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Do they...do they even need me? I-I can't, I'm not ready. I just, I need to be able to help, but I can't.
Weiss sprints and launches up in the air using her glyphs, narrowly avoiding the swipe of claws from the jabberwalker. However, she misjudged her final leap and she lands on the edge, off balance, her arms flail as she desperately looks around for her partner. Who she knows would zip behind her with semblance to set her right at any moment. But no one's there and Weiss has to manage on her own, new worry in her mind now as she glances around after finding her footing desperately searching for Ruby. Her partner is always there when she needs her, they are always in sync during battle. They worked hard on that. Weiss finally looks towards the paper town and sees Ruby standing with Crescent Rose hanging limply in her arms just as a jabberwalker rises out of the water from behind her.
"RUBY?!" Weiss screams, and Ruby jumps realizing what is happening and attempts to bring her weapon up in defense but is easily knocked away by the jabberwalker as it pins her to the ground, opening its jaw wide.
I'm a failure. I couldn't save them. And my team... They don't even need me to win. So what's the point? Every time I try everything just goes so wrong. Pyrrha... Penny... Mantle..."
"Ruby, what are you doing get up!" Weiss calls again just as Yang sprints over arm cocked back as she flies at the jabberwalker. Her first connects and throws it across the clearing.
"Ruby are you okay?!" Yang grabs Ruby and pulls her up into a quick hug before Ruby shoves her away and looks at the jabberwalker. It's slowly getting up but as it does it begins to shatter into pink and brown glass and Neo takes its place with a smirk and a wink before she too shatters and disappears.
Ruby stares blankly as the others collect themselves just as a thundering sound rises and they glance at the town, a giant rock tower swaying near the walls and crashes into breaking a dam and water floods into the paper town taking everything with its tsunami force.
“No no NO! I was supposed to protect them! I always protected them! How could I have failed so horribly again" Jaune falls to his knees, tears streaming down his face. Weiss, Blake and Yang rush to his side comforting him and Ruby is still frozen in place, not hearing anything they are saying until,
"Right, Ruby?" Weiss looks over encouragingly and Ruby looks up at her and the rest of them wide eyes dropping into a glare and she snaps.
She doesn't even remember what she said, just remembers pacing around and the others backing away from her until Jaune screams at her that it's all her fault. Like she doesn't know that already. She stares up at him hunched over as hot, angry tears start to fall until she straightens up and sees Weiss cowering in on herself and Yang standing protectively in front of Blake whose ears are flat as she's hugging herself and not looking Ruby in the eye.
"Ruby, I'm sorry" Jaune starts but she doesn't hear anything else as the others focus turns from watching her with concern to reaching out to Jaune in comfort.
Blake starts to talk but she doesn't want to hear it,
"Shut. Up."
Shut up shut up shut up. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear about the silver lining, I don't want to hear about hope, I don't want to hear about the plan. Ruby screams in her head.
She glares at Blake and Weiss takes a step towards her, hand reaching out and Ruby is disgusted. Disgusted at Jaune, disgusted at her team, and disgusted at herself. She needs to leave.
Crescent Rose is still laying haphazardly on the ground, and she thinks about just leaving it there but Weiss keeps stepping forward and she's starting to feel crowded and claustrophobic and like the whole world is falling around her and her vision is turning tunnelling. In her panic she reaches out for Crescent Rose as a reflex and snatches it off the ground, frantically searching for a way out, unable to pinpoint her enemy, her breath coming out in quiet gasps and her head starts to feel light and she's trembling, and can barely keep standing and everything slows down and she has to leave. Now.
Weiss looks to Ruby again while Blake and Yang comfort Jaune. She doesn't listen to what they say, but instead watches the emotions flit across Ruby's face. Anger, hurt, disgust, and finally fear. Weiss takes a few small steps forward and reaches out to her partner. She should have tried harder to make sure she was okay. Weiss knew Ruby wasn't okay, so did the others, but every time they tried to talk to her something always interrupted, something was always more pressing, more important. Nothing should have been more important than her partner. How can she expect Ruby to be there for her if she wasn't there for Ruby. But if she could just reach out to Ruby now, if she could just make it through to her, everything would be okay, they would be okay. She wouldn't have to have the image of Ruby glaring at her seared into her brain, like she blames Weiss for not being there for her. She wouldn't have to hear the vitriol Ruby's words contained as they were thrown in their faces. If Weiss could just reach her, she could make everything better and Ruby could be happy again. But that's part of the problem isn't it? Assuming Ruby is always happy or should be happy. Not letting her actually be able to express her emotions in a healthy way. Maybe this really is Weiss's fault. She is just so used to Ruby always being the beacon of hope, the light in the darkness, and her source of joy. Maybe she was putting too much pressure on her partner, and not paying enough attention to the toll all of the events over the last several weeks have taken.
Just as Weiss is about to reach her, Ruby looks up and then at Crescent Rose, her beloved weapon. And Weiss is reaching out farther now, just a few more steps away but Ruby has other plans as she snatches Crescent Rose off the ground lip curling slightly in disgust, and immediately turns and takes a step towards the clearing before activating her semblance and rising in furious storm of petals, careening through the forest without a word.
Weiss is devastated, hand still outstretched, hoping she could reach far enough to help her partner but knowing it is useless. Weiss curls in on herself, as Yang runs forward hand outstretched yelling after Ruby. Whether in frustration or concern, Yang isn't even sure herself. And Blake looks torn between Yang and Jaune, and maybe even Weiss too, wondering who needs comfort the most. She's tried to step up so much since being in the Ever After, she felt more in her element than ever before, and thought she was helping keep everyone together, keeping their spirits up. Maybe she got too distracted, between being in a literal fairytale and then the bridge. The bridge. The most wonderful bridge to ever be created and Yang the most wonderful person she's ever met but maybe that's the issue right now. She was so caught up in her own happiness that she couldn't notice her leader needed someone, needed help. And nows she's gone in a storm of petals in a place wear logic isn't real and maps don't exist. She touches Jaune's shoulder before turning and walking towards Yang who is staring in the direction Ruby fled to, and slips her hand into Yang's.
"So what do we do now?" Blake asks no one in particular.
"We find Ruby. And knock some sense into her" Yang grits her teeth.
"Yang, she didn't mean it," Blake says softly, ears flat on her head "we... We knew something was wrong, but things kept getting in the way, this place kept happening and we let ourselves get swept up in it." Yang's clenched metal fist slowly relaxes, and her face looks stricken, guilty even.
"Yeah, I guess you're right" Yang rubs the back of her neck, "maybe we all just need a sec to cool off".
"No." Weiss turns resolutely.
"No, what?" Yang asks.
"No, we don't need to cool off or wait. We need to go find Ruby now"
"How do you suppose we do that? We don't know where anything is in this place. Or how things work. We can just rush off without a plan and hope we find Ruby. We don't know what we'll run into."
"But we can't just leave her out there!"
"I wasn't suggesting that! You think I'd just leave my sister to fend for herself?!"
"Guys."
"Well it sure sounds like you are! Why haven't we already started looking for her? She's alone, and upset. Who knows what will happen to her!"
"Guys."
"Trust me if I could go and find her right now I would but we can't just go rushing off in this crazy messed up place and expect things will go our way!"
"GUYS!" Weiss and Yang quickly turn towards Blake who shoves her way in between the two to push them apart.
"We can't keep fighting each other right now. Ruby needs us, and we have to help." Blake placed a hand on Weiss and Yang's shoulder, gently squeezing both.
"She's right." Metal armor clanks as Jaune slowly walks towards the others. He looks guilty, as he tries to meet their eyes but quickly looks away. "We need to go find her." He takes a deep breath, "look, I know I'm not alright. And I said some things I shouldn't have and I'm messed up in a lot of ways and I messed up in a lot of ways too. But right now we need to find Ruby before she runs into the jabberwalker. Or Neo. And then we can work out our stuff. But let's make sure she's safe first."
Weiss crosses her arms over her chest and huffs as Yang says, "okay well, we still need to talk about your stuff too you know. We haven't forgotten about it."
"I-I know. It's just, it's been so long without any of you. A-and I've just been so alone and with everything that's happened, and Penny..." Jaune chokes out a sob, and Blake quickly rushes over to comfort him as he furiously rubs his eyes to stop from crying.
"Penny what, Jaune?" Yang frowned as she asked.
"She-. I-. I didn't have a choice. "
"Didn't have a choice for what?"
"Y-you were all gone and Cinder was winning and Penny was dying and Cinder was going to take her powers so she-so she asked me to kill her so I did" Jaune rasped out.
"You what!" Yang yelled, fists clenching again as Weiss quietly gasped, hand covering her mouth,
"Oh Penny."
Blake removes her hand from Jaune, "why would she do that?"
"She didn't want Cinder to get the Winter Maiden's power, she wanted to choose"
Yang's brows furrow, "So who's the Winter Maiden?"
"She- She just said she wanted to choose-"
"So we don't know who has the Winter Maiden powers, Cinder could for all we know!" Yang throws her hands up in the air in exasperation.
"Enough." Everyone looks to Weiss.
"We can talk about this more later, or maybe not later. No, I mean we can talk about this but maybe while we try to find Ruby? I don't think we should keep things bottled up anymore. We've seen what can happen" Weiss looks to the ground, guilt clouding her expression. "We need to find Ruby and we can sort things out on the way. And plan on how we tell Ruby about Penny".
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Child prodigy and team leader or child soldier and pawn on someone else's board.
Endless source of light or a shadow of someone long lost.
No pedestal is as high as the one created by someone who sacrificed themselves for everyone else.
Always have to be okay, always have to hold everyone else up. Can't let anyone down.
What if I can't be what they need, what I need?
I'm supposed to be a huntress.
Am I a huntress?
All these decisions. Why did they leave them up to me? Why was I the one they turned to? I'm just one person. Don't they know I'm scared too? Or did I hide it too well? Or did they just not care enough?
I'm so tired of everything.
I'm so so tired.
Maybe I'll just sleep.