The Rose Amidst the Snow

Chapter Seven

The Chill in Your Bones


When Ruby and her group returned to the barn, they were greeted by the stoic Prince dressed in full armour standing beneath a small flurry. Ruby got down from Myrtenaster, angry that her injured patient was up and about while Weiss was busy looking at the majestic horse with wide eyes.

"What are you doing up?!" Ruby screamed, grabbing Weiss roughly by the fur to force her to look at her.

Weiss looked down at Ruby just as angrily but instead of yelling like she wanted to, she calmly asked, "How did you do it? How did you summon my horse from the ethers?"

"What?" Ruby asked releasing the Prince. "Summon? No, he's been here the whole time."

"You're lying," Weiss said. "I lost complete consciousness. My magic requires a direct mental link to stay in the physical realm."

"Yeah, well, maybe you weren't as out cold as you thought then? Because Myrtenaster and that freaky ice patch you put on my arm are still here—we need to have a word about that, by the way." Ruby took a step back, shivering from the light snow cascading down around her. "It did this weird thing and… well, look."

When Ruby showed Weiss her frozen arm, the shrinking ice rescinded to a thin layer sitting atop her skin, almost like it was cowering in fear. Weiss held Ruby's hand between her gloved ones, brushing it carefully with her cursed fingers as she beckoned the stray magic to return to her. The ice refused its master's call and pulled away, slinking back into the bangle around Ruby's wound.

"I… I don't understand," Weiss murmured quietly to Ruby who was too lost in the Prince's careful touch to notice.

"Whoa there, lover boy! Back up," Yang shouted as she yanked Ruby up and away from Weiss by the scruff of her shirt.

"Yang! Let me go, let me go!" Ruby complained, thrashing her arms and legs.

The tall woman ignored the struggling teen in her hand and asked, "So you're the Prince of Atlas, eh? Welcome to my little Patch of heaven. Ain't it swell?"

The noble looked at Yang curiously and hesitantly nodded. She recognized the blonde almost immediately but didn't say, she was more concerned about Ruby to care that the Duke's daughter was directly speaking to her.

"Well, aren't you going to say something to me?" Yang pressed, a little angrily at the clear disrespect.

Weiss looked between a pleading Ruby and the red eyed blonde. "Unhand my friend," she said warningly, her hand resting on the hilt of her ornate sword.

"Weiss!" Ruby gasped.

"If you want a fight, you've got one!" Yang replied with a grin as she tossed Ruby behind her like a rag. "I've always wanted to go toe-to-toe with one of you barbarians!"

Weiss narrowed her gaze at Yang, Ruby's worried expression kept in her periphery. "A one armed socialite dares to challenge me? Hah, you've got to be daft, girl."

Fire engulfed Yang's gauntlet. The enchantments protecting it from the heat struggled to hold. Yang tightly clenched her fist, the fire in her palm seeping through the cracks and creases. Red hot liquid bled to the ground, dripping slowly at first before steadily pouring out and forming a sizzling whip.

"Let's see you try to stay cool then!" Yang exclaimed cracking the whip at Weiss' feet.

The Prince stared at the scorched ground before her impassively, her cold expression giving little to nothing away. She lifted her heavy boot and crushed the embers underneath it.

"C'mon Ice King, you want me to hand my sister over to you right? So fight me!"

Weiss eased her stance and crossed her arms. "I'm not fighting you," she said with a scoff.

"What, you chicken?" Yang asked cracking the whip again, this time the lash licked the Prince on the cheek. "Ooh, tough guy; you didn't even flinch!"

"I will not raise my blade against you," Weiss said turning her back to leave Yang and the others behind. Myrtenaster trotted to her side and nipped at the furs covering Weiss' shoulders as if he were trying to tell Weiss to stop. "Wha—hey! Stop that!"

When Weiss turned her back to Yang, the blonde saw red. She raised her whip and sent it flying towards the distracted Prince, aiming for the hand petting the horse. The whip looped around Weiss' right hand, the intense heat searing the bone and leather her gauntlet was made from. The hissing noise spooked the war horse sending it barreling through the trees in a blind panic.

Weiss sighed and shook her head, her patience was wearing thin.

"Got you now!" Yang cackled, her eyes still red with bloodlust. But once again Weiss failed to react accordingly. Having enough of the blonde's shenanigans, the Prince looked at the fiery coil and grabbed it. "What?!"

Ice began replacing the magical fire, eating away at it until Yang was forced to tear her half away and break the connection. Weiss smirked at the fuming blonde and her flaming cowlick. It was clear to her that the future Duchess had no formal training judging by the unrefined way she controlled her magic.

"I will not fight you," Weiss repeated. "You are Ruby's friend."

"Friend?!" Yang roared. "I'm her sister!"

"No, she's not!" Ruby screamed, stunning everyone in the vicinity.

Ruby snapped her attention away from Yang and focused it all on the surprised Prince, her heart still telling her to return to Weiss' side. She pulled herself free from Blake and rushed to the future King, ignoring all the angry shouts coming from Yang.

"Weiss, are you alright?" Ruby asked, her hand hovering nervously near the red welt on Weiss' cheek.

"Sister? What does she mean by that?" the Prince asked curiously.

Ruby shook her head, touching the icy hand Weiss hid under her gloves. "It's nothing. Yang's just being silly."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not standing right behind you!" Yang hollered.

The golden dragon over Yang's cape began to glow, pulsing with magic. Yang felt her focus narrowing the brighter her dragon burned and with it came control. Yang closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose. She held it in her lungs for five seconds before exhaling orally. The noblewoman repeated this four more times and reopened her eyes on the final release.

"You have some serious nerve, outsider!" Smoke was steadily rising up through the gaps between Yang's bared teeth. "Get away from Ruby before I really get serious."

"You need to calm down, Yang!" Ruby demanded as she shuddered under Weiss' flurry. She looked at the melting Faunus behind her sister and offered her sincerest apology.

Blake wasn't blind. She knew Ruby made the smart choice in the literal heat of the moment. But Yang was her friend and she needed her support, so Blake stayed resolute and watched the snow falling over Ruby enviously. It was getting nigh unbearable though.

Blake was standing downwind of the walking inferno, getting a good taste of what it felt like to cross the hellish Vacuo desert. Her eyelids felt like sandpaper, always scratching and irritating her whenever she blinked. Her eyes were so dry she had to question whether or not she actually did blink. It was a toss up between split second eclipses that only darkened her vision or Yang's magic had finally managed to fry her tear ducts.

"Get. Away. From. My sister!" Yang seethed, the smoke escaping her mouth darkening as her fires burned brighter.

Weiss narrowed her eyes looking past Yang. Poor Blake was sweating profusely, her eyes bleary as she swayed on her feet. "You're careless," Weiss pointed out as she conjured a large snowball and tossed it at Blake. But the heat surrounding the two young women was like an impenetrable wall. Though to her credit, Weiss didn't look the least bit surprised or deterred, just mildly annoyed.

Yang smirked, "Oh no, a snowball, how scary!"

"Yang, stop it," Blake pleaded, but the blonde paid her no mind.

"Are you going to throw another one?" Yang jeered.

"You really have no idea, do you?" Weiss asked, clicking her tongue disappointedly. "Tell me, do you know what steam is?"

Huffing, Yang scrunched her nose, "Uh, doy?"

Yang held her hand out, focusing on her palm, trying to force her unpredictable magic to take shape. Her brows creased together in focus, sweat building on her brow as the force welled within her. It begged and screamed to be freed, to be unleashed unto the world without burden. Yang struggled to breathe but kept it hidden.

"Well?" the cloaked royal prodded with a perfect brow raised in question. "I'm waiting."

Weiss shook her bangs, the hair effortlessly falling over her eyes, and pushed them back to the top of her head using her right hand. The white tufts of hair held firm with the aid of her ice and snow, the tips curling upwards like a crown of thorns.

The Prince's face was free of all obstruction, save for a lock of hair above her right eyebrow that curled to the left. Weiss' features sharped dramatically without her downy bangs covering half her striking blue eyes. The difference was like comparing a soft rolling snow hill to a solid glacier, the distinction between the two a glaring offset.

Yang gritted her teeth, the flame in her hand flickering to life as Weiss' cool composure pushed her to the edge.

"Evaporated water," Yang stated practically spitting venom at the cocky Prince. "Look, I'm not stupid, hot stuff. I may not look it, but I hit the books pretty hard."

"With your fist or with that enormous forehead of yours?" Weiss asked the blonde, her infallible smirk taunting the bull to charge.

"Eat shit!" Yang screamed, throwing the beginnings of a fireball at Weiss and Ruby.

Weiss draped her arm and cloak around Ruby's smaller frame, using her larger body to shield the redhead. The fire hit and spread across Weiss' back, the kinetic force behind the spell pushing her closer to Ruby. When it dissipated, the black fur over top Weiss' red cloak was singed. A vile odor like no other wafted in the air, carried on by the smoke rising from the smoldering follicles.

Blake's Faunus ears folded back as she clamped her sensitive nose shut with both hands. "Oh god, what is that?!"

Weiss looked over her shoulder, loosening her hold around Ruby, and said, "That, my feline friend, is what Atlesian Grimm smell like. Putrid isn't it? I'd tell you to light a match, but the future Duchess here seems to have that covered."

Yang's hair glowed brighter and hotter at the jibe.

Ruby poked her head out from under Weiss' cloak and tentatively sniffed the air. She was much closer to the origin of the stench than Blake, and without the cleansing screen of smoke Yang produced, the nauseating smell was much more potent.

Ruby instantly regretted her decision and mimicked her distraught mentor. "Ew! It smells like rotten eggs and farts," Ruby cried, her voice tight and nasally like Blake's. "Oh god, it's in my mouth! It's in my mouth!"

"This stench permeates the slums of my kingdom," Weiss added, her voice cold and calculating though mildly amused. "It wards off most threats. Grimm, wild animals, politicians, take your pick.

"Crackpot medicine men living in the slums like to use it for 'healing' rituals and incantations, but if you breathe it in long enough you'll start to hallucinate. Not pleasant, I can assure you of that."

"That's all well and dandy, but who gives a shit?" Yang barked, readying another fireball. "Slums, man? Really? How fucked up is your kingdom?"

"I'd choose your next set of words carefully if I were you," Weiss growled, her calm expression morphing into one of restrained anger.

Yang played with the fire in her palm like a ball, up and down, up and down. The nonchalance she displayed was starting to get under Weiss' skin and she knew that, so she grinned and kept going.

"Patch is small but we're prosperous," Yang said proudly. "Everyone's doing something to contribute to the community. By the way, how's the slave trade going?"

"Freeze!"

Weiss swiftly turned around on her heel with a flourish of her cape and threw her hand out, letting loose a frigid gale that flew past the tree line. The steam that lingered harmlessly around Yang and Blake froze instantly. Like little crystalline spores, the ice lingered, suspended in place by age old magic.

"W-What?" Yang shuddered, her breath misting and freezing as she exhaled.

"You need to cool your head, hot stuff," Weiss sneered. "You speak as if you know my home well, but what do you truly understand, you impudent girl? You, who lives in luxury without want or need, speak highly of Patch, yet you allow your friends to live like this.

"Atlas is nothing like Patch with its tropical climate and abundance. Food is scarce up north. If you do not work, you starve. And if you cannot fight, you die. Maybe we are barbarians for letting the divide between classes grow to this point, but that doesn't mean some upstart whelp hiding under Daddy's cloak can get away with saying such things to the crown Prince himself.

"Take heed, Yang Xiao Long, when it is your time to rule, the bright world you see now will no longer be the same. And the hardships my people endure will be a blessing in comparison to the shadows lurking beneath your shores."

Weiss took a calming breath and dealt the final blow to Yang's bruised ego with a snap.

The wind suddenly picked up, pushing the pellets to swarm around Yang in a violent white maelstrom. Yang frantically swatted her hand in front of her face trying to keep the droplets out of her eyes. It was like being caught in the eye of a tornado with dust and dirt whipping around her as the wind churned.

Ice quickly formed at the soles of Yang's boots, crawling rapidly upwards until the fire caster's body was covered up to her neck. She thrashed in her crystal prison summoning all the magic she had in her body to melt the ice, but it stayed perfect, just like Weiss' control over winter.

Yang called her magic to her throat, the energy glowing through her skin. Yang's eyes shifted into a darker murderous red colour as she exhaled a wave of fire down her body. Weiss smirked at the struggling blonde, her brow creasing a touch when she felt a bead of water drip down her masterpiece.

"Argh! Let me out of here!" Yang screamed after the fire ebbed.

"No, not until you calm yourself down!" Weiss demanded, her outstretched hand curling the tips of its fingers inward. The ice responded to its Prince and contracted, hardening its frigid surface.

"What if I don't want to calm down?!" Yang spat immaturely. "Are you going to keep me here forever?"

"No, just long enough to deliver you personally to your displeased father," Weiss responded trying to sound like she didn't just say "I'm going to tell on you".

"You wouldn't dare!"

Weiss smirked, lording over the blonde like a schoolyard bully. "Are you willing to find out?"

"Grr… you bastard," Yang grumbled, her eyes returning to normal.

Blake couldn't condone the Prince's juvenile squabble with her friend, but she was still eternally grateful that the stifling heat was gone. Forget the shadows lurking near the shores destroying Patch, Yang's big mouth could probably manage it on its own.

"H-Ha… hachuu!" Ruby violently sneezed, shattering the tension before it could escalate any higher. "Ughh…" A long trail of mucus joined her to Weiss' arm, the viscous thread sagging until it snapped in the middle. "Oh no."

Weiss' flurry abruptly stopped, her furious blue eyes locking onto Ruby's terrified silver. Yang and Blake watched the scene unfold, both extremely curious and alert to all of Weiss' movements.

"Uh…" Ruby looked up at Weiss, her shoulders inching closer to her ears as she shrank in on herself. "I am so, so, so, so sorry! Please don't behead me!"

The furious Prince beared down on the young girl using her above average height and Ruby's weak knees to impose dominance over her. To Weiss, Ruby looked like a cowering rabbit trapped by starving predator. Images of her childhood spent in the same position as Ruby flashed before Weiss, reminding her of a time when she had no one to turn to.

Ruby's wide silver eyes were glossy with unshed tears. Her irises jittered in place, subtly darting about erratically as she stared at her own horrified reflection in Weiss' gleaming eyes. Ruby's mouth was slightly agape with an evident tremble shaking her chapped lips.

"Are you cold?" Weiss asked, her voice low and carrying, bereft of any anger or malice. The fury she felt coursing through her icy veins vanished the moment she saw herself in Ruby's eyes. "I'm sorry, you should have said something."

Nervously, Ruby nodded her head. "Y-Yeah… I'm not uses to being this c-cold."

"I'm sorry," Weiss apologized again, her gaze low and shameful, thinking of the man she was groomed to follow in. "The heat was getting to me when I awoke."

"It gets cooler at night, even colder if it rains," Ruby explained feeling less frightened. "I-It's just we're midday—well, I guess a little past it since the sun isn't so high up anymore."

Weiss waved her frozen hand above her head, dispersing the magical cloud she created. The temperature around the barn steadily rose and the ice encasing Yang slowly flaked off, crashing to the ground in chucks that shattered like glass. But the air was refreshing and cool, crisp like the misted air around a natural waterfall spring.

"What?" Yang blinked. "Can someone please explain to me why Prince Stick-Up-His-Ass didn't ice Ruby?"

Ruby blushed and stepped away from the handsome Prince, her hands folded behind her back bashfully. The mucous that joined them together stretches and sagged down until it snapped. Weiss flicked the disgusting thread off her arm like she would water, but it refused to budge. She curiously looked to Ruby's shoulder, decided "to hell with it", and used it to wipe herself clean. Ruby didn't care that Weiss had just used her as a handkerchief; she did the same thing only using her sleeve instead.

"Ew," Blake mumbled. She and Yang were as close as two girls could be without it becoming romantic, but she'd rather die of pneumonia before she even considered doing the same to Yang.

"Yeah, I second you on that one, Blakey. Ew," Yang muttered in disgust.

"Okay, now that we're all chill and calm, let's start things over!" Ruby cheered. She gestured at Weiss and said, "Allow me to formally introduce you to Weiss, the Prince of Atlas, and my new b.f.f!

"Weiss is a bit scary, yeah, not gunna lie there. But she's not so bad once you get to know her." The words had slipped out before Ruby even knew what she was saying. The Prince in question looked at Ruby incredulously, her mouth hanging wide open.

Yang snorted obnoxiously. "Wow, way to diss the guy!" she exclaimed, howling in laughter. "You've avenge my death, thanks."

"Though, now that you mentioned it, he does look rather feminine," Blake added, chipping in her own thoughts. "His hair's better kept than yours, Yang."

"Now hold it right there, bitch. No need to go that far," Yang said scowling at her best friend. "My hair is the fairest in all the land!"

Blake quirked an eyebrow. "According to who?"

"Me! According to me, that's who!" Yang spat. She would have proudly gestured to herself if she wasn't busy trying to break her legs out. "Don't make me bring my daddy into this. Wait, that's brilliant! We can make it a law or something to worship my hair or turn it into a national treasure like me!"

Weiss and Ruby stared at the bickering duo taking turns roasting the Prince, each girlish insult worse than the last. They exchanged a look expressing concern but didn't say anything in fear of another argument.

Ending the long chain of scorn, Blake wearily sighed. "The duchy doesn't need anymore useless laws, Yang."

"Hey, my hair is always a duchy subject!"

"Ugh, you are such a royal pain—"

"Pfft!"

All eyes were immediately on Weiss.

"Hn?" the Prince blinked.

"Yang's a royal pain in the ass," Blake finished her sentence sternly, her eyes sharp and scrutinizing, but Weiss' face stayed impassive.

"Was that supposed to make me laugh?" Weiss asked tilting her head.

"Don't tell me…" Blake palmed her face. "Please don't tell me you actually found Yang funny."

"I didn't?" Weiss said narrowing her eyes at Blake with uncertainty.

"It was me!" Ruby shouted guiltily. "It was me! I laughed—it was funny!"

"How is the addition of another useless law funny?" Blake asked spitefully.

Ruby yelped and hid behind Weiss, her head poking out just far enough for her to see Blake's upset expression. "But she said duchy instead of touchy…"

"That was rather impressive for word play," Weiss admitted with a lofty chuckle.

Yang kicked the last bits of ice off her boots and stretched her stiff body, relishing the freedom to move. "Thanks for the compliment, but you're still not in my good graces," she said shooting Weiss quick a glare. The Prince tightened her jaw leading Yang to ask, "Hey, uh, I know we were just fighting and all, but Ruby said on the way back that you were hurt pretty badly. Why are you up?"

"Oh… um," Weiss blushed. "I… I was looking for Ruby."

"Why?"

"She's to guide me to the Duke's castle," the Prince explained. "I only have a couple of weeks to find what I'm searching for, any later than that and my crew and I risk sailing into frozen waters."

"Right… well, I'm heading there so why don't I take you?" Yang offered. "I promise I won't fry you alive when you aren't looking."

Weiss looked at Yang suspiciously.

"You should go with her, Weiss!" Ruby suggested. "Who better to take you there than the person living in it."

"But we agreed you'd take me," Weiss countered. "It's unbecoming of royalty to go back on a promise, especially after everything you've done for me."

"It really was nothing though," Ruby said modestly. "But, um, you're hurt, like, really bad and the castle is practically on the other side of the island from here."

"What are you suggesting then?"

Blake stepped up and put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, her eyes locked on Weiss. "I suggest you go back to your ship and sail to the other coast."

"Blake, you did hear me say Weiss was hurt, right?" Ruby glowered.

"I heard you, but the Prince looks well enough to me."

Ruby pried Blake's hand off her shoulder and stood by Weiss' side, facing her mentor with a stiff upper lip. "He has a hole the size of my fist in his back!"

"Then how is his highness able to walk if he's in such great pain?" Blake asked pointedly.

"I…" Ruby looked up to Weiss and tugged her cape. "Say something!"

"What do you want me to say?" she asked back. "It's quite clear your friends do not like my presence around you."

"My barn, my rules," Ruby said stomping her foot. "You're in no condition to be wandering in the rainforest! You'd risk infection before you even get halfway through."

"I've sealed the wound with ice," Weiss said trying to appease her friend's worry.

"You're staying here and resting—and get rid of the ice! You need proper blood flow to heal!"

"Ruby, I really think I should take the Prince to the castle," Yang said approaching the two. "Dad's waiting for him and we can offer better medical care in the castle."

"No!" Weiss and Ruby shouted in unison.

"Yikes, just a suggestion," Yang said holding her hand up in defence.

"Weiss is staying here with me, and I won't hear anything else about it." Ruby looked to Blake then to Yang, waiting for any words of rebuttal. When none came, she nodded her head and said, "It's all settled then. Weiss, get your ass back in that bed and rest!"

"You dare order a Prince?" Weiss sneered, her scowl quickly upending.

Ruby shot her a playful glare and said, "Prince? What Prince? I don't see a Prince here, just a stubborn twit who doesn't want to get better."

"Fine, fine, you win," Weiss chuckled, accepting defeat. "But when you have time there's a favour I need to ask of you since you've forbidden me from leaving."

"Okay, I'll meet you inside later. I need to have a word with my sister and Blake," Ruby said stressing the other girls' names.

Weiss gracefully bowed and left the three friends to do as they will. Ruby kept her eyes on the Prince's retreating form, waiting until she entered the barn to turn and face the meddlesome duo.

"Alright you two, what's going on?" Ruby asked, a deep frown etched on her lips.

"Dunno what you mean, sis!" Yang beamed innocently.

Shaking her head, Ruby tries again. "Why are you guys trying to keep Weiss away from me?"

"Other than the obvious fact he's out to corrupt you, no reason." Yang held her hand to her hip and said, "He's bad news, Ruby."

"You feel the same way, Blake?" Ruby asked, turning the question to her stoic mentor.

Blake nodded. "He's up to something, I just know it."

"Did it seriously never occur to you guys that maybe Weiss is just, oh, I don't know, trying to be nice?" Ruby grumbled. "He's having a hard time as it is without you goons harassing him."

"Did you see the way he was looking at you though?" Yang pointed out unhappily.

"Yeah, I'm not blind!" Ruby shouted.

"Then you know what he really wants?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, a friend."

"Not the way I see it," Yang muttered.

"Well you should look again, because friendship is all that he wants."

"Ruby, do you know something about the Prince that you aren't telling us?" Blake asked crossing her arms.

"I'm not telling you guys anything," Ruby snarled. "Weiss has been an absolute gentleman, and I'd really like it if you guys could get along."

"That bastard has my people enslaved!"

"Was Weiss the one that dragged your family out of your home? No. Was Weiss the one that sold you off like cattle? No," Ruby seethed. "You're blaming these crimes on someone you don't even know! If we follow your logic, Weiss might as well be the reason we're both orphans."

"Ruby," Yang mumbled, unsure of what to do. "Blake? Hey, we should—"

"He is the Prince of Atlas! As the future ruler he has a responsibility to the people—"

"What's a Prince supposed to do, Blake? He isn't the King yet, his word alone isn't strong enough to change things… not yet at least."

"I… Ruby, it is still his responsibility." Blake gritted her teeth, the girl standing before her didn't know anything.

"You've got that look on your face that says: 'Ruby's just a stupid kid, she doesn't understand my angst. Waah, waah, waah'," Ruby said, poorly mimicking Blake's troubled expression. "Look here, Blake, I get it. I really do. You've seen shit I can only imagine, but that doesn't mean you can get away with blaming everything on someone else. But you wanna know who you can blame?

"Blame the assholes who willingly choose to harm others for the sake of greed. Blame the slave owners, sellers, and anyone profiting off of another's suffering. You can point your hatred and anger to any one of those people and I'll join you. But when you direct it at someone whose only crime is being next-in-line to the throne, you can count me out."

"And you call me blind… Ruby, you're in so much denial," Blake said chuckling grimly to herself. "When your precious Prince decides he's through with you and leaves you for dead, don't come crawling after me."

"Blake?" Yang reached out but Blake wasn't listening.

"You'll be sorry you sided with the Barbarians," Blake tore her gaze away from her former student and walked away. "One last warning for posterity's sake," she stopped and looked over her shoulder, "even the most docile of animals have fangs. Don't wake the beast with your new friend, Ruby."

Blake's gaze lingered on Ruby's distraught face feeling a twinge of regret in her heart, but she swallowed it down and left before her resolve could break.

"Beast? What beast? Blake, you make no sense!" Ruby screamed in frustration, but Blake was already gone. Red with anger and no one to point it at, Ruby stomped towards her barn to vent her frustrations to the only sensible person she knew.

With Ruby gone, Yang stood alone and confused. Her sister and her best friend had officially gone their separate ways—over a man no less. Yang was used to seeing squabbles like this whenever she was invited to an event. Girls fighting over boys, but never the other way around since men were like bees and women their flowers. Animals, all of them animals.

Her first instinct was to check on Ruby, but the young girl's trust in the Prince made her hesitate. She was initially weary of Weiss because her mother insisted he was sailing all the way to Patch just so he could personally ask for her hand in marriage. But Weiss surprised her when he brushed her aside in favour of Ruby's company, and for what? Friendship? Friends do not look at each other the way Ruby and Weiss did. Those stares were filled with longing and happiness, it was as clear as rain to Yang. And as much as it pained her to admit it, she was wrong to try and get in the way of that.

"Take care of my little sister, your highness," Yang said with a sad smile as she made up her mind.

Yang took a tentative step towards her way home. She knew this was the only thing she could do since Blake was almost impossible to find in the rainforest. The chances of her finding her skittish companion was lower than the chances of her getting bitten by a snake.

The familiar clip-clop of a horse's hooves drew Yang's attention. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't see Myrtenaster approach.

"Here for round two?" Yang asked tiredly. The horse snorted at her and presented its side the same way it offered Ruby. "What are you up to?"

The horse stamped an angry hoof and cantered around Yang. He stopped in front of her and nipped her sleeve, tugging it towards himself.

"Hey! Stop that, you stupid horse!" Yang yelled as she struggled to free herself, but Myrtenaster was having none of it. "What do you want? God damn, you're one needy son of a bitch… wait, are… are you offering to take me home?"

Myrtenaster's eyes lit up and nodded his head. He brought his snout close to Yang's face and sniffed her, jostling her golden locks with every misted breath he took.

"So you're not trying to kill me anymore?" Myrtenaster looked away, feigning an innocent whinny. "What?! Are you—y'know what? Let's fucking do this, show me what you got."

Yang grabbed the reigns and the saddle and expertly mounted the war horse's back. She hadn't ridden a horse since the accident that took her right arm, but she was glad her body remembered how to ride.

The view from the giant horse's back was amazing, but that large tree branch they were closing in on did not. Yang ducked her head just in time to avoid losing it. Myrtenaster laughed at her and picked up speed without Yang's prompt. He galloped through the small thicket surrounding Ruby's barn, ignoring the foliage around him completely. Yang kept her body low to avoid any wayward obstacles; she was starting to look like Blake's leafy camouflage tarp with all the sticks and twigs lodged in her hair.

The sky was a beautiful pastel orange by the time they broke through the treeline and entered the rolling green plains. Yang's castle could be seen in the far distance as a tiny black spec.

"Is this as fast as you can go, slowpoke?" Yang asked her new friend. "My grandma can run faster than you!"

Myrtenaster roared at the challenge and unleashed its full speed. Being a creature of the ether meant he felt no hunger or exhaustion, and the power he once had as a living horse was now tripled.

"Too fast! Too faaaaaaaaaaast!"


Yang's visits are always in credibly short since the only way for her to reach Ruby is if she takes a stagecoach to from the castle to the town facing Vale. From there she cuts through the forest using the secret trail her, Ruby, and Blake made over the years. Once she gets to the barn she has two to three hours to spend with Ruby before she needs to head back. Rinse and repeat.

Riding Myrtenaster is a straight A to B route, whereas the stagecoach goes through the entire alphabet just to get her halfway home.

We won't be seeing Blake for awhile.