A Blood Red Rose
Pt. III
She sang.
She sang the only song she knew, the single song she had composed for the last five years.
She sang the song of war.
In her hands, her instrument played every note perfectly. With her body, she varied the tones and pitches of the melody. Her dance partner. Her friend. Her Enemy. Jaune. Together, they danced to the song. Their bodies pushed against and past each other. Their instruments clashed, giving the song a tempo, a beat for their hearts to match and carry them forward.
She could see the hatred in his eyes, feel it in every movement he took. He went for a double overhead strike, and Ruby blocked it with her scythe shaft. She saw one of them was Pyrrha's blade reforged with bronze bands. She could feel his strength pushing down on her. Knocking the sharp edges to the side, she swung her scythe to create an opening to get a breath in. Beside her, the Red Death smiled as she kept up with their dance, urging her to step up the tempo. Without thinking, Ruby leapt back into the fray. She was blinded by flashes of steel and crimson.
The Red Death caught her hand and spun her like a lover, laughing in her ear as she held her close. Memories flooded her mind; of all the other times, the Red Death had helped her. How she lifted her up from the Bullhead wreckage when Atlas attacked Vale, that was when she taught Ruby how to kill. To grant a merciful end in this horrible world. "What would be better?" The Red Death asked her as she stood over a bleeding soldier so many years ago. "For them to suffer and become nothing more than chew toys for the Grimm, or to paint them red like roses?"
That was her first act as a soldier, to paint their enemies red like roses.
Spinning in place, a clashing echoed in the air as her scythe was blocked by Jaune's swords. Over and over again, Ruby swung her weapon around her body to create a zone that he could not get close to. Knowing her movements, the Red Death quickly stepped into the area and moved with her, dancing intimately. They moved as one, never more than a few inches from each other as the fight continued. Like two lost halves, they danced and touched each other, never missing a beat.
"Do you remember?" the Red Death asked, a whisper in her mind. "The first time we danced like this?" Their hands locked, and Ruby was launched towards Jaune with a scream. Their blades clashed, sending sparks out into the air. Jaune was pushed into the defence, backing up as Ruby continued to swing her scythe. Without his shield, he was forced to use both blades to counter the full momentum of her attacks. "The canvas we painted that day was beautiful," the Red Death continued as Ruby ducked under another strike and shot up into the air, kicking Jaune in the chin as she went.
Knocking him back, Ruby quickly shot a round into the ground, sending her flying back to dodge another series of slashes. Before she could land, however, Jaune surprised her by sprinting forward and dropping his shoulder into her stomach and carried her away into a light pole nearby. The pain exploded in her spine as she cried out, her voice lost in the screaming night sky. With one arm pinning her in place, he drew his other arm back, blade in hand and aimed it right at her face.
"YOU LET HER DIE!" He screamed as the tip of Pyrrha's sword came flying towards her face. Ruby had only a moment to focus her Aura and jerk her head to the side to try and avoid the sharp edge. She felt her Aura flair in defence as the attack was deflected in a shimmer of red and a pinch of her hair falling down to the ground. Pulling the sword back, he was preparing to do it again when Ruby kicked out and knocked the man away from her. The Red Death was next to her in a moment, twirling around her and gripping Crescent Rose, their silver eyes connected, and Ruby released the weapon.
Spinning in place, the Red Death released her semblance, sprinkling the ground in rose petals as she twisted the weapon in her hands. This gave Ruby a chance to catch her breath as she watched Jaune charge towards the Red Death. The two picked up each other's movements quickly. Jaune's quick and powerful strikes being deflected and blocked by scythe and by razor petals. A storm of crimson came from the Red Death's will and covered the area in roses. Leaping into the air, the Red Death slashed downward, sending an Aura strike straight down on top of him with petals travelling in its wake.
With only blades to block with, Jaune focused his Aura into the weapons and was knocked back by the attack, giving the Red Death the chance to jump in with another slash. With one blade, he blocked the attack and twisted his arm to lock in the weapon close to his body. With his other, he went for a hit against her. The Red Death saw this and lifted her hand to block, pooling a collection of petals in the palm of her hand that held the blade in place to force a deadlock. Ruby saw her chance and began to sprint into the fray.
Using her semblance, Ruby slid under their arms and took hold of Crescent Rose as she came out on the other side. With the momentum of her semblance, she pulled Jaune off centre and planting her feet, she threw her weight and tossed him through the wall of a building nearby. All she could hear was her own ragged breaths and her heart hammering in her ears; she was almost hot by the singing sword being thrown right at her. Quickly dodging out of the way, she looked back at her enemy and saw him charging directly at her. With a savage backhand, he knocked the weapon away from her when she blocked it. A thrust of his sword to her stomach lifted Ruby into the air. Vermillion Aura struggling to remain intact as she was dropped to the ground with another slash across her back.
Before another slash could connect, she rolled out of the way and collapsed the scythe and took aim. Pulling the trigger, she shot a round into Jaune's chest and knocked him back. Two more rounds bounced off his Aura, giving her space to roll to her feet and coming up with a plan. Her Aura was dangerously low, and she could not risk another concentrated Aura Stim without the risk of passing out after injecting two at the beginning of this fight. She needed to end this right now. With a spin of her weapon, the scythe expanded out again as Jaune rushed forward once more. With practice, Ruby dropped the magazine and slapped in a fresh one as she aimed the spear tip at the end of her shaft right at the man and fired a gravity round and let go, launching the weapon straight at him.
Crescent Rose shot out like a missile with the Dust infused bullet. It sailed across the air with the shaft slipping in the space between Jaune's stomach and his arm. Before he could do anything about it, the large scythe blade covered his waist and knocked him off his feet as he flew into a wall. The shaft punctured the wall, and with no way to get his one arm out, he could not pry the weapon off, giving Ruby her chance. Turning, she ran a few steps back and skidded to a halt before tensing her legs and sprinting full force towards her enemy. Triggering her semblance, she put all her Aura into her speed as the world blurred around her. At the last moment, she jumped into the air and brought her feet up to dropkick the head of Crescent Rose. Letting the combined momentum carry them through the wall into the abandoned building.
Falling on her back, she did her best to block the bricks that fell from above her, with others digging into her spine. Her body cried out for mercy, to just rest for a little while but her enemy was still around. Rolling over and pushing herself to her feet with a groan, she looked at her surroundings and saw her weapon lying on the ground. Picking it up, she loaded the next round into the chamber and looked around inside the darkroom. Dust was making it hard to see inside the darkness, but a wet cough caught her attention. Turning, she saw him lying on the ground.
Behind her, the Red Death appeared. Her pale hand running across her chest, smearing blood across her blouse while the other rested across her waist, her body pressed up behind Ruby's. An equally intoxicating and disgusting smell of blood and hate coming off of her. "Paint him," Her voice whispered in her ear, sticky lips pressed against the back of her neck.
"Red like roses," Ruby finished the mantra she had heard time and time again from her dark reflection. Stepping towards him, she raised her weapon up and got ready to run the tip of her scythe straight through his neck to let the crimson flow like water.
"Ruby?"
She stopped.
No one called her Ruby. Not anymore. The only people who called her by her name was her mother, the Red Death and her friends. This was the first time she heard her name with her ears, rather than a voice already inside her head. She had not heard her name be spoken since Weiss.
She looked down at Jaune, really looked at him and felt her stomach lurch. Blood covered his mouth, it stained his armour and was pooling around him. Everything below his hips was missing, his entrails falling out of his body from the open wound. His legs were just gone. He stared up at the ceiling, blinking as tears rolled down his face. "Ruby," his voice was strained, and she could hear the blood in his lungs. "What have I done?"
Ruby fell to her knees next to him. Her weapon clattered harmlessly on the ground as she moved her hands over his body, scared to touch him, afraid to lose him too. "Jaune, I- I'm sorry!" Tears rolled down Ruby's eyes as she stared at the carnage she had done to him. What was left of his body shook as he coughed up more blood, he tried to cover his mouth, but there was only a stump where one his hand was supposed to be.
"Oh god, Nora…" He covered his face as he cried, and Ruby could do nothing. "I killed her, I killed my friend! She was like a sister to me, and I killed her! Ruby, I'm sorry!" his apologies echoed in the building, his ragged cries filled the air between them as Ruby just stayed by his side.
"Why, Jaune. Why did you do all this?"
"I did it for her,"
Something shifted, and Ruby looked. She saw the Red Death standing in the opening their fight had created. She stared down at the dying, willing him to bleed out faster. Something clicked in Ruby's mind at the sight of the Red Death. "You listened to her?" Jaune listened to the Red Death?
"I needed her," his voice was so soft now, "I was weak, I needed her and I did everything for her. My Goddess,"
"You did this," Ruby growled, turning to the Red Death. "You did this to him!"
"Everyone has Death inside of them, Ruby," the Red Death said softly. "He just listened to his."
Looking back to her friend, her first friend. The light was fading from him as he coughed again, sending crimson flowing down his chin and cheeks. Reaching out, she grasped his remaining hand and squeezed. She cupped his cheek and looked into his eyes. "It's okay, Jaune," she whispered to him, tears spilling onto his face, carving channels through the blood. "Your war is over, you can stop now." Just a little bit longer, she just needed to hold on for just a few more seconds. "She's waiting for you,"
His eyes focused on something beyond her, "I am..." the light faded from his eyes. His body relaxed. Ruby clung to him, but he still left her.
Jaune Arc was gone.
And Ruby wept.
The dam broke, and she cried, screaming into his chest as she held him close. His hand slipping from her as she pulled his body closer to her. Rocking him gently, she mourned for her friend. So many of her friends had died in this war, and she could not take it anymore. When the tears had stopped, she lowered Jaune back onto the ground and dragged her fingers down his face, leaving red trails as his eyes closed. Leaning over, she pressed her forehead against his and whispered to him one last time. "I'm sorry," she kissed his forehead before laying him down and standing up.
Turning, she left the building through the hole and looked around. The sky was filled with ships and Grimm. She noticed that the ground was shaking even more now, and a roar filled the air. Next to her, Ruby found a fire escape and began to climb the ladder. Her body protested the strain it took to pull her body weight up, but she persisted until she finally made it, only to feel her heart drop at what she was seeing.
Smashing its way into the city was a monstrosity of a Grimm. Easily the size of the Spider Grimm she had fought in Vacuo. A massive turtle with a snake on it's back. All around it, the Grimm horde invaded the city, their cries of bloodshed drowning out the sounds of gunfire. Tearing her eyes away from the horrors advancing on her, she looked down at the street below. Easily seven stories up. She had no Aura left, even if she did survive the fall, the Grimm would make quick work of her.
She really hoped she died on landing.
Pushing herself up onto the ledge, she balanced on edge and took a deep breath and began to lean forward.
"Ruby!"
Her mother's shout startled her back from the ledge and turned to her. She saw both her mother and the Red Death standing side by side. "Please, don't do this," Her mother begged.
"What's the point?" Ruby asked. "Everyone is dead, and the Grimm are coming. There's nothing left." She turned and put her foot back on the ledge.
"There is still work to be done!" the Red Death called out. "There are still enemies!"
"Let them kill each other," Ruby said as she jumped up and balanced on the ledge. "I'm done fighting,"
The Grimm swarm began to shift. She saw the colossal Grimm turn and start heading towards her, demolishing a building with a single step. The creatures on the ground began to climb the buildings around her, drawn to her sorrow. It was starting to look more likely that the Grimm would get to her first before gravity does. It really did not matter, she just wanted it all to end.
"There are still people out there, people that need help!" She saw her mother walk up to her side and look at her with pleading eyes. This causes Ruby to scoff and gesture to the armageddon around them.
"How?! How the fuck am I supposed to stop this!?"
"The Silver Light," The Red Death came up to her other side. "It can do this,"
"I can't use it!" She shouted at the Red Death, "I don't know how to make it work!"
"Think, Ruby," Her mother pulled her attention. "When Cinder killed Pyrrha, what did you feel?" Anger. Sadness. Guilt. She just watched three friends die right in front of her eyes, now she is forced to remember Pyrrha's again. "Remember, my daughter, my precious rose petal. What did you need to do?"
Kill. This was the easy answer, but something pulled from deep in Ruby's soul, a need to do something else. The Grimm was closing in now. They were clawing up the building she was on, maybe two floors below her. They swarmed around the buildings around her as everything shook with every step the turtle took towards her.
"You wanted to save her, you needed to protect her,"
Yes, she did. She wanted to protect all her friends. Penny, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora. Weiss, Yang, Blake. One by one, flashes of her friends invaded her mind. Warm smiles and soft laughter of better times, times she wanted to hold onto. Her mother cupped her cheeks and forced Ruby to look at her face. Her silver eyes began to glow as tears slipped from down her cheeks. "That's the secret, my child. You must protect them, protect the warmth, protect their smiles. Protect their love."
She felt it, building up inside of her. A thousand images of her friends, her family, of all the times she cherished all flooding back to her. She needed to save them. To protect them. The pressure in her soul came to a boil, and she screamed as everything was drowned in light.
Opening her eyes, she stared up at a cloudy sky. There was no Grimm in view, blessed silence filled the air around her. Slowly, she pulled herself to her feet and looked around. Just like at the dam, stone Grimm was all she saw. Even the colossal turtle a block away had turned to stone. In the sky, she saw Bullhead and larger ships moving away from the city. The enemy was retreating, and the sun was beginning to rise. She had saved the people on the ground from the monsters coming from the sea.
Her head swam with a thousand thoughts, never staying in one place for Ruby to work through it before being replaced with two more. She could hear the Red Death and Summer Rose trying to talk to her, but she was so tired. Tired of everything. Tired of hearing them talk and argue with each other. Tired of the Grimm, of the enemy, of fighting. Taking a step forward, Ruby leaned against the ledge and stared down at the ground below.
She just hoped it would be painless.
A/N: This.
This is one of the moments I have been waiting for since the start of the series and It's finally here!
Unfortunately, my usual editor was unavailable at the moment and I just couldn't wait any longer to post this one. So I edited myself with him doing a better job at a later date, so please be nice to me.
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