"Please work…" Weiss whispered. After casting aside the fact of being in the home of a seasoned Huntress for the time being, the heiress decided to go for the first option that had been suggested. When she entered the room, Ruby had not moved even a single inch. Whatever this medication was, it scared Weiss until she double checked Ruby's breath and pulse. At first Weiss hesitated to take the scroll out of the squeezed pouch it was in. It's smashed to pieces, she said, Weiss thought every time she grabbed the pouch, and released it again every time the thought was finished. The heiress took the liberty to rid Ruby of some of her clothing, mainly the remaining boot, her beloved red cloak, still drenched in blood, and the belt with the hilt for, and with Crescent Rose, Ruby's ammo, and the scroll. Weiss did not dare touch the black combat skirt or the remainder of the pantyhose. It was not appropriate.
After placing everything orderly in a corner of the room, Weiss returned to the scroll. Finally she managed to overcome her doubts, much to her surprise: The device had been bent, but did withstand the force it had been exposed to otherwise. She was holding it in both hands, ready to unfold it. She repeated her plea once more, before actually unfolding Ruby's scroll. "Please work…"
The display was flickering, menus and icons distorted, and not quite in place, some more than others. Weiss did not think of Ruby having any order on this device anyway, as she did not have it with her studying materials. But this was a mess even her tight order of icons on her own scroll could possibly prevent. Luckily, the heiress managed to locate the list of contacts, and Yang in there. "So far, so good, Weiss. A call is off the table, so where do I… Ah, there you are," Weiss said to the device – she actually talked to herself for the first time in her life – as she managed to start the messaging application. It took her a while to adapt to the blurry symbols that were supposed to be the keyboard, but eventually the heiress created a message for Yang.
-=Ruby is alive. We found help, a Huntress. House on a clearing. Weiss=-
The message was simple, but straight to the point. Everything important to Yang was in there, or at least Weiss assumed there was. They knew each other not well enough for the heiress to be sure about that, but it did not matter at the time. What did matter, however, was the one question on Weiss' mind as soon as she hit what she thought was the 'send'-button. Will she actually receive it? Right after that, the scroll started to throw out sparks for about two seconds before dying out completely.
Weiss placed the now broken scroll on the end table next to the bed her team leader lay in. Ruby still looked lifeless, and Weiss started to worry again. Five days at best, and they would have to get out of the house, moving wherever Erydias told them to go. Weiss would have to aid Ruby in such mundane things as walking – if she would not be forced to carry her the entire time – sitting down and standing up again. Her team leader could not even defend herself, let alone cover the heiress' back. She felt a fear crawling down her spine, as Weiss took another look at Ruby on the bed. She had to protect her, but for now the dunce was safe. But Weiss still was not sure whether or not the message got to the others, and would not be able to find out.
Why am I so… Insecure? It's not like this Erydias can read my mind or anything. The way she looked at me, however, was… Intriguing, Weiss thought to herself and sat on the edge of the bed. Before she did that, the heiress removed Myrtenaster from its hilt. There had to be something odd with this Huntress. Something definitely was not right, but Weiss could not pinpoint it yet. However, when Myrtenaster entered her field of vision, she lost track of this trail of thoughts.
Wait a minute… Is this… No… There was blood on the blade of Myrtenaster. Nothing unusual, considering that Weiss had fought a pack of Beowolves the night before. What stiffened her was a sudden feeling of unknown origins, slowly crawling up the heiress' spine.
When the Grimm had surrounded them, the members of team RWBY fought their worst to create a way out of the pack, so they could retreat and regroup. While it worked for Yang and Blake relatively easily, Weiss and Ruby struggled not to get separated from one another while the beasts chased them around the clearing they managed to escape to. The dolt shot and slashed at the Beowolves in a flurry of muzzle flashes, rose petals, and bullet casings. The heiress, on the other hand, focused one creature of Grimm at a time – or two if she really had to – and dispatched of them using her glyphs and Myrtenaster efficiently.
"Why are there so many of them?!" Ruby shouted, still engaged by three of the monsters.
"How should I know?!" Weiss replied harshly, as usual. "This is not the time, anyway, Ruby!"
A few slashes and shots later, Weiss realized that the Beowolves managed what the two of them tried so hard to prevent: They got between Ruby and the heiress. "Ruby, get back here!" Weiss screamed at the top of her lungs. The creatures were closing in on her, after they had surrounded Weiss. She started firing her red Dust attacks around herself, more or less aimed, which whatever was there to hit evaded with relative ease. There were only three of them in front of Weiss. The first beast to approach her took a stab to the heart by Myrtenaster. Weiss stabbed and slashed towards the other Grimm approaching her, panicked by the lack of response.
Then, out of nowhere, something red appeared above her. Two brightly red eyes in the darkened sky gazed at her. Weiss struck out, and attacked with all force her arm could muster. The scream of pain made her blood freeze. The familiar, high pitched voice just screamed out in pure agony, as Crescent Rose fell to the ground, shortly after its wielder Ruby had fallen herself. The two red eyes were mere rose petals, the effect of Ruby's Semblance. She was holding the injured leg, screaming out her pain, while the Beowolves stood right next to her, gazing at their now easy prey.
It was then when Weiss lounged forward, using a gravity well to propel herself with enough force to kick the left Grimm out of the way, while the right one received another stab to the heart by Myrtenaster. There were even more behind these two, but the Beowolves started to retreat. The reason for that was a Deathstalker that burst out of the ground, just where the pack was about a second ago. Weiss didn't even think. She just needed to get Ruby out of there. So she grabbed the younger girl. The heiress threw the rose on her own back to carry her. She even grabbed Crescent Rose. Nothing mattered, but to get away. Lucky for them, the giant Grimm took the pack of Beowolves for a larger threat than the two Huntresses – or the easier prey, both options were fine.
Weiss never turned around, but could always hear the clacking of the deadly Grimm. It was following them, she knew it. There was a small cave they could hide in, so she did. Ruby had fallen unconscious, therefore silent, and Weiss was just too tired to carry her any further. Inside the cave, the heiress leaned her team leader and herself against a wall, and closed her eyes after making sure Ruby was still breathing…
"I did this to you…" Weiss whispered, time and time again, with Myrtenaster in both hands, and looked at Ruby in disgust – but not by the young girl, her team leader, or the injury she currently suffered from. Instead, Weiss was disgusted by herself. How could she let this have happened? The one person who actually seemed to care for the heiress had been severely injured by her. They slowly started to trust each other, and now this! "BAH!" Weiss shouted, and threw Myrtenaster away from the bed, away from Ruby. It was thrown somewhere it could not do any harm to her. There was no excuse for what Weiss had done. Unacceptable! But at least now Weiss knew this feeling that has taken hold of her. It had been a long time since she felt it last, and it was just as bad back then. Guilt. She felt guilty for Ruby's current condition, and she was.
A knock on the door drew Weiss out of her thoughts. "Did you manage to contact your team, Ms. Schnee?" It was Erydias asking, while the Huntress opened the door. As she was standing in the doorway, she sounded definitely just as repellent than when they met at her doorstep. Yet another reminder for the heiress that she and Ruby were not wanted here.
"What… Why are you…?" Weiss asked hesitantly. Erydias' sudden appearance made her nervous to the point she tried to get a hold of Myrtenaster, and tensed up once again as she noticed her weapon lay in the corner she has thrown it moments ago. The Huntress had to know about what happened, or at least suspect Weiss for it. Never before had a person managed to see Weiss drained like this. The layer of ice around her soul would prevent anyone from reaching the heiress on an emotional level. And yet, this one woman did just that, simply by entering the guest room. She did not look at Weiss aggressively. Neither did her body language show any hostility.
"I did this…" Weiss mumbled, pointing at Ruby.
"I know…" Erydias said calmly and quietly. Now all of a sudden the hostile tone was missing in the woman's voice. She spoke gently, a warm smile on her lips, as she approached Weiss, who started flailing her arms in defense.
"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" She shouted. "We… We were surrounded by… By Beowolves… It was dark… I thought I saw one, and attacked… Attacked her instead… By no means is this a betrayal, I swear!" Her host approached her slowly, limping a bit. Weiss could not make any sense out of the woman's body language. Neither did Erydias look angered, nor did she seem to try to take a hold of Weiss. She simply limped towards her, and put a hand on the left shoulder of the heiress. It was just a mere pat, but its force was enough to force Weiss to her knees. It took all of her discipline not to burst out in tears over what happened.
"Then why is it that you are berating yourself about the matter this much?" The heiress looked at the Huntress, confused by what she just heard. Weiss tried to ice up again, but failed even before she could snap at the woman again. Instead, she remained silent for minutes. Her eyes filled with tears every time she opened them, but she kept them to herself. There was no reason to cry. It was an accident. But why would the tears keep coming then? Why did she feel this bad about it? What was going on with her? As Weiss eventually dared look up, Erydias had left her side again, and moved towards the end table.
"It seems you should go and retrieve your scroll, if you are willing to help Ruby."
"Of… Of course I am."
"Then put yourself in gear and get a move on, girl. Seize the daylight while it lasts," Erydias ordered this time, the hostility back to the level it has been this entire morning. "And when you return, you are to explain to me why the two of you were out here to begin with. Now move it!"
A few hours later Weiss was alone in the forest, Myrtenaster in hand, and looked around every bush, branch, and tree she came across in search for her scroll. It must have been around 1 p.m. as she came across a familiar rock with a cave in it. Wait… Is that…? Suddenly, the heiress darted forwards to a bush not far away from the cave entrance. "There you are, you stupid thing!" She almost yelled through the forest. Her pouch with the scroll in it lay more or less in plain sight, just in the shadow of the bush next to it. There were several scratches on the surface of the pouch.
Weiss grabbed and opened it immediately. YES! The scroll inside was still intact. Without even thinking, she unfolded the device, looked up Yang in her contacts, and made the call.
-=Who's that?!=- The device spoke up almost too sudden. Weiss sighed in relief, before answering. But there was a strange noise in the background. Engines? Weiss wondered.
"It's Weiss, Yang. I-"
-=Weiss! You okay?=- Yang certainly did sound worried, but it still was a surprise that the brawler did not ask about her sister's well being immediately. Maybe they received the message Weiss tried to send via Ruby's scroll.
"Yes, I am unharmed." Now comes the fun part, Weiss thought to herself in the middle of the breath she took before explaining the situation. "But Ruby… She's injured."
-=WHAT?! WHERE ARE YOU?!=-
"Yang, listen. She's in a house on a clearing somewhere in the middle of the forest. I-"
-=YOU LEFT HER ALONE?!=- Yang was furious, and interrupted Weiss once again. She was trying to explain everything, but had no means to counter the blonde's big sister instincts that obviously overwhelmed her at the moment. Another deep breath was taken by the heiress.
"No, she's with a Huntress we met. Y-"
-=What happened to my baby sis?=-
"Yang, calm down, and I will explain everything to you properly." Or at least stop interrupting me. Weiss just took a seat on a nearby tree stump as a sudden and unexpected silence was all that came from her scroll – not even what the heiress assumed to be the noise of engines could be heard. She was weary. Microphone turned off, I suppose, She thought. Was I too harsh again? I don't think I snapped at her, or did I? It seemed to take several minutes until Yang finally broke the silence again.
-=Okay… I'm good… Go ahead, Weiss,=- Yang sounded like she cried a lot in these past few moments. -=Blake's listening, too,=- The blonde added, although it was nothing more than a whisper.
"Hello, Blake. Good to hear you're fine as well," Weiss greeted her team mate, before starting to explain what happened to Ruby and her, beginning with the fight against the Beowolves, after they got separated. The heiress paused briefly as she got to the point when Ruby was injured, and decided to skip the incident for the moment. More importantly, Ruby was alive and safe, and Weiss had to cover her confusing feelings for now, acting icy as usual to do so – as she always has.
It took all the strength Weiss could muster not to tell Yang about HOW Ruby's injury came to be, but she described the wound itself as detailed as she could remember. The same went for the treatment Erydias had provided for Ruby, although the heiress did not mention her by name – simply referred to her as 'the Huntress'. The heiress did not mention the tension between her and Erydias. However, she admitted that she lost her scroll, and tried to use Ruby's broken device to contact Yang hours ago. Right after this obviously failed, which was confirmed by the other half of team RWBY, the heiress went back into the forest to look for her scroll.
"…And now I am explaining things to you," Weiss finished.
-=Okay. Weiss, we're headed back to Beacon already, getting some help to find you. It looks like we need a medical team for Ruby though. Assembling one could take a while,=- Blake spoke up while she had the chance. It could have been a reminder for Yang to not worry too much, but Weiss did not know for sure. At least her assumption about the engine noise in the background was right.
"Yes…" Weiss said while getting up on her feet again. It was time to move back, now that these things were settled for the time being. "I see you tomorrow then?"
-=I think. Just remember to switch on the distress signal when you're back at that house.=- Yang advised unnecessarily. -=In case we can come for you sooner,=- Blake added. At least they were reasonable.
"Okay. I'm heading back now. See you."
-=See you. And princess: Take care of Ruby,=- Yang said before she disconnected the conversation.
Of course I will. Weiss replied to her, even though it was just a thought.
The next chapter: Lessons
Here it is: chapter 2. Feel free to leave suggestions for improvements as a review, I sort of depend on the feedback in order to improve my abilities.