Schnee Docks at 10:40 in the morning.
The indistinctive and moderately muffled rumbling resonated softly out through the air from with under the hood of the car's front as the engine progressively began to slow down, allowing Ruby to use her right foot to barely press down on the gas as the car softly trundled across the flat concrete of the street that had approached a pair of detached gates. Giving the area a sense of dread and unease. Yet, while the once minor perception of being completely oblivious and apprehensive towards the situation that the Dutch had involved her only seemingly increased as Ruby's heart thumped at a unsteady from the feeling of the car's front tires lightly bounced the car upwards as it drove over it and pass a demolished Id scanner that had been spray painted with vile words that evoked a scowl on the brunette's expression.
Yet with all of this being accounted for and most likely requiring to be openly discussed between the duo, neither females had blatantly volunteered to enforce themselves to openly attempt at forming a decent and or proper conversation to break the stifled atmosphere around them since the Dutch woman had seemingly became abstracted as she continued to stare out the window with her elbow resting uncomfortably against the door handle with her chin gently resting upon the center of her palm. The sharp and firm voice of the GPS's voice steadily speaking as Ruby's grip on wheel tightened from her eyes having unconsciously drifting over towards the Dutch woman's direction in hope to possibly see what she thought of the mess scattered about the tarnished area, yet when managing to get a glimpse of the Dutch woman, she promptly noticed that the long loose tresses had mostly blocked the woman's facial expression.
Anguish quickly flooded the brunette's thoughts as she allowed her eyes to attentively scrutinize the Dutch woman's dejected positioning in the seat before her once subtle scowl began to become even more visible on her lips, while the unsteady beat to her heart increased a bit more until it had been to the point where all that she could coherently hear was the sound of her own heart thumping. 'I wonder if she's upset over the place being a mess..' Ruby gingerly glanced down towards the radio that had been personally built in for her as a present from her father under the air vents before she patiently blinked a couple of times when noticing the clear bar vibrantly radiating the red colored track name of the song that the pair had long since muted for the sake of the GPS, yet after a few minutes of waiting for the song's name to completely vanish from the radio's bar, Ruby noticed the time quickly flashing up. '10:40..Maybe..If she is upset about the area being a mess, I could offer to help her? It's not much, but.. I'd feel wrong to just leave her to deal with whatever the issue may be.'
As the brunette had been wordlessly contemplating on exactly how she could have possibly offered her assistance to the Dutch woman without seeming too distraught over the uneasy feeling boiling intensely in the bottom of her stomach from the thought of even leaving the woman alone in that certain area, she had unconsciously ignored the GPS speaking up in the usual artificial human voice, calmly alerting the pair that their destination had been a few more parking spaces down when she abruptly tensed up in her seat to the sound of the Dutch woman repeatedly snapping her fingers in attempt to regain the brunette's attention. "Ruby." Weiss stridently called out as she watched the brunette nervously glance back up and over from the radio to her until gray had met cerulean colored eyes, both clearly betraying different emotions for the situation. "Do not drive this care any further than this. While I might not constantly enjoy your annoyance, I do not want to deal with having to know you got your car destroyed from these scandals. I shall walk from here since they are seeming determined to destroy the cargos for merely the fact we're..well, If I'm correct for the American word, 'Immigrants'.. I must check on my crew to insure they are okay."
The once stern and apathetic stare that Ruby had long since grown accustomed to when speaking in direct terms with the Dutch woman had momentarily shifted into a despondent facial expression for the second time within their day together without the other members of the little orchestra chiming in and ruining their moments alone together, which would without doubt automatically snap the Dutch woman from her trance like state. Yet the only thing that had even began to classify the current change in Weiss's mood from the other times was that it had lasted longer, as if she had given up completely on caring if Ruby's presence had been in the car or not. "I've uhm, I, I've not been that up to date with what's exactly happening in the news or even world lately since i'm a bit more disconnected from it but," Ruby's nearly incoherent stumbling of words came to an abrupt halt in the middle of her sentence as she tried to properly sort out all of the various memories of chatting with her sister in hope to actually convey what she had in question before she continued to speak. "I've definitely heard there has been a commotion about some foreign company uhm.. Out selling other ones lately in the business charts from my sister's occasional rambling and I just- Is that your father's company? This place doesn't look to be as you had expected it to be, so is this the doings of another?'
A sense of dread loomed heavily within the atmosphere around the duo as the brunette quizzically quirked up her brow when noticing the unexpected question provoking a scowl on the Dutch woman's lip from the prior mention of other companies and businesses relentlessly bashing at the foreign company's success in the city before she reluctantly spoke up in a low tone that had been laced in her normal accent that almost had constantly given Ruby the sense that it was more of an alternate scolding strategy instead of being a mere accidental swap in language, since no matter much confident she could have mustered up in these predicaments, the Dutch woman had always successfully managed to cause her to shudder in regret and remorse when she became solemn over certain topics. "This conversation is needing no further continuation, I'll take my leave here.. Dank u for the ride, Ruby.."
Ruby moderately lifted up the hand that had initially been resting calmly upon the car's gearshift that had been long since raised up into the lock space for neutral mode while her foot continued to press down on the brakes while she gingerly extended her hand out over towards the Dutch woman's passenger side in attempt to slow Weiss's almost frantic and hastened movements as she tugged at the car door's handle until it softly clicked opened and allowed her to push it outwards and scoot around in her seat until she had both of her legs out slide the car and on the concrete. "W-Weiss, come on! Let's not be rash about hopping on out my car and uhm, I don't know how to put this without sound a little blunt but uh.. I don't know, rushing unarmed into a trashed area? Since if I was right, then that's even more unsafe.." Ruby's shoulders gradually drooped down in dejection as she softly sighed when earning not even the slightest acknowledgment as the woman continued to raise up off the seat. "I-I.. At least let me tag along in case something happens? Please? I won't be that much of a both and we can keep each other company and- Wa-wait!"
Before the brunette had any more excessive time to vocally express any furthermore questions regarding why the woman had chosen that direct time and moment to be stubborn and irrational, despite having constantly chided her for doing such childish things on what she believed to be a daily basis. Weiss used her left hand to firmly push on the the outer part of the door until it slammed shut with a noisy click of it's built in self locking mechanics, causing the brunette to flinch and recoil dejectedly back into her seat with a sullen expression clearly betraying on her facial features as she silently watched the Dutch woman reel forward on the ball of her foot and begin to stride off in a hastened pace towards the aligned cargos that lead further into the docks. "Dammit, I really shouldn't be involving myself in these kinds of matters anymore.. I'm just a pianist! What am I even doing with myself?! She's way too self centered, I mean, throwing herself without even thinking of the consequences of her actions? It'll just worry other people and by other people I mean mostly me since I was the one who drove her here! If anything bad happens I'll feel completely guilty and just? It just-Agh! Mom raised us to not judge other people- but I can't help but wonder how that woman thinks!"
The soft and yet firm resonance of when the brunette's fist had lifted up towards the steering wheel and forcibly slammed down against it's smooth leather resounded muffledly within Ruby's ears as she disregardfully began to unclutch the steering wheel with her left hand, only to promptly allow it to stray off to the side where the door handle had been resting up against the coated metal in different materials. She needed to feel as if she had some form of control or say so in the issue that had arisen from their day off together, something to at least show reasoning to why she had felt the compulsion and urge to offer her service further to the Dutch woman who had clearly been in major need of it, despite having ignored the many offers she had proposed priorly. "I know Yang's gonna be really upset and probably babble on about this to dad for a few weeks about her 'baby' sister was both was late coming to their daily meetups and that I'm doing risky stuff for someone that I barely know.. Mom, watch out for me.. I'll need it!"
Promptly after having been talking herself into actually listening to both rational and irrational thoughts of the predicament, Ruby gently tugged at the door's handle until an audible click resounded through the car's interior and allowed her to nimbly use her forearm to push outwards on the door. Her foot immediately stepped over the door frame and onto the pavement as she gingerly reached up towards the top of the door that had been now cracked open just enough for her to grab onto and assist in pulling her body off of the comfort and safe haven of the area in her seat. "Ah, uhm- Weiss, would you possibly mind wait for a second?! I've.. I mean I want to attempt at maybe compromising for our time together since I know I said I'd drop you off and leave you alone for the day but.." Yet, as if the appropriate and coherent words toward the brunette's current situation had become hitched in the back of her throat of her actual reasons for wishing to stay behind, Ruby clumsily stumbled forth across the concrete towards the Dutch woman's direction without paying anymore attention to the still propped door of her car.
Meanwhile the rapid patter of the brunette's shoes advancing from behind the dutch woman's back elicited a minor feeling of dread for what she had chose to merely ignore from the brunette of the possibilities of suggestions towards their day out together when truth be told, she had no more interest in further pursuing their relationship. Trust was something that had been addressed as foreign in her own terms. "Ruby do you not remember our terms of agreement in the car on the way here? Surely you do not consider this to be an issue you can stick your nose in you sukkel.." She grumbled in a raspy tone with the hopes that it had been loud enough for the brunette quickly approaching her to hear, but then the once consistent sound of the brunette's shoes pattering against the pavement had steadily come to a standstill somewhere not too far off from where she had been standing. Not even requiring a second thought or even hesitant claim that the brunette had been scowling at the mention of their earlier topic, the once silent atmosphere surrounding the pair with immense tension was soon broken by the sound of Ruby's shoes slowly beginning to pace forward towards her as she softly spoke up in a sincere tone as if truly concerned.
"Well, yeah, of course I remember our conversation in the car Weiss.. You uhm.. you had made it pretty clear, and yeah, I know it's probably not right of me to be interfering with your life outside of the music industry. Although even with that being said first, I want you to honestly think of how guilty my consciousness would feel if I had just left you here on these docks all by yourself after all we had seen vandalized! It's as clear as day to see that these guys have no good intentions for the area or the people in it! You don't have to be stupid and do this alone Weiss!" Ruby's once indistinct and frail voice momentarily became strident as she attempted at composing the progressively escalating frustration toward the fact that the dutch woman had still been merely choosing to ignore her pleads as if making her feel increasingly more desperate to tag along. Yet not shortly after finishing her sentence, her eyes faltered in immense regret upon taking notice finally of the dutch woman immediately coming to a standstill and unnervingly turning her upper body until amused cerulean colored eyes locked instantly with worried gray ones only for a split second before they had steadily diverted over to the dutch woman's shoulder to see a pale and petite hand partially rolling in small circles in silent signals for her to continue speaking.
Thus, with another heavy and stifled feeling swarming around the brunette from her recent comment of calling Weiss stupid, Ruby reminisced of memories of what had occurred the last time she had even hinted at an insult towards the dutch woman. Ruby forced herself to bear some form of confidence as she spoke up once again. "I just.. I know you don't completely view me as your friend or even a buddy, but as you said, we're neutrals right? And in my book that counts as a start and I'd like to work towards us being more friendly to each other so it's not that awkward at work.. I mean, uhm, what I'm really trying to say here for the short story though.. In technicality, we have a chance of us being friends and I don't like to just abandon my friends in shady situations like these.. Is that so wrong of me?"
A brief and yet potent feeling of discourage immediately washed over the Dutch woman's sense of will to merely tell off the pianist when noticing the same sincerity showing once again through her tone of voice as she had finally gotten close enough so that she was somewhat able to stand beside her. However, as it had always been for her since her early teenage years, the feeling of discourage was soon replaced back with her once original perturbed mood as the realization that try as she may. The brunette was certainly an uncompromising human being, hence provoking a long and displeased groan from the dutch woman as she begrudgingly spoke up. "By this point honestly, I believe I am beginning to understand that speaking to you about following directions is something you seem to..lack an understanding of.. Although I must be forward with you when I tell you, Ruby. If the police must be involved and you manage to get in the way of me making it to my crew to ensure their safety above all, I will not hesitate to allow the police in taking you into custody as well for entering the premises unauthorized."
Yet almost immediately upon allowing the information that the dutch woman had graciously given to the pianist to process through her thoughts into more intelligible understandings of what risk she had been putting herself into, Ruby's eyebrows scrunched down in sheer disbelief of the essential warning that Weiss had the upper authority to allow the police to take her into custody while the idea of being locked in a tiny jail cell for a few hours till her family came and bailed her out caused her shoulders to droop in dejection as she stammered in a state of introspection. However, as the brunette had been lost in thought of how she would have had to explain how she ended up in jail, a smug smile gradually began to appear on the edges of the dutch woman's lips as she silently reveled in satisfaction to Ruby's distressed state. 'Zij is zeer lichtgelovig zelfs in een tijd als deze. Amusant. She is very gullible even in a time like this. Amusing' Weiss absentmindedly chuckled as she gently shook her head in a silent reassurance that she was merely messing with the pianist since she might have not been completely okay with the woman's company, but that didn't entirely mean she despised it either in their current situation, and with that in mind. Weiss resumed striding off towards the direction of a certain dark blue cargo with the Schnee's company logo imprinted boldly into the side of the metal casing that had been twice the size of both females.
Meanwhile the recent small burst of accumulating feelings in the brunette's chest regarding the moments when the Dutch woman had seemingly begun opening up to her more had brought forth light rosy shades to her cheeks and the tips of her ears as her shoulders remained drooped while her right arm skittishly raised up to the left of her chest to tightly grasp onto the fabric in a feeble attempt to calm the unsettled beat of her heart while her legs impulsively trudged forward in an effort to follow Weiss closely behind. 'Agh..since when did I start getting heartburn so often as of lately..? I don't recall any of my family having these types of issues, but then again I didn't look that far into our medical history when talking to my dad.. Haah, maybe I'll just have to come forward with him during our next conversation, whenever that may be.' A long and tedious sigh forcibly escaped Ruby's lips as the feeling dwelling in her chest gradually began to dwindle out as her eyes wandered around the vicinity in curiosity of the neatly aligned and various arrays of the bulky metal cargos shaded in dark hues of blue with what she had known as the Schnee's logo.
While gaining ground among the sides of the various amounts of bulky cargos situated precisely on the polished and saturated wooden platform that had seemed to instantly plunge down deep beneath the sea's surface and into the unruly waves of ocean, while the air was almost as if in a constant state of turmoil as piercing sounds of nearby cargos being flung off into the waters below, causing another uproar of waves which had startled both Weiss and Ruby as both of their heads turned over towards their right in the general direction of a certain crane that the Schnee diversion for the Northern part of Vale had purchased awhile back beginning to become overran by two dark dressed raiders and one of Weiss's men struggling and tussling over control of the crane. Inevitably causing more damage than good before the two females gasped in horror as they eventually saw the body of Weiss's crew member get pushed off from the side door of the crane into the roaring waters with a splash.
Yet shortly after witnessing the abrupt display of malicious behaviors and intentions from the group's raider associate, Ruby had been completely taken back and aghast as her eyes reflected small glimpses of the man's body plummeting down beneath the water's surface before disappearing from sight. However, as if absentmindedly during the man's fall, she had begun to tightly clench her hand into a fist as she walked closer behind the dutch woman's back in an attempt to ignore the urges to try and play hero and help the innocent bystander who had just gotten attacked when she knew it would have served to cause more difficulties and put their safety at a greater risk. "What in the hell are they doing to your docks? This.. It's not right. In fact, it's coming on as unethical of these people to be sabotaging another's work for no reason.. Aren't you upset that they're doing this? We need to go help that guy, he looks like the impact from the crane to the waters might have knocked him unconscious! The-?"
Ruby momentarily paused mid-sentence when eventually coming to the realization that the silence lingering between them had been more abnormal than it would have been normally for them as her eyes shifted over onto the dutch woman in apprehension towards the lack of communication to what they had both just witnessed. Yet, upon getting a good glimpse of the woman's face, Ruby slowly diverted her eyes back towards the general direction of where they had last seen the man fallen to his demise. 'Hm.. she seems to be a lot more distressed about this situation than me. Yet even with that being said, it doesn't look like she's willing to openly speak about this all.. Not even the full story of what's going on.. But is it really my place to ask for it?' Ruby momentarily mused over her placement in their situation before softly sighing to herself as a whirl of turmoil corrupted her thoughts into a disorganized array. However, before Ruby could have said anything furthermore regarding the topic, a sharp and agonized inhale broke the unbearable silence forming between the pair as Weiss's cerulean colored eyes wavered with anguish as they tore away from the entire ordeal that had just occurred and softly murmured in response to the other woman.
"Yes.. I agree, It is extremely unethical of these Americans to simply be doing such damaging riots..We must have to keep moving.." Weiss would have been lying if she had claimed not to have been aware of the brunette's worried gaze blazing into the back of her head from the sudden action of her impulsively entering a hyperventilating stage when seeing no sign of movement in the water. However, Weiss had never held any intentions of answering the unspoken questions between the pair of what had truly happened, but instead she resumed carefully staggering forward along the edges of the platform in order to avoid any confrontations against one of the raiders until she had successfully made it to the storage where she had always made sure to send her crew members when riots such as these had happened for their safety. Yet as the duo had cautiously resumed traversing through out the midst of various sized implements scattered messily around the surrounding area, an immediate eerie feeling surrounded both of the females they listened to the soft dwindle of motors steadily beginning to give out faintly fill the air, giving the pair some form of minor relief from the constantly ear piercing sound of cargos being flung off into the waters by the overran cranes. "Haah.. I find it extremely inconvenient that they had to start two riots in one day when I was already having to deal with you and your weird ways of having 'fun', thus causing me to be responsible for letting something happen to these workers and cargos on my watch.." She groused in a feeble tone with little regard anymore towards if the brunette had even heard her as her eyes sluggishly drifted over the area and to the woman behind her.
Who had been attentively glancing around the area in high alert in order to ensure that they had still been in the clear of any raiders that could have been possibly doing row checks for any of Weiss's members that might have been trying to hide out during when they had bombarded the division. Nevertheless though, the comment that had been made by the Dutch woman hadn't completely gone omitted as shortly after the brunette had made sure that there were no raiders in sight near the edges of the cargos, her eyes darted over to the shorter woman ahead of her who had steadily been slowing down her brisk trudging along through scattered items in order to nimbly reel around on the ball of her foot to make direct eye contact as a quizzical and dull expression clearly betrayed on her facial expressions. "Err.. Wait, hey now, that's no way to treat your escort! And don't give me that expression Weiss.. It always makes me feel like I've done something guilty when people do it and plus I've apologized a million times by now! And I was just checking to make sure that there were no rai-"
Ruby's facial expression promptly contorted with horror shortly after the blurriness to her vision had subsided from the consequences of having reeled her head over in the direction of the shorter woman too fast when her irises locked onto the dark crimson color splattered and spread against the wood as a limp and tainted hand of a man laid in the center of the crimson spill, occasionally twitching in signs of life; yet even still with the knowledge that the man might have been able to be helped, Ruby reacted poorly on mere impulsives. "Oh jesus, uh.. Uhm, nope, can't do that, this is not something I was expecting to deal with today. Nor does that look like a very good sign for this situation." She quickly announced as she balled her fist tightly and brought to up to press against her lips while her eyes diverted swiftly from the entire scene when feeling a violent gagged force it's way from within the her throat upon taking notice of the stale scent of iron briefly making an impact on her nose before dispelling back into the various smells of oil and seawater, provoking the strong distaste for her own inabilities to be able to stand the sight or even thought of blood that had always since she was little sent chills down her spine. "Aha, geez, I honestly think I'm going to loose my lunch a little bit Weiss.. I get a little wheezy when situations like these but honestly you might to not or if you really want to, turn around quick.."
Apprehension quickly began occupying the Dutch woman's train of thoughts as she peered quizzically at the brunette in interest of what had possibly gotten such a compelling rouse of her to the point that she began babbling words so quick that it was nearly impossible for Weiss to decipher what was actually said, which she had only recently began understanding at how in vain it truly was to try depict it into Dutch, earning a protracted groan from the dutch woman as she gave up trying to properly understand what Ruby ever says when babbling about something she had a particular interest in or was just a nervous wreck and decided to shift around on the ball of her foot to see what had thrown the brunette into such a distraught mood when she stiffly paused mid turn when her eyes had also gazed upon the familiar wrist white edged wrist of a man's jacket and hand that had belonged to the members of her vicinity, promoting the Schnee's general dark blue jacket aligned with neatly placed white wrappings of white with the frosted snowflake imprinted on the back of the jacket and wrist. "O mijn God..Nee..Nee, nee! my god..no..no, no!" She repeatedly murmured in disbelief as reality ruthlessly crashed into her comprehension that she had been seeing the blood steadily draining from that of one of the men she had grown to care help financially live the their current areas, just as it had been for all the other crew members she had within their vicinity.
Resultantly causing in the immense feeling of suppression as the dutch woman's breath hitched in the back of her throat in formation of a painful lump almost swelling there as she without another moment's spare, began staggering the rest of the way around on her feet before her own consciousness had given up and allowed pilot take control of her legs. Which she then proceeded to pace briskly towards the man's body which had been propped up poorly against the side of one of the forklifts as the sound of his ragged breaths finally filled Weiss's ears as she began disregardfully shuffled over the scattered implements and blood until cerulean met dull and enervated green eyes of an older man in his near 30s with his brown short and curly locks of hair covered in oily grime from the machines leakage covering the wood met hers in shock, then immediate shame. "Ze kunnen mijn belastingen saboteren, omdat ze zijn slechts kleine nadelen die kunnen worden vastgesteld .. Maar wat ze hebben gedaan was over de limiet voor ons en voor dat ze benadeeld een onschuldig persoon voor het feit dat we niet hier zijn geboren ..They can sabotage my taxes, because they are only minor drawbacks that can be fixed .. But what they did was over the limit for us and that they harmed an innocent person for the fact that we were not born here .. Waarom .. Why.." Weiss felt anger gradually beginning to swell up in her chest as she dropped to her knees next to the man to only noticed that his hand had tightly been gripping at his side while his face had been covered in tear stains from the sheer amount of pain.
Yet despite the agonizing pain he had been enduring alone for the last 20 minutes, the man listened attentively to the dutch woman as she dolefully muttered in a quiet tone to ensure that it had only been heard in between the two of them, before eventually his eyes momentarily shifted away from the woman he had grown accustomed to seeing nearly everyday to the pianist who had been forcing herself to progress over towards the pair with tears forming in the corner of her eyes from all her vague attempts at not getting sick over the distinct smell before he wheezed laboriously, yet immediately recoiled and winced at the pain that followed shortly after. "Argh.. Het doet pijn zo slecht ..It hurts so bad .." He strained out in a hoarse voice as he was far beyond parched from the decent amount of blood he had already lost in the time of 20 minutes. Yet shortly after the pain had subsided a small amount, his head drooped in dejection as the realization of what had happened washed over him and guilt rolled forth as he heaved out softly. "Weiss'm spijt .. Ik deed mijn best om te helpen weg te komen van mijn collega's, maar voordat ik de kans om de andere helft te helpen had, kreeg ik .. ik .. Ik herinner me black out met intense pijn. Weiss'm sorry .. I did my best to help get away my colleagues, but before I had the chance to help the other half, I got .. I .. I remember blacking out with intense pain." He mumbled in a dull whisper as his once barely noticeable scowl gradually began to appear on his lips as he peered at his pale hand stained in that of both his blood and possibly another's.
Meanwhile, the gentle and yet irregular thumps of the Dutch's heart beat quickly began to flood her sense of sound initially after the man had spoken up and clarified the situation that had been thrown in front of both the duo and those in the vicinity, glints of fury and misery betrayed intensely in her eyes as she allowed her hand to slowly lower down from off of her lap and onto the man's knee as she shook her head in silence. Yet as the Dutch woman was softly communicating back and forth with the man who had had seem to know well, the brunette had been dwelling and musing over the overwhelming ordeals revolving around her as she had finally made it over Weiss and haltingly began crouching down next her despite the painful chills that had been shooting down her spine from the thought of blood being absorbed or clinging onto to soles of her shoe. However, despite all her fears and rational thoughts imploring for her to get out of the area quickly before someone came back, her eyes strayed off from the gruesome sight that sat in front of her and towards Weiss. 'Ugh, geez.. She still refuses to let me help her.. But I've been standing by for the majority of the time with her like I had promised.. Although how could someone do this to another human and what's their actual goal behind it?! I can't just not stand back and let someone basically die in front of me! I can.. Technically this doesn't count as helping HER.. So.. I mean if it makes her happier, I guess that's a win win in everyone's , I'll just have to..'
Gray eyes wavered in hesitation to towards her daring train of thought before they eventually diverted back over to the man's injured body that was still clearly propped against the forklift in an uncomfortable angle he mumbled occasional responses to the dutch woman in what she had assumed to be most likely dutch, yet pushing all her thoughts to the side in order to attain a clear focus on her objective. Ruby scrutinized the man's lower stomach as most of the dried up blood had seemed to reside clinging in patches to the lower part of his white T-shirt, which only taken her a few seconds to realize where the blood had become thicker and seemed as if still fresh from bleeding to decide where he had gotten hurt and how from the small sized hole. 'Agh, that's pretty visually disturbing if I were to be honest here.. Although from the looks of it, it seems like a bullet shot to me.. Poor guy. Now I've gotta stop it actually, and that makes me think about the things I do to be a good person.' Nauseous quickly followed short after she had thought about the texture of blood against her fingers before she shuddered and pushed it aside once more as her hands extended out past the Dutch woman to towards the small hole of man's shirt just enough for her to slip her left fingers index partially into the hole before using her right thumb to hook underneath the shirt as well as she ripped it open enough for the wound to become visible.
However, despite the evidential good meanings behind her abrupt and yet harmless actions in trying to help make the bleeding stop. She couldn't help but notice the pair of familiar eyes glaring at her in minor blind hostility, causing her eyes to frantically dart back and forth between the man's blood stained sided and Weiss as she began gathering up a small fragments of the man's tattered white shirt in order to begin dabbling it at the trickling trails of blood in the general area while occasionally adding small amounts of pressure around it to ensure that their had been no major arteries busted or damaged. "Uhm.. I.. It seems that you're a lucky man for as of the moment pal, it looks like when they had shot you it went right through your flesh.. That means the bullet is around her somewhere but I don't think we should honestly stay here to look for it, and we uhm.. We need time.. I mean, you need time to heal and I've seen wounds vaguely similar so I have some experience with with sadly. But pressure should help alleviate some of the pain while we all together, safely get out of this area. Which I'm willing to do the drunken waddle with you there if you've got enough leg power?" Ruby offered sweetening smile that Yang had always claimed to be one of her more adored things to see when she was upset before noticing the man nervously nodding his head in shock of the information she was able to gather just from a small gunshot wound. "Sweet, now, let's get you up and away from this horrible stench and mess and head to that storage Weiss mentioned you all go. New clothes are definitely needed for you once we get there too.. Otherwise I still honestly think I might be sick as of the moment.."
Hateful and infuriated driven eyes steadily began to soften as they observed the pianist from the sidelines as she abashedly smiled at the man in an attempt to lighten the gloomy mood enshrouding the trio as her oddly enticing colored eyes glanced in her direction as if anticipating for any form of praise from her. Yet as if her voice had gotten jammed in the back of her throat, she stayed silent in shock of how the brunette hadn't ran off and simply abandoned the pair when she had already gotten the impression that the woman was definitely not the best of handlers when It came to blood being around her, although it hadn't been as if she had known the exact reason for the brunette's fear of crimson color when she herself normally wore red, but before her train of thought could have gone any further; Ruby spoke up in heaving tone. "Ugh.. Jesus pal, you're pretty heavy for such a small looking guy. Is this the benefit or price of working for Weiss?" she teased halfheartedly as if fully aware of the Dutch's dumbfounded expression before she grunted more with clenched teeth as she positioned herself more directly underneath the man's broad shoulder and so that his arm wrapped around your neck as she gradually began helping the man back to his head, even going as far as letting him use her as the majority of his support as he tightly held the cloth ruby had originally been holding to his side in it's spot. "Aha.. There we go, I think we're well set to move along now Weiss, don't you agree?"
Ruby's kind and affable demeanor gradually began to calm the Dutch's irregular heartbeat as she haltingly began lowering her right palm flat down onto the general area of dried wood while her left hand pushed down on her lap to assist her in scrambling back up to her feet with the pair, while words of gratitude dance up-top her tongue as she tried breathlessly calling out to the pianist. Yet before the words could have even left her throat and be processed as coherent sentences, the trio immediately froze in horror as they heard the voice of a husky man speaking up loudly as he slowly entered the open area to the side of them. "Ah, so I knew I heard something coming over from here. It was you three having your little get-together, but I'm gonna have to stop your trip right here, ladies. That gentleman right there that you're helping is valuable negotiation requirements for the head of our 'little' group, so first of all. Make any attempts at turning toe and running, and I'll shoot. Don't listen when I tell you to face my direction? I will shoot; meaning I suggest you three begin to face me before I make a slip up with the trigger you know? I'm a real clumsy guy."
Ruby immediately became aware of her body tensing up on its own in shock when hearing the raider's inhumane threat to possibly shoot one of them before she began cursing repeatedly underneath her breath at the trio's poor luck as she was far out of her league to do anything but oblige the man's order from the entire scent of the injured man's blood still making her feel sick before she glanced over to Weiss whose anger had once more returned at the raider's words of using another human's life as negation. However, despite the anger clearly radiating from the Dutch woman towards the man, Ruby hadn't been willing to put any of their life more at risk than it should have been and she began shuffling her feet awkwardly through the mess they were still stood in until they were able to see the man's black mask that was simple enough, along with the desert eagle pistol pointed in their direction as a twisted smile formed on his lips at the sight of Weiss who had also reluctantly turned around to face him once seeing Ruby turn. "Well, well. If it isn't the daughter of the big man himself! They had told me no Schnee's were in the area today and it seems like I've gotten a treat for myself since I know your trashy face anywhere, immigrate." Weiss sneered instantly when hearing the raider's last comment before gritting her teeth in anger towards the group childish hatred towards her father's hard worked company and incorporation. "You thought you were the big shot here in Northern Vale, didn't you? Your poor father brought your family over here and began ruining other business for those who's lived here since they were born with no remorse, unlike someone here. Their only source of income dropping all because of some immigrants. It's ridiculous. "
Ruby bitterly peered at the man who had long since been becoming the source of her sudden outrage as she tightened her clenched fist until her knuckles began turning white while her attempts at refraining from acting out had been harder than she had ever thought it would have been as she desperately waited for the Dutch woman to speak up and defend herself against the blatantly false accusations against both her and all her efforts. It had felt as if he was brushing off all the stressful task the Dutch woman struggled to carry out on her own to ensure her father had gotten that celebration he had wanted for their achievement while also keeping her coworkers happy. She couldn't just stand still as the Dutch allowed the man to speak of such nonsense and hurtful things, nor would she had allowed Weiss to deal with it further alone any longer "Hey! You shut your mouth over there! Just because the Schnee's company happen to put your companies out of business from hard work too, doesn't give you or anyone else in this area the ability to seek out harm to the one that was born into the company herself! Hell, it doesn't even give you a right to seek the destruction of other humans who are willing to stand by their bosses and show compassion! And nor is she trash or what you believe to be an immigrant, since I know Weiss works hard for what she accomplishes, and since that is clear enough for even someone as simple and plain as me to see; I won't let you talk bad about her like that without having to deal with me!"
The man firmly clenched his teeth down as he had been completely startled by the brunette's abrupt outburst and the sheer vigorousness of her personality before haltingly taking a few minor steps back in between the cargos as a scowl formed deeply on his lips before promptly regaining his own anger as he quickly jerked his arm over the the brunette's spot before his finger pulled back on the trigger, allowing the bullet to shoot out through the barrel of the gun and roughly hit nearby Ruby, causing her breath to hitch in the back of her throat as she stumbled back in order to stray away from the spot he had just shot in the wood while the man she had been carrying groaned in pain from the sudden quick and uncoordinated movement. Yet almost immediately upon noticing the man aiming the the barrel of the gun in Ruby's direction, Weiss had already began outstretching her arm in attempt to pull the pair over towards her for safety purposes, but shortly after the duo have moved away from the sudden gunfire. The barrel of the gun quickly diverted back to Weiss's head, causing her entire body to freeze as her eyes followed the man's right hand lifting up to the chamber to cock it. "Tch, your staling has seemed to fail you, and I'm sad to say this but by this point; I'm beginning to understand how futile it was to try and open your eyes to show you how much of a monster the Schnee's are. Heh.. You're just one of her dumb lapdogs probably anyways, and so if that's true, I'd greatly suggest you start behaving yourself since any good dog know that you shouldn't bark all that to the upper dog. Now move away from the pair or I will shoot you as well without hesitation, because whether or not this country has allowed others to move in I refuse to accept this when they can't even adapted to our traditions! She's the cause of everyone's hard work being put out of business all because of some little foreign trade! Vale shouldn't be helping the other regions! What have they done for us?"
The brunette's pessimistic gray eyes began frantically surveying their surrounding area almost immediately after having seen the expression of defeat betraying strongly on the Dutch's face in attempts to seek out anything that could have helped them prevail and gain an upper hand against their attacker. Ruby scuffed her shoe across the wood surface to hopefully have her foot roll across a small stone, praying silently to herself that she would find something that could have possibly helped discombobulate their attacker for a short enough minute for them to gain some cover, however, her train of thought had quickly been shot down as she gradually paused when noticing from the corner of her eye the pair of familiar and enticing cerulean colored eyes peering back intently in their direction with silent pleads for the two of them to make a run for it as soon as he pulled the trigger. Yet the immense feeling of being paralyzed in fear over the thought of merely abandoning Weiss who had done nothing wrong had been more than enough to cause the brunette to roughly bite down into her bottom lips as she quietly murmured apologies as she knew what she was about to do, and it certainly had been more reckless than anything she's ever done. "I'm not doing that Weiss! It's not who I am and you should know that by now you dummy!" Ruby shouted as she felt her emotions boiling in intensity as she lifted up her left leg off the the ground and firmly swung it into the back of the woman's knee, nearing a sharp gasp as she buckled forward to the ground in the nick of time as the bullet shot past the top of her head as she landed on her elbows with a grunt. "Stop trying to handle everything yourself! You aren't alone here! Now run Weiss, run to the storage and don't stop! I've got this under control!"
Cerulean colored eyes peered up halfheartedly at the apologetic brunette before shutting her eyes, concealing the rising emotion in her eyes which Ruby had already noticed as she gave Weiss an inspirited smile, waiting for the distressed woman to open her eyes back up till she could wordlessly convince the stubborn woman to do as she asked. After Weiss had opened her eyes and seen the brunette's reassuring smile, she then sighed and nodded in reluctance, scrabbling to her feet as she saw the other woman nod in return, finally beginning to sprint away from the overwhelming situation of leaving Ruby behind. "Hey! Get back here you little-!" The man's words were short-lived in response to Ruby grabbing a small rock from the wheel treads of the forklift and whipping the stone at his mid-back, the initial sting of the small object only angering him further as he whipped around to face the woman with the injured and bleeding out man fraily crumpled against her back. "You'll regret that you useless girl." The combatant spoke in a harsh tone as Ruby subtly spread her aching legs in a wide posture for the preparation to run as she began to speak up in defiance of the intimidation. "I guess you'll have to catch me first if you have the intention of ridding these docks with all these innocent people!" Adrenaline-ridden, the woman pivoted on the ball of her foot as the strongly built male took a running step towards her, launching herself and Boudewijn into movement with the full intention of escaping from the painfully treacherous situation.
With the sound of the fuming man's gait quickening, Ruby's new invigoration at the threatening pounds to the ground allowed her to sprint in the opposite way of her follower as Boudewijn had his arms unsteadily wrapped around the brunette's neck, clasped to his protector in order to tip the horrible odds in his favor. The overburdened woman twisted her torso to completely pivot her body in the direction in which she was going to navigate through the purposefully arrayed maze of cargos. "Boudewijn please hold on.. We've got to get this guy off Weiss's trail.. Just hold on a little longer." Ruby's words came out as struggled panting as she forced her legs to move quicker despite the horrible cramping in her under muscled calves, while the limp man on her back merely moaned lowly in a soft agony, for his pain was continuing to spread throughout the area surrounding his wound. Yet regardless of the pain surging through his body, he grumbled an incoherent sentence of agreement. "Ah, uhm.. Well, we are from that grumble, on the same page! But now to another serious topic since I'm pretty much struggling not to throw up all over myself, would you mind trying to hold a conversation with me to keep my mind off your.. Blood problem."
Weiss's POV.
The panic-stricken soft reverberation of the Dutch's shoes tapping the wood surface caught the uninvited attention of the hostile group of men who then became befuddled at the scene of a white-haired woman running past them looking back at the direction she came through the acutely dangerous area when they were alerted of the distanced gunshots coming from the general direction of which the female was running from, which drew them to the conclusion that it must have been Schnee's daughter, considering the fact that not too many people had white hair that weren't of Schnee blood. They then accompanied her in only the most threatening way with the full intent of bringing an end to her life or even captured for the purpose of a bargaining chip to force the Schnee company back to their homeland. Weiss's legs burned while running, though she knew she could not rest anytime soon for when she turned her head to see the small mass of men on the chase, the faint snarling of dogs was audible as well as the small figures fighting to gain leverage against their human handlers. She knew that the German shepherds pulling on their chains had a snarl worse than their bite since they were only used for the purpose of intimidation, but she would like to stay far away from those canines if she could help it. "Damn.. I need to keep going.. It's not much further." Cursing under her breath, the Dutch woman turned her head to glance at the different species now on her trail, attempting to keep moving at a vigorous pace since she had the knowledge that the crew's storage locality was approaching with a quickness that relieved Weiss. Comforted by the fact that the crew men at the front of the building had their own weaponry and noticed Weiss running towards them, she pushed on with an extra burst of speed. The crew saw that the enemy forces were chasing Weiss and they began to call out to one another. "Get ready to shoot! We have to gain coverage of the storage! We have the right to fire upon men who wounded one of our people!"
Vociferating her rage from having to desert her brown haired companion defenseless with a member of the enemy force who thought they were doing their country justice, Weiss seized the attention of the group in her sights, who as a beaten collective, noticed the crestfallen woman of their own and glowered when she got closer. Seeing the defeat on her pale-faced expression, they began to move behind the large cargo boxes and take aim to wield their artillery power at the approaching group of enemies behind the Schnee woman when at that point, the opposite group commenced to dodge the flying bullets by finding what cover they could to hide behind even though it would stop their immediate pursuing of the white-haired woman. Weiss looked around as she had victoriously made it into the stodgy brick building to see an estimate of 40 men whom were covered in wounds and deep purple bruises in result of the steps taken by the riot groups which led to Schnee's men demanding the ability to fight back and defend their homeland from insults being pegged around by the rioters.
With a blood covered hand raising to her face, the well-known Dutch woman stepped into the building and was immediately met with her panicking crew members surrounding her with the utmost concern, considering in their current situation they had to remain close to one another to defend each other from rioters with the intent of causing harm, which forced an immense stress upon the Dutch people. Though never willingly backing down from a fight of their freedom, they had no choice but to withdraw their people when the guns came out. Weiss began to tremble from her anger and exhaled a painfully broken shudder as the Dutch crew members encircling her soothed down the emotionally scarred woman. "How dare that sukkel call me the dumb one after pulling off that stunt? I swear, she best not go and get herself killed for my sake.." Weiss hiccuped pitifully and felt as she was about to start crying, yet no tears would well up in the corners of her eyes since she would simply not concede to showing such emotions, especially when everyone around her had to deal with things much worse than what she just went through. The crew silently agreed upon themselves to let the Lady of the Schnee have a moment to calm herself as they began to stray away one by one.
Ruby POV
As the brunette heaved deeply in exhaustion of having been frantically scurrying through various twists and turns of cargo corners in attempts of confusing her perpetrator, she occasionally began striking up light hearted conversations with the man who's voice was heavily laced the same dutch accent as Weiss, making it hard to decipher exactly what he had said from time to time. However, striking up friendly conversations with the man who had been named Boudewijn hadn't been solely for the fact to help ease the mood, but yet instead keep the drowsy man awake as his head occasionally drooped down and grumbled about things. "Urrgh.. Do you by any chance happen to know where exactly the police could be? Because they've been not very present for a bit too long for this situation Boudewijn.."
Ruby partially winced when feeling Boudewijn's body shudder weakly as a few heavy wheezes racked through his body for a solid minute before he slowly spoke up in a raspy tone in order to politely respond to her question. "You don't seem to be from the Northern part of Vale if you do not already know that the Vale police department from these docks are quite far.. However, including the time since Weiss had supposedly called them and sent them our location, they should almost be here.. But most importantly I hope that Weiss made it to the storage unharmed.. She is a very kind young lady and I'd hate to see anything happen to her." Boudewijn immediately became quiet after murmuring the last part as his green eyes glanced over to his left to see Ruby abstractedly nodding her head in agreement as the duo gradually began made a turn to the left to where one of the cargos sat ajar and entered it to seclusion. "Argh.. Ruby.. Please set me down against the cargo's wall so I can regain my breath and I promise not to fall asleep.. I just, I can't keep limping at your pace. Just for a moment."
"Alright buddy, don't worry.." Ruby walked closer to the red cargo that they had stopped behind and she crouched down moderately as she began to allow Boudewijn's body to slide off her shoulder until he was sitting back down on the metal of the cargo's floor, his green eyes peering at Ruby with a thankful expression. "You alright? I mean, besides for the bullet hole in your side.." Ruby haltingly said as she began to raise back up to her feet and glance all around while Boudewijn merely chuckled a little before he winced at the pain that surged through his side.
"Well other than that I'm pretty fine, you?" Boudewijn hoarsely inquires to Ruby who immediately shrugs her shoulders since she was more concerned about everyone else than her own self. "I understand, although may I ask why it is you are helping us currently if what you had said earlier was true? I fear for the worst with Vale's government leaving the defects of the new system and law unattended." Ruby's eyes soften at the question that Boudewijn had just asked before she softly spoke.
"Unlike my sister, I sadly only know a little about what's going on in the government, and I knew something was happening, but I just, this is why I wish to stay oblivious.. Seems as if that plan failed, and I might as well be in the middle of a hurricane, but honestly, I just wanted to play my piano and chill.." Ruby sulks a little before eventually sighing at the turn of events. "I'm so sorry people are like this.. I wish I could make that man take back all those things he said about your people and even about Weiss.." Ruby clutched her fist as the scene that happened 5 minutes ago replayed in her head, causing her to feel the unfamiliar anger. "I just.. I hope she's okay.." Boudewijn peered at Ruby quietly for a few minutes before he smiled at the younger woman.
"It's fine, it's fine, we'll all face idiots like this some point in our lives for having different ways of doing things or even saying things. It's life, although I'd say this is one messy situation. Quite painful too.. We all have families.. I just hope the police make it here soon because I feel very tired, and may I make one request in case I can no longer fight the drowsy feelings that are so beckoning?" Ruby eyes widened as she felt the lump in her throat growing even more from the thing the man had just said. "I've lost a lot of blood, even before you two came, Ruby.."
"I know.. I-I" The lump in Ruby's throat began to become painful as she knew where the man was going with this and she couldn't handle it properly since she couldn't just stand there and watch him.. "I'm sorry.. Can..Can we please not go there just yet, the police will be here soon, they've gotta be Boudewijn, and if what you said was true, you've got a family.. Just keep them in your thoughts because if you tell me any kind of request, I'll have to be the one to see them suffer.. Trust me.. I went through it first hand.." Ruby's eyes stayed diverted away from Boudewijn who sighed before he closed his eyes for a second, then nodding and opening his eyes to betray his tired green eyes as he decided that it would have been better to keep quiet then.
The grey eyed woman quickly moved her attention to the still slightly ajar double doors of the metal cargo box as a metallic rattling sound caused her breath to shorten and become suppressed in order to keep whatever was outside the cargo from acknowledging that the duo was in the slightly suffocating metal box hiding out. "There's someone outside the cargo.." The frail voice of Ruby broke the silence before she glanced down at Boudewijn slumping against the wall. "Keep your eyes open Boudewijn.. Don't go to sleep. I'll be back in a moment, okay?" The painfully distressing scene of the injured man had Ruby struggling to keep her voice from wavering as she had watched him nod with obvious little energy, noting the fact that she had to be quick about her actions or the inevitable would happen. "I'll be quick.. Be safe." She then turned away from Boudewijn to step lightly towards the left in order to silently think a strategy for rendering the mysterious person impotent for the possibility to steal the gun.
Ceasing her movement at the small entrance to slowly peek through the gap in the cargo doors, Ruby perceived the back of the person wearing all dark attire as she heard and saw a bit of the other men grasping at a box. "I was right.. Let's just hope I don't get shot in the process.." Biting her lip to brace herself for what was about to happen, Ruby soundlessly slipped off the wall and proceeded to slyly walk into a crouch towards the figure as her fist beginning to tighten into a fist as she was gently reminded of all the rude things that these people had called the Dutch, her anger slowly bubbling up into a fury even as she thought about how the one male was forced to speak up of a last request due to all of this moronic hatred. Eventually making it directly behind the dark figure, Ruby extended her body upward to her full height with the continuation of elevating her fist with the full intent to strike the person at the back of the head and knock them out, however, just as Ruby swung her fist down and just about hit the person, the figure in black dropped the box and rolled out from underneath Ruby's fist, turning to reveal wide amber eyes.
Ruby quickly returned to her fighting stance in an effort to look intimidating with the consideration that the woman was merely a musician, yet she was in a possible life or death situation fighting for herself and another human's life which wasn't meant for her lifestyle. Before she could do anything, Ruby noticed the box shifting as a small pair of black cat ears perked out the top of the box and a misplaced meow rung in their silent surroundings, the stranger calling out her name in disbelief."Wa-wait..Are..Are you Ruby Rose..?"
Alright, after a year of being not updated. I have finally sat down for over two weeks to make sure the time hammer was done the best as I could possibly manage with the help of my lovely girlfriend. She help writing an occasional few paragraphs so that is why it sometimes looks like two different writing, so I apologize. Writer's block has just been brutal lately. This writer's talk down his a bit off since I'm not sure what to put anymore, but SOH is back and up at updates. Now I also have successfully set up my commissions information and other stuff in case you want your own stuff and all that good stuff. All you have to do is go to my profile and do a little more reading at the new and refined stuff! But this chapter's at it's end so I'll see you all soon in SOH nine with more quotes and good heart wrecking things! So until then, you have bundle up in your little pure merchandise that emerald sold you, and wave your review flags violently for the next chapter!