The heiress slowly awoke from inside their tent, her eyelids slowly parting to welcome the new day. Scanning her surroundings, she noticed that she was no longer outside on the ground, but was rather sleeping inside the tent they had brought, most likely due to her partner. No one else was inside the tent with her, and the trio of voices could be heard just outside of the tent, pointless bickering being exchanged between them. The dull gray walls of the tent were reminiscent of a prison, and the colorless sleeping bag felt as useful as an umbrella in a blizzard. Slowly, she forced herself up and to her feet, untangling herself from the maze that was her sleeping bag. Pulling the small rope on the side, it coiled into itself, making it far easier to carry. She stashed it against the back of the tent and crawled out the door, if only in a half awake state. To her right Blake and Yang sat against the base of the tree, backs pressed and guards down while her partner stood just outside the campfire, eyes focused on the horizon. Her back was turned to her partners while she spoke to them, and while it most likely meant nothing, she decided to note it anyways. She slowly picked herself up and returned to her senses before walking back over to her partner, matching her eyes to see if she was looking at anything in particular, which she decided she wasn't. The bickering and chuckling of her other partners was still audible behind her, and it helped to lighten the mood a bit. Even though they were in the middle of a territory so hostile that they all slept with one eye open, they still found a way to make the best of it and laugh. Maybe one day she could find it in herself to do the same. She gave her partner a quick tap on the shoulder, which was met in return with a quick jolt and an alarmed expression. She allowed herself a smile and waited for her partner to slow her breathing before asking any questions. Her partner bent over and placed her elbows against her knees and buried her face in her palms to hide her embarrassment.
"Good morning Weiss" the younger girl greeted awkwardly as she rose back to her feet, the pitched noises of her breathing still hung in her ears. "How'd you sleep?"
"I felt like I was sleeping on a rock, but I appreciate the effort" she replied with a quick shrug, kicking her foot around in the early morning dew. She hadn't seen a morning as beautiful as this is quite some time now that she thought about it.
"Oh, you did? Yeah, sorry about that." Ruby said with a quick flick of her head to the ground. She quickly returned her head to its normal position, a tint of red apparent in her cheeks. As hard as she tried to cover her emotions, she really wasn't that good at it.
"I really do appreciate the effort though. It was certainly better than sleeping on rock if that comforts you in any way. Anyways, what exactly are you doing over here? Shouldn't you be hanging around with your sister like you always are?"
"I just felt like looking around the forest in the morning. Everything just seems so much prettier than it does from the cliffs at night. And besides, Blake is hanging around with Yang. I don't want to get in the way of them" her partner announced with a tint of disgust. Weiss furrowed her brows towards her partner in a mix of confusion and loss. Ruby was never the one to get mad, especially not at her sister.
"I'm afraid that you have lost me. Is there a problem with them? You seemed to be on good terms with them last night from what I could tell." she shot a quick look behind her shoulder, noticing their proximity to the two, but they were so caught up in each other that they most likely couldn't hear them for the time being. "If anything, I thought that you'd be happy for them."
Her partner gave a quick huff of breath before turning her head to face her sister and the final member of their team. She gave one more quick huff and turned her attention back to the heiress
"Hey Weiss, what do you think about them? I mean, as a couple." The younger girl asked with a hushed voice, uncertain and insecure. Her expression was twisted, a mix between curiosity and what could only be described as disgust. The normal silver eyes that exploded with naive leadership now held darker intentions, twisted and narrowed. She watched as her eyes scanned her body, examining her in a way that could only make her feel uncomfortable. She didn't know what had gotten into her partner, but she knew that she didn't want it to stay.
"I don't see anything wrong with it. They get along well enough and they're still our partners, so yeah, I'm good with it. Why do you seem so against it?" She replied with a twist of interest, realizing that she was able to bend the situation to fit her own needs and desires. Maybe if she could find out exactly what her partner was thinking, she could make sense of her feelings.
"Its not that I don't like them as partners, don't get me wrong" she replied quickly waving her hands towards her partners like she was trying to ward off a ghost. "But it's just the thought of it that makes me feel weird. You don't find it weird that two women can love each other?"
It was snow the heiress's spot in the detectives seat. Thoughts phased in and out of her mind as she tried to form an answer that could hint something, anything to her partner without downright admitting it. Words scrambled around in a jumbled mess inside her head, forming incoherent phrases. She fumbled on her own thoughts, and for the first time in her memory, no words came to mind.
"Ummmm, Weiss? Are you still there? The tent looks nice and all, but I don't think it likes you staring at it that way." Her partner replied with a small giggle before adding "Speaking of the tent. Maybe we should start taking it down. Beacon is still quite the walk away you know. Don't want to make you sleep out in the cold again." Ruby turned her back on her partner and paced towards the tent, a smile back on her face. The heiress could do nothing more than stomp her foot and huff at her partners remark, getting a chuckle back in response.
"I'll have you know that I quite enjoyed sleeping out in the cold last night. As a huntress, it is expected of me to be able to do such a thing on a daily basis and I do not need to sleep in the intricacy of my bed, nor do I" Weiss rambled the brawler yelled across the campsite, snagging her attention
"Hey Princess, we get it. Now can you just calm it down for a minute? We won't see anything as beautiful as this for quite a while." She asked with a flicking of her index finger past the face of the heiress, never shifting her eyes. She traced the finger of her the brawler with her eyes, before encountering a sight she had yet to see in her years at Beacon. Her breath hitched in her throat as she adjusted her body into a more comfortable position to observe it for longer. Directly in front of her spanned a resplendent sunset, intertwining patterns of red and white.
Several hours from Beacon Cliffs,
Team RWBY
The trek through the forest continued for hours on end, stopped only by the occasional Beowulf or twitching of a bush or shrub. Their lack of proper sleep the past night was clearly beginning to weigh down on them with a force immeasurable. The sagging of shoulders, stumbling of footsteps, delayed reaction times and occasional slip on a log were among the signs that the team was displaying. Even the Faunus was seeming off, dark bags forming beneath her eyes. The sun now hung directly overhead, blazing down on them with the full heat of the fall. The walls of Beacon academy seemed to get closer and closer with every step they took towards it, but with every step forward, the driving force they all seemed to hold at the start of yesterday chipped further and further away, as the heat does to ice.
Ruby was trying her hardest to keep herself up, fiddling with the device she used to communicate with Syndra in her hands, tossing it back and forth. She was doing the best of hiding her fatigue, but she could feel it pulling her to the earth, and every time she placed her foot forward, the temptation got larger and larger. She kept shooting glances back to her sister and her partner, placing their weight on each other, carrying each other together, looking fully content while they did it. Behind her, the heiress struggled to continue on, her eyes blinking at an abnormal rate. She pulled her pack in front of her, struggled to remove her canteen from it, and with several tugs, succeeded. She tossed the bottle back to her partner, who barely saw it coming. Her hands fumbled to catch the object, before she finally managed to succeed, ripping the top off and downing the remainder of the water that remained, before looking up with content.
"Thank you." She said quickly, before replaced the cap and tossing it back with a small underhand, watching the younger girl catch the bottle before speaking. "I ran out last night. I fear as though I'm getting heat exhaustion. Ruby shot back a quick smile as she slowed her pace, falling in line with her partner. They walked side by side, occasionally swiping the sweat from their brows, but remaining silent. She repeatedly shot glances over to her partner, observing the way that the younger girl would swipe her hair away from her eyes or run her tongue over her parched lips. Despite her best efforts to ignore the thoughts that were entering her mind, she couldn't help but think of the taste of what those lips would taste like, or brushing her hair out of her eyes. As she was about to speak up, she was interrupted by the sudden sound of automatic gunfire, the sounds of the dust propelled shells rippling through the blistering heat. The squad came to a sudden stop, trying to figure out what was going on. An attack by Grimm would be more controlled, precise bursts of accurate fire. But instead they simply heard the sounds of bullets whizzing through the air, getting lodged in nearby trees and arching past.
The four began running towards the sound of the gunfire, whilst trying to avoid being seen at the same time. But as they arrived, what they discovered was four troops bearing the insignia they despised the most. The white fang icon was splayed over their backs, the animal masks shading their faces from the rest of the world. Their standard issue stolen assault rifles were aimed at a group of students, who were clearly on the defensive side. But as they rapidly approached the gunfight, they noticed why the fight was going so one sided. The mocha skinned girl with a head of green hair and her partner, and Mercury. They were caught up in the middle of the fight, bombarding the team with constant barrages of attacks, unspoken coordination bouncing between them.
Team RWBY made quick looks to each other before drawing their weapons, and despite the distance they began charging in, letting lose semi-accurate gunfire and magic barrages. Upon noticing this, the white fang turned away, insisting on retreating. But as they did, Mercury dug a cheap kick into the hip of what could only be considered the leader, blasting himself into the air, while launching the student into the earth, flipping over several times before coming to rest face down, not returning to his feet. Ruby had to make a quick decision, whether to chase down the white fang or help the injured student. She heaved in frustration as she dug the blade of crescent rose into the ground, easing off rounds into the running attackers, but the bullets did little to slow them down as they outmaneuvered the rounds, which merely dug into the earth with small puffs of earth. Team RWBY watched as the assailants shot off and ran over to the unconscious student, who was still face down on the scarred earth. A quick run over of the remainder of his squad revealed a crying girl, maybe a year older than the youngest of their own group, and two more boys, whose shock covered features brought a sinking feeling to their stomachs. As they arrived, Ruby quickly rushed over and pulled down the hem of his pants, revealing the wound. A trail of blood streamed down the side of his hip, which was currently swelling to abnormal sizes. She placed her pack on the ground in front of her, removed the communication device, thumbed Syndra's icon, and placed it on the ground.
"Based on the fact that you're calling me right now, I can only assume that something went wrong" came the immediate response of their pilot, the drowsiness still apparent in her voice. "Where do you need me?"
"Just come to the transmitter. Some people just had a run in with some white fang, one of them got shot up pretty bad." She explained, placing pressure on his hip, trying to ease the bleeding that was only getting worse, and could end up being a problem if she let it keep going on its warpath.
"White fang?" The pilots voice immediately shot up, dropping the drowsiness. "What are the white fang doing so close to Beacon? Not even the suicidal ones are that stupid. Stray too far from base or what?"
"Right now, I don't know. But all I can tell is that the white fangs ties in Beacon are a little bit deeper than those guys on that cliff." The young girl explained as she fumbled around in her bag for something to press on the wound, settling with an older sweater, before fumbling it onto his hip and pressing.
"Guys on the cliff? Ruby, what are you talking about?" Came the confused voice on the other end of the line, her fumbling to get dressed apparent. "Who was on what cliff?"
"Just get here. I'll explain later." Ruby finished as she fingered the end transmission button and made sure the transponder was still enabled. Chucking it away into the grass, she looked around. The semi-wooded area would be good enough for Syndra, but if it wasn't, she could always just air-relieve them. It would take a little longer, but it would be good enough. They only needed to get him back anyway. She flipped him over, and reeled back in shock. His skin had gone ghostly pale, inhumane.
"Weiss! He's not looking very good!" She yelled, confusion and shock reeling through her body. While he had suffered minimal blood loss, it was nothing that would cause him to go this pale. Mercury had pulled a fast one on them, and someone might die because of it. The heiress ran over, surprise hitting her features, but vanishing as fast as it had appeared. She crouched down beside her partner, placing the back of her hand to the forehead of the young boy. She then moved her fingers over to his throat, before lifting his chin and placing her head next to his mouth.
"Ruby, something is really wrong here. Move out of the way" She deadpanned as she moved beside his body, placing her hands over his chest and beginning compression, counting silently as she did so. She wore a visage of determination, oblivious to the world around her.
"He's... He's going to be alright isn't he?" Asked the scared voice of the girl that had been engaged with the white fang, her face paling as she looked at his limp body. She searched the face of the young leader, seeking solace that she couldn't find. Tears began pouring down her face as she collapsed onto her knees before driving her fists into the ground, compacting the dampened earth.
Blake seemed to be suffering from the same fate, drilling herself into her partner, head buried in the shoulder of her partner who was slowly stroking her hair, cooing her partner as she wept away. Blake was always the one of the group to get emotionally attached, using Yang as her rock.
Suddenly, the man awoke, body lurching up, causing Weiss to nearly flip over as she backed off, before he began screaming in agonizing pain, hands being drawn to his hip. The heiress quickly chucked her white bag to her partner, before grabbing the man by the shoulders, trying to hold him in place.
"Ruby, he's going into shock! There's a bottle of morphine in the bottom right of the backpack, its white with a blue lid and writing. Grab me two of them" she ordered. "You" she gestured to the young girl on the ground. "Take his hand, try to soothe him. Your voice might be able to calm him down."
The young girl quickly skittered over, grabbing his hand and muttering incomprehensible phrases as Ruby rummaged around the pack, pulling out neatly organized blankets, changes of clothing and dust cartridges until she found a small white bottle. Fumbling around with it, she fumbled it around until she found the writing that confirmed it as morphine, and rapidly unscrewed the lid, dumping the small pills into her hand. She slammed the lid back on and handed the pills over to her partner, who gestured to the other two of her team and muttered the word "water". A bottle of water came flying at the young girl from her sister, whose contents of her backpack were now scattered on the ground. She handed it over to the white haired girl, who quickly jammed the pills in his mouth and tipped the canteen back before jamming his mouth shut and closing his nose, forcing the medication down his throat.
"Do we know how far away Syndra is? This man needs immediate medical attention." The heiress asked as the man returned to the ground, the pain killers clearly taking effect. She took his hand in her own and rubbed her thumb up his fingers, pointlessly trying to comfort him. His body continued convulsing, legs flailing against the dampened earth.
"Syndra? Is she one of those people who attacked us earlier?" Asked the still shocked partner between sobs, her partners hand pressed firmly to her chest.
Ruby took the question. "Syndra's our pilot. She's going to come and get him out of here." she replied, all her effort concentrated into keeping her voice somewhat calm. "And she should be minutes out."
The heiress nodded her head, but she knew better than anyone else here. She took in his face, the look behind his eyes, the small smile that had formed in the corner of his lips, and she could tell that he knew it as well.
His heart wouldn't still be beating when they started heading back to Beacon.
Authors notes: Aaaaaaaaaand I did it again didn't I? I need to stop disappearing like this. I have to keep remembering that it isn't just me that likes this story. No excuse again, I'm lazy. ;(
Anyways, the story is taking a bit of a change in direction. Its not going to be all cute and cuddly. It will still have that in it, but I want to make them mature as well. Also, Syndra is going to get a bit of character development. She's essentially a fifth member of the squad, so if you can endure past these two things, thank you. If not, I hope you enjoyed it so far, and I wish you the best of a life that I can, and maybe we'll cross paths again
Also, conflict. Yeah, that's cool. I plan on developing it, and it might spark me back into writing more. Don't know yet.
Yeah, that was also a hint of white rose, just to let you guys know that i still remember ;).
So, what did you guys think? Yay? Nay? Let me know what you think. I also answer PM's if you want to rage at me for vanishing for essentially 4 months. Lets hope it doesn't happen again. Third times the charm right?
Anyways, have a great morning, day, evening, night and take it easy