Red Blooded
She'd lost sight of it all in a flash. And her world changed.
Wielding an ancient power that she shared with her mother, she'd thought she had finally found the trick to it all. A key to unlock the door that the rest of their lives and happiness was behind.
And yet-
Cordovan had still stepped in to put down the Leviathan, despite the best effort Ruby Rose could afford.
That was it, wasn't it? That's all that it could ever be.
She would give her all, time and time again, only to be faced with the next challenge followed by yet another challenge.
Is this the fate that Summer Rose had faced? Like mother, like daughter? Would Ruby fight and kill and face loss over and over only to rewarded with nothing?
Like mother, like daughter; would she too give her life to a cause just so that the next in line would do the very same?
Her hope and optimism had towered over any challenge for so long. It towered higher than the tallest mountain and stronger too. She'd been an unstoppable force that charged head-on into every immovable object without a second thought.
But now?
Ruby was having second thoughts.
Her mind was flooded with a thousand voices, nearly all telling her to stay.
Don't get on that ship.
Stay.
'Ruby?!'
You can't win in Atlas. You can't beat Salem.
'What are you doing? We have to go!'
But Argus is one city. That you can save.
She could protect Argus. If she got on that ship, she'd only be going further down the same doomed path her mother did. Argus was finite. An accomplishable goal.
Her blood ran red through her veins and if she wanted to keep it there, then it was in her best interest to not get on that ship.
"Ruby?"
Her sister's voice was closer now, right in front of her. Yang was there next to her, speaking to her but she couldn't hear what she was saying.
Maybe because it wasn't what she wanted to hear. A breathless request asking her to leave and continue the damned quest. Her own sister, her beloved flesh and blood, was asking her to march face forward to her end.
Just like Summer Rose did.
Black Hearted
Blake watched in silence as Yang pulled her sister's arm to no avail.
Her team leader had lost the resolve that she had found so admirable before.
How did Ruby come to lose something but she was still tethered to the same weight that threatened to drag her down to the depths of the darkest sea. An anchor holding her black heart to her unending pain.
She let it take her wherever it wished.
It took her away from a loving family and into an abusive relationship.
It grew bolder from that and led her from that to Beacon.
It dragged with it a danger that threatened those she'd come to care about.
Ruby and Weiss were put in danger because of it.
Yang was put in danger because of her.
Thousands were threatened by her actions. When Argus needed team RWBY the most, she let herself be dragged by her heart to a selfish fight.
Adam had followed her there and so had Yang followed her to Adam.
Argus was threatened by an unimaginable danger and yet Blake had the audacity to force Yang to clean up her mess for her.
They had struck him down. Together. Yang had come for her. She held her. She loved her.
And Blake loved her back.
Blake would not put those she loved in danger any more.
Her legs moved on their own, it seemed, followed by the hand she placed on Yang's shoulder.
Fiery red eyes bled tears as they met hers. She'd said nothing and everything in that moment. Tears were had all around.
Yang let go of Ruby and let her sink to the ground.
Blake reached to hold her cheek, pull her close, maybe even give her the kiss she'd dreamed of so often.
But as Yang turned away and stormed onto the ship, Blake knew that kiss would only ever happen in her restless slumbers.
She understood. It was what she deserved, after all.
White Knuckled
Yang wouldn't look at her. Ruby was gone. Blake was gone.
Why did it feel familiar?
"Look, Yang…."
Qrow walked over to Yang, stopping so that he blocked her face from view just as she turned.
"I know what it's like," Qrow said, "to lose people. To leave them behind."
Yang said nothing.
"Blake and I have something in common," he continued, "we have a…. complex, I guess. No bad can happen in our lives without us feeling like it's our fault. Regardless of whether it's true or not- everyone I've ever lost, I feel it was my fault."
Only the low hum of the airship's engine filled the silence.
"Your friend- She... she did what her heart thought was best for you. For all of us. She's probably wrong, but who am I to say that? I'd have done the same thing. I have done the same thing."
Everyone in the airship turned to Yang as she stood upright. Shot upright, with such force it probably shook the ship. Red eyes burned so hot-
So hot… it burned at her skin.
Yang was screaming, it appeared.
Weiss heard nothing.
Her vision narrowed and head spun. Every heart beat came faster and louder, rocking her in its rhythm.
She might have bent Myrtenaster with how tightly she gripped the handle, white knuckled and sweaty palmed.
Why was Jaune in front of her? He looked like he was holding her up, but she didn't feel the touch. Was he speaking? She really wished he wouldn't, at that moment. Couldn't he see she was feeling ill?
Was she feeling ill? Was she feeling at all?
Was she thinking at all?
Of course she wasn't thinking!
Why else would she have gotten on that ship?
Absurd!
She'd just left Atlas.
No more Schnees for her, so she thought.
She escaped her prison, so why would she voluntarily go back?
She wouldn't. She couldn't. She could not. No.
No.
Please.
Take her back to Argus. She wanted Ruby. Blake. She would stay with them.
It was for the mission, yes! She would stay with them, convincing them to follow later.
She would follow too. After all, she would only ask to be sent back to get them.
That was it.
Was it?
She couldn't breathe. She couldn't see through the tears. Her blood was pounding her veins so hard, she could hardly feel at all.
Weiss was scared.
She reasoned with herself, asking a simple question-
What if we stayed?