Darkest Nights: a RWBY Story

Chapter 3: Strength

Blake opened her eyes slowly. Her vision was blurry.
Late afternoon sunshine filled the room.

She sat up to look around and immediately wished she hadn't as a flash of pain lanced through her side.

A figure who, she had just realized, had been sitting at the end of her bed looked at her. It was Jason.

"She's awake!" He called into the hallway.
His voice sounded cracked and hoarse. His tone startled her as she detected more than a trace of surprise in his voice.

Blake's vision gradually cleared as she heard footsteps in the hall and Yang, Ruby entered the room, followed closely by Ren.

Blake looked at them as Ruby smiled.
"Good to see you're awake."

Blake looked at Jason properly and her breath seemed to catch in her throat.

He looked completely exhausted. He was still wearing his combat outfit, except for the fact that most of the armored plating had been removed. There were dark shadows under his eyes and his hair was a mess.

"How long has it been?"
Blake tried to make her voice as calm as possible but it still came out a little shaky.
To her great surprise, it was Yang that answered.

"six days."

Jason looked up at her.
"After the battle, I brought you here. I've been keeping you alive by siphoning off some of the Guardian's power to help heal you. It hasn't been easy. You had already lost so much blood and Adam's sword did something to the wound to stop it from healing. I've been able to keep your alive and mostly heal the wound but you have to remember, I'm not my sister. I'm not very experienced when it comes to healing people using their aura."
He sighed.
"I didn't want to fall asleep unless..."
His voice trailed off.
Blake only nodded.

After a brief pause, it was Ren who spoke.
"Alright, you two need your rest. Everyone else, let's go."

The group left, leaving Blake and Jason alone in the room.

Jason brought a leather recliner from a corner of the room closer to the head of the bed and sat down.

"I'm just glad you're awake." He said, his voice low and tired.

Blake reached down and felt her right side. under her pajamas, where the long gash should have been, there was only a thin scar. She looked at Jason.
"You healed this?"

Jason nodded.
"As I said, I'm not a trained healer like my sister. I just managed to seal the wound and used the Guardian's power to speed up the healing process. It wasn't easy though. Adam must have channeled his power through that sword."

Blake glanced over to the corner of the room and saw, for the first time, that Adam's blade was resting on the window sill.

Jason followed her gaze.
"He's gone Blake... for good this time."

Blake nodded and sighed.
When Jason spoke again, it was in a much sadder tone.

"It's strange. Even after all the terrible things Adam did, the murder, the manipulation, the attacks, he still died a warrior's death."

Blake rested a hand on Jason's shoulder.
"But he's gone now.."

Jason let out a small sigh. "You're right. And your still here."
He gave Blake a small smile.
"I'm going to go freshen up a bit."
He got up slowly and left the room.

Blake turned her head to look out the large floor-to-ceiling window that served as one of the room'ss walls. The sun was setting below the horizon now, casting a warm, evening glow over the treetops outside.

Jason returned shortly after, hair brushed and smoothed, wearing a tank-top and sweatpants. He lay back on the recliner chair, but at an angle so he could rest his head on the bed.

"Sorry that not everyone was here when you woke up. Nora, Weiss and Jaune are on patrol outside. We've had quite a few Grimm in the area since we got here."

Blake smiled softly. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad to back."

The room was quiet.

After a few moments, Jason's restful breathing told her that he was asleep. She glanced over at him and slowly stroked one of his cat ears.
"Thank you." She whispered before pulling the blankets around herself and falling asleep.