Penny sliced through a ravager with Crescent Rose, panting as she watched it dissipate into smoke. Her eyes burned as the air around her started to kick up and she created copies of Crescent Rose to fight off the rest of the grimm. Her heart raced and her muscles ached as she leaned Crescent Rose, tired from the fighting. Though, it wasnt like she had much time to rest. Grimm attacks were a near daily occurrence over the last few months, and as a maiden, it was her responsibility to keep everyone safe.
And that’s what she did.
The last of the grimm finally fell and Penny’s legs finally gave out from under her. She fell to the ground and let out a heavy sigh as she let the rest of her body relax. She used the wind to help pick herself up and folded Crescent Rose before putting it on her back. The cloak she wore fluttered in the wind that helped keep her standing until she was able to grab one of her weapon constructs to use as a walking stick.
Penny took a deep breath and started to walk back to Vacuo to let Theodore know the grimm were taken care of. She looked over the tents at the edge of the city, glad none of them were damaged and the refugees were safe for now. And yet, as she walked into the city, she couldnt help but feel like what she was doing wasnt enough. Sure, she was able to keep the grimm at bay, and her powers made it easier to help keep disputes from breaking out between the refugees and those who lived in Vacuo, but as the months went by, it all had started to feel… pointless. Hopeless.
The grimm attacks werent stopping, tensions were only growing between those from Atlas and those from Vacuo, Vale had been destroyed, no one had heard anything from Mistral… everything she did felt like putting on a bandage but never really fixing what was wrong. The world still felt like it was ending and Salem was still out there, waiting to make her move.
Penny stopped and looked up at the mural of Ruby, her heart nearly skipping a beat as she found a place to sit and gaze up at her lost love. She leaned Crescent Rose against the wall and started to clean up the memorial in front, making sure the flowers were together again. As she finished, she sat down and took a few breaths to calm herself. “I… I do not know what I am doing anymore. I am doing everything I can to keep people safe, just like what you would have wanted, but I still feel… lost. I wish… I wish you were still here to help me, guide me. To give me hope.”
She sat quietly as she waited for an answer that didnt seem to come. She stared at the picture of Ruby for what felt like hours before finally getting up and taking Crescent Rose back to the tent she was staying at. She walked through the streets, hood pulled over her head and Crescent Rose on her back.
“Penny, there you are,” Qrow said as he caught up to her. “You missed the meeting with Theodore and the rest of the maidens.”
Penny stopped in her tracks and let out a sigh. “I guess I lost track of time.”
“That’s not like you.” Qrow walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“I am fine,” Penny lied as she kept herself from looking at Qrow. “But I should rest. I have spent more time fighting grimm than I thought.”
“You really should go see Theodore-”
“And I will,” Penny answered as she started to walk again. “After I rest.”
Qrow sighed and followed Penny. “Alright. But please, try not to miss any more meetings. We need you.”
Penny almost winced at the thought of being needed. The only person she wanted to be needed by was Ruby, but Ruby was gone. Her hope, the light of her life, the girl she had loved… nothing more than just a memory. A memory she planned to keep alive. After all, it was why she used Crescent Rose and wore a cloak like Ruby’s. As long as she looked like Ruby and fought like her, then maybe she could convince others to get along.
And then Ruby’s message wouldnt have been for nothing.
She paused once more as she heard the sound of a portal opening behind her, the same one that Raven was known to use when she wanted something. Without turning, she let out a heavy sigh. “Raven, I want to be left alone.”
“Penny?”
Penny’s heart froze as she heard a somewhat familiar voice. She turned around, a smile starting to come across her lips… until she saw the woman that stood behind her. The silver eyes were familiar, but the rest of the woman wasnt. Long greying hair, tired eyes… there wasnt much of the girl she had loved. “R-Ruby?”
The woman almost flinched at the name. “That’s… what’s who Yang said I was.”
“I am not sure I understand.”
“Ruby… she… I’m not…” the woman let out a heavy sigh. “I’m not the Ruby you remember. I’m… I’m the Ruby that has to be enough to defeat Salem.”
Penny gave a slow nod as she looked Ruby over, her heart aching. “But you are still… you?”
Ruby rubbed the back of her head. “Yes… and no. I mean, yes, I still look like me but no, I’m not… Yang thought that maybe if I saw you again once we got back that I’d remember more and maybe be me again. I dont really remember anything after coming out of that tree. Just that I picked who I needed to be, the person who would be the best to help everyone and stop Salem.”
“I see.” Penny’s eyes glanced to the axe that hung from a sash on Ruby’s back. “Then… then who are you?”
“Summer.”
“It is… nice to meet you, Summer,” Penny said as she forced a smile on her lips, her heart still pounded in her chest. “Maybe… maybe you can tell me more about what you went through. After you are settled.”
“There’s not really much more that I can tell you,” Summer answered. “But it’ll be nice to work with you.”
“It will be nice to work with you too.” Penny slowly turned away and the forced smile finally dropped. Ruby was no longer the girl she remembered, now a woman that she’d have to get to know all over again.
Not that she could say that she was the same Penny anymore.
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