Vili was in the final steps of preparation for his match. The medics had finished hooking him into the system. Now he was just waiting for them to check that the connection was stable and accurate. His mind was processing what had just happened.

As he'd suspected based upon Ruby's petals and the nature of her aura, she possessed a type known as a rose aura – her family likely named for its high genetic reoccurrence. What he'd fail to note during his time knowing her was mention of the penalty. Similarly, Sun's description of her injuries still hung with him. She should not have survived injuries as grave as he described. He'd assumed it was exaggeration, but this made him suspect that that might not in fact be the case. As a medic with a scroll began looking him over as he thought, he decided to get some information.

"Hey, can you tell me about what just happened with Ruby Rose?" he asked.

The medic, the woman he recognized from leading Weiss to the tiltjet, looked up at him for a second before returning her gaze to the scroll. "What did you want to know, Mr. Schwarze?"

"Well, was all that really necessary? I mean, how bad of a condition is she actually in with the way she was acting and with how much time has passed?"

She hummed in agreement. "I can see why you may be confused. Miss Rose is a bit of a marvel among the medical community. You see, her wounds were quite severe. Much of her internal organ structure was damaged, but what we found when she was brought in – jeez, more than a year ago now – was astounding. Normally aura only heals within the capacity of the body's normal abilities, with the exception being of fresh tissue at an accelerated rate as opposed to scar tissue over a long period of time. Similarly, if a wound is severe enough and takes too long for aura to heal – either due to the damage, low aura reserves, higher aura priorities or whatever else may prevent it from doing its job in a timely manner – it quits. That is to say, much like the body failing to fully heal large wounds where flesh is missing, it just attempts to make do with what is left; it does not regenerate. However, Miss Rose was regenerating – albeit very slowly – her internal organs. And she was doing so from wounds that had been cauterized shut. With some of the best and most expensive intensive care equipment I've ever seen, they held her alive until she somehow healed enough to be self sustaining again. Normally, as I mentioned, she'd have stopped healing by now, making do with what she has. It would have scarred over what it could not heal and left her incomplete – transplants were the next step now that they weren't afraid surgery would kill her. However, even though we went ahead with the transplants, she never stopped healing. Her body rejects the transplants, and as they become infected, the organ is assimilated – aggressively converted by her aura. This has brought her to Summer Memorial – the hospital giving its services to the tournament – regularly. It's to the point that they normally have her wait it out at home with some painkillers and careful treatment. Damage to the healing organs, however, is an issue, as it would cause it to spread the focus – in short, it would trigger one of these episodes. A further issue is that, since they are not healed normally, the sutures can be split. That is why we are concerned – we just want to make sure everything is still connected, and reconnect them if they're not. Once that's done, she should be able to ride the rest out," she said, having spoken in an excited rush. It was obvious she enjoyed her work, and Ruby was certainly something of great interest.

Her scroll beeped, having received a message. She looked at it and frowned. "I'm afraid I have to take this, Mr. Schwarze. We'll have to pick this up another time," she said.

"Uh – wait, real quick!" he called out as she began to walk away. She looked back, eyebrows raised. "Does she not have a penalty?"

"That's the beauty of it, Mr. Schwarze. No penalty. Look it up, I'm sure you could figure it out," she said with a broad smile. She answered her scroll and walked off, all business again.

No penalty? He'd never heard such a thing before. Could that be tied to why she was able to survive such harsh wounds? Is that what she meant by "You could figure it out?" Hm. He couldn't remember the exact nature of the penalty off the top of his head – he had focused more on other types of auras when he'd looked into the differing classifications. Rose auras, however, had just become a subject of interest for him. He was now even more curious about Ruby. Weiss seemed protective of the girl, but to pay for the Summer Memorial, the nicest hospital in Vale, on a regular basis would be a bit much, even for a Schnee. Something else had to be at work here. However, he thought as the slithering vine approached, it seems that will have to wait for a later time.

"You ready to compete? It's about time," Jack said.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about something. Let's get out there," he replied, getting up.

Roughly the same time, Stadium Docks

The world possessed a red tint through his red goggles. It was an odd thing, but the traces of night vision they allowed made them worth it. Besides, he needed to hide his face and protect his eyes regardless, so he might as well keep these red goggles. That's what he kept telling himself, knowing they were a sentimental holdover from his time working under Junior. However, he'd moved onto other things now. Things that had him spying on this girl across the way, the recording of her fight on his scroll.

"You know, she was really impressive. I got a taste of it, but that fight was like getting the smells of the kitchen and having to wait until dinner," he said.

"I wouldn't be so eager if I were you," Adam replied through the scroll. Always the downer, him. "She's no joke. I told you, if she wanted to, she could have easily led the Vytal Super-chapter. She's hands down the best fighter I've worked with – you and Nube included – and she's incredibly smart."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you sound like a school boy with a crush with the way you talk about her."

"I never went to a school, so I'm afraid I can't comment," Adam returned dryly.

A sarcastic gasp. "You don't know what a crush is, do you?" Silence. "I was saying you liked her – which you do, just not in the way I'm implying." More silence. Welp, he'd pissed him off. "She's incredible, really, I totally get it." Yet more silence. "All I'm saying is, it'd be a real shame if she were to die." Still nothing. Dealing with Adam when it came to her was like a minefield, and he had bad luck. He was about to continue when Adam spoke.

"I know."

"So…?"

"So what?"

"What are you going to do about it? You should have taken the ticket, or at least gotten one of the twin's tickets. I mean, I'm sure I could figure out a way to get you out here instead, but that would've made things easier, you know? Hm… Oh, I know! We're about the same height. You could just pretend to be me, maybe just tomorrow?"

"I told you, I'm fine. Just do your job, and I'll make my way there if anything happens. That's the plan."

"She's going back into the city, and it's just the blonde with her. You could try - "

"I want you listen to me, because I'm only going to say this one more time. I. Am. Fine. Now, hang up and don't call again unless it's an emergency. We don't need your cover to get blown."

"Hm." Hesitation.

"What was that?"

"Welllll… that might be a problem."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. The heiress just said she knew who I was. She didn't know everything, but she had my first name, so she wasn't completely bluffing. Also, there's the whole 'Jack and I know each other' thing. Not to mention Verginia - "

"You walked right up to her and started talking!"

"Look, she knew who I was anyway. Did you see her staring at me when they did the entrance ceremony? She had me pegged from a mile away – and let me tell you something: she is not a woman you want to be pegged by." Silence. Welp, he'd pissed him off. Again.

"I'm going to hang up. Don't get caught. Call me if you do."

"You sure you want me to do it? I mean, really, I know you'd prefer it if it were you."

"I… I can't do it. Goodbye." The called disconnected. Scott sighed through his gas mask. He watched a Malachite sneak aboard the ferry the girls had entered during his talk. A ding from on his scroll notified him of a message. Miltia – "I'm following them. Will report any suspicious activity." Good, he liked Miltia. She'd keep a good eye on them for him. In the mean time, he played the cut video on his screen. You're good, but not good enough. He saw now that this was not the case. She was so good she hid her skill nearly flawlessly. Even in that fight against the Rose girl, only a few instances would lead him to believe she was more than she initially appeared, and then only because he was someone skilled in combat against other huntsmen and huntresses. He could see why they were after her if she'd become an enemy to the White Fang. He was genuinely looking forward to his fight with her – it was rare someone gave him a good run for his money, and he had faith she could do that for him.

Weiss stared at Ruby with mix of emotions. On the one hand, she was relieved. They had found no issues with her internally, though she'd apparently been lying about just how well she was. Even so, it would just be a matter of time while her body adjusted – a period of being bed ridden with a fever that was easily combated with rest, fluids and antibiotics. In short, she was fine. Weiss was also angry with her other two team members. Blake had deliberately attacked Ruby's weak spot, and that insufferable blonde had surprised Weiss by defending her! Why?! Don't they understand the dangers to Ruby's health? Blake had even agreed with her that Ruby's injury was still a valid concern – why would she attack her there? She couldn't understand what they were thinking – there had to be reason for her actions. Was she simply so shallow to hospitalize her friend for a further place in the tournament? As she focused on him sitting next to her, she had a moment of reflective doubt considering her actions just yesterday against him and Yang.

T-that was different, she thought in defense. Sun already had a criminal record, and surely she would have defeated him anyway. She'd just wanted to save her time and energy. Well, that worked well for you, didn't it? she heard in the subdued sarcasm of Blake. She'd ended op fighting a worse opponent, possibly endangering her life. That led her to her other major concern. Weiss was also worried about the situation in which they had found themselves. She'd been sure that man had intended to kill her, and she was sure that he was the assassin, Scott. He'd made a fool of her, her fear making her run like she was still a little girl. She didn't want them to be involved in this, she didn't like the risks. But that was fine, right? She feared for her life – their lives! Was it wrong to be afraid of dying? Screw whatever the White Fang were up to, whatever corruption there was in the government! This girl in front of her, the ones she was so frustrated with right now… they meant a lot to her, and there were people out there who wouldn't hesitate to kill them. But that's our job – to stop people like that from hurting others! Ruby's voice said in her head. And what about us? Who protects us from getting hurt? Who keeps us from losing whom we care about? she shot back. An old argument from when she'd first been in this position, though in slightly different context. Then it had been because she couldn't understand why this young girl was so selfless. The girl refused to bow down, to value herself higher than others. It was why Weiss had finally taken to Yang – she understood the need to protect Ruby, because she sure wasn't doing it herself.

"This girl, huh?" Sun said with a sigh. He pulled up his scroll, reviewing Vili's fight. They'd missed it with the commotion, but he'd been watching the recording while waiting for the others' fights today – namely Nora and Penny's, and Yang's.

Weiss just nodded in reply, leaning back and running her hands through her bangs. She straightened as she pulled out her hair clip and undid the knot. Brushing it through with her fingers, she began to retie it. Yang had knocked her sidetail into disarray when she'd held Weiss back from charging the arena. It was probably for the best – swearing down the judges didn't need to be added to the list of things she'd regret doing in front of a worldwide audience today. She didn't even want to think what her father – or worse, her grandfather – would have to say about what happened earlier.

She turned to look as she heard the doors to their left open. They were in a spacious private room, the bed Ruby occupied quite luxurious even for this hospital. Across from the bed were Sun and her, sitting in two equally luxurious chairs on the right, another pair on the other side of a table beside her. Beyond those was the door, where Yang, Blake, and, surprisingly, Vili entered.

"Hey, it's about time you got here," Sun said, keeping his voice low so as not to wake Ruby. "Did you leave right after the fight?" he added toward Vili.

"Yeah, I've been outside for awhile but I decided to wait for these two," he said, motioning to Yang and Blake.

"We took a detour," Yang explained. Blake produced the book she and Ruby read, moving to set it at the stand by Ruby's head.

"So…" Sun said, staring at Blake with a difficult to read expression. "What were you thinking? I mean, that seemed pretty stupid."

"Oh look, I think we agree on something," Weiss said, folding her arms with a glare.

"I told you," Blake replied as she took a chair at the bedside. "She wanted me to fight her without restraint, so I did. I saw the opening, and went for it. I didn't think this would happen."

Sun and Weiss continued to stare at her for a moment. Then, he sighed. "You should have known better, but I get it. She's been doing so well for so long now; I thought we were out of these woods by now, too."

"So, how's she doing?" Vili asked, forcing Weiss off Blake.

"She'll be fine. How much has Sun told you about her condition?" she asked.

"Well, not much. I'm not a very medic sciencey person. I just know she tends to come down with chronic pain and sickness every now and again, so that's all I've told him," Sun answered for him.

Weiss rolled her eyes at his description. She wasn't necessarily a "medic sciencey person" either, but she knew it was good to know about certain medical subjects in their profession. She supposed she'd have to explain, but Vili cut in.

"I know a little more than that, just because I talked to the medic who'd checked me over for the match. So, she's regenerating her organs, right? But it's odd because they transplanted new organs and she initially rejects them, causing an infection. The organ is remade as her own after the infection is fought off. The process repeats for each organ, and she's basically fine in the mean time?" Weiss raised her eyebrows in surprise, catching the lifted brow of Blake and the completely impressed smile of Yang.

"That's about all I know of it, and I'm the one who handles her records. Did he miss anything Weiss?" Yang said.

"N-no, that's the general gist of it. You know about the sutures?" A nod. "So, they just wanted to make sure nothing ruptured and she didn't have any hemorrhaging. Thankfully, she doesn't. However, injuries like that disrupt her healing. It triggers the 'rejection' you mentioned, so she falls ill for a time. It'll pass, and she'll be that much closer to being fully healed – or so they tell us."

"Wait, so she'll eventually be healed? Like, good as new?" Sun said with a gawk.

"Assuming her body keeps it up. However, it's already slowing, so it will either take a very long time or never quite get to one hundred percent. If she lives long enough…" Blake said.

"But with our line of work… even the best and brightest can be snuffed out without a moment's notice," Vili ended, turning to stare at Ruby. She looked peaceful, sleeping there. Painkiller was hooked to an IV on her arm. She'd likely wake later, but for now, she was blissfully unaware of the pain her body was undoubtedly experiencing. Around her, the four of them nodded at Vili's statement.

"Ain't that the truth," Sun said.

"If she does this so regularly…" Vili began, looking around the room. Weiss had a suspicion for what he was about to ask. However, Yang beat her to the punch.

"How do we afford it?" she said, with a smile. He nodded. "Do you know why this hospital is named what it is?" A shaken head. "Well, it's the Summer Memorial Hospital. Its name was changed not too long ago. It was done to honor a hero of the Great War by the name of Summer Rose, our grandmother who died ten years ago. So, they give it to us for free." He seemed genuinely surprised by the information.

"There's also the whole, 'stopped a major terrorist threat' thing, Weiss here, and their mother, who also has a lot of pull in the government," Blake added. Yang visibly soured at the mention of their mother.

"I had no idea that's who you two were," Vili said, genuinely surprised. "That's quite a pedigree. Summer was supposedly the greatest huntress who ever lived – at least, that's what I've always heard. I understand Ruby – and you – a bit better if that is who you had to look up to as a child."

"Yeah. She was the greatest person I think anyone could have had the pleasure of meeting. Ruby's goal in life is essentially to be as much like her as possible. I think Grandma Rose would be proud of our little red scythe wielder," Yang said.

"I never met her, of course, but my grandfather also fought in the Great War. He's… he's not the biggest supporter of huntresses, but even he admits that their grandmother was the best fighter he'd ever seen. What is it they say about her?" Weiss said.

"'She was possessing of a speed so great that it could be called instantaneous,'" Vili answered. "Yasha said the same thing as your grandfather," he added. Yasha? Yang and Blake also seemed confused.

"Oh, Yasha was his mentor – taught him everything he knows down in Asylum," Sun explained.

"Yes, sorry, I forgot I haven't told you all about him yet. He fought in the Great War beside Summer and Giesser," Vili explained.

"Is he still alive?" Blake asked with curiosity.

"Oh yeah, very much so. I haven't talked with him in awhile though," Vili answered.

"That's incredible – their auras must have been great," Blake replied.

"Why's that?" Sun asked. Weiss gave him a frown. "What?"

"The Great War was around a century ago. For each of them to have lived this long means their aura has slowed their aging to allow them to be alive and active. Well, Giesser, Weiss' grandfather, had to retire some time ago due to health concerns, but he's still alive. Summer would be as well, if she hadn't been killed, correct?" Vili asked, looking to Yang.

"Yep. She died returning from a mission to Atlas – Grimm had wrecked the airship just outside of Vale. They even attacked the city for a day or two. Her partner and my uncle Qrow were the only survivors, from what he's told me," Yang said, her voice seeming somber and detached. Weiss recognized this must not be an easy topic for her, and despite her recent behavior, she didn't need to be thinking of that right now. She didn't notice the thoughtful look Vili gave to Yang.

"We have more pressing matters to discuss," Weiss cut in. "Ruby will be fine, but in the mean time, we've got a possible terrorist organization to deal with – if you don't mind me using that term," she added, looking at Blake. There was a very brief moment of what she imagined was anger, but then Blake looked down.

"No. That's what they are," she said sadly.

"So, they are after something in this tournament. As they seemed to have acquired more than enough dust for the time being, and on top of that, we never knew what their original plan was to begin with – I imagine it's safe to assume it will involve people getting hurt," Weiss gave her thoughts. "That leaves us with two problems: find and stop whatever they are doing in this tournament and find out why, so we can stop any other plans as well."

"Sounds about right. So, what are we going to do?" Sun said, leaning back and looking at her expectantly. She looked at Ruby, and decided to throw her line.

"Well, it's unfortunate that Ruby's ended up like this," Weiss began with a cold stare on Blake, "but… it's one less thing to worry about. Her reckless – though somehow generally successful – schemes will not be a danger to us, or herself. The incident with Junior leaves us with the idea that she plays no part in their plot, and this place is well protected. Her condition is not critical… she's perfectly safe now." Yang looked at Blake with a smirk, who shot her down with a glare. Locking eyes with the faunus, the two narrowed eyes. Too late, Blake, you've taken the bait. "However, that still leaves the issue of there being a dead assassin, one in disguise, Junior and his cohorts, and, more likely than not, the White Fang and any corrupt government officials working with them. Now, we believe that all of these people are the same enemy."

"But it's important to maintain the possibility they are not," Vili added in.

"And should that be the case," Weiss continued with a nod toward him, "we need to find who is working together and who is not. I believe we can say with certainty that Bernard is the man Jack Irving identified as Scott Hashishon, according to Ruby. Professor Ozpin said that he had been associated with Junior, and the other assassin had been associated with the White Fang. Now, Junior has a boss, so that's our link – that the White Fang is the boss. However, there's one problem with that."

"What's that?" Sun asked.

"Vili," she said, looking at the man.

"Me?" he said, with a raised brow. "What have I got to do with it?"

"You're in the tournament. The ticket you were bought is the one that a suspected operative was going to use – that is what made us think the White Fang was involved. It was bought out by Mr. Alba, according to you. However, they would presumably have had tickets for the others – none of which were White Fang operatives but nonetheless big name criminals. Don't you find it odd that they would completely outsource this operation to identifiable individuals if it was of any importance? Why wouldn't they end up giving one of the others to that individual who lost their ticket? As you said, Junior hasn't been doing that great recently, why rely on him?" Weiss paused to let the gears turn.

"So," Sun said slowly, "they must not have actually had tickets to spare?"

"That's what I thought at first, too," Yang said, looking at Weiss. She raised a brow, making an expression she usual did when helping the girls with school work that they almost had. "But…" Yang began, Weiss continuing to encourage her. "But that would mean the White Fang wasn't directly involved at all. Which wouldn't make sense because they're all big and bad now, right?"

"Exactly. If they wanted to be involved here, if it was actually important to them, then they would be," Weiss said excitedly.

"You think it's a ruse…" Vili mused.

"Don't you see it? The tournament's the distraction! They have us thinking they're going to disrupt the event somehow, but that's just to keep us occupied. They're after something specific! What could be so important at the tournament?"

"Tytus, for one thing. He's the richest and most powerful man on Remnant. Similarly, you – being that you helped ruin their plans with Cinder and are the only child to the second richest and most powerful man on Remnant. I'd say me, but I haven't been here long enough for them to have a fully orchestrated plan around dealing with me," Vili said.

"Thus the assassins, but why would they just kill us? They weren't after that before. I don't think their plans would change that drastically just because we caught Torchwick and Cinder – if they had, they'd be targeting all of us. There was something in Vale they were targeting," Weiss continued.

"So you think the extra security should be focused toward the kingdom, not the stadium?" Blake asked while holding her scroll. She'd pulled it out to do something a moment ago.

"Yes."

"Hm…" a voice from the scroll said. It confused Weiss for a moment, but then it hit her. They all took a moment, but then it was clear – Blake had called Ozpin. "You aren't the only one to suggest that, Weiss. Tytus has also suggested that the target is in fact in Vale. I think the plan is to do exactly as you say. I hadn't heard a compelling argument from him, but you make a good one. There does not appear to be much to gain from simply killing a target, and there's no reason to have waited on some signal if they aren't trying to organize something like an escape. An outsourced mission wouldn't have a priority on escape. The White Fang has become similar to Cinder in that regard – once you've outlived your usefulness, you are on your own. That is what happened with Torchwick, after all."

"So you want to just pull the security from the tournament? I get that it's not the target, but that doesn't mean something bad might not happen," Vili asked.

"Not at all, Vili, I simply mean we should direct the bulk of it inward. Most of the soldiers are already being held in reserve with their General. It needn't even be the IRS – you forget those two ships over the bay are designed with war capabilities. The stadium will seem to be protected as normal, but Tytus wants the rest of the forces on the mainland."

"That's not too unreasonable anyway. They have to come from the coast to get to the stadium in any kind of force; the Aurora-class ships would catch any other boats or airships from miles away. The relatively short stretch of ocean from the stadium to the mainland can be crossed before they could respond," Weiss stated, entirely aware of the capability of the two behemoths above the kingdom. As the heiress, she made it her business to be aware of any major projects or ideas within the company and those airships had been a huge one for a couple decades now.

"Not to mention the Mythografos fleet. That many ships sitting out at sea are like a makeshift blockade," Yang said, her head leaning over the back of her seat to stare at the ceiling. She never did enjoy such talks. "Actually, knowing her, it's entirely intentional," she added after a brief pause.

"I haven't spoken with her yet, actually, but you are probably right. You know her well," Ozpin said. Yang frowned but didn't respond. Ozpin continued with a sigh, as though he knew the reaction that sentence had brought. "At any rate, I must leave this conversation for now, I've business to attend to. I've heard Ruby is doing well?" Several affirmations rang out in response to him. "Good to hear. Best of luck, Miss Long, should you still be competing later today. The rest of you should rest now that you are done with your fights. Mr. Wukong, please look after these few, they have a tendency to find themselves trouble." That brought a wide smile to Yang's face and a chuckle to Vili. Then he disconnected.

"Well, on that note, I feel like I should go find some trouble," Vili said as he made his way to the door.

"What does that mean?" Sun asked with a raised brow.

"Nothing much. I'm just going to look into Junior, see if I can find anything definitive about who he's working for. It's nothing I can't handle," he said.

"Let us know if you find anything," Yang said, waving good bye.

"Sure thing." The door clicked shut behind him. Weiss narrowed her eyes as soon it did. She still wasn't entirely convinced he was on their side. She couldn't understand the others' trust, much like she'd had difficulty understanding Blake's actions. Looking toward the two on either side of Ruby, she fixed her teammates with glares.

"I, uh, I feel like I should leave," Sun said, rising slowly as he flicked his gaze between the huntress and the wide-eyed prey in the room with him.

"Sit," Weiss commanded, flicking her gaze to him for a moment. He dropped like a rock, tail wrapped around his waist and eyes now as wide as the others. She looked back toward Blake and Yang. "I might yell, so we'll be taking this outside to avoid disturbing Ruby," she said angrily.

She watched as Blake wordlessly got up and walked out. She turned back toward Yang, who was looking to the side and petting her mane of golden locks. After a moment, her gaze wandered back to Weiss, staring. Then she sighed, rising to follow Blake out of the room.

"Call the nurses if anything happens and call us if she wakes up. In either case, stay where you are, out of the way," she told Sun as she rose to leave.

"Sir, yes, sir," he said with a salute. It annoyed her, but she had better targets for her frustration just now.

Leading them down the hall to an empty waiting room, she was sure she could let loose. This wing of the hospital didn't get much use because of the cost of the suites. The area nearby was empty, the nurses and doctors attending to business elsewhere in the massive hospital.

"Took an opening, huh?" she began, looking toward Blake.

"Yes." Her ears were flattened like a chastised house cat. Weiss wasn't in the market to buy, however.

"And you didn't expect her to go to the hospital?"

She frowned, disgruntled. Weiss would have loved to hear her say yes, but she didn't. "I knew she'd end up with another bout of sickness, but I figured that would be like any other time, something she could ride out back at the dorm."

"Oh, you are good. Is that how you lied your way into Beacon?"

"Weiss! What the hell was that?!" Yang said, cutting in with tongues of flame.

"Yang!" Blake said, grabbing the arm of the blonde in an attempt to get her attention. She knew what was up, but Weiss wouldn't let her ruin this. She threw on all the haughty venom she could in her voice.

"Oh, that was off-topic, wasn't it? You're right, I should get back to the main point – what the hell was that?! You're defending a girl who just hospitalized Ruby! You know, the little sister you supposedly care about more than anything! I guess that was lie too."

"We did it for her, you bitch!"

"SO YOU ADMIT IT!" Weiss shouted back triumphantly. Ultimately, it'd been even easier than expected. Yang instantly deflated, her flames dying out as she took a step back. Blake was holding the bridge of her nose, swearing under her breath.

"You just said that to get me riled up…" Yang said before turning to Blake. "Didn't she?" Blake nodded. She looked crestfallen for all of a second before switching to apologetic. "Okay, look, it was my idea, alright, Blake had nothing to do wi-"

"We've already discussed how that wouldn't work, Yang. Just.. sit down, I'll talk with her. And remind me to take your tongue if we are ever taken prisoner," Blake cut her off. Yang sat down, looking defeated.

"There's nothing to talk about. I expected something like this from her," Weiss said, nodding toward Yang. Then, she addressed her. "We've discussed – multiple times – the dangers of acting too brash. It's a trait you sisters share, and in more ways than one, is why we're here in this hospital. I don't feel the need to repeat those conversations again." She looked at Blake. "You, however, are a different story. I expected better from you. Much better."

Blake's expression was contrite, showing the mix of doubt and sadness she felt concerning her actions. It really was like a shamed cat, Ruby's assertions to the faunus' cuteness coming to mind. This time, Weiss allowed her heart to be moved by the emotions. However, it was not enough to sway her entirely.

"I understand you had good intentions, and I'm happy with the end result. You're methods, however, were questionable at best. If one of those sutures had ruptured, she may have died from the hemorrhaging – and the Light forbid if it had been more than one suture. Neither of you are off the hook, understand?" she said.

"Of course, Vice Team Leader, we'll accept our punishments with the utmost gratitude," Yang said.

Weiss frowned. "Is that sarcasm? Because if so, it's unappreciated."

"Only you would even consider that that wasn't sarcasm," Yang replied as she got up from the chair she was in. "Oh, and sorry about the bitch comment. I still love you. Like a sister. A really bitchy sis-ooph!" Blake had swatted at her stomach to end her comment. A bit late, but Weiss appreciated the gesture nonetheless. "Did I say bitchy? I meant 'kind and lovely.'" She rolled her eyes at that.

"Lucky for you, I have a punishment that I think you'll enjoy. It's something you haven't been able to do yet, but I'm sure your sister will be happy with once you're done," she said, walking back toward the suite.

The Blake and Yang looked at each other in confusion. "What's that?" Yang finally asked.

"Win," she called back. Yang smiled behind her, Blake shaking her head in wonder.

So, there's another for you guys. Thanks for the first review, btw (it says lol, presumably from them laughing at this horrendously long and boring story). Or, it might have been due to the last chapter's title. I'm leaning toward the former because I'm pessimistic like that. Anyway, as usual, tell me what you think. Shinobi201 out.