Next Update: Friday July 6th.
Chapter 22
Yang was prone to nightmares, they haunted her often enough. When she woke up, she remembered each of them vividly, and each time she had one, it stayed around. Her worst nightmares were the ones in the cities. Memories that were real, flooding her with depression, rage, and bitterness that she didn't even have excuses for. The one that happened on this night startled her. She guiltily removed herself from the bed she was resting on, leaving Blake cocooned in the blankets and on her own.
She stepped into another bedroom, this was larger, with communal beds.
In the dim light, it was hard to see who was sleeping with who. These people were her friends, her family, and she trusted them without question. On one bed, two men cuddled up together, the much larger male taking up almost the entirety of the space. Yang liked to think of him like a huge teddy bear, a gentle giant. On another bed, a blonde man with short scruffy hair and a redhead lingered dead to the world around them.
Yang thought it would be wrong to wake either one of the blissfully resting couples. After watching them sleep for a moment longer, passed them by.
Another bed over, a cat Faunus and a shorter human lay sleeping in a bed dotted with candy wrappers. Yang smirked at the sight, waking the both of them up gently. Then she asked them to stay with Blake. They eagerly agreed, the Faunus woman, Neon all but flinging herself into the bedroom with her tail quaking in delight. The human girl lingered, grey eyes peering up at her older, half-sister.
"Nightmare?" The girl asked, causing Yang to nod. "What was it about?"
Like always, Yang shook her head. "don't worry about it." Just because the girl had chosen to stay with her, didn't mean that she wanted her little sister to know the kind of past that Yang had. She smiled and ruffled those dark tresses. "I want you to go stay with Blake too. You're the only ones that can get her to stay put when I need time to think."
She nodded. "Okay, but if you need to talk, I'm here."
"I know, Ruby." Yang said, forcing a smile as she shooed her off. "Now go and make sure Blake stays in bed. She needs to actually sleep."
She passed by a few more beds with others sleeping in them. Her movements were slow and careful. The next room opened to a huge bathing area, and the next two rooms after that were more areas for sleeping. They were empty, but would soon house the new recruits. She bypassed them and entered into the main living areas where the house branched off into several rooms and hallways.
The large home was made to fit the huge number of people living there. That detail amazed Yang each and every day.
She stepped out to the balcony, and leaned heavily on the railing. Closing her eyes, she remembered the first time she ever encountered Blake Belladonna.
(City of Mistral, five years ago)
She danced on stage, a fifteen year old, barely of age for the Kingdom, her birthday soon to come. She was a well-developed teenager, though, easy on the eyes, and the people at the brothel knew this. It's why they took her in, and let her stay. A bed, a meal, and meager pay, and all she had to do was pleasure a person for the night. It was a degrading job, but an easy one.
The only one she could get, when she went around in search of a woman affiliated with bandits. Good establishments kicked her out, but at a whorehouse, no one asked questions. No one lingered over why she might be looking for Raven Branwen. They simply didn't care.
Putting her body on display, she waited to be chosen for the night. Countless eyes leered at her from the sounding tables, and truth be told, she felt a little sick at the thought. It happened every night though, and she had gotten used to the attention, pushing aside the unhappiness bubbling in the pit of her gut. A cloaked figure in black approached her first.
Yang couldn't see much of the approaching party, only golden eyes glinting in the dim light. It had to be a Faunus in that garb. Human eyes didn't carry that sort of reflection bathed in firelight.
"Are you clean?" The person asked, low and quietly. Clearly, a woman's voice.
"As far as I know, I am." Yang said softly, feeling a little put off by the question. For all she knew, it was the truth. She checked regularly, and tried to be careful. She used protection, and saw a medic frequently. Still, it was a calculated risk in establishments like these.
"May I?" The Faunus asked again, and Yang nodded. "You're sure?" The second question again receiving a nod. At the invitation, the Faunus slipped a hand from her cloak. She let it wander under the all too short dress that Yang was wearing. Her fingers sliding against Yang's womanhood, knowing that the blonde had obviously waxed.
"You keep yourself well groomed." She said pointedly.
"I try." Yang said, her cheeks tinting pink under the scrutiny.
"You are also very lovely. Would you accompany me tonight?"
Yang only nodded, eyes casting down shyly. What did she say to that, really? Her confidence rested strictly with drunks and the occasional huntsman looking for a warm place to rest his tired body. Women didn't frequent the establishment, and when they did, they were normally younger girls. Curious lesbians, seeking an experienced hand. What made things even more confusing was that although she had been given compliments before, it was nothing quite like this.
"Will you come with me?" The woman asked again.
Yang nodded once more in return.
"Please, I'd like to hear you say it." Even if it was obviously a proposition, woman's tone softened Yang's resistances. A request for some measure of trust slipped between the words. It was, truth be told, a strange thing to want from a woman of the night.
"If you want me to." Yang said, curious as to what the Faunus had planned.
"Wonderful, come with me then." She took Yang's hand in her own, thumb brushing against her knuckles. Those were unlike the rest of Yang's body. They were rough to the touch, a fighter's knuckles. Putting the matter aside, she guided Yang to the owner of the establishment. She paid a hefty amount of lien, and turned to Yang. "I have a place we can stay. We can go there, if that's agreeable to you. It's private, well protected."
"There's no rules against it." Yang had her own room in the Bordello, of course, but the stranger had kind eyes. It was a gentle request, and Yang agreed. Willing to be taken away from the hellhole she called home. This gentle soul was so different than the others, so calm and collected, Yang wanted to trust her. The cloaked woman leaned up to kiss her on the lips, and then pulled away.
"Come with me." The Faunus had said with a gentle smile, hiding away for the night in a hotel not far away. There she tossed aside her cloak, looking at Yang with a simple, unrefined hunger.
"I'm in heat." She said, lustfully. "My first one, and I was hoping you could help with that."
It wasn't a demand, Yang realized, and she smirked at the somewhat subdued appearance of the woman, now in full view. Her ears were down, flat against her head, golden eyes hungry, and yet unsure. Yang smirked, a virgin was in front of her tonight, she was positive. The Faunus woman was beautiful, and lilac eyes crinkled in amusement as Yang held out her hand, watching as the woman took it. She guided the woman into another kiss, her lips pale and velvety soft pressing against her own.
They lingered that way, as Yang took her time to really feel the tremble that lingered there.
Then, smirking into the kiss, she hoisted the girl up, pinning her to the door, the Faunus squeaking in surprise. Yang pulled away then, to glimpse into amber eyes. The dark haired girl couldn't have been much older, and if this was her first time in heat, she was probably ready to take things further. So Yang leaned in again, kissing her again as she began to work at Blake's clothes, the wall between them giving Yang the leverage to begin unfastening buttons and snaps quickly.
The Faunus tensed up and flinched against every tiny touch, pressing her body into the feeling. Wanting more, seeking and searching for the sweet release that the blonde denied her. Their passion was wild, untamed, Blake's breath becoming shallow and hard to come by as quiet moans tore from her throat. Fingers slid under the waistband of her clothes, touching her in all the right ways, a maddening storm within her swirling to be unleased.
Her cool demeanor could not be held back by the shackles of her mind, and her instincts as a Faunus took over, riding the waves of her first heat in full. She let her orgasm wash over her with a growl, spreading her legs wider as she bucked into the woman's hand, wetness in large supply made her desires known. She let her own hands tangle in blonde tresses, as she bit back another deep growl.
"Careful not to pull." Yang breathed.
The Faunus could hardly register the request, but promised to try and not yank at the silk in her fingers. So soft, so wavy, as if that blonde hair had a mind of its own. Finally, she was spent, a puddle in the woman's arms, deep purring slipping from her chest as her forehead fell forward into a robust shoulder. This powerful woman was a mystery, but Blake knew one thing.
This woman, whoever she was, was not simply a woman of the night.
She was something more.
Tarnished, tainted, and struggling to survive in a city where there was nothing for a person of her caliber. She was heaven's mercy, and hell's reprieve.
Yang slipped her fingers away from the quivering womanhood, the Faunus letting out a soft mewl of discontent. The blond didn't say a word as she began carrying her down the hall and towards the bath.
The night was a long one, mixed with sex and sin. The hot bath had done wonders for the Faunus woman and her vigor, but it was her heat that kept her starving for more. Yang had her work cut out for her as she toyed and teased, tempting and tormenting the dark haired cat Faunus to orgasm over and over again. In those muddled actions, Yang found a sad little truth.
How many other Faunus were driven to seek a bedmate in this way? She was compelled to wonder. Were they were so completely lonely? Or was only hormones that demanded this sort of satisfaction?
Still, she couldn't bring herself to ask, and, she would never know. They'd fallen asleep that way, in a heap of limbs, exhausted and spent.
When Yang woke up, it was only a few hours later. The thick drapes of the room were drawn closed, keeping the room protected from the earliest rays of morning sun. Although the curtains seemed to glow magenta from where the sun slapped down on them. The rest of the room was dark as pitch. She felt around, but the bed was empty. The Faunus woman was gone, or so she thought.
Then, the sound of a purr echoed in the room. A lighter striking sent a small flicker of flame into the room, briefly showing the contours of the woman's face, and the rolled up paper between her lips.
The rolled up joint perched between those soft, slightly bruised lips. The ones she had kissed, and coaxed a sinners sounds from only hours ago. Yang's body felt heavy and light all at the same time, blood boiling, and skin tingling at the memories. She wondered if the woman was still in heat. She sat up, taking in the shadowy features, and the glowing amber eyes that reflected even the smallest of light.
The Faunus smoked the entirety of it, the spices wafting thickly across the room during the long moments of silence.
"You can't see very well, can you? I'll fix that." She finally spoke. It was a rhetorical question, and the Faunus already clearly knew the answer. As she shuffled about, lighting a few candles to set the entire room in a very dim glow, she gazed back at the blond. "Better?"
"Yeah, way better." Yang nodded. "Thanks."
"I'm surprised you're awake. I worked you pretty hard last night." The Faunus told her, smirking and blushing, eyes glancing down to the floor. "Thank you for that, by the way."
"Is it better now?" Yang asked. "You're uh, you're heat?"
"To some extent." She lifted her gaze back to the blonde, genuinely happy for the attention. "Heat can be difficult at times. Towards the end of our cycle, it is rather intense. You helped with that, so, well…just thanks, you know?"
"Eh, no big deal. It's my job." Yang shrugged. "You paid me to do it, so I did. No need to get all sentimental about it."
The Faunus looked at her, amber eyes studying Yang for a brief moment before a laugh rang out. "Somehow, I get the feeling things are more complicated than that."
"Huh?" Yang asked dumbly. "What do you mean by that?"
The dark haired woman looked around the small hotel room, trying to put her thoughts together as best as she could. The white robe barrowed from the bathroom covering her form, and she stuffed her hands into the soft pockets. "I'm no city dweller. Girls like you, they're not common around here. I was kind of worried when I first felt your knuckles in the brothel. Your hands are a fighter's hands…if you were a little older, I might have mistaken you for a huntress."
"Well, if you really want to know, it's because I am a huntress." Yang told her. "Or, rather, I was training to be one. Things happened, that changed."
"I see." The Faunus replied before gesturing to the room service platter on the table. "Are you hungry? It was complimentary. There's morning cakes, coffee, and tea."
"No thanks." Yang said, even though she was starving. She knew better than to eat food she hadn't seen prepared herself. "I don't eat with the clients."
"That's unfortunate, they gave me way too much." Blake stood up and retrieved the blonde's clothes. "I hope you don't mind, but I had this laundered for you. Forgive me for asking, but isn't a dress a little hard to fight in? As a huntress, I mean."
"You normally don't try to fight at the brothel." Yang told her. "I do have a combat garb, if that's what you're asking…I just don't use it much anymore. No real need, since I don't leave the walls, but never mind that. We don't have to make small talk, we're total strangers. I don't think I even managed to catch your name last night…"
"You never asked." The Faunus laughed, coming to sit at Yang's side. "I'm actually pretty well known, although not around here. That'll change one day. Eventually even everyone here will know me, it's inevitable. I come from the Belladonna family."
"Oh..." Yang then cocked her head to the side. "so they must be locals then, right?"
"Hardly." The Faunus murmured, humor dripping from her voice. "I'm Blake Belladonna, and I hail from Menagerie."
(Island of Menagerie, present day)
Yang opened her eyes at the soothing memory. At the time she would have never known it, but Blake had changed her life in that instant. For ten consecutive days, without even knowing each other's names, Blake, a young, but high ranking member of the White Fang, had taken her to bed. At the end of it all, an awkward invitation and an extra boat ticket had given Yang a new lease on life.
A reason to keep fighting Grimm, a reason to keep being a huntress, and fulfilling place to live her life.
It didn't stop the questions about her past from forming in her head, but it kept the regret and shame away. It might have been a chance encounter, but Yang knew she wouldn't have had it any other way. Everything in front of her now, including the peace of mind she could find in these quiet hours of the morning, made everything worth it. It was moments like this, she thought about giving up her search, casting it aside and never thinking of it again.
It was moments like this, she almost forced herself to. Then, she heard the Grimm roaring in the distance, and she knew, she could never give up.
An exhausted blur of black shadow jumped up from the ground, landing with a thud on the roof. The Faunus then jumped down, standing beside Yang. "The grounds are safe." The Faunus spoke quietly, kneeling down and waiting for further orders. Unfortunately for the guard in question, Yang wasn't good at doling those out.
"Shouldn't you go home, to your family?"
"If you permit it so." The man said.
"Then go home, Corsac." Yang said with a smirk. "Where's your brother, anyway?"
"Fennac continues to patrol." He said, standing from his position. He stepped forward, to look out at the forests. "The Grimm are moving along the shores, as is expected after the festival. We should predict them to be aggressive in the coming weeks. I have sent a missive to our brothers and sisters on the costal mainland, warning of the heightened Grimm activity, just to be safe."
"Then, that's all you can do." Yang said. "Check back with Blake later, but I can't honestly think of anything else."
"Then I shall be sure to do so." He bowed deeply to her before he jumped off into the darkness. "Have a pleasant day."
"Yeah, you too." She said to his retreating form.
Yang stood there a moment longer taking in the grey skies that occurred just before first light. She wondered how it looked to Faunus eyes. Were the stars quite as beautiful? She had no idea, and she once asked Blake, but the Faunus had only shrugged at the question.
Such was life, or so it seemed...