Chapter 3

(The day after Ruby awoke)

"Ruby, we don't know how to properly explain this, but it seems that last night your aura flared up extensively" the nurse said to Ruby who was sitting on her bed in the infirmary silently raging at the restrictive sling she was forced to wear.

"What does that mean?" Ruby snapped a little angrier then she intended. "Sorry I had a bad night sleep" Ruby added when she realised how angry she sounded.

"It's fine, but anyway, against any of our explanations your aura seems to have flared up not only recharging it but increasing your maximum capacity" the nurse explained.

"I wasn't aware that was even possible" Ruby said still trying to figure out what was going on. 'First the nightmares and now this, why can't everything return to normal' she thought to herself.

"There have been very rare cases of peoples aura spontaneously increasing however never when depleted as much as yours was and with such a grievous injury" the nurse explained. "The good news however is that this should speed your recovery up immensely."

"Well I guess it's a good thing then" Ruby said cracking a smile still anxious to get the restrictive sling off.

"That it is, anyway I have to go, your teammates should be in soon though so just try to rest till then okay" the nurse said as she opened the door to leave.

"Okay" Ruby lied. 'Like that will happen, not if the nightmares come back' Ruby thought dejectedly.

Meanwhile

"Did you hear the Achievement Hunters are going to be in Vale" Yang exclaimed as team WBY and JNPR sat eating breakfast.

"Who are the Achievement Hunters?" Jaune asked.

"Only six of the coolest hunters to ever live" Nora piped up excitedly. "MOGAR!"

"Mogar's okay but he's not the man the myth the legend, that is Mark Nutt" Blake added

"Mark Nutt isn't as good as people make out, I mean Tuxedo Mask kicked his ass in an archery competition, Hispanic comin at you with a knife" Yang, the self-titled expert on Achievement hunter, replied to Blake animatedly doing the actions for her quote.

"You only like Tuxedo Mask because his jokes are almost as bad as your own" Blake quipped in reply.

"What about the Trials guy, that beard is amazing" Ren interrupted Blake and Yang's argument.

"The guy wears a motorcycle helmet everywhere yet hardly rides a bike, although that beard is amazing" Yang answered.

"The crazy guy is pretty funny" Weiss said adding her opinion.

"Of course the Ice Queen would like the Mad King" Yang laughed.

"I thought he was the up in the air guy" Pyrrha said.

"No he's the exterminator, put em in the hole" Nora added.

"Your all wrong, King Go-eff is the leader and obviously the best" Pyrrha said.

"Being the leader doesn't mean you're the best, look at Jaune" Weiss stated gesturing to the scrawny blond leader of team JNPR.

"That's true, and King Go-eff hardly ever fights or competes in tournaments" Yang added.

From that point everyone argued for half an hour over which member of Achievement hunter was the best until Weiss stood up to leave.

"Hey Weiss, you going to see Ruby" Yang said ending the argument.

"Yeah, are you and Blake coming?" Weiss asked

"Me and Blake are going to town to buy a few things, we'll pop in to see Ruby then we'll be gone a few hours, you need anything while we're out?" Yang asked.

"Here just get some cookies and some other treat for Ruby" Weiss said handing Yang some Lien.

"I'll get some strawberries and cookies, but you're giving them to her" Yang said taking the money from the Heiress.

"Why"

"You've seen Ruby eat cookies, well she likes strawberries even more then cookies, giving her both at the same time, if you're not careful you could lose a finger, or even an arm" Yang said with the most shit eating grin so Weiss could not tell whether she was telling the truth or not.

Beacon infirmary

'Stupid sling, it's so uncomfortable, god I'm going to break someone's arm if I don't get this thing off soon' Ruby's train of thought stopped suddenly when she realised how violent her thoughts were. 'What the hell Ruby, calm down, you're getting angry over nothing again, what the hell is wrong with me.'

'Knock, knock'

"The doors unlocked" Ruby called.

"Hey, sleep well last night" Weiss said softly as she entered the room followed closely by Blake and Yang.

"Yeah, good news, I may be getting out of here quicker than I thought" Ruby told the others her voice sounding more excited once she changed the subject.

"Cool, how?" Yang asked.

"Something weird happened with my aura and it's increased, speeding up my recovery time"

"How did that happen?" Yang questioned confused.

"Don't know" Ruby said with a shrug. "Not even the nurse knew, anyway what are you guys planning to do today."

"Yang needs to get some stuff in Vale and I'm accompanying her" Blake from the corner of the room where she lurked.

"Oh, cool."

1 hour of talking later

"We'll be back early tonight; will you two be alright on your own?" Yang asked shooting them both a questioning look.

"Don't worry about us, you two just go have fun" Ruby called from where she laid sprawled out over the bed, on her back, staring up at the ceiling.

"Okay, just, don't drive each other insane while we're gone" Yang said as she and Blake left the other two girls alone in the infirmary. Not five minutes after they left Weiss, who for the last hour had been strangely quiet, decided to give Ruby a heart attack.

"Ruby, why did you lie to us" Weiss said calmly yet still causing a chill to run down her spine at the fact that Weiss had seen straight through her façade.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Ruby asked fidgeting nervously.

"Ruby, I have been your partner for a while now, I know when you're lying, so why did you lie about sleeping" Weiss said sitting down on the bed next to Ruby.

"Is it that big of a deal, I slept enough when I was knocked out" Ruby said trying to pass off that everything was fine.

"What were the nightmares about" those words turned Ruby to stone.

'How does she know' Ruby thought as she stared right into her teammates icy blue eyes.

"I was there when you were unconscious Ruby, you tossed and turned, you moaned and cried in your sleep, what was so horrific that it could put you in that kind of state" Weiss said in a surprisingly comforting voice.

"Shut up!" Ruby yelled placing her head in her hands. "You don't know what you're talking about, I'm fine, I'm safe, nothing's wro- Ruby's rant was interrupted by to thin arms wrapping around her and pulling her in for a very, very un Weiss-like hug.

"Four and a half weeks ago I had my last nightmare." 'Apart from last night' Weiss thought. "Two months after starting at Beacon was when they stopped being a nightly occurrence, do you know what happened to slow them down so much?" Ruby did not reply to Weiss's question however her sobbing seemed to lessen. "You happened, and Blake, and Yang, my whole life I have suffered from night terrors, usually about being rejected by my family, being alone, not good enough, you all changed that, you're the first true friends I've ever had" Weiss finished without her stone cold expression changing once. Neither spoke for a long time Weiss just sat there with Ruby wrapped in her arms and Ruby who had finished crying just leant quietly into her partner's embrace, her head resting in the crook of Weiss's neck.

"There's something wrong with you, you're not meant to cheer someone up by telling them that you're more messed up" Ruby whispered shaking once again however this time from a soft giggle. Pulling away they both noticed a sudden lack of warmth. "Thank you Weiss, thank you."

"We're all here for you Ruby, don't ever forget that" Weiss replied.

"So when do you think the others will be back" Ruby asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Knowing Yang it will be a few hours at least" Weiss answered smiling slightly at memories of the blondes antics.

"Well I'm bored so they better get back soon" Ruby pouted looking like a sad puppy. At that Weiss lost it into one of her extremely rare bouts of laughter at how quick Ruby's mood did a 180.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOD it's been way to long you guys, I'm sooooo sorry. I guess you all deserve to know why I've been gone for so long, so when I graduated high school I had to return my school laptop and from then till now I have not had a laptop to write on, I actually still don't have my own laptop I'm just currently living with my mum so I'm using my sisters laptop temporarily. Anyway this chapter has been a long time coming and I hope you can all forgive me for that. Chapters should come out more consistently now but with me only borrowing a laptop and limited internet access I will not be able to upload as fast as I would like. As always I hope everyone enjoys and please let me know any opinions you have.

(Chapter updated 17/4)