Ruby's POV, three months after Weiss's death, two months after she officially joined Syndicate, location unknown
A gust of cold wind cuts through the trees and catches the edges of my cloak, causing it to billow back and reveal the clothing Adam thought I should wear as long as I call myself Reaper: black combat boots with white laces going up to my lower shins; black boot-cut suit-pants with five pouches for various tools and a specialized holster for Thorn, an automatic pistol; a metallic black and red belt with vials and pouches to hold Dust and a slot for my collapsed sword with my new symbol displayed prominently as its buckle- a stylized white heart with something called a "flur-de-lus" or some such at its base with a red spiked "x" cutting the heart into fourths; a zipped-up high-quality all-purpose jacket with built-in Hunter-grade armor mesh and the tee-shirt worn under it; my black cloak and the twin cross clips holding it in place; and finally the blank white mask I wear to hide my face and disguise my voice, custom made to allow me to see even though it covers my eyes. All of it bought and paid for courtesy of Roman Torchwick and Syndicate.
The wind dies down and my cloak falls back into place, once again covering the outfit that would make me stand out almost anywhere. I ignore the slight chill my Aura can't block and keep walking. The snow crunching softly underfoot being the only thing to note my passing.
"Are you sure this is safe Ruby?" Asks my Guardian and my friend, for the tenth time in the past hour.
"Yeah, I'm sure this is safe. I've walked here by myself every year since I was seven, and I went with Qrow since I was five. I'm going to be fine." I still feel her anxiety and know that I haven't fully convinced her. I've decided to call my Guardian a 'her' due to the distinctively feminine was she talks, and so far she hasn't complained about it, although she still won't tell me who she is, I won't push it.
"Can you at least tell me how much longer we have to walk and where we're going?" I stop at the bottom of the hill I've walked miles to visit.
"We're here." It feels like it's gotten bigger since last time, then again, it always has. No matter how many times I visit, it will always be huge to me.
"Ruby, I sense someone on top of that hill, be careful." I laugh softly.
"This is probably one of the safest places outside of the Four Kingdoms, I'll be fine." I can tell she wants to believe me, but can't quite do it. As I walk up the hill I begin to feel a familiar presence around me and I take off my mask. When I reach the crest of the hill, one that overlooks the remains of an old town, I sit down and talk about my year.
?'s POV, location unknown
I stand alone, guarding the edge of a forest of dead trees. Behind me, on the small summit of a cliff, is the hunched form of a familiar red-cloaked girl kneeling in front of a headstone and speaking in a hushed tone. All at once I feel a deep seated sense of wrongness, and at that first sign of danger, I prepare to protect the girl with a mechanical efficacy that only comes with practice and repetition.
Blue and white glyphs spring into existence, blocking the way forward from outside threats, a first and last line of protection. I draw my weapon and get into a fighting stance, knowing that whatever the unknown presence isn't one of Ruby's inner demons. "I'm warning you now; whoever you are, you better leave. I won't let you go pass me!" I shout my into the trees, and when nothing answers, I vainly hope that whatever it is left.
An eerie voice floats through the trees in answer to my question. 'Do you honestly think you could stop me if I wanted to pass?' That makes me pause, making me wonder what this is.
"I don't know if I could beat you, but I know I have to try." Another pause, and then I see a figure walking up to the glyphs, but unlike the other beings I've seen here, this one is almost pure white, like an angel.
The figure stops in front of one of the glyphs, and seems to look me up and down. It's only then that I notice the feminine grace the entity holds. 'Lower your protections and let me pass. I won't attack, I promise, and I always keep my promises.' Something in her voice compels me to do as she asks, but keep my weapon raised all the same. At that same moment, a primal scream rips through the trees, and a shadow throws itself over me and runs toward the headstone. Just before the shadow makes reaches its goal, the white entity darts in front of it and cleaves it in two with a very large, and equally white, sword. With another scream, the shadow dissipates, the fear that spawned it conquered for now.
I raise up protective glyphs again to repulse anything that tries to pass through the tree-line. Only after my charge is safe do I realize that I haven't seen the entity move her mouth, the words seem to just appear in my head. I also notice, although passively, that the woman hasn't moved from Ruby's side by the headstone.
With the glyphs up, and safe in the knowledge that nothing will get past them without our knowing it, I ask the question bugging me since this 'woman's' mysterious arrival here. "Who are you?" Laughter sounds, a light chiming sound.
'Oh, that's rude of me, not introducing myself. I'm Summer Rose.' I stare at her in awe. Summer Rose, Ruby's mom!
I try to talk, but my words trip over themselves. "How, I mean what, I mean I hope I'm not being to forward, but how are you here, in Ruby's mind?" I don't realize what I said until after, and I clamp my mouth shut, but I realize that if she was Ruby's mother, she knew exactly where we were.
She pauses, looks around the clearing at the glyphs, and finally to me, and laughs. 'You sound exactly like Ruby described you, hot headed and logical but easily embarrassed ready to protect her at a moments notice, even if you don't want to.' I stare at Summer, and she looks back at me, realization dawning on her features. 'You haven't told her yet?' I nod guiltily. 'Why not?'
My retort is quick, and a lie. "Because I want to protect her, and if I tell her now, I think it'll break her." Summer nods, accepting my reason at least somewhat, for which I'm glad.
'What were we talking about, oh! I was going to tell you about how I came to have my current "living arrangements" right?' I nod again and sheath my blade, not wanting to interrupt at this juncture. 'To put it very simply, I died. I died protecting a lot of people, and my Aura never really dissipated because of it. When they put the gravestone down, I sortamoved here. Ruby makes time to visit at least once every year, so I decided I'll stay.' I wince at how natural she makes it sound, like this is an everyday occurrence. 'Let me guess, you had a similar thing happen?'
"Yeah, something like that..." My voice trails off in embarrassment. Summer doesn't push, something that I'm thankful for, and we talk for a short while more about nothing in particular.
Suddenly, a cold wind blows through the trees with a haunting melody not far behind and Summer stands up. 'That's my cue to leave. A word of advice, you'll have to tell her soon, regardless or whether you want to or not.' An ominous silence falls over the summit as Summer walks away. I lower a glyph for her, and she waves back in thanks.
Only after Summer leaves do I realize that I still feel the same sense of wrongness that accompanies the creatures of Grimm. I turn around quickly and see a black mass slowly form into a humanoid shape, right behind Ruby. The Grimm-creature grabs her head, and quickly forms itself into a mirror image of myself, one with a dark smile adorning its' face. The spirit Ruby doesn't make a sound, but her back arches in obvious pain, and I react with one goal in mind, protect Ruby. With a scream of primal fury I throw myself at the Grimm, knocking it away from Ruby. "Don't you dare touch her." I draw my blade, and prepare for a fight. I try to warn Ruby as the Grimm sprints toward me, but I can't afford to make sure she heard it.
The Grimm smiles again and, wielding a replica of my own weapon, strikes. I shout in anger, throwing everything I have into killing the Grimm before me.
And back to Ruby's POV
'Ruby, be careful!' I hear the warning at the same time as my mother's presence leaves me. I slowly stand up, and listen to my surroundings for signs of danger. The snow behind me crunches softly, and I tense up.
"Ruby, is that you?" A familiar voice reaches my ears, and I turn around. It's all that I can do not to run towards the woman I see before me. Weiss Schnee, my girlfriend, my dead girlfriend.
"W-Weiss? Is that really you?" My voice cracks, and I try to choke off the tears already forming.
Weiss frowns and crosses her arms. "Of course it's me you dolt. I was looking everywhere for you, it's just luck that I found you here. You need to come with me." Weiss begins to walk away and I move to follow her.
Just then, Guardian speaks. 'Ruby, don't trust her, she's not who she says she is!' I stop and stare at Weiss, this time with a more critical eye.
Weiss sees this, and her frown deepens. "Don't you trust me, Ruby." Same voice; same hair; same frown; same, everything. If this isn't Weiss then it's a very good impression. My mind starts to catch up to the present, and I get even more confused.
"Ozpin said you were killed by Cinder, and now here you are, three months later without a scratch. I'm sorry Weiss, but I find that very hard to believe." I said, speaking slowly and cautiously. A hurt look flashes across her face, and I frown very slightly.
"Really, Ruby? I've been your partner for four years, and we've been friends for almost as long. Why would I lie to you?" I only look down at my feet.
'Ruby, do you trust me?' I reply to my Guardian, who sounds stressed.
"Of course I trust you!" A pause, no more then two seconds, but now it feels like an eternity. 'Ask her what we said when we started dating, then you'll know.' My heart seems to beat like a freight train. Unbidden a memory gets pulled up out of the past, one I recognize immediately, one of the best days of my life, the day I officially started dating Weiss.
Memory Ruby's POV, one year and one month ago, the Emerald Forest
One year and about a month ago, on a surprisingly cold spring day, I stood under a small tree in the Emerald Forest with Weiss. We had just finished another Grimm hunting test, a small Nevermore attacking a town (with the added bonus of saving a small family from immediate death), and we were taking a break. Actually, I was taking a break while Weiss was berating me about my dangerous strategy to keep the Nevermore distracted, namely, running out in the open and taunting it.
"I can't believe you would do something so dangerous! You could've gotten yourself killed!" I looked at Weiss, taking in everything about her, as I do often, before replying.
"I know, but it was coming right at you! I had to do something. Running out was the only thing I could think of that would work in time." Weiss stopped her rant and stared, before continuing in a softer voice.
"Ruby, you know I could have handled it." I nodded slightly, tears threatening to fall..
"I know, but I saw it beginning its dive for you, and my mind just went into overdrive trying to figure out how to stop it. I'm sorry, Weiss, I won't do it again!" I almost wailed out the last words, and Weiss turned away from me..
She whispered something under her breath, and I had to strain my ears just to hear it. "'Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metrics or form of measure. And all of it... irreplaceable. But do not let possible sorrow stop you from being happy.' I told myself I wouldn't make the same mistake, so I should at least try." She turned around again, her lips pursed in thought.
"What?" I asked, slightly confused. Weiss didn't answer, and instead kissed me. On the lips. My mind took what seemed like an eternity rebooting itself, before going into hyper-drive and screaming at me to kiss her back, which I did, thank you very much.
I learned later that it was a quote from a book she often read as a child. The main character's father said it after his son hid his feelings from the person he loved because he didn't think she loved him back, only to have her be killed off by monsters. The son was heartbroken. Weiss told me she hadn't wanted to make the same mistake, but she was worried about how I would react. That day she had decided that it was better to know then to be left wondering, and I was more then happy to agree with her.
As the happy memory fades and the snowy hillside comes back into focus, I do what my heart tells me to do, and listen to my Guardian. "Weiss, what did you say when we started dating?" I whisper out. I lock eyes with Weiss, willing her to understand, but she only stares at me with a blank expression on her face. As the seconds pass, I grow more and more suspicious that something's wrong. Finally, she answers, but not in the way I had hoped.
"I mean, it's all in the past, right. We should really get going soon, and get somewhere safer." She said something else, but I didn't hear it as my mind reeled in confusion. Why doesn't she understand? Weiss would understand, she should unless... that really isn't Weiss. Two things happen then: my mind becomes incapacitated by throwing itself in circles wondering how an impostor copied Weiss so perfectly that I didn't know the difference; and my reasoning gets drowned out by a cold and familiar fury, fury at who or whatever tried to use my connection to Weiss against me like this, and fury at myself for almost falling for it.
Time seems to slow down, and I get to see the look of realization that crosses her face before fury makes her features unreadable. Just as I hear the faint click meaning that Thorn has left it's holster, Not-Weiss darts forward and slams me into my mother's grave. Pain flares over the right side of my face, I wasn't prepared to use my Aura, and I fall back, blinded. You might have a concussion. Come on Rose, you need to move, now! I grasp at the headstone before I fall off the cliff, and somehow manage get a grasp on the smooth stone. I feel blood dripping into my eye, and know I'll have a scar after this. If I survive the next few seconds, that is.
Darkness claws at the edge of my vision and I fight to stay awake, knowing that if I blacked out now, I might never wake up again. As I fight to stay conscious I hear the tell-tale sound of something heavy falling in snow, followed closely by the loud report of a very powerful rifle. I form one last coherent thought. Sniper rifle, and a good one, I hope they're friendlies. And then darkness overtakes my vision, and I black out.