Introduction, Chapter: Ruby

"Jaune!" Weiss shouted, sounding like a weight had just been lifted off her chest. "Are you alright?" Team RWBY hadent been able to get in contact with Jaune, Ruby, or Pyrrha sense Weiss sent her running up the tower. Weiss ran over towards him, stopping half way there. Mid step, she turned to look at Blake, who was leaning over an injured Yang with regret in her eyes. Yang kept insisting she was fine, it wasn't like she lost an arm or anything! Still, Blake felt guilty that her teammate got hurt fighting for her. When she saw Weiss leaving however, she temporarily left Yang to be informed by the leader of the sister team.

Weiss was stopped in her tracks for a different reason this time. "Oh god..." Weiss croaked, her voice empty and hollow, errily lacking any emotion other then desperation and sorrow. It was altho, when she spoke, she wasn't actually there to speak. "What happened?" Weiss felt herself slump in shame "Is she okay?" She wished she had asked those questions in reverse, but whats done is done.

"I..." Jaune turned to look at the girl who lay on the ground behind him, unceremoniously dragged there on a tarp. "I'm not sure..." he didn't exactly know how to answer either of those questions. Ruby rose lay defeated on the ripped, white fabric. Well she had managed to save Pyrrha's life, something Jaune was eternally grateful for, it wasn't without eating the bullet intended for his teammate.

Ruby didn't even look like herself. She lay in tatters, most of her outfit either having been removed, or charred and bloodied, clinging to her body in an attempt to lessen the wounds. Her left leg was in shambles to say the least. It was black as coal, and the fact there was more bone then flesh visible was enough to make the entirety of team RWBY's stomachs churn like Jaune on his first flight.

Her hair was singed, patches of it burned off. The bedhead carried with it glowing orange tips, the ends sizzling, her body fighting in an attempt to put out the flames that were equally as determined to burn what was left of her to the ground. Her hand lay idly on her stomach, were a fairly deep, dark wound lay from her lower abdomen to her lower chest, altho a bolt of energy or lightning had been run along her body. Various cuts, bruises, and burn marks littered the few parts of her that wasn't mangled beyond recognition.

Once the shock gad steadily starting to wear off, they went to help however they could. Blake was the first to grab the other end of the tarp, Weiss taking Jaune's place to give him a moment to relax and see his own injured teammate. The two girls carried Ruby back towards one of the bullheads, both of them taking note of the mortified look on Yang's face. The look her sister had was somehow far worse then the sight of there leader on deaths door.

One week later...

Ruby groaned, finally starting to awake from her coma. All things considered, she should have been out much longer, but Ruby was as much of a fighter as her boneheaded sister was. The girl slowly moved her head side to side, trying to literally shake the sleep from her. When her attempts to rock herself off the side of the bed and stand failed miserably, Ruby opted for a more standard approach. Gathering as much might as she could, she put a hand on the mattress, and slowly pushed herself up, so her upper back rested on her pillow and her head on the wall behind her. With a small grown, she forced her eyes awake for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.

"What... happened?"

She was shocked at how her own voice sounded, but was too tired to show it, simply sounding a pitifully quiet squeak of surprise. Her voice was rough, and speaking felt like someone was running nails on a chalkboard in her throat. She gulped, feeling herself sink at the pain that sounded threw her at her swallow. Was there coal in her throat or something? Ruby forced her legs off the side of her bed, forcing herself to try and stand, before screaming in pain and falling back into her bed.

Ruby squinted her eyes to try and fight the indescribable feeling of waves and waves that coursed threw her body like an all consuming radiance. Ruby looked down, her face paling to a ghostly white as she saw the white cast that donned her entire leg, a grim realisation settling into her stomach.

She couldent feel her leg...

Ruby flipped the blankets off her in one fell swoop. She would wince as that too hurt her, but was far too busy trying not to pass out at the steadily settling waves to care about what was in comparison a simple minor pain. She looked down at what the blankets had hidden, and if she could get paler she would have. Her entire torso had stiches across it, massive sections of her chest and stomach were dulled of there senses. It was altho sections of her were simply missing, replaced with air that somehow coursed with electricity. She reached to touch it, only to jerk her hand back as the needles stabbed into her body like a bear trap that had gone off unprepared. Why did everything have to hurt so bad?

How was she going to be a huntress like this?

She soon heard a torrent of thumps, and she couldent properly identify what it was until the door burst open. The handle slammed against the wall so hard that it left a fist sized hole in its wake. Only one person could open a door with such gusto. "Ruby!" Yang cried, having heard her little sister scream. "Are you okay!?" She darted to her sisters side in a speed that rivalled Ruby's semblance. Ruby didn't react when Yang put her arm around her shoulder, sitting down beside her with enough force to cause the bed to shake. It stung, everything stung, but Ruby's leg had stolen her full attention.

"I don't... think so...?" She couldent find the right words, trying to identify what she was feeling proved impossible. Yang grew a solem look at her sisters lifeless reaction. Seeing the usually overly chipper girl act so cold was so uncharacteristic it almost threw her into a frenzy. "It'll be okay Ruby, I promise" She tried to help, rubbing her back in comfort. However, when Ruby shook her head, she realised that wasn't working. She had disappointingly done the opposite of what she had hoped.

"I'm not okay Yang, it wont be okay. Look at my leg!" She threw her arms in its direction for emphasis. "My semblance, my weapon, my-" Ruby took a deep breath to try to keep the growing tears down, to stop them from escaping there prison. "How am I supposed to be a huntress like this?" She asked, looking up into her sister eyes, desperate for answers. But Yang had none, and couldent meet her gaze for more then a second. "I don't know..." it was her time to croak. Yang steadily got out of bed with such carefulness that you would have sworn she was walking on glass. She slowly headed to the door, her own footsteps oddly sounding incredibly intrusive in the unnatural stillness of the room.

"Lunch is almost ready, i'll bring something up for you later, alright Rubes?" She both told her and asked, pausing with her hand on the doorknob, standing in the doorway as if she was frozen mid motion. Yang felt her entire body stiffen, then fall in defeat as Ruby didn't even so much as acknowledge her, the girls gaze fixated on her bound and casted leg. Yang made a mental note to ask her dad to properly settle Ruby back into bed before she did something stupid. After, of course, she informed everyone that Ruby was finally, finally awake.