Lupus in Fabula - My Promise to You

Ruby saw the bodies hanging from the tree. There were dozens of them, most swaying with every twitch of the branches.

This thing… It was a Grimm. She was sure of it, but it was so unlike any Grimm she knew. Then again, how much did she know? For all she knew, she had faced this kind of creature before… Maybe it was what turned her into this monster?

She shook her head, sighing quietly. Can't think like that. She needed to focus.

She needed to save Jaune, but how? The tree had bird Grimm perched on the long branches and it could clearly move on its own. There were so many of them…

Her against a whole horde. Far more than the Crocotta she had fought against. Ruby closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Some small, small part of her spoke. Walk away. Leave Jaune to his face. Survive.

She stabbed and butchered that little voice. Abandon Jaune? Leave him to die?

No. Never. Not just because Jaune was her friend, but her body just refused to abandon him. Something in her needed to save him. She wanted to save him. She needed to.

Ruby felt her fingers dig into the palms of her hands, but she released the fire from the pit of her stomach. She opened her eyes, noticing some Grimm flying over her. She watched them fly over her head as she recalled the Crocotta from behind.

She had watched as they attacked Jaune, but… ignored her. They ran past her, and Ruby wondered if she was crazy to even consider this plan. Maybe, but if that's what it took, she was willing to take the risk.

Worst case scenario, they both die… Which was pretty bad, but she tried not to dwell on that.

With Crocea Mors in hand, Ruby walked forward. She paused for a moment, though, before she bent forward and walked on all fours towards the tree, keeping her head down as the choir of wailing voices called to her.

The song was… unlike anything she had ever felt before. She felt it call on her body, urging her to come closer, to let the song consume her mind.

Ruby felt her muscles twitch under her skin. She felt sick as the song crawled between her veins, coursing through her body like blood. She kept moving, telling herself not to fight the song.

Would the Grimm be able to tell if she was angry? If she was sad? Could they taste her fear like she tasted the miserable existences of so many people…? Honestly, she doubted the Grimm could even sense her dark emotion with how loud the screams were…

She knew Grimm were drawn to negative emotion, but to experience that draw was something else. Every step she took closer to the tree was… it was almost euphoric now. The song of misery and agony that it sang, ushering her closer, beckoning her towards it with the sick screams of lost souls.

Souls like Jaune.

Ruby closed her eyes for a moment. She growled quietly, pushing the song from her mind. The part of her that was Grimm might have felt the pull, but she wasn't a Grimm. She was human, and the symphony only fed her anger now as she stood before the tree.

It towered over her like a building, arms reaching in so many directions, splitting off further to stretch out across the land. Dozens of bodies hung from it. So many of them. Too many. Far too many.

People with homes. People with lives. Families. Ruby didn't look at them. She couldn't. That pain would have been too much to bear. She focused herself, eyes darting around as she tried to look for the body with the least amount of… decay.

Don't look. Don't look, she begged herself, but she could still see little details of the bodies that weren't Jaune's. Skin like leather. Bloated flesh. Rot. Some from weeks ago, others just beginning to rot away.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Jaune's body, hanging with a tendril wrapped around his neck. Ruby glanced at the other branches, and then around her surroundings.

Ruby saved Jaune and… then what? They run away? There were even more Grimm than there were bodies. Maybe close to a hundred?

Could she kill them all? Would they just capture Jaune again?

What if they captured both of them? Ruby gulped, fighting off a tremble. She didn't know how this Grimm could create its song, but any guess she made would just terrify herself further.

Ruby placed a hand on her head. Stop, she ordered herself. Thinking like this was going to drive her nuts. She just… She had to save Jaune. That was all that mattered. Once they were together, she could escape with him… Somehow.

The Grimm placed Jaune's sword and sheath into her tail's grip, letting it wrap around the weapon, before she placed her hands on the black bark of the tree, taking a deep breath, before she sank her claws into it and began to climb.

She climbed up the trunk of the tree, moving up it slowly as she tried to ignore her own thoughts. She wanted to empty her head, to keep the negativity out, but sometimes she would catch a body swaying in the corner of her gaze and she'd feel a tremble run down her spine.

The avian Grimm landed on the ground around the tree, staring up at it, almost like they were in awe of it. Others would land on the branches of the mighty tree and just perch themselves there, waiting for some kind of signal.

She kept climbing, only stopping when she noticed something from the corner of her eye. She almost hadn't even seen it. She was unsure if it was even what she was thinking of, but… She had to check.

Ruby stopped at one of the thicker branches, and she climbed onto it. She was careful with every step, fearing falling off of it as she moved down the path of black wood. She gave a mental apology to Jaune as she stared down at the body hanging from this particular branch. By now the branch was beginning to thin, and she sucked in air through her fangs as it swayed under her feet.

It'd be so easy to fall. To hit the ground and just… die. She shook that thought from her head, before she glanced at the body. They were a woman once, she thought.

The cheeks were sucken in by now. She looked so thin. Almost like a skeleton with skin hanging off the thin bones inside. She tried not to stare into her bloodshot, glazed over eyes or the rusted sword hanging from their back. Instead she focused on the backpack she was wearing. Several bottles of Dust rattled inside of it.

They'd come in handy if they were going to escape. All Ruby had to do was rob the body of what might have been a Huntress.

"I… I'm sorry," she muttered quietly, before she laid her body down on the branch and reached a hand towards the body. She couldn't quite reach their backpack, and worst, she could see the ground below.

A sense of dizziness hit her like a truck. She was so high up. A fall from this height would kill a normal person?

Would it kill her?

Try not to find out. Stop thinking about it! She begged her mind to shut up, even as her fingers grabbed the rim of the backpack. She pulled on it, bringing it closer and pulling it off of her body. Her flesh seemed to bend around the backpack.

Ruby tried not to notice how easy it was to steal the backpack. She tried not to think of how she was little more than skin and bones.

Don't think about it, she begged herself. She took a deep breath, before she looked down at the Huntress. "Thank you." A woman who gave her life for her country. To try and give the people of this world a chance at survival.

She deserved better than this. Every poor soul hanging from this tree did.

Ruby released the body, letting it fall back into place. It swayed in place, and Ruby felt her blood turn cold as she stared into those eyes. They were staring at her. They watched her, before darting away. Her jaw hung low as a weak gasp crawled through her mouth.

As for the Grimm, Ruby ran away. She just wanted to leave. To escape this place. She needed to find Jaune.

Ruby continued to climb up the tree, moving towards Jaune. He wasn't far and once she reached his branch, she stared down at him. He had been so high up, and seeing him now, she could pick up the little details.

The wooden tendril was wrapped around his neck. For a moment, Ruby feared he was being choked by it, but she watched his chest rise and fall at a slow rate. He was alive, and she moved to save him.

She held Crocea Mors and pulled out the sword. She held the hilt carefully, examining the blade for a moment. It was a well made sword. She wasn't sure how she knew that, but… but something told her of the sword's history.

The weapon glimmered under the light of the moon as she took a deep breath, and then crouched down. She glanced around before she made her move. The Grimm weren't looking at her. They were captivated by the tree, enthralled by it. She could still feel its tendrils coiling around her brain.

She shuddered at the sensation, knowing it was trying to control her. She refused. She would not submit. She would save Jaune and they would escape.

Ruby pulled her arm back and swung her sword, only to feel something hit her. Her body froze, muscles paralyzed as pain shot through her body. She felt her body slipping from the branch as she felt a storm inside her skull.

It was like every inch of her brain was being crushed. She felt dizzy. Static clouded every thought as her fingers dug into her palms, nails cutting at her skin. Her body was falling past Jaune's now…

She saw Crocea Mors slip from her hand…

Her tail wrapped around the branch and her hand caught the sheathed sword in her hand. She was even able to catch the bottles of Dust, sighing with relief. Her relief didn't last long as she turned her eyes to the tree.

Did it realize what she was doing?

Her head felt so heavy. Every thought was almost impossible to trek through, but she pushed it regardless. It hurt. Like every thought was like her skin being peeled off. She didn't care, clutching the sword in hand as she carefully pulled herself back onto the branch.

Ruby glared at the tree, scowling at it as she let out a low growl. The ebony bark stared back at her as she pulled out the sword and sliced through the tendril wrapped around Jaune's neck.

His eyes widened, and she could hear him gasping for air. His body began to fall, but her tail moved fast, wrapping around his torso and pulling him up to her. She smiled at him as his eyes blinked, shaking away the trance. She gave him a thumbs up, only to watch as he looked… terrified.

Of her…?

"Get away from me!" He pulled at her tail, trying to free himself as Ruby's eyes widened. "Get away! Get away!" he screamed, pounding his fists against her body as his legs tried to run from her.

One foot fell off of the branch. The other followed. Just to get away from her. Ruby screamed as he broke free from her tail's grip. He fell onto open air, plummeting down below as Ruby threw herself after him.

"Jaune!"

No hesitation. She wrapped her arms around him, even as he screamed, fists pounding against her black hide. She barely felt the blows as she watched the ground rushing towards them. They were going to hit it in under a minute. She had to think fast.

Ruby stretched out her tail, and she felt it coil around a nearby branch. The momentum of the fall still hit her, and she hissed in pain as she felt her body nearly get torn in two. Everything pulled on her to keep falling, but she refused to let go.

She pulled on muscles no human had, forcing herself onto this branch as Jaune punched her body one last time.

"L-let me go…"

"Jaune." Ruby released him, but when one of his feet slipped off the branch again, she caught his arm, holding onto it. "Ruby! Ruby!" she shouted, jabbing her fingers into her furry chest. "Ruby. F-fre...fre…"

She squeezed her eyes shut. She repeated the word again and again in her mind as Jaune stared at her, shaking in her grasp.

"F-friend."

It was…. It was hell.

He had seen such horrible things. Horrible visions of his friends, his family, killed by Ruby. The Grimm he trusted. The one who gave him hope. She was his second chance, and all she did was torture him.

The images had been burned into his mind, seared into him… The screams still echoed in his head as he felt himself falling. The last thing he saw was Ruby gutting Jaune's own mother, before he closed his eyes.

He was falling, he realized, until he wasn't. He felt his arms bound to his chest as he stared into Ruby's silver eyes.

She stood over him, bringing him closer, and he knew this was it. She was going to kill him again.

He wished he had known better. He wished he hadn't been so stupid, that he had been stronger, but the horrible things he saw... They played out in his mind as fear overtook him and he screamed.

Jaune lost control. He was screaming, panicking, begging for the nightmare to end. "Get away from me!" He screamed it again and again, fighting to free himself, fighting to get away as his feet barely brushed against the ground.

And then he was falling again. He fell as he watched Grimm take to the skies, flying down at him. He saw them circle his body as he fell, almost waiting for the 'splat' as his body hit the hard ground.

A moment of clarity. Just before he died. He did it again. He failed. He wasn't in the nightmare any more, and Ruby… Had she tried to save him?

And look at what he did. He killed himself all over again.

He-

"Jaune!" A voice he didn't know. No, he voice he wasn't used to, but he had heard it plenty of times before.

"Ruby?" He whispered her name as he saw her follow him in a freefall.

Ruby jumped down. She didn't even hesitate. She jumped from the branch and fell down after him. She squeezed her arms and legs together, cutting through the air quickly, before wrapping her arms around his body. Jaune felt the soft fur of her body press against his face as they came to a sudden stop. Jaune's body felt the sudden stop hit like a ton of bricks.

But he was okay. He was alive.

Ruby pulled them up, and even if she tried to hide it, he could hear her whimpers. She pulled her body onto the branch and placed him down on solid ground.

The nightmare was still fresh in his mind, but… but he wasn't in the nightmare anymore.

"Ruby." She pressed her hands against her furry chest as she stared pleadingly at him. "F-fre.. Fre… friend."

"Ruby?" he whispered her name again, shaking as he sword Crocea Mors gleamed in her hand.

Then he saw the Grimm's red eyes. It flew down at them from behind Ruby and Jaune shot his hand out. He grabbed his sword by the handle and pulled it out of his sheathe. He then pulled his arm back and thrusted it forward, stabbing into the Grimm's head over Ruby's shoulder.

Her eyes widened, before she turned around and the two saw the Grimm swarming over them. Ruby reached for Jaune, grabbing his arm.

"R-run." She pulled him as she moved, only to feel him plant his feet into the ground.

"No."

"Jah, Jaune?"

"This thing has to die, Ruby." He squeezed his sword in his hand, before he pulled his sheathe out of the Grimm's hand and ran forward. He ran away from Ruby and held his weapons tightly in his hands as she heard him growl. "It has to die." His eyes stared at the hanging bodies. Empty sockets and entranced eyes stared back at him as Jaune gritted his teeth and screamed with rage.

Let his anger draw them closer. After what he saw, what he felt, all he wanted was to kill this Grimm..

"I want to be a Huntress! I want to protect people! I want to help everyone!"

Ruby heard the words. That voice echoed in her head as her eyes widened. Her body trembled for a moment as she felt her fingers digging into the palms of her hands. The Grimm began to converge on them, and Jaune skewered one of them on his sword.

It cried out with the voice of a weeping mother. "Help! My little girl!"

Ruby could hear the words again. Not the Grimm, but… something else. Someone else. She closed her eyes as she felt that voice echo in her mind until she realized just who it was.

It was her. It was her voice. Before she was a Grimm. Before she was turned into this… thing.

It was who she was. A small snippet of the girl behind the Grimm.

Jaune stabbed another Grimm as they quickly began to overwhelm him, only for a snarl to echo through the empty air. Jaune turned his head to watch as Ruby ran forward, cutting through the Grimm with one fell swoop of her tail. Several were killed, reduced to a black smoke as Ruby stood beside Jaune on the thick branch.

"Ruby, we-"

"Will," she replied, before she wrapped her arms around Jaune and held him against her body. "Ho… ho...luuth." He obeyed, squeezing her in his arms as she began to move.

The Grimm gave chase, their mimicked voices calling out to them.

"Help me!"

"It's getting away!"

"It has my son!"

They flew after the two, but Ruby was already running down the branch. Her tail stretched out, stabbing itself into the Grimm's bark hide. She dug it in deep and continued to run, letting the black smoke spill out from the wound. She then pulled her tail out and stabbed it into the bark again, releasing more gas.

By the time she was done, she leapt forward, sailing through the air and landing on another branch with Jaune in her arms. The branch trembled under them, but the two were able to find stable footing as Jaune looked over Ruby's shoulder.

Part of the branch was falling out, unable to support itself as it decayed into a dark smoke as it fell. Even as it laid on the ground, it was fading away to nothingness as he smiled.

"Whoa…! Nice one, Ruby!" She nodded in reply, before she dropped Jaune and turned with her back to him. "When did you get a backpack? Whoa, wait! Dust?!" She nodded her head again as Jaune grinned. "Way to go, Ru-ahh!"

Another one of the Grimm tackled him, knocking him off the branch and falling to the ground. Thankfully this time the two were more prepared, and Jaune caught Ruby's outstretched tail. He held onto it with a racing heart as he carefully holstered his sword with one hand.

"Oh, crap. Crap, crap! Ruby, pull me up!"

"Help me!" One of the birds tackled Ruby into the bark, and her eyes widened as thin arms reached out from the tree. She grabbed one hand, crushing it into a handful of chipped wood and splinters as more stretched out of the tree, wrapping themselves around her limbs.

She snarled loudly, feeling the tendril attack her. They were fairly slow, at least compared to her, but more and more Grimm tackled her, pinning her against the wall. Even as she tore them apart, they swarmed over her, helping the tree capture her.

"Jaune!" She shouted, feeling a wooden tendril coiling around her neck and tightened around it. She gagged, gasping for air as she felt reality slip away.

She stared at the tree. She was on the ground, standing before it as it stretched out to the heavens above. Black tendrils stretched down around her, melting into her skin as Ruby felt her body scream in agonizing pain. Her entire body was shaking as the tree tore her apart.

Her hide was torn apart as her body bled a dark smoke. She felt herself fading, vision blurring as-

"I got you!" Ruby pulled on her, tearing her from the tree. She fell into his arms, nearly knocking him over as Ruby's eyes widened. "Ruby, stay with me! More Grimm are coming!" he shouted,

She shook her head, returning to reality. Her tail shot out, stabbing through another Grimm, before throwing it towards others, slowing them down. She quickly reached into her backpack, taking out a bottle of Dust and holding it up towards Jaune.

He nodded his head and took it, before she wrapped her arms around him and jumped. He held onto her, wrapping his arms around her neck as he squeezed the bottle in his hand. They leapt through the air as Jaune threw the bottle of Dust. It hit a group of Grimm, before shattering and exploding it into a fiery display.

The Grimm were torn apart, their scorched bodies plummeting to the ground as Jaune grinned. "Yes!" Ruby landed on another branch and dug her tail into it. Smoke bled from the wound as ran, carving through the tree as black tendrils reached down to grab at them.

Ruby tore her tail through the Grimm, before slashing at the tendrils, cutting through them with ease as Jaune reached into Ruby's backpack. He pulled out another bottle of Dust and threw it. It shattered against one of the tendrils, before exploding in a burst of fire.

Jaune watched the tendrils burn. He wished he could hear this thing scream. He wished he could hear it in pain. He wished-

"Ruby, look out!" The avian Grimm flew at the two in a massive pack, dozens of them flying down with screeching mouths.

"Help!"

"Help!"

"It has my son!"

"It has my daughter!"

"Hang. On!" Ruby growled, jumping once more. She landed on another branch, tearing through it Jaune threw another bottle of Dust. It exploded with several bolts of lightning burning the Grimm alive, reducing them to ashes and smoke as Ruby jumped once more.

Slowly they were taking out the arms of the Grimm. Jaune remembered when he first met Ruby. She was so damn fast. A black blur as she nearly killed Pyrrha. Right now, she was proving that speed wasn't just the Grimm part of her mind.

She was so damn fast. The birds had numbers and the tendrils were all around them, but she was just fast enough to stay out of reach. Combine that with her lightning fast tail and the occasional explosion...

And they might actually do this.

Ruby kept moving, cutting at the branches and birds, before she came to a sudden stop. Jaune looked at her. She was staring ahead, her silver eyes wide, paralyzed in fear.

"Ruby? Ruby, we need to keep moving." He felt her arms tighten around his body, but he still forced himself to turn around in her grasp. He felt the same fear and dread overcome him as the bodies stared at them.

The tree had brought several of its branches closer to the pair, letting them stare at the decomposing, rotting bodies of its past victims. Empty eyes stared back at them as Ruby let out a roar.

She felt hate. She felt rage. She felt like this Grimm was an affront to nature and it had to die. What it did to so many people… It couldn't be allowed to live.

But if it died, what about its prisoner? Could they save them? Was there a chance? Could-

"Ruby!"

One of the avian Grimm tackled her, knocking her off of the branch and towards the ground. Her tail shot out to catch herself, only for one of the Grimm to block it with its own body. She impaled it as they fell out of reach of the branch, plummeting to the ground as Jaune held onto Ruby.

No. No, no, no, she was going to save him. At least him. At least Jaune.

She got distracted. She was stupid and the Grimm attacked en masse. They pecked at her skin, bit at it, struck her with their long claws as she tightened her embrace. She tried to shield Jaune from the swarm as they clawed at her flesh.

"You're going to be a great Huntress, Ruby." Who told her that?

Was this some kind of joke? Right before she dies, she remembers who she was?

She wasn't sure she cared. In this moment, living as this monster, about to die from the Grimm eviscerating her or the eventual fall… What did it matter who she was?

She just wanted to save Jaune. She wanted to make sure these Grimm never hurt anyone else ever again.

That was all she wanted as she felt Jaune's heart beat against hers.

The Grimm were all over them. There were so many, Jaune couldn't even see the sky anymore. The birds surrounded them, screaming in human voices, those same, damn voices, and Jaune wondered if this was it.

Was he going to die?

They put up a hell of a fight.

The Grimm were tearing Ruby apart. He could see them stabbing at her body, biting at her with razor sharp teeth as they continued to fall. He wanted to help. He tried, but there were just so many of them.

Jaune felt his arms being cut at, his Aura trembling under the blows. They were beginning to break through. Blood seeped from his wounds as his arms were cut again and again. He tried to reach for the bag of Dust, but it was impossible to do so while they fell and the Grimm attacked.

What would kill them first? Torn apart by Grimm or their eventual meeting with the ground?

Jaune clung to Ruby. He figured if he was going to die, she wasn't a bad person to die beside. Nice, laughed at his jokes, interesting to talk to. A nice girl.

Jaune squeezed his arms around Ruby and his eyes widened as he felt her skin… crumble underneath his.

Was she already dead? He felt her fall apart in his hands as something soft brushed against his face.

Is that… a rose petal?

Ruby evaporated in his arms. His mind couldn't even process the event at first as the rose petals surrounded his body, covering him in almost a cloud of them as they began to… move?

Jaune screamed as the cloud of petals shot through the air, punching its way through several Grimm as it escaped the flying horde and soared through the air like a drill. Jaune was in the center of it, screaming as he was thrown out of the cloud and onto the hard branch under them.

He was screaming, panting as rose petals continued to lazily fall to the ground. He felt his body with shaky hands as he watched hundreds of the petals blending together… before they turned into Ruby and she fell by his side.

Her legs gave out under her as Jaune's jaw dropped and he blinked once. Twice. Then he asked a simple question.

"What?!" He held his head, before motioning at her. "How?! Y-you…?! How?!" Ruby blinked, before she looked down at herself, staring at her body.

She opened her mouth, only to close it again. Her eyes widened and Jaune followed her gaze. She saw the Grimm horde fly back after them, and Ruby quickly took her backpack off and tossed it to Jaune.

He caught it and he watched as her skin began to crumble. Her body was flaking off of her, turning into rose petals before she just… fell apart. She became a whirlwind of rose petals and flew off, shooting into the air and curving around, cutting through more Grimm.

"Whoa…" Jaune had never seen a Grimm do… that before. Even when she was fighting Pyrrha, Ruby hadn't done that. How-?

He shook his head. Focus. He watched as several tendrils shot at him, but he swung his sword, cutting through a few of the branches. His other hand reached into the backpack. He pulled out a bottle of Dust and stared at it.

Ice. He squeezed it in his hand, before he slashed at another Grimm, cutting it down as Ruby turned back to normal and fell onto another branch. She was panting, shaking as Jaune waved at her.

"Ruby! Hey, Ruby!" She looked at him and he held up the Dust, before he pulled his arm back and threw it. It hit the trunk of the tree, spreading a thick layer of ice over the Grimm's body. "Hit it there!"

She nodded her head, before she jumped off of the branch and landed by Jaune's side. "H-hold. On," she growled, and he nodded his head as she ran past him.

He watched her body go. He watched as her body began to break apart. Her arms were torn to petals, as her back and tail followed. Her legs were torn to roses in the wind as she let out a roar, and the hurricane of rose petals shot forward.

Jaune could have sworn he saw the tip of the storm resembling a wolf's head, fangs and teeth made of crimson as Ruby's body collided with the ice and shattered it.

What was this feeling…? It was so familiar. Everytime Ruby broke herself down, she expected pain, but it didn't hurt. No, it felt amazing. It felt like a rush of energy, like something she had fallen in love with, and… and found again.

She roared with rage and triumph as her body was turned into a storm of rose petals, slamming into the tree with explosive force. She rammed her fist into the ice, followed by a quick slash from her tail as the bark exploded at her touch. Splinters and black smoke filled the air as her body was reformed and she fell through the empty air.

She was panting. Something was wrong. The happiness left her as she felt something choking her throat. Her fingers were shaking as she stared at the hole she left behind, a massive chunk of the tree was just obliterated and the tree was split in two.

"T-te...timber," Ruby giggled.

Then she saw Jaune. He was holding onto his branch for dear life. She let out a growl, focusing her body as she tore herself one more time. She could feel her skin trying to stay together. She felt herself trying to stay connected…

Ruby pushed herself, tearing herself apart and throwing herself towards Jaune. It wasn't really flight, more like a burst of speed in one direction. She could steer it if she really tried.

Her vision was blurring. She wasn't sure why. She didn't care. She just shot towards Jaune, catching him in the crimson storm as they fell to the ground together.

She saved him. Again.

He was starting to get used to being held in Ruby's arms. Was that weird? Probably…

The rose petals carried him to the ground, before Ruby took the brunt of the crash. She hit the ground, holding Jaune tightly in his arms as they skidded against the dirt floor. Her arms went limp as Jaune rose up, holding his head with a groan.

"Ugh…"

Jaune pulled away from Ruby and fell onto his back. He let out a sigh where he led as he listened to the once mighty tree hit the ground. The earth trembled from the blow as dust and Grimm blood filled the air. Jaune was blinded for a moment, before he opened his eyes to see red eyes staring down at him.

He clutched his sword tightly in his hand, lifting it up and aiming it at the Grimm. By the time the dust settled, he saw Ruby standing over him, her tail swaying behind her.

"R-Ruby…? Oh, man, you saved me again, I-" Her tail shot down and Jaune screamed as he grabbed his shield and blocked the blow with it. His arm trembled from the blow as Ruby's hands grabbed the shield and tore it from his arm with ease.

"Ruby, stop!" He tried to hold onto the shield, but he probably would have lost his arm with it. He felt it slip from his hand, falling behind Ruby as she roared, pinning down one of Jaune's arms as the other grabbed his neck. "R-Rub-eee!"

She was choking him. Her burning red eyes stared down at him as he saw it play out again.

She was going to kill him. Then his mother. Then his friends. Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Cardin, everyone… She was going to kill them all, and it was all his fault.

His sword was in his hand. He could fight back. Kill her. Let this monster die with him.

Instead he dropped it and reached out to touch her. "No!" he screamed, grabbing Ruby's arm and activating his Semblance. He fed what little remained of his Aura into her, begging for it to be enough. He gave it his all. Everything he had to her.

If she wanted to, she could kill him with ease… but he watched as those crimson eyes turned to silver again.

Ruby's arms pulled away from him. She tried to stand, only to fall on her back. She kicked at the dirt, pushing her body away from him as her eyes widened and a choked whimper spilled out from between her teeth.

Jaune stared back at her, before he turned his head and he watched the battlefield they had left behind. What was left of the Grimm were flying away, fleeing as the tree's broken body laid on the ground. It was fading away, slowly, but the fight was over.

It was dying, and Jaune picked himself.

"R-Ruby… C-come on." He stared at her, watching her shake, and he wanted so badly to comfort her, but right now others needed them. "We… we need to go. We need t-to find…" he gulped, his feet moving towards the Grimm.

Survivors. He begged to find someone, anyone as he called out to the empty field. "Hello?!" He ran towards the decaying Grimm, staring at the fallen branches.

It didn't take long to find a body. A corpse of a young Faunus woman. A mother? He wasn't sure. He just felt her body on the ground, empty eyes staring back at him.

The next body was more of the same. Another corpse. Another body lost. Jaune took a deep breath as Ruby called out to him.

"Jaune." He turned to her, and she was kneeling beside a woman. The woman had a rusted sword on her back and patches of armor still clinging to her withered body. Who was she? A Huntress? A city guard? She wasn't sure.

Jaune walked over to Ruby and the woman stared up at the two. Her eyes were slow, drifting from one to the other as she struggled to breathe. She choked on the air as her eyes slowly turned to the sky.

"T-thank you."

Her eyes fell shut as Jaune fell to his knees. "No, no, no. Please, stay with me. W-we wanted to save you! We-"

She was gone. He knew she was. He was gone, another corpse in the sea of death Jaune left behind.

His eyes fell shut. He held back a sob as Ruby wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight as the sunrise's light touched their shaking bodies.

There were no survivors beyond himself and Ruby. Jaune wished he could have given them all a proper burial, but there was no time. The Grimm might return.

So they started to move. They walked through the forest, neither saying anything as they walked. It was quiet, until they found a cave for them to rest in. Ruby didn't speak. Jaune assumed she wasn't in the mood, which was fine by him.

The two sat on the ground inside the cave. It wasn't a very deep one, thankfully, meaning they weren't going to be getting any surprises. Jaune fell against the wall, sliding down it as he sat on the ground.

He didn't feel like eating. He didn't feel like sleeping. He just felt… cold. And lost. He felt like a failure, and he could still hear the woman's voice in his ears.

Thank you? For what? I failed her. Just like I failed everyone else.

"Jaune." He didn't move for a moment. Then he looked to his side to find Ruby sitting next to him. She didn't move. She just watched him, taking long, deep breaths. Then her hand laid on his leg, and he realized what she wanted.

He placed his hand in hers, and she gently squeezed it. He returned the gesture as they just… sat there.

What did she want? Why was she trying to make him feel better? After all the failures, after everything they had gone through… He should have pulled away. He should have just pulled away and left. Walk away and keep walking until his body gives out.

Instead he felt the tears fall down his face. He was crying, and Ruby hugged him again, holding him as the weight of Jaune's sins fell onto him.

"T-there were so many of them, Ruby, a-and we couldn't… I just… I just wanted to save someone." He gasped for air through the tears. He rubbed his face against her fur as the tears continued to fall. Choked sobs fell out of him as he crumbled in her arms. "I-I can't do this. I can't keep losing people."

"I-I lost my mom. My sisters. My friends. I lost everyone, Ruby, I just… I can't do this. I can't." Their faces flashed in his mind. Dead eyes staring into the empty air. He rubbed his tears and snot on her fur as the pain only grew and spread throughout his heart.

"I keep failing everyone…" He clung desperately to her, crying into her chest as Ruby wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

He felt ashamed of his own weakness, but what else could he do? Ruby was all he had now, and he sobbed into her chest as her hands stroked his back. Jaune cried for what felt like hours. He cried until his throat was left hoarse and raw, but he didn't let go of Ruby.

He held onto her as she whispered into his ear.

"Saved. Me."

Jaune didn't move. He took a deep breath, before he sighed and pulled away. His hands still held onto Ruby's shoulders as he stared into her eyes. Those silver eyes stared right back at him as she repeated herself.

"You. Saved. Me."

"Ruby, I-"

"You. Saved. Me." She repeated the words again. Her hands slid up to cup his face in her hands, forcing him to stare into her eyes. "You. Saved. Me."

She meant every word. Despite everything she had endured recently, she had her life back because of Jaune. Despite all of the horror she had witnessed, she had her life back.

And it was all because of him.

"Good. Man." She lifted one of her hands up and touched his chest. "Saved. Me."

"What if I can't save anyone else? W-what I'm just a failure? What if-?"

"Nope." Jaune blinked and Ruby nodded her head. "Nope."

"Nope? J-just like that? Ruby, I failed those people, I failed my town, I-"

"Fredd. Them." She pointed outside the cave. "Tree. Hurt. Them. Freed. Them." She motioned to the two of them as Jaune trembled.

"I… I wanted to save them." Ruby hugged him once more, holding him close. "I just… I feel like a failure."

"Nope." She shook her head, and he chuckled against her fur.

"You're not the easiest person to talk to about this, are you?"

Honestly, Ruby couldn't imagine herself being very good at this. She let out a weak chuckle as she agreed with him. "Nope."

"Well, at least your ability to speak is getting better," he sighed. He let out a sigh as he rested his head on her body. He was silent. She wondered if she was beijing… weird hugging him? It wasn't like she had much of a choice. Words weren't exactly her specialty right now.

Honestly, if she were a human doing this she'd probably be blushing like crazy… As it was, she was glad Grimm couldn't blush.

"Hey, Ruby? How'd you do that… rose petal thing?" Ruby released Jaune and he sat up, staring at her. She opened her mouth, before shrugging. "You don't know? I-I feel like that's something you should know! I've never seen a Grimm do that before!"

"Don't. Know."

"C-can you do it again?" he asked, and Ruby nodded her head. She… probably could. "Y-you were amazing. You were tearing through Grimm like a… a… Huntress." His eyes widened and Ruby felt fingers close into fists. "Maybe you were a Huntress! B-before you were turned into a Grimm!"

He was probably right. He was almost definitely right as Ruby watched Jaune connect the same thoughts she did earlier.

"And that was your Semblance! Y-you were insane out there. I mean, I've never seen anyone move that fast. Not even Pyrrha could move that quick." He paused, following the same mental path she had before. "You used up your Aura. That was why you…"

"I. Am. Grimm," she whispered. "Without. You. Monster." She pressed her fingers against her chest, shaking as the knowledge hit him like it had her.

"Ruby-"

"No. Aura. No. Ruby." She shook her head.

"Then we'll be careful. We-"

"Still. Grimm," she replied. "Always. Grimm."

She closed her eyes, only to feel Jaune touch her face. His fingers brushed against her bone-like mask and her furry snout as he begged her to look at him this time.

"Hey. You were a Huntress tonight. You saved me. You've been doing that a lot lately…" Jaune released her head, but he didn't stop staring into her eyes. "If I freed those people, so did you. We did it together."

She nodded her head, before she sat back. She laid her head against the stone wall of the cave as Jaune did the same.

Had she really saved those people? Was she still a Huntress? She wasn't sure. She didn't know. She just wanted this nightmare to be over, but there was no waking up.

"Rough. Day," she muttered and Jaune chuckled beside her.

"Yeah. Pretty rough." He turned his head to the entrance of the cave, staring out at the morning sky.

"I… didn't sleep. At all." His body went limp as he groaned, nearly falling onto the ground. "I'm so tired."

"Sleep," she suggested, and Jaune nodded his head.

"Y-yeah. I will, I just… I think I need to eat first." He glanced at her, before smiling. "I got some cookies in my satchel. Still good, I bet."

Ruby smiled at him, almost laughing as she nodded her head. The two took out what food they had and Jaune handed the small bag of chocolate chip cookies to the Grimm. She took it, ripping it open and scarfing the cookies down as Jaune laid his head on the wall.

"We've still got a long journey ahead of us…"

"Together," Ruby declared, and Jaune smiled back at her. It was a weak, battered, and bruised smile, but it was there.

"Yeah. We'll go through it together."

She sat beside him, quietly eating her food as he chewed on a small slice of bread. Ruby watched as he took out a book and a pencil from inside his satchel, writing in it as tilted her head.

She still couldn't understand the words. The markings and symbols were so familiar, but… She just couldn't make them out.

"Can you read the words?" he asked, and she shook her head. "You… want me to read it to you?" he asked, and she probably would have blushed if she could. Still, she nodded her head.

"I'm writing about the Grimm we saw. This book doesn't have anything like them in it, so I thought… I thought I might as well," he sighed. She nodded her head, giving him a thumbs up. He smiled at the gesture. "Thanks. I was thinking about calling those flying ones Mockingbirds, and the big tree thing, Hangman's Tree."

She nodded her head again, and Jaune continued to write down notes, with Ruby offering her own suggestions every few minutes.

Jaune struggled to sleep. He was so tired, but his body just refused to drift to sleep. He sighed, sitting up and staring at Ruby's sleeping form by his side. She laid on the floor, drooling on it as she snored.

He chuckled at the sight, before he picked up the book and turned to a blank page. He hesitated for a moment, before he began to write in a new entry.

'I've never met or even heard of a Grimm like Ruby before. She says she's a person turned into a Grimm, and I think I'm really starting to believe her. I mean, I believed her before, but now I'm really starting to believe her. I think she was a Huntress. Are there more like her? Grimm Huntsman hybrids? No wonder we're losing the war.'

'Ruby's nice. She really seems to like chocolate and cookies. So that's weird. Oh, and she talks, which is probably the weirdest thing about her. Actually, scratch that. Maybe it's her pretty silver eyes, or the fact that she's actually really nice. Seriously, I've met plenty of humans way meaner than her. She's nice, and she laughs at my jokes, and she's saved my life a dozen times already.'

Jaune sighed, before he glanced at Ruby's body. He tapped the pencil against his book a few times. 'I hope she'll be okay. I can't imagine being turned into a Grimm. I really want to save her. Pay her back for everything she's done. Maybe we can even find her family in all this mess?'

He was being stupidly optimistic, wasn't he? He sighed, shaking his head as he closed the book and tossed it onto the ground. He looked at Ruby again and he placed a hand on her body, patting it.

"Thanks for watching out for me, Ruby…" He pulled his hand away and laid his head down on his satchel. He laid the blanket he had packed over his body and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep as the sun slowly passed over them.

END

Sorry for keeping you all waiting, folks! Chapter is here, hope you enjoy it.

It is really hard keeping the story perspective only on Ruby and Jaune. Might change that in the future? Lot of little things I couldn't mention before.

I was even considering a scene where the tree and Ruby 'talked,' but I felt it was better to keep the tree more mysterious.

Anyways, from now on the story will be updated once a month, probably at the end of every month. Sorry, folks. Got work to do. Commissions and what not.

Thank you for supporting this story. Please leave a review if you're so inclined. Stay safe, take care, and remember, you are loved! See ya next time!