Another week, another chapter. That is the schedule that I'm going to try to follow as much as possible! Thank you to everyone for the follows and reviews. I appreciate them all! This chapter doesn't really have a lot of large leaps forward, but introduces important things for later on. I hope that it is enjoyable, regardless. :)
Several hours after their battle in Sapphire Square, the four girls found themselves sitting around the dining room table in Schnee Manor after cleaning themselves up. Blake would describe the mood as somber, at best. They were all exhausted, hungry, and, most of all, disheartened from how quickly the Grimm battles were escalating and the destruction that was being caused. It didn't need to be spoken aloud for all of them to know that soon they could face a fight that they might not be able to win.
However, Blake quickly noticed that Yang did not seem to be very disheartened at all. As she carefully stole glances of the girl sitting across the table from her, she could almost swear that Yang seemed…giddy…about something. Blake felt her eyebrows furrow as she contemplated the blonde. What could she possibly have to be cheerful about right now?
At that moment, Yang looked over at her, causing Blake to blush as she was caught staring. Yang gave her a goofy grin and a wink before she began speaking.
"It's not every day you get to destroy a priceless monument, am I right?"
Weiss and Ruby groaned at the question, no doubt both were trying to avoid the memory of the shattered obelisk from this afternoon. Blake couldn't help a tiny smile forming at Yang's attempt to lighten the mood. It was always Yang who tried to make the best out of a bad situation.
"Hey, maybe instead of rebuilding Sapphire's statue, they can build one for us instead!" Yang continued, this time earning a small giggle from her sister and a scowl from Weiss.
"The only thing they'll be building you," Weiss began through gritted teeth, "is a tombstone next to Sapphire's new monument."
Blake couldn't keep in the small giggle that escaped as Yang and Ruby laughed at Weiss' comment, causing the heiress to blush slightly. It was comical to picture Sapphire's grand statue rebuilt in the square, plus a tiny tombstone set by its side for their fiery teammate.
As Yang's laughter faded, she said, "Well, on the plus side, it looks like some of the rust got knocked off of Blake today. You seemed to be hitting your stride!"
Blake felt herself go red in the face as her three teammates turned to face her.
"T-that was only because I was following your lead…" she stammered quickly, not particularly enjoying the calculating gaze Weiss was leveling on her.
"At least that's a step in the right direction!" Ruby piped in as Yang nodded in agreement.
"We should still have a team practice," Weiss stated matter-of-factly. "Our scripted moves from Beacon won't work out perfectly every time."
Everyone nodded in agreement at her statement. They could all think of multiple times when their planned attacks certainly had not turn out as intended. Next time, they might not be so fortunate.
"Oh, before I forget," Weiss began as she stood and walked to a nearby drawer, opening it and retrieving something from inside, "this is for you."
Weiss tossed an unassuming cream colored envelope down on the table in front of Blake, who picked it up quizzically. On front of the envelope, written out in beautiful calligraphy was her name, "Blake Belladonna." She looked up at Weiss questioningly, wondering what it could possibly be. The heiress merely motioned impatiently for her to open it and find out.
Opening the envelope, Blake pulled out a piece of expensive cardstock paper ornately designed with more black calligraphy and elaborate silver snowflake patterns around the edges. It was an invitation.
As Blake was about to begin reading through the invitation, Weiss began speaking again.
"Schnee Dust Company holds a…large…fundraiser each year at one of my family's villas. The richest and most powerful people in Vale are invited to raise awareness…"
"And money," Yang added helpfully, earning herself a glare from the heiress.
"And…money," Weiss continued patiently, "for a good cause."
Blake looked down again at the invitation she was holding in her hands. Her heart started beating a little faster as she read aloud, "Benefitting the Human-Faunus Relationship Council?" She looked back to Weiss, eyes asking her silent question.
"That was decided way before you came back," Weiss said somewhat snappily as she looked away from Blake, crossing her arms over her chest. "We had no way of knowing that you would actually be around, so you didn't factor into the decision at all."
Blake felt her mouth drop slightly open in shock at the girl's response. She hadn't thought that she had anything to do with her decision, but…
"The Council hasn't be founded officially yet, but the proceeds from the fundraiser will be more than enough to get it off the ground," Weiss stated proudly. "In fact, with just this one event, Schnee Dust will raise enough money to make the Council the best funded Human-Faunus group that has ever been created."
Blake stared at the girl, shocked at what she was hearing. She understood that it had nothing to do with her, but at the same time…it had everything to do with her as a person, as a Faunus. Having Schnee Dust Company throw such a high profile event…with the proceeds going to fund a Human-Faunus Council…it was a huge step forward for Faunus everywhere. It was the type of progress she could only dream of accomplishing over the past few years.
She felt tears begin welling up in her eyes, but she refused to look away from the heiress. Her appreciation for the girl had just grown by leaps and bounds in a matter of seconds.
"T-thank you, Weiss," she said thickly, trying to keep her tears from spilling over. "I know you didn't do this for me…but thank you, from the bottom of my heart." Looking back at the invitation clasped in her hand, she finished, "This is truly amazing…"
Weiss grew uncomfortable at the thanks she was receiving, frowning before grumbling, "It's not that big of a deal; it's my duty as next in line to head the company. Plus, it was Yang's idea, anyway..."
The air in the kitchen stilled at Weiss' confession. Blake looked at Yang in dismay, finding the blonde brawler blushing furiously while staring at an invisible spot on the ceiling. She couldn't help smiling at the sight, feeling an immense wave of affection and pain wash over her at that moment.
If only she had made a different decision so many years ago…she could have made more of a difference with Yang by her side than Adam, as Yang had already proven time and time again since Blake had returned. Even though Yang wasn't a Faunus, she always tried exceptionally hard to make the world a better place for them…a better place for Blake.
She felt more tears threatening at that moment. She couldn't help remembering what she had yelled at Yang as she had walked out of her partner's life. That Yang could never understand what it was like to be treated so unfairly, to be discriminated against and persecuted for her race.
Well, maybe Yang could never truly understand what being a Faunus was really like, but that didn't mean the blonde couldn't help them in her own way.
Realizing that Yang was not going to make eye contact with her at that moment out of embarrassment, Blake recognized that there was another shocking aspect to this revelation.
"Why would your parents even agree to the idea, Weiss, when the White Fang are responsible for so many attacks on their company?"
Waving a hand through the air as if brushing Blake's question aside like a cobweb, Weiss replied, "There really wasn't much they could say about the matter, as they agreed that this would be the first year that I would coordinate the entire event without their interference."
"But," she added, "They actually thought that it would be a good idea."
Blake raised her eyebrows in shock. She found it extremely difficult to believe that Mr. and Mrs. Schnee would forgive the Faunus so easily for the continued harassment and theft targeting their company over the past few years.
"They think that establishing Schnee Dust as a firm supporter for improving Human-Faunus relationships will ease some of the Faunus hatred for our company. It will show White Fang members that we are committed to bettering their place in society, even as they continue to attack us. From a PR perspective, it is taking the high road to an extreme degree, but…they think that Vale is finally ready for this. Schnee Dust will pave the way."
Blake could only nod in agreement as she looked back down at the invitation, once again becoming overcome with emotion at what it stood for.
Yang must have felt that the mood had become much too serious for her liking, as she suddenly quipped, "Hey, Weiss, where's my fancy invite?"
The normally sophisticated heiress let out an undignified snort of amusement as she rolled her eyes at the blonde.
"You're lucky to have been invited at all, Yang. I know how much damage you can do with an open bar."
Yang giggled at her response, turning to Blake with a wide smile as she nodded and mouthed 'it's true.'
It was at that moment that Ruby finally spoke up, voice quivering slightly as she asked, "But Weiss…why didn't I get an invitation?"
Blake watched in amazement as Weiss instantly dropped her indifference towards Yang and turned towards Ruby with concern filled eyes. She stretched her arms out to grasp Ruby's in her own as she attempted to get the young girl to look her in the eyes, which Ruby skillfully avoided.
"Ruby…" Weiss began, panic lacing the edge of her voice, "I…I didn't think that you would need an invitation because I personally invited you to accompany me weeks ago! B-but I can have another invitation made, just for you. In fact, I'll go do that right now."
As Weiss hastily turned to walk out of the room, Ruby let out a small giggle, pulling her girlfriend back towards her.
"Weiss!" Ruby said through more giggles as Weiss peered carefully at her. "I was only kidding! Of course I don't mind not getting a formal invitation. Being personally asked to be Weiss Schnee's date is so much better than a pretty piece of paper."
The heiress blushed intensely at Ruby's comment as she took a step closer to the girl, muttering quietly, "Accompanying me…"
The embarrassment only made Ruby laugh as she wrapped Weiss in a giant hug while Blake and Yang chuckled at the heiress' discomfort. Blake picked up the invitation and began sliding it back into its envelope, only then noticing the date of the event.
"Wait…it's only two days from now!" she remarked in shock, double-checking to make sure she had her dates correct.
The two girls finally separated from their hug, as Weiss turned back towards Blake.
"I apologize for the last minute invitation, but we weren't really expecting you to be here."
Flinching slightly at the bluntness of Weiss' comment, Blake gave a timid smile in return.
"I don't have anything worthy of wearing to such an elegant event…"
"I can take you shopping for a dress tomorrow!" Yang exclaimed after Blake's admission.
Blake felt her heart speed up at her partner's offer. Dress shopping with Yang? It sounded too good to be true. Although, Yang probably wouldn't be trying on any dresses for Blake…
She nodded her thanks as she accepted Yang's offer, trying to ignore the small glare Weiss sent Yang's way.
"Oh! Blake, I have to show you the dress Weiss picked out for me to wear!" Ruby said, excitedly bouncing up and down as she grasped on to Blake's hands and began pulling her out of the room. Blake could only grin at the girl's excitement as she allowed Ruby to pull her along.
Casting a quick look back to see if their partners were following them, she noticed Weiss pull Yang aside for what appeared to be a serious conversation. She could only imagine the things Weiss wanted to say to the blonde right now…
Sighing, she pushed the thought from her mind as Ruby continued to pull her towards the young girl's room.
Several minutes later, Blake looked around Ruby's bedroom as the younger girl was changing into her dress in the attached bathroom. From her spot on Ruby's bed, she had already noticed that Ruby's room was immensely more organized than Yang's was, although the overall décor gave off a more childish vibe. Ruby had hung pictures of her favorite huntresses on the walls; Blake was amused to find that Dana Sapphire was amongst them. The top of her chest of drawers was littered with various tiny action figurines, the type that many of the small children of Vale collected religiously.
One corner of the room, however, was devoted to a large desk with a variety of very technical devices resting on it. Sketches were taped haphazardly to the walls surrounding the area. Peering more closely at them from her current position, they appeared to be weapon designs.
Blake furrowed her brow at the discovery. She certainly hoped that Ruby was not trying to build another weapon in her own room! From what she knew of the process, it was extremely dangerous to build something the likes of Crescent Rose. Ruby wouldn't try to do anything like that from in here, would she?
The sound of the bathroom door opening brought Blake's attention back to the reason she was here to begin with.
Ruby came hopping out of the bathroom and gave Blake a full twirl in her gorgeous red cocktail dress. The dress was strapless and ended just above her knees, similar to the skirt she wore in combat. While it was predominantly a satiny red color, there was a shimmering, exquisite black snowflake design embroidered right on her chest. The skirt of the dress was made up of plates that were nicely accented underneath in black. Black tulle peeked out from underneath the skirt, adding a nice texture to the overall smooth presentation of the dress.
It was perfect for Ruby. It showed off her strong shoulders, built through years of wielding her ungodly heavy weapon of choice. Red had always been Ruby's best color and this certainly proved that theory to be correct, but the black accents made the young girl look more mature and sophisticated than usual.
The snowflake pattern was obviously Weiss' personal touch, Blake thought in amusement. The frosty girl just couldn't help placing her own personal mark on Ruby for all to see.
"Wow…" was the only word Blake could find as she gazed at the cheerful girl.
"Isn't it great?" Ruby asked as she twirled around several more times in front of her, causing the skirt of the dress to fan out around her.
"It really is…" Blake replied with a smile. "And I love it. It suits you perfectly; Weiss really has great taste."
"Doesn't she?" Ruby squealed as she swished the material back and forth in front of her gently.
Blake couldn't miss the glazed look that came over the young girl's face just then, a stupid smile frozen on her face as she stared down at the fabric between her fingers. Clearly, lost in thought over the girl who had chosen this dress for her.
Suddenly snapping out of her thoughts, Ruby looked back to Blake with a huge grin.
"I'm so excited for the party though!"
She couldn't help but chuckle at Ruby's enthusiasm.
"I am, as well. Although…I still in a bit of shock about it."
Ruby walked over and sat down on the bed beside Blake, making sure to carefully smooth out the bottom of her dress before sitting down.
"Yang would probably never admit it…" Ruby began slowly looking down at her hands carefully placed in her lap, "And Weiss certainly never would, but…we were all secretly hoping that this fundraiser would catch your attention. That it would bring you back to us…"
Feeling the burning of tears behind her eyes, Blake looked quickly down at her own hands, not wanting Ruby to see the emotion that statement had brought forth.
"It certainly would have caught my attention…" she responded softly as the two girls sat in silence.
"I'm sorry that I ruined the surprise though!" Blake added several seconds later, attempting to lighten the mood. Certainly not her forte. That's what she had always had Yang for, after all…
Ruby laughed anyway as she bounced off of the bed and headed back towards the bathroom to change out of her dress.
"We would much rather have you here with us to enjoy the party together!" The young girl gave Blake a grin before stepping into the bathroom and closing the door.
Blake felt her own smile fade as Ruby disappeared from the room. She could only imagine how she would feel if she had found out about the forming of this Human-Faunus Council after the fact, still living with Adam. As much as she'd like to believe that she would have sought her teammates out, she didn't know for sure that she would have. A part of her believed that she would have been so crushed by the weight of her mistakes that she would never have been able to face her teammates, especially Yang, again.
Standing, Blake walked over to the bathroom door and called to the girl inside, "Ruby, I'm going to head back to my room now."
"Ok, Blake!" came the slightly muffled reply from within.
Blake turned and quietly let herself out of Ruby's room and headed to her own. Once inside, she looked slowly around herself. The room was not bare, by any means. There were generic paintings hung on the walls which, in actuality, probably were most likely worth a small fortune. Her gaze finally fell upon her still unpacked bags sitting by the chest of drawers.
Deep down, she had been afraid that her teammates would ask her to leave, so she hadn't felt any strong desire to unpack her things. There was no reason to get comfortable somewhere she might not be welcome for very long.
But after hearing Ruby talk just now…admitting that she had been hoping Blake come back to them…it made Blake realize that even if her teammates were mad at her or didn't trust her, they still, for whatever reason, loved her.
She smiled as she grabbed a handful of items from the nearest bag and began looking for places to store them in her room.
Humming a tune contentedly to herself, she quickly had most of her clothing stored safely away in the chest of drawers or closet. Reaching back into the bag to pull out the last of what she had packed, she was surprised to find one of the only dresses she had ever owned in her life.
Deciding to try it on, Blake changed in front of the closet doors, which doubled as floor to ceiling mirrors. As soon as the garment slipped into place, she knew that it was nowhere near fancy enough to wear to Weiss' party. The plain black dress hung off of her shoulders slightly and was a tad too small for her now. The material was peasant's garb compared to the dress Ruby had just shown her. But money hadn't exactly been plentiful when she was growing up, and dresses were expensive and impractical purchases if you wanted to survive.
Staring at her reflection for some time, she finally sighed, averting her eyes. She would need to go shopping for a new dress after all.
She shrugged out of the dress, allowing it to fall to the ground in a heap at her feet before stepping out of it. She bent over to pick up her discarded clothing from the floor. As she straightened up to pull on her top, she finally heard the footsteps right outside her unlocked door.
"Hey Blake! Weiss wants to…"
Yang's voice cut off abruptly as Blake froze, still clad only in her undergarments, her clothing clutched in her hands. Blake felt the blood rush to her face, positive that she was now just as red as Ruby's dress.
After what felt like an eternity, Yang finally shouted, "S-s-sorry!" followed immediately by the sound of the door slamming shut.
The sound jolted Blake out of her paralysis as she put her clothing back on with record speed. Breathing a small sigh of relief now that she was fully clothed, she crept over to the door, believing that an embarrassed blonde would still be hovering on the other side.
Coughing slightly, Blake nervously spoke to the closed door, too embarrassed to see her partner's face at this time, "Y-Yang? Is there something you needed?"
"O-oh, uh…yeah," came Yang's muffled response from the hallway. "Weiss wants to have a team practice in ten minutes."
"Ok, I'll be right down!" Blake replied somewhat too cheerfully, grimacing at how high pitched her words came out. She listened carefully for the sounds of Yang moving away, determining that the girl was headed quickly back downstairs.
She hid her head in her hands as she stood rooted to that spot by the door, mortified at what had just transpired. Yang Xiao Long had just seen her practically naked.
Maybe she had unpacked too soon, after all.
At Beacon, she had changed in front of Yang countless times. Sharing a room with four girls certainly didn't allow one to be modest (although, Weiss had managed to go an awfully long time without changing in front of any of them). However, that had been when they were all just friends and teammates. If Blake had been aware of Yang's feelings for her at the time, she certainly would have been more hesitant to change in front of the girl.
Heaving one last sigh, she lowered her hands and yanked open the door to exit her bedroom. This could be one of the only instances when she did not want to see Yang's gorgeous face. But the last thing she wanted to do was anger a certain heiress, plus she really could use the practice.
Padding quietly into the simulation room, she saw that her teammates were already gathered there, chatting around the control panel.
Seeing her enter, Weiss clapped her hands together once, saying, "Alright! Now that we're all here, let's begin."
"We obviously haven't spent much time fighting together recently, so I wanted us to hold this practice so that we could work on our team chemistry."
Blake found it very difficult to focus on the words Weiss was saying, as she was too busy trying to avoid making eye contact with Yang, while keeping her blush at a minimum level. Unfortunately, she was only successful in one of her endeavors. Keeping her eyes trained firmly on the wall far beyond Weiss, she at least wasn't able to see Yang out of her peripheral vision.
The sound of Weiss loudly clearing her throat brought Blake's attention quickly back to the irritated girl's face.
"Would you like to pay attention, Yang, or would you like to continue staring at Blake?" she spit out in frustration.
Blake felt her blush intensify tenfold as she shot a quick glance towards her partner, just in time to see Yang look away, a small blush tinging her own cheeks.
"Maybe you should let the missus lead this; she is team leader after all," Yang remarked brazenly as she turned back towards Weiss.
The stunned heiress opened her mouth to retort, but apparently thought better of it, snapping her mouth shut the next second with a curt nod of her head.
"You're right…Ruby?" she said, turning towards her girlfriend while gesturing for her to take charge.
"Aww…Weiss, you have such good ideas though!" Ruby exclaimed as she leaned against Weiss' shoulder for a quick one armed hug, causing the heiress to blush considerably.
"I guess we can start though! Let's just spawn in a whole bunch of Grimm at one time and see what we can accomplish!" Ruby continued, grinning widely at each of them.
"But," Weiss cut in before Yang could finish punching buttons on the control panel. "We need to at least try to minimize damage to the surrounding area."
Blake smiled as Ruby and Yang's matching smiles faded. Trying to minimize collateral damage certainly took some of the fun out of it, but it was definitely a priority after the events of today.
As buildings materialized around them, Blake caught Yang staring at her out of the corner of her eye. Turning towards the girl, Yang smiled widely as Blake felt another blush appear on her cheeks. Yang sidled over towards her and slung an arm nonchalantly around Blake's shoulders, causing her blush to intensify.
"Ready, partner?" she asked casually.
"I-I think so…" Blake replied, Yang's proximity beginning to mess with her coherent thoughts.
"You'd better be," Yang replied as she removed her arm and lit up her aura as Grimm appeared around them. "Wouldn't want you to get caught with your pants down, would we?"
Blake's mouth dropped open in shock as Yang shot her a wink and tore off towards the first group of Beowolves.
"Blake! Stick with Yang!" Weiss yelled as she set off in the opposite direction following Ruby.
Blake did as instructed and sprinted after the blonde brawler, who was already engaging several Beowolves at once. She would just have to be embarrassed later on.
The team spent several hours fighting countless creatures at once. Sometimes, they were not successful, resulting in the simulation terminating early. Most of the time, however, they were able to work together as a team and clear out the hordes of Grimm without a casualty. Blake found that the longer they spent fighting together, the more comfortable she began to feel, both in her own abilities and those of her teammates.
Most shocking to her was just how good the three girls had become in the past few years. It was almost as if some of their inherent fortes had spread amongst the group. Weiss had always been a decently fast fighter, but she seemed to be even quicker than before. Some of her moves bordered the blur status that was normally reserved for Ruby. Yang was also a bit quicker, but her ability to work off of Weiss' glyphs was phenomenal. It was as if the two girls were now operating on the same wave length, with Weiss sending glyphs Yang's way without even looking at her. And Ruby…well Ruby had developed some of her older sister's penchant for close quarter combat. Blake had witnessed the youngest girl deck several Beowolves square in the face with nothing but her fist, knocking the creatures out cold.
The three of them together were quite powerful. And, if Blake could hold her own, she thought that the four of them made quite the team.
As the last round of Grimm lay scattered around the fake city block, the four girls looked at each other in satisfaction. They were exhausted, but they had succeeded once again, and this time with very little structural damage.
"I think that's good for today…" Ruby announced tiredly as she rested the tip of Crescent Rose on the ground beside her. She looked towards Weiss to see if the heiress would complain about them stopping now, but only received a fatigued nod of agreement. Smiling, Ruby turned back to Yang and Blake.
"Go Team RWBY!" she shouted enthusiastically, pumping one fist in the air. "Time to hit the showers." And with that, she disappeared in a flash, the large door banging open loudly to let their leader fly through.
Weiss shook her head, muttering, "I told her to open the doors more gently…" as she made to follow her girlfriend upstairs.
Left alone, Blake could feel Yang's eyes on her once again. Suddenly, her forgotten embarrassment came flooding back as she flushed once again, causing Yang to giggle slightly.
"Good job today, Blake," Yang said, actually sounding somewhat serious for a change.
Blake glanced at her quickly, too embarrassed to make direct eye contact, before directing her eyes away again.
"Thank you," she replied timidly. "You did quite well, yourself."
Yang laughed in response and clapped one of her hands somewhat roughly against Blake's shoulder, throwing her forward several inches.
"That's because I've got my partner back!" she said jovially as she made her way towards the door.
"Be prepared to shop til you drop tomorrow morning!" she continued. "But…let's try to use the changing rooms as much as possible, shall we? I wouldn't want anyone else to be treated to the same view I got this afternoon." She turned around to give Blake a huge grin at that statement, laughing again at the blush Blake felt reappearing once again.
Blake could do nothing but blush furiously as she watched the blonde saunter from the room. Hopefully Yang would forget about that little incident by tomorrow…