The burnt Rose

Takes a gamble

Both girls continued through the forest, Ruby slashing down any grimm who get into their way. Several minutes in Emma asked the question on her mind since Ruby saved her.

"Why did you save me?"

"I felt like it" She shoots a charging beowolf in the face

"Last time a Beacon student asked for help you let a Taijutsu Snake drag them off a cliff"

"You didn't ask"

"Not really the point"

"Let's just say I know what it's like, what you went through" A deathstalker charges them and Ruby flexes her wrists, and punches her glove covered hands together, a metallic ding answering the action, and she darts forward and punches the deathstalker, cracking it's shell, then fires small red explosives that rip through her gloves, exposing a red colored Ember Cecilia.

The scorpion grimm stumbled back and Ruby landed two more punches, breaking it's mask and destroying it, then firing multiple explosives into it until it was moving only due to the blasts.

"That was Yang's weapon right?"

"Yep, made a copy of all my teammates weapons so I could always remember them"

To prove her point Ruby draws Myrtenaster and Gambol Shroud, each in a black and red color scheme, then sheaths them back under her cloak.

"Shouldn't you have a weapon?"

"I did, before I died. Now Grace has to protect me, but with her aura so strong Im scared that Goodwitch or Ozpin will notice"

"Grace?"

"Kind of a voice in my head that can use my body to protect me when I cant, her aura is ridiculously strong and shadows seem to bend to her will"

Wow, cute, innocent, and crazy. Mom I hit the jackpot.

Ruby rolls her eyes at her own sarcastic comment as she fires shot after shot into a group of beowolves before they can get close.

After several silent minutes' save the high speed slashing and shooting from the broken rose, a nevermore flies overhead, and she ties a black ribbon that is on her left arm to her scythe like Blake would using Gambol shroud, and throws her scythe as hard as she can after the nevermore, who dodges it. Ruby then guides the scythe back to the nevermore, and uses the ribbon to activate the trigger and fire a shot, the recoil turning the scythe into a spinning whirlwind of death, which slices through the nevermore's wings as it tries to fire some feathers.

"That takes care of that" Ruby pulls back her weapon and continues on after collapsing it, leaving Emma behind for a few seconds while she admires the reaper's quick actions, then rushes to catch up with her.

"So, any new friends?"

"No"

"Can I be your friend then?"

"Probably not"

"Why?"

"I'm not the people person I was"

"C'mon Ruby please, everyone needs some kind of social interaction, and killing grimm doesn't count"

"I'll go where I want, and you can tag along if you want, but aren't you going to go back?"

"No, I have a lack of friends, and everyone thinks Ima graverobber"

"No family?"

"Don't want to see them ever again" Her words come out laced with venom.

"Ok then" Ruby, having long kept her emotions under a mask, decided there that she would give it one more chance with this girl, and see where it gets her, after all two years of suicide like missions tends to make someone miss the comfort of others.

The girls walked in silence, Emma being a bit nervous around Ruby, when an especially sneaky beowolf pack jumps down from the trees and runs their claws through Ruby's back, and Emma quickly moves forward and slides down, picking up Myrtenaster as it falls out from under her, and stabbing it into the grimm's eyes, then turned to face the rest as Ruby stands up slowly, her back hurting like a bitch.

"Mother fucking wolves!" Ruby fires a shot into the nearest one, and it finds itself headless, while another goes to attack Ruby again, her previous injury being healed by her aura leaves her wide open, so Emma jumps in front of it and takes the hit, skirting across the ground.

"Emma!"

Ow you dumb ass!

'Fuck you Grace'

Ruby, angry and full of rage at the grimm, slashes it until it is completely gone, firing rounds off as her scythe cleaves through it to kill it's packmates.

Once the beowolves are dealt with Ruby calms down and helps Emma up, the girl had sat down to watch after Ruby went into rage mode.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, my aura will have it gone in a few minutes"

"Umm, not to be rude but do you have anything to eat?"

"Want some beowolf stew?"

'EWW!' "Sure"

You aren't actually going to eat it are you?

'Im hungry as a starved ursa, so yeah'

By the time Ruby finishes stripping and cooking the beowolves on a fire made of twigs that she lit with some fire dust powder the cracked moon rises into the sky, looking like a half broken mirror, and Emma has fallen asleep sitting against the tree next to Ruby.

"emma...Emma…"

Emma eventually opens her eyes slowly, and Ruby pushes her slightly, earning a small glare from her.

"What?"

"Foods done"

"Ok…"

Once again Emma fell asleep, so Ruby got a spoon out of an "emergency" supply case in her pocket so she could eat it. The pack itself was something Weiss got Ruby on her birthday, so she could eat civilly and transport dust crystals, three to be precise. After dipping the spoon into the stew, resting in a cauldron of rocks she fused together by melting parts with a dust crystal radiating heat, she held the spoon up to Emma, who subconsciously opened her mouth, so Ruby fed her. After Ruby had put the spoon into Emma's mouth she woke up, and blushed quite heavily once she realized what was happening. After that the two took turns eating with the spoon until both were full, and then climbed two different trees and went to sleep, Emma still having a small tint of red on her cheeks.

Early into the morning Ruby climbs up Emma's tree and pokes her a few times to wake her up.

"Five more minutes…"

Ruby proceeds to then shake her until she is fully awake.

"Morning Emm"

"Morning, did you have to shake me awake?"

"I did" Ruby jumps down, Emma following after a few seconds.

"So, what are your plans?"

"My plans?"

"Where are you going?"

Emma shrugs "I have no Idea, just away from here"

"What happened to you anyways? Reports say a rogue hunter wiped you all out, but no hunters have been listed as rouge for a whole year, and the other hunters listed as rogue are currently in Atlas waging that long and bloody war against the kingdom"

"... I honestly have no clue what it was, it seemed exactly like a grimm, but it was humanoid…it also had a sword"

Ruby nods as a signal for her to continue while looking a bit confused.

"At first I thought it was a member of the white fang that had killed my friend, but it didn't have a soul of light like we do, it had a soul of pure darkness"

"Grimm don't have souls though because they are pure darkness"

A small tear slips from Emma's eyes and her voice becomes shaky, getting worse as she continues

"It's sword was something of nightmares, when it slashed Carver his aura stopped existing, like it was locked up again, and he couldn't escape…"

Emma continues to retell the story, tears pouring from her eyes by the time she finishes.

Ruby, feeling sad for her and having been through something similar, tried her best to comfort the grieving huntress in training.

After ten minutes she sheds her last tear, but the unsteadiness of her voice continues to be evident.

"So… there's a rural town nearby, maybe we can get you a new weapon"

"I w would like th that"

"You gonna be ok?"

"I i th think so"

Ruby and Emma sat for at least seven more minutes on the ground with Ruby having her arms around her to comfort her, unknown to Ruby however, Emma was enjoying the hug, and never said anything not because she was still depressed and saddened at the thinking of her friends' fate, but because she just wanted to stay there as long as possible with Ruby. She wasn't fully aware of this reason herself, and once she realized it she blushed and jumped up, a bit embarrassed and hoping Ruby wouldn't have had the same thought as to why she just sat there.

"Well uh, which way to the town?"