Chapter 5 - Reunion
A flickering hard light barrier was the only light in the room. All Ruby had was a bed and the cuffs binding her wrists together. Harsh whispers crackled against her ears, but none were intelligible. She heard footsteps up ahead, and briefly the light barrier flickered off. Before her was Penny in human form as she last remembered her: still in the same dress, but wearing knee-high white stockings with black mary-janes. She set down a plate of milk and cookies before Ruby and with a sad smile she greeted her one last time.
"Salutations, friend. Today's the day."
Ruby looked up and noticed that Penny's green eyes welled with tears. Ruby tried to speak, but it was as if something was tight against her throat.
"I am just sorry I can not save you."
Once again, Ruby tried to speak, but her own words were lost in her throat. She tried to move, but her body was frozen in place.
"Thank you for making me human," Penny backed up and a hard light barrier separated the two of them once more, "And goodbye."
The next thing Ruby knew, she was walking behind both Winter and Weiss as she last remembered them. Winter droned off a list of crimes in such a fashion that Ruby didn't quite understand her. The only words she picked up on was "High Treason."
She looked to Weiss whose eyes burned with fury.
"Don't look at me," Weiss's voice was colder than the Solitas winds, "Blake and Yang are dead because of you."
The next thing Ruby knew, she was in a poorly-lit room with nothing but a chair with straps. She was forced into the chair and strapped in from all sides. A heavy sack was placed over her head, and everything went black. She heard General Ironwood's voice.
"For disobeying direct orders, endangering the Nation of Atlas, and the suspected involuntary manslaughter of your own teammates, you have been sentenced to death. Any last words?"
"No!" Ruby cried out as she thrust upright in bed. She was drenched in cold sweat and gasping for breath. She checked her wrists, and for a brief moment, it almost looked like the skin had a red indent where Atlesian cuffs would normally be. Ruby shook her head as she massaged her wrists better. If the airship had running water, normally Ruby would just wash her face and try to forget the nightmare. She stood up and decided that some fresh air would have to do instead, so up above deck she went.
A cool breeze of relief washed over her as she saw Blake well and alive, and listening eagerly as Marie enthusiastically talked to a seeker miqo'te boy. He was almost two ilms shorter than Ruby, and very muscular. His reddish brown hair was pulled back into a small ponytail, with the bangs covering most of his face. His neck bore the same archon tattoos as Y'shtola, and he had an intricate eye tattoo on his left arm. He wore a red tunic with black leather shoulder pads, and a black leather waist covering over white slacks. On his arms were bulky fingerless gloves which had plating at the elbow, and knee-high boots with the same plating at the knees with a flare at the ankle which had white fluff poking out. His demeanor was very animated, and he spoke with an air that could put anyone at ease. In spite of this, Ruby's stomach was still an anxious storm which kept relaxation out of her already short reach. She shook her head as she made her way over to the group. Thankfully, Blake waved Ruby over and wished her a good morning.
Marie was the picture of ease as her and this seeker boy were chatting eagerly about Eorzean history. His red and green eyes twinkled in the sun as he went over random bits of information in the midst of asking Marie how she's been. Marie startled a little when she finally noticed that Ruby had joined them.
"Oh! Ruby, this is G'raha Tia. We took history classes together years ago," Marie then gestured to the sleepyheaded huntress, "G'raha, this is my new Free Company leader, Ruby."
"Pleased to meet you, Ruby, pray, forgive my prattling on about history," his ears flattened a little as he shrunk back, fiddling with the hem of his fingerless gloves.
"Oh don't worry about it," Ruby waved him off with a warm smile, "The history of this world is actually fun to listen to."
She listened for a bit as G'raha and Marie proceeded to nerd out while Ruby took a look over the banister. Below were these barren grasslands, much different from La Noscea. The salty air was dryer and tasted more like chalk and sand, with hints of cactus. In the distance was a grand stone fortress with many spires reaching to the heavens, and a large blue dome that was the most prominent feature, second only to the vast gates facing north, east, and west.
"At one point, did you know that Thanalan had a second city-state in Sil'dih?" Marie asked her friend, "During a war with Ul'dah, the Sil'dihans used zombification powder on their own people in order to gain an advantage. Due to their own hubris, they wiped themselves out overnight."
"How strange," G'raha remarked, "Sil'dih preached the virtue of wisdom."
Most of the infodump was tuned out by everyone except the two sharlayans. Blake nudged Ruby at one point.
"Did you sleep well?" Blake asked, her voice wavering with concern.
Ruby opened her mouth with the intent to lie, but after some hesitation, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she sighed, "Actually, I've been having nightmares for the past few weeks," she watched the fortress fly ever closer, "I wouldn't blame her if she blamed me for everything that happened."
"Yang wouldn't blame you," Blake put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "She's your sister, and yeah she gets angry from time to time, but-"
"I'm not talking about Yang," Ruby answered bluntly, "I know she will forgive me."
Blake's eyes widened in realization, "You're talking about Weiss?"
"Weiss, Penny, take your pick," Ruby waved a hand back and forth, "Maybe I should've just left the lamp at the bottom of the well, after all. We could've just been normal huntresses with normal knees," Ruby closed her eyes and let out another slow, self-exasperated breath, "But noooo. I just had to go and play hero, and drag all of team JNR and my uncle across all of Anima, to Argus."
"Ruby…" Blake tried to get her attention, but to no avail.
She continued on her rant, "I can't even use my eyes properly in the fight. Maria said that I need to concentrate on the people who love me to use them, but I keep getting distracted by all of the bad things that happened or the person trying to kill me you know that I'm not good at fighting people and-"
Blake said nothing further and pulled Ruby into a hug, stopping her rant short in its tracks. After a while, Ruby hugged back and started weeping into the faunus's arms.
"It's just…All too much. The rest of you didn't ask for this. And now the three of us are stuck here until we find the two warriors of light and we have no idea what to look for."
"Hydaelyn said she grabbed six of us. We're not alone," Blake answered, holding the small huntress to her, "Assuming she didn't grab Cinder, Neo, or any other of Salem's minions, that's three other people. Plus two Warriors of Light, and Marie, and we can probably save Eorzea from whatever it is Hydaelyn wanted us to save Eorzea from."
Ruby wiped her tears away with her sleeve, "Y-yeah. It would help if she told us who else she isekai'd."
"Isekai'd?" Blake repeated.
"You know. Isekai. It's that genre of fiction where heroes get transported to another world for whatever reason. Also called portal fantasy, but all of my comics call it isekai."
"Got it," Blake nodded, "Speaking of which, when we get back, I need to return your issue of sparkle wolves. I need to know if Teal and Melia get together."
Ruby allowed herself to be distracted by the speculation chatter, in turn she answered, "I'm just glad I returned your copy of Gilded Lilies."
"The Scions of the Seventh Dawn?!" G'raha exclaimed loud enough to pull Ruby and Blake from their conversation. G'raha's tail swished back and forth, "To think you'd join such a prestigious organization already. They may be looked down upon in Sharlayan, but they do such important work for Eorzea in quelling the primal threat. And to think, you caught their eye!"
Just as he was done with his enthusiasm, the airship came to a stop. The sails cranked back and attendants lifted the ropes to let people off. As everyone shuffled out of the dock and through reception, G'raha departed from the group. He had business in Mor Dhona, but he left after departing pleasantries and a promise to Marie to catch up with her later.
When Marie rejoined Blake and Ruby, she urged them to head down the elevator down to the Ruby Road Exchange, and take the door directly across from the postmoogle and linkpearl distributor.
"If memory serves me correctly, Yang spends a lot of time in The Quicksand when she's not with the Sunset Riders. Something about rolanberry lassi strikes her fancy."
"Sounds about right," Ruby answered.
"I'll be with you shortly, I'm gonna send her a letter through the postmoogle," Marie told them before the three of them boarded the elevator.
In the open sunlight, just outside of the quicksand, three scantily clad miqo'te women sang and danced for a crowd of onlooking men. For several malms, you could hear the pitter clinks of gil on cobblestone at sandaled feet, mingled in with hoots and hollers from eager men and women clad in turbans and light tunics of dark greens and blues to ward away the harsh sun. The Quicksand, itself, was much quieter and cooler. The round stone building blocked most of the noise from the outside, as it had two levels. The first was railed off, dotted with advertisements and cork boards with requests from the local merchants directed at adventurers who wanted more coin. A dunesfolk lalafell with red buns dressed with jewels and red eyes dressed in a white woolen shirt and pants sat behind one of the three counters. Although she had a pair of off duty brass blades at her counter, she still greeted the three ladies as they entered the quicksand before returning to her duties.
Marie ducked out to the postmoogle while Blake and Ruby sat across from each other. When a waiter asked their order, both of them ordered a mulled tea for themselves. One with extra honey for Ruby, and one without for Blake. The waiter reappeared with a deep red beverage piping hot with notes of ginger and cinnamon. Each sip was smooth and flavorful, although it would be better iced, Ruby noted. Blake, on the other hand, preferred her tea hot.
"So who do you think the three others are?" Blake asked Ruby in between sips.
Ruby paused, she looked down and away from her friend, "Do you want the honest answer, or the hopeful answer?"
Blake didn't hesitate, "Both, actually."
"Honestly, with our luck it'll probably be Cinder, Neo, and Tyrian," Ruby slumped in her chair, "But hopefully, it'll be the Happy Huntresses, or team JNR, or heck, maybe some random civilians that fell in when Cinder blasted them. Or even better, maybe Emerald fell so that maybe we could see if she was telling the truth about switching sides."
Blake quirked an eyebrow, "Not Weiss or Penny?"
"I'm hoping they made it to Vacuo. I trust Weiss to guard Penny. I know that they don't get along, but if Weiss can teach Penny how humans unlock their aura, I'm sure Penny will be combat ready even without her robot body," Ruby explained, she downed the last of her tea. The waiter happened to come around to check on them, and Ruby paid for a second round, as well as whatever else their two friends wanted when they arrived. Seeing the tension in Ruby's posture, Blake changed the subject. She decided to talk about rebuilding gambol shroud and crescent rose. The conversation seemed to perk Ruby back up as they swapped ideas back and forth. Their tea was soon forgotten.
"And obviously, he'll be so sharp you can cut a ribbon like this," Ruby swiped a hand down across Blake's face letting out a kung fu shout as she does, "And he'll be perfect!"
Blake chuckled, "I usually put a blade sharpener in the sheath so that he comes out sharp every time. In hindsight, I think that might've been what broke him last time."
"Sounds to me like you've gotten pretty sharp yourself in the last six months," a familiar voice startled Blake and Ruby out of the conversation. When the two looked over, Marie had rejoined them at the table, and right next to her was Yang.
Ruby nearly leapt out of her seat as she burst right into Yang's arms. Yang turned her chair and caught her sister in a tight embrace. Tears streaming from Ruby's eyes. Yang smiled and ruffled Ruby's hair
"It's been too long," Yang told her sister, "I missed you, but…Did you even make it to Vacuo?"
"No," Ruby answered sadly, "Cinder made darn sure we ended up falling."
Blake timidly rose from her seat and hugged Yang from behind, "I'm sorry that we failed," she fought back tears as she continued, "And…I'm sor-"
Yang looked up at her partner and pulled her down into a longing kiss. Blake felt shocks of heat throughout her body, but then she relaxed as the moment continued. For a moment, she forgot where she was as everything else blurred around her. Her hands found Yang's as she held them gently as if afraid that she'd float away from all of the ecstasy of their lips meeting in passion.
Ruby returned to her seat and finished her second serving of tea. She smiled as her two friends shared a tender moment. Ruby knew Yang wouldn't have been angry at either of them, but to see it confirmed filled Ruby's heart with even more joy.
Meanwhile, Marie smiled on the outside, but yet also was cursing Blake's luck on the inside. Her hopes that Yang was single had been in a bottle that she carelessly dropped, and now they were shattered while the liquid that was her lusty feelings seeped into the ground. Still, she felt a surge of happiness for them which overrode any feelings of jealousy she had. She also felt as if a great two tonze rock had been removed from her back to know that she wasn't the only woman in the world who appreciated other womenfolk.
When the girls broke their kiss, Blake sat down and the four of them resumed chatting. Somewhere in the midst of light conversation, Blake took a sip of her tea and retched. It had unfortunately gotten cold. Their conversations lasted well into the morning as the girls all caught up with one another.