Ruby is one of the early game main characters you meet in Where Winds Meet, and the story wastes no time connecting her to you as a younger sibling figure. The question most players eventually ask is: Does Ruby die or survive the events of Chapter One? The short answer is, Ruby dies during the climax of the first act, Heaven Has No Pier, and her death is part of the main story with no other outcome.
This article contains major spoilers for the main story of Where Winds Meet.
How Does Ruby Die in Where Winds Meet
Ruby’s death happens near the end of the Heaven Has No Pier chapter, during the Aureate Pavilion witch’s attack on Heaven’s Pier. The village gets destroyed by fire, illusions, and burning arrows, which force the protagonist, Yi Dao, Du Qiaoxian, and the remaining villagers to escape and regroup at a secret tunnel at Sweetwine Tower.
During this battle, Ruby plays a very crucial role to turn the tide in your favor. When you are too busy to clear a path and reveal the witch behind the false fire illusion, she decides there’s only one way she can help and which is to create a distraction from the far end of Moonveil Mountain. She thinks she’s small enough to slip past the soldiers and lead them away to give the villagers a chance to safely evacuate. Even when you refuse and tie her hands to stop her plan, she escapes without alerting anyone.
Some time later, a red cape waves from the peak of the cliffs, which is Ruby using the cloak you gave her earlier as a marker for the villagers’ escape. The Aureate Pavilion witch and soldiers see it as well and shoot arrows in her direction. In the scene, her horse, Clip-Clop, saves her from one arrow’s waves, but the witch’s next arrow hits her piercing through the cloak, she falls to the ground, and leaves the world. Ruby dies exactly the way she always talked about: someone who helps others and acts bravely, even if the odds are unforgiving.
What Happens After Ruby’s Death
The distraction Ruby creates at the cost of her life is the reason Yi Dao and the protagonist manage to break through the soldiers and get to the witch to kill her. Later, the storyteller of Qinghe becomes the in-game voice of her legacy. After the attack, he vows to write The Tale of Ruby book to recount how the “Young Master and Ruby” saved the people of Heaven’s Pier. Listening to him retell the event confirms that Ruby is remembered as a hero by the people she protected.
Can You Save Ruby in Where Winds Meet?
So far as we know, there is no way. Ruby’s death is part of the main storyline and is impossible to stop. Even if you complete every quest in Qinghe before the main quest, the events are fixed. That’s also why Ruby won’t appear in the Heaven Dream sequence later on—most players interpret this as the protagonist not being able to process seeing her in that space. Some players hope she might return somewhere later or in flashbacks, but the current story confirms her as deceased.
