Blake and Pyrrha stood shoulder to shoulder, facing off against Yang and Weiss. They were all decked out in their combat gear and ready for a rather intense sparring session, if appearances were to be believed.
"So, you're not about to tell us what this is all about?" Blake asked calmly.
"Sure," her blonde teammate chuckled. "We're bein' the bad guys today!"
Weiss gave a rather uncharacteristic giggle and nodded. "It's a lot more fun than I imagined it would be."
The Cat Faunus shook her head with a rueful smile. "Got a plan?" she murmured to her temporary sparring partner.
Pyrrha gave a small thoughtful hmm. "I believe I can handle Yang, if you would take Weiss?"
"Works for me," Blake told the Mistralian champion. "Lead off."
With that, Pyrrha exploded into action, throwing her spear out with the speed of a gunshot at the blonde bruiser. Yang got her arms up just in time to deflect the blow, though she staggered back a step from the power of it.
Weiss quickly plunged Myrtenaster into the ground, sending a field of icy spikes out and towards the two of them. Pyrrha was already in motion, and nimbly leapt over the obstacle, catching Milo in midair to come crashing down on Yang's position. Her opponent was ready for her, and fired a quick one-two combo from her gauntlets that the redhead sent off to the side with Akouo.
Meanwhile, Blake quickly closed with her white-haired teammate, lashing out with Gambol Shroud on the end of its ribbon. Weiss easily batted it away with her rapier, but the Faunus merely used the attack as a distraction. She flipped in close, spinning around in a kick to sweep the heiress' feet from under her before leaping back again. She left a shadow clone behind to absorb the inevitable retaliation strike, and quickly whipped her weapon back around to keep Weiss occupied.
Pyrrha and Yang were going at it with their characteristically fierce, thunderous strikes that shook the foundation of the training room. Each had managed to get a few good hits in past their opponent's defenses but nothing significant.
The redhead knew that the longer she let this go on, the more energy Yang would store up. In their previous sparring sessions, they'd usually trade off on wins, but the only times Pyrrha would defeat the blonde were when she took her into the red quickly, before she managed to start landing the hard and heavy attacks.
And that gave her an idea.
"Blake!" she called out, circling around to put Yang's back at the other battling pair. Time to work like a team and not individuals.
She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but Yang was certainly surprised enough when the ribbon from Gambol Shroud suddenly entangled her leg. She went down onto her face, hard, and Pyrrha could finally dart in close…
And touch both parts of Ember Celica.
Yang looked up, her lilac eyes filled with dread. "Oh, for-"
That was all she got out as Pyrrha flicked her arms to the side, sending Yang flying over and into Weiss. The heiress was about to strike out at Blake while the Faunus girl was distracted, but was bowled over and pinned to the ground by her teammate's weight. Her rapier went skidding off to the side.
Both Pyrrha and Blake got to their feet and strolled over towards the struggling pair.
"Ouch, Yang you oaf! That's my chest!"
"Well, I'm sorry Princess, I'm not really tryin' to cop a feel here…"
"I would certainly hope not!"
"Though if you wanna, I ain't gonna blame ya…"
"Yang!" the heiress sputtered, her face red with embarrassment. "Get off me this instant!"
"Can't," Yang replied smugly, her arms secured to the floor on either side of her teammate. "Gotta ask Pyrrha for permission first."
Weiss let out a sigh and looked up at the smirking duo. "Please, Pyrrha, will you release us before I'm smothered by this girl's bosom?"
"Heh," Yang chuckled. "Death by boobs. Could be worse ways to go…"
"Yang!"
"Well, I would certainly be willing to release you both…" Pyrrha chuckled softly. "However, there is the little problem of our missing girlfriend."
"Do you concede the fight?" Blake grinned.
"Well, I dunno…" the blonde mused.
"Yes! Yes, we concede, alright!" Weiss interjected angrily.
Pyrrha released her semblance, and they helped their opponents to their feet. Yang gave Blake an enthusiastic hug, and then turned to do the same for Pyrrha.
"Nice teamwork, you two!" the blonde exclaimed. "We gotta do it again sometime!"
"Not anytime soon, please," Weiss sighed, rubbing her shoulders. "I do believe I almost pulled something when you landed on me."
"Hey, you should try wearing these beauties sometimes, man I had to build up some serious shoulder muscles…"
"Yang…" Weiss sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Just… give them the note? Please?"
"Oh! Right!" Yang gave the other girls a bright smile as she pulled out another piece of cardstock with a flourish. "Your reward for defeating us vile brigands, valiant heroines!"
Pyrrha took the paper with a giggle. "Thank you, kind lady."
"You bet! And hey," the blonde grinned. "Serious about a rematch. Anytime you're red-y would be purrfect!"
Blake swatted her partner on the arm. "Stop that. And can you tell us now what's going on?"
"Nope!" Yang replied cheerfully. "You want the girl, you still gotta fight for her!"
Pyrrha slipped the card over to Blake for her to read. On it, Ruby instructed her girlfriends (valiant warriors) to head for the courtyard (daunting battlefield bordered by the heroic monument) to face their final opponent (boss fight). Blake had to snicker at the last.
"She plays too many games," the Faunus girl laughed.
"And no clues as to who this last opponent might be?" Pyrrha asked, one eyebrow raised humorously.
"Oh, no," Weiss replied, a wide smirk on her face. "That would spoil the surprise."
"Well, then," Pyrrha sighed, glancing over at Blake. "Shall we?"
"We shall," the raven-haired girl replied confidently. As they strode towards the exit, Pyrrha's hand brushed up against Blake's almost questioningly. She hesitated briefly, cognizant of her teammates watching them depart, but finally shrugged internally and took the redhead's hand in hers.
It's not like I'm embarrassed or trying to hide anything. I just don't know what this is yet.
Blake took a few moments to reflect on her growing feelings for the tall redhead walking at her side. They had certainly passed the boundaries of simple friendship, even close ones. But where did that leave them?
Never in my life have I even considered it a possibility to love two women at the same time, not to mention having that love returned. I considered myself lucky to even find one person willing to share their heart with me on such a level… Could Pyrrha actually return these feelings?
She knew that there was a conversation that needed to happen, but as usual she was hesitant to take the first step. Perhaps she might find the time to bring this up with Ruby first…
"That was very well done, by the way," Pyrrha murmured, breaking into her thoughts. "Tripping Yang up like that gave me the perfect opening."
Blake blushed slightly at the compliment. "Thank you. And I must say, that was the best finish to any sparring session I've ever had."
They shared a quick smile as they exited the training building before blinking in the sudden sunlight, hands upraised to shield themselves. Across from them was the central courtyard with the hunter statue, an easy landmark on campus.
Their smiles faded as they got closer and found a tall and lanky man waiting patiently for them. He had hair the color of Blake's, though his eyes were an intense red in color, similar to Yang's when she released her semblance.
"So, guess you two would be Pyrrha and Blake, huh?" the man asked in a raspy voice. "Name's Qrow, might have heard of me."
Blake had a variety of choice curses she saved up for moments like these. She ran through the entire gamut in her head as she stared at the legendary hunter who also happened to be Ruby's uncle.
"Right. So if you wanna get to my niece," the gaunt man continued, unfolding a giant and deadly-looking scythe from behind his back in a whirring of gears. "You gotta face me first."
Pyrrha's response was simply a small noise. "Eep."
And Blake could only let out a tiny mewl of agreement.
A/N: So this is why I said earlier that Qrow would be finding out before Tai. Seems Ruby called her Uncle in for help with her little adventure that she set up for her girlfriends. Been nice knowing you, Blake and Pyrrha…
Jazzatron: No Tai, but would a Qrow suffice? And yeah, Ruby has an odd definition of 'fun' sometimes… then again, they are in training to be huntresses…
THB4: Lol, should have thought of getting Nora involved as the evil Sloth Queen, that would have been hilarious. Typically Pyrrha assumes the big spoon position against the wall, with Blake in the middle and Ruby as the little spoon. I imagine they might mix it up a little.
Demonic Angel C: Eh, not terribly crushing, but Yang and Weiss are more used to working together than Pyrrha and Blake. That said, Blake also knows how single-minded Yang can get in her fights…
FelipeCH98: Yer killin' me here. How do folk get ahold of my chapter notes before I post them? In any case, yep you called it, one more boss fight to go!
Stay shiny!