Chapter 27: For Those Still Here
Seliana's forge was a constant war between heat and cold. The forge's doors were often thrown open, to invite patrons and hunter's easily, but this in turn often led to a kissing of snow to gather at it's entrance. Ruby actually had to marvel at the genius of the place, and was told that it had led to several innovations of plumbing and weather control. The constant gathering of snow often melted to water, which in turn was in the process of turning from water, to slush to ice and everything in between. This problem was severely annoying, and through a combination of troughed grates and a compound of minerals that kept the slough mostly liquid, it became a bearable if slightly wet journey through the forge doors.
That didn't help the issue of the wind, whenever it rudely gusted it's way through the entry. Ruby had asked if they ever had issues with tempering, and keeping the forge going well, but she had learned that the natural geothermal vents below the town played some role in the matter and so simply chocked it up to some engineering magic. It still didn't stop the freezing of the sweat on her back, and left her in a constant cycle of chaotic homeostasis. This had made the task of clothing yourself arduous at the best of times, and freezing at the worst. Eventually she had settled on tall boots and shorts, and a shirt with its long sleeves rolled up to her elbows. This seemed the best to keep her in mild comfort, but in reality it was just a sponge for the next flush of sweat to pour off of her.
Ruby tinkered with a pressure valve for a faulty steam intake, the large hunk of pipe balancing the delicate instrument on top, Ruby's screwdriver twisting in agony. She could feel the bags under her eyes, their weight dragging her gaze to the side, only for it to snap back to the task at hand. The girl blinked a few times before setting down her tool, turning a knob to watch the mechanism work appropriately. It sucked that this was really all the work she had to do today, she had even been told she couldn't even reinstall the piece herself, and was asked to leave that to someone else tomorrow.
She looked around the emptied forge, a piteous amount of people gathered here and there, each of them struggling in their own ways. Most of the remaining smiths were little more than crash course smelters and assistants drafted from the dwindling supply of Atleisian soldiers. The majority of work had been shifted to repairs for the flagship, the boat which had been taken to Seliana before the fall of Astera. The ship they had escaped with had suffered damage on it's helter skelter escape, and was stripped for parts to better bolster the flagship. Ruby was told that there was a simultaneous, though minor assault on Seliana that same hellish night that Astera burned. But the monsters had targeted the ship more so than Seliana itself. She didn't think anyone wanted to mull over the implications anymore than necessary.
With most of the work divided so sparse, she found herself back to that lonely point of isolation, her head. Yang was being watched by Pyrrha right now, and so Ruby only had a small wiggling of worry for that. She knew that the woman would watch her sister well, so she couldn't blame the missed proximity for her current mood.
No, Ruby was stuck with the fact that lately she had been a very bad girlfriend.
Weiss had left two days ago, and though the two had exchanged a brief moment of apology over their argument, the departure had been a terse affair. They had at least kissed, seeing as that it could be their last one to share. When Weiss had left the town Ruby had cried for a bit, their last argument and the ones before playing over and over in her mind like a memoriam to her failures.
Yang had once told her that moping did little more than jack shit, but Yang wasn't here, so Ruby wallowed pathetically. Onyx had tried cheering her up, but the man was too busy to give her much more than a pat on the back and some brief advice.
"Stop being a shit head." He had told her with a smile, which… Honestly was probably what Yang would have told her too. What Weiss was trying to tell her, in a kinder, more roundabout way. Ruby groaned into her hand, unsure even with herself why she felt the way she did. If she was being reasonable, she would listen to Weiss, but there was some sick macabre sensation she was reluctant to part with. That feeling of anger and sorrow hung on her shoulders like a weighted cloak, and she felt slowed but comforted by its presence. She hated feeling this way, but she did not know how to shuck off the mood. And instead of being proactive she had decided it was easier being irresponsible.
But it was all pushing Weiss away. Weiss, who had given her time and patience, had stayed with her night after night through her night terrors and frights. Weiss who had given her some tough love, and tried to break Ruby from her funk day after day, without pause. Ruby loved and hated that stubbornness. She loved it for Weiss's headstrongness, and her defiance, her ability to say no and go her own way, even if it was the tougher option. She hated it because Weiss refused to leave her alone with her thoughts, where Ruby was much more comfortable. But then again, Ruby had realized that Weiss wasn't trying to make her comfortable, she was pushing Ruby towards healthier routines and thoughts, and sometimes that meant stepping out of her comfort zone.
Ruby sighed and stood from her station, putting her hands on her hips and looking for something to do. To her surprise she saw Onyx, the man behind a wheelchair occupied by Penny. The wyverian had a blanket across her lap, the cloth swaying emptily at where her feet might have rested on the foot pedals. The girl had a cloak tied around her shoulders, one side hiding her other missing arm, while her functioning one slipped from the folds. Despite her physical state, the wyverian had a smile on her face as they approached Ruby, and for some reason that made her feel guilty.
"Oh, hey Penny. What's up guys?" Onyx parked the chair in front of Ruby's bench, he dusted his hands before putting one on Penny's shoulder.
"Ruby. I need to go speak with the General. Can you watch the Professor for me, make sure she doesn't get into any trouble?" He joked, a small smile on his face. Penny looked back over her shoulder, patting the large hand with her own.
"Would you listen to him? As if I could do much like this." She waved her shining arm at the rest of her body.
"She acts innocent, but she had already disassembled a gunlance when I had left her alone for an hour yesterday." The man grumbled, and Penny laughed. Ruby shuffled in place for a minute, some lines connecting in her head.
"Uh… What's going on here?" Ruby asked.
Onyx stepped side to side, suddenly looking at something to the right. It was Penny that answered, "Oh, Onyx has been so sweet. He's helped keep me occupied over the past few weeks, it can be so dreadfully boring in the General's sick ward."
"Oh?" Despite Ruby's mood, this information was certainly a silver lining.
"Sitting inside nursing an injury, with nothing to do, is the worst way to heal." Onyx insisted, walking around and taking a stance with crossed arms. "Take it from a man with experience." He waved at his scarred face. "After I had been wrapped like a mummy after a bad hunt, I took up some small jobs at the forge. And the rest is history."
Penny smiled, "I concur. Staying inside like this is likely to drive me crazy, even if Onyx visits from time to time."
The man scowled, and Ruby couldn't help a giggle slip from her mouth. She nudged her boss with her elbow, trying to catch his eye. The man couldn't meet her knowing look.
"The last thing Penny needs is to be treated as some enfeebled woman. She can do more good here than in some bed."
The wyverian patted his arm, "Thank you Onyx. You are just the sweetest." She looked up at him with crinkled eyes and a warm smile. The mountain of a man, his rippling muscles and his sinister scar on his face, looked more like a chided school child, and he shifted just so that Ruby knew he was embarrassed. She thought to end his torment and nudged him playfully.
"But, yeah, of course I'll keep her company." Ruby pulled the chair a little closer to her bench. Penny smiled at the man and made a shooing motion. Onyx, seeming satisfied, said his goodbyes and set off back into Seliana.
"Now then," Penny turned her head towards Ruby's work. "What've you been working on over here?" Ruby floundered a bit, but picked up the valve, rotating it towards the wyverian.
"Well, they told me it had some loose screws, but actually the real problem-" Ruby launched into a mechanical takedown of the device, rotating it further so that Penny could see. Just as she was reaching the end of her dissertation, the Professor held up a hand.
"Ruby? What's bothering you?" Penny didn't have a smile on her face anymore, and she looked concerned.
"What? I'm fine." Ruby insisted, pulling away and averting her eyes.
Penny didn't say anything, she just waited for Ruby to actually give her an answer.
By the time Ruby turned around, she was already blurting out, "Ok fine! My friends all got killed, they got blown up and torn to shreds, and their bodies are rotting back at my home! Yang probably won't ever wake up, and to top it all off, I'm the world's shittiest girlfriend! Are you happy?" She flushed, she hated this snappy, angry version of herself. Penny didn't seem phased by the outburst, and started playing with a small wrench.
"Well. from my point of view, you're a lovely girl. And I've greatly enjoyed our friendship for these last few months, as brief as it has been." She set the tool down and folded her hand back underneath her cloak. "So I don't know if 'shitty' is the best description to use." Penny held up a hand to stop Ruby's exasperated explanation, "And I know you're talking about Weiss. I'm not that oblivious. But I can tell that you've been much more irritable, and for good reason." She paused for a moment.
"Tragedy is something no one can be prepared for in their lives. Your feelings aren't unwarranted, Ruby. Everyone processes things differently. Maybe you just need a little more time."
"Tragedy is the Xiao Long calling card." Ruby mumbled, the bitterness in her voice like soot from the forge. Penny gave her a sympathetic look.
"I'm sure. Ruby, I may not look it, but I am quite old. Much older than I might appear. In all my long years in this world, I have lost so many friends and family to time. And everyone I lose, it never gets easier."
Ruby hid behind her bangs, but pushed them out of her eyes, and looked at her friend.
Penny continued, "It may feel like this will never end, but eventually you'll find a bit of sunshine come back into your life, and the next thing you know, that tragedy is just a sorrowful memory. I know it's ironic for someone like me to give the advice: 'give it some time,' but it's what I've found best. That and keeping my hands busy, and focusing on what's here, now, instead of what happened in the past." Penny pulled her hand out and placed it on Ruby's.
"Sometimes we can never forget what's happened to us. And often it's best not to, but what's important is talking and doing at times like this." Penny ruffled around in her cloak, drawing out a rolled blueprint and handing it to Ruby. The girl gave Penny a strange look, tentatively rolling it out on the bench in front of her. It was an intricate schematic, more complicated than anything Ruby had ever tried to build.
"Penny, what is this?" Ruby looked at it in wonder, her mind whirring as she tried to process its shape once it was finally together.
"Well," Penny held up her arm, "I have been thinking that there may be enough Luna-metal left to rebuild my arm. And if I'm correct, it may be even stronger, and more flexible than the design I have now. But, you know… I wonder if that's the best use for this."
Ruby cocked her head, "Uh…"
Penny smiled, "While I won't lie and say that having two working arms again would be fantastic, I think there might be a better use for a high functioning, potentially combat ready arm."
It clicked into place, and Ruby's eyes widened, "Penny, I can't ask that of you."
"Then don't, it's a gift for the girl who saved my life." She smiled her blistering smile again, "Besides, if I get any better, Onyx won't pamper me the way he has been, and I think I've gotten rather used to being spoiled."
Tears welled up in Ruby's eyes and she wiped at them before she clasped Penny's hand.
"Thank you. So much." She sniffed, and hugged the girl. After a moment, Ruby went back to looking at the schematics. "But how are you going to be able to make this? Did Onyx offer to help?"
Penny giggled, "Oh I'm not going to make it. You are." Penny didn't let Ruby even think of a response before the Wyverian rapped her fist against the table. "Besides, perhaps we should keep our project our little secret? Onyx knows, but we shouldn't get him mixed up. The further away from this he is, the less likely the General hears we are using up the last of the Luna-metal."
Ruby took the schematic and held it up to the light, her head beginning to hurt as she tried to process the advance engineering. "W-what if I can't do this Penny? What if I mess this up?" What if it didn't matter? What if Yang never woke up?
"I'll be here every step of the way, that's what friends do right?" Penny said, "Besides, I happen to know that you are a very skilled engineer and brilliant woman. I have every ounce of faith that we can do this. You can do this Ruby. I know it."
Ruby felt another wave of tears coming on, but she stopped them before they fell. She looked at the wyverian and nodded, that old sense of determination building in her chest. She cleared the bench, and held the schematics down with tools so that they had it fully in view. Ruby pulled Penny in close, and began to ask her questions, the weight from her shoulders lessening with each moment.
Ruby Rose didn't have the luxury to feel bad, to wallow in the gutter of her own misery. She needed to be the one to take charge, to do something right, just like Yang would.
Besides, there was work to be done.