Between the steep slope at the edge of town and Blake's strategic use of Gambol Shroud, getting the patchwork sled back to their home base didn't take long.
The cabin's roof jutted from the snow like a rock from a frozen lake. The crust of ice that had formed where melted snow had run down the shingles to meet the main body of white crunched as the toboggan came to a slow stop. Ruby craned her neck, checking their trail. There was no sign of pursuit, or any life from the snow-submerged town at all except a thin trail of smoke rising far off, presumably from the clinic's chimney. Overhead, the sky was a pale winter blue.
Yang sat in the bottom of the sled, still not looking at anyone. Weiss was shivering, clinging to the side of the sled and trying to wipe at the blood off her face with her sleeve.
Just looking at them, Ruby felt her heart drop. She and Blake should have gone for them sooner. They never should have left the clinic. They should have done something. She forced those thoughts down as she spun Crescent Rose, storing her in compact form. She glanced at Blake, "Let's get them inside."
Blake nodded, quickly stowed her weapon, and moved to help her partner to her feet. She frowned when her offered hand was gently pushed aside. Yang stood and brushed herself off, unable to lift her eyes higher than Blake's boots as she shook her head.
I'm fine. Help Weiss. The message was written into the expressive lines of the brawler's face, clear as day to Blake, even as she watched her partner struggle to form words. She was almost glad Yang couldn't bring herself to speak what would have been a bald-faced lie. She clearly wasn't fine. None of them were fine.
She tried to reach for Yang's shoulder, but the brawler had already turned to leave, brushing her knuckles against Ruby's as she passed by. Amber eyes watched Yang slowly cross the rooftop, going in completely the opposite direction of the gleaming staircase that led down through the collapsed roof of the porch to the large living room window. She and Ruby had carved the low, wide steps out of packed snow - a use she'd never imagined for Gambol Shroud.
A sneeze from Weiss brought Blake back to her senses, and her ears flattened when she looked down to see the heiress's valiant attempts to stop shivering and bleeding. Heat coiled in the Faunus's stomach, but she couldn't quite parse whether it was anger, sadness, or shame.
"Come on," Blake helped Weiss to her feet, holding her steady with one arm around her waist and trying to help wipe a bit of the blood from her scowling face with the other. "Can you walk?"
Weiss's knees buckled, and she clung to Blake's coat, "Just... give me a minute."
Meanwhile, Ruby trailed after her sister.
"Yang, c'mon, Blake and I made steps down to the house..." she paused at Yang's elbow, boots crunching on the ice and rough shingles. A cold touch of wind sweeping down through the valley caught at her cloak. Ruby balled her fists loosely, swallowing, "Weiss... looks pretty bad. So you've gotta come and tell us what happened, okay?"
Tangled waves of gold kicked up by the wind partially obscured Yang's face when she turned to look past Ruby, amethyst eyes waxing and waning red as she watched Blake supporting Weiss down the makeshift stairway. There was nothing she could say that would make things better, so she simply nodded, finally daring to look down at her little sister.
It was a mistake. Bright silver sharpened with worry pierced straight through Yang's attempt at a cool, levelheaded facade, stirring up every last dreg of anxiety she'd been pushing down since waking up alone with Weiss in the clinic. Her arms moved of their own accord, pulling Ruby into a crushing hug. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"Hrgg, agh, Yang," Ruby squirmed in her sister's arms for a second. It was futile. She settled down, blowing her hair out of her face and hugging back. "Y'know, it's not very often I get to come rescue you," her silver gaze dropped, "Though it might have been better if Blake and I were there in the first place. Sorry for getting stuck in a stupid blizzard."
Yang shook her head, mussing her sister's hair into a tiny mane nearly as wild as her own. "No, you're fine, we wouldn't have even needed saving if... If I hadn't..." Her voice petered out, and she gave Ruby one last squeeze before pulling away. "Come on, let's... go make a fire or something." Her teeth flashed in a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, and her fingers tightened around Ruby's hand as she started towards the stairs.
Ruby let Yang lead the way to the stairs. It had been a long, long time since Yang had held Ruby's hand this way. Things must be bad. Well, they were obviously really, really bad, what with the Grimm attack and the snow, and now the shooting. Why would the miners shoot at Weiss and Yang? Sure, they didn't like Weiss's family but their town had just been attacked. She gripped Yang's hand a little harder and picked up her pace to walk right beside her as they descended the snow stairs.
"We'll get it figured out," she told Yang softly, nudging her with her shoulder. But deep down she had a feeling this wasn't going to be as easy as hunting Grimm.
Inside, Weiss had her head down on the rug by the hearth, taking advantage of the scant warmth emanating from the banked coals while Blake dug through her bag for some dry clothes.
Fortunately, the bag's contents were amazingly neat, and in no time at all she pulled out a perfectly folded set of pajamas, a heavy sweater, and a pair of thick wool socks. The embroidered white snowflake on each item of clothing seemed a bit excessive, but all that mattered was getting Weiss warm and dry, and unnecessary branding aside, the materials felt extremely high-quality. She pulled out a washcloth as well, wincing at its pristine white color. That wasn't going to last long.
Blake set the pile of clothes near the fireplace to warm as she moved to Weiss's side. She tried to focus on pouring warm water over the washcloth from the kettle they'd left sitting atop the banked coals, but her eyes kept flicking back to Weiss - to the blood. There was so much of it.
Logically, Blake knew that wounds to the face and head bled so freely they almost always appeared worse than they actually were, but the distinct iron scent hanging in the air was one she'd always associated with her days in the White Fang. Her hands shook slightly as she lifted Weiss's head and tried to wipe the memories away, working the washcloth in gentle circles on the sticky trails of red staining her teammate's face until she revealed a freshly sealed cut just below her hairline.
Weiss's aura had to be in terrible shape for a cut this small to have bled for so long.
"Sorry about your washcloth," Blake said through a rueful smile as she poured a bit more water onto the permanently reddened washcloth and went in for round two.
The sound of crunching footsteps brought one of Blake's Faunus ears swiveling towards the window, her gaze following suit with a brief flick to the snowy stairway before she refocused on Weiss. The other girl hadn't replied, opened her eyes, or moved so much as an inch, even when Blake made a light pass of the washcloth beneath her bloodied nose. The heiress could have easily passed for dead if it wasn't for her constant shivering.
Blake's ears flattened as she brushed a bit of hair from Weiss's neck, discreetly checking for a pulse while her fingers just so happened to be in the area. "Weiss, are you still with me? Do you need help changing?"
The heiress started, as if waking from sleep. She took a breath and coughed, her teeth chattering, "N-no, get the fire going."
Cakes of snow scattered on the floor as Ruby stomped her boots on the way in. The weak light from the front window lit most of the main room, but the doorway to the kitchen was dark. It was like living being in an ice cave, but slightly warmer.
One look at Blake and Weiss on the rug and she jumped into action, abandoning her combat boots and scurrying over to get her partner out of her wet clothes, "Yikes, your lips are kind of blue, Weiss."
"S-shut up," Weiss slurred, eyes bleary as she let Ruby help prop her upright so it would be easier to pull her shirt off over her head.
Blake averted her eyes to give Weiss some sense of privacy, looking instead towards the cabin's makeshift entrance to find Yang standing quiet and still, gripping the window frame as her eyes bored holes into the floor, mostly hidden by windswept tangles of gold.
"Yang-" Blake faltered when her voice pulled the brawler's crimson gaze to her own. Her partner's usual amethyst returned one blink later, but Blake's Faunus ears gave a nervous twitch when she found she couldn't read Yang's expression. "...Give me a hand," she motioned to the fireplace with a tilt of her head. The brawler hesitated, stealing a glance out the window, and for a fleeting moment Blake worried she might bolt.
Fortunately her fears were unfounded, and Yang released the window frame, wordlessly skirting around Ruby and Weiss as she crossed the room to sit beside Blake in front of the dire. The banked coals seemed to heat up in the brawler's presence, and when Blake handed her the pieces of one of the logs Ruby had chopped up for tinder, they burst into flame almost immediately.
Blake handed over pieces of wood whenever Yang's open hand extended towards her, amber eyes watching with mild fascination as the brawler went to work setting up a beautiful pile of firewood - a skill that seemed completely unnecessary for someone who could produce flames more-or-less at will. The fire was already at full roar by the time she finished, but Yang kept quiet, eyes fixed on an invisible point somewhere in the flame's center.
The uncharacteristic silence ate away at Blake's composure, spurring her to place a hand on Yang's knee. "It's good to have you back."
She wasn't sure what she expected - a smile, a frown, maybe even anger - but getting no response at all was unnerving. She was about to try again when Yang finally moved, placing her hand atop Blake's and squeezing for all she was worth. It was almost painful, but Blake smiled anyway, trying to squeeze back as best she could.
Squinting her eyes shut just in case, Blake turned her head just enough to address Ruby and Weiss. "Is it safe to turn around?"
"Yeah, we're good," Ruby twitched half of her cloak over her partner's shoulders. "Are we good?"
Weiss sat with her knees drawn up and her head down, her damp and dirty clothes replaced with layered thermal shirts and pants. She tugged at her collar, but didn't lift her head.
"Maybe we'll keep the teem meeting short," Ruby glanced at Yang, unsure of exactly what to expect, "So, um..."
Yang stood abruptly, announcing, "I should change too," before making a beeline for the stairs that led to the loft.
"Yang, wait," Blake stood as well, but the brawler had already disappeared up into the darkness that blanketed the cabin's second story. She was running.
Blake set her jaw. The Faunus was an expert at running, and it had never gotten her anywhere. She refused to let her partner do the same. With a deep breath, she stalked towards the stairs as well, pausing when she passed Ruby and Weiss. "I'm going to see if she needs a hand."
Ruby watched her go, and looked down at Weiss. A bruise had started to color across the side of her face. Something burned in Ruby's chest- if it had been a Grimm that had hurt Weiss (and it hadn't been incinerated by a blast of lightning), she would have taken Crescent Rose out and torn it apart. Same for if something had hurt Yang or Blake. But people had done this. She reached for the heiress's bag, and slid it over so she could dig for the first aid kit. "I... I'll help clean that up, okay? Just hold still."
Weiss let Ruby dab at the cut with disinfectant. Being under fire in combat was different from being nearly executed by the people you were trying to help. She couldn't get her thoughts straight enough to express that feeling, or even complain about Ruby's sub-par field medicine skills- at least not until she tried to bandage the cut. "Don't."
"Sorry," Ruby stopped trying to wrap the bandage around her head. It had been too much in the first place, but it was the only way she could figure out to get it to stay.
Weiss seemed like she might snap at her again, but she just sighed and turned her face away.
Dread pooled in Ruby's stomach. What exactly had happened? And more importantly, what were they going to do about it? She looked up towards the loft where the weak sun and flickering light of the fire didn't quite reach.
The darkness of the loft meant nothing to Blake's night vision, but her partner was nowhere in sight. With no visible holes in the walls or ceiling, there was really only one place left to look. She crossed to the bathroom door and tried the handle - locked, just as she suspected.
As if that would stop her. Blake pulled a small metal pick from her belt and knelt down to work. It had been ages since she'd had to pick a lock, but for better or worse she found the less than noble skill still came easily. With her Faunus ear pressed to the door to listen to the mechanism's springs, it was only a matter of time before she heard the telltale click of success.
Silent as a shadow, Blake pushed the door open, slipped inside, and locked it behind her. Where the cabin's living room at least had the light from the fire and window, the bathroom was pitch dark, save for a faint glow which drew her towards the shower. She found Yang sitting behind the the frosted shower door, slumped with her back against the tile, knees up and head resting in her hands. The brawler's entire form smoldered like a low-burning pile of coals.
This time, Blake didn't bother with stealth when she slid open the shower door. If the low rattle of glass surprised Yang, she gave no indication other than curling her fingers and emitting a low groan.
"Of course you would know how to pick a lock."
The smirk on Blake's face fell the instant her partner finally lifted her head. Tear-streaked didn't even begin to describe the absolute wreck of a blonde looking up at her - but she sounded fine. Blake tried not to think about just how much practice the brawler had to have with hiding sorrow to keep her voice so disarmingly level while her eyes flooded like broken dams.
Mouth set in a grim line, Blake sat herself down next to Yang. She didn't know what to say, but physicality always had a way of calming Yang down, so she scooted close and pressed herself to her partner's side, offering a solid presence to lean on.
They sat in silence until Yang hid her face once more. "I can't let Ruby see me like this."
There wasn't much Blake could say to that, so she let silence reign a little longer before finally opting to strike at the heart of the matter. "Yang, what happened up there at the clinic?"
A few seconds passed before Yang lifted her head once more, just enough to glance sideways at Blake. "I told Gregor... about the den we found."
Blake let out a quiet sigh. She'd suspected as much, but that didn't make it any better to hear. Bracing herself for whatever may come, she made a show of tilting her head and looking confused. "What about it?"
Heat flared through the shower as Yang forcefully pushed herself to her feet and rounded on her partner. "What do you think," she snapped, turning to face her burning reflection in the sliding glass door. Her hands balled into fists, shaking with the effort it took to keep her voice level. "I told him exactly what happened. I told him how i couldn't save one single kid, his son, from a couple of Grimm. I told him how angry it made me. How I lost it. How I set the Grimm off. How I murdered over half the town. I told him the truth." her fist sailed through the frosted glass, right through the reflection of those bright Grimm-red eyes staring back at her.
Blake flinched, brushing shards of glass from her hair as she got to her feet. "Yang..."
"They threw Weiss in front of a firing squad because of what I did. They tried to shoot you and Ruby."
"Yang-"
"Blake, you were there!" Yang rounded on her partner once more, teeth flashing in a snarl, "You know - you saw what I did. I'm a liability to the team. I'm a danger to those around me."
"Yang," Blake slipped her arms around the raging brawler and pulled her into a fierce hug, frowning when she felt Yang's entire body tense up and refuse to hug back. A small voice in the back of her head told her bring this close to someone so volatile was dangerous, but she discarded the notion as quickly as it came. This was her partner - Yang would never hurt her. She took a deep breath, trying to gather enough calm for the both of them. "What do you think would have happened if we hadn't set them off?"
Yang shook her head at Blake's use of we. "That's easy," she growled, "Nothing. Everyone would still be alive..."
"I'm not so sure," Blake ventured, "I was thinking... everyone would be dead."
The Faunus blinked when she was pushed back, looking up to see Yang staring down at her with every bit of incredulity she possessed.
"...What?"
Her eyes had cooled back to amethyst - a good sign. Blake dipped her head, eyes drifting shut as she called upon old survival lessons she hadn't bothered to dwell on since coming to live within the walls of Vale.
Packs of Grimm were always more dangerous than lone wanderers - but a group large enough to fill an entire mountainside? It was no wonder the town had called for help. If anything, it was a wonder they'd survived as long as they had.
"When you live outside the safety of the kingdoms... it isn't uncommon for entire groups of people, entire cities, to disappear overnight." Blake cracked an eye open to make sure Yang was listening, "You know as well as I do, the Grimm aren't just mindless beasts. They learn, adapt... plan. Every time you fail to kill a Grimm, you teach it to survive."
"But, we killed each one we came across," Yang gripped Blake's shoulders, furrowing her brows when the Faunus shook her head.
"The town didn't."
Yang fell silent, dropping her gaze to the floor.
Taking the opening, Blake pressed on, "Those lone attacks on the town? Scouts. Each one Gale's lightning failed to kill learned something. They couldn't get through the mines, so they found the next closest opening out in the mountainside. Then, they still couldn't get to the town because of the lightning. The lightning which was called by the bell tower. And the bell tower was manned by-"
"Jack," Yang gripped Blake's shoulders, eyes flashing, "Are you telling me those things specifically targeted him?"
"Take out the crux of the warning system, take out the resulting lightning," Blake scowled, the signs should have been obvious, but somehow she had missed them. They all had. "We've already seen the Liliac using cloud cover to hide. I'd bet Gambol Shroud they were gearing up for a surprise attack. Maybe even that night. The clouds were so thick, no one would have seen them coming..."
Her words hung in the air, thick and stifling, and for a long time neither of them spoke. Blake kept her eyes locked on Yang's, watching a series of emotions flick past in rapid succession, too quick for her to really get a solid read. Slowly, one expression overtook the others. Despair.
"That doesn't change anything," Yang's arms slid away from Blake's shoulders to hang limp at her sides, "I... I still got a ton of people killed."
"No... nothing can change that..." Blake reached to grasp the brawler's hands in her own, pulling the taller girl down so that their foreheads touched, "But you're still my partner. Ruby is still your sister. Weiss is still... prickly."
The quip from left field made Yang snort, finally wrangling a small smile to her face. "Actually, she can be very cuddly..." The smile disappeared. "We almost lost her... because I couldn't control my temper."
"Yang, stop, please," Blake gripped harder, trying to squeeze the self-destructive vitriol from her partner, "Maybe we can't change what happened, or how it happened, but we can try to keep it from happening again."
"...Again?"
"If my theory is right, the Liliac are going to wait until there's more cloud cover. If I'm wrong, who knows when the next attack might be. The only thing we know for sure is that they are creatures of Grimm, and they will be back."
Darkness pressed in on the partnership as Yang's glow died away entirely, lost to exhaustion. Even Blake's eyes had little to no light to make use of, but in the stillness she could hear the brawler's breathing relax - feel the pulse beneath her fingers slowing back to a normal pace.
"We need to prepare," Blake trailed her hands up Yang's arms to touch her face - it was wet, "As a team." A deep shuddering sigh was her only response. "Come on, let's go back downstairs," she urged, "We'll figure something out." It was slow, and incredibly slight, but Blake's distinctly felt the brawler nod. That was her only warning before strong arms crushed her into a backbreaking hug. Hot tears streamed down her neck where Yang had buried her face, fresh waves coming with each heave of the brawler's slumped shoulders.
Blake blinked a few times, ignoring the lingering wetness on her lashes as she squeezed back for all she was worth. She inclined her head to whisper in Yang's ear, "Whenever you're ready."
A/N: Through a series of forgetful events, this chapter has been sitting in the doc manager since Monday, waiting for attention. SO let's call it a RWBY Friday, and we'll see you next Tuesday (ish) for the continuing saga of how-much-worse-can-this-possibly-get.
At least the team's together now, though, right? Right.
- Fiercesomest