"Help!" A broken cry echoed through the pitch dark forest, drowned out by the pounding rain and howling winds.
Frantic, crunching footsteps were all but overwhelmed by desperate sobs through a dry, aching throat. A young woman dressed in rose red ran, stumbling in the darkness with tears rolling down her rain soaked face, her hood flailing in the wind while her hair clung to her skin.
Silver eyes caught the flash of lightning in the sky, illuminating their terror and fear while they darted frantically back and forth. She could hear it, the subtle but definitely steps of something stalking her just beyond her meager sight.
Her legs burned even more than her chest, her backpack felt heavier and heavier with each step. Even with her exceptional physique, she knew that all the weight on her back was just slowing her down.
"Awooooooo!" A piercing howl erupted from terrifyingly close behind her.
"Gah!" A wet, slick root jutting out from the forest broke her footing, her ass slamming down painfully hard on the cold ground. Her entire body was trembling, a mix of fear, adrenaline, cold and exhaustion made every muscle feel like it was replaced with lead.
'I- I have to move! Or I'll die here… I don't want to die here.' She could hear hungry breaths at her back and a cold chill turned her blood to liquid nitrogen. 'I won't die here!'
In a flourish she threw her backpack off and bolted! Her teeth bared against the pain screaming at her to stop. She couldn't hear the wind or the predator chasing her, only the blood rushing through her ears and the booms of thunder overhead.
'I won't die! I won't die here! I have to finish this! I have to get back to my friends, my family! I won't die! I won't d-'
Time was throttled to a torturous crawl the instant she felt the ground give way beneath her feet. Her heart froze in that moment and her mind went white, everything stood still… until gravity took over.
Her body jerked to a sudden stop and a sharp pain burned within her shoulder. It took a few moments for her mind to catch up with reality. She was dangling, her fingers clasped like vices on a root of a tree, her feet felt nothing but air and now a new sound surpassed the storm… the sound of violently rushing water below.
"H-help me! Somebody!" She felt her grip failing, even the slight shifting of her weight to bring up her other hand nearly threw her into the river.
"Thistle! Alan!" She felt her body giving up, millimeter by millimeter her fingers slowly gave way. "Krystal! Anybody…"
"Y- Yang… I made a mistake… I'm so sorry." Her eyes gently closed as she sent a silent prayer to her mother. Accepting the inevitable, she began to make her peace.
"Grrrrrr!" A low, horrifying growl from above forced her eyes to shoot open. A flash of lightning broke through the cover of the trees.
White, glistening teeth bared at her, the maw of a vicious predator. A large, muscular wolf with blood red eyes and fur as black as night tinged crimson on his ears and tail. Saliva dripped down on her face as it's jaws opened wide…
Snap!
"Mrrrmm…" Bleary eyes blinked open, stung by the light of early day. Ruby groaned as she shifted in the uncomfortable metal bench. Her ass tingled from her nap and her back was sore… Nothing some stretching won't fix, I hope.
"Final boarding for train four-zero-one to Grayport." A computerized voice snapped Ruby to full alertness. Her fellow passengers were already eagerly boarding the train to escape the unusually hot mid spring sun.
"Huh?! Crap, I almost overslept!" Ruby bolted up, almost falling right back down, forgetting about the large, stuffed backpack strapped to her back and waist. Recovering with only minor embarrassment she stood up and grabbed her light jacked from where she had been sitting on it.
Rushing to the door, Ruby boarded, scanning in her ticket while trying to maneuver her huge bag around the densely packed train. Her chest felt tight with anxiety, she was shoulder to should, it was nearly suffocating and a wave of doubt and depression began to rise from her chest.
No! Not now! Not again! I'm not going to break before I've even started. I'm seeing this through! I have to. Burning away her apprehension and fear with self hatred and overwhelming conviction, she pushed her way through the train until she found her seat.
Giving a long, relieved sigh, Ruby sat down by the window and stared out at the rolling hills and wide fields, an endless blue sky above with only sparse wispy clouds dotting the expanse. It's nothing like being back in Patch, I don't think I've ever seen so many hills, they almost look like waves on the ocean, frozen in place.
As everyone took their seats the train began to move, the vibrations of its engine trembling through everyone inside. Ruby stared out the window, her hand resting under her chin while her dull eyes took in the scene, but her mind was far away in that moment.
It's about ten in the morning back home… Dad and Yang are probably already awake. I wonder how many times they've tried to call me? I'm so selfish, they're probably really worried… they shouldn't be, now I won't be a burden at least. Stop it, Ruby, you know they love you… but I know they wouldn't understand. There's a reason I left as soon as I knew they were asleep.
"I hope they'll understand someday though…"
"It's easier to understand something if you talk to us instead of disappearing with only a note left behind." A voice, the most familiar voice in her life spoke out above the chatter in the train. One part forlorn and hurt, one part warm and loving and a last part confused and angry.
"Yang!?" Ruby nearly gave herself whiplash as she snapped her head towards the familiar voice. There she was, her big sister, beautiful, strong and accomplished with a worried looking woman with gorgeous white hair holding her hand. "Weiss… h-how did you guys get here?"
"It's easier to get around when you know how to drive." Yang quipped, smirking at her little sister for just a brief moment before the hurt and shamed look on Ruby's face drove it away. "Ruby, I didn't mean-"
"Mind if we sit?" Weiss cut in, feeling the tension between the sibling rising way too fast.
"... Sure." With a defeated shrug, Ruby pulled her backpack from the seat beside her and rested it on her lap. Yang sat nearest to her in the middle while her girlfriend took the outer seat. "I'm not going back."
"Sis, come on, this is crazy! You know this is crazy! I wake up to a letter telling me you're doing something stupid and dangerous, Dad is freaking out, we can't get ahold of you, your room is way too clean, you made us cookies, Qrow has no idea you left. He told us that he knew you were doing this but didn't know when, how could you keep this from us, from me!?" The desperation in her voice was palpable, every pain filled syllable hit Ruby's stomach like a cold gut punch.
"I knew you'd try to stop me. That's why I kept it from you but not uncle Qrow." A somber, mumbled response from the younger sister who turned her face back to the window.
"Damn right I'm here to stop you! This is insane!" She snapped, pounding her fist down on the armrest, but still, Ruby didn't turn to face her.
"Babe…" Weiss' cool, empathetic voice washed over them like a gentle winter's breeze, her hand rubbing Yang's firm, muscular shoulder.
"Bleh, see if you can talk some sense into her while I get my head wrapped around all of this." With a frustrated huff, Yang crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat.
"Ruby, I-"
"Weiss, stop. I don't need that, I just don't need that tone. I've heard enough pity from everyone." Ruby turned her hardened mirror-like eyes to Weiss. "I'm an adult, I'm not helpless… no matter how much of a screw up I am."
"Everyone loses jobs, you don't need to keep beating yourself up about it, you certainly don't need to do something like this." She did her best, but Weiss couldn't stop the worry and empathy from bleeding through her words. Still, Ruby couldn't hold it against her.
"Five times, five different jobs, I didn't last more than five months at any of them. I failed out of school after just two semesters, I couldn't live on my own so I'm still living with Dad, in the same bedroom I've had since I was born." Ruby's eyes were shimmering but her voice was bitterly chilled and soft. Yang's anger was snuffed out and all the older sister could do was look helplessly at the pain Ruby was so clearly suffering alone.
"I have no idea what I'm doing with my life… I'm frustrated! It's not fair!" Now a harsh resentment burned in her chest as she looked at Yang, not realizing the anger her expression gave away. "I can't drive, I dropped out of high school, everything I get interested in I just drop, I'm anxious all the time and I feel- I feel so… lost."
"Sis… I'm sorry. I- I didn't know you were feeling this way, you seemed normal, you seemed-"
"You might have known if you were still around, you only come home from university on the weekends, you have a life, you shouldn't have time to pay attention to me, I'm not your responsibility." Her jaw clenched and her lip quivered, she was barely holding back her tears. There was so much anger in her… and all of it was directed at herself.
"You don't think you're a burden do you? Dad and I love you, it's not about responsibility, you know that… it's my fault if I let you forget that." A guilt so heavy weighed on Yang's chest as though her heart had turned to cold iron. "Please, come home, we can talk about this, we can fix this together, as a family."
"It's not just that…" A trembling breath released her pent up self hatred, letting her tensed jaw and raised shoulders relax. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you, either of of you."
"I've never really lived. The only times I've left Patch were to go to the city with you and dad. Heh-heh, I've never had a relationship before, I'm twenty-three and I'm still a virgin, I haven't even had my first kiss. The only two people I was interested turned me down. Jaune went with Pyrrha and Blake… she wasn't interested in me." Another soft huff of laughter escaped her, so bitter it made her want to throw up. "I don't even, have any friends."
"I'm your friend, so is Blake, we enjoy spending time with you when we can… things are just, busy." Weiss frowned, feeling the atmosphere of guilt begin to fill her lungs.
"You guys are Yang's friends, none of you would have given me a second thought if I wasn't her sister. I haven't made a friend on my own since high school… I barely ever leave the house anymore. Dad takes care of me, he tells me take my time and not to worry, but I feel like a fuck up… like a child. I can't stay at home, I can't keep waiting. I need to do this, I need to do this." For the first time since Weiss and Yang found her on the train, Ruby's eyes were filled with life, with passion and intensity. It was only then that Yang realized, she hadn't seen her sister look like that in a long time.
"What you're doing, it's dangerous. You'll be on your own, away from home, in strange places with no support. You could be sexually harassed or worse, you could be mugged, beaten, lost, you can go nights without eating, you'll have to deal with wild animals, if you get hurt away from a hospital you won't be able to get help. You could die." Yang's voice wavered on those last three words, her heart broke at the thought of losing her precious little sister.
"I… I've been having thoughts, Yang, bad thoughts. I'm depressed, I'm lonely, I feel hopeless. I think- I think I'm more likely to die if I stay at home." Ruby was shaking, nausea swept over her and tears flowed freely down her cheeks. That's the first time I ever said it out loud.
"I- I don't understand this." Yang could barely see the fuzzy shape of her sister through the haze of tears pooling in her eyes. "I don't want to lose you, you mean the world to me, I haven't been there for you as much as I should have and- and that's killing me, but if you have to do this, let me come with you so I can keep you safe, like I promised I always would."
"No, I need to do this on my own. I need to figure out who I am… or die trying." A small ember burned within her soul, filling her with heat, the potential of a massive inferno just waiting to combust. Ruby could feel it, without a doubt… This is what I have to do.
"I want you to take this with you." Weiss sniffled, drying her wet cheeks and eyes with a fine handkerchief before taking a pale blue and gold card out of her purse. "My family's company recently bought out a hotel chain, use that card at any of our locations and you can sleep there for free for a night. Take good care of it, I expect you to bring it back in good condition."
"Weiss…" Ruby stared at her with wide, puffy eyes, the heiress' gentle, caring smile made Ruby feel so strangely at ease. "I'll give it back to you as soon as I come home."
"You better." Weiss handed it to her friend, receiving a warm, thankful and apologetic smile in return.
"If you say you need to do this alone… I don't understand, but you better come home! If things get too hard, if you need me, I don't care if it's in the middle of the night during finals, you call me, and I'll come and get you, no matter what. Just, swear to me that you'll make that call if you need to." Yang was hurting, her stomach felt like it was rejecting itself and her throat felt tight and strained from crying.
"I will, I swear. I'll do my best not to need that though." With a soft but warm laugh, Ruby smiled at her sister, tears flowing once again the moment they made eye contact.
"Babe, switch seats with me, I think you two should sit together." Weiss stood up, scooting aside so Yang to take her seat.
"Ruby, let me at least see you off. If you're going to be gone for so long, I don't want to miss spending this time with you." Without hesitation, Yang pulled Ruby into a tight, trembling embrace.
"I'd like that… a lot." Fear in Ruby's heart melted away as she held her sister, a pang of doubt sparking to life for just an instant as she realized just how much she would miss her sister.
But I have to do this. I have to walk across Sanus. It could take a whole year or even more, but I'm going to make it, one step at a time.