Chapter 51
White eyes glared in anger and pain as she struggled to break herself free of her captor's grasp. She was back in the mansion and Weiss had been separated from her. Her broken arm and her wounded leg throbbed with pain. The aching all over her body was all she could feel as a group of soldiers attempted to escort her as gently as they could manage. For Neo, the fight wasn't over. She turned her head as her teeth clamped down on the hand of the soldier that was holding her by her shoulder, drawing blood instantly. He let out a pained cry as he released her, pulling his hand back. "Don't lose hold of her!" yelled one of the guards as the three others closed in to restrain her.
Without the aid of the guard that was holding her she fell to her knee as a result of her leg. Her eyes glanced up at the soldiers as they approached her. She grit her teeth and tried to endure the agony as she waited for them to draw nearer. One of the guards reached out towards her as her image shattered at the touch. Before the guard could realise what had happened he felt something brush by his side, shortly after a volt of electricity surged through his body as he spasmed and fell to the ground in a stunned fashion. From behind him Neo held an electric baton tightly in the grip of her left hand, a weapon the guards in the manor often carried.
She was however still unable to stand as she turned to look at the other two. "She's armed!" one called as they unsheathed their own stun batons. They saw it as the safest way to incapacitate her. One stood forward as he jabbed the baton towards her chest. Neo struck at the device with her own as she parried the hit. The guard took a step back as he looked to his comrade, "Get behind her" he ordered as the other complied, positioning himself to flank the girl. Neo glanced from side to side with a frightened expression, like a cornered animal. More guards were approaching and soon she would be hopelessly outnumbered.
"Halt!" yelled a commanding voice, one that Neo recognized. Her eyes widened as she looked to the guards that were approaching from down the hall. They parted as Winter appeared from behind them, stepping between the two. Behind her followed Weiss who upon seeing Neo on the floor quickly rushed to her side, a hand placing upon her shoulder. Winter came to a halt in front of the two, her icy blue eye staring down upon the wounded woman. "Neo, I would prefer it if you let my men help you" she spoke.
Neo seemed confused by her words, the last ones she had heard from her had not been the gentlest. Her white eyes looked to Weiss who frowned at her, "It's okay" she spoke softly.
Hesitantly Neo let the baton in her hand drop to the floor with a clatter. Her pain doubled over from the stress of moving around so much as she leaned forward against her partner, her expression showing clearly her agony. Weiss placed her arms around her as she looked back to her sister. Winter's eye glanced back to her men, "Help them up" she ordered, to which they obliged. The group then began walking both Neo and Weiss to where they could treat Neo's injuries. Winter watched them before hearing one of her guards call her from behind. She turned to face the man.
"Lady Schnee, the other guests have arrived" he informed her.
"Very well, thank you" she answered as she moved into a stride back down the hall she came from. She would check up on Neo later after she had recovered further.
After a minute or so she made her way into the entrance hall of the manor. Her eye immediately looked towards both Yang and Blake, standing cautiously. The woman noticed that the blonde's grey jacket was finally being worn normally, two arms filling the sleeves. Yang was the first to spot Winter, she seemed happy to see her initially but then her expression turned to sudden worry. This prompted a concerned look from Winter as she stopped before the two.
"Yang?" asked Winter.
Yang looked to Blake with uncertainty. The Faunus sighed quietly before looking back to Winter, "We... Don't know where Weiss and Neo are. We think they ran..." she answered as Yang also turned her lilac gaze to Winter.
Winter smirked and breathed a laugh. "Now that is troubling" she answered, her voice in a more casual tone.
"It's not something to look happy about, she could be in danger!" said Yang, she was shocked that Winter could react like this to her sister's disappearance.
"She is here. Both of them are" answered Winter with a smug expression.
"Wait what?" asked Yang immediately.
"I own the company now, so I set to having my newly acquired men search for Weiss and return her here. They are safe. Neo however is in poor condition. They encountered the woman that took my hand" spoke Winter, briefly gesturing to her mechanical left hand.
"Wait, Raven!?" yelled Yang in surprise.
Winter's eye narrowed, "How do you know her name...?" she asked.
Of course, Yang hadn't told her. She glanced around as if trying to avoid the question, but the glare remained on her. "Uh... She..." began the blonde.
"So that is what it was..." spoke Winter.
"... What?" asked Yang in confusion, eyes looking back to the woman.
"When I fought her there was this sense of... familiarity. Her eyes beneath the mask, the form her hair took. Now that I think of it, if she had blonde hair the connection would have been made there and then. That was your mother..." continued Winter, eye glancing aside in thought as she put the pieces together.
"Y- Yeah..." admitted Yang as she lowered her gaze.
"Do not feel guilt on her part" spoke Winter as her eye locked back onto her.
Blake peered searchingly at Winter's face before speaking, "What happened to your eye?" she asked.
Yang looked up, she hadn't noticed anything out of place. Winter smiled softly as she brought her metallic hand up to her fringe once more, brushing away the silver white hair to reveal her eye-patch. "My father" she answered.
"Where is he now?" asked Blake.
"Where he belongs" answered Winter once more.
"Winter... This... This all really sucks... You lost your hand, now you lost your eye..." began Yang, simply feeling sorry for everything the woman had endured.
"I can live with one eye, and my hand was easily replaced. You however..." she spoke as she glanced down to her prosthetic arm. "If this was our first meeting I would not have been able to tell..." she continued.
Yang also looked down to her arm as she pulled up her sleeve slightly, revealing more of the prosthetic. "I still don't get how it works but some of the doctors were helping me figure it out..." replied the blonde as the fingers of the arm twitched.
"You will get a hand on it in time" said Winter in her usual tone. Yang looked back up to her, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Is something the matter?" asked Winter.
"Did you just make a pun?" replied Yang.
"Excuse me?" asked Winter once more.
Yang paused, trying to gauge her expression. The woman looked as stoic as ever. "Never mind..." she said.
Winter smirked softly. "But I digress. You will both be spending the night here" she stated.
"We will?" asked Blake as she raised a brow.
"Yes" nodded Winter, "I have reason to not be as trusting towards the General as I used to be. I am also sure neither of you would want to spend a single night further in a hospital bed. We will have dinner tonight where we will discuss your next step and tomorrow you will be given a choice. Stay another day, or search for your missing leader" she answered, crossing her arms.
"Wait... You won't come with us...?" asked Yang.
Winter's eye briefly glanced to the floor before back up, piercing Yang with its icy gaze. "Unfortunately this is as far as I can go... I must remain here, in Atlas. I need to step into the seat my father has left vacant..." she answered.
"Winter..." said Yang, her voice trailing off slightly at the thought of not continuing her journey alongside her.
A smile appeared on the woman's face, "But that is not a topic for now. I will have some men escort you to your room for the evening. In two hours time I will send someone for you, so freshen up before then ladies" she spoke.
Two butlers approached from the side, respectfully waiting. "Will Weiss and Neo be at the dinner?" asked Blake.
"Of course, Neo may have some difficulty moving however. Her leg was wounded as well as her arm" answered Winter.
"Well... Guess we'll see you there, then?" asked Yang, still looking somewhat dejected at the news of Winter remaining in Atlas.
"Until then" nodded Winter once as the two turned to be escorted by the butlers. Her eye watched them carefully as they began ascending the stairs to the upper floor.
The door closed behind the two as they entered a spacious and lavish bedroom, they could still hear the footsteps outside growing distant as the butlers walked further away. Yang looked to Blake who returned the glance. The blonde shrugged her shoulders, "Free food is always good right?" she asked. Blake rolled her eyes at her before making her way further into the room, curiosity taking over her actions as she searched and poked at every expensive looking thing she found. Yang took a single look around the room, the large comfy looking bed was in the centre, at the back wall were two large windows, a door off to the left that likely led to the bathroom and various items and objects as well as paintings dotted the spaces that would otherwise be empty.
"How do you think we'll start looking for Ruby?" asked Blake as she stood up straight after examining the drawers, her golden eyes peering over to her partner.
Yang shrugged her shoulders again as she moved to sit herself on the edge of the bed. The bed itself was overly soft as she sank into it. "I dunno. Think we'll go to Patch first, that's where my dad said he was gonna start" she answered.
Blake approached Yang as she stood to a halt in front of her, hands on her hips casually. "Have you tried calling him?" she asked.
"Yeah... Still nothing" spoke Yang in a distanced manner.
"He could just be somewhere with no signal" replied Blake.
"Could be... I'm not sure how we're getting back to Patch though. I guess we could just fly? I'm not sure how expensive that is here" said Yang.
"We'll think of something" spoke Blake, "Does this mean I get to see your house by the way?" she asked.
Yang looked at her partner suspiciously, "As much as I'd like to do the whole "Meet the family" thing, nobody's there" she smirked slyly.
Blake scoffed at the blonde, "I just think it would be nice to see the place you grew up in" she answered.
"Oh I bet, you probably want to see my bed too right?" asked Yang, her joking nature shining through once again.
"So what if I do?" asked Blake, trying to seem indifferent about the fact that she was having fun with the conversation.
"Is this the part where I ruin it again?" grinned Yang.
"Don't you dare" warned Blake with narrowed eyes.
Yang leaned back slightly, patting her lap. "Pfft, don't get all grumpy. Come here" she answered.
"I'm not grumpy, I'm prepared" replied Blake as she moved herself to sit on Yang's lap, facing her as she placed her hands upon her shoulders.
"Prepared for what?" asked Yang as she raised a brow at her.
"Disappointment" smiled Blake as she leaned herself down to kiss her partner upon her soft lips. She parted shortly afterwards.
"Harsh" replied Yang as she moved her arms to wrap around her waist, the two indulging in a second passionate kiss. Yang paused, arms? She broke the kiss and glanced down, both of her arms were wrapped around Blake's waist. "B- Blake look! I did it!" she exclaimed.
Blake sighed and glanced down, whether intentional or not her planned romantic moment with Yang had failed again. She saw that there was indeed two arms wrapped around her. "It's... a little tight though" answered the Faunus as she shifted herself slightly in Yang's lap.
"Oh it is? Sorry" apologized Yang as she made to loosen her arms, but she failed to move the prosthetic. "Uhh..." she began ominously as she realised she had lost control of her new arm once more.
"What does "Uhh" mean...?" asked Blake as she questioned the sound Yang had made.
"I... I can't move it" admitted Yang.
"What do you mean you can't move it...?" asked Blake once more as her voice lowered slightly.
"I literally can't move it. It won't budge. I don't know how I even wrapped it around you" answered Yang. She reached her real hand to grasp at her fake arm, trying to pry it back. Her eyes narrowed as she struggled, "It's... Really stuck there..." she spoke.
"Please tell me you're joking" said Blake with a look of concern. As much as she liked being close to Yang she didn't like the idea of being stuck to her forever.
"Gimmie a sec, maybe I can just move my shoulder" began Yang as she attempted to elevate the arm. It only moved up Blake's back and pushed her chest against the blonde's face.
"Ah-... Yang that hurts even more, lower it again" squirmed Blake. Yang did as she was asked and took a short breath, her face reddened slightly.
"I dunno, I kinda liked that..." confessed Yang with a lewd grin.
Blake narrowed her eyes down at her, "Take this seriously. If that's... Um... Really what you want to do though, we can do it later... When I'm not stuck..." she answered, a blush appearing on her own cheeks.
"I'll call Winter, she's got a robo-hand" nodded Yang as she reached her free arm for her scroll.
"W- Wait Yang, she can't see us like this!" stuttered Blake with haste.
Yang was just about to call Winter as she looked back up to Blake. "What? Why? She already knows we're together" she said.
The Faunus was clearly embarrassed as her golden gaze glanced aside, "It's just... She'll think we were trying to... Do something..." she replied.
Yang pointed her finger at her partner, "I'll have you know Winter is a professional. I know because she's told me like five times" she nodded before bringing the scroll up to her ear.
"Yang don't!" pleaded Blake as she squirmed once more in the vice of her arm.
The sensation of feeling Blake's hips move around in her lap briefly set something off in Yang's head. She blushed more deeply before composing herself. "Hey Winter" she greeted, speaking into the scroll.
"Everything is fine, don't listen to her!" said Blake as she tried to speak into the scroll.
The voice from the other end of the scroll came through after a brief pause, "Do I want to know what this is going to be about?" asked Winter.
"No!" stated Blake.
"Yes" answered Yang. "Come up to our room, my cool cyber-arm isn't working" she said.
"We're fine, we can fix it!" continued Blake as she protested the idea.
A sigh came through the scroll, "I'll be there in a minute" she answered before the call ended.
Yang placed the device back down as she looked up to Blake. "Wanna make out until she gets here?" she asked bluntly, her heart having already been set to a quickened pace thanks to all the movement from Blake.
Blake glanced around with concern and thought. There was a drawn pause before she gave her answer."Just a little..." she reluctantly whispered before leaning back down towards her, their lips locking together once more into a deep kiss.
Abruptly the door opened, "What exactly is-" the woman froze as she stared at the two.
Yang and Blake immediately separated from the kiss in a startled fashion, the blonde looking over her partner's shoulder and towards Winter. "I thought you said a minute!" she yelled. Blake's entire face lit up with a red hue as she tried to pull herself away from Yang, but of course the mechanical arm kept her in place.
"Shall I come back later?" asked Winter as she turned to make although she was going to leave.
"Ah wait, no! I still need your help, look!" called Yang as she tried to gesture towards the arm wrapped around Blake's waist.
Winter narrowed her gaze at it, "Oh..." she awkwardly commented as she closed the door behind her. "The situation is quickly becoming clear... I will refrain from any direct questions so let us get this over with" she said, approaching the two. Blake continued to glance around in her embarrassed state as Winter came closer. She reached her hand down to grasp at Yang's prosthetic, giving it a tug.
"See? It's really stuck..." said Yang.
"It appears so. I have little experience with my own hand, never mind an arm. But I will try and tell you how I was told to move such devices. First of all, wrap your other arm around her" suggested Winter as she nodded to Yang's real arm.
"What?" asked Yang in a confused manner.
"Yang, please. I am a professional" sighed Winter.
Blake gave Yang a typical glance in response to the word professional as the blonde wrapped her other arm around her waist. "Like this...?" asked Yang.
"Yes, good. Now close your eyes and release her. The movement of your real arm should hopefully make moving the other one easier, especially when thinking to move both in the same fashion at the same time" instructed Winter as she looked down at the two arms.
"Okay, here I go" said Yang as she closed her eyes and moved a single arm outward. "Did it work?" she asked.
"No, try again" suggested Winter as Yang wrapped her arm around her partner once more. This time Winter placed one hand on the prosthetic and her other upon Yang's right shoulder. "Feeling something on the arm you're trying to move might help too. I'll pull" she answered, now practically leaning over Blake.
The door behind them opened as the three glanced back, Weiss was staring back at them. "Uh... Hey Weiss..." spoke Yang.
Weiss continued to stare at the three. Blake in Yang's lap, her sister practically over her and with her hand on Yang's shoulder. "Weiss this is not-" began Winter before her younger sister silently and swiftly left, closing the door.
The three remained silent for a short while. "She'll be fine...?" answered Yang in an unsure fashion.
"Shut up and close your eyes" sighed Winter again as she looked back to the two.