Here's chapter 28, everyone.
"Here." Lazuria threw Raven her weapon when she picked it up out of the snow she hid it in. "Didn't feel like hiding it in the cave, and before you complain about how cold it is, don't."
Raven rolled her eyes, keeping her sheathed weapon on its holster. "Why hide it in the first place?"
"Can't be too careful." Lazuria replied. "Say I had it on my person, you could easily take it back from me and strike me down."
"Didn't you literally give me your name and showed me your back not a bit ago?" Raven questioned, wondering how this woman made any sense.
"I didn't know you yet, not your name or your connection to Willow." Her mask muffled her voice a bit as she kept a close watch for anyone around.
Raven noticed how she was looking around, so she scanned the area as well. "If this marked thing or whatever you call it will be an issue out here, tell me right now. Willow is out here and she isn't about to defend herself that well."
Lazuria tensed up a bit. "They wouldn't target her… So hurry and leave. You don't need to be here any longer."
"At least explain what marked means, then I'll go." Raven continued pressing on.
The masked woman sighed. "Marked by The Relentless is a death sentence." Her voice was weaker than before, years of being marked finally beginning to catch up to her. "You get marked, you lose the life you once had."
Raven had no clue who the group was. No records were known of them, at least any she had read. "Okay, so if you're being hunted, then why not kill the ones who marked you?"
Lazuria chuckled darkly. "You don't think I haven't done that…"
"How are they tracking you?" Raven questioned.
"Enough questions. I'm tired and hungry." Lazuria said, walking forward and away from Raven. "Go to Willow, and do NOT tell her about me."
"And if I do?" Raven asked, not backing down.
"Then I won't be the only one considered hunted." Lazuria turned around and said in a low tone, growling a bit to get her point across, but Raven wasn't phased by it, so she clenched her fists. "I have no other options besides begging…" The white haired marked woman got on her knees and bowed, showing how serious she was.
Raven was taken aback by that and she sighed, walking over and pulling the woman up. "Get up." With Lazuria back on her feet, Raven continued. "Can you at least say why I shouldn't talk to her about this?"
Lazuria held her arm, squeezing it like she had something to hide, but she couldn't if it meant Raven telling Willow about her. "She lives a better life without me around… A safer one, and her daughter as well."
"Daughter? Which one?" Raven inquired.
"It… Look, please just don't tell her." Lazuria pleaded.
Raven couldn't tell, but her eyes were pleading as well behind the wolf mask. "If what you're saying is true and she'll be safer without you… Then fine. You have my word that she won't know you were out here."
Lazuria felt relieved and she nodded. "Thank you… Now… If you want to know more about The Marked, and The Relentless, don't just stick to fairy tales." With that, she turned and ran off before the huntress could do or say anything else.
"Ugh… More shit to deal with another day I guess." Raven said, annoyed a bit at what had transpired, but felt something, like an urge to figure out what was happening with this woman she had met.
"The Marked, her… And The Relentless, who I assume are the ones after her. There has to be more of those Marked people out there if an entire group was formed and kept hidden."
Her thoughts on the matter started to annoy the huntress even more so, making her wish she could've just ignored the wolf, but she knew she couldn't.
"Maybe I should just call her." Willow said to herself since Raven still hadn't returned. As she reached over to grab her scroll, she glanced over at the window and saw the huntress walking over. "Or I could wait literally seconds."
Raven walked in, shivering a bit from being outside so long. "Don't ask."
Willow blinked a few times, not knowing why her trainer looked irritated. "Um, okay? Do you want anything to eat at least? You were out there for awhile."
"Stop trying to get around asking the question." Raven grumbled as she sat near the campfire. "And yes, I'm hungry, but after your attempts at making a fire-."
"Not once will you let me live that down!" Willow exclaimed.
"I won't, no, but you've only been able to make like, two or three things in this cabin that's even passable for edibility." Raven reminded.
Willow huffed and held her hands on her hips in an offended manner. "Because what you have is bare minimum at best. I can't work with this!" She whined.
"What? Too used to the luxurious cuisine of the Schnee Manor?" Raven smirked, making Willow seeth. "Or is it the butlers? Should I go and hire one for you, Mrs. Schnee?" Her mocking voice was on point to how a butler would speak with her.
"Raven… Branwen…" Willow clenched her fists and stomped over as she stood above the sitting woman.
"Willow Schnee." Raven kept on firing back.
"One more word, and I kick you into that fireplace…" Willow threatened, her right eye twitching a bit in anger as Raven held her arms up in defense.
"Okay, okay. Don't get all twitchy on me." Raven said, standing up and stretching a bit as Willow took a step back. "Look, take what you can get in here. It's not like I stocked this place up all that much. Hell the water I give you to drink is some I just fill up from the lakes."
"W-What?!" Willow exclaimed and wanted to spit out any of the water she had drank in that time, but it wasn't exactly possible.
Raven raised an eyebrow. "You didn't really complain about it when you drank some, so I don't see the problem here, or do you have problems with drinking a fish's home?"
"Raven!" Willow shouted as the two women began to bicker back and forth.
The next few days seemed to go by well for Team RWBY. Blake did her best to not cause any tension between her and Weiss, but did keep her distance still. It was the best the white haired teen would get from her till the recently discovered Faunus would even think about speaking with her.
"Hey, Blake." Ruby greeted as she stepped into their dorm room. "Where were you after class? I was hoping you coulda been with us to try out this really, really could idea I had."
Blake looked over from her bed at her team leader, not one to speak with her as much as she would Yang since they first formed the team. "Oh, I just, felt like coming back here is all. What idea?"
"Team attacks names!" Ruby proudly cheered, while Blake raised an eyebrow in response. "Now hear me out. On the field, we'll need more than just me calling out to one of you guys to team up with another to do something really cool, right? So I feel like it'll be waaaaaaay easier to just have team attack names we can memorize."
"Hmm." The cat Faunus sat on the edge of her bed, actually agreeing in mind with her team leader. "That could work, though shouldn't we work on the attack coordination itself before trying to think of names?" A thought about having to coordinate an attack with Weiss entered her mind for a split second.
"Duh." Ruby let out a smile, giddy with excitement at the idea. "So, do you wanna try and get Weiss and Yang to come with us to start working on that?"
Blake knew her answer already, but since Ruby was the only one on the team who had no clue she and Weiss had difficulties with each other, she didn't know if she could give her that answer. "I-I don't know. I was hoping to just-."
"Ruby!" Weiss shouted as she walked into the dorm, making her partner yelp. "What did I say about using your semblance in the halls?! You left all those rose petals on the ground, you dunce."
Blake looked away, using that as an excuse to get away from Ruby's request, while the team leader chuckled nervously. "S-Sorry, Weiss. I was just really excited, and besides, my rose petals disappear after a bit."
"Ugh, you still left me in the hallway with it." Weiss complained as she glanced over at Blake, who wasn't looking back at her, so she sighed a bit and looked back at Ruby. "Why did you even run off anyways?"
"I was reaaaalllly wanting to ask Blake about our team attack talk." Ruby answered, and Weiss had a feeling the cat Faunus, she only knew was a cat Faunus, would even want to participate.
"Well you should be patient about that, Ruby." Weiss said as she walked over to one of the drawers. "Besides," She decided to give the cat Faunus an out. "I'd rather we take a break today. Last few days have been a lot of training, wouldn't you say?"
Ruby pouted. "Awwww, but team attacks, Weiss!"
"What did I say about whining, Ruby? It won't get you what you want." Weiss repeated the words her sister told her all those years ago.
"Ugh, fine, but what else would we do today?" Ruby asked.
"Well, it's still early enough in the day to go to Vale if you'd like." Weiss suggested, but when Yang walked in, they noticed how excited the blonde looked.
"Ruby!" Yang shouted and ran up to her sister, pulling her into a hug that surprised all three of the girls in the room. "You are not gonna believe who's here!"
As she was being suffocated by her sister's bear hug, Ruby attempted to pull away for air. "Can't… Breathe… Weiss… Help…"
Weiss rolled her eyes and walked over, prying the blonde off of her sister. "Yang, you seriously need to learn not to smother people."
"Don't blame me for this one, ice wolf." Yang grinned. "I'm way too excited to care, and trust me, you're gonna be just as happy when I tell you who I ran into."
Ruby started getting more interested as she gasped for some air. "W-Who was… It?"
"Hmm. Nope. You need to see for yourself. You too, ice wolf." Yang said, winking at Weiss, who just rolled her eyes at her. "Trust me, it'll be way better to show than tell."
"Fine, but this better be worth the time, you oaf." Weiss replied.
"It will." Yang assured as she looked over at her partner. "Wanna tag along with us, Blake?"
The cat Faunus turned to face her, since she was still doing her best to avoid looking at Weiss. "Um, well I was-."
"Blake wanted to just relax today, Yang." Weiss defended, knowing she was covering for her teammate. "And you said Ruby and I would be the ones who should see whoever it is you ran into."
"Hey, I was just thinking it would be nice to have the whole team there is all." Before Yang could continue, Blake got out of bed and on her feet.
"It's fine." Blake responded, getting her team's full attention. "Where is it we need to go anyways?"
"Oh, uh, well we kinda have to wait a bit before we can see them." Yang answered, getting an eyebrow raise from the white haired teen.
"Them?"
"Mhmm, but still not telling." Yang smirked and walked with her team out of their dorm. "You still gotta wait a little longer, but it's sooooo gonna be worth it."
Weiss shrugged, not wanting to argue with the blonde, so as they walked down the hall together, Blake kept to the back, taking in how Weiss tried covering for her on two occasions.
She figured it was to keep what she wanted preserved. A team that wouldn't fight amongst each other, so she would play along with it. Still, for Blake, her right leg tingled with a feeling she was all too familiar with.
As they got outside, Weiss and Ruby looked around, wondering if they would see the people who Yang was teasing. "You said we'd need to wait, but then you bring us outside. Any reason for that?"
Yang chuckled at Weiss' question since she knew the girl wanted answers quick, even though she did just scold Ruby on being patient. "They told me they'd meet us outside. Besides, you like the fresh air."
A cool breeze that came into contact with Weiss did make her sigh a bit. "Yes… That is true." She looked over at the tree she and Ruby sat against the other day and smiled.
"Come on." Ruby grabbed her hand, knowing Weiss wanted to get back to that spot, so she gave her a grin, making her white haired friend nod in return.
Yang brought her hands up and folded them on the back of her head. "I won't ask you to come and sit, but the offer does stand." She said to Blake without turning to her, but before she could walk over and join her sister and close friend, Blake stopped her.
"You and Weiss, and of course Ruby too, all care about being a team…" Blake commented and took a breath. "So I wouldn't be doing the right thing if I kept myself away from it."
Yang let out a smile at her words. "I mean, I wasn't gonna say it… Buuuuuut, yeah, I think you phrased it well enough for me." She offered her hand to Blake. "Let's go then."
That warmth again. It radiated in Blake's heart as she hesitated for a moment, but after thinking about how excited Ruby was earlier about getting her to join them for team attacks, how Weiss covered for her, and how Yang was at that point offering her hand to her, it was enough to accept the blonde's hand. "Yeah."
And more info on what Lazuria is dealing with, as well as Raven now being involved in some way. I didn't have much to say on this chapter besides their interaction, so the Team RWBY part was more set up for the next chapter and who shows up.
To JJ- With Lazuria, she won't want to talk to Willow for a while, seeing as she doesn't want to get her involved with the problems she's dealing with. And yeah, the team is getting closer, though it's easier here since Ruby and Yang have already known Weiss for years.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 28. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 29.