The Third Sister (RWBY Fanfiction)

Chapter 17: Putting the Puzzle Together

Third Person POV

     "What have you done...?" a voice filled with disbelief breaks the silence. Faye jumps from her position on the ground and clutches her head in pain at the whiplash it gave her. When she looks up, she is surprised to see Ward bending over the charcoal figure of the dragon king, the grimm having long gone—evaporated like grimm usually do when they die.

     "How did he fall..?" Ward almost whispers but Faye stares in confusion, absolutely not recognizing the voice. Her gaze shifts to Axel when he jumps up from the hole she created earlier, a worryingly unconscious Nico in his arms. "She's not dead," Axel says reassuringly, eyeing the panicked expression that fell on Faye's face.

     Ward is still bent over the dragon king's body as Axel carefully lays Nico against a tree behind me before coming up to stand by Faye, "We were in a fight when we heard a howl like something was dying, and then Ward left."

     Faye nods at that and flinches as Ward raises his head, a broken expression plaguing his face and committing itself to Faye's memory. He tries to get up but ends up falling backwards and sits with his back resting upon a large rock. "Looks like you win," Ward says in dismay before going limp. Faye glances at Axel in confusion but sees the same bewilderment on his face.

     Faye sighs, "Let's just go home." Axel huffs thankfully, "Please. That's the most intelligent thing I've heard all day."

--

     "Nico..." Ward mumbles in his sleep and Faye's eyes widen when it actually sounds like the Ward she knows. She carefully places her glass of water down as Axel rushes to his side. "Ward?" he asks hesitantly, thumbing the white cloth placed on Ward's forehead carefully. The white-headed boy writhes on the bed for a moment, chains clanging, before abruptly sitting up with a gasp, making the cloth slide amusingly down his face.

     "Nico," he repeats frantically, ignoring the wet fabric on his lap, "Is she okay?" Axel's eyes warm up as he nods in confirmation, grabbing the annoying cloth and tossing it in the laundry basket, "She's alive." Ward's shoulders sag in relief but he doesn't look any less worried and guilty. The weariness is clear though, considering that it's been only two hours since he got knocked out.

     "Hey," Faye says with a hand gently pushing Ward to lay down, "We can talk about this later. Rest for now." Axel smiles up at her, "You should too." She nods and makes her way over to the queen-sized bed that had Nico resting on one side.

     She double-checks her temperature and leg wraps, hoping she did them right. They're at a remote motel, Axel and Faye being too exhausted and beat up to make it to the actual town, so she had to make do with all the emergency supplies the motel had.

     The next morning, Faye wakes up to Axel making breakfast. Nico and Ward are still dead to the world, so Faye carefully gets out of the bed and tucks the blankets under Nico. "Mornin' Sunshine," Axel murmurs as she looks over his shoulder at the delicious bacon bits with eggs that he's making.

     Faye rolls her eyes and goes to settle on the couch, "You know, your attempts at flirting lately are starting to make me feel like you're my dad rather than someone trying to impress. I mean, 'sunshine'? Really? That's such a dad thing to say."

     Axel grins as he sets the food on the small table and looks at her with a playful glint in his eyes, "Well, princess, I could always work with a little kink if that's what you—" He splutters as Faye throws a couch pillow at him. "I will slit your throat."

     They're awfully silent for a moment, each thinking back to the battle from before. "How is she?" Axel finally asks, briefly glancing at his sister's pale form. Faye frowns in reply because, to be honest, Nico isn't doing well at all. Healing dust can only go so far, can't heal broken bones or the like, only speed the healing by a bit and cause some relief.