Hello, and happy Friday! Here's a chapter starring Schnee family drama, Raven Branwen as herself, and Kali "these are my children now" Belladonna.
106. Game Faces On
"Sienna. Sienna."
Fennec grabbed her wrist. "What are you doing? This is our chance to leave, they won't waste riders chasing us."
She pulled away from him, a little more roughly than she needed to... but she wanted an outlet for her frustration. "I know that, Fennec." It was the morning after there arrival in Atlas—and the dawn of the attack on the Council. Of course they weren't Ironwood's priority.
"There's no pardon in this for us."
"I was in the same meeting that you were," she snapped. Ironwood had thanked them—but he'd made a point of saying that their help wouldn't erase what they'd already done. Not that she needed him to tell her that...
She checked the urge to look over her shoulder and said, "Fly away if you want."
There was a long silence.
"Harbinger won't go, will he?"
"No. Neither will Brand, or the Lieutenant." He muttered a few choice curses under his breath. "It's like the damned deserters are contagious."
"Well. There you are."
"Sienna," Fennec groaned. "Don't play stupid. You know full well we're not getting anything out of this. We need to make them understand that."
"Fennec, you don't seriously expect me to believe you came here for practical reasons, do you?"
His pained grimace was answer enough.
"I know the White Fang isn't getting anything out of this, but they are." She nodded to Harbinger, who sat with Justice a few yards away. "Go on. Look me in the eye and tell me you don't care that he'd get put down without a second thought, if the Council won."
Fennec swore again and stalked off.
And in his absence, she felt the eyes again.
Sienna turned on her heel and strode into the nearest building. One of the dormitories, by the sound of it. There were students crowding around inside, swarming up and down the stairs with half-eaten meals in their hands and bits of tack slung over their shoulders. She was in the way, but she didn't care.
When she chanced a glance outside, all she could see was grass. She felt a surge of relief, a stab of disappointment... and temptation.
There was nothing right outside, except for a few pit dragons lounging in the sun. None of them would be joining in the fight—they were still too weak to do much more than eat and sleep. A few people milled about. She recognized Willow Schnee, kneeling down to hand-feed a dragon that couldn't lift its head. Past experience told her it would be unwise to approach.
Behind the fire barns was more promising. Blake's dragon sprawled on his back in the grass, with all three Belladonnas leaning against the curve of his side. Flux and Gigas played at his feet, while Harbinger watched them from a wary distance. Brand and Justice were nowhere to be seen, but if the hatchlings were here...
Sienna ducked between two barns and froze, staring at the mass of straw bedding and the small pile of dried meat tucked away in the shadows. The nest was empty, but she could hear the sound of dragons in the field beyond.
She poked her head around the corner—and there was her lost hybrid. Butting her head against a familiar red-headed human, demanding attention just like she used to when she was small. Another dragon pawed at her tail. She snapped at it—but only playfully. It was hard to believe this was the same creature that had nearly killed the Lieutenant. That had killed several of her hunters.
Or it was, until she looked up and her eyes narrowed to slits.
Sienna was too stunned to move. So she just stood there, gaping, as the human turned to see what had upset the hybrid and locked eyes with her. Even the other humans and dragons went still at the sight.
I understand, now, she thought, as her heartbeat roared in her ears. I know why you ran. I can fix it.
The hybrid watched her for a long moment. Weighing her. Then her ears went flat, and she curled around the human until all that could be seen of her were a few locks of red hair.
Sienna nodded once, and walked away.
Strange, how the world could be so calm. It was a crisp, clear autumn morning, and Sage breathed in the smell of pine sap and leaves. Even in the chaos of preparing, of fetching saddles and polishing tack, of making sure their dragons all got a hearty meal before they left... he could just imagine sitting outside on a day like this. Drinking tea and enjoying the weather without a care in the world. He'd be cuddled up next to Scarlet in their secret place, watching their dragons play.
"Oh, gods," Scarlet said, when he'd run out of excuses to readjust Nimbus' saddle. "We're really doing this, aren't we?"
"Don't remind me," groaned Neptune. Zircon whimpered in agreement.
"C'mon, guys." Sun put his hands on his hips and grinned. "Did you see the Council Riders in Mistral? They're hanging on by a thread. We've got this."
Sage took a deep breath, swallowed his fears, and hugged Zircon's head against his chest. "This is it," he promised. "After today, you'll never have to worry about culling again."
"We can get you goggles," Scarlet agreed, patting Nimbus fondly on the nose. "Legal ones that would help you see better."
Sun snickered. "I don't know what I'm supposed to promise you," he told Huo, "except that you're about to get to terrorize a ton of Council goons." Huo pulled a wicked grin, full of teeth.
"This time tomorrow." Neptune ran a hand through his hair. "It'll be done. Like, actually done. That's insane." He leaned against Nymph's shoulder. "I can't believe I'm saying this... but I can't wait to go back to classes in the pool."
If it weren't for Pit's solid weight at her back, Blake was sure she would have bolted by now.
"And how old is he?" her mom asked, giving him another affectionate pat. She'd taken to him almost immediately, and judging by his wagging tail the feeling was mutual.
"A little over a year, now." Blake kept one hand on Pit, stroking his scales to keep herself calm.
Her dad offered him a hand, then rubbed one of his ears until he started to purr. "You've been at Beacon since he hatched, then?"
"Almost. It... sort of happened on the train there. I had to improvise a bit, and since he'd hatched already I wound up on a team with other students who had their own eggs."
"Have you been getting along with them?" asked Ghira.
A soft smile spread across Blake's face, melting away some of the tension. "I couldn't have asked for better."
"It's so good to hear that." Kali squeezed her shoulder. "We didn't know where you were or what you were doing. I'm just glad you were happy... even if you weren't exactly safe."
Blake winced. "I was. But, after Beacon fell... I had to protect Pit." She looked down at her lap. "The White Fang, Cinder, the Council... there are all these people who'd want to hurt him, or use them for their own ends, or kill him just for how he was born. I can't let that stand."
"It would be hypocritical for us to ask you to," her dad said. He put a hand on her head and gently stroked the back of her ear with his thumb—all of a sudden she felt like a child again, dragging chairs around the library to get at books she hadn't already read. Warm and strong, and ready to take on the world.
"I'm sorry," she blurted, before her newfound courage could disappear. "For all those things I said—and for not talking to you for so long. I just... I didn't want you to see. I helped ruin everything..."
"Blake..." He wrapped an arm around her. "You didn't ruin anything. You did what you thought was best. And yes, you made a mistake. But you also faced up to that mistake, and you risked everything to put it right. Not many people are brave enough to do that."
Kali squeezed her hand. "There isn't a day that goes by when your father and I don't ask ourselves if what we're doing is really what's best. Making the world better is hard, Blake. The only way you'll never get it wrong is if you never try."
Blake rested her head on her mother's shoulder. "It's hard to believe it's almost over. Part of me... part of me is still terrified that we're making a horrible mistake. After all that time trusting Cinder..."
"Remember the ones you could trust," Ghira said. "Like this fellow here."
Pit barked happily and pushed his snout against her father's hand.
"Blake?"
She turned, and found the rest of her team standing nearby. Ruby shot a guilty look at her parents and said, "Sorry to interrupt—"
"Nonsense!" her mother said, and shot to her feet. "I've been wanting to meet all of you."
"Oh! Right, yeah! I'm Ruby." Ruby held out a hand, only for Kali to go in for a hug instead. When she stepped back she was grinning and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. Ghira was content with a handshake that enveloped most of Ruby's wrist. "And this girl over here is Storm!"
"Lo," Storm said. Her tail was still drooping from earlier, when Pietro had taken Penny, but it perked up a little when Ghira scratched her under the chin.
"This fellow's Fang," Yang added, nodding to him. "He doesn't like people touching his head, though." Kali patted his flank instead, and pulled Yang into another hug. And if she noticed that her smile was a little sad, she didn't say anything.
That left...
"Hello, Mrs. Belladonna." Weiss made as if to drop into a curtsy, but stopped when Yang elbowed her gently in the side. "Um. Mr. Belladonna."
"Miss Schnee." Kali shook her hand—it was all very polite, and left a sinking feeling in Blake's stomach.
She didn't have much time to worry about it. Ruby cleared her throat and said, "Um, we should probably head over to the main courtyard. I think we're heading out pretty soon."
So they went, with Blake's parents in tow and the two hatchlings trotting at their feet. A thought occurred to Blake. "Are they even big enough to fly?"
Yang shrugged. "Flux is?"
"I... wasn't really asking about Flux."
Gigas looked up at them and wagged his stubby tail. His wings were definitely too small to support him. If he was anything like Pit he could probably manage it with his powers for a while... but not long enough to get all the way to Vale.
"Um..."
Brand padded over and picked him up by the scruff, dropping him into his empty saddle. Then he trotted away, probably to find Fennec and Sienna. Flux hurried after them, squeaking indignantly whenever her brother threatened to leave her sight.
They headed towards the main courtyard, where they found JNPR and SSSN all grouped together. Ilia and Sienna also stood nearby, studiously ignoring each other. Harpy kept hissing whenever any of the White Fang riders looked at her. The Lieutenant's arm twitched every time.
Glacier bounded over, cheerfully ignoring the way Sienna's group bristled and Weiss' frantic head-shake. Then he sat, his tail flicking back and forth, his head swiveling towards every sound.
Weiss stepped beside him and looked up at Whitley. "You're sure about this? Winter and I can keep an eye on him."
"I'll be fine," he groaned. "I've had this talk from Winter already."
"And remember—"
"Don't touch the reins. I know."
"I was going to tell you to stick close to me or Winter."
"How am I supposed to do that without touching the reins?!"
"You and Glacier haven't had any formal flying lessons, you'll have better luck if you just... tell him..." Weiss went stiff. Blake turned to follow where she was looking and winced. Willow Schnee was approaching.
"Drat," Weiss muttered. She hurried forward, gesturing frantically at Glacier to follow, so that they could intercept her before she noticed Sienna and the rest of the White Fang. He panted happily and didn't move.
Judging by the look on the woman's face, it didn't work. Blake's ears flattened against her skull as the full weight of the glare came down on her, and she felt both of her parents bristle.
Weiss noticed. "What did she do?" she whispered.
"It doesn't matter—"
Too late to defuse the situation—Willow was already upon them, her eyes unusually sharp as they scanned the group. Justice growled at her. Glacier flattened his ears and hissed back.
Weiss' eyes narrowed. She stepped forward, off to the side where she probably thought she was out of earshot.
"What did you do?"
Blake tried to ignore them and focus on Yang and Ruby's conversation... but Mrs. Schnee was not trying to keep her voice down, and Weiss' volume kept rising to match her.
"I came to see you off."
"That is not what I meant and you know it."
"Well, excuse me if I'm not exactly ecstatic to see you hanging around with the people who kidnapped your little brother."
"Blake wasn't even in the White Fang when that—no. That's enough. I'm glad you're trying to get better, and I'm grateful for everything you're doing for Glacier and the pit dragons, but that does not give you the right to decide who I spend my time with."
"I just want you safe. I've seen it on your face, I remember when I met—"
"Stop. That is not your place."
"Weiss—"
"I want this to get better, too. But I'm done trying to change for you. Either of you. If you want a relationship it's going to be on my terms."
There was a long pause. Finally Glacier craned his neck around and blinked at Willow until her shoulders slumped and she said, "Alright."
Willow hugged Weiss, and urged Whitley down off Glacier's back so she could throw her arms around him, too.
"Be safe," she murmured, as she stepped away. "Please."
Weiss nodded. "Of course."
"We'll come back," Whitley promised, and tentatively opened his arms for another hug. He stayed stiff as a post, but his small smile looked genuine.
When Weiss returned a moment later, she stopped in front of Blake's parents and said, "I apologize for the disruption." Then, to Blake, "And I'm sorry she said... whatever she said to you. Just tell me if it happens again, and I'll talk to her."
She opened her mouth to say that it wasn't a big deal—but her mother beat her to the punch. "No apology necessary," she said, with an odd smile that looked a bit too much like a smirk for Blake's comfort.
"Thank you, Mrs. Belladonna."
"Please, dear! Call me Kali."
Yang grinned and bumped her shoulder. "Hey! Looks like they're—" she stopped, her eyes fixed on something above Blake's head. "Ah... crap."
Blake looked at the sky. There was a growing swarm of tiny specks silhouetted against the southern horizon—the Branwens had arrived.
Yang didn't exactly run away, when rogues started landing in the main courtyard. She just... really wanted to find somewhere else to be. Blake's parents seemed understandably confused by the sudden change, but they followed without making her explain.
They did actually run into a few familiar faces on their way out of the main crowd. Three dragons landed between them and the barns—with Mudslide in the lead.
"Oh my gosh!" Ruby ran over to greet her. "She looks so good!"
Yang grinned despite herself. Mudslide tossed her head and flicked her wings, preening under the attention and showing off her barrel chest. She'd gained muscle since the last time they'd seen her, and her green eyes were bright and curious.
"I think it's mostly that she's been sleeping better," Sky said, patting her neck fondly. "How about you guys? Have things..." He trailed off as he noticed Storm's wing for the first time. "Oh. Shit."
"Let's keep talking about Mudslide!" Ruby blurted, when she noticed Storm's ears start to droop. "Or, um—"
Dove winced and pointed at something over their shoulders. "Might wanna go somewhere else."
When Yang glanced back, Vernal and Cyclone were nearby, and looking right at her. She braced herself for an unpleasant conversation... only for Russel to sit up in his saddle and wave at them.
Vernal took one look at him, spun on her heel, and stalked away.
Yang let out an appreciative whistle. "How'd you pull that off?"
"Talked her ear off for like an hour and a half about gill cleaning," Russel said.
Weiss frowned. "Is that even a thing?"
"Nope!" He smirked. "You guys might want to be elsewhere until we're ready to leave, though. I think Raven's looking for you."
They ducked hurriedly away, and hid between two of the wind barns. "We don't have to run, guys," Yang insisted. "I can stand next to her for a few minutes."
"Do you want to?" asked Ruby.
Yang winced. "Uh... saying hi to Phoenix might be nice... but no."
"So we'll avoid her!" Ruby hugged her again, and her racing heartbeat settled. "It's not like it's that hard to... um..."
Ruby's eyes went wide. She was looking at something behind Yang.
With a sigh, she turned around. Raven wasn't standing right behind her, like she'd been worried about... but she was just a few hundred yards away. On an open lawn. Right next to their dad.
"Yeah... rescue mission time."
As they got closer, they started to make out snatches of conversation.
"—let her know you're looking," her dad was saying.
"Just tell me where the Beacon students are. I can find her from there."
"I'm not helping you set up an ambush—"
Qrow, who had been standing awkwardly between them, cleared his throat and pointed towards them. The argument between Tai and Raven broke off abruptly.
"Hey, girls!"
Ruby jumped on him. "Hi dad."
"Yang," Raven said coolly.
"Mom."
In the background, Phoenix stopped tussling playfully with Salty, Tempest, and Quake. She barked excitedly and bounded over to sniff Yang.
"Hey again." She rubbed the dragon's nose. "Did you miss me?"
Phoenix barked agreement. It hit Yang a little harder than she liked to admit.
Fang stalked up behind them and started loftily ignoring Raven, though Salty managed to goad him into playing with Phoenix. It was strangely sweet seeing them all jumping on one another like hatchlings.
Soon, though, the older fire dragon moved away from the others and nudged Raven expectantly with her tail.
Not again, Yang thought, as Raven glared up at Phoenix.
"You're here," she said. The words were slightly stiff, like she'd rehearsed them. "You came down on the right side. I'm glad."
Yang opened her mouth to say something scathing—but paused when she noticed that her dad and her uncle had both done a double take and were staring at Raven like she'd been possessed. "Uh, sure," she said. Glanced at Phoenix, who was giving her an intense stare. Waiting. "I'm... glad you showed up too? We can use the extra riders."
Satisfied, Phoenix sat on her haunches and whuffed.
Raven didn't seem to have anything else to say, and a thick silence soon fell between her and Yang's family. Then, finally, she folded her arms and said, "Are we ready to move yet?"
"Not yet," Ruby replied. "It should only be a few more minutes."
"Tch." Raven turned away and snapped her fingers at Phoenix. "Come on. I want to find out what's taking so long."
The moment she was out of earshot, her dad leaned his hands on his knees and let out all his breath at once. "Look at you," he said, grinning at Yang. "You handled that way better than I would have. I'm proud of you."
Yang chose not to try to interpret the way Phoenix barked, as if to punctuate what her dad had said, as she followed Raven away. Or the extra hug Kali gave her when they parted ways with the Belladonnas. Instead she focused on the fight ahead. Nice, uncomplicated combat.
"Pyrrha is angry."
Ao Guang jumped at the sudden voice behind him. Harpy was pacing back and forth, her ears back, her teeth slightly bared.
Twiggy pawed the ground. "Yes. She is."
"Titan."
All three of them looked at the ground, which seemed to answer her question.
Harpy's tail lashed back and forth. "Want her happy." Her eyes flashed. "We fight the Council..."
Twiggy hesitated. "That might help," she said, "but... did you feel all better? When... um..."
"...No."
"The fighting isn't to make her happy," Guang said. "It's to make sure they don't make her or anyone else sad like that again."
Harpy looked down at Pyrrha, who was staring fixedly at the horizon. "Then... how?"
Freya padded over and butted her head against Harpy's shoulder. "She's already better. You just didn't see her before. She sleeps, now."
"And she plays with us," Guang added. "And smiles and laughs."
"Good." Harpy nudged Pyrrha and was rewarded with a scratch under the chin. "We go soon?"
"Soon," Twiggy promised. "I think we're just waiting for Ironwood, now."
Freya cocked her head to one side. "Is he going with us? I know Professor Goodwitch agreed to fly the carrier for Storm, but..."
Thunderous footsteps sounded from inside the Dragonry. Guang picked his head up, his ears straining to catch more of the sound. That was too heavy to be a dragon, wasn't it?
A hatch opened in one of the biggest buildings, the one that had been the fire arena while classes were still in session. Gigantic steel claws thrust out of the opening, followed by a metal head with glowing green eyes.
The mech stepped daintily onto the grass and said, "Salutations!"
Another voice came from Penny's mouth. Ironwood's. "Sorry for the wait. Calibration turned out to be... unexpectedly difficult."
There was a bark of laughter behind him. "Rule one of engineering!" Pietro shouted from inside the building. "Nothing ever works on the first try!"
Ironwood cleared his throat. "I'm not really one for rousing speeches. And, honestly? I don't think it's right for me to make one, now. I've been complicit in a lot of what we're fighting to stop. So have a lot of us here. But we can worry about the past when we've earned the luxury—let's go make a future we can be proud of."
