Chapter 5: Fractured Armour

Arc 1: Lights In The Sky

Ruby laid awake, the conversation Sky and professor Ozpin had was still fresh in her mind, and it still bothered her that Sky had been running himself ragged, and even avoiding sleep due to… something, but what that 'something' was still eluded her, making her own sleep pattern tonight a chore. Ruby glanced to her side and pulled up her scroll, the light illuminating the room by a fraction, she then glanced at the time.

[5:00am]

She sighed as she closed her scroll, she must have been awake for a while now, Ruby turned over to try and sleep some more, but then heard a very faint noise. Just barely audible, but she could make it out the sound of someone whispering.

She slowly went to the edge of her suspended bed and peeked over, she then looked at the corner of the room, there, Sky sat, looking down at himself as he placed his head against the wall, looking like he had been trying to knock something 'out' of his mind, so Ruby listened closely

"You know that won't happen, so be like a bad dream and go." Sky bit back, unaware of Ruby's prying eyes and ears

"I doubt you could even if you tried, for some reason I'm more stable over my own thoughts and actions, although your recent slip-ups had made it far easier to come back from your inner-consciousness." The cold, distant voice echoed in his head like a bat's sonar

"I never wanted this. I chose this. And I certainly don't need 'you' telling me what isn't true." Sky sharply replied, closing his eyes for a moment. "Leave. Me. Alone."

"For now? Yes, but I will be here, always am, always will. We can heal our wounds, let those scars fade overtime, but me? Him? Us? We will never forget, we can only do better."

Ruby awoke from her slumber, rubbing her eyes as she saw her team moving around the room, but noticed she was now lying back under her covers, but she remembered that she drifted off near the edge, so did one of them move her? Did Sky do this? Sky...

"Hey, where'd Sky go?" Ruby asked as Yang just shrugged, not knowing the answer either

"Must have left early, not sure why someone would want to, but, what the hell." Yang waved off as Ruby just kept thinking to herself

"Why was he talking to himself?" She thought, but she decided to hold it off until she saw him

For the rest of the day, no one knew where Sky was, he didn't show up for any of their classes, nor lunch, which they all found very concerning. So, they decided to investigate to try and find where he went. So they followed Yang towards the gym.

"I still don't see how Sky would be here, Yang?" Weiss repeated herself again, yet only Yang's smug grin appeared

"'Cause its where he and his girlfriend often our, if not, well...we'll see what's still intact to know." That comment through Ruby into a loop for a moment

"His what!?" Did she sounded loud? She probably did, which lead to the biggest mistake today, since Yang spun back around to loop an arm around her younger sister

"Aww, is someone jealous?" Yang cooed, causing Ruby's face to burn from the implication of what Yang meant, yet before she could protest, they stopped just at the edge of the arch into the training gym, because they nearly crashed into another student, the two sister falling backwards in each other's arms with a yelp, whist the other student backed away with her own surprised jump

The girl before them was a year above them all, standing next to where Weiss shook her head in her hand, and Blake rolled her eyes at their clumsiness. The girl had hazel eyes, and her dark brown hair was tied up, though a golden-orange lock did run down the left side of her face.

"Geez, Yang, could've waited 'till the last moment?" The girl sighed with a shaky breath, but then smiled. "Well, seems Team RWBYS decided to pay me a visit, how sweet, well...I'd say that if I were right, but only four of you are here."

"And 'that', is why we're here, CC!" Yang regained her composure, with Ruby pulling herself up on Yang's blazer to her own feet. "We need to know where you're boyfriend is!"

That made Coco's eye twitch with a challenging grin.

"Yang, you have five seconds to rephrase that." Coco warned, not wanting to be teased about her friendship with the rather unorthodox Sky. "Five."

"Its about Sky, honest!" Yang tried to explain, but Coco was now cracking her knuckles

"Four."

"No one has seen him for hours, not even in classes, and Yang here informed us he would most likely be here." Weiss added from the side, and that made Coco pause, taking a moment to look back in the gym, then she hummed

"Right, that makes sense. Well, good news, he's fine if that's got you riled up." That made them relax a little, even Weiss felt a wave of concern dissipate. "He actually talked with me a while ago, said he needed to go into Vale to grab a few things, most of which were for our training sessions."

"You train with Sky?" Ruby asked, not actually knowing about this, and Coco nodded with a laugh

"If by 'train with' you mean 'train him', yeah, guy's not the best fighter, or was, but he's got talent, and had some pretty good comebacks to when we first met, most of which ended with him getting his butt handed to him by me." Coco mused, but shook her head. "But the wise-ass never gave up, kept getting back up even to this day, while I'd say he's...strange, he's a good guy, knows what he needs to do better."

"Well, thank you for letting us know where he is." Blake thanked with Coco clicking her tongue with a thumbs up, then she turned back towards the gym to leave them

"Seeya guys, and next time Yang." Coco then grabbed her black case from the chair, pointing the bottom of it at the girl with a dangerous look. "Taunt me and Bluey again, see what happens, cause I'll get you, and I'll make it look like a bloody accident."

"Hehehe, love you too!" Yang was now using Ruby as a meat shield, said girl shaking her arms frantically

"I am not an object!"

The sun was near its fall, the shining Beacon casting a shadow down on the city across the vast sea. But sitting near the landing pads, was Sky, he sat with his jacket tied around his waist, his eyes never leaving the crystal-clear water in front of him.

He, however wore a frown, much like the days before, he couldn't hide his sorrow, his anger anymore, so he just sat and listened to… nothing, only the quiet swishing of the water below.

"Why would any of them care…?" Sky mumbled to himself, his gaze falling to his hands, to which he reached into his pocket and pulled a small piece of paper out

It was a picture of him, smiling like an idiot, he was older in the photo, most due to him figuring out that Remnant made him younger, he was 19 at the time. But beside him was a girl.

She had short-red hair, the rest tied up into two ponytails. Her eyes were as red as his clothing and she wore a red halter top. She was also smiling brightly, winking at the camera as she hung her arm over Sky's neck. But written at the bottom of the picture was.

The biggest pain in the neck❤

Sky stared at the picture for the longest time, a feeling of guilt and anger washing over him. He left her behind, the only person who understood him, and he left her without any warning… some brother he was.

"Who's that?" Came a voice from behind Sky as he jumped, almost losing the picture, he turned and saw it was the new red-head he called a friend, now she panicked. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to spy! I just saw you here and thought you would like some company!"

"Ruby, its fine… I just didn't expect you to find me here," Sky said with a small smile, but he then glanced back at the picture, his eyes falling. "She's my sister, the only person I trusted."

Ruby then sat down so she could take a closer look, then she smiled at the picture, they really did look happy. Then she watched him stuff it back in his pocket and slowly get up.

"Hey, wait." Ruby asked as he stopped and turned to face her, then she looked at him with concern. "Why have you been avoiding sleep? And…us?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Sky said sadly as he rubbed his neck, but Ruby wasn't going to take it, she wanted a clear answer at this point

"No! I want an answer! Why have you been avoiding all of us?" Ruby snapped as Sky grit his teeth in frustration as he looked to his left

"I…can't answer that,. He answered shamefully, but Ruby wanted to help him

"Is it about her?" Ruby asked as he shook his head. "Is it about where you came from?"

"Yes, but I…" Sky trailed off as he gritted his teeth in pain

"Then what is it!? Please I want to help!" Ruby shouted with worry as she then saw his face turn towards her, then she froze when she saw the pain in his eyes again

"Why can't you just stop trying to be my friend!" Sky snapped in with venom as he looked away, his breathing loud and heavy as Ruby stuttered

"W-What?" Ruby started as Sky sighed in seething anger

"Ruby, I have 'nothing' in my mind that makes sense to me! I woke up in a forest I don't remember, I have a gauntlet on my arm that only give me half-ass answers. And now...I can't even tell who's a friend or enemy." Sky snapped, continuing without any room for Ruby to question

"You want to know who I am? I'm nothing more than the world's punching bag, the outcast, the degenerate reject….for as long as I could remember, I was always different, but sadly, if you don't act like the rest, you don't talk like the rest, then you're the scum of the earth." Sky explained as he clenched his fist, his voice breaking slightly

"I mean seriously! I've tried, God knows, I tried! Yet the first time I opened up to someone about 'my' problems, they bit back at me, hard. I have been broken…physically and mentally, nothing could fix that. So, I hid behind a petty façade, where no one could see what I was…a fragment of myself, a real, empty waste…but I wouldn't let the world see that they won…no matter how painful it became…" Sky finished his explanation, to which Ruby could only grasp on so little

He had been nothing to the people he knew, he was treated horribly for trying to be unique…she must have been the only one who could see him for who he was…something Ruby and the rest had neglected, this made her stomach turn in guilt. Because in a way, all of this was his fault, and they weren't to blame.

Sky, was about to leave, but then he felt something grab him from behind, it wrapped around his waist as he turned to his side and saw Ruby holding him, his eyes widened slightly in surprise, not knowing what to do.

"I'm sorry…" Ruby spoke up as Sky just stared at her. "I never knew…I'm sorry…"

"…this is just something I had to deal with on my own, I didn't want to drag you all with me." Sky apologised as she looked up at him with a frown. "Sometimes, the bets we make aren't the best ones we made."

"Please…we're a team, that means we look out for each other...after-all, your part of the team too, but….I also don't want to lose my friends too." Ruby spoke happily as Sky felt something, he didn't know what it was, but it filled him with happiness…something he missed

Sky then turned to face Ruby, his face now displaying a smile, the one Ruby knew, which in turn made her smile, then he laughed.

"Geez, why are all the people I meet so damn persistent?" Sky joked as he nodded. "Thanks, Ruby, and… sorry…you know…for being such an idiot."

"That makes two of us, I'm just glad to have my friend back!" Ruby jumped in glee as she gestured for him to follow, but then Sky reach out and grabbed her sleeve

"Hey, Ruby?" Sky began as she looked at him with a brow raised, then Sky felt himself blush in embarrassment. "Sorry, I suck at this, but…can you not tell the others… not yet anyways...?"

"Sure! My lips are sealed-" Ruby began but was cut off

"-And, I want to try and take care of my problems on my own… I just want to make up for what I didn't do before," Sky stated as Ruby frowned in concern. "But don't worry, if I'm feeling… lost, I'll tell you, promise!"

"Promise?" Ruby pouted as she held her pinky out and he did the same

"Promise." Sky nodded, then they made their way back towards the school, Sky feeling much better than he was for days, then he yawned. "Damn, I reeeeally need to sleeeep…"

"Me too, being an awesome, adorable leader, and an awesome friend is alot of work." Ruby just had to listen to Sky laugh his way back to the dorms, only adding to her point. "See, its working!"

Later That Night…

When Yang opened the door slowly, she saw that the rest were already fast asleep, so she quickly and quietly walked into the room and closed the door. Then when she turned, she saw the dim light up to her left.

She saw the shadows of two people up on Ruby's bed, so to peek her curiosity, she walked over and quickly peeked over the top, to which she smirked widely.

Ruby was fast asleep with a bunch of notes scattered around her, and two coffee mugs laying empty, next to her. Then she saw Sky, also asleep, with a book on his face as he quietly slept, his journal in his hand, both looked like they had been up for a while, judging by the mass of notes.

Yang, quickly flicked the light off and hopped over to her bed, however, the only thing on her mind was how she was going to hang this over her sister's head for months.

"This is gunna be goooood!" Yang sung in her head as she hopped into her bed and slowly drifted off to sleep

To Be Continued…

Its fun to write about one's own insanity, makes it easier to develop certain points, like a voice in your head. Also, thank you for choosing to read and like my story, surprised people like this and I aim to not disappoint! Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!

Next Chapter: Right From Wrong

Is Sky really losing his mind, or has something manifested once more before his eyes? And tensions between their team grow.