Weiss
I made my way back to the dormitory two hours later. I didn't want to wake Ruby up, but I knew that she'd want to go and see Yang as soon as possible. I opened the curtains with one hand, balancing a sandwich and a bottle of water in the other. Ruby flinched as the room filled with light from the afternoon sun. I smiled to myself as she rolled over, facing the wall. I placed the food and water I had brought for her on the bedside table before placing my hands on my knees and leaning over her.
"Ruby." I called, gently putting my hand on her shoulder. "Ruby, wake up. We need to go and pick up your sister soon." When I got no response I shook her harder. "Ruby!" I called out to her more sternly. All I got was a light groan. Standing up, I sighed with frustration. I put my hands on my hips as I looked down at her. "Ruby!" This time I yelled as loud as I could. She fidgeted around a little, but stayed asleep.
Well now what do I do? I looked around the room, looking for anyway to wake her up. I gazed at the bottle of water for a while, seriously considering dumping it on her head. Next to the water was Ruby's phone; that caught my attention. I picked it up, navigated into the menu and flicked through her contacts. I scrolled down to the letter 'Y', trying to ignore the other names on the list. Using her phone without asking was rude enough, I didn't want to pry too much.
Eventually I reached Yang's name and hit 'Dial'. I put the phone to my ear, pushing Ruby once more with my foot, just to see if it would make any difference. Needless to say, it had no effect at all. Yang picked up on the third ring.
"Hey Ruby, they said they'd send you a message before they discharged me! No need to call, I've still got an hour or two to wait." She spoke quiet cheerily, she must be recovering quickly. Strong auras were great for accelerated healing, and not many people I'd met had a stronger aura than Yang.
"Actually Yang, it's me. Weiss."
"Weiss!" she exclaimed after a brief pause. "Why're you using Ruby's phone? What's wrong? Is she okay? What happened to her?"
"Relax Yang, Ruby's fine. She just had some trouble sleeping last night, and didn't get to sleep until a couple of hours ago. So she's pretty exhausted, and while I know she really needs some rest after last night, I know she'd be devastated if she wasn't there to pick you up."
"And, let me guess, she's not waking up?" Yang knew her little sister well.
"Yes. Exactly," There was a pause on the other end of the line for a few seconds. I heard a resigned sigh before she answered.
"If you go to my bedside table, in the bottom draw, there's an airtight container." I walked over to the bedside table Yang shared with Blake. Hidden at the back of the bottom draw was a large blue container that was filled with chocolate chip cookies.
"Cookies? Really?" I asked.
"Yeah, take one out and reseal the box. Make sure it's properly sealed, or the scent will get out and she'll find them. Snap one in half under her nose and then drop it in front of her. If you don't drop it, you're liable to lose fingers."
"Okay," I replied apprehensively. "Thanks for the tip. I guess we'll see you in an hour or so."
"See you then." The phone clicked as Yang hung up. I put the phone back on the bedside table as I opened the container. I pulled one of the cookies out, sealed the box and replaced it in the drawer.
I walked over to Ruby and leant over the bed again. I dangled the cookie in front of her nose before snapping it in half and dropping it in front of her face. I'm going to have to clean crumbs out of my sheets now, I grumbled to myself. I watched as Ruby's nose twitched. She breathed in deeply, taking in the scent. Her eyes shot open and she jerked her head forward, latching onto the cookie with her teeth. In a flash the entire thing was in her mouth and she was chewing. I looked on in shock as she sat up, looking around chirpily.
Her chewing slowed down as she realised she was in my bed. She looked up at me, meeting my eyes. She dropped her gaze straight away, staring at the bed covers, her cheeks as red as her cape. Oh no, she remembered, I thought. What was going to happen? My heart leapt back to my throat; I was terrified, but tried not to show it.
"Ruby," I said, trying to keep a level voice. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," she replied around a mouthful of cookie, she was still blushing furiously and staring at the covers. "I just had a weird dream, that's all."
Relief flooded through me. She thought it had all been a dream. No awkwardness between us, no resentment, all would be well. I restrained myself from letting out a sigh as the tension left my body.
"Oh," I said, cheering up. "What was it about?" At the very least, I could use this opportunity to tease her without her knowing. I tried to hide the mischievous smile that was spreading across my face, but she still hadn't looked up.
"Nothing," she said, swallowing her cookie. "It was just really… Weird."
"Was it a nice dream?" Some apprehension edged its way back as I asked, I don't know what I'd do if she said it was bad. She laughed lightly.
"It was the best dream I can ever remember having." She looked up at me as she responded. I did my best to hide the shock that was running through me. I felt myself blushing; maybe there was hope for us after all! "But that doesn't mean I'm going to tell you about it!"
"Fair enough, fair enough," I struggled to make my voice sound normal. "I didn't mean to pry."
I started to regret that she thought it was a dream; if she said it was the best dream she'd ever had, then maybe she'd be okay with it actually happening. Should I tell her? But having something happen and dreaming about it are two very different things. She might be okay with imagining it, but she might turn shy and close herself off from me if it had actually happened. I couldn't be sure. I wanted to tell her, I wanted to confess. But I didn't want to push her away by doing so. I just couldn't be sure how it would affect our relationship. And, I decided, until I was sure of her feelings, I'd just let it be. Better the status quo than to lose Ruby.
"Now," Ruby began, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Why am I sleeping in your bed?" I racked my brains, trying to come up with something.
"Uh, well, when I woke up I found you just wandering around. You looked like you were sleep-walking. So I brought you back here and tucked you into my bed rather than try and make you climb up onto yours." It wasn't exactly a lie. It also wasn't exactly true either.
"Sleep walking?" She asked suspiciously. "I've never done that before." I tried to shrug nonchalantly.
"Maybe last night had an unconscious effect on you."
As soon as I mentioned the previous night, Ruby's smiled vanished. I mentally kicked myself.
"Right… Last night." She muttered. I almost reached out to comfort her. "Oh! What time is it? We need to go and get Yang don't we?" I nodded. Almost as if on cue, Ruby's phone vibrated on the bedside table. She snatched it off the table, opening the message. "Wow, speak of the Devil. She's getting out in an hour. We should head to the hospital." I nodded again. I really didn't know what to say.
Ruby leapt out of bed, dashing to get her clothes and get changed. She was strangely full of energy for someone that had only had two hours sleep. I looked on in wonder as she zipped back, dressed and ready to go. I picked up the bottle of water and the sandwich I'd brought her. She gave me her thanks as she tore into the sandwich, leaving the room. I shook my head after her, her exuberance was astonishing. I followed, locking the door behind me.
We made it to the hospital half an hour before Yang was due to be discharged.
"She's going through a last minute check-up. She'll be out once they're finished." The receptionist told us. We thanked her and asked where Blake was being treated. Ruby wanted to visit her before we left. Visiting hours were almost over, so once Yang was discharged we'd have to leave, but we could at least visit her before we picked Yang up. After wandering through the hospital wards and getting lost—Ruby was incredibly good at that—we made it to Blake's room.
We entered quietly, not wanting to make any noise to disturb her rest. Not that it would have had any effect on her, she was still unconscious. We sat next to her bed, looking at her peacefully resting face. Looking at her now, one would think she was just sleeping, rather than in a shock induced coma; the outcome of which could turn her life, and all of ours, upside down.
Ruby sat near the head of the bed, taking Blake's limp hand in her own and bowing her head.
"I'm sorry Blake." She said. "I didn't want it turn out like this. I know that's probably a stupid thing to say, but I'm sorry that it turned out like this. I know Huntresses have to be ready to give their lives to protect others, but you're going to live through this. And when you wake up, you might not be able to be a Huntress anymore. I know you're strong Blake, so I believe you can fight through this, but if something goes wrong… I just want you to know that I'm really sorry." I looked at Ruby, tears in my eyes. She'd been blaming herself this entire time. I dashed the tears away as she looked up. I smiled at her, putting a hand on hers. I knew I shouldn't say anything. Ruby had to deal with this by herself. She was the leader of Team RWBY. As much as I'd want to console her and tell her that it wasn't her fault, the welfare of her teammates was ultimately her responsibility. I wasn't going to insult her by trying to take that away from her.
She smiled back at me, dashing away her own tears. We sat in silence for a few minutes longer, watching Blake sleeping peacefully. A bell went off, signalling the end of visiting hours. Ruby led the way out of the ward, back through the hospital to the waiting room. Almost as soon as we sat down, Yang came down the hallway, the nurse we'd talked to last night at her side. She nodded at him repeatedly while he talked to her; probably telling her what not to do while she recovered.
She left the nurse at the reception desk when she signed herself out and came over to us. We got out of our seats as she approached, Ruby ran up to Yang to grab her into a hug. I could see Yang smiling over Ruby's shoulder, she was just as glad to see Ruby as Ruby was to see her. I stood a few metres away, feeling slightly awkward. Eventually they broke apart, walking back to where I was standing.
"I'm glad to see you're okay Yang." I said politely.
"Thanks Weiss. And thanks for looking after this little red ball of trouble last night." She grinned, patting Ruby on the head. Ruby pouted and glared up at Yang, looking every part the adorable little sister. I raised my hand to my face, covering a giggle.
"No trouble at all," I said. "Everything was fine." I turned around hurriedly as I felt my cheeks grow warm. "Shall we head back?"
"Wait," Yang said. "I wanted to visit Blake before we left…"
"Sorry Yang, visiting hours just ended. We'll have to come back tomorrow." Ruby said. I turned back around. Yang's face was a picture of disappointment.
"Well did they tell you if she'd be okay?" she asked, clearly very concerned. Ruby and I exchanged worried looks. Where would we even begin?
"The nurses didn't tell you?" Ruby asked her.
"They said they didn't want to worry me and that I needed to relax. But I don't care, I need to know how she is."
"Well," Ruby began, her voice thick with trepidation. "She's going to pull through. One of the nurses told us last night that she'll wake up after a few days' rest, maybe a week."
"But?" Yang could clearly hear that Ruby was hiding something. Her voice sounded too worried for it to be all good news. Tears began welling up in her eyes as she tried to find the words.
"But she's suffering from what they call 'aura shock'." I stepped in. Ruby was going through enough; I wouldn't make her explain it to Yang. "She'll definitely survive, and with enough rest she'll wake up just fine. But she has a fifty-fifty chance of never recovering her aura again." Yang gaped at me in shock. Ruby burst into tears. I had to fight the urge to wrap my arms around her. I stood before Yang, prepared to take whatever would come.
"W-w-what?" she stuttered. "S-she could lose her aura!" I put my arms behind my back, straightening myself up.
"That's right. They don't know that much about it, but as far as they know, having a stronger aura or better control over it will increase your chances of recovering. So, Blake has a better chance than most people." Yang was too shocked to say anything. She slumped into a chair, resting her arms on her knees and hanging her head.
"But…" she muttered. "Then she won't be able to a Huntress. She'll have to leave the team, give up her dreams." Ruby sat next to Yang, tears running down her cheeks. I sat on Ruby's other side, gently rubbing her back.
"I'm sorry Yang, it's all my fault." Ruby sobbed. Yang's head jerked up, looking at her sister cry. She raised a hand to comfort her, but hesitated. After a second she slowly lowered it, looking at the ground again.
"It's not all your fault Ruby. She just got caught by surprise. I was sure I'd knocked the thing down before we tried to get out, but it got up faster than we both thought. You might have ordered her to stay, but what went on in that factory was on us. Don't beat yourself up over it." She straightened in her chair, wrapping an arm around Ruby's shoulders. She rested her head on top of Ruby's. "Okay, little sis'? I don't blame you for it, and I'm sure Blake won't either."
Ruby nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. She sniffed, smiling up at Yang.
"Thanks Yang." She said, returning her elder sister's hug, wrapping both her arms around Yang. After a minute or so, Yang pulled herself out of Ruby's arms.
"I need to see her." She declared, standing up.
"You can't Yang," I pointed out. "Visiting hours are over. You'll have to wait until tomorrow." Yang faltered, realising I was right. "Don't cause a fuss," I continued. "I know how badly you want to see her, but just let her rest for now; it's the best thing for her." I relaxed as Yang nodded reluctantly, giving up. She turned to help Ruby to her feet as I stood up.
As a group, we made our way to the door, leaving the hospital—and our last companion—behind. The sun began to set behind us as we made our way back to Beacon, none of us in any mood to go to the festival.