Ruby hit her pencil against the edge of her desk, producing a quiet, but nevertheless annoying sound. She continued to do it, staring off at a corner of the classroom with a goofy smile on her face.
Yang was beside her, swaying slightly on her seat. Dark rings surrounded her eyes, and she was barely managing to keep them open. Her sister's constant noise-making helped her stay awake, but she would be much happier if she stopped; Ruby was the reason she was in such a state in the first place, after all.
She couldn't help but feel some anger when she stared at that goofy little grin. Yang had to resist the urge to shake Ruby by her shoulders and yell at her to stop. Yet such a thought also caused her to feel angry at herself… Ruby was happy, and she wanted to take away from her because of some stranger whose name she didn't even know?
She almost jumped from her seat when an elbow nudged her on her side. Yang looked at Blake with wide eyes, while the brunette responded with a look of worry.
"Are you okay?" Blake mouthed.
"Hmm…" Yang leaned forward and rested her head on her hands. "'M okay. Just didn't sleep well."
Blake rolled her eyes, knowing very well that her partner was lying. She didn't push her for the truth, though. Yang was one of the few people she truly cared about, and she would never do anything to hurt her, be it emotionally or physically.
The sound of snapping wood reached her eyes, then she saw the blur of a pencil fly across the classroom until it hit the wall behind professor Oobleck, who didn't bat an eye at the event and just kept babbling on about history.
"Weiss!" Ruby whined quietly. "My pencil…"
"You're so annoying!" Weiss whispered angrily. "I've learned to put up with your paying zero attention to class, but I'm not going to let you daydream and make annoying sounds that will distract me!"
"But… You're not paying attention now, are you?" The redhead's eyes narrowed accusatorily.
Weiss' mouth contorted as she tried to find a counter argument. Eventually, she gave up and set her partner's head forward with her own hands. Ruby squirmed victoriously, then fished another pencil from her case and started to hit it against her desk.
Blake smirked with amusement as she watched them. Without any thinking of it, her eyes wandered to Weiss. The heiress hadn't fixed her hair on a ponytail, as she did nearly every day, so it fell to middle of her back freely. Blake already thought her hair was pretty, but seeing it that way made her look almost like another person entirely; not Weiss, the regal, proud heiress of a multi-billionaire company… Just Weiss, a normal girl devoted to her studies and her friends.
Blake looked up at her face and froze. Weiss was looking right back at her, one eyebrow rising slowly, as if she didn't know what to make of her obvious staring. Then, she smiled slightly and nodded, before diverting her sight to the professor.
Blake slid down her chair, feeling extremely confused. She looked at Yang, wondering if she had noticed the silent interaction, but the blonde had crashed against her desk, a bit of drool spilling out of the corner of her mouth. The faunus smiled sympathetically and patted her on the back.
Cinder looked over her shoulder, making sure nobody was following her. Everyone at Beacon was either teaching or attending class, but she hadn't built a reputation by being careless. After scanning the path that led to the school behind her for a few seconds, she nodded and ran to the edge of the city of Vale.
She jumped and clashed her feet against the side of a building, then ran up the rest of the way, not taking a single look at the ground far beneath her. With a somersault, she landed on the roof, then scanned the city from up high.
Her usual meeting point with her contacts was near the center plaza, so she started making her way to it, jumping from rooftop to rooftop with effortless grace. The nature of her meetings was strange, and perhaps a bit too bothersome, but it provided her with much-needed secrecy. No cop was going to stumble on a criminal discussion on top of a building.
After a few minutes, she reached her destination and found Adam Taurus already there. Half of his face was hidden behind his mask, but she could already tell he was displeased.
"Cinder." He greeted. "What an honor it is to meet with you personally."
"Save your jabs, Taurus." Cinder said, her tone of voice neutral. "My reasons are my own, and if you're so… annoyed, by the way I do things, then perhaps you should look for someone that will fulfill your wishes more to your liking." She smiled slightly. "Of course, you'd have to be a fool to do that. You know very well such a person doesn't exist."
"You're talkative today. Maybe I should look into going with dates with schoolgirls too."
She glared at him, but decided to let the matter go. Ruby was a subject too dangerous for her to even mention.
"Let's get to business, Adam." She said. "What did you want to speak about so badly?"
"I've organized most of the runaways from the Grimm breach already. When the time comes, they'll be ready for action." Adam told. "However, the largest portion of Glenn's men are still in prison. I'll need help breaking them out."
"I see…"
Cinder paced to the edge of the building, thinking about the matter. Staging a prison break on the Vale capital, of all places, would be a very difficult undertaking. No doubt there were Huntsmen among the city's forces, threats so above the common cop… The White Fang would be pressed to achieve victory, and even if they did, the casualties would be enough to put a halt to the rest of their plans.
"I will come to your help myself." She decided. "Don't bring any of your underlings. That would only result in unnecessary losses."
"Color me impressed." Adam nodded with satisfaction. "I expect this job to go much more smoothly with your help."
"Don't get used to it." Cinder said. "Contact me when you're ready."
Without another word, she jumped to another building, ignoring Adam's silent gaze. She made her way back to Beacon, but halfway there, she stopped to stare at the school's distant silhouette.
Ruby.
Cinder shook her head slowly and slid down the building's side, landing carefully on an alley. Silently, she stepped out of it and into the streets, from where she walked the rest of the way back.
"And then I ate a cookie and then she ate a cookie, and I said, that's actually a cream cookie, and she was like, wooooah, and then she said it was good and we kissed and stuff…"
Jaune stared blankly at Ruby, who sat across from him on their usual cafeteria table, babbling on about her sixth date with Cinder. Well, at least he thought it was the sixth. She talked so often about these things he had lost track some time ago.
Thankfully, his ineptitude about the topic was remedied by Pyrrha, who nodded enthusiastically along to Ruby's story. He wasn't sure if his partner was actually interested or she was just being her usual helpful and friendly self.
"So, are you actually dating now?" Pyrrha asked curiously. "I mean, you've gone on dates, you've kissed, you've told other people you've kissed… But are you calling each other girlfriend?"
"Uh… I guess?" Ruby frowned, finding Pyrrha's inquiry really annoying, if only because she didn't know how to answer it. "We know we like each other… Do we need to make an official statement or something?"
"No, no!" Pyrrha shook her head fervently. "I didn't mean anything like that. I was just curious."
Their conversation was cut short by Yang, who appeared beside Ruby and practically slammed a tray of food on the table before sitting down. The blonde looked like a mess, and she ate her food like it was her most hated enemy.
"Uh… Sis?" Ruby poked her. "You okay?"
"I'm fine!" Yang snapped. "I'm just hungry, okay?!"
She chewed her food furiously, then gave her sister a sideways glance. Ruby seemed to have shrunk, and her eyes were a bit watery. Yang's anger was instantly replaced with guilt.
"Ruby, I'm sorry… I'm just… not feeling very well. Didn't get enough sleep." She said quietly. "Can you forgive me?"
"Okay!" Ruby answered cheerfully. "You're forgiven!"
Yang smiled, wondering how her sister could be so happy all the time.
"So…" Jaune said, not wanting the topic of Cinder to be raised again. "Where's Weiss and Blake? Are they sick or something?"
"Nope." Ruby answered. "They're sparring in the gym."
"Weiss and Blake? Sparring?" Pyrrha repeated.
"Oh, that's a delicate, complicated matter. You don't wanna look into it, trust me." Yang advised.
Pyrrha looked at the two girls from RWBY, feeling incredibly lost. Jaune leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear.
"Blake's got a crush on Weiss." He told. "Didn't you know?"
"What? No, I didn't." She whispered back.
"Really? But it's so obvious!" Jaune exclaimed, forgetting to keep his voice down.
Pyrrha stared at him with a passive expression, while in her head murderous thoughts started to take place. Apparently, Jaune was so perceptive he had somehow figured out Blake, who barely spoke two phrases a day, had a crush on Weiss, who she was much more inclined to hate, yet he couldn't take a single hint from her?
I swear… She thought bitterly. One day, they're gonna wake up and find your body pieces scattered around the school.
"What's so obvious?"
Ruby squealed loudly and jumped to hug Cinder, who was standing beside their table with a curious expression. The raven-haired girl smiled happily as she tried to keep her balance while not letting the redhead fall to the floor.
"Ruby!" She exclaimed. "I'm happy to see you too!"
"Not as happy as I am!" Ruby protested, then planted a kiss on her lips.
Cinder chuckled, then set her down on her feet. She looked at the people on the table with an easy smile between her lips.
"Hey, Cinder." Jaune said in a dead tone of voice. "Ruby was just telling us about your sixth date."
"Actually it was their seventh." Pyrrha corrected, earning herself a glare from him. "How are you doing, Cinder?"
"I'm okay. What about you two?"
As they continued to have small talk, Yang observed, eating her food silently. After a while, Cinder noticed that and turned to her, a worried look on her face.
"Is there something wrong, Yang?" She asked. "You look… Not well."
"Hmm. Maybe it's because you're here." Yang muttered.
Ruby and Cinder shared confused glances.
"That was a joke." Yang deadpanned. "I didn't sleep well. Actually, I'm gonna go take a nap, now. Bye, Ruby, Jaune, Pyrrha… Cinder."
She got up from her seat and walked away, leaving her half-full plate behind. Ruby shrugged, taking her motive for leaving at face value, while Cinder watched her go away with worry.
Blake and Weiss circled around each other, their steps slow and careful. Their eyes didn't part from each other, not for an instant. A split second of inattentiveness, and one of them would go down.
After what felt like hours of eye contact, Blake looked away. Weiss smirked and dashed forward, flicking her rapier towards her teammate's torso. Blake managed to sidestep, the blade cutting millimeters away from her stomach.
The faunus brought her sword down in a diagonal slash, forcing Weiss to jump back and out of reach. Blake leaped to her, and she raised her weapon accordingly to defend herself. However, the brunette turned to shadows and disappeared.
Weiss didn't lose a beat, having grown accustomed to her teammate's Semblance in the passing months. She turned around, already flicking her rapier up to deflect Blake's strike.
Blake stumbled back, surprised by the turn of events. Weiss closed the distance and poked her on the stomach with her sword, making her fall to the ground. Then, she twirled Myrtenaster and pointed it at her neck.
"Predictable." The heiress said. "You should give me more credit. Did you really think I would fall for that old trick? You use it on everyone."
"I'll give my all this time, then." Blake murmured.
She started to raise her head, but Weiss extended her rapier forward, forcing her to lie it back down. Blake frowned confusedly.
"It's kinda difficult to spar when one of us is on the ground." She pointed out.
"Depends on what kind of spar you mean." Weiss winked at her, then drew her sword back.
Blake got up, her heart beating fast inside her chest.
"T-that's a Yang line." She said, cursing herself for stuttering so obviously. "Since when do you say these kinds of things?"
"It was just a joke." Weiss smiled smugly. "You never get uncomfortable when she does it. I wonder why it's different with me…?"
She knows. Blake realized. And she's toying with me.
The faunus growled and slid forward, trying to strike Weiss with her swords while her guard was down. The heiress snapped to attention and ducked under her slash, then put a hand on her stomach and pushed. Blake lost all balance, crashing to the ground while her swords went flying away.
"Huh." Weiss poked her with a foot. "So all it takes to beat you is romantic insinuations?"
Blake got up and hurried to her swords. She picked them up and walked to the exit of the gym, then glared at Weiss over her shoulder. The heiress looked at her, expecting her to yell or cry or… Well, something else, but Blake just closed her eyes and walked away with heavy steps.
Weiss stood in the middle of the gym, staring blankly at the direction her teammate had fled for. She let Myrtenaster fall to the floor, then sat beside it and hugged her legs, glad that there was nobody near to watch her.
Yang moved through the halls of the dormitory, leaning against a wall with all her strength. Her whole body felt numb, and she couldn't see two meters in front of her, because all the lights were out.
The hallway seemed to be longer than she remembered it being, and when she turned a corner, it was there again. She stared at the darkness, feeling a pit in her stomach.
All of a sudden, laughter echoed through the hallway. Yang stumbled, as if she had been hit by something physical. She knew that laugh…
"Ruby?" She called. "Ruby, can you hear me?!"
The laughter continued, growing louder and louder by the second. Yang cursed under her breath and let go of the wall, trying to run to the source of the noise, but every step she made felt heavier and heavier, until she fell face-first to the floor.
She crawled forward, controlled entirely by her panic. Finally, she turned another corner and reached her team's hallway, and to her relief, their door was open, with light flooding out of it.
The laughter was cut short, replaced by an anguished scream. A thump rang across the highway. Then, a different laugh reached Yang, yet it was no normal laughter… It was a distorted, almost demonical sound, something that made shivers run down her spine…
Cinder.
Yang forced herself up and ran to the room. On the middle of the floor was Ruby, her eyes glazed over, staring at the ceiling, with a deep cut running from shoulder to hip. Blood pooled around her like a lake as red as her beloved cloak.
"Ruby!" Yang yelled and fell beside her, cupping her face with her hands. "Ruby!"
The blonde shook her, but her sister gave no sign of life. Tears flooded Yang's vision, and she started to sob uncontrollably.
"I warned you."
The masked swordswoman appeared in front of her. She stomped on Ruby's face and, with her other leg, kicked Yang on the stomach, making her fall on her back like a defenseless doll.
"I warned you!"
The stranger drew her sword and brought it down in a flash.
"I warned-"
Yang jumped down from her bed at the same time that Blake strode inside the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Both froze in their spots and looked at each other, taking in how bad each other looked.
Blake's face was strangely emotional. Usually, she would keep her expression rather emotionless, only smiling and glaring when really appropriate. Now, however, she seemed to be completely dysfunctional; Yang couldn't figure out if she was angry, sad, happy, or all of these.
Yang, however, was very easy to read. Her eyes were red and tears streamed down her face. Her fists were clenched and shaking, as if she wanted to hit something but couldn't find a target.
Taking a snap decision, Blake stepped over to her partner and hugged her tightly. Yang stood still for a brief moment, then hugged her back, almost breaking Blake's spine with the strength she used.
"What happened?" Blake whispered.
"I… I had a bad dream…" Yang answered. "It… Blake…"
The blonde retreated from the hug. She nodded, took a deep breath, and then looked at her partner seriously.
"Blake, there's something I need to tell you…"
For the next ten minutes, they sat on Blake's bed while Yang narrated how she had been saved from Neopolitan by a stranger, who had later showed up to warn her about Cinder, and then finally her horrible nightmare. Blake listened to every word attentively, and hugged her again when she spoke about finding Ruby dead on the floor.
"…Do you believe her?" The faunus asked quietly after the tale was over.
"W-what?" Yang frowned, wiping a tear off her eye.
"The masked woman." Blake clarified. "Do you believe what she said about Cinder? That she's… not a friend?"
"I don't know what I believe!" The blonde exclaimed furiously. "I have to choose between trusting Cinder, who I barely know but is dating my little sister, or someone who is a complete stranger to me, but saved my life." She gave her partner a bitter smile. "Wanna choose for me?"
Blake shrugged helplessly. She truly had no other way of helping except for offering her companionship and comfort.
They spent a long time in silence. Yang's tears stopped completely, and slowly, she took on a more contemplative expression, as if she were coming up with a plan. Blake noticed that, but didn't dare speak a word about it.
"Say, Blake… You're pretty much a ninja, right?" Yang asked.
"…Yes, pretty much." Blake said, though she found the assertion quite ridiculous. Agreeing with it was much better than arguing, however.
"Then you can spy on Cinder for me!" The blonde suggested triumphantly. "You can find out if there's anything wrong about her! If she is just a normal girl, then I'll know that masked woman is some crazy lunatic who I shouldn't trust!"
Blake's mouth formed a strict line. The thought of following someone and spying on their private affairs reminded her of her years with the White Fang, a time she would rather forget entirely. However, Yang had been so distraught, and now she looked so hopeful, that Blake found herself acting against her more rational side.
"That's a good idea." She said. "I'll do it tonight."
"Thank you, Blake!" Yang hugged her again. "Have I ever told you you're the best friend anyone could have?"
"Actually, you haven't." Blake smirked. "I appreciate the compliment."
She got up and looked at her Scroll, checking for the time. It was nearly dusk; she should probably go out before their other teammates saw her leave and got suspicious.
"So…" Yang spoke up slowly. "What happened to you, Miss Belladonna?"
"Oh." Blake said, remembering the events of her own afternoon. "Nothing, really. Weiss was a bitch."
"Grr… I'll punch her on the mouth!"
"Yeah, you do that for me." Blake frowned. "No, seriously. Do it for me."
Yang nodded energetically, then wished her good luck as she walked out of the room. The blonde smiled and fell back on her partner's bed, resting her hands behind her head.
Half an hour passed before Weiss walked inside the room, looking around with barely-concealed dread. Finding only Yang there, she strode to her bed, sighing with relief.
Yang got up and smiled to her teammate.
"Hey, Weiss." She greeted cheerfully. "Do me a favor?"
"What?" Weiss asked, turning to face her curiously.
Yang took her right gauntlet off.
"Hold this for me?"
Weiss raised an eyebrow at her, but took the gauntlet nonetheless. Immediately, she crashed against the floor, having received a powerful punch to the cheek. The heiress rubbed her face and looked up at Yang confusedly.
"What was that for?!" She shrieked.
"You're a bitch, and I needed something to hit." Yang explained matter-of-factly. "Want me to get you a bag of ice?"
"No!"
"If we're lucky, there won't be more than three or four Huntsmen guarding the prison." Cinder spoke to her colleagues, sitting on the edge of her bed with a calculating tone of voice. "However, we shouldn't count on luck. After the breach incident, the city's on high alert. There might be a dozen stationed there."
"Well… I guess that's more bruises for us." Mercury said smugly. "We can handle them just fine."
Cinder looked at him fixedly.
"I can take down most Huntsmen easily enough. You two will have more difficulty." She said. "Don't be arrogant, Mercury. I don't personally care about your health, but you are an asset I'd rather not lose."
Mercury's expression soured and he looked away, crossing his arms.
"But, Cinder… Isn't it risky if you show yourself like that?" Emerald asked. "Mercury and I won't attract much attention, but you're on a whole other level, as you said. You might have to leave Beacon."
The raven-haired girl nodded. She didn't speak for a while, staring blankly at a corner of their room.
"…That is a problem, indeed." She said finally.
"Yeah, yeah… How are you gonna cuddle with sweet Ruby if you're outed as a criminal?" Mercury chuckled.
Cinder's eyes darted to him, and a great rage seemed to burn in them. It was only a flicker, though, which was replaced with a profound sadness.
"That's enough planning, I believe." She said neutrally. "I'm going for a walk."
Cinder got up and walked to the door silently. Emerald glared at Mercury and punched him on the shoulder.
"Jerk!"
Cinder stepped out into the school campus. The sky was starless that night, and the moon was also invisible. She was completely in the dark as she walked across the grass, amber eyes staring morosely at the ground.
She had walked herself into a trap, and hadn't noticed it until it was too late. Somehow, she had convinced herself that seeing Ruby was an opportunity to learn more about the intricacies of Beacon and its people; yet that had been a lie. Each day that passed, her desire to be with her had only grown, until she completely forgot about second intentions.
It was the most foolish thing she had ever done in her life. She had allowed herself to grow attached to someone who would no doubt hate her, and there was no argument that could save her. There was no life for her beside Ruby, even if she left her criminal undertakings behind.
She reached a tall tree in the middle of the campus, and stared at it silently. The sight of it comforted her. It was strong and unmovable, like she had always been, yet all it would take for it to die was a spark too close to its leaves. If only she could-
A hand closed around the back of her uniform and turned her around. Suddenly, Cinder found herself facing Blake, who pushed her with all her strength, making her slam her back against the tree.
"Blake?" Cinder asked fearfully. "What-"
The faunus drew her sword and pointed it at her neck.
"Tell me why I shouldn't knock you out and turn you in." She hissed.
"I-I…" Cinder stammered. "What did you hear?"
"What did I hear?!" Blake closed the distance between them, dropped her sword and gripped the raven-haired girl's collar. "I heard you planning to break out every White Fang prisoner in Vale with Adam Taurus' help! You're a… I don't know what you are! A thief, a murderer?!"
Cinder could only stutter a few sounds as she felt her world falling apart around her. There was absolutely no defense for her; she could only…
No. Cinder thought angrily. I won't kill you.
"Blake, listen to me." She begged, and a part of her hated how she sounded. She was powerful, wise, she shouldn't have to resort to begging! "I'm not innocent, I won't deny that. But… But I…"
"But you what?" Blake pressed.
"I don't want this anymore." Cinder muttered, feeling broken on the inside. "Please. I've never… You can't take this away from me, Blake. Ruby, she's…"
Cinder looked down at her feet, and was surprised to see a few tears fall down to the ground. I'm not – I don't cry! She gritted her teeth. Ruby…
Blake took a step back and stared at Cinder. She was so very conflicted by that sight… Her pessimistic side told her Cinder was trying to fool her, but her other side, the one who struggled with her violent past and the things she hid from the world… That side of her sympathized with Cinder.
The faunus rubbed her forehead and looked away, feeling helpless about the situation. Cinder glanced at her and felt a pang of hope.
"What if…" She spoke suddenly. "What if I told you everything I know, and together we stopped Adam Taurus?"
"Are you mad?" Blake glared at her. "I can't keep this a secret! You're Ruby's girlfriend! What do you think would happen if she found out?"
"That's exactly why you can't tell her." Cinder said. "Please, Blake. You're my only chance."
A minute of silence passed as Blake looked away, thinking about her plea and all its consequences. Then, she looked back at Cinder, and amber eyes met amber eyes.
"Tell me everything."
...
Can you feeeeeeeeel the plot tonight?
...
Anyway. I'm kinda considering adding Weiss and Blake as a pairing on the description, but eh... This is a Falling Petals story through and through, in the end.
Addressing some reviews!
NarfoOnTheNet: I don't hate Jaune. And the Shine dance did happen here, with Jaune on hi white dress and all that. There is a reason why he acts densely in relation to Pyrrha... A humorous reason, but a spoilerous reason too (and yes, that's a word now).
STM16: Yes, the tea shop name's was a reference to Avatar. I love that show to death! And... NO SPOILERS!
Ninja-Blake-sized thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited Falling Roses to Burn Brighter!
-Zeroan