Blake swung her sword in a wide arc above her, slicing off a Deathclaw's sting before it could pierce her. The faunus growled and pounced at the Grimm, landing on its head. With a fierce yell, she looked down and drove Shade through the creature's single eye, killing it instantly.
She fell to the ground amidst the smoke, trying to maintain her balance gracefully, but winced when her left foot bent to the side painfully. The girl started to collapse entirely, and she knew what that meant for her… A single moment of weakness in the battlefield was a one way trip to the afterlife.
Her head hit the ground, but she kept her eyes open as an Ursa Major approached her, roaring savagely. Blake didn't struggle, or even think of how terrible the situation was… She was so tired, the prospect of sleeping forever was too tempting…
There was a flash of red, and suddenly the Grimm fell down, its body sliced in two. Red rose petals floated in the smoke, and Ruby appeared in the middle of all that. The younger girl looked at her friend and smiled.
"Hey, Blake! I missed you!" The redhead said, and then she tapped her scythe "You seem exhausted. Leave the rest to us!"
"…Us?" Blake muttered.
Before she could get an answer, Ruby was gone again, leaving a trail of defeated Grimm behind. The faunus was surprised to see Qrow, who was also pulling his weight in the fray, much like a mirrored version of his niece.
What was most startling, however, was the hooded figure that walked in the middle of the Grimm. They didn't target that person, or even spare her a glance… But suddenly, she raised her arms and slammed them to the ground, causing an explosion of fire around her that burned all nearby creatures to a crisp. For a few seconds, Blake thought she recognized a familiar combination of blond hair and violet eyes, but she shook her head and attributed the strange sight to her tiredness.
Nevertheless, the faunus got up again and pointed her sword forward, preparing to rejoin the battle to protect the hospital. However, an arm snaked around her belly, and she found herself being lifted and dragged away by Adam Taurus. The brunette hissed and kicked against him, but the man just chuckled amusedly.
"Drop it, Blake. You couldn't break away from a kid's grasp right now."
"Let me go!" She kicked his knee, but it made no difference "This is an order!"
"Oh, no! Please, Miss Belladonna, I didn't mean any disrespected!" Adam whined in a falsetto.
He finally dropped her in front of the hospital, but blocked her way when she tried to run back to the middle of the conflict on the street.
"I am not kidding around, Blake. You are not going out there again." Adam decided seriously "You are going to get killed. Understood? If not by the Grimm, it will be by a health meltdown."
"I am telling you to-"
"No!"
He pushed her, and she hit her back against the hospital's glass doors. She looked at him, her hair getting in the way of her vision, a venomous outburst on the tip of her tongue… But then she truly looked at him and noticed the glint in his eyes. He was staring at her just he used to so long ago, before she discovered how awful he was and he cared about her, or at least pretended to.
"Listen closely, Blake Belladonna." He leaned towards her, looking her straight in the eyes "Either you enter that building and sleep willingly, or I'll tie you to a bed and make you rest." He shook his head "I didn't raise, train, and fight you for so long so I could watch you die because of one stupid mistake."
After a few moments of silence, Blake turned and put a hand on the doorknob. She hung her head low as her while body trembled.
"I've screwed everything up." She muttered "I watched so many die, let myself be betrayed even though I knew better, and now Weiss hates me…"
She looked back at him above her shoulder, expecting some comforting words, but Adam just rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Whatever." He said "Just go to sleep."
Blake closed her eyes and entered the building, only stopping briefly when her ex-partner spoke to her again.
"She doesn't hate you. She went through something big… Give her time, she'll eventually talk to you." He raised an eyebrow "I can't bring people back from the dead, but hopefully this little knowledge will be enough to help you rest."
"…Okay." The girl whispered "Thank you, Adam."
"Just go!" The redhead exclaimed in frustration "Find a bed already!"
-x-
Weiss sat on the hospital's roof, her legs crossed and hands held together. She was shivering, her breath erratic as ice formed around her. Her eyes were closed in concentration.
Stop, Weiss. She thought. Don't feel. Just let go…
Despite her efforts against it, her mind kept going back to yesterday's events. She had arrived in Vale, and when she was faced with Blake's disappearance… She only remembered how fragile their relationship would be when she finally saw her.
She had wanted so badly to race to her girlfriend, to embrace and tell her that everything was going to be fine. But she could still feel the Dust in her, always trying to break free of her body. Weiss felt horrible for running away, but it was the sensible thing to do… Better to break Blake's heart than to destroy her entirely.
Now, she just wanted to scream to her lung's full capacity and burn everything around her. Maybe then the world would finally learn to not hurt her, that she had had enough of its cruelty and unfairness. As much as she tried, though, all she could muster was the faint blizzard that surrounded her body like a protective shield. She didn't feel cold at all, and that only made things worse… Even the biting sensation of ice would have been welcomed by her at that point.
The chilly wind lessened suddenly when a pair of arms embraced her from behind. Weiss gasped, preparing to scream in both warning and fury, but then she felt someone's head rest on her right shoulder, and she blinked a few times, slowly registering the sight of Ruby.
"Y-you… Dolt!" The once-heiress exclaimed "You scared me! I could have hurt you…"
"No, you couldn't have." The redhead grinned. Her words were honest and filled with her usual innocence… But Weiss thought she recognized something new in it… A confidence born out of sadness and acceptance "You would never hurt me, Weiss. We're friends, right?"
"…Right."
The white-haired girl looked at the ice on the ground around them, sure that Ruby would make some comment on it.
Oh, no… Of all people… Why did it have to be Ruby? She thought miserably. How can I explain this to her? How will she face me being so similar to Cinder?
She shook her head slightly and took a very uncharacteristic measure: she ignored the problem at hand and just smiled faintly at her team leader.
"So, it's been a while." The once-heiress said casually "How have you been doing?"
"I actually feel great." Ruby answered honestly "A lot of stuff happened while we were separated… Very sad stuff, to say the least. But I moved on pretty quickly."
"Oh. Do you want to tell me about it?" Weiss asked, hoping that would become the main topic of their conversation.
"Yeah, sure. But not right now." The younger girl stared at her friend confidently "I think you need to talk more than I do. So… Spit it all out! I'm all ears!"
Weiss hung her head low. She hesitantly raised a hand, her open palm facing the sky, and slowly she formed a sphere of Ice Dust above it.
"I infused myself with Dust." She stated, wishing she knew some way of express what she felt like these last days "Me, Jaune, Pyrrha and Adam went to escort my father, sister and other people to the school. On the way, we got trapped in a city that was targeted by the Dark. Almost everyone died, and I think the few that survived wouldn't have if I hadn't done this…"
"Wow. That's… impressive." Ruby commented.
"I guess it is." Weiss smiled bitterly "A hundred children died before Ozpin stopped the experiments… Only one survived. I was very lucky."
"Oh, the chances are impressive, but… That's not what I was talking about, actually." The redhead said.
The once-heiress raised an eyebrow inquisitively. In response, Ruby pointed a hand at her.
"I think it's impressive that you did such a selfless act. Uh, I don't mean that you are selfish, just that it was very risky, so much that even the bravest people wouldn't do it." The leader explained "I guess impressive isn't the right word… It is admirable."
"It was stupid." Weiss muttered defiantly "It was a one in a hundred chance, at least. Luck saved me."
"Did it, though?" Ruby wondered "Maybe it wasn't luck."
"What do you mean?"
"Weiss, one thing I've learned from all this chaos and death and everything bad that's going on… Nothing happens because of chance. We survive as long as we have the will to. We die when our enemies' will is greater than ours." She smiled widely "Luck didn't save you, you saved yourself."
Weiss nodded slowly. What happened, Ruby? There's more to you now than that pestering dolt from before.
"You're probably right. But I wish I wouldn't have survived… I know this is a horrible thing to say, but…" Her words got caught in her throat "I-it's so miserable… I'm so miserable."
She buried her face in her hands.
"I can't do anything, Ruby. I don't even know myself anymore." She said "I might freeze someone solid, or fry them to death, all in a single moment of carelessness. I can't live like this."
"Sure you can." Ruby spoke softly, laying a hand on her friend's shoulder.
Weiss looked at her angrily and slapped the hand away. Ruby got up and put out the small flame on her sleeve without panicking, and then looked at her teammate comfortingly.
"Weiss… You're being too hard on yourself." She stated "You just need time to adjust. You've always excelled in training and tests… This is something you can't and won't fail to conquer."
"It isn't so simple!" Weiss grunted in frustration, getting up. She shook her hand quickly, unconsciously moving around a trail of flames with her fingers "There's no studying, no preliminaries, and no bad grades. Everything below a hundred percent correct is destruction."
She turned her back and looked at the streets below, trembling with agitation.
"Dust, Ruby, of all people, I thought you might be the one to best understand why I can't keep going. You knew Cinder. You saw how she was, how she bottled things inside her until she couldn't take it anymore! You put her down, and that only caused more trouble! I can't do the same thing as her! I don't want to die and make everyone I know suffer! I don't want to make Blake kill me and almost kill herself afterwards and-"
She closed her mouth as soon as she realized what she had just said. Her heart beat fast as she turned to look at Ruby.
"I'm so sorry." The white-haired girl muttered "That was horrible – I shouldn't have-"
To her surprise, Ruby only shrugged and grinned.
"No offense taken. You have all the right to worry." The redhead said "Like I said, I moved on. For the short time I spent with Cinder, I was very happy. I miss her a lot, but I can't live everyday chained to guilt and sadness." She frowned "This is isn't about me, but… I'll tell you something that might help."
Her smiled faded, and for a moment, she regained the solemn look she had weeks ago, when Weiss had last seen her.
"I didn't have to kill Cinder." She admitted "I made a huge mistake. The situation was very… stressful, to say the least. On one hand, mother was revealing everything bad about Cinder, and she wasn't even denying it. But Cinder also presented her own reasons… I don't think there was a right choice, Weiss, but the one I took… It was wrong."
"I could have let Cinder live. Maybe she would have been fine… We could have stayed together and forgotten about the past." Ruby shook head slowly "Anyway… What I'm trying to say is that just because Cinder had problems, doesn't mean she was consumed by them. Her fate wasn't decided by her Dust infusion, but by me alone."
Then she smiled again, back to her positive self.
"You can choose your own fate, Weiss. You just gotta try hard enough." Ruby raised her eyebrows comically "Maybe you'll singe some eyebrows and ruin some hairdos before you finally get to a good place, but it'll be the worth the risk."
Weiss looked at her friend silently before opening a smile of her own.
"Thank you, Ruby." She said honestly "I declare, from now on, that you are not a dolt."
"Wow! Does that mean I get like, special cookies or something?" The redhead's face brightened with joy.
"…Maybe you should be a half-dolt, for now." Weiss shook her head amusedly.
Ruby smiled and nodded, and then she turned her back to walk back to the inside of the hospital.
"I'll leave you alone. You still have some thinking to do, right?" She halted her walk briefly to look at her friend hurriedly, as if she had just remembered something important "By the way, do you know where Ozpin is?"
Weiss stared at her leader curiously before shrugging.
"Sorry, I don't. I didn't spend any time with anyone since I returned, actually." She responded apologetically "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, nothing." Ruby assured "Just wanted to know."
Then she descended the stairs to the hospital, leaving Weiss alone up on the roof. The once-heiress walked to the edge and looked down silently.
That's a long fall. She thought. Enough to kill, if someone weren't to use any of their Aura. She rolled her eyes. There are better ways to die.
-x-
Yang held her head with her hands, her eyes closed forcefully as she tried to shut out the voices that reached inside her mind.
Kill!
Prey!
Weak!
She groaned painfully.
"Keep working!" She roared all of a sudden.
Qrow looked at her silently. He had been working on a new version of Crescent Rose, and was right now in the process of melding the finer pieces together. It resulted in a lot of noise, which helped the girl calm down, much to her relief. However, when he briefly stopped, the tormenting began again immediately.
"Just… Do your thing!" She begged.
"Sorry, blondie. I had to arrange the next pieces." He smiled amusedly "I don't want to make fun of your situation or anything, but… This is the first time I see someone appreciate this hellish sound of making weapons."
"Oh, trust me, that is not a hellish sound."
Qrow shrugged and began to meld again. Yang sighed in relief as the voices of the Grimm died down under the new noise.
Her peace only lasted a few seconds, however, before someone else appeared. She tried to disappear into the dark corner of the hospital-room-turned-forge when Blake opened the door and poked her head in curiously. She had dark rings around her eyes, and the hand that held the doorknob was trembling noticeably.
"Qrow?" She muttered confusedly "What are you doing?"
"Hi, kitty. Sorry for not saying hello earlier." The uncle greeted, sensibly not looking at Yang "I am making a new Crescent Rose. Unfortunately, my niece's beloved was broken ruthlessly in battle… Am I making too much noise?"
"No, it's okay." Blake muttered "Continue doing your forging… I just wanted to ask… Where's Yang?"
Qrow looked awkwardly at the faunus before slowly pointing at the corner of the room. Yang tried to shrink into her cloak, but Blake was quick to step close to her and drag the hood back.
The brunette stared at her friend, her expression a mixture of shock and sadness. She retreated her hand and held it to her chest. Yang hung her head low before speaking.
"Hey, Blake." She said, all too aware of her changed voice "It's nice to see you."
"It's… Nice to see you too." Blake spoke slowly "Yang… What happened to you?"
The blonde looked between her friend and adopted uncle before getting up.
"We have a lot to talk about." She sighed "Let's take a walk."
-x-
"I'm… I'm so sorry."
Velvet sobbed loudly, sitting on a sofa in what used to be the doctor's lounge. Near her were Nora and Pyrrha, who were seated on chairs of their own, and Jaune, who was pacing consistently in front of them.
"I didn't mean for something so horrible to happen…" The faunus said when she mustered the strength to contain her crying "He… He didn't even talk to me. He just grabbed me and ran as I blacked out…"
"It's okay, Velvet." Pyrrha muttered "We know you aren't to blame. Ren did what he wanted to do… The right thing." She smiled tentatively "I think he would be unhappy if you stayed miserable… He wanted you to have a good life."
"That's right. I shouldn't dishonor him by wallowing in misery." Velvet spoke "But I want you guys to know… If there is anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to ask."
"Thank you, Velvet." Jaune responded "Could you give us some time alone, please?"
The older student nodded silently and left the room with soft steps. Jaune ceased his pacing and suddenly threw his shield on the ground. The object bounced off the floor and hit the wall with a loud metallic noise. Pyrrha looked at him worriedly, while Nora's face was unreadable.
"It's my fault!" He exclaimed furiously "I should have stayed in Beacon! I never should have gone with Weiss in that fucking useless mission!"
"Calm down, Jaune." Pyrrha urged, preparing to get up from her seat.
"What's the point of my Semblance if I can't protect my friends?!" The boy continued, completely ignoring the redhead "I'm useless… No, I'm beyond that."
Pyrrha got up and took him in a hug, but he just shook his head slowly.
"I'm a failure."
They jumped apart when a noise exploded near them. They looked at Nora, who had taken her hammer and smashed the wooden table in front of her, all while glaring daggers at her leader.
"Don't you dare continue speaking like that." She said firmly "You don't have any blame for Ren's death, just like I don't, and Velvet doesn't… It just happened. So quit whining and be someone he would have been proud to call his leader!
"…I'm sorry." Jaune muttered "I won't do this again."
"Yeah, you won't, or else it will be your butt that will be smashed next time!" Nora threatened.
Jaune picked up his shield and grinned at his orange-haired teammate. Pyrrha sighed in relief.
The quiet scene was interrupted by a soft cough from the door. They looked at it and noticed Ruby, who stared back at them awkwardly.
"Oh. Hey, Ruby… You're back." Jaune said slowly "Did you, by any chance, hear the whole shield-throwing and whining event?"
"Nope." The younger girl answered.
She looked between the members of her sister team and bowed her head briefly.
"Velvet told me what happened." She said "I'm really sorry about Ren."
"Thanks… And, well, we're sorry about Cinder." Pyrrha responded, unsure if she should mention that person.
Nora looked at her friends confusedly.
"Who the hell is Cinder again?" She asked.
Pyrrha looked at her teammate incredulously. She knew Nora was suffering from Ren's death, and that they hadn't known Cinder at all, but still, they all had heard the story.
To her relief, Ruby just smiled faintly and shook her head.
"She was a girl I met." Was her brief response "Anyway… I'm sorry for bringing this up right now, but… Do you guys know where Ozpin is?"
"Uh… Blake looked for him during the attack on Beacon, but she didn't mention what happened to him. He isn't here, though." Nora answered.
Ruby nodded appreciatively and turned to leave, but she stayed for a little longer.
"If you need anything, I'm more than willing to help." She offered "And Jaune…"
She looked at the boy seriously.
"You're not a failure. Just don't forget our duty."
Then she left without speaking another word. Jaune nodded unconsciously, and almost jumped when Pyrrha laid a hand on his shoulder.
"What did she mean by our duty?" The redhead asked.
"We had a conversation a long time ago… About leadership." Jaune answered "She said me and her have the duty to protect our friends."
"… I see."
I should have known already. That's why he tried to take the blame for Ren's death… She realized. He didn't think he only failed Ren, but Ruby too.
Pyrrha frowned worriedly as she stared at the door the younger girl had left through.
-x-
"That's… a lot to take in."
Blake and Yang were in front of the hospital, leaning against its outer wall. The blonde had told her friend about everything that had happened, and now the faunus was struggling to register everything.
"It's been only two weeks, but… It feels like you and Ruby were gone for so much longer." Blake said thoughtfully "And so much happened… This is so strange."
"Yep. Seems like a brief trip to family turned into discovering about real family, turning into a Grimm, and some part of the family dying." Yang smiled bitterly.
Blake took one of her friend's hands and looked at her seriously.
"Hey. You must be going through hell right now, but you should… No, you need to know I'll be here to help whichever way I can."
"Thanks, Blake. I really appreciate it."
The blonde looked at the sky, her eyes shifting from violet to red.
"Truth be told… I don't actually feel all that bad." She admitted "This body…It doesn't hurt, or feels uncomfortable. I hate to say it, but in some ways, it is much better than my old one." She lifted her sharp-clawed hands in front of her and stared at them fixedly "And it has so much power… I could take the full weight of a King Taijitu and it wouldn't even tire me."
"I suppose that's great. The more power, the better, right?" Blake wondered "And, well… You don't look so bad. Sure, the red lines on your face and how your eyes shift all the time left me shocked at first, but overall, you're still the same Yang."
"Yeah, I'm sure someone out there has got a fetish for Grimm." The brawler said amusedly.
After a few seconds, she sighed and shook her head sadly.
"If only everything was as simple as we try to make it sound." Yang wished "I can live just fine with this body, but my mind… Sometimes, I feel like it's tearing itself apart, slowly and painfully. There are two sides of me now… The old and the new, and neither one wants to go away."
"Worst of all is when I hear the Grimm." The blonde shuddered "They can actually communicate with one another, through their minds. It's always very simplistic, something like kill or hunt or whatever. Their voices are human, but filled with only hatred. I guess that's the key to their cooperation… They can feel each other's negative emotions…"
She looked at Blake and frowned worriedly.
"I can sense a lot coming from you too, Blake." She told "You're like a lighthouse in a sea of Grimm. Keep this up, and the waves will break you down."
"Oh. You can… read my emotions?" The faunus asked, a bit disturbed.
"That sounds silly. I just… Know. It's like how we detect smells and hear sounds… I can't really explain it." Yang shrugged "Anyway, if someone here needs help, it's you. I've told you everything that happened to me and Ruby… Now it's your turn."
Blake nodded and took a deep breath. With care and attention, she told her friend about how Weiss had left to escort her family, how she had been having problems with rogue parts of the White Fang, and then about the horror of the attack on Beacon. She finally finished her story with Garret's betrayal and Weiss' return.
The two stood in silence for a few minutes, before Yang finally spoke again.
"You are the worst, Blake Belladonna." She said softly "Trying to shoulder all these responsibilities alone and all at once… You were bound to get hurt."
"…That's supposed to help me?" The faunus asked incredulously.
"Yeah. You need to bury some sense into your thick skull! I swear, you and Ruby… Sometimes you just shut everyone else around you out, and the only way you open again is if something drastic happens." Yang shook her head disapprovingly "Hopefully, your case won't be as bad as my sister's."
"I get where you're coming from… I always try to do things by myself, and I don't know why…" Blake muttered "But I've gone through so much already… Beacon, Ren, Garret, Weiss… If those things didn't stop me from continuing this damned streak of recklessness, nothing ever will."
"Ah, shut up. Just the fact that you acknowledge your own stupidity is a good sign." The blonde commented "And, by the way, your future marriage is not ruined. I could feel Weiss' dark emotions as strong as yours a few hours ago, but they faded quickly. I suspect a certain redhead was involved."
As if on cue, Ruby appeared in front of them in a shower of petals. She smiled widely at her sister and her friend. Yang rolled her eyes.
"I have a suggestion." The Grimm said "Ruby, bash your head against Blake's repeatedly. I want to know whose skull is thicker."
"That sounds silly and dangerous." The leader noted "Big sisters shouldn't suggest such things."
"You won't do it, because you know Blake will crack first."
The faunus shook her head in disbelief.
"It's good to see nothing changed between you two." She spoke honestly.
"She's still as annoying as ever." The sisters said at the same time, and then glared at each other.
Blake laughed softly.
"Anyway… Did you want something, Ruby?" She asked.
"I do, actually." The redhead answered "Do you know anything about Ozpin?"
The faunus looked at Yang worriedly, and the blonde's stare mirrored hers. She had told the blonde about how Ozpin was trapped by the Dark itself, and Summer had gone in to help him. It had been days now, yet they knew nothing about that.
"Ozpin was… Caught." Blake said slowly "The Dark targeted and isolated him. Summer said it wasn't going to kill him, but torture him. She…"
The brunette lowered her head and stared at her feet, unable to continue speaking. She had delivered enough bad news already.
"Your mother went after Ozpin." Yang finished for her "Neither of them has come back yet."
Ruby nodded silently. She stared towards Beacon. From where they stood, they would have been able to examine the school from the distance, but now that the whole place was destroyed… The empty horizon seemed almost haunted.
"They'll come back." She said "They are strong."
The redhead gave her friends a brief glance before going back inside the hospital. Yang looked at Blake and raised an eyebrow.
"Will you go to sleep now?" She sighed.
The faunus smirked sadly.
"Hell no."
-x-
Qrow woke up in the middle of the night, and immediately he felt something was wrong. Yang was sitting on a corner of the hospital room, snoring soundly, but his niece was nowhere in sight.
He got up silently and walked to the forgery table he had improvised in the middle of the room. The new Crescent Rose was gone, and in its place was a simple, hurriedly written note.
Rescuing parents. Don't worry. –Little Rose
Qrow stared at the note for a few seconds before ripping it to pieces and tossing it in a trash can where Yang would never find it.
-x-
I told you guys not to get hyped. There is still one chapter before the current conflicts get closed (Or more. Who the hell knows? I certainly don't!).
Reviews!
Miniswitchbak: Yeah, I knew Garret's thing was obvious. Knowing that, I didn't try to make the betrayal act itself a huge shock. I understand your point about that last scene... The thing is, that brief reunion was very different through Blake and Weiss' perspectives. Weiss left because of what she is now (as was explained this chapter), and Blake, not knowing about the Dust infusion, thought she had left because she had just tore someone's throat out (which is kinda brutal, even by Hunter standards...). I definitely could have written that bit better, however, in a way that it wouldn't have to be explained in the following chapter.
Twisted Fate MK 2: Sorry! You mustn't be happy about this ending too...
Lojzek: Yup. Implied last chapter, confirmed in this one. So, now I can finally ask this: you said in an earlier review you had two guesses of who was Ruby's father. So, it was Ozpin and...?
Ocomfv: No deaths this chapter too. Feels nice. Hopefully this isn't a calm before a storm, huh? (Am I evil?)
So-much-fluff-sized thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited Children of Summer!
-Zeroan