Disclaimer: The following is a fan-based parody. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Destiny is owned by Bungie. Please support the official release.
Chapter 14: Our Failures
"What just happened?" Ruby said in a hollow tone.
From her very first memories of her mother, Ruby held Summer in the highest regard. She was the inspiration that allowed Ruby to pursue a career as a Huntress. To be just like her mother as this almost perfect hero from fairy tales. Meeting her mother as the Hunter Vanguard and even being trained under her cemented Summer's place on a fantastical pedestal. So to see her mother and heroic figurehead be so full of murderous rage was simply shattering, not to mention terrifying in itself. The rage Summer was giving off made the whole room heavy with this indescribable feeling foreboding. Dare Ruby say that it felt very... dark.
The kind of Darkness she felt from her encounters with the Hive and the Taken.
This brings to the now with Ruby seated on an open chair. She needed to settle herself down both from her shock at Summer's explosive episode and the strange feeling of doom still lingering in the room. Ikora was by the young Hunter's side consoling Ruby while Zavala was giving orders to the people stationed around him.
"Young Ruby," Ikora spoke, "Summer Rose - your mother - like any living being has the capability to be of both extremes. As her child, I understand you put your mother on a high pedestal. You think that she's infallible, that it's impossible to express such hate. Such vindictiveness. But even Guardians are still living beings, and Summer is no exception to harbor our darker emotions."
"It's just I'd never thought I'd see Mom so angry." Ruby said solemnly. "What caused her to be like that all of a sudden?"
"Summer suffers a wound on the heart, the most devastating inflicted Guardian." Ikora elaborated with a far-off look. "She lost someone. Someone that was important to everyone on the Tower, but for her, it was dreadfully painful. A murder Summer felt she was at fault with. The sorrow ate at your mother. Then that sorrow turned to hate, and that hate was unleashed on our enemies. She waged a one-woman war on the killers responsible. I didn't see her for months until she came back from her crusade, her enemies broken, the Ace of Spades retrieved, and her armor caked in dried blood. Coming home, Summer was celebrated as a hero, but when I saw the look in her eyes, I did not cheer. I did not see a hero that fought for justice, but I pitied the avenger she became. It was not long until Summer took up as one of the Vanguard."
Ruby took this all in with a troubled expression. She tried to find solace in something, like the feel of The Answer in her grip or Crescent Rose Mk. II held in her hands. Nothing worked to get rid of this gnawing worry nor did it succeed to make her forget that ominous feeling from earlier. Her mind did not imagine her mother, who for so long was a perfect figure in her life, to be this crusading avenger. It came down to one decision that even Ruby herself was hesitant about.
"I need to talk to Mom." Ruby said. "She's all alone with all this hate. Mom's probably hurting still, and she needs help."
Ikora held her chin in thought. "Eight months ago, I would not think it possible. Summer has been closed off with what happened during the year of the Forsaken. But then you came along, her actual daughter. You may not know it, but you brought back more life Summer was missing. There's a spring in her step and a pitch in her voice I feared she lost. You alone may be able to talk about her troubles."
"Well, I'll try." Ruby said, more sure of herself as she stood up. "First, I got to find her."
"She's in her personal quarters." Pine piped in, with no one but Ruby herself hearing the Ghost. "I've already marked the destination in your helmet's HUD."
"Thank you, Pine." Ruby chirped as she put her helmet back on.
As the world came into view with a few new displays at the corners of her vision displaying her shield, ammo, weapons, etc, there she saw the familiar white diamond leading to her destination. Instead of going down the stairway, Ruby - like any Guardian - went through the open window and fell to the plaza below for faster travel. She sped down into the halls of the Tower, and with her natural speed enhanced by the Light as a Hunter, she was hardly seen by the naked eye. Ruby maneuvered through the hallways to her destination barely a couple of minutes to what would take normal people or even some Guardian considerably longer. In the end, Ruby found herself before one of the many luxury apartments within the Tower owned by her own mother.
"The door is unlocked." Pine informed. "She actually forgot to lock her room."
Ruby didn't know why, but that little tidbit did not exactly bode well. On closer inspection, she noticed that the door was still ajar, allowing a yellow ray of light from the other side. With hesitation, Ruby pushed the door outward and entered the quarters of her mother. It was roughly the same as it was when Summer threw her a surprise birthday party, with the party decorations being taken down. Now the second time being in this room, Ruby had a more detailed view of the place and saw the shelves of trophies that lined the left wall of the living room. There she saw souvenirs from across the solar system, such as the chitin sword of a Hive Knight, the rifles of Vex, the helmets of Centurions, and even vacant Ghost shells.
A muffled sob caught Ruby's attention to the couch, which faces away from Ruby and towards the window at the back wall. The sun had sunken low to create a golden glow, casting everything in shadows. It was why Ruby could only make out the white of her mother's cloak and the back of her head, which was turned low. And it tugged at Ruby's heartstrings her own mother was the source of the sobbing.
"...stupid..." Summer mumbled between sobs,"...so fucking stupid... right in front of Ruby too... she didn't..."
"Uhm, Mom?" Ruby spoke up.
Summer made an "Eep!" and jumped out of her seat in a frightful surprise of Ruby's sudden voice. Before her feet made it to the floor, the Vanguard's skills kicked in righting her balance and twisting herself around to face her would-be intruder. It took a second when mother and daughter made eye contact to figure out each other. For Summer, she could only stand there petrified like a dear in the headlights that Ruby was right there in her room when she went away to sulk alone. As for Ruby, a gasp came up her throat seeing the telltale signs of freshly shed tears, and noticed that her mother was clutching something to her chest.
"R-Ruby!?" Exclaimed Summer, turning away to hide away her sorry state. "Y-You should go. You shouldn't be here. Just leave me be."
If Ruby was one thing, she was resolute upon soft matters of the heart. Instead of Ruby walking away out to the hall, she narrowed her eyes in determination and took a step forward.
"No!" Ruby denied. "I'm not leaving you like this. You're obviously hurting, and I'm here to try to help. Y-You can talk to me. Please."
"How!?" Summer hissed, and Ruby was a bit stunned to sense the heat in her mother's tone. "What can you do? You don't know anything!"
"I know enough!" Ruby retorted, taking another step forward. "I know it was someone very important to you. Someone that when he was lost, you were hurt too. How you went on this rampage, but still to this day you're hurting. Just talk to me-"
"No, you still don't get it!" Summer almost screamed, turning back to level a glare that was a cold glare in contrast to Ruby's natural warming gaze. "You don't know how it feels, Ruby. To feel this blame, knowing Cayde's death was my fault because I was there. I was there, and he died when I could have saved him! I failed my Vanguard - my best friend - now he's dead and it's all my fault! Because I wasn't strong enough to get to him. I wasn't fast enough to save him when I should have been! So tell me, how can you help when you have no idea how it feels to have that kind of failure over your head!?"
"You're wrong because I've been there too!" Ruby yelled at her breaking point.
A silence fell down in the room, and the Roses were left panting for breath after exchanging heated words. Neither would realize that after months of such a good relationship that this was their first real argument. In fact, it might be the first spat between mother and daughter. Both were stubborn trying to make the other see their way from the different paths they walked in life. Ruby knew the light of her dream as a Huntress-in-training only having gone through a traumatic experience at the fall of Beacon, but Summer had gone down a path that Ruby was just now discovering that some Guardians would not dare try. Even now looking at her mother's eyes, Ruby could see the unnatural darkness in them that made her silver eyes dim down into that cold look.
Maybe it was her own heightened emotions at the moment, but Ruby felt that something unnatural happened to her mother in her adventures. There was something to that rage she can see simmering beneath that glare, just being held back due to the very fact it would be aimed at her own daughter, amnesia or not.
Ruby took a deep breath to continue, forcing herself to relive memories she did not want to. "When Penny... died, all I could do was blame myself. I knew what was going to happen - that something was going to hurt one of my friends. I tried, Mom. I tried as hard as I could, but I didn't make it in time. My Semblance was speed, yet I wasn't even fucking fast enough to save Penny from being torn apart. I broke down like someone shoved a lead ball in my chest. All I did was blame myself for being so pathetic."
Summer did not say a word and instead let Ruby's tirade poor out. The coldness in her silver eyes softened back to a warm glow similar to Ruby's. She listened to her daughter's words and perfectly understood the world of blame she once ended up in. In fact, she probably never really left it to this day.
"I got lucky knowing that Pine saved her soul, but Penny wasn't my only failure." Ruby said with a dry chuckle that spoke of her pain. "It was all chaos after that. Grimm swarmed the city and took over Beacon Academy. I was forced to watch innocent people and even some friends I knew die right in front of me. I tried to help, but I was always too late and only getting in time to see them get torn apart by Grimm, gunned down by White Fang, or crushed by Atlesian droids. I... I couldn't even save Yang from losing her arm or stop Pyrrha from getting hurt. I'm supposed to be fast, yet I couldn't even make it in time to save anyone! I kept blaming myself for being so weak, for not saving those people who died. They would still be alive if I was a little stronger, a little faster. But no, I had to fail again and again and again!"
Tears were threatening to spill out of her eyes, but Ruby held them back through sheer will. She was not going to break down, not when she needed to let Summer know she understood they both share the same pain of failure. And understand Summer did as a look of sympathy came over her face. Ruby had hardly ever talked in depth about the fall of Beacon Academy until now, and it reminded Summer far too much of the beginning of the Red War. It was scary how their past experiences mirrored each other, right down to the feeling of helplessness Summer felt when the Light was stripped from her and she was forced to watch the Cabal sack the Last City and terrorize its people.
"In the end, there was only one person that I saved." Ruby said. "And that only happened taking an arrow to the heart. Heh. I was so weak that I couldn't save myself. If I weren't lucky enough, I'd be another addition to the death toll. Well, not that anyone knows that I am alive back home. At least when I was chosen by the Traveler, becoming a Guardian, I know that got the strength I know will save people. But sometimes I think I don't-"
"That's enough." Summer's voice spoke out in a gentle whisper.
The sudden whisper right next to Ruby's ear stopped her into silence, and only then had she realized Summer had already caught her in a warm embrace. She felt arms comfortably wrap over and under her shoulder to clasp at her back, and felt the tickle of Summer's hair on her cheeks. One hand trailed up Ruby's back and started caressing her hair. Ruby returned the gesture, lifting her hands up with one gripping onto Summer's left shoulder. Her grip was tight enough to express to clench at the fabric, not willing to let go lest she fears Summer would suddenly disappear.
"Ruby... You can relax." Summer said, pulling back to lead Ruby towards the couch. "Let's just sit down. I... We need the company."
Summer held onto Ruby's shoulders and they both settled on the couch together. For a moment, the two just faced each other in still silence. Ruby occasionally darted her eyes up to meet her mother's then downcasted in the awkwardness shared between them. Eventually, Ruby trailed one of Summer's arms to the hand that held a portrait. It was in clear view for Ruby to see the picture laid within where she saw her mother with a bright smile on her face joined with an Exo in the same Hunter's cloak. Most notably was the small horn protruding from the Exo's forehead. Even with the blank expressions on Exominds, Ruby could clearly see this Exo's personality shine through in the picture with motors on the face stretching the mouthpiece into a smile matching Summer and they were both holding peace signs for the photoshoot. Between them, they were both holding aloft for the picture... a chicken in a blue collar holding a gold star medallion.
Odd, but it did not take away the fact how utterly happy Summer was with the Exomind, sharing in her energy. It was almost like looking at a mirror image of herself and Yang. The two were definitely close, and Ruby had a foreboding feeling the more she thought about it.
"Mom, who is that?" Ruby asked.
Summer followed Ruby's sight and a forlorn expression washed over her face at the Exo in the picture. The silver shine in her eyes became dim, replaced by a deep sadness. She placed the picture on the coffee table in front of them for a clearer look.
"His name is Cayde-6." Summer said softly. "The previous Hunter Vanguard, and the one I avenged."
"He was your friend, right?" Ruby replied. "So how did you meet?"
Summer snorted. "It goes back to when I first became a Guardian. When I first woke up with no memories and the only thing I had were my new partner, the clothes on my back, and my name. Let me tell you, Ruby, when I first started out on duty I - totally - sucked!"
"B-But you're so awesome!" Ruby interrupted.
"Thank you." Summer tittered, her smile growing with pride. "Yes I am an awesome badass today, but in the beginning, I was a total wreck. Like, I really sucked being a Guardian. I could hardly get good gear for myself, let alone how to actually work any of the weapons I had on hand. I hardly even knew how to draw on my Light. It got so bad that I didn't go a week without dying at least twenty times to the Fallen. And with how much I sucked, I was getting a bad rep in the Tower. A really, really bad one."
Ruby did not say anything to interrupt, but she couldn't hold down the wince. She herself had already died a few times during her new career, but they were either of her own volition or were due to very unforeseen circumstances (like those fucking Taken Phalanxes camping the cliffs). It was unimaginable to die so many times to what were considered basic enemies like the Fallen in the EDZ.
Summer continued. "I was thinking of quitting. Just drop the gun, forget the Light, and just be a wanderer in this broken world. It's not like anyone would train me; no one had any faith in me. Then one day while I was sulking my failings, I looked up and had the biggest panic attack when someone approached me. That being my freaking Vanguard walking up to me. At first, I was scared out of my mind thinking he was gonna kick me out of the Tower. Instead, he gave me a grin only an Exo can do and said:
'"Let's be honest, you're a real mess kid. How about I show you some pointers?' I was losing my mind because a Vanguard - Cayde-6 - one of the most legendary Hunters, was going to train me. Me, the suicide girl. I couldn't make words before he dragged me off to the EDZ."
It was proving very hard for Ruby not to let out a giggle. She was now witnessing her own mother gush out like a fellow student. It almost reminded Ruby of herself when she first started Beacon.
Summer continued with a far-off look. "At first, I was scared that he was going to give up on me. But no matter how many times I chucked it, Cayde never gave up on me. Never belittled me and gave me advice on what to improve. It was slow work, but I was actually getting better. I was shooting straighter, moving faster, hitting harder, and became a bonified Light-wielding badass. Then before I knew it, I was the Guardian at the head of the most dangerous missions Guardians could face. I faced down Crota, then the Taken King himself with nothing but my trusty guns and the power of the Light as my allies. I became a legend, a hero; and it was all thanks to Cayde. I owe him everything.
"As for Cayde and myself, I was more than grateful for what he did for me. I became a legend - a hero - and it was all thanks to Cayde. We started hanging out, going on Sparrow races, shooting competitions, and dishing out total chaos on the bad guys unlucky enough. There - ha-ha-ha - there was even one time I went out to party in the Last City and the last thing I remember I was sleeping in a pile of stolen booty practically half-naked without my armor while Cayde is in a corner trying to make out with a seeker drone."
This time, Ruby could not hold back the laughter in her throat. It sounded even more ridiculous than the scandals her father Tai and Uncle Qrow got in when the former tried to stop the latter from drinking too much. Both mother and daughter roared in laughter, bringing a comfortable silence of a break between them.
"He seemed really important to you." Ruby said.
"Cayde's the reason I'm still a Guardian." Summer said with a wistful smile. "He became more than my Vanguard. He was my mentor. My best friend. The brother that I never knew I wanted. Life was so fun being around him. You should've met him. But..."
Then it came back. Ruby saw how Summer's eyes dimmed to silver chips of ice. Just below them, she could almost sense the dark emotions boiling within, threatening to erupt. She could see it in the tension over her mother's body as if every muscle in her body was trying its hardest not to lash out. Not to lose control.
Summer took a deep breath to steady herself. "We went on a mission together to prevent a group of dangerous criminals from escaping. I was so excited; it's not often we actually fight together. Everything was going pretty well until we got separated. Suddenly, we lost communication with Cayde when he went to face the prisoners himself. I knew something was wrong. I pushed myself to get to his last location as soon as I could, but I was too late."
Ruby watched in morbid silence as her mother wept tears down her face. Her face had that haunted look of a memory that scarred Summer to her very soul.
"Uldren Sov," Summer spoke with so much venom it made Ruby's hair stand on end, "caught Cayde in a trap with his new cronies, the Scorn. Cayde had the advantage, I know he did; but then they had the audacity to kill his Ghost, Sundance. As a result, Cayde couldn't use his powers, much less heal himself. They tortured him! Left him a mangled mess, and then Uldren dealt the last blow by shooting him with his own gun. I only made it to see what they left of him and Uldren getting away with the Ace of Spades.
"Everyone mourned Cayde. Everyone wanted to gut the bastards that took away our Vanguard. But Zavala instead wanted to keep on the guard. He saw that a direct assault in the Reef would dwindle our defenses at our home. 'We're Guardians, not conquerors.' That's what he said, and if any Guardian was going after Uldren Sov they were on their own. So I took up that mantle, waging a war with only myself against everything the Reef had to dish out.
"I'll admit, I was in a very dark place when Cayde died. Something just withered away inside of me. I wanted to deny it all. That he wasn't dead, that maybe he pulled some elaborate prank. But, I had to face the truth that he was gone. Forever. I was... I was pitiful, then I got angry. Angry at myself for failing him, then angry at Uldren for what he did. I know what I wanted to do. I didn't want to just bring down Uldren and his Scorn. I wanted to kill them all. I wanted them to suffer, let their last moments be only regret and agony! I wanted revenge!"
There was a crack in Summer's composure, and Ruby felt her breath caught in her throat. Like a crack, something seeped from the edges of Summer's pupil. Her silver eyes were tainted by a simple wisp of writhing shadows wreathed in green. Ruby's body gave a familiar chill that she only felt in the presence of the Hive and Taken when they used their space magic. Power derived from the Darkness, the Guardians' worst enemy. And now her mother before her was leaking it, which was then forced back by a tight lid.
"The thing about revenge, Ruby, it messes everything in your head." Summer said. "It makes you hyper-focused. Makes you unstoppable, but at the cost is that you don't see the lines you cross, or rather you don't care what lines you cross. It brings out the worst in you. For me and my war against the Scorn, I had to take whatever advantage I could no matter the cost."
Summer held up her left hand that was in a black glove and with the long sleeves of her uniform it fully hid away the skin underneath. She pushed against the glove so slightly to allow a peek at her wrist and then pulled back her sleeves. At the sight that awaited Ruby, she felt her heart cave in. While the skin of Summer's arm remained fair, underneath it was riddled in black veins fading into a poisonous green. Incomprehensible script was etched onto her forearm from her wrist up to her elbow like the branding that have burnt the skin black. They gave off the same chills at a greater level that made Ruby feel like the times she was fighting Taken.
A dreadful feeling welled up in Ruby's chest as she stared at the arm. "M-Mom, please don't tell me you aren't dy-"
"It's not life-threatening." Summer answered quickly. "But it's a little gift from that I received. In order to stand up to the Scorn alone, I needed an edge. And I resorted to using Thorn."
"Thorn?" Ruby wondered.
"Not a weapon you will like." Summer said, her gaze directed toward the left wall of the family room apartment.
As if by her stare, a compartment of the wall opened up and a shelf extended out. Standing on it was a rectangular glass case holding a handgun. But for the first time in Ruby's life, she could feel disgusted at the weapon she saw. The handgun's design was brutal in nature with some of the craft inspired by the Hive. Even from here within its glass prison, it stung a pit of ice in Ruby's stomach just looking at it. Though it was held still, the barrel still smoked a toxic green mist.
"That is Thorn." Summer explained. "And not some copy produced by Banshee. This is the original handgun owned by Dredgen Yor, a Guardian that rejected the Light and went dark. That was the edge I used to storm through the Reef and put a bullet in Uldren's skull. But it came with a cost. I may be blessed by the Light, but the Darkness has a mark on me. I don't think I'm in danger, but I can always feel it slither in the back of my head. When I get angry, it draws forward. It wants to be used. I can hold it back; I am not going to become the second Dredgen Yor, but you've seen me when my control can slip. Always got a put a lid on it, and being the Vanguard actually helps."
A wave of her hand, and the wall folded back into itself as if Thorn had never existed there. Summer then rolled up her sleeves and pulled back her glove to hide away the touch of the Darkness on her flesh.
"But there's something I don't understand." Ruby wondered. "You already got your... revenge on Uldren, so what does this Riven have to do for anything?"
Summer huffed through her nostrils. "Uldren might've pulled the trigger, but he wasn't the only one aiming the gun. Bastard became unhinged because of Riven, whispering into his head till she became her puppet. She was the one who sent Uldren, getting Cayde out just to kill him. Just the thought that she had a part in his death makes my blood boil, Ruby. It's taking all I have to stay put because of my duties as one of the Vanguard. However, Zavala has already sent out an urgent call for the formation of a Raid team. By tomorrow, we'll have six qualified and vengeful Guardians headed off to put Riven down to the ground."
"So that's it then?" Ruby said, but it was more of a statement than a question.
"That's it." Summer assured. "When Riven's dead, this can be put behind us. For most of us anyway."
Looking towards the window, Summer found that the sun had settled below the horizon. The world was cast in dark blue encroaching on black dotted by the stars of the galaxy.
"Look at the time." Summer said in exasperation, putting on a smile. "It's best we retire for the night. You go and check on your friend. See if her repairs are done. I'll go check on back with Zavala and Ikora."
When Summer went to stand up, she felt a tug on her right arm preventing her from getting up. Looking back down, Summer was stunned to find Ruby had a considerable grip on her forearm. There wasn't the Hunter that sought to console her Vanguard, but a daughter wishing to be with her mother, who was in her most desperate need for comfort. Ruby looked meek, not letting go of Summer's arm, and it made the Hunter Vanguard soften.
"Can we stay together like this... just for today?" Ruby pleaded softly.
"...Okay." Summer said as she said back down. "Just for tonight."
As Summer settled herself back on the couch, Ruby inched closer and snuggled into her mother's side. Said Mother stilled at the close embrace, not exactly used to the affection being that of a child towards their parent. It was an odd, but not a bad feeling. Summer stared ahead at the now starry night, adding the lulling silence permeating throughout the city as many others retired to the night. When Summer returned her gaze back to Ruby, she found the young Hunter having fallen asleep using Summer's arm as a pillow. For some reason, hearing Ruby's soft snores brought a pleasant warmth to Summer's chest. Then her own eyelids started to feel heavy.
'Maybe some rest... can do... some good.' Summer thought before her head leaned back into the couch and her mind fell to slumber.
Meanwhile, in the waning consciousness of Ruby's mind, a crazy and admittedly idea was coming to light.
Probably the longest chapter I've had to do, and we're not at the start of the raid. At first, I wanted to be the first part of the raid on Riven, but I thought it would be better for both mother and daughter to bond a little closer. Ruby now knows the extent of the life Summer went through as a Hunter. And it's up to her to make sure she doesn't fall.
Up next is Chapter 15.
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