People were fleeing the city, and Vale was awash with panic. The wall had been broken down in multiple places by now, and there was still no response from Beacon. And, perhaps the worst part, no one knew why. Was Beacon ignoring the plight of the city? Was something happening there? No one knew.
Ruby and Jaune hadn't gotten far in their vehicle before they were stuck in a swarm of evacuating citizens. With no Huntsmen or Huntresses to coordinate the effort, it had become a panicked rush to the airport. The government of the kingdom had always made sure that there were enough airships to evacuate the entire population, just in case something like this were to happen. But, without any guidance or coordination, it was taking a long time to get people aboard.
Unable to continue driving, and seeing the need for their presence, Ruby and Jaune had abandoned the car and rushed on foot to the airport. There was still no word from Beacon, and Ruby was almost frantic with worry, but evacuating the people of Vale had to take priority.
So here they were, standing outside the terminal, on the landing platform. Jaune had taken command immediately, taking a megaphone and addressing the panicked civilians. Ruby stood back, letting her presence calm the crowd, and talked quietly to one of the terminal guards.
"So you can't even get in contact with the school?" she asked.
The guard shook his head. "No, Ma'am. We're getting nothing but static. Hell of a time for their communications to go down."
"No kidding," she murmured. "Have you sent any runners?" If they couldn't get through on the radio, it was the most obvious substitute.
He nodded. "We sent a pair in a patrol ship about a half hour ago; we haven't heard back from them."
"Damn it… Something's definitely wrong."
"What was your first clue, Ma'am?"
She rolled her eyes. "Have you got any patrol ships in dock? Any that are ready to fly?"
"Some are out on patrol, Ma'am, but there are a few left in the hangar."
"Show me."
Ruby waved at Jaune, signalling that she'd return in a few minutes. He nodded, and turned back to the crowd. There was something about him that put Ruby off. Even in a crisis, Jaune always had some measure of his normal humour. There was none of that now; he definitely seemed out of sorts.
Bringing her attention back to the matter at hand, Ruby let the guard lead her across the massive platform to a small hangar, near the far side of the terminal. Inside it there were two patrol ships: small, nimble airships that were designed for speed and manoeuvrability. They held a maximum of three people, and, other than that, there wasn't enough room on board to fit a kitten. Very small, very cramped, but very fast.
Ruby looked them over, and was satisfied with what she saw. She'd never been dedicated to piloting, but every Huntsmen and Huntress was taught how to fly them. If the need arose, she'd be able to move it from point A to point B, and quickly, but there'd be no aerial stunts or fancy piloting. She didn't want to need them, but, if the crowd in the streets got out of hand, having the patrol ships would come in handy.
She nodded at the guard and they made their way back to the terminal. Jaune was having a hushed conversation with one of the pilots. As Ruby approached, Jaune patted the pilot on the shoulder and nodded. The pilot rushed back to the waiting airships—massive, long-distance airships.
Jaune faced the crowd again and raised the megaphone. "Okay, people," he began. "The pilots have told me that everything's ready to go and we'll begin boarding shortly. But!" he shouted as the crowd began to press forward. "But… Before you board, we need to organise everything. So if families could group together, we'll split you all into lines and get you on board…"
Ruby tuned his words out as she looked at the airships. The landing pad was large enough to fit twenty airships on its various landing zones, and there were dozens of other airships waiting in the hangars. There'd be enough to get everyone out, but it would be a slow process. Jaune's method of organising everyone would be slow to start with, but once it got moving, it would be faster than people madly rushing for the airships.
She kept telling herself that as she watched the crowd anxiously eyeing the airships.
The crowd started edging towards the airships. Jaune's continued words kept them in line, kept them calm. The armed guards waiting next to each airship's boarding ramp probably helped as well.
Just as the first civilians stepped aboard their airships, the speakers on the roof of the terminal crackled to life.
A high-pitched tone rang from them, and Ruby smiled with relief. The tone signified that the following message was an emergency broadcast from Beacon. Someone in the communications room at Beacon had patched the school into every government radio receiver in the city.
As the tone faded away, whoever was on the other end cleared their throat.
When the voice came, Ruby's blood ran cold.
"Greetings, people of Vale," the voice said with a hint of amusement. "Some of you may know me, and some may not, but my name is Myrka Vald."
Ruby stared blankly at the speakers, trying to convince herself that she was dreaming. He couldn't be back. Not now.
But who else could hold the Grimm outside the city?
She gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and shook her head, trying to deny it. But she already knew it was true.
"Now, regardless of whether you know me or not, my message to you is the same. Return to your homes."
The crowd murmured quietly at his words. Ruby met Jaune's eyes; he looked unsure, but angry. The pilots were waiting for them to start boarding, but nobody moved.
"I will give you all one hour," Myrka continued. "One hour to return to your homes, or the home of a friend. Anybody still on the streets after that time is up will be killed."
There were gasps of shock in the crowd. Ruby shuddered at how casually he made the threat.
"The walls of Vale have crumbled. The Grimm wait at my command. Once the hour is up, I will send them into the city, and let them have their way with any left on the streets. Those of you who still wish to flee, go ahead. But I think it will take quite a bit longer than an hour to evacuate everyone in the city. So, to those who don't want to take the risk, I'd advise you head home now. Your hour starts now."
Jaune took a step toward the crowd and raised the megaphone—no doubt hoping to encourage them—but Ruby already saw a few families pushing through the crowd, trying to leave the terminal. She couldn't blame them. They were terrified, and with good reason. Staying at home would be the only comfort they had. Fleeing to another kingdom would be daunting under any circumstances. But these, with the lives of everyone in the kingdom at stake… Ruby was surprised to see people still waiting to get on the airships.
One father pushed through the crowd and grabbed Jaune, pleading for him to let his family aboard. Jaune hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. The man almost broke into tears as he gushed his thanks and gestured for his wife and daughters to board the nearest airship.
Jaune stepped back, clearing a path, and called out for anyone still willing to leave the kingdom to get on board as quickly and calmly as possible.
"Now," Myrka spoke again. Everyone froze in place. "To those of you still putting up resistance on Beacon's grounds—and to any Huntsmen and Huntresses in the city—lay up your arms. Ozpin… give yourself up, meet me in your study within ten minutes, and I'll let whoever's still alive out there leave the kingdom. And leave they will. No Huntsmen shall remain within Vale after the hour—woops, fifty-eight minutes—has passed, or they will be found and executed.
"Both of the teams you sent into the school have been stopped. My men will stand down for the next hour. You have until the end of your deadline to enter the school and retrieve any dead or wounded you may wish to recover. Any hostilities will be answered with lethal force. So don't be stupid. Retrieve your comrades and leave. Don't make me kill any more of you than I have to.
"You have ten minutes, Ozpin."
As Myrka's voice echoed across the open expanse of the landing pad, Ruby looked once more to Jaune. She jumped when she realised he was standing right next to her now, watching to civilians who had decided to board the airships regardless. It wasn't many. Ruby looked past Jaune and saw the crowd thinning out as people pushed back through the terminal, trying to get back out to the streets.
"You think Ozpin will give himself up?" she asked, looking back at Jaune. The Huntsman was looking up at the spire of Beacon—the only part of the school visible from where they were. Ruby followed his gaze. Myrka was up there, in Ozpin's office, no doubt looking down on the city—on them. The thought made her shudder.
"Yes." Jaune's voice was resigned. "If it keeps the students alive, he'll do it in a heartbeat."
Ruby sighed. He was right. One life, weighed against hundreds? It wasn't even a choice for someone like Ozpin.
"We need to get up there," Jaune muttered. "If there are that many injured, they'll need all the help they can get."
Ruby cast her gaze around the landing pad. Three airships had been filled, and the rest of crowd was gone—though she heard people yelling from inside the terminal, so they hadn't gotten far. She nodded. The citizens had made their choice; their job was done.
They needed to get to Beacon.
"There are some patrol ships in a hanger over there," Ruby said.
Jaune nodded and waved for the pilots to take off. Wind erupted around them as the airship engines turned on and revved. Ruby's jacket whipped out behind her and she covered her face with an arm to keep the dust out of her eyes. As the airships took off, Jaune patted her on the shoulder and they turned towards the hangar.
After a quick search, they found a rack of keys, and started one of them. Jaune jumped in the pilot's seat and turned to Ruby, stopping her as she tried to sit next to him.
"Can you fly one?" he asked.
She nodded. "Not amazingly. But I can."
"Good. We should take two. Just in case. These things don't have much room, but they'll probably need as much as they can get."
Ruby nodded and jumped out, grabbed another key, and started up the next one in line. She looked over at Jaune as her ship started. He was fiddling with the radio. She called out his name, and he looked up and nodded. His ship slowly lifted off the ground, and shot out of the hangar. Ruby followed him out, quite a bit slower.
She joined him, hovering fifty metres above the landing pad. He had a headset on and was talking to someone over the radio. When he saw Ruby with him, he turned his airship around and shot towards Beacon. Ruby tilted the control sticks forward and followed. It took her a minute or two to be reacquainted with the control—it had been a long time since she'd flown one of these—but she was soon able to at least keep up with Jaune.
Beacon looked undamaged, which was the most surprising thing. Ruby found herself wondering if Myrka had even attacked the school at all. It wasn't until they swung around to the back of the front of the school—near Beacon's landing pad—that they saw the horror he'd wrought.
Even from above, it was easy to see the carnage. There were scores—maybe hundreds—of wounded. Students, faculty, Huntsmen, and Huntresses alike. They lay in makeshift beds, or on the ground, being tended to by Beacon's medical staff.
There was a small command centre set up at the edge of the rudimentary camp nearest to the school. There were a couple of people standing around a table, but Ruby was too high up to make out who they were.
She and Jaune brought their airships down on the landing pad, landing in between bigger airships that were already there.
The cries of the wounded reached Ruby's ears as soon as she switched the engine off. People screaming or moaning in pain, relief, or horror. She shared a look with Jaune as they crossed the landing pad. His expression was blank, measured. Not a trace of the horror Ruby felt was visible on his face.
They waded through the camp, weaving through the crowd that bustled back and forth. The medical staff of the school wasn't enough to help this many wounded; everyone who could still walk was helping—even the students who had no medical training were getting rushed battlefield-first aid instruction and doing all they could to help.
Ruby forced herself to look straight ahead, and ignore the cries. Tears welled up in her eyes nonetheless, and she had to dash them away several times before they reached the command centre. Jaune was just as stoic; he showed no reaction. Ruby wasn't sure if she should be impressed by his strength, or worried about him. She looked around, but couldn't see Pyrrha anywhere.
There were three people standing around the table at the command centre: Goodwitch, Oobleck, and a Huntress whose face Ruby recognised, though she couldn't remember her name.
"Professor Goodwitch," Jaune said as they came a stop a few metres away.
All three of them turned towards them. Goodwitch frowned, and Oobleck quickly turned his attention back to the map. A sense of dread dropped over Ruby like a wet blanket, weighing her down.
"Jaune… Ruby…" Goodwitch muttered, her frown deepening. She took a breath and straightened. Her frown disappeared and was replaced by her usual near-emotionless look of faint disapproval. "Good of you to finally join us."
"Sorry, Ma'am," Jaune replied. "We got caught up in the city."
Her expression didn't change, but Goodwitch's face paled. "How are things down there? We've received no word since this began."
"As calm as I think they'll be for a while, Ma'am. Three intercontinental airships of civilians left the kingdom a few minutes ago, and I've requested another two come and help out here."
"Only three?"
Jaune nodded. "Myrka's threat swayed everyone else. They all returned to their homes."
Goodwitch nodded. "At least they'll live."
"What's the situation here, Ma'am?" Jaune asked.
Ruby cut in. "Where are Yang and Blake?"
Jaune shot a glance at her, and Ruby thought she saw a flash of grief on his face.
Goodwitch frowned again as she looked at Ruby before answering Jaune's question. "The situation is… dire. Never to my knowledge has anything this catastrophic occurred in any kingdom. We… We have no choice but to take Myrka's offer of retreat."
Ruby gaped. She'd figured things were bad, but to give up without a fight like this… "But…"
"Look around you, Ruby," Goodwitch gestured around them. "We don't have enough able-bodied people to take care of our wounded, let alone retake the school. We need time to recover, to heal, and to plan. The decision has been made. We cannot fight in our condition, against that many troops, so we run." She winced as she said the word 'run', and Ruby finally gave in with a nod. She could see how much it pained Goodwitch to say it; no one was giving up lightly.
"So… Professor Ozpin?" Ruby asked.
Goodwitch looked up towards Ozpin's office, atop the mighty tower that looked down over Vale. "He gave himself up. And… he won't be coming back. We all knew what Myrka wanted."
Ruby swallowed back a lump in her throat and nodded.
"As for Miss Belladonna and Miss Xiao Long… Blake and Yang…" Goodwitch looked back at Ruby. "Blake led one of our teams that tried to retake the school, along with Ren." She looked at Jaune. "And, as you no doubt know, they failed. We haven't heard back from them since. We don't know if they're wounded, dying, or… already dead. Yang never reported here. Neither did Miss Valkyrie or Miss Nikos for that matter."
Ruby looked up at Jaune. Pyrrha wasn't here? Jaune had said that she'd headed to Beacon. If she wasn't here, then where was she? And where was Yang? And Nora? Was Blake okay?
The questions almost overwhelmed Ruby, and she felt tears welling up again. She sucked in a lungful of air and dashed them away, trying to compose herself. Blake will be fine, she told herself. She can take care of herself. But try as she might to convince herself of that, Ruby was still scared of what might have happened.
She couldn't lose them as well…
Jaune's hand on her shoulder snapped her back. She looked up at him again. He didn't smile. He didn't offer reassuring words. He just squeezed her shoulder. And that helped. Any smile would have looked fake; any words of kindness would have rung hollow. All he did was try to give her a bit of whatever strength was keeping him up. And Ruby felt a little better for it.
Goodwitch, having seen this exchange, nodded at them. "We're sending in a team now to look for more wounded inside. Then we have to start getting people on board these ships and out of here. You won't have much time to look."
"We flew here in patrol airships, Ma'am," Jaune said. "They won't do much good for you, but…" He looked down at Ruby, and squeezed her shoulder again. "We'll find them. If we're not back by the time you leave, leave those two ships here; we'll catch up."
Goodwitch hesitated, then nodded. "Look to the south of the school; that's where we sent them. And don't take too long," she said, concern in her voice. "If you're here when the hour runs out, they will kill you."
"Yes, Ma'am," they said in unison. Then, without another word, they broke into a run, rounded the wall, and headed into the shadowy interior of Beacon.
The school was wrapped in an eerie silence. Ruby and Jaune looked around, but saw no one. There were signs of battle: empty magazines, shell casings, bullet holes in the walls, blood stains, and shattered weapons. But there were no wounded, no dead, not even the enemy was in sight. Goodwitch must have sent teams that had already swept through here, Ruby realised. She and Jaune shared another look and dashed through the main hall.
At the end of the first corridor they found more remnants of battle, and a shattered, broken barricade. The battle here had been bloody and vicious. Trying to push the sight of that much blood from her mind, Ruby took the lead and ran down the left branch, following the path that Blake would have taken through the school.
As they ran further into the school, they started finding bodies. Only members of the Black Talon at first—the ones that the Huntsmen and Huntresses would leave—but soon they came across a student, their uniform shredded, revealing the grievous wounds underneath. Ruby swallowed back bile and forced herself to look away. She needed to find Blake. The others would pick these people up. She had to focus on finding Blake.
As they ran, Ruby tried to not think about Yang. Yang should have made it here; she hadn't been far away when Blake had called them all. Why hadn't she reported in? Why hadn't she made it? What could have happened that stopped her?
It wasn't until a tear ran down Ruby's cheek that she realised that in consciously trying to avoid thinking about Yang, she'd started thinking about her even more. She dashed the tears away and ran faster.
Blake, she told herself. Focus on Blake. Find Blake.
They entered a large, round room with dozens bodies lying around its edge. Ruby forced herself to look away from them; she didn't want to know who they were. It wasn't until she saw Jaune walking through the room, inspecting each person, that she realised she needed to. They were looking for Blake and Ren, dead or alive. She sucked in a breath and lowered her gaze, taking in the carnage.
The bodies of Huntsmen, Huntresses, students, and Talons lay atop each other; in death, it didn't matter who fought for which side. It was horrific sight, but there was one bright side which—despite the death that surrounded her—made Ruby breathe a sigh of relief: none of the bodies was Blake or Ren. So, grateful to leave such a visage behind, Ruby and Jaune pushed on.
As they ran, a voice caught Ruby's attention. It was quiet—on the very edge of her hearing—but she recognised it quickly.
"Blake!" she cried as she broke into a sprint. Jaune called after her as he tried to keep up, but Ruby paid him no heed as she tore down the corridor.
Ruby ran towards the source of the voice and came to a broken window halfway down a corridor. She stuck her head through the hole and cast her gaze around. Blake's voice was louder, but Ruby couldn't make out what she was saying.
A blur of movement caught Ruby's attention and she focussed her gaze towards her right, near a grove of trees. A flash of yellow caught her gaze then, lying still on the ground. Ruby's breath caught, and her heart sank. She tried to call out, but only made a quiet squeak.
Hands grabbed her from behind and pushed her through the window. Her instincts kicked in, and Ruby flipped over. She landed on her feet and spun towards the window, one hand on Crescent Rose. She relaxed when Jaune landed next to her and broke into a run.
She ran after him, quickly catching up, then overtaking him. She called out as she approached and a head rose, looking their way—Blake. Even from there, Ruby could see the relief on Blake's face. The faunus looked back down, and Ruby forced herself into another burst of speed.
She fell to her knees next to the still body of her sister. Yang didn't move, didn't react. Ruby leant over her, hands hovering inches away from Yang, unsure what to do.
"Yang…?" she whispered, her heart in her throat.
Yang didn't respond. Only the slight raising and lowering of her chest—so slight that Ruby almost missed it—as she breathed told Ruby that her sister was alive. She breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed Yang's hand. The relief quickly faded to concern as she realised Yang still wasn't reacting.
She looked up, towards Blake. "Blake…" Her words trailed off as she saw Jaune kneel down to help Blake, as she saw what Blake had been doing.
Nora was lying on the ground, battered and bloody. And next to her was Ren, lying a pool of blood. Blake had both hands pressing his shirt against a wound in his side. Blood was leaking out between her fingers, and Ren's normally green shirt was now a murky brown.
Jaune pushed Blake gently to the side, keeping pressure on the wound. Blake sat back and wiped sweat off her face, leaving a smear of blood on her forehead.
Ruby hurried to her side and, using the sleeve of her jacket, wiped the blood off Blake's face. The faunus gave her a weary smile and rested her head against Ruby's arm as Ruby gave her a hug.
"What happened?" Ruby asked.
Jaune peeled Ren's shirt away from the wound and gasped at the sight underneath. Blood dripped onto the ground and Jaune quickly pressed the torn rag of a shirt back against Ren's side.
"How is he still alive?" Jaune hissed.
Blake took a breath and—unbelievably—chuckled. "It was Raud…" she said. Ruby and Jaune gaped at her. "Turns out Kelly's working for Myrka, as was Raud. She made us think he was dead, and then he attacked Nora and Yang. Ren and I spotted them from inside and came to help."
Jaune turned back to Ren. His brow furrowed as he glared down at the blood seeping between his fingers. "Raud, huh…" His voice was filled with venom.
"Ren was already exhausted when we got here, and then pushed Nora away and…" Blake trailed off, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, her face was resigned. "I think both he and Yang have aura shock…"
Ruby gasped and glanced at Yang for a moment before tightening her arms around Blake. She pulled away slightly as Blake chuckled again.
"I think that's what kept him alive," she muttered. "Being in a coma slowed down his heart rate down. The irony…" Blake shook her head.
Jaune looked around them, hands still pressed to Ren's side. "We need to get out of here. Look."
Ruby followed his gaze and saw an airship flying away from the school. They were already evacuating. She looked up at Ozpin's tower and felt a tear run down her cheek. If Myrka was letting them go, then that meant… She shuddered and turned away.
"Right," she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt.
"Blake," Jaune said. "Hold that."
She blinked in surprise when she turned around to see Jaune taking off his shirt. It looked like an awkward process—he hadn't taken his armour off—but soon he was tearing the shirt along the seams, stretching it out. Blake pressed Ren's shirt into the Huntsmen's wound, and Jaune slowly lifted him up, looping the strap of shirt around him. Then Jaune tied the shirt around Ren's middle, tightly binding the bloody rag in place.
"That should hold for a while," Jaune said, getting to his feet. "We'll need to catch up to the others quickly though; he needs to see a doctor as soon as he can. If he makes it that long…" he added under his breath.
"Alright," he continued. "Blake, you take Yang. Ruby, take Nora. I'll carry Ren. Let's hurry."
Ruby and Blake both nodded and hurried to their tasks. Nora moaned as Ruby picked her up, her arms straining. She looked around for Magnhild and saw Jaune slipping the haft of the hammer into the back of his armour, so the of the mighty weapon was visible over his shoulder. Then, with a grunt, he gently lifted Ren in both arms. He led the way as they headed around campus, to the landing pad.
It was slow going. Nora was heavier than she looked, and Yang was probably worse, so Blake and Ruby lagged. But Jaune didn't slow down, so they forced themselves into a jog to keep up. He didn't run—he wouldn't want to jostle Ren—but Jaune was walking almost faster than the girls could jog.
They heard voices inside the school. Through open windows on the higher floors, laughter and cries of victory echoed down to them. Ruby looked over the school and saw a large intercontinental airship leaving. No doubt that was the last of them. All that would be left was the two small ships left for Ruby and Jaune.
"When we get there, put Nora in my ship," Jaune panted. He'd fallen back slightly, until he was walking next to Ruby. "I'll take her and Ren. You two look after Yang. Then just follow the others; they should still in sight."
"But Jaune…" Ruby started.
"Patrol ships only fit three, Ruby. Someone will have to go with two wounded. Besides, they're my team mates. I'll take care of them."
His face was serious; he'd made up his mind, and Ruby couldn't change it. So she nodded, and he sped up again, taking the lead.
"Does he seem… off to you?" Blake asked quietly, eyes on Jaune.
Ruby sucked in a breath and lifted Nora higher, trying to get a better grip. "Yeah," she replied. "He's been off ever since I ran into him at the wall. I think he's worried about Pyrrha."
"Pyrrha? What happened?"
Ruby shook her head. "I don't know. I haven't seen her since we left their apartment. Jaune won't tell me anything, and Goodwitch said she hadn't reported in here."
"Hmm…" Blake frowned, but said nothing more.
The shouts inside grew louder as they rounded the corner and spotted the landing pad. Ruby fought the urge to glance inside. There were still bodies of students and Huntsmen inside; she didn't want to see what the Talon were doing with them. So, blinking away tears, Ruby hurried towards the waiting airships.
They reached the pad, and hurried through the now-deserted camp the defenders had slapped together before their flight.
A bullet tore through the air.
Half a second later, Ruby heard the gunshot. Her head whipped towards the school, eyes widening in fear. There was a team of Talon soldiers running out of the school, aiming weapons their way.
"Run!" Jaune yelled.
He broke into a jog, still unwilling to jostle Ren too much. Nevertheless, he still moved about as fast as Ruby and Blake could. They broke apart when they reached the airships: Blake ran to one, Ruby and Jaune to the other.
Jaune sat Ren in the passenger seat of the airship and tightened the straps over the makeshift compress. Once he was sure that Ren wouldn't move, and there was adequate pressure on the wound, he ran around to the pilot's seat. Ruby finished strapping Nora in to the back seat as he started the engine, and jumped away before rushing, amid gunfire, to the other airship.
A bullet hit her in the ankle, and she nearly stumbled. It hurt like hell, and she knew it would bruise, but her aura stopped it from penetrating. So, with a slight limp, Ruby rushed to the airship that Blake was starting up. She saw that Yang was strapped into the passenger seat, so Ruby jumped in the side door to the back seat, strapped herself in, and yelled for Blake to go.
The airship lurched forward as it lifted off the ground before swinging around and facing the open sky. Ruby pulled Crescent Rose off her belt and leaned out the side of the ship. The wind tore at her hair—she tightened her grip on her rifle—but she pressed one eye to the scope and fired at the enemy soldiers who were still firing at them. They scattered for cover. Ruby fired rounds into whatever cover they hid behind, just to keep them there, until they were far enough away that she could barely see them through the scope.
She swung back into the ship, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, and stuck Crescent Rose in a weapon rack above her head. She leant back and closed her eyes, trying to not to think. She knew she'd had no choice—the order had been given to her, and she had no choice but to see them through—but the thought of leaving Beacon behind made her sick.
So she looked forward, through the front window of the airship, towards those of the other escapees. Yang's limp form slumped to the side, obscuring Ruby's view. She smiled and leaned forward, taking Yang's hand in her own. She felt a twinge of fear when Yang didn't react, but she squeezed her sister's hand, taking what comfort she could. She rested her head on Yang's shoulder and breathed in her relaxing, reassuring scent as they flew forward to their uncertain future.
A/N: Hope this chapter's okay, guys. I'm gonna need maybe another day or two to finish up the next one, but I'm aiming to have it done by the end of the weekend, and I'll post it as soon as its done. :) Unforeseen schedule changes are a bitch, huh?