I'm back! And as a headstart, I'll answer a guest review :
GuestMcCarry - Your prompt could be nice, but unfortunately I've kind of planned this whole thing a while ago and I really do not see when I could use it. Truly sorry :/
But anyways, thanks for the kinds words, and I'm glad you're liking the story that far!
Had time still a meaning ? To Yang, walking tirelessly in between cloned trees without any path to lead her, time had lost all value when the reddened leaves had blocked out her view and left her aimlessly pushing herself forward. Just hoping that she hadn't dreamed the puffs of smoke.
She felt tears dwell in her eyes as she strained to make one more step. Despite her iron will, despite her furious desire to survive and to save Blake, despite all the lies she had told herself to keep going… Hope was running thin, and so was her stamina. She had pushed herself as far as she could go, but now in the middle of this ill-fated forest, various cuts, bruises and burns biting at her exposed flesh… she had to admit her determination wasn't enough.
As if her tears were some kind of trigger, her knees faltered when the first droplet of water hit the ground. Having not enough strength left to prevent the fall from happening, she instead used her last straw of lucidity to protect Blake's bare skin from their face-first landing. A sharp pain tore through her cheek when a pointy rock slashed right at it, smearing blood on her already greased face and bringing a painful moan to her numb throat. If she had to see the good side of it, at least now she was much more aware of what would come when some Grimm would finally stumble on them. Pain, and then a comforting, blackened abyss.
Some footsteps approached them erratically, and Yang surprised her by pleading that they would be left alone. She wasn't enough nearing death yet, she still had a last strand of hope that she would be rescued from that nightmare… She wasn't ready to give up to the first passing monster. Grunting and clenching her teeth, she placed her hands on the ground and pushed herself up.
Well at least she tried, but her efforts were cut short when a viciously thorny plant clawed at her already damaged palms, the amount of pain finally knocking her unconscious for good.
"BLAKE!" That name was the first thing that came to her mind when some kind of consciousness came back to her.
Then she darted her eyes right and left, desperately searching for the now familiar charcoal hair, wanting nothing more at the moment than to find her, help her. She knew such stressful behavior would bring back some instinctive habits, but for now she didn't even care where she was or how she would behave, not until she'd find Blake. Through her hectic heartbeat an overall panic, she finally heard that someone was calling her name, someone that had a hand on her arm, trying to ease her down. She turned to them, and it took her a few more seconds to realize that they were no one but Ruby, guilt and worry written all over the face.
Instinctively, she hugged her little sister, though she herself couldn't say who it was supposed to comfort…. A few seconds later they parted, Yang still beyond worried.
"I'm so glad you're okay…" Ruby said, clasping her hand in hers.
"Blake?" Yang asked worriedly, her throat too dry to assess a complete sentence
"She's gonna be okay, don't worry. The doc is taking care of her."
At these words, Yang's eyes ignited. That doctor wouldn't lay a finger on Blake, not anymore. With that certitude etched into her mind, she sent the covers flying and got to her feet, blatantly ignoring her damaged skin. She would not get caught by that lie twice. Despite Ruby's worried plead for her to go back in bed and rest, she pushed the door of the room, not even bothering to wonder what the heck she was doing here. Luckily, this looked nothing like the underground complex she had just fled, and there were only five other doors to the corridor. Weiss' head poked from one of them, and Yang almost immediately disregarded it to focus on searching Blake, storming her way to the door farthest to the right, hands tightened in a fist and resolve almost burning around her. She pushed the door, ready to fight whatever might be behind it, and her heart skipped a beat.
Blake was here. Breathing. Living. Awake. And scared.
She was backing away from what seemed to be a small, slender woman with brown hair, panic in her eyes until she saw Yang. And what Yang saw in her eyes was nothing but a call for help, which convinced her that she had done the right thing by ignoring Ruby. She immediately rushed to place herself in between Blake and the stranger, considering her options. She was too weak to fight, but maybe she could hold the doc long enough so Blake could flee?
What surprised her though was that said doc was now looking at her with stunned eyes, as if she couldn't understand why she was doing that. In fact Yang herself didn't exactly understand, but she had acted up on instinct the past few days and it was what had saved them, so she wasn't going to question it anytime soon.
"Geez, you two have a serious issue." A voice raised, a playful smile almost hearable in the tone.
Yang's eyes rapidly drifted to the entrance door, only to find another woman leaning on it, legs crossed and a brown tail flapping around. She was brown-haired too, but her hair was cut much shorter than the doc's, and there was something definitely more… shiny ? to her.
"Seriously girls, calm down. We've rescued you, why would we hurt you now?" She pursued, waving a hand around as to emphasize the evidence of her words.
"That's what he said too, at first," Yang growled between gritted teeth. She would not let her guard down, not again. It had almost costed Blake her life the last time.
"Who are you talking about?" the stranger said, seeming genuinely surprised
"Why do you think I'll trust you?" Yang replied bitterly
They both shared and electric glare, though most of the aggressivity came from Yang, until she heard a frail voice behind her back.
"Yang…? Is that really you?" Blake's voice was hesitant, as if speaking louder might break the instant
It immediately extinguished the rage in Yang's eyes and heart, making her even forget that there was someone else in the room. She turned to Blake, rushed to her side to catch her extended hand with extreme care. Even if she was paler than a ghost, even if her voice was nearly broken, there was a spark in Blake's eyes. A spark that Yang had thought she had lost in the complex, a gleam that could only be the one of life.
"It's me. I'm sorry Blake, it took me forever to break free. He told me you had escaped him…"
Before she could apologize any further, Blake's arms flung around her neck and the raven-haired hugged her with all her might. The surprise passed, Yang returned the embrace, trying to find the right words without any luck.
"He told me you were dead… I… I thought I'd never see you again…" Blakes voice broke, soon accompanied by steaming hot tears crashing on Yang's shoulder.
"Welp, they've seen some shit ain't they?"
"Coco! Stop being rude! You're intruding!"
Hearing those hushed voices, they both half parted regretfully, still leaning on each other for support.
"Sorry for ruining the whole reunion thing." Coco said, shrugging when she saw the murderous look that Yang was throwing at her.
"I know you've been through hell, in a and out…" the doc said slowly, almost shyly. "But I swear we want nothing but to help you. I'm Velvet Scarlatina, and this is my wife Coco Adel. Please forgive her… lack of tact." Velvet pursued calmly, sparing a loving glare to Coco when she introduced her.
"Yeah, sorry I'm often too frank for my own good." Coco shrugged again, showing what little care she held for the consequences of her words.
An eerie silence floated between the two pairs, until Ruby finally pushed past Coco and Velvet to rush to her sister.
"Yang! What's gotten into you? You're not even properly healed yet!" the small girl said, voice filled with concern.
"Sorry sis', I'm not trusting a doc anytime soon." Yang said, having a hard time tearing her eyes off of Velvet.
"Yang, I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through…. But I can swear you that Coco and Velvet want nothing but to help! If you don't trust them, then trust maybe trust me?"
Ruby was currently using her most powerful weapon : the puppy eyes. It was a technique very few were able to resist… And Yang wasn't one of those.
"Fine, I'll trust you." She ended up sighing, knowing that she couldn't win this one. "But I'm not leaving Blake's side," she added firmly.
"As long as you both rest and heal, it's fine to me." Velvet had said that with a kind nod, her head ever so slightly dipping to the side.
Truth be told, it was hard to keep considering her as a threat when all she did was smiling and trying to help… But Yang was determined not to let her barriers down.
"Is everything alright?" Weiss voice rose, hesitant, from behind Coco and Velvet before she finally dared to step foot into the room. "Oh thanks god you're both awake! We've been beyond worried!"
"I'd never thought I'd hear Weiss genuinely worried about someone else than herself," Yang hissed. "That's suspicious."
"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed, completely catching her off guard. "You've both been missing for two months, could you please tell us what happened before you lash out on Weiss?"
"Two months? Is that bad that I can't even tell if it's a lot or not?" Blake shivered
Instinctively, Yang started tracing circles in her back to comfort her, her arm having never left the raven-haired's waist since the hug. And perhaps it is that action that made her fully aware of Blake's tight grasp on her own waist, aware of the fever-induced heat that transmitted from one another by every inch of bare skin pressed against the other's, aware of their overall proximity. It brought a blush to her cheeks and a heat to her heart, which she camouflaged by starting to relate what had happened in the complex, regularly sparing a suspicious look for Coco and Velvet whenever she mentioned Merlot. When she had finished, Blake simply added that in her case she had mostly been drugged to sleep inducers and that she didn't remember much, but judging by the way her hand had tightened on Yang's waist, she did remember the pain.
"Fuck, they've actually seen some shit." Velvet finally dropped, breaking the stunned silence that had followed the remembrance, and judging by the shocked looks of everyone else around, Velvet swearing was a rare sight to witness.
"Now I'm starting to understand where all those bruises and burns came from. Seriously, when I found you you were so banged up that now I'm starting to wonder how the hell you managed to go that far!"
"Well yeah about that, I think we've all overstepped the visitation limits," Velvet said suddenly standing up and pushing everyone but Yang and Blake out of the room. "Try and get some sleep you two, you need it!"
The door closed without a sound, completely drowning out the conversation that had started between the four of them and drenching the room in a comfortable silence. For a while, none of them moved, both just happy to be alive, safe and together. But eventually the adrenaline wore off and Yang started to feel the pain again, meaning that she had to part with Blake to make sure none of her wounds would be aggravated anymore. Which she did regretfully, eventually coming to the conclusion that she'd better get back to her own room if she didn't want to impose anymore.
She delicately started to get down, feet welcoming the cold contact of the ground, when a hand reached out an stopped her, carful not to touch a stitched-up wound.
"Could you…" Blake started, her sentence drowning mid-way. "I'm being ridiculous and egoistic, sorry. Pay no attention."
"No, please go on. I won't make fun of you, I swear. What's bothering you?"
"I was just wondering if you could perhaps stay with me…I don't really want to be alone," Blake said whilst fiddling with the covers. "If you don't want to then I'll be perfectly fine on my own, don't worry! I don't want you to feel obligated…" she hurriedly added
"Actually, I don't want to be alone either…"
A small smile tugged at her lips and she got back to where she was not half a minute ago, which meant laying down by Blake's side. They stood still – and a bit stiff, in Yang's nervous case – for a while, the light slowly diminishing and their heart gradually synchronizing, until Blake's hand slowly grazed over the line of one of Yang's numerous scars. This one, despite many other on her back, was still fresh and raw, though Yang couldn't even remember how it had happened. Was it one of her attempts at escaping? Or was it when she had walked through the forest?
"Does it hurt?" Blake's question softly interrupted her train of thoughts, bringing her attention back to the outside world.
"I've been worse." She shrugged, immediately regretting when the fabric rubbed against one of her burns. "How are you?"
"Physically I'm okay… I'm a bit sore but nothing too bad. I'm just… I'm just scared of what this madman might have done to me. Not knowing is really stressful… Mind if I…?" She suspended her question, an arm hovering Yang as she asked permission for a hug.
"Absolutely not," Yang simply replied with a smile, happy that she could comfort her
"Thank you Yang," Blake resumed when they settled. "Thank you for everything. I owe you my life."
"That's nothing, I couldn't just let you in there," the blondie automatically replied, before sighing. "In fact, I want to apologize for everything I've put you through. If I hadn't suggested that we got astray…"
"Then he would have caught us four. Don't blame yourself for that, you couldn't know about it," Blake interrupted. "By the way, you still haven't told me why you wanted to talk that day?"
Feeling the weight of Blake's eyes on her, Yang suddenly realized exactly how precarious her situation was and how much of a mess it would be if she was honest right now. I mean, they were literally in the same !
"Oh uh… I'm sorry, I can't remember… If it ever comes back I'll tell you, okay?"
"Okay. Thanks again Yang… I think we should try to sleep."
Nodding, Yang fidgeted a bit with the cover until she felt comfortable enough to actually get some sleep and then closed her eyes. She was one hell of a lucky girl, nearing death this much and still escaping it…
These thoughts soon disappeared, replaced by the incoherent mist of dreams as sleep slowly but surely took over.
Thirsty. That was the reason why she had awoken in the middle of the night, breath difficult and throat dried to the core. She had hesitated a lot : did she really want to get up? But in the end, she realized that she wouldn't get anymore sleep if she didn't drink. And that's about when her quest toward the Mighty Glass of Water begun, starting with the delicate task of Getting-Out-Of-Bed. Which would have been a lot easier if Blake hadn't been clutching to her in the cutest way ever.
Once she finally untangled herself from the worried embrace of Blake's arms and managed to get up without tripping on the covers, she had to find the exit. Luckily for her, the moon shone through the window and with her night vision, it was but a piece of cake to cross the room and attain the corridor. The real trouble would come when she would have to find some water in a stranger's home, without being rude if possible.
The corridor was way les lighted than the room due to the lack of windows, but she managed to navigate without crashing into any kinds of furniture nonetheless. She was about halfway through the hall when she finally realized why she still could see something : one of the doors was open, letting the discreet rays of moonlight slowly dance on the wooden floor and create playful shadows. Deciding that this would be as good as a start than any, Yang directed herself toward it, but slowed down when she heard someone softly singing.
She had heard that voice countless time now, and she recognized Weiss' signature tone : sad but comforting and hopeful. What bugged her though was that the song was not one Weiss could know… It was the song Summer had sung to Ruby and her countless time, to reassure them each time she went on a mission or when one of them had had a nightmare. How did Weiss even learn that one? She kept wondering, to the point that she gave up politeness and decided to go and ask directly.
Starting to move again, she poked her head by the door, for once not feeling animosity toward the heiress. Well at least until she realized what was happening under her eyes.
Weis was singing softly, that she already knew… But she wasn't alone. Worst, she was delicately running a hand through Ruby's hair, cradling the asleep redhead in her arms with a forlorn gleam in her eyes.
"WH-" Yang's sentence was cut short before it even started, reduced to absolute silence when Weiss threw a murderous glare her way.
"Don't you dare awake her now," Weiss growled in a hushed tone, abruptly interrupting the singing. "That's the first time she's not having nightmare in months. Don't you dare ruin it."
"Care to explain me what's happening there, Ice Queen?" Yang insisted, this time matching Weiss low tone.
"Nothing more, and nothing less than what seems to be happening. I'm lulling your sister to sleep because if I don't she's too worried about you to get some rest." Weiss hissed, her glare still furiously directed against Yang.
"Well you… wait, you what?" Yang stopped, confused.
"I know you only see me as a heartless monster Yang, but I've had two months to grow out of it. I truly care about Ruby, just as I truly care about Blake… And believe me or not I do care for you."
That's the moment Ruby chose to shift in her sleep, saving Yang from the difficult task of answering Weiss' words and immediately captivating the heiress who carefully tucked a stray strand of hair back behind Ruby's ears.
"Spare us this awkward conversation and tell me why you got up in the first place will you?" Weiss sighed, and at this instant the bags under her eyes appeared evidently. "Unless you just decided to take a night walk?"
Yang chose to ignore that last spike and the bittersweet chuckle that came with it, instead complying and asking where she could find some water. Once Weiss had given her precise instructions on how to get it, she resumed her singing, not giving a single fuck about Yang anymore.
Still a bit puzzled, Yang went back to sleep without knowing if she was infuriated that Weiss was holding her sister that close or simply glad that even if she wasn't there, someone was looking out for Ruby.
So, I've gone for a while! Somehow I'm in a writing frenzy lately, so I've managed to get this one out. Don't know how long it'll last though, so I'll try my best to make the most of it... Hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless, and hope I'll see you soon!