Written as of; Volume 1 Chapter 16
Author's Note: Well gosh it's been a long time. I have to apologise for my tardiness but coursework and such has been running me into the ground again leaving little free time to write. If this Chapter seems a little short or boring well sorry; I need to get some questions answered and the story to be set up for the second Arc so I'll see you on the other side!
White walls. Gel bed. Soft satin sheets. These were the first things Ruby Rose noticed as she regained consciousness. From her surroundings, she deduced she was in the infirmary. Panicking, she twisted her head, hissing in pain, searching frantically for a trace of alabaster hair or her sister's golden locks. She found neither. All the other beds were empty. Ruby grit her teeth as despair threatened to swallow her. Her eyes wet with tears, sobs racked her body as she curled up into a ball on the bed, crying.
'Not again.' She cried soundlessly.
'Not again.'
The girl's pitiful whimpering was cut off by the sound of the door opening. Ruby straightened herself out and stared with bloodshot eyes at the figure that entered the room.
"It is good to see you awake Miss Rose." Professor Ozpin smiled gently as he stepped into the infirmary, clutching his ever-present mug.
"Why me?"
"Pardon?" the professor queried, a small frown appearing on his face.
"Why me?" she whispered.
"Why did I have to survive? The others are all dead now, because I wasn't strong enough."
"Dead?" he echoed.
"Look around you." Ruby said bitterly; "I'm the only one here, the others are gone."
"My dear girl." Began Ozpin; "The others are fine, they left the infirmary days ago."
"B-but how long have I been-?" Ozpin gently interrupted Ruby;
"You have been here for three weeks Ruby." Ruby began to feel faint as the weight of this information began to settle in.
"T-three weeks?" she whispered. Ozpin nodded.
"What is the last thing you remember?" he prompted. Ruby closed her eyes, the scenes of the fight flashing past in her mind's eye. Her use of fire. The light. The pain. She slowly raised her hand to her right eye, and it disappeared from her vision. Ruby took in a sharp breath. Gently, she probed at the bandage that was wrapped around her, feeling the softness of the material underneath her fingertips. Desperately attempting to calm herself, she asked in a quavering voice;
"What about the others? How did they get away?" she asked.
"Fortunately, you bought enough time for team JNPR to fetch professor Goodwitch from the battle, need I say the results of today would have been very different had you not bought us that time." Ozpin sighed as Ruby lowered her head, and cut the girl off as she began to speak;
"There is one thing that puzzles me." He began, staring intently at Ruby as he spoke.
"You said not again when you thought everyone had died. You have not told me any of the circumstances leading from your accident up until your presence here, is there something you wish to tell me?" Ruby immediately stiffened, gritting her teeth at the emotions that swirled within her chest. She sat immobile for a few moments before she wilted, collapsing back onto her pillows as she began to speak;
"It was about a month after I got out of the hospital. I was still jumpy and unsure of myself, I wasn't the Huntress I used to be." Ruby lowered her head as she continued.
"The teams were split up and randomised to test our ability to work in an unfamiliar group. For some reason, I was selected as the team leader of my group, maybe because they thought it would boost my confidence, but the reasons don't really matter now." Ruby looked up slowly, fixing Ozpin with her gaze, regret shining in her silver eyes as she continued;
"We got dropped off in the middle of a Grimm-infested forest and were told to make it back to the base camp by noon the next day. We were over halfway back when we came across some Ursa. I didn't believe that I could take them on so I led the rest around the pack instead of taking them head-on. Not everybody was happy with that. One of my team, a Katana wielder, was the most vocal about this decision. He said I wounded his pride. So as we slept, he crept off to face them alone. By the time the rest of us figured out what had happened, it was too late. By the time we got back, all we found was his blade." Ruby sobbed, cutting herself off as she finished her explanation.
"So that is why you attempted to turn down my offer of you leading the team." Mused Ozpin.
"I'm sorry." Ruby sobbed;
"I didn't want anyone else to get hurt again because of me."
"Everyone is fine." Ozpin soothed.
"You have done marvellously. Sleep now." He added.
"You need your rest."
When Ruby awoke, she immediately noticed two things; firstly, the bandage across her right eye was gone, and she could see perfectly. The second was a head resting beside her on the bed. Ruby stiffened as she recognised the flowing silver hair cascading off the bed. Sensing the slight movement of the body beside her, Weiss stirred, ice-blue eyes staring straight into silver. For a moment, neither Huntress said anything, but as Ruby opened her mouth, Weiss cut across her;
"Why did you do it?"
"Huh?" Weiss buried her head into the sheets, her shoulders shaking with sobs as she continued?
"You put your life on the line continually for someone you didn't even know. Why would you do such a thing?" Ruby's brow creased in concentration for a second before she answered;
"You helped me overcome my… problems." She finally answered. Weiss' response was a questioning look, staring up at the younger girl.
"It was just after we fought off Adam the first time…" As the man stepped out of the shadows, Ruby lowered Crescent Rose, the man's visage having appeared in the media for the past few years. No-one could forget that face.
"That was quite the show Red." He spoke, taking a sip of his mug as he did so.
"Why are you here?" Ruby questioned.
"Can a man not wander when he wishes?" came the response. Ruby felt her hands start to shake in anger, and she reflexively moved her hand to Crescent Rose before consciously restraining herself.
"She could have died out there, and you just stood back and watched? We both know that you could have ended the fight in two minutes flat, so why didn't you?" Her outburst was effectively quelled when a gleaming silver blade flashed in the darkness, the man's eyes as cold as ice.
"I appreciate your sentiments, but do not dare to speak to me like that again, understand?" The voice that had once held amusement was now the epitome of ice. The cold words lanced through Ruby like steel, and she nodded. The blade was sheathed and Ruby deemed it safe to speak;
"You said you had a proposal for me?"
"So the proposal was to become my guardian." Weiss finished; her calm demeanour in place once more.
"But who was the man you met?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. Ruby fidgeted, eyes flicking guiltily to Weiss;
"That is the one thing I can't tell you, sorry."
"I guess I should have expected that." Weiss sighed,
"But what were you supposed to do?" Ruby looked the heiress straight in the eye before giving her answer;
"I was to follow you on your missions, assisting where necessary, to keep all threats away from you, so as to ensure your safety." She summarised.
"But there was one other thing." She shuddered, remembering his last order.
"If I was ever discovered, I was to actively follow you, and now it seems I have to do that, but this time I don't have to hide."
"Hide?" Weiss echoed,
"But how would you?"
"Nature dust in my armour and cloak." Ruby explained.
"You would have seen me on my first day here when you looked out of that window if I didn't have it."
"DAMN IT!" Adam sent the desk flying with one hand, scattering papers and pens all over the floor. The other Faunus around him slowly backed up, fearful of incurring his wrath.
"We have two days, two days until they die, and we still don't have any progress!" He clenched his fists, silently shaking with anger, as he was left alone in the room. The darkness seemed to gravitate toward him as he stood, solitary in the shadows.
"Very well Schnee." He spat;
"Looks like I'll have to up my game."
Ruby opened her eyes once again to see four figures round her bed. Blinking she sat up, and as her vision sharpened, she let out a gasp as she saw who was in front of her, shooting backwards on the bed.
"Hey sis." Yang, Weiss, Blake and Velvet stood round the end of Ruby's bed, staring down at her with a mixture of disbelief and concern on their faces. What worried Ruby though was the look of hurt on Yang's face. She raised her eyes to Yang's as her sister began speaking in a low tone;
"You could have told me you know." No shouting, no accusations. She had been prepared for those, but this? Ruby collapsed back onto her bed and wept. Weiss leaned in worriedly as Yang rushed to her sister's side.
"H-he told me if anyone found out, I-I would be sent away. He said I would be worthless if that happened." Yang began tearing up as she grasped her sister tighter, whilst Blake and Velvet had looks of upmost shock on their faces. Weiss rose and gestured the Faunus out of the room, leaving the two sisters in each other's arms.
"Weiss?" questioned Velvet, worried at the look on her friend's face. Weiss' mouth was set in a hard line and her eyes blazed angrily.
"If you'll excuse me." She muttered, stalking off down the corridor,
"I have an appointment with our esteemed Headmaster."
"I understand your anger Miss Schnee, but do you really think I would speak to a student of this school like that?" Ozpin sat with his hands laid flat on his desk, peering over his spectacles at the fuming Heiress, a look of unusual seriousness upon his face.
"No, and that is precisely why I came here. Just because she's supposed to be what? Some sort of guardian angel? Does that give you the right to treat her differently?"
"Of course not." Came the reply.
"In fact someone else got to Ruby before she came here and was put under the guidance of Professor Goodwitch, so they are the person your anger should be directed against, not me. And before you ask; I promised to keep their anonymity." Weiss visibly relaxed, her fists uncurling as she looked down in shame.
"I am sorry for doubting you sir, forgive me." Ozpin smiled slightly, his eyes twinkling,
"No apology needed Miss Schnee, I am pleased to see that you defend your friends with such fierceness. You really are different from your father; he would deem those unable to protect themselves worthless." Weiss halted at the door, seeming to struggle with something, uttering a single word before closing the door behind her;
"Indeed."
Weiss paced through the corridors of Beacon, the moon casting long shadows on the floor. Something Ozpin said had been bothering her, and if he refused to tell her, there was only one person who could answer her. She had not even got halfway to the infirmary when she rounded a corner, straight into someone running in the opposite direction.
"Yang?!"
"Weiss, I only fell asleep for a while and when I woke up, she's…she's…"
A minute later, Weiss tore into the infirmary, to be presented with one open window and one very empty bed. Adam sipped his wine as he slumped alone in his chair. His outburst earlier had made it obvious no-one was to come near him. If he had been sober, he would have heard the slight noise of someone landing behind him, and the near-inaudible intake of breath as they approached. What he did hear however was the sound of a weapon being mecha-shifted behind him, and before he could move, a gleaming blade was pressed against his neck, reflecting the cold light of the moon. Adam swallowed, slowly raising his hands as the blade cut into his skin, eliciting a single bead of blood. From behind him came a voice that caused his eyes to widen behind his mask as he recognised his mystery assailant and their question;
"Tell me why. Tell me everything, or you die right here, right now and no-one will ever hear you scream."