OK so this is a story idea I had while lying in bed not looking forward to work at 5:45 AM. To those who read this please understand this is my first attempt of writing literally anything since my state writing test my Sophomore year of high school 6 and a half years ago. This being said here is Chapter one.

For those wondering this story starts in between Seasons one and two and will be an AU

Obviously I don't own nor stand to profit from RWBY its characters or locations in anyway and RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth Productions LLC.

Never as we expected

Chapter One: A Wilted Rose.

Ruby woke up groaning on a particularly difficult Monday morning and immediately noticed that she was the last of her team to wake up which was peculiar since she normally had to wake her team up. She next noticed the complete lack of energy she had at that time which was even more concerning because while it was a Monday she had double Combat Training with her team and was scheduled to spar against Nora which was something she always enjoyed. After getting changed into her school uniform her team and her went to breakfast where she grabbed hardly any food with nothing even the school's fantastic quadruple chocolate chip cookies didn't seem appetizing to her. She started guess she might be getting sick despite her strong immune system on top of her aura normally keeping her from getting sick. She made note to get some orange juice and try and get extra sleep for the next couple nights so Yang wouldn't try and make her go see a doctor (she doesn't like going to the Doctor's office or hospitals if she can avoid it to many unpleasant memories). As she got to the table her team and their friends in Team JNPR began discussing their sparring schedule which included a couple interesting matches including Weiss and Pyrrha and poor Jaune having to face Yang. While this was going on Ruby tried to eat her food but was having issues enjoying it which Yang seemed to notice.

"You feelin alright Rubes? You've hardly touched your food."

"Yeah I'm just a little tired and don't really have much appetite right now. I'm sure I'll be fine by lunch."

After everyone finished their breakfast they headed off to their first class which was Grimm Studies during which Professor Port "entertained" them with a story from his youth in which he claims to have thrown a Deathstalker into a Nevermore killing both while also fighting off a pack of Beowolves. During the story Ruby was having issues focusing and even staying awake which hadn't been an issue for her since her first day she attributed this to her not feeling well and attempted to get back to focusing. After Grimm Studies they all went to change into their combat uniforms of their double session of Combat Class with Ms. Goodwitch at this point Ruby was noticing that she had a slight shortness of breath from just walking up and down the stairs to her team's dorm. This of course concerned her because how could she fight Nora of all people if she could barely go up a few flights of stairs especially when her semblance is running really fast.

When Team RWBY made it to class Professor Goodwitch informed them that Ruby and Nora would be fighting first and that this fight would count towards their current rankings (Ruby being a very solid #5 in the standings with Nora being #6) so they should try their best. As she walked down to the arena she was again noticing that it was tiring her out far more than it should and she decided that the only way she could win was to do so quickly.

As the signal for Ruby and Nora to beginning fighting sounded Ruby took off in a full sprint activating her semblance and attempted to out maneuver the hammer wielder and as she appeared on the other side of Nora who hadn't noticed yet she started coughing uncontrollably giving away her position. As Nora turned around to bring her hammer down on the young girl in red she took off using her semblance again to try and escape the wrath of the ginger haired girl but as she was running she noticed herself slip out of her semblance and as she started to slow down and stop she lost consciousness and fell to the floor.

The next thing she knew she woke up with her team around her and her sister pulling her into a big hug. After Yang let go and Ruby she noticed she was in a hospital room with all kinds of machines hooked up to her. As she was beginning to get used to her surroundings a doctor came in and noticed she was awake.

"Ahh Miss Rose I see you've woken up. Good now we can begin running some tests so we can find out what caused you to lose consciousness during your spar earlier. First I need to ask you a few questions ok?"

"Uhh sure ok."

"Good now your sister said that you told her you felt a little tired earlier and your partner Miss Schnee mentioned you looking out of breath from a few flights of stairs so my question to you Miss Rose is are these common occurrences or something that is new to you?"

"Umm well I'll feel a little extra tired some mornings but nothing like this morning and as for feeling out of breath I don't even feel out of breath after my normal evening run so today has been really uncommon to me."

"Okay next question, have you been in contact with anyone that you know of with any sort of respiratory infection like the Flu or Bronchitis? Possibly even Tuberculosis?"

"Umm not that I'm aware of normally I just spend time with my team and even then I haven't noticed anyone around me looking or acting overly sick."

"Hmm interesting. If you don't mind, I'd like to run some blood tests and get an x-ray of your lungs just to check after that you're free to go and make sure you get plenty of rest. If we find anything in the tests, we'll call you."

"Ok that sounds fine."

After the doctor left a nurse came to take her to where she would be getting the x-rays done and then to where they would draw blood for the lab work then released her and reminded her to try and avoid any strenuous activity for a couple days even giving her a note to give to Ms. Goodwitch to excuse her from combat for a few days. After they got back to the room Yang and Weiss forced Ruby to take a shower then get into bed saying that she needed rest and to let them get her food. She agreed just so they'd stop badgering her and when they got back she saw that Weiss was even nice enough to get her some cookies. She thanked the duo and got to eating her dinner then decided to retire to bed hoping she would feel better when she woke up.

When Ruby woke up she felt even worse than when she had gone to bed. Not only was she completely exhausted but she was also having difficulty breathing even when just lying in bed. Realizing that she was going to have to get up and face her day anyway she got up to take a shower and in the shower started coughing. After showering she got dressed and her team and her where on their way to breakfast when she noticed her scroll began to go off when she looked at it she saw it was the hospital calling so she answered.

"Hello?"

"Yes hello is this Ruby Rose?"

"Yes, it is."

"Hello Miss Rose this is Dr. Forest from the Vale Kingdom Hospital we got your test results in and believe it would be best for you to come in as soon as you are available so we can go over them with you."

"Ok I'll head over after my classes get out today."

"Sounds good see you then."

After hanging up her scroll she decided to try and go about her day as best she could despite how she was feeling. After her classes Weiss said she would take Ruby to the doctor since Yang needed to focus on studying for a test in Dr. Oobleck's class. As they walked to the doctor Ruby started coughing heavily again and had to stop for a moment.

"Are you ok Ruby?"

"Yeah I'll be ok thanks for asking though."

"Ok well let's get to the hospital unless you need a minute to catch your breath."

"No its fine let's go."

After about ten more minutes the duo reached the hospital walked in and told the receptionist that they were here to see a Dr. Forest. The receptionist nodded signed them in and told them that the doctor would be right with them after a few minutes the doctor came to get Ruby and asked her to come speak with him inside his office and was sure to let Weiss know she was welcome to join them. As they walked into his office Dr. Forest waved towards some chairs opposite his desk and asked them to take a seat.

"Alright Miss Rose I have your results back from the lab work as well as your x-rays and while the blood work brought back little results we did notice something unusual in those results the largest of them being an increased amount of Tumor Markers in your blood while on its own this doesn't necessarily mean anything overly serious when we combine that with you x-rays and it looks quite troubling. When we looked at your x-rays we immediately found a few spots that while out of the ordinary aren't overly troubling usually the result of being around someone who smokes often or the result of direct exposure to dust which in your line of work is fairly common. However, when combined with the increased number of Tumor Markers in your blood it is extremely concerning."

"Ok so what does this mean doctor?"

"Miss Rose I hate that I have to say this and I don't want you to freak out when you hear this. Miss Rose you have lung cancer."

Ok so this is going to be one of the main plot-lines to this story if not really the main plot point yeah other shit will happen and I'll do my best to make sure that the other stuff doesn't overwhelm this in anyway. I'm also going to do my best to try and keep this as non-depressing as I can when I have a main character with a life threatening disease. For those who read please leave a review both positive and negative they will be read and responded to. If you either enjoyed this or are willing to give me a shot at entertaining you, please follow or favorite the story.