Reaper's War

Chapter 28: In Between

A/N: Errrmmm... hi?
I am so sorry I haven't posted anything for so long. I had super bad writers block and I had a lot going on with my mental health and so and so.
But to make up for all of that, I have a surprise for you in the end authors notes.
I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope it answers some of your forgotten questions. Happy reading all.

Several hours had passed since Whitely's 'interrogation'. The boy had eventually calmed down enough to fall asleep with Weiss staying with him for some time after. Not that he knew that.

When he awoke to a dark room with his not-sister anywhere in sight, he sighed deeply, knowing exactly where the older Schnee child had gone.

He debated in his mind whether he should get out of bed and get something to eat or just stay where he was and simply sleep for a little while longer. At least, if he stayed here he wouldn't have to face the wolf faunus he'd almost killed.

Memories of the sparring session came rushing forwards, causing his breath to catch in his throat and tears to threaten falling down his cheeks.

Instead of letting them and becoming an emotional wreck, the youngest Schnee took a deep, steadying breath in, shakily exhaling after a moment of holding it in. It seemed to help and he calmed down soon after repeating the action.

Finally deciding to get out of bed, he pulled the covers back and stepped out of bed onto the cold, hard floor of his room. There was no point in wallowing in self-pity about what had happened and in lieu of that, the boy walked out of his room and made his way towards the dining hall, hoping it was empty so he could eat in peace.

Images of the sparring session tried their best to intrude on his walk to the dining hall and ignoring them only made them try harder. Still, his step did not falter in the slightest, knowing that Ruby had forgiven him the moment she had put a stop to his attempted murder. He could see it in her eyes.

It was a shocking discovery; to find out that Ruby Rose, the Crimson Reaper, homicidal wolf faunus and abomination to nature was in fact one of the nicest and most forgiving people Whitely had ever met. His father had been wrong about her. Irrevocably wrong.

Sure, the girl was a murderer by no fault of her own. She certainly wasn't psychotic either. Well, maybe a little, especially with everything she'd been put through. And yes, she'd teased him but that was probably because of how Weiss had portrayed him.

Everything his father had said about her and how she needed to be wiped from Remnant, it had stuck with the boy like glue inside his mind. In his very soul until Ruby had looked at him with glowing, forgiving eyes.

No, it was before that.

The glue had started to unstick when they started fawning over each other's handguns. She was just as much of a weapons nut as he was. At least he could restrain himself. A small smile wormed its way onto the Schnee boy's face at Ruby's excited rambling about his own weapons. How she'd handled them with care no matter how much she wanted to wave her hands around.

The smile he wore disappeared upon thinking of his actions and how he'd allowed his father to brainwash him, even going so far as to wipe his memory of the things he'd had to endure. The chair, the injections, being restrained, the pain. Gods. The pain. Hat was the last thing he wanted to remember but he was, remembering how the needles felt going into his arms and how it felt as blackened fluid was pushed into his bloodstream. How it had burned him from the inside all the way to his soul. But it wasn't just the physical pain that haunted him; it was also the malicious smiles his father sent his way when he thought he wasn't looking or when he thought he'd been too out of it to see them.