Over and over, waves crashed against rocks, an endless rhythm roaring up and down Mistral's coastline. From high above, Ruby looked down at that ceaseless churn, standing at the top of a cliff that her and Cinder's path had now led them to. It'd been a long time since she'd seen an ocean. The thought flitted through her mind unbidden, but it was true nonetheless. Not since before she and Cinder had crashed down onto Mistral, with a whole lot of hiking and conflicting emotions happening in the meantime. It was a sign that they were getting oh so close to their goal, less than a day to the port town that would take them from Mistral to Vale, and from there a hopefully quick trip to Vacuo. To her team. Her family.
Just the thought made Ruby's heart feel heavy, its beat an incessant pounding that felt like someone was doing their level best to smash their way out of her chest with a hammer. Nothing could ever just be easy, could it? A small sigh drifted from her lips, immediately being swallowed by the gusting wind.
"Is everything okay?" Cinder's voice, soft and low as it was, carried clear over the surrounding noise.
Ruby glanced over, finding Cinder standing at her side, lone eye searching her. Cinder had grown increasingly concerned for her ever since that night in the rain. She was… persistent, and surprisingly perceptive to changes in Ruby's mood, although maybe that just meant that Ruby wasn't as good at hiding her thoughts as she liked to believe. In any case, it was heartwarming, and so often she wanted nothing more than to let Cinder comfort her, to be held in that strong arm, to press into that gentle warmth. And yet she just couldn't let herself. Couldn't bear to indulge herself when Cinder didn't know how she really felt. And of course she couldn't say anything, not when Cinder was still so vulnerable, so dependent on her.
And even beyond that, there were a lot of problems that she just couldn't open up about. Like, how could she say that one of her biggest concerns at the moment was the way her loved ones would react to Cinder? How could she possibly explain the situation to them, explain everything that had happened? It made her want to avoid that reunion for as long as possible. Yet at the same time the thought of how worried they must be, how long it had been since they were together, and what they all must have been going through during that time, made her feel terrible for even thinking about wanting to delay meeting them again. It was an incessant burden that she just didn't know how to deal with.
But if she told Cinder any of that, all it would do is make the woman feel guilty and responsible for Ruby's troubles. What if she believed things would improve without her? What if she…wanted to leave? Ruby couldn't bear the thought of driving away someone that she… someone that she cared about. She absolutely couldn't make Cinder feel like a burden, when really it was all just Ruby agonising over her own choices. And so, those thoughts had to remain buried away where they couldn't hurt her companion, along with most of her other worries.
She'd managed to deflect for the time being, largely by talking about the situation with her Mum. That was… well, it wasn't the biggest problem that she had right now, but all the same it was a very real one, something that had been weighing on her ever since Atlas. She was thankful for the chance to finally talk about it, and the relief of having that burden eased even just a little was palpable. It was just… well, she'd been using it to slightly avoid the truth about what her biggest concerns really were.
Cinder knew, of course, that it wasn't the only thing that she was struggling with, and so she managed to avoid feeling too bad over it. It wasn't really a lie just… a shifting of focus away from the things that she couldn't discuss.
Drawing herself back into the present moment, Ruby remembered that Cinder was still waiting for an answer. "Yeah, all fine. Just thinking, we've been travelling together for a while now."
"Ah, yeah." Cinder looked at Ruby a moment longer, almost seeming to search for something, before letting her gaze slowly slide away out to the ocean before them. "A lot's happened." She was quiet for a moment, and Ruby was almost about to reply before she suddenly spoke again. "But we've made it through everything so far. Together."
Ruby couldn't help a fond smile at that. She adored getting to see this more hopeful side of Cinder, and loved that it was becoming more and more common as time went on. "And we'll stay that way, and make it through whatever's still to come too."
She really did her best to believe that. It was true that there was a lot weighing on her, a lot that she was struggling with, and a lot that she feared. But that didn't mean she was going to let herself lose sight of hope, let herself forget that for all the bad she'd endured, there was still so much good worth fighting for. She just had to keep sight of that when things seemed dark; to hold onto that feeling and give her all to keep making things better.
And it wasn't as if she was alone in all that: Cinder looked back at her, a matching smile worn proudly. Even if there was a lot that she couldn't tell Cinder, the promise of her help, her support, meant the absolute world to Ruby. "Yeah, we will." She said simply, reaching over and taking Ruby's hand into her own, then giving it a soft squeeze.
A touch of heat bloomed in Ruby's cheeks as she glanced down to their now-joined hands. Well, it was always nice to know that even with everything else going on, she was still woefully incapable of controlling her feelings. Even such a small gesture was still enough to set her off.
She looked back to Cinder's face, and ended up not being able to stop herself from focusing in on her lips. They were dry, chapped from the sea air, and Ruby couldn't help but wonder what they might feel like if they brushed against her skin, and- wow! She really had it bad. It seemed that her only real recourse was to distance herself from the situation as fast as possible. "We should probably keep going." She forced out, taking great pains to keep her voice even and not betray any of those feelings, then took a half step away from Cinder, slipping her hand out of the woman's grasp in the process.
"Oh, right." Cinder looked maybe just a little embarrassed, not meeting Ruby's eyes as she took a second to adjust her cape, pulling it closer even as the wind continued to leave it flapping awkwardly (To be fair, Ruby was having the same problem). "We must be pretty close by now."
"Yep!" Ruby gave a fistpump with as much energy as she could manage, "Can't wait to sleep in an actual bed tonight."
Almost automatically, she started back down the path, legs so well-practised at hiking all day long by this point that she barely even had to think to start the process. Cinder followed suit, taking her usual position by Ruby's side as they trudged along, winding their way along Mistral's coastline.
Just focus on positive thoughts, Ruby reminded herself. This whole situation with Cinder, she was dealing with it, it was gonna work out. And hopefully, with a little more practice it'd get easier for her to ignore all of those feelings, lock them away where they couldn't hurt anyone, and eventually move on. Even if that thought… hurt, it was just the way it was going to have to be, and eventually it wouldn't bother her anymore. Seriously, she'd fought monsters and saved kingdoms, getting over a stupid crush wasn't going to be the thing that broke her.
As for the reunion with everyone, well, even if that bridge was getting closer, it was still one that she'd just have to cross when she reached it, and that wasn't quite yet. And when it did arrive, she'd just deal with it as best she could. Even if they all had… problems with Cinder, to put it lightly, they trusted her just as much as she trusted all of them. She could convince them. Or at least, that's what she hoped. Little niggling doubts continued to do their best to worm their way into her thoughts, but as best she could she forced them out, shoving them into some dark corner of her mind that she could hopefully ignore. Hope was all she had right now, so she'd just focus on that as best she could.
She gave a small encouraging nod to herself, which drew a curious glance from Cinder but thankfully no questions. There was another thing that could help ease her fears about the situation, the thought that however things went down with her team, Cinder would be there for her throughout it all. Cinder's support really did mean the world to her, and even though the road ahead seemed rocky, the idea that she would have someone to lean on through it all made it seem so much more achievable.
Someone to lean on… ugh, well, now she was thinking about that night again. About being pressed so close to Cinder, their bodies flush against one another, a lone hand brushing against her hair. Thinking about soft, sweet words. About a promise to push her, and about the voices in her head at that moment: the ones that so desperately wanted Cinder to force her to be open right then and there, to confess the feelings that she was having. And then of course, her incredibly aggravating imagination that responded by filling her head with images of Cinder reciprocating, and of… things that would follow.
Fantasising wasn't the end of the world of course, but lingering on these kinds of thoughts was only going to make things harder for her. She had to move on from this, she wasn't going to force that on Cinder, wasn't going to take advantage of her like that. Ruby just had to make herself move on. Hell, she'd just been thinking about how she definitely could. If only following through was as easy as that.
She sighed long and low, earning her yet another curious glance from Cinder, but once again a blessed lack of questions that she wouldn't be able to answer. All that she could do was bury the feelings, focus on something- anything else: the wind gusting around her, the crunch of her boots on the rocky path, the beads of sweat slowly forming on her forehead in the midday sun. Anything but the ache in her heart.
Time passed gradually as the pair continued to hike. Little by little Ruby pulled herself together, calming herself down and burying all of her negativity deep enough that it wouldn't bother her for a little while at least. With her positive front restored she started to engage Cinder in some idle conversation about nothing in particular, until eventually after a couple of hours or so of hiking, their destination came into view.
It felt like a lifetime ago that Ruby had last seen it: the moderately-sized port city that she, Nora, Ren, and Jaune, had caught a boat to from Vale during their long journey to Mistral. It was the first place where she'd set foot on the continent of Anima, back before she knew about Salem, Oz, the relics, or any of that. Back when all she knew was that Cinder had destroyed her school, and that she'd come from Haven. A strange parallel, in a way, that Cinder would be the one to accompany her back here all this time later.
So much had happened since then. A lot of it bad. Lots of pain, stress, and panic. Friends hurt, lives lost, and more and more weight piled onto her shoulders. More responsibility that she never expected, never asked for, and yet nonetheless had to bear. A sigh drifted from her lips. And here she was thinking that she'd managed to improve her mood.
She cast those thoughts aside once more, as best she was able, and focused back in on the present, turning her attention back to the town in the distance. There was still a little way to go before they would arrive, but the sight of their destination served to invigorate her nonetheless. She paused for just a moment, rolling her shoulders and stretching her legs out, then glanced over to Cinder who had also stopped and seemed to be watching her with a surprising deal of interest. An idea flitted into Ruby's mind. "Hey," She grinned at Cinder, "Wanna race to see who can get there first?"
Cinder seemed a bit startled by the suggestion, apparently having been lost in some thought or another, but she pulled herself together quickly, glancing over to the port and then back to Ruby. "That's hardly fair," she deadpanned, "Going fast is kind of your whole thing."
"What if we agree on no semblances? Just normal running." Ruby was pretty fast when it came to running too, of course. Beating Cinder wouldn't be easy, but she was quietly confident that she could win this. It'd definitely take effort, but the bragging rights alone would easily be worth it.
"Well," The grin that split Cinder's face was nothing short of predatory, "If you enjoy being beaten by me that badly, then I guess I can oblige." If Ruby was quietly confident, then Cinder was nothing short of screaming. Her belief that she was going to win oozed from every pore, so strong that it got Ruby doubting herself just a little.
To be honest, Ruby really loved this side of Cinder. When her competitive edge came out, and for just a little while all her issues and worries could fall away in favour of cool confidence and snarky teasing. It was partly just nice to see, Cinder being so openly playful was a rare sight, but also all that confidence was kinda… well, it was very attractive but damnit Ruby was trying not to think about that stuff right now. Bad, stop it. Clean thoughts.
In any case, Ruby felt much the same way when it came to this kind of stuff. Whenever they were sparring or having silly little competitions like this she could let the past and future just… fall away, give all her focus to the present, to enjoying herself, to trying to come out on top. It was nice. Simple. None of the complicated, painful stuff.
She gave her arms one last stretch, high above her head, then shot Cinder a thumbs up. "Ready when you are. Wanna count us down?"
"Alright." Cinder stepped up right beside Ruby, the two of them both settling down into a runner's starting position. Silence reigned for a beat or two, until Cinder breathed in one last deep breath, and then slowly exhaled. "On three. One, two, three."
On cue, Ruby shot forward, feet pounding along the dirt trail, wind whipping through her hair and leaving her cape trailing behind her. She couldn't help but let a laugh escape her throat, running like this just felt so freeing, so fun. The monotonous hiking day in and day out wore down at her little by little. But a sprint like this? This was what she lived for.
She knew Cinder was right behind her. She could hear it, could practically feel the raw frustration she felt at being in second, alongside her excitement and exhilaration. It was palpable, thick in the air around them and mixing wonderfully with similar feelings flowing out of Ruby.
Trees whipped by them, faster and faster as Ruby pushed herself to her limits. It felt like a long time since she'd last really let loose like this, really just ran with absolutely everything she had, and yet Cinder remained just a hair's breadth behind her, never letting herself slip behind. It was thrilling.
The distance left before they reached their destination rapidly shrank. On the other hand, little by little, the distance separating Ruby and Cinder shrank as well until the two were neck and neck, directly beside one another with neither able to pull ahead.
Ruby could feel the sweat pouring off her, could feel her muscles screaming in protest, and yet she refused to let herself let up for even an instant. Cinder seemed to share that determination. Ruby let her eyes flick over for a second, taking in the sight of Cinder's face split in a feral grin. She looked like she was having the time of her life, and Ruby was certain that she was wearing a matching smile, although she was way too focused on not paying attention to the demands of her body to be sure of anything at that moment.
The imposing gates of the town were in clear view now, along with a handful of guards stationed outside who seemed very alarmed at the sight of two women charging towards them at top speed. Honestly, an understandable reaction, but neither Ruby nor Cinder were going to slow down no matter how alarmed they got. Some things were just too important to give up on, like winning in a silly little race.
In that last little stretch, Cinder surged ahead, one final burst of speed that Ruby just couldn't quite match. She was only about a half-step ahead, but it might as well have been a mile for all the difference it made. Cinder was going to win, unless Ruby could pull something out of her hat in these last few moments. But what could she do…
As Ruby pumped her arms, desperately trying to regain that lost ground, she suddenly felt her hand brush up against something. It was Cinder's cape, trailing just behind her, flapping about, and now lined up just perfectly with Ruby's hand. Maybe… maybe she could just… grab it. She did just that, snagging the fabric in her hand and giving it a little tug.
Cinder stumbled, not enough to fall, but enough to slow her down and let Ruby take the lead. And of course, that was all it needed to do. Ruby seized the advantage, charging past Cinder and straight through the town gates, claiming victory for herself. She skidded to a stop, now in the town's main street, kicking up a cloud of dust and ignoring the shocked looks she was receiving from everyone around.
She jumped up on the spot, giving a triumphant cheer even as her body started desperately trying to remind her just how badly she needed to rest after straining herself like that. But, aching muscles and sweaty skin weren't enough to dampen her mood after all that, and as always worked so well for her with her problems she elected to ignore it.
Cinder pulled up next to her an instant later, giving her a look somewhere between a pout and scowl. "That wasn't fair." Was her simple complaint, gasped out frustratedly between pants for air.
"Well," Ruby laughed back, even as her lungs too screamed at her to breathe faster, "You're the one who's such a fan of telling me I need to fight dirty. I'm just taking all that advice to heart."
"Yeah but… that's…" Cinder stamped her foot in annoyance. Ruby couldn't help but think about how cute that was, Cinder's childish side was a treat to see. "Shut up," was her eventual answer, which only garnered more giggles from Ruby. "Just because you're right doesn't mean I have to like it."
Ruby's laughter was, unfortunately, interrupted when she spied a pair of disgruntled looking town guards heading over to confront the two of them, presumably to find out what the hell they'd been doing. "Looks like we've got company," she mused, "I'll handle the talking, and as soon as we're done with them we can start looking for a place to sleep the night. I don't know about you, but I'm a little worn out." She gave Cinder one last small smile, along with a tired thumbs up, then turned and did her best to give the guards a bright greeting.
She was glad that she'd had the idea for this little distraction. It was fun, freeing, and an excellent way to shake off the funk that had been draped over her for the better part of the day. Certainly not a solution for anything, her problems were still there, but a chance to feel free from them even if only for a little while was always welcome.
Still… she could only avoid them for so long. Especially now that she was here. This phase of her journey… of their journey, her and Cinder, was coming to a close. The day when they'd have to meet her team and face whatever would come from that, was edging closer and closer by the second. All she could do until then would be to hold onto hope and… and do her best to accept Cinder's help when it came, to let the maiden support her through it all. To lean on her… maybe in more ways than one. Hopefully in more ways than one. Look, with everything that would be going on, surely Ruby could indulge herself in some more cuddles. What would be the worst that could happen?
