章節 1: You Are My Sunshine
The assignment had been simple as they come, and was supposed to be easy as they come as well. Simple little assignment to scout the Emerald Forest's edge, where the forest proper met rolling grassland for a few dozen miles before it met mountainous forests beyond, and plant little black detection devices that would watch for Grimm on the plains entering the forest. The idea was that they could monitor for large herds of Grimm, to keep the forest 'relatively' safe for Initiations.
It also served as a good assignment for first and second years, to let them handle basic scouting and recon duties, and some added combat experience since the devices' batteries had to be replaced yearly. Larger constructs with solar batteries or power systems would attract too much attention. They'd been on the last legs of their trip, almost all of the devices' batteries replaced, and they'd turned towards the last few and their rendevouz with their transport Bullhead, all they'd needed to do was cross a small valley and they'd be home free, with good grades, decent pay and plenty of sweets when Ruby got to head into Vale.
The first Beowolf had surprised Weiss, the small woman tackled under its weight, and Ruby had on instinct spun and fired a round through its flank. The Grimm fell to the side with a whimper and died, and Weiss couldn't even shout about the stupidity of firing a gun before more howls and roars sounded around them, Grimm drawn to the human sounds of a gunshot in an otherwise silent forest.
The ground and air was torn by gunfire, roars, screams of victory and pain when hits landed and drained Aura or bruised them them through it. Beowolves, Creeps and scores of other Grimm swarmed towards them, the girls spreading out and focusing down each enemy as it came while they waited on evac, the Bullhead circling overhead after only a few minutes of the fighting.
It was in this chaotic mess of roars, noise, black smoke and cries of combat both jubilant and pained that caused Ruby to be distracted. No more than anyone else fighting there, but distracted enough that she failed to see the Bullhead tilt away as a Nevermore circled overhead, high in the sky and silently watching the fighting on the ground, small enough not to be spotted by the fighting women. It spied Ruby though, alone and separated, and circled back before anyone could see it as the last of the Grimm began to fall to the Huntresses' attacks, the distracted women failing to notice the small flurry of feathers falling on their leader's position a good distance away. Cheers broke out among the young women as the last Grimm dissolved, their group rejoining and celebrating.
Until they realized their foursome was lacking their fourth and started hurriedly looking for the youngest of their group. It didn't take long to spot the man-sized quills, thinner than a Giant Nevermore's but still the size of spears in and of themselves, and eliminating the offending Grimm was easily done before they started their search among them for Ruby.
It didn't take more than a minute to find the poor thing…
The attack had come from behind and been a surprise, which meant her Aura hadn't been able to protect her. She hadn't been able to raise it. Three separate quills had met their mark, one through her right leg, piercing through flesh and bone as she'd turned and then pinning her to the ground. A second had punched through her left shoulder, tossing Crescent Rose away from the force and pinning her back to the ground. The third and last had pierced through her abdomen as she'd fallen, just below her heart, and the thick shaft had buried deeply in the soft dirt beneath her and the grass she laid on, the green slowly reddening as the girl bled.
"Y-Yang…" She whined, the girl trembling as she forced her head to lift from the ground and looked past the barb in her chest, her head shaking and arm trembling as she reached for the blonde. "I-I made a mistake…"
"Ruby, you're fine, j-just lie still, okay?" Yang was at her side in a moment, knees sinking into the ground a bit as the blood softened it, and Yang was halfway to trying to pull at the shaft when Weiss' hands grabbed hers, red eyes tuning to bore into blue hotly, "The hell, Weiss?"
"You pull those out, she'll bleed out in a few seconds." Weiss explained, kneeling in the mud and letting Ruby rest her head on her lap. She nodded at the one in her abdomen, Blake sitting on Ruby's right and holding her hand gently. "Especially… Especially that one."
"W-Weiss?" Ruby forced out, the Schnee looking at her and forcing a sad smile.
"Shh, Ruby, just relax." She looked past the fuming Yang to the pilot, "Do you have anything that can help?"
He fished out a syringe from his pocket, sighing from behind the helmet, "Just some morphine. In case I crash and the Grimm are coming in, it would… Let me relax." Before they started ripping into him, he left unsaid. "We pull those quills, she bleeds out before we hit the ship. You don't, she'll bleed out in a few minutes. There's… Nothing we can do, except make her comfortable. This'll put her to sleep, and..." He shook his head, the end of that clear.
"Bullshit!" Yang snarled hotly, tears straining at the corners of her eyes, "Vale has hospitals! Doctors, we can… Can replace limbs, for Dust's sake!" Weiss laid a gentle hand on Yang's shoulder where she sat, kneeling in the mud, and she turned, "Weiss, c-can you use your glyphs to… To do something?"
"Winter could, but… I'm not good enough with my semblance." Weiss said sadly, reaching past the blonde to take the syringe. "Could you…"
"I'll be in the ship." He assured, turning to leave as Blake tugged her ribbon free, absent-mindedly and uselessly using it to tourniquet Ruby's leg as best she could. It wouldn't do anything, and everyone knew that, but they let her do it anyways.
"We can't just let her die!" Yang growled as the pilot pushed through the quills, face screwing up in anger and pain and looking between the three. The other two uninjured members of her team, clothes muddy and skin bruised, gave her sad and accepting looks, and Yang made to reach for the quill in her stomach, "Fuck you guys! I'll fucking carry her if I have to, you two can just go to-"
"Yang, i-it's okay." Ruby said weakly, taking the hand that had been holding Blake's and grabbing Yang's forearm as hard as she could. It was weak, her hands small and her grip frail on Yang's powerful arm, but stopped the brawler all the same. "I-I made a mistake… I wasn't paying attention, and…" She grimaced and sniffled, blinking back tears, "I can't even feel it. My stomach or my leg, you know?"
"Her spine…" Weiss murmured weakly, blinking as tears broke and turning her head to dab at her eyes with her sleeves. When she looked back at Yang, lavender eyes looking into blue with pain and confusion, Weiss explained, "If her spine is severed, she… Even Vale wouldn't be able to save her leg, or let her walk again."
"But she'd be alive!" Yang argued weakly, whining it almost and looking down at her sister. "I-I could… We could go back to Patch, with dad, and… And… We could take care of you, Ruby."
"You'd have to g-give up your dreams." Ruby said simply, pulling her sister's arm to her chest and sliding her hand into the blonde's. She smiled sadly, "I… I wouldn't want that. I don't… I don't want anyone to give up their dreams for me."
"But-"
"Yang, please…" Ruby cut in, eyes closing, "My arm… It hurts, please, I don't want to… To spend the time I have before I… Before I d-die, arguing." Yang's mouth clicked shut, hand trembling in her sister's and chest heaving as she fought back a sob. The brunette rubbed the back of her sister's hand with her thumb, smiling sadly, "Please, let me… Let me have the medicine, Yang."
Yang looked between her sister and the syringe held in Weiss' hand, the Schnee smiling bitterly at Yang when she looked to her. After a few seconds, Yang broke, back bowing as she sobbed out a broken, choked, "D-Do it, Weiss…"
"Okay." She leaned over Ruby's head, ponytail laying down from her shoulder, "You'll… You'll feel a pinch in your neck, okay?" Ruby nodded eagerly, the pain from her shoulder more than enough to overwhelm the slight prick she felt in her neck as the needle was pushed in. Ruby sighed as it started to do its work, the medicine strong and concentrated more than enough for someone who barely even used painkillers. "I-Is that… Better?"
"Yes, I…" Ruby let her eyes close and sighed, nuzzling her partner's legs almost comfortably. Or as comfortably as someone in her position could be, at least. "It doesn't hurt as much… Thank you… It's making me sleepy already. I-I didn't think it would be so… So fast."
"It's…" Blood loss, Weiss almost said, stopping and swallowing instead, "Normal. That's some s-strong medicine. I'm not surprised it's acting so fast," she forced a smile, strained and fake as it was, and Ruby returned one sleepily, "especially for someone so… So small, like you."
"You're shorter than me, silly." Ruby argued weakly, looking at Yang, the blonde's head bowed and shoulder hunched while she stared at Ruby's hand held in both of her own like a lifeline. "Y-Yang?"
The blonde looked up at her, eyes watery and red already and tracks in her makeup and the dirt from their mission lining her face. "I-I'm scared, Yang, can you… Can you sing for me? Like when I had… Had nightmares, when I was little? Y-You know my favorite one..."
Yang nodded, taking a breath, and looking at Weiss while the Schnee ran her hands through her partner's hair, straightening it and playing with it gently and soothingly. Taking in a deep breath, Yang started to sing. Her voice was weak, croaky, broken and pained, but Ruby didn't care and let her eyes close to listen.
"Y-You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You m-make me happy, when skies are gray."
The blonde choked back a sob, and Weiss joined in when she started again, the Schnee's voice lilting even as broken and pained as it sounded, her eyes closed and hands on Ruby's shoulders at the base of her neck, feeling the girl under her's breath.
"You never know dear, how much I love you.
So, please don't take my sunshine away."
Weiss could feel her partner's breaths becoming weaker, and Blake could see the paleness in her face, the ground muddy and grass reddened around them as her friend's blood flowed freely.
"The other night dear, as I lay sleeping.
I dreamt I held you in my arms.
But when I woke dear, I was mistaken.
So I hung my head, and I cried."
Weiss took a breath, and Ruby barely felt the tear drops run down the Schnee's face and land on her cheeks. When the two took a breath, Blake grimaced and joined in as well, her voice weak and untrained and strained just like the others, but se saw Ruby smile when she heard it and heard her murmur, "So pretty…"
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy, when skies are grey.
You never know dear, how much I love you.
So please, don't take, my sunshine away."
"Weiss…" Ruby murmured weakly, almost too quiet for them to hear. "T-Take care of Zwei, h-he loves you…" Weiss murmured an 'Of course, dolt.' and they continued singing for her, the girl humming, "Thank you…"
"I'll always love you, and make you happy.
If you will only… Say the same.
But if you leave me, to love another…
You'll regret it, one day."
Yang felt her sister's hand go limp in her own and clutched at it weakly, and Weiss felt her breathing slow and eventually stop, but they continued for her. For her spirit and her heart, and for themselves just as much, as their voices broke and the dams behind their walls gave way to their tears. On the other side of the quills, the pilot sat with his eyes closed, singing along with them quietly.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy, when skies are grey.
You never know dear, how much I love you…
So please, don't take, my sunshine away…."
When the trio finally stopped, they broke down entirely, clutching at Ruby's still form and crying... Above them, the sky turned grey as a storm rolled in at last and a chill rain began to patter down around them. As though the gods themselves were weeping, but the girls didn't care.
Their little sunshine had gone away.
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