Chapter 10
A Promise
Ruby's point of view
Please let it be just a rumor. Please oh please let it just be a rumor! Earlier today, I heard a conversation between two students about Shen's team returning from their first mission and Shen had to be hauled off to the infirmary. As soon as I reached to the infirmary, my heart was racing seeing Katherine outside crying. Asa was trying to console her. Before I tried to open the infirmary door, Oni stopped me. "Ruby….if you really do care about him, don't go in there. It'll only hurt you more…" I didn't want to believe him. I threw open the door and wished I did believe him. Shen was on the infirmary bed, a huge bandaging wrapped over his stomach area and a monitor hooked up to him.
Tears welled up in my eyes as Oni placed a hand on my shoulder. "Ruby….I'm sorry." I moved his hand away as I returned back to my room…
"Ruby?! Ruby what's wrong?!" Weiss looked at me with worried eyes into my reddened ones. "It's horrible Weiss…Sh-Shen..he…" I couldn't even finish my sentence, but I could tell that Weiss knew what I was trying to say. She hugged me tightly as I cried into her shoulders. "I just….I just hope he's alright…"
Kat's point of view
I-I couldn't….I couldn't get to him fast enough…some leader I am, crying in front of my fellow teammates while my other team member is on the bridge of death. "Kat….Kat look at me please…" Asa tried to pull my face up, but how can I face him after what happened… "Asa…" I started. "If he gets through this…I promise…I promise I won't let anyone else get hurt…" I hugged Asa tightly as he comforted me.
Oni's point of view
Damn it…why…when I was finally starting to warm up to the guy…why did he have to go and have this happen…damnit…damnit…I couldn't stand seeing people like this, or have people see me like this. I walked away from the infirmary and made myself go up to the roof for some fresh air. When I finally got there, it made me want to throw up. I leaned against the edge's railing, looking down at the courtyard. I couldn't stand to look at anything, so I buried my face into my hands as the tears ran through. "Oni?" I looked behind to see goldilocks walk onto the roof. I quickly turned around to try and wipe my eyes clean from my current break down. Her warm hands rested on my shoulders, her head leaning against my back. "You don't have to act tough all the time Oni…..Once in a while you…you have to let out a good cry…" Her words pierced my mind and soul. I couldn't help but release the tears, falling from my face… "If…If the coon gets out of this…I-..I promise. I promise that I'll be more kind to him from now on…"
Asa's point of view
I was standing in front of the Headmaster's desk. He was looking outside of the clock's glass as usual, watching the students roam about like normal. "Look at them Asa…carefree. Most of them don't even know about the hardships that most people, including you and your team, have gone through…"
"Ozpin…the mission was a success. We found out the reason and stopped them…but was the result of this mission really worth the sacrifice of this?" My hands clenched into a ball, holding in all of my anger and sadness.
"Asa…everyone in their life has to make a decision."
"But does it have to end with a good friend dying?!" My hands slammed onto his desk, making everything on it jump and fall over.
"That is something that only you alone can answer Asa…does the result have to be what it is? If something is so precious…isn't it worth fighting for?" My eyes widened at Headmaster's words, my head hanging down in shame. "It was my fault, he even got into this Ozpin…it was because of my weakened condition that he jumped out like that against Spade…"
"Then what, Asa, are you going to do about it?"
"I promise…on my life, that I will protect Shen and my team, when fate and God Himself beckons it…"
Ozpin's point of view
Asa left my office. I couldn't help, but allow one tear to fall for the struggle, that I know all too well, that he is going through…Although, as my job, I must care for and guide each and every student who attends here like I should. Yet, already Asa has went through so much more before this. So much more in seriousness, that I just see how important Mr. Lon means to him. A friend…something that Asa longed for so many years…something that I could never give him. As a teacher, no….as a father…if this boy comes out through the worst, and find a reason to keep on living, I promise that I will do anything in my power to keep him and many future victims of this endeavor to protect them from the mischief and evil of this world…
Shen's point of view
Darkness….how long have I been falling in this endless abyss? To me, it seemed as if an eternity. Cold….oh so cold…no heat or a loved one's arms to shield me from this empty feeling…is this really what death is like? No, shine to lead me to a promised land, no fiery depths in which I'm casted down in, no white room in which I am trapped for eternity. For the last I would even accept, only for the light. For having the features of a nocturnal creature, I hate the darkness, even back when I was young, even to the present of now. If this is what my new life should be like…then I guess I should start getting used to the darkness…
Shen!
Shen!
Huh?...Voices?...Here?
Shen!
Shen!
Shen!
Asa?...Oni?...Kat?...Ruby?
Wh-What's this? A light? The voices…the voices are calling me to it. Yet…I have grown so used to the darkness behind me…I think I can even start feeling again. As if slowly dying off along with my life, the light faded away in the distance. Then…
"Oh god….H-He's waking up! Oni! Asa! S-Someone get Ruby, he's awake!" The tears of a familiar face fell upon my face, the refreshing feeling of love running down my cheek. "Shen…thank god…" Kat laid her head upon my chest, as one by one, my comrades, no….my friends, surrounded me in a circle of smiles.
I promise…that I will never cause them such sadness again.