Chapter 63
The villagers waved off the four with smiles as the group left the small village. With the sun shining down upon them they continued on their journey, this time heading north-east out from the village. They had been supplied with some food, water, and blankets as additional thanks for their work. They were as ready as they could be for their journey to Shion which, as the elder told them, was not far at all.
The road was absent of Grimm, and so idle chatter came into play between the four. Though only three of the voices were actually ever heard. Yang adjusted the strap of the large backpack she had been given as her lilac gaze shifted to Weiss, "So. How you doing Weiss?"
Weiss glanced back at Yang rather awkwardly, "Oh... You know, fine. How about you?"
Yang grinned and turned her attention forward towards the path, "Pretty good, thanks for asking."
"Why are you two being so weird?" Blake's golden gaze snapped to the two as she walked.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Weiss shrugged her shoulders and tilted her chin up in a dismissive manner.
Blake's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Is this about last night?" Weiss' eyes grew wide as she peered around nervously.
Yang maintained her grin as her voice took on a sarcastic tone, "Last night? Hm... Last night... You know, I don't think I remember what happened last night. Mind filling me in Weiss?" The woman in question was clearly flustered as her eyes stared to the floor. As they walked Yang saw Neo come into view between her and Weiss, she had picked up her pace to separate the two and her eyes were locked onto the blonde in a rather serious manner. "Sheesh, okay I'll stop," Yang raised her hands up in apology to Neo. There was no doubt in her mind that the smaller woman could cause her some serious harm if given the chance again, and although they were on friendlier terms now, she still didn't feel like testing how far she could push her.
As Yang turned her head away, Neo noticed something. Her eyes strained as she looked to her neck, the tattoo was absent. She had barely looked at Yang since Weiss became a thing for her and so she hadn't noticed until now. She pondered briefly when she had it removed as her gaze turned away. There was a slight pang of depression in her heart, but she knew it was an improvement to how she would have felt if she had done it before she met Weiss. Casually she reached a hand up to her own tattoo of Yang's name upon her neck. Her fingers traced across the mark as it seemed to shimmer and fade. Her own one hadn't even been real.
The small woman did not realise that Weiss was watching her, and when she turned to meet her gaze she saw her smile. Weiss had always found the tattoo rather uncomfortable to look at, and it made her question who Neo truly wanted. She was happy to see her finally remove it, and with it was hopefully the final thoughts of desire she had for the blonde... Hopefully. Neo offered a smile in return but it was clear she was hurting if only a little, but that was to be expected. It could have been seen as a form of rejection, and everyone gets hurt by rejection. The girl was no different.
The sun and the clouds made their way over the sky as the four continued on the path. The area around them was lightly forested but they could see that a large clearing was approaching them. Beyond the clearing was a direct path leading to the grey and burnt ruins of the village of Shion. It was no surprise to them however, for they had already been told of its condition after all.
Approaching the village they quickly saw that many of the buildings had been burnt or destroyed entirely, as if it was sacked by an army and not a lesser group of bandits. Blake looked down as she idly flipped a brick with her foot, "So... Where do we start?"
Yang's lilac gaze shifted from left to right. The place appeared to have been picked clean, all that was left was debris. "Guess we go inside and just... Keep an eye out," Yang didn't sound so confident as she led the group into the village.
Everywhere they looked they saw only ruin. Nothing seemed to have been spared as she stepped over a ragged toy doll. After several minutes of walking they heard a voice mumbling around the corner. "Eyes... Eyes... Where did you go? Where did you run off to?" The voice cackled to itself quietly, it was clearly a man.
Yang peered back at the others as they remained silent, she gave them a look of concern. Perhaps it was a survivor who had hidden himself amongst the ruins all this time? She breathed in as she looked back to the corner. There was a face looking back at her. She was startled and let out a loud yelp as she stumbled back. The man screamed in response as he was startled in return by her reaction. There was an awkward pause as the man stared at the four with his wild amber eyes. His dark brown hair was tied back into a braid and he wore an open white vest. His expression took on a confused manner as his eyes glanced between the faces of all four who were as equally confused as he seemed to be.
"Child...? Four childs- No, plurals Tyrian. Must not forget the plurals! Four children..." The man narrowed his eyes as he squatted and held his chin thoughtfully.
"Um... Hi...?" Yang was the first to respond.
The man tilted his head at Yang before leaning forward slightly, "Hi."
There was once more an awkward pause. Yang looked to Blake for advice before the Faunus set her eyes on the man and asked him, "Who, uh... Who are you?"
The strange man seemed confused once more before he glanced behind himself. After seeing that there was nobody behind him he turned back to the four and pointed a finger towards himself as he whispered, "Me?" Blake seemed unnerved by his strange behaviour as she nodded. "Oh! Me! Introductions were never my strong suit, my mother usually did that for me," The man stopped to hold his hands together and look to the sky, "Bless your soul mommy." With that he looked back down to the four, "My name is... Mm... Tyrian. I'd tell you how to spell it but I forget how to, so if you want to write me letters you'll just have to hand them to me in person. You'll have to read them for me too."
Yang spoke cautiously, "You... Can't read?"
"Yes I can. But why should I do it myself? You're the one who wrote the letter."
"But I didn't send you a letter..."
Tyrian's gaze judged Yang in silence before he spoke in a darkening tone, "Wait... You're one of them aren't you...?
Yang leaned back slightly in a concerned fashion, "One of who?"
Tyrian sprang up to his feet and took a step forward towards the group. Each of them took a step away from him. "Don't lie to me girl, I can see one when I... See one!"
"See what?" Yang raised her voice slightly in confusion.
"You're...! You...! You are...!" Tyrian shut his eyes tightly as if struggling to say the words, his body seemed to contort with each one that he spoke. "You use a scroll!" Tyrian declared as he pointed an accusing finger at a stunned Yang. "No more need for letters, parcels, no no no! Everyone just taps on their little bits of plastic and BOOM!" The man took another step forward as he yelled the last word with emphasis. He paused before stepping back as he threw his arms into the air dramatically, "There's no love for literature any more, it's dead. Dead I tell you!"
The four were frozen by the ravings of the madman as he panted heavily, there was a slight bit of drool hanging from his lip. Blake sighed silently, "Can you tell us where the next village is?"
Tyrian paused, his maddening gaze locked onto the group. He suddenly exhaled and squatted back down, his voice grew quiet and calm. "Yes, take the eastern path out of the village and then head north towards Higanbana."
"Thank you," stated Blake before leading the four past the man, she had no desire to spend another minute listening to his ramblings.
"No, thank you. Safe travels now," Tyrian smiled at the four and waved them goodbye. After they had moved from his sight he turned back to his digging. "Now where did you go little silver eyes? Mmm... I thought this would be easier; finding a child huntress outside of the academies-" He paused and slowly turned to face the direction the four had left. "Wait... Childs outside of the academies...?" His sharp amber gaze narrowed before widening suddenly, "Ah! No! Children! Plurals, Tyrian! Plurals!"
"Is he still screaming back there...?" Yang glanced over her shoulder as she heard a voice echo in the ruined village.
"Who cares. Let's just keep moving. I don't think we were going to find anything there anyway, but we might have more chance with actual people to ask," Blake remained with her gaze forward as they moved further from the ruins and back into a lightly forested area. The further they pressed on the more noticeably chilly the air became. The sun was lowering towards the horizon and their legs were starting to tire from the constant walking and so they came to camp within a small clearing off the path.
Yang saw to lighting the fire after the wood had been collected while the others set out their blankets down upon even ground. The sky above them was open as the canopy parted, revealing the dusk sky. The wood ignited into a small flame and slowly it was fed as its light grew more intense. With the chilly air the fire was welcomed as the night closed in. Yang dusted off her hands as she moved to lay herself down comfortably upon the bedroll that had been set out for her besides Blake's, the Faunus herself was sat behind Yang while Weiss and Neo had set up on the opposite side of the fire and sat together.
"How far off do you think we are from uh... What did he call it?" Yang tilted her head up to look at Blake.
"Higanbana," Blake answered as she stretched her arms over her partner so that she could warm them by the fire.
Weiss brushed a hand through her hair, "Your guess is as good as mine. I've never been to Mistral before."
"Hopefully we have enough food..." Yang sighed, glancing over to the backpack. They still had plenty left, but despite that the concern of running out remained. Her lilac eyes lingered for a moment before turning to Weiss with a grin, "I guess Neo will be fine-"
Blake tapped Yang upon the head with her knuckles, "Don't start."
"Aw c'mon Blakey, I was only kidding," Yang pouted as she looked up to her girlfriend with a mockingly apologetic expression. Upon the other side of the fire Weiss' cheeks were flustered once again as Neo idly leaned against her shoulder, her mismatched eyes watching Yang and Blake.
"Jokes aside, does anyone have a signal yet?" Blake glanced to the others as she checked her own scroll. As had been since they arrived, she barely had enough of a signal to call someone from the next town over.
Yang reached for her own scroll as her lilac eyes glanced over it, "Nope, but I'll try make a few calls anyway." The blonde's fingers began to deftly tap through screens and contacts.
Weiss frowned upon checking her own. Like the others, there was no signal to be seen and the same was as such for Neo. In a rather disappointed fashion Blake put her scroll away, "It's a wonder how the people of Mistral get by..."
"Guess they're just more like... Traditional? I mean, did you see the elder? He looked like some wise martial arts master or something. He probably knows like five forbidden techniques and nine ways to break your neck with a paper clip and a rubber band," Yang continued to call various contacts on her scroll but so far it appeared that the results were as expected. Nothing.
Blake rolled her eyes at Yang's typical wild imagination before something else caught her sharp gaze. She peered subtly over towards Weiss and Neo. Their attention seemed to be drawn elsewhere as something was held in Neo's hand. A pencil and paper. Neo stopped her scribbling and Weiss smiled at what she saw. "Weiss...?" Blake's curiosity got the better of her.
The silver-white haired woman was slightly startled by her friend's voice as she looked up to her. "Uhm... Yes?"
It appeared that Yang's attention had been caught as she looked from the Faunus to the pale woman. Neo subtly folded the paper in her hand and hid it from view as Blake questioned Weiss, "What was she doing?"
"...What do you mean?" Weiss looked to Neo with concern. For whatever reason or purpose it became clear to her that Neo did not wish for anyone else to see her writings.
"She was scribbling on a piece of paper, what was it? Was she writing something?" Blake continued with her questions. Yang suddenly seemed a lot more interested in Neo's actions, for writing was something she once tried, and failed, to make her do.
"I-..." Weiss paused as her eyes seemed to shift repeatedly between Neo and the others. Her voice grew more nervous. Neo wasn't giving her any hints as to how she'd want this situation handled and so she was left to decide for herself. "She-... It's a sensitive subject... For her..."
"So she can write?" Blake pressed on.
"Blake," Yang's voice caught her partner's attention as she looked to her with a questioning look. "If it's sensitive we shouldn't push it, right?" Her lilac gaze glanced to Neo who had lowered her own eyes towards the fire, as silent as ever.
Blake paused in thought and suspicion as she looked to Neo. Eventually she closed her eyes with a sigh, "You're right. I shouldn't be prying."
Yang smirked and gave her a hard pat on the leg, it could only be assumed from the sound of the impact, and Blake's expression, that it stung. "That's my kitty!"
"You know if you start actually treating me like a pet we're going to have problems right?" Blake's voice was as calm as ever, it was clear she didn't want to come off as serious to someone as light-hearted as Yang but her words seemed to hold some weight to them.
"Oh? Sure you're not into that? I might be," Yang growled suggestively as she clawed her hand up at Blake who, like a parent dealing with a nuisance of a child, swatted her hand away dismissively.
For a moment she gave thought to lecturing Yang upon the oppression that Faunus face in day-to-day life, and how such jokes were in bad taste. But something about the blonde always seemed to melt her heart in a way that caused her to simply allow her to push her limits. Her eyes narrowed at the woman however, "Your jokes got a lot worse after your incident. Was it the source of your wit?"
"Ouch Blake, you're as cold as my fake arm," Yang chuckled in response.
"I thought it was meant to be warm?" Weiss' voice came from across the fire and caught their attention.
Yang looked down to her arm, "Yeah... About that. It does but it also kinda needs like... Batteries or something for that... It was warm for a while after I got it, but I need to call up Ironwood at some point now."
"The stuff they used to emulate skin doesn't get that cold though," Blake peered to the arm and then to Weiss as she spoke.
It seemed although Yang was about to add more to the conversation, but she halted as she looked to her scroll. "What is it?" Weiss couldn't see exactly what Yang was looking at through the flames, but Blake being behind her could see clearly.
Yang had been calling multiple contacts and they'd instantly decline as a result of them being too far away. But unlike the others, one contact in particular was not instantly declining. Upon the scroll was the name Ruby Rose.