{When all this time I've been so hollow inside, I know you're still there}

Blake returned to Beacon barely standing, battered and bruised, wheezing for air and worst of all: alone. That was the first sign.

Yang wasn't the sort of person to let one of her teammates, one of her friends, fend for themselves. She couldn't fathom the sight of anyone hurt, even over something as small and insignificant as a scraped knee. It just wasn't something she could do.

So to see her partner, of all people to be hurt it was the one most precious to her (next to Ruby of course), stumbling in within an inch of her life was a bit disconcerting to say the least. The next few minutes – or was it hours? Time was such a fickle thing – were hectic beyond belief, people running back and forth, a marathon of questions racing, dancing on the tip of her tongue but never quite making it past her parched lips. Time ticked on, sometimes agonizingly, sometimes fast forwarding, others rewinding. The clock above their heads silently trekked on, always in motion. Weiss' head spun as she followed the clock's hands, watching it faithfully as if she dared to look away, dared to blink, time would disappear altogether and leave her lost in the rush and confusion that tore her apart on the inside. Perhaps it already had. She certainly felt as though she were drowning in an intangible mess of emotions, choking on her unspoken thoughts, lungs burning and pleading to breathe, to be free of this sadistic asphyxiation punishing their frail forms. Only time was her life vest to stay afloat above her jumbled and troubled thoughts and even that seemed to be filled with lead.

Time was such a fickle and cruel thing, indeed.

The hallway was dark and void of life, things having finally settled down. Mere minutes ago – the clock told her hours but Weiss had a hard time believing that – they had been bustling with nurses, all tending to their comatose friend. Every once in awhile one would stop to talk to them, the softness of their face and tone promising them good things, but the stress and sympathy in their eyes saying otherwise. None of it mattered anyway; she wasn't actually listening to anything they were saying. Their assurance was pointless because Blake was going to make it, this Weiss had no doubt. Besides, she wasn't the teammate she was worried about.

Blake was loyal. She cared for her friends deeply, enough so to consider them her family. To show up without Yang was not only odd on Yang's behalf, who would never let someone so weak and broken fend for herself, but Blake as well, who would never leave her family behind.

Weiss assumed the worst and without having to speak a word, she assumed that Ruby had come to the same conclusion she had.

They both sat in thick silence, Weiss' eyes glued to the clock, Ruby's to the floor. Neither sought comfort nor distraction, only answers to the unending list of questions.

Silence was their only answer, yet it was to be determined whether it was more preferable than the one they would receive in that hospital room.

The clock's hand reached the six – half past ten.

(Was it really so late?)

A trembling hand reached for a limp one. With a single touch its owner sprung to life as the cold, clammy hand slid into hers.

The clock's hand reached the eight – twenty 'til eleven.

(Was time really so merciless?)

Solemn and hesitant footsteps approached them and a voice – so loud in the empty hallway, so quiet in her roaring thoughts – spoke to them, answering their unspoken questions with sincere sympathy and also absolute disbelief in the words they were uttering.

The clock's hand reached the ten – merely ten minutes away from the next hour.

(Was time honestly so unfeeling?)

A trembling hand tightened on her own. Apologetic footsteps departed. Silence offered its last solace before an ear-splitting wail broke it, ringing in Weiss' ears.

The clock's hand frozen on twelve.

(Time really was a fickle and kind thing.)

"You can't stop me."

She stood by the hospital room window, arms crossed and one foot propped on the wall. Dawn broke on the horizon behind her, coloring the monotone room in a dusty orange. The reborn sun's warmth failed to chase away the chill of the room caused by the growing tension between two partners. Blake slept obliviously in the bed separating them, breathing steadily yet so softly one would have to strain their eyes to see the movement of her chest. Her aura was hard at work, healing all of her wounds and rebuilding her strength. The doctors predicted she wouldn't wake for at least a week. The news hit them hard but compared to Yang's fate it was a breath of fresh air.

And now the little red dunce wanted to go out and endanger herself. As if having one teammate in a coma and the other currently MIA weren't enough, she add herself to the list.

"Ruby you aren't thinking properly!"

The young girl was still raw with emotion, something that was painfully obvious by her shotgun decision to go off into the forest in search of her sister. She wasn't dead, that much was good. But the fate she had suffered? Perhaps death would have been kinder. To be transformed into one of those soulless beasts that roamed with no other purpose other than to kill and destroy, dying with one's humanity still intact would've been the better alternative.

Yang had not been so lucky to be gifted with such a choice.

"So wanting to save my sister is wrong?"

Of course such a noble act wasn't wrong. But it certainly wasn't the smartest nor well thought out decision either. To go out without a plan was practically suicidal, something Weiss wouldn't put past the huntress in her distressed state of mind. There were better ways to go about this and it was frustrating not seeing Ruby considering all of the options available to her. It was a fault of hers that impeded her to becoming a great leader, one she certainly had the potential to be.

No that wasn't right. Ruby already was a great leader; she had proved herself time and time again. But sometimes the girl just didn't think which pushed Weiss to the brink of her sanity.

"You can't save anyone if you're dead."

Above all Weiss was afraid. So much had already happened in just the past night and even now, the calm after the storm (or maybe they were in the misleading calamity of the eye) she struggled to take it all in. Blake was down and out for the count, Yang was roaming the forest grounds as some half-fledged monster, and now Ruby wanted to dive in and confront said monster.

It was all just too much. She had already lost so much, she didn't want to lose anymore. She was being selfish asking Ruby to stay, she knew that. She was being cruel telling Ruby to abandon her sister and let her transform into the very soulless demons they trained to fight and kill, she knew that. And she was very cowardly to stay within the safety of Beacon when somewhere out there her teammate was suffering, she knew that.

How could she forget?

"I also can't save anyone by just sitting here."

Weiss almost mistook Ruby's actions as a noble act of bravery and selflessness. She almost fooled herself to believe this was her partner's true motive behind her intentions. But one quick glance at her red, puffy eyes, bloodshot with the lack of sleep, and she saw the truth.

Ruby was a selfish little girl.

Her silver eyes were directed at her, yet Weiss could see the desperation haunting them, the yearning to have her sister back at her side. Her crossed arms weren't a sign of defiance as Weiss had originally thought; she was just trying to hold herself together lest she fall to pieces to be scattered and forgotten, like rose petals. They way she leaned against the wall, which Weiss had thought was to give off the sense of aloofness was really because she lacked the strength and will to stand on her own.

Ruby was such a selfish little girl for wanting to save her sister.

But Weiss was even more selfish for wanting to hold her back.

"I really can't stop you, can I?"

She wanted Ruby all to herself, out of harm's way, even at the risk of losing a teammate. Such a selfish, selfish girl.

"Not a chance."

And to think she could win in a battle of stubbornness with her leader, no matter how much her own selfishness rivaled hers, was absurd. She never stood a chance. Not from the very start. Such a stupid, stupid girl.

"Then you can't stop me from accompanying you."

Ruby would die out there on her own, no matter how exceptional her skills were. In fact, logically, neither of them stood a chance. They'd probably both end up dying out there, ripped apart by either the Grimm that resided there or their own dissipating minds. Such a hopeless, hopeless girl.

"I wasn't going to."

Ruby's gaze finally turned her way and in the midst of all the yearning and desperation and sadness, she spotted that old shining twinkle in her eye as she offered Weiss a small, grateful smile. Weiss smiled back, for assurance and comfort, but most of all to stop the tears rising up. She couldn't show weakness; now wasn't the time. Now was the time to be Ruby's support, her partner.

The best partner she could be.

And maybe, just maybe, by doing so they'd succeed. They were quite a duo, perhaps they could manage to pull this rescue mission off. And Team RWBY would be whole again. With Ruby by her side, anything was possible really, even the seemingly impossible.

Such a foolish, foolish girl.

The world was coated red. Everywhere she turned, everywhere she looked she was slapped in the eyes by the bright and angry color. Her whole entire world was red. Her entire universe.

Red: the color of her vision, was all she could see.

Red: the color dripping from her rapier, coated to the hilt.

Red: the color pouring from her enemies as she slashed and killed without a second thought.

Red: the color of her partner who fought valiantly by her side.

The ambush had appeared from nowhere. The Nevermore were upon them in seconds, feathers stabbing, talons cutting, voice shrill with battle cries. They only had time to dodge the initial attack, away from each other, before the large creatures had swooped down, overwhelming them in a short instant.

But they fought for it was all they could do, all they knew in that very moment. The struggle was apparent however because what could two girls, running on adrenaline and instinct, do against a swarm of creatures twenty times their size. Before it had taken four of them to take a single one down. Now they were up against a whole flock of them.

They couldn't afford to slow down or take a breath. If they wanted to live, if they wanted to save Yang, they had to fight their hardest. If either stopped for just a moment to realize how impossible their odds were, their life would be cut short and the mission would be failed.

However, despite these facts, the prolonged fighting began to exhaust them. Their reactions slowed, hits became more sloppy and did less damage and they were forced to go on the defensive not long after. This was beginning to go nowhere and at that moment Weiss was positive.

They were going to die. Right here, right now in this secluded patch of forest. Their lives would, their existence wiped away as easily as flecks of dust. No one even knew they were gone and probably wouldn't for a little while longer.

Or maybe never. Once they were dead, would they cease to exist entirely? Would everything they've done, everyone's lives they touched, everything they were…would it just disappear? Weiss shuddered. Death sounded like an awful experience. One she had no wish to partake in.

But at this point, did she have much choice? Was it her really place to deny her impending fate?

Aura nearly depleted, breath short, limbs aching and burning, Weiss wanted nothing more than to sleep. Wasn't death just eternal rest?

Weiss looked up to see the Nevermore's numbers had dwindled; in fact, only one remained. Ruby was currently fighting it head on, throwing everything she had, all of her remaining strength and willpower into one last blow. The Nevermore let out its last strangled squawk before falling to the group in a heap of feathers among its fallen brethren. The clearing had transformed into a battlefield littered with corpses, trees, and bullet shells. It was a disaster area, the results of a literal fight to the death. And they were the victors.

The relief weighed down on Weiss' shoulders pushed her down to her knees but the relief filling her heart made it light and she returned Ruby's wide grin with a tired but thankful one of her own. Against all odds they had survived. They would live on. They would bring Yang back and then things could only get better.

Despite how heavy her body was at that moment, these thoughts these thoughts brought such joy to Weiss that she…well she could just take off right now and fly.

The wind picked up, blowing right through her, chilling her down to the core. She shivered violently and wrapped her arms around herself to huddle for her inner heat. The strong gust of wind had undone her already disheveled hair, blowing her snow white locks around her face in a frenzied dance. The grass beneath her rolled in soft waves, like a green ocean and the trees kneeled to the power of the wind, whispering their loyalties and promises of obedience.

Weiss lifted her head to tell Ruby that it would be best to take shelter for now to see the girl already running toward her. No, charging towards her, scythe raised and ready to strike. The heiress panicked, wondering what she had done to deserve her partner's wrath or what had finally caused her to snap. As she neared, Weiss noticed that those silver eyes weren't focused on her, but rather behind her. She turned to look at whatever Ruby was seeing just in time to see talons coming toward her, wrapping around her thin frame and plucking her from the ground.

They had miscalculated.

She would've screamed, but she could not find her voice. She would've struggled, but she had no strength to spare. All she could do was lay limply as she was carried away, far away into the sky, high above the world. In one last ditch effort for self-preservation she reached out, trying to grab hold of some anchor to keep her rooted to the earth. But whatever she grasped onto slipped between her fingers as did any chance of living. Her death was imminent. There was no escape now.

As the Nevermore climbed higher with its prisoner in claw, a little girl in red cloak screamed from her place on the ground as she watched yet another teammate, her partner, her precious friend, ripped away from her. Sobs racked her small frame as she desperately reached towards the sky, longing to feel something, longing to have her friend return to her side. But no matter how she reached, her outstretched arms, her grasping hands would find no other purchase other than the cold air left behind in the Nevermore's wake.

Weiss was gone.

Ruby dropped to her knees, dejected and dispirited. All she had been fighting for, all she had worked for, none of it was worth it anymore. Her partner had been snatched away right from under her, leaving her to fight for herself now. She was now a lone ranger to wander to forest, still in hopes to find her sister. It's what a good leader what do.

A good leader would've gotten back up and kept moving. A good leader would stick to her set mission. A good leader would not take time to dwell on all their misfortunes.

Then again, a good leader wouldn't have gotten into this mess in the first place.

No, she was just a small and selfish girl who wanted her sister back so badly she was willing to endanger her partner to get her back. She was no leader. She never was. It was an empty title bestowed upon her by luck. She'd done nothing to earn it and because of her lack of leadership ability her team, as of now, was no more.

Leaders were strong (but she was weak). Leaders were fearless (but she was so, so afraid). Leaders were selfless (but she was very greedy). She was never fit to be a leader, but she had disillusioned herself to believe otherwise. Now she was paying for her foolishness in the worst way possible.

Now she was just a sad, lonely girl in a sea of corpses, lost and scared.

The Nevermore had brought her to its nest high up in a distant mountain. It roughly dropped her onto the bed of sticks and branches, the sharp ends digging into her flesh. She gave out a sharp cry but more out of habit than from actual pain. Truthfully she was too numb to feel much of anything except the twinge of her breaking heart and streaming tears down her frigid face. She was cold and numb and empty. Her body refused to move so she lay uncomfortably in a twist of lead-weight limbs, staring up at the darkening sky, watching the beautiful icy blue transform into an ominous, suffocating black. There wasn't a single star to be seen.

From the corner of her eye she saw her captor perch on the side of the nest and look down at her, head tilted at a gruesome angle. Nothing, not even something without a soul, should be able to twist their neck to such an extent. From behind it hopped a smaller Nevermore, a little Grimmling. It cocked its head in the same manner as its mother and Weiss looked away, uncomfortable with those beady eyes piercing her as she laid there, sprawled and defenseless.

She waited for them to spring forward and devour her, hoping her numbness would excuse her from the pain of being eaten alive. Or better yet that she would pass out quickly so as to not experience the ordeal at all. But a thought came to her, a memory rather, of one of Professor Port's lessons (such a distant memory, had she really only just seen him yesterday?). Grimm didn't hunt to survive or feed, they hunted purely for sport and to satisfy their bloodlust. They didn't weren't even able to eat humans. Weiss whimpered. She hadn't been brought back as a meal but rather a trophy. A prisoner of war.

She would take her last breath at the amusement of mankind's oldest enemy. How humiliating.

It was then that the gravity of the situation befell her. Right here in this secluded nest perched on some forsaken mountain she was going to die. This wasn't a possibility or a result of paranoia, she knew. Her life was going to end here. There was no hope of making it out of this. There was no such luck for her.

Tears prickled her eyes as she gasped for breath and while initially she kept her tears at bay – because Schnees don't cry – she eventually let them fall, deciding this was an appropriate time and situation to let loose, one last time. The warm tears bit into her chilled cheeks, the open cuts on her face stinging briefly before the numbness once again took over. Soon enough she didn't even feel the water rushing down her face, only the sobs that racked her body and resonated in her hollow chest. The wails inside her more than out and soon enough it was all she could hear. The howling wind was no match for the shrillness of her voice, the squawks of the Nevermore became only background noise to her own grief and self-pity.

She didn't want to be here. She wanted to be with Ruby. She wanted to be back at Beacon with all of her friends, everyone she loved.

She wanted to be back in class. She wanted to be back somewhere familiar, so simple. Anywhere but here.

A Nevermore's nest wasn't a proper death bed anyhow.

"I don't…" she choked out, voice gargled by her wet sobs. "I don't want to die…alone." She waited, her sobs quieting but never ceasing, her ears strained, she waited.

Silence was her only answer.

A loud, agony-filled wail permeated the air, startling the Nevermores who ruffled their feathers in discontent over the loud noise. But at that moment, Weiss no longer cared. She was probably an absolute mess: dirty and bloody from her previous fight and sobbing like a frightened toddler. She didn't care. With no one here to judge her, to reprimand her from throwing such a grand tantrum, she let loose entirely.

So she screamed. And cried. And whimpered. And sobbed.

She refused to die quietly, no. Weiss Schnee would go down kick and screaming, just to show that she had some fight left in her, that she wasn't ready to obey anybody, not even Death himself.

So she screamed. And kicked. And sobbed. And cursed.

"I don't want to die!"

It wasn't her time; she was too young, just seventeen!

"I can't die!"

There was so much for her to do, so much of her life left ahead of her.

"I won't die!"

The baby Nevermore squawked with a smirk on its beak, laughing at her defiance. Weiss huffed.

She wouldn't die. She'd survive. Schnees didn't go down so easily.

Anger boiled and bubbled inside of her as she grit her teeth. No, she wouldn't die! None of this was even her fault! This wasn't even her idea! Weiss clenched her fists as she remembered who had done this to her, who had put her in this situation for her own selfish reasons.

A pair of silver eyes flashed in her vision and Weiss suddenly jolted.

Ruby…?

She shook her head and took in a breath. No this wasn't Ruby's fault how could she think that?

(But it was.)

Ruby was her friend, her partner, her leader…she would never wish such a sorry fate upon her.

(But she would.)

Ruby would never leave her alone to die if she had the choice.

(But she did.)

The heavy and hot feeling of betrayal consumed her, burning her hotter than her anger ever could. Burning tears melted her face and her lungs were on fire with each gasped breath she took. Ruby had left her to die here, all to save her sister. Wasn't she important too? Didn't Ruby care for her too?

So mixed up in her grief and suffering, the heiress never noticed the thick black cloud surrounding her, rolling across her body, engulfing her in its inky blackness. The Nevermores cackled, flapping their wings as they watched the smoky cloud swallow the dying girl whole. Weiss finally snapped out of her wallowing to see the black cloud covering her body before it blocked out her vision entirely.

That's when the burning started.

It felt as if she had been dipped in acid, her skin bubbled and boiled and she opened her mouth to scream. The cloud took this opportunity to snake inside of her, burning her tongue and throat and insides, increasing her agony tenfold. It tasted of rot and tainted blood and tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she gagged on the putrid taste. She shut her mouth to keep the cloud out but it was too late – it was already inside, burning and tearing her apart.

With renewed energy from some unknown source (she suspected adrenaline from being in such intense pain), she sat up and clutched at her throat, nails digging into her pale flesh, beads of bright red blood dripping from the welts she made. She gagged and coughed, feelings her throat dissolving into liquid – hot, burning liquid – that she later coughed up, blood splattering down her front.

Her eyes watered from the intense fire burning behind them, boiling them in their sockets. Her world became a mixture of black and red as she twitched and writhed in pure and utter torment. She'd rather die than have to keep going through all of this.

"No more," she whimpered. But no sound came out except for a pitiful squawk.

Her hair began to move of its own accord, her bangs lifting out of her face and combing over the top of her head, the rest floating above her, suspended impossibly in the air. The black cloud roaming around inside of her had by now gathered at her back, right between the shoulder blades. It hardened into a solid and pressed against the inside of her back, breaking free in two separate holes. Weiss screamed and ripped up what twigs and sticks she could grasp onto as it pushed through, ripping her open. She cried and screamed, hot tears falling in two solid streams down her face, hot blood gushing in two solid streams down her back.

Soon enough the pain stopped the pain stopped, inside and out. Weiss' breathing labored from all of the torture she had just endured, she oddly found herself shakily standing as the obsidian cloud danced and flitted around her like a playful puppy. She flinched away from it, apprehensive to touch it but when it reached out to her it no longer burned. Quite the opposite, in fact. It felt cool, a sweet relief after all of that intense heat and burning. She reached her hand out to accept it, to welcome it.

The cloud trailed up her hand then her arm, cooling her heated skin as it traveled, offering solace and comfort after putting her through all of that pain, almost as if it were apologizing to her. Weiss found herself smiling fondly as it played across her skin and weaved into her hair, easily forgiving it.

Weiss was so focused on the soothing coolness that the smoky cloud supplied that she almost didn't notice it already beginning to dissolve off of her, dripping like black blood off of her body. In its wake it left a replacement dress; gone was the tattered white one. Now she wore a black dress, one with laced sleeves and a skirt made entirely of feathers. Her white boots had been changed out for black heeled ones that laced up. Weiss also noticed that her nails had grown much longer, filed into sharp, curled points, like talons. Behind her, two wings unfurled to a magnificent length, stretching outwards and up to the night sky, the dark feathers blending in with the night. Her white hair gracefully and beautifully cascaded down her back like a snowy waterfall, the bright white a stark contrast to her dark ensemble.

To her left the mother Nevermore squawked, flapping her wings frantically as the last bit of black cloud wrapped around her, disintegrating her upon contact. The shrill, pained squawks ceased after a short while and when the cloud died down all that remained was her skull mask, decorated with intricate red markings, resting on the nest floor. Weiss walked over, feeling light as she walked, lighter than ever, and stooped down to pick up the mask. She lifted it to inspect the markings, running her fingers over the dry bone. The cloud swarmed over the mask, plucking it from her grasp and bringing it to rest upon her face where it worked to adhere it there, permanently.

The little Grimmling watched with a cocked head before letting out a high-pitched squawk and dropping down to Weiss' feet. It looked up at her, a smirk painted on its beak. So the little runt had taken a sudden liking to her. That was fine; she would never turn away company. Perhaps he could even help.

She flapped her black wings experimentally, watching the wind dance around her, before smirking and stepping onto the edge of the nest.

It was time for a reunion with her dear old friend.

It had been hours and Ruby still couldn't bring herself to move. Weiss hadn't come back, but Ruby was sure…no she hoped she would come back. She had to. She needed her to.

Ruby curled into a ball as the tears returned yet again. This was pathetic – she was pathetic. All of her friends were gone in some shape or form and all she could do was sit here and cry like a child. Because in the end wasn't that all she was?

A pathetic, sniveling child.

The sky grew dark and the forest followed suit. The trees surrounding her grew tougher, meaner and all signs of life suddenly vanished, leaving her truly and utterly alone. Normally she would've been grateful for the time to think, but that's all she had been doing. Now she just wanted to sleep all of the nightmares away, to wake up in her warm bed back in her dorm, being woken by a disgruntled Weiss and sleepily happy Yang. She wanted to shut out this darkness that threatened to consume her, to snake its black tendrils around her and pull her in, smothering her and her existence entirely.

Ruby shivered and wearily looked around the pitch black forest, suddenly very afraid. The darkness stared back, its secrets and horrors hidden from her. She whimpered and drew her cloak around herself, huddling inside its warmth as she willed all the paranoid thoughts away.

It worked surprisingly and the red huntress felt herself calming down, becoming at ease with her surroundings. All negative thoughts she had previously were pushed to the back of her mind as she inhaled deeply, clearing her mind to properly think and plan out what to do next. It was time to stop crying and feeling sorry for herself and take action.

A ruffle of feathers off to her right alerted her and she jumped up, steadying herself. The Nevermore that took Weiss had finally come back huh?

Except it didn't.

Before her stood a white-haired beauty donning black wings and a black, feathered dress; a dark angel. At her flank was a small Nevermore, hopping around and cackling. They both stood just a few stone throws away from her, but even at this distance Ruby could tell. She knew.

Behind that Nevermore mask was her partner, Weiss Schnee.

Ruby's heart stopped beating and she shook her head, taking a hesitant step forward, almost unable to believe what she was seeing. The baby Nevermore stopped its hopping and cocked its head. In turn the dark angel – Weiss, that was really Weiss – rose her chin up and looked at her with a eerie calamity around her that rivaled her usual chilled atmosphere.

Ruby took another small step forward. "Weiss, no…"

Her words must've triggered something because the next thing she knew the Grimmling had sprung into action, sharp, pointed beak aiming straight for her head. Ruby dodged it at the last second, the attack narrowly nicking her head. She looked over to Weiss, almost expecting to see her run to her rescue, but she only stood there, calm and poised. She merely watched. Ruby choked back a distressed sob when she realized that beautiful creature wasn't the Weiss she knew, not anymore. She was just another soulless demon.

The thought tugged at her heart, sending a sharp pain through it.

Recovered from its last failed attack, the Grimmling headed for her again, but this time Ruby was ready. She pulled out Crescent Rose in one swift motion and after lining up the shot, fired. The bullet soared through the air, piercing the baby Nevermore in the chest and tearing up its small body up from the force of impact. Its limbs and other body parts scattered around the clearing and a few loose feathers floated down gently, peacefully and slowly compared to the Nevermore's quick and violent death.

Not even given a second to breath did Ruby hear a shrill squawk behind her. She whipped around to see the previously composed and calm Weiss, now enraged, feathers ruffled and flying straight at her. Acting on instinct Ruby raised her gun and pointed it at Weiss, lining up the shot as she had done before. Her finger was on the trigger, ready to shoot before she realized who she was aiming at. She dropped the gun in shock, moving out of the way as Weiss zipped past her, falling to the ground, wide-eyed in horror at what she had just done.

She had pointed her gun at Weiss.

She had almost shot Weiss.

All because she was afraid of dying, that she felt such a strong feeling of self-preservation that she almost hurt her friend. She deserved to die though. After all she had done and caused she deserved to have her life taken away by the one who she had hurt the most. It was all her fault Weiss was like this, her fault that Weiss had been taken, her fault that she had died feeling so alone.

Yet even still…

Her fear consumed her, her instincts kicked in again, and she ran.

She left Weiss alone. Again.

(Because she was so weak, so afraid, and very greedy.)

Days had passed. Days of running and fear and being hunted. Days of sorrow and self-loathing. Long, arduous days of suffering and pain.

All this time, Ruby ran. She ran from Weiss, she ran from Grimm, and she ran away from her dark thoughts, yet every time they all caught up to her. And every time instead of facing her problems she screamed and fought, dashing away again. She ran and ran because, in the end, that was all she was really good at.

But now she was just tired. Tired of running, tired of hiding and fighting, but most importantly, tired of feeling this constant fear. She was tired of all of it and wanted nothing more than for this nightmare to finally end.

So here she stood, back in the clearing where it had all began. When everything had gone downhill and her life had turned upside down. The place where Weiss was taken from her as well as the place where she had abandoned her partner, her precious friend – twice. Here she stood in the cold, shivering and exhausted, but standing tall and mighty. It was time to stop running and start becoming a leader and leaders don't run from anything.

So here she waited, knowing that Weiss would find her soon enough. She always did. If it weren't for the fact that she were being hunted for her life, she'd feel proud of her partner's skill and perseverance. It was admirable. But this was not the time and it definitely was not the appropriate situation.

She didn't have to wait much longer. Weiss swooped in from the sky gracefully, touching down without so much a single sound. She was a quiet hunter, something that was quite a challenge for Ruby these past few days. She snuck up without warning and Ruby had narrowly escaped with her life too many times to count.

The sight of her was beautiful yet frightening. When Weiss lifted her head, Ruby stared directly into her mask, failing to suppress a shiver. Behind that mask red and yellow eyes stared her down, a predator scrutinizing its prey. Suffocating fear clenched its caged vice around Ruby's heart, a sharp stab of pain running throughout her entire body and making it difficult to breathe. She felt a sudden chill and reached behind her to wrap herself in her cloak, only to remember it was no longer there. In one of her previous escapades, it had been ripped away from her, leaving her cold and bare and worse, missing a part of her.

They both stood there, unmoving, staring at one another. Neither dared to move even a finger, Ruby stricken with fear and Weiss waiting for the right moment to strike. She tilted her head, slowly walking forward, outstretching a single hand. Ruby dared not move, despite how her legs longed to run, in fear of startling her. Cautiously Weiss continued to move toward Ruby, who watched with bated breath and set shoulders. Only when they were within reaching distance of each other did Ruby finally whisper, "Weiss?"

Although her voice was quiet and mousy, it still managed to effectively startle her half-Grimm partner whose hand darted out suddenly, pushing her. Ruby yelped in panic as she felt herself falling backward, landing painfully on the ground. She groaned and whimpered as sharp sticks and rocks dug into her back but before she could regain her bearings, Weiss had pounced, pinning her to the ground and effectively trapping her. Their game of cat and mouse was over. This was it. This was Ruby's final moment, this she had no doubt.

And it would be at the hand of her precious friend.

Yet Weiss only sat there, looking down at her through the mask. Her hesitation confused both of them, but Ruby dared not get her hopes up. She wanted to believe that Weiss recognized her and was fighting against this urge to kill, she truly did, but she was not ready for the sting of disappointment and decided to smother such hopes before they got too out of hand. It would be foolish to believe she had such luck.

Another moment passed of them silently watching each other before Weiss' hand trailed down to Ruby's chest, soft pressing down. Ruby held her breath, waiting for her next move when Weiss used her sharp talon-like nails to tear into the cloth, ripping it off. Ruby gasped as the cold air hit her unprotected chest and shivered, wincing when Weiss dragged her sharp, razor-like nails down her naked skin, leaving angry red scratches. She shivered again, but she didn't feel cold.

"Weiss."

The heiress brought her hand back up to Ruby's chest, pressing the pads of her fingers in the center, feeling the rapid beating of the heart resting underneath. She smirked and cackled lowly, tongue poking out to lick her lips. Ruby furrowed her brow in confusion before letting loose a howl of pain. Weiss' nails dug into her chest, sinking lower and lower as she pushed harder and harder. The pain was unbearable, the torture so slow and agonizing it drove her insane. The red huntress briefly wondered if this was the pain and suffering that Weiss had gone through before the pain doubled…tripled…quadrupled as the nails dug deeper.

Underneath her she squirmed and screamed, begging for mercy. Tears flowed freely from her eyes and Weiss pushed on, slower, harder, dragging out the torture longer. Her fingers were now deep inside her chest, slowly pushing on as she reveled in her shouts and screams of agony. It was just as sweet as she imagined, just as satisfying as she predicted, but definitely more fun than she had thought it would be.

It came as a surprise when the girl worked up enough strength to reach up a shaking hand to her face beneath the mask, stroking it gently in a…loving way. Weiss pulled back in shock, forgetting what such a feeling felt like, but leaned back into it, deciding it wasn't bad. She frowned at the sincere smile the girl wore, wondering how she could be happy going through so much pain. This…wasn't what she predicted. Not at all.

"You don't…" She coughed abruptly and blood poured from the corner of her mouth, mixing with her tears. She took a shuddering breath and continued. "You don't have to be alone anymore."

Her words struck a chord and with an enraged shriek she shoved the rest of her hand in, wrapping her clawed fingers around Ruby's beating heart. The girl laying underneath her gave a pained gasp and Weiss smiled at the horror and realization that she saw in those dead, silver eyes. The heart pulsed between her fingers, trying to beat away its sudden imprisonment. She squeezed and Ruby yelped, biting her lip as fresh tears flowed down her face and she choked out a sob. Blood pooled around her, soaking her and Weiss' hand and arm.

"It…it always…" She coughed again, whimpering at how painful the motion was with a hand clenched around her heart. "It always belonged to you."

And with one final tug, Ruby was gone.

Weiss stood at the feet of the little red girl's corpse, eyes cold and unseeing, sprawled and drenched in a pool of her own blood. She held her prize up high; it was still warm and blood oozed out of it, dripping across her hand and down her arm. It was perfect. Her first kill was a success and such a satisfying one at that. The hunt was long and dragged out much longer than she would've preferred, the girl's persistence quite annoying, but the end result was most certainly worth it.

A soft red glow encased the organ in her hand and Weiss looked peculiarly at it – was this a normal occurrence?

The glow traveled up her arm, turning the black lace sleeve back to a shimmering white. Weiss watched in confusion then horror at the realization of what was going on. She tried to drop the heart but her hand held fast and the red glow continued to spread, turning her dress to her signature white. The boots disappeared next, then the wings, her nails, her eye color turned back to its original icy blue, and last to go was the skull mask which fell to the ground with a thud. The red glow continued to shine however as if filled the inside of her with its warmth and energy, reviving her dead and empty insides.

It smelled of roses.

She was back to her normal self, her human self, right down to the very last detail. Euphoria filled her and she laughed, more than glad to have returned.

Then she noticed the heart in her hand. And screamed.

She dropped the heart abruptly, backing away from it in panic, stumbling right over Ruby's corpse, jaw dropping in utter horror and guilt at the gaping hole in her chest. She had done this. She had killed her partner, her best friend. Tears spilled over, blurring her vision. No, this wasn't meant to happen. None of it was.

A horrible pounding filled her head and her hands flew to her ears, trying to block out the sound. But it was no use; it was too loud. Weiss looked towards the sound of the awful pounding and her heart stopped at the sight she saw.

Because there lay Ruby's detached and dead heart, beating away.

Author's Note:

So here's my sad version of Hana's Grimmdark White Rose fic. The AU idea is originally by the lovely Angie and if you go on tumblr I'm sure there's a grimmdark tag. That or you can just go onto her tumblr (weissrabbit) and look through her grimmdark tag.

Also, if you feel really depressed after reading this go read Hana's (hers ends happily). Her penname on ffnet is momoxtoshiro (and check out her other works too they're fantastic!)

I don't think I have many comments on this. Except for the fact that I kind of took a few liberties on Weiss' transformation/outfit change. I JUST WANTED HER TO BE PRETTY.