Chapter 4: The Third Domino Falls at Midnight
Vale Emergency General Hospital
1:30 pm
Qrow Branwen was a known drinker on every occasion amongst his friends and associates. But the news he received on this day was enough to sober the experienced huntsman up, news that would have broken the minds and emotions of lesser men. The news he received played out in his mind, so he had to see if this was true as he marched up the steps of the hospital...
" Qrow?" Winter said.
" Well, what brings the Ice Queen to me?" Qrow said sarcastically.
" You need to listen to me, it's about your nieces." Winter said.
When Winter had mentioned that to him, he had actually dropped his flask on the table he was sitting at...
" What?" Qrow said in a serious tone.
" There was an incident during their hunting assignment, one of their teammates turned out to be infected with that virus WHITECROSS is trying to destroy." Winter explained.
" How does Yang and Ruby have to fit into this?" Qrow asked.
" They have been hospitalized, along with my sister." Winter said.
" What happened?" Qrow demanded.
" The infected teammate, Blake Belladonna, had an outburst and ended up wounding Ruby, badly." Winter said.
" How bad?" Qrow asked.
" She drove her blade, through Ruby's chest, it exited out her back. This sent Yang into a rage, and she overcharged her semblance and burned herself." Winter stated.
Hearing this, Qrow immediately raced to the hospital to see if what Winter had told him was true. He blazed through a crowd of individuals, and approached the information desk, and was greeted by a young receptionist.
" Hello sir, are you visiting anybody today?" The receptionist asked.
" Yes, I am looking for a young girl recently brought in with a tall blonde." Qrow said.
" One sec." The receptionist said, picking up the phone.
" Please girls, be alright." Qrow thought.
" They're are currently on the thirteenth floor, the younger girl has just been transferred out of surgery." The receptionist explained.
" Thank you." Qrow said.
He immediately raced over to the elevators, and hopped aboard one that was heading to the thirteenth floor that had a fancy-dressed teenager on board. They were eventually joined by a worried Taiyang, who jumped aboard before the doors closed.
" Qrow!" Taiyang said.
" It's good that you were able to make it." Qrow said.
" What brings you gentleman to the hospital?" The boy asked in a thick Mistral accent.
" My daughters were just hospitalized here." Taiyang explained.
" Oh my god, what happened?" The boy asked.
" One of their teammates turned out to be infected with that virus WHITECROSS has been trying to stop." Qrow explained.
" What is your relation to them?" The Boy asked Qrow.
" I'M THEIR UNCLE." Qrow said angrily.
" Qrow, relax, he clearly meant no offense." Taiyang said.
" I'm sorry if I had offended you." The boy said.
" What brings you here, young man?" Taiyang asked.
" I'm visiting a friend here, they got roughed up pretty bad by the White Fang awhile back." The boy explained.
" What's your name kid?" Qrow asked.
" I'm Aiden, Aiden Fairchild." Aiden said as the elevator arrived on their floor.
Aiden exited and went his own way, while the two men looked around the rooms to see if they could find Ruby and Yang, attracting the attention of an older doctor who was looking over information on a datapad...
" Can I help you?" The doctor asked.
" We're looking for a young girl named Ruby Rose." Qrow explained.
" Ah, you must be her relatives then." The Doctor said.
" You were told to expect us?" Taiyang said.
" Her sister told us to look out for you both." The doctor said, leading the two men to Ruby's room. " The WHITECROSS doctors managed to repair the majority of the trauma, but the blade had fragmented in some areas as a result of impacting on her spine. They were able to remove some of the shards while we were able to remove the rest, but a few have merged with several nerve clusters. They had to put her in a chemical-induced coma after she nearly went into cardiac arrest after the surgery, so her body can adapt to the shock." He explained.
" What kind of effects will this have in the long run?" Taiyang asked.
" Her reflexes will be slowed greatly as a result of this." The doctor explained.
He pointed to her room, and both men entered it. They saw Ruby laying motionless on a hospital bed, with an oxygen mask over her mouth and she was covered by a white blanket, and a concerned Yang by her side, who looked up to see her father and uncle standing there, both having concerned and emotional looks on their faces.
" Uncle Qrow, Dad!" Yang said, running up and hugging them both.
" Yang!" Taiyang exclaimed.
Qrow walked over to Ruby's side while Taiyang held his daughter close. She appeared as if she was sound asleep in her bed, dreaming about being the greatest huntress to ever walk Vale's streets and Remnant itself. He gently stroked her head, hoping she would be alright and would live through this event. There was a knock at the door, and Weiss came into the room...
" Hey." Weiss calmly said.
" Didn't think you would be up Weiss." Yang said.
" I really just needed a nap after I made some arrangements." Weiss said.
" What arrangements?" Qrow asked.
" For Yang to get a new Ember Celica since the doctors said she can't use the original anymore." Weiss explained.
" What?" Taiyang asked.
" I accidentally pushed myself too hard, and I got burned." Yang explained to her father.
" You pushed yourself?" Taiyang said in an upset tone.
" Overcharged her semblance, superheating the original pair." Weiss said.
" You superheated your Ember Celica?" Qrow said.
" Doctors said if I ever used the originals again, I'll burn my arms off completely." Yang explained.
" So you've got somebody making her a modified set?" Taiyang asked Weiss.
" A friend of mine with the company's making them, he works as a weaponsmith as a side job." Weiss explained.
" Apparently they'll be thermally-insulated so I don't burn myself it that happens again." Yang said.
" So, who's told your father about what happened?" Qrow asked.
" Winter has, he actually understands that Blake was infected, so he won't press charges." Weiss said.
" He was thinking about pressing charges?" Taiyang asked.
" He thought originally, Blake had turned bad, but after the explanation, he's come around." Weiss responded.
There was another knock at the door, and it was Ren and Nora, with Ren carrying a bouquet of flowers wrapped in a pretty pink design. Ren walked over to an empty vase and placed the flowers in there while Nora walked over to Ruby's bed side.
" She looks like she's sound asleep." Nora said.
" Nora, we talked about this." Ren pointed out.
" Right." Nora responded.
" What brings you two here?" Qrow asked.
" We heard about what happened, How are you holding up Yang?" Ren asked.
" Hanging in there." She responded.
" How did you two find out? Ozpin's got this hushed for a bit so a panic doesn't occur." Taiyang said.
" Penny told us, she overheard Ozpin and Ironwood talking." Nora said.
" Who's Penny?" Taiyang asked.
" She's an acquaintance of ours, we crossed paths with her one day while in the city." Yang explained.
" Ironwood's been strict lately, keeping her close to him at all times." Ren said.
" Sounds like she's seriously important to her." Qrow said.
Everyone crowded around the comatose Ruby, and they did the one thing that hadn't expected to do: they prayed. They held hope that faith could speed the process of healing along in a prayer that had been lead not by Taiyang, not Yang, not Qrow, not Nora, not Ren, but Weiss herself. A prayer lead by Weiss, who had a deep care and love for Ruby, a hope that was never going to be shattered or taken from her, or ripped away from her like the things she had wanted when she was a child. After the prayer was done and the words were said, Everyone exited the room except for Qrow, Taiyang, and Yang, and Taiyang turned to Qrow...
" That was nice of Weiss to lead." Taiyang said.
" She chose to lead us because of something within her." Qrow said.
" What do you mean?" Yang asked.
" I saw it when she first entered the room, something clawing at her, something she felt ashamed to tell us, fearful of our reactions. It wasn't just concern, it wasn't fear, it wasn't respect, it was love." Qrow explained.
" Love?" Taiyang and Yang asked.
" A love for Ruby, something that had stirred within her for a long period of time, something that had gestated over the time Ruby was the captain of the team." Qrow said.
" But, why would she be concerned about how'd we react?" Taiyang asked.
" Because, Her father, uncle, and sister were in the room at the time, so she felt a little uncomfortable." Qrow figured.
They all agreed, and Taiyang and Qrow left as they were called back to Signal to address growing rumors about what happened. Yang was left all alone with her sister, who was still comatose, and Weiss was walking back to her room, where she crossed paths with Winter, who was standing at the window.
" I was outside the room during your prayer." Winter said.
" You were?" Weiss said.
" Yes, do you want to know what thoughts were racing in my head when I first heard about what happened from Professor Ozpin?" Winter asked.
" Sure." Weiss said as she sat down on her bed.
" When I first heard those words, I felt my heart skip several beats after he told me. My own sister and her teammates had been wounded by an infected teammate, a teammate infected with the very same virus that was trying to be wiped out." Winter started. " I tried to keep my calm and collected composure, but I failed to do so, and I raced for my airship like there was nothing to stop me." She said, with her voice starting to break.
" Winter?" Weiss said.
" (Voice breaking) When I saw your captain lying motionless there, I became scared, picturing what would have happened if it was you in her place, and tried to block it out, to shield it from my mind. But it always wormed my way into my mind, I WAS SO AFRAID." Winter said, breaking into a full-out cry and dropping to her knees.
Weiss immediately stood up from the bed, hugging her crying sister. Weiss knew that Winter had emotions, but what had happened today was enough to push her over the boundaries she had set for herself when it came to her emotions. Winter had always shown a cool and collected position whenever she had been in public with others, but when it came to this day, she had fear overcome her, fear of what Weiss would do if anything had happened to Ruby, the one person she had cared for.
" Hey, hey, it's okay to know when you should be afraid, sis." Weiss said.
" I know, but I just can't help myself right now." Winter said through the tears.
" It's okay, Winter, I will always be okay when I am around you." Weiss said.
Winter hugged her sister back, holding her close, and not letting go. She released after a couple of moments, and went into the bathroom to clean herself up, while Weiss checked her vibrating scroll, to see it was Blaze from the WHITECROSS Task Force that occupied Providence...
" Hello?" Weiss asked.
" Kid, you are a genius." Blaze said.
" What do you mean?" Weiss asked.
" The idea you submitted to me and my assistant worked, we've got Patient Zero's location." Blaze said with excitement.
" Really?" Weiss said as Winter exited the bathroom.
" They're in Mistral, at a bio-research institute that had reported the majority of their staff being sick." Blaze explained.
" A bio-research institute?" Weiss asked.
" Yes, an employee contacted me with information, saying they have Patient Zero detained so we can acquire what we need to make a cure." Blaze said.
" That's great." Weiss said.
" I know, that means we can end this nightmare before it gets any worse." Blaze said.
" That's fantastic, are you on the way there right now?" Weiss asked.
" No, Task Force Shield has been deployed and they are gonna be on scene in 30 minutes." Blaze said.
" Well, keep me updated when you can." Weiss said.
" Yes, ma'am." Blaze said before hanging up.
Blaze was right, Task Force Shield, lead by Commander Savanna Conroy, had arrived and subdued 12-yr-old Adelaide Moreau, who was left in an animalistic state as a result of being abandoned in the forests by The White Fang after the ransom of her kidnapping was paid by her wealthy parents. They synthesized antibodies the girl had, and produced a cure that helped her and over hundreds of innocent people infected in the kingdoms. That number grew every hour, and after receiving her cure, Blake contacted Yang, only to be sent to voicemail.
Vale General Hospital
Midnight
" Yang, when you get this message, I will be gone from Vale. I wouldn't feel right being around Ruby after what I did and I got some demons of my past that I have got to get rid of. So I don't want to get you or the others harmed, so please, do not try to follow me." Blake's voicemail said.
Yang was standing up next to her bed, wearing a long brown jacket with a blue shirt underneath, and the modified Ember Celica on her hands. She felt that Blake's decision was wrong of her to do it alone, so she slipped out of the hospital into the parking garage, and hopped aboard her motorcycle, which had the original Ember Celica mounted on the sides.
" I will find you Blake." Yang thought.
She drove away, determined to find the one person who she cared about as equally as her younger sister. Blake was her partner and their teammate, she didn't have to desert them because of a mistake that had been made because a virus in her blood. She spoke to Junior, who set her up with some passports and a beginning lead on Blake's location, and then proceeded on her hunt to reclaim her partner. The next morning, Weiss had awoken to the sound of doctors and nurses scuttling around...
" Hey, what's going on?" Weiss asked one of the nurses.
" Miss Xiao Long, she's gone." The nurse said.
" What?" Weiss said.
" She left the hospital without being signed out last night." The nurse explained.
" WHAT?" Weiss said angrily.
Weiss immediately walked down to Ruby's room, passing by doctors and nurses, as anger stirred within in her...
" What was Yang thinking? Blake is our teammate sure, but she shouldn't have abandoned Ruby when she needs her the most right now." Weiss thought.
She walked to the door of Ruby's room and opened it up, only to find something that had suppressed her anger, to find Ruby had awoken from her coma...
" Weiss?" Ruby asked.
" To this day, Ruby's life is going to be changed forever, as two irreplaceable people have just left her side." Weiss thought.
This chapter is full of the feels, and now Yang has just left her sister's side to go in pursuit of Blake, which angered Weiss. Weiss firmly believes that A sister's duty is to stay by their younger sibling's side through the most difficult times, and Yang had abandoned that duty to go in search of Blake. The next chapter is two-fold, Blake meets with Team DAHK or "Deathlock" which is lead by her old friend, Duncan Wolfe, a Wolf-Faunus who is a master of every weapon known to man, without knowing Yang was watching from a distance. Weiss and Ruby return to Beacon, and receive a special greeting...
WAIT AND SEE.