People aren't that great.
And Ruby understands this. Finally, finally - she gets it.
It's what everyone has always warned her about.
"Do you believe in destiny?"
And she hears the answer as clearly as she can make out the stars overhead, cutting through the grimy clouds in wispy raindrops of corroded white. "Yes."
Just a single, simple word - but oh Dust, it sounds so loud. Why is it so loud?
Her eyes have been itching since the start of it all. Since the tournament ended in a ruin of twisted limbs and torn wires, glassy eyes shuttering in an all too familiar way; too haunting, too human. A low whine sputters from the android's - her, voice box, like a final, sad farewell.
She startles from the memory, just a second too late. Something slams into her, burning like fire and Ruby cries out, her aura shimmering but not breaking. Suddenly, everything feels so hot, and the itching turns into a savage stinging.
"You shouldn't have come here, little rose. Now two people have to die."
Pressure - pressure unlike anything she's ever felt before burns in her chest and Ruby wants to scream, but her heart swells inside of her throat, and it takes everything in her not to throw up.
"W-why?" She can barely spit the word out, coughing from the mix of smoke in the air and the pain across her abdomen.
It's just one word (a one worded question for a one worded answer), but it holds so much weight. Why are you doing this? Why now? Why did you pretend to be a student? Why did you kill Penny? Pyrrha?
Why?
Why?
Why?!
(too many questions and not enough answers - no, that's not it. That's not it at all. She just doesn't have enough time)
Cinder pauses, head tilting in thought as she glances down at her. For the first time since she landed on the tower, Ruby notices the faint sheen of sweat coating the woman's skin; stray ebony tendrils strewn across her forehead and neck.
She hates to admit it, but in this moment, Cinder looks beautiful. Like a Goddess; muscles trembling in an almost graceful way, tempering a wildfire (one so powerful that it was able to kill the untouchable).
The pressure behind her eyes grows.
"Why?" Cinder echoes her earlier question. She calls forth the inferno within her, eyes flaring. "We all have a purpose - a reason, for doing things. Would you understand my reason, little rose?"
She hates the way Cinder says those two words, as if she isn't tainting the only memory Ruby has left of her mother; like quiet lips and even quieter eyes, leaning down to press a kiss against her forehead, murmuring softly against her flesh. "Sleep well, little rose."
"You'd have to tell me first." It's her own voice that shocks her from the memory, and she blinks, hazy vision focusing on the woman in front of her.
Every instinct in her body is telling her to run, to fight, to do something. But Crescent Rose is far from reach - her teammates, even further.
Oh Dust, Her breath catches at the thought of her friends, waiting for her at the airship (waiting for someone who will never come). I'm sorry, guys. I'm so sorry. She says a silent goodbye to each of them. Yellow, black and white; she engrains those colors into her head, holds on to them, and prays that they never forget her shade of red. Please forgive me.
"You want me to tell you my backstory?"
A question. Cinder asked me a question, Ruby's mind helpfully supplies, and she doesn't even know why she's so out of it; she wasn't hit that hard, but she finds her concentration drifting (her eyes ache but she ignores it).
She looks up, silver blood boiling against amber fire, and sees her opening. "Yes."
There's surprise, confusion - maybe even intrigue, twisting at the corners of Cinder's lips, creasing underneath the furrow of her brows, and in that moment, Ruby sees something beyond the dark glint of her eyes and the bloody elegance of her dress.
She sees a woman - (she sees a woman and she wonders when exactly she decided that she wants nothing more than to kill her).
Soft fingers press against her jaw, thumb swiping over the watermarks on her cheek (so gentle, so loving, and it hurts to think that someone this cruel is still capable of showing so much emotion).
"My story isn't important. But you, little rose," Cinder pauses, fire flickering around her narrowed irises. "Why are you doing this?" Her guard is down (and she's so close - so very close); curiosity has bled through her defenses, leaving Ruby with nothing more than a sliver to work with, but it's enough.
Crescent Rose can't be traded for anything, but without the presence of her darling, Ruby can do nothing more than reach for the closest thing and name it; Waning Petal.
Her makeshift baton collides with Cinder's head, momentarily causing the fire around her eyes to sputter and die. The plank of wood shatters upon impact, and she throws it to the side, sparing only a second to mourn the loss of yet another one of her weapons.
She catches the glint of metal out of the corner of her eye and jumps for it, just barely managing to avoid the plume of roaring flame aimed at her.
Behind her, Cinder growls (a sound so inhuman that it makes Ruby shudder), "Big mistake."
She pulls the object from the rubble, eyes immediately taking in the familiar design and golden sheen; Pyrrha's shield (she allows her heart to ache for a only second before pushing it away).
The telltale sound of Dust crackling brings her back to reality, and she lifts Akoúo just in time for a fire blast to send her smashing against one of the few walls still standing.
It hurts - it hurts so bad (like spasms of pain dancing along her spine, legs breaking alongside her ribs as her throat twists like the knots in her stomach), but she has no air left in her lungs to cry out.
She falls to the ground, barely able to catch herself as another shell explodes next to her ear.
Ruby winces, ducking away from the heat as she bobs and weaves to avoid Cinder's attacks. It's not a real fight, not even close; with every inch she gains Cinder steals a mile, and she knows that she has to change tactics if she even wants to think about coming out of this alive.
Sucking in a sharp breath, Ruby stills for a split second, centering her aura before she bursts forward in a wave of rose petals. The familiar wump-crack of her semblance rolls through the air like thunder, and Cinder has no time to react before she finds Akoúo slamming into her chest.
One of them screams - Ruby doesn't know who, but they're both sent sprawling. Cinder crashes into a pile of metal gears, and Ruby shakes her head; gathers her bearings, and takes the chance to strike again.
Vaulting herself up into the air, she spreads out her arms and twists her legs, reenacting the old maneuver as easy as instinct. The lack of Crescent Rose's weight throws her off, but she compensates by leaning forward, allowing gravity to drag her down where her weapon once would've.
Akoúo takes the brunt of the impact, but Ruby's body; legs now pulled to her chest as her head lies tucked in between her knees - still protests as the violent recoil sends a ripple of pain through her limbs.
Akoúo groans, metal curves bending underneath the strain. But there's no respite as she's thrown across the decimated office, shrapnel and rock digging into her skin as she hisses in pain.
Her aura shimmers, flickers, stutters - and Ruby knows that she doesn't have much left in her. But she stands up on shaky feet; doesn't let the ache in her legs or the fire in her chest keep her down.
Because she has to keep fighting.
She has to.
And as childish as it sounds, if she dies right here, right now; she needs it to mean something. She needs to know that she did something good with her life - that she fought back until she couldn't fight anymore.
If she dies, she needs to die knowing that she got as far as she could go.
"That's very ambitious for a child."
Blake's voice is soft, quiet; much like the girl herself (and the sound is bittersweet - so very bittersweet; echoing like something that's just out of reach), but it's enough to shock Ruby back into wakefulness, and she scrambles to the left, side aching as a piece of molten brick nicks her sore ribs before smashing into the wall next to her.
Her boots scramble against pebbles and glass, rushing her forward without preamble. She doesn't collide with Cinder head on, but her fingers wrap around a scalding wrist (flesh like fire and she wonders how it isn't burning bone), striking Akoúo against ebony locks as she forces them both to the ground.
They fall with a heavy thud, and Ruby almost misses the elbow as it comes flying at her head. She ducks just in time, lashing out with a right hook that Yang would be proud of (but it's the only blow that she lands).
The struggle ends with Ruby weaponless; Akoúo thrown over the side of the tower as Cinder stumbles to her feet with an angry snarl, crackling fire bursting forth from her fingertips - ready to attack, but never moving forward.
Ruby watches in amazement as molten rock drips from Cinder's palms, solidifying into a jagged longbow with an arrow already settled on it stringless nock. She lifts the bow; preparing to strike, and leaves herself open for a split second attack.
Ruby sees her chance and takes it; acts without thinking, and in the heat of it all, she forgets; she has no backup - no teammates willing to draw Cinder's fire long enough for her to land a blow.
Ruby forgets, and it costs her dearly.
At first, she feels nothing. She can almost pretend that she somehow dodged the arrow, but the warping red glow of her aura shatters, and suddenly there's a fire in Ruby's chest and it burns (she gasps - once, twice and repeats; In. Out. In. Out).
Just breathe, She tells herself. Just breathe.
(it feels like she's dying)
Cotton stuffs itself inside of her ears, but Ruby can still make out the sound of heels clicking against a stone floor (the person draws closer and closer - until they're right in front of her but she can't see a thing).
A second of stillness - and then pain.
Ruby cries out until her throat is raw, blood splattering across her eyes and lips (instinctively, her tongue lashes out; tasting copper and sweat that's cold - too cold).
All too suddenly, nails bite into the skin around her neck and chin, catching her off guard. Ruby gasps, trying to pull away, but Cinder just grabs the sides of her head and squeezes; heat wafting from her palms as her fingers curl, drenching her knuckles in bubbling blood.
A harrowing wail rises up into the air, and Ruby thrashes, wiggles, writhes - trying to get away from the blistering flame crawling up her arms and legs, pressure building in her chest alongside the bulbous agony begging to be released from behind her eyes.
Cinder stops (after what feels like forever), but the heat stays.
Ruby can feel her limbs turn numb, body slumping against her rising foe, but she can't find it within herself to move - to try and stop her; it's all too much and it hurts (dustdammit it hurts).
She blacks out for a few seconds, only coming back to it when a foot turns her over roughly; glass heel digging into her stomach. Cinder stands over her, and silver eyes watch tiredly; drooping, as the obsidian edges of her longbow melt into fine points.
And then she swings.
Crack!
(Whining - she can hear it; high pitched and oozing from the blood threatening to spill from her ears)
Crack!
(She's drifting in a liquidless ocean; bobbing, floating, drowning - helpless to stop the water as it fills her lungs)
Crack!
(A wave of hazy white fills her vision, reminding her of cold touches and a melting blue gaze; ice dripping like a cool respite and she wishes that she could feel the water on her burning skin)
"Get up, you dolt!"
Silver irises snap open and Ruby gasps, "W-Weiss!"
The name claws its way out of her throat without a thought to her injuries, tearing past chapped lips and a bloody tongue. Air wheezes in and out of her lungs; stuttering and wet, and sends her into a fit of coughs. She hacks terribly, her entire body shaking and shivering from the force of it.
Ruby is given no time to recover before boiling coal finds its way under her chin, tilting her face to look up at Cinder. Amber eyes glare down at her curiously, dark and dangerous. "Calling out for your friends?" She asks much too sweetly, digging the tip of her bow deeper into Ruby's throat.
She hisses at the feeling - at the pain, but doesn't say anything more.
"Hoping they'll hear your pleas?"
She doesn't even have enough time to respond before the bow slams into her face again, causing her neck to snap to the side; forceful and dizzying. Pain blossoms along her jaw like stars imploding, burst after burst.
Her vision splits, blurring along the edges and causing the residuel embers in the air to contort into blobs of yellow - a color that mixes with the fading hours of lilac; dripping hues in a way that makes her see someone who isn't really there.
"Come on! You totally could've dodged that."
The words are merely the phantom of an actual voice; her sister's voice, but it sounds so sweet, so reassuring - so familiar, that Ruby almost cries (and like a whisper; a ghost, she hears it again).
"I've always got your back, sis."
Her entire life she's believed those words; never had a reason not to - but as she looks up into death's amber gaze, Ruby thinks that this might be as good as any.
"No one is coming to save you, little rose. You'll die, just like your friend. Nothing more than ashes."
(ashes in the wind like white rose petals, frayed along the edges and withering black from the heat; thus kindly they scatter)
Ruby's lungs rattle, heartbeat playing a staccato beat against her eardrums, and distantly, she begins to wonder when she started shaking. She opens her mouth, but it's hard - harder than she thought it would be; to speak. Her voice cracks, her throat aches, and the pain pressing against her temple worsens.
She wants to stop - stop trying, stop breathing, stop feeling pain.
But then she remembers Pyrrha, and Penny, and Roman, and everyone else who probably died today. Ruby remembers them, licks the blood from her lips, and tries again. "I used to think that everyone had a little bit of good in them. But I was…" She trails off, the pain becoming just a little too much.
Bursts of ivory static; behind her eyelids, in her fingertips, pulsing at the soles of her feet. She's hurt and she's tired, so very tired (she wishes that she could just close her eyes and sleep).
"I think I was wrong?" She continues instead, trying to stay focused. But it's hard when her vision scatters into doubles, triples, quadruplets. She blinks, slowly, and lifts her head from where she hadn't even known it'd fallen.
(It takes her a full minute to start talking again, but Cinder never once interrupts her.)
How thoughtful.
"People just, aren't really that great, huh?"
And maybe it's a trick of the light - maybe Ruby blacks out again; vision swirling and body trembling from the pain, but for a split second she thinks she sees amber eyes soften (and Cinder almost looks sad).
A quiet voice answers her; muffled by the buzzing in her head, "No. They're really not."
There's a sound like a click; like an arrow being notched, but Ruby can't find it in herself to care. Her vision fades to black, and her body goes numb long before the arrow touches her.
But in her last moments, she thinks of her teammates.
She thinks of Blake; a person shrouded in shadows and trailing an even darker past, loving and caring (but so very, very damaged). Her memory swirls around amber eyes, glowing with trust - not open, not all the way, but bright and kind (so different from the ones staring down at her).
She thinks of Weiss - thinks of baby blue seas and pale skin, unmarred except for the hollow dip over her eye; a testament to the perfect illusion that holds control over life, the first crack in her icy mask; bleeding truth (she thinks of the cold gripping her skin and pretends that its her).
And lastly, Ruby thinks of Yang.
Yang.
Yang.
Yang.
Her sister - her protector and her best friend (Sunny Dragon, her mind whispers). Golden mane blending softly against lilac eyes; contrasting fiercely with crimson orbs. Dangerous and temperamental but beautiful, so beautiful that sometimes it takes her breath away.
And she has no doubt that Yang will overcome her injury. The world has burned her but she is a dragon; a friend of the flame, and she will arise from the ashes stronger - stronger but alone.
And that's what hurts the most, because she knows how Yang feels about being alone (about being abandoned), but Ruby can only hope that her sister learns that she didn't go down without a fight; that she tried to get back to her - to them.
I tried, I tried, I tried, I tried, I tried - She repeats it in her head, over and over again, like a mantra.
Images and memories of her teammates - her family, fill her head; happy and sad and bittersweet at the same time. Distant laughter fills her ears, skin tingling as ghostly fingers trail over her back and arms, and she can see their faces as clear as day; gentle smiles drifting in between a dream and reality.
"It's okay," They seem to whisper, fingers fluttering across her cheeks; brushing over her face. "Rest now."
It sounds like a reassurance (like they're telling her, it's okay to say goodbye) and she closes her eyes, remembering something that Yang once told her; "Not everyone's a nice person, Rubes."
(It feels so blissful; the last petal falling - serene and quiet. Ruby Rose greets oblivion and it feels like Summer's arms wrapping around her waist, welcoming her home after so, so long.)
"But some of them aren't all that bad."