Paul jolted awake. Clutching his chest, he breathed heavily as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and calmed down. After a minute, he began viewing the room he was in. Looking around, he saw Ruby, in the other bed, still deep in a coma. Paul stared at her, then laid back down on the bed. He passed his hands through his face, and then through his blonde hair, as he stared at the ceiling fan over him, in a lifeless manner. He closed his eyes in a futile attempt to resume his rest, even tho he knew it wouldn't happen.
He had been having nightmares ever since arriving in Remnant. Recently tho, they had begun getting worse and worse.
Before waking up, he was having a nightmare, where he was in a crater. As he loaded his rifle with another clip, he heard heavy footsteps approaching. He aimed at the stranger, a man he immediately recognized as Gerald Duval, a French printer turned soldier that Paul killed on that dreadful day. His French army uniform was torn open in multiple areas, but the one the most stuck out, was his chest, the exact area Paul had stabbed him in. In there, a big red spot was present, constantly leaking blood. Duval wasn't alone tho. With him was also the Beacon security guard he killed upon his arrival. Alongside them, more French soldiers appeared, followed by White Fang members. Their skin had lost all color, leaving only gray behind. Chains decorated their hands and feet, their bodies filled with cracks, and their eyes were nothing but a black void.
The sounds of artillery and machine gunfire had stopped. Paul stared in horror at his victims. He threw his rifle into the muddy water at the bottom of the crater, and got on his knees. He begged for forgiveness, as tears and mucus ran down his face. He looked at his hands, all covered in mud and blood, then, at Duval, who had started approaching Paul, alongside the others.
Paul tried to run away, but he soon found out he couldn't move. He could only stare at the soulless corpses of everyone he had killed in horror, as they approached. Paul closed his eyes, not wanting to see their faces any longer. Then, he felt a hand, then another one, and another one. They tore at his flesh, making him scream in agony. He begged and begged and begged for a death that would never come.
Even though everything in his dream was fake, the pain he felt was all too real.
Paul, looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table next to him. It read 4:47 AM. Not seeing a reason to remain in bed, he got up and headed for the bathroom. He took a long bath to clear off his mind. Once he was done, he got dressed, and headed for the kitchen where he found Taiyang, already awake and making breakfast.
"Good morning Paul" Greeted Tai "Why are you up so early?"
"You know vhy" Sighed Paul
"Another nightmare?" Guessed Tai, to which he got a nod from the German
"You know, some therapy could really help you out" Said Tai
"Oh, no zhat won't be necessary" Replied Paul while laughing nervously
"Are you sure?" Insisted Tai
"Yes, I am"
Tai could tell Paul was lying but not wanting to push the issue further, he shut his mouth.
He sighed before taking out 2 plates of eggs, bacon, and toast. He set them up on the table, one for him, and the other for the German. Whilst eating, Paul struck up a conversation about Tai. He thought Tai worried to much for him, when he should be focusing on his daughters. Tai sighed once again, and thought about Paul's words for a moment before arguing back.
"I disagree. If you're going to live under my roof, it is my duty to make sure you're alright, both physically and mentally" Explained Tai
"I am fine, you don't have to worry about me" Said Paul with a laugh
For Tai, it wasn't so funny. He looked at Paul directly in the eyes, and in a serious tone he asked Paul one last time, if he was truly fine, and without missing a beat, Paul replied that he was.
They ate the rest of their breakfast in silence. Paul excused himself, and headed out.
He had begun taking walks every morning. It helped him clear his mind out of the horrific nightmares he was having. As he walked, Paul questioned if telling Tai he was fine was a good idea. Over the last 4 months, Taiyang had been chasing him around offering all sorts of help for his trauma. Even after Paul had repeatedly told him it wasn't necessary. He felt that Tai should worry more about his daughters, after all, one is in a coma, and the other is crippled, and depressed.
Tai's offer lingered on his mind for a while. He had been ignoring his trauma ever since he arrived in Remnant. Paul thought that nobody would be able to understand what he and his comrades had been though. Sure, they can feel pity, but no matter how much they'd try to sympathize with them, it was impossible for them to comprehend the horrors they had witnessed. In the last 4 months, he had been trying his best to accommodate to civilian life, but it was hard
When he first arrived, he attempted to get back into some of his old hobbies, mainly reading. Ruby had some fiction books in her shelf. He grabbed one, opened the it, and flipped through the pages, then, grabbed another one, and another one and another one, and soon, a huge pile of books had formed. Paul sat there, dumbfounded, as he read one book after the other, words, words, words, they didn't reach him. What once used to be his favorite thing in the world, was now reduced to mere spots of ink on a paper. It didn't hit him as before, the joy, thrill, and excitement he would feel whenever he began reading a book, was now replaced only by numbness.
Grabbing a pen and a piece of paper, he attempted to write a poem, but his thoughts were overwhelmed by the memories of the war. Any time he would try and concentrate, and think of something, it would always come back. He got fed up after a while and gave up on trying to write a poem.
Even the clothes he wore felt weird on him. He couldn't see himself wearing anything that wasn't army uniform.
He walked through a path in the forest. He was so lost in his train of thought, that in the blink of an eye, he had reached Summer's grave, until he almost tripped over it. During the hour long walk back to the house, his thoughts shifted from that of his trauma, to that of his friends. He hadn't been able to contact any of them since the fall. Not only did he lose his scroll, but communications worldwide had been cut. As of now, internal communication within the Kingdom of Vale had been restored but for some reason, he still couldn't communicate with his team. Everyday, he thought of what had happened to them. Did they die? Did they escape? Are they fighting right now? We're questions that lingered on his mind every time he thought of them.
Arriving home at 7AM, he saw Yang already awake watching the news.
"Good morning Yang"
Yang shot Paul a quick glance and uttered a very faint "Good morning" before going back to what she was doing.
Paul went up to his room and sat down on his bed wondering what he could do. There wasn't much stuff open in town on a Sunday morning. He contemplated what he could do before ultimately deciding on something. He grabbed a nearby pen and his journal, and began drawing various things he'd seen in Remnant. Over the next 3 hours, he drew stuff like Beacon Tower, Crescent Rose, bullheads ETC. Although he didn't feel any sense of satisfaction when he finished a drawing, it was still a good way to kill time.
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That afternoon, Paul was retrieving the mail. Opening the mailbox, he saw 2 letters, one addressed to Tai, and the other for Ruby. He took the letters inside. He handed Tai the letter addressed to him, but kept the one addressed for Ruby. The look on Tai's face when he read his letter, could only be described as one of pure happiness.
"Yang's not gonna believe this!!" He said excitedly
"Vhat is it?"
"Ironwood has started a program for injured veterans of the fall of Beacon! They're offering new artificial limbs!"
"Really? I thought Atlas vas closing its borders?"
"Looks like this is the last thing to come out of Atlas before they do"
Tai went upstairs to tell Yang the news, and Paul decided to head outside. Once outside, he walked behind the shed bumblebee was stored in and sat down. He opened the envelope to the letter he kept and began reading.
He was surprised to see the letter was from Jaune. He started off by talking about how they escaped from Beacon and where they were now. After escaping Vale, they walked for 3 days until stumbling upon a village. This village had suffered heavy grimm attacks recently, so the villagers were overjoyed to hear they were huntsmen and offered team JNR housing and food in exchange for protecting the village. So far, they've been doing all right, except for the death of Pyrrha.
Towards the end of the letter, Jaune explains something he's had in mind for a couple of months now. He believed the fall of Beacon was caused by a something bigger than the White Fang and a couple of grimm. He was certain there was someone else behind it. He explained the plan he had. Jaune along with Ren and Nora, were going to travel to Mistral, in search of answers. They weren't ready to leave for Mistral yet but we're hoping to recruit some people for their mission, so he was offering Ruby and Yang the opportunity to join. Funny enough, he also mentioned how he was trying to get in contact with the other members of team TAPS but didn't know where they were.
Paul sat in silence after reading the letter. He thought about what he just read, and decided that he would write Jaune back latter that night.
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Entering the house, he saw Taiyang sitting on the couch looking pissed off.
"Is everything alright?"
"No...it's not"
"Vhat happened?"
"I just don't understand that girl!"
"Huh?"
"When I told her about the program, she just responded with an "oh ok" and shut the door. Seriously, what is wrong with her"
"Maybe she needs more time to heal, losing an arm can ve really traumatizing"
"Don't you think getting a new arm plus therapy would help her heal faster"
"People cope differently you know"
Tai just stayed quiet and sunk his face into his palms, while Paul headed to the kitchen to eat his dinner. Once he finished, he went up to his room where he began writing a response to Jaune. He thought about what Jaune had said, and ultimately decided that he was going to do it, as he also had questions about what really happened at Beacon. In his letter to Jaune, he mentioned his suspicions of Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury. He also said that Ruby was in a coma after what she did that night.
He folded the letter and put it in the envelope before placing it in the drawer. He heard Tai call out to him from the kicthen so he went down. Tai asked him for some help washing the dishes, and not wanting to be rude, Paul got to work. They both talked about their day whilst washing the dishes. Tai wasn't too happy to tell Paul how his day went tho. Everything seemed to be going well for the both of them until....
"PYRRHA!!!"
After that deafening scream, both Tai and Paul rushed upstairs. Paul got upstairs first. Bursting into his room, he saw Ruby, still with her eyes closed, shaking sporadically while yelling things like: Pyrrha, No, Stop, Leave her alone. He rushed to the bed where Ruby was, grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her.
RUBY! RUBY! RUBY! SHEISSE RUBY WACH AUF!" (Wake up) Paul screamed as he shaked Ruby
At that moment, Ruby opened her eyes to see Paul grabbing her by the shoulders, with her dad to the side, both with worried looks.
"Paul? Dad?" Ruby asked softly
For the first time, Paul noticed that Ruby's hair had gotten longer ever since she fell into a coma.
Without skipping a beat, Taiyang hugged his daughter and almost cried, he was so glad to have her back. Yang also entered the room. Seeing her sister awake brought her immense joy, and she joined her dad in hugging Ruby, who looked really confused.
After the initial shock died down and both Yang and Taiyang backed off, Ruby began asking questions.
"Where am I"
"You're home Ruby, in Patch" Replied Tai
"Home? No, I was at Beacon when...." Ruby suddenly stopped
"WAIT PYRRHA WHERE IS SHE!"
The look everyone in the room gave her was enough make her understand
Ruby's eyes began to fill with tears as she remembered what happened that night 4 months ago. It was already getting late, so Taiyang comforted Ruby as much as he could while Paul and Yang went to bed. Eventually Ruby fell asleep again.
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After waking up next day, Paul went down, and saw Ruby eating cereal with a gloomy look on her face
"Good morning Ruby" Paul happily said
Ruby glared at Paul and said nothing
He could only assume she remembered everything, including how he went against her wishes and climbed up the tower while she was using her semblance. Not wanting to bother her any longer he went outside for his usual walk, skipping breakfast.
Ruby didn't really talk much that day, it was like Yang 2.0. Paul wondered if it would be a good idea to tell her about his plan with team JNR. While thinking about that, he remembered he still hadn't sent the letter he wrote. He wondered wether he should tell Ruby about it, but he figured it was too soon and left it at that.
That evening he headed out for the post office without telling anyone. Its not that Taiyang liked to snoop, but it was only a 40 minute errand and he would be back before anyone could notice. Still, he occasionally looked back to see if there was anyone following him. Every time he did it, he saw no one behind him.
Once in town, he headed straight for the post office. After walking a few streets, it was right infront of him. Paul stopped himself at the door. He reached into his satchel and took out the letter. Before he could walk in however, it was snatched away. He turned around in a panic to see who had taken the letter, only to find Ruby standing infront of him with an annoyed expression and her arms crossed.
They stared at each other in silence. Ruby glared at him the entire time. Paul broke the stalemate by frantically trying to snatch the letter back, but Ruby was able to move away before he did. They went back and forth for a minute, before Ruby slipped away, and climbed to the top of the post office using her semblance. Paul cursed out loud at this and headed to the back of the building where he knew there was a ladder that could take him up there.
Once up, he saw the envelope on the ground, and Ruby holding the letter. She looked pissed. She stormed up to Paul who had a guilty look on his face, and slapped him.
"What the hell is this!?"
"Ruby I can exp-"
"You were just gonna leave me behind!?"
"NO! It's not like zhat!"
"I vas planning on delivering the letter, and THEN tell you about it!"
"Oh yeah? How can I be sure?" Replied Ruby still skeptical
"For fucks sake Rubes you really think I vould abandon you like zhat!"
Ruby got quiet after this. She sighed and gave back the letter to Paul before going to the edge of the building and sitting down. Paul followed her, and sat beside her. After sitting in silence for a while, Paul tried to start a conversation, but Ruby wouldn't look at him. He could see how she was holding back tears. He didn't know why but he thought it might be rude to ask. Eventually, Ruby couldn't take whatever was bothering her and she broke down in tears.
Paul was quick to console her. He tried to speak to her but Ruby would only respond in unintelligible sobs. She calmed down after some minutes.
"Are you ready to talk now?" Asked the blonde in a soft tone
"Yes" replied Ruby still sniffing
"It's just too much to take in"
"Vhat is?"
Paul knew damn well what it was, but he wanted to give Ruby a chance to explain
"Everything!"
"I had everything I could've ever wanted in Beacon. Friends, decent grades, and an amazing team I could call my family. Everything was perfect until....that day."
"I tried my best to defend Beacon, you know that!"
"But it was t enough and now Pyrrha's..." She couldn't even finish the sentence before breaking down again.
Paul once again began consoling her, telling her it wasn't her fault. An hour of absolute silence passed. They needed to go back soon. They figured Tai was already freaking out.
Paul stood up, motioned Ruby to follow him and they both climbed down the ladder.
"Do you mind if I still send zhe letter?"
"Do it, I don't even care anymore"
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After delivering the letter, they both walked home in silence. That night, Paul had climbed into his bed, when Ruby entered the room.
"Paul"
"Vhat is it?"
"Can I come with you in the trip to Haven?"
"I thought I made it obvious back at the post office. Of course you can"
"Thanks, it really means a lot. I have my own questions about what happened that night" Ruby said as she climbed into her own bed
"Ve still need to make some preparations before setting out you know"
"Like what?"
"Money, transport, maps, provisions among other stuff"
"Are you working on it?"
"Yes, but it will take some time, so focus on other things until then" Said the blonde as Ruby nodded
"Do you think Yang would like to come with us?" Asked Ruby
"In zhe state that she's in definitely not"
"You're right, it was stupid to ask"
"Well Rubes I'm going to sleep we can continue tomorrow"
"Alright then, goodnight Paul"
"Goodnight Ruby"
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After 2 months of preparations, they were ready to set out for Mistral.
It was 3 AM, Paul had just woken up Ruby, and after getting ready, both of them waited patiently in the living room. After enough time had passes, they heard a knock on the door. Opening it, they were met with the faces of their old friends from Beacon.
The reunion between them was filled with emotion on all sides. It was the first time in a while that Paul felt happy. He was truly glad to see some of his old friends back. If only his teammates could be here too. After all the greeting and hugging, Ruby began discussing the plan in her usual loud squeaky voice. Paul had to put his hand over her mouth, as to not wake up Tai and Yang.
After all was set and done, they all walked towards the town. Before walking away, Ruby looked back at the home she grew up in. She knew she wouldn't be back atleast in a couple of years
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Hey guys. Sorry for the delay, but I really didn't feel like writing during summer break.
Now school has started, and I have to focus on my studies, which leaves me with less time to write, so sorry if the next chapter takes a long time.
Sorry if this chapter was short btw
Nothing more to say, see y'all in chapter 16