EDITED 12/27/2019
Word Count: 6,473
Chapter 3 — Gold and Red Hospitality
Yang Xiao Long was on her way home, pulling a wooden handcart along behind her while taking the longer but flatter mountain path back to the cabin she and her little sister, Ruby, shared. Had Yang been anyone else, she would have needed the help of at least one, ideally two, other bodies to heave the handcart up the mountain—even taking the flatter trail—but Yang wasn't just anyone. Pulling the cart up the mountain was little more than a mild workout for her. The only reason she was taking the flatter path today was because the cart was a little top heavy and she'd forgotten to bring the ropes she usually used to lash things down with. She'd rather take the long way home than have to stop and chase after something that had fallen from the cart. Been there, done that; and it had been an annoying experience to say the least.
But once Ruby had heard the story, her innovative little sister had gone out and faced down a nest of Nightcrawlers, giant Grimm spiders that could range from the size of a small dog to being as large as an Ursa in some cases. Certain Grimm produced materials that survived even after the main body of the Grimm had long dissipated into ash. (Nevermore feathers and Nightcrawler silk were the most common in this area.) Apparently, Ruby had been experimenting with Nightcrawler silk for a while and had finally figured out how to treat it so that it became sticky-free, creating lightweight, high-tensile strength strands that could be woven into rope or a heavy thread. Ruby had even attached these neat little hand-carved wooden hooks to each end of the rope so that Yang didn't have to fuss with tying and untying knots each time she needed to lash stuff down. All she had to do was wind the excess length of rope around something and then slip the hook in place—no pesky knots necessary.
Of course, as her older sister, Yang had to scold Ruby on principle for going off and hunting Grimm alone even if the younger girl had only done so so that the ropes could be a surprise gift. Yang knew Ruby could handle most Grimm threats on her own—they'd been on enough Grimm hunts together for her to know exactly how good her baby sister was at hunting, whether her prey be Grimm or animals—but that didn't stop her from worrying.
Still, her little sis was amazing. Their cabin was filled with all sorts of knick-knacks that Ruby had made in her free time, some of which they sold as curiosities to the village folk whenever they needed a little extra money for the month. The village favorite thus far was a small wooden puzzle box. A person had to slide and remove each piece of the puzzle box in a certain order to get to whatever the owner had hidden inside. In the end, it was Renet Keeper who bought the curiosity; and he had villagers lined up at the tavern for days after working hours, each of them trying to figure out how to open the intricate little thing. These days, Renet used it as a fun challenge for travelers passing through. If they could open the box within a certain amount of time, Renet would give them a free meal or a couple of free drinks, whichever the guest picked.
Ruby had even made the handcart Yang was using. All it took was one complaint from Yang about how even though chopping lumber and firewood was a cinch, she couldn't really make any more lien because she could only sell as much as she could carry down the mountain each day, and a week later Ruby had presented her with the handcart, which nearly tripled their profits. Later on, Ruby even made a sled version for the snowy months. Yang was supposed to be the older one, but Ruby was always looking out for her just as much as she looked out for Ruby. Just thinking about it made Yang feel warm inside. She had the best little sister ever.
As Yang made her way closer to home, she caught the scent of cooking meat. She grinned. Yep, her sister was awesome. Sure, technically Yang was the better cook, but nothing beat coming home after a long day's work and not having to spend an extra hour or so just to get warm food for supper. Usually Yang made their meals, but on the days that Yang went into the village, Ruby often tried to beat her home and have food ready and waiting. And today, there would be meat! Most of what Ruby brought home ended up being turned into jerky or sold fresh to the village butcher, but apparently not today. Yang picked up her pace with a new spring in her step—at least until she reached the low gate that marked the edge of their property.
Instantly, Yang knew something was not right though it took a moment to figure out what. There was food cooking inside so Ruby was home, yet she hadn't come running out the door or even used her whistle to greet her as she sometimes did if she couldn't walk away from what she was doing. It was like a ritual for the two of them—Ruby's way of saying "welcome home" without words. And there was no way Ruby didn't know Yang was home, not with her Faunus hearing.
Yang opened the gate and pulled her cart over to the shed, her eyes darting over every corner of the property in hopes of figuring out what exactly was amiss. She got her answer the moment she put down the cart handle. The door to their small cabin opened and out stepped her little sister.
A feeling of wrongness came over Yang. Ruby still had her cloak on and her hood pulled up all the way. She never did that unless there were strangers around. Yang's protective instincts went on full alert.
"Ruby?" Yang said softly.
That was when Yang noticed the woman in the doorway behind her. A vaguely familiar woman though she was certain she'd never met her before. She'd remember meeting someone with such icy blue eyes, pale skin, and cascading white hair. The faint scar crossing the woman's eye would have also caught her attention had they met before. Plus, the woman was dressed far too well for their little village of Patch. Even though the woman's bluish-grey skirt and white blouse had clearly seen better days—both were wrinkled and the skirt especially had several visible dirt stains here and there—Yang could tell they were well made with the high quality materials. Yang's eyes darted down to the woman's knee. She was injured? And that bandaging looked like Ruby's work, all neat and precise.
"Do you live here as well?" the stranger asked. "Your companion won't say a word to me. Honestly, it's been difficult to get any sort of answers around here."
The haughty way the other woman spoke instantly rubbed Yang the wrong way.
Yang narrowed her eyes. "My sister doesn't speak," she said bitingly, taking no small sense of satisfaction at seeing the aristocratic woman suddenly flush pink.
"Well, how was I supposed to know that?" the woman muttered under her breath.
"By watching and listening," Yang replied, not letting up. She crossed her arms. "Just because someone can't use words doesn't mean they can't communicate." Ruby drew closer and tugged on Yang's shirt. Yang knew what that meant. Stop; leave her alone.
Grudgingly, Yang started to change the subject only to stop and glance down at Ruby. She was practically vibrating with tension. Frowning, Yang took Ruby's elbow, drew her closer, and shifted her hood just enough to be able to see Ruby's expression. Yang's heart fell at what she saw. Wordlessly, she drew her little sister into her arms, heedless of the stranger watching them, and hugged her tightly. Ruby stiffened for a moment before burrowing in, pressing her face against Yang's warm shoulder and wrapping her arms around Yang's lower back.
Yang began rubbing smooth, gentle circles across the Ruby's tightly-coiled shoulders and along her spine. If the her hood had been down, Yang would have also started running her fingers through Ruby's short tresses and possibly even scratching along the base of her wolf ears; but seeing as there was a stranger in their midst, Yang had to make do with shoulder and back rubs even though they weren't nearly as effective methods of comforting her sister when she was this distressed.
"Rough day?" Yang murmured so softly that only Ruby with her Faunus hearing could hear. She got a nod against her shoulder in reply. "Need some quiet time?" Another nod. "Alright then," Yang said as she slowly drew away, "get going. We'll figure everything out when you get back. Take as much time as you need, okay little sis?" Ruby snuggled back against her for a moment more before bounding away, not even bothering with the gate and just leaping over the fence into the forest.
Yang felt a familiar pang of worry as she watched Ruby go, but she knew her sister needed this. Having strangers around always set the younger girl on edge, but she was getting better. Every day she was getting better, and Yang was just so proud of her.
Yang turned to look at the stranger in their doorway who was staring in shock towards the direction her sister had run off to. Realizing she was being watched, the woman stiffened and raised her chin as though she were trying to seem taller. A pointless endeavor really—Yang stood a good several inches taller than her. Yang watched with amusement as the other woman realized this and looked away.
"Where did your sister go?" she asked after a moment.
Yang deliberated over how much to tell her. Sometimes Ruby could get discouraged or even depressed by how simple things like meeting strangers or visiting the village were extremely difficult for her; and sometimes, just sometimes, knowing that others were aware of her personal deficiencies could make her feel worse. However, Yang was of the mindset that more information was better. If more people understood Ruby's difficulties, they would be less likely to overstress her. In the end, Yang decided to go with the truth.
"Ruby doesn't do too well with people, especially strangers. Having you here stressed her out, and she needs some quiet time to recenter herself." The strangest look crossed the woman's face. If Yang didn't know better, she'd say the other woman almost looked remorseful, which couldn't be right. Rich people were so full of themselves that they didn't even know the meaning of the word "apology." The look was gone as soon as it had appeared though, so it probably was just Yang's imagination.
"Hm...so her name is Ruby?" the woman started to ask, but Yang interrupted her before she could finish.
"Look, let's do this later, alright? While I'm dying to know who you are and why you're here, Ruby probably has the same questions so we might as well do the heavy discussions when she gets back. And I want to get all this stuff unloaded before it gets dark," Yang said as she gestured to the cart behind her.
"Fair enough," the woman said after a moment.
Yang took that as a sign that it was okay to start ignoring her and get to work. In the meantime, she would ponder just why the woman seemed so familiar.
Yang was starting to get antsy by the time Ruby finally slipped back into the cabin.
"Ruby!" Yang dropped the ladle she had been using to stir the stew and rushed over to give the younger girl a hug, which was returned without hesitation. Immediately, Yang could tell Ruby was feeling a lot calmer. She wasn't nearly as tense as she had been earlier, and the faint billowing of Ruby's cloak told Yang that a certain wolf Faunus's tail was wagging, albeit slowly.
"Welcome back," Yang told her warmly and got another squeeze in return before the girl pulled away. Yang watched as her sister gave a shy wave to their white-haired guest who had been sitting at the table, watching their sisterly display of affection. Apparently waving wasn't a thing rich people did because the woman returned Ruby's wave with a stiff nod of acknowledgement instead.
"Ready to eat?" Yang asked and got a nod in return. Yang went back to the hearth and pulled the stew away from the low burning fire before heading to the pantry to fetch the half-loaf of bread there. By the time she had turned back around, Ruby was already dishing the stew, so Yang grabbed a knife and started slicing the bread. Since they had a guest, she figured she ought to go the extra ten yards so she plopped a metal grill over the fire. As it heated, she went back to the pantry to fetch a round of cheese, which she promptly started slicing and layering on the bread. Each slice of bread went onto the grill and a few minutes later, she pulled them off and set them on a platter to carry them to the table.
When she turned around, she found her sister trying to communicate with their guest, who was clearly out of her element. Yang took pity on the woman and said, "She's asking what you want to drink. We've got ale, water, and tea."
"Oh," the woman said with relief. "Tea, please."
As Ruby went to heat the water, Yang sat down at the table. "You've never played the acting game before?" she asked as she handed their guest a spoon.
"The acting game?"
"You know, when you act out something without sound or tools, and the other person has to guess what you're trying to be or do. Like Ruby just now was pretending to take a drink." Yang copied the gesture so their guest could see it again. Comprehension sparked in the other woman's eyes followed by a tinge of pink in her cheeks.
"My father was not much for fun and games," she muttered after a moment.
Yang didn't know how to take that. She and Ruby had always made time for games. Even now, the two of them challenged each other to this or that just for fun. "Well, now you'll get to practice," she said at last. "Right, Ruby?"
The younger girl nodded shyly as she brought a teapot and three mugs to the table. She poured tea into two of the mugs. She turned to Yang and lifted up the teapot with a questioning tilt of her head.
Yang gestured to her sister. "What do you think she's trying to say now?" she asked their guest.
There was a pause and then came hesitantly, "She's asking...if you would like tea as well?"
"Got it in one. We'll make an acting game champ out of you yet, Princess."
The woman stiffend. "Don't call me that!"
Yang just grinned unrepentantly, causing the other woman to give an annoyed huff. She turned back to Ruby. "No thanks. I'll grab some ale later after we eat."
Ruby nodded and put the teapot down. Then she finally sat down to eat with them.
They all must have been pretty hungry for they managed to finish all the stew and cheese bread with nary a crumb left. As Ruby poured their guest more tea, Yang washed the dishes and poured herself that mug of ale she'd been looking forward to.
After all the chores were finally done, they all reconvened at the table, each of them taking intermittent sips of their own beverages.
Yang rolled her shoulders in anticipation for the upcoming conversation. Now she could finally get to the bottom of all this—namely, why her sister had brought home a noble. Because their guest had to be a noble. Her manners were far too good to be a simple merchant's daughter, and her accent was so prim and proper. Plus, there was that hair and those eyes. Anyone born in Atlas would recognize them.
"So," she began, "I'm Yang Xiao Long, local woodcutter and part-time jack-of-all-trades. I'll take on any odd jobs you have for me, provided the price is right." She pointed to Ruby. "This is my little sister, Ruby Rose, local huntress of wild game and tinker. If you have something broken, she can probably fix it or make you a new one, depending on what it is. She's also the one to go to if you need something from the forest. She knows this area better than the back of her hand and can point you to just about anything you might be looking for."
Yang paused long enough to let Ruby give the aristocrat a little wave, which was answered by that funny nod again. Seriously, how could anyone move so stiffly without hurting themselves? Well, no matter. Onto the main question.
"So what brings Lady Weiss Schnee out of her castle and down to where the little people work and live?" Yang probably enjoyed watching the young noble recoil in shock a bit more than she should, but who could blame her? The woman was a Schnee. Yang had plenty of reasons not to like the Schnees. But just as Yang wasn't the woman who abandoned her as soon as she was born or the man who had let himself get consumed by grief to the point where he more or less walked out of her and Ruby's lives, she would give this Weiss Schnee a chance to prove she wasn't like the rest of her family. Didn't mean she wouldn't give the woman a hard time though. Yang had learned long ago that some people didn't show their true colors until you needled them to the point where they blew up at you. Luckily for Yang, she loved needling people and seeing how they ticked.
"How did you know who I am? Did my father send you?" the lady, Weiss, demanded.
"Easy there, Princess, no need to jump to conclusions."
"Don't call me that!"
Yang ignored her yet again. "Some soldiers rode into the village earlier. They put up a wanted poster with your face on it. I thought you looked familiar when I first saw you; I just didn't realize why until before supper though. What did you do? Steal the family fortune?"
"Of course not! Wait...I have wanted posters?"
"Wanted alive and unharmed. Anyone with new information will be rewarded. If you can produce the lady in question, you'll get ten silver lien. That's enough to feed a family of four through the winter and still have money to buy seeds in the spring, provided they use it sparingly. Once people figure out where you are, they'll be coming after you in droves."
The lady's lips flattened into a straight line. "Of course. Can't waste money on commoners."
Yang raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"
The other woman shook her head. "'Anyone with new information will be rewarded' meaning if you come to them with information, they can always say that someone else already reported that information so they can get out of actually paying any reward money."
"Sneaky," Yang commented, rather impressed by the underhandedness of it all.
"I'm not certain whether I should be sad or insulted that my capture is only worth ten silver lien," Weiss said with a scowl.
"For what it's worth, it's only for now. They'll eventually raise the bounty if you're not caught. It's just that if they can get people to look for you and turn you in for less money, why not start as low as possible?"
"And you would know this how?"
"Our uncle is part of the Riders," Yang said, naming the branch of provincial soldiers whose only duties were to constantly patrol major roadways to protect travelers from bandits or Grimm. They weren't as good at facing Grimm as licensed Grimm Huntsmen and Huntresses were, but they did their best. Unfortunately, there were always far more Grimm than Huntsmen, which was why the provinces had created the branch of soldiers to begin with. "He tells us stories all the time whenever he's stationed nearby and comes to visit."
"So tell me," Yang said, getting back on subject, "why is there a warrant out for your capture?"
"I haven't done anything wrong!" Weiss snapped.
Yang leaned back in her chair. "I didn't say you did but the fact is, you're wanted, meaning you being here could put us in danger. If we're giving you shelter, the least you could do is tell us why."
Weiss glanced away. "I-I ran away from home."
Yang gave her an even look. "And I'm supposed to believe that Lord Schnee put out a warrant for your capture just because you ran away from home?"
"My father is not a nice man," she said in a clipped tone. "And he has an...obsession with controlling every aspect of his life including things that he considers his property. He would send people after me as a matter of course, if only so as not to lose face with his peers."
Property? Weiss believed that her father saw her as property? Yang couldn't help but frown at that. But that didn't change the fact that the noble wasn't being entirely truthful. Yang filed that thought away as she asked what she had been wondering all evening, "So how did you end up here with Ruby?"
Weiss flushed pink and looked down. "I ran into some of my father's men earlier. They managed to catch me off guard and were about to drag me back home." She shot a glance at Ruby, who was seated at the other side of the table. "Your sister took out all nine of the guards, freed me from my bonds, and brought me back here when I asked for further assistance."
Yang groaned inwardly. Trust her kind-hearted sister jump to the rescue, again. Normally, Yang wouldn't mind so much, but this time Ruby had rescued a Schnee. The Schnees were one of the main reasons the Faunus were treated so badly throughout most of Atlas. Outwardly though…
"Nine men? Good going, Sis!" Yang reached out to ruffle the girl's hair, only belatedly realizing her hood was in the way. Yang changed targets and threw a heavy arm over Ruby's shoulders instead. The girl floundered under the sudden extra weight before leaning in and throwing an arm around Yang's waist, returning the one-armed hug.
When the two pulled away from one another, Yang turned her attention back to their guest. "Alright, so you're here safe and sound. We've fed you, we'll probably let you spend a night or two if you need it, and we'll probably feed you a few more free meals if you can't afford it. Heck, we'll even throw in some provisions before you leave if you need them. Is that enough assistance for you?" Yang thought not, but she hoped to be pleasantly surprised. A girl had to dream, right?
"Actually…" the woman began.
Well, it was a nice dream while it lasted. Then again, Yang ought to be used to this. Nothing was ever simple when her little sister was involved. It was really strange. Ruby spent most of her days avoiding people like the plague, and yet every time Yang took her eyes off the girl, someone was begging her to to help them.
"I was hoping to hire your sister's services," Weiss said, shooting a glance at Ruby.
"Anywhere my little sister goes, I go. You want to hire her for something, that means you're hiring me, too, whether you like it or not," Yang said straight out.
That perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised again. "I hardly think I need the skills of a woodcutter."
"Jack-of-all-trades, remember? I got plenty of skills—some of which I bet you can't even imagine. You just let me worry about that bit. So what's the job?"
The look of doubt never left Weiss's face, but she continued speaking regardless. "Service as a guide and bodyguard, if you will. I've come to realize I may have been a bit...hasty in planning my escape from my father's clutches. There are certain things I was ill-prepared for, one of which being the fact that he would put an actual bounty on my capture. Your sister has shown herself to be a capable—if somewhat confoundingly quiet—guide, and I doubt the sword and bow she carried earlier are simply for show. Furthermore, she has already shown she is capable of incapacitating nine fully armed men if need be.
"I have no money on me, but I took what personal jewelry I had access to before I left. I'm sure you would be able to sell them for your payment. What I need is this: I need to get to the province of Vytal as soon as possible without getting captured by bounty hunters or my father's men. If you can get me all the way to the capital, that would be even better, but I'll settle for just getting to Vytal if I must. You will protect me from any threats we might encounter, preferably with as few human deaths as possible, but I understand if that isn't realistically feasible. You will also better equip me for the journey as I wasn't able to bring much with me beyond a few changes of clothing and my jewelry. You will undertake this job in goodwill, meaning if circumstances change and you find you cannot take me all the way to Vytal, you will not abandon me without a word and you will ensure that I am either adequately prepared to make the journey on my own or you will find someone trustworthy to take over for you. Any questions?"
Yang blinked, and opened and closed her mouth a few times. She couldn't help but say, "Well, you sure don't ask for much, do you? And who uses words like 'feasible'? What are you, a magistrate or something?" Weiss's face turned red just as Ruby nudged her arm for being rude.
"Well if you're not up to it, that's fine with me. Originally, I only wanted to hire your sister anyway. Your presence is not necessary," Weiss snapped.
Yang felt the familiar flames of her temper rising from the pit of her stomach. "Too bad, Princess," she retorted, "As I said, where Ruby goes, I go. The flipside is if I don't go, she doesn't go."
"Oh? So just because she can't say a word against you, you think you can make decisions for her? Controlling much?"
"You don't know the first thing about Ruby or me. I don't control her. I look out for her and make sure she doesn't get cheated by people like you."
"Oh? And who are people like me?"
"Selfish, egotistical, money-grubbing, self-entitled piles of dirt who think they can have whatever they want no matter who suffers for it."
The noble looked as though she was about to explode. "You said I don't know the first thing about you so what makes you think you know anything about me?"
"All you nobles are the same. If you see something you want, you take it. Your family has been raising taxes on us every year. Well, where's all that money going? To repair or build more roads? Not according to the Riders. To use to support the people in times of trouble? A couple years ago, most of the farming families around here had their fields hit by an early frost, and they lost most of their seed. They asked for help from the local Schnee governor and got nothing but condolences. Ruby ran herself ragged hunting every day so that they didn't starve to death when they spent the last of their savings to buy new seed. And don't get me started on how the Faunus are being treated.
"Did you know Lord Schnee and the rest of the Atlas Council mandated that all Faunus who are citizens of Atlas have to move to council-approved reservations within three years? That was two years ago. This is the last year for any Faunus to move to the reservations. If they don't, they'll be considered criminals and can be arrested by local law enforcement, which'll eventually send them into hard labor. And conveniently those Faunus reservations are located near the Schnee Dust mines. Then last spring, he proposed and passed a mandatory draft that forces any Faunus picked through a lottery to work in those same Dust mines for a minimum of three years at a time. That's the sort of thing your family does."
"I am not my family!" Weiss screeched as she rose out of her chair, causing Yang to do the same. The two glared at each other—one in cold fury and the other in fiery anger.
Yang didn't know what else she might have said because at that moment, a shrill whistle pierced the air, and they both jumped. They turned to Ruby, who stood there with her whistle held to her lips.
Ruby tucked her whistle away and signed to Yang, Stop it. Look at her. She's exhausted.
Yang reluctantly did as she was told and was chagrined to find Ruby was right. Weiss carried herself so stiffly that Yang had missed the dark circles under her eyes and the nearly imperceptible weariness in her shoulders. Yang had been browbeating someone who was standing through sheer willpower alone.
Yang shifted uncomfortably. Schnee or not, Yang should have known better. Her only excuse was she always had a tendency to go a little overboard whenever Ruby was involved.
Yang heaved a heavy sigh and dropped back into her seat with a huff. Weiss's eyes had been darting back and forth between the two sisters, and Yang realized she had forgotten to translate Ruby's words.
"Ruby told me to leave you alone because you're tired," Yang told her, feeling a bit drained herself.
"I'm just fine," the noble lied as she crossed her arms defensively.
"Sure ya are," Yang drawled, "but I'm tired too, so let's call it a night. We can yell at each other more tomorrow." Ruby poked her shoulder for that, but Yang just grinned despite the fisheye Weiss was giving her.
Finally, the other woman lowered herself back into her seat as well, her exhaustion more pronounced than it had been before. "Fine."
"Great! Now that that's settled." Yang felt Ruby tug on her shirt. The younger girl signed something that Yang more or less agreed with. "Ruby says that since you're a guest, you should get the bed. Hold on just a minute, and we'll get things ready for you."
Weiss blinked. "Bed? What bed?" She glanced at the two sisters and saw Ruby pointing up. Weiss's eyes followed her finger, and she realized there was a ladder in the corner of the room that lead to a loft.
"You're not afraid of heights, are ya Princess?"
"Quit calling me that! Argh! You are so infuriating!"
"Don't worry, really," Yang said earnestly, "You don't have to use big words to insult me. Little ones work just fine." Ruby poked her again and wandered away shaking her head. Yang, on the other hand, got to watch the noble start muttering insults under her breath after giving a wordless scream. She grinned. Poking the noble was fun!
That was when Yang got whacked in the face with a ball of sheets. She caught it and looked up at Ruby who had already climbed into the loft and stripped their straw mattress to put clean sheets on for their guest.
Yang sighed. As fun as it was to mess with the noble, she ought to help her little sister and play the good hostess. "So," she said, catching Weiss's attention, "What should we call you? Princess? Schnee? Lady Schnee?" Weiss didn't reply right away and when she finally did, it was so quiet that Yang couldn't quite make it out. "What was that?"
The noble sighed. "Weiss. Just call me Weiss."
Yang cocked an eyebrow. "Not Lady Weiss?"
"No," the other woman said shortly.
"Alright then," Yang said with a shrug. "So Weiss, do you want to just go to bed or do you want to get cleaned up a little before you do?"
Weiss perked up. "A bath?"
Yang grimaced. "Sorry to disappoint you but nothing so fancy. What we can do is heat some hot water for you so you can wipe yourself down if you want."
Weiss seemed to struggle for a moment before sagging as if losing some sort of inner battle. "Please," she said in a quiet voice. "I would be...grateful if you could do so for me."
Yang nodded and got to work, filling a tub halfway up with water after tossing the ball of sheets she had been holding onto the spare cot that their Uncle Qrow used whenever he stayed the night. She'd probably end up using it tonight. Ruby, on the other hand…
Yang couldn't help but frown. Ruby would probably camp out tonight. She always did when strangers came to the cabin and needed to spend the night. For some reason, Ruby just couldn't sleep if there were strangers around. Yang thought it might have something to do with her Faunus side being unable to relax when there were foreign bodies in the spaces she considered hers, like a wolf guarding its territory. It was Yang who finally told her that it would be fine if she wanted to camp outside to sleep instead of suffering through a sleepless night. Well, after Ruby rejected Yang's suggestion that they kick all the strangers out for Ruby's sake. That was Ruby, always thinking about everyone else before herself.
With a small sigh, Yang fished a couple of hot stones out of the clay pot they kept in the corner of the hearth and dumped them into the tub of water, causing the water to hiss and pop.
"What are you doing?" Weiss suddenly asked from behind her.
Yang stepped back to let the noble watch as she dumped another hot stone into the water. "Heating the water. See, heating water over the fire takes forever if you're trying to heat a lot at once and sometimes you just want a little hot water real quick. So Ruby made that clay pot over there and filled it with clean rocks she found by the river. The rocks get hot whenever we light up the hearth, and we can use them to warm or heat things for hours afterwards—even after we bank or put out the fire. She apparently got the idea from when we heat rocks to warm the bed in the winter."
"I've never seen water heated that way before…but it's rather brilliant considering it's so simple."
"I know," Yang said proudly. "My baby sister is amazing. I call her a tinker, but she's really so much more. She's always coming up with ways to make things easier, even if they're a little odd sometimes. Most people see only one way to do things because that's the way they've been taught, but she's always coming up with all these other possibilities. They don't always work, but still—"
Yang felt a tug at her shirt, and she slung an arm around her younger sister without even looking. "Awww, don't be embarrassed," she told the girl. "We gotta impress the Princess so that she'll pay us our money's worth," she faux whispered while grinning at the noble who had the most annoyed expression on her face that Yang had ever seen. Ruby squirmed away and went to fetch a jug of room temperature water.
"Is the water hot enough for you?" Yang asked Weiss after she tossed a few more stones in.
Weiss dipped a fingertip into the water and pulled away quickly. "Maybe a little too hot."
Ruby held up her jug of cool water, making sure she had Weiss's attention, poured a little of it into the tub of hot water, mimed sticking her finger in the water, and then held the jug out to Weiss.
"So, what do you think Ruby was trying to tell you this time?"
Weiss replied dryly, "That I should add cool water until it reaches a comfortable temperature."
"You're getting better at this already. Soon you'll be able to communicate to one another without me."
"I can only hope," the noble deadpanned.
Yang blinked. "Did you just make a joke?"
"Of course not," Weiss said as her face reddened.
Yang was going to keep teasing her, but Ruby grabbed her arm and pulled her to the door. "Oh, well, we'll give you some privacy so you can do your thing," she called back. "Just call us when you're done.
"Alright, Ruby, I'm coming. I'm coming! No need to pull so hard."
Eventually, the young noble raised her voice, and Yang ambled back in.
The young noble was wearing a wrinkled white nightgown that Yang could only assume came from her meager luggage. Weiss glanced beyond her, confusion in her eyes. "Where's your sister?"
Yang gave a noncommittal shrug. "I told you she's not too comfortable with strangers. That goes doubly at nighttime. She's going to camp out tonight. She'll be back in the morning, probably before either of us wake up."
Weiss's mouth dropped open in horror. "You mean I evicted her out of her own home?"
"Who uses words like 'evicted'?" Yang backed up quickly at the force of the noble's glare. "Hey, relax. It was going to happen one way or another. There's no way she would have made you sleep outside and unfortunately if you're here, she can't sleep inside. She'll be fine. She took her bow and sword with her just in case, and you know she knows how to use them."
Weiss didn't look pleased, but it's not like she had much of a choice. Ruby had already gone to wherever she went when she camped out. "Where are you going to sleep?"
Yang pointed to the cot. "Over there. It'll be comfy enough."
Weiss eyed the cot with doubt. "No blankets?"
"Don't need 'em. I'm really hot-blooded, and it's still warm in the season."
"Well…I guess I'll turn in for the night."
Yang nodded. "I'll be heading to bed soon as well. Just need to clean up a bit and bank the fire. I'll try to keep quiet. Good night."
For some reason, the noble's eyes widened at that before she responded in a small voice, "Good night."