Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions
Co-Authored with ToxicExotic
Zelen
The sound of the airship's engine filled her ears as Blake stood at the open side hatch with the cold night wind blowing through her hair and watched the ground below her slowly shrink. As it did, she couldn't help but feel a certain amount of dread begin to weasel its way back into her mind. The last fifteen hours had not been good ones. For the first three hours after being told that her parents were missing, the entire team had been locked in a room with Professor Goodwitch to discuss the mission. It wasn't incredibly complex, but it was predicted to last at least three days.
Due to mountain Glenn being too dangerous to travel through, the Menagerie convey had no choice but to fly over it if they wished to get to Vale. Unfortunately, while Zelen would have been a perfect pick up point for a healthy, on time convoy; Glynda and the council were worried that the Grimm attack would have caused some panic among the convoy that would attract too many Grimm for Zelen's defenses to handle extraction. So instead they were being instructed to lead the survivors to Securay, a bigger town with better defences where the airships could land more safely. Though they still had to track them down first.
Unfortunately the Grimm attack had taken place in a deadzone that was beyond reach of any of the CCTS support towers that were placed between kingdoms. And given that the caravan had yet to call in, Glynda had felt certain they were still somewhere within that ten mile square. Thankfully that wasn't too large an area, but it was still large enough that it could take at least a day to find them.
The meeting had been the best part of the day though. The second it had ended, Blake no longer had anything to take her mind off of the reality of the situation. While Glynda was confident her parents were alive, and her entire team were trying to make sure she believed that, Blake couldn't help but fear the opposite. None of them had lived outside a kingdom, none of them truly knew how horrible it could be. Attacks could come from nowhere, and lives could be ended in seconds. And with the only thing to keep her occupied being packing for the mission, she had already broken down in tears twice. Thankfully, Blake knew she would be better when getting to Zelen, and she had made sure to reassure Ruby of that fact.
Looking over to her girlfriend, who was talking to the pilot, she recalled the conversation they'd had after the meeting with Glynda.
"You guys go ahead." Ruby stopped next to the dorm room and looked to Weiss and Yang. "We need to talk for a second."
Yang gave a nod and the two walked into the room, leaving Blake and Ruby in an empty hallway. Putting her hands in her pockets, Blake looked curiously at her girlfriend.
"You doing okay?" The reaper asked, though quickly shook her head. "Sorry, of course you're not. Stupid question."
"I'm processing." Blake breathed with a shrug. "I'm just scared we'll be too late. It's been three days since the attack already. What if-"
"They're not." Ruby said, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. "Glynda says they were heavily guarded so they're likely fine. You've just gotta keep hoping, okay?"
"Hard to keep hoping when you know what it's like being out there." Blake replied sullenly.
"I promise we'll find them, okay?" Ruby smiled reassuringly.
Letting the girl pull her into a hug, Blake buried her face into Ruby's hair to take in the comforting smell of strawberries. Lingering for a second, she let out a small sigh and gave a nod.
"Good." Ruby hummed and pulled back, her comforting gaze suddenly turning serious. "But I need to say something."
The girl took a deep breath, and the little uncertainty that was in her eyes faded into resolve.
"You said it yourself, this mission is pretty dangerous." Ruby began slowly. "So I need you to follow my orders. This isn't the Emerald Forest, or Patch. This is outside of city protection and we can't have anything go wrong, so we can't be snapping at each other and getting angry. So what I say goes. Okay?"
Blake definitely understood why it was something Ruby had been worried about. Their last mission had not exactly gone as planned, and it was mostly her own fault. It had been her who had constantly brought Grimm to them, her who had given away their position and caused them to lose the tactical advantage, her who had snapped and left the clearing and slowed down the clearing of the river. Of course she still stood by what she said of Ruby trying to defend her unnecessarily, but she knew she had made a lot of mistakes too.
"Okay." She had agreed in response. "I'll follow your orders. Just please promise me you won't be trying to save my life from everything. Like you said, this isn't the Emerald Forest and that will get you killed out there. If I need help, I promise I'll call for it, okay?"
She had been very thankful when Ruby had agreed to not interfere unless specifically asked. Ruby's acceptance of sacrificing herself was still something she was unsure how she would handle in the future. It had only been three months, but Blake was already crazy about the girl and the idea of losing her one day was something that she really wasn't ready to accept. Especially if it was to protect her. Unfortunately though, that was something she was going to have to learn to accept since she definitely didn't want the relationship to come to an end. After all, Ruby's selflessness was something that she really loved about her girlfriend, and yesterday had proven just how selfless she was.
Without prompting or hesitation, the girl had accepted a mission that had nothing to do with her. She hadn't cared about it being an important one that could earn the team some glory, but simply because she wanted to help. She wanted to help those who were lost, and she wanted to help Blake herself by not letting her stew in uncertainty while waiting in a room. No matter the situation, Ruby's first thought was always someone else. Though Blake certainly hadn't expected such quick agreements from her other team members.
Of course Yang had always been headstrong and brash, but when it came to Ruby being in dangerous situations she was usually very cautious. And Weiss was just cautious by nature. So the fact that both of them had immediately jumped to Ruby's defence had meant a lot to Blake.
So, despite being tired due to having not slept at all the night before, she flashed a grateful smile toward the pair who were sitting on the bench and returned to watching the city zoom past her below.
"We've got a Nevermore flock!" The pilot called from the front seat.
Watching her girlfriend jump up from her seat and rush to the cockpit, Blake reached up and grabbed the safety bar to brace for the evasive maneuvers that were likely about to happen. Looking out of the open side panel, she saw three large black birds with bone plated faces soaring through the sky behind them.
"Can you outrun them?" The girl asked.
"No." He replied. "But I can stay ahead of them so long as we don't slow down."
"Alright. How far till Zelen?"
"Roughly seven minutes."
"Okay. Just keep going for now." Ruby ordered him, earning a nod from the man.
Standing up from her own seat as Ruby stepped out of the cockpit, Blake pulled her weapon from her back and shifted it into gun form. Yang followed suit and cocked her gauntlets back.
"So what's the plan, Rubes?" The blonde grinned eagerly. "We going skeet shooting?"
"Just keep them at bay until we get to Zelen." Ruby ordered. "They have too much of an advantage for us to fight them right now."
Pulling a pair of aviators from her breast pocket, Yang swung herself up and out of the side door, landing on the roof of the airship with a thud. With a flourish of her hand, a black glyph appeared in Weiss' hand and she knew another would be keeping Yang's feet secure. Getting ready to follow her partner, Blake checked her magazine and walked towards the door, only to feel a hand on her arm.
"They'll tear the ship apart if we slow down." Ruby said quickly and precisely. "I'll have the pilot fly low over Zelen and we'll have to jump. When Weiss releases her glyph, find her because there isn't a lot for you to swing off of in a small town."
"Got it." She nodded quickly, hearing Yang begin to fire above her. Leaning in, she gave her girlfriend a brief peck on the cheek.
"And be safe." Ruby smiled. "I'll see you on the ground."
"Will do."
Looking towards Weiss, who produced another Glyph in her hand, Blake turned and swung herself onto the roof beside her partner. Though the wind was tearing through her hair and stinging her eyes a little, the black glyph at her feet kept her safe. Flicking the safety off her gun, she pointed it towards the nearest Nevermore and fired a round off.
While the fact that they were already under attack by three large Grimm certainly didn't fill Blake with much hope for their mission, the few minutes that she stood beside her partner and constantly repelled the feathered fiends were a very welcome distraction. For those few minutes, she wasn't able to think about what they might find when they got to searching, or what her parents would say if she saw them; all she had to focus on was hitting the targets before her. And since they were constantly moving and avoiding their bullets, it was more than enough to keep her focused.
"What d'ya say, Blakey." Yang smirked as the ship finally began to descend and the glyphs flickered in warning. "Wanna give them a goodbye gift?"
Rolling her eyes at her partner, she took a knee and took aim as Yang rapidly fired four rockets at the birds. Closing one eye, she popped off four rounds of her own, each colliding with her partner's and setting off a large explosion that flung two of the birds aside and filled the air with smoke. Before the creatures could recover, Blake felt the glyph around her feet release and allowed herself to slip off the side of the ship. Scanning her surroundings, she spotted the white-haired hairess sliding down her knight's giant sword a few metres away and tossed out her sickle.
As it flew through the air, a white glyph appeared from nowhere and produced a short icicle to catch it. If there was one thing Weiss excelled at it was multitasking, and while producing her own glyphs that allowed her to slide down gracefully to the ground, she also kept up the production small icicles for Blake to latch herself onto to slow her momentum, until eventually she landed perfectly on the ground next to her friend. Seconds later, Ruby burst out of nowhere in a shower of petals and Yang landed in a well controlled skid that ended with an arm around her little sister.
"You know..." Yang grinned and pushed her aviators up. "I think we can stand to skip a few landing strategy classes at this rate."
Shaking her head while Ruby worked on untangling herself from her sister, Blake looked up just in time to see the ship veer right and narrowly avoid the large Grimm before soaring off back towards Vale with them in tow. Returning her gaze to the town before her and hoping the pilot made it home safe, she looked around the small square that she was standing in.
It really wasn't very big, barely the size of Beacon's amphitheatre, but that was to be expected since the town was so small that she could see all four walls from where she stood. Nevertheless, the people that were standing gazing at them looked well and happy; if only a little perplexed by the four girls suddenly standing in their midst. On either side of the square, rickety old stalls filled with a range of goods were shoddily constructed and managed by people who looked at them with hopeful eyes. Alcohol, breads, cheeses, Dust, weapons, pots, as well as an assortment of random objects. With Zelen being more of a trading stop and the usual go to for any Vale pick-ups, Blake had to assume the merchants did quite well for themselves.
"Feels a little like home." Ruby breathed, looking around wistfully at the surrounding area. Blake could definitely see the resemblance to Patch. "But we should try and find Saber."
"Consider me found." A rough voice said from behind them. "Quite an entranc-"
As they turned, the man cut himself off and stood to attention, his legs snapping together and his arms pressed against his side. He looked rather different than the last time she saw him. Instead of a full head of hair, the sides of his head were shaved leaving a short line of brown hair down the middle. His usually youthful face looked older with a scraggly beard and a long scar that stretched over his right eye and past his hairline. As per usual, he wore the Menagerie uniform, a black and white robe with a yellow belt and steel plates located on his arms and waist.
"Madam Belladonna."
Immediately feeling nervous as Ruby and Yang cast her a curious look, Blake blushed a little and raised a hand. It had been so long since she had been home that she'd forgotten just how awkward it was to be greeted in such a way by the island's guards.
"No need to be so formal, Saber." She mumbled as the man relaxed.
"Sorry." He said, giving a bow of his head anyway. "We heard back home that you left the White Fang, but had no idea where you'd disappeared to. Your parents were beyond worried."
Blake's eyes widened a little at the man's words. She figured that her parents would have heard she'd left, but the fact that they were worried filled her with even more guilt and uncertainty. Had her teammates been right after all? Had she really been stupid in thinking that a call from her would have unwelcome?
"Blake's been with us at Beacon." Ruby said happily, taking a step forward and holding out her hand. "Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY. I didn't name it, I swear."
The man gave a grunt and took her hand.
"Nice to meet you." He said with a sense of caution that she understood. Like many faunus on Menagerie, the man had a good reason to be uncomfortable around humans. "I didn't expect Vale to send someone so young."
"Council hunter's were busy," Yang shrugged. "So you got the best team at Beacon instead."
"Yang!" Ruby hissed at the blonde before turning back to the man. "Professor Ozpin wouldn't have sent us if he didn't think we could handle it." She corrected Yang reassuringly.
"Mmm. I guess not." He turned to Yang and offered out his hand. "Yang, she called you?"
"The one and only." Yang beamed and shook his hand for a second. "I'm Blake's partner."
"Unfortunately."
"Shush, you love me."
A flicker of a smile pulled at Blake's face.
"And this is my partner, Weiss..."
"Schnee." Saber cut Ruby off with a hint of a sneer, retracting his hand that had previously been held out towards Weiss.
If Weiss had been insulted at all, she didn't show it. Retracting her own hand which had been reaching for Saber's, she simply gave the man a small nod instead.
"It's an honor to be working with a skilled huntsman." She said in a kind tone that was rare to hear from the girl. So rare in fact that they all cast her a glance.
"Yes... well," He looked away from the heiress and back to Ruby. "I suppose you were sent with a plan? We should go over it so that we can get out there and search."
"Oh, right." Ruby replied. "Yes. One second."
The man gave a nod and walked away to stand next to a food stand, the owner handing him a pear.
"Alright, girls." Ruby breathed, turning around to address them with her hands on her hips. "We should gather some information and supplies while we're here. Weiss, you talk to the people and s-"
"Uhh, I don't think that's a good idea, Rubes." Yang interrupted and motioned to the people around them.
"There are a lot of faunus here." Blake hummed in agreement. "They wouldn't exactly be keen to talk to a Schnee."
"Thanks." Weiss huffed and crossed her arms.
"That makes sense I guess." Ruby winced apologetically as Weiss scowled at her. "Alright, Yang can talk to the people and see what Grimm are in the area or if they know anywhere Blake's parents might have made camp. Weiss, you and Blake can pick up some food and stuff. Just enough to last us a few days will be fine."
"Awwww!" Yang cooed happily, pulling Ruby into a bear hug and lifting her off the ground. "Look at my little sis being a great leader."
"Gah… Yaaang!" Ruby whined, kicking her feet to escape. "This is a serious mission. Lemme go."
"I'm so proud of youuuu." Yang grinned happily, plonking the reaper back down and poking her nose. "Now, go do leader stuff with Saber, we'll handle things out here."
"Dummy." Ruby breathed, straightening out her skirt and hair. "Okay. We'll meet back here in an hour."
"Understood." Weiss nodded, her scowl having faded and her posture once again relaxed.
"Good." Ruby smiled at them all. "Team RWBY's mission has officially begun."
"Alright." Weiss said with a grimace, placing a few packs of dried meat into her backpack. "That's all the disgusting food we should need for a few days."
"Better than nothing." Blake mumbled and handed the girl the bread.
"I'll take your word for it." Weiss sighed, lifting the pack onto her back. "Just Dust left?"
"Mhm."
For the past forty minutes, the two of them had been wandering around the square in search of things that could be useful for the trip. Unfortunately most of the merchants seemed to have recognised Weiss and a vast majority of the time with each one had been spent haggling down prices that had likely been jacked up after they owners realized who they were talking to. Not that Weiss was having any of it, having immediately recognised what was happening and refusing to pay a lien more than what she thought the things were worth.
Eventually though, they had retrieved most of the things they had needed. Food, water, a few sleeping bags, torches, matches; pretty much everything they needed to survive a few days in the deadzone. All that was left was the Dust which was sold from a stall a fair distance from the others. As they approached, she saw the man pull a hood over his head to hide his mouse ears and a loud sigh escaped from Weiss.
"Sorry." Blake said to her friend. Though she certainly understood why the faunus acted in such a way around her, she did feel bad for her friend. "It's just instinct."
"It's fine." The heiress said with a shrug. "I mean, it's not. I hate that they think I am like my father, but less than a year ago they wouldn't exactly have been wrong."
"You've changed a lot since then." Blake countered.
"Not like any of that matters when he shares my family name." Weiss sneered bitterly, though quickly shook her head. "I'm guessing this will be common when we find your parents too?"
"If we find th-"
"When we find them!"
Glancing to the side, she saw Weiss' blue eyes given her a firm look. Knowing she wouldn't accept any other verbage, Blake looked away.
"Not from my parents." She said, sidestepping the issue altogether. "But probably from the guards, yes. Menagerie is full of faunus who were treated badly by humans, or were raised by people who were in the Faunus War. So they aren't exactly the most comfortable around humans."
Weiss simply gave a small hum of acknowledgement as they reached the stand and she reached out to pick up one of the Dust crystals. Holding it up to the light, she peered into it intently and shook her head.
"I suppose that's fair." Weiss sighed and gently placed the crystal into a slotted basket. "Anyway…" She picked up another and shook her head again. "I hope you heard what Saber said? That your parents were worried about you?"
"I did." She admitted, leaning back against the side of the stand.
"Good." Weiss said, picking up another crystal. "So please tell me you are going to stop being stupid in thinking that they do not wish to see you?"
Blake let out a small sigh and crossed her arms. Though she knew Saber enough to know that his words were likely true, she still found it hard to believe that her parents wouldn't be at least a little angry with her. Of course they would be worried, she was their daughter after all, but that didn't mean they wouldn't be angry with her for all she had done.
"I dunno." She shrugged.
"You're starting to sound like you want them to be mad at you."
"Maybe I do." Blake admitted sullenly. "They have every right to be."
"Maybe they do." Weiss agreed. "But you can hardly fix that by avoiding it. I'm not the only one who has been making an effort to grow, you know. You've also been facing your past this last year. I remember at the start of the semester you threatened to beat up two boys for harassing Velvet."
"I would have if Velvet hadn't stopped me."
"And would you now?" Blake shook her head. While that anger was still inside of her, it was definitely a lot easier to calm herself than before. "See, growth." A hand landed on her shoulder and a wave of warmth rushed through her as Weiss' bracelet lit up. "Don't go back to your old ways now. Trust me, it's not fun."
Staring into her friend's eyes for a second, she found the usually ice cold gaze to be soft and kind. It was always nice to see Weiss behave in such a way, so she gave the girl a small smile as the hand was removed and the heiress went back to rifling through the Dust.
"Thanks." Blake said genuinely. "Between your advice and standing up to Ozpin, you're kinda making me feel bad for shouting at you the other day."
"You should." Weiss smirked, though quickly let out a chuckle at the grimace on Blake's face. "I am joking, Blake. We argue every week… I quite enjoy it actually."
"You do?"
"Well, Ruby is a pushover and Yang turns everything into a joke." The girl shrugged. "It's nice having a friend who isn't afraid to talk back to me."
"Oh… I take my apology back then."
"Good." Weiss smiled with a sidelong glance. "However, rest assured that you will have the full extent of my summons available to you this time."
Though it was a small gesture, Blake greatly appreciated it.
"Thanks."
"Mhm." Weiss hummed, picking up a final Dust crystal and placing the basket in the center of the stand. "Dispose of these." She ordered.
"Wh-What?" The merchant stuttered at Weiss' direct order. "Why?"
"They are unstable and likely to get someone killed if touched incorrectly." She scowled impatiently. "Do you not check the quality of the Dust you buy?"
Poor guy, Blake thought to herself as Weiss began to lecture him on the importance of proper Dust practises. With it being one of the things the girl was most passionate about, Blake knew the heiress wouldn't be leaving until she got her way.
"Poor guy." A voice said behind her, mirroring her thoughts exactly.
Turning around, she saw her partner strolling towards them, her hands in the pockets of her black pants. While doing their shopping, Blake had seen the girl making her way around the residents of Zelen; and while a lot could be said for her manners and ego, the residents clearly liked her because many had been laughing and more than happy to converse with the blonde.
"Hey." Blake greeted her, throwing the sleeping bags at the girl since she was the strongest. "Anything we should worry about?"
"Not here." Yang replied, her tone a little off and she glanced towards the vendor. "Ruby wants us to meet her in the town hall."
"Oh." The fact that Yang wasn't willing to talk was more than enough to worry her a little. "Okay. Weiss?"
"Yeah, yeah." Weiss grumbled as she pocketed her Scroll, picking up a few vials of Dust powder and throwing down some lien and a magnifying glass. "I heard you." She said, pocketing the vials and turning back to the man. "Use that magnifying glass to check the Dust, the manual I sent you will show you what to look for. It's dangerous enough out here without people blowing themselves up with faulty Dust."
Turning away from the shocked faunus, Weiss readjusted her backpack and they set off towards the largest building in the town.
"So," Yang stretched as they all gathered around a large table that was projecting a holographic map of the area. "They gave me the location of three areas that Blake's parents might be held up."
Reaching out, the blond pointed to the section of the map that was mostly covered in trees.
"First is here." She said and circled her finger, a red marker appearing around the location. "There's a ruined temple deep in the woods. They said it's not exactly the best place to set up camp since there isn't much room to move, but there's plenty of cover from Grimm."
"Hmm." Saber hummed and tapped a button on the table to show the road. "It's worth keeping in mind, but it's too far away from the roads and the forest is too densely packed for the trucks to make it through."
"Alright." The blonde nodded and reached over to a clearing. "The second is this clearing here. It's open with great sightlines, the perfect place to camp. There's even a tower there that we could see above the trees as we flew in." Blake remembered seeing that tower just before the Nevermore attack. "But the tower seems to attract Grimm for some reason.
"We're used to Grimm," Saber smiled, circling the area. "But Ghira doesn't like to put people in danger so might have picked somewhere else. Where's the third?"
"Here." Yang reached out to the river. "There are some caves along the riverbed that are good for shelter. The people said the river has fresh fish in it too."
"That's probably where he'll go." Blake chimed in, circling the coves herself. "Faunus like to be closer to natural structures than man-made ones, plus the river would be great for feeding the people, keeping them clean, and keeping up morale."
"I agree." Saber nodded and ran his finger along a road that ran nearby. "There is also access for the trucks, so the odds are that they're probably there. How about the Grimm?"
Yang's face fell a little at that question, just like it had when she'd asked the same question earlier. It was highly unusual for the blonde to show uncertainty in the face of Grimm, and Blake once again felt a small bit of worry seep in.
"For the most part? The usual." She answered. "Beowolf packs, Ursai, Creeps…" Blake really hated Creeps. "King Taijitu, Griffins, and Nevermores to name a few; but there are some others."
Flourishing her hand over the map, she continued.
"The north of the river is apparently taken over by a large gaggle of Gooms. This entire east road here is Berserker and Deathstalker territory. And a bunch of Kamaitachi have recently moved into the woods here."
With each area, Yang marked off the map with a black ring. Though Gooms could certainly be dangerous in large numbers, they weren't the most difficult Grimm to handle so Blake felt relatively comfortable with those being the Grimm that were closest to her parents. Berserkers and Deathstalker on the other hand were definitely not something she wanted to encounter. The hulking brutes and giant scorpions were enough to give a skilled hunter a hectic fight even on the best of days, so to go into their territory on foot would be extremely reckless. As for Kamaitachis, Blake had never heard of them before but neither Yang nor Ruby seemed too worried about them when they were mentioned.
"Alri-" Ruby began, only to be cut off by her sister.
"That's not all." She said in a more hushed, cautious tone. "The villagers didn't really talk about it much, I don't even think they know what's doing it, but they keep finding bodies near the west wall."
"I would guess people find a lot of bodies out here, Yang." Weiss said skeptically.
"Not like this." Yang countered. "They have no marks. No scratches, not bites, no puncture wounds; nothing. They're just dead, and always with their hands reaching for the wall."
A shiver ran through the group and they all exchanged a look.
"How many people have they found?" Ruby asked.
"Six in the last month." Yang breathed. "And the guards said it's getting more frequent. They also said it looks like the people crawled their way there, but the trails led back to the dead zone and everybody in the village is forbidden from entering there."
"So there's something out in the deadzone trying to get into the village?" Blake asked, having no idea what Grimm would act in such a way.
"Most likely." Yang confirmed. "But nobody's ever seen the bodies show up. They only find it hours later."
"Hmm." Saber hummed, looking at the map and scratching the side of his gerbil teeth. "That's definitely an issue, but we can't exactly prepare for it without knowing what it is. And we can't delay our search to investigate either. If we come across whatever this is, then we gather as much intel as we can and either kill it or leave. We can report our findings when we get back to Vale and the council can take it from there."
"Understood, sir." Ruby said, though Weiss and Yang looked ready to raise an issue with it. "We're here to follow your orders."
As the man leant back down to study the map, Blake watched Ruby cast a pointed look at her sister and partner, making it clear that she too had seen that they were about to argue with the man. After both of them relented and shrugged she pointed to the second spot Yang had marked, the tower.
"I'm thinking we head there first." She said. "It's closer and will give us a great view of the area. It'll also give us a point to navigate from since our Scrolls won't be able to mark our locations."
"That's a good idea." The man nodded and pressed a button to print off a few copies of the map with it's markings. "Depending on how many Grimm we encounter, we should be able to reach the river nightfall."
"Sounds like a plan." Ruby smiled at him, accepting one of the maps that was handed to her.
"Good. We leave in ten minutes then."
With that, the man pulled the bag over his shoulder and left the room. Left in just silence, Weiss finally turned on Ruby with a raised eyebrow.
"You are really going to just let the Grimm go if we encounter it?"
"We don't have a choice." Ruby countered. "I want to kill it too if it's trying to get into the village, but we have no idea what it is and Blake's parents are the priority here. Ozpin ordered us to follow Saber's instructions to the letter, so that is what we have to do. He's more experienced, and knows what he's doing."
The two girl's stared at each other intently, bright silver meeting hard blue. Though it wasn't unusual to see them disagree on something, it was never something so serious as letting a Grimm go. And Blake could definitely see why Weiss was surprised as it seemed like a very un-Ruby thing to do; but as selfish as it was, the only thing she felt was gratitude that her girlfriend was putting her need to find her parents first. Eventually though, Weiss shook her head and raised a hand in defeat.
"Fine." The girl groaned and picked up the food bag. "You're the leader."
"Thank you." Ruby breathed, picking up her own bag. "Now we should probably get going."
"Right." Yang agreed, lifting the sleeping bags onto her back. "But for the record, I'm with Weiss on this one."
As the two girl's left the room, Ruby let out a low sigh and shook her head. Blake knew the girl was definitely with them too, but as a leader she was having to put aside her desires for the mission. So reaching out a hand and giving her girlfriend a warm smile, she entwined their fingers and led the girl out of the room, hoping that they would find her parents safe and sound before night's end.
Raalm's Note
Welcome back everyone :D I hope everyone had a happy holidays, and are looking forward to the new year :D As I write this, there are already fireworks and its only 5pm xD
But yeah, this is mostly a bridge chapter in which we clean up a few things as they prepare to go, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. There is a lot of... fun content to come in the next batch of chapters, and I hope what we have coming it good xD
Anyway, that's it from me. The next chapter will be up on the 14th of January :)