Ruby stares down the Grimm standing in front of her. The dark creature snarls at her, baring its white teeth as a threat for attack. Drool seeps from the Ursa's mouth as its hunger grows. Ruby is surprised that Grimm still stands. Wounds are all over its body as dark liquid coming out from them. One of its red eyes is gone from battle and many parts of the white bones covering the Ursa's body are chipped, cracked, or completely broken off. No matter how hard she hits the Grimm it refuses to fall to her.
Next to her Blake does the same—waiting for an attack from the Ursa. Like Ruby as well the faunus is growing weary. Both girls have their own injuries. If they do not end this fight soon the Ursa will win. If only Yang and Weiss where here everything could go quicker. But somehow the four teammates got separated. The Ursa is the only thing standing in Ruby's and Blake's way from finding their other two friends.
A low, long grow emanates from the Ursa's throat. The Grimm then lunges at the two girls, teeth bare and poised to strike. Ruby and Blake move out of the way. Quickly its turns on its heels and goes after Ruby. The young girl has little time to recover from her previous escape to defend herself. As fast as she can Ruby spins he scythe around so it is pointing at the ground. She fires a shot into the ground and begins going up in the air. However, she is either to slow or the Ursa is to fast since she is barely off the ground when the Ursa reaches up at Ruby. Its claws wrap around the bottom of Ruby's weapon. The dark creature swings its paw back down to the ground, sending Ruby with it. The young girl gasps for breath from the hard hit to the ground.
Crap it is learning! Blake thinks to herself. Ruby had done that move previously on the Ursa before, once when it was closer to her. The Ursa knows the move now. Blake wonders what else the monster could have learned during their long battle.
There is not much time for thinking. The Ursa places one of its large paws on Ruby's chest. Breathing becomes harder for Ruby as the Ursa places more pressure on her body. Ruby tries reaching out for Crescent Rose but it has falling just out of her reach.
Blake needs to act fast or Ruby is finished. She starts firing shots at the Ursa. It does not faze the monster one bit. Blake curses under her breath has she starts looking around for anything useful. Her amber eyes lock on a tree near Ruby and the Ursa. A thick looking branch hangs above the Ursa. Blake points her gun where the branch meets the tree. The faunus fires four shots at it. The branch snaps off and falls on the Ursa's back, shattering into many splitters. This finally gets the Ursa's attention. It finally takes its paw off of Ruby's chest as it starts coming closer to Blake.
The faunus switches her weapon into a katana and waits for the right moment to strike. The Ursa charges at Blake. Using her semblance Blake makes a clone as a decoy before jumping up in the sky. The Ursa takes the bait allowing Blake to strike a hard blow to its side. The Ursa staggers but still stands. It charges once more at Blake. This time the faunus quickly jumps out of the way. Sticking out her weapon it slices across the Ursa's body. The Ursa takes a few more steps before groaning and falling to the ground. Thick, black smokes comes off of is as it slowly disintegrates.
Blake turns her attention back at Ruby. Some moaning escapes her mouth as she clutches her side. A wave of relief comes over Blake seeing that Ruby is still alive and awake. She runs over to the injured girl and checks over her.
Small nicks from the fall and from some of the splitters riddle her face and hands. Claw marks have ripped through part of her shirt. Shallow and bleeding wounds are now there. Blake digs into the bag that she had brought and pulls out some white cloth. "Here." She says as she gives Ruby the cloth.
The younger girl places the cloth over her wounds. Blake starts to help Ruby up but stops when Ruby whimpers in pain.
"Owowowow!" Ruby says through her teeth. "I think that Ursa broke a rib or bruised it cause it is painful to breathe."
"You mind if I feel to see if it's broken or bruised?" Blake asks.
Ruby shakes her head. "Not at all. You can tell?"
"Sort of. I can figure out if they are broken or bruised but I can't tell which. You learn a lot when you spend most of your life fending for yourself." Blake replies as she gently brushes her hand across Ruby's left side. Ruby winces in pain when Blake gets near her lower rib cage. Blake stops. "I guess it hurts a lot right there?"
"Yeah. That is where I feel the pain when I breathe."
"I am going to gently touch that area as best can to check over it. If it too much pain for you to handle tell me and I'll stop, okay?"
"Okay."
Blake places her hands on Ruby's lower rib cage. She carefully touches the area for any signs of tenderness or swelling. As she tries to figure out if her leader's ribs or broken, Ruby whimpers but does not tell Blake to stop. Either it does not hurt that much or she can handle a lot of pain. Blake thinks.
Sure enough Blake can feel some swelling and tenderness. Without an x-ray Blake cannot truly tell what has happened to Ruby's lower ribs but she knows they are injured.
"That Ursa definitely did something to them. As long as you can breathe okay you should be fine. You just can't exert yourself too much till we get back to Vale. Which is going to be a bit of a problem." Blake looks up at the sky. It is a mix of dark and light blue. In the darker areas Blake sees some stars popping out. Night is drawing closer. The two need to find shelter and fast.
"Think you will be able to hold onto my back? You should not walk and we need to find a place away from Grimm and any other elements out here. I can carry Crescent Rose also."
"You can handle both me and Crescent?"
"Yeah I can. Don't you worry. Let's get you somewhere same. But first," Blake undo's the ribbon around her arm. Helping Ruby up into a sitting position Blake then takes another white cloth out of her bag. She switches it with the now red cloth. "Hold it." She tells Ruby. Blake starts to wrap her black ribbon around Ruby, passing over the cloth. The fabric is just long enough to go around Ruby's body once and for Blake to tie it off.
"Thanks Blake."
"You're welcome. Climb on." Blake turns around so Ruby can wrap her arms around her neck. Blake takes ahold of Ruby's legs, and with one hand Ruby's weapon, before walking through the woods.
Night is quickly coming. Blake better move fast if she wants to keep Ruby safe. But what could be a safe place? The woods are infested with Grimm just waiting to pounce on unexpecting and lost humans. Is there any place the two of them can take shelter? At least Blake can see everything around her as it gets darker. Sometimes being a faunus helps out.
Blake stops short. Through thick brush Blake sees the outline of a cave. It is both a good and bad idea. Good since both of them will be away from the elements and have a relatively safe place to sleep. But bad since who knows what lurks in it. A Grimm could be inside, some sort of predatory animal might live there. Or nothing lives there.
Rumble.
Blake and Ruby look up. The dark sky grows even darker as the stars fade away. A drop of water lands on Ruby's nose, making her sneeze. Look like there is no choice but the cave. Blake makes her way through the brush. At least there will be some cover.
The cave is cool compared to the warm outside. Some water drips down from the cave roof. Blake looks all around for any sides of life. Nothing seems to make this place home. If something had they have not been here in a long time. Finally some luck.
Blake kneels down on the ground to let Ruby off. Blake continues looking around at the cave. Nothing but rocks and dirt are in it. "Look like we can't make a fire. Least we are not wet and it has been hot out so I think we will be okay. Are you warm enough?" Blake asks Ruby.
"I have my cloak. We can share it if you like." Ruby offers.
Blake smiles as she takes a seat next to Ruby. The younger girl wraps her red cloak around the faunus. "Thank you Ruby. How are you feeling? Any better?" Blake starts to remove the ribbon and cloth from the younger girl's body. Her wounds have stopped bleeding and the cloth is half red compared with the first one. "We should let this breath a bit before we put another one on."
"Whatever you think is best. I'm okay. My ribs still hurt like hell and I'm…" Ruby yawns. "Really sleepy. That's all."
"Then sleep. I will watch for us."
"You sure?"
"I am. You need the rest and I am the only one who can see in the dark." Blake places a kiss on Ruby's forehead. "Sleep. If I need help I will wake you."
Ruby only smiles and nods. She cuddles up closer to Blake, whispering an 'I love you' before drifting off to sleep. Blake stays awake, listening and watching for any signs of trouble. Blake starts thinking of happy things, knowing if she allow negatives emotions to take ahold Grimm from all over will come.
Think happy. Think happy. Blake looks at Ruby and smiles. Memories of the two girls spending time with each other flood the faunus' mind. From the time they cooked all day long, spent the weekend reading every possible book they could, and simple nights of cuddling together under the covers. Many times Ruby would fall asleep before Blake and Blake would just watch the younger girl mumble and move in her sleep. Even now while Ruby mumbles random things in her sleep Blake watches the younger girl peacefully sleep. Whatever is playing in her mind must be happy. A large smile is on her face.
The warm memories make Blake drowsy. She struggles to keep her eyes open and her head up. The fight has drained her of all of her energy. The sound of rain hitting the outside of the cave and the earth is also making her fall asleep. The sound is soothing to her ears and before she knows it the dark cave becomes light. Blake blinks. The rain has stopped and birds are singing their good morning songs.
Blake yawns and stretches out. Ruby is still curled up in a ball next to her. Blake gives her a slight shake. Her silver eyes flutters open. "Blake?"
"Hey Ruby. Its morning."
"Nothing happened?"
"No. Which is good because I may have fallen asleep."
Ruby snorts. "Nice."
"We should start moving though. I bet everyone is looking for us. How are your ribs and cut?"
"My ribs are still sore and my cuts," Ruby looks at her wounds. "Look fine."
"Good. Get on my back again. No arguing about walking. I can still carry you and your weapon just fine."
Ruby wants to argue against it so Blake can take a brake but she listens. Ruby wraps her arms around Blake again as the faunus grabs Crescent Rose once more. Blake stands then staggers before getting her footing. Ruby looks at Blake. "You sure you are okay carrying me?"
"Don't you worry Ruby, I am. Just a little shaking that's all."
Blake walks out of the cave. The ground is still wet from last night's rain shower. Blake's boots slosh through the puddles and mud. The birds keep singing their song as Blake listens for any odd sounds. Ruby helps keep a look out for anything out of ordinary. Nothing.
That is till a low rumble echoes though the sky. Both girls snap their heads up at the sound. A dark blob appears in the sky, blocking out the sun. Both Blake and Ruby smile at the sight. It's one of Beacon's aircrafts. They have been found.
Ruby chews on the piece of bread the hospital has given her as part of her dinner. She as to stay for a couple nights since not only did she brake two of her ribs but her claw wounds needed to be stitched up. Hopefully she will be out soon.
Knock, knock.
"Come in!" Ruby shouts with bread in her mouth.
The door opens and Blake appears. She has a few bandages wrapped round her body but she still is able to go home. Even so she visits and stays with Ruby as much as she can. Ruby is happy to have Blake come and make her feel better.
In the faunus' hands is a book. Ruby's eyes light up when she sees the little brown book in Blake's hands. The two have been reading it for the past few weeks now and Ruby is enjoying it. Blake takes a seat next to Ruby. "Feeling any better today?"
"I sure am. I hope I can go home soon. I really hate sitting in bed all day long."
"Well you have to stay in bed for a while you know, till your ribs fully heal. We do not want you hurting them even more. But you should be going home by tomorrow. Then we can read and cook to pass the time. How does that sound?"
"I love it. And thanks Blake for taking care of me." Ruby reaches over without hurting herself to give Blake a kiss.
"Anything for you little rose. Now where did we leave off?"