Boys would be boys. Wilson believe deeply in this.
Women were not meant to understand the complexities of the male mind. Just as men would never fully be able to understand a woman. With this in mind, he squinted down at the small boy that seemed to have taken a liking to him. Wilson was neither interested in, nor bothered by the Faunus. However, he sincerely doubted that his daughter was adequate reassurance for the lad.
After all, it wouldn't due not to have a proper male remodel about. With the boy's father critically wounded, it made logical sense for Zhu to go looking for the next best thing. The boy, faunus or not, was merely doing what was logical. Or, so Wilson thought idly while partaking some nuts from a nearby glass dish. He watched Zhu curl his tail, and make a sound that was clearly indicative of his interest.
Having no idea of the child was allergic or not, he denied the request silently, mindfully putting the glass topper back upon the china.
Straightening the paper, he went back to reading once more, ignoring the fact that Zhu sat at his feet. The child kept making noise at him with the intent to get his attention. This went on for several long moments before Zhu climbed onto the back of the chair, grasping onto it, as he flicked his long tail back and forth.
This once again, directed Wilson's attention. He hardly saw the interest in peering over the black and white script, Zhu very clearly couldn't read. There weren't even any pictures on these particular pages. Just graphs and charts detailing various stocks and other information. Zhu seemed interested regardless, and so Wilson further ignored the insult to his personal space. With his reading commenced once more, he blessed the fact that at least the room remained silent.
Zhu continued to perched there for well over an hour before Blake finally found him.
"Zhu…" Blake sighed. "Get down from there."
"No." One of the few actual words he favored coming out defiantly.
"Zhu…now…" Blake demanded with very little heat in her tone. A firm and stern order, the same she issued any time he pointedly ignored her.
"Is there something you need?" Wilson asked, rather annoyed that yet another creature saw fit to drive him crazy. Daughter-in-law or not, Blake was louder than he would have liked.
"It's his lunch time." Blake replied, but Wilson shot her a rather scathing scowl.
"Leave the boy alone. He clearly has no interest in listening to what you have to say about the matter, and seems quite content to sit quietly…a trait you might learn to master one of these days."
"And leave him unattended with you?" Blake asked. "I doubt that's a good idea. Besides, you don't actually enjoy the pleasure of his company anyway."
"You presume too much." Wilson said slowly. "Besides, if he were hungry, he'd go looking for a meal. Leave us, and go do…well...whatever it is that you do..."
A very low rumble left Blake's lips. "Zhu." She demanded before turning on her heel. "Come, now." She walked like a predator, her footfalls light as air, but her shoulders were squared and her ears flattened back. Zhu followed after her obediently, wisely not taking the chance to anger her further.
Wilson thought that his troubles for the day would end then and there. He certainly wasn't overly concerned with what the household did with the child, and he wasn't bothered enough by Blake's usual insolence to issue any further retort. Knowing he would only aggravate Weiss anyway, he went back to his reading. If he thought he would find peace, he was sorely mistaken.
It was about three hours later, as he sat at the dining table having some tea, that his troubles began again in earnest.
It began soon after he started leisurely writing a letter to a friend of the womanly sort. His wife had died long ago, and he doubted he would ever get remarried. However, childhood friend of his had just recently lost her own husband. Knowing the burden that such a loss would cause, he found it only fitting that he kept an eye on her from time to time. It was the right thing to do. She was of old money, with no children of her own to speak of. Someone had to ensure her wellbeing, because for all of her wealth, she was not shrewd in any capacity.
Besides, if he were honest with himself, it was quite the welcome distraction...if only he was left to write the letter in peace.
"I'm sure your keeper is looking for you." He told Zhu with only the tiniest hint of venom. "Go on…shoo. Off with you."
A small hoot and flick of his tail was Zhu's only response as he waited patiently, hands grabbing the air as if asking to be picked up. When that didn't give results, he began tugging on a pristinely white pant leg, as if that might do the trick. After being ignored for too long, Zhu took matters into his own hands, climbing up and sitting in Wilson's lap.
Wilson raised an eyebrow, his mustache furrowing atop his lip as he made something of a sneer. "You truly are a little rapscallion, aren't you?"
"Takes after his father, I'm afraid." Weiss interrupted with entirely too much fondness for Wilson's liking. "He seems to like you…"
"He's merely projecting, little more, little less." Wilson said, pen in hand once more. "If you wouldn't mind..."
"I don't, but he might." Weiss pick up the tailed child as if it was second nature. Perhaps, in some way, it was. "...I know that look...mind if I ask who your inwardly blaspheming this time? It's not the council, is it?"
"No Weiss, it's not." There were so many Faunus children about, Wilson could scarcely avoid them even if he wanted to. Blake merely added insult to his already tempted ire. "I would appreciate it, Weiss, if you could school your wife into knowing her place. She's entirely too willful for her own good." He lifted his glacial stare to meet his daughter's own. "Sometimes I think the boy has more sense."
"You mean school her, just as you schooled your own?" Weiss asked quietly.
"Weiss…" Wilson refuted darkly. Her mere name used like a sharp slap on the wrist.
"Forgive me, that was out of line." Weiss took the aggravated warning with a knowing frown. "It was never my intention to pry." It would always be a sore spot, but it was one she couldn't repair even if she tried. "You're not the only one who misses her..."
Resting his elbows on the table, he tented his fingers. "What words do you wish to have with me this time?" He asked her with no small amount of distain towards the ear full he was sure to get. He hadn't been kind to Blake at all today, and ne knew what that meant.
"Nothing you haven't heard before...a little effort goes a long way, but you already know that." Weiss sighed with a shake of her head. "In any event, was merely looking for Zhu. Blake warned me he'd been following you around."
"And so it seems you found him." Wilson replied. "Your goal has been completed, has it not?"
"So it has." Weiss replied, though there was some measure of amusement glistening in her eyes. Something she absolutely refused to let tug at the corners of her mouth. Her father's prickly attitude was one she knew well, after all. She had inherited many of his tendencies. "Come along, Zhu. We have errands to do." Weiss said, nodding to her father one last time. "Have a pleasant afternoon."
"To you as well." He murmured absentmindedly, pointedly ignoring the unhappy little noise that was not entirely human. He didn't even suffer a glance at the child. Happily returning to his letter. Blissfully letting Zhu slip out of sight, and thus, out of mind entirely.
In the north, the battle with Grimm waged on, and Sun was not the only one who had been wounded in the combat.
The chill cut to the bone, testing all of them as the snow caked around them. Ruby pulled her bloody cloak tightly around her form. She hissed when she pulled her shoulder the wrong way. A long gash was tender, and though she had it wrapped, she could tell it was not healing properly. Tightening her hood, she hunkered down near the fire that was fighting just to stay lit.
Pyrrha did the same with her own winter dressings, yanking her hood up when the icy breeze nipped at her already rosy cheeks. A shiver rolling down her spine as she fought against the wind. The fire did little to ward away the chill, but the beauty of the nighttime sky almost made the frigid temperatures worth it.
Ren prodded the crackling flame, squinting into the light. He tiredly pondered the circumstances that were now beyond their control. As a team, they were weakened by the elements, weariness, and the abuse of their weapons.
"How long will the fire last in these kinds of conditions?" Ren asked, noticing Ruby's unease. "We might as well be out in the open…"
"A few hours." Ruby said. "If we're lucky." In truth, she wasn't sure. Maybe longer, if the wind felt merciful enough to keep the snow well away from the flame. Still, she dared not give them hope for such a thing. Instead, Ruby directed her gaze directly above her, where a small rock ledge provided meager dwellings against the elements. The ice clinging to the outcropping glistened, droplets plopping down onto her forehead.
"That's better than I've come to expect out of these sorts of fires." Pyrrha said, doling out metal cups filled with soup. The liquid was fatty, high in calories, chunks of stale cubed bread offering something more substantial than just liquid. Along with it, they dissolved tablets that were high in nutrients. "What about our travel? How much further can we go before we find a place for shelter?"
"A morning of solid hiking will bring us to a mining town that's on the other side of the ridge, with any luck, we'll meet up with Sun and the others there."
"Do you think we stand a chance doing that?" This came from Nora. The offhanded question carrying a great deal more weight than the bubbly woman would admit. She leaned against Ren, long abandoning any sort of propriety for personal space. Her cheek brushed against his as she shivered. "We've been out here for a long time, Ruby…even I'm starting to smell like a Grimm."
"We all smell like Grimm." Pyrrha said with a small laugh, but the question still stood.
"Guts and sweat tend to do that." Ruby said with a shrug, her hand resting on her shoulder out of habit. "Maybe, maybe not…one thing I know for sure is that there should be a tower. We can make calls there…and I've got a cabin, so at least we'll have a proper cooking hearth and a fireplace."
"About your shoulder…is it giving you trouble?" Pyrrha asked, pulling the fabric of Ruby's cloak aside. "We need to change those bandages…"
"None left." Ruby said, even as she looked at the angry red blotches seeping through the fabric. "My aura's healing me."
"It's battling infection." Pyrrha said. "Ruby, you're going to be sick…or worse."
"I'm fine."
"You're not though." Nora replied, coming around to get a better look. A low whistle falling from her lips as she realized the devastation coming from the long slice in Ruby's shoulder. It traveled two separate paths. One down her arm, and the other along her collarbone. The red blood like a map against the bandages. It would leave a nasty scar, but that was the least of the worries going on among them. "Hey Ren, do you have any aura enhancers, or antibiotics?"
He shook his head. "The last of my supply went to Pyrrha after she took the blow to the head a few days back."
"Didn't think so…" Nora bit her lip. "Well there's always a good hard scrub down with boiling water and gauze."
"I have nothing clean to wrap it with." Ruby said. "That won't help if all I'm going to do is put dirty dressings back on. It's not a big deal. We get to that mining town, and I'll be fine. They'll have the medication I need for sure, and the doctors are used to looking after my injuries."
"This…" Pyrrha sighed. "Does not bode well."
"Guys…" Nora replied standing up to get a better look. "There's movement in the distance…I can't see what it is, but…it's there, whatever it is."
"Let me see." Ruby pulled out her scope, hoping for the best, but already thinking the worst.
Then again, they all were. It was no better back at home.
After Sun's final surgery, and three days in the intensive care unit, Sun was free and clear to be handed off to Midori's care. They put him under for the travel due to the gravity of his injuries. He would be spending time in the much smaller medical offices founded by the SDC's medical studies unit. There were only four doctors on staff, two nurses, and one woman in charge of the clerical paperwork.
Still, he was safe here, and Blake released a shuttering breath she didn't realize she had been holding.
The beeping hurt her ears, and she made no excuse for the way she flattened them back, ignoring the rhythmic pace that rattled her brain. She could smell the ichor on him, and the medical supplies. Antiseptic tingled her nose.
He was there alone, but, under a much more pleasant staff. Midori made a habit of avoiding Faunus haters when making recommendations. All of them were relatively friendly people…or at the very least didn't rightly mind that Sun's tail protruded out from the covers, flicking back and forth in his delirious state of being. Many rules that applied in the hospital didn't apply here, so Blake was finally given the chance to see him...and that was a mixed blessing.
Sun looked abosultely god-awful. The blonde was topless but covered in bandages that were changed often. The sea of white covering much of his tanned skin. His hair was grungy, messy, and he smelled terribly of old and new blood alike. The cold had been hard on him, this she knew all too well. He rested prone on the bed, reeking as if he were death incarnate...or what Yang sometimes complained about when they bypassed road kill on the streets.
A sponge bath would do him wonders when he finally woke.
Satisfied that he was still breathing, she finally went to the door. Before she exited, she doused herself in perfume to mask the fact that she had just been in the same room with Sun. Then, she exited out into the small hallway they'd turned into a makeshift waiting room.
Zhu looked up at her, his little eyes affixing himself to the Faunus he'd come to think of as his leader. Seeing that he wasn't being addressed, he went back to picking at the yogurt cup he'd been given. He sat on Yang's lap, none the wiser.
"Is he...okay? I mean, is he still out could?" Yang asked.
Blake only nodded. "The doctors are probably right. He smells like death, but his aura's finally functioning again, even if it's only half capacity. It's a start." Blake edged around the words carefully. Sun was still in critical condition. They'd considered letting Zhu in to see him, but his scent was too sickly for even Blake to take. There was no way they could take Zhu in there. "I know it was a long shot when I suggested it, but the smell in there is just too much."
"In that case, we should probably go home. There isn't much we can do right now." Weiss said, as she stood up from her chair. "Our best efforts should go to being well rested ourselves. If his condition is stable, the doctors and his aura will deal with the matter in due time. Now that he's in Midori's care, we have nothing to worry about."
"I'm not going anywhere." Yang's tone offered no argument on the subject. "I'm going to wait until he wakes up, and then beat the stupid out of him myself."
"That could take hours, maybe even until the next day, Yang." Blake told her.
"I don't care, that idiot very nearly got himself killed, and Ruby is still out there in that mess." Yang stood, setting Zhu down in the chair as she looked into Sun's room. Neptune was sitting there, exhausted. He hadn't budged in hours, his own fatigue and hunger easily ignored by the looks of it. "Damn it. What is it with the guys we hang around with?" She asked, pushing her way through the door and into Sun's room. "Hey, you got a concussion?"
"No…" Neptune sighed.
"Good." Yang's hand flew up, slapping him across the face so hard, she knocked him over. "Then stop kicking your own ass about this, or I'll kick it for you."
"He…" Neptune shook his head. He just sat there, on the floor, watching the blood from his nose drip to the floor. "Never seen him run headlong into danger like that…never expected he'd run after Ruby." He rubbed away the trickle with the back of his hand, but it just started back up again. "He should know he can't keep up."
"People who care about others do stupid shit. It happens." Yang replied darkly. "Get the hell out of here, Neptune." She told him, dragging the lone chair away from the corner and over to the far wall. Yang slammed it there and sat, one leg crossed over the other. "You're useless to everyone if you just keep sitting there bleeding on the floor."
He gave her an incredulous look. "Aren't you worried?"
"Not just worried." Yang murmured. "Pissed."
"He loves her. When we were out there, just the two of us, I saw him making a necklace. He did that for Octavia too…some sort of Faunus thing…I don't…" Neptune sighed. "If she doesn't come back, Yang…I don't think he'll be able to take it."
Yang reached up above her, grabbing the nearest box of tissues on the shelf, chucking it at Neptune's head. "I told you to stop. Next time, I really will beat you senseless..."
"Coco, I can walk on my own." Ruby whined as she was carried bridal style across the snowy expanse in front of them. "Put me down."
"No can do. The more you walk, the more your heartrate goes up. I'm not going to explain to Weiss that you got picked up in the talon of a Nevermore." Coco said as she held Ruby more tightly instead.
"Well, yeah, that was kind of stupid." Nora said, trudging along with both her own weapon, and Ruby's slung across her back. "Way cool though, just…well, dumb."
"How else was I supposed to get up there?" Ruby asked. "There was no way to get that kind of air without letting one scoop one up and take me. I just didn't think I'd get nicked, that's all."
"Nicked?!" Coco shook her head. She was glad she found them. "Ruby, you're lucky you didn't lose an arm!"
"It doesn't matter. I've severed too much muscle." Ruby said, knowing the extent of her injuries were actually pretty severe. They hurt too, but not nearly as much as she had been expecting. Still, she lifted her hand to the freshly bandaged wound. When they'd unwrapped and cleaned it, there had been puss foaming out from all sides, sickly yellow-green. It was hot to the touch, and she knew that fever was setting in all over. She could feel the cold sweat trickling down her back. "Weiss is going to kill me…"
"She has her hands full dealing with Sun at the moment, I'm sure." Pyrrha replied, though the worry in her eyes was clear as crystal. Green reflecting the heart of the matter as she shared a glance with Ruby. The young woman's eyes were like wet steel. "We'll be home soon, Ruby."
"If I could just use my semblance I'd-" Ruby cut herself off, swallowing hard.
"Get yourself killed." Fox replied pointedly. "You wouldn't let me carry you, so now you're stuck with her. Deal with it."
The fact that he had Coco's purse slung across his shoulder didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. He continued onward anyway, ignoring the weight of the overlarge yet compacted machinery. The gun within was bulky and powerful, but one would never know it. Not with the way it dangled at his side just like any regular purse might. Even so, he was merely being a gentleman. He knew for a fact that Coco could have carried Ruby even with the weight of the gun.
His mate was just that powerful, a fact he knew better than to overlook.
"I need to get home." Ruby murmured… "I need to see him."
"You need to shut up and rest." Coco told her. "And we need to regroup. We can't finish clearing out these Grimm without help. Someone's going to need to contact the general."
AYangThang: Happy 2017 everyone. We kick off the year with a brand new chapter, and a few updates on the profile page. Nothing large or fancy, just some updated information for those who care. As expected now that December is over, you'll be getting at least two updates a week. I hope everyone had a happy holidays, and that you are all looking forward to the new year as much as I am. Let's all have a wonderful 2017.