So, I'm a fucking wreck when it comes to the whole "You Are My Sunshine" song and romance/tragedy. So, have a V3 AU where the gang were together fighting in the halls and courtyards of Beacon, and where their Sunshine fades. You can kill me later, although depending on the reaction to this Six-Shot I may make it a miniseries, updated on a whim. Here goes! If the tags didn't warn you, this is Purruby/Freezerburn.
Pyrrha Nikos knew the staccato of gunfire all too well. How the pops of an assault rifle differed from that of a sidearm, how rifles like her girlfriends own could be heard as clear as thunder in a pounding storm. It was a sound she never wanted to hear, even from her girlfriends, from herself. More likely than not it meant danger, it meant that someone was in trouble and they might never see one another again. She saw it now, in everyone's body language, from Ruby's incessant caring for their weapons to Blake's nitpicking at supplies. Yang paced back and forth, burning energy as she willed calm, Weiss trying to draw up ideas, plans, anything.
Pyrrha just sat, stunned into disbelief. Not two hours ago, had she catalyzed this, with her outright destruction of Penny. Even if Ruby had said It wasn't Pyrrha's fault, that someone was messing with her head, that didn't change the fact that she annihilated a friend. That didn't change the fact that all this panic and fear, the hatred and vitriol in the aftermath drew Grimm and White Fang alike to Vale like moths to a bonfire. The staccato drew closer, and louder, the smell of Grimm and the snarls and howls clear as day to the Huntresses.
Nobody moved, nobody registered until Ruby spoke up. Their leader, always looking out for them, always a step or two ahead. If Ruby didn't have a plan, couldn't find the slightest bit of light in something, then there generally was none to be found.
"We have to protect Beacon. Come on, guys. We can do this, it's what we've been training our whole lives for, isn't it? We can make it out, we always do." The Crimsonnette said, voice small yet still defiant, like a levy to a hurricane. Slowly the gears moved, the pieces clicked in their heads. Ruby was going, and where Ruby went, WBY followed, with JNPR close after. They'd shed sweat, tears, blood. In some ways, we've shared more. The Amazon thought, hands clenching on her thighs as her short, bold girlfriend stood, game plan at the ready.
It was simple, too simple to mess up. Defend the courtyard, keep the dorms and docks safe. If only they had realized that even the simplest plans fail after first contact.
Now, the Amazon was drawn into the present, and she was surrounded by the staccato of gunfire. Yang's gauntlets burst to her left, like hail on the stormiest days in Vacuo. Ruby's rifle roared, thunderclaps to Blake's rain, to Pyrrha's own lighting strikes with her rifle. Atlesian weapons barked their report, Weiss' sister was well respected, and these soldiers knew a fighter when they saw one.
It wasn't like they had a choice. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. The Dragon perched itself upon Ozpin's tower, raining debris and Grimm on the school, the courtyard. Even with the Atlesian relief, with team CFVY on the way, it wouldn't last.
Her arms ached, dead weight only fueled by adrenaline, by sheer love for the women and men around her. Her chest heaved and her heart clenched as she watched Ruby narrowly dodge a Boarbatusk's roll, as Blake's luck held out when she stumbled under a Beowulf's swing. Even Yang was tiring, her flames more like a fireplace than the bonfire they were a mere thirty minutes' prior. Weiss looked like she was holding on, but in the way her Glyphs shook, how her back wasn't as straight or her right foot was just that bit too far, Pyrrha knew. They would die here, they would fall, and Beacon would fall.
As the storm calmed, the younger Grimm killed, the older left to prowl their flanks, Pyrrha collapsed. She leaned against the first thing she could, the remnants of the once proud statue that decorated Beacon's courtyard. A black shape soon joined her, leaning against the Amazon, ears flicking tiredly against the girl's figure.
Emerald eyes took in ivory flesh, maroon brows furrowed with worry as her hands replaced shield and sword to caress this beautiful form before her, to take in every hair out of place, every patch of skin mottled, as if engraving it in her mind's eye. There was a silent promise when amber eyes met emerald, their own scans done, the taint upon he lover's flesh as ingrained in one mind as the other. I will make them pay.
The loud dissonance of a small cannon continued, even when Yang collapsed against Weiss, when the Ice Queen had to let them down slowly, lips melded and tears brewing as the glyph kept them from injuring themselves further. The pair clutched as if there would be no chances, as If they were fools for wasting so many nights in Yang's bed or on the couch in the commons, sitcoms on a screen long forgotten. Pyrrha knew there was no regret though, only the sad realization that there would be no more chaste lips, no more grumpy mornings or playful debates.
Then Ruby fell.
She didn't get back up.
It struck Pyrrha like an arrow in her chest, orbs concentrated on the collapsed figure. She was glad Blake had the experience she did, because without the Cat pulling the Amazon up, she would have sat there, rejecting this sight.
Ruby couldn't fall.
Not now. Not like this.
It was when they got closer Pyrrha realized just how quiet the clearing had become, just how still it seemed, like Beacon's last breath was with the crumpled figure on the floor. It was when the crimson of her Reaper's cloak mingled with the white of her Cat's midriff, her own forearms that they saw the damage. Blake hadn't stumbled earlier, Ruby didn't dodge the hit.
No, no my little Rose. Mon petit Cherie. Get up, get up!
Her arms were too red, Blake's shirt was supposed to be white. It hit Pyrrha like Nora's hammer why crimson and black were universal funeral colours on Remnant. Nobody could see wounds, opened or closed.
The courtyard was still so quiet, still so still. Pyrrha couldn't take it, she wanted the Grimm to end her. This small, cold body in her arms was all she had. The figure curled into her side, buried into crimson locks beneath them was all she had.
"P… Pyrrha…? Blake…?"
The voice she'd woken up to so many times sounded so tired. Ruby's energy had never failed her, not once. Whether it was early, running with her Amazon, or reading late with their Cat, this beautiful, charming Crimsonette was a ball of irrepressible energy. But here, now, she was tired. Ruby was cold, Gods damn it Xiao-Long-Roses were space heaters! Ruby was the shattered moon on a midsummer's night or the blaring sun in Mistralian summer, but she was never cold.
"I love you all… I-I'm glad we did… What we did…"
Amber orbs next to her own Emerald were too watered to look at the ocean of silver in the eyes beneath them. Pyrrha didn't want to remember Ruby this way, broken, her namesake colour dripping from her lips with every shaking breath.
"Why're you two crying, cat got your… Ruby!?"
The cries were simultaneous, cocky brawler and wintry heiress joining the circle around their fallen leader.
"Nononono not like this Rubes, hold on, we've got you. I'll even bake mom's cookies for you when we get home!"
Pyrrha could see the lie, could feel the terror in Yang's words. She knew. They all did.
"Ruby Rose, you're not supposed to die until you're old and wrinkly! Wh-Who's going to be there when I marry this brute? Who am I going to watch walk two killer women down the aisle?" But even Weiss couldn't keep up the façade for long, face buried in the crook of the woman's neck, cloak stained with sobs that did not belong with Weiss. Weiss cried, but she did not sob, not once in all the troubles she had seen, Pyrrha knew.
"…I l-love you all, guys… I'm glad y-you have each other… D-Don't forget Yang, y-you promised cookies…"
Ruby's lips curled, her teeth showed and it was a grin so pure, so full of love that Pyrrha broke. It was as if a dam had burst, her chest heaving and her arms clenching around this bundle of purity that she cherished, that she adored every fiber of.
It came as soon as it went, lips still curled, teeth stained a warm crimson just like the trail down her jaw, over her corset and cloak. Wide, silver eyes half-lidded, Pyrrha had to remind herself that she wasn't asleep, that Ruby would never wake up.
"P…Please Ruby, get up… Get up… You're my everything, you and Blake are my world… I-I'll sing for you, even…"
They knew she was gone, the courtyard empty, silent, Beacon's death knell…
"You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine,
You make me happy when skies are grey,
You'll never know dear, how much I love you,
Please…!"
This hasn't yet been edited/beta'd, but I've always wanted to do a writing around this verse. You can kill me when I'm done wrecking myself, because I still need to write from everyone in RWBY's perspective. As always, follow and review if you liked it, and leave a like if it caught your eye!