Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions
Co-authored with ToxicExotic
Aftermath
The night had been a long one, and not a single wink of sleep had been had for any of the inhabitants of the Securay. With the fires raging outside its broken walls raining hot ash down upon them and making it difficult to breathe, almost every single inhabitant had been out in force to combat it. Buckets, Dust, hoses, almost every single source of water had been thrown at the blaze in an attempt to control its ravenous consumption of the surrounding area. To make matters worse, the worry and frustration had continued to attract Grimm; and with the south-side turrets having been destroyed, it had been down to the guards of both the village and Ghira's escort to defend the firefighters.
Thankfully though, even with the Grimm attacks, the tireless efforts of the villagers had brought the fires under control without many casualties. Earth Dust had been used to patch up a large hole in the wall where the turrets had exploded until a permanent fix could be implemented, and the few civilians that had not gone to bed had already busied themselves cleaning away the ash from the crop field.
Throughout it all however, Blake had refused to leave the inn that she and her team had found themselves held up in. Not that she really cared. With the exception of occasionally checking on Weiss, who was currently recovering from the lightning strike in a room down the hall, she'd not left the chair that had been placed beside her girlfriend's room. Inside, the reaper had yet to wake up, and Yang had forbidden anyone but the doctor to enter until she did.
It was annoying. She understood that Yang cared about the girl, but Blake did too. Unfortunately, Blake knew there was little point in arguing, so had resolved to merely sit next to the door in hopes of hearing a voice sometime soon. A bowl of water sat on the floor beside her, the warm liquid tinted red as Blake scrubbed Gambol Shroud; something she had been doing for so long that her fingers had already transitioned from pain to numbness.
No matter how many times she went over the blade and the grooves, the cloth kept coming away with specs of dried blood… Petilly's blood… the blood of a child. The memory of what she had done still made her stomach violently churn.
Do it and she dies.
Those words. His words. She couldn't believe she'd uttered them. She couldn't believe she had used them to threaten a child's life. Even if it was to save her life, it was still something that didn't sit right, and Blake knew exactly why that was. Had the Grimm not listened, had the creature possessed the girl, she knew she wouldn't have hesitated to do as she promised. She'd seen what it did to Prince, watched as nothing Ruby or the guard did could even scratch it… what other choice would there have been?
None, she thought to herself, running the cloth down the Gambol Shroud's grip, the fabric coming away with a few more specs of red. I'd have done what I had to do… I'd have done my job… She'd have been gone anyway.
That didn't make her feel any better. If anything, the heartless rationale only made her feel worse. Surely there was no such justification for such a thing.
Five more minutes passed. Five more minutes of chilling silence and doubt though as she cleaned the blade that had been at her side for years but could hardly bear to look at. That was until her ears finally picked up some sound. Unfortunately, it wasn't the voice of the two people she wished to hear from the most, but the closing of a door. Twitching her ears to focus on it in hopes that she could distract herself, she heard a familiar voice from the floor below her.
"How are the fields?" She heard her father ask, his voice gruff and tired. Just as it had been all week.
"Damaged." Saber's voice replied in a low grumble. "But fixable. Most of the crop can be salvaged."
"Good." Kali breathed.
Even from where she was sitting, Blake could feel the tension in the room. From the lack of footsteps, she knew Saber was still hanging by the door. The slight shuffling sound of armor told her that he was shifting in place.
"And yet I sense all is not well?" Kali asked cautiously, silence following her words. "The council?" More silence, and Blake could only assume the man was nodding. "Then speak, so that we can clear the air. We've already seen the trouble bottled up emotions can cause, I would rather not have such negative energy following us on the flight to Vale."
That would definitely not be a good thing. It had been difficult fighting ground forces where they could at least fight back, but if such emotions were to be taken into the air, there was no doubt in Blake's mind that it would be a massacre.
"We lost good people today." The man said with little reluctance. "Prince, Khet, Bakan. All of which could have been avoided had the council sent real hunters."
"They sent what they had, Saber." Ghira replied.
"With all due respect, Chief, they did not." There was an irritability to his voice. "They sent what they believed would placate us, just as Mistral and Vacuo have been doing for some time."
"Saber is right, dear." Blake was surprised to hear her mother agree. "As happy as I am that these events brought our daughter back to us, we cannot forget that people have died. Had we been Vale leaders, or Atlas leaders, we both know that more would have been done to secure our safety."
A tired sigh and the groan met Blake's ears. She hated hearing her dad sound so dismayed.
"The people are talking, Ghira." Saber continued. "The loss of the northwest sector, the increased Grimm attacks, the frequent delay of supplies and the excuses the kingdoms give. All preventable, yet they were not. Many believe that you are not being as forceful as you could be in negotiations, and many more are starting to believe that you are unwilling to be."
Silence filled the air, the only sound being what Blake knew from memory to be the nervous scratch of her dad's beard. With all the responsibilities that had been laid on the man''s shoulders throughout his life, it had been a common sound in their house when she was a child. Feeling a wave of sympathy rush through her, she hung her head, knowing that she had contributed to the current conversation by giving her team permission for the mission. CFVY, Xanthia; any other Beacon team with more experience could have been sent instead.
"They want me to step down?"
"It has been discussed." For the first time in days, the edge to Saber's voice disappeared, replaced with remorse instead. "The people haven't forgotten that it was your wife who secured our trade deal while you were sick."
"What?" Her mom seemed taken aback. "I merely finished what my husband started."
"You did, but with a more forceful hand." Saber let out a regretful sigh. "I'm proud to consider you a friend, Ghira; and you too, Kali. But right now our people need someone who is strong and willing to stand up to the kingdoms, not someone who placates them as much as they do us."
"They want me?" Kali said quietly after a moment of silence.
"It has been discussed, and many agree that your firmer hand would be more beneficial to Kuo Kuana."
"But I…"
"If the people have discussed it, then we shall consider it." Ghira interrupted Kali's blustering. "When we return home, we will hold a meeting with families' representatives and go from there."
"Thank you, Ghira." Saber replied.
Blake listened to the sound of the door opening and closing, but as her parents began to discuss what had just been said, Blake closed her ears to the discussion. She'd heard that conversation before, she didn't need to hear it again. Especially not when a part of her agreed with Saber, when part of her still agreed with her own reason for leaving the island. All listening would do was reveal that nothing had changed, that her dad was still the kind of man who would rather give up his position to someone others deemed more fitting than change his ways.
So instead of listening to history repeat itself, Blake rose from her chair. Clipping Gambol Shroud to her back so that it was out of sight, she tried Ruby's door only to find that it was locked.
"Go away!" Yang's voice sounded cracked and sore.
"I care about her too, Yang." She countered, but no reply came.
She let out a sad sigh, she walked away towards Weiss' room. She understood Yang's feelings, especially after what the younger girl had tried to do, but sheltering her from the world wasn't going to help anything. Ruby was a Huntress, and Blake had witnessed the night before just how seriously the girl took that role. True to her word, when the time had come, she hadn't hesitated to sacrifice herself. But Blake wasn't angry.
She was upset, of course. Scared of when such a thing might happen again, that the next time it did she wouldn't be as prepared; but the one emotion that failed to settle in her was anger. After all, Ruby merely did what she'd always said she would. And though Blake definitely wasn't happy with it, she understood it. Worst of all, she accepted it.
"Weiss?" She sighed at such a thought, knocking on her friend's door. "You awake?"
"You can enter." The heiress replied.
Pushing the door open and walking into the room. Stood by the open window was Weiss. She was dressed in nothing more than a pair of sweatpants and a sports bralette, and the sun that streamed into the room reflected off of her pale skin and ivory hair. In that moment, Blake would not blame anyone who compared the sight to that of an angel.
"Good to see you finally out of bed." Blake said, finding relief in the fact that at least one of her friends was recovering quickly.
"Well I can't exactly lay around all day." The woman said with a wince of pain.
As Weiss moved and her body blocked the light, Blake finally saw the scars that the battle had left. From the tip of her fingers to the nap of her neck, a singular bright red welt wrapped itself around her left arm where the lightning had ripped through her body. It expanded in places, the rupturing of the blood vessels underneath the skin having created a leaf pattern that was almost pretty. As it reached her back, the mark spread out even more, one long line twisting down to the band of her sweatpants while more faint ones littered her back like ivy on a tree. Across her right shoulder blade was a bandage, which Blake knew was covering the deep gash the girl had received when slamming into the gate.
"That looks painful." She remarked, unable to pull her eyes away from the mark.
"Looks can be deceiving." The girl mumbled, pouring herself some water. "It's excruciating."
The heiress lifted the water to her lips, her hand shaking like the leaves on her arm and sloshing water over the rim of the glass. Moving forward, Blake tried to help, only for Weiss to fix her in place with a stubborn glare.
"Are they permanent?"
The snow-haired girl shook her head. "The doctor said they will be gone in a few days. A week at most."
"That's some good news, at least."
Sitting down in a plain wooden chair, she watched as her friend closed her eyes and summoned her aura. The faint blue light shimmered over her body, darkening slightly over the marks on her skin as a few of the branches receded. Letting out a relieved sigh, the girl dropped her aura and leant against the window sill.
"I take it that Ruby hasn't woken up yet?"
"Nope." The worry in her voice was evident. "And Yang still won't let me inside."
"Then break the door down. It's what I would do if I was able to use my aura for anything more than healing right now."
"That'll just make Yang even angrier than she already is."
"She has good reason to be angry." Weiss scowled and took another sip of water. "What Ruby did… I knew…" The girl paused and shook her head. "I knew she was hopeful, but I never thought she could be so naive."
Blake didn't reply. She couldn't, for she knew that any argument against Weiss' claim would be a lie. Thankfully, the heiress didn't push the issue, instead she let out a small sigh and put her glass aside.
"So how are you?"
"Fi-" Once again, Weiss fixed her with a single look. "Tired." She admitted, running a hand over her face.
"Then get some sleep."
Blake shook her head.
"I want to be awake when Ruby wakes up." She mumbled. "And I still need to clean my weapon."
Her friend shook her head at those words and pushed herself away from the window. Walking over, she placed a hand reassuringly on her shoulder before letting it slip backwards. With a slight tug on the magnetic plate, Blake felt her weapon detach and watched as Weiss moved over to the desk to set it down. Next to it was the girl's rapier, the once elegant metal blade laying in two pieces.
When the lightning had struck Myrtenaster, the Dust inside its cylinder had exploded and completely shattered the hinge that kept it together. And though one of the village guards had returned the hilt and the blade, little more than scrap remained of the cylinder. While it was definitely fixable, Blake knew how much Weiss cared for her weapon. Like most hunters' relationships with their weapons, it was a part of her, so she felt a pang of sympathy rush through her as the heiress lovingly ran her hand along the still pristine blade.
"I will clean it." Weiss offered. "And we both know that not a single person in this building will remain asleep once Ruby wakes up. Now, go and get some rest. We still have a long flight back to Vale ahead of us, and I doubt Ruby and I will be much help in that fight."
Blake wanted to argue, but she knew there was no point. The scarred girl's voice was firm and unwavering, and it was obvious that she was going to hear none of her excuses.
"Alright then…" Blake said awkwardly and stood up. "Mind if I use your bed? There were only a few rooms left an-"
"Go ahead." Weiss cut her off, reaching out to pull the vacated chair towards herself. "I won't be needing it anymore anyway."
Knowing better than to get on Weiss' case about resting when the girl's mood was clearly a little sour, Blake merely gave her a nod and pulled off her jacket and boots before slipping into the covers. The sheets themselves were cold, Weiss' body heat having long since left them, but the mattress itself felt as soft as a cloud after a week spent sleeping on the floor. As soon as her head was against the pillow, she felt her eyes begin to close.
"Blake." She heard Weiss say, the girl already pouring water into a bowl.
"Mmm?"
"You saved Petilly's life." Her friend said in a sincere voice. "Please remember that."
Unfortunately, even her friend's reassurance couldn't help the guilt that was still residing in her chest.
"Right…"
Shutting her eyes to block out the shaking of Weiss' head, she let her tiredness overtake her. However, even as her body grew heavy and the sound began to fade, she knew her sleep was going to be far from a restful one.
It was quiet inside the dorm room. Almost peaceful. Sunlight and birdsong streamed through the window as Ruby laid on her back and perused her newest comic book, bathing her in warmth and filling her ears with pleasant music. The wonderful smell of weapon oil drifted into her nose as Blake cleaned her sword in the corner, while Yang and Weiss studied quietly on their beds. However, as peaceful as the room was, something didn't feel right.
They'd been in the room for over an hour, and it would normally only take twenty minutes for Yang to start complaining that she was bored and wanted to do something else. By thirty minutes, two more complaints would have been lodged by the blonde until eventually Weiss would snap and tell her it was her own fault for putting it off. Five minutes of arguing would follow, eventually leading to Blake leaving the room with a sigh in search of a quiet corner in the library.
But not a word had been said. Curious as to why, Ruby looked up away from her comic towards her sister. She was still silently staring down at her textbook, her finger slowly running from right to left to turn the pages. However, upon closer inspection, there were no more pages to turn. She'd reached the end. So why was she still trying?
A surge of pain rushed through her head as she questioned why, and eager for it to stop she looked away. Instead she turned towards her partner, only to find her doing the same thing. The same question entered her mind, as well as another twinge of pain.
"Weiss?" She asked, raising a hand to massage her temple.
There was no reply.
She stood to her feet. "Yang?"
Again, there was no reply.
"Blake?"
She turned towards her girlfriend. The faunus was facing away from her, her arm rubbing the blade back and forth. The movement was strange, almost mechanical in a way. Taking a step towards the girl and looking over her shoulder, she saw that the sharp edges of Gambol Shroud were stained with red, the cloth in her hand long since shredded and dripping blood down onto the desk.
"Blake!" Ruby gasped and rushed forward to take the blade from her hand. "What're you doing?"
Ripping the katana from the girl's hand and feeling a wetness in her hands, she threw the weapon aside and reached out to grab her girlfriend's shoulder. Unfortunately, as she spun the faunus around to face her, she felt her stomach churn and took a step back. Painted on the girl's face was a hideous smile akin to something trying to appear human, and her usually amber eyes swirled with black and red.
"Ruby."
Her sister's voice came from behind her, strained and painful as if coming from a throat lined with sandpaper. Turning around, she saw her sister and partner had left their beds, a similar smile on their faces and their eyes swimming with the same red and black.
"Why did you do this?" Weiss asked quizzically.
"I…" She took another step back, her head pounding like a drum in a marching band. "I didn't mea-"
"You let it take us." Yang interrupted. "You could have stopped it..."
"But you saved it." Blake finished, her bloody hand wrapping tightly around her wrist. "Why?"
Her head felt like it was going to split open and all she could do was shake her head.
"I'm… sorry."
"Sorry doesn't fix this!"
"Sorry does not take back what you did!"
"Sorry doesn't save us!"
She felt a tear leak down her cheek and knew they were right. It was all her fault. She could have stopped it, could have ended it, but she didn't. She failed. Qrow had warned her, and she still failed. She couldn't even save her friends.
As they advanced on her, she felt her back begin to slip down the wall.
"Why didn't you save us?" Blake asked, a sadness to her voice.
"Why didn't you listen?" Yang cried.
"WHY?"
Ruby awoke with a start and her eyes flew open. Her head felt like a thousand tiny hammers were being smacked against her skull and her eyes burned from the inside out, so painfully that all she could see before her was white. Her body ached, every inch of it sore and begging for her to go back to sleep until the pain vanished. However, given the dream she'd just had, she knew that was definitely not going to happen. So, as her vision began to clear, she looked around the room instead.
She was in an unfamiliar bed, it's mattress softer and more comfortable than anything she'd felt before. Thick, warm blankets covered her body, the material tucked so tightly underneath her that it almost felt constraining. It was a familiar feeling, but one she had not felt for years. The culprit of the tightness stood nearby, leaning over a desk, the only other object in the small room, as her blonde hair shone in the sunlight that streamed through the window.
There was a tiredness to her stance. Her shoulders were slumped and her head was bowed low. Her hands were busy moving around the bowls and cups that rested atop the wood, but from the slow and deliberate action Ruby could tell it was all for show.
"Yang?" Ruby asked, a little fearful that she was still asleep and that the woman before her was just another nightmarish visage.
Thankfully, unlike in her dream, the woman stopped her movements and a small sigh of relief left her. However, underneath that relief, Ruby heard something else.
"You're awake." The girl breathed, that something Ruby had heard previously revealing itself to be anger.
Ruby sat up, though quickly regretted it as her body instantly began to scream at her to lay back down.
"How long was I asleep?"
"Fourteen hours."
Oh…" She thought it had been longer. "Is everyone okay?"
There was no reply, instead the woman resumed organizing the cups on the desk, her fingers gripping them with enough force that her knuckles turned white and the sound of bending metal reached her ears. Worry began to take hold of Ruby. What had happened in the fourteen hours she'd been asleep?
"Yan-"
"That's what you care about?" Yang asked, her voice quivering with restrained anger. It wasn't hard for Ruby to figure out why. "You almost died, and all you care about is if everyone else is okay?"
"I…" Ruby wanted to make her sister feel better, but she needed an answer. After all, she had almost died to protect them. "A-Are th-?
It was not words that cut her off that time, but the loud, earsplitting sound of a wooden desk bursting into a thousand pieces that caused Ruby to jump. Yang's hand had come down hard on its surface, her hair gleaming gold as the wood was reduced to an unrecognisable mess. The cups and bowls that had rested atop it clattered to the floor, water spilling out across the woman's feet.
"Stop." The girl whispered, her voice barely audible over the ringing of the spinning bowls. "Just… stop."
Ruby watched her sister's hand shake and remained quiet.
"I don't understand." The girl breathed, her voice as rough as sandpaper. "I've tried... I've really, really tried, but I just…" Yang's hand raised to her face. "Do you want to die?"
Ruby looked down at her bandaged arms. Hearing the despair in her sister's voice caused a pit to form in her stomach. She hated seeing the woman that had raised her be in so much pain, and hated it even more that she was the cause. But she had no idea how to put her sister's mind at rest.
"No." She said honestly, her voice quiet.
"Then why?" Yang pleaded. "Explain it to me."
"I… I can't."
SIlence clung to the air for a minute following her answer. She knew it wasn't an answer that would satisfy the woman. Yang was her sister, she'd raised her for most of her life and sacrificed more than Ruby could imagine, and as such she knew that no answer she gave would ever be good enough.
"That's not good enough." Yang mumbled, her hair losing its fire as she reached out to grab the chair that sat next to the broken desk.
Brushing the debris off of it, she picked it up and walked over to the other side of the room to place it in front of the door. As the blonde turned around, Ruby saw that the woman's eyes were bright red, the white's of her eyes bloodshot and betraying her tiredness.
"So here's what's going to happen…" She slumped into the chair and crossed her arms, leaning back to glare at her. "We are not going to leave this room until you make me understand."
"Yan-"
"No!" With Ruby's head still pounding, the volume of Yang's voice shook the room and caused her to flinch. "I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not sitting idly by and letting you throw your life away for no reason. So you either make me understand right now, or I will go straight to Dad when we get home and have him pull you out of Beacon."
Ruby recoiled slightly. "You wouldn't."
"I'm the one who convinced him to let you go early." Yang scowled. "I did that because I know this is your dream; but you're still a minor and it's my job to protect you. If that means having you sent back to Signal for another two years, then that is what I'll do."
Looking into her sister's eyes, she saw a conviction in them that she had never seen before. Though Yang had definitely put her foot down in the past, it was usually something minor such as bedtime or eating healthily… or as healthily as she could given her semblance. Never before though had Yang threatened to take something away from her, especially not something as big as her position at Beacon.
Unfortunately though, Ruby also knew just how serious Yang was about keeping her safe. She'd seen it hundreds of times growing up. Whenever Grimm attacked the house, Yang would almost always make a beeline straight for her and stand guard, whenever something had gone wrong during her training with Qrow, Yang had always stepped in to help her. Even the woman's fighting style and semblance had been developed so that she was at the front of a group to protect those behind her. Everything Yang had done in her life was simply to keep Ruby safe, so Ruby had no trouble believing that her sister's threat was genuine.
"Yang…" She shook her head "I don't know how to explain it."
"Try."
Letting out a sigh, Ruby instantly regretted moving her hand to her hair. The second she moved it, pain rushed through her fingers and she felt numerous welts rub against the bandages. However, aside from a small hiss at the pain, she remained quiet. She certainly knew her own reasoning for why she felt the way she did, but it wasn't one that would make Yang feel better.
"Just…" Yang's gaze softened slightly. "Just tell me the truth… please. I deserve that much."
Scratching her head and feeling more pain from both her head and her scalp, she looked down at her lap and tried her best to formulate her thoughts.
"I… I don't want to die." No matter what she said, Ruby knew she needed to make that point clear to her sister. "I love being alive. I have you, and Dad, and Blake, and Weiss; and all my other friends who make every day the best day ever. I never want to leave any of you, and the idea that I might hurt you by leaving terrifies me, but…"
She looked up and met her sister's lilac eyes.
"How you feel about me… that's how I feel about the world, Yang. It's so… beautiful. The kingdoms, the villages, everything we've built and everything we've overcome is amazing, and I know that one day, if we all worked together, then we might even be able to get rid of the Grimm all together. That's my hope, and I know it's possible; but to get there we need to protect each other. The guards on the walls, the Hunters, Atlas' military, all of us are fighting to see that future come true. And we can't stop, even if it costs us our lives, because if we do then that future can never happen."
"I want to be there to see that, to see everyone happy and safe; but if I'm not… that's okay to me. If I'm not there because I was helping others get there, then that is a good enough reason for me. I know it's not for you, and that nothing I ever say will be, but it is for me."
Yang held her gaze for a few seconds, and Ruby could tell that the woman was genuinely trying to understand. However, it wasn't long before she shook her head and rubbed her forehead.
"Ruby…" She sighed. "That's not… That world… Even if it is possible, it's not gunna happen for hundreds of years. Nobody alive today is going to see it, and even if they were, how is it better to die for one village than to retreat and have the chance to save ten more?"
"I don't get to decide who lives and dies, Yang." Ruby scowled. "It's our job to protect everyone we can."
"But you can't protect everyone, Ruby." Yang retorted.
"Then how would you decide?" She countered. "If it was Patch under attack and you could save it, wouldn't you do that? Or would you leave it to be destroyed so you could save another village?"
"That's different." Yang breathed. "Patch is our home. It's filled with the people we love and grew up with, another village isn't."
"So they deserve less?" Ruby queried heatedly. "What if all the hunters who saved our village over the years thought that way too? We wouldn't have a home left, and me and you wouldn't be here. Even though it wasn't their home, they knew it was someone else's and some even died to protect it. Would you rather they didn't?"
"I didn't…" Yang closed her eyes and swallowed audibly. "I didn't say that. You know I'm grateful for what they did, but what they did doesn't mean you have to do it too."
"I know I don't." She shifted closer to the end of her bed, wincing slightly with each movement. "Yang, I'm not doing this because of obligation, or even because I want to do it. It's just who I am. It's who I've always been."
Ruby watched as her sister's hand swiped over her face. She'd never seen the woman look so tired before, and wished she could do something to help, but she didn't want to lie to her. She didn't want to trick Yang into believing that her beliefs had changed, that she wouldn't one day risk her own life to protect as many as she could; because she knew that would only make it worse for her sister if that moment ever did arrive.
"I hate this." The blonde grumbled, her cheeks wet with tears. "I never wanted this for you. I just wanted you to be a normal girl living a normal life."
"Our parents and grandparents were hunters." Ruby shrugged and tried her best to give her sister a smile. "That was never going to happen. But I love my life."
Yang gave a small sniffle and nodded her head. While her muscles relaxed a little and she learned forward to rest her elbows against her knees, she didn't move away from the door. And Ruby knew she wasn't going to. Despite having told her the truth, Ruby knew it still wasn't enough to make her understand, and that it was going to take at least a few more hours before Yang even came close.
"Alright…" Yang muttered, running a hand through her hair. "Just… run me through it again."
Ruby didn't mind. If it helped her sister feel more comfortable with it, then she was more than happy to explain herself as many times as it took. So, turning in her bed and resting her back against the wall, her body producing a grateful groan, Ruby settled in for what was going to be a long afternoon.
Tasting blood on her lips and feeling a slight twinge of pain, Blake pulled her thumb away from her mouth with a gasp to see that yet another part of the nail had been chewed down to the bud. With a small, frustrated sigh to herself, she activated her aura to heal the wound, the sharp pain immediately subsiding.
"That's three times now." Weiss mumbled from the desk where she was typing something on her Scroll, its screen the only source of light in the dark room. "I am sure they will be out any moment now."
Ignoring the girl's reassurance, Blake merely switched hands and began to chew on the other thumb.
It had been five hours since a loud bang had woken her. The sound of shattering wood and clattering metal had rung throughout the entire building so loudly that the numerous people on the floor had poked their heads out of their rooms to see what was going on. Even the manager had trotted upstairs with a worried look on her face, forcing Weiss to exit the room for a few minutes to assure her that everything was okay.
Unfortunately, the relief of knowing Ruby was awake had quickly been doused by the fact that not a single other sound had come from the room since. And though she could use her hearing to listen in and see what was happening, she really didn't want to intrude on their privacy. If they were still locked away, then they had to have a reason.
"If you want something to do, you can shut the window. It's getting cold."
Ignoring the way it had been phrased as she knew the girl was too busy keeping her pain at bay to bother with manners, Blake pushed herself off the bed and walked over to close the window. Before she did, she glanced out into the almost empty courtyard to see a Vale airship sitting in the centre of it. The ship had arrived little more than an hour ago, and though she hadn't seen who had stepped off of it, whoever it was had apparently made a good impression on the people of the village after single-handedly stopping yet another small Grimm force that had attempted to force their way into the village.
Letting out a sigh, she shut the window and thought back to the conversation she'd overheard earlier. If such a strong Hunter was available for a mere pickup mission, why had they not been able to leave the Vale's wall to rescue the leader of a nation? She had no idea. Maybe the wall really was being that heavily bombarded. It wouldn't be that big of a surprise. Or maybe Saber was right, and once again her people had been considered unimportant. She didn't know.
Shaking her head, she turned away from the airship, but distracted as she was, her hand clipped Weiss' case and sent a cartridge of plant Dust to the floor. With a loud shattering that caused them both to jump, it split open and sent tiny green crystals spilling across the hard wooden floor.
"Great." She breathed in frustration, leaning down to clean it up. However, as she began to scoop the crystals into her hand, the tiny form of Weiss' Boarbatusk waddled out from under the bed and ran his tongue across the Dust causing Weiss to splutter.
"M-Mud-ball!" She gagged and waved her hand at him. "Leave it... alone."
With a wave of her hand, the tiny boar disappeared and Weiss let out a relieved sigh as her aura began to envelope her body again.
"I take it plant Dust doesn't taste too good?" Blake asked, picking up the last of the dust and making her way over to her friend.
"Better than Grimm, I will say that for sure." Weiss replied, coughing a little as Blake sat down on the edge of the desk and poured the Dust into an empty bowl.
Given everything that had happened over the last few days, she and Weiss had not really had much time to talk to each other. As a result, she had yet to ask what exactly was up with the newest aspect of her semblance.
"What's up with that?"
"I have absolutely no idea." Weiss groaned, her hands waving in front of her. "What I do know however is that it is one of my least favourite developments, and one that I wish my sister had war-"
Whatever Weiss had been about to say about her sister was cut off by a knock at the door. As the sound echoed through the room, Blake felt the anxiety that had been beginning to fade settle back into her stomach and jumped to her feet. Rushing over to the door before Weiss could even call for the guest to enter, she ripped it open and found herself looking at her girlfriend and partner. A wave of relief rushed over her as she saw that the young reaper was relatively unharmed.
Other than both of her arms being encased in a thick layer of bandages and a set of stitches on her forehead that disappeared into her hair, the girl looked to be in good shape. Unable to control herself, she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the girl's neck, pulling her into a tight hug.
"Owowowowow!" Ruby hissed, buckling a little under the pressure and clutching onto her back to stay upright.
"You had us so worried."
"Speak for yourself." Weiss muttered. "I knew she'd be fine."
"I'm okay, Blake. Sore, but okay."
Pulling away and looking her up and down just to double check, Blake finally let out the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.
"Good." She breathed and stood aside, allowing the two entry to the room as she switched on the light. "Go sit down. You want a drink?"
Before Ruby could even reply, Weiss held out the glass of water. As her arm extended, the light caught the heiress' pale skin and highlighted the mess of burns beneath her aura. Clearly they did not escape Ruby's notice, as her eyes widened and sadness caused her body to slump a little.
"Weiss, your ba…"
"I neither need, nor want, your apologies for the injuries I received doing my job." Weiss cut her off with a scowl.
Though Ruby looked like she was about to argue, Weiss fixed her with a firm glare. The two locked eyes for a moment, a silent understanding passing between them, before the younger girl gave a grateful nod and began to down the drink.
"No hug for me?" Yang asked and walked into the room.
Despite her attempt at a cheerful tone, the bright red marks around her eyes and the soreness of her voice betrayed her sadness. Her shoulders were slumped, and for some reason the normally dazzling lilac eyes seemed to have lost their shine. Clearly whatever had been discussed for the past five hour had taken its toll on her.
"No." Blake glared at her partner before walking over to the bed to sit beside her girlfriend.
Despite being glad that they were both okay and finally out of the room, Blake still couldn't help but be resentful towards Yang for not allowing her inside. Even if she was the girl's sister, keeping her in the dark about Ruby's status was not what teammates did.
"Right…" Yang mumbled, her hand brushing through her hair.
"Thanks." Ruby breathed in relief once she was done with the drink, handing the glass back to her partner. "So how is everyone? How's the village?"
Blake heard the worry in the girl's tone as she sat down. "There's some damage to the wall and farmlands, and the south side lost it's defenses; but it's secure for now."
"And everyone from the group?"
"Safe... mostly." Blake reassured her. "We lost some guards while putting out the fire and Mr Fern's leg was damaged, but everyone else is fine." She caught Ruby's eye and realised who the girl really wanted to know about. "Dotty's looking after Petilly, but…"
"But?"
She let out a small sigh. "She's really upset about Prince, and the doctor said her mental instability is stopping her aura from activating. He tried to force it to unlock, but it wouldn't; so the cuts on her face and arms are probably going to scar."
"Damn…" Yang breathed, crossing her arms and resting against the wall. "Poor kid. Lost her brother and scarred for life all on the same day."
"We should have been able to stop it." Ruby replied sadly and looked down at her lap.
"We can't have stopped what happened to Prince." Blake replied.
"But we could have killed it." Ruby mumbled. "If I hadn't gotten in the way, it wouldn't…"
Ruby cut herself off, and Blake glanced at each of her teammates in turn. It didn't surprise her at all that they looked back with the awkward expression. As much as Blake loved Ruby's optimism and desire to never give up on people, even she couldn't deny that what the girl had done was reckless.
"You all agree with Saber, don't you?" The reaper's voice was quiet.
Blake reached out and let a hand rest on her girlfriend's, earning a sad look from the redhead that almost broke her heart.
"It's not that we agree with him, Rubes." Yang groaned. "He acted like a dick and was about to kill Prince in front of his sister, but…"
"... what he said was right." Blake continued. "We didn't even know such a Grimm existed, let alone how to get it out of someone. Saber was more experienced, and we should have listened."
Ruby didn't reply, merely continued to look down at her lap. "Weiss?"
Blake looked up toward the heiress, who had returned to working on her Scroll. Just like Ruby, the girl was quiet. That silence filled the room, washing over everyone and filling Blake with a sense of unease. Eventually however, after almost a minute passed and it became clear that her input was needed, the girl let out a sigh and shook her head.
"You acted like a child."
"Weiss!"
"Don't Weiss me!" The heiress glared back at the blonde. "You know that I am right, and so does she. Someone has to say it."
"But you don't have to say it like that!"
"Well maybe if you had not babied her her whole life the-"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me." Weiss replied, not even flinching as Yang rounded on her. "Prince's death might not be on her, nor is the death of the guards; but it is because of her actions that the Grimm responsible was allowed to escape. Without any knowledge of the Grimm we were fighting, her naive belief that she could save everyone made her think she knew better than a licensed Huntsman. It's because of her actions that it escaped, because of her inexperience that she forced Blake to threaten the life of a child, and because of her naivety that now more people will die."
"Denying that will only result in it happening again, so instead of shielding her from the consequences of her actions, let her face them. After all, were you not the one who called your uncle so that he could teach her this exact lesson?"
Yang's lilac eyes turned red and her hair began to glow as her hands balled into fists, but no reply came. As harsh as Weiss' words had been, even Blake was having a hard time denying the validity of them.
"It's okay, Yang." Ruby whispered with a sniffle. "She's… Weiss is right. Uncle Qrow was right. I wasn't… Seeing Prince like that, I didn't know what to do. He was joking and happy, and then he just… wasn't."
"It's never easy to see someone die right before you." Weiss acknowledged, her voice a little softer. "The first time it happened to me, I was devastated." Blake looked away, knowing what had been the cause of that. "But that cannot happen when we are in the field."
"I know." Ruby mumbled. "I was fine at the funeral, I just… this was… I saw his eyes and…"
"Seeing someone die and seeing a coffin are very different." Blake said understandingly. "Nobody's going to judge you for reacting how you did, but if we're going to continue with missions, then we need to make sure this doesn't happen again."
"And how exactly do you plan to coach her on seeing someone die?" Yang scowled, her eyes fading back to lilac as she turned away from Weiss.
That… was a very good question. One that Blake had no idea how to answer.
"We do what anybody does when they want to learn." Weiss turned back to her Scroll. "We ask a teacher for help."
"A wise answer, Miss Schnee."
All three of them jumped slightly and looked toward the doorway to see Glynda Goodwitch. Dressed in her usual outfit with her white shirt and black skirt, her green eyes carefully surveyed them over her glasses. Having been so focused on Ruby and her uncertainty, Blake had completely failed to hear the woman approaching. Though, given the woman's skill, she doubted she would have even if she had known the woman was coming.
"Miss Goodwitch!"
"How long've you been there?" Yang questioned, earning a stern look from the woman that immediately caused the blonde backtrack. "Professor."
"Long enough to understand that sending you on this mission was a mistake." The woman scowled. "On our part, not yours. Now, gather your things. We are returning to Vale on the next airship."
"But it's night?" Weiss questioned.
"A fact I am aware of, thank you." Glynda glared at the heiress, making Weiss look down at her lap awkwardly. "Given the information in your distress call, Saber's report, and the damage to the village, the council has decided that your extraction is to be handled as soon as possible before tension causes another attack. Now, gather your belongings."
Without another word, the woman strode down the hallway and disappeared down the stairs. Just as when she approached, Blake heard no clicking of the woman's heels against the wood and felt a shiver run down her back.
"What do you think she'll do if we keep her waiting?" Blake asked, not wanting to leave Ruby in such a state.
"She's probably already figured out a way to defenestrate us with her semblance already." Yang grumbled.
"The fact you remember that word astounds me."
"I listen to you sometimes. When I'm not too busy babying people. Come on, Rubes."
Even Ruby gave a sigh at that insult, and though Weiss scowled, she chose to ignore it.
"We can talk more about this when we get back if you want." Blake offered, helping her girlfriend to her feet, receiving a nod in reply. Raising a hand to her girlfriend's cheek, she offered the girl as comforting a smile as she could. "It gunna be fine, okay. You'll get through this."
"Thanks." Ruby mumbled. "I should go get my bag."
"Alright."
With a heavy heart, she watched as Yang and Ruby walked out of the room. She wished there was something more she could say to the girl to make her at least feel better, but she knew there wasn't. No matter what she said, Blake knew that the girl would be carrying that memory with her forever, since like she was. So with a sigh to herself and knowing it was time to reread her diaries, Blake shook her head and began to get ready for the flight to Vale.
Raalm's Notes
Hello all. So just an aftermath chapter today.
A little behind the scenes on this one though. The moment just before Ruby joins Blake and Weiss actually went under extensive changes nearly month after is was written. As you know, I try to incorporate a few things from side material in the stories too, such as the RWBY Comics (even though I heavily dislike them,) so in this chapter I tried to include something from Grimm Campaign where plant dust is used to heal aura, and... I just couldn't. Despite loving the show, I have many issues with RWBY; but Grimm campaign is a travesty to me... Especially since it is apparently canon. So the entire month after writing this, that scene was constantly bothering me and I just had to rewrite it.
Anyway, that is my little behind the scenes. I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)
I feel it safe to inform you now since there are only three chapter left to be written, but the final count for the story is 68.
Chapter 64 will be up on the 1st of July.