Yeah, I got nothing to say.
Nine students were missing from the roster Monday. Two full teams and the one remaining from the third. All of JNPR, RWBY, and what was left of CMSN were seated in the waiting room of Beacon's medical wing. Ruby was out of surgery, and awake.
A doctor came out into the waiting room. Crimson was the first to rise to his feet, followed closely behind by Weiss. The heiress hadn't slept at all over the weekend, her appearance could only be described as haggard. Instead of her hair pulled off-center, being neat and combed, she instead had it pulled back, into a messy ponytail, stray hairs frayed out in all directions. Same could be said for the elder huntsman.
"She's awake right now."
Blake asked, "How is she?"
The doctor answered, "She's going to be okay. However," Weiss's heart sank when she heard that, her breath hitched a little as well. "The Beowolf's claws did a lot more damage than we originally anticipated. While we've done all we could, and she is expected to make a full recovery, there will be some scarring. If you want to see her now, you may." That was it? Some scars? That doesn't seem so bad. Weiss, herself, had a scar along her eye, something that she can't really cover up without horrendous amounts of makeup. All Ruby would have to do is… well, wear a shirt that doesn't reveal her belly.
Which, in Weiss's personal opinion, wasn't THAT much of a loss.
Yang, Blake, and Crimson walked ahead, tailed by JNPR. Weiss, however, ran. Turning into the room, she was caught off guard by the sight beheld: a Ruby that was devoid of her natural joviality. What little color that should have been present on the girl's face was gone, and the light in her silver eyes was gone, leaving them a dull gray. They locked onto Weiss the moment she walked in, only for them to fall to the blanket covering her legs.
To see her in such a state made Weiss's heart ache. "Ruby…" She started.
Droplets could be seen forming on the blanket and when the girl looked up, she saw that the team leader was crying. "Weiss…" She choked out.
"I'm so happy that you're okay." Weiss rushed to the girl's side, resting a hand on her shoulder. She would've hugged her if it meant that the stitches wouldn't have teared.
The others walked in soon after. "Hey there, Ruby. How ya feeling?" Yang asked, kneeling at the other side of the bed.
"Like crap." Yang let out a dry laugh as JNPR filled into the room. "Hey guys."
Jaune, standing between Pyrrha and Nora, stated, "We all glad to hear you're okay. We were so worried."
There they were again. The tears. They spilled down onto the blanket again, this time in a greater quantity. What was wrong?
Weiss just wanted to hold Ruby close, to tell her it was going to be okay. To kiss her, and love her. But, she wasn't sure if the girl in the red hood felt the same way. So, that's why she brought her cloak. It wasn't the exact same one that Ruby was wearing when it happened. That one was covered in… in her…
Weiss couldn't even finish the thought. It scared her too much. The idea that Ruby had come so close to dying that day, and that she did nothing to save her. There was still the question, however.
"What's wrong?" Blake asked, standing beside Yang on the other side of the wounded girl.
She was sobbing now, and in between heaving breaths, she managed to put out, "Every… thing… it's just… too much!"
And that, right there, caused Weiss to join her in tears.
It was like staring into a mirror, almost. It was just that the reflection he saw still had a team. A team for someone to cry over. A team to cry over them. But, it was a reflection nonetheless. And it scared the shit out of Crimson.
Looking over to the blonde and his team, Crimson politely asked them, "Can we have the room? We need to have a talk." Jaune just nodded, and led Pyrrha, Nora, and… wasn't it Ren? Yeah, that's it. Ren. He led them out of the room, Ren closing the door behind him. When he heard the door latch, the young man in red turned around to face the crying team leader. "What's going through your mind, right now?"
"I… I almost died."
"But you didn't. You're alive. You're here. That's all that matters right now."
He was expecting her to not listen at all to what he was saying, anticipating having to restate what he said in an attempt to get through to the panicking girl. Ruby caught him off guard by asking, "What was it like? When you got those scars. What happened?" She pointed directly at his chest, referring to the long, ragged claw marks that marred his torso.
He took a deep breath in. "It… was an Ursa. Tore about two centimeters into me." He opened his mouth to continue, when he was cut off by Yang.
"I don't think she needs to hear this right now." She knew where this was going. While he didn't
"Quite the contrary, I believe that this is exactly what she needs to hear." And so, Crimson continued. "You're the lucky one of us, Miss Rose."
Ruby's face scrunched up at that, her brow furrowed. Weiss sat up from her nestled position to look at the perturbed girl. "How am I the lucky one?!" she snapped, indicating to her bandaged stomach. "I will have permanent scars. I will be out of the field for weeks! I have a team to lead!"
"You are lucky because you at least have a team. You were lucky that there were others with you when it happened. When I got these scars…" There they were again. The memories. He hated having to relive them. "I didn't have a team to carry me to safety. I had to drag myself to the extraction point." His hands were shaking, breathing becoming unsteady. Until Yang rested a comforting hand on his shoulder, and suddenly, his heart rate calmed. It was strange how the blonde beauty was able to do that. He needed to change to topic anyway. "Hey, Ruby, for what it's worth… I'm sorry. I should have seen the Grimm coming for you. I was too slow and I was distracted. That's why you got hurt. And I'm sorry. But, you survived, Miss Rose. Remember that."
The following day, Crimson ate away from RWBY, deciding to let the four girls be alone for once during their meals. And since Ruby is still in the hospital, the three that weren't decided to eat alongside their wounded leader. And so, the lone huntsman made his way to the cafeteria that Tuesday. His usual red coat swaying slightly as he walked down the halls, Timepiece strapped to his belt, and his long hair pulled back into a ponytail.
Crimson found Team JNPR seated at their normal spot. While he never really talked much with them, he did think they were nice. Most of the time, however, he ate with CFVY. Or at least, Velvet. The bunny girl was an especially close friend to him, one of the few faunus at Beacon that doesn't hide who they are. Unlike that Blake.
There was something about that girl that was just… off-putting. Anyway, after he grabbed a tray of food, he plopped down next to Team JNPR. The sudden force of his seating made the blonde leader of jump slightly. "W-woah, hey there… uuuum?"
"Crimson, Crimson Harrison," the older boy said. "Jaune, right?"
"Yeah." He nodded, then noticed the red orbs looking at him. "Woah, what's with your…?"
"I'm a quarter bat," Crimson answered plainly.
"Right, okay. That's cool." He was nervous.
"Something wrong?"
"No, it's just…" he turned to the boy with pink highlights in his hair. "Ren, help me out here."
"We just don't really meet a lot of faunus." He paused. "How's Ruby?"
"She's doing okay. Still a little jarred from the whole experience. I can't really blame her, though." Silence. "So, tell me a little about yourselves. I've only heard a few things about you from Coco."
"Like what?" Clearly he was nervous if the fashionista gossiped about him.
She did. But, Crimson knew better than to talk of those sorts of things. "Like how you're the kind-hearted team leader." Who is oblivious to Pyrrha's feelings for him and probably doesn't even know by which end to hold a sword. "You, Miss Nikos, are the humble powerhouse of the team, able to take on almost any opponent you're faced with." And who is too chicken to ask out Jaune.
Heh, can take on four people at once, but can't ask out probably the nicest guy in the entire school.
"And what about me?!" The orange-haired girl asked, standing up out of her seat.
Crimson chuckled at the enthusiasm he was met with. "Well, Miss Valkyrie, as Coco put it, 'the girl seems like she chugs espresso every four hours and can break boulders with just her thighs.'"
"Weeeelllll, not boulders… BUT! I did manage to do this thing with a watermel-"
"Nora," Ren interjected calmly, cutting the energetic girl off.
"Ah, yes. As for you, she simply said you were a man of few words, always the calm and collected one. Always focused." Albeit not on the things that matter. Because judging solely on the way Nora is staring at Ren at that moment spoke volumes about how the girl really felt about him.
After this slightly more in-depth analysis of JNPR, Crimson had come to this conclusion. It is a team of oblivious boys and love-struck girls. The poor bastards.
Jaune swallowed his mouthful of mashed potatoes, before saying, "So… you've been hanging out with Team RWBY for a while now."
"Yes, why?"
"Well… it's just that…"
He was tiptoeing around something. "Spit it out, already."
The blonde was caught off guard by the demand, but obliged anyway. "Do you know if Weiss is seeing anyone?" Not at all what Crimson was expecting. Weiss? He honestly could not understand why someone like Jaune would be attracted to someone like her. Besides, it was clear that she like Ruby. He wasn't the only one caught off guard by the question, as he noticed the downcast gaze of the spartan, now boring holes through her sandwich.
It was at this point that Crimson decided to intervene. Looking directly at Jaune, he said plainly, "You're a fucking idiot."
This got everyone's attention. "I… I'm sorry?"
"I didn't stutter and I know you heard me clearly. You. Are. An. Idiot. For two reasons!" He held up two fingers. "Number one: Weiss. Is gay. Number TWO: PYRRHA!" Here it comes. "Likes you! But, you're too much of an idiot to see things for what they are." It was at this point that Crimson noticed Pyrrha turn a shade similar to that of her hair, now her eyes locked onto bench on which she sat. Jaune was left speechless, while even Ren's jaw dropped at the events that were unfolding before him. The elder huntsman pointed directly at the redhead. "Do you deny such a statement?"
She just shook her head. "P-pyrrha! You… actually like me?"
Beyond the blonde, Crimson spotted something that he deemed to be a more pressing issue: Velvet and Team CRDL.
The leader, Cardin, was pulling on Velvets ears.
That boy had a bit of an attitude, and a problem with faunus. That needs to be fixed. Standing up from his seat, but leaving his food where it was, Crimson said, "I'll leave you to sort this out yourselves, there is something that demands my attention."
The way he moved through the cafeteria spelled danger as he fumed quietly. He quickly stowed his annoyance as he came upon Cardin's 'fun'. "Greetings, Miss Scarlatina, Mr. Winchester. This seems like a good bit of fun." Cardin's hand released from the girl's ear and he rose from his slouched spot next to Velvet.
"A faunus that picks on other faunus? Alright!"
Crimson's gaze swept from the mousy girl seated before him to bully that disgraced his presence. "You misunderstand me, Mr. Winchester," Crimson said menacingly, unsheathing a knife located on his rear. Flipping it around, he hooked the tip into the cartilage at the top of his ear. "I meant the act looked fun, not who you victimized." Cardin let out a cry of pain that made the entire cafeteria go quiet. Sneering, the huntsman in red decided to have a little bit more fun, and begun to move his arm side to side, forcing Cardin to move side to side as well, lest his ear be sliced open. "Everyone loves a good marionette!" He picked up the pace of his swaying for a moment, making Cardin's movements more panicked. People began to laugh at him, and that seemed like as good a note to leave off of as any. Removing the knife from the terrified boy's ear, Crimson stated, "I will not see you or your racist team in this cafeteria for the next two weeks. Two weeks of eating in peace for my dear friend, Miss Scarlatina, and any associated with her. Do I make myself clear?" Cardin simply nodded, clutching his ear. "Good, now get out."
"T-thanks, Crimson," the bunny girl said. "But, you didn't have to do that."
He just shrugged. "Maybe not, but it felt damn good to do. Enjoy your lunch." With that, he returned to his seat among Team JNPR, who were all slack jawed at what just transpired.
"Not a leg-breaking, but I'll take it!" Well, almost all of them.
"You must be a bit more creative in your punishment of those who wish ill will upon you." Taking in a spoonful of the soup that was beginning to get cold, he said, "Now, have you two," He pointed his spoon at the leader and the spartan. "Got yourselves sorted?"
Jaune smiled as brightly as Pyrrha did when he said, "We're going on a date tomorrow!"
That made Crimson's day.
Let me know what you all think!