A/N: A shout out to my two awesome Betas, Blood Shinobi and Ventusblade. They took a real rough idea and helped me mold it into something beautiful.
Warning: Character death. Jaune is killed a hero, if that isn't your cup of tea, don't read.
Part 1 is just context, part 2 is where the "one-shot" takes place. Very little dialogue, I know, if you could please bear with me. A lot of important history is covered in part 1.
Ruby panted, her back pressed against the crumbling cold wall. She could feel every pound of her heart. She spat the hair out of her mouth and got ready to move.
"Ruby darling, it's time for you to give up."
Cinder. The bitch had gotten more and more powerful over the course of the war. She'd started to steal the Fall Maiden's power before Qrow intervened. Cinder had escaped and brought the Grimm smashing through Vale, taking the rest of the Fall Maiden's power, and killing Pyrrha Nikos.
Ruby's silver eyes narrowed at the strength of character Cinder extinguished. The other redhead had sacrificed herself to try and stop Cinder... A suicide move after Ozpin had been taken down. Pyrrha always had that kind of bravery, though. She never hesitated to throw herself between her friends and danger, often using her shield and Semblance to buy precious seconds for her teammates to recover.
Ruby's fondest memories of Pyrrha, though, were that Vale's finest fighter had fallen for a total dweeb who had a tendency to trip over his own feet; Jaune, the first person Ruby had met at Beacon. Her first friend after leaving Signal. She'd been so jealous of Pyrrha at first. How could she, unimpressive Ruby, compete with a top fighter, loyal friend, and beautiful older girl? The only word that Ruby would use to describe herself was nerd. Then Cinder had attacked, and Pyrrha had given her life to buy Vale some time; how petty the younger girl had felt.
Ruby began to feel hope as Cinder's steps started to fade. Now get Jaune and run for it; get a better plan to beat her.
"Ruby!" Jaune hissed from the steps, hand signaling frantically that she should make a break for it. Ruby peeked around the corner of the collapsed wall and didn't see Cinder anywhere. She nodded to Jaune and sprinted for the stairs—
The ceiling collapsed.
Several tons of mortar and stone plummeted toward Jaune's head. The boy reacted in time to get his shield between him and the rocks, but it wasn't nearly enough.
Ruby skidded to a halt, heart hammering at all new speeds. Not Jaune. This couldn't be happening to them. Two years into this bloody and god forsaken war, the two of them were the only ones left to fight. They had come so far, survived so much. All for a stupid ceiling to crush him?
A loud cold laugh echoed over the tower. "It's always such a lovely day when you can get rid of two annoying birds with one stone, don't you think?"
She couldn't move. The chilled night air was clinging to her sweaty skin. Her nostrils were filled with dust from fallen rocks. The silence was overpowering, and she wasn't even aware that Cinder had spoken.
Ruby's back ignited and she rolled desperately, cursing herself for her attention lapse, cursing Jaune for not being able to get out of the way of the rocks, and most of all, cursing Cinder for being a power hungry evil bitch!
Ruby sprang back to her feet, eyes blazing. She felt like a spring, held down only by the wariness of the Fall Maiden's power. Her jaw tightened. Jaune… Pyrrha… Nora... All of them, dead. Ruby's hand clenched, needing a weapon. She spotted Crescent Rose on the ground, not far from Cinder.
The Fall Maiden hovered a dozen yards away, her own bonfire holding her up, as beautifully unholy as ever in the skimpy black dress that had dark fire seeming to eat its way up her body. Cinder's smoldering flames reflected off her hair, causing the long black locks framing her face to shine in the darkness of the night. Two studs decorated her ears, flickering in the firelight.
"Little girl, why don't you just give up?"
Ruby ignored the question, focusing on Crescent Rose. Qrow had taught her as a child that witty lines are for people who can afford to lose fights, and Ruby wasn't going to waste time in the most important fight of her life.
Cinder threw another fireball and Ruby dove for her scythe.
Grabbing Crescent Rose, she rolled behind another half collapsed wall. She flicked the scythe into its rifle form and snapped a shot at Cinder, who batted it away like it was a twig and not a layered, pointed piece of lead traveling at 2500 feet per second.
Red hot stones started to fly at Ruby, followed by tongues of white hot fire. Crescent Rose couldn't do anything at a distance, but the scythe's razor edge was made for such an occasion. Ruby ducked under another chunk of stone and threw herself at Cinder.
Crescent Rose's blade flashed through the dark night.
Cinder lunged forward and grabbed Ruby's wrist, stopping the swing cold. Ruby struggled to pull free, but was thrown to the floor. She gasped for breath; Cinder was too strong.
Her life seemed to be one big failure ever since being accepted to Beacon. Yang's face loomed in front of her, torn by pain and despair, her one arm hanging limply. Yang, the one who'd raised her, cared for her, protected her, and gave her a shoulder to cry on. There were only two years separating them, but Yang was like a mother to her.
Yang had initially thought Ruby should have a different partner at Beacon, meet and befriend more people. However, she eventually agreed to do what she could for them to be paired up. Things had not worked out quite as planned, but they ended up on the same team.
When Ruby had run from the fallen Atlas ship and saw Yang laying on the ground with only one arm, her world had shattered. Yang had always been strong and confident. The fighter. The protector. Because of Adam, she laid on the ground, arm gone, curled in a ball, helpless.. She was never the same after that. When she'd woken in the hospital, Ruby had been at her bedside. Yang was distant though, almost cold, and kicked Ruby out of her room.
Then there was Yang's partner, Blake, who'd failed her as well. Ruby never got the full story, but apparently Adam, the leader of the White Fang, had a thing for Blake and was now punishing her. Ruby remembered way back to the first real conversation she'd had with the faunus in disguise. Blake was reading a book and Yang dragged Ruby over to introduce them. It had been so awkward at first, before they'd discovered they both liked books. As her way of coping, Blake had run away and abandoned them when they needed her most. Blake had left Yang with one arm, and it was her fault. Still, Blake almost made up for it when, in the end, she took Adam down herself.
Cinder pulled her bowstring back and the arrow flew. Less than a dozen feet away, she couldn't miss.
Ruby activated her Semblance. Twisting her hips, she desperately heaved her body out of the path of the arrow. She barely made it. The sound of the arrow skipping off the stone was horrific, a message of death. She dashed for Crescent Rose, sliding behind a fallen pillar just in time to avoid the blast of fire.
The heat scorched her back, ripped the air from her lungs and left her wheezing.
Cinder's Aura handled her shots and she couldn't get close. There was nothing she could do. Ruby had failed Jaune, couldn't get to Pyrrha in time, and had let down both Nora and Ren.
A bitter smile made its way across her lips. At least she could imagine Nora had been happy with the way she made the great journey. Magnhild had ensured that Nora's final resting place also belonged to Mercury Black, and almost Emerald Sustrai. Ending one, sending the other to the hospital, and destroying dozens of robotic henchmen, Nora had died the way she lived, with explosions.
They had lost Ren that day too. He had been rendered mute and disappeared soon after. Ruby remembered seeing, a few weeks later, a news article explaining an assassination attempt on Emerald; the would be assassin was caught and imprisoned. He was a boy with long black hair, slipped through a ponytail, dark clothing, and a pair of SMGs. Ruby had wanted to break him out but was talked down by Juane, who said it was too dangerous.
He had been right.
It didn't matter, though. Cinder's enemies, the few that even knew about her, were down to two teenagers. She and Jaune had done what they could and managed to take down Neopolitan, but it hadn't been nearly enough. Cinder had already razed Vale with the Grimm attack and then disappeared again. No one knew what had happened to Ozpin. Glynda Goodwitch went looking for him and vanished. General Ironwood was sent to prison for his automations attacking civilians.
Then they heard that Cinder was returning to the ruins of Beacon, tonight. Their informant couldn't tell them why, but knowing where and when was enough. Juane came up with a plan, and it failed miserably. Cinder completely ignored him and targeted Ruby. That got them where they were now.
"I grow bored of this game, Ruby. Why won't you just d-"
A crack of thunder rent the sky, cutting off Cinder's words. The air went from chilled to freezing and Ruby could hear rain starting to fall. She looked around, judging which areas of the tower top would remain relatively dry. On an ordinary day, Ruby loved rain. In a fight, though, it was a hindrance. It caused slipping, especially when one was moving fast.
Ruby crept along the floor. The stone was hard against her stomach, the debris chafed her hands as she pulled herself forward, just barely keeping out of sight.
The flank wasn't meant to be. Cinder rose over the half destroyed divider and smiled. She drew a glowing hand backwards. Ruby's heart pumped a previously unreached speed in her chest. Her feet frantically scrabbled at the loose stone to get her out of the way.
A dark figure smashed into Cinder, brutally knocking her out of the air. Ruby's eyes narrowed in confusion, but she jumped on a broken stone support, aiming Crescent Rose. The dark figure continued over Cinder in a roll and came up facing her in a fighting stance.
Cinder didn't hesitate. There were no fireballs this time. No dramatic drawback of the hand. She flicked her open palm at the figure. The air crackled as scorching flames erupted out of the stone floor like a carpet, rushing toward him.
The figure did a flip and landed a few feet in front of Ruby, giving her a half second to assess him. Definitely a him, with long and ragged black hair. He was almost invisible in the dark cloudy night, only two green bands circling his biceps giving him away.
He took another ready stance and Ruby inhaled sharply, "Ren?"
Ruby waited with baited breath. Hoping, praying, that her friend had somehow escaped. The man's head nodded without turning and Ren charged forward. Cinder had already prepared her next attack, though, and a concentrated pillar of fire erupted toward him.
Ruby took advantage of Ren's frontal charge and leapt along the rocks for an angle with Crescent Rose, firing as she went. She felt a flush of victory as Ren dodged the fire and Cinder had to lurch to avoid the rounds. Apparently, her Aura wasn't strong enough to play offense and defense at the same time.
Ruby's rush of confidence cost her and she slipped on a fallen wet pillar. Her feet flew out from under her and she rolled to soften the impact. She found herself on her back, rain and sweat mixing on her face.
Cinder immediately snapped up the opportunity. She ducked under Ren's kick and used his extended leg to swing him around and slam him into the ground. The Fall Maiden then lunged at Ruby, hands aflame. Ruby held strong, bringing Crescent Rose around like a lumberjack splitting wood.
Cinder dodged and Ruby was again on the defensive. Her muscles ached. The rain lashed at her face as she moved to the dance of death with the Fall Maiden, Crescent Rose having a difficult time against Cinder's two serrated swords. Ren had stopped a strike from a King Taijitu when he first got to Beacon... How could Cinder have knocked him out of the fight?
Weiss slid to a halt, just through the doorway, gasping for breath.
"Damn it Ren!" Weiss hissed. He had left them behind. If he had waited, they could have engaged together and probably ended Cinder then and there. She looked over at Jaune, mostly covered by rubble, and again felt a sharp stab of grief. She didn't have time for that right now, though, first she had to help Ruby.
She hadn't seen Ruby in almost two years, not since- no, that didn't matter right now. The younger girl's black hoodie was dusty and ripped from the battle, as were her black pants. The red that rimmed her clothing shone almost eerily in the darkness. Her crimson hair was as free as it ever was, probably obscuring her vision during fights.
Seeing her former friend in battle, Weiss vividly remembered the first time they'd successfully fought together. They were in their team building activity for Beacon and were told to fight their way through a forest of Grimm to find a relic and bring it back.
Weiss snorted. Not many schools would throw you into the wild with soulless hungry beasts on your first day, but such were the joys of being a hunter. They'd run into a Nevermore with Yang and Blake. Nothing they did had seemed to stick... Not until Ruby had the ingenious idea of a human slingshot. They'd used Gambol Shroud as a rope and her Dust manipulation to propel Ruby at the Nevermore, where the girl could use Crescent Rose as a massive guillotine.
They'd had so much potential back then. So much hope. Such opportunity. Now most of them were dead, disabled, or had disappeared.
"Vanish," Weiss said, not bothering to glance back, knowing he would.
She then launched herself into the fight. Ruby may have hated rain when fighting, and it was annoying, but it provided so many opportunities for someone with Weiss' skill set.
Cinder heard her approach and knocked Ruby away, turning to face the new threat. Weiss' eyes widened. The younger girl rolled under an awning and was struggling to her feet.
Perfect.
"Stay there!" She called out to Ruby. She then grabbed her white Dust vial from her belt and smashed it on the floor, before jumping back under the roof.
Ruby watched in shock as the falling rain turned into hail and pummeled Cinder. She turned her eyes to the voice and wasn't surprised to see Weiss. Ruby didn't know what to think about the emotions that flooded through her. Her body felt extreme relief at the sight of another ally, a respite from the battle, but her heart cried out in rage at the sight of a Schnee. Weiss was as beautifully cold as ever. She had her long silvery hair in a ponytail now and was wearing a form fitting jacket that probably offered a dozen different protections. Ruby wasn't used to seeing her out of heels, but apparently practicality finally overrode style as she was wearing calf-length boots, also white.
Cinder drew back under part of the collapsed parapet, eyes burning red hot. Weiss took advantage of the pause in the battle and looked for Ren. The girl panicked when she found him, unconscious or dead, body partially getting hit by the hail. She danced back and forth at the edge of the cover, wracking her head for anything she could do.
Spiking a vial of Dust in a lot of situations just causes an explosion. Sometimes, though, if one has a specific composition in it, it can cause other reactions. There was no way for Weiss to stop what she started, and no way for her to shield Ren. She could see the hail slicing through skin and could almost feel the excruciating pain.
Ruby saw him too. She gathered her feet under her and activated her Semblance, using speed to get hit by as little hail as possible. The strikes of hail sent sharp jabs of pain through her already heavily damaged Aura and she shuddered from each impact, crying out when one caught her in the ear. Ruby slid to a stop, pulling Ren underneath the cover with her, and checking to make sure he was still alive.
There! A heartbeat. Scarily faint, but it was there. Ruby watched a drop of blood slowly, almost dramatically, fall down on his face. Her hand snapped up to her ear and, sure enough, she was bleeding. Her Aura couldn't heal or protect her anymore, she'd taken too much of a beating. With startling suddenness, the adrenaline receded and Ruby could feel every slice and puncture on her back and head.
Ruby's muscles gave out and she barely managed to avoid collapsing on Ren. The world spun and she groaned, woozy from pain.
The harsh cracks of ice changed to the soft patter of rain and Weiss knew the vial had exhausted itself. She drew Myrtenaster and carefully stepped out into the open. Where had Cinder gone?
There was a roar and Weiss spun around to see fire rushing toward her. Summoning a small ice wall, she dropped behind it and covered her ears.
The fire hit the ice with an almighty crash and Weiss' back felt hot. The wall was mostly gone. Her gaze flicked over to her friends; Ruby was down by Ren, trying to wake him up.
Weiss flashed forward, holding Myrtenaster like a jousting lance. Cinder cocked her head, smiled, and batted the thrust aside, hitting Weiss with her other arm and sending her careening. With a crack, Weiss hit a fallen pillar and fell to the floor, crumpling like a ragdoll. She couldn't stop a whimper of pain from escaping.
The only thought going through her head was to buy Ruby more time to waken Ren. Weiss struggled to her feet, grimacing at the pain that shot through her back, and again held Myrtenaster in en garde position, glancing once more over at her fallen comrade.
Cinder raised an eyebrow, "Stubborn fool. You can't beat me."
Weiss responded with the wittiest line her brain could conjure. "Can't we?" It was enough, though.
With a thunderous report, Crescent Rose fired and caught Cinder in the side, sending her reeling. Weiss took advantage of the opportunity and lunged forward. Cinder's Aura stopped the blade from stabbing into her heart, but Myrtenaster was sharp enough to slice through her side.
Cinder's scream was inhuman in nature and concussively loud. The shockwave that was released smashed into Weiss, and sent Ruby spiraling back toward the ground . They both went down, Auras exhausted, blood dripping from their ears.
Weiss felt like she was in someone else's body. Her ears were ringing, the world looked like it was underwater, her limbs were heavy, and the rain was falling on her face. It was very… peaceful.
His side burned agonizingly. Sweat leaked into his eyes when he opened them. There! Ruby. Was she dead? With a muffled groan he pulled himself over to her and checked for breathing. She was alive, unconscious or something, but alive. Where was Cinder?
A vicious clang echoed over the tower top, muffled by the rain. He looked out and almost couldn't believe what he saw. Weiss was on the floor, unmoving. Cinder had just tried to execute her but the arrow was blocked by a scimitar that was now positioned protectively in front of Weiss.
"Another one? Three of your friends are down. What hope do you have?" Cinder spat contemptuously. "Never mind, I'll kill you with them." Her taunt cost her precious seconds. Ren clenched his jaw against the pain and struggled to his knees, his whole left side on fire. He then grabbed Crescent Rose and used it as a cane to struggle to his feet, the only thought in his tortured mind was kill.
He took one step from the cover to the rain. It was falling softer—less of a downpour and more of a drizzle. The water was like a balm for his side; it gave him the strength to stay on his feet. Cinder, though injured, was quickly gaining the advantage in the fight. It was now or never if he wanted to strike while she was distracted.
In, out. Oxygen, strength. Nora, purpose. Cinder, target. He stretched his left leg out once, gritting his teeth at what felt like spikes driving into his leg and side. As quietly as he could, Ren padded forward, gaining momentum. Cinder was forced on the defensive momentarily. Ren jumped high, leg screaming, Crescent Rose above his head.
He struck.
Like a guillotine, Crescent Rose descended, blasting through Cinder's damaged Aura and slicing through her body.
It was finished.
Ren eyes focused on a point past where Cinder had fallen... to where Weiss lay, unmoving.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review on what you thought. I love constructive criticism and learning what I can improve on. It's going to be a bit before I can get part II out. I have field training next week and after that my time is limited. It'll be posted though.