"Hold her still!" Qrow shouted.

"I'm trying!"

When he yelled that, Yang's grip became firmer. She held Weiss as tightly as she dared, hoping she wouldn't break.

Since the blade had impaled Weiss, they positioned her on her side to prevent any more damage. It felt like she was lifeless, aside from her short and curt breaths in a feeble attempt to get oxygen.

It had been a torturous process to remove the blade. What made it more difficult was the drizzle. That made it harder to focus on the task at hand. The rain vanished into the pool of blood below.

A stream of blood trailed out of her mouth. Seconds after being impaled, Weiss had lost consciousness and drained of color at a terrifyingly rapid rate.

Ruby was a blubbering mess and held her limp hand for any semblance of comfort. She didn't know if Weiss could hear or feel her, but she had to try to comfort her. If Weiss could sense something was horribly wrong, that would be scary. Ruby wanted to let her know that she was there.

"Weiss! Y-you're gonna be fine. We're gonna play video games soon, okay? I know you don't like those, but you're actually getting kinda good at them. Good enough to beat Qrow, anyway-"

While the captain mumbled to her, Qrow continued to trickle his strong aura into her bloodstream. For the last several minutes, it looked like her condition wasn't improving at all.

Qrow knew exactly why.

It was hard for Weiss' body to accept the foreign aura. She didn't have the smallest spec of energy to welcome any aura with pure intentions. For aura transfer to work, she had to at least be willing to receive help. This told him that she was drifting in an abyss, closed off from the world. That was a horrifying sign.

Determined, Qrow grunted as his hands emitted a friendly green color. It was like he was pushing a giant boulder away from an entrance- the gate. The hunter shoved the boulder with all his might, trying to force his way through.

That was the only way in.

"So stubborn…" Qrow mumbled.

Between hiccups, Ruby murmured. "Weiss, now's not a good time to be stubborn. You can be whenever you want but not now!"

She was so pale, so light, so helpless…

It seemed like no matter what he did, the boulder didn't budge. However, it eventually cracked. With willpower alone, some of Qrow's aura was able to slip through the cracks and reach the gate. The helpful green stream flowed in with a brightness.

"Gotcha," Qrow said in victory.

Hearing him say that brought them comfort. That meant something must've gone correctly. However, Weiss didn't look any better. In fact, she looked worse as a few whimpers sounded.

To try to help, Yang began to share a little of her aura and grimaced from her injuries. She was more roughed up from her fight than she'd cared to admit. She didn't let that stop her from transferring her life force.

Only a tiny sliver of the yellow stream flowed through. Before Yang could react, the cracks in the boulder vanished like they were never there.

"W-what is this?" Yang asked in dread. "She's not…"

Now, it was harder for Yang to seep even the tiniest bit of her own aura into her friend. Normally, auras entwined and melted into each other in calm streams, but Weiss' body didn't have a measly speck of energy to even meet the foreign streams.

"We're gonna need all three of us," Qrow stated as he leaned back. "Ruby, slowly pull out the blade while channeling your aura. Yang, try to save some aura for yourself. You need to heal your own injuries."

Protectively, Yang held Weiss tighter. "They're nothin' compared to her's..."

This was bad. Weiss had to be in terrible condition to not even be able to summon the tiniest energy to accept aura. It felt like one misstep and her body would shut down forever.

"Ruby," Qrow addressed calmly. "Really slow."

"Got it," Ruby gave him a nod.

For a while, Ruby's hands had been shaking and freezing due to the thick red liquid and drizzle. She had to stop trembling. Weiss needed her. After a deep breath, the captain grasped the blunt end of the blade that was coated in blood.

Steadily, Ruby pulled. With every centimeter, the vital liquid trickled down her once-white clothes. Ruby's heart pounded thickly with every second that past.

Heartbreaking and agonized whimpers slipped out. This caused her chest to rise and fall rapidly. In response, Yang did her best to stabilize Weiss by pressing down.

That compelled them to transfer even more aura. With resolve, Yang leaked her own aura. Qrow hovered his hand above her chest, while Ruby was hyperfocused on the task at hand.

The boulder wasn't only stern. It was stronger. Like it was taunting them.

A deep sinking feeling dropped into the pit of Ruby's stomach. She searched for a way in- to force her aura into Weiss if she had to- while simultaneously sliding out the blade.

Her breath became faint. So faint that Yang worried they'd lost her. She placed a finger over her neck to check her pulse.

It was so weak.

So feeble…

Trying to get back into rhythm… it was trying- struggling- so much.


They better be gone.

While her crewmates tended to Weiss, Blake's job was to make sure there were no more intruders. With her night vision, she was best suited to the task.

What piqued her curiosity was that there were no ships in sight. According to Qrow, two of them jumped off the ship like it was no big deal. Her opponent also willingly threw himself overboard.

That begged the question: where the hell did they go?

They landed directly into the wild waters while it was raining. Did they have a deathwish? Did they have an escape route waiting for them underwater?

I'm beyond confused, the faunus thought. This is bizarre.

In the background, she heard her crewmates struggling. All she could do was hope that Weiss would be okay and trusted the rest to her crew.

She'd only searched half the ship so far. Shaking her head, Blake continued searching. If she found another intruder, she would toss them overboard with no mercy. No more risks would be taken tonight.

In a rush, the faunus patrolled the other half of The Howling Thorn. It looked like the coast was clear. The only things she could hear were her crewmates and the harsh waves. Even though it was harder to see with the drizzling rain, nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

Before she ran over to her crew, she gazed at the shattered moon. The ship swayed and she stood there in a fragile peace.

"Agh!"

She hissed when her right hand flew to the back of her left arm. She forgot all about the pain. Now that her adrenaline was fading, she felt the full brunt of it.

The explosion, Blake recalled. Damn him.

The exploding dust crystal really did a number on her. Thanks to the limited space on the ship, there was really nowhere Blake could have ran. The burn scorched the top layer of her skin.

Grimacing, she held it. For hating the rain and being wet, Blake appreciated the soothing feeling on her burning skin. This was probably the first time she enjoyed being in the rain.

When the shooting pains faded, she resolved to go help them.


"Almost there," Ruby announced.

By now, the blade was almost fully out. The torturous process had to be over soon, or they feared Weiss wouldn't last much longer. She'd gone completely still and was turning to ice.

"Come on..." Yang pleaded.

It felt like an eternity, but the blade was finally removed.

"Yes, got it!" the captain exclaimed in victory.

"Good job, sis," Yang praised.

Eagerly, Ruby tossed the weapon to the side. She immediately pressed down on her wounds that were seeping blood. Now that the razor-sharp sword was out, they could focus on pooling their aura into one spot.

When Ruby checked on their progress, she was pleasantly surprised. The boulder had several thousand cracks. Qrow and Yang had done a fantastic job at wearing it down. As each stream trickled into the cracks, large pieces of the massive rock chipped away.

Eventually, the boulder glowed an angelic white before crumbling to dust. At last, the glowing streams freely flowed into the gate. Green, red, and yellow streams trickled in, having received the invitation.

As a result of the healing, they could hear her internal wounds slowly stitching back together. It was a haunting sound, but reassuring nonetheless.

"Is she…?" Yang hesitantly asked, afraid of the answer.

To make sure Weiss was alive, Ruby leaned over and listened to her heartbeat. It was weak, so fragile that she almost missed it, but it was there.

"She's not in the clear yet," Qrow said, but didn't want to. "We need to get her out of the rain, but we have to keep her stable."

"Alright," Yang accepted the challenge. "I'll get her legs. You take the front. Rubes, careful with the middle."

Cautiously, they got into position.

"Ready?" Qrow asked.

After two nods, they lifted her. It was impressive how stabilized they managed to keep her. For Ruby, it was a challenge to keep Weiss up while avoiding the entry wound. She thought her hands were wet due to the rain, but her hands were drenched in blood.

With urgency, the three rushed over to the door. To help, Blake was more than glad to open it for them to slide through. They rushed inside and laid her on a nearby couch.

Weiss was soaking wet due to the rain. She almost looked like a corpse from how pale she was. From the sight, Ruby whimpered.

"Ooooh, Weiss…" Ruby mumbled, brushing her damp white bangs to the side. "Please be okay…"

"Ngh…"

Suddenly, Yang fell to her knees.

"Yang!" Ruby yelped.

"Are you okay, firecracker?" Qrow asked, worried for her.

Concerned, Blake knelt to get a good look at her girlfriend. "Yang?"

From the looks of it, Yang was covered in bruises and cuts. She gripped her side like her ribs were injured and adorned a grimace.

"I'm... fine," the blonde dismissed as she panted a bit. "Help her."

Seeing Yang like that caused a knot to form in Ruby's throat. "But…"

To provide support, Blake moved to rub Yang's back, but she winced from the movement. She was barely able to stifle a groan from the pain. Her arm was beet red.

This was bad. Ruby couldn't remember the last time her crew was this roughed up.

From the observation, Qrow said. "We've had better days, but we can get through this, alright?"

Ruby nodded firmly. "Yang, Blake, go rest. We'll come help you as soon as we're positive Weiss will be okay."

Through the pain, Yang grinned. "She'll be more than okay with you guys healin' her."

"Darn right."


Lyrics used: "Pray that we may quell the dark. Light take the throne. Lost in thoughts all alone." This references them during the dark times and that the crew will get through it.

Stay dandy,

~Toto