This chapter has some scenes based off Dash's artwork, one of which can be found at the link: dashingicecream,tumblr,com/post/117568297367. If you look on her Fairy!Beast AU tag, you'll see all kinds of fanart that I've incorporated into this fic!
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.
Chapter 6. The Odd Group Forms
"UGH!"
Weiss all but shouted in disgust as she felt the cold mud seeping into her perfect white skin and delicate clothes.
But the worst of all was her wings.
Presently, they were crushed beneath her back, absorbing more and more of the vile brown goo by the second.
But the fairy could do little to free herself with a half-conscious beast splayed on top of her chest. She tried to wriggle free but to no avail; her petite form and lightened weight couldn't compete with the cat-eared girl.
So Weiss inhaled another gasp of air and gave a mighty shove with her free hand.
"Get off of me!"
With a whimper of surprise, the beast girl found herself rolling to one side. The previous and softer landing on the Fairy Princess' stomach was promptly replaced by a face-full of mud.
Weiss heard the other girl hiss, and she actually smirked a bit.
"There. Now we're even," she muttered.
For a moment, they both grumbled and moaned as the pain from their graceless fall began to ebb away, replaced now by the shivers that were sent shooting through them thanks to the mud. They pushed themselves up into kneeling positions and shook themselves off. Droplets of mud the beast girl dislodged ended up hitting Weiss in the face, and the Fairy Princess snorted in disgust.
"Hey! Watch it, you beast!"
The other girl's ears flattened and she quickly scrambled away.
"Sorry."
"Ugh!" Weiss shouted again. She needed to reach behind her back and physically peel her poor wings off of her dress. They were coated in mud - dripping with it - and the wetness alone told her she wouldn't be able to use them again until at least tomorrow. Weiss moaned at the thought of delaying her journey further, lamenting her mud-soaked back. "My wings! They're filthy! I can't fly like this!"
Again, the beast girl's ears drooped.
"Ah, I'm s-so sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"You had better be sorry!" Weiss snapped, shoving her index finger into the girl's wet, black nose. "Wait until my father hears about this! Then you'll really be sorry, you beast!"
The other girl - who had been mostly nervous and flinching up until this point - now reacted quite differently. She growled a bit, her ears flattening and eyes narrowing.
"Stop calling me that."
"It's what you are, isn't it?"
"I have a name. It's Blake."
"I don't recall asking to hear it," Weiss huffed. "I couldn't care less about the name of some savage who jumped on me like that out of nowhere!"
"For your information, princess," Blake spat. "There was a hawk coming at us. Those things'll attack anything with wings, and you've got those, don't you?"
Weiss was admittedly at a loss for words at her statement. She'd been about to make a comeback, but pursed her lips instead, muttering something else beneath her breath.
"A hawk?" she sniffed. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"
"Yes, because it's the truth!" Blake shouted. "I didn't want to have to jump on you any more than you would've liked me to."
"Did you ever consider just warning me rather than leaping at me like some jungle cat?"
"I was trying to, but you wouldn't listen! Plus, you had an arrow pointed at me," Blake defended.
Weiss groaned again and shook herself off, deliberately flinging mud onto the beast girl.
"Filthy barbarians, all of you!" she snapped, getting to her feet. Her bow and arrows had splintered and broken in the fall and were now totally useless. She left them behind as she stomped through the mud, heading for dry grass. "Once I get home, I'll-" She paused, looked around, then took another uncertain step forward.
"Once I... h-home is..." Weiss stopped again, blinked in confusion, and felt her wings droop. In a flash, she spun around, pointing an accusing finger at the beast girl and raising her voice. "Beast, to where have you kidnapped me?!"
Blake ignored the fairy's failure to use her real name and stood up from the sloppy mud.
"Kidnapped?!" she hissed. "If you would have listened to me for a second and not attacked me, we wouldn't have ended up in the middle of nowhere! I was saving you from getting a back-full of talons, remember?"
"Which you could have gone about in a much more effective manner!"
"Why are you yelling at me?" Blake growled. "Like I said, you were pointing a weapon at me! And I still saved you from a lot of pain."
"And you caused me even more of it!" Weiss shouted, her hands balled into tight fists. "My chest is aching and it'll be a miracle if my wings aren't broken now!"
"They're not broken," Blake scoffed. "You fairies are always over-reacting about everything. Typical..."
"Excuse you!" Weiss snapped. "Who are you to determine what kind of pain I feel? And what is that supposed to mean? How dare you judge my entire species based off this single incident?"
"It's not just this one incident," Blake shot back. "You fairies have been over-reacting about everything since day one."
"Oh, really? How so? Do tell me," Weiss snapped.
"Like how you judged my people right from the beginning!" Blake hissed back. Her ears were flat, but the fur on them was fluffed up in anger. "Ever since we set foot into this part of the forest, you've been at war with us - or at least on the brink of it!"
"For good reasons!" Weiss yelled back, stomping her mud-streaked foot. "You beasts are vicious! First of all, you kill and eat animals. It's just wrong! And just yesterday, I along with a group of my fellows were ambushed by your clan! They attacked and threatened us and demanded all of our precious gems! You're always stealing our stones from us just for their magics! But they're much more valuable than that, you know! We value them for sentimental reasons, not just for magic, but what do you beasts care?!"
By the time she was finished with her outraged rant, Weiss was shouting until her lungs burned. Her eyes were squeezed shut and there were tears on her lashes. Slowly, she reopened her eyes as she panted for breath, her cheeks flushed red and shoulders heaving.
Blake stared at her wide-eyed, her expression a mixture of appalled and confused. She understood right away that Weiss was in pain, both physical and now emotional as well.
She instantly felt guilty for striking the wrong nerve for the wrong reasons. She'd let her upset feelings get the better of her, and had allowed them to cloud her judgement of both Weiss and the situation at hand. Their number one priority should be to find their way back home, but instead here they were, arguing.
Blake's shoulders slumped and her ears followed suit. With a sigh, she waited for Weiss to get her breath back, then spoke much more softly.
"Hey... I'm-"
A sudden rustling cut her off. It was coming from nearby, and when she whipped around, she could see a bush shifting with movement. Instantly, Blake went on high alert.
"Get down!" she hissed. She tapped Weiss' shoulder rather roughly in her haste, and the fairy fell to her knees.
"Wh-What-"
"Shh."
Blake crouched down in front of her, shielding Weiss from whatever lie ahead of them. The fairy wrinkled her nose and wiped her forearm over her eyes, leaving more trails of mud on her cheeks as she did so. She had half a mind to continue shouting at the beast girl, but decided she could save that for another time.
For now, she trained her eyes on the girl's long, scraggly black hair for a moment, noting Blake's posture, as though she were about to spring at whatever enemy was before them. She squared her shoulders and let out a low warning growl, trying to make herself seem more intimidating than Weiss assumed her to be.
The fairy took another glance over to where her bow and arrows lie scattered and broken in the mud. She cursed her luck - now she had no tangible weapons left, only her magics, and even those were running low since she'd used most of them to fly.
For the moment, Weiss simply remained silent, huddled behind Blake with her wings sagging behind her. She kept her eyes on the bushes ahead, and another ripple went through them.
Blake growled again.
"Who's there?" she called. "Show yourself!"
Blake waited, holding her posture. Weiss watched as one of the girl's catlike ears flicked, and the next second, Weiss heard voices.
"Aww, see?" a little voice yelped. "I told you they'd hear us!"
"It's not my fault I had to burp!" another voice replied.
Blake hissed again.
"Hey! Come out now!"
There was a moment where the bush seemed to talk back and forth to itself in those little voices.
Then, the leaves rustled again. Out stepped a peculiar pair of animals.
On the bottom was a young bear with round ears and tan fur. Atop her head sat a red squirrel whose fluffy tail was wrapped around herself, her tiny claws clutching it nervously.
Weiss and Blake both blinked in confusion at the odd pair. The bear and squirrel seemed to do the same for them.
The squirrel piped up first.
"See? I told you, Yang! It's a fairy and a beast together!"
"What the fuzz? And neither of 'em is dead!" The bear sounded impressed before mumbling an addition. "Yet..."
Blake flicked an ear and stood to her full height, where the bear only reached up to her waist.
"What?" she asked. "What does that mean?"
The bear – Yang, as the squirrel had called her – gave a shrug as she peered up at the black-haired girl.
"Not much. Just that I've never seen a fairy and a beast alone together where they weren't covered in blood or chasin' each other off."
"But they were sure doing a lot of yelling!" the squirrel added.
By this point, Weiss could tell these two were no threat, and she pushed herself back onto her feet to glare down at them.
"Enough of that," she said. "What exactly are you two?"
"Us?" said the squirrel. "I'm Ruby!"
"And I'm Yang!" added the bear. "We're sisters!"
Weiss blinked and huffed skeptically. "Sisters. Right. Now then, I'd like to know why you two were spying on us."
Ruby's ears flattened and Yang grunted in dismay.
"Spying?"
"We weren't doin' that. We just couldn't help but hear you, is all."
Weiss looked them both over and sighed.
"Fine. If you've got no business here, then I'll be heading out. I've had quite enough strange encounters for one day, thank you very much. If you'll all excuse me, I've got to get back home."
She turned away and started strutting off, shoulders back and chin held pridefully high, despite her muddy and wet appearance.
Blake huffed and called after her.
"You're lost," she reminded her. "You told me yourself before that you have no idea where you are. You shouldn't go back alone. It isn't safe."
Weiss froze for a moment, then rounded on her, eyes lit with outrage.
"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much," she snapped. "What would you care for my safety, anyway? I'll have you know I've got no enchanted stones on my person, so you've no reason to follow me or be in my presence another second longer, beast.
"And don't try to take me captive just because I'm the princess. I won't go easy on you just because you saved me from some hawk. I'll be going home to my people and you should be going to yours. We're finished here."
She hadn't missed the bear's and squirrel's excited whispers of "Princess? As in the Fairy Princess?"
But Weiss didn't mind them. She merely twirled around again, shedding more mud in her wake as she headed off into the forest in whichever direction felt right.
Blake watched her go, and she knew she should have just let her.
She's right. Why should I care about her? I should just go home...
She turned her back on the white fairy and looked in the opposite direction. Closing her eyes, she opened her ears and her nose.
This part of the forest had an unfamiliar scent to it, and the wind sounded different as well. Even when she let instinct take over, Blake realized she hadn't the slightest idea of what to do. She was lost as well.
Reopening her eyes, she found herself looking into the silver gaze of the squirrel and the lavender of the bear. They hadn't left, and they didn't look like they planned to. When the squirrel spoke up, Blake understood why.
"We know this forest like the backs of our paws," she chittered.
"All of it," the bear added. "Not just the fairy and beast territories. We know how to get you guys home. Let us take you back."
Blake's ears shot up at their words. This option was even more well-suited to her intentions than what she'd planned on doing out here in the woods before she'd met Weiss.
"Really?" she said quickly. "You'll take us both back?"
"Yeah!" the squirrel said. "Of course!"
"We know what it's like to be lost from home," the bear added. "It's no fun. Plus it's dangerous in these parts. We'll get you back if you come with us."
For the first time all day, Blake felt herself smile.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it," the bear rumbled happily.
"But uh..." The squirrel flicked her tail in the direction Weiss had headed off in. "You should go catch your friend- er... the F-Fairy Princess before she gets herself even more lost."
Blake nodded quickly.
"Right. Just wait her for us, please."
"Sure!"
"You got it!"
With their promise to lead her home fueling her feet, Blake took off after the fairy. She rushed through the bushes and trees, following the trail of mud the princess had left behind.
Weiss hadn't gotten far since she'd been reduced to traveling on foot, and Blake caught up quickly. Heart pounding, she let out her voice.
"Wait!"
Weiss heard her voice, but before she could think to turn on the beast girl with her eyes narrowed and stinging words on her tongue, she felt a tug on her wrist.
Blake skidded to a halt behind her, holding tightly to her hand. Weiss spun around and glared ice at her.
"What do you want?" she demanded. "Leave me alone, you beast!" She shook her hand free of Blake's touch and recoiled as though she'd been burned.
Blake felt a pang shoot through her, but she wasn't bitter or all that upset by Weiss' reaction. She was more excited about the prospect of getting back home, and what it would mean for her own plans.
"Stay with me," she begged. "Those two will help us get home. I'm sorry about what happened before. I don't want to steal your gems or anything like that. I don't want to take you as a hostage or use you as leverage or anything, so don't even think I might."
Weiss had to admit such thoughts had been the only things on her mind.
"And how can I be certain?" she quipped. "You could easily put on a guise until we reached our kingdoms and then turn on me! You could lie to me with kindness and then tie me up and demand a ransom from my father! How do you expect me to want to go with you?"
Blake's ears flattened again, and her eyes were pleading.
"Please," she murmured. "I... I know it's hard to believe for you, but... I'll explain everything to you along the way. There are a lot of things I need to tell you... about my people." She was silent for a moment, then shook her head and went on. "I won't use you. I promise. I'm just asking for a little trust." She reached her hand out again, palm upturned and expectant.
Weiss was silent, her instincts on high alert and telling her to shove the girl away. But for whatever reason, her heart was rather calm.
She flicked her gaze all up and down the beast girl's muddy figure. Her ears and tail were drooping, her eyes were earnest, and Weiss couldn't detect any malice in her voice either. She truly seemed sincere.
Weiss... wanted to believe her.
"Trust..." she said slowly, cautiously. "A fairy trusting a beast? How absurd..."
Blake felt her heart sink to her stomach, and her outstretched hand fell down to her side. She didn't want to force the fairy.
Bowing her head, Blake turned away.
"Hey!" Weiss pouted. "I wasn't finished speaking yet!" She quickly reached her hand out and grabbed Blake's with it.
Shocked, the beast turned back to her, and their eyes met.
"So you'll..." She trailed off hopefully.
Weiss heaved another sigh.
"While it is certainly unheard of for a fairy and a beast to team up together – especially after the meeting we've had..."
Here, her eyes started to shimmer like sunlight reflected on the surface of the blue lake, and her lips curved up into the faintest of smiles. It was so small Blake wasn't sure if she'd truly seen it or not, but she could feel her heart, ears, and tail all lifting hopefully.
Weiss continued. "It's absurd... but, we fairies are taught to be open-minded, and... well, there's a first time for everything, right?"
Blake blinked at her slowly, almost disbelieving. She dipped her head, tightening her fingers around the fairy's.
"Yes. Thank you for trusting me..."
"Weiss," the princess filled in for her.
Blake smiled a little in return.
"Weiss," she repeated. "Please, come with me and allow me to explain myself. There's a lot I think you'd like to hear."
"There is indeed," the fairy agreed. "But first..." She let her gaze travel up and down both Blake and herself, still coated in mud. "Perhaps a bath."
Blake nodded in agreement, then began leading her back to Ruby and Yang.
She kept her hand on Weiss' all the while, and Weiss didn't let go either.
A/N: Oh, there's a lot of explaining to do in so little time!
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