One More Chance - Naruto X RWBY

Silver Sunset

Ruby's POV

The ocean crashes against my ears, waves of cool and clear water splashing against my toes. The water is warm, becoming a deeper and deeper hue of blue the further you went out, the sky reflected like a shifting mirror. I stare out into the vast ocean, trying to drown myself in the sensation, as if simply imagining it so would achieve that, drowning. I could drown, drown in sorrow, drown in guilt, drown in the ocean - but my team would only pull me from one of those.

The sunlight is warm against my skin, casting a soft glow over my pale arms and chest, rays of warmth caught in my raven hair. The red tips dripped with water from the occasional big wave, icy water smashing into me as I sat unflinchingly. It wasn't any different, I was already cold. Everything felt cold but I was right before the sun.

"Friend Ruby, are you okay?" I hear the voice of Penny next to me, making my head turn softly to face her. Her bright green eyes are like fields of grass, the sparkles from the sun like blooming flowers. Even if Penny was an android, her eyes were so much more alive than my own - dull pools of gray that had once been a strong silver. My once radiant and glowing skin was now pale and ghostly, having lost its shine and warmth. I was thinner, smaller, lesser - like I was crumbling away into the golden sands beneath my feet.

"I'm fine, Penny."

"I do not believe that to be true, friend Ruby." I hesitate, looking away from Penny and back out to the ocean. Its waves are almost comforting, a constant, a warmth. I could count the small breaks in the water, like I had once done to tiles in ceilings as a child. I know Penny was right, I am not fine. I am not okay. Everything is wrong, everything hurts. My brother is dying, my partner had almost died. My mother was dead. They'd all die someday, someday soon, because I wouldn't be strong enough, in body or spirit.

I couldn't protect Itachi, my baby brother. I couldn't protect Yang, my big sister. I couldn't protect Blake, my best friend. I couldn't protect Weiss, my partner, a bond that went beyond friendship.

I couldn't protect anyone.

I was no huntress.

But that was okay.

I would keep on enduring.

It didn't matter how I felt, Itachi had made that clear with his own actions. He continued on with his path no matter what stood in his way; illness, wounds, death, grief. He didn't allow himself time to mourn or cope, so why should I? Itachi was perfect, the perfect huntsman. So maybe if I kept enduring, kept walking, kept running - maybe I could one day catch up to him.

But by the time I'll have reached him, he'll be dead and gone.

So no, I am not okay. Every second feels like an eternity. Every word from my mouth feels like ashes. Every sensation like the grip of death. It was all just so overwhelming, like walls of freezing ice closing in around my heart and soul.

But I'm fine.

"Yeah, Penny... I'm just tired." I manage softly, keeping my gaze off in the distance. Maybe if I looked far enough, I'd see a new world, one free of the struggles that weighed on me. Maybe if I could see as well as Itachi, I could see a world where we'd all be okay. But my eyes, my silver eyes, they were blind - clouds of mist that stained my vision, I could see nothing at all.

"You are my friend, Ruby... and I want you to know that you mean a lot to me." I hear Penny say softly, her voice more human than mine had ever been. I wish those words made me feel better, I really did. But they didn't, they only widened the hole in my heart.

"You're my friend too, Penny... "

"I love you, friend Ruby. You can always count on me." Penny says, wrapping me in a tight hug. Her synthetic skin feels warm against my own, like I am the robot and she is the human. I do not belong, not in this body, not in this world. But I cannot control my words, they come out like the thorns of a wilting rose.