NOTE: I DO NOT OWN RWBY!

"Look Not With the Eyes"

By: thrillerartist.

Chapter 1: Vulnerable

Sight. It's one of our first senses that we become aware of. The eyes are the first parts of our bodies to develop when we're in the womb.

From the first moment we open our eyes, we see things.

The sky.

The sun.

The faces of our parents, our friends.

Of our enemies.

For the most part, we see things from the moment we're born; and whether we realize it or not, we rely on our eyes for everything we do.

That is, until we no longer can...

-Ruby-

There was a chill in the dark air. Two fighters stood in front of each other, the grips on thier weapons so tight, Ruby could see thir knuckes turn white. They stared at each other, almost daring the other to take the first move.

Ruby stood behind her uncle, answering his questioning gaze as he raised a brow at the malicious insanity emanating from the enemy faunus.

"I don't know." Ruby answered, leaning on her scythe. Her muscles were exhaused, but the adrenaline coursing through her veins kept her alert and focused. "This guy's weird." Ruby finished.

Her Uncle Qrow huffed, turing to face the enemy again. He huffed, and said in his usual raspy voice, "Look pal, I'm not sure who you are, but you need to leave my niece alone."

"Why friend, my name is Tyrian. And I am afraid that is not possible. My assignment was to retrieve this young woman, soooo that is what I must do. One does not upset The Queen."

Ruby cocked an eyebrow at her uncle. "The Queen?" She asked.

"Salem," was the only answer her uncle gave.

"Who?" Ruby asked, now even more confused.

A malicious grin spread across Tyrian's face, and an insane glimmer lit up his dark eyes. "I think we've had enough talk, don't you?" He said, taking a fighting stance.

Qrow hefted his sword, saying "Took the words right out-"

Tyrian's strike stopped Qrow from finishing his banter. The two fighters attacked with the strength and ferocity that testified to their experiences in battle. As Tyrian struck, Qrow blocked, and as Qrow swung his sword, Tyrian evaded.

At one point, Qrow swung his swort towards Tyrian's wrist blads. The weapons had interlocked within each other, a dangerous moment in any fight. However, Tyrian had another trick up his sleeve. He balled his fists, and tugged his hands towards Qrow. The rapid-fire sound of a gun spitting bullets emanated throughout the square. Qrow jumped back dodging the bullets. Tyrian jumped back as well, before circling around Qrow at a distance, firing bullets the whole time.

Ren and Nora ran towards him to assist, but Qrow barked at them to get back. The two fighters again resumed their fight, throwing blow after blow, and dodging attack after attack.

Fine!" Ruby snapped, before climbing up the spire of an old church. If she couldn't help her uncle in up-close combat, then she'd help him by getting a sniper's view. Through her scope, Ruby saw Tyrian jump, twirl, evade her uncle's strikes, making it virtually impossible for her to get a clear shot. Eventually, Tyrian manages to wrap the tip of his tail around Qrow's wrist, and yanks his sword away.

Ruby watches helplessly as her uncle's weapon lodges itself into the wall of a crumbling building.

Gotcha! Ruby thinks as she squeezes the trigger of ther rifle.

Disarming her uncle had forced Tyrian to stay still long enough for Ruby to get a clear shot, but they were meerely deflected by his scorpion tail.

From the roof, Ruby saw her uncle crack his knuckes before punching Tyrian square in the jaw. It knocks Tyrian off guard, showing that he clearly wasn't ready for a hand-to-hand fight. Qrow overpowers Tyrian, kicking him back towards the stone walls of the town, while he strides over to his weapon. Tyrian attacks just as Qrow's about to dislodge it from the wall, and Qrow swiches it into scythe mode. Qrow jumps to the roof, and Tyrian follows him, and they both resume the almost beautiful dance of not only dodging each others' attacks, but also the holes in the roof.

Eventually, though, both of their balances fail, and they tumble through the dilapidated roof into the abandoned building. From her position on the steeple, Ruby jumps back to the ground, and runs over to the building ot help her uncle. Her uncle's body is shot from the house like a ball from a cannon, and even though he lands on his feet, his is surrounded by a flickering red glow.

His aura was running low.

Screw it! Ruby though, running towards the fight.

Just as Tyrian is about to strike her uncle, Ruby moves in and deflects the blow with her own scythe.

"Do you wish to be taken?" Tyrian shouts in disbelief.

"No," Ruby says determindely, leveling her stare at Tyrian. "But I won't stand by and watch someone get hurt!"

Jumping to the side to let her uncle through, Ruby swing her scythe at Tyrian, while Qrow reinforced her strike with his sword. Tyrian blocked them both with his gauntlets and his tail, a deadly combination. Tyrian turned his full attention to Ruby, shooting bullets and striking with his gauntlets, and Ruby deflected them as she swung her scythe.

"You think you're so noble, don't you?" Tyrian laughed hysterically. "Jumping into battle to protect your uncle! Your friends!"

Tyrian pulled something out from his belt. "But can you protect them from this?!" He laughed manaically as he pulled the pin, and threw it towards Jaune, Ren, and Nora.

"No!" Ruby yelled as she ran towards them.

She watched Jaune slashed at the grenade, knocking it away from the trio, only for it to exploade midair.

A brilliant flash of light burned through the area, followed by a sharp noise that almost sounded like out of tune church bells.

Ruby fell limp on the ground, her ears ringing and her sight moving in and out of focus.

Flashbang, Ruby thought, groaning, not good. Through her blurred vision, Ruby saw a lone figure walking towards her. She couldn't see who it was, but Ruby knew that she had to get away. She pulled herself to a kneeling position, fighting nauseousness the whole time, only to be yanked to her feet by the hood of her cape. Ruby tried to will her arms to move, but they wouldn't obey her orders. She tried to kick, only to have her legs flail limply on the ground.

A distorted voice sang, "I've picked the ro-ose! I've picked the ro-ose-"

Ruby blacked out before she could hear the rest of what the voice had to say.

When she came to, Ruby's hands and feet were bound, felt a gag in her mouth, preventing her from speaking. Based on the angle of things, Ruby figured that she'd been slung over someone's shoulder.

Then she saw the tail, and it all came rushing back.

Tyrian! I've been captured by Tyrian!

"Ah, so you're awake finally!" A cheerful yet dark voice said. "That's good. It wouldn't do my Queen any good if I'd killed you by mistake."

He's taking me back to his master. Ruby thought. Cinder...he'd mentioned Cinder back in the town. If he knows about her, then that mean's she's tied up in all this, too.

Tyrian shrugged her off of his shoulders like he would a sack of flour, and with her arms tied behind her, Ruby had no way to break her fall. She twisted her body as much as she could, landing on her side instead of her face. It still hurt, but she didn't have a broken jaw.

Ruby rolled onto her back, and just as she was about to try to stand, Tyrian leaned over her, and stuck the stinger of his tail in her face. Ruby froze, terrified at the sight of it.

"I'm tired of carrying you." Tyrian said simply, almost like a child asking his parents to carry his backpack for him. "So I'm going to unbind your legs," Tyrian continued, "and have you walk on your own. If you try to run, well..." The stinger of his tail was less than an inch from Ruby's eye, and dripped purple fluid onto he cheek. It felt warm against her skin, and stung slightly, but she didn't dare move to wipe it off.

Tyrian untied the ropes binding Ruby's legs together, his tail never moving away from her face. Then, using the same piece of rope, tied it in a lasso around Ruby's neck. Ruby's eyes went wide at the thought of it.

Tyrian laughed at her distress. "Now you'll get to see what's it's like being treated like an animal!" Tyrian laughed gleefully. "Like a shepherd with his little lamb, I'll lead you to the slaughter. Or if my Queen wishes to use you for her own purposes, I guess that works out, too."

Tyrian yanked the rope, and the lasso tightened around Ruby's throat. She quickly stood, and walked quickly to keep pace with Tyrian. Only by staying by his side would the lasso be loose enough for her to breathe, but she would be in Tyrian's line of sight.

Ruby took a mental inventory.

For startes, I don't have Crescent-Rose-Tyrian would never take me if I had something to fight him with.

Ruby tugged at the ropes binding her hands behind her back.

Can't reach the emergency knife in my boot...why is it that the only weapon I do have, I can't reach?

Ruby flicked her eyes back at Tyrian, zeroing in on his black insectoid tail. It flicked back and forth as he walked, almost like a cat's. A thought crossed through Ruby's mind as she gazed at it. A horrible, horrible, very crazy thought.

This goes against everything I stand for...but he's my enemy, and I'm in a lot of trouble.

Ruby decided that there was no other way to distract him long enough for her to run, let alone to reach her knife.

Ruby feigned exhaustion (which wasn't that hard) and fell a little behind Tyrian. She lasso tightened around her throat, but she wouldn't be like that for long...she hoped.

Tyrian tugged his end of the rope, and grumbled "Come on! I have to get to the fortress as quickly as possible!"

Ruby stumbled, getting closer to Tyrian's back. Satisfied that his new plaything was behaving, Tyrian turned his back, and continued to walk forward.

He didn't notice that in her stumbling, Ruby had managed to lower her arms enough to step through them.

With her hands now forward, Ruby braced herself to make a break for it.

Quickly, she caught Tyrian's swinging tail in her hands, and yanked it as hard as she could. There was a satisfying crack! as the exoskeleton of the tail cracked from the pull, at it fell limp against Tyrian's legs.

Tyrian dropped the rope binding Ruby to him, and pulled his tail in with his hands, screaming like a banchee. Either Ruby had dislocated it, or she had broken it, either way, Tyrian was distracted by his pain.

Now's my chance!

Ruby quickly activated her semblance, turning into a cloud of roses as she made for the trees. However, the rope still tied around her neck got caught on a tree branch, and stopped Ruby in her tracks. Hastily, she managed to pry her hunting knife from her boot, and sawed at the rope around her hands before cutting away the one around her throat. The ropes fell to the ground with a soft thud, and Ruby stood, spitting out the gag from her mouth.

I need to go, NOW! She thought. Tyrian's howls of pain had ceased, and now she only heard his cries of anger, which were getting closer and closer.

Ruby stood, and was about to activate her semblance again, when white hot pain shot through her right leg. Ruby collapsed back to the ground, whimpering from the pain. A wiry hand ran fingers thorugh her hair, pulling up her head by her hair.

"How about we play a little game?" Tyrian whispered in Ruby's ear. His breath smelled sour, like he drank poison before coming here. Tyrian pulled on her hair again, yanking Ruby's head so hard that she thought she'd have whiplash. Ruby grunted from the pain, somthing so instinctive that she didn't have control over it.

"So you finally give in a little." Tyrian snarls, an evil smile spreading across his face. RUby looked at him from the corner of her eyes, and she felt them warm from her fear.

You can't cry, Ruby thought. Not now. Can't show weakness, not to him. Never to him.

"I'll give you a chance to run," Tyrian continues menacingly, his hot breath stinging her ear. "And If I catch you...well, you're going to wish I'd killed you."

Tyrian threw her head away, and Ruby stayed down on the ground, afraid to move for fear of Tyrian. Her leg throbbed from the bullet wound, and she didn't know how far she'd get on it. Her eyes stung from tears, and she tried desperately not to let any fall.

Be brave, Ruby said to herself, her fists gripping the grass and mulch. Yang wouldn't cry. Yang wouldn't...Yang wouldn't...

Ruby tried to psych herself up, to make a break for it, but when she looked into Tyrian's eyes, she was all the more scared of him. Tyrian's eyes were blank, as if there were not a trace of a soul behind him. Tyrian's face was stoic, but Ruby could practically smell the anger coming off of him. Ruby had seen enough of Yang's outbursts to know when to fear an angry person.

It wasn't when they were yelling and screaming, throwing a tantrum. No, it was when they were quiet, because that meant that they were letting thier rationality plot thier revenge.

"I'll give you a twenty second head start." Tyrian said blankly, letting go of Ruby's hair. "One...Two...Three..."

When Ruby realized what was happing, she scrambled to her feet, and ran deeper into the woods. The shot to her leg was draining what remained of her aura, and when she tried to activate her semblance, she found she couldn't.

Looks like I'll be doing this the old-fashioned way, Ruby thought as she took up a sprinter's form.

Adrenaline took over her system, dulling her pain, and making her run faster, each step almost in line with the beating of her heart. Even before she'd activated her semblance, she was incredibly fast. Her father used to have a hard time catching her, and Yang could never beat her in a footrace when they were kids. As she dodged trees and briars, Ruby remembered the words of her uncle during a training session.

Don't run in a straight line, her uncle's voice told her, it's harder to follow a trail if you don't run in a straight line.

Though she had prepared for this exact situation, Ruby felt terror motivate her to run faster and faster. Her throat felt raw, and her chest ached from the effort, and her legs were screaming at her to stop.

Th fear of what Tyrian might do to her emanated throughout her mind, forcing her to keep moving, keep running, keep-

A shot rang out through the woods, knockingRuby into a tree. Her head cracked against the trunk, and for the second time that day, Ruby was disoriented. Her side felt wet and sticky and warm, and Ruby knew she was shot.

"I fou-ound you-ou." Tyrian's voice sang. Ruby heard the sound of leaves crunch, and when she looked up, his face was in front of her, his tail stroking her cheek. Her eyes went wide, and panic seized her.

"Little Reeeeed..." Tyrian cooed. "You're a preettty girl. Not quite as beautiful as my Queen, though."

Ruby took in a shuddering breath, fear pulsing through her veins like blood. She couldn't let him see her break down. She couldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"You must be so proud," Tyrian grabbed her throat in his right hand, pinning her head to the tree. "So proud of yourself. Of your pretty face...and of those eyes of yours..."

Ruby stopped struggling, the meaning behind Tyrian's words finally reaching her.

If I catch you, you will wish I'd killed you...

"No." Ruby whispered. Tyrian smiled an evil, toothy grin, and pressed her head further into the tree. The grip on her throat was so tight, it was becoming difficult to breathe. Ruby struggled against Tyrian, jabbing at his throat with her fingers. It was a move Yang had taught her before she went off to Beacon, but Ruby as wasn't skilled in hand-to-hand combat as Yang was. Tyrian grabbed her other hand, and twisted it away from his body. Pain spiraled through Ruby's arm, and she knew if she struggled any more, he'd snap her arm in half.

If he weren't a faunus, he'd be out of hands to hold me with, Ruby thought, her warrior's brain still analyzing hte situation, constantly looking for a way out. But his tail-

Tyrian brought his tail up, the stinger poised for a strike. Though she had damaged it in her attack on him, Tyrian's anger had made it strong again.

She wanted to be strong, she wanted so badly to be as strong as Yang. To not cry in the face of danger. She wanted to be like her mother, a huntress who always saved the day...And yet...And yet she was a second away from beggin for mercy. Not for what he was going to do to her, but because Ruby wouldn't know what comes after.

"No." She whispered to herself.

Be brave, Ruby thought, be brave, be brave, be brave-

Tyrian meerely smiled, and the last thing Ruby saw was the movement of his tail, before the world became a cloud of darkness and pain.

-Ren-

They found her by the sound of her screams, and Tyrian's taunting.

By the time they got to Ruby and Tyrian, he was laughing over Ruby's body, watching her crawl away pathetically.

Nora, the most temperamental of the group, made the first move for Tyrian with her hammer. Naturally, he jumped away, but not before Jaune got the drop on him. Slashing and hacking at Tyrian's head and torso kept the faunus busy, until Tyrian wrapped his damaged tail around Jaune's sword arm.

"You're just like her." Tyrian panted, "So brave...and so reckle-"

Tyrian's words were cut off as Qrow, who had switched his sword to scythe mode, had hooked Tyrian's tail in it's blade, and yanked it back. Tyrian collapsed to the ground, howling with pain at his severed tail. Juane watched as the stinger, along with half the tail in general, fell to the ground beside him.

Tyrian, knowing well that he'd just lost, and had brought the wrath of this group to his door, shoved Juane to the ground, and made a beeline for the trees, mumbling frantically, "She'll forgive you. She'll forgive you..."

Meanwhile, Ren, who had been guarding Ruby, finally deemed it was safe enough to inspect her wounds. Gently, he put a hand on her shoulder, not wanting to scare her more than she already was.

"Ruby." Ren said. "It's safe now." Ren felt Ruby tense under his hand, before allowing her body to relax. "I'm going to turn you over, okay? We need to see how bad your wounds are."

Ruby nodded into the gorund, and Ren gently pulled her over her side, laying her down on her back. Ren's stomach churned at the state of his friend. Bullet holes leaked her blood onto the ground, and what skin that wasn't covered by clothes was covered in bruises and cuts. But that's not what made Ren squeamish. Very few things did. No, what nauseated him was that her-

"Ruby!" Jaune shouted, kneeling beside Ren. Ren heard his friend's breath hitch as he too, took in the state of their friend and leader.

"Jaune?" Ruby choked, clearly in pain. "Is that you?" Ruby brought up her hand to search for the face of her friend, only to come up with empty air. Jaune caught it in his own hand, and brought it to his face, letting Ruby feel that it was really him.

"I'm here, Ruby." He said. "We all are."

Shortly after, Nora and Qrow joined the huddle around Ruby, meerely watching as Ren treated her wounds. He put dressings around the bullet holes, waiting until the bleeding stopped before wrapping bandages around them. The cuts and bruises weren't healing, which was a sign that Ruby's aura was dangerously low. But her eyes...Ren didn't know how much he could do for those.

Ruby's eyes had been slashed by something razor-sharp, and were bleeding profusely, blood dripping down here face like tears. Nora looked at Ren, and an understanding seemed to pass between them.

"Ruby," Ren said. "I need to inspect your eyes."

"NO!" Ruby whimpered. Jaune squeezed her hand, trying to offer comfort to his friend.

"It's gonna be okay, Crater-Face." Jaune said soothingly. "Ren's just gonna...he's gonna see what they look like, so we know what we're dealing with."

"Nora." Ren said softly. "Sit by her head, and hold it still. She's going to struggle. Juane, keep her calm."

Jaune and Nora nodded, each moving towards their designated jobs. Nora gently held Ruby's head still, while Juane whispered words of encouragement to his friend. Qrow, whom Ren could see out of the corner of his eye, stood in silence.

"I'm just going to open the eyelid." Ren said, putting his left hand gently on Ruby's forehead, while using his right thumb and forefinger to open her left eyelid. There was a clear cut running across the eye itself. Not a good sign. When Ren checked the other, it was the same type of injury, if not a tiny bit deeper. Ren sighed, and brought his hands away from her face, gathering more dressings and bandages from his pack. He put one on each of Ruby's eyes, before wrapping the bandage snugly around Ruby's head. When he tied it off, Ren looked at his friends, before adressing Ruby again.

"The wounds are bad, Ruby." Ren said.

"Kinda...figured that." Ruby grunted, trying to make light of the dire situation.

Ren sighed again. "I fear that if we don't get to Haven within the next day or so..." Ren took a deep breath. Why was this so hard? "If we don't get to Haven soon, there is a strong possibility you could go blind for good."

Ruby was silent for a moment. "So..." Her voice cracked, "So what do we do now?"

There was silence again, a clear sign that no one knew the answer to that. That is, until Qrow's raspy voice spoke up. "We'll keep moving for as long as we can tonight, and then we'll make camp. Before the sun rises tomorrow, we'll get going, and the first town we come across, we'll wire a distress call to Haven. We're in the vicinity, so chances are that even if we can't find a phone or a radio, sending up a smoke signal should alert a scouting ship."

-Qrow-

In order to get themselves closer to Haven, they would need to build a stretcher for Ruby. Juane and Nora went off to collect branches and twigs from the woods, while Ren and Qrow stayed behind.

Qrow took out his flask, wanting to take a sip for himself, before remembering his niece, and thinking about how much pain she must be in right now. Jostling her around on a gurney wouldn't make the trip any easier on her. Qrow put a hand on Ren's shoulder, saying "Go look for something that can make a hammock. If you can't find anything, we'll work with what we do have."

Ren looked up at Qrow, and nodded. He rose to his feet, and set off to search through their belongings. Qrow kneeled down beside his niece. Ren kept walking, although at the same time keeping his ears trained on

"Hey there, Squirt." Qrow said softly. Ruby turned her head towards the sound of his voice. "Uncle Qrow?" Ruby whispered in a hoarse voice. She coughed, wincing from the effort, and brought her hand up to cover her mouth. Qrow felt a spike of guilt and anger at the state of his niece. He had trained her himself, prepared her for anything, and yet he could not prepare her for this, could not protect her. And anger, because he wanted to wring Tyrian's neck for what he had done to Ruby. The next tiem Qrow saw Tyrian, he would show no mercy.

Qrow shook his flask in front of Ruby's face, close enough for her to hear the liquid sloshing around inside.

"Is that your flask?" Ruby asked. Qrow nodded, before he realized Ruby couldn't see it. "Yes", he said aloud. Qrow took Ruby's hand, and wrapped her fingers and palm around th ecold metal.

"What are you doing?" Ruby asked. Qrow realized that this was the first time he'd ever let another person touch his flask. Hopefully, it was the last time, too.

"The trip's about to get a lot rougher for you." Qrow said quietly. He wasn't too sure if her friends would approve of this. "You're going to be moved and jostled as we carry you in the stretcher, and that will aggrivate your wounds. This stuff in here is pretty strong. It may help with the pain, make it more manageable...that is, if you want it."

Qrow saw Ruby's hand tighten around the flask. He could tell that she was debating whether or not to take a drink. Ruby's grip loosened, and the flask fell back into Qrow's hand.

"No thanks, Uncle Qrow," Ruby said with a determined tone, "I can handle it."

Qrow smiled wryly at his niece. Even blinded, injured, and exhausted, she was still trying to put on a brave face for him and her friends. There was something he admired in that, but he also wished that she just accepted the remedy. Qrow was no stranger to pain, and he could only imagine how much Ruby was in.

"Alright." Qrow said, tucking the bottle back into his pocket. Behind him, Qrow heard Ren approach, and when he turned, saw that he'd brought a dirty and torn blanket with him.

"There was an abandoned campsite." Ren said. "It's old, but it'll do."

Qrow nodded, appreciating the kid's ingenuity. There was the sound of branches snapping, and when Qrow turned towards the sound, ready for a fight, only saw Juane and Nora carrying two large branches, each about the same size of Ruby.

As Jaune and Ren put the stretcher together, Nora knelt by Ruby, while Qrow stood, his eyes scanning the woods for danger.

"Qrow", Nora said. "Something's wrong."

Qrow looked with a start at Ruby, and noticed that a purple substance was bleeding through the bandages. Nora put a hand on Ruby's forehead, which had suddenly perspired, before looking up at him with worried eyes. "She's got a fever!" Nora said worriedly.

Qrow's fists clenched in anger, frustrated at thier situation, as well as at himself. He's a scoripion Faunus! Qrow thought, Of course if would've been poisoned!

"Nora!" Jaune shouted, "what's wrong?"

Before she could answer, Qrow replied harshly, "The damn tail was poisoned!"

Silence stunned the group. Ren rushed over to Ruby's side, and after inspecting her current condition, stated "We need to get her to Haven. Now...Or else her sight might not be the only thing she loses."

Author's Note:

I'm BA-ACK! Did ya miss me?

You probably didn't miss the cliffhangars I'm so fond of leaving around!

This is an idea that had been floating around my head since I saw this scene from when Volume 4, and heard Tyrian's famous line, " Well...she took your [Cinder's] eye, didn't she?". I saw that there were a few fanfics where Tyrian poisoned Ruby instead of Qrow, but not many that were about if Ruby had, in fact, been captured by Tyrian.

I wonder, what would have happened if, though he failed to capture Ruby, Tyrian still ensured that his Queen would never have to worry about the silver-eyed warriors again?

I'm getting excited just thinking about this, and I absolutely can't wait to see how the story progresses!

Hope you guys like it!

-thrillerartist