Here we go.
...
Weiss wasn't sure what woke her really.
It might have been the warmth in the air. It wasn't hot but… the freezing colds of Atlas were absent. It could have been what sounded like leaves above her head, rustling gently in a soft breeze, maybe how the flaps of her tent beat against that breeze lightly.
Or… it might have been the weight on her chest.
Weiss opened her eyes, and met pools of silver.
"R-Ruby?" Her leader didn't speak as she lay there on top of her and leaned forward.
Weiss' breath caught in her throat.
Ruby noticed, and her lips twitched upwards. She leaned in further and her body ground against her own.
What was happening?
Weiss didn't know. This was- This had to be a dream, there was no way that-
Ruby leaned in even closer so that she took up all of Weiss' vision.
And… Weiss didn't stop her. She tried to ignore how flushed her face felt, how heavy her breath was, how her lips parted as Ruby's own inched closer to hers, agonisingly slow.
And then, Weiss heard Ruby's voice… but not from the girl on top of her.
"Neo? Are you up yet? Where are you?"
The girl above her stilled, and Wiess out two-and-two together a moment later as not-Ruby's eyes flickered pink and brown and she grinned.
The heiress stiffened as the girl's skin shimmered, revealing the multicoloured girls form and she sat up. Weiss could only stare as Neo stood, flicking her hair back and turning to leave the tent.
Before she did, she stopped, tilting her head to the side and sending Weiss a salacious wink, and then she was gone.
Outside the tent she could hear Ruby's voice again.
"Neo, what were you doing in Weiss' tent? Oh, waking her up, alright."
That had most certainly not but she'd been doing. Not at all!
Or, she had but…
The burning in her cheeks were proof that she'd done it in a way Weiss had enjoy-
Hadn't enjoyed! She hadn't like that at all!
Bloody criminals.
A few minutes later Weiss had managed to calm down a bit, schooling her features so that she didn't look like an idiot as she exited her tent. When she did, she finally got a look at her surroundings:
They were in a forest for starts. It looked like a small patch had been cleared for them to rest on, but all around they were surrounded by tall trees, undergrowth, and grass aplenty. There was a small campfire set up, not burning anymore except for a few embers that lingered in the ashes, but clear signs that it had been used all the same. Incircling that were eight tents including her own, though everyone had already left theirs, moving around doing something, be that moving crates, packing up supplies or sharpening blades.
Her eyes fell to Ruby – the real Ruby – chatting animatedly with that Cinder woman.
The younger girl was waving her hands wildly as she spoke, and the older of the two was listening patiently, with a small smile curving her features.
Maybe it was the little surprise with that Neo girl, but Weiss suddenly didn't like the picture in front of her.
Fortunately, Ruby noticed her a moment later and brightened like the sun.
"Weiss!" she cheered, standing u and rushing over to her.
Weis may or may not have taken a small bit of pleasure in how Cinder's smile fell.
She wasn't entirely sure why though.
She didn't have time to contemplate it either, because Ruby was in her face a second later.
"Thank goodness you're up." The younger girl breathed. "I was starting to worry. Are you alright?"
"I-I'm fine Ruby," Weiss coughed, surprised by the immediate closeness. Again, the events inside her tent flared up. She shouldn't have been surprised by this! It was just Ruby. She'd always been familiar with her. She just had to get used to it again. "A-anyway, yes, yes I'm alright. May I ask where we are? I don't really remember setting up a campsite."
"That's because you were still asleep for it," Ruby explained. "We left Atlas three days ago and you were out like a light the whole time. We're on our way to Mistral now."
"Mistral?" she echoed. "Why Mistral?"
""That's… a long story." Ruby admitted. I'll explain it when we meet up with Yang."
"Meet up with? So you didn't travel with her at all then?"
"No uh, Yang had… other things to deal with. She's been helping me out from a distance but we agreed to find each other after a while. That times almost up."
"I see." She really didn't there was something Ruby was omitting. Not out of malice clearly if her expression was anything to go by, but it felt like he didn't know how to… broach the subject? Was that the right word?
Maybe she should ask Ruby directly?
She didn't really get much time to consider it as another voice called out.
"We're all ready Red, you and the Ice Queen coming?"
"Of course." Weiss groaned. "Of course I should have realised you'd be here."
Roman Torchwich smirked and tipped his cap. "Aw, what's the matter snowflake? Not happy to see me?"
"An understatement if there ever was one." She turned to Ruby. "Why is he even here? Shouldn't he be in, I don't know, prison?"
Ruby shrugged before shooting her a lopsided grin. "Come on Weiss, it's not that bad. I mean sure, Roman crazy to think he looks good in eyeliner-"
"Oi!"
"But he's not that bad. He helped me out a lot."
Weiss frowned. "He was also a part of the attack on Beacon wasn't he? How can I even trust him not to stab me in the back after that?"
"W-well…" Ruby coughed.
"You're going to be sleeping with one eye open then Schnee." The woman, Cinder, said. "Considering you're surrounded by those exact people."
Weiss blanched as the woman stepped over. "W-what? What are you saying?"
Cinder didn't answer for a moment, her amber eyes trailing up and down Weiss' form. She suppressed a shiver at the action, at the way Cinder's face hardened.
"I heard you engaged Tyrian… didn't you?"
"What?!" Ruby snapped, tone suddenly sharp. There was a dangerous undertone in that, that made Weiss finch, but she was more focused on Cinder.
"Where did you- How do you know that?"
"He told me." She shrugged. "He was fairly upset he didn't get to… finish what he started before someone interrupted him."
"He…" Weiss repeated slowly, trying to figure out if she was being messed with. "Told you?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"How?" Cinder raised an eyebrow. "I worked with him of course. I was one of the people who planned the fall of Beacon."
"W-w-wha-" she stuttered reeling back from the woman in front of her that had so shamelessly declared to be a mass murderer. Even now, she smirked as Weiss' face drained of colour she was enjoying her shock.
"Enough!" Ruby barked, and instantly Cinder stiffened. The others stopped around them as the air grew heavy.
Weiss' head snapped around. What on Remnant was going on. "R-ruby you-you know what she did?"
She didn't get a response. Ruby was glaring at Cinder now, those silver eyes were more like steel now, warning of a threat.
"What are you trying to do Cinder?"
The woman didn't answer, turning her head away.
"Don't!" Ruby snapped. "Look at me Cinder."
She did so, with reluctance., and Amber met silver."
"What are you doing?" The reaper repeated. "Why are you starting something with Weiss?"
"She doesn't need to be here."
Ruby scowled. "Cinder we talked about this already."
The older woman returned it now in kind. "And now it's more clear than ever. She's just an extra body, a liability we have to look after. She doesn't even have any means to defend herself."
"Cinder-"
"No, don't 'Cinder' me." She snapped, making Ruby blink. "We've talked about this but it's always just been your decision. We don't have the luxury of attracting attention to ourselves and you decide to do just that by spirting the Schnee Heiress out of Atlas while under fire! How is that sticking to the plan?"
"I told you already-"
"Yes of course, she's your partner." Cinder mocked. "Well so was I. I was your partner before her, for much longer and through much more and yet you don't take my opinion into account."
"How have I not!" Ruby threw her arms wide, her right draping down a moment later, Cinder caught that and looked away, a look Weiss could quite place flickering across her face.
Weiss was beginning to think she'd intruded on something personal, so much so that it actually overcame her prior panic to the woman herself.
She looked around, and the others were shooting them… not worried looks, but cautious ones.
How long had this argument been under the surface?
Had they been discussing it while she'd been unconscious?
"Whatever," Cinder growled. "I stand by what I said. The Schnee may be your partner, but she's a danger to us. You'll be forced to look out for her because she can't defend herself properly, because she's nowhere near our level, nor the level she needs to be and hasn't even an inkling of what's going on, and you'll be hurt because of it."
"I can look out for myself."
"We both know you can't. Not like you used to."
"…"
Cinder turned away again. "I'll be in the bullhead until we go."
She left without another word, leaving Ruby to stare after her.
Emerald bit her lip. "I'll… go talk to her, don't worry about it."
"… Thanks Em." Ruby sighed, bringing a hand up to her head. It looked like she might have had the start of a headache.
The thief nodded, running after Cinder. Ruby let out a heavy sigh.
"Uh," Roman mumbled. "Did that come out of nowhere or was it just me?"
"No," the reaper shook her had. "Cinder's had a short temper ever since we got to Anima… something's bothering her, and it's getting worse."
"Tch," Roman spat. "She's always had a short fuse."
"Yeah, but never with me… something's really bothering her if she's like this." She paused. "Penny."
"Yes Ruby?"
Came a voice from beside Weiss nearly making her jump. When had she gotten there? How long had she been standing there?
"Can you keep a lookout for trouble while we fly? If Cinder's worried then I'm worried."
"I can interact with the ship's radar." She nodded before saluting. "Leave it to me!" she cheered, jogging over to the ship.
"Welp, Roman hummed. Might as well get on with it… I'll uh, leave you two to it."
Leave them to it? What was that supposed to-
"Weiss," Ruby said when they were alone. "Can you… show me where he got you?"
"I, what?" Weiss blinked.
Ruby turned to her now, looking worried. "I can you show me what Tyrian did to you?"
Oh.
"I-I-" she looked away and took a step back. "What makes you think he hurt me?"
"…Tyrian always leaves a mark… always."
So there was more going on. More than Weiss had any clue of anyway.
That was troubling, considering Ruby was fairly blatant that she was hiding things.
But… if she said no, she'd technically be doing the same thing, wouldn't she?
No, no it was different. Ruby was keeping a secret that by the sounds of it, was an important one, while she was hiding a mark on her body, Ruby wouldn't blame her if she said no. She knew that…
But-
"I… have to warn you," she whispered. "I would like to maintain my modesty… so, I can only show you a small portion."
Her partner nodded and hesitantly, Weiss tugged off her shrug to show her bare shoulders.
Ruby hissed when she saw the scar.
"I-I know." Weiss mourned. "I-it's not a pleasant sight. That's why I thought it would be better if I kept it out of sight. I'm sorry you had to see something so-"
"Weiss. Stop."
The heiress' jaw clicked shut as her eyes flickered up to her partners.
Ruby was angry.
The look on her face was one Weiss had only seen once; at Mountain Glenn, and at the time, she had been fearful of it. Now, she wasn't, but only because she knew it wasn't directed at her. Weiss couldn't shake the feeling though, the feeling of danger as she stared into those silver eyes. They looked… bright.
And yet somehow that dilled her with trepidation.
She was so busy looking into those orbs that she didn't realise Ruby's hand gliding over her shoulder until the tips of her fingers ran over them.
Weiss flinched back. And Ruby's eyes widened.
"Did I hurt you?"
"N-no." she coughed. "You just surprised me." That, and her touch hand once again brought flashes of what Neo had done while looking like her. She looked away to hide her blush.
This time she was ready when Ruby ran a hand over her scar with her uncovered hand.
"I'll make him regret this." She whispered. "I'll make sure Tyrian pays for hurting you like this."
"You don't have to do that… I can just hide the scar."
"I don't care about the scar." Ruby growled, and Weiss thought it was very Xiao-Long of her. "I couldn't care less about them. I'm not that shallow that I think your scars are something I should look away from. I'm going to make him pay because for this to have happened it means he hurt you. Badly. I won't let it happen again."
"I... see."
Right, what had she been thinking? She hadn't any reason to think Ruby would be repulsed by her scars. She hadn't been with the one that marred her face, what was one more?
"Thank you Ruby.
Ruby blinked, as if she was surprised Weiss was thankful. To her, the promise was probably expected.
All the same, she smiled.
"No problem Weiss." Suddenly, she had an idea. "Hey, you showed me yours, how about I show you mine to be fair?"
"Yours?"
Ruby nodded and lifted her gauntleted arm. It clicked open with a hiss.
And Weiss saw the extent of the damage.
…
…
Yang was frowning. She knew she was frowning because people were shooting her weird looks. They were probably wondering why she had such a sour face when she was getting onto a cruise ship.
Well, there were a number of reasons really. It could have been because Yang really felt like frowning. Smiling was dangerous. It gave you an opening, a weakness to be disappointed when things went wrong. Recently, Yang had plenty of reason to be disappointed, so she wore a frown in stalwart defence of that. It could have also been because Neptune was groaning loudly. He had only just gotten onto the ship when he started whimpering about being on the ocean again. Really, his Avatar was the god of the sea, this had to be some kind of cosmic joke on that fact. It was stupid, and therefore plenty of reason to frown.
But really, Yang knew why she was frowning.
It was because Blake was there, on the ship, chatting politely with the ships captain and first mate like they knew each other, and with every second they kept talking Yang was beginning to get the sneaking suspicion they did.
Yang had protested heavily to the idea of Blake coming with them. She'd given point after point about how Blake should stay with her family and deal with things there. She had no place with their group. She didn't have any experience with what they were dealing with. The fact that things would just be more difficult with three, four of them together would be harder to manage was a good point too, and that Yang just really didn't want her to come.
All her perfectly logical points had been dismissed by Blake, and her stubbornness had shown through.
And because Blake was going, Ilia had decided she was going too so that Blake didn't get into trouble.
That was pretty much a lost cause, but she could at least appreciate Ilia's reasons, so she couldn't say no to her.
Her parents had for some ridiculous reason thought it was a good idea too, as did Sienna.
And so Blake was coming with them.
Great.
The Faunus had been so enthusiastic about it too, arranging a ship for them and everything. Others were travelling to and from Anima, but since Blake had an in with the captain they'd got a place on the next ride over.
Yang had tried one last ditch effort to convince her not to go by saying she would be too recognisable to Faunus and human people, which even she knew was a flimsy-ass excuse, because for nearly a year Yang had no idea that Blake was the daughter of the White Fang's first leader.
Still, Blake had actually agreed, but instead of not going, she'd decided that a wardrobe change would help.
She'd gotten rid of her white coat, and replaced it with…
Well, the armour of the Belladonna personal guard.
Her dad had been particularly happy about the armour part.
She was dressed just like any other of them, with a hood to hide her face and the symbol of her family, she was sure she could pass herself off as an ambassador on Menagerie if it really came down to it with the White Fang.
The fact she was so sure of that annoyed Yang.
The fact that she looked good in it annoyed her even more.
Like fuck, how was Yang supposed to stay mad at Blake if her ass looked that good?
Why was life so unfair?
Ilia was wearing the exact same thing so the two of them blended in and she didn't look that good. She looked good, but not good.
Ilia was a good looking girl sure, and she was nice enough if you got past the part where she had been willfully part of a violent terroirists organisation, but she didn't have the looks that made Yang want to tear off her clothes, pin her to the ground and fuck her senseless.
…shit.
Yang scowled at herself. No. She wouldn't fall for trap again. Last time, she had she'd gotten into a-gods-be-damned relationship with Blake. That had been a mistake!
It had!
"Are you ready?"
Yang blinked, realising she'd been daydreaming in her own head for a moment and looked up as the girl in question made her way over. "The captain said we'd be making the voyage now. Have you got everything?"
Yang looked away, crossing her arms beneath her chest. And ignoring how some of the passers-by became particularly interested in the scenery in that direction.
"Yeah, we're ready." She said. "Sun and Nep made sure to stock up for the trip so we should have t worry about supplies or anything"
"That's good."
"...yeah."
There was an awkward pause between them as Blake waited for her to say more.
She didn't.
She seemed to realise that a second later and coughed into her fist. "Anyway, the captain said we'd be there pretty quickly. About a day and a half to get to the first stop. I'm still not sure why you want to get off there when we can take It up the coast further."
"Safer that way." Yang shrugged. "Neptune's weird about it, but being on a boat isn't a good idea if we want to keep a low profile. The ports are usually watched and if something were to happen we'd be trapped in ton the open water… my magic doesn't do great when there's so much stuff around to douse it."
"… Right… your magic… that makes sense I guess."
Yang hummed in response.
Another pause.
"Yang?"
"… What is it?"
"Can… can I ask you a question?"
"You can," she grunted. "Whether or not I answer it depends."
Blake bit her lip and Yang suddenly had the feeling Blake had been thinking about this seriously. Whatever it was. "Can… can you tell me… what's wrong with me? What I am now after… after what happened at Glenn?"
Blake was acutely aware of how the temperature dropped. Logically, she knew it hadn't; they were in a tropical climate, but all the same she shivered. There was the chime of a bell as the ship shunted, moving onto the open water and setting sail. Sun walked by with Neptune and Ilia, leading them to their cabins to put away their stuff, and the other people – the civilians – walked by without notice of the atmosphere.
Yang took a deep breath, and let it out. "I'll… explain it… later. It's not the sort of thing I… just give me a few hours to… get my material together."
"O-oh… okay."
Right… I'll uh… be on the deck later tonight. We can talk about it then."
"Does it... have to be at night?" Yang sent her a blank look.
"R-right. Okay… I can wait, yeah."
Another pause. "I'll um… go to my room then."
"Sure."
Yang didn't say anything more as Blake left, not until the Faunus was out of sight.
But when she did, she cupped her face in her hands and groaned.
"Gods why me?"
Why did she have to be the one to explain something like this to Blake?
She knew the answer to that, of course, she just didn't like it.
She had to think… she had to gather her thoughts, decide how she was going to go about it. Yang closed her eyes, and entered into the Odysseum.
…
…
That night, the moon was full, high up in the sky.
It's shattered pieces casing light onto the ocean's surface, as it lapped calmy at the edges of the ship.
The passengers were asleep, while the crew toiled away, making sure that they sailed through the night, and watching out for any Grimm that might surface.
As such, it was quiet, in a way usually reserved for very special places. The only sounds to be heard were the waves, and the creaking of the ship.
And yet still, it made Blake nervous.
She stepped into the deck, looking around, and thanks to her night vision, spotted Yang leaning against the railings, staring out into the moonlit horizon.
She took a breath to calm her feelings of trepidation, even as it made her shiver.
Yang's voice made her jump.
"Well?" the blonde asked, not even turning to face her. "Are you going to just stand there or what?"
Blake swallowed. "R-right." Her stride is stuttered as she makes to stand beside Yang at the railings overlooking the sea. The brawler shifts slightly, resting her obsidian arm along the rails with her palm facing upwards.
A small flame flickered to life.
Great, another reminder that this was really happening.
Yang doesn't speak for a few minutes, enough to make Blake uncomfortable. "So… are we going to start or…?"
"...Yeah." she sighs. "Just give me a minute to think how I'm going to go over this… you wanna tell me where to start?"
"Is there a start?" Blake frowned. "I barely know anything about it. All I know is that it started in Mountain Glenn."
Yang grunted. "I guess that's as good a start as any."
So that's where she began.
Yang told Blake about the doctor who found her after she was dragged into the mountains. She told Blake about how Merlot had revealed the existence of magic to her, and how he created her obsidian arm and leg with the intention of not only getting her back on her feet, but bringing out her spark of potential.
Yang explained how Merlot revealed that her hallucinations weren't actually hallucinations at all, but some kind of… ability she'd had since birth, and how with no one around to teach her, it had been misdiagnosed.
Blake was told how she'd been perfectly sane from the start.
At first, Blake wasn't sure how all of this correlated with… well her own condition.
Until Yang told her about something else Merlot had been working on.
"A wraith?" Blake echoed Yang's words in confusion. "What… is a wraith?"
"You've never heard of them?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe? Not when I was growing up in menagerie anyway. I've heard the word before, but I can't remember where."
Yang shrugged. "Probably a storybook or something. They're not real for most people after all. Not something people have dealt with in a long time."
"What do you mean?"
"Well… wraiths are… honestly I'm not one hundred percent sure what they are, no one is, or at least no one I've been able to get in contact with at least. I…" she trailed off, her flames fizzling out for a moment as she closes her eyes.
Blake wasn't blind.
She knew this was hard for Yang to explain. She… wasn't sure why yet, but she knew that even if Yang was angry at her for something, this still hurt her to say.
Really it was the only thing Blake could get out of her. If she understood what was bothering Yang, she might have been able to make things right.
Eventually though, Yang pushed on. Wraiths are supposed to be these… evil spirits I think, at least from legend. They're creations of ancient, nearly godly powerful wizards."
"And how… strong is that exactly?"
Yang scoffed. "From what I've read, nowhere near the actual gods' powers, but still dwarfing the power of armies by themselves. Apparently though, most wizards were scholars or researchers or advisors instead of people who got involved with the world. Good thing too, if they had, who knows how stuff would have turned out."
"I guess so." The Faunus blinked suddenly. "Wait, did you mention gods as a real, tangible thing and not a concept?"
"… why don't we stick to the relevant stuff Blake… if I try to explain everything we could be here all week."
It wasn't a satisfying answer by far, but Blake knew what would happen if she pushed, so she bit her lip and nodded.
"Right, so as I was saying, from what I could gather, wraiths were created by these wizards, which is good, because it means there wasn't a lot of them. They were these experiments to see if humans could achieve immortality… obviously they didn't get the desired results."
Yang waved a hand like she wasn't sure how to go about explaining it for a second, before just giving up and going for the blunt and honest method.
"Wraiths are tortured ancient spirits. I'm not sure if they were human spirits or what, but they were pumped full of magic and all sorts of other things to see if they could persist. They were warped and twisted until they became these… evil things."
Blake swallowed. "E-evil? As in…"
"Not the philosophical, objective kind, I mean actual evil. Wraiths are souls creatures that despise everything that lives. They drain the life from their victims, absorb it into themselves t get stronger and… inhabit corpses to make their own."
"So, so how does this go back to Merlot?" Blake asked. "If it was a spirit then, how did he get a hold of it?"
"Not entirely sure." Yang shrugged. "He found it somewhere in his travels and managed to capture it. It's been so long since they were created now that most people who know about them think they wasted away centuries ago, or at the very least were so weak and deathly that they weren't a threat to anyone. The one Merlot found probably wasn't until he got his hands on it, until he changed it."
The brawler tapped her finger against the railings. "I'm not sure what exactly he did, but he somehow made the Wraith change from a spiritual thing to a physical one. It made it something you could touch yourself, he changed what it was… into some sort of… black ichor… something people might confuse fro Grimm… because maybe in terms of the DNA it is."
Yang's eyes glanced purposefully at Blake, specifically to her-
"You can't be…" Blake chipped her left side. "You're telling me that I… I don't even-"
"Grimm are constructs of magic, Blake." Yang whispered. "They aren't really anything but magic given a purpose for destruction… Merlot had plenty of subjects at Glenn, you saw them yourself with those mutant ones. He did something with the wraith and mixed it with Grimm somehow, maybe their blood, maybe their essence, but either way he got a result."
Blake shook her head. "That can't be right. I… I would know. I would know if this was… was that. I-it shouldn't work like that right? You said wraiths could only use dead bodies."
"I did."
"Well then there you go! It can't have done anything to me right?"
"…"
Yang' silence dragged on.
"Well?!"
"Blake," the blonde said carefully. "Do you remember what the explosion did to you? The one Merlot set off as a failsafe in his lab?"
She frowned. "Of course I do. How could I not?"
"What would an explosion like that do to someone? You were tired, already worn from fighting the White Fang and Grimm to find me. The explosion was strong enough to bring down the lab and the caves around us… it would be more than enough to break through your aura."
"I-I…" Blake looked away. "W-well then maybe it's more complicated than that. Maybe we're not seeing something."
"I think we can see it fine Blake. I think we were told straight up what happened."
"What do yo-"
"Professor Peach read out your medical analysis," Yang cut in. "She explained to us exactly what the damage was. Blake… you lost things you needed to survive… things you wouldn't have been able to function without immediate medical care, and a miracle."
"I-"
"You already know what I'm going to say." Yang cuts her off again, her voice hard. "Wraiths can only enter corpses. It just so happens that after that explosion, there was one right in front of it. You know that Blake."
No. no she didn't. it couldn't be true, it didn't- it didn't make any sense. She would know, wouldn't she? There would have been a hint that would have told her something like this- like- like a light at the end of a tunnel right? Or a-
Or her life flashing before her eyes.
Oh.
Oh.
"Oh."
Blake's voice cracked from that one simple word.
Yang's eyes drifted shut.
"Yeah."
"So… so I'm… I died…"
"Yeah."
"I'm… I have a… a wraith inside me?"
"…yeah."
Blake suddenly felt cold. Her skin felt like it was freezing, and her blackened skin, all along her left side;
She was suddenly very aware of how wrong it felt.
"So, I died." Damnit. Damnit all. Her voice was still cracking, she couldn't even keep it steady! "I was possessed by some sort of… of evil spirit."
Yang said nothing. She'd scrunched her eyes shut.
Blake noticed the distance between them more than ever.
She… she needed something. A rock. An anchor. A lifeline.
Yang… offered none of these things.
How did she deserve this treatment? How was this fair? This coldness?
A twisted thought seeped into Blake's mind, something that made her shiver in fear.
"Am I… even Blake then? Or did she die under the mountain? Am I just some ghos-"
"No."
Blake's eyes snapped to Yang.
The blonde's gaze was flat, almost dead, and those red eyes were unfazed and unfocused.
"I can say with complete confidence that you're still Blake?"
A flare of anger swelled up as Blake snarled. "How? How could you possibly know that?"
Yang looked back to the sea. "I don't know a lot about wraiths, even the Odyssium doesn't have much on them since they're so barely mentioned in fairy tales and legend… and folklore is usually… fluid at best. But I do know that wraiths move from host to host looking for more power. You were the first one in its path when it was freed, but there were plenty of chances for other hosts. I don't know. Merlot did more than just revive the thing. Like I said, he changed it. Made it something different. Something new."
A bitter smile spread across Yang's face.
"Besides. I don't a wraith would run away from as many situations as you do… I don't think they'd be able to follow the same pattern."
"W-what?"
Yang sighed and shook her head. "Nevermind. It doesn't matter now." Something flickered across her face, and as she stepped past Blake, she rested a hesitate hand on her shoulder. "For what it's worth I… I'm at least glad it's still you… and I'm sorry you had to go through it in the first place."
"I…r-right… t…thank you."
Yang's eyes dulled, the red seeping out of them as twinges of lilac returned.
"Blake I…"
Blake turned to her, and froze as she met those same eyes.
For some reason, she suddenly couldn't look away. "Y-yes? What is it?"
Her voice came out in a whisper, desperate for even a wisp of that concern that shone through her partners' eyes.
Her former partners.
Blake made the mistake of breaking their gaze, and suddenly that look was gone, and Yang turned away. "Nothing." She mumbled. "It's… it's nothing. You should get some sleep Blake if you can. AS soon as we hit the docks we'll be moving."
With that said, Yang left, leaving Blake alone as she made her way back into the ship.
Blake didn't move from her spot.
She let out a long, pained breath.
She forced herself to ignore how it became a sob.
It wasn't fair. None of this was fair!
Blake glared down at her blackened, gnarled hand with all the hatred she could muster.
"This is because of you. Whatever you are. You- you ruined everything!"
Blake wasn't sure if she was expecting a response, but she didn't receive one all the same.
It was just her up here, just her, alone in the shadows of the moonlight.
…
…
Twitch…
Twitch…
Twitch…
Ruby suppressed an annoyed groan as she opened her eyes. Her arm was starting to throb, or it had woken her up at least form all of it.
Ugh, her throat felt dry. Where was she again?
Oh, right, the bullhead. They'd taken off and were still on their way to Mistral.
Ruby yawned, and felt a weight leaning against her side.
She glanced over to see locks of snow draped over her shoulder. It was Weiss resting on her, further over, Penny was sat with her eyes closed. Weiss had clearly chosen between cold metal and warm flesh to use as comfort and chosen the latter. Had Weiss fallen asleep on her?
By the look of it, she had. Ruby wasn't sure why her eyes lingered on Weiss' face, or why she sat there watching her as she murmured something lightly in her sleep, but she did.
Weiss looked… peaceful there, almost. She'd definitely relaxed since they'd left Atlas, and though she'd stuck close to Ruby the whole time, it was still better than the reaper had expected her to be.
Maybe it was for reasons Ruby didn't understand, she wasn't really sure, but Weiss had been pretty shaken up earlier too when she'd seen Ruby's arm. Maybe because it was a reminder of her own new scar, or maybe it was because the burned arm was just uncomfortable to look at that it upset her so much but… well she seemed fine now.
A consistent tapping lifted Ruby out of her musings. It was the sound of a glass heel on metal.
Ruby gazed over to Cinder, who looked even more agitated than she had before. Thankfully it wasn't directed at her, but it was still a peculiar sight.
She'd ask her in a second what was wrong, but first…
Ruby shifted slightly, making sure to rest Weiss' head on the seat gently as she stood up and shuffled over to the cockpit, ducking her head in.
"Everything okay in here?" she asked the two pilots.
Neo gave her a shaky hand gesture.
"Funny you should ask that Red," Roman muttered. "Yeah we're fine, but we're coming over Lake Matsu. Take a look out there and tell me what you see."
It wasn't hard, and Roman made it obvious to what he was referring to.
"Floating island huh?" Ruby murmured. "What is it, gravity Dust?"
"Yep, growing right out of all the little island all over the place. A weird natural phenomenon from what I hear from the science channels."
"Any idea what causes it?"
The thief shrugged. "Beats me. The nerds can't get close most of the time. All the dust messes with communication and signalling, not to mention the islands hold some lancers apparently."
"Yikes. Is that going to be a problem?"
"Nah, we'll be fine as long as we keep in the shadow of the island. If we do run into a problem I'll let you know. Provided we don't go doing in a flaming wreck straight away."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "Always sunshine and rainbows Roman."
"I try."
The girl doesn't bother to respond and instead turns her attention to Cinder, who's still tapping her foot and actually looks… nervous.
"Cinder, are you okay?"
"Hm?" the half-maiden blinked. "Oh I'm… no, no I don't think so."
"What is it?"
Cinder frowned. "That's the thing. I don't know. I just have this feeling that something's going to happen. It's been getting worse ever since we left camp and I don't know why."
"What's happening?" came a yawn. Weiss stirs from her sleep and rubs her eyes tiredly.
Cinder narrows her eyes at the younger girl, but other than that ignores her and focus her attention back to Ruby. "I don't know what it is but I think we should be on guard."
"You serious?"
"I am."
Ruby didn't need any other reason, she nodded. "Alright then. Hey Em, Mercury!"
"Huh, what?" The two of them groan, sitting up blearily from where they were. "What is it?"
"I don't know, Cinder has a feeling, and we're in Grimm territory so get ready in case something happens."
Suddenly Roman calls back to them. "Uh, Red, about that."
Cinder tenses as Ruby stepped past her and stood beside Roman. "What is it?"
"No clue but uh, those clouds just appeared out of nowhere."
The girl's eyes flicker up to the sky to see yes, dark storm clouds appearing overhead. She works her jaw slowly. "Is there anything on the radars?"
"Nothing. These aren't exactly military fighters. They can pick up other ships and big Grimm but if it's something small then we're out of luck."
"You thank it's something small?"
"Don't know what else it could be. This storms unnatural."
"Ruby!" Cinder cried in a sudden panic. "Grab your weapon! Brace yourself!"
"What? What is-"
"The other half of my powers! They're close by!"
That was all Cinder got out when a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky and scathed the bullheads sides.
The ship rocked as alarms blared in their ears.
"Son of a bitch!" Roman swore. "We've been hit by god damned lightning! We've taken damage."
"Can we still fly?"
"Barely. But if we get hit again like that we might just up and explode. I'm landing us on one of those islands."
Thankfully, he managed that, even as the ship smoked dangerously and the landing was rough.
The doors of the bullhead shunted upon and Ruby leapt out, the others landing next to her. Weiss' eyes scanned around them. "Do you have any idea where they attack came from?"
"I do." Cinder muttered. "Right in front of us."
Ruby's head shot up, searching for their attacker. She already knew who she'd find, and she couldn't even hope for it to be someone else, for the insinuation of that being the powers transferring.
On an island just above theirs, a spartan gazed down at them.
Pyrrha, glared down at them, one eye burning brightly.
The rest of team JNPR was with her too, with weapons bared and ready.
Ready, and pointed right at them.
...
...
Bum, bum, bum!
Where did they come from? Why the hell are they attacking our heroes?
It's probably obvious to everyone but why!?
Well, we'll have to wait to find out what happens either way, and as such, I'm here to say:
Merry Christmas!
Or at least Merry early Christmas!
Or Hannukah.
Or whatever it is you celebrate, I'm not exactly well studies in other traditions this time of year. Whatever it is, I hope you have a good one over the week. I won't be posting a chapter over the Christmas week, spending time with family and all that, but afterwards we'll be right back into it.
Also, later on today I'll be posting the first chapter of House of Thorns, so if you're interested be sure to look out for that. It's... well it's different from what I usually do, but I'll explain that in it when it comes out. Either way, I really enjoyed writing it so far.