A single night turned into two, then three, and suddenly a week had passed.
The warm crackling of fire and hints of muffled conversation were the only sounds that drifted through the sleeping bandit camp. Blake wrapped her arms around Yang's waist and nestled her chin into the blonde's shoulder. Her hair smelt of vanilla shampoo, though how she still managed to get ahold of such things was beyond the faunus.
Blake's ears pricked up as Yang mumbled something incomprehensible. "What was that?"
"I said, what are we going to do now?" She pulled at random pieces of the grass beneath her. "I don't want to be like my mother, running for so long that I forget how to stand my ground. But how do we even begin to fight something like this? Magic for Oum's sake! It's impossible, and yet.."
"And yet here we are." Blake sighed. This was a discussion they'd had before, albeit less heated. The emotions had dulled over time- It seemed even after everything, the human mind still couldn't stay riled up for long. "You're right though, we still have to do something."
"But what?" Yang leaned back and crossed her arms in frustration. "The Atlas borders are closed, so we can't get to Weiss. Anyone who could do help is either dead or missing, and.."
"I might have a way into Atlas, but you're not going to like it." Blake cut her off quickly. "There's a White Fang branch-"
"You're saying we go to the terrorist organization?" Yang recoiled, frowning. She often forgot her partner's questionable past. The idea that Blake had ever been so involved in the White Fang that she could know the location of random branches was so foreign.
"We're living in a bandit camp!" The faunus snapped then quickly backtracked, her ears flattening against the top of her head. "Please, this is why I didn't say anything earlier. They're.." She swallowed. "They're not like Adem. The base is in Argus.. I met their leader once when I was a kid, she's a good person."
The blonde crossed her arms but said nothing.
"They smuggle faunus out of the Schnee mines, Yang! Not everyone in the White Fang is a villain. These are good people, and I'll bet they can get us into Atlas."
"And when they find out we're going after our friend, Weiss Schnee?"
Blake winced and looked away. "They don't have to know about that part."
There was a long pause, and then- "Fine."
"Fine?"
Yang grinned. A lopsided, reckless smile- one she hadn't made in a long, long time. "I trust you Blake."
The next morning, Raven saw them to the gate. Her parting words were that she wouldn't protect them once they picked a side.
Both girls pretended not to notice the bird that followed them halfway to Argus.
The journey was easy enough. With new dust crystals in Yang's bike and a strange absence of Grimm, it only took a few days. Dirt gave way to worn brick roads as they entered the city. Blake dismounted and stretched her stiff limbs with a sigh.
Yang wheeled her bike into a nearby parking space. As an ocean breeze drifted through the packed streets, she was overwhelmed by the number of people simply going about their business. It was a sight she was once indifferent to, but now was a source of paranoia. Was somebody be hiding in the crowd, waiting to strike? Where were the exits? Every corner was an ambush, every noise masked a gunshot.
A gentle nudge from Blake pulled her from her thoughts. The faunus gestured towards a nearby alleyway. "There's a hidden set of stairs just over there, but it'll be guarded."
Yang nodded, shifting her arms so that her gauntlets snapped down over her wrists. Blake frowned, shaking her head. "Remember, we're not here to fight."
Crumbling stone and laundry strung up between windows; a black stream of Oum-knows-what filtered into a nearby drain. The two junior huntresses stepped cautiously into the alleyway and looked around. It was empty.
Yang opened her mouth to speak when THWAM! A sudden blow to the head sent her reeling. A masked faunus with scales on his forearm forced the blonde to her knees, her hands held forcibly behind her back.
Another white fang member dropped from the rooftop. They landed on Blake while she was focused on Yang, slamming her face-first into the concrete. Purple aura flashed across her body.
The faunus that had landed on Blake removed her mask with a grin. Green hair fell down to her shoulders as she moved her hand away- evidently the mask had been holding it in place. A lizard's tail curled lazily around one leg. She turned to the other White Fang member and raised an eyebrow. "Well, would you look at that! It's Kali's kid. Wow, I haven't seen you since you were what.. Ten? Elven?"
"Ivory-" Blake rolled over and shoved the other faunus off, gritting her teeth in annoyance. "What the hell? Why can't you just not attack us like a normal person?"
"A human followed a faunus into a dark alleyway," Ivory cocked her head to the side, forked tongue flickering between her teeth as she spoke. "Would you believe I acted on instinct, desperate to save you from a murder attempt?"
"You jumped on me!"
"Ah," She nodded sagely. "That I did."
Yang wrenched herself free from her captor and ran to stand by Blake's side. "You know each other then?" She quipped.
Blake groaned as she stood up and dusted herself off. "She knows my mother, I just got dragged here when she visited.."
The masked White Fang member coughed and jerked his head out at the open street. "We need to get back inside."
"Indeed." Ivory turned to Blake, suddenly very serious. "Do you trust this human?"
"With my life."
"Well then," She grinned and made a mock bow. "Welcome to Argus."
A.N. Yeah we're doing OCs now, sorry about that. In my defense, the White Fang smuggling folk out of the Schnee mines isn't exactly unrealistic. An image of Ivory is up on the discord server (D iscord . gg (slash) 9r8MDTn), as well as an (unfinished) preview of the cover art I'm working on.
In other news my fever is gone, which is nice. Don't know if it was Covid-19 or not since I didn't get tested, but it's over now either way.
Thanks for reading folks! All reviews are appreciated and I'll try to keep myself on schedule these next few weeks.