What Remains ~ RWBY

Part 1

Ruby's P.O.V
There's a peacefulness in the silence. A calm that wraps you up like a blanket when you've been thrown into the void. I've never feared the unknown. The last three years that has been the only constant thing in my life. But this is different. When I was young, my father told me stories of heroes, fighting against the darkest of evil and living happily ever after. But the stories always seemed to end before I could see what those happily ever afters truly looked like, how much the heroes lost along the way. The evil is gone now. The world is safe, and so they move on with their lives unaware of the danger that had been conspiring against them for so long. For some, its not so simple. People like us don't ever stop fighting. But with the enemy's all conquered, we seek a new evil to dedicate our lives to defeating.

Sometimes, all we have to do to find it, is look in the mirror.

I jolt awake in a cold sweat. The images still dance in my head, her voice is ringing in my ears. I don't even bother to wipe the tears from my stained cheeks. Although I am surprised I have any tears left at all. I stare down at my hands, knuckles clenching the sheets so tightly they've turned an even more sickly shade of white. I sigh and swing my legs out of bed. One day at a time.

I walk out of my room only to be met with silence. The sun has only just begun to peek out from behind the horizon, sending pink hues shooting up through the sky, and the rest of the house is still sleeping peacefully. I wonder if they too have nightmares, if the memories ever scratch and claw at their minds until the only way to block out the noise is to scream into the darkness. I know they suffer, at least that's what they tell me. That's why we're all still here, together, and yet I cant escape the feeling that the company benefits me far more than it does them. I pour myself a cup of coffee and blow on it gently as I walk into the lounge room. A silhouette is sitting silently on the sofa and I freeze, wondering whether or not she had failed to notice me and I could retreat back to my room in peace.

"Hey," Yang says gently. Shit, I guess not.

"Hey," I reply, sitting down beside her and resting my head on her shoulder.

"Can't sleep?" she asks. It's an innocent enough question, but we both already know the answer. I haven't been able to sleep for the past three months, and Yang's the only one who knows the real reason why. She sighs and wraps her arm around me comfortingly.

"I know what you're going through Rubes, and it's going to be ok. You just have to trust me on this one."

It's true. She knows exactly what I'm going through, because she's done it all before. I find myself staring at her arm, the metal scratched and still in need of repair. It's been three months since everything went down, but with Ironwood still in recovery I doubt that Yang would be getting a replacement anytime soon. 

"Is it still the same dream?"

I nod, grimly. It's always the same. The images flash in my mind and I cringe. I've been living with Pyrrhas voice in my head since the day we lost her.

"Ruby," Yang turns to face me, forcing me to look her in the eye, "There's nothing you could've done. You have to know that."

I nod, and there's a part of me that knows she's right. But I'm not in the mood to dive into it right now. I don't know if I ever will be. So I just tuck my head under her arm and sip on my coffee as the sky fades into a beautiful orange. The world really is incredible, in all its vibrant colours and bold mountains. And the apartment gives us views of it all, that's why we chose it. That and the fact that its only a block away from Beacon where we spend most of our time these days. With the war over, and nothing much left for us and JNR to do, Qrow decided we should start rebuilding the school. I think he knew how much we needed purpose again. A distraction. None of us have been the same since we defeated Salem, none of us are living the happily ever after we were promised. So we chose top stay together, since it's the only thing we really know how to do. It's helped I think, in small ways. Sometimes, hearing another persons voice and knowing that they're here, safe, is all I need to stop reliving the memories over and over.