Ruby took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Blake and Yang's house stood in front of her. The trip back to Vale had taken longer than expected, due to some unforeseen storms. By the time the redhead had arrived, the sun had long since hidden beyond the horizon. Ruby pulled out her scroll, the bright blue light nearly blinding in the dark. Great, two in the morning, Ruby thought to herself. At least everyone will be asleep by now.
Ruby repositioned the bag on her shoulder and walked up the small drive to the front door. Counting over the first three larger rocks in the rock bed in front of the house, Ruby picked up the fourth. The spare key Yang hid specifically for Ruby was stuck to the underside. Unlocking the front door, Ruby quietly opened and closed the front door, making sure to re-lock it. Taking off her boots, thankful for the chance to relax, Ruby strolled from the home's entrance to the large couch she was oh so familiar with.
Ruby set her bag and Crescent Rose down at the foot of the couch. Plopping down, Ruby let out a sigh. If there was such a small thing to be grateful for as a couch, Ruby was beyond thankful. Yang always had the best eye for fashion and decorating, and the huge leather couch that doubled as a bed was no exception. It had been expensive, but Ruby made sure to remind her older sister that it was worth every Lien.
"Hello, couch. I've missed you so." In her tired state and the faintly star-lit living room, Ruby had missed the extra presence in the room.
"Hello, Ruby. Welcome back," Weiss said quietly. Ruby jumped at Weiss' greeting.
"WEISS!" Ruby shouted as she bolted up right, but quickly dropped her voice remembering the time, "What are you still doing up?"
"Yang asked me to make sure you arrived when we realized you were going to be late. Blake and Yang turned in about an hour ago."
"Oh, well thank you. But if it's ok with you, I'm going to get some sleep. It was a bit of a rocky flight." Ruby said quietly, laying down and turning over to face the back of the couch.
Weiss nodded, "Alright. Good night Ruby." Weiss stood up, making her way to the guest room. Ruby closed her eyes, grateful to not be sleeping outside in a tent anymore. Just as sleep was about to take over the young huntress, Weiss whispered back into the quiet, dark room, making her words seem to Ruby as if they were being shouted through a megaphone.
"I missed you Ruby."
As Ruby woke up, the smell of something delicious cooking flooded her senses. A small smile broke out on her face. "What you cooking for breakfast?"
"Breakfast? Ruby it's one o'clock. We're making lunch!" Yang called back.
"What? You mean you didn't wake me up for breakfast? I LOVE when you make breakfast," Ruby frowned, making her way to the kitchen.
"Well you seemed like you were pretty peaceful sleeping there," Yang smiled as her younger sister entered the kitchen. Yang put down the spatula she was holding, embracing Ruby in a big hug. "Oh I missed you so much Ruby!" The blonde let Ruby go, reaching back for her spatula. "Grilled cheese and cookies?"
"Yes please!" Ruby giggled, pulling out a plate from the cabinet by her head. Taking her lunch to the small table in the kitchen, Ruby sat down and dove into her melted cheese lunch. "So where is everyone?" Ruby asked, taking another bite.
Yang sat down with her own grilled cheese and a much smaller pile of cookies. "Well Blake had to go to Beacon to lecture. I haven't seen Weiss today. She left me a message saying she was being called back to Atlas to deal with something in the company."
Ruby only gave a small nod as she finished her sandwich, starting into the very generous pile of chocolate chip cookies set in front of her. "So I'm guessing she doesn't think she needs protection then?"
Yang frowned a little, but quickly reverted to her bubbly self. "Well she seems to, but I know someone needs to be there to look into this assassin group."
"And you want me to travel to Atlas to join her?"
"Please?" Yang beamed at her sister, adding some puppy-dog eyes for effect.
Ruby sighed and stood up after scarfing down the last of the cookies. "You and those damn purple eyes. How can I say no to that face?" she smiled. Ruby walked to the living room, picking up Crescent Rose. "How much time do I have to get there? I really don't want to eat and dash on you," she called back to the kitchen.
"Oh, you have a few hours at least. Weiss did say she'd be in meetings with an alert security team," Yang said, joining her sister. She smiled as she watched Ruby look over her beloved scythe. "Need time to clean up?"
Ruby gave a small smile, "Yeah, my baby hasn't had a good maintenance session in at least a week."
"Well make sure to lock up when you leave. I have to some stuff I have to pick up in town," the blonde said, picking up her helmet. "Make sure you're there by four," she said, closing the door behind her.
"You have nothing to worry about!" Ruby called out after Yang, making her way to the basement stairs. The house had only a small basement which Yang repurposed into a workshop for Ruby. On the one condition that Ruby kept her Ember Celica looking pristine whenever she was in town.
Yang made her way to one of her favorite markets in all of Vale. The local farmers always held a small gathering once a week near the docks. Blake was always a big fan of the locally grown produce and the fresh tuna from Vacuo. Filling her bag with a few exceptionally large tomatoes and bell peppers, Yang moved over to the tuna. A few men were tossing fish off a boat nearby to be stacked into a stand. It was quite the sight to be seen as a few people stopped to watch the display of a practice that was starting to become rarer and rarer as more factories were sprouting up all around Atlas.
Yang broke her attention away as the last fish was unloaded from the boat. Yang turned up towards the sun, enjoying the weather on an unseasonably warm day for fall. Not that I'm going to complain. I wonder if Blake will be napping outside when I get home. Yang smiled at the thought of her fiancée curled up on their backyard deck in the sun.
Picking out a decent sized fish to take home, Yang paid the young man behind the stand and turned to walk back to Bumblebee. Lost in thought, Yang didn't even notice the guy walking in the opposite direction. Bumping shoulders with the stranger, Yang began to panic, worrying about the fish and produce she just spent a solid day's pay on. After making sure they were secure, she turned towards the man she just ran into.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention. Are you ok?"
The guy smiled, giving his shoulder a small rub. He was young, maybe only twenty. He was a few inches taller than Yang and just as strong by the looks of it. His sandy brown hair was cut short and brown eyes sparkled in the sunlight. His scroll was in his hand, a faint voice asking where he was. "Oh no, it's alright. I wasn't paying too much attention myself." The man gave a small smile then turned around and continued his walk and his call.
Well I had better get home. Blake should be home soon. Maybe I can catch her before her nap for some fun, Yang thought to herself with a big smile as she loaded up Bumblebee.
Brown eyes scanned the area behind him as he watched the blonde brawler walk away. The voice at his ear caught his attention again.
"Bole, was that her or not?" the voice asked, a little too impatiently.
"Yeah, it's her. I'd recognize her… Ahem, hair anywhere," Bole replied.
"Good. Now we know she's still in close contact with her old team. That is, if your source is to be believed."
Bole huffed out in annoyance, "Come on, he was right about when she'd be at her house the last time, right? He swears he saw her with the blonde at the house."
"Well is she still with them?"
"No, my informant said he saw her leaving early this morning. Said she was on the way towards the air ship landing pads when he lost the car. Think she's heading back to Atlas?"
"Most likely. SDC is having a large board meeting today. Something about unveiling another product and most likely bringing up your last attempt," the voice in the scroll hissed.
Bole winced a little at the reprimanding voice, "Yeah, sorry about that Sienna. At least she didn't spot me."
"That's assuming you were quick enough," the voice said, a sense of bitterness present.
"Hey, I'm not the one who failed. I was only there to take out Brandeis," Bole said, trying to defend himself as he approached the car waiting for him. Stepping in and closing the door, Bole closed his scroll and turned to the other passenger. "That coward just did it before I could."
Sienna gave him a smirk, pulling out a pistol and holding it to Bole's face. "And you failed your job just as Brandeis did." Bole panicked, staring down the barrel of the gun at Sienna. The usual black silencer at the end of the silver handgun stared back.
"I do not tolerate failure," Sienna said coolly, squeezing the trigger.
"Wait, Sienna! Wait a min-"His words cut short as he slumped down in the seat. Pulling out a small cloth, Sienna wiped down the weapon. Failure was unacceptable and some hired gun that couldn't do a simple job was only going to hold her back. "Should have done it myself," she quietly said to herself.
Knocking twice on the window, the driver opened the door for her. Turning her attention to the driver, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a few bills. Handing him the Lien, she motioned inside the vehicle as she shut the door. "Dispose of him. Dispose of the car. Leave town, don't come back for a few days."
Sienna walked down the street, towards the docks. I'm sure one of the captains won't mind lending me their boat. Swiping an apple from a stand as she passed, Sienna turned towards the fishing boats. I do have plenty of work ahead.
A/N: Ugh, I'm so sorry everyone! I've been incredibly busy lately and haven't had any time to write. It was a little tough to get back into it but I'll do my best to get more uploaded by the end of the week. What does everyone think of the OC villain? Small details from the story will be important later. Leave reviews about what you think of the story so far. Thanks for reading everyone!