The Discovery
"So how far away from town do you think we are?" Ruby asks nonchalantly as Ren checks on her wound. Pyrrha leans towards Ren sharing a few hushed words before glancing over at Ruby.
Yang gets the fire started with no problem as Weiss and Nora calm Erin enough to get her to the makeshift beds that lay near the now roaring fire. "Here Erin, you can lay here Ren and I will sleep just here." Nora points just behind the young girl who once in the warm embrace of the fire goes right to sleep.
Weiss looks at the remaining sleeping arrangements, "are we-"
"It's not much but it is better than sleeping on the ground." Yang interrupts, "I would get as much rest as you can Princess. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
Ren finishes rewrapping the wound as he tightens the knot he can hear Ruby sharply inhale. "This should stay on a little better than the last one."
Pyrrha looks around the campsite for any signs of recent travel that might help her gauge how far they are from the Brier. Despite her thorough check, it seems that the campsite had been picked clean of all useful items long ago, no remnants civilization left behind, not even beneath the logs surrounding the firepit. "There is no way to tell how far or close we really are to Brier…" Pyrrha exhales, looking behind her Ruby tilts her head in response. Ren checks on Nora and Erin by the newly lit fireplace.
"Ruby, can you help me with something over here?" Ren waves, as he passes where Erin and Nora have settled in.
"Pyrrha do you mind taking the watch for a bit while I speak to Ren?" Pyrrha grabs her spear without a second thought. The redhead nods and goes back to scouting the area.
Yang rearranges parts of Weiss' sleeping area, "Just need to move this here and this here." The brawler hunches over the pile of freshly dropped branches tossing twigs over her shoulder a few almost hitting the Princess in the head.
"Would you be careful you BRUTE?" Weiss shouts as a twig hits her on the forehead and she storms towards the woman. Ruby chuckles at the sight, Yang winks before going back to tend to the fire, as she walks up to Ren.
Ren stands completely still facing the waning moon. The sound of irregular footsteps crunching the fallen leaves cause the dark haired man to glance behind. "Ruby, thank you for sparing a few moments to come speak with me."
Ruby attempts to put more weight on her wounded leg and straighten up her spine. The young leader sharply inhales feeling the tight wrapping around her wound pulsate with each beat of her heart. "Of course Ren," Ruby squeezes her hands in hopes to distract herself, "what is it you need help with-"
"I saw you and the Princess earlier." Ren bluntly reveals. The second the words leave his lips they strike a chord in the leader's heart.
"We- I- I have no idea," Ruby tries to calm her heart, her hands almost clap together as she furiously wrings them together, what did he see...is that what he was talking to Pyrrha about? Oh goddess what am I doing… Ruby shakes her head, "there is nothing going on between us…"
Ren glances down at the leader, "Ruby do you honestly expect me to believe that…" the dark haired man chuckles seeing the despair in the leaders eyes, "I am just letting you know that we are all aware of it." This revelation causes Ruby's brain to go into a panic, she squeezes her hands so tight that she nearly dislocates her fingers.
"There is nothing between us…. There is nothing to worr- what do you mean you are all aware of it…." Ruby releases her fingers from her own death grip and stares into Ren's strangly pink eyes.
Ren looks down into Ruby's eyes, he can almost see the worry and panic set in, "even if there was something going on between you two it is none of our business, it's just be careful." Ren looks up at the sky, "There are people in this world who would use that knowledge against you." Ren's words cause Ruby to be more at ease but also that he was right. "We should get some rest today has been a long one to say the least." Ren turns towards where Nora and Erin lay resting both sleeping soundly beneath the stars.
Ruby turns to see Yang making faces at her, causing Ruby to giggle though her leg continues to pulse.
"It's not a weakness you know." Ren mentions the words prompt the leader to turn her head, "what isn't?" she replies.
"To care about the people around you." Ren says as he lays with his back against Nora's causing her to happily groan a slight smile adorns her face.
"Muhhhhhhheeehhhhh" Yang mocks from afar, "Rubes are you ok?" The blonde instantly changes her deemer. Ruby nervously smiles as she limps over to Yang and Pyrrha by the fire. Ruby arrives just in time for Yang to toss her boots just past her and the odor causes the leader's eyes to twitch. "ugh….."Ruby waves her hand past her nose to get the stench out of her nostrils.
Pyrrha notices Ruby's labored steps, "Is Ren's wrap too tight?" The redhead looks directly at the wrap seeing slight blood seeping onto the clean cloth.
"No it is fine, it is still healing though." Ruby removes her leather armor and relaxes by fire for a few moments.
"I can take the first watch." Pyrrha picks up her spear, "No!" Yang shouts.
"We are in the middle of nowhere, relax for a little bit Pyrrha," Yang mentions, Ruby nods agreeing with her sister.
"I will take the first watch." Ruby announces proudly, "I may not be as fast but I am still just as deadly as before this." Ruby glances down at her leg.
Yang laughs, "deadly pfft your speed is what made you deadly...but I agree, Pyrrha take a load off." Yang pats the log beside her as she takes a moment to let the fire warm her bootless feet.
Pyrrha glances around, everything does seem quiet and still. "We didn't see anything while we were out gathering the firewood. And once the fearsomely deadly Ruby here has rested for a few moments she can take first watch." Yang chuckles.
Ruby takes a seat by her sister, "yeah it will be fine." removing her leather chest piece she looks around, "do we have any supplies?" Yang looks over placing her arms behind her and leans back.
"You know me, I always have my trusty pouch with a small amount of food and my waterskin." Yang reaches behind her and removes her waterskin throwing it at her sister. "Think fast."
Ruby smirks, easily catching the airborne waterskin, "thanks." the young warrior takes a quick sip, motioning towards Pyrrha who raises her hand and shakes her head. Yang holds her hand out Ruby places the waterskin in the calloused hands of her older sister.
"I also have my waterskin but not much more." Pyrrha mentions staring into the flickering flames of the fire. Ruby shivers as the cold breeze easily pierces through the thin cloth of her tunic, the thin layer of perspiration only amplifies the icy sensation that cuts through her body. "Luckily we all have our weapons...I suppose." Pyrrha attempts to lift Ruby's spirit, noticing that she nervously wrings her hands.
Weiss delicately crawls into her sleeping pile wrapping the heavy cloak around her careful to maneuver around the larger twigs. The violent shivers of the young leader catches the attention of the Princess, "Ruby here-" Weiss calls as she motions to return the cloak to the brunette.
"No I am fine." Ruby shudders in the cold breeze, as she reaches for her chest plate now warmed by the fire, " this will keep me plenty warm and once I get moving I should be fine." Weiss scowls and begrudgingly rewraps the cloak around her shoulders.
Yang and Pyrrha watch as Ruby places her chest plate back on, every few moments the young leader paused. "Ruby are you okay?" Pyrrha nudges Yang so that the pair can share a concerned glance.
Ruby nods her head, tearing her eyes from the silver haired woman who is snuggly wrapped in her mother's cloak. " Yeah, everything is fine." The young leader slowly gets up from her seat pretending to dust off her chestplate. Ruby goes to grab her scythe but before she is able to leave the campfire Yang grabs her wrist and shakes her head.
Ruby grimaces and pouts as she carefully leaves her scythe beside the blonde brawler. "I will just leave this here…"
"Yeah that would be best if you need anything you should just yell for us." Yang smuggly replies, Pyrrha nods in agreement.
"We will be here, ready in case you need us." Pyrrha adds as she raises her spear. The young leader sighs as she leaves the area. "At least I still have this." Ruby runs hand over the hilt of her trusty short sword.
"I'll wake you up if anything happens, you can sleep." Yang mentions as she stokes the fire. Pyrrha looks over knowing better than to argue with the brawler.
The night passed without a single sighting of the Grimm or the bandits that seemed relentless on capturing the Princess. For the first time since embarking on this journey the group of friends enjoyed a calm evening. Ruby returned from her patrol to find her sister passed out by the fire like she typically did. The sight of everyone safe and the fire still burning she adds a few logs to the fire and relaxes until nearly morning.
The Princess stirs awake with Ruby's cloak keeping the Princess surprisingly warm, "ugh…." My body aches...I thought the first night beneath the stars was rough...how do people do this every night? Weiss stretches out her achy body and gently massages her sore feet and hands.
"Nnnnggghhhh…." Someone soft grunts, the sound of light thrashing prompts the Princess to quickly slip her muddied boots on.
"Filthy…." The unkempt Princess whispers to herself as she goes to investigate with her rapier in hand. Weiss looks towards the dying fire to find that her fearless Captain had dozed off at some point that night. Everyone else seemed to be sleeping quite soundly . Except for Ruby who lightly flailed her arms and kicked her legs, sweat began to bead near her forehead as she also shivered lightly as the breeze hit her exposed skin. Weiss purses her lips remembering the nights she stayed awake watching Ruby writhing in pain, why is she so restless in her sleep...the wound is healing.. Weiss unwraps the cloak from her shoulders and places it on Ruby, who happily snuggles into the cloth.
"-ess." Ruby whispers her body begins to calm after taking a deep breath. The young leader quickly darts her boots under the already filthy cloak snuggling even more into the heavy clothe. Weiss watches silently releasing a sigh of content.
"Ever since we lost our mother she hasn't been able to sleep soundly." Yang mentions right behind the Princess. The sudden sound of someone behind her causes Weiss' shoulders to raise though the rest of her body remains completely still.
"How long have you been awake… ho- how much did you see…." Weiss turns her head away from Ruby and worriedly glances up to look into the brawler's lilac eyes. "I was just returning her cloak to her." The Princess states as she tries to stop from shivering as the morning dew is still collecting on the blades of grass.
Yang turns around waving to Pyrrha, "We were waiting for you to wake up, Pyrrha mentioned something about you being even bossier if you are woken from your slumber." Yang chuckles as Weiss smiles remembering the time Pyrrha had the unfortunate pleasure of waking the Princess up, "Besides Ruby could use a few extra moments of rest."
Pyrrha and the others can be seen walking in from the tree line to rejoin the Princess and Yang though, Weiss noticed something was different about them. Nora and Erin's hair was dripping wet, Pyrrha and even Yang's hair was slightly damp.
It didn't rain… there is no way I could have slept through a storm! The Princess sees that even Ren's long mane is damp behind his head. Pyrrha walks over and hands Weiss a small ivory lump. "Here you will be needing this."
Weiss looks at the small object, "Hey RUBES it's time to get up!" Yang can be heard jostling her sister from her slumber. Pyrrha nods, "Thank you?" Weiss shyly smiles clasping the object with both her hands.
"Come here Erin we have to get you dried off. Did you like the surprise Yang and I found?" Pyrrha calls as Erin happily jogs to her.
"Yes! Thank you…." Erin's voice shrinks as she sees that Ruby has still not completely awoken from her rest. Yang stands over her sister, grasping her shoulders shaking her, "Wake up!"
Ruby's eyes snap wide open, "what….WHAT is it Yang?!" the panicked leader trips over her own feet and her cloak goes flying into the air.
Weiss places the odd object in her pocket, " Would you two knock it off!?" Ruby and Yang freeze in place even with faces that seem locked in time.
Pyrrha and Erin both jog up to the Princess, "Princess! Princess! It was amazing, I can't wait for you to see th-" A blond flash can be seen as Yang nearly tackles the young girl before she can finish.
"YANG!" Ruby exclaims, the sight of the young girl vanishing beneath a sea of blonde hair.
Light giggling turns to uncontrollable laughter, "Yang, was that really necessary." Pyrrha shakes her head seeing Yang manage to pull a small cloth out to help dry Erin's hair who is beside herself.
"While your sister tends to Erin, Nora and I will escort you both to the surprise." Pyrrha bows, while Nora stretches her arm out.
Weiss raises an eyebrow, "I suppose that gift you gave me early will be useful there." the Princess mentions as she passes Pyrrha.
"Yes very much so." The redhead smiles, before turning to Ruby who is struggling to get her cloak on as she takes a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm her racing heart. The young leader takes her scythe in her hand and looks up to see Pyrrha has taken the lead.
"Ms. Rose this way if you would." Nora calls in an almost mocking voice, Ruby watches as Pyrrha leads Weiss into the woods. Ruby exhales sharply taking quick steps though with her injury her once light steps are now sluggish. Nora glances over to see the leader slightly out of breath as she struggles to catch up to the Princess and seasoned warrior just ahead of them.
"Ms. Nikos, I would expect this venture would be of the utmost importance considering our situation." Weiss huffs egotistically, the words cause Pyrrha to smirk.
Nora keeps slowing her stride so that the young leader can keep up without too much struggle. The energetic woman notices that Ruby huffs and continues to throw her injured leg forward faster and faster trying to keep up with the group. "You don't have to worry Pyrrha can protect the Princess."
Ruby stops in her tracks, reaching down and removes the tight cloth wrapped around her gash. Once the bloodied cloth is removed a sigh of relief, Ruby examines the burned flesh, finding some of her skin is splitting open blood oozing from the seams. With the mostly clean cloth Ruby gently dabs the blood off her leg.
"It seems to be healing nicely." Nora leans down to make sure that Ruby is fine to continue. "Yeah it is, thanks to all of you watching over me." Ruby replies as she flips and turns the cloth inside out before she rewraps her wound.
Nora places her hand on Ruby's back "come on we are nearly there." Ruby slowly stands up, Ok nearly there...I wonder what could be so important…
"Well this is a beautiful, if not gorgeous sight but what exactly should I be excited about?" The Princess' icy tone can be heard crystal clear through the thick woods. "Once Ruby sees it, she can hopefully explain to you why this is more than just a beautiful sight." Pyrrha's voice goes louder with each step.
Ruby's steps quicken hoping that soon she will be in the presence of the Princess once more. As the pair cross the treeline the landscape opens up to reveal an immaculate waterfall. "Woah this is the biggest waterfall I've ever seen" Ruby exclaims as she stops to take in the beauty of both the scenery and the Princess her silver hair gently wafts in the aggressive breeze created from the impact of the massive waterfall and the lake created with pale sand surrounding the perimeter. Beautiful doesn't do her justice… The muffled sound of Nora speaking fade in and out as Ruby continues to stare at Weiss who turns her head slightly to talk with Pyrrha. Ruby's eyes focus on her face as strands of hair flow in the wind.
"...at...d….u…..nk?" Nora's voice can be heard, breaking the dreamlike state Ruby is in.
"Huh…" Ruby mumbles as she turns her head to where Nora was, to find that she has swap sides. "Oh uhhh sorry what were you saying?"
"Oh don't worry about it, come on let's go." Nora waves Ruby up to where Pyrrha and Weiss stand just at the edge of the water. Ruby's eyes widen and her ears turn red, as she begins to put together why this is such a surprise.
Pyrrha and Weiss both turn to notice that Nora and the young leader have finally arrived. "Perfect you are here. So we can head back and you two can enjoy the waterfall." Nora loudly announces, throwing her arms up stretching them out.
"How exactly do we enjoy a waterfall other than by looking at it?" Weiss innocently questions, Pyrrha smirks as she walks up to Ruby.
"Be careful okay, we have already cleared the area and will be nearby if you need anything." Pyrrha says placing her hand on Ruby's shoulder as she walks past. Nora follows suit grinning from ear to ear. Weiss stares at the water, her ears now glowing red realizing why the waterfall is such a treat to the others.
"Pyrrha gave me this…." Weiss removes the small ivory object from her pocket. The sound of steps approaching cause Weiss to turn, but she instantly turns back to face the waterfall.
"Oh perfect yes that will be useful, it will be great to get clean…" Ruby mentions as she pulls her tunic over her head. "Uhhh…" Ruby mumbles as she removes her tunic completely off without hesitation and tosses it beside her, "would you like to...to get in first?" Ruby mentions noticing that the Princess hasn't moved since she caught a glance.
Don't turn… keep your eyes fixed on the waterfall… Why are my ears so hot?! The Princess takes a very slow inhale and exhale as she regains some of her usually icy tone in her voice, "No you can ….uhh get in first. - An...and once you do, I would appreciate it if you could please remain facing the waterfall..." Ruby watches as Weiss grips her upper arms tighter as the sound of cloth hitting the ground behind her ceases.
"Of course Princess but could you turn towards trees for a moment so that I may get into the water…" Ruby picks up her cloak wrapping it around her scarred body, and takes a few steps towards the Princess.
"Wha- RUBY stop!" Weiss' voice goes shrill as she can sense Ruby is next to her, she turns her head towards the warrior without realizing and snaps her eyes shut. "What are you doing, you're not decent!"
"I put my cloak back on, don't worry but could you turn this way until," Ruby places her hands gently on Weiss' shoulders that instantly tense up.
Weiss quickly turns away from Ruby, "Okay no problem please let me know when you are ready...and make sure to be facing away from me. If I catch you even turning your head in my direction I will make sure you are executed…." Weiss' voice was surprisingly playful with the threat.
"Yes Princess, I wouldn't dare." Ruby chuckles, taking a last glance over her shoulder. She ordered me not to look at her…but would- "Princess please avert your eyes as well…" Ruby mentions as she stops just at the edge of the water. "Of course Miss Rose… I - just get in there would you we have a lot of ground to cover after this…" Weiss throws the small ivory clump at Ruby playfully.
"Hey no looking" Ruby giggles as she bends down to pick up the brightly colored stone like object. Ruby takes a last glance over her shoulder to see that Weiss' tense body is still in the position she was in previously. Okay Ruby just quickly dis-robe and get into the water….face the waterfall, call to the Princess so that she can also get into the water...na-nak-naked…. OH DEAR.
Okay once Ruby calls over to let me know that she is in position, I will get… Weiss' ears instantly turn red, a heat trickles down from her burning ears to her chest. Each of her breaths become labored, each beat of her now thumping heart seems to echo loudly in her seemingly empty chest. Thud . The sound of cloth hitting the soft sand, causes Weiss to instinctively turn her head. "Oh…." Weiss whispers to herself, dropping her hands from her chest. The scarred torso of the young warrior is the only thing that can be seen just above the water line.
Healed bruises and scars melt into the reflective water until only the warrior's scruffy hair can be seen, before even that quickly drops below the surface. Weiss takes a few steps towards the water's edge, "Buuuaaaw" Ruby exhales a few feet from where her head had disappeared. Faster than the Princess can even blink her eye she abruptly spun around to face the same general direction that she was facing before.
Was that the same tree I was staring at before or was it that one? Weiss' eyes dart from tree to tree barely moving her head. What if she realizes I was staring….
A/N Good Morrow young travelers, it is always a pleasure to see you all here again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know I highly enjoyed finally getting here. As always I am so grateful for the support in views, likes, favorites. Everyday we work towards a better day and this story has always been something I have not only loved to write but makes me realize there isn't anything we can't do if you just put the work in it will flourish. On that note don't give up on your hobbies, dreams or aspirations, and never forget to ask for help when you need it. I will look forward to seeing you all in the next chapter. ^,.,^/