Little bit shorter than the last one.
Dragging herself up the porch steps, the heiress glanced worriedly to the side at her leader and partner. While the huntress had become silent since her return, she seemed more so after the incident following their dinner. Which doesn't make much sense because throughout the several hours they had spent together, the red huntress had only said, like, four words. Letting out an internal sigh, the white-haired maiden reached for the door. Her hand was stopped two centimeters from the door handle by a delicate hand with a firm grip on her upper wrist. Taking her hand away from the handle, she shifted her weight to her right leg while extending her left out at a slight angle. She was tired and full of all sorts of emotions, nothing was more appealing than a good night's rest. With a roll of the eyes, her head cocked to the right and an eyebrow raised in annoyance and questioning. Instantly, she felt herself being pulled into that strangely endearing silver whirlpool. Afraid of being too drawn in, she huffed in her diminishing annoyance and performed yet another roll of the eyes. Steeling herself for another silent struggle against the wonderfully, hypnotic eye; centering, the eyes regained their natural position. Black half-mask with red splotches and a silver eye took up the icy-blue irises' vision. So close. Blood rose to her fair cheeks, staining them pink. Preoccupied with the numbing proximity, Weiss didn't notice the red cloak being stripped off her shoulders. A nightly gust of wind reminded her of the chill in the moonlit atmosphere. Instinctively, her hands reached for the cloak, but found her own shoulders. Fading as it was, the blush painted her cheeks once more. Refocusing on her surroundings, Weiss saw that Ruby had just donned her cloak once more and went for the door. A breath escaped the White Snow, she had been holding her breath. The mountain of emotions she was previously feeling only got taller. One of the new additions, disappointment.
What had she been expecting? A sudden romantic kiss under the moonlight? That's aggravatingly unrealistic to think given the situation Ruby is in, neuro-chemically damaged, no emotion, void of life. Even before the tragedy, it was incredibly unlikely that dunce would kiss her. A frown creased her features. Not in sadness, but confusion or intrigue. What had happened to Ruby? Maybe somebody should ask, but now is time for a week-long nap.
Sunlight broke through the ivory blinds. It sprinkled it's vibrant sparkles on the black pillow atop the red bed. Finding no eyes to blind. She was already up. She's been up. Once again, sleep had evaded her. Perhaps by subconscious choice. The leaded feeling in her eye was infinitely more welcome than the terrors that plagued her vulnerable mind. Staring at herself in the mirror above her dresser, she saw the scars, the void… the cover. Calloused fingers ghosted across the fabric. Teeth clenched, but no other action showed the tiniest hint of anger hidden somewhere in the abused mind. Stifled, a yawn presented itself, breaking the moment of self-loathing. Taking one last look at herself, Ruby turned towards the untouched bed. Sleep. Violent shaking of head. Sleep. Resignation. Having lost the battle with herself, the Reaper crawled onto the bed. Bothering not with the silken sheets, she would be awake sooner than necessary. Besides, they would only strangle her as she clawed for freedom. Asleep before her head even touched the pillow, evidence of her tiredness obviously presented. It's been days since she slept more than a few hours, months since she slept peacefully.
"Did either of you get anything out of her?" concern evident on the older sister's face.
"No, we talked a bit, but it wasn't even small talk." cat ears drooped.
"She didn't talk about what happened to me either, though let's be honest, none of us even asked her." sighing, Weiss took a sip of her tea. Cold. The three concerned members of team RWBY had been roused from their sleep by the same feeling. Worry. Having been caught awake by each other, they decided to have a bit of a seminar concerning their leader. It was a thoughtful effort, but it led to nowhere. "I'm going to get ready for work now." Scraping against the floor, the chair was pushed back from the table allowing the exhausted heiress to stand and walk away.
"So, Blake. Got the hots for my little sis? I don't blame ya, she's certainly become quite stunning y'know?" Teeth showing through the upturned lips of the boisterous blonde.
Face flushing red at the sudden, but accurate, interpretation by the blonde. "How did you kn-know?"
The already impressive grin grew, "You just told me." Teasing the faunus further, "I was just randomly throwing something out there. Now I know that the little kitty is crushing on the…" silence finished her statement, the once irritating grin fell on its head. "I miss her. She's here, but she's not alive."
"Me too. We can only help her, she was there for us as our leader, now we need to be there for her." Reverence and reason dripping from the words of the book-loving faunus.
If the brawler were to reply, it was cut off by the appearance of their beloved leader. Hair bedraggled and a light sweat on her face, dark bags hanging from her eyes, face pale and shallow, hands clenched at her sides.
"Ruby!" Yang rushed to her, arms stretching out to wrap the disheveled leader in a sisterly, comforting hug. Wrapping around nothing, the brawler's arms encircled air. A meter to the left was their red Reaper. Normally emotionless eye filled with alarm; epinephrine coursing through her veins, pupil dilated, clenched hands fidgeting.
"Ozpin said not to touch her, I know it's hard, Yang." Trying to ease the pain her partner must be feeling. Rejected from acting as the big sister she is. Watching her baby sister suffer without relief. Heart breaking.
Yang stood frozen in place, arms circled around nothing. Welling up in her eyes, tears threatened to spill over. Why couldn't she help her sister! Why couldn't it have been me! Salty teardrops ran down her face. Shuddering slightly with each silent labored breath. Her arms dropped to her sides, swaying a bit before settling. Footsteps walked in front of her. Faceless arms succeeded in what she attempted, a comforting hug. Sniffling, she looked up and opened her eyes. Blake was not the one hugging her. Strawberry. The tears slowed to just a few choked breaths before ultimately dying all together. Hesitantly, she lifted her arms and gingerly wrapped them around the comforting Rose. Holding only tight enough for her touch to be felt, so if wanted, the Reaper could break away. She didn't. A shutter of a camera sounded. Looking away from her embracer, Yang saw Blake just putting her scroll away, a grin on her face. Eyes narrowing, Yang gave a threatening look, which was countered with a tongue sticking out. Arms left her body, the delicate Rose was finished with her comforting ministrations. Regretfully, the blonde let go.
Ruby had gotten a glass and was filling it with some tap water. Raising it to her lips, she hungrily gulped down the liquid. A breath was taken. Hurriedly filling the glass once again, she just as hurriedly downed the liquid. Satisfied, she turned the handle, shutting off the water. The entire time, Blake had been watching, concern written on her features.
"Nightmares." Slipping out of her mouth, Blake knew the sensation all too well, and had been pondering over Ruby's actions. The cloak-clad girl froze, a nod of her head. "You have nightmares?" confirming just in case it was a coincidence. Another nod. Sympathy replaced the concern on the cat faunus's face. "If you want to t-"
"No point." Glancing over her shoulder, her body following the action. Now facing the two concerned teammates, "Words cannot undo the atrocities I witnessed. Words cannot ease the pain. Words. Cannot. Fix. Me."
"I understand, perhaps a hug then?" suggested the B of RWBY, a faint blush on her cheeks. Little did she know, a grinning blonde was behind her, silently rooting for her. A silver eye gazed into amber ones. It glanced at the floor, then the hallway behind them, finally settling once more on the amber ones. It slowly approached. Extended arms at the ready for relief and warmth. Hesitantly, the leader stepped into them and was encompassed. Another camera shutter. Rolling her eyes, Blake focused on the more important task. Putting as much love and care into the simply, comforting action. Perhaps they could help Ruby.
Breaking the hug, the red-oriented huntress stepped away. Emotionless once more. She sidled past the secretly disappointed faunus.
Yawning for what has to be the hundredth time since arriving, the heiress groaned out her frustration. Regretfully, she looked at the piles of paperwork in her basket. Leaning back in her chair, her head tilted to look at the ceiling. How could she focus when her love was suffering?! Thirteen minutes ago, the brutish blonde informed Weiss that their leader had admitted to having nightmares. Well I can't help her if I'm here, guess I'll just push away my drowsiness and get work done. Rubbing her eyes, she leant forward and began the mundane task that was managing. She had just finished going through her second document when there was a knock on her door, followed by her secretary entering. A Brunette with an average build, dressed in a casual suit vest and pencil skirt. She had two dog ears on her head.
"There's a phone call from an anonymous number wishing to speak with you miss. He won't give a name, but he says he knows what happened to Red. Do you wish for me to hang up?"
"No, I'll take it. Thank you, Carah." Red was what Torchwick called Ruby. If he knows, maybe he can help her recover by telling her. The office phone rang.
"You're quite hard to get a hold of White." The voice said.
"What's wrong with Ruby." Her tone was icy and threatening. Using her partner as bait would simply not be tolerated.
"Right. You probably already know she's been tortured." His once light attitude replaced with a more serious one. "Apparently, she had been captured by some wannabe terrorist group. They're dead now."
"Why would they want Ruby?"
"Supposedly, those silver eyes of hers are fabled to be incredibly powerful. Like, make Grimm cower, powerful. They wanted to see if they could somehow use them in their quest for domination." His tone becoming increasingly mocking. "Of course, they needed an experiment, so they took one. That mask she wears? That's to cover the hole." it took a shift to a more aggressive stance. "When they couldn't get it to work, they decided to torture her. Hence the trauma and scars. Now, Red didn't know anything, so she couldn't answer. In turn, the torture got worse and worse. One of the methods they did was inject her with an intense painkiller, beat her to an inch of her life, then injected her with a drug which increases sensitivity. The pain came flooding in all at once." Disgust was evident now.
"How do you know all this?" on the inside, she wanted to vomit but her voice was calm.
"Neo broke her out."
"Neo? Like, your accomplice Neo? The one that nearly killed her sister and her?"
"Well, yeah. That's the only Neo."
"Why would she do that?"
"She has a thing for pretty women. Especially those that can beat her in a fight. Which, I guess, Red technically did, and so Neo is totally- Ow! Ok, ok, sorry. Eesh. Yeah, just, Neo broke her out."
"Why are you telling me? Why should I believe you?"
"When I saw her that night. I would've died if you didn't show up. So, this is my repaying you. You're welcome. As for believing me, well, I don't have a reason for that. Hey, listen, take care of her will ya? She… she doesn't deserve what what she's going through. Alright?" He hung up.
Hanging up her own phone, Weiss once again leaned back in her chair. Icy eyes glanced at the pile of work. Then her phone. The door. Sighing, she stood up, her leader was more important than her company.
As always, thanks for reading. Have a nice day.