Spoilers for the end of volume 8 ahead. Enjoy!
Hitting the water knocks the air out Ruby's lungs.
She's been falling for so long that she's lost track of time. It feels like an eternity. Ruby thinks that she remembers Blake once talking about how landing in water after falling from a very tall height would feel the same as landing on a very hard surface, like concrete, in response to Nora describing her plan to build Remnant's tallest diving board.
Well, like usual, it turns out that Blake was right. The slap of hitting the water's surface sends a stinging shock throughout Ruby's body, instantly zapping away any aura she had left after the fight with Cinder and Neo. She plunges beneath the surface, gasping and sputtering and struggling to right herself. After a few moments of flailing, her head breaks through to the air and she treads in place as she gratefully catches her breath.
Despite the chill of the water, relief washes over her in waves. She's alive. When she'd fallen off the path that had been created for them to travel to Vacuo, Ruby had thought that she was dead for sure. And yet here she is, exhausted and sore and soaked to the bone, but otherwise okay.
Her heart leaps with joy when she realizes that this means that both Yang and Blake must be alive as well, then. The all-encompassing grief and rage that had overtaken her upon watching her sister fall after taking a hit for her eases a little. Her sister and teammate must be down here somewhere. Ruby will just have to find them.
With renewed hope and determination, Ruby turns slowly until she can make out a glimpse of land in the distance and starts swimming towards it as fast as she can. She's tired and cold and just wants to sleep for at least a week, but having a goal in sight is enough to keep her moving for now.
It doesn't take long, maybe a few minutes, before the water gradually grows shallower. Soon enough, it's not so deep that her feet can't touch the bottom, and Ruby finds herself slogging slowly towards land.
She's been so focused on getting to the island she'd spotted that she hadn't really paid attention to what the island in question even looked at, but when the sight finally registers in her brain she stops in her tracks, staring at it in shock and pushing her sopping wet bangs out of her face as the chilly saltwater swirls around her legs.
The sight in front of her is one of the most beautiful—and strangest—things she's ever seen. Right in front of her is a beach, dotted with palm trees. She can make out something red and gleaming embedded in the sand. Lifting her gaze, she can see sheer cliffs rising up from the flat sand of the beach. The cliffs are also covered with trees at the top. Beyond the beach, the island seems very green and lush. At the center of the island stands a giant tree that almost seems to glow.
It's amazing. Ruby continues to stand there, filled with awe and oblivious to her surroundings, until an urgent voice finally breaks her from her trance. "Ruby!"
She follows the familiar voice to see Blake standing on the beach and waving frantically at her. "Blake!" she calls back, filled with relief at the sight of her teammate, alive and okay and not dead and gone forever like she had feared. Without a second thought, she rushes towards the other girl, paying no attention to the way the water pulls at her legs and tries to hold her back.
"Blake!" she exclaims again, before flinging her arms around her teammate and hugging her tightly.
Blake eagerly returns the hug, wrapping her arms around Ruby in return. "Ruby," she murmurs quietly into her soaked, messy hair.
Relieved tears gather in Ruby's eyes, but she doesn't let them fall. "I'm so glad that you're okay," she says, her voice small.
"Me too," Blake replies, pressing a gentle kiss to her damp forehead.
Ruby giggles suddenly. "Can you believe it? We're not dead!"
Blake chuckles tiredly. "I guess not." She glances back at the landscape behind them, loosening her grip on Ruby slightly. "But then, where are we?"
"I don't know," Ruby admits quietly. She clears her throat. "But if we're here, that means Yang is down here somewhere. We need to look for her."
"Of course," Blake says immediately. She takes one of Ruby's hands in her own. "We'll find her together."
"Right. Let's go!"
Hand in hand, side by side, they plunge into the depths of the unknown. Together.
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