Don't you worry about the dark,
I will light up the night with the love in my heart.
I will burn like the sun;
I will keep you safe and waaarm.
Yang awoke with a start at the sound of her Scroll going off between her pillow and the mattress. She groggily blinked up at the dark ceiling as she reached for the device, and answered it without first checking to see who it was calling.
"Hello?" she muttered out, turning on her side and facing the wall as she only half-paid attention to the muffled sounds of breathing on the other end of the device. As soon as the other voice spoke, however, so small and fragile and afraid, Yang shot up immediately in bed, and swallowed anxiously as she tried to make out the other person's words.
"Y-Yang?" the voice sobbed, so familiar, yet so strange at the same time. "I-I need your h-help."
The blonde frowned into the receiver, her gaze slowly moving to the pair of beds just a few feet away. She looked down at the bottom bunk, a sinking feeling welling her chest as she realized it was empty.
"Weiss?" she whispered, keeping her voice low so as not to wake up the other two girls. "Where are you? What's going on?"
The heiress took a few heavy breaths before speaking once more, her words ragged and filled with fear. "I-I'm at the d-docks... I-I'll tell you what happened later... P-please come get m-me..."
Yang pressed the Scroll tighter to her ear, and started to carefully climb out of bed. "Why are you out this late? Are you hurt?"
Weiss sniffled. "Just hurry. P-please..." She went silent for a moment as her breathing started to pick up faster, and she let out a terrified squeak.
"Weiss? What was that?" Yang hurried to the other side of the room, still trying to be quiet as she opened the closet, and pulled out her jacket, throwing it on over her orange tank-top. She stuffed her feet into the boots by the door, and started to reach for the handle. "I'm on my way."
"No, wait," the other girl murmured, her voice now so quiet that Yang had to strain her ears to hear what she was saying. "C-can you bring me a change of clothes? A-and some bandages?"
Yang froze in her spot by the door. "Weiss, are you hurt? Do I need to call a medic to meet me out there?"
"I'll be okay... J-just get what I asked f-for... I'm hanging up, now, I d-don't want anyone to h-hear me."
What the hell is even going on right now? Yang rushed back to the other side of the room, and grabbed a change of Weiss's clothes just as her Scroll made a clicking sound, meaning that her teammate had just hung up. She dug around the closet for a duffel bag, and stuffed the pale, white-and-blue combat skirt inside before walking over to the bathroom, and locating some bandages under the sink, also adding them to the bag. She slung the bag over her shoulder, and glanced around the dorm one last time, making sure both Blake and Ruby were still asleep before she opened the door, and left.
A few minutes later, she was on her motorcycle, duffel bag hanging from one of the handlebars as she sped down the mountain toward Vale. She had no idea what to expect when she finally arrived at the docks, her heart pounding in her chest as she began frantically searching for Weiss.
"Weiss! I'm here!" she shouted, maneuvering her bike slowly through shipping crates, watching and listening for any sign of her teammate. Finally, she spotted the small girl huddled behind a large crate, the white of her hair and wardrobe sticking out through the darkness of the night.
Yang let out a sigh of relief as she parked her bike, and ran over to her, duffel bag in hand. It wasn't until she was at least three feet from the girl that she realized the hem of her otherwise-pristine skirt was stained mildly in blood, coming from multiple scrapes trailing down the backs of her legs. It looked as though she had been forcefully dragged along the dirty, gravelly concrete throughout the docks.
"Oh my God, what happened?" the blonde breathed, her voice laced with concern for her teammate as she crouched down beside her, and pulled the bandages out from the bag.
Weiss just looked up at her with watery, azure eyes, and her bottom lip began to tremble as she tried to form a word. "Th-that woman..."
Yang furrowed her eyebrows as she slowly began to unravel the bandages, and bit off a small square to dab at the more deeper cuts that were still bleeding. Weiss flinched underneath her touch, and Yang gave her an apologetic look as she added more pressure. "What woman?"
The smaller girl let out a whimper as Yang pressed hard against the injuries, trying to stop the flow of blood.
"I'm sorry, I know it hurts..." She frowned as she eased her touch, and began to wrap the bandages tightly around the wounds, but not tight enough to cut off the pale girl's already-poor circulation. She glanced up into Weiss's frightened gaze. "What woman?" she repeated, this time more sternly than before.
"I-I... I don't..." Weiss started, but she quickly trailed off into a round of sharp, painful sobs that shook her entire body.
Yang bit her lip as she finished fastening the bandages, and she lifted a hesitant hand between Weiss's tiny, delicate shoulders. "Was it someone you know? Can you at least tell me what she did?"
Weiss shook her head. "I-I just w-woke up like this... I-I don't remember anything... except that I was talking to her before it h-happened..."
She pulled Weiss close to her, holding her breath as she half-expected the other girl to pull away, but when she didn't, Yang released her breath, and wrapped her teammate in a warm hug. "It sounds like you were probably drugged... Did you know the woman? Or was she just some stranger?"
"I don't know, Yang... She didn't look familiar." Weiss sniffled. "I-I was shopping in Vale this afternoon, a-and at some point, I went into a cafe to g-get something to drink... T-there was a strange woman sitting by herself a f-few tables down, a-and she came over to m-me and started saying something... Next thing I remember, I w-was waking up here, all alone..."
Yang lifted her head, and quickly glanced around the area that surrounded them. "Was anything taken from you?"
Instead of answering, Weiss started sobbing again, burying her face into Yang's jacket. Yang lifted a hand to the back of her head, and gently ran her fingers through the girl's long, flowing, white hair. Just then, she realized that Weiss's hair wasn't in the side ponytail it usually was, and her tiara was nowhere to be seen. She glanced down at Weiss's left hip, the silver rapier still clasped to its usual spot, but the bag of Dust that Weiss usually had tied to the back of her waist was missing, as well.
"You have your Scroll on you, right? You called me from it."
Weiss nodded, her breath hitching as she continued to cry.
"You didn't keep it in your Dust pouch?" She shook her head, and Yang sighed. "Did you have your lien in there?"
She nodded again, gulping back another sob. "I-it's all gone..."
Yang let out a frustrated breath, and pulled away from Weiss. "We can file a police report first thing in the morning, okay? Let's get you back to somewhere safe."
"Th-thanks for coming," Weiss said, finally starting to calm down. "I know Blake would've just ignored my call, a-and Ruby wouldn't have known h-how to react..."
The blonde smiled, but it felt forced. She didn't want to think about what would have happened if no one had come to rescue her teammate. "It's no problem, Weiss." She helped the girl to her feet, and picked up the duffel bag, slowly leading Weiss back to her bike. She gestured for Weiss to get on.
"Aren't you going to get on first?" the smaller girl just asked.
Yang hung the duffel bag from the handlebar again, and turned back to Weiss. "I want you to sit in front. That way, I can hold onto you in case you become too tired. Don't worry, I'll still be able to drive perfectly fine."
Weiss nodded, and without further arguing, she slowly mounted the bike, grabbing onto Yang's shoulders for support. Yang climbed on behind her, sitting as close to Weiss as possible without crushing her into the windshield. She started the bike, and wrapped an arm around her teammate's waist, using her free hand to rev the engine, and take off. She stopped at a gas station a few miles away from the docks so Weiss could change out of her bloodied skirt, and into the clean one that Yang had packed. While the heiress was in the bathroom, Yang was inside the tiny convenience store, standing in line with a bottle of water, and anxiously tapping her foot against the floor as she tried to make sense of what had happened to Weiss.
That woman must have spiked her drink at that cafe, and dragged her out to the docks to rob her—or worse... She shuddered at all of the horrendous possibilities, her mind going numb at just the thought of them. She tried to clear her head as she finally made it to the front of the line, and purchased the water. Weiss emerged from the bathroom a moment later, clean but still distraught, and Yang met her with a small smile, knowing it wouldn't do anything to change what had happened, but it was still better than standing around and brooding.
The two walked back out to the motorcycle, and Yang took a sip of the water before offering it to Weiss. She narrowed her piercing, blue eyes at the bottle, unsure of what to do with it, and Yang just sighed. "Drink some... You need to get something in your system right now."
"But you drank out of it already..."
Yang smirked. "I didn't backwash, I promise... Just drink it. I'm only looking out for you, here."
Weiss sucked in a dry, chapped lip, and hesitantly took the bottle from Yang. She exhaled shakily before lifting the bottle to her mouth, and taking a few swigs.
"Good... See? You're still standing."
Her teammate rolled her eyes, silently handing the bottle back to Yang, and getting back on the bike. "Can we go home, now?"
"Yeah, of course." Yang lowered herself behind Weiss, placing the bottle in the bag, and starting up the engine. She released the kickstand, and drove off into the street, heading back up toward Beacon in silence as she steadied the small girl pressed up against her, her head leaning back into one of Yang's shoulders as she began to nod off in exhaustion.
By the time they finally reached the school, Weiss was already sound asleep, and Yang had to carefully peel her off the bike one-handed as she picked up the duffel in her other. She hiked the strap of the bag high up her arm before draping one arm underneath Weiss's cold, thin legs, and wrapping the other securely around her shoulders. She carried her to the dorm, making sure to be quiet as she entered the room, and gently laid Weiss down on her bed. Yang lowered herself to the foot of the mattress, and she watched Weiss start to toss in her sleep as a nightmare disturbed her peace.
She shrugged her coat off, and tossed it into the nearest corner of the room, and then kicked off her boots, leaving them toppled over on the floor by the bed. Just as she was about to get up and climb into her own bed, Weiss let out a scared whimper in her sleep. Yang sat back down, unable to leave the girl in such a vulnerable state, and she looked over at Weiss, frowning as a trail of tears slowly trickled down her flushed cheek.
How could anyone let this happen? How did anyone not notice? Yang crawled to the other side of the bed next to Weiss, and lifted a hand to the girl's wet cheek, wiping away the tears as they fell. She had never seen Weiss in such pain, in such fear, and it nearly killed Yang to know that some monster was out there, chatting up and then drugging some unsuspecting minors, mugging them and abandoning them where no one would find them until it was potentially too late.
Yang lowered her hand to Weiss's waist, and protectively wrapped an arm around her, pulling the heiress close as she rested her head beside hers, yellow hair mixing with white. Weiss finally stopped twitching and crying a few moments later, and settled into the stronger girl's embrace. Yang continued to watch over her until her own eyelids began to feel heavy, and when she was sure the girl would be able to sleep soundly through the night, only then did Yang allow herself to close her eyes, and drift off into a melancholic sleep.
