AN: Hello again. I'm sorry this took so long too upload, like I said it is all written already, but I told myself that I wouldn't update this until I had an update for my other story done. Well, I've accomplished my mission and am currently looking it over so here is chapter three of Storytime. As always, please let me know what you think and check out my other FFs too. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
"Now where were we?" Yang asked innocently as she rentered the room. The stares of her friends immediatly came upon her.
"Weiss ran away and I went after her!" Ruby spoke first, far too excited for how sick she was.
"And that obviously evil prince was left in charge." Jaune added
"And there was a huge explosion and fires everywhere!" Nora screamed, jumping up.
"Actually that didn't happen at all." Ren spoke in a resigned voice.
Yang smiled at the attention her story seemed to be getting and took her seat once more. "Right then, let's get this thing back on track..."
The snow glew white on the mountain that night. There wasn't a footprint to be seen. It was a kingdom of isolation and it looked like Weiss was the Queen.
"I swear Yang if you do this the whole time, I will dump that popcorn onto your hair."
"I just got started and your gonna jump me?"
"Even you have to admit this is a little much."
"I think you need to just let it go."
Groan.
Weiss had managed to make it further than she would have previously thought possible in such short a time. The powers that she no longer tried to hide had allowed her to overcome any obstacle and before she knew it, the Queen was atop the tallest mountain in the Arenndelle mountain range.
A part of her thought about how these mountains had served to defend the kingdom from barbaric raids in times past. That part didn't have much strength though, and the distraction failed. Weiss' mind slipped back to what she had left behind - her kingdom, her responsibilities and most importantly, Ruby. It was funny how she would only really miss her sister.
Miss? Weiss sighed at the thought. She really couldn't go back now, not after what she had done. The people wouldn't trust her. Besides, Ruby would do just fine, she may be a little immature but her heart was always in the right place.
A sense of relief surged through Weiss as she realized the kingdom would be fine without her. And without the kingdom, she was free. Unable to resist the temptation, Weiss began to weave whatever came to mind with her now unlocked powers. She began to create snow drifts and banks, beautiful ice sculptures and even a snowman like the they had made as children.
For the first time in forever, Weiss was truly free and the exhileration filled her completely while she indulged in every whim that came to mind. Laughing, Weiss supposed she would need a new home out here.
Letting the power enfold her, Weiss reached towards the ground and pulled up. Ice particles began to come together and the form of a castle slowly rose from the mountain. Weiss was amazed at her own power as she continued to raise the castle and form the interior. An ice chandelier formed one hanging at a time, sparking at completion. The floor became a wonderful ice crystal and the doors into other sections of the castle formed.
The interior complete, Weiss walked towards her mentally formed balcony, creating a new icy blue and white dress upon herself. Much better, she thought as she stared out onto the mountain range. The winding was biting, this she could tell intellectually but it didn't bother her at all. The cold never had.
Ruby did her best to remain somewhat positive considering the situation. I mean sure, her sister had run away after accidently revealing her secret magic powers, her kingdom was being threatened by an eternal winter and to top it all off here she sat presently sat: in a freezing stream with her coward of a horse running away. Nope, nothing at all to be negative about...
As she slowly rose from the icy cold water, Ruby spied a lone cabin in the distance with smoke arising from its chimney. Hope, Ruby told herself while waddling towards it. Her dresses hem and actually frozen solid thanks to the water and temperature, making her journey a slow one.
Eventually, Ruby made it to her oasis and realized what the cabin was, thanks to a sign hanging on the front. "Junior's Common Goods Store" she read aloud before seeing a smaller, snow-covered sign attached. She gave it a smack and was disappointed to see "and bar" revealed. Her faith in the success of her mission strengthend, Ruby pushed open the door and entered the beautifully warm establishment.
"Aren't you a little young to be out alone in this weather, red?" the man at the counter greeted her gruffily. He seemed to be upset about something to Ruby and was taking out on her.
"Uh, hi." she greeted simply, ignoring his question. "I'm looking for some winter clothes...and boots. Snow boots. Do have anything like that?"
The man sighed and pointed in the corner where a small winter selection was stocked. Taking a moment to look around the store, Ruby noticed that most of the selection was composed of summer things. Ah, she thought, no wonder he's so grumpy.
Bringing her things to the counter, Ruby took the opportunity to ask "You wouldn't have happened to see a girl pass through here...the Queen perhaps?"
The man looked at her like she was crazy before answering "No." and continued to add up how much her things cost. Ruby fidgeted nervously as he did so and fought the urge to jump when he added "The only one crazy enough to be out in this weather is you, girly."
Ruby did jump as the door to the store suddenly burst open and a lone figure walked in.
"And this idiot." Junior concluded.
"Now is that any way to refer to your favorite customer?" the snow-covered individual said as they gathered supplies. From their voice, Ruby could tell that it was a girl underneath the layers of clothing. Before she realized it though, the girl was standing in front of her speaking.
"Carrots." Ruby was confused before the girl added "Behind you."
"Oh!" she moved quickly to the side "Sorry."
"What are you doing here blondie?" Junior said defensively "I don't want any more trouble."
Moving past Ruby and dropping carrots, a pickaxe and some rope onto the counter, the girl removed the mask covering her face. Underneath was the most beautiful blonde hair that Ruby or anyone had ever seen along with a face to kill for.
"Really, Yang?"
"It's my story kitty, you can tell one next time."
"Isn't putting yourself in a little much though?"
"Lemme think on that one, uhhhhh nope."
Sigh
"Don't worry, Junior." the beautiful girl said "You just so happen to be the only place open in this crazy weather. Not that I can really blame any of the other places, I've never seen the North Mountain so crazy before."
"Did you say the North Mountain?!" Ruby burst out without thinking. If that was where the weather was the worst then that must be where Weiss was.
"Uhh, yeahhh." the blonde girl answered back "Excuse us but the adults are talking here and I need to talk to Junior here about that money he owes me."
"Owe you!?" Junior shouted in surprise "You wrecked my store the last time you were in here. You owe me for the repair costs."
"I only slightly wrecked this place." Yang answered smiling "And that was only because you didn't pay me for the delivery."
"Because some of it was missing!"
"Because I got thirsty! You could of taken out the cost from the payment!"
"How about I tell you what YOU can do!"
"Enough!" Ruby cut in between the two "Stop fighting. You clearly don't want her to break this place and you clearly need money. Right?"
The two of them nodded, taken back by the girl's sudden outburst.
"Well I will pay you handsomely to take to the North mountain." Ruby smiled slightly while folding her arms, quite proud of taking control of the situation. "And that will take her out of the store."
"As long as she leaves, I don't care what you do." Junior said, sullenly
"How much is handsomely, exactly?" was the girl's only question.
"I don't know..." Ruby answered honestly. She had never dealt with money before. "However much you want I guess." The girl's eyes lit up and Ruby could of sworn she saw drool forming so she added quickly "But you have to get me there and back!"
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go then." the girl said, turning to leave the store. "My name's Yang by the way. Yours?"
"Ruby." she replied
"Well Ruby, it looks like you've made my night a whole lot more interesting."
The two left the store and together and a surge of relief went through Junior.
"Wait a minute..." he looked thoughtful until "You didn't pay for those!"
Ruby followed Yang back outside, hoping that she had a spare horse or something for them to make the trip on. Walking would take too long and who knew how much could happen during that time.
"So how are we getting there?"Ruby asked while trying to get her boots on. Walking and dressing wasn't the most efficient of things but Yang showed no signs of slowing.
"We'll ride Bumblebee of course!" Yang said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Cool!" Ruby said pretending she understood until deciding to ask "And Bumblebee is..."
"My sled." Yang turned around a thicket of trees and waved her arms in front of a sleek black and yellow sled. She would certainly never lose it in this weather, Ruby thought. It was then that she noticed an animal laying beside the thing.
"Aw, and who is this cute little guy?" Ruby exclaimed, rushing over to pet the animal.
"That would be my wonderful partner and reindeer, Blake."
"No."
"But Blakeeee"
"No"
"But if you just.."
"No"
"...Fine."
"My partner and reindeer, NOT Blake." Yang said "You might want to be a little careful though, she can be a bit...catty."
Silence
"You guys suck."
The reindeer didn't seem to display any of her USUAL behavior and took to Ruby petting her nicely.
"Oh sure, I buy you carrots and you show her the affection." Yang spoke to her friend and animal.
Hearing the word carrot, the reindeer stopped paying attention to Ruby and stood up to make her way towards Yang.
"Now that's better!" she excalimed "How about a kiss for your beautiful owner?"
The reindeer completely ignored her and bent its head to grab the carrots tucked between her arms. After retrieving them, she walked back to the sled and sat down to enjoy her meal.
"Be that way." was Yang's response as she went about getting the sleigh ready to leave."Finish changing Princess, we'll be leaving in about ten minutes." A snort came from the reindeer. "Fine, make that thirty minutes."
Fifty minutes and a warmer set of clothing later, the trio were on their way and making pretty good speed judging by the growing size of the mountain as the approached. Ruby had hoped to avoid the topic but knew it was inevitable.
"So why'd the Queen go all ice crazy?" Yang asked as they glided down a pass. Her handling of the sled was actually impressive and more than once Ruby had thought they would crash at a turn only to have Yang deftly maneuver the vehicle.
"Oh well," Ruby paused to consider her answer before deciding to just tell the truth. "She always wears gloves, okay? And I never really thought about it. I mean I did, but I just figured she had a thing about dirt or something. But it turns out she wore them to help hold in her powers. At least, I think that's why, because she freaked out when I pulled them off. I didn't mean to though. But she was trying to run away because we were fighting and I didn't want her to. I get that we were making a scene but she was going all mushy eyed over this stupid Prince that she had known for a total of twenty minutes. I told her not to trust him and she starts trying to shoo me out of the room and we fought about how she always pushes me away and that I just want to help then I grabbed the glove and she goes WHOOSH and there's a bunch of ice and then she ran away." Ruby resumed breathing after putting her previously motioning arms down and Yang was looking at her like she couldn't believe the girl's lung capacity.
"Sounds like you were jealous." Yang observed casually as she looked back towards their path.
Ruby's face took on a deep crimson as she denied the claim.
"Alot like now actually"
"Just tell the story!"
"I am not jealous. I'm just trying to protect her from that scumbag Prince."
Yang laughed before speaking. "Relax, it makes sense. Your sister ignores you for most of your life and then this guy comes in and she gives him the attention you deserve."
Ruby couldn't argue with that logic but was still uncomfortable with it.
"Actually that's something I CAN RELATE TO." Yang continued as she directed her voice at the reindeer pulling the sled.
Talking stopped after this as Yang focused on the increasingly treacherous trail and Ruby withdrew into her thoughts. Jealous or not, Weiss needed her now and Ruby was going to help her. They would walk down this mountain together and put everything to right.
As her mind drifted, so did Ruby's eyes and she spied mencingly red orbs in the darkness of the surrounding woods.
"Um, Yang?" she whispered, pulling the girls shirt at the arm.
"I'm busy Ruby." she answered while shaking off her grip "Wait until we make through this and around the canyon."
"But Yang!" her whisper grew harshtried to get the girl's attention.
Losing her patience, Yang swung her head to look at her passenger. "What?!" she asked only to grow confused as she saw Ruby pointing towards the woods. taking the hint, she redirected her attention and swallowed as she saw what Ruby had been trying to tell her.
Following in the darkness of the hills were a pack of beowolves, hot on their trail. Yang wasted no time after realizing and urged Not Blake to go faster. "Hurry!" she shouted through the wind "We need to go faster! Much, much faster!"
Taking the cue, Not Blake picked up speed. She seemed to be out running the beowolves as they lost sight of them but they quickly realized they were wrong.
"Do you see them?" Yang asked, scanning their surroundings for any sign of the beasts.
Ruby answered "No." and continued to do the same. "Wait!" she shouted in warning as a beowolf suddenly leaped out of the darkness towards their sled. Yang had not heard the warning in time and was caught by the monster as it threw out its arms. Though it didn't get a grip, the force of its attempt pulled Yang out of the sled and she grabbed the loose rope that was used to secure it on slopes.
"D-d-d-do-o-o-o some-m-m-thi-i-ng." Yang got out as she bounced up and down on the snow while holding onto the rope for dear life as it continued on. The beowolves were now running directly at her and Ruby searched the sled, desperate for anything to help.
There! Ruby thought as she spied several bundles of blankets and clothes. Grabbing the lantern that was hooked on the sled, Ruby lit the bundles on fire and threw them towards the monsters. Two missed but forced the creatures to move and dodge. One hit a beowolf directly in the head and Ruby pumped her arm in enthusiam for her victory. Yes!
"Hurry!" Ruby shouted to Yang as the girl slowly pulled her way up the rope. They may have slowed down the pack but they were still on their tail. As Yang finally reached the sled, Ruby help pull her in and gave her a huge smile.
"Well that worked out huh?" she ventured, feeling better about their chances already. Her smile faded when she saw Yang staring blankly ahead of them. "What?" Ruby turned to see what had captured her attention. She adopted the same stare as she saw what was ahead - the canyon they had hoped to work around.
"We have to jump it." Yang concluded as she snapped out of it. "Faster girl! You can do it." The sled picked up some speed as they prepaed for the jump. "Get ready!"
Ruby looked behind and saw the beowolves still chasing them. They really didn't have a choice. Climbing on top and bending their legs, the girls prepared to leap. Ruby took a deep breath in and then it happened. They were airborne and everything seemed to slowdown to a crawl.
"Now!" Yang shouted, though the word seemed so distant to Ruby. A part of her mind must have registered the sentiment as she sprung forward and flailed wildly hoping to grip something. As slowly as it all seemed to happen, it was over in a moment. Ruby landed hard on her stomach and was winded, though the large thump of the reindeer landing next to her kept her aware. Rolling over she looked for Yang but couldn't see her. She scrambled to the edge as fast as she could, while tieing the rope around the pick axe that Yang had forced inside her pack earlier.
Yang had to untie Blake and didn't have the same timing as her for the jump. Dreading what that might mean, Ruby threw the pickaxe and was relieved as she felt weight added to it. Struggling to hold on, Ruby held the rope as Yang climbed up and rolled into her back at the top.
"Bumblebee..." she spoke this lone word with sadness lacing her voice. The sled had fallen into the canyon and was no more.
"I'll buy a new a sled." Ruby promised as she stood there awkwardly waiting for Yang to recover.
"You better." was all that Yang could manage as she got up and moved towards Ruby. The trio looked at their destination, the mountain looming large ahead of them.
"At least we're close!" Ruby added, hoping to lighten the if even a little.
Yang could only sigh as she began to walk. This wasn't fun anymore.
"Timeout!" Nora chimed "I need to go to the bathroom." She began to move to the door but turned, seeming to expect something.
"Really?" Ren asked, exasperated
"Yup." was she said back.
Sighing, Ren stood up " I think we could all use a little stretch anyways."
"I suppose." Yang said, mimicing his actions "Be back in five guys."
"These stops are getting to be too much?" Weiss complained "I was barely even in that part. I thought I was the main character."
"I think you'll manage to get your spotlight back Weiss." Blake told her "At least your actually in this. Yang stopped pretending that I'm not a reindeer towards the end."
"Yeah," Weiss replied "Is that racist...?"