A/N: Thank you all so much for the kind reviews, especially some of those latest ones, couldn't help chuckling at those. Like I said in the last AN, this story is going to be getting progressively dark, this chapter also marks the end of the first arc. I'm still not fully sure where the second arc will go, but I don't plan on letting up anytime soon.
Ruby and Yang talked animatedly as the four traversed the path. After their stay at the outpost, they set off towards the small merchant town, Acherusia, the rendezvous point that Blake had given to the squad when they had split.
Weiss for the most part stayed silent, thoughts of her fallen comrades still in her mind. Ruby worriedly glanced over, but her attention was pulled away by Yang's stories.
Blake, like before, was leading them, her enhanced vision as a faunus letting her see far more than any of the rest of the group, Ruby and Yang in the middle, while Weiss took up the rear guard.
The failure that Weiss felt was immense. Over and over she was being saved by others. Four times she had been saved by Ruby, the last including Blake. Wasn't a leader supposed to be stronger? Supposed to be able to protect those around them? Then why is it she was the one constantly in need of help?
At first she had been angry at Ruby, angry at the others. Weiss had thought it was their fault that she was forced into these positions, but gradually it turned into a burning discovery. I'm weak. The thought circled her head once more. She had tried to rationalize that the circumstances were just so unlucky, that she shouldn't be to blame for it, but that had been shot down when Weiss had found out that Ruby hadn't actually been knocked unconscious in the inn. The huntress had been 'knocked out' right beside the door, where she placed her mouth underneath the crack, breathing in the normal air instead of the poisonous.
Visions of her father, her fallen teammates, and her sister filled her mind. One image in particular came to the forefront. Velvet. Since Weiss was the leader of the squad, it was her duty to tell any loved ones and relatives what had happened to her soldiers. For Velvet, there was only one person she would have to tell, Coco Adel.
Coco had been the first friend of Velvet, the two sharing an extremely close bond, especially after Coco defended Velvet against faunus haters. Velvet had enlisted alone, against Coco's protests, to join the Atlesian army. Despite that, the two remained close, eventually becoming romantically involved with each other. The worst part of it all, was that Coco had personally come all the way up to the capital and straight to Weiss' face, making the heiress promise to bring Velvet back to her. Weiss remembered all too well the way she had looked back into the fashionista's eyes, fervently promising the safe return of Coco's beloved. Now, she would be the one to tell her the failure of the promise.
Unbeknownst to Weiss, Yang and Blake were feeling the exact same way. The difference was that the two were better at hiding their grief, especially Yang, who wouldn't dare show it in front of Ruby.
"Halt, state your names and your reason of entering."
Weiss was startled, eyes looking up to see two guards with halberds crossed in an x in front of the gate. They had arrived. She walked to the front of the group, pulling out her identification papers from her pack, the guards' eyes widening and jaws dropping. Immediately the two bowed down, letting the group enter.
The four stopped in a crossroad, looking in all directions. The sun shone down on the four from directly above, the sweltering heat becoming too much for the heiress to bear. "Blake, where did you say we were meeting at again?" Weiss asked hurriedly, wanting to get out of the heat as soon as possible.
Blake tapped her chin for a second, the name coming back to memory. "I think it's called 'Golden Hammer', it's an inn, should be close to the center of the town."
The four once again looked out at each of the four paths, unsure of which one to take. Their decision was made when Blake began smelling enormous amounts of pancakes. Ruby asked why pancakes would mean they're going in the right direction, and Blake replied with one word. "Ren."
Their assumption was confirmed as the inn came into sight, and they swept inside. Ruby was astounded to see in a corner of the inn a tower of pancakes in front of a short, blonde haired man. The four made their way towards the table, Ruby taking note of the other occupants. Besides the blonde haired man sat six other people, one of them being female. One by one they noticed the group approaching, waving their hands at them.
A girl with light green hair stood up, waving energetically more than the rest. "Weiss! It's good to see you're alright."
The rest of the people at the table stood up, each stating their relief of Weiss' safety. Weiss turned to Ruby, introducing her to the rest of the group. Jaune, Cardin, Reese, Sky, Dove, and Bolin, each one giving Ruby a brief handshake, except for Reese who simply hugged Ruby. The group sat down at the table, Reese excitedly asking Ruby questions about her huntress activities, Jaune listening in.
A sudden statement brought the group back to Remnant. "They weren't bandits." Eyes all around the table stared at Weiss. Ruby almost gagged at the dark aura that seemed to come from the group, several pairs of eyes turning downcast, others looking straight ahead in anger, and a few with guilt wringing their hands.
"Leave it up to you to turn afternoon sour Weiss, geez."
Weiss turned her head angrily on Yang's. "And what do you propose? Waste our night on frivolous activities? Our friends died out there and instead of finding out who did this you want to play games and relax?"
Lilac eyes turned slightly red, Yang's voice turning grimly serious. "Yes, I know our friends just died, and I realize you want to go straight out to kill whoever the hell did it, but losing our own lives in the process won't help anyone! For Dust's sake Weiss, look at Jaune!"
Weiss eyes widened. The poor rookie was shaking, head in his hands, eyes squeezing shut, while beads of sweat rolled their way down his forehead. Ren gently put his hand on Jaune's shoulder. "C'mon Jaune, let's take a walk outside."
The group watched as the two went outside, Jaune's fearful eyes etched into each of their faces. "How can you expect us to triumph over the ones that brought some of ours to their graves, when we're so fearful of the graves ourselves?"
Ruby watched on, one hand clutching her chest, pain filling her heart. She wanted so desperately to hug every single one of them, but she knew they needed to work it out themselves.
Weiss' hands tightened on the edge of the table, furiously glaring at Yang, neither one backing down.
"Y'know, I don't think I've ever regretted anything in my life before… until today."
All eyes turned towards the source of the voice. Cardin.
"W-why… why did she have to die, huh? Why did I have to treat her so badly? Why couldn't I have been a better person dammit!?" By the end Cardin was shouting, slamming his fists down on the table, tears streaming out of his eyes. "Why couldn't I have taken her place?"
Reese softly poked Cardin's cheek, letting out a small 'boop' from her throat "S-sorry, I just thought… she would've done it as well i-if she was here." She attempted to giggle, but after failing miserably, she simply nodded towards the door. The two got up, walking out of the inn.
A second of silence, then Bolin too got up. "I'd better watch over them, please try to be easier on yourselves."
And then there was four. Slowly, Weiss brought her forehead to rest on the table, not wanting to let the others see the anguish in her eyes.
"Listen Weiss, we're all angry and sad over what happened, so just… just get some rest, okay?" For once, Yang's voice sounding so tired, so lifeless. Weiss didn't need to look up to know Yang and Blake had left.
Raising her head up, tears blotched her vision of the table underneath her. She felt warmth wrap it's way around her, tired eyes locking with silver. No words passed between the two, simply sitting there and listening to the sounds of others making their way through the inn.
Blake stared up into the ceiling, tuning out the noises of late nighters. Her thoughts returned to yesterday, conversations between two happy sisters filling her mind. She had tried sleeping, but every time she awakened from images of either of the sisters, bloody faces asking her why she let the other die.
Whenever she saw the two together, her entire body told her they needed to be separated, lest the forces that chased after Weiss catch the both of them too. But does that make it fine to forsake the other? Blake reeled, the mysterious voice cutting through all thought. She shook her head violently, not realizing how close she was to the edge of the bed. The pain didn't seem to register as she fell off, laying down on her side. Sobs wracked through Blake as she pulled her knees to her chest, hoping for a dreamless sleep, unaware of lilac eyes that focused on her sounds through the wall, inadvertently sharing the pain.
A/N Cont'd: I was wondering if anyone could help me out with being my beta? My last one just recently told me he can no longer do it due to time constraints. If any of you are interested, please send me a PM and we can talk about it there, I'd greatly appreciate it. Have a good day folks!
