In Commemoration
Blake walked into the locker room to find everything in disarray: locker doors dented and left hanging open, weapon parts scattered on the floor. Glancing around for the source of the destruction, her eyes landed on a voluptuous blonde who was tearing away at a locker like a woman possessed. Raising an eyebrow, Blake asked cautiously as she tentatively approached the feral female, "Are you... okay, Yang?"
Blake reared back when she was met with bloodshot eyes. "No, I'm not! I can't find Ember Celica anywhere!" Yang shrieked.
Blake's eyebrow remained quirked.
The frazzled girl went back to ransacking another locker as she explained, "You know, my gauntlets. I can't find them anywhere!"
"Are you sure they aren't in your locker?" Blake asked, folding her arms and shifting her weight to rest on her right leg.
Yang looked up to shoot Blake a dirty look. "Look, I know I have my moments of ditziness–"
"Moments?" the bow-wearing female interjected with an almost imperceptible smile.
"–but you of all people should know that I'm better than forgetting where I left my weapon at," she grunted while prying open another locker.
Blake thought for a second, before bobbing her head. "…You still haven't answered my question, though. Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. They're not there," Yang said matter-of-factly. Turning back to the task at hand, she continued, "Now less talking, more helping!"
Blake shrugged. "It's not my fault if you were irresponsible enough to lose Ember Celica," she replied nonchalantly as she walked to her own locker opposite the one Yang rifled through. Opening the door, she was met with the sight of... nothing.
"... It's gone. It's gone..." Blake murmured to herself, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Yang looks over her shoulder before exclaiming, "BY JOVE, WE'VE GOT A CASE TO SOLVE, WATSON!"
"Gambol Shroud... Where..."
The blonde strode to her partner and grabbed her roughly by the arm, declaring valiantly, "Come now, Watson! WE GO!"
Pulling her stupefied teammate along, Yang trudged towards the training grounds with fire in her eyes. She would find the culprit, she would, and when she did... they would feel her wrath. Blake, still somewhat stunned that someone could sneak Gambol Shroud away from under her nose, allowed her furious partner to drag her around like a rag doll.
As soon as the duo arrived at the grounds, Yang's eyes glinted malevolently as she scanned the area, evaluating the few people left in their batch. After the initiation process in the Emerald Forest, the freshmen roster had seen a severe cut in the number of students still... around. As such, it was easy to see that everyone else was in attendance and with their equipment.
Everyone except Ruby and Weiss.
Blake and Yang looked briefly at each other before their expressions twisted into similar scowls. Without a word, the pair turned swiftly on their heels in synchrony and darted back into the Academy, with only one objective in mind.
Get to Ruby and Weiss's dorm room.
The predatory duo tore through the pristine halls like bloodhounds, focused on the trail they've picked up. As they approached the dormitory, they sped up further, intent on finding the person who took their belongings. Turning a corner, they slid so as to maintain as much momentum...
Only to bump into one Weiss Schnee.
The three spilled into a heap on the floor, limbs tangled.
Fuelled by adrenaline, Yang was the first to slip out of the mess and stumble to her feet. She shook her head to clear the fog that came with tackling someone at near maximum velocity, before realising just who it was she crashed into.
"You," she snarled, baring gritted teeth as she stomped towards the still dazed heiress, picking her up by the lapels of her jacket. "Where is Ember Celica?"
"And Gambol Shroud," Blake added in a ticked off tone, brushing off the dust that clung to her clothes from the fall.
Weiss shoved Yang back. "Firstly, don't touch me, you brute," Weiss snapped, fixing her coat. "And I wouldn't know where your weapons are. I'm trying to find Myrtenaster as well. And my fool of a partner–"
"My sister is not a fool you conceited–"
"–is nowhere to be found," Weiss finished evenly, lifting an eyebrow in challenge.
Yang paused, pressing her lips together. She had suspected this was the case, but...
"Did you check your room, Weiss?" Blake inquired, eyes hardened.
The heiress nodded. "I just left."
"We need to find Ruby," Blake said impassively.
"I was about to head for the classrooms," Weiss informed the two. "One of the professors told me she was last seen heading that way."
The raven-haired female dipped her head in understanding, before tilting it left to indicate for Weiss to follow her. The two proceeded to walk briskly towards the stretch of rooms nearby, leaving Yang behind to slog along.
The trio had been searching Beacon Academy's multitude of classrooms for the past hour, with no trace of their cloaked friend in sight. Huffing, Weiss slammed another door open, only to spin around even more agitated and stalk off to the next closed off class.
Yang ran a hand through her locks wearily. "You're going to break something, Schnee."
"I'm going to break your little sister is what I'm going to do. I cannot believe she took all our weapons."
Blake speculated on how exactly the heiress would 'break' Ruby. The thoughts she began entertaining were... interesting to say the least. They almost brought a smirk to her lips.
Almost.
The blonde moved her hand to massage her nose bridge. "I'm sure that Ruby had a reason for doing so, no matter how stupid it is."
Weiss snorted.
Sighing, Yang glanced around, eyes unfocused. "Where is that little twerp? Blake, you got anythi– what are you doing."
Blake was knelt on the floor, her ear planted firmly on the tiling. After lifting her upper body up to look at Yang, she jerked her head multiple times towards a door, and then Weiss, before getting up slowly.
Understanding what her partner wanted her to do, the blonde slunk to the irate – still door busting – Weiss and tapped her on the shoulder. Yang pointed a thumb in the direction of the entrance Blake was now stalking towards, indicating that they should do the same.
Both of them carefully tiptoed to the door, mindful of any sounds that could tip them off. When they reached the opening, Blake placed her hand on the doorknob, using the other to signal when they should simultaneously enter with a show of three fingers.
The other two nodded.
'One,' Blake mouthed as Yang began to hunch forward, ready to pounce.
'Two.' Weiss tensed, shifting her stance to one slightly less reckless than the amber-eyed teen's, but still as aggressive.
"Three!" Blake shouted, twisting the knob and forcing the door wide open, not at all surprised that she didn't meet any sort of resistance. The other two girls bolted in shortly after, muscles coiled, ready to strike.
Only to stand there, aiming dumbfounded stares at the scarlet cloaked girl's back as the figure delicately buffed and polished the rapier in her hand.
Ruby continued to croon, too engrossed in the task of cleaning Myrtenaster that she missed the ruckus behind her.
However, she wasn't distracted enough to miss the hands that firmly gripped her shoulders.
Caught off guard, the fifteen-year old jumped out of her seat with a squeal, clutching Myrtenaster's handle in a death grip as she whipped around, swinging the now immensely sharp blade at her assailant.
Yang wrenched back, barely saving her beloved tresses from an impromptu trim.
Ruby gasped loudly, stumbling over herself as she struggled to apologise for almost lopping her sister's hair off. The blonde, in the mean time, settled with caressing her prized mane.
"There there, you're safe. Mommy won't ever let you get hurt again," she whispered to her locks.
Noticing the almost disturbing way her partner coddled her hair – as well as the circumstances surrounding the situation – Blake couldn't help but take a leaf out of her friend's book. "Huh. Well I guess this is what you could call... a close shave," she said with a straight face.
Yang dropped her hair and swivelled around to stare at Blake dead in the eye. "No," she stressed. Blake's mouth twitched, turning into a small smirk when Weiss chortled.
Upset that she was outnumbered, Yang whirled back to face Ruby, ready to reprimand her little sister... only to be met with big, round, watery eyes and quivering lips.
Yang flinched at the deathly adorable sight. Squeezing her eyes shut, she recoiled, yelling, "That's cheating, Ruby!"
"B-b-but Yang..." Ruby mewled.
"Someone help!" Yang cried dramatically, "She's too strong! I... need... backup!"
Weiss rolled her eyes and pushed the more curvaceous teen aside. "Stand back. I'll handle this," she said, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
Just as Weiss was about to lay into Ruby for taking all their weapons, the pair of large, grey, innocent, mesmerising eyes directed themselves at her. Weiss felt herself unravelling under the bewitching stare, but forced herself to stay strong. She was Weiss Schnee. She would not lose to–
Ruby lifted up a gleaming Myrtenaster to Weiss's line of sight, extending it towards the other teen. As Weiss reverently reclaimed her now blemish free possession, her own ice-blue orbs darted to scan Ruby's face...
To see a nervous, yet all too endearing girl eagerly waiting for praise like a little puppy.
Weiss melted.
"I..." she breathed out, awed. No one had ever done something as considerate and thoughtful as Ruby did out of the kindness of their heart. For Weiss. Not Weiss Schnee.
"MAYDAY, MAYDAY! WE LOST SCHNEE!" Yang howled, pushing Blake forward so as to knock Weiss away. "Code Red! Code Red! You're all we have left, Blake!"
Blake found herself gazing down at a wide-eyed Ruby. Her face stayed expressionless.
'Holy shiz, this might actually work,' Yang thought to herself, starstruck by the unyielding figure that was Blake Belladonna.
That is, until her ebony-haired partner sagged and muttered, voice drained, "Thank you for taking care of Gambol Shroud, Ruby."
Ruby beamed.
The trio took their time to admire the splendid work Ruby had done, calmed by the comforting weight of their weapons and the taxing encounter with the cloaked girl beforehand; there were no surfaces left unpolished or left wanting.
"So you took them without our permission because you wanted to surprise us? As a show of goodwill?" Yang asked, incredulity colouring her tone.
Ruby nodded earnestly. "To commemorate our team's official creation! Go Team RWBY!"
Yang bopped her little sister on the back of her head, earning a satisfying yelp.
Weiss sighed. "A surprise – as charming as it was – wasn't really necessary, Ruby. Not that I don't appreciate the gesture, but I would have preferred it if you had asked beforehand."
Ruby looked at her partner with an unreadable stare. A few beats passed before Weiss began fidgeting. As the older teen approached the point where rambling to save her hide seemed good, Ruby struck. "So... you don't like it?" she wheedled, swaying her body left and right with her hands clasped behind her back as she drew little circles on the ground with the toes of one foot.
"N-no, I liked it," Weiss responded, cracking a little. "But–"
The pout she received stopped anything else she had to add. Eyeing her surprisingly conniving partner warily, the heiress twitched when she saw Ruby's arms begin to lift up in a pose she was becoming all too familiar with.
"Can I get a hug, then?" Ruby implored.
Blake's eyebrows shot up in surprise, while Yang's jaw dropped. Who knew the meek little girl they thought they knew could be so bold?
Weiss winced, her eyes darting to the right, aware of the presence of their other teammates. "Ruby..."
"Please? Weiss?"
Releasing a shaky breath, she hesitantly raised her arms, which only got to about halfway what most would deem 'proper hugging etiquette arm height', when Ruby embraced her.
After a few moments, Ruby let go of her now flushed partner to face her sister.
The impish grin wouldn't leave Yang's face, even as Ruby tackled her to the ground with a hug. Wrapping her arms around her little sister, the blonde mused over how quickly the girl had managed to defrost the ice princess. 'Schnee must've been blown away by Ruby's fighting skills – which she picked up from yours truly.'
So caught up she was in thought that she didn't notice the way Ruby squirmed around in her hold. That is, until she felt a solid weight on her bust.
Looking down, she saw her sister burrow her face into her rather ample chest. Blushing to her roots, she exclaimed, "What the hell, Ruby?!"
Anything Ruby had to say in defence was muffled by Yang's assets.
"Speak up, we can't hear you over the sound of breast," Blake deadpanned.
Yang was mortified. Her arms went limp, slipping off Ruby's back.
A couple of beats passed before Ruby climbed off her older sister. "Boobs are nice," she answered simply.
Blake thought her partner's impression of a goldfish was rather spot-on.
"See what I have to deal with?" Weiss sighed, not in the least ruffled by what she just witnessed.
The voice of the Schnee heiress snapped Yang out of her trance. "This is your fault," the blonde said, climbing to her feet, "You're the one who introduced her to boobs in the forest."
Weiss stepped back, affronted. "I did not introduce her to boobs; puberty did! It's not my fault she missed it!"
"Hey, don't diss my little sister's assets like that!"
"I wasn't talking about her chest size, I was talking about her maturity! Something I guess you wouldn't understand."
"Woah woah woah, hold up one second–"
"Can't take the heat, Blondie?" Weiss smirked, inching closer towards the blonde.
"Do you not see me, Princess? I am 'the heat'," Yang rebutted, now standing nose-to-nose with the heiress. "And I swear, if this is my sister's new fixation–"
"Control your sister better, then!"
"She's not a dog, Schnee. Not like you," Yang shot back, chest puffing out in pride at the witty retort.
Weiss crossed her arms. "She looked like a puppy from where I was standing, Blondie. Someone's on a leash, but it sure isn't Ruby."
Yang's eyes narrowed. "I'll show you who'll be on an IV drip–"
"Oh don't even start–"
As she watched a frantic Ruby try to separate the two squabbling females, Blake was hit with a faint sense of nostalgia.
A small smile graced her lips.
AN: Headcanon: Blake reads quite a bit of erotica and knows where all this is going. She also secretly loves the pranks, jokes and mayhem that comes with Team RWBY. Ruby – despite being an introvert – thrives on physical contact with people she likes. Weiss is definitely the one who develops a crush first. Also, Weiss and Yang are best vitriolic best buds. And no one can resist moe-Ruby when she really tries. Except maybe Yang on a good day. This wasn't a good day.
I expect all my headcanons and characterisations to be debunked.
I feel bad for shafting Blake this chapter (it was supposed to be hers), but Yang was too strong. I'll write something for you eventually, Blake. Really.
Thank you to everyone who's taken the time to read, review, favourite and follow. The positive reception I've received is amazing. You guys rock. (Also, thanks to Kim for 'proofreading'. Didn't help one bit, FYI.) Critiques are welcomed.
(Was I the only one who went 'I CAN SHOW YOU THE WORLD' 'TELL ME PRINCESS NOW WHEN DID YOU LAST LET YOUR HEART DECIDE?' when Ruby did her hand wave in Episode 5. It was perfect.)