Red Like Roses

Hunted

Ruby ran through the forest until she couldn't hear the sound of the thumping music from the dance. When she couldn't hear a single thing, she stopped and hunched over, grabbing her side in pain. She had broke two of her ribs when she had pulled out the spear.

She pulled her hand from the wound to find it completely covered in blood.

"Shit." Ruby said as she slumped to the ground, exhausted. Her voice was hoarse from disuse, she had no reason to speak with people and she never spoke to the thugs of the small village she was raised in. It was an oddity if Ruby spoke to anyone.

Her breathing was laboured and she felt a hiss in when she breathed in. A punctured rib was added to her growing list of injuries.

A twig snapped in the distance, causing Ruby to stand, ignoring the pain in in her side. The sound of twigs and rustling grew closer and closer. Ruby could hear three distinct heart beats.

Ruby started to run, her semblance exhausted. The heart beats grew closer, almost in the range of her sight.

"Over here! The blood is warmer!" A female voice shouted from the darkness.

Ruby leaned on a tree, waiting for the three pursuers. It only took about a second for them to appear, first a girl with blonde hair, then a girl with a black bow and lastly, a girl with a white saber and a scar on her face. They froze, not expecting to find such a small girl.

Ruby coughed, bringing up a little blood. The blonde punched her fists together and flames surrounded her. She smiled, "I'm going to guess that you're the one who bit Pyrrah's wrist. Come with us peacefully and you might live."

Ruby glared at the blonde for talking to her like a child. The one with the black bow, a faunus from what Ruby could smell, scolded the blonde, "She is not a child, she is probably about our age."

The scarred one sighed, "Really? We're here to arrest her and you are having a conversation about her age?"

Ruby stared at them. For people who are here to arrest me, they sure are ridiculous.

The blonde, seeming to have heard her thoughts, turned her attention back to Ruby. "We are Huntresses in training and I am Yang Xiao Long." She motioned to the faunus, "This is Blake Belladonna." She nodded towards the one with a scar, "And this is Weiss Schnee. Mind telling us your name?"

Ruby stayed silent, except for the coughing of blood. She had to wait for an opportunity to make an escape, but she had to do it quickly or be knocked out by blood loss.

Blake looked at Ruby,"Yang, I think she is going to die if we don't get her help, soon."

Yang nodded and took a step towards Ruby. Ruby took a step back, hating the touch of people, no, she didn't hate it, she just hated how people burned her skin when they touched her. Ruby stepped back from the tree, causing her to fall due to the weakening from the lack of blood.

Yang took another step closer, reaching her hand out to help Ruby up.

Ruby saw her chance and grabbed the girl's outstretched hand, yanking her down on to Ruby.

"Yang!" The other girls shouted as she went down.

Ruby snatched Yang's right arm and tore her teeth into her flesh. Yang screamed and punched Ruby in the face. Even with Yang beating her, Ruby grew stronger from the sustenance that came from the flesh. Her wounds began to heal and she was not so weak. She decided that Yang tasted spicy and let go of her, disliking it, she preferred sweetness when she ate.

"Yang! Are you okay?" Blake knelt down next to the injured Yang, while Weiss readied her saber, pointing it at Ruby's throat.

"I'm fine, I just need to bind it so I don't lose a bunch of blood. It hurts like hell." Yang's arm was dripping blood, staining her clothing and her gauntlet on that hand.

Ruby stood up, mostly healed, but sore. She did not want to have a confrontation while she was still healing, so she ran, using her semblance, into the forest.

"Run! We need to get her!" Ruby heard Yang yelling.

"We need to get you to a doctor, we'll catch her later." Blake's voice was nearly faded in the distance as Ruby ran towards her hide out.

Ruby continued in a sprint, knowing that she would die if she did not reach the cave in time. Her vision began to swim with ink like blackness as she began to stumble over tree roots and branches. She grew within twenty feet of the cave, sure she was going to make it, when suddenly, she tripped and face planted onto the ground. She tried to stand, but she had no more strength or drive left in her body.

Ruby lay there, staring at the ground as she lost consciousness. She didn't hear the footsteps coming towards her, nor did she see the woman who picked her up and began to carry her.