By the time things had calmed down, hours had passed. It was quite late, and the blizzard was still raging on, the storm showing no signs of abating.
"Did you do something?"
Maia shook her head. "Nope. I don't know why they attacked me, unless…"
She narrowed her eyes, sitting up. "Unless someone squealed."
"Rowan?"
"I don't see how it could have been anyone else. At this point the police think of me as one of them, and I don't think any of them would try to hire people to kill me. The only thing I can think of is if the hunting carnivores somehow caught wind of what I was doing, but I've definitely been very careful."
Ruby looked conflicted. "So, do you want me to get rid of Rowan?"
Maia raised an eyebrow. "Didn't we talk about this? I don't think it's right to have you as my personal assassin."
"But won't he mess up our whole plan if he talks?"
Maia shook her head. "No, or well, at least not anymore. The only thing he could have said about us is that he saw us on the roof, and that we talked about trying to fix the problem between herbivores and carnivores. Right?"
Ruby nodded. "Yup, that's how I remember it."
"Good. So what we do now is be more careful—" Maia shuddered "—and patch up the shutter and front door so I don't freeze to death."
Ruby grabbed the blanket off of the couch and wrapped it around Maia before standing up, smiling. "What do you want me to do?"
Maia sighed contently. "Thanks, Rose. Hey, do you mind if I just call you Rose for now?" She tilted her chin toward the walls. "You never know who's listening."
"Not a problem at all."
"Great." Maia closed her eyes, leaning back again. "There might be some saws in the basement, but I haven't checked since I moved in. Just try to find a way to get some wood and patch up these holes. You can dismantle some furniture to get the nails. I'm going to go… take… a nap…"
Ruby watched as Maia's head titled upward, her mouth parting slightly as she fell asleep. She pushed the indecent thoughts out of her head as she headed for the basement, an idea forming in her mind.
Ruby selected a few thicker logs of wood, then took her scythe out of the safe. Moving some canisters of Dust and a few stacks of wood to the side, she cleared some working space and sat down on the floor. The scythe slid open with a soft whirr, hyper-extending so that it's blade was nearly vertical with the shaft.
Holding the log with one hand and grabbing the head of the scythe with her other, she brought the scythe down and neatly sliced the log in half. She repeated the process with the other logs, careful not to injure herself. A few minutes later, she had a large stack of planks and some useless chunks of wood. Refolding her scythe, she placed it back into the safe before heading back up the stairs.
Ruby set the planks down in the living room and headed for the guest room. Two startled eyes greeted her from the darkness as she carefully opened the door.
"Sorry for disturbing you two. I just need to grab something."
Neither of them made a sound as Ruby grabbed the large drawer. Their mouths dropped open a little as Ruby flared her aura and hefted the drawer in one arm and backed out of the entrance, shutting the door with her free arm.
Seeing that Maia was still asleep on the couch, Ruby headed for Maia's bedroom. She quietly set the drawer on the floor and closed the door behind her. Her clothes were still in the drawers, so she pulled out the clothes and stacked them in Maia's bedroom closet, then placed her undergarments on top of Maia's dresser.
The wood came apart with a snapping and popping noises as Ruby pulled the individual pieces of the drawer apart, making sure to pick up any dropped nails. The dismantled closet yielded a large handful of nails and the shattered wooden pieces were left in the corner in case Maia wanted to use them for firewood.
Ruby decided to fix the shutters first. She grabbed the boards she had cut up, stacking them lengthwise over the shutter. She positioned the nails on the before using her palm to smash the iron into the wood. She worked quietly, the dull thuds of her hands and the soft groaning sounds from the wood the only things giving her away.
After she was done with the shutters, she moved on to boarding up the door, nearly running out of wood before finishing. She dropped the nails onto the counter, washed her hands, and pulled out a kettle. After filling it with water and starting up the stove she headed back to the couch, watching Maia sleep for a little while before waking her.
"I'm done," Ruby whispered, stroking Maia's shoulder.
Maia yawned wearily, blinking in surprise as her eyes focused on Ruby. "Are you boiling water?"
Ruby scratched her head. "I thought you'd like some tea."
Maia surprised her with a hug, wrapping her wiry arms around Ruby and pressing her into her chest. Ruby gave up on subtlety and blatantly smushed her face into Maia's breasts she hummed in delight.
The rabbit faunus laughed. "I can't believe you've only been here for a few days. I feel like I've known you for a lot longer than that."
Ruby didn't respond, instead looking up and hoping for a kiss.
Maia grinned. "Don't push your luck," she said, getting up from the couch.
"Aww," Ruby whimpered in protest as Maia went to the kitchen.
Ruby made an attempt to convince Maia to put less tea leaves into the kettle but Maia refused, claiming that it wouldn't be "real" tea. After pouring the steaming liquid into mugs Maia set the table back upright and looked around for the missing chair.
"Ah dammit. We tied that wolf to the chair, didn't we?"
"Yup."
"Couch it is, then."
Ruby made another attempt to drink the tea, diluting it a few times by adding water before was palatable.
Ruby set the mug down on her lap. "So what do we do about the prisoners?"
Maia took a gulp of tea before responding. "What about them?"
"Uh, torture?" Ruby asked uncertainly. "Do we torture them? For, uh, information, of course."
"Interrogation," Maia corrected her. "I mean, I guess it's basically torture, but as a police officer it's a vital distinction."
"Right. So do we interrogate them?"
"Of course," Maia said, taking another gulp of her tea. "But nothing too extreme. I have a feeling that some of them are going to break without too much pressure."
Ruby looked disappointed. "So no stabby?"
Maia nearly choked on her tea. "No, Rose," she coughed, laughing. "No stabbing."
"But how will you get information from them?"
"Interrogators have a lot of techniques they can use, but I think scaring the shit out of the wolf will be enough." She motioned with her hand. "Finish your tea. We'll question him now, while he's still in shock."
Ruby took a bigger swallow of her drink. "The wolf is the leader, right?"
Maia nodded. "I'm hoping that he knows more than his friends. The other three aren't really in any condition to talk right now, anyways."
Ruby gagged a little as she messily drank the rest of the bitter tea, wiping her mouth after downing it. "Do I get to do anything?"
Maia shrugged. "If I can't get anything out of him I'll let you try by yourself. Just follow my lead and play along for now."
Maia stood up and walked over to the closet, waiting for Ruby to follow. In a sudden motion, she opened the door and grabbed the wolf's chair, dragging him out into the lit hallway. He blinked wearily, his exhausted eyes trying to focus on whatever was in front of him.
Maia gave him a few seconds to recover his senses, then shouted at him and threw him down the basement stairs. Ruby heard frightened yelps as the wolf bumped down the stairs, unable to break his fall as he awkwardly tumbled down the wooden steps.
"Wow," Ruby whispered. "What happened to just scaring him?"
Maia started down the stairs. "He'll be fine."
The wolf faunus was lying dazed at the bottom of the steps. He grunted a bit as Maia kicked him a few times, closing his eyes and bracing himself when Maia set him upright.
"Talk," Maia ordered. "I'd give you the whole spiel about your rights, but frankly, I don't give a shit. You're in the middle of nowhere and your life is in our hands."
The wolf took a moment to understand her words, his face setting in a stubborn frown. "I've already said that I'm not talking. Is throwing me down the stairs the best you can—"
Maia punched him in the face, sending the wolf and the chair sprawling to the ground before she picked them back up again. "We're being gentle right now. Remember that we can do anything we want to you."
His face was already swelling a bit as he spat blood onto the ground. "You're not getting anything out of me. Even if I tell you what I know, I don't have any guarantees that I'll make it out of this alive."
Maia sighed, cracking her knuckles. "I'm sorry that you feel that way." She punched him in the stomach, making him retch. "If you don't feel like talking, we can always get another prisoner." She broke a finger on his hand, making him howl in pain. "Maybe your screams will make them cooperate."
"Wait," the wolf panted, cringing away from Maia's fist. "I can tell you a few details. If you release me, I'll tell you everything else."
Maia folded her arms. "I don't bargain with criminals." She motioned Ruby forward. "I don't need you anymore."
Ruby took her cue, stepping forward with her teeth bared. In an instant she had grabbed his head and slammed him against the wall. Her teeth were at his throat before he could protest, the sharp tips sinking into his skin as she took her time, lapping up the blood.
The wolf's eyes briefly met her unnaturally blue eyes before rolling back into his head in terror. He gurgled incoherently, trying to form words as he thrashed his head about. Maia tapped Ruby's shoulder, making her take one last lick before she reluctantly pulled back. Maia's eyebrows shot up as she saw the neat circular bite marks in his skin, but she otherwise made no indication of her surprise.
"Were you trying to say something?" she asked, keeping her hand on Ruby's shoulder.
"Please," he gasped. "I don't want to die."
"Then talk," Maia said impatiently.
He took a shuddering breath. "D-donagh. The sheriff told me that you had to be taken care of." He hung his head, crying. "I, I didn't tell you, alright?"
"We'll see," Maia simply said.
She grabbed his chair and hauled him back up the stairs. Ruby licked her teeth as she trailed Maia, the warm treat contrasting with the hunger and worry from what she had just done. Maia shoved him back into the closet, the wolf offering no resistance as the chair slid into place. The lynx seemed surprised to see him back, turning to glance at her captors before staring at the wall again.
Maia refilled their cups of tea and brought them back to the couch. The tepid liquid tasted even more bitter now and Ruby could barely swallow her mouthful. Ruby set the cup down, nervously touching her fingertips together as she waited for Maia to speak.
"Well done Rose," Maia said.
Ruby looked up with a confused look on her face. "Huh?"
Maia nodded. "Well done. You scared the shit out of him, we got the information, and no one died. I'd say that's a job well done."
"B-but—"
Maia wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer. "You might have just saved my life, and you helped me find out who was behind it. Everything's working out, so stop worrying."
"Really? Well, alright," Ruby said, snuggling into Maia. "Do you think they'll try again? This Donagh person?"
"Well, Donagh is the sheriff."
Ruby stared up at her. "What?!"
"He's a bear faunus. He probably heard about what I was doing from someone, maybe Rowan, so he sent people after me."
"Why are you so calm?"
Maia shrugged. "I'm betting that he's probably not going to try again after considering the fact that he sent five people and I just reported that I had subdued all of them. Plus, I have you here. I highly doubt they can send enough people to take us both down."
Ruby blushed a little, basking in the praise.
"Besides, we can always move out whenever we need to," Maia pointed out. "There are literally dozens of empty houses around here, so it'll take them a while to find our new living space if we're careful and lie low."
"I think we should just kill everyone," Ruby suggested. "If we get rid of all of the criminals, everyone will be safe and the whole problem will be solved, right?"
Maia shook her head. "Too hard. Too many people, and if we anger everyone, we won't be able to take on the entire carnivore population. And some of them don't deserve death. A few have only committed minor felonies, like stealing or shoplifting, and those aren't exactly punishable by death."
"Then I think we should hide," Ruby amended. "I think you'll be in too much danger if you go back to your job."
Maia ran a hand through her messy blue hair. "It's a risk I'm willing to take. If I go into hiding now, we're never going to be able to gather enough evidence on them. And like I said, I think Donagh is going to reconsider his strategy after this attempt."
"Whatever you think is best, Maia," Ruby said. "I'll follow you wherever you go."
Maia laughed. "A little creepy, but that's nice to know."
The room grew colder as the warmth from the stove faded. Maia began to shiver despite the blankets on top of them.
"I think it's time to go to bed," Maia said, getting up. "It's way too cold in here for me."
Ruby yawned, nodding. "What about the other prisoners? Should we release them now?"
Maia wrapped the blanket around herself. "Nah. I'm going to see if we can pry some more information out of them. That can't possibly be all they know. And why'd they even listen to Donagh, anyway? Have you seen them before?"
Ruby shook her head. "Never. And they weren't really good at fighting, were they?"
"Yeah, they weren't particularly skilled. The wolf couldn't even use his swords properly, and he relied too much on blocking instead of evading."
They reached the bathroom and closed the door behind themselves. Maia applied toothpaste to her brush as she talked, Ruby doing the same.
"With the blizzard outside, I don't think we'll going anywhere for at least a day."
Ruby made a muffled noise of protest.
"Okay, you might be fine. But we need to guard the prisoners and take them on bathroom breaks and feed them, and I'll need another hand here in case they try to escape."
Ruby mused thoughtfully as she rinsed out her mouth. "Wait, what are you going to eat?"
Maia froze mid-brush. "Crap," she said, spitting out her toothpaste. "I guess you'll need to make a supply run after all. I can't risk being weak while we're in charge of these prisoners."
"No big deal," Ruby said, splashing her face with water. "I can go now if you're hungry."
She shook her head, grabbing a towel. "Thanks, but sleep is more important. Sleep deprivation is a lot more crippling than a little hunger. You'd be better off going during daylight so you don't get lost in the storm."
As they walked into her bedroom, Maia continued to berate herself. "I can't believe I forgot. What was I thinking?"
"Don't worry, I forget things all the time," Ruby assured her, stripping off her jeans and bloody t-shirt before sliding into bed.
"That doesn't really help, Rose." Maia said this wryly, but she smiled anyways.
She took off her casual clothes and pulled on thin cotton nightgown as Ruby watched, instantly drooling when she caught a glimpse of Maia's lean stomach.
"Goodnight, Rose," Maia said, turning off the Dust lantern.
Ruby breathed in the rabbit's scent as she pulled the covers up around her. "'Nite, Maia."
Note:
That was this chapter! I'm going to try to speed things up, thanks for sticking with me!
Questions, comments, reviews, etc, feel free to PM me for anything!
