AN: Wow. So, yeah. Things happened, and this is really, really late. I apologize for the six-plus month hiatus, but my wife and I moved, we're expecting a baby, and just a bunch of stuff happened. We also stopped watching RWBY for a spell, and boy oh boy, was the 3rd season a doozy. Obviously, the events that take place change how this universe is expected to happen. I think I'm going to change how Winter is, and have her like she is in the show, very strict and militarized, so my chapters with her are going to change accordingly.

Maybe the biggest thing is that the 3rd season climax never happens. In this fanfic, Pyrrha (a veteran of fighting tournaments) realizes that she is being manipulated in her fight versus Penny. She concedes the fight to Penny and lets the judges know that something isn't right. Ruby returns from her fight with Mercury with the simple knowledge that he isn't really hurt. The tournament is put on hold while they investigate what's going on, and Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald have to run, as they are now wanted. Ironwood plays off his hunch, and sends Torchwick to Atlas where he can be interrogated properly.

Adam does try to fight, and that goes about as well as you can expect, but he does goad Yang into trying to hit him, and she recognizes his trap at the last second, and pulls her arms back so that he hits Ember Celica. He still does a lot of damage, but she doesn't lose her arm. The first chapter will be edited to reflect this. As far as Cinder goes, with her face now being plastered across all the kingdoms, she is eventually cornered and there is a major fight to defeat her and her partial Autumn powers. The battle is long, but the good guys win. Pyrrha decides to not take Autumn's powers, and with Cinder defeated, Autumn is able to pass normally without fear of her powers being stolen by malcontents.

So that's the basic gist of this timeline. This chapter is also the first to really deal with Ruby's recovery. As the title suggests, sometimes the hardest part of doing something is gathering the strength and courage to take those first steps.

As always, read, enjoy, and please review!

The First Steps Are The Hardest

Ruby grimaced as she distrustfully prodded the spongy mass that sat on her plate with her spoon. This is what she had been excited for after they finally cleared her to come off the liquids diet she had been on this morning? She had been excited for this ugly ball of sticky, slightly orange dough? It just wasn't fair! After so many days of having nothing but juice, water, and protein shakes, this first real meal was supposed to be happy! Granted, the cups of liquid on her tray were still thickened, and her hand gently caressed the outside of her throat at that thought. With her damaged throat, not only could she not handle extremely hot or extremely cold substances, so no flavored ice or hot tea, but she also couldn't swallow normal liquids very well, so anything she drank had to be thickened. Yes, she could drink thickened liquids, but their texture left SO much to be desired. So far as she was concerned, water should not be sludge, dangit!

Then she did it again, and she hated herself for doing it. With her spoon in her left hand, she reflexively reached for her cup with her right arm, and her amputated limb waved uselessly in the air. Anger flared, hot and intense, and she threw the spoon onto the tray as tears welled up in her eye. Why couldn't she bloody remember that her hand was gone?! She sucked in a deep, calming breath as her left hand came up to rest gently on her brow as she focused herself. After a few moments of deep breathing, she felt calmer and more centered, and she sighed as she deliberately picked up the Styrofoam cup with her left hand and sucked at the straw. She grimaced as the thick liquid resisted the suction before finally going up the straw and into her mouth. She suppressed the shudder that threatened to run through her body as the goo ran down her still painful throat. It just wasn't right…but it wasn't as wrong as the monstrosity on her plate. Yesterday she had ordered pizza, and had been looking forward to lunch since she had placed the order. But now, as she looked at the blob set before her, she felt terribly cheated. It was orange and spongy, and looked nothing like what it was supposed to be. Even worse, it smelled exactly like pizza, the scent decidedly not matching up with the image.

With a look of bitter determination, she gently lay down the cup and picked up her spoon from where she had thrown it. She collected a spoonful of the mash and stuck it in her mouth, all the while trying to ignore how the ball of blegh looked. At least it tastes like pizza, she grumbled to herself as she chewed, not at all enjoying the spongy, sticky texture of the food. Despite her displeasure, she continued to eat, knowing that she needed the calories for the days ahead. So far physical therapy had been light, mainly stretching exercises that were supposed to keep her limbs and skin stretched, but she couldn't wait to get out of bed and get moving. And to do that, she needed to eat, take in more calories. Grimacing once more, she took another bite, trying to focus on the taste, not the texture.

She was almost done with the meal when someone knocked on her door, and she looked up, curious. She wasn't expecting any visitors, but then the curtain opened, revealing her father and Uncle Qrow. For a moment, she smiled widely, glad to actually see her father and uncle. She knew that they had visited, but she hadn't been awake for any of their time here, so it was a real treat to actually be able to enjoy their visit…but then her grin tugged at the burns on her face. The pain flared up, and her smile died. As Taiyang strode into the room, his relieved smile also died away as his eyes flicked to her ruined right arm and to the bandages that covered her damaged face. "Hey there, Xiao Meigui," he said with a small, sad smile that died as quickly as its predecessor as he sat in the chair by her bed. "How you doing, kiddo?"

Ruby glanced at Uncle Qrow as he stayed back, by the door, arms folded, leaned against the wall. He looked…older, more worn down, and worry fluttered through her chest before she turned to her dad. "Everything hurts," she croaked, once more angry that her throat was still so damaged, but she brushed that anger away impatiently. "But day by day the pain is less. Hopefully soon I'll be able to come off the meds."

Taiyang nodded, and his hands fluttered in his lap, his eyes once more flicking to her arm. "That's good, that's good. Well, not good that you're here, but good that you are getting better." He cleared his throat awkwardly, and an uncomfortable silence took hold for a moment. Suddenly he perked up. "Oh! Funny story for you. Did you know that the hospital really frowns on trying to smuggle non-service animals in?"

"I told you it was a bad idea," Uncle Qrow groused from where he was standing.

Ruby snorted at that, her spirits lifting. "You tried to smuggle Zwei in?" she asked, incredulous.

"Well, yeah, I figured he'd be just the thing to brighten your day up. I mean, it shouldn't be too long before you're out of here, and…" he said, but his words drew to a stop when he noticed the sad look on her face. "Ruby?"

She shook her head, ignoring the tugging pain that was part of her life, now. "Dad, I'm going to be here for a while. This isn't a simple fix, I really got hurt."

He flinched, and she felt terrible for her words, but if she couldn't deny the truth…neither should he. He glanced once more at her arm, then looked away, his shoulders slumping. "We should have been there for you."

Ruby closed her eye, gritting her teeth at the tears that started to gather. "Dad, you couldn't have known. No one knew, that's why it happened. You were on a Hunt, and Uncle Qrow was off gathering information on the Crimson Claw. Things happen."

She heard him give an explosive sigh, and she opened her eye to look at him. So…defeated looking, so tired and worn down. "Things?" he asked bitterly. "Ruby, losing your…that isn't something…I just don't…" he ground out, flustered, unable to finish a thought, and apparently also unable to actually say what had happened. "I don't know what to do!" he finally settled on, voice fierce. "When Yang was wounded by that asshole Taurus, at least I could reassure myself in that it wasn't permanent. But you…" and once more he drew to a stop, unable to continue. "My dear Xiao Meigui, I failed you as a father. I should have been there for you!"

"You were doing something more important, protecting the defenseless from the Grimm," she shot back.

"But I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most."

"I was not alone," she reminded him gently, "and I've already forgiven you, for there is nothing to forgive."

He turned to look at her, despair and shame heavy in the cast of his face. "Though you may feel that, Xiao Meigui, I have not and will never forgive myself."

Ruby didn't know how to answer that, and when she glanced at Uncle Qrow for possible guidance, he just shrugged and shook his head minutely. Once more, an awkward silence ruled, but now no one broke it. Ruby loved her father, but now she wished he weren't there, and how could she say that? Then she noticed movement out in the hall, and almost gave a sigh of relief. "Dad, physical therapy is here, it's time for my appointment." And even though him leaving was exactly what she wanted, she still couldn't help the stab of heartache that flared at the unmistakable relief that flooded into his eyes as he stood up. Their parting words were hollow, almost without meaning, and she couldn't help the bitterness that welled up at his eagerness to leave. Was her body truly so hideous now that her father was practically running out the door to escape her presence?

But Uncle Qrow remained behind, casting a sad glance out the door at Taiyang's retreating back. "Don't be too hard on him, kiddo," he said as he uncrossed his arms and stood away from the wall. "This reminds him a lot of your mother's death. He blames himself for this, and I don't think that will ever change. But don't think that he isn't concerned…he is, but he doesn't know how to react. Just give him some time, okay?" And with a final sad, tired smile, he slipped out the door, nodding respectfully to the two therapists standing outside. She watched as he rejoined her dad, and they both made their way off the unit as the two therapists entered her room.

It was the standard song and dance at that point. They introduced themselves, Mary and Jack, and asked for her full name and date of birth, and she answered them robotically, resisting the urge to roll her eye as she did so. She knew why they did so, but it did get tiresome to answer the same question every time someone walked in the door. But then she noticed the equipment that they had with them, and curiosity replaced the exasperation. "Elastic bands?" she asked, brow quirking.

"Yes, we've found it to be better to start off with these, to gauge where you're at before we go onto the more challenging workouts," Mary replied as she quickly sorted the different colored bands. "You'll be remaining in bed for this session, of course," she continued and Ruby had to fight the urge to laugh. Didn't they know who she was, what she was physically capable of?

"I thought I'd be walking…" she started leadingly, and felt a flare of competitiveness light up at the quick glance the two of them shot each other. They didn't think she could.

Almost to clarify her suspicions, Jack smiled apologetically. "I'm sure that as a Huntress you are used to being very physically capable, and I don't doubt for a second that when you are in top form, you'd be able to do things that I could only dream about. But you've been bedbound for quite a while, and spent a fair amount of that time in a medically induced coma. Muscle breaks down rapidly in those conditions, so you've lost a lot of strength," he explained, and she immediately thought of how weak she had felt when she had first awoken, but she brushed the momentary doubt aside as he continued. "According to your chart, you haven't been out of bed yet, right?" She declined to answer that, remaining stubbornly silent, annoyance flaring at his patient silence. "Part of that is because we haven't come in to evaluate you, based on your doctor's opinion. However, if you want, once we're done with our routine, if you'd like to try and stand, we'll help you. Deal?"

This time she did roll her eye. "Deal," she replied with a confident smirk. This was going to be too easy. She watched as Mary tied a bright green strap to a bar underneath the bed before handing it to her.

"This is a ten pound resistant band. Keep it taut at the neutral point, just like…that," she said as she guided Ruby's hand to the right point. "Now, do one set of twenty bicep curls."

Ruby rolled her eye again, and began to do the exercise. The first few reps were easy, and for a moment pure elation flared through her, and she reveled in finally being able to exercise again. But then the smile dropped away from her face, and she looked at the band in confusion before turning a questioning eye on Jack and Mary.

Their eyes…such a sad knowledge in them, though their faces were kept carefully passive. They knew, they had to know that her arm was already burning as she did the eleventh rep, the muscles in her arm quivering as she tried to return to the neutral in a slow, deliberate movement. She grit her teeth as she went into the twelfth rep, refusing to give up, but she suddenly realized that her Huntress posturing wasn't going to do her a damn thing right now. These two were professionals, and had to have dealt with similar situations in the past. "How much strength," she ground out as she dropped her arm again before going into the thirteenth, "have I lost?"

Jack's voice was gentle as he answered her. "You lost about fifty percent of your muscle strength the sixteen days you were in a medical coma. In the week since you woke up, just being awake and moving around in bed on your own helped you retain some muscle mass, but you were still bed bound. It's estimated you lost an additional ten percent in muscle strength in that week."

She snarled something fierce and angry at that news, foul words that couldn't be repeated in polite company. But the surge of burning rage at her own weakness gave her the energy to complete the first set with ease. There was a moment of awkward silence as Jack and Mary nervously glanced at one another. Then Ruby sighed. Sitting here and feeling sorry for herself wasn't going to get her better. "What's the next exercise?" she asked gently, and they burst into relieved movement.

"How about an overhead arm extension, for your triceps?" Mary asked eagerly, and Ruby nodded. Mary disappeared behind the bed, and soon pressed the taut band into her hand, and Ruby wordlessly began the exercise, nodding at the therapists' words of encouragement. As she was afraid of, this exercise also proved more of a challenge than it should have, but she refused to give up. You've hit rock bottom, only way to go is up, she reminded herself as the sweat began to collect on her brow. Work through the pain, push past the self doubt, keep pushing! Weiss is waiting for you.

Exercise followed exercise, and though her mind told her that each of them should be easy, she found herself struggling. Even before thirty minutes had past, she was trembling from the exertion and was bathed in sweat, but still doggedly pushed forward. "Come on, Ruby!" she ground out under her ragged breath, distantly aware of the words of encouragement from the two therapists. "Think of how heavy Crescent Rose is!" she hissed as she rotated her trunk again, the fifty pound elastic band secured by her left shoulder straining against the bed. "Get stronger! Get tougher! Fucking fight!"

And fight she did. She pushed as hard as she could, and did exactly what Mary and Jack asked her to do, pushing through the exponentially growing pain from her wounds, pushing through the weakness of her own body, pushing through her doubts and fears. She had to get stronger. She had to! Weiss was waiting for her!

Then, after a small eternity, Mary was packing away the bands as Jack was showing her all the exercises she just did on his scroll, highlighting the different areas that received the most benefit. Biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest, back, hips, thighs, calves…one thing for certain, she'd never look at rubber bands or her bed the same way again. Who would have thought that when put together, they made a damn torture device.

"…but you did very well, certainly better than we expected. Is there anything else we can do for you, Miss Rose?"

"Yeah," Ruby gasped as she fought to catch her breath. "I want to use the bathroom, and sit in my chair."

And once more, Mary and Jack glanced at each other before looking back at her. Ruby wondered how she must look, hair mussed up, still gasping for breath, covered in sweat, her muscles trembling…and if she was showing how much pain she was in, her face must be terribly pinched. "Miss Rose, after that workout, I don't know if it's a good idea…"

"I want to get out of bed!" she snapped, the pain making her voice harsher than she meant, but she was suddenly so damn tired of laying down, she had to get up! "That was the deal, you said if I felt like it, you'd help me up! Now do your damn job!"

The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them, especially once she saw the minute flinch in Jack's eyes. She wasn't even sure where the harsh words had come from, and she knew she was being needlessly mean, but so were they, if they said that they were going to help her up and then decide not to. She grit her teeth and grasped the bed railing with her hand before pulling herself into a fully seated position, tears gathering in her eyes from the fresh wave of pain that burst from her wounded areas. She relaxed her grip, and started to slip back, and her amputated arm flailed uselessly before she caught the railing again and pulled herself back up, an explosive anger surging up with the pain. "God fucking damn it!" she seethed as she tried to wrench her amputated arm out of her sight. The limb moving oddly, unnaturally before the end impacted with the bed, and a bright burst of white pain filled her vision. She almost, almost screamed in pain, but instead slumped forward and swallowed the scream.

She remained in that hunched over position for a long, long moment before she finally straightened. "Well, are you going to help or not?" she snapped as she carefully swung her thin legs over the edge of the bed.

"We'll help you stand up," Jack replied, voice carefully devoid of emotion. "Then we can attempt a few steps to see how you feel."

Ruby grinned mirthlessly as she shook her head. "Nah, you don't get it. I am going to use the bathroom, and I am going to sit in my chair. I'm a twenty-one year old woman and a Huntress, and I am so sick and tired of using a bedpan or, God forbid, shitting in my own bed."

"We definitely sympathize with you, Miss Rose," Mary said as she and Jack moved to her sides, careful of her IV pole. "Alright, then, on the count of three?"

She grit her teeth, nodded, and tried to prepare for the agony that was coming. Jack's voice was calm, soothing, and reassuring as he counted slowly, and upon his saying three, Ruby put all of her energy into standing, ignoring the pain that threatened to obliterate her, ignoring her quaking legs that threatened to dump her on the floor, and ignoring the sobs that tore out of her damaged throat. Her hand lashed out and seized her IV pole, drawing it close for comfort and stability, but then the terrible shock of standing for the first time in three weeks passed, and she was able to focus more on what she was doing. She let out a long, slow, shaky breath as she widened her stance, tears pricking at her eye. "I'm okay, I think," she hissed.

"Okay, let's take those steps forward, alright?"

And they did. Oh, her steps were weak as a newborn fawn's, and she had a death grip on her IV pole and depended on its stability, but she still walked, dammit! It took them four minutes to make it to the bathroom, but they did make it, and after Ruby used it and then discovered the impossibility of washing your hands when you only have one left (which brought on a fresh wave of disgusted anger), Jack and Mary got her to her chair, covered her lap in a blanket, and left.

But even after they left and even through the pain and exhaustion that claimed every inch of her body, Ruby felt a fierce, joyous determination that was slowly overcoming her anger. As much as her muscles quivered, she reminded herself as she struggled to suck more of her thickened water, that just meant that tomorrow she'd be that much stronger. She would continue to push herself to her absolute limits in order to get out of the hospital as soon as possible. She may never hunt again, (and oh, was that still such a bitter pill to swallow!) but her team needed her. It was with this thought that she continued to stretch and rotate her limbs, working strength and flexibility into them. Don't worry, Weiss, she thought as her breath began to come harder and sweat once more began to form. Your team leader isn't going to fail you now!