A Spellbound Gem (a RWBY fanfiction)

Prologue: Try Again

"Just give her a moment to rest, ok?"

Ruby raised her wand once again, struggling to stand as she felt energy depleting from her body. She'd been at this for hours.

"What would be the point of that?! She's so close I can taste it!!!"

"It shouldn't be about you! Can't you see she's tired?!"

She was exhausted. But that was no excuse.

"She can do it! Look at that awesome little girl! She's better at magic than you!"

"She's about to pass ou~ Wait, what?"

"Look at her go!"

"I wouldn't say she's better than m~"

The bolt of energy flew forward from the want, striking a bottle and warping it into a beautiful vase. Light shimmered off of the glass, colors shining past and through the air.

Ruby felt warm hands lift her off the ground and into the air as Summer cheered and spun the young girl around.

"You did so well! Mommy's so proud of you!"

She's proud of me, the girl thought to herself, feeling her lips force open in a massive grin. She's proud of me!

Ruby was six years old at the time.

———

Ruby was fourteen years old when her mother died. She had been sitting by the hospital bed, letter from Beacon firmly in her grip. The doctors struggled to get her out of the room as Summer Rose's organs began to fail.

Once she got the word that her heart had stopped, Ruby had to leave before destroying the room they had her sitting in.

"She was so proud of me..." The girl whispered as she walked down the path through the woods. "She was so happy right then..."

By the time Tai had found the girl, the path she was walking was blown away, dust clouds hanging low while Ruby sat on her knees in the middle of a crater. The soft silver glow of her hands made the blond man hesitant... But this was still his daughter.

"Ruby..." He started, reaching forward. "It's time to go home, sweetie."

The silence of the settling dust was that of the coming storm. It was that if a girl that had lost everything... Or had gained something new.

"Ruby, please. Let's go ho~"

"Was she in pain..?" The dark haired girl asked quietly. "Was she... Was she suffering..?"

Tai looked away, thinking about his wife. The woman that defined him for the last fifteen years. The woman that made him whole.

"I think she was too excited to be suffering." He finally decided. "She was never someone to let a little bit of pain take away the happiness of her daughter getting into Beacon."

He waited, expecting to see sparks or the ground shaking below him. He watched for the sky to go dark or for the temperature to rise, but all he found was the soft sound of sobs.

"Shuuuuuuu..." He quietly comforted, getting low to pull Ruby against his chest, petting her long hair as he let her cry. "I know it's hard... But it'll be ok."

"Daddy... She's gone..."

"I know, love." He hushed, seeing the silver fade from hand and eye. "I know, Ruby. I know it hurts."

She was gone from the world that day. Summer Rose passed away, survived by her husband and two daughters. Her youngest, a bright girl seen in red and white, had just been accepted into the top magic school in all of Remnant.

Beacon Academy of Sorcery And Witchcraft. The one place in the world where one may learn and practice magic to the fullest extent. The one escape for those running from lose.

"You ready, Ruby?" Yang called from down the stairs. "It's just about time to go!"

She frowned, eyes still trained on the photograph in her hands. Her and her mother standing in front of the house, a small tree out front burnt to a crisp from the practice that day. She had been eight years old at the time.

"Ruby! We're waiting on you!"

Her eyes blinked back into focus and she only grabbed a single box before running down the stairs. "Sorry! I'm sorry, I got distracted."

"I know, sweetheart." Her father told the girl. "We need to go though. It'll help us move on."

She nodded slowly, as if struggling to accept where they were were going, hair straightened down her back.

When they had arrived, a few were already standing in the ebony black. By the time they left, Ruby was the only one sitting down in front of the recently moved dirt. She sat, her eyes dry from the hours of tears. Nobody had been there for at least thirty minutes, leaving the young girl alone to watch over the smooth stone with her mother's name chiseled in, box of photographs in hand.

Here lies Summer Rose
Loving mother, caring wife, brilliant mage
"If you're reading this, it better be after I've made the world a little more awesome"