Chapter 18

Glass Slippers

(A/N: You people are awesome. Thank you for the tremendous support last chapter. I was really nervous about the changes I made and the tone shift. Thank you so much. Sit back and enjoy. God bless)

Ruby winced as another shard of glass was extracted from her foot. She felt like a pincushion from the amount of glass they had pulled out of her, and had two other medics standing behind her also pulling glass out of her back and shoulders. The chief medical officer had given her some kind of injection to numb the pain, but all it did was make her sleepy.

Her eyelids began to droop and her thoughts became murky. Before all reason left her however, she asked the question that had been plaguing her for what felt like hours.

"Have you ever thought the emblem of Atlas looks like a big chocolate chip cookie?" she slurred.

"And that would be the sedative," said one of the medics offhandedly, then under his breath. "It's about time..."

"Sedative?" Ruby asked confused. "You said it was a pain killer."

Another man nodded and grinned despite the gruesome job he was doing. "It's both, ma'am. We can't move you in your current condition. We're actually surprised you've stayed awake this long."

As if on cue, her body went limp and the medics caught her. After a small mumbling about sugar tasting delicious, she was snoring.

Ozpin smiled despite his dark mood while Ironwood shook his head in disbelief.

"And you're sure she's only fifteen years old?"

Beacon's headmaster nodded. "Just turned fifteen to be exact."

"I'll trade you six Paladins and a crate of Atlesian coffee for you to send her up north, Ozpin."

"Sorry, General." He took a long sip from his mug, refusing to avert his eyes as a particularly misshapen shard of glass was removed from her calf. "No deal."

"Very well then." Ironwood turned to his old friend. "She should be alright. My men gave her a sedative so they can transport her back to Beacon painlessly. I don't see any reason why she should have to suffer any more. That poor girl."

"The sedative won't last," Ozpin informed. "Her Signal medical reports say her aura has a history of fighting all kind of medicines. I'd hurry if I were you."

He nodded. "You heard him, men. If you've removed the worst of the glass from her back, get her secured and prepped." The team hurried and placed her on a stretcher.

"What about her aura levels?"

"They replaced what little they could, Ozpin, but with her injuries it won't make much of a difference. We can't risk transferring too much, especially not when her aura's still undeveloped. You told me she has a sister. Is she an aura match? That would save her a lot of misery and time in the hospital."

He shook his head. "They're half sisters, and no they're not a match. Her only known aura match is deceased..."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Ironwood glanced at the girl and cleared his throat. "Mother or father?"

"Mother," Ozpin said lowly. "Her name was Summer Rose."

"She sounds like a lovely woman."

"Yes, yes she was." Ozpin agreed, taking another sip.

Ironwood coughed and took his eyes off the young girl. "Miss Rose told me what happened, but I believe the security footage will speak for itself. She's in no condition to give a report tonight, and I'm not sure if speaking with me while having glass pulled out of her body and her burns looked after did her any good." He grimaced and shook his head as if disgusted with the situation or perhaps himself. "If you will excuse me, Ozpin, I have my own men to look after."

"I understand, James. I'll take over from here. And thank you again."

The headmaster of the north nodded before getting onto an elevator, and moments later Ozpin watched as his unconscious student was wheeled past him. Seeing the lifeless girl covered in glass and dried blood stirred something dark inside of him. His hand drifted to the sword hidden in his cane. It had not been used in many years, but he had the feeling that was going to change very soon, and this didn't disturb him even the slightest.

"Ruby!" Yang cried, running into the hospital room. "Thank God you're alright!" She hugged her bed ridden sister who winced at the contact, but reassured her she was alright. Once Yang was assured her little sister was okay, she released her from the embrace but took a seat on the bed with her.

"What happened to you, sis?" She wiped away her tears but more seemed to pour out from sheer relief.

"I'm sorry..." Ruby lowered her head.

"One minute we were dancing and the next the CCT is exploding. We looked all over for you, but you just disappeared in thin air."

Ruby had felt ashamed for running off on such a special night for her team, but now she realized just how worried she had made them. Guilt started gnawing at her seeing her big sister crying, and soon she found herself sniffling.

"And the next thing I know, Professor Ozpin's telling us we need to come back to Beacon and wait for you in the hospital." She ran a hand through her highlighted hair. "You scared me, sis."

"I'm sorry, Yang. I didn't mean to worry you."

"You had us all worried, dolt."

Ruby's eyes floated to the doorway of her hospital room, and saw Weiss peaking in as if she were afraid to enter. Her skin looked even paler than usual, and there were thick creases above her brow.

"It's okay, Weiss. You can come in," she said gently. The heiress gingerly walked to the bed as if testing the waters. Finding them satisfactory, she took a seat in the chair beside her partner's bed. Ruby noticed how out of breath she was and realized they must've ran to her room. Their eyes were wide and fearful as they studied her, and she realized they were looking at the cuts and bruises on her face and arms.

"I'm okay, guys. No need to worry."

"Don't listen to her, she's lying," Blake remarked dryly. Three pairs of eyes turned to the doorway where the faunus was reading from a clipboard. If Ruby had to guess, she would say they were her medical papers.

"I don't think you're supposed to have that," muttered the patient stiffly.

"It was sitting at the nurses station so I thought I'd take a peek." She glanced up and looked Ruby in the eyes. "Do you want me to tell them, or do you want to?"

"Huh?" Yang said, looking between them. "Tell us what?"

Ruby sighed. "First, I just want to say that I feel fine."

"That would probably be because you've got enough painkillers to sedate an Ursa."

"WHAT!" cried Yang and Weiss in unison. Even Ruby looked surprised.

"Okay, you make it sound bad but it always takes a lot of medicine to work on me. Same thing with Yang. Our aura tends to fight it. The sedatives wore off so they gave me this happy little IV that makes my nose tingle." She pointed at the tube her partner was sitting beside, who scooted the chair away.

"Why do you need pain killers, Rubes?" Yang shifted her weight slightly. "Your aura will be busy too busy fighting it to recharge."

Ruby decided showing was better than telling. She lifted the bed sheets and brought her legs out from under the covers, and Blake quietly closed the door as she was only in a hospital gown.

There was an audible gasp from Yang and Weiss, but it was Blake's silence that spoke volumes. Their young leader tried to say something, but her voice cracked.

"Ruby," Yang whispered in shock and pain. "What did they do to you?"

"There's more," she mumbled. "Before you say anything, let me undo the bandages first."

Ruby gingerly undid her wrappings around her feet. They were heavily bandaged and she could still remember the intolerable pain as each burning shard was extracted before the medicine kicked in, but just because she couldn't feel it right now, that didn't mean she wouldn't in five minutes. Medication had a funny way of working on her, which was why as a rule she stayed away from it, and the doctors said they'd take her off of it once they felt the pain was manageable for her. Which they were uncertain when that'd be...

Eventually, both wraps were undone and she turned to face her team. Weiss turned her head feeling sick while Yang and Blake looked on in horror. She took great care not to let the tattered messes touch the clean bed sheets before wrapping them up again.

"That's not all." She rolled up her sleeves and gestured down toward her legs then her bare back. Ruby hadn't seen her back yet, but knew it had to be bad considering all the glass the medics had pulled out.

"Ruby…" her sister choked. "What happened to you?"

With her bandages back on, she hid under the smooth hospital covers. She felt too exposed in the hospital gown but her team needed to see the damage with their own eyes.

"Everyone kept telling me to have fun, and that nights like this don't happen often in the life of a huntress. But I wasn't having fun so I decided to just ditch the dance." Ruby hung her head down in shame, her lip quivering. She couldn't look her sister or her partner in the eye after all the hard work they had put into the event, and she felt like a hypocrite for even trying to talk Blake into going.

"I didn't see any guards and the doors were unlocked so I decided to go to the top floor. I just wanted to see the city," she whimpered, glancing down at her feet. "I rode the elevator to the top, and saw a soldier on the floor. I tried to help him but I tripped in those stupid heels. I threw them off and saw three other soldiers. They weren't moving, and they were covered in-" She did her best to shake the memory out of her mind. The sight of a dead human covered in crimson was all too familiar to her. "I knew the murderer had to be around, so I demanded they come out, and so she did..."

"She?" Yang's eyes narrowed. "Was it the pink woman with the umbrella?". Apparently the blonde still held a grudge.

Ruby shook her head. "No, remember the woman I saw with Torchwick the night Ozpin offered me a place at Beacon?" It took them a moment but her teammates slowly nodded. They honestly hadn't given a second thought to the mystery woman. "She wore a Grimm mask, but it was her. She also isn't a faunus. The mask was just a disguise."

"How could you tell?" Blake asked curiously.

"Because I've lived with a faunus for nearly four months," Ruby said, hints humor in her voice. "She was fast on her feet but nothing like you, Sun, or Velvet. You guys are even graceful when you walk, and she also went through the trouble of turning the lights on."

Blake found herself blushing but nodded. Her leader was more perceptive than she gave her credit for, as it seemed she had picked up on the little nuances most humans and even some faunus never did.

"But how do you know she was the same woman as before?" Weiss questioned. "You said she was wearing a mask."

"I didn't get a good look at her the first time, but I recognized the fire glyph. You aren't going to believe this, but she can make obsidian out of sand."

"What!" she exclaimed. Yang and Blake were impressed but obviously the heiress knew something they didn't.

"She had some kind of dust pouch full of sand, and when she threw a handful in the air she created two obsidian swords. The doctors said that was most of the glass they found in my skin." All eyes turned to the resident dust expert.

"Can she really do that?" Yang asked.

Weiss bit her lip. "I'm sure it's possible, but that would take a lot of aura and an incredibly powerful flame glyph, and one I've never heard of."

"She has the aura," Ruby divulged. "When she attacked, I just kept dodging with my semblance, but then…" She hesitated looking at her feet under the covers.

"She broke the windows," Weiss nodded. "That's what made us run outside."

Ruby nodded reluctantly. "I took my shoes off remember." She said with tears in her eyes. "She didn't give me a choice. I had to use my semblance and I ran right through the glass."

"Oh Ruby!" her partner cried horrified. Blake covered her mouth while Yang looked away out the window as if she were looking for the culprit.

"I fell down and rolled through the glass. It took all the aura I had to block her sword but I didn't have a choice. I had to run through it again."

"That's horrible," Weiss said sympathetically.

Ruby nodded. "I tried to protect my feet, but you guys know I can't keep an aura shield up when I'm running, especially not when I'm tired. I just can't control my aura like you can. I think I did more harm than good. Ironwood and his men saved me before she could end it..."

The room was quiet then. No one knew what to say. Ruby's bitter laugh broke the silence though.

"She did say one thing though. Yang, you may enjoy this." The blonde's ears perked up. "She told me to enjoy my glass slippers." She wiggled her feet for emphasis then immediately regretted it.

Yang looked sickened. "Sis," she said when she could speak again, giving her a gentle hug that still caused her to wince. Yang seemed to sense the source of her discomfort. "Sorry. Is it your shoulder? Did you hurt it again?"

"No." She gritted her teeth.

"Says here she did." Blake said matter-of-factly with the chart in her hand. "She tore a muscle, bruised the bone, and the glass..."

"I'm fine," she hissed, gaining control over her voice. "I told you using my semblance wears my muscles out and it's hard to keep an aura shield up when my aura is low. I'll be fine." She gave the faunus a dirty look. "Does that piece of paper have everything including my favorite color?"

"Red," Blake responded humorlessly. Ruby blew the red tips of her hair out of her eyes.

"But why did you leave the dance?" Yang asked, sounding hurt as she continued playing with the girl's hair.

Ruby could see the sadness on her sister's face. "I'm sorry, sis. I didn't mean to ditch you guys. I just really, really wanted to get out of there, and the CCT seemed like the best place to be. I know how hard you guys worked preparing everything. It was stupid and I'm sorry."

"You need to be more careful," Yang nearly shouted. "You should've stayed with me at the dance."

"It's not like I went looking for a fight!" Ruby snapped. "I didn't ask for this. All I wanted was to see the view from the top of the CCT. I'm sorry I left the dance and I'm sorry I screwed up our first mission." Her eyes became misty and she punched the side of her bed. "I'm sorry..."

"Mission?" Yang asked. She turned to her teammates who were just as perplexed.

Ruby nodded. "In case you guys forgot, we were supposed to get our first missions the day after tomorrow, but we can't exactly do that because of my feet. I blew it guys." Tears welled up in her eyes so she lay back down. "And it's probably going to be a long while till I can go on a mission."

"Rubes," her sister soothed, pressing their foreheads together. "We're not worried about some stupid mission. Right guys?"

"Absolutely," they said in unison.

"See? There'll be other missions. You just worry about getting better." She kissed her sister on the forehead and pulled away.

"But this was supposed to be our first, and we're probably not gonna make the Vytal Festival now." Seeing the bewilderment on their faces, she sighed.

"Freshmen need at least three successful missions to qualify for the tournament, and Beacon doesn't just hand them out. We failed and it's all my fault. I'm probably not even gonna make the next one..."

Her teammates were speechless. They had taken it for granted that they would qualify for the tournament. Beacon treated their freshmen differently from the other academies. The school gave their younger teams very few missions so each one was a sink or swim situation. It was survival of the fittest. The exchange students probably had half a dozen missions already under their belts while they had yet to go on a single one, but this dynamic had groomed Beacon's students to become the finest huntsmen on Remnant. Failure simply was not an option for them.

Her team thought about what she had just said, and were all one mind on the matter.

"No one is blaming you, Ruby," Blake said kindly. "This isn't your fault. Ozpin will understand. He'll give us another chance."

"That's right," Weiss agreed. "There'll be other missions, and Professor Ozpin owes us for taking care of the Paladin and for what you did tonight. Just worry about getting better, dolt." She smiled to let her partner know she was supporting her.

"Screw the Vytal Festival," Yang said hotly. "It's just some stupid tournament anyway. Ozpin was just pulling our chain, trying to motivate us before the semester."

Ruby nodded but rolled over to her side. She knew her sister had been looking forward to the tournament, and that only made it hurt worse.

"I'm really tired, guys. I think I'll get some sleep." Her teammates reluctantly nodded as they heard the raw emotion in her voice.

"Anything we can get you, sis?" Yang's anger was replaced by concern for her sister.

"Um, well," she murmured embarrassed. "Could you bring me some pajamas? This gown has a draft."

"Sure thing, Rubes," she chuckled. "I'll be back in a minute."

"No, you stay here." Blake held out her hand, stopping the blonde at the doorway. "I'll go. I need to drop these charts off anyway." Yang smiled and thanked her for the opportunity to stay with her sister a little while longer.

The faunus left and the hospital room was awkwardly quiet. Ruby obviously didn't feel like talking, and Yang and Weiss didn't know what to say. Without saying a word though, the heiress grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom and sat next to her partner.

"Your makeup is a mess." She brought the cloth to the girl's face and cleared it off.

"Thanks," Ruby said absently. "I'm sorry about the dress, Weiss. There wasn't much left, and I lost the heels you bought for me."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure Beacon will reimburse you for it." She winked. "We'll just have to go shopping again when your feet get better to replace them."

"That's right," Yang laughed, catching on. "We'll stop by the Cerulean Cafe, and the princess will buy you the biggest cookie dough sundae you've ever seen."

"I'll pitch in for dessert," Blake added, walking into the room. She handed a small bag to Yang. Inside were Ruby's pajamas, scroll, and even her cape.

"That was fast," Ruby observed.

"Well you did say we faunus are fast and graceful." She smiled.

"Why don't you guys wait outside while I help her," Yang said, the duo nodding.

Wordlessly, she helped Ruby get dressed and had to bite her tongue seeing all the lacerations and bruises. It made her sick knowing someone had done this to her baby sister. It also killed her to know there was nothing she could do. Yang had inherited her aura from both her parents while Ruby from her own mother. Yang had her father and uncle who could share their aura with her if she ever needed it. Ruby had no one...

Yang began to set up a pair of chairs as a makeshift cot while taking her earrings out. From under the covers and in her comfy rose pajamas, Ruby rolled her eyes. Her sister was still in her dress from the dance.

"Go to bed, Yang."

"What do you think I'm doing?" she said, playing dumb. "I would crawl in with you, but I don't think that's a good idea right now. Mind if I use your cape as a blanket?"

"You know what I mean. There's no reason to stay here when the dorm's in walking distance."

"You're here aren't you? That's good enough reason for me."

"Please, Yang," she begged with hurt in her voice. "Please just go..."

Yang tried to smile but it wouldn't stay. "Okay, sis." Despite the gentleness of her hug Ruby still grimaced. "Get some sleep."

"I'll try."

Blake and Weiss said their goodbyes a moment later before following the blonde back out the room.

"Don't let it get to you." Blake wrapped her arm around her partner. "She's exhausted, and just wants some time to think."

"I know," Yang said quietly. "I just don't want her to be alone right now."

"None of us do." Weiss put a hand on the blonde's shoulder before embracing her fully.

"Ruby's like our little sister too, Yang," her partner reassured. "We'll come by first thing in the morning."

"Thanks guys." She wiped her eyes. "That means a lot."

"No problem, sis," they said in unison.

(A/N: I hope the mood was captured nicely. I decided to add some extra drama with the mission hanging over their heads. Ruby strikes me as the type of person who would be more upset about the mission called off than her own injuries. I also wanted the Vytal Festival hanging in the background. I liked the idea that Beacon puts students in sink or swim situations as it reinforces my idea that Ozpin doesn't fail his students, they do that for him. But I hope this was believable to you and that you enjoyed it. Also before I get messaged about it I know the glass normally would have fallen to the outside after an explosion but Cinder's fire is anything but normal. I don't see a reason why she couldn't pull the glass into the room with her powers. Once again thank you guys for all of the kind words, the reviews, follows, favorites, and views. All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who has made all of this possible. God bless