Forever Fall

[Disclaimer, this is a RWBY AU and RWBY belongs to Roosterteeth and the dearly departed Monty Oum. This is inspired by artwork on Dishwasher1910s Deviantart Page, IE the Team PJRP, Future Ruby, Future Jaune, Penny Persephone, and Pyrrha the Fall Maiden.]

"Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale"- Blake Belladonna

Chapter 02: Survival

Silver

My pained gasps are the primary sound filling the small sub room I'd been placed in. I grip the railing of the treadmill my lungs feeling as if they're burning and my eyes becoming filled with black spots as I fall down onto the stopped treadmill. The reaction is immediate as medical professionals swarm around me and multitudes of hands grab me trying to find a pulse and whatever it is they do when you nearly pass out. Why's it feel so cold in here…

I wake up and groan, I place a hand on my head to try and stop the throbbing only to open my eyes to see Sapphire, Weiss, and Pyrrha starring me down. Well Dust…

Schnee-Rose Manor

"You know they told you to take it easy! So what do you do? You decide to try and shoot for what you could do before the crash! Dust it's like you don't even understand that all the pain you're going through in those sessions is so that you can do what you did before? Do you get that pushing yourself this hard this fast can reverse the process?" Sapphire screams at me as I sit on the couch in Weiss' and Ruby's living room, my mask clinging to my face. "Well come on Answer Me!"

"It's not fast enough…" I trail off knowing better to finish the sentence. My eyes track Sapphire as she shoos the other two out of the room to give us some more privacy. She moves over and takes a seat beside me on the couch and circles her arm around me.

"I thought we covered this already…" she wonders aloud and pulls me closely. I groan and push away standing away from her and taking a couple steps farther.

"I'm not progressing near fast enough… We're nearly thirty… I can't breathe on my own for anything more than a brisk walk… and you…" I can't bring myself to finish the sentence as her arms circle around me once more.

"I thought I told you, I'm right and you're wrong. This isn't the end of it, alright? And you notice we're not the only ones here with scars. Ruby wears a half-mask just like you do and a gloved hand, Weiss has multiple cuts on her face not to mention the wound to her calf, Dust even Pyrrha has scars from the countless trials and battles we've been through in the past ten years. We've made it through all that, I'm pretty sure taking it slowly won't be the end of you, or any of us, so that you can do it right," Sapphire explains. I nod and give her a quick hug back before we head out to rejoin the others. We had perfect timing too as the doorbell rang announcing Ruby's return and with a swirl of rose petals the young woman was clinging to her wife's arm with a single question on her lips and in her eyes.

"Did ya miss me? Did ya miss me?" Ruby says almost as fast as she moves. I smile at the antic, having become accustomed to working with the younger Huntresses after the decimation of the Junior and Senior classes of Beacon ten years ago.

"Nope," Weiss says and tries to stay strong against her wife's actions but a single glance at the puppy dog eyes the younger woman was giving her was all that it took to break Weiss down. "Of course I missed you, you Dolt! Now come on and get off me, you need to change and shower we have guests."

Ruby untangles herself and looks over at us, her large smile only growing bigger. In seconds she's zipped around the room and hugged all of us before disappearing up the stairs. Weiss just shakes her head before showing us into the dining room. I smile as we sit and another flurry of rose petals nearly thirty minutes later announces Ruby's return. She sits down next to Weiss' spot as the older woman enters balancing plates on her arms and in her hands.

"I hope you all enjoy, this is one of Ruby's favourite dishes, Spaghetti and Meatballs," Weiss explains before placing the steaming hot plates of food in front of us. I lick my lips at the prospect and once Weiss has sat down and nodded I pick my fork and quickly tuck into the dish, demolishing half of it in short order.

"Breath," Sapphire commands from my right as I slow down and struggle for breath, my mask sitting between the two of us so I could eat. "Dust you hopeless idiot… I swear this happens every time we sit down to eat."

"What… its good food," I groan, wiping my face nicely and placing my mask to my mouth to get my breath back.

"You and Ruby need to calm down a bit more, I have almost no doubt that one day we'll come in to find the two of you in pain on the floor after having pushed yourselves too far," Pyrrha comments as she takes another bite of the meal. Weiss only nods in agreement as she tugs Ruby's sleeve to get the younger woman to slow down a bit.

Once I had my breath back I place the mask to my right and once more begin to slowly take bites from the food. A glance shows Ruby wincing every time she moves her right arm.

"How was your hunt Ruby?" I question lightly. She looks up at me and no doubt sees my eyes flicking between her arm and her face.

"Not too bad Silver… some troops became involved in the fighting when a small squad of Converted jumped into the fray. Got grazed in the arm, nothing too major…" Ruby states realizing her mistake a second too late.

"What happened?!" Weiss shrieks at her wife. Ruby cowers in response trying to hide herself in the chair.

"I was taking care of the Beowolf pack when the Converted snuck up on me, I took a shot to the arm before Winter's forces ripped them to pieces with concentrated fire. She had me treated before I left, I told her it was nothing, I'd just been a bit carried away in dealing with the Beowolves and that's why I didn't notice the Converted," Ruby answers her voice as quiet as she can be without being un-hearable.

"I'm sorry Ruby, I shouldn't have said anything," I state and quickly finish my food before replacing the mask to my face.

"Were you going to tell me?" Weiss asks, her voice just as quiet, but not out of fear, but out of worry.

"Weiss-y I was going to tell you once everyone left, I didn't think it was important enough to mention with everyone here and get them all riled over it," Ruby explains quickly attaching herself to Weiss to try and comfort her.

"Ruby don't do that again, I don't care if you think it's nothing, I thought we agreed we wouldn't hide anything from each other and on top of that I want to know. I… I just don't want to feel left out," Weiss explains back. Ruby nods and after a couple of minutes they remove themselves from each other.

"Speaking of work… How is yours going Sapphire?" Pyrrha questions, the woman on my right smiles.

"Not too bad surprisingly, everything's been fine so far, haven't had too many issues with the past couple of hunts I've gone on. Most of the Grimm are no longer concentrated on the fringes though and that's starting to worry me because it means we have to go closer to the kingdoms to deal with way too many Grimm. If anything though I'd say I've dealt with a much smaller amount in the past couple of weeks as opposed to the past two or three years, wouldn't you agree Ruby?" Sapphire asks.

"Yah and I agree with the idea that it is worrying, I honestly don't want to know what will happen if the Grimm manage to breach the walls again…" Ruby trails off. We all take a moment to remember the day that changed so many lives forever.

"How's the battalion Silver?" Pyrrha asks. I nod before looking around the table and realize everyone wants an answer.

"Well… Not too bad actually, we've managed to route the enemy on their last move inward. Salem has been pushing farther but thankfully we haven't had much issue with it, in the end I have a feeling that Blaze Rise, the newest of the Corrupted Generals, is a bit less tactically trained than the others. In all the engagement a couple of weeks ago left Salem with something to think about given how we broke through Rise's army and shattered a good portion of troops, but without knowledge about Salem's tower we won't be able to end this war," I answer.

"If Qrow is as good as I've heard then I have almost no doubt that he'll find it sometime soon," Pyrrha answers.

"Pyrrha's right Silver we've got Uncle Qrow, he's the best scout we've ever seen!" Ruby encourages.

"There's something I need to tell all of you… I'd hoped to wait until everyone is here… but I can't keep from saying it any longer," I whisper. Everyone's eyes turn to look at me and I look down before continuing. "A… a couple of days ago Huntsman Port and Huntsman Oobleck were killed in action when, after destroying a nest of Grimm they were targeted and slaughtered by Blaze Rise's Converted forces. I… I arrived just too late to do anything. I'd just begun a quick assault against the retreating army but when we arrived to the location both Huntsman had been killed and left to rot…"