A/N: With Killer With Standards coming to a close, I thought that I need to fill that void with a new story, one that I just can't get out of my head. This issue has caused me to have trouble writing The One Who Knocks and General's Fall, and trust me, I've tried. Anyway, here it is…
Ruby laid on the cold, stone floor, trying to purge her mouth of the awful iron taste that continually seeped from her lips. She spit the blood away, causing it to spatter across the ground beside her.
Her hands were covered in her own blood, blood that continually poured from the wound on her chest. She should have died by now, yet here she was, clinging to her fading life.
The amount of blood in Ruby's mouth affected her breathing, causing her to begin choking on it and coughing. This did not last long, as the coughing ejected the red liquid.
Was she really about to die?
This question was answered almost immediately, as a figure ran to Ruby's side, and began to press down on the wound. The young girl strained to recognize the figure, yet failed due to her vision becoming blurry and the beaked, red and white hood that shrouded their face in shadows.
"Stay with me, Ruby!" The figure frantically told her. It was a woman. And she knew Ruby.
Ruby felt an overwhelming sense of tiredness beginning to overcome her body. Her vision began to darken and her rigid body began to relax.
The hooded woman began to panic, and rested her hand on Ruby's cheek.
"Don't do this!" She shouted. "Stay awake!"
Ruby managed to slightly turn her head in a futile effort to keep herself conscious, but her vision continued to darken.
Just before Ruby's vision went completely black, she heard the hooded woman faintly screaming.
"No! No! No! Stay awake!"
"I'm sorry…" Ruby managed to quietly slur.
Once her vision completely darkened, the world went silent and she saw nothing. But she did not enter a dream-like state, nor did she see a bright light. She just saw black. Ruby was not relieved of her intense pain, either. She felt what she could only presume was the hooded woman trying to shake her awake. But soon the shaking stopped, and Ruby felt some sort of pressure being applied to her shoulder blades and the backs of her knees.
And soon, her vision returned, her eyelids barely opening and exposing her tired eyes to the harsh sunlight.
The woman was carrying her through some sort of temple, the large, stone walls stretching up to the high, circular ceiling. Ornate, gold decorations lined the walls. Red and gold banners hung on the tall, stone pillars. The banners had some sort of logo on them; it seemed to be a stylistic, upside down V with a curved line underneath it. The insignia held some sort of familiarity to Ruby, but she was not in the state of mind to figure out where she had seen it before.
"Mentor?!" A foreign, unfamiliar voice called out. "Why have you brought this girl into the Sanctuary?!"
The hooded woman—the mentor—gave no response, but continued to carry the young girl down the long hallway.
"Surely you don't expect us—!"
"Silence!" The Mentor shouted. The man immediately silenced himself.
"Do not question—!" The Mentor stopped as Ruby's lungs contracted in protest of the blood that began to fill them. This caused Ruby to begin violently coughing. Blood spattered onto The Mentor's face and hood, staining the white fabric.
Without any warning, she began to run, still holding Ruby in her arms. Unfortunately, the coughing and the running caused Ruby to begin losing consciousness once again.
However, she was jolted awake as The Mentor set Ruby down on a hard, cold, metal surface.
"This girl needs medical attention!" She yelled.
Now in a stable environment, Ruby began to fall back into her deep slumber, one which she very well knew she may never wake from.
"Sedate the patient." A distant voice ordered.
Cold plastic touched Ruby's nose, and the area surrounding her mouth. The plastic smelled funny, but that was the least of Ruby's worries, as she could feel the pain fade away, the world going with it.