Ruby stared at her lap, watching the blood dribble past her lips and soak her breeches. She could barely feel her own throat vibrating— she was screaming, or groaning, making some kind of noise that she couldn't distinguish past the pain. It was everything in that moment; blinding, deafening, screaming, burning, piercing pain. The first nail had given her all that, but had left her aware. The second nail, though…
She hadn't felt it in her flesh, she'd felt it in her soul. It had driven itself into a part of her being, impaling everything that went beyond the skin, the muscle, and the bone— her Aura, her thoughts, her feelings, she felt it all ripped away when that iron spike violated her form. She wasn't sure why she was here, anymore, what they'd put her in this chair for. Or how she got here. Or… anything. She just felt pain.
Somebody lifted her chin, some guy with big clothes and a white mustache. Should she know him? Something told her she should. He pivoted her head around and scowled. "This is getting tiresome, and she's not giving us anything new," he muttered, the words bouncing off her mind. His gaze turned somewhere past Ruby. "Let's get this over with."
There was movement beside her— oh, there was a person there. It was a man with dark hair and a scary smile, with a mallet in his hand. Why was he so happy? Was she supposed to be happy, too? The other one wasn't smiling.
She felt her head fall back down, no longer supported by the fingers pinching her chin. Ruby stared at her lap, watching the blood dribble past her lips and soak her breeches.
There was a noise, then a voice. "What in the hell do you want? Can't you see we're busy?"
Another noise, louder, like that voice but not with words. Just a sound. More movement beside her, fast and with a shout. "Lord Schnee!"
More noises washed over Ruby. Something loud, metal hitting something. More voices. Something really cold filled the room, then disappeared. A clang, a shout. A slam of metal, heavy enough to shake the room. Something hit the floor.
A pair of hands lifted her face, showing her the prettiest lady Ruby had ever seen. She looked like one of the Shepherd's own, an angel sent to finally collect her soul. Her voice was like a song. "Crook and cane, Ruby," oh right, that was her name. "What did they do to you?"
Her throat vibrated, but she didn't feel any words come out of her. For an angel, this lady looked really angry. Were angels supposed to have blood on their faces?
The angel moved her head around, then began looking around at the rest of her. She must've seen something really bad, because the anger on her face got way worse. Maybe it was the nails.
"That bastard," she swore. Ruby didn't know angels could swear. She was learning all kinds of things today. "I'm sorry, Ruby, gods… I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."
Apparently angels could be at fault for things, but Ruby had no clue what that'd be for. It was really hard to keep her eyes open. That wasn't good. She didn't want to stop looking at the angel.
"Stay awake, Ruby, stay awake!" She demanded. "Please, stay with me."
Ruby felt her throat vibrate again. She'd try her best, but that probably wouldn't be enough. Wait, weren't angels supposed to take her away? Why would she want her to stay?
With her gaze held up, she could see movement behind the angel— a door opening, two people standing in the threshold. Ruby couldn't see their faces, or really anything else. They just looked like a pair of cloaks. The angel jumped and turned, dropping Ruby's head. Darn. She didn't want to stop staring at the pretty lady.
Voices again, the first one loud. It pulled a thread in Ruby's brain, but she couldn't tell why. "Get away from her!" Wait, no! Don't make the angel go away!
"Fuck me," another voice, another emotion tugged for some reason. More movement, more hands grabbing her face. The new person had bandages over their face, but pulled them down to reveal another pretty angel-lady. She wasn't as pretty as the first one, though. "Did they fucking nail you?"
The first voice lunged at Ruby's favorite angel and seized her by the collar. "You piece of shit!" She yelled, fist raising high.
Ruby felt a surge inside of her, and her throat began to vibrate again. She strained with everything she had left, but it was barely enough. She only got a few words out. "Don't… hurt… angel."
Every head whipped towards her. The first thing dropped her angel and rushed to Ruby, pulling its bandages away to reveal a face and a mop of blonde hair that felt distinctly familiar. "Ruby! Gods, you're okay!"
"She is not okay," stated the other one, the one with amber eyes. "She's dying, Yang, they… Gods, they nailed her."
"Is that what those are?" She asked, looking at Ruby's shoulders with rage and disgust. Her eyes were a vibrant red. "I thought that was—"
"It is," interrupted the amber-eyed lady, who turned to the first angel with hatred in her eyes. "Apparently Imperial law isn't cruel enough for some humans."
Ruby's angel rose to her feet and responded with anger in kind. "I didn't do this! It was my father!"
"And you just watched," spat one of the others— there was too much movement, too many voices for Ruby to distinguish anything. Everything began to blur and meld. Words, shapes, colors, melting and swirling together.
"No! I fucking stabbed him!"
"Oh yeah? I don't see his body anywhere."
"He… got away. He had help, I couldn't…"
The voices grew distant. Everything, even the pain, began to sink away. Ruby felt nothing, like an empty hole was growing inside of her, pulling everything into its depths. Nothing followed it, no peace, no pain, no joy. Just emptiness.
"Fuck, she's dying," the voice was barely a buzz, even if it sounded like it was a shout. "Yang, make sure nobody gets in! I need to get these out."
"Get them out? They're fucking—"
"Just go!"
There was a pull on her arm, and a lot of pain came with it, but it just flowed into the growing abyss.
"Schnee, get the other one, now!"
"How do—"
"Just fucking yank on it! On the count of three,"
Another pull, more pain, not that she could grasp it. It just fell into the pit like everything else.
"One,"
So distant, that sound.
"Two,"
What was her name again?
"Three!"
Pain came first, a waterfall of it. So much all at once, rushing into that pit like a roaring river, enough to prove that its depths were not infinite.
Air. Shockingly cold, filling her lungs, flooding the pit.
A sound— her own. Her throat tore with a scream, so loud that it nearly filled the abyss.
Colors. The red falling from her face, soaking her black breeches. Pale skin. Amber, cerulean eyes. It all washed together, splashing into the hole, nigh to the top.
Memory, driving like a dagger into her brain. Her forge, burning bright and hot, her anvil ringing as she hammered at her work. Her cleaver wedging into Yang's buckler, running from her home, stowing away in Jaune's ship, stepping into that tourney, meeting Blake, fighting for her life, cowering in an alley, Weiss finding her, talking to her. Each piece fell like drops in a bucket, but it wasn't quite enough.
She just needed one more thing.
A pair of bloody hands held her face, bringing it up. Weiss met her eyes. Her lips moved slowly, her guardian angel giving her the last piece she needed. "Ruby?"
Right, that's what it was. Ruby.
How could she ever forget?
AN: fucking loved writing this chapter, i hit an insane flow and got the whole thing done in one sitting. and yeah, i guess scary abyssal pits in people's souls is now a motif of mine lol. poor ruby, amirite? shes really been through it. wonder why shes so affected by iron tho? im sure ive been extremely subtle as to why that would be /s
anyway, probably wrapping up within the next chapter or two. maybe three, maybe four with an epilogue. who knows, not like i outline this one
thanks for reading! and hey, we made 10k hits on ao3 (something's bugged with my FF traffic)! wild. i really didn't think people would like this one that much, especially with how short each chapter is, but it's a very pleasant surprise :) i really appreciate all of yall. again, thanks for the love :)))