#* vol vi.

[remnesque]

          “ ruby!  what do you think? ”  redhead hoisted up the remade versions of miló and akoúo̱, in their traditional gold and crimson colors.  “ general ironwood had these delivered to me in the hospital.  he added more space for ammo in miló’s rifle form, and, well ... ”  an anxious laugh, emerald eyes falling to the weapons.  “ heat resistance. ” 

@petalfates.

[remnesque]

          the belladonna is spectacularly quick to put her arm in front of weiss’s, preventing her from eating the finger sandwich in her hand.  “ i wouldn’t do that if i were you, ”  she begins, eyebrows raised, and snatches the snack from her teammate’s grasp with ninja - like movement from her forearm and wrist.  “ pick a different one.  i watched adrian lick that one about six times five minutes ago. ”

@gainheart.

[remnesque]

          “ YANG ! ”  she yelled, breathing heavily as she darted to the blonde’s side.  adam taurus slipped from the bridge, plummeting into the river’s depths with a misstep in the midst of his rage.  and now that he’d fallen, blake finally had time to focus on xiao long’s well being and bring all of her attention to her beloved partner.  “ yang. ”  belladonna repeated, as if she needed to keep saying her name to make sure she was real and safe.  her vocals were soaked in desperation.  grabbing yang’s hands and taking them into her own, sun - golden eyes gazed solemnly into lilac.  “ i’m — i’m — so glad you’re okay. ”  releasing her teammate’s hands, the faunus’s arms slid around her torso, and she grasped her tighter than anything she’d ever held in her life.  “ yang — ”  ah, here come the tears.  they’ve been locked up for too long.

@gcrdens.

[remnesque]

          “ y’know, ”  belladonna starts, adoring eyes gazing into the moon - hued irises of her leader ( they’re whispering over the multitude of sleeping bodies in the living room ).  “ you’re amazing, ruby. ”  she bites the inside of her lip, nervous, and glances at the floor momentarily.  “ what you did back at brunswick ... ”  what you’ve done for me, ruby, each day we spend together.  “ you put the light back into my eyes.  it was better than anything any hero has done in any fairy tale i’ve read. ”  she wonders, silently, if the rose is okay.  how much longer they can both hold on.  

the heroes always break at least once before the end, don’t they?  @gainhope.

[remnesque]

❛ i would never let anybody or anything hurt you. ❜

shippy asks ( selectively a. ) @gainhope.

          as godly as pyrrha nikos is, she has been crippled ever since her battle against evil herself inside the tower.  she doesn’t need protected — she doesn’t need saving.  but there’s something comforting in ruby’s words.  ruby, the girl who got to her in the nick of time, the girl who believes in pyrrha like no other.  

          “ — i know that now. ”  the words are muttered into the rose’s neck under the covers they share in the cotta - arc house.  they’ve been talking for hours now, and god knows what time it is.  but pyrrha doesn’t dare peek at her scroll to see.  “ and i’ll do the same for you.  nothing will come between us, ”  nikos mumbles, and reaches her arm across ruby’s tummy to snuggle into her tighter.  “ whether it’s salem ... cinder — let’s keep each other safe. ”  

          the dim lights of the clocks, their scrolls alight with notifications on the nightstand, the tv turned on — they illuminate ruby’s face in such a way that, suddenly, her beauty strikes pyrrha particularly hard.  a real rose could never compare to her.  the sun, the moon, whatever cliche you could think of — they all paled in comparison.  pyrrha wonders if this is the feeling she should have felt for jaune so long ago.  if this is true love.  two heroes, holding tight, awaiting the oncoming war — but promising their lives, their safety to one another.  

           in a change of mood, melancholy soaks the champion’s vocals, and she lifts her head so that green is peering into silver.  “ ruby, i won’t charge into fights like that anymore.  i’m sorry. ”  for all the pain i’ve caused you in these years.  she knows the horror it brought upon team jnpr, and still, she tried to fight the apathy single handedly.  “ i think i could learn to value myself, when all this is said and done — ”  she takes ruby’s hand, raises it to her lips, and kisses the knuckle of her ring finger.  “ as long as you’re by my side in the end. ”

          the closeness of their lips makes pyrrha’s breath catch in her throat, and she tangles their legs together, slowly but surely, to further their contact.  laying her head on the rose’s chest, she hugs her again ( she’s not letting go this time ).  “ so — yes, ”  she starts, voice ( though still determined ) crumpling like shattering glass.  happy tears creep down her face, and nikos wipes one away swiftly for fear ruby will see her getting far too sentimental.  she’s practically begging now, all choked up.  the once - ghost’s eyes won’t let go of her former classmate’s concerned gaze.  “ — let’s please keep each other safe. ”

[remnesque]

          “ how are you liking argus, miss rose? ”  they ask, golden eyes gazing into silver.  “ i hope the town is treating you well.  it’s quite lovely, really — but i’m here for business.  not much fun. ”  narrowing their eyes, they realize she has no idea who they are — shit.  “ ah, excuse my manners.  we haven’t formally met.  i’m volantes ki-iro, but tes will do. ”  dragonfly extends gloved hand to shake ruby’s.  “ i’m a huntsman; i’ve talked to your uncle before.  and i watched your team’s performance at the vytal festival.  impressive stuff, really. ”

@gainhope.

[remnesque]

          “ you have got to be kidding me. ”  there he stands, red hair and hat, with that dumb cane and his knack for getting into situations he’s incapable of winning.  didn’t she already beat his ass once?  “ don’t you have ANYTHING better to do than bother a bunch of kids?  get out of here. ”  they just want to live their lives out roman.  blake wants nothing to do with your schemes.

@vorabled.

[remnesque]

“ not today devil birds , not today ” - for yang!

buzzfeed unsolved starters ( a. selectively ) @petalfates.

          “ ooohh, so that’s what you were thinking when you laser eyed the grimm up there, ”  firecracker laughed, patting ruby’s back with mechanical limb.  the blonde couldn’t have been more proud of their sister, who was truly the star of the day in saving argus ( though they were still recovering from their duel with a certain bull ).  “ you seriously zapped the shit out of that thing, ruby.  you’re … so, so strong. ”  the blonde flexed, giving their sister a wink.

          it was true that the powerhouse didn’t remember much about summer, or retain many memories of her.  but they remembered summer’s smile, summer’s laugh, and her encouraging attitude.  the white light that leaked into the airship from atlas’s glow in the distance only reminded them of her, reaching out to play with her child from a distance.  from the stars, now.  i miss her.  but she’s here, in ruby’s spirit, and in my heart.  

          sighing, they reached up to brush some dirt off of their sibling’s cheek, then immediately gave little rose a playful jab to the upper arm to keep up the good mood.  yang detested showing weakness, and teasing ruby was a quick way to lift their tired spirit.  “ hey, sis … mom’d be proud of you, y’know.  for screaming at the devil birds and saving all our asses. ” yang stated confidently with mild chuckle, and turned to look out the airship window at the white light that illuminated dragon visage.