Not much to say here. Will save it for the author note at the ending section.
Please support me on Pa-treon as 'The Tanker' if you like my stories!
I do not own RWBY.
#
Chapter 14: Red Like Roses
Ruby was surprised to see Blake sitting in the park alone on a swing.
It was almost two in the afternoon, which was a weird time to be in a park considering it was summer at the moment and being in an open area at times like this was something only a crazy person would do.
Or a person who was so depressed of something that they didn't care about themselves anymore.
Ruby believed Blake was the latter.
There were tall trees surrounding the park that gave certain area shades, but the swing was located in the middle and was totally exposed to the scorching sunlight.
So, naturally, little red had run to the Faunus to confront her; she knew something was bothering her.
Dropping the groceries on the ground she knelt down in front of the girl, hands grabbing her knees as she lifted her head to see the girl.
Blake was surprised by Ruby's sudden approach, but didn't do anything; instead, she continued to look on the ground.
"Blake, is everything alright?" Ruby said; the tone she used was not something one would expect coming out from an eleven year old child.
The Faunus knew her friend was just concerned about her. But she didn't want to face this; she didn't want to tell Ruby and instead she wanted to run – just like how she always did.
Seeing that Blake was unwilling to talk, Ruby stood up and withdrew Crescent Rose from the back of her waist. For a moment she saw fear in the Faunus' eyes, so she just grinned and expanded it to its scythe form.
At the end of the hilt was a spear-like tip and Ruby had stabbed it onto the ground with a certain angle – and it just happened to provide enough shade for the both of them.
Blake wanted to thank her, but there wasn't any voice coming from her throat.
She had been sitting under the sun directly for hours and it was already a miracle that she didn't collapse.
Maybe a little dehydrated, but overall she was fine.
Ruby took a bottle of cold soda she just bought from a store nearby and handed it to her. She took it, opened the cap then gulped down half a bottle.
"Whoa, slow down Blake!" Ruby squeaked.
"Ruby…" The Faunus handed the soda back to her after she secured the cap on. "Thanks."
"Sure. Are you sure you're okay, Blake?" The younger girl took the bottle, making no effort to change her current position. "You can talk to me you know. It'll make you feel better."
Blake still wouldn't budge. Therefore, Ruby had stood up, turned the scythe slightly to the left and sat on the swing beside her.
The Faunus looked at her with a pair of surprised amber orbs.
Ruby smirked while putting her elbow on her thigh, then her head on her palm lazily.
"If you're not gonna tell me, I'll stay here with you until you're okay."
Blake let out a heavy sigh – Ruby's stubbornness could definitely rival Weiss'.
Weiss.
The Faunus gulped before opening her mouth.
"I…"
"It's okay Blake. I won't tell anyone."
Ruby might be a child due to her age or that childish personality of hers, but when it came to times like this, Blake knew she was more reliable than anyone else in the world. True, she would go to Yang when she had a problem, but ever since she discovered the blonde's feelings towards Weiss, there had been a slight distance formed between the two.
Unable to talk to either Yang or Weiss, her only option left was Ruby – but it wasn't like the younger girl was a plan B or something. Blake genuinely trusted her; she did a good job on being the leader of Team RWBY and she matured by a large scale over the year.
The Faunus inhaled deeply, then pushed out all the air at once when she exhaled.
"I…I might have…certain feelings for…for a friend of mine." Blake said.
"A friend like Weiss?"
"Wha-" How?!
Ruby frowned; not only Yang had feelings on Weiss (she knew that a long time ago), but Blake too?
"Umm…" The girl did her best to not offend the Faunus, "Well…most of the time you were hanging out with us…with Team RWBY. And seeing as you're willing to open up to me, it certainly wasn't me, so that left Weiss or Yang."
Blake gulped at that sharp observation of this future huntress in front of her.
"I'm not a child, Blake. I know what 'love' is." Ruby smiled gently, "And I'm not against…you know, liking a girl."
Blake flinched a bit, but made no attempt to talk.
"From what I see, Yang and you are more like best friends. But recently you've been avoiding her a little bit, so initially I thought it might be Yang." Ruby continued, but didn't tell her about knowing Yang's crush on Weiss, "But I think things aren't always that easy, so I made a wild guess that it was Weiss, and judging from your reaction, I think it's correct."
She then grinned sheepishly at the Faunus.
"I've realized my feelings about a year ago…around the time when Topaz died." Blake said softly.
"Is that why you've been avoiding Yang? You don't have to be guilty because of Topaz you know."
"No no." Blake waved her hands, "It's…just that I really like Weiss and…I saw them…dating in the central shopping district."
Ruby held her hand, silently giving her encouragement.
"I…I found out about Yang's crush on Weiss around that period too. I kept thinking about us…about Yang, Weiss and me. I've always known that Weiss would pick Yang over me but…a small part of me…wanted her to choose me instead. I thought I could handle it but…when I saw Weiss clinging to Yang's arm on the shopping district today…I…"
Blake withdrew her hand from Ruby's grip and covered her face with both while weeping.
"I ran…I was…there…buying a book…at Tukson's…dad said he could handle the shop…so I went out to that place happily…and then I saw them walking together…they looked so blissful with each other. I couldn't handle it…it hurts so much to see my crush and my best friend dating…so I ran…"
"Blake…"
"I'm tired of…always running Ruby..."
"Blake, it'll be fine." Ruby smiled faintly, giving the impression that she was trying to hide something – but it wasn't like the Faunus could see it anyway.
"I know…but I hate myself…" Blake wiped the tears on her face, "I hate myself for being like this…they're together and I should be happy for them…but it hurts so much…"
"Blake, you don't know if they're dating yet."
"Weiss was…clinging to Yang's arm…she was smiling all the time…"
Ruby furrowed her eyebrows; she knew what Blake meant. The heiress wasn't someone to initiate such intimate gesture (yes, clinging to another person's arm was already extremely intimate for a certain heiress), so Ruby could fully understand Blake's point.
Weiss did that once with Ruby, and the latter knew she was doing it subconsciously – because when she came to realization, she quickly withdrew her hand and her face was red as tomato as she looked to another side, unwilling to face Ruby.
It didn't necessarily mean Weiss liked Ruby; it was more like the heiress felt secured around the girl.
It might be the same with Yang was what Ruby was trying to convey to Blake – only the sentence couldn't come out from her mouth.
She didn't want to upset Blake more than she already was, so she simply stood up and went over to the girl, giving her a tight hug.
"Sssh…it'll be okay…"
#
Yang reached home by evening. She took her time to walk back to Dragon Tears Forest on her feet.
It took around forty five minutes for a city bus to reach the central shopping district from the forest, so the distance between both places weren't exactly short.
But she was in no mood to care about her fatigue.
She also knew Weiss would be really worried about her and that it was really irresponsible to just run off like that – however she couldn't stand it. She didn't want the heiress – her crush to see that look on her face when she learned the fact that Weiss was straight.
If she knew about Yang's feelings for her, then their friendship was sure to be ruined.
If only she could turn back time – to not fall in love with Weiss.
She practically dragged herself into the forest, then to her house and lastly on her bed. Finally, the tears that she had been holding since lunch were spilled out like a mini waterfall.
"Why…" She sobbed, covering her eyes with her right palm.
Images of Weiss played on her mind then, torturing her even more – how Weiss clung to her arm; how she jumped when she entered an arcade for the first time; how the she had ice cream on the corner of her lips and didn't realize it until Yang told her.
"Stop…" Her voice was broken as she forcefully shut her brain from thinking of all these, only to make it worse.
The more she didn't want to think about it, the more her brain was defying her.
She spent the rest of the day crying herself out with all her might while occasionally punching that old couch in the living room.
They still needed to meet each other the next day, so she would have to recover fast and bottle up everything so that her friends wouldn't know about it. If they asked about her swollen eyes, she'd just say it was because she threw up nastily.
Calm down Yang. Don't feel it, just cover them up, you can do it.
#
It was Monday then; Weiss was at her usual classes with Glynda while the other three was hanging out at Secret Base.
Blake was doing her best to hide the hurt by making use of that trademark poker face; Ruby had brought her home last night and had made sure she eat and sleep.
Yang on the other hand was doing a fantastic job putting up her usual face. Not even Ruby suspected a thing – to be honest she was pretty proud.
They were sitting inside the cave talking like usual, mostly about entering Signal or new combat moves and weapons.
However, Ruby was even more hyperactive than usual. She seemed happy about something but she didn't say anything about it.
Blake made sure the younger girl didn't talk about her crush on Weiss, or how she had seen the two dating. They came to a conclusion that if Yang and Weiss didn't tell them about it, it was possible that they wanted to keep it a secret and tell them when they felt like it was suitable.
Today wasn't as hot as the past few days. In fact, it was rather comfortable; the sun wasn't that hot and every now and then a gentle breeze would blow past the forest, creating waves on the lake surface.
"Don't worry Yang, they'll provide you with enough tools and stuff to upgrade your…I forgot the name again uh."
"It's Ember Celica Rubes."
"Ah yeah. Anyways, once you get in the academy, you don't have to worry about money anymore!"
"Sounds convenient."
"It is Blake! It's what dad told me. He used to study there too. I'm thinking of being exactly like him, graduate Signal and then apply for Beacon!"
"Wow Rubes, Beacon's at least one hundred times stricter than Signal!"
"Graduate Signal?"
"N-nothing!" Ruby quickly changed her sentence, "I mean, if I get to enter and study in Signal!"
Blake and Yang raised their eyebrows.
As Ruby shrunk, scared of the intimidating glares from both older girls, they heard the sound of leaves rustling and she had immediately dashed there to greet the newcomer – and to get away from the two.
"Weiss!" Ruby wanted to hug the heiress, but had come to a halt when she recalled about Blake and Yang. She quickly changed the subject then.
"Ah thank Dust you came Weiss! I was dying to tell you all!"
"What?" The three girls said in unison.
"Come, sit together, I have an announcement to make!" Ruby grabbed Weiss' hand and ran to the cave joining the black and the yellow.
"Yang! How was your stomachache? Does it still hurt? Are you okay?" The heiress yelped as she saw the blonde.
"Nope, totally fine. Don't worry about me princess." Yang grinned.
As they settled down, Ruby stood in front of them and took something from her pocket.
It was apparently a scroll.
"Wow, guess legendary huntsmen were even more capable than the Schnees!" Yang said.
"Hey!"
"Qrow and Summer bought that for you?" Blake asked.
"No no! Listen guys, there was a scout from Signal who watched the tournament a year ago, and since then he had sent some of his men to observe potential huntsmen from different elementary schools. I was on the list too and that scout actually came to observe me himself."
The girls were amazed.
"And then, this morning he came to my house and told me that I was being selected to enter Signal Academy!"
"Does that mean…" Yang said.
"You got moved two years ahead?!" Weiss squeaked.
"Wow..." Was all Blake could say.
"Yeah! And he gave me this scroll too! I can go to Signal and be with you guys already!"
Yang took this chance to pull everyone in for a group hug, then each of them had congratulated her on skipping years. And they knew very well that Ruby totally deserved it – they had seen how hard she trained and how determined she was when she said that she wanted to be a huntress and help people. Plus, they had also seen that insane skill of hers on the battlefield.
"We should totally celebrate this." The blonde released them and said.
"When are you enrolling there?" Weiss asked.
"After the result of the scholarship application I think. Means we're going to enter at the same time." Ruby answered.
"We don't know if we'll get the scholarship yet Rubes." Yang said.
"But you told me you aced the exam!" Ruby yelped, "You said you'll be sure to enter, no?"
"Uh…"
"Don't think too much." Blake interrupted, "When the time comes, we'll know. Let's relax for now."
"Yeah!"
#
October arrived soon and as they had expected, Blake and Yang were on top of the list. They were accepted into Signal as benefiters of the scholarships and could start enrolling there on the first week of November.
Presently the four of them were at Secret Base, hugging each other after Blake and Yang broke the news to everyone.
They had decided to celebrate this, but had no idea what to do.
"C'mon guys, think, we're gonna leave this place for four years! We have to do something meaningful before we leave!" Ruby said.
"Oh I know! What about we play hide and seek?" Yang pointed out her index finger.
"What are you, ten?" Weiss crossed her arms.
"Come on Weiss, we were ten when we played that. We're just three years older now." Blake smirked.
"Yeah, that's the first game we play. So we should appreciate more and put it to action right?" Yang winked at them.
In the end, they had agreed to let Weiss be the one that would look for them while they hide. She faced the wall of the cave as she counted thirty seconds.
All of them had come to a mutual agreement that since they were trained and armed now, they could widen the hiding area to almost the whole forest. It wasn't that big anyway, and they were a lot faster and sharper compared to three years ago.
"…Twenty nine, thirty!" Weiss turned around as she had finished the counting.
The first place she looked was that little space between the huge rocks and the lake; it was where Blake hid the first time and they totally didn't expect that.
But no, it was empty. She tried peeking into the lake, but the crystal clear water showed only the bottom of it.
Forest then.
She half ran into the opening, and then utilized her glyph to increase her movement speed as sapphire orbs looked through the forest for any signs of them.
Ruby and Yang should be easy to find as red and yellow weren't really made for mixing into the wild. The only problem being Blake; that girl always wore black colored clothing, causing her to be extremely difficult to be spotted by the heiress.
Plus, she was a cat Faunus, this place was basically her territory.
After a few minutes of searching, she couldn't find any of them. Just when she was about to change her path, a loud bang was heard from a certain direction.
In fact the sound was so loud that it caused the birds in the forest to fly away upon hearing it. Feeling uneasy she used her glyph again to boost her speed as she ran towards that particular direction.
She met Yang on her way and the blonde had nodded to her while they continued to run. That bang was near an area that they had never been to before, so it took them quite a while to get used to the slightly different structure of the ground to get to the source of the sound.
There was an opening in front of them and they saw a girl in black standing there.
"Blake!" Both shouted as they came to a halt beside her.
"What's wrong, Blake?" Yang said and both of them looked at her with concerned eyes.
It was at that moment they smelled something – something burning.
They turned towards the direction that Blake was facing.
And they saw it.
A car was upside down on the road with a hand coming out from the driver's seat, and the front side of it was burning.
Traces of brake mark could be seen on the ground, and as they followed it, their sight fell on something red.
They couldn't quite make out what that red thing was.
Maybe it was roses.
Or maybe it was a pool of blood.
But, it was none of that-
-It was a certain little girl they all knew too well, lying on a pool of red colored liquid.
She was unconscious and she seemed to be holding something in her arms.
Blood kept flowing out from her torso as the three girls stood there, unable to recover from the shock.
Luckily, another car came and the man had called both the ambulance and the police. The woman who was sitting beside her came down and comforted them as the man continued to shout over his scroll for help to arrive faster.
They couldn't even cry.
They couldn't say anything.
It was too much for them to handle.
Their friend lying on the road now could possibly be dead.
They couldn't make out the amount of blood she loss because of her blood red cloak – everything was so red.
Like roses.
#
Here comes the climax!
I'm sorry this has to end as a cliffhanger. But don't worry, I'll update it in a few days time. Be patient!
You thought things were gonna be better after Weiss was revealed to be a straight girl?
But no, they got worse!
Because I'm evil!
Also, school starting in November? Nah, it's Remnant, it has different culture.
Anyway that's it for this chapter. Please review if you have anything to tell me *wink*
Thank you for reading my story. *sobs*
Please support me on Pa-treon as 'The Tanker' if you like my stories.
I do not own RWBY.
