Author's Notes: Well, I'm a little late on posting this one, but I had to go through a few rewrites. Anyways, I tried going through some new steps and ideas and ended up with this! I felt a little under the weather before so that's the only excuse I've got. Like I've said, I'll try to keep posting as much as I can, but the chapters might start slowing down a little. I'm beginning to wear down a little and so I'm gonna take my time. Hope that's not too crushing for anyone, but I'm striving for quality, so I hope everything works out. Anyways, I'll see you down below!
Chapter 6: Introspection
Ruby's eyes slowly fluttered open, adjusting to the warm glow in the room she laid in. The bed was soft, and the sheets were quite thin, but those were the last things on Ruby's mind as she winced in pain, tenderly touching the back of her head. Her eyes slowly scanned the room, finally falling on her teammates, all sleeping. Yang's eyes looked dark, almost tired. As if she had missed out on a few nights of sleep. Her head lay on the left of Ruby's bed, as close as the brawler could seem to get while staying seated. Ruby's heart began to swell as she looked at her sister, tears forming in her eyes. "I feel like I cry more than I used to…" she thought, leaning back as she let the waters flow. Yang stirred, lifting her head to see the teary, silver eyes of her sister. The two didn't make eye contact for a while, they just sat in silence. Thinking of what to say. The room wasn't tense. However, it wasn't soothing either. Words seemed to evade both of them, as they continued to sit still, the moment passing by them.
A few hours later, the nurse came in to check up on Ruby. The team sat in waiting as they listened to the checkup of their leader, all of them looking worse for wear. "Your aura is still depleted, but its beginning to show signs of coming back. We aren't sure why it's taking so long, but there shouldn't be anything to worry about as long as you get adequate rest." Ruby nodded as she heard the news of her condition. "You've suffered a minor concussion. Nothing serious, just jumbled up a bit. We'll probably need to keep you here a couple more days, just in case." Ruby sighed, nodding along. "Are there any other issues you're having? Any discomfort?" Ruby took a deep breath, her chest tightening. She cleared her throat and smiled at the nurse. "I feel alright. Thank you." The nurse nodded, turning around to take her leave, leaving the team to sit in silence once more.
After a few minutes of silence, Weiss spoke up. "It was pretty dangerous to take on that Torchwick guy by yourself you know." Ruby glanced over to the heiress, seeing her eyes turn downwards. "I do wish you would rely on us more. We're your friends, aren't we?" Ruby looked away, staying silent for a moment. Weiss stood up. "When you feel like talking, I'll be here. So please, try to think before you act." Weiss left the room, not wanting to intrude any longer. Blake stood up to follow, shooting the brawler a knowing glance before looking back to Ruby. "Thank you for helping out. I hope you feel better soon," the faunas said, quickly exiting the room, leaving only Yang and Ruby in the room together.
Yang looked down at the floor, listening to the clock tick in the background. "Why won't you tell us what's going on?" Yang began sullenly. Ruby looked over to her sister, the blonde avoiding her gaze. "I've been worried sick ever since you came back that night. When you left, you were just the same lovable sister that I knew, but you came back as someone…else. Someone that I had never seen before." Ruby's silence began to unnerve Yang. "Why can't you trust us—trust me enough to say what happened?" Yang shot her head up, staring deeply into Ruby's eyes. "Don't you trust me?" Ruby sat up, her blank expression shifting into a painful one. "Of course, I do," she said, already knowing what was coming next. "Then why are you so against saying anything when we're all so worried for you? It's tearing us apart!" Ruby leaned back, easing her head into her pillow. She took a deep breath. "If I could tell you. I would." Yang's mouth hung open as she stared at her sister. "Why can't you?" Ruby shook her head. "Yang, I—" Yang stood up, her hair flaring and her eyes converting to red as her chair clattered into the wall behind her. "Why can't you?!" Tears flowed from the brawler's blood red eyes, her anger and sadness coming together as one. "Stop dodging the question, stop saying that you can't, and just tell me!" Yang clenched her fists, staring at her sister, praying that it could all end. Ruby just sat in silence, unable to gather her words. "Ruby, please," Yang begged, her eyes returning to their original shade. "I've already lost both of our moms. I don't want to lose my baby sister too." Ruby's eyes flooded with tears. She looked up to her sister, her vision blurred by the gushing tears. "I'm sorry," she choked out. Yang shut her mouth, her painful expression never leaving her face. The blonde brawler stormed out of the room in silence, slamming the doors as she went, leaving Ruby to lay in despair.
Ruby sat in her bed as night rolled around. Her team hadn't come back since that morning and Ruby was left to wallow in her thoughts. "I messed up again," she thought, closing her eyes and listening to the clock tick. "And this time I can't run away." Ruby glanced to her side, remembering the conversation with Yang. "I don't want to lose my baby sister too." That thought had stuck with her. She wanted to believe she was doing the right thing, but how could she after all that had happened? A thought crept into her mind, coming from a dark part of her conscience, "I began alone, and I can finish alone." As the thought came from her head a sharp pain came splitting through her skull, directly behind her eyes. Her ears began to whine with an unnerving ringing as she painfully shut her eyes, gripping her head as she doubled over in pain. She wasn't quite sure if she was screaming or not. Her throat was hoarse, but she couldn't hear herself. The ringing only grew in volume as tears began to pour out of her eyes from the pain as a silver light began to flash in the room. Ruby ripped open her eyes, only for them to roll back into her head as she passed out.
Ruby found herself floating. A black void surrounding her. "Where am I?" She floated around for a moment, unable to feel anything but the newfound discomfort in her eye. "What happened?" As she sat there, a vague outline of a person appeared in front of her. "Now you've gone and done it." The sultry voice of Nova said. "Your soul is a valuable thing you know; you should really try to not break it." Ruby narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing here?" Nova put up his hands. "Didn't I already tell you? I go wherever you go." Ruby crossed her arms. "Fine, but what do you mean by 'breaking my soul'?" The masked man danced around in the void. He just simply pointed to his own face, as if telling Ruby to check her own. "This is your subconscious that we're in, so your soul is how you appear. Since you just stressed the hell out of it, your soul cracked a smidge." Ruby tenderly ran her fingers across her cheek, feeling a small crevice run up her left cheek bone and over her eye. Nova chuckled as he spun around, floating aimlessly in the void. "That big gash on your face is a byproduct of you trying to morph your soul into something it's not. It makes a big imbalance in yourself and puts your soul under a ton of pressure." Ruby shook her head. "Morph my soul?" Nova nodded. "Yep, you're trying to change yourself too much. Pushing to be someone you aren't. Someone you can never be." Nova watched the red head try to wrap her head around it. "Then who am I supposed to be?" The masked man just shrugged. "Don't ask me. You're the one who's done this before." Ruby's eyes widened. "Wai—" she began as she felt her body sink, weighing down into the void. Nova shook his head and waved as a bright light blinded the girl, and she was quickly pulled out into the real world.
Ruby's eyes fluttered open, the moonlight shining through her window. A rough cough came from within her as she felt her face heat up slightly. "Great, a cold too?" She ran a hand across her cheek, the scar from before nowhere to be found. Ruby stumbled out of her bed, walking to the bathroom. She pulled open the door and checked the mirror as she stepped inside. Her eyes had dark rings around them, and her face looked pale. She seemed like she could collapse at any minute. She curiously looked at herself as a question came to mind. "What's Nova's endgame?" She stared into the mirror, watching herself think. "He seems to be looking out for me, but why? What is he?" Ruby shook her head as she turned the faucet, running the water to the sink. She quickly splashed her face with cold water. "I've gotta fix this," she thought as she staggered. She pushed her way out of the bathroom, another cough ripping from her tight chest. Ruby rubbed her head as her eyes quickly landed on a head of white hair swaying in the darkness. "You should really be resting," Weiss said, her arms crossed.
Ruby sat down on the bed, fidgeting with her hands. "So… why are you here?" Weiss shifted from one foot to the other. "I came to check on you," she said bluntly. Ruby's eyes widened as she watched the heiress sit down next to her. "But you seem better. That's good at least." Ruby crossed her legs, looking away as an awkward silence formed between them. "You said that we could talk, right?" Ruby asked, glancing towards the heiress. Weiss gave her a surprised glance. "Yes, I suppose I did. What did you have in mind?" Ruby took in a deep breath. "Say that… I had a personality that was different from what you know. That I was more like Penny. Happy and optimistic every chance I got, just… less coordinated than her. Would our relationship be different?" Weiss thought about the question seriously for a moment before her eyes trained back onto the red head. "In the beginning, I think it might've been different, but I still believe I would care about our friendship in the end." Ruby sighed, feeling a surprising amount of weight lift off her. She took in another deep breath, coughing as she did. "Would you think less of me if I said that I lied to you? By trying to be someone I wasn't?" She winced, praying that it wasn't too late. "I think I would be angry with you," Weiss said, causing Ruby's heart to sink. "But I think that if it was a good reason, I would come to… tolerate your decision." Ruby fell back onto the bed, a warm smile coming across her face. "That's great to hear." Weiss's mouth gaped as she looked at her leader. "You're smiling! I don't think I've ever seen you smile." Ruby's eyes widened as she heard that. "That's very difficult to hear." Ruby scratched her neck, the smile never fading. "That stings, Ice Queen." Ruby smirked as she sat back up, watching the flustering heiress. "Did you flip a switch or something? What happened to the cold and dark Ruby from before?" Ruby sighed. "I did some… soul searching." Ruby fiddled with her thumbs as she spoke. "I saw that I had missed out on…" Ruby stopped as she thought. "Can I really say this?" She looked at Weiss, seeing her confusion. A voice made Ruby jump as it came through the door. "Missed out on what?" Blake said, her amber eyes focused on Ruby's own. "Have I really come this far to turn around? To lie again?" Her hands trembled. Weiss and Blake stared at the quivering girl, concern growing inside them. "I can't go back now." Ruby drew in a shaky breath as her nose began to run, her ever-growing fever making her eyes float. "I missed out on my second chance with everyone." Weiss and Blake looked at each other, confused at the thought. Ruby's shoulders trembled lightly as she continued, her voice shaking as the fear crept back inside. "If I tell them, things could turn for the worse. If I don't things might be the same." The choice she had in front of her came back with tremendous force, weighing down on the poor girl. Her voice could barely carry from her throat. "I-I don't want to… lose you guys again." Tears fell from her eyes as her two friends watched her begin to break down. "This isn't fair to Yang. She should be here." Ruby sneezed, causing her to cough as a result, her feverish body dropping heavily onto the bed. Weiss and Blake quickly jumped up, rushing to her side. "Jeez! You're burning up. Why didn't you say you had a cold?" Weiss asked as placed a hand on her, her temperature rising. Ruby just laid there as her labored breaths carried her back into a deep sleep.
Ruby awoke again, the thin sheets of the bed crinkling as she moved. Weiss and Blake were nowhere to be seen, but a nurse was nearby, checking over some monitors. "Oh, you're awake! Perfect timing. I've got some good news for you. Your fever has seemingly broken, so you should just feel pretty tired for a little while, but your aura has completely recovered as well as your head injury. We're sending you back to your room today." Ruby sighed in relief, a glad smile crossing her lips. The nurse gathered her things and said her goodbye, taking her leave from the room.
Ruby walked through the halls of Beacon again, her heart racing as she neared her door. "I'm not sure what to say to Yang. I bet she'll be mad." Ruby sighed as she moved in front of her team's room. She prepped herself and pushed open the door as a burst of shouts rang in her ears. "Look, she said that—" Weiss began, cutting herself off as Ruby stood in the doorway. Yang was looking away, only to turn to see her sister. Yang didn't react as she pulled on a jacket, walking towards Ruby without looking at her. She squeezed past the red head, not saying a word. Ruby's heart sank as she watched her sister leave, the tension between the two soaring to new heights.
Weiss, Blake, and Ruby stood silently in their room, having just watched the brawler leave. Weiss cleared her throat. "R-Ruby, you're back early." Ruby nodded with a slight forced smile. "Yeah, they said I was fine to come back, I just needed to rest a few more days." Blake grabbed a huge binder filled with notes, setting it in the scythe wielder's arms. "This is everything you missed. We're glad you're back." Ruby chuckled nervously as she held the binder. "This is a week's worth?" Weiss crossed her arms. "I was very thorough so that you wouldn't miss anything. The end of the semester is coming up after all." Ruby smiled at the heiress, happy to have her acting normal around her again. "Thanks, that's very kind." Blake sat down on her bed, her bow wiggling. "So how are you feeling? Emotionally and physically." Ruby chuckled. "I feel better physically, but I'm still trying to get back on track otherwise." A voice from behind the red head caused her to turn around. "Well, you certainly have a lot more color in your face now." Ruby turned to see all of team JNPR smiling at her. "We were going to come see you, since you woke up, but we never caught you when you weren't sleeping," Jaune said, a nervous laugh coming from him. Ruby shook her head, smiling. "It's no big deal. I'm just glad you guys aren't mad at me too." Pyrrha cocked an eyebrow. "Why would we be mad?" Ruby just sighed. "I would tell you now, but I feel like that'd be unfair to Yang. I'd rather tell everyone at once." Blake stood, walking up to her with a smile on her face. "Then I guess we need to get you two to make up, right?" Ruby nodded, her concern washing over her. "Yeah, but the real problem would be getting her to cooperate." Weiss cleared her throat, her eyes closed. "You should just go talk to her. You can catch us up to the details later, but I think it would be best if you told her first." The red head stopped, feeling moved at the idea. She took a deep breath as she mulled it over. "Yang needs to hear it soon. I can't let things stay the way they are, especially now." She nodded, a new motivation finally driving her. "Okay, I'll go."
Alright, I'll be the first to say that this isn't my greatest chapter. I may have driven myself into a corner that I didn't want to back out of, and I might just be too much of a perfectionist, but I had a hard time really getting my groove on this one. I had too many ideas that were floating around and not to mention my allergies knocked me down. Either way, this chapter is out and done and a little late. That's okay cause I've got a really nice jumping off point this time.
Anyways, I'd love to know everyone's opinion on this one. It'd be nice to know if I dropped the ball or kept it going smoothly enough for people's likings. This chapter is mostly lead up anyways, but I like to see Ruby rebound. I don't want to keep her character stagnant as a brooding and cold individual with no love whatsoever. I just want to give her some 'stumbling blocks' and make her character seem believable. Hopefully, I've done a decent enough job on that front, but yeah. Anyways, that's enough out of me, I have a headache and I will see you next time! (Hopefully in better condition!)