Finding the bathroom in the middle of the night had been so much easier at Beacon. Ruby had the path memorized, and often would stumble through her team's shared room without even bothering to turn on the lights. But here was unfamiliar, and only served as a stark reminder of why they were no longer at beacon. The house they'd taken refuge in had more than enough space, but when night fell in Mistral the barren rooms felt eerie rather than inviting.

So Ruby chose to turn on the lights as she crept quietly from the couch, stepping carefully over Nora who had rolled onto the floor in her sleep. They were all so exhausted that even the harsh glow of the hallway light didn't wake them. No one stirred, Yang's familiar snoring pausing for only a second as she rolled over. It felt good to have everyone back; Ruby allowed herself a sentimental moment in the doorway, memorizing what her friends looked like in the rare moment of peace.

An ear pressed to Qrow's bedroom door told her that his snoring was as loud and steady as ever, and after a moment of listening she rounded the corner to the bathroom. One hand against the smooth wall guided her, but she stopped short in the middle of the hallway.

Something was off.

As her eyes adjusted Ruby dropped smoothly into a better combat stance, making a smug mental note when she realized how readily the hand-to-hand posture came now. The bathroom door was right in front of her, standing partially open, but she didn't move any closer. Instead she focused on the instinct buzzing in the back of her brain. It wasn't until she was holding her own breath in anticipation that she realized what had set her off. She had heard breathing that wasn't her own coming from somewhere in the hallway. Now in the silence it was clear. Someone else's ragged breaths filled the air. The sound was thin and strange so very far away from the sound of her teammates sleeping peacefully behind her.

She could make out the shape of a silhouette in the bathroom doorway. Someone was standing there, so motionless it could have been a manikin leaning against the wall. They hadn't bothered to turn on the lights, standing over the sink in complete darkness. Ruby's first instinct was to call out, but her voice died in her throat. Who was missing? Qrow was asleep in his room…she'd seen Blake on the coach…Yang…Maybe it was Jaune? No, she remembered almost hitting him when she stretched in the darkness. It had to be…

"Oscar?" she called, voice all whisper and whooshing air. She hadn't even noticed he wasn't asleep in his usual spot.
She could see now that it was him, but there was no reaction his name. No change in the tension in his stance, the uneven breathing just grew louder.

"Oscar what's wrong?" This time Ruby snapped out of her stupor enough to take a step forward and turn on the closest hall light. The harsh yellow spilled into the bathroom, and when Oscar still didn't react she moved forward and pushed the door open all the way.

He looked like a ghost of himself. The light made him look so much older than she knew he was. It played over his acne scars, made the edge of a vein in his forehead stand out. His freckles were almost lost in the shadows. He was shaking slightly with each breath, hands clenched white knuckled against the rim of the sink. If his body language hadn't given it away, she caught the fear in his eyes when he turned his head at her approach. His usually brilliant eyes had become unsettling, not quite focused on her, not quite focused on anything. Just as quickly as he'd turned to her, he glanced away. She knew that she was looking at Oscar, in body and mind, but that only made seeing the terror in his face more difficult.

"Ruby?" His voice was what made Ruby's heart really start to jump. He didn't sound like himself. But he didn't sound like Ozpin either.

"I'm turning on the light." She warned him, and slipped the switch up. He looked a little better in the light, a little less like a Grimm.

"Ruby." This time it wasn't a question, he knew she was there next to him. But the situation only seemed to make him more agitated.

"I'm right here, Oscar." Ruby stepped closer slowly. "Talk to me, tell me what's wrong."

Bless his two souls did he try. Between breaths that shook his chest Oscar could only manage incomprehensible whispering. Sounds that might have been words or names, a growling mumble of frustration. He couldn't explain and she couldn't understand, try as they might.
He tried to say something that sounded like her name again, but immediately gripped the sides of the sink harder and dry heaved like him might vomit, though only more gasping breaths came up.

She hesitated to touch him, but he was so out of it he barely noticed when shed did. Ruby wished Qrow was here, she wished anyone was here, she'd even settle for Ozpin at this point. Oscar's skin was hot to the touch despite his uncontrollable shivering. She took her palm away from the back of his neck and traced what she hoped were gentle reassuring circles against his shoulder.

"Are you sick?"

"Lamp!" he barked and met her eyes through the mirror. Ruby was so shocked at the response she almost laughed out loud, but caught herself.

"Lamp?" She reached for the light switch on the wall, thinking that he wanted the lights off again. Then she stopped, mid-motion. "The Relic?" Ruby's eyes fell to where it was still attached securely to Oscar's belt. In its smaller state it barely gave off any light at all, but the power it held was apparent like a fog in the air.

"Oscar, is something wrong with the Relic?"

Oscar was fighting back another round of retching. "He…he, he does…. does…not…. I can't…. It…. I…" He cut himself off with a noise so strained and alien Ruby didn't even know what to call it.

"Okay okay. Just, umm…." Ruby floundered, at a loss for how to help her friend. "It's okay! The lamp is fine, it's right here, it's safe. So there's no reason to worry, right?"

Ruby reached towards it and Oscar flinched away. She couldn't tell if really was afraid she'd hurt the lamp or him, or if she'd just startled him by moving too quickly. Either way she backed up and held her palms up. "It's safe, Oscar. We're going to protect the Relic, I promise."

Oscar dropped his head back down, staring into the streaked bowl of the sink and mutter something to himself that Ruby couldn't make out.

"Listen, you really should lie down. But I'll, um. I can get you some water first. That'll make you feel better. Or coffee? Uncle Qrow always makes me coffee when I don't feel good. Weiss says I put too much sugar and cream in mine, but I could make it less strong. Or tea! We have tea, I'm pretty sure. Oh, I don't remember and now I'm rambling. But I'll get you something to drink, alright?" Was he hallucinating? Did he have a fever? Of all the times for one of them to fall ill.

"No…" Oscar hissed, though Ruby sensed it wasn't in response to her question. "Stop stop stop stop." He rocked on his feet slightly, head shaking feebly in time with his mantra.

"I'm getting someone." Ruby turned to back away but his hand clamped onto her sleeve with surprising speed and strength.

"Ru…" he tried one more appeal to get her to understand. "H-he…. I…. can't. tell." He spoke each word like it hurt him. "Secret."

Ruby paused at his first two syllable word of the night.

"Secret?" Ruby's gut twisted with an entirely different kind of fear. "What's a secret Oscar?"

Oscar tried to answer, but before he could his knees gave out under his weight. Oscar crashed toward the floor, and if Ruby hadn't been standing within arm's reach to grab him, he would have cracked his head on the sink. He fell as dead weight into her arms, eyes rolling white.

"Oscar!"

The second they were both on the floor he curled away from her, pulling his arms up around his face. He threaded his shaking fingers into his hair, holding so tight Ruby was frightened he might hurt himself.

"Help." Oscar whimpered.

His voice sent a chill down Ruby's spine. She couldn't do this alone. Didn't know how to help him. She needed to understand what he was trying so desperately to tell her, needed to bring his fever down, needed to keep him from panicking, she needed…

Ruby turned back to the long hallway and filled her lungs to scream. "YANG!"