Lie Ren was exhausted.

He had just spent the last fourteen hours fighting back the forces of Grimm with his team. Team JNPR had taken an assignment to investigate strange Grimm activity within the Forever Fall region. The mission had started simply enough, Nora was her usual exuberant self, while Pyrrha, Jaune and himself followed after the excitable girl at a much more sedate pace. Honestly it seemed that this would be more of a team building outing than anything else and Ren had found himself beginning to relax his guard slightly.

Of course that was when the mission had decided to go to hell in a hand basket. The team had been cresting a hill, Nora in the lead because of her boundless energy, when the hammer wielder froze.

"Uh… we might have a problem guys."

Ren glanced at his other two teammates and felt his eyebrows rise in disbelief. If something was on the other side of that hill that had his partner worried, then it couldn't be anything good.

And his gut instinct had been right.

As soon as the rest of the team caught up to the overactive girl, they had seen what she had.

Grimm.

Grimm as far as the eye could see, their toiling black masses writhing to make a desolate sea of black and eerie red. Ren tried to count the amount that was there, but he lost count around fifty. A glance in his team leader's direction and he saw an expression that he was sure mirrored his own. Blatant disbelief.

Ren wasn't sure how many Grimm were writhing in this particular valley in Forever Fall, but he was sure that if they made it to Vale it would make the Breach look like a joke in comparison. Just as he saw that their leader was coming to the same conclusion, a stray Grimm from the herd stopped and was looking at them.

"Oh no."

Ren agreed wholeheartedly with his fearless leader. The inquisitive tilt to that Beowolf's head spelled nothing but trouble for him and his team. This was supposed to be a short recon mission. They weren't supposed to engage any kind of enemy within the forest. They needed to get back to beacon and inform the Headmaster of what was awaiting them within Forever Fall.

However, before they could retreat the Beowolf had given a short bark, drawing the attention of others. Ren felt his mouth dry in fear as not just Beowolves began to respond to the call. Grimm after Grimm began turning toward the four humans in their midst.

"Crap. Guys, we need to get back to Beacon! We're gonna have to run and gun if we want any chance at getting out of here alive!"

Ren nodded towards his leader as he let his guns fall into his waiting hands. He felt a comfort as he heard the others ready their own weapons, the familiar hums of their mecha-shifts bringing him comfort. Ren closed his eyes as he drew forth his Aura, he would need it for the coming fight.

With one last look at the incoming horde, the four teammates bolted back the way they came. It wasn't long before they heard the tell tale signs of Grimm following after them. It was an even shorter time before they began killing the Grimm that had been of the quicker variety. Eventually they had been caught in some sort of pincer and had been surrounded by Grimm on all sides. Now it wasn't just a retreat, but a mad running fight for survival.

That had been almost fourteen hours or so ago by Ren's count. Night had fallen awhile ago and still he and his teammates were fighting on, but he knew that they were getting tired. He knew that his own physical limit was drawing closer with every passing minute. His stamina had always been the lowest of his team, but he made up for it with precision and efficacy of movement.

However, he could admit, at least to himself, that he was definitely beginning to have fatigue set in. Terror was beginning to set in as well, and that merely brought more Grimm to converge on him. His exhaustion was beginning to make him sloppy, he had already missed a few vital points and had had to correct for them.

It had been almost an hour since he and Nora had been separated from the JP aspect of JNPR, and his guns were beginning to weigh in his hand. Nora was still madly dashing around smashing Grimm left and right, but no matter how many they hit, more kept coming. He knew that they were fighting a losing battle.

It was funny, even though he was a Hunter in training, he had never imagined going out to the Grimm quite like this. He had always intellectually known that the possibility of succumbing to a fight with Grimm, but to actually have it happen to him left a slightly bitter taste within his mouth.

It was as this thought was going through his mind that he finally made a mistake. An Ursa was able to crash through his guard and he was sent flying through the air until he smashed through a tree.

"Ren!"

Nora's cry brought him back into focus. Had he blacked out? That wasn't good, he needed to make sure that he didn't let that happen again. Stumbling to his feet he saw his partner obliterate the Grimm that had been able to clip him.

"Don't worry, Nora! I'm okay!"

Nora gave him a little salute and smile, before she looked behind him and her face morphed into horror.

Eyes widening, Ren spun around, only to be confronted with an Ursa Major, whose paw had been pulled back. Ren felt a strange sense of calm. His Aura had taken too great a hit from the last attack, once that Ursa Major's arm came down, that would be the end. Ren closed his eyes to the inevitable.

However, although he felt the rush of the blow coming, there was no pain, instead a squelching sound rang through the clearing that he and Nora were in and a warm liquid struck his cheek.

Blinking open his eyes, he felt his face morph into horror.

Standing with her back turned to him, his partner had jumped in front of the blow. However, her Aura was more depleted than he had thought. The Ursa Major had blown through whatever was left and had punched a hole through his partner's chest.

No no no no no no.

Ren wanted to scream in agony at the unfairness of the blow. It was a blow that had been meant for him. He had accepted his fate. He couldn't accept what his own two eyes were now telling him.

With a mighty roar, the Ursa Major pulled back, but as it did so, Nora gave one more blow as she threw her hammer at the Grimm. Magnhild tore through the Grimm and it dissolved into Darkness, leaving only himself and Nora in the clearing.

"I'm… glad…."

Ren snapped out of his stupor at those soft words.

"Nora!"

He scrambled over to his partner as her legs finally gave out. He made it in time to catch his best friend, a friend that had been with him for almost all of his life. He fell to his knees, the girl who had been with him for so long in his arms.

"…I…was… able… to… make… it."

Ren felt tears burning behind his eyes. This wasn't how things were supposed to end. Nora was someone who babbled and talked at the speed of her Semblance. Not someone who could barely make a sentence. Ren was more aware than ever of the warm feeling of blood soaking his shirt, but he needed to somehow stem the flow.

Unfortunately he knew that the wound was too large. It wasn't something that he would be able to fix/ There was nothing that he would be able to do for his friend. His best friend.

"Nora… I…"

Whatever he was going to say was silenced as Nora lifted a hand and placed a finger on his lips weakly.

"Silly… I'd… do… it… every… time."

Ren couldn't hold the tears as they began to stream down his face. His greatest friend was slowly succumbing to her injuries, because he hadn't had enough stamina to continue fighting. To add insult to injury, there were no more Grimm at the moment trying to bear down on the two of them. They were alone in the clearing, although Ren thought he might have heard an occasional gunshot signaling that Pyrrha was still fighting.

"It should have been me Nora. I never wanted this to happen."

Nora gave him a weak smile and Ren fought ever fiber of his being against it. Nora's smiles were supposed to be exuberant, a balm for the soul. Something that was able to help him even when he was in the darkest of moods. It wasn't supposed to be so broken, distorted by the tears that he was shedding.

Nora's hand found its way to his cheek and cusped him gently. Ren grabbed the appendage, hoping that he could do something, anything, to stave off what he knew was going to be inevitable.

"I'm… a… bit… scared…"

Ren flinched in Nora's grasp at that, he knew he was scared as well.

"I'm… going… somewhere… without… you… for… the… first… time… in… a… long… time."

"Nora, you're going to be okay. We'll get you medical attention, they'll heal you no problem."

His partner merely gave a small shake of her head. There was a knowing glint in her eyes. She made to speak again, but blood burbled from her mouth.

"Nora! Stop trying to speak, you need to save your strength."

Ren knew his voice was urgent, he also knew that there was a tinge of desperation to it. He couldn't, wouldn't, lose his best friend here. She was the thing that kept him going whenever his thoughts turned dark. He kept her grounded whenever she went a little too crazy. They had been a pair for so long, he was just as scared as she was to once more be alone.

"I… think… I've… broken… my… last legs."

The last two words were said with effort and in one breath. Ren was terrified, but Nora was nothing if not a fighter, she looked up at him, taking in his appearance, and he down at her, memorizing every detail of her face.

"Ren…"

Ren leaned forward trying to hear his partner, she was now getting softer as she lost more strength. Ren thought it perhaps cruel, Nora's Aura was trying to do something, but the hole in her chest was not going to be fixed, so she was having it drawn out much longer than it might have been.

"I'll… wait… for… you… on… the… other… side."

Nora's breaths were coming slower and slower, Ren knew that there was only so much more time left. He had wanted more time in general. More time to spoil her with pancakes, more time to go after her and her antics, just… more time.

Nora brought her free hand toward Ren's nose and gently placed her finger on the appendage. She smiled through the blood that dribbled from the corners of her mouth, a smile that was reminiscent of the Nora from only a few hours ago, eyes closed and her mouth stretched wide.

"Boop."

Ren watched in horror as the hand fell away and his partner's entire body fell limp, the stillness utterly unnatural from the exuberant girl. Ren grasped the hand he still held tightly. This wasn't possible, it couldn't be happening. Nora was supposed to be there, for everything, they were supposed to fight the world together.

Ren threw his head back and screamed to the heavens. He barely felt his throat becoming raw, he barely felt the sobs rack his chest, he barely felt the hands of his surviving teammates as they grasped him. None of it mattered anymore, his sunshine had disappeared from the world. His partner had said goodbye.


Welp that's another one down. I like this experiment, it's getting different stuff written, things that I haven't really written before, and I can write them fast. So now we have Nora/Ren, btw if you wanna really get them feels I'd suggest listening to the song "Boop" from RWBY soundtrack.

I'm actually a bit surprised that I got any reviews at all from a 2,000 word oneshot that I randomly wrote, but DocSlendy, hope you had more feels. Thanks to 9 or so peeps who faved and followed. Hope you enjoyed the quick update. If you have any suggestions for the next partners, or really want to see one of the partner's reaction to the others death, leave a review.

Now then, once more, no beta so any typos, grammar, and whatnot is cuz of that. Questions, comments, concerns? PM me! If you're feeling kind hit that fav/follow and leave a review (still can't believe I got one from such a short first chapt). I suppose that's all, down to the thing!

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum! Please support the official release!