Wednesday, September 2
POV: Yang
Yang lay on her stomach while looking at her sister. She couldn't believe it. Ruby was healed. She was outside of that prison, heading to a transport to take her to the Vytal where she'd be safe. Now, she bleeding out on the ground.
Aaron sprinted across the yard then slid to a stop on his knees. He immediately started chanting in the Ancient Language to heal the young Rider. Yang saw several injuries heal up through her sister's torn clothing, but there was so much. She took her gaze off her sister for a second to look at Cerise. Nalia was physically holding the much smaller dragon back. Cerise released an anguished roar and tried to throw Nalia off, but without success.
Yang looked back to her sister and saw two medics carrying a stretcher between them. Aaron stood up and pointed a hand down at Ruby. He said something and the red Rider floated off the ground slowly, in the same position as when she lay on the ground. The medics gaped at the sight, but held their position. Ruby gently floated down onto the stretcher, and the medics carried her off to one of the transports. Yang finally found her legs and rushed off after her sister.
Yang, don't, Nalia called.
The blonde Rider turned on the green dragon, still running toward her sister. "Why shouldn't I?" she yelled, not caring who heard.
Nalia's wings and head drooped. You'll only get in the way. I know you want to help, but what can you do? You're already weakened and you can only heal superficial wounds right now. Yang slowed to a halt, then looked back at Ruby, the medics, and Aaron piling into a transport. As much as she didn't want to believe it, Nalia was right. She couldn't do anything to help her sister now. It was all up to Aaron and the doctors on the Vytal.
Yang stretched her mind out toward her sister's, even though Ruby might not hear. I'm not leaving you, so please don't leave me. The transport flew off, and she didn't get a response.
"Yang!" she heard Weiss call behind her. Yang didn't turn around, she just followed Ruby's transport as it flew up toward the cruiser. "Where's Ruby?"
Now Yang turned around to face her other teammates. Both Weiss and Blake wore looks of concern. "She's on her way to the Vytal," she managed to say through a constricted throat.
Both teammates stopped breathing for a second while their eyes lit up with worry. "What happened?" Blake finally said.
Yang growled and looked at the dead man in a lab coat. "That son of a bitch had a rocket launcher. I don't know what kind of Dust it had, but it burnt and…shredded Ruby." Yang's head dipped. "My Aura barely held."
Nobody spoke for a few seconds. "Please tell me she's alive," Weiss whispered.
Cerise slowly came into Yang's vision, limping and growling at the man in the lab coat. "If she wasn't, I don't think Cerise would be so calm right now." Cerise stalked over to the dead man. She stuck her claws into the corpse, which was now missing the knife that had been buried in its skull, and flung it into another one of the buildings in the facility. She roared weakly at where the corpse landed, then collapsed on the ground.
"You call that calm?" Weiss scoffed, a little fear sneaking into her voice.
"Considering that he nearly killed her Rider, yes." While Yang knew she didn't know how much Halcyon really meant to her yet, remembering how Cerise and Ruby interacted since the forest gave her a good idea. They were more than just friends, more than family. Right now, Yang had a hard time seeing Halcyon as much more than a pet, despite her earlier protests. She hoped that would change soon. Still, she did not envy the situation Cerise was currently in, for multiple reasons.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't fast enough in killing that mother fucker. If I had turned that corner just a second earlier, I could have stopped him from firing that damn thing in the first place." Zach said, him and his team walking over, him with a familiar knife in his hand, wiping blood off the blade. Zach stuck his hand out, and the Pelican appeared in about the same spot that Ruby's transport took off from. "Momaw, fly it aboard, I have something I need to do to this fucking place."
Momaw and Sakura climbed into the cockpit as the members of team RWBY and Gray team, minus Zach, who were still on the ground ran toward their transport. They were barely inside when the Pelican lifted off the ground and started flying toward the Vytal. It was a short flight, but it might as well have been hours for Yang. She knew in the back of her head Ruby was in good hands, but not being there to help made her feel useless.
She is dying, but, at the rate it's happening, they'll be able to save her. Especially considering that an early 21st century hospital would be able to do so, and your hospitals are the equivalent of a late 22nd century hospital. Ponda said, trying to ease Yang, and it worked, if only slightly.
The Pelican flew up to the side of the Vytal and hovered there. Several other transports and fighters flew in and out. Even when there was a lull, their craft stayed in place. Yang heard the Sakura speaking on the radio with the Vytal. In the back of her head, she knew that she had to get clearance to land in a military vessel. Everything else screamed bullshit. Her sister was in trouble and they still needed to go through all that crap? Ruby needed her...even though she couldn't do anything.
Finally, the Pelican rose up and glided into the hangar on the Vytal. Weiss and Blake stepped out while Yang retrieved Ruby's hood and Crescent Rose from a storage compartment. She wrapped the weapon in the hood in an attempt to conceal it in case the soldiers took away their weapons. Ruby always felt safer with her scythe nearby.
"Are you the rest of team RWBY?" someone asked. Yang turned around to see a uniformed soldier standing a few feet in front of Weiss and Blake.
"We are," Weiss said with authority.
The soldier nodded. "First officer Jet Bradford. Welcome to the Vytal. You will wait in a conference room until your team leader is out of surgery. Please follow me." Bradford turned on a heel and started walking out of the hanger. The group followed closely.
After a few hallways of silence, Yang asked what was on all their minds. "So how's Ruby?"
Bradford turned his head slightly, then stared back forward again. "From what we can tell, that rocket had a combined Burn Dust and shrapnel payload. The entire right side of her body had second- or third-degree burns, with many pieces of metal cutting in all over, particularly on her leg and arm." He threw a sideways glance at all. "It's a miracle either of you survived." Yang lowered her gaze to the floor, she didn't feel lucky, and she doubted Ruby did either. Still, almost anything beat being dead, which Ruby was for a while there.
"Γαμώτο τα πάντα. Οι Θεοί γαμώτο." Sakura cursed, quiet enough that Bradford wouldn't hear it, mainly because it was in Ancient Greek.
The first officer opened a door and ushered the group into the room. "Someone will be in here shortly to debrief you. If there are any updates on your team leader, you three will be the first to know." Bradford closed the door to the conference room, leaving them alone.
"What do you think Zach is doing?" Weiss asked.
"If I know him, and I do, then he's probably planting a Fury." Sakura said.
"Yeah, that sounds like him." Percy agreed with a chuckle.
"A Fury?"
"It's a foot-long bomb that has a blast radius of 1.3 kilometers and an explosive yield of about one megaton. In short, it's the closest thing there is to a nuclear grenade." Eyes went wide at that statement.
"You're damn right it is." Gregor said.
They all took seats around the table. Yang fought to keep her emotions under control, but she couldn't keep a few tears from escaping her eyes. "Yang, can you get anything out of Ruby?" Blake asked.
Yang shook her head. "I've been trying since we've stepped onto the ship. Her head's just too clouded. Maybe Aaron or Cerise could see through it, but I can't." She paused for a second. "How much do you two know about what happened to Ruby?"
"There were only a handful of security cameras around the base," Blake said, "one of them was in the prison."
"We saw the footage just as Zach slammed him against the wall," Weiss said, then shivered. "I don't understand how anyone can be so cruel to another person."
"They're the worst of humanity, the ones who get all the attention," Blake stated, with more than a little hate in her voice. "People like that are the reason…" she let that statement hang. All present knew what she was talking about, and none had any rebuttals.
"Although, I swear that I saw a pillar of blue light earlier, but it feels like it was just a dream." Weiss said. "Do you know anything about that?" she asked Yang and Gregor.
"Zach had to use Lost Ages." Gregor said, which resulted in all SPARTANs present staring at him.
"What happened?" Sakura said, her tone brokering no escape.
"O'Donnell pressed a button on his scroll, vich resulted in ze prisoners being electrocuted. By ze time zose of you in ze control room deactivated it, it vas too late, and Ruby had died." Weiss and Blake were shocked, but Gregor ignored that fact, "Cerise began to let out an anguished roar, but zen, a certain trio of old women who hate our guts appeared and slowed time around us to a crawl. Zey said zat it vasn't her time to go, and zat zey bent ze ancient laws enough to enable Zach to cast Lost Ages one time."
"Son of a bitch." Percy said. After that, the room went silent.
An hour passed with no one really talking. Half way through, Zach teleported aboard, only to be backhanded across his armored face by Sakura. Other than that, the most action the room saw was Weiss occasionally pacing the length of the table. Eventually though, the door opened, and Aaron stepped into the room. He was immediately mobbed the rest of his team. "How's Ruby?" Yang blurted out.
Aaron sighed and looked at the girls with sad eyes. "You're all going to want to sit down." Yang couldn't breathe until she sat down in the nearest chair. When someone opened with that, the news was never good. "You guys aren't going to sit down?" he asked Gray team.
"Our armor weighs half a ton each, these chairs ain't gonna support us." Momaw said.
"Alright then. The doctors determined what Ruby was poisoned with. Concentrated King Taijitu venom. It was enough to make her Aura ineffective, inhibit her mind, and dulled all her senses except pain. Luckily the doctors had the antidote on hand. The venom's effects should be completely gone in a few hours."
Yang breathed a sigh of relief. At least that was going right. Still, that couldn't be everything. She was about to ask further, but David beat her to it. "I hear a 'but' coming."
Aaron hesitated before speaking again. "There is only so much magic, and technology here can do. Some more experience healers would have been able to do more, but I'm not them. What the doctors here have couldn't do what was needed either. She was losing too much blood. We had to amputate them both." Yang felt her heart drop into her stomach. "To make things worse, a piece of metal embedded itself in Ruby's right eye. Luckily, it didn't go farther than that."
Yang held her head in her hands. "So Ruby is now missing two limbs and an eye?"
"Unfortunately, yes. When we were leaving the…operation room, one of the doctors said that they'll work on…machining her a new arm and leg right away."
"Ruby would take the bionics better than the rest of us," Blake commented.
"Yeah," Yang sighed. "She'll probably have a firearm built into at least one of them in a week."
"Probably?" Weiss scoffed. "Have you met your sister? I'd be surprised if it takes her three days." All four teammates shared a quick and quiet chuckle.
"I'd be willing to help her put one in." Nick said.
"You're the power guy! I'm the weapons guy! Not the other way around!" Zach said.
"I don't give a shit." Nick retorted, managing to lighten the mood just that little bit more.
"They said they could do the same for an eye," Aaron continued, "but I asked them to hold off for a while."
Yang turned on the newest member of the team. "Why would you do that?" Her anger started to rise yet again, but not quite to the point that she began to see red.
"I can regrow her eye."
Yang straightened in her chair. "You can what?"
"Most other body parts grow with age. Human eyes stay the same size through life. That makes it one of the easiest parts to regrow, despite the complexities inside. That's actually the last thing I was taught before Nalia and I were sent out."
"Why haven't you 'regrown' it then?" Blake asked, almost demanding.
"Like you said, she likes this stuff. I figured I'd give her the option." Yang nodded then stared at the floor, trying to come to terms with her sister's condition. "Right now, Ruby has a private room in the…medbay. I've been told that you'll be taken there after you're debriefed."
Aaron paused. "I'd stay longer, but I need to check on Cerise. The doctors here have no idea what they're doing with her." He left the room without saying another word.
Yang stayed hunched over for several minutes. Eventually she felt a hand fall on her shoulder. "Yang, Ruby will be fine," Blake soothed.
"She's strong," Weiss said. "She won't let this get her down."
Yang sighed. "Here's hoping." The door opened again, and a uniformed soldier walked in. "Well, let's get this over with."
POV: Ruby
Ruby slowly opened her eyes, then closed them almost immediately. The room was too bright for that time in the morning. The fact she had a massive headache didn't help either. She turned onto her left side and opened her eyes again, and her breath caught in her throat. Yang, Weiss, Blake, and Gray team were sitting on/standing near a few chairs directly across from her. The problem was, the room wasn't her dorm room, or the Dragonhouse.
Weiss looked up from her lap and locked eyes with Ruby. She blinked several times then elbowed both her other teammates, who apparently were asleep. Yang groaned awake and her eyes met Ruby's. She practically exploded out of her chair. "You're awake!" Yang gave her sister an awkward hug with Ruby still staying on the bed.
"Yes, I'm awake," Ruby mumbled. "What's so special about today? And where are we?"
Yang pulled her chair closer to Ruby's bed and sat back down. "We're on the Atlas cruiser Vytal, and I believe we're still above where you were being held."
Ruby messed up her face while she looked at her sister. "What?" Then the memories hit her. The smell, the chains, the sword. Her heart beat faster and she whipped her head around the room. She jerked her right hand up to her head to feel for the ear that was stapled on.
She didn't feel anything on her head. Then again, she didn't feel her arm at all. Ruby looked at her arm, or rather where her arm should be. The only part of her right arm there was a little stub past her shoulder. Her breath caught in her throat. She tried to sit up using her legs to push herself up, but only one leg responded. Fear started building up in her as she lifted her blankets with her remaining arm. Sure enough, her right leg didn't even extend to a knee.
Panicking now, Ruby blinked her eyes several times, but she only felt one eyelid moving. She moved her hand up to her right eye, and traced around any eyepatch. "There's nothing behind here, is there?" she whispered. Her teammates just shook their heads, their own eyes tearing up. Another thought struck her. "Cerise!" she said with her voice and mind.
Ruby! came Cerise' immediate reply. Just the one word carried so much concern and happiness. Are you alright? I haven't seen you since the beach!
I'm fine, Ruby said, and she let out most of her tension as she stared at the white ceiling. Well, I'm alive. I'm missing an arm, a leg, and an eye.
Rage mixed in with Cerise' concern. Those kidnappers are lucky they have soldiers guarding them, or else I would tear them limb from limb for what they did to you!
Ruby turned her head in the rough direction she felt her dragon. Cerise! Where is this coming from?
They stole your limbs. They nearly killed you! I have every right to do the same.
Ruby couldn't believe what her dragon was saying. But they didn't. I'm alive. We don't kill people, especially for revenge.
Cerise huffed over their mental link. What did you do when you found me on the cliff?
That's different! Grimm are pure evil.
Those men aren't?! Cerise rage was growing by the second.
Ruby backed away slightly on her bed. Cerise, please stop! You're scaring me!
Ruby felt Cerise trying to calm herself down, through no small effort. I'm sorry, but you'll need to live with the notion of killing in the future. You want to be a Huntress and help people. You are a Rider. There will be situations when you will have to take a life to save others.
But that's not now, and never for revenge.
Cerise huffed one more time. When it comes to your safety, I make no promises. She pulled away from a direct conversation, but stayed in her Rider's mind to be with each other. That connection was enough for the moment.
Ruby was so focused on talking to Cerise, she didn't hear someone sobbing next to her. She turned her head and saw Yang in tears. "Ruby, I'm sorry," she said. "I tried to get you out of there, I tried to protect you from the blast, but I couldn't. It's my-"
"Thank you," Ruby interrupted.
Yang looked at Ruby in shock. Weiss and Blake wore similar expressions from where they sat. "What?" Yang asked.
"You got me out of that place. I'd rather be like this among family and friends than down there with those…monsters." Ruby shivered involuntarily.
"I tried my best to save you from it as well. If only I had been a secon-" Zach began, only to be cut off by Ruby.
"I'm alive, that's what matters."
"If ve're being honest, Ruby, you veren't for a time." Gregor said.
"What?"
"You died of electric shock. The only reason that you're here with us now is because the Fates bent the ancient laws enough to allow me to cast a spell that would reverse time everywhere, and I reversed it by two minutes, undoing your death." Zach said. After hearing that revelation, Ruby had begun visibly shaking, but managed to get it under control enough to continue having the conversation.
"…Lets come back to this later."
"Agreed. Or better yet, never."
"We're here too, Ruby," Weiss said, tilting her head toward Blake.
Ruby turned her head and smiled at her partner. "I said family, didn't I?" Weiss blinked in surprise, then smiled and nodded. The young Rider turned back to her sister. "Could you help me sit up?"
"Sure thing." Yang stood up and hooked her arms through Ruby's. She hoisted her sister up and leaned her back against the wall. "They're machining a new arm and leg for you right now. Both should be done in less than an hour."
"What about my eye?"
Yang hesitated. "Aaron said he could regrow your eye."
Ruby forgot to breathe for a second. "He can do that? Why hasn't he?"
Blake spoke up this time. "He said he wanted to give you a choice since you like technology so much."
Ruby nodded and started to think it over. Cerise, what do you think I should do?
It's your decision, Ruby, Cerise said. I can't make this one for you.
You're no help, Ruby teased, then thought it over some more. In the end she shook her head. "I won't take what so many others don't get. I'll take the fake eye." Weiss nodded, then took out her scroll and pressed a few buttons on the screen. She hesitated for a few seconds, pressed one more button then placed her scroll on her lap. The heiress nodded at Yang.
"Ruby," Yang started, "what did they do to you in there?"
The young Rider froze up, then looked at the scroll on Weiss' lap. "You're recording this?" Ruby asked weakly.
Weiss slowly nodded. "Atlas wants testimony to use against the Nevermores. They figured you'd talk to us more than you'd talk to them."
"After this, you never have to speak about it again," Blake added.
Ruby hugged herself with her one arm and her eye started tearing up. The memories were coming back fast. They were hazy, and painful, but clear enough to know what was happening. Yang sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped an arm around her sister. Cerise surrounded Ruby's mind with her own.
People find that, despite how much it hurts to do so, talking to people about their issues really helps them in the long run. Momaw said. Even me with my being mute, however you want to take that statement.
"How long did they have me?" Ruby asked.
"About five hours," Yang said. "We left Beacon as soon as we heard your call for help. The Vytal joined in the search about halfway through."
Ruby nodded, then began her story. "Me and Cerise split up from Nalia after a Bullhead came up behind us. We found a few other Bullheads on the beach and saw people loading Faunus into the Bullheads. One of them saw us, and then everyone started shooting at us." Ruby paused for a second. "Dragon scales don't do anything to stop Dust rounds. We were shot out of the sky in seconds.
"We crashed on the beach, and were surrounded. They…electrocuted me, and hit my head with the butt of a rifle. They poked something into my neck, then everything gets hazy."
"King Taijitu venom," Yang said, a bit of her own venom sneaking into her voice.
"After that, they knocked me out, and I woke up in that…prison. A man came in later. I'm not sure exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines I was…going to be sold to the highest bidder." Yang's arm tightened around Ruby, and Weiss and Blake stiffened in their seats. Gray team's fists collectively clenched. Cerise hummed sadly in her Rider's mind. "That's not all. They were going to harvest Cerise for her scales, and if they weren't profitable…" Ruby shivered and lowered her head, "…if they weren't profitable they'd skin Cerise and sell it instead."
Cerise forced herself fully into Ruby's mind. But they didn't, she said. They didn't have the chance to touch one scale. Not one of them had the guts to come close.
Then how'd they get you to that place? Ruby shot back.
They got the venom in me to. It wore off quickly though. I wouldn't let them get close.
"You haven't said how you got the cut on your arm and side," Yang said, "or the ear."
Ruby brought her attention back into the room. She tried to figure out how to tell her team what happened without revealing exactly how. Her throat constricted and she couldn't talk. She shook her head and looked at her lap. Yang pulled her closer and kissed the side of her head. "I think that's enough for a conviction. Say the word, we're done."
"And if it's not?" Ruby choked out. "After the man said that he was going to…skin Cerise, I managed to kick him. He didn't like that, and he used a sword to cut my arm. He tightened the chains after that." Ruby shook her head from side to side, trying to say, 'it didn't happen like that.' Yang held up her hand with her gedwëy ignasia, and Ruby nodded.
"Before the ear, he said something to me." Ruby hugged herself even tighter and leaned into Yang. Tears streamed down her face. She also clung onto Cerise mind as hard as she could. "He said if I resisted, he would send me home...piece by piece."
Yang quickly wrapped her other arm around Ruby. A dragon's roar could be heard through who knew how many bulkheads. He said what?! Cerise screamed.
"It's okay, sis. You're here, and he won't be doing anything ever again." Yang rubbed Ruby's back as she spoke.
"I thought he was going to cut off my arm there." Ruby buried her face in Yang's shoulder.
"We're all here, Ruby. No one's going to hurt you." Yang pulled one arm away and wiped some of her own tears off her face. "What happened next?"
"Another man in a bloody lab coat came in with a metal box," Ruby continued. Yang tensed up at that part. "He took the ear out of the box, along with a staple gun."
"Please tell me they at least knocked you out for that," Blake said, horrified.
"Their sedative was a punch to the face, on the other side." Ruby shuddered as she felt the staples entering her head again.
"The cut on my side came right before Yang, Zach, and Gregor got there. It was the same guy as before. He was going to get another prisoner out of her chains. Apparently she was…sold. I was somehow able to get the gag out of my mouth, and I started yelling everything I could at him. He put the gag back in place and did something with the chains. Then he cut me again."
"Same fuck-head I slammed into the wall?" Zach asked. Ruby just nodded. "Well, I wouldn't worry about him, 'cause that fucker's dead. He took B312's knife to the throat." Ruby's eyes widened at the implication that Zach killed someone.
"What? Why?"
"He deserved, no, needed to die. Now that he's dead, the world is a significantly better place." The rest of his team nodded in agreement.
Weiss picked up her scroll and stopped the recording. "It sounds like you went to hell and back," she said.
"Now you know why I'd rather be here than there," Ruby mumbled.
Yang looked back to where her chair originally was and picked something up off the ground. "Nalia found these while looking for you." Ruby's eyes widened at the sight. Crescent Rose sat in its travel form on top of her folded hood. "I'd help you put it on, but the doctors would just take it off for your next operation anyway."
"Where'd she find them?" Ruby's eyes were glued to the small red box on her hood, trying to find any damage.
"Crescent Rose was on the beach, and I believe she said your hood was in the ocean."
Ruby nodded, then looked around the room. "Where is Aaron anyway?"
"He's checking on the other Faunus," Blake said. "He hasn't stopped working since he got in the ship. I believe he might also be working on repairing your clothes."
"I think his exact wording was 'attempt' to repair," Yang said with a little chuckle. The door to the room opened and a doctor stepped in. "Well, looks like it's time, Ruby."
"Don't go too far," Ruby said as Yang helped her lay back down. "I may need help walking out of here."
"We'll be as close as they allow us," Weiss soothed. The eleven of them stood up and brought their three chairs with them out the door.
Before Yang left, she turned back and smiled at her sister. "You're going to make metal look good." With that, she left the room, leaving Ruby with the doctor. Shortly afterward, another doctor pushed in a cart with the new body parts on top.
"Okay Miss Rose," the first doctor said. "This operation should only last a couple of hours. When you wake up, you will have full control over your new arm, leg, and eye." He picked up a syringe off the cart, most likely containing anesthetic.
Ruby sighed as the doctor walked over to her side. "Let's get this over with." The doctor stuck the needle into Ruby's arm, and everything turned black.
POV: Aaron
Aaron followed a soldier down the halls of the Vytal, trying to keep his exhaustion out of his face and walk. He was slowly approaching a full day of activity, and several hours of magic use to help with injuries on soldiers and Faunus alike. Still, he couldn't rest until everyone was back in Vale, safe from the horrors they endured.
The soldier turned around and pointed down a hallway. Aaron looked down the hall and saw three members of his team, and Gray team, sitting in the hall, Weiss and Yang looked like they were asleep. He walked slowly over to the girls, trying not to wake the two up. Blake looked up and locked eyes with Aaron. "How is she?" he asked.
As Blake's mouth opened, Yang snapped her eyes open and looked at Aaron. "She's taking it a lot better than I thought she would," she said. "I can't get anything out of her now though. Must be the anesthetic."
Aaron raised an eyebrow at Yang. "Ana what?"
"Basically, like getting punched in ze face by a SPARTAN, vith a lot less pain and death, and a lot more chemicals. Knocks you out for surgery and prevents pain. It shuts down ze brain's functions except zose needed to live." Gregor said.
Yang looked at the door directly in front of her. "Which it probably why I'm not getting anything out of her right now."
Aaron sent his mind into the room and searched for Ruby's mind. It was easier to latch on to than before, but there was almost nothing going on in there. "That's not natural," he said.
Yang huffed in amusement. "In case you haven't noticed a lot of the stuff we use isn't natural." She focused back on the door in front of her.
Blake shifted in her seat. "I don't think that she's in the best place mentally," she said. "No one comes out unchanged after what she's been through."
Aaron grimaced. "How bad was it?"
Blake pulled out a scroll from between her and Weiss. "You're going to want to listen to this to find out." Aaron took the scroll and played back the recording at low volume. He paid very close attention to everything Ruby said. His fingers tightened on the scroll when Ruby repeated what the monster told her. That explained Cerise' roar. Aaron threw a glance at Zach when the recording ended. He seemed to catch it, but ignored it. He had just killed a person. Aaron would have to keep an eye on him.
Aaron handed the scroll back to Blake and stared at the door. Nalia, what do you think? he asked his dragon.
I don't like it, she said. Her view on the world was so positive. I wonder how this will change her.
The counselor will most likely need counseling, Aaron agreed. I just hope it didn't destroy her.
A few minutes of silence passed between them. Eventually Nalia spoke up. Something's happening out here.
What's going on?
All the transports are taking off and flying back to the Vytal. I'm thinking I should do the same.
Be careful. I don't want you to be caught up in anything. He leaned back against the wall and waited for the door to open up. Luckily, the wait wasn't too long. The door opened and a couple of doctors walked out of the room.
Yang quickly stood up and walked toward one of the doctors. He quickly held up a hand. "The operation was successful. She'll have full use of her new body parts when she wakes up, which should be in less than twenty minutes." Both doctors walked away, one of them pushing a metal cart.
"You have her clothes, right?" Yang asked.
Aaron removed the backpack he acquired while working through the ship and took out Ruby's now repaired clothes. "I did the best I could," he said. "I can only guarantee that there's no blood." He handed the clothes over to Yang.
Then, Zach put his right hand to the side of his helmet, and he seemed to be talking to someone. After a few seconds, he started laughing manically. "Prepare for one hell of a light show!" He said.
"What are you talking about?" Aaron asked. Zach simply pulled out a small device with a little lever on one side of it.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" He shouted as he depressed the lever, followed by a brief but bright flash of light, and then another, longer but not as bright flash, and the biggest 'boom' Aaron had ever heard. Zach then proceeded to start laughing again.
"Zach, was that what I think it was?" Sakura asked.
"If by that you mean a Fury, then yes, it was." He said.
"I called it."
Nalia, what happened? he asked.
Nalia didn't respond for several seconds. Her shock rolled through their mental link. They…destroyed the building. The area is still dusty, but I don't think anything could have survived that blast. There's still heat rolling off the area, and a giant cloud is forming.
A whistle sounded through the hall, causing Weiss to finally stir from her sleep. "Attention all hands, this is the captain. Our mission is almost complete. We will escort the Faunus to Vale, then we'll be heading back to Atlas to drop off the Nevermores for trial. To those of you who have been separated from your families, we will have you on the ground in an hour."
"An hour?" Aaron said in disbelief. "How fast are these things?"
I hope they don't mind if I land on the back, Nalia said. My wings need to rest.
Soon, Aaron felt the ship move beneath his feet, not too different from being in the hold of a naval ship. Weiss shook herself awake and looked around. She focused up at Aaron. "When did you get here?" she asked.
"About a half hour ago," Aaron responded.
Weiss blinked a few times, then sighed and shook her head. "I need some sleep."
"We all do," Yang said as she opened the door to Ruby's room and froze in place. Her eyes glassed up as she stepped inside. The rest of the team followed. Aaron immediately understood why Yang was so hesitant to step inside. The right leg and arm of the Atlas body suit Ruby wore were rolled up past the knee and elbow, revealing new metal limbs. Her eyepatch was gone, and supposedly a new eye lay behind the eyelid. Still, even though Ruby would supposedly like the new limbs, it was a disturbing sight. They would always be a glaring reminder that Aaron failed at protecting one of his students.
The four uninjured teammates stood by their leader's side. Yang kept a hand on her sister's shoulder. They stood like that for several minutes, not saying anything. Ruby's eyes slowly opened, then closed in a flash. She groaned and rolled to the side. "Wakey, wakey, sleepy head," Yang said.
Ruby groaned again. "Five more minutes Yang."
"Hmm, not a chance. You've gotten more sleep than the rest of us tonight."
Ruby sighed and sat up. She rubbed her head with her good hand, then stopped. The metal arm rose off the bed and rested in front of Ruby's eyes. She turned it between front and back several times. She smirked and turned to Yang. "I think I may have an advantage in our fist fights now."
Yang laughed. "Don't count on it." Aaron could finally see Ruby's new eye. Physically, it looked identical to the other, but it lacked much of the emotion the other eye held. That was one downside Aaron didn't think about.
The youngest Rider turned to look at her new leg. She ran her natural hand along the metal limb. "It'll take some getting used to, but this will work." Her head shot up and turned to the wall. She didn't say anything until she whipped her head back to her team. "How long until I can get up and see Cerise?"
Yang set Ruby's clothes down on the edge of the bed. "How quickly can you get dressed?"
Ruby sunk her head between her shoulders and looked up at Aaron and majority of Gray team. "Quicker if there weren't guys in the room."
Aaron quickly turned around and left the room, followed by Gray team. In the hall, he saw the same soldier who escorted him from where the Faunus were being cared for. Aaron walked up to the man, feeling extremely out of his element. Back in Alagaësia, he could ask a soldier or other law enforcement for something, they would call in many reinforcements to get whatever task done quickly and efficiently. Here, though, he didn't know if the soldier would give him the time of day.
Still, he knew that no one on his team would be allowed anywhere on the ship without an escort. "Excuse me," Aaron said to the soldier, "we were wondering if we could get an escort to the hangar when our team leader is ready."
The soldier nodded. "I have been authorized to do so. How long will she take?"
"I don't think long." Aaron heard a door open up behind him. He turned around and saw Ruby, now back in her normal clothes, attempting to walk on her new leg. She wasn't very balanced, and would have fallen on her face if Yang hadn't caught her. Ruby sighed and threw her new arm across Yang's shoulders. Together they walked down the hall, with Blake and Weiss right behind.
"We good to go?" Ruby asked.
"I am," Aaron said. "I'm not sure about you though."
Ruby's eyes dropped and her head dipped down. "A new leg and anesthetic don't go well together."
The soldier cleared his throat. "If you would all follow me, I will escort you to the hangar." He turned around and started walking. The whole of team RWBY followed, with Gray team close behind.
"So Aaron," Ruby started, "if I remember this right, Yang said you pretty much took over while I was gone."
Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. "That's not a problem is it?" he asked quietly.
"You knew what you were doing," Yang said. "Well, at least you acted like it, which is more than the rest of us could say."
"Hey, I came up with the deployment locations for each of us." Sakura said indignantly.
"It's like Annabeth always said. 'Athena always has a plan.'" Percy commented.
The green Rider looked away. "I think I like following orders better than giving them."
There was a pause, then Ruby asked, "Why's that?"
Aaron shook his head. "Not here, not now."
Ruby looked like she was going to press further when they stepped through the door to the hangar. Cerise hummed from the other side. Ruby instantly locked eyes with her dragon. "Cerise!" she yelled as she removed her arm from around Yang. She awkwardly ran across the hangar floor toward her dragon, while Cerise moved slowly to close the distance. Ruby threw her arms around Cerise' neck, whether it was to stay standing or just a big hug, Aaron couldn't tell. The two of them collapsed on the floor together.
The rest of the team hung back and just watched the two. "When was the first time you knew Nalia was more than a pet?" Yang asked.
Aaron turned to the blonde. "What do you mean?"
She thought it over for a few seconds. "When did you know that Nalia meant more to you than a normal animal?"
Aaron smiled. "It was when Nalia spoke for the first time. She had me when she said my name. Hopefully that's the way you learn it."
Yang nodded, then looked back at Ruby and Cerise. Aaron looked out of the hanger and just the pitch black of night and a few stars. The day had gone by quickly, and he felt like he used two days' worth of energy in only a few hours. He was looking forward to getting some sleep. It seemed his teammates were in a similar state, as Weiss and Blake yawned one after the other. Yang smirked and looked at Blake. "Need a cat nap over there?" she asked.
Blake just glared back. "You're tired, aren't you?"
Yang's response was holding up to fingers spread about an inch apart. "A little bit." From there, the conversation went downhill. The length and weight of the day finally caught up from the group, minus Gray team, who were used to staying up for weeks at a time, and fighting for just as long. Despite that, they were right there with everyone else, laughing with them at even normal things that the others said. Even Blake wasn't immune to this. Aaron was in the process of recovering from one of Yang's puns when he looked up at Ruby and Cerise. Both were staring back with smiles on their faces.
Aaron was about to wave the two of them over when a noise sounded in the hanger. "Attention, we are now approaching Vale. Please prepare to disembark." Soldiers started to move around the hanger. One of them walked over to the larger group of huntsmen in training.
"We have a transport ready to take you down to Beacon," she said. "It will be ready to take off whenever you are."
"With all due respect, Ma'am, I think my team and I will take our Pelican. We need to get it off of here anyway." Zach said.
"We figured as much."
Weiss nodded. "Lead the way," she said in a tired yet authoritative voice. Team RWBY, now plus one, moved toward one of three Bullheads in the hanger. Aaron heard several metal footsteps behind him. He turned to see Ruby limp-running in his direction. She tripped at the last second and Aaron barely caught her before she hit the floor.
"Why aren't you flying back with Cerise?" he asked as he threw Ruby's metal arm over his shoulders. He had to bend his knees to get to her height though.
"She doesn't think she can carry me right now," Ruby panted. "Better safe than sorry."
"Nalia wouldn't let you fall far." Still, the two of them walked to the Bullhead slowly. Yang helped her sister up when they got there. The side doors closed as soon as Aaron boarded. Soon after, he felt the Bullhead start moving, and it picked up speed quickly. Ruby was the only one sitting down, the rest holding onto the bars above their heads.
"Looks like Halcyon is waiting for us outside the Dragonhouse," Yang said.
"He's not going to pounce on you like Cerise does for Ruby, is he?" Blake asked. Ruby just chuckled.
Yang shrugged. "Possibly. They are brother and sister."
Weiss sighed. "Knowing how your family is, I'd be surprised if he doesn't." Everyone laughed, probably more than they should have. Aaron could remember only one other time being that tired, and that was after several days straight of flying with Nalia and some other pairs. That degenerated into nonsense talk as well.
Soon Aaron felt the Bullhead slow down and the doors opened. Halcyon sat right outside the main door of the Dragonhouse. He didn't move until all members of team RWBY stepped off the transport. The transport flew off and the two larger dragons landed soon after. Ruby slung her metal arm over Cerise' neck and the two walked toward the Dragonhouse. Just then, the Pelican landed, and its passengers and pilot got off, before it disappeared, and Gray team joined up with team RWBY.
Instead of running toward Yang, Halcyon ran to Ruby and Cerise. He looked right at Ruby's metal limbs and growled. As the red pair kept walking, Halcyon took a position by Ruby's side, glancing from side to side, a snarl on his face. His body followed the curve of one of Ruby's legs. "I think Halcyon's a little protective," Ruby called back to Yang.
"He gets that from me," the blonde Rider said as she caught up with her dragon. She leaned down and scratched Halcyon's head. He leaned into it, but did not stop in his search.
Weiss yawned long and loud. "Well, I guess we'll see you all in the morning."
Ruby and Cerise stopped walking, and Ruby turned back to look at Weiss and Blake. "Do you guys have to go back to the dorm tonight?" she asked, eyes pleading. "We don't have any extra bedding or couches, but…" Ruby didn't finish her thought.
Weiss and Blake exchanged a look. "Concrete actually sounds comfortable right now," Blake said.
"I think I have some tarp in one of Nalia's saddlebags," Aaron said. "It's not much, but you wouldn't be sleeping on the floor."
"Thank you," Blake sighed, before she yawned herself. Both Weiss and she followed Cerise into the now open building.
"Mind if we join you? We can just sleep in our armor, which is actually pretty comfortable." Sakura said.
"We wouldn't need any tarp to sleep on, considering that we've slept on piles of rubble before." Zach added.
"I'm ok with it, what about you guys?" Ruby said, getting a chorus of affirmations in response.
Aaron hopped onto Nalia's saddle from the ground and started rummaging through the saddlebags. Ruby isn't okay, is she? the green dragon asked.
No, Aaron sighed. We've seen this too many times. The question isn't if she'll break, but when.
Happy Mother's Day.