A/N: Heyo! Just a tiny warning or the angst ahead. Mention of torture but no gore. First angst RWBY fic I've published and I'm hoping the characters aren't too OOC. Should be updated regularly :) This fic is set in Volume 2- Early Volume 3. Contains Bumblby if you squint! Enjoy, kiddos!
A day without an argument between Weiss and Blake was rare, almost nonexistent. It was almost as if Weiss existed to antagonize Blake's existence, and vice versa. But their team usually managed to push through the childish pettiness, focus on the task on hand, and get the job done.
This time was different. As Weiss fired off insult after insult toward the Faunus, Blake didn't have any witty retort prepared. She didn't even try to defend herself. She just nodded, opening the bedroom door and storming off.
"What's her problem?" Weiss grumbled, climbing into her bunk. Yang rolled her eyes so hard that she thought they might've gone backward into her skull.
"You're her problem, Weiss!" Yang exclaimed. "This arguing's her problem!"
"She started it." Weiss scoffed, turning over under her sheets.
"You sound like a five year old." Yang sighed, her words falling on deaf ears. She glanced over toward her sister, who was still sitting at the desk with her notes in front of her. Yang strolled over and leaned against the side.
"Workin hard or hardly workin?" She asked, trying to shrug off the events of the previous minutes.
"Is she… do you think she'll be back?" Ruby asked, her voice small. Yang put a hand on her younger sister's shoulder.
"You know Blake, she just needs to cool down. She'll be back in an hour. A couple, tops."
Ruby nodded, seemingly satisfied with Yang' answer. She promptly slammed her books shut, turned out the lamp and crawled her way into the top bunk. Yang did the same.
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By morning, Blake's bed still remained empty.
Yang tried not to let it bother her, assuring herself that Blake had probably just headed down to Sun and Neptune's dorm after the events from the previous night. But her theory soon proved untrue as she spoke with the pair in the hallway, finding that neither of them had seen Blake since class the day before.
Hours turned into days, and then days turned into weeks. It wasn't long before the mysterious disappearance of Blake Belladonna was all the hot gossip around campus, and the rumours of where she could have gone off to started to circulated. Only one thing remained congruent throughout the multiple stories.
In every single one, Weiss was the force that drove Blake away.
Weiss was no longer treated as a fearful ice queen. Many students, especially those close to Blake, opted to treat Weiss as less than a human being. Not that there were very many students that were that close with Blake. And although Weiss kept her stoic look and petty attitude, Yang could see the hurt underneath. It was obvious to anyone who looked hard enough that Weiss really was worried.
Three weeks after the incident, the remaining three members of team RWBY were called into Professor Ozpin's office just after classes had concluded for the day. As the girls filed in, each took note of the professor's downcast eyes.
"We've received news about your teammate, Miss Belladonna." Yang almost let herself light up with glee. Almost.
But his tone wasn't that of someone bearing good news.
"So… What was it?" Yang spoke up to break the awkward silence that echoed throughout the room.
"We've… we've received word that Blake went after Roman Torchwick alone."
"She did what?" Weiss gasped. Yang felt her heart drop down into her stomach. What was Blake thinking? Torchwick had an army. Blake, although exceptionally talented, was still just one person. Trying to take on that entire army on her own was a suicide mission.
Ozpin laid his scroll out on the table, a large holographic version of the screen appearing in the space above it.
"I must tell you, what you're about to view is quite graphic." He warned.
The image made Yang gag.
Bloody knives, an old, scratched up table, and several different types of instruments that Yang could only assume were being used for… torture.
"Blake…" She heard Ruby whisper quietly. She wanted nothing more than to hug her little sister and tell her that everything would be okay, but the blonde found herself glued to her seat.
The video panned over the Torchwick, a sinister smirk playing across his face. "Hello, Ozpin!" The ginger spoke enthusiastically. "Now I was under the impression that up there at Beacon, you teach your students to obey your orders. But if that were true, how would this-" Yang felt bile rise in her throat as she watched Torchwick pull a dirty, bleeding Blake into the frame. "-play into my hands?"
"I'm gonna kill him." Yang stood, beginning to pace her way over to the door. Nobody could hurt Blake that way, right? It was just some convincing acting, some good makeup. He wouldn't dare do that to Blake. Yang's Blake. Yang had no idea why Blake would play along, but she was sure it was a good reason.
"Miss Xiao Long, please wait." Yang was brought from her train of thought by Ozpin, who had paused the video when Yang got up.
Blake would never cause her friends to worry about her and to fear for her life, like Yang thought.
Her partner was in trouble.
As much as she hated to, Yang sat down once again to endure the rest of the clip.
"Now here's the deal." Torchwick held Blake in a loose chokehold, one that the Faunus could've easily escaped were she at her full strength. Yang watched her partner's eyes as they brimmed with tears, pain, and anguish. She just wanted to pull Blake through the screen, to hold her in her arms and to never let go. "You, Ozpin, will not send any of your students after her. Especially Little Red. She gives me enough trouble as it is."
All eyes shot over to Ruby, who kept her eyes trailed toward the video footage. "I will, however, consider giving her back in exchange for information. What kind of information, you may ask? Oh, I don't know, just some intel on the whereabouts of the Fall Maiden." Torchwick stroked the side of Blake's face, and it pained Yang to see the girl flinch under his touch. "And yes Ozpin, I know you know what I'm talking about."
A look of dismay crossed Ozpin's face. "You know how to get hold of me if and when you're willing to make the exchange. And remember," Torchwick held Blake by her hair, causing her to cry out in anguish. "Every minute you spend not giving me what I want is another minute I spend ruining her."
The hologram closed up as the group sat in silence. Yang replayed the message in her mind, over and over again. Another minute I spend ruining her…
"Roman specifically warned me against sending any of my students." Ozpin picked his scroll up off of the desk. "But he knows me well enough to know that I would see this as a challenge, therefore he wants me to send the three of you to go retrieve your teammate."
"That… made no sense." Weiss shook her head, as the others did in unison. Yang was sure that whatever Ozpin had just said made sense to him.
"I don't see what the huge deal is. Just tell him what he wants to know." Yang stood over Ozpin's desk.
"I can't do that."
"So you're saying you would rather have her die?" Yang stifled back tears. Ozpin shook his head furiously.
"Giving Torchwick the information he requests would only put another student in danger." He explained, trying to coax Yang down from her state of anger and panic.
"We can't just sit around and do nothing!"
"Yang, please calm down. You can't help her in that state." Weiss spoke in a slightly shaky tone. Yang knew that Weiss felt remorseful for Blake's disappearance, and she knew that the heiress was genuinely invested in her rescue, but all of those facts were suddenly tossed out the window.
"And you!" Yang directed her anger toward the white haired huntress. "It's your fault that she's there in the first place!"
"Me?" Weiss sounded surprised.
"You screamed at her!"
"She ran of her own decision!"
"Ladies!" Ozpin was standing now, overpowering the both of them. The two immediately turned away from each other, heads bowed.
"So what do we do now?" Ruby spoke, her silver eyes glistening with tears as she looked toward the professor.
"You three will be doing nothing." The professor stated. "You're too emotionally invested in this mission. Your own feelings could put you in jeopardy. As your educator and mentor, I refuse to put you in that kind of danger, no matter how qualified you may think you are."
"What? No way!" Yang fumed, nearly knocking her chair over. "Blake's our teammate! She's my partner!"
"You haven't fought Torchwick like we have. You have no idea what you're up against." Ruby cut in, her voice considerably lower than Yang's. "We know how they fight."
Ozpin thought for a moment. "I hadn't taken that into consideration." He mused aloud, scanning the three huntresses up and down. "Fine. You may accompany team CFVY on the mission. But be warned, step just a little bit out of line and you'll be on the sidelines faster than you can say Grimm."