Chapter 4

Blake paused for a sec. A mix of emotions quickly ran through her. Kuroyui. I know that place… why? Right, Ren and Nora were from there. Are from there? Last she had heard they both, being together together, intended on attempting to resettle the town. But… if Whitley and Amber want to travel by cart there, that means…O no. "Uh right, Kuroyui. I actually have some old friends that came from that city. Last I heard, they were intending on resettling it. I am going to go and see if I can contact them for any pointers." Blake said, quickly headed to her room, a blank stare on her face.

"Okay thank you so much Ms. Belladonna" Whitley replied, while Amber's eyes followed the White Fang leader. Something seemed… off. If it is so important, then she would bring it up right?

"Well, time to get going right love?" Amber pecked Whitley on the check, settling in for the long flight ahead.

In Blake's Room.

Shutting the door quickly behind her, Blake pulled out her scroll and froze. Sitting down leaning against the door, her hand hovered over a name on the screen. YANG . They hadn't spoke much since the final battle, since Blake was saved, since they were dating.

Shaking her head to get her thoughts straight, Blake walked over to her desk. Pulling out several hunter journals on the surrounding area, began to plot out a path. The journey to Amber's home was relatively Grimm free, as long as they didn't run across any roaming hoards. However, Grimm were not what Blake was worried about. I will deal with it if it comes up, Blake thought. She dove back into her research, making sure she would be combat ready for any situation that the group might come across.

A few hours later.

*Knock*Knock*

"Pardon the intrusion Miss Belladonna, but I have been told to inform you that food has been prepared in the main cabin" said Klein, muffled slightly by the doorway.

"Okay, thank you. I will be out there shortly." Blake quickly replied. She realized she had lost track of time while reaching out to a few contacts, and trying to plan out the safest and fastest route through bandit territory. Exiting her room, Blake arrived at the main cabin. Seeing both Whitley and Amber sitting down at the table, drinks in hand. Whitley at the head of the table, Amber on his right.

"Hello Miss Belladonna" Whitley greeted her. Having been keyed in by Amber earlier that something seemed… off about her, he was watching her much more closely. "Our chef has prepared a meal for us, if you would like you can join Amber and I while we eat."

"Yes please! Come join us Miss Belladonna, I am very interested in hearing more about your friends from my home town." Amber cheerily replied. She wasn't sure if anyone had gotten out from the Grimm attack. She always assumed a couple did, but never expected to actually meet or hear from them. She was fairly young when the Grimm attacked, so did not remember many people in the town besides her family. She was taken to safety by a Huntress that combed through the town looking for survivors. Upon rescuing the near toddler aged Faunus, the Huntress took her to Atlas, where she was raised in an orphanage.

"All right, and this will give me a chance to go over the travel plans with you two. Ive been contacting a few people and plotting a route to Kuroyui." Blake replied taking a seat across from Amber. "As for my friends, they were actually two students my year at beacon. Aside from my team, I knew their team the best. Their names are Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. From what I remember, Ren's father was some sort of guardsmen, or a person of importance. Nora was a loner, she said she can't remember her family. Ren found her and helped save her during the Grimm attack so they have been together for a while." A Nora voice rings through Blake's head 'Not together-together though.' "Do those names ring any bells?"

"Sadly no"

"Ah, well from the last I heard when we graduated from Beacon. Ren's plan was to find a group to resettle the area. If he was planning on it, I would be shocked if Nora wasn't with him." Blake finished, receiving a drink from Klein and thanking him. At this time, the food was brought out. Grilled miso salmon with a kale salad on the side. Ears slightly perking up, Blake realized how hungry she was.

The trio started to dig in. Mostly making small talk while they all ate. Blake found out more about how Amber became a sculpture. Both Whitley and Amber seemed eager to learn more about Blake's time at Beacon, especially hearing about team RWBY. Mainly talking about her team leader and Weiss, Blake realized after talking for a bit about Weiss, that Whitley truly did not know his sister much. He said the last time they really talked was right before Weiss ran away from home, and Jacques made Whitley the heir to the company.

Whitley continued, maybe slowly starting to feel a buzz from the drinks "That was the last time we talked. Ever since then, either ive tried to contact her with no reply, or been too nervous to contact her. Your relationship seems much better with her than mine. With me, Weiss and Winter were always… cold towards me. I believe that since I did take the lessons from my father seriously, they both thought that I was becoming a younger version of him. Though, neither of them would have been happy running the company, I truly believe that. Winter from what I hear has been a great asset for the Atlesian Military, while Weiss has done so much good while being a Huntress. Now, her position at Beacon Weiss is helping even more people by training the Huntresses and Hunters in training. Though the last time Weiss and I talked is what pushed her to run away, I stand by that decision. Though she might never forgive me for it, that decision helped both of us." He finished talking, realizing that he had been rambling. Amber looked towards him lovingly.

She knew this topic was a sensitive one for him. While Whitley has tried to convice himself he would be okay without Weiss' forgiveness, she thought otherwise. Which was why this trip was so important for both of them. For her, it was finally a time to share with others their love, for him, it was about redemption for his family as well as for him.

Blake listened intently. "Well, while I don't know what she will say, I do know her. Ever since she first got to Beacon, being cold to everyone. She grew so much maybe more than anyone I knew at Beacon. She matured and worked hard to be perfect and to fix her flaws. She actually turned out to be one of the most understanding person I know, well at least on most subjects. As for forgiveness, from experience I think it means more to you than you would expect. Especially if it's never given." Trailing off, eyes going downward and ears drooping slightly, Blake moved towards finishing her plate. Amber and Whitley looked at her, then at each other.

Whitley had a feeling of whatever she just mentioned could be related to why she seemed off earlier. Quickly changing subjects, Whitley asked about the travel plans.

"Oh right, so after looking though a few maps and records, looks like most of our journey will be Grimm free up to the town. However, there is a fairly well known bandit group that roams this area. If it comes to it, I have contact who" Ears dropping again "Will be able to help. She is quite practiced in dealing with these bandits."

Amber, quickly glancing at Whitley who nodded, pressed to ask a question "Um Miss Bella… Blake. If you don't mind me asking, this contact isnt someone you are on good terms with? I couldn't help but notice, whoever this person is, you always seem… well, sad when you think of them."

Picking up where his fiancé left off, Whitley continued "We do have faith in your ability to protect us, I think we are just concerned about you and this unfinished? Or maybe that's not the right word…"

Blake looked at them briefly, figured since it might come up, she would tell them her history with her contact. Yang. "Well, my contact is actually my last teammate, who I didn't really talk much about. Her name is Yang. She is actually Ruby's older sister. Yang and I had… rocky relationship at times. It started off well, but in the Battle of Beacon she lost her arm to Adam Taurus, someone you both are familiar with it. Since he was there because of me, well for me. I blamed myself. Promising that my past wouldn't harm my new friends, I left to go home. Which ultimately led to me being leader of the White Fang. Eventually, Yang forgave me for leaving the team for a time. After meeting up again with my team, Yang and I grew close again. We started dating even. However, in our last fight as a team… our last time together a few things happened. We were fighting… well extremely dangerous people." Blake stared off towards the wall, recalling the events of the final fight versus Salem. "With the help of a few teachers and mentors, including both Yang's Uncle Qrow and father, Taiyang. I was…" Beginning to tear up slightly, Blake wiped them away with her napkin. "I was… outmatched. Qrow and Taiyang, rushed out of position to save me. It was… the last thing either them ever did… They died saving me." A tear formed and slowly fell down Blake's cheek. "After that, Yang didn't talk to me… didn't talk to most anyone. She lost two of the most important people in her life because I was beat. She left after the battle had finished, left the team, left me, left Ruby. I kept a few tabs on her, but she found out and made it clear she wanted nothing to do with me…" Blake trailed off. Seeing both Amber and Whitley looking towards her, neither knowing what to say. "Excuse me, I'm... I'm going to go look over our plans again." She quickly stood up, leaving to go to her cabin.

Amber and Whitley sat there in silence for a bit. The Fox Faunus looked towards her fiancé "Well… if she still trusts Yang enough to help with the bandits we should to. But…"

"We should try to help them… or at least give her closure right?" Whitley finished. "After all, she is helping us out, it's the least either of us can do. Without her, this trip wouldn't be possible." Whitley had heard of how determined and focused Blake was. She was the leader of the White Fang for Dusts sake. For this to get to her this much, must really mean it is close to her heart.

"Right" Pulling Whitley down for a quick kiss, Amber smiled "So glad we were thinking the same thing."

After a few more hours of flight, the group arrived at their destination. Blake never left her room after that. Upon arriving, she got her things together and headed towards their wagon. Quickly checking over it and the supplies, she let the couple know they would be ready for travel, starting tomorrow morning.

/* End Chapter Notes.

Okay! So was able to get this chapter out decently quick. I do know it's a bit shorter than the previous chapters, but wanted to go over some things before getting on the road. Yes, I am taking a few liberties in guessing/saying what happened when RWBY eventually beat Salem. Hopefully you like my ideas or are at least interested in seeing how they play out. Next chapter will maybe…maybe be out this week, but not sure, due to me having quite a busy week this week. That being said, hope you enjoy! Also getting excited for Volume 6 of RWBY coming up. That being said, I most likely will stick with the story that I have thought of. So any details during that volume and later, welp… just wont be in the story most likely.

Sincerely, Weiss So Serious J

*/