Chapter 13

As usual Pyrrha spent the morning sparring with Ren. He did not have the stand-up striking game Pyrrha did, but his grappling and takedowns were quite good. To practice her kickboxing Pyrrha needed a different opponent however. Sun was relatively new to Vale Top Team and MMA in general. He had fought on a few undercards in the VFC but was still relatively unknown. He was a decent enough kickboxer but the real key to his success was his incredible speed and agility. He may not have been the hardest or most technically proficient hitter, but he was among the quickest.

Pyrrha and Sun squared off in the ring at around midday. It took a few minutes for Pyrrha to adjust to his style, so unlike Ren's. It was rare for Pyrrha to take so many hits, even minor ones, but Sun's speed was enough to get him around her guard more often that most fighters would. Pyrrha was surprised, forced onto the defensive by the unending flurry of strikes, and hardly able to throw a punch or kick of her own. When she did find an opening, Sun usually ducked away or closed it before Pyrrha could land a good hit. If it was a real fight she would probably be losing on points.

Pyrrha did notice one weakness to Sun's game. He always made the same moves when he threw a combo. Most of the time it was fine, with that movement putting him out of harm's way from a counter, but one left his face very exposed, if only briefly. Normally it would not be an issue because the flurry of strikes before the head move would cause his opponent to cover up and block, but not Pyrrha. She waited for him to launch his combo, bobbing her head back and forth to avoid the strikes. Then, as usual, Sun left himself exposed.

Pyrrha threw a straight right the connected hard. Sun immediately crumpled, covering his face with his hands. When he pulled them away they were covered in the blood gushing from his nose. "Shit!" Sun shouted. "It's fuckin' broken! Fuck!"

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha gasped.

"Motherfucker!" Sun yelled. "This was supposed to be practice. Shit!"

"I didn't mean…" Pyrrha started. "I'm really sorry."

"Why don't you call it a day?" Ren suggested from outside the ring.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best." Pyrrha sighed. Doc came in to tend to Sun and Pyrrha walked out hanging her head. Two days, two opponents injured.

Penny helped Ruby up, put a bandage over the small cut on her arm, then guided her into bed. "Penny, please don't leave me too." Ruby pleaded.

"I won't Ruby." Penny said, sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. "I promise."

"I'm so, so sorry." Ruby sobbed.

"It's okay." Penny said. "But don't ever do that again."

"It's just so hard." Ruby wept. "Everyone's gone."

"They'll come back." Penny assured her. "I know they will."

"I miss Pyrrha." Ruby cried.

"I know." Penny said.

"I miss Yang too." Ruby added. "When I was young and I had a bad dream, she would hold me. I would wake up in her arms and everything would be alright. Now every moment is a nightmare and I can't wake up. There's no one to hold me anyway. I just...I don't know what to do."

"And that's okay." Penny said. "But you have to believe it will get better. You can't lose hope."

"I'll try." Ruby sighed. "But it's so hard."

"I know." Penny said. "But I'll do everything I can to help."

"Thank you." Ruby said. "Thank you so much."

The following morning Pyrrha dared to turn her phone on again. There was another pile of missed calls and texts, but it was not constantly ringing at least. She hoped Ruby had moved on. One of the notifications stuck out. It was from Penny, not Ruby. Pyrrha called Penny up to see what was happening.

"Hello." Penny said cheerfully as she answered the call.

"Hey Penny, you called yesterday?" Pyrrha said.

"I did." Penny replied. Her voice turned serious.

"What...what about?" Pyrrha asked nervously.

"Ruby…" Penny sighed. "Ruby attempted suicide."

"Oh God, you stopped her right?" Pyrrha gasped.

"She stopped herself." Penny answered. "She's okay, just a little cut on her arm. I think she's doing better psychologically as well. I just thought you should know. Please tell Yang as well. I was unable to reach her."

"I...this is all my fault." Pyrrha groaned. "If I…"

"Ruby wants you to come back." Penny cut her off. "She's promised not to harm herself again, but I don't think her condition will significantly improve if you keep ignoring her."

"But...I can't come back." Pyrrha said. "I hurt her. I'll just hurt her again. And...she deserves someone better."

"She wants to talk to you." Penny said. "I'm giving her the phone."

Pyrrha pulled the phone away from her ear and held it in front of her. She could just barely hear Ruby's voice. "Hello? Hello? Pyrrha?" She held the phone tighter and tighter. It was too much. "Pyrrha, please talk to me." A crack shot across the screen as the phone broke in Pyrrha's hand. She screamed and threw it across the room where it hit the wall and broke into several pieces. The small stream of tears running down her face became a flood. She buried her face in her pillow, muffling her cries.

There was a knock at the door. "Pyrrha, it's time to train." Ren said. "You're already late."

Pyrrha choked back the tears and did her best to compose herself. "Sorry." She said. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Pyrrha stepped into the ring with Ren but her mind was elsewhere. Ruby had nearly killed herself and Pyrrha could only blame herself. If she had not left...no...she just would have been the one to injure Ruby like she already had. But she missed her so much. She loved her so much. But she could not go back, not now. Not after causing all that emotional pain in addition to the physical harm. So many of the people around her looked at her as the bad guy. Now she felt like she was.

Ren shot for a takedown. Pyrrha snapped back to reality and brushed off the attempt. Ren stepped back and wound up for a head-kick. Pyrrha saw her opening, spun around, and kicked Ren in the side with all her might. Crunch! Ren doubled over in pain, grabbing his chest. As he leaned forward Pyrrha kneed him in the face. Dazed, Ren fell to the mat on his back. In an instant Pyrrha was astride his torso, delivering punch after punch to his face. He got his hands up and defended himself as best he could, but Pyrrha was too strong and too fast, and he was too injured besides. It was past the point where any sane referee would have stopped the match, but it was just a sparring session and there was no referee. Pyrrha just kept punching, grunting, almost screaming with each shot.

Weiss, Blake, Sun and Coach stood there staring as if transfixed. It was like Pyrrha was an entirely different person. It was terrifying. "Pyrrha!" Blake shouted. Pyrrha ignored her. "Stop!" Blake leapt over the side of the cage and into the ring, tackling Pyrrha off of Ren. "Pyrrha, what the fuck?!"

Pyrrha lie on her back, hyperventilating. Blake got up and backed away. "I...I...I…" Pyrrha stammered.

"Goddamn it!" Blake shouted. "Someone get Doc!" She knelt at Ren's side. "Ren, are you okay?"

"Ribs...broken…" Ren groaned. Blood covered his face from a laceration above his eye. His other eye was already swelling shut. "Hurts...to breathe."

Blake turned back toward Pyrrha just as she was getting to her feet. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Blake yelled. "He's your teammate! He's your friend!"

Pyrrha backed away until she bumped into the edge of the cage, just beside the door. "I...I'm so sorry!" She cried. She turned and ran out of the cage, struggling to hide the tears pouring down her cheeks, and locked herself in her room.

Ruby went back to painting though Penny frequently checked up on her. After digging around a bit Penny found a box of nails and used it to repair the door frame damaged the day before. Even though she hated painting with someone watching, Ruby kept going even with Penny in the room. Ruby had moved on to painting the more terrifying aspects of her hallucinations, the shadow figures that had attacked her. They were at the same time somehow blurry and sharp, undoubtedly sinister. Ruby found just thinking about it unsettling but painting them gave her something of a feeling of control over them.

"I think I'm done." Ruby announced.

"I am as well." Penny reported. "May I see your painting?"

"Go ahead." Ruby replied. She turned the stand around so it faced Penny.

"It's quite haunting." Penny said. "It's very good but it might be the scariest painting I've ever seen."

"It was scarier when I was actually seeing them." Ruby sighed.

"But they're gone now." Penny said. "You overcame it. You were even brave enough to put them on the canvas. You're stronger than you think."

"Maybe." Ruby said. "I guess I'll have to start another painting now."

"Let's eat lunch first." Penny suggested.

"That sounds good." Ruby agreed. She walked to the door. "Wow, you did a really good job of fixing it."

"My father encouraged me to learn all the practical skills I could." Penny said. "You never know when they'll come in handy."

"I guess carpentry was a good one to have." Ruby said.

"Usually I repair the damage my patients have done, not something I did." Penny said. "I think I understand why some can be so destructive. Kicking the door in felt...liberating."

"It looked really impressive." Ruby said. "Like something out of an action movie."

"Just another skill to put to use." Penny laughed.

Ruby followed Penny into the kitchen. Ruby's head ached. Between the focus on the painting and the hammering from Penny's repairs, the pain was a bit more intense than usual. She checked the medicine drawer but there was no aspirin. "Penny, do you have any aspirin?" Ruby asked. "I'm all out."

Penny was already working on lunch. "There should be some in my bag." She replied. "Go ahead and take some."

Ruby walked over to the large pink bag Penny always carried around. She expected it to be as messy as her own, but when she opened the zipper she found everything inside was meticulously sorted and clearly labeled. She found a pocket marked "Medicine" and reached inside, pulling out a large container split into multiple labeled compartments. Sure enough there was "Aspirin" along with a series of other over-the-counter medications that would treat just about any ailment. Ruby found something strange though.

"Penny, why do you have morning after pills and regular birth control pills?" Ruby asked.

"The birth control pills are mine." Penny said. "As for the others, I can never be sure what my patients will get up to."

"Wow, you're like a neurotic angel." Ruby said.

"Thank you!" Penny said with a smile.

"You've got everything in here." Ruby said. "Wait, did you ever take care of a girl named Nora?"

"I did." Penny confirmed. "Do you know her?"

"Yeah, we're friends." Ruby replied. "How did you ever deal with her?"

"Well, it wasn't a live-in situation like this." Penny explained. "I just visited frequently until she found a combination of medications that worked."

"Weren't you afraid of her?" Ruby asked.

"Of course I was." Penny admitted. "She could snap me in half like a toothpick. But after a while I realized she would never hurt me, even when she seemed out of control. The best course of action was usually to let her hug it out."

"With her cripplingly strong hugs?" Ruby asked.

"I have a good chiropractor." Penny laughed.

Weiss pounded on the door. "Pyrrha Nikos, open the door this instant!" She demanded. There was no reply. "Pyrrha, I'm giving you one more chance to act like an adult!" Still no reply. Weiss sighed and slipped the key into the lock, opening the door herself. She entered the room to find it dark. The only sound was Pyrrha's sobbing as she lay curled up on her bed.

"Go away." Pyrrha cried.

"No." Weiss said. "We need to talk."

"Just leave me alone." Pyrrha wept.

"I can't." Weiss said. "You're injuring all my employees."

"Maybe if they were stronger they wouldn't get hurt so easily." Pyrrha snapped.

"You don't mean that." Weiss sighed. "That isn't you."

"What do you know about me?" Pyrrha sobbed.

"I know that this whole thing is about you and Ruby." Weiss replied. "I've got to admit, the situation paints you in a very negative light. But I know you're a better person than you appear here. Please tell me what's going on. Help me understand so I can help you."

"You can't help me anyway." Pyrrha sighed.

"Humor me." Weiss said.

"Fine." Pyrrha relented. "I can't help her by being there. I'll just hurt her. I already hurt her. I was the one who dislocated her shoulder. She was hallucinating, and she attacked me, and I tried to stop her but… Then I hurt her even more by leaving. She tried to kill herself because of me!"

"The longer you stay away the more painful it will be for both of you." Weiss said.

"I can't go back." Pyrrha sobbed. "I can't face her. Not now. Nothing you say here is going to change my mind."

"Fine." Weiss sighed. "Just stop injuring my fighters. You're the best in the world but if you keep injuring your training partners I'm going to have to suggest you find a new gym. This is your last warning."

"I'll...try to keep myself in check." Pyrrha wept. Weiss shook her head and left. She could think of nothing else to say or do.

"Well, it looks like you're training with Pyrrha now." Weiss said to Blake. "The only other option is Yang and I don't think that's a good idea."

"After what I saw today I don't want to get anywhere near her." Blake said.

"I know it looks bad, and it certainly is, but she's going through a lot." Weiss said.

"Why should I care?" Blake asked.

"Because I think you might be the one person who can kind of understand her." Weiss replied. "Ruby...Ruby's been having hallucinations, violent ones. That's why Pyrrha left. She was afraid of hurting her."

"Hallucinations…" Blake said.

"Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Weiss asked. "You should probably have a talk with her. You might even be able to help her. Tomorrow I'm going to pay Ruby a visit and see if I can lift her spirits a little."

"I'll give it a shot." Blake said. "But if things get out of hand I am not going to keep training with her."

"I already told her this is her last chance." Weiss said. "I think it'll be fine."

"I hope so." Blake grumbled. "I don't want to end up in the hospital with Ren."

There was a knock at the door. Pyrrha dragged herself out of bed and opened it. "Hello Pyrrha." Blake said. She was dressed and ready to train.

"Hello again." Pyrrha said.

"We need to talk." Blake said.

"Do we?" Pyrrha asked.

"We're going to be training together, and you put your last training partner in the hospital, so yes, we do." Blake replied. "But first you need to listen."

"Fine." Pyrrha sighed. "Come on in." Pyrrha took a seat on the edge of the bed. Blake looked around the room but there was no other place to sit. There was very little of anything really, just a few drawers to hold Pyrrha's clothes, a nightstand and an alarm clock. There was no entertainment at all. When not training Pyrrha must have just sat there thinking.

Blake took a seat on the edge of the bed beside Pyrrha. "I grew up an orphan." Blake started. "For a while I was alone. Then this other orphan, Adam, came along and took care of me like I was his sister. I loved him like a brother for it. We were adopted together and stayed close until we were teens. Then he fell in with a bad crowd and got into drugs. Crack, meth, all the worst stuff. I begged him to stop but he wouldn't. He'd changed. He wasn't himself. He thought I could be something more than his sister. I rejected him, he freaked out, finally hit me, then left. After that I didn't see him for a long time. Then one day he just shows up at my door. He's bruised, shaking, scared out of his head. He begged me for help and I...I slammed the door in his face." Blake had started crying and took a moment to compose herself. She took a deep breath. Pyrrha put a hand on her shoulder but Blake took it in her own. "Two days later I get a call. They wanted me to identify his body. He died of hypothermia."

"That's…" Pyrrha gasped.

"Horrible?" Blake said. "Disgusting? Unforgivable?"

"No…" Pyrrha started.

"There's no excuse for what I did." Blake cut her off. "He needed me, I pushed him away, and he died as a result. I accept that. It took a long time and it was painful, but I accept it."

"Why are you telling me this?" Pyrrha asked.

Blake coughed and choked back her tears. "So you won't repeat my mistakes." She said. "Please don't. You'll never forgive yourself."

Pyrrha was crying too. She knew the point of the story. She could see the similarities. The loved one losing a grip on reality, out of control and lashing out, but in desperate need of help. "I left because I was afraid of hurting Ruby." Pyrrha sobbed.

"I know." Blake said. They hugged one another. "But in leaving you just ensured you would."

"With what I've done, I can't go back, not now." Pyrrha wept.

"It's never too late for redemption." Blake said.