Hey-o! Here's another lovely chapter! ENJOY! Yahoo!
Neptune walked over to the stand. A young woman with pink and brown hair and the same heterochromatic eyes in an orange jumpsuit sat, trembling. He smiled warmly, and she returned a shaky grin back.
"Ma'am, could you state your name for the record?" He asked gently.
Neopolitan Labelle-Torchwick, sir. Neo signed. The interpreter, Sky Lark, cleared his throat. "Neopolitan Labelle-Torchwick." He translated.
"Thank you. Mrs. Labelle-Torchwick." Neptune said. "Now, this may be difficult to answer, but where were you on the night Summer Rose disappeared?"
Neo signed something Neptune didn't understand. Thankfully, the interpreter was good at his job.
"I was there with Nikos. She was sent by the head to eliminate Rose and to take out Branwen."
"And why was that?"
"The head thought Branwen was a traitor and wanted to punish her for her actions by murdering one of her friends. The head originally planned on killing her brother as well."
Neptune nodded. "So you were part of this gang, The Tribe? And you were Nikos' partner for whatever illegal activities at the time. You were arrested, also, and are still serving your sentence in Bellevue?"
Neo nodded twice.
"And did Nikos do this willingly?"
Neo bit her lip and nodded. Jaune stood up and shouted. "That's absurd! Pyrrha would never hurt a fly!"
Justice Ironwood stood up and yelled across the courtroom "Sit down or I will hold you in contempt! Mr. Vasilias, please continue."
"Mrs. Labelle-Torchwick, did Ms. Nikos enjoy these criminal activities?"
Neo gulped and looked around. Nora stood up. "Objection, your honour! Badgering the witness! The witness is clearly distressed by that question."
"Overruled. Ma'am, please continue."
Neo drew in a sharp breath and nodded. The whole court sat in stunned silence, as did Pyrrha.
Shit. Neo, you bitch. Pyrrha thought. Betraying us like that. Disgusting. But Pyrrha knew what she had to do. She folded inward and sobbed.
Ironwood sighed. "Ms. Nikos, if you cannot calm down, we will remove you from the room." Pyrrha just cried harder. Ren began to rub soothing circles on her back. This seemed to get her to calm down a bit, but not enough to stay in the courtroom. The bailiff escorted her out.
Neptune faced Nora. "Your witness."
Nora took out a small bubblegum pink notebook and a pink pen decorated with feathers and trotted over to Neo. "This must be terribly hard for you, ma'am. My condolences." She said. Neo signed something that Nora knew meant Thank you. "Now, what I'm about to ask you may be very hard to answer. Are you prepared to deal with that?"
Neo signed. "She is." Sky said. "Please go on."
"Were you with my client on the night Summer Rose died?" Neo began to sign rapidly, with Sky watching her intently.
I refuse to answer on the grounds my answer may tend to incriminate me.
Sky stared at the face of a woman wearing a short red dress in the room. She smirked, and nodded. "Yes."
The pink and brown eyed woman sat in the stand in shock, her mouth agape. She began to make hand gestures but stopped when Nora approached her. The ginger's face was unreadable. "And did you try to hurt the victim?"
Neo made hand gestures only Sky could understand. He's lying, somebody do something! I never hurt her, I left before it happened!
He cleared his throat to answer. "The witness does not recall."
Nora grinned. "Okee-dokee then. That will be all." She zipped over to her seat and sat down. Neo was escorted from the room in cuffs, looking at Sky, bewildered at what had just occurred.
"Due to this new evidence, there will be a two-hour recess." The occupants of the room filed out, along with Sky Lark, who, after leaving, turned a corner and bumped into his contact.
"Ms. Fall. Do you have the money?" A wad of cash was pressed into his open palm. "Of course I do, cutie. You held your end of the bargain, I'll hold mine." She kissed his cheek, leaving a flaming red mark on his face. She smirked and purred into his ear "If you ever tell anyone, I'll kill you. Got it?"
"Yes."
She pulled away and sashayed down the hall. "Bye-bye, Larky boy."
~Skeletons in the Closet~
Jaune's hand shook as he held his drink. "Pyrrha, she was spiteful and mean when I met her… like a sociopath. But when we fell in love, she was softer. Happier. And now…"
Qrow nodded sympathetically. "I get ya, kid."
"I don't think she did it, I mean no offense, but…"
"Don't worry 'bout it." He took a swig from his flask. "I do too. I've given up anyway."
~Skeletons in the Closet~
The only time Ruby had ever cried in front of Weiss was when she saw Yang in the hospital after losing her arm. Ruby was never sad. She was a burning ball of light and happiness in this cold, dark world. But news like this would make any sane person cry. So why should Ruby be any different? She lay curled up in Weiss' lap, sobbing into her stomach.
"They found her… Mom. After all this time. Dad is so happy, he's finally got some closure… but at the same time, it means," She sniffled "She's really gone." Weiss kissed Ruby's forehead and stroked her hair.
"Ruby, you do know after she was missing all this time, she wasn't going to come back?"
"Deep down, I think I did. But that didn't stop me from hoping… and now it's real." Ruby looked up at Weiss. "We never had a proper funeral for her...just a memorial service. Now I guess she'll get one… it has been a long time."
"It's only right."
"Weiss, you know, we had an empty casket we filled with keepsakes. My red hoodie was in there." She sighed
"You had a red hoodie?" Weiss asked.
"Mom made it for me when I was little. I wore it every single day until she went missing. Then I wore the white one. It's Mom's." She picked at a thread on the hoodie she was wearing.
"I always wondered why you never let me touch it."
"Is it my fault?" Ruby turned away from Weiss, silver orbs filled with tears.
"What?! Ruby, of course not."
"Well, I mean I was born right at the time where Bra-"
"Stop right there, Ruby Rose! Do you honestly think that it's your fault two people you didn't know existed until last week hurt your mother?"
"When you put it like that…" Ruby let her head rest on Weiss' shoulder.
Weiss placed a hand on her hips and pulled her lover closer to her. "Angel, you know I'm right." She closed her eyes, moving her hands behind Ruby's neck gently. She brought her lips closer and leaned in, and Ruby did the same. They kissed, a short, quick, butterfly kiss, but Weiss came closer and left a quick peck on her neck. Ruby giggled. "That tickles."
Weiss winked. "I know what will tickle more."
"Don't you dare Weiss- AAH! STOP! IT TICKLES!"
RECAP TIME: Whiterose fluff, more Qrow-angst, and DISCOVERIES!
Leave a review, and tell me, are you Team Pyrrha (for the murderer, remember, she said we, not I) Team Raven, or Team Ice Cream Tru-I mean Neo. Also! CALLING ALL ARTISTS WHO ARE WILLING TO DO THINGS FOR FREE! (Hi, I'm Broke, nice ta meet ya!) I need me some cover art. If not, that's fine, I'll just make the cover Summer's grave.
Cheers,
~Tasie