The icy floor inside the shell was black in shadow till Yang leaned to see, and then, with growing horror, Ruby saw it was really red. Weiss's clothes, the trailing end of her hair, everything that touched the ground was coated in dark, frozen red.
The heiress wasn't moving.
A sharp intake of breath preceded another CRACK that echoed through the thick silence as Yang tore away the other half of the icy dome and roughly tossed it aside, her voice nearly getting lost in the glass-like shatter that followed. "Weiss-" the heiress's name slipped from the brawler's clenched teeth as a shaky whisper, worry creeping into the edges of her fury.
She moved to kneel beside Ruby in the newly-opened space, joining her in hunching over Weiss, crimson-rimmed eyes scanning the crumpled heiress for any sign of life. "Don't you dare," she growled after a tense moment of stillness, reaching one hand to press her fingertips just underneath the edge of Weiss's sharp jawline, moving them just slightly this way and that, searching for something, anything. Her other hand rested on Ruby's knee- an attempt at offering some sense of reassurance to her little sister, but also a means to brace herself against the sudden unstoppable wave of fatigue that was rapidly flooding her limbs.
Finally, she found what she was looking for. A pulse. Faint and flickering, but there. And not a moment too soon.
"She's alive," Yang removed her fingertips from Weiss's neck, Ember Celica scuffing the frozen blood on the ground with a sharp clank as her hand landed heavily beside the back of Weiss's head. The brawler turned to look back at Ruby, smiling eyes cooled to an apologetic amethyst.
"She's going to be fine," a deep shuddering breath seemed to pull the burning glow from Yang's hair, as well as the smile from her face. Part of her hoped Ruby wasn't able to see her grimace in the diminished light. "Sorry I can't..." words trailing off into the dark, Yang tilted away, her hand slipping from Ruby's knee as she collapsed, joining Weiss on the bell tower's bloodied floor.
"Yang? Yang, wait don't do this now I can't carry you!" Ruby fumbled for her sister in the dark. Her breath came quick, misting in the air as her fingers found the still-cooling metal of her sister's weapon. Ruby grasped at her limp hand and called for her sister again, but Yang didn't move. In the dark, Weiss lay still. The wind gave a low moan across the open door of the icy tower. Ruby's combat boots crunched in the ice and ash as she stood up. She had to get help. Had the infirmary survived the attack? Ruby took deep breaths, "Okay, Ruby, you've got this. No problem. Well, big problem but everything will be fine."
There had been a lot of blood on the floor of the ice shell. It was dark now but the memory spurred her—she wasn't even sure if Weiss had stopped bleeding.
She checked to make sure Yang hadn't fallen on anything jagged and felt for Weiss's coat, which contained both her and the heiress's scrolls.
Blake, message me as soon as you get this. I need you at the bell tower.
Ruby crossed her fingers and hit send.
Her teammates looked worse in the pale light of the scroll. Much worse. Ruby barely glanced up before she felt the tears coming and she shut the light off. She could try aura healing, but she didn't have a lot to work with herself and adding to the count of unconscious huntresses-in-training wasn't going to help anyone.
She navigated the frozen room by the scant light of the Dust lamp out in the street, unloading her gear and everything that remotely weighed her down- even Crescent Rose, who she planted in the ice outside the door at an easy-to-grab angle. She needed speed, and she didn't have any high-impact rounds left anyway so the recoil of her weapon wouldn't be any help. The night sky was black with clouds and still devoid of any bat sorts of sounds.
She took a deep breath, bouncing on the balls of her feet a couple times to loosen up. Thirty seconds. They'd be totally fine for thirty seconds.
A last preparatory bounce, and she dove forward into a run faster than the eye could see, rose petals scattering among the ashes on the cobble walk in her wake.
Ruby hurtled against the door of the infirmary hard enough to bounce off and into the stacks of firewood piled on the front porch. She was up in a second, fumbling with the knob. It turned in her hand and she crashed into the tiny waiting area. It seemed undisturbed. There was a light in the kitchen.
"Pleasepleasepleaseplease- agh!" Ruby's whispered prayer turned to a yelp as she collided with none other than Curtis. The man shrieked and flung melted candle wax on her and Ruby flailed her arms. Cyan appeared in the doorway brandishing a tea kettle. She stopped in her tracks when she saw it was Ruby.
"Oh thank goodness."
"Help- we need- Yang and Weiss. At the bell tower," Ruby explained in broken, gasping pieces. "Can I bring them here?"
The Cyan and Curtis exchanged haunted glances.
They'd just come through the worst Grimm attack in decades. Ruby tried to understand that as she pressed, desperate, "They're hurt. Please."
Cyan snapped out of it first, taking Ruby's hand in both of hers, "Of course. Of course you can. And anyone else you find who- who we can still help."
"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou," Ruby gripped her hands. Then she raced back to the front door and vanished in a blink of crimson.
A dark shadow darted through the streets of James Point, tearing past ruined buildings, collapsed walls and ceilings, stopping for a moment at a crossroads for amber eyes to sweep the ash-blanketed streets. Blake scowled. She hadn't seen a single Grimm in the city... she also hadn't seen a single survivor. Hoping against hope that the people were all still in hiding, she took off again, gunning for the bell tower - her only lead. Were Weiss and Ruby even still there? Where were Yang and Gale?
Unease nipped at Blake's heels, and she poured on as much speed as she could muster. She had never been quite as fast as Ruby, but she could be quick when she wanted to be - and right now, she desperately wanted to be.
She'd seen the lightning. They all had. Countless pairs of tired eyes had frozen, transfixed, to watch the skies rend themselves apart in a violent eruption of light, ripping through the procession of Liliac a good ways into the forest from which they were coming. She'd left before she could see what happened to the rest of the Grimm, sprinting towards town amidst cries of "Don't be a fool!" and "It's not safe!"
Her black boots nearly slipped in the Grimm-black ash coating the cobblestones as she skidded to a halt before the bell tower. It took a moment to comprehend the sight before her. The walls were covered in sharp spires of ice. Weiss. A section of the frozen structure had been shattered, crystalline shards of ice littered the ground in a pattern that suggested explosive brute force. Yang. Her heart dropped at the sight of Crescent Rose stabbed into the ice - a lonely sentry, almost never seen without its wielder.
"Ruby?" Blake stepped into the bell tower, hoping for a warm welcome. Instead, her Faunus eyes cut through the darkness to see exactly what she'd feared. Weiss and Yang in a bloody, unmoving heap on the floor, and Ruby nowhere in sight.
The next instant, a ragged cry tore the heavy silence and a flash of crimson shot past Blake so close it touched the ribbon over her ears. Ruby hurtled into one of the ice pillars. It shattered, showering chunks of ice everywhere. Crescent Rose clanged hard against the ice and stone beneath the snow.
"Blake," Ruby scrambled to get her hands back on her weapon, which she'd snagged on her way in the door. She struggled partway up, panting through her open mouth. Rose petals littered the broken ice. Her knees were shaking as she white-knuckled her scythe's staff, "Are you okay? I didn't- your hair's so dark it's all I saw and I thought-"
"Ruby," a second Blake appeared from the shadows right behind the shaking girl, sheathing Gambol Shroud as the shadow clone that had nearly been bisected by Crescent Rose dissolved. "I'm okay," wild amber eyes and gentle hands searched the young team leader's face, head, neck and arms - everywhere - for any signs of serious injury.
"You're okay," Blake breathed at last, the soft words doubling as an exclamation of relief, as well as an offering of reassurance. The Faunus pulled back as quickly as she had appeared, hastily swiping a tear from her eye as she forced herself to look past Ruby to their fallen partners. "Weiss... Yang..." her breath hitched, betraying the terror lying beneath her practiced calm exterior, "Are they..."
"They-" Ruby choked, her words coming out thick and broken, "They're pretty bad. Yang got hit by lightning and Weiss- just, she's... I don't know if she's still bleeding, and...and we can take them to the clinic. Where we took Yang before, just Yang weighs a ton and maybe," she took a breath to steady herself in the flickering half light in the icy tower. "Can you lift her, do you think?"
Blake wordlessly stalked over to her partner, the adrenaline pouring through her veins at the word lightning somehow resulting in a strange wash of calm she never knew herself capable of. She spared a moment to look down at Yang, then Weiss, immediately wishing she hadn't. It was worse up close. It was always worse up close.
With a great deal of maneuvering, a decent amount of strain, and a bit of help from Ruby at the end, Blake managed to get herself underneath the unwieldy brawler. Black and red streaked curls of blonde fell over the Faunus's shoulders, swaying in time with Blake's attempts to shift Yang to a point on her back where she could better distribute the bigger girl's sheer weight.
Feeling about as balanced as she was going to get, Blake took a tentative step forward, setting her jaw when her knees tried to buckle. If - when Yang woke up, she was going to ask her about a bit of extra leg strength training.
"Okay," she growled to herself, willing her muscles to comply with unreasonable demands. She hoped she sounded more confident than her wobbly steps appeared, "I can lift her."
Weiss was light- alarmingly so. Her head rested against Ruby's shoulder as the younger girl hefted her off the ground. Something trickled sluggishly down Ruby's arm where a Grimm had cut the fabric of her sleeve and she grimaced, worried that she was making the injury to Weiss's shoulder worse.
"I'm gonna run," Ruby said to Blake, still catching her breath. Her breath hung in the frigid night air. She struggled to get a good grip on her partner's limp form, "I'll be right back to help with Yang."
A flurry of rose petals left Blake alone with her partner in the cold silence of the bell tower. Taking care not to slip on the ice, Blake putting one shaky foot in front of the other and made her way out into the night. A gust of wind dug its claws into the Faunus's exposed skin and she winced, missing the heat of Yang's aura. She stole a glance at the blonde head draped over her shoulder.
The usual warmth that spilled forth from the brawler had been replaced with... nothing. The heavy brawler on her back radiated no heat, no aura, and it frightened Blake into moving that much faster. Fortunately, it wasn't long before she saw a welcome streak of crimson in the distance. Ruby really was fast.
The red blur was accompanied by the unmistakable sound of steel slicing through Grimm bone. Bits of black dropped from the air, dark against the icy, ashy cobbles.
Ruby forewent one of her earplugs, tracking the flutter of wings in the dark.
There weren't many yet. That was good, but more would come. They always came after an attack like this, where civilians were hurt and terrified. She saw fearful eyes at the window casements as folks refastened their shutters with wire or boards or whatever they had.
Crescent Rose's blade flashed through another of the small, dark bodies just as Ruby caught sight of Blake and Yang.
Her arms burned, her lungs burned. She couldn't feel her ears or nose, but she gave Blake a thumbs-up to say I'm-fine-I'll-cover-you and leapt after the next bat.
Blake nodded to her young team leader, thankful to have the crimson personification of wind itself at her back, tearing through any Grimm that so much as dared to near them. The winter winds were far crueler, bearing down on the heat-deprived Faunus as she trudged down the street, cursing the cobblestone path with each step in her heeled boots.
The solid brawler draped over Blake's back and shoulder minimized the cold to some small extent, but for the first time in her life, Blake was lending warmth to Yang, sending a steady stream of healing aura into her partner as she walked. Whether it was even helping or not, she had no idea, but she had to try. She refused to lose another partner.
Rose petals danced through the air around Blake thicker than rain, a new cluster of crimson making its way into the fray with each screeching Liliac silenced overhead. Ruby was on a war path - one that ultimately saw Blake safely to the clinic with Yang. Even if she hadn't already known the way, an ominous trail of blood marked the path, leading directly to that small painted sign, chipped and shredded almost beyond recognition by Grimm. It was one of the most welcoming sights Blake had ever seen.
Careful to avoid using her partner's head as an unwitting battering ram, Blake instead used her unoccupied shoulder to shove at the door, pleasantly surprised when it swung open with relative ease and slammed against the backstop.
"Please-" Blake's words died on her lips at the sight of a scattered mess of dark red before her on the floor. A sharp metallic smell assaulted her senses. It was everywhere. What looked like three sets of frantic, bloody footprints had streaked the small pools of crimson in nearly every direction, one set leading back out the door she'd just come in, and the other two leading back into the kitchen-turned-examining-room.
An unpleasant rush of adrenaline filled Blake's exhausted limbs with strength anew, helping her soldier those last few steps along the bloody trail to push open the kitchen door.
The light in the kitchen was bright and warm, several pots boiled softly on the stove top overseen by Cyan. She had her sleeves rolled to the elbows and a dishtowel in her hands when Blake entered.
"Curtis," she said, hanging the towel over the edge of the sink and hurrying to help get Yang to one of the cots near the wall.
"Busy," Curtis remained bent over Weiss at the table.
The heiress lay on the sheet-draped kitchen table, surrounded by crumpled, bloodstained rags and earthenware pots of herbs and salves. Her eyes were closed. Her shirt had been cut away from her shoulder, but the wound itself was hidden under the folded cloth Curtis kept pressed over it. He held a small cup in his free hand, swirling the liquid almost absently, "Is her partner back yet?"
"I don't know," Blake carefully brushed a strand of gold from Yang's face, only leaving her side once she was certain the brawler was properly situated. With quick, nervous steps, the Faunus crossed the room to get a better look at Weiss. She reached out a tentative hand to place it over the heiress's. It was ice cold. Blake wasn't sure what else she'd expected, but a sickening pit of dread roiled in her stomach all the same. "There are more Grimm out there," she said in place of a solid answer, surprised at the steadiness of her own voice.
Cyan didn't glance up from checking Yang over for injuries. Curtis remained quiet as well. The shutters were barred and the walls were stone.
The front door banged open and shut and Ruby practically threw herself into the kitchen, knocking into the doorjamb as she tried to fold Crescent Rose down.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry- just got caught up," she panted, and pulled up short, visibly taking stock for a second before wiping her hand on her skirt and coughing into her elbow.
Her thoughts were racing too fast for her to get a good hold on, so she turned and shut the door firmly, gripping the knob hard for a second. The metal was cold. The wooden door frame was worn satin-smooth. She took a deep breath.
People were in trouble, and she was a huntress. In training, anyway. She needed to stay level.
As the ones primarily in charge of taking care of the town, her teammates came first. Ruby crossed to the table.
"Blake?" she glanced at Yang at the edge of the room and tried not to look down at her own partner yet. She swallowed thickly, sincere appreciation and relief in her tone, "Glad you made it."
Blake nodded, returning Ruby's sincerity in equal measure with a small, tired smile - a smile that briefly faded when she glanced back at Yang as well. Even from this distance she could see bruises starting to form, marring every exposed surface of the brawler's skin. She tore her eyes from the sight and looked instead to her team leader, frowning at the fatigue showing through her eyes.
Fueled by a desire to offer any support she could manage in Yang and Weiss's stead, Blake reached out to touch Ruby's arm, stopping short when she realized she'd gotten blood on her fingers. Pulling back slightly, she curled her hand into a fist, hoping for a moment the younger girl hadn't seen. The moment quickly passed when she remembered Ruby had seen far worse. Uncurling her hand once more, she finally reached across the table to grip Ruby's arm. "What do you need me to do?"
Ruby bit her lip, sorting things out. "You know where Jack lives?" she grimaced, realizing her mistake, "Lived. I left some kids there and told his mom I'd come back for her. Could you maybe check in with them? We need to do a sweep to find anyone who's still..." her silver eyes strayed to her unconscious partner.
Curtis poured a few drops of liquid from the cup in his hand past Weiss's lips. Ruby couldn't tell if she was even breathing. Her snowy aura flickered faintly. The dark-haired man lifted the cloth to inspect the heiress's shoulder and rubbed his eyes under his glasses, grumbling, "I can't tell if she's stopped bleeding because her aura's working or because there's just not much left to bleed."
Blake's mouth set in a thin line at the sight of the proud heiress reduced to such a state, but part of her knew there was nothing more she could do here. Ruby was right. As the sole bearer of night vision and the least injured on their team, she was the obvious choice to search for survivors. Jack's house. The boy with the kittens. She remembered the place... that would be her starting point.
With a deep breath, Blake released Ruby's arm, and gave her a swift nod. "On it." She turned and crossed back to the other side of the room, stopping beside the cot with Yang resting on it. Amber eyes briefly swept over the brawler's bruised and battered form, narrowing in some emotion Blake couldn't quite put a name to.
Careful to avoid getting in Cyan's way, Blake took one of Yang's hands in her own, and gave it a squeeze. "I'll be back. You better be waiting for me." Her peace spoken, Blake let go and turned to leave, giving one last nod to Ruby before heading out the door to begin the sweep.
Ruby watched her slip out through the kitchen door. Blake was smart, and quick, and super experienced dealing with Grimm. She wouldn't let the Liliac get the better of her.
"Should I try sharing auras?" Ruby gripped the edge of her seat, wanting to take her partner's hand or sleeve or just touch her and help her but she didn't want to mess up whatever Curtis was doing.
"Sharing?" the dark-haired man slipped his glasses back on. His brow furrowed.
"I mean, uh, I might be kind of worn out, but Weiss- she's my partner, and I just..." Ruby faltered, but Curtis just looked to Cyan.
"By all means," the young woman gathered up an extra blanket, doubling it and spreading it over the one already covering the heiress from the waist down. She noticed blood dripping off the scythe-wielder's hand as she took her partner's. "Did you get bitten too?"
Ruby let her examine the dripping cut on the back of her knuckles, "Is that bad?"
"We're thinking there's something in the bites that keeps your aura from doing it's job," Curtis scooped a bit of greenish salve from one of the fist-sized earthenware pots with his fingertips, "Do what you're going to do. I'll clean that up for you."
Weiss's hand was cold as ice. Ruby clutched it hard, leaning both elbows on the table. It wouldn't be like before, with the Grimm rats. This wasn't poison that burned you up and tried to eat your soul out from the inside. It wasn't. She closed her eyes to concentrate, her heart pounding in her chest.
Yang had always made aura sharing look easy. Her aura was warm, sunshine-y gold that seemed to pour off of her as thick and easy as honey. Ruby had to focus hers, imagine gathering it all up in her hands and holding it, letting it warm its way into Weiss. The fencer's aura was a sharp thing, delicate, fragile, and Ruby's was clumsy and bright and she felt wary that Weiss might jerk awake and yell at her for not knowing how to do this right.
Cyan stood, her hands on the back of Curtis's chair. They both watched as the crimson glow of the younger girl's aura extended to the gravely injured heiress.
After a few moments, Curtis lifted the cloth from Weiss's shoulder. The mangled bite showed, still angry and red, but it no longer seeped blood. He dripped another few drops from one of the cups into the girl's mouth, and this time she cringed. Her aura burned white.
Ruby's hands locked around Weiss's. All at once, she couldn't breathe. It felt like she was getting turned inside-out, but she couldn't do anything about it. The heiress's open wound glowed a hot-pink mix of the two girls' auras.
As abruptly as it started, the glow faded and Ruby was released. She jerked back, legs tangling with her chair as she tried to stand.
Curtis fumbled with cups and bandages while Cyan moved to catch Ruby, "Are you alright?"
"Yeeee-ow... that kinda hurt," she rubbed her head. Her vision swam and her words felt mushy and strange in her mouth, "What happened?"
"Here, Curt."
"Iron and Dust, I'm sorry. I've got her."
Strong arms helped Ruby sit down on the tile floor. She grimaced and spat as Cyan rubbed her face with a cloth. There was a coppery taste in her mouth, "Am I bleeding?"
"Your nose. Yes," Cyan continued to wipe her down while Curtis continued to apologize.
"I don't feel so great," Ruby slurred. She pulled her gaze up to the rust-stained sheet spilling over the edge of the table, "Is Weiss...?"
There was an odd ringing in her ears and she couldn't quite understand what Cyan said. Ruby felt hot and sick all of a sudden and shut her eyes against the blackness creeping up on her. Deep breaths. Okay, deep breaths.
For a handful of seconds, she was lost in a dark place, no sight, no sound but that awful, high-pitched ringing.
Then the ringing and the sick feeling abated. When it had all drained away, she opened her eyes and saw the cracked and patched plaster ceiling. Her head rested on a stack of folded dishtowels.
Cyan helped her sit up, "Do you feel okay? Can you eat something?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay," Ruby accepted the proffered bread and soft cheese and took a first cautious mouthful, following it with a more enthusiastic second. She hadn't realized how hungry she was. By the time Ruby finished she felt a lot better and sat with both hands braced on the ankles of her combat boots, her red cloak pooled on the floor behind her. "I guess I overdid it."
"It was my fault," Curtis sat sideways in his chair at the table. He leaned his elbows on his knees. "I thought it might help. I didn't expect it to pull so much from you."
Panic caught in Ruby's chest then and she lurched up, grabbing the edge of the table and using it to help her stand.
Weiss lay as she had before, the blankets pulled up to her collar. Her white hair was still an unwashed mess, streaked dark red. Her eyes were closed. The covers rose and fell softly with her breathing.
She was breathing, though. The skin on her injured shoulder was whole- pink, like a new scar. Ruby collapsed into one of the other chairs at the table, sagging against the back of it with relief.
Curtis moved to examine Yang, who was still out cold on the cot by the wall. Ruby picked herself up and grasped for Crescent Rose on her clip at her back. Blake hadn't come back yet. The windows were shuttered, and the Dust lighting flickered. Ruby started to stand but her knees shook and she dropped back into her seat, elbows braced on the table while the world spun.
Blake would have to be okay on her own for a little while.
A/N: Hang in there Ruby! Do your best out there, Blake! Yang and Weiss, uh... good luck?
Also, by this time next week, Fiercesomest will be here in person for the summer and I'm too excited
Until next time!
HUGS,
Defenestrator