Chapter 16 — Unexpected

"Unexpected intrusions of beauty. This is what life is."

― Saul Bellow,

Herzog

Serena laughed, thrilled at the feeling of the wind combing through her cut hair. She had called Aeolus earlier that day and asked him if he were up for a little tour. The Nevermore was not one to say no, and so they were both high up in the sky, exploring the boundaries of the forest and what lay behind them.

All of a sudden, Serena felt a wave of blood-lust rush over her. It wasn't as strong as back when Vale had been under attack, but it was still alarming. Her first thought was that another attack on the city was taking place, but once she'd tracked the source of the rush, she noticed that it was only a small group of Grimm, all concentrated on a clearing not too far away from her current position.

Telling Aeolus to take her there so that she could see what was wrong, she spotted three figures among the group, all three lying motionless on the ground. She told the bird to land and jumped down when it was still slightly airborne, not wanting to waste any time. She arrived just at the right moment, seeing as Ajax was about to kill a man that was lying in front of him. Running as fast as she could, she yelled, "Ajax, don't!"

The animal froze mid-strike, his head turning to look at her with confused eyes, not understanding what he'd done wrong. She dropped to her knees next to the male and was relieved upon noting that he was still breathing, although passed out.

She quickly checked the other two that were lying a few feet away. They were dead. She felt guilt well up inside her — if only she'd seen this earlier then they could still be alive.

She looked back to the man that was still alive and then turned to the group of Grimm, spotting Napoleon among them.

"Napoleon, please tell them to go home. There is no need to kill this man. I will take care of him. Please, let him live," she pleaded with the animal, hoping he would agree to her offer. The Ursa gave a short snort, then he turned around and left, the others all following him except for Ajax.

Serena leaned over the stranger again, examining his back for any wounds. He had none except for a laceration on the side of his head which he had most likely gotten when he'd fallen down. Grunting, she turned him over onto his back, gasping as she caught sight of the deep wound that stretched across his torso. His shirt and jacket were torn and soaked with blood, as was the ground he'd been lying on. She quickly took off the light jacket she was wearing, using it as a temporary bandage to tie around his wound to try to stop the bleeding. She made sure that it wasn't too tight or too lose, not wanting to irritate the wound any further.

I have to get him home, she thought, eyes darting worriedly over his mangled body. She could treat him there, she had all the necessary equipment. The problem was, there was no way she would be able to drag him there. He was too heavy and tall for her; she wouldn't be able to sustain his body weight for long.

Looking to her Ursa friend, an idea sparked in her mind, though it might be a dangerous one.

"Ajax, could you do me a favor?" The animal snorted in response and got closer to her, signaling that he would assist her. "I need you to take him home. I'll put him on your back so that you can carry him. In the meantime, I'll quickly fly to the city with Aeolus. Could you do this for me?" Without killing him, she added in her mind. "You don't need to do anything, just carry him home, okay? I'll get back as fast as possible."

The animal was silent for a few moments before giving a low growl then nudged her arm — he would help her. Serena smiled at her friend. Standing up, she returned to the man's side and slung his right arm over her shoulder, heaving him up with her other arm. With quite some effort and help from Ajax, she finally managed to make the man stand up, his body slumped against her side. Wasting no time, she signaled for Ajax to lie down and — with a string of curses — she managed to heave him atop the animal's back, positioned between the spikes and plates of bone so that he would not slip off. His front was pressed against the animal's back and she hoped it would help in stagnating the loss of blood at least a little.

"Thank you. I'll meet you back home," she called while clambering back onto Aeolus' back, both Grimm getting on their way.

She had no time to waste. So, instead of landing outside the city and going the rest of the way by foot like she usually did, she told the animal to land right in front of the next pharmacy. Chaos ensued as soon as people saw the Grimm closing in on the city, citizens running away and hiding in panic, fearing another attack. Imagine their shock and surprise when they saw a girl jump off the creature, dashing into the pharmacy.

Serena slammed the door open making the owner jump out of fright. "I need alcohol or something to disinfect a wound, and lots of bandages. Hurry!" she demanded.

The man — terrified of not only the creature outside his shop but also of the girl inside of it — scurried into a back room and came out moments later with a bottle of strong alcohol and dozen of bandages. He nervously put everything into a bag and handed it over with trembling hands, hiding behind the counter as soon as he'd let go of it. Serena left some money on the counter before storming out of the shop again. Swiftly mounting Aeolus, she could already hear the police sirens closing in on them. Without another glance they were gone again, leaving the people back in shock.

The sky started turning a pink hue when she got back. Ajax was already there and waiting inside with the man still hunched on his back. Serena dropped the bag on one of the stones before hurrying over to her friend, helping him get the man off his back and gently lay him down on her bed. Her jacket was soaked through with blood by now, and she mentally made a note to buy a new one before returning her concentration to the task at hand again.

Carefully taking off the man's coat, she dropped it a few feet away on another rock before moving to his shirt. It was already torn and the best way to remove it would be to simply cut the material in half. Going to look for her scissors, she returned moments later and immediately cut through the fabric, also removing his mask in the process since she'd need to take care of his head wound later.

There were a few bruises on his chest, but her primary concern was the large gash that went over it. The first step would be to disinfect it to make sure it wouldn't get infected. She applied the alcohol onto a cotton pad and began dabbing around the edges. After that, she moved to the wound itself and received a few hisses and pained grunts in response as the alcohol made contact with the torn skin. She was glad that he wasn't conscious; she wouldn't be able to hold him down if he was.

When she finished, she debated on whether or not she should sew it but quickly decided against it. The wound was too big, the edges too shredded, and she had no idea on how to really sew one. She decided that the only thing she could do was to bandage it and later apply some salve when the wound had stopped bleeding.

She went over to her first aid kid and took out a role of bandages, asking herself just how she would bandage the wound if she couldn't move him alone. Looking at the entrance of the cave, she saw that Ajax was still there and called him over. With his help, she managed to make the man sit up. While Ajax kept him in that position by stabilizing him with his head, Serena bandaged the wound, tying it off nicely.

She proceeded by taking a look at the injury on his head. Luckily, it was not too severe and a normal bandage would do, so she took another role of bandages and tied them across his forehead. Only now did she notice the horns that protruded from his head. She hadn't seen them before and they blended in well with his red and brown hair, so she might not have noticed them at all if it weren't for the injury.

So he's a Faunus, she noted curiously.

Once done, she sighed in relief and she told Ajax that he could let the man go now. Serena gently lowered him onto her bed again, pulling her blankets over his upper body to prevent him from getting cold. She didn't need him catching a fever as well.

She tiredly wiped the sweat from her forehead, only now spotting the blood that stained her hands. She asked Ajax to watch the man while she went outside to wash her hands, scrubbing the drying blood off them in the pond. When she came back, the man was still sleeping and so she went to making her dinner, sitting close to him while eating to make sure everything was okay.

I never would have thought that I would save someone's life one day. This world really is crazy. Though I still wonder how or why he even got here in the first place, she pondered, chewing on a piece of meat. But still, I wonder what will happen from now on. She ate her dinner in silence, sleeping on the floor that night. Good thing that she kept several spare duvets, pillows and blankets so she had quickly made herself a new bed.

Edited 30/01/2017

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. All I do own are my OC and the idea and plot of the non-canon parts of the story.