Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The sound of the clock ticking was the only audible sound in the room. None of the room's three occupants stirred as they remained in silence. It had been nearly a week since the final battle. Nearly a week since Ruby had died. The funeral was set for tomorrow. They still couldn't believe it.

Even now the ghost of her presence haunted the room. Forgotten metal scraps from when she last tuned up Crescent Rose. A discarded snack wrapper that had missed the trash bin. A book placed to the side which she had last been reading. All these things would lie where Ruby left them, because now she would never be able to come back for them.

Sitting on a chair in the room with her hands in her lap, Weiss's body was slumped over. She felt drained and empty.

"Ruby! You don't have to do this!" Weiss cried out as she clutched feebly at the edge of the red cloak from her prone position on the ground. "We're partners aren't we? You don't have to do this alone. We can find another way!" Her words were desperate and pleading.

Ruby's eyes were determined, but her words came softly. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this Weiss. It has to be me." Gently she tugged her cape out of the tenuous grip of the other girl's pale fingers. "I'm glad you were my partner," Ruby smiled softly at her. "I only wish...we could have had more time."

Weiss's eyes never left Ruby's back as they silently begged her to come back. The coldness pervading her body chilled her to the soul.

Blake leaned silently against the wall. Her expression was stone-faced, but her emotions were for once an open book to those who knew her.

She was slumped against the wall. The pooling crimson around her was a stark contrast to both her pale skin and her dark hair. Her hands clutched at a wound in her side to staunch the blood flow. Blake's injuries were serious, but they weren't fatal.

"Ruby." A single word was spoken as Blake looked up at the girl walking past her. As their eyes met, a silent conversation was exchanged. She understood why Ruby felt that this was something she must do, but all the same she didn't wish her to go.

She received a slow shake of the other girl's head as an answer while Ruby opened her lips to speak. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to return that book I borrowed from you in person." A weak smile. "I left it on my nightstand, you can just go in and grab it yourself, okay?"

Amber eyes dimmed as her body shuddered. Blake looked away, she couldn't bear to watch.

Sitting on the couch with her fists clenched was Yang. The tension in her body was easily visible as her body shook.

"I won't let you go," said Yang as she stubbornly clung to Ruby. Her body shook, weak with blood loss and her energy spent, but she refused to let go. "You're my little sister, it's my job to protect you. I can't let you do this."

They both knew that Yang no longer had the strength left to stop her, but Ruby stood there unmoving within her embrace anyway."You've done a great job over the years, Yang. You were the best sister I could ever ask for," Ruby started off whispering sadly. "But this time it's my turn to protect you." Gently she pried herself out of Yang's grip and began walking away. "Goodbye sis...I'm sorry."

"Ruby! No!" Yang shouted as she stumbled forward trying to restrain Ruby. "As your older sister I order you to stay put!" Reaching forward to grab Ruby's shoulder Yang lost her balance as her legs finally gave out. "Please...don't go! Ruby!" she cried out amidst the tears as she was left behind. Try as she might, she had no strength left to follow.

This was the end, they all knew. There would be no turning back now.

She never did turn back, and Ruby left them all for a final time. She was brilliant, in the end. Her aura blazed bright, it's glow was almost blinding. As usual, Ruby's aura manifested a flurry of rose petals, but this time it was a veritable storm. However, such a display of power would not come without a price.

It is always the brightest stars that burn out the fastest.

With her energy spent, the blaze of her aura dimmed. Ruby had given everything she had of herself, and when none was left, the light in her eyes began to flicker out. When it faded entirely, the light of her soul left with it.

The battle was won and the world saved. But for those who remained, what came next would be the hardest part.

"We should finish preparing for the funeral tomorrow," Weiss whispered softly finally breaking the silence. Despite the low volume of her voice, it was easily heard by the other two girls as the only significant sound in the room aside from the clock. Another moment of silence passed as neither of the others responded. Blake made no indication of having heard her, and Yang merely tightened her fists. The tension in the room was palpable. "They wanted us to speak tomorrow. We still need to prepare our speeches."

Finally there was motion in the room as Yang's head snapped up with an expression of rage on her face. "Ruby's barely been gone a week and you're already getting ready to just bury her and move on?" she snapped angrily.

Weiss turned her face downwards her bangs shadowed her eyes. "The funeral is tomorrow. It is going to happen regardless of how I feel, but nevertheless, we should be there for it." Her response was tight, and her tone clipped. While she felt that Yang was being unfair to her, she understood that the other girl was still dealing with the loss of her sister, and she couldn't blame the blonde for venting her emotions.

"You never even liked her did you?" Yang said as she continued her tirade. "You never got along with her from day one." She was practically hysterical at this point. Yang had been holding in a lot of her emotions over the past week, and it seemed that now it was boiling over with the unfortunate recipient of her ire being Weiss. Eyes teary she continued ranting. "You never could stand that Ruby was the leader," she spat. "I bet you were happy that she died!"

Slap. Weiss stood with her hand outstretched as Yang's face was forcibly turned to the side with a quickly reddening cheek. Blake's gaze was now fixed firmly upon the scene, but she made no motion to intervene. The blonde's face was livid as she turned back to face the smaller girl, but upon seeing Weiss's face she froze. Tear stained Weiss trembled and shook as she slowly lowered her hand.

"You think I didn't care?" Weiss asked with her voice shaking as Yang stared still frozen. "Ruby was my friend. My best friend, and my first friend." Grief over her dead sister or not, Yang had gone too far with her last comment.

"Weiss I-" Yang started off, her expression now ashen before she was cut off as the white haired girl continued without acknowledging her.

"She was my partner for almost four years," Weiss sobbed. "She meant everything to me. How- how...what am I supposed to do without her?" As her knees gave out, Yang moved in to support her. "...What is there left to live for?"

Finally Blake moved from her position on the sidelines. Sweeping in she pulled the two crying girls into her arms. "Shhh, shhh," she whispered softly trying to calm the two down. "We're still here, you still have us. There are still three of us left, and Ruby," Blake's voice warbled a little upon the name of their departed friend but she continued on, "Ruby wouldn't have wanted us to be sad. She gave her life to protect us, and she wouldn't have wanted us to fall apart." She wasn't quite sure who she was trying to reassure, Weiss, Yang, or herself.

Even as Blake tried her best to console her crying teammates she felt the sting of tears in her own eyes. There were three of them still here, yes, but all that served to do was remind them that it should be four of them here in this embrace. She would do her best to stay strong and make sure that the three of them would remain together, but that didn't change the fact that Team RWBY would never be whole again.

The funeral ceremony was a grand affair. Professor Ozpin had insisted on holding it at Beacon, a final farewell fit for a hero. None of them had a problem with it, having the staff from the academy taking care of the funeral arrangements was better than having to do it themselves. Besides, it was always Ruby's dream to be acknowledged as a great huntress. Nobody gathered here today would ever forget her.

They were seated outside in one of Beacon's many large courtyards. The sun shone down upon them this day, mocking in it's presence over such an occasion which cast clouds in the hearts of many. Numerous rows of assembled students and staff members were seated solemnly as a sea of black. Although it was a very publicized event, the funeral of the greatest hero in recent memory, Ozpin had been adamant about keeping it restricted to members of the academy. That at least they found themselves grateful for.

In her time at Beacon, Ruby had become a much beloved figure among the students and professors. She was always friendly to everybody, and as such had befriended many of their peers. Ruby had a tendency to frustrate the teachers, but she still managed to worm her way into their good graces regardless. While today was a solemn occasion for those here now, it was a different sort of thing for the rest of the world.

The people throughout the four kingdoms of Vytal were celebrating the fall of the Grimm and the dark forces behind them. While they mourned for the fallen hero that paid for their peace with her life, it was the detached sort of sadness for someone they had never known that had died in an event they could in no way relate to. The outcome of the situation struck people as both heroic as well as rather tragic in a fantastic fairy tale sort of way. For those here though, the tragedy was all too real.

The three of them as Ruby's team were seated in one of the front rows. They sat silently with their heads bowed as others such as some of the professors went up and gave their final words for their fallen teammate. As the speeches were given, they drifted in and out, too stricken by their grief and the thoughts of their own upcoming final words to pay attention. Eventually though, it came time for their turn, and Weiss was the first one to go up.

Standing there at the front of the rows of people Weiss just felt drained. The past week had been very trying for them all, and dealing with Ruby's death had taken everything out of her. Nevertheless, she knew that it would be a miracle if she made it out of this without crying again. Closing her eyes for a moment she steeled herself in preparation to begin speaking. Weiss knew that she couldn't turn around no matter what. The funeral was open casket, but there was no way she would be able to keep herself together if her gaze were to fall upon the unnaturally still form of her deceased partner.

"Ruby...was many things to many people," Weiss started off trying to keep her voice strong. Steeling her gaze Weiss drew in a shaky breath as she tried to look directly into the crowd. "But to me, the most important thing was that she was my friend." It was not something she often verbalized, but it was something she really did believe.

"Again, Ruby was also friends to a great many people. But she always had a way of making everyone feel special," she said looking out into the crowd as she received a few minute nods. "She was actually the first friend I ever had," she admitted. "And while I may not have been the most receptive in the beginning, I will never regret having her as my partner, and my greatest friend." Weiss looked back down sadly. "...I wasn't always the best friend in return to her. I know that I can be difficult, and I often pushed her away." Her voice began to break as she held back the tears. "But she never left my side. Ruby never stopped wanting to be my friend." She sniffled as she raised a hand to muffle a sob. "I just- I just wish that she were still here."

As she began to cry again, Weiss rushed off the stage so as not to be seen breaking down in front of everyone. While she would never regret being Ruby's friend, she did regret never having told any of this to her. She hadn't always gotten along with the other girl, but she had eventually come to treasure their friendship and hold it close to her heart. Weiss just wished that she had been half as good a friend as Ruby had. That she had made sure that the other girl had known how much she cared about her.

After Weiss, Blake was next up to speak. Passing by the white haired girl she gave her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder as she walked by. Calmly she faced the crowd in front of her. She had always had a strong grip on her emotions, she had to. Blake was no stranger to loss either. She was certain that would be able to keep herself together long enough for this at least.

"Ruby was a very special person. As you all well know she was very talented, determined, and strong." These were things that many of the people before her had already said, but that made them no less true. As the world's newest and greatest martyr and hero, those traits of hers were no doubt known by everyone throughout all of Vale if not the rest of Vytal by now. Ruby always wanted to be huntress, it was only right for her success to be acknowledged at the end of her journey.

"But aside from her abilities as a huntress, she was also infinitely kind, caring, forgiving, and accepting." Those qualities of hers however were things that held special and personal significance to Blake. "...There are things about me, things about my past, many of which I am not proud of. But Ruby never cared, as far as she was concerned, I was her friend and that was good enough." Blake's heart was heavy as she spoke, but this was important. "She was always there to lend a hand to anybody in need, or an ear to anyone that needed to be heard." The next words out her mouth felt oddly, painfully final. "The world will never forget the huntress Ruby Rose for what she has done, but for those of here, we should always remember that she was more than that. Ruby was a person, a wonderful young woman cut short before her time, and we should remember her for what she was in life, not just how she died."

Departing the stage Blake saw more than a few wet eyes amongst the sea of faces. She felt the urge to curl up somewhere herself and weep, but she had to stay strong right now for her team. If Weiss were to be considered distraught, still crying to the side, then seeing Yang as she approached now the golden haired girl could only be considered a barely contained wreck. She grasped her partner's arm as they passed each other, but Yang continued on, brushing her off without even noticing her at all.

Standing on stage Yang was unable to look up from the ground at all as she stood in silence. Anybody could tell that she was barely keeping it together as it was, but she had forced herself to come. The silence stretched from seconds into a minute or two, but nobody had the heart to prompt her. Eventually though, she started of her own initiative.

"Ruby...was my sister," Yang whispered out in a fragile tone. It was uncharacteristically quiet from the normally brash and outspoken young woman, but it carried well enough in the quiet crowd. "We weren't...we weren't blood related as many of you may well know, but I loved her all the same."

Another moment of silence occurred as Yang strode towards the opened casket causing people to begin shifting awkwardly in their seats again as Yang continued. "I still remember when she first came to our home." Her body was visibly shaking now as her hands clutched at the sides of her black dress. "She was so quiet, so withdrawn at first." The tears leaked down her face as a hand began reaching towards the coffin. "But she got better. Ruby...Ruby, my little sister, was always so happy, so bright." Lovingly she stroked the side of Ruby's cheek, the body obviously unresponsive to her touch. "She was so excitable, she had so much energy."

Breaking down now Yang sobbed. "Why...why do you lie there so still now Ruby?" she questioned the corpse, seemingly having forgotten everybody else around her. "This, this isn't right. It shouldn't be like this, not you, not you." Sinking to her knees now Yang buried her face in her hands as she cried. Springing from their seats, Blake and Weiss began to make their way to her side as fast as they could.

"I failed you," Yang croaked out. Grasping the girl's shoulders her two teammates tried to lead her to the side. "It's not fair! She was my little sister, It should have been me!" she cried out desperately as she struggled against the hold the other two girls had on her. Very quickly though she lost the strength to struggle as she whispered out once more, "It's not fair...all she ever wanted to do was help people. It should have been me instead..."

Carefully Weiss and Blake managed to pull Yang away from the coffin and Ruby's body. They led her to the side, away from the ceremony and prying eyes. The crowd watched on silently at the spectacle as Yang was pulled away. Still though, nobody could blame them for their sadness on this occasion. Together the three would weep in memory of their lost fourth as the funeral continued on without them.

Even as the rest of Vytal celebrated the dawn of a bright new era, for those here today, all today managed to be was a concrete symbol of darker days. It gave a sense of finality, of confirmation of what had happened. For though Ruby may have given them all a future, it was a future without her in it.

Author's Note

Here it finally is, first chapter of the death-fic. Sorry. Well no, that's a lie, I'm not sorry. Not sorry at all. I'm not super sure why I wrote this, it might just be because I'm a terrible person. Kill one of the RWBY girls, make the rest cry, and make readers sad. Well, whatever reason I did it for, gotta finish killing the rest. I hope this story made your day taste like sadness.

I'm a little worried though that I may be a little (or a lot) heavy handed in my writing with the crying and emotions and stuff. Sort of like bludgeoning the readers with a bat made of tears. Still, I don't really see them not crying if one of them were to die after being teammates for a while, especially Yang and Ruby as sisters, as well as both pairs of partners. Besides, it is a funeral, and funerals for friends that die young way before their time are sad as shit, even if they aren't a close friend, and in this case, they are.

Weiss gets to die in the next chapter. And then Blake. And then Yang. All four are entirely unrelated stories though. That means the other three girls will be alive to properly mourn and angst for each of them. Therefore Ruby will be alive in the story next chapter when Weiss dies. Everybody gets a different death though, so don't worry about me just writing the same thing four times.

No pairings in this because a significant other would probably steal the scene. No intended pairings anyway, you could probably squint.

I'm gonna work on chapter two of Beauty and the Beast before the next chapter of this most likely. Then I will get back to killing Weiss.

EDIT (16/09/13): Touched up the story, mostly the funeral as it was originally a bit rushed out the door so that I could go to sleep. Typos, missing words, a bit of sentence restructuring and a few small additions.