And here we are with chapter 3!
This chapter is less fighting and more preparation, the team is getting to know each other. A lot of dialogue and development is here.
Firstly, we'd both like to thank everyone who responded to the last chapter. We heard everything you said and slowed down greatly here.
One more thing we'd like to do is thank u/u/ShadeOps21 from reddit, who sent us this imgur link /a/mY6JS ! He did a terrific job on these and we were elated when we saw them!
So thank you all for reading. Without further delay, here's Chapter 3 of Wings of Chaos!
Enjoy!
Ruby rejoined her sister and new-found friend, Blake, outside of the briefing room. Apologizing for delaying them, the trio began to march back to the room which the sisters shared.
"So..." Yang said, trying to spark conversation into her silent group, "We're all going up tomorrow..."
"Yup." Ruby retorted, making a popping noise at the end of her response.
Blake chose not to say anything, keeping herself deep in thought. She could understand Qrow playing favorites with Ruby and Yang, taking them both up to fly tomorrow, but after all he's said to her, why would Qrow take Blake? She wondered and wondered, especially about being named the number two aircraft. That means if anything were to happen to Qrow, Blake would take over... But in her eyes, Blake wasn't meant to lead...
Was she?
"Hello? Earth to Blake!" Yang called persistently, snapping Blake back into reality, "Are you still with us?"
Blake looked back to the blonde, startled look in her eyes told the sisters that Yang had really taken her by surprise. "Yeah, sorry. What's up?"
Yang shook her head and sighed, "I asked which cell you were assigned to?" She deadpanned. The term 'cell' was used commonly around base personnel to describe the room that each individual had been assigned to. It was yet another way for the staff to show their... Happiness, about the being stuck on the oasis. "Ruby and I share Cell One-Thirteen."
"Oh! I'm in Cell One-Zero-Eight. Right down the hall from you two."
"Great!" Yang exclaimed, "You can hang with us then, seeing as you don't have to travel too far!" Blake enjoyed the thought, but was never really much of a 'late-night fun' kind of girl. She hoped Ruby would talk Yang out of keeping her too late, considering they all had a flight in the morning. "Hey, anyone want to stop by the cafeteria again? Maybe some dinner?"
"You go ahead, Yang. I'm gonna go back to the cell, relax a bit." Ruby spoke up for the first time since leaving the briefing. Both Blake and Yang turned to the younger pilot, a look of surprise on both of them. "Before you ask, yes I'm ok. I'm just not hungry right now."
Yang nodded, "I'll bring something back for you for later, alright?" Ruby accepted the offer and the group went their own way. Blake stayed with Yang and followed her to the cafeteria.
It was almost a quarter past seven, almost a full six hours since the incident. Already rumors had began to run amongst the staff. Some calling it a 'multi-malfunctioning', others saying it was a UFO.
The entire ordeal was covered up, and the world was still at piece. Officially, at least. Yet that didn't simmer the mood amongst the pilots who had witnessed and been a part of the fight. Nor did it do any good to the higher ups, who were more and more on edge.
Blake and Yang entered the queue to retrieve their food, knowing it would take a while. It was peak dinner hour on base, and the cafeteria seemed to be almost completely full. "I might just take all of the food back to the cell." Yang joked, looking around the room while she waited.
"Hey, Yang..." Blake called, her voice barely loud enough for the blonde to hear, "What's up with Ruby? She's seemed... I don't know... Off? I haven't known you two for very long, but that doesn't seem like the way she always acts?"
Yang sighed and peered out the window, moving up as the line did, "It's complicated." She said, "Mom was a pilot... According to everyone who knew her, she was a damn good one, too." A small smile began to reveal, "She turned in her wings when she had Ruby, but she still flew every now and again when they absolutely needed her to. One day she went out and never came back..."
Blake looked on, surprised that Yang was telling her this. "It hit Ruby harder than anyone else. Even dad and Qrow were better off than her, you know? I guess Ruby's a little nervous, maybe even scared. She's been trying so hard to live up to her mother... She might be afraid she might not be as good as mom was, you know?"
Blake nodded in understanding, now fully comprehending the situation. In her mind, Blake envied both of the sisters. They each held a bond that Blake herself had longed for, but could never find. Even now, she still felt a little out of place. Though, she did see both Ruby and Yang opening up greatly, showing their interest in wanting to be friends.
Both girls finally made it to the front of the line, reveling in the choices. Today's options were Ham, mashed potatoes, peas and liver. Normally it was fish, not ham. They both wondered what the occasion was, but put that thought aside. Because they had actual ham. The entire base could tell tales of how much liver they've eaten... Check, loathed. Same went for fish. It seemed like a never ending nightmare.
But no more! Even if it's for one day, Yang didn't care. She was positively drooling at the plate she just took. She prepared an extra one for Ruby and patiently waited on Blake, who was carefully choosing her meal. Though, her patience was running thin, as all the she could think about was the food on her tray...
Ruby's meal may not even make it to the room...
After Blake loaded her tray up, the duo decided to just go back and eat in their room, which was accepted on base, so long as the trays were returned immediately after finishing. As they walked down the hall they saw few people, mostly it was the maintenance crew. "Dad must have let them off for a meal break..." Yang said, weaving through the small group, "Knowing him he'll be waiting for us in the room."
Blake nodded and continued to follow the blonde, only to stop upon hearing something... utterly terrifying...
She thought her ears had deceived her, maybe playing tricks on her... It had been a long day... There couldn't have-
"Blake? What's wrong?"
"Hm?" Blake looked up, quizzically, "Oh, it's nothing... I just, thought I heard a dog bark is all."
"Yeah, that's Zwei!" Yang exclaimed, "He's our dog... Were you really able to hear him? You must have really good hearing..."
All color drained from Blake's face. She didn't even catch what her new friend had just said, only staying on the 'dog' part. "Blake... Why are you so pale? Is something wrong?"
"O-oh! No, it's nothing. I-"
"You don't like dogs, do you?" Yang asked with smile, yet a serious tone.
"... No, not really..."
"Oh, it's alright. We'll make sure Zwei won't act up, alright?" Yang assured. As much as Blake hated it, she agreed. She much rather would have gone with a 'dog-free' environment, but for now she would suck it up and live with it.
The two continued on, making one last turn before arriving to their destination. Music could be heard from the outside. A smile grew on Yang, 'Ruby must've started the party early then...' she thought. Yang began to fish around for the key before the door was opened from the inside...
Qrow walked down the hangar line, his demeanor unchanged. The past few hours for him had been being yelled at by the base command... All of the base command, figuring out his new flight, and trying to figure out any loss or gains from the encounter. All in all, he had a pretty rough day.
He also found out that the higher ups weren't letting anyone leave the island until they could sort this thing out. Not even Taiyang; though he just made his last mainland supply run.
Finally Qrow found himself at the maintenance hangar, only to find it with one older, balding man inside, examining a cargo plane. The man didn't even need to look at Qrow before stating, "Bad day, eh?"
"Heh, if only you knew." Qrow sat at a bench placed inside the hangar door. "If I didn't know any better I'd up and leave my job."
"Aw, you wouldn't do that to your old friend, Taiyang, now would you? Without you who do we have to take all the flak from the emperor... No pun intended."
Qrow smiled slightly. If it were Yang she would have emphasized the pun. At least Taiyang had the decency to wave it off. "Bah, you'd make due." He leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. "Tai, there's something we need to talk about."
"Oh boy," Taiyang said, unenthusiastically, as he stepped off the ladder, "What did Yang do this time? Do I need to help with medical reports? Or did she break into the officer's club again?"
"No, no. Neither. It's not Yang." Qrow waived his theories off, "Well, not enitrely. It's Ruby, mostly. But there is something about Yang I want to talk to you about." Taiyang's expression dropped to a more serious stare, his smile all but vanished. "I informed her, Yang, and that other one, Belladonna... You've met her, right?"
"Yeah." He nodded, taking a seat next to Qrow.
"Right, well I told them that they're going to be up with me tomorrow, that they were that one step closer to graduating to full pilots."
"Ah, finally getting out of the microwave. No longer called 'nuggets'."
"Right, moving on, Ruby had this... Look on her. Thousand yard stare type deal. I'm not sure what came over her, but you might want to talk to her. I wouldn't let Yang know about this, she'd worry too much."
Tai nodded, understanding what Qrow was saying. "Alright, I'll talk to her. She might just need a confidence booster, may be a little nervous. Now what about Yang?"
"Alright, Tai, I'm going to cut to the chase, here: Yang's going to get herself killed one of these days." Tai nodded, fully accepting the possibility. His oldest always had a certain energy to her, she liked to push the limits sometimes. Too often in his opinion. "Earlier today, while the, uh, 'incident', happened, she wanted to go after the fleeing force. Even argued with the ground control before getting hollered at by yours truly." Qrow explained the events earlier, though Tai didn't need to hear his concern. "I don't know when you want to talk to them, but I think Blake's going to be with them too, so you can get a three for one on your stories if you catch them at dinner now."
"I was about to let my men off for dinner anyway. This'll give me the break I needed to talk with them all and see what I can do.. After today I got a feeling all of them will need a bit of a pep-talk." He rose from his seat and walked to a tool cabinet, which held a radio for the maintenance personnel. Picking it up, he made a quick order to his crew to go off for dinner.
He gave a thumbs up to Qrow, to which Qrow returned a nod. They both left the hangar, though at different times. Qrow sat back for a few moments, thinking about a few things. Taiyang, however, left immediately, which Qrow didn't mind. He enjoyed his solitude. After a few minutes, Qrow got up to follow Taiyang. He knew where the father of his nieces was going, and decided to just meet the older man there.
Tai walked on, running into a few of his crewman. Each one with a question on what part is what, or something doesn't seem wrong but it is, or even the ever so infamous, "What's this do?". He told each one with a question not to worry about it until after a chow, and continues his strut. His rush was mainly fueled by the concern for Ruby. Both he and Qrow were positive that she would be thrilled with the news that she'd be flying tomorrow. Something just wasn't right with the reaction she gave Qrow.
Eventually Taiyang made it to the personnel quarters, weaving through the halls and dodging the nuggets of the island, trying so very hard to make it to his daughter's room. But damn was it difficult!
'It's not easy being the most popular old man on the island, I guess.' Tai told himself. He broke free from everything, though, and followed the sound of the music. Rock and Roll was the music of choice for both Ruby and Yang, so if the music was on (and you can always tell when it's on), you know one of them is in.
Tai made it to the door, balled his hand into a fist, and bumped his knuckles against the wood. After a moment the music volume died down a bit, and the doorknob began to turn. Taiyang stood back as the door opened slowly, revealing his youngest daughter looking up at him. "Oh, hey dad!" She said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "What's up? Out for dinner?"
"Yeah, well, sort of." He said truthfully, "I was about to, but I decided to come see how you were doing."
Ruby looked at him quizzically, "Uncle Qrow told you about earlier..." It wasn't stated as a question and Taiyang knew that she wasn't a fool.
"Yeah, he did. Can I?"
Ruby nodded and opened the door fully, allowing Tai entrance. The cell was about as big as the rest of them. A bunk bed sat in the far right next to the wall. Directly across from it was a leather couch, and next to that was the stereo system Ruby and Yang used to blare their music. Above the stereo was an 'Achieve Men' poster. Ruby defended that it was Yang that listened to them, even though Tai caught her on numerous occasions listening to a few of their songs. He told no one, though. She had an image to keep up, after all.
On the bottom bunk sat a red blanket, a corgi-face pillow, and a corgi. The dog seemed unfazed by Tai's entrance, and continued to snore away. The top bunk held a yellow blanket, same size as its red counterpart below, and a yellow scarf hung over the end.
Tai took a seat on the couch, whilst Ruby turned the music up a bit. Loud enough where the two were still able to communicate with each other, and still able to be heard outside.
"So, Ruby, what's on your mind?"
"Do I even have to say it?" She haphazardly smiled, "I'm a little nervous, a little sad, and a little happy. I think you know why."
"Mmm." Tai nodded. He indeed knew why she was feeling this way, she didn't have to explain it to him. Her nervousness came from just being in the sky. After today's events anyone would be a nervous wreck going up again. Her sadness came for her mother, whom was not alive to see her go up as a pilot. Her happiness was of the fact the she could go up and fly with Qrow.
"I know there isn't much I can say that can make you feel any better, hon. All I can say is that you've made all of us; Me, Summer, Yang, Qrow, every last one of us, very proud. I get that you're sad that Summer isn't here but that doesn't mean she isn't watching." He tried to reason with her, doing anything and everything to make her feel better. "If I were you I wouldn't worry much about the past, or anything really. I would be concerned with what's going to happen tomorrow and prepare, both physically and mentally."
"Good thing you aren't me then!" Ruby joked, "I'd be afraid of something happening to you if you tried to do anything more physical than lifting!"
Tai looked at her, an expression of mock hurt plastered his face, "I'm glad you show some concern for your old man, here, but come on! I'm not that big… Or old!"
"You're right, but I can still be concerned."
Tai sighed. He wanted to smack her down so hard just to show that he's still got it, but instead let it slide. "What ever happened to 'honor thy father'?"
Ruby shrugged, smile riddled her face. Taiyang sat back, thinking how easy it was to change his daughter around like that. Ruby sat down, causing Zwei to jump a bit. "Oh finally the dog wakes up." Tai laughed.
All Zwei did was return a bark, jumping off of the bed to meet the older man. Zwei was a corgi, which meant was a smaller dog. Even so much as jumping off the bed was funny to both Ruby and Tai.
Not soon after greeting Tai did Zwei go off on an excitement-charged run around the room, barking and bumping into everything until Ruby picked him up again. "No matter how old I get that will never stop being funny."
Tai nodded in agreement before listening to his stomach growl. "Ruby," He called, "How about we go out and get some chow before my crews eat it all."
"Oh… Yang said she was going to bring me back some…" His youngest said meekly. Taiyang gave her a look of mild annoyance, all while mentally smacking himself over the lack of blonde in the room. Ruby and Yang always ate together, so one being in the cafeteria without the other meant that someone was waiting; either for food to be brought to them, or the person to the food. All dependant on who and when.
On queue the doorknob began to jiggle around, before a frustrated sigh was heard and a smack on the door soon after. Voices could be heard, someone attempting to reason with another, to no avail. Ruby and her father shared a look before the red-clad pilot rose up, tossing Zwei (or more accurately, throwing,) at Tai. Tai and Zwei also shared a look, before Zwei realized he didn't want to be there, and presumably jumped off.
Ruby opened the door slightly, peeking out as if she didn't know who was there. After exchanging a few words with her visitors outside, she could be seen slamming the door swiftly with a huge smile on her face, but fear in her eyes. "Honey," Tai called, "What did you-"
Then he heard it…
No, he felt it…
Absolutely terrifying, anger driven…
A loud banging was heard, so forceful it knocked Ruby away from the door. Tai was afraid his oldest was going to break down the door, again! "Ruby! What did you tell her?!"
The young women couldn't stop snickering long enough to get a complete sentence out. Eventually it turned into full blown laughter at the situation. Taiyang was happy she found amusement in this, because he certainly didn't!
After a minute, the banging on the door ceased. Tai thought the MPs came by, but instead, all he heard was heavy breathing… And Ruby's now uncontrollable laughter. The door opened, revealing a fuming blonde with an absolutely petrified young black-haired women behind her.
Ruby absolutely lost it at this point, "THE DOOR WAS UNLOCKED THE WHOLE TIME!" She cried as she fell over. Taiyang just sat back in his seat and chuckled, having seen this before. "You… You look angr- Yang, wait! We can talk abou- WOAH!"
Yang picked up her sister, wrapped her in a headlock and proceeded to walk out of the cell with her in tow. "I'm going to go kill Ruby now! Bye dad!" She waved with her free hand. She asked Blake, who was still shocked over the events that just transpired, to carry in the food inside. Though it was tough to hear her over Ruby's pleas for help.
Taiyang eyed the black-haired women in the doorway, gesturing for her to come in. "First time you've seen that, eh?"
"I… I just met them earlier today… Does that happen often? Like, is she going to be ok?"
"Who, Ruby? Nah, she'll be fine… What did she say to you two?"
"Oh, she said something like, 'You can't come in, I'm two songs away from getting good with Marco'..." Taiyang busted out laughing, nearly falling off of the couch. "Who's Marco?"
"O-Oh! Marco, Staff Sergeant Marco Fence, the most suave man I have ever met. He walks into a room and every lady is around his arms." Taiyang tried to explain, still laughing, "I- foolishly- tried to get him to go out with either Ruby or Yang and instead he went with both… I, uh, from what I hear he… You didn't hear this from me, but tried to move on both of them, if you know what I mean." Blake began to blush a little bit after hearing the tale. Taiyang continued, "Yang put him in the hospital, but I'm sure Ruby helped a bit, too. They like to joke about it here and there, and Marco is still on the island, so it can be a possibility, you know?"
Blake nodded slowly, still confused as to what just happened, but at least she understood the story. "You can come in you know, I don't bite, and the dog doesn't bite anything that isn't a chew toy."
Reluctantly, she walked in, careful avoid the gaze of the dog, who too was wondering what just happened, and where is master disappeared to. Zwei turned to Tai, then to Blake, then walked to peek outside the doorway, presumably drop his ears as a sign of disappointment, and slowly walked back in, laying down by Taiyang's feet. Quite pitiful, yet still humorous for the older mechanic. Blake set the food down on the desk next to the bunks and took a seat on the lower bed.
Blake admired the room around her, as it seemed very cozy. The sisters obviously knew how to make the base seem like home. While admiring the decor, Blake stumbled upon a little book on the pillow of the bed she was currently seated on. Instinctively, she reached for it, but quickly pulled her hand back when she realized her manners.
"You may not be able to look at it," Tai called, bringing Blake back into reality, "But I certainly can!" He extended a hand, gesturing for Blake to hand her the book before the sisters arrived. Blake complied, handing Tai the book with a nod. The older man began to flip through the pages of the tattered book, his expression lightening further to a soft, sincere smile. "This was her favorite book, from when she was a kid, you know." He said, voice almost being drowned out from the music completely. "Time wore this thing down and the pages fell out. She's been trying to fill in the blanks ever since."
He closed the book and looked at Blake, who was intently listening, "As we moved from base to base she lost page after page, and instead of buying a new one she just decided to rebuild what she had." He handed the book back.
Blake accepted the book and set it down where she found it, choosing not to say a word. What could she say? As she turned her attention back to Taiyang, it seemed as though there was something he wanted to say, but couldn't formulate the words. As he began to open his mouth, Yang walked in, rubbing her hands together like she was wiping something off.
"Ah, I'm back." She called. Zwei immediately got up and looked to the blonde, but his expression soon dropped when he realized Ruby wasn't with her. "What? Don't want to see me?" Zwei retorted with a bark, and layed down once again. "Fine dog! Forget you!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest and sat down next to Blake, who by this point was greatly concerned for Ruby's health.
"Yang, where's my youngest at?"
A smile grew upon her face as Yang picked up her tray, "Check a fishing boat, she should turn up in a few hours."
Taiyang's smile lessened a bit, "Ok, time to get serious now. Where is she, her dinners going to get cold."
Yang sighed and rolled her eyes, "She should be coming in ri~ght abou~t… Now!"
On queue, Ruby walked in, clearly out of breath. She leaned against the door frame, holding her side and said "That… was not fun, Yang."
All Tai had to do was shoot Yang a quizzical expression before she began to explain, "I wrapped her in a headlock, took her to the door to the hangar strip, threw her out into the little bushes to the right of the door, closed it, and made sure it was locked." She interrupted Tai's inbound verbal assault before it could start, "Hey, both of you know how much I hate that prick."
"Touche." Tai responded, "But there's no excuse for that, honey. It was just a joke after all."
"I like to play rough." Yang shrugged. "Damn, Ruby get in here and close the door already, your food's going to get cold." Ruby sighed, complied, closed the door, walked in, took a seat next to her father who passed her the meal Yang and Blake brought back, and began to eat, not saying a word.
While Ruby was clearly agitated over what transpired moments ago, Yang and her father were starting to ramble on, leaving Blake to sit in silence. She began to eat, while once again admire her surroundings. She was able to drown out the speakers well, keeping her primary focus on the family before her, just incase they came to bring her into the discussion.
The family before her was… Different, to say the least. Their overall dynamic was something she, personally hadn't seen before, while the way they acted individually reflected their upbringing. They were so close with each other, so honest…
She hadn't known them for more than a day and already she knew so much about all three of them. And yet they knew almost nothing about her… But that was by her choice. She made it so that they couldn't get too close, yet. If ever.
While observing the little talk in front of her, Blake began to examine Taiyang, the father of her wingwomen. The older man was a mentor to everyone on the oasis, regardless of their position or job, he had advice, a story, experience in everything that he was more than happy to share. He has on more than one occasion, even, to all of the pilots. There was a reason why he was the most popular and well known man on the island, and that was because he was the teacher for everyone.
Then there was Yang, the spitting image of Taiyang in almost every capacity. Her exterior personality hardly matches what's deep down, and that was easy for Blake to tell. She was hiding something… Blake didn't feel right to push whatever it was, but under that fun-loving, yet sometimes angry, exterior was a very mature young women ready to take the world.
She turned her attention to the youngest in the room, Ruby Rose. The lieutenant was sitting quietly, eating her meal and observing the conversation before her, all while keeping Zwei next to her legs, off of the couch. This one was a bit more difficult to read than the others. While Yang had told her tale, it was clear to Blake that there was more than meets the eye to the red-clad pilot. She was very interested to see what the young one could do, given her record so far. The youngest on the entire base, let alone their squadron.
Interesting indeed.
A nudge from the blonde next to her brought Blake back to reality again, as she cursed herself for being so out-of-it, as it were. "Man you are just a deep thinker, aren't you?" Yang asked, "Are we boring or something?" Tai and Ruby both shrugged, though Ruby gave a look of 'don't push this.'
"Sorry, what's going on?"
"Dad was about to start telling us a story of one of his first flights."
Tai nodded, "I kinda hoped to give you all a little pep-talk before going up tomorrow, as flying with Qrow can be… A little difficult." Tai pointed at Yang as she opened her mouth to say something, instantly silencing her. "Now I'm not going to lie to you girls… It's not all pretty up there, regardless of how beautiful the world may look. Sometimes things get hairy, as they did today.
But that's what happens in the skies. I remember back when I was your ages, I thought I was invincible. The big war was kicking off and we defended our lines time after time, never letting up. One day I was up, thinking I was so great, then someone got the jump on me. Flew through my radar undetected and started shooting at me. Probably my third time up and I was gonna die."
He leaned in, resting his elbows on his knees, "I had a guardian that day, and his name was Qrow. He lined up a shot and blew the bastard out of the sky. From there he and I have grown close, close enough to be brothers. Hence the uncle.
My advice for you three, watch your backs. Look after each other no matter what. You're a team up there and you have to act like it or else, god forbid, but if anything happens, they'll tear you apart. Don't let them get the jump on you, and don't get an ego either. If you do I'm gonna come down and knock you back to earth." He looked at Yang, who just shrugged it off. Tai leaned back, indicating that he was done with this 'speech'. He wasn't really looking to tell them 'It's going to be great up there!', no that would be a lie. Instead he wanted to tell them the simple message, 'One wrong move, and you're screwed.'.
All three took in what Taiyang said. It was short, sweet and to the point, with an interesting anecdote with it. Each of the girls looked to each other and nodded, then turned to Tai. Ruby spoke first, "I think we hear you, dad." Blake and Yang both nodded, "We'll make sure nothing happens to the other."
"That's all I ask." There was a brief moment before anyone said a word. The first one to speak up was Ruby:
"Dad... " She called, picking up Zwei, who reveled in the contact, "Who do you think's covering up the battle."
Taiyang sat for a minute and thought his next few words out before speaking. It wasn't his place to talk about it, let alone know, but he too wondered. Deep down, he knew. "Listen, the only thing to cross that sea is Marbel Air Base. That's Vacuo territory."
"But aren't we allies with Vacuo? Every since the big war?" Yang asked.
"Yeah, that's the problem." Tai spoke honestly, rubbing his chin in thought. "I bet there are lines ringing off the hook upstairs, with people from all over trying to figure out what is going on where. You know, I bet Qrow is hating this more than anyone."
"How so?" Blake inquired.
"He used to have a lady friend over in Vacuo. He'll never admit to it though, because she ended the relationship and damaged his pride to no end." Tai chuckled, keeping that memory close. Qrow had only been shot down twice in his life, and that was the worst one of the two. Taiyang said, looking at his watch. "Hm, I have to get back to work. The mechanics job is never done I'm afraid. Ladies." With that, he departed.
Blake, too, looked at the time. Her watch told nine-thirty-five. "I think I'm going to turn in, too. You never know what could happen tomorrow." As she rose to leave, Ruby also stood up.
"Yeah, I think we should turn these trays back in."
"I'll handle them." Yang declared, "Ruby, you just make sure Blake gets back ok."
"I can handle myself-" Blake tried to defend before realizing what Yang was doing. The blonde was giving her the perfect chance to talk to Ruby, seeing as though the red-clad girl had been the only one Blake really hasn't gotten a chance to know.
Yang picked up the trays, eager to leave and give her two counterparts their space. She had gotten to know Blake a bit throughout the day, but Ruby had stayed as distant as Blake did. Yang was interested to see how both girls would react; Ruby never was good at making friends, but that, in Yang's opinion, is what made her sister so cute! Blake, on the other hand, just didn't want to make friends.
As Yang left, Ruby gestured with a wave of the hand to follow suite, with Zwei leaving his perch. Blake jumped to avoid contact from the dog, to which Zwei did take objection to. He barked, lowered his head, jumped onto Ruby's bed and went back to sleep.
"Do you not like dogs?" Ruby asked honestly.
Blake tried to choose her words carefully, as she didn't know how Ruby would take it. "Not really, no. I'll be honest, I never was a dog person. My mother had an allergy, so the only pet we had was a cat."
Ruby nodded, a small 'ahh' escaped her lips. The two left the room and began to walk down the hall. Blakes cell was less than five doors down from Ruby and Yang's, which made the walk very quick. It was also very quiet, for the most part. "So, Blake, what else can you tell me about yourself?"
Blake thought for a moment, trying to think of anything to end the small-talk until they got to her room, "Well, other than my abnormally large collection of books in my room, nothing much comes to mind."
The red-haired girl shook her head and laughed, "I'm sure it's not that many, Blake." She said, waving her now wingwomen off. Blake raised an eyebrow as they reached her room and opened the door, revealing a single-bed room with not one, but two nightstands with books in them, and a full-sized bookcase. Ruby instantly stopped in her tracks, eyes wide with amazement, admiring the collection.
"Packing light for the road, eh?"
"I figured if I'm going to be here awhile, I might as well enjoy some of it." Blake responded honestly with a small smile. If she was proud of anything, it was her book collection. She was starting to equate it to Yang's rock collection, though deep down she knew she couldn't contend with the blonde pilot.
"Well, Blake, it was nice getting to know you, but I don't think we've met officially." Blake looked at the young women quizzically, but then noticed the extended hand. "I think we should have met on better terms… And these are the terms I like to meet friends on…" It was her turn to let a small 'ahh' escape her lips, now understanding what Ruby was talking about. Blake, too, extended her hand, and met Ruby half-way. "I think now we've met…" She said, gripping the young pilot's hand.
Ruby nodded, broke off the handshake, said her goodnight and departed. Blake closed the door to her cell, still able to hear the music from the sisters' cell. As she got ready to go to sleep, there was one thing that kept crossing her mind:
Despite her size, Ruby had a very strong grip, for a very small hand.
Mercury speed-walked as fast as he could, not looking to cause panic from the other subordinates. The files in his hand read, in dark red letters 'Classified'. The look on his face was one of fear, concern, even regret.
He walked into Port's administrative office, not bothering to knock. "Colonel Port," Mercury called, bringing the older man's attention away from the paperwork currently on his desk."We have an update, sir."
"Yes, Captain Black… What happened out there?"
"Sir, the recon craft went down moments after our jets made contact… Captain Lenom and his force engaged a force that came to defend the craft… Lenom and his wingman survived the encounter. I have the files of the other two that went down."
Port cursed under his breath, "Damnit. More and more letters of condolences to write, and more lies to make concerning the issue at hand." He took all of the files from Mercury, including the 'Classified' one. He began to read through the personnel files on who he lost today, then the one on the covert mission they were on. "Captain Black… What… What do you think is going on out there?"
"I- I'm not sure, sir. Something doesn't add, obviously. I think our best choice is to keep all available units at combat stations, keep everyone ready, just in case."
Port sighed, but nodded in agreement. "You're right. As much as I hate to do it, I fear… I fear war just may be upon us soon. Return to your duty, Captain Black." Mercury saluted, then left the colonel to his work. Port didn't like what was happening, but he knew he couldn't do a damn thing to stop any of it.
Uh oh, what's going on here? Trouble in paradise?
Everything's starting to kick off a bit, now isn't it? No we didn't have our little gang go up to take care of the spy plane. We left that to another squad today.
So how was the chapter? A little bit of character development today, and keep in mind that everything over the last three chapters have all taken place on the same day. Also, with the end of this chapter, we enter the training arc.
From Karma and myself, we hope you enjoyed. As always be sure to tell us what you think, remember we listen to everything everyone says, no matter what it is or who said it.
Until Next Time.