Protecting Red
Ruby knew what she had to do.
They only had one shot at this. She just had to be practically staring down the barrel of the cannon that could obliterate her along with the plane if she timed it wrong. No pressure at all.
It's not that hard actually. She's already sniped a missile in the air going some thousand miles per hour so what's a semi-stationary missile launcher in comparison?
It's not that hard but it is a thousand times more terrifying that's what.
But she's faced more terrifying things out there and although this just might be her most difficult shot yet, she knows that she could do it. She has to do it. She will do it.
So with no allowance for inaccuracy, she aims her own barrel.
Then she shoots—
And misses.
She's sure she hit her target right on the mark, she just didn't expect the target to move.
They didn't plan for failure either.
She sees the cannon glow and crackle with threatening yellow. She sees and feels the charged shot just narrowly miss her had it not been for their plane swerving. She may have dodged that fatal shot but the plane takes the hit anyways.
She only had one shot and in failing so, they had to brace themselves for the fall.
"No..."
Weiss could only watch in horror as the plane spiraled down further and faster until it stops plummeting altogether.
Planes were built to fly, not to fall.
She doesn't hear herself gasp because all she hears is the deafening crash of metal against trees and rocks and everything not recommended for a plane to crash land on. This disastrous scene was all too familiar that it's like she's watching two crashes happen simultaneously.
She remembers her own experience of a plane crash. She remembers how she only made it out of that one through sheer luck. She tries to project that maybe Ruby has that same ridiculous amount of luck. She tries to think that maybe this will be the same for Ruby too and that her partner was okay.
She could comfort herself with all of these thoughts but it won't ever be enough to quell her worries until she knows for sure.
She's not the only person worried either. She hears the distraught footsteps, and then these steps turn into frantic flapping of wings. Before she could even follow, Qrow is already on a path towards the crash site.
For all of Qrow's talk of bad luck, Weiss only hopes that he brings back Ruby. Let them have at least that much good luck.
Please. Even if only just that.
Ruby didn't think she'd get another shot at this.
Well actually she's the one who thought of this second shot and technically this isn't the same shot but still. That's just how it is. That's just how it's always been. Whenever things seemed impossible or when there was no other option left to take, somehow they still find something.
That's just what huntresses do.
She knew what she had to do.
That's why it didn't terrify her so much now that she was inside the barrel of the enemy's gun. She was too busy looking at their goal for her to pay any attention to the danger right in front of her eyes. She is not throwing away her shot.
She takes a deep breath.
At least with this up close she definitely won't miss.
Then she pulls the trigger.
Weiss started running.
The moment she saw Ruby barrel herself outside of the Dust cannon, Weiss gunned for it.
What was her partner thinking?!
She always knew that her leader could come up with the craziest ideas in the heat of the battle but this? This was bordering suicidal.
And what sort of partner would she be if she just let her die?
Not today. Not ever.
Weiss runs as fast as she could but Ruby falls faster.
She sees the telltale spiral of red, sees it crackle with painful yellow. She runs faster. She sees the distressing glow of crimson aura flicker out and Ruby falls at a rate faster than her exhausted body could take.
Weiss knows she won't make it.
But she'd be damned if she does nothing about it.
She summons forth black glyph after black glyph, and with every glyph that Ruby breaks through is another blow to her already depleted aura. She feels herself almost falling alongside her but she can't.
Not yet. Not until Ruby is safe.
Ruby is falling close to the cliff now and Weiss is nowhere near her. She'll never make it even if she runs. Luckily, she doesn't have to.
Qrow catches her partner and the relief mixes in with the exhaustion that has her knees buckle. She's out of breath and out of aura but it doesn't matter.
Her partner is safe now and that's all that matters.
"You okay, Weiss?"
She doesn't know how long she's been kneeling on the ground but apparently it was long enough for Ruby 'I just shot inside a Dust cannon and almost fell to my death' Rose to be back on her feet. She even has the gall to be the concerned one.
"Am I okay?" She shoots back, still out of breath.
"Uh, yeah? That's basically what I asked." Ruby crouches to her level. For someone who just basically stared at a near death experience, she wasn't nearly as out of breath as Weiss was.
Ruby's total disregard of her own safety is exasperating at best.
"You..." Unbelievable. Weiss feels herself suddenly overcome with a different kind of rage. She may be out of breath but she always has reserves saved for reprimands. "You absolute dunce!"
With renewed strength, she smacks her reckless partner on the head.
"Ow!" Ruby yelps and then she tenderly rubs the new sore spot. "What d'you do that for?"
It's not the only injury that she'll be getting as Weiss rips a new one into her, "What was that? Just what were you thinking!"
"I was thinking of how to stop Cordovin," She defends herself. "And look! It worked!"
"You could have died!"
"But I didn't!"
"Only because I managed to soften your fall and Qrow caught you!"
"See! I knew you'd catch me!"
"That's not the point!"
Their bickering escalates faster than either expects. It escalates until Weiss is filled with so much frustration that words are no longer enough. She has to resort to action. So she raises her hand as if to beat some sense into Ruby and the leader winces even before the dreaded contact.
But it never comes or at least not in the way she expects.
Heavy arms leaded with exhaustion wrap around Ruby's shoulders as Weiss leans on her.
She's mad. She has every right to be mad. She's mad because she was worried. She was worried sick to the point of physical collapse meanwhile her partner makes light of it in a misconstrued way so that no one else worries over her. Not like that has stopped Weiss from worrying.
She should be mad.
But after all is said and done, she's just so relieved.
"Aw, if you needed help to get up you could have just said so!" Ruby teases as she slowly helps her partner stand with her, arms still sluggishly wrapped around her.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again," It comes out more like a plea rather than her usual stern order. Weiss refuses to let go just yet.
She feels Ruby give her arms a firm squeeze.
"You know I can't promise you that," Ruby murmurs gently pat her head, comforting. "What I can promise is that I'm not gonna leave you. So don't worry so much, okay?"
Weiss scoffs and returns the sentiment, "You should know me better that I can't promise you that."
And maybe they don't need another promise.
When being there for each other is promise enough.
"With you as my partner, worrying is kind of a given."
"And with you as my partner, I have less to worry about!"
It's terrifying. The battles in store for them and the uncertainty of their future, it's all so terrifying. But that's just what they signed up for when they decided to become huntresses— to protect the people and to save the world.
Yet despite the terror, there are moments of comfort, of relief, of joy. And for every small victory, for every life not lost, they celebrate. They hold onto each other.
This battle is far from over but at least they're still together.
It's going to take more than that to keep these two apart.
A/N: What's up danger?
Wow, this ep. Rest in pieces Adam fucking finally. Sure the murder will haunt them for the rest of their lives but at least the bees have each other for support. Now with that BULLy taken care of, hey uh can we talk about how Cordovitch has been actively trying to kill KIDS? What the fuck.
Ruby, my daughter, our brave huntress leader. She took a shot staring into the barrel of rocket launchers and then took a shot INSIDE a barrel of a dust cannon. She looked so tranquil when she took a breath and took that second shot. I felt that.
And Weiss has been worried sick. My heart ached when she let out a soft gasp and "no!" when the plane crashed. Then Weiss used the last of her strength to soften Ruby's fall? Fuck! I'M WEAK AND MY HEART JUST GAVE OUT!
For the First members on RT who have already seen the season finale... there're still two more chapters left in this fic to look forward to. Also feel free to start a riot with me in the reviews.