Characters:
Ruby Rose
Roman Torchwick
Neopolitan
Jaune Arc
Nora Valkyrie
Lie Ren
Summary:
Ruby & Roman are cut off from the rest of the team while exploring an abandoned mine that once belonged to the Schnee Dust Company and they both have a heartfelt talk to fill the void, and to find some closure.
(Opening Theme: Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Rei-Super Scription Data Performed By Shimamiya Eiko)
-Two Months After the Fall; Somewhere in Anima-
Ruby's eyes opened slowly as she felt pain in her side and head. She let out a couple of coughs as she struggled to stand on her own two feet; she shivered a little from the cold she felt and sting of pain. She looked around but the only thing she could make out was the darkness that had surrounded her line of vision. She held her hands out in front of her and stepped forward as she tried to search around for any source of light, but she soon tripped and fell flat on her face. She cried out with agony when she landed on her wounded side.
When she went to grasp the wound she soon came to realize that her clothes had been partly torn; from her sleeve to her waist on her left, and on her right side, she found what had pierced her side was a sharp object of some kind.
She panicked and went to remove despite the pain, but-
"I wouldn't do that Red… Unless you want to bleed out and die…"
Ruby jumped slightly as she had recognized the voice. "Roman?" She called out, her voice sounding hoarse, "Roman is that you?"
Ruby started to look around through the darkness as her eyes still adjusted. All she knew was he had to be close by.
"Where are you?" She said.
She heard the faint sounds of a click, and what had followed after was a small flame that someone held. Turned out it was indeed Roman who was holding his lighter. Ruby quickly went towards to where he was, taking not that he was propped up against something.
"Thank goodness, you're okay!" Ruby said, "Huh, never thought I'd say that."
"Yeah…" Roman groaned, "... I didn't think I would hear that from your mouth."
"Are you okay? You sound a bit off…"
"I could say the same for your Red… Your voice, no offense has seen better days…"
Ruby let out a groan of agony before she shivered again. When she brought her arms together that's when she realized she was soaking wet.
"Wha…" Ruby said before coughing again, "What happened?"
"We uh… Kind of fell into water I think…" Roman groaned, "After fighting the… Who knows what…"
"Oh good you can't remember either… I thought I was only who didn't know…" Ruby said to herself though Roman heard him laugh a little before he started to cough. She noticed that he was in pain when she heard him let out a moan of agony.
"Um…" Ruby said awkwardly, "Are you okay?"
"Hmm?" Roman said, not hearing her at first, "Oh yeah, I'm fine, just uh… Catching my breath."
She heard him moan in agony again, which left her concerned at this point. Before he could protest Ruby grabbed the lighter from his hand and started to look him over to see if they were any wounds on him taking not that his body was soaking wet too. That's when she saw that his shoulder and almost near his heart had been impaled with what looked to be two pieces of sharp wooden shrapnel, to which Ruby couldn't help but worry.
"Oh my God…" She said putting her hands over her mouth
Roman groaned as he said with drowsiness, "... I'm alright… Don't worry I'm just fine…"
Ruby just didn't know what to do at that point as she looked over Roman's wounds and her own. Slowly but surely, as to how they had gotten to this point started to come back to her.
-Sometime Ago (Ruby's P.O.V)-
My friends and I had been staying in that small village for a little while.
I know we're in a hurry to get to Haven, but we had to do what could to help them. They told us that a Grimm had been terrorizing them, and that it's home was in a mine nearby. They said the mine had once belonged to the Schnee Dust Company and had been abandoned for sometime.
They warned us when we entered the mine that it would be unstable, but I had promised that we would do whatever we can to help. Of course, Jaune, Ren, Nora and even Neo was on board with it, though Roman on the other hand; Let's just say we have a little disagreement. As we approached where the mines were, I noticed Roman had lagged behind the group looking less than thrilled. In fact he looked more annoyed.
What is with that look?
We stood before the entrance to the mine; several of the signs had read "DANGER: UNSTABLE" and "CAUTION: GRIMM AHEAD".
"Oh man." I heard Jaune say looking at the many signs, "I can see why people didn't want to come back here."
"This mine looks way old!" Nora said tapping slightly on the wood.
To which Neo slapped her hand away from it. "Careful." Neo said to her, "This mine can collapse before we can get this mission started."
"She's right Nora. It wouldn't exactly bode well for us." Ren said.
"Okay." I said to turning to the group, "The Grimm that the Mayor told us about is bound to be here, so here's what I think we should do. If we split up, we'll be able to cover more ground."
"Yeah I that sounds like it's the best way to go." Jaune said.
"I can get behind that." Nora told me with her usual smile.
"As long as we find the Grimm it's fine." Ren added.
"I don't mind it." Neo said with a shrug.
I turned to Roman, and noticed that he gave an annoyed look to me, as I gave an awkward look. He responded to me with a grunt. We've only been traveling for a month, and we still haven't gotten used to being with one another. I know we were enemies before I even knew Destiny existed, but considering all that happened, I'm willing to put it some of it behind me. However I don't know if Roman is willing to do the same.
I let out a sigh as I said, "Okay than, so I think it's only fair that we go with the people we're used to. So-"
"Actually if it's all the same to Ruby, this time around, we'd like Neo to tag along with us!" Nora said to me with a smile.
Myself, Neo and Roman looked at Nora just in complete shock.
"WHAT?!" The three of us exclaimed.
"Why would you want that?" Neo asked.
Nora replied to her as she put her arms around her shoulders, "Well we never had the chance to actually get to know one another!" Nora said to her with smile, "We can share secrets and stuff, or maybe even trade numbers!"
I saw Neo raise an eyebrow in Nora's direction, and she removed herself from her grip as she backed up slightly. "I don't know how I feel about that." Neo said as she raised her hands in the air.
"Come on, it'll be fun!" Nora said giving her hug suddenly, "By the end of this we'll be besties!"
"Wait, than who's going go with Roman?" I asked my friends curiously,
"Well actually, we were thinking that you would go with Roman." Jaune suggested to me.
My jaw dropped at this as did Roman's at the sound of this. "Uh, Jaune!" I said awkwardly, "I don't think that's a good idea."
"Well, why don't you think so?" Jaune asked me curiously.
I couldn't help but stammer as I twiddled my thumbs, "It's just that well-" I turned to Roman; he had his arms crossed as he had his back to us.
"I just think that-" I tried to say to Jaune, "-Roman would be more comfortable with Neo. I mean-After all they're both partners-and I just think that-"
"Ruby." Ren said stopping me; he put his hand on my shoulder, "We know that you've had your differences in the past. But we're here now working together and nothing in the past matters now. Just think of this an opportunity to start over."
Before I could say something Roman finally spoke, "Look, this is all a waste of time anyway. I thought we were in a hurry to get to Mistral, not stop and play hero to people we pass by. Another thing I don't need a kid to babysit me."
Okay, I can take any comment from him, but I got ticked off at the kid comment, that and what he was suggesting. "Oh now, that's it!" I said to him angrily actually taking him by surprise, "Number 1, after everything I've been through I am not a kid! And B, whether you like it or not we are helping these people because they have no one else to turn to! And number 3, I am tired of your attitude today mister! So again, like it or not, we ARE doing this!"
I went to grab his arm to drag him into the mine with me, but turns out that wasn't the best idea since I almost ended up tripping and nearly fell on my face. I managed to recover though as I fixed up my dress and cloak, before I stepped into the mines. I heard Roman mumble something under his breath before he followed me into the mines.
We followed the tracks further up into the caves while the others stayed on the first floor of the mines to look for the Grimm creature that laid within. The only source of light we had to help see through was the flashlights that we had brought with us when we had started to travel. Roman and I were peaking through the caves, to see if we spotted anything within. Though when we didn't see anything out of the ordinary we pressed on, minding the creaking sounds from above us and where we stepped.
The both of us kept silent with one another, since I will admit it's still awkward to be around him, and he's probably feeling the same thing. I know after all that's happened, we have to put our differences behind us, but… I don't know it just still feels strange, like this is just one of those things that I can't exactly explain or put it into words, it's just hard to form a sentence at that point.
We moved onto the next set of caves along the tracks, seeing that it was only held together by various sets of ropes and loose nails. I gulped as I noticed how far up we were, one wrong move and we could end up dead. The tracks that were beneath us were all flooded, and I could see the water flowing from a bunch of other reservoir is most likely from the rain and such. It wasn't long before I realized that Roman started to walk ahead of me.
"Careful where you step Red." He said not turning around, "Wouldn't want you to fall again like last time, now would we?"
I couldn't help but growl annoying since he was talking about that time when myself and my friends were at Mountain Glenn. Just what is his problem anyway!? He's really getting on my nerves!
"I can handle my balance perfectly fine thank you!" I said to him as I felt my blood boil with anger. Right when I stomped my foot to walk a wooden board from the track collapsed beneath me causing me to nearly trip again; luckily I managed to catch myself. I watched as the wooden board fell down below, and I heard a splash.
"See?" I heard Roman say, "What did I tell ya? Well it's not like you'll listen to my opinions anyway?"
Alright, I had enough of this; it's time to put my foot down!
"ROMAN!" I yelled at him, making him stop going further down the tracks, "What's wrong with you!? Why are you being such a jerk!?"
"I think you know my problem Red." Roman told me still not turning to look at me, "We've got bigger things to deal with, and you're just wasting our time by playing errand girl."
"You know why we have to help them Roman!"
"Well believe it or not you can't always play the hero like the ones in the story!"
"Stop talking like that, you know that without us these people will get killed by the Grimm that's here! These people need us!"
"AND MY DAUGHTER NEEDS ME MORE THAN THEY DO!"
Roman finally turned to me as he shouted this, and I flinched at his words. Roman and I stood there frozen, just looking at one another, not knowing exactly what to say to one another.
I get it now. I think I understand why he's being so angry.
"Roman, I-"
Before I could say anything I was cut off when I heard the sound of something growling echoing around where we stood, which made me and Roman freeze up. We looked around the caves using the only source of light that we to try and see where the growls were coming from. It was hard to do that, when you're standing in a place where there's multiple caves in one place.
Who knows how far we are?
We both continued to look around, just wondering where exactly the Grimm creature was. Just when I thought I had gotten a sight to where it was-
"RED, BEHIND YOU!"
Before I could even react, I felt something hit me to the side roughly causing me to fly of the track. Arming my Crescent Rose, I latched onto the ledge at the last second before I could fall. I saw a red light go around my body.
How could my aura be broken already!?
"I'm okay!" I yelled to Roman as to reassure him, in case he was worried.
My eyes widened in shock as I saw what exactly hit me. It looked to be a mole, but it was the size of a polar bear. It had armor going along its back and long narrow silver claws on it's paws. It's eyes glowed red and red lines connected to its back and stomach on its black fur.
I saw Roman backup but he armed his weapon and started to fire at it, making it drawn towards where he was.
Damn it, I gotta get back up there!
I quickly pulled myself up, and got back up onto the track. I armed myself as I used my semblance to get in front of Roman, and face to face with the mole like Grimm. I charged at it, swinging with my blade attacking its face and claws. It had tried to attack and I just managed to avoid it. As I jumped back Roman fired his weapon; It had hit the mole making it stumble.
I went at it again, using my semblance again making it flip on its back. I jumped high into the air with the help of my speed I used it to get high into the air and stabbed it in chest head, killing it instantly. Honestly that was easier than I thought it was going to be.
Though than again I appeared to have spoken to soon when I suddenly cried out with agony. The mole that had been under me had suddenly split into two, and one of them, managed to get me on my arm and waist. I dropped my weapon.
"Oh no! No!" I exclaimed trying to catch my weapon, but couldn't when it fell down into the water below. Roman started to fire again hitting the Grimm mole in the chest but only made more of them. I noticed the tracks started to become increasingly unstable, as the track started to shake a little with every step we made. Knowing we couldn't stay on the tracks I decided to make do with my Crescent Rose and end this fight fast. I looked up to the tracks just above us, and I hatched an idea in my head.
"Roman listen, I have a plan!" I said to him.
"What could you possibly have in mind!?" Roman said to me.
"I'm gonna draw their attention, when you hear the signal, fire up on the tracks above this one!" I told him.
"What good is that going to do!?"
"Look, just trust me okay!?"
I saw Roman being a bit hesitant at first, but he soon looked me in the eye before responding with, "You better know what you're doing!"
"I always do!" I said with a smile.
I quickly got the attention of the Grimm moles, and sure enough all of their eyes were on me. As I thought they immediately started to come at me. Despite myself lacking in close combat I managed to kick one or two off the tracks to the rocks and water down below killing them instantly. I kicked two and three more to the ones still focused on Roman, and just as expected they started to come at me once more. I looked up above, and saw that they were just under right where I wanted them; I couldn't help but smile, I'm such a genius!
"ROMAN NOW!" I yelled.
Roman aimed his Melodic Cudgel up where I told him to fire and he pulled the trigger firing a flare shot. It hit the tracks right on target, making the Grimm look up. I used this as an opportunity to get back to where Roman was just as the tracks began to come apart. It hit the end of the tracks causing the Grimm to fall down below. But the tracks we were on started to come apart as well, leaving me paralyzed.
Oh God I didn't think this through!
"QUICK JUMP!" I heard Roman shout.
I didn't even hesitate at that point, I jumped off the track following Roman. Though just as I managed to get one foot off, I heard a roar just above me. I turned around and saw that one of the mole Grimms managed to get to where I was and was going to attack me; I had no means to defend myself, as I looked at the Grimm creature with fear. Before it had a chance to attack me, Roman had fired a shot, and hit him clear on the head. But just as it's body disappeared, I suddenly felt something sharp pierce my side, and I suddenly found myself falling, as I faintly heard Roman cry out with agony. I felt the wind rush, before I found myself hitting the water that had laid beneath us.
The water had become coated with red as began to lose conscious, and the sounds around me became muffled due to the water that now surrounded.
The last thing through the now red water I saw was a hand reaching out to me, before I passed out.
(Normal P.O.V)
Ruby's eyes widened slightly as the memories came back to her. She and him both fought the Grimm but ended up falling off the track like what he said, and they must've been hit by the fallen debris. She had soon come to realize something as she set the lighter down on the side for a moment looking at Roman with a shocked look.
"You…" Ruby said slowly to Roman, "... You saved my life."
Roman let out a sigh as he turned his head to the side, "... It was nothing really…"
"I…" Ruby started to say though she was honestly speechless, "... Thank you…"
Ruby soon picked the lighter back up as she used it to look around, taking the note of the rushing water that was beside them. "...So…" Ruby had said awkwardly, "... Where do you think we are?"
Roman let out another cough before replying, "... The hell if I know Red… I was hanging onto you and your garden tool the whole time I was swimming… So I didn't get a good look…"
"Can we contact Jaune and the others?"
"Tried it already… There's no signal down here… We're going to have to wait until they find us…"
Ruby nodded her head, before she sneezed and shivered. Ruby quickly stood up and looked around to see what she could use to keep them warm. Using the lighter in her hand, she managed to find the wood from the tracks that had been washed up just on the shore. She grabbed all the wood that she could carry before returning back to Roman's side.
She put the wood in a pile before using the lighter to start it. She had also managed to find some old tarp, that had been draped over the various old carts that were beside them. It wasn't much but at the very least it would help keep them warm along with the fire. She draped one over Roman after setting him down on crate she had pulled near the fire, minding the wounds before she put it around herself and sat close to the fire. There was silence around them, only the sound of the wood cracking was heard as Ruby and Roman sat close. Ruby at times let her hands hover over the fire and to pat herself on the face to keep her cheeks warm; Roman let out an occasional coughs once in awhile, and she would look over to make sure he was still breathing.
"This is a… Bit of a pickle we got ourselves into huh?" Roman said to her with a groan.
"Yeah." Ruby said laughing a little, still feeling awkward, "It is."
She cleared her throat and shifted awkwardly; rubbing her arms so that she could keep herself warm. She cringed a little when she accidentally rubbed against her wound.
"Hey, listen uh…" Ruby started to say, "... Thank you… For saving my life."
"... It's uh…" Roman groaned, "... It's nothing much really…"
"I wouldn't exactly say it was nothing." She said with a smile, "... You did something good today. And for that I'm grateful."
Roman couldn't help but laugh a little despite the pain, "... Do you realize how corny you sound right now?"
"Hey, come on, it's the truth." Ruby said with a smile.
It was nice that they were at least talking now, it was nice and it was good just to pass the time. It gave them something to think about other than the pain from their wounds and well the situation they were in right now.
It was a good time to bring a certain thought that she had been thinking about before they were fighting with the Creature of Grimm.
"... Hey uh…" Ruby said, "... Can we have a serious talk?"
Roman looked over to her, as he adjusted himself, the rock he was propped up against. "Sure Red." Roman said before coughing, "It beats sitting here in silence anyway."
Ruby took a deep breath. This was it, Ruby thought, this was the chance to get some closure.
"... I get, why your so angry this morning, and why you had the attitude." Ruby said to him honestly, "Really I get it. After what you said before, I understand now."
"Do you now?" Roman asked her.
"Do you think I'm not worried about her too?" She started to say, "After Yang told me she went missing, not only was me finding the truth set on my mind, but… Destiny's on my mind too. I can see why you love her so much. She's just this unique little girl. I don't think there's anyone else like her. It scares me, to think about what happened to her. Wherever she is she's probably just as scared as we are. But helping people, whoever we come across, whether it's just with one person, or an entire village… I want to show everyone that there's still people like me, Jaune, Nora and Ren out there. That are still willing to fight for what is right, that are still willing to protect others. I know Destiny would've wanted us to help them too."
"... If I didn't know better Red… I'd say you know her better than me…" Roman said, surprising Ruby when she realized he had a tone of sadness in his voice. She looked at him with wide eyes, both with shock and confusion as to why he sounded so down.
Why did he sound so sad, Ruby wondered.
Roman soon explained himself, "... You're right about what you said. I am worried about her, as a father. I've been worrying about her since Cinder sent the White Fang to take her away. You have no idea how many nights I spent not sleeping, since Destiny was the only thing that was on my mind. I kept thinking about the worst case scenario about what Cinder was doing to her; one after another the thought of what was happening to her became worse and worse. Never did I think she would be right under my nose, as I was up in Ironwood's ship. After you've been telling me how you and your friends had been taking care of her, I guess in a way… I was actually jealous."
Ruby had gotten even more confused at the last part. She understand what he had just told her, but… Why in the world would he be jealous?
"Why in the world would you have that thought?" Ruby asked.
Roman soon replied once again explaining himself, "You see Red, before my wife's…" He took a moment to clear his throat, and shut his eyes as if he was holding back tears before continuing, "... My wife's passing… We both told each other, told ourselves, that if we ever had a child, we would raise them the way we wanted to. She would love her just as a real mother would, and I would be the father I never got to have as a child. Most importantly, we would support our child in whatever they wanted to do, and we would always be there for them no matter what. But, Trinity never got the chance to be that mother to Destiny… And as for me… Ever since I brought her to Vale, where I thought she was safe, I was hardly ever at home and most of the time, Neo was the one looking after her and not me…"
He finally turned to Ruby, and the young teen was a bit taken back when she saw the look in his eyes. Never did she see someone looking so down as the man before her right now.
"... I guess… I became jealous, because…" Roman said, "... Because you were more of a family to her than I ever was… You succeeded where I couldn't… And I can't help but hate myself for that. I wasn't the father that I wanted to be; I feel like I failed to not only the woman I've ever loved, but to my one and only child who I couldn't even protect… How pathetic is that?"
Ruby took in everything he said and she couldn't help but feel sympathy for him. Here, he was, once a thief, once her enemy, once a person hellbent on getting revenge on Atlas; now before her was a man who just wants to be a father, to the only child he and his wife had. She could see why he would feel jealous now, since Destiny was happy to be with them and spend time with them, but deep down she knew that even a child like her wasn't happy. She thought about the times that Destiny felt down, just having the thought of Roman in her head. She knew she missed him and wanted him to be with her; to just be happy and enjoy the Vytal Festival with the only parent she's ever known.
Roman didn't know it, but he was a cool dad in Destiny's eyes. Ruby had to set it to him straight.
"You're not pathetic." Ruby said. This time Roman was the one that had a surprised look on his face.
"... You're not a pathetic dad. As far as I can tell, you did a good job at being her dad." Ruby said to him with a smile.
Roman looked at her surprised, "How can you say that? Have you not listened to what I've been telling you?"
"Oh I have been listening, but… You're wrong about what you said about being pathetic." Ruby said to him, which only confused him all the more.
It was soon Ruby's turn to explain herself, "You know… The whole Destiny was in our care… The only thing she could talk about was you. You were the only thing that was on her mind. She talked about all the things that you do for her, and she really enjoys your company."
Roman looked to her, shocked before asking as his voice cracked slightly, "Did… Did she really say that?"
Ruby nodded her head, "... Whatever your thinking about, I know Destiny doesn't think of you negatively. She wanted to find you as much you wanted to find her. She doesn't care that you failed to protect her, all she wants is to be a family again. That's all she ever wants, now more than ever."
Roman let out a shaky breath as a couple of tears rolled down his cheeks. "Destiny, my little girl.." He said as he laughed a little, "... I swear, she's sounding more and more like her mother…"
He's words started to trail off when both of his eyes closed shut and he slumped over slightly. Ruby took notice of this and her eyes soon widened when she saw his blood seeping through the tarp and was soon quick to realize that he had passed out from blood loss. She quickly went over to him and started to shake his him in an attempt to open his eyes.
"Roman! Roman!" Ruby cried out, "Come on! Don't fall asleep please!"
No matter what she did, he didn't seem to want to open his eyes; his head fell limply to the side. Ruby's eyes widened slightly at this and immediately went to feel his pulse. Her body started to tremble when she felt his pulse was weak.
Ruby literally was unsure of what to do at the moment. All she knew was that she was scared, and that this man before her could be dying. She bit her bottom lip as tears started to form and roll down her cheeks. She tried to shake him awake.
"H-Hey, come on." She said with her voice trembling, "W-wake up You can't fall asleep, y-you hear me? What's Destiny going to think, if she finds out that you died what's she going to think? Please don't die… She needs you… More than you know…"
Ruby's words began to trail off as well, and she started to get dizzy. The wound in her side and arm started to bleed profoundly and she felt her energy leave her. She fell against Roman's body as she passed out as well.
"...uby… Ruby… Ruby! Ruby!"
Ruby's eyes shot open when she heard someone calling out to her. She blinked a few times before her vision cleared; She found, Jaune, Nora and Ren standing just at the foot of her bed. "Guys…?" Ruby said as she groaned while rubbing her eyes finding that she was all bandaged up.
"Hooray! You're finally awake!" Nora cheered.
Ruby let out another groan before she sat up, taking note that she was in her night wear; her side and are were all bandaged up.
"Wha… What happened?" Ruby asked, "Where am I…?"
"We're back in the town." Ren replied, "Their doctor treated you and Roman after we found you in the mines. You were out cold for awhile."
Ruby's eyes widened slightly having a look of worry, "Roman! What about him, is he okay!?"
"Don't worry, he's fine." Jaune said to calm her down, "He's over in the other room with Neo, but he's still asleep."
"Is he…" Ruby said, gulping a little, "... Is he going to be alright?"
"The doctor told us, that you both took a pretty hard hit and lost a lot of blood." Ren explained, "They did a blood transfusion on you and Roman, and he said with plenty of rest the both of you will be able to recover. Though we're going to have to stay in this town longer than we originally thought, until you're both back on your feet."
"Which means we're going to take a small little vacation!" Nora said with a smile.
Ruby let out a sigh of relief when she heard the news about Roman she laid back in her pillows.
"Honestly we were all worried about you and him." Jaune said, "When you guys weren't answering your scrolls we all thought the Grimm managed to get you, or you feel off the tracks. Guess we have to be careful if we ever go underground like that again."
"Yeah, noted." Ruby said to Jaune.
Ruby let out a groan as she turned onto her side as she made herself comfortable, "Man, I actually feel sleepy." Ruby said, "I think I'm gonna take a little nap."
"We'll get out of your hair." Ren said.
"Get some rest Ruby." Jaune said.
"Just don't sleep for too long!" Nora said jokingly.
With that the rest of team left the room leaving Ruby alone as she made herself comfortable. She had gone to sleep a few minutes later.
When Ruby opened her eyes again she found that it was already nighttime, but she had woken up to sounds coming from the next room. She leaned in and recognized the voice belonging to Roman himself. Concerned, she got up from her bed and went to the next room. Luckily she found that the room was open and she peeked in. There she saw Roman, giving shaky breaths as he tossed and turned; He mumbled things that sounded incoherent.
She stepped in and shut the door behind her quietly as to not wake him up. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the words clear from Roman.
"... Stop it…" He said, "... Don't take me there again… Please not again…"
Ruby looked at him with worry as she saw his body tremble out of… Fear…? What could've gotten so him so scared? She soon got her answer when Roman spoke again.
"No… Don't bring me to the Room… Not again…" He groaned, as he gripped the pillow, "... Dad… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"
Ruby lightly gasped at this. It was his dad he was afraid of, why? Ruby soon looked over the scars that showed on his chest, arms, hands and neck. She's seen battle scars when it came to her Uncle Qrow, but… She's never seen ones such as those. She soon thought about what he was saying in his sleep.
The fact that he was apologizing, the fact that he's begging, the fact that his body was shaking out of fear, the fact that he was afraid of a place called the Room, afraid of his own dad.
"He was… Abused…?" Ruby concluded looking shocked. It would seem that would only be the logical explanation. Was he having a nightmare about it, she thought. She couldn't help but feel sad for him. She could only think of two people that would keep nightmares like that away.
His wife, and daughter.
But with his wife gone and his daughter currently missing, the memories of his childhood had come back in spades. With a sigh she did the only thing she could think of at that point.
Jaune, Ren, Nora and Neo had returned to the Inn later that evening after a whole night of celebration with killing the Grimm. Many of the people had did it as gratitude for what they did, and they couldn't help themselves but participate in their own traditions. Nora was asleep on Ren's back, tired from all the fun she had, and all the food she had eaten.
"Man, I never knew that your friend here could eat so much." Neo couldn't help but comment.
"Believe me, she can." Ren replied with a small smile as he looked at Nora's sleeping face.
"Too bad Ruby or Roman couldn't be with us." Jaune said, before holding up a bunch of bags, "But we can show them all the cool gifts we got."
Neo couldn't help but laugh a little, "I can't wait to see the look on Roman's face at the outfit we got him!" She said, "Speaking of which I'm gonna check to see if he's awake yet."
"We're gonna check on Ruby, and put Nora to bed." Jaune said.
Neo nodded and went to the room just next store to their own. She turned the knob and opened the door stepping. She placed the bag on chair nearby before turning to where Roman slept. Her eyes widened slightly before they softened at what she saw; both of her eyes changed to pink when she blinked. Just as this happened Jaune and Ren came rushing in the room.
"Neo!" Jaune exclaimed, looking worried, "It's Ruby she's-"
Neo shushed him quietly before pointing to the bed that Roman was on; both Jaune's and Ren's eyes widened slightly. Their on the bed Roman had a peaceful look on his face as he slept, and Ruby herself, was snuggled next to him sleeping soundly as well. This of course surprised both Jaune and Ren while Neo had a thankful look on her face.
"He looks more peaceful than he did before." Neo said softly with a smile, "That's good. Maybe now he won't have those dreams."
Jaune and Ren looked to Neo, both with perplexed looks on their faces. "What do you mean by that?" Ren asked curiously.
Neo shook her head before ushering them out the door, "Why don't we go and have dinner? We'll bring food up for them later."
They didn't have time to react as Neo gently pushed them out the door, closing it behind them, leaving the young Huntress, and the former thief to rest.
(Ending Theme: Hell Girl Ending 3-Ichinuke TV Sized; Performed By Mamiko Nako)
