The first caravan lurched to a halt at the first gunshot, almost throwing Weiss off her feet and onto her face. Dammit, bandits already? She was expecting maybe an attempted robbery later down the line, once they had gotten days away from the town. Stumbling out to the front of the wagon to peer out the opening behind the driver, the heiress could see the small band of would be robbers heading their way from the side. Idiots, the lot of them. Or so it would appear from the amount of noise they seemed intent on making as they approached. That, and dressing in a mixture of black, certain to draw extra heat from the already scorching day, and bright red, that just made it easier to notice them among the dull earth tones of the grounds and scrubland around them all. Honestly, why they hadn't been noticed earlier, before they managed to fire off a shot that thankfully missed hitting anything, escaped her.
Mind whirring back to the plans she had made up for just such an occasion, the girl opened her mouth to shout orders to the guards and workers back along the line of wagons. The loud whinny of a horse cut her off, catching sight of the stallion of one of the newly hired pair of guards bolting out from behind the cart, heading dead straight at the band of men. Weiss's eyes widened as her brow pulled in, a mixture of surprise and anger flashing through her mind as she could only watch the woman go, a yell for her to get back going ignored. God dammit!
As Yang charged towards the bandits, they started to spread out, putting at least four meters in between each horse. They didn't seem to show any concern over the lone guard heading towards them, a grin from one suggesting he thought the woman no threat to their group. Smirking at their overconfidence, the blonde watched them carefully as she took her hands off the reins and let the horse charge of its own volition, drawing in ever closer as her gaze flicked over their hands, watching for any sign of movements towards their belts.
Eager to draw first blood, the one that was almost on track for a collision with her if neither of them altered their path went for his gun first. Too bad Yang's hand was faster, her cloak thrown back to show off a pair of revolvers, one on either side, a hand sliding swiftly across the handle of one on the left and whipping it out faster than a rattlesnake's strike.
The gun kicked back in her hand as she fired off a shot, hitting him square in the chest as her eyes darted off to the man on her immediate right who was about to pass by her, the both of them going for a gun at the same time as the first man slumped over and fell off his horse.
Once again, her speed proved superior, the other revolver out of its holster and aimed at him as he grabbed hold of his. The shot that came this time slammed into the left shoulder, sending him twisting in the saddle as the force knocked him back, falling off with one foot caught in the stirrup as his horse panicked, scrambling to start sprinting off into the distance with him still attached.
The sudden disposal of two of their crew did not go unnoticed by the other three men who had passed by, who quickly realised who the real threat to them making off with the caravan's money was. One pulled sharply on his reins, twisting his horse around to face her back, certain that she couldn't be able to see him reaching for a shotgun he had holstered.
A bang echoed in the air, and less than a second later, the sharp flash of pain struck the middle of his back, jerking him forward onto his horse's neck as the shotgun dropped from his grip. Wait, Weiss had been watching the whole time, and knew that Yang hadn't aimed her gun at him, nor even looked his way. But from the direction the bullet had to have flown in order to hit him in the back...
She glanced behind the wagon to where the sister had remained. In Ruby's hands was a rifle, narrowed eyes squinting down the barrel from the comb of the stock, with the butt drawn up against her shoulder to handle the recoil. Although a gunshot had come from just above it, the mare below was standing stock still, all four hooves planted firmly on the ground. The metal gleamed bronze under the bright sunlight as she went to pull on the lever on top and eject the used casing, Weiss gazing over the pink-tinged rosewood stock and the stylized gold drawing of a rose that gleamed brilliantly on the part of the stock that was held against the girl's shoulder.
The casing popped out and dropped to the ground next to her mare as Weiss's attention was drawn back over to the blonde, who was turning onto the remaining couple of bandits, the grin from before never having left her face during the short conflict so far. The one with the rifle in his hands was now desperately trying to shove a bullet into it despite the bumping and shaking that came from riding a horse at the same time.
He fumbled, dropping it to the ground with a loud curse as his companion wheeled sharply to dodge a shot from Yang. A brief grimace came onto her face when her bullet didn't find it's mark, going to aim again with her other revolver as he came charging towards her. A jerk to the reins at the right time made it also whizz off into open air, thudding into the dirt some dozen meters or so away from her target.
Taking the opportunity given by the near misses, he reached for his gun, flicking it up as soon as it slid out of the holster to shoot straight from his hip at her. The lump of lead zoomed through the air and brushed by the girl's cheek, slicing through the top layers of skin as it passed on by. Blood was quick to well up at the wound, a line of crimson showing up within seconds, a bead dropping down from it to curve towards her chin.
"Shit!" Yang hissed to herself. That stung like hell! A sharp tug, and her stallion wheeled around in a sharp turn as she slid one revolver back into its holster, but not stopping there as her hand slipped around the small of her back, fingers grasping for a wooden handle much bigger than the one used on a revolver.
As he whipped around to hold out his arm and aim at her again, certain that he would score a direct hit on her, out came a sawn-off shotgun in her hand from under her cloak. His eyes widened under the brim of his hat as dread washed over him. Before the man could get his gun into position and pull the trigger, the shotgun blasted off in her hand, the recoil throwing her off balance as the main brunt of the scattered lead slammed into his chest, ripping through clothing and flesh to throw him right out of the saddle.
The horse of the groaning bandit now on the ground reared up with a terrified scream as some of the lead shot cut up its hide, opting to take off like the earlier one. As it galloped away into the distance, Yang rounded on the last bandit left with a death glare. Terrified, and having been unable to successfully reload his weapon, he threw his hands up into the air, letting the rifle drop to the ground as he silently begged for mercy.
An uneasy few seconds passed as the blonde kept her remaining revolver aimed at him, hesitant to just let him run off. But judging that they had all been idiots to try taking on a caravan that had more guards than in their band, plus being weak enough that she and Ruby had taken them out on their own, she took pity on him.
"Go on, get!" She shouted as she drew back her gun. He didn't need any more than that, urging his horse with a nudge of heels to its flanks into sprinting off, not once looking back at the injured or dead companions that he had left behind. Out of those that had actually tried to attack, one was dead and lying on the ground motionless. Two were weakly guiding their horses to follow after the one who had surrendered. And the one that had gotten dragged along the ground by his steed hadn't returned.
Feeling good about driving the bandits off nearly all on her own, Yang turned her horse around to trot on back towards the first caravan, where Weiss was now standing up beside where the driver sat, having kept her eyes on the fight the whole time. Grinning once more, she pulled the stallion to a slow stop just before the heiress, grasping the front of her hat with one hand to push it back for a better look at her face.
"What did ya think, princess?" She asked, expecting some sort of praise. They hadn't even gotten close enough to the caravans to cause any injuries or damage to the stock they were carrying. "Pleased you hired the right people to act as guards?"
"You idiot!" It was a harsh hiss that the insult was uttered in, causing the smile to drop from Yang's face. There was a blaze of anger behind the blue eyes of her boss, her mouth set in an enraged sneer in-between each and every word. "What was that? What were you thinking? Have you no notion of self-preservation or caution underneath all that hair of yours?"
"I'm sorry, but I thought you would be happy." Yang spoke up, confused about where this was coming from. "Ruby and me just took out all the bandits by ourselves, and you're complaining about that?"
"What you did was charge straight at them on your own without giving any indication or warning beforehand!" Weiss started again, not happy in the slightest. "We have plans for what to do when bandits show up, and those don't include charging straight at the enemy and putting ourselves at risk! No to mention that it would make it harder for others to aim at them without running the chance of putting a bullet in you instead of a bandit!" Taking in a breath, she raised a hand to point at the streak of blood down Yang's cheek. "You're lucky all you got was a scratch on the cheek instead of winding up dead!"
Chastened, the girl pulled her hat back down, an irritated frown settling on her own features as she glanced off to one side, showing more preference in focusing her gaze on some scrub instead of the small silver haired girl ranting at her from above. The stallion underneath her reflected its owner's mood, shifting from one side to the other as it slowly stepped back and forth.
"The only one I can't complain about here is Ruby." Her sister's head jerked to attention from putting her rifle away at the sound of her name being mentioned. Weiss was starting to calm down now as she vented away, the volume of her tone coming down in response. "Even if she attacked with you, at least she remained in line with the rest of the caravans instead of taking off with you into danger."
She might have scoffed before at the other girl being pronounced a rifle expert, but her handling of the weapon earlier proved Weiss wrong in presuming otherwise. She could appreciate skill, but she had no patience for foolhardy idiots like Yang who chose to jump straight into danger instead of coming up with a plan of attack. Not to mention the stupid nickname the older girl kept on using for her.
"When you hired us, you never said anything about having to keep to any plans you had up your sleeve." Yang tried to keep the annoyance boiling inside her like that, inside and not slipping into her words as she spoke. "You just said that we would 'guard the caravans', and that was it."
"Perhaps I didn't mention it because I thought you would be professional enough to not bolt straight towards bandits if they appeared, and would wait for a signal instead." The retort came swiftly off her tongue, growing tired of reprimanding the obstinate blonde for her actions. They had wasted enough time with this, they needed to start moving again. "I have no more to say about this, so I hope you got it through your thick skull to wait for orders next time. Now, get back into position behind the wagon." She ordered, stepping off the driver's platform and back into the shade of the covered cart, a pat to the man's shoulder as he passed enough of a signal for him to whip the reins in his hands, the pack horses setting off at a steady rate again.
Silently stewing over the treatment she had just been given, Yang didn't say a word as she waited for the cart to pass by, stepping her horse into line beside Ruby's. Her sister gave a timid smile in an attempt to pull Yang out of her mood, but she simply looked away. Ruby sighed to herself as she focused on the back of the wagon in front of them. Guess it was going to be a pretty silent trip for the rest of the day then.
They managed to put in a good few more hours of travelling across the scrubland before having to set up camp for the night as the sun set behind them and dusk rolled in. Making the line turn so that they would all stop in a circle, Weiss called the end of the day, getting off the cart to start giving out more orders to people to set up areas for them to sleep in and to start cooking food. Seeing the girl back in her role as boss gave Yang a pang of irritation, but she pushed it aside.
Soon enough, there was a campfire and a giant pot of stew brewing over it as the chill of the night began replacing the warmth of the day. If there was one thing that could beat the sheer sweltering heat that the sun would regularly beam down onto travellers out here, it was the cold of the night as it came, a bone chilling breeze choosing right to blow through the camp.
Ruby shivered as it passed, clutching her thin cloak tighter around herself as they sat near the flames. Although it being cotton was good for avoiding heat during the day while they were on the move, right now she just wished that she could turn it into fleece to wrap right around herself like a cosy blanket.
"Now, for the matter of guards during the night." Weiss spoke up nearby, reading off a list of paper in her hands. The sisters couldn't see what was on it from where they were sitting, but it held a list of daily tasks for the heiress, in her own hand's neat script. She had been going through the checklist religiously like she had every night prior to the pair joining on, and she would not be stopping that habit now.
"Ruby." The girl startled at her name being used, turning around in her spot to face the heiress talking to her. "You'll be on the first shift tonight." Not showing any indication that she heard the squeak of acknowledgement that came, Weiss moved on to listing other guards and their part of the night to keep an eye out for strangers and other likely threats.
"...and the two hour shift from midnight will go to Yang." The older sister did a double take before realising the spot she had been given. It would be almost the exact middle of the night, the worst shift you could get. Her mouth was half open to object as she twisted around, but catching sight of the cold glare that her 'leader' was giving her made Yang reconsider, opting to shut her mouth rather than draw more ire from her.
Her sulking over what must be further punishment for today's incident only lasted as long as it took for the food to finish cooking, soon ladled out in equally proportioned bowls to everyone. It was hard to hold onto anger when you had a bowl of great smelling food in your hands, and an empty stomach growling at you to fill it. She couldn't help shovelling her spoon in as fast as she was able, holding the bowl close to her mouth to shorten the distance between food and stomach.
"Yang, slow down! You'll get indigestion that way." Ruby teased, laughing inside that her older sister, supposedly the mature one, was forgetting all manners now that she had food in front of her.
"Don't care, so long as I can drive the hunger pangs away." Yang managed to say between spoonfuls of meaty broth. It didn't last forever though, the blonde soon letting her hands, and the empty bowl in them, drop down to her lap with a happy sigh. "That was good. Almost makes up for getting yelled at earlier." She joked, trying to play it off as just a minor hiccup, and that she hadn't sunk into a foul mood afterwards.
"See? I told you I picked up the bounty notice!" One of the guards sitting on the other side of the fire called out to his friends, catching their attention. He was holding up a weathered piece of paper in his hands, a large picture of a girl's head and shoulders taking up a majority of the parchment. Normally, the lack of colour to such drawings made it look quite different than the person they were based off of, but even Ruby would say that it would to find another girl with long dark hair and a pair of cat ears perched on top of their head to mistake the criminal on the bounty with. "The bounty out on Blake the Cat has gone up yet again!"
That was a familiar name. In the towns they had passed through so far, there had always been one notice at least on the notorious faunus thief. Given that they had no need to go after any bounties while they travelled to Beacon, neither Ruby nor Yang had any idea what she was wanted for exactly, just that she kept up her crimes enough to have the sheriffs always pinning new bounty notices with increasing dollar amounts on them outside their offices. Even now, Yang had no interest in something that would probably never affect her, more interested in seeing if she could talk her way into another bowl of stew.
"Maybe joining up to this job wasn't the best idea." Yang admitted, after finding her attempts for more food went nowhere. She leaned back, putting her hands on the earth behind her to keep herself from having to lie on the ground. "I thought it would be great to earn extra money while still heading over to uncle Qrow, but I wasn't expecting to get scolded like a brat that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar just for running off some bandits."
"Well, it was a little stupid, going right to meet them on your own when all the other guards were staying with the wagons." The confession from her sister made the blonde give her a pointed stare. "She did have a point. It's not like I wanted to see you hurt when we could avoid it either." Heck, it had only been her quick aiming earlier that had stopped one of the bandits putting a bullet in Yang's back. The elder sister ran one hand back through her curls, mulling it over now that her own sibling was pointing it out to her. Maybe she had acted a little rashly.
"Looks like it's time for my turn to guard tonight." Ruby spoke, spotting a guard who was supposed to watching over the camp with her during their shift waving at her. "The trip will probably get better over time, you'll see."
"Yeah, sure." Yang replied with a shrug as the younger took off with her rifle hanging on her back. Looking up at the stars twinkling above them, she mused over the parting comment Ruby had left her with. Would Weiss prove less angry and uppity with her over the trip?
Nah, no way that would happen with princess ice.
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