Yeah, I made this chapter shorter than usual for a good reason. I swear I do-
"Coming out of FTL in three, two-" Ruby said as the ship shook as it entered the vastness of space. She let out a sigh as she slumped back into her chair, she didn't like the quietness but she couldn't do anything about it. After the first jump, both Blake and Velvet left the bridge while the crimsonette was piloting the ship. It was their seventh jump and she still hasn't seen the two faunus.
But she couldn't blame them, she knew what it felt like to lose someone close. She refocused back towards the Heads Down Display, noticing that the FTL drive was overheating.
'Damn, I was hoping we could jump at least once more but I guess this will have to do'
The smaller girl powered down the engines before she unstrapped herself and stretched. Maybe she should recheck the internal wiring, Blake did mention that their weapon systems were offline. Ruby set the ship to autopilot before she strode towards the maintenance shaft. She grabbed a toolbox from the storage room and continued on her route.
The hatch creaked as she opened up the maintenance shaft, the tunnel illuminated in a red glow from one of the emergency lights on the wall. She went to work on the severed cables, reconnecting power conduits to essential systems. Once she was finished with her repairs she made her way towards the exit, just as she was reaching for the handle the hatch opened up with a brunette standing on the other side.
"Uh, hi?" Ruby asked as she rubbed the back of her head.
"C-can I talk to you for a moment?" Velvet questioned.
"Sure, let me put away this first." The crimsonette said as she raised up the toolbox.
"Okay, meet me on the bridge when you're finished."
"Alright." The smaller girl quickly ran to the storage room and left the toolbox where she found it. Once she entered the bridge she found the bunny faunus in the pilot's seat staring aimlessly into the void of space.
"You wanted to speak to me?"
Velvet nodded as she gestured towards the empty co-pilot seat next to her.
"What's this about Velvet?" Ruby questioned as she sat down.
"It- it's about Blake. I need your help with her right now Ruby."
"Why, what's wrong?" The crimsonette asked with a brow raised.
"She... hasn't left her room at all after the first jump. I've been trying to get her out but she locked the door."
"Okay... so how do I come into this?"
Velvet let out a small sigh before she continued, "Can you reach out to her? You probably have more experience with coping with death, at least more than I have."
"You lost someone before?"
"I lost my mother before I enlisted in the White Fang, and afterward I lost a few friends while they raided supply ships."
"That's... I'm sorry for your losses."
"Don't be, it happened a long time ago. Besides knowing you, you've probably seen more death than I have."
Ruby didn't answer her as she glanced over her shoulder towards the hallway, "Alright, I'll see if I can talk with her."
"Thank you, Ruby." Velvet replied as she took control of the ship.
The crimsonette got up from her seat and made her way towards Blake's room, she stood outside the metal door before she raised her hand and knocked. She heard something behind the door but couldn't make out what it was so she knocked again.
"Go away..." Blake's voice was quiet as Ruby strained to hear what she said.
The smaller girl let out a sigh as she knocked once more. When she didn't get a response she pulled out a cord from her gauntlet and inserted it into the terminal next to the door. The moment the door opened she stepped inside and locked the door behind her.
"I told you to go away Velvet," Blake muttered.
Ruby quickly noticed that the ebony haired girl was still in her bed, facing away from her and towards the wall.
"Sorry, I don't have bunny ears." The crimsonette replied as she sat on the far side of the bed.
"Ruby? How did you- never mind just leave me alone." The cat faunus mumbled.
"Not going to happen, Blakey, you're stuck with me."
"Leave. Now." Blake's voice was hoarse as she turned to face the smaller girl. When she did, the crimsonette quickly noticed that her eyes were red and puffy- not to mention the faint tear streaks down her cheek.
"No, I'm not leaving until you tell me what's bothering you."
"Please. Leave..." Her voice trailed off as she broke down into tears.
Ruby instinctively sat closer to the cat faunus and wrapped her arms around her, "Just let it all out, it's going to be oka-"
"Okay? It's going to be okay?!" Blake broke the embrace before she sat straight up, rage flashed in her eyes as stared at the crimsonette. "How can anything be okay when everyone you know is going to die!"
The silver eyed girl shrunk back from the outburst as the faunus cornered her.
"It's always like this... you make friends with someone only to watch them die soon after-" Her breath hitched before she continued, "-all because I wasn't strong enough to protect them."
Blake's shoulders hunched as more tears streamed down her face.
"I'm scared Ruby, I'm scared that everyone that I know is going to die- that they're going to fade from existence all because I couldn't do anything abo-"
The ebony haired girl was cut short as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. The crimsonette pulled her into a tight hug, effectively silencing the cat faunus as she rested her head on her shoulder.
"Shh, it's okay Blake," Ruby reassured as she rubbed circles on her back. "I'm not going anywhere."
They stood there in silence before Blake returned the embrace, minutes past by until the two separated.
"I-I should probably go help Velvet and-" The crimsonette stammered as she began to back out of the room.
"P-please, can you stay?" Blake pleaded as she held onto her arm.
"Um- uh- I-" Ruby sputtered as she rubbed the back of her head. Silver eyes locked on with Amber until the crimsonette let out a sigh, "Okay. If it will make you happy."
Weiss nervously tapped her foot against the metal floor as she waited for the screen to light up. She received a message from Klein that her father wanted her report on the Spectre's progress since then she's been waiting in the communication center for a couple of minutes. She had Ciel take command while she asked Yang for any leads on the Silver Eyes.
It was strange really, how one hired gun became an essential part of her plans to locate any silver-eyed warriors. Ever since they had their discussion, they've been going over any leads that came up- more specifically any leads regarding the ship that took out the Grimm Feilong. A loud beep snapped her out of her musing as she refocused on the screen in front of her.
The black screen lit up as an older white-haired man was shown, he had a large mustache and azure blue eyes.
"Ah Weiss, it's so good to see you again." His tone was cold and held no emotions as he made eye contact.
"Father," She addressed as she bowed, "You wanted my report?"
"Yes, of course. Admiral Ironwood would like to know how the Spectre is doing under your leadership."
"I'll send my report to him as soon as possible."
"And one more thing Weiss, I heard from the authorities that you ventured out into Grimm Space?" His tone shifted as he glared at her.
"Yes, it was a rash decision but-"
"That's all I needed to hear, I'll ask Ironwood to send you more escorts due to your incompetent leadership."
"Yes, sir."
"One last thing, Ciel sent me a rather interesting report about a certain myth."
"Has she now? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to trouble you with my hobbies."
He let out a sigh before he continued, "I see, at least we got that out of the way. I already sent Ciel our current progress on the new machines that are in development along with new dust mine locations. You'll meet up with the escorts at Reuniune Relay, I hope you'll use them well."
Weiss nodded as the screen went dark. She stepped out of the room, only to be greeted by a familiar blonde who was leaning against the wall.
"Hey, how did the call go?" Yang asked as she stood upright,
"It could've been better, I'm sorry but can you tell Ciel that we're changing course?"
"Why, what's going on?"
"We're getting reinforcements at the Reuniune Relay."
"Wait, the Reuniune Relay? That's great!"
It was Weiss' turn to be confused as she saw how excited the bounty hunter was, "Great as in how?"
"I have a contact there, we can get more information when we stop by."
"Will you introduce me to them? I might want to ask a question of my own."
"Sure, as long as you pay him- he'll answer anything."
"Anything?"
"Well, anything that doesn't involve him or his business." Yang replied while sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.
Weiss raised a brow at that comment but didn't reply.
"Anyway, I should probably tell Ciel that we're changing course, see you then!" The blonde bounty hunter waved before she strode down the hallway.
The white-haired girl stood awkwardly in the hallway before she made her way towards her room. She closed the door behind her and grabbed the tablet that was sitting on her desk, pulling up the emails that her father had sent her.
"Let's get this over with."
She didn't know how long she was out when she heard knocking from the door. She only grumbled as she snuggled into her pillow, a few more minutes shouldn't hurt. Her pillow felt blissful as she wrapped her arms around it, pulling it closer to her body. The knocking came back, which finally made the cat faunus open her eyes. She held her breath as she saw how close Ruby's face was to her's.
The younger girl was sleeping soundly next to her with her arms wrapped around her waist. Blake felt her face heat up as she realized that she also had her arms around the crimsonette. She tried to back away, only to bump against the wall behind her. The cat faunus internally swore as she tried to distract herself from staring at the cute girl in front of her.
'Cute? I just called Ruby cute, haven't I'
Her question went unanswered as the younger girl began to stir, she felt slightly relieved and a bit disappointed when they separated.
"How-" a yawn escaped her mouth before Ruby continued, "-long were we out?"
"I'm not sure," Blake replied as the knocking came back, "Maybe we should go see what Velvet wants."
The crimsonette nodded as she made her way towards the door, once she opened it she was greeted with a very upset brunette.
"Do you mind explaining to me why it took you so long to answer the door?" Velvet questioned.
"Sorry, I was helping Blake. Is there something you need?" Ruby replied.
"Yes actually, we have a problem." The brunette said as she entered the room, "One of our energy cells are leaking, if we don't get that replaced then the whole ship will explode."
"Shit, can I take a look?"
The bunny faunus nodded as she gestured towards the door. In the next moment, the younger girl was out of the room, leaving the two faunus alone.
"How are you holding up Blake?" Velvet asked after a short amount of time.
"I'll live, hopefully." Blake answered as she got out of her bed.
"You should wash up, you look like a mess right now."
"Okay, give me a couple of minutes." The cat faunus stepped out of her room and entered the bathroom.
...
"It's a lot worse than you think Velvet." Ruby said as she sat down in the co-pilot seat.
"What do you mean? We'll find a replacement part at a nearby station and-"
"I don't think that's a good idea, those cells are outdated. The chance of finding one is slim, I think we'll have better luck buying a new ship altogether."
"Do we even have enough lien for that?" Velvet asked with a brow raised.
The younger girl said nothing as she typed something into the console, Velvet's screen lit up soon after with her staring at the display with wide eyes.
"H-how did you get this?" The brunette asked hesitantly.
"Stole it off the White Fang, might as well put it to use."
"Put what to use?" Blake asked as she entered the bridge.
"We're deciding on buying a new ship, maybe one with more up-to-date technology." Ruby answered.
"And I'm saying we should just replace the power cell, it'll be much cheaper and-"
"Maybe we should buy a new ship Velvet, this one won't be putting up much of a fight if it keeps on relying on patchwork." The cat faunus said as she sat at her terminal.
"B-but if we- ugh fine." Velvet swiped the screen away as she activated the FTL drive. "Where's the nearest station?"
"Reuniune Relay, we should be able to get there before the power cell combusts." The crimsonette answered as she inserted the coordinates.
"Are you sure about this?" Velvet looked behind her towards the ebony haired girl for confirmation.
"I'm sure." Blake replied.
"Alright, to Reuniune Relay."
*Holds up Riot Shield*
...Okay my reason for which this chapter is short is because the next one is going to be the "you know what."
That and I have school starting up soon... yeah not the best excuse.
Bonus! There's a poll on my profile for the next story! Take a look when you want.