Chapter VIII: Ad Memoriam
Scattered across the black vastness of the night sky, the stars shone brightly in the darkness — eternal, uncaring witnesses of mortal happiness and misery. Beneath, as if being a mirror reflecting the starry firmament overhead, the courtyard in front of the Beacon Tower was littered with a myriad little lights flickering on the chilly autumn breeze, their warm glow illuminating dozens of faces painted with sorrow and shining in hundreds of teary eyes. People of all nations, occupations and ages gathered in that place, each one of them holding a lit paper lantern in their hands, wishing to pay a tribute to those who had suffered that fateful evening two years prior and in the unseen conflict that had followed. A gray-haired man stood on one of the shores of that living lake of light, in the center of everyone's attention, delivering a speech for all to hear.
Nothing but the soft murmur of occasional sobs and the quiet wailing of the wind disrupted the profuse silence hanging among the crowd as the old headmaster's voice washed over the people. He spoke beautifully of great loss and suffering, of loved ones taken away too soon and the duty of those who had stayed: to honor the memory of the departed by living on, to learn from past mistakes, and, above everything else, to never forget, as ultimately there was only one thing they could offer to all the poor souls that had died: remembrance.
He turned to his right, towards the massive stone tablet covered with names of the people that had been killed during the Fall of Beacon, his saddened, tired eyes tracing the golden letters and the shattered logo of Vytal Festival meticulously carved in white marble. After a short while had passed, he bowed his head in respect and let go of the lantern he'd been holding, releasing it into the sky above. Soon, the crowd followed Ozpin's example and dozens of little lights slowly floated towards the stars, swaying slightly in the gentle wind that carried them away.
Tears trailed down Ruby's face as she watched those soaring lanterns. To her, the sight felt oddly reminiscent of souls leaving that sad world — bright, unburdened, and free of their pain, their bright glow no longer warming those who stayed behind; still, said glow did not disappear completely, present in memory and twinkling high in the sky.
When her glossy eyes wandered over to the marble memorial and found two names that were dear to her, the remains of her composure crumbled into dust, destroyed by the finality of the situation, the proof of her loss carved in cold stone. And so, heartbroken, she burst into undignified sobs, then turned around towards Jaune and hid her face in his hoodie, seeking comfort in an embrace. Jaune accepted her without a word, returning the hug that he believed he needed just as much as she did.
Seeing the two of them, Weiss frowned, feeling an unpleasant, confusing emotion swell in her chest, temporarily silencing her sadness. She logically understood why Ruby had approached Jaune — even if he hadn't been the person that stood closest to her, he was the one who best understood her sorrow, and it was likely that Ruby's hug was meant for both of their sakes — but Weiss was still tempted to just shove Jaune aside and then take his place. She simply wanted to be the one Ruby relied on, to console her and wipe the tears away from her face; at that very moment, however, she felt as if she was being denied both her right and her job.
Well aware of the fact that she was being irrational, Weiss turned away and looked to Blake and Yang, only to regret it almost immediately, as seeing the two of them also locked in an embrace only made her feel even more left out and physically cold. With a heavy heart and a clenched throat, Weiss averted her eyes and directed her gaze towards the dark sky, hoping to escape the all too familiar feeling of loneliness that came bearing down on her.
Heavens over the city of Vale were littered with countless glowing dots, twinkling like stars but far less distant and uncaring. Thousands upon thousands of little lights, each and every single one of them being a memory of loves lost, a wordless prayer, or a farewell that came too late to be said in person. Despite all their differences, the people of Vale mourned together that night, and the signs of their shared grief that dotted the sky were a sight haunting in its sad beauty.
After some time had passed, a gentle hand touched Weiss' shoulder, bringing her back from her contemplation. When Weiss turned around, she met a pair of bloodshot silver eyes that were looking right back at her, glistening in the darkness. Before she could say anything, to lie and assure Ruby that she was okay, she'd been pulled in a firm, caring embrace. She smiled weakly, unwanted tears beginning to flow down her cheeks for a reason unknown, and found herself melting in Ruby's arms. Still, something felt amiss, and the thought confused her deeply.
'I got what I wanted... why then does it hurt so damn much?'
As the sky lanterns flew higher and higher towards the starry firmament, the crowd in front of the Beacon Tower began to slowly dissipate; Ruby, Jaune and all of their teammates were among those who had stayed in the courtyard for a while longer, standing before the memorial of white and gold. When Ruby finally pried her eyes away from the letters carved in stone and looked around, she noticed that someone was heading their way; visibly shocked, with a face of someone who had just seen a ghost, Ruby felt her chest tighten at the sight of the painfully familiar green irises and red hair.
Though the woman she stared at was most definitely not Pyrrha — the shoulder-length mane was a bit darker, the frame less athletic, the face rounder and more mature — the resemblance to her fallen friend left Ruby speechless. She had never met that person, of that she was sure; she did, however, have a pretty good idea who that woman was.
Meeting with Pyrrha's mother, although quite brief, was one of the most harrowing experiences in Ruby's life; the fact that miss Nikos' eyes and kind smile were the same as her daughter's only made it all the more heartbreaking. In the past, Ruby had feared that the woman would resent her for failing to save Pyrrha, but she was proven wrong beyond any doubt the moment miss Nikos pulled her into a warm embrace.
Ruby was in a daze, unable to fully process what was happening; looking back at it later on, she would realize that she didn't even catch the woman's name. In fact, she would barely remember anything of what she and her friends talked about with Pyrrha's mother; the whole encounter was a blur, and most of the things that remained in her memory were the tone of the woman's voice, the look in her eyes and on her face, or her sad smiles.
Still, there was one sentence that stayed with Ruby: "I'm sure you all did what you could... and after Beacon fell, you certainly have done much more than my little girl could ever have asked for."
Before long, the woman bode them farewell, not wanting to take too much of their time; in the end, she seemed happy to have had an opportunity to get to know the friends Pyrrha had told her so much about. After she had left, the group headed towards the marquee housing a small banquet for the guests, where they met — among many other more or less familiar faces — their friends from teams SSSN and CFVY, who were apparently awaiting their arrival.
While the rest of the group was taking their seats, Yang and Blake aided Velvet with pouring everyone a bit of alcohol that someone — probably Coco — had brought. Once they were done and everyone was seated at the table, Ren stood up and raised his plastic cup.
"To those who are no longer with us."
The sound of that toast echoed among the group. Ruby was among the few who remained silent, even though she did open her mouth — she just couldn't bring herself to speak, as if afraid that she'd only actualize into being what already felt all too real. Instead, she wordlessly lifted her cup before bringing it to her lips and taking a sip, the burning of alcohol doing nothing to numb her heartache.
Soon, the sounds of casual chatter sparked to life all around the group's table, with their somber gathering devolving into a catching up session of sorts between their four teams. Although the air about them remained somewhat subdued, their spirits lifted some once they moved on to more pleasant subjects.
"So... seeing that everything is over now, what do you guys plan to do? Take it easy for the next few months, then return to the school?" Velvet asked at one point, directing her question at team RWBY.
Ruby looked at her, mustering a weak smile. "Yup. What about you? Back to Beacon for your final year?"
Velvet awkwardly scratched her cheek, her cute rabbit ears drooping a bit. "We, uh... yeah. It won't be our final year, though, because we didn't get to take the exams before the situation in Shade went to hell."
"And, seeing that I'm a tiny bit out of shape," Coco chimed in from her seat on a wheelchair, "our team probably wouldn't be able to pass the exams even if Ozpin allowed us to take them. No need to ruin our spotless record, so we're just gonna chill for the next few months. Yatsu is going to see his family, and Fox will be tagging along. Velvet wants to stay in Vale, at least for now. As for myself... well, it's not like I was planning to go on a hike anytime soon, anyway." While Coco turned her situation into a jest, there was some underlying bitterness hiding beneath her self-deprecating humor.
Having noticed this, Ruby gave Coco a concerned look. "How are you feeling, Coco?"
"Quite useless. Velv helps a lot, though. She's a sweetheart." The humorless smirk that'd been plastered on Coco's lips turned into a genuine, grateful smile when she glanced at Velvet. Velvet, in turn, bashfully averted her eyes after hearing that compliment, unwittingly putting a lock of her long hair behind one of her human ears. "Still, no matter how salty I might be, I am getting better. It might not seem like much, but believe me when I say that this," Coco rolled her wheelchair further away from the table, then, with some difficulty, lifted one of her legs a bit for everyone to see, "is a big improvement over not being able to move my legs at all. That, and the fact that I no longer have to wear those ugly hospital robes. Gotta find the silver lining."
Yang chuckled at that, but her expression quickly shifted into a more serious one. "Have you started your physio already?"
"Yeah. My therapist says I should be able to walk on my own relatively soon, and I sure hope she's right. I hate seeing my high heels getting dusty." Apparently no longer interested in discussing her own predicament, Coco turned her eyes to look at Neptune, corner of her mouth twitching a bit. "Anyways, what about you, Sleeping Beauty? Still getting used to your shiny robo-lung?"
Neptune glared at Coco after hearing the nickname, but it had no adverse effect on the smug grin present on the her face. Seeing that he was only making the matter worse, he gave up. "Not my fault the doctors decided it was better to keep me comatose until I got better," he muttered with resignation.
"Guess they had to shut you up somehow," Sun deadpanned.
Neptune punched him in the arm, but snickered along nonetheless. "In any case, yeah. It's not, I dunno, uncomfortable or anything, just... kinda weird. Doctors asked me not to leave Vale for the next two-three months so they can check up on me, so I guess I'll have to stay at my aunt's place. Here's hoping she won't mind two strays."
Blake raised a single eyebrow. "Two?"
"Scarlett and Sage are going home for the time being," Sun spoke "but someone's gotta keep an eye on the blue boy over here, so I kinda offered to stay. Besides, as his team leader, it's kind of my responsibility to whip his ass back into shape, no?"
"And what do you plan to do after the break? Go back to Haven?" Jaune questioned.
All four members of team SSSN glanced at each other. "Actually, we're not sure," Scarlett replied eventually.
Yang knitted her eyebrows. "You mean?"
Sun was the one to answer. "Well, nothing is really decided yet, but we are considering transferring to Beacon. It would be easier to hang out with our friends that way, y'see," he said, grinning. After a somewhat enthusiastic response of the rest of the group, he turned towards Jaune, Ren and Nora. "What about the three of you?"
"Jaune's mom invited us to stay at their house," Nora said in her typical, cheerful manner, her arm thrown around Ren's shoulder. "His sisters are fun to be around, and it's not like we have anywhere else to go, so we agreed."
Jaune nodded. "Yeah. As for the school, we'll return to Beacon once the break is over..." He paused for a moment, grimacing. "But there's still the issue of, well, us being one person short from the full team." His words were met with uneasy silence, their implication slowly sinking in.
"Do they want to assign you a new teammate?" Velvet asked timidly after a few moments, voicing what everyone else had thought.
"Yes, although we won't be forced to accept anyone should we not want to." Ren sighed. "Apparently Ozpin plans to assemble a list of potential candidates to show us later on."
No one asked them what they thought about the prospect of having a new teammate, seeing no reason to; even if the answer hadn't been written all over the trio's faces, everyone more or less knew how Jaune, Nora and Ren felt — although there were logical merits, it did not change the fact that it was if they'd been asked to replace something that replaced could be not.
As time passed, people started swapping their seats, walking to and fro between various groups of familiar faces. Not really in the mood for socializing, Weiss was among the few who did not leave their original spot at the table, even after Ruby and Yang had tried to convince her to tag along as they'd gone to say hello to team FNKY. Blake remained nearby, talking with Coco and Velvet; although Weiss could easily join their conversation, she opted not to, and the girls — after a couple of unsuccessful attempt to get her involved — had let her brood in peace, at least for the time being.
Weiss didn't fully grasp the matter of 'why', but for some reason she'd been feeling oddly hollow and insufficient for the past while, as if she had failed to win the first place when it actually mattered. Caught up in that negativity, she paid virtually no mind to anything that surrounded her; only after someone tapped her on the shoulder did she snap out of her reverie.
She turned around and scowled, immediately recognizing the person that was pestering her. "Yes, Jaune?"
Jaune smiled awkwardly in response to that chilly greeting. "Hey, Weiss... Would you mind going for a walk? There's something I want to talk with you about."
Weiss briefly entertained the thought of brushing Jaune off in some rude, snappy manner; in the end, she did no such thing, knowing full-well that her hostility was entirely undeserved. She cast a furtive glance at Ruby before returning her attention to Jaune. "I suppose not..." she said with a small sigh. Hoping that a stroll would perhaps clear her head, she stood up and gestured for Jaune to take the lead. "After you."
Ren, who'd been sitting nearby, shot Jaune a look of understanding and placed a hand on the tabletop, silently asking whether he should follow; having received a small shake of the head in response, he settled down and simply watched Jaune and Weiss go outside and walk away.
His wasn't the only pair of eyes that had noticed that departure.
Drawn out by Weiss' absence, Ruby stood alone on the green meadow just outside the tent, a few paces away from the celebration. She'd excused herself under the pretense of stretching her legs, but all she really did was just watch silently how the two silhouettes slowly shrunk and faded into the night, eventually disappearing out of sight behind a well-kept hedge.
A little while later, soft squeaking reached Ruby's ears, along with the sound of wheels sliding across the grassy ground. Her silver eyes continued to stare off into the distance, but she didn't need to look to sense a familiar presence.
"Think she's doing okay?" Coco asked, following Ruby's gaze with her own. Weiss had been long gone by then, but neither of them needed to clarify a thing.
"No," Ruby said softly, a small crease upon her brow, "but I don't think any of us really is."
"That's surprisingly dark, coming from you."
A short, silent huff of mirthless laughter made its way past Ruby's lips. "Yeah, well. I guess I'm not the same Ruby Rose that attended Beacon."
Coco just looked at her for a second or two; her brown eyes, hidden from the world, watched Ruby with an admixture of respect, concern and pity. "Ain't it the truth," she said in a small voice.
They spent the next while under the blanket of comfortable silence. Then, a sudden laugh escaped Coco's throat, earning her a puzzled — if amused — look from Ruby.
"What's up?"
"Just remembered that one time you asked me for advice on how to be a good team leader, back at the inauguration party. It was cute." Coco grinned to herself, looking back at the fond memory. "And now look at you, giving me a run for my money."
Ruby smiled, touched by the sentiment, but before long said smile took on a certain teasing edge. "My my, is that insecurity I'm hearing? Never thought I'd live to see the day."
Coco scoffed and rolled her eyes with theatrical mastery. "Oh please, you know me better than that. Can't I just share some words of appreciation, from one hotshot team leader to another?"
"Fair 'nuff."
Their conversation fell into another lull of comfortable silence between friends as they enjoyed the night breeze. For about a minute, neither said a word — not until Coco started fidgeting in her wheelchair just before hesitantly speaking up.
"Hey kid, listen," she started in an uncharacteristically gentle voice. As Ruby turned to look at her, Coco opened her mouth to continue, only to close it shut and then repeat the process a couple of times; eventually, she let out an exasperated sigh, as if deciding to just get it over with. "I know that you people have been through some serious shit, and that, like, good 80% of it is classified, but we CVFY have been places. I might not have all the pieces of the puzzle that you do, but I think I have a clue what's out there. Behind the smoke and mirrors."
Ruby was about to avert her eyes, but then a warm hand touched her forearm and she looked at it in mild surprise.
Coco let out a small, self-conscious chuckle and carried on. "Look, I know that I suck at pep talk, and that you probably can't — nor even want to — talk about it. I just want you to remember that you're not alone in this. And that I'm a call away if you ever want to vent."
Ruby looked at Coco, over the rim of the trademark sunglasses and into her sincere eyes. Her vision growing slightly foggy, Ruby bit down on the smile that threatened to break out on her face. With her throat too clenched to speak, she let her hugs do the talking.
Weiss and Jaune walked for a ways before the latter finally spoke up, sensing that the silence between them was starting to feel awkward. "So, uh... how are your wounds?"
Although Weiss, in her current, aggravated state, would have preferred it if he simply got straight to the point instead of attempting small talk, she figured there was no harm in humoring him. "Surprisingly well, all things considered; I even had my stitches removed two days ago." She looked down and brought her left hand to her stomach, her fingers running along the wound that was hidden under a few layers of clothing. "Most of the time I can just ignore the pain without much of an issue, at least as long as I'm careful not to stretch too much."
"That's good to hear." Jaune fell silent for a while, wondering how to proceed. "Uh, about your team's last visit to the headmaster's office... was it about what I think it was?"
"Joining?" Weiss suggested, getting a nod in response. "Yes."
Jaune let out a short, somewhat bitter laugh. "Oz really can't give you guys a break, huh?" Not expecting an answer, he turned his eyes away from Weiss and let his gaze fall onto the pavement, as if staring at something only he could see. "He wanted us to show up at that meeting, too, but we told him we needed some time."
Weiss chuckled softly. "True, it might've been better if he waited for a more appropriate time, instead of asking us when our wounds are still fresh — both figuratively and literally." She applied some pressure to her abdomen with the palm of her hand, wincing a bit when her nerves gave her the exact response she expected. "But then again, is there ever an appropriate time to ask someone whether they'd be willing to dedicate their life to protection of humanity from something that can't even be defeated?"
Not waiting for a response, Weiss continued. "It's not like we were given no time to make up our minds, either. After all, we've been working with them for well over a year. We were members in all but the name — all we had to do was to say whether we were willing to continue. A mere formality, I suppose, but a formality that probably should not wait too long nonetheless; now both sides know where we stand, at least."
"And what did you answer?"
"We all agreed, though not before Ruby called him out on his bullshit." A soft smile was present on Weiss' lips when she mentioned Ruby, but it did not stay there for long. "If there is one thing I'm certain of, it is that I don't want anyone else to go through the same hell we just did. If there is a way not to let the things go as far as they did the last time, then the least I can do is try. As for Ruby, Blake and Yang... I think they feel the same way."
Weiss watched Jaune for a while, waiting for him to speak. When he did not, she assumed that they had already discussed everything that was there to discuss and began walking away, slowly retreating in the same direction they came from. "Well, if that's all you wished to discuss, then I'll excuse myself."
As it soon turned out, she'd been mistaken, and Jaune spoke up the very moment she started backing away. "It's not. Not entirely, at least. I wanted to talk with you about Ruby."
That certainly gained him Weiss' attention, making her freeze in place almost instantly. "Yes?" she asked, her voice icy cold, giving Jaune a pointy glare.
"It's just... I'm glad that you are going to spend the break with her. She needs you, Weiss."
Whatever traces of hostility Jaune had seen in Weiss' eyes disappeared almost instantly, leaving only sadness. She seemed smaller, somehow, smiling wryly as she walked closer to Jaune and rested her elbows atop a small balustrade.
"For once I believe that you are actually overestimating me; if anything, it's the other way around — I'm the one who needs her."
She truly meant what she said, and Ruby's support and positive impact the Dolt had on her life were not the only things she had in mind. She felt physically better when Ruby was around — more awake, more alive; even her wounds seemed to hurt less, something she'd observed in the past few days.
She continued. "Sure, I might be her partner and friend, but even if I was not around, she still has Yang and Blake — or you and your team — to take care of her. You're all just as important to her as I am... if not more." Uttering that aloud was simply painful, though Weiss was not quite sure why; after all, despite all of her pride, most of the time being somebody's equal didn't bother her that much. She knew that Ruby cared for her, and she took great comfort in that knowledge; still, the thought that there were others who were just as close to Ruby caused her an unreasonable amount of grief.
"She'd be alright," she muttered quietly, hanging her head, her voice barely a whisper on the night wind.
Jaune leaned his back against the balustrade, chuckling under his breath as he looked at Weiss. "It's kinda funny, you know? That someone as smart as you still doesn't realize just how important you are to her."
"What makes you think so?" Weiss questioned; despite the skeptically raised eyebrow and doubt in the tone she used, something stirred deep down inside of her after hearing those words, making her pulse quicken. "I get that she was worried about me when I almost got myself killed, but what of it? She's the best partner I could've ever asked for, even if it took me a while to recognize that fact — of course she would be worried. But that's Ruby for you — she'd be just as worried if you were wounded in my place."
Jaune snorted at that, not taking Weiss' 'even if' personally. "Worried? Hah." He shook his head incredulously. "She was worried when Yang lost her arm, or when we had no idea whether Qrow would pull through after Tyrian had poisoned him. When Penny and Pyrrha died... she was devastated. She saw with her own eyes how Cinder killed Pyrrha, and it still was not enough to make her want to tear that bitch to shreds. But when you got wounded and her initial shock had passed? She was out for blood," he said, putting a very strong emphasis on the last three words. He stared Weiss in the eye, making sure that the information sunk in, then raised his finger and pointed it at Weiss. "And look, while I appreciate the vote of confidence, I doubt she'd wipe the floor with a bloody Goliath if I were the one who almost got killed, not you."
Weiss blinked a few times, slightly taken aback by that final remark. "...a figure of speech, I assume?"
Jaune snickered at the sight of the look on her. "Actually, no; she rammed the poor bastard scythe-first, full Semblance speed. I swear, it didn't just topple over — she got it off the ground for a sec. Shredded its side on the rocks like on a cheese grater. That girl is scary when she's pissed off." Slowly, his grin dissipated, expression darkening as his gaze fell to the ground. "That wasn't the really scary part, though."
He stayed silent for a few seconds, thinking how to properly explain what was on his mind; in the meanwhile, Weiss waited patiently, not rushing him despite the fact that his last remark left her a bit concerned.
"Ruby is the strongest person I know. No matter how far south the things had gone, she always had the strength to keep moving forwards. Every now and then. you could see through the cracks just how hard it was for her, but that was it, really." He glanced at Weiss, who simply bobbed her head. She was not sure where he was going with that roundabout explanation, but opted not to comment on it just yet.
"There was that one situation after her uncle got wounded by Tyrian. We were searching for help, but it was not going all too well... Truth be told, we had no idea what to do, and Qrow was getting worse. When we took a moment to rest and look around, she started apologizing to me, saying that she shouldn't have dragged us along. I appreciated the sentiment... but she was factually wrong."
He paused briefly, taking a deep breath before proceeding further. "Like us, she had lost Pyrrha. She had also lost Penny. She had lost her team and, in a sense, even her sister. Still, despite all of that, she basically willed herself not to lose hope. To believe that she could make a difference in a world gone mad. She didn't drag us along; she gave us the strength to follow. Even in the moments of weakness, when things looked especially grim, she was always able to quickly pull herself together for our sake, even though it had to fucking hurt."
Weiss' whole body tensed anxiously when Jaune turned his face towards her, as if seeing the look in his eyes, she finally realized just how serious he had been when he said he was worried.
"But, when I saw her return to our ship, cradling you in her arms... I thought she had finally snapped."
Author's Note:
Ha! I bet you didn't expect to see me again so soon, were ya?!
Well, to be perfectly honest, me neither. A pleasant surprise for both parties, I hope. Either way, it seems that listening to "Cold" from RWBY's soundtrack while I was writing the first half of this chapter was not the worst idea I've ever had.
Had fun writing this one, I'll tell you that much. A pleasant change of pace after the two last chapters. I sure hope that you enjoyed reading this update as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I'm not sure whether or not I managed to deliver the feels, so I definitely would be happy to know what you think about this chapter. Please, consider dropping a review should you have some time to spare, and, even if you don't, thanks for reading!
ComonDayCritic: As I mentioned in my PM to you, I also had some mixed feeling about that aspect. I tried to address this issue in this chapter; now all that's left for me to do is to hope that I did not screw up.
Also, a big thank you to all those who wrote a review after the previous chapter!
Oh, right, I almost forgot: I have set up a Discord server. Should anyone be interested, here's the important part of the invite link: (slash) NyfaacQ
Not much to see there right now, but I'll be working on it. Feel free to drop in, whether you want to check on the progress on the next chapter, chat with me about the story, or to simply talk my ear off! c: