Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out... I'll explain next note.
Chapter 34:
The wind started to bite into Ruby's being. She could feel the anger almost boil as she took some deep breaths to try and ease the anger that she was feeling towards this. She knew that it would be next to impossible to get to Yang at this moment. There was no way that she could know where Yang was going to be and even if she'd be able to make it to Yang on time.
But she knew that Blake would only be in one of two places ever since her and Yang had been fighting. Hell even that was starting to make sense to Ruby. Namely what could have been enough to drive a stake through a friendship that had suffered an unimaginable amount ranging from the countless running away attempts that Blake had tried to get away from her family, to Blake being called to bail out Yang for being drunken disorderly.
Even Ruby throwing away the potential she had wasn't even close enough to drive a stake between them. Nor was the constant threats from Ruby to do them harm as they tossed out her stash time and time again.
Rounding the corner, Ruby bit her lip as she recognised Emerald's car parked on the street with an almost air of fear about it. The only reason Ruby was fine about it was because that meant that Blake was there.
That was what really mattered.
Quickly walking up to the house, Ruby balled up her fist and started to pound on the door. She wanted this done with and wanted someone to tell her that this was just a very poor joke on Pyrrha's part. It would make everything a lot simpler in Ruby's mind and that was what she really wanted.
She wanted this problem to become a simplistic problem. She wanted the answer to something like Pyrrha found out that she lied about Weiss that morning and that this was her way of telling her that she was caught.
Then maybe she'd be able to finally confess to what was really on her mind. She wouldn't even care if she never got to be trusted again by Pyrrha whenever she was alone. It would still make her feel that much better about it.
Taking a deep breath to try and calm down any of her feelings at this moment. Ruby wasn't sure what her first reaction would be if this all turned out to be true. She knew it probably wouldn't be the positive one she hoped. But she knew that she might just start to hunt Yang down to start swinging at her, knowing that Yang would swing back and accidentally send her to the hospital where Ruby would inevitably be in a lot more pain from the lack of drugs she could take.
Smiling a little at the sight of her dad standing at the door with a shocked expression on his face, Ruby knew that she'd be able to at least have someone to hold her back if she did something stupid. "Not now Dad." Ruby said as she pushed past the man and walked towards where she could hear the talking in the dining room.
She didn't care who was there, or even if Emerald was going to get pissed and start a hunt for her that Cinder would probably approve of. Just because of how much Ruby knew she rubbed Cinder the wrong way since she got clean. Even if it was some perceived slight against her.
Turning the corner, Ruby smiled internally as she noticed a distinct lack of Yang being there. She knew that at the very least that she couldn't do something stupid at this moment. Or at least something stupid that would land her in the hospital right away.
"Okay, who wants to tell me the big non-telling me secret that Pyrrha seems to think it is Yang is honestly in the running for stealing Dumbass' name away from him? Because you have no idea how tempting it is to then turn around and try my luck with Cinder." Ruby snapped as the green haired woman started to laugh. "What is so funny Emerald!?" Ruby snapped as the woman just held up her hand as though she was trying to regain her composure and breath.
"You can try, but Cinder has promised Neo that if you come back she gets free reign to do what she wants to you." Emerald said as she started to laugh further at the calm expression that was still on Ruby's face. Just telling her that she was either dead set on knowing the truth, or she was frozen in fear. Or the unlikely but still possible third option of both. "But Blondie is dating Princess again." Emerald said knowing that the others where going to at least be trying to process if they should lie.
"WHAT THE FUCK BLAKE!" Ruby yelled at the Faunus who just started to curl in a little on herself. "YOU'RE MORE OF A SISTER TO HER THAN ME! YOU'RE HER BEST FRIEND! YOU'RE MEANT TO STOP HER FROM BEING DUMB!" Ruby continued to yell as Emerald stood up and stared dead into Ruby's eyes. Silver meeting garnet, neither wanting to back down.
"Talk to her like that again Ruby, and I don't mind bashing your skull in in front of everyone." Emerald's chilled deadpan tone was normally enough to shake anyone which alone was enough to cause a slight eyebrow raise at the sight of Ruby not backing down. "And if memory serves, you did a lot more with Princess with your sister trying to pull you away but you never left until you broke up and was kicked out on your ass nearly as naked as the day you were born covered in the same amount of piss and shit." Emerald continued just wanting Ruby to back down for her own safety.
"Unlike Yang, I didn't have a friend practically since birth, and also unlike Yang I had ever single action I did scrutinized with a fine tooth comb. So yeah, I lashed out against Yang. However they have been a lot closer than what I could ever hope to be with either of them." Ruby said as she stared at Emerald. She couldn't back down from something like this. Even if it meant that she'd be killed in some sort of excruciating manner. As long as they'd get the message to Yang.
If she died after that then maybe she could have a guilt free conscience when it came to her judgement.
Especially given how much damage she caused to the family when she used. Hell they couldn't even stand some of the rooms clearly. Not to mention she knew that she still causes her parents pain whenever she was here.
But if she could save Yang from venturing down the rocky road she couldn't help but feel that she created. However she knew that Weiss had a penchant for leading people onto it before severing all ties with them. Leaving them to stumble their own way off or further down the path.
"I tried to talk her out of it as soon as I knew. Summer tried. Hell even Pyrrha tried. Short of chaining her to a bed we aren't going to be able to stop Yang unless she wants it to end." Blake said finding her voice, not used to being yelled at by Ruby. But she wasn't going to let Emerald hurt Ruby and destroying whatever good will she had built up with Summer and Tai already.
"You could have told me! Any of you could have! None of you know what Weiss is capable of. What she truly can do when she wants something and you are alone with her. If she wants you to feel guilty, she is going to make you feel guilty. If she wants you to feel you did the right thing, she'll make you feel it." Ruby started running her hands through her hair. "Eventually you become solely dependant on her telling you what to feel. And by that point if she unhooks her claws into you, you enter a free fall. One that if you don't have anyone willing to forgo their own safety there is no pulling out of." Ruby continued as she took a deep breath and just contemplated if it would be worth it to just walk out there and try hunting Yang down.
Looking around the room, Ruby took another deep breath as her gaze fixated on the three woman again. "Do any of you know where the fuck Yang is now? Because I'm going to do what you all tried and failed to do." Ruby asked as she took another deep breath.
"Hold on a second, didn't you tell Pyrrha you thought Yang was dating Weiss?" Blake asked as Ruby rolled her eyes.
"I lied because I knew she wasn't going to stop until either I told her something or my body gives out from exhaustion and I die. Because shockingly the only other option for me at this point to get decent sleep is to shoot up. So I repeat my question, do any of you know where Yang is?" Ruby asked again letting her irritation sink through as she could see the look of worry etched on her mother's face. Something that she knew was from the fact that Ruby lied and openly confessed about it.
This however was something that Ruby knew she can patch over with Pyrrha, and knew what rickety bridge that she had with her family was something that would be able to be repaired, it just set her further back.
She knew that she'd just need to keep the lie up until she could decide what to do with the small bag that she had. There was bound to be something that she could do to keep everyone happy and silence the screaming she was feeling coming from it. Just to let go of her pain and the feeling of pressure.
"She said she still had some community service time on her last drunken disorderly a few months back and is going to a soup kitchen down on ninth." Tai said just wanting this anger in them to be gone. He was a little curious as to why Ruby lied about something in that young of a marriage but he also knew he couldn't really judge after having lied to Summer after a week.
"You absolute morons! That is where Weiss is. Yang finished her community service before she started going to meetings." Ruby said just storming off. She didn't want to say anything else that she knew would result in her being possibly killed.
That wasn't going to be an option until she could pull her pigheaded sister out of the snapping jaws of a monster. One that she knew if she couldn't do, no one could. She knew first hand what Weiss could do. She knew what it was like with Weiss.
The constant feeling that they were right, when in reality to Weiss people were nothing more than a lap dog that she could do whatever she wanted with. She couldn't let her sister make a dumb decision like this. Especially if Yang knew all that she did about what Weiss did to her.
Flicking her hood up, Ruby balled her fists up and shoved them into her pockets as she tried to resist the urge to run. Turning the corner, Ruby nearly froze at the distinct lack of something in her pocket.
Gulping loudly, Ruby started to pat her pockets as she walked towards a wall. Clenching her fist, Ruby slammed it into the stone adorned wall feeling the stones taking scrapings from her hand. The blood that poured down her hand wasn't something that she cared about. She couldn't believe she was so dumb. Pulling the blooded hand back, Ruby clenched her fist tighter again as she delivered another punch.
'If Pyrrha finds it for whatever reason, I'm beyond fucked. I'll have nothing. I won't even have Dumbass...' Ruby thought as she rested her head against the wall and could feel some tears slipping past her eyes. There was no way she'd be able to come out on top if that small bag was found. Everything would be destroyed and there was nothing that she could do about it.
Author's Note:
Okay, long story short about my absence, my schedule has gotten more packed with crap I can't avoid so I had to focus on one thing at a time and I chose to focus on a future project... but I would like to say the Irish bus system sucks. How the fuck can a bus be two hours late when the distance it needs to go is ten minutes? How?