Disclaimer: I do not own any part of RWBY or Roosterteeth or any of its constituent parts. If I did...I'd probably still do this, but I'd probably flaunt it a bit more. And I'd be richer for sure.
There was something in the air. Something dark...something...strong. The pack of beowolves glanced around the dark, midnight forest with cautionary eyes, survival instincts strong and ready.
There was certainly...something…
"Behind you~" A branch snapped, the beowolves immediately snapped into attention, growling and charging at the small form talking in a sing-song way. Their claws glistened under beams of moonlight as they descended to strike flesh. But as they were about to sink into the soft, pliable flesh of the girl before them, the vanguard found their bodies pierced with a hundred arrows.
To be honest, the arrows did nothing. Sure, they pierced the skin, but, flesh wounds rarely mattered to Grimms. However, something about these wounds made the beowolves pause. Putrid smoke began to seep from the wounds and soon enough, the distressed howls of dying Grimms filled the air as they collapsed into pained heaps of 'flesh'.
With the first half dead, she raised her bow entwined arm to the skies and whispered, "In your name, we hunt."
With those word, some dynamic between Grimm and hunters changed. The beowolves, young as they are, began to feel something foreign; fear. And to these unfeeling monsters it was...uncomfortable, unnatural. What was to be prey was in fact their predator.
The solitary figure doubled then doubled again, until four such creatures took their stance before the pack of beowolves. The two teams waited. And waited. And waited. And waited in a stalemate until the smallest beowolf of the pack lost its nerves and howled, calling for support from any that would listen.
The team of four sprang into action, blades, lance, and arrows shone from the shattered moon as they duked it out with the countless number of Grimm drawn by the call to arms.
A figure dashed to the forefront, meeting the second wave with the head of his staff. Each of his swipes brained at least five Grimms from its size and momentum alone. But numerous as they are, these Grimm are young; their lack of coordination and strategy beyond swarming tactics made them predictable.
And the predictable fell into traps. Fiery red sigils erupted under their feet, blasting chunks equally into Grimm and terrain alike. Many simply disintegrated under the assault. The stragglers suffered similar fates as the maw of the staff opened, delivering gouts of purifying flames, leaving a few scant pools of darkness and the pungent smell of burnt flesh.
As he stood guard with the flames blazing, his grinning blond ally leaped from behind him into the crowd of Grimm just beyond his flames. Her hands clasped together midflight and as she fell, slammed into the ground. The Grimms that blocked her descent had a quick and painless death. The rest...not so lucky. First was the shrapnels, dangerously jagged and sharp pieces of rock and dirt clods flew in every which way, lashing out at the Grimm close enough to her landing spot. Immediately following that, an ever expanding shockwave blasted into the masked creatures, tossing them like ragdolls. And as it that wasn't enough, the earth warped and quakes and opened its deadly maw, swallowing tens of Grimms alive. Those that survived were staggered, ready for the last member to deliver her blow.
A gleaming lance flashed once, twice, then a million mirage of the same weapon crashed into the horde, decimating it in a flash. The figure dropped heavily to the grassy plains, her lance now replaced with a immense crossbow
What remained froze, then turned and ran. It seemed that even they knew when a fight is not worth having.
"Aw, really? Not even enough to get me worked up." Elm sighed, her bow twisting back onto her wrist. It was the least decked out she have been seen so far, carry only a -relatively- small first aid satchel and a leather bag interwoven with dust. The latter of which she fumbled through with sharp, glass-on-glass clicks as the dirty blond searched for a vial of something she likes.
"I'd say you're plenty worked up." Synca nodded at Ashe's words, pointing emphatically to her good eye.
Elm blinked before rubbing away at the solid crimson eyes with her free hand, the one now carrying a tube of a flat green liquid, "Is it gone?"
Her matronly smile reclaimed its rightful spot as she watched Synca nod up and down with that bright smile of her own. Synca then raised her arms, looking at Elm expectantly. The medic could only widen her smile as she pulled the half wooden girl into reverse hug, arms draped over the shorter girl's shoulders with her chin planted on head and the drink in mouth.
"Ah, Synca...you are the perfect height for this." Elm snuggled into the surprisingly soft body of one Synca Geppetta.
"Alright. We're done for the night. Go see if there is anything you like here and I'll take care of the rest." Hono shrugged and shook his head in a fashion greatly resembling a wolf.
With wild and messy hair - courtesy of Elm rubbing her face in Synca's hair-, Synca saluted with a wide grin and dashed off, dragging Elm with her. Ashe followed Hono, who dropped to one knee to dip his fingers into one of the countless pools of dark ichor.
"Too thin…." Hono muttered, "I don't think any of the Grimms were over a year old."
"Likely from the proximity to Beacon; they wouldn't have a chance to grow." Ashe stood watch, eyes scanning the field, "As well, anything older wouldn't have cared for the alarm. They are egotistic like that."
"Hmm." Hono patted his staff, "Sorry Lunatic, guess you won't be getting anything tonight."
"...Are you alright?" Hono gave Ashe a quizzical look, "You have been...a bit off today."
The Grimm attired teen looked off to the side, "I was thinking about Ozpin's words."
Ozpin. That man...he had made a great impression upon Hono. A characteristic leader with a firm head on his shoulders. His eyes were shaded by choices that will forever haunt them. But they were firm, unwavering. The man will never betray those he considered his own. While sacrifices are necessary, he would do all there was in his power to minimize it where possible.
He was the game master. His pieces are his hunters and huntresses. But he would be damned if he doesn't do all that he can for them.
It was certainly something that Hono can respect. So, despite their differences, they came to respect one another.
Ashe narrowed her eyes, "Damn him and his words. He doesn't know what we went through to get this far."
"Yes, but, what he said is true nevertheless." Hono stared at his black tainted hands, "Who are we if in our path toward salvation, we become that which we most despise?"
"We will be ourselves." Ashe gripped Hono's hand tightly, "And to ourselves we will be true."
"...I hope you are right."
…
Ruby finally escaped. Between Weiss's complaints and Yang's over enthusiasm and, you know, Blake's general nonexistence for the moment, the pint sized reaper felt as if she would simply just turn to ash and blow away in the wind.
But she did it.
After almost an hour's worth of effort, Ruby Rose finally escaped the clutches of freezerburn -them leaving her behind notwithstanding.
But now she has about half a Saturday to bust. And it was moments like these that Ruby was fully able to appreciate her social awkwardness. That is to say; she had just about no friends beyond team RWBY and JNPR.
Maybe she could go find Velvet? But she's a second year and probably off on a mission or something.
...Perhaps Pyrrha? Well, that would certainly be a great idea but some mysterious force was adamantly telling her it was actually currently the worst idea...for now.
Several blocks away in JNPR's dorm room, Pyrrha sneezed whilst curled up on her bed. Nora gave her a look.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just a bit cold I guess." The redhead gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes before turning back to the window with a forlong look.
Lost in her own little world, Ruby wanted to cry. It's such a beautiful day and she's stuck bumbling around campus!
It's not fair! How is this f-
Scratch that, she really is crying now. Slamming into something grey and on the solid side, Ruby's tailbone reacquainted itself with the concrete walkway.
"Owie!" Ruby glared at the offending object with a baleful look only to realize it wasn't a thing, but a person. Specifically the mute girl that was a quarter of team ASHE, Synca.
Yang two-point-O tilted her head cutely, as if asking what Ruby was doing on the ground.
"..." Ruby didn't have the heart to be mean to such a cute expression so instead of blurting out pained demands, she merely gave the quizzical girl a pained smile and whispered, "I'm Ok. But please help me up."
So Synca compiled…in the furthest stretch of the word. With a playful smile, Synca picked up the smaller girl -for, even with Synca's shorter stature, Ruby was still a mite bit short than the half wooden huntress.
Ruby squeaked from the unexpected action, reminded of the near identical situation she was in yesterday -being carry that is. But the red leader held her silence as Synca brought her closer to her team, all crowded around a scroll that Hono was furiously tapping at.
"Tell them that the meetings are going well, but we'll have to remain at Beacon academy for the meanwhile." Ashe smiled triumphantly, "But the food's great, so no loss here. Oh, nevermind that last part, please don't write that down."
"Oh! Tell them we have a dance tomorrow!" Elm put a finger to her lips, "I'm gonna have to find a dress. Hono-"
"I am not going dress shopping with you." The teen bluntly rejected, "The only one of you that I would ever go dress shopping again is Synca."
And cue Synca waving at her friends. Ruby was just about to mention the uselessness of someone waving to people's backs before Elm turned to smile at Synca.
"Oh, welcome back. I see you have brought a friend along. Would you like some snacks? I'm afraid I packed too much for lunch today."
Ruby looked thoughtfully at Elm for a second before asking, "Do you have cookies?"
...
"...so then Yang just went all 'You touched my hair!' and woosh! And boom! And then there was a crater…." It was surprising to both Ruby and team ASHE how quickly the young leader integrated herself into the day to day happenstance of the other team. Currently she was animatedly demonstrating her sound effects all the whilst regaling her four new acquaintances -or were they friends now?- about Yang's rather volatile nature.
To Ruby, each member of team ASHE felt...off. A bit uncanny to be sure. Like something very tiny but very important was missing or changed or replaced in such a way you don't consciously realize it but feel vividly.
Hono felt the worst by far, his mere presence at times made her flinch. If not that, occasionally it felt as if a predator was observing her, considering the worth of the hunt.
...To be honest, Ruby felt bad about thinking this way about the team. They were really nice people -they are really nice people! So she'll just have to make a bigger effort in trying to get along.
"So…" Ruby began, eyes twinkling, "Your weapon...Lunatic is it?"
"Oh yes, dear ol' Luna." Hono shoved his hands into his pocket to grab at something before throwing the familiar black sludge on the ground. As dramatically as before, Lunatic the staff erupted from what was solid pavement, using the dark stains as a doorway.
It hovered a inch above ground before Hono grabbed it about a quarter below the head, parallel to the ground.
"You want to see it?"
"Hono…." Ashe sighed in disapproval.
"What? It's fine, it's fine. Here."
Hono dropped the staff into Ruby's open palms. When it fell noiselessly into her palm, Ruby gasped, "It's so light!"
She twisted the staff in her hands, aweing at the intricate details that dotted every surface of the weapon, from the Grimm masked head to the ebony wood etched with red. It was vicious but seemed to suit the friendly boy to a tee.
"How does it work? I don't see any dust cartridge in this…." Ruby mused.
"Ah, well, I'll be the first to admit I cheated. I made it from my semblance." Hono turned to pull back his staff, "Part of it allows me to bind and sever material, which I used to weld the pieces together. See here? I never used any metal for its construction. I had no need to."
"Oh! I see! Well, this is my baby!" Ruby pulled her weapon, sheathed as a large gun, from her waist with a flourish, the mechanical whirls combined with her own whirls. The solid metal tip of the oversized scythe pierced straight into the cement path.
"Ooh…" Elm and Synca clapped at the display, to which Ruby bowed.
"Thank you, thank you. I appreciate your kindness!" The girl grinned.
Hono snorted as Ashe whispered conspiratorially to him with a grin, "So she seems like the kind of adorkable people you'd attract."
"Talking about yourself again?"
"Me? Oh no, dearest Hono. I was not the one that gallantly ran her to class like a knight with his princess in arm." Ashe grinned, "What? The three of us not enough for you?"
"Says the one that arm-barred me yesterday!"
"It's also a sniper rifle! Capable of using any modern dust. But I do need to make the cartridges myself…."
"Is that difficult?"
"Not really, just a bit expensive. But I now have a discount for being both a regular customer and a huntress! Well, in training but it still applies!" Ruby hugged her scythe, "Not to mention that the old man was really happy that I help save his store."
"Really? What happened?" Elm asked and Synca nodded.
"Oh! There were these guys stealing for the store I was in so I went like bam! The guy flew like thirty feet out the window! I was so cool!" Ruby squeaked as she told the tale of how she earned a place in Beacon academy…a year earlier than usual. It was truly a heroic tale, from the smartly dressed thief named Torchwick to Goodwitch to the helicopter getaway. It sounded like a blast, and Elm and Synca were both equally entranced.
"Ruby!" Someone called out. Team ASHE and Ruby turned towards the blond racing towards them, "Finally! I found you!" Yang tilted her head to regard at team ASHE and grinned. Something about her baby sister interacting with the darker team gave her the giggles.
Elm and Synca sat on the ground, eyes twinkling before Ruby. Ruby, the young and fearless leader was in the middle of her demonstration. With one feet on her knee and an arm raised into the skies, Ruby looked as if she was about to leap into action...or greet the floor with her face, as she just did.
"Oof."
Yang couldn't help it, "I'd make a tripping joke, but I think it'd just fall flat."
"Yang." Moaned her little sister, "Weren't you going to find Blake?"
"Not in the library. I was going to ask you if you had seen her. But, you know, all good plans just seem to fall apart." Ruby groaned again and just laid her face flat to the ground, done with Yang's stupid jokes.
"What have you done." Demanded Hono.
"Oh cheer up Hono, at least our agreement didn't fall through." Ashe grinned, her eyebrows waggling.
"Shut up, the lot of you or I swear…"
"You swear you'll what? Ground us?" Elm replied unabashedly.
"Oh. My. Oum."
"Hey Hono, I know you work fast, but we don't need another girl falling for you." Ashe again.
"SHE WAS DOING A ONE MAN PLAY TO ELM AND SYNCA!" Oops, it seems Hono's character just snapped.
"Seems more like 3p to me!" Oh Yang. The berserker blond hid her smile behind her hands; she had to! If she didn't it was very likely that her laugh would be audible all the way across campus. There was this odd, twisted, and quite frankly constipated look on Hono's face. His hands flexed and wiggled around his face as if to scratch himself completed with strangled screech.
Then Elm made a disgusted noise, turning a scandalized look towards the serenely smiling Synca. Yang and Ruby -who was still flat on her belly- gave Elm a quizzical look.
She waved them off, "Synca, there is a little something called class you know." The girl in question just beamed brightly, a shameless smile to be sure.
"Something that none of us have today. In both sense of the word." Hono moaned.
"Are you guys gonna be at the dance?" The first sensible thing to come from Yang today came as a relief for Hono.
"Yea. We figured that we might as well. First school function here and everything." The boy shrugged, "Should be fun."
And so, a shit eating grin wide enough to span all of Remnant grew on the blond's face before giving Ashe and Elm an wink. They too developed the much too devious and terrifying look. They turned to Hono and Ruby who shared a brief moment in solidarity as doom approached.
"You know what that means! Shopping!"
…
"Explain to me again why I'm doing this?"
"Because you're a guy."
"I protest this as misandry."
"Oh lighten up, you're in the company of five lovely young girls and the only thing you can do is complain?"
"Oh shut it Ashe. I didn't want to come shopping for clothes." In a brilliant moment of childishness, Hono turned away, pouting with his arms crossed as a mountain of bags and boxes loomed over him.
The grey haired girl merely giggled and poked his puffed cheeks, "Aw, don't be like that. I promise it'll be worth your time."
"Last time you said that we ended up halfway across the continent and Synca missing her left arm."
Ruby and Yang watched the couple argue and banter and tease from the store window. They couldn't help but to notice the happiness that shone from them. And, well, the inconspicuously conspicuous hand holding is pretty evident.
Soundlessly, Synca approached the staring pair and tapped Ruby's shoulders. Yellow and red turned to the ever smiling Synca, who twirled to demonstrate her forest green dress. Ruby squealed.
"Aw, you're so cute!" She latched onto Synca like an octopus.
Synca nodded and flipped her hair, smiling smugly at Yang.
"Look here half-pint, no one challenges me to a luscious hair flip contest." Yang replied teasingly, flipping her voluminous locks as well. It was a stalemate and so the two begrudgingly accepted their mutual ability to hair flip.
Then Synca realized what the sisters were staring at earlier. She pointed a slender wooden finger towards the sitting couple outside the clothe shop.
"Are they always like that?" A nod from Synca.
"Are they together?" Yang, asking the real questions here. Synca nodded again before pantomiming something odd. She quickly realized the futility of doing so to someone that doesn't understand her and decided to call her translator.
A few hand flips and gestures later, Elm approached with a mountain clothes as far the eye can see.
"Yes Synca dear? You need something?" A few frantic and puzzling gestures graced the eyes of Yang and Ruby, "Oh! Ok, I see."
Elm dumped the clothes to a safe corner before turning to the half of team RWBY that was present, Elm began to explain the rather complicated dynamics that held team ASHE together.
"Well...it's complicated." Brilliant Elm, we just established this. Then the serpentine faunus hesitated, "We...well, all four of us are together. I guess."
"You say what now." Ruby just blushed as her overactive imagination took on her semblance.
"You have to understand who Hono is to us, what he means to all of us." Elm sighed, taking a seat and invited the others to do the same. Synca naturally sat in her lap, "He...he is our master. Teacher I mean by that. Taught us all we knew of our powers."
A wry smile met the silent girls' probing eyes, "We are not like you. We have auras and we have semblance yes, but their development were...changed. I am not at liberty to tell you how, ask Hono or Ashe if you really want to know." Elm took a few seconds of silence to watch the customers stream around and about, using the peace to collect her words.
"Are there more of you?" Ruby did not understand her words, yet something within herself resonated with that bold proclamation. As is something unconscious was affirming that yes, the four were of a much different making.
A much darker making.
"Yes. There are seven of us. The other three are back protecting our village." Elm played with Synca's hair with her idle hands, "Should call them over actually. A day or two won't hurt."
"Wait, just give me a moment. How is Hono your teacher? Isn't Ashe your leader?" Yang frowned.
"She certainly is. Hono...well, he isn't the most motivated of people. Ashe is much better at rallying us into arms while Hono does have a particular peoples skill. She was his first."
Ruby's blush came back into full force, as red as her cape. In this sort of tense situation, Yang was caught off guard a second time by the words, "You say what now?"
"You already asked that you know." Elm replied mildly before explaining, "The first of his chosen. We three are those chosen to bear our mark. He is the first flame, and we the shadows that he casts."
"Aren't you taking his semblance a bit too seriously?"
"If you see us as we truly are, you would agree with my words."
"Hey! Are you guys done already? It's been three hours and I'm hungry!" Hono called from outside, "Bloody hell, women!"
"Oi! Hono! You just lost your character!" Elm retorted before laughing uproariously at the ironic sudden inversion of her character, "Damn, just come in! I want a man's opinion on my clothes!"
"Gah! Fine." Hono stepped past Ruby and Yang before freezing and turning back to loom over them. Yang met him halfway, a frown deep set upon her brows. He gave a short 'Ha' before wandering off to Elm, only to say one thing, "Come find me if you want to know more. Bring your team, Red."
...
She prowled unseen by the common masses, blending into plain sight regardless of the weapons she held. Remnants of her younger self, both the good and the bad, resurfaced after all those years.
Nevermind the White Fang, these four students, if they can be called so are the true villains. And she can't deny the possibility of them being in with the White Fang as well; they were all faunus. There was no way for them to escape the scent that surrounds them.
One of them broke off, the snake, waving and laughing off her friend's concern only to dart into a secluded, dead end alley way with a sink towards her. She followed immediately, weaving through the pedestrians with practiced ease without any of them even knowing.
The snake faunus looked behind her shoulder, a vial hanging from her lips, what concoction drained with a few stubborn drops clinging to the sides, fizzing like a blue raspberry soft drink.
"Oh. It's you." She sounded genially surprised that she came, "I'm sorry, but I only felt a presence. I didn't realize it was you, Blake."
"...You are a danger." Blake hissed, her bow twitching.
"Oh don't give me that, we're all dangerous. It comes with being a huntress. Or hunter. Or a person."
"That's not what I mean."
"Of course." Elm smiled indulgently.
"...Are you with the White Fang?"
"The White Fang? Why would I be a part of that squabble?" Elm frowned lightly, "While I do appreciate them trying to make faunus' lives better, doing so at the expense of others is so very wrong." Then those sharp serpentine eyes narrowed in on Blake, something inside seemed burned with a evil red.
Frozen by the predatory gaze, Blake could only grit her teeth and tremble. She made a mistake.
"And what about you? Are you one of them still?"
Blake flinched and shook her head, the only thing she can move right now. Elm nodded and blinked once, releasing Blake from her mental prison...only to trap her in a physical one.
From the corner of her eyes, Blake saw a clone, a doppleganger of Elm. Same look, same gaze, same ponytail if white instead of black. But the longer she saw the same look, the more differences became obvious. It was...feral to say the least with sharp fangs on full display. Not to mention the deathly paleness that prevaded the clone.
"Right now, the only one that is a danger is you." Elm watched with detached bemusement as Blake struggled fruitlessly against her doppelganger, "You should not trouble your team like this. You will only find your death if you do not confide in your allies."
"I don't think someone holding a hostage can say anything about others being a danger!" Blake snarled ineffectively.
"I am sorry that it had to come to this." Elm bowed lowly, "And I apologize once more in advance."
"Wha-?!" Before Blake could make any more protests, something scalding flowed through those sharp fangs into her neck. She has to scream, but her voice won't work. Her sight warped, blurred, then became dark all together. It was unclear when she actually fell unconscious...but before she did, she heard Elm saying one last thing.
"Now, to find Ruby."
…
When she awoke once more, it was to the bottom of Yang's precariously balanced bed, held up with tough hardcover books, ingenuity, and not a small amount of blatant disregard for physics. That is not to mention Ruby's bed, that might as well be hanging by a thread.
A dull ache radiated from her neck, reminding her of the events that just transpired. She made to get up but was pushed down firmly by a rather irate golden blond.
Arms crossed, eyes narrowed, and hair billowing in some unseen wind, Yang appeared as if a irate war goddess, one that was equal parts disappointed and ashamed of what she had done.
"So…" Yang drawled, "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Blake gave her partner the best drowned cat look she could, "What do you mean?"
Yang harrumphed in return, "Don't act stupid, it doesn't suit you. Nor does the stuck up, nose in the air spiel; that's Weiss's shtick." Then her expression changed, a pleading one if there ever was, "What did you do?"
"I did nothing!" Blake protested immediately, "Why don't you go ask Elm what she did?"
"I did. And she told me." Blake seemed to shrink down upon herself at the disapproving look of her blond friend, "While I don't quite agree with what she did, I can certainly appreciate it. When was the last you even slept?"
"It doesn't matter. Torchwick and the White Fang are far more important."
"You have to slow down. You can't keep doing this! It's destroying you! It's hurting our team."
"I can't. I won't stop until Torchwick and the White Fang pay for what they had done. Have done."
"And I never told you to stop! We need you to slow down. We are a team aren't we? You have to talk to us. Tell us so we can actually help you." Yang sighed heavily, shoulders sagging as she took a seat on Blake's bed, thumbs twiddling, "You know…" Blake's ribbon twitched, "Ruby and I grew up in Patch, which is just some island off the coast of Vale. Our parents were huntsmen. Dad would teach at Signal and mom would take missions all around. Summer Rose, my mother, slayer of monsters and baker of cookies, an amazing woman that was far greater than her actual size. But…."
"...She didn't come back."
Yang nodded, "Ruby was really torn up. But I don't think she was old enough to realize what was actually happening. But dad...dad just kinda shriveled up. Only got better a few years ago really. And it didn't take me long to figure out why." The blond closed her eyes, and leaned backwards a bit, kicking her feet into the air, "I'm only Ruby's half-sister. Summer wasn't my mother in the strictest sense. My birth mother, dad's first lover left us right after I was born. And it turns out the three of them and my uncle Qrow were in a team together."
"Why did she leave you?"
A hoarse, mirthless laugh was Yang's reaction to the question, "Wouldn't I be damned to know. Why did she leave us? Why? Why? Why? I would ask anyone that would care to look at me. No one really had an answer though. But one day...I found something. A lead, or perhaps just hopeful thinking. So I waited until dad was gone, put Ruby in a wagon and set off, determined to pursue my goals." Yang's hair rustled and waved with each shake of her head, "If I only knew how stupid I was. It must have been hours since we left. I had cuts and bruises in places I didn't even knew existed, and Ruby was dead to the world. When I finally got there, I felt triumphant at first but then I realized what I just brought ourselves to; a den of beowolves. All I could see was their burning red eyes."
Blake twitched a little, "Red eyes…."
Yang continued with her tale, having not heard Blake's mutters, "So there I was, a stupid, idiotic kid too tired to even scream and a toddler dozing off to neverland, served up on a silver platter. But...as luck would have it, our uncle arrived just in time." Yang turned to Blake, unshed tears glistening, "We could have died that day. I should have for my stupidity."
Blake sat up, a hand on Yang's shoulder, "Yang. I...I hear what you are saying...and I'm sorry that had happened to you. But this is different." With each word, Blake's words became louder and all the more desperate, "I am not a child! And this is not just a search for answers! I can't just-"
"And I told you that I never never wanted you to stop!" Yang retorted, "To this day, I continue to look for the reason why my mother left us. But I will never let it control me. Never again. If we destroy ourselves in the process, then what good comes for that?"
"You don't understand! I'm the only one that can do-!"
"You're the one that don't understand! If Roman Torchwick walked through that door at this moment, what would you do?"
"I'd fight him!"
Taking advantage of their position, Yang grabbed Blake's arms and pinned them to the bed. Then, she sat on top of her teammate, using her weight and legs to pin Blake down. The irate female squirmed and hissed, not particularly eager to be trapped again.
"And you'd lose!" Yang mashed their foreheads together, and vibrantly shining red peered into gold as she tried to make the girl under her understand, "Look. You can't even beat me!"
Blake simply glared at the gloat. Slowly, the red faded from Yang's eyes. Her herculean grip weakened before drawing her friend into an equally devastating hug, "Please. I am not asking you to stop. You need rest. Not just for you, but for everyone that you care about."
Staring into those soulful purple eyes, Blake just about forgot what she was worried about for the last few days. Yang was right; she had friends, she had allies.
"Alright."
"Good to hear." Then Yang grinned, "Well, with that taken care off, you're coming to the dance tomorrow. And then, you'll have the absolute pleasure that is a dance with me."
Blake rolled her eyes, "Rather full of yourself, don't you think?"
"Well, of course! I'm certainly going turn heads tomorro-!"
"Y-Yang?!" That distinct squeak could only have one source; a particularly traumatized team leader named Ruby Rose.
"Hey! There are children around here! What do you two think you are doing?" Of course, and that was Weiss, with a hand covering Ruby's eyes rather ineffectual. The angry undertones, however, was quite understandable for once.
They must have looked quite a sight, tangled up in a bed with the sheets somewhere gone, and clothes and hair rustled and wild. Blake and Yang leaped away from each other with Blake trying her hardest to hide behind her books and Yang rediscovering the location of the blankets.
In short, she took a dive backwards.
"Gah!" Oh, how the mighty falls.
...
Well then! Hows about them apples? Some introspection on the part of Hono and Blake, and some modified dialogues to match the changing storyline. It will be a slow change, I do plan on using volume 3 as a major battlefield, so watch out for that. Beyond that, all I can say is to review and to keep coming back! :D