~Notice: POV changed to Weiss Schnee, present~
Weiss looked around the Bullhead, after she and Yang helped Ruby getting in very carefully. After that the medical team took her over, and started treatment even before the take-off. Weiss tried to stay by her partner's side, but she was convinced that she probably would be in the way of the medical team, and therefore took a seat as close to Ruby, as possible. Yang and Blake did something similar, but since Blake had not fully recovered from the retelling of her past yet, they kept a bit of a distance, Blake almost sitting on Yang's lap.
"Hey, Weiss," Yang spoke up shortly after the Bullhead had successfully taken off, "you alright over there?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Weiss answered, smiling to Yang politely. She noticed Blake slowly taking a hold of Yang's hand, similar to the way she had held Ruby's hand this very morning: Blake's palm on the back of Yang's hand, and fingers intertwined. And while she looked at this for a short time, the heiress wondered: Does it just look like it, or are they… "We'll explain in time, Weiss." Yang kept it quiet, so Ruby would not get curious while she was being treated.
"Oh… Sorry… I have another question, though: What about our Mission? We were supposed to deal with these Beowolves, remember?" Weiss changed the topic, knowing how to handle delicate subjects of any kind.
"After hearing what happened to us back then, Professor Ozpin decided to let Jaun and the others, under the leadership of a team of seasoned Huntsmen deal with this… What's it called again?" Yang answered, and tried to think of the word she was missing. Blake offered some assistance: "It is called a merged pack, Yang."
"Ah, yes! That would explain why there were so many of them," Weiss concluded. Three or four packs brought under one Beowolf Alpha…Frightening… she thought. "So they are already here?"
"Yup. The veterans took JNPR, and started to track down the pack from the same spot we started," Yang answered, uncouth as ever.
"Who were they?" Weiss asked; curiosity just got the better of her. What are the odds of her old squad being this close to her again?
"Ah, I don't know. Four dudes from Atlas, I think, graduated about two or three years ago… Nothing special about them, if you ask me."
"I see…" The odds are low, I suppose.
"So… What exactly happened to Ruby's leg?" Yang asked after a moment of Silence.
"Oh, hum… I'm not quite sure, how it happened…" Weiss started to cover her incompetence by telling parts of the truth for the time being. She was well aware that the full extent of her failure had to be revealed eventually, but now, with Blake's current emotional state, it seemed to be a bad decision – another failure – that had to be avoided. The medical staff would realize what caused the injury sooner or later, but for now, it did not matter.
"And what's your idea?" Yang kept pressing the matter, as if she was suspecting something already, and to make things worse, Blake looked the part. Just give it up, Weiss… For her…
"Well… There's only one option left, if one of the Beowolves did not cut her leg open… Which would be…" She stayed silent for minutes, while Blake looked at the heiress patiently, and kept Yang from doing anything else by just holding the blonde brawler's hand. "…She may have stumbled into her own blade… Or mine, for all I know…" Damn it, Weiss. Why?
"Now is not the time, Yang. Let her rest," Blake said to her partner calmly, saving the heiress in the process, maybe even intentionally. Weiss' Faunus friend was always the quiet observer, and maybe she could read body language or tone of voice in order to judge her counterpart; Blake probably knew what Weiss was telling without actually saying it.
"Okay, looks good. Ms. Schnee, you may come over to Ms. Rose and talk to her, as you wished earlier," the leading medic proclaimed the finished treatment; just in time before an awkward silence befell the aircraft. The members of the medical team started talking among themselves, as Weiss moved over to Ruby.
"Hey, is everything fine?" the heiress asked quietly, in a very gentle tone, and smiled at Ruby.
"I'm as fine, as I could be. We were both really lucky, you know?" Ruby answered.
"You're right, I suppose." More, than you even realize, Ruby… I hope.
"So… How long does it take to get home?"
"Hmm… I'm not sure. I slept on the way into these parts," Weiss answered. "If I had to guess, I would say something between two and four hours." Ruby rolled her eyes and groaned, already bored by watching the ceiling. "I've got an idea." Weiss left Ruby with these words, and made her way back to Yang and Blake, who were not really far away. Blake seemed to be asleep, leaning against the blonde's shoulder, and was simply caressed by the brawler's left hand.
"'Sup, Weiss," Yang greeted her, without even looking up; Blake was more interesting than a dancing Ursa to the brawling blonde; a fitting comparison in the heiress' opinion. "Is everything okay with Ruby?"
"Yes, she's fine, but already bored…" Weiss sighed, "Do you have anything to keep her occupied with?"
"Hmmm… Nope. And my hands are occupied." Yang's grin was wider than the heiress had ever seen until that point. There's always room for improvement…
"Well, what about the one your Hands are occupied with?" Weiss asked, slightly harsh in tone, but she did not mean it this time. What made her tone of voice become this way was yet to be revealed. "She probably has a book on her that we could borrow; if she doesn't mind, of course."
"You heard her, Blakey… Do you have a book with you?" Yang asked the Faunus girl next to her, whispering the words in a most caring way, almost too silent to be heard. Blake opened one eye, and looked up to Yang.
"Mh? A book? Sure, left pouch…" Blake said wearily, and pulled a small, black book out of said pouch. She handed it over to Weiss, who took the liberty of reading the title and the blurb.
"Oh, that sounds dark," the heiress stated.
"It has a lot of soul to it," Yang answered, grinning sheepishly at the simultaneous answer of both Weiss and Blake. "Really?" The heiress shook her head, but smiled about it. Of course, you couldn't resist. Inspecting the book a little further, Weiss noticed Blake's bookmark, which was placed inside the first quarter of the pages. She had to tell Ruby to leave it in its place.
"Thank you both." Weiss already started to make her way back to Ruby.
"Don't mention it," Blake answered, before leaning on Yang again, her eyes already closed.
Being reminded of such a thing, and being forced to reveal such a secret must be exhausting, the heiress thought to herself, and looked at the book again. She wondered, if this dark themed story was, what Ruby would like, or if it was even appropriate for 15 year olds. As she returned to her young team leader, Weiss immediately handed over the book. "How about reading to pass the time?" Weiss asked her partner.
"Anything to pass the time, partner!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly. However, the word 'partner' echoed through the heiress' mind for a while, with a bitter taste to it. She still was not sure, if Ruby knew about how her injury came to be, or not. It was a bittersweet reminder of what must be done eventually. But how? How could Weiss possibly tell her team, that Ruby's current state of health was the responsibility of none other than the heiress?
"Is this Blake's?" Ruby asked, after inspecting the book, handling it a bit more carefully than necessary.
"Yes, and she has a bookmark placed inside. Please leave it, where it is."
"Okay." Without further hesitation, Ruby started reading. Weiss stayed at the little rose's side, but got tired after a while. "You should sleep now, Weiss. No need to look after me here," the little rose said, putting one hand on the heiress' shoulder. "And you look like you need it."
"Well, there's something on my mind, that would keep me from resting, even if I tried," Weiss answered, but could not keep up the eye contact with Ruby.
"We're your teammates, your friends, Weiss. Whatever it is, if you told us, we certainly could help you."
"That's exactly the most difficult part about it…" the heiress merely whispered.
"Huh? I don't get it."
"I… Need to think this through properly, before talking to you guys about it. I don't want you to misunderstand me."
"You really are difficult, Weiss," Ruby teased the heiress, smiling with an honesty that almost hurt.
"That is true, I suppose…" Weiss answered. "So, how do you like the story so far?" She tried to change the subject, needed a distraction. And luckily, Ruby fell for it. She told the heiress about the series the book in question was part of, and that she tried to get a hold of the first three volumes, but could not obtain them, because of the age rating of 16 for the series.
"And the worst part is: I AM almost 16!" Ruby complained loudly.
"Hush, Ruby. Blake is trying to sleep." Weiss tried to calm Ruby. When is your birthday, anyway?" It was a good opportunity to learn something of value about the little rose, although the heiress did not quite realize, why she was interested in this information.
"Hmm…Exactly two weeks from now on," Ruby explained, and winked at Weiss. "If someone were to get me a copy of this, I would be very happy about it."
"Maybe I'll give Jaun a little hint in this general direction," Weiss tried to deceive Ruby about her intentions. Whether or not she was successful, the heiress could not tell.
The time passed relatively fast, and without any noteworthy incidents Team RWBY returned to Beacon Academy safe and sound – aside from Ruby's injury. Blake triple checked the correct fit of her bow, while Weiss made sure, Ruby would not fall off the gurney, without actually strapping her onto it. Yang just stayed by Blake, reassured her that nobody could see anything, they were not supposed to see.
None other than Professor Ozpin himself greeted the returners at the landing bay, and joined them on their way to the Academy's hospital ward. "I am relieved to see you all made it back safely. And I need to apologize for the lack of information that led to Ms. Rose's current condition," he said in his typical calm tone.
"I am sure the fact that we were after a merged pack of Beowolves did not simply slip your mind, Sir," Weiss answered. She did not want to talk about Ruby's leg for as long as possible.
"Weiss, that was harsh, even for you," Yang meddled into the conversation.
"Well… Ah, it's the stress talking. Sorry, Professor."
"No harm done, Ms. Schnee," the Headmaster replied as calm as always, "However, I do need a report about the events of the last two days, students," he added.
"You can have it right away, Sir," Ruby started, and before anyone could even try to intervene, the young leader of Team RWBY bubbled along about how she and Weiss fought off dozens of Grimm, and how the met Erydias Grey. As soon as that name was spoken, Professor Ozpin took the liberty of interrupting Ruby.
"Ms. Rose, are you certain it was her?"
"Yeah. The armor is unique in every respect. It's white, it's awesome, and it's still in fighting shape, like her."
"Ah, I see. Could you please describe her as detailed as you can, my dear?"
"Well, she looks a lot like Weiss, with the scar on the right eye, which is blind, a bustier chest, taller, and very kind."
Weiss looked her partner, surprised by such a statement, and slightly insulted by it. Any chest is 'bustier' than mine, dolt. And why do you even care about such things? Weiss crossed her arms in front of her chest subconsciously.
Professor Ozpin nodded at Ruby. "Ms. Schnee," he then asked, "do you have anything to add to Ms. Rose's explanation?"
"She was very… Hostile to me, on the one hand. On the other hand, she was kind enough to help Ruby, even without questioning anything. I think she wanted to be left alone for some reason." Considering Ms. Grey's connection to Blake, Weiss had an idea what that reason could have been, but she did not dare bring up that topic again.
"This antagonism fits her very well…" Professor Ozpin thought to himself aloud, and looked at Ruby again. "I would like to learn more about this meeting, Ms. Rose, but I'm afraid I have other matters to attend to." The hallway they were in split up into the one leading to the dorms, the one leading to Professor Ozpin's office, and the one leading to the hospital ward. Blake and Yang promised Ruby to visit her the next morning as soon as possible, while the Headmaster said his goodbyes for the day, and walked towards his office.
Weiss followed the duo to their dorm room in silence. The heiress just wasted two opportunities to tell her team the truth, but it was not the time for things like that. Blake still seemed to be shaken up by the events in the forest, and Yang did her best to comfort her.
"Oh, by the way," Yang explained after they entered their dorm room, "we're a couple." Having said that, Yang pulled Blake into one of her big hugs, and they exchanged a gentle, but short kiss, as if they wanted to demonstrate it properly.
"I figured that much…" Weiss said, already distracted by the sight of her warm, cozy bed.
"Well, that's a surprise," Yang said, as she parted with Blake, who sat on her bed.
"Excuse me?"
"I thought, you were all like 'how dare you, you're both girls, you're not supposed to have this kind of relationship, and don't you dare look at my butt', etc." Yang explained, gesturing around in a most exaggerating manner. Weiss just shook her head again. This is becoming more interesting by the minute.
"And your… Girlfriend… Doesn't mind you, talking about it like she isn't around?"
"We agreed to let her do the talking," Blake now answered, sighed, and smiled at Yang happily, but weary. The blonde just smiled back.
"It will require a lot of getting used to, and I'm already uncomfortable when I think of being seen in my undergarments…"
"Hey, we're attracted to women, not perverts," Yang defended their cause.
"Why are we even having this discussion?"
"Because one: You should know, and two: There's no Ruby around for you to discuss something with," Yang explained. Weiss felt the guilt crawling up her spine again. It needed to be done, and the heiress was constantly reminded about it.
"Does she know about this?" Weiss asked, and sighed afterwards.
"We confessed just yesterday, so no, you're the first to know about us," Blake answered in Yang's stead, and grabbed the blonde brawler's hand, before she had the time to react.
"Well… I'm tired, so let's finish this tomorrow. By the way, Blake wants some of your attention, Yang, I think." Said Faunus was sitting on her bed, and looked at Yang both pleading and demanding. The couple started to cuddle, as the heiress entered the bathroom. "I'm getting changed – no peaks!" she proclaimed, but the two lovebirds she was sharing a room with did not even try to pay attention to her. They were a welcome distraction, but only for so long…
The next chapter: The dare of truth