Author's Headnote: This fic has achieved 100 followers. This is a milestone for this fanwork. And as of this point, given that the main cast is divided, each chapter will be cycling through the perspectives of Ruby, Blake, and Jaune in that order. Sorry it took so long, I alternate between writing chapters, I write one for this, publish, write one for the other. Yadda yadda. Anyways, let's jump into the Ruby chapter.
RWBY: Festival of Blood: Won't End Here
Ruby Rose:
Aura Status: 24%
Thirst: Ravenous
Semblance: Wilted Petal Burst
Weapons: Crescent Rose, Slice of Life
Team Relations:
-Weiss Schnee: She hopes she can do better as leader.
-Blake Belladonna: She hopes that she'll be happy.
-Yang Xiao Long: She hopes that she can get better.
End of main character status report.
Vale Wilderness, December 12, Friday, Unknown Time, Underground Caverns
It's been five days since the destruction of Vale. Ruby abandoned her cloak and belt buckle at the scene where she killed Cinder. Not Feral Ruby, actual Ruby. She didn't know what came over her that drew her to kill. But she knew why she did it, and it wasn't a good reason. It was for vengeance. Ruby learned that revenge doesn't bring people back, if that was the case... Penny would still be here, and not just a bunch of scrap metal from her weapons. The clothes she's wearing is muddy and covered in dry blood Ruby refused to drink, along with being worn from all the travelling under the caves. Sure, she could use her vampiric abilities to go through them faster... but Ruby believes it is because of her vampirism that drew her to kill. She hasn't been drinking any blood in five days, she intentionally travelled underground because the only things that would be there would be grimm. And it shows.
Ruby feels like she's being torn apart from the inside-out, her low aura didn't help. She checked her aura after she started running away and turned off her scroll. It was at 33%. Low aura, low blood, both of those tend to create a negative reaction to Ruby, causing her to tire out. She doesn't know what the time is, actually. As she can't turn on her scroll right now to conserve energy, and she really can't find an opening in the cavern to find out to risk being exposed to sunlight, which would kill her at this point.
She talks to the grimm sometimes, although most conversation is one-way. She even tried to drink from one of the grimm out of desperation, turns out they don't have any fluids to drink from. This actually explains why she needs to drink blood in the first place, because of the grimm inside her.
But what's the point? This is basically where she lives for the rest of eternity. In a dry, grimm-infested cave. Well, she wouldn't have to be conscious to witness it, as she was ready to pass out and fall into an eternal sleep from a mix of low aura and low blood. Feral Ruby even went out a couple of times but than receded once she didn't find any source of blood. Well, at least in her sleep, she can be normal. Ruby collapsed on the floor and closed her eyes, believing it would be the last time she would do so...
Character Change: Ruby Rose - Dream Ruby
Ruby's Subconscious, Time does not exist in this realm, Dream Courtyard
Ruby had woken up... she feels... hungry. Not thirsty, but hungry. Her clothes appear to be in pristine condition, with her cloak and belt buckle and all. She than used her tongue to navigate her teeth... and... no fangs. Was she cured? Did someone cure her vampirism? Just to check, Ruby went to pinch herself. As she did, she did not feel anything, which means she's in a dream. Yet, her conscious is lucid here. Ruby's typically not a lucid dreamer, so... why is this dream a lucid one?
She looks around, she sees a place that resembles Beacon Courtyard, but it is distorted and the colors around here tend to shift between colors red, grey, yellow, and green. And as she went out to get Crescent Rose, or any weapon at that matter, she had noticed that neither weapon appears to have a presence in this world. In addition, without her vampiric powers and low aura, she's helpless here.
"Hello? Anyone here?" Ruby cried out.
But no one answered.
Weird, usually in these types of dreams, someone would show up... except they didn't. If this represents Beacon Courtyard, maybe she could see what her dorm looks like one last time. As Ruby went to walk, she had noticed that as she does so... the floor around her is distorted, so she has to watch her step. A lucid dream where she has no control of the situation, this is not good at all. She tried using her semblance here... but she can't seem to activate it here either. This is going to be a slow journey.
"This is your fault!" A voice echoed.
Ruby had heard that as she was walking and hopping. Soon the courtyard pathway to the dorm had turned into a hill. In which Ruby is forced to walk uphill to reach it.
"These people died because of you!" A voice echoed.
"You could have prevented this!" Another voice echoed.
As those voices were heard by Ruby, the hill had become steeper, making it a small mountain. Making Ruby forced to climb it, she feels the guilt holding her back. But, she's right to be guilty. She feels like she could have prevented it, but she didn't want to ruin people's lives, and in stead, she managed to ruin the lives of thousands. But Ruby still has to climb up, she has to. Grabbing onto pieces of the mountain bit by bit as she went to climb upward.
"Your actions have led to the destruction of an entire Kingdom!" A voice echoed.
"You came to Beacon to be a huntress! You left Beacon a murderer!" Another voice echoed.
"Your decisions lead to the love of your life being injured and traumatized!" A third voice echoed.
After those sets of voices are heard by Ruby, the rocky mountain becomes less rocky and the mountain becomes a wall. In which Ruby then falls down. Falling and falling, endlessly. She wants to wake up, but even than, where would she go? If she did wake up, she would still be tired and weak in a cave where no life other than the grimm are present. This dream is basically the end for her. And it's her fault that she's like this. If she had came to Penny's aid sooner, or if she had tried to stop the Wyvern, maybe Beacon and Vale would still be there.
Ruby's Subconscious, Time does not exist in this realm, Dark Pit
Ruby fell to a dark pit. In which she has heard the familiar sense. She hears grimm, and they are coming towards her. She doesn't have a weapon. So, that means she'll have to run. And as she is running away from the grimm, she noticed it's only one beowulf and that it's not going toward her. She then sees another Ruby going in and slaying the grimm... wait, this seems familiar. Ruby turned around to stop the Duke.
"Oh, but I insist!" The Duke said, in the same tone he said to Ruby when he turned her.
After that the other Ruby had been paralyzed and as the Duke was preparing to sink his teeth. Ruby came in and punched the Duke in the face.
The Duke, then looks towards Ruby. "This changes nothing, you know." the self-aware figment said.
"I know, but if I wasn't a vampire, maybe things would be different. People would still be alive, Vale would still be there!" Ruby said to the figment.
"So, if you were still a living, breathing human, everything would be magically better?"
"Ya, I wouldn't lose control and have a grimm inside me kill everything it sees, I would have partaken in the tournament in the doubles and singles so my girlfriend wouldn't get hurt, I wouldn't have to drink blood..."
"Yet, the reason you and Blake fell in love is because of your vampirism?"
"How do you know about Blake?"
"I'm a figment of your subconscious, not the actual Duke of Bloodshire."
"Oh ya... me and her... wouldn't... and she wouldn't be attending the dance, and her grades would suffer and she would be up all day and night."
"Things wouldn't be better either way, your vampirism didn't cause the destruction of Vale."
"But if I took different actions, not focus on revenge... maybe..."
"But you did. You tend to blame the Duke and your vampirism for stuff you did."
"I didn't maul those people, though."
'Yes, but by not feeding regularly, those people would still be alive, making you at fault the feral grimm took control."
"Do you expect me to just feed on the innocent without their consent!?"
"But if you did, the feral grimm wouldn't have entered light, and those people would still be alive."
"That wouldn't justify me attacking innocent people!"
"Sure, you had your team to keep you well fed, and you taking bloodpacks from other vampires? Do you just forget about them going feral and killing people?"
"Oh... you have a point there, guess I didn't think about the consequences there."
"And even if you were mortal, did you even think you could have won against Cinder? You think you could have slayed that Wyvern? Stop the infestation of Atlassian robots? The destruction of Vale was inevitable."
"Maybe if I reported Pyrrha has stolen the dust capacitor, the tournament would have been canceled aaaand..."
"You would be hated by team JNPR and all of Beacon for having their star champion convicted. Sure, she was a traitor, but she was the guarantee to give Beacon a victory in the fortieth Vytal tournament, which would have been canceled either way. And even then, all the negativity would still draw the grimm in."
"You're... right... there was nothing I could do..."
And just after hearing that. The figments had faded, and the room had changed that to resemble the city of Vale's downtown, except in ruins. And with it, she sees team SSSN, JN_R, and Yang and Weiss on the ground, most likely dead. And in front of them is none other than Cinder herself. Ruby went in and tried to punch Cinder but she was pushed back.
"How typical. You grieve for my death, and yet you would attack me at sight?" The figment taunted.
"You killed my friends!" Ruby countered.
"You don't know that, they could still be alive. Or not, either way. You chose to come after me instead of ensuring their safety. You knew that they wouldn't last too long against the paladins and the grimm coming at them at once."
"You caused all of this, you had to be stopped!"
"And it's your fault for not protecting the people around here. Don't blame the villian for the incompetence of the hero."
"But Penny..."
"Is Penny really that more important to you than all of Vale? More important than your own lover?"
"She's my friend, facing an impossible task, I had to do what's right."
"What of them?" the figment pointed at the bodies of her friend. "Was Penny's life more valuable than all of them?"
"No, just her task was harder."
"And trying to save an entire city is easier than fighting me?"
"Ya... you basically had magic."
"Didn't stop you from slicing me apart."
"I lost control, I was filled with rage... you killed Penny, and I snapped."
"Except I didn't. You know that too, she activated self-destruct on herself to try and stop me. You would be dead too if it weren't for her sacrifice."
"She wouldn't have to if you hadn't put her in such a state."
"If you had arrived sooner, she would still be alive."
"You're right... guess I should have confronted you along with Penny. But then Yang and Weiss... they would have died at Beacon."
"How pathetic. you checked up your team, and you abandoned them to go after me? Guess you really were never cut up to be huntress."
Ruby snapped on hearing that, she's typically not the aggressive type, but upon hearing that interpretation of subconscious mocking her, she couldn't take it.
"SHUT UP!" Ruby yelled. She punched the figment of Cinder in the face and she fell down, and then faded away.
And after that... the figments of her friends faded... a door had opened. Along with a replica of Crescent Rose, albeit without ammunition had appeared. Ruby had picked up the dream-scythe, and went through the door. May as well go through this literal guilt-trip with a weapon in mind. Crescent Rose always made things much easier to deal with. Although not the real deal, and no ammo. She had to make due with just the scythe.
Ruby's Subconscious, Time does not exist in this realm, Dream Caverns
Ruby then entered the entrance of the cave she had passed out in. She had come across the grimm that had previous ignored her due to her vampirism, and they are now attacking them. Thankfully, she has skill in fighting grimm, being a former-huntress and all. Keyword being former. This wave consisted of a single deathstalker and a bunch of beowulves. Although there is no ammo in her scythe, and she's limited with low aura and no ammo, no vampire powers either, so she has to fight them with her base, mortal strength and scythe.
Her skills too, not to mention. So instead of directly confronting the grimm, she waited for the deathstalker to come to Ruby, she taunted the deathstalker to come after her. By moving her fingers towards her in and then winking. Even though she really feels uncomfortable doing that said action due to the guilt she feels about happening to her right now. But anyways, the deathstalker running towards her and Ruby hops on the the deathstalker's back. The stinger went to go after Ruby, but she dodged the attack. And then she cleverly used the stinger to take out the beowulves by having the stinger stab them on the backs whilst Ruby was on them. After the beowulves were slayed, Ruby went in for the killing blow, by cutting off the deathstalker's tail and using it to kill the deathstalker.
However, this is far from over, Ruby knew more grimm would come, considering she would have to run or find a fast-moving grimm to catch up to where she left off in this cave. Which is what she did. She had noticed a beowulf sleeping and took a page out of Nora's book, she hopped on the back of the beowulf and started to ride it. Which moved to twice the speed as if a normal person was running, keep in mind, if she could access her semblance here in time, she could blitz the grimm here instantly.
Although as she was riding the grimm, she had to slay the grimm passing by. Ruby had no worries about fighting the grimm here. Eventually the beowulf innevitably snaps and tries to get Ruby off, in which she is forced to kill it. Which means she's bound to keep on walking.
After what felt like three hours, Ruby has found herself across a tired, vampiric version of herself. In the state she was in when she passed out. The voices around her telling her that she's at fault for everything keep echoing around her. Ruby comes closer, but the tired, vampire Ruby keeps fleeing...
"Stay back... I don't want to hurt you!" the other Ruby warned running away.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Ruby said, comforting the vampire.
"Yes, I will! I'm a murderer! I can't control when I kill people!"
"Just... trust me, I'm a friend."
"I don't deserve friends, I'm a monster!"
"Are you a monster?"
"Yes, I am, I kill people!"
"Why don't you tell me about your victims?"
"Err... I think I should go; I don't want to lose control..."
"Just... just... trust me. Bite my neck if you have to."
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"We share the same face, wear the same clothes, even have the same scythe. We're one and the same. So... go ahead... you can trust me."
"Alright I... AAAAGH!" The vampire Ruby said, collapsing on all fours.
Oh no, talk about fighting herself. Well, Feral Ruby that is. But the feral Ruby had came in and pounced at Ruby, which she blocked with Crescent Rose, which broke on contact. Kind of figures, given it's not the real one. But still the impact of her scythe being broken like that, she feels it. Which means she's got to fight Feral Ruby with her own two fists. She then remembers, wait for the grimm to attack and than jump and take it from behind. By it, she means the Crescent Rose on Feral Ruby's hip, she takes it, fires an ice-dust round. Toward her, and traps the feral Ruby's left leg and she tries to claw herself out. In which she changes the shape of her leg to resemble that of a beowulf to get out.
"The thing is, I don't know if you can understand me but..." Ruby said, stabbing Feral Ruby's claw hand. "The human body is inefficient fighting on all-fours, we have those two arms for picking up and using tools for a reason. Sure, you can do damage against a normal human. But a former huntress, that's another story." Ruby said casually, trying to incapacitate the feral grimm.
The grimm is putting up a fight, however, it's instinctive measures means that it's predictable, after that, Ruby whether it be force of habit from fighting grimm or from self-loathing, landed a fatal blow on Feral Ruby. Ruby gasp from her reaction, and it doesn't make really much sense, Crescent Rose was designed by Ruby to not be able to actually kill anyone.
But this was a dream... and a wake-up call at the same time. If she wallows around in her guilt... is this how she'll end up, at the receiving end of a huntsman or huntresses blade? No... she wouldn't want to go down like this... Not like this...
Character Change: Dream Ruby - Ruby Rose
Vale Wilderness, December 12, Friday, Unknown Time, Underground Caverns
"NOT. LIKE. THIS!" Ruby yelled across the caverns as she woke up, she tried to get up but...
"Oh ya, still weak, gotta get some blood in this system. Can't drink what's already on me though, Cinder's blood's all dried up." Ruby stated, getting out Crescent Rose and using it as a walking stick. She than turned on her scroll to check the time. And then turns it off, it's currently daytime, specifically 12:00 PM, she needs to find an opening in the cave.
She was walking to find an opening in the cave, the closest one she can get, she was looking for sunlight. As soon as she finds an opening, she'll wait for nightfall and get out. And then drink something to get herself back up to shape. She won't go down. She can't go down, she's a killer, yes. It's true she won't call herself a huntress anymore. But if it's one thing, she can still try to be a hero. She'll just have to do it her way.
Problem is, she really has to find out what the 'Ruby way' actually is. She'll figure it out once she drinks on some blood. But if that dream taught her something, is that she can't let her guilt consume her. It almost did in her dreams too. But after encountering her guilt-filled self, she realized she has to move on, letting herself being consumed by guilt is what lead her to this mess. But for now, she needs to get out of the caverns, and get some blood in her system.
Eventually she saw some natural light. It appears to be sunlight so she's avoiding contact until the sun goes down.
She was waiting... waiting until either the sun came down or for someone to come down here to feed on. At this point, she'd drink from anyone. Sure, she'll feel miserable later on, but she's thirsty as hell right now. To wait things out, Ruby decided to take a small nap. Which would hopefully pass the time.
Eight hours later, Ruby had woken up again, still feeling week as hell, she struggled to get up without using Crescent Rose. But she managed to exit the cave.
Vale Wilderness, December 12, Friday, 8:07 PM, Deep Forests
If anything, she just dug her own grave. But given forests, chances are there are bandits and White Fang around here, after that, she can find an inn or a cave to hide in and feed again. She just has to keep going.
Although soon enough she heard some rumbling in the forests. She hopes it's not grimm because she really can't fight grimm, or feed from one. But as soon as it jumped out, it was a wolf. Just a regular wolf, mistakening Ruby for some weak Prey. Well, she is right now. But Ruby was pinned down by the wolf. However, she used this opuurtunity to bit the wolf's neck, and start sucking it dry. She would feel bad killing a wild animal, but she would get over it. Although not as sating as human or faunas blood, or as tasty... it was enough for Ruby to regain her strength, albeit she's still thirsty.
Her aura would have recovered to around forty. She still has enough strength to walk at her regular pace, although using her semblance would still be unwise right now. So, she had decided to get herself out of the forest as fast as she can. Which is running.
Although soon enough, she did run into a bandit. He was wearing worn-down and dirty gear, and with only a spear at him. They're trying to rob Ruby.
"Give me yer Lien!" the bandit demanded.
"Does it look like I have any money?" Ruby asked.
"Well, I can just sell what yer carrying."
After Ruby heard that. She unfolded Crescent Rose and parried the attack the bandit threw out her. "I don't have time for this." she stated. Ruby then went and disarmed the bandit and knocked him unconscious. After that, Ruby took his wrist and started drinking, but made sure he's still alive. After that, she got up and took his map. There appears to be a bandit encampment north of here, and a village east of here... well, she may as well head east, a settlement means a bar, and a bar means an inn. And an inn means a place for Ruby can take residence and take jobs. Ruby remembers Cinder bringing up Mistral in that speech of hers, so she figures she'll have to plan a way to get a trip to Mistral. But first, she'll have to get a change of clothes, and some money.
So much to do, and all of it by herself. Thankfully that dream of hers snapped herself out of that guilt-trip she was going through. She still feels bad for killing, yes. But she can't let that feeling consume her.
Her whole thing with the no-killing thing goes way back, with a combination of her father's teachings and personal witnessing. She didn't want to kill anyone, back then she thought everyone had the potential to be a good person. Sure, she knows better now, but she would still feel herself being torn apart if she would land a killing blow. Of course, any good person would feel bad for killing just about anyone. That's how she knows she's still human. Even if she's a vampire, she can still feel empathy and remorse.
She still has Penny's blades. Perhaps they have some bit of Penny left for her to salvage. If not, well... pretty sure she would have wanted Ruby to make use of the blades. The problem is, she's got to find an advanced workbench to do anything with these benches, that means she'll have to find an Atlassian military or SDC facility.
It may be too late to go back now, but she can still go forward. She can always still be a hero, just not the one she dreamed herself being as a kid.
Author's Footnote: Well, that's the Ruby chapter. Next will be the Blake chapter. Do you think I'd write Ruby mope about killing Cinder for all of this section? Well, that would be boring, even for me. She still feels ashamed, she just won't let it control her. I hope you enjoyed the Ruby chapter, the next one won't be for a bit.