XII

Yang yawned, woken by the cold. She reached for Blake, but the Faunus was nowhere to be found. She sighed and sat up on the couch, tucking her legs in beneath her. On the wall, the shutters covering one window had been blown open by a wayward wind, filling the room with the chilling air of winter. Of course...the day before we leave. She rose and crossed over to the window, peering out into the safe zone. The streets were blanketed in soft, powdery snow that glistened in the sunlight that managed to cut through the Grimm smog.

Blake stepped into the parlor with a teacup and saucer in each hand. Instantly she shuddered in the cold and crossed over to where Yang now stood. She saw children chasing after an armored truck, laughing and playing in the snow-covered streets; Atlesian troops in the back of the truck fired bubbles from the two open holes in the doors. Both she and Yang couldn't help but smile at the sight, though the onset of gooseflesh forced them to shut the window tightly. The Faunus silently handed over Yang's tea and returned to the couch. "Are you ready?"

Yang scoffed and came to sit beside her, setting the tea saucer on the coffee table in front of her. "I should be asking you. We stuck around all week so you could recover."

Blake sipped from the brim of her cup, holding it delicately to her lips with a single finger through the handle. "I've been drinking gallons of water every day. If I drank any more I imagine I would drown. My blood pressure is back down and I haven't hallucinated anything since we showed up here. Still no seizures, either… I think I'm fine, Yang." She took another sip before setting her cup and saucer down with a small clink.

The brawler reached down and cupped her tea in both hands, gulping down every drop in one long drink. She set it aside and dropped to the floor, doing push ups without so much as a hitch in her breath. "I was only sitting around for a month. Every time I went in for a checkup, they massaged my muscles to make sure I kept my strength. You don't have to worry about me."

Blake rolled her eyes with a small smirk, scooping up her cup once more. "Tch… Show off." She finished off her tea with one last sip, standing to take both dishes back to the kitchen.

"Whatever, you love me. Hey!" Yang grunted as Blake stepped on her back, forcing her to fall flat on the ground. She rolled over onto her back and massaged her chest with a wince. Blake giggled quietly and fled into the kitchen at a slow, leisurely stroll. She returned within only a few minutes, finding Yang had climbed back onto the loveseat. Blake joined her, nestling into her side quietly. There they remained for almost an hour in silence, neither wanting to acknowledge that they wouldn't get this chance to relax again for quite some time.

Over the course of the last week, they had gone out into the safe zone early in the morning to take various jobs that would help maintain the well being of the displaced civilians. Much of Yang's chores involved heavy lifting for construction crews or perimeter defense. For the sake of Blake's health, they kept her working in the provisions tent where she would help distribute food to those who needed it while keeping herself hydrated. In that time, they had encountered a few old friends, all of whom were elated to see them alive and well. Fox Alistair and Yatsuhashi Daichi of Team CFVY as well as Reese Chloris from Team ABRN had worked with Yang one day on what they so politely referred to as 'cleanup detail,' hunting Grimm just outside the safe zone. They had confirmed their teammates were alive and well; Coco was constantly busy mending and stitching clothes for the refugees, apparently with no small amount of help from Hera. Velvet took shifts looking after orphaned children in one of the communal homes. The rest of Team ABRN took odd jobs all around the safe zone, as did many of the other students who had made it away from Beacon. Flynt Coal, Neon Katt, and the other members of Team FNKI had been appropriately assigned to recreation and entertainment for civilians, putting on shows and providing lessons on rollerskating among other things. As long as they could keep spirits high, there were less Grimm to worry about.

The doorknob turned and the door to the outside world swung open, letting in a blast of cool air. Yang and Blake raised their heads, looking over the back of the loveseat at whoever had interrupted their cuddly embrace. Hera smiled from the porch, raising her hand in greeting. The kindly old woman stepped inside, hanging a snow-encrusted scarf on the hat rack and walking over to take a seat across from the two Huntresses. Blake eyed the door; Hera had left it unlocked. The Faunus rose with a small groan of discomfort to correct the mistake, but the elderly woman waved her down.

"Don't bother dear, we're expecting company. I ran into such a nice boy earlier on my way to help Ms. Adel and we got to talking; turns out he knows you both. I can't quite recall what he said his name was… Simon, maybe?" She shrugged her shoulders with a tired smile. "I asked him to come by and see you girls tonight. He was more than happy to accept." She folded her hands in her lap. Blake and Yang looked at each other, confused; neither knew a Simon, nor could they think of any similarly named Huntsmen. However, they had little time to think, as only a few moments passed before there was a knock on the door.

Blake reached for the handle, swinging the door open far too quickly out of curiosity. She was met by a familiar smirk. "Sup losers?" Sun raised his fingers in a peace sign greeting. Despite his joking nature, that façade was shattered when Blake's surprised eyes were ringed with beads of moisture. She clasped one hand over her mouth and inhaled sharply. Sun squeezed his eyes shut and hugged her tightly. His long, furry yellow tail wrapped itself around Yang when the blonde joined them mere moments later.

Sun broke away, gripping Blake's shoulders and holding her at a distance. "I haven't seen you two in over a month. Where the hell have you been? And how did Yang get her arm back?!" He was beyond elated to see them again, grinning from ear to ear. Only the looks he received with his final question stole back his bright smile. "Where's Ruby?"

Yang hesitantly reached out, curling her fingers around the monkey Faunus's elbow. "You should come inside and sit down, Sun… We have a lot to tell you."

Sun rubbed his temples, lurching forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "So...you're going after her, then. Not just Ruby, but the people who did this?"

"That's the plan, yes," Blake sighed. "And I use the word 'plan' very loosely."

Sun pushed off his knees and rose to his feet, throwing his arms in the air. "I'll say! What's with you idiots and trying to bring down the bad guys by yourselves? We all know how that turns out…" He trailed off and all three of them looked to the floor, remembering a certain Spartan. Yang's grip on the cushion beneath her tightened until her knuckles turned white.

"Look, we can't just sit around waiting for something to happen. Ruby left with Jaune, Ren, and Nora after the first snow of the year, so they've been gone maybe...three weeks? They've undoubtedly made it to Mistral by now, and even if they haven't found the people responsible for the attack, the entire continent is riddled with White Fang." The brawler stood up and began pacing around the room without any sense of direction.

Blake tensed up, clenching her fists as well. "That's where we'll find Adam too. The White Fang originated in Mistral just north of Menagerie. I don't imagine they'll make it easy for us. Considering the others made it through, they'll be on high alert for other Huntsmen and Huntresses." She watched Yang pace and frowned. Her partner's cheeks had turned visibly darker since she had stood, a sure sign of her mounting frustration.

Sun leaned against Ruyi-Jingu Bang, clutching the staff tightly near the top. "Great. You know where to find these jerks, and you know just traipsing through will get you killed. Have you two thought about this at all? How are you even going to get there alive, much less actually deal with the White Fang as a whole and Cinder's group?" The monkey Faunus's tail whipped around behind him, clearly agitated. "It's not like you can just take an airship to Haven, you know."

Yang pinched the bridge of her nose and stopped in her tracks in between Blake and Sun. "What do you suggest we do then? It's not like we can just sit around here and hope Ruby takes care of everything by herself!"

"She was stupid for running off like she did!"

"Watch it!" Yang whipped around to face him, eyes blazing with a deep crimson fury. Her hair had started to glow faintly. Blake rose quickly to her feet and took hold of the brawler's tense shoulders, working her fingers into the muscles and pulling her back to the nearest chair, gently pushing her down into the seat. Sun, curious, watched with raised eyebrows as Blake slowly soothed her partner; the frustration had been building for some time then within the blonde.

"S-Sorry… You're right. Ruby shouldn't have just gone off like that, but what choice did she have? Nobody else was doing anything. Weiss was carted off to Atlas by her idiot father, Blake was gone, and me? I pushed her away. I can't help but feel responsible for her. I'm her big sister! I'm supposed to-"

"You're supposed to what, Yang?" Sun scowled, looking her in the face. "You lost your arm. You were scared and hurt. We all were." His eyes momentarily flitted over to meet Blake's, which fell quickly to the floor. "Just because you think you're ready to fight now doesn't mean you're ready for what's in store for you. Nobody knows what's going on over there. We have no idea where they may be in Mistral; at this point, I doubt it's Haven. Both of you need to think about this before you go off and get yourselves killed!"

"We'll plan on the way," Blake sighed. "We've lost too much time already. It'll take a few days to walk to Mistral; that gives us plenty of time to come up with a proper plan."

Sun still didn't seem pleased with her answer, scowling with an uncharacteristic cynicism. "I got a bad feeling. These guys, they won't hesitate to kill you two. You can't stick around a day longer to figure all this out?"

Yang scoffed. "Enough talking in circles already! We've already told you, we've spent too long here as it is. The longer we're sitting here, the less likely we are to find Ruby and the others alive. We're leaving first thing in the morning and that's that."

The monkey Faunus pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyebrows, groaning with a clear look of exasperation on his face. Despite his young age, the creases in his forehead and deep, black bags under his eyes gave him the appearance of someone much older. "Can't believe I'm going to let you two losers get me killed," he muttered. Both of the Huntresses in the room snapped their heads in his direction.

"Excuse me?" Both girls exclaimed in tandem.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm comin' too. Didn't I say you should always get friends involved?" And there, again, shone the bright smirk he so frequently wore in stead of his recently commonplace frown. Neither Blake nor Yang seemed amused with the change in plans.

Yang slammed her fist down against her hip. "How are we supposed to sneak three people in when we can't even come up with a plan for two?" Blake's hand fell on her shoulder from behind, gently working her fingers into the tense muscles until the brawler began to cool off. Her breathing steadied and she was soon back on the couch, silent and contemplating.

Sun waved off Blake's concerns before she could ever voice them, propping one leg up on his knee. His face again took on a grim quality, lips pulled into a frown that creased his forehead. "You're not convincing me to stay behind. Last time I did that, we lost Pyrrha. Maybe if I had gone with them, they would've had time to get to her. This time, I'm not taking the chance."

Bowing her head with a clear sigh of defeat, Blake submitted. "Gather your things."