A/N: Todays chapter has been editted by lynch8man. Serious feels ahead... read at your own risk.( admit, I myself cry when reading this chapter, even now...) anyhoo, without further ado... Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Aftermath part 2
Ruby POV
Ruby was angry.
She was angry at Oobleck for not protecting Yang, she was angry at the White Fang for being on the train, she was angry at the bitch, Neo, for killing her sister; and lastly, she was angry at herself for not being fast enough to save her sister.
She spent the next few weeks in the dorm, barely eating.
Ozpin had given her a free pass to not do her homework, and for once, she didn't care, she did it anyway.
Burying herself in her studies helped take her mind off her sister.
After a couple weeks, she began coming to class, and outsmarted even Weiss when Oobleck, Port, or Goodwitch asked a question.
She rose to the top of the class, but it wasn't enough.
Every night, Ruby had to look at Yang's empty, unmade bed, with it's puppy dog pillow.
She refused to let anyone else touch it, occasionally sleeping in it.
It still smelled like her, like peaches, saliva and sweat.
It was a gross smell, but she was used to it.
Despite her new-found lust for schoolbooks, she couldn't look at her fantasy books without crying, screaming, or passing out.
Every time she did, she instantly remembered her cold nights long ago at home, Yang sitting next to her, reading those books to her with funny voices and animations.
Weiss and Blake began keeping their distance, afraid to say something that would set her off.
Zwei did what he could to cheer her up, constantly jumping on her lap at night, or performing tricks when she was crying, trying to distract her. it didn't work most of the time, though, but he didn't give up.
Every now and then, Zwei himself would be feeling down, so he would curl up in Yang's bed, and whine.
He had lost a master.
His friend.
His trainer, but he knew there was another who felt worse than he did.
One night, while Zwei was sleeping in Yang's bed, Ruby watched as Weiss woke up, walked to Zwei, and began scratching him between the ears.
"Who's a good dog. Whos a brave dog. Whos a-" Weiss stopped.
Ruby opened her eyes again, then teared up.
Weiss was holding Zwei to her chin, sobbing silently into his fur.
Zwei, in response, nuzzled himself closer and seemed to hug her back.
Weiss must have sensed Ruby was awake, because she got up, walked over to her, the dog still in her arms, and sat on her bed.
"Come here, dolt." She whispered.
Ruby quickly sat up, and hugged Weiss and Zwei, tears flowing freely.
Blake followed soon afterward.
Ruby cried until her eyelids grew heavy, and she fell asleep into the arms of her teammates.
Weiss POV
She had never seen Ruby this low.
A while ago, Zwei had eaten all her cookies, and Ruby sunk into a depression then, sure, but the arrival of more cookies fixed it in seconds.
Weiss knew a million cookies wouldn't help this time.
Ruby slept late every day, barely spoke, barely ate.
She was getting worried.
After class one day, she pulled Blake aside.
"Blake, I'm worried about Ruby. Ive never seen anyone this low, and it scares me."
Blake nodded. "Yeah, me neither, and it scares me too. Maybe Ozpin can help?"
"Yeah, I'll see if JNPR has any ideas to help."
They agreed, and split up, each to talk to a different person.
Despite not being on the same team, the loss of Yang had taken it's toll on both teams.
Nora didn't joke or laugh as much, every now and then, Pyrrha would get teary eyed, and Jaune was angrier than usual.
A couple days ago, Cardin made an awful joke about Yang, and Jaune attacked all of CRDL on his own.
He managed to hold his own for a couple seconds, but Cardin knocked him down.
Pyrrha came to his aid, then Ren, then Nora, then she and Blake together.
Lets just say, CRDL wont be making any jokes any time soon… or walking.
Nora and Pyrrha decided to follow through on their threat they made last semester, and shattered each member's legs.
Ozpin, although understanding, only gave them a month's detention.
She approached JNPR's dorm, and knocked.
Ren answered. "Yes?" he asked.
Ren was the only one who didn't seem all that affected.
It didn't surprise her, though.
Very little seemed to phase that kid, and frankly, Weiss was thankful.
He was the one you could count on to have a level head in an emotional situation.
"Hey, Ren. I need your help."
Was all she said before he moved aside.
Nora and Pyrrha were studying, while Jaune was reading Xray and Vav volume 2.
He looked up. "Hey, Ice- I mean, Weiss. Whats up?" he asked.
He stood up, wincing.
Cardin, though damaged, had managed to hurt Jaune sufficiently during the scuffle.
"It's Ruby. She can't keep going like this. She's loosing weight, she doesn't talk. She's a withered, empty shell compared to the girl we know and… well, love."
Someone coughed, hiding a sob.
It was Pyrrha.
"What do you want us to do?" Jaune said, saluting.
He was annoying, a bad fighter, and not all that academic, but he would certainly be there when you needed him.
Weiss nodded. "I'm not sure how to handle this. Ive never had to handle other people's breakdowns before… I don't know what to do."
She choked back a sob.
She'd never talked about her feelings like this before, and that added to her nervousness.
"Did you talk to Ozpin?" Ren asked.
"Blake is doing that right now."
"Then we can wait for his input before we do anything. the worst thing we can do now is make it worse… where is Ruby now?"
Weiss stared at Ren, cursing herself. 'Of COURSE,' she thought to herself, 'Someone should be with Ruby! I don't want to do anything drastic.'
"I think she's in our room. Does anyone want to go check on her with me?"
Nora stood up, "I can go. I'm bored anyway."
Together, she and Nora crossed the hall, and entered the room.
It was empty, but the bathroom light was on.
"Alright, we can wait for her out here." Weiss said, sitting on her bed, and picking up a book.
A couple minutes passed, Ruby didn't come out.
Weiss was just getting up to check on her when she heard glass shatter inside.
"Ruby, are you ok?" she called.
No answer.
"Ruby!?" she called louder, and was answered by a quickly stifled sob from within.
Weiss crossed the room and knocked on the door.
"Ruby, answer me right NOW!"
She hammered on the door.
Still silence.
"Nora, take the door down."
Nora nodded quickly, unfolded Magnhild, and smashed the door open.
Weiss looked inside, and screamed.
Ruby was standing at the sink, holding a piece of broken mirror to her arm.
She was crying.
"RUBY, NO!"
Weiss flung herself at the black haired girl, and they collided.
She wrestled the glass from her hand, and threw it into the sink.
"Ruby, how could you even THINK about doing that!?" she screamed at her.
Ruby just lied there, not moving.
When Weiss rolled her onto her back, she screamed again.
A piece of glass was embedded into the other arm, blood flowing profusely. "Nora, call 911, NOW!"
Weiss tried to use her aura to heal Ruby, but she was already too drained to do anything...
