Author Note: What's this? Me, writing for RWBY in 2020? It's more likely than you think.
Every time Blake had the displeasure of being at the Schnee manor, she was struck with how oppressive the building felt. The sparsely decorated rooms coupled with white walls always set her on edge.
Weiss had come back to the front to get her and Ruby, as they were still standing and waiting for Yang to pick up. The longer the scroll rang without response, the more concerned Blake felt. She had been worried about Ruby and Yang's relationship before, but now she was even more worried about Yang's safety. Even though they were fighting, Yang wouldn't just ignore a call from her sister. Maybe she was too busy to answer.
"What's wrong?" Weiss asked as she approached them. She was alone now, though Myrtenaster was still strapped to her belt.
Ruby shook her head and pocketed her scroll. "Nothing, I'm sure everything's fine."
Blake wasn't so sure, but she didn't comment. Weiss led them to the side wing of the manor, to a set of what appeared to be guest rooms. The first one they went to had Nora and May inside.
They immediately checked on Nora. She was lying unconscious on the only bed in the room, with little sign of waking. Again, the group discussed finding a doctor, and came to the same conclusion that there wasn't one available.
Though Nora was breathing steadily, they weren't sure how to best treat her. That she needed rest was the only thing they were sure of, which was how they ended up here. They would spend the night and reassess in the morning.
Weiss left to get a few things, taking Ruby with her. Blake chose a chair to settle in. She took out her scroll and pulled up the aura of those near her. Nora's was still hovering near zero, far below where it should've been.
Blake clicked over to Yang and was greeted with an error message. The huntress she was looking for couldn't be connected to. That was expected, since Yang was down helping evacuate Mantle. She was too far away for her aura to be detected. That thought didn't settle Blake's nerves.
Ruby and Weiss returned with an arm full of blankets and some food. Ruby looked slightly more chipper than before, like Weiss had cheered her up. They put a blanket under Nora's head for support, and then shared the food they'd found.
Small talk was far more tense than it had been that morning; everybody seemed to have heavy thoughts of some kind. For Blake, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with Yang, that something bad had happened.
After, they distributed the blankets and lied down to sleep. Blake chose a spot near the door, where she'd be able to hear danger if it approached.
Of course, just because it was time to sleep didn't mean she'd be able to. Shortly after the lights were out, she could hear the familiar sound of Ruby's soft snores. Weiss seemed to be trying to sleep, but May was still sitting up and awake.
Blake took her scroll out and dialed Yang's number. She silently requested a response, that Yang wouldn't be too busy to pick up.
The scroll just rang and rang, with no answer on the other end.
Even now, in the evening, she still wasn't answering. Either her scroll got broken, she didn't have signal, or something worse… Blake didn't want to think about the other options. Yang was supposed to be in Mantle, she should've had scroll signal. She should've been able to answer a call.
She always answered Blake's calls.
She hoped Yang was okay.
Blake left the call open for half an hour, watching the call attempt to connect with half open eyes.
It took Blake a long time to fall asleep that night.
Yang was cold, which was unusual for her. She'd been told she radiated heat, like a furnace, but she felt none of that right now. Yes, the inside of the outpost had a small heater, but it wasn't nearly enough to counter the frigid air. Especially since people kept leaving the door open, which she made sure to remedy.
After talking with Jaune, she had dragged Ren inside without a word. He was sitting by the heater now, hunched over sullenly. He hadn't offered up any conversation. That was fine with her; he had said enough already that day.
Yang checked her scroll as she put the final touches on the bike repairs. Despite the cold, her aura was regenerating slowly. By morning, they should all be well enough to ride the bike back to Mantle.
That was, if Yang could get it working. She had installed the parts; she just had to reattach it to the bike and give it a whirl.
She left Jaune and Ren inside to go out and work on it, just for a few minutes. Her aura was strong enough to handle it.
With a few turns of the wrench Yang reattached the part. She tested the engine, and luckily it started up. A small victory, but a welcome one.
When she went back inside, Ren had taken the bunk above Jaune. Neither of them was asleep, but they seemed to be trying.
Yang sat on the other bottom bunk, finally allowing her body to rest. She lied down and looked at her scroll once again.
She tried to check the aura of her teammates, despite already knowing that it wouldn't work. It was the effort that counted, she told herself. She tried Ruby, then Weiss, and lastly Blake. All three showed as unable to connect. She was positive that they would be alright without her, but that didn't stop her from worrying.
Even more worrying was splitting up from Blake like this. Yang hadn't thought too hard about her decision in the moment. There were people in Mantle who needed her help, so she was going to help them. The choice had been easy.
All three of her teammates, including Blake, had disagreed. They thought Amity tower should've been the priority. After the argument, they parted ways without another word.
Now, as she was stranded out in the snow, Yang wished she had stayed longer to talk. It wasn't that she was worried that Ruby would be mad at her, honestly she wasn't. They had far worse arguments than this before and had a strong relationship, as Jaune had said earlier.
No, she worried about what Blake would think of her. Blake, who always fought for the common good, who always did what was right. Yang had forsaken the big picture to try and save the lives of a few. Did Blake think less of her now, for abandoning that ideal?
Would Blake still want to be the partner of someone whose decisions she didn't agree with?
Yang hoped so, with all her heart.
Again, Yang wished she had stopped to talk with her. With all of this anxiety bubbling up, at least she knew how to start addressing it. If they'd stayed in Mantle, she would've been able to.
Yang still tried to place a call on her scroll, but there wasn't enough signal to dial out. She tapped on Blake's number multiple times, with no success. It just kept flashing 'call failed' in large block text.
She sighed and put the scroll down next to her head; it was time to rest. They had another long day tomorrow.
That didn't stop her from trying to dial again before going to sleep.