Weiss sighed heavily as the rain kept pouring down. She brushed a few stay strands of hair out of her eyes, only to grimace as it dropped more water down her face. She could barely see ahead through the heavy rain.
"Do Grimm come out in the rain?" she asked, somewhat jokingly.
Oobleck shrugged stiffly. "I don't think they're particularly concerned with it."
Weiss scrutinised him closer. His face was pale and pinched, shadows hanging darkly under his eyes. He was clearly exhausted; lacking the boundless energy she'd always associated with him. Then again, that was understandable- all of her former teachers looked ragged and tired, and after only a week of helping with their scouting missions Weiss could understand why. Still she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something deeper that she was missing.
It wasn't until Oobleck started to move on that Weiss realised she'd been staring at him. If he noticed he didn't say anything. Then again, he didn't seem to be in a talking mood. Most of her attempts and conversation were met with grunts and huffs.
He held up a hand and motioned for her to be quiet. She followed his gaze to the lone beowulf lurking at the end of the desolate street. They both readied their weapons as it's crimson eyes narrowed in on them. With a snarl, it launched itself into a run towards them.
One blast from Oobleck's thermos and it was dead.
Weiss noticed his hands were shaking.
She didn't have time to dwell on it as the rest of the back came charging around the corner.
"Ready?" Oobleck asked.
Weiss nodded.
She used her knight summon to pick off the beowolves as they came at her, while Oobleck darted between them, whirling his flame thrower. If she'd been paying attention, she would have noticed his stiff movements, his drooping grip on his weapon.
But she didn't.
Instead she just saw him launch himself into the air- only to be smacked down by a beowulf's paw. He landed with a thud on his hands and knees with a silent cry.
"Doctor Oobleck!" Weiss cried.
The beowulf loomed above him but he didn't move. Before she could react a shadow blurred between Oobleck and the beowulf. With a slash, the beowulf disintegrated. Qrow darted forward, deftly killing the remaining beowolves.
"Qrow!" Weiss exclaimed.
He nodded to her, but his attention was focused on Oobleck. "Bart, you alright?"
Oobleck nodded, but his jaw and hands were clenched tight and bloodless. He didn't move to get up. Qrow knelt in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Talk to me, Bart. What's going on?"
"Arms-" Oobleck gasped in a choked, pained voice. He snapped his mouth shut and bit his lip as he shuddered.
Qrow's eyes widened in realisation. "Oh shit, of course. Why didn't you say anything?"
"Have a job to do," Oobleck ground out, "No time for me to be out of action."
"C'mon Bart. You can't fight like this." Qrow sighed. He picked up Oobleck's weapon and turning it back into it's thermos mode. "Let's get back. Can you walk?"
Oobleck nodded with a grimace. "I just can't move my arms."
"That's okay."
Very gently, Qrow manoeuvred Oobleck's arm over his shoulder. He was deliberately careful not to touch below Oobleck's elbow. Oobleck's mouth pressed into a thin line.
"Ready?" Qrow asked,
Oobleck nodded. He grimaced as Qrow pushed up and muffled a groan into Qrow's shoulder.
"Easy Bart. You're okay." Qrow turned back to Weiss. "You're in charge of keeping any Grimm off of us, alright. Think you can handle it?"
A little taken by surprise she was being spoken to, Weiss nodded. Their progress was slow as they made their way back to the safe zone, but they got lucky and didn't encounter any Grimm.
By the time they reached the safe zone, Oobleck was pale as a ghost and gasping raggedly for breath. Some of his panting sounded alarmingly similar to sobs.
"Pete! Pete!" Qrow yelled.
Port emerged from a door. His eyes widened and he hurried to take Oobleck's weight from Qrow.
"What happened?"
"Flare up-" Oobleck gasped, "It's- it's bad."
Weiss seemed to have been completely forgotten but the feeling she was witness to something she shouldn't was thick and cloying. As quietly as she could, she retreated into the hallway; something made her stop there.
"Do you have any of your medication left?" Port asked.
"No." Oobleck whimpered.
"Damnit." Qrow cursed.
"I'll see what painkillers we have," Port said despondently, "But otherwise…"
"I'll just have to ride it out." Oobleck finished miserably. He sighed heavily before murmuring softly, "I'll be okay, Peter."
Weiss didn't hear what was next said as the voices moved away. Frowning to herself, she hurried back to team RWBY's room.
Oobleck didn't appear for another two days. Port was also scarce during that time. Blake swore that she'd heard Oobleck crying. Weiss couldn't help but wonder what it was that caused Oobleck so much pain. She looked over at the sleeping forms of her teammates. Would this come to them as well? Or would their pain be internal like Qrow with his drinking. She shivered, deciding she didn't want to know. For now at least, they were all okay and Qrow didn't need the bottle anymore and Oobleck was better.
They were okay and Weiss would do her damn best to keep them that way