"Hi Penny."

The gusting wind decided to pick up then, blowing the freshly fallen layer of powdery snow into the side of the young girl, a single red dot on the white canvas of the clearing. A few nearby trees of the forest she was in creaked and groaned as the force of the wind threatened to snap the already frozen limbs. Ruby pulled her cloak tighter around herself until the gust finally calmed.

Brushing some of the snow out of her hair, Ruby looked down at her feet, kicking away the snow absentmindedly, until only the brown earth underneath remained. The wind picked up again momentarily, threatening to topple over the already forlorn huntress-in-training. Turning away from the biting cold, Ruby struggled to find the words she wanted to say.

"Penny… I'm sorry," she began, and the wind died to almost a standstill, as if the world around her was giving her its full attention. Ruby paused again, a tear falling before being brushed away. She sniffled, partly to the cold. Another tear rose in her eye, dropping before it could be dismissed, landing on the polished stone in the ground. No one had really planned on putting a grave out here in the forest for Penny, but Ruby had been adamant about it. And after everything that had happened in Vale, nobody was going to deny Ruby this wish.

Finding her voice again, Ruby spoke out to the clearing, a small smile breaking underneath the tears that wouldn't stop slowly building up.

"I really do miss you Penny. I can't really speak for the others on my team…" Ruby began, pausing as a few tears dropped again. "But I'm sure they miss you, too. It's been tough without you here; I could really use your help." A nearby bird took flight, snapping Ruby out of her current train of thought. "After what happened at the tournament, a lot of bad stuff happened. A whole bunch of Grimm attacked Beacon and a lot of the Atlesian ships were shot down. All because of Roman and Cinder." The two names brought up a sour taste in Ruby's mouth, making her pause. A shiver worked its way through her, so Ruby pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders and dried her eyes again.

"A lot of people got hurt in the aftermath. Ren and Nora were pretty worn out, but they healed alright. Blake and Yang got really hurt though." Ruby brought her hand up to her arm in a sort of half hug to try to stave off the cold better. "I'm told Blake got better because she ran off when she got to the city. Yang is okay, she's just…" Ruby looked up to the sky for a moment before looking back to the polished black stone, "She's struggling. She lost her arm fighting and I was really scared when I first found her. I tried talking to her when we were back home, but she just wanted to stay in her room all day. I think she really misses Blake, no matter what she says. I haven't heard from Weiss or Blake yet. Beacon's tower fell and with it, all the communication in Remnant. Ours scrolls are pretty much worthless until it's fixed."

"But the bad guys are gone at least," Ruby tried to force a smile, unaware that a frown had crept its way to her face. "In my fight with Roman and some girl, I think her name is Neo. Anyhow, I got rid of Neo by making her float away on her parasol and Roman was eaten by a giant Griffin, right as he was about to attack me. I didn't have Crescent Rose so I couldn't really fight back." The small smile Ruby was trying to keep faltered.

"As for Pyrrha-" Ruby paused, tears building up and falling in a heavy stream. "I couldn't save her either!" Ruby sobbed out, "I was too late and I watched Cinder kill her." Ruby continued crying for a while, a painful flashback to the top of the tower. After a few minutes, her sobs quieted down, her tears becoming less frequent. "I don't really remember much after that," Ruby whispered and sniffled, going quiet.

Instead of talking, Ruby instead studied the simple stone before her. She hadn't really had the chance to see it before now. It was a small polished piece of granite, baring three simple words.

Penny Polendina

Friend

After a little while, the wind started to pick up again, a light breeze bringing with it a harsh chill in the cold air. Another shiver worked its way through Ruby as she stared out into the clearing of the forest.

"Jaune, Ren, Nora, and I are headed to Haven. It's a long walk, but we don't have any other way to get there. We have to find answers for who did this, to find peace again." Ruby dropped her head back to the stone. "I just wish you were here to help us. You were the first friend I made outside of Beacon. I'll always cherish what little time we spent together in Vale. Even if you didn't believe we were friends at first," Ruby said with a small giggle, a smile finding its way back to her face. Ruby closed her eyes as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, offering what little warmth it could as it started to set behind the tree lines. A light crunching of snow from behind her pulled her from her memories.

"Hey, it's getting cold out here. We started a fire and set up camp back this way," Jaune offered, hitching a thumb back over his shoulder. "Whenever you're ready that is."

Ruby turned and stood up, facing Jaune. "It's okay, Jaune. I think I said what I needed to." Jaune gave her a weak smile and stood next to her, looking down at the stone. "We'll be okay, right?" Ruby asked, looking up.

"Yeah," Jaune sighed quietly, wiping away a tear of his own, "Yeah, we will be." He turned and started walking back towards a small plume of smoke rising above the tree line. Ruby gave a small smile as she took one last look at the name on the stone.

"Goodbye, Penny."

A/N: Hey guys! This is my first-ever submission for /r/RWBY's MonCon and I'm happy with how this turned out. Let me know what you think!