Chapter 8
It's the night following Weiss' awakening. Since the recent incident, patrol has weakened and people were free to be out at night. However, people also expect that this would not last too long with King Schnee still on the throne.
Ruby sat on the porch's swinging bench, not liking how her home country turned out to be. She was tired of running. She wanted to end her people's suffering from their tyrant.
Blake walked out to Ruby with two cups of hot tea. She offered a cup "Hey, Ruby. I got you some tea."
Ruby took the cup of hot tea and her angered face calmed "Thanks Blake." She took a small sip after blowing on it. "Oh, white rose tea with honey and lemon! Man do I miss this."
Blake smiled and sat with her "I found some in the market this afternoon and thought you deserve it. You have been misbehaving lately, but you haven't gotten yourself killed."
Ruby sipped her tea once more. She thought of the reason why she hadn't died yet, being that the only assassin after her had been protecting her all this time. She also thought of Yang, who with the help of Weiss was thwarting King Schnee's plan to assassinate the young dark-haired girl. And most importantly, there was the girl before her: Blake Belladonna. She was always with her throughout the last two years. Blake, though she's was always searching for clues about Yang, always thought of her duty to Ruby. She could see Blake being a great sister to her, as Yang thought of proposing to her after King Schnee's dethronement. I wonder how Blake'll react to Yang's proposal. She may be strong headed and stubborn, but Blake's such a romantic type.
"So, what did you do while I wasn't around? I'm sorta curious." Blake asked.
"Just roamed around, meeting old friends. Don't worry. I hid from Schnee Patrol."
"Obviously, you're still alive." Blake chuckled and Ruby elbowed her side.
"Meanie. I can survive on my own."
"I know you can."
Ruby looked at Blake and smiled. A moment of silence as she set her mug down on the ground. As fast as the silence came, Ruby spoke "Blake, why did you give me yesterday off? I mean, I appreciate you giving me the space. But I was wondering, in the most dangerous town to leave me on my own, why here?"
Blake looked at her tea cup, at the reflection of herself. She took a moment before responding back "I guess I just figured you wanted to see your friends again. And I do have you on speed dial. You could also call me if you were in any real danger."
Ruby noticed that Blake wasn't telling her the truth. She sighed and looked out to Bumblebee, which was parked at the front instead of the driveway.
Blake followed suit and breathed in a lot of air. She got up and walked to bumblebee, running her fingertips across the body. She smiled "where are you? I'm getting really tired of chasing you. Chasing after the slight chance you may be alive. I might as well be trying to find a ghost."
"Don't give up that easily Blake." Ruby comforted her. "She's out there. Somewhere. You've spent two years chasing her. I'm not about to let you give up on her."
Blake turned away and heading back into the house "I'm sorry, but I can't. It's been too long and I've been thinking, 'what if they're right? What if she is dead?' Yang wouldn't be hiding from me this long." Blake reached the porch "It's been two years, Ruby. It's always the same. I'm tired of being the only one who believes that she could be alive. Maybe it's time, I stopped believing the whims of a little girl. And accept that Yang died that night."
Blake went inside the house and Ruby heard every word. She didn't know what to do, but listen to the cries of her friend from behind the front door.
"Yang, I really hope you know what you're doing. Blake's about to give up on you."
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"Their defenses are low, thanks to the incident during the piking ceremony. If there's any better time to attack, it'd be now. We've got to go on the attack!" Nora suggested at the nightly raid conference with Queen and the captains of the squadrons. Weiss remained in the shadows of the room to listen in.
"But don't you think there could be more guards at the manor? Where they know we'll strike? Other rebellions have tried and lost a lot of men that way." Sun countered. "I say we send scouts to scope out the area before we attack."
"Her highness is going to leave with Blake soon. If we are going to use her to get in, now would be the best time. Queen, you told us you wanted to use her to get in right?" Jaune said. "I don't approve of using her as bait, but seeing the options we have on the table-"
"No we aren't putting her highness in that kind of danger. Weiss Schnee has informed me that a new assassin is going to be after her. We can't risk any harm on her, especially if she's going to have someone else on her tail." Queen spoke. "The best possible option is for those two to leave and send scouts to see what we are up against."
"A Schnee told you this? Are you sure she could be trusted?" Pyrrha crossed her arms. "What if she's just going to go after her highness after you let her go?"
"She's not going anywhere Pyrrha. I'm keeping a close eye on the Schnee. If she's willing to co-operate with us, I can't do anything about it. And she's our best chance to have Ruby on the throne as fast as possible. Isn't that our main goal at the moment?" Queen argued back. Pyrrha and the others looked at her, almost questioning her authority. No one spoke up though. It was the main goal and they knew that the Queen had their best option in mind. Even if it was to trust a Schnee. "Sun, I want you to send your best spies to the manor and scope out the premises as soon as you can. Preferably now if you may. Pyrrha, Nora, gather a team as backup. Ren, Jaune, Velvet, offer aid if necessary. I'm going to consult with the Schnee and see if there's any new information she has on the assassin after Ruby this time. We attack at dawn."
"Ma'am." Everyone saluted and left the area. Queen remained in the room. When everyone had gone, Weiss joined Queen. She had her head on the table, groaning.
"That could have gone better, Yang."
"I wasn't meant to lead an army, Weiss." Yang took off her helmet for air "Can't I just be free out there? Take Blake and run off in this god forsaken world?"
"It was your decision to rule it. I said in the beginning that you'd have to take responsibility when everyone started to join ReBEElion."
"It was your idea to create it. Though you're never around anymore."
Weiss sat in a seat. She looked at the round desk with a map of Rose Manor. There were marked with Xs and Os. There were also arrows pointing towards the throne room. "Is this the plan to invade the Manor?"
"Yeah. We've been trying to come up with the perfect solution for it for years. I want a quick way to get King Schnee off Summer's throne. And Ruby on it." Yang mentioned. "It's proving to be a lot more difficult that it needs to be."
"You know what, Yang. It's going to be a long shot, but use me."
"What?"
"I'm a fugitive to the Schnee household. Use Sun's spies to steal some uniforms from the guards. We only need one for you and the captains." Yang was starting to think as she listened to Weiss' proposition "The rest of the soldiers don't need to come in unless we needed them to. Velvet's team, I'm sure, are good at tailoring so if need be, we could get them resized and to fit those who needs it."
"It's not a bad plan. But Weiss, if we do that, you may need to kill your father if anything goes wrong. Or you might not make it out alive yourself."
Weiss crossed her arms "Don't worry about me. You said it yourself, Yang. King Schnee needs to be dethroned. Ruby's reign needs to start." Weiss looked away "She's still a kid, but I believe she's ready to rule Rose City."
"You and me both." Yang smiled, sliding her fingertips on her lion helmet. "It'll be then when I can finally take off this mask."
"Y-yang?" A voice came from the entrance. Yang's eyes widened as she and Weiss faced the door. There stood Sun, with a shocked look on his face. "Yang, is that you?"
"Oh no..." Yang was shocked. She faced Weiss "Weiss, get the door." Weiss closed the door Sun opened and locked it as Yang beckoned to Sun. Sun walked over and sat at the seat closest to her. Weiss stood at the door. "Sun, you weren't meant to see me like this."
"So you really were alive all this time. As Queen, chief of the ReBEElion, huh?"
"Yeah…" Yang looked back at Weiss "A rebellion group Weiss built."
"Wait, What?! The Schnee Princess formed the lead rebellion group against her father?!" Sun was shocked.
"Keep it down would you?!" Weiss yelled. She sighed "So loud…"
"So that means, Weiss is…"
"SCHQu. Yes. She's the Shadow Queen everyone keeps mentioning." Yang nodded.
"Wait till everyone hears about this. And Blake, She'll be ecstatic to hear you alive." Sun smiled. Yang looked away from him.
"She's not going to hear any of this Sun. I won't let her know I'm alive."
Sun looked at her "Why not?"
"I'm the leader of the one rebellion group that poses as a threat to King Schnee. If anyone were to find out who I am, who Weiss really is, Blake and Ruby are in trouble. King Schnee isn't one not to use those we love to get us to step down. I can't bear to get them in danger. Weiss took the job as Ruby's assassin to protect Ruby from afar. The reason she was going to be piked is because her father caught her. Ruby's in more danger now that they are sending a loyal assassin to kill her now." Yang explained. Sun could see in Yang that she was scared for her only family. She didn't want to put them in any danger. "I know you've been seeing Blake to talk about my whereabouts, Sun. I pray you keep her in the dark about this."
"It isn't going to work Yang. And I suggest you reveal yourself to her soon." Sun said, with a serious face on him. Yang and Weiss looked at him, curiously. "I was just visiting Ruby at her home on the way of picking up some of my spies at the north end of the city. She told me that Blake's about ready to give up. She's tired of looking for you Yang. She's coming to terms that you died two years ago." Sun informed.
Yang hid her face as best she could. She clutched a fist. Weiss went up to her "Yang, what are you-"
"Then let her be."
"Yang!" Weiss and Sun said in unison.
"If she believes I'm dead, let her continue believing it. I'm not going to reveal myself to her. At least not when King Schnee still poses as a threat. If she moves on, I don't care. All I care about is that she's safe and away from here. My personal feelings don't matter. Now isn't the time to succumb to them." Yang got up and put on her lion helmet. She headed to the doorway. "I'm going out. Sun, get your spies up to the manor. Weiss, we'll go with your plan if you are willing."
"Yang, you should reconsider. Blake is a strong girl and we could use her in the upcoming battle." Weiss said.
"Weiss, no. She's not going anywhere near the invasion. Now, will you excuse me?" She left as Queen.
Weiss sighed "You stupid blockhead! I've said it before and I'll say it again! You're making her worried for nothing!"
"Has she always been like that?" Sun asked.
"Two years without seeing the one person you want to see most will do that to most. All she ever thinks of is Blake's safety. Ruby is my responsibility. Just as Blake is hers." Weiss said "Sun, we're going to attack Rose Manor tomorrow using me as bait. You need to get your spies to collect uniforms from guards. Get enough for you, Yang, and the other captains. I shouldn't be the one ordering you seeing as I'm the daughter of the enemy. But trust me, I am on your side."
Sun looked at Weiss for a moment and scratched his head "I can't believe I'm about to take orders from a Schnee…" Sun went to the door.
"And Sun, remember. No one must know who we are."
"What if your father already knows?"
"That'll be my and Yang's problem. For as long as possible, No one must know of what happened in here." Weiss said as Sun nodded and left. Weiss sighed and looked at the map of Rose Manor. "For her sake, this plan has to work…"
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Queen rode her way to Blake's house a little past midnight. Ruby had gone inside a long time ago.
From across the street, Queen saw the living room light still on with a silhouette of Blake reading a book of some sort. She sighed and dug in her pocket for a small box. Opening the box, there was a ring. Queen smiled at it and closed the box. If I never show it to her, It'll be alright with me.
"Hey! You!" Blake called out to the Queen. Queen looked up to see Blake walking to her, armed "Who are you and why are you here?"
Blake… Queen thought. She sighed She can't know.
"I'm sorry. I was checking up on Ruby. I'm Queen. Leader of the ReBEElion and protector of Rose City for the past two years."
"Queen?" Blake put her guns down "Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, I heard of you. I just never knew what you looked like." Queen smiled. Blake crossed her arms "Ruby's fine. Sun was here a little while ago. You guys are really protective of her to check up on her this often."
"Yeah. She is the proper ruler of this city. And hopefully, we'll get her on that throne soon."
Blake noted the voice modulator "Are you using a device for your voice? Why is that?"
Queen looked to the manor "So nobody knows how I am. I want to keep everyone I love safe. For that to happen, No one must know who I am."
Blake looked at the room Ruby was sleeping in. She smiled and sighed in relief "I did the same with Ruby. I wanted everyone to believe she was dead so she'd be safe. But the Schnees weren't that dumb. I should have known better. Now, she's tired of running. If Crescent was with her, I'd feel much safer leaving her on her own, but I can't. I promised I'd keep her safe. And I'll keep it. It was her last wish." Blake wrapped her arms around herself. Queen looked at her.
She must not know.
"Well, I should head back in. You keep up the good work okay Queen. Thanks to ReBEElion, the citizens don't have to worry knowing you guys exist." Blake walked across the street.
After watching her for a moment, Queen sighed and ran after her "Blake! I have something to tell you."
"Hm?" Blake turned to her.
Queen paused for a moment. She sighed and shook her head "Never mind. I gotta head back to HQ. We have a big day tomorrow." She went to her bike and started it up.
"Alright. Later Queen. And good luck." Blake smiled.
She waved goodbye to Blake "Later Kitten." And with that Queen left on her bike.
Blake was taken by the nickname, shocked by being called that. After a moment, she shook her head "Nah, she couldn't be." With that, Blake walked into her house and locked the door behind her.