Gambol Shroud felt foreign in Weiss’ hand– alien, strange. As Ruby said; weapons were an extension of oneself, so using someone else’s was supposed to feel a bit weird. She pushed through it, wielding Blake’s weapon alongside Myrtenaster. She wasn’t used to dual wielding, Weiss had tried when she was younger, inspired by Winter’s weapons. She’d given it up in place of Myrtenaster, which felt like an extension of Weiss’ very soul. But it didn’t help soothe the pit that had grown in her stomach. Still, as the last living member of Team RWBY, Weiss trudged onwards, deflecting Cinder’s claws with Gambol Shroud.
Weiss’ eyes burned with tears that she refused to let fall, not in front of Cinder, and certainly not while Penny lay dying on the floor just a few feet away. Cinder formed two flaming swords made out of strong glass and swung. Weiss took a quick backstep, and used Myrtenaster to parry the blade that came too close while the other passed by, air whistling off the blade.
She took a stepped, swinging Gambol Shroud in an attempt to part Cinder’s neck, but the corrupt Maiden met Blake’s weapon with her own and continued her offense.
The white haired girl was slowing down. Energy sapped from the constant fighting and regenerating her depleting Aura. Cinder swung again and again with a sadistic grin plastered on her scarred face.
Weiss struggled to parry each strike. Her grip on Gambol Shroud loosening as fatigue sat in.
“No!” Weiss’ eyes widened in horror as she felt Blake’s weapon fall from her hand and over the bridge they stood on. She attempted to summon a glyph, to save the only piece of Blake left, but her overtaxed aura failed her. As she used Myrtenaster to block both of Cinder’s swords at once, below her, Gambol Shroud fell haplessly into the whipping void, never to be seen again.
A strike slipped past Weiss’ defense and smashed into the heiress's head with the pommel.. She crashed into the ground, vision blurring and head ringing. Nauseous.
Weiss stumbled onto her feet, gripping Myrtenaster tighter. She spotted Cinder’s blurred form take a few casual steps towards her, savoring her imminent victory.
A pained scream came from Jaune’s direction. Jaune had been taking care of a downed Penny after Cinder had wounded her. Weiss turned her head, her braided hair whipping around, and saw the blond boy standing over the orange haired girl. Blood dripped from Crocea Mors.
Penny’s blood.
Penny's body lay motionless beside Jaune who had tears falling into the pooling blood beneath him. Weiss felt her own tears slide along her face. Another friend, gone. Because of Cinder.
Because of Jaune.
Cinder screamed and launched herself toward Jaune, evidently keen on what exactly? Revenge for her kill being stolen? Because Jaune prevented her from stealing the Winter Maiden’s power? It made sense, and Weiss wished she could have taken advantage of the moment, but she was too damn exhausted.
The metal of Jaune's shield absorbed Cinder's attack, before throwing her off. Cinder flipped in the air landing into a crouch as she summoned another of her glass swords.
She charged– a deep snarl on her face that reminded Weiss of a hungry Beowolf.
Despite using Myrtensaster to stand, her legs gave out underneath her. Her vision dimmed.
“Where did it go?!” Cinder screamed. Weiss thought there was a hint of fear in there. Still, the noise was enough for her sight to return slightly. Her eyes opened to the sight of the Maiden jerking around. Their eyes met.
Cinder looked away and Weiss couldn't help but feel insulted at the ease of which Cinder rejected her. A beam of blue energy slammed itself into the dark haired woman, crushing her back onto the bridge.
“Winter!” Weiss’ cheered. Her sister was here! And she had the power of the Winter Maiden! Winter flew through the air, her blue aura shimmering around her as she glared at Cinder.
Weiss closed her eyes, a deep breath in. Then out. She could feel the combat rumble along the bridge. She planted her hands on the ground and pushed upward, her shaky legs struggling to stay under her, but the third try with Myrtensaster was enough to get her on her feet.
She ignored the fight high above and stumbled toward Jaune, who stared listlessly at Penny's remains.
Weiss placed a shaky hand on Jaune's shoulder. “We need to leave, now,” Weiss said in her Ruby-termed ‘Heiress Voice'. With Cinder distracted by Winter, they could escape with Winter behind them, hopefully leaving Cinder trapped.Jaune nodded stone faced and tear stained. They each gave Penny’s fallen body a final look before Jaune helped Weiss trudged toward the hopeful exit.
They could see the Vacuoan desert on the other side of the nearest portal. “Just a few more feet, Jaune. And than–”
Weiss let go of Jaune as she looked behind at the growing whirring noise, heat, and light. Weiss stumbled behind Jaune who threw up his shield. The ball of fire exploded on contact. Weiss fell onto her back as the heat burned what was left of her aura.
A crack rang in her ears.
She turned her head. A chunk of white and yellow metal had slammed into the bridge underneath her. Steam from the metal clouded her vision.
Light illuminated underneath her, and despite the smoke in her eyes, she couldn't help but widen them as another crack rang out. One she felt.
“Weiss!”
She heard her name screamed by two different voices over the ringing in her head. She rolled over onto her knees, ignored the growing cracks, and looked up. Behind the smoke she could make out another of Cinder’s fireballs.
Weiss scrambled back. Too slow. Too late. She felt the heat slam into the ground and envelope her feet and legs as the force sent her careening through the air.
“Weiss!”
She looked up, and saw her sister flying towards her. Dodging glass swords and fire balls launched her way.
“Weiss!” Her sister screamed as she came to an abrupt stop.
Winter’s beautiful, glowing, ice blue eyes and tear stricken face were the final things she saw as the darkness of the void swallowed her whole.
-*-*-
Weiss felt warm, as if someone wrapped a blanket around her very soul. She felt at peace, safe and secure, like a child that was being guided by their parents, not that Weiss had much experience with that. She couldn’t remember the last time either of her parents willingly held her hand.
“She’s strong in the force.” An unfamiliar voice whispered into Weiss’ ear, causing her brow to furrow. She was exhausted, which made opening her eyes feel impossible. Someone was carrying her as they walked, Weiss could feel every step.
That was weird, Weiss always knew that she was a bit on the shorter side, but to easily be carried in someone's arms was kinda insulting. If it was Yang, Weiss was going to make her pay, especially if the blonde had taken off her prosthetic arm. Allowing her body to relax, Weiss finally managed to open her eyes after a few seconds of concentration.
It nearly blinded her with how bright the world was. She blinked a few times to help her eyes adjust as she tried moving her arms. Weiss felt them wiggle, but they were firmly held at her side, something soft was wrapped around her body. Her eyes finally adjusted, allowing Weiss to look up at whoever was taking her captive.
She stared up at a figure with deep blue skin with two tentacles sprouting out from the back of their head. The alien had a feminine, narrow face, which looked down on Weiss with bright pink eyes. They formed a small smile which revealed their pearly white teeth.
“Hello youngling.” The same voice from earlier spoke again. The blue alien was holding Weiss like she was a baby, which was weird, she wasn’t that short! Where were the others?! They had fallen into the void first, they should’ve been here! Weiss’ eyes widened slightly as they started to tear up.
Weiss needed answers, and she wanted them now. She opened her mouth to spout out a retort, but no intelligible sound came out.
“Wahhhhhhhh!” Weiss cried like a baby, her words not forming correctly. What was going on here!? She must’ve been going insane. Y-Yeah, this was all a dream, a bad dream straight out of Jaune's comic fantasies.
The blue alien wiped her tears away lightly with her thumb, and shushed Weiss’ cries away, her soul once again feeling like it was being wrapped in a blanket like the one that held her captive.
“Hush little one, you’re home now.” The blue alien whispered low enough that only Weiss could hear. Weiss also heard a door slide open, with the blue alien stepping into a dark room. The stranger laid Weiss on what must’ve been a bed, as the white haired girl stared at her in confusion.
This was the weirdest thing that had ever happened in her relatively short life.
“You’ll make a fine Jedi one day.” The Alien caressed Weiss’ cheek, leaving her even more confused.
What’s a Jedi? That just made her want to cry even more.
“Waahhhh!”
A/N
First half was reused from TINO, in case you were wondering if you read it before.
I'm just publishing this at the same time as A Song of Weiss and Fire, to show that I’ll still be writing RWBY stories even if RT got shut down.
And it’s a competition, WOTOR vs ASOWAF, whichever is more popular shall be updated next, after a quick Hero or Huntress update.
Let’s see who wins!