Jaune grieved that night in restless slumber for the lives all so wasted by Salem's malice. He took on the pain of their lifetimes lost, twisting through his mind as formless shapes. Scenario after scenario plagued him, of the girls being stolen away, their very identity ripped from their soul. All throughout, a voice in the back of his head kept whispering that they did not love him.

They did not care for him. How could they? Twisted, miserable wretches, all humanity buried and any attempt to reach it twisting them worse and worse. But none of the nightmares could ever become cohesive, none of them would solidify in his mind. Just a haze of misery pervading his very being, quiet dread compounded with all consuming paranoia.

He awoke, slick with sweat, Ruby having rolled onto her side away from him. It was too early. No Weiss on his other side yet, she had mentioned something about wanting one more night alone. His breathing came in shallow, his hands shaking. Staring at Ruby, he wondered if she had some kind of power to subdue him. No, not her. She couldn't do that to him. She wouldn't.

Never Ruby.

He pushed himself out of bed, keeping from waking the sleeping hybrid. Even if she found out what he was, she would accept him all the same. Jaune had to believe this. If he didn't, he would lose his one bedrock, his one pillar. He would be better off taking his chances trying to trek back to society on foot. Getting his shoes on, he resolved something in his mind.

He had to try and reach Ruby. Yang too, if they really were blood sisters. Jaune had always doubted that to himself, just from how different they looked, but it was a possibility. To reach them, he had to find out about them. Who they really were. He had to talk to the prisoner. Their mother.

Summer Rose.

It was dark still, earlier than he had ever ventured out. He would miss breakfast with Weiss, but she would have to get over it. He'd make it up to her later. The next day he'd make an extra special breakfast for her, try to teach her how to scramble eggs. She'd probably burn them again, but that'd be okay. He'd even welcome it. Anything to alleviate the pressure bearing down on him.

Strapping his shield to his arm, sheathing his sword to be safe, Jaune snuck out of the room. Every shadow crept over him like a looming Grimm, ready to strike. Every noise a potential attack. He had a working understanding of the castle now, including where the dungeon should be. He just had to make his way down there and talk to her. He felt a familiar presence, turning quickly to catch what he knew was over his shoulder.

Nothing. But that didn't mean no one.

"Blake. Where are you?"

"You saw me," came her voice. "How mortifying."

Jaune's eyes darted in the darkness, seeing nothing. "No, I didn't. I just knew you were there."

A soft giggle tickled his ears, sending a shiver down his spine. Twisting, nothing. "Silly thing, I wasn't talking about now. You saw me the other day. The true me."

Blue eyes narrowed, continuing his slow pace down the hall. "Which one was that?"

"Does it really matter?" Another giggle. "It's embarrassing is all, being seen so naked by the boy you adore. So sweet of you to care."

Hot breath against his neck.

"Could just eat you up."

Jaune turned on his heel, keeping from lashing out. He kept his heart beat slow, until that. The reminder of what she tried to do. What she would do.

What she had been forced into.

"I will save you." A promise he meant, but had no idea how he could keep.

"From what? It's so pleasant like this. Maybe you should join us..." Something grazed his arm. "Don't you think?"

Jaune reached the dungeon entrance, opening the doors wide. Because of how on edge he was from Blake, he was able to bring his shield up in time to block the twin brown boots flying at his face. Grunting with effort, the impact forcing him back along the floor, he looked up at what was attacking him. His eyes widened and his complexion paled at the sight of Tyrian, wrapping his fingers around the top of Jaune's shield, staring back at him.

His head tilted ever so slightly. "Hello, Master Arc. How are we doing this fine morning?"

With a yell, Jaune thrust his arm away, trying to dislodge Tyrian. Who only jumped off of the metal, flipping backwards and landing in front of Jaune. The madman grinned, eyes glowing purple.

"Glad to hear it!"

Twisting around faster than Jaune could react, Tyrian kicked him in the chest twice. Tail twisting around Jaune's neck, Tyrian launched him down the hall. Jaune, wits coming about him, raised his sword even as he crashed into an errant bookcase. Rising fast enough from the wooden debris, he lashed out at the already charging teacher.

Sword strike met scorpion tail, purple Aura blocking the blade as Tyrian went low. Kicking his feet out from under him, Jaune's sword clattering to the ground, Tyrian cackled. Jaune, knowing he had to be faster, stronger, called upon the fire within, boosting his Aura and feeding it into his body. Blocking Tyrian's stomp with his shield, Jaune tossed the older man away with a yell.

Applause met him as he got to his feet.

"You have gotten stronger, indeed you have!" Tyrian bowed before his student. "How privileged am I, but a lowly servant of Salem, to witness such fantastic growth from her second favorite student!"

Jaune gritted his teeth, Tyrian still faster. He managed to block the kick, but the tail strike grazed the side of his head. It did not, however, break the skin even as it rattled him, his Aura holding. What was one tail strike, however, soon became three as it swung back down into the back of his head and then back again into his face. Stumbling back, Jaune was unable to stop Tyrian from hammering his sides with blow after blow. Finally Tyrian spun around, smashing the full weight of his tail into Jaune's face. Sent flying, nose bleeding, he collapsed further away from the dungeon.

Tyrian grinned down at him, eyes glowing purple. His tail lashed about, carving grooves into the stonework walls. Jaune's chest rising and falling with every breath, struggled to get to his knees only to be kicked in the face again. Pushing through this, he got to his feet, swinging without being able to see. Tyrian deftly avoided every clumsy punch and strike. With a vicious grin he uppercut Jaune in return, the boy swearing he felt a tooth crack. Falling back, he watched as the tail hovered overhead, ready to strike. Squeezing his eyes shut, he willed his Aura as high as he could.

Only the sting never came.

"My, my. You truly did make friends with her didn't you?"

Opening his eyes, Jaune found a most peculiar sight. Tyrian's tail, restrained by all too familiar tentacles ending in red blades. Blake stood above the teacher, her feet clinging to the ceiling above.

"His flesh is mine to penetrate, you're too old for him!"

Tyrian's mouth fell in shock. "How dare! I am not too old! Tell her, Jaune!"

Jaune didn't get a chance to reply, Tyrian breaking out into a giggle fit. Breaking free of Blake's grip, sending the cat faunus tumbling to the ground, he leapt away. Jaune turned to check on Blake only to find her already gone.

"Ah, but no, she is right. It is not my job to kill you, Master Jaune. No, no. That wouldn't do at all! I will request that you do not attempt to visit our prisoner again, however. Otherwise we may yet have to punish you." The man began walking away, heading back to the entrance. He stopped for a moment, tossing a carefree grin over his shoulder. "Be sure and get ready for class today, Master Jaune. I do believe it will be ever so enlightening."

With that, the man was gone. Jaune, through the haze of pain, collected his weapon and mulled over what had happened. No warnings about going to Salem, no stronger reprimand than 'don't do it again'. Besides kicking his front teeth in, Jaune guessed he should count himself lucky. How did he know? How could he have known? It was ridiculous. It was absolutely absurd. Salem must have had a way to spy on him, but how? The Jellyfish weren't anywhere near here. What had they been called, Seers?

Blake had saved him. If only for her own reasons, she had protected him from Tyrian. Jaune grabbed his head, wanting to scream. What was he supposed to do?

He wandered on his own for a time, going outside and resting on a bench. His body was on fire, Tyrian hitting him harder than any hybrid had managed to so far. Only Salem eclipsed his power as far as he knew. Jaune amended that. Hazel was probably far stronger, but he had the good graces to not be hit by the giant man yet.

Yet. Jaune winced at his own phrasing. Everyone in this damn place was a potential foe. Everything. His ribs ached and though the bleeding stopped his nose still sang with pain. His jaw was the worst of it all, copper in his mouth. For a time, Jaune considered ignoring Tyrian's request to join the class today, trying desperately to let his Aura heal himself.

It wasn't long enough. Sooner than he'd like, the time to face the madman again came. Not enough time to be back to full, barely enough to heal half of what Tyrian had unleashed on him, and if he wasn't mistaken his Aura felt...weaker. Strained.

Jaune was the last to arrive to Tyrian's class, Yang already sitting up in the stands with Ruby. He looked for Weiss, her eyes widening when seeing him before looking away. Clearly annoyed he hadn't made breakfast for her. Ruby was watching him, excited. It would have made him smile if his jaw didn't hurt so much. Tyrian bowed to his student.

"Good of you to join us, Master Jaune! After our spar this morning, I knew you would be raring to go!"

Murmurs across the stands made Jaune grit his teeth. A mistake. He nodded.

"Yes, sir."

Jaune wondered what monster was arranged to tear him up today. Tyrian stepped away from the ring, nodding.

"Good, good. One student especially wished to challenge you this day. If would you be so kind!"

A loud crash caught Jaune off guard, barely turning in time to see a heavy cudgel smashing into the side of his face. Staggering back, managing to keep on his feet, Jaune was glad he had his Aura up. But only by so much, his vision swimming. Cardin had landed, leaping from the stands, barely keeping from snarling at him.

"Begin." Tyrian's voice was soft, easy to miss.

Jaune spit blood across the ground as Cardin drove his left fist into his stomach. Lashing out, he punched Cardin in the face, but only served to hurt his own hand. The Hybrid was barely moved by the blow. Scowling, Cardin returned it full force, sending the other boy back into the wall.

Blood pouring out of his nose again, Jaune gasped for air. He wasn't ready, he absolutely wasn't ready. Barely getting his arm up in time to block the next heavy swing from Cardin's cudgel, Jaune screamed as his Aura could only do so much. The wall behind him cracked, Jaune feeling the pressure burst through his arm and into his torso. Willing his Aura higher, he pushed back, forcing Cardin back a step.

"You're trying to kill me!"

Cardin's eyes blazed fury. "Of course I am!" The wall shattered with Cardin's next blow, Jaune barely avoiding it. "What do you think this is! We are hybrids, not huntsmen! We slaughter, consume and prey on the weak!"

He stumbled back, blocking blow after blow from Cardin, struggling to keep his footing.

"You are my prey," the hybrid screamed, jaw extending around a previous injury that had been bolted shut. "Because you are weak!"

Jaune lashed out with his sword, the blade striking one of Cardin's iron bolts holding together old wounds. Bouncing off with nary but a flesh wound, the hybrid continued his assault. Over and over again Cardin launched blow after blow into Jaune's defense, the human feeling as if his arm itself would shatter. He didn't want this kind of fight!

The blond stabbed forward, sinking metal into flesh. Cardin, howling as the sword pierced between his ribs, kicked at Jaune. A mistake on his part, the young man grabbing the underdeveloped limb and pulling forward on it. Without thinking, Jaune brought his foot up, smashing it into Cardin's exposed groin.

Dropping, taking Jaune's sword with him, Cardin screeched. Jaune stumbled back a step, concern rippling through him despite the circumstances. His body felt heavy, pushing his semblance like this torture to every muscle he had. Cardin was up faster than he could have expected, grabbing at Jaune. Instead the boy rolled forward, snatching the hilt of his sword and ripping it out of Cardin's side.

"I've come too far to be weak," Jaune muttered, more to himself than his foe. "I have too much left to do, to be weak!"

Grabbing his sword's hilt with both hands, he charged Cardin, semblance burning his Aura high. Bringing it down, Jaune aimed for Cardin's neck.

Only for it to be stopped dead.

Meeting the downward slash with an incredible punch, the metal bands around his fists cleaved in two and the blade piercing through bone, Cardin snarled at Jaune.

"If you're going to two hand a weapon," he brought his free hand up, cudgel in his grip. "Make sure it has some fucking weight!"

The blunt weapon collided with Jaune's right shoulder. The world seemed to slow around Jaune, as he felt his armored pauldron bend before shattering, each metal shard piercing his flesh. A familiar shattering rippled across his entire body, a burst of white exploding off of him. Then the cudgel continued, driving into the meat and bone itself, driving metal shards ever deeper in. A sickening crunch and blinding pain confused him as he was sent into a far wall.

Screaming brought him around again. His own. His shoulder, his arm, didn't work. Didn't feel right. Pain, blinding, arresting pain, worse than almost anything he had felt before. He couldn't focus, didn't see as Cardin came in with a low kick straight to his ribs. Already battered by Tyrian, Jaune screamed as his left ribs finally cracked. Skidding across the floor, he found a trail of his blood leading to here.

With Cardin hot on it. Cardin's left arm was a mangled mess, Jaune realizing that he had managed to keep a grip on his sword despite everything. Maybe because of the pain, in fact. He wanted to throw up, his stomach churning. The pain, everything was in pain. Burning, numbing, absolute pain.

"You are my prey, Jaune. Because you are weak."

Jaune screamed as Cardin drove his foot down into his back.

"You!"

Stomp!

"ARE!"

Scream!

"Weak!"

Another kick, this time to his right side. Delirious, Jaune found himself on his back now. His sword had fallen, but was still nearby. Everything Cardin had said was in his head, fuzzy and disoriented. Grasping at the hilt of his sword, he seized on one thing the boy told him.

Weight.

Cardin approached slow but sure, confident in his victory. He watched as Jaune sheathed his sword. A sign of submission, of defeat.

"Not good enough. I won't accept you giving in, meat," he snarled, blood dripping from his own mouth. Lifting the cudgel over his head, he savored the moment. "I'm going to take from you what that yellow bitch took from me. Maybe Salem will graft it onto me, if it's even worth my-!"

The sword, sheath and all, drove into his throat. Jaune rose quickly, Cardin dropping his own weapon as he staggered backwards. Though not sharp, even hybrids needed to breathe. Having the sheer weight of the considerable shield Jaune had stolen driven into him did Cardin no favors.

He did not stop, could not. Dared not. Bashing Cardin in the head over and over again, Jaune forced the hybrid onto the ground. First bruising and then breaking skin, feeling bone break beneath him, Jaune tossed away the shield and drove his sword downwards. Clean through, pinning Cardin through the chest into the ground, Jaune struggled to remain conscious. One motion, and Cardin would be dead. Just move the sword up a bit more, and not even he could heal from this injury.

Jaune's hand fell away, whatever strength left in it fleeing him. Stumbling to his feet, the world a spinning mess around him, he left his weapons where they lay. It was growing cold, he had to get the blood to stop. No, killing Cardin wasn't important. His Aura, he realized, had shattered. He wasn't healing anymore. Had to fix himself.

Had to try.

Tyrian declared his victory but Jaune didn't give him the time of day, dragging himself off as far as he could before collapsing.

Only then did he allow himself to cry.

Ruby felt the strangest sense of familiarity as she found herself heading down to the locker room. It had only been a few days since she last went down there to find the same person. Back then it had been an accidental run-in, drawn to the negative emotion Jaune had been giving off while he hid down there. While she had been searching for him, she hadn't expected to find him here the other day. Today, however, was entirely intentional.

He hadn't returned to class following his battle against Cardin. That in itself was concerning. Their fight had been a brutal one, and despite the fact that it had not proven fatal for either of the competitors, it had been one of the most visceral and savage of the bouts. Blood had been spilled. Weapons had impaled flesh. Bones had undoubtedly been broken. They weren't the only things that had been broken either. While Ruby did not have a perfect understanding of Aura, she could tell his had been broken. The fact that Jaune had begun taking physical damage once that shimmering light had coursed over his body supported her hypothesis.

Still, he had managed to defeat Cardin. The larger hybrid was a walking wall of muscle and bone. Armor and chitin plates alike covered his body and shielded him from harm. He was a tank of a young man, and the only hybrid who could match his physical strength was Yang, by virtue of her Grimm arm. The fact that Jaune had managed to go toe to toe with him and not only survive, but win, was a testament to his own power. Truly he was one of the strongest students in class.

However, the fact that he had never returned to class worried Ruby. The pungent scent of blood that filled her nostrils did not help matters either. She carried with her his sword and shield in order to return them to their owner. One should never be left defenseless in this school. As she grew closer to the door which would lead into the showers and changing area, the odor only grew stronger. As did the sense of despair. An all too familiar one.

Opening the door, Ruby caught sight of her quarry slumped up against one of the walls, and her left hand came up to cover her mouth and stifle a gasp. He was shirtless, and while this normally would have made her body feel things she was entirely unfamiliar with, she took no pleasure in the sight today.

She saw how Jaune's chest heaved with each deep breath he took. Pain was etched on his face, as if the very act of sucking in air hurt. The flesh above his ribcage was marked with black and blue splotches from bruising. Numerous other contusions dotted his torso and arms. As did lacerations ranging from minor scrapes to jagged gauges running down parts of his flesh. The fact that these injuries remained only confirmed her suspicions. Jaune's Aura had been broken, and he was suffering the results of the battle against Cardin.

Wasting no more time, Ruby dropped his sword and shield, rushed up to her best friend. "Jaune!" she cried out with concern. She wasn't about to stupidly ask if he was okay. He clearly was not. Instead her mind turned to how to make him better. "What can I do to help?"

The boy's head turned, but his posture did not improve. He made no attempt to cover himself up or shoo her away. That was good, since she wasn't about to abandon him in his time of need. "I don't know," he said softly.

Ruby frowned. "What about your Aura?" she suggested. "Can you do that?"

He shook his head. "No. It's gone." Red eyes widened, and he must have noticed that considering his next words. "For now at least. I've... never lost my Aura before. So I don't know how long it'll take to come back. Or recharge. However it works."

She nodded in understanding. Ruby didn't know how it worked either, but it was good to know that it would come back in time. Until that happened they needed a better way to treat his injuries.

"We should talk to Hazel," she suggested. "He knows all about Aura." Maybe the man would know some sort of trick in getting it back up and running. It would come natural to the burly man, unlike a hybrid like herself or Jaune.

Jaune again shook his head in disagreement. "No. No teachers."

As much as it pained Ruby to do so, she reluctantly agreed with his assessment. The last time Jaune had made his weakness apparent to a teacher, he had been cast out into the wild. Although this was Hazel rather than Tyrian, she would rather not take the risk in that happening again.

Jaune's breaths were ragged, and combined with the horrific bruising on his torso, she wouldn't have been surprised if several of his ribs were broken. One of his arms hung loosely as well. She hoped that wasn't broken too. The last thing he needed was to be seen as too weak to fight again. To be thrown to the Beowolves once more. In this state she wasn't sure he would make it back a second time.

Ruby blinked. This state. It occurred to her that he was still in his human form. That just wouldn't do. Jaune may have prided himself on being able to hold that disguise indefinitely, but it also had its drawbacks. The human body, while the perfect vessel for infiltration of the human kingdoms, was more fragile than their natural hybrid bodies. Its was weaker. Its endurance was inferior. Its healing ability was far slower.

If Jaune wanted to get on the fast track to recovering until his Aura was able to recharge, then he would just have to revert back into his Grimm form. A feeling of excitement shot through Ruby's body. After all this time, she would finally be able to see his Grimm form. What the young man looked like underneath the disguise. She only wished that it wasn't under these circumstances.

"Jaune," she said, kneeling down on the floor before him. "If you wanna heal faster, you have to go back to your Grimm form."

The boy next to her froze, and an immediate spike in negativity radiated from him. It only made her focus on him all the more. She saw with crystal clarity as he shook his head.

Once more she frowned. "But you have to," she insisted. "Until your Aura can help heal you, your body will heal itself on its own faster in your Grimm form. Like Yang and Weiss have before. Remember?"

Weiss had healed from being impaled through the stomach in only a couple of days. From what little she knew of human biology, that kind of recovery was beyond imagining for them. So Jaune's own internal injuries and broken bones would probably heal in a similar amount of time if he started right now.

He shook his head again. "I can't."

Ruby stared at him in confusion. "What do you mean you can't? Why not? If this is about secret horns and stuff I promise I'll look away."

"Ruby," he said forcefully. Yet laced in that force was unmistakable weariness. "I can't."

A soft and incredulous laugh slipped through her lips. She didn't find the situation amusing so much as she did ridiculous. "Of course you can. All of us can. It's not like you've been living in your human body for so long that you've forgotten how."

To her surprise, however, he nodded. "Yeah, it's exactly that," he agreed. "I... forgot how."

Jaune was being difficult, and Ruby was not appreciating it. She only wanted what was best for him, and he was fighting her every step of the way. The idea that he could no longer revert back to his Grimm form was ridiculous. Not even she was about to believe such an implausible lie.

She nudged him lightly on the shoulder, taking care not to poke anywhere near a place that showed visible injury. The fact that he didn't flinch or gasp when her finger prodded into his meaty shoulder told him that it had been okay.

"Come on," she continued as she poked him. At this point it wasn't even about seeing his Grimm form anymore. She was genuinely concerned about his well-being, and this was the only way she knew to make him better. "No one forgets how to transform. Look if you really need me to look away while you do it, I will. I just... I just want you to feel better. Okay?"

Genuine concern and compassion that would have made her a pariah to her peers was on full display here. She knew Jaune could tolerate it. That he could tolerate her. He understood her on a level that no one, not even her own sister, could. And in a way, she felt like she understood him in a way that no one else could either. After all, they were best friends. They had been roommates long before Weiss had taken up residence in their room and bed. If anyone could convince Jaune to lower his guard, it was her.

That was what made it so frustrating when he once again refused to do so. "I can't," he breathed tiredly. Hopelessly.

"Yes you can!" she said, letting her frustrations get the better of her. "You can. I can. We all can. It's not like you're a stupid human or something! That's the only way you'd not be able to do it!"

Jaune's body stiffened once more. And like before, the negative emotions emanating from him spiked in intensity. His head lowered to stare down to the floor. "Well crap. Guess you're not buying that excuse."

"Jaune, you're not a human," she continued to press. "So for once stop pretending to be and just do what I say!"

He said nothing. He only continued to stare at the floor between his legs.

Crimson eyes scanned over bloody and bruised tan flesh. In this moment he appeared as weak and frail as a real genuine human. He looked broken. Defeated. More than just looked, however. He sounded defeated. He sounded tired.

Jaune bled red in his disguise like any good hybrid would. Right here he was playing the part to a tee. If he were to come out and tell her that he was a real life human, she might even believe him.

Tiny hands squeezed into fists. She was getting tired of this stupid game of his. Or his stupid pride. Whichever it was, it ended here. Her feelings for him would not get in the way of what was best for him.

"Jaune," she repeated, this time a hint of edge slipping into her tone. "Come o-"

"What if I was?" he suddenly asked.

The words stopped Ruby dead in her tracks. For a few seconds they lingered in the air, but soon enough his questioned prompted one of her own. "What?"

"What if I was a human?" he continued. "What would you do if I was a real human who lied this whole time?"

What a ridiculous question. One so unfathomable that it didn't even deserve contemplation. However, for his sake, she would answer it.

"That's impossible," she explained. "I mean, a human coming to a school full of Grimm hybrids? How would that even happen?"

For the first time in the conversation, a tiny laugh slipped through Jaune's lips. He winced immediately after, the sharp jerk of the laugh causing his ribs pain. "Maybe a really stupid human could manage it by mistake. Maybe he wound up here completely accidentally."

Ruby could agree with that opinion. It would take an incredibly stupid human to come to a place like this. "Salem wouldn't allow it," she continued. "And even if she did, he'd be Grimm food in like, a day. Less than a day. There's no way they'd survive as long as you have."

Her attention as drawn to the far louder, and more painful laugher from Jaune this time. He smiled through gritted red-tinted teeth, and the hand on his uninjured arm came up to hold his stomach as he continued to laugh. Ruby eyed him curiously, wondering what kind of secret joke could have caused such an outburst.

"Grimm food," he echoed. "Like getting swallowed whole by a King Taijitu." It was an oddly specific example, but a realistic one nonetheless. "You're right, Ruby. A stupid, ignorant, and untrained human would be Grimm food on their first day."

She continued to eye him with concern. Was this behavior as a result of his injuries? Was infection and fever setting in so soon, and it was causing him to become delirious? Right now Jaune was speaking nothing but nonsense to her. Maybe she should use her Apathy arm to calm him down. She would feel guilty doing so, but it had worked in the past when he was in distress.

In the end she decided to hold off on that option for the moment at least. She took hold of his hand with her own human one and squeezed down on it. "See? You said it yourself. No human would survive here."

"Unless they were a really good liar," he continued. "Unless everyone else lied for them. Whether they knew they were doing it or not."

"And why would they do that?" she asked. "Lie knowingly?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. I've asked myself that too. Maybe because a certain teacher is a sadistic psychopath who likes to see others suffer. Maybe he'd keep the lie going for his own sick pleasure."

Jaune was describing Tyrian. This Ruby knew for sure. The man himself was a faunus rather than a hybrid. Was it possible that the professor would in fact lie for his own twisted amusement?

"Maybe that human kept lying through his teeth to survive," Jaune continued. "Maybe everything he did, everything he said was about pretending to be human, was because that was all he could do."

Since when had the hypothetical human become a he? She supposed it didn't matter. None of this did. She had to get him to transform in order to start healing his injuries. Unlike Weiss' own, Ruby knew she had no way to treat Jaune. Simple soap and water would not help broken bones and internal bleeding.

"Jaune," she said gently, her fingers once more closing over his. "You have to transform. Please."

Jaune's head came up and turned to face her. Wet and weary blue eyes gazed into her own. The tiniest of smiles curled on his lips as he stared at her. "I can't."

For long seconds blue and red met, each of the teens unblinking as they continued their unintentional stare down. Neither gave in. Neither flinched. Then it hit her, and her eyes widened. It hit her with the force of lightning. Her whisper sounded as loud as thunder in her ears.

Her lips quivered, and her voice shook as she struggled to get the words out. "You really are human..." she gasped.

Jaune's reaction was the last one she could have expected. He smiled. He smiled a wide and almost relieved grin, showing blood-stained teeth once more.

Her hand loosened its grip on him, allowing it to fall back to his side. "You can't be," she breathed. "Jaune, you can't be human. You can't! You're my friend, Jaune! You can't be human!"

"I tried," he said as the grin dissipated. His head tilted to rest against the wall again, breaking eye contact with the hybrid. "I tried so hard to survive here. I did my best. I saw terrible, horrible things. I saw what you would have been if you had never suffered this horrible fate. I saw your mother..."

Ruby's head was violently shaking. Liquid built up in her eyes, and each blink and sharp twist of her head cast it from her face. "Tell me this is a lie," she whispered. "Tell me this is an act. A really stupid act about trying to fit in being human. This is all just practice. Right, Jaune?"

"I don't know if my Aura will come back in time to... to heal me." His voice was weak, and he was ignoring her pleas. "But if it doesn't, can you do one thing for me?"

The girl stood, and she took a step back away from Jaune. This was too much. Too much to handle. Her friend, her best friend, the one who had accepted her from the day they met, was a human. A human she was supposed to hate. Supposed to kill.

Seconds passed and she didn't answer him. Jaune's eyes were closed as his head continued to lean back against the wall. He wound up speaking anyway. "Could you make sure Blake doesn't keep my head in a jar? Even though I'd be dead, I don't think I'd like that very much..."

She took another step back. Her primal instincts were screaming at her to attack. Jaune was a vessel of despair right now. Fear. Regret. Pain. The young man was the embodiment of negative emotion. She was unbelievably attracted to him. Only now it was for all the wrong reasons. Her attraction did not come from a desire to form bonds of friendship. It did not come from the desire to take him as her Mate.

It came from the desire to kill him. To tear and rend flesh. Like any Grimm would do to any human.

Ruby turned and fled. She ran as quickly as her legs would take her, for if she didn't, she feared that she would lose control. She feared that her Grimm instincts would take control, and that she would rip her best friend apart in a savage rage. Her soft, squishy, human friend.

Warm liquid continued to stream down her cheeks as she ran. Even out of the locker room, even back in the dormitory halls, she felt his despair. Though whether or not it was present from this far, or if it was the mere memory she carried with her, she could not say.

All she knew was that she needed to get away. She needed time to collect herself. She needed time for him to hopefully recover and return to his old self.

An old self which would tell her that this was all just one big prank. That he was a hybrid just like her.

That he wasn't a creature that she was made to kill.

Blood-red eyes stared into the mirror. Clawed hands curled on the bathroom vanity. It wasn't often that she got to enjoy alone time anymore. Then again, that was entirely by choice. The word 'enjoy' was a stretch. More than a stretch. It was a lie.

The dorm room may have been small, but right now it seemed like an empty void to Weiss. Loneliness was consuming her, and she didn't like it. There had been a point in her life where she thought she enjoyed her solitude. She thought she had enjoyed sitting in her ivory tower looking down on all of the inferior hybrids. Until she met him. Until she befriended him. Until she befriended even Ruby.

Neither were here now. In fact, she hadn't seen the two since Professor Callows' class. Jaune's injuries were severe, and she knew from personal experience that sometimes one needed to be alone in order to recover. She certainly had, until Jaune had come in to aid her. A warmth crept onto her cheeks as she recalled the experience. Recalled his touch. Recalled his eyes wandering across her exposed body. Yet he had not made any sort of move. The gall of that boy to not make a move! How was he able to restrain himself from taking her!

The thought was a frustrating one, only adding to her building anger. Alone in their dorm room, she longed for her roommates to return. Even the one who lived underneath the bed. Blake's absence was suspicious, and Weiss briefly wondered if the three of them were off somewhere having a good time without her. The pang of jealousy ate at her stomach, but her ego was soon able to squash it. No, if Jaune wasn't interested in taking her as a mate, he certainly wouldn't take either of those two.

But that wasn't to say that Blake wouldn't take him as one... by force if necessary.

Weiss snarled, turning away from the mirror and walking back out into the main room of her new home. Taking a seat on the bottom bunk, the sheets felt cold. Normally they would have been warmed with the flesh of three bodies. Tonight, however, there was only one. It had been so long since she had felt the warm embrace of another. Now that she was ready to feel it again, the thought of not being able to have it only perpetuated her already foul mood.

Her mind wandered back to Tyrian's class. Both Jaune and Cardin had left the arena in rough shape. She hoped the blond boy was okay. If only she knew where he was, she considered returning the favor he had so graciously bestowed upon her.

"You know I would never hurt you, right?"

The words echoed in her mind. They filled her with an unusual and unfamiliar warmth, that for the moment made up for the fact that their bed was cold as ice.

"Sit on the edge of the tub."

In an instant that warmth was replaced by the chill that ran down her spine. A heavy breath crept through parted lips. Since when had he grown to be so assertive? So dominant? Who was he to tell her what to do!

Weiss recalled the feeling of him pressing down on her injured stomach in response to her verbal barbs at him. He had wound up hurting her, but that wasn't a problem. It had been a different kind of hurt, after all. She had told him she would not forget that, and she wouldn't. She didn't want to forget. She would never forget just how capable he was of treating her in such a manner...

The smile that had begun to form on her lips slipped away as the sound of footsteps came to the door. Weiss stood up, eyes trained on the door as it swung open.

To her disappointment, it was her redheaded roommate who stepped inside.

"Ruby," Weiss greeted neutrally. "Where's Jaune?"

A surge of negativity erupted from the other girl. Weiss took note of how her usually cheery demeanor was entirely absent. However, the amount of negativity emanating from Ruby right now was absolutely off the charts.

"I don't know!" Ruby shouted quickly. "Don't look for him, okay?"

Red eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Excuse me? Who are you to tell me-"

"Just don't!" she cut off, and begun pacing back and forth around the room. "I didn't find him either, so just don't bother. Got it?"

Ruby was being unusually assertive. Unusually pessimistic. Both traits were normally positives for hybrids. However, Ruby wasn't any normal hybrid, as everyone knew. Both of these traits were completely foreign for the younger girl.

Weiss enjoyed order. Right now this situation was absolute chaos. It simply wouldn't do. "I don't know what's going on, but the fact that you were missing, and that Jaune and Blake still are is suspicious. Don't deny it."

The pacing hybrid stopped and turned to stare into mirrored glowing eyes. "There's nothing suspicious about Jaune," she snapped, leveling a finger at her. "Got it?"

Weiss slapped the offending finger out of her face. "How dare you speak to me in such a manner!"

"Just drop it, okay? Go... go do something else!"

This was going nowhere, and Ruby was being a particular pest. It was obvious that Weiss wasn't going to get a proper explanation out of her tonight. Not that she could expect anything productive out of the freak.

"I'm going to take a shower," the white-haired hybrid finally said. "Not because you told me to do something else, but because I must maintain my beautiful appearance. And I must smell nice for when Jaune returns."

Ruby froze. Fear radiated from her body. She glanced away as she spoke. "I don't know if he's coming back..."

A frown crept onto her lips. So she had been correct in her assumption. Jaune was wounded, and wanted to stay away from them in order to not show any weakness. That was rich coming from the guy who had barged into her old room telling her that he wouldn't harm her. That he wouldn't take advantage of her own time of weakness.

Did he not have the same faith in herself? Did he think that she would kill him in his vulnerable state?

When she did find him, she would give him a piece of her mind. And several sharp pokes from her glorious horn. That would teach him to disvalue the bond they had formed.

Weiss harrumphed, moving to the bathroom once more so that she could bathe. "Very well. I'll just have to see him tomorrow at breakfast."

Without waiting for a reply, she slammed the door behind her, and began disrobing herself for her nightly shower.

Ruby watched the other hybrid leave, and moved to sit on the bed. Once more she was left alone with only her thoughts.

Or at least she thought she would have been alone.

The soft hiss of laughter sounded from underneath the bed. There was only one hybrid it could have been.

"Where did you come from?" Ruby asked the room, unable to see the target of her conversation.

"From shadows."

Ruby nodded. Blake had probably slipped in unnoticed the moment Ruby pushed the door of their dorm open. The elusive hybrid could move among the shadows unnoticed, creeping in and out of rooms without a sound. Without warning. Without her prey even knowing she was there.

Even Ruby herself...

A sudden jolt of fear shot through her body. If Blake had been missing until just now as Weiss had said...

"Blake. Where were you today?"

More hissing laughter. She sounded more like a King Taijitu in this moment than a proper hybrid. And much like a snake, she was coiled and unseen, ready to spring out at a moment's notice when the time to strike came.

"You know," came the cryptic reply.

Ruby didn't know, but she feared that she might have. She decided to play dumb, just in case Blake wasn't where Ruby feared she had been.

"I don't know," she lied. "So why don't you tell me?"

"No. You know."

The laughter resumed, this time like the wheezing last breaths of a dying old man. Whatever Blake was laughing at wasn't just funny. It was hilarious.

"Blake, I don't know where you were. This isn't funny."

"Isn't it, though?" the hidden girl asked. "I think it's delightfully delicious. I know you know."

Ruby stood. This was getting old really fast, and she wasn't in the mood to deal with Blake's riddles. "Look, if you're going to be a pest, I will drag you out from-"

"You know Jaune's a human."

Ruby's own words died on her lips upon hearing that. Her throat went dry, and for a moment she forgot how to speak.

Taking a few steps away from the bed, Ruby turned and looked down to see a single tentacle protruding from underneath it. It waved lazily in the air, as if taunting her to come and grab it.

"I'm so happy you know," the elusive hybrid continued. "It's so hard to keep secrets as wonderful as this one..."

Red eyes widened. "You knew?"

"Of course I knew. How could I not know the sweet, delicious scent of human fear? My poor baby Adam had those same feelings before his untimely demise..."

The way which Blake spoke of Adam almost made her sound mournful. However, Ruby knew better than to confuse such a tone with actual sympathy and regret. More likely Blake simply thought of the faunus as a favorite toy which she had unfortunately broken by playing with it too much. New toys could always be gained, however. New humans to toy with...

Humans like Jaune.

A surge of rage coursed through Ruby's veins. "So you knew this whole time. And you kept him alive because of it?"

"His fear... So very, very tasty..." The tentacle waved lazily in the air. "I've accepted Jaune for what he is. Racial equality for all..."

A dark cackling followed the statement, and Ruby's brow furrowed in confusion. Blake was undoubtedly the most deranged of all of her peers, so it wasn't a surprise that Ruby couldn't make out the meaning of her words. Or why she found that statement so funny. She seemed extra strange tonight.

"Accepted him~ and loved him~ all~ the~ same~," Blake sang. "What will you do with our boy, Ruby? Will you kill him?"

The same fear Ruby had felt earlier today returned. The thought of killing him had indeed crossed her mind. It wasn't a thought she had wanted to think. It had been instinct. Pure instinct. She had worked hard to squash those urges.

She feared that she would not be able to.

"Never," she said regardless. "Jaune... Jaune's my friend."

Was he though? He was a human. A human who had been living a lie for months now. Could he really still be her friend if he was an entirely different person than she thought he was?

"Is he?"

She hated how Blake had echoed her own thoughts.

Jaune could be dead at this very moment. If his Aura didn't come back, he wouldn't last the night. Ruby wanted so desperately to do something, but she knew she couldn't. She couldn't tell the teachers to give him medical attention. Such a thought was out of the question at this school. And if Ruby went down there herself, she didn't know how she would react to a human giving off all that negativity.

Telling Weiss was also unacceptable. She very well may kill him out of principle. And then there was Blake...

It made sense that Blake would never even consider lending a helping hand to Jaune. After all, she merely used him and harvested his negativity for her own twisted pleasure.

Ruby merely had to hope that Jaune was as strong as she and everyone else always thought he was. Even if he was only human.

"Or..." Blake whispered, tentacle writhing with excitement. "We could make him one of us. "One of us. One of us..."

Eyes shot back over to the floor near the bed. Ruby stormed over and grabbed hold of the tentacle with her enhanced hand.

"Don't you dare," she hissed. The idea of throwing Jaune into the Pool of Destruction was utterly abominable. "Salem would never allow it."

Truthfully Ruby had no idea. Obviously Salem had allowed or arranged for a human to attend her academy. For what purpose, Ruby had no idea. However, considering that she had done so, it was likely that turning Jaune into a hybrid against their mistresses wishes would be a very bad idea.

"He could be like me. After all, I turned out so well..."

It was another horrifying thought. Jaune, the kind and caring young man who had become her first friend, turning into a twisted monstrosity like Blake. No. Never. Absolutely not.

Ruby would die before she allowed that to happen.

Yet... why? He was only a human, after all. Why should she care?

Blake's laughter hissed again, and a second tendril came out and forcibly removed Ruby's hand from her. The tentacles slithered back under the bed, and only the chilling echo of Blake's soft laughter was left to remind Ruby that she was indeed here. The other hybrid obviously deemed their conversation to be over. That was fine. Ruby had no interest in continuing it anyway.

Knowing that Jaune was unlikely to return tonight, even if he did survive, Ruby climbed up the ladder of the bunk bed. For the first time in forever, she lay on her old top bunk. Cold. Alone. Without her bestie and roomie.

For the first time in months, sleep did not come easily.

Author's Note: And we're back. Apologies for not updating last week. I decided I wanted to write something else for a change, and the idea of a chapter 2 for I Want One! struck. A little variety from time to time is a good thing.

Anyway, this chapter was a lot of fun to write. Major progression and all that. Oh, and hybrid Blake is so much fun to write. Something that all of us involved in the project agree on. Speaking of them, my thanks as always go out to Burkion and Lightningstrxu for all of their help.

So what did you think? Not only about Ruby finding out, but about Blake knowing the whole time? What do you think happens now? Exciting stuff is on the horizon.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.