(RWBY) Black: The Color Of Wilted Roses

The Return of the Beautiful, Part I

[Weiss]

How long have I been out?

Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the ambient light shining through my eyelids - it would be a while before I'll adjust. I tried to get up so I could close the curtains, but I was practically immobilized by my pain if I did anything more than a mere sit up. Grabbing my chest, I weathered the agony, lest I show weakness to whoever was near. Fortunately, the pain subsided quickly.

Now then, just where was I? Where's Ruby?

I tried recounting the prior events... but all I could remember was a bloodbath. Bodies as far as I could see, and many people died... by Ruby's hands.

Our hands. You know how eager you were to defend her, even though she started this.

I shook my head. I remembered seeing Ruby carve a bloody path through the streets in vivid detail. I laid there, mentally leafing through the memories inside my consciousness to see everything as if it just happened. Ruby fought for her life and almost lost it to...

...Blake. That I remember very well.

I tried to save Ruby. I'm certain I did, with the bullet hole in my chest. But that's all I know. First came the shock, and now I'm here.

I looked around the room. The place had a dark, almost malevolent, aesthetic, with everything either violet or scarlet upon black. While observing, I heard a sound beside me.

"...It's you," I whispered.

And here was Ruby, dressed in black and covered in blood, sweat, grime, and who-knows-what else. She looked like a mess, and smelled like ten. Any other moment I'd scold her for sleeping without bathing, the heathen. Disgusting.

What am I to do now? I can't go anywhere until she wakes. I sighed in annoyance, looking around the room, my overly-wrapped body (Were they trying to make a corset with these bandages? Ugh.), and Ruby.

Well, just waiting is futile. I'm exploring.

Carefully, I snuck out of bed and tentatively started walking. The room housed four doors: one leading to a dark hall, the other to a balcony, another to a kitchen, and the last, a bathroom. The room itself was almost excessively large - it'd be more regal if the colors weren't so vile and dark.

Feeling stuffy, I walked to the balcony to get some fresh air. I leaned on the rails, closing my eyes and feeling the cool air hit my face.

Then I opened my eyes.

My vision was greeted by hundreds - literal hundreds - of Grimm, just roaming these blasted, gloomy hellscapes that I would assume surround this property. They were dark, but their distinctively angular dark silhouettes were all I needed to know.

"Oh no," I whispered out loud to myself. "This isn't..."

Salem's hideaway, I thought. Of course Ruby took me here. It's why I'm alive, and why Ruby's here, and... I need to sit down.

"You woke up sooner than I expected."

I spun around in panic at the hoarse, dry voice addressing me.

It was Ruby, standing maybe a whole meter in front of me. She stared at me with worry and fear through distraught eyes, with her red, veiny sclera surrounding her stark silver irises. It was almost chilling. Was this really you?

Don't pretend you don't know. You know she's damaged. Broken. You're holding onto a false ideal, thinking that this is who you truly love. A liar. A murderer. An animal.