AN – This was originally part of a monthly contest that used to be held on the RWBY subreddit - It's actually more germane to the sister story, The Twelve Swords of Penny Polendina. If you're new here, and would rather jump right in to the Dresdenverse, skip ahead to the next chapter. ;)

Yang thrust her arms behind her and fired twin bursts from Ember Celica, launching herself at Emerald with a scream of rage. Her golden hair whipped behind her as she swung fists into a fighting stance. Emerald fired several shots from her pistols. Yang deflected them with ease, then let loose another blast from her right as she came in contact with Emerald. She extended the blades in her pistols to block at the last second as Mercury tried to flank Yang on the same side.

Yang allowed the explosion to spin her around, lashing out at Mercury's leg and firing again to knock his foot out of the way. The round caught him by surprise, but he recovered by cartwheeling back the way he came. The blond teenager fired two more bursts to complete the spin, raising her arm to block the overhand strike Emerald leveled at her. She sent a knee careening into Emerald's midriff and was rewarded with an explosive grunt. She dropped that knee and snapped her other knee up into the green-haired girl's chin. The satisfying crunch propelled her head back up as Mercury leveled another kick-shot at Yang.

"Em!" he shouted, too late to stop the round from slamming into the back of her head. She cried out and her eyes rolled up, then her aura flashed out. Mercury growled at Yang and flung himself into the air. This was it! They were both going to pay for what they'd done to Ruby, to all of them. She grabbed Emerald's slackening hand from beneath, crushing it around the pistol grip and spun the both of them in a tight arc. At the apex of the turn, Yang fired her last shell and threw all her strength behind it. She'd left her guard down a moment too long, and Mercury's foot made contact with her shoulder.

Yang's last thought was, 'worth it' as the blade of Emerald's weapon pierced his leg just below the knee. She had a moment of confusion when the sound made a metallic crunch. She just barely made out the look of horror spreading across Mercury's face, then everything went white.

ATLAS FLAGSHIP, AAF Striker

"Miss Rose! You should not be out of bed," the nurse chided the young woman. Ruby didn't care. She had heard the doctors talking in the hall – she had to know, to see for herself. She stumbled and leaned against the wall for support, the nurse reached out to help her.

"Don't!" Ruby hung her head. Her face, half swathed in bandages, hung down as she scrunched up her good eye and breathed heavily for a moment. "I need to see my sister, please!"

The nurse laid her hand on Ruby's shoulder gently. "They said you were a stubborn one. If you promise to wait right here, I'll fetch a wheelchair and take you to her." Ruby could only nod as she steadied her breathing. "Alright, come on. Let's have you sit down," settling her into an empty chair nearby. The nurse patted her on the knee and said, "I'll be back in a moment, Miss Rose."

"Thank you, Nurse Polly, I promise," Ruby said, quietly. The dark-haired woman clucked her tongue and waggled a finger, but did so with a soft smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.

"Miss Rose, please, I've asked you to just call me Polly." She stood and walked away, heels clacking on the tile floor, bushy tail swishing from side to side.

"Only if you stop calling me 'Miss Rose'," she mumbled in reply. The redhead fidgeted with her bandages while she waited, which wasn't long. A few minutes later, Nurse Polly returned with the promised wheelchair. She helped Ruby move into it, then pushed her down the hall. Ruby's legs were too short, so she swung her feet back and forth.

"How is she, really, Nurse Polly? Can you tell me? Is it bad?" Nurse Polly didn't immediately reply. "It's okay, I won't freak out." Ruby wasn't sure who she was trying to convince – Nurse Polly or herself.

"You should know, Miss Rose, the damage was extensive-

"Was?" Ruby asked.

"Yes. Mr. Black had prosthetic legs. During their fight, the dust chamber on one of them was ruptured and exploded violently. Both they and Miss Sustrai were at the blast's core. It leveled the warehouse they were in." The nurse sighed. "The doctors tried their best to save her arm," she trailed off. "Her aura was completely depleted, but it's slowly recovering and healing the other injuries now."

"Oh," Ruby intoned quietly. Hearing that Yang lost an arm didn't really sink in. "What about Mercury and Emerald? Did they make it?" She really wanted them to pay for all the horrible things they'd done to, well, everyone. Getting beat up by her sister didn't seem good enough.

"No, they did not." Ruby twisted around to look up at the nurse, whose features were grim. "Mr. Black lost too much blood, and Miss Sustrai was killed by shrapnel-"
Ruby faced forward, staring down the empty hallway. She tried as much as she could to hide her frustration and disappointment. It would have to do.

"Good." Nurse Polly gasped at that. "They were not good people, Nurse Polly." She paused to take a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. "Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood said I shouldn't talk about it, but they were really bad."

"I see," Nurse Polly trailed off. They turned a corner and continued on in silence for several minutes.

"Just how big is this ship, anyway?" Ruby asked. She knew the Atlas flagship was big, but it seemed to go on forever.

Nurse Polly brightened at the change of subject. "Oh! I couldn't say in precise mathematical terms. I do know it takes about ten minutes to walk from port to starboard, and almost forty minutes front to b- er, bow to stern." She stopped in front of a door and turned the wheelchair to face it. "Here we are, then. Are you ready?" she asked. Ruby nodded, closing her eye and inhaling deeply through her nose, easing the breath out slowly through parted lips.

They moved forward, and the door opened with a soft whine. The nurse wheeled her in, and the first thing that leapt out to assault Ruby was the scent of flowers. Lots of them. Bouquets, everywhere, so many kinds and colors that she could hardly believe that many even existed. She craned her neck to look back at Nurse Polly, who smiled in spite of suspiciously wet eyes.

"Miss Xiaol- Yang... She's got a lot of people who care about her, it would seem." She pulled a handkerchief from a pocket and dabbed her eyes. "Quite a few are from your schoolmates, but most are from the soldiers in the fleet and citizens of Vale. Word spread fast."

Ruby turned back to the riot of color. Nestled in the midst of the flora sat the bed, with machines and wires beeping quietly beside it. Yang was laid out flat, sheets pulled up to her chest. Her face was a mass of fading bruises and cuts, and bandages circled her head. Ruby choked up when her eyes came to rest on Yang's right arm, which ended above the elbow. It was thoroughly covered in bandages, but clean.

"Oh, Yang, no..." she breathed. Yang was invincible. For as long as Ruby could remember, she'd never suffered so much as a skinned knee. To see her like this was heart-breaking. "Will she-" Ruby choked up momentarily. "Will she be okay?" she asked once her throat chose to cooperate again. Nurse Polly pushed the chair up to face the right side of the bed. Ruby reached out and took Yang's remaining hand in both of hers as if it were made of glass.

"There was a great deal of internal damage," she replied, walking around the bed to check the machines. "The doctors were able to mend her well enough that her aura and body could take over the healing process. And General Ironwood gave his word that if she wants a prosthetic arm, the Atlas military will spare no expense to see she gets the very best, but..." Ruby looked across the bed at Nurse Polly.

"But what?" Ruby asked, worriedly. Nurse Polly pushed a few buttons on the console and turned to face her.

The faunus' face looked very serious. "The head trauma is the problem. Her semblance is probably the only thing that kept her going, but she slipped into a coma just after surgery. They found an irregularity in her brain when they scanned her again." Nurse Polly frowned and picked up the chart scroll, reading a report. "It says they found an unusual lesion in her neocortex, and that it seems to be emitting some unknown energy signature."

Ruby scrunched her face in confusion. "What does that mean for her?"

"The chief surgeon is reluctant to operate on her until she's more fully recovered. Even then, they say there's no certainty." Nurse Polly looked up from the scroll sadly. "She might wake up tomorrow, or a month from now, or..." she didn't have the heart to finish the sentence, casting her glance to Yang's face. She reached out a hand and gently stroked her fingers across Yang's golden hair.

"She might never wake up," Ruby said it for her. A tear leaked its way out of her eye and trailed down her cheek. Nurse Polly walked around the bed and crouched down next to Ruby, placing her arm around the teen. Ruby rested her head on Polly's shoulder and tried very hard not to cry.

"You mustn't give up hope, Ruby. There's always a chance she'll come back to you." She gave Ruby's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I can stay with you, if you want-"

"No, that's okay. I'll be- We'll be fine. Thank you, Nur- Thank you, Polly." Ruby reached up while still holding onto Yang and squeezed the woman's hand. She stood up and started to move away when Ruby held on. "Wait. Do Dad and Uncle Qrow know? I know they took Blake and Weiss on a mission to..." she paused a moment. "I know they all left on a mission once they knew I was going to be okay, but..."

Polly shook her head. "They've been out of range since the day after they left. Scouts were sent out, but it's a big world. I'm sure they'll be back soon to check on you." Ruby nodded and thanked Polly, who pointed out the call button on the side of Yang's bed. She exited the room, leaving Ruby alone with her thoughts and her sister's soft breathing.

"Sis," Ruby spoke, leaning forward to rub her cheek across the back of her hand. "I know you're in there, somewhere. I know you can hear me. You're off having an adventure somewhere without me- us. So you have to come back and tell us all about it, okay?" It was awkward, hunched over like she was. She stood and clambered onto the bed, curling up next to Yang's legs and resting her head in her lap. "You have to come back, please."

Ruby talked for what seemed like hours, and it wasn't until Polly came back later to check on the sisters to find that she'd fallen asleep. Polly didn't see the harm in letting her sleep next to her sister, so she pulled the extra blanket from the foot of the bed and covered Ruby with it. The girl mumbled something unintelligible and snuggled closer to her sister. Polly watched them for a time, then slipped out soundlessly.

Elsewhere, worlds away...

WARDEN, ARISE. THERE IS AN INTRUDER UPON THE ISLE.
"Oh, for the love of Pete. Can't a wizard get some sleep around here?"

1-17: Just some nitpicky things I wanted to change (word overuse, etc.)