The sun will be rising soon.
Ruby clings to that fact like a protective talisman as she moves as quickly as she can through the darkened desert. It's childish, but some part of her, hidden deep down, truly believes that if she can just hold out until sunrise, everything will be okay. This long nightmare of a night will finally be over, just another bad memory.
The sound of her pursuers reminds Ruby that it doesn't work like that. This is real life, not one of the fairy tales that Yang used to read to her when they were little. The light of day won't magically defeat this evil. No, it's up to Ruby to finally end this.
Even if she's exhausted and battered, with adrenaline and determination being the only things keeping her on her feet, that doesn't matter. She's a licensed huntress. It's her job to protect the people of Remnant, no matter what.
A burning hand brushes her arm, making a grab for her wrist. Ruby wrenches herself free, using a quick burst from her semblance to put some distance between her and her attacker. The skin around her wrist stings when she rubs at it absently. Ouch.
It's been a long time since Ruby was sloppy enough to let that happen to her. She needs to end this, and soon, before she's put out of commission for good. All the resolve and determination in the world won't help her if her body gives out on her in the middle of a fight. Ruby is getting weaker by the minute, running out of energy and draining what's left of her aura, while her opponent only grows stronger. Grimm feed on negative emotions, after all, and Ruby isn't feeling particularly chipper right now.
Gathering what's left of her resolve, Ruby does her best to focus on the meditation techniques she's learned from Ren and Ms. Calavera, shoving down her stress and anxiety and exhaustion and replacing them with determination. It's high time she ended this.
Time to make her final stand.
"Miss Rose, are you awake? How are you feeling?"
Ruby wakes with a jolt upon hearing her name. She opens her eyes and groans internally when she sees the stark white walls and harsh light shining down on her. It really shouldn't be a surprise that she's ended up in the hospital again, but that doesn't mean that she has to be happy about it.
"Oh good, you're awake!" the nurse exclaims, smiling brightly. "How are you feeling, dear?"
Ruby blinks at her, feeling far too groggy and out of it to try for her normal cheer. "I've been better," she replies, since her usual response of "I'm fine" probably won't go over well right now.
"Well, with any luck we'll have you healed up and feeling better in no time!" the nurse reassures her. Ruby should probably ask for her name, but she's still trying to shake off the grogginess that painkillers always leave her with. "If there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to let me know."
"Thank you. I will." Ruby even manages to try for an attempt at her usual "you don't need to worry about me" smile.
"Oh, and Miss Rose?"
"Please just call me Ruby."
"Very well. Well, Ruby, I know that you just woke up, but there's someone here who would like to see you right away, if you're feeling up for visitors."
"Sure!" Ruby replies, even as her heart sinks. She was hoping for a little more time to regroup and pull herself together before having to face her teammates, who undoubtedly would insist on fussing over her and asking a bunch of questions that Ruby really doesn't want to answer right now. But she's not about to hide from her friends, especially when they're worried about her. "You can send them in."
But to her surprise, the person who walks through the door isn't a member of team RWBY. They're not even one of her other friends, or her uncle. The woman standing in front of Ruby is a total stranger.
"I'm so sorry to bother you while you're recovering, Miss Rose," she says kindly. "But seeing that the Grimm that team RWBY was dispatched to eliminate is considered extremely dangerous, it is vital to the security of Vacuo to confirm that it will no longer be a threat to our citizens. To that end, I was hoping to take down your account of what happened on the mission, if you're feeling up to it."
"Of course, I understand. I can tell you about what happened," Ruby reassures her with a smile. It's actually a relief to be talking about it with a complete stranger, who just wants the facts, rather than one of her friends or teammates.
One thing that a lot of aspiring huntresses don't realize (including Weiss, surprisingly enough), is that being a professional huntress requires filling out a lot of boring forms and paperwork. Killing Grimm seems like all fun and games until you realize that you have to fill out a detailed mission report afterwards. Paperwork—and keeping good records—was serious business when it came to hunting
An example of this is that in the aftermath of a team mission, each member of the team was to be interviewed separately about the events of the mission, and their accounts were to be kept classified until they could be checked against one another and confirmed. This means that Ruby can tell all the details of what happened out in the desert right now, but she still has some time to come up with what she's going to tell her team.
Because she can't tell the rest of team RWBY the truth. At least, not right now. Things have been so fragile and tense between them since they narrowly escaped from Atlas. She doesn't want this to be the thing that tears them apart, not after everything they've been through.
If keeping what happened to herself will keep the peace and keep them together, then Ruby will happily carry this burden alone.
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