Warning: Chapter contains a lot of violence and character death. It's also pretty brutal to Ruby, and in this fic that is sayin' something.

Last Huntress - Chapter 25

-After Yesterday Is There Any Way We Can Trust Tomorrow-

There was a spread of rose petals hanging suspended in the air as Weiss ran around the corner of the building, Myrtenaster in hand as she chased after her partner. With a flick of her wrist, a glyph appeared and sent her hurtling forward down the runway. A dozen or so ships were docked here, the massive transports that ferried people between the kingdoms.

But so was the man they were chasing. Her momentum was suddenly halted when Ruby Rose appeared in front of her, a burst of rose petals exploding out behind the girl. The beautiful silver eyes were alight with purpose as her girlfriend pointed towards a nearby Bullhead. "Weiss! Torchwick took a transport, come on!"

A smaller hand wrapped around her own, and the world became a blur as she was ushered along towards the airship. It was disorienting to suddenly be on the ramp leading up into the Bullhead, but she recovered quickly. "Can you fly this?!"

"Of course I can!" The wolf-girl moves towards the cockpit, mumbling something under her breath that Weiss caught on the she of her hearing. "Not exactly well, but enough.."

It worried her, to see Ruby driven so utterly in their chasing down of this criminal. It made sense, given that just last week he had slipped away from them after one of his explosives had killed three of their friends from Haven Academy. Her girlfriend had been close, but had only gotten one of the boys out in time. Ruby had nearly rushed into the explosion in her haste to save the other three, and would have, had Weiss not blocked her way with a glyph just in time.

Now her girlfriend was possessed with a determination that frightened her, how singleminded Ruby had become to catching Torchwick. Yang was in the infirmary back at Beacon, but when they got word of another robbery Ruby had insisted they rush off immediately. They had caught him in the act, but his goons had slowed them down just enough for him to slip away.

The Bullhead lurched as it took off in the least graceful way possible, and Weiss stumbled as she tried to make it to the cockpit, having to clutch onto one of the handles dangling from the ceiling of the ship to keep her footing. "Ruby!"

There was no answer as the ship began hurtling forward, its flight path wobbling and causing the random bits of cargo that had been left aboard it to bounce and shift as Weiss tried to navigate the mess. She finally made it to where her girlfriend sat, and grabbed on to the back of the seat to hold on for dear life.

Their airship streaked into the sky, and much of Vale stretched out below them as Weiss saw the massive transport Torchwick had escaped on before them, heading for the southern edge of the kingdom. Apparently he was ready to make a real break for it, heading towards the wilderness instead of a prepared hideout.

But it seems her girlfriend had other plans, from the way those red-tipped wolf ears were laid back, and her teeth were exposed in a snarl. "Ruby.." Her voice held an tinge of worry to it as she saw the Faunus only increasing the speed of their craft.

"He can't get away with it!"

The reply made her pull back in shock, the sudden flash of intense rage completely out of place for the girl she had come to love, and she shouted to make sure she was heard over the roaring engines. "Ruby!"

"Weiss!" Silver eyes suddenly were on her, tears welling in them as her girlfriend finally spoke to her directly. "Trust me."

They locked eyes for a long moment, everything in Weiss screaming for her to pull the throttle back and stop her girlfriend. But she saw the sorrow inside Ruby, the way these last semesters had gotten to her. And so she nodded, confirming her trust in the wolf-girl.

The throttle was pushed to its max as Ruby angled the craft downward. The Bullhead didn't have any weapons, but it was a solid airship. The nose of it was leveled towards the engines in the right side of the transport their quarry was escaping on, and it seemed to grow ever closer until it filled all of Weiss' vision.

And she stabbed Myrtenaster into the metal floor of the ship, ice crystallizing around them both to shield them from the coming crash.

Ruby moves as quickly through the downed transport as her injured leg would carry her, each step a limp as she held her scythe out in front of her, ready to charge at Torchwick the second he came into view. Her gamble had paid off, and the ship has smashed into the cliff side of southern Vale, and Weiss' ice had saved them from most of the damage. When they had emerged, they were inside the other airship.

There was a shudder as something wavy struck the roof of the transport, causing a large crash to sound as she led the way, Weiss a few steps behind her with her weapon out and ready as well. She didn't know how long they had been unconscious, or even if Torchwick still lived. But if he did..

She had to readjust Crescent Rose, her left arm bleeding through the black sleeve of her blouse as she hissed and continued on. "Ruby.."

"Come on, Weiss!" She didn't even turn, knowing that her partner was in much better condition than herself, there was no need to delay. "We have to find him!"

"Ruby, stop!" That brought her to a halt, causing her to turn and look at her girlfriend. "Listen.."

She was about to gesture that they should continue when she paused, the ringing in both sets of ears subsiding just enough that she could hear the repetitive droning noise surrounding the ship. It was a siren, one she had never heard so loud, but knew from drills in early classrooms.

It was then she realized what had been striking the top of the crashed transport, and the extent of the damage she had caused to the cliffs.

"Grimm!"

The muscles in Ruby's arms screamed as she swung Crescent Rose in a wide arc around her, using the momentum of her previous attack to spin and catch a half dozen juvenile Beowolves in the slash, cleaving through them a like a hot knife through butter. Just down the length of the ruined transport, she could see Weiss lunging and cutting through an Ursa, dispersing it into nothingness. They had barely made it out of the wreckage when the creatures had set upon them, and it seemed like an endless tide was flowing into the city from where the southern cliffs had once sat.

All around her, she could hear the screams of civilians, people who had been going about their days in the various shops and storefronts, who had come to investigate the crash. Dozens of people were dying in the open square, and mixed in with screams and growls were the sounds of flesh being ripped and torn. Over the din of it all, the sirens continued droning on, doing little to close out the horrific noise even if they were deafening.

She saw one woman, only a few years older than her, lifted into the air on a claw. Dark red was dripping from Grimm's arm at such a rate that Ruby knew there was no saving the poor woman. But there was nothing that would stop her from trying, and she kicked off of an approaching Creep and the world turned into a blur as she activated her semblance. Rose petals flowed around and behind her, billowing her red cape in the wind, and she pushed herself to higher speeds, scythe raising in her hands.

Ruby never reached the civilian, as a massive claw swiped out from the side and smashed into her stomach. It sent her flying back into the side of the crashed transport shift, and even in her swimming vision she could see the flicker of her Aura falling away, her reserves depleted. Standing between her and the woman she was trying to save stood an Alpha Beowolf, it's bone plates spiked and jagged in a way that only a very old Grimm could grow. The red markings on its skull plate seemed to glow brighter than even those blood red eyes, and it sent a chill through her spine as it looked at her with what could only be described as malicious intelligence.

It still wasn't enough to knock the fight from her, and she struggled back to her feet, hefting Crescent Rose to aim the barrel of the weapon behind her. She pulled the slide into place and fired the sniper rifle, propelling her forward as she used what little Aura she had left to activate her semblance and give her a much needed boost of speed. Spinning as she neared the Alpha, she adjusted her grip and aimed the tip of the scythe towards the creature, catching only scattered glimpses of one arm raising to defend against her blow, while the other claw descended from the right.

Time seemed to slow as she came out of the spin, her arc bringing down the massive weapon in her hands. The tip of Crescent Rose struck into the raised arm, and the metal of the blade shattered against bone, cracking into a dozen pieces as the momentum followed through and pierced the jagged remains of the scythe deep into the head of the Grimm. Her disbelief and satisfaction lasted only momentarily, as she felt the longest claw from the Beowolf's right hand dig into the flesh of her forehead, and rip down through her face.

Pain exploded in a flash of unearthly white in her vision, and she felt the way it tore her eye free from its socket and continued down to her chin. The last remnants of her semblance deactivated then, and she was thrown back by the force of the blow, her own howl of agony sounding ear-splitting to her as she clutched at the bleeding hole with a hand.

Her remaining eye couldn't focus, her vision watery and drowned in pain and tears as she screamed until it felt her lungs would burst. But Ruby could see the way a King Taijitu turned towards her, drawn by the emanating emotion from her. It's long, black forked tongue flicked out as if in anticipation of the coming meal as the massive Grimm, and it began to slither towards her.

Weiss had heard the bloodcurdling scream that had come from her girlfriend, Myrtenaster buried to the hilt in the chest of a Boarbatusk as she gasped and looked over. She could see the haft of Crescent Rose fallen to the ground, and Ruby on her back, weakly crawling back from a fallen Beowolf. But as she pulled her sword free, she could also see the thick river of red that was running down onto the pavement below her partner. She could see it leaking between fingers that were held to the right side of Ruby's head, and she could hear the anguish in the awful noises coming from the wolf-girl.

But then she saw the snake Grimm that was approaching Ruby, and saw the way the head reeled back to bite forward, and it was on instinct that a glyph shone beneath her feet. She rushed forward, propelled by her semblance as she spun into the space between her girlfriend the massive Taijitu, stabbing upwards towards its face as it lunged forward.

Brilliant Aura crackled over her form as she felt it shatter, and as her rapier sunk into the soft flesh of the Grimm's mouth, so too did a thick fang sink into her arm, just above the elbow. As the creature pulled back in pain as one half of its body entered its death throes, that was when the pain hit Weiss. It was like someone was pressing a white hot poker to the very bone of her arm, and while the beast violently seized, it pulled at her. In her shock, she was lifted from the ground, and there came a sickening squelch of tearing flesh accompanied by a crack that she felt through every bone in her body, right before she was slammed back down onto the ground. She had only enough time to realize that the Grimm was suddenly no longer attached to her, and her eyes slid over to where exposed flesh and bone was covered in the thick black sludge of venom. It didn't process for her what had happened.

For Weiss, everything went dark.

For Ruby, she saw it all with renewed clarity as she scream out her partner's name and scrambled to crawl forward to where Weiss lay motionless. Her hands touched upon the dirt streaked skin of the heiress' pale cheeks, leaving behind stains of her own blood as she cried and begged for her girlfriend to wake up, her own pain forgotten in the moment. She had held back the thoughts through everything that had happened in the last few minutes. Innocents dying all around, the Grimm pouring in, the scent of blood and death on the air. But this broke through all of that.

"What have I done?!"

The thought reverberated through her mind as the sound of engines cut through the din of the slaughter, and she saw two Bullheads landing in the middle of the commercial square, forms pouring from their open passenger bays. Her unfocused vision caught only dark black and purple as it dashed over her, spinning down a heel kick and following it through with a slash that drove back the surviving white half of the King Taijitu that had been about to avenge it's other half.

Ruby swayed where she sat, blinking with her remaining eye as her savior dipped down and screamed something at her. She could see deep purple eyes and black fox ears, and deliriously spoke the name of the familiar face. "Iris.."

She didn't feel her back hit the concrete, but there was a weightlessness as she looked over and saw a girl with a wild display of bright green hair and another with platinum blonde bending down to lift the form of her unconscious partner up off of the ground, beginning to drag Weiss back towards the airships that had arrived. As she stared at the bleeding heiress, she watched a much larger form with a shaved head and wrapped in pale green clothing slammed into the ground between her and Weiss, Grimm bone spikes protruding from the boy's chest.

Her left eye rolled back as she felt hands slip under her arms and haul her up, and she slipped away into the oblivion of unconsciousness.

Two days had passed before Ruby was allowed to leave the infirmary bed, a bandage wrapped around the right side of her head. Two days of nothing but reminders of the pain and misery she had wrought. She'd seen the still forms of friends wheeled by her room. Coco Adel, Yatsuhashi, even Iris, the fox-girl who had saved her and Weiss had been wheeled by, a gash torn through the side of her neck.

And when she had thought that seeing the dead would be the worst of it, she couldn't shake away the images of her sister's arms around the shoulders of Velvet Scarlatina as the rabbit Faunus sobbed and cried out over the bodies of her fallen teammates, or how surreal it had been to see Nora Valkyrie sitting in a corner with her knees up to her chest, rocking back and forth and muttering unintelligibly as Lie Ren looked on helplessly.

She had thought being able to leave that bed and that crowded room would be a blessing, but as she limped down the hallway, she found only more memories that would haunt her. It seemed no student from any of the Academies had gotten out unscathed. The floors were home to bedrolls filled with bandaged students, while the beds themselves held those who had lost limbs. The dead had all been rolled out, to where they could be properly attended to and returned to their families.

At the end of the hallway was the intensive care section, where most of those who had entered in the last couple of days had joined the fallen. But not her partner, who she desperately needed to see, needed to say something, anything to. Ruby wasn't sure how to start an apology, but she needed to make sure Weiss was alright, needed to make sure that her girlfriend knew that she loved her with all of her heart.

But there was already something terribly amiss when she knocked lightly on the door frame and pushed into the room. Pale blue eyes were pointedly focused on the window on the other side of the room, and there was only the soft beeping from the medical machines to fill the air as she stood there. She had not expected sudden and joyous reunion between them, but this was so much worse, this was a brewing storm that hung between them. As she closed the door behind her, she sealed her fate of having to break the ice.

"Hi, Weiss." No answer came from her girlfriend, who remained as motionless as she had been since Ruby had entered. Her eyes studied the small cuts and bruises that she could see on the older girl's face, before she looked to the stump of wrapped bandages and let out a gasp. What should have been clean white cloth was stained a deep black color, and even as she watched she could see bits of venom dripping through the layers of the bandage. "W-what..?"

Finally, the cold gaze snapped over to her, so harsh in its regard of her that it caused her to take a half step back. When Weiss spoke, her voice was strained, incredibly weak. There lay a thin strand of spite buried in her tone, but even buried, Ruby heard it clearly. "The King Taijitu dying released all of its venom gland into my arm. They tried to cut away the affected tissue but it just keeps coming back." Weiss lifted the stump as if to showcase the black ichor that stained it, and when her voice filled the room again, there was no attempt to hide the bile in it. "It'll go away when my Aura returns, so I'll live. Don't you worry."

Ruby felt tears welling up in her eye as she took a step forward, holding her hands to her chest as she spoke in a shaking voice. She wanted to run over to her partner, wrap her arms around those slender shoulders and tell her that it would all be okay. She also knew now that it wasn't going to play out that way. "B-but, Weiss-"

There was a low sound of annoyance that came from the girl in the bed, and those pale blue eyes rolled before settling on her again. "You still can't take a hint, can you?"

"W-Weiss-"

"No! You are worthless, Ruby. You were supposed to be our leader.." The heiress' voice faltered a bit, and her remaining hand touched to her lips as if she was trying to control her emotions. "My girlfriend."

"But you cared more about catching him than anything else, and now all those people are dead." Weiss spit the word at her, rising up into a more straightened sitting position as she repeated it. "Dead. Do you understand that, Ruby? Do you get that everything that happened is your fault?"

Ruby couldn't meet the other girl's gaze, couldn't feel the tears dripping off the left side of her chin as she hung her head, her chest shuddering in silent sobs. There was a dismissive noise that caused her eye to flit over to the bed for just a second, just long enough to see the glare that was leveled in her direction. "We're through, Ruby. We aren't friends, we certainly aren't more than that. Now get out of my room and out of my life."

She choked back a sob, opening her mouth. "Weiss.."

"I should have let that Grimm kill you, but it seems we both made mistakes."

The finality of it, the cold, uncaring gaze that came from the girl she loved. It all crushed down on Ruby's heart, causing an agony that eclipsed anything she had felt when that claw gouged through her face. She stumbled over a few words, blubbering as tears began to win out, and finally turned to wrench the door open and run through it the second she could.

For the first time in her life since she had unlocked it, her semblance did not answer her call.

Author's Note: This is it. This is the entire reason this story exists is to talk about this revelation right here. When the Breach happened back in Volume 2, I thought to myself 'but what if it had been much worse?' and that was the moment this story was born. It's been.. A longer journey than expected to get here, but I've loved every moment of writing it!

Also just want to point out that Iris Vex is a nod to my OC in Roses & Thorns, we've seen her adoptive father in this fic before, arguing with Weiss during the memorial dedication!

Not a lot of reviews for the new chapters, I'm not sure if that's a bad sign or if I've just been updating too much? I just want to know how I'm doing, promise(if it has been sucking I'd just want to know)! A big thank you to everyone who has followed and favorited this story, and those who have reviewed, it almost has 200 reviews, which is INSANE for me! Thank you all for your support, and as we head into the holidays, I just want to wish you all an amazing next couple of weeks. I will be doing my best to keep this spark of desire to keep writing alive, so please rest assured more chapters are coming. Please let me know what you think, reviews, PMs, track me down on Reddit, however you want to! 'Til next time! -Fox