Yang was on her way home, walking instead of riding her motorcycle which was almost odd except she'd only gone two blocks from home to the corner store for cough syrup. Sorin had caught a minor cold but she was sure this would help him sleep. She smiled to herself as she anticipated the smell of the soup Blake had started just as she'd left. Her mind was still on the warm meal when she heard a sorrowful whimper and she froze, turning her attention back to her surroundings and looking around with a small frown. The whimper came again, drawing Yang's violate gaze to a box in the ally to her left, the cardboard at the top sagging slightly from the moisture in the air and probably the broken rain gutter right above it. She headed over, glancing in to find five golden retriever puppies, she couldn't figure out who in their right mind would leave these tiny little pups out here to just… die. All five pups were dirty, wet and cold but after a moment of inspection she realized two of them weren't moving and were stiff.
With a sad huff she stood, walked a little farther down the alley until she found a box in slightly better shape and carried it over, transferring the three living puppies to it. Once settled safely she stood, bracing the box against her hip, the two dead puppies gained one more sad sigh from Yang before she continued her trek home. She couldn't help but be even more sad over the fact that she'd almost found enough puppies to give each of her children their own… Not that Blake would have liked that idea anyway.
It didn't take her long to get home, pushing the door open and carefully navigating through with the box of cold and whimpering pups. The smell of chicken soup and the sound of rock band controllers clicking along with rock music greeted her and Yang smiled warmly. Once the front door was secure the blond started down the hall, glancing through the doorway on her right to see Soleil and the girls playing the game she'd heard from the door, Sombra was singing, or rather, tripping over the song and mostly trying to match it's pitch, Lila was on bass and Narzisse had the lead guitar and finally Soleil had the drums. Out of the four Soleil was the only one not failing miserably, likely the only reason they hadn't lost the song already. Sorin was bundled in a blanket on the couch, watching and sneezing once in awhile. With a content and warm smile Yang headed into the kitchen where her fine kitty wife was stirring a pot of chicken noodle soup, not from the can either, it was all homemade. There was also something else in the oven, likely a pot pie for Lila since she hated chicken anything and refused to eat it.
"I loooove yoooou." Yang singsonged as she entered the room.
Blake froze, not looking up.
"What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything, I found something."
At this point Blake did look over to see Yang presenting the box of puppies, with a hiss Blake jumped back, showering the kitchen floor with a slosh of soup as she'd forgotten the spoon still in her hand.
"Oh come on babe, they're babies taken from their mama doggy and abandoned in an ally, they've already lost two siblings… Can't they just stay till we find them another home at least?"
Blake's shoulders slumped a bit. "Fiiine. But give them a bath and keep up with them, they will destroy everything when you're not looking."
"Of course!"
Yang darted back out of the kitchen, standing in the living room doorway once more and grinning at her daughters who were laying in the floor in defeat and Soleil backed out of the gig they'd just failed.
"Hey guys, you wanna help me with something while Mama finishes supper?"
All heads turned her way and curiosity sparked as the kits noticed the box that seemed to wiggle a bit on it's own. They all got up and headed over, even Sorin though he was a walking, sniffling, blanke-a-reto and the five peered into the box as she lowered it for them to see.
"They look so cold!" Sorin noted.
"They smell funny…" Sombra added.
"You want us to help get them cleaned up and settled right?" Soleil asked, looking up at his mother who nodded.
"Sombra, go get an empty laundry basket, Narzisse, go fetch about half those towels we folded yesterday, the ones with the holes in them, Lila, go find a couple of old bowls mama won't mind us using for some food and water. Boys, follow me."
Orders given the kits spread out like team of chibi huntresses, the boys following their mother to the bathroom where she set the box in the floor, ordering Sorin to make sure they didn't escape the box then setting Soleil up on the counter and handing him a towel. From there she plugged the sink, turned the faucet on for warm water and then grabbed the baby shampoo, setting it beside the sink then reaching down to retrieve a retriever. Yang plunked the pup in the water, drizzled soup down it's back and got to scrubbing, once she'd worked the dirt and other sticky bits out of the pups hair she rinsed it off and handed it over to Soleil who set to drying it off, keeping it close to him to help warm it up. She repeated this process and by the time the girls arrived with the basket filled with towels Soleil had his arms full of floof balls as gold as his own hair.
"Can we keep them?" Sorin asked as Yang took the pups from Soleil one by one to settle in to the basket.
"I don't think so, we'll take them down to the pet shop tomorrow, I'm sure they'll find homes fast."
"But we could take care of them…" He frowned.
"Take it up with your mother." She sighed. "Now, get them somewhere safe and warm then get cleaned up for supper."
The girls nodded, following Soleil who slid the basket out of the room with Sorin tagging along behind and coughing. Yang took the smelly box out to the dumpster to dispose of it, hoping on the way there and back that Blake would agree to keep at least one of the puppies, it would be good for the kits to have that sort of responsibility and besides that Yang missed having a dog. She got back into the house to find Sorin already at the table and Blake giving him some of the cough syrup Yang had picked up.
"No, we aren't keeping the dogs."
"But whyyy?" He pouted after accepting the medicine.
"Because no."
Sorin continued pouting but didn't press his luck, Yang gave the boy a sympathetic look then went to wash her hands and help set the table. The other four filed in as Blake filled bowls with soup and Yang retrieved the potpie from the oven, plopping the little pie on a plate for Lila. The kits ate in relative silence, mostly tired out after a long day and Soleil enjoying the dinner far too much to bother with talking, Sorin continuing to pout.
After dinner Blake was washing dishes when she saw Yang creep past with her scroll tilted sideways in her hands which meant one of two things only, she was either taking pictures or video. Considering she had a habit of filming things when she should be helping the kits out of some sort of mess or embarrassing situation Blake shut off the water and followed to see what was so filmworthy. Around the corner was the basket of puppies and Sorin was curled up with them, all bundled up in the blanket and sleeping. Even Blake had to admit how cute the scene was. With a small smile she quietly went back to what she'd been doing before and once that was done she helped Yang get the rest of the kits settled for bed and made sure Soleil had adequate books to read before heading up to get ready for bed herself. She was just about to get into bed when Yang pulled her into a hug.
"It wouldn't hurt to let them keep just one, I can help make sure they take good care of it and train it and it would be a good experience for them."
"No, I don't like dogs, you know that."
"But they do, think of our children, of Sorin, he just loves them it's so cute!"
Blake sighed. "Why don't we get them something smaller and less… drooling for a first pet?"
"Dogs come in smaller sizes and a lot of those don't drool!"
"You're not going to let up on this are you?"
"Probably not."
"Well, I'll consider it, but just, not right now and not something as big as those mongrels are going to get… Maybe surprise him for his birthday or something."
"You're the best." Yang purred, kissing her wife's shoulder, then her neck and then up to her ear, giving it a slight nibble before letting go and slipping around to her side of the bed and flopping down. She grinned when she saw Blake standing very still, eyes closed and face flushed a bright red.
"Good to know I still got it."
Blake grinned, opening her eyes with a challenging look. "You should just be glad the kits are home or I'd make you pay for that."
"Oh, I don't doubt you could make me scream."
Blake chuckled and climbed into bed, getting settled and pulling up a book but frowned when Yang pulled her laptop over, making sure it was plugged in and the mouse was powered up.
"Minecraft? It's a little late…"
"Naw, something new, and late is the best time for it."
Now curious Blake pulled up the covers and snuggled up against her wife so she could watch over her shoulder. The game was in the horror genre and seemed to take place in a decrepit old pizza place with creepy animatronics and it was titled Five Nights at Freddy's.
Yang started the game up, even though her headphones were on Blake's sharp ears picked up the audio easily and she quickly found herself a bit creeped out right along with daring wife. Yang failed a few times each level or 'night' before she got the hang of it and while the jumpscares startled her she'd giggle softly after and about the time she beat night three she felt Blake slide down a bit as the mama kitty fell asleep.
Lila woke with a start, panting for air and eyes darting around her room, her panic slowly subsiding as her room didn't match the scene of her nightmare and the pain that had existed in it didn't in the waking world. Still, it left her with a sense of dread. She realized her sisters were still out cold and didn't really want to wake them but doubted she could get back to sleep so the six year old pushed herself up and climbed out of bed, changing clothes somewhat quickly on her own and picking her shoes with the velcro instead of the buckles or laces. That done she wandered out of the room quietly, glancing momentarily at her parent's door but somehow she felt like it wouldn't do any good to tell them about the nightmare… She couldn't even remember it all at this point but it still left her very worried, she didn't want to be alone. Quietly closing the bedroom door behind her she slipped down the hall in near silence, though she stepped on the inevitable creaky floorboard on her way past Soleil's door. She was sure he'd heard but wasn't sure he'd check so she kept going, she wasn't going to give anyone the chance to talk her out of going to see her aunt and uncle. She just felt like she needed to.
However by the time she got to the front door she got the feeling she wasn't alone anymore and turned to glance behind her, spotting none other than Soleil.
"Not sleepwalking are you?"
"No… Bad dream, I wanna go see uncle Roro."
"You know it's really late right?"
"I don't care."
"Alright, I'll go with you, you should wear a jacket." He encouraged as he pulled hers down from it's hook on the wall and held it open to help her put it on.
Relaxing a bit she nodded and let him help her slip the jacket in place then headed out, holding her little brother's hand, they were careful not to let the front door make any noise before heading down the sidewalk and out onto the quiet suburb street. Everything looked different at night but it was all oddly peaceful rather than scary, still a bit chillier than she'd like but with the jacket and sticking close to her brother she was more comfortable than most would have been.
"I'm really glad Mango brought those puppies in, I don't think they'd have survived another night like this, especially as damp as they were." Soleil noted offhandedly, far too wise a statement for a four year old but then again he always seemed very smart, ahead of his age. Lila nodded but didn't really feel like saying much, which turned out to be fine, Soleil didn't mind filling the silence of their trip with quiet stories of the things he'd read and some of his favorite fairy tales, giving her something else to focus on as they made the trek through town.
Finally they reached the mansion on the hill, both of them easily slipping through the iron gate and heading up the driveway then round to the back door. Once in the kitchen the spotted an empty ice cream carton on the counter but the big house was quiet which left Lila a little uneasy again. Soleil seemed to notice because he started moving again before that feeling could really settle in on her, pulling her along and to the foyer then up the stairs, through the doors leading to their aunt and uncle's room.
Ruby was out cold, arm hanging out of the bed and drooling on her pillow, Drei was on the foot of the bed, watching them sleepily but hadn't bothered to bark. Roman however didn't seem to be having a very good dream which left less guilt if they woke him.
Both kits climbed into the bed, snuggling up to their uncle who woke with a start then stared at the two kits in sleepy confusion before hugging both tightly and whispering. "What are you doing here?"
"I had a bad dream." Lila admitted.
"And you came all the way here? Alone?"
She nodded and he sighed, sitting up while still holding them both tightly. "Alright, well, I suppose that's alright but I doubt your parents are going to be very happy…"
His sentence trailed off when he noticed the tears welling in Lila's eyes, the deep fear behind them. Whatever her nightmare had been had frightened her a lot more than she was actually letting on and he hugged her tightly again.
"Let's go down stairs so we don't wake your aunt Ruby."
Both kits quietly nodded their agreement and Roman set them in the floor as he quietly got up, slipping house shoes on and making sure Ruby was still comfortably bundled before grabbing a robe to ward off the light chill and following the kits back down stairs. He was sure to close doors after himself to reduce noise, once downstairs he waved for the kits to follow him to the piano in the foyer, setting on on either side of him on the bench then opening the lid to the piano.
"You know how to play?" Lila asked, slightly surprised as she'd never seen anyone play this piano before and hadn't seen her uncle show more than a passing interest in music.
He nodded. "Seeing this work of art sit here silent was very sad so I decided to take lessons, I usually don't play for anyone but your aunt Ruby."
Both kits smiled as he ruffled their hair then stretched a bit before resting his hands on the keys and starting to play, the music smooth, the melody soothing and Lila found she could easily relax a bit more, feeling safe. She didn't know how good a judge of skill she was but she was sure her uncle was very good especially for someone who only recently started learning to play. After about three songs he stopped, looking from one kit to the other.
"Would you like me to show you how to play?"
"Yeah!" Soleil smiled brightly and Lila nodded enthusiastically.
With a warm smile Roman taught them basics of the notes and how to hold their fingers, how much pressure to apply to the keys and how to reach notes that would seemingly normally be a stretch. Once they had that down somewhat he taught both of them twinkle twinkle little star.
"You are both welcome to come practice any time." He promised, earning him a hug. "How about some Minecraft now? Soli, will you go fire up the PlayStation?"
"Sure." The boy smiled, hopping off the bench and heading for the living room.
Once he was gone Roman turned his attention back to Lila, cupping her little face in his hands and gently turning her face up to meet his concerned gaze. "What happened in that bad dream that frightened you so badly?"
"I…" She frowned, not quite meeting his gaze, at this point she couldn't entirely remember and she felt a little silly for making such a fuss over it, even if what she could remember make her heart hurt. "..Don't want to talk about it.."
"Alright, but if you ever change your mind you remember you can tell me anything." He promised and pulled her into a hug. She nodded and he let her go, standing up and holding his hand out for her to take, which she did and he followed after where Soleil had gone.
He got settled on the couch, again in the middle of the kits and handed Lila her own controller before picking up his, Soleil had already signed them both in and from the looks of it had generated a new map, which had plopped them on the side of a snowy mountain. The world was set to peaceful so there weren't any agressive mobs and Lila mostly just ran around the snowy terrain while leaning on her uncle and Romen noted that eventually there was no activity on her screen as she fell asleep, this time it was void of nightmares. Quietly Roman logged her out so there would be more playable screen for Soleil and with that the two set about building an upside down pyramid.
Blake frowned, feeling foggy headed and a little confused, she couldn't remember why she'd come to this place… Had Yang had something to do with it? She wasn't sure. It was somewhat dark and very dingy, the smell of old pizza grease saturated everything and the scent of hydraulics, fake fur and steel were also stagnant in the area. There was a stage, tables, other people, gray and black tile floors and yellowed walls, old balloons hanging with weak helium and tattered streamers that had seen better days.
Suddenly she was filled with a sense of dread, she should have her children with her but she couldn't see any of them, all five were missing and she felt very alone and threatened, as if the kits were in danger. Trying not to panic she headed over to one of the other guests, it was Velvet.
"Have you seen my kits?"
Velvet only gave her an empty stare then went back to her pizza.
With a small annoyed noise Blake ran to the next person she saw, it was professor Ozpin, however he gave her the same reaction, as did Russle and Dove, the only other two people in the dining room. Increasingly agitated and worried she dashed down one of the halls, a sign on the wall pointing down that way read 'security' so she hoped whoever was there would be more help. The door was closed fast though, she peered through the window next to the door and saw a very bored looking Weiss wearing a security guard uniform and poking at a tablet. Blake screamed at her, banging on the glass but felt like she had no voice and went unnoticed, screaming until her face was flushed did nothing and now even more confused and worried she went back down the hall, she was wasting time, she had to find her children. She could almost swear she smelled blood along with the old pizza grease but she wasn't sure, still, it was worrying and she picked up the pace, heading to a different door, only to find it was locked. On the other side she heard sobbing, after a moment she realized it was Soleil and she banged on the door in a panic. "Soleil? Soleil, Mommy's here, it's alright baby, open the door…"
Desperation grew in her voice but there was no change, he cried and the door didn't budge. She heard another sound behind her and jumped, putting her back to the door and scanned the room, quickly wishing she hadn't, the little hairs along her back stood on end as she realized what she was looking at. Everyone in this room, Velvet, Russle, Dove and Ozpin were all staring at her with empty gazes, the creepier part was they were all facing away from her, their heads turned a full one eighty to look directly at her.
It took everything in her not to scream in terror, she locked eyes with the terrifying specters, not backing down, not wanting to leave Soleil….
Soleil had gone silent.
What did that mean? Had he gotten into another room? She could only hope.
From the doorway off to the right of the stage she heard a terrified scream of one her daughters and all else was forgotten as Blake charged forward, dashing towards that sound. She was skidding to a stop moments later though, a huge animatronic chicken blocking her path, it's head shaking and spazzing in unnatural ways, it rose one hand to reach for her, and Blake struggled against the fear that rose within her, the only thing keeping her somewhat rational in the face of this was the thought that one of her daughters was lost in here. Tapping her semblance she left a clone for the thing to grab and rushed past it, darting down the hall and following the now strong scent of blood, panic rising as she realized one of her children was hurt but she refused to accept it could be worse than even that. She dashed into a restroom, just as decrepit as the rest of the restaurant but across from where she stood at the door there was another animatronic, this one lying limp on the floor, the golden bear suit stained with blood that was running out the seams.
"No…" She whispered before continuing forward.
Blake reached the suit, her body felt like it grew heavier with every movement, as if her very muscles were filling with lead like dread. Her hands grasped the fake fur covered metal mask and started pulling it away…
As her eyes settled on what lay beneath it felt as if daggers were driven into her heart, panic and pain flooded her and she couldn't hold back an agonized scream.
Inside the suit was Lila, the metal rods and wires cutting in and through her flesh in a gruesome scene, the kit's face frozen in a pained scream though she was obviously, very dead.
Blake let out an agonized wail as grief flooded her senses against the rest of the pain, tears streaming down her face as her stomach twisted in knots and more panic filled her as she didn't know where the rest of her children where but one was dead. Her entire chest felt like it was on fire and she couldn't breathe through the pain and suddenly something had her, it's arms wrapped about her. She snapped her gaze on it to meet the eyes of the fox animatronic and she screamed again, thrashing at it and struggling to escape but in her pain and panic she couldn't remember how to fight and it started winning, pinning her to the floor, holding her arms down so she couldn't move. Her heart pounded in her ears yet somewhere she heard Yang's voice. It was broken and distorted, coming from the fox but it slowly grew more constant, smooth and real, the image of the fox animatronic fading away and in it's place was Yang, offering comforts and reassurances she couldn't quite process yet. Blake couldn't fully calm down, the events unclear, she was in her bedroom now but she was terrified for her children.
"Have to… Have to…" She panted, gasping for air, trying to plead with Yang to let her go. "My babies…"
"It was a nightmare, everything is fine." Yang said smoothly, soothingly but not letting Blake up yet.
"NO! Lila…" She couldn't hold her voice steady and started sobbing, shaking almost violently. "Their… danger…. find them."
"Mama…?" Sombra's sleepy voice reached Blake's ears as the girl walked round the side of the bed where Yang had her mother pinned to the floor.
"Sombra!" Blake struggled harder and this time Yang did let her up, Blake grabbing Sombra and pulling her into a tight, desperate hug. A moment later Nazisse was hugging her too and Blake finally started to calm somewhat.
"It was just a nightmare, everything is fine, no danger." Yang promised tiredly.
Blake nodded, starting to believe that, remembering she'd never been to a business like that but the game Yang had been playing… That had to be it. Still, something felt off and she glanced at the girls.
"Where is Lila?"
"I don't know…" Narzisse admitted.
"Maybe she went to the kitchen." Sombra suggested and Blake nodded, standing and heading for the door at a determined pace.
She stopped over ever at Soleil's door, knocking first and when there was no answer she pushed the door open to find… The room empty. More worried she headed downstairs, remembering they'd allowed Sorin to remain in the basket with the puppies so maybe the other two had gone down there. They got to the kitchen to find it quiet and empty other than the sickly kit and three puppies, causing Blake to quickly start getting worked up and even Yang was getting a little worried at this point. The two mothers searched the house, including places like the top of the fridge and in the closets but it quickly became clear neither Lila nor Soleil were anywhere to be found, Lila's jacket was missing tipping the two off that they must have left the house, causing Blake to panic harder.
"Where are they?... Oh…. Nonono…."
"They can't have gone far, we'll find them."
Yang got out her phone, calling Neo first, the ice cream crime boss appearing in the video feed, relaxed in her chair and looking somewhere between adorably sleepy and seductive.
"Yo, why you calling me this late blondy?"
"Look, Lila and Soleil left the house at some point while we were asleep and we haven't found them yet so just…. Keep your eyes peeled alright?"
Neo straightened up in her seat, looking Yang in the eyes, suddenly very serious. "I will get my people moving immediately."
"Thank you."
Yang ended the call and called her sister next, the scroll going to voicemail several times before Ruby finally picked up.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaat." Ruby groaned at her scroll, drool on one side of her mouth and her eyes not entirely open.
"Lila and Soleil are missing."
"What?!" All at once Ruby was awake and sitting up, staring at her scroll in disbelief.
"Yeah, I already called Neo, let me know if they show up at your place alright? We're gonna search around the neighborhood."
"Alright, let me know if you find them, I'll do the same."
The call ended and Yang pulled Blake to her feet. "We will find them." She then looked to the girls. "Stay put, understood?"
The girls nodded, Sorin was still out cold from the medicine and had no idea what was going on. Neither of the remaining girls were going to argue, opting instead to keep an eye on their brother and puppies.
Yang rushed out of the house with Blake in toe, neither grabbing a jacket and both still dressed in their preferred sleeping attire. The night air was still damp, much more chilly now though. With a shared glance the mothers split up, taking opposite directions, calling out to the missing kits and searching everywhere. The sense of dread driving Blake to near hysteria, though she forced herself to stay focused. She had to find her babies. Yang forced back the fear and all thoughts of anything bad happening to the two, she couldn't bear the implications at the moment if they'd been snatched.
"No… Neo would have heard…" She murmured to herself, trying to ease her mind enough to stay focused.
Little did either of them know at the moment that the two missing kits weren't missing at all.
Ruby was quick to get dressed, glancing to Roman's side of the bed with momentary confusion before brushing it off as not all that odd. Surely nothing was amiss, he'd have woken her or Drei would have barked. Without much more concern about it she set off to find him, checking the kitchen first, at least that was the plan but the soft sound of a controller clicking and the unmistakable, soothing music of minecraft. Subconsciously crossing her fingers on one hand she headed for the living room, peeking in to see…
Roman slumped slightly awkwardly and asleep, his position clearly to avoid squashing the equally crashed out Lila. Soleil was happily building on her own.
For a moment Ruby considered waking and scolding the lot of them but instead just slipped from the room and called her sister.
"Anything?" Yang asked, half panicked, soaked but too upset to be cold.
"They're here." She said softly.
Yang looked like she might cry, hanging up before she could. With a half sob of relief Yang turned and dashed back down the other way to catch up to blake.
Blake tensed, turning fast when she heard running footsteps and looked unsure if she should relax or not on seeing her wife jogging to catch up.
"They're with Ruby."
"What are they doing there?"
"I donno, let's go ask them ourselves."
Without further deliberation they headed for the Rosewick mansion. Blake was caught between relief and anger, unable to think of any reason to up and leave the house without permission in the middle of the night. Had the panic gotten any worse they could have attracted Grimm, that becoming a danger for the entire city. Luckily they were far from the edges of town where the negativity could have more easily been noticed.
While Blake fumed Yang gave Neo the update, both just being relieved the kits were safe.
Ruby met them in the foyer when they arrived, signalling for them to be quiet before waving them to follow her. Both did though Blake was a mess at this point. Her anger died down considerably when she saw the scene.
Feeling eyes on him Soleil looked up and almost jumped out of his skin seeing the state of his moms along with his sleeping looking aunt beside them, it was a drastic difference. He was quick to hop up and hurry over, all but abandoning the inverted pyramid hanging garden city. The young boy was quick to hug the more upset-looking parent.
"I'm sorry, Lila was really upset and just needed to be here. I made sure she didn't go alone."
Blake sighed and nelt to just hug him tightly. She had much to say about the situation that she'd thought up on the trip over but in that moment it all fell away. She had to assure herself he was safe, the memory of her nightmare, hearing him cry so mournfully in the room she couldn't enter sent a chill up her spine. No relief could follow as the memory of Lila, the gory scene playing back had her stomach in knots and she stood, picking up Soleil in one fluid motion before heading towards the couch. She scooped up the sleeping kit, turned and sat on the couch, hugging both tight while sobbing softly.
Roman woke with a startled, slightly unsettled sound. Blake had half sat against him and he instinctively extracted himself and fell over the back of the couch.
Blake didn't notice.
"Mama?" Lila muttered softly, half asleep and confused.
Yang came up to the back of the couch and craned her neck so she could meet the disheveled and still upside down Roman's gaze. To which he grunted and rolled to his feet.
"Mind explaining?"
Roman just nodded for her to head towards the kitchen before he did the same. Yang and Ruby both headed that way with him, leaving Blake to calm herself down.
"Lila had a nightmare and that prompted them to come all the way here and wake me up." Roman explained once they reached the kitchen and he sat down at the bar.
"Just…. A nightmare?"
"I… think it may have been more than that. Or at least, something really disturbing. I recognized that kind of fear in her eyes when I tried to get her to talk about it. It's the kind of fear that spurs from someone dying right before your eyes and knowing you're next. Don't ask how I know this."
"It's not that hard to guess." Yang said dryly.
"Anyway, I know I should have called but my first priority became calming her down. I never wanted and never again want to see that kind of fear in any of them. I don't know what caused her reaction exactly, but maybe for now we stay on our toes. With any luck it was just a nightmare, but for all we know it could have some link to her symblance."
"But…" Yang started to protest but Roman cut her off.
"Soleil is a dragon. At this point I'm not going to be surprised by anything these kits can do."
With a sigh she nodded and let it go, heading back out to collect her wife and children so they could go home. It was late after all.
When they got home Blake took all the kits, including the still sleeping Sorin and baskit of pups to the bedroom. The basket was set in the floor on her side of the bed and the rest of the kits were to be snuggled between her and Yang. Yang didn't argue but once Blake was asleep again she quietly encouraged Soleil to at least slip away and get a book, not excluding him but not wanting him to fall asleep. He ended up curling back up with the rest of them with a book and book light that he was careful to make sure disturbed no one.
Exhausted, Blake slept hard, curled protectively around her kits but Yang lay awake, watching over all of them and not sure what to make of what Roman had said earlier. She wanted to brush the whole thing aside as kids just being kids with ridiculous ideas but… something did feel off.
Blake seemed torn when she woke, slipping away to cook breakfast and she was tense, eating in silence. Lila watched her quietly, looking like she felt quite guilty but also worried. She was stressing enough she didn't eat much.
After breakfast the rest of the kits were sent off to play with the puppies, Sorin still sniffly but doing a little better.
"What you two did last night was reckless and dangerous. Anything could have happened to you two, you understand me? Never, ever do that to us again. You have no idea how worried we were, for all we knew you were dead!" Blake said, starting to get worked up again but forcing herself to calm down, having to remind herself that her nightmare was likely making this scarier than it really was.
"I'm sorry…" Lila said quietly.
"You were smarter not to go alone, but still. Especially that late, you neet to let an adult know where you want to go. If you had just woken us, at least one of us, it would have been fine." Yang said calmly.
"But… you wouldn't have let me go."
"She was scared of being dismissed." Soleil dared to speak up, firm in his explanation but not in a disrespectful way.
"I get it, I really do, but you have to trust us, okay? For your own safety if nothing else." Blake said, having calmed considerably.
Both nodded and apologized again.
Seeming satisfied with that Blake issued mild groundings to both for the next week, no leaving the house and no video games. Neither child argued, even when they stayed behind with Blake and Sorin while Yang took the remaining girls with to find the puppies homes. Sorin was sick enough to stay home, well enough to be upset at being left behind and as the only ungrounded kit left behind, begged almost relentlessly for a puppy.
"No."
"Seriously, no."
"Not happening, stop asking."
"Every time you ask I add a year before you get a pet."
Were Blake's responses, the last one finally getting her some peace and quiet while the kit went to pout. In all honesty though, seeing how badly he wanted a puppy, she was considering it again… a small one.
Just a small dog.
Maybe…
A/N:
Yay! some consistancy?
Maybe!
Thanks for reading this far, if you'd like to keep up with my uploads, follow me on twitter werewolf714FFN
I did my best to edit this one on my own, also, I found that when I'd last touched it a few years back... I hadn't finished it. Hopefully the break isn't too obvious, I did my best to keep the flow and bring the chapter round to it's conclusion.
Remember, I don't bite so reviews and dms are welcome!