Chapter Text
Dry twigs and fallen leaves crunched under her feet, the thud of the soles of her sneakers slamming against the forest ground thundered louder than her heartbeat in her ears. Her lungs burned. How long had she been running? When had the cavernous ceilings receded into overhead starlight and the waist high fog of a dying summer.
Soon, sanguine leaves would cover the forest floor.
But a different shade of crimson has ingrained in her brain as she did all she could do, run.
Fiery red hair.
Scarlet staining her.
Like a coward, she ran.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Certain that her pursuers had given up on chase, she ducked behind the trunks of a large twin tree, divided in a deep V. Leaning back against it, she took her time to breathe deeply. Too deep, her lungs caught, burning in her throat as she he heaved a ragged cough from pushing her body's limits. She refused to look down. She refused to see the marker confirming the validity of the evening's foul play. Evidence so skin deep she couldn’t wash it away.
It wasn’t her fault.
She loved her.
No one would believe her.
“Scared? And to think you were so dashing and daring earlier.” Sparkling green eyes twinkled playfully as she looked over her shoulder.
“I’m scared. Yes, I’m scared! You’re gone… I’m scared..” She found herself sliding down the trunk of the conjoined trees, pulling her knees to her chest and burying her face. Sobs threatened to rattle her chest as she gasped to catch her breath. It was just a dare. A group of stupid kids drunk off watered down wine putting their noses where they didn’t belong. It wasn’t supposed to turn up like this. She could feel blood trickling into her eye from the wound she’d sustained from tripping and landing on her face in the mines. She was sure the gash on her eyebrow was deep and filled with dirt.
Her final memory of those green eyes, staring wet and wide with fear towards her.
She wouldn’t be able to wash the blood, she wouldn’t be able to wash the memory.
“Have you found the damn girl yet?” Someone barked in the distance, her head snapped up, cold sweat mixing with the smeared, warm blood on her face. When had they caught up? She didn’t hear their footsteps trampling the ground. She hadn’t even felt their presence in her terrified frenzy.
Whoever these people were, they weren’t human.
She remembered the flash of long, sharp teeth, bloodied lips. Visible from the hiding spot she’d been shoved into.
The screams of a boy who had been caught. She couldn’t even remember his name.
A terrible, lonely fate.
Monsters.
“Dude, chill. I think I have the trail.” Another, younger voice called. A young boy with gunmetal silver hair. She remembered him, he’d been the one who found her as she cradled the girl’s body close. Trembling and sobbing.
She covered her mouth and nose to suppress her panicked breathing. Maybe they’d pass her, undetected.
Not unlike back in the mines.
“Stay silent, Weiss. I’ll be back.” She wanted to plead with her not to go, they’d fallen into a shallow pit in the mineshaft, but the fall was just enough to sprain the other girl’s ankle. Just let them go, she wanted to say, they won’t find us.
But Pyrrha was ever the hero. There when you needed her the most.
Why did she have to be the hero?
The crack of wood underfoot to her right caused her to still, eyes wide, body shaking in fear. She’d read in one of her grandfather's dusty old books that fear had a distinct scent to certain predators.
She hoped that was a myth.
And when silence followed, she felt relief wash over her.
“Found you.” The boy’s face appeared around the corner, his hand grasped her arm. Jerking herself free from his vice grip, she stumbled and tripped along the floor on all fours struggling to get purchase under her feet to run. At some point, she kicked out at his knees and he shouted in frustration, not pain, as he floundered backwards. Cursing and shouting the word ‘Cinder!’ as she finally gained footing and made for a mad dash.
With no sense of direction in the midst of the trees she had no doubt that she’d be one of the souls lost in the woods. No one would find her, no one would know she was dead. Partially blinded by blood in one eye, the only thing that drove her forward was pure adrenaline.
Any shred of dwindling hope of escape was quickly lost at the sound of branches cracking overhead, causing Weiss to glance up and spying a figure easily catching up through the trees.
Inhuman.
Her temporary distraction caused her to lose purchase, foot getting caught in tree roots as she fell, hands scraping along the ground as she braced her landing.
A haughty chuckle and almost silent thud followed behind her.
“Found you, my little snow bird.” Weiss crawled in a feeble attempt to get away from the approaching footsteps. “Oh, don’t fight the inevitable. I just hate when pretty little things fight.” Her voice was dreadfully amused.
She strode up beside her and crouched down, a firm hand falling on her shoulder. “Just relax for me.” There was little to do but allow the woman to turn her over to closely inspect the girl. Amber eyes peered down at her, partially obscured by dark bangs of wild, long hair. “And it will all be over soon.” She smiled, revealing a pair of impossibly sharp canines behind her painted lips. Weiss jerked away, scooting back on her palms.
“My father will hear about this,” Weiss stammered, “he’ll have the police looking for me!”
“Ah! I thought you looked familiar. A little Schnee, strayed too far from the nest. Now where have I heard this story before?”
Winter.
Weiss’ eyes grew wide, her older sister who had disappeared not long after leaving their home. Had she experienced the same fate as Weiss was this very night?
Was this her father’s punishment for impertinence? Had he known she’d lied about being with her friends, and had intended on committing an act of rebellion? Had her father sent these monsters to punish her?
Had he done the same to Winter?
“Such a delicious smell, your fear.” The woman caressed her face, impossibly cold hand sliding down her throat, then up to hold the back of her head. “If it makes you feel any better, your dear father has nothing to do with this. No. You only have yourself to blame.” Her fingers threaded into the base of her ponytail, suddenly forcefully yanking her head back. Weiss shouted in surprise and pain.
Footsteps thudded toward them from somewhere in the distance, “f*ck Cinder,” the boys voice came fro the darkness. “We need to leave.”
“You don’t give me orders,” the woman named ‘Cinder’ drawled. “Or do I need to cut your tongue out?”
“Dude, seriously.” He sounded slightly panicked, “we’re in their territory!”
“Who gives a sh*t about those mangy hounds?” Cinder scowled. “We’ll be gone before Adam can finish scratching his fleas.” Though her annoyed face changed, slightly amused when howls filled the air from somewhere far away. She leaned close and whispered in Weiss’ ear: “this may be your lucky day, girl.”
The pinprick of something pushing into her throat made her gasp in surprise, she reached up pushing feebly at the stronger woman's shoulders, vision obscured by a curtain of black hair. Her free hand caught the purchase of something solid in the dirt. She wasn’t going to die. No, she was going to escape and find help. Find these people that the boy was so afraid of.
If they were even people.
Her head was getting light, her veins felt chilled.
She was going to live for Pyrrha. For the kids that were caught in the mines.
“f*ck this,” she heard in the distance, and the sound of foot steps quickly retreating as the howls grew closer.
With no backup, this was her chance, Weiss swung her free hand into the woman’s face.
Cinder shouted, pulling away to grasp her injured eye. Weiss stumbled, pushing herself further away and struggling to her feet. Pain filled her body, limbs stiff with reluctance. As the woman stood, a single golden eye staring at her in the darkness a sort of allure pulled her. Begged her legs to move and draw her back to the woman’s grasp.
Weiss refused, turning tail and running. For a moment, she thought she heard the woman’s voice in her head. ‘You’ll feel the mark of this day for the rest of your life. You will return to me.’ the white haired girl tore through the forest, tears stinging her eyes.
Weiss had made it to the road, screeching to a stop as headlights approached her. The driver slammed their brakes, and for a moment the distant howls were silenced by a rumbling engine.
The driver stepped out, moving to the front of the truck. “Schnee?” Blake stood before her, eyes taking in her disheveled appearance. “What the f*ck happened to you?”
Weiss collapsed in the road.
Ruby sat across from Weiss, eye unblinking, jaw slack. She waited patiently for the story of her night to process completely in the young girl’s mind. Her head hung in shame.
“You-” Ruby started, “no.. more importantly…” She stood, running her hands through her disheveled short hair. She was pacing, mumbling quietly herself. Then, she stopped altogether. “The mines…” she muttered, and Weiss flinched reflexively.
It wasn’t as though she’d lashed out at her, but the memory stung fresh on her mind.
That was when Ruby turned, eyes wide. “Pyrrha is…”
“..Yes.”
“And you know who did it?”
Weiss nodded silently. Yes.
Ruby sat back down in her chair, slowly, still processing Weiss’ story. “And you didn’t.. You didn’t tell anyone? You didn’t tell her mom? The police?”
“Ruby, I wanted to, you have to know that I wanted to.” Weiss was pleading silently, doing her best not to draw attention to their conversation in the room. Voices from downstairs carried through the houses’ old walls.
“But you didn’t.” There they were, the accusing eyes she’d been bracing herself for.
“Its like your uncle said, downstairs. The police are under my father’s thumb. It wouldn’t matter if I told them, they would have come to him immediately to sweep it under the rug.” She leaned forward, biting at the nail of her thumb apprehensively. “I made the mistake of telling my father first.”
‘If you know what’s best for you, girl.’ her fathers voice echoed in her head, ‘you will keep your mouth shut. For our families sake.’
And she did, because she was a coward.
“Is he also..?”
“No.” Weiss looked up, “my father doesn’t even know that I’m…” She rubbed her neck with her free hand, sometimes she can feel the ghost of a pin print bite on her pulse point. “Father buried what happened in more ways than one.”
Ruby looked up suddenly, “my dad’s job.”
She nodded dully. Pyrrha and all those lost kids were buried under paperwork and rubble, and she’d be reminded of it every time she saw the missing person’s posters.
And, in some way, a part of herself was also left behind in that rubble.
“I can’t believe you would do this,” Ruby had buried her face in her hands, dragging her fingers down her face as she glared up at Weiss. She didn’t say it, but the word monster bled through her tone and expression. “To Pyrrha. To those people. For what? To protect your family? Protect yourself?”
“I love her.” Her voice steeled, she scowled back, “you think I don’t live with that regret? With the feeling of her body in my arms as she weakly pleaded for me to run? I should have stayed. I should have died down there with her. Instead, I’m here. Convincing myself I’m doing this for her. Instead I’m just.. I’m just another pawn in this towns… messed up game.” Her nails dug into the flesh of her own neck, uncaring if she drew blood. Ruby sighed, stood and took the girl’s hand. She moved to sit beside her, hand clasped around hers. Weiss was thankful her furrowed expression was devoid of pity.
That was the last thing she deserved.
“We… We’ll just have to find a way to make this right. Find a way to put an end to this, so no one else needs to suffer this. And then… And then we put Pyrrha to rest.” When Weiss looked up at Ruby, her expression and demeanor had completely changed. Her silver eyes were steely with determination. Despite that, her hand shook in Weiss' in fear of the unknown. She couldn’t blame her, they were just kids.
Nevertheless she hated the way her expression gave her hope, in that moment her eyes were green and her hair a burning sunset.
Weiss blinked, then looked away. “We can’t do anything against that, Ruby. It's better to just keep your head down and leave this place. You have a future ahead of you, after all.” Patch had lost its fair share of heroes, anyway.
“I quit the team because I couldn’t bear the empty void created in her absence. I couldn’t bear to see her spot filled by.. By…”
“Someone who didn’t deserve it?” Weiss and Ruby’s heads snapped up toward the bedroom door. Yang stood, arms crossed and leaning against the doorframe. Her expression was unreadable.
