Last Huntress - Chapter 21

-Soon The Moon Is Bathed In Black-

Ruby ran her fingers through her damp hair, the fog on the mirror obscuring her reflection as she gently pulled the longer strands around to rest on her right shoulder, brushing a hand to sweep her bangs across her face, allowing them to settle in what had become a natural look for her. The tattoo that ran down her entire left side was broken by the underwear she had recovered from the other room before they had moved to the shower, but she could see the vivid blacks and reds even through the mist that had settled on the surface in front of her.

She took a deep breath, feeling the way the air caused flares of pain over bruised ribs and other injuries that littered her body. Pain was almost a constant companion now, no longer dulled by near round the clock drinking. She could feel the cybernetics within her, too, in a way that wasn't painful but just as uncomfortable in this moment. The way the replaced eye rolled in her socket, the breath that was processed by an artificial lung, and the way part of her stomach just was not there.

Becoming acutely aware of these things came at the same time the fog had cleared from the mirror enough for her to make out the scars of wounds both new and old. Though Blake had certainly helped her view them as less than ugly, there was still the acrid taste of bitterness left in seeing them. It wasn't a worry of vanity, or of regret, only a sadness in all that had been lost in so short a time of her life. The Breach felt like a lifetime ago, and Beacon even further. So many people were simply gone from the world.

"It was your fault."

She closed her eyes against the sudden chill, despite the warmth of the room, and the sorrow that seeped into her mind. That voice. Her voice. Self-righteous in its conviction of her, like a piece of her personality that bore no fault for what had been done. Like her younger self come back to haunt her.

"It might as well have been your claws, your teeth, that tore them apart."

Her fingers gripped the counter in front of her, and a slight shake of her head to try and clear it was unsuccessful. She wanted to scream out, tell it to leave her be. She wanted to yell, beg Blake to come and take her from this.

"Murderer."

It was hard to beg for help when she knew the voice inside her head was right.

"Really, Blake?"

Blake cringed as she was caught pouring herself a shot of.. Some sort of alcohol she had found behind the bar. She was dressed in what had to be the spare clothes of the woman now staring at her with a pained expression, and was having trouble trying to figure out exactly what she was supposed to apologize for. "Er.. Sorry, Yang?"

The Human woman bumped shoulders as she settled down on the bar beside her. "Might as well pour me one too, after what you did in my bed."

She froze in place, blinking a couple of times before looking over at the blonde and offering only a sheepish grin and a shrug. "Uh.. Yeah, sorry. You did tell me to talk to her." She took up the bottle again and poured another drink, sliding it over to the other woman, who immediately took a long drink from the glass.

After a long moment of her looking over at the blonde, Yang finally set the glass back down. "..Seemed to go well, I guess." That caused them both to break into a low chuckle, with Blake shaking her head as she nearly broke down into true laughter. It took a near minute for them to get back under control, and her former partner said something that turned the humor on its head. "I missed this, you know."

The look she shot Yang must have been a strange one, because the woman laughed and shook her head. "Not you and my sister.. But just having you around. We used to work well together, all four of us."

That soured the mood, and left Blake to stare down into her glass before lifting it up to empty it, setting it aside as she walked away, around the bar counter and into the open area next to the tables. "We did. Until I screwed it up." She sighed, turning back to face Yang and sticking her hands into the pockets of the borrowed jeans she wore. "I apologized to Ruby, but I owe you an apology too. For running away."

"I-"

"No, please.." She turned back, holding up a hand to quiet the other woman. "I wasn't there when you were hurt. I wasn't there when the Breach happened. You lost your partner and everything that followed was my fault. Running away was the only thing I was ever good at, and I'm sorry that I put you through it all."

Yang watched her for a few seconds, making sure that she had finished what she wanted to say before replying. "Blake.. I'm not gonna lie, there were times when I went to bed just steaming in anger about you. When I was injured and on the sidelines, I used to curse your name and blame you for it, but none of what happened was your fault. It wasn't just one person who caused the Breach, no one but me caused that cliffside to collapse under me. Maybe the Grimm, but you can hardly take the credit."

Following her out from behind the bar, the Human walked over and paused for a moment, before reaching out and pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm really glad you're back though."

The soft words were whispered into her ear, and the warmth radiating through the embrace practically pulled her into returning it. There was a similar tug in the pit of her chest, a sensation that she consciously throttled down in order to avoid spilling tears in front of the woman who had been her closest friend.

"It's about time you two made up!" The voice from the bar drew both of their gazes to where Velvet stood, her excited expression and ear splitting grin all too telling of how excited the rabbit Faunus was. They each took a step back from the other, sharing a chuckle and a hint of embarrassment at their heartfelt conversation being so easily overheard.

"It's not much, but it's a good first step. I.." Blake looked towards the stairs, and unconscious smile spreading over her lips as she thought of the girl she had left up there. "..Don't think I'll be running again."

"Good." Though she caught the knowing glance that passed between Yang and Velvet, she knew better than to poke that particular mountain of teasing material. It might have only been a short time, but she remembered how natural good-natured ribbing came to her former partner. The smile was swept off of the blonde's face as Blake watched, and lilac eyes concentrated on her once again. "Though, there is something Velv and I wanted to talk to you about, given your.. Familiarity with these things."

Sliding down into a nearby chair, she cocked her head to the side. "What things?"

Yang sat opposite her, nervously drumming her fingers against one another as she bit at her lip. "Well.. Cinder, er.. Professor Fall, if you remember her?" Blake nodded. "She stopped by here, when everything was going on with Ruby and the Pit. She was looking for her, and offered us an invitation to reconnect with others like us.. Ex-Hunters and students from the Academies. At Grimm's Den."

Blake's eyes widened at that. "Grimm's Den? The bar down in the Industrial District, you're sure?"

"Definitely." Velvet was the one who answered, rubbing a palm against the bicep of her left arm as she leaned down on the counter. "There were a lot of people we recognized there too. Octavia Ember, Roy Stallion from Shade.. It was packed with people from the Academies, it honestly felt like everyone who is still alive."

"Thats.. Not good." There was a cold stab of fear directly in the center of Blake's heart as her mind raced at the familiarity of the bar name. "Adam has had several meetings at Grimm's Den in the past few months.. I wasn't allowed to accompany him. It was.. Unusual."

Even as a heavy silence descended upon the room as they all were lost in the thoughts if what this new information could imply, there was a knock at the door to Ember Heights, causing them all to jump slightly. Seconds ticked by as they stared at the cracked and worn wood, the slightly warped frame arresting their gazes until a soft voice spoke up from the other side. "Yang.. It's Pyrrha. We need to talk."

After checking in to find Auburn still peacefully asleep in the spare room, Ruby began the slow walk down the stairs to where Blake was already waiting. She had elected to wear something far less conspicuous than what she usually favored, her clothing dark and covering much of the scars and tattoos that could identify her. It was best not to attract attention in the next step of this journey, especially given the infamy she had gained in recent times. A jacket was pulled over the light clothing, one of Yang's and long enough that it concealed the holster strapped to her thigh. Brown was not usually her color, but that was sort of the point of it. It even had a hood to cover her ears.

As she neared the door at the bottom of the stairs, her lupine ears caught the soft buzz of conversation, more than the three voices she expected. Cautiously, she pressed a palm against the door and turned the handle, opening it slowly enough that she could peek out and catch a glimpse of the room before entering.

Despite her attempt at stealth, Blake's amber eyes were locked on her the moment she caught sight of her girlfriend, sitting on the far side of a table in the middle of the common room of Ember Heights. She stepped out a bit quicker after being spotted, finally setting her eyes upon the two visitors that had arrived while she was upstairs. One was a blond man, dressed in casual clothes and with a hand rubbing his wife's back in slow circles as if comforting her. The other was a redhead, and while her eyes showed the signs of recent tears, the way she was angrily drinking down a glass of whiskey told of a different emotion.

"Pyrrha. Jaune." Her voice drew both of their gazes, as well as her sister and Velvet's as she moved along the edge of the bar with a curious expression. She was still a little stunned at seeing Pyrrha out of uniform for what had to be the first time since she had been at the woman's wedding. "What's happened?"

It was Jaune who spoke first, tossing a sad smile towards his wife as he did so. "Pyrrha's had a rough night. We brought in Sall Vex for questioning about the Dust drugs we found in Russel's bloodstream, asking him about the shipments that had gone missing from his company.." He let out a low hiss through his teeth as the glass in Pyrrha's hand shook in visible anger. "He didn't take it well, and his lawyers have some friends in the force."

Ruby grabbed a chair off of a nearby table, flipping it over and sitting in it with the back to the table, between Blake and Yang. There a pause as she looked between her two old friends, raising an eyebrow in question about what exactly had happened. "I've been suspended!" She started as the redheaded woman suddenly shouted out the explanation, not accustomed to seeing Pyrrha Nikos lose her temper. "I'm sure they would have loved to sack me on the spot, but given the bombing earlier.."

Just as sudden as her outburst, the woman was quiet once again, frowning heavily into her glass. Ruby glanced between her sister and girlfriend, earning equally wary stares back as she cleared her throat. "I-I'm sorry, Pyrrha." She reached across the table, catching the woman's hand in her own as she spoke. "If I'd known it would cause this much trou-"

"It's not your fault, Ruby." This time, Pyrrha's voice was much more level, with an inflection that she hadn't heard since their time at Beacon. It even grew into a small smile on the distraught woman's lips. "I'm angry at the corruption, at the way lien has determined how and when our mech officers can respond, if ever.. Most of the other captains on the force are on one payroll or another, and each of my bosses is paid under the table by some corporation."

"But you aren't at fault. You brought me evidence of something that is causing a lot of pain in Vale, and I thought I could push it. I just.. Underestimated how much the men and women I served with didn't care about justice."

"And here we were just talking about how we missed the good ol' days." Yang had a touch of mirth on her voice, and it generated a soft laugh from all six of them.

Pyrrha drew back and returned to nursing her drink as she looked down and was quiet for a moment, before glancing back up and speaking. "I'm pleased to see you are doing well, Ruby. Yang had told me about your recovery, but.. Well, seeing is believing after all!" She tossed a small grin Ruby's way, and that was easy to return.

"Thanks to Blake here, I'm more or less recovered after.. Everything." Ruby bit at the inside of her cheek to stop herself from thinking back. "Though I do wish we had more time to catch up and.. Drown our sorrows."

She looked to her girlfriend, and found the cat Faunus already watching her. Blake gave a nod, and rose to her feet. "Yes, there's something we have to get to."

"It must be important, if you're heading out at this time of night?" Jaune had cocked his head to the side with an inquisitive expression, his blue eyes watching Ruby closely.

"I think it might be.. But I'm not really sure." Confessing her concerns out loud made her a little nauseous, but Ruby stood up from the chair all the same, ready to see this through. Ozpin's passing left her with a feeling like she had lost a guiding hand, despite the lack of contact in the last four years from him. It would be.. Interesting to see what closure this trip would bring, if any. "It still needs to be done, though."

"I see.. Purpose suits you, Ruby Rose." Pyrrha beamed at her from across the table, but that smile slowly slid into a look of concern. "But please be careful. There is a warrant out for your arrest after your.. Display at the club earlier today. They're calling you a murderer."

She paused at that, feeling the determination in her heart suddenly tugged out from under her.

"They're right, you know."

"I-I.."

"Your claws, your teeth."

"What h-happened was.."

"Murderer."

"Torchwick's assassins would've killed us and the girl we had gone there to protect." It was Blake who came to her rescue yet again, the interruption allowing her a moment to shut off that inner voice, the little demon in the corner of her mind that spat at her with her words, and her condemnations. "Yang and Velvet can fill you in and what happened, but it was justified."

Pyrrha took a long look at Blake before returning that discerning gaze to Ruby, narrowing her eyes at the shift in behavior. "..I believe you. I don't condone killing, but I understand the circumstances you both have found yourself in."

Ruby felt her wolf ears twitch at that, giving a hesitant nod as she took a step back. "Well.. Hopefully we'll come back with some answers that'll make this all worth it."

"Good luck, you two!" Velvet's chipper attitude raised the mood back up, and the other three still sitting offered similar sentiments as Yang took the time to pour out four more glasses. To Ruby, it looked like her sister was settling in for a long night of playing the part of both bartender and therapist for their old friends.

For her, the night was a set of unknowns, and a hope for those wishes of luck to be true. She looked to Blake, who gave her a tiny bit of a grin before opening the door to the streets outside of Ember Heights. They were greeted by the rushing wind of another of Vale's storms sweeping through the city, and the harsh cold of hard rain drops as they impacted exposed skin.

Ruby took one last glance back at her sister and friends before pulling up the hood of the jacket she wore and stepping out into the storm.

Councilor Umber looked at his watch again for what had to be the twentieth time in the last five minute, letting out a sigh as he glanced over at the bodyguards flanking him. The warehouse that had been set as meeting point with his partner was both dark, and in the presence of the thunderstorm that had begun raging across the city, cold.

There was the echoing sound of footsteps in the shadows of the far wall, and the door finally opened to admit a man in a white suit and a bowler hat, his cane spinning fancifully around one hand before coming to a stop. "Ah, Councilor." Roman Torchwick gave a low, mocking bow, even flourishing his hat for effect. "I didn't keep you waiting, did I?"

Gritting his teeth at the way the other man grinned at him, Umber was about to spit back an insult when a diminutive girl stepped in as well, an unsettling smile on her lips as mismatched eyes scanned over him and his men. After her followed an older man in a grey jacket and a wild display of white hair, a glowing red cybernetic covering and replacing his left eye. Clearing his throat and swallowing his pride, he glared at Torchwick and spoke up. "I'm a busy man, but I always have time for my friends."

"Oh, we're friends now, are we?" There was a flash of light as a cigar end was lit, and the gangster began to take a long drag of it.

"The man who brought down Weiss Schnee? I'd consider him my closest friend." The Councilor waved his hand behind him, and a bodyguard moved forward with a briefcase, setting it down on the table that sat between Umber and Torchwick. Two clips signalled the opening of it, and the man holding it turned it towards the other man. "And I treat my friends very, very well."

There was no witty comeback, no scathing backhanded phrase, or other jest as Roman moved forward to look inside. He grinned and laughed as he reached in and took out the keycard that had been placed within. "Ah, finally!" Holding his prize aloft, he examined both sides of it. "I do so appreciate it when I'm paid what was promised.. This make you happy, Doc?"

Umber narrowed his eyes as the older man stepped forward and took the keycard from Torchwick, the older model cybernetic eye scanning both sides of the card before the man nodded and spoke in a slightly posh accent. "This will do nicely."

Laughing again, Roman paused for a moment before turning back to the Councilor. "Though.. From what I've heard the little Schnee girl hasn't quite shuffled loose the mortal coil yet, has she?"

With a wide grin, Umber checked his watch again. "The reports from my people inside Schnee Tower say she's in a coma and not expected to wake. Apparently your device took a few more limbs from the uppity heir to an unfortunate throne." He sighed happily, feeling the stress of previous years vanishing with the relief he felt. It was his job to inform the Council too, a task he would enjoy quite a bit. "Even if she does wake up, I doubt she'll have the capacity to continue leading. Either way, you've done a fine job, Mr. Torchwick."

"Well, you'd be surprised how easily one of my boys can get into a construction site with a little bit of dirt and the well wishes of sentimental morons. But I am a professional, and I always get the job done."

Clasping his hands behind his back, Umber murmured acknowledgement, but then tilted his head to the side. "Speaking of such.. Unpleasantness. A mutual friend told me that you were approached by one of the former Hunters. Thinking of joining their little plot?"

"Why, Councilor, are you accusing a dear friend of conspiring behind your back?" Torchwick let out a cloud of smoke as he exhaled, opening his arms wide to appear genuine. "You know me, I don't bet on a losing horse."

"Hm, perhaps you should." Umber reached up and ran his fingers over his finely trimmed mustache. "I have plans with them, and I'd like you to help facilitate them.. Even if it means working alongside some of the dregs of our society." He chuckled darkly, smiling at the way the other man was suddenly interested. "I'll give you the Reconstructed District. Free and clear of all White Fang influence, and with your own little personal army of police mechs to help enforce.. The peace."

"My dear Councilor, I think we have another deal." Torchwick tapped his cane on the cold concrete excitedly. "Anything for a.. Friend."

"My thoughts exactly." Umber grinned, signalling one of his men to retrieve the briefcase and for the rest of them to get ready to leave. "Well then, I've got an appointment with the Council, to relay to my fellows the unfortunate injuries of our dear protector. After all, the Barricade can't be left in the hands of a leaderless company! Farewell, gentlemen.. My lady." The slender man gave a nod to his fellows, before bowing ever so slightly to Neo and turning on a heel to leave.

Roman waited until the last bodyguard had exited the room, and the door had closed, before he spoke up. "Putz."

"He certainly seemed sure of himself." Still holding the keycard, the older man barely spared a glance towards the door. "None of our concern, given our previous arrangement with other.. Interested parties. Though I am surprised you would turn down such a deal."

"I'm a gambling man, Merlot." Sliding a finger along the brim of his hat, Roman turned to smile at his two partners in crime. Twirling his cane again, he strode towards the exit with an echoing, self-assured laugh. "Why settle for a District when I have a shot to own the city?"

The train jolted as it traveled up another set of tracks, ascending ever higher from the moment it left the station in the Commercial District. Ruby held onto one of the grab bars, staring at the dirty floor of the car she and Blake had stepped into and tried purposely to avoid looking at any of the other passengers. Stolen vehicles and motorcycles with their emblems emblazoned on them were hardly the choices of those looking to fly under the radar in downtown Vale, and so they had settled on public transport.

When the reconstruction effort was in full swing, the opening of the dozen or so train stations across Vale was met with all sorts of fanfare and celebration, the first sign of a new age dawning for the kingdom. The first ray of hope in the wake of the Breach. Budget cuts and a growing homeless population displaced by the pursuit of profit and progress had turned the dreams of tomorrow into the dingy reality of today. Another mausoleum of Vale's hopes for the future.

The windows were coated in grime, the floors covered in substances that were likely far worse, and the passengers doing their best to avoid looking anywhere but their own shoes. But as there was another jolt of the train car being lifted to another track that would take it to Eastern Vale, it seemed one passenger wasn't worried with such things. "I'd forgotten how beautiful it looked from up here."

Blake's voice drew her eyes upwards, and Ruby found herself following her girlfriend's gaze out the nearby window. It was clean, relatively speaking, and provided a wide look over all of Vale as the track they were on took them above the residential buildings of the district they were currently traveling through. Even through the storm that rained down on the city, the monolithic skyscrapers of Vale were visible to them.

Massive buildings that stretched towards the sky, their sides lined with glowing neon signs that displayed the company names proudly. Monuments to the elite of Remnant, to those who owned it all. Who never had to worried about mingling with the riffraff on some train down in the city. She could make out a few of the towering structures, from Vex Security Corporation, to the magenta sign of Mjolnir Arms, and the largest of them all, the snowflake design on it so bright it cut through the dark with distinction.

"Did you hear about Weiss Schnee?"

The voice came from one of the traincar passengers sitting behind them both, and Ruby made the slightest of movements to listen more closely, drawing a look from Blake as she did so.

"No, what happened?"

"News had a special report on it, seems she was injured in the bombin' at the memorial."

Blake watched as silver eyes widened, their pupils darting from side to side as if the wolf Faunus was racing through thoughts at a mile a minute. She frowned, wondering just how this news would reach the younger woman.

"Said she was in a coma, pro'lly won't wake up."

"..Well, shit. She's the only one of them rich types I could stand."

"Gods be damned, her passin' will be the end of Vale, just you wait."

Slowly lowering her hand on the grab bar until it rested over her girlfriend's, Blake leaned down to speak softly. "Ruby, are yo-"

The wolf Faunus roughly turned back to look out the window, a determined expression set in her scarred features as she practically glared out into Vale. But she didn't move her hand, only tensing up as she nodded towards the view. Even though it was barely visible between the night and the storm, the massive arch that spanned from one end of Vale to far behind Beacon could be seen in the backdrop of lightning flashes and searchlights from the top of the Barricade. "The Shield Arch was just completed. I've seen her speeches where she says this is the next step forward to making sure the world is safe from the Grimm."

Turning back to look straight into the molten irises that left a deep seated heat inside her chest, Ruby took a long breath before speaking, choking down the memories and fears that threatened to well up. "She wouldn't up and die without doing what she set out to do four years ago. She wouldn't leave behind an unfinished legacy." She scoffed, shaking her head with a bit of hope on the hardened edges of her heart, growing with her own certainty. "And trust me, Weiss is far too stubborn to let me outlive her."

Author's Note: So this story is almost three years old.. My life has gone to shit, gotten better, gone to shit, and gotten better again in the space of it! It's just crazy to think about, really! With Volume 6 of RWBY airing now, it's amusing to look back and think that this all started when I first watched the show and got to the end of Volume 2 and thought "But what if the Breach had been an actual thing?". I've recently got really back into RWBY(hence the update) and I've finally stopped making PDFs for my D&D setting.. So I'm not gonna promise anything but I hope I'm back into the fandom and this story again. Thank you all for following, favoriting, and reviewing. It means a ton to me to see you guys enjoying this! I know that this chapter is pretty barebones, but I wanted to get something out as I work on what is to come in this AU, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! As always, thank you for reading! -Fox