This World is Beautiful (Or so I'm Told)

By Lightningstrxu

Ruby ambled down the small gravel laid path. With every step, the tip of Crescent Rose tapped the ground ahead of her. Her hood up and cloak drawn tightly around her to protect her from the chill autumn air.

The sound of shifting gravel reached her ears, followed by a child's cry, and a dog's worried barking.

"Mama!" the voice cried out.

"Bell?" Ruby turned around listening to her daughter's cries; she walked over to where she sat on the ground crying. "What happened, are you okay?"

"I tripped." The little girl cried while holding her leg. "I think it's broken, I don't know if I can…" she was cut off by a small brown corgi licking her face. "Drei not now." She sputtered.

Ruby smiled and chuckled.

"Drei's just worried about you Bell." Ruby said as she knelt down on the ground. "So your leg is broken huh?" she asked with an amused smirk.

"It is!" Bell cried out in earnest.

"Well, luckily your mother happens to be a trained medical professional." Ruby held out her right hand. "Where does it hurt?"

Bell reached out and grabbed Ruby's hand and guided it to her right knee. Ruby using her hand as a guide leaned down and kissed her daughter's knee.

"Is that better?"

"Maybe…" Bell looked off to the side. "You might have to carry me though."

"If that's what you wanted all you had to do was ask." Ruby ruffled the younger girl's hair. "You don't need to trick me."

Ruby stood and folded up her scythe placing it on her back.

"You especially don't need to pretend to hurt yourself and make me panic, and I thought a Beowolf had found you."

"Those are just stories mom." Bell replied indignantly. "They aren't real."

Just stories…yeah, I guess that's all the creatures of Grimm are now to the world.

"You never know." Ruby extended her arms downward. "Now come here or are you going to make me find you."

Bell stood up and grabbed onto one of Ruby's hands signaling her presence.

Ruby picked her up and held her close, before turning back down the path. Her pace would be slower without Crescent Rose to guide her, but she would manage.

"Drei take up the lead, boy." Ruby commanded, and the corgi barked and walked in front of her.

"Mama tell me a story." Bell whispered as she snuggled into Ruby's shoulder.

"Which one did you want to hear?"

"The Silver Eyed Huntress!" Bell shouted excitedly causing Ruby to flinch.

"Sweetie that was right in mommy's ear." Ruby shook her head to clear it.

"I'm sorry." Bell whispered.

"It's alright just remember that I have sensitive ears." Ruby smiled at her daughter. "So the Silver Eyed Huntress? You sure I just told you that one the other night, what about the Invincible Girl or the Copy Cat Rabbit?"

"No." Bell shook her head. "The Silver Eyed Huntress!" she stuck out her tongue.

"Alright, I hear you." Ruby chuckled.

"A long time ago there was a young and beautiful huntress, stronger than all the rest…" Ruby began.

"Because she had silver eyes!" Bell interrupted.

"Yes, because she had silver eyes." Ruby laughed at her child's enthusiasm. "Are you sure you don't want to tell the story?"

"No, you tell it so much better mama."

"Anyway, the huntress held within her the power to slay Grimm with only a single look, and thanks to her many lives were saved." Ruby continued the story as she walked down the path.

"But one day an evil witch came, Salem the queen of the Grimm, and even the Silver Eyed Huntress could not stop her, not alone at least." Ruby spoke softly as Bell's eyes began to droop.

"Banding together with her friends the Golden Dragon, the Wandering Cat and the White Haired Princess they fought back against Salem and her army of Grimm. Together they were unstoppable, or so they thought."

Ruby stopped for a moment overcome with memories of the past.

"Salem proved a stronger foe than they all realized, and very nearly defeated them, just as the witch was about to strike down the Huntress the Wandering Cat jumped in to take the blow. She had sacrificed her life…so her friend may live."

Ruby held back her tears; it hurt to cry anyway. She had told this story many times before, but it never got easier, but she would not let her daughter forget, not let the world forget.

"Consumed by grief the Huntress unleashed the full force of her silver eyes upon the witch. The witch fell and with her death so did the Grimm."

Ruby's voice dropped to a low whisper.

"But for the Huntress to unleash that much power, a price had to be paid. The Huntress was struck blind, never to see the peaceful world she helped create."

A small sigh escaped Bell's lips as she fell asleep in her mother's arms.

Ruby held her closer wrapping her cloak tighter around the both of them. She had reached the end of her journey.

An open clearing lay before her; a simple stone wall stood at the center. The Beacon Memorial to the Fallen, erected to honor the memory of the fall of Beacon and all those who lost their lives in the fight against Salem.

It was supposedly quite a breathtaking sight, or so Ruby had been told. Maneuvering carefully she found a nearby bench to lay Bell down upon. Pulling down her hood she revealed her face to the cold air, her eyes wrapped with a red cloth. She removed her cloak and draped it over her daughter's sleeping form.

Drawing and unfurling Crescent Rose she tapped the bottom of the scythe on the ground.

"Watch over Bell, Drei. I'll be back soon."

The corgi barked in affirmation as Ruby walked off, she made her way to the memorial wall her scythe tapping with every step.

Reaching the wall, she stretched out her hand and ran it along the wall, feeling the engraved names under her fingers until she found the first name she was looking for.

"Hey, Penny." Ruby whispered. "It's been a long time hasn't it?"

She fidgeted with the hem of her combat skirt.

"Hard to believe it's been fifteen years?" Ruby leaned on her scythe. "I didn't know you for very long Penny but know that I have never forgotten you, for that brief time I was glad to be your friend. I just wish I had more time with you."

Ruby traced her fingers over Penny's name one last time before moving on. Walking further up the wall she found the next name.

"Hello again." Ruby sniffled, wiping her nose with her sleeve. "How have you been Pyrrha?"

Ruby stood silent for several minutes as if waiting for the once Invincible Girl to reply.

"Sorry I haven't visited much lately. I've been busy…not much of an excuse I know."

Ruby looked up at the sky as if somehow her blind eyes would see some kind of answer.

"Ren and Nora are doing well. They went off and rebuilt Kuroyuri a few years back."

Ruby shook her head.

"I was there a few years ago when Nora and Ren had their first child. It's apparently quite the sight…not that I would know."

Ruby grinned and laughed, rocking herself back and forth slightly.

"They're up to five now, can you believe it. I think they're determined to one-up Jaune's parents."

Ruby fell silent again the smile on her face fading away.

"Speaking of Jaune…We have a daughter together now, well she's four, so maybe I'm a little late in telling you this, and for that I'm sorry. I would introduce you, but she fell asleep on the way here."

Ruby pressed her palm up against Pyrrha's name, feeling it press into her hand.

"I know this may sound stupid, but every so often I can't help but feel guilty Pyrrha." Ruby's hand trembled against the engraved name. "I'm living the life you should have had, marrying Jaune, raising a child together, and another on the way."

Ruby stopped and chuckled.

"I shouldn't have said that I'm only a few weeks along, I haven't even told Jaune yet. So can you keep a secret?" Ruby brought a finger to her lips to make a shushing motion.

"If…if it's a girl I want to name it after you, are you alright with that?"

Silence was the only answer Ruby received, but she could swear she heard the distant voice of her long-lost friend.

"If that is your answer so be it." Ruby nodded. "Well goodbye Pyrrha I promise to visit again soon, I live much closer now, at Beacon actually, Jaune and I are professors now. Who would have thought Professor Arc and Rose, it sounds almost like a dream. But I have someone else to see today, so I'll talk to you later."

Ruby ran her hand along the wall once more; the final name was much further away from the previous two. Ruby stopped cold upon finally finding the name.

Ruby's finger traced each letter slowly, committing every detail of the engraving to memory.

"Blake." Ruby sobbed.

Ruby's legs trembled as she fell to her knees and cried, she wept until her eyes stung from the salt of her tears. She reached up and undid the now tear soaked blindfold. Her eyes were fluttering open.

Empty holes were all that remained, her eyes long ago destroyed by their power. The cold air felt strange in her vacant eyes but soothed the stinging from her tears. Ruby looked up at the spot on the wall where Blake's name was, a pointless gesture, but she wanted Blake to see what had happened to her.

"I miss you so much, Blake." Ruby moved to a seated position on the grass. "We all do."

"But you probably already know that. You were always so perceptive."

Ruby's hand idly played with the grass around her.

"Yang's in Menagerie, carrying on your work. Who would have ever thought a human would be leading the White Fang? But Yang wouldn't take no for an answer."

Ruby brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"She has a kid now, a little faunus boy she adopted." Ruby smiled. "She looked so happy last time I saw her; I think her heart is finally starting to heal. She…she loved you; more than you realized, or maybe you did you're you. I probably shouldn't have told you that, but I don't think she ever will, and I think its right for you to know. But don't tell her I told you okay."

Ruby closed her empty eyes, the chill becoming too much for them.

"Weiss is doing well; she's in Atlas. Head of the Schnee Dust Company, but that's obvious isn't it. You'll never guess who she ended up with."

Ruby waited silently as if the wall could reply.

"Do you remember the Vytal Festival, that guy she fought in the doubles round Flynt Coal?"

Ruby paused again.

"I know right!" Ruby giggled. "They met again at a charity concert two years ago and hit it off, they're expecting their first child any day now. You should see Weiss, Jaune told me when she called that she's all baby, her stomach is almost half as big as she is."

"Jaune and I, we're together. We got married three years ago, and we have a daughter she's four." Ruby smirked. "Yeah I know the math doesn't line up, Jaune and I just celebrated our engagement a little too much and surprise. I wish she were awake right now; I want you to meet her."

Ruby ran a hand through her hair.

"Her name is Belladonna Rose; we call her Bell for short."

"She's like you Blake; she loves to read. Yeah, she's reading at four and above her level too. She's so smart and a little catty…sorry, we can just say that was for Yang. Sometimes I expect to find little cat ears when I touch her head. I like to think that maybe a small part of you somehow came back with her."

Ruby sat silently for a while contemplating her words carefully.

"I hated you, Blake after you died I hated you…I hated myself." Ruby rested her forehead against her knees. "You didn't need to sacrifice yourself for me. Your semblance is supposed to take you out of harm's way not throw you in front of it."

"It was my fault; I tried attacking when I shouldn't have. The one time you should have run away…you didn't, and you saved me."

"I was so angry at first; you gave your life for mine, and I couldn't even appreciate the world that your sacrifice created."

"I thought my life was over…I couldn't see, I couldn't fight, and the Grimm were gone. I know that should have been a good thing, but all my life I wanted to be a Huntress and now not only could I no longer be one, hunters themselves no longer had a purpose."

Ruby stood up and started pacing in place, Crescent Rose repeatedly tapping on the ground.

"But over the years I slowly realized that my life could continue. Even without Grimm, there was still plenty of evil in the world. There were suddenly thousands of hunters who also no longer had a purpose, and not all of them were noble heroes."

Ruby smiled and twirled her scythe making a rather dramatic display. Even though it had been over a decade since she had last fought the movements came easily.

"Hunters were still needed, this time to fight other hunters. It was a rough couple of years, and it came close to war a few times, but we made it through, and I found my new calling."

Ruby finished her display and rested Crescent Rose across her shoulders.

"Weapon Crafting." Ruby beamed. "I may not be able to fight, but I still know weapons inside and out. I can tell you how a weapon works by feel alone, how to improve it, and how to maintain it properly. That's my job now…"

"Professor Ruby Rose." Ruby emphasized her new title with a wave of her hand. "I teach weapon crafting at Beacon."

Ruby paused as she shook her head and laughed.

"Yeah I know hard to believe, isn't it? I'm a teacher. I even have an assistant, she's covering my class for the day right now, and I needed a personal day for this."

Ruby brought her scythe back down to the ground and found her way back to the wall and placed her hand on Blake's name.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is." Ruby bit her lip. "Thank you, Blake, for a long time I was so angry but now. I have Jaune, I have Bell, and I get to live in this beautiful world you created, and I will never forget what you did for me."

Ruby leaned forward resting her forehead against the engraved name.

"Thank you, Blake, for everything." She whispered. "Goodbye."

Tracing the name one final time, Ruby turned around and walked back to her sleeping daughter.

"Did she sleep well Drei?" she held out her hand, and the corgi licked it. "I'll take that as a yes."

Retrieving her cloak, she picked up Bell and held her close.

"Take the lead boy. We're going home."

The dog barked and went ahead of her on the path with Ruby following slowly behind.

It was a little warmer now if Ruby had to guess it was probably close to noon. She felt her feet leave the gravel as she stepped onto the pavement, signaling the path to back to Beacon proper. She knew from memory that from here you could see all of Vale if you looked from the proper angle.

It was supposedly a breathtaking sight now, with how much Vale had expanded during this era of peace. 'Supposedly,' that was a word she had gotten used to over the years, not able to see things for herself and only to have the input of others to rely on.

Even her daughter she had never really seen. It was a question she often asked Jaune. 'What does out daughter look like?'

'Like you.' He would always reply. 'But she has my eyes.'

Ruby smiled, Bell would never know the burden of the silver eyes that was if she even wanted to be a Huntress. She lived in a world of total freedom; she could do whatever she wanted.

Ruby looked out over Vale, darkness was all she knew, and it would be all she would ever see for the rest of her days. But still, she felt the warmth in her heart grow as if she could feel the peace in the very air itself. The peace she had fought for, lost her sight for, and that Blake had died for.

"This world is beautiful."

Ruby told herself.

Well I hope you enjoyed this, just an interesting one-shot idea I came up with, I don't know if I will be doing anything else with this unless there is some tremendous feedback.

Well back to work on Trapped I guess. Hopefully, I'll have another chapter out later this week.