For optimal reading, open up a Youtube tab and listen to "Falling Snow" by Agalloch. The words are in bold italics are the lyrics to the song.

The water pours its embracing arms 'round the stone.
Decay drips from the unquiet void.

Chunks of ice drifted slowly down a river of purest clarity, swirling around and bobbing in the freezing water.

Weiss Schnee, huntress and former heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, stood on a frozen riverbank and stared into it, observing how the water flowed and molded itself around the stones that supported it.

"Weiss, come on, we're not gonna find anything by just staring at this river."

The heiress snapped her head up, as if Ruby's voice had shaken her from a trance. Her breath misted the air in front of her. She was wearing a white storm-coat and a pair of white pants, brown boots the only break in her monochromatic ensemble. Her rapier, Myrtenaster, hung from her thigh. Her ponytail of long, alabaster hair was off-center as usual, but she no longer wore the tiara.

"Oh. Yes, I suppose you're right. I just..." Weiss was going to continue, but she second-guessed herself and decided on saying nothing at all.

Ruby was standing a ways away from her, wearing a grey trench-coat over her usual outfit, on a small snow-covered hill. Crescent Rose was in its compact form, slung over her back like a hunting rifle. The vantage point allowed her to get a slightly better view into the ivory forest that surrounded them. The achromatic woodland was covered in immaculate alabaster snow, freshly fallen. No one had disturbed it. No one probably ever would, few ever trod this far to the north of Vale.

The two huntresses were deep in the Tural mountain range, a stretch of evergreen-covered mountain peaks that was vast almost beyond comprehension. The Turals reached over an expanse of almost a thousand miles, and the majority of it was still unmapped and unexplored. The mountain range began near the northern reaches of Remnant, and stretched all the way to the oceans at the end of the world. Only a few of the explorers who had dared to travel that far had ever made it back. The ones that did described abyssal chasms, cyclopean vistas and gargantuan mountain peaks piercing the sky. A landscape of dead, forgotten gods.

The two huntresses had been paid quite handsomely to investigate the disappearance of an expedition into the Turals. Normally a regular search party would have been sent, but the groups last communications had mentioned reports of Grimm sightings, and the very last transmission had stated that they were being surrounded and cut off by packs of Beowolves. And so, a group of promising young huntresses were sent instead. Not that they were seen as a cheap way to find out what went wrong, Ruby and Weiss had graduated as the top team in their class, and as such were highly sought after, and well paid.

But still, it was wintertime in Vale, and people rarely left their homes. Thus, work was slow and hard to come by. So when a well-known investment company had come to them seeking their services to track down a missing expedition in the Tural mountains, they had accepted. They needed something to put food on the table; Weiss was no longer able to access the Schnee family fortune. Her father had seen to that, after her relationship with Ruby went public. When Weiss had told her parents that she would stay with Ruby no matter what, they had told her it was either Ruby, or being a Schnee. Weiss had made her choice, and then been discarded like so much useless baggage. Not that it bothered her much anymore. She was as happy as she could be, content to live out her days as a huntress, with her Ruby Rose by her side.

Weiss picked herself up from the riverbank and turned around to face Ruby, only to see rose petals drifting slowly to the ground she had just stood upon.

Before she could call out for her partner, there was another flurry of petals directly in front of her, and Ruby materialized with a wide smile on her face, hands clasped behind her back. Only a few inches separated Weiss' face from Ruby's.

Weiss jerked back in surprise. "R-Ruby! You dolt, don't scare me like tha-mmph!"

Before she could finish, Ruby leaned forward and caught the ex-heiress' lips with her own. Weiss' eyelids fluttered closed, but before she could start to enjoy the kiss, Ruby pulled out of it, a mischievous smile on her face. She had grown since they met, Ruby was now much taller than Weiss, and had to lean down to kiss her. Much to Weiss' chagrin, that in turn meant that the white-haired girl had to stand on her toes to kiss her girlfriend. Ruby never let her hear the end of it.

Ruby had matured in other ways too, emotionally as well as physically. But even so, she was still the same little girl at heart. The same little girl whom Weiss found adorable beyond measure.

Weiss was left flustered and red-cheeked as she struggled to catch her breath. She turned away to try and hide her blush, the frigid air made it bad enough already.

"Hey, you were gonna say something else a minute ago?" Ruby said. "What was it?"

"Oh... it's nothing, I assure you."

"It's always something with you. C'mon, just tell me."

"If you insist... I was just going to say that, well, I have a bad feeling about this." She gestured to the area around them as she talked.

"What, this forest?"

"No I mean... I mean this whole mission. Something feels off. The landscape seems unquiet."

"The landscape seems "unquiet?" I always knew you had a thing for nature Weiss, but that seems a little crazy."

"Fine, don't believe me. Just don't blame me if something ends up going wrong."

"Nothing will go wrong Weiss," Ruby said with a happy smile. "I've got your back and you've got mine, right?"

Weiss found herself smiling in return. "Always. Alright, lets keep moving then. This map says the expeditions last known report was near here."

"Right behind you princess," Ruby said with a smirk.

"I told you to stop calling me that!"

Where the ice forms. Where life ends.

"Well... there's our expedition..." Ruby said with a small sigh.

"I don't detect any auras nearby, other than ours," replied Weiss. "No survivors. Anyone out here for more than a day would have frozen to death anyway."

The cascading pallor,
Of ghostless feather.

The pair stood on a small ridge-line, overlooking a scene of devastation. Tents and wagons were strewn everywhere, scorch marks lined the trees, and bodies were littered across the ground. Human and Grimm, though there were far more of the former.

"We should still look though," Ruby said. "Just to be sure..."

"Ruby, no. I know this is hard to see, and I know you want to help these people, but they're already gone. We can't do anything for them, and we need to get out of here before the Grimm that did this come back. If something happened to us up here, it would take them weeks to find us. In fact, they might never, this area is still uncharted, remember?"

Ruby shuddered slightly, looking down at the ground. Weiss stepped over to her and wrapped her arms around the brunette from behind, comforting her in the only way she knew how.

"...You're right Weiss. I just... we're supposed to protect people from this kind of thing. It's our job as huntresses. Even though we weren't here, I can't help but feel like... we failed..."

"Ruby, you have failed nothing and no one. These people chose to venture out here with almost no security; they brought this upon themselves. Don't you dare blame yourself for their mistakes."

"I know." Ruby took a deep breath, then looked up, an expression of determination on her face. "Let's leave then, we should get back to report this as quickly as possible."

Ruby extricated herself from Weiss' grip and turned around, then gasped in shock.

What she saw chilled her to the bone.

A pack of over a dozen beowolves. Less than 25 feet away. Caught in the act of creeping up on the pair.

"Weiss! Move!" There was a note of terror in Ruby's voice.

Weiss whipped around in surprise, eyes widening in horror as she saw what had frightened the brunette.

Realizing they were discovered, the pack broke into a dead sprint, hurtling themselves at the two huntresses.

But the two of them hadn't become the top of their class by having slow reactions. In a flash, Ruby had unslung and extended Crescent Rose, and was already spinning it around and firing shots into the oncoming horde. Weiss too, had drawn Myrenaster, and quickly spun the dust chambers, blasting the first beowolves to reach her with orange burn dust. It seared and scorched their skin, and they howled in pain as they caught ablaze. Beowolves were deathly afraid of fire; it was one of their only known weaknesses.

Ruby spun and slashed, whipping her scythe around her like a whirlwind, as beowolves leapt at her again and again. Every time they got close, they were either knocked away, or simply sliced in half by the spinning blade. A particularly inventive beowolf sprang up into a nearby tree, and attempted to dive upon Ruby from above.

Ruby fired Crescent Rose, once, twice, the recoil propelling her backwards towards a nearby tree as the beowolf landed upon empty ground, snarling in rage. Still flying backwards, Ruby reached her legs out and kicked off from the tree, reversing her momentum and flying towards the enraged creature. She flew past it in a blur of red, and it whipped around to track her.

It attempted to pursue her, only to whine in confusion as it realized its legs weren't working. Then, slowly, its waist slid apart from the rest of its body, and flopped down onto the ground. Ruby's cut had been so fast that it hadn't even registered in the beasts simple mind. The brunette slid to a halt, snow swirling around her. She assumed a defensive stance, only to realize that she and Weiss were the only ones left standing. Weiss herself, was surrounded by almost nine of the slain creatures. The snowfall was light, and emphasized her pale features. She appeared like a huntress of legends, standing proud amongst a pile of slain Grimm. The image made Ruby smile.

"And she's all mine," she thought.

The brunette retracted Crescent Rose and slung it over her back. She wasn't even out of breath. Being fresh out of the top school in the world for huntresses, the two were at their physical peak. She grinned at Weiss, who nodded and returned the smile.

"Did more come from behind us or something?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, a few snuck around from our flank while we were fighting the bulk of the pack. Though, I'm more worried about how they managed to sneak up on us. We should have detected their auras."

Ruby shrugged and gazed around in contemplation. "Yeah, I don't know... now that you mention it, it is weird that we didn't notice them."

"Exactly. I think it's this place. Remember when I said something about this whole area was off?"

Ruby nodded as confirmation.

"I think something is disrupting our ability to detect aura." Weiss continued, facing away from the brunette. "I'm not sure what it is, but there has to be a reason we can't feel the flow of energy around us."

"Well... the only thing I can remember that can do that is an Alpha beowolf," Ruby said.

A cold wind blew through the trees, rustling their branches.

Behind her, there was a small rustling sound as something moved. She quickly turned around.

Weiss' eyes grew wide with shock as she came to same realization as Ruby, and she too whipped around to face the brunette. The image before her seemed to freeze itself in time.

Hanging in the air a few feet from Ruby was an Alpha beowolf in mid-lunge, jaws extended and neck outstretched. The beast was several times larger than the other beowolves, and it was covered in plates of white armor. A challenge for even the most experienced hunters. Alpha beowolves were lightning-fast, impossibly strong, and cruel beyond measure. And one had gotten the drop on Ruby.

Weiss screamed Ruby's name and reached out to her in slow-motion, as if she could somehow stop what she knew was about to happen.

Ruby had turned at the last moment, and with microseconds to spare, held her right arm in front of herself as defense, and attempted to use her semblance to speed away. She wasn't fast enough.

It all happened so slowly, Weiss was only able to watch. With a sickening crunch, the monster brought its jaws together around the meat of Ruby's arm. The brunette screamed in agony, and the beast lifted her up in the air with its neck, and threw her into a tree. Blood hung in the air as she flew towards the evergreen.

Red birds escape from my wounds,
And return as falling snow,
To sweep the landscape a wind haunted,
Wings without bodies.

She slammed into its trunk, and slumped over on the ground. She didn't move, or stir in the slightest.

Weiss was frozen in horror. Her mind wasn't working, it couldn't comprehend that she had just seen the love of her life die. It refused to believe. Ruby wasn't dead. She couldn't be. SHE COULDN'T BE!

Weiss broke. Screaming in rage, she poured all of her pain and loss into a single, wordless cry of utter abandonment. She unsheathed Myrenaster, the blade gleaming in the setting sun, and lunged towards the Alpha beowolf faster than the human eye could track. It didn't have time to react. As fast as it was, it didn't even have time to move.

Stabbing with all the force in her body, she brutally shoved Myrtenaster into the beast's eye socket, a weak point in between armor plates. Howling with loss and fury, she pushed the blade in deeper, forcing it up to the hilt. The point of the blade protruded out of the back of the creature's head.

It twitched once, and slumped over, dead.

Normally, Weiss would feel proud of her accomplishment. But there was only one thought on her mind, and it burned like a thousand suns.

Ruby.

Leaving the blade stuck in the beast's skull, she sprinted over to Ruby and knelt beside her, hands hovering just over her girlfriends body. Weiss wasn't one given to crying, but tears were already streaming down her face. Hesitantly, she reached down and rolled Ruby over, so she could see her front. She seemed unhurt, until Weiss managed to free the brunette's right arm from under the pile of snow she was lying on. What she saw made her recoil in horror. Ruby's right arm was mangled horribly, deep gash marks from the Alpha beowolf's teeth having ripped the flesh open. Blood was pouring from the wounds, but it wasn't bright crimson like it should be. It was a deeper, darker red, almost black in some places.

Weiss realized the implications of this, as a groan escaped from the brunette's lips and she began to stir.

"W-Weiss?"

"Ruby!" Oh my god, Ruby, you're alive!" Weiss was relieved beyond words that her partner wasn't dead, Ruby was the only real reason Weiss had to live anymore. She existed for the brunette, to be there for her and support her, to bask in her smile and crumble under her affections. She loved Ruby more than she loved life itself.

"Ugh, it doesn't feel that way, feels like something crushed my chest... what happened?"

Weiss shifted Ruby, cradling the brunette in her arms. She shifted Ruby's head so that it rested upon her shoulder.

The snow, the bitter snowfall.
You long to die in her pale arms, crystalline.
To become an ode to silence,
In the soul of a mountain of birds, fallen.

"An alpha got the jump on you. But that's not important right now. Ruby. Listen to me. Can... can you feel your arm?"

"Can I feel my arm?" Ruby looked confused for a few seconds. The look of confusion was quickly replaced with one of fear. "Actually, no. I can't. Is something wrong with it?"

Weiss shuddered, a tremor of fear working its way down her spine. If Ruby was afflicted with what she thought she might be, the brunette might not be alive for much longer. The thought filled Weiss with pure terror.

"No, that won't happen." the former heiress resolved. "I won't let it."

Weiss lifted Ruby's right arm up so that the brunette could see it.

"Look for yourself..."

"Ohmygod..." Ruby whispered. "Weiss... is that..."

Weiss nodded haltingly, the tears she had just recently been able to stop returning with full force.

"That's... that's blood poisoning, isn't it? That's why my blood is black."

Weiss nodded again, finding herself unable to speak. Distantly, she recalled their days at Beacon, where they had learned that an Alpha beowolf's teeth were coated in numerous deadly toxins. Toxins that were now in Ruby's bloodstream.

Ruby drew a shuddering breath, and let it out slowly. And then, something changed. Her eyes were shining with the glint of pure determination. This was why she was the leader of Team RWBY. She could steel herself in an instant, resign herself to whatever she needed to do to accomplish her goals.

Survive. That was the goal this time.

Because she couldn't allow herself to die and leave Weiss all alone. She couldn't leave the fragile white-haired girl, alone and sobbing in the ivory forest, never to feel the warmth of her love again. She couldn't.

"Weiss, focus. Listen to my voice, we have to be quick. I could still make it out of this."

Weiss sniffed and nodded her head, slightly calmed by Ruby's voice. The brunette sounded relaxed, and in command. That was what she needed.

Ruby reached down to her boot with her good arm, and pulled a knife from her boot. Without a moment of hesitation, she used it to open a tear in the fabric of the clothes just above her right shoulder. Gritting her teeth, she slashed the knife across the opening, slicing a shallow cut into the skin.

"Ruby!" Weiss gasped. "What are you doing!"

"Weiss, stay calm. What color is the blood?"

Weiss quickly understood, and she lifted up the cloth and looked at the wound.

"R-red, the blood is red. Normal, I mean."

"Okay, that's good Weiss. That means the poisoning hasn't spread to the rest of my body yet." She looked up into Weiss' eyes, staring at her with a look of grim determination. "You know what this means we have to do, don't you?"

Weiss simply stared back at Ruby with an expression of grief. In the back of her mind, she knew what Ruby was asking, but she didn't want to think about it.

"Weiss... Weiss, honey, listen to me. We're going to have to amputate the arm.

The arm. Ruby was already referring to it as if it wasn't hers. That's how quickly her mind processed events during a crisis situation.

"Ruby, please, maybe we don't have to-"

Ruby placed her left hand over Weiss' mouth, silencing her.

"Weiss. You have to do this. It's the only way I'll live. We're all alone out here, remember? I won't make it to a hospital in time."

"B-but, I can't even do it!" Weiss screeched. "What am I supposed to use, Myrenaster!? That knife?!"

"Weiss, honey, please don't yell at me."

Weiss felt absolutely horrible as she realized what she had just done. Her heart dropped to her stomach. She was scared, she was angry, but Ruby was the wounded one, the one that might be about to die, and here she was, yelling at her? The thought that the last words spoken between her, and the love of her life might be ones of anger flashed their way through her mind. She almost threw up.

"...I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry. Please just... I'm so sorry."

Ruby reached her free hand up to cup Weiss' cheek, and she rubbed her thumb in circles to try to wipe away some of the tears.

"Weiss, it's okay. I forgive you. But please, do this for me? You'll have to use Crescent Rose."

The heiress' eyes went wide with shock. "R-Ruby! I can't even lift that thing!"

"Hey, don't call her a thing!" Ruby said with a giggle.

Weiss couldn't believe it. The brunette was seconds away from death, and she was laughing? Then it occurred to her. Ruby wasn't being strong for herself. Ruby was being strong for her, for Weiss. The realization filled her with shame, and she steeled herself for what was to come. Ruby had given her everything, a home, a friendship, a life, and more tender loving care than she could have asked for. She was Weiss' first friend, her only friend, and her first and only love. And more than that, Ruby trusted Weiss with her heart, the most precious thing one person could give another. Weiss resolved right then and there, that she would be damned if she failed Ruby.

"Alright, where is she then."

"Right over there," Ruby pointed with her free hand. "You can do this, Weiss."

Weiss shuddered, and gave Ruby a short kiss before standing up. The kiss may have been short, but Weiss poured all of her love, longing, and thankfulness for Ruby into that one short contact of their lips.

Leaning Ruby against the tree, she walked over to Crescent Rose, and lifted it with a visible struggle. The sun had begun to set, and the pale orange glow of the horizon filtered through the frost-covered trees, setting Weiss' silhouette ablaze. A pale woman with white hair, carrying a red scythe.

"How do you use this thing! It's so heavy!"

Ruby stuck her tongue out at Weiss. "I told you already, I drink milk!"

Weiss couldn't help but laugh at that.

Ruby laughed too, but quickly recovered her composure. "Weiss, hurry. I don't think I have much longer. We'll do it on this rock over here."

Ruby stood up and walked over to a boulder that stood at roughly waist height, and laid her right arm upon it. She smiled softly at Weiss, who was struggling to drag Crescent Rose over to her.

Reaching the brunette, Weiss stared at Ruby's arm, steeling herself for what she had to do. She tried to stop them, but tears streamed their way down her face once more.

Ruby smiled softly at her. "Just do it Weiss. Please, for my sake, just do it. Get it over with."

Weiss nodded with a stutter. "R-Ruby... I love you..."

"I love you too Weiss. Kiss me goodnight?"

Without a second of hesitation, Weiss lunged at Ruby and drew her into a passionate kiss, wrapping her arms around her and squeezing tighter than she ever had before. She kissed her like it was the last time either of them would be able to. Ruby moaned and tilted her head, leaning into the kiss, pushing forward just as hard as Weiss was. It didn't last nearly long enough though.

Weiss drew back, and steeled herself. No more stalling.

The ex-heiress shifted her arm and used the blade of the scythe to slice off a portion of her sleeve, and handed it to Ruby. "Here, bite down on this," she managed to say, as she placed it in Ruby's mouth. The brunette mumbled her thanks, her eyes filled with silent approval. She nodded.

"I love you," Ruby mumbled.

"You dolt, you already said that," Weiss replied with tears in her eyes. "But I love you too. More than anything..."

Shakingly, Weiss extended Crescent Rose and brought the scythe up with a grunt, looking away from Ruby. She couldn't bear to meet her gaze.

"What if I miss? You have to be strong, for her."

Realizing her mistake, Weiss turned her head back, and stared right at the spot on Ruby's shoulder where she was going to bring the scythe down, as hard as it was. She lifted the scythe above her head. Ruby stared at her. The sun set. And time seemed to stop.

The stone is by the crimson blood, swallowed.
The red tide beyond the ebon wound, contorted.
My sacrifice bids farewell in this river of memory:
A wave to end all time.

She brought the scythe down. It made a loud chunk as it sliced cleanly through Ruby's arm, the limb falling off of the rock and sliding down to rest in the snow. It stained the ground black and red.

Ruby screamed in agony, feeling the pain in her arm all at once, as one overwhelming sensation. The heart-wrenching cry shattered Weiss' soul into tiny pieces. The brunette fell over on the ground and curled into a ball, clutching at the stump of her right shoulder.

Weiss flung the scythe down in absolute horror, as if it were the most evil thing in the world. Covering her hands with her mouth, she flung herself on top of Ruby and looked at her, not sure what to do. What could she do?

Ruby's eyes rolled up into the back of her head. She groaned, and then blacked out from sheer pain.

Trembling, Weiss lifted Ruby up and cradled her, sobbing softly, her eyes screwed shut.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry," she repeated over and over. She thought back, to all the time she spent with the Ruby, all the chaste kisses, all the whispered words of affection, all the time spent in the early morning and late night simply holding one another. She remembered Ruby's kindness, her caring nature, her strength, her conviction... her conviction!

Her own promise, her own conviction to help Ruby sprang back into her mind.

"I have to get her to a hospital!"

Weiss grabbed the strip of cloth Ruby had used as a gag, and tied it as tightly as she could around the brunette's shoulder. It wasn't much, but it should slow the bleeding. Should... Weiss knew though, it wouldn't be enough. She had only one option. Ice would freeze the wound. She glanced around for Myrenaster, then remembered it was still lodged in that beast's skull.

"Too far away. Have to use my semblance," she thought.

Placing her hand over the wound, Weiss focused her powers, and ice began to spread from her fingertips. It cracked and twisted, forming a sheen over the bloody stump. Say what you will about Crescent Rose, but its edge was sharper than anything Weiss had ever seen. The cut was perfect. Weiss finished, a layer of ice now preventing the blood from flowing out of Ruby's arm. Weiss lifted the brunette up in her arms, and turned south. Gathering her breath, she took a step forward, and ran.

Weiss didn't care that the nearest settlement was over thirty miles away.

She didn't care that the only way she would be able to get Ruby there was bridal style.

She didn't care that she wasn't particularly physically strong, and that Ruby had grown taller and heavier than her.

She didn't care that it was an impossible task.

She left behind Crescent Rose. She left behind Myrtenaster. They didn't matter.

The only thing that mattered was Ruby. She cradled the brunette closer to her chest, clutching on to her like the last shreds of her sanity.

"Hold on Ruby... please hold on, for me... I can't live without you..."

Gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut to block out the tears, Weiss ran, through the snow, through the fog, through the night.

The snow has fallen,
And raised this white mountain,
On which you will die.
And fade away in silence.

For optimal reading, open up a Youtube tab and listen to the song "Falling Snow" by Agalloch.

It was my inspiration for this chapter, it was on repeat as I wrote this. I have a few more chapters planned, each one revolving around a specific Agalloch song. They're an Atmospheric Folk/Doom Metal band from Washington. They sing about nature, and loss, and depression, and death and winter, and it's some of the most powerful stuff I've ever heard. And don't worry, this story doesn't feature character death. I will never write character death. And yes, it does take place in the same universe as my Space!AU. This is how Ruby got her robotic arm.

I don't own Agalloch, or any of it's songs. I don't own RWBY, or any of the characters.

Please leave a review, even if it's only a few words. I just love knowing that people read my hard work.