A crimson haired huntress strolled through yet another dull hospital hallway, the gentle clicking of her boots muffled by the occasional activity in the wards; nurses hurried across halls, dashing from room to room with clipboards. Pyhrra made ample room for the medical personnel so as not to interrupt what must be a stressful occupation.
She observed an information sign, scrutinised its contents and took a sharp left. This hallway was creepier. Dimly lit, and utterly silent. Pyhrra paused to take in the eerie atmosphere - before setting off down yet another corridor. After navigating a twisting enigma of the enormous hospital, she found what she'd been searching for: Ward 63, Room 6. Pyhrra greeted her blonde friend exiting the room with the warmest smile she could muster. Yang returned it with an unconvincingly weak smile.
"How are you, Yang?"
Yang shrugged. She had bags under her eyes and her hair was unkempt, whilst her movements appeared sluggish and reluctant. "I'm okay. Thanks for asking. Listen, Pyhrra...I can stay a few hours longer if you've got things to do-"
"Don't be silly, Yang! You've been here for...nearly 10 hours now, if the clock is correct." came Pyhrra's concerned reply. "And if your appearance is any indication, you need some rest yourself. No offence, by the way." Pyhrra quickly added. Yang nodded solemnly, an action which Pyhrra could tell was taking a lot of effort by itself. Yang looked like she hadn't slept in a week.
"Yang, look at me."
The blonde looked back at Pyhrra with tired eyes.
"You've done wonderfully, as a sister and as a teammate. Take a rest. I'll look after both of them...I promise." Pyhrra soothingly said, resting her hand on Yang's shoulder reassuringly. The blonde finally seemed to take the advice, albeit with little enthusiasm.
"...Thank you, Pyhrra."
They exchanged a brief, friendly hug, before Yang set off down the hallway to head back to Beacon. Pyhrra felt sorry for her - Yang would have to escape the myriad of confusing hallways just to get out of the hospital before she could even start heading home. Pyhrra turned back to Room 6's door, peering through its glass panel.
Weiss was motionless on the hospital bed. The oxygen mask still covered her mouth - and bandages were wrapped intermittently around her on her arms, legs, torso and head. Monitors and screens were meticulously tracking every trace of her vital readings, as an IV drip fed into her arm. On Weiss's right was her partner sat in a chair.
Ruby Rose sat leaned forward, her head resting in her arms on the bed, asleep.
Ruby had been cleared to leave the hospital 4 days ago, only a few hours after she'd been cautiously taken in to be calmed down. But the red huntress had refused to be separated from the heiress's side; not just once, but multiple times. Thus, Ruby had essentially been living in this room for 4 days now, ever since Weiss had collapsed, barely speaking to anyone. The rest of Team RWBY and Team JNPR, and even the recently fully-healed Sun Wukong, had all been taking turns to visit and look after Ruby and Weiss - with Yang vowing to bear the brunt of this work and take the longest visits. Ruby had been extremely difficult to converse with, even with her sister. Often, she would mumble some polite greeting and then fall silent. Other times, she wouldn't speak at all.
Hopefully, today would be different.
Pyhrra breathed a deep breath, and quietly opened the door.
She was greeted only with the faint, rhythmic beeping of the various machines and monitors surrounding the heiress, and the delicate noise of oxygen being delivered to her mask. Ruby had not awoken upon Pyhrra's entry, still rising gently up and down as she slept with her face buried into the duvet on Weiss's bed. Pyhrra carefully took a chair and sat next to Ruby, rubbing the young huntress's back.
"Ruby? Are you awake?" Pyhrra felt like slapping herself; of course she's not awake. With a timid groan, she felt Ruby just slightly lift her head up, rubbing her silver eyes and raising up into a hunched posture. She glanced over to Pyhrra. Ruby was a mess.
Ruby's eyes had even more bags than her sister, yet seemed just as red and puffed up as they had the last four days...it was tragically clear that she was still crying in her sleep. Her cheeks were unnaturally pale. Her usually well looked after hair was ruffled and lacked its usual glossy appearance. In addition, her eyelids kept twitching, hinting that Ruby desperately needed some sleep that wasn't in a chair. Pyhrra took her hand in a gesture of understanding - only to almost recoil in shock. Her hand was freezing.
"...H-hi Pyhrra." came Ruby's glum greeting. There was no bubbly energy, no youthful smile. Truly, Ruby had said goodbye to her childhood.
"Hello Ruby. How are you?" Several seconds passed. No response. "We're...worried about you, Ruby."
Another period of silence. No response. Ruby continued to gaze at Weiss's face, watching over her, fighting her own fatigue.
The silence hung in the air, but Pyhrra could tell that Ruby didn't feel awkward about it. She didn't seem to care at all. She just watched.
After 12 uninterrupted minutes of soundlessness, Ruby's delicate voice finally broke through of her own accord.
"He didn't visit." she croaked, barely pushing the words out. Pyhrra snapped her head up at the surprising conversation initiative.
"What? Ruby?" More silence. "Ruby, who didn't visit?"
More voiceless seconds.
"Weiss's dad. Weiss's father, more like." Ruby replied. Her voice was consistently a faint whisper, Pyhrra straining to decipher the words. Ruby didn't break her protective gaze over her partner. "I bet...I bet he didn't even watch Weiss's fights. Not any of them. He probably...doesn't even care about her."
Pyhrra stayed speechless. She wasn't proficient at dealing with grief, not even her own. Besides, this was the most Ruby had spoken since before Weiss had collapsed. Pyhrra wasn't about to interrupt her.
"W-Weiss...has spent seventeen years...with people not caring. Just...alone."
More silence passed.
"My mother died when I was young." Ruby added.
Pyhrra felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand, the tension gripping her.
"My mother...when she was alive...she always spent as much of her day with me as p-possible. Always." Ruby slowly turned to Pyhrra with those exhausted, drenched eyes. "But Mr. Schnee? I've been here f-for four days...and he h-hasn't visited once." Ruby broke eye contact and returned her loyal attention back to Weiss. She took Weiss's pale hand delicately in her own; Ruby entwined her fingers with the heiress's, staring down at their connection, waiting for even the slightest twitch; but nothing came.
Pyhrra cleared her throat at last. "'Ruby...you and I both know that Weiss...didn't fight that battle for her father."
Ruby did not move. Pyhrra inhaled another deep breath.
"Weiss...Weiss put everything...put her life on the line for this." Ruby visibly winced; the very real possibility of her partner's life being in the balance seemed to shake her. "She poured every drop of energy she had into keeping her aura green. She took...a lot of damage, Ruby. Just to show you...that Tristen wasn't unbreakable."
Ruby turned to Pyhrra, seemingly willing to hear her out. Pyhrra took this as a tremendous improvement from the red huntress's recent depressive behaviour, and continued.
"Giving you the confidence to take him on, knowing he can be beaten...was clearly important enough to Weiss to risk death for. With this in mind...do you think Weiss would want you to be wasting away next to her, not preparing for your match?"
Ruby seemed to be ever so slightly flustered by the words - the concept of leaving the heiress's side was unthinkable. She did not form a retort. The somber expression on her face remained, however.
"...Instead of letting your anger about who truly cares about Weiss boil up inside you, you should try...try to put all your energy into preparing for your own match."
Pyhrra swallowed and stared right at Ruby, ready to drop the bombshell she so desperately didn't want to drop.
"Don't let Weiss's sacrifice go to waste, Ruby."
Ruby's lip quivered slightly, and she reached her arms out. Pyhrra caught her embrace gently, as a few of Ruby's silent tears collected on Pyhrra's shoulder.
"I hate s-seeing her like this, Pyhrra...all the bandages, a-and the machines and the screens an-"
"I know, Ruby, I know. We all do - it's...it's horrible..." Pyhrra interrupted. She patted her young friend's back to comfort her, before releasing the hug and motioning to the door. "You need sleep first and foremost, Ruby. Really badly. You're suffering from sleep deprivation, as well as starvation, depression...I can watch over her, Ruby."
Ruby looked up at Pyhrra. She shook her head.
"Ruby...you can't get better whilst...whilst you're still in grief, still sat in that chair. You'll only get worse. Ruby, trust me - I'll look after her." Ruby stared for several tense seconds, unwavering.
"Promise me."
Pyhrra looked puzzled. "Ruby? O-of course I'll look after Wei-"
"Promise me."
Ruby was adamant. She would not leave without Pyhrra's unconditional commitment.
"Alright, Ruby. I...I give you my word. I won't leave Weiss's side until someone else comes to watch over her...and I'll make them swear to do the same. I promise you that." Pyhrra stared into Ruby's eyes as she made her oath.
More tense seconds passed as Ruby stared back, contemplating - the silence only broken by the sounds of electronic equipment.
Ruby got out of her chair.
She trudged slow steps across the room; each step away from Weiss was a battle in itself. She took one last look at Pyhrra, as if speaking to her telepathically: You promised.
Ruby's gaze turned to Weiss, on which she paused, her weary eyes fixed on her partner for a few brief moments...before she reluctantly opened the door quietly walking away with her red cape drifting behind her.
Pyhrra took the chair closer to Weiss, sighing with relief.
Well, that was one battle won.
And so, Pyhrra began her dutiful watch, her fullest attention fixated on guarding the heiress from the world.
Just like she had promised.