RWBY /c/ RoosterTeeth
What a Wonderful World...
Chapter 3
Blake woke with a small exclamation, and a light sheen of sweat on her brow. She bolted upright, but a sharp pain shooting through her abdomen caused her to gasp and slump back in bed with a soft thump.
Her eyes slid closed again, forcing herself to breath steadily through gritted teeth against a dull waves of pain shot through her stomach. Instead, she relied on her other senses. The thick scent of antiseptic in the air told her she was in a medical facility. And she could feel that she'd been covered with a crisp white sheet up to the chest, the edge now crumpled at her waist from her attempt to sit up. Someone had also changed her into a new set of clothing, a dull grey top and pants.
Opening her eyes again slowly, she saw a clinical white tiled ceiling with a single long light. On her left was a bedside table, where her clothing and black ribbon sat in a neatly folded pile. Gambol Shroud lay flat on the top and her heeled boots rested at its base.
Only a metre from either side of the bed was a drawn, light grey curtain and at the foot of her bed sat a table with a chart hanging from the front.
Blake didn't recognise this place at all. Nor could she remember how she got here.
Searching, her fingers traced across her abs, where the source of the pain was. She felt a long strip of medical gaze just to the left of her navel, and her heart froze.
Memories exploded in her mind.
Fire and smoke, panicked screaming and charred debris scattered haphazardly everywhere from the Grimm invasion. The White Fang rounding up and shooting civilians. And Adam hovering over her, Wilt plunging into her stomach and Yang -
Yang! Blake felt her eyes begin to sting, tears forming as the memory, but she couldn't dwell on it for long.
Heavy footfalls echoed from the sterile tiled floor, two sets from the sound of it. One set was a light clacking from wedged heels, accompanied by a set of heavy thudding footfalls from what could only be combat boots. Blake dried her eyes as best as she could and pulled the sheets back up to her torso. Her eyes closed tightly, she heard blinds being drawn roughly.
"There's more colour in her face." An unfamiliar woman's voice noted, sounding relieved. A brief pause followed. "Pulse is good. The bruises are healing, and the ribs are on the mend. Good work, Doctor."
There was a scratching of a pen on a clipboard through the curtain. "If she doesn't wake by this afternoon, we'll use a stimulant." The female voice said blithely.
"You'll do no such thing." A second voice ordered sternly, a male voice that sounded particularly deep. Though he spoke in a near monotone, there was a steel edge to his words that brooked no argument. "Miss White will sleep for as long as she sees fit."
'Miss White'? Who did that mean? Was it Weiss? Blake strained her ears to hear more.
The woman must have accepted her instructions, but from her tone, very hesitantly. "The Headmistress -"
"I don't give a right royal damn what some upstart human thinks. I took an oath, and I will maintain it. If that means letting these girls sleep until the sun burns out, then so be it." The male replied unconcerned, accompanied by the sound of curtains being drain closed. "Diggs can fire me if she doesn't like it."
A few foot falls later, Blake heard the blinds open again. This time the ones surrounding her own bed. A shining sunbeam from the window spread across her sheets and her face. The splash of light made her eye involuntarily twitch once.
"Could they be students of Watchpoint?" The female voice said, footsteps approached and Blake felt two warm fingers pressing against her wrist - doubtlessly to check her pulse.
"The Scroll serial numbers indicate they're students of Beacon. Although, I can't find a profile on the computer registry." The male doctor said. It sounded like he was on Blake's left side. "At this point, it's irrelevant. They are my patients and all I'm concerned about is their health."
"I don't suppose you have an estimation on how long they'll stay sleep at least?" The woman said into a hushed whisper.
"In all likelihood, she's awake already." The second strange voice said coolly, supremely unconcerned. "And if you are listening girl, be warned, this is going to sting."
No point keeping up the charade any longer. With a deliberate breath, she let her eyes flutter open, and immediately wished she hadn't.
For a fleeting moment, she thought she was staring at Adam!
This man had that same shade of dark red hair which looked windswept. It almost compelled Blake to try and force him away on instinct; but a split second later, the illusion was broken. This man had bone-colored stag antlers, and wore a black rimmed spectacles; not black horns and a Grimm mask.
Per the Doctor's warning, it did sting. He had rolled up Blake's grey shirt until the top of the gauze was visible, and pried it off with a swift rip. Blake winced against the pain.
"Damn," He sighed to himself, sounding particularly bored rather than concerned while inspecting the wound. "I was hoping you'd be asleep for another hour or so."
"What's going on?" Blake croaked, her voice unnaturally hoarse and her throat felt drier than a Vacuo desert.
"You were found in a clearing by a student team. You've suffered a major abdominal wound from a dust coated blade, which has grazed one of your organs, and you have signs of a mild concussion." He listed off, gesturing for the nurse to get a tray of medical implements. "But, count yourself lucky. There's no sign of infection. Whomever patched you up in the field knew their stuff."
Questions exploded in her mind. Which school students found her? Was it Team SSSN? What happened to the School? What happened to the Grimm and the White Fang? If that was Weiss occupying the next bed, then where are Ruby and Yang?
Most importantly, could Adam find her?
Unable to decide which question to ask first, she chose the obvious one.
"Who are you?" She asked, watching the Doctor inspect the wound. A ghostly crimson glow emanated from his left hand as its fingers ghosted over the string of sutures.
"Dominic Oxblood. Viridian." Oxblood replied, hand out to the nurse who slipped on a white plastic glove, then have him small metal hook. "I'm just removing your stitches. Relax."
Blake tried to, but her mind was still a whirlwind of jumbled thoughts and memories, and each tug sent another tiny jab of pain through her stomach.
"I said 'relax'. This will be easier to heal if your Aura wasn't so disturbed." Oxblood told her, and a minute later, he handed the hook back to Viridian.
"The wound is healing, but not as fast as I'd like. The blade that stabbed you left behind dust particles too small to extract. Only way I could remove them was to expend them, so this is going to smart for a while." He wiped antiseptic over the injury site and Blake winced at the sting, then felt him apply another medical gauze. A lot thinner this time.
"Now girl, you can answer a question of mine. Who are you?" Oxblood said, flicking off the glove which landed in a nearby bin.
"I…" Blake hesitated.
Did she really want to say anything? Adam was on the hunt. He promised to destroy everything she'd built for herself. The last thing she wanted was anyone else getting hurt on her account. Like Yang.
"Girl." Doctor Oxblood prompted after jerking his head at Viridian who left without another word, drawing the blinds closed as she did.
He leant forward on the bed frame slightly. "You don't have to be afraid." For the first time since Blake had woken up, he sounded… kind, sympathetic even. "I am a doctor, and I'm sworn by confidentiality to never reveal patient secrets. Please answer my question."
"Blake." She said, after grappling with it for a moment she continued. Her tone taking a desperate turn. "I-I need to get out of here. I'm being hunted."
The last thing she could remember was running. Slipping away from Vale's safe zone as fast as possible; away from Sun and Yang, and the rest of Beacon's survivors. Then some sort of high pitched whine and a strange white light engulfed everything.
"By who? Humans?" Oxblood inquired patiently. He reached back and pulled the blinds away. On the other side Weiss was sleeping soundly, curled up slightly with her back to the two. "Her?"
"No." Blake shook her head, but stared at Weiss' unconscious frame for several minutes. Even as Doctor Oxblood let the curtain settle, she couldn't tear her eyes away. She could sense his dark eyes on her profile and finally looked back.
"Another faunas; A member of the White Fang. Please, you have to let me leave. Or he'll - he'll kill anyone who tries to help me." She was desperate, and her eyes filled by the threatening sting of tears.
"A member of the White Fang?" Oxblood gave her a quizzical look.
"Yes. They attacked Beacon!" Blake exclaimed in anger, was growing irritable and impatient.
How was this not public knowledge by now! Did the fires and screaming not give it away? Or the airships dogfighting in the sky? Or that giant Grimm Dragon that curled its way around Beacon Tower?
Oxblood took her fury in stride and merely looked her in the eye.
"Blake. Where do you think you are?" He asked, then vaguely flicked his hands out as if to offer her explanation. "This is Beacon Academy's Hospital Wing, IT Ward to be specific."
"That's…" Blake's golden eyes went wide as saucers in disbelief, then shook her head. "Not possible. The Grimm invaded! And the White Fang was leading-"
"The White Fang is a peaceful civil rights group," Oxblood interjected. "I, myself, am a member. Many of the student body are advocates as well, if not actual members."
"But, that's-" Blake cut herself off, her eyes dropping to her lap and completely overwhelmed by what she was hearing. How could any of this be possible?
"As for the Grimm, their last invasion attempt was ten years ago. Vale itself has been safe for quite some time."
This was too much. Blake leaned forward, hand pressed against her brow as her mind tried to sort through the information, and completely numb to the dull ache from her stomach wound. She felt sick, it was a shock and she'd no idea how to handle it.
"I-I need a drink of water…" She said weakly, her throat feeling uncomfortably constricted and her voice was tight.
Oxblood left her side and walked away, returning a moment later with a plastic cup of water, and set a jug down on the bedside table. "Blake. I know you've been through quite the ordeal, and I know this must be a difficult time for you. But I need to know what happened unto this point."
Blake drank slowly, savouring the cool liquid down her throat. Part of her wondered if this was just some fantasy; that she'd lost consciousness somewhere, and this was just her mind playing tricks. But deep down she knew this was quite real.
"Where are my friends?" She asked absently, staring at her reflection in the water glass. She felt extremely tired now.
"Your friends; a blonde and a redhead?" Blake nodded slowly. "They're safe - Just across the room. I promise once our talk is finish, you can see them."
"Now," Oxblood said, resting his folded hands on the bed. "From the beginning."
After the STRQ's little chat last night, they'd spoke a little more.
Some of it speculation, but the rest was gossip. Some new weapon idea, or some new strategy. At one point, they even attempted to play a free-for-all game of Total Annihilation. Taiyang emerged as the surprising victor of that skirmish. It continued for some time, until someone checked their scroll and saw they'd been up well past 4 am.
So they'd returned to their beds, drifting off at their own pace with Summer being the first to wake; well after 11 am. Shortly followed by Taiyang, and the twins some time after. The female twin spending the last twenty minutes in the shower. Qrow had been glued to his damn console and Summer was writing in something, probably her journal.
Since he'd woken, Taiyang had his nose to the grindstone trying to finish the essay for Professor Maize; an analysis of Cape Cumulus and its effect on Admiral Kazan's campaign across the western borders of modern day Vacuo.
Taiyang had argued it was the lynchpin that brought down the entire western offensive, and lead to a rash of promotions in the Faunas War, including that of one Captain turn General Lagoon. But for the life of him, he couldn't make it sound like anymore more than a word dump on paper.
"This is hopeless." Taiyang sighed, tossing his pen down angrily and casting bitter looks at the textbook. His head fell to his desk with a groan.
"Don't be like that," Summer said encouragingly, wheeling her chair over and taking a seat beside him. "Where's the problem?"
"I'm just - my brain feels like it's mush." He ran a hand through his golden locks, a pout tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Not touching that one." Qrow's sing-song tone floated across the dorm.
"Bite me, birdbrain." Taiyang said, glowering.
"Say 'please', Dragon boy." His teammate shot back smugly, and Taiyang felt his temper rising. That pain in the ass was enjoying himself far too much.
"Honestly, do I have to separate you two?" Summer sighed dramatically, folding her arms as she glanced between her male teammates.
"Qrow. Behave." With two words from his sister - her voice cracking like a whip - Qrow relented with an easy shrug, refocusing attention on his console game.
Raven from the bathroom, wearing a black top and crimson leather shrug, black jeans and dark knee boots. Her hair was tied back in its usual tail.
"You look nice." Summer noted appreciatively, Raven gave her a shallow nod. "So, where are you two heading?"
"Here." Raven retrieved a crumpled pamphlet from her jeans pocket, and folded it out. On the front was a collection of weapons laid out from small throwing knives and derringers to pole axes and sniper rifles. On the top in silvery-white letters read 'Guns and Glaives'.
"There's a special discount to certain dust shops for attendees. I save lien, and it keeps the child quiet. So I'd consider it a win-win." She poked a thumb at her twin, still transfixed on the console game with his tongue between his teeth in concentration.
"Sitting right here." Qrow shot her a nasty look, despite his mouth twitching up into a smirk.
Like Raven, he'd been wearing a different outfit today. A black button up shirt, light grey undershirt and grey jeans. Naturally his sleeves were rolled up to his preferred length, and all his jewelry accessories was intact.
"I forgot Weapons Mag was hosting an exhibition this weekend!" Summer's shimmering argent eyes went wide with excitement while Taiyang narrowed a skeptical look at Qrow.
"So that's why you weren't complaining this morning." He said with a little shake of the head.
"Yep." Qrow replied happily, still gaming away.
"And why you all had your essays done before we got back." Taiyang groaned, his head hitting his desk again. He didn't notice Raven walk up to peer over his shoulder at the chicken scratch handwriting.
"Pretty much." Raven answered coolly.
"Ya huh."
"Yeah." Summer admitted a little guilty, then peered at the half-written essay.
Her head jerked up when an idea hit her, and she turned to smile at her other two teammates. "How about brunch? I'll help Taiyang finish his essay and we can meet up at the Vale Exhibition Centre. You know there's a wonderful coffee place near the Brass Bookstand, across from the patisserie?"
"Sold." Qrow agreed instantly.
"I know the place. We'll meet you there later. But how long will you take to finish?" Raven asked, folding her arms.
"A day."
"An hour."
Taiyang and Summer had said together. It wasn't hard to guess who was being the pessimist or the optimist.
Taiyang gave Summer a withering look which she ignored. In fact she smiled encouragingly instead. "You already have the information there, it's just a matter of wording it correctly."
"She's right. Only thing wrong here is a thoroughly lacking structure. That isn't hard to correct." Raven said as she quickly snatching the pen out of Taiyang's hand, and scribbled little sign points.
"Here: Subject…. Argument… Summary." She explained, tapping the circles, underlines and boxes she made on each respective point. "Your conclusion and introduction are more or less acceptable. Rewrite it in that order, and you should be fine."
"Thanks." Taiyang said plainly. "I guess it really is that easy, huh? I might actually get a halfway decent mark this time."
"Yeah. Its always been your problem. For a lot of essays; what gets 'em marked down is structure. Most teachers hate reading a jumbled mess. You clearly illustrate a point? Your arguments become a lot easier to understand."
Both Summer and Taiyang turned their heads towards Qrow, mildly astonished. Qrow seemed oblivious to their perplexed looks. When he gave them a quick glance, he did a double take. His red eyes moving between the two of them.
"What?" He shrugged with an expression that shouted 'what did you expect?'. "Our mum was a Literacy teacher. We kinda picked up on that shit."
Raven, on the other hand, was thoroughly amused. She then jerked her head to the door. Qrow switched off his console and followed her out. "We're heading off. See you guys later."
"Stay safe." Summer called after them.
The door closed with a loud bang, leaving Summer and Taiyang alone in the dorm. Only a minute later, her Scroll chimed and vibrated on her bedside table. Crossing the room, she checked the alert.
"It's from Professor Ozpin." She said, surprised.
"What does it say?" Taiyang asked, losing all interest in his homework assignment.
"He wants to talk as soon as possible." Summer replied, moving to collect her clothing from a wardrobe and dress in appropriate clothing.
"To all of us? Do you want me to get Qrow and Rae back here?" He offered, rising to his feet and looking ready to break for the door.
"It just says me," Summer explained, juggling her clothes and scroll in hand to show the message. Taiyang who prompted slumped back in his chair.
"It might be about those girls? He could know something."
"Best not to keep him waiting then." Summer replied, quickly ducking into the bathroom to change.
Author's note:
18/10/2016: Updated to reflect new material.
Please Review and Comment. I welcome Criticism (and theories~!). :)
