Written by Refined

— "Summer, Again" —

She quickly dove into a building as a hail of bullets flew her way. Holes perforated all over the wall in front of her as the air grew thick with debris and smoke. Over the sound of gunshots she could hear the mad cackle from him.

The gunfire ceases, and wood splinters crunch under her boots as she dashes toward the scorpion faunus. One moment, the two were at opposite ends of the town street, the next, sparks exploded out as Summer pushed her sword against Tyrian and his wrist-mounted blades.

"Ah! So fierce!" Tyrian regarded her all while grinning, "And so full of energy!"

Summer grunted. She didn't need to bother with words if he wasn't going to remember them.

She tried to break off and see if she could get another attack, but Tyrian didn't allow it. His two wrist-mounted blades swung wildly at her.

A swing from the top, a swing from the bottom. A slice from left, and another from the right.

It didn't matter if she evaded or blocked it. He purposefully attacked to always make her have at least one opening. Something she always found annoying.

When Summer finally found an opening on him that she could use, her aura flickered, and pain exploded in her stomach as Summer saw Tyrian use his semblance on her.

Cold—that was her last sensation as the world faded to black.

—

Summer's eyes weren't shot open as though she had woken up from a terrible nightmare. They were always open, and she had just simply realized that. The scenario is always the same.

Far off into the distant horizon stood the fortress of Salem, a silhouette of a tall tower backlit by a deep red horizon.

Her sword, Aculeus, hung by her hip as she stood by the entrance of the village. Or what was left of one.

The village was long abandoned and left to nature to make use of it. Wooden roofs collapsed and rotted, and stone walls crumbled. She had noted a long time ago how the village stood at the edge of the Grimm Lands. Which let the blue sky behind her mix with red to create an unnatural, deep velvet atmosphere.

A sigh escaped her. "I suppose it is beautiful, in a… odd way."

Walking towards the village center. She could pinpoint the exact location where Tyrian would jump out at her. But that wouldn't happen yet. Only when she was past the center would he spring his ambush. Which gave her ample amount of time to think to herself.

'Tyrian.'

It always seemed like nothing she could do would make anything different. No matter what she did, Tyrian was always faster and stronger.

Combined with his semblance to break through any person's aura and faunus-traits that made close combat dangerous, and his weapons being capable of ranged attacks, he was a dangerous and well-rounded fighter to go up against.

Her train of thought was abruptly stopped as she heard that maddening howl, just as she always heard, come closer to her.

—

As soon as Tyrian jumped from the tree line to attack her, Summer backed away and drew her sword. She quickly rushed toward him, swinging in a way to divert his attention while she looked for an opening.

"Enthusiastic, are we?" Tyrian said as he effortlessly blocked each of her attacks. Each time the blades met each other, he giggled as though it were a silly joke he didn't want the teacher hearing.

'He's playing with me.' The thought alone made Summer sour. A low kick to his leg drove him onto his knees—an opening she needed.

In a swift motion, her sword drove downward, only to be met with his wrist-blades. The only thing Summer noticed was how purple his eyes were before a sharp, stinging pain filled her abdomen. Her body crumpled backwards, her strength leaving her felt all too familiar.

"Your eyes… show something more…" he dragged on. He saw fatigue in her eyes, but with something else. "Yes, I see it. You aren't afraid, aren't you? Do you think you could keep fighting? Why, you must be insane!" Tyrian erupted into laughter.

Perhaps it was from the blood loss, but she did consider herself insane when she regarded his question with genuine seriousness.

'Why? Why do I keep fighting? Every time I come back, I always have the option to walk away…' And yet, she never took it. Why didn't she just return to Patch where her home is?

'Home?'

Through the black spots in her vision, she could see it vividly. Taiyang standing by her side at her bed, a small Yang jumping with excitement. And a newborn baby in her arms.

She remembered how her soft gurgles melted her heart. And her eyes, her eyes—just like hers.

She knew from the moment her daughter looked at her with those bright eyes what she had to do.

She had to stop Salem.

End her and this war, before her daughter fights this war in her shoes.

She struggled to even look him in the eyes. She didn't even know if she was looking at him.

"I–I have s–something to fight f–for..." she rasped out.

Tyrian looked surprised, especially with how much at death's door she was at. Summer's skin was far paler than it normally was, and her eyes dilated, struggling to adjust to see the figure just in front of her.

He chuckles. "Oh, it's such a shame that you won't make it back~" The scorpion tail curves around him and the stinger hovers just centimeters away from Summer's throat. "Guess it was all for nothing~"

—

Summer laid on the grass, exhausted and struggling to stay awake. All she could do was stare up at the velvety sky. She fought as hard as she could, using any advantage she could get over him, but it always ended up the same.

"I see that look in you," Tyrian told her. "You were determined to kill me, weren't you?" He held his hand to his chest, flattered. "Ah! I love it so, so much! I was determined too, I can't simply let down my queen." He strode toward her, his wrist-blades singing as it came out.

The words from Tyrian faded out into background noise in Summer's ears.

'Ruby… I'm so sorry. Taiyang, Qrow… even you, Raven. I'm so sorry that I couldn't beat him.'

Her final moments were filled with anguish as Tyrian began to carve into her.

— "Again, Summer" —

Summer stood idle by the entrance to the village, the wind blowing her cloak and hair lazily. Though her eyes were silver and reflective of light, they were dull and unmoving. The edges of her mouth seemed heavier. Her face gave the appearance of a porcelain mask.

She stood like this, and didn't bother to move. Even when Tyrian came walking out from his ambush to see what was happening.

"Why? Have you gotten stage fright?" He giggles. "It's been five minutes since you arrived and all you've done is just stand there. Are you insane?!" He laughs.

Summer's expression hasn't changed at all.

Tyrian's laughter dies down, and silence fills the air.

"If you're just going to stand there and die of old age. How about I help you with that?" His blades came out singing in the silence of the village. Every step toward her, she did not move.

Closer and closer he came toward her, and she still did not move.

"... Well, this is no fun if you're just–!" The words die in his mouth as Summer's cloak exploded out, her sword in hand lashing out at him. All with the same, dull expression.

For once, Tyrian's expression widened. But started to smile as the blood started pumping in him.

"Your eyes." He stared deep into them. "There's nothing! You're already dead!" A small, wry smile crept onto him.

Summer didn't show any signs of response to his words. She kept up her offensive toward him.

The two trade blows and sparks fly out. A familiar dance that has played out far more times than a madman could ever know. But for every attack he tried to use on her, she seemed to evade it by a hair and give him two of her own attacks.

The battle had gone on for too long, and far too annoying for him to deal with. His eyes glowed bright purple. He glanced into her eyes one final time as they began to shine brightly.

A blinding radiance filled the entire village. Tyrian grunted as he clenched his eyes shut and felt them burn under his eyelids. In the single second that he was blinded, he felt a quick wind rush by around him. He felt his weapons broken off from his wrist and a flurry of slices that whittled down his aura.

His tail came up once more, and began to attack violently, anywhere. As long as it forced her away from him. But it didn't stop her. Bit by bit, she cut him down to size until she saw his body flash purple.

Tyrian's aura shattered.

He felt a sharp, stinging pain erupt from where his tail should be. And he felt the lacerations lining his limbs and body. They all persisted until he collapsed.

When his eyes had finally recovered, they crept open. Standing before her was Summer, bloodied blade in hand and the same dull expression.

His weapons were discarded, his tail severed, and his limbs rendered unusable as his blood started to slowly pool around him. And yet, the only thing he could do is laugh.

"My– My Queen…." One final whimper before his eyes glossed over.

Over his body, Summer stood there watching over it with anticipation for something. She kept watch of it as though he could come stand up once more to send her back to the start of the battle again.

But he didn't. And Summer allowed herself to breathe more heavily to get more air. When his body still didn't move, she collapsed herself onto the ground next to his body.

'There's no way…. Did I really beat him?' It felt wrong. Like the wrong word to a song or the wrong step in a dance. It didn't feel like it was supposed to be like this. It felt anticlimactic.

And yet this was the goal that she wanted for however long she wanted. Besides some minor scrapes in her aura and exhaustion, there weren't any major injuries that could cost her life—another life.

It was hard to believe, but she did it. She finally killed Tyrian after so many tries, after so many deaths. She was finally free of this torment. As much as she wanted to scream out in joy, to come back home and hug Taiyang and her daughters, there was a certain fear lingering in her mind.

What happens next? She could turn back now and see her family, but Salem could prepare for her by the time she comes back. On the other hand, she could continue her original goal and kill Salem.

'But what happens when I die? Would I just come back to the start of fighting Tyrian? Or just before I fight the next one? Would I even come back at all?'

And that was what was the most fearful to her. The actual thought of dying and never having the chance to make it back home.

She took her time to recover her strength while she thought about it. Looking out into the red horizon, she stood up with a decision in mind.

"Ruby, I'll make sure that you'll never have to fight in this war."

—

Author's note

I wanted to make a simple one-shot for RWBY but I had a bit of struggle with ideas. I looked up some RWBY prompts to experiment and I ended up using this: Summer is stuck in a time loop, constantly trying to escape death, from Writing Prompt Wednesday #267 that I found on the RWBY subreddit.

Despite using the prompt, this isn't a part of the contest. I'm pretty sure that by now it's over, so I made this just to practice and improve my creative writing skills.

I realized after writing the outline that it was a bit too violent (repeatedly describing how Summer dies a little more than necessary due to the nature of the prompt). So I did limit the amount of scenes that would happen. Regardless, I chose to have this listed as mature to avoid any trouble.

—

Outline completed: December 21, 2021

Revisions: December 23, 2021 – January 15, 2022

Completed: January 16, 2022