Vengeance Is My Name
Chapter Eight
"That almost didn't seem real." Yang muttered, quickening her pace to fall in line beside Blake.
"How do you mean?"
Yang glanced at her. "Two inexperienced fighters against two soldiers? If I were a paranoid type, I'd say that was almost too easy and convenient."
Blake shrugged. "Never underestimate the value of the element of surprise." Golden eyes glanced up at Yang.
"Thank you, by the way." Blake said. "For helping. It's not your fight, which is why I hid you, but I appreciate your assistance. I couldn't have done it without you."
Yang shrugged, her conflicting emotions warring with each other inside her head.
"I couldn't let anything happen to you." She muttered quietly.
"Because I'm your losing streak." Blake smiled.
Yang smirked briefly, glad for a bit of humor to temporarily lift her spirits.
"Because you're my losing streak." She agreed.
Blake glanced down at Yang's hand, raising an eyebrow.
"Taken the girl's sword as a souvenir?" Blake asked.
Yang looked down at her hands, noticing for the first time that she was still clutching the redhead's sword.
"Err... I guess I never dropped it."
"You'd do well to keep it. Rocks won't win all the time."
Yang chuckled despite the situation, unsure of what to do with the sword now that she'd been made aware of it.
"Besides, " Blake continued, "It would be nice to have someone to train against. That fight was a fluke, and I don't think we'll ever get that lucky again."
"You're committed now, eh?" Yang asked, sobering up as she realized that Blake had taken a life in her quest to find her girlfriend.
Blake immediately picked up on what Yang meant.
"I won't stop until I'm dead." Blake affirmed. "I'll pile the bodies higher than the tallest mountains until I find Weiss, or until I'm struck down myself."
Yang shook her head.
"There's still time for you to back out." Blake said quietly. "You haven't killed anyone. This isn't your fight. Run away. I wouldn't blame you."
Yang tilted her head back and turned her eyes up to the afternoon sky.
"And miss all the action? I wouldn't dream of it."
Blake nodded, extending her right hand toward Yang.
"If you're serious, then it would be an honor."
Yang hesitated for just a moment, before looking into serious, solemn amber eyes. Seeing the conviction reflected in them, she couldn't help herself. Yang reached out and took her hand, clutching it tightly.
"Let's do it, then."
"Do you need help changing your bandage?" Yang asked as she flopped upon the ground.
Blake shook her head.
"No, I should be fine on my own."
Yang nodded, suppressing a yawn.
They had traveled off the beaten path, fear of retaliation forcing them to abandon their route. After an hour of travelling, Blake had suddenly started cursing, saying that they had messed up. They should have taken the time to dump the bodies in the river and made an attempt to clean up the scene of the fight.
The horses had taken off in a fright at the first clash of a blade, so they were of little consequence unless they wandered back into town. But the bodies were very visible, and very recognizable. Anyone who reported them would be able to identify them, and that meant that the mission they were on would be known.
It would be obvious that Blake and Yang were the murderers.
Yang, for her part, had done her best to try to calm Blake down, but she was having none of it. Instead, Yang had resigned herself to listening to Blake freak out, listening to the distraught girl as a small part of her realized that although she hadn't directly murdered anyone, as it was likely the redhead was fine, she was still an accomplice to murder, and probably ten other different charges that the Rose Army could levy against her if they were caught.
That realization did the knot of nervousness in her stomach no favours, and she suppressed the thought in favor of trying to find a way out of their current predicament.
In reality, there was no easy solution. They were fugitives, on the run from the Rose Army, which was aligned with the Winchesters, of whom they were trying to sabotage a wedding.
Yang sighed in exasperation.
How quickly her adventure had unraveled.
"Want to spar a bit before we stop to bathe?"
Yang was shaken from her thoughts as Blake's voice reached her ears. Blinking her thoughts away, she raised her head to look at Blake, who was holding her sword tightly in her hand.
Glancing down to the sword that she had taken from the redhead, Yang took a moment to process the request before looking back up at Blake inquisitively.
"Really? Me? I don't know the first thing about fighting with a sword."
"All the more reason to learn, and sooner the better." Blake said.
Yang thought about it for a moment, before relenting.
"I suppose, when you put it like that." Yang agreed. Pushing herself to her feet, she pulled the sword up into the closest approximation of a stance she could think of, hoping she didn't look too foolish. Stepping to the side, she put some distance between herself and her pack that lay on the ground, lest it become a tripping hazard.
"Whenever you're ready." Yang spoke.
Blake wasted no time in dashing forward, slashing her sword sideways in an attack that Yang barely got her sword twisted around in time to block, her pulse skyrocketing as she wondered what Blake's plan was if she hadn't reacted in time.
The sword vibrated painfully in her hands as Blake's blade clanged off it, and the noise rung loudly in her ears.
Yang had barely recovered before Blake was pressing the attack, broadcasting her moves with exaggerated swings and slow motions that nonetheless Yang still had trouble reacting to, every iota of her being dedicated to reacting as best she could and simply surviving Blake's bladed onslaught.
Yang backpedaled vigorously, allowing Blake to press the advantage as she desperately sought an opening. Eventually, however, Yang began to notice a pattern to Blake's attacks, and slowly, Yang began to set herself up.
When Blake rose her sword over her head in preparation for a mighty downward strike, sweat beading on her forehead from the effort, Yang raised her sword as if to block, even as she slid her left foot out a bit further than necessary to give herself room to work.
As Blake's sword came slicing down through the air, Yang dropped her sword low, hopping to the right.
As she had hoped, Blake stumbled on by, fully expecting her sword to meet Yang's and having no way to recover when the force of her strike met empty air and carried her tumbling to the ground.
Yang snickered as she lowered her sword, advancing slowly on the girl with her face in the dirt.
"Looks like you got too carried away, Bl-"
Yang was cut off as Blake rolled over, sitting up and whipping her arm out, sword in hand. Yang leaned back as the tip of the blade narrowly missed her nose, caught off guard as Blake pushed herself to her feet.
"Whoa, little close for comfort, there." Yang laughed nervously as she stepped back, bringing her sword up once more to defend against Blake.
Blake didn't rush the attack, however. Raising her free hand, she taunted Yang, beckoning her to come closer.
"As you wish." Yang shrugged. Stepping forward, she lead with a messy stab. It was easily knocked aside by Blake's sword, and countered by an upward swing that just missed Yang, causing the blonde to curse and take another step back.
Blake surveyed her with a guarded stare, and Yang, not waiting for Blake to decide on a move, swung her sword from left to right in a backhanded swing.
Blake brought her sword up to block it instead of evading, and it was exactly what Yang was hoping for as she leaned into the strike with all of her might.
Their swords met with a mighty clash, the brute force of Yang's strike wrenching Blake's weapon from her hand. It tore from her grasp and spun into the dirt some distance away, the evening sun glinting off it's marred surface.
"My win." Yang declared, leveling her sword at Blake's face imperiously.
Scowling, Blake reached up and shoved the blade away with the flat of her palm, making her way toward her sword to retrieve it from the dirt.
"Didn't that Rose Army soldier knock your sword from your hand as well?" Yang asked curiously, spinning her sword around with a flourish before ramming the point into the earth at her side.
"He did." Blake replied stonily, carefully wiping off her blade before returning it to its sheath.
"Have you got weak wrists or something?"
Blake's only reply was a haughty glare, earning a burst of laughter from Yang.
"Well, no matter. We'll keep practicing, and with any luck, our skill will improve faster than we can find ourselves in trouble."
"Whatever." Blake's tone was sour. "If you'll take first watch, I'm going to go bathe."
Yang nodded, placing her hand upon the handle of her sword. Pulling it from the dirt, she laid it across her shoulders before making her way over to her pack. Carefully sitting down beside it, she laid her sword down on the ground at her side before turning back to Blake.
"Don't be too long, and let me know if you need help with your wound."
Blake waved off the offered help, gathering a few things before making her way to the forests edge.
"I won't be long."
With that, she disappeared silently into the brush.
Blake wasn't sure what to think.
Slowly she untied her bandanna, letting it fall to the ground as she flicked her ears free. Instantly they flitted this way and that before settling on listening behind her.
When she was sure that she was alone, and that Yang wasn't trouncing after her, she stripped off the rest of her clothes.
Far from a rushing river, the small lake she'd found her way to was less than ideal. Her every instinct told her to turn away from still-standing water, knowing full well what kind of diseases it could carry.
Still though, she was filthy, and trace amounts of blood could be seen underneath her fingernails. She stunk so badly she couldn't stand herself, and she was willing to risk getting sick for the opportunity to cleanse herself.
Now naked, her ears twitched self-consciously as she waded into the water, sharp eyes scanning the depths beneath the surface for hidden dangers as she tried to ignore the cold water against her sensitive skin.
Her feet encountered only soft sand and slippery rocks, however, and she moved deeper into the water until it covered her chest.
Unwilling to move in any further, she hesitated for only a moment before sucking in a large breath. Pinching her nose closed and squeezing her eyes shut, she dunked her head below the surface of the water, reaching down blindly with her free hand until her fingers clawed against the ground.
Scooping up a handful of sand and rocks, she surfaced, blowing out a loud breath and flicking her head back to get her wet hair out of her face.
Flicking the water from her ears, she shook her head to clear the water from her eyes before bringing the handful of sand up to her arms.
Using the wet sand as an abrasive, she scrubbed it against her skin, repeatedly dunking herself both to rinse off and collect more sand as it slipped through her fingers.
After some time she deemed herself sufficiently clean. Only then, with her task accomplished, did she bother to stop and look around.
As her eyes took in the surreal beauty of the forest surrounding her, she found herself getting lost within her thoughts.
It seemed like she had dove headfirst into a suicidal battle. While she had spoken brave words in the safety of Sun's bookstore, that day seemed so far away in comparison to the stark reality of what she had to face now.
Now, she had to back up her words of bravado, her desire to show Weiss that she truly would do anything for her.
It was terrifying, and that in itself was hard to admit.
It was terrifying to be in this fight alone, against what could possibly be the entirety of the Rose Army, and of course, the Winchesters.
Well... not entirely alone.
There was Yang.
Blake glanced over her shoulder at the way she had come, back toward the clearing where they'd stopped to rest.
Back to where Yang waited patiently for her.
Yang was a part of this now, and by her own volition.
That thought was scary too. Blake couldn't figure out why the blonde would agree to such a thing. Willfully endangering yourself for the sake of a stranger... it didn't make sense.
Surely there was something she was missing?
Blake raised a hand to rub thoughtfully at her chin, her eyes falling to the gently rippling surface of the lake.
Her other hand disappeared beneath the surface to rub at her tender belly, fingers idly tracing the puckered stitches that held her ripped flesh together.
Yang didn't make sense. Her desire to travel with Blake didn't make sense. Her selflessness didn't make one bit of sense.
Amidst the thoughts of Yang and the possibility that the blonde had secret, ulterior motives, she also remembered the way Yang had so carefully, gently, tended to her wounds.
The conflicting thoughts left her more confused than ever, and with uncertainty and fear slowly festering in the corners of her mind, Blake hauled herself from the water and began drying herself off.
It didn't take long, and before Blake was aware of it, she found herself padding softly back toward Yang.
She still didn't know what to think of the blonde, that much was sure, but her focus was singular, her goal clear. She would take whatever help she could get on that front, and not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Reaching up to make sure her bandanna was snug around her head, she stepped into the clearing, intentionally aiming for a small twig on the ground that cracked beneath her boot, alerting Yang to her presence.
"Ah, you've returned!" Yang glanced over her shoulder from where she was sitting, sword in her lap as she slowly ran a cloth along the length of the blade. Blake smirked at the sight, plodding over to sit some distance away from Yang.
"Thought you had no interest in swords?" Blake asked quietly.
Yang shrugged, glancing down at the sword in her lap.
"Well, I cleaned it up a bit and it's actually a really nice weapon. That girl must've been ranked higher than just a foot soldier, because foot soldiers don't have swords this nice."
Blake's amber eyes fell to the weapon, and she studied it with mild interest. The blade was hollow ground, the concave surfaces gleaming in the sunlight. Although the edges carried their share of nicks and gouges, proving it a battle-worn blade, there was no sign of misuse or abuse. The cross guard was nearly devoid of any damage, although what that said about the previous owner's fighting style, Blake wasn't sure. The grip was wrapped in a dark brown leather, secured with a single bronze colored rivet near the pommel. The pommel itself was devoid of any design or embellishment, save for a single set of initials; P.N.
"I suppose we should feel remorse for what we did, but in the end, they attacked us, right?"
Yang looked up at Blake as she spoke, trying her best to justify the guilt tearing through her.
Blake nodded slowly. "It wasn't our fault. We do what we must to survive. They wanted to kill us."
Yang copied Blake's gesture, eyes falling to those initials again. It was either the enemy's lives or their own. Yang knew that. But it still felt so wrong somehow...
Clutching the grip tightly in her hand, Yang gently pulled the sword off her lap and set it aside. Slowly pushing herself to her feet, Yang hooked a thumb over her shoulder in the direction that Blake had come.
"My turn for a bath. Water's that way?"
Blake nodded. "Don't drink it." She warned.
Yang offered a tiny smile, before turning on her heel.
"I'll keep that in mind. See you soon, Blake."
As Yang stepped into the forest, Zwei, who had been laying down nearby, hopped up excitedly, tail wagging back and forth. Yang, however, waved him off.
"Stay here, boy. Keep Blake company so she doesn't get lonely."
Yang barely heard Blake's snort of disgust over Zwei's whine, but the dog listened nonetheless, padding over to flop down on the ground next to Blake.
"Gross... " Blake whined.
Yang laughed. "I won't be long."
Yang carefully picked her way through the brush, noting that the vegetation got thicker and the ground got slightly more springy and damp underfoot as she went along. Knowing she must be going the right way, she stepped over a large fern-looking plant and onto a shallow bank.
Eyes cavorting over the water in front of her, she stood stock still for a moment as her ears listened for any type of sound.
Hearing nothing, she began to undress.
"What's our next move?" Yang asked, lifting her eyes from the crackling fire in front of her to gaze at Blake across from her. The shifting firelight danced across Blake's features and turned her normally hard yellow eyes into twin pools of soft, shimmering gold.
Blake looked up from the fire as if startled back to reality, meeting Yang's gaze. Yang suppressed a shiver as she tried to ignore just how beautiful the girl appeared at this moment, choosing instead to focus on what Blake was about to say.
"We keep pressing on." Blake's voice was low, almost feral, and Yang's fingers tightened involuntarily in Zwei's fur, the dog heaving a sigh but otherwise paying her no mind.
What the hell is wrong with me tonight? Yang tore her eyes away from Blake, glancing down instead at the dog sprawled across her lap. She slowly released Zwei's fur, forcing her hand to resume the slow, methodical petting that had lulled him into a relaxed stupor.
"Tomorrow we should reach the next city. We'll have to keep a low profile-" Blake turned her glare from the fire to Yang- "No waving over the guards in this city."
Yang winced, raising a hand helplessly. "Sorry."
Blake's expression softened. "We'll get what we need and get out. On to the next town. I'd like to say I have a big, elaborate plan, but the truth is, I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. So we'll take it one day at a time, and do the best we can."
Yang nodded slowly. "Alright, then." She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand, before shaking her head.
"Bed time?" She asked, glancing up at Blake.
Blake met her gaze for a moment, before shaking her head.
"You go for it. I'll stay up and take first watch."
"Is that really necessary?" Yang asked softly, gently pushing the dog off her lap and stretching out beside him.
Blake shrugged. "Considering the only thing we have to lose is our lives, I'm willing to err on the side of caution."
Yang hummed quietly. "Fair enough. You'll wake me when you get tired, though?"
Blake nodded slowly. "Sure."
Yang patted the ground beside her head, and Zwei tilted his head at her. She patted the ground again, and he relented, laying down in the dirt before resting his head on his paws.
Scooting over, Yang laid her head down on his side, giggling as his coarse fur tickled her nose.
"G'night Blake." Yang stared at her from across the fire, smiling when Blake turned her distant, amber eyes to her.
"Goodnight Yang. See you in the morning."
Closing her eyes, thoughts of Blake filled Yang's mind unbidden as she closed her eyes, unable to get the beautiful raven-haired girl out of her mind.