Weiss woke up on the mattress that had been placed next to the closet of the guest room. Her right arm was wrapped around her body, as she always used to do, giving herself a little bit more comfort that way. "Ruby?" Weiss whispered into the darkness – it still was before sunrise, although the forest appeared to be a relative dark place in general. When the heiress did not receive an answer, she got up, and found the subject of her whispered calling in bed, the way she left the little rose. Ruby's left hand was conveniently placed on top of the covers, and Weiss knew out of personal experience that one could show one's presence by holding the hand of somebody who was in a coma – or asleep, as in this case. The feeling of guilt still lingered inside the heiress. "This is not my fault," Weiss whispered to herself, "not this time."
Her attempt to drown the guilt in reason did not work out as planned, though. The feeling kept crawling up her spine, time and time again, while the heiress took the liberty of stroking through the red hair of the one person who did not care for her because of her name. Ruby wanted to befriend Weiss from the very first moment they met. And Weiss thought of her as a brat, way too young to attend to Beacon, let alone lead a team of aspiring Huntresses. She called the little rose a dunce, dolt, brain-dead and only the Gods knew the things Weiss left unspoken.
But here Weiss was, holding Ruby's hand and waiting for her very first true friend to wake up. While she was doing so, the heiress did not look anywhere else, but Ruby's face. It was a kind of beauty Weiss had never witnessed before. It did not come from the looks of her partner. Instead, it was Ruby's facial expression, this subtle smile of happiness, in combination with the atmosphere, which the guest room provided: It was a cozy room one could easily relax in during a long winter's night, although it was cramped with things that did not belong there normally.
"Having a nice dream, aren't we?" Weiss asked in a whispering tone, and tilted her head to the right. For all the heiress knew Ruby would not even be woken up by cannon fire right next to her bed. But the eyelids of the little rose fluttered like the wings of butterflies while she was dreaming. When she noticed the movements of Ruby's lips, Weiss leaned closer and tried to what the little rose was saying in her sleep. Damn it, curiosity. This is no appropriate behavior, why are you even doing this? Weiss warned herself. However, the heiress failed to restrain herself from invading Ruby's personal space, and ignored the risk of getting caught completely. To Weiss' disappointment, there were only fragments of words hearable for the heiress, as well as her name. "You're dreaming about me?" Weiss asked aloud.
Suddenly Ruby woke up in surprise, and Weiss barely managed to return to a straight sitting position in time, Ruby's Hand still in her own. Both girls blushed slightly while looking at their fingers, which were intertwined for some reason. Awkward silence befell the room, but neither of them even tried to let go. Several minutes passed, and the sun rose above the outside world, creating golden streams of light through the sunblind, before Weiss finally broke the silence.
"G-good morning, Ruby."
"Morning, Weiss…" Ruby replied, still tired, as the sound of her voice told in a very obvious way.
"Did you… Sleep well?" Weiss asked, trying to guide the situation towards a somewhat normal conversation.
"Y-yes, I did," the younger girl stuttered, still looking at the two hands, "And… And you?"
"Well… As good as possible on a mattress on the floor, I suppose. It takes a bit of getting used to, when you're used to… Higher standards," Weiss announced in an annoyed tone. "Well, do you remember how our first night at Beacon was?" the heiress asked with a silent laughter of amusement.
"Oh, hmm…" Ruby started, and thought about the subject for a few moments. "Yeah, Yang made me introduce myself to Blake, and… Well, I screwed it up, and then you came along, with all the 'Hazard to my health'-thing…" Ruby retold the event of that night.
"That was the first time team RWBY was together…" Weiss commented, neutral in voice and expression.
"Yeah… Awkward, and stupid, and…"
"Hush, Ruby." Weiss put the index of her free hand onto Ruby's lips without second thought. "We've come a long way since then," the heiress added, while the little rose just nodded.
"Especially you, Weiss," Ruby whispered, much to Weiss' surprise.
"Why me?" She asked.
"Well… You're getting all nicer, just a tiny little bit every day, but… Noticeable…" Ruby answered, and looked at the closet shyly. Are you blushing, Ruby? Weiss wondered.
"And what about you?" the heiress asked quietly. "Did you not accomplish great things during our time at Beacon Academy? Did you not become a leader, who earned the respect of her team? Did you not improve your capabilities in fields like history and strategy?" Weiss continued to count the achievements Ruby gained during the last three months, reassuring her young team leader of her competences. The little rose just blushed more for every compliment the heiress managed to point out as such an achievement. You really are… Amazing…
Someone knocked on the door, startling both girls that way. They quickly let go of each other, Weiss straightened her position on the chair, after she helped Ruby into a sitting position. "P-please come in…" Weiss spoke up loud enough for their host to hear – who else could it be than Erydias Grey? As the door opened, the heiress did not feel the hostile presence of the Huntress, just like when she realized how Ruby's injury came to be. Weiss knew what was about to follow.
"Good morning, girls," Erydias greeted them, as she closed the door, "I hope you slept well. How do you feel… Ruby, was it?"
"Uhm… I… No pain or something… Hungry…" Ruby started to fiddle around with her fingers in front of her chest while looking on the covers shyly. She showed that very expression right before the 'explosion incident' back on the very first day at Beacon.
"May I take a look at your leg?" Erydias asked, simply not giving a thing about how uncomfortable Ruby might have been. Weiss stood up, and moved out of the way, while Ruby removed the covers from her injury. The bandages had been chanced just recently. Erydias explained that she had been here in the middle of the night to change Ruby's bandages, and had taken the liberty of moving Weiss from the chair onto the mattress, while she removed the bandages from Ruby's leg again. The heiress became pale, as her doing was revealed once more: It was going to leave a mark on Ruby's leg, there was no doubt, and Weiss did not have a clue about the severity of the damage she may or may not have had inflicted. This was a cruel reminder of one thing for her: She needed to tell Ruby the truth, but how? She made herself trustworthy just recently, and now-
"Weiss, you okay?" Ruby asked, pulling the heiress out of her thoughts. Weiss blinked a few times, still looking at the wound in shock. "It… Looks horrible…" She said almost without a sound.
"Under the given circumstances it looks quite good," Erydias meddled into the conversation. "As I assumed, your Aura did a good job at healing the damaged tissue."
"A-and the medication?" Weiss asked hesitantly. She was nervous. The Huntress knew what had happened; what Weiss had done to Ruby. She could destroy the little bit of trust between them with just a simple sentence.
"That is mainly for alleviating Ruby's pain. This kind of injury takes a lot of time to heal properly, but you're lucky: No surgery is required, as far as I can tell," the Huntress explained in her usual professional way. The atmosphere of the room changed to that of a room in a hospital, but less sterile. Weiss used the opportunity to tell Erydias about the arrival of their team members Blake and Yang, while the Huntress tended to Ruby's wound. Erydias did neither comment on this, nor did she show any emotional reaction to the news. She simply wrapped new bandages around Ruby's injured leg – after cleaning the wound thoroughly and carefully.
"Ms. Grey, may I make a request?" Weiss asked, as the Huntress finished her work.
"Go ahead," Erydias stated, while she cleaned up the mess on the bed.
"Can we move Ruby down to the living room?"
"I don't mind," the Huntress answered, already leaving the room with the remainders of slightly bloodied bandages. "Breakfast will be served there then." With these words, she left the girls to themselves again.
"Hmm… She's limping, so… We'll help ourselves?" Ruby asked, grinning awkwardly.
"I do think so… I'll support you on your way down. Do not put any weight on your right leg, Ruby," Weiss commanded as best as she could. However, the heiress could not stand looking into Ruby's eyes for too long.
"Got it, Weiss." Ruby turned to sit on the left side of the bed, and Weiss immediately got to Ruby's right side, took the younger girl's Arm around her own shoulders, and waited until the little rose dared stand up. Weiss did not want to carry Ruby down the stairs because her back still hurt from the last day. And somehow Ruby knew, or at least assumed that, without getting any hint from the heiress. Their journey through the upper floor and staircase of the house took longer than Weiss had anticipated, but it was a good opportunity to take in the details of the area. Aside from the guest room there was a bathroom right next to it – first door on the left – and two other rooms. Their doors were closed, however, so Weiss could only guess that one of these rooms had to be Ms. Grey's Bedroom.
As they arrived in the hallway downstairs, Ruby took a look in the mirror there. "Gray doesn't suit me…" she complained.
"If that's your only concern, you'll probably be up again in no time," Weiss teased, as they went on into the living room. Breakfast had already been served, but Erydias was nowhere to be seen, aside from pictures on the walls. Didn't notice these before… "Oh my gosh! NOW I know who she is!" Ruby shouted all of a sudden, and startled Weiss so much, that she almost dropped Ruby on the floor. "She's the White Knight!" she added joyfully, and tried to jump around in excitement, although both girls immediately regretted that choice. The heiress put Ruby on the couch that she sat on the last day, and tried to calm her partner down. Ruby, however, insisted on taking a look at the armor and weapons in the corner, so Weiss had to move her to the armchair of Ms. Grey.
"Do you even know, we're in a heroine's house right now?" Ruby asked, still excited about her new discovery.
"A what?" Weiss asked confused.
"Heroine… You know… Female word for hero…"
"I know what that word means. What I don't know is: What are you talking about?"
"The leader of team Emerald, Weiss," Ruby answered in disbelief. The way she said it sounded much like Weiss was supposed to know of said team, but she did not. She shook her head slowly, before answering: "I'm sorry, Ruby. I've heard of a team called Emerald before, but I can't quite… Remember… When or where…" As a photo caught the heiress' attention, she lost track of her trail of thought.
Silence befell the room, as Weiss picked up that photo from the shelf, which was standing next to the armor in the corner –flanking it on the left side. The photo showed four young people, three of them Faunus, two of these male. The young men seemed to be in uniform, similar to conventional infantrymen. One of them wore a blue color scheme, the other a red color scheme, much like the blue one. The only explanation for both looking almost exactly like the other could be put into a single word: Twins. They were definitely Faunus, with what looked like ears of shepherd dogs. They fitted to their blonde hair, which was, of course, trimmed short. The young woman in front of the two was also a Faunus, her head adorned with wolf ears, and her eyes were narrow. Her hair was brown, much like the bark of trees, while her clothes bore a pattern of leaves in different colors of green and wood brown – at least the parts around her shoulders did. These were the only ones to be seen on this picture, though. And in the background was the second young woman, wearing a black Fedora, which she had pulled down to cover her face. She also wore a white armor, which looked way too similar to the one standing in Erydias' living room, to be a mere coincidence. The letters E, M, R, and D were written on the bottom side of the frame, and underlined in green. E was written in a somewhat white color, M in blue, R in red, and D in brown.
"See?" Ruby proclaimed in a victory pose. "I told you, she's the leader of that team." "Former leader, that is," Erydias added, before the two girls even noticed the woman, standing in the doorway, as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Weiss immediately put back the photo exactly where it was before, and went back to Ruby. "…Can I have your autograph?" Ruby asked in her squeakiest voice possible. Erydias, though, did not seem to be caught off guard by that.
"Why do you even want that?" the Huntress asked in return, as she took the photo Weiss was inspecting not even a minute ago into her own hands. She did neither sound annoyed, nor angry in any other fashion – just modest.
"I'm a huge fan of all Huntsmen and Huntresses, so… I guess I want it for my collection?" Ruby did not sound very sure about her own answer, but the little rose did not give up on the argument, which was about to begin.
"So, you are a fan, who tries to impersonate the individuals of her desires?" Weiss tensed up at Erydias' question, but it was asked in a joking fashion, much to the heiress' surprise. She was expecting repellent behavior, as the Huntress had greeted her just a day before – but there was nothing of that sort. The Huntress seemed to be very good at hiding her true motivations, or she just needed time to get used to company, even uninvited guests, such as Ruby and Weiss. Either way, Ruby seemed to like this kind of humor, noticeable by her giggles.
"Now, jokes aside: Why are you two out here?" Erydias asked, now serious in her tone. As she sat down on the couch, Ruby started to explain:
"Well, Ma'am… Professor Ozpin sent us – I mean our team – into this area, to cleanse it from a Pack of Beowolves. As far as the Professor knew, the Creatures of Grimm were threatening the farmers around here, so I didn't hesitate to sign us up," the young leader explained proudly.
"You are in charge?" Erydias asked, and lifted her right eyebrow.
"Uhm… Yes!" Ruby answered, even prouder, "The professor assigned me to lead team RWBY."
"Our revered Professor Ozpin seems to have made a rather… Interesting decision here, no offense," was Erydias' only reply to that. Her tone was neutral, most likely on purpose, as she took a very close look at Ruby – much to Weiss' discomfort. Several minutes of almost unbearable silence passed, and just as the Huntress was beginning to say something, the sound of a Bullhead caught the attention of the three.
"They're already here?" Weiss asked aloud.
"Your team mates, I assume?" Erydias inquired. Weiss just nodded. "Then I'll better let them in. One of the two is your sister, Ruby?"
"Yes, Yang is my sister. She doesn't look like it, though." Ruby barely managed to control her excitement about seeing the other half of her team again, as she and Weiss waited in the living room by themselves. Erydias did not even react on Ruby's words, as she left for the door, before Yang even knocked – and it was a wonder, the blonde brawler did not kick it in. Weiss could hear that there were people talking at the door, but understanding anything was impossible for her hearing. "Ruby, you there?!" Yang shouted from the doorway, after that brief moment of silence. Already back to normal again… Damn it…
Blake entered the living room first, wearing her usual black and white attire, including the black bow in her hair. Observant, as the quiet member of team RWBY was, she took in the surroundings, and widened her eyes, as they saw the armor in the corner. "No way…" she whispered.
"Blake, what's the hold up?" Yang pushed forward, her partner awfully close in front of herself, but Blake did not mind, by the looks of it. That was nothing new to Weiss, however, since Yang was a very touchy person in general. "Wow… That looks impressive…" she stated after looking at Ruby and Weiss. The blonde had her right upper arm bandaged, and looked bruised here and there. Blake on the other hand seemed to be unscathed by the latest events two days ago – but she looked like she was seeing a ghost in the corner, where the armor was, while Yang did not even noticed it. Priorities of an older sister… Weiss thought to herself, while Ruby and Yang got into one of the closest hugs the heiress could imagine.
"Are you alright, Miss?" Erydias asked. She entered the room a few minutes after team RWBY's reunion, with a black combat skirt, a red cloak, and the rest of Ruby's usual clothes. They had been cleaned and put into a basket neatly. The Huntress was holding that basket while looking at Blake, who did not answer.
"Blake?" Yang asked, and let go of Ruby. She approached her partner slowly, and pulled her into a very gentle hug. Erydias smiled slyly, before putting the basket down, next to her armchair. "Something wrong?"
That last question got Blake's attention back to reality, and she just nodded. "Yes. I just," Blake cleared her throat, as she turned to Erydias, "realized where I am. Thank you, for saving my life, Ms. Grey."
"Say WHAT?!" Yang shouted. "When? Where? How? Oh my god, that's the White Knight's armor…"
"Okay, I've had it," Erydias laughed, and gestured everyone in the room to take a seat, "I think some explanations are in order, so take a seat, please, and I will try to shed some light here, of you don't mind, Ms. Belladonna." Blake just nodded, and sat down right next to Yang on one couch. Weiss had moved Ruby onto the other one, and took a seat there herself, leaving the armchair to Erydias.
"So, this story begins right after my graduation from Beacon Academy, about seven years ago…" Erydias started.
The next chapter: A matter of pride
Author's note: Finally! Took this chapter long enough to finish. Anyway, here you are: Chapter 4 of 'The Outcast'. As usual, feel free to comment and review, as you see fit.