RWBY: Roses Can't See
Chapter 2: Your Worst Nightmare…Is Reality
Ruby smelled smoke in the air as she climbed Beacon's tower. Her heart pounded like a drum as she came closer and closer to the top with each jump she took on Weiss's white Glyph's.
"Don't worry Jaune. I'm coming Pyrrah!" She thought as she reached the top. A sense of relief filled her as she landed, her hand reaching for Crescent Rose on her back as she readied for battle. Her eyes soon widened in horror as she saw Cinder deliver an arrow to Pyrrah's chest.
"Pyrrah?" she said so quietly not even herself could hear. That image replayed in her mind over and over. The sound of the shot, the gasps of pain from Pyrrah, the fire that incinerated Pyrrah's body right before the young huntress, it all replayed like a bad record. She clenched her stomach and gagged before she soon screamed in pain, begging for this nightmare to end.
But as she finished screaming, Ruby saw everything turn white as she saw a shadowy image afar.
"Whose there?" she asked. But the silhouette merely shook its black head and turned around.
"Wait! Don't ignore me please! I need help!" she yelled as she ran up to the person, only to feel her cheek burn from a powerful force as she flinched, giving off a painful squeal.
She clutched her aching face as she saw the shadowy person who slapped her soon start to reveal itself. She recoiled as she saw the form revealed to be Jaune, who gave her a disappointed, angry glare.
"Pyrrah needed you, I needed her! You promised me!" he screamed.
Ruby raised her shaky arms up in a feeble defense; fearful he'd hit her again, before dropping them to her sides as she stared at him desolate. She began to feel she deserved it. She was right there on the tower, but couldn't save her, she couldn't save his lover. No wonder he hated her, no wonder he slapped her.
Honestly, she preferred to be beaten right now then to see anymore disappointed looks from him, it was like a fiery blade thrusted into her heart…. Or flaming arrows, which she saw flying into the air before descending upon her. As she saw her reflection, one of a weak emaciated girl crying, in the flames she closed her eyes, covering her face with her hands and shaking frightfully.
"No more! Please no more!" she screamed for mercy, begging internally as well to not see this, not see anything anymore.
*GASP*
Ruby suddenly jolted out of her sleeping bag, cold sweat and tears running down her face. She gave off heavy and raspy breaths as she struggled to collect herself. She slowly looked around, desperate to see her friends to plead for someone to hug her after that horrific nightmare, but felt her spine chill, as all she saw was that same white void. Soon she felt a clothe on her face fall onto her lap, startling her as she finally felt something soft instead of sharp and painful. The cloth was wet from her medicine the eye doctor gave her. She had been hopeful at first the strain in her eyes that caused her blindness would subside with this liquid she was told to apply every night as she slept. But after so many months of no progress, each night started to drain more hope from her as she shuddered, and not just from the cold air on her skin, the touch making her collect herself a bit.
"I'm awake, I'm okay, I'm okay." She said softly to herself, desperate to calm down with that reality. She shivered as she rubbed her arms trying to warm up.
As she recollected herself, she recalled she was sleeping in a camp with her team, team JNPR that was, soon smiling a little as she remembered Nora's warm bear hug before bed. She really wanted it right now, but threw that desire out of her head when hearing the Valkyrie's loud snoring near her. She soon picked up on Ren's soft breathing in between the snoring, honestly surprised he could sleep through that when his girlfriend was right next to him. Ruby soon heard something else in the distance that made her shiver worse than the cold air.
"Jaune!" a familiar voice echoed.
"Pyrrah?" Ruby said softly, careful not to wake Nora and Ren. No, it couldn't be, there was no way she was alive. Ruby still couldn't fight the curiosity rising within her as she slowly slid out of her sleeping bag and grabbed Crescent Rose and put it behind her back and took her walking cane as well.
She made sure to walk slowly along the path her team made her memorize in case she had to use the bathroom as night, but this time to make sure she didn't poke anyone in the eye while she walked.
A few minutes passed after she slowly left the camp, following the distant voice of Pyrrah until each step made it easier to hear her.
"Alright, Jaune, just like we practiced. Follow these instructions, shield up and keep your grip tight." Pyrrah said before the sound of Jaune grunting froze Ruby in place.
Though she couldn't see with her eyes anymore, she saw his image, or rather that sharp judgmental glare of his, before her eyes again as she winced and let off a tiny squeal and covered her face.
Fortunately, Jaune did not hear her as Pyrrah's voice was starting to fizzle as he pressed a button. Ruby then stopped covering her face as she heard him rewind.
"Oh, it's a video of her. That makes sense." She thought to herself, still desperate not to reveal herself. She couldn't explain it, she knew Jaune didn't hate her but deep down she had this nagging worry of otherwise. She still felt that burn on her cheek from the slap in her nightmare and it made her scared of him.
"Don't forget to keep your front foot forward." Video Pyrrah said as Jaune complied.
Jaune then spent the next few minutes performing mock blocks and a range of wide slashes and spins at her instruction to add unpredictability to his style.
"Good Jaune, practice those moves mindfully, but remember to make some new moves of your own. Repetition is good in practice, bad in battle." Pyrrah said with a smile, which soon turned to a frown as the video neared its end.
"Jaune… I just want to say how proud I am of you. How hard you work past your frustrations. Small practice like this may not seem like much, I know, but I have faith it will help you a lot in the future. I never met anyone so determined like you, you've grown up so fast since we started training.
We now see green lights behind Pyrrah of the now destroyed Beacon Tower still standing, the place she would later die. She soon places a hand on her chest.
"Jaune, I want you to know I couldn't have asked for a better partner or leader. You've made me happier than I have been in years and… I am sure I can make you happy too when you start kicking more Grimm butt with this training. Just know this whenever you train, I'll always be here to support you Jaune." Pyrrah said with a sweet supportive tone as the video ends, only to have Jaune quickly drop his weapons and walk up to his scroll.
He soon rewinded the video, but Ruby's ears twitched as it was oddly short.
"I'll always be here to support you Jaune." She said again, followed by the sound of more rewinding.
"Support you Jaune" then again. "Jaune, Jaune, Jaune, Juane." And it kept replaying over and over again as Ruby heard small weeps from her teammate.
Ruby started walking forward a bit, tempted to reveal herself and lend an ear or hug to her crying friend. But Pyrrah's voice crept into her ears despite the video finally stopping as she pondered this thought.
"It's…It's not my place." She thought to herself. That's right, Pyrrah was Jaune's partner, not her. She was his love, not her. She felt she didn't have a right to offer comfort when she didn't truly know what that loss was like. Sure, she lost her mother, her team was split, but she never lost a lover or knew what being in love was like. She didn't really know how to help him or if she even deserved too after she failed to save his lover to begin with.
Ruby hung her head in shame, using all her might to avoid sighing or screaming in frustration as she decided to head back. She wanted to give Jaune his space…. Only to finally alert him to her presence as she stepped on a small rock she missed from the path earlier and stubbed her toe.
"Aaagh my…stinking foot ow!" she bellowed, hopping on one foot and clasping the other while still being careful not to curse. She loved sweets, not that bar of soap dad shoved in her mouth for uttering a curse to sound cool like Yang.
She likewise felt the same chilling presence her dad gave right behind her as she sensed Jaune approach her. But contrary to her fears, he was simply curious to see her rather than offended.
"Ruby, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be walking at night on your own in your…" he said with concern before closing his mouth shut with his hand, he was trying not to pity her for being blind like she sternly told her team repeatedly. He didn't feel like getting ear-raped again. Luckily the comment flew over Ruby's head as she blew on her swollen toe and was too busy trying to calm down from the pain.
After collecting herself, Ruby began blushing as she felt his gaze upon her, despite not seeing it.
"Oh sorry Jaune, just looking for the bathroom…hehehe… I'll be out of your hair in *thump* ow! Not again!" she screamed in pain as this time she walked into a tree, having neglected to pick up her walking cane. Jaune let out a slight chuckle despite trying desperately to force himself not too. It was wrong to take amusement from these accidents she was having, but he couldn't resist, nor could she not hear his snickers as she turned around and gave him a pout, her cheeks swollen red only made it worse for him as she looked so adorable.
"So seriously, why are you out here… wait… did you hear?" Jaune asked nervously.
Ruby for her part, went silent a bit, fidgeting as she tried to find a lie and excuse herself, but drew a mind as blank as her sight and sighed in defeat before nodding.
"Yes, it was an accident… but I did hear those videos I'm sorry." She said sorrowfully as she plopped on her butt, prepared for a scolding from her friend. To her surprise he simply sighed and did the same as her.
"I should be sorry, Pyrrah's videos… I didn't want to play around you or really even Ren and Nora." He said bitterly. His teammates were the next closest to her after him and he wanted to respect their feelings.
"I still remember the night we lost Pyyrah, how Nora cried into Ren's shoulder painfully, and she asked why this had to happen.
He knew of course the real reason.
"Because I was weak." He thought to himself painfully. It was a bitter reality he endured every day at Beacon, every day of his life really.
"I never had anyone in my family support my dream of being a huntsman like she did, they always babied me, sheltered me from the world." He said sadly. Ruby frowned as she heard this confession, a part of her empathized with that. Only her Uncle Qrow ever expressed his confidence in her dream when she was growing up. Like Jaune, she was the baby of the family and her sister and Dad were overprotective of her because she was the spitting image of her lost mother. Little by little, she felt the fear she at first had of this boy flush away as he confided in her these similar feelings before a bit of anger arose in her from what he said next.
"Sometimes I can't help but feel if I embraced that life, she would have gotten a stronger partner like you. I wouldn't have lost her; they wouldn't have lost her-" He said disdainfully before feeling a sudden pain in his cheek from a loud slap striking him and sending him plummeting to the ground.
He rubbed his cheek as he winced in pain and looked up to see Ruby now standing above him, giving off a fierce glare that oozed danger. Seriously, if looks killed he'd have his neck cut off by something other than her scythe right now.
"Jaune. Arc!" She yelled those two words menacingly, instantly making him get on his feet and stand in attention like a military soldier.
She slowly walked up to him, her hand raised no to slap him but to know when to stop just before him as she came face to face with him.
"Don't you dare ever say things like that again! Pyrrah loved you, your team loves you! What, you just want all that to never exist too!?" she yelled bitterly.
Jaune rubbed his head nervously. He saw her point, but he couldn't escape this guilt he was feeling. Sensing his negativity from the quite, Ruby took it as a sign of acceptance and slugged his stomach in anger. Jaune wheezed as he clenched his stomach painfully, not expecting the young maiden to be so physically strong, though considering her wielding a large scythe he shouldn't have been surprised.
"Damn…your…Yang's sister alright." He painfully stuttered. Ruby folded her arms in contempt, making him freeze at her look towards him despite her blindness.
"If you really want to blame someone, it should be Cinder…no just blame me. I'm the loser who couldn't keep her promise after all." She sadly said before turning around, unable to face him anymore as guilt started to overtake her now too.
Jaune rubbed his stomach as he felt residual pain, but it soon worsened as he felt a knot form in it seeing Ruby like this and hearing what she said.
It suddenly clicked in his head what those words meant. She blamed herself for not saving Pyrrah. He shook his head, this was crazy, it wasn't her fault it was his for being weak.
"Ruby she was my responsibility. I was her partner, it wasn't-" he said before she cut him off by whipping around, tears now flowing through her blank eyes.
"And it was my responsibility to keep a promise to you. I failed Jaune, I failed you, your team, her. Just….please hate!" she requested. She was startled as he hugged her instead.
"No! It was out of your control. Like you said Cinder was to blame. You couldn't have been there to stop her so its not your fault!" he cried, not releasing his grip despite her fidgeting.
Ruby soon smiled a bit from this warmth she was feeling. It was something she yearned for months, something Yang denied her out of guilt.
"Then doesn't that apply to you too?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as he broke off the hug, making him gasp. She soon smiled at him as he fidgeted, still trying to come up with excuses of his own as to how it was different before slumping over and sighing in defeat. This girl was just way too shrewd.
"Okay, I get it damn! No wonder you're the leader." He said dejected as she chuckled a little from his overdramatic response.
"Yeah, Uncle Qrow always did that to me when he wanted me to learn a lesson on my own." She said.
"Wish I could have met him, he sounds nice." Jaune said.
"Oh no, he'd kick your butt 50 times and let you throw a tantrum in frustration before saying that." She laughed. Jaune couldn't help but spit a bit as he found this hilarious and laughed.
After a few moments of silence once they calmed down, Ruby folded her hands together before she suddenly felt her cane being pressed against them, shocking her.
"Come on, lets go back and get some sleep, I'm getting tired from all this depressing crap." He said lovingly, making her smile at his thoughtfulness.
"Sure, I am amazed an army of Grimm didn't show up from all that." She said, making jaune form muscle flexing motions as he went to gather his sword and shield.
"The Jaune Arc would have to save the damsel in distress with his fists of furry and rock hard abs!" he yelled.
"Well rocks must be getting spongy since my fist doesn't hurt from hitting them." She chuckled, amused as he formed painful wheezes as he rubbed his stomach from her earlier punch.
As they began to walk back, Ruby did ponder why no Grimm were around these last few nights. Her and Jaune's argument should have at least attracted a Beowulf by now.
"Guess were really lucky huh?" she said as she and Jaune held hands to not get separated as they returned to camp, unaware in a small mountain cliff above was someone watching them.
The man was wearing grey and had red eyes like blood, which almost showed disappointment at not seeing as he plunged his sword into the neck of a now dead Beowulf Grimm. Qrow Branwan was an enemy to Grimm just like his Niece, and he was even more deadly as he could tell when they were nearby better than she could.
"Yeah, lucky kiddo." He said softly, as if afraid any louder and that brat would hear him with that awesome new hearing of hers. It was one of the things he drilled into her when training her senses to overcome her blindness.
Qrow took a flask out of his pocket as he chugged it down. He didn't know what hurt worse, his throat from the cheap alcohol or his heart as he pondered his decisions.
Should he have let her join this mission in her condition, should he have even trained her if he was just going to kill off as many Grimm as he could while they trained and traveled. He shook his head as he knew the reasons why it was right. He could just imagine the ear rape he'd get from her whining about not trusting her even though the more important reason debunked that thought. He couldn't risk their safety by getting too close. His black aura flickered as he thought this, making him groan in disdain of himself as he felt his semblance activating and a Ursa slowly approached him from behind, only to have him reverse grip Harbringer and penetrate its skull, killing it easily.
"You just love to show up at the worst times and piss me off don't you?" he said to himself, the reason for staying behind. As much as it hurt to stay away, he just had to protect Ruby, he just couldn't lose her like he lost Summer, but this life she had chosen was dangerous, even for him the next day could prove the last if not careful. Especially since there were dangers greater than Grimm in the world around her. He looked down at his flash, seeing his reflection in it that almost made him tempted to hurl it away, but couldn't bring himself to separate from the alcohol. Even he had some weaknesses, something that disgusted him more than his semblance.
"Shit, reality sure is a bitch." He grumbled as he put his flask away.