A Harsh Reality Ch. 25: Aftershock
FINAL TALLIES {for realsies this time}. Malachite: 7, Black Knight: 5. Path to Redemption is up, and running. Give it a read if you wish to {or if you don't want to, read it anyways}. Also, did forget to address a question about Weiss' glyphs. I only view them as platforms cause I'm not that imaginative of a person. Nothing crazy on my mind about them. Also, someone got the golden boots/jester reference. I like to sneak in an AH/RT reference everywhere I can, but I don't want to blatantly state it {ala, I saw someone directly state the WWE2k14 LP in a story}. Anyways, here we go.
Ruby kept her eyes on Weiss. She still hadn't woken up, concerning the girl. Yang and Blake were still hovering around her, the details starting to come out. Ozpin and the Beacon staff had apparently gotten rid of the Teriphile in much quicker fashion by getting a bundle of dust into it's mouth. The internal damage was enough to kill it, but not before they had lost several students. Ruby didn't personally know anyone that had lost their lives, but she still felt saddened by the losses.
She made up her mind a while ago about what exactly she would do for Weiss.
"Hey Yang," she said weakly. "Can you get me some water?" Yang smiled, and ruffled Ruby's hair.
"Sure thing baby sis," she replied softly. Yang gestured for Blake to follow her, and they walked over to where the water resided. Ruby immediately pulled herself out of the bed, and bit her tongue to avoid calling out in pain. She could taste blood, but that didn't matter to her at that moment. She dragged herself to Weiss, and placed her hands on the girl's arms. She closed her eyes, and conjured up the mental image of her mother.
Roses started to dance within her hands, and change their shade from red to white. A full rose formed, and Ruby gently set it on Weiss' chest. Please Mom, she thought. Do me a favor, make her feel better. The rose began to give off a white glow, and it slowly broke apart over Weiss. The rose petals sunk into her, and Ruby just dragged herself over to her bed.
Weiss' eyes opened up just as Ruby got back in her bed. She sat up quickly, and looked around.
"Ruby?" She asked. "Why do I feel fine?"
"Weiss!" Ruby said excitedly. "You're okay!"
"Which brings me back to my question," Weiss said, annoyance layering her tone. "Why do I feel fine? I mean, I remember taking the hit from the Teriphile." She paused, as if suddenly remembering something. "The rose," she whispered. "You used up your aura on a rose, didn't you?" Ruby nodded, part of her hoping that Weiss wouldn't make the connection. "You foolish, adolescent, little red-."
"Weiss?" A confused voice asked. Ruby tilted her head to the side, and saw Yang and Blake with the water in hand. "Why are you sitting up and yelling at my sister?" Yang asked.
"Summer's gift," Weiss said angrily. "She used it on me instead of herself!"
"What?" Blake asked. She was the only one amongst the four of them that had no knowledge of what Summer's gift was. Hell, she didn't even know who Summer was.
"It was the last gift from my Mom," Ruby whispered, only just audible to the others. "Weiss still hadn't woken up, so I decided to speed up the process."
"But you still aren't at full strength!" Yang cried out. "You could of done as much damage to yourself as the Teriphile did!" Ruby sighed, and started to form up another rose.
"You would of done the same for Blake," Ruby said, trying to increase her volume. She finished up the rose, and let the petals sink into her. She stood up, and flexed around her newly repaired muscles. The Teriphile had damaged her core and arms, but thanks to her mom they were repaired.
"I must admit, I'm surprised it took you this long to accomplish that Ms. Rose," a voice came. RWBY all turned to face a very calm looking Ozpin. "Summer was a very protective person," he continued. "Something that appears to run in the family."
"Why are you here?" Blake asked, her hand resting on Gambol Shroud. She still hadn't quite reached a point of forgiveness with their headmaster. Nor had she reached a point where she believed that he knew nothing about Adam's involvement with that attack.
"To check on the wounded," he explained boredly. "Ms. Belladonna, we're going to have to get over this at some point in time. I knew nothing of Mr. Taurus' involvement. Please, may I focus on this?" Blake nodded, and her hand fell from the sword's hilt. "What exactly happened?" Yang looked over to Weiss, seeing as of how she was the one to go to the window.
"The ground started to break," Weiss began. "And then we went to the front lawn. It broke apart, and the Teriphile came. I don't know how it got to us completely unnoticed, but it did." She paused, and then looked down at her hands.
"That is the million dollar question," Ozpin sighed. "Thank you, Ms. Schnee. I wish all four of you well." He turned to leave, now left with one theory as to why the Teriphile was able to do what it did.
Elsewhere
The stirring continued. It's creation had, once again, only been destroyed by dust. Perhaps something else would be required to take down man. Something a little more elaborate, a little stronger, a little newer. It set to work fabricating it's idea, bringing it to life. Now was the time to attack again. Kick them while they're down, so to speak.
Unknown Location
He walked back over to his superior's, his face filled with excitement. The evidence that he had been waiting for, now brought to life. And brought to life in spectacular fashion as well. A Teriphile attack, on Beacon Academy. Oh, how perfect this was. They sought out to destroy the hunters, and perhaps this new opportunity would be the way to do so.
Beacon Academy: Team RWBY's Dorm: An Hour Later
Ruby and Weiss had been released from the medical bay. Yang and Blake had decided to lead them into their dorm again, just get them home.
So far, Ruby had to reflect the last week. Amount of times she had been almost killed, two. Amount of attempted rapes, one. Amount of times her girlfriend had almost been killed, two. Amount of papers she had turned in late, one. It was just a rough week. Now, she just wanted everything to stay somewhat calm.
She poked her head down to Weiss, and looked over her.
"What?" Weiss asked, annoyance still thick on her voice.
"Can I join you?" Ruby asked quietly. Weiss sighed, and patted the spot next to her. Ruby swung herself down, and curled up with the heiress.
"I'm sorry that I yelled at you," Weiss said softly, placing her arm around Ruby's head. "I was just mad that you put me above you."
"Why?" Ruby asked innocently. Weiss' heart melted at the tone that Ruby had used. It was that tone that you heard, and everything in your world suddenly became less important. Weiss hated that tone. Ruby, of course, didn't realize that her tone had done this to Weiss. She just saw the girl looking a little bit sadder. "Weiss?" She asked gently.
"Because I'd rather lose my life then yours," she whispered. Ruby went silent. How do you respond to this? Someone has told you that they value your life above your own. There is no proper way to respond. Anything romantic would seem false, and nothing at all would seem cruel. Ruby just curled up with Weiss even more, and rested her head on the heiress' chest.
Yang and Blake both watched the display. Neither of them could hear what was being said, but they could figure out the general idea of things. Yang had rejoined Blake on her bed, and placed her head on Blake's shoulder.
"I'm so glad I didn't lose either of them," Yang whispered. "I don't know if I could repair my sister from another major loss." Blake nodded, and started to pet Yang's wild mane.
"I'm glad too," Blake said softly. She didn't want to admit how much of an impact Ruby had made on her own life, beyond just Yang's affection. Even Weiss had become an integral part of her life. Blake went through her entire life with little to no blood relatives. Adam had become adopted family, but that ended poorly. Now, she had her team. All of them were the only family she had left.
Yang's heart had been brought to the brink of breaking several times within the past week. Her sister had been shot, almost raped, and most recently, almost killed by a Teriphile. Yang cared for nothing more then her sister. She made a big deal out of her and Weiss hooking up, but it was done out of concern and love. It was another case where the fact that they weren't biological sisters only made Yang more protective over the girl. She had already lost so much, that losing anything or anyone might break her to the point where she couldn't function. She's just too innocent.
But thinking of Yang's life without Ruby, was just too far for her to think of. Ruby had become everything to Yang. Something for her to protect, care for, love. No matter what either did, it always came back around to their bond. A bond forged from loss and blood. Losing Ruby, well no one would be able to comfort her from that. Luckily, all Yang was left to do was imagine it.
Despite the fact that Weiss was temporarily saddened by the events, one thing had stayed strong within her mind. She leaned into Ruby's ear, and whispered something. Ruby nodded, and gave her what she had asked for.
"Ohhh Yaaang," Weiss called out. Yang shot up, and looked over at Weiss.
"What do you need?" She asked, concern becoming the dominant tone.
"To make good on a promise," Weiss replied cryptically. Yang lowered her gaze, and saw that a crumpled piece of paper rested in it. Yang breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's do this thing princess," Yang replied, the concern having been replaced by a challenging tone. Weiss looked over at the waste basket, and took aim. She breathed in deeply, and centered her focus. Either she would be going on a nice date with her girlfriend, or kissing privileges would be revoked. She calmly tossed it in the air, and watched it arc into the trash can.
"YES!" Weiss yelled out.
"DAMMIT!" Yang called out angrily.
"You owe us a date," Weiss said proudly. For good measure, she pulled Ruby into a deep kiss. Yang watched on with a smile. Weiss may still be the cold heiress they had known initially, but no one can resist Ruby's infectious heat.
Elsewhere
Another creation, almost complete. It had been so busy in the past year, that the idea of crafting the most powerful monster it could was draining. But even Grimm could leech off of the energy that dust could provide. Perhaps none of it's creations could use it, but at least it could remain alive with it. If only man wasn't foolish enough to realize where it was, and what it was doing.
Fly my creation, it's voice echoed. It had a deep, gruff, echoing sound with every word. And show man exactly what I plan for the future.
End: Haha Grimm is up and running now. I did see the Green Lantern movie {yes, the Ryan Renolds one} and that is actually where I got the inspiration for this Grimm character. That dark cloud thing that made no fucking sense in the movie, but I wanted to translate here. Also, someone did indeed make a cover for this story so HUUUUUUGE thank you to Areyoucrazee. Soon as image manager is up again, I will have a new story cover. Questions, comments, follows, favorites, and feedback is greatly appreciated.