After her-well, disastrous conversation with Weiss, Ruby finds herself trailing behind the rest of her team, lost in thought. She's so lost in her thoughts, in fact, that she doesn't notice the creature sneaking up on her until it's practically on top of her.
Literally. The creature knocks into Ruby with enough force to send her stumbling back a few steps. Panicked, she scrambles back, trying to get a look at her attacker. It looks like the same thing that had attacked them earlier when they were trying to find Yang. Instinctively, Ruby reaches back to grab Crescent Rose . . .
Only for her fingers to meet empty air. Crap. She'd momentarily forgotten that she still hasn't found Crescent Rose, leaving her essentially defenseless in this fight. Ruby has never been great at hand to hand combat without a weapon to back her up, even after Ozpin's training back in Haven, and she lacks the kind of sheer physical strength to just plow through her enemies like Yang does.
As much as it pains her to admit, it looks like her best option right now is to make enough of a commotion so that the others will notice what's going on and come back to help her. She's definitely not getting out of this one on her own.
Her attacker takes advantage of its prey's moment of hesitation. Before Ruby can so much as try to call for help, it lunges at her again, this time knocking her to the ground. The air is driven from her lungs as the thing puts all its weight on her chest, knocking the wind out of her. Ruby struggles to breathe under the painful pressure on her chest.
Double crap.
Little yelps in surprise, and Ruby hopes that the tiny mouse is able to get out of harms way. She needs to get this thing off of her, get enough air back to call for help and regroup. Ruby knows that. But suddenly, it all seems kind of pointless. She doesn't have any kind of weapon. Ruby has no real way of making this thing let her go, or to fight back at all.
And even if she does manage to call for help, what if no one bothers to come to her aid? Weiss had been pretty frustrated with her earlier, even though Ruby had just been trying to help, and Yang and Blake seem much too caught up in each other to notice anything else.
Or even worse, what if they do hear her, but instead of coming to help, they just keep walking? After all, Ruby is pretty much dead weight right now. She doesn't have a weapon, and she can't even fight off one creature by herself. It's her decisions that have led them all here. What if her team decides that they've finally had enough?
The world around her is starting to blur. It's tempting to just close her eyes and let everything fade away.
Maybe it's better this way. Maybe Yang had been right earlier, and they are dead and just haven't realized it yet. Who knows if there's even a way back from this place? What if they're stuck here forever and they can't make it back to Remnant?
And even if they do somehow make it back to Remnant, what good is that going to do? The fight against Salem seems more hopeless than ever. Maybe the others will be better off without them, without Ruby there to screw things up.
Even if they do make it back to Remnant, Penny will still be gone.
"Hey!" Just as the black spots almost fill her vision entirely, Ruby hears a familiar voice shouting. "Get away from my sister, you creep!"
The pressure that had been crushing her chest suddenly vanishes, and Ruby gaps for air, coughing violently as her lungs readjust to being able to breathe. "Ruby! Are you okay?" Blake asks, her eyes wide.
She opens her eyes to see Weiss and Blake standing next to her, looking concerned. "I'm okay," she croaks out once she's gotten enough breath back to speak. "Just knocked the wind out of me, that's all."
"Why didn't you yell for us?" Weiss demands, her worry coming out as anger. "You just vanished all of a sudden, and we had no idea what was going on! You're lucky Little found us and explained what was going on before that thing finished you off!"
"Jeez, Weiss, you don't have to yell at me," Ruby replies, trying to diffuse the tension a bit. Apparently the creature has been satisfactorily pummeled, as Yang has rejoined them. Ruby allows her sister to pull her to her feet. "I froze up since I forgot I didn't have Crescent Rose, and then that thing got the drop on me and it knocked the wind out of me before I could say anything. Thanks for the rescue, guys."
"That thing is lucky I haven't found my arm yet," Yang declares. "Glad you're okay, Ruby."
Weiss is still frowning slightly, but before she can say anything else, Ruby quickly changes the subject. "Anyway, we should probably get moving," Ruby says, her voice only slightly hoarse now. "We still need to find Crescent Rose and your arm, Yang. Little, can you keep leading the way to Jinxy's market?"
"Of course!" Little squeaks, reclaiming their perch on Ruby's shoulder.
"Then let's go!" Ruby says, trying to sound like her normal self. She's fine, really. It was a bit of a close call, but it's over now. Best to just put it behind them and keep moving forwards.
It's what Ruby does best, after all.
Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you liked it.
I'm planning to write a second part to this where they talk about what happened eventually.