"One, two. There you go. Now you're getting the hang of it."
Weiss looked up, a little annoyed at Ruby's need to congratulate her for every step she took. She wasn't even in that much pain anymore, a full week having passed since she was shot. Walking again was only a matter of refamiliarizing herself to the process, not of overcoming some great obstacle.
"Careful, Ruby," Yang warned playfully, leaning on a wall nearby. "Or else she's gonna put you in the chopping block."
"But… that's awful!" Ruby frowned. "You wouldn't do that to me, would you, Weiss?"
"The fact you felt the need to ask me that does make me want to do it a little," Weiss rolled her eyes. "But no. Just be quieter, please?"
Ruby pouted, but obeyed her anyway. Weiss looked away, feeling a little guilty, and in her distraction, forgot to be careful with her steps. Her right foot slipped on the floor of her room, and she went tumbling down, only barely saving herself from crashing down hard by holding on to the edge of her bed.
"Are you sure you're ready to walk again, Weiss?" Yang asked, her concern clear in her voice. "You got shot. Nobody's going to judge you for resting until you're better."
"That's not an option. Not for me," Weiss grunted, rising to her feet again. "I'm the queen of Vale. I'm not going to lie in bed while the rest of you fight my battles. Who would follow me, then?"
"I would!" Ruby answer promptly.
"That was a rhetoric question, Ruby." Weiss said.
"Then let us help you, at least!" Yang exclaimed. "What good would it do if you slipped and cracked your skull, eh?"
"I don't need your help," Weiss insisted. "I can walk by myself."
Yang threw her hands in the air in frustration, then turned and stormed out of the room. She passed by Blake, who looked at her in puzzlement before turning to Ruby and Weiss.
"What's going on this time?" The faunus asked.
"Ruby's sister is as stubborn as a mule, that's what's going on," Weiss said, struggling to take another step. "Won't even let me walk by myself. Insolent brat…"
"Right. Stubborn," Blake smirked. "Reminds me of someone else I know."
"Yes, yes, You're so clever," Weiss waved her off. "Could we talk about something useful?"
Blake looked at Ruby for help, but the redhead just shrugged. Pride was one hell of a thing - some people were able to change dramatically just to keep theirs. For someone like Weiss, that was especially true.
"Ozpin and I have tried interrogating Mercury for information on Cinder, but he still refuses to talk," Blake said. "We suspect he doesn't even know Cinder is, you know, Cinder."
"Really? He thinks she's my mom?" Ruby groaned. "That just bums me out."
Blake shot her a sympathetic look, then continued on. "On a better note, Velvet and Coco seem genuinely sorry for what they did. They asked if they could join the cause today. What do you think, Weiss?"
Weiss sat down at the end of her bed, her hand coming to rest at the spot Velvet's bullet had come out from. "To be honest? I would rather never see Velvet's face again," she muttered. "But… I must set an example. So…"
"That's great to hear. Truly," Blake said, her lips forming a little smile. "I'll release them tomorrow."
"We'll keep an eye on them, Weiss," Ruby said. "Promise. Better safe than sorry. Right, Blake?"
Blake nodded solemnly, though Weiss could see how conflicted she felt about the whole situation. Not that she could blame her. Was anyone comfortable with it?
"What about Neptune and Lady Goodwitch?" Weiss asked. "Have we learned anything from them recently?"
"Some information about the Guard's routine, like patrol shifts and routes. That could be useful," Blake said. "Some courtroom intrigue. Most of it is just nonsense from the nobility. But apparently, Cinder is at her wit's end. She almost broke down in front of the council."
"Why?" Ruby rolled her eyes. "Did someone steal her frog eyes or toss her cauldron out the window?"
"No. It was because of you, actually." Blake's voice lowered, and her eyes refused to meet Ruby's.
"Oh. Well, that's good!" Ruby put her hands on her hips. "She's scared of me, and that's just how I want her to be."
"I don't," Blake crossed her arms. "It only puts you in more danger. Do you think she's going to hide forever?"
A heavy silence filled the room. Weiss stared at the two of them in dismay. After all those lessons of etiquette and communication that had been forced on her, she still couldn't help them in any way.
Finally, Blake looked to the exiled queen and spoke again. "I'm going to the castle again tonight. Maybe Neptune will have more to share," she turned to the door. "I'll be in the library, if anyone needs me."
Ruby watched her go, wanting nothing more than to chase after her. But now that her feelings for her were known, she knew Blake expected her to be patient. Anything else would just make her look childish.
She turned to look at Weiss and found her staring at her legs, which were trembling terribly as the tip of her toes approached the floor. Her expression was of desperation and frustration, a far tale from her normally composed self.
"I can help you, Weiss," Ruby said hopefully. "Please. Let me."
Weiss' hands curled into fists, and Ruby prepared for a severe lashing out. But instead, Weiss lowered her head and spoke, her voice cracking somewhat. "Alright… But only because it's you."
"I promise not to tell Yang," Ruby smiled and extended a hand. "Remember. One step at a time."
Glynda paced in front of Neptune's door. The hallway was empty, the only noise coming from the crackling of the torches on the walls. Everyone was either already sleeping or preparing to. There was little that could go wrong.
Yet at the same time, she knew everything that was about to happen was wrong.
She felt for the terrible weight of the dagger hidden in her sleeve one last time, then took a step towards the door and knocked.
Cinder smiled alone in her throne, distracting herself by passing a little flame between her hands.
Having had nothing to do but wait for the pieces of the chessboard to fall where she needed them to be, the past week had been a wonderful opportunity for some much-needed self-reflection.
Without their even realizing it, she had allowed herself to be manipulated by her enemies. People who were by no means worthy adversaries to her. A bunch of angry outcast faunus; a spoiled princess who hadn't worked a day in her life; and worst of all, Rose's precious little girl, back from the dead, but still as harmless as ever.
Looking back, it all seemed so pathetic. Cinder was the heiress to the most gifted bloodline in the world. She could bring this city to ruins in a matter of hours. The only reason everyone else was still alive is because she had far grander plans.
"The Reaper is back," she chuckled. "How adorable."
That's all it was. Adorable. Cute. The arrogance of a naïve girl who thought she could change the world by sheer force of will.
Whatever fear Cinder had, she now realized it wasn't hers at all. It was buried far in the back of her mind, together with all the unwanted baggage she'd earned from the late Summer Rose.
As strong as it was, and as useful as the influence it brought her had been, Cinder was beginning to think borrowing Summer's body hadn't been worth the price she was paying. Oh, how she wanted to burn it to ashes now, to wear her real skin once again…
She was interrupted by the doors of the room opening, and a scruffy looking female captain's entrance. Cinder examined her from head to toe for a moment, then smiled knowingly.
"It's about time, Emerald," she said, leaning forward on the throne. "Is it done?"
Emerald walked to the throne, discarding her disguise along the way. "Goodwitch just dumped Vasilias in front of the castle. I checked him myself; she stabbed him right through. Idiot prince never had a chance. But he's still breathing."
"Good. That's precisely how I wanted it," Cinder said. "It seems Goodwitch is trustworthy, after all."
"Should I begin preparations, ma'am?" Emerald asked, raising her chin dutifully.
Cinder opened her mouth to speak, then stopped as a strange feeling rang through her body. She looked up, her lips forming a straight line, and curled her fists.
"Excuse me for a few minutes. Someone needs my attention," she said grudgingly. "Make sure no one enters this room while I'm away."
Without further explanation, Cinder closed her eyes and lay still in the throne.
Raven dropped from the stones, bending her knees as she landed on a thin layer of ice. Below it, a river flowed further ahead of her, disappearing in the whiteness of the blizzard that raged perpetually in this particular area of the dreamscape. Wispy silhouettes glided through the snowstorm, too many Shades for her to count, as if they were patrolling the area, searching for something.
It had taken her a lot of time to build up the courage to come here, a fact that bothered her immensely, but that she couldn't deny. She had been living in this strangest of realms for so long, seen things she couldn't explain, and she had never been cowered. Yet this place instilled an unshakable fear in her. She knew nothing good awaited her deep in the blizzard.
Perhaps the oddest thing was that, before she found Ruby, she had never noticed this place before, despite its proximity to the cave she used as a home. It was as if at one moment, it didn't exist, and the next, it did. Had Ruby created it somehow? It sounded impossible, but Raven had discarded that word from her vocabulary a long time ago.
She stood up slowly, careful to not crack the ice, and started walking. Her hand shot to her hip, and for the first time in years, she unsheathed her sword, even as she berated herself for acting so scared. She'd never met a Grimm or another human, aside from Ruby, nothing that could hurt her in this realm. And the only danger the Shades presented was the temptation of dreams, but she was grown immune to that by now. But the sword represented a time where she had been more powerful, more free, and holding it once again gave her courage she needed to keep going.
The blizzard grew harsher the further she walked, making Vale's weather look like a joke. If she were in the real world, she would have died already, even with her powers of fire. She shielded her eyes from the storm, but she could still see the Shades surrounding her, a few reaching to touch her. Raven felt chills run down her spine, and they weren't from the cold.
"Get… away." She struggled to speak when one wispy hand fell on her shoulder. She glared at the Shade it belonged to, willing her inner beast to the surface. Her eyes burned red, and the Shade backed off, as did the others.
Raven put renewed effort in her steps, eager to get away from her silent watchers. She had never seen Shades behave like that. It was like they were aware of themselves, almost, and she didn't like that at all.
Finally, she took a step and suddenly found herself outside the blizzard. It ended abruptly, and even more strangely, for no apparent reason. Raven shrugged that off and rubbed her eyes, then looked ahead of her.
There it was, the object Ruby had described to her. The top half of a sphere rose from the ground, made of layers upon layers of thick ice. It was partly see-through, but no matter how hard Raven tried, she couldn't make out anything past it.
"So there's someone inside," she mumbled to herself, recalling more of Ruby's account. "Not just anyone. You drew her here, and I suspect you created this place. Did you also imprison yourself?" Raven frowned. It was an odd theory, but it didn't that that outrageous. Whoever it was could have put this wall around themselves as a sort of punishment, because of how they saw themselves before they fell asleep.
Or – and Raven hoped she had been right with her first theory – they had been imprisoned by someone else. Someone powerful enough to manipulate the dreamscape. Someone like her, Yang, and Cinder.
Probably the latter.
"Whoever you are, regardless of why you're there," Raven put a hand against the ice. "I'm getting you out."
Ruby had tried to brute force her way through the sphere, and it had amounted to nothing. Raven would take a more thought out approach, using her magic to her advantage. She concentrated, building up heat in her hand. The air shimmered around her, and vapor started to rise from the ice.
An invisible force hit her, pushing her away from the sphere and almost bringing her to her knees. Raven gasped. The only other time she had felt something like this had been in her last fight with the Dragon, when they had clashed magic against magic. It shook her to her core, affecting her in a way nothing else ever had.
Her second theory was right.
Growling, she stood up and slammed both of her hands against the ice, exerting even more of her power. This time, when the invisible force struck back, she stayed in place, fixing her feet firmly on the ground. Sweat poured down her forehead, and her body screamed in protest of what she was doing, but she could feel the ice giving way bit by bit.
Suddenly, she stopped, noticing something else had changed. At the other side of the sphere, the shape of a palm appeared, pressed against the ice. A soft glow emanated from it, whiter than even the blizzard surrounding the prison.
"Yes," Raven grinned in success. "Keep going. We can do-"
She was interrupted by a strange noise behind her, like that of a bonfire lighting and fading at the same instant. Raven turned around and came face to face with a raven-haired young woman with amber eyes.
"I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting each other yet, sister.," the stranger said, smiling wryly. "Cinder. And you are Raven, are you not?"
Raven went from shocked to furious, gripping her sword tightly with both hands. "You dare appear before me after all this time, with that smile on your face, calling me sister?" Her eyes flared red. "After you killed two of my dearest friends?!"
"Now, now. I did kill Taiyang, but he put himself in my way needlessly. I had no intention of hurting him, but he gave me no choice in the end," Cinder said. "And Summer? Technically, she is not dead. She is… a part of me, now. Just as I am a part of her."
"If you think you are in any way similar to Summer, you do not know the first thing about her," Raven spat. "I will make you suffer, you pathetic excuse of a witch."
Cinder's smile grew, but whatever little levity there had been in her eyes was now substituted by a raging inferno. "Then come take a bite of me, sister."
Raven dashed at her, swinging her sword in a wide arc, but the attack availed to nothing, as Cinder disappeared without a trace. Something struck her in the low of her back, and pain flowed through her in relentless waves, as if every bone in her body was shattering.
Cinder reappeared in front of her, nonchalant in her posture, and brought her right foot up in a kick to her chin. Raven fell on her back, dizzy. A metallic taste filled her mouth, and she soon was spitting out trickles of blood on the snow.
She was brought back up to her knees by the collar of her shirt. Raven had vanquished hordes of Grimm all by herself. She had fought the Dragon at his fullest and been cursed by him. She had lived alone for years in a nonsensical land. But she had never been as terrified as she was now, with Cinder glaring down at her with the intensity to melt iron.
"I'm not arrogant, Raven., at least not enough to claim this land is mine to control," Cinder said cuttingly. "But I have known it for a long time. Longer than you can imagine. And I've been growing my powers ever since I was a child – not to mention how much I've learned about the nature of our gifted birthrights. So I find it… cute, that you thought you could fight me here," she chuckled. "Compared to me, you are nothing but a helpless little girl."
Raven lowered her head for a moment, then looked up again, giving her a smile reddened by blood. "May be so. But, as powerful as you are, aren't you the one scared to death of little girls?" She leaned forward a little and whispered. "The Reaper is coming."
Cinder's face contorted with fury, and she smacked Raven in the face with the back of her hand. Raven spat more blood, but kept her smile.
"Do you know why I let you live free here for seventeen years? Because my brother – our brother, I suppose, though you two had a far more… intriguing relationship – had a soft spot for you. The moment he learned of your existence, he was enraptured. He wanted nothing more than to join with you and strengthen his lineage," Cinder said. "I tried to warn the fool. I saw the company you kept, and how they affected you, made you reject your own birthright. But he didn't listen, and that was his downfall," she sighed. "Oh well. I only hope his daughter will be wiser than he was."
Raven's smile broke, and she opened her mouth to utter a threat, but Cinder crouched and put a finger on her lips.
"Say another word, and I will tear your ear off your head and feed it to you," Cinder warned. "And if I ever catch you trying to break my prisoner out again… I will do the same, but to Yang. Understood?"
Grudgingly, Raven nodded. Cinder patted her on the head and stood back up.
"Good girl," Cinder said. "Now, I have other matters to attend to. For your sake, I hope we never see each other again." She gestured with her hands and disappeared in a spiral of fire.
Raven let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been keeping. She looked back at the frozen prison. She could see that hand pressed against the ice, asking for help.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her blood taint the snow red around her. "But you're on your own."
Cinder opened her eyes, a malicious smile gracing her features. "There. It's been taken care of."
Emerald returned from the door, looking at her with a mixture of awe and fear. The girl still had no idea of the extent of her powers. Cinder had to give her credit for still being loyal to her after all this time.
"Now where were we, again?" Cinder asked.
"I asked if I should begin preparation, ma'am." Emerald said in a low voice, her eyes avoiding Cinder entirely.
"Yes. Gather as many troops as you think we can afford," Cinder replied, her eyes narrowing threateningly. "And be careful. This is the night we remind everyone who this city belongs to. Errors will not be forgiven."
"Y-yes, Lady Rose."
Emerald turned and left the room in a hurry, leaving Cinder alone once again, leaning back on her throne to wait as the night went on.
Blake's eyes scanned the castle, her faunus heritage allowing her to see in the dark. As inconvenient as having to always come here at midnight was, that was the easiest opportunity she had to infiltrate the castle without being seen and putting their insider allies at risk.
Tonight, the Guard seemed laxer than usual, leaving large blind spots in their routes, and there was only a couple of soldiers at the front gate. That was even stranger considering the commotion that had happened last week – surely, Cinder would have commanded the Guard to work their hardest because of it?
The whole thing seemed like a trap to Blake, but she couldn't go back to the hideout without investigating further. What if something had happened inside the castle? What if Cinder has lost control of the council? That would be an opportunity to take back the throne they could not afford to miss.
She made her way to the walls, completely engulfed in the shadows. She could hear the murmuring of the guards and the crunching of gravel beneath their feet as they made their patrols. Her heart beat fast in her chest, as it always did, but she was more than accustomed to it by now. It was a sort of comfort, a reminder that she was still alive and breathing.
She jumped and grabbed on to the looser stones on the wall, then slowly climbed her way up. Once she was at the top, Blake looked from right to left to make sure no one was coming her way, then somersaulted and landed crouching down.
The courtyard was just as badly guarded, darkness covering it save for a couple spots where soldiers were standing at attention. Blake frowned, thinking that maybe it was better to leave, after all. Things were far too suspicious for her taste.
She was beginning to turn around when something strange drew her attention at the corner of her vision. She leaned forward a little, squinting, and saw a human shape resting against a tree. Whoever it was didn't seem to be moving at all, but… there was something familiar about them.
Cursing under her breath, Blake jumped and slid down the wall. She would just check really quickly, then climb back up and leave. Like Ruby had told her just that morning: better safe than sorry.
She approached the tree slowly, her eyes darting everywhere in wait of an ambush, but she made it there safe and sound. She looked down and her breath caught in her throat. It was Neptune, lying there with his shirt soaked red in the area of his chest.
"Neptune!" She whispered, kneeling in front of him and shaking him by the shoulder. "Damnit, what happened?"
Blake pressed her ear to his chest and heard for his heartbeat. It was faint and infrequent, but it was still there. Cursing under her breath, she stood up again and looked around.
Whatever had happened, she couldn't just leave him where he was. From the look of his wound, it was already a miracle he was still alive. She had to save him, not just to hear an explanation, but also because if he had been discovered, it had been her who had put him in danger in the first place.
"Come on," she bent down and grabbed him, putting him on her back and wrapping his arms around her torso. To her surprise and relief, he responded by murmuring something unintelligible and clinging on tighter. "Let me get you out of this mess."
Blake entered the hideout with Neptune in her arms. In the entrance room, Ozpin, Nora and Ren were sitting around a table, but as soon as they saw them, they jumped to their feet.
"What the hell?!" Nora yelled. "I didn't know we could bring homeless people here!"
"This is prince Neptune Vasilias, from Atlas," Ozpin explained briefly, approaching Blake. "How bad is he injured?"
"I don't know. I was hoping you could treat him." Blake said.
"Come. Let's lay him down somewhere comfortable."
She followed him into a spare room, where they put him down on a bed. Ozpin raised his shirt, revealing a hole in his midsection. There was dry blood all around it, interestingly enough, mixed in with something… green?
"Is he… infected?" Blake asked, trying not to show how horrified she was.
"I don't think so," Ozpin shook his head. "He's not bleeding. Not anymore. This is…"
"Moondome herbs," Ren spoke, having followed them into the room. "They are used to halt the immediate progress of wounds, at least for a while. People of lesser resistance may also suffer unconsciousness as a result of it."
"Well, he is a prince. I doubt he's that resistant to diseases," Blake said. "For how long will he be like that? We need to find out what happened to him."
"That depends from person to person," Ozpin replied. "All we can do is prepare his treatment while we wait for the moondome's effect to wear out," he looked at Blake. "You should tell the Queen about this. She is friends with the prince, or at least she used to be."
Blake nodded, then left and headed to Weiss' room. On the way there, she passed by Ruby, who waved and smiled at her. Blake opened her mouth to tell her what was happening, but the redhead was already gone.
Chalking up Ruby's behavior to their currently strange relationship, Blake continued on her way. When she entered Weiss' room, she found her taking measured steps on her own, looking mightily concentrated on the task.
"You're making progress." Blake said.
Weiss yelped and returned to her bed, her face red with embarrassment. "Ah, yes. Thank you, Blake," she said awkwardly. "What brings you here?"
"I found prince Neptune injured on the courtyard of the castle and brought him back so Ozpin could take a look at him," Blake explained. "Apparently, someone used a strange herb on him before I found him, so he's fine, but unconscious."
"What?" Weiss frowned. "That is a lot to take in."
"Sorry. Ozpin thought you would like to know."
Weiss looked down at her feet, deep in thought. "I'll see him when he's awake," she muttered. "Is no one safe anymore? What about Lady Goodwitch?"
Blake shrugged, wishing she knew what to say. They would only know the answer to that question when Neptune got better.
The door opened, and Ruby peered inside and slip in, then closed it behind her. "Hey, girls!" She exclaimed cheerfully.
Blake raised an eyebrow at her, while Weiss showed no reaction.
"So, what's new?" Ruby asked. "Sounds like trouble's brewing. Again."
"It's… complicated." Blake sighed, exhausted of delivering bad news.
Ruby went and wrapped her arms around her, resting her head on Blake's arm, as if to comfort her. The faunus first instinct was to push her away, but she soon relaxed and let the hug last. Weiss coughed and looked away.
Slowly, Blake closed her eyes and lowered her head, her nose brushing against Ruby's hair.
Her eyes shot open. That wasn't Ruby's smell. Ruby smelled like roses and the summer breeze. Now she smelled like…
Their eyes met, and Blake saw as Ruby noticed that she knew something was off. In the next second, she was hit in the head by something metallic, and she fell to the ground.
Weiss jumped to her feet and stared at the scene in outrage. "Ruby! Why would you-"
The sound of a explosion rang through the hideout, followed by the yells of many of their allies. The rattling of spears and swords came closer and closer. Weiss went to the door, but suddenly found a pistol aimed at her forehead.
"One wrong move, princess," Emerald Sustrai said. "And you're dead."
Ruby ducked under a bullet and pressed herself to a wall, covering her mouth with her cloak to protect herself from the smoke.
The soldiers had come without warning, swarming through the entrance and attacking at once. She had been passing by casually, only to witness Nora being backed into a corner by a dozen spearmen at once.
Ruby had tried to stop her, but Nora had fished a concoction from her belt and thrown to the ground. What followed was nothing but a mess, as people went flying through the air and rock started to collapse from the ceiling, dust and smoke filling the air.
She saw glimpses of Nora, Ren, Ozpin, and even Penny fighting the intruders, but it was an uncoordinated fight, and Ruby had a higher priority in mind. Though she was disoriented and utterly clueless about what was going on, she headed straight to Weiss' room.
Before she could get there, a silhouette appeared in front of her, and a foot was planted in her face, breaking her nose and sending her reeling back. Mercury appeared in the smoke, leaping at her and preparing another kick, this one aimed at her neck.
Ruby rolled under him and stood back up. "How did you get out?!" She shouted, turning to face him. "Did you hurt anyone? Tell me!"
"This is a favor for a friend. Nothing personal." Mercury said, closing on her again.
Ruby blocked his kick with her arms, her bones aching at the powerful impact. Her scythe and her speed were of little help in such an enclosed space, and she had never been that good at arm-to-arm combat. That had always been more Yang's specialty. If only she could find her now…
She backed up, always dancing out of range of his attacks, but Mercury was relentless, and Ruby had felt enough already to know how damaging a hit from him could be. It was no wonder that he was such a famed assassin.
Eventually, she found herself backed into a wall. Her only option now was to put herself at risk and take the offensive. Yelling, she sprinted forward, aiming a punch at his face, but Mercury grabbed her wrist and slammed her to the ground, her momentum only adding more injury to the impact.
Ruby grunted and spun on the ground, trying to kick him in the legs and knock him off balance, but he jumped over the attack and landed on her back. Ruby screamed in pain, tears forming in her eyes.
There was another explosion, and the whole building rumbled and shook. Losing his balance, Mercury jumped off of her and braced himself against a wall. Taking the opportunity, Ruby jumped to her feet and swung at him again, hitting him in the back. Unfortunately, it barely fazed him, while she felt a spike of pain go through her from hand to shoulder.
Mercury spun around and glared at her, raising a fist. He swung, but before the punch connected, a bullet penetrated his torso from the side and he fell, screaming.
"Help her, Velvet!" Coco emerged from the smoke, pointing a pistol at Mercury. "Go! The building's going to collapse!"
Velvet appeared at Ruby's side, urging her to move, but Ruby shook her head and refused to budge. "Wait! I have to get the Queen!"
"Damnit!" Coco spat, then kicked Mercury in the chin, rendering him unconscious. "Alright. Velvet, you go, and I'll help her find the royal brat."
"No way!" Velvet exclaimed vehemently. "I'm not leaving any of you behind!"
Ruby let out an exasperated breath, then shoved Velvet in Coco's direction. The soldier took the hint and lifted her friend by the waist, then marched away, even as Velvet hit her in protest.
"Weiss!" Ruby called out, waving the smoke away from her eyes. "Weiss!"
A chunk of the ceiling came down right in front of her, almost blocking the hallway. Ruby squeezed through a space in the debris, her cloak tearing in the process, but she didn't care, not at that moment.
"Weiss!" She screamed again, growing more desperate by the second.
"Ruby!" Finally, her friend's voice reached her from somewhere close in front of her. "Help!"
Ruby ran forward and found Weiss on the ground, her leg caught beneath the remains of a collapsed wall. She was trying to pull herself away, but to no avail.
"Weiss, stay calm!" Ruby kneeled beside her and rummage through the rocks as fast as possible. "I'll get you out of there!"
"Be faster!" Weiss yelled. "I'm not dying today, you hear me?!"
Ruby grunted, pushing the last rock away. Weiss came free, backing away and gasping in relief.
"How's that for a bodyguard?" Ruby grinned, looking at her gleefully.
"Thanks, Ruby," Weiss said. "But you still have to get me out of here. This place isn't safe."
Just as she finished the phrase, more of the ceiling started to come down in front and behind them, blocking any route of escape. Ruby's face paled, and she started spinning around, trying to device any way for them to survive.
Meanwhile, Weiss stayed silent, staring at her fixedly. Finally, she shook her head and raised a hand, aiming a pistol at her head. Ruby turned to look, her eyes wide and mouth agape. "W-Weiss?"
"You haven't figured it out?" Weiss rolled her eyes. "And Lady Rose is so scared of you…"
Her form shimmered, and Emerald took her place. Ruby glared at her. "What did you do to Weiss?"
"Oh, don't worry. She's alive and on her way to where she belongs," Emerald said. "Your little faunus girlfriend led us right to you. I wonder where she is right now… Probably squashed under a rock. How sad," she sighed. "I guess the same's gonna happen to us soon. Just let me do you a favor and end this fast for you…"
Looking at the barrel of the gun, Ruby's fury turned into something else. A cold feeling, a calm that overtook everything else and told her exactly what to do.
Her hand rose, and in the blink of an eye, she had it pointed at Emerald. The trickster's eyes widened in shock, and that moment, she understood her mistress's reason for being afraid of this girl.
"No," Ruby said. "No one is dying today."
Blake jumped from rooftop to rooftop, running as fast as possible to catch up with the salvo of soldiers carrying Weiss away. She could still hear the noble's enraged demands for them to put her down, and that only made her move even faster.
Finally, she saw them on the street just below her, and dropped from the building she was, landing right on top of one of the soldiers. Not wasting a second, she leaped at a second one, burying a dagger in his neck and shoving him on the mud.
The remaining soldiers reacted almost immediately, charging at her at once. Blake jumped out of reach of their weapons, panting hard. Her vision was doubling constantly and her head was pounding. Emerald had hit her hard just enough to leave a lasting, painful effect, but not knock her out – probably not by design, but because she had underestimated how strong Blake was.
"Blake!" Weiss was being held by her arms by two of the soldiers. She was trashing against their hold without stop, and from the look on their faces, that was proving to be quite a big problem.
"Hold on!" Blake yelled, backing away from the soldiers surrounding her. "I'm gonna save you, Weiss! Just hold-"
The sound of a bullet parting the air rang through the street, and one of the soldiers fell to the ground, blood spurting from her neck. More bullets followed, and in a matter of seconds, each and every one of the guardsmen was dead.
Weiss was now on the ground, breathing hard. She looked at Blake, asking a silent question that was soon answered when a man emerged from a dark alleyway, his eyes hidden behind a bestial mask that covered half his face.
"Well, well," Adam Taurus whistled. "Looks like today is my lucky day."
Because no plan ever goes completely right, both for the good and the bad guys.
I'd like to take a moment to apologize for the infrequent uploads. I feel like I kinda dropped the ball with this story in the latter half of 2016. This really should have been finished a long time ago, but I was really lazy and focused much more on The Legend of Remnant. I know a lot of people like this story, so I'm really, really sorry I did that! And thank you for everyone who stuck around anyway!
Anyways. I'm actually organizing myself properly now, so the next chapter won't take two months to upload. This time, I really mean it. But you know what's better than promises? Actual results. So... see ya on the 15th. Mark the date, folks.
Oh, and I wish you all a wonderful 2017!
-Zeroan