Welcome to the one-year anniversary of this story! While this has only been recently added to this site, I have been actually writing this for a full year now and excited to continue. If you've been here since the beginning then thank you so much for staying with me through all the darkness and angst. And if you've just discovered this story then welcome, I hope you are enjoying the series so far. My Angst train is like Hotel California, you can get on but you can never get off.
As a gift for everyone, I have prepared a double chapter adventure! I have combined Ruby's chapter with Weiss's to create a much longer chapter for everyone to enjoy, (As well as I couldn't think of much to make Weiss's chapter substantial.)
There is also something I wish to talk to everyone about at the end of the chapter so take the time to read that there.
And this is also the little warning to let you know that the following chapter has a scene of explicit sexual content, so reader be warned!
The Mirror and The Reaper
Pt. III
A lone howl pierced the air, jolting Ruby awake. She had no idea when she fell asleep. Sitting on the ground, leaning on one knee, she lifted her head to gaze around her surroundings. Silver light shone through the small spaces between the slats of the wooden hatch that divided them from the horde that just waited outside. While once she would have tried to peek since the initial horde had passed; she could still feel the vibrations and the calls of slower, larger Grimm coming towards them.
Looking over, she saw Weiss sitting across from her with her battle plate sitting on the ground next to her. She was holding her side while staring up at the entrance to their safe haven. The wound was long healed, but the sticky red blood remained on her perfect pale skin and tinted her white hair a light pink near where she had injured it. Her weapon was within arms reach, and the same could be said for Ruby. In the back of her mind, she could hear the whispers coming; the Red Death calling: Get her. Kill her. End her. But Ruby knew that they needed to be quiet, or else they would both be dead.
Picking at the scabs on the inside of her right arm just for something to do, she counted the rotten wooden shelves again and sighed heavily. She needed a hit but did not want Weiss to drag her into an argument about it; again, bringing all the Grimm down on them. So she sat there while the whispers continued to get louder. Gritting her teeth, and shutting her eyes tightly, she tried to think of anything else... anything other than how red Weiss's blood was.
"Red,"
"It's red,"
"Such a lovely shade of red,"
"Shut up..."
"What?"
Opening her eyes, she saw Weiss looking at her, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Nothing," Ruby pushed her away and turned to the side, avoiding her gaze.
Weiss was silent for a while before speaking again."You've been mumbling about something for a while now..." she cleared her throat and sighed deeply. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Her response was an immediate, "No!"
Weiss huffed lightly while pushing some soiled hair out of her face.
"Well, it's not like we have anything else to do..."
"No."
"Ruby..."
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not," Weiss raised her voice just a fraction, reminiscent of their time back in Beacon when Ruby would push her homework away in favour of playing a game with Yang or reading a book with Blake. "Ruby please, talk to me. What happened?"
The red cloaked woman thought about it. She thought of the fall of Vale, of watching Penny, Roman, and Pyrrha die right in front of her eyes; of Yang and the loss of her arm; of Blake abandoning them; and of Weiss being taken away... She remembered the day Jaune's mind broke and what few of her friends she had left began to drift away. Nora stopped talking and Ren tried to be as positive as he could in his condition. She remembered when the war was officially declared. She remembered the first time she killed a person.
And then she remembered the next, and the next, and the next. "I grew up," was Ruby's seemingly emotionless response.
Another bout of familiar uncomfortable silence settled between them, as neither woman knew what to say to the other. The silence stretched on into unbearable measures. Ruby was still picking at the injection site on her arm while Weiss stared up at either the door or at her. Her pale blue eyes were staring deeply into Ruby's soul. The Red Death continued to whisper in her mind; it seemed like there were five of them in her head, telling her to kill Specialist Schnee right now. She gritted her teeth, grabbed ahold of her hair, and pulled it roughly, hoping to let the pain cut through the fog in her mind.
"Ruby, are you sure you're okay?" Weiss looked over at her and slowly got up to walk towards her.
"I said I'm fine!" Ruby bit back as she took some deep breaths.
"Oh well, fine then; if you say so..." The Specialist folded her arms and stared down at her.
"Thank you," she replied, glad for this conversation to be over.
Weiss's shoulders just sagged and she sighed, "I was being facetious..."
"Well I don't have any food, so we're both shit out of luck."
"That...that's not what that means," Weiss sighed with a tired, defeated tone to her voice. "Please?"
"Why do you even care?!" Ruby's voice cut through the still silence as she shot up to her feet to stare Weiss down. Although she meant the act to be symbolic at first; she found that she was actually looking significantly down at her. Ruby knew she had grown a bit over the last few years, but did not think it was that much. "Since when have you ever cared about me? All you cared about were your grades and that I was such a poor choice in a partner that you thought Ozpin made a mistake!" Her voice a harsh whisper to stop the Grimm from being drawn from the noise.
Weiss suddenly took a few steps back, her hands up in the air to show she meant no harm. "Ruby, please just think this through, if you make any more noise the Grimm will come and kill you too."
Ruby was about to retort with sarcasm about the fact that she already knew that when she followed Weiss's eyes. In her hands was Crescent Rose in the compact rifle form. Staring at her weapon, she did not even know when she grabbed it or even unfolded it to fire at the Specialist. A cold chill of fear and terror ran up her spine as she felt her finger curl around the trigger; her body simply moving of its own accord.
Her hand shook as she forced her finger off the trigger, the spring slowly moving back into place as her grip finally loosened; the weapon falling from her hands and into the dirt at her feet. She looked at her shaking hands as if they were not hers. Pain shot through her head as the Red Death screamed at her to kill her enemy, Ruby cried out and clutched her head and pulled at her hair, trying to anchor herself to reality as she began to hyperventilate.
Falling to her knees, tears dripped from her eyes as she tried to understand what was happening to her. Just as quickly as she fell, a pair of hands were on her shoulders. Looking up, she saw Weiss staring at her, wide eyed and with some sort of mix of worry and horror in her eyes. "Ruby, what's wrong?" she asked as she tried to see what was wrong. But she could not see, no one could see the darkness that lurks inside the mind. Ruby shook her head and grit her teeth. She tightened the grip on her hair to stop her hands from strangling Weiss. "Just talk to her."
She opened her eyes as her mother's voice broke through the screams of the Red Death. She looked up at Weiss and shook her head.
"Please Ruby, just say something. Anything."
"I don't know..." she croaked out, her voice rough from the crying and lack of water. "There's something inside me, and I don't know how to fight it; I just don't know anymore." She broke down into tears as Weiss wrapped her arms around her and held her close, fingers gently moving through her dirty hair and rubbing circles on her back trying to calm the crying girl. Just as she was beginning to calm down, she heard the sound of the wooden supports that held the ceiling up creaking as something large walked on top of their hiding spot.
Ruby instantly stopped her crying and they both held their breaths. She yelled at herself inside of her mind because of her crying; with all the negative emotions that flowed out of her just now, she had drawn the Grimm to them. The sound of careful sniffing filled the void as the steps grew closer and closer to the door while they tried to be as quiet as they possible. The silver light of the moon was blocked out as something approached the hatch and tried to find them, sniffing heavily...
Silver and cerulean eyes connected one last time; they both knew this was the end. There was not enough room inside the cellar for Ruby to use her scythe and Weiss did not have enough Dust to make a barrier strong enough to last. With almost no Aura between the two of them, there was nothing they could do but wait.
"I guess this is it." Weiss lowered her gaze slowly as she spoke, sitting on her knees in front of the cloaked woman.
"I guess so." Ruby wiped her eyes and her nose on the sleeve of her shirt and took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was to come. Her attention was drawn away from her final thoughts when Weiss gently placed a hand on her own. In the darkness of the shadows, Ruby could barely see a light tint of pink gracing Weiss's features. She felt her throat tighten as blue eyes met hers once more and moved towards her. She was frozen in place as Weiss slowly inched closer and closer to her.
"Ruby," she whispered her name softly, so softly, "since we're going to die, I want to do one thing before the Grimm come barging in and kill us."
"What's that?" Ruby whispered back.
Instead of saying anything, Weiss continued to lean in slowly. Her free hand came up and gently brushed against her cheek, pushing her hair out of her face and cupping her head lightly. Weiss' touches set her skin on fire as she felt her hot breath on her face. Unprepared for what was happening, Ruby was startled when Weiss's lips pressed against her own. She felt the rough, dry lips move against hers as her eyes fluttered closed and she soaked in the sensation that overcame her.
Then something happened to Ruby. She could still hear the sounds around her, the scraping of claws on the wooden door, the hammering of her heart in her ears, but her mind was silent. The whispers of the Red Death died and the pleading calls of her mother faded. For the first time in so long, her mind was so silent it scared her. Had it always been this silent before everything happened?
Before long, Weiss pulled back and blinked a few times while she gently licked her lips, unsure if what she did was right or not.
Ruby looked her deeply in the eyes and quickly closed the gap between them, mashing her lips against Weiss's in an attempt to continue the silence that had enveloped her mind. Her hands came up to her smooth skin and slipped into her white hair. Neither of them cared as Ruby's fingers smeared the sticky blood that clung to the side of her head into her hair, dyeing even more of her platinum locks pink. Fingers gripped and found the tiara that held her ponytail in place and slipped it out, letting her hair fall as lips began to push and suck on each other.
As they kissed, hands were moving all over, feeling for any and all exposed skin they could find. She wanted to feel more, more of Weiss's skin. Her hands began to trail down her neck, the whispers the Red Death were silent and her fingers slipped harmlessly from her neck to the beautiful blue stone that was embedded into the clasp that held her blue shrug together and fumbled with it until it came undone. With it loosened, Ruby quickly slipped her fingers past the sheer fabric and touched the smooth skin under it.
She felt the moan escape Weiss's lips as the two of them finally pulled back for air for a few moments before diving back in. The sounds of the Grimm above them were gone; with all negative emotions gone, the beasts left to search for something else to occupy them, but neither woman noticed... Weiss let Ruby go for a moment to help the younger woman push the article of clothing off her shoulders and expose her bare arms. Coming back, the Specialist began to pull at the clip that held her cloak in place and slipped that off her shoulders. Lost in the heat and the lust, clothing was hastily pulled at, each trying to expose more skin to the other.
The moment the strings of her corset were loosened and Weiss reached around to quickly unhook it, a rush of air filled her lungs as the pressure on her chest was suddenly undone and the taut muscles beneath it rapidly relaxed. Normally, Ruby undid her corset slowly to avoid this, but the woman that was pressing against her was running this show at the moment... A sudden rush of light headedness flooded her mind as she continued to feel up the sun kissed skin that belonged to someone who was once her enemy. She could feel scars of battles past, like landmarks on a map that told the story of Weiss Schnee, Specialist of the Atlas Military.
Weiss tossed the article of clothing to the side before they found each other again in the silver light of the shattered moon coming through the cracks of the cellar door. Weiss's skin shone in the light, a sight Ruby never thought was beautiful before but now it was all she could think of. Dexterous fingers pulled at the buttons that held the white blouse in place. The older woman nearly ripped it off her body before her fingers began tracing her skin, leaving flames wherever they touched. Her lips found her neck and Ruby was about to cry out from the sudden pleasure when a hand came over her mouth to silence her.
Ruby could hardly stay still as Weiss held her hand over her mouth to keep her from moaning and bringing attention back to their hiding place. Her fingers dug into the ground under her as Weiss continued her assault on her skin, trailing her lips and tongue down her body and forcing the simple military bra up and over her breasts, exposing them to the silver light and to the white haired beauty before her. Before Ruby could cover herself, Weiss's free hand came up and began to cup one of them. She traced the hardened nipple with her thumb and traced her lips across her chest before finally coming up to capture her lips once more.
Ruby could taste the salt of her sweat on Weiss's lips as a tongue invaded her mouth with a deepening kiss. Her legs began to kick as Weiss's fingers began to trace a tingling trail down her body, past her navel and slipping down into the hem of her skirt. With a sudden push from the woman in blue, Ruby fell onto her back as Weiss all but mounted her. Careful to keep muffling Ruby's noises with her lips, she cried out Weiss's name into her mouth as her fingers found the source of a throbbing heat that had been steadily increasing since they began.
The belts were pushed off and a warm hand slipped into the hem of her skirt and the underwear she was given. Fingers slipped through the small patch of hairs until they found the moistened folds, causing her to squirm and shift against her. Bucking her hips into the hand, she groaned into Weiss's mouth again as her body shivered at the contact. Sweat began to bead down her forehead, making her skin shine in the moonlight as the pressure continued to build inside of her.
The white-haired woman broke the deep kiss to breathe, causing the woman under her to whine at the loss of her lips. The whine quickly changed to a moan as a finger invaded her body, forcing Weiss to slap her hand over Ruby's mouth once again. With her noises muffled, Weiss whispered into her ear for silence as she continued the rhythmic pumping of her fingers into her sex. Ruby reached out blindly and held onto the arm that was currently moving against her body, driving her closer and closer to a breaking point.
Like the flip of a switch, Ruby's body contorted and arched as she let out a muffled cry of pleasure. Her legs stretched out and trembled as Weiss continued her assault with her fingers, her lips quickly joining in as they pressed against her throat and nipped at her skin, forcing her to ride out the length of orgasm as her muscles tensed up then finally relaxed. Her body felt heavy as it fell onto the ground, her legs twitching slightly as she sucked in deep breaths once Weiss removed her hand from her mouth and her fingers slipped out of her sex.
Ruby tried to speak, but all that came out was incoherent murmurs as Weiss peppered her neck with kisses. "Sleep Ruby," her lover whispered to her. She could already feel her eyelids growing heavier, her blinks becoming longer as a chill ran through her body. Deep breaths calmed her beating heart, the tremors in her body finally subsiding as her body gave up resistance to consciousness. As her mind began to drift, there were no whispers to tempt her, no pleading to guilt her. Just silence, and for the first time in a long while, she dreamt of nothing.
Sun crept across the desert, shining through the cracked cellar door and attacking her closed eyes. Weiss inhaled sharply as she woke up with a start; sitting up quickly, she looked around her to confirm that she was alive. She felt her body, her heart still beat inside her chest and her lungs filled with the stale, muggy air around them. She was alive. She blew out a sigh of relief as she looked over and saw the discarded white blouse as well as the red and black corset.
Looking back behind her, she saw the bare, dirty back of Ruby as she slept soundly on her side. Her bra was still pushed up over her breasts as she slept soundly, curled up like a child. Shame and guilt flooded her mind. She took advantage of Ruby while she was having a mental breakdown right in front of her. She may have kissed her back, but that did not excuse her for what she did, even if she seemed to enjoy it. With a sigh, she gently grabbed the red, tattered cloak that belonged to Ruby and draped it over her, letting the young woman sleep.
Ruby clutched at the cloak and wrapped it around herself before falling onto her back and mumbling something. Weiss shook her head and tried her best to push the thoughts of what she did to the younger woman last night from her head, but they could not be settled. The sound of her voice and the way she called out her name was intoxicating in its own right, what began as the actions of a dying woman became something so much more, something she wished she could have done in a better life.
Leaning down, she gently brushed some of the dark, red tinted hair out of her face and whispered another apology for last night. Maybe once she woke up, they could talk about it like reasonable adults and work something out. She studied the woman for a few more moments before sighed deeply, still trying to process everything that happened over the last few days. From uncovering a secret plot, to fighting Ruby in a dying city, to fighting for survival from a monstrous Grimm, and their reconnection as partners under the threat of being killed at any moment.
While their night had been pleasurable on both fronts, Weiss could not help but to feel increasingly worried for Ruby the more she considered what had happened. While her muscles were strong in her arms and legs, she could feel the ribs just under the surface of her skin. Her cheeks had a slight hollow to them while her eyes had heavy bags and were sunken in slightly. Everything pointed to her not eating or sleeping right. Weiss could not help but feel that she was to blame for it. If only she had not simply broken under her father's will, maybe she could have prevented this somehow.
Alone with her thoughts, she looked over to the weapon that almost ended her life just a few hours ago. Gently, she picked up the red sniper scythe and looked it over. Her worry for the younger woman only grew as she saw a number of cuts and scratches on the weapon's form; marks that could easily be repaired were being dismissed. She turned and examined it further, finding sand and grit caught in places that should be clean, other pieces loose and plates that needed to be replaced.
From the number of times Ruby forced her to examine the weapon and from all the time she shoved 'her sweetheart' in Weiss' face to show off some new modification; she easily found the switch to transform the weapon into rifle form and discovered more disrepair. The trigger and magazine latch were loose, parts dented and impacted that would have driven Ruby to the maintenance room in a flurry of petals back at Beacon were present with no signs of being repaired anytime soon.
Opening the weapon fully, Weiss inspected the scythe blade and found it nicked and dulled in some parts. Weiss shook her head as her fingers carefully traced the once perfect object of Ruby's affection, realising it was now just simple tool for killing. Just to be used and put away, the care and love were missing. Weiss stared at the mistreated weapon and shook her head. Things are so much worse than she thought if Ruby was ignoring the care and maintenance of her beloved Crescent Rose.
Her thoughts were pulled away when an arm suddenly shot out and grasped the shaft of the Scythe. Ruby stood next to her, a dangerous look on her face. She had pulled the bra back over her chest to cover herself. The next thing Weiss noticed was the creeping red veins running up and down her arm from a series of scabs in the crook of her elbow. Blue eyes widened as she saw the terrible thing that Ruby had been doing to herself. "Ruby..." she breathed as silver eyes tracked to where she was looking. Quickly, she yanked the weapon from Weiss's grasp and walked back to the pile of clothing and began to dress.
"Ruby, what is that?" she asked as Ruby buttoned up her white blouse quickly and got her corset back on.
"Nothing," she said in the same tone as she had used last night. As she tightened the laces, her posture adjusted itself to keep her spine straight when wielding a weapon like hers. Weiss was having none of it. She quickly grabbed Ruby's hand when she was trying to lace her bracers back on, only to yank it back roughly. Weiss was stunned by the look of murder in her eyes, like the person she was talking to was not Ruby anymore. It only lasted a second before Ruby gritted her teeth with a growl and shook her head.
"That's not nothing!" she all but shouted at her as Ruby double checked something in a pouch and put her belt back on.
"It's not your problem."
"What is your problem?!" Weiss yelled at her. She just continued to watch the woman before as she put her things back in order; slipping the cloak back over her shoulders and pinning in place with her emblem. Without looking back, Ruby ascended the stairs and opened the hatch just enough to look around before pushing it all the way open and stepping outside. Weiss was hot on her heels calling her name as she went. Finally, the red cloaked woman turned around and waited for Weiss to reach her, the dry winds making alabaster locks flow and the red cloak flutter around them.
"Ruby! Please! I just want to talk. You're not okay!" That earned a glare from Ruby as she just looked out to the desert and gritted her teeth. "I could feel your bones through your skin, you have bags under your eyes and you're doing things you've never done before. Just tell me what's wrong!"
"What, just because you fingered me you automatically care about me all of a sudden?"
"That's not-"
"NOTHING IS WRONG WITH ME!" Ruby bellowed out, causing Weiss to take a step back in surprise. "I am fighting! I am doing my job! It's all I can do!" Pain crossed her face as she held her head and shook slightly. It was more of the same from last night, she could hear Ruby mumbling something under her breath but could not make any of it out.
"Ruby-"
"SHUT UP!"
Weiss froze and stayed still as Ruby came back up and looked at her.
"Just, stay away from me." Her voice was weak and cracking, her gaze was looking past her, shifting from Weiss to something behind her. Weiss did not take her eyes off her former leader and wanted nothing but to just hold her and let her cry, but she was not sure if she was going to get hurt. Since trying to get her to let it out gently had not been working, Weiss tried a different tactic.
"Ruby Rose!" Weiss stood up straight and shouted at her. Ruby stopped and just looked at her. "You are better than this. You are a leader and a Huntress!"
"I'm not a Huntress!" Ruby shouted back, a terrified look in her silver eyes as she spread her hands out in front of her. "I've killed people, Weiss! Their blood is on my hands! I'm no better than a Grimm!" she cried out as she took a step backwards and shook her head, "I'm a monster, this war has turned me into a monster."
Weiss shook her head and quickly ran towards her and held her close. "No, Ruby. You're not," she told her as she squeezed her tightly, "This war has done terrible things to people, but it's not your fault. It's the White Fang. They started this war, they dressed up as Mistrali soldiers and brought this war upon everyone." She pulled back and cupped Ruby's face gently, her thumb stroking her cheek; and stared into her silver eyes, "You did nothing wrong."
Weiss felt Ruby mirror her movements, her hands cupping her cheeks and she leaned into the movement. She stared into her silver eyes, lost in pools of colour. She did not feel when her strong hands slipped from her cheeks to her neck. Only when she felt thumbs press against her throat did she notice the change in Ruby's eyes, from soft mercury to hard steel. Weiss was afraid as her air was slowly cut off for just a moment before shaking hands were pried off. Ruby looked at her own hands in horror as she took a step back.
"Goodbye, Weiss..." and she was gone. The only thing left of her was a trail of floating red rose petals that flowed away in the breeze. Weiss caught one of them and ran her fingers along it; even Ruby's petals felt wrong. What was once light and soft, was now greasy and grainy. She looked up to try and spot the woman, only to be greeted by the endless sands on all sides. Ruby was gone, there was nothing left for her here now.
Cutting her shrug into strips, she created a makeshift head wrap to keep the sun at bay as she slipped the battle plate back over her chest. With what little dust that remained, she used it to cool her body as she downed what little water was left in the canteen on her belt for the coming journey. With her weapon at her side, she checked the sun's location and started to head for the coast, but not before looking back at where Ruby ran off to one last time. Weiss gave a bittersweet smile as remembered the smiling face of a Rose she once knew and silently wished her luck before she began her own trek through the unforgiving deserts of Vacuo.
A/N: 35 chapters and 1700 words later, they finally kiss.
I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter as an anniversary present it really does mean a lot to me to know people have been reading this story for an entire year and not grown bored of it yet. Even though all I do is angst and pain and stuff.
Onto the important news: Commissions!
A few people have asked me about this before and I thought I'd just share it with the people who haven't reached out to be to ask.
I don't do commissions, I have a well-paying job and advancing in a career that I like and I do this as a hobby and as something I like to do. And it's you guys who comment and say things that keep me coming back to produce chapter after chapter. Now some people wish they could do more than leaving a favourite and write a few lines saying their thoughts on a chapter, there is nothing wrong with that.
If you really want to support me by using your own personal money for something, go and find an artist or writer that need the money to eat or keep their bills paid. I'm fortunate enough that I make enough to eat and sleep in comfort while others are not. Go find them and just donate a little for them, it'll make their day as much as reading comments makes mine. Go find an artist and go commission your favourite scene from a story, it doesn't even have to be this story, just any think you love. Or even just tell your friends, say "Hey, have you read this shit yet? it's dark and it has drugs and sex in it and it's angsty as all hell! It's dope as shit!"
(I don't know if people actually say dope or it's a thing people say on tv...)
Big thanks to StreetAngelJ for taking the time out of his busy days to edit, proofread and general idea bouncing. Without him, this story would not be as fantastic as it would be otherwise.
On that note, I don't mind if you want to put in a few ideas for stories or concept that would sound really really cool. Tell me! I love talking about anything and everything.
With that done, if you enjoyed, leave a favouriate If you already have, leave a comment! Like I said before, I love talking to anyone and everyone about anything RWBY or general nerd stuff. This story is also posted on AO3 so if you read stuff there come show your support as well!
And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read mymadness of madess!