Neo never considered herself a very religious person when she was alive. As it turns out, having religion forcibly beaten into you by the people who ran the orphanage she lived in wasn't exactly an effective way to spread a message supposedly about love and kindness. But since she could definitely tell she was still conscious, that could only mean that she was in the afterlife.
It was dark and warm so Neo deduced she'd been sent to the bad place, which wasn't really a surprise to her in the slightest. Sure, she'd robbed and stolen pretty much as a means to survive but that didn't change the reality that she was a criminal. However, this was far more pleasant than Neo had been lead to believe it would be. All she'd ever heard about was the eternal fire and darkness but this was pretty nice and cozy. Sure, eventually she'd get bored with being in the dark with seemingly nothing to do but for now, it was actually kinda pleasant. Someone in her vicinity was cooking something and it smelled delicious. Neo started to try to move towards the source of the scent but as she started walking, her hand struck something solid.
"Ow!" Neo's eyes shot open as something moved next to her, trying to get away. Neo blinked several times to try and regain her vision and she started to become aware that she was lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room. Eventually, the room came into focus and Neo noticed someone was sitting next to her with long, blonde hair. The person was sitting on the edge of the bed and pawing at their face while mumbling under their breath.
"Should have figured that the first thing you'd do was clock me in the face," the stranger said. They then turned to look at Neo and suddenly Neo recognized who was with her. It was that blonde kid from Beacon who she'd fought on the train. Her eyes went wide and she let out a surprised yell that only came out as a raspy breath. Neo tried to scramble away but her entire body shut down that idea and refused to budge.
"Whoa, whoa, it's okay. Take it easy. You're okay. I'm not going to hurt you, Neo," the blonde said to her softly to try and calm her down. Neo wrenched her hands free of the blankets and quickly began signing.
"What are you doing here?! Where am I? What's going on?"
"Oh, I didn't realize you were deaf. I'm so sorry," the blonde signed back to her. "I was just trying to tell you that you're okay and you're safe."
"Wait, you know sign language?" Neo signed with a genuinely surprised look on her face. She hadn't been expecting that.
"Yeah, we all get taught it in school so that we can communicate but stay quiet in case we need to be stealthy."
"Okay," Neo began as she pushed herself up into a seated position. "Well first off, I'm not deaf, I'm just mute, Blondie."
"Oh, that's good to know," Yang said cheerfully, abandoning her sign language. "And it's Yang, by the way."
"Whatever," Neo signed as she rolled her eyes. "Now, where am I?"
"You're at my father's house on the island of Patch," Yang replied. "I found you last night in the middle of the blizzard near our house. You were out cold so I carried you back here. I'm just glad you're okay. Things looked really bad there for a bit."
"Why are you glad that I'm okay? Shouldn't you want me dead?" Neo asked as she let out a disbelieving snort of air.
"Look," Yang began, scowling at Neo, "just because we don't like each other doesn't mean it's okay for me to just leave you to freeze to death. If I see someone who is in trouble, I'm going to do what I can to help them. Even if it is you."
"My hero," Neo signed flippantly. Of course these goody two-shoes huntresses couldn't pass up an opportunity to play the knight in shining armor. "You really should have just left me to die, though."
"And why is that?" Yang asked warily. She knew better than to expect someone like Neo to be grateful but she wasn't expecting her to be so grim about it.
"Did you ever consider that maybe I wanted to die? That I'm fed up with everything in this miserable life and wanted it to be over?"
"I think you probably would have tried something quicker and less painful than turning yourself into a popsicle if that really was the case," reasoned Yang.
"Fair enough," conceded Neo. "But it's true, though. I was ready for it all to be over."
"Why? What happened to you?" Yang asked as she tentatively reached out to touch Neo's shoulder but thought better of it and retracted her hand.
"What makes you think I want to tell you that?"
"I dunno. You brought it up."
"I guess I did. Maybe I'll tell you some other time. I'm too tired right now." The effort of going through all the motions of signing to Yang was starting to wear Neo out.
"Do you want some food? My Dad's cooking some soup."
"Is that what smells so good?"
"Yeah, Dad's soup will rock your socks. Would you like some?"
"That would be nice," Neo admitted begrudgingly as her stomach growled. It had been weeks since she'd had a decent meal.
Yang got up off the edge of the bed and walked across the room to the door. She cracked it open and said, "Hey Ruby, when the soup's done, can you bring me a bowl, please?"
"Sure thing, sis!" Ruby called from the kitchen. Neo's stomach turned as she heard her voice. That was that red bitch in the hood. She was the one who kept sticking her nose in Roman's business. She was the one who found their hideout in the caves and caused the plan to start. She was why Roman was in jail and she nearly froze to death. Neo hated this Ruby almost as much as she hated Cinder. Yang closed the door and stood against the wall, giving Neo her space. Neither one spoke again as the air was thick with tension. After several minutes, the door swung open and Ruby walked inside with a gigantic bowl with a spoon inside.
"Here's your soup, Yang!" Ruby said proudly, holding out the bowl for her sister. But as Yang took it, Ruby noticed Neo was awake and was glaring menacingly at her. "EEK! She's awake!" Ruby screeched as she backpedaled into the wall.
"Oh, yeah, I guess I should have mentioned that," Yang said sheepishly as she set the bowl down on the nightstand beside the bed. "Sorry sis. But thanks for bringing some soup for her."
"What? Oh, yeah, sure, no problem!" Ruby said with her voice shaking in fear. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up for Neo. She pretended to roar at Ruby and raised her hands like claws. Ruby shrieked in terror and sped out of the room, sending a cloud of rose petals everywhere. Neo started laughing hard, pounding her fist on the mattress.
"Was that really necessary?" Yang asked sternly, not at all amused.
"No, but it was hilarious," replied Neo without lifting her head up from the pillow she was laughing into.
"Never mind," Yang said as she shook her head in disapproval. She then placed the bowl on the mattress next to Neo. "Do you think you can eat on your own?"
"Of course I can, dummy. How pitiful do you think I am?" But as Neo went to grab the spoon, it slipped through her fingers and clattered to the hardwood floor. Neo stared at her hand in shock, flexing her fingers to try and get them to work properly. But it felt like her hand was encased in clay. Every movement felt like it took a hundred times the effort it usually did. Meanwhile, Yang was stifling a giggle into her fist.
"Do you still want me to answer that question?" Yang asked sarcastically. She knew it wasn't very polite but she couldn't help feeling satisfied at watching Neo figuratively fall on her face like that. But then she switched back into caregiver mode as she told Neo, "I'll go get you a fresh spoon. I don't exactly know the last time the floors in here were cleaned so I don't want you catching anything worse than you've already got.
Neo didn't appear to register what Yang said as she kept staring at her hands. Yang waited for a moment to see if she would respond at all before shrugging and bending down to pick up the spoon Neo dropped. As she left, her father Taiyang was waiting by the door, looking displeased.
"Yang, what's going on in there?" Taiyang asked as he crossed his arms across his chest.
"What do you mean?"
"Why exactly did Ruby come bolting out of that room in terror and take shelter under the stairs?" Yang glanced and saw a few stray rose petals leading to the closet underneath the stairs.
"Oh, that. Neo thought it would be funny to try and scare Ruby, that's all," answered Yang dismissively as she strode past her father and deposited the spoon in the sink.
"It wasn't funny at all!" Ruby yelled from inside the closet.
"Neo, huh?" Taiyang asked curiously. "Do you girls know her?"
"Uh, yeah, we met her at school, that's all," Yang said quickly as she grabbed a fresh spoon from the silverware drawer. She also took the small whiteboard off of the refrigerator so Neo could write what she wanted to say instead of having to sign all the time. But before she could get back into the room, Ruby threw open the closet door.
"She helped with the train that blew up Vale!" Ruby cried before slamming the door again. Yang winced from the crash of the door and from knowing the can of worms that Ruby had just opened. She tried to brush it off and get back to Neo but Taiyang grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Hold it right there, young lady," Taiyang said angrily, his eyes taking on a red hue. "You mean to tell me that the girl you saved is one of those terrorists that Ozpin is trying to stop? And you brought her into our house?"
"Yes, dad, that's right," replied Yang flatly, not in the mood for an argument right now. "I saved her from freezing to death and brought her here. What's your point?"
"My point is do you know how much danger you've just put this family in, Yang? You need to get her out of this house right now!"
"No," Yang said without hesitation.
"Excuse me?" Taiyang asked in disbelief.
"You heard me," Yang affirmed in a dangerous tone. "No."
"What exactly do you mean, 'no?'"
"She's not even well enough to feed herself right now," argued Yang, attempting to make her father see reason. "If you throw her out, she'll die."
"So, send her to the hospital. That's probably where she should be if you really want her to get better. We're not exactly equipped to treat anything more serious than a headcold right now."
"And how exactly is she supposed to get there? You do remember that whole blizzard thing, right? The snow's piled halfway up the front door. I'm no expert but I don't think any ambulance driver in the kingdoms could get to us right now."
"Look, I really don't care where she goes as long as it's not in this house, got it?" Taiyang shouted with finality.
"Will you listen to yourself right now, Dad?!" Yang hollered as she slammed her foot into the ground. "You're literally telling me to condemn someone to die. And you're somehow okay with that? You raised me better than that. So, I'm telling you again, no, I'm not making her leave. Now, if you'll please excuse me, the soup is getting cold and I need to help her eat." Before Taiyang could offer a response, Yang shouldered her way past him and stomped into the room, slamming the door behind her. She took a few breaths to calm herself back down and put on a smile that was quickly erased when she saw Neo crying silently.
"Hey, you okay? What's wrong?" Yang asked with concern as she knelt down beside the bed. Neo started to sign a response but kept stopping herself and restarting. Yang offered her the whiteboard and marker to see if she wanted to use that instead. Neo blinked a few times and sniffled as she considered the white board before taking it and starting to quickly write. After a few moments, she passed the board to Yang to read.
"Am I okay? No, of course I'm not okay! Look at me! I'm clinging to life in the home of someone who hates me and I can't even feed myself! I've lost everything I ever cared about in my life. I have no home, no friends, no money, no way to protect myself, nothing!"
Yang read over Neo's message, feeling her guts twist up with every word. When she was finished, she swallowed hard and glanced over at Neo who was hugging her knees to her chest. Under normal circumstances, Yang would have given her one of her legendary bone crushing hugs. But Neo definitely didn't seem like the kind of person who would appreciate affection like that. Instead, she simply wiped away Neo's message and passed the board back to her.
"Are you still hungry?" Yang asked softly. She wasn't exactly sure what she wanted Neo to reply with. Part of her hoped she said yes and would allow Yang to take care of her. But another just wanted to get the hell out of there and leave her alone. After a minute of sitting in silence, Neo finally nodded that she was still hungry. Yang picked up the still warm bowl of soup and scooped out a spoonful. She then blew gently on the soup to make sure it wasn't too hot and then held the spoon in front of Neo's mouth, waiting for her to eat from it. Neo let out a fresh sob as she realized the unpleasantness of the situation but eventually craned her neck out and took the spoon into her mouth. She closed her eyes as she felt the warmth of the soup immediately start to warm her from the inside.
"Is it okay?" Yang asked nervously.
"It's delicious," Neo signed back, unable to keep a small smile off her face.
"Would you like some more, then?" Neo nodded enthusiastically and awaited for Yang to bring her another spoonful. Sure, this was undoubtedly the most humiliating moment of her life. But at least the soup was good and the person feeding it to her wasn't so bad either. Yang readied another spoonful of soup for Neo who took it far more readily than the first time. After a few minutes spent in silence with Yang feeding Neo, the bowl was empty.
"I would offer you some more but I'm sure your stomach's not in the best shape so I don't want to overdo it," Yang said as she set the empty bowl on the nightstand.
"Makes sense," Neo signed back. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Would you like some time alone?"
"Yeah, I could use that," answered Neo as she tried to suppress a large yawn. "I'm still really tired."
"Okay, you got it. Just call if you need anything, okay?" It took a beat for Yang to realize just how stupid what she said was. Neo simply glared at her. "Okay, yeah, that might prove to be a bit hard. Hang on a second. Are you good with pets?"
"I guess?" Neo signed in confusion.
"Perfect!" Yang then opened up the door a crack and called out into the house. "Hey Zwei? Come here boy!" There was a moment of silence before Neo heard some padded footsteps scampering across the floor. Yang bent down in the doorway and when she stood back up, she had a fluffy corgi in her arms. Neo couldn't help putting her hands over her mouth in surprise and joy. This Zwei was so cute. Yang then brought him over to Neo and set him down on the bed. Neo tentatively reached out to pet Zwei who happily let her.
"Zwei, you remember Neo?" Yang asked the dog who yipped in confirmation.
"Wait, how would he remember me?" Neo asked quickly before going back to petting Zwei.
"He's the one who found you passed out and led me to you. If there's anyone you really should thank for you being alive right now, it's him."
"Thank you," Neo mouthed to Zwei, wishing she had a voice she could properly say it with. Zwei wagged his tail happily and licked Neo's hand.
"Anyway," Yang continued, "Neo's going to be staying with us for a little bit. But she's not feeling very well and unfortunately, she can't talk. So I'm giving you a job, okay boy? I need you to keep watch over her for me when I'm not in here. If it looks like she needs someone to come help her, just give us a bark, okay?" Zwei replied by climbing up onto Yang and trying to lick her face. "Okay, good boy. I'm gonna go get your bed, okay? You keep Neo company. But if she doesn't want any attention, just leave her alone, okay?"
Zwei barked and jumped off the bed down to the floor. Yang went to go get Zwei his bed and left Neo by herself in the bedroom. Even if she had the ability to talk, Neo was at a loss for words as to the situation she found herself in. Over the past couple days, she'd been beaten up, stuffed in a crate, survived attempted murder, been attacked by beowolves, gotten stranded in a blizzard and passed out from the cold and now she found herself being taken in and taken care of by someone who she would have previously labeled a sworn enemy. But after how Yang had taken care of her and defended her against her father, Neo was starting to wonder just who this girl was and what was her deal. But as the edges of her vision began to darken and she felt herself slumping down into the comfort of the mattress, she decided that she'd have to find those answers some other time. Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep and try to get better again.
After Yang had returned with Zwei's bed and made sure that Neo was comfortable, she turned out the light and left the guest room. She immediately went to the closet under the stairs and knocked on the door. Slowly the door creaked open and a single silver eye could be seen through the crack.
"You can come out now, sis," Yang told Ruby as she rolled her eyes at her sister's behavior. Ruby opened the door fully and tried to exit the closet but she tripped over a bucket and crashed down to the floor with a shrill yell. An avalanche of cleaning supplies, Christmas decorations and old videotapes fell on top of the young reaper. As Ruby struggled to extricate herself from the mess, Yang sighed and shook her head.
"Honestly, I don't know why you're so freaked out, Ruby. You really need to chill out," scolded Yang as she held out a hand to help Ruby up.
"Gee, I dunno, Yang," snapped Ruby. "I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the last time we saw her, she was kicking your ass so hard that I'm surprised it's not still bruised."
"Language, young lady" Taiyang said as he came downstairs to investigate the loud crash. Ruby muttered something under her breath as she walked over to the refrigerator and pulled a jar down from on top of it labeled 'Swear Jar.' She then fished a lien out of her pocket and stuffed it in the jar before returning it to its place.
"Yeah, last time she wiped the floor with me," muttered Yang bitterly, clearly not fond of the memory Ruby just brought up. "But this isn't last time. I mean just look at her."
"Regardless of her current condition," Taiyang said calmly, holding up both hands to try to appeal for peace between the two sisters, "we still need to have a talk about what's going to happen with our new guest."
"I already told you that I'm not going to let you kick her out, Dad." Yang bristled.
"I know. And I agree with what you said. I let my emotions get the better of me and you're right, it would be inhumane to kick her out with nowhere to go in weather like this. But we have to stay on our toes because we don't know how long it's going to be before her friends come looking for her."
"I don't think she's a threat right now," said Yang far more calmly than she had been a moment ago. "She had a bit of a breakdown and during it, she told me how she's lost everything, including her house and all her friends. And I could tell it wasn't just an act. She's legitimately at the end of her rope right now."
"And you believe her?" Ruby asked incredulously.
"Yes, Ruby, I do," Yang shot back with a scowl.
"I know you want to believe her, Yang," sighed Taiyang wearily, "but the fact remains that she's not somebody who deserves our trust."
"I know she doesn't deserve it but I dunno. I just have this gut feeling about her that she really needs somebody to help her. And I feel like I can do that for her. Maybe we can make her an ally?"
"I wouldn't count on that," muttered Ruby just loud enough to be heard by everyone.
"At some point soon," Taiyang said sharply to counter Ruby's interruption, "you need to talk to her and get as much information out of her as you can. We need to know why she's here on Patch and what she was doing before you found her."
"I'm not going to interrogate her, Dad," Yang said in annoyance. "She's not some prisoner. She's done nothing wrong to us."
"Does helping crash a train into downtown Vale and letting the city get overrun by Grimm not ring any bells?" Ruby asked sardonically.
"That's enough, Ruby," snapped Taiyang as he rounded on his younger daughter. "Upstairs to your room, now."
"But Daddy!" Ruby protested.
"No buts. Yang and I are trying to have a serious talk about this matter and you're not contributing anything positive. March upstairs until we're done." Ruby huffed in annoyance and stuck her tongue out at Yang who just rolled her eyes. Ruby then stomped loudly upstairs and slammed her door behind her. Taiyang grimaced and shook his head in disappointment. As mature and gifted as Ruby had been to be accepted into Beacon early, sometimes she could still be a teenage brat.
"Anyway," said Yang to break the silence, "as I said, I'm not going to interrogate her. If you want answers from her so badly, call up Qrow or Ozpin."
"I really don't want it to have to come to that if it doesn't have to," Taiyang said heavily, worn out from all that had happened in the past day. "I'm hoping that she'll be willing to talk simply because of what you did for her."
"Even if she would be willing to talk to me, do you really think she'd give me a straight answer?"
"It's tough to say. I guess it really depends on how much she wants to protect her allies. If what she told you already is true and she's acting on her own, I see no reason why she'd lie." As Yang was about to offer another retort, the smoke alarm suddenly started beeping. "Oh no, I forgot about our dinner!"
Taiyang dashed to the oven and threw open the door to find the roast he was cooking had been badly burned. Acrid smoke poured out and caused Taiyang to start coughing. Yang groaned and grabbed the fire extinguisher from the closet Ruby had been hiding in and quickly doused the flames.
"So, spaghetti then?" Yang asked as she waved her hand to try and clear the smoke from her face. Taiyang simply nodded as he pulled the burnt roast from the oven.