Ruby trudged up the stairs to her dorm room. It had been an incredibly long day. Their class had just taken their final exam, allowing them to move on to more advanced aspects of their training. Usually, the final exam is taken with all four members of a team, but with Weiss absent, they took theirs with only three. Her team had been offered a replacement, but they all agreed they couldn't turn their backs on Weiss that easily.
It had been a tough year, especially with Weiss gone. Ruby was feeling more alone than ever, but she refused to give up hope that one day she may be able to bring Weiss back. She finally reached her room and practically fell onto her bed.
She quickly fell asleep, dreaming of being able to bring Weiss back to Beacon.
She awoke with a start in the early morning. She had heard a huge blast, and, wondering if it was real, she went over to her window to see what was happening. She pulled back the shades to see a cloud of smoke hanging over what she assumed to be the blast site. She pulled on her clothes, grabbed Crescent Rose, and rushed to open the door.
However, she was beaten to the door by Yang, who threw it open and said, "Ruby! Do you see that?"
Ruby nodded, "We've got to go find out what's happening." She said.
"Agreed." Blake said from behind Yang.
The three rushed down the stairs and practically flew out the door. They rushed to the cliff that Beacon stood on. "There's no time for an airship, we have to go now." Ruby said. The other girls nodded and they began running along the cliffs to skirt around the large lake below Beacon. They reached a suitable point and threw themselves off, sailing towards the city.
They propelled themselves towards the cloud of smoke and were able to land in a field just to the east of the blast site. They hurried into the streets and came upon a police officer getting into his cruiser. Ruby waved him down and asked, "What's going on?"
"We've got reports of two women who just blew up a shipping warehouse and killed the guards. I'm on my way to help apprehend them." He replied.
At this, Ruby's eyes went wide. "Listen, sir, you have to call off whatever action you guys are taking, these people are very skilled."
"And why should I listen to you, missy?" He sneered.
"We're...huntresses." Ruby said.
At this, the officer visibly paled. Not wanting to aggravate this girl in front of him, he said, "Ok, I'll see what I can do."
"That's all I ask." Ruby said, and shot off with Blake and Yang close behind her. They ran about a block before they reached the perimeter, and, not bothering with introductions, shot themselves over the cruisers.
Ruby gasped as she saw the destruction wrought by the blast. Several nearby buildings were badly damaged, and rubble was strewn across the street. They ran to the corner and turned, seeing the two women sizing up the police barricades.
Ruby didn't want to believe it. "Weiss!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.
The white haired girl turned to face her. Weiss. Finally, they had found her.
"Ruby!" She replied. "How...what? How are you alive?" She stammered.
"No thanks to you, Weiss!" Ruby shot back.
Yang then said to Ruby, "Focus on winning first, don't be distracted. That woman next to Weiss looks dangerous." Ruby nodded as the first attack came.
The woman in red began throwing a hail storm of fire at the girls, who were hard-pressed to dodge. Yang and Blake managed to get some shots off, but to no effect. They heard the woman yell something at Weiss, who finally began to move. Yang yelled to Ruby, "We'll take the woman! Focus on bringing down Weiss!"
Ruby responded by launching herself to the nearest rooftop. Weiss followed suit, landing on a building across from her. Ruby's building was slightly higher up, so she used her advantage to seize the initiative. She vaulted across to the other building, using her momentum to swing into a vicious strike. Weiss only barely managed to block it and retain a hold of her weapon.
Ruby now swung her scythe with amazing speed, smashing against Weiss' defenses. She had learned from their last encounter not to let Weiss have time to use her Dust. Ruby, almost taking Weiss' arm off, reversed her grip at the last second, smashing Weiss' side with the blunt end of her scythe. Weiss went skidding across the rooftop and slammed into a roof access door.
Weiss quickly regained her footing, just as Ruby shot herself towards her. Once again, Ruby pressed the attack, allowing Weiss no time to breathe. However, Weiss was able to duck under a swing and slide away, air stepping upward. Ruby knew she needed to close the gap, so she fired herself off the ground.
Just like before, Weiss reversed her movement and came flying down at Ruby, who locked their blades together. Ruby then twisted hard, sending Weiss flying towards the ground. Weiss broke her fall using a Dust barrier, but still went sliding across the rooftop. She got up to see Ruby still descending. She sent a wave of ice towards the spot Ruby would land. Ruby reacted by firing to the side, however this made her land awkwardly and fall to the ground.
Weiss, seeing the tide of battle turn, sent fire flying towards her downed opponent. Ruby was forced to fire while she was still prone, sending her sliding across the rooftop towards Weiss. She dug her heels in and popped up to a standing position, only to be met by more fire. She dodged around it and kept closing the distance, using her scythe to maintain her balance as she twisted around balls of fire.
Ruby swung Crescent Rose hard at Weiss, who was able to bring up her own weapon to block it. They struggled against each other, trying to force the other to lower their weapon. "Stop this!" Ruby yelled at the other girl.
Weiss gave a mighty push, throwing Ruby's weapon away from her. "Give it up Ruby! I'm not going back! Give up your foolish dream and let me go!"
"Not if letting you go means losing you to darkness!" Ruby replied, and readied herself to renew the fight.
It was then that their whole world exploded.