Chapter 5 - - - Support . . . part 2
Fog had settled in over at the docks, the smell of fish became more prominent due to the warmth and humidity left earlier that day. During the start of their wait, Weiss had buried her nose in the crook of her arm to cover the sent, but as time passed by, she had grown use to the smell to her utter dismay.
"How people can stand the smell of fish and be fine with this kind of weather, I will never understand." Weiss complained, trying her best to sit down properly with her legs folded under her with knees pointed toward her teammates. "This humidity is having a terrible effect and ruining my usually perfect complexion and turning it viscous!"
"Tell me about it…" Yang grumbled, sitting with one knee down and resting an arm on the other, as she rubbed a strand of hair in between her thumb and forefinger, "I'm going to have to wash my hair like 3 times before all this stickiness comes out."
Blake shifted, wincing as her clothes clung to her irritably along with some gravel seeing as she had lay stomach down before sighing from in between Yang and Weiss. The three of them had been waiting, sitting on top of a building by the docks to keep watch since the sun began setting, and despite it being their first "stake out", they all seemed to share the same thoughts.
This was not fun, and although this was their first experience doing this, it had been ruined by the weather and location, and which was causing them to not be so keen about doing this again in the future. They'll have to try and steer their leader away from choosing a mission that would require them to do this when the chance arose.
No matter what anyone said, sticky weather was not good weather to be sitting around in.
"Just a little longer you guys," Blake said, trying to appease their complaints. "It's night now, so I'm sure they should be here at any moment."
"And what are you going to do it the White Fang really are behind the attacks?" Yang asked curiously.
"I…" Blake hesitated, "I don't know."
"If the White Fang are indeed behind these thefts that have been occurring, then you shouldn't be doing anything. Nor are you expected to." Weiss started, "While yes, it will be rather disappointing at first, you're no longer a part of that organization. Therefore, you no longer have any obligation to them, but in the event that they are and you feel upset, just remember that Yang and I will be here with you to help."
Yang nodded in agreement as Blake smiled at the support.
"Thank you, both of you." She said, "Your support means a-"
The sound of an airship approaching interrupted her, causing the three to duck down to get out of view and peek over the edge of the building they were on to get a better look.
Upon seeing the hatch open and members of the White Fang march out, Blake let a disappointed breath out.
"Oh no…" She frowned, her two teammates looked at her in concern as they both reached out and gave her comforting gestures by holding her shoulder or rubbing it.
"I'm sorry this happened Blake…" Yang said, giving a look of sympathy.
"You really didn't think this would happen?" Weiss asked
Blake shook her head, "No… I guess- I think some part of me knew you were right… But, I just didn't want to…"
Weiss understood what her friend was trying to say, merely giving a sympathetic nod her way. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be…" Blake said with another shake of her head, "C'mon you two, let's go-" She stopped short upon seeing a man wearing a bowler hat and cane walk out of the airship. The girls recognized him as Roman Torchwick as he gestured toward some cargo, presumably ordering the White Fang to get those ones.
"Wait." Blake said standing up straight, "That's not right. The White Fang would never work for someone who is human." She claimed in disbelief before running.
"Blake! No! Wait! We need to-" Weiss hissed, trying to reach out to stop her. But failed as Blake dropped off from the side of the building. "Call the police…" She trailed off. She threw a look of disbelief at Yang, as though saying "Can you believe this?!"
Yang merely shrugged, before following Blake and dropping from the side of the building and causing Weiss to groan and daintily get up, straightening her skirt out.
She followed suit shortly after.
"C'mon you grunts! We're all not exactly the most inconspicuous thieves at the moment, so police are going to come any second now! And I want to go home, sit back on my couch, and relax!" Roman shouted as he placed a cigar in his mouth, "So, why don't you slackers all hurry and try to pick up the pace?"
At that order, the members of the White fang picked up speed, hurrying along and handing each other leashes so their ship could carry the cargo.
Roman nodded in satisfaction as he reached in his pocket to take out his lighter, but froze upon being jerked back and feeling cold metal at his neck.
"Oh for the love of…" Roman grumbled as the team he was ordering all turned toward him, dropped what they were doing, and hurried over closer while drawing out their weapons, "What did I expect? Can't go less than 5 minutes without something going wrong."
Blake didn't seem to hear him, or care about his rambling as she skimmed over the masks of the White Fang members. "Nobody move!" She threatened, halting the members. They all stared at her tensely, before she reached up to her ribbon on top of her head, and pulled it loose to reveal her Faunus Cat traits before addressing them all, "My brothers and sisters of the White Fang!" She began, eliciting a groan and eye roll from Roman
"Why are you aiding this person?!" She asked in demand.
The members didn't move, still holding up their weapons tensely and trying to figure out what to do in order to help Roman get free. The idea of their other two bosses coming to see him in this situation was not appealing to any of them as they both could be really protective of their inner group.
"Maybe you didn't get the memo little lady," Roman began, hoping to stall Blake for a while in order to properly analyze the situation and wait for the proper moment to escape. "But the White Fang are working under a new group now, and I'm one of the new bosses. Which means that you probably shouldn't be doing what it is you're doing."
"Tell me who the other members of your group and what your plans are or I'll put an end to your little operation." Blake threatened, tightening her hold onto him and pressing her blade.
The sudden sound and bursts of wind caused by an airship hovering over them caused her grip to slacken out of surprise though, giving Roman the perfect opportunity to sharply elbow her stomach, twist out of her hold, and kick her back away from him. "I wouldn't exactly call it little." He claimed with a small smirk as he twirled his cane and put his unlit cigar away. He gestured for the members to engage in battle with her, knowing fully well that he couldn't fire his flame-based ammunition lest he wished to cause a commotion at the docks and have the cops come early.
The dozen units quickly ran toward the fallen Blake, weapons ready to slash or shoot at her with standard bullets. Before they could get close to her, she flipped back onto her feet and fled, prompting a chase.
More members of the White Fang jumped out of the second ship, running up behind Roman and although he didn't see Neo with them, he knew that his sister was hidden around somewhere. He didn't worry about the last ship, knowing fully well that they were close by and he could expect them soon. The only reason why they were late was due to a slight lag in their engine prior.
"Here kitty kitty kitty." He called, walking forward and looking around for Blake to dispose of her quickly.
He raised his head at the sudden sound of a click though, catching sight of Yang jumping down at him with her fist pulled back and ready to hit.
He turned his body to the side, dodging the first punch before hopping away to safety, successfully evading the second punch and from the looks of it, a gunshot. His eyes widened a fraction at the familiar sight of the girl from the bar who stopped him and Neo. He quickly schooled his features and quashed the sudden spike of panic in him.
"Damn, missed." Yang huffed, clicking her tongue as Weiss pulled up next to her.
"Don't worry, I called the police and they should be here soon." The heiress exclaimed, holding her sword up.
"Oh just… this is just great." Roman scowled with a huff, "So much for not firing any shots."
He quickly glanced between the two, realizing that he would most likely not be able to hold them off at once and figured it would be best if Neo held one of them.
Roman wasn't the best of combatants, an issue that stemmed from his childhood. And while he could hold a one on one, he normally tried to avoid confrontation as much as he could, typically leaving the fight to his associates, sister, or those working under him. And while Neo was more than capable of holding her own, they knew next to nothing about these two fighters before him. He would have to engage in battle in order to better understand them and determine whether or not they were something to be taken seriously for. Sure, these two and Blake were mere kids, but that doesn't mean much when he works with three kids himself and they were better combatants than he was.
He couldn't afford to underestimate his opponents.
Fully aware that he wasn't too hot on hand to hand combat, Roman settled his eyes on Weiss, before they flickered in recognition. "Why look at who's here." He claimed, "The Little Schnee Princess. Here to save Papa Schnee's cargo?"
"Hardly." Weiss scoffed.
Roman merely hummed as he tapped his cane on his shoulder, "Well I'm going to have fun with you." He stated, implying to Neo for her to take care of Yang.
"Not before I have fun with you!" Yang shouted, charging up to him and ready to throw another punch.
Roman merely stood still, fully aware that he would be safe as Neo appeared seemingly out of nowhere from the side and blocked the punch with her open umbrella.
Surprised, Yang quickly backed off and returned to Weiss's side.
Neo's eyes blinked, colors rapidly changing between pink and brown as an indication of her surprise at seeing Yang. Then her eyes turned silver in fear upon realizing the prospective situation.
"Stay focused Neo." Roman whispered to her, knowing fully well about her inner turmoil.
Neo blinked away her fears, giving a firm nod to indicate she was fine.
Roman gestured to the other dozen members behind them, silently commanding them to continue with the operation.
They all nodded in understanding before scurrying off
Weiss growled a little upon seeing the White Fang run off, anger and frustration taking over at the prospect of more dust being stolen, and without thinking, she created a glyph underneath herself and was slung forward, hoping to charge through Roman and Neo, Yang followed her hoping to clear the way for her teammate.
Roman easily blocked Weiss with his cane as Neo deflected Yang's punch with her umbrella. The act of saying, "You'll have to get through us first to get to them."
The pairs quickly exchanged blows, Yang and Weiss were both on the offense while Neo and Roman easily evaded or blocked their attacks while throwing in their own kicks or jabs.
It was clear though, that Yang was not going to be able to land a hit on Neo if she continued, as the petite lady continued evading the student, exactly mirroring her step by step and throwing a surprise kick against the blonde. Neo's mocking and slightly sadistic smirk continued to enrage Yang though, causing her eyes to change red as she threw more and more deadly punches out of frustration.
Weiss for her part was also unable to land a hit on Roman. No matter how fast her slashes and stabs were, he somehow managed to dodge or deflect them with his own mocking grin. Further aggravating her by tripping her now and then, throwing her pose off balance before dealing a blow to her and starting their routine all over again.
During this little tussle, it seemed that Roman was able to get a keen understanding of Weiss's semblance. Most often times Weiss would summon them in order to accelerate her speed. An attribute Roman knew all too well, but the down side of Weiss doing so, was that she could only go in one direction. Therefore, she would make up for it by creating other glyphs behind him to launch her in the next direction.
Regardless, it made for very predictable movements and allowed him to easily evade her attack. Something she especially did when out of anger, Weiss created another glyph underneath her to charge at him but instead of her hit connecting though, he side stepped her, stuck his cane out at her feet, and caused her to crash into one of the warehouses behind him. Before he could go after her though, Blake made a sudden reappearance, letting her presence be known by slashing at Roman and forcing him to be engaged in battle once more.
Blake obviously had a different fighting style from Weiss. Though speed seemed to be a prominent attribute for her, her main use of fighting was distractions. The use of her semblance creating a copy to take a hit would confuse her opponent and give her enough time to. A tactic Roman could easily see through. He was the master of distraction tactics, and it was time to show it.
As the two exchanged blows, Blake noticed something really… peculiar in the way Roman would continuously twirl his cane around and block her attacks. He would also attempt to throw a punch at her, causing her to raise her arms in hopes of blocking it, before he would seemingly change his mind, take his hand back, and smack her with his cane in an area she would not be prepared for. It was as though his punches were feint attacks, causing her to be blind to the following attack. Blake felt that his tactics were familiar, she just couldn't remember where.
The pairs continued their engagement until finally, Neo dealt a strong kick to Yang, flinging her body against one of the cargos and Roman batted Blake to follow suit, just as the last airship was slowly coming in and into view.
"Now, why don't you all run along back to your mommy and daddies hm?" Roman asked as the first dozen members that came with Roman made their reappearance by flanking him and Neo, all still slightly battered with their disheveled appearances.
Yang and Blake both growled at their opponents in anger and frustration, but the looks in their eyes suddenly widened upon seeing something from behind the group.
The sound of clanging metal against cement sounded throughout the docks and behind the group, causing Roman and Neo to turn their head in question. Their eyes met with the figure of a large spider droid slowly crawling and following Weiss out of the warehouse she had crashed into. It seemed as though the robot was supposed to be security, but was turned dormant for whatever reason, most likely for maintenance. Weiss must have been able to activate it.
The head mechanically turned, red laser pointers rapidly moving around and scanning the area before landing on the other dozen White Fang members that had already finished hooking cargo up to the first ship, and were now hurriedly trying to tie up the next set for the second ship.
"Hostiles detected." A robotic voice stated as it began shuffling toward them.
"Ah~ Fuck!" Roman cursed. He quickly gestured over to the other members, "You guys! Help-!"He couldn't finish as Blake and Yang rushed him and Neo, hoping to catch them both off guard. It was all for naught though, as the two managed to block or deflect their attacks once again.
Roman's team understood his order though, and began to scurry over toward their coworkers. Weiss quickly made another glyph under her to charge at them before they could regroup. Roman's team braced themselves in fear, hoping they would be able to deflect or at least evade her attack.
An attack that never came as a black hooded figure had dropped in front of them after landing a double kick at Weiss's side, throwing her off track.
"Little Fall!" One of the members called out in gratitude and worry.
"… Fall?" Blake muttered to herself, hazy recognition bouncing around in her mind at the name. She couldn't think much of it further as the smack of a cane against her side brought her out of her thoughts and caused her to refocus on her battle.
The hooded figure spun their scythe around with flourish, holding a palm out as they halted their scythe and held it behind them. An action that was easily executed from years of practice fiddling with their prop in hopes of appearing to look threatening, though instead only managed to obtain encouragement and praise of cuteness.
Their head turned to the member who called out for them, giving a slight head shake while bringing up an lone index finger to their lips. Slowly, the members nodded before the hooded figure gave a stiff nod of acknowledgement as the last dozen members of the White fang dropped behind them, gesturing with their free hand and head to indicate to the two-dozen members to take care of the droid.
At the new figure's command, the remaining members of the White Fang hurriedly made their way to the robot, hoping to hold it off and buy the other dozen some time to tie and hook up the remaining cargos.
Roman and Neo let out a sigh of relief, before throwing their opponents back to regroup with Little Fall. Weiss, Blake, and Yang all got their bearings once again shortly after and ran to surround them, causing Roman, Neo, and Little Fall's backs to face each other's.
"Took you long enough," Roman grunted. "We don't have enough time, the police are coming and I don't think your guy's teams will hold that droid for long."
Blake snorted at his comment, "That's an understatement." She muttered under her breath, "If that thing is anything like the one on the train, then it's going to be a hassle to fight."
"Wait… The train? That was you?!" Weiss asked in disbelief upon hearing Blake.
Blake merely grunted, indicating that they could talk about it later as she warily eyed the newcomer, slightly recognizing the figure. But she couldn't put much thought behind it as they suddenly charged forth, scythe trailing behind them with intent of swinging it at her.
"Wait!" Roman yelled with and outstretched hand.
His plea went unheard as Little Fall launched themselves into the sky, spinning their scythe with flourish before stopping it behind their waist, holding it horizontally at the apex of their jump's height.
At that moment, it seemed like everything slowed down for Blake as she sensed their deadly intentions. Her heart rate flared up and quicken, the sound drumming in her ears. Her breath came in short, rapid bursts; the extra oxygen made her head feel lighter. Her instincts flared up, screaming at her that this person had all intentions of murdering her – telling her to either fight or take flight.
For once, she decided to stand her ground, not like what she had done to her team earlier that day.
When time seemed to move forward once again, Little Fall seemed to defy it by rapidly spinning with their deadly weapon churning and breaking through the air to cause a whistling sound.
Blake was briefly reminded of Ruby's last attack during her spar with Pyrrha. This attack closely resembling her team leader's which appeared as a deadly ball of blades, but this time… this person was looking like a deadly bladed wheel. Blake quickly shook herself out of her thoughts, raising her sword and sheath up to block this attack and praying that the attack was not as damaging as it looked.
Upon impact though, the sound of a snap caused Blake's ears to twitch. Looking up, she found the head of the scythe splintering off from its' staff, and flying away from them.
Right after, she heard a low mumble of "… fish sticks." As Little Fall awkwardly landed in front of Blake, staff still in hand, and the head of their scythe clattering against the floor sounding very much like wood.
Immediately taking advantage of her opponent's loss and lack of proper weapon, Blake quickly began slashing at the impersonating Beowulf, only to find them dodging and dancing around her attacks while trying to throw kicks and smacks with their staff, reminding Blake even more of her leader's fight with Pyrrha.
"Dammit!" Roman cursed, "Neo! Hold them off!" He shouted, gesturing to the other two girls.
"Oh no you don't!" Yang yelled, shooting herself forward at Roman. Neo quickly placed herself in between the two, blocking her attack.
"Don't forget about me!" Weiss declared, trying to put a halt to whatever Roman had planned as well, but was immediately blocked by a thin sword, held in Neo's other hand.
The petite lady quickly engaged in battle with the two, twirling her weapons to block or deflect their attacks, occasionally spinning and dancing around them along with attacking them with her kicks.
While she held the two down, Roman tossed her cane up, catching it at the end to press a button that caused the head of it to pop off and launch at Little Fall.
The hooded clad figure seemed to sense the incoming safety line headed their way and quickly launched a powerful sidekick at Blake's midsection that she blocked, but was still thrown back against a wall of cargo upon impact, her head bouncing against it.
The space between the two gave the Beowulf impersonator enough wiggle room as they caught the head of Roman's cane and allowed him to pull them away and back toward Neo.
The silent girl realized what the other two's intention were, and quickly bent over backwards right as Little Fall flew right over her, and gave a harsh kick to Weiss and throwing her back against another wall of cargo as Neo flipped away. Yang charged in with a cry, intent on punching the newcomer in the face, only for them to bend forward and have Neo roll over their back, jabbing harshly with her umbrella and causing Yang to fly back against the same wall of cargo
Right at that moment, Roman glanced over to his team of White Fang members who were waving wildly at him, gesturing that they managed to hook up all the cargo. "Alright! Well this was fun and we really did enjoy this endeavor. But now it's time for good girls and boys to go home." He announced, causing him and his associate to fall back.
"Wait! You can't-" Blake called out, shaking her head in order for her to grab her bearings once again while stumbling after them, attempting to follow. Neo quickly blocked her path though, as she spun around throwing kicks, and slashing with her sword at the student and caused Blake to flip away from the threat.
Neo's attacks caused Blake to frown in thought, the fluidity of Neo's movements and the way she seemingly danced with her kicks and slashes only served to be another reminder to how Ruby fought. Right now though, was not the time to think or wonder about it. Glancing around, wondering what happened to her friends, she found them lying against some of the cargo, battered and beat. Letting out a growl, Blake glared at the petite lady, her body tensing up in anger.
Neo quickly sheathed her sword, resting her umbrella on her shoulder before twirling it with a smirk on her face.
A sudden image of Ruby's smirk made itself known in Blake's mind, but she was snapped out of it as Neo suddenly bowed mockingly at her. Angered, Blake let out a mighty war cry as she charged forth and slashed at her new opponent.
She didn't have time to be satisfied at her hit making connection though, as her opponent seemingly shattered right before her.
Blake frantically looked around, trying to find where Neo could have gone, only to see the droid having been blown and nearly slashed to bits. The Beowulf impersonator was standing on top of the droid, pulling out two hatchets (most likely taken from members of the White Fang) that had been embedded in the droid's neck while Roman stood at the opening of a flying airship, the end of his cane slightly smoking assumedly from constant firing shots. Neo stood in the second ship that was beginning to hover in the air with a pleased smile as the last few remaining members of the White Fang scurried back to the last ship.
Blake let out a frustrated cry as she allowed her sword to fold in, raising her gun up to fire at the last few stragglers, hoping she could at least stop a few members from going back to that terrible organization.
Little Fall seemed to have noticed what Blake was about to do, as they sprinted over to the remaining members, putting themselves in between the bullets and the White Fang, quickly spinning their hatchets to deflect the attacks.
The figure quickly gestured for the members to continue back on the ship and for them to take off as she held her ground to hold Blake off of them.
Quickly, the remaining members complied as Blake frustratingly charged at the figure, initiating combat with them once again.
The cloaked person easily deflected and evaded all of her attacks, seemingly undeterred at her quick slashes and use of semblance while throwing powerful kicks at her.
Their constant evasion, their seemingly loose body, the way they quickly danced out of harm's way only to deal it toward Blake, and their ever permanent smirk formed at the side of their mouth aggravated Blake to no end, and it only caused her anger to be fueled and motivated her attacks. At the same time, Blake couldn't help but think about how similar this person's fighting style was to Ruby's. Again.
It was distracting, and it was not something Blake could afford for.
Even being completely focused didn't seem to matter though, as when the ship was in the air, the figure seemed to have enough of being involved in combat as they twisted and danced around Blake. Ending the fight by dealing a harsh blow at her back with the blunt edges of their hatchets, causing her to collapse.
Disabling Blake seemed enough for the person as they left her on the ground and quickly made their toward the cargo that was about to be lifted by the last ship, jumping on top of it and holding onto the leash to steady themselves as all three ships were ready to leave
At that moment though, Yang slowly opened her eyes and saw Blake lying on the floor, groaning as she tried to stagger back onto her hands and feet. Weiss groaned by her side, slowly lifting herself back up onto her feet while using her sword as support.
They had lost.
Not only that, - those three had been played with and seemingly easily disposed of. The three of them had tried so hard to put a stop to the operation, but to no avail though. And this… This made Yang angry.
Eyes blinked red in fury as she glared up at the ships, hurriedly climbing up to her feet as she ran as close as she could and in range, throwing her fists back to let the shotguns in her gauntlets click to their next round, and threw a punch into the air before her, firing up at the last airship.
The pilot saw the incoming attack and jerked the ship up out of fear, thereby causing the attack to hit the side of the cargo that Little Fall had been standing on. The impact of the shot caused it to start swinging and made the Beowulf clad person to slip right off. Their hold on the leash prevented them from falling, but as they didn't have enough friction from the side of the cargo and it was still swinging, they were left struggling to keep a hold onto the leash.
Looking up, Weiss saw the figure struggle and forced herself to stand up straight, running up next to Yang at the same time as Blake. "If we can get that delinquent to fall, we can turn them into the police for questioning!" She announced, pointing to them.
Yang and Blake nodded in agreement and began firing at the cargo, as Weiss spun her dust cartridges to fire blades of wind at it, causing it to swing more and more.
The members on the other airship were panicking, shouting and gesturing for their coworkers to peek down at their cargo. Upon doing so, the dozen members on the airship that was carrying Little Fall, all ran around the hatch in search of something, presumably rope, to help the flailing person.
Roman and Neo were not fairing any better, as the former was shouting at everyone. They all held their guns out, pointing to the three students, but all their guns seemed to have empty rounds.
Finally, one of the shots from the three had managed to cut one of the four leashes carrying the cargo. The sudden drop seemed to cause the figure to let go of the leash with one hand out due to the jolt and muscle spasm from the force of it.
"They're about to fall! Keep going!" Weiss commanded as the three girls redoubled their efforts.
The strain of holding themselves up for so long seemed to be getting too much for the figure, as their grip on the leash was slowly slackening, and only their fingers were holding on.
Just when it seemed like the three would be able to succeed though, a small rain of arrows quickly descended down on them, causing them all to jump or flip back and away from the attacks. Looking up, they found a small jet approaching around the airship, slowly descending to block their path from the swinging cargo. They didn't have time to get a closer look inside the jet though, as the ship's guns quickly began firing at them, causing them to jump and flip further back. By the time it stopped and they were able to look back up once more, Yang and Weiss found that they were too far from the ship and that it was too dark to see. As a Faunus though, Blake was able to see in the dark. She couldn't tell who else was on board, as they were hidden off at the side of the doors, but she did see that the Grimm cladded figure had already climbed aboard.
"Dammit!" She cursed, "Our hostage is getting away."
Yang growled, about to charge forward and attempt to shoot at them again, but was stopped by Weiss.
"We can't, they might shoot at us again." She advised.
Blake let out a frustrated sigh, "She's right. We can't r-" she paused short as she saw something familiar in the jet.
The Grimm figure was standing in the center, happily thanking their saviors before something red was thrown their way. They excitedly jumped as they unfurled the article, and revealed a familiar sleeveless red jacket right before the door closed and all the ships took off.
All of a sudden, Blake remembered all the thoughts that bubbled up in her mind during the battle. About how similar their opponent's fighting styles were to Ruby's, occasionally looking exactly the same, and how those thoughts had distracted her.
The sight of the red jacket though, made Blake think of something.
Maybe… Maybe that person was Ruby.
And Roman and Neo was her family.
It would make sense! The way those two fought had been similar to Ruby's own fighting style! The tactics Roman had employed by distracting his opponent with one attack, only to use a completely different one. The fluidity and grace of Neo's evasion and kicks were similar to the way Ruby would dance around. Roman's flourish handling of his weapon had reminded Blake of the way Ruby would with hers. And their smirks… All of their mocking smirks were the same.
The shared name of "Fall"…
"Blake? What is it?" Weiss asked, shaking Blake out of her thoughts
"I was just… thinking about how similar that person fought like Ruby." Blake stated as the sound of police sirens came closer and closer.
Weiss and Yang looked at her confused.
"You mean the delinquent that was dressed as a Beowulf?" Weiss asked, garnering a nod. The heiress gave a light scoff, "I hardly think so. While Ruby does occasionally fight using odd methods, the delinquent had not fought fairly and used all sorts of cheap tricks from what I could tell."
Yang shrugged, "I don't know, I didn't get to have a shot with the guy until they were hanging."
Blake frowned, "But… It was!" She tried persuading, "It was almost exactly the same."
"Blake," Weiss stated with her arms crossed, "Might I ask what exactly it is that you are trying to suggest?"
"I think that person and Ruby might be the same person." Blake confessed in a whisper right as the cops, and news reporters pulled up.
Yang and Weiss could only glance at each other as the police officers ran up to them for questioning.
Weiss merely threw a side look at Blake, her eyes communicating that they would talk about her concerns later.
"I'm so glad you guys came when you did!" Ruby happily proclaimed as she changed back into her usual sleeveless red coat. "I thought I was in trouble for a moment there!" She stated, pulling her mask off and shaking her hair out.
"You need to be more careful!" Emerald admonished with a growl, shoving Ruby's swords into her arms. "What would you have done if they managed to catch you?"
Ruby merely shrugged, placing her swords back into their rightful place at the back of her hips. "Probably be shocked." She stated before a mischievous smirk appeared on her face. "I mean, they were my teammates, so if they caught me they would have been in for a surprised."
Before Emerald could admonish her any further, Ruby continued on. "Besides, Neo would have saved me if I fell. See, with her umbrella, she can sort of float around if she has wind dust so-"
"Ruby." Cinder sighed, interrupting her rambling.
At her sister's tone, one that Ruby was all too familiar with, she quickly sagged and dropped her head. "You're right. I'm sorry for worrying you guys. I'll try to be more careful next time." She said, guiltily toeing the ground with the tip of her shoe.
Cinder nodded in acknowledgement of Ruby's apology before gently pulling her into a hug, tucking her little sister's head under her chin and lightly running her finger's through her hair. "Thank you, that's all we ask." She said, "But all that matters right now though is that you're safe with us."
Ruby nodded as she brought her hands up to return the hug, snuggling deeper into her sister's embrace. "I missed you guys." She stated
"We missed you too." Cinder replied affectionately.
"Yeah!" Mercury called out from the pilot's seat, "It was no fun without you home! There was no one there for me to laugh at Emerald with and there weren't any more pranks being pulled on everyone! It was soooooo boring!"
Emerald growled, "Speak for yourself, I didn't miss those stunts you pulled at all." She stated, before her voice soften. "But I… did miss you. It doesn't feel right when you aren't there to pester me or rope me in to do something with you."
Ruby turned away from her sister, shock plastered itself all over her face as her mouth opened and closed stupidly like a fish. Cinder also looked rather surprised at Emerald's confession knowing fully well that the teen had trouble connecting and verbally stating her emotions.
Before long, a large grin overtook Ruby's face, causing Emerald to let out a groan, "REALLY?! YOU MISSED ME?!" Ruby asked happily, "OH MY GOSH! I KNEW YOU LOVED ME!" She announced, letting go of Cinder and eagerly jumping up to Emerald so she could latch herself onto the red-eyed teen's arm.
"Oh God, I regret saying anything at all…" Emerald groaned out.
"But you LOOOOVE me!" Ruby drawled out, snuggling her cheek against tan skin
"Ugh! You're such a creep! Get off of me!" Emerald growled, waving her arm in attempt to shake Ruby off.
"Don't listen to her Ruby! She was all mopey without you around, so she missed you a lot!" Mercury stated
"No I wasn't! No I didn't!" Emerald denied as Ruby cooed at her
"D'awww! It's okay Emerald! I missed you too and I love you just as much!"
"Mustn't be that much love since I don't hold the same feelings for you at all." Emerald deadpanned.
Ruby merely smiled before leaning up and placing a quick kiss on Emerald's cheek, garnering a blanch and a shout of protest, before letting go and bouncing back into an amused Cinder's arms.
"Hey! Where's my hug and kiss?" Mercury complained.
"You're driving stupid." Emerald claimed. "Besides, who in their right mind would want to kiss your ugly mug?"
"It's okay Merc, I'll give you one when we land!" Ruby smiled, turning around so her back was pressed against her sister's front and held her arm's that were still wrapped around her in place.
Ruby missed her sister's warm hugs, and had gotten use to receiving at least three of them on a daily basis. She could tell that her sister missed her hugs just as much, if not more, especially when Ruby could easily remember all the times Cinder would demand for one for whatever silly excuse she could think of. "I need a hug for good luck", "Ruby, take my stress away", "It's cold", "After meal hugs help digest food", "Share some of your happiness", "In Mistral, hugs are a way to greet people", and whatever other reason Cinder could keep up with. Ruby didn't mind, in fact she loved it and would occasionally do the same to her big sister (though, she must confess that she is not as creative as her). The lack of hugs they had been receiving from each other for the past two months therefore meant that the sisters had two whole months of hugs to make up for.
And although she didn't give everyone else in the house nearly as many hugs, she still gave (or forced) a hug at least once a week.
"You better." Mercury jokingly threatened. "But tell us, how did your team end up getting the drop on you? I would think you would know them well enough and how they fight by now. And you even had Neo with you, so you should have had the upper hand. "
Ruby pouted, "We were working against time here. The police were on their way so we had to buy the other members some time. Then, the security spider droid got activated, and there was only one team working to secure the cargo. And I didn't have my babies with me!" She whined, burying her head into Cinder's arms.
"…Babies?" Mercury asked, his voice taking a slightly dangerous tone.
"She's talking about her weapons." Emerald stated, rolling her eyes.
"Oh! Right." Mercury nodded in understanding.
"And then!" Ruby continued in her complaints, "I only had that Scythe you guys gave me, and it broke!" she wailed
"Aw. Don't you worry about that little flower," Cinder cooed, tightening her hug comfortingly around Ruby. "We can always get you another one."
Ruby stayed silent, which concerned Cinder. A silent Ruby was never a good sign. Cinder looked back up at Emerald, catching her eye in question. Emerald merely mimicked Ruby's expression, her eyebrows lightly furrowed and her lips twisting off to the side, a look of contemplation and a sign that she didn't hear Cinder at all.
"Ruby?" Cinder asked, trying to shake Ruby out of her thoughts. Instead of doing that though, the call of her name seemed to only remind her that she should share her thoughts.
"Maybe if I can build myself a scythe that won't break, and one that would actually work in a fight… I won't have to worry about it at all." Ruby mumbled, "But it doesn't make sense for me to carry three weapons and I love Crescent Fall and Autumn Moon too much to put them away. Oh, but maybe if I can upgrade them to turn into a scythe… but how would that work? I could try… No, that won't work. But then if I… Yes. Maybe. I'll have to remodel this and maybe I could ask some help from my teacher to get better and more accurate calculations and…" She began rambling, causing the other three members on the ship to roll their eyes affectionately at her.
"God, you are such a dork." Emerald claimed, breaking Ruby out of her ramblings and to spit her tongue at the older teen, a gesture that Emerald kindly returned as the jet landed.
Mercury killed the engine before he and Emerald quickly opened the doors and hopped out. Ruby tried to follow suit, but found that Cinder wouldn't let go.
"Cinder!" Ruby whined, struggling to get out of her sister's embrace, "Let go! We need to tell everyone good job and all that good stuff they deserve!"
Cinder merely stayed silent for a moment, unmoving, until she slowly began to sink her weight over Ruby's shoulders.
At the first sign of extra weight pushing her down, Ruby's eyes widened in realization, knowing fully well what Cinder was about to do. "NO! NO DON'T DO IT!" Ruby cried, trying her best to move forward and escape from her sister, something that would be impossible seeing as Cinder still had her arms wrapped around Ruby and only causing her to slightly drag the older woman a mere inch.
"But Ruby, I'm so tired." Cinder dramatically sighed, sinking more of her weight onto her little sister as she did so, "All that work I had to do to save you? I'm all tuckered out, so you have no other choice…you have to carry me."
"Carry yourself you big fatty! You're too heavy for me!" Ruby retorted, her body slowly giving out with her knees nearly touching the ground as she slowly approached the door.
"But Ruby," Cinder sighed again, causing the rest of her weight to be pressed onto Ruby's shoulders. "You simply must."
At the end of that statement, Ruby flopped onto the ground, unable to hold all that extra weight any longer. "AGH! Get off of me, sis!" Ruby groaned, her hands and legs flailing onto the floor of the jet.
"I can't." Her older sister deadpanned, "I'm too tired and I just don't have the energy to do what you ask."
"You barely did anything!" Ruby protested, "You fired like, 3 arrows!"
Cinder merely hummed, folding her arms together and resting them on top of Ruby's upper back. "More like 3 dozen."
"Bah! I've seen you fire more and not even break a sweat!" Ruby accused, her head trying to rise up and her eyes rolling to the top in an attempt to make eye contact with her sister.
The older woman let out another dramatic sigh, resting her head against the back of her younger sister's, "But I was so stressed and concerned for your well being, I'm just exhausted now. You have no choice but to carry me."
"I can't do that! You're too heavy!" Ruby stated, "Besides, we're on the floor now!"
"Well, I absolutely have no qualms against having you crawl." Cinder cheekily stated, raising her head to look down at the back of Ruby's head in amusement, "Why, you could be my royal carriage, or my royal steed. Either way works as long as you take me to whatever destination I have in mind, treating me like the royalty I really am."
"Well you're a royal pain!" Ruby groaned, plopping her face into the floor as Roman, Neo, Mercury, and Emerald all came by and watched in amusement while the entire groups of the White Fang tried to peer over them to see what was going on, making sure they were keeping a good dozen feet away from their bosses.
"Hm, you're lucky you're my sister and I love you," Cinder commented. "Otherwise I would have you persecuted on the spot for the insubordination you have just displayed to your superior."
"You're superior alright, a superior pain in the butt." Ruby deadpanned into the floor.
Her comeback caused Roman, Mercury, Emerald, and Neo to snort. The White Fang members that heard her were all shocked into silence at someone, even her sister, daring to speak to Cinder like that. But they were shocked out of their fear as the former four were overcome with laughter, giggles, and chuckles.
The happiness displayed by the household bewildered the rest of the White Fang, but before long, the tense mood was suddenly released, replaced with a light feeling of warmth amongst them.
"You should watch your tongue, little girl," Cinder lightly threatened. "I still know exactly where your weak spots are and I'm not above using such tactics."
Ruby gasped, fully understanding what Cinder had meant, and immediately began squirming, shouting in protest. "No! You can't do that! That's cheating!"
"All is fair in love and war." Cinder drawled, "We commend you for your vigilance soldier, but for you continued wrongs against your leader, I have no choice but to prosecute you."
"No! No! No!" Ruby protested, still trying her best to escape against her sister's clutches. "You guys! Help!" She pleaded, looking up at Roman, Neo, Emerald, and Mercury.
"Hm… I don't know Red." Roman hummed, tapping a finger against his chin in thought. "You did kind of slander our leader." He said with a mischievous grin, Neo nodding along with him and holding a similar expression.
"In fact, we would be remiss in not supporting her in this decision. Right Em?" Mercury chipped.
"I get her feet." Emerald proclaimed, jumping up onto the jet and scurrying over to Ruby's feet and holding them together by her ankles with one hand. Quickly, she began to pry off the little girl's boots.
Ruby began to redouble her efforts, struggling to break free as she began screaming. "TRAITORS!" in protest.
Her pleas went unheard of though, as Mercury raised his hand next, "I'll hold her hands down!" He volunteered, grabbing hold of both Ruby's hands and holding them above her head and out of the door.
"My-my," Roman claimed, plucking the feather off his hat. "I suppose that leaves me to deal with her neck."
Cinder merely sat up, climbing onto Ruby's upper back to give room for Neo to sit on Ruby's lower back. To give themselves more space, Neo pressed her back against Cinder's.
"Ready?" The esteemed leader asked
"No! I take it back! I take it back!" Ruby protested
"Hm. Too late." Cinder stated.
And all at once, the five began wiggling their fingers or feather at each tickle spot they knew on Ruby, causing her to squeal in laughter and protest as the rest of the White Fang watched in amusement.
Before long, chuckles began to reverberate amongst them and wide, happy smiles graced the small happy household.
Ruby was home and everything was all right now.
AN: :D
So I noticed that a couple of you are wondering when Ruby's "crush" is going to show up, so I would like to take this time to explain that romance will inevitably arrive, but not out of nowhere. There will be hints here and there, and it will slowly grow over time. Other than this short explanation, I have nothing further to say in regards to it. I do hope you enjoy reading it as it presents itself though!
Thanks to JupiterMonkey4 again for being a fantastic Beta and working so hard to get this back to me in a short time frame! They are the Bees Knees! xD