Roses Can't See
Chapter 1: The Flash
"I got you kiddo, I got you!" Qrow yelled as he cradle his nieces limp body in his arms above the tower at Beacon. He placed a hand over her mouth and felt a wave of relief flood him as he felt the tiniest of breaths hit his hand. But he shook his head to focus. He knew he couldn't relax yet, with all the Grimm flying around a giant stone statue of a Dragon Grimm before him. He eyed it curiously, as he saw a faint glow from his Nieces eye's under their lids before they soon vanished.
"What the hell did you did kid?" he said to himself as he ran down the tower, gripping her waist and arms like a vice, careful not to drop her as they descended.
3 days later…
Ruby felt her head ache as she twist and turned in her bed slowly. Tai sat beside her in a chair by her bed. Despite feeling groggy from staying up these last few nights, dark rings even forming on his bagged eyes, he couldn't help but smack himself fully awake as he heard her groans of pain and realized his youngest was waking up.
Ruby slowly opened her eyes, only to feel a sharp sting in them as she saw nothing, no color, just pure white as she stood up slowly, an unknown arm aiding her as she did, and began to breath heavily as she rubbed them.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! My eyes, they burn!" she yelled. Tai formed a panicked look on his face as he got near her, only to be shoved away. Ruby couldn't tell where she was or it was him, she just felt her eyes hurt worse than the rest of her body and kept rubbing them and opening them up, despite the soreness in her arms. Each time she opened them up she felt her heart sink, she still couldn't see anything or anyone.
"Where am I?! Whose there!?" she yelled.
"Ruby! Ruby! It's me daddy!" Tai quickly answered. Ruby took a sigh as she motioned her head towards the direction of that voice, giving a confused look of fear and uncertainty that tugged at her father's heart.
"Dad…where am I? what happened?" she asked. He instantly placed a soft hand on her shoulder, doing his best to comfort her despite his fear for her health right now.
"Your okay Ruby, your uncle brought you and your sister home." He said, trying to sound reassuring.
"Home?" Ruby asked confused. She soon felt her familiar bed sheets, despite not being able to see them and recognized it was her bed in Patch. She really was home. Soon a gasp escaped her lungs as she remembered something.
"Oh my god the school! Yang! Is everyone okay!" she screamed. More than her sight back, she wanted nothing more right now than to hear him say they were fine, back at Beacon resting up. His awkward silence only shattered that hope to bits, making her wince in terror.
"Y-Your sisters fine, Yang's pretty beat up but… she'll make it through this too. I heard your team also made it back home safe. But Beacon… it's not that simple." He said awkwardly.
"What do you mean? What's wrong?" she asked.
"Well, that giant Grimm you faced, it's not dead. Don't get me wrong sweetie, you did a number on it. But, even if you beat it, it's still there and it appears to be attracting more Grimm to the school. For now, Beacon's been closed down." Tai reluctantly admitted. He tried to express his pride in his youngest for her victory to alleviate her, only to frown heavily seeing her begin fidgeting and clenching her teeth painfully in confusion and frustration. She had said she couldn't see anything, and that alone frightened him, but he couldn't imagine the terror she experienced that night. It was something he feared when she went to that school 2 years early, something he feared when she said she wanted to be a huntress like Summer. That night, in this moment, he felt his fears were proven right.
"What do you mean, "I did a number on it"? I don't remember fighting that monster." She asked confused.
Soon the door to her room burst open, startling father and daughter alike as a scraggly black haired man with a morning shadow and red eyed appeared drinking from a flask. It was Ruby's uncle Qrow.
"Well, perhaps I can explain. Tai, could you give us a moment." He asked his brother in law, who gave an offended look, not just at his brother drinking at a time like this, but for such a request when Ruby had just woken up.
"What I can't stay?" he asked offended.
Qrow merely gave him a somber almost pleading look.
"Tai… please." He asked solemnly. Tai sighed in defeat as he slowly got up and kissed his daughters forehead.
"Okay, I'm gonna go call a doctor to check on your eyes sweetie. Call me if you need anything." He warmly said before giving a stink eye to his brother as he left, obviously still displeased at him.
Qrow ignored his look and slowly sat in his chair by his nieces bedside.
"Glad to see you back in the land of the living kiddo." He warmly said. Ruby couldn't help but chuckle a little at his tone. It was relieving to hear his sarcasm again, but she frowned as her confusion returned.
"So how did I beat that beast? And…why can't I see? Why do my eyes hurt so much?" she asked, almost begging for the answers.
Qrow merely sighed as he tried to find the right words.
"First, what do you remember back at Beacon." He asked.
Ruby clasped her hands together, trying hard to remember before she bit her lip in anxiousness. Memories began returning as she felt a cold sweat run down her face.
"That night…" she bitterly said.
3 days ago….
Beacon Falls
Beacon Academy, one of the most luxurious and famed schools for training hunters was under siege by Grimm. Demonic beasts of various races that fed on the negativity of people. As more and more students and faculty laid dead on the ground, some even being eaten by the beasts that slayed them, the survivors screams served to fuel them and attract more to the grounds, worsening the situation as buildings around the school collapsed.
Ruby stood aghast in Beacon's main courtyard. It wasn't the screams of students and Grimm shrieks ripping through the area that horrified her. In fact, she grew deaf as she focused instead on a more fearful sight, her older sister laying still on the ground beside Blake, both were bleeding badly. Blake had a bad gash on her stomach from a sword wound and Yang had a red-bandaged covered stump where her arm used to be.
"Yang…. What happened?" she choked, tears running down her silver eyes as she saw her unconscious sister's condition. It seemed impossible to be in this situation, her sister was one of the strongest people she knew, almost invincible. Yet in the blink of eye, reality had delivered a cold backhand to her as she knelt beside her sister and teammate, cradling her head in her small chest as she heard sobs from Blake.
"I'm so sorry. It's all my fault." Blake softly said, tears forming in her eyes as she averted Ruby's sad gaze and clasped Yang's remaining arms hand softly. She hated herself more than ever seeing her partner suffer at Adam's hand, all because he hated her. No doubt, in her mind, Ruby would hate her for what happened to her big sister. She felt her spine chill when Ruby tenderly put her sisters head back on the ground and quickly approach her. She was fully prepared for a punch or worse, but was shocked by a soft hand being placed on her cheek instead.
"Ssshhhh…it's over now. Your both alive, that's all I could ask for. Thank you." Ruby hushed, her tone broken as she cried. Her stomach twisted as she felt their bodies both cold to the touch, it enhanced her fear for their lives, but feeling her sisters breath and seeing Blake look at her gave her the tiniest of comforts things would be okay.
Blake on the other hand looked at her, eyes widen with shock. What was wrong with this girl? Why wasn't she screaming at her or asking what happened. But Blake saw the frown and tears glued to her leaders eyes and couldn't bring herself to say a thing. She felt even worse shame arise in her from Ruby's mercy and care. She hung her head as she clasped Ruby's hand and entered a crying fit.
Weiss arrived with Sun, the former having her hand cover her mouth in shock as Sun screamed in terror at his friends conditions.
"Oh my god… her arm." Weiss quietly said, her voice making Ruby trembled. She always wanted Weiss to look up to her as a perfect leader, that's why she trained so hard with her team at Beacon. This last year had been so wonderful, now fate had dealt them a cruel hand and she couldn't help but feel like shit as she heard her partners words.
"It's my fault…I should have been there." She bitterly said, surprising Weiss. She felt like a failure, in every sense of the word, as she eyed her sister's handless arm. She had failed to protect her team and that made her sick to her stomach. But Ruby fought the urge to vomit as she turned to face Weiss, who recoiled seeing Ruby's pale face riddled with tears. Rather than condemn her leader, as the latter thought she would, Weiss merely found herself speechless seeing her partner's sadness. It made her want to cry more than ever in empathetic sadness before Ruby's scroll buzzed in her pocket.
With a heavy sigh, Ruby reached into her pocket and grabbed her scroll. Her eyes widened as she saw "Vomit Boy" and Jaune arc's face on the caller ID. A mix of relief for his safety and annoyance she'd likely have to go help him instead of guarding Yang filled her as she quickly pressed "accept" on her scroll and answered, but before she could say anything, she was silenced by screams of panic from Jaune.
"Ruby! Ruby! Please help Pyrrah! She's gone after Cinder on the top of Beacon Tower!" Jaune pleaded.
"What! All alone!?" she yelled, fear fueling her as she eyed Weiss, equally horrified to hear this.
"Please! You got to bring her back!" he screamed.
"I'll do it. Just hang on Jaune!" she replied before hanging up.
"Weiss! Get me up there! Sun watch over my team please!" she yelled to her friends who nodded in compliance as she and Weiss ran to the tower.
After arriving Weiss took out her saber and formed a straight path above with white glyph's.
"Give them hell partner!" Weiss said confidently to Ruby, who smiled in confirmation as she nodded.
"You got it bestie." She yelled, ignoring the eye roll from the heiress as she jumped up the glyph's quickly. She just had to make it in time to help Pyrrah. She had to keep her promise to Jaune and bring her back safe.
But as she jumped the last glyph and made it to the roof, Ruby raised her head to see a frightening image.
Cinder shot an arrow into Pyrrah's chest. The red haired gladiator began choking as she weakly grasped her chest where the arrow struck. Ruby winced as she soon saw her friend's arms grow limp, before tears stung her eyes seeing Cinder clasp her head and incinerate Pyrrah to ashes, leaving nothing but her crown behind as the giant Grimm dragon licked its lips in satisfaction from this miserable scene unfolding.
Ruby closed her eyes tightly as she grabbed her aching stomach, trying to shake herself awake from what must be a terrible nightmare. But she knew it was real, Pyrrah was dead. She had failed to keep her promise to Jaune. She failed her team, she failed beacon, she failed everyone! She thought.
Ruby let out a fearsome scream at the top of her lungs, her eyes shining bright as she released a massive explosion of white light that enveloped the entire school. All the Grimm evaporated into thin air, saving some poor students at their mercy luckily, and enveloped the Dragon, which bellowed in pain.
"What!?" was all Cinder could scream before she too was taken over by the light and vanished, her skin burning to the touch for some reason she couldn't comprehend.
Ruby felt her eyes ache and her head feel light as she grew weary and collapsed on her side, closing her eyes shut slowly as she felt no strength left to stand or do anything. She felt closer to death right now in her entire life, and honestly was begging for it as she tearfully pondered her losses before losing consciousness.
Back in the present
"I'll never forget it, my eyes hurting, my team hurt, and Pyrrah…. *Gasp* is she really!?" she asked fearfully.
"She's gone…" Qrow sighed, his own heart aching from the loss as he saw his niece break down and cry at her own loss.
"I failed! I failed my sister! My friends! How could I have hoped to win that battle if I'm so pathetic!?" she cursed herself. Qrow saw his niece become a sobbing mess, it tugged his heartstrings to see his normally upbeat and naive protégé hit with such a painful reality of loss. She had experienced it once as a toddler when she...when they all lost Summer. He hated seeing her like this and knew he had to perk her up a bit.
"You know your really special Ruby." Qrow softly said, making Ruby jolt, she wasn't use to positivity from her harsh Uncle. He smirked as he saw her reaction, glad his plan worked now he had to reel her in.
"And I don't mean that in "daddy loves his little angel" kind of special. Your special because of your eyes." he said.
"My eyes… but I can't even see whats tha-" she said confused before Qrow cut her off.
"Remember when Ozpin first met you, what did he take not off first?" he asked.
"My silver eyes." Ruby said as she remembered.
"It's a rare trait, because you were born with a rare power the Grimm despise. Legend tells of a race of warriors with silver eyes that could shine and destroy or petrify the Grimm. It's honestly still a mystery, even your mother rarely used it to the fullest like you did last night." Qrow explained.
"Your saying I'm some legendary warrior from a fairy tail?" she asked him.
"A giant dragon is frozen solid on top of Beacon, yeah I'd say you'd be legendary for that." He said with pride in his tone, making his niece smile a little before she formed a frown he didn't miss.
"What's the matter now kiddo?" he asked.
"My eyes…what good are they…what good am I now that I can't see?" Ruby bitterly asked. All her failures and her blindness were all she could think about right now. She felt she didn't deserve any praise.
"*Sigh* look your mom had cases of blurred vision from using it too, but she never did it at the level you did. I don't know much, but some damage may be a side effect of such power." He painfully said. He wasn't the type to instill false hope, especially in family. He was the kind to rip it off quick like a bandage and let the wounds heal faster.
"Are you saying…I could be blind forever?" she fearfully asked, she was more frightened now than back at Beacon. Her skills with a scythe, her love for all this beautiful and cute in this world like Zwei, her dream as a huntress. It all depended at being at her best health and she needed her sight for that. She needed some hope. But it was quickly dashed by her Uncle's response.
"I'm sorry, there is a chance of that kiddo." He bitterly said. Ruby fought the urge to pass out as she cried and reached out towards him, begging silently for his embrace as she couldn't find him, which he quickly complied as he let her cry into his white shirt and rubbed her head tenderly.
After a couple minutes of letting her get it out of her system, Qrow was shocked as she weakly got out of bed.
"Ruby you got to rest, stay in bed!" he ordered, but she slapped his hand away to his shock. She gave a stern look to him, despite her eyes being closed from blindness and pain.
"I want to talk to Yang now!" she ordered. She had enough of focusing on herself, it was too depressing, she had to go see her sister right now and let her know she was alive and, good, well moderate…okay not well at all but still alive at least.
"Ruby… I don't think now is a good time for-" he softly said, urging for patience knowing Yang's condition before she cut him off.
"Just a bit! I need to see…to hug her right now. Either help me there or watch me bang into walls till I find her myself." She ordered. Qrow sighed in defeat as he acknowledged internally her mothers stubbornness in Ruby. He gently grasped her arm as he started walking side by side with her slowly to Yang's room.
As they approached the door, he whispered to her.
"Just, take it easy with her. Yang's awake but not in a good mood." He warned, earning a nod from Ruby in return. With a heavy sigh, he knocked a couple times on Yang's door.
"Yang, you got a visitor." He yelled. He received no reply, but he knew she was awake and not in the mood. But he decided to get this over with and slowly opened the door. The sight of his older niece laying upright in bed with grey pajamas, arm stump covered in bandaged but no longer bleeding, and messy blond hair that hadn't been curled in days. It tugged his heart to see her so depressed and honestly he felt relieved Ruby couldn't see her bad state right now.
Yang's depressed state turned worse before him as he saw her look at Ruby, now her eyes being covered by Qrow's bandana to ease the pressure on her, gingerly approach her.
"Ruby…Your eyes." Yang said fearfully, stopping Ruby in place.
She could imagine Yang was assuming the worse, that an enemy blinded her or lost her eyes all together. Yang groaned as she rubbed her arm stump with her remaining hand.
"DAMNIT! First my f-ing arm and now your eyes!" she screamed in anger. She was soon startled by the sound of Ruby plopping to the floor, having released her Uncle's grip to run to her before she ran towards Yang's voice and wrapped her head in a warm hug.
"Your still here, I'm still here. I just so glad that isn't gone!" Ruby tearfully cried.
Yang merely closed her eyes solemnly as she buried her face in her sister small chest. After they broke up, Qrow got a chair for Ruby to sit on by her sisters bed as she explained the loss of her eyes, though tried to remain hopeful she could regain them with therapy and medicine, though Yang could tell she was lying through her teeth. Yang silenced Ruby by revealing a startling bit of news.
"Weiss got taken back to Atlas, but we don't know were Blake is." She bitterly said. Ruby gasped in response.
"But she's hurt! She got stabbed! We gotta find-" Ruby panicked before being shoved by Yang to Qrow's protest.
"Hey! Your sisters hurt!" he ylled, but Yang ignored his anger and Ruby's painful wince as she clenched her fist in anger.
"I'm hurt! I lost so much and she ditched me, she ditched us! After all we did for each other, I even lost my arm for good for her and she just left me! Just like mom! Just like our school, just like Pyrrah and Penny, she's gone!" she yelled.
Ruby shrunk as she was remembered Penny and Pyrrah's lifeless eyes. They glared at her as she painfully recollected their deaths. As much as she wanted to cry, she wanted to help Yang more and slowly reached her hand out towards her voice, touching her hair at least.
"Yang, I'm still here for you." She softly said with sadness, but Yang swatter her hand away, making the blind child quiver in fear and sadness at her sisters wrath.
"Yeah, stick with me though and you'll leave me too eventually just like everybody else! No, you know what? Just go now, get out of here!" she roared. Ruby gasped, choking on her breath as she cried a bit hearing such a cold request.
"B-But Yang I-" she whimpered before being hollered at again.
"I sad GET OUT!" Yang tearfully roared at Ruby, the latters bandana wet as she was now a sobbing mess.
Qrow held on to her as she grew weak and wobbly and helped Ruby towards the door.
She merely turned to her sister, unaware with her blindness that Yang wasn't even looking at her anymore.
"I love you." was all Ruby could squeak out. But Yang gave no replay, shattering Ruby's heart as she walked back to her bed.
Rose's blossom again
After a few minutes in bed, crying into Qrow's arms, the older huntsman decided to let her go and head for the door.
"Please… don't go." She pleaded.
"Well kid, I got to get some training in. Can't get rusty for the coming storm." He said.
"Storm?" she asked confused. Qrow smirked, he hoped she'd show an interest, it was the one thing he could think of to get her out of her funk.
"What happened at Beacon, my sources say Mistral academy might be next, but something like that may take a few months. Got to train and prep myself for a while if I want to kill Grimm." He said as he grabbed Harbring. The sound of its steel made Ruby's ears twitch. She felt a rush in her as she imagined those Grimm at her school, her hands trembling as she felt an urge to slice them up with that blade.
"Then train me too!" she yelled. Qrow raised an eyebrow in response, despite liking that response.
"Come again?" he asked.
"Train me to fight like this. If anyone can teach me it's you!" she asked.
"Kid, your blind. You seriously think I can teach that?" he said skeptically.
"I was garbage before you trained me. You're the only teacher for me Uncle… pleeeeeeeease!" she said, forcing a puppy dog look despite her eyes remaining clear white from her condition. Qrow chuckled at her adorableness, he wanted nothing more right now than to embarrass her by admitting he wanted to do that from the start. But he knew she needed closure right now after all that's happened, not teasing so decided against it.
"Just rest a few days kiddo. The I'll put you through some hell okay." He asked, receiving a squeal from his niece that stung his ear as he left.
6 months later
A large Gorilla Grimm pounded the ground in anger, only to shatter nothing but tile in a burning village. Rose petals flew around it to its confusion. It glanced around, looking for what it once saw was a human. As it saw nothing but petals after a minute, it's frustration exploded as it roared in annoyance. Little did it know, this tantrum would spell it's doom as a flash of light burt through its eyes as it heard the sound of clanging steel rip through the air like lightning. That was all it heard or even saw as its head fell to the floor, watching in confusion as its severed body collapsed forward and disappeared into a black mist. It's head was soon stepped on by a red boot from a maiden above him, his former prey. She was a girl with red and black hair with a red bandana covering her eyes. This was the new Ruby Rose. It's confusion grew over how a blind girl could be so powerful and precise, only to have it all end as she smirked at it and waved her scythe Gun at its face and fired, exploding its head into black dust.
"Nice work Crater face!" a familiar voice applauded her a she turned around to face it's direction.
"Thanks Vomit Boy!" she said teasingly. Jaune shook his head as he dumped a bit of the water in a bucket he gathered for the fire on her, making her squeal then pout.
"Darn it Jaune, I'm billing you for the dry cleaning!" she yelled annoyed.
"Just come over hear by the fire then, damn its hot!" Nora yelled as she dumped some water on a burning building, followed by Ren.
Ruby chuckled a bit as she wiped the water from her face off and grabbed Jaune's bucket and began helping the village put out the fires.
She had been travelling with what remained of Team JNPR, now her new team RNJR" as they made way to Mistral Academy. Though the journey was long and treacherous, it made her feel better to be part of a team again, to help save people in local towns affected by Grimm and the White Fang. She felt like a true Huntress, like her own mother Summer Rose. She had lost so much, her sight, her mother, her team. Their faces flashed in her mind as she dumped more water on house fires.
"Never again, I won't them take anything else from me again!" she said to herself as she continued. She was going to save Mistral, she had to, or else all she suffered would be in vain, and she refused to let that happen.