There was a brief moment where Ruby felt like she had won. Blake was unconscious, Jaune was groaning but the Faunus that had attacked them was on the ground, still and silent. She didn't even know she'd activated her silver eyes, hadn't known it was possible when dragons weren't around.
"If silver eyed magic is used to protect mankind, why can it hurt them?" The question bounced around her mind, adrift and lost without hope of finding an answer.
"Mom would know."
Rub blinked. The weird, floaty-feeling that always came after she used her magic faded. The distant screams of terrified innocents echoed down the dark alley, the world seemed duller as her glowing eyes faded and resembled their usual, human shade.
Ruby blinked again. Then she sprinted towards Jaune, the blood covering half of his face by now. It was a lot of blood. Too much blood.
She leaned down next to him, Crescent Rose cradled on her lap whilst she reached towards him, feeling for a pulse or anything that suggested he was okay. Then a hand, strong and hard as iron, clamped down on her wrist.
"That was fun!" The Faunus chuckled, an eerie grin spread across his face like a Cheshire cat and eyes wide with mania and pleasure. "Do it again!"
"He liked being hurt." Ruby realised with disgust, using Crescent Rose as a spear and slamming it into his face. Blood spurted from his nose, and he released her with a groan, rolling away before springing onto two feet with the aid of his tail.
"You are such a pleasant surprise." The Faunus giggled. "I'm almost tempted to spare you."
"I wish I could say the same." Ruby angrily spat in reply. Was all this just a game to him? Hurting her friends? Nearly killing them? Was all just a fun, twisted game for his own enjoyment?
Something worryingly familiar curled up and roared inside her chest. Rage, fury and hatred whirled inside her like a snowstorm, brewing and brewing and raging and raging. Her eyes crackled with some of the energy, the magic, that was flooding through her body and making her feel dazed. Her eyes saw everything, illuminated her light. She saw every twitch of every muscle on the Faunus' face, every previously subtle tell of what move he was about to make. The Faunus cackled and lunged, and where he had previously seemed overwhelmingly fast, he now seemed overwhelmingly slow.
Ruby dodged the blow she saw coming from a mile away, Crescent Rose in her arms and ready to swing like the axe of an executioner. The sharp point of her scythe pointed directly at the Faunus' stomach, and Ruby swung, ready to cleave him in half.
The Faunus saw this at the last moment, barely managing to lower his wrist blades in time to block the blow. However the momentum of his charge carried him, and he toppled over himself and crashed headfirst into the wall next to Jaune.
Not wanting the Faunus to land on him, Ruby swung Crescent Rose like a bat. The Faunus howled in pain as it crashed into the base of his spine and he was launched through the air to the end of the alley.
It staggered to its feet, and Ruby prepared to charge, swing and end this. The farce had gone on for too long.
The Faunus realised this. It's widened with something that resembled fear, which made its face contorted with anger and pain. Fear was an emotion it wasn't used to, and Ruby felt proud to be the one to make it feel such a powerful emotion.
The Faunus howled in agony before it turned and ran. Instinct urged her to pursue it, but Ruby saw the slumped figure of Jaune and deathly still Blake in the periphery of her vision. Fear filled her, sweeping away the agony. She staggered towards her friends, but the blood rushing through her body suddenly seemed weak and drained. She fell onto her knees, the cold floor a comfort for her burning hot body. Her mind cleared itself of the magic induced rage, and confusion was added to the mix of potent whirlwind of emotions she felt.
What was wrong with her? Had she really tried killing it, him? The Faunus. That wasn't what heroes do. They don't feel joy and happiness at seeing fear in their enemies eyes. They don't abandon their wounded friends to pursue and kill a fleeing opponent.
"I'm not right. I'm not okay. What's wrong with me?"
She felt sick, bone-tired and nauseous. Tears spilled from her eyes and she curled into a ball whilst she sobbed. She knew she needed to get aid for Blake and Jaune, to make sure they were still alive, but all she wanted was to be at home cuddling with her mother and father, feeling safe and secure.
After what felt like hours, Jaune groaned, and Ruby managed to get control of herself. Sobbing uncontrollably, she crawled over to her wounded friend, who was blinking dazedly.
"Jaune?" She whispered hoarsely. "Are you okay? Jaune?"
"My head…" Jaune groaned in reply, and relief, sudden and strong, swept over her like a wave.
"Jaune!" She yelled, throwing her arms around him and squeezing tightly, desperately, as if she feared he would slip away if she let go.
"Can't…breath…" Jaune gasped, and Ruby eased her grip but refused to let go.
"How do you feel? Are you okay?" Ruby asked, watching him intently. Sticky blood covered his forehead and the right side of his head, however it seemed dry, no longer bleeding fresh blood. He was pale, from blood loss and probably a concussion too. However he seemed fine.
"I feel like I got my ass kicked." Jaune moaned, clutching the side of his head. "Apart from that and the fact my head feels like a mace split it open I'm fine. What about you? What about Blake?"
Shame rushed through her as she remembered Blake, silent and still on the floor. She let go of Jaune, rushing over to where Blake laid. Her hands fumbled against Blake's neck, and she let out a sigh of relief at the steady pulse she felt there.
"She's alive. She's okay." Ruby sighed, slumping as the adrenaline left her again. Her arms were tired, and her eyes felt droopy.
"What about that silver sickness I had? Will she be okay?" Jaune asked, staggering over to them and slumping on the ground next to her.
"She just needs rest. And food and water. Usual stuff." Ruby replied, then she blinked, and turned to stare at Jaune.
"I know I look half-dead but surely I don't look that bad." Jaune joked weakly, withering under her intense stare. She leaned closer to him, gently holding the sides of his head as her eyes swept over his face and eyes. "R-Ruby?"
"You're okay." She murmured, thinking to herself aloud.
"And that's a good thing. Right?"
"You shouldn't be this okay. You were exposed to like, 50% of my silver-eyed magic. So should've the Faunus. He was okay too." Ruby murmured to herself, gently releasing Jaune's head and bringing a hand to her chin, where she cupped it whilst she thought.
"Well, you did say I would get more immune to your magic the more you used it. Plus I have a theory about Tyrian." Jaune replied weakly, and Ruby was tempted to argue before she relented. She was too tired to wonder why Jaune was so okay. That wasn't a bad thing, unless it meant her magic was weaker than what it was normally, which was a bad thing.
"What's your theory?" Ruby asked, unable to resist the exhaustion and slumping on the ground, laying between Jaune and Blake.
"If I remember correctly, the Faunus…licked some of Blake's blood during their fight." Jaune answered, staring at her as if he'd just told her the location of the secret Schnee gold vault.
"So…?" Ruby questioned, lightly prodding Jaune's shoulder with her finger.
"He could be a blood-absorber."
"What now?"
"It's a type of magic. My dad knew someone who could do it too. You could ingest an enemy's blood during battle, and become stronger for a short amount of time from it."
"I thought that sorta stuff was a fairy tale though."
"I swear it's true. Besides you said it yourself. The Faunus was immune to your magic, which isn't normal. Unless he has some sort of potion or something that negates it, the only thing that could explain it was if he was super powerful because he's a blood-absorber."
Ruby thought for a moment, then shrugged. It was better than anything else she could think of. She sighed.
"What are we going to do Jaune? We can't go dragon hunting in this state and I don't remember how to get back to Tukson's place."
Jaune paused for a moment, before pushing himself to his feet and staggering to the nearest house and knocking on the door.
"Are you serious, Jaune?" Ruby said, staring at him with a deadpan look. Jaune shrugged before knocking again.
When there was no reply, he pulled down the door handle and pushed. It swung inwards, unlocked.
"Your abode awaits milady." Jaune said with a grin, giving her a mock bow. Ruby merely rolled her eyes, too tired to think of a comeback.
Together they did their best to gently drag Blake into the house, before dumping her one the big bed upstairs. Ruby helped Jaune clean the blood from his head, and she did the same to Blake whilst Jaune looted the pantry. He came back with cheese, crackers and wine, and the two of them gorged themselves until the wine made them sleepy and the crackers made their stomachs full. They put some of the remaining food aside for Blake and curled up next to one another on the bed with Blake, too tired to care. Jaune fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow, face peaceful even if his body still seemed tense at sleeping in the same bed as two girls. Ruby giggled at the fact Jaune could still be awkward even when he was asleep, and before she followed him in the welcome abyss of dreamland she silently prayed to whatever god that came to mind that if the dragon attacked Snowmire, they would all die in their sleep, peacefully.
"Better to burn than freeze to death." She murmured, before she couldn't resist sleep anymore and her eyes closed.