Epitaph

Chapter 3

Okay... we are in the final stretch of this story, practically in the penultimate chapter, I hope you enjoy it.

By the way, I changed the title of the story to - Epitaph- , I felt it was more in line with how the story goes, I hope I don't cause problems to all my readers.

The sun was beginning its slow descent into the horizon, painting the sky with a palette of golden, orange and pink hues. Its rays stretched over the - New Republic- city, illuminating the buildings and bathing the cityscape in a warm, parting light. In the midst of this scene, a chapel stood in the center of the city.

Inside the chapel, a lone figure stood near a tall window on the second floor of the building. It was a quiet, sacred place, with polished wooden pews and colorful stained glass windows that let in the evening light, tinting the space with soft, ethereal hues.

The person, wrapped in a dark jacket, was absorbed in contemplation of the horizon. Her blue eyes were lost in the majesty of the setting sun, while the breeze played with her whitish hair. It was a moment of peace and connection with the ephemeral beauty that surrounded her... a sad beauty that she contemplated alone, apparently loneliness was the fate of a Schnee, it will always catch up with them no matter what they do.

Those blue eyes watched as people tried to enter the building calmly, many to give their beloved condolences... everyone wanted to say goodbye to a heroine of a time gone by, in the distance I heard the priest give some words of farewell.

-Dear brothers and sisters... today we sadly gather to say goodbye to a person who could only be described as a pure soul at her best, a hunter, a heroine, but above all a person to be admired... Ruby Rose gave her all so that we could be sitting here - Weiss' fists clenched with every word he heard, he did his best to undermine the noise and concentrate on something else... anything that would not remind him of the sad reality that Ruby was now with the rest of her team

Weiss closed her eyes, allowing the last rays of sunlight to caress her face. A sigh escaped her lips as she absorbed the serenity that only the sunset could offer her in these situations. Although it really wasn't helping in the face of the torment brewing in her mind.

Melancholy gripped Weiss as her gaze remained lost in the fire-tinged horizon. As the sun slowly sank, a lump formed in her throat, reminding her of Ruby's absence from her life. The priest's words echoed in her mind, speaking of the accomplishments and sacrifice Ruby had made in all her years as a hunter, but none of it mitigated the emptiness that now dwelled in her heart.

The muffled sounds of people entering the chapel faded in her mind as she became immersed in her own thoughts and memories. She saw Ruby in her mind, brave and passionate, with her reaper's scythe and red cloak billowing in the wind. Not only her, her mind formed images of how she was embraced by Blake and Yang in a beautiful forest, without noticing, she extended her right arm trying to reach that image and join them in what was undoubtedly a warm embrace... but reality is cruel, it always has been, because when she was about to reach them they disappeared, only to be replaced by the window in front of her, a sob escaped from Weiss' mouth, in her 90 years of life, she had never felt so old as now -Why did you leave Ruby? her head leaned back against the window

The priest pronounced the last words of farewell and those present rose from their seats, ready to say their last goodbye to Ruby. She sincerely did not want to go down... she knew that as soon as she said goodbye the situation would be real, at least this way she could imagine that this was a cruel dream from which she would soon wake up... she was sure that as soon as she opened her eyes she would see her companion lying on her chest while she hummed some melody in that hospital bed.