149

Black Rose Blooms Silver by CyberQueen_Jolyne

Chapter 149

Chapter Text

"It's almost easy to just think they're still out in Atlas, y'know? Every day, it's like… I know they're gone, but I keep thinking to myself… what if we just act normal? What if we just pretend that they'll be back soon? What if we just… what if pretending that things are just like they were before everything went to hell brought them back? Made everyone forget that things aren't the same anymore?" Ruby muttered, curling up against Cinder's side and sitting alone with her eldest sister for the first time in… a while now. Things had been busy, even before Ruby had fallen into a coma for a year, and Cinder's emotions- everyone in Team CMNE's emotions were a wreck. Including Oscar, though he was staying in the Emerald Tower with Uncle Qrow and Professor Goodwitch at the moment, and she hadn't really met the guy yet.

She hoped he was friendly… it was still weird that he had Professor Ozpin's soul in his head, though.

"I keep hoping they'll come back too, pupper," Cinder sighed, grimacing as she held Ruby against her while they stared out over Beacon's campus, having taken a seat in the highest, most private area they could find that wasn't her father's office. "I watched them fall… They haven't come back yet. I… It was like they just vanished . Their Auras didn't break, it didn't feel like they had died, they just… disappeared from my awareness. Like they hit the edge of my sensing range and kept going. I watched them… fall into the depths below the Vault's fog. I saw them go into the darkness- I just…"

She shook her head, and as Ruby shifted into her puppy form, Cinder scooped her sister into her lap and held onto her as though she were a large pillow instead of a dog shaped mass of purest annihilation. 

"I'm sorry I couldn't save your friends, Ruby. I tried really, really hard. I couldn't… I thought I'd be enough but I wasn't . I failed again- I couldn't protect you, I couldn't protect Yang, I couldn't protect Team JNPR, I couldn't protect Professor Goodwitch, I couldn't- I'm just…" Cinder sighed, grimacing as she fought back her own tears. Normally she'd be confiding in Neo with this kind of thing, the two of them commiserating in their own issues as they helped each other recover from the things that made them distraught. But… Team JNPR was Team RWBYP's sister team, just like Team CFVY was still Team CMNE's sister team. A largely useless categorization just used to describe teams that stuck together closer than one might expect, but it was… bonds were important. And Cinder had failed to protect the bonds her sister had made. What kind of a big sis was she? And she couldn't even keep up a happy act to try and forget about the incident- not when she was right there. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry… I wish things were different… I wish- maybe if it had been me ins-"

"Don't. Never say that again. Never say that it should have been you instead. Cinder- you're my sister. I miss Team JNPR every single day now- I've missed them since we learned what happened, but I wouldn't ever wish it was you who took their place. You're family. And… I don't think Team JNPR would have wanted you to take their place, not when you say that you were getting as close as actual family near the end," Ruby shook her head as she bumped her noggin against Cinder's, driving the thought from her sister's mind with a bap of a paw. "I'm… I get it. I know how you feel. I literally do know how you feel. And… You already blame yourself enough for it. Maybe you think you could have done more, maybe you think you could have saved them, and maybe you tried your hardest and failed… but it at least matters that, when it happened, you all tried to save them. You cared enough to help them, you cared enough to go with them while Team RWBYP was in recovery and wasn't capable of moving anywhere. I just… it sucks. They're gone and we don't know if they're alive or dead and they're… they're not here . We don't know if they'll ever come back or if we'll ever figure out what happened to them… but you tried. And…"

Ruby sighed, sniffling quietly as she shook her head and shifted back to her human form so she could properly nuzzle and hug her sister as her cape entwined the both of them together. "At least you came back. At least you tried to save them. It's not really better for their families or anything, but… you did what you could, and as much as we all wish we could turn back time, all we can do is keep moving forward and not let the things that are Salem's fault drive us away pointing fingers."

Cinder sighed, wrapping her arms around her sister and sniffling just as much as Ruby- tears forming in her eyes and instantly vaporizing as her Aura flared up, an oppressive heat filling the area as she let herself just feel.

"When did you get so wise, lil pupper?" Cinder asked mildly, holding onto Ruby and continuing to sniffle and tremble ever so slightly for a few more minutes before shaking her head and letting go of the hug- the temperatures around them dipping back down to normal as she settled back down and her emotions calmed themselves. "How's the rest of your team handling things? Is Yang okay? She hasn't really said anything to me and she looks pretty upbeat but… I don't know. She and I still have problems with bottling things up, y'know?"

"She's… hurting. We all are. Penny and I- we're handling things alright. We were separated and Penny was doing a lot and I was in a coma so I guess we're separated from everything in the first place… even if we both wish we could have helped out. Yang and Blake and Weiss… I think they're feeling guilty for basically taking a vacation down to Menagerie, even if they were down there the whole time specifically to meet with the White Fang and stuff," Ruby explained slowly, mulling over her words as her ears twitched and she subconsciously started keeping track of everyone present in the school. "I've been trying to help, but… I think they need to work it out between themselves first before I can really step in beyond just giving them hugs. And… we've still gotta handle, y'know… Jaune and Pyrrha's family. I… I don't know what we could say to them…"

"I wish I knew what I was going to say to Jaune's parents… they never wanted him to be a Huntsman at all. That he died in the line of duty fighting people he wasn't ready to face… they'd be right to hate us, I think," Cinder muttered with a grimace, wincing at the thought of actually dealing with the extended Arc family- though, she'd heard tell from Jaune before everything went to shit that his sisters supported him more than his parents did, and that Sapphron at least was proud that he was a hero in training. 

Whether or not that would stick in the face of everything that had happened… Cinder didn't know. Pyrrha's family, though… would they understand the realities of living with a Huntress daughter? Would they understand how fast loss could consume entire families? She didn't know. She hoped they would understand, if only so Cinder wouldn't have to get yelled at by two sets of distraught parents.

"They might. I hope they don't, but… Team JNPR is gone and everything about Jaune's situation was partially all of our responsibilities," Ruby grumbled, knowing exactly how badly things could go. "Team RWBYP trained him, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren were there by his side, you and the others were with him all the way through Mistral and Atlas… If his parents hated all of us for supporting Jaune's dream…"

"They can hate us. We did what we thought was right. We did what Jaune thought was right. He…" Cinder clenched her fist and looked to the side. "We all walked our chosen paths and we all accepted each other's help. Jaune never said anything about turning back, never once gave a thought to giving up and running away. I- we…. He's gone, JNPR is gone, but…"

"We have to live, if only so we can see things through and hope that, at the end, we save the planet and make it a place where their loss wasn't in vain," Ruby finished, nodding to herself as she hugged Cinder one last time before letting go and clambering back next to her sister, careful of the long drop below them. "So stop beating yourself up, okay? I'll stop beating myself up, and we'll go beat up that bitch Salem for all the trouble she's caused us."

".... When did you start swearing?" Cinder blinked in surprise, doing a double take at Ruby's sudden harsh language. "I thought you hated it!"

"... Well, usually. But that Salem lady is a real huge bitch for all that she has an appropriately dark and sad backstory," Ruby huffed, crossing her arms for emphasis. "B I T C H! BItch!"

Cinder chuckled. "Yeah, she's a bitch. We'll go beat her up as soon as we can, I hope."

"Yeah! Family beatdown to avenge JNPR!"

"Yeah!"