RWBY: Back to Back, Side by Side

Ch 4: Red

Weiss

Weiss pressed her hand over the gaping wound in her stomach, just to the left of her bellybutton; she tried to stem the flow of blood, but it just flowed out between her fingers. She tried to reposition herself to get more leverage but something wasn't quite right, her right leg refused to cooperate.

'Huh,' she thought, looking down at her shattered knee, 'I don't think it's supposed to bend that way.' She realized she should be in a lot more pain than she was; she could feel the pain, but it was almost as if it was a separate part of herself; at least that was the best way she could describe it.

'I must be in shock…' She could feel what little was left of her aura attempting to heal her wound, but it quickly ran dry, the ragged hole continuing to bleed freely. She blinked slowly a few times, trying to clear her head, her eyes widened as she remembered her best friend, 'Ruby! Where is-?'

She looked up and saw that Ruby was standing over her protectively, swinging her scythe to keep their enemies at bay.

"Weiss!" Ruby's voice was odd, as if it was coming from a long way away, "Weiss, can you stand?"

'What a silly question,' Weiss thought groggily, slowly shaking her head, 'Can't she see my knee?'

Suddenly, there was a burst of red and a jerk of movement that sent pain screaming through her knee and side. She found herself being propped up against the locked door to the academy by Ruby, a blizzard of rose petals settling around her. The immense pain gave her something to focus on, making her thoughts a little clearer. Behind Ruby she saw the soldiers searching for their prey, they spotted the two and began walking towards them.

Ruby saw them as well but focused on her, worry etched on her face. "Hold on Weiss, hold on just a little longer! Our backup is almost here!" Weiss could see it was a white lie. Neither of them knew how much time had passed, or even if Jaune and company were still coming.

Ruby turned and strode towards the oncoming mob, stopping between two ornate pillars, about twenty feet from where Weiss was slumped against the door. Ruby brought her scythe up into a fighting stance her red cape flapping in the breeze.

Just as the mob was about to charge, a voice rang from the back, "STOP!"

The mob froze where it was. The crowd parted and two men stepped forward; they wore white robes and red hoods. One of them had a bushy tail and the other had large tan ears poking out of his hood.

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced." The one with the tail said, addressing Ruby, "I am Corsac."

"And I am Fennec." Said the one with the ears, giving a very slight bow.

"And you are Ruby Rose." Said Corsac.

The two Fox Faunus had a way of alternating who was speaking that made it very difficult for Weiss' addled brain to keep track of who was talking

"We represent our leader, Adam Taurus."

"We have no direct quarrel with you Miss Rose."

"The only ones we're here for is your former headmaster and," the one with ears gestured behind ruby, "Miss Schnee."

Weiss saw Ruby's body tense, "Why Weiss? Why not me?"

"Her family is accused of grievous crimes against the Faunus."

"She must answer for those crimes."

"Weiss is NOT her family!" Ruby cried, "Weiss is her own person! Some of her…some of OUR best friends are Faunus!"

The one with the tail shrugged, "Even if that were true, it makes no difference."

"Her public execution is meant to send a message to her father."

"That their oppression of us will no longer be tolerated."

Weiss gave a small snort of amusement, 'The only reason father would care about my execution,' she thought bitterly, 'would be whether or not I died begging for my life, bringing shame to the Schnee name.'

"We're prepared to make a deal with you Miss Rose." Corsac said.

"Step aside and let us take the girl," Fennec said, gesturing at Weiss again, "and you get to walk away with your life."

"Or, we can do this the hard way."

"Your choice."

Weiss could see Ruby's hands shaking with rage, her knuckles turning white from gripping Crescent Rose so hard; "I just got my best friend back," she growled her voice rising in volume with each word, "I AM NOT going to lose her again! Not to you...you ANIMALS!" she spat the last word as if it was a curse.

"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter." Fennec said, unfazed.

"We will be taking her one way or the other."

"YOU WANT WEISS?!" Ruby screamed, slamming the tip of her scythe into the ground and pulling the bolt back, a fresh round sliding into the chamber, "YOU'LL HAVE TO PRY HER FROM MY COLD, DEAD HANDS!"

'That's really sweet,' Weiss thought, managing a small smile, 'incredibly stupid and clichéd, but still sweet.' It was exactly what she had come to expect from Ruby.

The two fox Faunus sighed simultaneously.

"Very well." Fennec said.

"Grant her request." Corsac gestured at their men.

The mass of soldiers surged forward.

With an animalistic war cry Ruby launched herself into the first wave of White Fang, a trail of rose petals marking her passage.

Before the soldiers could react to her sudden disappearance, she was among them, swinging her scythe into the unsuspecting faunus. Weiss could see that Ruby wasn't holding back anymore. Every swing of her scythe, every pull of the trigger, removed something from her enemies, be it a limb or their life. The soldiers quickly regained their composure and brought their blades and firearms to bear on the red clad huntress.

Seeing red out of the corner of her eye, Weiss briefly looked down at herself and noticed she was sitting in a small puddle of blood, it had soaked into her blue combat dress, staining it a dark, ugly purple

'Oh.' She thought, her head beginning to go light again, 'That's a lot of blood. That's too much blood…'

She groggily glanced back at where Ruby was still fighting. To Weiss, the red clad girl almost looked like she was dancing, moving gracefully through the crowd; her scythe whirled around her rhythmically, the muzzle barking at regular intervals. She blocked, parried and counterattacked with such precision that Weiss had to wonder whether that was really the uncoordinated klutz she had met so long ago.

'It's almost like she's and entirely different person from the girl I last saw.'

'She looks…' she paused trying to think of the right word.

'Dangerous,' suggested part of her brain.

'Capable,' supplied another part.

'Beautiful.' Said a part of her that she usually buried deep.

'Yes,' she agreed, 'she IS beautiful.' Her eyes began to droop, 'So tired…so cold….'

Team JNR

Jaune, Nora, and Ren stood outside the north doors catching their breath after a loing sprint up the stairs. After a few moments Ren tried the door.

"Locked." He said simply.

Jaune tried the doors as well, throwing his shoulder into them to no avail.

Nora looked quizzically at the edges of the door, "Hey!" she shouted, pointing dramatically, "Someone melted the hinges!"

Ren looked impressed, "A sound strategy."

"Well it's a good strategy for keeping people out," Jaune said, scratching his head, "But how are we supposed to get in?"

Ren looked at Jaune, a small smile spreading across his face, "We could just knock."

Jaune stared at him uncomprehendingly.

Ren looked pointedly at Nora, who grinned devilishly.

Weiss

Consciousness was slowly slipping away from Weiss when she was pulled back to reality by boom the South doors violently exploding inward.

"KNOCK-KNOCK, BITCHES!" a loud, energetic voice yelled as Nora flew in through the still falling debris, slamming her hammer into the nearest faunus.

Jaune and Ren followed in close behind her, bringing their weapons to bear on the remaining soldiers.

Weiss saw Nora scan the room, she saw her make eye-contact with Ruby, grinning at her and popping a salute; then her eyes found Weiss and the girls elated expression dropped, replaced by a look of horror, "Oh my god." the orange haired girl said quietly.

Ruby was suddenly by her side, having appeared next to her in a burst of rose petals. Weiss' eyes began to feel droopy again and she fought to keep them open.

"Weiss!" Ruby said, gently shaking her, "Are you with me?"

"Always…" Weiss managed to whisper, the word coming out slurred.

She studied Ruby's face, she had gotten some nasty new cuts and bruises from her berserker brawl with the white fang. A deep gash on Ruby's cheek dripped blood down her chin; Weiss put her hand on the wound; she wanted to touch her, to make sure she was ok. She wanted to tell Ruby how much she meant to her, how glad she was that they were friends; but she couldn't find the strength to form the words. Her cheek was warm against her skin.

Ruby covered Weiss' hand with her own, squeezing gently.

Weiss felt consciousness slipping through her fingers again. 'I-I think I'm dying…' she thought, there was surprisingly little emotion attached to this thought, 'but you know… if I am dying…' Ruby was saying something to her, but her ears didn't seem to work properly anymore. 'If I am dying and Ruby's face is the last thing I see…' a small smile crossed her lips, 'I'm ok with that…I think I can die happy…'

And then her world was blackness.

Ruby

"Weiss! Are you with me?" she asked, giving the girl a gentle shake, 'Oh god, there's so much blood…'

"Ahl-waysssss." The white haired girl whispered, her voice barely audible. Her usually pale skin was almost gray now. Her blue eyes roved over Ruby's face, memorizing it as if it was the last time she would ever see it.

Ruby saw Weiss' eyes focus on her cheek, on a gash that she herself had only noticed just now. The older girl put her hand on it and gave her a look of affection that made Ruby's heart melt. She squeezed the hand on her cheek.

Then, she saw the icy-blue eyes slide out of focus and her eyelids begin to droop, "No! Weiss stay awake! Stay with me! I have so much to tell you!"

Her eyes briefly opened again and focused on her. A small smile flitted across Weiss' face, then her eyes closed and her head nodded forward, her chin resting on her chest.

"No! Weiss!" She gently shook her, "Weiss!" there was no response.

The adrenaline high from the battle began to wear off and she began to cry. "No! I just found you again! Weiss, don't go!"

"Ruby!" cried Jaune from behind her, as he smashed his shield into a man's face, breaking his nose, "Get her out of here! We'll mop up these clowns!" there was only a dozen soldiers left, nothing team JNR couldn't handle.

Ruby didn't need to be told twice. She hugged her best friend to her chest, Weiss' head lolling on her shoulder.

She kicked her semblance into overdrive, pouring her aura reserves into it. In less than five seconds, she was at the bottom of the stairs, and speeding towards the hospital on the lower levels of the city, a massive cloud of rose petals trailing in her wake.

She zoomed through the market place, crashing through someone's cart. She heard a scream of "My Cabbages!" from behind her but paid it no mind.

She could feel her aura trickling down to the last dregs and she was still blocks away from the hospital.

'No, I can't stop now.' She thought, her chest heaving with the exertion, 'Weiss needs to get to the hospital….she's dying. Or maybe she's already…'

A scream tore from her throat and her eyes blazed with silver light, she pushed her semblance further than she ever had before; an explosion of rose petals blanketed the all the nearby structures.

The doors to the hospital came in sight, she cut her semblance and used her momentum to make it the rest of the way, skidding to a stop outside the doors, drenched in sweat.

She ran into the lobby and her legs immediately turned to jelly, she dropped to knees, cradling Weiss in her arms.

"Please!" she screamed, the doctors nurses and patients turning to look at her, "Please help her!"

Ruby Rose looked down at the still, bloodstained form of her best friend and began to sob.

Sorry! I do love my dramatic cliffhangers. Tons more angst in this chapter.

Also, yes I am aware that my portrayal of the effects of blood loss is mostly inaccurate. It's mostly for dramatic effect. Weiss would probably have passed out long before she actually did if this is was real. but as I said, dramatic effect.

So the next update may take a while. Up to this point, I had the story written down on physical paper and was just typing it from there. I'll need another week-ish to write more and then I have to type it. so expect the next update in around two weeks!

Thanks for reading and be sure to leave a review!