I'm introducing a new term in this chapter and I didn't have room to bring it up in conversation between the characters or in the story, so I'm just going to let everyone know so that there's no confusion. That term is The Fall, and I would have introduced it earlier had I not though of it just this chapter. What The Fall refers to is the period when Cinder led her allies to attack Vale; basically, the big war that made team RWBY super famous. I think it's pretty clever, personally.
The restaurant they were eating at, The Three Little Pigs, was known for its specialty: three unique ways to serve pork. One dish was surrounded by pasta that was held together due to the efforts of a copious amount of melted cheese; it resembled a building made of straw. The other was surrounded by a different type of past, also held together with melted cheese; this one resembled a building made of wood. The third of the three dishes was closed in by yet another kind of pasta which was kept together by a special red sauce, and looked like a house made of bricks. The restaurant itself was certainly not fancy, and its special dishes were lambasted as being highly unhealthy. That was not a lie. It was not a place for high-end dining, but it certainly was expensive. It was also quite popular, despite the reputation brought to it by its specialties. As such, there were a good number of diners present when the group of fifteen intimidating criminals, identified as such by their telltale metal chokers. They were shocked and scared; some diners even left. However, as it was the law to serve any member of the Trenches as if they were normal citizens, the restaurant could do nothing about losing customers for the night. However, they had no intention of doing so even if they could; the fifteen new customers more than made up for the few people who left. While the diners were quite disturbed by their presence, the restaurant staff was completely unperturbed by the arrival of the criminals. They seated them at a large table and treated them with the amount of respect they might treat any other customer, especially the waiter. The amount of Lien he would receive in his tip depended on them, after all.
It had been an hour, and after ordering and eating, the group was quite full. They had all ordered from the three specialty dishes, and they weren't disappointed. As they finished up talking and polishing off what was left of their food and drink, one of the melee fighters, a musclebound man by the name of Roan, decided to bring up a topic that would completely change the course of the outing.
"So...what are we gonna do about the Schnee woman?" Next to him, another man, the former Hunter, balked. He almost dropped his cup and started choking on his soda. After a man next to him kindly clapped him on the back, he looked at Roan and frowned.
"We aren't going to do anything. She's with us one-hundred percent."
"Is she though?" The bull faunus asked calmly but intensely.
"Look, Bard's an idiot blinded by revenge. He probably made up some story because Weiss got him mad," the former Hunter said.
"Don't tell me you actually believe his garbage? Didn't you hear the speech she gave us?" One of the ranged fighters, a female wolf faunus, chimed in. The bull faunus glanced at her and the former Hunter before sighing.
"It could all be an act. Besides, you heard her. She doesn't like us. She's got no obligation to stick by us when we need her. You also know that she's got a bit of an ego. It's not a stretch to assume that she values her own life more than ours," she replied.
"And she's a Schnee. We all know what that family's like," Roan added on. By now, the remaining members of the group had taken sides. Some sided with the former Hunter, Garth, and the wolf faunus, Ursula. Other chose to side with Roan and the bull faunus, Lilac. Now, everyone ignored their meals.
"And we're seriously gonna judge her based on her heritage? We're murderers and thieves. Hell, some of us are even worse! We don't have a right to judge others. Not even a little," Garth said.
"No one's got a right to do anything, yet we do it anyway. Look, my caution isn't because I particularly dislike the woman. I just don't know her, and I can't trust someone I don't know. I can't take her little speeches at face value. We all know what Sylvester said, and it's not like anyone's coming up to deny him. Not even Schnee herself." Lilac replied calmly. Next to her, a male snake faunus hissed.
"This is Sylvester we're talking about. He probably made some threats and payoffs. We all know how he is about revenge!" He retorted.
"Even more damning, look at Weiss herself. She accepted us! All of us! She cares about our survival. She trained us and made us a little better than we were. We owe her more than misplaced doubt!" Garth added to the statement, drawing odd looks from those who opposed his view of Weiss.
"Since when were we on first name terms with her? I think you might be a little too obsessive. Getting like this over a woman is what landed you in jail in the first place, isn't that right?" Roan countered mockingly. At this, Garth bristled.
"You...that isn't even the topic at hand! This is about her, not us!"
"It is about us. It's our lives on the line, too. She's not the only one in the Trenches," Lilac said in a low, quiet voice, trying to calm Garth down. The former Hunter looked at her angrily before taking a deep breath and lowering his own voice.
"You're right, but...there's no need to bring the past into this," he said.
"Look, how about we just make a plan for if she does run off?" A human woman proposed, sounding annoyed with the whole argument.
"...Fine," Ursula yielded. She didn't see taking a precaution as such as bad idea.
"We shoot her in the leg. That bitch shows one sign that she's gonna run off, and we cripple her and get the hell out of there. If she tries something like that, she deserves to go to the Grimm anyway," Roan snarled. Garth glared daggers at him, but did nothing.
"...If you do decide to shoot her in the leg, she won't be facing the Grimm alone," was all he said.
"If I were her, I'd throw myself to the Grimm rather than take my chances with you," Roan said, smirking.
"I thought I said not to bring the past into this," Garth replied, a dangerous look in his eyes. If Lilac hadn't pulled the fork he was gripping from his hand, he would have crushed it and possibly used the utensil to stick Roan in the neck. He was, more so than anyone, sensitive about his criminal activities.
"Just saying," was the reply. Ursula glared at him, as did a large number of the other Trench members, before they returned to the main topic of conversation.
"Who's pulling the trigger?" The snake faunus asked, still not happy with the plan.
"Whoever has the clear shot. But remember; we're not doing this unless she's going to run. She's our best hope at living through the damn mission," Ursula spoke up, trying to get a clear agreement from her teammates. When she was satisfied that everyone agreed, she said no more.
"I'm just glad no one was around to hear that," Lilac sighed, assuming the conversation finished. However, its effects still lingered with Garth and Roan. While the others had brushed aside the issue as having dealt with a business decisions, in which survival was business, the two men were very angry with each other. Roan was disturbed and annoyed by Garth's passionate admiration and trust in Weiss, and Garth was mad at him for mentioning his past. Weiss was not the woman from all those years ago. She was different.
"She cares," Garth muttered under his breath. The waiter came with the check a few minutes later, interrupting the new conversation; which of their teammates they'd either recruit or kill during a Grimm apocalypse.
"Thank you for your patience," their black-haired waiter said in a cool, friendly voice as he walked away. Lilac regarded him with interest, deeming him attractive. He looked like someone she might have targeted back in her serial killer days.
Pyrrha had told him it would be fine. Nora had clapped him on the back, making him spit out his food, and told him the same thing. Ren, as always, was the voice of realism, reminding Jaune to be very careful not to mention anything about Weiss and warning that he'd fail if he did. Sylvester Bard couldn't know that she was involved in any way; he was quite angry with her and seemed intent on denying her anything that might make her happy. Jaune had once heard that, when his family was alive, Bard was a kinder man. He had a hard time believing it, though. Reflecting on that, he was even more convinced that his teammate was right. If Jaune wanted to get Ruby a job as a weaponsmith for his squad, he would have to act as if Weiss had nothing to do with the idea. And no matter what, he would do so. He already tortured himself by thinking about the day Ruby saved him and lost her legs, using her Semblance to get to him and pushing him aside before the Grimm's tail pierced her legs. He couldn't forgive himself for that one moment of weakness, that one moment where fear overtook him. Pyrrha was right. Battle was not forgiving. It didn't give second chances or do-overs. One moment of hesitation, one single step out of line, and you would pay for it. However, it wasn't Jaune who'd payed for his mistake. It was Ruby. Just thinking about it reminded him of the beginning of his first semester at Beacon. He was weak and helpless, and others got hurt for his hesitation. He was the idiot stuck in the tree while his comrades fought for his lives, the weak link, the fool who'd had dreams of being a hero. Jaune had grown out of that long ago. He had realized his foolishness and pride, and replaced them with wisdom and humility. He'd trained with anyone he thought could teach him, and asked for help whenever he could. And it payed off. Under the tutelage of Pyrrha, the one person he knew that he needed more than anyone or anything, he became a great Hunter. He even became a hero. She helped to channel his greatest strength, his massive Aura, and gave him the teachings he needed to overcome his greatest weakness: his skill on the battlefield. He became renown and admired by many, the famed leader of team JNPR. And he liked it. Jaune was glad to know that he was a true Hunter. He wasn't stuck in the tree; he was a leader on the battlefield. And he felt like it, too. Just not when he thought of Ruby. He'd failed her and it hurt him, not just because it made him feel weak, but because he hated that Ruby had lost her dream. He felt like he'd stolen it from her, the woman who had wanted to become a Huntress more than anyone, and who had more natural talent for it than anyone he'd ever known. He would do anything he could to get her closer to that dream, even if he knew that she couldn't quite achieve it.
Bard had grown rather reclusive since Weiss' defiance of his suicide mission. He only saw his secretary in person; he had all other meetings conducted via Scroll chat or email. As such, Jaune at least had the comfort of being in his home while he asked Bard to give him permission to get rid of their existing weapons maintenance person and hire Ruby. All hiring, after all, went through him. No one got hired or fired without his permission. Jaune didn't believe he'd have much trouble. For the meeting, he'd asked Weiss for proof of Ruby's exceptional skill with maintaining weapons, and she and Ruby had given him references from professors at both Signal and Beacon. Jaune found it funny that he'd be presenting references that he himself would be looking over, but this was a very split-second decision. Ruby had been looking into weapon maintenance as her alternative line of work, but there were no openings anywhere for such a job. The only reason Bard had allowed Jaune to bring up the issue of hiring her was that Weiss had asked his secretary to suggest it to him. For whatever reason, he had a soft spot for her. It also wasn't every day that one discussed hiring a world-renown hero to do something like weapon maintenance. He would, however, be amazed that Ruby hadn't considered the possibility of rejoining the First Division earlier had it not had such a painful memory associated with it.
"Um, Mr. Bard? Hello. It's me, Jaune. Well, you know that, but it just thought it would be rude to not greet you and then I just kind of said my name out of habit...I'll just shut up," Jaune said. Externally, he was smiling, albeit awkwardly. However, he groaned inwardly. He hadn't gotten off to a good start. He couldn't help being so nervous; Bard had always unnerved him.
"That would be wise. Now, you wanted to talk to me about Ruby Rose? I'm aware that she formerly led the First Division. I'm not surprised she'd want to come back. My secretary tells me you have some references," Bard said. He looked at Jaune coldly, as if he was staring through him. It made the blonde Hunter even more nervous.
"Yeah, uh, references. Those things...I sent them to you in a file. If you check your...nevermind, you know what to do. I just want to say that those references don't cover even half of Ruby's skill with this whole maintenance thing. She can make anything! She made at least three new weapons during The Fall. There's the-" Jaune was quickly cut off by Bard's waving hand.
"Enough. I've heard snippets about her. If these references are flattering, I don't doubt that she'll make a better maintenance person than the hack we already have. Will that be all, Arc? Or do you want to prattle on a little more?" Jaune sighed at his harshness, but was relieved all the same.
"No, I don't think so. Thank you so much. You won't regret this decision!"
"I haven't made any decision yet. When I do, I'll email you. Goodbye, Arc." Bard shut off the Scroll chat and Jaune shouted in glee, pumping his fist into the air.
"Pyrrha! He's on board! We're gonna have Ruby back on the team!"
Ruby and Weiss entered one of the most depressing rooms they had ever seen in their life. The prison visiting room was almost entirely colored gray. There were dark gray walls, light gray floor tiles, and tables and seats of the same color. The ceiling was white, and there were a few brightly-colored vending machines around the room, but that was it for any kind of variety. That was the entirety of the room. However, neither of the two women could call it depressing. They were too happy at seeing their friend. Blake sat alone at a circular table in the back of the room, giving a little wave. Her hands were shackled to the table. Ruby and Weiss made their way around other tables, hearing bits of conversation from other tables as they made their way to her, Ruby finding it hard to maneuver her wheelchair in such a crowded area. Both her and Weiss grimaced as they noticed the bruises on their friend's body.
"Hey. I guess Yang decided not to come again, huh?" Blake asked, smiling warmly. Weiss and Ruby both nodded, sighing.
"It's so good to see you again, Blake. Things have been...tough. We all miss you. Even Yang," the brunette said, grinning back at her friend. She reached her hand out to place around Blake's but Weiss grabbed her wrist as the guard nearby shot them a warning glance.
"No touching," the faunus said coyly.
"Right...so, what's up with those nasty bruises?" Ruby asked with her usual bluntness.
"I had a sparring match with Cinder," was the reply. Blake could see that even mentioning the woman's name made her friends unhappy, as a silence overtook the table. However, Weiss broke it quickly.
"I hope you didn't lose," she said.
"I didn't."
"You don't look like it. Were your injuries not treated?" The former heiress asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Apparently, being injured in here means being rendered unconscious. If you can still get up, you're fine," Blake said, not bothering to hide her annoyance. Even now, her injuries throbbed a little, bringing her constant dull pain.
"You can't be serious. That's abuse!" Weiss shouted, outraged. The guard threw another glance over at the three friends, and all three of them ignored it.
"It's the system," was the calm reply. Blake had always been a mellow person. She didn't attract too much attention, and didn't try to. She was also a survivor, someone who could and would endure pain, although only if she knew that she couldn't do anything about it. While Weiss admired that about her, she was frustrated by her friend's passive attitude towards the whole thing. She didn't like seeing Blake treated in such a manner. She may have committed a crime and she may have been arrested, but Weiss had learned long ago to accept her friends for who and what they were, no matter what.
"I hope you got to take the day to relax," Ruby chimed in.
"Mostly. So, what's going on in your lives? Besides the obvious, I mean." Blake swiftly changed the subject, clearly finished with talking about her day. She could be surprisingly forceful when she wanted to. Ruby beamed at the question. She was more than willing to unload a barrage of news into her friend's ears, but Weiss came to the rescue.
"Ruby, keep it short," she said curtly. The younger woman nodded and started talking.
"So...guess what?" She asked, pausing for dramatic effect and to let Blake take a guess.
"...Was there any progress made on your legs?" As she spoke, Ruby suddenly wished that she had just told her friend what had happened.
"Um, no...that situation is actually pretty complicated..." She answered, dodging around the question crudely.
"Snow, Inc. is no longer working with me. No progress will be made on that front for a while," Weiss said in an wavering, timid voice, steeling herself to whatever emotions might rise within her as she spoke. She did better than she had expected, but saying it out loud still hurt. Blake's eyes flashed with deadly malice almost as soon as Weiss finished talking. Her hands clenched into fists, and her confused expression turned into an angry one.
"Of course. I should have known. They can't associate with the disgraced hero, can they? It's bad for business," she snarled, her words quick and scathing.
"Yeah, it's a bummer. I was...sad when I heard it. Really sad. But no use being sad when you're about to get your backup dream job, right?" Ruby said quickly and happily, trying to keep Blake in a talkative mood. She knew how quiet and brooding the faunus got when she was angry. She had been the same way after Adam was killed and after Yang refused to see her for their first visit. Ruby also knew that, if she got even angrier, she'd move from quiet anger to loud, forceful rage, and that wouldn't be fun for anyone. Ruby just wanted a nice visit with her and Weiss. She didn't want things to get awkward, especially since this was Weiss' last day of freedom before leaving on her three day mission.
"Backup?" Blake asked curiously, forcing herself to shake off her rage. She knew an attempt to lighten the mood when she heard one, and no one had tried to do so more than Ruby, who grinned at her friend's mood change along with Weiss.
"Yep!"
"What, are you the official taste tester for a bakery?"
"No, even better. I get to do weapon maintenance for the First Division of the Eastern Vale Hunting Branch! And guess who's leading it now? I'll give you a hint: it's a blonde who's currently in a happy relationship with a certain redhead we know," Ruby replied, leaning in closer to Blake out of sheer excitement. She smiled widely to see the realization seep into her friend's face.
"Ah, I see. Ruby, that's great! Although, I must say, I didn't know that Yang was into Pyrrha," Blake said jokingly. Ruby chuckled, and Weiss smiled at her friends' lightheartedness.
"Yeah, it was a real surprise to me, too," she said, playing along.
"Nothing's been confirmed yet, as this was a sudden decision; I only recently had the idea and contacted Jaune about it," Weiss added on, bringing the conversation back to reality. Blake sighed.
"Did the prison guards have you leave your sense of humor in one of the lockers or something?" She teasingly asked her friend. Weiss looked insulted, putting her hands on her hips and leaning towards Blake.
"Excuse me? I'm just trying to have a conversation!"
"A boring one," Ruby said, making herself laugh. Blake laughed along with her, and Weiss looked angrily at them both.
"I might have more of a sense of humor if your comedy didn't involve laughing at my expense, you know," she scolded.
"Isn't being able to laugh at yourself is a positive trait?" Blake asked, trying to get under Weiss' skin.
"Only if you do something amusing," was the retort. The two black-haired women grinned widely as they antagonized their friend. It was quite easy to annoy her, making her an irresistible target for teasing. However, as the conversation drifted on, the three eventually started talking about Weiss' first day at the Trenches, which she was more than happy to rant on. It had been a tough day.
Yang looked up at the sky as it bathed the ground below in orange light. She smiled and glanced into the window of a nearby shop. Her hands slowly brushed through her hair, admiring how it shone brilliantly even compared to the light of the sun itself. Today was a good day to be outside, and she was glad to spend it with someone else. While her meeting with Sun was an escape tactic to get out of having to see Blake, she was still glad that she wouldn't be spending the evening alone. The two had planned to meet at a cafe near Sun's hotel known simply as Delicacy, and Yang was walking by just now, the window she saw herself in mere being feet away from the meeting place. She even saw Sun waiting there, waving nonchalantly. Yang grinned to see that his presence was taken so well; quite a few restaurants looked down upon, and in the case of expensive places in the center of the city outright refused to serve, faunus customers. She knew the owner of Delicacy and was aware of her sympathy for the faunus and outrage at discrimination towards them. Yang quickly made her way to Sun's table, taking a seat. She was passed a soda and she looked at it before graciously snatching it out of Sun's hands.
"What, no booze?" She asked jokingly. The blonde man pushed down his awkwardness at how lightly his friend joked about her issues with alcohol and laughed, not wanting to get her annoyed. He just wanted to talk.
"Nice place," he said. Yang nodded in agreement; it was. The tables had bright green umbrellas to block the sun, large padded chairs, and tables that had been meticulously cleaned. Surrounding the outdoor dining area was a shiny metal fence that formed a square around the perimeter, and directly behind that fence was a similarly patterned bush, the longest bush that Yang had ever seen.
"You make a big deal about hanging out and the first thing you do is make small talk? Come on, Sun. You're better than that," she said, finishing her glance around the area.
"In my defense, it is a nice place. So, I heard that Ruby and Weiss are visiting Blake?" Yang nodded, her smile falling a little. Sun didn't fail to notice that.
"Yep."
"How's she doing?" The blonde man asked, his smile leaving his face. He didn't want to test Yang's patience with the topic any more than he needed to, but he found his stomach grow queasy whenever he or someone else brought up Blake. He honestly didn't know what to think about what she'd done. He thought that she had stopped that kind of violence when she left the White Fang. When he heard what she'd done, he knew that her old habits had returned. Maybe they hadn't even left. He never stopped worrying about her, but at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder if she had always had the capacity for such horrifying actions. She'd killed thirty people and tracked down Roman Torchwick, almost torturing the man to death. That wasn't an impulsive action. Thinking about such things made him nervous and curious, and he had to ask Yang at least once. He himself was too scared to visit her, too scared of who he might find waiting for him. In that respect, he sympathized with Yang.
"...I don't know. I'm sure that Ruby's gonna tell me all about her, though. I could fill you in," Yang said kindly, trying not to crush the soda she held in her hand.
"I think I'd like that. You know, speaking of Ruby, I don't know much about what she's doing these days. How's she dealing with...life?" Sun asked, quick to change the subject and careful not to directly mention Ruby's disability. He knew that he was bringing up topics that Yang didn't care for, but he wanted to know how the others were doing. He hadn't seen them in a while.
"Oh, you know Ruby. Nothing keeps her down for long! Hell, she even got a job! She's doing weapon maintenance for the Easter Vale Hunting Branch, First Division," Yang replied, sounding more chipper than Sun expected.
"Really? Damn. She just keeps on going, doesn't she? There isn't much that can keep her down."
"Well, to be honest, it was Weiss who had the idea and did a lot of the groundwork. It also helps that Jaune is leading the First Division now," Yang said, her voice growing somber at the mention of Jaune, something that didn't go unnoticed. However, as she finished speaking, Sun chuckled. He and the blonde Hunter hadn't got off on the right foot; he had shown a little too much interest in Pyrrha for Jaune's liking. Of course, that didn't last long, and the two men had beceme fast friends. It had been a while since they'd talked, though, and being busy with life as a vigilante didn't help matters.
"Jaune, huh? Figures. He really came into his own during The Fall," Sun said, stretching his arms into the air. He'd been sitting for a while and needed to move. Behind him, his tail was waving around wildly, moving out of the way of anyone who passed with a barely conscious effort on the part of Sun himself.
"Yeah...sure," Yang sighed. The blonde faunus had almost forgotten that it was Jaune who Ruby had saved at the price of losing the use of her legs. He sighed as well; there were a lot of issues that Yang didn't enjoy talking about or confronting these days, and she seemed to be more eager than ever to avoid the things that hurt her the most. It was a change that hurt Sun to behold. The Yang he knew never ran from her problems. She may have confronted them tactlessly, but she confronted them. She had never tried to escape or forget.
"Well, it's nice to hear he's doing alright. What about Weiss, though? Any updates on what she's doing? Whatever it is, I know that it sure as hell can't be fun," he said, reluctantly changing the topic. He was here to talk, not criticize.
"No, it's not. She's going on a three day mission tomorrow. From what I hear, her team isn't ready at all. According to her, most of them kind of suck," Yang answered his question eagerly, happy to change the subject.
"And those were her exact words?" Sun asked jokingly.
"I took a few creative liberties here and there. You should be thankful; her exact words were like some kind of tongue-twister," was the equally humorous reply.
"That doesn't sound good."
"It's not."
"Well, this is Weiss we're talking about. I'm pretty sure she doesn't need a team," Sun said confidently. Yang nodded, but her expression was still one of worry.
"It's her team I'm worried about, really. Who knows what kinds of sickos she has to put up with in the Trenches? There could be rapists in there, and I'm not comfortable with her being around people like that. It's not like she's very nice, either. She pissed off the wrong people and that got her landed in this situation; she could damn well piss off the wrong people now."
"And you're actually worried some criminal could overpower her?" Sun asked. He, for one, was not.
"No, I'm not. It's just...would you want a friend being around people like that?" The blonde woman asked. With that question, she had struck a nerve. It took her a second, but she soon realized it.
"Don't even think about getting on my case," she said forcefully.
"I'm not. And if you get your act together, I won't have to," Sun replied quicker than his mind could stop his mouth. He instantly regretted his words, but knew that there was no turning back. And if he was going to discuss Yang's issues, he would put his all into it.
"You know, for a guy who's basically fallen off of the radar and didn't give a shit about any of us until yesterday, you're really looking to stick your nose into my business," was the scathing retort to his instinctive threat.
"I didn't stop caring about anyone!"
"Then why didn't you visit Blake? Why didn't you visit Ruby?!"
"Because I have a life to live, Yang! And so do you. Running away from it won't make it go away. And the last time I checked, you're not visiting Blake either." The two were getting loud, and people began to look at them.
"Um, excuse me? Do you mind keeping it down? People are trying to eat," a nearby waiter said as gently as he could. Both Sun and Yang gave him a withering glare before continuing on with their conversation in quieter voices.
"I'm living my life, and I'm not freeloading to do it," Yang said. She hadn't even touched her soda, and now she was looking to crush it in her hand. However, showing impressive restrain, her hand fell to the table instead of wrapping around the tin can and crumpling it like a piece of paper.
"It's not freeloading, it's earning my keep. And last time I checked, hiding from your friends and getting drunk every night isn't exactly a stable lifestyle. The only person you've even been talking to is Ruby, right? You've pretty much given up on everything else. The only reason you get to work on time is because your sister's practically your maid!" Sun hissed in return.
"And how do you know that?" Yang asked angrily.
"I heard from Nora. Even she's noticing your weird habits."
"Nora, huh? Great."
"Getting shit-faced in a bar with the sleaziest assholes in the city isn't healthy. Drowning your problems and worries and regrets in shitty alcohol isn't healthy, and acting like Ruby's the only person in the whole world isn't healthy. She's not the only one who needs you and wants you to be around, you know. And seeing as how you go out to get drunk and ruin your liver every night, I'm willing to bet that you're not even there for her all the time!" Sun growled, standing up in a rage. His voice was low, but his body was tense and his sudden rise from his chair drew attention. Yang made a rude hand gesture before walking away, and Sun slapped some money on the table before chasing her. He didn't even care how much.
"Yang, you can't walk away from this too," Sun said to her, calming down. He had to try and convince her to talk more; he didn't want things to end like this.
"Last time I checked, I can do whatever I want," was the reply.
"I thought you were a grown-ass woman, not some bratty kid. But who knows? You really do a great job of acting like one," Sun shot back.
"Great! A lecture on maturity from Sun Wukong, the man who can't even function in the adult world. I might take you a little more seriously if you didn't live off of handouts from people you hardly know!"
"Why the hell are you making this about me?"
"Because I can do and say whatever I want, and I don't need you acting like my dad! You want to know why I don't talk to other people much, why I don't normally go to hang out with people? It's because whenever I do, I have to endure people like you telling me how to run my life! I have to deal with the shit people give me and all of the concern and pity and all of that crap, and I don't want or need it! What I do shouldn't matter. I'm not the one who's in jail or who's in the Trenches or who can't her fucking legs! You want to help someone? Then find someone who deserves it and even more importantly, who actually wants it!" As Yang finished her outburst, her eyes turning bright red, flames extending from her body and flickering within inches of Sun, she turned and walked away. Sun knew that he had made a huge mistake. He had approached the problem the wrong way, and now Yang wouldn't let him get involved anymore. He'd failed, and knowing that hurt him. Meddling anymore would only make things worse. So, he did the only thing he could think of. Whipping out his phone, he called Nora. He needed something to take his mind off of Yang and get out his pent-up frustration, and he hoped she could give him that something. The anti-faunus groups, after all, were an active bunch, and they weren't difficult to track down.
"And then he tripped and fell! Can you believe that? I know that he uses his eyes more than his legs, being a marksman, but he needs proper coordination! Any good Hunter or Huntress needs proper coordination! He needs reflexes and instinct and he seems to have none! And it's not like the others are much better. Lilac has practically no motivation and fights like she's been hit by a tranquilizer, Garth's too quick to react and is as jumpy as Ruby on a sugar high, and Mona keeps getting thrown off-balance by her own weapon! You'd think that someone who uses their fists would be stronger than that, but no! Not her! And those three are the skilled ones. I've already told you about some of the others, and as for the rest, I'm fairly certain that Jaune was more skilled than half of them before he came to Beacon! This is not a group of fighters! This is a group of outcasts with nowhere else to go! No one in their right mind could expect these people to be soldiers!" Weiss said, her voice not a shout but not quiet, either. The guard didn't throw her a dirty look, but people nearby were able to hear her loudly enough so that they turned their heads. Blake and Ruby listened to her quietly, holding back smiles at their friend's ranting. Weiss could go on talking almost as long as Ruby herself if she got angry enough.
"It sounds like a troublesome situation," Blake noted.
"Thank you for acknowledging that! Ruby just said that I needed to rally the troops, whatever that entails," Weiss scoffed.
"You have to be inspiring, Weiss! You have to have some sort of cool speech!" Ruby said, her eyes seeming to shine with the intensity of her gaze.
"I had a speech."
"Yeah, but it wasn't really inspiring. You have to say that things are gonna be fine and that you believe in your team! That's what I always did. Even if you don't have real hope, I've found that faking it works just as well," was the younger woman's reply.
"Faking it? Are you saying that all of your rallying speeches were complete lies?" Blake asked her.
"Well...not all of them. Just a few. Maybe a little more. But confidence is the best weapon, you know. Believe in yourself, and you can reach heights you never dreamed of," she replied. Blake smiled, chuckling at her optimism. Even bound in a wheelchair, she still had her hopeful spirit. However, the faunus woman knew that such a thing wasn't always a positive trait.
"Confidence alone doesn't win fights, you know," she said. Ruby frowned at her.
"It's not like there's any harm in pretending it does," she replied.
"I'm sure that we can all agree that confidence is good but it can be delusional and blinding if there's too much of it, but that's not the point! I don't want confidence. I want warriors!" Weiss interrupted.
"Sometimes you have to work with who you have," Ruby said sagely. The former heiress couldn't help but admire her partner's wisdom. She had really grown since they'd first met; at least in some ways.
"I do hope you aren't using us as examples," Weiss said sharply. Blake grinned.
"Don't worry, she's just talking about you."
"Blake!" Weiss hissed indignantly. Suddenly, Ruby spoke up, interrupting as Blake was about to yank her friend's chain with another remark.
"Hey, Weiss. The guns...did you say that they had visible Dust chambers?" She asked, receiving a nod in reply.
"Why does it matter?" Weiss queried, responded to Ruby's question with another.
"No reason, really. Say, can we stop at From Dust Till Dawn on the way home?" Was the not-so-subtle reply.
"Very well," was the answer. Blake smiled. They both knew that Ruby had an idea to help Weiss' ranged teammates, but didn't ask any more questions. Instead, the black-haired faunus sighed, noticing the guard walking up to them.
"Visiting hours are over, it seems," she said.
"What? There's no way we've been here that long!" Ruby exclaimed in disbelief.
"Time flies when you're having fun," Weiss said, smiling warmly.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye. Stay safe, Weiss. I have nothing but confidence in you, but don't let your team bring you down. Work around their weaknesses with your strengths. And Ruby...good luck," Blake told her friends, her tone and expression gentle and encouraging.
"I will. And you stay safe too. Be good, don't cause trouble. Maybe you could join the Trenches with me!" Weiss advised. Ruby almost hugged Blake, but settled for a small goodbye, waving as she reluctantly used her wheelchair to move away. Weiss followed her, and she put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder as they left.
Finished! This is the longest chapter so far, and I didn't want it to be super long so that people would have to slog through it, so Cinder and Blake's conversation is moving to next chapter. Sorry! As it turned out, there was a lot more that I wanted to cover in this chapter than I thought. As always, reviews are more than welcome, and I'll gladly try to keep in mind any constructive criticism that anyone might have. I really have nothing to say about this chapter, so...tune in next time on Ever After: episode 6 for Weiss' journey, Blake and Cinder's mysterious conversation, and more!
I've always wanted to do that.