A Fallen Yellow Petal
Pt. III
Yang was not sure how long she had slept; she could feel herself coming and going as she sat against the wall. The sweat from the night made her feel gross, her back throbbed and her whole body ached from the fighting. The only comfort she felt was from the weight pressing against her. Neo was sitting in her lap curled up with her face pressed against her chest and Blake was at her side, clutching her jacket like Yang was going to disappear. The smells of medical equipment mixed with the sharp scent of sweat were disorientating, to say the least, but Yang tried to get as much rest as she could.
A yell broke her wavering sleep and Yang looked down the hall to see where it had come from. Plenty of others were in similar positions that she currently was. Myriad bandages covered soldiers as they rested or waited for others to come back to them. Yang wondered how many people actually survived Mistral. After all the bullets, fire, and Grimm she did not think it was very many.
"Yang Xiao Long?" Looking down the other way, she saw an Atlesian soldier standing next to her, looking at a scroll with her picture on it.
"Yeah?" Gods, her voice sounded so weak.
The soldier just nodded and radioed in her location to whoever was on the other side. Seconds later, Yang could hear someone storming down the hallway towards them and saw Weiss on a mission. Tapping Blake and Neo awake, the three women slowly pulled themselves to their feet in time for Weiss to reach them.
"Thank you, Corporal, I've got it from here." Weiss returned the salute from the soldier before he marched off to do whatever else he was supposed to be doing. The Specialist was looking worse for wear. A bandage wrapped around her neck and Yang could see bandages through the tears in her uniform. All of them stood in silence, unsure of what to do next. Yang was a member of the Black Fang, an organization that's supposed to look like White Fang, who was known for terrorist activities and atrocities and she was standing in the middle of an Atlesian battle carrier, surrounded by soldiers.
It was not looking good for her.
"Right, first thing's first," Weiss said nervously as she looked between Yang and Blake. Yang only had a moment to prepare herself before Weiss launched herself at the taller woman. Yang caught her in a hug and held her as close as she could. The stitches in her back did not like that, but she did not care. She was holding her friend again and she would bleed as much as she wanted for this moment again. "I missed you," she whispered to Yang.
"Missed you too, Princess"
Finally releasing Weiss, she could see her struggling to keep her composure as she moved from Yang to Blake and enveloped her in a tight hug as well. Yang watched as tears slipped from Blake's eyes as the two embraced for a long pause before breaking. Finally, they separated and Weiss looked at the last member of their group and stopped. Weiss and Neo looked at each other before Weiss looked between Yang and Blake. "Okay, so this needs some explaining,"
"Yeah," Yang dragged on a little, "It's a long story…"
"I was afraid you were going to say that," Weiss sighed as she looked between her two friends. "But that can wait, the General and Ozpin want to talk to all of us." She then eyed up Neo. "Well, not you." Yang looked over at Neo who looked offended by the order.
"No," was the simple answer.
"What?"
"I'm not leaving Ruby alone for a second in this place," Yang moved past Weiss and Blake and walked through the medical curtain that separated Ruby's bed from the rest of the overfilled infirmary. The sight was enough to shatter what little remained of her heart after what she was forced to do just hours ago.
Ruby laid in the bed looking like a victim of a vehicle collision. Her clothing was torn and cut away for the medics to work on her body, leaving her in a medical scrub that hid nothing away from Yang. Her arm was bandaged up from her wrist to her elbow. An IV drip was in her other arm that showed the infected injection site in the crook of her elbow. A thick brace covered the bruise Yang knew wrapped around Ruby's neck from where she was forced to choke her out. Split lips and bloody bandages were clinging to a straightened nose. A series of black stitches crossed over her right eye, holding angry red bruised skin together. Her hair had been haphazardly cut so the medics could apply the stitches with ease.
Yang knew she was going to look a lot worse before she starts looking better, even with her Aura. Reaching up, she brushed some of the copped hair and traced the dried on blood with a metallic finger. Yang had cried so much for her sister she did not have any tears left to shed even if wanted to. "I'm so sorry," she whispered to Ruby as she pressed a kiss to her forehead and held onto her hand. Her sister felt so small in her hand but so big as well.
Five years. It had been five years since Yang watched Ruby walk down that path and disappear from her life. Sure, she had come back for their father's funeral but Yang was so deep in the bottle she hardly remembered the whole ordeal. In that time, Ruby had grown up from that awkward teen into a woman. So many things Yang missed because she was so far gone.
"Yang," Weiss's voice cut through the steady beeping of Ruby's heartbeat on the monitor. Looking over at her friend, both she and Blake had walked past the curtain and looked at the state Ruby was in. Blake stared with wide-eyed shock while Weiss kept her face schooled. "The general is waiting for us."
"Go without me."
"You can't just keep the general waiting!" Weiss all but recoiled in shock at Yang's simple answer.
"What, I'm not part of your army, I don't have to listen to him." Yang could already feel the headache coming. Reaching into her belt, she pulled out her flask and popped the top. The strong stench of her drink filling her nose was enough to push her headache back just a bit.
"You can't drink here," Yang ignored her and tilted her head back, letting the numbing poison burn down her throat. "When did you even start drinking?" Weiss asked. Yang took two more mouthfuls before capping the flask and putting it away.
"Since my dad died."
Yang could Weiss struggling with that information. "I thought you said he was waiting for you and Ruby to come home?"
"He died a few years ago but Ruby thinks he's alive somehow." She looked back at Ruby, a terrible ache rang through her chest at the grief and memories. "I just played along to try and get her to come with us."
"It's probably the drugs," Blake interjected as she looked between the two of them, "The last time I saw her in Vacuo, she was talking to herself in a mirror and then punched it. I don't know how long she's been using for but I know it's been a long time,"
"We can discuss this after we return from our meeting with Ironwood," Weiss was really starting to get on Yang's nerves with her nagging.
"What does he want with us anyway?" Blake asked. Before Weiss could reply, a new voice entered the conversation.
"Something that would be better said behind closed doors but I can make an exception..."
Everyone turned as the curtains that surrounded them opened again and James Ironwood stepped through the threshold. Yang had not seen the general since the Fall of Vale, his intimidating stature was made more so by the beard he had grown. His uniform was crisp and clean, his medals shining and boots polished. Next to him, Ozpin had an easy smile on his lips and a steaming mug in his hand, like the last five years never happened to him.
"Sir!" Weiss snapped at attention, making both Yang and Blake jerk back at the sudden movement from her. Ironwood simply gestured to her and set her at ease with an order. "Apologies, sir. I was going to bring Blake and Yang, but Yang was refusing to leave her sister alone."
"With good reason!" Yang said as she stood between Ironwood and Ruby. "We had everything under control but then one of your soldiers tried to kill my sister!" The fire inside of her was raging but Yang was still so tired. That fight had taken everything out of her and a few hours of rest only did so much for her.
"Yes, I know." Ironwood sighed. "Weiss gave me a report of what happened down there. And while I know it can never be good enough, I sincerely apologize for their actions. Arthur Watts, one of the councillors, had an agenda of his own and had recruited a number of people both inside and outside the military to further a goal that I am still trying to get to the bottom of. Petty officer Resdea was one of them."
"How many more of them are there?" Blake asked.
"I don't know, So far, I've arrested sixty-three people on this ship alone with connections to Arthur and his following, and that's not including whoever else he has gotten a hold of outside of Atlas as well." Yang watched as the man pulled the chair next to Ruby's bed away from her and sat across from them, Ozpin not leaving his side. "I know it's hard to hear this from me, but I need your help, all of you."
Yang was taken aback by his sudden request. "Why us, you have an entire kingdom to call upon for anything you want."
"I can't trust them," was the simple answer that came from him.
"While the Mantle of Responsibility is holding refugees from all sides of the war, they will be ferried to Atlas via airship," Ozpin interjected, "The dreadnaught herself will be heading to Feiyan, the headquarters of the Valenese Reclamation Army. There, James will be opening negotiations with the people in charge and this war will officially be over. While my words would carry weight, four Huntresses will help ease people into the idea that Atlas is here to help, not to occupy."
Yang nodded along. It made sense to a degree, words are nice and all but unless he could back that up it did not matter in the long run. "On top of all that, I will be providing guaranteed Atlesian citizenship to everyone who is willing to help with protecting Atlas and rebuilding efforts, starting with you three." At that statement, Ironwood reached into his pocket and pulled two new scrolls out and held them up to Yang and Blake.
With a little hesitation, Yang took one of them and opened it after figuring out the new interface. Upon opening it, she was faced with a full Huntsmen's licence with her face attached to it. Looking over at Blake, she could see her partner was met with a similar sight. "If you agree to these terms, you'll be considered a Specialist for the Atlesian military for a year. After that, the contract is finished and you can do whatever you want."
"Why would either of us want to be a part of your military?" Yang could feel the disgust in Blake's voice as she waved the new scroll around, Yang was having similar thoughts.
"For one, guaranteed citizenship in Atlas will give you home while yours is still being reclaimed," The general said as he stood back up and slipped his hands behind his back. "And, as a member of the military, you would get access to military resources normal citizens would not get, like medical care for family members." Yang looked back at Ruby, her bruises were getting worse by the minute. The need to protect her at all costs began to outweigh any slight she had against the Kingdom and how they did things.
"One year... and the same offer will be offered to Ruby when she awakens."
Yang sighed as she turned back to Ironwood and nodded. "Fine, whatever it takes to help her."
"Same," Blake chimed in as she closed the device and stood next to Yang. She smiled a little, knowing Blake would still be by her side. Looking around, she tried to find Neo and found her in the back corner of the room, her eyes a piercing white and staring at Ozpin. She did not know why she was acting so strangely around the man, but then she remembered that Neo helped Roman and Cinder burn Ozpin's school to the ground. Yang would have to talk to her about that sooner or later.
Everyone was caught off guard when the curtain opened up again and a man wearing a white doctor's coat over the blue and white camo of the military garb. Looking up from a scroll tablet, he was frozen in place seeing so many people in the small space, more so when he eyed the general. "Uh, I can come back..." He then began to back out but was stopped when Ironwood put up his hand.
"It's fine, I need to be going anyways. There's still a lot to do in the next few days." He then turned to Yang and Blake. "Thank you for your help, I will get things ready for your stay on the ship." As he was leaving, he paused in front of the doctor and requested a daily update on Ruby's condition and the doctor was unable to refuse. With Ironwood and Ozpin gone, Yang felt more than saw Neo leave her corner and stand next to Yang. With her natural hand, Yang placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze before turning to the doctor.
"How is she?" Yang asked.
The doctor, who's name tag said it was Bleu, took another look at the scroll and blew a breath out sharply.
"It would honestly be easier to tell you what's not wrong with her," He tapped a few things on the device took a deep breath. "She's malnourished, dehydrated, sleep-deprived, two different illnesses and a nasty blood infection. On top of that, she's got three broken ribs, a broken nose, a fractured wrist, sprained neck, and second-degree frostbite on her ankle." Every word that came out of his mouth pulled at her heart. She had done most of that damage herself during their fight.
"So what are you doing to help her?" Yang pressed on.
"Well, for now, we're drip-feeding her antibiotics for the infections, bandaged and stitched her wounds, and induced a coma for any potential brain injury she might have."
"Why would you force her into a coma?" Yang was on the verge of making the doctor's new home one of the beds here.
"She was shot in the head, that kind of trauma to the brain is serious. Put it this way, when your scroll is acting all weird, you turn it off and on again. That's what we're doing with her." Yang did not really understand, but he was the doctor, so she had to trust his word. "She'll be okay, I'll make sure of it." He gave her a nod and walked up to her IV drip and took some notes after inspecting the bag. "While I got you here, does she have any medical-related issues that you know of, allergies and such?" he asked.
"Uh, no, she's not allergic to anything that I know of."
"She's been dosing herself with Aura stimulant," Weiss pushed herself into the conversation, "We just don't know for how long," The doctor nodded as he made more notes on his tablet.
"We'll have to monitor and run some more tests then. It would explain the injection sight though. At least it's something we know the chemical makeup of," He finished his notes and walked up to the three of them, "If there's nothing else, I do have other patients."
"How is Winter doing?" Weiss asked quickly, her hands being rung together nervously. The doctor went looking through his files and quickly read through it when he found it.
"She's stabilized for now, but the poison is inhibiting her Aura somehow, so it's taking longer than expected for her to recover." Yang watched as Weiss let out a breath and let her hands fall to her sides. With a thank you from Weiss, the doctor left to make his rounds and everyone watched as Yang pushed the chair back to Ruby's bedside and take a seat.
"I'm going to be looking into the Aura Stimulant, I don't know how it's being produced but if it has my name on it, I need to know if this can happen to anyone else." Everyone nodded as Weiss walked back to Yang and hugged her tightly. "She'll get through this, we're all here for her." Yang knew Weiss was right, so she hugged her back while whispering her thanks. Blake was next to get a hug from Weiss before she just shot a glare at Neo and made her departure after giving Ruby's hand a squeeze.
Yang took her sister's hand and squeezed it, hoping for a response but felt nothing in return. She wished she could take every bit of pain Ruby had from her and bare the burden herself but the only thing she could do is sit there and watch her. Blake and Neo shared a look with each other and stood on either side of Yang, each of them staying with her so she was not alone anymore.
She knew that they all needed to talk but for now, Yang just accepted their support and let her walls fall for a few minutes while holding onto the two of them. It was going to be a long road ahead for all of them and Yang needed as much support as she could get from everyone if she was going to help them all out of this.
All that was left now was to wait and heal.
A/N: HO BOI! How about that season finale! On that note, please leave the spoilers out of the comments for the time being.
With this, there is only one more chapter till the end of part 2! Chapter 50 will be saved for a preview later on.
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Big thanks to StreetAngelJ for his hard work translating my trash into something presentable.
And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!