Something was very wrong, Blake could feel it. She sat bolt upright, leaving the comfort of her bed before the covers had even finished falling. Instincts told her to check her team and a quick glance across the room showed that Weiss was still sleeping soundly, but upon climbing the ladder to view the top bunk it became apparent that Yang as nowhere to be found. Blake did a rapid scan of the room, her brain shaking off the lethargy of sleep faster by the second.
'Cold bed.
Covers thrown back.
No clothes.
Weapons still here.
Bright outside.
Weiss still sleeping.
Early morning.
...
Ruby.'
Blake was about to bolt for the door, but she caught herself just in time. It dawned on her that she was still in her yukata and barefoot, and therefore a very unusual sight to anyone she would pass in the halls. She scooped up her uniform in one hand and changed on the spot, casting her night attire onto the disturbed sheets as she pulled her shirt over her head, grabbing her vest and buttoning it up at a speed unmatched by anyone bar Ruby. As she adjusted her bow to finish her appearance, she noted that she didn't feel the need to take Gambol Shroud, but hooked it onto her back for insurance and made for the door, being sure to close it as quietly as she could before she burst into a sprint towards the infirmary.
It took her five minutes at full speed to reach her destination, weaving around the few people she encountered on the way as though it were instinctual to her. She almost overshot the double-doors that entered one end of the infirmary and shoved them open as hard as she could, holding them at arms-length for a second as she caught her breath before making her way towards the screen that was pulled across the bed in the corner. It folded back neatly to reveal two things: A sleeping Ruby laying next to a sleeping Yang.
The sight immediately softened Blakes expression, and as her heartbeat began to slow she felt a little stupid for overreacting the way she did. After all, the signs were all there- she just hadn't picked up on them until now. Yang wouldn't need her weapons to visit her sister and nor would she need to say anything about it, there was nothing out of the ordinary about this at all.
So why couldn't Blake shake the feeling of unease that had settled at the bottom of her stomach?
She hesitantly stepped forward, standing at the foot of the bed as she stared at the two sisters sleeping peacefully. Ruby was up to her chin in the sheets while Yang had her head resting on her folded arms, slumped over from the chair in which she sat. Nothing looked out of place, and yet Blake had a sneaking suspicion that things weren't as peaceful as they appeared. She moved to the left of the bed and grasped the corners of the covers in both hands, pulling back gently to show the rest of Rubys body. From her waist up the young girl looked completely fine, but below that things were a little different than Blake remembered.
During her sleep Ruby had shifted her position multiple times, and her pants had somehow rose above her knees, exposing the sickly purple bruise that blanketed at least half of her kneecap and a good portion of her skin. Blake scrutinized the area carefully, comparing it to the previous appearances it had made since first rising to prominence. Her eyes grew wide as the difference clicked into place with a sickening click.
Yang opened her eyes wearily, blinking them repeatedly as her eyelids refused to stay up. She groaned, unable to decide between rubbing her eyes or waking herself up with her fists, instead effectively punching herself twice in the cheeks, much to her surprise.
"Yang."
She heard a voice, dimly aware that it was probably not night anymore and buried her face into the crook of her arm, waving her other hand in a display of 'Go away'.
"Yang."
Another moan preceded the hand balling into a fist, which she shook with half-hearted effort. She felt her skin tingle at the hand on her wrist, causing her to break from her tired threats to see who was bothering her. She blinked, clearing the fuzz that clouded her view just enough to make out the brilliant white shirt that was bordered by the gold trim of a jacket. Her tired gaze turned upwards past golden eyes to a large bow shaped object that sat on raven coloured hair.
"Mhhhher..."
She shook her fist a little more in a feeble effort to scare her partner off, only to be met with a hand hooking under her chin and pulling slightly to hold her attention in place.
"I want a word with you, preferably without waking your sister up."
These words pushed Yang further from the realms of sleep and closer to reality as she broke from Blakes hold and straightened her back, moaning in satisfaction rather than annoyance. Blake waited patiently for her teammate to come around, glancing her up and down to take in the distressed look Yang wore rather well, it had to be said. Her hair was a mess as usual, only even more so. Her pyjama shirt hung off one shoulder and while Blake couldn't see past the bottom of Yangs creased shirt she guessed that her shorts were also crooked.
"What's up?" Yang asked wearily, stretching her arms just enough to allow Blake a glimpse of her midriff, sufficient enough to remind her of how physically appealing her partner was. Blake quickly banished the thoughts from her head, instead feigning concern to pull Yang away from her sister. She placed fake worry into her eyes and saddened her expression slightly to go along with the worried tone that she spoke with, quickly overcoming Yangs defenses and moving the two to the other side of the room.
"How is she?" Blake asked, resisting the urge to go all out on her partner just yet. Yang glanced over at her sleeping sister, scratching her face as she turned back to Blake.
"Not doing so bad, looks like she's getting better quicker than expected. I talked to her last night and she sounded a lot happier, so it looks like she'll make a complete recovery soon!" Yang positively screamed happiness, and while Blake knew that it was genuine she also knew that it wasn't spontaneous.
"Really? That's fast." She kept the accusing tone out of her voice, instead replacing it with mock astonishment. It seemed to fool Yang easily enough, watching the other girl grin insanely as though she had been given the thing she wanted the most.
"Yep, Ruby's a quick healer! I should know, she used to get hurt all the time when she was a kid, but she was always back outside an hour later with barely a scar on her."
Blake believed this, as the young girl was healing faster than most others would.
Just not this fast.
They both turned their heads at the quiet yawn that pierced the air behind them, and while Yang walked back over to her sister Blake watched Ruby sit up and stretch her arms exactly as Yang had done moments earlier. She smiled for a second, quickly reminding herself why she was here in the first place. She cleared the gap in four strides and stood to the left of the bed opposite Yang.
"How are you feeling?" Blake asked, meeting her partners puzzled gaze for a split-second before turning her attention back to the girl in front of her. Ruby spoke quietly but strongly, clearly feeling rejuvenated after her rest.
"Just tired I think. I was up late last night studying for things, and I think I fell asleep halfway through..." No doubt, she was sounding better than she was the last time Blake had seen her.
"No pain in your knee?" Blake kept her voice steady but soft, edging the sisters towards where she wanted them to be in such a way that they wouldn't notice until it was too late. Ruby shook her head, holding a finger to her chin in thought.
"Not at the minute, but it's been hurting less and less so I think it's getting better." Blake caught the quiet underlying smugness that tinged her leaders words and decided that now would be the perfect time to wipe the two smiles from the sisters faces in one clean swoop.
"Good to hear! I'm glad that you're healing naturally, I dread to think what would happen if it was pushed back into place prematurely." She held her tongue flat against her mouth to prevent the smirk from reaching her lips as both Yang and Ruby both wore faces of badly disguised horror, frantically exchanging nervous glances between one-another and Blake.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Ruby asked meekly, her voice shrinking towards the end of her sentence. Blake bent forwards to lean in closer to Rubys face, watching with amusement as she glimpsed Yang practically falling onto the bed as she too leaned closer to listen.
"If the tissue surrounding the bone is forced out of the way before the body deems it to be safe, the blood vessels will shut themselves off to prevent any clotting, effectively leaving you paralyzed until your body decides it's safe to resume the healing process." She motioned with her hands, knowing full well that she was lying through her teeth. Her self-taught medical training gave her an authority regarding such matters that meant Ruby and Yang both believed her completely regardless of how wrong her information was .
"Wh-..." Yang began, the horror creeping into her eyes as she grasped what Blake was saying. Ruby was doing her best to fight back her tears, but Blake saw them before the younger girl could wipe them away with shaking hands. Blake straightened her posture and cleared her throat, grabbing both of the girls attention as Ruby gripped Yangs hand tightly.
"Why do you look so scared? You don't have anything to worry about." Her voice carried the same softness she had used before, but it also held a slight arrogance as Blake knew exactly what she was doing.
"Do you?"
Those words rang through Yangs mind like a bell, echoing over and over as she struggled to accept what she could have done to her sister. Her eyes widened a little at seeing Rubys tears and she rapidly pulled the girl into a hug, stroking the red-fringed hair as she had done so many times before. She looked up at Blake, meeting the flash of hidden delight with a gaze of fretting stone.
"Well?" Blake pressured, folding her arms to reinforce her authoritative demeanour.
"I..." Yang began, holding Ruby close to her chest as the girl fought a losing battle against her own emotions. Her voice firmed, accepting the consequences of her actions and meeting them head on. "I forced Rubys knee back into place."
Blake widened her eyes in a fake display of surprise, pouring deception into her voice.
"You...you did what?"
"I pushed her knee back into place because we thought she would be fine." Yangs tone was serious, and while Blake was satisfied with how convincing she had been she knew that it was time to draw things to a close.
"Why would you do something like that?!" She snapped, raising her voice just enough to make Yang flinch. Her voice quietened somewhat at her reasoning, well aware of how unreliable it was.
"Because we saw it on TV when we were younger..."
That sealed it for Blake, she decided she had led them on enough.
"Well." She narrowed her eyes, giving the sisters a disapproving glare that even Yang shrunk away from. "Luckily for you, Ruby won't be paralyzed from the knee down."
Ruby looked up at Blake, her eyes bloodshot with tears. Yang began to mouth something, her words not quite making it out into the air.
"Because paralysis does not occur by jamming bones back into place."
"You lied?" Yang asked, her previous concern winding down only to be replaced with the beginnings of anger. Blake chose her words carefully, not wanting a repeat of the last time someone had made Ruby cry. The poor boy was hospitalized for weeks.
"Yes, I lied. More importantly, I discovered that you put your sisters career and very possibly life at risk for what? To get out of the infirmary a week or two earlier?" Blakes voice was harsher than before, quelling the fire that had begun to rise in Yangs eyes as the two sisters stared at the floor, acknowledging their mistake.
"You're lucky that she's still young, and that her bones will adjust accordingly. If you had done this a few years later her leg may have been permanently disfigured." Blake watched Ruby bury her face back into Yangs chest at the idea, gripping her sisters shoulder tightly. Yang nodded once, prompting Blake to relax her behaviour a little.
"On the flipside." Blake started, locking eyes with her partner. "This does mean that we can show you something we found yesterday in the Emerald Forest." Silver eyes flashed with curiosity as Ruby rubbed them, loosening her hold on Yang a little.
"But not today, you still need rest." Blake severed her leaders enthusiasm before it pushed her to make another reckless decision. Her attention turned to Yang.
"And you need to stop acting so carelessly. I had warned you about the consequences of something like this but you went ahead and did it anyway."
"But you said-" Yangs protests were cut short by her partner.
"If I were you I'd worry less about me and more about Ruby. You know that Weiss is going to go berserk when she finds out what you've done, don't you?" The question was slightly less severe than the rest, but Yang shuddered at the thought, feeling Ruby nod slowly against her shoulder. She gently prised her sister off and held her at arms length by the shoulders, looking Ruby directly in the eyes as she spoke with a renewed reassurance that even Blake felt comforted by.
"We'll tell her together, okay? I'll take the blame, you don't need to worry. You didn't do anything wrong."
"O-okay..." Ruby sniffled, leaving Yang to pull her into another hug to comfort the fading sadness.
Blake took a minute to watch them, appreciating that despite how careless and potentially dangerous Yang had been she had acted very maturely, taking the consequences of her actions and even going so far as to offer to take the brunt of the impact when they told Weiss how Ruby mysteriously got better overnight.
She pulled out her scroll and checked the time, sliding it back into her pocket and leaving the sisters alone to recover. The doors closed behind her and she glanced out of the windows at the deepening blue sky as she walked down the corridors, aiming to return to the dorm and gather her things in preparation for the next class she had, making a mental note to be around when Weiss discovered the truth.
She wouldn't miss that for the world.