Chapter sixteen: New players and old threats
"Everyone's here May… now what's the big secret?"
I heard Dew ask, her eyes somewhat bored as the girls in the orphanage gathered around. I saw Neo sitting next to me, nervously petting Ruby as I gulped, looking down at her one more time. On one hand, telling them would ensure no one would freak out if they accidentally saw her, but on the other, they might just freak out now. "Well… guess we were screwed from the get-go huh?" I thought, giving a wry smile at Neo before I cleared my throat, facing everyone else. I grabbed Ruby, holding her high enough everyone could see her. "You all know snowball right? Well… it turns out her name's Ruby… and uh… maybe you just need to see for yourselves." I said, setting Ruby down behind the bed.
"Ruby… turn human."
The girls all looked at me like I was nuts, Neo with worry, and Ruby with apprehension. I looked over, "Before she'll turn, we all have to promise that we won't tell anyone what we see here tonight. Hands above your heads! No crossing fingers!" I added quickly, seeing as so many people had their hands behind their backs. Everyone held them up, uttering a chorus of 'we promise' towards me. I nodded, turning to face Ruby. "They'll find out eventually Ruby… go ahead, show them." I said, giving her the most reassuring smile I could. She looked at the ground, still somewhat apprehensive, before she finally let out a little bark, crawling beneath the bed. About ten seconds later, I saw her slowly standing up, exposing herself to everyone, her tail wrapping around her waist as she smiled. "Hi girls… uh, I'm Ruby. I uh… Nice to meet- no wait, you've all met me… already, haven't you?" she said, her eyes flicking between them.
They just stood there, wide eyed at the tall woman before us, where once there stood an adorable little puppy. Dew was the first one to walk forward, as eyes wide as she stopped next to Ruby, revealing herself to be up to the faunus girl's waist at best. She slowly reached a hand up, running her fingers through the fur on Ruby's tail. "You're… you're real…" she said, her voice an awed whisper. Ruby just nodded, letting out a nervous giggle as she let her tail trail forward, lightly brushing against Dew's torso. All the girls started walking towards her, as if not believing what they were seeing. That's when the questions started pouring in.
"What are you?"
"Is she a monster?"
"Are you still our puppy?"
"Should we call you Ruby or Snowball?"
"How did you get so big?"
"Where'd little snowball go?"
"Everyone calm down!" Nebula said, demonstrating her role as the most popular girl by hushing everyone else, her small group of close friends all surrounding her as she turned to face Ruby. She walked over, revealing her to be only around the girl's navel as she turned her gaze up. Despite this, Ruby stepped back, as if intimidated by the commanding aura the little girl gave off. "Before we do anything else, let me just say this: DO NOT transform outside of this room, in the daytime, or basically any time but now. If Ms. Peach sees you, it's a problem." she said. Ruby only nodded a few times, smiling at Nebula before she sat down on the nearby bed, Neo migrating over to lay her head in her lap.
"Why were you in Neo's bag?" I asked, deciding against letting Nebula establish any more rules for Ruby. Ruby looked down at Neo for a few seconds, trailing her hands along her hair before she frowned, her eyes saddening. "I was running away. My last owner…" she reached up, holding a hand to her eyes, as if it was the only thing keeping her from crying. Sure enough, when her hand went back to Neo, a few drops of water could be seen suddenly appearing in Neo's hair. "They were bad?" Octavia asked, a lot of the girls glaring at one another, as if swearing vengeance against whoever would dare hurt Ruby. Ruby shook her head, her eyes suddenly angry. "No! He was… he was great. He was one of the best people I'd ever known! I… he cared about me. Other than my family he was the first one to really care about me. I just… I couldn't stand it…" she said, the anger in her eyes turning towards herself.
Neo looked up, her eyes flashing pink and brown in a wordless question, one that Ruby surprisingly understood. "He… he was the best thing that ever happened to me. I cared about him so much but… he'll never see me. He'll never see the real me just, just that little puppy. I can… I can never talk to him, never ask him how his day was or, or comfort him when something bad happens or…" Ruby looked away from Neo, her face tinting red. Dew walked over to her, laying a hand on her shoulder as a small, knowing smile graced her lips. It seemed her intuition had revealed to her what the rest of us were blind to. "You liked him?" she asked.
Ruby gave a slight glare, "He was the best thing that ever happened to me! I love him! I just," she sighed, a few tears gathering in her silver orbs. "I couldn't take it anymore. He was always so close, so close and I just, I just couldn't do anything! All I could do was, was give a few little barks and… aaand… he'd just pet me, smile… that's all I was… I was just that, cute little puppy… how c-could he, ever..." her voice was growing shakier by the second, to the point that Neo had stood, wrapping her arms around the taller faunus. Dew walked to the other side, doing the same. I walked around them, jumping up and wrapping my arms around her neck, letting her weep into my shoulder as the three of us tried to comfort her.
It was a few minutes later when she pulled away, her eyes still shining with tears as we gave her a bit of space. She wiped her eyes, smiling at us as her tail started wagging, "Thanks. I just… I wanted to be more -I still do! I want to be more to him than just 'that cute little puppy'. I want… I want him to love me the same way I love him but, he can't. He probably doesn't even care that I ran away…" she muttered, curling nearly into a ball on the bed. Neo looked over, walking and motioning to Dew. The girl with the almost supernaturally uncanny intuition nodded a few times, as if understanding every little thing the silent girl was saying. "That's impossible. According to Neo, Jaune was almost in tears because you ran away! He was looking for you! He misses you Ruby… he really does care." she said. Rather than the relief or doubt that Dew (and I) expected, what she got was confusion.
"How can you understand her?" she asked. I looked between the two… I'd been wondering that for awhile as well. Looking around a few other girls nodded between themselves, even Nebula eyeing her best friend. Dew raised an eyebrow at Ruby, then spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"By reading her mind. Duh."
Everyone looked at one another, all raising an eyebrow towards the normally quiet, snarky girl with the bum leg. Unsurprisingly, the only one not shocked at this abnormal thing was Ruby: The naked girl with the long dog tail. Dew looked around for a few minutes, raising an eyebrow, "What? You girls can't do that?" she asked. Every single person shook their heads, only Neo looking up and raising an eyebrow at her. I saw Dew's eyes suddenly latch onto Neo's, as if she were in love for just a few seconds. Dew started speaking aloud, as if she were answering questions. "No… no, of course it wasn't a secret… I didn't know that, I just thought nobody liked you… okay, okay I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." It took a few minutes before it clicked that she was talking to Neo… inside her head.
Neo, shockingly, seemed to be answering her as well, further solidifying Dew's claim that she was a mind reader. The smallest girl in the orphanage nodding, glaring, and giving light grunts towards Dew when appropriate. Rather than the shocked gasps of Ruby… everyone just kind of stared. I mean, this was a girl most of us had known… well, forever. We'd all grown up with her yet, no one knew she had this power. That being said, suddenly finding out that an adorable little puppy is actually a faunus and has secretly been hiding out from an owner she loves… well, that kind of makes anything easy to believe. A beowolf could bust down the door and I wouldn't honestly be that surprised.
After a couple seconds all eyes slowly shifted to Nebula, everyone looking to the popular, purple haired girl for guidance. She cleared her throat. "If anyone ever finds out about Ruby in her puppy form -and it better not be because of one of you" she glared ominously at the girls around her, "-then we are only to refer to her as snowball. Only call Ruby, Ruby, if she's in her human-looking state. No one's gonna believe it's a coincidence when they find out a puppy of that name and the exact breed and size went missing. We call her snowball, there's a chance."
"Now, everyone but my girls, Neo and May go to bed. Ruby, go back into snowball form before Ms. Peach shows up. Stay beneath the bed until one of us gets you." she said. Without hesitation everyone obeyed, all really unsure of what to do next. Ruby went beneath a bed and an adorable little yip was heard. Nebula took one look at Dew, "I want a full explanation… later. We have much bigger things to talk about."
At that the six of us migrated to the center of the floor, me and Neo leaning against her bed as Nebula and Dew leaned on the one across from us, Octavia and Gwen on either side, facing each other. Nebula looked between us all, "So… anyone else feel bad for Ruby?" she asked, to which she received a mutual agreement… well, a nod from Neo was really the closest you could get but still, agreement was agreement. She nodded a few times, "I want to help her as much as you girls do… and we will help her, but we can't do it without some rules." she said. All of 'Nebula's girls' rolled their eyes. Nebula was infamous for her 'rules' when it came to certain things. "The Micromanager to end all Micromanagers" they called her.
"Rule one: We do not let ANYONE know two things. One, that Ruby's part puppy. Two, that she's staying here. If people find out she isn't human, someone could take her away. I don't want to lose her, not anymore than you do." she said, gesturing at Neo. Neo just looked at Dew, who leaned over and whispered… whatever it was Neo was thinking back into Nebula's ear. She just nodded approvingly, "Good. Rule two: We're going to be subtle -Gwen- we can't do this the loud way. I'm thinking maybe snag some makeup, underwear, a dress or two from Ms. Peach, with time between each one. We can't risk making it anything more." she said. Gwen didn't bother to glare at her for that comment, given the fact that -based on rumors- it was completely true. Gwen was about as subtle as a train wreck, and about as destructive if her temper was anything to go off of. "What… exactly do we plan on doing?" I asked. Nebula only smiled,
"We're getting her what she wants; to make her owner see her as more than a puppy."
… (a/n- speaking of her owner… crap, where's my soundboard? Oh well, moments gone.)
"I don't think I've experienced so much pain since… EVER…"
I thought, blue eyes shining out, gazing through blond hair as I groaned, shutting them as soon as I saw the light. It felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to the back of my head… and the front of my head… and both sides… and my ears. When I could finally open my eyes, I saw everything laid out just like it was the night before, Weiss in her crib nearby, sleeping contently. I cringed as I moved up my hand… just moving brought on new spurts of pain with it, a sudden acute awareness of the heat on my body. "Water…" I thought. It started looping in my head as I tried to move, wanting to cool the inferno that seemed to have taken hold of me. I'd gotten both arms shakily on the bed before I collapsed, panting as I planted face-first into the pillow. "What kind of… uhhh…" it hurt to even think at this point.
I reached up a hand, feeling the pain slowly numbing to a dull, aching tiredness the more I moved, as if simply pins and needles from a long dormancy. Long, useless fingers stumbled around my desk, fumbling for my scroll before finally brushing across something that somewhat resembled glass. I pulled shaking hands around it, moving it back up above me before I felt it slap down on my face, my hand flopping uselessly to my side. "Ow…" the voice that slipped from my throat wasn't even mine, but a hoarse, scratchy version of my own. I tried grabbing the scroll with my right hand (having given up on my left) only to find it just as difficult, gently flipping it onto the bed so I could see it. Tapping the button to turn it on revealed a lot. It was four am. I'd had no missed calls. Oh yeah, and WHY DID I HAVE MY BRIGHTNESS TURNED ALL THE WAY UP!
After squinting and fumbling with the mechanism for the brightness I finally opened contacts, dialing the number of the only person enough of an early bird (or enough of a madman) to be up at this hour. After just a few minutes, I heard him pick up. "Are you dying?" was the first response. Despite my weakened state (and how death seemed like a preeetty tempting alternative to what I was going through right now) I couldn't help but smile at that. "Clo… nouh…" crap, I couldn't even talk. Suddenly I heard movement on the other side of the line, the sound of cloth rustling against other cloth. No doubt Ren was getting dressed. I heard Nora barking, and vaguely hoped it wouldn't (somehow) wake Weiss. "I'll be right over. Don't, move." I heard him say, his voice suddenly much more concerned.
I ended the call, falling back, suddenly grateful I'd given him that extra key a few months ago. I sat there, staring at the ceiling for a few moments, eyes glazing as I felt my thoughts start running together. I wasn't sure how long I sat there, how long I waited. It felt like an eternity when I heard the outside door opening, shutting back as the security system was disabled. I heard Yang and Pyrrha standing up, no doubt shaking off their fur and sleep as I saw Ren walk in. I sucked air through my teeth as he turned the light on, walking over to me. I felt a hand on my forehead before I'd even been able to open my eyes. "Open your mouth." he said. I did it without question, unsurprised to feel the cold metal beneath my tongue a few seconds later.
When I finally opened my eyes, I saw him dressed like always, holding a thermometer in one hand, a bag set down nearby with a small, red cross symbol on the side. "Leave it to Ren to figure out anything." I thought. I'd have smiled if not for the thermometer in my mouth. Speaking of, about two seconds later I heard said object beep, Ren pulling back and looking at it. I saw his eyes widen more than I'd ever typically seen them, looking down at me. "103.9… I'm calling a doctor, don't try to talk." he said, pulling the covers off of me, a move I was very grateful for on account of the heat. He started dialing numbers into my scroll, his face slowly gaining a scowl to it for each number he called. Eventually he just sighed, "Forget it, I'm calling Oobleck." he said.
Sure enough, ten minutes after he called I heard the chime of the door, the man bursting in. Before he could yell Ren placed a hand over his mouth, shushing him with a finger to his lips. Oobleck nodded, raising an eyebrow towards the nearby crib with Weiss napping inside. Ren shook his head, pointing at me. "He's got a fever of 103.9, he's damn near in hyperthermia and he sounded like he could barely talk on the phone." Ren said quickly. Oobleck nodded a few times, walking into the bathroom and, without a word from either of us, bringing a glass of water over. I gave a smile in thanks as he tilted it towards me, letting me nearly drain it dry. "Thanks." At least now I could talk. Oobleck looked over my body, gently moving his arms, a few grunts coming from me as he did so. Each prod brought a new spark of pain.
Oobleck nodded a few times, "Mr. Arc, what's my first name?" he asked, seemingly out of nowhere. I was about to answer when, suddenly, I felt my mind just grind to a halt, blanking. What was his first name? "Uhh… Ba… bar… starts… with a, B?" I said, taking a wild guess. The man across from him looking down, his face matching his eyes… why was he worried about me? Who was he anyway? Where did he come from? Did he just get here like the doctor did too? There was a cross on the bag in his hand… an assistant? "How many fingers am I holding up?" he said, holding up… it was ring, index… middle… what number was that again? One… two… five? No that didn't sound right, Six? Maybe… "Uhh… Number…" I trailed off… what was I saying? Why was he holding up his fingers and why did they both look like they wanted me to say something?
"Oh my Oum… Ren, wash your hands, get the child and get to the front, NOW! Set the sign to closed and keep the animals out! This is far more serious than I suspected!" the doctor said, talking quickly to what I guessed was his assistant. Said assistant disappeared into the bathroom before coming out and grabbing a crib of a little, white haired baby… "Weiss…" I muttered… that name. It meant something. It meant something about that little baby. Was it her name? Why did I know it? I glared towards the man holding her… something felt wrong. He shouldn't be taking her. She shouldn't be in the front. Why did I know this? What was I thinking? Why was I thinking? Who was I thinking? The doctor pulled out a small device, tapping a few buttons and talking into the side… those things had a name, right? What was it…
"Blake, it's Oobleck. Come to the Pet Center immediately, something is VERY wrong with Mr. Arc." he said, quickly tossing it away… Oobleck, that meant something. Was… it was his name? First or last? Maybe he didn't have a first, maybe he didn't have a last… why was he here again? He leaned down, "I need you to listen very carefully and answer my question. What. is. Your. Name?" he asked. I raised an eyebrow… what kind of question was that? Had we never met before? I held out my hand, as weak and feeble as it was, trying to get him to shake. When that failed I spoke, "My name's Jaune." I said simply. The man nodded a few times, reaching into a bag nearby and pulling out what looked to be a clipboard, writing something down on the front of it before looking up again. "First or last?" he asked.
I shrugged, "Uhh… both? Neither? You have two names?" I asked, unable to completely wrap my head around it? The man was Oobleck, maybe. Was that his last name? What was a last name? The name he didn't prefer? Was the first name first choice? If so why did we need two? Oobleck nodded a few times, writing down more before setting down his notes, sitting on the edge of the bed. I just laid back, surprised at the pain I was feeling, surprised at the ceiling I was looking at. Where was I? What was this place? Who was I?
What the hell was happening to me?
…
"I got your message… this better be good Oobleck."
I said, pawing at my eyes as I stifled a yawn. I'd been in the middle of… well, sleeping given it was four-thirty in the morning. I wasn't supposed to come into work for another hour at least. Why was I being called in now? Why by Oobleck of all people. I walked past Ren and Weiss… suddenly I was a bit more aware. Something was off. Jaune wouldn't leave Weiss alone with anyone for too long (that I knew of anyway), why suddenly give her to Ren? Scratch that, why suddenly have her out in the open? I walked in the back, raising an eyebrow as I saw an underwear-clad Jaune, his head lolled over to the side, his face a bright red color. Oobleck walked over, "Blake, I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you have to answer them truthfully, understand? Mr. Arc's life depends on it." he said.
If I wasn't awake before, I sure as hell was now.
"I know you have questions, but answer mine first. Have you and Mr. Arc engaged in any kind of genetic transfer whatsoever?" he asked. I raised an eyebrow… what the heck was a 'genetic transfer'? Did he mean giving blood to him? Did he mean… oh wait. I felt my face burn slightly as I nodded, "Sort of. He accidentally kissed me yesterday but, it wasn't long enough for a transfer. Just a split second." I said. Oobleck shook his head, clicking his tongue as he rummaged through his bag, pulling out his scroll and other tools. He handed me his clipboard. I read through it (as best I could anyway, the guys penmanship was awful). "Borderline Hyperthermia (103.9 degrees Fahrenheit), Delirium, short term memory loss, physical weakness… is that… it is." I thought, my eyes widening more and more as I realized just what I'd done. Or rather, what Jaune had done to himself.
"He caught F1H0, didn't he?"
Oobleck shook his head, "No. F1H0 went extinct with the Great Cleansing of the faunus. If I had to suspect, Mr. Arc's patient zero to a new strain, an evolved strain. He must've had some kind of skin-on-skin contact with an infected faunus to receive it. Though, as far as I'm aware you've been completely immunized against it, thus preventing the virus from having time to mutate in your internal organs. Are there any other faunus he's come into direct contact with?" he asked. As strange as it felt being so open about my faunus nature in front of Jaune, I also had to remember that with his short-term memory loss he likely wouldn't remember a thing. "I don't know… but I think I know someone who might." I said. At that I dashed out the door, whistling.
"Pyrrha! Yang! Here girls!" I said. The two sat up, nearly knocking me down to get inside as I shut the door. Ren was a little too preoccupied with the just now stirring Weiss to care (thankfully) and simply grabbed a nearby bottle of formula Jaune had apparently fixed before he got sick… at some point. How old was that bottle? Either way, I didn't have much time to think about it before I shut the door, turning to the two faunus. "Girl's, Oobleck's part of the Grimm, it's okay. Turn human, we need information. Jaune won't remember." I said quickly, trying to coax the two into it. I knew it would be odd for them to change in front of Jaune… then again, they technically did the same thing all the time, just not when he was somewhat conscious. The two nodded, moving around and shifting back into their human-like states, both with burning faces as they gazed towards Oobleck and Jaune nervously.
"Have either of you two had direct skin contact with Mr. Arc in these human forms of yours?" he asked. The two of them looked at one another, both shaking their heads. It wasn't them, I should have figured that much. They probably had plenty of contact with each other, but Jaune? No. That just left… "Is there any faunus that has had large amounts of direct contact with Mr. Arc in their human form?" he asked again. Me, Pyrrha, and Yang all looked at one another. It seemed to click in their heads, their eyes widening as they gazed at one another. They knew. "Well… for the past few months, Ruby's been sleeping next to him in her human form. Does that count?" Yang asked.
Oobleck's face suddenly resembled Weiss's hair as he nodded, hands trembling a bit. "Unfortunately yes. This is very, VERY bad. Jaune is infected with an as-of-yet unknown strain of a F1H0! He must be quarantined immediately! No humans are to get even close to him other than possibly myself!" he said. Pyrrha and Yang looked at each other, their eyes no doubt mirroring their confusion. I understood the reasons of course, I knew the old stories of what the disease did to humans. I mean, we were looking at an example in Jaune, and that was just the first stages! "What exactly is F1H0?" Pyrrha asked. I had a feeling she'd ask that. No one had really discussed the deadliest disease of all time in awhile, given it supposedly went extinct with the faunus. Of course, the three of us were living proof that wasn't the case. "It's a highly contagious viral infection that spreads primarily through skin contact. It's actually likely in all of your stomachs as we speak!" he said.
The two raised an eyebrow, and Oobleck happily explained. "The virus has different effects on faunus physiology than human, on account of the faunus cells slightly altered DNA to account for the animal features. In faunus it aids digestion as well as strengthens the immune system, so their bodies serve as virtual breeding grounds for it. In humans however," he gestured back to Jaune, "the infection causes rapid hyperthermia and begins attacking the nervous system, causing delirium, short term memory, and in most cases, death! This new strain likely has similar symptoms, but it's difficult to say for certain until they manifest." he explained. Both of the girls faces paled, gazing down at Jaune with worried eyes. To think it'd just been a cough yesterday, suddenly a deadly infection today.
"Why now!? Ruby's been sleeping with him for months! Why didn't he get sick sooner?" Yang asked, her voice striking the air as hot whips of panic. Pyrrha was just as panicked and wild, but her fear was contained to her body, her tail swishing and her hands wringing themselves over and over again, petting her hair. Oobleck shook his head, "I'm not certain. It's possible a sudden change in conditions may have lead to a rapid mutation by the virus in Ruby's body. Has Weiss's semblance been revealed yet?" he asked, mostly directing his attention at me. Yang and Pyrrha shook their heads immediately, but Oobleck didn't bother to dignify them with a response. They wouldn't know what they were looking for.
"No. No sudden changes in the fabric of reality, no changes in anything she's holding, and most of all, no glyphs. If someone's semblance activated, it wasn't hers." I explained. Oobleck nodded a few times, pacing about in front of them, maintaining a clear distance from Jaune as he did so. I could understand why, if Oobleck got infected, there'd be no one keeping the disease private, and that would cause a lot of problems. "Hmm… any physical changes in her?" he asked. I shook my head… but Yang and Pyrrha didn't move, suddenly frozen in face, passing worried glances to each other.
It was Yang who spoke first, "Ruby went into her first heat just last week… could that have had something to do with it?" she asked. Oobleck nodded, reaching for his clipboard and nearly slamming his pen onto the paper, short-handing notes in a way such that I was sure only he could make out what they were saying. "Of course! The hormonal imbalance in her body and brain would've resulted in a mild schizophrenic effect, as well as increasing her own sexual desires for the object of her affections. The virus would of course then need to adapt to these changes, but only if it occurred at an incredibly rapid pace… was there something that seemed to suddenly set it off?" he asked. Pyrrha and Yang nodded, their faces somber. Oobleck nodded a few times as well, mimicking their expressions.
"As I feared… Mr. Arc's inability to move will soon be the least of his worries if his own immune system isn't strong enough. I'll get to work on an antidote as soon as I can, but with only myself and the other Beacon doctors working on it, it may be too late… wait a moment, where's Ruby? A direct link to the infection would surely be useful in developing a cure, or at least a vaccine if a cure proves impossible." he said. Pyrrha and Yang both paled, each grabbing the others hands, squeezing tight as if to keep themselves calm. They knew where Ruby was, didn't they? I looked at Yang only once… that was enough apparently. "Kindred Hearts Orphanage. The girls there took her in." she said.
"You can… find a cure for Jaune with Ruby's help, right?" Pyrrha asked, her voice betraying her worry, her compassion, her fear. All laid as bare and naked as she was. Oobleck shrugged, "Unfortunately I have no idea how long Mr. Arc's immune system will last against this adapted strain. With his body type and, with no cure… It's always bad to be the bearer of bad news but, I wouldn't give him more than a week." he said, his face unusually sympathetic. The doctor had seen plenty of death in his day, so it was unlikely this phased him as much as he let on. Pyrrha's face paled, a shiver running down her spine. "What can we do to help him!? There has to something!" Oobleck looked and sounded suddenly more somber than usual.
"Help me get Ruby… then hope for the best."