Cinder paced in front of Beacon's front statue, her head turned sharply to stare at her own feet. She had done these kinds of missions before – thieving, invading, assassination – but now she felt terrified, and not only because of Blake's involvement.
Sure, the faunus was going to cause mayhem, and more than one coin flip would decide if Cinder got out of the situation better or worse, but… That was not all that worried her. It was criminal activity; she might have to kill people. For the first time in years, the thought made her sick to the stomach.
Thankfully, Blake's punctual arrival drew her mind away from these thoughts, and to the immediate situation.
"Blake." She greeted quietly, though a faint semblance of satisfaction slipped through. "I'm glad you came."
"It's not like I had any choice." Blake sighed. "It's too late to tell you to go back and tell Ruby everything, right?"
"Hmm." Cinder gave her no other answer, meddling with something on her hands. She opened them and showed the object to Blake. "This is our means of communication. Put it on your ear, and press it when you need to talk to me. Keep in mind, I probably won't be able to respond."
"Great." The faunus deadpanned. "This plan keeps getting better and better."
"I'll have to pretend to be on their side until the last second. When I say… rose, you strike." Cinder said, ignoring her accomplice's somber demeanor. Something was bothering Blake deeply, and it wasn't their mission, but Cinder couldn't care less at present time. "Did you get it all?"
Blake nodded, then turned and started to walk away to the city.
"We might have to kill Adam." Cinder noted.
"Do whatever you want." The faunus said tiredly. "I'll be there for the show."
Cinder raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't pursue the issue further. It would be best if Blake didn't care, anyway; the last thing Cinder needed was someone giving speeches about conscience and good to her.
Weiss groaned as her eyelids parted heavily. She felt tired to the bone, and somehow, the sensation didn't seem all that unfamiliar. It hadn't been two months since her most embarrassing hangover.
She quickly realized the situation was way worse than any hangover when she looked to the side and noticed Yang sleeping beside her, one arm wrapped around her belly protectively. Weiss froze up, then shrieked as she jumped out of her mattress and pressed against the opposite bed.
Yang woke and sat up slowly, blinking as she looked around morosely. Her eyes fixed on Weiss curiously.
"Why did you scream?" She asked, too sleepy to be truly angry. "You could have just shaken me or something."
"W-we… Y-you…" The heiress stammered, terrified. "Y-you took advantage of my weakness and… and…"
"Uh, Weiss, you were absolutely broken last night, and so I took it upon myself to help you sleep, without sleeping with you." Yang said, not sure if she found the situation funny or terrifying. "In a friend sort of way, you know?"
"Oh. That's… very thoughtful of you." Weiss muttered. She was now embarrassed about her freaking out and the fact that she had broken down the night before. Still, it was better than sleeping with Xiao Long. "Don't we have class today?"
Yang looked at her as if she had said the stupidest thing in history, but she quickly fixed her expression to not reflect that. It wasn't the best time to make fun of Weiss.
"Yeah, but I think we're allowed one free morning, considering the circumstances." She said. "Blake hasn't come back yet. Ruby went looking for her in Vale, or at least that's what I'm assuming… Little pest, she couldn't even leave a note…"
Weiss nodded, her heart and mind slowing down until she could assess the situation properly. Okay… Number one… Made a big mess of telling Blake my feelings. Number two… Got verbally slapped in the face. Number three… Don't know what my feelings for Blake are.
The only thing she truly knew was that, as hurtful as Blake had been with her words, she had been right. Maybe a bit exaggerated, but right. Looking back, Weiss could see how arrogant she had been; demanding Blake respond to her feelings, just assuming the faunus would be ecstatic about them.
What a fool! Hadn't she learned anything from the last time they had had an explosive argument? Blake had layers, and layers, and layers, and then these layers had layers! She couldn't be predicted, much less pressured into doing anything. She was wise and gorgeous and…
Weiss stopped herself from following that line of thinking, but her heart had already sped up again. Did she really feel that way about Blake? Maybe she was just reacting like a dumb teenager to the faunus' affection for her. But then again, Weiss was still thinking of her in a good light, even after that horrible fight…
Yang watched the heiress quietly for a long time, aware of what she was thinking about. The whole situation made her sad. She didn't know the specifics, but Blake had led a hard life; she deserved to be with someone, and the someone she wanted (or thought she wanted) to be with was Weiss.
And, as much as Yang despised the heiress sometimes, she had always gotten a strange sensation from her, like she was hiding something. Weiss was as prone to scolding and demeaning someone as she was to hug and help them. Her sometimes bad behavior didn't demand she be treated just as badly, but the exact contrary.
The blonde sighed and sat down beside Weiss, patting her on the knee comfortingly. The white-haired girl flinched, but then her posture softened and she looked at her friend helplessly.
"Everything's gonna be okay, Weissy." Yang said. "Ruby's gonna find Blake, she'll bring her back, you'll marry and have a million litters of cute black and white kittens."
"I'm… not sure that's how it works." Weiss noted. "Firstly, we're both girls. I don't need to explain the logistics of that. Secondly, faunus don't have children that are their animal counterparts. They just have little faunus offspring."
"Well, as annoying as that response to my joke was, it shows that you might have done a little bit of research on faunus. Good on you." The blonde gave her a wide smile. "Still, I'm a bit lost. Could you explain the dynamics of lesbian relationships more thoroughly?"
"Xiao Long, I…" Weiss sighed, then allowed herself a small smile. "Well, the first thing you need to know is that…"
Ruby grumbled as she tapped at her Scroll in frustration, not paying any attention to anyone in front of her as she blitzed through the streets of Vale. More than once she slammed into another person, and they begrudgingly moved her aside while she didn't tear her eyes off her phone.
She was very aware that it was still early in the morning, so everyone at Beacon was in class, including Cinder, but that didn't stop her from texting desperately for help. Cinder had never objected to ignoring a professor to respond to her; the fact that she was now, when Ruby needed her most, was really worrying.
As much as she worried about Cinder, though, she was even more worried about Blake. Ruby had noticed something off about her the past week, but she hadn't been able to pinpoint exactly what it was, and that left her feeling guilty and sad. She was the team leader, and even more importantly, Blake's friend! She should have talked to her before things turned bad.
The redhead groaned and tapped another message furiously. Before she could finish, she once again slammed into someone. That time, the person just uttered an annoyed sound and stood in front of her. Ruby continued to type for a good while, then noticed the shadow over her. Meekly, she looked up, and met eyes with her uncle.
"Well, look who it is!" Qrow's lips curved up in a slight smile, but his eyes shone brightly. To anyone else, he would have seemed mocking or aggravated, but Ruby recognized his joy at seeing her. "Little Ruby Rose, prancing around the city. I thought you had school today…"
"H-hi, uncle! Uh… Class was cancelled today! Uh… Rabid dogs! Horrible, horrible rabid dogs all over the campus!" Ruby exclaimed embarrassedly.
She expected a cluck of his tongue then a slap to the back of her head. Qrow had always been very strict when it came to training and studying, and he wouldn't be happy about her missing class. To her surprise, though, he just rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair.
"Yes, rabid dogs. A dangerous threat to Remnant's most promising youths and battle-hardened instructors." He said. "Really, Ruby? Why are you here?"
"Hey, why are you here?!" She yelled defensively.
"…Ruby, I might be a professor, but I'm also a Huntsman. Sometimes I go on missions, and this one led me here." Qrow explained tiredly. "Answer my question, Red."
"Okay… This is probably going to sound silly…" Ruby rubbed her forehead, trying to find a way to summarize her situation to her uncle. "Two of my teammates, Weiss and Blake, got into a huge argument yesterday. Blake was really hurt, or angry, I don't know… So she ran away. I'm looking for her right now."
Qrow blinked at her, then allowed a smile to spread between his lips. Of course that was her problem. He remembered very well how much trouble he and his team got into in his own days of school.
"That's an acceptable excuse. A leader should always care for her teammates, even if that means missing class." He allowed. "You know, I'm going to the Force right now. Come along, and we can get some help for finding your friend."
Ruby bit her bottom lip, not sure that was the best solution to her problem. Blake wouldn't appreciate having the police and Huntsmen searching for her, considering her hidden faunus identity and previous allegiance to the White Fang.
Still, it would be better to upset Blake than lose her forever, so Ruby murmured her agreement. Qrow nodded and began walking, his niece following close behind.
Adam leaned against an alley's wall, his chin turned down slightly, giving any passerby the illusion that he was sleeping. In truth, he was fully awake, counting every minute until he was to go to action.
A faint screech to his right alerted his to someone's presence, and he kicked off the wall and spun, his katana already out of its sheath. Its tip lay millimeters away from Mercury's throat, much to his displeasure.
"Nice to see you too." The kicker said dryly.
Adam drew his sword back and examined his colleagues for the day. Both Mercury and Emerald were wearing full face masks and black leather outfits. He wouldn't have recognized them if it hadn't been for their exposed eyes. Cinder was also wearing a similar outfit, but her mask only surrounded her eyes.
"Nice costumes." Adam noted. "Though that mask is really unnecessary. Are you a comic supervillain now, Cinder?"
"Says the guy who also wears a half-mask." Emerald scoffed.
"Well, he has a point. Cinder's covers barely anything. Maybe it would be best if-" Mercury's speech was cut short by the raven-haired girl's glare. "I mean, you suck, Taurus."
Cinder shook her head, ignoring her colleague's banter as she spied out of the alley.
On the other side of the street was the Police Department and Prison, or the Force, as it was more commonly called. While the kingdom had its dedicated prisons, in the capital it was found to be much more effective to have their prisoners next to the headquarters of the police and Huntsmen, especially when they were as dangerous as the White Fang.
That fact would only make their mission harder, and put Cinder in an even tighter spot. She was truly going to tiptoe across a divide between law and crime; good and evil. The worst of it was that she had barely any control over which side she would be standing on in the end.
"Let's revise our plan." She said, deciding to just proceed with the mission and not worry about the end of the day. What would happen, would happen. "We walk inside. Some people will be suspicious of our appearance, so Adam will waste no time in running to free his men. Meanwhile…" She eyes Mercury and Emerald fixedly. "We create a distraction. Aim for any means of communication first; we can't stop reinforcements, but we can limit how many get there and how quickly they're contacted."
"Right." Emerald nodded.
"Locked and loaded." Mercury kicked his own foot and flashed a cocky smile.
Adam didn't offer any words, but his expression was resolute. They started to walk out of the alley, but Cinder blocked them with an arm. She wasn't looking at them when she spoke, but her voice was dead serious.
"Don't hurt any civilians unless strictly necessary."
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Mercury shook his head, then walked ahead, ignoring her arm. "Fucking schoolgirls."
Emerald gave her a weird look, then followed him. Cinder stared at Adam, expecting some snide remark from him. However, he just scoffed and walked past her.
Cinder took a deep breath and followed.
Blake's left foot tapped slightly against the floor of the Force as she sat on of its benches, holding a newspaper open wide before her to hide her appearance. To anyone else, it seemed like she was reading while waiting to be attended, but in actuality, she hadn't paid attention to a single word of the paper.
A million thoughts swam through her head; thoughts of her current mission, of how everything could go wrong, how she would have to face Adam… But most of her thoughts, she guiltily admitted to herself, were focused on Weiss.
The heiress' timing had been horrendous, and her approach to the situation? Even worse. However, Blake's anger had now mostly faded, and she felt like ripping the newspaper in half and racing back to Beacon, Cinder be damned.
The faunus sighed. If only she could be so courage and smart.
Her earpiece buzzed, and she heard Cinder revising her plan to her colleagues. Blake's back stiffened, expecting bullets and explosions at any moment. The Force continued to be peaceful and normal, though, with its visitors and workers walking around as if nothing was wrong.
"Don't hurt any civilians unless strictly necessary."
Despite her best reasoning, Blake's lips curved into a slight smile. Maybe Cinder was just tricking her; but she dearly hoped that wasn't the case. She had to believe, at least. If Cinder could change, it meant-
"Blake?!"
Blake's heart stilled, and she looked up slowly. Ruby stared at her over the newspapers, eyes wide, and with a faint hint of anger too.
"Ruby." The faunus said, noticing then how dry her throat was. "You shouldn't be here."
"You shouldn't be here!" The redhead protested, crossing her arms stubbornly. Even when she was angry, Ruby tended to show it in childish ways. "I looked everywhere for you. Come on, let's go back to Beacon."
Ruby pulled her up by the arm, making the newspaper fall to the floor. Blake's whole body was tense as she stared at her leader, not having a clue of what to do now.
"Okay, let's leave!" She decided, hoping that she could lead Ruby away before Cinder arrived.
As she turned to the exit, her plans shattered. Adam walked through the crowd and away, drawing some curious glances. Cinder and her teammates stood in front of the double doors, scanning the place silently.
"Don't worry, Emerald. This will be easy." Cinder's voice buzzed in Blake's ear. "Like picking flowers… Picking a rose."
Even from such a distance, Blake noticed as Cinder looked at crowd, searching for her response. Then, her eyes met her target, and right beside her, Ruby.
One of the masked criminals raised their arms, two guns appearing on their hands. A warning scream sounded, but it was too late. Bullets flew through the air, shattering glass and ripping through electronics, causing small explosions and short-circuits.
Before Blake could say anything, Ruby blurred from her side and towards the criminals, unfolding her scythe as she went. The faunus cursed under her breath and followed.
The redhead aimed for the already shooting Emerald, but was intercepted by Mercury, who slammed a foot across her stomach. Ruby felt the impact of bullets in the same area, her Aura protecting from serious injuries, but already being severely drained.
"Oh, hey. Schoolgirl." Mercury pointed out with faint surprise.
He kicked again, connecting with Ruby's chin and sending her flying backwards. Mercury followed, intending to continue his assault, but Blake phased in front of him, blocking his kick with her sword and sheath.
"Another schoolgirl?" Mercury scoffed, then gave Cinder an annoyed glance. "Do you mind helping?"
The raven-haired girl looked between the combatants, conflicted, then was hit before she could come to a decision. She slid to the floor, unharmed but dazed. Qrow appeared above her, his black scythe right in front of her nose.
"Give in, lady." He said, his tone low and threatening. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be."
Cinder's eyes narrowed, and she spun, resting her weight on her back as she did. Tendrils of fire swirled around her, forcing the Huntsman to retreat. She jumped to her feet and trust a hand, throwing a flaming barrage towards him.
Qrow sidestepped the projectile and blurred to her side, surprising her with his speed. She barely managed to duck beneath his scythe, then had to jump over it as he brought it back. She kicked against his shoulders, throwing him off balance while throwing another attack.
This time, the fire connected with his chest, but his Aura prevented any harm to him or his clothes. He still stumbled back, however, which allowed her time to conjure her swords.
Meanwhile, Ruby and Blake fought against Mercury, trying to overcome his defenses. They didn't manage to, but they also weren't hurt at all, for he didn't dare counter attack.
"Blake?" Ruby called softly as they took a brief moment to breathe and examined their opponent. "Isn't that… Cinder's teammate?"
Blake looked at her friend, hoping that her guilt wasn't showing. By the way Ruby's eyes narrowed, she guessed it had.
Finally an alarm sounded, and a minute later, the Force was flooded by escaping prisoners, and they wasted no time in running for the exit. Ruby and Blake dived to the side to avoid being stampeded by them.
Qrow wasn't so lucky, having been closer to the doors. He disengaged from Cinder, but she took advantage of it and attacked, landing a flaming slash to his side. He tried to stumble out of the way, but the best he could do was to let himself be slammed and thrown out by the running convicts.
Cinder was only slightly luckier, managing to make it out of the movement with only a few scrapes and slashes. She stumbled to the side, very near Ruby, Blake and Mercury, and looked up.
She met with silver, shocked eyes. Cinder's world went silent, only her heartbeat echoing on her ears. She moved a hand slowly to her face, feeling between her eyes… The mask was cracked in the middle, and as her fingers touched it, it broke and fell to the floor.
"Cinder?" Ruby said. She was gripping Crescent Rose so tightly, her fingers had lost all color. In her face flashed a million emotions at once.
"Ruby." Cinder uttered, reaching a hand forward. The redhead took a step back, her expression finally settling on fear and anger. "Don't. Please, I can explain. I-I…"
She didn't know what she was going to say, and she had no time to think about it as her eyes wandered over to Blake, and behind her.
"Blake, watch out!" Cinder exclaimed.
There was a split second when Blake looked at her in confusion, then she fell forward, screaming in pain. There was a slash on her back, dealt by Emerald, who looked towards Cinder and Mercury.
"Let's go!" The green-haired thief urged, then ran over Blake towards the exit.
Mercury followed, only stopping briefly on the door to look back at Cinder, who gave no reaction. He growled and stormed out of the building.
Cinder tried to approach Blake, but Ruby turned towards her suddenly and glared at her. The Dust warrior took a step back, scared and hurt by how much hate had showed in the redhead's eyes.
"Blake, I'm taking you back to Beacon!" She said, crouching quickly to take her teammate in her arms.
"I'll help-" Cinder started, but Ruby gave her no mind, passing beside her in a red blur.
Cinder curled her fists and followed, already feeling the worst consequences of her actions.
When she finally reached Beacon, Cinder was breathless and shaking. She stopped and leaned against a statue, closing her eyes briefly.
The respite lasted less than a minute, for suddenly an explosion rocked against the side of the statue, throwing Cinder out of balance and away from it. The raven-haired girl didn't let her exhaustion get the best of her, though, standing up immediately to access the situation.
Yang marched towards her, gauntlets whirling around her fists. Her eyes had turned red, and Cinder could swear her hair was catching fire. A bit behind her was Weiss, holding her rapier firmly. Her rage was more reserved, but perhaps it was that much dangerous because of it.
"Yang, stop." Cinder said. "We can talk-"
"I knew it!" Yang roared, dashing towards her. "You fucker!"
Her fist connected with Cinder's stomach, and she stumbled back. The world spun around Cinder, leaving her dazed and helpless. Another fist connected with her back, and she was thrown to the ground.
The raven-haired girl gritted her teeth and turned out, raising a hand suddenly. Yang jumped out of reach of the fire, even more furious. Before the blonde could exact her revenge, however, Weiss stepped between them.
Cinder hadn't interacted much with the heiress; they had traded a few words, and she only presumed to have earned a good standing on her eyes. Now, however, she knew exactly how Weiss felt. She would take Yang's hatred over hers if she could choose.
"Hey." Weiss crouched beside her, making unflinching eye contact. "Do you know what you've done?" She asked in an innocent voice. "I only ask to make sure you… understand."
"You hurt my partner. You hurt my… Blake." The heiress spun her rapier, then pointed it Cinder's stomach. "Do you understand?"
"I'm sorry." Cinder whispered, completely drained of energy.
"I don't care if you're sorry." Weiss said coldly. "I'm going to hurt you."
Cinder closed her eyes and waited for the steel of the rapier to enter her. However, she only heard a soft gasp from Weiss, then the clanking as something metallic fell to the floor.
She opened her eyes and saw Weiss being gently pushed away by a new figure; a swordswoman with a Grimm mask and red and black dress. Yang's eyes had turned back to violet as she stared, shocked, at the stranger.
"Who are you?" Weiss hissed. "One of her miserable lackeys?! Release me!"
"I'm a friend." The woman answered simply. "And it's not your place to hurt her, though I understand your desire to. I'll do it for you, if that's any consolation."
The heiress allowed herself to relax slightly, but her eyes still flew to her rapier, far away on the ground. The stranger must have taken notice of that, for she reached it and tossed it to Weiss, who took it cautiously.
A black blur reached the front of the School, stopping right beside the mysterious woman. Qrow appeared in a shower of black petals, his scythe resting against his shoulder casually.
"Uncle?" Yang called, feeling even more confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey, Yellow." He greeted briefly, then looked to the swordswoman. "I'll take it from here, if you want."
She nodded and took a step back, reaching for her belt. Before she could, Yang closed the distance between them with a dash and gripped her wrist.
"Let me go." The stranger said. It wasn't a threat, but more of an honest request, as if she feared what would help it was she was denied.
"No!" Yang growled indignantly. "I want an explanation!"
The woman looked towards Qrow, who sighed tiredly and nodded slightly. She was still for a moment, then reached for her mask with her free hand. Slowly, she removed it, revealing a pale, youthful face, marked by violet eyes.
"Yang… We have a lot to talk about."
...
Feel free to send ninjas after me. Or dinosaurs. Or ninja dinosaurs. I deserve the worst for leaving you with that cliffhanger.
I'd like to point out that writing Qrow and Raven here is pretty fucking weird for me. Their depictions in Falling Roses Blah Blah is far different from Days of Spring. Mostly, I think, is because I'm following canon much more strictly here, while in DoS Qrow is Summer's brother, Raven is not badass-whatever-she-is material... So I'm worried that sometimes they'll act weirdly. I'll try to treat them as totally different characters from the ones from the Seasons universe. (Seasonsverse? Ooooh...)
I'm ecstatic about your guys' response to the Monochrome thing. I took both good and bad opinions in account, and hopefully the progress of the story will help with that element (it would, anyway, that's how periodic stories work, but I still appreciate the input.). Also, Falling Petals will be much more apparent now (or the sinking of it, right? RIGHT? haaaah awwww)
Cliffhanger-sized-thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited Falling Roses Burn Brighter!
-Zeroan