Ruby: A Different Path

Chapter Seven

        Moving was bliss.

        She had finally been released with strict orders to take it easy and a regimen of exercises to make sure she healed properly without restrictions in her movements. Low level pain was a constant but it was better than lying in a bed forbidden to even stand up.

        Cardin had arranged to have one of her teammates nearby at all times to make sure she followed the doctor's orders to the letter. It was sweet but annoying.

        When there were only two days left on her restrictions she could barely contain her excitement. She had been warned that occasional twinges of pain were to be expected for a few more months and to neither avoid it nor push through it. When she felt it she had to take a break and avoid straining herself in the same way for a few more hours. All she heard was 'You can play with Crescent Rose again.'

        By the time she could swing her weapon without too much pain she had four sparring matches set up every day for a month. She felt weak, out of shape and it was driving her mad. Three of the daily matches were against her team, they insisted on that since they would know when to go easy whether she liked it or not and at least one would be overseeing her other match until she had no more pain from moving her back.

        Their constant attention and worrying was annoying but it was also nice. It was like having three big brothers always looking out for her. Although the one that irritated her the most was Cardin. He watched her more carefully than the others. Neither of them had told the other two about what had happened, about the threats to their lives. While he was most alert to any sign she may go after Torchwick and his cronies, he also pushed her hardest in a fight.

        Inevitably, by the end of each day she was exhausted and everything hurt. More than once that month she fell asleep at dinner and woke up in her own bed, carefully tucked in.

        Yang visited more often even though she made no secret of disliking Ruby's team. She refused to believe they were anything more than immature jerks who were corrupting her sweet, innocent little sister. Her visits usually ended with Ruby kicking her out for some hateful remark toward or about the guys. It hurt that they were more like family than her real sister but they never criticized her for being a little different. Yang got more and more vocal about their bad influence until Ruby just started pretending she was out while hiding in her makeshift little room when Yang came to visit.

        Once her back had fully healed and she could no longer feel pain no matter what she did, Cardin pulled her aside and checked to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

        "Hey... I got us a tutor."

        "What?" She stared at him blankly, her whole team was near top of their class. They spent her time in the hospital pushing harder to comprehend lessons so they could teach her since she wanted to maintain her good grades. She pushed them to keep it up, appealing to their competitiveness and egos to make it work.

        "One of the seniors is the hero sort, too. I talked her into giving us extra fighting lessons. She can teach the more advanced techniques. We have to keep it a secret, though. She'd probably get in trouble with the professors and... we don't want them finding out."

        "Really?" Advanced fighting techniques... "Really!?"

        He grinned as she hugged him, not releasing until he gasped for breath.

        "When do we start?!"

        "Tomorrow. Her family has a place in town and she said the basement is large enough to use. We're going to take books so it looks like regular study sessions if anyone is watching."

        "This is soooooooo awesome! Thanks, Cardin!" She beamed at him, her brain racing through all the possibilities and sparring matches she had seen between older students.

        "Just be ready to go as soon as class is over."

        She nodded cheerfully and forced herself to go through the motions of an average day.