Truth, Lies, and Silver Eyes Pt. 2 [Book 3]

Chapter 11: Raven

I awoke sometime during the night. The moon outside the window was giving the room I was in a soft glow. After several minutes of trying to fall back asleep, I gave up and went to get my weapon that was leaning against the door.

I took out the blade carefully, trying not to make too much noise. I got one of my sharpening tools and began to sharpen the blade. The more I sharpened, the more tired I became. Listening to the soothing sound of my blade scraping against my sharpening stone was very relaxing.

Just as my eyes began to close, I heard the sound of shattering glass. My eyes were wide open in an instant. And then I heard a bloodcurdling scream. It sounded like it was coming from Tai's room. I quickly armed myself and bolted out the door.

I nearly rammed into Summer and Qrow as I was running down the hallway.

"Raven!" Summer said, "I assume you heard the scream too?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Enough talking. We need to see if Tai is okay."

They nodded and followed me to his room. When I opened the door and turned on the light, the first thing I noticed was Tai on the floor shaking in pain. There was a sharp arrow that had pierced his thigh. He was bleeding a little.

The second thing I noticed was the window. It was completely shattered. It might've been my imagination, but I could've sworn I saw someone fleeing...

"Tai! Are you okay?!" Summer asked.

Tai looked up at her. "I... I don't know. I was sleeping when I heard the window break. When I rose to my feet to get a look outside, I felt this arrow pierce my leg. It hurts really bad... and it burns. Please help!"

"We'll keep watch," Qrow said. "You try to help Tai."

I nodded and knelt next to him. The arrow had gone straight through his thigh. I was nervous about removing it. There were major veins and arteries in the thigh that could cause massive blood loss if I wasn't careful.

I looked up at Qrow.
"Do you guys have a first aid kit somewhere?"

"I think so. I'll go check," he said, running out the door.

I looked back down at Tai and took his shaking hand.
"You'll be okay. I'll fix you up, I promise," I said, trying to soothe him.

He nodded in response, but didn't say anything. After a minute or so, Qrow came back with the first aid kit.

"I found it," he said, handing the kit to me.

I opened it up and removed the gauze. I then got to work on removing the arrow. As I was removing it slowly, I noticed a black tar-like substance covering the tip of the arrowhead.

"That's... odd," I whispered to myself.

Tai cried out in pain as I tried to remove the arrow slowly. I didn't want him to suffer more than he had to. I could only think of one option...

"Okay Tai," I said, "I'm going to pull the arrow out fast. It'll hurt like hell, but it's the best idea I can come up with. I don't want you to be in pain for longer than you have to."

"...Do what you have to. I don't care. I just want this pain and burning to stop!" he begged.

I nodded and pulled the arrow out as fast as I could. Tai screamed so loudly that I was sure everyone in Vacuo could hear. As soon as I removed the arrow, a pool of blood started to form around Tai's thigh. I got the gauze quickly and started to wrap it around his leg to stop the bleeding. After wrapping around several layers, it finally seemed to stop. Relieved, I placed the rest of it back into the first aid kit.

Qrow and Summer had to help Tai back to his feet. He wobbled over to the bed and both of them helped him lay down.

"My leg... still burns," I heard him whisper, as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"Should we take him to be treated?" Summer asked.

"I think we should wait. The bleeding has stopped for now, so maybe his leg will start to heal. If it doesn't, or if it gets worse, we'll take him in," I said.

I saw them both nod in agreement. I started to inspect the arrow. It looked familiar. Save the black substance. Then I remembered where I had seen it. It was one of the arrows I saw with Icarus during the meeting.

"What are you looking at, Raven?" Summer asked.

I looked up at her. "This arrow. It belongs to Icarus. I saw similar arrows with him during the meeting. Icarus knows that we're here. ...And I bet Salem does too."

Qrow sighed and replied, "Great. What do we do? We can't stay here much longer. Things will start to get dangerous."

"Let's wait for now. We have an injured teammate. We need to focus on getting Tai better first," Summer said.

"Oh my gods! What happened?"

I turned to look behind me. William and the rest of his team were standing at the doorway, looking completely shocked.

"Tai was attacked. We think it was Icarus," Qrow explained. "He's resting now. We'll take him to get treated properly if things start to get worse."

"Do you want us to look after him for the rest of the night?" Tyler asked.

I shook my head. "No. I'll watch over him. You guys get some rest. I'll update you all in the morning."

They all looked hesitant.

"Are you sure?" Heather asked.

"Yes," I replied.

They all stood there for a few minutes before leaving the doorway.

"I think at least one of us should stay with you," Qrow said. "You could fall asleep or something."

I glared at him. "I won't fall asleep!"

Summer sat next to me.
"I'm staying with you whether you like it or not. Someone has to keep watch just in case Icarus, or somebody else, decides to attack."

As much as I wanted to protest, Summer did have a point.

"...Alright, fine," I grumbled. "I'll keep watch over Tai. You can be near the window and watch out for anyone suspicious."

Summer nodded and got to her feet. She walked in front of the window, observing the surrounding area.

I looked over at Qrow.
"Go get some sleep, brother. You probably need it."

He hesitated before leaving the room. The it was only me, Summer, and Tai. As the night dragged on, I started to become increasingly tired. As much as I tried to fight off the fatigue, I felt my eyes start to close. And soon enough, I had drifted away...

...

I awoke just as the sunlight was shining through the broken window. I noticed Summer was sleeping under it, her head slightly leaning to one side.

I groaned and got to my feet, anxious to check on Tai's leg. I walked over to the bed and noticed that his skin looked a bit discolored. I disregarded it and moved my eyes to where I had wrapped the gauze. What I saw was not what I expected.

The gauze was completely black. I assumed it was just dried blood, so I slowly removed it.
His thigh wound underneath was covered in the same tar-like substance the arrow had been. His leg was also discolored, but it looked more grayish than the rest of his body. As I was inspecting the area, I noticed that his breathing had changed. It was no longer deep and rhythmic. It sounded very labored and somewhat raspy.

I moved to where his head was resting and gently placed my fingers on his cheek. He was burning up. If I had to guess, his temperature had to be around one hundred or more.

I began to panic and rushed over to Summer. I shook her awake and her eyes opened slowly.

"What is it?" she asked groggily.

"There's something wrong with Tai," I said. "I think we need to take him to the hospital."