The metal pressing into Nora's back jostled her as they hit another bump of turbulence. Pain flashed up from her stomach, and she let out a silent cry. Suddenly Ren was in front of her, speaking words, but Nora couldn't follow them. It was all a mashup of scattered sounds to her. She looked down at her arm, clutched tightly against the hole that punched through her stomach. She shut her eyes tight again as she saw the blood smeared over her arm, making it slick. She was having difficulties keeping it pressed against the wound as the plane jostled and slid her arm around. She knew the haste was necessary, but it hurt. Her body was going cold, and Nora felt unconsciousness pulling at her mind, urging her to go to sleep.

"Ren?" She whispered to her lifelong friend. They had only recently become partners at Beacon, but they had been partners in their lives for much longer. The lilac eyed man knelt in front of her, looking into her eyes.

"Yes?" He asked, never one to speak much. That's what made them perfect together. Well not together, together. She thought longingly. Anyways, they were perfect because he was so reserved and silent, while she carried more than enough energy and impulsiveness for the both of them. She looked at him and smiled even as the fatigue began to take hold of her waking eyes, dragging them shut.

"I know you're going to wake me up." She said with absolute certainty. She did know it. She wasn't doing any good staying awake right now, bleeding away. It hurt, it was boring, and sleep would feel wonderful. Ren wouldn't let her stay asleep. He would wake her up. She knew it. She closed her eyes, letting her mind start to slip.

"Of course," Was the last thing she heard him say. Warmth began to pass into Nora's hands from where they were connecting with Ren's. It was pleasant, and despite the cold pressing in on her from every other part of her body, Nora stopped shivering, savouring the contact. A smile passed over her lips as she slipped into the waiting oblivion.

/

The world whirled around her as Nora's eyes slid open once more. She was not entirely sure where she was. She was sitting down, and her side hurt. It hurt a lot. She looked down and saw blood. She felt something on her hand, and she looked down to see a hand holding her own, stroking the back of it gently. The world was cold, but that hand was warm, staving off the ice that was growing ever closer to her heart. She did not have to look beside her to know who it was, and despite the fear she felt at seeing what must have been her own blood, she was reassured. She squeezed the hand lightly, then the world slipped away once more.

/

"-Need two medical squads on hold for us when we arrive."

There was a loud popping of static coming from somewhere around Nora, but she did not have the strength to open her eyes to see who it might be that was talking. There was a muffled voice that came through the radio, but Nora's mind couldn't bother to make sense of the garbled sounds.

"Jaune Arc, student, Beacon Academy, team JNPR. J-N-P-R. This is not a request,"

Jaune. She knew Jaune. He was her leader, and if anyone was going to be able to save her life, she knew it was him. Over the past years, team JNPR had become like a family to her. It used to be just her and Ren in her little family, but now the rest of her team was a part of her family. She would do anything for any of them, and she knew they would do the same. She didn't know why she was thinking about this though, and the darkness called to her once more, so Nora went back to sleep.

/

There were a lot of people in white outfits over her, looking down at her. Something pressed into her side, and Nora let out a gasp of pain. It should have come out as a yell or a scream, but all she could manage right now was a gasp. A shot of warmth flowed through her system, numbing the pain, and Nora relaxed slightly.

"-Need stitches. Tell them we're coming in hot."

Two people were by her head, wearing blue masks and white coats and white rubber gloves.

"Get me some bandag-"

"-Clot that wound and-"

"-Why isn't her aura-"

"-Should tell me what happened so we can-"

"-Make sure they're ready the second we-"

Her mind switched from one voice to the next, but she couldn't follow any one person's speech for more than an instant. She could not make sense of what was happening around her, but there was someone holding her hand, and she held onto that hand as though it was the last thing grounding her to the world. She was grateful for that hand, and she smiled. She did not need to open her eyes to know who was on the other end of her hand. They were always together, and he wouldn't leave her now. He had promised to wake her up when this was all over.

/

Ren sat stoically in his chair. He knew that if Nora were to see him right now, she would make fun of him for being too uptight. Either that or she would ask if there was any food, or sweets, or syrup, or coffee... Ren smiled lightly as the thoughts ran through his mind. There was a time where his thoughts had been perfectly ordered, but now, after having spent so much of his life with the girl that was laying down, unconscious, in front of him, he found that the way he looked at life had changed. His thoughts would sometimes run away from him, and where before he had felt very little fluctuation in his emotions, now he occasionally felt his heart lifting in happiness or fear gripping its icy talons around his throat, making it hard to breathe. Life wasn't as straightforward as it had always appeared before. There was just a little bit of chaos, and Nora was always sure to bring it crashing into Ren's life. She did it in so many more ways than she knew, and Ren chastised himself for having taken it for granted. She had always been there for him, and as far as Ren's life was concerned, Nora had always been, was, and would always be, a part of it.

Incidentally, there was food on the table next to her bed right now. While Nora had been in surgery, Ren had been unable to stop his mind from turning over itself again and again, thinking of his energetic partner. He had noticed that he was thinking about her more and more lately, but this time it had been thoughts of fear rather than the usual companionship that clouded his mind. The absolute panic that had gripped his mind as they had raced through that outpost had been icy, cold and horrifying. Even as they landed in the dust plane and had taken off at a breakneck pace to get to Beacon, Ren had been unable to calm his thoughts. When the medical staff took her into surgery, he had still been unsettled. There was nothing more he could have done of course; he had almost killed himself transferring his aura into her body to keep her from fading away. On more than one occasion as they had flown towards Beacon, dark spots had clouded his vision, but Ren had continued holding Nora's hand, giving her his life force. He would have to be careful never to let the others know how close he had come to allowing the last sparks of his aura to leave him. Ren had been more than willing to die to protect Nora, but he knew she would be more than a little upset with him if she ever knew what he had done. Once she had been taken into surgery, Ren had been so close to running out of aura that his head felt light and the tips of his extremities were numb, but his thoughts had still been scattered, unorganized and full of worry. So, while the medics did their best to heal the girl that had been his partner for years, Ren had set his mind on cooking.

He had always enjoyed cooking. It involved precise measurements, exact steps, tried and true methods, and above all, it involved order. With all the chaos he had experienced the past few days; nights keeping watch with Nora, making his heart beat rapidly, the adrenaline fuelled frantic fight with the Deathstalker, the escape and the flight back. It had all been so chaotic. Ren was more than happy to put a little bit of order back into his life. He hadn't merely cooked for his own peace of mind though, there was someone he was thinking about as he measured and mixed. He had made up a large stack of pancakes, and they were now resting with a miniature pitcher of syrup on the table next to Nora's bed.

She looked peaceful right now. Nora's face was relaxed, her lips turned up slightly in the permanent smile that had been developed over years of continuous excitement. He noticed that lately he had been enjoying it more when she smiled, his own lips curling unconsciously at her joy. He had no idea why, but the world just seemed to be a better place when Nora was happy. Maybe it was just that she would constantly pester him if the world wasn't just right, but Ren was not so sure. He felt that maybe it was something more. Maybe that was the something more that had compelled him to stay here, next to Nora, his hands resting passively on his lap, perfectly neutral in spite of the occasional shots of irrational panic that swept through his mind. Ozpin had asked for them all to meet with him in his clockwork office while Pyrrha and Nora were in surgery, but Ren had been reluctant to leave. Jaune had noticed his brother in arms' plight, and had ordered him to stay by Nora's side.

Ren would never be able to express his gratitude to his leader. He knew that Jaune wanted to be next to Pyrrha just as badly as he wanted to be here next to Nora; nonetheless, Jaune had volunteered to talk to Ozpin as the sole representative of JNPR.

So Ren sat, as he had for the past few hours, an arms length away from the loving, energetic, caring, optimistic orange haired girl that was his partner. He sat, waiting patiently, until Nora would wake up, because he had promised he would be there for her when she woke up, and Ren would never break a promise with her.

/

Jaune made his way up the two steps, trudging up the one-hundred-and-fiftieth flight. There was an elevator of course. team RWBY had used it, but Jaune had taken the stairs. The burning in his legs reflected the burning in his heart, and it seemed fitting to Jaune that his body should feel as anguished as his mind. While he was making his way up the staircase, somewhere, far below, Pyrrha was being attended to by Beacon's medical staff. He was sickened that he was not waiting for her, standing next to her, being there for her. She was his partner, and it felt wrong to leave her.

It was necessary though. Of course it was. Nora had only been released from surgery a few minutes prior to Ozpin's summon, and Ren was at this moment sitting next to her. The way I should be sitting next to Pyrrha. Jaune scolded himself venomously. He shook the thought away though. Ren should be next to Nora now, as he waited for her to wake up. Someone from their team needed to be debriefed, and Jaune was the team leader. It was his duty to take care of his team, and right now, he needed to make sure Ren was alright. Jaune knew that his friend would be mental anguish if he was forced to leave his partner's side right now, similar to what Jaune was feeling. He wouldn't have shown it of course, but Jaune knew Ren well enough to know that when it came to Nora, the boy could become panic and distressed. He worried for her a lot, even though he never broke his impassive composure.

Jaune threw open the heavy door that lead into Ozpin's office. He stepped through the threshold to see team RWBY along with the headmaster waiting patiently for him. None of them made a comment though, and Jaune was thankful for that. It was night, so the large glass wall opposite them looked out into the stars. There were a few constellations out there that Jaune recognized from his childhood. He had used to love the stars, and would spend hours staring at them burning brightly against the darkness that seemed to conspire to envelop them the second they flickered. The bright little lights never flickered though, twinkle sometimes, but they would keep burning brightly. Those same constellations that he had seen so long ago shone perfectly normally, untouched by the events below. Jaune marvelled at how his life had been sundered in an instant as Pyrrha collapsed on that airship and yet those stars burned on, unchanging, exactly the same as they had been the day he had been born. Probably the same as they had been when Beacon had been made.

"Good evening everyone." Ozpin greeted, his voice lacking the normal hint of humour that Jaune had gotten accustomed to over the years.

"Headmaster," He replied politely. He did not want to be there, but it was his job to be there. There was no reason to be rude or unprofessional right now, no matter how irritable a mood he was in.

"Hey Ozzy," Ruby answered teasingly, but her voice sounded too serious.

"I won't waste your time," Ozpin said, leaning his elbows onto the desk and pressing the tips of his fingers together. "And I am sorry to call you here now, but we must speak now. Please, walk me through your mission. Every last detail is relevant." The silver haired man requested.

Ruby began recounting the events of the past week. She told Ozpin about their drop into the forest and the multiple Grimm encounters. Ozpin's face remained impassive even as she told him of the Goliath charging through their campsite, chasing after that dust plane. His face didn't change as she told him about the massive pack of Beowolves, and he listened attentively as she told them about the seething mass of Grimm surrounding the outpost.

"When we landed though, the scouting outpost was... Occupied." Ruby said a little hesitantly. Ozpin raised an eyebrow, and Ruby continued. "The White Fang was there. And Mercury and Emerald, but they weren't fighting the White Fang. Then Torchwick walked in with Bubble Gum hair."

"Neo," Blake corrected.

"Right. They attacked us, but then Torchwick's cohort teleported and brought back a bunch of Atlesian Knights. They had us at gunpoint, and we got taken prisoner." Ozpin raised a hand at that comment, indicating he wanted to interject.

"Atlesian Knights? You're sure?"

"Nah, we just saw a bunch of droids with guns pointed at us and are actually completely mistaken about how they look." Yang said sarcastically, folding her arms over her chest and cocking her hips.

"My apologies, I did not mean to question your skills of observation. I was merely concerned. If Torchwick and the White Fang have Atlesian droids working for them-"

"It means they've found a way to reprogram the military tech." Jaune finished, his brow creasing.

"Precisely. Troubling news to be sure. I am also sorry to hear about your friends, Emerald and Mercury. Please, continue Ruby."

"Well, they lead us underground. They've got a big operation going underneath that outpost. I think all that dust he stole in first year was there along with a bunch of Paladins, Knights and a lot of Grimm locked in cages." Ozpin's brow creased when he heard that.

"That's when Torchwick pulled out that phial of dust." Weiss recalled.

"Dust?" Ozpin inquired.

"Yeah," Jaune spoke up, recalling the small glass tube full of black powder. "But not like any I've seen or heard about before. It was black. I tried to get him to start blabbering about it, but before he got more than a few words edgewise, that woman interrupted him."

"Right, Cinder." Blake added, nodding at Jaune. "She stopped him from talking about the dust. Said something about not revealing all their secrets."

"I'm thinking that that dust was the same kind that was trailing behind that dust plane. It has to have something to do with how they've attracted the Grimm and kept them in captivity."

"It very well may be so," Ozpin said levelly. "But we should not be too hasty to jump to conclusions." Reprimanded, Jaune nodded.

"Well, after we met Cinder, Torchwick threw us into a pit with a really big Deathstalker." Ruby continued. "It wasn't really any bigger than other Deathstalkers, but it was fast. It had streaks of black crystal or glass or something running down its back, and it moved way faster than any other Grimm I've seen."

"Tajitus are renowned for their speed, but this Deathstalker was moving faster than even the fastest amongst those." Blake cut in. "It should not have been able to move like that."

"That's when Nora got hit." Yang added. "She was about to cave its head in, but it stuck her with its stinger."

"Jaune hatched a plan, and we got the Deathstalker to bust the door into the pit open for us, and ran." Ruby started up once more. "We had to fight our way out. We didn't have time to grab any of the dust or anything, we just had to go. We rendezvoused with the dust plane, then got back here as quickly as possible." Ozpin let out a slight hmm as she spoke.

"And what of Miss Nikos?" He inquired, his deep hazel eyes turning to Jaune.

"When we started the fight with the Deathstalker, she was fine. After a while though she stopped using her sword arm, and when she would throw her shield it wouldn't come back to her like it normally does." Jaune said, closing his eyes and trying to remember what had happened before her collapse. "I think her semblance was failing. When we were escaping, she couldn't move her shoulder at all, and she was in a lot of pain. A few Knights tried to shoot us, and her aura didn't stop the bullets. Her legs got pretty scraped up. Once we got onto the plane she just-" Jaune cut himself off, not trusting his voice. Thinking about how his partner had called to him as she fell to the ground, how his heart had stopped for a moment when she fell unconscious, how he had to hold her helplessly, how he was unable to do anything. He had tried to force his aura into her to heal her, but it had not responded. It was like she was dead, and Jaune's mind had frozen in pure, unshakeable fear as he thought Pyrrha, his partner, the woman he had become so close with over the past four years, had died. His heart had leapt in his chest as he felt her pulse, but even now, back at Beacon, there was a part of his mind that could not shake that impenetrable fear, that cloud of despair that was threatening to overwhelm him.

"Any thought what may have caused this?" Ozpin asked the group, and Jaune thought back to when they were below the ground in the scouting tower. There had to be something, he must be forgetting something. She had never been hit in the shoulder by the Deathstalker's stinger, nor had Torchwick gone anywhere near her, but that woman...

"Cinder." Jaune said firmly, his eyes shooting open in realization. He did not know how she had hurt Pyrrha, but the fiery woman had taken a keen interest in her.

"You think this woman did something to your partner?"

"I'm sure. It's the only thing that makes sense, but I don't know how."

"When Cinder was talking to Pyrrha," Blake interjected, "I saw something in her hand. It caught the light like a small shard of glass or a needle. Whatever it was could have been poisoned."

Jaune's heart began to beat faster. If Pyrrha was poisoned, there was a chance she would not wake up. He put his arms behind his back and clenched his fists, trying not to show the fear coursing through his veins. Ozpin leaned back in his chair, bringing his large tablet scroll up in front of him and typing something into it. A moment later, he folded back together and laid it back down on his desk.

"Mr. Arc, the surgeons are aware of the potential plight of Pyrrha's situation."

"Thank you, sir." The headmaster's words had done nothing to alleviate the pressure on his chest though, and Jaune had to clench his fists even harder to control himself. He felt something warm slide over his fingers, but he ignored it.

"Now, I think I've heard all that I can. I congratulate you all on acting with bravery and resourcefulness in such an extreme and dire situation. You acted like true huntsmen and huntresses, and you should take pride in that. You are dismissed, students."

Jaune immediately turned on his heel and walked out the door to the elevator. It opened immediately, and he stepped inside, pressing the close button before team RWBY could get to the elevator. Yang was about to step forward and stop the door, but Ruby grabbed her sister's arm. Jaune looked at her thankfully as the doors slid shut, and she smiled back in understanding. It wasn't that Jaune did not want to be around team RWBY, but his partner was in danger right now. So long as Pyrrha's life hung in the balance, his mind could not be preoccupied by any other thoughts. The metal doors slid open,and Jaune dashed out of them. He ran through the pathways of Beacon, his pulse hammering forth from his chest and his breaths sharp and burdened. By the time he reached the medical wing, his legs were numb, but he did not care. He threw the door open and jogged inside quickly.

"Pyrrha Nikos?" He questioned the nurse at the front desk. She consulted a sheet in front of her.

"Room 209. Her vitals are stable, but she's unconscious." Jaune wasn't listening anymore though, already jogging through the sleek white walls. He dashed up a set of stairs to reach the second story, then walked into the fifth door on the left.

She was lying peacefully on the bed, sheets drawn up over her chest. Her head rested comfortably on a pillow, and her scarlet hair was neatly tucked under her body. He walked up beside her, his hand unconsciously brushing against hers. He looked at her soft features and her smooth ivory skin. She was perfectly still, and Jaune could feel the fear pressing against his consciousness, making him want to shout at the world and despair. There was a strand of hair that was hanging over her cheek, and he felt compelled to tuck it neatly away. He gently pushed his hand against the softly curled scarlet, carefully sweeping it behind her ear. He traced her cheekbone back and cupped her face.

Pyrrha stirred slightly in her sleep, her soft cheek pressing against his palm gently. Jaune's chest leapt in hope, and Pyrrha's face seemed to smile slightly. He thought that maybe she would wake up, but a moment later she relaxed again, and her green tinted eyelids never flickered once. There was a stool by the bedside table, and Jaune hooked his foot behind one of its legs, pulling it up next to the bed. He sat down on the hard metal, but he didn't mind the discomfort. He let his hand drift from Pyrrha's face to her hand, and he clasped it tenderly. He had left her to talk to Ozpin, but he was not going to leave again until she woke up.

Hours ticked by on the loud clock hanging over her bed, and the machines attached to Pyrrha continued to beep, but Jaune did not move an inch. He sat next to his partner, calmly, but fearfully, until the time when she would wake up. He would wait until the end of the world if he had to, but he would be there when she woke up. It was his responsibility as her leader, her partner and her friend to stay by her side, and he would not shirk that solemn duty.

/

Hello there again! So this chapter was mostly about establishing the relationships between a few characters (Nora and Ren, Jaune and Pyrrha). It's not my favourite thing to write, but its necessary I feel to have chapters like this, especially when the characters have been through such an extreme event. It wouldn't do just to have the characters either bounce right to their feet again or die right away (if that's going to happen...). So its a bit slower, but necessary. Don't fret though, the action will pick up again quickly!

Concerning pairings: there have been some questions and suggestions here. I think I've done a decent job of laying out where everything lies at the start of the story. As of now, Weiss and Neptune have an unofficial fling, Blake and Sun have a very close relationship, Arkos of course, and then Ren and Nora (but they have some development left to do). This, however, is only where things sit for now. I'll say this much, Blake, Yang and Weiss are going to have very complicated love lives before this is all over :D

Other than that, thanks for reading and I hope you're enjoying the story. I like Ren as a character, and though he was not as composed as I would normally write him in this chapter (given that Nora's been injured), so I think I'm going to try to add some of his POV's in the future. Until the whole Pyrrha/Nora business is sorted out, we'll see a lot of him and Jaune (this should only be another chapter or so). I have an important plot point planned for Yang soon, and other than that, we can look forward to some Ruby as well in the near future! Once again, thanks for reading. Any comments, reviews, ideas or questions are greatly appreciated! They help me evaluate the story and where its headed and what I can do to help you guys enjoy the story more. One thing I would request is that if anyone knows how to do those line divisions between character POV's, could you please PM me? I really need to figure that one out... :S