Here's chapter 88, everyone.
"Kuroyuri? What about it?" Blake asked as Weiss held her scroll a little tighter.
"I know of a way we can go there without involving anyone from Beacon, since Yang pointed out that if someone tries to stop us from going, JNPR won't be able to have us there for backup." Weiss explained.
Blake wasn't completely following at that point, seeing as she wasn't informed that no one should be told of their little trip. "Who would stop us from just taking an airship?"
"Our parents, Ozpin, anyone that would have the common sense to keep eight first year students from going to a rundown town that was recently trampled by several Grimm." Weiss listed off. "We have to go there without anyone knowing, outside of us, and this one person who I know that can help us get there."
Hearing that made Blake groan. "I kind of already told my parents that I'd be going."
Weiss was surprised by that, but couldn't blame Blake there. "Oh… I guess that isn't too bad though. Seeing as it doesn't sound like they'd stop you."
"They won't, but I promised them I'd be careful, so if even for a second I feel like we all need to run, I'll drag you all away myself if I have to." Blake stated.
"You're not the only one who would do that." Weiss agreed, but she still looked a little upset with what Blake told her. "Look, we can talk more about this later… I still need to speak with the person who can help us get there… And… You, I just want to know you'll tell Ruby what you told me."
Blake nodded. "I will, and Weiss, about what I said," She took a breath. "I want you to know I have no intentions of ever going back to them. It was a mistake and-."
"Enough, Blake." Weiss ordered. "I'm still not happy that you kept this from us, but I have no reason to believe you'd join those people again."
"You don't?" Weiss shook her head at the question.
"Clearly not, seeing as I'm not about to report you for this," Weiss explained. "But that doesn't mean I'm ready to look past this either. You were still with them, and… And I don't know if you did things that directly affected my family, but now isn't the time to talk about this."
Blake's ears drooped, and she knew Weiss was right. They had to prepare themselves for their trip to Kuroyuri. "Okay… I'll find a good time to tell Ruby too. I promise."
Weiss nodded and walked past her. "Alright… I'll be making that call now." She walked far enough away from Blake to make the call in privacy.
Not a moment later, Blake's saddened expression was back and she went back inside of the school.
"The White Fang…" Weiss clenched her fist, more so hurt that another person in her life had kept something that important from her, though that anger subsided when she realized what she was about to do, so she let out a somber chuckle. "I'm such a hypocrite…"
Willow was sighing to herself as she was getting ready to leave, and with Summer with her, the Blacksmith knew her friend was a little distressed about something. "Hey, you know you can talk to me about what's bugging you."
"There's a lot on my mind, Summer… From telling Weiss about her birth Mother, and how I just want my son to break away from his Father, and not to mention the deal I made with Raven." Willow groaned and laid down on her side, clutching the bed sheets. "I have no one else to blame but myself."
Summer sat next to her and rubbed her shoulder a few times. "Don't say that, silly. You're not the one who's causing any problems for your son, and you know that your little Snowflake is doing a lot better after you told her about Lazuria."
Willow sighed. "You know as well as I do, that I should've have been more attentive with how Jacques treats Whitley… And I put Weiss through so much pain after telling her."
"But now that she does know, she's happier. You know she loves you as her real Mother, and maybe if her birth Mother is out there, they can meet." Summer entertained the idea as she secretly hoped that Lazuria would be able to see her daughter.
Hearing that made Willow grip the bedsheets a little tighter. "I'd want nothing more than that, but…"
Summer felt terrible, since Willow was implying that Lazuria could be dead, so she rubbed her shoulder a few more times. "I know, but you can't give up hope, Willow. Just try to relax for a bit when you get home. Please?"
Willow sniffled and nodded a few times. "Okay…"
"Come on," Summer helped the white haired woman sit up in bed. "I know things are stressed right now, but you'll see that things will start looking up soon. And don't forget, you're doing really well with your training."
"Slowly," Willow downplayed her improvements, and Summer comically slapped the top of her head, making her yelp as she reached up with both hands to hold her head. "Summer Rose!"
The Blacksmith giggled a few times. "I seem to remember you doing that to me when I'd talk down about my own smithing work. So I was just returning the favor."
Willow grumbled under her breath, and rubbed the top of her head a few times. "You've made your point… But even so, I'm still nervous. I'm not entirely sure I can really disarm her."
"Don't start saying stuff like that now, or else you really won't be able to." Summer suggested.
"Hmm," Willow figured that Summer was right, and being negative would only keep her from growing. "I'll have to find time for my son though… I promised myself I'd spend more time with him."
Summer smiled. "Of course. You know that Raven may be a hardass at times, but this is your family after all, and she can't get in the way of that."
Willow let out a light chuckle. "You make it sound like she'd barge in and drag me away for training." When Summer said nothing for a few moments, Willow's eyes widened. "S-She wouldn't actually do that… Right?"
Not a moment later, Summer started laughing, and Willow blushed in embarrassment, as the Blacksmith was slapping the bed a few times. "You should've seen the look on your face! Oh man, if Raven actually did that!"
"SHUT UP AND LET ME FINISH PACKING!" Willow cried out while her friend continued to laugh.
Weiss finally brought herself to begin calling Klein, and after a few seconds of ringing, the butler answered. "Ah, Snowfl… I mean, Miss Schnee, It's good to hear from you. How are your studies?"
"Hello, Klein… Things at Beacon are going well, but there is something I need to ask of you. It's a big favor that… That I'd rather Mother not know about." Weiss requested.
"Your Mother? Miss Schnee, what is this about that your Mother can't know of?" Klein asked with a hint of worry in his voice.
Weiss let out a small smile, since she knew Klein knew about her birth Mother, but she'd save that for when he'd see her. "A few friends of mine have a problem. Their home, well, where they grew up has been rundown for several years, and recently it was even more destroyed by Grimm in the area."
"Miss Schnee, I don't like where this is going…" Klein said, hoping he wasn't right about his assumption of what she wanted.
"Klein, please, they want to go there. It's their old home, and since Grimm will more than likely still be there, I want to go along with them, and the rest of my team to make sure they'll be okay. It's why I called you… So that you can help fly us out there." Weiss pleaded.
"That's still extremely dangerous, even if you are training to be a huntress," Klein expressed his concern.
"Which is why I want to go in the first place. Ruby… You know her. We're… Together, we have been for some time, and she was the first to volunteer going," Weiss' smiled again at the thought of her girlfriend. "She didn't hesitate, Klein. In that moment, she showed that she really is fit to be a huntress. So I can't ignore this."
Klein took her words to heart, and remembered the days where as a child, Weiss would love talking about how she wanted to become a huntress to help people. "Snowflake…" He took a breath. "I can see going to Beacon was the right choice… Okay, I will do what I can to help."
Weiss placed her other hand on her heart and was thankful she had Klein in her life. "Thank you so much, Klein. And I'm sorry to ask you to keep this from Mother, but I know that she'll try to stop us if she knew."
"I don't like keeping things from her, but you've shown me how much you want to help your friends. Just tell me when you need me to get there." Klein said.
"When I asked you about Father's business trips, that was because of this reason now, so this weekend would be for the best." Weiss explained.
"Then I shall be there." Klein assured.
"That means a lot to me. And I promise while I'm there, I won't get into a battle we can't handle. I already told one of my friends that, and she said the same thing." Weiss said of Blake, still seeing her as a friend, even with what she told her.
Klein was relieved to hear that, since he still didn't want Weiss to end up hurt. "Good… And Snowflake, I just want you to know that I'm happy for you and young Miss Rose. She's always made you happy when she visited, and over your calls."
Weiss blushed a little, but still let out a small smile. "Thank you, Klein." She looked towards Beacon. "I need to start getting back inside, but I'll call you a day before you can come over."
"Very well. I shall see you soon, Miss Sch… Snowflake." With that, they ended the call and Weiss sighed happily at Klein being willing to help.
While Weiss had went out to speak with Klein, Ruby decided to speak with JNPR about the trip they'd be taking. "Thanks again for coming with us, Ruby." Nora was still feeling down, but she did let out a small smile when she said that.
"Hey, you don't need to thank me anymore. I know things will turn out fine, since we won't be dumb about dealing with any Grimm over there. And besides, initiation taught us that we can handle ourselves well enough."
Ren nodded. "There will be eight of us there, so handling more than the share we each were able to take on shouldn't be much of a problem. We do still need to remember that several hunters were involved with the battle at Kuroyuri. So be sure not to overstay a fight for too long."
Jaune was a little more nervous than the others, but the way Ren and Nora had approached him before about it, he didn't want to be the only one not helping. "We'll be safe about it. First we can send in our fastest, that way they can get out fast enough before any Grimm show up."
Pyrrha smiled, proud of her partner for choosing to help his team. "That will work, since Nora can use her weapon to cover us as well."
"Yeah! I'll take out anything that might chase you guys!" Nora's enthusiasm was back to normal at that point, and the others were glad to see that, while Ruby was thinking how her own team would fare in their little trip.
"That'll be the best time for us to leave if we're having to run then." Jaune said, while he noticed Ruby was lost in thought. "Ruby, did you hear?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah I heard you. Um, I'm gonna go see if Weiss is back yet. She's working on getting us a ride out there." Ruby told them, and they were actually surprised Weiss would know someone that could help bring them out there.
"Who's she got in mind?" Nora asked.
Ruby smiled. "It's her butler. He's really nice, and his eyes do this cool thing where they change based on his personality."
Pyrrha found that intriguing. "That must be his semblance."
"We're not entirely sure to be honest, but I don't really question it since it's just way funnier watching him change how he acts on the spot." Ruby said, internally laughing at a few memories of the times she'd visit Weiss with her family.
"How he's going to help us exactly?" Jaune asked.
"He's actually learned how to pilot an airship, so he's gonna be getting us there and back." Ruby explained, and the team seemed content with that, so after they talked about it a bit more, Ruby felt it was time to check on her own team and left the room.
As she did, she got her scroll out and sent a message to Weiss, asking her if she was done speaking with Klein about being their pilot. After waiting a bit, she got a message in return.
"Yes I spoke with Klein already. He's agreed to take us, but I need to talk with you, Ruby. It's important."
Seeing that made the rose girl pocket her scroll and take off, wanting to get to her girlfriend fast, hoping she was okay.
I'm back from RTX, and while I would like to talk about what I saw there in terms of RWBY, I personally enjoyed more of walking around the convention itself. It was so awesome seeing all the merch and meeting people there that had similar interests. Other than that, I hope I can go again next year.
Anyways, back to the story itself. I have more to work on for what the teams will be doing, and soon there is something that needed to happen for a while. Be on the lookout for what that means.
To JJ-Yeah, that was the hardest part. Writing Blake admit who she used to be a bunch of times. It works better in a show sense, since more than likely the whole team would be there just like what happened in Volume 1. Problem is, I like to build things up for her to feel comfortable telling each person. As for what they're all doing, the risk of being punished is more than worth it to them as long as they help their friends out in the end.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 88. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 89.