Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Co-authored with ToxicExotic

Small update in the end notes

A Hollow Victory

Pain ripped through Ruby as she shifted slightly in her bed. Though most of it radiated from her broken arm, her entire body ached too. She'd pushed her semblance more than she should have, carried Weiss for longer than she'd ever carried anyone before, and even twenty-four hours later, she could still feel the effects. Her body had almost zero energy, the fatigue so much that she could barely get up and walk, even with how many cookies and hot chocolates Blake brought up to her.

The battle had definitely taken its toll on her, and even though her aura was accelerating the healing, she knew from overhearing her dad talk to Madame Mallari that it would take at least two more days to heal properly. Though that was only if she kept her body's energy level up, which it clearly was not interested in doing. The only other thing she'd been told to do was rest, and considering how tired she was, she was more than happy to do that. So she let out a small ground and leaned back into Yang's warm body, the strong arms immediately wrapping tighter around her.

As she laid there, she thought back on what had happened after they'd left the cave, and she couldn't help but be a little ashamed. When the Hellk had emerged from the collapse, she'd panicked. She'd barely registered how injured it was, which was apparently very, just the fact it had lived had actually scared her. She'd put her whole team in danger, enacted a plan that was far too risky, and then talked not only her sister into it, but her girlfriend and best friend. Had her dad and Team CFVY not been there, they wouldn't have walked away.

And then when she saw her dad and Yang run after it, it had been too much. She'd been so scared she was about to lose them, just like she'd lost her mother, that she tried her best to get to them. She knew in hindsight that was incredibly stupid of her, that she would have just been a hinderance without her aura, but in that moment, it was the only thing that made sense to her. And the damage had definitely been done.

Ruby had heard Madame Mallari tell her father that her struggling had made the injury worse and caused an extra day of healing, but Ruby didn't really care about that. No, she cared more about what she had done to Yatsu. In her stupidity, she'd forced Coco to order her friend to use his semblance. A semblance he hated, that he took an oath not to use unless the circumstances were dire due to something in his past he had never revealed. And despite her memories having returned less than an hour after waking up, the gargantuan man had been knelt on her bedroom floor with his head on his hands asking for her forgiveness.

The very sight of it had made Ruby feel sick and ashamed. He had nothing to apologise for, he'd done nothing wrong. The blame was all hers. She shouldn't have panicked, she shouldn't have struggled, she shouldn't have convinced her team to stay and fight against that monster. She shouldn't have had to be saved when they could have gotten away. Yatsu using his semblance, Blake's injured leg, Yang's concussion. All of that was on her for failing to be a good enough leader.

As she felt a tear fall down her face and onto her pillow, she sniffled and Yang's hand on her stomach tightened and pulled her further into the hug. Ruby remembered the commotion she heard the night before when Yang had finally woken up. She'd listened as people had tried to stop the brawler from leaving her own room only to be met with shouted retorts, and sat up in shock when Yang had burst into the room on wobbly legs with her hair blazing so bright that it lit up the dark room. And the woman had straight up refused to leave the bed for anything other than the toilet since she crawled into it.

"I'm sorry." Ruby whimpered and moved her good arm up to wipe her cheek. "I didn't m-mean to wake you."

"You didn't," Yang breathed softly. "Everything okay?"

"Mhm."

"Liar." Yang replied without hesitation and let out a grunt as she shifted a little. "If you're gonna force me to talk, you have to do the same."

Ruby didn't reply. She knew Yang was right, and that it was hypocritical to expect something and not do it herself, but she knew what Yang would do. She would try and comfort her, try and tell her she was wrong; but Ruby knew she wasn't. She knew she had failed, and she needed to be told that. She needed someone to confirm it, and tell her to be better.

"Hey," Yang breathed quietly, and carefully turned her over so that their eyes met. Despite the obvious pain that moving caused, the blonde's hand came up to wipe the tears away. "Talk to me."

"I…" The simple word felt strangled as her throat closed and more tears rolled down her cheeks. What could she even say? How did she apologise for almost getting her sister killed? Even as Yang pulled her in closer and rested her chin on the top of her head, all she could do was repeat her earlier statement. "I'm s-sorry."

Ruby's hands gripped Yang's shirt as tight as they could, which she knew wasn't very, and she let herself be pulled into the hug. The warmth of her sister rushed over her, and the gentle thudding of the older woman's heartbeat against her forehead, as strong as ever, comforting her in the fact that it meant the girl was alive. After a couple of seconds though, she felt the chest deflate as a loud sigh was let out.

"Idiot." Yang said, her tone soft but firm. "You lost your cool."

What? Ruby thought to herself at those words. Was Yang really scolding her?

"You could have been hurt." Yang continued. "You could have died." She paused and let out another sigh. "Is that really what you want to hear?"

It was, so Ruby gave a small nod.

"Fine."

Ruby felt Yang take a deep breath, and the hand that was stroking her cheek moved to gently play with her hair. It was a comforting action that Ruby didn't feel she deserved.

"Your plan was stupid." Yang continued. "Reckless, with no planning and thought about what you'd do if it failed. And when it failed, you freaked out. You put Dad in danger by holding up Coco's team so they couldn't help, and I had to go in on low aura to help him instead."

The words flooded Ruby with relief, but also shame. The words only hurt because they were true, and the fact that Yang was able to pick them out only proved that further.

"But," Yang breathed lovingly. "Me, Blake, Weiss, we all went along with your plan. We are just as much at fault."

"But it was my pl…"

"It was." Yang cut off her choked words. "But you didn't force us into it. You said you would leave if we wanted, but we chose to stay. You didn't fail as a leader, Ruby. We failed as a team."

"Led by m-me." Ruby pouted and gave another soft sniffle.

"Yup." Yang said, though the cadence of her voice was different. It almost sounded prideful. "My amazing little sis, who lets her team choose what they want to do. And we chose, Ruby. So stop apologising for it. Please."

Despite her own thoughts that the scolding wasn't enough, she knew Yang was done with it. She'd said what she needed to say, laid the blame where she thought it belonged, and that was that.

"But that doesn't matter," Yang resumed the gentle massage of her scalp as she spoke in a soothing voice. "The plan might not of been the best, but it still worked. The Hellk is dead. You should be proud of that."

Ruby felt Yang take a deep breath as the massage slowed, but after a second, the breath was released.

"I know Mom would be."

That was the last thing Ruby wanted to hear, but at the same time, it was somehow comforting. Yang had always been the one to tell her about their mom, her adventures and everything she did at home, and though Ruby knew some of it was exaggerated, she also knew a lot of it wasn't. She trusted Yang whenever she talked seriously about their mom, and doubted she would make that up just to make her feel better, so she gave another sniffle and sank deeper into Yang's chest.

And that was where she stayed. She didn't know for how long, it could have been an hour, could have been more. The tears eventually stopped, but Yang never stopped consoling her. The strong hands gently stroked her hair, massaged her scalp, rubbed her back; everything Yang had been doing her whole life. And while Ruby let it all slowly calm her mind, she listened to the gentle heartbeat. After a while, she felt her eyes start to close as her body struggled to maintain the energy to stay awake, but just as she was about to give herself to the slumber, a small knock on the door jolted her awake.

"What?"

Yang's voice was polite, but Ruby detected an obvious hint of annoyance in it. Nevertheless, she turned as the door opened and saw Blake stood in the entryway holding a small tray. Her ears were folded to show that she too had heard the annoyance in Yang's voice, but they quickly perked back up as she entered and placed the tray on the bedside table.

"How are you feeling?" The girl asked. "Any better?"

"Headache is going away." Yang replied with a groan as she sat up in the bed. "Still feel like shit though."

"Good," Blake smiled and passed her a strawberry milkshake. "Means you're alive."

"Aww, always knew you cared about me really."

"I was talking to Ruby." Blake grinned, and Yang gasped in false outrage as she took the drink.

"I'm good," Ruby replied sullenly. "Same as Yang, honestly."

"Yeah, well you took some heavy hits. Here."

Ruby used one hand to force herself into a sitting position, but quickly felt a hand slip under her armpit to help her. With a quick glance to her side, she saw Yang was engrossed in her shake, so figured it was likely an unconscious move on the blonde's part. She turned back to Blake and took the hot chocolate that was passed to her.

"Thanks." She said as the faunus sat down on the edge of the bed with a wince of her own. The involuntary reaction sent another wave of remorse through Ruby. "How's your leg?"

"Healed." The girl smiled effortlessly. "Just another scar now."

"Good," Ruby let out a breath of relief and took a sip of her delicious drink.

It was clear that Blake had made it due to just how much cocoa powder had been added, since the last time Weiss had made her one, it tasted more of milk than chocolate. Not that she minded too much. She liked milk, especially with cookies, but recovery always required more energy. However, as Ruby sipped her drink, she saw Blake cast a furtive glance at the blonde.

"Hey, Yang." She said carefully. "Do you think we could have a minute? Alone?"

Ruby looked at her sister and saw her eyes squint in immediate annoyance. She knew the answer that was likely going to be given, since she had outright refused to leave when Coco and Yatsu had come in to apologise. She waited with baited breath, ready to apologise to Blake, but much to her surprise, Yang's face softened a few seconds later and she gave a small nod.

"I need the toilet anyway," She said and slowly worked her way out of the bed, using the windowsill to help her up.

"I think your dad wants to talk to you too."

"'Kay." The blonde grunted and started to take cautious steps towards the door. Thankfully though, she was a lot better than the night before, where she had dropped to her knees the second she'd charged into the room. "You got fifteen minutes."

Once the brawler was out of the room, and they were left alone, Blake stood up and walked to shut the door before she walked back. Ruby watched the girl circle the bed to where Yang had been laid earlier, and sit down beside her again. Silence filled the air between the two for a second, Ruby unsure what to say since they had barely talked since their little makeout session at Blaze lake that ended in disaster. But, knowing Yang was definitely coming back soon, Ruby knew they didn't have long, so put her hot chocolate aside and looked down at her knees.

"Are you really okay?" She muttered.

"A little tired, but healing." Blake replied quietly and leant her head against the headboard. "Ruby, we should talk about yesterday."

"I..." Ruby didn't think Blake would be one to criticize her plan, but then again, she hadn't thought Yang would actually do it either. She'd expected Coco, or Velvet at least. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed that plan…"

"Not that." Blake cut her off with a sigh. "I've already said I will go along with the plans you make, that hasn't changed." Blake paused and Ruby sensed a but coming. "But, I don't like what you did yesterday."

Blake took a deep breath and Ruby waited patiently for whatever the girl was going to berate her for. Whatever it was, she knew she deserved it anyway.

"I know you are willing to sacrifice yourself for people, I've come to terms with that; but please, don't sacrifice yourself for me. I don't want that." Blake's amber eyes found her own and Ruby felt shame overcome her again. "I don't want to live with that. I don't care about the circumstances, I am not someone you should sacrifice yourself for."

Ruby stared at her girlfriend for a minute, and took in the sincerity of her words. Though the girl's voice was calm, there was an undercurrent of seriousness there that told her that she wanted to make sure the words had been heard. And they had. Ruby remembered trying to get Blake out during the fight, remembered Blake shouting at her and refusing to leave unless they both got out. And she also remembered Blake's promise back at grattitude ruins, where she had said she was going to do her best to make sure Ruby sacrificing herself wouldn't have to happen. It seemed to be a very strong point for her, something she was actually going to try and make sure didn't happen, so Ruby gave her a small nod.

"I just didn't want you to die for my mistake," Ruby mumbled and slumped back down in the bed since her body was beginning to ache from sitting up. "There were more Grimm than usual, and I saw scratch marks in the tunnel as we were leaving. I should have known something was wrong, that the Hellk had been using it."

"I keep having to remind you of this, but I'm a Huntress too, Ruby." Blake said. To Ruby's surprise, Blake copied her and shifted down on the bed too as she rolled over to face her. "You're not the only one who should be recognising those signs. I'm the tracker of the team too."

"But this is my home," Ruby countered and turned so that she was also looking at Blake, whose amber eyes were once again soft, like she was reading a book she was particularly fond of. "I should have realised something was wrong."

She bit her lip as she contemplated saying what she really wanted too. After only a couple of seconds of contemplation though, she remembered what Yang had just said, and released her lip while scooting closer.

"But when I'm with you, I keep forgetting." She breathed as Blake's hand. "I have so much fun that I forget to check my surroundings."

"I forget sometimes too." Blake moved a little closer and Ruby felt the hand on her hip move around to her lower back. "I think I enjoy spending time with you more than I do reading."

"Wow!" Ruby exclaimed, taken aback by such a compliment. It was so big, that despite their conversation, she couldn't help but chuckle. "That's quite a compliment."

"Well, it's true," Blake smiled in return. "Books were always my escape, into a world that was free of my own troubles, and even then I felt like there was something wrong with most of them. I could always tell they weren't completely real. But with you, I don't need to escape anything, and nothing has felt as real as this. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I really, really, like you."

Ruby gazed happily into her girlfriend's gorgeous amber eyes and moved her hand up to wipe her own. What had just been said had probably been one of her favourite things ever, including having been told she was going to Beacon.

"Th-Thank you." She stuttered, but quickly realised she should really say more. "I really, really, like you too. More than… umm… Cres... No. Cookies. Definitely more than cookies."

Blake's face split into a grin and she pressed forward to place a gentle kiss on her lips. It was clear she was going easy for fear of hurting her, but Ruby thought the pressure was just right for how much she still ached. After she pulled away though, Blake raised a hand and ruby felt it rest gently on her chin as the thumb stroked her cheek.

"Good," Blake smiled, but it quickly dropped and her tone became semi-serious again. "So please don't make me have to go through losing you before we're at least like… fifty."

The ridiculous age pulled a snort from Ruby, and Blake let out a small chuckle of her own.

"Not many Huntsmen make it to that age," Ruby laughed.

"Well, none of them are you." The faunus replied smoothly.

Ruby felt her heart swell and her face warm and Blake stared directly into her eyes. Though it was undoubtedly said to fluster her, the voice held a hint of truth; like the girl really believed she would be better than the rest one day. The mere fact that Blake could even potentially believe something like that put a heat in her stomach, and Ruby felt her mood lift. Even if only a little.

However, before Ruby could show just how appreciative she was, the door opened and Yang walked in, followed by Weiss.

"Ahhh, soft beddy goodness," Yang groaned as she fell back into the bed, not bothering to move Blake and simply throwing her arm over them both instead. "What d'ya say, Weiss. Team hug?"

"No, thank you," The heiress said with a reproachful scowl at the blonde as she sat on her own bed. Of the four of them, Weiss seemed to be the healthiest, though Ruby knew she was likely pushing herself. So long as it wasn't too much, she would allow it. "We do need to talk, though."

"What about?" Ruby asked curiously as she shifted to get more comfortable since the bed was suddenly rather cramped.

"Dad." Yang replied with a satisfied groan as she relaxed back into the mattress. "He spoke to Ozpin and apparently we can take an extra day off if we need it. Weiss isn't that enthused about it."

"Tomorrow is only orientation," the aforementioned girl replied. "Yes we can miss it, but then we will be traveling on an actual school day and likely have to make up for a missed class."

"Hmm, Weiss has a point," Blake replied, and moved Yang arm lower since it was covering her face. "We aren't really going to be doing anything strenuous tomorrow anyway."

"Speak for yourself. Walking to that bathroom is a bitch."

Ruby tapped her sister.

"Weiss is right." She said, despite agreeing that walking even that short a distance was a pain. "We can't miss a day of school when we're fine."

"Hmph." Yang grumbled and retrieved her milkshake from the nightstand. "Buncha goody six shoes."

"Good," Weiss said and pulled out her Scroll as she stood up. "I shall order a courier service to take our belongings up to Beacon tonight. Would rather not be stuck carrying your things."

"Maybe you can shove me into a bag and have them courier me." Yang hissed as she straightened out. "Save me walking."

As the whole team shook their heads at the weak attempt at a pun, Ruby cuddled deeper into her girlfriend and gave a small smile. Her disappointment at herself hadn't completely vanished, but the fact she had talked about it seemed to have helped her a little. She would have brought it up with Weiss too, but she knew if the girl had any issues, they would have been mentioned immediately, so that was all the answer she needed there. So as she cuddled into her girlfriend and engaged in small talk with her friends, Ruby finally let one victory wash over her.

They had done something no huntsmen or huntress had done before. They'd killed the Hellk, the most dangerous thing on the island. And while something would inevitably rise to take its place, the Hellk's death meant the people of the island were safer. And even though she wished it had been done better, she could at least be proud of that.

Small Update

As some of you may know, since there are quite a few cross-readers here, I have recently extended the release schedule for my other series, just to reduce some stress. That won't be happening here, at least it's not planned too, but the chapters will be a little shorter for a while. Not too much, but they will go from 4000-5000, to 3000-4000. Just wanted you to be informed.

Raalm's Notes

Hello everyone. So this officially wraps up this arc. I hope you all enjoyed it. The next chapter is somewhat related to this arc, but serves more as a bridge to show what we will be exploring in the next arc.

For this chapter though, we really wanted to acknowledge that the plan wasn't perfect, and that they only survived because they were lucky. We also wanted to show how Ruby knew she messed up at the end, and that she still isn't a perfect leader just yet. We really don't want her to be perfect, we still want her to still be learning, still be making those mistake, and this was a chapter where we really wanted to show them, as it does tie into what the next arc will be.

There were also a few scenes that mirrored earlier chapters here too, so maybe you noticed them.

But anyway, I won't keep you here in the notes too long. I really hope you enjoyed this Huntress arc, it was really fun to explore them doing their jobs and actually being Huntresses, but now they go back to school, and their daily lives continue. As does the fluff and everything else. I do personally want to say though that this arc will have a lasting impact on the characters, so be sure to look for that wherever you see it :P

That's it from me. Thank you all for reading and giving feedback, I really appreciate it all. The next chapter will be uploaded on the 17th :)

Toxic's Note

Heyo, Toxic here again, Raalm said most of what I wanted to, but it is the end of the arc so I figured I might as well have a note as well. This arc had plenty of fluff, and angst to balance it out with the relative fights and what not, mantid, gooms, Syren, and Hellk, to finish it off, each fight has had an impact on the characters, some you've seen already, others will become apparent in upcoming chapters. On another note, do you know how hard it is to have story ideas in your head and not be able to put them onto the paper bc you already have two massive stories that you're writing? Raalm and I have had probably about 15 more fics bounce around in our heads sense(put the right one) we've started HIF and we just don't have time for them, and its kinda of a love hate relationship with our heads atm, bc while we aren't running out of ideas, its very hard to stay focused on what's in front of us. Anyway, Have a great day, and Thank you for reading!