Chapter Seven: Forming Cracks
(Ryker pov)
"Hey Ryker, are you coming with us to breakfast?" Ruby asked.
"Not this time, I will get food later." I wave off as I read through some of the assigned reading for Professor Oobleck's assigned reading for his class later that day. "I will see you at combat class ok."
Ruby seemed to want to say something more, but I just gave her a small smile to try and reassure her that I was fine.
"C'mon Ruby, Ryker never eats breakfast with us, we are already running behind if we want to be able to eat without rushing." Weiss urged practically pushing Ruby out of the room, leaving me with just Blake.
"Promise to grab something from the kitchen before coming to class."
I quirked an eyebrow. "Ummm yeah, sure. I will grab something." I say slowly not understanding where the request came from.
"Ryker, promise me. Don't come to combat class on an empty stomach." Blake demanded this time, her voice stern.
"Fine, fine, I promise that I will grab something to eat before class." I sigh holding up my pinky as if it was proof that I was taking her request seriously.
"A pinky promise, really?"
"Hey, Ruby thinks that they are completely binding, a pinky promise is serious business." I snark with a grin. "Now if you would please let me read through Oobleck's assigned reading on…battle tactics of the great war."
Blake rolled her eyes, leaving my pinky un-promised. "See you later Ryker." She groaned, leaving to catch up with the rest of Team RSBR.
I sigh, trying to get into a comfortable position on my bed with the lofty textbook placed into the crook of my lap.
Classes had been going…well? Well, actually they had been going terribly. I was doing perfectly fine on the academic side of things, but the moment any bit of practical application came up I had the choice of working at it till my semblance had me panting on my back from exhaustion, or getting my ass kicked by whatever trial or tribulation that had been put in my way.
I sucked at fighting Grimm, I sucked at fighting my teammates during training, and I already knew I would suck at fighting any of my other classmates the moment Goodwitch noticed that I had yet to be chosen for a practice fight in her class.
It was frustrating, especially when I was already dealing with my issue with my teammate. Me and Weiss still bickered at one another, but it was nowhere near as bad as our first day together as a team. Blake was right, I shouldn't judge her based on her family. I however was also right; Weiss was a spoiled brat who often said whatever came to her mind regardless of how it made others feel.
It was slowly getting better, Ruby seemed to have a knack for getting Weiss to realize when she was toeing the line of being a jerk. It was honestly adorable seeing the smaller girl whom Weiss was convinced had no right to be here so easily mollify her. Like a mouse getting an angry pomeranian to chill out and stop barking. Me and Blake had taken to calling Ruby the 'Weiss Whisperer' much to Weiss's chagrin.
Weiss had never confronted me on what I said in the cafeteria that day. She seemed just as eager to avoid that conversation as I was. Which was fine by me, it was a mistake for me to say it in the first place, I needed to be thankful that I didn't have to explain how my mom died working for a company that she would berate every night at dinner.
The team did have a big talking session though as a way to get to know one another. I learned what all of their weapons were called, what they liked to do, and where they were from. It was nice. However, when it came time for me to share, I basically gave them half-truths. I told them I was from Mantle, and that the name of my weapon was Fool's Folly, though I did omit that it was my mom's old weapon. As for what I liked to do I gave very basic answers. I liked Grimm Battles as my favorite comfort show, and I was highly interested in human and faunus rights law. This led to me letting it slip that I originally wanted to be a faunus rights advocate but changed to wanting to become a huntsman. I didn't have an answer when Ruby asked me what made me want to take such a huge career change.
I also ended up lying to them about my semblance. So now they thought that the electricity was a byproduct of a simple strength, speed, and reaction time buff. Yes, it seemed like an overall pretty meek semblance, but I would rather them think I'm below average than know what I could really do. I couldn't give a reasonable answer as to why I didn't want them to know, but a piece of me felt like it was my secret to keep. Besides, if I had my way, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Blake Belladonna would never know who Ryker Thorne even was by the end of this.
It was hard to nail down how I felt about Beacon as a whole. On one hand, I really enjoyed being around Ruby, Blake, and Team PNLY, even if Yang now utterly terrified me and made me flinch anytime her fist came close to me.
Yang had felt bad about that whole situation, she had talked to Ruby about it some more and she seemed to be sympathetic to my nightmares. Apparently, it reminded her about Ruby, though she wouldn't tell me why. She said I would have to ask Ruby, but something told me that my team leader wouldn't tell me what exactly Yang meant.
One thing that was going pretty well was my skirting around the dress code rules. While the student handbook had been clear that the outfits provided by the school were to be worn, there were no rules about wearing anything extra with it. So now I went through my day with my hoodie worn beneath my academy uniform. The hood covered my head and usually covered my ears which allowed me to sneak Ruby's headphones on to let me dampen the world a bit more.
Ruby had made it a point to get her headphones connected to my scroll so I could listen to music if I wanted but found myself more often than not just using the headphones' built-in noise suppression. It helped my anxiety so much, I was not getting as overwhelmed as I used to be, and the number of days that I had been stressed into being selectively mute was growing fewer. Though, that didn't mean that it never happened, the rest of the team had been witness to what I called 'quiet' days.
To some, waking up unable to talk would be a terrifying and traumatizing thing, for me, that was just how it was. Some days I was fully mute, there was no workaround, it didn't matter how my emotions were, my body just made it clear I needed a reset, a 'quiet' day.
They all seemed supportive, even Weiss was nicer to me on those days. A small part of me was annoyed that they seemed to think that they needed to handle me with kiddy gloves on those days but that was a discussion that would just be too exhausting to explain properly. I just took the intent to heart and realized my friends (and Weiss) cared.
I finished up my reading and went to the kitchen, I had tried to pinky promise that I would eat. I legitimately wasn't that hungry, but I had made a promise.
The kitchen was small, though it was big enough to stock spare food for both teams that it served. I opened the fridge, eyes scanning for a single thing I could force myself to eat. Cereal, no. Sandwich, no. Bagel, double no. String cheese? My hand pulls out a few of the string cheeses that were in the fridge. "I guess I could eat this."
I tear open the package of one of the string cheeses, taking a bite out of it. It tasted like dirt, a lot like everything else I had been eating lately. I finish off the piece of cheese as quickly as I can, before tearing open the second one and scarfing it down too. I ignored the taste, ignored how my stomach was churning, and ignored the way my mouth was watering.
"Oh noo-" I gasped before rushing to the trash can that was placed in the kitchen, ripping the top off of it as I puked all of the string cheese and everything else in my stomach up. Acid covered nearly every inch of my mouth as I dry heaved into the trash can.
I sat there, kneeled on the ground, head buried into the trashcan as my body heaved, the rejection of the food I had promised to eat now just piled into the bottom of the bin. "I'm fine, it was just bad cheese. I'm ok." I groan to myself, a tinge of anxiety creeping into my chest. I didn't have a problem. Nothing was wrong.
"Did you eat?" Blake asked, her eyes narrowed as I sat down next to her. Goodwitch was still messing with her scroll signaling that class hadn't yet started.
"Yes, I grabbed some food out of the fridge." I purposely failed to mention how I had thrown all of the food I had eaten up, and also failed to mention that said food was two things of string cheese. "How was breakfast for you?"
"It was fine, Nora beat her record for pancakes eaten in one sitting," Blake said softly, pointing to Nora who was actively leaning against Ren holding her stomach. She looked absolutely miserable.
"How many this time?"
"Twenty-three." Blake deadpanned.
"No way, impossible!" I gasped looking at Nora with newfound respect. "How did she not pop like a balloon?"
"Because Ren stopped her when she reached for her twenty-fourth."
I laugh, of course, Nora hadn't chosen to stop, she had been made to stop by her keeper. From the moment Ryker had met them, it was obvious that Ren was Nora's babysitter. If not for him, who knew what kind of chaos the redhead would cause?
"Class, today we will be doing more mock battles." Goodwitch cleared her throat, breaking up the small pockets of whispering that filled the small training arena. "We have had plenty of time talking and discussing theory, so from here on out we will be hosting battles throughout the class. I have set aside a schedule to monitor who has participated. From here on out please expect to be participating in a mock battle at least three times a week."
I sucked in a breath at the information. I would be fighting no matter what. My days of hiding behind my team and letting others fight were over.
"Though I do encourage you all to practice more than the minimum if you wish to flourish as huntsmen and huntresses." Glynda finished before tapping on her scroll, the portraits of two of our classmates showing on the screen. "Erriana, Tristan, please go get your gear from the locker room and come back for today's first mock battle."
I sank into my seat, letting out a small groan. "I'm screwed," I mutter, Blake, looking at me with an amused look.
"I believe you will be fine, how else are you going to get better if you keep trying to hide from a fight," Blake said.
"Yeah! Ryker, you totally have to fight. Besides it's not like you are bad at fighting, you have won against the Grimm in Professor Ports' class." Yang cheered from the row behind me and Blake.
"Fighting a Boarbatusk and fighting another person are two different things."
"Not if you're fighting a faunus." A boy named Cardin muttered from a few seats away. My head snapped to where his voice came from, he and his teammates giving me challenging stares.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yang growled.
"Nothing at all." Cardin grinned holding his hands up in surrender, his teammates snickering.
"Watch your mouth." I snip, turning away from the racist.
"If you have a problem with me, why don't we settle it in the arena, animal fucker." Cardin mocked.
"Ryker, he's not worth it," Blake whispered.
"Ryker, kick his ass!" Yang countered.
"Break his legs!" Nora hissed.
The fourth fight of the class finished up, and Pyrrha had easily demolished her opponent. "Excellent Ms. Nikos, we have time for one more match. Would anyone like to volunteer?"
I groaned, shaking my head, it wasn't worth picking a fight. I lean back in my chair and close my eyes, Blake's hand squeezing my arm appreciatively for listening to her. Yang however didn't seem happy with me backing down, the blonde flopping back in her seat with her arms crossed.
"Ms. Goodwitch, I would like to fight Ryker," Cardin called out.
My eyes snapped open darting to Cardin who had a sick grin on his face. My eyes switched to Goodwitch who was now looking at me expectantly. "Well, Mr. Thorne, I believe you have been challenged, and since you have yet to participate in class, I'm going to ask you and Mr. Winchester to get geared up for the final fight of class."
"Damnit." I curse standing from my seat, Blake giving me a concerned look before I turned and walked down the aisle. Cardin waited for me to pass him before he too started walking to the locker room.
"You should have kept your mouth shut." Cardin hissed into my ear as we walked.
My fist clenched as we walked side by side, the much taller boy next to me snickering to himself, already convinced he would beat me.
Entering the locker room, I went to my locker and grabbed my gear, holding it into a bundle as I entered a changing room, locking the door before I quickly stripped free of my academy uniform. I kept my hoodie on as I worked to quickly get into my jeans and boots.
"Is it true you were raised by an animal?" Cardin called out, his voice echoing off the thin walls of the changing room. "I mean, you basically accused Schnee of killing your mom in front of the entire cafeteria, so I was just wondering."
"Shut up." I grit out as I hook my harness to me, Fools Folly snapping to the metal plate on my back.
"What's wrong Ryker? It's just a simple question. Adopted or was your dad just that desperate to get laid?"
My fist slammed into the thin wall of the changing room. "Shut up!" I throw open the door to my changing room and walk past Cardin who was still hooking up his thigh guards. Cardin's hand shot out, grabbing onto my wrist.
"Nah, I bet you're an orphan. Mommy and Daddy took one look at you and realized what a mistake you were. Then a filthy faunus picked you up since they all love collecting trash." Cardin grinned.
I ripped my wrist out of Cardin's hand and stormed out of the locker room. I was gonna hurt him, I don't even care about winning.
(Ruby pov)
I bounced back and forth in my seat; I was so excited to see Ryker fight. "Jeez Rubes, what's got you so excited?" Yangs asked.
"Are you kidding? We get to watch Ryker kick butt!"
"Or get his butt kicked," Weiss muttered.
"Don't be silly Weiss, Ryker has this." I wave off, Yang and Blake giving me a weird look. "What?"
Yang snickered, leaning over and flicking me on the nose. "You don't happen to be so excited for Ryker to fight because you like him, right?"
"Of course I like him, Ryker is so nice, and he tries really hard, and he helps me with my homework an-Hey!" I snapped, face flushing as I finally figured out what exactly Yang was hinting at. "I don't know what you are talking about."
Blake and Yang looked at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Stop laughing, you are all crazy. I don't like Ryker, I mean I like Ryker, but I don't like-like Ryker. Yaaaannnngggggg!" I whine covering my face.
"Oh Ruby, it's not my fault you talk about Ryker like you talk about weapons. Besides, I'm just doing my duty as an older sister to make fun of your little crushes." Yang snickered.
"Ugh, I can't even begin to see what you see in him, Ruby. You deserve better." Weiss scoffed.
"Not you too Weiss. You gotta believe me, I do not like Ryker!" I cried out.
"Thanks, Ruby." Ryker's voice called out from below. I looked over to see Ryker all dressed in his combat gear looking at me with a slightly amused look.
I squeaked, sliding down my seat as I covered my face with my hands. "How long has he been here?"
"Long enough." Blake deadpanned.
"Yang, kill me." I groan, readily accepting my fate of death by embarrassment.
"No can-do little sis." Yang laughed as the rest of Team PNLY chuckled at my misfortune.
A moment later Cardin walked back into the room, taking his place in the center of the arena, mace in hand. He looked so smug. Ugh, what a jerk. Cardin had been a bully since the start of the semester, he picked on everyone, and he especially targeted faunus students. He had only recently started to mess with Ryker, it was little things. Small comments, crowding his space, as well as racist comments about faunus around him.
We had figured out from 'the cafeteria' incident that Ryker's mom was a faunus. He also told us a little bit about her but clammed up when discussing her death. It seemed like it happened recently, but I was too nervous to ask, and when I asked Blake or Weiss, they both told me to leave it alone. Blake had told me that she had talked with Ryker about it but refused to go into detail, and Weiss wanted to avoid it.
Ryker was closed off, and he never seemed to ask for help. If anything, he hated when any of us tried to step in with Cardin's bullying. It was so frustrating!
"Mr. Thorne, Mr. Winchester, are you ready?" Professor Goodwitch asked, getting a small nod out of Ryker as he pulled Fools Folly off of his back, switching it immediately to its gun blade form.
"More than ready Teach, gonna squash me a pipsqueak." Cardin laughed as he patted his palm with the business end of his mace.
"You know the rules, first to have their aura drop to red or be incapacitated loses," Professor Goodwitch said, raising her hand before dropping it. "Begin!"
"C'mon Ryker!" I screamed as Ryker rushed Cardin, his semblance on full display as electricity coiled around him like a snake. Cardin swung his mace aiming to slam it into the side of Ryker's head, Ryker ducking under it as he crowded Cardin. Rykers free hand swung up uppercutting Cardin.
Cardin growled from the hit before turning his hips and shoulder checking Ryker, pushing him back into mace range. Ryker had to duck another swing of the mace, this time though when the mace passed by Rykers head Cardin turned his wrist to rotate the mace and pressed the switch on his hilt, Fire Dust combusting out one side and switching the direction of his mace was going back down on Rykers head. A recoil enforced redirection.
Blake, Weiss, and the entirety of Team PNLY gasped as the mace raced toward Rykers unprotected head. "Ryker, look out!" I scream.
Ryker's semblance flared again as he threw himself backward avoiding the strike, Cardin's mace smashing into the ground leaving a small hole as the impact tore through the arena floor. Ryker put several yards between him and Cardin as he reached into a pocket on his hoodie pulling out his own Fire Dust Crystal and slammed it into the slot on Fools Folly, the entire blade slowly growing red as the dust cycled through it.
Semblance flared again as he rushed Cardin, throwing Fools Folly like a Javelin into the ground in front of Cardin as Fools Folly discharged a wall of flame obscuring Cardin and the rest of the class's view of where Ryker was.
Cardin shielded his eyes from the bright flames, the moment the flames died down Ryker burst through the cloud of smoke with his fist cocked back holding onto a pale green Wind Dust Crystal. His fist slams right into Cardin's face, the force shattering the fragile crystal as a blast of wind throws both of them backward, Ryker tumbling back to Fools Folly and ripping it from the ground, while Cardin slams his mace into the ground to stop himself from being thrown any farther than a few yards.
"He's so cool," I squeal. "He is fighting circles around Cardin!"
"Why is his aura lower than Cardin's?" Yang asked.
"What?" I ask looking up to the giant screen projecting both of their auras, and yang was right, Rykers aura was lower than Cardin's. Cardin was standing at around sixty-five percent of his aura, not even in the yellow, and yet Ryker who had yet to take a hit from Cardin was at fifty-three percent.
"It's his semblance," Blake muttered. "He always gets exhausted quickly when he fights with it. The same thing happened with the Boarbatusk on the first day of class."
"It's going out in chunks," Pyrrha commented.
"Wait, didn't Ryker tell us that his semblance acted as a booster that used his aura as fuel? Wouldn't that show up as a gradual drain instead of being taken out chunks at a time?" Weiss asked.
"It would, unless Ryker lied about his semblance," Blake growled.
We all watched now with less awe and more concern as Ryker continued to beat Cardin without taking a hit, yet as he fought his aura kept going down. He never was ahead of Cardin, he might have been landing hits, but in the rules of the match, he was losing. What once was a welcome sight became a bad omen as he used his semblance continuously.
"Ryker, stop using your semblance you are going to lose!" Weiss yelled out, Ryker turning to look at us with confusion, the scream left my mouth before I even realized it as Cardin's mace slammed right into the side of Ryker's head, the sight of the Fire Dust exploding right next to Rykers face spelling the obvious end of the fight. Rykers body spun in the air before landing in a heap on the floor.
(Rykers pov)
My vision was multiplied as I rolled to my side and scrambled to my feet. I sneaked a look at the board, I only had four percent of aura to play with before I would be in the red. Cardin looked shocked that I was standing, as did Professor Goodwitch who had moved from her spectating spot.
"I'm still good to go, I haven't lost," I shout holding a hand up from the approaching Professor.
Professor Goodwitch seemed lost as to what to do, but Cardin didn't. "Sounds good to me, loser. Maybe a night in the nurse's office will do you good."
I grit my teeth, opting not to respond. I feel a warmth trickle down my face as I bring a hand up quickly to feel blood trailing down my face. I had to focus to not let my aura try to heal the wound, if I did, I risked using up the last few percent points of aura I had to play with. I think this is what they call a concussion though. I felt half there, and I felt my mouth watering much like it had this morning. I just had to take my eyes off the ball, Weiss and her big mouth.
No, I shake my head at those thoughts. This wasn't Weiss' fault, it was mine. I looked away from my opponent, and even worse, I think she was trying to tell me that I was going to aura out of the match from my semblance use alone. Stupid rewind, and its stupid aura cost.
"Time to go night-night animal fucker." Cardin hissed as he rushed me, the momentum now in his favor. He brought his mace over his head and swung it down on me, aiming again for my head. I leaped back dodging it before sucking in a breath as Cardin stepped past his mace bringing it to his side as he pressed the button on his mace once more, the Fire Dust rocketing the mace towards my stomach.
I couldn't dodge, there wasn't enough time, and I couldn't rewind. I was at my limit for aura. I was going to lose. I could rewind and forfeit after his last hit, but I think I would rather spend a month in the hospital than surrender to Cardin Winchester.
My aura shattered on impact, the heat and pain caused me to black out.
Waking up sucked, my head was killing me, and breathing felt like trying to inflate a straw like a balloon. It just didn't work, one side of my chest burning significantly more with effort than the other. Small rapid breaths were the easiest way for me to breathe without a lot of pain. I let out a small groan, I should have just surrendered.
"You have a concussion, as well as a punctured lung. Cardin's mace broke one of your ribs and when you landed it punctured your left lung. Your aura has healed most of the damage, another night under watch and you can be released back to your team's care." Professor Goodwitch's voice spoke out.
I turned my head to see her sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed I was lying in, a book in her hand before she snapped it shut and set it aside. "Though your lack of self-preservation in class aside, we need to discuss something else." She spoke, this time her face taking on a much sterner and angrier look. "When you were brought in here for treatment, the doctor brought it to Headmaster Ozpin and my attention that you are severely underweight. After doing a bit of research on your eating habits for the past week it's no wonder. Ryker Thorne, you have been to the cafeteria a total of five times in the past week."
"I usually go at least once every day, so what if I miss a day or two?" I argue, voice coming out hoarse and small from both disuse and my lung injury.
"The average student goes to the cafeteria eighteen times a week, Beacon Academy provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner to all of its students for free." Professor Goodwitch countered.
"I usually eat from the kitchen in our dorm." I grip out, my chest feeling heavy in a different way now. I was fine, nothing was wrong. Goodwitch needed to back off.
"We monitor the amount of food every dorm goes through as a way to properly restock all of our students for when they want to have team dinners, or even need to grab a quick bite to eat when they are running late. Do you wanna guess how much food Team RSBR and Team PNLY go through?" Goodwitch asked, her expression practically pinning me to the bed.
"More then-"
"One/eight less than every other team in the school. Ryker Thorne, you are not eating, and I want to know why!" Goodwitch barked, making me flinch.
"You didn't tell my teammates, did you?" I whispered, unable to even look Professor Goodwitch in the eye anymore.
"Not yet, but you are leaving us very little choice." Goodwitch gritted out. I could feel her stare burning into the side of my face before she let out a sigh. "Ryker," She spoke, her voice soft and losing all sense of anger. "Why aren't you eating?"
I shifted uncomfortably in the bed, Professor Goodwitch's prodding making my anxiety rocket pass uncomfortable and straight into a panic attack. My breath quickened even further, my throat feeling like it was constricted as I scratched at it trying to release the pressure. My vision started to blur before I felt hands pull mine away from my throat, Goodwitch calling for someone as I fought against her. Everything raced and built up, up, up. It wouldn't stop, why wouldn't it stop?
Just stop.
I felt something cold rush into my arm as my body slowly lost the ability to fight before I felt myself being guided back into unconsciousness.
Waking up this time felt different, my chest hurt a little less, and my migraine was completely gone. My head was foggy, not remembering what had happened. "Oh," I whisper as the events with Professor Goodwitch flood back into the forefront of my mind. She had figured out my 'not a problem' problem. She confronted me about it and I had a panic attack. Nice job Ryker.
"Ryker?" A familiar voice asked, making me turn my head expecting Goodwitch to be sitting in the chair wanting to pick up our last conversation where we left it. However, Goodwitch was not in the chair. It was Weiss.
"Weiss?"
She let out a relieved breath seeing me awake. "About time, you have been in the academy hospital for three days now."
"I was out for three days?" I ask in shock, was I really that injured?
"Yeah, Professor Goodwitch told us that you would be waking up sometime today. Blake and Ruby already watched you for a few hours today. We agreed to each miss two classes today so that we could be here when you wake up. Ruby is supposed to be here in twenty minutes to start her after-classes shift. I'll message them that you are awake." Weiss explained pulling out her scroll and already starting to type on it.
"Don't!"
Weiss froze, her eyes drifting up to look at me with confusion. "Why not? They are going to want to know, Ruby hasn't stopped talking about you waking up since you got here, and even Blake is vocal about missing you."
I flinch, feeling guilt well up. I didn't know how to explain it. "I just…Im scared to see them, ok." I sigh.
"Why would you be scared?"
I open my mouth but shut it quickly, how to even explain my utter fear of them already knowing about my 'not a problem' problem. Had Goodwitch told them? "Has Goodwitch talked to any of you about me?"
The question seemed to catch Weiss off-guard, the Heiress looking more confused than ever. "She told us your injuries, and that you would be waking up today."
"Anything else?" I urged.
"Anything else? No, nothing else. What else could she tell us?"
"Nothing, just…I don't know, my head hurts and stuff does not make much sense right now." I lie, Weiss seemingly believed me as her confusion turned into her thinly veiled concern.
"I will go get a nurse to give you something to help with the pain." She got up from the chair and walked briskly out of the room. She was only gone for a few moments before walking back in with a nurse who had a handful of pills and a water cup.
"I see you are finally awake sweetheart." The nurse cooed, handing me the pills and water. I knocked them back without hesitation. Taking a few tablets of what I presumed were over-the-counter painkillers was infinitely better than revealing that I had lied about the headache.
After taking the pills the nurse told me to go easy for the next few days and let my aura finish healing what was left of my injuries from my fight with Cardin. She eventually handed me one of my Academy uniforms and ushered Weiss out of the room so I could get dressed. I grimaced at the sight of my body.
Don't think about it, it's not that bad. I am fine. Goodwitch is over-reacting, I might be a few pounds lighter than I should be but I wasn't a walking health hazard. I was fine, I could handle this on my own.
Once I was finished getting dressed, I walked out of the small room, pushing past the privacy curtains to the room and seeing the nurse talking to not only Weiss but Blake and Ruby as well.
"Ryker!" Ruby squealed, rushing to me in a shower of rose petals as she pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.
"Ruby, my ribs." I choked out as my ribcage screamed in agony. My choked response to her enthusiasm must have gotten through to her as she leaped away from me like she had been burned.
"Oh Ryker, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, I was just so excited to see you awake and better I forgot about your ribs for a moment."
"I will just consider it payback for when I socked you in the eye." I wave off getting a giggle out of her.
"It's good to have you back, Team RSBR has been incomplete without you," Ruby spoke, getting a blush out of me.
"I will say that Weiss has been participating less without your teasing. I think she missed your banter." Blake spoke, getting a scoff out of the Ice Queen.
"As if, I'm simply glad you are back so Ruby and Blake stop walking around acting like you died." Weiss huffed before the tiniest bit of red dusted her pale skin around her face. "I'm glad you are back though." She whispered.
I grin, patting Weiss on the shoulder. "Missed ya too Heiress." I mock.
"Ugh, and I'm already wishing that you were still unconscious." Weiss griped, crossing her arms.
"Well, we need to go see Ozpin. He messaged me to let us know that once you got discharged from the hospital we needed to see him. He has something important to discuss with us."
My eyes widened, the "fuck" dropping out of my mouth before I even realized it. My teammates looked at me with confusion, all except Blake who looked at me with knowing eyes.
"Fuck." I repeated.