I don't own anything from RWBY, that honor belongs to the fine people at Rooster Teeth.

Chapter 2: Recovery

"So, you're saying this guy Adam tried to hijack your combat rig and made you go crazy? That's awfully effed up," Yang asked.

"Yaaanng!"

"What?"

"Did you need to sound sooo…."

"Blunt?"

"Yeah blunt!"

"Rubes, she was trying to kill us." Yang explained, crossing her arms and looking towards the Faunus.

"No, Adam did not hijack my combat rig, he-" The Faunus began to explain before Ruby cut her off.

"Disabled your anti Grimm hijack module and also tampered with your suit to give you phantom visions?" Ruby said.

"How did you-" The Faunus asked, a little taken aback by Ruby's sudden explanation

"My sister's a wizard when it comes to combat technology. She can fix almost anything related to combat rigs." Yang said, as she sat down on the hood of Bumblebee, waiting for her sister to finish scanning their new companion. "You have a name?"

"Blake."

"Alright then Blake, my name's Yang and this is my sister Ruby, where are you from?"

"Mistral." Blake replied, as she eased up a little."Cool, me and my sister come from Patch, that little planetoid out in the Valean belt. We were heading to Vale when our ship crash landed due to some nasty Grimm. Luckily with our amazing skills, me and Ruby were able to clear them out and head for Vale on our own, using our hoverbike. Given how you and the princess seem to have also crashed your own ride to Vale, I'm pretty sure my sister and I would be willing to help you both get to Vale as well. Right Ruby?" Yang said, turning to her sister.

"Absolutely! Although I do think we should get your rig fixed up first and then head out, since… it's been seriously tampered with." Ruby said, in a cheery response.

"What do you need to fix it ?" Yang asked, as she looked between her sister and Blake, who seemed to be more or less reading the situation.

"I need a B class fabricator to make a Module Alteration Device since I kinda busted the last one on that charge mod on your arm… and also an Aura Lock System to make sure the aura remains contained as I alter the module."

"The last town we visited Ruby had a B class fabricator and as for the Aura Lock System, I think we have a spare one in Bumblebee, somewhere." Yang remembered.

"Yang, you remember what happened last time right?" Ruby asked, her face all scrunched up in worry.

"Ruby, I know it's dangerous but if we don't do it, we run the risk of Blakey here trying to kill us even if she doesn't want to." Yang said, gesturing to the Faunus who was now missing from where she was at.

"I'll go with you," said a voice from Yang's left, and somehow, Blake was right there, with a sword and gun at the ready in two of the many holsters in her sexy exosuit.

"Alright then, well that's settled. Ruby, you stay here and guard the princess, me and Blake will go for a little walk in one of the old towns." Yang said as she walked over to Ruby and gestured to the sleeping white haired girl.

Seeing her sister's face still contorted with worry, Yang moved over to her and gave her a motherly kiss on her forehead saying, "I promise you, I'll come back. Plus, I even got a partner to help me out! Even if she might turn against me."

"I heard that." Blake said, not looking amused in the slightest as she got on the back seat of Bumblebee.

"Well that's going to take some getting used to, see ya soon Ruby! Stay safe, I'll be back soon, hopefully with the things you need." Yang said, as she put on her sunglasses and entered the driver's seat of Bumblebee, waving to Ruby from the hoverbike.

"Stay safe, Yang," Ruby said as she took out her scythe and moved over towards their other companion.

"Ready for a ride, Kitty Cat?" Yang asked with a confident smirk, priming Bumblebee's thrusters.

"Try not to make us crash anywhere else." Blake replied, still in deadpan

"Ha ha, alright! Hold on tight!" Yang laughed along, before speeding off into the town, with her new companion.

Ruby was already starting to get impatient after just 15 minutes of Yang leaving. After all, it's not like she had anyone to talk to. Well, she did have the other new girl but she was still unconscious as far as Ruby knew, and even then she didn't really seem the most friendly but still it would be rude is she didn't check on the girl.

So, she went into the ship where the girl was resting and scanned her combat rig. It was unlike anything Ruby had even seen. Extremely well tinkered and fabricated clothing which integrated with the aura of the user but not in the way exosuits were skintight. In fact, it was almost as if the girl was wearing armor within her normal clothing. It was so cool!

She had to know more, so she ran her fingers down the fabric and scanned them to figure out how they integrated with aura. And oh! The scan revealed that the fiber was custom built, meaning it was probably one of a kind. It made the girl seem that much more special.

Upon inspecting the weapon, Ruby couldn't help but observe the very intricate nature of the weapon. Every single part of this weapon had an elaborate feature, whether it was controlling the size and thickness of the dust blade or simply choosing the dust type. Not one part took up unnecessary space and every detail either served to enhance or alter the weapon.

It was truly a weapon built for someone specialized in the specific style of combat that Ruby had seen when fighting both against and with the girl. However, her curiosity turned to fear when she heard the telltale click of a hammer being pulled back. She gulped and turned to see the white-haired girl behind her holding a revolver to her chest.

"And what do you think you're doing with my rapier?" Weiss demanded.

"I was just inspecting your weapons!" the girl replied, her panicked voice not helping offset Weiss's mood.

"So that you could tamper with them or sabotage them?" Weiss asked, callous in tone, hoping to catch the girl in a lie.

"Why wouldn't I have done that while you were sleeping? Your weapons and combat rig are very well made! I just really like going through them to see how they work!" The girl defended herself, confounding Weiss. She must have been lying, right?

"Why should I believe you? You literally attacked me when you entered my ship!" She replied.

"You shot my sister! How else was I supposed to react?!" said the girl, which finally made Weiss holster her revolver. She couldn't blame the girl for reacting in the way she did. If anyone had tried something with Winter, she would almost certainly have done the same.

Hanging her head down in shame, she lowered her voice and said "You're right. I'm sorry. Where is your sister?"

The girl then finally got up and moved towards Weiss a little more cautiously. Gesturing to the empty space around the desk she was lying on, she silently asked the redhead if she wanted to sit down.

The redhead obliged and answered her question. "My sister went out with your companion and left me here to take care of you. And before you ask, we figured out what happened to your companion!" she added quickly as Weiss nearly interjected upon mention of her shipmate.

"Her Anti Grimm hijack module was tampered with by someone. Luckily when my sister beat her, we managed to destroy all traces of the Grimm and now she's on our side!" The girl added, a little happier.

"Are you absolutely positive about that? If something goes wrong, your sister can be in more danger than she realizes." Weiss replied, still worried about her companion, given how quickly she turned against Weiss.

"Eh, at this point I'm pretty sure she has it under control."

"And what if she doesn't? You saw how dangerous she was." Weiss added, getting up quickly, ignoring the dazed feeling in her head.

"Wait! At least let me help you get some food." The girl said before quickly rushing off in a red blur. Within two seconds she was back with two boxes containing what appeared to be a blue colored block.

"What's this?" Weiss asked, as she gingerly held the box.

"Nutrition Blocks! We got a bunch of these from an abandoned compound we raided a week ago and they had all these amazing flavors. I'm eating a strawberry flavored one!" the girl said as she removed her block and scarfed it down at an inhuman speed. How uncivilized!

Looking away from the disgusting image, Weiss took out her own nutrition block. Its squishy exterior was making it seem extremely unappealing. Looking over to redhead who was still enjoying her strawberry flavored block, she gulped and took a bite out of her own.

It felt like eating jelly, only if it had a slight taste of blueberry, which had always been a more appealing food for Weiss in the privileged life she lived. But it could do little to offset the revolting feeling of being forced to eat a gelatinous product designed purely for providing nutrition.

Nearly gagging as she swallowed it, she asked her companion "How do you never get sick eating this?"

"Oh, I used to for the first few days, couldn't even get it down my stomach, it was so bad! But I got used to it eventually and now I even like them sometimes. At least the strawberry flavored ones. The veggie ones are pure poison! POISON!" she squealed, earning a laugh from Weiss.

Strangely, it felt good to laugh, given the absolute travesty of a situation she was in. Stranded with this child on a planet with her aura failing her, forced to stay at the mercy of her new companions. Also, the one person she thought she could trust turned out to nearly be the reason she was this way. Just peachy.

"So, what's your name?" asked the girl, with a light voice.

"My name is Weiss Schnee, what's yours?" Weiss answered with a cautious tone.

"Ruby Rose! It's nice to meet you Weiss! I mean besides the fact you tried to shoot me and my sister." The redhead rambled on.

Strangely, the girl didn't seem to use her last name like everyone else did. It also appeared she was quite socially awkward given her constant rambling.

"It's good to meet you too, Ruby. Although I must ask, what is a person like you doing out in the badlands of Vale? I would've taken you to be one of the tinkerer types who stayed in homes, tinkering with their craft." Weiss asked, her words chosen in the hopes to gather information above all else.

"Well I don't spend all my time tinkering! Above all I want to join the Hunters of Vale with my sister! I was hoping to find a team there but given how we just gained two more people, I think it would be great if we all joined together! Not that I'm trying to force you to do anything, it's just I think we can make a really good team!" Ruby replied.

Was she grateful to this girl who saved her life? Indeed, but joining a team with her, her loudmouth sister and potentially a loose cannon that could turn against them was the last thing on Weiss's mind.

"No, I don't think I will. Thank you for the offer nonetheless." Weiss replied, almost immediately regretting her tone once she realized what it had done to Ruby.

"Aw, oh well. I guess it was a little foolish to think you wanted to join, given how you were willing to head to Vale on a ship. At least we can help you get to Vale?" Ruby replied, her face filled with disappointment, which strangely tugged at Weiss's heartstrings in a very painful way. At least she was willing to oblige the girl's last wish.

"That would be extremely beneficial. Thank you for offering your help." Weiss replied, returning some of the light onto the young girl's face, which made Weiss feel a little less worse for crushing the girl's hopes.

"Always happy to provide it!" Ruby replied with an excited cheer, which quickly contorted into a face of deep thought.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm just trying to figure out a sidecar that can fit all of us on Bumblebee, seeing as how that's our current mode of transport and we're trying to figure out how to make it compatible for four people without giving anything up on Bumblebee. Maybe the fabricator Yang's bringing can help." Ruby said, puzzling Weiss with what she was talking about.

"Yang?"

"Oh! Right you probably haven't been introduced to her yet! My sister's name is Yang Xiao Long, and she has that because her mom's different than mine! She went with Blake to go get the fabricator!"

"Blake?" she asked.

"She's the Faunus you came with!" Ruby replied, shocking Weiss.

'A Faunus?' She thought.

Weiss came to this planet with a Faunus. A Faunus came to her ship and nearly killed her. And now that exact same Faunus was running scot free with one of the two people responsible for her survival.

Suddenly, the dismissive tone, the cynical attitude all made sense. Why wouldn't it? She was a Faunus. One of the people responsible for her miserable childhood at the mercy of her father. She still recalled all the days he found out about the White Fang destroying his mining ships, trashing his outposts. And of course, who else to take out his frustrations on than Weiss?

Her existence had been miserable, and that was because of the Faunus.

Now it was settled, she most certainly wasn't going to join Ruby's team, not as long as a Faunus remained on it.

"Uhm, Weiss you okay?" Ruby asked, looking at her.

"I'm fine." She lied, hiding her inner rage by twirling the ring around her left hand.

Suddenly, she heard a loud clanging sound however coming from the destroyed munitions deck.

"Did you hear that?" Ruby said, as she took out her weapon and aimed at the rubble.

"Did I hear it? Of course, I heard it! I'm not deaf!" she replied, as she took her rapier and revolver and aimed at the destroyed rubble.

With a loud roar, the deck exploded, forcing Weiss to roll to avoid the piece of scrap heading towards her head. But her haste led to her walking right into the path of the Grimm's cannon which fired a shot right at Weiss. Frozen in shock, she watched as the shell, armed with electric dust came towards her.

But at the last moment, she only saw a red blur as she was abruptly picked up and moved outside the ship.

When her vision returned to her, she was feeling slightly dazed but was able to notice Ruby was still holding her, in the bridal position.

"Get off me!" she said, as she jumped away from Ruby.

"Sorry, it was the only way to get you to move, but we have far more pressing matters. Ruby said, before being interrupted by a cannon shot blowing a whole through the ship allowing the Grimm to see them. "That Marauder's got electric dust in its cannon, maybe we can use it?"

"If you can somehow trigger an electric cascade with the Dust, we may stand a chance." Weiss explained, creating a path to her target using her glyphs.

Seeing the other girl speed away, Weiss raised her revolver and prepared herself for another battle.

Blake wasn't exactly sure what to make of her new companions. Not making things easier was the fact that their meeting began by her trying to kill both of them and the Schnee girl. Of course, she had no idea that she would even go to those extremes since learning about the tampering with her exosuit was something that Ruby had to tell her.

Despite that violent altercation, both girls were at the very least willing to help Blake, which immediately made her suspicious of the two of them. She knew that while some were genuinely willing to help others, she was also aware that many would rather use them to further their own control. So far it seemed the girls were of the former, but she had firsthand experience of those who wore masks to hide the true lengths of their control.

Cautiously, she chose to separate the girls and deal with both of them separately. Fortunately, the blonde was willing to accept taking Blake along with her to find the fabricator needed to restore Blake's combat rig. Assuming Yang didn't crash given the speeds she was travelling.

Luckily, by some degree of both skill and luck, Yang managed to reach the demolished town. The town was abandoned but strangely not teeming with Grimm. As both she and Yang dismounted from Bumblebee, Blake looked around the destroyed colony. Bodies of Grimm and destroyed parts still lay on the ground, indicating the existence of a tussle before they had arrived.

"You and your sister's handiwork?" Blake asked, as she looked down and saw the mangled head of an Alpha Beowolf.

"Yeah, more specifically Ruby's, since god that girl can swing a scythe! Took out an Alpha Beowolf by literally ramming the scythe blade through the beast's head! And she calls me the brutal one!" Yang replied, her tone over exaggerating at certain points.

Surprisingly hearing about the bond, the sisters shared was strangely comforting for Blake and it even made her chuckle lightly upon hearing Yang describe her sister's many antics. She couldn't help but admire the bravery of these sisters to try and make it across the badlands of Vale on a hoverbike with only each other for support. That combined with their desire to help, easily made the two of them some of the most unique people Blake had seen in a long time.

Of course, now it was time to see whether or not that uniqueness was masking something worse or not.

Entering a tinkerer's cabin, they entered into the darkness of the cabin, using Yang's scroll to illuminate the darkness. After a good minute of searching the came across a large dusty metallic box with a scanner at the top and an opening.

"Looks like a fabricator alright! Let's see if it's the B class one Ruby wanted." Yang said as she flashed the light over the box, to find that it indeed was a B class fabricator. But that wasn't the only thing she found, as using her night vision, Blake was also able to find a threat in the form of a Grimm sulfur unit. Taking out her Ghost Talon pistol, Blake without hesitation shot out into the darkness.

As she watched those red eyes fade to black, she very distinctly made out Yang saying, "Get down Blake!" Immediately ducking, she saw a punch go over her and Yang's shotgun arm fire. With a horrible crack she heard a soft thud behind her and after being.

"Are you okay?" Yang asked, her normally lilac eyes now flashing a deep crimson. "A Hydra head came from behind and tried to get you."

"I am, thanks for the assist." Blake said, as she got up, feeling a little safer around the blonde.

"No worries, now let's get this thing out of here." Yang picked up the Fabricator and took it out of the cabin. Blake however didn't leave as she heard another cracking sound coming from where Yang had taken the device. Using her night vision, she watched in horror as hundreds of Sulfur Fish combined with destroyed Grimm heads to form a Hydra Grimm in front of her.

Immediately using her semblance in horror, Blake managed to escape from the cabin.

"Yang! There's a Hydra Grimm inside!" Blake yelled out, grabbing the blonde's attention who immediately dropped her fabricator and moved towards Blake, aiming her gauntlet above her.

Jumping to the side, Blake narrowly dodged one of the Hydra's heads attempting to bite down on her. With a loud crack, Blake turned and found the head of the Hydra destroyed by a shot from Yang's arm.

Taking out her hardlight sheath, she jumped up and slashed at one of the beast's four necks. Jumping off the beast's neck, she shot it thrice before rolling towards Yang.

Reloading both her pistols, Blake prepared herself for yet another fight, but this time with a little more confidence in her and her partner's abilities.

A/N: Hoo boy writing this story is fun! It's nice a change of pace from fantasy after all and has given me some extremely cool ideas in my head. As always I hope you enjoy this chapter and continue to enjoy this story. I shall be eagerly awaiting your feedback.

Keep Moving forward!