Ruby felt like someone had just punctured her soul and her aura instinctively flared butthatjustmadeitworsemakeitstopmakeitstop-
Amber screamed as her soul was torn open, her eyes opening for the first time in months. Makeitstopmakeitstop-
Ruby could feel the trace of tears sliding down from her shut eyelids as it begin to flow into the wound she tried to move but was trapped and shewantedtoleave but the pain and responsibility kept her there and she had to be a hero like her mom but her head was splitting open withpainnow-
She could feel herself begin to disappear, and there was nothing she could do as herheadroaredwithpain-
So much was invading her but at the same time was scooping out something and replacing it with emptiness and pieces and a hungerthatgrewmoreandmorestrong and she wantedtofall asleep but she had to be there she knew Weiss was there and they were partners and she had to be a good example as leader and not pass out she had to keep her hand touching the glass-
The hunger that plagued her dreams ebbed away but so was she she was getting colderandcolder and she just wished Yang could give her a warm hug like she always did whenever she was sick but wasaloneanddying-
All she wanted was for her Grandmama to hug her like she always did and make the pain go away like she used to she couldn'tthinkcan'tthink-
She felt the flow begin to ebb as the last of her was torn away but her soul still burned as she was torn to pieces and she wanted to fightitandrejectit and expel it but she couldn't fight it she was being subsumed but she had to stay whole for her team and her family but she wasn't strong… enough…who… was… she…is…so…cold...
/
The first thing she could feel as awareness trickled back to her was a gnawing emptiness. Something was missing, something was wrong, there was a storm underneath her skin that wanted-
"Ruby, are-are you okay?"
The muffled voice broke through her thoughts and she snapped her eyes open. There was a pretty white-haired girl, hand on the glass covering Ruby, tears brimming in her eyes, and - no it was Weiss! Her partner and BFF and someone she really didn't want to see crying!
"Weiss." Her voice was hoarse and it felt like she had swallowed a bunch of rocks.
The glass lifted and Weiss offered her hand to her to lift her out, but Ruby hesitated. She felt the power crackling under her skin, wanting to be released and reunited with its second half she could sense somewhere but at the same time she was just so so cold and wanted any sort of familiarity as her head churned with so many mixed emotions, thoughts, and memories.
She lifted her arm, shivering, and unsteadily clasped Weiss's proffered hand. She was lifted up and brought into a hug which she greedily accepted, closing her eyes and savoring the warmth.
"I hate to interrupt, but Miss Rose I must ask how you are feeling?"
Ruby disentangled herself from Weiss and looked at the headmaster and the man next to him, the… General Ironwood, she'd met him before. Her breath hitched, they were the ones who had torn her soul-
She looked away, trying to look at anything other than the two men in front of her, fists clenched as her head swam and she tried to calm herself. "I'm… okay I think? I can feel the power, I have it, b-but it's so cold and empty! It's not like it used to be a-and my head is just… all confused! I don't-"
She stopped as her eyes landed on the class cover of the life support pod that contained her body that wasn't breathingshewasdead but how was she- No! It was Amber, she had seen her before but whywasshe feeling this-
"Kiddo. I need you to breathe! You gotta calm down."
She felt the reassuring hand of her Uncle Qrow on her shoulder and she looked… down at him? Her breathing slowed and she only now heard the familiar whipping winds of her powers, lifting her up off the ground. In the reflection of the glass burned the flaring pure silver that poured from her left eye.
"I'm here for ya, just focus on me okay?"
Her breathing slowed as she focused her gaze onto him, and she instinctively began reigning the power in, slowly descending until she was back on her feet. She stumbled for a brief second, her balance still unsteady but Uncle Qrow caught her before she could fall, and Weiss let her lean on her for balance
"C-can we go back to our dorm now? I-I think I just… need some rest."
"We need to-" General Ironwood started but Ozpin cut him off.
"We are already ahead of schedule because of Miss Rose's own initiative and bravery, James. I think some time to rest, recuperate, and reflect would be rather beneficial for all of us."
The looks Qrow and the blonde-haired woman gave the general showed what their own opinions were on the matter and he slowly nodded in affirmation.
"I'm so glad you all have Ruby's best interests at heart now, and that we have your gracious permission to leave." Weiss was giving the adults in the room her patented frosty glare before turning to Ruby, voice turning soft. "I'll make you some nice hot coffee and… and whatever else you need when we get back okay? We'll spend the day together."
All Ruby could give Weiss was a small smile. She was leaning on Weiss as she hobbled toward the exit, arms intertwined, still unused to these shorter legs, her Uncle Qrow tailing behind.
/
Any sort of pretense of frustration Yang had towards Ruby for making her and the rest of the team worry so damn much was discarded as soon as she entered the dorm and saw her. She was sitting on Weiss's bed, shivering under her cape and what Yang realized were the blankets and sheets that had been pulled off of everyone's beds. The TV was on in the background, but Ruby was just… staring off into the distance, her silver eyes unfocused. She hadn't even known Yang was there.
"Hey Rubes…" She announced her presence softly, keeping her voice to the comforting tone she normally used when her sister was upset, even as she clenched her fists and tried to control her anger at the sight.
Ruby's head snapped towards Yang, her gaze wandering over her before recognition flared in her silver eyes after a few seconds of confusion.
Why would she-
"Yang!"
In an instant, the cocoon of blankets exploded as Ruby launched herself at Yang, wrapping her arms around her torso in a bear hug, and she buried her head into Yang's chest.
Yang gently reciprocated the hug, resting her head on top of Ruby's own. They stood like that for a few more minutes, no words being exchanged, until Yang heard the door open and Ruby pulled away, seeing Weiss with a cup of freshly brewed coffee in hand. Ruby quickly grabbed it, her hands greedily clasped around the hot mug the way she and Yang used to do with hot chocolate after playing in the snow all day during winter.
"Hello Yang, I… assume Blake is getting food?"
Yang nodded. "We saw your message about Rubes being hungry so we split up so I could check on her. I hope she gets here alright, those storm clouds came in real quick."
Weiss nodded and for a few seconds the only sound was of Ruby drinking her coffee before she paused and spoke up.
"Hey Weiss, this is… really sweet. How much sugar did you put into this."
Weiss's expression grew brittle. "The same as always Ruby. Cream and five sugars."
Ruby shrunk in on herself, the same frown she had on her when she initially came into the room polluting her face once more.
Yang paused, steeling herself to address the Goliath in the room. She sat down on her bed, patting it and gesturing for Ruby, who shuffled on over before plopping herself next to Yang, leaning into her side.
"Should I give you two some space?"
Ruby shook her head. "N-no I'd like to have you next to me Weiss."
Weiss nodded before moving to sit next to Ruby, shifting over until their legs touched.
"Sooo Ruby, I presume Weiss knows… whatever happened?"
Ruby nodded silently in affirmation.
"I may have somewhat forced myself into the situation, yes." Weiss added on.
"Are you gonna let me and Blake know then?"
Ruby's shifted a bit, her eyes darting around with the 'I'm not gonna tell Yang' look she was all too familiar with when they were kids.
"Look Ruby, I get… you might want to keep this a secret, you might think you have to, but we are a team remember? We don't keep deep dark secrets anymore because it hurts all of us, and it hurts you." She poked her sister. "Even more than it does us when you do this. Weiss already knows and-"
Ruby cut her off. "I know, I know Yang… I just… I can't and Weiss wasn't supposed to see and-and I don't want to hurt you too it's just so sudden-"
"Ruby, breathe, then you can tell us." She went to gently hug Ruby but her sister leaped as if her touch was poisonous, and her stunned paralysis was only broken by the wave of rage, her eyes flashing red and hair beginning to flicker with the fires of her semblance.
"What happened, Ruby?" Her voice was low and shook with anger, not bothering to try and hide it.
"Yang stop it's-it's not-I"
"I'm going to pummel whoever or whatever hurt you like this."
"Yang maybe you shouldn't-" Weiss tried to interject but Yang cut her off.
"Ruby-"
"I said STOP!" A peal of thunder crackled outside and Yang swore the temperature in the room quite literally dropped. Yang's eyes turned back to their soft lilac and a horrible shame washed over her. Weiss shrunk in on herself, her eyes nervously glancing between the two of them.
Ruby's own expression quickly turned apologetic, tears brimming "I'm so sorry I don't know what came over me I-I…"
"No Ruby, I screwed up big time. You set boundaries and I ignored that, you had every right to tell me to buzz off. It doesn't matter that I'm worried…" She sighed and looked down at her feet. "I won't pry and… we can spend the day just hanging out, or we can all give you some time…" She sent a look at Weiss who nodded in agreement.
Ruby sniffled, giving a watery smile to Yang. "Thanks Yang. It's not that I don't want to tell you, will tell you later today or tomorrow, the team… needs to know what I'm getting you involved with… I don't want you to leave but I do want some quiet to…"
"Ruminate?" Weiss offered.
"Yeah."
"Of course Ruby, we can spend some time reading, watching a movie, see Pyrrha or Penny kick some butt if it's time for their match, whatever you need. We did just have a party yesterday so I think no one would object to something more low key."
"I'd also be happy to spend time relaxing, I… think I need it too." Weiss added
The lifting mood was quickly accentuated by the sound of the door opening and the smell of greasy deliciousness wafting through the door and Yang looked to see the damp figure of her partner, her bow drooping sadly from having been rained on, holding thankfully dry bags of burgers and fries.
"Figured the team could use something a bit better than cafeteria food as a pick me up." She offered the bags to the three who happily accepted, though when Yang took hers Blake stopped her before she tore it open.
"I was going to grab tea and coffee for everyone, you mind helping me carry it back Yang?" The look she gave Yang made it clear she wanted to talk.
"Hey Rubes, you… don't mind if I go with Blake?"
Her sister nodded wordlessly, who was already back on Weiss's bed, cloak covering the two of them while her burger was already halfway in her mouth. Weiss for her part was daintily picking away at her fries.
Yang flashed a warm smile at Weiss, knowing how prickly she normally was about food anywhere near her bed, before following Blake.
/
It was only once Blake was sure they were away from their dorm that she finally asked.
"So… Do you want to talk about it?"
Yang looked at her, eyes narrowing. "How much did you hear?"
"I got there just as you started questioning Ruby."
Yang deflated, and her eyes looked away guiltily. "Oh…"
Blake sighed. "Yang, don't beat yourself up. We all care about your sister and want to be there for her, but I know when I left my… associates, it took me a bit before I was in any sort of space to talk about it. It isn't an indictment against you that she doesn't want to talk, it's just she needs some time to process… whatever happened."
Blake certainly had her own ideas, Ruby's own strong sense of right and wrong reminded Blake all too much of herself when she was younger, but now wasn't the time to speculate, so she continued. "Besides Ruby's already doing better than me in that she actually plans to tell us."
"It… it isn't just that, Blake. I want to say that I did it just because I'm worried about Ruby, but a lot of that was because I was just angry with myself, that I couldn't protect her, and wanted someone, something, to smash to make me feel better. And I broke Ruby's boundaries when I should have known better because of it. And this was after I promised you yesterday I wouldn't be… that kind of person who did that and then I hurt my own sister!"
Blake's eyes widened a bit at the confession and she slowed. "That's… surprisingly honest Yang and…" She smiled softly before continuing. "That you could have not said anything at all but chose to take the difficult option and reflect is all I need to see you are nothing like that, nothing like him."
Yang beamed back at her. "Thanks, Blake, and…" She paused, looking around at the unfamiliar halls. "We went the exact opposite direction from the coffee maker, didn't we?"
"Yes… yes, we did."
/
And here we go! I'm so sorry I took an extra week to do this from my normal schedule, but this is so far easily the most important chapter in the work and I REALLY wanted to stick the landing w Ruby's POV, which I think I managed to do quite nicely. As always I LOVE to see thoughts, criticism, and speculation/discussion! The next chapter should hopefully come a bit quicker/on schedule.