Heard this song today for the first time in a while and decided to make a fic.
Warning: contains character death and sad themes.
It wasn't supposed to end like this.
They were supposed to protect each other.
They were supposed to gradutate together.
They were supposed to fall in love, marry, have kids of their own, and watch life go on as their hair turned grey.
Not this.
Never this.
The sun was shining. Birds could be heard chirping peacefully in the distance and other such creatures not of grimm nature going about their day without a care in the world.
How dare they.
Pyrrha did her best to keep her face as stoic as possible, listening to the eulogy of the dearly departed.
Pretty words. That's all they were. Empty thoughts and impressions to soothe the ones left behind by an untimely death.
How dare they.
Is it considered untimely? Is any death? To fall in the line of duty defending all that you hold dear? Or simply passing away in your sleep because your body could no longer support itself?
No. Nothing is ever untimely.
No matter how much you glorify ones life, their deeds, accomplishments, or failures, time will always march on taking whomever it pleases, when it pleases.
She snapped out of her reviere to the mechanical sound that signaled the lowering of the casket, forever sealing the body underground until the end of days.
How dare they.
She heard a sniffle from behind her and turned to look.
Ruby Rose, child prodigy and resident scythe weilder. So young, and yet trying desperatly to remain strong though failing to do so.
An arm draped over the young girl's shoulder and she broke, burying herself into the older girls chest, wailing in agony.
Yang Xiao Long, the blonde bombshell of beacon. Able to turn anything and everything into a pun, much to the chagrin of most, was now silently whispering into her sisters hair. The tears streaming down her face enough of an indication that she was also heavily affected.
Beside them stood someone who Pyrrha though wouldn't even want to be here.
That might be petty spite on her part, however.
Weiss Schnee, heiress to the schnee dust company. Her eyes were glued to the ground, not speaking, as if she couldn't bear to look at the coffin. Her shaking shoulders and occasional droplets of water splashing on the ground made Pyrrha feel guilty for even considering the girl didnt care.
They all cared.
Blake Belladonna, the mysterious, quiet, bookworm beauty. Her bow was absent today, the furry appendages atop her head flattened against her hair. She too had tears, but remained standing tall. To honor the fallen.
"Why...?" Pyrrha turned to the other side, where an uncharacteristically soft voice spoke up.
Nora Valkrie, literally energy incarnate. She was clinging to her childhood friend as if he was going to be lowered into the ground at any second with the other body.
Why indeed.
One could argue that the world is simply cruel. It takes and takes, and anything earned is only going to be taken as well.
Or that there is a plan made by a deity who watches over them, punishing them for wickedness and rewarding them for goodness.
Either one could be true, in the realms of possibility, but all Pyrrha could think is that people simply die.
Where there is life, there must also be death.
Lie Ren, a quiet, calm, collected individual who's dancing was said to rival the Lord Oum. He embraced the girl clinging to him with as much fervor as she. Her presence a reminder that he could have simply been alone today, watching two bodies be buried.
But 'he' wouldn't allow that.
'He' would not let anyone of his friends fall. Not. One.
'He' cherished them more than himself, despite Pyrrha trying to convince him to love himself as well.
'He' was the man she loved more than he would ever know.
'He' was Jaune Arc.
And 'he' was currently six feet below, waiting for the day when time finally stopped.
Everyone had left except team RWBY and the remainder of team JNPR. The other attendees believed they deserved alone time with him.
After all...
They were the ones who watched him die...
...to save them.
It was during this silence that Pyrrha recalled an old melody that her mother had taught her. She had said it was sung at funerals of people who died doing their duty.
And so, as one last goodbye, she sang.
"Leaves from the vine... Falling so slow..."
Singing was never her strong suit, that was more Weiss' expertise. It didn't stop her, however. She sang on.
"Like fragile, tiny shells... drifting in the foam..."
Everyone stopped and listened to the somber melody, eyes locked onto her, but she didn't care.
"Little solider boy... Come marching home..."
She choked, unable to contain her composure any longer. Tears burned her eyes and slid down her cheek like tiny rivers.
"Brave solider boy... Comes marching home..."
She fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably in front of the marbled stone in front of her.
Here Lies Jaune Luna Arc.
Hunter, Leader, Hero, Friend.
Leaves from the vine
Falling so slow
Like fragile tiny shells
Drifting in the foam
Little soldier boy says
"Carry me home"
Sleeping soldier boy
Is carried home.
No A/N.