Thank you for the milestone of 400 follows! It has been dandy so far so thanks for the love. We're just getting started!
The next morning came slowly for team RWBY. More than anything, they were happy to see Ruby was as chipper as ever after a good night's sleep. Her once morbid injuries didn't slow her down in the slightest, although she was still in bed.
Dawn had arrived an hour ago. Since her team was worried, they didn't get much sleep last night, but their leader slept like a baby because of the medicines.
The sun's gentle rays seeped through the only window in the pure white room. Overnight, the nurse visited every now and then to check up on them. By this point, the IV in Ruby's arm had been removed and she was ordered strict bed rest.
The four were still in the infirmary, waiting for the news if Ruby could be discharged. Her injuries still ached, but the pain was a far cry compared to last night. Slight pangs remained along with the occasional sting. Her skin was tightly sewed together unlike the gaping hole it was just several hours ago.
"I can't wait to get outta here!" Ruby bounced up and down while sat up in bed. "Blake, did you get the cookies?"
Blake smirked and slyly pulled them out of her stocking, an action that made Ruby blush.
"Of course I did, how else would you recover?"
The blood-faunus tossed the bag to her leader, who expertly caught it with glee.
Ruby instantly devoured the cookies like a vacuum while her teammates watched in amusement.
"Whvut?"
"Glad to see you're doing better," Yang said. "That's just like my baby sis to recover so fast."
Seeing how much better Ruby was doing almost made them forget the horror that struck their hearts the night before.
The doctor walked in the room after hearing the comment. "She can be-" he perked an eyebrow at the sight of the 'illegal' food.
"Eheheheh," the leader meekly laughed and held out the last cookie. "Want one?"
The doctor chuckled when he noticed cookie crumbs were all around her mouth. "I'm good."
"We're sorry, doc," Yang apologized. "She really wanted her cookies."
"No, it's okay," he assured. "Everyone knows hospital food tastes like shit."
Weiss was caught off guard from the unprofessional behavior, but dismissed it, knowing it was worth it if her leader could have her favorite treat.
"Thanks, doc!" Ruby beamed and popped the last delectable cookie in her mouth.
The heiress sighed and grabbed a napkin. She cleaned the corners of Ruby's lips. "Honestly…" she breathed. "Try not to make a mess, will you?"
"Oops," Ruby giggled.
The doctor flipped through his clipboard and then glanced at Ruby. "Her injuries were deep, so we want to make sure the stitches and wounds won't reopen. She can leave tomorrow."
"Awwww," Ruby whined. "But-"
"Ruby," Weiss cut her off. "Take a day off. It won't hurt anyone."
"Exactly," the doctor agreed. "Now, shouldn't you three head to class?"
Everyone on the team's jaws dropped. They had completely forgotten about their classes. One moment, they were enjoying the dance and the next they were fighting a dangerous criminal.
Dozens of grimm.
And their own classmates.
That seemed miniscule compared to attending a lecture.
Ruby suddenly looked downcast, something Weiss didn't miss.
"You guys go on ahead," the heiress said, addressing her teammates. "I'll stay with Ruby."
Ruby perked up from the statement, but thought her partner shouldn't stay. "But Weeeeeeissss, you need to go to class, too!"
The leader knew Weiss was studious, even more so than herself. The heiress missing class was unheard of; the mere thought made Ruby shocked.
"Nonsense," the vampire dismissed. "We all know how you would feel if we left you alone."
Weiss knew her leader is a social person, though a tad awkward. Leaving Ruby alone while she recovered didn't sit well with her. After everything Ruby had done for her, Weiss figured now was as good a time as any to repay the favor.
Yang smiled from her words, knowing Ruby hated being isolated.
The blonde decided to leave to her white-haired teammate. If there was someone she could leave in her sister's care, it was Weiss.
Yang wrapped her arm around Blake's and nudged her. "We'll leave her to you, princess."
Yang and Blake headed to the door after casting worried glances at their leader.
The blood-faunus poked her head in the room before leaving. "We'll be back soon."
The doctor took his leave as well and slowly shut the door to give the teammates some privacy. Ruby was left sitting up in bed with a pout and Weiss sat next to her.
"I don't want you to miss class."
"Ruby," the heiress chided. "You took care of me when I was sick. It's my turn to do the same, okay?"
Ruby couldn't believe how kind her teammate was being- well, she could. It was just difficult to think that someone who was so cold could be so warm.
The leader lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Weiss' shoulders. "Aw, Weissy! Fine, you can stay. Thank you."
"Dunce… just get better," her hands slowly slid up Ruby's back and lightly hugged her.
The embrace was comforting. It was strikingly like Yang's touch. That is, if she wasn't crushing and suffocating Weiss. It was like one of her rare, loving hugs. Like a warm blanket.
Ruby's embrace was friendlier, while Yang's made her feel more protected and safe.
It made her feel like she could take on the world alongside her.
Made her forget all her worries.
Even though Ruby was also a good hugger, Weiss preferred the blonde's lemonade scent over her leader's strawberry aroma.
"How could I not get better with you here?" the leader questioned.
Weiss pulled away, a faint giggle escaped her lips. "Would you like me to sneak anything in here for you?"
Ruby gasped, her lips slightly parted at the epiphany-
"Anything but cookies?"
"Uhhh," the leader whined. "Then no, I'm not hungry anyways."
"Are you sure?" Weiss asked. "I guess I can get more cookies, even though you should be eating something healthy for once."
"Yeah," Ruby replied. "I'm good. Are you?"
"What do you mean?" Weiss tilted her head curiously.
"I mean…" Ruby leaned into her ear. "Do you need uh, blood or anything?"
Ruby felt awkward asking the question, but she was curious. She was pretty sure she hadn't seen her vampire teammate drink blood tablets since last night and wondered if she was deprived or not. Losing control of her urges wouldn't be a good thing in this setting.
"No," Weiss' lips quirked into a smile, grateful her leader was thinking of her needs even at a time like this. "Blake and I had some while you were unconscious."
"Oh, good," Ruby accepted the statement, but then remembered something. "Wait a second… why are you here?"
"What do you mean why am I here?" Weiss sounded offended. "You're my partner, dolt."
"No," the leader shook her head. "I mean why are you here? Blake told me you're scared of hospitals. Since we're in the infirmary, ya know, that's kinda the same thing."
Weiss seemed perplexed by her leader's words. Blake had told her about her fear, but she didn't mind. She trusted her sister's judgement. Blake must've trusted Ruby enough to tell her the secret. In which case, that didn't make her angry, just caught off guard, but not in a bad way.
It was an irrational fear that had developed after her first hospital visit when she was a child.
The heiress was forced to stay the night alone in the hospital room after her old mansion burned down.
After that night.
It was dark and quiet. Frightening for a child. She wasn't used to not being with her family.
But right now, Ruby needed her, and she'd be damned if she left her isolated like she was all those years ago.
"It's okay now," Weiss assured. "I'm not so afraid of them anymore. Besides, you're my partner, so I'm not leaving even if you begged."
Ruby's lips slipped into a small smile. "Thanks, Weiss. That means a lot."
"Whatever," the heiress wasn't used to being thanked. "Just heal properly so we can get out of here."
Ruby mocked a salute. "Aye, aye!"
"You know," the heiress scooted closer. "We're all worried for you. Especially last night."
Ruby lowered her head. "I didn't mean to."
"I know," Weiss said. "It was frightening. Blake had the most shocking reaction. Normally she's so calm and collected, and I thought Yang would lose it."
"Wh-what do you mean? What happened?"
Ruby was shocked by the possibility of Blake losing her composure, or even her poker face for that matter. The only time she witnessed Blake lose it was when Weiss got sick from eating human food. Which was understandable, considering her sister was in life-threatening danger.
That meant…
If Blake lost her self-control when it came to Weiss… and she presumably did for Ruby...
Was Ruby also special to Blake?
The thought caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach.
"We thought you died for a second there…" Weiss said after a shaky breath. "Of course, Yang was more terrified than anyone, but Blake…" her voice wavered. "Ruby, I've known her as long as I can remember and I've never seen her like that. It was like she was broken. Like something inside her shattered."
Ruby could only weigh her words. Silver eyes were the size of dinner plates.
The heiress cleared her throat. "Don't do that ever again. You really did, as Yang put it, 'scared the shit out of us.'"
Ruby gripped the blankets tightly. "We'll go in with a solid plan from now on."
"If there's a next time, but yes," the heiress agreed. "We can't charge in."
The heiress thought it was partly her fault Ruby was in this condition, but she didn't want to upset her leader again by blaming herself. Judging from Ruby's conflicted expression, she was still processing her words.
Suddenly, Weiss' scroll vibrated, so she pulled it out of her pocket. A tiny smile perked on her lips when she was pleased to see who the caller was.
From the smile, Ruby knew it could only be one person. "Is it Winter?"
"Yes," the heiress was hesitant to pick up, not wanting to interrupt the conversation.
It was rude to just ignore her teammate in this condition-
"What're you waiting for?" Ruby asked. "Answer it."
Receiving her leader's permission erased her doubts. After pressing the button, she answered the video call.
"Okay, dolt."
"Hello, Weiss and Ruby!" Winter greeted with a simple nod. "I wanted to check to see how things are going," her eyes studied their surroundings, finding the room foreign. "Where are you?"
"The infirmary," Weiss informed. Winter's lips slightly parted, but she cut her off. "Let us fill you in on a few things."
Ruby and Weiss switched off telling the eldest the story of what happened the night before. Not a detail remained, besides Ruby's confession to Blake. That was personal and Weiss didn't want to overstep her boundaries. If Ruby could recall it properly, she would probably want to keep the confession private.
"I'm glad you're okay," Winter said. "About this Cinder woman..."
"Do you know her?" Ruby suddenly asked.
"She's in multiple White Fang reports," Winter revealed. "Since I am temporarily in charge of the company, information like this reaches my desk. From the files I've received, I've concluded she's extremely dangerous."
"That's why you need to tighten security," Weiss advised. "My guess is that she's going to try to kill off our pureblood line. She's already initiated her plans and attempted to kill me."
"That was my inference as well," the pureblood stated. "Be careful. Who knows if she will go after you again. She's unpredictable. She is not an idle threat."
The mere thought of Cinder returning for revenge made Ruby and Weiss' stomach churn. That horrified them.
If Cinder came back, would they be prepared?
The teammates shared an uncertain look before breaking out into smiles.
For some reason, they took comfort in each other and their worries ebbed away.
As long as they were a team, they felt like everything would be okay.
Winter went on. "Do not concern yourself with me. Qrow is by my side and you have your team and the academy as allies. If an attack like that happens again, you will have prepared reinforcements."
From the mention of his name, Ruby perked up. "How's he doing?"
Winter ran her fingers through her bangs and sighed. "He's Qrow."
Ruby accepted the answer and nodded in understanding. "Makes sense."
"Winter," Weiss called. "You need to take extra caution from now on. Tighten security. Lock all the windows. Install new alarms, you understand?"
A feeble chuckle almost slipped out Winter's lips. Leave it to her younger sister to lecture her.
"I will take the measures necessary," Winter reassured. "As I said, I have Qrow, who's- believe it or not- somewhat dependable. I'll inform mother and father of what occurred last night. This is something critical to their knowledge…"
The pureblood trailed off, deep in thought.
Weiss sensed something was bothering her eldest sister. She called out to her in concern.
"Winter?"
Winter's voice lowered and her normally kind eyes narrowed in anger.
"The greedy wench..."
"Winter?" Weiss asked. "What's wrong?"
The pureblood tightened her fists until her knuckles turned white. In an instant, her once blue eyes warped to a deep shade of crimson.
Weiss had never seen her sister so conflicted before. She was taken aback. Even Ruby shared an anxious look with her.
"Winter?" Weiss' voice raised in alarm.
"No one threatens my little sisters," Winter seethed.
Her crimson eyes added to the daunting appearance. The determination swirling in the pools of blood caused the teammates to lean back in astonishment.
"She's not getting away with this."
Ohhhhh, a pissed off Winter! Don't get close! She'll bite ;D
Anywho, I'm about to go back home (which is why this is posted so early in the morning) until RTX! If you want to meet up, PM me! I'm cosplaying all three days.
Stay dandy,
~Toto
