Not All Scars are Visible

The sun was shining, and the birds were chirping. A cool breeze flew through the beautiful spring afternoon on the grounds of Beacon Academy. Some students were socializing in the courtyard and near the fountain, and others were inside studying for whatever classes they seemed to be behind in, desperate to catch up before the first year ended in a few weeks.

Deeper inside, more students were gathered inside of their dorm rooms, studying, socializing, and doing their usual thing. But further inside lay a lone student in her dorm room. A first year with a blonde bob of hair, highlighted with royal blue, fell and distorted the face of the young girl laying in her lonesome in the room.

Young Rudil Blaus had been in the room, by herself, and alone for what must have been the past hour. This was normal, seeing as she had a few things to take care of that didn't require anyone for the time being, but there was something, very, very wrong.

Beside her, two three-wick candles was burning brightly. It was enough to illuminate the room that was pitch black, thanks to the completely sealed shutters.

It was enough to illuminate the pool of blood that slowly began to expand around the collapsed girl. Rudil was barely able to see the blood that was flowing from her wrist, creeping along the candles.

With her last ounce of strength, fueled by complete deja vu, she snapped her fingers.

The glass under the candle shatters violently, and shards of flaming wax flies around her, slowly igniting the carpet and her bedding. The room's temperature rose, and the flames began to spread. Smoke seeped through crack of the door, and into the girl's lungs.

This is what Rudil and her team would call a "Bad Day" for the young woman.

With slowly paced steps, Lí walks the corridors of the dorm hall, returning to the quarters he shared with his team. His team. He still has difficulty processing and accepting it at times.

Still at his idle pace, he continues stepping down the corridor until something out of place catches his attention. Suddenly, he freezes, eyes daring back and forth as he sniffs at the air. Cautiously, though at a faster pace now, he steps off again, the smell becoming sharper as he continues forward.

He finally registers the smell of something burning, and his eyes widen in alarm as he doubles his cadence, moving with haste to find the source.

Again, he briefly stops, seeing smoke rolling from under his door not too far ahead. Not a second later, he starts sprinting forward, only just stopping short of grabbing the door handle as he realizes he'd be liable to burn himself on it. Instead of just opening the door, however, he concentrates his Aura into his leg, then leans slightly back and kicks, subtly shifting through the strike and swiftly breaking down the door, from behind which smoke now copiously billows.

After a few seconds to cope with the sudden wash off heat, Lí peers inside, only to see his teammate sprawled on the floor, reddened stains around her.

"Rudil!" he shouts, despite already knowing that she's unconscious.

Lí steps back into the corridor, taking a few seconds to steel himself, and then takes a deep breath before dashing in. Once by his teammate's prone form he crouches down, and, exhaling sharply, slings one of her arms over his shoulder and stands up. He tries to ignore the blood seeping from her wrists. He fails.

With some difficulty, he staggers back into the corridor, coughing heavily as smoke filters into his own lungs. Quickly as he can, he begins staggering back the way he came, only pausing briefly to sound a fire alarm along his path. "Don't you dare give up on me..." he growls, both to his limp teammate and himself, as a motivator to keep moving.

A young man with a white hoodie underneath a ashen denim jacket exits from a room not far from Li and Rudil's. He sees the effeminate young man and gives a small wave. "Heya, Li, what's-" He doesn't even finish his sentence. The second year sees his underclassman running with a familiar body in his hands, and saw blood covering the both of them. It takes a moment for everything to register, before he himself chases after the young man, shouting as they neared the infirmary.

--

It had been two hours. Renji sat with Li in the waiting room - only, he didn't do much sitting. He had been switching from pacing around the room, to leaning against the wall, going back and forth between the two. The waiting was killing him, and neither the nurses nor medics would inform either him or Li on Rudil's status. "Dammit, Rudi..." Ren manages to sigh. "...Just...What the hell happened? Did something happen today to set her off?" He asks, looking over at Li.

In the waiting room, Lí had been sitting, worrying, for the last two hours. Rather than pace frantically alongside Renji, the effeminate young man had simply retreated within his mind. Continuously, he found himself going in circles, always coming back to wonder as to what could have possibly stirred Rudil to do such a thing to herself, or feeling guilty for not having been there to stop her.

Eventually, he's broken out of his mental spiralling, and he looks blankly at Renji for a few seconds. He opens his mouth to answer, but closes it again moments later when nothing comes to mind. Slowly, he shrinks in on himself, shrugging while he gently shakes his head, only the wispy trail of movement made by his hair making the action apparent. After another few seconds, he breaks eye contact in favor of looking down at the floor, and away from the other man.

Ren curses under his breath again, and begins to pace back and forth. A doctor enters the waiting area moments later, looking at a clipboard. "Li Cadmus?" He asks, looking at Li. Ren approaches, and the doctor gives him a questioning glance, before looking at Li again.

"Ms. Blaus has lost a lot of blood, so we are in the middle of a transfusion now. The two main concerns at the moment is are the amounts of smoke that had entered her lungs - which is why she's on oxygen right now - and obviously...What she had done to herself. Now, I have to ask," he proceeds to take off his glasses, and stares Li straight in the eyes. "Does she have a history of severe depression and self harm that you know of?"

Ren, unaware of the answer, cautiously looks at Li.

Slowly, Lí shakes his head in response. "She's always seemed so bubbly and happy..." Briefly, he looks up at the doctor, then looks away, back to the same spot on the floor. "I... I should've... I should've been there for her..." His voice begins shaking as he says this, and he struggles to keep from crying, out of fright, guilt, or frustration he doesn't know.

Renji can hear the faltering in Li's voice, and extends an arm, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "How long until she wakes up?" Ren asks, looking at the doctor. "Well," He sighs, looking at his charts. "She'll be unconscious for a while. I'd say she'll wake up in a day or two. In the meantime, you're both welcome to wait in her room. Just try and be quiet, and don't stress her out too much when she wakes up. I'd also notify the rest of your team, Mr. Cadmus." He says, nodding at them and walking away to complete some paperwork.

For several seconds, Lí just sits there, breath still shaking as he processes everything he's just been told. Finally, he takes one last shuddering breath, drawing deeply of the air around him, and holds it, forcing himself to press down the guilt, the anxiety, the fear plaguing his mind. When he releases his breath, he keeps steady and smooth. Without even looking to Renji, he says, "Let's go," and rises from his seat, a stoic expression in place as he begins striding toward Rudil's door.

Ren follows his underclassman, and opens the door for the two. The first thing he hears, is the beeping of her heart rate monitor, beeping at a slower than normal pace. A blood transfusion was currently in place, and he looks away from the bag of liquid crimson.

Rudil was pale. Pale, and exhausted, bloodied bandages wrapped around her wrists as she lay completely still in the bed. Renji's breath catches in his throat, and he has to look away from her. "Oh, God, Rudi..." He whispers, walking forward and taking a seat. "You should contact your team." He suggest quietly, looking up at Li.

Lí doesn't say a word as he slowly steps into Rudil's room. All he knows is this overwhelming sense of wrongness at seeing her so still. She'd shown herself to be so optimistic throughout the year, and never failed to bring a smile when they shared time together. Lí soundlessly strides up to her bed, not even the barest trace of a tear visible in his eyes, until Renji's suggestion finally registers within his mind. Not trusting himself to maintain his composure, no less any coherence, he pulls his scroll from a pocket, then holds it out, waiting for Renji to take it. At that moment, Lí's breathing starts to rattle, and the device in his hand visibly shakes as well.

Ren sighs shakily, turning around so he doesn't have to face Whit, and placing his hands on his hips. "...Aright. I'll send the message." He sighs, turning back and taking the scroll. A few quick taps, and he had sent a very brief message, simply explaining that Rudil was in the infirmary in critical condition. "...Hopefully they respond soon enough."

Whitney doesn't noticeably react to Renji notifying him of news being passed along. The only visible change being that he'd closed his eyes. Slowly, he gives a near imperceptible nod. He doesn't voice thanks for the action, not trusting himself to break down entirely over the chance of losing his closest friend in the school. Slowly, carefully, he reaches a hand out, and grasps Rudil's in his own, silently giving a squeeze of encouragement as a wish for a swift recovery.

Ren sighs, and and pulls a chair next to Li. Hesitating, he removes his hood and opens his mismatched eyes, pointing them over to Rudil and observing the slow, shaky rise and fall of her chest every few moments. Her complexion was ghastly pale, at this point, and she looked as if she hadn't slept in weaks. Her eyes would clench every now and then, but other than that, there was no other movement. Shutting his eyes briefly, Ren places a hand atop Li's shoulder. "...She's gonna make it, Li. Just...She'll pull through. She always does." He whispers, his voice remaining like steel.

"She's never been this bad, though," Whitney whispers back, his eyes fixing on Rudil's face. Despite Renji's reassurance, despair courses through his mind, and tears begin to glisten at the corners of his eyes. "I just hope you're right..."

"Li, listen to me," Ren says, his hold on the younger boy tightening. "I get it. I get that you're worried, and scared. And that is fine. But you have to be strong. Not just so you can hold it together, but for Rudil. She's gonna need her leader, her friend to be okay when she comes back to us. Alright? All we can do now is stay strong, and not lose hope. She's a hell of a fighter. She's gonna make it." Throughout Renji's tirade, he almost wants to give in to the grief, as well. But he had spoken from the heart; what he said, he took for truth, as well.

The door to the the infirmary swings open a bit too quickly for the action not to be rushed as Maria steps through the door, her stride not even broken by the hindrance. Her face never turned from her gaze on the door she was walking towards, and while outwardly, she made no noise, and appeared to be calm as ever, a slight red glow still fading from her shoulder and a slight hitch in her breath gave evidence that she had hurried there.

Walking straight past Li and Renji, she walked into her teammates in infirmary room, making no attempt to go over to the bed but instead taking a seat on the floor by the wall, cross legged, with her gaze fixed upon the bed.

Renji's eyes dart towards the door when Maria enters. "Moguel," He greets, observing her walk straight to the other side. He opens his mouth to speak, but has never really interacted with Maria for more than a few moments. All he has gathered was that she was very antisocial, and very rude. But, he saw the tells. The door opened way too quick. He could just barely hear her quickened breathing. He sighs, and places his hands on his hips and looks at Li, waiting to see if he would say anything to his partner.