Hey folks!

It's been a while since I've written fanfic, but I want to get into the swing of things again - and though it's smarter to work on the stories I already have, this idea has been pushing so hard against my mind that I really need to get it out here. Hope you all enjoy!
This story is also on Ao3 under the name 'I'll be who you are (and I'll be even more)' - both it and 'Memory Everlasting' are quotes from Guide My Way.

Memory Everlasting

Chapter 1

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In the end, they didn't really stand a chance.

Sure, they were the best huntresses of their generation. Sure, they'd studied under the Ace Ops. Sure, they had the Winter Maiden on their side. But in the end, Cinder was just… better.

The first sign it was all going to hell was when Cinder revealed herself on the central platform. There was a plume of flame, dozens of innocent civilians charred dead instantly as they fell into the void. She'd looked over at them all with a disgusting smirk, calling up painful memories from the top of Beacon Tower all those years ago. Ruby's eyes had flickered silver, ready to go.

Busy focused on that, she never noticed the lunge from in front. Yang had tried to take the hit herself, but Neopolitan was too quick – all Yang managed was to deflect the blade and give Ruby time to put her aura up. Exhausted and overworked from too long without sleep, it shattered instantly, leaving a gash in her side.

The rest of the fight was a busy blur. She'd managed to bring Crescent Rose up, block some hits. Yang's aura finally went, her body growing bleeding welts with every strike. Blake and Weiss were separated from them, left facing Cinder down with Penny. Jaune was sent through to Vacuo for reinforcements – they hadn't realised why Nora hadn't come back.

When she saw Neopolitan's blade skewer Yang, she'd thought it was a trick. Blake's scream from the central platform told her otherwise.

Horrified, she'd tried to regroup with the other two. Weiss was suddenly down, ran through by a glass spear, pinned to the gold platform in that single moment of distraction. Blake was hysterical, yelling incoherently as she emptied whole magazines into the pillar of fire Cinder had summoned. Ruby had tried to use her eyes on Cinder, but nothing happened.

Neo had plunged her sword through the back of Blake's throat. Now it was Ruby's turn to scream. Cinder had managed to catch Penny out. A claw to the stomach and it was all over.

And then there was one.

Cinder smiled down at her cruelly, her heat flaring with the power of two maidens. The golden pathways were littered with the bodies of the fallen. Ruby tried not to look at them, eyes pricking with tears and throat torn hoarse. Neopolitan stalked closer at Cinder's side, grinning like a cat, blade dripping with blood.

Ruby sniffed, readying Crescent Rose.

'Still trying to fight?' Cinder cackled. 'You can't think you'll win.'

'Fuck you.' The words came unbidden to her lips. She'd never been the type to swear. That was more Yang's– had been more Yang's thing. This seemed like the appropriate time, though.

'Aww, what happened to all your confidence earlier? Don't tell me I finally broke you.'

Ruby snarled.

Neo giggled silently and readied her weapon.

'Now wait a moment.' Cinder lowered herself to the platform. 'There's something I wanted first.'

Neo scowled but fished the Lamp from her belt. She held it out for Cinder to take.

'Thank you.' Cinder took it. Before Neo could pull back, she reached out and grabbed Neo's arm, eyes sparkling with fury. 'And this is for crossing me.'

Ruby watched with shock as Cinder incinerated Neo in a single bright flash. The bowler hat, blackened, fell slowly to the floor. 'W-what? But you- you're on the same side!'

'She betrayed me – that's the price, girl. Thanks for helping whittle her aura down, by the way – made that a lot easier.'

Ruby set her teeth. 'You're a monster.'

Cinder laughed. 'No. I just refuse to starve.'

The fight was on. Cinder rose to the air again, filling it with a wake of fire. The heat pulsed in heavy waves, and Ruby's hands felt clammy as she looked up at her opponent.

She lunged, scythe flashing in the light. Cinder swung down with a blade of hot glass. Their weapons clashed explosively and Ruby winced as molten slag peppered her face. She fell back, taking a position and firing Crescent Rose at Cinder's flying form. Ruby's aim held true, punching dents in Cinder's aura with every successful hit.

The two of them danced across the platforms, leaving chips in each other's weapons with every parry. Ruby yelled out, fury fuelling her where hope had abandoned her. If she wasn't winning this, she'd at least make Cinder hurt. A good swing carved through Cinder's aura, gouging a new scar canyon into her face as the witch screamed.

'Enough!' Cinder pulsed her maiden powers, a fireball forming between her fingers. With a shout, a beam of energy ripped into Ruby, Crescent Rose falling apart against the force. Everything went white.

As the world faded back into view, all Ruby knew was that everything hurt. She was still standing, but barely. Cresent Rose lay as a pile of scrap on the floor. Her skin was intensely charred, with red, leathery flesh peeking through the cracks. She didn't think her hair had survived, but couldn't will her arms up to check. Cinder laughed at the sight of her.

'This was destiny. Ready to die?'

Ruby said nothing. So many dead. So many. Neck scorched and tired, she lowered her head – saw the corpses. Her team. Her friends. Her family.

Like a flare, the world lit up white again – except this time, it was Cinder who cried out, writhing in response to the glow of Ruby's eyes. Part of Ruby's heart shuddered with twisted satisfaction, to see Cinder scream when she'd taken Cinder's hit without a sound.

Cinder finally cut her off with an arrow through the chest.

Ruby looked down slowly. It protruded, just below her sternum. She felt her left eye melt in its socket, burst from the heat. She swayed.

Cinder snarled. 'Goodbye, Ruby Rose.' And with that, she sent a gust of wind forth. Ruby fell backwards into oblivion.

The black expanse ate away at her flesh as she fell, the platforms disappearing from view. She closed her surviving eye and thought of all she'd lost.

Yang, who almost gave her life taking Neo's first hit and then died all the same, her sister who'd stood at her side since she could remember. The woman who lost an arm and, after some recovery, came back swinging, who'd followed her despite everything to Atlas. She'd only faltered at the end, when the lies had come undone and Ironwood lost his mind. Had Yang made the right choice by following her? In the end, it got her killed. Ruby remembered how they'd split up, in Mantle – maybe she'd had the right idea.

Blake. How she'd always stood by Ruby when she needed, the girl who'd she'd taught to trust at Beacon. She'd made a mistake – Blake shouldn't have trusted her, trusted a child to keep her alive, and now she had paid for Ruby's mistake. Tears floated up past her into the black as she wished she could apologise, do it right – honour that trust, to do what Blake had needed.

Weiss had promised to be the best teammate she could, and she'd done it and more. How someone so icy and prickly had become the most reliable member of the team, Ruby wasn't sure – Weiss had named her as the reason, but Ruby couldn't have managed that on her own. She had put her faith in Ruby Rose, who found herself thoroughly undeserving of it. Weiss had been the best teammate, best friend even, but Ruby hadn't managed the same in kind. Not now that her body rested forever in this impossible space.

Poor Penny. Ruby had been her first friend – and what a friend she'd managed to be, leading her to her death twice. How could she have failed that smile? How could she have done something so terrible? To hold humanity out to her, then snatch it away so horribly – Ruby was sure she must be the worst friend in the world.

Ruby didn't want to die. But what else could she do? Hurtling into the hungry void, no bottom in sight, bleeding from every pore, death was inevitable. She'd tried, she'd failed, and now she was going to die – like mother, like daughter. What would Summer think of her now? Were they as doomed as each other?

She felt the cold grow stronger as her body failed her too. Part of her hoped she would get to be with her friends, after – the rest of her knew she didn't deserve it. She closed her eyes as the darkness took hold.

And then, age fifteen, Ruby Rose woke up.

Poor Ruby - suddenly in the past, with all that trauma and pressure without the ability to talk to anyone about it! Not good news for her saviour complex thingy...

Hope y'all enjoyed! Next chapter coming soon.

Cya dreckly.