First things first, sorry for the long update time, I'll be truthful and say that I did get lazy when it came to writing this chapter, but I eventually got into my head that I needed to keep this going cause abandoned stories with only a few chapters leaves me annoyed. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Ruby watched the bo- Jaune, his name was Jaune. She watched Jaune as he slowly sat up on the make shift bed as he adjusted to the small tent, as well as the pain he was now experiencing from his beating.

After he sat up he made a low groan of pain as his hand slowly rose to his forehead, before quickly pulling it away, wincing from the pain of just touching his head. This caused Ruby to giggle slightly even though she was slightly worried.

"Just lay back down and wait till Vernal gets the ice and medicine." She told him as he slowly nodded his head top the idea.

"That's probably for the best..." He said as he slowly laid back down, closing his eyes in the process.

While he laid down Ruby looked at him and took in his features slowly, she had heard about a new kid arriving at the tribe and she could only guess it was him. His clothes didn't look like everyone else and he didn't look nearly as mean as everyone either. Though she couldn't accurately tell because of the swelling and the slowly forming bruises on his face, but from what she could tell he seemed like a nice kid.

She sat down next to him in silence for a few awkward minutes, the only real noises made were the groans each made because of their injuries. She would every few seconds flick her eyes to the tent entrance wondering what was taking Vernal, she hoped that the man from before hadn't found her but she hoped that she was safe and would soon be back. The concern must have shown on her face because even Jaune noticed it. "Worried?" he asked her as she turned to see that he turned on his side and was now facing her, looking at her as he asked.

"N-No, I'm not worried at all….. okay maybe a little bit worried….." she said as she turned back to the tent entrance, waiting. "Well I'm sure she'll be fine, if she can get that stuff while hurt she'll be fine." He said as Rubies silver eyes went wide; she forgot that Vernal was also hurt. She quickly started to stand up, only for the pain on her stomach make her stop as she clutched it. "I forgot! I should go help her!" she said frantically as she tried to stand again, and failed at it, again.

As she kept trying to stand Jaune watched her as she struggled, a frown forming on his face as she tried. "You should probably just rest, I'm sure she'll be back soon." He said trying to convince her before she somehow hurt herself anymore then she already was.

Ruby paused for a second before turning to face him again, this time though there were small amounts of tears forming on the outside of her eyes, "She's hurt because of me, cause I asked her to get me something to eat so she tried to take some food from that man…" she told him as she remembered why all of this even occurred.

He looked at her for a second before sighing, slowly he stood up, ignoring the obvious pain which was told by the way his face was wincing. "Then we'll go together, find her, then all come back together and recoup." he told her as he reached a hand down at help her up. She looked at his outstretched hand then to him for a few seconds before taking his hand, "Thank you…" she said quietly as he helped her up slowly.

He nodded softly before turning and opening the tents entrance, opening it walking out as he looked around as he did. He saw that it was now growing towards night time as the sky was turning a soft shade of red. He saw people huddling around some small fires as well as the big one in the center of the camp, he never went towards the large one found in the center as it usually was a spot for people to see him, and pity him as well.

Frowning slightly at the thought, he turned around to see Ruby follow him out of the tent slowly, she looked around then at him, looking at him expectantly.

"What?" He asked her after a few seconds of her staring at him, which made him feel awkward.

"Start leading the way" is all she said as she kept staring at him, silver eyes unyielding as they bore into his own.

"But… I don't know where she would go, I thought you did?" He said as he rubbed the back of his head slowly. Ruby's eyes went slightly wide upon hearing him, a worried expression developing on her face "B-But I don't know where the medical tent is…I thought you did…" she said as realization dawned on both of them.

The both of them stayed silent for a few more seconds before Jaune sighed and looked around slightly, "Then I guess we better start looking for her. As long as we stay near people nothing bad should happen and if we can't find her, then we'll come back her, okay?" he asked the younger girl as she shook her head multiple times agreeing with him, the worried expression not leaving her face though.

As the both of them began to walk, Ruby quickly moved her hand to grab his as they started their search, Jaune looked down at the younger girl but all he saw was her looking around trying to spot Vernal as they walked throughout the tribe. The poor girl must've been more nervous then she showed, he shook his head even as a small amount of blush appeared on his cheeks, luckily not visible through the swelling and bruises on his face.

The pair of them moved slowly on their search, not wanting to move to fast and miss Vernal on accident but also because moving to fast would cause their injuries to hurt worse then they already were.

As they walked through the camp, they saw the tribe people doing the usual antics of the night time, drinking, eating, mingling, and of course fighting. There never seemed to be a time in the tribe where at least two people had a problem with one another. The fights never got out of hand, usually only going till one person was unconscious, or someone came and broke it up but that rarely happened. If it didn't involve them, why bother, right?

Just as common as fights were arguments between the tribes folk, spanning from petty squabbles into full blown yelling matches wasn't uncommon for the tribes residents at all times during thew day, only really stopping at night less the people involved wished to find themselves at the end of plenty of people who were trying to sleeps ire.

But while the two walked about the tribe, one particular argument caught the young silver eyes girls attention. More specifically one of the peoples voices was extremely familiar. Stopping on a dime, which caused Jaune to stop as well, she strained her ears to listen to the voice over all the other ones around her.

The two stood there for a moment, Jaune thoroughly confused at Ruby's actions, until the young girls face shifted from one of focus to one of excitement. "I hear Vernal!" she practically yelled before tightening her grip on the boys hand and dragging him towards where she heard the older girl.

As the young girl dragged the boy, they started to make their way to a larger looking tent that had a large red cross above its entrance, Jaune mentally slapping himself for not noticing before, and as they got closer to it they could hear Vernal arguing with someone. Approaching the entrance the two looked in and could see that a little bit away from the entrance they could see Vernal holding a small bucket while she argued with an adult man.

"Listen I just need more ice! Enough for 3 people, not just me!" She shouted at the man as he glared down at her.

"Look, be lucky I gave you what you have there, I can only give ice to people who come for it, were low on ice dust so I can only give out so much." The man told her before turning away from her, seemingly done with the argument.

After the man walked away they could see Vernal start to shake as her anger brewed within her, looking like it was about to burst out, Ruby quickly ran towards her and hugged her tightly. The sudden hug caught the older girl off guard as he stumbled slightly, moving uncoordinated as she tried to regain her balance. "R-Ruby?! What are you doing here?!" She asked the smaller girl with shock and confusion in her voice.

"We got worried about what was keeping you for so long, so we came to see if you were in trouble!" The small girl squeaked out as she tightened her hold on the girl even more, causing the older girl to release her breath.

"Ruby… my lungs…" Vernal wheezed out as she tried to gasp out for air. The small silver eyed girl gasped before quickly detaching herself from Vernal, As the older girl set the bucket she had onto the ground as she put great use into her now freed airways, Ruby stood next to her trying to see if she was okay.

Seeing what had played out before him, Jaune could only start to laugh at the scene, even if laughing made his face hurt from it he just couldn't help himself. Hearing the older boy laughing, Ruby quickly adopted a blush the same shade as her name. The older boy quickly dropped his laughter to a small chuckle, the pain in his face being the main reason, and shook his head before addressing Vernal, who was now finally breathing normally.

"So why were you arguing with that man earlier?" The young blonde asked remembering what he saw. This only caused Vernal's face to adopt a scowl as she remembered as well, "That bastard wouldn't believe me when I said I needed more ice for us to use. He only gave me enough for one person…. Asshole…" Vernal spat out, particularly the last part at that.

"Why don't we just place it in a sack then refreeze it afterwards?" Jaune asked curious to why they don't use the simple solution. Unlike the response he thought he would get, Vernal just looked at him like he was an idiot, "Yeah with what exactly? Don't particularly cold in the forest and we don't have any ice dust, genius."…. Okay maybe the look was justified he thought as Ruby delved into a small fit of giggles while a small blush adopted his face. "O-Oh, yeah you're right… sorry…"

Vernal just rolled her eyes at the blondes response and picked the bucket back up, then handing it towards Jaune. "Well if you have enough time to come up with stupid ideas, you have enough time to hold this so I can get us more from that asshole!" she said raising her voice slightly towards the end. Before he could even say anything the bucket was thrust into his arms before Vernal took off, more then likely to get into another argument with the same person.

Ruby sighed as she watched the exchange and turned towards Jaune after Vernal left, "Sorry about her, that's just how she acts when she gets mad…. which is all the time…." she said while shaking her head slowly, remembering all the times Vernal's anger got them into trouble.

The boy could only chuckle slightly at what she said, "I can imagine, but she seems to really care for others since she's so adamant about getting more ice then this." He said while motioning to the bucket, which to him had enough for maybe just about two people if they really stretched it.

The young silver eyed girl smiled at that, it was rare when someone complimented Vernal so hearing it made her happy. "Thanks, I like to think I had a hand in making her like that." She said pausing for a second before smiling again. "Apparently when I first arrived here Vernal was told to watch over me even though she so young, since she was the only other kid at the time…. But now you're here!" She said suddenly before enveloping the boy in an air tight hug.

"Hu-" was all he was able to manage to say before he felt the air leave his lungs from the sudden hug she gave him. Seriously, how does someone so small hold onto someone that tight? Thankfully it didn't seem as strong as the one she gave Vernal, which brought even more questions about her hug strength to him, so he was able to at least breathe; even if it was a little harder then normal. "W-what do you mean now that I'm here?" He asked her slightly confused at her previous statement.

The small girl looked up at him for a second before letting go of him, "Well you're a kid just like us, and us kids gotta stick together!" She said excitedly, "Now that you're here, we can all look after each other like me and Vernal do usually!" She continued, her happiness at the thought clearly apparent.

The young boy was to say…. Confused, at the young girls sudden suggestions; being suddenly told, not asked, that he was going to basically watch them while they watched him left him slightly conflicted. On one hand he felt his pride take another small hit like when others tried to offer him help, but slightly less because it didn't seem like Ruby was taking pity on him, and on the other hand he felt slightly happy at the girls remark, like she genuinely cared and was happy about the prospect of him being there.

"A-Are you sure? Would Vernal even be okay with that?" He asked nervously, the prospect of people helping him and him helping them in return was something he could possibly get behind, even if he was still slightly reluctant.

The small girl paused for a moment, seeming to think for a moment before adopting a large smile onto her face, "I'm sure she wouldn't mind, especially since you helped us already!" She said as the smile on her face didn't look like it was going to leave.

The boy sighed quietly before a small smile also appeared on his face, "I guess I can't argue with that." He said before holding his hand out for her to shake. Ruby promptly ignored his hand and grabbed him into another bone crushing hug.

It was only after a few minutes before Vernal returned to them, holding another bucket of ice that she immediately handed to Jaune for him to carry back. As soon as he picked up both buckets, Vernal took Ruby's hand and started to walk back towards their small tent, with Jaune lagging slightly behind them now with the newly added weight he was now carrying. As the two girls walked in front of him, he could see Ruby turn towards Vernal and talk to her, almost immediately Vernal said something back before throwing a not so subtle look towards him.

'Ah, she must be asking her about what she said earlier.' he thought as he trudged after the two, they seemed to be adamantly talking about it until Ruby stopped walking, making Vernal stop as well as he also stopped, just a few feet away from them. He was just close enough to seem Ruby look up at Vernal, her eyes going wide as she pouted sadly, a small amount of tears starting to pool in her eyes. Vernal made a face, looking at Ruby before sighing loudly, "Fine, he can stay." She said as if talking about taking in a stray dog, which he would admit wouldn't be to far off from his situation,

After hearing Vernal cave in, all the tears in her eyes seemed to vanish as she quickly brought Vernal into a quick hug with a sound of glee, before quickly letting go and grabbing her hand to continue walking. Vernal just shook her head before she started walking again, shooting Jaune a look back as she did. Not wishing to push Vernal about her decision, he stayed quiet as he followed them, making sure to stay a few feet behind them, just in case.

By the time they reached the tent, the sun had already set and night had now gone into full swing, the broken moon illuminating the sky with the surrounding stars helping it. Vernal quickly opened the tents entrance for Ruby to squeeze inside, she then looked back at him and gestured for him to enter, not wanting to be a pain he quickly complied and entered the tent, bringing the buckets of ice with him, Vernal quickly followed suit, closing the entrance after she entered. After a few moments of entering Vernal quick sat down and clutched her stomach, finally able to show how much pain she was in still, even if it was in front of Ruby and the boy.

As soon as Vernal slumped onto the ground, Ruby quickly moved over to her her face quickly becoming worried. "A-are you okay?!" She asked worriedly as Jaune quickly started to look for something to wrap around the ice for her to use.

"I'm fine, just get me some ice…" Vernal said through grit teeth as she tried to keep her signs of pain to a minimum, she didn't need to send Ruby into full panic mode now.

"R-Right. Jaune, hurry!" The young girl yelled as the boy scrambled around, finding a decent sized bit of cloth and scooping some ice into his hand then wrapping the cloth around it as best he could before rushing over to the girls, handing the makeshift ice pack to Ruby. She quickly moved Vernals hands and put the pack where she was clutching, she quickly gripped the ice pack to her wounded body as she let out a sigh of relief mixed with pain.

The two kids sighed in relief after the girl finally started to calm down, Ruby still sat down next to Vernal to watch over her while Jaune started to look around for more cloth for their own ice packs. Ruby seemed to be doing alright pain wise but he didn't want to let the young girl deal with it longer then she had to, while he could definitely feel the pain in his face, it wasn't unbearable.

After finding more cloth and making an ice pack for himself and Ruby, he sat down next to the girl handing the ice pack to her as he did. She quickly out the pack near her stomach and sighed as she did, Jaune on the other hand hand a trickier time figuring out how to put the pack onto his face, holding it seemed like a pain and there wasn't anything around to wrap around his head to hold it there, so Jaune quickly laid back, gaining Ruby's attention as he did, and laid the pack onto his face, covering all of it.

As he laid down and let the cold over take his sore face, he could hear the small giggles coming from Ruby as she looked at him, it looked like a big piece of cloth with a mess of blonde hair next to it to her. He raised his hand and lazily waved it, as if to tell her he didn't care at the moment. The girl giggled a bit more before going quiet for a few moments, but after he could hear her shifting for a moments as he heard her lay down next to him in silence. The boy could make out the very soft noises of snoring coming from in front of them, so Vernal must have finally fallen asleep, leaving it just the two of them alone again.

Even with it only being the both of them now, they had barely known each other for more then a few hours and with his face covered, conversation wasn't entirely possible for them. After what seemed like an eternity of awkwardness for both of them, Jaune slowly lifted the ice pack from his face and turned to his side to look at the young girl; he was right in that she was laying next to him, she was turned to face him, her face filled with one of confusion as she watched him remove his ice pack and lay it down next to him.

"S-Soooo…." Damn his nervousness, it made stuff like this hard, "how are you… feeling?" He asked her, not sure on what to talk about.

The small girls face shifted from confusion to thinking, she then looked at him, her smile going full blast, "Better now! I'm glad Vernal is back and now I'm only a small bit sore-" she seemed like she was going to say more but before she could a small yawn over took her mouth. The boy could only smile and chuckle lightly as her cheeks adopted a small shade of red on them, "And tired it seems." He said finishing for her. The small girl flushed at what he said, her face slowly becoming more red, "W-well maybe just a little bit tired…" she said before another yawn started to take form, she quickly tried to stifle it before he noticed but she was to late. "Why don't you go to sleep, it's night now and I know you're really tired."

The young girl looked at him for a moment, thinking about what he said before smiling and nodding, "Okay, if you say so." She said before closing her eyes. Not even a few minutes later she was out like a light, Jaune could only laugh softly and shake his head at her, after he slowly sat up and looked at Vernal, she was still laying on the ground but her eyes were closed but still holding her ice pack to her wounds.

He stared at the girl for a few more moments before sighing, "You gonna keep pretending to be asleep or what?" He said quietly, so he wouldn't possibly wake Ruby up but just enough for her to hear him. He sat there in silence for a few moments before Vernal started to move, picking her self up with only one arm while the other still held her pack, "Like you're one to talk, pretending to be nice and all." She said to him. He looked at her confused, how was he pretending to be nice, "How am I doing that?" he asked, she shook her head at him and shot him a glare, "You know, tricking Ruby that you're nice and everything. Just acting to try and catch us off guard huh?" she yelled… well more like whispered but her tone made it seem like she was yelling.

Okay, now that was a slight bit annoying. Him, tricking Ruby? Under what guide or reason did he have to warrant him tricking her? "What are you even talking about? I never tricked Ruby." He stated, trying to dissuade her accusation. The girl only glared more at him, she really didn't like him, did she? "Then why act so nice to her? She wouldn't ask to let you stay with us if you didn't trick her, I taught her better."

"First off, I didn't act nice to her, I was being genuinely nice to her, like a normal person." He told her, trying not to let his annoyance show, "Second, I didn't have a say in her wanting me to stay here, she's the one who thought of the idea and was adamant about it happening."

Vernal stared at the boy for a few moments, her glare still ever present during it, but looked away after with an annoyed hmph. An awkward silence then filled the tent, only for it to be suddenly broken by a snore coming from his side, turning to look he spotted the small form of Ruby smiling in her sleep, drool slightly pouring out of her mouth as well, he could've sworn he heard her say something about cookies in her sleep as well. He couldn't help but let a small smile over take his face at the sight, it was a heart warming sight to see someone this adorable in a band of brutes and drunks.

Unbeknownst to the boy as he looked at the adorable girl laying there, Vernal watched him out of the corner of her eye. As she watched him she could only feel her annoyance slowly ease out of her as she saw the smile on the boys face as he looked at Ruby's sleeping form. Curse Ruby for making her go soft, cause she knew that the soft smile he wore now was a genuine one, not one out of trickery, as much as she hated it, she could see that he was being truthful in what he said earlier. Not that she still wasn't suspicious of him, had to be in this tribe, but she could at least tell he didn't have any negative intentions, at least when it came to Ruby, and that was enough for her.

So yeah, I think I improved my writing a very small bit for this chapter and I plan to try and keep improving for this story. Next chapter will have a small time skip in the beginning, not to much but a small one. Like always any and all reviews, positive or negative ones, are welcomed. Till next time.