A/N: Another chapter for you all to enjoy before exams! I can't believe I'm at chapter 30 already!
This story started as a simple idea that I had no idea where to post. So instead of simply googling where to post original writing (like a normal person) I decided to turn it into a fan fiction. Now 30 chapters and almost a year and a half later, Scattered Petals is the one thing I am the most proud of creating in nearly twenty years of writing and drawing. You guys have inspired me to create something that I can be proud of declaring as my own, and for that I can't thank you enough.
That aside, I'm not too confident about how most of it turned out as there was a lot that needed to be covered and a lot of dialogue to accompany it, but I did the best I could to make it easy to follow and provide the next direction for the story to go. I could probably have done a better job tying things together and addressing certain things but I've been up all night, and this chapter needed to happen eventually.
Anyway, thanks to all of you who follow this and a bigger thanks to those who comment, I love hearing your thoughts!
"Please tell me you found something." Yang groaned as she dropped onto the plushy love seat next to Blake and draped an arm around the raven-haired woman's shoulders.
"I found something." Ruby replied with a smirk before looking around at her friends. The older woman looked conflicted and Ruby knew it was her fault, but right now they didn't have the time to discuss how she had most likely ruined things between them.
"Does it help prove that Torchwick is headed south?" Pyrrha asked, bringing the brunette back to the task at hand.
"Or what he could possibly want with Adam and the White Fang?" Blake added.
"Yes, it does." Ruby answered. She plugged a thumb drive into her laptop and pulled up numerous files filled with various emails, designs, and spreadsheets covered in numbers before projecting it all onto the TV in front of them. "I searched through the files Augustus Schnee wanted Weiss to steal, and as you can see, I found some pretty interesting info."
"Uh, sis, you think you could translate that for those of us who can't see the Matrix?" Yang asked as she stared blankly at the screen.
"Those are finance reports, Yang." Weiss remarked. "They don't use matrices at all."
"I know what they are Princess." Yang countered. "But not everyone was homeschooled by Daddy's hand-picked team of Harvard profs."
Ruby watched Weiss visibly bristle at the comment, while Pyrrha glared at her sister reproachfully and Blake elbowed her in the ribs. "Anyway," she said before Weiss could retort, "we all know James Ironwood wasn't on the most stable footing financially, and last time we saw him, he was looking to branch out and find something to save him from losing all his money. These files are a series of fraudulent reports that, after a bit of digging, show Ironwood was embezzling money to pay off several officials in the Brazilian government, among others."
"To what end?" Asked Blake.
"It looks like he was funding a group of scientists researching various plants in the jungles of South America, the most interesting of which has shown promise in repairing the damage done to the brain by diseases like Alzheimer's. The records show Ironwood was bribing officials to provide them with facilities and security while they conducted their research."
"Why would Torchwick be interested in that?" Yang inquired.
"Torchwick might not be, but I could see why my father would be." Weiss replied solemnly, her glacier-like eyes fixed on the table sitting between them.
"What use could Augustus Schnee have for research into the medicinal uses of some plant?" Blake asked cautiously.
There was a moment of tension as Ruby watched the silver-haired woman stare holes into small table. When she finally looked up and met her eyes, Ruby noted the return of her friend's icy mask as she gave her silent consent for the brunette to continue.
Ruby sighed and opened another program on her computer, displaying the inconsistencies her program had picked up while gathering information. "For the past several months, someone has been committing a number of seemingly random crimes all over the world. The only link between them seems to be that none of the witnesses have any memory of the time the crimes occurred, and all of them were found to have injection marks somewhere on their bodies. This led me to think whoever is behind this has some big plan and they need to keep everyone in the dark for as long as possible."
"Okay, say whoever behind these crimes is drugging people in order to wipe their memories," Pyrrha commented, "how do you know Schnee is the one behind it?"
Ruby paused and looked at Weiss. The former heiress swallowed thickly before answering, her eyes back to the same spot on the table in front of her.
"Because he's been doing it to me for years." A heavy silence settled over them and tension thickened the air as Weiss fought to retain her stern facade before continuing. "He was also the one who hired Torchwick to kill us and steal the files in the first place."
Ruby put her hand on Weiss's shoulder in a show of comfort while the others bore various looks of shock and outrage as they processed this information.
Blake was the first to regain her composure and spoke slowly as she put the pieces together. "So, Augustus Schnee is involved in some grand scheme, and when he learned Ironwood had files on research that could hurt his operation, he sends us to steal them and Torchwick to get rid of us before we can ask any questions. Then, once he sees the contents of these files, he sends Torchwick to enlist the White Fang to, most likely, kill the scientists as well as destroy the labs and research."
"Why not send Torchwick to do it himself?" Yang asked.
"The White Fang are essentially a group of terrorists for hire." Pyrrha expounded. She smiled apologetically when she noticed the pained look in Blake's eyes before continuing. "They would be able to locate this place easily and no one would bat an eye at them burning it to the ground."
"Alright, but all this happened months ago," Yang countered, "who's to say Torchwick isn't long gone by now?"
"Keeping something this big and this complex a secret takes time and involves a lot of waiting." Ruby explained as she clicked around her laptop. "Unlike us, Torchwick was seen being directly involved with everything that happened in Miami, so he'd have to lay low and wait for the heat to come off him. Then he'd need to get the files to Schnee, who would have to decrypt and interpret them. After that, Torchwick's gonna need to actually find the White Fang, which would prove to be quite difficult for anybody who doesn't know already know a member."
"Good thing we have a certain gorgeous cat burglar who still keeps her ear to the ground." Yang added, waggling her eyebrows suggestively at her girlfriend.
Blake smiled and placed a quick kiss on the flaxen bawler's cheek before turning back to face Ruby. "I have some old contacts I can get in touch with."
"Good, and while you do that, there's another lead that the rest of us are gonna look into." The brunette replied.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with that code you've been slaving over, does it?" Pyrrha asked.
"Partly. With Weiss's help, I was finally able to decode the first clue. The rest of the code came soon after that." Ruby said as she pulled out one of her notebooks, a small smile on her lips as she noticed Weiss's blush in her periphery. "Originally, I wasn't able to figure out the cipher needed to decode it as the only clues were the words 'stewardesses', 'koi', 'black', and 'microscopy'. But eventually I was able to come to the conclusion that even these clues were encoded."
She was interrupted as Yang groaned dramatically. "Seriously? Whoever sent you this is really paranoid."
"I agree with Yang," Pyrrha added, "how do we know this isn't just some crazy person messing with you."
"I was starting to think so too, but when I finally figured out I needed to rearrange the letters in the clue, I got the words 'sister', 'keyboard', 'compass', and 'clockwise'."
"Not exactly the best argument against the crazy-person theory, sis."
"Maybe, but the words 'keyboard', 'compass', and 'clockwise' made me think." Ruby explained. "There's a method of encoding that is usually involved with these three keywords. It involves taking each letter of the cipher and, instead of having it correspond to a number and shifting a letter of the message by that many letters in the alphabet, they all correspond with one of eight directions. Using that, you shift the letter in that direction according to a standard QWERTY keyboard. For example: the letter A could be shifted to become Q, W, S, X, Z, or wrap around to be P, L, or M."
"This makes me so happy my job really only involves punching people." Yang muttered sarcastically.
"What about the other clue?" Blake asked.
"That's what convinced me this person was worth taking seriously." Ruby said. "After several different tries, I found that the cipher was the name Yang Xiao Long."
"Wait, what?!" Her sister screeched.
"So whoever sent that to you knows that Yang is your sister." Blake concluded.
"That might narrow it down a bit, but the information's not that much of a secret in some circles." Said Pyrrha.
"Maybe, but there's more to it than that." Ruby continued. "When I used Yang's name, most of the code was still indecipherable, however I did get another four words out of it." She spun the notebook around to show the group the page full of her scribblings.
"Susan, Hestia, Lucy, an Ameterasu." Weiss read out. "What do those mean?"
"Well, Hestia is a Greek goddess warmth and comfort and is said to watch over people's homes. While Ametrasu is a goddess who represents the sun and summer in general in Japanese culture." Blake explained.
"And Susan and Lucy are the names of two characters who are referred to as the Daughters of Eve in The Chronicles of Narnia." Pyrrha finished before her eyes widened in realization. "Wait, Red, you don't think…?"
Ruby could only nod her head slowly in response.
"But who could know that?"
"Who could know what?" Yang asked confusedly.
"Whoever sent this knew about my mom and her obsession with the Narnia books." Ruby said quietly. "When put together, the clues can be interpreted as a reference to 'the Daughter of Summer', which turned out to be true when my real name ended up being the last cipher."
"Which means that whoever sent you the info on Torchwick knows who you really are." Pyrrha concluded. "Be careful with this Red."
Ruby nodded her head in agreement. She didn't have to be told of the dangers involved if someone had figured out who she truly was. She would have to do an immediate run through of her systems for any holes in her defences, not to mention potential of her information network being compromised. The only bright side was that, of the thousands of contacts she had, only a handful knew about her true identity. Three of them were in the room with her, while the few others would take some serious interrogation techniques and even then would only give the bare minimum.
"So what does the message say?" Weiss asked.
Ruby sighed as she returned to the current situation. "It didn't reveal much, just three sentences." She flipped to another page and showed it to the group.
Queen has pawns.
Be careful of snowy bishop.
Don't get burned.
"Any idea what that means?" Blake inquired as she regarded the words on the page.
"Well, my father has been referred to as the 'Bishop of the Business World' on more than one occasion." Weiss offered.
"And Schnee literally means snow." Pyrrha added.
"So what I'm hearing is, after all this work, Papa Schnee might not be the one in charge." Yang concluded before groaning yet again and collapsing against Blake's shoulder. "As if this wasn't complicated enough."
"That's not all." Ruby said while Blake patted her girlfriend's head. "This isn't the first time I've heard of people getting 'burned' after crossing some 'queen', though I never paid it much thought, so whoever's behind this isn't new to the game."
"Alright, so what was the other part of this lead?" Weiss asked.
Ruby opened another file on her computer and showed the accompanying picture to the other women.
"Junior?" Yang asked incredulously. "What's that runt got to do with anything?"
"Well, it seems Junior has not only failed to inform me he's been in contact with Torchwick since we last spoke, but he also recently contracted out some of his men to a certain drug lord who at one time went by the name Leo Gregorovitch."
"Who's that?" Blake asked.
"He's the last known person with any information on my mom."
"Alright, so what's the plan? Bust into Junior's club and make him talk?" Yang suggested gleefully.
"Something like that," Ruby said, "And while you and I keep him distracted, Weiss and Pyrrha are gonna break into his files and steal any info they can on Gregorovitch and whoever this Queen is."
*(OoO)*
They spent the next few hours making rough plans while Blake tried to get in touch with her old contacts, but the entire time Ruby couldn't quite get rid of the question that had been sitting in the back of her head since discovering the contents of the message.
The message mentioned a queen, pawns, and a bishop, but, in chess an opponent could take all those pieces and still not win. It was probably nothing, but Ruby couldn't quite keep from thinking that if all these sinister plots and forces amounted nothing more than pieces on some global chess board…
Who was the king?
*(OoO)*
Weiss woke up to find Red already awake, studying a corkboard covered in blueprints, police reports, surveillance photos, and personnel files. She paused and was struck by the way the rising sun shone through the small windows only to reflect off the dust in the air and envelop the young woman in gentle flames that emphasized the bits of burgundy highlighting her mahogany tresses.
She shook her head and went to prepare a bowl of cereal for her and Red, as had become custom during their time together. They hadn't quite had the chance to really talk about the kiss other than exchanging quick reassurances that it had not put their friendship in jeopardy, and they would talk later when things were less hectic. However, that hadn't stopped Weiss from thinking about that moment constantly over the past three days.
She had gotten quite panicked that first night, memories of past trauma plaguing her mind as she sat alone in the darkness of her room. But romantic interests aside, the young con woman was the best friend Weiss had ever had, and she found herself unable to resist her company and the happiness associated with it.
Of course her new found cravings for physical affection kept her from distancing herself as well, and as she placed the bowls on the table and embraced her friend from behind, she found herself daydreaming of starting every day like this and kissing the younger woman softly before sitting down to breakfast. Unfortunately, thoughts of kissing while maintaining this much contact with Red usually led her thoughts down paths that were quite inappropriate, to say the least.
She focused on the corkboard and the plans attached in an effort to drag her mind from the gutter and quell the heat both within her cheeks and between her legs.
"How's it going?" She asked hoarsely as she pulled Red down to their usual spots on the love seat before handing the girl her breakfast.
"Alright," Red sighed tiredly, the bags beneath her eyes revealing she had yet to go to bed, "I managed to root out several more contacts who could be paid off or turned against me, making them useful for when I need to plant misinformation, and Sun and Neptune are supposed to contact me later today, so everything's on schedule."
Weiss sympathised with her friend and leaned against her gently to show her support. After learning of a potential leak in her network, Red had immediately gone to work upgrading the security of all her computer systems before investigating her contacts for any potential moles; a task that was nothing short of daunting if Yang's description of it was to be believed. According to the brawler, her younger sister's contacts numbered in the thousands, all of whom knew Red by one of her many aliases.
"How do you keep all that information straight in your head?" Weiss asked as they finished their meals before settling into the brunette's arms.
"Contrary to popular belief, I don't keep it all in my head." Red answered with a chuckle. "I have files on pretty much every person I've ever met. Most are made before I even meet them."
"That's still a lot to keep track of."
Red shrugged. "I guess, but I've always had a pretty good memory, and it helps when you can keep your thoughts properly organized."
"How so?" Weiss inquired.
"Well, everything I know about everyone I know doesn't just float around my head constantly. I separate it so I can access what I need when I need it. It's kinda tough to explain, and whenever I tried in the past, Yang would just laugh and call me a nerd, but I guess the best explanation would be to imagine a library or file room inside my head. Whenever I need something, I just go to the right section and take what I need."
"I think I understand," Weiss said as she stood and grabbed their bowls, "but you might want to consider just saying you're a genius next time someone asks."
Red laughed as Weiss washed the dishes. "That may be the smartest thing I've heard all night." The tired criminal stretched out on the love seat, and once the dishes were put away, Weiss took back her usual place in her arms.
She knew they had a few things that they needed to discuss, and she was definitely aware that they were simply avoiding said discussion, but moments like these were ones she could look back on and say, without a doubt, that she was happy. She still had her doubts, and the fear instilled by past punishments still plagued her dreams, but those feelings inevitably faded from her memory, forgotten before the experiences she would always remember.