Chapter nine: Ruby's Reason and the Triple T
"Mmm… don't go…"
I slowly opened my eyes, groaning as I felt the dull throbbing in the back of my head. I slowly sat up, my eyes adjusting to the light as I started looking around. I saw Pyrrha's bedroom once again, with myself lying just beneath the large comforter and sheet. I looked over, searching for the source of the voice. "Pyrrha?" I asked aloud, looking down at the other side of the bed. Sure enough, I saw the red-headed woman laying next to me, clad in what looked to be a red nightgown. Her hair framed her face, her hands in front of her, as if grasping at something. She was just a few inches away from me, her legs just peeking out at the other side.
"I'm sorry… don't go…" I heard her mummering in her sleep, her eyes still dashing beneath their lids, her hands trembling, lips quivering, face twisting and turning in sadness. "Oh… she's just having a nightmare…" I thought, frowning as I saw her legs curling up slightly, her hands grabbing at the sheets beneath her. I heard the faint whimpering and -due to the way I normally saw her- it took me a minute to realize the noise was even coming from Pyrrha. I reached over, lightly running my hand down her shoulder. "Shh… it's okay Pyrrha, it's okay…" I whispered, leaning over and trying to soothe the woman's pain.
It didn't seem to work, her body shaking more as I pulled back, the whimpering getting worse as her knuckles turned white, stress fractures in the sheets of the bed just beneath her. I reached over, laying my hands over hers, only for those hands to release the bed, a yelp escaping me as they gripped my wrists like rust to iron. I slowly laid down as I saw Pyrrha's whimpering slow, her eyes slowly opening. I saw brilliant green eyes in a way I'd never once seen them -illuminated by tears, sadness and fears abound within. She looked so scared, so lost, so helpless…
I barely even thought as I pried my hands from her grip, wrapping her in a hug. She only seemed to process it for a moment before she jumped up, wrapping her arms around me and -if the wet sense on my back was anything to go by- silently bawling her eyes out. I didn't move, only sitting there, patting her back and whispering meaningless words to her. I heard her sniffles, the wet sense stopping as she pulled back, but refused to let go. She looked down, "I'm… I'm sorry Ruby. I… it's… thank you." she said. I could tell she wanted to say more, but trying would send her back into that spiraling sadness she'd just come out of. I smiled at her, leaning over and hugging her once again.
She returned it before we both slid out of bed, her walking a bit faster than normal to catch up, passing through the door with me at her side. She wrapped an arm around my shoulder, leaning her head onto mine. I wrapped an arm around her waist, smiling as I guided us to Pyrrha's couch, pulling her down with me with little resistance from the stronger woman. "Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked, my eyes flicking up to see only her neck. She pulled back, green eyes meeting silver before she shook her head, turning me to entrap me in a hug once again. I didn't resist, pulling my legs around and wrapping them around her waist, sitting on her lap as she leaned back on the couch. I tried to move and sit next to her, but the stronger grip for a moment stopped me. So I sat there, head over her shoulder, sitting in her lap, just enjoying her warmth… and for awhile, I was content to sit there in silence.
Of course, I couldn't stay quiet forever.
"Isn't it usually the big, strong one that comforts the tiny, helpless girl?" I asked, pulling back and smiling at her. She smiled right back, letting out a giggle before she leaned back, her arms falling to her sides. "I'd hardly call a girl like you helpless." she said. We shared a laugh, our arms at our sides… then I remembered where I was sitting. I moved back, sitting down next to her and giving a brief smile at the ex-boxer. She returned it before looking ahead, her face slowly shifting to a frown, eyes clouded in the dusts of memory. "Are you okay Pyrrha?" I asked, laying a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes turned to me, flashing in recognition of something before she looked away, nodding.
"How do you do it Ruby… how are you you?" she asked, refusing to turn and look at me. I raised an eyebrow… what kind of question was that? More importantly, how the heck was I supposed to answer!? When I didn't answer, Pyrrha kept going. "How are you the way that you are… power and innocence, purity and strength… how? How are you like this?" she asked, finally turning back to look at me. I saw the tears swimming in her eyes, and I knew that if I answered the wrong way, or… maybe the right way, depending on how you took it, she'd burst into tears again.
I wracked my brain for a few moments, trying to think of something, anything that would make Pyrrha feel better… "I… I guess it's the way I have to be. It's the only way I really know how to deal with people so, I can't complain all that much. I mean, someone had to be the happy, bright ray of sunshine in our family without mom. Yang was too angry all the time, Dad was too down to earth… then there was the little, shy girl who'd never had a real friend in the few years she'd been alive… so, I tried to break out of my shell. I acted normal but, I tried to not care what anyone thought about me, be more outgoing like mom was… I uh, I wasn't very good at it." I said, looking away from Pyrrha, lightly tapping my fingers against each other.
Her eyes didn't shine with sadness now, but rather confusion, looking down over me for a moment. "You… seem pretty good at it to me." she said. I just gave her a brief smile, letting out a chuckle as I slowly turned away, my eyes slowly glossing over with unspent tears. Pyrrha seemed to sense this, her eyes flashing in sympathy. "I mean, I've had a lot of practice. Acting all nice and innocent in front of everyone, pretending to be oblivious to the people making fun of me before running back into Yang's arms and crying myself to sleep… I mean, when she left for Vale I, only stayed because she asked… Otherwise I'd, be right there with her, watching Adam… beat her unconscious…" I said, feeling a few drops of liquid against my thighs. I felt Pyrrha wrap her arms around me, her eyes shrouded with sympathy.
"So that's why you wanted to fight Adam so much… why you were willing to risk your life. Yang means everything to you, doesn't she?" Pyrrha asked. I only nodded, tears still flowing as she hugged me tighter. I turned, burying my head in her shoulder for a minute as I felt the memories flooding back. Memories of me and Yang… memories of my bout with Adam. "That was one reason… I mean, I hadn't really planned on leaving the ring once we both got in anyway so, what was a little risk?" I asked, laughing as I looked up at Pyrrha, her face suddenly mortified. Her brain seemed to short circuit as she froze, just looking at my sobbing -yet laughing- face as I felt those laughs slowly turn into wails, causing me to bury my head in her shoulder. When she finally seemed to regain control of her body, her first action as wrap her arms around me, comforting me the same way I'd comforted her just a few minutes ago.
When my tears had finally run their course, voice hoarse from the sobbing, I felt Pyrrha pull back, her hands cupping my face as she wiped at the few remaining tears with her thumbs. "So… you wanted Adam to…" she trailed off, as if unable to finish the horrible sentence. I nodded pointlessly. We both knew it was true… at least, I thought we did. Though, Pyrrha seemed to take it much worse than I expected, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into her embrace, refusing to let go. "Ruby… don't go. Not like that… please." she said, still unwilling to say what we both knew was true. I wrapped my arms around her, smiling as I lightly pat her back. "Now that I have a chance at winning… next time he'll be the one on the ground." I said, smirking right back at her.
She smiled for a moment, letting out a sigh of relief as she laid her hands on my shoulders, leaning against my head. "Promise me something Ruby." she said. I leaned back, raising an eyebrow towards her. She smiled, a few last tears leaving her eyes as she spoke. "Promise you won't… do that… for me." she said, keeping that smile on her face. I just smiled, nodding back at her as I felt a few last tears drip from my own eyes. She gave me one last hug before she stood, walking towards the bathroom. I didn't follow, simply curling up on the couch and watching as she shut the door, waiting for Pyrrha to come out so I could get ready for the day too.
…
"Salutations Ruby!"
I heard the familiar voice say as I walked into the level 1 training area. She waved at me with one hand, the other casually holding what looked to be a fifty-pound dumbbell, something that a few of the other guys nearby were struggling to get off the ground. I smiled at her, walking over to see her casually toss the dumbbell behind her, it landing with a clang to the floor as she wrapped her arms around me. "Hey… Penny… I can't… can't breathe…" I said, feeling my face slowly turning blue as my lungs burned from the strain. Penny let out a little gasp as she set me down, her face tinged pink and hands up, as if she were afraid to touch me again. "Sorry Ruby… usually when I wrap my arms around someone I'm trying to squeeze the air out of them until they pass out. It's a bit strange to hold back." she said.
I slowly nodded, making a mental note to never let Penny hold a baby… ever. "It's fine… so, what now?" I asked. Penny looked like she was about to answer before it seemed to die on her lips, her slowly reaching out, grabbing my hand with a gentleness I wasn't even aware she possessed and pulled me back, guiding me away from the door as I felt the air behind me. I turned, that familiar anger flaring up as I saw none other than Adam Taurus walking through. Though, he wasn't alone this time. Accompanying him was a white haired woman a few inches shorter than him, and Roman himself. Everyone slowly stopped what they were doing as the three walked towards the center of the room, Adam to the left and the white haired woman to the right of Torchwick.
He cleared his throat, "Listen up level one's! It's that time of the year again!" he said, a few people clapping and whistling at that, others smirking towards who I guessed to be their sparring partners. I looked at Penny, raising an eyebrow, only for her to hold up a finger, shushing me. "That time, of course, is for the Level 1 Twin's Team Tournament! For those of you who weren't around for the last tournament-" I could've sworn he was looking at me as he said that, "-the rules are simple. You and another person from the Level 1 group will be fighting, tournament style, against all other level 1 teams that wish to participate! The winners of the tournament, face one final test: The Malachite twins!" he said, gesturing to the door.
At that I saw the twins from the other day dash through the door, Miltia sliding down as Melanie leapt over her, twirling through the air before landing next to the white-haired girl. It was either for show or intimidation… but it worked really well for both. "If a level one team is able to defeat the twins, they will instantly be granted status as a level two!" Roman said, again a few whistles and claps coming from the audience of level ones. Roman held up his hands, everyone silent after a moment. The white haired girl spoke up next, her voice airy and light, with a strange sense of danger and elegance to it. "The deadline to sign-up is two weeks from today. The deadline to drop out is on the final day of the second week." she said simply, her voice slicing the air like a blade.
Adam spoke next, "So, if any of you are up to the challenge, take your shot." he said, throwing around that arrogant smile, his mask facing me for a moment before the two fighters (I guessed that's what the white-haired girl was) left, followed by the twins. Then, at last, Roman. A few people walked out after them, groups of them mostly. I turned to see Penny still gripping my wrist, almost as if trying to hold me back. "So… are we entering?" I asked, giving her a faint smile. She looked around for a moment, frowning towards me… I could tell there was something about this she wasn't sure of. "I… I don't know Ruby. I've never fought with someone before… I've seen the twins fighting, it's like they're two halves of the same person. I don't know… maybe we should, get some practice in first?" she said.
I slowly nodded, looking around at the groups that had just walked out, my eyes zoning in on the head of pink hair. "Nadir!" I said, waving towards him, pulling Penny with me. He turned, giving a brief smile and wave towards me as I walked over. He reached over, grabbing the shoulder of someone else nearby and jerking them back towards him, as if afraid they were about to leave. "Ruby! I was just lookin' for you! I'd like you to meet my partner, Bowling." he said. The other man glared at him, pulling on Nadir's ear for a second, said pink haired man waving his arms slightly, "Bolin. My name is Bolin, Hori. Sorry about him." he said, his voice surprisingly calm for someone seemingly so insulted.
I nodded, suppressing the giggle as I held out my hand. He looked down for a few seconds before shaking it, nearly throwing my hand down as he swiped the black hair from his eyes. Said eyes were a bright amber, flicking over to Penny before returning to me. "Ooookay… aaaare you two competing in the tournament?" I asked. It seemed… well, if the tournament was based on teamwork… these two didn't seem to see eye-to-eye, and not just from how Bolin was a few inches taller than Nadir. The two didn't even dress remotely similar, with Bolin switching out standard boxing shorts for long, yellow pants with gold lining on the waist. His feet were bare -though most everyone's were in here so, no blame for that one- as was his torso.
I looked over, seeing Penny keeping her eyes on the ground, her face tinged lightly pink. I looked at Bolin, then Penny. Bolin. Penny. Bolin. Penny… "Is there… am I really bad at reading people or -no who am I kidding I AM really bad at reading people… still, there COULD be something… nah, she's probably just not used to people, like I was." I thought, remembering many times when this exact situation happened to me. Except Yang was me, Penny was… me and… wait hold on, I am Yang, and Penny is… WOW that's confusing. Okay I got it! Penny is the YOUNG me, and the NOT-SO-YOUNG-BUT-STILL-KIND-OF-YOUNG-SINCE-I'M-FIFTEEN me is Yang. Bolin is… well, literally any one of Yang's friends, and Nadir is… I dunno, another friend? Man this analogy is confusing… wait, didn't I need something from them? What was it…
"You know we are! We're making it to the top!" Nadir said, reminding me of exactly why I'd gone up and talked to them in the first place. I slowly nodded, slightly nudging Penny's shoulder her head coming up like a spooked animal. "In that case… how about a sparring match? Me and penny vs. you and Bolin?" I asked, giving a slight smile towards the two. Nadir suddenly looked over, a few bullets of sweat forming as he let out a nervous chuckle, looking over to his partner. "Well uh, I don't really know if that's such a good idea when uh… you all just became partners! I mean, shouldn't you work on your synergy before you start pickin' fights?" he asked, seemingly regaining a little confidence.
"Weeell doesn't the best experience come from… well, actual experience?" I asked. Nadir deflated slightly, letting out another chuckle before he turned, looking at Bolin. He urged him on with his eyes, as if begging him for help. "Uh… well, you see we-" "Let's go. Right now." Bolin interrupted his partner, grabbing his shoulder as if to steady Nadir. I nodded, grabbing Penny's hand and guiding the embarrassed girl towards the ring. She leaned over, "Are you… sure, this is a good idea Ruby? They've been partners for six months! We just became partners yesterday!" she said, her eyes nervous. I just nodded, giving a bright smile towards her.
"We'll be fine. Besides, it's just a sparring match. Not like it's life or death right?" I said, causing the girl to let out a nervous chuckle, her eyes flicking back towards Bolin and Nadir. Nadir -speaking of- seemed to be deeply trouble at the prospect of fighting Penny and 'Ruby Roundhouse' as he'd nicknamed me. Bolin -however- kept a straight face, eyes never leaving the ring as he hopped over, pulling his body back into a combat stance unlike any I'd seen in boxing. It looked more like those mixed-martial arts fights I'd seen when our family took a vacation to Mistral. Nadir -on the other hand- took up a standard boxing pose. I got into my own pose, Penny simply standing, slowly pacing around, as if sizing up her prey.
"Wait… we need someone to count us down… YO! JOHN! WE NEED A START!" Nadir yelled. A man walked towards us (was this the same john with the pretzels yesterday?), clad in fairly generic attire with a fairly generic look… he looked like one of those people you wouldn't recognize if you saw twice. He held up a hand, "Three! Fou! One… Two… FIGHT!" he said, leaving me, Penny, and Bolin all staring at him. Nadir, on the other hand, took advantage, tapping Bolin's shoulder and circling to the side. The three of us snapped out of it as me and Penny both backed away, her watching Bolin as I watched Nadir.
Not ten seconds later Nadir rushed. I was quick to dodge, spinning around as Penny did the same, me facing Bolin now as me and Penny stood, back to back. Bolin and Nadir moved together, moving back towards the center as Nadir stepped ahead, smiling towards us as me and Penny turned to face him. He dashed forward, me and Penny struck out with our fists, only for him to slide beneath us, slamming his arms into our legs. Thanks to my balance training with Pyrrha I still stood, but Penny fell to the ground almost instantly. I saw Bolin dash over, slamming his elbow onto her exposed back as he seemed to slip, taking all the force of his fall with her. Seeing my chance, I dashed forward, about to kick Bolin when I felt a punch land across my face.
I staggered back, rubbing my jaw as I saw Nadir jumping back, stepping foot to foot as John started counting, "One! Six! Three!" of course it… didn't make much sense but, I knew I didn't have much time. I dashed towards Nadir, pretending to fall next to him only to swing my foot around, slamming it into his stomach. He fell as I dashed over him, slamming his hands to the ground. This had the desired effect, Bolin leaving Penny to help his partner. As I jumped back, Penny stood, shaking herself slightly as she truly lived up to her moves name, striking like a python while Bolin's back was turned. I saw her swing him down, about to put him in a python squeeze when Nadir intervened, practically prying her off of him before Penny jumped back to me.
"Two weak fighters working together outclass two strong ones working alone." Bolin said, giving a small smile as he and Nadir started slowly walking towards us. I pulled back, looking over at Penny for a second before she walked closer. "I told you! What do we do!?" she asked. No doubt she'd never fought like this before (granted neither had I so, no real room for me to talk their either) considering she'd never had a partner before me. I looked over, slowly stepping back, whispering in Penny's ear. "I'm going to fake-out Bolin, you put him in the Python squeeze. I'll deal with Nadir." I said. Penny nodded, her eyes focusing on Nadir as mine did the same. Better to deceive them I guess.
Three steps closer and I dashed towards Bolin, eyes narrowing in as I reared back my fist, only to slam my foot into the ground, swinging over his head an slamming my foot down on the back of Nadir's neck, knocking him to the ground. In the meantime, Penny dashed behind the distracted Bolin, trapping him in her python squeeze. At that point I pinned Nadir, watching as Bolin fell, both of them pinned to the ground. John started counted in his completely out of order, weird numerical system. Eventually he just shouted 'TKO!' and I called it at that, stepping back and smiling at Penny. Bolin and Nadir (I hadn't actually knocked him out but, he wasn't getting back up after that kick for a few minutes) both standing up, walking back towards each other.
Nadir smiled, "You two got a lot to learn about team-fighting if you wanna beat the Malachites." he said, Bolin smirking slightly at us. Penny looked away from the two, letting out a little hiccup as I just nodded, looking towards Nadir. The pink haired man reached over, pulling Bolin back and whispering something to him. Whatever it was, Bolin must've despised the idea, since his face just grew more and more angry as he heard it. "They're our competition Nadir." he said, glaring at his seemingly less competent partner. Nadir sighed, slowly shaking his head, a hand on his forehead. "If we go against them we already lose. 'Sides, we'll get knocked out before we even get close to them anyway. Let's at least give 'em a fightin' chance!" he said. I could… hazard, a guess, as to what they were talking about but, it was hard to say for certain.
Bolin looked at his partner for a few seconds before he leaned in, speaking a few words before pointing at me. Whatever he said must've been embarrassing, since Nadir's cheeks suddenly looked like his hair: Bright pink. He glared at his partner for a few seconds, gesturing to Penny and whispering. Whatever Nadir had hoped for -maybe to embarrass his partner- failed miserably. Bolin just stayed the same, looking at Penny for a second before turning back. "Fine, I give. If this comes back to bite us later, you're gonna hear about it." he said, thumping Nadir's chest with two fingers. Nadir just nodded, his blush dying down as he turned to me and Penny, walking the boxing-ring length distance to us.
"If anyone's got a chance at beating the Malachites, it's you two. So… we want to make a deal." he said, still smiling at Bolin walked over, expressionless as usual. Penny walked back over to me, hands cupped over her crotch as her eyes flickered between both men and the ground, her cheeks still tinged pink. "What kind of 'deal' are we talking about?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the pink-haired man. Bolin looked over, giving a slight smirk at his shorter partner as the pink haired man gave him a glare in return. Surprisingly it was Bolin that spoke first, "Me and Nadir are going to teach you two how to fight together. In exchange, you teach each of us how to fight better on our own." he said simply.
I looked at Penny, lightly grabbing her shoulder, "What do you think Penny?" I asked. Personally, I thought it sounded like a good idea. I mean me and Penny knew nothing about fighting together except what little we'd improvised at the last second… that being said, these two were also our competition, meaning if we trained them to be better alone, we might have to fight them when they're together later on, and they'd be stronger together as a result. Penny looked between the two before she nodded, giving a questioning glance towards me. "Alright, we're in!" I said, giving a bright smile as I wrapped an arm around Penny's shoulders, pulling the girl closer.
Bolin nodded, giving a faint smile towards us as Nadir did the same… except his smile was far from faint and he was far, far more vocal. "Nice! You two are gonna go all the way… wait that sounds wrong, uh… you two are gonna become one -oh crap that's even worse, uh…" Nadir looked away, his face flushed as he seemed to try and think of some other analogy. Bolin held out a hand, "Your grave's only six feet, and you've dug four, stop before you dig the rest." he said, keeping that impassive look on his face as Nadir looked away, running a hand back through his hair. After a moment he turned to us, "Well, anyway, we better get started. First thing's first, you gotta know your partner before you can hope to work together." he said.
I raised an eyebrow, but Bolin interrupted before I could say anything. "What he means is you two need to understand each other… doesn't mean you have to like understanding each other but, you need to know your ally before you can face your enemies." he said, giving Nadir a slight glare. Nadir gave a small smile in returned before he faced me again, running a hand back through his hair… was that a nervous tick of his or, was I missing something? "In our fight, me and Bolin didn't have to talk to fight together, but you had to whisper in her ear. You need to get to the point you can look at Penny and tell what she wants, and vice versa of course." he said, gesturing from me to Penny then Penny to me respectively.
I slowly nodded… I guess that made sense. If I knew what she was going to do I knew how to predict it and react accordingly. Bolin held up a hand, "For example-" he dove towards Nadir, who reached over, casually spinning him around and setting him back upright. I looked between the two, wide-eyed… "You… huh? How?" I asked… I mean, they hadn't spoken a word during that and they executed something that would no doubt take Penny and me almost a hundred tries to get right! Nadir smiled, "Exactly. You know your partner, you know what they're like, how they fight, you know exactly what they're gonna do before they even do it. Since you two ain't much the type for planning every little detail of a fight, you gotta think on your feet and improvise if you wanna beat Melanie and Miltia." he said.
"Ruby, what's Penny's favorite color?" Nadir asked. I looked at Penny, trying to think for a moment, think if she'd told me… of course, I didn't really know the answer. I mean we'd met yesterday for crying out loud! "Uwaaaaaaah… Orange?" I asked, giving a wild guess. Penny shook her head, the reasons Nadir was proposing slowly donning on her if her eyes were anything to go by. "See? We'll get to the fighting later, but you two need to get to know each other first." Nadir said simply, leaning back slightly as Bolin did the same. The two of them casually stepped out of the arena, walking over towards the gym side, leaving me and Penny alone in the ring. I looked over at her, "Maybe we should go somewhere a bit more quiet." I said, considering the sheer amount of noise that was seemingly always in this room.
Penny nodded, lightly grabbing my wrist and pulling me off the ring, right out the nearby door and down the hall. I was about to ask where she was going when she stopped at a door just down from the infirmary. She pulled it open, revealing what looked to be a simple, barely decorated bedroom, with a simple closet, bed, and a few other things scattered about the place. She pulled me in, turning on the singular lightbulb in the center of the room before shutting the door behind me, walking towards the middle of the room. She sat down, patting in front of her. I complied, crossing my legs like she was before she spoke up, "Ruby… um, tell me about you. I guess." she said, her face pink… I could tell she'd never really had to do something like this before.
Luckily, I had plenty of experience introducing myself… since I had to do it so, so many times to the same people. "Well, I'm fifteen with a birthday in two weeks. My uh, my favorite color is red. I uh, oh! I've been training with Pyrrha since I got here, my uncle lives in Vale while the rest of my family's in Patch. Uhhhh… I like strawberries, cookies, and cute things, like little puppies with those, those tiny little hats and jackets." I said, lightly tapping my fingers together as I pictured it… wow this was harder than I remember. Penny slowly nodded, looking up as if racking her brain for something to say. "Well, I just turned sixteen last week, my um, my favorite color is green. I'm… I'm really bad at this, sorry." she said, looking away from me.
I frowned, reaching a hand out and laying it on her shoulder. She turned back, her face flushed pink with embarrassment as I smiled, "It's okay… I'm not really good at this either. Why don't we start from the beginning. Like uh… what was your childhood like? Friends? Family? Things like that." I said. Penny looked down, her eyes shifting over the floor for a few moments before she nodding, giving a faint smile before she started talking, her eyes taking on this strange, nostalgic quality to them. "Well… I was born in Mantle. My, mother left me and dad when I was little so, it's just been us for as long as I can remember. He was… a little overprotective. We went to Atlas on a trip and this one guy pushed me out of the way on the sidewalk… my dad, well, he threatened to kill them with a scalpel."
"When I was eight I… I got really sick. I… I couldn't even move. My dad he, he tried everything he could find but, nothing would make me better. Then… well, " she reached down, slowly pulling down on her right shoe. My eyes widened when I saw that the 'shoe' she was pulling of, was actually her entire foot. She set it aside, lightly running a finger over the place her ankle would've been, a faint smile on her face. "My dad had to amputate my right foot up to my ankle and my left up to my knee to save me… even then he, he always had a priest on speed-dial. He'd spend hours and hours next to me, just hoping, praying for me to get better… it was a miracle I did. I'd lost twenty pounds since I couldn't eat anything. My skin was paler than ever and… well, I could barely walk for awhile." she said.
"What kind of disease was it?" I asked, my eyes wide as I looked over her other leg. I couldn't tell if she was joking about the 'up to her knee' part… I mean, her leg looked almost seamless, as if it were real. She seemed to sense this, reaching over and -sure enough- pulling her other leg off as well. "I don't really remember the name… guess I never wanted to find out after it was over. It was some kind of infection from stepping barefoot in all the filth in Mantle… the frostbite didn't help it any. My dad made his money by making prosthetics for people who had to have their limbs amputated because of it… it was, really common back then."
"A few years later… that's when the Mad Doctor showed up."
