An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
So I’m actually VERY proud of this fic, so if you follow me for my other RWBY writing I kind of implore you to read this even if it’s about an OC of mine. It’s about her relationship with Ironwood, as I’ve been riding the high of Volume 7 and 8 and I think it’s helped me create an interesting dynamic by giving Ironwood someone like my OC in his past. This is a part of a series of other works, but you don’t necessarily have to read the other ones before this one! There’s context in the opening notes.
Summary:
The one time Rui said she would never go back to Atlas, and all the times she did.
A preview of the story will be posted down below, but to go read the full work click the link!
A young James Ironwood marched his way through the white, sterile halls of the Ironwood family’s private hospital. Arms folded behind his back and posture straight, he fought the urge to shove his way through the staff crowding the halls, his fingers flexing as he held his hand in one another, tightened in fists. He may be the eldest son of the Ironwoods, and as much as that was a title, he was only a boy. A boy with a very easily damaged reputation.
It would do no good to cause a scene here, no matter how badly he wanted to sprint forward and run. (To her).
He reached the respective door. The skin of his right palm pressed against the flat cold metal and pushed it open, revealing a similarly monochrome room, sapped of life. The hospital did not sing of death, but reeked of sadness, emptiness, the quietness of the halls and doctor’s faces as they stared over charts, it was suffocating. He knew it must be terrible for her too, for he had only just met her and he could tell she was a lively girl, she didn’t deserve to be weighed down, caged in like this, but it was for the best. He could provide the best care for her here, he could fix what he failed to stop that day. He could-
The edge of the door blurred away as it left the corner of his vision, and the interior of the room was revealed. A dresser. A bedside table for meds. A metal bed frame stretched over with starch white linens. Curtains danced above the bed, the air of the open window circulating throughout the room.
It was a cold day in Atlas. Even with the city’s temperature control, she would catch a cold if she-
“-if you keep hanging out the window like that.”
She was leaning against the sill, her head only turning the slightest bit where it was perched upon her palm when she heard his voice. Her glasses were missing, her hair was tied up tight, kept out of the way of the bandages wrapping around her back underneath the hospital robe. She looked disinterested, likely tired, but he could see she at least tried to act happy in his presence. She must have felt some obligation to him.
“I promise I’m not going anywhere. It’s just nice to watch the snow flurries, reminds me of home.”
She turned back to look outside. He took a great step, his whole body leaning forward with the motion before he bounced up on his heels, bridging the gap between them more and more. There was a metal chair folded up against the wall by the dresser. He swiped it and sat down.
“Miss Rui Kazahana, I don’t think we’ve had the chance to get properly acquainted.”
“You can just call me Rui. There’s no need for formalities with me, Mr. Ironwood.”
“Then in the same way, you can be casual with me. Calling me Mister makes me feel greater than I am.”
“Well, aren’t you great? I was under the impression you had to be a pretty big Atlas elite to be able to pay for… well, all of this,” she didn’t move, but her eyes looked towards her back briefly.
“My family may be, but I am merely a boy,” he crossed his legs, and folded his hands over his knee, “You may just call me James.”
“Alright then. James,” she nodded, turning to face him properly. It took her a minute to shift and turn around fully without twisting her injuries, but when she was done he couldn’t help but notice the way she was curled up, one leg tucked beneath her, the other bent and pulled close to her chest. She looked at him with her cream colored eyes, tiny slivers of irises that the reflection of light barely had space to swirl around in as her dilated pupils seemed to eat up all of her eyes. They looked smaller behind her glasses. She seemed to still be afraid of him, hunched over and afraid as she traced her finger against the linens of the bed.
“Are you not from Atlas, Rui?”
“What makes you ask that?”
“You said the snow reminds you of home. You speak as if home is somehow different than the snow that falls in Atlas?”
“Oh, well, I am from Atlas. My grandparents raised me in one of the smaller homes built near the agricultural district. But, I have memories of being younger and living with my parents, somewhere else.”
“Somewhere else? Somewhere with more snow?”
“In the tundra perhaps?” She started to shrug but then let out a hiss of pain, “Again, I was very young. I only remember a lot of white, and the gray sky, and the way the flurries danced down around me. They were coming down heavier than they do under any of the climate control systems.”
“I see. Well, I’m not sure how to segue into this but, how are you feeling? I’m sorry I couldn’t be here right after your surgery. You and I are practically strangers, so the doctors wouldn’t disclose your information to me, not that I would have asked because it is private, but I was hoping-”
The rest of his rambling died on his lips when he heard her laugh. It was a bit raspy, a bit hoarse, but it was genuine and made her whole face scrunch up with joy. She was laughing at him.
“James, James, it’s okay. It’s nothing big for me to tell you how I’m doing, and I don’t mind doing so but… thanks for not prying and respecting my privacy. I know a ton of Atlesian elites would just demand the medical files be handed over.”
His mouth felt dry. He wanted to ask if that was an accusation- did you really think I would do that?- but he had to remind himself that they were strangers still. This was their first real conversation.
“Surgery went well, in a way I guess. They dealt with all the blood feathers, managed to correct it so in time there won’t be any pain from the injury, nothing severe I guess, but…”
“...But?”
She sighed, and looked back at the snow fall, going quiet for a minute. Her expression kept changing, her lips pressed thin one minute then warbling into a frown and then a sad smile the next. James could see how bad the injury was, her wings were still bandaged and folded up against her back, no feathers visible underneath, but it looked bad, but the surgery went well. So if there was a catch-
“Unfortunately,” her voice hitched, “They said the damage to the bones of the wings was too great. Even though they set everything, they’ll likely never fully heal. I…”
She sucked in her tears with another wet gasp.
“I won’t be able to fly with them again.”
James wanted to jump out of his seat and run down the hall, grab the nearest doctor and punch his skull in and then demand they reevaluate, do something else. There had to be a way to fix them, there had to be. They were wrong, he-
He stayed in his seat, folding his hands and squeezing his interlocked fingers in a deathly grip. His face though, he only let his expression crumple slightly, looking away with a mature but saddened expression of regret.
“I’m… sorry. I wish I could do more for you.”
“Oh, you’ve already done so much. I owe you plenty just for this. I might have died if I hadn't been brought here. And goodness knows my family couldn’t afford this, so, thank you for covering the bills, I was told about that so thank you again.”
“No there… there must be something more I can do for you,” he let his hands fall apart, and he sat on the edge of the chair, ready to jump up, “I’ve already spoken with the headmaster, those students who attacked you, they’ll be expelled but, I’m not so naive. I know there will be others, that there were others who just stood by while it happened. And there might be others in the future.”
“What are you saying? I know all of that too.”
“But it will get better in the future. I promise, the training schools take everyone, but once you get to the academies, they cut out those who aren’t capable, aren’t worthy. People like that won’t survive past the entrance exams, so you can rest easy.”
She let out a confused, nervous laugh at that, “Who’s to say I won’t be cut by those exams too? I have to learn a whole new combat style. I was wholly reliant on my wings until now. I won’t be able to relearn how to fight by the time I graduate.”
He was practically out of his chair now. He felt manic, buzzing with excitement. Yes, the solution was there now, it was right in front of him he just needed to-!
“But you don’t have to pass the exam,” he said, standing up slowly, legs straightening, “My family has connections, we could put in a recommendation. You could get into Atlas Academy with no worry, and the others would be cut out. They have the best technology. They’re the military so they might have more options than my family does to fix your wings. They might-”
“James.”
He stopped talking and his feet froze in place. He had started pacing. She was kneeling on the bed and facing him, a smile on his lips but her eyes downward, not watching him. She was being careful in her movements, anything sudden would send contortions of pain down into the muscles connecting to her crumpled up wings.
“Thank you for everything you said. I really don’t like the idea of asking for more, since again, you have done more than enough but… I think I do have one request, if you’re willing to answer it.”
“Of course! Anything for-”
“Get me out of Atlas.”
“Wha...what?”
Her eyes were cold and empty as they stared at the sheets, “I never want to come back here again.”
To read the rest go to the link at the top of this post!