Ruby groaned as she awoke, her eyes slowly blinked open however closed a second later, having been asleep for so long it took her a moment to adjust to the light from the afternoon sun. Ruby winced her face scrunching up in discomfort as she sat up rubbing her eyes before opening them once more, finding herself in an all too familiar room, looking around she found her father asleep in one of the chairs across the room.
A small sigh slipped past her lips rousing the blond from his rest. Looking up at her he immediately snaps awake "Ruby!" He yelled in both surprise and relief, rising to his feet Tai Yang ran to his daughter's bedside kneeling down beside her "You're awake."
"Ugh..." She groaned "What happened?"
Tai Yang sighed in relief seeing his daughter was alright after her ordeal "Your uncle found you unconscious." He replied, "He got you out of there though, and brought you back safe."
Ruby looked down in thought, a split second later her head snapped up towards her father realization in her eyes. "Wait, Yang!?" Ruby immediately asked. "Is she alright?"
"Uh... She's fine." Tai Yang said in clear uncertainty, his eldest daughter had hardly spoken since she'd woken up back in the hospital "...She's gonna be alright. I think she's just... look it's just gonna take time for her to get used to things. She's too strong to let this stop her. "Tai Yang covered his eyes for a moment, seeing both his girl unconscious, with his eldest practically knocking on death's door had almost destroyed him, things only got worse when she finally came to and realized what happened, he was just thankful that Koan kid had been there to calm her down.
Brushing those thoughts aside Tai yang looked back up at his youngest daughter, giving her his best attempt at a smile " I'm just glad to have my girls back home."
"What happened to the school! And Vale! Were they able to clear out the Grimm!" Ruby began listing off frantically
Tai Yang looked off to the side, Vale... Vale was going to be a delicate subject, to say the least. " Things in Vale are under control at the moment... But the school, it's... it's not that simple. That thing, whatever it is doesn't seem to be dead. Don't get me wrong you did a number on it. But it's not disappearing, it's... kind of... Frozen." Tai Yang tried to explain, he didn't understand half of it himself. " I know that doesn't sound too bad, but, but it keeps drawing more Grimm towards the School"
Ruby tilted her head to the side in clear confusion "I did... What?" She asked
"Hmm?" Tai Yang hummed in response
"You said I did a number on it. What did you mean by that?" She asked
Tai Yang looked down "I... " He began before deciding it was better to change the subject "Look that's not important right now. We can talk about things later, things are just... Things are kind of a mess."
"It's always a mess" A familiar voice spoke up from the doorway.
Ruby and Tai Yang turned to find Qrow standing in the doorway, taking a long swig from his hip flask " Mind if we have a minute?" He asked
"What I can't stay here?" He demanded skeptical of Qrow's intentions
"Tai. Please" Qrow pleaded
The Xiao Long patriarch relented a heavy sigh leaving him, he then leaned in kissing Ruby on the forehead. "I'm glad you're alright." He began as he made his way towards the bedroom door. "I'll go make us some tea." He muttered glaring at Qrow the whole way, gaining little reaction from the red-eyed huntsmen. Qrow approached Ruby bed pulling the chair Tai Yang had once occupied along with him.
"So..." Qrow began as he sat down." How you feeling?"
"Um..." Ruby trailed off, glancing down at herself before answering "I.. kinda hurt... all over."
Her response earned a chuckle from Qrow "That makes sense, after what you did." he said crossing his arms over his chest.
"You guys keep saying that, like I did something!" Ruby complained her face twisting in anger "What are you talking about?"
Uncrossing his arms and legs, her uncle leaned forward in his chair fixing Ruby with a serious look "What's the last thing you remember?"
Ruby's eyes fell down as she tried to remember what happened that night. "I ran up the side of the tower, and when I got to the top, I..." Ruby gasped her eyes widening in horror, her head snapped back towards Qrow "Alex, is he.." She asked
"We don't know" Qrow replied much to his own displeasure.
When he'd finally got up there himself all he'd found was Ruby and a lot of blood, at that moment he'd almost had a heart attack, it was only after they'd made it back to Vale had he found out what happened, the Adel girl and her team had been waiting for them at the landing pad. The first thing she'd asked was where the kid was.
Pyrrha had apparently been rescued by some renaissance fair reject, before Ruby even made it to the top of the damn tower, Alex had gone up there to get her... and never came back down. Qrow let out a long sigh, the blood was a clear sign something had gone down. "He wasn't up there with you when I found you." He'd gone back and made sure of that himself before finally pulling out. " But... there was, a lot of blood."
"I..." Ruby shuddered, gripping her bedsheets tighter " I... I got to the top..." She continued as the tears began to spill down her cheeks. " Cinder... a-and Psycho red.. they w-were... waiting for me." Her hand slid down to her leg, running her hand over the spot where Psycho red had cut her, how.. how close he'd come to killing her. "Then Alex.. he.. he" The image of cinder thrusting her sword through her best friends chest played over and over again inside her mind."... and then everything went White." She finished
"Anything else?" He asked, he knew this was hard for her, but it was better she got it off her chest, rather than bottling all of that up.
Sucking in a small breath Ruby tried to recall as much as she could about the experience " I remember... my head hurting" She said wiping away her tears
Qrow narrowed his eyes in response, followed up by asking her " The night you met Ozpin, what was the first thing he said to you?"
Ruby shook her head "I... I don't know. I think it was something about..." She trailed off trying to recall what the headmaster had said to her that night.
"Silver eyes." Ruby snapped back to reality, looking back at her uncle as he continued "That's an extremely rare trait."
"So?" She asked in obvious confusion.
"You're special Ruby" Qrow replied " And not in the "Daddy's loves his special angel" kind of way. Your special in the same way your mom was. Remnant is full of legends and stories, some of them true, some made up. But there's one Oz told me about, from a very long time ago." He began, Ruby listening intently to her uncle's words.
"Back before huntsmen, back before the kingdoms, it was said that those born with silver eyes were destined to lead the life of a warrior. You see, the creatures of Grimm, the most fearsome monsters mankind has encountered, were afraid of those with silver eyes, they were the best of the best. It was said that even a single look from one of these fighters could strike a Grimm down." Rolling his eyes, Qrow chuckled "Heh. It's a ridiculous story." He admitted
"But... you think I might be..." Ruby trailed off
Qrow chuckled "Well, a giant monster is currently frozen on top of Beacon tower. And your here, safe in bed" He replied, rising to his feet, Qrow made his way over to the window staring out at the horizon.
"Wait... wait how do you know what Ozpin said to me?" Ruby asked
Qrow's gaze glided over the autumn trees as he replied " All those missions I go on... all the times I'm away in some far-off place... It's been for Ozpin. But he's missing now." Qrow sighed " Something's been set in motion. With Oz gone, I'll have to pick up where he left off."
"And what could I do?" Ruby asked, Qrow looked back at his youngest niece in some surprise "If I'm so special, then I can help, right?" She inquired
Qrow smiled in response to his niece's words "You really wanna help? Get some rest, you're in no condition to go anywhere right now. " He began making his way towards the door " Besides, our enemies trail leads all the way to Haven. That'd be quite the trip for a pipsqueak like you." Sending a playful wink, he added "Catch ya later kiddo" Before taking his leave.
Ruby sat in silence, mulling over her uncle's revelation, allowing his words and their implications to seep in, even then she still couldn't believe it. A few weeks ago, she and her team had been so excited for the Vytal Festival, even if her team wouldn't be able to participate in the finals, Yang had been rescued, the psycho rangers base had been destroyed and Vale was finally safe.
Ruby gripped on her bedsheets tightened, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. Everything had been so perfect, they were all together, they were all so happy. And now everything was a wreck, Beacon was gone, yang lost her arm and Alex... Ruby choked back a sob, her head falling into her hands. Why? Emerald, Mercury, Cinder, she thought they were her friends, she thought they were good people, why had they done it, what could they possibly gain from working with the psycho rangers, from helping them kill so many innocent people?
A sudden knock on her door pulled Ruby from her thoughts, looking up at her bedroom door Ruby's tear-filled eyes settled on a familiar blond shapeshifter. "Koan?" She asked, in both surprise and some relief.
"H-hey" His voice shuddered slightly, relief flooding over him as he made his way to the younger girls bedside pulling her in for a hug, one Ruby immediately recuperated, wrapping her arms around his neck she pushed her face into his shoulder. "You're awake." He whispered in disbelief, his grip on her small frame tightening, she didn't mind at all. "You'd been out for so long, Yang and I, we... we started to think you would never wake up."
After a few moments, they finally pulled away from one another, although the younger girl refused to look at him, instead she stared down at her bedsheets fidgeting uncomfortably. "Ruby?" Koan asked in concern.
"I... I" Ruby muttered before finally looking up at Koan, tears welling up in her eyes " I'm sorry"
"What?" Koan asked
"Alex" Ruby wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her pajamas "I'm so sorry"
At the mention of his name, Koan glanced off to the side a complicated expression passing over his features, his grip on the younger girls shoulders instinctively tightening. Ruby sniffled her grip on her bedsheets tightening, she'd rushed in blindly in an attempt to save one of her friends, and as per usual she'd bitten off more than she could chew, with Alex paying the price. "It's... It's all my fau-"
"Don't." Koan cut her off shaking her shoulders slightly, making the younger girl look at him, the blond shapeshifter let out a breath through his nose "You weren't the one that caused all this, The Psychos, Roman, Cinder and her goon squad, they're the reason he's gone, not you."
It didn't feel that way, her thoughts were accompanied by an ugly feeling welled up inside Ruby's chest. At the time she'd been so helpless, spending the better part of the battle huddled behind a pile of rubble while her friend fought for both their lives, even when she'd managed to reach her weapon, it didn't change anything.
They'd still lost
Beacon was still destroyed
Cinder and Psycho red still won
Maybe if she'd been more cautious instead of rushing in ahead of the other things would have been different, Ben and Nora were finishing off the Grimm in that area, if she'd waited a little longer they could have gone up the tower together... And if she had, maybe Alex would still be here.
Koan's smile fell slightly as Ruby's eyes dropped back down to her bedsheets, it would take time, losing someone close to you always did, it was probably for the best he gave her a few minutes. "Hey" Koan spoke up, Ruby glanced up to him once more but didn't speak. "I'm gonna go check on that tea your dad was talking about, come along when you're ready, I'm sure Yang's going to want to see you." He received a solemn nod in response from the silver-eyed girl.
Rising from his place at her bedside the blond shapeshifter made his way towards her bedroom door, casting one final glance at Ruby before leaving.
/
Yang leaned back in her bed staring down into the tea Koan had brought her in silence, her remaining piece of Ember Celica sat on the nightstand beside her yet another reminder of what she had lost during the fall, the biggest being the bandaged stump that remained of her right arm. At that moment she couldn't help but glance down at the aforementioned part of her body, her left hand tremored, her grip tightening around the porcelain mug, several small cracks spreading out across its surface.
Koan's hand settled atop her own, his thumb rubbing soothing circles across the back of her hand "It's okay" He said wrapping his free arm around her shoulders, Yang leaned into his embrace, laying her head on his shoulder. Weiss had been dragged back to Atlas by her father, Blake had run off before she'd even woken up, she'd hardly heard anything from JNPR, all she knew was that they were trying to reach out to Jaunes family about the memorial the council would hold in a couple of weeks.
That just left her, bedridden and under watch, every couple of days a nurse would show up to redress her arm and check in on her recovery, at least that was what they told her, she'd overheard more than once their talks with dad about her mental state, apparently it wasn't uncommon for someone to slip into a deep depression after going through something like this, and they were worried it might lead to her trying to hurt herself in some way.
One by one her friends had just about vanished, all except for him, he'd been there with her since the moment she'd woken up, and comfort her in the ensuing aftermath of seeing a part of her body missing, he'd sat with her for hours as she'd balled her eyes out doing whatever he could to comfort her. And since that day he'd been by her side trying as best he could to keep her spirits up, however, she had a feeling that him spending so much time with her was just as much for his benefit as it was hers.
Her grip slackened as a heavy sigh left her, looking up at the blond shapeshifter she asked: "How's she doing?"
"She's... Processing." Koan replied, after taking a comforting sip from his own mug he continued "She just needs time for all of it to sink in."
Yang nodded slowly in response, before glancing up at her boyfriend- Yeah, that had been one hell of a bomb she'd dropped on her dad back at the hospital - "What about you?"
"Huh?" Koan glanced down at Yang in confusion, she stared back at him worry clear in those amethyst orbs. "Yeah, Yeah I'm fine."
"Liar" Yang whispered, pushing her head into his should
Koan glanced off to the side scratching his cheek, what was she even saying? Of course he ... of course he was ok, I mean why wouldn't he be, it wasn't like death was some great unknown to him, it wasn't like he hadn't seen people die before, he'd stood there and watch as his friends were buried, sometimes it had been a cemetery with flowers and grieving families standing alongside side him, other times it had been a shallow hole in the ground on some nowhere planet way out in the corner of the galaxy.
First, it had been a loving family he could barely even remember, being murdered so his future captors had a guinea pig they could perform their twisted experiments on, then it had been his squad mate Kait dying on what was supposed to be a training opp, now Alex, the closest thing he'd had to a brother since he'd crawled out of that pit Psychobos and Albedo had thrown him into, was gone too.
Yeah, he'd be okay, he'd mope sometimes and get a little irritable towards people while he tried to pick up the pieces and move on, but that was just a part of life wasn't it, yeah, he was okay...right.
"Yang?" The Blond brawler seemed to stiffen as the bedroom door opened ajar, "Are you awake?" Her younger sister asked before poking her head through the opening into her room.
Taking a deep breath Yang pulled herself away from Koan, shoving her duvet aside with her good arm, Yang shifted to the edge of her bed sitting up beside Koan, looking up towards the door Yang offered her sister a small smile. "H-Hey sis" She began somewhat hesitantly, suddenly very self-conscious of her missing appendage
Tears welled up at the edge of those silver pools. "Yang!" Her bedroom door burst open; Ruby bounded across the room throwing her arms around her big sister Ruby buried her head into the crook of Yang's neck. "I'm so glad you're ok."
Yang tensed, her eyes drifting past rubies dark locks to what was left of her arm... she was anything but ok, Ruby shuddered in her grasp pulling Yang from her thoughts, she was suddenly very aware of the growing damp spot on her shirt. Swallowing Yang shoved those thoughts aside and wrapped her good arm around Ruby, pulling her little sister close.
After everything her Dad and Uncle Qrow must have told her after she woke up, Beacon, the city, her arm, and Alex... she knew how much it must have hurt, to just wake up and find out it was all gone, that their friend was just... gone. She had to try and keep it together, she had to be there for Ruby, just like Koan had for her at the beginning. "Y-Yeah me too."
"Yang" Ruby pulled away from her sister, worry clear in her tone "Where are Weiss and Blake."
Yang's face darkened at the mention of her so-called partner's name, the blond brawler clenching her teeth in an attempt to hold back her fury. Sensing Yang's temper flaring, Koan was quick to intervene. "Weiss..." Koan began drawing Ruby's attention towards him. "Weiss is... back in Atlas."
"W-What!?" Ruby's eyes widened "When, Why!?"
Koan sighed crossing his arms as he leaned back against Yang's nightstand, his eyes fell to the bedroom floor. " Before Vale lost communication with the outside world, the last thing they all saw was those Atlas droids attacking innocent people and the Grimm destroying the city. Even after everything settled down, people were still terrified, they didn't know who to turn to, or who to trust, so... Weiss's father came and took her back to Atlas where he thought it was safe." Koan's gaze flicked back up to the distraught reaper "She's gone, Ruby."
"W-well, well" Ruby's voice shuddered slightly "What about Blake, where is she now?"
Yang's fist clenched, her nails digging into her bedsheets, her eyes flickered red
Koan winced in response, Blake hadn't been a good topic to bring up around Yang "...We don't know" Koan replied
"What do you me-" Ruby's question was cut off by Yang
"She ran, ok!" Yang yelled, her eyes flashing crimson, her outburst causing Ruby to take a step back in alarm. Sucking in a shuddering breath, her head fell "... Sun saw her go. After we got back to the city she just... ran."
"But...Why!" She didn't understand, why would Blake just abandon everyone like that
Yang sighed in defeat, that was the same question she'd been asking herself for a long time. "I don't know" Koan's reached out to her, but Yang was quick to shrug his hand off "I don't care, and neither should you." She snapped back.
"But Yang..." Ruby tried to say.
Yang rose to her feet, her crimson orbs locked on her younger sister. "But what Ruby!?" Yang demanded towering over the younger girl " After everything we've been through together after everything that happened, if she really wanted to be here, she would have stayed, heh!" A bitter laugh left Her "But low and behold she decided we weren't worth the trouble of sticking around for and cut us loose!" A shuddering breath escaped the blond as her eyes shifted back to violet, tears welling up at the edges. " W-Well, if that's how she feels, goodbye and g-good riddance." she said as more tears began to spill forth.
"Yang!" Ruby cried as her sister collapsed down onto her knees, in an instant, she and Koan were at her side. The blond buried her head into her sister's shoulder as the damn broke, all the anger, betrayal and grief she'd been holding back washed over her like a flood, Koan knelt down beside the sisters, rubbing his hand soothingly down Yang's back.
"It's gonna be okay, I don't why but I know Blake would have had a good reason for what happened" Koan tried to assure her.
"W-Was I-it m-me, did... did I do something wrong?" Yang whispered to herself
"No" Ruby interjected her grip around her older sister tightening
"I... I thought after everything we'd been through, she trusted us, that we were her friends." The blond brawler continued
"We are" Ruby assured her "And Blake's still ours."
"Were we ever?" Yang asked gritting her teeth in frustration, the anger she felt towards her part-... No, Blake didn't deserve to be called that anymore, if Blake had ever been her partner, had ever thought of her as a friend she would have stuck around, Blake would have been there for her when she'd woke up MISSING. HER. ARM! ... So, then she could have been there for her when they found out about Alex.
But that wasn't the case now was it "If so, why would she just...leave like that." Yang growled through grit teath, her mounting fury quickly overwhelming her inner turmoil.
Ruby opened her mouth to reply, to say something that would help justify what their friend had done... but nothing came. "Yeah... that's what I thought." Yang trailed off, pulling away from Ruby. Without another word the blond rose to her feet, brushing past Ruby as she attempted to reach out to her older sister, pulling open her bedroom door she paused in the doorway glancing back to the others one final time, a dim uncaring look in her eye. "I'm gonna... I'm gonna go see if dad needs help with anything, I'll talk to you guys later."
"Yang." Koan called out as she closed the door behind her. "...God damn it" he muttered, Ruby shuffled behind him, overcoming her shock the reaper jumped to her feet moving to chase after her sister, Koan seized her arm, the blond shapeshifter stepped in front of her blocking her path" Woah, Woah, Woah, that's not a good idea right now"
"What, but Yang... she." Ruby trailed off as Koan's grip on her arm tightened a pleading look in his eye.
"Please" Koan stressed, the last thing he wanted right now was for Yang to snap at Ruby because her little sister was worried 'It's not your fault' Koan thought bitterly watching the silver-eyed girls worried gaze move between him and the door, Blake was a... touchy subject to say the least, in a way he only had himself to blame, he should have told her about what happened sooner, maybe then they might have been able to avoid this." She's not going to be in the mood to talk right now, just, give her some time to calm down."
The young reaper opened her mouth once more to protest, her sister must have been in so much pain, maybe if she went after her... maybe she could help. "It's not going to work Ruby." Koan interrupted her.
"But what if we-" Ruby tried to say
"I've tried to get her to open up Ruby. Tried to get her to talk about things, to get her to give Blake a chance to explain herself for weeks now." And it wasn't going to happen anytime soon, Yang needed to want to try and resolve this herself, trying to force the issue would only end the same ways as the last time he tried, and as far as Yang seemed concerned, she wanted nothing to do with her old partner.
If Alex were here... well if Alex were here then maybe things wouldn't be this bad, Blake wouldn't have run off and Yang's growing resentment for the Cat Faunus would be nonexistent. All he could do now is try and hold things together, the best he could. "Pushing her to do it, when she doesn't want to is only going to make things worse."
"Then...What do we do now?" Ruby asked clenching her fists in frustration " The Psycho Rangers and Cinder are still out there... Have Ben and Rook been able to find anything?"
Koan sighed sitting back down on Yang's bed, the shapeshifter rubbed his brow in frustration "What is it? Did something happen" Ruby
"I don't know, I haven't heard from Ben or Rook since the Night Beacon fell." Koan replied
Ruby's eyes widened "Are... are they?" She dreaded to ask
"No" Koan replied. " They were at the safe zone when I got there, but they disappeared not long after and their badge signals have gone dark."
Ruby couldn't believe her ears, they'd... they'd vanished, again, without a word to any of them or even Koan. Had they, had they just abandon-... No, no she couldn't think like that, Ben and Rook wouldn't do that to them, not after what happened to Yang the first time. Maybe they'd gone after Cinder after everything she and Psycho red had done, Ben and Rook had to be trying to track them down if that was the case where would they...
Realization struck her, Ruby's mind drifted back to her first encounter with Cinder back in the hall outside of her dorm, they'd snuck into Beacon dressed as students from Haven, no way Ben or Rook would have missed it... That's it, Haven, they must have gone there to try and find answers, all they had to do was meet them there and they could figure this whole thing out together
"Koan." Ruby said sitting down beside the shapeshifter "They must have gone after Cinder, which means they'll be heading to Haven."
"Haven, in Mistral?" Koan asked, had she lost it, there was no way her dad would let her go after that crazy bitch, let alone make her way to haven, even if he went with her. "No way your dad's even gonna let you out of his sight, let alone stand there and let you run off halfway across the world, not after everything that's happened. I mean how do you even know they'll be there?" Koan demanded
"Koan you know this is bigger than any of us, Ben and Rook wouldn't just abandon us, they must have gone after them, and we can't let them do it alone." Ruby pressed conviction burning in her silver eyes, she wouldn't take no for an answer, she owed it to Alex to help them see this through and bring Cinder and the Psycho Rangers to justice.
Koan opened his mouth to argue, to try and make her see things more clearly, to say anything that might make her think twice about running off on some crazy mission halfway across the globe... but that look in her eyes, he'd seen it a hundred times before on the face of his best friend, no matter what he said even if he told her dad and uncle about what she was planning, she'd find some way to sneak off and do it anyway, despite the innocent look she always sported, Ruby was pretty conniving when she wanted to be, at least if he agreed he might be able to mitigate the damage ti did to her dad and Yang.
Koan relented, a long sigh leaving him. "I know I can't stop you." Koan replied, earning a confused look from Ruby, what did she mean by "You", wasn't he coming with her. "If you're going to Haven I can't go with you, if I did I don't know if Yang will be good on her own right now, even with your dad around." Koan clarified, he had a feeling if he and up and disappeared, it could undo everything she'd managed to get past so far." I gotta try and get Yang out of this funk, after that we'll catch up with you and maybe then we can figure this whole mess out."
"But if your set on going" Koan began, the blond shapeshifter pulling his scroll from his back pocket, flicking it open he scrolled through the contacts pausing on a certain redhead "For the love of God, don't go alone okay." He said holding the device out towards Ruby, the silver-eyed girl glanced down to the familiar scroll number and the image of the red-haired girl beside it.
/
Today was the day, the amber glow of the morning was sun was just peeking over the distant horizon, Yang would still be asleep, but her dad would be up soon, she had to be quick.
Turning away from the window Ruby glanced down at the envelope in her hand "Sorry dad" Ruby muttered setting the letter to her dad down on her pillow, once he read it...he'd be mad, worried and so many other things on top of that, a sudden weight settled in her stomach at the thought of her being the cause of it, only added to her frayed nerves, the red-clad reaper let out a breath steeling herself for the journey ahead, Pyrrha and the others were waiting outside, there was no turning back.
Throwing her backpack over her shoulders Ruby crept out her bedroom into the hallway, it didn't take long for her to quietly navigate through the upper levels of the house, taking added time on her way down the stairs,- all it would take was a loud groan or creek to give her away- where Koan was waiting for her .
"You're sure about this?" Koan asked her one last time
Ruby nodded in response "I've gotta do it Koan, Cinder and Psycho red are still out there, if we don't try and stop them, then who will."
Koan sighed, resting a hand on Ruby's shoulder "Just promise me you'll stay safe out there."
Ruby smiled, stepping forward she pulled the taller blond into a hug, that Koan was quick to return. "I will." Ruby said as they pulled away from one another, stepping past the blond shapeshifter, Ruby pulled open the front door, the icy Winter wind flooding past her, Ruby stepped through the doorway sending one last nod his way before closing the front door softly behind her.
'Welp, up next is the hard part' Koan thought his eyes drifting up the stairs, a small humorless laugh left him, he had an hour maybe less until Yang and her dad realized Ruby was gone and he'd have to deliver the news...yeah, he wasn't looking forward to that conversation, Ruby better appreciate it.
/
"Ruby" A soft voice spoke up from behind her.
The red-clad reaper turned to face its source "Hey, Pyrrha." she greeted her friend, the red-haired girl offering her a sad smile in response, their entire team had been hit hard with the loss of their leader, but no one more so than Pyrrha, her usual bright green eyes seemed far duller then she remembered, as if she'd lost a part of herself with Jaune "Havens a long way away" Ruby pointed out to the emerald spartan.
"I know" Pyrrha replied softly "But it seems like the only way we have now."
"Are you sure you others are ok with coming." Ruby asked concern for her friend evident in her tone, after everything that happened she didn't want to push Pyrrha into doing this.
The journey will be perilous..." Ren spoke up, the green-clad ninja coming to stand beside his teammate and friend "... and whether we'll find answers at the end is uncertain." Ren pointed out
"But we wouldn't be here if we weren't up for it" Nora piped up resting Magnhild over her shoulder.
"They're right" Pyrrha confirmed, resting a hand on Ruby's shoulder, the emerald spartan offered the red-clad reaper another smile, this one far more genuine the previous" We wouldn't be here if we weren't committed to seeing this through to the end"
Ruby smirked in response "Then let's get started" With that, the four of them began their trek down the dirt road leading away from The Xiao long household, this moment marking the beginning of the perilous journey laid out ahead of them.
/
...
He lay there, hovering in an endless void of night.
...
Who was he?
...
Why was he here?
...
He remembered standing on top of some tower, he remembered he'd been fighting someone, that he'd been winning, then all he could remember was pain, as an almost unbearable heat washed over him, and then someone screaming his name. The darkness swirled around him, wrapping him in a cold embrace where they could be no escape.
"A..x" A voice called out through the darkness
'What?' he wondered his tired, heavy eyes looking out over the seemingly endless darkness around him, searching for its source. There in the distance, an orb of light no bigger than a baseball hovered and bobbed in the darkness as if it were searching for something itself, seemingly sensing his lingering gaze the orb came to a halt, the light emanating from its surface pulsed, almost as if it had taken notice of his presence.
"Al.x" The orb bobbed in his direction, before darting off towards him the light surrounding it growing brighter by the second.
His eyes snapped open, his body alert, as the orb darted towards him leaving a stream of azure light in its wake. He thrashed and struggled against the hold this world place had over him, he didn't know what the orb wanted he didn't know what it would do, but his instincts were telling him he needed to move, Now! 'Come on, come on.' Alex growled pulling at the ethereal black tendrils holding him in place, there was no use, seconds before the orb impacted him Alex brought his arms up to act as a shield, bracing himself for what was to come.
"Alex!" The voice yelled, a blinding white light washing over him, forcing his eyes shut.
He stayed like that, waiting for the pain most likely to follow... but there was nothing.
"...What are you doing?" A voice spoke up followed by a small giggle, one he hadn't heard in so long. Cracking an eye open, Alex glanced at the world around him, gone was the endless void of darkness he'd found himself in. He found himself kneeling on a hill overlooking a valley, surrounded by a seemingly endless mountain range, at the very centre was a small two-story cabin nestled between the treeline, a gravel path leading down from its porch to the shores of a crystal blue lake.
Alex's arms fell back to his sides, a gentle breeze blowing through his hair as he stared out over the valley. How, this... this was... but, how he was just-
A hand settled on his shoulder cutting off his thoughts, he slowly turned to face its source"...Kait" He whispered, She looked just like he remembered her, right down to the last detail, but... But how?
"Hey, soldier boy." Kaitlin said as she settled down on the hill beside him, a gentle smile gracing her features "It's good to see you again."
"But... How, if I'm... if you're here does that mean I'm..." Alex trailed off as Kait's smile fell "Shit..." His head fell into his hands " I'm dead, aren't I."
"Well, not exactly" Kait replied
"What?" Alex asked his gaze snapping towards her.
A disgruntled expression passed over Kait's face as she glanced off to the side mulling over the best way she could explain it to him. "Look It's...complicated, think of this place like a fork in the road, you were driving along." She began to explain. "Your here waiting to decide which way you wanna go" She rested her head on his shoulder leaning into him, Alex hesitated before slowly wrapping his arm around her waist pulling her close " The big man upstairs asked me to come here and give you a choice, you can either stay here with us, or go back"
"Us?" Alex asked
Kait turned her gaze back down towards the cabin. "You told me this is where your family used to vacation in the summer, you showed me a few pictures on your cell back in basic, remember?" She asked earning a nod in response from Alex, yeah he remembered, some of the best memories he had growing up came from that... This place. "Your mom and dad are down there right now, have been for a while now." Alex followed her gaze down to the cabin, they were here, his eyes drifted to Kait, she was here too. Everything he'd ever lost was right here waiting for him, all he had to do was reach out and take it.
But... his mind drifted back to everything he'd be leaving behind, somehow all of this didn't feel right. "And the other way?" He asked her
"A perilous journey full of death and heartbreak" Kait shrugged in indifference "You know, just another day at the office."
"Hmm" Alex hummed in mirth; his smile slowly faded as he stared off into the valley below. "Which ways gets me to Ruby? "He asked, his arm slowly unravelling from around her waist "Which ways leads to Koan?" He turned towards Kait, watching her stare off into the distance.
"Which way is Blake?" She finished in a soft voice, wiping a small tear from her eye, that hurt, a selfish part of her wanted him to stay he'd be happy here, she knew it. But he'd never agree to it not on his own at least, not if it meant others would suffer because of his decision. And in a strange way, she was fine with that, happy even. Happy her death hadn't stopped him moving forward, that he'd been able to push through his pain and find someone that put some joy back into his life... even if she couldn't be a part of it.
Kait looked at Alex with a sad, but knowing smile, without another word she leaned forward planting a small kiss on his cheek and rose back to her feet. "Let me show you." She said holding her hand out towards him.
And this chapter marks the climactic end of Volume 3 and lights the way for our brave heroes ahead on there hunt for the truth, what awaits them on this journey you may ask, death, tragedy, love, joy, who knows, only me. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter of Psycho remnant, feel free to leave a review if your up for it, and I will see you all in the next one.