Hello everyone, how are you doing? Not many things to say this week, chapter 23 is here. Hope you enjoy it! No matter what, thanks again for taking your time to read it!
The grey sand was wet and sticky under her boots. She had no idea what time it was, but the miasmatic cloud that surrounded the beach made it look like late afternoon nonetheless.
Bang! Bang!
She tugged herself in her coat and tried to take a better look of her surroundings. Even with her superior vision, however, she could only see dark water, and endless grey sand surrounded in fog.
Bang! Bang! Slash! Bang!
Blake kept on moving; she had managed to lose her weapons and backpack- a truly disastrous outcome. The only thing she could do right now is move forward, hoping she would find her team sooner or later.
Bang! SLASH! SLASH! Bang!
What the heck is that weird sound? She stopped and looked around once more. There was nothing except for- wait a minute, were these red dots in the mist always there?
Bang! Slash!
She moved backwards, feeling the adrenaline in her blood rise. The mist didn't follow; good. The last thing she now wanted was-
A powerful blow stuck her feet, throwing her on the ground. Blake activated her semblance- but to no avail. Strong arms grabbed her and pinned her helpless body on the grey sand.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
She gasped, seeing that she was slowly sinking into the mud. She tugged her head, slowly taking a view of her assailant. She saw a human form, with muscled arms and… a yellow monkey tail?
Bang!
WHAT WAS WITH THAT ACCURSED SOUND? Blake panicked. Her body started convulsing, her mouth opening wide as Sun pressed her face into the mud.
She tasted dirt and filth, but this mattered not in face of the feeling of her mind going into hyper drive. Something wet slapped her back- it would be disgusting if she was not so horrified.
Bang! BANG! BANG!
Dark water started running down her spine, as Sun pressed her even harder. She felt her midriff slowly break under the pressure, but she was sure her heart would stop before-
BANG! SLASH! BANG!
Blake opened her eyes and her first instinct was to turn around and vomit. She gushed down as much filth as her belly could hold, carefully spitting away all remains.
BANG! SLASH! BANG!
She raised her head. She was on the beach, the same dark fog and grey sand spreading everywhere. The remains of their ship were washed away on the shore around her.
She seemed to be lying on some sort of hastily made bedroll, next to her weapons- thank Dust. She had bandages at her arms and legs, her sweat-drenched body having turned them wet already.
BANG! BANG!
She stood up and looked at the source of the sound- Ruby was standing a few meters away from her, fending off some Creeps that were crawling to the shipwreck.
Blake grabbed Nightfall. Ruby would have no problem killing hordes of these things, but there was no reason for her not to help her friend.
BANG! BANG! SWOOSH! BANG! SLASH!
Apparently, of course, there was so little left for her to do. She only managed to take a couple down before Ruby killed the last and turned to face her.
"Are you ok?" she could see the worry and kindness in Ruby's words, but this didn't keep her from realizing how flat and emotionless her voice was.
"I am fine, thanks. What about you?" she asked back. "Creeps are no threat if you take them seriously" the nonchalant reply came.
"I see… sounds about right. So" she tried to change the subject "what happened here? I mean, it is obvious we are on Grimmwater, but what else do we know aside from that?"
Ruby twisted her lips in a thoughtful expression "I don't know much. After the explosion, I woke up in the beach. I walked for a while, spotted the shipwreck and decided to come and check."
"I see…" she showed her bandages "did you do this?" "Yes. I found you knocked out in the middle of the wreckage and did whatever I could to treat your burns. I also salvaged your weapons, but wasn't able to find your backpack."
The flat and mechanical way Ruby explained these was so out of place, it scared Blake as much as the possibility the creeps would have found her first. Despite that, though…
"Thanks Ruby" she smiled. "There is no need for that, truly. So, what's the problem?" the faunus raised an eyebrow "problem? What problem?"
"You were twitching and twisting around in your sleep. Plus, you puked when you woke up. That sounds like a horrible nightmare, if anything."
"Does it sound as horrible as waking up and using your semblance to crash into Weiss for example?" she stood firm. She had no problem telling her about this, but there were other things that needed to get straight before that.
"Or blowing up on your sister for getting worried about you?" she pressed on when she saw Ruby was not answering.
"Yes" the cold, flat tone shocked Blake. This… this thing in front of her, she had no idea what it was. For this emotionless empty husk was not Ruby. There was no way this empty, void stare belonged to her reading partner.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she spat the bile that rose again from her stomach and walked in front of the girl. "It means you are right- what I did was horrible" she stated.
"Ruby…please don't do that" Blake's eyes softened. "You don't have to deal with this on your own; you have us. You can always talk to us and you always did. What changed?"
The girl didn't break her stare. She simply let her lips slightly part in order to answer "I can't do that, Blake." The faunus' smile vanished. "What are you saying? What makes you think that?"
"Because you are happy" Blake's breath got caught in her throat. "You are living your lives; happy, fulfilled. You are living, Blake. I… am not."
"What are-" "I am merely existing" Ruby's voice dropped even more. "I tried my best to cover it; played games with you, hunted down Grimm, followed Alex and Albus in some trips.
But in the end… it was all for nothing. When I saw the footage of this girl carrying Jaune away… I broke. I broke, Blake! I was around you all, and I felt so weak… so lonely!"
"But you are here! You are trying to do things right!" "And for what reason? So that I can get him back to that hospital bed, plug him in the machines and pretend that his life will get better?"
Blake gasped, finally realizing what was going on. She knew what Ruby was thinking. She knew, because it sounded familiar. Dreadfully familiar.
She grabbed the brunette's shoulders, bringing their faces close. "Don't do this, do you hear me? Don't let despair overcome you Ruby! You are the strongest, most valiant person I have ever known! You can do this!"
"I can't…" "You can! Don't go to that place, Ruby! I have been there; it is not where you should be. It is ugly, filled in despair and sorrow! It makes you feel your worst nightmares! It makes you think moving forward is pointless!"
"I can't… move anymore…" "You can! You, Weiss and Yang made me move forward until Sun got out of the hospital! You pulled me out of my misery! I will not let you do the same thing that nearly took me down to yourself!"
Ruby moved her hands to remove Blake's from her shoulders and suddenly stopped after grabbing them. "Blake…you are trembling."
"Huh?" the faunus stopped, her brain finally catching up with the effects of her outburst. Her entire body was shaking, her arms the most, as she could feel her heart in overdrive, trying its best to stop the adrenaline rush that hit her.
"You… are having an episode again... oh my Dust… what am I doing?" the younger girl's voice rose to her normal high pitch, but she didn't process it.
Her attention was drawn to herself. Trying to focus on calming down, Blake closed her eyes and took deep breaths. Why now of all times, darn it!
She felt a soothing sensation, as Ruby's fingers gently rubbed her palms. "Follow my voice, Blake… inhale…exhale…"
The interaction went on for a few minutes, before the faunus finally relaxed and opened her eyes. "That was so pathetic" she humorously said "I was supposed to comfort you, not the opposite."
"The pathetic one here is me" Ruby replied. "I have all of you worried so much… I even caused you an episode" the faunus couldn't suppress a smile of her own as she met her leader's eyes and saw the old glint playing along the gunmetal orbs.
They went back and gathered their belongings, Blake seeing that the brunette had her entire equipment and backpack intact.
"Even in the middle of despair, however, you were there to help me with my seizure. You can wallow in self-pity as much as you want, but you can't change who you are, Ruby."
The girl nodded, a little more vividly than before. "I will admit; seeing you having a breakdown because of my stupidity brought me back to my senses a little. Thanks Blake; sorry for acting like a moron."
She moved next to the girl and gently ruffled her hair "I am the last person you need to apologize to for acting stupid. And I am here, for everything you need."
"I may take you up on that" she looked up onto the sky, where lightning had started to crackle "after we find some shelter that is."
-ο—
Yang was genuinely pissed. Her entire body hurt like hell. She was sure the whole explosion thing had given her a few more marks of honor- thankfully not in her face.
She spat on the ground. This seriously sucked. She had lost her equipment, got washed ashore in this grey and foggy beach and was severely hungry.
Worst of all, she had no idea where the others were! Her eyes were in the verge of color shifting every single passing moment. The creeps she dispatched earlier didn't help against that.
The scenery was the same, no matter how much she walked. Grey sand, a few meters of dark sea, huge rocks that she had to climb again and again. And beyond all these, a misty veil hampered her vision.
She cursed under her breath as she climbed down another huge granite shard. Keep moving by the beach she kept telling herself. At some point you will-
Yang's train of thought was halted as she saw a petite silhouette closing up on her through the wet curtain. Her heart fluttered and her anger dissipated; she could recognize this lithe figure everywhere in the world.
"Weiss!" she shouted as she ran closer, the beautiful features of her girlfriend becoming clearer as she closed the distance between them.
"STOP!" Yang's merry charge got halted by the woman's scream, combined with Myrtenaster pointed at the blonde's direction.
Yang slowed down, visibly confused. She took a better look at her; despite the multitude of burns, she seemed pretty fine. Nothing her aura couldn't work on with some rest. She had even managed to save her backpack.
"Baby? What are you doing?" Weiss didn't even flinch. "Prove me right now that you are Yang" she fiercely said. "Are you serious?" the tall girl rolled her eyes.
"Take one more step without proving me you are the woman I love, and I will show you how serious I am" the reply came fast. Too fast.
Yang shot a quick glance; Weiss eyes were intense, but slightly trembling. Her stance was a bit shaky and she was biting her lower lip. She must be forcing herself too hard to not give in. Stupid Snowflake.
The blonde sighed and then donned a cocky smile as she raised her arms and started walking again. "What are you doing?" Weiss took one step backwards. "I will seriously hit you!"
Yang just kept walking "If beating me will make you feel better, go on. I can't prove anything to you at this point, so-" The petite girl cut her off by jumping on her.
Taking her by surprise, she grabbed her coat's collar and crashed her lips on Yang's, pushing her with all the might she could muster- a lot more than one would expect.
The surprise lasted for a mere second and soon the tall girl found herself holding Weiss' thin waist as she opened her mouth. The ex-heiress' nails scratched her nape, earning a moan from the blonde as their tongues came into contact.
Weiss sucked Yang's lips one final time, before she pulled away, gasping "I… think… that's enough for now." Yang, still holding the other girl in her arms, nodded licking her lips "yeah… let's not get too carried away."
They gave a tender peck at each other's lips and then Weiss nuzzled her face in her lover's neck. "I am so happy you are fine" she whispered.
"So much for acting touch before" the humorous reply came. "Shut up- I have every right to be suspicious." Yang chuckled "what if I truly was someone else, bluffing at you?"
"Oh come on. Nobody else would make such a terrible pun in this situation." Yang's eyes narrowed down at her "what pun?"
Weiss looked back at the girl. She then shot a glance towards Myrtenaster, before turning back at her girlfriend. Lilac orbs shot open wide, cyan blue following suit.
"It wasn't intended?" a low-tone scream echoed in the shore. "I am getting worried, sweetie." Weiss averted her face "so do I. for different reasons."
"Anyway" the tall girl decided to change the subject towards something a lot more important "we have to get going. Rubes and Blake must be somewhere around here."
Weiss nodded and broke the hug. "I tried using my scroll, but there seems to be no signal. Even though in your case, lack of signal is the least of our problems" she scolded her, giving her a ration bar.
"Have I ever mentioned I love you?" Yang took a huge bite. It was dry, stale and tasted horrible. It was exactly what she needed.
"Lots of times. In lots of places. And in a lot of ways" Weiss winked at her, before tossing her backpack behind her shoulder. "How long have you been walking?"
"Qcuite schome time, whye?" the blonde chewed before gulping down. "I didn't walk at all, which means we have more chances to find them if we go this way" she pointed towards the area behind her.
"Sounds reasonable. Let's go." They both started moving, slowly trailing through the grey sand, trying to not get away from the coast.
Far above the dense cloud covering them, the sound of thunder filled the sky, as if welcoming the huntresses in the cursed island.
And inside the fog, gleaming red eyes watched their hapless prey, moving unseen in their natural habitat. The predators of Grimmwater welcomed their new prey, silently cackling under the cover of the upcoming storm.