Dead By Roselight

Chapter 21: The Real Message

Yang and the group around her were all standing in complete silence, as they stared at the video camera's screen, showing them none other than Ruby Rose, Yang's little sister and the group's previous leader. Judging by the walls behind the redhead, the blonde was able to tell that this was the message she had seen back in Remnant. The one John had brought with him from this world.

However, the message Yang had seen before had been on a DVD that had been damaged. This video might not have any problems on it, unlike the one she had seen, so she would get the full message this time.

In the video, Ruby was sitting on a chair in front of the camera. Just like before, the redhead looked just exhausted and like she had gone through hell. Ruby began to speak and it was the same speech that Yang and her friends had seen before, telling them about how hard it had been to survive and how much she missed everyone. After all that came the part that had been damaged, so the brawler didn't know what the full message had been.

Little did Yang know that she was in for a shock.

On the screen, Ruby looked up with a panicked look on her face, after she heard a very familiar sound. The previous video had some audio problems, so the sound had not been recorded properly. But this time, everybody could hear it clearly. It was the sound of The Nurse teleporting in the distance.

"Listen! You cannot save me! I am beyond any help at this point! You must not come here for me! Promise me that you'll stay away from here! Just forget about me. It's for the best. Promise me you won't try to save me. ...I love you all."

The screen then showed Ruby lean over the camera in an attempt to take out the DVD from it. Right before the screen went black, there was a familiar screech with The Nurse appearing right behind the redhead.

The whole group stood in silence over what they had just witnessed. While they knew it had been unlikely that Ruby was still alive, they had all held on to some hope that she was still alive. With this video it pretty much showed them that the young team leader had most likely fallen victim to The Nurse.

"...So, Ruby was killed by The Nurse after all," Graham said sadly. "I had hoped that we could find her, but I suppose that isn't possible anymore."

"Oh hell... That just ain't right," Eloy said, just as sadly as the blonde man had. "She has saved each of us more times than I can count. She didn't deserve to go out like that."

While the other members of the group were all expressing their sadness over Ruby's more than likely demise, Yang wasn't talking at all. She was staring down at the ground, deep in thought.

"Yang, I know that this must be devastating for you to find out, but you have to move on," Victoria said in a comforting tone, noticing how the blonde was acting. "The loss of Ruby is a big blow on all of us, but we can't-"

"That isn't what I'm thinking about. Why would I let something like that bother me, when I know there is a chance she's still alive?" Yang replied, surprising everyone else. The brawler looked up, showing everyone how her eyes had turned red from anger. "What I'm thinking about right now is how Ruby could have given such orders to us! Even if we had known how dangerous this place is, we would have still come here! Who does she think she is to think we are so gutless that we wouldn't come here to save her!? That's pissing me off right now!"

"Hang on a second, you're saying that there's a chance that Ruby is still alive?" Bill asked. "How can you say that after seeing that video? The way it seems to me is that The Nurse got her."

"Because I met Jonathan," Yang answered. "He somehow managed to get back to our world with the message Ruby gave him. She couldn't have gotten caught after making that video, since she needed to pass the disc to him first. Not only that, but when I talked with John, he never told me that Ruby had died. I'm certain that he would have told us that, since we were obviously desperate to find her."

"That's right! You told me that you met Jonathan, before you came here!" Victoria said, remembering what the blonde had told her when they had first met. "If you think about it, Ruby must have been able to evade The Nurse long enough to give John the message! She might still be alive!"

"While it is great to find a small piece of hope in this situation, we shouldn't get too carried away with it just yet," Graham said. "While there is a chance that Ruby survived her encounter with The Nurse, we still don't know if she is actually still alive. Not to mention, even if she is alive, where do we look for her?"

"Perhaps this can tell us," Yang said and pulled out the note from her pocket that had been attached to the video camera. "I found this along with the camera. It could give us a hint on what we should do next."

The brawler opened the piece of paper and looked it over. Much to her relief, it was Ruby's handwriting on it, meaning that the redhead had left it.

The note said:

If you are reading this, then you most likely found the video camera that I used to record my final message. While I know that I have no right to ask anything from anyone inside this world, I hope that you could tell my message to my friends and family back in our world. Even if I am doing everything I can to get out of here myself, I cannot guarantee my survival by any means at all, no matter how much I hate to admit it.

I just want my friends and family to know that I love them. Especially my teammates in team RWBY.

As for the real reason as to why I am writing this, it's because I may have figured out a way out of this world. It's a long shot, that's for sure, but it's also the only thing I've come across that could help. Let's all hope this works.

The thing is that when I have been in certain realms, there have been specific spots where I've felt "different". It's hard to properly describe it, but I've felt like a missing part of me has returned in these spots. My first objective in finding a way out of here requires me to go to one of these very spots. Hopefully, I can inspect the area as much as I can, so that I'm able to find out as much as possible.

If you wish to follow in my footsteps, try to make your way to the realm of the killer known as The Trapper. Once you're there, look for a message I'll leave at the water tower. Follow the instructions from point on and hopefully both of us will be free from this nightmare.

I pray that my idea will work.

Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY in Beacon Academy

The group stood in stunned silence, as they let the words of the message sink in. This had to be the best possible thing they could have found. Not only did this message give them all hope that Ruby might still be alive, but they might have just found a way out of here. The idea of finding a way out was even supported by the fact that they knew someone that had been traveling with Ruby that had actually managed to escape. There was a high possibility that this is how Jonathan got out from this world.

"Well, while I'm certain that we all agree on what we'll do next, I'll still ask just in order to make sure," Graham said with a small smile. "Are we all willing to go follow the instructions Ruby left us in this note?"

The blonde man's question was met with an unanimous agreement from all the members of the group. They all wanted to see what the missing redhead had discovered.

"I would have gone after her even if none of you were willing to follow me. She's my precious little sister and I will do everything I can to find her," Yang said with determination in her voice. "My only problem is finding the realm she was talking about. What is this realm of The Trapper?"

"The Trapper is one of the killers in this world. He gets his name from placing bear traps all around his realm in order to catch survivors," Victoria explained. "His realm is an old, abandoned mine. There are all sorts of places where you can hide, but there can be traps almost everywhere, so you need to be very careful in there."

"I'm personally wondering what this discovery of hers is," Bill said thoughtfully. "She said that she had found certain spots in this world where she felt different somehow. Any idea what she could have meant by that?"

"I have no idea. This is the first time I've heard her say anything like this," Graham told the old veteran. "However, if it's something that she feels is worth checking out, I have no reason to doubt her."

"I'm pretty sure that we'll find out what she's talking about once we actually go there," Yang said. "Besides, if there's one thing I know about Rubes, it's that she would never lie to us. She is way too honest for her own good. When she says something, it's true in some way at least."

With their new objective set for them, the group began to move forward in the hopes of finding the realm they were looking for. After finding Ruby's message, every person in the group felt something deep withing them that they hadn't felt for quite some time.

They all could feel hope for once.

Author's notes: This became a bit of a short chapter, as I couldn't think of anything interesting to add to this. I was originally planning to end this chapter differently, but I decided to save it for a later chapter. Not gonna say what that was, though.

Next up will be The Trapper. When I started doing this story, I felt like he was one of the killers I would have to use, since he is pretty much the face of the game itself.

Until next time.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Dead by Daylight belongs to Behaviour Interactive.