So Far: A Huntress' Return Hunt
Characters: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long
Pairings: Whiterose, Bumblebee
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings, these belong to Rooserteeth and Monty Oum, may he rest in peace.
Summary: Ruby's return hunt after her injuries fighting Salem, will she be successful? Or will her fears be realised?
Outside the Walls of Vale, Emerald Forest, Beacon Training Hunt, Junior Year
Ruby spins Crescent Rose in her hands, the haft of the weapon blocking the strikes of the Beowulves. Bringing the scythe into another spin the blade lops off the arm of one of the wolves while it vertically bisects another. Smiling Ruby plants Crescent Rose in the ground and wipes some of the sweat off her brow. Ruby turns her good eye over the field of Grimm she'd just blown through like a tornado. That's when she sees it, claws, hair white like her girlfriend's, and blood fill her vision and everything fades to black.
-Two days earlier-
"Weiss, I don't know about this, what if I'm not completely healed?" Ruby questions as Weiss quickly places a finger over her girlfriend's lips. Weiss glowers at Ruby, for one of the most optimistic people I know she's really doubtful about this. Weiss takes Ruby's hand and guides it to Crescent Rose, the red and white coloured weapon's blade sticking out of the training ground floor.
"Come on Ruby, we know you can feel heat and cold in your destroyed nerve endings, so when we get back we'll modify Crescent accordingly, but for this hunt you have to be capable of wielding Crescent without that modification. Now let's run the exercise again, Training Drone on 12?" Weiss explains to her un-confidant girlfriend. Ruby nods and Weiss steps back, drawing RoseMyr from Myrtenaster's former scabbard, this will help her to focus her glyphs as she summons a Beowulf for Ruby to fight.
The white and blue glowing Beowulf charges forward at normal speed, then swings out strikes at quick intervals to drive Ruby back as Weiss puppets the Summon along. Ruby twists into a backflip bringing Crescent Rose up and stepping forward spinning the large scythe about her. The large curved blade makes short work of the Beowulf as Weiss summons two more, already beginning to feel the strain. No! If Ruby can do this, so can I. With a renewed determination Weiss growls, forcing the two Summons to stabilise in form and attack Ruby at once. Though as the two Beowulves make their strikes they suddenly pass through a cloud of rose petals, Ruby appearing a short distance above them.
A smile covers the red clad girls face as she fires the heavy calibre sniper to accelerate downwards, her body spinning along with Crescent Rose, and tearing the Beowulves to shreds almost as quickly as they'd attempted their attack. Of course now Weiss allows her head to hang low, they'd been at this for hours before Ruby had managed to kill two opponents at once. Nodding to Ruby that she'd done well Weiss sits down on the floor, not caring about dirtying her clothes.
"Nice job Dolt… can we rest please before we start training again? We've still got all afternoon to continue perfecting this," Weiss groans out, when Ruby's gloved hand encircles hers and helps her up.
"Of course my Princess, though we're gonna have to work on your stamina, maybe you should start working out with me more?" Ruby's asks simply as Weiss only nods in response. "Cool then let's get lunch, I'm starved!"
Beacon Academy Rebuilt, RWBY Dorm, That Night
Yang smiles as she watches Ruby and Weiss enter the room, both soaked with sweat and leaning on the other for support.
"So what'd ya guys do?" Yang asks innocently, I know what they did… They've been goin at it! You people think I'm right right? Blake hushed her girlfriend with a hand over her mouth before Yang can continue.
"Let then be dear, they're tired. It's obvious that they're too inexperienced to do it as well as we can and not seem so tired, unless of course they're better than we are?" Blake questions with a smirk growing ever larger on her face. Weiss turns to glare at the Faunus.
"I… oh screw it… Think what you want, Ruby and I are going straight to bed," Weiss grunts as she grabs her nightwear and walks into the bathroom, the same one Ruby was still in.
"W-Weiss!" Ruby shouts. Yang and Blake are on the edge of the bed straining to tell what the mumbles behind the closed door are. "Oh… o-o-okay."
Yet after that they hear nothing and see no one come out and just continue to stare at the door waiting for something, anything, to happen. Roughly thirty minutes pass and both Ruby and Weiss leave the bathroom, hair wet from a shower and changed into their night clothes.
Amber and lilac eyes track the red and white pair who crawl into bed together Weiss settling in as small spoon, while Ruby curls around her protectively. The Bumblebee pair stares wide-eyed at the actions of the newer couple, unable to comprehend what just happened.
"What did we just see?" Yang asks Blake. In response the Cat Faunus says nothing except marking her book and snuggling into Yang.
"I don't know, but I think that it's time for bed, because I don't want to think about what just happened."
-Beginning of the Hunt-
Outside the Walls of Vale, Emerald Forest, Beacon Training Hunt, Junior Year
The Airship sets down in a clearing about a klick away from the extermination zone that Team RWBY had been given. The assignment was optional, and Ruby had been about to pass it up when the encouragement of her team had given reason otherwise. The three other members of RWBY knew what was bothering the youngest, they knew she was worried she wouldn't be able to do it, but they knew differently.
Ruby jumps out of the back and brings Crescent Rose up in rifle form. Weiss is next, landing directly behind her girlfriend with RoseMyr at the ready. Blake and Yang land at the same time, the blonde slamming her metal hand into the dirt and leaving a divot, before pounding her fists together. With all of Team RWBY at the ready they slowly begin moving forward. The idea being that their presence would draw the Grimm to them and make it so they'd be playing defense, where it'd be easier to keep an eye on each other.
The plan wasn't as effective as they'd hoped though, as only a few Grimm were dumb enough to brave RWBY's kill zone, and the Grimm paid dearly for their stupidity. Having reached the centre of the Extermination zone and not having encountered more than a couple of Creeps and Beowulves Ruby decides to split the team.
"Weiss? You and I will go left circle back here and kill anything in the way. Yang and Blake circle right, burn it all. No Grimm walk out of our zone, clear?" Ruby asks plainly as the other three women nod in answer. "Good then let's get this done, I don't feel like being out here for more than a couple of hours."
Breaking apart Ruby and Weiss head left each with their weapon at the ready. Ruby's eye glows as the sunrise breaks the crest of the forest and pours over the land.
"Ruby, I'm sorry if we pushed you to do this… I know you don't think you're ready, and I know you think you might get hurt…" Weiss is cut off though as Ruby puts a hand on her shoulder. Weiss stares at Ruby's single sad eye.
"Weiss, I internalised my problem, it wasn't so much myself that I was worried about getting hurt… I was worried about one of you guys getting hurt because I messed up. I was worried it'd be a repeat of the Grimm Dragon… I just didn't want to be the cause of someone getting hurt is all Weiss. I'm sorry if I made this hard on you, and everyone else by extension," Ruby explains as she quickly turns Crescent coming up into a firing position.
Weiss sees it a second before it breaks through the underbrush. The Ursa Major jumps out of the bush sending Weiss and Ruby tumbling away from each other to avoid being caught under it. Weiss quickly Summons The Giant Armour, the Summon rearing its head back and drawing the great sword. Charging forward the Ursa Major turns, only for Ruby to be coming down towards it Crescent Rose unfurled to her full beauty. A quick spin and Ruby swipes though the Major's neck as if it was paper. That's when it happens; Beowulves, Boarbatusks, And Creeps attacked the pair en mass.
-Elsewhere-
Yang turns as she hears the sound of a heavy calibre rifle going off. A fast shared glance with Blake and the Bumblebee pair is charging after the other half of the team.
Yang skids to a stop as claws from a very angry Beowulf slice through the air above her head. Digging her metal fingers into the ground Yang catches something solid and flips herself up and into the air. The Beowulf cocks its head to the side before looking up as shotgun round fly downward, blowing the creature's head into nothing. Landing Yang blows some hair out of her face.
"Looks like Weiss and Ruby will have to manage," Blake growls. Yang only hrmphs in response and slams her fists together.
"Then let's end this quick" Yang barks at her partner.
-Back with Ruby and Weiss-
Ruby spins blocking another strike with Crescent, but this time as she comes around she can't find Weiss, the other woman could be heard though. Weiss' voice was full of anger as she screamed obscenities at the Grimm.
"You don't separate me from her!" Ruby hears Weiss shout clearly, and even in the heat of battle Ruby's cheeks dust with a pink tinge in response. Ducking under the claws of a Beowulf Ruby twirls, using Crescent to swipe the legs of the creature completely off. The Beowulf falls to the ground as Ruby fires the heavy calibre sniper rifle to propel herself into the air. Ruby flicks a switch and Crescent's blade goes to an almost 180 degree slant as she activates her Semblance and plunges the blade into the Beowulf's still trembling form. Kicking off the haft of her weapon Ruby uses the momentum to rip the blade free of the corpse, spinning the weapon about once more.
-Weiss-
Weiss growls angrily as her blade passes through the neck of a Creep who'd attempted to jump at her. Separating us was a bad idea… I may trust her, but she's too unsure of herself. Weiss spins the Dust revolver in RoseMyr's guard until it stops on lightning. Squeezing the trigger yellow Dust is layered upon the blade as Weiss slams the rapier into the ground, lightning electrocuting a path towards Ruby, but what surprised Weiss was that the clearing was full of disintegrating Grimm. Her eyes tracked Ruby as she planted Crescent Rose into the ground, causing the white haired woman to smirk. A look of horror engulfed her only seconds later.
-Blake-
Withdrawing Gambol from another Beowulf Blake turns to see Yang slamming her metal fist into the last Creep, and final Grimm in their area. Nodding to her partner Yang and Blake both take off at a run for the White rose pair.
They skid to a stop just before the clearing as they watch Ruby plant Crescent into the ground, smiling at the smoking corpses of the Grimm around her. Blake looks to her right seeing Weiss standing there, quite clearly relieved that Ruby was okay. Yang sees it first though, a single Beowulf standing up behind the unknowing Rose. Shoving off of her planted foot Yang leaps forward. Blake sees it second, summoning a shadow clone and jumping off of it like a spring board towards their leader.
Weiss stares, the entire world seeming to be in slow motion as she watches Blake mad Yang try to reach her Rose. Weiss flicks her wrist and a glyph shoots her forward, covering the distance between herself and her girlfriend faster than Ruby herself could have. Weiss seems to practically appear right as the Beowulf's claws connect with her own face. Blood spurts from the wounds as Weiss' left cheek was shredded by the claws, the ice blue eyed woman falling on top of her girlfriend.
Yang's metallic fist connects with the Beowulf's head making a sickening crunch sound as her knuckles crack, then break, the Grimm's skull for touching her baby sister's partner. As the Grimm begins to dissolve Blake lands next to it, immediately pulling out bandages and painkillers to treat Weiss, Ruby still unconscious beneath the white haired woman.
-Two hours later, Airship home-
Ruby's injured hand is intertwined with Weiss' the pair's fingers helping to keep their hands together. Ruby was happy she could feel Weiss' body heat in that injured hand, it helped to keep her somewhat calm. The younger was currently running her good hand through Weiss' hair while she hummed soft melodies to the icy eyed woman whose left side of her face was covered in blood soaked bandages.
Sitting along the sides of the Bullhead were Yang and Blake, the former staring at the woman who had quite literally risked her life to save Ruby. The latter was feeling hollow on the inside; her friend was badly injured and bleeding out, while her best friend was clinging to her injured girlfriend crying from her one good eye. Blake couldn't help but think how sad that single silver pool looked as it watched the woman, who was arguably her best friend as much as her partner, in more ways than one, clung to life.
"This is Bullhead 241, Callsign 'AlphaCharlie 3-1', to SDC Primary Hospital. Do you copy SDC?" States the pilot as he turns and takes a look at the draining IV bag currently attached to the re-instated Schnee Heiress.
"This is SDC Primary Hospital, we copy AlphaCharlie 3-1. Please state your reasons for intrusion on a private Scroll channel," responds the controller on the other side.
"SDC Primary Hospital, we are carrying a critical injury. Deep lacerations to the left cheek, stable, but bleeding out. We need medical assistance and are requesting permission to land."
"AlphaCharlie 3-1, this is not a military hospital, take your wounded to…"
"We're talking about Weiss DUST Schnee! She is barely stable, so Dust damnit we need permission to land or I swear I'll set this bird down in your courtyard SDC Primary!" Shouts the pilot, causing the four girls in the troop hold to look at the cockpit.
"You have green light for landing, I repeat AlphaCharlie 3-1, you cleared for landing. Pad three, south side."
"... Thank you SDC Primary…"
-Three hours later-
Ruby's eye was rimmed red, her tear ducts having long run out of fluid, the streaks from her previous crying having ruined the light make-up Weiss had kept encouraging her to try. Yang sat next to her sister, arm encircled protectively around the young woman. Blake was gently rubbing Yang's arm to help keep the brawler from tearing the facility apart for information on Weiss. That's when the doctor came out, pulling off latex gloves and a sad smile on her face.
"Miss Schnee will be alright, the bleeding wasn't as bad as originally thought, but the lacerations are deep. She'll need time to recover; someone will have to help her as she won't really be able to eat many hard foods. Her jaw will be in pain as well as he injured cheek, but once her Aura is completely restored it'll only take a week or so for her to back to normal. I'm sorry to say that it will scar, but she'll be fine. I'd suggest letting her rest as much as possible, I can give whoever decides to stay with her further instructions later on, but you are free to see her now."
That was all Ruby needed to hear, as rose petals suddenly occupied the space where the red-clad woman had been. Ruby quietly entered the room, carefully walking over and taking Weiss' hand.
"I'm so sorry Weiss… This is all my fault… I… I shouldn't have been there. I-I hope y-you und-under-" Ruby can't finish the sentence before more sobs take over her form and she walks out of the room brushing past her teammates and ignoring their questions.
Author's Note:
As you may or may not realise is that this is going to be continued in another instalment, that instalment will have some more Bumblebee and maybe some reconciliation for the roses. Also I want you all to know that your support, views, and reviews may be going unanswered but not unheard. Every one that I see, every follow, and favourite is just another reason for me to keep writing. It takes me awhile to get chapters and stories out so I apologise about cliffhangers and such. I hope you enjoy this, and I'll see you next time. I'm hoping that my next post will be my OC story or part of my Guardians & Royalty AU. Until then!