"Neo, we probably should return to the ship." Yang informed the smaller girl as she continued to browse the various stands in the Atlas marketplace.
They no longer were holding hands, much to Yang's disappointment but the girl did glance over at the blonde countless times which set her heart into overdrive. Yang didn't dare mess it up by saying any puns which she knew Neo hated. So she mostly kept her mouth shut… Until she spotted a weapons stand off to her left.
Jogging away from Neo who was currently looking at clothes, Yang quickly made her way to the stand that caught her own eye and was looking at the oddly shaped Atlas blades. She wasn't a weapons nut like her younger sister, but she did have a large appreciation for them. More so pistols, but they were much too expensive for her to buy so she settled on swords.
Although she only had regular short swords or rapiers, she'd loved blades that were much larger and curved; such as the exotic blades she was currently looking at now. There were a multitude of weapons hanging on display of a small stand that looked like it served as a blacksmith as well. Cutlass, Scimitars, and others were on display; but a scimitar that hung above the rest was what caught the wild girl's eye in the first place.
Leaning her elbow on the wooden counter, Yang kept her lively lilac eyes on the blade. It was slightly larger than the rest of the scimitars and its blade was a stunning silver; almost as if forged from the most expensive steel in the lands. The hilt was a smooth gold, almost like her hair and was rounded outwards almost like a guard breaker. The handle was wrapped in a sturdy brown leader with a loose wrapping hanging off, dangling.
The blonde knew she had to have it; plus she needed a sword anyway! Reaching into her pockets though she finally forgot she gave Neo back the lien they had just made.
"Oh crap… She's probably gonna buy something and use it all o-" Yang muttered to herself as she spun on her heel to search for the short odd themed girl, but bumped right into her as she started to walk away from the weapons' stand.
Looking down into the girl's slightly tilted face, Yang blushed. "O- Oh... Heya Neo! Was actually comin' to see ya." She nervously spoke, unsure if the girl had heard her talking or not about her before.
She noticed Neo holding a few articles of clothing in her hand as the girl's neutral face started turning up into a small smile which started to cause Yang to become suspicious.
"W- What do you got there?" Yang asked, pointing towards the clothes the girl held in her hand. To which Neo held them up for Yang to see.
She of course said nothing, but her smirk spoke volumes to Yang in what needed to be done. And so, swallowing nervously as she eyed the material in the girl's small hands; Yang looked down in defeat.
"Those are for me to wear, huh?"
She watched Neo's cute smile remain on her face as she nodded happily, much to Yang's chagrin. The blonde tried to look at least a bit delighted at her new uniform and managed to keep a positive appearance.
It consisted of a long dark brown sleeveless trench coat, black pants that seemed as if they'd be a little loose on her, and complete with knee high boots that were roughly the same color as the coat. It wasn't a bad looking outfit but then another burning question popped into her mind…
"What's wrong with my current outfit?"
To which Neo just silently scoffed at her before glancing up towards the weapons' stand with mild interest on her face now. The girl's mismatched eyes instantly hovered over the same elaborate sword that Yang was eyeing earlier then back to the blonde's face with a coy smirk.
Yang melted under the girl's gaze and rubbed the back of her head nervously before laughing a bit in an attempt to calm her nerves. She made sure to look everywhere but Neo's eyes, in fear of losing herself to them. She felt her chest start to ache and her body start to heat up. Although she wasn't the smartest girl in the land, Yang knew what these feelings meant but that didn't make it any easier to deal with.
About to speak to the smaller girl though, Yang noticed her pointing up at the blade and already handing over the required lien for it to the shopkeeper.
The blonde felt her mouth widen in awe and dismay as the man handed the short girl the blade in its scabbard. Neo handled the large blade with care as she attempted to wrap the bindings around her shoulder and waist and hang it off her back in its sheath; finally managing it. The blade's handle was raised over her head with the bottom of it ending at her calves, threatening to smack against her legs each time she would take a step.
It was then that Yang finally realized that Neo had just bought the blade for herself…
"Y- You… Really, Neo?" Was all Yang could manage as the girl turned towards her and smiled smugly before walking off, the blade's scabbard smacking against her legs with a soft thud each time.
Yang was powerless to do anything and exhaled dejectedly, following the shorter girl, and preparing to wear her new outfit and admire the blade she wanted from afar. Hopefully Neo would remember she still needed a weapon before they headed back.
With head hung low but still kind of happy that she was able to spend the day with the girl, Yang followed Neo back towards their docked ship.
"Oh hey, Cap'n! I wasn't plannin' on seein' you back on the ship so soon… ya know since you said you wanted me back here as soon as possible…" Roman uttered angrily as he leaned against the outer railing aboard the ship.
Cinder only scowled at the man as she continued her trek towards her main quarters. Ever since she told Ruby who she really was, she felt this gnawing feeling that what she had been doing for these past few months was about to fall down. Everything she worked for; on her own and by her own power, was soon to be tested against some unknown force. There were only a select few in her crew that knew the actual truth about her.
But since she just told Ruby; Captain Cinder figured she may as well inform every one of the truth. She had a pretty keen feeling that letting them know now rather than later would be the best course of action. And so, while about to walk into her quarters with a certain crimson haired girl behind her; still remaining quiet, Cinder turned around and looked towards Roman once more.
"Roman, can you get everyone and bring them to my quarters?" She asked quietly, the soft tone of her voice already setting off alarms in the orange haired man's head as he regarded her worriedly. "I… I have something to discuss with everyone." Cinder finished as she walked into her room without waiting for the man to answer.
Once inside the scarlet painted and cozy room, Cinder took a seat behind the mahogany desk on her throne like chair. She kept her amber eyes on Ruby as the smaller girl closed the door to her quarters and set her massive metal filled box on the ground and remained standing.
On any other occasion of Ruby walking willingly into Cinder's lair, the older woman would jump on the smaller girl and plant as many kisses as she could all over her, but the entire mood was different now. Ever since she told Ruby her secret, the girl had remained eerily quiet. The entire walk back to the vessel was in silence; the only sounds being the crowd of people attending their business in the market square and the steady clanking of the various metal pieces that Ruby continued to carry in the box.
Cinder let her eyes wander on the various things in her room, each bringing her back to her old life. For perhaps the first time ever since she had embarked on this journey of hers; she started to feel a bit homesick. Maybe it was her emotions in that current moment in time but she didn't really regret doing what she did.
As she and Ruby waited in silence in the room, the older girl started to think about what she would say to the others who didn't know of her past. But it seemed as if her thinking was going to be cut short once the door opened. Both she and Ruby looked towards the door as The Queen's Vessel's crew walked in; speaking amongst themselves loudly while all taking up a spot in the room.
Cinder waited patiently for the talking to die down and didn't utter a word. Her gaze trailed each and every one of the room's occupants as she remembered exactly how and when she met them; feeling a faint smile spread across her lips as she did so. Until she spotted that damned mongrel who was one of the causes for what was happening now. As she stared down at the small dog that was licking at Ruby's legs, the beast reared its head and looked back at her. Its small black eyes did nothing however to calm the older girl as she scowled at it before glancing away.
Looking towards the left of the room stood Roman. Her closest and most treasured friend despite how she treated him. He in fact was her sworn bodyguard; ever since her noble life back in Vale. In fact she was the reason why he was here with her, and she knew he was aware of what she was about to tell everyone as he looked back towards her gaze with a soft and understanding expression.
Doing one more one over the group and deciding to get started, Cinder couldn't help but notice that Neo and Yang weren't present yet and decided to speak up about that little fact first. She really didn't feel like telling this story twice.
"Does anyone know where Neo and Yang are?" She asked causally to which all eyes were instantly trained on her and answered with various "No."
Exhaling pointedly, Captain Cinder leaned back in her chair as she waited for the last two tardy members of her crew to show up. But it wasn't long before someone spoke up first.
"So, why are we all called here? I don't think we've ever had a meeting before."
Cinder had to look up to ascertain which of the twins had spoken up and after spotting the white shirt noted that it in fact was Melanie. The girl stood next to her twin sister and wore a mask of boredom while her arms were crossed.
The raven haired woman only smiled before shutting her eyes and continuing to lean back in her chair. No matter what was said right now; she'd wait until everyone was present.
"Are you sure you know where you're going Neo? I mean…" Yang trailed on as she looked around the busy marketplace and faintly remembering passing the very same stalls about ten minutes ago. "… This all looks really familiar."
Looking towards her left and down at the small and seemingly content smaller girl, Yang couldn't help but not mind getting lost with Neo. The girl's quick steps just to keep in stride with her longer ones bounced her up and down in an adorable fashion. In fact Yang noticed herself realizing quite a bit of little things about Neo today as they shopped together. The girl never even uttered a word, yet her body language and little ticks spoke volumes to Yang. She was pretty proud of the fact that she was grasping a better understanding about the Navigator.
And right now it was one of those times that Yang was glad she had started paying attention to the smaller girl's little ticks that she'd do. Both girls had ceased walking once Yang had spoken, and Neo pursed her lips while crossing her arms loosely; still looking forward. Yang knew that this meant that she was seriously deep in thought; complete with the shorter girl wiggling her nose a bit in frustration. It seriously was cute to Yang. So much so that she let a small stifled snort out as she watched the girl.
This only caused said girl to look at her in annoyance however and caused Yang to quickly look away innocently as if she hadn't been laughing at Neo. However a peculiar sight caught the blonde girl's eyes. A girl dressed in a white robe that was made out of material Yang could only wish for was walking hurriedly with what looked like four armed guards in an odd blue and white militaristic uniform.
From where she stood, Yang couldn't hear what they were saying, but the girl in the white robe was speaking towards the guards in what looked like an angry manner. She was waving her arms around animatedly with her off centered pony tail swinging with each movement of her head. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was upset about something. Although the girl was cute if not out of place with her attire and escort; Yang had no idea as to who it was and quite frankly it wasn't her problem.
Turning back around to ask Neo if she had figured out where they were going though, Yang started to speak only to spot the miniature girl already running off in a new direction.
"N- Neo, wait up!" Yang half shouted, clutching her clothes in her hand as she ran after the shorter girl.
Unbeknownst to Yang however, as she trotted after the short girl and yelled at her; the mysterious white haired girl took notice of the two jogging women. With a perched eyebrow and a snap of her fingers; the ever authoritative and curious Princess ordered one of her guards to follow the two running females towards whatever destination they were headed.