I don't know why but I'm feeling nauseas for the whole day. Hopefully I'll be better by tomorrow *cries*
Anyway, here you go, chapter 11. Sorry about the title, but I have to.
I have to! *cries harder*
Please support me on Pa/treon as 'The Tanker' if you like my stories!
I do not own RWBY.
#
Chapter 11: Keep Moving Forward
She saw an angel lying beside her when she woke up.
What the-
She blinked, unable to process what was going on – until she recalled the event yesterday – how she had begged the heiress not to go, to stay by her side.
Her sleeping face was kind of cute.
Unlike the normal serious face, when Weiss was sleeping, she looked calm and innocent – one that could trigger people's protectiveness.
And she was resting comfortably on Yang's chest.
The blonde blushed a little before shifting her position so that when the heiress woke up, it wouldn't be so awkward.
However, her attempt failed when she felt Weiss moving.
She pretended to be asleep quickly and soon the weight on her chest was gone. Trying to open her eyes a little she saw Weiss walking to the bathroom, probably cleaning herself up to be ready for the day.
Ah yes, she was supposed to bury Topaz today.
"Topaz…" She whispered, trying so hard to fight back the urge to break down again.
Several minutes later Weiss had emerged from the bathroom looking much neater and fresher. She changed her clothes and was now wearing a black colored skirt that reminded her of her Faunus friend.
"Yang?" The heiress sat down on the bed, trying to wake the blonde up.
"Morning, Weiss." Yang opened her eyes and smiled.
"Morning."
"Sorry for taking your bed…"
"It's alright. How are you feeling?"
"Better. Thanks a lot princess."
"Hush. Go clean yourself up, we're going to Secret Base after breakfast. I've prepared an extra set of towels and toothbrush for you. You can wear my clothes if you wanna change."
"I don't think your clothes will fit on me…" The blonde looked at her prominent muscles.
"Then you can wear Winter's old clothes." The heiress narrowed her eyes, "I think they'll fit."
Yang had heard Weiss mentioning about her sister a few times, but it was just a sentence or two. She didn't really talk about her family much, as they didn't see each other that often. But judging from Weiss' expression whenever she mentioned her sister, they loved each other very much.
"Okay."
#
As they were enjoying breakfast, the doorbell was rang and soon the maid came in with a Blake following behind.
"Morning Blake." Weiss said, "You want some breakfast? I can get the chef to prepare for you."
"It's fine, I've already eaten." The Faunus smiled, then turned to Yang, "Yang, you okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks a lot Blake. And sorry for pushing it all on you." The blonde looked at her guiltily.
Blake just smiled and shook her head.
They didn't take long to finish the food (man that was the most delicious thing Yang had ever eaten in her whole life) and was ready to depart to Secret Base as they moved to the garage.
However, before they could get in the limo, Blake stopped them.
"Guys…" She said, her bow twitching slightly, "I saw Ruby yesterday night."
"Really? How's she doing?" Yang asked impatiently.
"She's fine. In fact, she has emerged to the last match and will be fighting for champion today. The match starts in an hour, actually."
"She's such a badass." Yang shook her head lightly and smiled.
"So…" Blake looked at the both of them, "I was wondering if…we can watch her fight the last match and…perhaps, tell her about Topaz before we bury him?"
Weiss nodded instantly while Yang was hesitating. She didn't want to see Ruby's heartbroken face – aside from cutting her hair, seeing Ruby not being cheerful was the hardest thing to do in the world. It was just depressing to see that ball of pure fluff being sad.
Her eyes met Weiss', and she saw the message that the heiress was trying to convey.
She was encouraging Yang; and as she turned to Blake, amber orbs were telling her the same thing. They all knew about Yang's protectiveness, especially on Ruby, but they thought Ruby should know about big event like this. Leaving her out of the loop wasn't a good idea at all.
"Alright." Yang smiled back at her best friends.
"George." The heiress said as she moved inside the limo, "Take us to the Colosseum first."
"Aye Miss Schnee."
Blake and Yang moved in after her and when everyone had settled down, George ignited the engine, departing to the Colosseum which was located at another end of Vale. The journey would take around an hour so the three of them had let their mind run free before the atmosphere starting to become awkward.
Weiss was sitting at the right side, Blake in the middle and Yang at the left.
The Faunus was the first one to break the silence, as she nudged Yang, catching her attention before telling her something.
"Yang, Ruby knew I was hiding something yesterday."
"What did you tell her?" The blonde turned to face her.
"That you were injured during our training in Secret Base. Play with it if she asked, okay?"
"Sure. Did she ask where I was hurt?"
The Faunus shook her head.
"If the match had already started, we don't have to worry about that." Yang said.
"We might see her before the match. It's better to be prepared." Weiss interrupted their conversation.
"Okay." Blake turned to Yang.
"Just tell her you landed a hard hit on my chest." The blonde shrugged, "There's no way she'll want me to let her see my chest right?"
The monochrome pair nodded.
They didn't say anything for the rest of the journey after that; different thoughts were running in their minds.
Yang was thinking about Topaz – as well as how she literally slept together with Weiss, her crush, on the same bed – with the heiress' face buried in her chest.
Oh Dust. I can still remember that smell of her shampoo…
She looked out the window to avoid both Blake and Weiss.
Meanwhile, Blake sitting at the center was maintaining her trademark poker face, but inside her mind wouldn't stop thinking about Weiss and Yang.
Weiss on the other hand was occupied with the thoughts of how Ruby would react to Topaz's death. She'd seen the damage it did on Yang and she was scared that Ruby wouldn't be able to take it well.
Sighs. It'll be fine I guess. If Yang only took a day to cope with it, I think Ruby will do well. But I can tell Yang's still upset. She's so good at hiding things…and it separates her from us. If only she can be honest and let us help…
She turned her head slightly so that she could see the blonde, but was met with Blake's own golden orbs.
The Faunus flinched and quickly looked to the front.
Was she looking at me?
The heiress frowned but George's voice had cut off her thoughts.
"Miss Schnee, we're here."
"Thank you George. I'll call you when we're done."
"Aye."
The trio got out of the car and was immediately greeted by a gigantic building with a huge tag 'Colosseum' hanging at the entrance.
It looked like a soccer stadium but instead of a field, the center part was an arena. Audience filled the whole place cheering as clashing of metals could be heard in the arena. Weiss led them to the empty seats she found near the top of the building; they couldn't see the fight directly but the big screen hanging directly on top of the arena enabled them to have a clear view.
There was a red colored object – which they assumed to be Ruby moving rapidly around the boy who was busy defending himself with occasional surprise attacks. They knew Ruby was an excellent fighter – only they had never seen her in action before.
And boy they were amazed. Ruby's movements were flawless; they couldn't even see her figure clearly because of her speed, all they could see were flashes of red.
Ruby leaped up suddenly, both her feet standing on the hilt while firing shots at the boy – whose name was Nolan. He dodged all of her shots by doing beautiful backflips but he didn't see the incoming scythe. Ruby baited him to back down to a corner before utilizing the recoil to practically flew towards him, but as the boy activated his electrical baton to counter her, she leaped above him again and fired shots at him.
He was fully prepared to channel the electricity through her scythe to electrocute her but he wasn't to dodge the high velocity bullets. He was shot twice and a buzz was heard as the audience stood up and cheered.
"The champion of the Elementary Colosseum Tournament goes to Ruby Rose from Vale!"
Ruby landed on the ground gracefully but shortly after that she was bouncing around while shouting inaudible things happily. She didn't forget to shake hands with Nolan before walking out of the area.
She was awarded with a huge golden prize cup and a few vials of various types of Dusts, as well as a handful of liens. Qrow and Summer were with her the whole time when she was being interviewed by the famous host Cyril Ian.
She thanked her parents and teachers at first, but talked about how her best friends had helped her to become what she was today.
"I want to thank Weiss, Blake and Yang! I love you all!"
#
"Hi." The three girls greeted as they stood near the backdoor where Ruby would definitely have to go through to exit the Colosseum.
"Guys! You really came to see me!" Ruby threw both her hands in the air and proceeded to hug them.
"Uh, you stink." Weiss complained, but couldn't hide that smile on her face.
"You can't blame her, that fight was rather intense."
"Good job Rubes!"
"Yang! Are you alright? Blake said you were injured…" Ruby released them quickly.
Yang turned to the two adults behind little red.
"Qrow and Summer…mind if we borrow Ruby for a while?"
Qrow raised an eyebrow while Summer simply nodded and pushed Qrow out of the way, saying that they would be waiting for their daughter at the food court nearby.
"What is it guys?" Ruby tilted her head, "Is there something you need to tell me? Is Yang's injury bad?"
"We should go to a better place to talk." Weiss suggested, then grabbed Ruby's hand and brought her towards a certain direction without waiting for her answer. Blake and Yang followed her closely behind.
They soon reached the outside of the building where a forest came to view. There was no one here so Weiss thought it would be the best place to break the news to her.
"Okay, what's going on?" Ruby crossed her arms.
Yang just bit her lips and looked away, unable to withstand the thought of recalling her dead family as well as telling Ruby about it; Blake looked at the ground guiltily because they had to force her to go from extremely happy of winning the tournament to heartbroken because of Topaz.
In the end, Weiss gave out a heavy sigh as she put both her hands on Ruby's shoulder.
"Ruby, I need you to calm down, okay? Yang is perfectly fine. What I want to tell you is that…"
Ruby gulped, recalling that uneasy feeling she had been experiencing since yesterday. She was happy that none of her friends were hurt, but she knew something was wrong the moment she saw them.
Because a certain dog wasn't together with them.
Yang practically brought Topaz wherever she went, so she thought maybe he was sick or something, so they left him with Roman.
But seeing their faces now made Ruby extremely anxious.
"What happened to Topaz?" She asked.
"He…" Weiss's lips twitched a bit before she closed her eyes, "He passed away yesterday night."
"Sorry, I lied to you." Blake said softly, "Yang wasn't hurt from the training. It was actually Topaz…"
Ruby's face turned from worry to shock, then to horror and lastly grief. She covered her mouth with her hands as tears spilled from her eyes.
She sobbed real hard, knees unable to support her weight as she sat on the ground weeping. Weiss put an arm around her and the bumblebees soon joined them in a group hug.
"How?" Was all Ruby managed to squeeze out.
"Natural causes." Weiss answered, "He died from old age."
"I see…" Ruby eyed Yang and the latter had two lines of tears on her face as well.
"I'm fine, Rubes. Just…I had a breakdown yesterday, but I've recovered mostly." The blonde wiped her eyes with her hand, "Rather than…you know, being depressed over his death…I'd prefer to think that…he's gone to a better place. That'll make it way easier to deal with."
Weiss smiled at Yang's answer; that was rather mature and she admired the blonde's willpower and her ability to handle emotions.
"Before…he's gone…" Blake sniffed, "He told me to take care of Yang."
"That's…so nice…of him…" Ruby forced out a longer sentence.
"We…we've decided to bury him in Secret Base." Weiss said, "That's the place he loved the most and…well, is also the place where he'll be more likely to see us. To see Yang."
"Yeah…"
"We waited for you before burying him, Ruby. Do you want to see him…for the last time?" Weiss asked.
Ruby didn't know if she could handle seeing Topaz without life. She turned to Yang and she nodded in return, silently encouraging her.
"Right…let's do this."
"I'll call George."
#
Qrow and Summer drove Ruby back to their house to let her shower and change into a more comfortable attire, while George followed them. The heiress wanted them to go to Secret Base together as a team.
Ruby was done under half an hour. She waved her parents goodbye, then got on the limo, sitting beside Yang.
George waited for Weiss' order and once she did, he took off towards Dragon Tears Forest.
None of them said anything during the journey; aside from Ruby's silent sobs and Yang stubbornly fighting back tears which resulted her in making some weird noises.
When they had reached the forest, their feet automatically moved as they walked on that familiar path which Topaz had been leading them through for a year before they could remember it.
In a few minutes they had reached Secret Base and two men in black suit were waiting for them. There was a marvelous coffin in between them and they knew too well who was inside it.
"Go, Yang." Weiss said. She felt that it would only be appropriate if Yang was both the first and the last to see him, as she was his family.
"I…I don't know if I can do this…" The blonde gulped.
"You can, Yang. You can." Weiss held her hand and she grabbed back in reflex.
"Yes Yang, you can do it." Blake put her hand on the blonde's back as a show of encouragement.
"Let's do it together." Ruby suddenly said as she grabbed Yang's other hand. Weiss wanted to tell her about her opinion but stopped when she sensed Yang nodding her head.
"Let's go together. I can do it if you guys are with me." The blonde tightened her grips on both hands.
"We're a team and we're best friends. We can do it if we're together." Ruby stepped out, leading the rest together with her.
The men opened the coffin and Topaz was lying there, lifeless.
"Dust…" Yang closed her eyes as the tears she had been holding all the time started to spill.
"Topaz…" Ruby sniffed.
"Bon voyage, buddy. We, Team RWBY will forever miss you. Rest in peace, Topaz." Yang announced and nodded to the men. They nodded back and gently put the coffin into a hole that they had dug in advance.
#
Ruby had suggested them to have a sleepover at her place. She wanted them to have a warm night together to counter the cold that they had been experiencing since Topaz's death.
Weiss sent George back to the Schnee mansion and told him that she would call him when she needed to go back. The man smiled and nodded before going back.
Qrow and Summer had heard about the event as they welcomed them with open arms.
Presently it was five in the evening. Summer was cooking in the kitchen with Ruby and Blake helping her (they wouldn't let Yang cook because she would probably destroy the whole place and Weiss had no experience at all having chefs in her house) while Qrow was hanging out with the remaining girls in the living room.
"Hey girls, come play this game with me." Qrow said as he took out his scroll, "It's my favorite game. Ruby would usually play it with me when she's not happy about something so…wanna try out?"
"We don't have a scroll Qrow." Yang answered casually.
"I have one, actually." Weiss took out her scroll.
"Wow, Schnees are really scary…"
"Hush."
"Alright firecracker, you take Summer's." Qrow handed her a scroll, "It's easy to control. I'll play it with ice queen-"
"Hey!"
"-for the first round, just observe how we press."
A screen suddenly appeared on the wall with a sentence written in fancy alphabets 'Kung Fu Ninja Slayer Ultimate Jet Battle 2.'
"Fighting game? Really?" Yang said sarcastically.
"Believe it or not," Qrow said as the game started, "Ruby learned certain moves from this game."
Weiss didn't say anything; instead she was concentrating on defeating the man.
At exactly thirty seconds later, an announcement of 'Soaring ninja wins! Total annihilation!' was heard, followed by a certain heiress' whimper.
"You play with ice queen first, I'll get you girls some whole milk." Qrow stood up from the couch and head to the kitchen.
"Milk, blegh!" Weiss made a disgusted face.
"Milk is awesome Weiss. Maybe you should drink more to…you know, grow up properly." Yang said as the game started after the announcement of 'New challenger!'.
"Yang Xiao Long."
Apparently it was a tradition of the Branwen-Rose household to serve whole milk and play ninja games whenever somebody was sick or unhappy.
It was near seven-thirty when dinner was finally ready. The group started to eat after thanking Ruby and her parents – and shortly after that, the whole kitchen was filled with praises and awe on how delicious Summer's cooking was.
After a warm dinner, they went out to the front yard for star gazing. And perhaps in the middle of a city wasn't a good place to do so, but they were far too tired to go to Secret Base.
"Hey." Qrow who was sitting beside Summer said, gaining all of their attentions.
"Yes?"
"What is it dad?"
"Yes Qrow?"
"What is it?"
The girls answered together.
"You know, about Topaz." The man smiled gently, "You couldn't change anything even if you turn back time. He's had a good life before passing away and that's all that mattered. All good things come to an end, and Topaz was the best, therefore he was gone earlier than most people."
Yang smiled faintly, listening to the man praising her family. The other girls nodded and he went on while lifting his face to gaze at the night sky.
"Summer and I are professional huntsmen. We encountered death almost everyday as long as we're out in the field. Like it or not, a friend that we just met today could end up dying tomorrow. At first it was hard." He closed his eyes, "And even after all this time, we've never got used to seeing people die, but we've learnt something. We've learnt that there's nothing we can do if we sink ourselves in grief and sadness all the time, and what we can do is to keep moving forward with their wills."
"Yes." Summer smiled, "We need to move on and never stopped moving forward. For the ones that love us and the ones that we love."
"Thank you." Yang whispered to them.
And thank you too, Topaz. Thank you for everything.
#
Man, it's really hard to shift between happy moments and sad moments.
Anyway, that was all for this chapter. Thank you for reading!
When I write Qrow talking, I always imagine him talking in his real voice in the show. If it doesn't fit, I'll change it until it fits. That's a habit of mine. XD.
Of course other characters too, but my brain can imagine Qrow's voice the best (Sorry RWBY!)
Did anyone get the references? Haha.
That's all. Thank you again!
Please support me on Pa/treon as 'The Tanker' if you like my stories!
