Weiss took another four hours to find the way back to the house Erydias lived in. As she stood in front of the door, Weiss thought about how she could possibly tell Ruby the truth about her leg. Berating her for something, which was not Ruby's fault, was out of the question. On the other hand, she did not communicate during the encounter, and that was not the first time either. Maybe Ruby did not see Weiss in the dark, and got into her way without even noticing it. That was no excuse for what Weiss had done, of course, but it could explain how the situation came to be. Now it was dinner time, and the heiress felt hungry, for obvious reasons like the lack of a proper breakfast.
As she opened the door, she noticed a somewhat familiar smell, coming from the kitchen. Weiss went there directly, even though the presence of Erydias came back to her mind as the heiress entered the entrance to the kitchen. Just seeing the Huntress made her uncomfortable. Erydias was cooking something inside at least one large, and one medium sized pot.
"Right on schedule, Ms. Schnee. I assumed, you would be hungry, when you return to us," Erydias stated calmly, and repellent, as usual. The heiress noticed some sort of connection between behavior and presence of the Huntress. However, she was cut off before mentioning her return, so Erydias actually did notice her. "Did you accomplish the objective of your retrieval-mission?"
"Yes… Thank you for asking. Is… Is Ruby alright?" Weiss asked in hesitation. She feared that her team leader's condition had become worse during her necessary absence.
"Why don't you go upstairs, and find out for yourself? I'm busy here, as you might have noticed." That answer was typical for this woman. How could someone possibly stand being around a person like Erydias? "Dinner will be served in about five minutes."
Weiss nodded, as the added hint was given, and headed upstairs. She noticed the mirror in the small hallway for the first time, although she had passed it about five times now. The heiress could see the weariness on herself, and some sort of restlessness as well. It was a very long day, Weiss. You look like it. The heiress turned away from the mirror, and recognized a black hat: A simple, black fedora hung next to the mirror, on a hook. I've seen this before… but where? On her way up the stairs, Weiss noticed that the door to the guest room stood open a bit. As she entered the room carefully, her heart was comforted for the first time in the last 48 hours. There she was, Ruby Rose, clothed in a gray nightgown and connected to a medical drip with a clear liquid in it. The sight, however, was not, what comforted the heart of the heiress. It was the voice, just as tired as hers, that said three simple words. "You came back."
"What teammate would not come back?" Weiss asked. She tossed Myrtenaster aside, again, and went straight towards Ruby, who tried to sit up a little. "No. You stay put, Ruby," the heiress said gently. "And why are you awake? I was told you wouldn't wake up until tomorrow."
"Well," Ruby started, "there is something in this drip, that helps my body recreate the blood I've lost. But the same stuff also counters the narcotic agent that was used this morning." Ruby sounded much like Erydias, while explaining the situation to Weiss. "Uh, sorry, I recited the walkie-talkie."
While Ruby was explaining her strange choice of words, Weiss looked around in the guest room. There was a mattress, lying next to the closet, a small table with a chair stood in the corner next to the door, and Ruby's clothes were gone. "The what?" Weiss asked, and looked at the end table that Ruby pointed at. A walkie-talkie lay on the edge, just in range for Ruby to grasp it. "Where is the other one?" The heiress asked.
"I don't know?" Ruby asked. The young team leader smiled awkwardly after that, and Weiss raised an eyebrow. "I-I was very woozy after I woke up. I saw someone placing… Stuff in here. Gray shirt, blue pants…" Ruby started to wear out again as she tried to remember what she had seen.
"Hush, Ruby," interrupted Weiss, and put a hand on her partner's shoulder. "I know who you mean. Ms. Grey is our host, and she saved you."
"As far, as I am aware, it was YOU, who saved Ruby, Ms. Schnee." The door opened, and Erydias entered the room casually, while giving her statement. She limped directly towards the table, and put two plates with Spaghetti on it. Her tone was not as repellent, as Weiss was used to, but somewhat agonized. Whatever makes her limp – it seems to hurt a lot, Weiss thought while watching Erydias, who turned around immediately after serving dinner, but could not hide the pain her face was expressing in that moment. There was a walkie-talkie on her belt, which looked just like the one on the end table.
"Oh, there's the other one…" Weiss noted, and picked up the walkie-talkie from the end table.
"There's a button on the back of it. Push it, and you'll have your privacy," Erydias explained indirectly, what she used the set of devices for: Monitoring Ruby. She limped towards the young Huntress in training, and undid the connection to the almost empty drip beside the bed. The woman put the drip, the square column it was attached to, and even the needle in Ruby's left hand aside, just next to the door, before taking her leave again. She did not say a single word during her actions.
"Thank you." Weiss followed her host to the door of the guest room, and closed it behind Erydias. She then turned towards Ruby, and asked gently: "Can you eat on your own, Ruby?"
"I think I'll give it a shot," the younger girl answered wearily.
"Alright." Weiss went to her, helped her into a sitting position, and fetched the food. She handed over one fork, and placed one plate on the covers with great care.
"Thanks, Weiss."
"That's the least I c-" Weiss shuddered, when Ruby suddenly flinched in pain. The heiress grabbed the plate, and lifted it. "Did I put it on your leg?" she asked with concern.
"N-no… It just started to hurt. Do you know what happened?" Ruby asked while clenching her fists on top of the covers. She doesn't even have a clue… Weiss thought. But before she even could start to explain, Ruby continued to talk, weary as she was. At least the pain seemed to be gone again. "You know… There was one behind you. I… Charged in to kill it… And then… Everything went red, then dark…"
Gods, you even… Why did this happen? The heiress felt the cold feeling of guilt crawling up her spine again. Not only did she injure her friend, who she never really treated as such. She literally punished the young leader of team RWBY for saving her very life. Luckily, Ruby did not seem to know how 'everything went red, then dark'.
"You got hit, Ruby," Weiss explained while looking at her team leader. Her decision to hold back a portion of the truth hurt the heiress, but at least she found a way to avoid admitting her unacceptable mistake, without lying to the little rose.
"I got hit by what?" Ruby asked.
"I couldn't see it properly, I'm afraid," Weiss answered in her most polite tone she could muster. Again it was no lie, but it was not the whole truth either. Ruby kept silent for a few moments, looked at Weiss as if she was waiting for something. The heiress looked back at her, taking a deep, but silent breath. Gods, she knows… Oh Gods, she knows… Weiss thought nervously.
"Thanks for saving me," Ruby whispered, before taking a slight hold of Weiss' hand, which still held the plate with the Spaghetti. "We should eat, before they cool down too much," the young Huntress in training added. Weiss just nodded in agreement, and the two ate the dinner their host provided.
"Mh… Pfif if good…" Ruby stated without even swallowing her first portion she put in her mouth.
"Ruby, please don't talk with a mouthful of food," Weiss reminded her of some manners. "But you're right, these Spaghetti are well made."
"Sorry," the red haired girl said, slightly blushing, "What were you doing, while I was out?"
"Well," the white haired girl started, "I tried to contact the others. At first with you scroll, but that didn't work out."
"Oh. Yang must be worried sick." Ruby looked sad all of a sudden. Good thing, that Weiss had further information to make her feel more comfortable again.
"After I finished your scroll, I went back into the forest," Weiss continued, only to be interrupted. Runs in the family, I suppose.
"Why would you do that?"
"I tried to find my scroll, which I lost while we came here." The conversation with Yang earlier that day seemed to be a good preparation for dealing with Ruby during the current one: The scythe wielder interrupted the heiress again.
"Did that work out?"
"Yes, I managed to contact Yang, and Blake. They-" And Ruby interrupted Weiss again.
"Are they alright?" she asked, sincerely concerned. Weiss just sighed, and nodded.
"Yes, they are fine, and should be back at Beacon by now…" This time Weiss made a pause for Ruby to speak up. But the rose did not say anything. "They went back to get help, Ruby."
"Why didn't they come back for us immediately?" Ruby mumbled under another bite of her dinner.
"Assembling a medical team for your leg takes a while. They'll come and get us tomorrow," Weiss answered gently. "Besides, this pack of Beowolves is still out there, in the forest."
"That sounds reasonable," the younger of the two girls said quietly. "I didn't think about that."
"Oh, that reminds me…" Weiss said hastily, and pulled her scroll out of the pouch. Initially, the heiress wanted to activate the distress signal, so that they could be located for the pickup. But a look at Ruby got her another idea. "Do you want to talk to Yang?" she asked, and Ruby's eyes went wide in excitement.
"Can I really?"
"Of course you can, dun-… n't overdo it, though. You need rest." Weiss prepared the scroll for Ruby to make the call, after they finished their dinner. The room provided a somewhat cozy atmosphere, which calmed Weiss down a lot, before Ruby started to talk to her sister via her scroll. Weiss could hear Yang's relief about Ruby's current condition clearly, and she could see the joy in Ruby's face while the heiress listened to their conversation, even though the young leader was getting tired rapidly.
"I think I'll sleep now, Yang…" the young Huntress in training said wearily. "We'll see you tomorrow, big sis…"
-=See ya, Ruby. And Weiss: Thanks for taking care of her,=- Yang responded much calmer than she was during the conversation about four and a half hours ago.
"You're welcome. See you soon," Weiss answered quietly. As she folded her scroll again, Ruby had already fallen asleep, smiling like the little dunce she was. The heiress caught herself smiling warmly on this sight. A few strokes through Ruby's hair later, she reflected on what happened that day:
First, she got help for Ruby by a stranger, who happened to live in the middle of nowhere. Second, she got helpful advice from that stranger, more than once, while dealing with her situation. But this stranger also wanted her gone for some reason, and Weiss was curious about that reason. This Erydias Grey character had no means of communication to the outside world either. This didn't make any sense to Weiss, but she was afraid of confronting her host about that matter. Yes, there was this presence the woman surrounded herself with. Weiss didn't understand Erydias, and that bothered the heiress.
But eventually, Weiss fell asleep herself. As her vision started to blur, she took a hold of Ruby's hand. "I swear to the gods, Ruby: I will never let something like this happen again," she whispered, before her eyes closed one last time, and the heiress fell into a deep, and well earned sleep.
The next chapter: Memories
Here it is: Chapter three of this work. I reworked the plot while writing this chapter, therefore changed the title of it. Have fun reading, and feel free to comment as you see fit.