Two soldiers assigned the ever-exciting job to guard the House of Schnee stood at the door to the so called "Control Room," a room with access to every defense mechanism in Blizzard's fortress. And the man himself, Blizzard Schnee, CEO of the Schnee Dust Company and lord of the House of Schnee, stood in the center of his room, men stationed at every panel and console, awaiting Taurus' arrival.
"How long until you think that Taurus guy shows up?" a soldier asked his partner next to him.
"Can't be sure. Today was the day, Schnee told him to be here," he answered.
"Yeah but what's the chance a Faunus is going to listen to what a Schnee has to say," another soldier answered, "For all we know, he could be bringing all of the White Fang to us," she added.
"That's precisely what I anticipate," Blizzard's voice broke through their conversation, his icy cold stare breaking their confidence, "I want him to bring every rat that swears allegiance to him, so that I may squash them," the prospect of finally ridding his family of that thorn, put the very rare smile on his face, "When he enters my home, every unit will shoot him down until nothing remains. And if he brought his rag-tag army, well," a rare laugh left his mouth, "From the air or the sky, we'll shoot them down."
All of the soldiers in that room stared at him, awestruck, "So that's why you haven't killed the faunus girl yet?"
Blizzard's already sneering face turned to an even more annoyed sneer, if the rubber in his glove from his hand squeezing itself didn't give it away, "I don't want to be reminded that she's still alive. But once we slaughter them all, she can join her brethren on their way down into hell."
Several miles away from the fortress, on a road that cut through a forest in a ring of mountains, Team RWBY and Qrow Branwen rode towards the House of Schnee at full speed. Qrow and Yang felt the roar of their engines and the kiss of the road through their fingertips, when they first saw one of the many towers that stretched into the night sky. They then stopped in the middle of the road, Yang killing Bumblebee's engine and moving it into the trees.
"Alright, you know the plan?" Qrow asked the girls.
They nodded to the old hunter, letting Weiss do the talking, "Yang, Ruby, and myself are going to go out to find the emergency exit in the forest. My father has four emergency tunnels that run underneath the ground. I know where to find the one closest to us."
"Once we're inside, we'll find Blake and get out of Schnee's house undetected," Yang finished.
"When you find her, get away from here as fast as you can, and head back to Beacon. Don't wait for me, and don't tell Ozpin, Ironwood, or Goodwitch what you've been doing or where you've been," Qrow instructed, turning away to his bike but turned back for one last instruction, "Especially, Goodwitch. Please," he got back on his motorcycle to put his helmet on, "While you're doing that, I'll be having a stern talking with Schnee on how to treat my niece's girlfriend," he grinned, tapping his sword.
"Will you be ok, Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked as he hopped on his bike.
The old man looked to his niece, returning a warm smile, "I'm taking on the Schnee Dust Company's entire arsenal just for my nieces to get their teammate back, "Your dad and mom's have put me through worse."
Within the instant of saying those words, he was already riding towards the fortress, leaving the three huntresses-in-training alone in the massive snow-covered forest, "So Weiss. Lead the way?" Yang motioned.
It wasn't a leisure hike through the woods: Qrow had given them a ten minute time limit to get inside the fortress before he would start his assault. It took Weiss a few minutes to find the escape shaft, and another half-minute to remember the password.
Once the door opened, the moonlight shined down on a staircase and a seemingly endless hallway. The three girls looked at each other for assurance.
"Once we're inside, we get Blake and get out. That's it," Yang repeated their plan, "Ideally we don't even meet your father while we're doing this."
Ruby stared down the hallway and looked to Weiss, and then planted a small kiss on her cheek, "FOR LUCK!" she promptly used her semblance to speed down the hallway, leaving them behind.
Yang looked to the heiress and asked, "Are you ready?"
Weiss kissed the taller girl on the cheek, "I'm ready."
It was agreed that getting stationed at the House of Schnee was the worst job in the entire Atlesian military, "But overall, standing guard in the freezing cold, in the middle of the night, waiting for the leader of a terrorist organization that hates humans, that my friend is the worst job you could ever have in the Atlesian Military."
His friend was not amused. Matter of fact, he was the opposite of amused, "Look, I don't want to be here, and I don't want someone narrating how bad my job is," he turned to the snowy darkness, "I just want this day to be over with and go home."
Normally, the night sky would either have not a speck of snow or a bit of sprinkling, but instead a snowstorm blotted out every star in the sky. Only the moon's shattered pieces shined through the clouds.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the figure the two had been waiting for, finally arrived. Though he stood taller than an average man at his age, he was still less than what they expected him to look like. He walked at a steady pace, his boots making a crunching noise against the snow. His red and black long coat stood out amongst the snow, and to any other person, this would have made him a sniper's easiest target. But he welcomed that sniper's, and anyone else who dared, challenge, firmly holding a grip on his weapon, Wilt and Blush.
They noted his red hair styled to look like the horns on his head, and finally the tan mask of the White Fang covering his face.
"A-Adam Taurus?" he stuttered, jolting back when the faunus put his blade uncomfortably close to his neck.
"Is your master, Blizzard Schnee?" intimidating, curt, and blunt, was the impression they got from his voice. If his appearance didn't tell them he was a dangerous threat, or the blade against one of their necks, it was the stern growl.
The one without a sword threatening to spill his blood over the snow stammered, looking through his brain's memories to find an answer that would satisfy him, "YES!"
Adam sheathed Wilt into Blush, "I understand he has something I want. I want it back," he turned his head to a camera.
Blizzard's voice boomed through an intercom, "Then let's discuss this like gentlemen over tea."
"But first! Show me proof that you have the faunus!" he demanded in defiance.
One of Blizzard's men directed the feed in Blake's cell to the screen at the gate. There before him, he saw his old partner, sitting alone in a cell.
"Blake, you're really here," whether or not she could hear him, he was going to announce his dreadful intentions, "Your hero has come to save you."
Adam's voice rattled Blake's mind. In the instant she heard him speak through the intercom, she changed from calm and stoic, to hysteric panicking. Adam saw this reaction, confirming she was here.
Throughout the journey from Vacuo to Atlas, he had doubted if Schnee really had Blake. Yet, the prospect of Blake, the slight chance that he could find her, drove him all the way into the Atlesian mountains.
But now, with Blake here before him, he couldn't help but smile in glee. The two soldiers felt uncomfortable, having grown accustomed to his scowl, now had to look at his ever-growing grin, turning into an uncanny cackle, "What was it you said?! Talk like gentlemen?! I like the sound of that!" he laughed as he shot down the surveillance camera with Blush, "I'm coming for you, Blake."
Their orders were to escort Taurus inside the castle, but as he walked forward, they were just a formality to him.
A single black crow flew around the House of Schnee, surveying the courtyard, a massive piece of land surrounded by walls to keep out the Grimm and anyone who wanted some Schnee blood.
While it was called the House of Schnee, the house itself was a massive castle, an architectural marvel with numerous towers stretching into the sky. The castle was called a house to undersell its massive size, perhaps a post-modernist statement for Schnee's guests to gawk at. Not only was it architecturally a marvel, but as a military one, it had three dozen active batteries, a hangar bay for airships to land, and supposedly a fleet of seventy SDC-designed combat robots and an army of five hundred Atlesian soldiers.
The crow thought supposedly because besides the two soldiers in the courtyard, the whole place was eerily empty.
In a flash, the crow transformed into Qrow and he stood on the wall, contemplating his next move. The plan was for him to attack the castle's defenses but there weren't besides the batteries along the castle. Qrow looked closer at the two soldiers walking to the castle's main gate, finally seeing a third party he hadn't before.
"Wait, that isn't Taurus, is it?" Qrow asked himself, focusing on the individual carrying a sword. But when he caught a glimpse of his tan mask turning towards his direction, he transformed into a crow and flew away.
Taurus' eyes scanned the night sky for the source of his suspicion. While he wasn't looking, one of the soldiers radioed Schnee, "Taurus is approaching the castle, but he's stopped right now. Regardless, we should be inside in less than two minutes."
"Excellent. Retrieve the faunus and present it at the foyer," Schnee barked orders in his control room, keeping his eyes on Taurus in the camera feed, "Once you're inside you'll draw your last breath."
While Schnee could hardly contain himself, his two men walking behind Adam were less than enthused about being so close to a man carrying a chokuto sheathed in a rifle. The idea of getting their heads cut off or their heads shot off was not a desirable debate to have within their minds. Nor was the sound of a man landing in the snow anymore comfortable.
The guards realized a man was standing behind them and aimed their weapons at the intruder, "STOP! IDENTIFY YOURSELF!" and once he finished his statement, he found half of his rifle in the snow.
"Run home, kid. Don't want you to get caught in the crossfire," Qrow slurred through his teeth at the soldiers.
They quickly abandoned their post, not getting paid enough to deal with two of Remnant's dangerous men. Qrow watched them run into a door in the wall, before turning his attention to the bull faunus, "HEY YOU! You're Taurus, aren't you?"
Adam turned to view the old hunter, "And you're Qrow Branwen, one of Ozpin's dogs."
Qrow pulled out his flask and sipped from it, "I bet you know a lot about dogs, Taurus," he felt satisfied with himself upon seeing the faunus tighten his grip on his sword."
"What are you doing here, Branwen?" his finger on Blush's trigger.
"Violating a restraining order. I'm intending on dishing out some pain for ol' Blizzard," he raised his flask at one the security cameras, "And you, Taurus. I'd ask why you're here too! You here for a snowball fight?" he picked up a clump of snow and shaped it into a ball, "I gotta warn you, the Atlesians never lose a snowball fight," Qrow bounced the snowball in his hand.
Qrow was buying time, trying to figure out where Schnee's defenses were. He made himself visible, and it was likely that Blizzard was looking at him through a camera feed, but it didn't make sense there was nothing trying to gun him or Adam down.
"How much time do we have left?" Yang asked, keeping her voice down as they snuck through the escape tunnel.
"We have four minutes left before Qrow starts attacking the castle. If I'm correct, then I know exactly where my father is keeping Blake," Weiss answered, "If all goes according to plan, we should be back in this tunnel with thirty seconds to spare."
Not long after, Ruby found the door at the end of the tunnel, locked with a keypad. Weiss entered a passcode, stepping through into her old home through a door meant to blend in with the wall, "It's been so long since I've been here."
Even whispering, her words echoed across the massive halls. Unusually, the halls were completely dark and empty, when traditionally if a guard had caught her after bedtime, the halls would be filled with light and guards, robotic and organic. Weiss held Myrtenaster up, keeping her guard up, eyes scanning the hall for guards.
"What now, Weiss?" Yang asked, gawking at the artwork and architecture of the castle.
"This way. My father has a dungeon in one of the basements,"
Ruby asked the most important question, "Wait, you guys have more than one basement?"
Blizzard's hand squeezed itself, his gaze piercing through the video feed, "Branwen," the soldiers could practically hear his teeth grinding his name through, "Why is he here?"
The soldiers hoped he wasn't expecting an answer, but in the silence they focused back on Adam and Qrow, zooming in on the swordsmen, turning on the camera's microphones for the control room to listen. While in theory this would have pleased Blizzard, but in reality, listening to not only Adam's voice but Qrow's as well, served to only infuriate him even more.
"I look forward to hanging their corpses on my mantle," Blizzard snarled, "What's the status on the faunus?"
The soldiers got to work and brought the video feed on the soldier escorting Blake, giving Blizzard a view of the back of her head, "Status?"
The soldier held Blake back as he responded back, "Escorting the prisoner to the foyer, estimated time, five minutes."
Blizzard sneered, "Make it quick."
The soldier pushed Blake forward with his rifle, continuing her march, "You know you're escorting me to my execution."
He was unfazed, "I have my orders."
Blake looked at the ground beneath her, and as her chains rattled through the halls, she contemplated her last moments.
"You know, I've been trying to piece this whole shebang together, and the one thing I haven't been able to figure out, is why a White Fang lieutenant is at the doorsteps of the Schnee Patriarch," Qrow inquired, "Without an army of White Fang, I mean."
Adam snorted, "I have my own reasons that don't concern a human like you. Now answer me, what's your business here?"
Qrow smiled and started laughing drunkenly to himself, "Me and Schnee are lizards and we like to talk about how that egg is going to hatch one day!" he pointed to the moon. He brought his hand down, pointing at the Faunus, "I never really understood you and your White Fang."
"You wouldn't be the first person,"
"Then enlighten me Taurus. What's your endgame? Terrorizing humans, ostracizing the faunus, destroying military and company property. To me, all I see are terrorists, killing for the sake of killing!"
"A human like you wouldn't understand our struggle! Unless we fight, you humans will wipe us out!"
"We're not at war anymore, Taurus! This was settled before you could even pick up a sword!"
"Then why are faunus treated like animals?" Taurus held his sword in front of him, "The only way to be treated with respect, is to show the humans what we're capable of!"
Qrow pointed at Adam, "You can't stop hatred with fear! That only plants the seed for another war. And a war is the last thing this world needs! What with all the Grimm I'm up to my ears in! The grimm I kill to defend humans and faunus alike!"
They stared each other down, the snow falling on their bodies, melting from the aura emanating from them, "You wanted to know why I came here from Vacuo?"
Qrow raised his eyebrows, surprised from the change in his behavior, "I assumed you were here to chop Schnee's head off."
"That's not why I'm here," Adam admitted, "I'm here, for my love."
Adam was caught off guard by Qrow's small burst of laughter, "Funny. I'm here for a similar reason."
Weiss led Ruby and Yang through the halls of her old home, trying to remember where the dungeon was. Despite having lived in the castle for years, her father had forbidden her from entering certain parts of the home. She winced when she remembered the scoldings her father gave her when she disobeyed his orders.
"Guys we don't have a lot of time left! Once Qrow starts blowing stuff up, this place is gonna go under lockdown!" Ruby warned them through a whisper.
"Ruby, we know. I just need to find a hallway that leads to the dungeon, now could you please shush before someone hears you?!" Weiss whispered.
As if on command, twenty Atlesian Knights, seven Paladins, and three Templars (for those of you at home wondering what an Atlesian Templar is, it's a spherical robot on tank treads that work like normal tank treads, but also as feet. It has numerous weapons in its arsenal that it can use when combatting Grimm, such as missiles, lasers, gatling guns, and two flails. It's an experimental combat robot the SDC are developing to combat giant Grimm. It is about three times the size of a Paladin) dropped from the ceiling and emerged from beneath the floor, surrounding the girls.
"Intruders, identify yourselves," the robotic voices demanded, aiming their weapons at Team RWBY.
In the control room the feed from the Atlesian Knights popped up on his computer. He inspected the random report from the robots that should have been on standby, but that resulted in his pants being filled with bricks, "Sir! I have something to report!"
Blizzard turned from Adam and Qrow's pointless argument to the soldier, "What is it?"
"Some of the units for your ambush have activated. They're reporting intruders, sir," he brought up the best vantage point he could find of the intruders from the SDC machines.
Every heart stopped beating when Blizzard growled one very simple word, "Weiss," the soldier could hear the frustration popping out of his bones when he clutched his hands, "What is she doing here?!"
"Intruders, identify yourselves," the Atlesian machines demanded without changing their tone of voice.
Yang tapped Weiss' shoulder, "Weiss, do you wanna?"
Weiss looked at the Paladins and Templars in front of them and the Knights behind, "My father is going to know we're here anyway," a big smile found itself on Weiss' face, "Let's make sure he knows!"
Weiss summoned a glyph in front of Yang, "Aw yeah, let's bring it DOWN!"
Before all hell went loose at the House of Schnee, the robotic soldiers demanded their identities one last time with the classic, "This is your final warning," line. Yang's shotgun blasts augmented by Weiss' glyph, destroyed every robot in their path, and let everyone know of their presence.
An explosion burst through the roof of the castle, the blast echoing across the forest and through the mountains. Qrow and Adam turned to the smoke rising from the castle, both wondering what was going on.
Qrow came to a conclusion faster than Adam did, "Sounds like they're doing my job for me," he paused to let out a few laughs, "If my hunch is right, then my nieces are raising hell on an ambush Schnee set up for you."
Adam turned to a camera, "An ambush, you say? Then we have more in common than I thought we did, Schnee," he fired a round from Blush at the camera.
In the control room, this didn't help Schnee's mood but wasn't what he was focused on. Instead he was watching his daughter obliterating his robotic soldiers with two other women, with the angriest scowl anyone had ever seen.
No one dared to ask to turn off the air conditioner.
"Sir! What are your orders?"
He directed his scowl at the soldier who spoke to him, "I want the Templars and the Paladins to bring my daughter to me. Everyone else is a formality," he practically screamed these orders.
"And what about Branwen and Taurus?"
"Let them kill each other!" the soldier found this a suitable answer as he issued orders out.
Adam and Qrow circled each other, hands on their weapons, ready to draw at a moment's notice, "I can't let you go in there, Taurus."
"Hmmph. What happened to your detestment for Schnee?" he asked, slightly amused by his change in demeanor.
"Oh believe me, I wanna see someone give him what he deserves," he admitted holding his hands up, "But my paternal instincts are telling me I don't want you anywhere near that castle," Qrow explained as he pulled his sword from its sheath.
Adam gripped Wilt's hilt, "I'm not interested in harming your family," he pulled his sword out of Blush very slightly, his finger on its trigger, "Yet, that is," he smirked.
"Those paternal instincts also apply to future in-laws," Qrow remarked, both hands on his greatsword, "Like that faunus girl my nieces were crying about. What was her name? I believe it was, Blake?"
The slightest hint of a smile disappeared from Adam's face, replaced with the scowl he was known for, "Big mistake," Adam pulled Blush's trigger, firing Wilt at the old hunter. Qrow blocked the sword, and pushed back Adam who had grabbed his sword a half second after it connected with Qrow's, "Anyone who stands between me and her will be cut down," he declared as the sparks between their blades spread across the snow.
They jumped away from each other to recover, Adam sheathing Wilt back into Blush. Qrow wondered if Adam's intimidation game was supposed to work on him. If it was, Taurus was failing immensely, as the hunter was absolutely giddy.
"So you want to cut me down? Ok," Qrow ran a hand through his hair, pushing his bangs back, away from his face, "Go ahead and try!"
The clash of their blades could be heard across the forest, with great distinction.
Blake and the soldier escorting her stopped when they heard the explosion. The blast rattled through the castle, its floors shaking at their feet. The guard briefly lost his balance, and in that brief opportunity, Blake used her semblance to distance herself from the guard as she turned to another hallway.
"HEY WAIT!" at first she didn't stop for him until he shouted the last thing she thought she would hear from a guard, "YOU FORGOT YOUR SWORD!"
While every instinct in her body was telling her to run the other way, she turned back to face the guard who had placed Gambol Shroud and the key to her cuffs. Blake unlocked her cuffs and held up Gambol Shroud, inspecting it to be sure it was in good condition. She looked down the hall and saw the soldier waving to her.
"It's going to hell up there, and I don't like my job! Do whatever you want!" he lamented before disappearing through another hallway.
Blake looked at her options; there was a good chance that Adam was here and had brought whatever remained of the White Fang, so leaving through the front door wasn't the best option. She remembered the hangar bay, and wondered if she could find a ship that could fly her back to Beacon.
"One thing's for sure. I need to find my way out of this dungeon," she attached Gambol Shroud to the magnet on her back and ran through the basement of Schnee's castle.
"Right behind you, Yang!" Ruby fired at a Paladin with Crescent Rose's rifle form, slowing it down long enough for Yang to blast it with Ember Celica.
"Thanks, sis!" she shouted back while filling the Atlesian technology with lead, "Hey, Weiss! How many of these things does your dad have?!"
Weiss thrust her blade through a Knight that wouldn't fire at her due to its programming forbidding it from attacking a Schnee, "If memory serves me, I believe he has seventy of these robots!"
Yang smiled while she blasted several Paladins away from her. The three huntresses were making quick work of the robots, taking advantage of their inability to target Weiss, as their programming forbid them from harming a Schnee. Destroying the Paladins and the Templars became child's play, especially with Weiss' lightning dust tearing them apart.
A templar appeared through the cloud of smoke, swinging its flails at team RWBY. They jumped back from its attack, and in their counterattack, Weiss and Ruby shared a glance, knowing exactly what they needed to do.
Weiss summoned a glyph in front of Ruby, "Use this!" she handed the sniper a cartridge of fire dust.
"Are you sure about this?" Ruby asked as she loaded Crescent Rose with the ammunition.
Weiss nodded assuredly, "The metal isn't designed to handle heat, only the cold! One bullet will burn through its armor all the way through!"
Ruby aimed Crescent Rose at the Templar's, inhaling and exhaling as she clutched the trigger and fired. Enhanced by Weiss' glyph, the bullet became a firestorm that engulfed the remaining paladins and templars. As well as turning a portion of Weiss' home charcoal black, but they elected not to dwell on this for too long.
Only one templar remained, aiming its gatling guns and its missiles at Team RWBY. Though this one, seemed to be going into berserker mode, with it screeching, "Going into maximum overdrive! Eliminate the intruders! Eliminate!"
Ruby, Weiss, and Yang readied their weapons for one last tussle with Atlesian tech. The templar started firing missiles at the girls, Ruby and Yang blowing them up before they could even reach their side of the battlefield. The templar decided to switch things up and start firing its gatling guns. Ruby spun Crescent Rose in front of her, blocking every bullet from the giant robot. While Ruby was busy, the templar swung its flails, after dramatically protruding spikes from the giant balls, at the heiress and the brawler. Weiss summoned a black glyph that blocked the flail, keeping it in motion, though she struggled on the initial impact to keep her balance. Yang, however decided to take the bull on by the horns and grabbed the flail as it knocked into her at full impact.
Weiss was worried, turning her focus to where Yang had been launched to. That concern went away when Yang snapped the flail off of its chain, holding it up like a trophy.
"GUYS! My arms are getting tired!" Ruby complained, stilling deflecting the never ending onslaught of bullets.
"Oh, sorry, sis. Ice Queen? Would you like to engage in a Flail Tossing Contest?" Yang asked, bobbing a curtsy with the flail above her head.
"Oh but of course, Madame Xiao Long! Us Atlesians absolutely love partaking in such contests, it's what livens up every party-
"GUYS!" Ruby screamed in agitation.
Weiss concentrated on the glyph, taking all of the momentum the flail had given her and giving it right back to the templar. Yang, with the chain she took from the templar spun herself in a circle, guiding the weight while it spun her.
Weiss and Yang launched the flails at the templar that didn't notice what the freezerburn duo were doing until its own flails hit it where its guns and ammunition were stored.
"Looks like we hit him at the same, time," Yang observed.
"We're not calling this a tie, Yang. I'm going to see who hit that robot harder!" Weiss challenged the taller blonde.
"Oh yeah?! Whoever left a bigger crater gets to be the big spoon when we're back at Beacon!" Yang bet with Weiss, slightly annoying Ruby as they didn't bother congratulating her for deflecting the countless number of bullets.
The templar however wasn't done, and if robots could feel emotion, then this machine would be enthralled with fury that three girls were getting the better of Atlesian technology. But instead of rage, the robot calmly announced its next move.
"Damage report. Ninety-three damage percentage. Completely unsalvageable. Undergoing protocol four, zero, four," it droned.
Before any of them could wonder this dreaded protocol could mean, a timer burst through the top of the Templar's body, right above where its sensors were, and it began counting down from thirty.
"Weiss?" Ruby tugged on her sleeve.
"Uh huh?"
"Is that thing going to blow up?"
Weiss readied some ice dust to surround her team in an ice dome, "Oh yes."
But fortunately, the three girls didn't need Weiss' ice shield. In a flash, the countdown and the templar stopped going down with nineteen seconds remaining. The swordsman kneeled in front of the templar, their sword held out to their side. They stood up straight, and when they sheathed their sword, the templar's head and its timer fell to the ground and the remains fell on its back.
The swordsman finally broke their concentration and looked in front of them, "R-Ruby? Weiss? Yang? What?! What are you guys doing here?!"
They were awestruck. None of them knew what to say, or could find a word to say. But there she was. They travelled half across the world to find her and they succeeded.
Ruby was the first person to speak, through she spoke through tears, "Blake. You, you're ok!" and she used her semblance to embrace her, "We were so worried about you!" the rest of her words were muffled through tears.
Blake held Ruby up to her chest, petting the back of her head, letting Ruby cry into her shoulder, "I-I'm happy you're here, Ruby, but," her yellow eyes dampened as she fought back against her tears, "You all came here, to save me?"
Weiss walked to Blake, her own watergates opening up, "I couldn't live with myself if my father hurt you," with Ruby between them, Weiss held onto Blake, crying into Blake's other shoulder, "I'm sorry! I'm the one who got you into this mess! I shouldn't have ran! I shouldn't! I should have-
"Don't say anything. We aren't there anymore. We're here, and we're both safe," Blake kissed the heiress on her cheek, "And thank you, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, for coming to save me," her arms trembled, "I- I don't want to say I thought I would never you again, but," Ruby and Weiss' shoulders shared the flow of Blake's tears, "I, I had those thoughts, when I. When I heard-
Blake's sentence was cut off by a kiss from Weiss, "It's ok, Blake. It's over now."
Ruby looked up at the onyx-haired girl and smiled brightly at her, "We can go home and move on from this."
Blake wiped the tears with her sleeve, and started laughing, "A minute ago I was the one comforting you two, now I'm the one that needs comforting," she looked at her arms and realized they needed the people she cared about most in the world to be around, and the cat faunus complied, hugging Ruby and Weiss close to her.
The cluster of hugs turned to Yang, when the sounds of two heavy pieces of metal clanged against the floor. There, for the first time since that dreaded time one week ago, Blake saw Yang dropping Ember Celica. She walked forward, eyes never avoiding Blake's, but before she got any closer, she dropped to her knees and then onto her hands.
"Blake. I've thought about you a lot since the last time I saw you," the emotions were going every way that Yang didn't want them to. Everyone could tell by the way she was choking on her words.
Yang smashed fist into the floor, cracking the concrete underneath the carpet, "I wish I could take back what I did! I wish I never aimed my weapon at you!" Yang Xiao Long rarely cried. But with a week of emotional buildup, the tears poured out of her eyes, and she covered the carpet under her, "I'm just a big, selfish, idiot!" she emphasized with another punch to the ground "I always treat everything like it's a fight!" she lifted her away from the crater she created, still keeping her head down, "Blake, I came all this way to save you. To bring you home. But, I wanted you to forgive me for what I did," her fists clenched, "I know this sounds selfish, but I couldn't live with myself if the last thing you knew about me was threatening your life!" Yang cried her soul out, through her tears and the choked up words through her throat.
Finally, Yang Xiao Long looked forward and into Blake, "Blake, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for betraying your trust. I'm sorry for betraying your trust in me as your partner, your teammate. And, from the bottom of my heart," she beat her own chest with a loud and very concerning thump, "I'm sorry for betraying my girlfriend!"
The room was silent after Yang finished speaking, her lilac eyes never moving away from Blake. Blake walked past Weiss and Ruby, and when she was in front of her partner, she sat down in front of her, "Yang. We're bad at this. We don't know how a relationship with four people is supposed to work. Without Ruby for one second, we turn on each other without hesitating. I'm surprised we didn't try killing each other sooner," Blake pulled the bow off of her ears, and put the bow in Yang's hands, "Do you remember what I asked you to promise me?"
Yang felt the bow in her hands while she went through her memories, "It feels like it was years ago, but yeah. I promised I wouldn't become a monster."
Blake pressed her forehead against Yang's, "You aren't a monster. Just coming here all the way from Beacon, is more than enough for me to forgive you," Blake stood up and offered her hand to Yang, "Now get up. If we want to be on time for class we should start moving."
Yang gazed at Blake's hand, and put her hand in her's, "Right! We're already gonna get one hell of a lecture for missing a week of class! So c'mon ladies! We need to get back to Beacon!"
Ruby couldn't contain herself, "WOOOO! Team RWBY is back!"
"RUBY! We're still in my father's house we don't want everyone knowing that!" Weiss scolded the younger girl out of frustration.
"Hold on guys, I need to put on my gauntlets," Yang requested while picking up Ember Celica.
Even if it had been a week, it felt euphoric that things in their weird relationship were finally to the closest semblance of what they called normal. Blake couldn't help but smile, knowing that she was with the people that she belonged with.
As soldiers moved out and explosions boomed across the castle, how could anyone stay asleep during this time? Not even her. She suited up in her uniform and carried her sabre. She stepped out of her room and observed the panic in her men. Whatever was going on, Winter Schnee was going to get to the bottom of the situation.
A/N Well guys. We're at the showdown. This is now the longest chapter for Red Flowers Bloom, and it's basically a tenth of the story. Even if this isn't what you thought it was going to be, hopefully you can still enjoy what I have to offer.
I haven't watched Volume 4 yet so... I'm hoping it's awesome. But regardless, thank you for reading my story and giving it the time of day. I'm going to write the next chapter and then I think there will be one or two more. Hope you'll enjoy the ride.