A Wounded Heart
A Wounded Heart
Three Months Earlier…
The remains of the Mistralian fleet hung in the air, clustered around their sole remaining battleship in a way that made Ruby unsure if they were trying to protect it or shelter under its protection. On the ground, long lines of Mistralian soldiers were queuing up to get aboard the airships that would carry them up to those same ships for the trip home to Mistral. They looked tired, they shuffled along as the lines moved slowly forwards toward the landing zones, there was no order to the way in which they carried their weapons…but at the same time Ruby thought that they looked glad to be going home.
She wished that she could feel the same way, but the thought of what was waiting for her back home – the empty room, the palpable absence of Yang from her life that would surely grow only more acute back in that house that Yang had filled with life ever since Mom went away; Dad, and however he might be dealing with this – robbed her of any joy or even enthusiasm that she might have felt.
At the thought of home she could feel only sadness, a sadness that had stopped being acute but had never ceased to be with her.
One of the Mistralian soldiers started to sing. Ruby didn’t recognise the song, but it was maudlin and a little melancholy, a song about home and love and family. Soon it spread all down the line of soldiers, jumping from queue to queue like a fire consuming everything, banishing weariness from the brows of the young soldiers as they all took up the song, singing of home as they waited to board the airships that would take them there.
It stung at Ruby’s ears.
“I can ask them to stop, if you like,” Pyrrha said softly, or at least it sounded soft even as she was speaking loudly enough to be heard over the chorus.
Ruby shook her head. “It’s fine,” she said, and she suspected that she didn’t entirely convince Pyrrha; she certainly didn’t entirely convince herself. “Whatever makes them feel better.”
Pyrrha frowned, and looked away from Ruby towards the slowly boarding soldiers of Mistral, preparing to sail back towards the homes that they should never have left. “I feel as though I shouldn’t be leaving,” she said, looking back – and downwards, just a little – at Ruby once again.
Ruby tried to smile, although she couldn’t judge the success of it. “I know that it must seem as though Vale needs you right now,” she said. “But I’m sure that Mistral needs you just as much, maybe more; and it kind of seems like it wants you a lot more than Vale does right now.”
“I’m not talking about Mistral, or Vale,” Pyrrha said. She reached out and placed a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “I’m talking about you. I shouldn’t be leaving you here, all…all alone.”
Ruby reached up and placed a hand on Pyrrha’s wrist. “That’s…that’s really nice of you, but…I’m not alone. I’ve got my Dad, still, and he needs me back home. Just like Mistral needs you back home now, too.”
“But you-“
“I’ll be fine,” Ruby lied, and hoped that it sounded more convincing on her tongue than out of her head. “Do you remember the day we first met Penny and Rainbow Dash?”
Pyrrha nodded. “I’m not sure I’ll ever forget how we met Penny,” she said.
“But do you remember before that?” Ruby said. “We talked about magic, and fame and making friends…and you told me that Mistral would always have a claim upon your heart.”
“I did,” Pyrrha said. “And it does; but that claim doesn’t mean that I need to…that I should abandon my friend when she-“ Ice began to form in the palm of her hand.
“Pyrrha!” Jaune cried, drawing Pyrrha’s attention to the fact.
Pyrrha gasped, looking down at her open palm before clenching it tightly into a fist. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I…I didn’t realise it would be so hard to control these powers. I mastered my semblance so easily, but…”
“You have to go,” Ruby insisted. “I…thank you, so much, it really means a lot to me but…but you have to go. Sunset gave you those powers so that you could keep up the fight, because you’re the only one of us who can fight right now.” Or the only one who wants to.
“Pyrrha does have to go,” Jaune said. He looked as though he were about to wince. “You’re right, Ruby, Pyrrha’s people need her in Mistral, and with things going the way they are here…but Mistral doesn’t need me; maybe I-“
“No!” Ruby insisted. “No, I’m not going to tear the two of you apart! I know that you want to help but what are the two of you going to do, sit around at my place? How is that going to help anyone?” She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I just…I don’t know…”
“It’s alright,” Pyrrha said gently. “We won’t push it any more.”
Ruby still had her eyes closed, so the first she knew of it was the soft brush of Pyrrha’s lips upon her cheek. She opened her eyes to see that Pyrrha had knelt down, so that they were more at a height than they had been.
“I don’t know what fate has in store for us,” Pyrrha admitted. “I don’t know if we will meet again…but I very much hope we will.”
Ruby nodded. “I’d like that,” she said quietly. “When you get home, find my Uncle Qrow; he can help you, he’s really good at what he does.”
Pyrrha nodded. “We shall seek him out, if he can be found.”
Ruby looked from Jaune to Pyrrha. “Take care of one another. Promise me that you’ll do that.”
Jaune knelt down too. “Of course. I promise.”
“And so do I,” Pyrrha said.
Ruby nodded. “Good.” Because you have to take care of the people that you love, or one day they won’t be there any more. “I…I…good.”
Pyrrha and Jaune both wrapped their arms around her. “If anything changes,” Pyrrha said. “Come find us in Mistral. So long as I live you will always find a welcome there. No matter what, we’ll always be Team Sapphire.”
“Always,” Ruby murmured. And yet no more. She backed away, pulling free from their embrace, from the warmth and the love that she did not deserve, that seemed to almost mock her with the reminder of what she had lost. “You should probably go,” she said. “I should go.”
“Ruby-“ Jaune began.
“I love you guys,” Ruby squeaked as she sped away, fleeing from the pair of them in a burst of rose petals.
As the petals fell to the ground, someone who observed them closely might have noted that they were wet with tears.
Now…
“Dad,” Ruby murmured, as she watched her father push his plate a little way across the kitchen table. “You’ve barely eaten anything. Was it bad?”
“No,” Taiyang said. “No, it’s not that, Ruby. I’m just…I’m not hungry today, that’s all.”
“You’re never hungry,” Ruby pointed out. “Since I got home I’ve barely seen you eat anything.” In that sense she supposed that it was a good thing that he barely did anything; it was preventing him from wasting away too fast.
Not that she would say that his lack of activity was a good thing.
Taiyang didn’t look at her. He looked down at the table, and brushed his fingers across the wooden surface. “I’m sorry, Ruby,” he said. “I know that you’re trying your best, I just…”
“I know,” Ruby said. “I miss her too. I just…I hate seeing you this way.”
Taiyang didn’t reply to that. He kept on staring at the table, resolutely refusing to look at Ruby.
Ruby glanced out of the window, to where the snow lay crisp but shallow under the gaze of the sun. “The snow’s almost gone,” she said. “Soon it’ll feel like spring.”
“Maybe,” Taiyang said.
Ruby knew exactly what he meant, because she felt the same way: as though spring would never come again; winter had lingered here too long already, the snow was more stubborn than it was meant to be, the air was colder than it ought to have been, the sun was not as warm as it should have gotten by this time of year. It should have felt like spring weeks ago, or at least started to. It still felt too much like winter for her liking, too much like an icy embrace around her.
No, that’s got nothing to do with the seasons. That’s just my heart.
It might never feel like spring there again, either.
“When…” she began. “When do you think that we should clear out the dead flowers from the garden ready for the new planting? Do you think it’s too early to get started on that? It…it’ll be nice to see the garden flowering again, don’t you think?”
Taiyang sat silently for a moment. “I’m not in the mood for gardening today,” he said. “I’m sorry.” He rose heavily to his feet. “I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”
I do need you, Ruby thought. My sister’s dead and my friends are all gone and I’m all alone and I need you, Dad. I feel like I’m suffocating and I need you.
I need you to tell me that it’s all going to get better even if that’s a lie. I need you to tell me how to get these stupid letters to stop coming. I need you to tell me how I live with feeling this way. I need you to tell me what I’m supposed to do now.
I need you to tell me that you don’t blame me for what happened to Yang. I need you to tell me that this isn’t my fault.
Even if that’s a lie.
“Sure,” Ruby said softly, as she watched her father go. His footsteps echoed heavily on the wooden floorboards. She pulled his plate towards her, and lifted it up off the table.
Zwei, who had been living well out of Taiyang’s abstinence – Ruby probably ought to have stopped bothering to make him full meals, it would certainly have saved money, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop hoping that today would be the day when he started eating again – picked himself up off the floor and trotted, a little more slowly than might have been the case some time earlier, towards her. He wagged his tail as his tongue hung out of his mouth.
“I probably shouldn’t give this to you,” Ruby said. “You’re getting fat.”
Zwei whined, and looked imploringly at her.
Ruby sighed. “Okay. I suppose it’s better than it going to waste.” She picked up a sausage from Taiyang’s plate and bent down to offer it to Zwei, who seemed to beam happily as he ate it.
It was good to see that somebody still remembered how to smile around here. As she scratched the top of Zwei’s head Ruby found herself wondering if the dog actually knew that Yang was dead. He knew that she was not around at the moment; when they first got back home he’d spent a couple of days running around the house and the land outside looking for her before coming to the realisation that she was not here. Then he’d sat at the door for a couple of days after that as though he was waiting for her to come home. He’d given up on that too in fairly short order, he knew that she was gone and he seemed to have accepted that she wouldn’t be coming back for a while, but did he understand? Ruby had told him, her eyes filling with tears as she spoke the words, but did he understand her. He had aura, he had a soul, but did he have a brain? Could he understand what it meant for Yang to be dead, or did he think that she was back at Beacon or somewhere like that, and in a few months or a year’s time she’d come home to take him for walks once more?
Did Zwei understand what it meant for someone to be dead? This was the first time that any member of his family had died, since they had got him when Mom was already gone; did he get it? Did he understand that Yang was never coming back, that she was gone for good, that he would…that he would never see her again?
Ruby tried but did not entirely succeed in stifling a sob.
Grief filled the house up of the absent Yang, making a home made for four seem crowded with just two. Yang’s spectre hung heavily in every room, in every place where she had been – which was everywhere. It made it hard, but at the same time it made it hard to forget, for which Ruby was glad. She didn’t want to forget, even though it was hard.
She fed Zwei the rest of Taiyang’s unwanted dinner, and carried the dishes over to the sink. She piled them up on the side and started to run the water.
A single gunshot echoed out from the woods beyond the house, a sharp report that scattered the birds out of the trees, sending them flying up in all directions cawing loudly.
Ruby’s head snapped up as she looked out of the window, trying to find the source of that shot. She couldn’t see anything, but the trees were too thick to see much in the midst of the woods. It had been a gunshot without question, a snap of a shot that sounded almost like…no, it couldn’t be, no way.
What was someone doing firing so close to her house?
Ruby looked down at Zwei. “Stay with Dad,” she said. She wasn’t sure how able he would be to defend himself if anything bad happened. When she ran out of the kitchen and into the living room she found him on his feet, looking on edge.
“That…that was probably just…I don’t know what that was.”
“I don’t know either,” Ruby said. “Just stay here, okay? I’ll take care of it.”
“Ruby-“
“I said I’ll take care of it,” Ruby repeated, not giving him another chance to protest as she ran towards the door. Crescent Rose was leaning against the wall and Ruby picked up the weapon in a single fluid motion. She didn’t use it as much as she had recently, but she took it with her whenever she visited Mom and Yang and it was unfamiliar to her as her fingers closed around the crimson weapon.
She felt…better, with this in hand. Everything felt a little bit better. It didn’t change anything, but it did make her feel a little more in control.
Ruby opened the door and stepped outside. Crescent Rose was in carbine configuration, and she kept it that way because it was easier to move, for now.
Somebody was coming. She could hear their footsteps crunching through the shallow snow.
Ruby pointed Crescent Rose in their direction and unfolded her weapon in a series of mechanical clanks and hydraulic hisses. “Who’s there?” she demanded. “What do you want?”
Sunset emerged out of the trees, her hands raised above her head. She smiled sheepishly. “Hey there, partner.”
Ruby lowered Crescent Rose. “Sunset?”
“Sorry if I startled you,” Sunset said, tentatively lowering her hands. “There was a beowolf who didn’t leave me much choice.”
Ruby stared at her for a moment, her partner, her leader, her friend. She crossed the distance between them in a blur of rosepetals, slamming into Sunset with such force that the other girl was knocked onto her back upon the snow bestrewn ground as Ruby, her arms wrapped tightly around Sunset’s chest, sobbed upon her breast.
She was still sobbing as she felt Sunset’s arms enfold her, one upon her back and other on her hair.
“I missed you too,” Sunset murmured.
Ruby didn’t know exactly how long they stayed that way, but it must have been for a little while because by the time they got up Sunset’s jacket was absolutely soaked. “Sorry about that,” Ruby said.
“It’s okay,” Sunset said; she started to take said jacket off before seeming to remember that she had a sword strapped to her back which would make it a little difficult. “It’ll dry out.”
Ruby nodded. “So…what are you doing here? How are you here?”
“I was allowed,” Sunset said.
“Do you have another note?”
Sunset’s expression was half-cringe, half smile. “No, although if you call Cardin he can tell you that I’m supposed to be here.”
“Cardin?” Ruby shook her head. “What are you doing here, Sunset? I mean, I’m glad to see you, but…”
“But it’s a shock, I know,” Sunset said. “I came here…I wish that I could say that it was just to see you…I would have come sooner if it hadn’t been…I need to talk to you, about something important.”
“Oh,” Ruby said. She didn’t know what else she was supposed to say to that. Something important? Her? Why? What did Sunset need to come all the way out here to say and why say it to her?
Did the council send her? Is this what they do when you don’t answer their letters?
Whether that was the reason or not it didn’t change the fact that this was still Sunset, and that Ruby was still glad to see her. She felt like a visitor from another time, an echo of a better world, like a chink of sunlight breaking through the clouds and reminding Ruby of a time when she had dwelt in sunshine.
And if I have to tell her no – when I tell her no – she’ll understand. No matter who she’s working for she’s still Sunset, after all.
“Do you want to come inside?” Ruby asked, gesturing towards the house.
“Is that okay?” Sunset said, trying but kind of failing to disguise her eagerness. “I don’t want to intrude.”
“It’s no trouble,” Ruby said quickly. “It’ll be good to have some company. We…we don’t get many visitors. It can be a little lonely out here.”
Sunset was silent for a moment. “Sure,” she said. “Lead the way.”
They walked briskly back towards the house, crunching the thin layer of snow under their feet as they walked.
“Spring’s late,” Sunset observed from just a little behind Ruby. “Vale’s winter of discontent rolls on and on.”
“It’ll come,” Ruby said. She looked back at Sunset. “Won’t it? The snow has to melt, the cold has to come away some time. Because if it doesn’t…if it doesn’t come then what will we do?”
Sunset stopped, if only for a moment. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m sure the sun will shine upon…upon everyone again soon.”
The sun was already up, and making the snow beneath their boots gleam brightly, but Ruby knew what she meant. She turned away, and led the rest of the short distance to the house, opening the door and stepping inside, wiping her feet on the welcome mat.
“Ruby?” Taiyang said, stepping forward. “What-“ He stopped as Sunset followed Ruby inside.
“Hello, sir,” Sunset said. She rested Sol Invictus down beside the door next to Crescent Rose, and a moment later she pulled her sword-belt over her shoulder and left her blade there too. She held out one hand to Taiyang as she advanced towards him. “We’ve met once before, but I’m-“
“I know who you are,” Taiyang said, his voice a little colder than before. He folded his arms. Sunset was left standing there, holding out her hand to the empty air.
“Dad-“ Ruby began.
“It’s okay,” Sunset said quickly.
“No, it’s not,” Ruby said. “You’re my friend-“
“And I’m a lot of other things besides,” Sunset said, not taking her eyes off Taiyang for a moment. “And your father doesn’t have to like all of them.” She was silent for a moment, and that silence engulfed the entire room, broken only by the light pattering of melting snow from Sunset’s jacket as it dripped onto the floor. Sunset smiled abashedly. “Is there anyone I can hang this up to dry?” she asked as she pulled the sodden garment off.
“Sure,” Ruby said. “By the fireplace. Right here.” She gestured to the other side of the living room, where a fire was already burning in the grate. She took Sunset’s jacket from her unresisting hand and carried it across the room, leaving Taiyang and Sunset to stare into one another’s eyes while she hung it from the mantelpiece.
“I don’t know whether to tell you to get out of my house,” Taiyang said. “Or thank you for saving my little girl.”
Sunset bowed her head. “I…I don’t deserve your thanks, but I’m afraid that I have to ask you not to ask me to leave just yet,” she said. Sunset took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for your loss, sir.”
Taiyang stared at her for a moment, before something seemed to snap in him and he slumped back down onto the sofa. “If Ruby wants you to stay then you can stay,” he muttered.
“Thanks, Dad,” Ruby murmured. “Why don’t we go into the kitchen? We can talk there.”
“Sure,” Sunset said softly, and once again she allowed Ruby to lead the way as they left Taiyang and Zwei out in the living room while they headed into the kitchen. Ruby pulled the door too and motioned for Sunset to sit down.
“I’m sorry about that,” Ruby said, as she took the seat opposite Sunset, facing the sink and the kitchen window. “He’s…he’s having a bad time of it.”
Sunset rested her hands on the table. “And you?”
“I’m okay,” Ruby said.
“Ruby,” Sunset murmured, sliding her hands across the wooden table to embrace those of Ruby on the other side. “Come on. It’s me.”
Ruby hesitated, quiet for a moment. “I miss her,” she admitted.
“There’s no shame in that,” Sunset said.
“Shame,” Ruby murmured. “I…maybe I should be ashamed. Maybe…maybe Dad should hate me, even though he doesn’t.”
“Why?” Sunset asked. “Ruby, what are you-“
“It’s my fault!” Ruby cried, her eyes welling up with tears. “I was the one who…Twilight was going to open the gates and let everyone through, but I was the one…I didn’t want the grimm getting into Vale so I…I…and so, because of what I did…because of me, Yang’s…”
“No, Ruby,” Sunset said firmly, even fiercely. “No. Don’t…you can’t let yourself think like that.”
“Not even if it’s true?”
“It’s not true,” Sunset said, her voice rising. “Ruby, you…you don’t need to be ashamed of what you did. You did the right thing-“
“Really?” Ruby said. She shook her head. “It’s not what you did.”
Sunset was silent a moment. “No,” she admitted. “No, it’s not what I did. But that doesn’t give me the right to criticise you for what you did. The fact that I can’t…it doesn’t make you wrong.”
“No, the fact that Yang’s not here makes me do that,” Ruby said.
“You’re not being fair on yourself-“
“Fair?” Ruby cried. “Yang’s gone, Sunset; Yang’s gone and she’s never coming back and there’s nothing fair about any of this!” Her whole body trembled, she practically doubled up on her chair. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Don’t apologise,” Sunset said. “You don’t have to apologise to me.”
Ruby closed her eyes, screwing them tightly shut. “Yang…she wanted to see the world. She was going to go to Mistral, and then Atlas, and all the little places in between. She was going to drive across Sanus until she reached the Eastern Sea and find out if all the stories about what’s on the other side of the mountains were true. She was going…there was so much that she wanted to see, and so much that she wanted to do, and now…now she’ll never get to do any of it. If I’d just…maybe if I’d let Twilight-“
“I think we both know that if you’d let the grimm into Vale to save Yang you would both have hated yourselves before too long,” Sunset said. “I…I met a man yesterday. He lost his business when the Atlesians bombed the breach. He wasn’t a fan of me, as you can imagine. If you’d opened the gate and…I’m not sure either you or Yang could have born the consequences of that.
“I’m not…I wish that I could take your pain away. I really wish that there was something that I could say, some magic spell that I could cast to make it all better…but there isn’t. And we both know that there isn’t. All I can say is that I’m sorry, Ruby, I’m so sorry, and…” she pulled out her scroll, opening it up and tapping on the buttons. “I got this new scroll, with a different number,” she said. “A number that I’ve just sent to you. If you ever need to talk about anything at all then you can reach me. For now, at least.”
Ruby nodded. “Thanks, Sunset. That…that means a lot. I don’t get a lot of visitors out here, it’s just me and Dad and Zwei; and Dad…Dad doesn’t talk much any more. With Jaune and Pyrrha…it might be good to have someone I can talk to.”
“Any time,” Sunset said. “Even if I’m fighting a giant ursa.”
Ruby’s lips twitched upwards briefly. “But…what do you mean by ‘for now’?”
Sunset pulled her hands away from Ruby. “I…that’s why I came here. As much as I’d like to say that I came here just to see how you were doing I…I actually came here on business.”
“Hang on,” Ruby said, as she got to her feet. “Do you want some hot chocolate before we talk about that?”
Sunset hesitated. “Sure,” she said. “Do you need any help?”
“No,” Ruby said. “I got it.” She walked across the kitchen and opened one of the cupboards near the sink. On the bottom shelf sat four mugs: a black mug with Summer written in white upon it, a blue mug with Taiyang painted on it in yellow, another black mug with Ruby painted on it in a childish scrawl and a white mug with Yang daubed on it in the same shade of yellow that dad had written his name upon his own cup.
“And of course you have named mugs,” Sunset muttered. “Because this wasn’t enough of a bucolic idyll.”
“It was,” Ruby said, guessing that the words she didn’t understand were a compliment and hoping she was right. “It used to be, when…and besides, you really ought to see it in the springtime, or even better the summer. When the flowers bloom, and you can hear the cicadas. Winter…winter can be beautiful, but it’s so…so cold, you know? And I’m not just talking about the temperature.”
“I know what you mean,” Sunset said. “But even so…this looks like a nice place.”
“Like I said,” Ruby murmured. “It used to be.”
She couldn’t quite reach the other mugs on the shelf above, but as she reached one of them became enveloped by a soft green light which levitated it up off the shelf and set it down upon the counter.
“Turns out I can help a little,” Sunset said, although she didn’t interfere again as Ruby made the hot chocolate.
“It’s not as nice as…” Ruby began, as she set down Sunset’s steaming cup – marshmallows floated on the surface - in front of her. “It’s the best I can do,” she said.
Sunset picked up the mug and took a sip. “It’s perfect,” she lied, and Ruby was too grateful to call her out on it.
“How have you been?” Ruby asked. “Where have you been? How did you get out?”
“I was released,” Sunset said. “Not pardoned, but released.”
“Because they need you,” Ruby said softly. “I guess that means its worse than the news is saying.”
“The news is more about ice cream for the people than it is about facts these days,” Sunset said. “But…things are desperate, but they’re not bad, if that makes any sense.”
Ruby shook her head. “Not really.”
“People are worried, but I’m not sure how much they all have to worry about,” Sunset explained. “The grimm that were massing around the city have all dispersed, and although the outlying settlements are bothered by them – or by bandits – there hasn’t been an attack on Vale since the dust settled on the battlefield. That just hasn’t stopped people from acting as though they’re might be another attack any day now…and to be fair, I suppose there could be. It isn’t like the grimm need to give much warning.”
“And so they let you out to fight them,” Ruby said.
“Better me than someone who’s only just had their aura unlocked,” Sunset said. “Better me than some kid fresh out of combat school, or not even that.”
“Huh?”
“It was an idea,” Sunset said. “I think it’s been kicked to the curb for the time being.”
“That’s good,” Ruby said, glad that she didn’t have to ask any more questions that might make the idea truly as bad as it sounded. “And so…you work with Cardin now?”
“Sort of,” Sunset said. “Not really. More like I work for Cardin now. He’s the man of the hour, I don’t know if you knew that.”
“I’ve seen his face on TV a couple of times,” Ruby said. “I didn’t really get it.”
“I’m not sure that he gets it himself,” Sunset replied. “But people need heroes at a time like this, and Vale doesn’t have much choice. Actually, that’s being too hard on Cardin, he’s trying his best and he never puts on airs. He knows exactly what’s going on and what he is. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that he fought in the battle and he’s still here-“
“Unlike me,” Ruby said.
Sunset frowned. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“It’s okay, Sunset,” Ruby said. “I’ve been getting letters. From the Council. Except that it’s not called the Council any more, is it?”
“There is still a Council,” Sunset said. “It’s just that they’ve elevated five of them to a higher level so they can make decisions more easily. At least I think that’s the idea.”
“Whatever,” Ruby said. “I’ve been getting letters. They want me to come back to Vale. It’s about that, isn’t it?”
“It’s about all hands on deck,” Sunset said. “But, yes, it’s about the fact that Vale doesn’t have many heroes right now. They’d like to stick you in front of the cameras as much as they’d like to send you out to fight the grimm.”
Ruby nodded. “So is that why you came here? To ask me to come back with you?”
“It’s what I think Cardin’s hoping I’ll do,” Sunset said.
Ruby looked away. “I can’t, Sunset; I…I can’t go back. Dad needs me here, I can’t just leave him.”
“And if you could,” Sunset said. “Would you even want to go back?”
Ruby was silent for a little while. “What I did…what if I don’t want to make a choice like that again.”
“Being a huntress doesn’t mean you’ll have to,” Sunset murmured.
“Doesn’t it?” Ruby asked. “What if I went back and I ended up in a situation like that again. I don’t want that. After what happened I…I don’t know if I could.”
Sunset nodded. “I get it. I’m sorry to hear that but I get it.”
Ruby stared at her. “So, if you didn’t come here to ask me to fight for Vale then why? It wasn’t just to see me, was it?”
“It probably should have been,” Sunset admitted. “But you’re right. I came here…I came here to ask you to go Anima, since I can’t.”
“Anima?” Ruby said. “Why do you want me to go Anima? Is it Jaune and Pyrrha, are they in some kind of trouble, do they need help?”
“No,” Sunset said. “At least I don’t think so. Or I hope not. I haven’t heard anything from Jaune and Pyrrha.”
“No news is good news, or at least I hope it is,” Ruby murmured. “Do you think they’re okay? Do you think they made it to Mistral?”
“I’m sure they did,” Sunset said. She turned in her seat and looked out of the window. “I’m sure they’re doing just fine their. They’ve got one another, after all.”
“Just like Penny and Blake have all their friends in Atlas,” Ruby said. “It’s good that everybody has someone.” Except me. “So if it isn’t Jaune or Pyrrha, then what’s in Anima? Why do you want me to go there?”
“Professor Ozpin, apparently,” Sunset said, making Ruby choke on her hot chocolate. “My reaction exactly.”
“Professor Ozpin’s dead,” Ruby said. “Sure, they never found a body but…but they never found Yang either, but neither of them would stay away for so long without…they’d come back if they could.”
“I’m sure she would,” Sunset agreed. “But with Professor Ozpin…as Professor Goodwitch explained it to me before I came to see you, Professor Ozpin has been reincarnated, in a manner of speaking. He can’t ever die, even when his bodies do. Professor Ozpin is dead but his soul lives on in another.”
“In Anima?”
“She seems to think so,” Sunset said. “Since she couldn’t tell Jaune or Pyrrha before they left it’s up to…someone has to go and find him and help him bring some order to the chaos.”
“And that’s what you want me to do?” Ruby said.
“I don’t know,” Sunset said. “I don’t know if I want you to do it. I don’t really want to ask you to set out for Mistral all by yourself, chasing such a slender thread as that. But if what Professor Goodwitch says is true then his…new host might not be able to cope on his own.”
“And so we can’t just leave him, or them, out there,” Ruby murmured. She clenched her hands into fists. “Why him?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“Why does Professor Ozpin get to come back?” Ruby said. “I know that he’s a good man, and wise, but why does he get to cheat death when…why is he the one who gets to return?”
“Professor Goodwitch described it as a curse.”
“Is that what you think?” Ruby said. “That living on is a curse?”
Sunset shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “No,” she said. “Nor does the other immortal I know.”
“Princess Celestia?”
“Though she can see how it might feel that way,” Sunset murmured. “It’s not his fault.”
“I know,” Ruby said. “I just…it feels so…that he can come back while Yang has to stay…gone.”
Sunset frowned. “I shouldn’t have come.”
“No,” Ruby said firmly. “I…I’m glad you did. I wanted to see you. I wanted to know that you were okay. I just…I know why you came here, and I know that…I just don’t know if I can.”
“That’s understandable.”
“What will you do,” Ruby asked. “If I say no?”
Sunset exhaled loudly. “At this point I have no idea. Are you not saying no?”
“Not yet,” Ruby said. “How long do I have to think about it?”
“Cardin’s not coming to pick me up until tomorrow.”
“So you’re staying the night?”
“Well, I won’t impose,” Sunset said. “I can camp outside-“
“You’re not going to camp in the woods outside our house,” Ruby declared. “I’ll get the guest room ready.” She got up, and opened the kitchen door before stepping through it into the living room.
“I still don’t know whether to thank your friend or throw her out of the house,” Taiyang said from where she stood beside the now open doorway.
Ruby looked at him. “Dad? Where you listening to everything we said in there?”
Zwei barked, sounding a little too happy about it.
“I was worried about what she was doing here,” Taiyang said. “I thought she’d been sent by the Council to take you back some how. Instead I find that she’s been sent by Glynda to take you back instead.” His tone made it hard to work out whether that was an important difference for him or not.
“Did…did you know?” Ruby asked. “About Professor Ozpin?”
Taiyang nodded. “I knew.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t see the point, it wasn’t Oz’s death that was upsetting you,” Taiyang said. “And besides, I thought Glynda would have it covered. I didn’t realise that she’d cover it by involving you.”
“Technically, she didn’t,” Sunset said. “She asked me to go. I asked Ruby because I’m in…straitened circumstances at the moment.”
“That’s why I don’t know whether to thank you or throw you out,” Taiyang said, looking around the door at Sunset over the top of Ruby’s head.
“I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to do it,” Ruby said.
“I know you haven’t, Ruby,” Taiyang said softly. “But I think you should.”
“Huh?” Ruby said, the only sound that she was able to get out in the surprise the overtook and overwhelmed her to hear her dad say that. He wanted her to go? He wanted her to leave? He wanted to be left all alone? “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that you deserve better than to spend the rest of your life waiting on your father,” Taiyang said. He put one arm upon her back, and gently steered Ruby into the living room towards the couch. “I know that I’ve been…I know that I haven’t really around lately.” He said, as the two of them sat down. “And I know that you’ve had to step up, the way that…the way that Yang stepped up after your mother passed away. But that isn’t something that you should have to do just because I’m too upset to take care of myself.”
“But I do,” Ruby said. “I can’t just leave you all on your own.”
“I’ll manage,” Taiyang said. “If I have to make the effort to take care of myself then maybe I’ll actually do it. I’ll be okay, Ruby; I’m a grown man, I shouldn’t be relying on my sixteen year old daughter to do everything for me. And I’m sorry that I’ve put all that upon you just because I couldn’t get myself together.”
“Just a little while ago you wouldn’t even eat what I put in front of you,” Ruby said. “So what changed?”
“What changed is that you had somewhere to go,” Taiyang said. “When you came back…I was just so glad to have one of my girls home safe, even if Yang wasn’t ever coming home. But now…I loved your mother and I loved Yang and the fact that I lost both of them now to duty and the life of a huntress, it…but I don’t think either of them would have wanted you to spend the rest of your life cooped up inside this house withering away with grief and nothing but a sad old man to keep you company.
“When your mother died I…I shut everyone out: Oz, Glynda, Qrow, even my own children. I…I don’t want to see you do the same. Find your friends, find Oz; live.”
“And leave you here all alone?”
“You could go together, if you wanted,” Sunset said from where she stood in the kitchen doorway. “I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t.”
“No,” Taiyang said. “If you decide to do this, Ruby, then I’ll go to Vale. It sounds as though they could use huntsmen. But you’re the one that Ozpin chose, the one that he trusted. I should trust you too, and I do.”
“Ozpin chose you too,” Ruby pointed out.
“Once,” Taiyang acknowledged. “But not for some time.”
Ruby was silent for a moment. “Are you sure about this?”
“No,” Taiyang said. He glanced at Sunset. “I’m about as certain as Miss Shimmer over there.”
“And for the same reason, I’d guess,” Sunset said.
“I worry about you,” Taiyang said. “I’m your father, so I’ll always worry about you. But if this has to be done, and I guess it does, then I can’t think of anybody better to do it than you.”
“But what if…” Ruby trailed off momentarily. “What if taking care of you isn’t the only reason why I want to stay?”
“Ruby,” Taiyang said. “I’m not telling you that you have to go. I’m just saying that you can go, and you don’t need to worry about me when you do.”
Ruby looked away. She didn’t look at Sunset either. She looked at her own hands where they rested on her knees.
She should probably go. Professor Ozpin needed her, it seems. The world might need her, even. And it would be good to get out of this house and all the memories that had turned so sour. She wanted to get away from this place, she wanted to see her friends again. She should go because…because it was the right thing to do.
But against that…against that were the thoughts of all the things that she might have to do if she went, things that she wasn’t sure she had it in her to do any more.
Yang would have told her to go, but Yang wasn’t here any more and that was because of Ruby no matter what Sunset said. It was because of Ruby and because she’d been so sure that she was right. And even if she had been right it didn’t change the fact that Yang had died because of it.
Ruby didn’t want to make those kinds of choices any more.
But how could she just walk away from all of this, when she knew what was at stake?
What should I do?
What is that I’m supposed to do?
What do I actually want to do?
Ruby only wished she knew.
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It's good to see you, Ruby. And when you hugged Sunset, that melted my heart. Never forget that even when we hit rock bottom, just please always remember, that rock bottom can a great foundation on which to build up.
You must only just keep standing. NO MATTER WHAT. You keep standing. No matter how rough the sea, you keep standing. And I'm not just talking about water. You keep standing. You never give up.
welp, now begins the original boring season, now waay better version, so the teams will reunite again with Oscar :D.
I love how Zwei seems to know that Yang is still alive.
And while this may be a somber chapter, I still would like to wish Scipio and everypony else a Happy Holiday Season!
Well Tai's coping about as well as expected. I think his blessing for Ruby to go will be the kick she needs. It's nice to see that she's made up her mind about Sunset, though. Ruby took her confession hard, and it did hurt Sunset to see her friends like that.
I haven't commented in a while
but I have to say I love how you finished V3 and how you are doing V4 so far
I would have prefered if Cinder kept the Maiden powers but I guess Phyrra isn't bad choise either
Sunset as an alicorn should only grow stronger from this point and she already is a Maiden equivalent so her keeping the power of the maiden on top of that would be a bit much (I wonder if she can fly?)
9998055
I think with enough practice with her pegasus magic, she will be able to fly, or at least propell herself into the air and glide.
9998065
Remnant Celestia and Luna! The plot thickens an I love it. By the way, fantastic story so far
And then the Grimm attacked.
Happy Hearth's Warming, everypony! And a very Merry Christmas!
I love the introductory setpiece with the Minstrilian fleet. It illustrates and paints a mood, not only of the fleet, but the soldiers, a mood which you translate right to Ruby, then compound on. Setting up Ruby as realizing just what she's lost, going back all the way to their mother.
Even through all that, Ruby tries to be as selfless as ever, and it's good to see Pyrrha catch on to it (as well as almost let loose her Maiden powers now). And for as selfless as she is, reading her thoughts as she admits that she doesn't want to keep up the fight at the moment (in the flashback).
It is very interesting just how on opposite sides Ruby and Sunset are. Ruby thinking about taking care of the people you love is very Sunset-train-decision of her. Thinking of Ruby as The Spock is very much her character, but the heart she usually puts into it is broken. (I haven't fully cemented who might be The Kirk and The McCoy, but I feel that, when more idyllic minded, Ruby would actually be more of a McCoy so it's been especially interesting.)
Now...
Upon catching up to the present, we can just about imagine that most of the past three months have been like this. Ruby is a selfless shell, trying to fill in for Yang who was also filling in for Summer. The house is half gone, but it's really nearly empty.
Zwei is actually a pretty good punctuation of how things have gone. And the closest thing to normalcy in the house.
I've got to be honest, I didn't expect that this was how their reunion would go. Then again, my mind was stuck very much in a 'Yang is still around' mode until coming to this point, at which point it felt incredibly natural with how the story and timeskip has developed. Not only does Ruby have a decision of her own weighing down on her, but any anger she might have had for Sunset has probably already gone to her blaming herself for Yang's death. Her admission and expression of grief might be the first time this has happened in months, in particular with how she left Pyrrha and Jaune when they were leaving.
I love that she brings up the note. I would not be mad if that came up every so often as a joke.
There's a lot in this line I like that I could unpack for a while, but I'm just going to say it says a lot about Ruby, where she's at, and her recognition of Sunset.
The storm of emotions going through Tai at Sunset's arrival... well, I guess anger is better than grief, or at least something different to feel? At least until he snaps back into it.
As heartfelt as Susnet and Rubys talk is, my mind always goes back to the banter before Sunset and Pyrrha dueled. Sunset says you can't save everyone, Ruby says you can, and they've both... not exactly proven themselves wrong, but have changed, or been forced to change, almost to a point where they stand at opposite positions. Sunset will save those whom she can save, while Ruby has had to confront that, no, she can't save everyone (not including herself) by virtue of the fact that she blames herself for Yang's death, even if she too stands by her decision.
Such talk makes me think of those that are actually involved in saving lives, and those that don't always succeed, and how hard it can be to come to terms, even how delicate of framing that can be. There was a post on reddit I distinctly remember of a doctor (I think) who had promised to do everything he could to save a man in surgery, but failed, and a commentor described to him how he had fulfilled that promise by making Death fight for it. The turn of perspective from the doctor on having it framed like that seemed to really bring him closer to peace on the matter.
In the same way, Sunset seems to have found her way towards peace with her decision and morality on life, while Ruby has not reached such a point. And while I do read it this way, I know others will read it differently, and that is fine, if not a greatness of the story.
The mugs collection was great. Heartbreaking again, but great, as was Ruby trying to procrastinate on the expected conversation.
I love this. Normally, I'd associate this more in line with Ruby's own mental state reflecting on how she thinks of herself, and while that is true... 'perfect' is a very particular word. Not good, not great, not even fantastic. Perfect is without fault, and is a very Sunset word (if that makes any sense), so it also reflects a bit more to Ruby's own knowledge of Sunset... not that we haven't seen that demonstrated earlier on.
Conviction. Not trial conviction, but conviction in the confidence of making a decision. For all that these two are mirrors of one another from there decisions, I can't help but feel like this is a strong distinction. Both had it, but only one kept and grew her conviction: Sunset (see:turning herself in).
Just realizing this now, but for the first time, Ruby understands sacrifice. Perhaps better than in the main RWBY canon (given Pyrrha is not Yang, and it was more of a defeat than a sacrifice in canon). Given how she believed that 'you can save everyone,' yet discounting herself in that everyone, it's understandable how she wouldn't want to put herself in that spot again. In turn, this could also point that Ruby just kind of grew around Summer's death, rather than learning to grow to accept such a thing.
She and Cinder are going to have some interesting words on mothers in the future.
This is a good inclusion, and is something I didn't see coming but makes complete sense. Also, on the topic of immortals: and
WeissLuna.Snrk. Also, good inclusion of a Snrk line to lighten things up a bit. But still, Snrk.
More to the chapter at hand, Taiyang is fantastically written. It could be seen as a sudden turn, but it reads very naturally to me, being logical and sensical.
Lastly, Ruby's depression is conveyed very well at the end. It's one thing to write a character being down, but you can really feel just how much the weight is keeping her down, even as light and motivation both present themselves to her. There is purpose, but she cannot even decide to pursue it, even with her friend Sunset asking, even with her father's urging. For as much weight we read on her through the whole chapter, the heaviness hangs even on the reader at the end.