(RWBY) Black: The Color Of Wilted Roses

The Red in the Sky, The Season to Come - Part II

"Nora, no!"

As Ruby disappeared in a flash of black petals, Ren ran to Nora's limp body, cradling her in his arms.

"She did nothing wrong!" In a fit of blind rage, Jaune attacked Ruby, swinging his sword in a wide sweep. She dodged, stepping back and knocked him down in one hit, breaking his nose. Jaune barely had time to grab his nose before ruby crashed the blunted end of her weapon into his head,knocking him out.

Meanwhile, in the midst of Tyrian's constant kiting-and-evading of team SSSN, Neo flashed from the shadows and joined Tyrian's battle. She shot a barrage of rounds that struck Sage in his shoulders, sending him crashing into Neptune and completely disorganizing the team.

Tyrian seperated Sun from the rest of the group, the latter clutching his staff firmly.

"So'" Tyrian said, "You think you're quite the hotshot, huh?" He extended his tail. "Let's see what happens once they burn out."

Sun could tell by the malicious grin that he met his end, and with everyone else preoccupied in their own struggles, he had to meet his fate head on.

Yang was busy attempting to recover from her loss, she stared at the desolate field, and the circle of barely-detectable Grimm that was slowly advancing the group.

It seemed as if hope was fading.

[Ren]

My team was already out of the fight, team SSSN was nowhere to be found, and Yang was breaking down. Blake was catatonic. I seemed to be the only one left to fight. I looked down at Nora in my arms, gently brushing her hair back.

"I love you," I whispered. I set her down on the ground.

"Ruby!"

She spun in my direction, weapon in hand. "No matter what happens, I won't look for revenge!"

She said nothing in return, shooting back a wholly-malevolent gaze.

I drew StormFlower and fired at Ruby. She dodged each bullet, and closed in, swiping at me with her scythe; I blocked hard. I could sense her movements, and she knew it. We clashed again a few more times before I noticed a black spot on her shoulder.

She must've noticed my gaze, because she angled the spot away from me; I flanked her and shot at it anyway. Ruby blocked with Crescent Rose, letting the bullets deflect off of the blade.

As we fired at each other, we slowly started moving away from the others, heading to an area marked by dead trees. I kicked between two large trunks and gained the higher ground, raining down bullets on Ruby's position while she dodged and weaved through my shots. She kicked up and slashed at the tree I was on, tanking many of my point-blank shots with her aura. I jumped back, landing on another rickety branch.

Ruby flipped the scythe over and unloaded buckshot on my position, tearing my branch apart a little faster than expected, and leaving me falling to the ground.

I recovered on my feet, reloading and leaving myself open to a melee attack.

"Y'know," Ruby began, still standing on the tree branch, "I don't know why, but I expected you to say something. Maybe something about-"

I opened fire for a moment, provoking her into a fit of rage. Ruby jumped off and slashed aggressively; I leaped out of the way and aimed squarely for her exposed shoulder.

She screeched and hit the ground, gripping her shoulder. A black liquid started oozing out her shoulder and covered her hand. Exactly as I thought, I thought to myself, It's Grimm blood. She started right at me, her dark red irises back to silver, but foggy and filling with tears. I didn't want to fight her, much less hurt her, but if it is the way we must reconcile things, then so be it.

Her lips moved as if she was whispering something. Suddenly, the Grimm that circled us before began charging at me.

I looked left, then right. At least the others are safe from their gazes. I reloaded and began firing.

The sneakier members were able to be dispatched by a quick throat slash, and the mid range Grimm were almost deceptively easy to take out with just bullets. But still, as they got closer, I felt my strength fading faster and faster. I hacked and carved my way out of the hoard, but they followed me relentlessly. I concentrated on tracking down Ruby, who was holding her arm.

With a look of surprise at my continued survival, she whispered some sort of incantation, and all the Grimm stopped hunting me. One walked over to her, trembling, and in a morbid act of desperation, she bit its neck, forcing black blood to pour out all over her, healing her wound. I felt slightly squeamish; surely if the others were watching, they wouldn't feel any better.

Now I understood. This isn't Ruby anymore; I have to take her out, no matter the cost.

In the distance I saw Jaune approaching; I signaled him away; If I die, then the others should take the hint to retreat. If we both die... that's one less person to protect Ironwood, and - the way I see it - Remnant itself.

"Ruby," I began, perching one leg on a boulder, "You may never return from your path of evil."

She looked at me quizzically, her face buried in torn flesh.

"But I won't give you satisfaction from killing me. Even as your blade pierces the rungs of my rib cage, I will never scream, nor cry, nor suffer for your enjoyment. You are no more sentient than an insect, or a fish, or a bird. You are a creature of darkness, and such, I will fight you as such."

Her stare morphed into a glare. Hopefully my plan is working.

"You are Grimm. And I'm here to vanquish Grimm."

Ruby ceased engorging herself and gave her creatures the signal to resume attacking. She leaped from the carcass and raised Crescent Rose in the air.

"I can feel, Ren! I can think, and I know what's right for me!" I could see her tears flying off her face.

It worked perfectly.

I stepped out the way at the last moment, holding my blade out and slashing her abdomen with it. I fired and only stopped when a beowulf came too close for comfort.

I dodged and ran, sliding under a toppled trunk that the beowulf crashed through, stunning it. With StormFlower I fired at the head, exposing its cranium and blowing its face apart.

The Grimm started pouring out in droves after that; I could hear some of the others fighting, particularly Yang's punctual cries. However, they weren't in any close proximity to me. After a while, they backed off and formed a tight circle around me; Ruby jumped in and shot me, reducing my aura to nearly nothing, and opened a large gash on my back.

Falling to my knees, I was at her complete mercy. Weak from blood loss, I felt my body shutting down.

"You fought well, Lie Ren," Ruby said, creeping closer to me as she held he abdomen . "Now you can die with the rest of them." She rose her weapon. "Goodbye, old friend." Crescent Rose carved into my chest, tearing deep into my left arm and cracking my clavicle. I hit the ground, feeling myself going into shock. 

Looks like this is goodbye, Nora. We had a good run while it lasted.

[so its been awhile, i know, sorry about that. but i got one more chapter heading your way. :D]