My hands healed quite nicely.
The blisters were gone, but there were still slight pain. Discolored patches of skin marked the back of my hands to remind me of my absurdity. They remained as unsightly scars for everyone on Remnant to judge me for, however, I didn't look at it that way. I saw it as scars that I earned from saving Weiss. As for the rest of my body, my aura cured most of my aches that stretched all over. My attire was slightly charred but hardly noticeable because of its original back and red colors.
I finally got out of infirmary room and headed towards the assigned dorm rooms. My eyes shifted from door to door, looking for a metal sign that said 'RWBY'. Once I found the room, I swiped my scroll to enter. Entering the said room, my mouth gaped open as I was dumbfounded at the abomination I was looking at.
"Hey Rubes! Like the new bunk beds?" Yang popped her head from the bathroom. At one side of the room, two beds stacked on top of each other with books holding between it. Despite abundant wisdom I held, I couldn't even comprehend how a few flimsy books managed to hold the beds together without it slipping. The other side of the room was worse beyond imagination. A bed hung from the ceiling like chandeliers except braided ropes held it from falling. It was a tragedy begging to happen.
"Um.. Yang? Which one is my bed?" I nervously asked.
Please don't be the one underneath the hanging bed. Please don't be the one underneath the hanging bed. Please don't be the one underneath the hanging bed. Please don't be the one underneath the hanging bed.
"Oh, it's the hanging bed!" Yang gleefully hollered from the bathroom.
"YEESS!" I cheered loudly as my knees kissed the ground and my hands rejoiced in the air. I thanked all the gods and to lady luck that I didn't have a deathtrap hanging over my body every night.
"Wow sis, I knew you'd like the bunk beds!"
"Yeaah... I do," I managed a chuckle. "So um, out of curiosity... Who's the bed underneath me?"
"That would be me," Weiss grumbled as she came out from the closets filled with clothes.
"Gee Weiss, you got the best spot!" I feigned a smile. I secretly prayed that my bed wouldn't collapse on the poor girl. Though if that did happen at some point, then I can probably admit my feelings saying that I fell for her. Literally and figuratively.
"Yeah right," she sourly muttered under her breath. She entered the bathroom when Yang came out.
"Oh by the way Rubes, your school uniform is right here." From the closet, Yang took out a black blazer with a plaid skirt to go along with it.
"We have to wear uniforms?" My face wrinkled as I examined the outfit.
"Yeah! Every school has to wear uniforms. Even Signal Academy..." Yang's sentence trailed off awkwardly. I never had the chance to attend some kind of school in Remnant. The White Fang took me away before I even had the opportunity. So Beacon Academy was probably my first school. Hell, it was probably the first school I had ever attended since I never bothered to attend school back in my world. I found magic school quite useless. I prefer throwing people into a den of monsters to learn rather than sitting behind an old wooden desk.
"Sorry..." Yang looked down and kicked her feet. Leaning against her bed's headboard, Blake looked up from book, curious about our conversation.
"It's okay," I shrugged indifferently. I never knew what school was like, so I wasn't extremely fazed by it. Yang slipped the uniform into my arms and I knocked on the bathroom door. "Weiss, hurry up. I have to get ready too you know."
"I'm currently preoccupied." An annoyed voice sounded through the door. I huffed at her response. Might as well change out here I suppose. I began stripping down my corset, down to my lingerie I had on.
"Okay, you can use the ba-" Coming out from the bathroom, Weiss immediately covered her eyes as I appeared to look indecent. "Ruby Rose, please have a bit of modesty and put your clothes on."
"Nice timing Weiss," I muttered, feeling the burn growing on my face.
"Wait, don't put on your clothes yet Ruby." Yang narrowed her eyes, examining every inch of my body.
"Yang," Weiss hissed. "Why would you tell your own sister not to put clothes on?" The heiress's eyes were still closed as I was still loitering around in the middle of the room with barely anything on. Blake also shielded her eyes with her book to prevent herself from rudely staring.
"Umm Yang..." I squeaked.
"Ruby, where did you get all these scars?"
Oh, so that was why she told me not to put clothes on.
"Which one?" I asked. The Faunus and the heiress opened their eyes as they were curious to see the scars Yang had pointed out.
"What do you mean which one? How did you get all of them?" Yang voice was angry but yet sad. Many scars scattered across my body, ranging from a variety of sizes. Some went from my back, my chest, my stomach, and a few on my upper arm.
"Take your pick because each one probably has a story," I snorted. It was true. I accumulated scars along the way during those five years. I probably got a new scar every month.
Yang hesitantly glanced at my body, carefully choosing a story for me to tell. "How about this one," she whispered. Her hands brushed against my shoulder where gruesome scar laid five years ago. The same scar where the White Fang dug his dagger at.
"White Fang," I answered dryly. Yang clenched her teeth as her fist trembled.
"Why?"
I directed my attention to raven hair girl's soft voice. She had a solemn look on her face as she examined my flawed skin on my shoulder. "They wanted me to join their organization and I refused," I grimly laughed. "They wanted to recruit me so bad that they wouldn't take no as an answer. So this was the result." Blake shivered and brought her knees to her chest. She was silent and still as she seemed to be in deep thought.
"What an awful bunch of degenerates!" Weiss rasped.
"Gee thanks Weiss. I'm very well aware that I'm a degenerate to you," I rolled my eyes at her. I started to put clothes on before they further questioned me about the remaining scars.
"T-T-That's not what I meant!" she stuttered. "I'm saying the White Fang themselves are criminally insane and are a bunch of scums."
"They're a collection of misguided Faunus," Blake defended.
"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss argued back. Yang shuffled around as she felt slightly out of place, conflicted to whether or not join the argument. "They're pure evil."
"You're so discriminatory! People like you is why the White Fang existed!" The raven hair Faunus fought back and I nodded understandingly.
"How can you agree with her?" Weiss pointed her finger at me. "You were a victim of the White Fang and you're also a Faunus!"
"That's why I can also agree with her, because I am a Faunus." I answered back. If everyone co-existed peacefully, the White Fang probably wouldn't have existed. "What got you so worked up?"
"Because I'm also a victim just like you are!" The white hair girl raised her voice. "From thieving to assassination, I had to experience every bit of it directly and indirectly. It's the White Fang's fault that made my life difficult. They're all bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers."
"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"
We flinched and turned our heads to Blake. The Faunus froze like a deer in headlights. She had made a grave mistake, revealing an utmost secretive information about herself. Blake quickly slammed her book shut and tried scramble out of the room with her head held down, averting everyone gazes. Before she made it to the door, I quickly grasped her wrist and tugged her.
"Blake," I dauntingly whispered. My eyebrows pinched closer together, showing a mixture of pain, sadness, and disbelief. The Faunus looked at me with eyes full of fear as if the Schnee will purge the faunus for her own identity. No, not only the Schnee, but she also feared me.
"P-Please Ruby. Let go," Blake spoke almost like a whisper. "I-I-I can't be here anymore." She pulled harder and her grasp slipped out of mine. She threw the door opened and rushed out while I stood there overwhelmed about the new revelation. In my heart, I understood the White Fang's causes, but that doesn't necessarily meant I forgave them for what they did to me. To be honest, I didn't know what to think or how to feel about my teammate being one of those detested White Fangs.
"A White Fang under our noses the whole time," the heiress sneered. "I should've known. Come on, we have classes to attend."
Neither any one of us spoke as we walked to our first class. Not to my surprise, Blake never showed up to our grimm study class with Professor Port. I sat down next to Weiss while Yang sat a row behind us. After the heated discussion, I didn't know how Yang felt. Her partner was a member of the White Fang who was responsible for my disappearance. I wouldn't have a single clue what Yang would do once she sees Blake again. But there was one thing that I could read from her expression. She seemed just as conflicted as I am.
"Monsters! Demons!..." Professor Port went on. I immediately shut off the professor's rambling as I was too fixated on this morning's dispute. My cheek rested on my palm and I stared out at the window lifelessly. There were too many questions at the top of my mind that revolved around Blake. Like what should I do when I see her? Take revenge? Shout at her? Degrade her like how Weiss did earlier? Torture her like how her fellow White Fangs tortured me? I shook my head at the latter. I wasn't the type of person to do a merciless torture. It wasn't my nature.
I knew already from the beginning that I was going to take down as many White Fang members as I possibly can. A silent promise I made for myself for the pain I had to endure during those years. But what am I suppose to do with Blake? If I wanted to kill someone, I wasn't the type to hesitate. The years of fighting made me numb. I slid my palm that was resting on my cheek over to my temple and rubbed it. I wasn't going anywhere with this. At best, I was getting a bigger headache from thinking too much. I turned my head away from the window and jumped back into the professor's lecture.
"A true huntsman should be honorable! Dependable! Strategic, well educated, and wise!" Professor Port enthusiastically exclaimed.
I buried my face into my arms that was sprawled on the table and uttered a groan. The professor basically laid out an obvious description of what every person should be. If a person simply couldn't follow such traits then they weren't going to survive. If a person can't be dependable, then their team will get mauled. If the person was not strategically thinking wisely, then their team will get mauled. If the person was not well educated, they most definitely their team will get mauled. If not their team, then most likely themselves.
Maybe I should be up there teaching instead.
"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"
"I do sir!"
I tilted my head to the voice right next to me. Weiss was raising her hand with a face full of determination.
"Then let's find out! Come child and face your opponent!"
The professor stood next to what seemed to be an crate encaging an animal. I caught a pair of red eyes glowing from the darkness within the cage and a low growl. Weiss stepped down the stairs and readied her rapier in front of the rattling metal box containing the grimm beast. With one swing, Port released the caged bound grimm with his axe and a wild boarbotusk rampaged out of its crate, rolling at an incredible speed. I observed Weiss as she get tossed around like a salad. One delicious salad I might add. She played defensively, uselessly deflecting every charge the grimm threw at her. At this rate, Weiss was about to get mauled by the grimm.
"Weiss! Aim for the belly!" I shouted at her.
"Stop telling me what to do!" She turned and face me, ignoring the grimm's presence. Taking its chance, the boarbotusk spun rapidly and knocked her rapier from her hands. My face crinkled and I decided to shut my mouth. In a quick motion, Weiss swiped her hand in the air and summoned her glyphs. Unable to stop its tracks, the grimm crashed into the glyph and an large icicle impaled right through its stomach.
"Bravo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress-in-training!" Port proclaimed. "Assigned reading is already on the board, class dismissed!" From my seat, I rushed towards Weiss as she proceeded to quickly exit the classroom. I grabbed her shoulders to catch her attention.
"Hey Weiss," I began. "I'm sorry for distracting you like."
"You think?" Her voice was slightly harsh
"I just wanted to help that's all," I frowned.
"If you wanted to help, then you should start paying in class more."
I opened my mouth retort back but quickly closed it. "Right..." I trailed off. She was correct about me not paying attention in class, but there was an obvious good reason. Figuring out what to do with Blake was much more important that listening to Port's long winded achievements.
"Hmph, of course I'm right." I watched Weiss turned her back to me and left as she walked further down the school's corridor. My back pressed against the wall and I slid down to the floor, depressed. Today wasn't really a good day.
"Something on your mind?"
I bobbed my head up and down, nodding. There was a lot of things on my mind. Most of it was Blake, a part of it was my sister, and now Weiss wanted to add her share into it.
"It's like one problem after another, Professor Ozpin." I sighed heavily and leaned my head against the wall, looking up at the headmaster.
"That's how it is Ruby. It's never easy being a team leader. It is a badge you wear constantly," he smiled.
"Yeah, I'm well aware. But for this problem, I just- I don't know. I don't know what to do. I'm conflicted at the moment."
"Then I advise you to take some time and carefully think about it. After all, you've been burdened with a daunting responsibility. The choices you make will affect those around you, especially your team." I closed my eyes and meditated on his words. It was practically the same speech I gave to Weiss except less in depth. "Think about how you will uphold your responsibilities. Have a good day, Ruby." I heard Ozpin's cane thumping on the hallway's floor as he walked off with his last advice.
From the floor, I slowly got up and strode back to the dorm and stood in the front of the door. My hands paused at the knob, slightly hesitating to turn it. With a deep breath, my hand grasped the handle and twisted it. As I entered the room, Weiss was sitting on her bed on her scroll while Yang was laying on top of her bed. However, Blake was still nowhere to be found.
"Hey guys?" Weiss and Yang directed their attention to me. "You guys trust me as a leader right?"
"I do," Yang spoke up.
"We had this talk already Ruby. Though there are some things that needs to be fixed," she muttered her last sentence.
"Good, then we're finding Blake." Both girls had a face of surprised when I mentioned Blake.
"Why are we trying to find that traitor," the heiress huffed. "A waste of time if you asked me."
"Yang?" I looked at my sister to see her take on it.
"I can't promise that I won't throw a few punches, but we haven't really heard her side of the story." Yang shrugged her shoulders.
"Then it's settled. Democracy rules that we find Blake!"
"I still refuse to find that spy," Weiss hissed. "You guys can go find her, but not me."
"Come on Weiss!"
"No is no Ruby."
I stood there staring at Weiss who was still going through her scroll. Even if I tried, there was probably no point in convincing her. If I issued a demanding order as a leader, she would probably see me as an oppressive tyrant.
"If you ever change your mind Weiss, I would deeply appreciate it if you helped us find Blake." The heiress never responded as she was deeply engrossed in her device, flicking her thumb up as her icy blue eyes trailed along it. I turned my head away from her to my sister. "It's best if we start looking, Yang." Yang jumped down from the top of her bed, landing with a series of popping joints from her knees. We both walked out the door to begin our search for the Faunus.
"Yang, you check the school and I'll check the perimeter. If we can't find her she's probably somewhere in Vale." My sister firmly nodded and took off to find Blake. Silently, I stood in the middle of the hallway and thought carefully, tapping my chin.
If I were Blake, where would I be? Somewhere secluded. If possible, probably ride the airship to get the hell out. But luckily, there was only one airship running today. So either she was able to hitch a ride to get to Vale, or she missed it. If she missed it, then she will probably be hiding and waiting for the next lift. So my best option to start would be somewhere near the bullhead bay area. I sauntered out of the school building to the outer edge of the cliff and looked around the landing pad. The area was completely devoid of any people and aerial vehicles. I inhaled deeply through my nose and noted a faint familiar scent lingering in the air.
I smiled.
Blake couldn't escape from me that easily.