Collapsing into her seat besides Weiss, Zeffre struggled to focus.

All around her she heard conversations stop as she continued to look at her tray. When did she get a tray?

Zeffre giggled to herself at the thought.

"Zeffre are… are you bleeding?" someone asked. She wasn't sure who.

Reaching for her spoon Zeffre took a bite from her chocolate pudding. Chocolate pudding was good.

"Zeffre?"

Could be swee—

"ZEFFRE!"

Jolting in her seat, Zeffre glanced over at Weiss, rubbing her forehead. "Why are you yelling? I'm trying to eat puddin…"

Weiss's eyes were wide. "Zeffre, you're bleeding! What happened?", she asked. She sounded concerned about something.

Glancing down at her right shoulder she could still see the hole in her uniform.

Oh. That.

"I got shot." She said, going back to her pudding.

She had lost a lot of blood.

"I can see that! How did you get shot? Why aren't you at the infirmary!?" Someone shouted. It might've been Weiss. Or Blake.

Not Ren though. Ren didn't shout.

Zeffre giggled a little at the thought of Ren shouting.

"I was training with myself, and I shot me… That bitch," Zeffre muttered. "S'fine… I got a pad from the restroom and some tape."

"Ow! That hurts…"

Who said that?

Holding her spoon in her mouth Zeffre stood up and walked over to where the complaint came from. Someone grabbed her shoulder, but she shrugged them off.

Cardin was pulling on some Faunus girl's bunny ears. Why would he be doing that?

Zeffre had lost a lot of blood at this point.

Shambling up to a laughing Team CRDL, spoon still in her mouth, Zeffre decided the best way to get answers was to ask.

"Hey… Card, what's… uh… what's goin on?"

Cardin turned to look at her, his smug expression quickly changing to shock as he looked at her. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Got shot…"

Why had she come over here again? Why did she have a spoon?

Looking past Cardin Zeffre saw that he had a pudding cup.

Falling forwards, Zeffre leaned heavily against Cardin, some of her blood soaking into his blazer. "Do you want your pudding?" she asked. Pudding was good. She found herself falling sideways.

A pair of arms grabbed her. Oh. Cardin had grabbed her. "Hi Cardin."

Said boy's eyes were wide.

"She needs to go to the infirmary." Someone behind her shouted.

Cardin looked up at the voice then looked down at Zeffre before giving a nod. "R—Right."

Zeffre rolled her eyes. Why was everyone being so dramatic?

'Where's the infirmary?'

Sprinting down the vacant hallways, girl in his arms, Cardin couldn't remember where the infirmary was! He knew they mentioned it during his orientation… Damnit! This was not the time!

Coming up to an intersection Cardin could feel his heart racing. He didn't know where to go. The girl in his arms, Zeffre, let out a pained groan at his sudden movements. He needed to be more careful, but first he needed to know where to go!

Cardin could feel himself getting frustrated. This wasn't the time! He knew from father that the longer someone didn't get medical help the worse chances they had.

He felt Zeffre nuzzle into his chest. "Where are we going?" she said, eyes closed.

How was she so calm!

"I'm trying to get you to the infirmary," he said, deciding to go left.

"Left of Beacon Tower, second tallest tower… there are signs," she muttered.

Right! That was where it was! He was going in the right direction at least.

"Why are we going to the infirmary?"

"Because you've been shot you idiot!", he almost shouted. What was it with this girl?

Zeffre let out a quiet giggle, as if what he just said was funny. "So what? I've been shot plenty of times before… It'll be fiiine."

This girl was crazy.

As he ran down the hall, passing by the large arched windows common at Beacon, he almost slipped. Catching himself, he looked down to see that there was a trail of blood following him; Zeffre's right arm was dangling beneath her. She had been shot in the right shoulder.

Adjusting his bridal carry so that her right shoulder was against his chest, Cardin continued to run. He could feel her warm blood soak into his shirt.

Cardin barely knew the girl. He knew that she wasn't afraid of him, how she seemingly wasn't afraid of anybody, but beyond that he barely knew her name.

And here he was sprinting across Beacon trying to save her life…

'At least I get to skip Professor Oobleck's lecture,' he thought, trying to find some consolidation that would make him feel better.

It didn't.

Sitting back in his seat, Cardin wiped his damp hands against his pants. He had been sitting in the waiting room for around twenty minutes before he decided to go wash the blood off. His shirt and blazer were still stained crimson.

Cardin let out a soft chuckle at the thought. He must look like an axe murderer right now.

Leaning back in the too small seat, Cardin let out a tired sigh. It was only midday, yet he already felt like he needed to sleep. The infirmary lobby was empty; a disheveled receptionist was busy typing away from behind her desk.

He didn't have any reason to still be here. There was nothing he could do… But he needed to be sure. Be sure that she would be alright.

The sound of the double doors to the lobby shook him out of his thoughts. Turning his head to the sound he let out a surprised cough.

Cardin watched as Professor Ozpin quickly walked through the lobby up to the receptionist. "Where is she?" he heard him ask. What was he doing here?

"She's down the hallway to your left, room 113."

Without another word Professor Ozpin immediately began walking in the direction of room 113. Cardin knew that number sounded familiar; that was Zeffre's room.

Letting out a sigh, Cardin looked up at the high vaulted ceiling of the infirmary; the pristine white stone giving the building an air of sterility. He had no idea what was going on, but Cardin had already made up his mind. He was going to wait to make sure she was okay.

Zeffre snuggled into the bed.

It wasn't her bed. Zeffre blinked at the thought. Whose bed was she in if it wasn't her bed?

Glancing around the sterile room, bright white lights hanging overhead, everything pristine and clean in light colors… Was she in a hospital room?

Why was she in a hospital room?

Shrugging her shoulders, she felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder.

Oh yeah. She'd forgotten about that.

The door to the room opened. It wasn't her room; she was, after all, just a guest here.

"Hiya Ozzy," she said. She tried to raise her arm to wave at him, but instead winced at the pain.

He had a funny look on his face.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Was he worried about her? Zeffre giggled at the thought.

"Uh-huh," she said in between giggles. The thought of someone being concerned about her was hilarious!

She started to snicker some more as Ozpin's frown deepened.

He walked beside her bed, looking down at her.

Zeffre wondered how warm his black suit was. It looked pretty comfy.

"Why aren't you healing?" he asked. He had a lot of questions today; she hadn't talked to him since her mission beyond his single message to her.

She was confused about the question. "I got your message durin' training…", she slurred, head rolling a little.

He let out a sigh. Maybe he needed a nap? "You can heal yourself. Especially if you are in a condition like this."

Zeffre gave a tiny nod. "Okay."

With a thought she immediately started to feel better. The bandage covering her right shoulder glowed with a faint white light as she allowed herself to heal. Blinking she felt as if a fog had lifted off her mind.

Throwing the blanket off her, Zeffre stood up and rolled her neck. Within a few seconds she felt the pain in her shoulder dull, and with an experimental flex she felt it was already healed. Looking up at Ozpin she gave a smirk.

"I haven't felt that out of it in a long time," she said. She was a bit hungry.

"I didn't expect you to follow my message so literally." He said. Zeffre noticed a tension in his shoulders leave as he took a more relaxed posture.

Zeffre gave him a shrug. "You sent it at probably the worst possible time. Besides, there isn't much room to interpret 'Do not use your abilities until further notice.'"

"And yet you followed the instruction exactly… Even at risk to yourself."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah? Duh?"

He stared at her for a few moments, expression blank. "What happened?"

Zeffre looked around the room, finding her scarf and shoes on a chair. They must've disposed of her other clothes. "I was training to deflect bullets with my sword by practicing with a duplicate. She had a sniper rifle, I got your message, and deduced that it wasn't retroactive, and I didn't have to dismiss her." Zeffre said, putting on her shoes and scarf.

Looking back at Ozpin she shrugged. "I'm not used to not being able to heal, so after I got shot I tried to walk it off. No biggie."

Ozpin walked over to her and placed a hand on her left shoulder. "Zeffre… No instruction, from me or from anyone else, is worth you pointlessly putting your life at risk."

Zeffre rolled her eyes. "Please. Remember, I'm not human. My 'life' here is transitory anyway." She said, making air quotes around the word 'life'. Death wasn't a big deal; she would simply move on.

"What about your friends? How do you think they feel about seeing you bleeding all over Beacon. About you needing to be carried to the infirmary?"

She bit the inside of her cheek.

"Even if death isn't the end for you, it is the end for them. They'll never see you again."

Zeffre knocked his hand off her shoulder, looking down at the white tiled floor. "Don't you think I already know that?"

She always found these conversations to be annoying. It would be so much easier if people just allowed her to help without getting connected.

She could feel Ozpin staring at her.

"Just remember; people care about you whether you like it or not." He said before walking away.

She heard him stop at the door. "You'll hear my decision next week."

As the door to her room shut Zeffre let out an exhausted sigh.

People are madness.

Cardin looked up when he heard the door open.

The blue-haired girl walked over to the reception desk. She was wearing a hospital gown and her navy-blue scarf. He couldn't help but feel a small amount of relief seeing she was okay.

As she looked around the lobby she made eye contact with him before walking over.

"You look like you just murdered someone." she said, smirking.

Cardin rolled his eyes as he stood up. "It's your blood genius."

Reaching into a tray of her belongings, Zeffre brought out her scroll. Cardin raised an eyebrow before hearing the click of a camera.

Zeffre began cackling. Collapsing in the seat next to where he was standing she showed him her scroll.

It was a picture of a confused Cardin Winchester wearing a bloodstained Beacon uniform.

"The… The look on your face…," she said, gasping for air. "Oh my god! You look like a confused horror movie villain. It's great!"

Cardin let out a small laugh. He did look pretty funny.

Zeffre's laugh gave way to quiet giggles. "I don't know why I'm laughing… it isn't that funny." she managed to get out. As she moved to get up Cardin noticed her stumble forwards before catching herself.

"Woah. Okay, yeah. I definitely lost a lot of blood today."

Out of the corner of his eye Cardin saw the receptionist waving him over. Leaving behind a chuckling Zeffre he walked over.

"Excuse me sir; would you mind escorting your friend back to her dorm room?" she said, giving him a warm smile.

"Uh… sure thing."

Turning around he found Zeffre standing right next to him, looking up at his face. "Oh, so we're friends now?" she asked, smirking.

Cardin rolled his eyes. "You wish."

Walking out of the infirmary, Zeffre next to him, Cardin checked his watch. "You know, I'm missing Professor Oobleck's lecture because of you."

Zeffre smiled at him. "You mean you like to hear a drugged up maniac speed lecture us on history?"

Cardin laughed. "Right? I can't be the only one who can barely understand what he is saying."

Stumbling, Zeffre leaned against him for support as they walked. "Nah, I'm with you. I usually just draw during his class."

He looked down at her. "You can draw?"

"I dabble."

Cardin nodded. "That's cool. I sometimes try to get a nap in, but he's watchful as hell."

He felt her nod against his arm. "Yeah, it's funny how those desks can suddenly feel like the perfect spot for a nap depending on the class."

He let out another short laugh.

"Welp. Here we are." Zeffre said.

Looking into her room, recently cleaned, Zeffre turned to her unlikely companion.

"Hey Cardin… You mind if I ask a question?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe.

Cardin raised an eyebrow at her. "No? You asked plenty of questions on the way here."

"Why did you help me?"

He looked down at her for a moment.

"My dad's an EMT. He'd probably kill me if he learned I didn't help rush a bleeding girl to the infirmary," he said, shrugging. "No big deal."

Zeffre smirked at him. "What about you waiting out in the lobby? That also from your dad?"

Cardin blushed. "What? I wanted to make sure you were okay. I mean, look at me," he said, holding his arms out, "I'm literally covered in your blood."

"You were worried about me," she said, her smirk widening.

He crossed his arms. "You wish. I just… uh…," he looked up at the ceiling for a moment, thinking. "I just wanted to make sure I didn't waste my time is all. If you died then It'd make me look bad."

"D'aww," Zeffre said, giving Cardin a hug. "You really do care!"

Stepping back she saw he was furiously blushing. "Seriously though… thank you. I appreciate it."

Cardin sputtered a bit before his face settled on looking annoyed. "Yeah, well—"

"You're not as much of a scumbag as I originally thought."

He gave her a flat look. "Next time, don't try to go get lunch after getting shot."

"Goodnight Cardin."

Cardin shook his head. "What are you talking about? It's three in the afternoon?"

Zeffre nodded at him. "Yup. I'm going to take a very long, very hot bath, then I'm going to bed. Night," she said, ending with a wave.

Cardin rolled his eyes. "Night."

Author's Note:

Fleshing out more side characters! Yay! I also get to entirely re-write Jaune's arc for Volume 1, so that'll be fun.