Masked Facade
"That's the thing about pain. It demands to be felt.
John Green.
Option Music - Creep, Daniela Andrade.
The monochromic landscape was a welcome constant, an oasis of beautiful simplicity in the chaotic desert of her mind.
There's something about the forest of black pines and fields of white snow that calms her down. But the snow has been marred and the air exudes a foul smell - the pack was here. Ruby took a knee and flicked the patches of blackened snow her prey had left behind in their wake. The knowledge that her mortal enemies were close heightened her senses, and Ruby continued her pursuit at twice the pace, eager to feel the monsters' flesh part before her scythe.
A small twinge in the back of her mind reminded her this wasn't the reason she became a Huntress in the first place. She grew up listening to her sister's recounting of fairy tales and folklore of villains and princesses, of kings and demons, of Huntsmen and Grimm. She grew to love them, and wished she could be a hero in a story that other little girls would listen to long after she died. She enrolled at a Huntsmen academy at the earliest opportunity, following her sister's footsteps.
Her first years at Signal was horrible. She wasn't strong like her sister, she can't point a gun or a rifle, and her mastery of dust was pitiful. Despite her classmates' mockery of her abilities and numerous discouraging remarks she persevered. One day, her uncle Qrow stepped in her classroom and gestured for her to leave with him right in the middle of a lecture. He introduced her to the way of the Scythe - a weapon of speed and momentum. Ruby took to the Scythe like no other - in a matter of months she had surpassed her entire class in both skill and aptitude. Everything changed for her. She became more or less popular, despite her awkward social skills, and gained the respect and admiration of her fellow Huntsmen-in-training and teachers. It would be thanks to Qrow's tutelage that she caught the eye of the Headmaster of Beacon, and her subsequent admission to the most prestigious school for Huntsmen in Remnant. One step closer to becoming the heroine she wanted to be since she could remember.
But now, heroism is the furthest thing from her mind.
Fairy tale heroes get their happy ending. Real life ones die horrible deaths.
So here she was, ten years after she stepped into the hallways of Beacon for the first time, hunting Grimm in the mountainous valleys of Atlas. What would her youthful self say if she saw the woman she ended up becoming? Angry rebukes? Tearful reassurances?
What are you doing? she imagined her say. What happened to your dream? Your promise?
They died, along with everyone else, she thought rancorously.
Trudging on top of a hill, Ruby gazed into the next valley. The tracks on the slopes before her were fresh, and the howling is getting louder by the second.
She folded her cloak inside out to a small bundle of red on her shoulders. She had long since learned that her crimson accoutrement encumbers her movement in battle, as well as allowing Grimm to spot her from kilometers away, yet regardless of its burden, she cared for it too much to discard it. It was the only thing her mother left - there were some nights that her mother's lingering scent and the soft touch of silk were the only things that stopped her from ending her life.
Crescent Rose in hand, Ruby crouched, eyeing the specks of black in the distance. She disappeared into a swirl of wind and roses, sprinting down the slope with inhuman speed. She leapt upwards on a tree branch and without losing momentum, pushed off into the next pine, and the next, and the next, and by the time one of the Grimm stood on its forelegs, sniffing a suspicious fragrance in the air, she had landed in the middle of the pack. They growled in surprise, four scores of masked demons turning their heads to her in unison, and snarled.
Come and get me.
Her lips formed a twisted smirk.
Her time in the wild have only served to improve her lithe physique - strong bands of muscles tensed as her fight-or-flight reflexes kicked in. The fastest of the Beowolves reached her first; she spun her scythe in a deadly arc and split two in half. Ducking to evade a lunge, Ruby backflipped, catching a surprised Beowolf with an aural-augmented tackle. She felt its ribs breaking and ended its miserable life with a swift slice to the jugular.
The rest of the pack caught up and she fired an accelerant round to the ground, sending her flying. The charging Grimm collided in a heap below her. She fired a flurry of rounds, taking out several of the dazed beasts, before landing on another scythe-first. The tip of Crescent Rose buried itself through the Beowolf's spine with a sickening crack. Three more she slew with swift decapitations. The rest of its kind howled, stampeding through the blood encrusted snow to avenge their fallen brethren.
Ruby's world devolved into claws and fangs, blades and bullets, blood and snow. It's a world she knows well, a world she has lived her entire life in. She fell into a battle trance, mowing the pack down like grass. Whenever they managed to pin her to a corner she would vanish in a shower of rose petals only to reappear behind the astonished Grimm, continuing her mechanical slaughter, devoid of all emotion except one - hate.
There was nothing in this world that she despised more than these savages, and she channeled her fury through Crescent Rose. In the height of her rampage she looked like an avatar of vengeance, a harbinger of death.
And it was only in those moments that Ruby could experience happiness - depraved and aberrant, perhaps, but happiness nonetheless.
The moon barely moved from its place in the sky when she sent the last of them into oblivion.
Ruby stood amidst the carnage of bullet casings and dissolving bodies, breathing heavily. The heat of battle left her and she collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. She stared listlessly at the broken moon.
Snow began to fall.
It started with a few drops and escalated into a full blown blizzard. The moon disappeared above the clouds.
She tried to stand up, but fatigue sent her reeling. She dropped to her knees. The snowstorm was growing, and she could barely see a few paces ahead of her. The air felt like piercing knives, stabbing her pale skin. She shivered. The dark pines looked on in indifference. She was a wilting flower in a field of white. She tried to summon her aura for warmth, but it was still depleted from her clash with the pack.
Does it matter?
She stopped her futile crawling and curled up into a ball.
The only reason she was alive was that her death isn't something her teammates would have wanted. It kept her going when everything else had fallen apart, when all she stood for had turned on her. But..
.. It was seven years ago.
Is it time to let go?
Apparitions formed around her. Weiss, twirling Myrtenaster. Yang making snow angels. Blake scratching her ears. Ozpin drinking coffee. Qrow polishing his scythe. Pyrrha practicing battle stances. Even Nora and Ren, fooling around in the snow, but present nonetheless. She was certain they were the products of her fading mind, trying to hold on to reality that is slipping away, but they were welcome regardless.
I'm sorry. Ruby mouthed. I'm so.. I'm so sorry. I failed you. I'm not a hero. I screwed up. I-
She felt a ghostly hand brush her cheek.
It's alright.
She looked up to see her family and friends surrounding her, smiling. There was no judgement or resentment, only camaraderie and friendship.
You did what you can. Blake whispered.
You're the best leader I could've asked for. Weiss grinned.
I'm so proud of you, lil sis! Yang beamed.
A solitary tear dropped from her good eye.
You guys..
But it's not your time yet, Ozpin said. This world is not done with you.
Her ghosts began to fade.
She reached for them in vain, trying to grab on to their ethereal forms. They waved faint farewells and whispering muted goodbyes.
They disappeared one by one.
NO! BRING ME WITH YOU! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! DON'T.. DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE.
A figure cloaked in white lingered longer than the others.
Thanks for visiting me every chance you get. Summer Rose hovered over her daughter.
She felt alien hands lifting her up from the snow. Turning her head weakly, she saw a stranger
"Hang in there!" he said. "I've got you."
Whatever he said next was lost on her as she used the last iota of her strength to raise her hand, extending it weakly towards her mother.
Don't cry, Ruby. We'll always be with you.
She mother vanished with a gust of snow, taking Ruby's heart with her.
A/N: It may feel like too much angst but to me this is what Ruby would be like if she were to lose everything. But don't worry! We're about to get down to business. Feel free to review! They make my day and helps me churn out more chapters. Don't expect the updates to keep up at this rate, though. Have a good day!
- Deathwhisperer.