Always forward
He traces an armoured finger along the dull iron that encircles the outer edge of his shield, cresting upward into a simple arc near its bottom. The uneven 'clinks' as rough metal slides along rough metal were so different from the gentle hiss the bronze it replaced once made. He feels his left eye twitch at the thought, his sight falling from the shield to inspect his own armor. Gone were the royal red and warm orange accents; gone was the rich glow of bronze on stark white. Killed and replaced by dark grey metal and white so faded and wracked with stains that it appeared a sickly yellow. It was not the first time he had allowed his appearance to fall into such disrepair, and just like the last time, it was done intentionally. A way to punish himself back then, to show the world that he wasn't a perfect knight, that he didn't shine. To wrap himself in that thought. Now though? Now he simply couldn't be bothered to clean himself up; why scrape and spit shine a surface when it would just crust over with filth again the next day? His left eye twitches again, finding and rubbing a piece of particularly irregular finish on his right bracer. He was glad that he had removed the bronze; the thought of seeing it dirtied over and over again irked him. He'd done, and not done, so much to dishonour her already... if he couldn't avoid tarnishing her memory, he could at least avoid tarnishing her metal.
The sound of a soft yawn brought him away from his thoughts. From his sitting spot in the dirt, he spied its origin: a woman in a ragged red cloak laying with her back along the handle of a massive scythe that had been plunged tip-first into the dirt, her boots resting against the weapon's head. She shifted slightly, eyes closed, as she attempted to find a more comfortable position despite the delicate balance the pose required. They had been on that hill for a few hours now, quiet and apart, like they always were when left alone. He could never understand why she chose these moments to be contemplative and curtail her usual behaviour, but he is thankful for them none the less. In these still moments, he could almost pretend he was alone and that he was the only one stuck in this position. He could indulge in memories or daydream that all of this was simply a long-lasting bad dream, anything to escape for just a little while. He remembers hating loneliness; he remembers being so completely and utterly abandoned for so long that his sanity could barely take it, stuck in a place with only the slimmest of hopes of escaping. Trapped in a single place, in a single moment.
He was such a fool; what he wouldn't give to be back in that moment right now.
"Sooo... what'cha think they're doing over there, Jaune?" The sound of Ruby's question brought to his attention just how utterly quiet it had been. The inquiry was wrapped in a tone of innocent curiosity, almost childlike, that felt so unnatural in the desolate setting they found themselves in. He knew that her genuineness was a trap, of course; it was always a trap, but he couldn't bring himself to ignore her. That challenge always resulted in his loss. So with a sigh, he acquiesced, his own high-pitched voice matching hers in its inappropriateness.
"Penny said she spotted a village near by or something. Probably another ghost town but... well, you know how she is." He let his declaration trail off, his shoulders stiffening ever so slightly in anticipation of her response. He had played this game more times than could possibly be remembered, and every time it went the same way. He hated that it still got a response from him; he hated that he could never take his heart off his sleeve and hide it where no one could see it. Especially her. Even hidden away behind his fully visored helmet, he knew she would get everything she wanted from his body language alone. Her eyes slowly opened, those captivating silver orbs flashing like beacons against her pale-skinned face. Her lips began to curl into a playful grin as she responded.
"Well, you want to know what I think they're doing?" She gently lifts herself up from her resting position, standing tall on the head of her weapon, before promptly turning and daintily tiptoeing up the length of its handle. Her arms shoot up from her sides to balance her as she goes, the confidence in her tone strengthening as her steps and words continue: "I think right now Penny and Cinder have just discovered a stalwart group of survivors in that town." Her eyes squint ever so slightly, her fingers splaying out wide as her words paint a scene before them: "The last surviving community in all of Anima. Maybe even all of Remnant. Men, women, and children from different nations. Faunus and humans. Criminals and hunters. All putting aside their differences and clasping their hands together to overcome this horrible situation. Despite the threat coming their way..." Her voice takes on a reverent, sing-song patter, invoking memories of childhood when his parents would read him fairy tales and stories of folk heroes. The same she was read. The same they all were: "The brave little robot and the one-armed maiden do their best to protect the town from the monsters that are ever invading. They fight their hardest because they know that while these brave people live, hope is still alive." Even while spinning her tale and balancing precariously on her jouney along the narrow platform, she doesn't miss it. The way his armoured hands close into fists in front of him, squeezing gently. A predatory glint flashes across her silver eyes at the sight, gone the next moment. "But even their very best can only hold back the tide so long. What they need is a miracle! And just when they had all but given up, just when their darkest moment had come, who would appear but a hero? A saviour to rescue them and the people they protect. A hero named Jaune Arc!" She stands at the very tip of her weapon, a single foot resting at its apex. She throws her hands up to punctuate her excited exclamation, the silloette of a bright red warrior poet contrasted against the dark grey clouds ever present overhead. His head tilts downward, and his voice is barely a whisper.
"Please just-" He can't even finish his plea before a burst of rose petals overtakes his entire line of sight. She stands in front of him now, hands on hips, stance wide, in a pose of total confidence. Her smile is so wide and brilliant that it almost hurts to look at it. Gone is the storyteller; now comes an energetic voice laced with care and understanding.
"Don't worry, Jaune! I know you're scared, but only you can do it. Only you can save them!" Venom, every word contains pure, unfiltered venom. The near-perfect illusion of care and support only makes it worse, makes it hurt more. Like candy laced with poison: "Only you are brave enough to stop the monsters!" She's kneeling now, hand on his shoulder; the facade slips slightly when her features soften into an empathetic stare. The shift doesn't quite reach her eyes; instead, it's replaced with an intense curiosity. Studying him: "You always doubt yourself, but you shouldn't! I believe in you, Jaune!" He remembers staring at her trembling lips; she was younger and full of doubt. Guilt from dragging him half-way across the world on a dangerous journey. He can't remember what he said to make her feel better: "I'm proud of you, Jaune..." He remembers staring into her hurt eyes, welling with tears. Teeth grit. He told her it was all about her... and that it was all her fault: "And I will always..." A black sword in her trembling hand, raised high above a glowing lamp. It was the last resort. A moment of hestitation. He told her to do it: "Be here for-"
"Salutations!" The synthetic voice cut harshly across the quiet hill, ripping both Jaune and Ruby from their moment. Jaune gazes at her, his clenched fists still trembling. Ruby's face contorts into a dangerous scowl, angered by the interruption. Like all her moments of honest expression, it quickly disappears into a bright, friendly facade. She quickly and mercifully turns her back on Jaune to focus on Penny.
"Hey Penny!" Ruby gives her an enthusiastic wave as the orange-haired girl awkwardly stomps towards them, an attempt at skipping if he had to hazard a guess: "Did you and Cinder find anyone in the village?" She stops a few steps in front of them; the movement is just a little too stiff to be natural. He sees Ruby's faux smile tighten just a little at the janky motion.
"Nope. All the previous occupants were found dead. Some showed signs of starvation. Most looked like the rain got them!" Stilted words with just slightly too long of a pause between sentences. Even through the synthetic fuzz, her tone was far too positive for the words coming out, and she had an equally inappropriate beaming expression. Ruby's smile tightens even further, the corners of her eyes scrunching into crow's feet from the exertion. A pained expression seemingly exclusive to her interactions with the thing they all pretended was their departed friend. Penny blinked as an uncomfortable silence fell upon them; her eyes narrowed as a small shimmer of green danced across her face. "Oh. Ahem. My apologizes." In an instant, her face became sullen and sad, far too quickly to be anything truly related to emotion. Her lifeless green eyes moved to stare at the ground, a gesture she had most definitely learned from them. Her tone matched, "Nope. All the previous occupants were found dead. Some showed signs of starvation. Most looked like the rain got them." She tries to punctuate the sentence with an exaggerated frown; the attempt is so bad it borders on comedic. Ruby has to look away from her in that moment, her pained expression nearing its limit. Her pupils were shaking ever so slightly from the will it took not to react in anguish. She calms herself enough to reply, feigning a sympathetic smile.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Penny. I know how much you want to meet new people. I mean, one of them has to be a Maiden, right? Or maybe even Oscar, eh? Even though we have literally checked everywhere!" She splays her arms out wide, spinning slightly to gesture to the grey wasteland surrounding the hill. Her eyes twitch dangerously. "Heck, you know that we've been here before, Penny? This exact place! More than once!" Her tone becomes increasingly frantic as she points down the hill to the barely visible ruins. "I don't even remember how many times we've been to these exact ruins, Penny; that's how many times!"
"Oh. I know how many times we've been here. It has been one tho-" Jaune's hand quickly shoots out to grasp the synthetic girl by the mouth, cutting off her declaration. He speaks much more desperately than he would have liked in that moment.
"Don't say the damn number, how many times do we need to tell you?!" He is almost panting from the exertion of scrambling so quickly to his feet in full plate. The android barely even reacts to the assault, merely nodding as he lets her go. They all stood there in silence, with nothing left to say that hadn't already been said. A sigh unconsciously escapes him as he remembers all the other times this exact scenario had played out. Exact to the words spoken, the expressions, and the attempts at hurt. It was astonishing how much a human mind could remember. Yet in that brief moment of tranquilly, they had forgotten something important.
"Where's Cinder?" Ruby didn't even attempt to hide the contempt in her voice with her inquiry, almost spitting as the name passed by her lips. Jaune scans the edges of the hill, spotting the limping figure slowly climbing up it. He was sure another 'incident' had occurred as he silently led the two red heads towards their... towards the missing fourth person in their group. Cinder was barely moving, her one remaining arm clutching her limp leg as she hobbled towards them. He could see dark red staining down it; whatever laser hit her probably took a full chunk out of her thigh. When her one functioning eye saw them, she froze, lowering her head and wrapping her arm around her waist in an attempt to look as small as possible. Her amber eye spied through her fringe at them, noticeably avoiding looking at Penny at all costs. It must have been bad this time, he idly thought before asking,
"Penny, want to explain what happened?" He didn't know why he bothered asking; he already knew what the answer would be, but at this point, this same event had played out so many times that acknowledging the repetition was far more effort than simply letting it play out.
"Cinder appears injured. I have no knowledge as to how this has occurred. Sorry!" He cursed himself when the final word made him flinch slightly. From the corner of his visor, he saw Ruby's shoulders jostle slightly in noiseless laughter, her face still a perfect mask of fake concern over Cinder's injury. He knew for a fact that Ruby had taught Penny that exact tone to use. He wasn't annoyed at her; he was annoyed at himself for still reacting to it after hearing it countless times. Cinder shot Penny a dangerous glare at her declaration, her good eye glowing with a pale orange haze, before the sight of Ruby's silver eyes glowing in return forced her to back down. A standoff that never started and always had a clear winner. With a hiss, Cinder once again adopted a submissive posture, shuffling awkwardly to stand at Jaune's flank to keep him between herself and Penny. Penny merely blinked and smiled, incapable of recognising the meaning behind the subtle motion. Ruby kept a close eye on Cinder until she disappeared behind Jaune, raising her eyes to meet his behind his face plate. The same playful grin as earlier danced across her face as she stepped in front of the group. He shifted a little less this time, the others presence at least meaning the sick parody she was about to play out wouldn't be so personal.
"Well, guys, it looks like today wasn't our day, huh?" Her grin widened a little more at the rhetorical question. She shielded her eyes with a hand, looking directly upwards at the oppressive blanket of grey clouds above. He almost wanted to snicker at the idea that days or nights could play any sort of role in their lives anymore, but any humour he might have felt was squashed in anticipation of whatever twisted speech she would deliver. Ruby returned her gaze to the group, her amusement replaced with a look of steely determination: "But that doesn't mean we should give up! We just have to keep moving forward." He remembered being made to feel so hopeful by those words, and he remembered the inspiration he felt when the little huntress in red would stare down any and all threats with that look. "Just keep moving forward, forever." He remembered when her speeches didn't make him feel nauseous: "And I do mean forever. Literally, never, ever, ever stop. No rest. No giving up. No laying down and stopping this hell. Definitely no dying." Her ability to sound genuine despite the evident hatred in the subtext always surprised him. He watched her silver eyes slide over him and onto Cinder, specifically her mangled leg. He heard Cinder whimper in pain behind him, the white glow that existed in all four of them no doubt already beginning to repair the leg as good as new: "Never dying... Just forward." There was a shakiness in those final words, a moment of clarity he could see in her eyes, the same realisation she had every time she gave that speech. A moment where he could see the pained little girl that once existed there. Like Penny's sad attempts at genuine humanity. Like Cinder's short-lived flashes of righteous anger. Like his own brief recollections of a better past: "Let's go."
As the small group of four made their way down the hill and back into that grey wasteland, until another flight of curiousity took Penny and them to another burnt-out village, Jaune wondered if those moments they held on to were the problem. That if they simply let go of that last spark within them, if they embraced their new lives and their new roles, they would simply be happier. He knew with certainty that that was the case and knew with certainty that it could never be a solution. The reason they were there, these four in particular, was due to their inability to give up. They didn't luck their way to the end of the world; it wasn't forced on them; they walked there. They would stay there until they found a way past it, found what they were looking forward. By simply moving forward.
Only forward.
Always forward.
First attempt at writing anything. Not sure if I'll continue but any feedback would be appreciated.