'll start building a new scythe soon after you get the prosthetics installed. The chest and its contents will be sent to Atlas so they can be properly examined." Qrow stood and hugged his niece close, a rare moment of tenderness overtaking him. "It's good to have you back kiddo. We'll all help you get through this."
Ruby nodded, unable to speak as exhaustion swept through her, the intensity of the morning taking its toll. Her eye drooped as she gently fell backwards into the pillows, and sleep overtook her once more.
…
The next day, Ruby met with an Atlas technician, who installed the connector plates onto the stump of her leg and the hollow where her shoulder had once been. The man was impressed at the lack of discomfort the girl showed as he modified her body, knowing the process was quite painful. One look at her remaining eye told him all he needed to know in that regard.
Pain was nothing new to her.
Ruby donned her new battle-outfit, a pair of black tights that hugged her legs and hid the bright red of her new leg as well as a plain crimson top that had three quarter sleeves, ending at her forearms. Her signature red cloak hung around her shoulders, a comforting weight after not having worn one for so long. She unclasped the cloak and decided to leave it folded on her bed due to the heavy material irritating her recovering shoulder. She completed her look by styling her hair over her left eye, doing her best to hide the clean white bandages that covered that side of her face.
After getting dressed, Ruby inspected her new limbs. She raised her new hand to the sky, observing the flash of warm sunlight glinting off the material as it shone through the window.
I'll have to change that to a matte color. I don't want to give away my position while I hunt. She thought to herself. She realized that she was thinking more like a soldier than she would have normally, but who could blame her? That's what she had been the last few years. If you can call a merciless killing machine a soldier, anyway.
Yang walked in and beamed at her younger sister, raising her own robotic limb in greeting. She wore her usual brown duster, her orange scarf trailing behind her as she confidently strode through Beacon as if she owned the place.
"What's up, sis? It's a trip the first couple days, but eventually you'll hardly notice the difference between those and the original parts." Yang knew it took a few days for people to adjust to the many prostheses Atlas developed. Until she was acclimated, Ruby would be clumsier than normal as she grew used to the new appendages. In all honesty, it would probably take a couple weeks for the crimsonette to be fully back on her feet with all of the healing her body would need to go through.
Ruby took a tentative couple steps, wincing each time her left foot made contact with the ground and sent a jolt of pain to the newly connected plate.
"Take it easy, sis" Yang said gently, smiling as she rested her fists on her hips. Ruby stuck her tongue out at her older sister and smiled back. "Well, if you're feeling up to it, I wanted to take you to see Jaune and the rest. They're all jazzed that you're back and they wanted to say hi."
"I'd love to see everyone!" Ruby's eye lit up and a semblance of the girl she had once been shone through in her voice. Yang laughed and wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulders, walking her to the cafeteria and to their friends. Ruby tried not to show how uncomfortable she was, but couldn't keep herself from limping as she walked.
In the hallways, several people waved or called greetings out to the pair, both sisters responding in kind. When they reached the cafeteria, they found Ren, Nora, and Jaune. All of Ruby's friends from both RWBY and RNJR had come to Beacon specifically for the purpose of meeting her, even though Weiss was still currently MIA on the school grounds. Jaune waved at the two girls while Ren and Nora argued next to him. Or, rather, Nora argued as Ren refused to be drawn in to her schtick.
"I'm telling you, sloth Grimm could be the next big enemy! What would we do if all of a sudden they came out of nowhere, ready to kill us all?!" Nora slammed her palms down onto the table, the wood trembling under her assault.
Ren rolled his eyes and waved at the sisters. "Nora, I've never even heard of sloth Grimm. They don't exist."
"That's part of why they're so deadly! No one knows they're out there!" Nora finally noticed the two girls walking to the table and pointed at her partner. "We'll finish this conversation later, mister!"
Ruby could see that her friends had grown. Each of her companions wore their familiar battle attire, although Jaune wore a new breastplate to accommodate his broader shoulders. Nora, while still being the pint sized bundle of energy Ruby had known, had let her hair grow much longer to the point where it now hung well past her shoulders. Similarly, Ren's hair was also much longer than she remembered, flowing gracefully down his back to taper off near his tailbone in a warrior's braid.
The sisters sat down at the table, their friends examining Ruby's new arm with 'oo' and 'ah' noises. Nora was determined to arm wrestle the younger girl, but was talked down by everyone because her newly installed connector plates were sure to be very sore. After a short argument about whether or not Ruby was technically a robot and whether or not that meant she still felt pain like a 'normal human', she gave up after Yang pointed out she had a prosthesis as well and could feel pain just fine.
"Yeah, but pain just makes you stronger so maybe you weren't human to begin with." Nora pouted, arms crossing. Ren sighed and ushered her towards the line to get food, citing hunger as the reason she was being so difficult. Blake wandered in as the two came back with trays loaded with food for the whole table, and the entire group dug in.
"I thought that a special surprise would be in order!" Yang practically sang as she placed a lunch box on the table. She popped the lid off to reveal a pile of strawberries, which were Ruby's favorite food. Ruby gasped delightedly, her eye twinkling as she picked up the first small fruit and bit into it. She moaned loudly before her face flushed a bright red at how unabashedly lewd the noise had sounded. Yang simply raised an eyebrow and gave her sister a cocky grin.
"Jeez, Ru, I guess all it takes is some strawberries, huh?"
"S-shush!" Ruby's face was on fire, she could practically feel steam coming out of her ears as the rest of her friends laughed with Yang. The blush subsided as she realized how easily the group had fallen into its old dynamic. Things felt like they had before the Fall.
Nora slammed her fist against the table and stood, a determined look in her eye. "Today is a special day! A friend has returned." She glanced at Ruby. "Well, most of her. At least two thirds or more of a friend has returned. This calls for more food!" With that, Nora rushed to the line of people waiting for their food, shoving past several students and growling at them viciously when they protested.
"That was in such poor taste." Blake said, slightly uncomfortable at Nora's comment about Ruby's missing limbs.
"I don't know" Ruby began, making eye contact with Yang and smirking. "I think it was..."
Yang positively beamed, lilac eyes sparkling as she practically read her sister's mind.
"All right!" Both sisters exclaimed, laughing hysterically as their friends groaned at the pun.
"I'm glad that one was good enough to use twice." Yang chortled, wiping a tear from her eye.
"I'm sure it'll be used far more than twice." Muttered Blake, ears twitching in annoyance as Yang continued to guffaw loudly.
"Did you guys miss me?" Nora asked in a sing song voice as she returned with an absolute mountain of food. She had piled everything from assorted fruits to several desserts topped with sticky syrups. One thing was common with all of the food: it was all sweet. Nora knew her audience, as Ruby had an infamous sweet tooth.
The friends all dug in, happy to be together and welcome one of their own back into the fold. It reminded Nora of another time they had sat in that same lunch hall. She grinned and scooped up a pastry with a raspberry filling before flinging it at Jaune, where it exploded all over his shirt.
"Food fight!" She shrieked, hurling another handful of food at Yang, getting it in her hair. Nora froze, realizing her mistake too late as Yang's eyes flashed red. "Or... Eh... I've decided to become a consciousness objector to all food-related conflict!"
Yang positively roared as she flipped the table towards the orange haired girl, food flying everywhere as she gave chase. Everyone laughed at the display, enjoying the moment. Almost everyone, that is.
"Aww, I liked this shirt! Ruby? You alright?" Jaune asked, as Ruby's gaze was fixated on his chest. He looked down at the mess the pastry had made, bright red chunks of raspberry and red syrup plastering his white shirt. He looked up again and noticed that Ruby's pupil had dilated so far that almost any trace of silver had gone from the shimmering orb. Worried, he began to try to clear himself off the mess, scraping as much as her could from the shirt with his hand as he talked to the younger girl.
All Ruby could see was a jagged hole in Jaune's chest as her mind warped the reality of the situation out of proportion. Her breath came in ragged gasps as the gory sight became more detailed, blood oozing out of the horrendous wound while the empty hole where Jaune's heart should have been gaped at her. Dark shadows flickered at the edge of her vision as Jaune began to speak to her, concern in his eyes. She couldn't make out the words, hyperventilating as she saw Jaune bring his hand up and scrape at the wound, tearing at the edges and opening it further. Shutting her eye as hard as she could, Ruby's mind took her somewhere else.
…
She stood outside a small village, the eyes of her mask glowing a dull red in the darkness of the moonless night. She struggled, as she always did, to resist the will of Cinder. It worked to an extent, preventing Ruby's semblance from being activated against her will for example, but it was nowhere near enough to what Ruby desperately wanted.
This village was one of many to dot the countryside, and one of many to find itself in what Cinder liked to call 'her territory.' Ruby took one slow step after another, her mind screaming at her body to halt, to stop while she still had the chance. She stepped up to the first door she happened upon, belonging to a small one story house with a sloping roof. She knocked three times, loudly. For a moment, nothing happened.
The door creaked open and a middle-aged man with graying hair squinted into the gloom, his eyes focusing on the barrel of her nameless weapon, which was pointing right at his forehead from a few inches away. Ruby screamed at herself, trapped in her own head as she pulled the trigger, a loud report sounding as the man's head burst apart in a red mist. She could hear some screaming from inside the house from the loud noise, and made her way inside to silence whoever it was.
She slowly made her way through every house in the village like this, screaming at the villagers from the confines of her own head for cowering in their homes instead of evacuating. Every locked door she encountered was soon broken in by a powerful kick. Every villager she came across died from a blast of her terrible weapon. Every death weighed heavy on Ruby's already fractured soul.
As she stepped out of the latest house she had been clearing, a club sailed through the air and connected with the side of her head, doing nothing to harm her due to her aura but still causing her to fly through the air to tumble to the ground a few feet away. She casually launched herself back into a standing position and cocked her head at the large man who stood in front of her, club in hand. Ruby could sense him, a dull light in a sea of darkness that was the village population.
An aura user, but definitely not a Huntsman.
"You will kill no one else!" The man claimed, his voice unsteady. He took a step back as she swung her shotgun into its halberd form with practiced ease, the black blade seeming to absorb any light around it. She began to walk slowly towards him, the long axe beginning to twirl around her as if it were a living thing, weaving from side to side and crossing behind her only to come back around in the same movement. The air hummed with the speed of the polearm's rotation as she began her deadly dance. The man lashed out at her blindly as fear overtook him, the sharp blade easily shearing portions of the club off and sending them flying into the air as she casually twirled and spun the large weapon like a toy.
She hooked the blade of the halberd into the club and yanked it out of the man's hands, forcing him to stumble towards her. A forceful stomp shattered his aura and his kneecap as her free hand grabbed his throat, her aura enhanced strength keeping him from falling to the ground. The halberd spun once more before burying itself into the ground, and Ruby unhanded it.
There was a crowd of villagers watching, and the beowolf mask smiled evilly as she raised her free hand to her cheek, palm flat and fingers straight. Red aura sparked across the tips of her fingers briefly as she honed it to a cutting edge. Shooting forward, her hand buried itself deep in the man's chest as he let out a strangled cry, and she tore a lump of flesh out of him before throwing his corpse aside.
She held his heart in her hand. She stared at it, horrified beyond belief. She mentally threw herself against whatever barrier was in her mind as she felt her free hand adjust the mask, careful to keep the dust powered plates in the forehead in contact with her skin. Knowing Cinder was watching and controlling her every move, she pleaded with any god that would listen to stay her hand as it brought the heart to her face, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She cursed herself and every god that had the misfortune of existing as she took a large bite out of the organ.
She could feel something in her mind break, and a terrible rictus grin bloomed on her blood-stained face. Silver eyes flashed, becoming ringed with amber behind that terrible mask. As she fell upon the defenseless villagers once more, she began to laugh. Quietly at first, rising in volume until it drowned out the horrible noises produced as her weapon cleanly sliced through anything in its path.
All the while, her tears never stopped.
...
Ruby shrieked loudly, startling her friends. She tore herself away from her chair, tripping over herself and landing painfully on her newly attached arm. Screaming again at the pain that suddenly ripped through her, she activated her semblance in a panic. Blood smeared the small patch of floor where her shoulder had struck, and a small cloud of rose petals fluttered to the ground where Ruby had lay a moment before, her mad dash to the nearest trashcan sporting a disintegrating trail of them. She made loud retching noises over its rim, voiding her stomach of the meal she had just consumed. Yang rushed over to her, her hair completely forgotten, and placed her hand on the small of her sister's back in an attempt to comfort the girl.
Ruby screamed bloody murder at her sister's touch, activating her semblance once more and careening through the nearest window. It shattered into a million pieces, rose petals blowing away in the wind as her friends sailed out the window after her, desperately trying to keep up. Ruby was nowhere near as fast as she could be, limping on a painful limb that she was unaccustomed to, but she was still plenty fast enough to give them the slip. Blake was the one who found the small splashes of blood trailing across the large grounds of the academy, leading them to the troubled girl.
They found her sobbing at the base of a tree in a secluded courtyard, hugging her knees close to her chest with her new arm while her free hand raked itself through her hair repeatedly. Blake motioned for the rest of her friends to stay back as she slowly approached the clearly haunted girl. As she got closer, she could hear Ruby muttering to herself in a harsh, fast whisper.
"Somuchbloodsomuchbloodsomuchblood." Strands of Ruby's hair were tangled around her fingers, torn out to be blown away by stray gusts of wind. "Makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop."
"Ruby?" Ruby screamed quietly again and her head whipped around to fix Blake with her good eye. It was wide and terrified, not seeing what was in front of her. The faunus was startled to see a fading ring of amber around the iris before it disappeared completely into the dull silver orb. Blake tentatively reached a hand out to her friend but Ruby's aura flared dangerously, giving her pause. Her aura felt different than it once had, darker somehow. It was vaguely familiar to the faunus, but she was unable to pinpoint exactly what about it made her uneasy.
"Ididn'twanttoIdidn'tIswear" The words rushed out of Ruby, a torrent of pained syllables strung together tightly as her ragged breathing made her chest rise and fall rapidly. Ruby's eye began to focus as Blake got closer, her breathing slowing slightly when she started to recognize the B of team RWBY. "B-Blake?"
"It's me, Ru. I'm here, don't worry." Blake put a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder, ready to pursue if the girl had another episode and sprinted away again. When Ruby didn't react negatively, she pulled the younger girl into a tight hug. Ruby buried her face in Blake's chest and continued to sob brokenly, the cries tearing themselves from her chest painfully as she mourned the lives of the countless people she had slain against her will.
Ruby wailed pathetically, unable to vocalize her sorrow as she clutched her friend as tightly as possible. She calmed down after a long while, but was very clearly not back to being herself. Yang's heart broke looking at the tortured nineteen year old, her remaining eye once more unseeing and unresponsive.
"Let's get her back to the infirmary." The towering blonde suggested as she picked up her broken sister. "We'll update you guys later as soon as we can." Jaune, Nora, and Ren all nodded. This was for team RWBY to handle amongst themselves.
Speaking of which, she thought to herself. "Jaune," She called to her fellow blonde. He paused, looking back. "Tell Weiss to meet us there. Tell her if she doesn't, I'll find her and drag her down myself. Let her know that I'll be in flames by the time I get there too, if it comes to that." Jaune nodded hurriedly and sped away. Anything that was important enough to make Yang go human torch mode from the get-go was something he wanted to disassociate himself from as soon as possible.
A few minutes later, Yang waited outside of the infirmary door as Blake kept Ruby company. Blake could see that the younger girl was still in a bad way, clearly having experienced some intense trauma.
Ru, what happened to you? The crimsonette's older sister worried to herself.
…
An hour later, the click-click of high heels sounded on the tiled floor of the hallway as someone approached the infirmary. A blank-faced Weiss Schnee rounded the corner and nearly walked straight into a very angry Yang. Lilac eyes met icy blue eyes as Yang glared down at the petite woman. Despite the time that had passed, the ex-heiress had grown no taller. Weiss wore her usual white outfit that mirrored the same pure hue of her hair, Myrtenaster hanging at her hip. Her platinum hair, in its usual ponytail captured by a miniature black tiara, was draped over her shoulder elegantly.
The last three years had taken a toll on the snowy-haired woman. Her eyes, once described as being cold, were absolutely frigid now, betraying no emotion. A permanent scowl adorned her face, and no one could recall the last time she had smiled. Although she had grown into her beauty, her angular face showed the tell-tale signs of stress. In addition to the signature scar that covered her left eye, a large scar spanned from her left eyebrow to cross the bridge of her nose, ending just under her right eye. It was an angry red, still not fully healed. Small wrinkles at the corners of each eye, as well as the bags under her eyes, further told Yang how hard the years had been for the ice queen.
"What took you so long?" The blonde's voice shook with emotion.
"Training." Came the short reply. Yang could feel her blood sing with rage as Weiss neglected to elaborate further.
"That's it? Training?!" Her eyes flashed a dangerous shade of red that had the heiress taking a step back. "Something as simple as a training exercise kept you from seeing your partner? Were you training when you didn't show up to see her when she first came back?!"
"I wasn't there to see her because I was in Vacuo getting this," the former heiress pointed at the recent scar. "treated. I am here now, as fast as I could be." Yang's rage died down at the hurt in Weiss' chilly voice. Yang coped in her way, Weiss coped in her own. The blonde warrior sighed and her shoulders slumped.
"I'm sorry, Weiss. I know this is hard for you, too. I don't mean-"
"It's fine, Yang. She's your sister." Weiss interrupted, putting her hand on the taller woman's shoulder. "But she is my partner as well. The person I made a promise to keep safe. I have been trying to come to grips with my failure for three years, Yang. Now I have to face it head on in."
Yang blinked at the shorter girl, not used to such a genuine response from the heiress. After Ruby's capture, Weiss had buried herself in her work as a student and later as a Huntress, communicating only in short sentences with almost everyone. Some nights before they had graduated, when she thought no one was awake, both Blake and Yang had observed Weiss clutching at Ruby's old cloak and crying silently into the night. More than once she had heard the white haired girl say Ruby's name as she sobbed.
"Just... Be careful, Weiss. She's different than before." She sighed heavily at the question in the heiress' eyes. "She's fragile, mentally."
"There's something you're not telling me." Weiss' voice was unyielding.
"We agreed to let you find out on your own..." Yang, fearless Yang Xiao Long, the Barbaric Blonde Bombshell, winced at the icy glare Weiss trained on her. Yang and Blake had been worried that telling Weiss about her partner's injuries would drive her further into her funk before she would have a chance to talk to Ruby.
"Bring me to her." Weiss' tone was so cold Yang could swear the temperature in the hallway had plummeted. She could only nod slightly and gesture for Weiss to follow her through the door to the infirmary. The door opened silently to reveal Blake passed out in a chair not unlike Qrow had been, sitting next to the unconscious Ruby Rose. Ruby's prostheses had been removed and sat on a long table that had been brought into the room, close enough for Ruby to reach should she feel the need to get up and walk around.
Weiss walked calmly over to Ruby's side, her footsteps slow and even. For a long while she stood there, taking in Ruby's missing limbs and many scars. Ruby's bandages had been torn off during one of her episodes and her hair currently covered the left side of her face. Black threads contrasted sharply with inflamed flesh where it had been torn next to the connector plate, the stitches already coming undone as aura healed the young woman's wound. Weiss, to her credit, gave no outward indication she was upset other than her tightly clenched fists.
Yang pulled up a chair next to the sleeping Blake and observed the white-haired heiress, not surprised to see tears flowing down her otherwise neutral expression. A deep pain shone in her eyes, the icy blue orbs displaying a mental anguish that Yang knew had been eating away at her for years. It might not seem it, but Weiss was probably the closest out of team RWBY to the crimson reaper. In the months leading up to Ruby's capture, the two girls had become an inseparable pair, learning much about each other as they worked together to rebuild Beacon and clear the Grimm that had invaded. They had seemed to make each other genuinely happy, and Yang had her suspicions that there had been more than a little romantic involvement between the two.
Yang's heart went out to her sister's partner, knowing that there would be pain lying in wait for her in the near future.
"W-Weiss?" Came a small voice from the bed. Ruby had woken up, her shimmering silver eye locked on to the petite woman. Weiss' breath hitched as she gave the crimsonette a sad smile. Her first smile in almost three years.
"Ruby." The single word contained such a breadth of emotion that Yang's heart hurt. "I've m-missed you so much." A sob wracked the snowy haired woman's shoulders and she leaned forward, pressing her forehead to Ruby's. They both stayed like that for a moment, tears staining the white bedsheets that covered the injured girl.
"I didn't think you were ever coming back." Weiss sobbed as she flung her arms around Ruby, the younger girl responding in kind with her remaining arm. Both girls had their hands tangled in each others' hair as they wept.
"I didn't think so either." Ruby wailed, holding the heiress even tighter. Weiss pulled back and ran a hand through Ruby's hair to tuck it behind her ear, freezing when she revealed the ruined socket and the still-healing burns that covered nearly a quarter of Ruby's face.
"Your eye." The pain in Weiss' voice was enough to bring tears to Yang's eyes. "She took your eye. That bitch took your eye." Ruby's remaining eye widened as Weiss bit her own lip hard enough to draw blood.
"W-Weiss I'll be okay, promise. I'm so-"
"Don't you dare apologize, Ruby Rose." Weiss interrupted, her voice watery as she caressed the left side of Ruby's face. "Don't apologize to me, y-you dolt."
Ruby smiled at the insult, an almost pet name that the heiress used for the scythe wielder. "Fine, but that means no apologies from you, either." Weiss worried at her lip again, her eyes asking the question she couldn't bring herself to voice.
"Not once did I ever blame you, any of you. Not a single time did I ever forget about my teammates. My family." Ruby's words reduced Weiss to a whimpering mess, the white haired fencer burying her face in Ruby's chest as she sobbed.
"Hey, Weiss?" The younger woman asked after a short minute.
Weiss watery reply was muffled by Ruby's bosom. "Yes?"
"I'm pretty sure I'm taller than you now." Icy blue eyes met a single twinkling silver orb that was full of mischief. Weiss huffed out a laugh through her tears, weakly smacking Ruby's good shoulder.
"Y-you're insufferable. Dolt."
"I know. But I'm your dolt." She ran her hand through Weiss' hair and then cupped her face gently. "And I won't be going anywhere anytime soon." Both girls shared a smile, tears still shining in their eyes.
A small cough sounded from the bedside, making both women blush crimson and draw back from one another. Yang gave both of them a wry grin before turning her lilac gaze to Ruby. "How are you feeling? Do you feel like the flashbacks are over?" Ruby's eye darkened at the mention of her recent breakdowns, and Yang told herself that she would find out exactly what her younger sister had gone through.
Ruby gave a short nod, confident that she had weathered the worst of it. She was surrounded by her friends, the people that had become a part of her family. They would help her through this. She lay back onto the pillows and felt Weiss' hand grab hers. She smiled softly at the heiress, then her sister and finally at the sleeping faunus next to the blonde warrior.
Her eye drifted shut as exhaustion overtook her and she began to dream peacefully for the first time in three years.
Hello, all! ThirdCoffin here, finally back after a long two months. I have recently been released from physical recovery from boot camp. I sustained a knee injury that made me unfit for service, and a week away from graduating to boot! Because of this, I will be sporadic in my updates for any of my stories, though I fully intend to get back into the swing of things as soon as I can. I just need time to adjust back to normal everyday life as well as reevaluating my plans for the future. I had chapter 1 of this story ready to post since before I left, so I'm gonna just post it quick with this update.
This is a story that I want to slow-burn on, in the sense that I don't want it rushed or put on a regular schedule. I will update it when I can, but with my current situation I have no idea when that may be. I hope you all enjoyed the read, and I look forward to writing for you all more in the future!