What's up, people? I'm back! I know I've been gone for a really long time, but I've been bogged down by work and a lot of other shit, so I haven't really had time to write stuff. On top of that, there are just some days when I have no idea where to start from. I have the plan for the story in my head and on my laptop, but I don't even know how to start writing. That's also why Biting the Dust hasn't been updated in an age, though I hope to continue the story soon. Hopefully, I can put a chapter up by next week.
But I digressed! This isn't for Biting the Dust (obviously) but it was just a story idea that I had a few days ago and starting developing. I do want to give a fair warning right here, right now: This story has some very dark themes, so dark that it makes Biting the Dust look tame. No, it's not sexual stuff or decapitations (though the latter might pop up later) but it's still pretty dark (IMO).
But I'll let you guys form your own opinions! Here's the prologue to RWBY: Remnants of Ourselves!
Prologue
Vale. A prosperous city in the midst of Remnant. A city whose vibrant life, diverse cultures and security are unrivalled by many other cities, and one that stands as a shining beacon of what mankind can achieve, even in times of darkness and conflict.
Night spreads across the city. The roads are quiet, the only sounds coming from apartments and street vendors selling their wares to those just finishing work and heading home.
In the eastern corner of the city, there mingle a few people in the city square, most of them young couples taking in the beautiful scenery and taking a peaceful stroll through the city.
Among those couples are two teenage girls. At first glance, they seem like two good friends, just talking and chatting amicably and sharing in the beautiful atmosphere. Sure, they hold hands together, but most girls would do that with their friends, so the natural assumption would be that: two very close friends.
But look closer, and you see something else. If anyone had bothered to look, they might have noticed the blushes on both girls' faces, and the smiles that tell of a story much deeper than a simple friendship. They might have seen the two girls stealing glances at each other on occasion, gazing deeply into each other's eyes when they think no one is watching. Subtle, very subtle, but in many ways, obvious as well, if one were observant enough.
Yes, my dear reader, this is a love story unlike any other. A simple tale of two girls who love each other, who share a bond far deeper than any friend or family member can share.
This is the story of Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee.
-
It felt really good to get out of the room.
As Ruby Rose strolled down the small twining pathway of the Vale city square, she began to ponder just how she ended up here: a nice peaceful evening, a good dinner, and a moonlight stroll with the girl she loved.
Staring into those deep blue eyes, Ruby started recalling the moment they had known, had professed their love for one another.
A month ago, Team RWBY had been dispatched, along with other teams, to launch a final assault on Salem's fortress. The Grimm Queen and her followers had evaded capture and brought Atlas and Vale to its knees over the two-year War of Remnant. Many students of Beacon had fought valiantly to end the Grimm Queen, and many had given their lives in the conflict.
When the base had been discovered by team RNJR, other more experienced teams had been dispatched to destroy it. All 3 previous attempts had failed, and the Huntsmen and Huntresses of Remnant had suffered terrible losses. Desperate, the Beacon teams were called upon to do what veterans had failed to do.
Needless to say, there were many nervous and fearful people on board the transport ship to Mistral. That fear showed when the fighting started. Ruby had watched helplessly as fellow students just stood there, paralyzed by fear, and were torn apart by Ursas or swallowed by Nevermores. She hoped that no one on her team would suffer that.
At one point, she had just taken down another Ursa Major when she caught sight of Salem and Cinder. In the midst of all the fighting between Grimm and students, it was easy enough for two villainesses to sneak up on unsuspecting students and destroy them. All Cinder needed was to touch a student's bare skin, and they would light up like an inferno, screaming as they tried in vain to put out the fire. Some more alert students managed to avoid the fiery touch, but those were few and far between, and those few were quickly cut down by Cinder's flaming swords. Meanwhile, Salem sent waves of fear into the crowds, spurring on the Grimm and paralyzing more students with fear. Anyone who tried to attack her were impaled by dark spires of obsidian rock rising from the ground, and those quick enough to dodge the spikes soon found themselves being sucked into the ground, Salem's dark magic absorbing their essence and destroying them.
The sight of the two villainesses made Ruby blaze with anger. These two had taken so much from her: Yang's arm, her home, her friends…her father. She would make them pay.
A hand gripped her shoulder, and Ruby spun, almost decapitating Weiss.
"That would be rather unproductive, don't you think?" Weiss said to her, pushing the edge of Crescent Rose from her neck.
"Sorry. Didn't know it was you." Ruby replied, staring at the face of the girl she had come to love. It had started slowly, then quickly blossomed, though Ruby had never had the courage to tell Weiss.
"I know what you're thinking."
"Weiss…"
"Ruby, don't do this. You're going to die."
Ruby shrugged. "We all die someday. I'd rather my life be ended doing something honourable and heroic."
"And utterly stupid? You know you can't take on them!"
"Weiss, they killed my father! They killed Pyrrha! They killed Penny! Sun! Miss Goodwitch! All dead because of them! It ends here, and if I have to die so someone else can kill them, then so be it." She snapped.
Weiss grabbed her shoulders gently. "Ruby…don't."
"I'm sorry, Weiss. But…"
Ruby's words were cut off because it's hard for someone to speak when their mouth is enveloped by another's.
The kiss startled her at first, and Ruby's mental gears begin going haywire.
Ohmygodohmygod, Weiss is kissing me! Weiss is kissing me!
Ruby leaned in to deepen the kiss, not caring about anything, not caring about the battle around them, her world was Weiss, and only Weiss…
"WILL YOU TWO LOVEBIRDS QUIT TRYING TO SUFFOCATE EACH OTHER?!" A sudden yell sounded across the arena, startling the two out of the kiss.
"IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, WE NEED EVERY HAND ON DECK!" Yang yelled, her left hand holding an Ursa up while her right robotic arm pounded the crap out of it.
Weiss' face flared red, and Ruby's face went as red as her hood. But Ruby's shame was also mixed with elation and joy.
They turned to each other.
"We take them on. Together." Weiss said.
"Yes." Ruby said, and the two turned away to face the villainesses, Ruby swinging Crescent Rose to face Cinder, Weiss' Dust cannisters twirling in her rapier as she faced Salem.
"Weiss…I love you."
A short pause.
"I love you, too."
And they charged.
"Ruby? Ruby?"
Ruby was jolted back to the present by Weiss gently shaking her arm.
"Weiss, what's going on?"
"Nothing. You just zoned out for a while, started staring into space. It was kind of scary." There was concern in Weiss' voice.
"It's nothing." Ruby reassured her with a smile. "Just thinking about how beautiful you are, especially in the moonlight."
It was true. Dressed in her typical all white outfit, the moonlight seemed to glisten off Weiss, making her look like she was sparkling in the moonlight.
Weiss blushed. "Thanks, Ruby, but I can tell that isn't what you were thinking about."
"It's fine. Just the first time we ever kissed. That day, in the arena…"
"Yes, I remember that one. I seem to recall Yang not being really pleased with us." Weiss smiled at the memory. Even after the battle, when the survivors were on their way back, exhausted and just wanting sleep, Yang had pulled an exhausted Weiss to the side and had a nice heart-to-heart chat, throughout which Yang had made it perfectly clear what would happen if Ruby were to be hurt. While Blake had helped Yang in finally coming to terms with the fact that her baby sister was going out with the heiress of a multi-billion dollar company, Yang still wasn't fully comfortable about the whole arrangement.
"Yang worries too much." They had found a bench at the park and sat down, gazing up at the moon. "She thinks you'll break my heart."
"She should know better than that. She knows how much I care about you." Weiss said.
"That's just Yang's mother bear instinct. I'll always be her baby sister to her. She's just looking out for me."
"I know. It's just annoying and amusing when she starts reading the riot act at me. 'If any harm shall come to my sister…'" Weiss did an almost perfect imitation of Yang's voice, causing Ruby to burst into laughter. After a while, Weiss followed suit.
When the laughter died down, Ruby found herself smiling at Weiss and thinking about how far Weiss had come and how far the relationship had developed.
After the final battle, it hadn't been easy adjusting to life. Most of the students suffered from PTSD, and Ruby, who had been in the thick of battle in her adventure with the rest of team JNPR, had suffered constant nightmares in her sleep. Beacon had remained largely untouched and the students were allowed to go back, so at least she had been able to have a roof over her head. Some others weren't so lucky. When Ruby went out, she sometimes had the feeling that she was being watched, and she would rush back to Beacon in a panic. It had taken her 2 weeks before she was able to smile again.
Throughout all this time, Ruby and Weiss had clung to each other for support. They both knew their feelings for each other, but were unsure if they were real or just said in the heat of the moment. The first two weeks had allowed them to adjust back to life, and during these two weeks, Weiss was there to offer support for Ruby any time it was needed.
The first month after the war, the school had been completely rebuilt and reopened. In celebration of their victory, a dance had been hosted. Weiss and Ruby had gone together, dancing to the beat, remembering their fallen friends and giving thanks for the survival of the others. Prior to the dance, Ruby had been unsure where the relationship with Weiss was going. Sure, she was acting nicer to her, and occasionally they shared in a quick kiss, but nothing could match the emotion brought on that day in the battlefield.
It was midway through the dance, when couples sashayed to a particularly romantic song, that Ruby had looked into those striking blue eyes and saw something. Weiss probably saw the same thing, for in a simultaneous move, they had leaned in to meet the other's lips.
To Ruby, that kiss had felt like a supernova going off in her every nerve. She felt complete, as if she had been missing something, and Weiss had filled it, filled every fibre of her being with her love for the red-hooded girl, and Ruby returned the favour.
Later that night, they made love for the first time, and when they had finished, when they had finished screaming the other's name and exalting Dust, Ruby had known then.
Staring into Weiss' eyes now, she felt that same stirring in her stomach that had driven her to kiss her that wonderful night. And she knew.
Today's the day.
"Ruby? Are you sure you're ok?" Weiss again called her back to the present.
"Yeah, I'm totally fine. I'm just…really happy to be here with you." Ruby replied.
"Speaking off that, why did you bring me here? Don't get me wrong, I loved the walk, but it isn't your type of thing, you know?"
Ruby took a deep breath, calming her suddenly flaming nerves, pushing down the anxiety.
"Weiss…" She hesitated.
"Yes, Ruby?" A mixture of concern and curiosity filled Weiss' voice.
Ruby looked at Weiss, and spoke.
"Weiss, I can't tell you how much you've changed my life since I came to Beacon. When we first met, I was just a naïve little girl, thinking I understood the world. You brought me back down to earth, taught me how to come out of my shell, gave me a purpose, something to fight for." She began.
"Ruby…"
"Weiss, we may have gotten off on the wrong foot when we met, but honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. If it wasn't for that accident, I probably wouldn't have gotten to know you as well as I do now. You complete me, make me whole, make me feel like I'm worth something." In the dark, Weiss didn't notice Ruby's hand going to her back pocket.
"Ruby Rose, what are you…" Weiss was cut off as Ruby stood up and got down on one knee in front of Weiss.
"Weiss, I understand the burden of our love. It can't be made public, not yet, not until there's more acceptance for us. But you know what? I don't care what the government says. I know my true feelings. I know where my heart lies: with yours. With you next to me, I feel more powerful, more confident, more courageous, and nothing can ever change that."
"Ruby…" There were tears in Weiss' eyes now, and she watched as Ruby produced a black box from her pocket. It was smaller than her palm, but to Weiss, the box looked much bigger, much more significant than that.
"I love you, Weiss Schnee. From now till the end of time, I will always love you, and even then, I will love you even in the afterlife. And I want to show you my love, to remind you every day of how much I care for you, and how much I know you care for me. So…" She opened the box, and asked the 6 words that Weiss Schnee never thought she would hear from Ruby Rose's mouth.
"Weiss Schnee, will you marry me?"
Ruby remembered when Yang shared how she had proposed to Blake. She said Blake had been shocked, promptly fainted, and when she came to, had furiously and passionately made love to her and at the end of it all, as Yang came down from her high, Blake had finally said yes.
For Ruby, that wasn't what happened. For as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Weiss Schnee had tackled her in a gigantic bear hug and kissed her with a ferocity and passion only seen in the bedroom.
"Ruby…Oh Ruby…" Tears streamed down Weiss' face as she broke away from the kiss, looking into Ruby's silver eyes with as much passion and love as she could muster.
"The answer is yes. A thousand times, my answer is yes." Weiss replied.
Ruby smiled, her face vibrant with emotions as she embraced this woman she loved.
Nothing could end this happiness. She thought.
-
Ah, young love. Such a rare sight, yet a most beautiful thing indeed when experienced. Alas, the trials and tribulations of life often test the very resolve of such bonds, and few come out as unscathed as Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee.
Ah, dear reader, I see you now. You read this in a relaxed state, believing this to be a love story, a story where your two favourite characters become one. I even hear some of you complaining that you've seen enough of such stories, that you want more. You crave action, darkness and death.
Alas, for all your love for these two, there is a dark twist to the tale. For there is one unseen, intangible yet impotent force in this world that can utterly destroy life, smiting that last bit of hope in every human, freeing Elpis from the jar, watching with glee as the world burns.
For fate is a fickle mistress with a cruel sense of humour, giving what we have always desired at the worst time possible.
Dear reader, I must urge caution when treading ahead. For from here, all hope is gone, and only darkness remains. This tale, this fairy tale you believed to be so peaceful and full of love and happiness, is but a prelude to far darker tales.
You may whine, you may complain, you may cast this book away, cursing it's very existence. But denial does not heal the wounds of truth, and I am but a messenger, the one who simply collects such stories for others to read.
But what the books detail is not up to me to decide. The stories you read, the tales of heroes and monsters, and the legends of old, all have been pre-determined. I can only stand and watch, sharing with you the burden of the knowledge and sorrows that I bear.
You have been warned.
-
1 week later…
On a sunny afternoon a week later, the streets of Vale are empty, unusual for such a large city. The roads are devoid of traffic, shops have been shut down, and crowds make their way in single file towards a single destination.
The halls of Beacon Academy, normally ordained in red and white, the colours of purity, are today coloured black. The hallways, normally filled with students happily chatting with their friends and full of life and noise, are silent, eerily so.
The entire crowd fills into the amphitheatre, where they all stood as first years once upon a time, when Professor Ozpin had given them the motivation and drive to be the best. Today, however, is not a day for new arrivals.
It is a day of mourning.
The three coffins slowly make their way to the centre of the theatre, manned by three men and three women on each side of the coffin. As the coffins pass, some weep, some stare desolately at the coffins, distraught by three vibrant and young lives cut so short.
And yet some stare at Ruby Rose, standing on the amphitheatre stage with Ozpin, watching as the procession makes its way to the stage.
As the three coffins are laid side-by-side to each other, Ruby cannot help but glance at them. The tears threaten to fall, but she forces them back.
I can't…I have to be strong.
Ozpin begins to speak.
"Today is a dark day, a dark day indeed. For today, unlike many times, this theatre is not to be used for a celebration, but instead we use it today to remember those who have recently fallen."
Ruby had heard the speech before. She had read it the night before the ceremony and memorized it. She tuned out Ozpin, instead turning to the coffin right next to her.
It was hardwood, with a white coloured rose insignia stamped in the middle. Weiss had made it clear before that she would not use the Schnee family crest, but Ruby had been unclear about what she use instead.
Staring at the white rose in the middle of the coffin, she understood, and the tears threatened to break free again. A white hot flame of anger boiled within her as well.
It's not FAIR! How can anyone be so cruel to let this happen?
It was only when Ozpin had lightly placed a hand on her shoulder that she looked up to realize it was over.
"I'm truly sorry, Ruby."
Ruby knew he was sincere. They had talked over the last week.
He left her there with the coffins. Ruby stared down the row, seeing the wooden shells that contained nothing within. Just hollow shells to symbolize the team-mates she had lost.
All of whom had been killed in a mission that had been a set-up from the very beginning.
The white hot flame of rage consumed Ruby as she flashed back to that day, the voices of the dying filling her head.
RUBYYY! Her sister had been the first to fall, victim of an ambush that the team had been unprepared for.
Go! Go! I'll see you guys on the other side. Blake had valiantly tried to protect them, giving her life to protect the two survivors.
But it was Weiss…oh, god Weiss, that filled Ruby's every waking nightmare. Weiss had been critically injured during the escape, and Ruby was refusing to leave her.
Forgive me, my love.
The last words of Weiss Schnee as she had forced Ruby out of the windows, sending Ruby plummeting as above, the roof of the Schnee Dust Company exploded.
2 days later, an unconscious Ruby had woken up in Vale General Hospital. At first, she had believed it all to be a dream, a horrible nightmare. She was certain that she would return to Beacon soon and greeting her would be her teammates.
It was only when Professor Ozpin and Qrow had come to her with grave faces that she was forced to accept the grim truth.
Her sister. Her friends.
Her lover.
Just taken from her. Just like that.
The explosion had caused the SDC building to collapse, but even after two days of digging through the rubble, not only were there no survivors found, but the bodies of the fallen were unrecoverable. Ruby's final picture of Weiss was seeing her princess' face pale with fear, her eyes pleading, begging for an end to her pain.
And eventual acceptance of her fate, followed by apologetic looks as she pushed Ruby away.
As Ruby stood over the coffin of her lover, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a black box no bigger than her palm. The final affirmation of their mutual love for each other.
And Weiss had never gotten to wear it, her life ended that very same night.
Ruby once read somewhere that life was an endless series of train-wrecks with only brief, commercial-like breaks of happiness. At first, she hadn't believed it. She saw the challenges of life as minor obstacles, more of a challenge than a really disturbance. But looking back at it all, it was hard not to believe it.
The white hot rage that had consumed her had subsided, replaced by something else—a iron-hard will and determination to find the one who did this, the one who had masterminded the entire plot
I will find who killed you, Weiss. I will find the person who killed my team, my family, my lover.
I will find them, and I will make them pay for what they did to you.
I will find them. I will hurt them. And I will kill them.
In that moment, all her grief, anger and sadness coalesced into something darker, something scarier, something that changed Ruby Rose's entire being. She walked out of the theatre, back to her dorm room.
When Beacon staff came by the room the next day, they found it empty. Alerting the staff, a manhunt for Ruby Rose was initiated. She was to be found and brought in unharmed.
It was much later that they found her red hood, draped across the coffin of Weiss Schnee. Attached to it was a note, a note more chilling to Ozpin than anything he had experienced in his many years:
"Scattering fragrance far and wide
Just as it did in days of yore,
Just as it did on the other side,
Just as it will forever-more."
As Ozpin read the poem, he felt something tug at his heartstrings, something that he had not felt in many years, something that even the presence of Salem had not brought in him.
Fear.
Jeez, this one chapter went through 4 rounds of editing. I have never edited and re-worked my story so much, but I think it's worth it.
For those who are curious, the poem comes from "The Rose Beyond The Wall" by A.L. Frink. Just Googled it, figured it fit the theme, so I used it.
Also, for those of you worrying about the end of team RWBY, don't worry! Other characters will join up with Ruby eventually, and there are a lot of surprises in store.
Please read, review, favourite and/or follow this story and don't be afraid to leave criticisms and suggestions! Until the next chapter, RWBYSanctum out!