It had been a long time since Ruby had seen anyone. Her guess it was over six months since she had seen anyone on her team. They all went their separate ways to keep themselves safe. It was hard hiding from Salem's Grimm and men.

Even though Ruby really missed her older sister, she missed someone else even more...

Roman Torchwick.

It had been almost two years since Salem's reign over Remnant and a year since she saw Roman now. He made the promise to see her again when it came time. Every time the memory came to mind, it broke her heart all over again. Things weren't supposed to be this way.

Right before they had parted ways, they had unofficially gotten married. It was three days in the middle of the hell that was unleashed. No one had objected to the ceremony considering all of their futures were uncertain. Ruby had stayed loyal that whole time and she was certain Roman had as well. He wasn't the asshole everyone had originally thought.

Ruby sat down on a giant rock which probably used to be a building. She knew she was no longer in Vale considering she had crossed the ocean. She was on some outskirt lands by Atlas. Atlas was the first to fall after Pyrrha's death then Mistral, Vale and finally Vacuo even though it was attached to Vale.

Her silver eyes scanned the area in front of her. She was barely breathing just so she could listen. The people left in the world were Salem's minions, survivors or hunters. There was some that were part of gangs trying to rob those that passed through their territory but those kind of people had no chance against her.

Ruby had come across some who had tried to rob her- a few tried to get the upper hand to rape her. She fought to leave them alive but they insisted on fighting her so she ended up having to kill a few people.

Not all of them were bad people. She actually came across a doctor when she was deathly ill with pneumonia. He was one of the nicest people that she came across but on the promise she would never reveal his location. Ruby kept her promise and she hoped he was still alive.

Ruby pulled out an apple and an orange. The world around was over taken by plant and animal life. She became quite the hunter in her tike alone. Even though it sounded selfish, she was glad that she was alone. With things the way they are, everyone would be stressed out.

Ruby had wondered if the others had any luck finding any Dust deposits. Weiss said she would figure out a way to create Dust crystals from powder. Ruby never doubted her team mate once and she knew that she would because of her father's business. That was if… she was still alive.

Everyone was supposed to meet by the Void whenever there was word about where it was. There was another area land mass which Ozpin had suspected she was at but no one was really sure. She knew that Roman had headed that way. There was no way to tell if he did find it or if he was ok.

There really weren't any settlements anywhere above ground only because of the Grimm. There were a lot of Seers around but she hadn't seen one in a few days. Unfortunately, using her semblance would make her easier to spot so she had walk like everyone else. Some action would be nice right about now.

I would love a Nevermore or even a Griffon right now. I'm tired of walking and I could just force the thing to let me ride it. I have been hoping for a familiar face this whole time and there isn't a single person.

Ruby sighed.

"Why can't I find something? Some way of getting through to anyone…"

X

X

"How much longer do I have to hold this?" Roman asked rolling his eyes and getting more aggravated.

"I'm almost done wielding this! You can hold still! It's not like anything else is happening right now!" Weiss snapped.

Roman made a face and continued to stand still.

"You're a bitch. I would much rather Yang be here right now."

Weiss stopped and pulled her mask up, glaring at the man.

"If I knew Ruby was dead I would beat your ass and throw you into the ocean."

"So evil."

Weiss pulled her mask back on and finished fixing her Dust presser.

"It makes me nervous living here with you."

Weiss sighed and hung her head.

"I won't kill you in your sleep."

"Well, thanks for that but I mean with all of the Dust crystals."

She made a weird face, "Why does that bother you?" she asked.

"Um, because you might try and shoot me then we would blow just because you're angry."

She ignored his comment and finished up the piece she was working on.

Roman was glad just to let go. He had never imagined he would be married and not even living with his wife but living with her best friend instead. Of course, when he thought of it, the world hadn't come to an end either. He looked at the mud wall thinking of how he couldn't wait for this to end.

End in his death or defeating Salem.

Sometimes, Roman would crack out the liquor bottle and drink with Weiss. More than once they had the same thought… They couldn't wait for this to over with. It had nothing to do with living underground, it was just of the idea of worrying over everyone else.

They had lost a lot of friends. Almost everyone had perished a month after the invasion of Beacon. Roman was a little upset that Neo had refused to go with him but they weren't friends, just partners in crime. She was more under Cinder than him. She listened to anything that vile woman had said but then again, Roman was never on their side anyways.

Despite what everyone had thought about him, Ruby was the only one that figured out he wasn't really a criminal. Roman wasn't a great citizen to begin with but the moment he heard about the crap Cinder and her goons were trying to pull he jumped into her circle to find a way to stop it. If he had never did it, he would more than likely be dead at this moment.

"Are you ok?"

Roman snapped out of his thoughts.

"Wait, what?"

"Are you upset?" Weiss asked, with a worried look on her face.

He gave her a smile.

"Just thinking."

"If you're planning to off yourself, wait another few weeks please."

He glared at her and headed for the sink.

"Professor Oobleck should be here soon anyways."

"You really think he can make a plane that can transport all that crap?"

Weiss shrugged, "It's better than nothing. I am almost done with ten devices so we can talk to each other. It'll operate on a frequency that no one can access."

He looked around the room, "It's just you and me."

"I was… kind of hoping someone would have showed up by now."

"At least you have me."

Weiss smiled, "That's true."

They sat there in silence together. It wasn't really uncomfortable, just more sad and depressing than anything. It was hard to tell if anyone was ok. Blake had tried to make her way to Menagerie to see if her parents were ok through this giant mess. It was hard to tell how long it took to get there with the countless enemies around to attack anyone on sight without question.

"You feel like going to the surface?" Weiss asked.

"Didn't we risk it once this week already," Roman said looking quite surprised by the suggestion, "Why don't we just look through the scopes you made?"

"Are you worried about Ruby?"

Roman's green eyes became dark and he looked away from her.

"I know that Ruby and Yang can make it out there alone. For some reason there's something about them that gives them that will to make it regardless of the situation."

"I guess."

Weiss placed a hand on his shoulder and used her other hand to force his face towards hers.

"Look at me," she snapped.

Roman straightened up.

"I have faith in Ruby to make it back. We are close to the Void and we have eyes in all directions to know if she made it back here. We watch every day, things will be fine. Give her some time… It's been a year."

My point exactly… What if she isn't ok after a year?

I know, I know with other stories you would think I would be swamped and I'm not... yet lol I already have another idea but I won't start that one for a while. I have the first ten chapters of this story planned out and no it won't be slow. It's not as hardcore Rosewick as the other stories I have but it's centered around Ruby and Roman.