An Absence in the Soul

[Ruby Rose]

Weiss's hand went cold.  Very cold.  Ice cold.  As cold as cold can get.  With wide eyes I spun on the heels of my boots to peer at my partner - or what was left of her.  Her body was slowly disintegrating, coiling into Omnillium in the air, like a cloud of rainbow essence. "Weiss!!" I squealed with a frightened redness crossing my cheeks as my only remnant of my old world left me before my eyes. "Where are you going?! Don't leave me!!" I screamed, throwing my arms around her body as her shoulders began to unravel into the fabric of the Omniverse, but the sudden force only accelerated the process; the upper half of her torso shattered into extravagantly colored shards of glass, disappearing into the world like the rest of her. "Stop! Give Weiss back!" I cried, tears streaming down my cheeks like waterfalls, mixing in with the ether Weiss's body was becoming - or had become. Before I could even register it, nothing was left of the ivory huntress. Nothing but a silver, crown-shaped hair pin.

"DAMN IT! DAMN IT ALL!!" I screamed, uncaring for the terrified onlookers, gazing at me with incredulous, pitiful and exasperated expressions.

"Who is that weird girl?"


"Aww, poor dear..."

"Someone's got 'er knickers in a knot..."

Clenching a fist around the hair pin and wiping my cascading tears on my ebony sleeve, I dashed from the restaurant, the spiked object drawing crimson liquid from my palm, flowing across the glassy surface. "Weiss... Weiss... Weiss..." I continued to sob her name as I ran from the building, the soft earth shifting beneath my feet with each panicked step until-

Thud

"Woah kid, what's the rush?"

I crashed into a solid body and was sent skittering onto my backside from the recoil, looking up through watery eyes at a head of greenish-gold hair, hanging down in heavy, neat locks. I wiped my eyes once more and gawked at the person who had interrupted me; it was a woman, likely no more than thirty, one hand on her hip and the other reaching out to help me up. "Got ants in your pants or somethin'?" She asked as I tightly gripped her delicate hand and let her haul me to my feet.

"My friend... she's gone..." I sobbed, looking down into the snow, clenching the pin tight. "What? Gone? You mean dead?" The woman asked, tilting her head in a confused manner. I shook my head in a fashion that meant neither yes or no. "I don't know... I don't know!!" I cried and crouched suddenly, crying wildly once more with my head between my knees.

I squeaked as I felt a pair of arms lift me from the ground, one under my knees, the other behind my head. "Shushushush... I'll help you. Just calm down, let me take you home." She whispered soothingly, and I dug my face into her black trench coat, tears soaking into the midnight material. "Can you tell me your name?" She asked sweetly.


"R-Ruby..."

"How old are you?"

That question took me a moment to answer. How long had I been in the Omniverse? I was fifteen before I came here, and my birthday hadn't been very far away, so...

"Sixteen... I think..." I sighed into the woman's coat, feeling my tears starting to fade. "Good girl." She crooned, gently stroking the back of my head. "My name's Wynrel. Pleasure to meet you Ruby." She whispered, and I nodded weakly into her chest.