Hello everyone! How are you doing?
Chapter 27 is up. It is one of the chapters, along with the next one, that I absolutely loved writing.
I am wondering however, if I managed to do the characters proper justice, along with keeping the whole atmosphere consistent. In regards to that, please tell me if there is any detail that seems like spoiling the whole scene.
Thank you so much once more for reading, following, and/or favoring. You are the best! I will see you next week with my favorite so far chapter!
Weiss was kneeling in front of the hastily-made grave that the frozen lighthouse guard rested in. Deciding they couldn't use this place as a proper shelter anymore, they had both opted to leave as soon as possible.
Before that, however, the pale girl had buried the poor man at the base of the rock where his ruined home was and had quickly offered him a simple farewell ceremony.
"May your spirit find proper rest; forgive me for not knowing your name" she stood up. "Barley; his name was Barley. May you rest in peace, pal" Yang finished her lover's farewell words as she climbed down next to her.
They both solemnly bowed and Weiss turned to the taller girl "besides his name, did you find anything else important?" Yang shrugged her shoulders.
"The only salvageable thing was this" she picked a small leather-covered notebook out of her pocket. "And it survived the wreckage because it was well-hidden inside a brick- oldest trick in the book."
She gave the book to Weiss who smirked fondly as she hastily flipped the pages. "It looks like a diary- we should read it when we find the time to."
Yang nodded and continued "besides that, nothing; valuables were scattered and destroyed, all in a semi-frozen state. Probably Grimm work."
"I don't know about the house" the shorter girl replied "but this person was murdered; his throat was slit open in a very professional manner."
"So what; someone killed this guy, left his belongings around and then the Grimm came and destroyed everything?" Yang's look of disbelief made Weiss wonder about that as well.
"Anyway baby, we can discuss about this later" she pointed around them "it's getting even darker and I would like us to find Blake and Rubes or at least a place to rest."
"You are right" Weiss nodded in a serious manner, stowing the diary away "there are so many things we don't know; it's pointless to waste any more time around here."
Yang threw Weiss' backpack over her own shoulder, before splitting another ration bar in half. She threw one piece into her mouth and gave her girlfriend the other.
Accepting the offer, Weiss threw the tasteless treat into her mouth, chewing in a well-mannered way before starting to walk towards the unexplored side.
"I fink I thaw a few houtheth earlier" Yang gulped down the bar "we should at least find shelter there. Maybe there is a village or something."
As both of them had climbed back on the rock, the darkening sky lit up. In the dim shadows, both girls saw a huge fiery barrage on the far side of the coast.
The consecutive explosions provided enough vision to them in order to see that truly a village stood a few kilometers away from them- dark and abandoned, but filled with possible shelters.
The most important part, however, was… "That was Crescent Rose Gatling Mode" Weiss whispered. "Unless there also fire-breathing Grimm here too" Yang instantly replied.
Both girls shared a worried look. And then they made haste for the village' northern coast where Ruby had just unleashed hell upon her enemies.
-o—
Ruby opened up her eyes, immediately aware of the pulsing pain in her body. Her entire being actually was in pain- had she really crashed down the roof?
She examined her body and palms- they were hurting, but otherwise were fine; no cuts, bruises of burn marks. Weird… she thought as she flipped her cloak and tried to sit on her position.
She was in the warehouse, the pouring water had stopped running down the ceiling. The door was open, but no draft was coming in. Next to her, a small pot with piping hot soup was standing, above a small fire.
In front of the pot Blake was sitting with her back turned to her, stirring the soup. "Blake?" "Oh you are awake, sleepy head." Ruby smiled "I am so glad you are ok!"
She tried to move, but her back hurt quite too much. "Don't overexert your wounds; I just close them." Then why do I not feel them at all? "Eat; I have left a bowl right next to you."
She looked at her left, where truly a steaming bowl of hot soup was standing. Realizing she was famished, Ruby picked it up, ignoring the slight sting from touching it, and brought the tasty- looking liquid to her mouth.
It was hot and really delicious. She took two large gulps before she lowered the bowl, licking her lips. And then, she felt her insides burn, as the soup started running down her mouth.
Pain wracked her body, tearing apart her very being. Thick, viscous, disgusting goo came out of her closed mouth, dripping down her chin. She tried to compose herself, tried to spit it away.
And then her eyes fell on her food. Instead of the piping hot soup, she saw a thick, iron-smelling dark red liquid filling her bowl. Blood…
She threw it on the ground "Blake…gaah…" she tried to speak between her goo-filled mouth "what is…aahh… this?"
Blake stood up and turned at her. Blake? No, this couldn't be Blake. Blake wasn't that tall and her eyes were always gentle yellow, not sinister-looking amber.
Her lips should be open wide in worry, not drawn across her face in such a delighted smirk. And… how could I not have seen she didn't have cat ears?
"This?" the sultry voice asked as the woman walked in front of her. "This is the blood of all you couldn't save, Little Red." She hissed "Cin…blaagh…der"
The Fall Maiden leaned down in front of her "Pyrrha, Penny, Uncle Qrow, Jaune… all of them died because you were not strong or fast enough…"
She struggled to stand, but she couldn't. Her body was heavy. Heavy and burning from the inside, eating her flesh away. She mustered every ounce of strength she had to stare her enemy in the face.
A perfectly-manicured hand caressed her left cheek, wiping the blood from it "and now… Blake has joined them too."
Ruby's façade dropped. Her face paled instantly, her mind failing to comprehend what had just happened. She tried to speak, but only managed to fill her lungs with blood "Noo…blah… nooo…gahh…nn…"
"You have failed your friends again. Sleep well, Little Red."
-o—
Ruby opened her eyes. Her first reaction was to stand up, but her body refused to obey. She blinked twice and tried to raise her hand. It was heavy, but she managed to focus enough on it and make it move.
Slowly and steadily, she rose up, taking in her surroundings. She was in a small room with wooden floor and two completely shut- down windows. An open door was just opposite them.
The place was totally empty save for a pile of things in the corner next to her, Crescent Rose included. The atmosphere was moldy, but not in a totally repulsive way.
She was lying down on top of two bedrolls and was covered in her red cloak. The total darkness of the room was being disrupted by a small dust lamp in its middle.
Her cheek hurt, along with her left shoulder. She looked at them; they were neatly bandaged. Her palms were as well. The familiar sting and smell of the healing salve could also be felt below the bandages.
What a horrible nightmare she trembled as she hug her cloak tight, trying to calm down herself. Then a horrible thought flashed through her mind.
Blake. Where is Blake? She wasn't here of course. Like Yang and Weiss. Like Jaune. Like everyone that Ruby had failed the last years of her life.
In her jumbled and confused state, images of her friend getting smacked by the Grimm, getting caught in her line of fire or slowly succumbing to her wounds while carrying Ruby swarmed her mind.
"Noo…" and like this, all got washed away. Weiss' kind words, Yang's tender presence, Blake's gentle support…her friend's help…everything got deleted.
Panic consumed Ruby. All built up tension exploded at once, filling her entire mind with sorrow and fear. Ignoring the pain in her palms, she clutched the scarlet-colored fabric and screamed in agony as the dam broke and tears streamed down her face.
Blake had just finished searching around and returned to the first floor of the house. She had stumbled upon a few intriguing, if quite morbid, findings- something totally unexpected of a random house in the middle of the village.
She took a slow peek at the mud-covered road behind the sealed windows. Nothing; the night had deeply fallen upon them and the heavy silence that accompanied it was deceptively captivating.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
The scream froze Blake's blood; it was horrible, filled in pain and sorrow. It seemed as if someone was trying to scream their soul out of their body. And that someone was her team leader.
Making no sound despite literally jumping up the stairs to the second floor, the faunus slammed open the door to their room, her hand in Nightfall's handle.
And then her eyes locked with Ruby's.
Her friend was trembling, eyes wet from crying, clutching tightly her soaked cloak in her bandaged palms. The salve in her left cheek had melted along with her tears, dripping down on her chest- truly a shocking sight for the famous huntress.
There was no time however for standing there. Blake rushed- "STAY AWAY!" and then froze on spot in response to the reaper's scream.
Silver eyes opened wide in horror and the brunette moved away from her, sticking her body to the wall. Her breath was erratic and her lips were trembling. She was still clutching the red fabric in her hands.
Blake stretched her arm out in an attempt to ease her, but… "I SAID STAY AWAY! HAVEN'T YOU TORTURED ME ENOUGH?"
"Ruby it's me… it's Blake. Please let me-" "YOU ARE NOT BLAKE! BLAKE IS…" she sniffed, her eyes wide and bulging "… BLAKE IS DEAD! I LET HER DIE!"
Dear Dust, she is delirious! "No you didn't! I am here-" she took one little step forward. "LEAVE ME ALONE! IT'S MY FAULT; JUST LET ME DIE ALREAD-"
Blake teleported next to the girl and cut her off by slapping her right cheek. "Get yourself together Ruby Rose! You are breaking apart- what's going on with you?"
Ruby didn't reply; instead she touched her cheek, letting her cloak fall on the floor. She could feel it, even beneath the bandage. It hurt… but it was warm; so warm…
"Blake… is it really you?" she asked with tears in her eyes and a cracked smile on her battered face. "You are…alive?"
The faunus knelt and grabbed the dropped piece of fabric, draping around her friend's shoulders before hugging her tightly. "We need to talk" she whispered, narrowing her eyes "and you will tell me everything."
-o—
The sound of Ruby slowly chewing the tasteless bar was the only thing disrupting the silence of the room. Blake was sitting next to her, slowly waiting for the red-caped girl to start talking.
"You said they were killed" the monotone voice from the brunette was heard. "Yes" the faunus replied. "Four skeletons in total, at least two of them died to bullets."
"That's weird..." the emotionless reply came again. "Maybe there was some infighting between the people and that was what drew the Grimm here?"
"That's a mystery we will deal with later; right now there is something else we should be discussing, don't you think?" The reaper avoided looking at her, chewing and mumbling in deep thought.
"I have done some stupid stuff lately" she finally admitted. "That's putting it mildly" Blake replied flatly. "That bad, huh?" the girl turned and came face-to-face with her friend's accusatory stare.
"Let's see… you spent time picking needless disguises… left half the team on a boat while fighting away Galeodons… instead of performing Nightflower with me to cut down all the parasite Grimm, you panicked and used Gatling Rose without applying safety protocols causing your body to overheat and inflicting four minor burns on your skin..."
With every word coming out of the raven-haired girl's mouth, Ruby's shame grew. She tugged herself in her cloak even more, lowering her gaze away from Blake's condescending eyes.
"… but the worst of all was that when you woke up, your heart was so shattered, that instead of realizing there would be no one else around here to tend to your wounds, you thought I was dead and started bowling your eyes out while my clothes were drying out in front of you! So yes, it is that bad, Ruby; it's downright terrifying to me!"
"I-I… I have no excuse..." she whispered. "I think you have" Blake spat. She knew she was hurting her friend pushing her like this but she had to. She knew the situation very well; after all… and what she saw perplexed her.
This is worse than how I was a year ago- abnormally worse. There is no way she crashed down like this so quickly. She gritted her teeth, seeing in Ruby's behavior so many familiar things
There was no way she would let her friend fall into that pit of despair; she had told her so a few hours ago and now was the time to honor her words.
"There is no excuse, Blake..." she continued. "Jaune being abducted, our failure in Yugure, me not knowing what will happen to Jaune even if I get him back… it's all too much!"
"What are you talking about?" Ok, now she was confused. "You marched with 15 people in Salem's lair, after a freaking month of walking and fighting in the Grimmlands! You fought Cinder head-on in Vacuo in the middle of a herd of rampaging Deathstalkers!"
Ruby's eyes opened just a little, as if… she was surprised? "That was different, I-"
"You had a few weeks ago lost your mentor and saw your uncle get killed, along with Weiss' sister! You had seen Ironwood getting assassinated and his killer escaping with the Relic of Creation in hand!"
Ruby tried to reply, but she stopped. A simple thought rose from the depths of her soul and crawled inside her mind. She is right- I did all these!
"You tended to Jaune for one year, kept on telling us that you believed in him and that he would return to us- was that hope a lie?" No, it wasn't. I really believed in Jaune. Why did I stop believing?
"So, I will ask you again; what is going on, Ruby? Because what's happening to you isn't normal- it defies any sort of logic. What has happened to you these last three days?"
Ruby took a deep breath- and felt her heart beat strongly. Blake's words had a strange effect on her. Why? Suddenly, her late behavior, her thoughts, her struggles seemed so… off-putting
Why am I acting… so desperate? I… am Ruby Rose! I am a huntress! I am the leader of team RWBY; the coolest team in Remnant! I…
"What have I been doing?" the sound was so chipper and sudden, it made Blake's heart skip a beat. "Did someone replace my brain with Cardin's?"
Blake's yellow orbs opened wide, followed by a satisfied smile, as the faunus saw a pair of bright shining gunmetal eyes reflect the dim light of the dust lamp.
"I sure hope not- I would hate having to beat you up" she joked. "Well, I think Yang would beat you up to it any way" the girl giggled, making the faunus roll her eyes.
"Bad puns aside" Ruby draped the cloak properly behind her back "there is something that I truly should talk to you about; I am having strange dreams lately. Maybe you can help me with it."
Blake's expression turned immediately serious and she nodded as Ruby pondered how to start. "The first one was during our flight- three days ago..."