Weiss was tired. She had just finished back-to-back classes, one physically exhausting and one mentally exhausting, they had left her drained. She hadn't been getting very much sleep since she became a part of the team for more reasons than one, as much as she disliked the wildly irresponsible team leader she was stuck with she had to admit that bunk-beds were a good idea. At least, for three of them.
Sighing with weariness, she thought it best to stop by on Ruby to check up on her condition, the girl could be so helpless sometimes. Nearly blowing them off the side of the cliff, coming that close to getting herself killed - once by Weiss and once by a giant stinger, launching herself towards a giant bird with the intent to decapitate it, not paying attention and almost falling off the roof of the Academy, very nearly freezing herself solid when she decided to touch Myrtenaster, the list went on and on. Ruby had spirit, heart and talent, there was no arguing about that, but she lacked social skills and more importantly, self-preservation. Maybe she was a little too confident of her abilities, as even despite her near-deaths she still charged headlong into things that required planning.
Weiss was used to planning.
She walked between the occasional student and teacher, bowing her head in respect at the latter and ignoring the former completely, too tired to give them a cold stare or a verbal beatdown. The afternoon sun illuminated the floor before her in squares, light filtering through the windows on the western side of the building. She squinted as she moved past them, brilliant blue eyes showing signs of fatigue no matter how perfect she made the rest of her appearance. At this point she was seriously considering sleeping elsewhere, even someplace as public as the library - at least that way her life wouldn't be in permanent danger of being crushed to a pulp by a bed.
A few minutes of contemplation later and the library was looking like a comfortable alternative to the dormroom bed, despite the lack of privacy. This point was reinforced only seconds after Weiss entered the infirmary to a cry of 'Hi Weiss!' and a sickeningly enthusiastic wave from the disabled girl. Weiss scowled under her breath, she did not need this right now. Of course, being the polite girl she was she swapped it for a false smile when she raised her head, standing next to her partner and trying to listen for key words between the rush of sentences Ruby was throwing at her. She made out 'Weiss', 'class' and 'faunus', with the last word eliciting a brief glare, not that Ruby was paying enough attention to notice. Weiss quickly brought back her smile, waiting patiently for Ruby to finish before asking calmly.
"How are you feeling?"
"It still hurts." The younger girl answered simply, her voice lower than before, something that in turn softened Weiss's expression. The heiress took two steps forwards, kneeling beside the wound and inspecting the bandage.
"Hmmm. It's to be expected. Who redressed your bandage?" She asked, scrutinizing the material.
"Yang did." Ruby replied, rummaging through her bag for something. Weiss clicked her tongue, gently dropping her own bag to the floor to begin neatly unwrapping the cloth. Her slender fingers slid between folds and untied knots with the clean efficiency she applied to all her activities, earning a surprised look from Ruby.
"Um, Weiss? What are you doing?" She asked, pausing her search and blinking twice.
"Fixing this atrocious excuse for a dressing." Weiss replied, disapproval evident in her voice. She caught Ruby flinching in the corner of her eye as she worked, tugging the bandage around the swollen knee as evenly as she could, taking care to enclose the entirety of the discoloured area securely in the fabric. She gently wove it round and round, pulling it firmly into a tight knot that she tucked underneath the topmost fold. She was running final checks to make sure her own work was optimal when Ruby quietly interrupted her with a shaky voice.
"Your hands are cold..." Ruby whimpered, looking at the floor in a nervous manner, afraid of Weiss's reaction. Her attention was forcibly and violently shifted to her partner, caught off guard with her eyes widening as she jumped at the harshness of Weiss's voice.
"What?"
The heiresses tone was laced with ice, and Ruby felt her words dry up in the back of her throat when she tried to speak. Weiss's gaze was frigid and hard, her eyes piercing directly into Rubys heart, she was suddenly scary. Ruby swallowed hard and tried again, her words making it out into the open air as a whisper.
"I-I didn't mean to...I'm sorry? Did I do something wrong?"
While Weiss's expression didn't change, her voice certainly did, losing some of its edge as the girl sighed deeply, fighting the urge to rub her face to wake herself up. She rested her hands on her hips instead, tilting her head and body so her hair fell from her back.
"No." She started, leaving the silence hanging for a few seconds while she closed her eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. I just-" Her eyes opened again, but her mouth was stopped by Rubys own.
"It's okay." The young girl said, almost pitifully quiet. "I know you didn't mean it." Her hands moved slowly through her belongings, clearly shaken by the hostile response. Weiss gave in, smearing her hand across her cheek in an attempt to push her fatigue away. She sat down on the foot of the bed, hiding the negative emotions boiling away beneath the guilt and regret that she found herself with. She didn't mean to snap, but she was tired of being likened to cold irregardless of how true it was.
"How have you been keeping yourself busy?" She asked, softer this time. Knowing that Ruby was soothed by calm voices, something she picked up from Yang on the rare occasions Ruby had nightmares, Weiss made sure to do the same. Yang would hold Ruby on her lap, stroke her sisters forehead softly and speak gently, fading Rubys crying out. Once, and only once, Weiss had been out late and came to the dorm, pausing outside the door and listening intently, hearing what seemed like singing coming from inside. She teased it open to see Yang holding Ruby in the very same way, softly singing what Weiss could only describe as a lullaby, full of reassurance and affection. Weiss could still remember the words Yang sang to the frightened little girl in her lap, how calming and tender her voice was that night.
Don't worry, I've got you...
Nothing will ever harm you... I'm close by, I'll stay here...
Through all things I will be near...
Even now as she remembered, Weiss admired the bond the two sisters shared. It gave her a precious glimpse into a world where you were loved by the people you cared about, something she never had the opportunity to feel no matter how much she wanted it. She shook her head, refusing to let the memories she hated so much come back. Instead she contented herself with listening to Ruby retelling her past few days, largely studying, drawing and sleeping. Although, Weiss listened intently at any mention of Blake as she still didn't entirely trust her teammate, and anything she could learn from Ruby was valuable no matter how obscure or unlikely it sounded.
"Actually Weiss, there is something I'd really like to talk to you about." Ruby began, her tone a lot more serious. Weiss perked up a little, resting her hands in her lap.
"Go on."
"It's important." Ruby said instinctively, blinking at herself when she realised that Weiss hadn't tried to brush her off or avoid a conversation.
"So it seems." Weiss replied, keeping her expression level. She watched Ruby fumble over her words a few times before her leader caught her composure and began strongly, a contrast to the scared little girl of five minutes ago.
"I want to talk to you about Blake." Ruby stopped there, not wanting to risk upsetting her partner or any of her team. Weiss leant in closer, her interest piqued. No doubt Ruby was waiting for a telltale sign to stop or continue, and Weiss obliged by gesturing with her hand to proceed.
"Well, you know about her shadowed past, don't you?" Weiss paused, considering Rubys words. She nodded, assuming that her partner was referring to Blakes concealment of her life.
"And you know how she...how she didn't move when that thing charged at her?"
Weiss nodded again, maintaining her curious posture despite the twinges of pain that pulled at her heart.
"Well, I've been doing some theorizing..." Ruby pulled out one of her notepads and flipped the pages, concentrating on the paper. She stopped, spun it around and handed it to Weiss, watching her partners face. Weiss held it steady and took in the mess before her, lines, words and bubbles all overlapping eachother in a confusing display of chaos. She took a minute to try and make sense of it, though she handed it back to Ruby in defeat and asking simply.
"What does any of that mean?"
"Put simply, it means that Blake knows something about what attacked us and she's not telling anyone else. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with Professor Ozpin too, since she only started challenging him like she did after we got back." Her voice cracked a little at the mention of Ozpin.
Weiss flinched mentally, wondering if Ruby knew just how close she was to the truth. Maybe she and Blake didn't need to tell their leader at all, perhaps she would find out on her own.
"Do you know what?" Weiss asked, already knowing the answer herself. She breathed a sigh of relief under her breath as Ruby shook her head firmly, a somewhat grim frown on her face.
"No, I don't have a clue. It looks like something important, but beyond that I can only guess. Really we need Blake to tell us herself, but I really doubt she would want to do that."
They stared down at the floor in unison, contemplating very different things. Ruby turned over many possibilities in her head, desperately wanting to help her teammate through whatever she had been through if anything at all. Weiss challenged herself whether she should cross the lines Blake had put down and tell her partner everything she knew, as much as she wanted to help Blake she felt that Ruby had a right to know as much as anyone else. The silence blanketed the room as they thought, each immersed in their own minds.
Ruby was the first to speak, determination full in her voice, something that surprised Weiss.
"We have to confront her about this."
Weiss blinked, stuttering out an 'Ah...' only to be interrupted by her leader once more.
"We have to help her overcome whatever fears or regrets she has regarding this thing. I don't want to think about what would happen if-..." Again her voice shrunk, the bravery vanishing in an instant. Weiss noticed she was shuddering slightly with unease that matched her eyes. Even now she blamed herself for what had happened, her heart was truly the purest Weiss had ever come across.
"If we couldn't get to her in time." The young girl finished, clearly trying not to worry herself any more than she already was. She hunched her shoulders, holding one hand over her mouth to stem the snivelling sounds that escaped from her lips. Her eyes closed, tears brimming at their corners that threatened to fall down her face, despite her best efforts to stop them. Her whole body shook as she tried to turn away from the thoughts, away from the consequences that she would go through if...it happened.
She must have looked terrible. She was supposed to be a leader, someone her team looked to for guidance, someone they respected and someone who gave them help when they needed it. But instead she was here, lying on a bed with her head in her hands, unable to stop her tears and unable to help her teammate when they needed it most. She couldn't have known how any of them felt about her, how they didn't blame her for what had happened. She believed it was her fault.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, holding it firmly in place. Looking up, she saw Weiss standing beside her, the heiresses beautiful blue eyes darkened by the fringe of pure white hair that partially obscured them from view. Ruby sniffed, wiping her eyes with her hands and waiting for her partner to say what she was going to say. She didn't need any queues, she just knew Weiss had something to get out.
"We'll always get to her in time." Weiss reaffirmed, giving Ruby the warmest smile her tired muscles could manage. The younger girl seemed to brighten up a little, as her sniffs became less frequent and her shaking slowly subsided, all because of a sentence and a smile. It was surreal to Weiss how something as trivial as that could affect someone so much. How something as minor as a hollow sentence could instill such comfort in someone if they believed it to be true. Ruby was the epitome of everything Weiss used to be, carefree and cheerful once upon a time before she learned about the harsh realities of living in a family at war.
"We will." Repeated Ruby, glancing down at her notepad for a second. She didn't move at Weiss's words, engrossed in trying to make sense of everything she had been through.
"We will."
Weiss picked up her bag quietly, giving her partner one last look of reassurance as she left to mull over her thoughts. The past few days had been hectic at best, and there was an insane amount to take in. Her plan had changed, she was going to library not to sleep, but to clear her head and to document everything she knew. As a happy coincidence it would give her a way to help her teammates should things be as they seemed, if something were to happen to her she would give them a way to learn of it and to understand it. She was told to leave a path behind her and that is exactly what she would do.
As to be expected, there were a fair number of students already at the library when Weiss arrived but she paid them no heed as she made her way towards the far end of the room, slotting herself between the shelves and scanning the spines for anything relating to 'Mental Psychology'. She had work to do.
Blake couldn't read any longer, her mind was working far too much for her to concentrate. Yang was still asleep, but the time of day meant that she couldn't contemplate at any of her usual haunts. The library would be full, the forest infested with students and the courtyard swarming with people. There was always the roof, but that would mean forcing her way back through the crowd of bodies just to get there, something that Blake didn't want to do right now. In a moment of decisiveness she rose from her bed, leaving the book lying on the cloth, grabbing her weapon and making for the door. She closed it slowly behind her and made her way down the corridor, heading towards the doorway closest to the northern cliff-edge.
Towards Forever Fall.