Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.

Road to the End

By: athrunzala

02: One Night

Upon their arrival in the town, something seemed familiar. Something that they couldn't put their finger on. Even after walking through the whole of the village, they couldn't place what was wrong with their surroundings.

"Something seem off to you, kiddo?"

Ruby looked up at her uncle as he said this, her face quizzical.

"Something. But I'm not sure what. Maybe if we..."

She couldn't finish the statement before she was thrown to the ground by Qrow, the older man deflecting a sword blade with ease. This action caused Jaune to draw his weapon.

"Put it away, kid. Not worth hurting yourself over."

The alcohol fueled huntsman then held his blade out in front of him.

"And you owe us an explanation."

"I... I had no idea you were going to be here."

"Yeah? And who are you? Or is it a damn custom around here to just attack people who arrived?"

His opponent lowered her weapon, the blue blade reflecting the lowering light.

"You don't remember me, do you?"

"If you were somebody I went to school with, it's been a long time."

"Leave it to Qrow, the same man who was at Beacon when it fell, to forget about the other former students who were there to help."

She put her weapon away on her back, and flipped her hair out of her face, a few clumps catching on her ears. As the dust settled, it was clear that she was a Faunus with blue hair that had yellow streaks dyed into it. Her almost entirely blue outfit was offset by her boots, which were a pale beige in color, and the yellow thigh skirt hanging from her mid-torso wrap.

"Wait... weren't you with Professor Volcanus?"

The Faunus looked over at Nora, her face both worried and relieved.

"Ye... yes... And you are?"

"Oh, come on! You know me."

"..."

"Nora," Ren interjected, "she may have never heard our names."

"Oh... Well... I'm Nora, that's Ren... We're not together-together, and... Jaune!"

Her outburst was met with a collective facepalm from the other five people present.

Qrow cleared his throat.

"Not to mention that, if you attended Beacon, I would recognize you. Where did you graduate from anyway?"

"Atlas. And no. I'm not military."

"Well, whoop-de-doo."

The sarcasm was heavy in Qrow's voice.

"Ooo. You graduated from Atlas Academy and weren't brainwashed. Congrats. Seriously. Who are you?"

The female Faunus was taken aback by his harsh tone.

"No need to be rude. Geeze."

"That's my uncle for you. He's a little rough, but he does care."

"Thanks," the Faunus said, a slight blush from embarrassment on her cheeks. "I'm Lapis."

Qrow's face softened a little.

"Oh. You. I heard about your team's little... accident."

"Please. Don't bring that up."

"Whatever," the boozehound waved it off and headed towards a small bar.

"So... how can I help you?"

Ruby spoke up.

"We got a tip about our target being here."

"Your... target?"

"Yeah," Jaune said, clenching and unclenching his fists. "Cinder Fall."

"It didn't come from me. I would know if she was here. So many survivors from Beacon and Vale have come here, that she would stick out like a sore thumb."

"If you didn't tell us, then..."

"Who did?" Ren completed Nora's statement.

"Are you sure you two aren't..."

"Yup!"

Lapis then turned and motioned for them to follow her through the center of town until they reached a large building that looked like the exterior hadn't been updated since the classical period. Heading inside, she shot the man behind the counter a look, and he produced a set of room keys.

"You can rest here tonight. That other key is for your uncle. He can't just sleep in the bar. It gets cold at night. I'll be seeing you around."

She then pulled Ruby off to the side.

"Look... About Dante..."

"What about the professor?"

"I don't know where he went to. We... we all had a falling out again. Last time, it was after we graduated. He and Caos didn't agree on what they should do. This time... I don't know if he'll come back if we ask him to."

"So...?"

"If you see him, let him know I'm fine. Let him know Caos is fine. We just... we want to hear from him every now and again."

"Sure thing."

Lapis smiled a little at Ruby's optimism. She could remember when she was that optimistic about things. That was before that day. Before everything in her world had been stripped away. But she could also relate to the blonde boy. She knew that he was putting on a strong front for the sake of his friends. And she could tell why. It wasn't exactly a secret that she had been romantically involved with her partner when they were at the academy. And she could tell that he had just lost somebody who was closer than a team mate.

"Oh. And if you need me, don't hesitate to call, okay?"

"Yup!"

"Thanks, Ruby. Now, get up to your room and get some rest. It's getting late."

The small group of friends went up to their room and Nora immediately flopped on the bed, pulling Ren down with her. Within moments, she was asleep, the young man's arm held in a death grip, which didn't seem to affect him in any way. He merely pulled her in closer and scooted them back further, holding on to her throughout the night.

"If they would just admit it, they might be happy."

"Jaune..."

"I.. I'm gonna lie down for a bit Ruby."

"Alright. Get some rest."

The blonde laid down on the mattress, pulled one of the blankets over him, and closed his eyes. He fell into a restless sleep. The same sleep that he had been having since that day.

He stood in Beacon's courtyard. The wind blowing his blonde hair slightly. He gasped slightly as a pair of arms wrapped around his waist, their presence familiar, comforting, and depressing simultaneously.

"P-Pyrrha!"

"Jaune? You know that you don't have to do this."

"Pyrrha... I.. I let you die..."

"Jaune, you didn't. Why can't you just accept that?"

"No! Pyrrha! I.. I wasn't strong enough! I should have held on to you! Stopped you back then! But I..."

Tears began forming in his eyes.

"But I wasn't strong enough. I didn't stop you... And now you..."

"Jaune, I made that decision, not you."

"Yeah, but..."

"Jaune, you need to let me go."

"I... I can't..." He was near his breaking point.

Her body tensed, causing him to whip around. Jutting from her back were three arrows. He looked in the direction they had come from to see Cinder, a smirk on her face, turning and walking away. As he looked down, the red-head's form faded away into nothing.

The blonde shot up from his sleep, his body soaked with sweat. Again. The same dream again. He looked over at Ren and Nora, who were sound asleep. Looking the other direction, he could see Ruby, the dark-haired girl was curled up in a ball, a few tears in her eyes. If her sleep was as haunted as his, he knew she wouldn't tell him.

That wasn't how she was. She would power through it and make it so that nobody else would have to worry about her. Even her own team. He had been the only one to be told that she occasionally cried in her sleep because she missed her mother, Summer, who had died when she was still a small child. He was going to write it off as one of those dreams until he heard her mutter one thing.

"Yang... I'm so sorry..."

It was then that he knew what her nightmare was about. Yang Xiao Long. The resident drool object of most of the boys on campus when Beacon was still standing. She had lost her arm during the fall of Beacon; to a member of the White Fang. All because she had tried to protect Blake.

As he stood to leave, the shift in pressure woke his friend up.

"Jaune...?"

Ruby rubbed her eyes, being still partly asleep.

"It... It's fine, Ruby," the blonde lied. "I'm just going to take a walk."

"A walk sounds nice. Mind if I come along?"

Shrugging his shoulders, the blonde silently accepted the company. He had only planned on going out behind the building and punching a tree, but he guessed a conversation about what had transpired might help a little better.

Once they left the room, they began speaking quietly, the narrow balcony of their suite offering very little privacy.

"So... How is Yang doing?"

His opening inquiry hit a nail on the head. The younger girl looked at her feet as she slumped to the ground.

"She's tough, like Uncle Qrow says, but she... I... We're sisters. Family. We're supposed to look out for each other. And I wasn't there for her."

"Ruby," Jaune said, putting a hand on her shoulder as he sat down. "There wasn't anything you could do. Even Weiss said it. Yang ran off without waiting for anybody to back her up. Besides, we can't be everywhere, right?"

"Still I..."

She leaned towards her friend, and fell over, her head being saved from trauma by the blonde's lap.

"She trusted me, Jaune."

"I know, Ruby. Pyrrha trusted me, too. And I..."

"We both let people we care about down."

"Yeah."

"You holding out okay?" The shorter human inquired honestly.

"I guess. I still..."

"I know. I heard you before I went to sleep."

"She just... and I just..."

"Jaune, you may be dense, but you had to have noticed something."

"That's just it, Ruby. I didn't know until it was too late. I was so damn obsessed with Weiss..."

"Jaune, trust me when I say that wouldn't have worked out."

"Sure, Ruby. I know that now."

"Not exactly," the shorter girl blushed as she remembered back to the night of the school dance.

The blonde failed to notice the change in Ruby's face and just looked up at the sky.

"I miss her."

"I know Jaune."

"She..."

"Jaune, I should tell you now: She didn't just care for you. She loved you. She was so caught up in wanting you that she went out of her way to try and show it."

"I know that, Ruby. Well... now I do. And I feel... I just... I was so damn stupid!"

Ruby shivered slightly, which brought them out of their own little bubbles.

"Wanna go back in? It's kinda cold out here."

"Good idea, Jaune."

The two returned to the room, and climbed back into the bed, where they fell into a more peaceful sleep, albeit without dreaming.