Ruby ran. she ran as fast as she possibly could. I told her not to leave without me! She dodged around a tree, and kept running. Her sleeve caught on a branch and ripped, but she hardly noticed. The dunce! She was impossibly worried, what if Weiss got hurt? They were supposed to be partners. If she got herself hurt I'm gonna kill her! Ruby lowered her head and ran.
She burst upon an open field and stopped. She put her hands on her knees and panted for a moment, her breath coming out as steam onto the cold air. She looked up across the snowy field to see a spot of red glaring at her. No. She thought in horror. Please… She sprinted over to find a patch of bloody snow. Oh please, Weiss… Her head shot up and looked around. She saw a trail leading over across the snow. Weiss…
She began to follow the trail, not wanting to believe what was happening. Ruby had left their dorm for ten minutes to go talk to Yang. Ten minutes, that's all it took for Weiss to leave without her. How could this happen? Ruby thought, fighting back the hot tears behind her eyes. How did I let this happen? Then she saw the Beowolves.
There was a group of five of them huddled around something, Ruby didn't want to guess what it was. She also saw the bodies of a huge number of the Grimm bodies lying scattered around the area. "Weiss!" Ruby screamed, unsheathing her weapon.
She hurled herself into the group of Grimm, slicing the head off of one immediately. She turned to attack another but was caught in the head by a swinging paw. She was sent rolling backwards into the snow, feeling the sting of a gash under her hair. Her hand reached up instinctively as she got up. She decided the cut wasn't bad and quickly pulled herself free of the snow.
The Beowolves came at her, and fast. She swung with her scythe at the lead creature, but didn't have enough force behind the blow to seriously damage it. She went to leap away, but the beast caught her on her left arm. Its claw ripped her sleeve off at the elbow and gave her a minor scrape.
She then retaliated by firing a shot straight at the creature's head. She took grim satisfaction in the spray of red that emerged from the beast's skull. She positioned her weapon behind her and fired, sending her shooting at the still charging Beowolves. She sailed over one's head and went to strike the beast behind it when she felt a tug on her thigh. She was sent to the ground in a heap but rolled to face one of the Beowolves that had tried to capitalize on her being on the ground.
The creature died swiftly to Ruby's scythe.
She hopped up onto her feet, now down to just two Beowolves. She shook her head to get the blood out of her eyes and readied her weapon. The beast she had passed over now turned and lunged. She rolled to the right, but the creature caught her leg and sliced a cut along her lower thigh and upper calf. She winced, but she now had positioning on it. She swung her weapon and fired simultaneously, ripping into the creature's torso. The top half of its body slid away, and she quickly turned to face the last Beowolf.
This one finally caught up with her and she met it head on. She swung at it hard, leaving a nasty gash along the creature's chest. It swatted her weapon away and lurched towards her, but the small girl was ready for it. She dove to the side and rolled, making the Beowolf overshoot her badly. She took her scythe and jammed it into the beast's side. With a grimace, she pulled the trigger, ending it's petty existence.
She looked around to see nothing but Beowolf bodies littering the snowy ground. Her head snapped around to where the Beowolves were gathered, a large bloody stain on the snow. She ran towards it, throwing her weapon to the ground. Tears began to fly from her eyes, Weiss! No! Ruby reached the mark on the ground and fell to her knees.
All that met her eyes was a ruined and bloody white dress.
She slowly picked up the destroyed garment, tears falling from her cheeks. Weiss… She thought, clutching the no longer white dress to her chest. No… The young girl lifted the torn skirt and buried her face in it, trying to stifle the tears. Ruby, for the first time since she was a young girl, cried. She smelled the remnants of Weiss' perfume in the dress, which made her cry even harder. The tears spilled from her eyes as she lost herself in grief. She wailed in sorrow, unable to stop herself.
Snowflakes landed softly on her head and shoulders. She didn't care, couldn't care, not now. She sat there on the ground, dress in her hands, for what must've been hours. What happened, Weiss? Why did you go without me? What will I do without you? Weiss… I… Her mind was filled with nothing but sadness. She thought about how they wouldn't get to graduate together, about how they wouldn't get to experience life together. She thought about her future, and how bleak it now seemed without Weiss in it.
When she finally managed to stop sobbing, she lifted her face from Weiss' dress. She sniffed and tried to stand, her legs weak from grief and exhaustion. She slipped once, then managed to get her feet under her. Still holding onto the dress, she walked over and picked up her weapon, which had a light coating of snow on it.
Her heart felt like it would shatter at any moment.
She sheathed her weapon, which felt like all Ruby had left in the world. She managed to start trudging back across the field. Back the way she came. Back to a life that now felt so hollow, so dark, so empty.
