Sunlight beamed through Ruby's open window as a nurse came by and opened it, landing right onto Ruby's face. The sensation of her face slowly warming was enough to gently prod her out of her deep and much-deserved slumber.

Cracking her eyes open slightly, Ruby couldn't help but wince as the rays of light went straight into her eyes. At her bedside in the same spot as he was in when Ruby woke up for the first time – was Jaune.

The blond knight was lazily flipping through the same comic Ruby had seen him with the previous night, clearly skimming the pages of a story he must have read dozens of times by now.

A soft smile graced her face at the unaware knight while she slowly awoke properly. She stretched her arms high into the hair and sat upright, yawning loudly. Jaune let out a high-pitched yelp as he fell backwards off his chair at the sudden and loud awakening.

Laughing loudly, Ruby winced slightly as her bruised chest heaved – which the brunette found kind of surprising considering that her Aura should have taken care of it by now. Her thoughts were interrupted by the flailing and scrambling of limbs as Jaune attempted to pull himself out of the tangled mess of legs and a stool. "Sorry, not sorry!" a still giggling Ruby called over the edge of her bedside without even looking as she picked up the small clock by her bedside once more and studied the information in her hands.

The clock read '3:00 PM. Day 14 of March'.

This caused Ruby to frown. She could hardly believe she had slept through the entire day! Granted, that would explain the sunlight and Jaune's previous boredom, but the fact that the self-proclaimed 'Nugget of energy' was out like a light was a testament to how absolutely exhausted she was. Ruby placed the clock back down and watched as Jaune stood triumphantly over the stool, only to take a single step and place his foot right on top of his shoelaces, sending him face first into the wall opposite to Ruby.

Guffawing, Ruby barely managed to gasp out through the tears in her eyes "J-Jaune! Are you okay?" though the mirth in her voice gave away that she found the situation far too entertaining to be worrisome.

Whimpering, Jaune slowly dragged his face off of the wall, teetering as he tried to stop his brain from spinning. Regaining his footing, the blond stood up over the stool – his wicked foe, and rested his hands on his hips and harrumphed triumphantly.

It was only after a few seconds of awkward silence that Ruby coughed into her fist, causing Jaune to pivot rapidly with a wild look in his eyes, earning a "Heya Jaune!" from the sheepish 15 year old.

A smile invaded Jaune's slightly bruised face as he yelled "Ruby! You're awake!" he practically ran towards her (carefully avoiding the stool) before he clasped her hands between his. "Hehe, yeah." Ruby snorted loudly "Woke up at like one in the morning, dude."

This caused Jaune's eyes to narrow and his jaw to snap shut as he practically growled at the brunette, "So you mean to tell me," the blondes eyebrow was twitching now. 'Proooooobably not a good sign.' Ruby thought as the knight rose to his full height, "that you've been fine for like, 20 hours and I've been sitting here reading the same lame comic book over and over again for nothing?!" He was practically screeching at this point. Ruby visibly squirmed under his assault, but felt her inner Xiao-Long emerge alongside the urge to poke fun in the face of danger.

"Yeah, and you drooled for like 10 of those hours – Which, is a product of some seriously bad math on your end if I must say." Ruby couldn't help but grin as her awkward friends façade broke while mirth bubbled to the surface, "Well at least I don't snore like an elephant!" he retorted, earning a disbelieving gasp from Ruby.

"What! I do NOT snore!" an indignant Ruby squawked, earning a woeful glance from Jaune as he sighed and stood by the windowsill, dramatically waving his arms about as he cried, "Ruby, you snore loud enough to drown out Professor Port during a lecture."

That was it. Ruby had come to the conclusion that would solve all of her problems.

She needed to beat Jaune with his own legs.

Before she could throw herself off of the bed and into battle, one of the five physicians whom Ruby had seen before she passed out strode into the room. Upon seeing Ruby awake and animated, he smiled softly and began walking towards her calling out "Ah. Miss Rose, it's good to see you are doing well." He picked up a clipboard that hung at the end of her bed and began to sift through her documents.

With such an uncomfortable silence hanging in the air, Ruby fidgeted in her spot as she fiddled with her hair and unconsciously found her eyes darting around the room. She was never a fan of doctors or hospitals. Hospitals meant things were wrong with people she cared about and doctors often had more bad news than good. Jaune had dropped his act by the window, picked up his stool and sat by Ruby, adopting a wary expression as they waited for news on her condition.

"Well Miss Rose," the doctor began, earning the sharp and focused attention of the two teens, "it would seem that you placed heavy stress on your right knee throughout your encounter, and that additional blow to the back of your torso from the Ursa Major that was mentioned in Sir Winchester's report only made things that much worse. Being thrown as well as the explosion and subsequent fall severely depleted your Aura, far more than your other team mates." He placed the clipboard down and gave Ruby a peculiar look, though Ruby could see something hiding behind those eyes… sadness maybe? Either way it was unnerving.

"That being said, you are still younger than most that would find themselves in this scenario and have not developed as much additional muscle and weight as your companions, making you absorb damage at a far greater cost. This stress tore apart every important muscle in your knee to put it simply, accompanied by a fracture in your Tibia and internal bleeding along the entire length of your leg. While your Aura would have normally been able to fix these, it was heavily depleted and instinctively focused all of its efforts into your knee where the damage was critical." Seeing Ruby nodding once in understanding, he finished up his report. "With your leg set in a cast, it should be able to heal both naturally as well as with your slowly regenerating Aura. You may have scarring on your knee where we had to operate and salvage what we could so that your Aura wouldn't be spread as thin, though I doubt a huntress as determined as you would really mind some less-than normal knees, am I right?" he finished with a small smile tugging across his lips.

But then the fear came back into his eyes and Ruby felt her heart sink. After a couple of seconds of silence, she spoke up: "There's something else isn't there?" the doctor looked away and stepped towards a covered up section of the infirmary. Moving aside the curtains he dragged out something heavy that clattered when it hit the ground almost as though it was on-

A cold claw wrapped around Ruby's heart as her situation dawned on her. For a speedster such as herself, her mobility came above all. Her personality, her impulses, and her fighting style: all of them revolved around being a quick girl with a happy-go-lucky attitude.

This explained the doctor's fears. He was going to have to do the most dangerous thing a physician could encounter in their career.

He had to convince Ruby to use a wheelchair.

It took several minutes of dodging pillows, clocks, flowers as well as various tissue boxes that someone had made the error of storing underneath her bed to finally get the young girl to calm down. Jaune could only watch in horror and confusion as he watched Ruby launch projectiles at the man, only to have the greying man to dodge and kick things out of his way as he pushed the chair towards the brunette.

After one poor toss of the assorted plants that once hung outside her window, Ruby found herself staggered with exhaustion setting back in. Deeming that a renewed retaliation would be far more deadly than any potential fatigue, the doctor dove into her guard and grabbed her limp hands firmly – causing her to grunt in protest and bury her face into her one remaining pillow.

After a minute of silence, Jaune could see from the movement of her upper body that Ruby was crying softly, though he could do nothing to aid her.

The doctor loosened his grip as he moved to recover one of the almost flattened tissue boxes on the ground and placed it on Ruby's bed. Ruby promptly swiped it without looking up and burrowed herself underneath her blanket.

The doctor took this lull in the offensive to fully explain himself. "Miss Rose," he spoke softly and soothingly, a voice that had clearly been honed and forged after years of telling soldiers and friends bad news and subsequently aiding them in their recovery. "This is not the end of the world, you only need stay in this contraption for a short time – after which you shall be able to engage in whatever activities you see fit, barring falling out of an exploding Bullhead of course." The sobbing underneath the blanket slowed, and an uneven voice escaped from the folds "H-how long?" the distraught girl asked. Seeing a chance at reconciliation with the sniper, the doctor practically leapt forwards as he exclaimed "a week, at the utmost! In that time, I'm sure you can find other practical uses of your time other than sprinting to and fro."

A single 'Hmm.' Escaped from the den of cotton before exploding, revealing a mountain of soggy tissues and a once tear streaked now-beaming Ruby.

"A week? I think that's easy to deal with, right Jaune?" the small girl whipped her head around and looked expectantly at the blond buffoon who took a quick cue from the swiftly nodding doctor and uncertainly smiled and said "Uh- yeah! Sure it will!"

The doctor face palmed at the terrible acting, but Ruby seemed to buy it as she already began setting a calendar event on her Scroll for when she would be allowed to walk again.

"I should also add that you are to, under no circumstances walk on that leg. If you do, you will risk any chance of healing properly and potentially even being a huntress!" upon hearing Ruby's gulp and rapid nodding, the doctor turned and began to head out the door. As it slid open, he turned back and sternly shook his hand at the duo, "And it would be best if you did not attempt travel for today. I will make sure you are cleared with the nurses for departure as of tomorrow." He finished with a smile and walked out the door.

'Huh.' Ruby thought, 'never met someone with mood swings before.' Shrugging, the brunette turned to face Jaune, who had been staring off into space for no apparent reason. A swift poke at this ribs had the boy blink twice before focusing back onto Ruby, who raised an eyebrow at his peculiar attitude.

"Ehehe…" he began as he sheepishly rubbed his head – a habit he had formed long before the two of them met in the Beacon Courtyard. "Just thinking about everything that's happened so far."

Ruby sagely nodded, "I get the feeling. A crash, losing a fight so badly, getting saved by Cardin Winchester of all people," She waved her hands at the window and all around the room in one sweeping motion, "Not to mention all of this! It feels crazy knowing that we were on Patch only five days ago and now we're here!" She sighed and leaned into her fluffy pillow after she propped it up against the headboard of the bed, "It's so much to take in." Ruby couldn't help but feel that any semblance of a plan she had made for getting to Mistral and rooting out those responsible for the Battle of Beacon had been completely damaged alongside her leg, and would need the same amount of time to repair.

Jaune could only nod as a small frown appeared on his face. Ruby bit her lip as she realized that Jaune was going through the same crisis about heroism as she was. Sighing, she looked out the window and saw the bright blue sky as it carried thin clouds across the world. Figuring that if anyone was going to say something, it would be her – Ruby turned back to Jaune and gave him a strong if not forced, smile. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to give up, Jaune." His bright blue eyes slowly met hers as she continued, "we've come this far, and I refuse to back down." She finished as she could see her determined face reflecting in Jaune's unblinking eyes.

After a brief silence, Jaune set his jaw and nodded his head finally speaking up, "You're right. I've been beaten down before, and while I hope that stops I don't intend to let it keep me there." He smiled now, as he patted his hand against the wheelchair, "Besides, someone's gotta roll you around in this thing, right?"

This earned him a playful glare and an eye roll as the room descended into comfortable silence once more, letting the soft winds and faint chirping of birds float through her window.

Sighing in relief, Ruby deflated into her surprisingly comfortable bed and got mentally prepared herself for what would be a long day of mild boredom. As she shifted her blanket and Jaune got up to stretch, Ruby got a proper look at her cast. What she saw the childish yet incredibly intricate doodles on the white plaster. Smiling at the thought of her eccentric friend drawing on her cast while the doctors and Ren tried to pull her away, Ruby looked back up at Jaune who was moving to sit back down once more. "Hey Jaune?"

"Hmm?" was all she got from the blond, "Where exactly are Ren and Nora?"

The blonde's eyes widened as a mad laugh echoed through one of the far windows, followed by several explosions and several shouts of indignation. 'Annnnnd there's my answer.' Ruby thought as she playfully sighed and shook her head. Jaune clipped on Crocea Mors and stepped towards the doors, leaving his comic book in Ruby's hands muttering something about 'helping keep her entertained' before he swiftly exited the room via the automatic doors.

As they closed half-way, the knight banged into one of the doors as he squeezed back in, a serious look on his face. Ruby could feel all of their previous mirth had been drained, and was replaced by Jaune's 'leader face'.

"Ruby, I thought I should mention this before I left," he closed the gap between the two of them before standing by her bedside and taking one of her hands, whispering "We haven't told anyone why we were heading to Mistral, and as much as I like Henry – we don't know who we can trust anymore. It would be best if we keep this under wraps for now. If anyone asks, we say we are here to visit Pyrrha's family – okay?"

While Ruby could see the sense in keeping their hunt for the truth a secret, she couldn't help but feel conflicted at the thought of using the mourning family of their deceased friend and lover as a cover up. The implications of whether or not they were forced to act upon this cover story were daunting to say the least. Meeting Pyrrha's family would be… devastating, to say the least. Ruby knew she still harboured some sense of guilt, but Nora, Ren and Jaune were all her team mates. They had seen her at her best and her worst, and with her passing it was as though a part of them went with her. That had left them all with pretty huge holes in their hearts, especially Jaune. He may put on a good show, but Ruby could tell how badly he hurt. His breathing was more uneven, he hadn't been eating as well and trained twice as hard. His once bright blue eyes now seemed a little darker, and those very same eyes now bore into the back of her skull.

"O-okay…" Ruby said uneasily, more to placate the boy than anything else. With a sharp nod, the boy jogged out of the room to presumably find Nora and Ren and tell them the good news.

After the doors close shut, Ruby couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief with the disappearance of the foreboding atmosphere Jaune projected whenever Pyrrha was brought up. He had changed, and while his tactical mind was now focused, Ruby wondered if their vengeance was worth Jaune losing himself in the chaos…

"Bah, forget all of that Rubles! You've got better things to think about like… uuuuh…" Ruby stopped her not-so-internal monologue as she looked around the room for something to amuse herself, eyes resting on the comic book she still had in her hands. "This com-"

"Please tell me that isn't the very same book I have to keep taking from my men?" a gruff voice boomed out as Henry stepped through the door, smiling brightly. He was no longer in his armor, but a finely pressed black suit. His hair was combed and his beard was finely cleaned and trimmed. In his leather wrapped hand was a fine gold pocket watch with his family crest emblazoned proudly on the back. Rather than a terrifying dark knight, he looked more like a fierce business man who could put even Glynda on her toes.

"Uh, is the book called 'X-Ray and Vav: Issue 435'?" Ruby questioned, waving the childish comic at the large ginger. Snorting in response, Henry pulled up Jaune's stool and sat next to Ruby, "well, so long as it's not 'Ninja's of-… actually, never mind that." His easy smile gave way to a more serious look as he leaned forward and softly asked, "How do you feel?"

"Okay I guess, it could hurt more." Ruby stated awkwardly, uncomfortable underneath the man's scrutiny. However, if Henry noticed her discomfort he certainly didn't show it. Reaching over to the vase of roses that had been at Ruby's bedside (still untouched from her showdown with the doctor, she couldn't bring herself to throw it), Henry plucked out a red rose and held it in-between two digits of fine material and looked back at the little red reaper:

"I wasn't talking about the leg."

AN: Hey guys! Sorry this took forever to get out :s school has been intense and I haven't found much time or rhythm to write.

So yeah, really short chapter this time! SORRY! This was just the most organic way to end it for now, and I hope to have the following chapter ready sooner this time. Hopefully the chapters will revert back to their original length by then.

Shootout to TimmyTam0907 for beta reading and point out how to make this chapter flow better. I'd recommend you go check out his stories, they are GREAT :D

As always, favorite follow and review! If you'd like to discuss anything in depth or if you have ideas, let me hear them with a PM! I'm a quick responder and enjoy discussion :)

~Cheers!~,

Jupitermonkey4