Ruby is covered in blood. It isn't hers.

It dries to a rust brown on her red outfit, standing out more as it clings to her.

Grimm don't bleed.

Her scythe is a deadly weapon, it cuts through monsters with such ease.

As it turns out, it cuts through flesh even easier.

Things didn't go as planned, not at all. There was no talking down a man who was drowning in fear and hellbent on doing what he was sure was right.

No amount of hope can save him.

Ironwood held a gun to her head, and she cut right through him.

The blade of her scythe slows when it reaches his prosthetics from the inside. The sound of metal cutting through metal is more sickening than the smell of blood splattering over her. If she closes her eyes, she once again sees Penny in the arena, torn into metallic bits.

She stares down at him as he collapses, dead before he hits the ground.

It was self defense. It was a mistake. It was completely justifiable.

Time stops, it stretches, it snaps.

She holds her breath and feels nothing.

She takes a breath and runs and runs and runs.

She takes a train to anywhere but here, and runs some more.

Unsure of where she was, or how much time had passed, Ruby finally let herself feel.

The air was warmer here, than in Atlas. The woods were much more like home, yet nostalgia was no cure at the moment. There are no Grimm here to take these terrible feelings out on, so she slashes through trees instead. The feeling of cutting through wood was not nearly as satisfying, but at least it was far enough removed from the feeling of cutting through flesh.

A black bird perches high in a tree, watching. It flies from tree to tree, choosing a lower branch each time, getting closer. Ruby doesn't notice it, not until it lands on the ground not more than ten feet from her and stands as a woman.

Ruby stops mid swing.

She didn't know Raven, not really.

She had only met her once, otherwise she was as much a ghost living only in a photograph as Summer was.

It was painful to look at her, she looked so much like Yang it only reminded Ruby of what she was running from.

There's no judgement in Raven's eyes, but mild curiosity. Here stood Summer's daughter, a girl who Raven saw as having that same sickening hopefulness as her former teammate. Yet the girl had a wild look in her eyes, with blood crusted to her, hair standing in all directions, trembling with an animosity Raven could understand.

"Want to hit something that can put up a fight?" Raven breaks the silence, hand on the hilt of her sword.

Ruby says nothing, a lunge forward in a burst of petals was all the answer needed.

Her first attack was blocked, as was her second, and third. It was frustrating and satisfying all at the same time.

"You fight like my brother, and you move like your mother. You're predictable." Raven says, mid block.

Of course she did, Qrow had been her mentor, and she was very much her mother's daughter. Still, if she could think straight she would almost appreciate the blunt critique.

Ruby hasn't been following through on her attacks, not truly. On some level afraid of cutting through another person.

When Raven moves from simply blocking to attacking, that changes. The last bit of restraint Ruby gave way to the torrential wave of anger and resentment she had been biting back all her life.

Those feelings ebbed and flowed. Raven let Ruby tire herself out as Ruby shifted from furious and sloppy slashes, to cold calculating attacks over and over again.

In the end Ruby only gets a handful of hits in that actually connect, doing no real damage with Raven's aura up.

Ruby was left gasping for air as Raven sized her up with a considering look.

"I won't stop you, if you follow me." Raven said, turning her back to Ruby and walking away.

Ruby follows.