A/N: It's late and I'm tired but i had to write this. Thank you for everything, Monty. You will be missed.
Your chest tightens. Your breathing becomes erratic, shock and horror overriding your senses.
Your eyes begin to sting.
Hands shaking, body trembling.
You don't want to believe.
It happened so suddenly.
Blake had been resting against under her favourite tree with a book in her hands, when, the light suddenly disappeared. Jerking her head up in surprise and horror, the cat faunus was treated to a pitch black sky, with small wavering dots of light visible in the distance. Book forgotten, she jumped to her feet and swiftly made her way back to the academy.
It was only when she stepped into the well-lit hallway that she realized. The only reason she made it back safely, was because Fauni were able to see in the dark. If any of her teammates had been on the airship or worse, riding bumble, then there could only be one outcome.
It chilled her to the bone.
The run back to her (their) dorm room was fraught with anxiety. Shouldering past any shell shocked students littering the hallways, Blake forged forward to her destination with a determination that surprised even her. It didn't help that every time she glanced outside, she could only see a blackness thicker than tar, the numerous lamps littered across the campus flickering and dying out, one by one.
"Please be okay." She breathed. "Yang, Weiss, Ruby."
Shock gives way to grief.
Hot, salty tears trickle down your cheeks as you think about the things that could've been.
And what will be.
What will you do now?
Or rather, what can you do?
Blake bursts through the door and feels panic spread through her. She can hear Ruby sniffling, the mop of unruly black hair partially obscured by the pristine white dress Weiss always wears. The heiress stiffly pats her partner's back, and though it looks as though she wants to shove the girl away, Weiss tightens her grip on the sobbing girl of fifteen.
"Hey." Yang addresses her from her perch on the bed. Her usually mischievous lilac eyes are anything but. She peers at you lifelessly, her flamboyant golden locks hanging limply off your shoulders. Confused, Blake opens her mouth to reply, when she feels her energy being sapped away. Her body becomes heavier, the book falling to the floor with a loud thud.
She gripped her arms tightly, sinking onto the carpet.
After a few minutes of agonizing silence, Blake realizes that something feels off.
It was gone.
Heart heavy with sadness, the cat Faunus trailed back to her own bed, her book left on the ground forgotten. The four girls in the room did nothing but stare out their modestly sized window, watching as the remaining light outside gets swallowed up by the unending darkness.
Nothing could save them now.
They were utterly helpless, only waiting for the end to reach out and grab them by the throat, and strangle the life out of them. Wills utterly drained; the members of team RWBY felt like marionette dolls, their strings cut and left to rot.
None of them even looked up when Pyrrha weakly pushed open their door and stumbled in, Jaune, Nora and Ren trailing in behind her. Everyone's spark seemed to have disappeared along with the sunlight.
Giving up seems to be the only option.
Saliva thick in your throat, you choke down a sob as you turn away.
It hurts.
Everything hurts.
The light in the room begins to dim. The members of team JNPR lean against the two bunk beds, gazing at the wavering orb of light. Nora sniffles slightly and buries her face into Ren's chest. His face is stoic, but the sadness in his eyes is as plain as day. Pyrrah sighs into her partner's shoulder, the strong Amazonian woman reduced to nothing but a lifeless mess with her beloved spear tucked underneath her arm.
Jaune is just staring off into the distance, his mind not registering anything but the futileness of it all. It was the end.
For him.
And for them.
You want to give up.
But you can't.
Even if remembering causes you pain, its proof that you hold it close to your heart.
You refuse to forget.
The memory. Happy or sad.
You resolve to accept it all. Even with the weight of the world on your shoulders, you will still move forward.
As the darkness begins to seep in through the window, trails of black painting ugly marks across their dorm room wall, Ruby let out a cry which shattered the deathly silence.
"NO!" She shouted, causing her partner to recoil away with a wince. "We won't disappear!" Her voice cracked at the last word, tears running down her cheeks like an unending waterfall of sorrow.
"And why won't we?" Jaune replied bitterly, seemingly shaken out of his reverie. "Look outside. There's nothing left. Everything's gone. We're done for, Ruby. Just give up. Give up and forget about it."
"I won't." Ruby said shakily, hands tightening around crescent rose as the room became darker and darker, the colours being sapped away and leaving it a dull grey. "Because forgetting is the same as dying. Nothing is ever truly gone. Even if we disappear…" Yang sucked in a deep breath at the words while Blake shuddered.
"There's something that'll be left behind. There always is."
Happiness and sadness are two sides of the same coin.
So don't cry…. because it's not the end.
No one is ever truly gone.
And then the room was flooded with light.